Identity Theft - Bro Thomas Sterrett 8-6-2023

New pastor. How little does he know I've got something for sale? Um

kind of goes with the message tonight. So I got a little illustration here,

but I want to thank Pastor how and um, that's confidence in me.

It is a humbling to standing behind his sacred desk. And I'm like

brother road Cap, I don't hunger or envy be behind it. Um.

Not that I don't want to be a help to you all. I'm thankful

to God for his anointing, not not me. I'm I'm nothing without him.

And I always appreciate you know this recently, just trying to pray and

fast. Oh man, it's really help me out on the streets a lot.

I don't hope it helps me here tonight and breaks behind the pastors.

Here's a super duper big challenge, he goes. He goes all about big

shoes, you know what I mean. I don't think I could ever compare

to him by no means. But I got this, uh, this little

bottle of cure. All man, He's got some pills in there, rainbow

colored pills, and I'm gonna sell it. Being that there's a lot of

things to sell for a lot of Money's talking millions. I'm talking billions,

billions of dollars, not for that little bottle there and make believe. But

um, if you think of out the world, they're always trying to sell

some gibbick. They're trying to sell something. Um. You know, if

it was me, maybe it's maybe it's a bottle of pills will make me

skinny, you know. Um, maybe maybe it's uh for some to make

them happy, some to make some of us elderly people younger. And I

could definitely use some of them to make me smarter for those who don't have

hair, you know, don't make you grow some hair in your head some

muscles. Amen. They seriously they do still sell pills. I mean I

was gonna put a little smiley face on their identity cure all. And you

know even um, they still they tap medicine to help you change your if

you want to be a different sex, man wants to be a woman or

woman wants to be man. Unfortunately, they don't tell you the side effects.

I'm gonna be a little black small print side effects of judgment and death

and regret and heartbreak and suffering and false hopes. Um. But you know

a lot of people Um, they look they're looking for something to help them

to change them. And and that's there. There's a there is a change

out there. But they're looking at the wrong physician. They need to look

for the great physician. Jesus is the cure a man. Salvation can make

you a new creature in Christ. And and I'm thankful that you know,

he could make you a new creature where he's got old things to pass away.

And it don't cost billions of dollars. Man, there's these things called

hum. I'm careful to title this message um identity theft, but almost Uh.

Here's some statistics. I'm just kind of laying a foundation here, UM

for you. You can get started to do this a little different tonight.

Um. You know, you get um identity theft, they still your information.

You get your wallets stolen, or your keys or your cell phone says

uh, fifty eight percent of misplaced wallets, thirty nine percent of them been

stolen, twenty percent of car keys, um, just one and ten of

us smartphones that are stolen only sixty eight percent or cover. But you know,

getting on this identity that and again I'm gonna I'm gonna go back to

this bottle of pills here in a minute. And I don't know if any

of you knows a Dollar General store already gearing up for Halloween. They got

Halloween kid. I'm like, he canny be bad after two months. I

mean, I know the kids are gonna eat it all of one day.

But anyway, Um, hopefully they won't get sick. Um, hopefully they'll

be a church instead of going out a man. But um, as far

as identity theft goes, um, do you know that if you were um,

you know people dress up for Halloween, they do these comic consum the

cover up their identity. Um, then there are instead of identity theft,

there's the same called impersonation. And if you impersonating, say a police officer,

do you know that that crime is a third degree felony with a five

thousand dollars five up to five years in prison and five years of probation.

And then slowly impersonating a police officer. But if you're impersonating a firefighter Florida

Florida Highway Patrol officer, how about a fishing wildlife conservation officer? Man,

I don't know who would do that unless you're trying to get people's guns and

fishing pols. Who would who would do that? A correction probation officer,

how about a state attorneity, I'll represent you, o man. A state

wide prosecutor. I don't know who would. Brother Jeremiah may know this.

If you know anybody and impersonate a corner, there's a coomty for that.

You don't want to get impersonated a corner or any of those. But it's

amazing that they'll have a five thousand dollars fine, third degree felony, five

year imprisonment, five year probation. But for a man to impersonate a woman,

there's no five. If a man impersonated a female, there's no five.

And that's really sad. Hearing what pastor said about these those children,

you wouldn't you'd be surprised of the abuse in the LGBT community. And if

I was a doctor, now let's say I'm selling you these pills and it's

got one hundred percent failure rate. You don't lose me, you don't get

muscled, you don't grow any hair. They would remove my license if I

had a right. They probably put me in jail for being a quiet and

stop and they would stop the sell of this these fake pills here. But

I just recently learned that sex change surgeries have a one hundred percent failure rate.

The only success to that failure rate is a nineteen percent suicide. So

what out of five keeping And it's sad because people are they they're not happy

with themselves. You know it used to be in here and say, well,

I need to go find myself on my land. There are people are

are spending billions of dollars. Here's some other statistics. And when we get

out of it and get into the work, here sixteen point seven billion dollars

people spend on plastic surgery. Tattoos went from tattoos to body piersons to this

thing called body modification. Does anybody know what that is? I mean,

this goes beyond the tattoos. This is where they cut their tones and clicked

their ears. They modify. They look like demons and devils and animals.

And I was shocked at in the United States alone there was four hundred and

seventy thousand people getting that type of surgery done. And I didn't get the

money costs, but some of them spend anywhere from thirty thousand dollars to a

million. There's one young man that looks half man and half woman. He

brags about that he spent a million dollars changing himself. And you know here

here you got. Your body is supposed to be a temple unto God,

and they're changing it and painting it. U only good thing I saw about

the tattoos was there's thirty two percent where they're undoing it. They're having that

reversal. One point six billion dollars is what spill on tattoos, forty nine

billion for makeup, and three point three billion on costumes. And if you

factored in gambling, alcohol, drugs, I mean, we're probably talking into

trillions, trillions of dollars. And it's scary that the things that they're pushing

on little children and pat I mean, how many how many did study what

Pastor gave there? In Mark nine? Is it all right? Abody going

now? Um? In Mark chapter nine, would you pray for Pastor?

I want to did we all stand for the reading of the word pastor?

Pray? So opportunity? Thanks, thank so many times Jesus. You know,

let's see, let's be here, Mark chapter nine, starting verse thirty

three, and he came to Capriam. Being in the house, he asked

him, what was it that he despised? Disputed among yourselves by the way

that they held their peace? For by the way they had disputed among themselves,

who should be the greatest? And he sat down and called the twelve

and saith unto them, if any man desire to be first, the same

shall be last of all, and the servant of all. And he took

a child and set him in the midst of them. And when he had

taken him in his arms, he said unto them, whosoever shall receive one

of such children in my name, receiveth me. And whosoever shall receive me,

receiveth not me, but him that sent me. And John answered him,

saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name,

and he followed on us. And we forbidden him because he followed on us.

And Jesus said, forbid him not, for there is no man which

shall do a miracle or my name, that he can likely speak evil of

me, for he is for he that is not against us is on our

part. For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my

name, because he belonged to Christ barely. I say to you, he

shall not lose his reward. And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones

that believeth in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged

about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. And if thy

hand read a little further here, and if thy hand offend thee cut it

off. It's better for thee to enter into life made than having two hands

to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched, where

the worm dieth knock and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot

offend thee cut it off. It is better for thee to enter halt into

life than having two feet be cast into hell, into the fire that never

shall be quenched, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not

quenched, And if the eye offend, he pluck it out. Is better

for thee to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye, that having

two eyes to be cast into hell fire where the worm dieth thought and the

fire is not quenched, where everyone shall be salted with fire, and every

sacrifice shall be salted with salt. And salt is good. But a salted

lost and saltness, wherewith will ye season it, have salt in yourselves and

have peace one with a brother. Amen, and be seated and look reading

over that and looked at that, And I've read that many times and even

use that, you know, playing parenthood. I know it's talking about children

of faith, you know, babe in Christ. But I think too where

Jesus spoke there in Matthew nineteen says these children, and it's not my father's

will that the least of these little ones should perish. I said, God,

he cares about these little children. And in another place in the Old

Testament says, no mother forget her child. He said, I will not

forget man. We were fearfully and wonderfully made, and marvelous are his works

are sold? Should know right well, Amen, But these children, And

I sing about these children lock in the closet, and I'm thinking of these

children that are um that get these surgeries. They don't even know they're And

I know I've preached this on the streets. You know, they don't even

know their ABC's and they're trying to teach them the LGBTQ cryphoas um. You

know these letters when when school was first introduced. The Puritans were the ones

behind public education. The letters used to represent Bible verses had biblical meaning,

had value, it was and now the letters of today are rated P G

or rain of R. The lgbtq's trying to rob all the letters of the

alphabet, making them all different kinds of genders. But they too, as

many of our talk to, have changed their identity. Be it because of

abuse, be it because of how they were raised. You know, God

forbid. You know you got little babies in here, little baby boys,

little baby girls. And if you were to leave them to themselves, and

I think there's a warning they're in proverbs about leaving children to themselves, they're

not going to know how to grow up to be young men and young women.

They're not seeing a fatherly row or a motherly row. So they're when

they grow up, you know, no wonder they're confused about their identity,

especially a mom, and that says we'll let them pick their own gender.

And then they grew up confused and they think they were born that way.

They weren't born that day. We know how they were born, but um

identity, you know, that's that's what the devil. He wants to he

wants to mess with our physical identity. I was thinking about, you know,

backsliders in the church, you know, and not just trying to pick

on women, because men are just as bad. But you know a lot

of times in the women, you know, the first thing they noticed,

they cut their hair, They put on the makeup, and they put them

on the pants. And if you know anything about dress, you know,

God speaks about dress. You know, he cares a you know a lot

of people say, well, he don't look on the outward appearance. And

I know we're not to judge by the appearance, only to judge righteous judgment.

Um. But you know, and in one of the Bible verses,

I was going to read, let's turn to um Genesis three eight, and

they heard a voice of the Lord God walking in the garden of the cool

day, and Adam and his wife they hid themselves from the presence of the

Lord amongst the trees of the garden. Amen. I don't know. A

brother recently said that, you know, that's where Cammell came from. You

know, that had so thick leaves of apron thong. But but seriously,

that it wasn't enough clothing for them. You know, God clothed them before

he took him out of the garden. And they're in the laws that talks

about for a man not to wear that which pertains to a woman, and

a woman not to wear that which pertains to a man. And we see

that modesty and holiness and sobriety and decency. You know. There there used

to be a and I haven't done the research lately, but I used to

have these little pamphlets from the sixties and seventies. There were kind of like

tracks, but they were from the government talking about criminals that were that would

watch pornography and the statistics of indecency and and all these ungodly things that would

lead to to crime and breaking the law. And um, and if I'm

not mistaken by the late eighties or nineties, they they annalled that they got

huh, I wonder why. Yeah, And now we have problems with sex

trafficking and many other crimes that are that are going on, and they're trying

to legalized, you know, under the name of tolerance or inclusiveness and again

changing the identity or to hide themselves. You know. I was looking to

hear about Adam and eat hiding themselves. They're in Jeremiah thirteen and twenty three

Canna Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots on the first part of

that verse. You know, Pastor was talking about Hirelands today Luca's Pastor as

a really great teaching from Brother Wallace and preaching from Brother Roquecap and this seemed

like it all went together. And Pastor's teaching that was really encouraging and exhorting

the church of unity and watching out for that envy. Y'all. I don't

want to we shouldn't want to be like we should be who God made us

to be. That's plain and simple. Not everybody has three talents, five

talents. We all got different talents. And I know Pastor had already taught

on this and so that the church will remain unified, remain strong, and

there's not no skill rooms and clicks and all this other stuff that goes on

unfortunately, and it causes a lot of churches to split, causes a lot

of churches and close their doors. But praise God, we go to a

strong, healthy church. And it's because it's holiness. Holiness is healthy,

amen, I anything, And I was thinking too, you know, and

m I also want to thank God for might help meet these guys. Is

not a health hate. She's a health leader, and I'm thankful for that.

It'll be thirty four years and August eight church. Hey off get aldready

start forgetting Amen, And then he kind of went off a little bit herself.

We'll just work it out together. Amen, it's part of a marriage.

Enjoy these little blessings always. They just took on me sometimes for getting

in church praising and worship him. That's healthy. Healthy church is a safe

place, a healthy place, a holy place. Praise God. There's nothing

wrong with that. And but you know he was talking about hirelings. You

got wolves and sheets clothing. Amen. Even the devil and says in Second

Corinthians eleven, fourteen and fifteen, it says, and no horrible for Satan

himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great things

if his ministers also be transformed as ministers of righteousness. Who's in shall be

according to their works. Amen. As Christians, I like what Paul said,

and somebody I believe mentioned it to this morning Romans twelve one and two.

I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you

present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto God, which is your

reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world. Amen. This world

wants you to be part of it. You know I'm hearing guys at work

ironically, guys at Worth talking about going to see the Silly Barbie movie.

And ally, be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the

renewing of your mind a man, that you may prove what is that good

and acceptable imperfect will of God. Amen. Now you are the body of

Christ and members in particular. Amen. I'd rather be a peculiar person as

holy unto God, to be a strange I'm sure there's all kinds of undod

the names where those that are out in the world, and you know,

the devils, that author of confusion. But I want Jesus to be the

author and the finisher of our faith. Amen. So for we are His

workmanship, created in crisis and effusions two and ten, created in Christ Jesus

into good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Amen. But when it pleased God in glacitions one sixteen, who separated me

from my mother's womb and called me by his grace. Amen, those little

babies are called by grace. God's already working in their little lives, and

even in our elder lives, sister and brothers, where God is dealing with

each and every one of us, helping us along the way. Oh that

we could even bring fruit in our old age, as a psalmist would say.

But there's one other place I want to go, and it's in second

Samuel. I promise I won't hold you long, and like her pastor,

come up here and do some more exhorting here, first Samuel twenty eight,

because I think this is important as as as Christians, and kind of not

to bring helloween up. But first Samuel twenty eight. We'll start well.

Before we start there, let's start at verse three, because I want you

to see something here. Now, Samuel was dead, and all of Israel

had lamented him and buried him and robber even in his own city. And

Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits and wizards out of the land.

Now he it's wait, if I'm reading this right, it looks like

he just did this right after Samuel's death. Now, what's ironic here in

verse six, and we will read on here some more. And Saul inquired

of the Lord. And the Lord answered him, not neither by dreams,

nor by urim, nor by prophets. Then said Saul into his servants,

seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit. He didn't. Then he

just kills some here that I may go to her and inquire of her.

And a servants sent in to him, behold, there's a woman that hath

a familiar spirit in Norman. And Saul disguised himself and put on the on

other raiment. And here you go. People want to disguise themselves, change

their identity, and they don't want to get called I don't yeah, I

don't know if you don't want to be called impersonating the king or or man

of God. But he disguised himself, nonetheless, putting on other raiment,

not stuff that he normally wears. And he went in and two men with

him, and they came to the woman by night, and he said,

I pray THEE divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him

up whom I shall name unto thee. And the woman said, unto him,

behold thou knowest what Saul hath done. It was because he's spearing for

our lives. How he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits and the

wizard's eye of the land. Wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life,

to cause me to die. And Saul sweared to her by the Lord,

that's a wrong thing. Swear to the Lord that he would, saying,

as the Lord liveth he is just speaking, and there shall old punishment

happened to thee for this thing. Then said the woman whom shay I bring

up unto thee. And he said, bring me up Samuel. And when

the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice. And the woman

spake the sault, saying, why hast thou deceived me? For thou art

sault? So there come a time you can you can hide behind in disguise,

You can pretend to be something you're not, and it will catch up

with you. I think it talks about being on the housetops. So it's

important to repent and get right with God. Now, don't wait till you

don't hear from God no more. And you can you can't hear from him

and then you then you get worse and you go seek the prophet of God.

He's dead. The dead can't save you and man. But Jesus that

rose from the dead, he can save yous. We serve a risen savior.

And I'm thankful that you know, Christ who died and rose again,

he made a way that we can get a part of that resurrection. And

a lot of people they don't want to don't believe every lie, every thing

that the world has to give them. But we don't have to believe in

those things. We don't have to conform to what they want to give us.

We're not ignorant of His devices and they don't have to be pills or

drugs. You know. It can be the old boots, It can be

that old scratch off ticket. It can be some device that the devil has.

It might even be your cell phone, you know, and your keys.

And as we's reading there in Mark nine, you know, if I

don't think it said I, but there's another place where it talks about it.

If I offended. You know, if you look with lust in your

heart, you commit adulter already talks about if thy hand offended, what are

you touching them. You know, if the foot offending, better to cut

up. Where are you going? Where are your places? What are you

standing on? You know? So God gives us warnings and there's severe you

know, He not that he wants us to perish, as many times on

the street is he is long suffering, not willing to any of your parish

that had all come to repentance. And we're living in a time that many

are deceived. Um talking to a guy at work and just trying to be

real sweet with him because you just say the wrong thing and YO turn you

off. And he was thinking that wine that Jesus turned the water and the

wine. He was thinking it was like alcohol, it's okay to drink,

and it's like no, no, no, no no. He wouldn't go

against the other seventy five plus verses that teach against alcohol. Wine. Strong

one to him to give his neighbor a great I said, I just I

asked you to stay. Don't believe me. Just study looking in the word,

pray about it. And you know, he come back later and I

thought I probably lost him. And he didn't say nothing. He just kind

of hurd him took off. But then he came back and he was asking

for prayer for his mother. He's having heart surgery. So I'm thankful that

he's still you know, he's still paying attention. He may not agree.

Um they speak on my work that, um they're lost. And I know

you guys worked with some some of the most ungoling people m and some of

them are the most deceived. You know. He was telling me that Buddha

was the same as God. I'm way moving us dead he is. They

don't even look the same, you know. I thought, there's a little

look. But you know what I mean, if we're creating his image and

his lifess, I don't, well, I don't, but you know what

I mean. We're not all like Bood. I know he's living around.

But what I'm saying is, Lord help me. I'm I'm praying fast and

not to lose weight, but to be spiritually strong. And if I lose

the weight, there'd be a blessing side effect, and that's a good side

effects Like this this this the sin. There's no good side effect with sin.

The devil wants you to think, oh, there's good, there's good,

You're you'll get rewarded when you get down that road. There's nothing but

a heartache, troubles, regrets and God forbid. There's even death, you

know, there's I know, there's death for us all at some point.

But there's a difference between that second death and hell far the lake of fire

and going to heaven. And man, better to die once and be born

twice. The'll be born once and die twice and not you know, make

it to heaven. But um, so I just want to thank God and

just you know, just kind of hopefully been a help and if if it's

not a help, and and I really, in my heart, I really

believe that most of them already know everything as far as what I'm telling but

on these statistics and some of this other stuff, Um, if you might

be able to help somebody on your job, somebody in your family, maybe

give him a warning, especially on this sex change stuff. They're they're pushing

that, Like you know, it's it's has to be that that you're hate.

It's hate to tell them the truth, it's hate to show them love.

And it's like you know, it's that's just the devil's confusion. But

um, as a church, let's be united a man, let's pray for

the pastor right, you know, he's got some big shoes and big coat

to wear and and uh and and I say that humbly because um, I've

seen pastor's you know, get discouraged, not say I know pastor how has

got his own trouble to the trials and battles that he deals with. And

thank God, he's a strong holiness man of God, and he's got that

annointing. But there's a lot of pastors out there that don't have the knowledge

that he has, doesn't have to experience the wisdom, the finances different things.

And I'm not saying that helps him. He's got God, that's the

ultimate health right there. But you know, they've closed doors. One of

the first churches I went to when I got saved, it was a little

church. It was mostly elderly people. There were no other people at all

except I think for my children. And then we started bringing their friends and

we was packing them in and we was thinking that church grown. And I'm

not saying that to boast by any means, But they didn't want to They

only wanted one Sunday morning service. That posis. They didn't want to do

a night service. They didn't want to do a midweek's service, and because

I have to honor that pastor, you know that that was what that pastor

wanted at the time. Um, we did have a VBS one year,

UM, but you know it was sad because we had more children. At

one point we would bring two fad loads, um, and there were more

children than there was adults upstairs. And yet they as eventually they started you

know, died off and they got down to three adults and they said,

oh, we're sorry, We're gonna shut the doors. And I remember the

first time that I left that church. It was a non denominational, but

they believed in the Word, and they let me teach from the King James

Bible. But they when they shut those doors, my wife would tell you,

I'm warned for two weeks, and I was upset and I was like,

heyn, I don't believe this. And then as time went on,

and I know pastor he's probably experiences in his early ministry losing friends and and

knowing other pastors that have, um, you know, they lose a spouse,

or a spouse causes them to leave a church. You know that can

happen to us as Christians. That's what calls me to backslide. You know,

my wife didn't want another to do with holis. He said, she'd

never stepped or as gods, she's in one today and doing a lot of

things she never thought she wouldn't do. And I'm thankful for my help me.

You know, Um she works hard and you know she does door dashing.

No, that's something I'm totally I don't want her to do. I

wish that I could, you know, but you know, that's what it

takes for a family to stick together. You know, your husband's got to

help your wives. Wife's help the husband and your children. I'm thankful for

Samuel and Grace. They go and they hope, and that's what's being a

family, That's what's being a church is about helping one another, praying for

one another, loving one another. Keep that unity and keep that bomb because

if you don't, you know, you start getting no schisms. Um.

You know, I see my parents divorce and I hated it, and I

swore, as a sinner man, I wouldn't want to, um do that,

put my family through that, and so far to help me him bless

me, because if it wasn't for him, things could have went different ways,

different times in our lives. So protect your marriage, you know you

young married couples, young families. Protecting and be strong, help one another,

pray for want to stay right with God. Is you're gonna go through

times and troubles. You just want to stick together, Praise God. I

want to turn the somewhere pastor just all come forward and man, the Lord

has spoken to us tonight. I'm convinced of it. A man more mo