# Sometimes it’s good to be hard headed

Category: Integrity & Godly Character
Key Passage: Ezekiel 3
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: December 15, 2019

The Lord had a yesterday. This is their savior this morning, and another one gets the assurance of his salvation. And at the end of the service, they’re praising a little for that, God working. And that’s a blessing. Ezekiel chapter number three. And sometimes it’s good to be hard-headed. And we’re going to get Bible in there, believe it or not, but sometimes it’s hard.

Good to be hard-headed. And you say, well, my spouse would be doing mighty good then, you know. But you heard about the one fellow. He said, “All my friends, I’m hard-headed, but I refuse to believe them.”

You’ll get that after a while. But sometimes, not all the time, all right, but sometimes it’s good to be hard-headed, amen. And Ezekiel chapter number three of God’s word. And we’re going to—by the way, Brother Dylan’s going to preach for us on Wednesday night. I’m excited about that, looking forward to it. And that would be good. That’ll be a blessing.

Ezekiel chapter 3, we’re going to start in verse number 4. And it says, “And he said unto me, Son of man, go get thee unto the house of Israel. And speak with my words unto them, for thou art not sent to people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel. Not to many people of a strange speech, hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely I had sent thee, them, they would have hearkened unto thee, but the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee. For they will not hearken unto me, for all the house of Israel are impotent and hard-hearted. Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.” There it is, hard-headed, amen. “As an adamant harder than Flint have I made thy forehead. Fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.”

Ms. Lori Johnson was leaving this morning, her and her daughter that had been in the nursery. And they were telling me a story about Josiah. Josiah is Donna and Debbie’s grandson they often bring. And they said little Josiah. She said he went over there to the cabinets on the far wall, I think it was. You know, he’s a boy, okay? And he got up to there, and he just got a hold of it, and he said, just got it. And all of a sudden, he just rammed his forehead right into the wall. And he said, “Oh, man.” And he walked around for a second, saying, “Oh, man,” you know. And then he wrapped up again, and he just ran his head into it again. Now, sometimes it’s good to be hard-headed. Sometimes it’s not.

Sarah and I used to play a game when she was little. We’d put our noses and our foreheads up to each other, you know, and just push like two rams or something, you know. She got too old for that. I don’t do that anymore. Amen. I don’t have a nose surgery before. I mean, we used to do that, you know, she’s little. And sometimes as a Christian, you’re going to have to get real hard-headed. And you’re going to have to just be determined: I’m just not going to change. You can butt against me, you can hit against me, but I’m not moving, I’m not changing. Some things I’m going to be real hard-headed about. You can hit me all you want, you can push against me all you want, you can laugh at me, you can look at me, but I’m just not going to change on some things. And God’s telling Ezekiel there, that’s a rebellious house.

I’m not talking about with everybody you deal with, but from time to time in this old sin-cursed world, you’re going to deal with some rebellious people that are not just rebelling against you, they’re rebelling against God, and you’re going to have to have a hard head, and you’re going to have to say, “I’m just not changing, I’m not backing up. You can hit me, but I am not moving.” That’s what you’re talking about. By the way, can you note here, it wasn’t to people of a strange language. It wasn’t people that were foreign to the things of God. This was the habit of Israel, the people that knew about Jehovah. And can I say this many, many times, the people that are the hardest to stand against? It’s the religious crowd that’s been in church a little bit, they know a little bit of the Bible, enough to use the Bible against you. And you’re going to have to say, it doesn’t matter. I am going to be hard-headed. I’m just not backing up on this thing right here.

You got to have that in you. It’s right. Can I say when it comes to the old King James Bible, somewhere along the line, you just got to say, you can look at me, you can call me archaic, you can call me old-fashioned, you can call me—it doesn’t matter—but that’s what I’m going to stand on right there. I like it. Old Brother Jim at work, somebody gives him a hard time, and he says, “Hey, one day you’ll figure out which Bible is the right Bible.” I just believe Jim, Brother Jim can be hard-headed every once in a while, amen. Man, I like that.

I’ve had people over the years come. I’ve had people give me other Bibles and study Bibles. Had someone—oh, I think it was a couple of Christmases ago—give me a nice Bible, a study Bible from a prominent radio preacher. And it’s a New King James Bible, it was brand new. They didn’t tell me who it was. They just wrapped it up and gave it to me. I couldn’t figure out who gave it to me. And opened it up, it’s $40. $40 or not, it ended up in the trash, amen. Hey, somewhere along the line, you just say, “I’m just going to be hard-headed. I’m changing. I’m not even studying with the other versions; I’m going to stick to God’s word.” Now, if they want to say it’s a commentary to help me understand the Bible, I’m good with that, but don’t you call it changing the words of the Bible, friend. Every once in a while, I need to be hard-headed about some things.

The Gideons, and I’m not against them. I know they did a lot of good, and praise the Lord for the good they’ve done, but they use other versions now. And I’ve had them write me letters, and I’ve had them call me. I’ve had them come visit me on Sunday in between Sunday school and church. I used to teach Sunday school in the auditorium, the main class, and boy, right after Sunday school, two of them, businessmen, they come up, and boy, they’re kind of in front of everybody, pushed me a little bit, and I just had to say, “Friend, I’m not—you’re not the enemy—but I’m just not going to change on that issue right there. And if you’re selling or giving away other versions, I’m just not going to be a part of that. We support another printing ministry, but friend, I’m just going to stick with the old King James Bible.”

Once in a while, you’re going to be hard-headed about some things. And God said to Ezekiel, “I’m going to make your head—your forehead’s going to be harder than their forehead.” Because in this old sin-cursed world, there’s going to be a butting of heads. Everyone, it’s just going to happen. I don’t like it. I’m not promoting it. I don’t go looking for it. But friends, there are some things you’re just going to have to say, “I’m not going to change on that right there.” Be hard-headed.

So God told Ezekiel right there, “I’m going to make you harder. Your head’s going to be harder than theirs.” And then there’s going to be people that are going to be pushing against you. The old King James Bible—we’re just going to say, if you want to butt, we’ll just butt heads, but I got a pretty hard head. God’s the one that made it hard. Let’s talk about another thing. Look in verse number 17 right there, verse number 17.

Verse number 17, he says, “Son of man, I made thee a watch unto the house of Israel, hear the word at my mouth and give him warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely die, and thou speakest him, givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wickedness to save his life, the same wicked man shall die in his iniquities, but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if I warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness nor from his wicked way, not his iniquity, but thou hast delivered.”

Some people don’t like it when you and I, whether it be a family reunion, whether it be door-to-door on Saturday, whether it be in your neighborhood, they don’t like it when you go and say, “Hey, Frank, can I ask you? I’ve been thinking about this. I’ve been your neighbor for a couple years now, and I know you go sometimes to church, but I never just talk to you about, ‘Are you going to heaven?’” Now, some people don’t like that. Some people say, “Well, I don’t think you ought to be that direct.” Some people say, “That’s my personal business.” Some people say, “Well, I’m not talking about anything that has to do with religion or politics.” By the way, you just weeded out some awfully important things right there, folks. You’re going to have all kinds of people that will butt heads about this saying, “I’ve been a soul winner trying to win a soul to the Lord Jesus Christ.” But Jesus Christ said, “You follow me, and I’ll make you fishers of men.” That’s what Jesus said. And you can try to sidestep it any way you want, but somewhere along the line, you’ve got to say, the world is going to hit against me when I try to get somebody saved, but I’m just going to have a hard head on that thing, and I’m just going to try to keep getting people saved. There’s got to be a church in town in an area, and there are some, but they just say, “Hey, we’re going to go out there and try to win the lost to the Lord Jesus Christ.” I’m going to stay after that.

And say, “Look, they’re going to give you a hard time. They’re not going to like it.” We had a neighbor move in years ago, right beside us. And he was Hungarian, half-Hungarian, I think. Well, that was good; that gave me an inroad there. My dad was Hungarian, and I’m always hungry, so we matched a little bit. I had to witness to him again, and he never did get saved. I believe his name was Kurt.

And, but he said this: He said, “Now this couple’s moving in with me. They’re all moving down from Michigan.” And he said—he said, “You can’t talk to them about the Lord. Don’t witness to them. And don’t do that.” He said, in fact, he said that when I came down, moved out ahead of me, and I found a place, the first thing I asked was, “Is there a church around there?” And he said, “Well, not real close.” And I thought, “Isn’t it funny God moved right beside a Baptist preacher? And don’t you talk to him!” Now, I’ll be honest with you, I was trying to be wise about it. And initially, I didn’t hit him in the forehead right off the bat, you know. But praise the Lord, God be the Lord—before those neighbors moved, my wife led that life to the Lord. And I’ve got the privilege of leading that man to the Lord. And I’m saying there’s going to be a lot of opposition when you get to the bottom line: the souls of mankind for all eternity are on the line. You just say, “Hey, I’m going to have a hard head and I’m going to keep going after souls.”

Satan would love for you to say, “Well, they don’t do that in our day and time. That doesn’t work.” Had a preacher friend. Good guy. Been to college where I went to years ago, but he kind of been in a little bit of a liberal church and whatnot. And I met him—oh, it’s been maybe 18 years ago, 19 years ago now, I don’t know. And he’s in heaven now, by the way. But he told me, he said, “This thing of just going out and trying to witness to people and just going to neighborhoods and telling them about Jesus—that doesn’t work anymore. You got to build a relationship with them first.” I said, “Well, friend, how about you just go with me for a month? I think we met every Thursday. And let’s just go. We went to Lake Forest subdivision, so let’s just go through there for about a month, and we’ll just see if it really works or not.” Praise the Lord, God blessed that month. God worked in hearts. Man, he saw it at the end of the month. He said, “It still works.” Hey friend, but somewhere along the line, somebody had butted up against his head and said this whole thing of just being loving people and being concerned about their soul and trying to get them saved doesn’t work anymore. And that caused him to back up, and you’re going to have to have a hard head and say, “I’m just going to try to get people saved.” Somebody’s going to take that tract and just tear it down. Somebody’s going to take it and throw it on the ground. Somebody’s going to say, “I can’t believe you asked me that.” It’s going to happen. And Satan will love for you to give in and say, “Well, I just won’t try to get anybody else saved.” You’d be playing right into Satan’s hand. Go, old Satan’s a whoop like that!

By the way, I’ve had neighbors—had neighbors for a year that wouldn’t even wave at me because they didn’t know I’m the preacher of the neighbors. They wouldn’t even—I mean, I’d ride by, I’d try to catch eye contact, I’d wave at them, they wouldn’t even look at me. Used to have a garden before Brother Frank came along, you know. He does a better job. He does all the work. Amen. I get the benefits of it, you know. But before all that, when I had the garden, every year I would take part of my garden—they would never answer the door. I would just leave vegetables at the door. They moved. I think maybe they waved at me one time. I’m saying there’s going to be… The Bible says, “Yea, and all that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” But somewhere along the line, you’ve got to say, “Hey, listen, they can look the other way, they can ignore me all they want, but I’m just going to stay doing what Jesus told me to get the gospel to every creature.” You didn’t say amen right there? You’ve got to be hard-headed.

By the way, we got a neighbor that moved in across the street. A developer, a flipper got it, and he’s fixing it up. I think he’s going to sell it. Well, the next neighbor moves in—you know what? I’m going to do my best to witness to him. You’ve got to have that attitude. And people are going to give you opposition. There’s going to be problems, and people say things, and they’re going to butt against your head. And you’re going to be hard-hearted—not hard-hearted, excuse me, hard-headed.

I like what an old preacher said about his mother. She was very old before she passed, and she couldn’t see very good, and she was at the doctor’s office, I believe it was. And Brother Howell said she couldn’t see real good, and she thought somebody was standing over there. She went over there, and she was witnessing to the filing cabinet. I like that. I like to go out like that, amen. I don’t know if filing cabinets have souls or not, but we’ll try, amen. I’m just going to do my best to be a soul winner. They said, “If I don’t warn them, their blood will be in my hands.” Hard-headed. Some things, some things you just got to be hard-headed about.

Look over in First Timothy. Let’s get a couple more things here. First Timothy chapter number two, God’s Word. First Timothy chapter number two of God’s word. Let’s just talk to the men for a second here. First Timothy 2, verse number 8 right there. First Timothy 2, verse number 8. Hard-headed. Your wife says you’re hard-headed anyway. You know, I mean, you might as well be hard-headed about the right things there, you know. And we won’t say anything about the wives. We won’t go there. Some of the husbands are like, “Come on, preacher. Come on now.” Look at verse number 8. First Timothy 2, look at verse number 8: “I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands.” He’s saying your hands ought to be clean. I’ll be right while you’re praying everywhere, being a good testimony, without wrath—you don’t have this inner anger at the world and doubting. You live by faith. He’s talking about men being men of prayer. Men, you ought to go to the restaurant, and everybody’s looking at you, and you ought to bow your head with your family and lead your family in prayer. Men, y’all have to say, “Hey, before we eat here, whether at home or wherever, let’s just bow our head, let’s just pray about this thing.” My wife had cancer. We went to the chemo doctor, and he gave us the different types of treatment, chemo and all that stuff. You know, we had a decision to make. We already had surgery. And I told the doctor, I said, “Doctor, I’d like to pray about it.” And he said, “Well, I’ll go around and I’ll come back.” I said, “Doctor, you’re welcome to pray with us.” And he said, “Oh, I couldn’t do that. I have all kinds of different people. If I pray with you, I’d have to pray with them.” I said, “Doctor, I won’t tell anybody. Just pray with us, nobody else.” He said, “Well, I’ll go ahead and leave.” And he did. But bless God, we’re going to pray about it. And we ought to be known. Men, you ought to be known as men who pray. And you say it’s a little embarrassing. That’s all right. Let them be embarrassed. Have a hard head and just be known everywhere you go. You pray. Man, I’ve been in the lunchroom with a bunch of filthy-mouthed guys and dirty pictures in the locker room. But many a time, just right at the lunchroom, just bow your head and pray right in front of everybody. You know what? I’ve been known for prayer. There are people going to look down at you. That’s all right. You just get a hard head and keep on praying.

And he talks to the ladies next there. Verse number nine, verse number nine right there. He changes. Now he said, let’s talk to the ladies for a second. He said, “In like manner, just like the men ought to be praying everywhere, in like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness”—it has to do with respect. Look, a respectful lady looks like that there—“and sobriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly array, but which becometh women professing godliness with good works.” And he’s talking there about ladies. And ladies, if you’re going to dress modestly in our day and time, you’re really going to have to have a hard head. The world is going to come at you and come at you and try to get you to dress just like the world dresses. Men, you can say amen and ask your wife permission: “Can I say amen?” She’ll say yes, you can. I’m joking with you. But, but, oh, we got to—you got to.

Now look, what’s it saying? Is it saying that gold and jewelry and things like that are wrong? No, he’s saying when you look at a godly lady that’s dressed modestly, your eyes ought to be drawn to the godliness, not drawn to certain parts of her body. But you ought to be able to look at that lady and say, “That looks like a godly lady right there,” professing godliness.

Now listen to the whole world, ladies—and I hate it for it because the world, you’re going to have to stand against the world—but the world is going to push you to wear form-fitting clothes. I mean, you go down the interstate and you see a mud flap or a back window of a pickup truck, and you don’t know what color the hair is, you don’t know the color of the skin, you don’t know the color of the eyes, but you know the form of that female. And when you dress showing your form, that is not my… And when somebody’s wearing something, you can tell if that’s a hedge or a tail’s in their pocket. Something’s not right, friend. The Bible still calls for modesty. Everybody’s got to say, “Hey, listen, I’m just going to be hard-headed. I’m not going to follow the trend of the world. I’m going to be hard-headed about this and dress like the Lord wants me to dress.” Hard-headed. It has to be, because the world’s always trying to conform you. Romans 12:2: “And be not conformed to this world.” And ladies, the world will always urge your daughter to dress their way. Somebody’s going to have to be hard-headed and say, “We’re just not going to dress like that, and I’m not going to be conformed to the world.”

Sarah was home, I think, for Thanksgiving, and Sarah likes to bake. And it’s a good thing she’s not home because I’d weigh about 100 more pounds than I already weigh, and I already weigh too much. But Mr. Tammy’s got this little old cookie gun, I guess they call it. And you put the dough in there in this tube, and then it’s got little different things on the end of it you can put there. And then it’s electric. I mean, you push this trigger and it pushes the dough down, and whatever you got, it conforms it to that image. It may come out looking like a star, or it may come out looking like—oh, I think they’ve got the snowman and all different things. Now, I always conform it to the form of my mouth. Amen. I conform it to the image of my teeth and tongue, you know, my belly, which is whom, you know. And the world, it’ll always be pushing on you. Just mark it down: the world’s always going to be trying to conform you, and it’s going to be pushing, trying to push you into its image. And the Holy Spirit of God will always try to conform you to the image of His Son. And if you stand against the world, you’re going to have to be hard-headed. You just have to do it.

By the way, ladies, just going back to dress for a second there, it’s so vital. Jesus said if a man looks on a woman to lust, he’s committed adultery already with her. And there are men—well, I don’t know how many down through the years that I’ve met with preaching about my eyes and pornography and women’s dress. You don’t want to add to that. I read a book years ago. I cut a little part out of a copy of it, amen, and cut it out. Let me read it for you. It says, “Thad is recovering from drug dependency at a local Christian ministry. He said, ‘I’ve been trying hard to get my life in order,’ he told us at the drug center. ‘I’ve learned more about myself and my addiction to drugs. I expected that since that’s why I went there, but I’ve discovered a second unexpected thing: I have a problem with lust and impurity.’” It’s amazing what he says. It’s a sad thing. It’s crept into churches big time across America, that’s what he said. He said, “I want to be free, but I’m becoming frustrated and angry with the church. The Bible says women should dress modestly, but they don’t. The women soloists are always wearing the latest, tightest fashions. I look at them, but all I see are curves and legs.” You know, the one who always wears the slit way up the thigh—by the way, in the Bible, the thigh is considered next to… Thank you, Brother Ethy. I appreciate that. We’ll look it up sometimes. Oh, you know the one that always wears the slit way up the thigh. That thigh flashes with every step she takes. I just get enraged. Why do they make it worse in matching churches across America? Say, how does that happen, preacher? Nobody’s hard-headed.

And somebody’s going to have to be hard-headed and say, “Look, I’m just going to stand against the world trying to conform me to their image.” I’m preaching to the choir a little bit on this one here, but somebody’s got to be hard-headed about going to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. Praise the Lord, you’re here on a Sunday night. Well, we go to church on Sunday morning. Praise the Lord for that. But what about Sunday night and Wednesday night, friend? Used to be—used to be, Dad said, Mom said, “Hey, that’s right, we’re going to go to church.” Every time the doors are open—if the doors are open Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night, we’ll go. And family is going to butt heads on that. Well, we travel all across the United States, and somebody’s going to have to say, “Listen, when you come to our house, either you go to church with us or you stay at home by yourself, but we’re going to church.” You’re hard-headed about the thing. And you say, “Preacher, they might not like that.” Of course they’re not going to like that. But you’re going to have to say, “I’m going to be hard-headed about God’s word, not forsaking it.” Is that difficult? Yeah, but you’ve got to be hard-headed.

And just said, “The boss ain’t going to like it sometimes. The coach ain’t going to like it sometime.” Oh, my goodness, we’ve had it out with little league coaches over the years. Just—just, we got to the end before we got out of all that, we just told the coach up front, up front saying, “Hey, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, kids are going to be in church.” Oh, we don’t ever play on Sundays and Wednesdays, but they always did on the rainout games. It got to the point the coach said, “I know, I know, chest guards aren’t going to be here.” “Yeah, you’re right. We’re going to be in church.” He said, “That’s a little hard-headed.” Glad you got the message, amen. You got to get a hard head. Ezekiel, he said, “Hey, Ezekiel, I give you a harder head than theirs.” You got to have that. In their day and time, he had to be hard-headed about your language. The world is trying to conform you to their little language, their little terms, their little innuendos. Somebody’s got to say, “No, no, I want my time to glorify the Lord.” By the way, what is a Christian doing talking like the world that’s on the way to hell? We’re going to heaven. We’re saved. We’re born again. God’s given us that. Why would I conform to what the world is doing? Amen. He said, “But everybody talks like that.” Well, somebody’s going to have to be hard-headed and say, “They talk like that, but this old boy don’t talk like that.” Just hard-headed. And God said, Ezekiel, I’m going to give you a harder head than theirs.

You got to be hard-headed about your music. It’s amazing how the world’s always trying to get their music in. You can’t watch a—I watched Rifleman the other night. How many of you know what Rifleman is? On YouTube. I mean, it’s pretty hard to get any cleaner than that. But the commercials! Oh, they got them in there. Even on YouTube, they got the commercials in. Man, it’s just blaring. And you go to a ball game. My wife and I like to go to the college basketball games. We’ve been to one or two of them already this year. We like that. But the music—and I’m just saying they’re going to be pushing you to conform you to their music. And you’ve got to say, “I’m going to be hard-headed about this. I’m not going to listen to that music right there.” They’re going to try to give you an appetite for that music. And your flesh is going to like that music. Oh, Ezekiel, God says, “Ezekiel, I’m going to give you a harder head than theirs.” Praise the Lord for all the hard-headed Christians in the past that are still blazing. Praise the Lord for hard-headed Christians.

But overall, they guarantee you, you either got two choices: either you get a hard head or you give into the world because they’re not going to stop butting against you. Just go ahead and mark it down. He said, “Man, why do you get into this thing so much about hard-headed?” Because that’s your choices right there. Either you give in or you get a hard head. That’s the only choice. Because the world’s going to be butting against you about a thousand of the things I didn’t mention: how you raise your kids, how you have marriages, all that. Your finances—the world’s always going to be butting against you. Shocked how the world promotes getting rich, getting rich, getting rich, getting rich, getting rich—money, money, money, money. You’re going to seek Him first, the Lord ahead.

Those are your choices. And somebody along the line’s got to say, “Hey, the Lord said right there.” Verse number eight, verse number eight right there. Ezekiel 3, verse number 8. Look at what he says: “Behold—well, when God says ‘Behold,’ it’s like, ‘Look up here, fellow, I’m talking to you’—Behold, look out, bud! Behold, I have made…” I like that. “I have made thy face strong against their faces and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.”

And look, friend, you say, “Can we? We’re not huge; there’s not a whole lot of us compared to the world.” Can we stand against the world? Yeah, because the Lord makes our head hard. Old devil’s making theirs hard. I just think the Lord’s going to win this thing if you stick with the Lord. Hey, you’re standing on your own strength? Nope, He’s the one that makes my head hard. Someone said this: Those that the world cannot change are those that change the world. Those Christians that the world changes, they don’t make a difference. They conform to the… By the way, the Lord did not call us to be thermometers. He called us to be thermostats. We’re called to be the salt, the light. Can we stand against a world? I mean, every area, they’re pumping their philosophy all the time? Yep. Because the Lord will make your head hard.

Look at verse number nine, verse number nine here. Chapter 3, verse number nine, what does it say there? “As an adamant harder than Flint, have I made thy forehead.” Here’s what I’m getting at, watch this: “Fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.” Dismayed—you just get frozen, you can’t make a decision, like a squirrel caught in the middle of the road. Dismayed. You just don’t know where to go, and you get right over like that. Hey, don’t fear the world. Say, “There’s a whole lot of them.” Hey, if it’s just you and God, you have a majority for Him. They’ll push you, push you to give in on your… Boy, I remember raising kids in our day and time, and even the religious crowd, “Boy, you’re strict on these kids.” “Yeah, yeah. You mean you won’t let them be alone?” “No. Well, don’t you trust them?” “No. I don’t trust myself, man.” I’m always trying to conform you. Don’t fear the world. I’m not trying to be mean and act like I’m better than the world. I’m not. It’s the grace of God. But, friend, the honest truth is the world’s dying, going to hell. They’re following their God, the devil. Why in the world would I let them control my thinking? What about Psalms? I’m not to walk in the way of the transgressors. I’m not to let the world influence me. “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way,” it says, “nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” Man, I’m not supposed to be walking in their way. What am I doing letting the world influence my language, or my music, or my dress, or where I go? Why am I letting them dictate what I do? You got to have a hard head, but the Lord says, “I give you a harder head.”

I was working at the Union Tank Car Company, East Chicago. And I was kind of low man on the tooling pole, Union Place. And I said, “You’re going to have to go work over there. We’re putting you over there today with Wolfman Jack.” Now, Wolfman Jack—that’s what everybody called him. He had a long beard, and he would roll it up and put a curler in there every day so he wouldn’t catch it on fire while he was welding. There are stories about him being in gangs and whatnot, and he’d killed a guy with a shovel and buried him and all that. I don’t know, but it may be true. I don’t know. But, you know, when I worked with a man, Jack, and pretty quickly, I just, in a sincere way, I tried to work hard, and I witnessed to him. When I witnessed to him, it seemed like it changed his heart. He became so good to me. He never would—he never would say he was saved. Wouldn’t pray with me or anything. But Wolfman Jack—I mean, it’s like I could go give a guy a hard time, and if they said anything, I’d say, “I’m going to tell Wolfman Jack; he’ll take care of you.” I don’t know if it got to that point, but I’m saying, don’t fear the world. Stand for what is right. Stand. Get a hard head. And I’m not talking about being obnoxious and proud, but stand. And Christians are falling left and right, and the world can say one thing. I’m amazed how the world can say one thing, and we cave. We change everything because some worldly Christians so often say that we just cave on everything. Somebody’s going to have to get a hard head. Ezekiel did. Here’s a sad thing: when I don’t stand and proclaim the truth, it makes it easier for other Christians to not stand.

Look in chapter number 20, excuse me. He’s talking mainly about witnessing here, but it applies. Look in verse number 20, Ezekiel 3 and verse number 20. “Again, when a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness and commit iniquity”—sad thing, he’s falling away from the Lord—“and I lay a stumbling block before him,” that’s what happens when someone backslides. “He shall die because thou hast not given him warning. He shall die in his sins, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.” That’s a sad thing. The righteousness that he did, it won’t be remembered. God requires me. Verse number 20. Nevertheless, if thou warn the righteous man that the righteous man sin not, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.

Brother Frank and Ms. Wanda—God’s used them—and his son, I call him Bubba, but I forget his real name, Jerry. Jerry and his wife, praise the Lord, they’re in church now. They live up in Portland, Tennessee, and they found their church, and they’re going to church—they’re in Sunday morning, Sunday night—and I praise the Lord for that. And they’ve said God’s used Brother Frank and Miss Wanda, this church, and all that, but they’re in church. And Brother Frank and Miss Wanda recently went to church with him. And they came back and they said, “Man, Pastor Paul, their preacher, he’s just like—he preaches! Man, he was preaching about convictions and standards and all these sayings, and he stands for something.” Man, I tell you what, I loved it. That strengthened me a little bit to stand. And friend, it’s not just about you; it’s for the generation behind you, and it’s for your friend standing beside you. If I’m not hard-headed, I just give in to anybody butting against my head of the world. I could get conformed to the world, to worldly Christians, and I’ll tell you what, there’s a good chance those around me might fall too. And somebody will have to stand. It’s sad how America has changed in the last 50 years. You say, “Where does a lot of the blame lie?” On Christians that are not hard-headed, just giving in? Well, it’s to reach the youth. Friend, how are you going to reach the world with the world? You’re going to lead them into the world, probably. Hey friend, you reach the youth just the same way: by the power of God and prayer and the Word of God, and God getting a hold of the heart. That’s how He reached the world. Oh, we need some hard-headed, hard-headed Christians.

Brother Richard back there in Sunday school, he gave his testimony this morning. It is a blessing. Praise the Lord, I finally won—I think it’s the first time he gave his testimony, and I didn’t shed any tears. I feel I can become a man all of a sudden, you know. And there’s a blessing. It is awesome. And many of you have heard it, but when he was just a boy in Chicago, he had just seen a guy gunned down in a gang fight. He was just about 10, and the first time he’d seen the man laying in the street there, blood and all that. And then that next Saturday, right after that, some bus workers came by his house. Knocked on his door, said, “Would you come to church?” He went to First Baptist Church in Indiana. He heard about Jesus Christ, got saved. A while—I think a year or so, I don’t know—then he started going to another independent Baptist church, Jordan Baptist Church in Chicago, a good church, and he went there for years. And then, of course, he got older, and he backslid—military and deployments and all that stuff. And he didn’t tell this part this morning. I’ve heard him tell it many times, and he’ll give you much better details than mine. He’s good at storytelling to me. He’s good at it. But it’s very interesting. I think he was in Iraq, I believe it was. At one point, he had a phone call, and the Lord was working his heart, and he called back to Jordan Baptist Church. And he was all the way around the world, but just, you know, the Lord—once He’s in there, he might be agreed, but he’s there. And he called back, and it was—I don’t know—Sunday night when he was—not before church, I believe it was—and they answered. And he was asked about his old bus worker, Brother Ron. And he said, “I could hear through the phone they were still playing the hymns.” And I think he asked him some questions. I don’t know. I might get this part mixed up. Maybe he asked about King James. I don’t know. But he said, “You know, I heard the hymns and I thought, ‘They’re still the same. Still the same.’” And he didn’t get right then. Years later, God moved into Smyrna, and praise the Lord, the girls started riding the bus—gracious alley. And eventually, Dad came. And when he came, he came in and said this morning, he said, “I saw they still have the old songbooks, still singing the old hymns.” He said, “Man, up there,” and he started preaching like always, yelling and screaming at everybody. And he thought, “Still the same.” And he said, “I found my home.” Hey, what if we hadn’t been hard-headed? What if we had changed with the world? We’ll offer him… Somebody along the line’s got to say, “I’m just—the Lord’s made my head hard. I’m not changing, and I stand on God’s word as truth.” Sometimes it’s good to be hard-headed.

Would you bow your heads, please, close your eyes? Our heads are bowed, eyes are closed. You say, “Preacher, I’m asking God to give me a hard head. I don’t want to give in to the butting and the trying to conform me. I’m asking God, would you give me a hard head? I’m asking the Lord—not you—just lift a hand and preach. I’m asking the Lord, ‘Give me a hard head. Give me a hard head.’” That’s good. That’s good. Oh, in 2019, almost 2020, we’ve got to have it, folks, because the world’s going to be hitting. They’re going to be hitting. Oh, God gives a hard head. They can do it. Thank you so very much. Put your hands down.

Maybe you’re here tonight and you said, “Preacher, there are some things I kind of gave in to the world a little bit, and to get back, I’ve changed a little bit. I’ve conformed a little bit. They’re always pushing, and it’s gotten to me a little bit, and I’ve changed a little bit.” And God worked in your heart, and some changes—I’m going to make some changes, every big or small it is—but I’m going to make some changes in my life. I’m going to get back to being conformed to Jesus. There are some changes you’re going to make. Anybody like that, just lift your hand, and preach, “That’s going to be me.” God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. Oh, that’s good. Oh, it’s good. Praise the Lord, we’re going to go to heaven one day. Jesus will be on the throne. Thank you so much. You put your hands down. And the devil will be in the bottomless pit. We’ll be in that perfect world. We’ll have to have a hard head then, but until then, we have to have a hard head. I don’t like to fuss and fight. I don’t like that. And I’ve learned over the years, you’ve got to do it. Got to do it. You got to have a hard head. God says, “Hey, Ezekiel, don’t worry about it. They’re rebellious.” “Yeah, they know. They’re the House of Israel, but they’re not going to listen to you.” “Don’t worry about it. Don’t get fearful. I’ll make your head—forehead—harder than theirs.”

Original File: Sometimes its good to be hard headed - Pastor Paul Chisgar Sunday PM 121519