Buy the Truth and Sell it Not - Dwight Mast

Good morning and welcome. It's good to be here, and it's exciting to

be a part of this weekend. I've enjoyed it a lot so far.

And there's a lot of people here I don't know. I thought I would

know more people. But so if you're here and I know you, don't,

don't get scared if I come, get some security from you. But

it's really good to be here. It's good to be in the great state

of Oregon. I love this this this state, and my family and I

we love to travel. And I think Alice and apologize for the rain,

but I love the rain because we're dry. We're about to burn up.

And I was talking to a buddy of mine in the forestry and he says

that they're on edge because Florida don't freeze, it burns. And guess what,

we populated Florida so we can't burn anymore or we burn our houses down.

So it's a it's a little bit of a challenge when we're dry.

But um, it's good to be here. I love love the valley,

and I love you people, those of you that I know, and even

if I don't know you, that's why we're here. We're here to encourage

each other. And for those of you that don't know me, my name

is Dwight Masked. My wife's name is Susita. She's not here. They

stayed at the house this morning. We have two children, Mackenzie and Keaton,

and we are from Florida, and we're from Union County, Florida,

which is the smallest county in the state. And we're also the fourth poorest

county in the USA, so we're not from the suburbs of Atlanta. Whether's

lots of money, but we love our little county. It's good to be

there. We enjoy sun, sand and water as something my family and I

enjoy. We like hunting and fishing, and we stay busy running out construction

equipment and buying and selling and doing a little trucking, and we stay.

We have fun. The name of our church is Santa Femna Nite Church.

We're part of Bethel Fellowship, So yeah, it's good to be here.

And Western Fellowship isn't near as good as Bethel Fellowship, but it's still okay.

So all right. The theme is growing up in Christ. And if

I was to do a poll with each of you here this morning, the

sound man, you're probably gonna hate me because I don't know whether to talk

loud or quiet. But work with me. But if I was to ask

you to stand up and say, if you have grown in Christ in twenty

twenty three, what would your testimony be? What would my testimony be?

Preacher man Dan, as John referred to him last night, said that we're

all still growing. And that's how I feel this morning. I need this

weekend. We all need this weekend because we are growing until we die.

Another thought that come to me that was sobering is if you're not growing,

you're sliding backwards. There's no middle ground, there's no time where we're just

hanging out. Everything's good and we're on an even plane, and we're going

one way or another. And that was a sobering thought for me to consider

this morning. Turning your Bibles to First Kings chapter twenty one. While you're

turning there, I'm gonna read the words of a song to you. Convictions

are silence, Truth is obscured, innocence trampled. The lines have been blurred,

consciences crumble as morals decay, and all we have left are a few

shades of gray. But there are still those who will not be dismayed,

a remnant of God fearing men, and we pledge to not be ashamed or

afraid to stand up and show that we still can. Be strong in the

faith, Be strong in the fight, Be strong on the line between wrong

and what's right. Be strong in the power, Be strong in the Lord.

Be more courageous than ever before, faithful, determined, steadfast and true,

willing to sacrifice everything too. Be strong champions of honor, heroes of

faith, warriors of valor, empowered by grace, cold to temptation, callous

to pain, and even through hard times, our vows will remain men who,

when tested, refuse to deny the gospel. We firmly believe, and

whether it means that we live or we die, be certain that will always

be strong in the faith, Be strong in the fight, Be strong on

the line between wrong and what's right. Be strong in the power, Be

strong in the Lord. Be more courageous than ever before, faithful, determined,

steadfast and true, willing to sacrifice everything to be strong. The title

of the message is by the truth, and sell it not. Does anyone

here remember the name of a man that stood before a king and said the

Lord forbidden me that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.

Anybody know who that was? Raise your hand, no one there preach your

mandan ain't got his hand up. Come on, who was that? May

both first King's twenty one, verse number one. I want to read through

verse sixteen. And it came to pass after these things that Naboth, the

jesrael Light, had a vineyard which was in jesureel hard by the palace of

Ahab, king of Samaria. And they have spake unto Naboth, saying,

give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs,

because it is near unto my house. And I will give THEE for

it a better vineyard than it, or if it seemed good to THEE,

I will give THEE the worth of it in money verse number three. And

Naboth said to Ahab, the Lord forbid it me that I should give the

inheritance of my father's unto THEE. And Ahab came into his house heavy and

displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jesrae Light had spoken to him.

For he had said, I will not give THEE the inheritance of my father's.

And he laid him down upon his bed and turned away his face,

and would not eat bread, and would eat no bread. But Jezebel his

wife, came to him and said unto him, why is thy spirit so

sad that thou eatest no bread? And he said unto her, because I

spake unto Naboth of Jezreel Light, and said unto him, give me thy

vineyard for money or else, if it pleased THEE, I will give THEE

another vineyard for it. He answered, I will not give THEE my vineyard.

And Jezebel his wife said, said unto him, dost thou not govern

the kingdom of Israel? Arise and eat bread, and let thine heart be

merry. I will give THEE the vineyard of Naboth the Jezrael Light. So

she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, and sent

the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city dwelling

with Naboth. Youre wrote in the letters, saying, proclaim me fast and

set Naboth on high among the people, and set two men sons of Belial

before him, to bear witness against him, saying thou didst blaspheme God and

the King. And then carry him out and stone him that he may die.

And the men and the men of his city, even the elders and

the nobles, who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had

sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had

sent unto them. They proclaimed a fast and set Naboth on high among the

people. And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat

before him. And the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth

in the presence of the people, saying Naboth did blaspheme God and the King.

Then they carried him forth out of the city and stoned him with stones,

that he died. Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is

stoned and is dead. And it came to pass when Jezebel heard that Naboth

was stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to ahab Arise, take possession

of the vineyard of nabotha Jesuel light, which he refused to give thee for

money for Naboth is not alive, but dead. And it came to pass

when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that they have rose up to go

down to the vineyard of nabotha Jesue light to take possession of it. So

our text vers this morning, is the Lord forbid it me that I should

give thee inheritance of my father's unto thee and it cost him his life by

the truth, and sell it not. We want to dig in a little

bit on the life of Naboth this morning. Turn with me back to the

a book of Leviticus. I think we can get a little background here of

why nay both refuse to sell this vineyard. It's a little context here Leviticus

twenty five, in verse number eighteen. Wherefore you shall do my statutes and

keep my judgments, and do them, and you shall dwell into land in

safety, and the land shall yield her fruit. And you shall eat your

fill and dwell there in in safety. And you shall say what shall we

eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sew nor gather in our

increase. Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year,

and it shall bring forth fruit for three years, and you shall sow the

eighth year and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year. Until her

fruits come in, you shall eat of the old store verse number twenty three.

The land shall not be sold forever, for the land is mine.

For you are strangers, and sojourneys with me. Do you know that the

Bible says that's the gates of hell shall not prevail against what somebody helped me,

the church. I will not sell my land forever. King Ahab showed

up at nay Bos house, and from what we gather in the text here,

it was real close by, and he had an offer. King Ahab

had a lot of reasons, financial, good business. I think um TJ

could have probably sat down with nay Both and could have showed him on paper

that this was probably going to be a good idea. He said, it's

near unto my house. He said, I need more guarden space. He

said, I'm gonna pay you. I'm not just gonna take it. I'm

gonna pay you a fair price, or I'm gonna swap it for something else.

Nabal said, the Lord forbid it me that I should give the inheritance

of my father's unto thee. It's not for sale. The word inheritance here

means a possession or a heirloom. It's something inherited, it's a heritage.

King Ahab wanted to take this vineyard and make it a garden of herbs.

He wanted to tear out the vines that probably took years to establish. He

wanted to change the landscape. He wanted to make it look different. He

wanted to get rid of the inheritance, get rid of the heritage. We

learned last night when Brother John shared with us about our identity, this was

what was happening. He wanted to get rid of this, change the landscape.

And as the story progresses, we see the terrible things that had to

happen in order for King Ahab to get his vineyard. He was upset he

wouldn't eat. You know, I've been I'm normal, and I've been a

little grumpy at times in my life, but I ain't never not been able

to eat. So he must have been pretty stewed up about this. He

must have been just a little bit bent because of what was happening here.

And I understand that he's the king and he probably had some ego issues,

but we all do. Jezebel comes in and she's going to fix the problem.

We know the story, dishonest political power, conspiracy, false accusations.

We know what happened. Nay Both was killed and King Ahab got his vineyard.

The Lord forbid it. It's not for sale. Is that your testimony

this morning? Buy the truth and sell it not. You know, there's

going to be times, and already probably has been in your lives, in

your short lives, where you've had to stand up and stand out and say,

the Lord forbid it. We're not going to compromise the absolutes of God's

word. We're not going to let our inheritance or our heritage be bought.

We're not going to sell out. And you know, none of us know

the future, but it could be that's your children. We'll have to stand

before kings who are trying to take their vineyards. Your children may not have

the religious freedoms that we enjoy today. Is there a price of what you

and I stand for? Are there small ways that we're gradually selling out as

Anabaptist people, as Christian people as we consider the heritage that we have,

is it based on meaningless traditions or timeless truth. You know, if I

was a proaster, or if you was approached with a good offer, what

would our answer be? Could we be bought or would we be willing to

trade for something else? Young people here this morning, Brother Dan Leland,

John, all them committee members on the back row, they were where you

were last week, right, very short time ago. I just celebrated on

my fortieth birthday. I was where you was yesterday. You're going to be

where I am tomorrow. There's a large percentage of you sitting on this bench

that are going to be preachers and deacons and bishops and husbands and fathers tomorrow.

That means there's going to be some preachers wives. You are the church

of tomorrow. You are the men and women that need to stand strong.

You are the champions of honor and heroes of faith, warriors of valor,

empowered by grace. You are the ones that are going to need to be

cold to temptation and callous to pain, and even through hard times, your

vows will remain. You're the ones that, when tested, refuse to deny

the gospel we firmly believed, and whether it means we live or we die,

you are the ones to stand strong. What are some things we face

in this world we live in that would make us sell out? What are

absolutes in the Word of God that commands us as Christians to do or not

to do? Turn with me to First John chapter two. I don't know

how it is for you, young people, But when I was a young

person, I didn't like this verse very good. But it's an absolute of

the Word of God. First John, Chapter two, Verse No. Fifteen.

It says to love not the world, neither the things that are in

the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father

is not in him. For all that is in the world. The lust

of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life

is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world

passeth away, and the lust there of he that doeth the will of God

abideth forever. Dearre people, this morning we must be crucified to the world.

We must be mortified to the things that are in the world. We

cannot love both. The heart of man is narrow and cannot contain both.

The Bible says we cannot love God and Mammon or the world. Why can't

we love the world. What's the reason it goes on to say here,

that's in the world. The lust are longing for that which is forbidden,

And dear people this morning, that's what causes many many people to sell out.

It's wanting something that is forbidden. The Psalmist had some encouragement force.

Let's just flip back to Psalm seventy three. I don't remember how long I

have till ten quarter after Psalm seventy three. Psalm seventy three, Verse one.

Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as over Ale,

as are of a clean heart. But as for me, mind at my

feet were almost gone, My step said well, and I slipped, for

I was envious at the foolishness when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

For there are no bands in their death, but their strength is firm.

They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other

men. Therefore pride can pass at them about as a chain. Violence covereth

them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness, and they have

more than heart could wish. They are corrupt and speak wickedly concerning oppression.

They speak loftily, they set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue

walketh through the earth. Therefore his people return hither, and the waters of

a full cup are wrung out to them. And they say, how doth

God know? And is their knowledge in the most high? Behold, these

are the ungodly, which prosper in the world. They increase in riches.

You know. The Psalmist here was almost to sell out. Why he saw

the prosperity, or the health and wealth of the wicked, the ease of

living, and just for a moment he longed for the forbidden love, not

the world, neither the things of them in the world. You know,

we as conservative Anabaptists, we have drawn the line on many many things.

In our forefathers made applications based on the word of God that we hold dear

today. Is there something we would sell out for? Is there something that

God has forbidden that we longed for? You know, our vineyards are really

really close to the palaces of the world. There are many, many offers,

and if you haven't faced them yet, you're going to face them.

The Psalmist discovered something after he considered his temptation. Go down to verse number

seventeen, until I went into the sanctuary of God. Then I understood.

Then understood I. They're in the world passeth away, and the forbidden things

are gone. But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. So

as we think about selling out, as we think about standing strong, we

must love not the world. The next one is wherefore, come out from

among them, and be ye separate. Second Corinthians, Chapter six, verse

No. Fourteen. Be ye not unequally yoke together with unbelievers. For what

fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? What communion hath light with darkness? And what

concord hath Christ with belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an

infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye

are the temple of the Living God. As God has said, I will

dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God,

and they shall be my people. Wherefore, come out from among them,

and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing.

And I will receive you, and I will be father under you,

and you should be my sons and daughter. Saith the Lord Almighty, come

out from among them and be separate. Separate means to set off by a

boundary. It means to sever, to exclude, or to divide. You

know, the Christian draws a place, draws a line at a different place

than a non Christian. That's why we gotta be separate. You know,

fellowship This word fellowship here, let's find it here in verse number fourteen.

It means participation. The word communion means partnership. Do you see something going

on here? We cannot be linked up with the world. Concord is an

agreement between things, speaks of harmony, and the word part carries a meaning

of participation or portion. We know that the Bible says that communications corrupt good

manner. Psalms one says, blessed is he that walketh not in the council

the un good understandeth in the way of sinners. You know this morning that

we're supposed to be in the world, but not of the world. We

know that there's a broadway and there's a narrow way. Are we maintaining the

boundaries of separation from evil? You know, we're gonna think different, We're

gonna look different, We're gonna act different. Does it ever bother you why

we have to be so different, so different from the rest of the community.

You know, this is an area that causes many people to sell the

vineyard. They don't want to be different, they don't want to look different,

they don't want to act different. Wherefore, come out from among them,

and be you separate, Saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean

thing. And I will receive you, and I will be father under you,

and you should be my sons and daughters, Saith the Lord Almighty.

Number three. The love of money is the root of all evil. And

while we do live in the poorest, the fourth poorest county in the United

States of America, we still struggle with the love of money. The people

in our community still struggle with the love of money. First Timothy, chapter

six. Appreciate it what our brothers shared in the opening there about thankfulness.

You know, this morning, dear friends, if we can wrap our hands

around thankfulness that God would have us to be, it will solve so many

of our problems. First Timothy six and verse six. But God in us

with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and

it is certain we can carry nothing out and having food and raiment. Let

us let us be therewith content verse nine. But they that will be rich

fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful us,

which drowned men in perdition, in destruction and perdition. For the love of

money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted, after they

have ered from the faith and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows. You

know, if Nay both would have had an inordinate love for money, do

you think he would have sold his vineyard. Money is not wrong. Have

you ever tried to get through life without money? It ain't gonna happen.

Somebody's going to pick up the tab. We work jobs, we make a

paycheck. We use that money to live and to provide for our families and

for others. It's not the money, it's the inordinate love of it,

or a love that is above our love for God. As I thought about

this again, how much money would it take for me to sell out,

to give up one little small doctrine that we believe in. How much money

would it take for me to give up on a principle that we stand on

am I for sale at any price? Are you for sale? It's in

relation to this love of money. While some coveted, after they have aired

from the faith, they lost out. Let's go to a heartbreaking account in

Matthew twenty six. We've read this many times, but it just struck me

again at how sad a story this is Matthew twenty six. In verse number

fourteen, Then one of the twelve, called Judas a scariot, went unto

the chief priest and said, unto them, notice this, what will you

give me? What will you give me? And I will deliver him unto

you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from

that time he sought opportunity to portray him. Judas loved money more than God.

He had an inordinate love for money, and he betrayed Jesus for the

price of his servant. And I don't know about how that lays on your

heart. This morning? We may say, how terrible? How could he

ever do that? Have I ever come close to saying what will you give

me? Have I ever put God out of first place in something or someone

in first place? Has my pursuit of making a living ever come before my

God does the way I spend my money. Honor my Lord. Are we

faithful in following principles of God's word in relation to our money and possessions.

I don't know how many of you, young men or young women here this

morning own your own businesses. I know there's some men here that do.

We're supposed to have it figured out. We're supposed to know how much time

we work and how much time we're at home. It is a tool of

the devil to get you to pursue the things of this world, long hours,

late nights. Well, I sell out for money. The last one

is honor thy father and mother Ephesians, chapter six. Children, obey your

parents and the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother,

which is the first commandment, with promise that it may be well with

thee and thou mayst live long on the earth. When nay Both stood there

before King Ahab, and I'm just gonna picture King Ahab was really tall and

big, and Nay Both was maybe kind of like me when he looked up

at him and says, no, I won't say the Lord forbidden me.

Do you think maybe he was carrying on a heritage that it been passed down

from him. This man had maintained a conviction that he could not sell,

and he would not sell, and it cost him his life. Are we

honoring the heritage that has been passed down to most of us sitting here this

morning? Do we realize the value of what our parents and grandparents stood for?

And I don't make a difference between a first generation anti Baptist and one

that's been for a hundred years, It doesn't matter. But do we value

what we have? Our vineyard was based on the word of God. If

you study the history of the Anabaptist movement, if you go back through the

time of the Reformation, where we got our name doesn't mean anything to you.

Many many, many people died for what they believed. They were not

for sale at any prist this morning, dear people, if you were snatched

out of your homes and carried to the stake for being a part of this

church or wherever you are and whatever church you're part of, and you was

given opportunities to recant all the ways to the stake, and maybe you walked

by some people that wouldn't that had been snatched out of their homes yesterday and

you watched their dying moments. All you had to do was to give up

on one doctrine that you believe in. All you had to do was lay

down the name that you're associated with and that you're identified by, and you

can go free. The Lord forbidden me. Will we be able to say

that to the king? Should we face what our forefathers faced many years ago

by the truth and sell it not? Closing scripture Hebrews chapter two, Hebrews

Chapter two and verse one. Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed

to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let

them slip. May we live by the truths of God's word. As you're

here this weekend and the theme is growing, May we grab a hold of

what we're learning and be a people that will not be bought for any price.

Young people, be strong in the faith, Be strong in the fight,

Be strong on the line between wrong and what's right. Be strong in

the power, Be strong in the Lord. Be more courageous than ever before,

faithful, determined, steadfast and true, willing to sacrifice anything to be

strong. Shall we stand for prayer, Our Father in heaven, We thank

you for the wonderful opportunity of being together this morning. We thank you Lord

for each and everyone that has gathered in this building. And Lord, I

don't know all of them, but I know there's some here from BC,

and know there's some here from Missouri and many many from Oregon. Lord,

I pray a special blessing on each heart and each life that has gathered in

this building this morning. Lord, And you're all knowing, all seeing eye.

You can look down through time, and you can see where we're all

going to be at the end of life. You can see, Lord,

if we're going to sell out, if we're going to be faithful. Lord,

I pray that we would be strong. I pray that we would stand

up for what's right. I pray that the line between wrong and right would

be so clear to each and every one of us gather here this morning that

we can teach and preach it with conviction and live out the Word of God

in our hearts and lives. Lord, I thank you for the singing this

morning, and thank you for the devotional Thank you for the committee that's behind

this weekend this program. Lord, as we bring our growth to you,

you are the one that can empower us and encourage us and strengthen us,

and we look to you for that. We pray for a brother that's going

to speak next. May you anoint his lips, touch his heart. May

he feel your presence in his life. We pray in Jesus name, Amen,

maybe seated, Thank you Dwight for that message. It's very something that

we really need to think about. What would it take for us to sell

out? Where is that? Where is that spot