We are here in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. We are starting a new series called "The Alphabet of Bible Doctrines." This is going to be a long series — we are not going to be skipping any letters in the alphabet, so it is going to be kind of interesting because every week you are going to be trying to guess what the sermon is about for this letter or that letter. This sermon is an introductory sermon, and I will reference next week's sermon a little bit to give you an idea of what it is about. Basically, every week we are just going to go through the alphabet. Next week will be the letter A, the week after that the letter B, and I am going to pick a doctrine or a topic that starts with that letter and preach a sermon about it.

For most letters there are a lot of options. For the letter A there are angels, apostasy, anarchism, amillennialism — what I am choosing is abortion. There are really a lot of choices that can be made, so this could be a series that 20 years from now is still going. But when it comes to a series like this, you have to realise that when I am going through some of the doctrines, you might not learn something completely brand new. You should not have the mentality that you always want to learn something new and if you do not learn something new you are going to be bored with the preaching — because honestly, we need to be reminded of things that we already know. I am going to talk about abortion next week. I am very confident everybody in this room is against abortion. I would be very shocked if somebody at our church was pro-abortion. One thing I can guarantee: there is not a single soul winner on the planet that is pro-abortion.

Here is the thing — it is not about simply finding out whether a doctrine is right or wrong. You might know something is wrong but not know what the biblical punishment for it is, what causes it to take place, what some preventive measures are, or how to prove it to someone from the Bible. Any time the word of God is open there are things we can learn. We can be re-motivated. We can be edified. All of the word of God is good for us. With certain doctrines you are probably going to learn a lot of new things. With others it may be stuff you have mostly already heard. But any time you are preaching through the word of God there is always something to learn.

A lot of people might shy away from a series on Bible doctrines and ask why you are preaching on doctrines instead of love or grace or peace. I have been criticised before by people who left our church because they said my preaching was all about doctrines. But God gives a lot of doctrines in the Bible, and any time you are preaching on anything — if it is in the Bible and you are using the Bible to support it — it is good for us.

Point 1: Doctrine Divides

In 1 Corinthians 11:13, this is in my opinion one of the funniest verses in the entire Bible. The Bible is a very serious and grave book, so when there is humour mixed in you can sometimes miss it. This is Paul speaking and he says, "Judge in yourselves." He says judge inside of yourself — not even using the Bible — naturally you be the judge of what seems right to you. And what he is going to talk about is whether it is comely, meaning attractive, that a woman pray unto God uncovered. This is in reference to her hair length. He is saying: you be the judge inside of yourself — do you find women with short hair praying attractive? Is Joyce Meyer a very spiritual woman who preaches sermons? Is Joyce Meyer attractive? Why? Because of her hair length. How many husbands in this room want their wife to get a haircut shorter than mine? How many men would find their wives more attractive if they had really short hair? That is what he is saying in verse 13.

Verse 14: "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering." When the Bible says nature here, it is not referring to Mother Nature — it is referring to what is naturally built into you. That is why he says when the Gentiles by nature do the things contained in the law — naturally they do and do not do certain things because they know it is wrong to lie and to steal and to kill, even if they have never seen a Bible verse about it. God gave men the mindset of finding women with long hair more attractive, and men are to have short hair.

Verse 16: "But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God." People really misunderstand this verse. He is not saying that if somebody wants to argue about it, we should just say never mind, we do not have an opinion on hair length. When he says we have no such custom, he is saying: Church of Corinth, we do not have a custom in our church of saying that hair length does not matter — and neither do any of the churches of God. All the churches of God have men with short hair and women with long. If someone is contending about this, let me just be very clear — we have no custom at Verity Baptist Manila or Pampanga or Bicol where it is like, hey, it does not matter what your hair length is. No. Men have short hair and women have long. That does not mean you have to cut your hair to come to church — you have free will — but we are also not going to say it does not matter.

Now Paul brings up something very controversial, and he specifically brings it up because it was one of the many problems at the Church of Corinth. He says let me just be very clear — apparently this was an issue at the church. He is bringing up a very contentious doctrine. But what you also see in this chapter is that there are divisions already before he brings up the doctrine. Go to verse 1: "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." He is saying: I started this church, I got a lot of these people saved — let me be very clear, do not follow those who are teaching things we do not agree with. Follow what I am saying because I am actually preaching you what the Bible says.

You say, Brother Stucky, if you preach on hair length it could offend people and cause them to leave the church. Yes — Doctrine divides. Paul brings up something very divisive, and here is the thing: I am not denying that. People criticise preaching on doctrine because it is going to turn people away, divide people, make them angry. You are right — doctrine divides. Well, that is what Paul did. He brings up a very specific doctrine and guess what, it does divide people. But who said division is a bad thing? Who said we should just always get along with everybody about everything? Did Jesus Christ say he came not to bring division but peace? No — he said the opposite. He came not to give world peace but division. Why? Because the word of God divides.

Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." Verse 4: "And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness." All the way back in Genesis 1 you are seeing God making a division. He uses the analogies of light and darkness over and over and over again in the Bible — have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, walk in the light. He is literally talking about light and darkness but he is also using symbolism, and you are seeing him making a division between light and darkness. This is right, this is wrong.

People take this mindset: we should not say anything controversial because we want to bring everybody in. We are not trying to bring everybody into our church. We invite people to church — we go soul-winning, we invite, we hand out invitations — but we also know that a lot of people will never like our church. Why? Because of the preaching. The preaching divides. It turns some people away.

John 3:18: "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." A lot of people never like the preaching of this church because they do not live a very godly life. Why would you be offended about something if you are innocent of it? If someone brought up thou shalt not kill and the death penalty and somebody got incredibly offended — well, have you killed somebody? Something does not offend you unless you are guilty about it, or unless you know somebody close to you who is guilty. Verse 20: "For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." The reason you like this church, those that are members, is because you want to know the truth, you want to make changes in your life if necessary, you want the word of God to shine on your life. That is the attitude we ought to have.

Point 2: Doctrine Unites

Point number one was that Doctrine divides. Point number two is that Doctrine unites. You say, Brother Stucky, that is a contradiction. It is not. This is what doctrine does: it divides this side away from what I am saying, and it unites those that agree together more strongly. Doctrine divides people away and it unites those that remain.

Let me give some obvious examples. What about preaching on repentance of sins? That is going to divide people. A lot of people would not like our church because of that. What do a lot of Baptist churches do? They just generically say "repentance and faith" so both sides can say, well, he did not say anything wrong. No — let us just be clear what we believe. I am not hiding anything. And yes, the second you are clear you might divide people away. Well, then they need to be divided away. If I preached on repentance of sins being work salvation and it caused soul winners to leave our church because they disagree — well, good, because we do not want people going soul-winning preaching a false gospel. The division needs to happen. But what it also does is unite those of us that remain.

Our church is a very united church. Why? Because of the doctrine that is taught. We understand there are very few people that agree with us on these things. A lot of people come a long distance to this church. Here is the reality: if there was a group of 30 people near where you live that believed the same things and taught the same doctrines, you would go to that church and I would encourage you to. But why do people come from a long distance? Because you do not have that in a lot of areas. Doctrine divides, but it unites those that are left.

At a lot of Baptist churches you have a million different doctrines out there on salvation, on repentance. You talk to somebody and they might believe completely different things, and you know that. I have been to churches like that. It is kind of awkward because in the back of your mind you are thinking I do not think this person is saved. We are not just local church together in one location by proximity — we also need to be united together in our beliefs. It is better to have a church of 50 people that are united than 500 people where one out of ten believe the same thing as you.

1 Corinthians 1:10: "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you." You say, Brother Stucky, I thought you said division is not a bad thing? It is not necessarily bad because some people need to be divided out. But those of us that remain, because we believe the same doctrines, should be united together.

One thing you notice at a church like ours that is very united on salvation and soul-winning is that you do not have as many silly things to argue about. I literally know a church in my hometown that had a church split over the colour of the paint on the wall. That is the sort of foolishness you have at churches when people are not united on the things that matter. But when you are united together on beliefs, you feel close to one another. I feel more united with church family than with physical family in many instances — why? Because of beliefs, and because of our practice of soul-winning. There are not a lot of soul winners out there. We realise we are the few. We can set aside foolish little things because we believe the same thing about salvation.

"That ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." How can you be united in the same mind and in the same judgment if you do not believe the same thing? It is not possible. When I first got saved I would go to various Christian Bible studies on the college campus and it was a mixed bag of every denomination and every Bible version. I remember when an argument came up about speaking in tongues. I said no, it is not biblical, it is wrong. And it was like, how dare you say that — you can have that opinion but do not be divisive. I caused a division because I said it was wrong? I mean, it is clear as day. Well, you know, it is just your interpretation. No — we cannot both be right. You know what you are going to find if you use the Bible as the basis for your beliefs? You are going to have the same beliefs as somebody else who used the Bible as the basis for their beliefs.

Ephesians 4:13: "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive." The unity of the faith is not simply referring to we all believe on Jesus so let us set aside all differences. We should actually preach doctrine, and if those who hear it decide to stay, they get united in the things they believe. Through the ministry and my time as a Christian I have found there are actually a lot of people in this world who want to know the truth. A lot of people just want the light to shine on their life. There are people wondering, why is nobody saying this stuff? It is about time somebody said that. There are people that agree. There are people who just want to know the truth.

Point 3: Doctrine Protects

Verse 14: "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive." The Bible says there are people that are going to bring false doctrines to confuse people. You might say, I am not going to fall for them, I know what I believe. That may be true. But even if you have been saved for a long time, do you not care about other members of the church who are newly saved and might not know these things? There are doctrines that people can twist and use to confuse people. A lot of you before you joined our church were saved but were probably a bit confused on things like Calvinism, or repentance of sins — what does the word repent mean? Because you were at churches teaching different things. But if you have been at our church for years you are not going to be confused on that now. What about those that are newly saved? Do you want them confused? So yeah, maybe I am preaching a doctrine you have already heard many times, but it is good to be reminded. It actually protects us from those that would deceive.

Romans 16:17: "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them." What does that mean? If people preach different and false doctrine, avoid them. Never listen to a sermon from John MacArthur — he preaches weird doctrines about salvation and Calvinism. Never listen to Paul Washer, never listen to Ray Comfort, never listen to Joel Osteen, TD Jakes or whomever. They preach false things. And let us say somebody is at our church for years, then they leave and it turns out they do not believe what we do. They start a YouTube channel teaching stupid stuff about how there is no hell or how the Trinity is false. Never listen to their videos. You already know it is false — what are you trying to do? You do not want to get deceived or confused.

The only exception I can think of is if you are a preacher who sometimes reads or listens to false things in order to preach against them. I would never advise a church member to read weird religious books. I read the Bhagavad Gita and it was the biggest load of garbage I have ever read in my life — do not read it. Do not listen to things that are false. "For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." They go after those who are unaware of certain things.

Now, this might be some people's opinion: Brother Stucky, you preach too much against Calvinism. Yeah, but you know what it certainly does? It protects us from having Calvinists come into our church and just stay as regular members, because they know this is not the church where the pastor is just going to let anything go. Maybe you say, Brother Stucky, you overly preach on the LGBT. Yeah, but at least it is not going to become a cesspool of those who would defile little kids. I would actually rather over-preach on something serious than under-preach it. But it at least protects us.

1 Corinthians 11:19: "For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you." Here is what he is saying: if it is disorganised and just anything goes and nothing is being preached against, there are also going to be heresies — major doctrinal problems rising up within the church. If I never made it very clear what I taught and what we believe about Calvinism, the Trinity, repentance of sins, there would be heresies rising up at our church. People would get a group together and confuse people on these topics. This is what Paul is stating: if you do not preach the doctrine, there are going to be heresies. That is what is going to take place.

Philippians 3:1: "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe." Paul says: I am repetitive about certain things, but actually it is good for you. Brother Stucky, you preach too much on soul-winning. Well, that might be your opinion, but it still reminds us we need to go soul-winning. As a preacher you should preach on the most important things and try to have a balance of everything. When it comes to things like salvation, repentance of sins, the Trinity — these are things that it is good to hear a lot, because they are major doctrines and every false religion is wrong on these sorts of things. It is safe for us.

Jude 1:3: "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." People try to take this verse and say it means if you do not serve God your whole life you are going to go to hell. How could you get that out of Jude 1:3? He is saying to defend the things that we believe. Here is one way you defend the common salvation — by going soul-winning. Did you know when you are going soul-winning you are defending the faith? The common salvation means Jesus died for everybody — it is available to anybody. He died for the sins of the whole world. You are contending for the faith as you go out soul-winning. You are contending for the faith when you defend what the Bible says about certain things.

Especially at church we must be sure to contend for salvation above all else. Can you imagine going to a church for years and someone asks, what does your pastor believe about repentance of sins — does he think you have to do that to be saved? And the answer is, your guess is as good as mine. I do not know because sometimes I think he agrees and sometimes he lets people pray work salvation behind the pulpit. Does anybody at our church not know what I believe about repentance in regards to salvation? Nobody who has been here for even a couple months would say that. Why? Because we contend for the things that are most important.

Verse 4: "For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." Because people creep in and cause problems. When something creeps in the implication is it is very subtle — you are trying not to be discovered. Unless someone is completely foolish, they are going to bring false doctrine very subtly. They are going to creep in quietly. How do they creep in work salvation? By saying something like, well, you know, someone who is really saved is going to start living a good life. That is a false statement but it seems harmless. If you are really saved you are going to make some changes — well, that is actually heresy, because there is no guarantee of a change when you get saved. Someone could remain a drunk until the day they die and be saved. There is no guarantee. But is that not subtle? Especially to someone who is newly saved — it would seem very harmless. If you had said that to me shortly after I got saved it would have seemed very harmless to me. I would not have realised anything was wrong with it. People can creep things in, and not all of them are bad people — some do it innocently. But there are others where it is intentional, and in the back of your head you start to think, well, I guess if they are really meant to be saved they will get saved. That is actually Calvinism. That is actually not a true statement. God means for everybody to be saved — that is why he died for everybody.

Point 4: Doctrine Shapes

Doctrine divides. Doctrine unites. Doctrine protects. But doctrine also shapes — it moulds and forms our church into being a certain type of church.

1 John 5:10: "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son." A record is something that is written. God has given us a record, speaking largely about the Lord Jesus Christ. If you do not believe it, you are saying God is a liar. Verse 11: "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." This sounds a lot like the last half of Romans 6:23 — the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. They are basically parallel. What is that saying? Salvation and life is only in Jesus Christ. He is the only way to heaven. If someone got offended by that, they are at the wrong church. Division needs to happen.

It also says God hath given to us eternal life — given, like a gift. A gift is something that is given. The gift of God is eternal life. Eternal life is something given to us as a gift. It is free — no works are involved on our part, because it was the work of God. He died, he paid for it. Eternal life is free for us because it was paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. The gift was very expensive, but it is not paid for by us. It is free for us as the receivers. So a person to be saved must believe salvation is a gift. If they think they have to work for their salvation, they are not saved. If someone thinks they have to repent of their sins or get baptised to go to heaven, they are not saved, because they do not believe it is a gift. It also says eternal life — you must believe the gift is eternal. If you think salvation can be lost, you are not saved. Saying that divides a lot of people away. Well, I am sorry to quote the Bible — that is what God says. There are no works to be saved, and no works to stay saved. It is a gift.

Now in the last few minutes, I have not once told you that you should be going soul-winning on a regular basis. But because of the fact that when you hear how clear salvation is, you realise that very few people are saved. Narrow is the way which leads unto life, and they cannot get saved on their own. No — they cannot. And you know what happens? It shapes our church into being a soul-winning church, even though I did not directly say anything about needing to go soul-winning. That is the result of that kind of preaching. Churches that are very clear on salvation, it is going to result in those members being soul winners — because we realise I have got to defend the faith, I have got to preach the common salvation. The result of being very clear on salvation motivates us to go soul-winning, because we really start to realise wow, I used to think 20% of this country was saved, and now I am starting to realise it is not that high. It shapes our church into being a soul-winning church.

One more example to close up. One thing we emphasise at our church is the importance of learning the Bible for yourself — reading the Bible, memorising it, studying it, reading it on a daily basis, having that personal walk with God. From what people at our church have told me, at most Baptist churches Bible reading is not really a major emphasis. In fact, very few people at those churches have actually read the whole Bible. And one reason why people probably do not feel all that motivated to read the Bible is because they are not getting a lot of verses in the sermons. At our church, say what you want about my preaching — one thing you cannot say is that I do not give you much Bible. I cannot think of a sermon where there are less than 10 or 20 verses. Often I am up here looking at the time thinking, all right, I am going to have to skip this because I have so much Bible in my notes that it is going to take too long. It is not just a church where there is a story and that is it. If you are hearing a lot of Bible preached you start to realise, man, I need to read the Bible. If I talk about a story like Naaman, for a lot of people who are not that familiar with it, you think I should probably read 2 Kings 5.

1 Peter 2:2: "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." We ought to desire God's word, and we grow by reading it. At our church I do not think we have a major problem with people not reading the Bible. Obviously for all of us it is hard on a daily basis when we get busy, but I think everybody at our church would say, yeah, I really need to read the Bible. We have our New Testament Bible reading challenge coming up in January to read the whole New Testament in a month — I am confident at least half our church will do it. But it is not just because I am putting forth a challenge. It is because there is so much Bible in the sermons that you want to know the word of God. You want to know these stories, you want to learn these things, because we preach a lot on our doctrines and what the Bible says. And it shapes our church into being a certain sort of church.

A lot of churches have different emphases, and as a result it shapes their church into a certain type. A lot of churches major on money and it shapes the church accordingly. Our church is focused on soul-winning. I do not think there is any question — if somebody asked what is the number one focus of Verity Baptist Church, I am pretty sure everybody would say soul-winning. Why? Because that is what we are about.

Conclusion

Doctrine is good for us. Doctrine divides — and there might be people in the future who get divided out because they disagree with something I say. Well, it is what it is. I am meant to preach the whole word of God. I am not meant to hold back. If anybody at our church is guilty of a sin in the past and loves God now, they would agree: yeah, you know what, it was wrong, I should have never done it, and I do not want others to make the mistake I made. We do not want the next generation to make mistakes we have made. We want them to know what the Bible says and why they believe it.

Doctrine divides — sometimes that is a good thing. But it also unites those of us that remain. Our church is a very united church — why? Because we believe the same things. Those who disagree leave. It is what it is, because we want to be united together in what we believe. Doctrine also protects us from false doctrine coming in, confusing newer people. And it shapes our church into being the type of church that it is.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here in your house today. I ask you to help us to learn from this sermon, help us to be excited for this new series — to not only learn new things and new doctrines but also get reminded on things we already know, and learn how to prove things that we know. I ask you to help us to always be humble before what the word of God says, regardless of whether it is something new to us or something we are guilty of. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

We are here in Matthew chapter 1, and obviously this is a famous scripture which we just read. We are starting the first sermon in the Alphabet of Bible Doctrines series, with the letter A — Abortion. Believe it or not, Matthew 1:23 is our first verse for a sermon on abortion. Normally it is going to be a Christmas verse, and I am sure I will use it next week in the sermons, but notice what it says in Matthew 1:23: "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."

Keep your finger in Matthew 1 and go to Isaiah chapter 7.

What is abortion? Abortion is the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks. One major reason it is often done in the first 28 weeks is that it is extremely dangerous to the woman if done late term, because there is a large human inside at that point and you have got to get all the body parts out, otherwise infections can happen and a lot of dangers can come to the woman. So abortion is usually done very early, and it is a deliberate termination. Usually people abort babies because they are fornicating outside of marriage, they get pregnant, and they want to cover it up. That is the reason why most abortions take place.

As I said in the introductory sermon on this series, doctrine is very divisive. In a poll in America it is about a 50/50 split — slightly more than half of men are against abortion, slightly more than half of women are for abortion. Around the world it is probably going to be about a 50/50 split. Well, the question is — what does the Bible say? It does not matter what your own personal opinion is, or how you were raised, or what your parents thought, or what you were taught. What does the Bible say?

Point 1: The Creation of Life

Point number one is the creation of life. What it says in Matthew 1:23, where your fingers should still be, is "Behold, a virgin shall be with child." Notice what it says in Isaiah 7:14: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Matthew 1:23 is a quote from Isaiah 7:14, but it changes it slightly to teach us something. In the Old Testament: a virgin shall conceive — conception. In the New Testament: a virgin shall be with child. Do you know what that teaches us? Life begins at conception. This is what Bible-believing Christians say, and it is biblical. Life begins at conception — not at one month or two months or three months, or right out of the womb. Life begins at conception, according to the Bible.

Go to Hebrews 11. In Hebrews 11 we see the story of Sarah and Abraham from the Old Testament. The Bible teaches that Sarah was basically barren — unable to have a child for a long time. The heart of every single woman is to be able to have a child, and Abraham and Sarah prayed and prayed. God said they were going to have a child, but it reached the point where she was past childbearing. What the Bible very clearly teaches is that God is the one who opens and closes the womb. Somebody could be married for a long time and not be blessed with children, or they could be blessed with children immediately — God is the one who opens and closes the womb.

Hebrews 11:11: "Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised." Sarah is barren, unable to have a child, and the point at which she has a child is when she receives strength to conceive seed. You are seeing life beginning at the point of conception.

Is there any dispute about what has been shown so far? No dispute whatsoever that life begins at conception. Some people say well, life does not begin at conception — a fertilised egg at that point is not life, it begins at implantation. Implantation occurs basically 7 to 14 days after conception, and people are trying to change the definition of conception. But the Bible shows in Hebrews 11 that her having strength to conceive seed is significant. The seed is a significant thing at conception. What takes place is the seed of a man comes in contact with the egg of a woman, you have a fertilised egg, and according to the Bible life begins right there. Seven to fourteen days later is implantation. When does life begin? Not at implantation 7 to 14 days after conception — at conception, because by the time implantation occurs, there is no longer seed of the man. You have got what is called a zygote or a fertilised egg at this point. The seed of the man is gone. The significance in Hebrews 11 is to conceive seed, showing you that life begins at conception, and the seed is significant in that it is gone by the point of implantation.

Why is this significant? Well, because in the 21st century we now have something called birth control pills and the day after pill. Now, a birth control pill or day after pill — and I understand there are a lot of different kinds — claims to prevent pregnancy from occurring. But actually it is more accurate when it says birth control, because it is not necessarily preventing pregnancy. It is preventing birth. It prevents birth by two mechanisms. Number one, it prevents a woman from ovulating. If a woman does not ovulate then you cannot have the seed of the man come in contact with the egg of the woman, so it does prevent pregnancy from occurring. However, it is not always effective, so there is a backup mechanism where it makes implantation very difficult to occur — basically it creates a hostile environment so the zygote, the fertilised egg, will die off before implantation can occur. It is 99% effective at preventing births. It is not 99% effective at preventing conception. The backup mechanism finishes the job if it did not prevent ovulation.

Here is the point: if implantation is prevented but conception occurred, that is the death of a human life. And then people say, well, no, it is just a cell. Wait a minute — as Bible-believing Christians, we all saw what the Bible said. Life begins at conception. They say they prevent pregnancy because they prevent the seed of the man coming in contact with the egg of the woman, and they also prevent pregnancy by preventing implantation from occurring. Does life begin at implantation? No. Life begins at conception. And so when women are taking birth control pills and day after pills, it is what is called a silent abortion — where babies are being killed at the zygote or fertilised egg stage. We do not believe that is merely a cell. We do not believe life begins at implantation. Show me the Bible verse that life begins at implantation. I showed you clear verses — Matthew 1:23, a verse we have all heard preached a hundred times — and what do we see? Life begins at conception, no doubt about it whatsoever.

Go to Genesis 2. Now let me explain something. When I preach the Bible on any sermon in this doctrinal series, it is not criticising anybody in this room for what they have done in the past. The past is the past. Number one, this is about teaching the young children in this room so they know what the Bible says. Number two, it is about learning from mistakes and correcting things for the future.

When it comes to saying we are a new IFB church, we have very unique beliefs compared to other Baptist churches. The first thing I got converted on in terms of topics after getting saved was birth control. Shortly after I got saved I visited my sister — she is two years older than me, got married at 17, had her first child at 18, and when I visited her I was 19, she was 21, and she was pregnant with her third child. Everybody was saying things like, well, how many children is she going to have? Surely after three — don't you want to live a little? People were clearly criticising the choices that she and her husband made. I asked my sister in a non-critical way what the Bible says about this, and my sister said, well, the Bible says be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. We leave it in God's hands. If he wants us to have a child he will bless us; if not, that is fine. And as a 19-year-old I said, that makes perfect sense. Do not the simple things confound the wisdom of the wise?

I will be honest, though — at the time I believed what my sister said was correct but I did not have a super strong conviction about it. If I had gotten married at that age and did not think I could financially afford kids I probably would have used some sort of birth control, because I did not have a strong enough conviction. The same reason some of you will go home later today and listen to rock music — you know it is wrong but you do not have a super strong conviction about it. I did not have a super strong conviction as a 19-year-old. I do now. I also realise not everybody in this room has a strong conviction about this.

So here is what I am saying: I would never advocate any form of birth control. The Bible says be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. The Bible says children are a blessing. I am against all forms of birth control — which, by the way, throughout human history most people have been against, and even the Roman Catholic Church said it was a major sin for the first 1500 years of their existence. But here is what I am saying: if you do choose to use a form of birth control as a married couple, do not use a form that could end human life. I am against all forms, but do not use the day after pill that will prevent implantation after conception has already occurred. If you are going to use a form of birth control because you do not have enough faith that God is going to provide, do not use a form that is going to end a human life. Why? Because some sins are bigger than others. Aborting a baby is murder.

How did the day after pill get invented? There was a woman by the name of Margaret Sanger who founded Planned Parenthood and funded the day after pill. They used tests on women in Puerto Rico, and originally when they had the day after pill it was 20 times as strong as it is now, so a lot of women died during the testing. The reason why Margaret Sanger and the others involved did this — and they did not say it in these exact words, but this is what they were saying — is that women should have a right to fornicate as much as they want and not have to worry about the consequences. That is the reason why the day after pill was invented. Look it up. It is a fact. Because women wanted the right to fornicate and get away with it, and men also wanted to sleep with their girlfriends and not have to worry about any consequence. They had posters up showing a woman saying "Guys, I'm on the pill" and all these men getting excited. What a wicked culture, just wanting to fornicate and get away with it. But here is the thing — you are never going to get away with it, because God knows everything that you do.

One argument people make is that life does not begin at conception, it begins at implantation. When you try to nail people down on it, they say it is just a matter of semantics. No, it is not a matter of semantics. As Bible-believing Christians, this affects whether or not the day after pill is preventing pregnancy or ending human life. Another argument people make is that it is not really alive until the baby has body parts. Again, life begins at conception before that point, but you can hear a heartbeat at five to six weeks. I am sure many people have gone to ultrasounds and the first reaction you have to looking at that baby is wow — it looks so human, it has body parts, you are amazed at a very young age.

Another argument is that life begins when the baby leaves the womb — which is generally what the world will say. To me this is just stupid, because what about during labour when it is not quite out? The baby's on its way out — is it not human yet? And there are Bible-believing Christians that support this as well. They say life does not begin at conception — it actually begins when the baby leaves the womb. Here is a quote from a famous Baptist pastor, and I will tell you who said it afterwards. He said: "I do not teach that abortion is murder." He said: I do not teach it for two reasons. In the first place, the clear scriptures in Genesis 2, as well as Job 30–31 and Ezekiel 37, teach that there is no life in the human sense until there is breath — so no breath, no life according to this pastor. Who is it? Peter Ruckman. A lot of people know who Peter Ruckman is — a famous Independent Baptist pastor before he died. I did not just see this quote online; I listened to him say it. He taught that abortion is not murder. Where was he getting that from? Genesis 2:7: "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." He says, until there is breath in that human it is not alive, so a baby has to leave the womb to get breath.

Now, a couple of things here. Number one, this verse is recapping what took place in Genesis chapter 1. Adam had an unusual creation — it is not that he had two parents where conception took place, spent nine months in the womb, and then came out. He was actually created out of the dust of the ground. So when he was created out of the dust of the ground, it is just a body — that is not the same thing as life beginning inside a woman at conception. God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the body with the spirit is alive, because the body without the spirit is dead. God created the body and breathed into the nostrils the breath of life, the spirit of God is there inside of him, and man became a living soul. If you are going to use that as your proof, why not use a passage in the Bible that actually talks about a woman being pregnant? Because when you think about what that is referring to — a body created and then God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life — how does that say a baby inside the belly does not have life? They have a body, soul, and spirit at the point of conception.

The other verses he mentioned — Job 30 and 31 — I have no idea what argument he is trying to make from those. Ezekiel 37, can these dry bones live? That is not the same thing as a human life inside a belly that ends up being born. The Bible is very clear — life begins at conception.

He also went on — and I am paraphrasing this — and gave an example about nuns raising orphans and said, do you really believe it is God's will for babies to be born into a Catholic home? He basically justified it by saying if your kids are born in the wrong religion they are basically better off dead. Well, here is the thing — you are part of a false religion, Peter Ruckman. The man taught UFOs and aliens and all these bizarre things, and the Bible clearly teaches that abortion is murder.

Point 2: Cleanliness from the Unmarried

Point number one was the creation of life. Point number two is cleanliness from the unmarried.

Ezekiel 16:22–24: "And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood. And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord God;) that thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in every street. Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms." In our modern day, the expression "opening thy feet" would be like spreading your legs. That is a bit crude, you say? Yeah, but that is what the Bible says, because it is trying to prove a point of how wicked fornication is.

Why does abortion take place? Because of unwanted pregnancies. Somebody gets pregnant, they do not want the baby, so they end up having an abortion to get rid of it. Abortion is not going to take place if the pregnancy is wanted. So when it comes to the unmarried, what do we need? We need cleanliness. We need going to the altar pure, not fornicating before marriage.

Turn to Psalm 127. The people who need this sermon most, above anybody, are the young children in this room. Everybody in this room knows abortion is wrong, and if you are a member of our church you love God and you are trying to serve God. The past is not a criticism of what happened in the past. But young children need to know what the Bible says and how serious it is. All of us as adults have made mistakes in the past, but you do not want to pass those sins on to your kids. They need to know in our day what is acceptable and what is not. Things are going to get worse and worse.

In the Philippines in 2018, 54.3% of total registered births were born out of wedlock. In 2019, 54.8% — amounting to 917,242 births. The majority of babies in the Philippines were born out of wedlock in 2018 and 2019. Oh, the Philippines is such a Christian country — really? Where are these statistics coming from? Look at the statistics for Japan or countries people would say are heathen countries and you would see a lot lower than the Philippines. In many ways the Philippines is not leading the charge of Christianity in Asia — it is actually leading the charge of sin. Now, are there more saved people in the Philippines than other countries? Yes. But there is also a lot more wickedness in a lot of ways. People that visited for the missions trips were shocked at the level of sin here. This is not an insult to any of us in this room, but we just have to admit it. If over half of babies are born out of wedlock there is a problem. Where is the problem? The problem is in the preaching. Why is this not being preached against? Why are people not learning this at a young age? Because people are grown up and do not even know these things — the Bible is not being preached. We need cleanliness from the unmarried.

Point 3: Confidence in the Lord from the Married

We need confidence in the Lord from the married. Psalm 127:3: "Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward." People talk about having children in 2022 and make it sound like a curse. Oh, that is terrible, you are having another child? What an insult. The Bible says it is his reward. It is a good thing. Verse 4: "As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." The Bible says a person who has children is happy. You might say, well, I see people that are parents and they do not seem happy. You know what — they would be happy if they realised the blessing that they have, instead of looking at children as a curse. They are turning a blessing into a curse, because as a married couple it is a blessing to have children.

Go to Exodus 21. We need confidence in the Lord from the married. If God opens the womb and you are a married couple and you do not think you can afford to have children — but God says be fruitful and multiply, and God opens the womb — what God is saying is that you will have the ability to provide for that child. These are hard facts, because it is easy to preach, and nappies are expensive. I do not think anybody who is unmarried or has never been around children realises how expensive it is to have children. But children are a blessing.

Why is it that sometimes parents feel miserable having kids? Because they are turning the blessing into a curse. They are focusing on the negative. Are there negatives about being a parent? Yes, there are negatives and positives in everything. It really comes down to what you are focusing on. The last couple of weeks have been the sickest my children have ever been. I got the least sick by far in my family. If you were here for last Sunday's sermon, I sounded pretty bad — but it was nothing compared to the rest of my family. When you have three kids and they are all sick, nobody sleeps. The reason I got sick is my immune system was so low because I am like a zombie every day. But I go home and my child will smile at me or give me a hug, and there is no replacing that. That small little smile means so much. You cannot really explain it. When I go home later today my son Ezra is going to have a big smile on his face. My son Zeph, my daughter Chris — they are going to be so happy to see Dad. You cannot replace that. Children create a happy home.

My wife and I have three children and they are a blessing. We may have more — I do not know. What we are going to do is leave it in God's hands. If God gives us more children, praise the Lord. If not, I consider the three children I have a big blessing. We need confidence in the Lord from the married.

Point 4: Consequences for Abortion

Point number four — consequences for abortion. Exodus 21:12: "He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death." With a government having a proper law, abortion would be punished by the death penalty. You say that sounds extreme? Well, what sounds extreme to me is killing an innocent human being inside of your belly. What did that child do? The Bible says he that smiteth a man so that he dies shall be surely put to death. The death penalty for abortion — not just for the woman, but for the boyfriend or husband that is complicit in the abortion, the abortion doctor, and anybody else involved. They should be put to death according to what the Bible says. Abortion is murder, no dispute about it. And murder is punished with the death penalty in the Bible.

Murdering a baby is far worse in my mind than murdering an adult. A baby is the most innocent human being there is — the most helpless. They cannot fight back. What Cain did to Abel was terrible, but what is far worse is killing a baby even inside the womb. People can do that and not feel bad because they do not see that baby cry out for mercy. Somebody else is doing it for them, and they feel like they can justify themselves by saying, I did not do it. In 99-plus percent of cases, it is your fault that you got pregnant.

Verse 14: "But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die." There is the death penalty on abortion, and that should be the punishment for someone who has an abortion.

Turn to Romans 2. I am not talking about retroactively putting this into practice, and I am not saying we are going to go out and kill everybody who has had an abortion. That is in the government's hands and a matter of the laws of the government. But here is what I am saying: if you are guilty of that wicked sin in the past, make sure you have confessed to God and got right with God, and make sure you do not do anything like that again. It is a major sin — it is murder.

Romans 2:14–15: "For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another." By default there are certain things that people do not do because they realise they are wrong. Everybody knows it is wrong to steal, to lie, to kill — because they have a conscience. An interesting phenomenon is that half the world supports abortion and in America a third of women get an abortion in their lifetime and think there is nothing wrong with it, and yet they have massive depression afterwards. Why is that?

Now, birth control medication is extremely unhealthy on the body. You start messing with hormones and God created you in a certain way — when you start making modifications there is no telling what is going to take place. One of the major side effects of a lot of birth control medication is weight gain. There are side effects to medication that you take. But the major reason why there is depression after abortion is that most people who have an abortion have a conscience and they know it is wrong. People try to justify their actions, but everybody knows abortion is murder. Everybody. You can come up with whatever argument you want — everybody knows it is murder. This is why the topic is so infuriating to me. With abortion I have always thought it was murder. I do not understand how anyone could disagree. But here is the thing — they realise we are right. They know that they are actually killing human life, but they want to justify their actions. And it is not just those who actually have an abortion who justify it — others that are living in major sin do as well, because it makes them look better if nothing is a sin.

When women have a miscarriage and lose a child, women tend to blame themselves even though they did not do anything wrong. They carry a burden of guilt even though they did not cause it. They feel like, what could I have done differently? My wife and I have had a miscarriage before, and I am sure there are other women in this room who have. Women carry guilt even though they did not do anything wrong. How much more, then, if you intentionally kill that human life inside your body? Most people that get an abortion have a conscience and feel guilty as a result.

Here is a story I found online of a woman who struggled with depression, probably pretty typical for women who have gone through this. She had an abortion, had major depression, ended up seeing a psychologist and a psychiatrist, was on all kinds of medication and in therapy every week. She wrote this article to help other women going through something similar. She writes: it started with a pregnancy, one that was unexpected to say the least. She goes on a date with a guy she does not know well, and says one thing led to another and she woke up the next morning unable to remember the night — meaning she got drunk out of her mind, and unsure of what happened. She says she knows he came back to her house but everything else is a blur. She is trying to justify her actions, but the truth is still being revealed. She got drunk, and this guy she barely knew she invited back to her place. What did she expect to happen? And she talks about the depression that followed. Then later in the article she says: straight away I knew there was no way I would keep the baby. I assumed that because I was so certain on this decision, the procedure itself would be a relief. I was told at the clinic time and time again that most women feel a sense of relief when they have an abortion. However, once the abortion had been carried out I was left with this horrible feeling of "what now?" I had never questioned the morality of abortion before, but when it comes to your own body you start to think about things differently. Translation: my conscience is making me feel awful. She goes on and on about therapy and medication. There are side effects to getting an abortion, and that is a guilt that women are going to carry their entire lives because of the horrible thing that they did.

As a Bible-believing Christian, forgetting those things which are behind — if you committed sins in the past, the past is the past. But let us not justify this action. Abortion is a horrible sin. It is murder, and in my opinion it is worse than murdering an adult because it is an innocent child that has done nothing to deserve this.

In the political news worldwide, the country that Europe, America, and Australia are really criticising right now is Iran — criticising them because a woman was put to death for not having the proper clothing on, and then some 500 people were killed who protested. I think that is horrible. But cast out the beam in your own eye before criticising the mote in someone else's eye. Because in America a million babies are aborted per year — over 2,000 a day. In Iran, 500 people in total have been put to death. I do not agree with those 500 people being put to death — the reason being it is not the biblical punishment. But 2,000 is more than 500. 2,000 every single day. And the ones leading the abortion charge are the United States, all of Europe, Australia. So before criticising Iran for what they are doing, cast the beam out of your own eye. I am anti-sin. I am not going to justify abortion. Abortion is murder, no question about it. What they are doing is worse than what Iran is doing, but the media focuses on one thing and makes you think one is horrible while ignoring the other.

Conclusion

Problems with abortion: it brings the wrath of God. It is a major sin, and the wrath of God and the guilt of your conscience is going to destroy your life.

The past is the past. Forgetting those things which are behind — I am not criticising anybody for what they did in the past, because that is gone, it is done. If you have had an abortion before, or if you are taking the day after pill or methods that cause silent abortions, the past is the past. Change the present and the future. Do what the Bible says.

Every baby that has been aborted is in heaven. 2 Samuel 12:22–23: "And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." What does he mean by I shall go to him? We do not believe in soul sleep. He is saying he is going to be in heaven with his young son that died. Every baby — because life begins at conception — every aborted baby is in heaven today. But it does not change the fact that it is murder and it is a horrible sin.

One of the reasons why false religions are taking over this world is because many of them have a lot of children. Do you know why Islam is going to be the biggest religion in my lifetime — passing Christianity, including all of Catholicism, Orthodox, and Protestant? Because they do not really practice a lot of birth control. Consider children to be a blessing. Trust in God and have children. Raise a bunch of soul winners. We are fighting a losing battle — the vast majority of this world rejects God, is not saved, is not preaching the truth. We need more people rising up. We need to have children and teach them the word of God, get them saved, and teach them to love God and serve God with their lives. That is what we need.

One last thing in closing. Our church is a church that practices church discipline. But let me say this — if a woman at our church ended up getting pregnant out of wedlock, and because of that she had a reality check and came to me or to my wife and said, I am sorry to report this but I have gotten pregnant and I want to serve God, I messed up with my life — she would not be kicked out of this church. Someone gets kicked out of church when they are not getting a sin right. If they got it right and said, I messed up, I am done with that, I just want to be in church, I just want to read the Bible, I want to get right — if someone had the right heart, they would actually be forgiven for that. The reason I say that is this: the worst thing you could ever do is think, I do not want to get kicked out of church, so I will just get an abortion. I do not think that would take place, but I would feel guilty in my conscience if somebody actually did that. It is not justifying the action — it is a horrible sin, something you have to get right — but if somebody got pregnant and decided to get right with God, they would actually be forgiven for that. Of course, you reap what you sow and you are still going to deal with the consequences from God. But in conclusion, abortion is murder, and life begins at conception — not at implantation, not when the baby is formed in the womb, not when the baby leaves the womb, but at conception. Before I formed thee I knew thee, is what God says in Jeremiah. Life begins at conception.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today. I ask you to help us to understand this sermon, help us to understand what the Bible says, and help us as God-fearing people to serve you and do right in our lives — not to fornicate before we are married; us that are married, to consider children a blessing. I ask you to help our church to be pure and help us to teach this next generation of children. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

We are here in John chapter 1, continuing our series on the Alphabet of Bible Doctrines. The doctrine for the letter B is baptism. Baptism is obviously a very core and essential doctrine of what we believe, and it is certainly a divisive doctrine — the majority of people here in the Philippines would not agree with how we do baptism, when we do baptism, or why. This is obviously a divisive topic, but the Bible is very clear on it. Certain topics you might say, Brother Stucky, I already know this — but it is good to be reminded of things we know, and it is good to teach the young children in here what the Bible says so they can know these things even before they are saved.

Point 1: Baptism Does Not Save You

Baptism does not save you. Baptism does not help you get to heaven. Baptism does not give you eternal life or everlasting life — however you want to say it, it does not save you at all.

John 1:12: "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." Being born again or becoming a son of God is when you believe on his name — nothing about baptism. Verse 13: "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Born not of blood — what does that mean? It means that if you have a saved mum and a saved dad and they have a child, that child is not automatically saved just because of their parents. Likewise, you could have a Muslim mum and a Muslim dad and their child is not automatically going to go to hell when they die, because they could end up changing religions. It is not your blood that affects whether or not you go to heaven.

It is also not the will of the flesh. It is not decisions that your flesh makes that get you to heaven. I am saved because I quit drinking — that is not the will of the flesh. I repented of all my sins — that is not the will of the flesh. It is not what you do, it is not whether you go to church or get baptised or whatever — it is not the will of the flesh. It is also not the will of man. In certain societies and times past they would force you to get baptised, but it is not the will of man that gets you saved — because it is an individual thing when you believe on his name.

Go to John 3. I get that a lot of people are aware of a lot of what we are going to talk about, but let me explain something. If we went out in public and just asked people about baptism — what is it, why do we do it, what is the purpose — everyone would say, I have no idea. They have no idea what the Bible says. They have no idea why they believe it. We always have new people coming to church, and we also have new children being born and growing up — they need to know these things at a young age.

John 3:15: "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." So what if somebody believes and they do not get baptised? They have eternal life. What if they believe and they do not quit drinking? They have eternal life. What if they believe and they stay a drug addict until the day they die? They have eternal life — life that never ends. It is as simple as believing on the Lord.

Verse 16: "For God so loved the world" — not just the Christian countries, every Muslim country, every Hindu country, every Buddhist country — "that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Anyone who believes, regardless of whether or not they get baptised, has everlasting life. Verse 17: "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." In verse 15, eternal life. Verse 16, everlasting life. Verse 17, saved. Do you know what that teaches you? The same thing — because if you have eternal life, that means you have life that never ends. You will not go to the second death. If you are saved, you are saved from going to the second death. If you have everlasting life, you are going to heaven. It is a different way to express it but it is representing the same thing.

Verse 18: "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." What is the word that determines whether you have everlasting life, eternal life, or salvation? Belief. Nothing about baptism. Nothing about repentance. You say, well, Brother Stucky, you have to repent — well, show that to me. Not in the passage I just showed you. Read the entire book of John and show it to me. You are not going to find it. The book that teaches you how to be saved does not use that word. Why? Because all you have to do to be saved is to believe.

Verse 36: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." The word is hath — present tense. It does not say he that believes will one day get everlasting life. It says hath. Here is the thing: if at the moment you believe you have everlasting life, can everlasting life come an hour later when you get baptised? No, it cannot. Because it is not just life — it is everlasting. So it is not that you have life, you lose it, then you get baptised and get it back. No — it is everlasting. The moment you believe, that comes before baptism. Baptism has nothing to do with giving you eternal life, getting you to heaven, or being saved.

Go to Acts 16. Acts 16 verse 27: "And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here." He assumes that if he loses the prisoners he is going to be killed, so he is just going to kill himself. Paul says, do thyself no harm, for we are all here.

"Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" There are a lot of things we should do and should not do in life. We should read the Bible every day. We should go to church every week. We should pray without ceasing. We should not lie or steal. There are a lot of things we should and should not do. But you do not have to do all of those things to go to heaven. People say, well, you have to keep the commandments — but the Bible says if you love me, keep my commandments. He does not say to go to heaven, keep my commandments. He says if you love me. There is a difference. You can be saved without loving God.

The thing you must do is found in verse 31: "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Here is the thing: if there was something else you had to do to be saved and Paul and Silas do not mention it, then they are lying to this person. Can you imagine — this person believes, never gets baptised, then dies and ends up in hell because he did not get baptised? If you had to get baptised, Paul and Silas would say believe and get baptised. They would not just say believe if there was something else you must do. But there is nothing else you must do. What you must do to be saved is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That simple. Point number one — baptism does not save you.

Point 2: Baptism Is for Believers

Baptism is for those who are already saved. What takes place in verse 31 is it says believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. We do not necessarily know the exact detail of how everything unfolds, but they end up preaching at this man's house and preaching to everybody. The summation of our gospel is belief. Verse 32: "And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway." Very clearly they get baptised after they have heard the gospel — believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now people are going to say, but how do you know there was not a baby in the household? All that are in the house get baptised — that is true. But how do I know there was not a baby? Verse 34: "And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house." Everybody in the house believed. Babies cannot believe. This re-emphasises that everybody in the house believes, and that is why they get baptised.

A young child cannot believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Why? Because salvation means you are safe from the penalty of your sins, and a child that is not yet at the age of accountability is not even guilty yet. How can you get saved if you are not guilty? If I say I am going to save you from a burning building but you are not inside a burning building, that does not make sense. My children are very young — all three of them are what I would say is safe, but too young to be saved, because they are not even guilty yet.

What is the exact age of accountability? I do not think it is the exact same age for every person because people learn at different rates. Generally I would say when a child is not yet five they are probably too young to fully comprehend this. The sign the Bible would give is think of Adam and Eve where they were ashamed to be naked. A baby is not ashamed to be naked — they wear clothes because mum and dad put them on. That signals they are not yet at the point to fully grasp this information.

Go to Acts 19. Acts 19 verse 1: "And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost." In verse 2, this is basically Paul confirming a salvation. When we knock doors and somebody says, yeah, I talked to your church before, you should still check the salvation. Just because they talked to someone does not mean they said they believed it, or it could have been in a crowd where some believed and some did not, or they could have prayed but not fully understood. Double-check the salvation regardless of who they talked to, because not everybody who hears the gospel gets saved.

Verse 3: "And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." The repentance that John was preaching was — change your mind and believe on the Lord. This expression, baptism of repentance, appears four times in your Bible, always associated with John the Baptist. I believe the reason why is that a change took place in the lifetime of John the Baptist. He is the forerunner. Before John, everybody would say, look toward the coming Messiah. As John came it gave the signal — no longer look toward the coming Messiah, believe on the Messiah, because he is here. So the change in his lifetime is that you would no longer say believe in the coming Messiah — you say, that man Jesus Christ is the one you have to believe on. The same idea applies: repentance with salvation means change what you believe and believe on the Lord. Getting baptised is signalling that you have changed what you believe, because baptism is for believers.

Verse 5: "When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." Why did they get baptised again? Because they did not believe the first time. That is why they got baptised again.

Go to Acts 8. This might seem basic to a lot of people, but you know what — when I had been saved for about a year, my pastor asked me if I had thought about getting baptised. I said I have been baptised. He said okay, when did you get baptised? I said I was baptised as a baby, in the United Methodist Church. When people first get saved it is not like they have a perfect understanding of all these things. I am sure when you first got saved you did not necessarily know you needed to get baptised. Baptism is for people that are already saved.

Acts 8:35: "Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?" Verse 37: "And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." Regardless of your exact interpretation of the timing of events, the key is that believing happens before baptism.

Here is the thing — if you have a modern version of the Bible you are probably very confused right now, because they removed verse 37. What is stopping me from being baptised? And he baptised him. There is no answer to the question. Does that even make sense? In our Bible, what is stopping me from being baptised? The key is if thou believest. That is the key to being baptised. If you want to be baptised, great — but you have to believe first.

What is really awkward is when someone really wants to be baptised but they do not believe. I have dealt with that before, especially in Sacramento. It is really hard when someone says I drove down here two hours to get baptised today. I am sorry, but you cannot get baptised. I was as polite as possible, but it is what it is. When someone drives two hours to do something and you say they cannot, it makes them upset. But you must believe first.

What that means is if you got baptised before you got saved, you just took a short swim. You just got wet. None of us who were baptised as babies were really baptised, because that is not baptism — you can't get baptised as a baby because you cannot believe at that point. We got water sprinkled on our heads but we did not get baptised, because baptism is for people that are already saved. If you are in this room and you say, Brother Stucky, I got baptised but it was before I was saved — it is a free-will choice, but you should get re-baptised. Why? Because you just got wet the first time. That is what the Bible teaches.

Point 3: Baptism Is by Immersion

Baptism is by immersion — fully being in the water. Acts 8:38: "And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him." They went down both into the water. There is a reason why the wording is so specific. If it was just by sprinkling, you would just pour a couple of drops on the head — there would be no point going into the water. People say, well, how do you know they did not go into the water and then just sprinkle drops, or how do you know they did not pour water? Here is how I know: because if they actually did that, they are the two dumbest human beings that have ever lived. Does it make any sense to get into a chariot, get your clothes completely wet, just to pour a few drops on someone's head? That is stupid. They went into the water because they were doing it by immersion. If it was just sprinkling, Philip would have just used a water bottle. He would not have needed to find a body of water large enough to go in.

Go to John 3. You say, Brother Stucky, I am not convinced. Well, let me ask you — what is significant about sprinkling or pouring water on someone's head? What does that symbolise? Nothing. Do you know what baptism symbolises? It symbolises the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ — which is why it is by immersion. If you are just sprinkling or pouring water, that does not symbolise the burial of Jesus Christ. When you are getting baptised, because it is for believers, you are showing the world that you believe. You are showing the world that you believe Jesus was buried and that he rose again.

John 3:22: "After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized. And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there." Why does it say because there was much water? You need water to do baptism, and the Bible is saying John found a place where it was deep enough to do baptisms. Because here is the thing — if baptism was just by pouring or sprinkling, do you know what John would have said to his disciples? All right, first thing in the morning before we go out soul-winning, I want you to fill all of these bottles with water. If we could do baptisms immediately just that easily, without going into the water and needing a change of clothes and a towel, we would get 20 baptisms every single Sunday. Baptism is inconvenient. It takes effort, time, and a willing heart. God created this in a way where it kind of forces people to make a decision — are you going to serve God with your life, or not?

Go to Romans 6. From Colossians, the Bible says "buried with him in baptism." Buried. If you have ever gone to the burial of a body, you know what you notice — the entire body is put under the ground. Six feet under. It is not a burial if the arm is sticking out of the ground. Why does it say buried? Because when you get baptised the whole body goes under. Romans 6:1: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."

Baptism is likened to a burial. Because what is it that you have to believe to be saved? The gospel. What is the gospel? The death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. When you are getting baptised you are immersed — you are buried, symbolically speaking, for a short time. You go under the water and you come out.

Verse 5: "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection." When you plant seeds, you do not just throw them on the ground — you put them underground. Planted. Buried. What is the Bible trying to tell you? Immersion. That is what baptism is.

Go to Matthew 3. I think people can get overly spiritual about this. What I have noticed from baptising people in different bodies of water is that sometimes when you put someone's head in, their feet fly up in the air. I think if someone's upper half is fully under and one toe is sticking out, and you feel you need to do it again — I think that is being overly spiritual personally. It is a matter of the heart. They are getting baptised in the water — it is perfectly fine. But it is by immersion.

Matthew 3:5: "Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan; and were baptized of him in Jordan." They are baptised in the Jordan River. Verse 16: "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water." Out of the water. That means he was in the water. These pictures of a long-haired Jesus standing in shallow water are ridiculous. Obviously they were in the water because it is picturing immersion. "And lo the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

People say, but wait — I can prove to you that baptism washes away your sins. What is your proof? Well, Jesus got baptised. My question would be: what sins did Jesus have to wash away? The fact that he got baptised is actually proof that you do not have to be baptised to be saved, because he did not have any sins to wash away. I have literally had many people say this — it is a dumb argument, but I have heard it: well, if baptism does not forgive your sins, why did Jesus get baptised? He was not a sinner. So obviously that is not what baptism does.

Point 4: Baptism Is Your First Step to Obey God

What baptism is, point four, is your first step to obey God. It is your decision to follow God with your life. It is your decision to say, you know what, I am going to forsake all and follow Christ. Do you have to do that to go to heaven? No. Is it proof of your salvation? No. But no one is going to serve God if they refuse baptism. Nobody refuses to be baptised and then becomes a mighty soul winner. Everyone who is a soul winner got baptised, or got baptised as soon as they had the opportunity. Why? Because we know it is the first step to obey God. It is what God tells you to do.

Matthew 3:13: "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him." It becometh us to fulfil all righteousness — it is the right thing to do.

Go to Acts 2. Just think about this logically. Let us say you have your kids and you give them a bunch of instructions. First I want you to clean your room, then I want you to change your clothes, then I want you to come down for dinner. All of a sudden they come down for dinner, clothes are changed, but did you clean your room? No. It literally does not matter if your child does a million other things in a row that you said — they are still not doing the first thing. Well, here is the thing: are there a lot of commandments and things God wants you to do in your life? Absolutely. But if you refuse to do the very basics — I refuse to go to church and I refuse to get baptised but I want to be the greatest Christian ever — God is going to say: no, I want you to start going to church, I want you to get baptised, start reading your Bible. You need to do those first things. Baptism is right at the beginning. You believe, then you get baptised.

Acts 2:41: "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." Three thousand get baptised. It says they gladly received his word. Do you have to gladly receive the word of Christ to be saved? No. What do you have to do? We opened up with but as many as received him — not as many as gladly received him. You can receive the word of God without doing so gladly or with joy. Receiving the word gladly means you believed it, you got saved, and you are actually thankful and you are going to do something with it.

Think about the ten lepers that got healed. Jesus said go on your way and you will get healed along the way. Ten lepers go, and along the way one of them notices his leprosy is gone and he comes running back to give thanks. Now I am sure the other nine also noticed at some point. In the back of their minds they are probably thinking, I should go back to give thanks, but it is a bit inconvenient. I have spent 10 years with leprosy — I do not have time to waste going back to say thank you. But he goes back. Does that mean only one got healed? All ten got healed. The Bible is very clear.

Here is the thing — we get people saved all the time, but it does not mean they are ever going to come to church. Why? They are just not that glad about it, not that thankful, not that appreciative. Coming to church and getting baptised are inconvenient things. But if you are really glad you are going to start to follow God, and it starts with that step of baptism. Those that gladly received got baptised, and then it says in verse 47 they were praising God and having favour with all the people, and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Go to Matthew 28 to close up. Baptism does not save you. Baptism is for people that are already saved — not infant baptism, but someone old enough to believe the gospel. Now if a five, six, or seven-year-old believes on Christ, we will baptise someone that age. If they believe, we do not say you have to wait until you are 30 like Jesus. When they believe they get baptised. With young kids it is a bit hard to tell — it might take them a while to get saved. You do not want to force them to get baptised if they do not yet believe, but if they do believe, they are welcome to get baptised.

Matthew 28:18: "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Teach all nations — preaching the gospel is the main thing being encompassed there, and you do that by getting churches started so the gospel is going out everywhere. You get people saved and then you baptise them. Baptism is signalling: I have changed what I believed. When I got baptised in a Baptist church, what I was saying was, I reject the United Methodist religion I grew up in. When many of you got baptised, what you were saying is, I reject Roman Catholicism, I reject the religion of my grandparents and parents, I believe on Christ for my salvation, I do not believe in the sacraments and all the other things the Roman Catholic Church teaches. Whatever your religion was before, when you get baptised after salvation, what you are saying is, you know what, I was wrong about the gospel before, and I am getting baptised to show the world that. It takes some humility — but realise, everybody has to go through that. We all changed our belief at some point.

On a side point, verse 19 says baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. What you do see in the book of Acts is it will say that people were baptised in the name of Jesus. I do not believe that means they specifically said the word Jesus — I think it is saying by the authority of Jesus Christ. By the authority of Christ we do baptisms. Matthew 28:19 gives us the template. I will say there are churches that teach something called Oneness, which is an attack on the Trinity, and if they are only saying we baptise you in the name of Jesus it might signal what they believe. How we do it is in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.

"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." And that is what we do when we preach the word of God — we are teaching people to observe all things.

Conclusion

The Alphabet of Bible Doctrines: Baptism. It does not save you. It is for people that are already saved. It is by immersion — you go fully in the water. And it is the first step to obey God. It is not complicating the Bible — the Bible is very clear about it.

Now, when we baptise somebody, if someone said something slightly different at your old Baptist church but you are already saved and we know they are saved, I am not saying that does not count. But being baptised as a baby does not count — that is not a grey area. Being baptised before you are saved does not count — that is not a grey area either. Probably half of this church or more have been baptised by me, Pastor Jimenez, or someone else here, because before they came to us their salvation was in a confusing place. If you have any questions about whether your baptism was biblical, just do it. Do not leave it to doubt. If you are not sure if your baptism is valid, just do it again. Yes, it takes some humility — but we all change our minds at some point. We all believed false things before. You hear the gospel, you get saved, you get baptised. That is the pattern.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to see this topic of baptism. Help us as Bible-believing Christians to understand what the Bible teaches. Help us to get people saved, but help us also to bring people to church and get them baptised and teach them to observe all things. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

We are here in Matthew chapter 16, continuing our series on the Alphabet of Bible Doctrines. I am going to preach to you about the doctrine of Christ. A lot of people might be confused by this title, because this is not a sermon about Jesus — and I am going to explain it as I go — but it is going to lead us to Jesus and it is going to make sense as I explain what the sermon is about.

Matthew 16:13: "When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets." He said unto them, but whom do you say that I am? Obviously when Jesus came he caused quite a division. Some people believed on him, some loved him, some hated him. Everybody had an opinion. He was a bit of a celebrity in that day — well known, and in a way a lot of people hated him — and he asked what people were saying about him. Some said he was John the Baptist, some said Elias — which is Elijah — some said Jeremiah. Basically people were saying one of the prophets had risen again or was coming in their spirit or power.

Then he says, but who do you think I am? Those following Jesus are going to have a very different opinion than those outside. "And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." He says, Thou art the Christ. Not thou art Christ — thou art the Christ. Why? Because the Christ was a doctrine. It was something that was known from the Old Testament. Christ was not really part of his original name. His name was Jesus. But we say Jesus Christ. It is like if I were to ask you who is the president of the Philippines — you would say President Bongbong Marcos. You are putting that description or title into his name and it becomes part of his name. When you say Jesus Christ you are saying Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Saviour. There is nothing wrong with that. What we are talking about is the doctrine of the Christ — the doctrine of the Messiah — that was prophesied all throughout the Old Testament.

Peter also said the Son of the living God, because that is actually part of the doctrine that was understood about the Christ — that he was the Son of the living God. Verse 17: "And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Jesus has just done a comparison between himself and John the Baptist, himself and Elijah, himself and Jeremiah. Is there any comparison between Jesus and John the Baptist? No comparison whatsoever — other than they both had a miraculous birth, and John the Baptist was the greatest man born among women, the Bible says — and yet there is no comparison to Jesus Christ. He is not saying Peter, you are the Rock and I am founding the church upon you. He just showed nobody compares to him. The church is founded upon the truth that Jesus is the Christ. The rock mentioned all throughout the Old Testament. Verse 20: "Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ." You would not call me Matthew the Stucky. Christ is not merely part of his name — it is a description of who he was, a doctrine learned and taught in the Old Testament.

The Doctrine of the Messiah Was Known

Go to John 1. If he is telling Peter not to tell people he is the Christ, obviously that means people are aware that there is a Christ — a Saviour mentioned all throughout the Old Testament. It is a matter of whether or not they believe on Jesus as being the Christ. John 1:19: "And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ." They are basically asking so as to be able to accuse him of blasphemy or whatever — and he says, I am not the Christ. But it shows they had an understanding of who the Christ was.

Verse 25: "And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?" There was an understanding about the Christ that was taught in the Old Testament — people were aware of it before Jesus Christ revealed himself. Verse 26: "John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; he it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose." The context is never broken from the topic of the Christ throughout John 1.

Verse 29: "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." The doctrine of the Christ taught that the Christ is the Lamb of God and that the Christ is going to take away the sin of the world. That is part of the doctrine of the Christ. Now what is John referencing when he calls Jesus the Lamb of God?

Go to Genesis 22. Genesis 22:7: "And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" This is the great picture we see in the Old Testament of a father being willing to sacrifice his son. If you are a parent in this room, the most painful thing to you would be being willing to sacrifice your child. God the Father sacrificing his son is the most painful thing he could possibly do to himself — it shows the greatest love he could possibly show. As an individual, Jesus being willing to die was the greatest love he could show. But as a parent, laying down the life of your child — you would rather lay down your own life, would you not?

Verse 8: "And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together." A lamb is never actually offered in Genesis 22 — the animal offered is a ram. So what is Abraham saying in verse 8? God will provide himself a lamb. What he is saying is that God will be the one who dies and pays for our sins. We also get this picture of a father being willing to sacrifice his son. So what is John saying in John 1? He is saying that Jesus Christ is God in the Flesh, he is the Son of God, and he is going to die and pay for the sins of the whole world. That is part of the doctrine of the Christ.

Back to John 1, verse 34: "And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God." The Christ is going to be the Son of God. Verse 41: "He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ." When I say we are preaching on the doctrine of the Christ, another way to word that is the doctrine of the Messiah. We are on letter C today, not M. In our modern day if you ask people about the Christ they would merely think of Jesus, but if you ask them about the Messiah they might say it is a future thing — they do not realise it is the same thing. The Messiah is the Christ.

There is a famous Independent Baptist preacher named Sam Gipp who made the statement from behind a Baptist pulpit: do not say Jesus is your Messiah — he is not my Messiah, he is the Messiah of the Jews. What? The Messiah is the Christ. When you say Jesus Christ, you are saying Jesus is the Messiah. And he is the Messiah of everybody — because it is all through Jesus Christ. The only way to heaven is through Jesus. He is the Messiah of the Muslims, the Christians, the Catholics, the Buddhists, the Hindus — because he died for the sins of the whole world, and whether or not you believe on him determines whether or not you go to heaven. He is the Christ of the whole world.

In Islam, Jesus is believed to be the Messiah. And yet is it not true that Muslims have such a problem with Jesus being the Son of God? They claim to believe the Old Testament. Did you miss the part about Genesis 22 and Abraham sacrificing his son? They think it is crazy to believe Jesus is the Son of God and the Trinity — but what I think is crazy is to say he is the Messiah but he is not God or the Son of God, when that is exactly what the Bible teaches in the Old Testament. That is part of the doctrine of the Christ. It makes no sense to say he is the Messiah but he is not God, because all throughout the Old Testament it shows the Messiah is going to be God.

The article on Islam also says the Quran asserts that Jesus was not crucified, nor died on the cross, but was miraculously saved by God. Let me ask you — how are you a Messiah if, instead of actually dying for the sins of the world as the Bible teaches in the Old Testament, you are just miraculously saved by God? How are you a Christ? How did you do anything more significant than Moses if you did not die for the sins of the world? To say he is the Messiah means he died for the sins of the world, that he is God in the Flesh, the Son of God. If he was miraculously saved by God, why would he be the Messiah? How did he save his people if he did not die for them? It does not make any sense. The doctrine of the Messiah, the doctrine of the Christ, teaches that he is going to be the Son of God, he is going to be God, he is going to be the Lamb of God, he is going to take away the sin of the world.

The Qualifications of the Christ

Now as I said so far, the doctrine of Christ teaches that the Christ, the Messiah, is going to be God in the Flesh, the Son of God, he is going to take away the sin of the world, he is going to be the Lamb of God. But how do you have any proof that that is Jesus? Somebody could show up and say I am God in the Flesh. Do not people do that? The Bible says there are going to be false christs — there always have been, there always will be. What makes Jesus different from all of those people? Well, there are other things in the doctrine of Christ that were known to show us who he was when he came.

Matthew 2:1: "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him." Obviously these wise men had understood something about the deity of Christ — they are coming to worship before a baby. They understand this is God in the Flesh, they have come to worship and recognise him as the newborn king. They know he is God, born King of the Jews. Notice the reaction from Herod in verse 3: "When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him." Why is Herod troubled? He would not care that Jesus is the Son of God, he would not care that Jesus is God or the Saviour. What he cares about is — wait, King of the Jews? I am the king. That is what he is upset about.

Now of course there was confusion about the doctrine of the Christ, because we understand there are two comings. He came the first time as a Saviour; he is going to come the next time as the king and ruler. But even though this doctrine existed, people get confused on it. It is easy for us to look back and see it all clearly. But as you are reading Old Testament scriptures and you see he is going to die for everyone, he is going to be the Son of God, and he is going to be the king — how does this all work together? Herod gathers all the chief priests and scribes together and demands where Christ should be born. When he says that, he is not asking where Jesus was born — he is asking where the Christ is supposed to be born according to the scriptures. And they said unto him in verse 5: "In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet."

One of the qualifications in the doctrine of Christ is that he is going to be born in Bethlehem. That narrows down the possibilities considerably. A lot of people say they are God, a lot of people say they are the Son of God or the Saviour — and yet none of them were born in Bethlehem. If somebody comes to you and says I believe I am God in the Flesh, ask them — were you born in Bethlehem? No? Well, you are either just confused or a reprobate. Because you have to be born in Bethlehem. That is one of the qualifications, and it is not vague — it was clearly known. Verse 6: "And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel."

Go to Micah chapter 5, which is where they are quoting from. Micah 5:2: "But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." The Messiah, the Christ, is going to be born in Bethlehem. And the wise men completely understand this — they are not just worshipping a normal man, they are worshipping God. What does it mean when it says from everlasting? It teaches that the Messiah is going to be God in the Flesh. Why? Because he was not created. He is from everlasting. All of us in this room had a moment we were born. Now, physically Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, and he was all God and all man — but Jesus has been around from the very beginning. He was not created by God. He is God. God has always been a Trinity — it always existed, always will exist. He is from everlasting. So this verse they are quoting about the doctrine of the Christ teaches that the Christ is going to be God in the Flesh. The wise men completely understand this.

We believe what we believe by faith, and God expects us to walk by faith. But look at these cults where some person says he is God or he is a modern-day prophet. What proof do they have? Why would anyone believe that? It is ludicrous. But that is not the same thing as Jesus. When he came, it was not just that he said I am God and you just have to believe it. There is actual proof. The fact that he was born in Bethlehem was one of the prerequisites.

Now a website from Jews for Judaism argues against this. The article misquotes the reference — it says Micah 5:1, when it is Micah 5:2 — and then changes from everlasting to from ancient days, which is what modern versions also say. Well, Brother Stucky, how do you know which is right — the King James or the modern versions? Considering that the doctrine of the Christ through all the verses we have looked at shows he is going to be God in the Flesh, it would not make sense to say from ancient days, implying he was created, because the doctrine shows he is going to be God. Everlasting as the King James says is correct. The article also states that except for the birth reference in Luke 2, everything points to Jesus being from Nazareth — basically saying we do not really know if he was born in Bethlehem. But King Herod seemed to know. His religious scholars seemed to know. They said very clearly: Bethlehem. And Jesus being known as someone from Nazareth does not change his birthplace, any more than me being known as someone from West Virginia changes the fact that I was actually born in Iowa — I just moved away before I was one year old. Where you are from and where you are born are different things.

The article further says that being born in Bethlehem is of questionable value in establishing Messianic credentials for Jesus. They say maybe he was born in Bethlehem, but there are so many things he did not fulfil that it cannot matter. That is a strange argument. It seemed pretty important to Herod. It seemed pretty important to his religious scholars. The Messiah will be born in Bethlehem was a sure thing, not a maybe. And when you ask them to name all those things he supposedly did not fulfil, they say so many — but they cannot give you a clear one. It is the same thing as when people say there are so many verses that say you have to repent of your sins to be saved — can you give me one? There are just so many. They repeat the claim but they cannot produce the verse.

The other thing they get wrong is the number of comings. How many comings are there of Jesus? Two — first coming and second coming. They get confused because they say he did not rule his people, he did not become the king. Yes — because there are two comings. And here is the interesting thing: Judaism may have partially figured this out, because they developed the concept of Messiah ben Joseph — a suffering servant — and Messiah ben David — a kingly ruler. It is like, why do you not believe it is Jesus then? You understood from the Old Testament that there would be a saviour and then a kingly ruler — so what are you missing? He was born in Bethlehem. That is a pretty strong proof.

The Virgin Birth

Go to Isaiah 7. Another qualification of the doctrine of the Christ. Isaiah 7:14: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." A virgin is going to conceive and have a child. That really narrows down the possibilities. There are some candidates if you are born in Bethlehem, but you do not have too many people even claiming to have been born of a virgin. The closest thing is people who try to deify Alexander the Great — they say his mother was struck with a lightning bolt and then she was pregnant with Alexander. But she was not a virgin at that time; she had already slept with her husband. That is not a virgin birth. A virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel. Matthew 1:22–23 tells us what that means: "Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." Once again, that gives us the idea of the Christ being God in the Flesh. This was known, this was taught in the Old Testament. Those that were actually saved and reading their scriptures would have understood these things.

Now what would modern Jews say? They try to explain away this verse. You say you believe the Old Testament — but not the actual Christ that is mentioned from Genesis to Malachi. Here is what modern Judaism is saying: he is not going to be God, no miraculous birth, he is not going to be the Son of God, he is not going to die for the sins of the world. What Messiah are you talking about? Because the doctrine of the Christ taught that he is going to be the Saviour. It honestly makes more sense for Islam to say he is the Messiah but he is not God and not the Son of God, than for Judaism to say that — because Judaism says they still believe the Old Testament and are looking for the Messiah. But the Old Testament that they say they believe teaches very clearly what the doctrine of the Christ involves: born in Bethlehem, born of a virgin, God in the Flesh, the Son of God, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Jesus Declared He Was the Christ

People claim that Jesus never said he was God, never said he was the Messiah, never said he was the Christ. Let us see if that is true.

John 8:56–59: "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by." Before Abraham was, I am. That does not make grammatical sense — until you understand what he is saying. If you remember in your Old Testament, Moses said, what am I going to tell the people your name is? And what did God say to Moses? I AM THAT I AM. That is what you should tell them. So when Jesus says before Abraham was, I am, it is a clever way of saying I am God in the Flesh. And that is actually what a lot of people around that day understood it to mean — because notice what it says in verse 59. They took up stones to cast at him. Why are they trying to stone him? Because he blasphemed — according to them. He declared himself to be God. And then he just goes through the midst of them. How do you get through the midst of 20 people trying to grab you? I believe this is a miracle. He says I am God in the Flesh, they try to kill him, and then — where did he go? Just passed through the midst of them. Another proof right there.

Go to Daniel 9. The doctrine of the Christ teaches that the Christ is going to be God, the Son of God, taking away the sins of the world. And Jesus said that throughout his life. When Jesus Christ makes statements that he is the Messiah or the Christ, he is saying he is God, he is the way to heaven. Daniel 9:25–26: "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself." What does it mean to be cut off? It means to die — to be killed. The Messiah, the Christ, is going to be killed. But not for himself. Why did Jesus die? Not for himself. He died for me, he died for you, he died for the sins of the whole world. He did not die for himself. He willingly became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Not for himself. That is not something a lot of people are going to do. Most people will not willingly die for somebody else. When Jesus was around, you could question the Virgin birth, you could question being born in Bethlehem — and then here is another proof: he is going to die but not for himself. And when he died it was like he did not mind dying. Obviously he went through the pain, but I am saying he willingly did it. Pilate gets frustrated with him because this is not the way people normally speak — people are usually begging for their life. Not Jesus. Because he was born to die upon Calvary.

Go to John 4. Two references where Jesus clearly says he is the Messiah, he is the Christ. John 4:25–26: "The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he." This woman understands that Messiah is the Christ. And as an unsaved person she had an understanding that the Christ is going to be God, he is going to be omniscient, he is going to know everything. She has this understanding because the doctrine of the Christ taught it. And then she went her way into the city and said: "Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" She understood before she got saved that the Christ is going to know everything, he is going to be God in the Flesh. And when Jesus proclaims it after telling her all this information about herself, she says, is not this the Christ? And Jesus said in verse 26: I that speak unto thee am he. And yet people say Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah.

I was literally in a church one time and a person came to the pastor after the sermon and argued that Jesus never taught he was the Messiah. Why would a first-time visitor walk into a church and go up to the pastor with that? But the pastor showed him this verse and one other, and then the man said, well, I guess I was wrong. And then the pastor immediately told him to leave and never come back to the church. If somebody came into our church and tried to say Jesus is not the Christ, just get out of here and join the Muslims or the Jews, because we believe that Jesus is the Christ. Do not come in here and blaspheme our Saviour. People might say the pastor was too harsh. No, he did the right thing. What was that first-time visitor going to try to teach the second time he came?

Mark 14:61–62: "But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses? Ye have heard the blasphemy." Why do they say it is blasphemy? Because he is declaring himself to be God. When he says I am the Christ, that is what he is saying — I am eternal, I am God in the Flesh, I am the Son of God. Because that was the doctrine associated with the Christ. And he said you are going to see me sitting on the right hand of power — a powerful way to say: you can kill me right now, but we will see what happens one day. Every knee is going to bow. Verse 64: "Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death."

This doctrine of the Christ is something that was prophesied all throughout the Old Testament, and for thousands of years they were looking forward to this day. There would have been sermon after sermon preached about it — this is what we are looking for. In our modern day it is not exactly the same thing, but we preach about the second coming, and there is confusion about it because we see through a glass darkly. But those that actually knew their God and were doing exploits for him — like Daniel, who understands prophecy pretty well — they would have understood what it says in Genesis 22, in Isaiah 7:14. They would have understood this doctrine. And you see even unsaved people in the New Testament having an understanding that the Christ is going to know all things, he is going to be omniscient, he is going to be God, he is going to die for the sins of the world. They did not necessarily have all these things perfectly put together the way we do today looking back 2,000 years. But they understood from the doctrine that the Christ is going to be the Saviour, God, the Son of God, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Conclusion

What proof do you have that it is Jesus? Born of a virgin — that narrows it down to one candidate. Born in Bethlehem. Died but not for himself. And then all throughout the Old Testament it talks about the Living God, the Living God, the Living God — and Jesus said I am the resurrection and the life, I am the way, the truth, and the life. What he is teaching in those verses is: I am God in the Flesh, I am the Living God. And when he rose again from the dead — that is proof he is the Living God. And yet the Jews say, well, what sign do you show us? Born of a virgin, born in Bethlehem, died but not for himself, rose again from the dead — it makes no sense that they would reject Jesus as being the Christ. It is ridiculous. He gave every sign you could possibly want.

But here is what you need to understand: you can give people all the signs in the world and it does not mean they are going to get saved. Because even though our faith is not a blind and stupid faith — our faith makes sense — it is still something we take by faith. It makes sense. I think you would be an idiot not to believe that Jesus is the Christ when you see all these things. But there are people who just choose to be stubborn, no matter what evidence you give them. Make no mistake about it: Jesus proved himself to be the Christ. Living a perfect life. Dying for our sins. All the miracles. And very specific things — born in Bethlehem, born of a virgin, resurrected himself from the dead, and died but not for himself.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here on Christmas day and being able to celebrate the life and death of Jesus Christ and what he did for us. Thank you for sending your Son to die and pay for our sins — to be cut off but not for himself, to die for our sins when we did not deserve it. Help us to understand what this Christmas season is about. It is not about us. It is about your Son Jesus Christ who died and paid for our sins. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

We are here in 1 Corinthians 15, the so-called resurrection chapter, and we are talking about the gospel. This is the letter G in our Alphabet of Bible Doctrines series. The word gospel is mentioned in 98 verses in the Bible, but they are all in the New Testament. A lot of people see this big division between the Old and New Testaments and think it must just be a New Testament thing. The gospel is a very basic topic, but there is a lot of confusion and false doctrine on it, so even the basic things we can learn valuable things from the Bible.

Point 1: What Is the Gospel?

Notice what it says in verse 1: "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain." Verse 1 is talking about the gospel, verse 2 is giving more information about it, and then verse 3 is going to explain what the gospel actually is.

"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." As we would say, the gospel is the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Not too complicated. But I want you to look at this very closely, because notice what it says in verse 4: "And that he was buried." Let me ask you a very basic question — when it comes to us having a body, soul, and spirit, which of those do you bury? The body. You do not bury a soul. You do not bury a spirit. You bury a body. So when we say what is the gospel, it is the physical death, the physical burial, and the physical bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is not merely the fact that Jesus was in hell and is no longer in hell — and that is true, we are going to look at that — but what is the gospel? The death, burial, and resurrection of the body. That is the context. So when it comes to salvation and what a person must believe to be saved, they must believe that the body of Jesus died, was buried, and that he rose again.

Turn to Acts 2. It is possible to get too zealous or too extreme on topics. We are a different church than most Baptist churches and there are a lot of doctrines we teach that other churches do not, but just because certain things are very clear and we teach them does not mean you have to believe those to be saved. There are many people in this room who were saved probably a decade before you ever listened to a sermon online, because you heard the simple plan of salvation — Jesus died for me, he was buried, he rose again, and he is offering you a gift that lasts forever. There are people in this room who got saved before they knew anything about the Rapture, before they knew anything about the soul of Jesus going to hell. All you knew was the death, burial, and resurrection, and you believed it. That is the gospel. That is the plan of salvation.

Acts 2:31: "He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption." Now there are two aspects to the resurrection of Christ that we see here. But we need to understand that with salvation in 1 Corinthians 15, the part you must believe is the bodily resurrection. It is important to make this distinction. I have seen people in the past who got really zealous and said, I do not care what you say — if you do not believe Jesus went to hell for three days and three nights, you are not saved. Well, now I question your salvation, because you are adding to the gospel. It is possible to get too extreme. I believe the soul of Jesus went to hell according to Acts 2:31 and other places — as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. You bury a body six feet under — to get to the heart of the earth you need a big shovel. That is referring to his soul being in hell, in the heart of the earth. We get that. But what you have to believe to be saved is the bodily resurrection of Jesus.

Now, before you call me watered down — Acts 2:31 at the end says "neither his flesh did see corruption." What does that mean? It means that before the body of Jesus could decompose, before animals and creatures would eat it, he rose again. Lazarus was dead for four days — already stinketh, the Bible says. At some point if you put a body out in the sun it is going to decompose. The Bible is saying the flesh of Jesus did not see corruption because he was dead for three days and three nights and rose again before that point. Your body seeing corruption is a bad thing, and your soul being in hell is also a bad thing. Basic English grammar tells you that when two things are being linked together in the same sentence, if one is a bad thing the other is also a bad thing. His soul was not left in hell — not good. Neither his flesh to see corruption — not good. This shows us that the soul of Jesus was in hell for three days and three nights. But here is what I am saying: I got saved many years before I believed that. I was saved, I believed Jesus was buried and rose again, and I remember when I came across this verse I thought, sounds like Jesus went to hell — but my pastor said that is not true, I must be wrong. And you know what, I was still saved, because I did believe the gospel even though I did not yet know about the soul of Jesus being in hell.

Point 2: The Gospel Has Always Been the Same

Go to Romans 10. Romans 10:15: "And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" It mentions the gospel here — the gospel of peace, the glad tidings of good things. When it says glad tidings of good things, it is describing the gospel. The gospel is the good news, the Good Tidings. Romans 10:15 is obviously New Testament, however it is a quote from a couple of verses in the Old Testament.

Go to Isaiah 52. I told you the word gospel is not in the Old Testament. I did not say the gospel is not in the Old Testament. I said the word gospel is not in the Old Testament. There is a big difference. Because this is actually a quote — when it talks about the gospel of peace and the glad tidings of good things, it quotes back to the Old Testament with the good news, which is the gospel. Isaiah 52:7: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" When it is talking about bringing good tidings or the good news, publishing peace — remember the gospel of peace — it is referring to the gospel. And it says bringeth good tidings of good, publisheth salvation. Salvation is linked to the gospel, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Go to Nahum chapter 1. Nahum 1:15: "Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace!" So the gospel is not just mentioned in the New Testament — it is mentioned in the Old Testament, just not with the word gospel.

Here is the thing: if Romans 10, which is after the resurrection of Jesus, is quoting Isaiah 52 and Nahum 1 — which are obviously before the resurrection of Jesus Christ — and they are being linked together, publishing peace and salvation, what is that showing you? The gospel has always been the same. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The way of salvation has always been the same. That is what the Bible teaches.

Go to Isaiah 61. Someone might ask, well, how did people get saved in the Old Testament? By burning various animals? Well, why did Jesus even come to die for us if you get to heaven based on burning animals? That is not how they got saved. They got saved because they believed the gospel, and the gospel has always been the same. Before Jesus, they were looking forward to the day of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Saviour. Of course we look back. But it is still the same gospel, because the old and new are being linked together.

Isaiah 61:1: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek." What is good tidings referring to? The gospel. The good news. The Good Tidings. And notice — good tidings unto the meek. Why the meek? Because arrogant people do not get saved. Meek people get saved. Meek is very similar to humbleness — humble people get saved, not arrogant people. Of course we preach to everybody because we do not know who is arrogant and who is humble. But it is talking about preaching the gospel. "He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." That actually gives us a great picture of a person getting saved. A person that is in prison and behind bars is stuck — they cannot get out. Unless somebody has the key. Likewise an unsaved person is stuck, unsaved, unless somebody frees them, unless somebody says, hey, here is the key — let yourself out by believing on Jesus Christ. People are captive and bound up with no hope of getting out unless somebody proclaims the gospel.

Go to Revelation 13. Someone might ask a well-intentioned question like: how could people have been saved from their sins if the sins were not yet paid for by Jesus? Notice what it says in Revelation 13:8: "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." It says from the foundation of the world. Now of course we understand Jesus was born of a virgin 2,000 years ago, and then died roughly 33 years later, and then rose again after three days. But God is outside of time, and certain things do not make full comprehension to us. I mean, you read the book of Revelation — you have got to the end of your New Testament reading in the last couple of days — and you read about yourself. They talked about the great multitude in heaven. That is you. That is me. If you are saved, you are reading about yourself, part of that great multitude. How is it writing about something that has not yet taken place? Well, God is outside of time. The best way I can explain this is: imagine you have a two-dimensional world and you put a three-dimensional object in it. A two-dimensional person is not going to comprehend what a three-dimensional object is because that is a dimension beyond their grasp. If you put a sphere inside a two-dimensional world it is going to look like a circle. Well, God is not three-dimensional — God is outside of all dimensions. I do not understand a world where there is no time. I do not understand how God has always been here. It does not make full sense to me. But you know what? It makes more sense than saying nothing exploded. And it actually makes a little bit of sense that my God would not be able to be fully comprehended, because he is not me. He is above me. He is outside of time, outside of everything. Great is the mystery of godliness. There are a lot of things we do not fully comprehend. But if you look at Revelation 13:8, what you see is Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world. God knew this was going to take place. That was the plan, because there is none righteous, no not one — and they were not righteous in the Old Testament either. So the gospel has been the same and the way of salvation has been the same. It always has been, it always will be.

Back to 1 Corinthians 15. This is the only option. There is no other secret way to get to heaven outside of Jesus Christ dying and paying for your sins. No man can die for you because they are a sinner. Your works cannot pay for it. So the only answer is Jesus. The only answer in the Old Testament — Jesus Christ. The only answer in the New Testament — Jesus Christ. What about the burnt offerings? Number one, those are a picture of Jesus and that he would die for us. But it is like getting right with God in your relationship with him. If your child sins against you and does wrong, you have certain things you require them to do to get right with you. But salvation in the Old Testament was not burning animals. Salvation was the fact that Jesus would come and die and pay for your sins.

1 Corinthians 15:3: "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures." According to what scriptures? It is not referring to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John — those books of course explain the death of Jesus Christ, we get that. It is referring to the Old Testament scriptures. "And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." Let us go to those scriptures.

Genesis 22:6–8: "And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together." Abraham is confident that he and Isaac are going to return because he told the people to wait for them — he said we are going to be back. Now this statement by Abraham is very interesting. In modern versions it is worded differently. The way it is worded here you could easily read over it and just assume Abraham is saying God is going to provide a lamb to be the burnt offering. But that is not exactly what Abraham is saying. I think there is a dual application. What Abraham is saying is God will provide himself a lamb — in other words, God will be the lamb. God will die. The lamb slain from the foundation of the world. God will be the lamb for the atonement of sins.

Verse 12: "And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me." That is a great picture of a father sacrificing a son — God the Father sacrificing God the Son to pay for our sins. But notice what it says in verse 13: "And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns." It certainly does not say a lamb — it says a ram. Now yes, those words rhyme, but just because words rhyme does not mean they are the same thing. And it says a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. Why is it telling you caught in a thicket by his horns? There is a purpose. Did Abraham know that purpose? Probably not. Did Isaac? Probably not. But you can know it — think of the crown of thorns upon the head of Jesus Christ. Caught in a thicket by his horns. Around his horns a thicket of thorns, just like the crown of thorns on Jesus Christ. Is the Bible not amazing? This was not written by a man. And it is picturing Jesus Christ. The ram was not the fulfilment of verse 8. The fulfilment of verse 8 is the fact that God would come and die and pay for our sins.

Go to Isaiah 53. Now I am not saying that everybody in the Old Testament fully understood all of these pictures and verses. It is easy for us to look back and say well of course — a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. But what I am showing you is the gospel is mentioned in the Old Testament, and we are seeing the pictures of salvation there. Isaiah 53:5–7: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth."

Point 3: The Gospel Must Be Preached to You

Go to Acts 8. Point number three: the gospel must be preached to you. We have actually already seen that in a lot of the verses we have looked at. Even in 1 Corinthians 15 Paul says, I delivered unto you that which I also received. Paul is like: I received the gospel and I am delivering it to you, because everybody gets saved by having the gospel delivered to them. That kind of prevents you from being arrogant. Well, how did you get saved? I got myself saved reading my Bible 15 years ago. Nobody could say that. You get saved because somebody preaches the gospel to you and you believe it. Every one of us has somebody. It could have been a sermon online, it could have been a documentary, it could have been somebody who talked to you and explained the gospel. But what I know for sure is that if you are saved, somebody explained it to you. That is what the Bible teaches.

Acts 8:26: "And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship." This man comes to Jerusalem. He has some understanding of spiritual things but he is not saved. He realises well, Jerusalem is where the truth is, so he goes there. Verse 28: "Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet." This man is reading what we just read — Isaiah 53 — literally the chapter about Jesus Christ.

Verse 29: "Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?" And he said, "How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him." Before a person gets saved, this is usually how they feel — I cannot understand the Bible. Before I was saved I would have thought, no, I cannot really understand it. People do not read their Bibles and think, how can I understand it? And that is actually significant because after you get saved, you do not necessarily fully realise that now you can start to figure it out on your own. The Bible says read therein all the days of thy life, because if you are saved you can actually understand the Bible. You can pick it up and it can make sense to you. And reading this book transforms you into a different person. When I am reading my Bible I can tell I am a different person than when I am not.

The eunuch said to Philip: "I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?" Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus. Now I said point number three is the gospel must be preached to you to get saved. Let us say for the sake of argument that I was wrong — which I am not. But if a person could get saved on their own, the eunuch would have gotten saved on his own. He is reading about Jesus, he is a humble guy, he has gone all the way to Jerusalem to worship. He is trying to do right. If you can get saved on your own, surely this man would have. And you say, well, I am not convinced. What about if you fear God as an unsaved person? A couple of chapters later you have a man called Cornelius, and the Bible says before he was saved he feared God — but he was not saved. Why? Because you cannot save yourself.

If you could save yourself we would see it in the Bible, but this man does not get saved on his own. He has to have someone explain the gospel to him. It is not about intelligence — it is something spiritual that you just cannot understand unless somebody explains it to you. That is just the way it is. It does not matter how smart you are. You still did not get saved on your own, and you could not. You could read this book a thousand times, 10 hours a day, and you still would not get saved on your own. Somebody had to explain it to you, or it is just not going to happen.

Go to 2 Chronicles 17. You see soul-winning in the Old Testament, not just in the verses we have already looked at. 2 Chronicles 17:9: "And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the Lord with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people." What are they doing? Bringing the book of the law of the Lord with them and teaching the people. They are preaching the gospel. When I go soul-winning I usually bring the Tagalog New Testament side by side with me, but sometimes I bring this whole Bible because you never know what verse you might need. I mean, when they are bringing the book of the law of the Lord with them — given the thickness of paper in those days — it is probably a pretty big book. But obviously if you are going to go soul-winning you are going to bring the Bible with you. That is what they are doing. They are bringing the word of God with them and going out to preach the gospel. You see soul-winning in the Old Testament.

Go to Romans 10. Romans 10:13: "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?" Now it says a preacher — it is not referring specifically to a pastor or an evangelist or a deacon. It is referring to somebody preaching the gospel. The Bible speaks about women preaching the gospel. Obviously women are not going to be pastors, but of course we go soul-winning and the ladies at our church go out and preach the gospel. It is vital for a church for a number of reasons, one being that a lot of people are more comfortable talking to a woman than a man. That is not just something in the Philippines — in the US we always found that people in general are more likely to talk to women than men. Sometimes when a man approaches a woman soul-winning she might feel uncomfortable, whereas when women preach the gospel people often seem more open.

When it says how shall they hear without a preacher, whether that is me or you — if you are saved it could be you, whether you are a man or a woman. And "how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" Nobody is going to get saved without a preacher. Now I have heard some people say, well, Matthew was a preacher, John was a preacher, so someone could just read John 3:16 and get saved by reading it because John is a preacher. Here is the thing: when we go soul-winning somebody cannot get saved with only the word of God. You must also explain the verses. They are reading John 3:16, reading the word of God from a preacher. What they are not having is somebody explaining what the word of God says. You need both. If you go soul-winning and say, okay, Romans 3:23, Romans 3:10 — and just read every verse and get done after five minutes — you have not explained anything. It has to be explained. It is like putting up a calculus problem on the board and not explaining it. Nobody is going to understand that. This is just common sense. When it says how shall they hear without a preacher — they need the word of God, and they also need somebody to explain the word of God.

Verse 17: "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Go to Ephesians 1. Sometimes when you are a preacher a lot of stuff feels pretty basic. But then you see videos online where people say, well, you do not need a soul winner to get saved, and you think — really? That shows you that even the basics need to be preached. Of course if this is new to you then yes, that makes sense, that is what it says. But even Baptist preachers will sometimes say things like, well, you can get saved on your own just reading the word of God. This is why we have to teach everything. We need to be reminded about these things.

Ephesians 1:13: "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise." You have to hear the gospel to be saved. Salvation is by faith. And you are eternally sealed with the Holy Spirit of God. Great verse. The gospel is linked to salvation, you must hear it, it is by believing, and you are eternally sealed with the Holy Spirit of God.

Point 4: Adding to the Gospel or Changing It Makes It False

Go to 1 John 5. 1 John 5:10: "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son." A record is what is recorded or written. When you talk about recording something in these times it is not an audio recording — it is a written recording. The record is what is written. You either believe what is written about Jesus Christ or you do not. If you believe it you are saying it is true. If you do not, you are saying it is a lie. You either believe Jesus died for all your sins or you do not — it is one or the other.

Verse 11 is going to tell us what exactly is written about Jesus, because most people are going to say they believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, but they do not understand what that means in terms of their salvation. They must understand a few basics, and those basics are listed right here. "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." There are actually three very important things mentioned here that you might quickly read over.

The last one first: this life is in his Son. If somebody believes their salvation is in Jesus and Muhammad — not saved. They must believe life is only in Jesus Christ. If they say all paths lead to heaven, your path is Jesus but other paths are okay too — not saved. Somebody must believe life is only in Jesus Christ.

It also says God hath given to us eternal life. Think about the gift of God as eternal life. A gift is something that is given. So in saying God hath given to us eternal life, what it is saying is you believe salvation is being given to you. If you think you have to be baptised to be saved — not saved. If you think you have to live a good life — not saved. If you think you have to do anything — not saved. If I said I am going to give you this Bible as a gift and then asked for one peso for it — well, that is not a free gift. A gift is 100% free. If you must do anything, it is not a gift. So if somebody believes there are any works involved in salvation — like the Catholic Church teaches — not saved.

It also says God hath given to us eternal life. You must believe it is eternal — that it lasts forever. At the end of a gospel presentation, when someone says but what if I committed suicide — would I go to hell? They do not believe it is eternal life. They are still thinking they must live a certain lifestyle to keep that salvation. Somebody must believe it is eternal life. And look at what Jesus Christ himself said — speaking outside of time before he rose again, he said, I am the resurrection and the life. He understood he was going to die and pay for our sins and rise again. Salvation is in Jesus Christ only.

Now, what I just explained most Baptists would disagree with me on completely. They would say that if you say a person must understand eternal security to be saved, you are adding to the gospel because you are adding an extra step. Well, I am sorry — show me one, two, three, repeat after me in the Bible, just say this little prayer and you are saved no matter what you believe. Is that what Baptists think? Just count your 55 million salvations because they said a prayer regardless of what they believe? No — we go soul-winning, we explain the gospel, and it takes time. It is not going to happen in five seconds because we have to explain it is a gift, it cannot be lost, it is through Jesus alone. And if somebody does not believe those things, they are not saved.

Let me tell you one story before we get to Galatians 1. I was on a missions trip in Guyana — which, contrary to popular belief, is in South America, not Africa. I was preaching the gospel to an elderly woman who could not see. Sometimes you talk to people and they say the print is too small — she could not read it. I was explaining the gospel, and she said she did not know if she was going to heaven. I kid you not — every single verse I quoted, she finished it. Every one. Revelation 21:8, Revelation 20:14–15 — I mean it was stunning. I have never seen that before in my life. This is an unsaved person, and as I am explaining the gospel it was like I was hardly saying anything because she was explaining it right back to me. I would say, you know, does it say you have to live a good life? She said no. Does it say you have to get baptised? She is like, no. I started thinking, I do not know what else to say. She got saved in less than 10 minutes and I was at the end of my conversation with nothing more to add. She said you could never lose it — it is eternal life. Can you ever lose it? No. Not even if you commit murder? Not even suicide? No — it is eternal. And she was right. My presentation is usually 15 to 20 minutes, and I did not know what else to say. But she was not saved until that moment. How is that possible? You cannot get saved unless someone gives you the gospel. Is it not sad that there could be an elderly person who might have died and gone to hell, who was probably more zealous for the things of God than maybe any of us, who had all those verses memorised — but still needed to hear the gospel to be saved.

Galatians 1:6: "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel." I would be amazed also if someone said they were saved, went soul-winning with us, and then all of a sudden was unsure about these things. That is what Paul questions in Galatians — he says I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. Are you even saved? Because if someone hears the gospel they have the spirit of truth inside them. "Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ." I have heard people say well, this is the gospel of Christ but there is also the gospel of this and the gospel of that. It says the gospel of Christ because the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is making it very clear they are perverting that the gospel is about Jesus.

Verse 8: "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." Let them be cursed. Let them be damned. That is what he is saying. If somebody preaches a false gospel, let him be accursed. Brother Stucky, you are extreme. I am just saying what Paul is saying. And I do agree with this. The distinction to make is that it says preach another gospel. This is not saying I hope everyone in the Catholic Church drops dead right now. What Paul is saying is he hopes the Catholic priest drops dead right now. Those that are preaching the false gospel — let them die and go to hell. You say, why would he say that? Because people preaching a false gospel are damning the world to hell. There are people we try to talk to who would actually listen, but they have already talked to the Jehovah's Witnesses. There are people who would listen, but so many religious people have already come to their door, some asking for money, that they are just closed off. When I invite people I even feel weird saying there is no charge — of course there is not going to be a charge. But people are just closed off because other churches are preaching false gospels.

It is also interesting that he says even if an angel from heaven preaches another gospel. A lot of religions start because well, an angel came and visited me. Islam — an angel visited Muhammad. The Latter-day Saints — the angel Moroni visited Joseph Smith. Do I think an angel visited them? I would say probably better than 50% — but a fallen angel. I am actually pretty convinced Muhammad was visited by something. With Joseph Smith he might have been faking it — I am not sure. But it is possible they talked to a demon. Not every story out there is fake. You might have been visited by something, but it was not an actual good angel. There is no angel Moroni. So do not listen to their gospel, because they are angels preaching a false gospel.

Verse 9, in case you missed it: "As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." You thought I misspoke in verse 8. You thought it was too extreme. So as I said before, so say I now again — let him go to hell. Because adding to the gospel makes it false, which is what they are doing, and these people are damning the world to hell.

Conclusion

What is the gospel? Death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ — and more specifically, the focus in 1 Corinthians 15 is on the bodily resurrection. Somebody must believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ to be saved. The Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe that — they believe in a spiritual resurrection only. So if you are preaching the gospel to a Jehovah's Witness, make sure you explain that he bodily rose again.

The gospel has always been the same — the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, both in the Old and New Testaments. The gospel must be preached to you — nobody gets saved on their own. And adding to the gospel or changing it makes it false. These are basics, but we need to know these things. This is the doctrine our church stands on. This is very important.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today. I ask you to help us to understand these things — even the basics of the Bible. Help us to know these things and understand them, be able to teach others, and get people saved. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

We are in Luke chapter 16 and the name of the sermon is the Alphabet of Bible Doctrines — Hell, for the letter H. I have talked about hell quite a bit but I have never preached a full-length sermon on hell over the four years of this ministry, so that is what we are going to talk about here today. I am pretty confident everybody in this room believes in hell, but it is always good to be reminded, and this is a doctrinal style sermon so I do believe there are things that at least a lot of people are going to learn.

When we did the sweetheart banquet recently, one of the questions was what motivates you the most to serve God, and one of the options was the reality of hell. For me, when I am feeling lazy and I do not feel like going soul-winning, if I just think about hell for a few seconds — all right, I am going soul-winning. This is still a good motivation even if you are already aware of these things.

Point 1: Hell Is a Real Place

It says in verse 19: "There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day." Now this rich person — the Bible does not say he committed huge sins. It does not say he was a murderer, it does not say he was a drunkard. It just says he had a lot of money. That does not make you sinful just because you have money. But he is a man who is unsaved.

Verse 20: "And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores." So you have this rich person whose name the Bible does not tell us, and you have this poor person named Lazarus — obviously not the Lazarus that Jesus resurrected. The rich person does not believe the gospel, does not believe on Christ, whereas the poor person does believe.

Verse 22: "And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom." A lot of people say this is like the good part of hell — Paradise — but it mentions Abraham, and when it says into Abraham's bosom it is saying right up against Abraham, in heaven. When people died in the Old Testament who were saved, they went to heaven. "The rich man also died, and was buried." When it says he is buried, that is a reference to the body. It mentions the burial before the fact that he is in hell, not because he gets buried and then goes to hell, but because this passage is focused on where the soul goes. It is quickly mentioning where the body goes first, and then going back to the main context. The first thing that happens to his body after he dies is they bury him. What about the first thing that happens to his soul?

"And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom." Some people say well, hell is just here on Earth, it is just a hard life. No — hell is going to be a lot worse than just not having a lot of money or having problems in life. A literal place of hell is a literal burning place in the centre of the earth.

"And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame." A literal place of fire. Now people are going to say it is just a parable, just a story. Here is the reason we know it is not a parable but an actual event: it uses real names. Lazarus. Abraham. Show me when Jesus ever uses a real name in any parable. You are not going to find it. He will always say a certain householder — he is never going to give a real name. But he gives real names here because it is a real event that took place. And you might say, well, why does it not give us the rich man's name? Very simple — my sheep hear my voice and I know them. It does not mention his name because he is not saved. We do not know what his name is. But this is an event that took place.

Notice it says there was a certain rich man — past tense. It already took place. In fact it already took place before the resurrection. And the Bible says there is a great gulf fixed — meaning it cannot be changed, it does not move. This man already went to Abraham's bosom, which is in heaven. That gulf is fixed and permanent. Those that died in the past before the resurrection who were saved went to heaven. Those that were unsaved went to hell. That is what the Bible teaches.

Go to 2 Thessalonians 1. People are going to say hell is just separation from God. Here is a quote from Billy Graham: I think that hell is essentially separation from God forever, and that is the worst hell that I can think of. But I think people have a hard time believing God is going to allow people to burn in literal fire forever. I think the fire that is mentioned in the Bible is a burning thirst for God that can never be quenched.

Did you know Billy Graham did not believe in a literal hell? For those that have a problem with that, explain to me how you get saved if you do not believe you are being saved from anywhere. By the way, he always taught repentance of sins for salvation. He was always a compromising preacher — the Joel Osteen of his day. And he said I think it is just a burning thirst for God. Well, that is not what the Bible teaches.

2 Thessalonians 1:7–9: "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." They say, see — it is away from the presence of the Lord. My Bible does not say away from the presence of the Lord. It says from the presence of the Lord. What it is stating is as a result of the presence of the Lord — that is what it is saying. How do I know that? Because the Bible says when people go to hell they are tormented in the presence of the Holy Angels and in the presence of the Lamb. Not away from the presence of the Lord.

And Billy Graham said the worst hell is separation from God. Do you really believe most people want to be in God's presence? The drunkard — does he want to be in the presence of God? The Bible says in John 3 that those whose deeds are evil hate the light. If hell is just separation from God, that is great news for them. That does not make any sense. I was just thinking, what about the burning? That seems pretty bad to me. If that is just a parable, which it is not, what is it a parable about? It sounds like it is telling you about hell being a burning place. If that is how you interpret your Bible — just spiritualising or symbolising everything — then the Bible could mean anything. It uses real names. We know it is not just a story but a literal event.

Go to Jude chapter 1. That rich person is still in hell right now and still did not get that drop of water. He is still in torment. The only thing that has changed is he is no longer having a conversation with Abraham and Lazarus. That was a one-time event where we see a conversation from heaven to hell — afar off — and truly that is a far off. But he is still in hell today.

Hell is a literal place. You say, well, why would he not just burn up? Because of the fact that it is not your body that goes to hell when you die — it is your soul. Now if your body got cast into a volcano you would die immediately. Scientists say the average temperature in the middle of the earth is estimated between 5,700 to 7,000 degrees Kelvin — subtract 273 and you get Celsius. We are talking over 5,000 degrees Celsius. One hundred degrees is boiling water. You cannot even comprehend it. And yet that is what the Bible teaches. Hell is a literal place of fire.

Jude 1:7: "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." Hell is a literal place of fire. There is no way you can look at the Bible and say it is just symbolic. When I was a new Christian I read a book by Lee Strobel — the case for faith, the case for Christ — and they are trying to convince atheists to believe in God, and it suggests that maybe hell is not really a burning place. Well, if that is how you go soul-winning then just quit. It is a burning place. Many theologians who say it is not a burning place are not saved, and many of those same theologians believe in hell now that they are dead and in hell. It is a literal burning place that lasts forever.

It is so obvious. The only reason people doubt this is because it is not popular. Sometimes going soul-winning somebody will say — are you saying my mum and dad are in hell right now? And of course you answer them in a respectful and loving way. But yeah, it is a tough truth to take. It does not change reality though. The Bible teaches that to be saved you believe on Christ and you must believe it is eternal life — that salvation is forever. I wish someone could just believe whatever they want and go to heaven. That is not reality though, and it does not change reality just because you try to think it into existence.

Point 2: It Is Right Away in Hell

There is no second chance. There is no break. There is no soul sleep. Soul sleep is this doctrine where basically you die and you are just dead and eventually God wakes you up one day. That is not what the Bible teaches. The body sleeps — not the soul. Your soul goes immediately.

Luke 16:22: "And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried." That is the body — the body is sleeping. "And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments." Wait a minute — what happened to soul sleep? No, it is body sleep, not soul sleep. And in hell he lifts up his eyes — immediately his soul is in hell. It mentions the burial first simply because the context is about the soul, so it is just noting that he died and was buried. But immediately the soul is in hell.

Go to Psalm 6. There are a lot of verses that cults will give you to try to teach soul sleep. If you go soul-winning to one of these cults they might bring up one of these verses, so let us look at some of their famous ones and see what the Bible actually says.

Psalm 6:5: "For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?" They just stop there and say, see — when you are dead there is no remembrance, you do not remember anything. Read the whole verse. Do not stop in the middle. What is the context of the death in Psalm 6:5? In the grave. Because you bury a body, not a soul. Once again, we agree — we believe in body sleep, not soul sleep. In the grave who shall give thee thanks?

Go to Ecclesiastes 9. Ecclesiastes 9:10: "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest." They say — ah, there is no wisdom, no knowledge in the grave. Yes, because your body is just dead. "For as the body without the spirit is dead." The spirit shall return to the Lord who gave it, and your soul is going to be in heaven or hell. The body is just in the ground whether you are saved or unsaved. It does not matter whether it was saved or not — you bury a body. We believe in body sleep. We do not believe in soul sleep.

Go to Daniel 12. Daniel 12:2: "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." We are made out of the dust of the ground. Referring to being buried. Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth — once again, the context is on the body, not on the soul.

Go to John 5. John 5:28: "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." Every single one. Now, if you are a saved person you have nothing bad on your record. The Bible teaches that when it comes to somebody who is saved today — let us say the Rapture is in 50 years and you pass away before that — those that are dead in Christ shall arise and those that are alive shall meet the Lord in the air. You are going to get the glorified body. However after the Rapture there are going to be people that get saved who do not immediately die and get a glorified body. And every unsaved person is going to be coming back as well — to damnation. We will talk about that at the end of the sermon.

Point 3: It Is Restlessness Forever

Go to Mark 9. Mark 9:43: "And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched." A very obvious application is the fact that it is better to go to heaven missing an arm than go to hell forever. The idea is: you could have a miserable life here on Earth, a horrible life, but it is still better to spend forever in heaven than to go into hell forever. "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." For Billy Graham — well, it is just a burning thirst for God — it seems pretty specific about the fire here. Not a burning thirst. Just burning in hell.

Verse 45: "And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." When God is repetitive he is trying to prove a point. Verse 47: "And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." It is better to go to heaven missing an arm, a leg, and an eye than to go to hell for all eternity.

Go back to Luke 16. Luke 16:25: "But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence." This great gulf is fixed. It is permanent. Once you are in hell there is no getting out. There are people in heaven that would actually want to go to hell — to try to bring their loved ones out. But they cannot. Would it not be sad to have that burden for lost people after you are already dead, when it does not even matter at that point? You cannot go to hell to rescue your lost loved ones.

Whenever you preach on hell it is a very sensitive topic because in reality a lot of people in this room have lost loved ones that went to hell and they are there forever. When I got saved I had my grandmother on my dad's side and my grandfather on my mom's side die less than a year after I got saved — one was an atheist who did not believe in God, and the other was a so-called Christian who did not believe in eternal security. It does not change reality. I am not going to change my doctrine. As a saved person who understands the Bible and believes in soul-winning, we are going to take burdens with us our entire lives that other people are just not going to feel. And what do you do? Instead of putting a blanket over your head like a little kid and pretending it is not real, use that burden to motivate you to get people saved before it is too late. Make sure you do not have another relative die before they lose their chance. Being completely honest with you, I know of people I could have given the gospel to that I did not, and some of them I have lost complete touch with — I was waiting for a better moment, a better time, not wanting to offend. And now there is no opportunity. Use this as a motivation to get people saved while you have the chance, because this great gulf is fixed.

Go to Revelation 14. There is this modern teaching in Christianity where some say well, you can go to hell for a thousand years and get out. Where are you getting that? The Bible says it is fixed. It is not going to change. That great gulf is fixed and you cannot pass over to the other side. Revelation 14:10–11: "The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night." That is where it is very clear — you are not separated from God in hell. You are in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever.

I have heard people in cults say, yeah, you burn up immediately and there is just smoke forever from when you burned up. Well, let us keep reading: they have no rest day nor night. The person is still burning. They have no rest. One torture of hell is that you are exhausted and tired. Think of times in your life where you do not get a lot of sleep — you are in a bad mood, you are not yourself. I cannot imagine going days and days and years with no sleep, and yet they have no rest day nor night. What keeps them awake? They are on fire — but they are exhausted.

Some of the other tortures of hell: the Bible describes hell as outer darkness. Being in a dark place is terrifying. The Bible speaks about the bottomless pit — what does that mean? Bottomless means it never ends. Scientists say that if you were in the centre of the earth it would feel like weightlessness, that you are just forever falling with no firm ground — just this feeling of falling. Roller coasters are fun because those drops do not last forever. It is only five seconds and then your heart comes back into your chest. But if it is just forever and ever and ever it is no longer fun. In hell — the bottomless pit — that seems to be what the Bible indicates. And yet it is also a lake of fire and burning. It is hard for us to fully comprehend, but there are a lot of tortures of hell the Bible mentions.

Go to Revelation 19. In my human flesh I am just being honest with you — I wish hell was not a real place. Now obviously I am wrong and God is right. It is fair, it is correct, it is righteous. But when I was a little kid I always believed in heaven and hell and God. What I thought was that those who go to hell are really, really, really bad people — and it seemed just to me because very few people go there. And yet the Bible says all liars — and in my human flesh it seems too harsh. I get it. A lot of us feel that. When somebody dies and goes to hell it is not like I am rejoicing saying God is just. No — I would be sad that they died and went to hell. I do not want them to go to hell.

When I think about the earthquake in Turkey — the vast majority if not all of those killed are Muslims that reject Jesus Christ, and I do not want them to die and go to hell. But God's judgment is just. I am not questioning God's judgment. I am just saying in my human wisdom it is hard to take — so many ordinary people. Because then you realise: narrow is the way which leadeth unto life. When I first got saved I understood well, only one third of the world is Christian, you have to believe in Jesus, it is narrow. But then as time goes by you start realising it is really narrow. I do not know what percentage of the world is saved. It is certainly under five percent. I think it is under one percent worldwide. But it does not change reality. This is what the Bible teaches. It is a burning place forever. And if that does not motivate you to serve God, I do not know what will.

When I first got saved I was just scared of hell. As the Bible says in Jude, some save with compassion and others with fear — and I was afraid of hell. I said I do not want people to burn in hell forever. Noah was moved with fear and he built that ark because of fear. If hell does not motivate you to serve God, just stop and think about hell for a couple of minutes and it is like — all right, I am going soul-winning. I did not have enough compassion but I am going to save with fear. I do not want people to die and go to hell for all eternity.

Revelation 19:20: "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone." The beast is a reference to the Antichrist and the false prophet is kind of like his chief helper during the end times. They are the first two people who are cast into the Lake of Fire. Before this event, people are thrown into hell. These two people are thrown into the Lake of Fire.

Revelation 20:1: "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled." So chronologically, the beast and the false prophet are thrown into the Lake of Fire, and then there are these thousand years where Satan is chained up — the millennial reign of Christ.

Verses 4–5: "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection." Drop down to verse 10: "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are." Is that what it says — where the beast and the false prophet were? No — where the beast and the false prophet are. If you have not burned up over a thousand years, you are certainly not going to burn up. "And shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." Not only were they there for a thousand years — they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Restlessness forever. That is what the Bible is teaching.

Point 4: There Is a Relocation of Hell to the Lake of Fire

Point number four — and this is probably something that may be a bit new to some people — there is going to be a relocation of hell to the Lake of Fire. Now the Bible describes hell as being a lake of fire, and it describes the Lake of Fire after this as being hell, so you can still use them interchangeably when you go soul-winning. You can tell someone if you die you go to the Lake of Fire, you go to hell, because hell is a place of fire — it is a lake of fire. A volcano would prove that to us.

But what is going to take place is that people who die now unsaved go to hell, and eventually they get relocated to the Lake of Fire. As I said before the thousand years there is the Judgment Seat of Christ, and the determination of which judgment you go to is based on what you believe, not based on what you do. The Judgment Seat of Christ is for saved people — not a judgment to determine heaven or hell, that has already been determined based on what you believe. What rewards am I getting? That is what is being determined. The Great White Throne Judgment is for unbelievers, after the Thousand Years. Then they are going to get their punishments.

It is like somebody commits murder and they have a court sentencing. They go into court and it is already known they are guilty — now it is going to be determined, what is the punishment? That is what is going to take place at the Great White Throne. Now everybody at the Great White Throne is going to be bowing on their knees saying give me another chance, forgive me. Too late. You already committed the crime.

Revelation 20:11: "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." At the judgment it is going to be based on works and actions, but the determination of which judgment you are at is based on belief.

Verse 13: "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Hell is going to be relocated to the Lake of Fire. And unsaved people at the Great White Throne — their bodies are going to come back. That is what is being referenced in John 5, in Daniel, in the Bible generally — the hour is coming that all that are in the graves shall hear his voice.

Go back to Mark 9. Hell is a literal place in the centre of the earth. A lot of people wonder where the Lake of Fire is. I cannot give you a dogmatic answer because I do not believe there is a dogmatic one mentioned. What I will say is the best guess I have heard is the sun. I think it is a good possibility. Of course I do not think we can know that for sure unless I am missing something in the Bible.

Mark 9:44: "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." I have heard a lot of people preach on Mark 9 and wonder what the worm is. Verse 46: "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Verse 48: "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."

Go to Isaiah 66 to close up. What is said about Isaiah is that it is called the mini Bible — a book with 66 chapters. There are 66 books in the Bible, and if you take chapter 1 of Isaiah there are a lot of correlations with Genesis, chapter 40 is like the first book of the New Testament with the prophecy of John the Baptist, and we are now in Isaiah 66 which correlates to Revelation. Isaiah 66:24: "And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh." Mark 9 is quoting from this verse. Their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched. The worm is the carcass — the worm is the body.

What the Bible teaches is that all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and every unsaved person's body is going to be resurrected and they are going to stand before God at the Great White Throne Judgment. Their body is going to be reunited to their soul. For a saved person we call it the glorified body at the Rapture. I am not sure what to call this for the unsaved — I call it the unglorified body. But they are going to be given a body that is going to last through the pain and the torture and the burning. So it is not just their soul that is going to be in the Lake of Fire — they are going to be reunited with their body for all eternity.

If you look at Isaiah 66:24 and compare it to Mark 9 and Revelation 20 and 21, it is definitely what the Bible teaches — their bodies and their souls are going to be reunited, which also answers why everyone is going to be resurrected. It is not just every saved person. It says to the resurrection of damnation as well. They are going to get a body that is reunited with their soul for all eternity in the Lake of Fire.

Conclusion

Let me just say a couple of things to wrap this up. When I go soul-winning I try to keep things as simple as possible. Do not take parts of this sermon and try to over-complicate things. What I always tell people is there are two types of death — the first death, physical, and the second death, which is spiritual. I do not think that is inaccurate. After the first death you are either going to go to heaven or hell. The reason I think it is best to say something like that is that if you try to explain how hell is going to be relocated to the Lake of Fire they are going to be like, what are you talking about? That is confusing. We do not have to go super in depth on all of these concepts when we are giving the gospel. Keep it as simple as is necessary. The parts about soul sleep though — those are pretty valuable for soul-winning if you are talking to an Inc member, a Jehovah's Witness, or a Seventh-day Adventist. They all believe some strange things about hell.

One question people might wonder is why are there more natural disasters today than there used to be. I used to think that was just propaganda from the media, but when I thought about it I realised it actually makes biblical sense. What the Bible teaches is that hell hath enlarged herself. That means hell is getting closer to the surface. And if hell is getting closer to the surface, what are we going to see? More volcanoes, more earthquakes, more tsunamis — more natural disasters. And that means God's wrath is getting closer to the surface, which also makes sense because we are more sinful today. It all pictures together perfectly. As we get to the end times there are going to be earthquakes in diverse places, and part of it is simply because hell is getting closer to the surface as more people are entering hell and it is expanding, and it correlates with God's wrath against a wicked and sinful world.

I was doing a Bible study with my kids recently, showing them footage from Turkey of just buildings being disintegrated, and I was teaching them that this is God's wrath. Hell is getting close to the surface because we are a sinful world and a lot of people are going to hell. That is why we need to go soul-winning. The reality of hell is the biggest motivation for me to serve God. I do not enjoy seeing people dying but I watch videos like that from time to time because to me it motivates me. I think in our flesh sometimes we try to detach ourselves from the concept of hell because we do not want to think about it. But sometimes when I am in a big crowd I stop and think about hell, and I am like — man, most of these people are going to go to hell forever.

As a Christian takeaway — maybe you knew everything I talked about. But one thing we can always be reminded about is the reality of hell. Why? As a motivation to preach the gospel while you have a chance, because there is coming a day when there is no longer a chance to preach the gospel — when you are up in heaven.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to see what the Bible says about hell. Help us not to just wish this away or pretend like it does not exist, but to use this as a motivation to reach people with the gospel. I ask you to help us as a church, as individuals, as families, to love you, to serve you, and to zealously preach the gospel before it is too late. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

We are here in Exodus chapter 20 and we are talking about the topic of idolatry. This first sermon is really about what is idolatry and what is not idolatry, and the second sermon is really about the wickedness of idolatry. The reason why I am preaching a full sermon on what idolatry actually is: when you go into the ministry, you will have people that send you emails. People that get saved, maybe they grew up Catholic, they are trying to make changes in their life, and they will start taking pictures of things around their house and asking — is this idolatry? They will send you a picture of a magnet with an animal on it or a stuffed animal. These are honest, good-hearted people who want to make changes but are really not sure what God is okay with and what he is not okay with. All of us realise idolatry is wicked, but I am not sure we have really stopped to think about where the line is on what is acceptable and what is not.

Notice what it says in Exodus 20:1: "And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Verse 3 is your first commandment. Verse 4: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." Verses four through six are the second commandment.

Now some of the commandments are just really short, like thou shalt not kill — but you cannot take that too literally. Does that mean self-defence is wrong? What God is doing is giving Moses a basic summary of ten commandments that represent everything, but you have to use common sense and look at the entire Bible to understand it. Thou shalt not kill — then why is there a death penalty? Why do you believe in self-defence if you are not supposed to kill? We understand the context from everything the Bible says, and some of the commandments are just a short summary and you have to use the entire Bible to understand what is actually being said.

Now the reason the Catholic Church changes the order of the Ten Commandments is to justify idolatry, because their religion is full of it. From the Catholic Church's website, their first commandment is: I am the Lord your God, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve. Their second commandment: you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. But what the Bible shows us is that is actually the third commandment. So the Catholic Church has effectively removed the second commandment — thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image — by combining it with the first. To compensate for having only nine commandments left, they split the tenth commandment on coveting into two separate commandments: thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, and thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's goods.

But notice Exodus 20:17: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's." Does it not make sense to summarise all of that as thou shalt not covet? And would it really make a lot of sense to have a commandment against committing adultery and then two commandments later say thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife — when that is very similar to the earlier commandment? The Catholic manipulation of the Ten Commandments exists simply to justify idolatry.

Two Interpretations of the Second Commandment

Going back to verse 4, there are basically two interpretations of these verses. I will be completely honest with you — you would actually find a lot of different Baptist preachers you respect who have different opinions on this. So what I would tell you is: study the Bible for yourself. I will show you what we believe and teach, but I just want you to realise that different good people believe this a little bit differently.

If you do not believe one hundred percent like me on where I would draw the line of idolatry, that is okay. I might mention things I say are inappropriate and idolatrous, and you might say there is nothing wrong with it — let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. Or you might say I am not being strict enough, and that is okay too. If you are more strict than me, it is not a competition to see who can be the most strict.

One interpretation is that we should not make any graven image whatsoever, and in addition to that, not bow down to any image that is made. The other interpretation is: do not make any graven image in the context of something that is going to be worshipped. What Verity Baptist Church has always taught is the second interpretation. We do not say and teach that every wooden sculpture is idolatry. That has never been the position of Verity Baptist Church, and I am going to show you why.

Go to Exodus 25. In Exodus 20 God commanded do not make any graven image — and what I believe that is saying is in the context of something that would be worshipped. So if you are holding a little wooden horse or a wooden cow, that would not be idolatry. But if you are creating something to worship, that would be idolatry. Now, let us say for the sake of argument the first interpretation is correct — that anything you make is idolatry. Notice what it says in Exodus 25:16–18: "And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat." A cherubim is basically an angelic being — something in heaven above. So if in Exodus 20 God is saying every single graven image is idolatry and wrong, why does he command them five chapters later to make an image of something in heaven above? That would be very confusing. As I said, the Ten Commandments are not 100% comprehensive of every single situation — they give a summary and you have to use the whole Bible to understand the context and what God was bringing across.

In Exodus 20 the command do not make a graven image is, in my understanding, in the context of bowing down and worshipping it. Exodus 25:18 commands them to make a cherubim of gold, which would be a graven image — but they are not worshipping that cherubim of gold. If they had started worshipping it, he would have said smash it and get rid of it.

Go to Proverbs 25. You might say, well, Brother Stucky, if you say it is okay to make an image as long as you do not worship it, is that not exactly what the Catholics say? It is what the Catholics say — but what is the difference? The Catholics worship and pray to those saints. They hold their little Santo Niño or rosary beads and think it has some sort of magical power. There is a big difference. I am just saying if you tell a Catholic that their church is full of idolatry and they say, well, look at all those animals on the magnets on your fridge — look at that wooden statue of a horse you have — what is the difference? You have to be able to answer them. And what I am saying is it is actually okay to have a picture of an animal, whether it be in wood, stone, print, or on YouTube, as long as it is not being worshipped. That is where the line is.

Now there is a word in the Bible that appears three times — the word pictures. In our modern day we have cell phones and pictures are taken all the time, but when you are seeing picture or pictures in the Bible it is more like a drawing, a painting, or a sculpture. This word appears three times in the King James Bible.

Proverbs 25:11: "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." A word fitly spoken means a word given at the right time — for example, you give the gospel, or somebody is feeling discouraged and you encourage them. According to Proverbs 25:11, this is a good thing. A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. This is a good thing. No question about it.

Go to Numbers 33. Numbers 33:50–52: "And the Lord spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places." The word pictures is linked with molten or graven images, linked with idolatry. But notice — in Proverbs 25:11, pictures is clearly a good thing. In Numbers 33:52, pictures is linked with idolatry.

Can you see the difference? There is a difference between a picture of a soul-winning event or a family photo, and a picture of a false Hindu god. There is a big difference between those. This is idolatry. The other is not. And the reason I am saying this is because some people feel guilty — they think they need to be super strict, they cannot let their kids have any stuffed animal or anything like that because it is idolatry. What I am trying to show you is that is not actually what the Bible says. You are allowed to have a stuffed animal as long as you are not bowing down and worshipping it. There is a big difference between a kid having a stuffed animal that gives them comfort to fall asleep at night and basically an idol that they are bowing down to, feeding, and giving a bath to.

Idolatry has nothing to do with having a t-shirt with an elephant on it. You can take your kids to the zoo and buy them a shirt with animals on it. When I was a kid I had a lot of shirts with wolves or tigers because I thought they were beautiful animals. There is nothing wrong with that. Kids love animals. Just be mindful to tell them, hey, is it not amazing what God created? But do not buy the Ganesh shirt — the Hindu god. There is a big difference between those two shirts. One is not idolatry. The other is.

Our house is full of stuffed animals because kids like stuffed animals. There is nothing wrong with your kids having a teddy bear. There is nothing wrong with that. Now if they had a little Ganesh elephant bear or whatever, that would be wrong. This, on the other hand, is just a stuffed animal. If you disagree and think I am being lenient on idolatry, I would encourage you to listen to the second sermon and you will be shocked at what really goes on with idolatry. But what I am saying is there is nothing wrong with this, and I am just showing you what we believe as a church.

You know we have things like a ball with an octopus on one side and a bull on the other — all things in my house. There is nothing inherently wrong with having an animal on an object. It is funny actually, because on our way to soul-winning yesterday I literally saw somebody wearing a shirt with a cow on it, and I thought: that is not wrong. There is actually nothing wrong with having a shirt with a cow or a calf on it. The problem is if you were to worship it — that is where it becomes wrong.

And how about the piggy bank? You have to be consistent. If you are going to say all images of anything in heaven above or in the earth beneath is wrong, you need to think carefully. What is your line? Because you do not actually believe every graven image is wrong. If you had a wooden piggy bank as a kid, are you saying that was idolatry? What I am saying is an easy line that makes sense is: something that is not spiritual in nature. Now I would personally also draw the line at the cross or the Jesus fish, because those are spiritual in nature. You might disagree, and honestly that is fine. Most Baptist churches I have gone to had a wooden cross carved in the pulpit. It did not bother me — I understand people have different opinions on where they draw the line. I would not do it at our pulpit, but it is not the end of the world if you have a different opinion.

And the chess knight — if you take the stand that every graven image is wrong, you need to retire from chess immediately. Because this is the likeness of something in the earth beneath. I am just stating: be consistent. If your line is stricter than mine, I am perfectly okay with that. But if you say you are against all images and then make exception after exception after exception, you need to figure out what your actual rule is.

Go to Isaiah 2. Isaiah 2:16: "And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures: and the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish." Once again, pictures are being linked with something wicked and idolatry. But once again the Bible was very clear in Proverbs 25:11 that this is a good thing. What I am saying is there is a difference between some of these pictures. The same word can be used for something good and something bad depending on the context.

Go to Numbers 21. Let me give you a couple of other illustrations of where I would draw the line. These are pictures I would be against. Any very poor representation of what Jesus looked like — I would be against that. If God wanted us to know what Jesus looked like, we would know. Is it not interesting how we know what Julius Caesar looked like, who lived before Jesus? We do not really know exactly what Jesus looked like. He definitely did not look like the long-haired European representation. I would be against any representation of God. We should not have that. However, a picture of David and Goliath — David is not God, Goliath is not God, it is just a picture of an event in the Bible. I would not be against pictures from the Bible outside of anything involving Jesus.

What I would say to Catholics is: Acts 17:29: "Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device." Do not make an image of your God. Do not make an image of Jesus — because that is God. Now if it is a picture of an event in the Bible that does not involve Jesus or God the Father, I see nothing in the Bible that would state that is wrong.

Numbers 21:6: "And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live." Verse 9: "And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived." This Brazen Serpent looked to Jesus — it represents Jesus on the cross.

Go to John 3. John 3:14: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." That Brazen Serpent represented Jesus Christ. If they physically looked upon that serpent they would live physically, and it represents the spiritual — the fact that Jesus did all the work for us. All we have to do is just look and live, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And here is the thing: there was nothing sinful about that Brazen Serpent in what we just read. It is perfectly fine. You say, but it is a graven image, it is the likeness of something. Yes — but it was not being worshipped.

Go to 2 Kings 18. 2 Kings 18:1–4: "Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did. He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan." He tore down all the images, the groves, the high places — all of this wicked idolatry. But he also got rid of the Brazen Serpent. Why? Because now it is idolatrous. They have turned it into an idol.

There is nothing inherently sinful about a Brazen Serpent. But all of a sudden they are bowing down to it, burning incense before it, and somehow giving their prayers to that Brazen Serpent thinking it is going to get them in touch with God. That is idolatry. But it was not idolatry before — it was just an image of something that was not being worshipped. Now they have crossed the line.

If you see your kids start to worship the piggy bank — smash it. That is idolatry. If they are not worshipping it, it is not idolatry. That is where the line is, at least that is the line I draw, and it is the line I think you see in the Bible. If it is not being worshipped, it is not idolatry. If it is being worshipped, it is idolatry.

Go to 1 Kings 12. 1 Kings 12:26–28: "And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: if this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt."

To give some context: Solomon dies, the kingdom splits, and Jeroboam gets the ten northern tribes while Rehoboam keeps Judah. Jeroboam is worried that if his people keep going down to Jerusalem to worship, their hearts are going to turn back to Rehoboam's kingdom and he will be destroyed. So he makes two calves of gold and tells the people it is too much for you to go all the way to Jerusalem — here is your god. It is always a calf, always the cow. In Egypt their primary animal of worship was the calf too. Nothing new under the sun. Which is why in Exodus when they make a golden calf it is such a slap in the face of God — they are essentially saying Egypt had the right religion.

Jeroboam sets one calf in Bethel — the house of God, a spiritual place — and the other in Dan, which is the most wicked area. And it says, "this thing became a sin." Because they are now worshipping this object. But what I am saying is there is nothing inherently sinful about a calf or even a gold calf. There is nothing inherently different between a gold calf or a gold horse or a gold giraffe. It is an animal. It becomes a sin because they are actually worshipping it. That is the problem.

Go to Amos 8. Amos 8:14: "They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth." This is the golden calf put in Dan, and the people are saying thy god, O Dan, liveth — basically believing that praying to this object would help heal them. It is kind of like Catholics going to the Feast of the Black Nazarene and thinking that if they just touch that statue their cancer is gone. They think there is a magical power to it. They think it is alive. They think they can pray to it and draw close to God by worshipping this statue. That is idolatry.

But if you just had a t-shirt with a calf on it, I am saying there is nothing wrong with that. If you are bowing down to that shirt and worshipping it, yeah, that is idolatry. But not every single animal or magnet or sticker is idolatrous. It is only if you are worshipping it, if you are making it spiritual in nature.

Responding to Catholic Idolatry

Go to Acts 17. This sermon is about literal idolatry. I am aware there can be symbolic idolatry — somebody will say, wow, you have got that poster on the wall of whatever athlete, that is idolatry. But it is not literal idolatry of worshipping and bowing down. There is symbolic idolatry of the heart. I am talking about literal idolatry, because that is a massive sin in the Bible. I am saying your piggy bank, as long as you are not worshipping it or thinking there is some magical charm to it, is not idolatry. It is just an object that kids have to put coins into.

Now what is your answer to Catholics? Because Catholics would actually say a lot of what I said — they would say it is not wrong to make an image as long as you do not worship it. And I would actually agree with them on that. But here is the difference: they are being dishonest when they say they do not worship those images. Tim Staples, one of the leaders in Catholic apologetics and arguably the most famous Catholic apologist, says on his YouTube channel: the Catholic Church does not believe any statue or image has any power in and of itself. The beauty of statues and icons move us to the contemplation of the word of God as he is himself or as he works in his saints.

Do you see what he said? The beauty of this statue is going to cause you to draw close to God. I do not need to read my Bible, I do not need to pray — I just need to be in front of the statue and it draws me close to God. Yeah, that is idolatry. You believe there is a magical power behind it that is going to draw you close to God. That is not what the Bible says. That is idolatry. And the Catholic Church prays to the saints — do not tell me those statues on Quiapo Street are not idolatry. They pray to those saints, they think those saints can help them get rid of their sins and draw close to God. When you are hanging onto those rosary beads or the Santo Niño or whatever — it is idolatry. You think there is something magical inside it and somehow it is going to draw you close to God.

There is an old video online where a Catholic church had four older men carrying a statue of Mary on a platform in a procession. It started to slip off the shoulder of one of the men, and Mary smashed into the ground in a million pieces. Now when I accidentally break something at home, I think — ah, that cost me some money. That was not the reaction of their church. The reaction was absolute horror. My God is dead. That is idolatry. If it is just a piece of wood or metal, why do you act like it is the end of the world? Because your attitude is: my God liveth. And now all of a sudden it is smashed. That is idolatry.

Acts 17:24–25: "God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things." My God does not need me to feed him. My God does not need me to give him a milk bath like they do in India. Verse 29: "Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device." Do not make an image of your God. Do not make an image of Jesus.

Conclusion

What I would say to Catholics is: your own Catholic apologists have said those statues draw you close to God. They are trying to avoid saying that directly because they want to attract Protestants and Baptists, but their own words reveal it. And that is idolatry — because it is not what the Bible says.

Now I am not preaching this so that when you go soul-winning today you go out and criticise Catholics. Probably over half of the people in this room were raised Catholic, and the reason you are not Catholic today is because you heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and believed on Christ. This is not me saying Catholics are dumb. I think everybody just worships they know not what when they grow up. You just do what you were taught growing up. How do we reach Catholics? By the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not by bashing them over their idolatry.

If you go to your Catholic relatives for Christmas, you do not have to mock them for their idols in their house. Just ignore it. If you want to reach those relatives, show them what Jesus did — he died, he paid for your sins, he is offering you a free gift that lasts forever, and all you have to do is believe on Jesus Christ. We see many Catholics change just by the simple gospel and message of Jesus Christ.

In 2014 my wife and I were going soul-winning in Pampanga and my wife was taking a video of the conversation. I talked to a man named Julius Amoyo, and because at the time I did not speak Tagalog, my wife came over and got him saved in Tagalog. When we were done he pulled out his Santo Niño and told my wife: now that I have Jesus, I do not need this anymore. I still remember his name — it was a very memorable conversation. Immediately he just knew. Now I am not saying every Catholic immediately has that comprehension, but what I am saying is if a Catholic gets saved and has the Holy Spirit of truth inside them, they start reading the Bible and they are going to start realising there is something wrong with the Catholic Church. How do we reach them? By the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to see this topic of idolatry. I ask you to help us understand the spirit in which this is given. If people disagree I understand — it is okay for us to have different opinions. Help everyone who is not sure to search the scriptures for themselves and figure out what they believe the Bible teaches. Help us to reach the unsaved Catholics and unsaved people of every religion here in this country. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

We are here in Exodus chapter 32. The first sermon talked about basically what is idolatry and where to draw the line on the gray areas. This sermon is going to talk about not just the sin of idolatry but why idolatry is so common and what is actually taking place. Here is the thing — we understand it is just a piece of wood, it is just a piece of stone, and everybody understands that. If you ask someone, they will say, no no, it is just a piece of wood. So why are we doing it? I mean, it is such a vain tradition. And yet half the world — the Hindus, the Buddhists, one billion Catholics — half the world is heavily into idolatry. It is just a piece of wood. So what exactly is going on?

When it comes to the average person that has idols, the reason why they are doing it is: you worship you know not what, just like Jesus said in John 4. You just do not even know what you are doing. You do it because your mum did it. Those that grew up Catholic were doing things because that is what they were taught by their parents. To really figure this out — because I have learned through my years of studying the Bible and talking to people in various religions — you often find that they do not even know what they believe. You talk to people that are Inc and they have no idea what they believe. You talk to people that are Mormons and they are surprised when you tell them what their religion actually teaches. People just worship they know not what. So to really understand what is going on, you have to listen to the leaders in these religions and find out exactly why they are doing it.

I read an article called "Reasons for Idol Worship in Hinduism" from hinduwebsite.com, probably the most in-depth Hindu website online. They give ten reasons and we are just going to go through them. What is actually stated in their own words is pretty shocking. The first three ease you in slowly, but reasons four, five, six, eight, and ten are where it gets very interesting. We are also familiar with the story in Exodus 32 of the wickedness of the golden calf.

Reason 1: “It Is the Easiest Way to Instil Faith and Devotion”

Go to 2 Timothy chapter 2. The first thing they mention is that idol worship is the easiest way to make people very religious and devoted. That is probably true — the average Catholic in the Philippines is very religious. The average Hindu in India is very religious. But that does not mean what they are doing is right. Just because they are very religious does not mean God actually approves of it.

In explaining this, the article says: as an abstract concept, God may be appealing to the intellectual mind, but ordinary people who are too busy with their own lives and who are not well versed in scriptural knowledge — for them, idol worship is the easiest path. What they are literally saying is: if you are smart and have time, study the Bible; but if you do not have time or you are not educated, just worship an idol instead. Here is the thing — we are all busy. But what does the Bible say in 2 Timothy 2:15: "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." If we want to know God, we have to read his word and study what God says. The average Catholic in the Philippines is very religious and very rarely reads the Bible. The Catholic Church does not focus on you reading the Bible, and neither do the Hindus. It is just: worship this idol and that is the easiest way to make people devoted. It does not mean it is the right religion.

Reason 2: “It Is a Way of Acknowledging the Omniscience and Omnipresence of God”

Go to John 1. The article says: if God is omnipresent, then everything in the universe, including the idol one worships, is filled with his energy and presence. When Hindus talk about God, their idea of God is very different from ours. Filled with his energy — that is essentially what they believe God is. It is this energy that is out there. Everything in the universe is equally sacred and worthy of worship since God equally pervades all things. Every animal is worthy of worship. Everything is. In the Hindu scriptures there is literally talk of worshipping cow dung in many places, because God is that cow dung, just as God is everything else in their theology. They will even say that whether someone is being patient or whether someone is being a pedophile — it is all part of God in their theology. A warped and strange belief.

But this is what the Bible says in John 1:3: "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." God made the animals, he made us, he made the earth, he made the sky. He is not the sky — he made the sky. He is not the earth — he made the earth. He is not me — he made me. There is a big difference between those things. The Bible condemns worshipping and serving the creature rather than the Creator.

Reason 3: “Traditionally It Is an Approved Practice”

Go to 2 Thessalonians 2. The article says: in the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna gives the assurance that in whatever form and manner people approach him, he will accordingly reciprocate. You can worship God in any way you want. If you like the fierce god Kali or the god Shiva with the snake around his neck, worship him that way. If you believe God is very benevolent, worship him in that way. God is everything anyway, so whatever you do, God is happy with it as long as you are religious. Is that what the Bible says?

Now when you think about Catholicism, what justification do Catholics often give for doing things? This is what the church fathers did. Our family has been Catholic for eight generations. It is our family tradition. It is an approved practice. Let me explain something — in 300 AD there were church fathers doing things exactly opposite to what Jesus said. Even in the days of Paul, the apostle talks about false brethren and all kinds of things coming in. And then of course when the Catholic Church comes in around 310 AD with Constantine, there is a big council of all the Christian leaders. Do you realise if there was a big meeting of all the Christian leaders in Metro Manila, I would not be invited? The ones that have made it high up in politics and prominence — they would be invited. And what they would agree on? Things that I do not agree with. That is exactly what happened with the Catholic Church. Just because church fathers did something does not mean it is right.

2 Thessalonians 2:3: "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." Let me ask you — is it okay to worship the Antichrist? According to Hinduism, you can worship God in whatever way you want. Worship anything, any animal, and it is perfectly okay. That is what it teaches. Pretty bizarre.

Reason 4: “The Idols Help the Devotee Become Deeply Religious”

Go to Acts 19. This sounds like reason number one, but when they explain what they are saying it blows your mind. In fact, I am going to share this article in our group chat because it is very interesting to actually read. All you have to do is substitute the word God with devil and you will understand exactly what is going on.

Here is what it says: when the idols of the gods are installed in the house or in a Puja mandir — a place of worship in the house — the very house becomes an abode, meaning a dwelling place, of gods. Do you understand what it is saying? When you set up idols and worship them, your house gets filled with gods. Translation: your house gets filled with devils. When you set up those idols, it attracts gods — well, the problem is there is one God, and when they are saying gods, what they actually mean is devils. It becomes an abode of devils, fallen angels, just hanging out at your house.

Acts 19:26–28: "Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands. So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth. And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians!" Those people are very religious, very devoted to what they believe — ready to kill Paul. It is the wrong religion though.

Reason 5: “They Serve as Objects of Concentration and Meditation”

You set up this idol and you can concentrate and meditate on it and through that you can get to know God. It is kind of interesting because in a religion like Pentecostalism they have a lot of energetic and intense methods to get possessed by devils. In Hinduism it is different — you have yoga, you have this meditation and these calm, quiet methods to get possessed by devils. But the same thing is taking place. The article says: by keeping the mind concentrated on a particular image, one can bring it under control and stabilise it in the thoughts of the deity. All of a sudden through this concentration you can get the mind of the deity. The Bible says let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, but that is talking about laying down your life for other people and having the same mindset and goals as God. And if you want to know what God is thinking or what he thinks about things, read the Bible. These religions use substances and rituals and the idea is you are getting in touch with a god — just not a capital G God.

Reason 6: “In Idol Worship the True Worshipper Becomes God”

This is where it gets really interesting. What they teach in Hinduism is that if you worship idols in the right way, you become God. Here is what the article says: when an idol is worshipped with intense love and devotion, a similar process takes place in the mind of the worshipper. The idol is, at the physical level, just a piece of stone, clay, wood, or some other material. They actually teach that in Hinduism — an idol is nothing. It is literally nothing, just like Paul the Apostle said. It is inert, inactive, something created with hands.

But then it says: in the minds of the devotee it comes to life as he pours his love and devotion into it and makes offerings to it. And it says: not all idols are alike. Those which are more frequently worshipped by more people accumulate higher power in proportion to the offerings they receive.

Do you understand what is being said? An idol that is not worshipped much — there is a little bit of energy in it, or whatever you want to call it. But if it gets worshipped more, and by more people, there is more energy in it. Translation: there are more devils in it. That would make sense — there would be more devils around the famous statue in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil than a small Santo Niño carried in someone's pocket. The more people worship a particular idol the more devils are associated with it.

Then it says: in worship, devotees step into the role of God. They put life into the material of the idols and make them alive. I believe what they are saying is accurate — as long as you change God to devil. They are literally saying: it is just a piece of wood, it is just a piece of stone, we do not worship idols — but wait, as you worship it, energy flows into it and you become God because you give life to that idol. The more an idol is worshipped, the more energy it has, and the more in touch it will get you with God.

What they are actually saying is: somebody makes a piece of wood that looks like whatever, nothing to it. All of a sudden people start worshipping it — and what happens? Devils will come around this thing, and as people worship this idol they get possessed by devils. That is what is actually taking place. If you ever hear of someone going to a famous Hindu pilgrimage site, they will literally say, I cannot explain what took place when I stood in front of that idol — I felt something inside of me I have never felt before. They are being accurate. They felt something. They got possessed by devils, and it is like there is this feeling they have never felt before. When people go to the Feast of the Black Nazarene and they touch that statue, there is a good chance they get possessed at that moment. This is literally what is taking place. When people say they do not understand — I felt something — I do not think they are lying. I think it is actually taking place. There are a lot of fallen angels out there and they are not just hanging around doing nothing. When people are worshipping those idols, they are getting possessed.

Go to 1 Corinthians 10. 1 Corinthians 10:19–20: "What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that that is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils." When they are worshipping an idol, it is not that that piece of wood is a devil — literally devils will come and they are worshipping those devils. When it says they sacrifice to devils, it is being literal. There are literally devils right there as they are sacrificing to that idol, because the devotee makes the idol come alive. That is what it is saying.

Reason 7: “The Idols Help Cultivate Equanimity”

Go to James 4. The article says: some idols which Hindus worship look fierce or unusual with grotesque bodies. They disturb our sense of proportion, beauty, symmetry, and harmony. By worshipping them, one overcomes attachment to superficial beauty and learns to see the truth hidden in things beyond their names and forms. The idea is that when you find something so disturbing and evil looking and learn to worship it, that is when you really get in touch with God, because everything is equally worthy of worship.

Reason 8: “It Is a Powerful Technique to Cultivate Purity”

The article says: idol worship is more effective than praying. I missed that verse in the Bible — I remember pray without ceasing, not bow down before idols without ceasing. Idol worship is more effective than praying, and when you combine the power of prayer with the power of concentration and meditation and further reinforce it with ritual and spiritual power, you create a powerful field of sacred energy. This is why many devotees experience peace and feel energised after they perform domestic or temple worship. Do you know why they feel energised? Because they got possessed by a devil. That is the reason why. That is why people feel something they have never felt before.

I remember when I was in Guyana years ago, I knocked on a door and walked into this man's backyard. There were two men — one Hindu, one a non-denominational Christian — both getting drunk. The Hindu man was trying to get me to eat something he had prepared. I thought it was probably sacrificed to idols so I declined, and then he said: I love Jesus. I want you to know that. And I was like, have a nice day. But before I could leave his yard, he had me look inside a cabinet in his backyard. He had all of these gold idols, and one of the most prominent ones was an idol of Jesus. He said: I love Jesus. That man was drunk as a skunk. He was not living a pure life. And I was amazed because the house was very poor, but those idols had to be pretty expensive. Spending all of your life's money on alcohol and idols is a bad combination.

What does the Bible actually say about living a pure life? James 4:7–8: "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded." If you want to draw close to God, get the sin out of your life. God is holy and we ought to strive to be holy — be holy, for I am holy he says. Try to be like God. Try to be holy. Get the sin out of your life. That is what the Bible says. That is how you become pure. That is how you draw close to God — by cleansing your hands, your mind, your heart, your eyes, and your ears from the filth of this world.

Reason 9: “It is a declaration of simple faith in the universal presence of God.”

This one's kind of a silly one they just wanted to come up with 10. [Pastor Stucky skips this reason.]

Reason 10: “It Is a Transformative and Purifying Process”

Go to Revelation 9. The article says: it is not known to many that before a devotee worships an idol in the most reverential manner, he has to richly install it and breathe life into it. The article itself is saying most people — including most Hindus — do not realise this. They teach that you have got to breathe life into that idol. It is called establishing life breath into the idol — Prana Pratishtha — in the Puja ceremony. In temples this is done only when the idols are first installed. At home though it is done as often as you worship, so in a temple you do it one time but at home you do it over and over again, breathing more and more life into it each time.

The article says: you are worshipping living forms of God, not a mere physical form. When you do it, the Prana — the life energy — that you pour into the idol comes from you. You make the idol alive. And when the deity departs at the end of the ritual, the Prana which you poured into it returns to you purified and elevated inside your body. It purifies you further.

What is it stating? As you worship that idol you attract the devils, and when you are done with the ceremony they enter into you. The more you worship the idols, the more devils are attracted, and they are going to come back into you. There is actually a verse in the Bible that talks about a devil leaving and coming back — and that is what is taking place as they worship these idols.

Revelation 9:20: "And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk." When it says they are worshipping devils, it is being literal. Yes, there is a piece of wood, but there are actually devils right there. It is actually literal. They are literally worshipping devils. Certain devils probably just hang out by the same idol all the time, which seems to be what this Hindu article is also saying — certain devils for certain idols.

The Same Is True in Buddhism

Go to 1 Corinthians 12. In Hinduism it is the most extreme, but the same thing takes place in Buddhism. Although there is more idolatry in Hinduism, most of the tallest statues in the world are of Buddha. A Buddhist article says: Buddhists revere the image of the Buddha as a gesture to the greatest, wisest, most benevolent, compassionate, and holy man who has ever lived. The worship of the Buddha really means paying homage, veneration, and devotion to him and what he represents, and not to this stone or metal figure. I am sure the same thing happens with Buddhism as well — people can get possessed at these big statues. Buddhism says there is no God, there is no Creator God. But their god is Buddha. If it is not Buddha, then why are you bowing down and worshipping it and giving it milk baths and all these vain traditions? If you believe in reincarnation you obviously believe in some kind of God regardless of what you say. Their god is Buddha, and as they bow down before their god, many are getting possessed.

1 Corinthians 12:1–2: "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led." A dumb idol means it cannot speak. It is deaf and dumb. It cannot hear, it cannot speak, it cannot feed itself, it cannot drink. It is just a piece of stone, it is just a piece of wood. But here is what I am telling you — you look at certain verses where the Bible says it is just a piece of stone, and then other verses say you are sacrificing to devils. Why? It is just a piece of stone — except those idols are attracting devils.

Now I am not saying that if you visit your Catholic relative and there are idols at their house there are necessarily a bunch of devils hanging around. But it is possible, especially if they are very zealously worshipping those idols. It is not a random process how people get possessed. There are certain things people can do that can attract devils — certain types of drugs and drinking, and certainly worshipping these idols. Many people are getting possessed and getting energised. It is a transforming process. They become a new man — because they are filled with devils.

Conclusion

As a saved person, you can never be possessed by a devil — the Bible teaches that. At the same time, stay away from these idols. If you ever visit India, do not walk into a Hindu temple. I would not want to be around these idols where there are all kinds of devils. It is satanic. It is bizarre. This is like out of a horror movie — literally scarier than anything I saw as a kid. There are going to be all kinds of devils and people getting possessed, and this is actually taking place.

In my opinion, in Hinduism it is probably the most prominent because they have more idolatry. But the same thing could take place in various situations like the Feast of the Black Nazarene, or whatever the name of the statue is in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, where people give offerings to it. As Christians, stay as far away from it as possible. Abstain from all appearance of evil. Just stay away from these things.

This is how serious the sin of idolatry is. It is not just a vain tradition with no effect — it is literally attracting devils, and zealous worshippers are getting possessed. That is what is actually taking place. But the best way to reach Catholics or people of any religion is still just with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today. I ask you to help us understand how serious a sin this is and the wickedness of idolatry. Help us to understand what is going on when people are worshipping these idols, but also help us to understand that the best way to reach Catholics or people of any religion is just with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

We are here in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, continuing the Alphabet of Bible Doctrines. J is the Judgment Seat of Christ. Some of these things I have talked about kind of recently, so we are going to fly through the points that are probably pretty obvious and focus on the things I have not talked about as much. The Judgment Seat of Christ is about getting rewards in heaven, and I want you to get rewards. I want you to live a successful life where God is going to really bless you one day. So it is important to try to see what the Bible says and try to follow it.

Point 1: Believers Only

Everybody at the Judgment Seat of Christ is going to be a believer — they are going to be saved. 1 Corinthians 3:15: "If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." The Bible speaks about a person whose works get burned up — they are not getting any rewards — but he himself shall be saved. If somebody has no good works to show and no rewards that they are getting, he is going to be saved. Why? Because everybody at the Judgment Seat of Christ is a believer. Everybody is saved. This is not a judgment of innocent or guilty — everybody is guilty, everybody sinned. The determination of what judgment you go to is based on what you believe. If you are at the Judgment Seat of Christ it shows you are saved.

When the Bible says believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, we get saved by believing. So when do we get saved — the moment we believe, or when we die? Obviously the moment we believe, because that is how we get saved. You do not have to wait until you die to find out about heaven or hell. The moment you believe, you are saved according to the word of God.

By the way, that verse in 1 Corinthians 3:15 is perhaps the most prominent verse the Catholic Church uses for purgatory. They say he is going to be saved by fire, meaning he is going to spend time in purgatory and then be saved. But the context we are going to see in this sermon is that it is talking about good works being burned up and not getting rewards — it does not say the person is going to be burnt. And purgatory is not in the Bible. There are only two places you are going to go.

Go to Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11:6: "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." There are two things mentioned after that colon. You must believe that he is — that is number one. And that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him — that is number two. You must believe those things to please God. Not to be saved — to please God. It is possible to be saved and not please God. Think about your children — are you always pleased with your kids? No. There are times you are upset and not pleased with them when they do wrong. A person can believe on Christ and it does not mean that God is pleased with them. If somebody is saved and never goes to church, never reads the Bible, never goes soul-winning, and does every sin under the sun — God is not pleased with them. But they still believe that he is. They are still saved.

It is also possible to fear God and not be saved — Cornelius in Acts 10 feared God but he was not yet saved. You must believe that he is, you must believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the way to heaven. There is not a single Muslim on this planet that God is pleased with. There is not a single Hindu on this planet that God is pleased with. But there are people in false religions that fear God — they just do not know the truth. And the idea of believing that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him is that you are striving to follow God because you know there are rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ. That is what it is about — it is about God saying, here you go, this is your trophy, this is your reward for what you did. That is what the Judgment Seat of Christ is about.

Point 2: A Bonus for the Work That You Do

Go back to 1 Corinthians 3. I want you to get rewards in heaven. Honestly, I do not care if you get more rewards than me — I do not feel like I am in competition with anyone. I would seriously doubt that I am going to get more rewards than everybody in this room. Just because you are preaching does not mean you get the most rewards. You can be a church member with no desire to go into the ministry, or you can be a woman who is obviously not going to be a pastor but who is zealous, and you are going to get a lot of rewards. It is not a competition between any of us. I hope we all get a lot of rewards.

1 Corinthians 3:8: "Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour." Your reward, your bonus, is based on your labour. Just because you are at a church that is doing a lot of work does not mean that you are going to get rewards. What is your labour? What is your work? It is based on what you individually did.

Verse 13: "Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward." The Bible speaks about getting a reward, getting a bonus based on the work you do. It is going to be revealed by fire — God is going to show your works and what abides or lasts through the fire.

Go to Psalm 103. Why is this the way it works? Because when you got saved you were given a gift. One hundred percent free, no strings attached, 100% free for the receiver — obviously it was the blood of Jesus that paid for it, but it is one hundred percent free for us. So when you get saved, it is not like you have to pay back the gift after you get saved. You could not pay it back — it is impossible. But receiving that gift, when you do good God is going to reward you, because he truly gave you a gift. Sometimes somebody can give you something in life and say it is a gift but they expect something in return. That is not salvation. It is 100% free when you get saved. That being said, when somebody gives you a gift you ought to have the attitude that you want to return the favour. We ought to have gratitude. Any good you do is not paying back that gift — it is getting a reward, getting a bonus for the work that you do.

Point 3: The Bad Is Overlooked

Some people teach that as a saved person, one day God is going to show everybody the sins that you committed. When you were five years old you cheated on a math test. When you were 15 you drank alcohol. That is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches the bad is overlooked — it is gone, it is not going to be shown. God is not going to let everybody know about it.

Psalm 103:8–12: "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities." What we really deserve is hell. We are guilty. But "as far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." What does that mean? If you are travelling north on a globe, at some point you switch to travelling south — because of the North Pole and South Pole, north and south are linked. But if you start going east, you can keep going east and east and east and east forever — you are never going to be travelling west. It works differently. The Bible is saying your transgressions are completely gone. With God, forgiving and forgetting are linked together. You say you forgive someone but you will never forget — according to God, you have not really forgiven them, because those two are linked. God has forgiven us because he has forgotten. It is gone, completely gone.

At the Judgment Seat of Christ they are not going to show every sin. That is not what is going to happen as God gives out rewards. Verse 13: "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him." When you are saved you are a child of God, and God treats you as a child. All kids do wrong — I believe in spanking — but you do not see me spanking my kids in front of everybody. When my kids do wrong I talk to them in a quiet place and explain it to them. I am not trying to embarrass my kids. If you embarrass your kids you are going to raise kids that hate you and are bitter. God loves you like a father loves his children. He does not want to embarrass you. When you are saved, the bad is overlooked at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

Point 4: Before the Millennial Reign of Christ

Go to Revelation 20. The Judgment Seat of Christ will be before the 1,000 year period of Christ ruling and reigning. Revelation 20:4: "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." The determination of how you rule and reign with Christ is based on the Judgment Seat of Christ. Based on what you have done is going to determine how you rule and reign. If you have done more good works you are going to get more rewards and rule more. The basis of the Thousand Years — who is in what position — is: what did you do? And so the Judgment Seat of Christ is going to be before that thousand years.

The Great White Throne Judgment is after the thousand years. So the Judgment Seat of Christ for saved people is before, and the Great White Throne is after. If a saved person dies right now, they have the same heaven as everybody — an equal level. Likewise if somebody dies unsaved they are burning in hell in equal amounts to anybody else. But God is a just judge. So if everybody is equal, how is he giving rewards? What takes place is at the Judgment Seat of Christ he is going to give out rewards for what you have done. For the unsaved people at the Great White Throne Judgment, obviously a pedophile will burn more than just an average unsaved person that did not know the gospel. They are going to be rewarded based on their sins and works. But the Judgment Seat of Christ is before the millennial reign of Christ.

What is interesting is that if people really want to rule and reign now — if people want to be in authority and be a leader now — they are actually not going to rule and reign much during the millennial reign of Christ.

Point 5: A Broadcasting of Results

Go to 1 Corinthians 4. Most of the rest of this sermon is going to be on this point. There is going to be a broadcasting of results at the Judgment Seat of Christ — we are going to find out what rewards we get. 1 Corinthians 4:1–2: "Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful." Verse 3: "But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment." Paul says I do not really care what people think about me. That ought to be the attitude of all of us. People can think whatever they want, they can judge me or look at me in whatever way they want — okay, that does not change anything.

And then Paul says, not only that: "Yea, I judge not mine own self." The Bible says we do not know how many rewards we are going to get in heaven. We do not. If you say, well, I am going to get the most rewards — how do you know? The Bible is saying you actually do not know. Now there are certain things that can get you rewards — soul-winning, keeping the commandments, reading the Bible. But why does God say you do not really know? I think there is a reason God makes it not super transparent, because it would be very easy to be prideful if you knew — hey, I am the greatest Christian in the world. The reality is, you do not know that.

Verse 4: "For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord." When it is talking about judging here, it is not saying do not judge people who are breaking commandments. It is saying do not judge in terms of how many rewards people are going to get — you do not know. Verse 5: "Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God." We are all going to have praise of God because this is believers only. No one is going to be upset — everyone is going to be happy, obviously, we are in heaven forever and ruling and reigning with Christ. But the Bible says we do not know, because God is going to make manifest the counsels of the hearts.

Here is the thing: it is not just what you do — it is why you do it. This is what the Bible teaches. Somebody could do more good works than anyone at our church, but that does not tell me why they are doing it. I cannot see your heart. You cannot see my heart. If somebody goes soul-winning a lot, that is great, but it does not tell us why they did it. That is why we judge nothing before the time. Somebody could do a lot more good works than somebody else, but we have no idea why they are doing it. Even Paul said I judge not mine own self. There is a little bit in all of us of wanting to be prideful or get recognition for the things we do. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked — who can know it? You do not fully understand or know your own heart. It is not just who got the most salvations — it does not work that way. Of course if you do not do any works for God then nothing is going to abide the fire. But simply because you do good works does not mean you are going to get rewards for them.

Verse 6: "And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another." Be very careful about thinking too highly of certain people, because you do not know what is in their heart. You do not necessarily know how right with God they are. I have no idea if you read the Bible this morning. I might know if you go soul-winning later today, but I am not going to know whether you read the Bible or prayed, and even if I knew that you did pray, I do not know why you prayed. I do not know your heart. I do not know my own heart. That is why I judge not mine own self — and when I say I have no idea if I am going to get more rewards than people, I mean it. There are a lot of people that love God in this room. It is also a foolish thing to think well, I think so-and-so is going to get more rewards. We have no idea. It is impossible to actually know that.

Go to 2 Corinthians 10. It is a foolish thing to compare yourself to other people. 2 Corinthians 10:12: "For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise." Did you know it is a foolish thing to compare yourself to other people? You might look at yourself and say, I think I am a better Christian than so-and-so — I read the Bible more, I go to church more, I go soul-winning more. But have you been saved longer? I mean, it is a foolish comparison. None of us are in the same situation in life, so how can you really compare yourself with somebody else? It can go badly in two ways — you can compare yourself to lift yourself up, or you can compare and feel like a failure. Either way it is not wise.

Go to 2 Corinthians 11. I want to help you understand what I am saying. I started listening to Pastor Steven Anderson in 2008. I had been saved for several years and was already soul-winning but was trying to find preaching that motivated me. Him and Pastor David Berzins went to Washington DC for a political rally and said if we wanted to come meet him on the Saturday we could. My friends and I were literally worried about what to wear — I was thinking if I wear shorts and a t-shirt is he going to look down on me, do I need to wear a tie? I remember dressing in a dress shirt with no tie, and when I got there he was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. And what I realised that day is he is just a human being like anybody else. You are not going to walk away thinking he is so much different than anyone else. When Pastor Roger Jimenez came here, many of you met him — he is a normal person, is he not? We all put our pants on one leg at a time.

What I am trying to express is what you are going to see in 1 and 2 Corinthians — Paul the Apostle was an ordinary person. If Paul visited our church for three months and was not preaching sermons and just told you his name was Paul, you would never guess he was Paul the Apostle. You would think well of him, but you would not think he was the greatest thing ever. Why? Because he is just an ordinary person. He is not self-promoting. But I thought of another pastor I met who gave off a completely different impression — everybody thought he was the friendliest guy ever, your best friend from day one. He later got disgraced from the ministry for prostitution, going to casinos, and doing drugs. You can only make so good of a first impression if it is real. If you get the feeling that someone is the greatest person ever — red flag. A normal person is not going to self-promote or lift themselves up. You would just think of them as a normal person.

People started looking down on Paul because he was not self-promoting, and other people were lifting themselves up and making themselves out to be great leaders. Now people were thinking less of Paul simply because he was not letting everyone know what he had been doing. 2 Corinthians 11:16–17: "I say again, Let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little. That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord." He is saying — I do not even know if God thinks this is the right thing to do, but I am about to tell you how great I am. He is going to boast. Why is he doing this? Because in 1 Corinthians the church is a mess and Paul does all the work, saves that church from losing their candlestick. And then in 2 Corinthians, throughout the book, people are lifting themselves up and making themselves out to be these great people, and now people are thinking lowly of Paul simply because he is not letting everyone know what he has done. Verse 19: "For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise." That is a backhanded comment — ye yourselves are so wise, you think you are so great. He is saying all right, I am about to act like a fool and boast right along with these people.

Be very careful about people who appoint themselves as leaders. Let me give you a couple of examples from our own church — without naming names. There was a person who was later disfellowshipped who was going soul-winning with someone at our church, I will call him Juan De La Cruz. I had already been soul-winning with Juan De La Cruz. His presentation needed some changes — not in depth enough, not explaining eternal security. I was perfectly fine with that because everybody starts off needing to learn, and someone who is zealous and humble is going to grow. In fact Juan De La Cruz even told me he realised he needed to make changes after hearing me give the gospel — I never criticised him, because my attitude is unless someone is preaching heresy, people are learning and growing and they will make the changes as they go. But this other person — who was just a church member, not working for the church — trashed his soul-winning and told him he needed to make changes. Because you yourself are so great at soul-winning? I would feel too ashamed to act that way even as the one who runs this church. Why would you make someone who is zealous and trying feel horrible about it?

Another example — a different person was criticising the soul-winning of someone I will call Maria De La Cruz, and literally told her she was not allowed to go soul-winning with our church until she got better at it. Did Brother Stucky say that? Did Brother Stucky give you the authority to do that? Someone who is just getting into soul-winning and trying to learn and get up the courage — you just kick them down for not being good enough? How do you get better if you do not practice? And by the way, that person Maria De La Cruz is still soul-winning today and is one of the most zealous soul-winners from our church. Instead of kicking them down, give them a chance to learn.

Another example — the same person literally told someone they were not allowed to visit our church. You are not welcome here because of this situation. And they made it seem as if this is what I said. I never said that. How do you have the right to tell someone they are not allowed to come to our church? Let me help you out — the decisions made at this church are by me. You do not tell people they cannot go soul-winning or join our church. That is not how we work at Verity Baptist Church.

1 Corinthians 11:1: "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." Paul says follow me as I follow Christ. I would say the same thing today — follow me as I follow Christ. We have programmes for reading the Bible, going soul-winning, and if you follow these examples you are going to be successful. At the same time, there is God-ordained leadership at churches. People who are ordained men of God. I was ordained for a reason. The standard at Verity Baptist Church for ordination includes reading through the Bible ten times. We have different talents, different abilities — this does not make me better than you, but it does mean I am the ordained leader of this church and we do things decently and in order.

The Key to Getting Rewards: Not for the Praise of Men

Go to Matthew 6. Matthew 6 and the Sermon on the Mount is really about not doing your works to be seen of men — and this is the key on getting rewards.

Matthew 6:1: "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven." Now alms is not your tithe — your tithe is ten percent. Alms is basically helping out the sick, helping out the poor, or giving above ten percent. Imagine you decide to give extra money to church or help somebody out, but you want people to know about it — and you make it obvious as the offering plate goes around. What a foolish thing. You gave all that money to church and lost your rewards instantly. Anything you do for God takes time and effort. What a foolish thing to throw it away because you had the wrong heart about it.

Verse 2: "Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward." They have the reward — meaning that is the only reward they are getting. Verse 3–4: "But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: that thine alms may be in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly." There are people at our church that I know give a lot more than ten percent — but you probably do not know that. Why? Because they are not doing their works to be seen of men.

Verse 5: "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." Why? Because the word reward is used — it is in the context of the Judgment Seat of Christ. You are going to get no reward if you are doing works to be seen of men. It is not just what you do — it is why you do it.

Verse 16: "Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward." I remember being in grade school and seeing someone with black ash on their head for the first time and having no idea what was going on. Then I started seeing other people with black stuff on their heads. That is Ash Wednesday — putting black ash on their head to let everybody know they are participating in Lent. They have their reward, the Bible says. Verse 17–18: "But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." It actually says to make it look like you are not fasting if you are fasting.

I think this is important preaching for all of us because it is really hard to do good things without self-promoting yourself. We all naturally want people to know what we are good at and what we are doing. We get back from soul-winning on a really good day and somebody says they got four people saved, and something inside says I got five. You want people to know. Even as we do something spiritual, it is easy to want to let people know you are better than somebody else. I certainly struggle with pride. I certainly struggle with this. And the danger is: bye bye rewards. Because you had to tell everybody how great you are.

When you do works and when you serve God, just be content with saying you know what, I am just a member of church, I am just part of the body of Christ. Not telling everybody about all the things you are doing. Not for the praise of men — but for the Lord.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to see this topic of the Judgment Seat of Christ. I ask you to help everyone in our church to get a lot of rewards in heaven, help us to be very successful in serving you, but not do it to be seen of men or to get credit — just because we love you. I ask you to help us all change, not just the outside but the inside. Help us to change our heart, help us to love you and serve you. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

We are here in 2 Peter chapter 1. In the United States most Baptist churches do not use the King James Bible and are not King James only, so it is a topic where you really have to study it out to know how to defend what you believe. I expected and planned to preach on the King James topic a lot when I moved here, but then I realised pretty much every Baptist church in the Philippines uses the King James Bible, so there is not that much of a necessity. But at the same time, when it comes to the core things we believe — we are a salvation by grace through faith, soul-winning, fundamental, King James only Baptist church — that is one of the things we attach to the type of church we are. We do want to know how to defend the things that we believe.

Point 1: The Originals Were Perfect

2 Peter 1:16: "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty." What Peter is describing is the fact that he did not just hear some fairy tale and believe it. He experienced things. He saw the mount of transfiguration. He was an eyewitness. The people that were writing the Bible were eyewitnesses. They experienced a lot of things. But he is going to compare what he experienced to the word of God itself.

Verse 17–18: "For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount." Verse 19: "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place." Sometimes people come to you and tell you about an experience they had, and if it goes against what the Bible says I just do not believe what they say. I have a more sure word of prophecy. If someone says they were visited by Jesus or went to heaven for 20 minutes and wrote everything down, I am going to say no you did not — because when Paul went to heaven he said he could not even repeat the things he experienced, and then you supposedly went to heaven and you are writing everything about it and making millions of dollars. Something funny is going on. Now it is possible they got visited by some sort of devil, but not what they actually say took place. I do not go off people's personal testimonies when they go against the Bible.

Verse 20: "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation." When those people were writing things down it was not one apostle giving his thoughts and another giving different thoughts and them not adding up. When they were writing it, it was not a private interpretation of themselves — they were moved by the Holy Ghost on what to write. There are even people in the Bible who wrote about things they did not fully understand, like Daniel. How could he write about things he did not fully understand? Because he was moved by the Holy Ghost to write those things. Verse 21: "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."

Now of course we also have the Apocrypha — books the Catholic Church adds to the Bible. I have read the Apocrypha and I can tell you not only are there a lot of mistakes, you can just tell it is not the word of God. When it talks about sorcery being a good thing, that kind of goes against the books of Leviticus and Exodus. But these 66 books are the word of God and those people who wrote them were inspired by God, moved by the Holy Ghost to write what they actually wrote.

Go to Acts 2. The Bible also says all scripture is given by inspiration of God. The second definition of inspire is to breathe in air, and so we say the Bible is God-breathed. It is inspired by God — these words were coming down from heaven, because in the beginning was the Word, and forever O Lord thy word is settled in heaven. These were God-breathed and then brought down into the language they were put in — Hebrew, Aramaic in part, and Greek in the originals. Now of course in our day we do not have the originals, but we have copies of the originals. People can be very misleading about that. Yes, what Moses wrote is gone. But what you have are copies of the originals.

Point 2: The Bible Was Not Meant to Be in Only One Language

The Bible was meant to be in every language. Forever O Lord thy word is settled in heaven — God's word is outside of languages. In the beginning was the Word. Forever O Lord thy word is settled in heaven. What God did is bring the word down to certain languages — mostly Hebrew in the Old Testament, a little Aramaic, then Greek. But it is not like God's word is Hebrew and so what do we do with everybody else.

If you go on Google and type in what version of the Quran should I read in English, every Muslim says you have to read it in Arabic. You cannot put it in English. The word of God is Arabic, as if the only language God speaks is Arabic, as if everybody in heaven is going to speak Arabic. Or with the Hindu scriptures they say you have to read it in ancient Sanskrit — you cannot really read it in English. But that is pretty convenient when you want to cover up all the mistakes and garbage that you write. The Hadith says after five minutes of reading that there are more women in hell than men because they are disobedient to their husbands, and when you call them out on it they say: well, you have to read it in the original. What does it say in the original? I do not have to make excuses for what is found in this book. It is perfect.

The word of God was not Hebrew or Aramaic or Greek. It was brought into Hebrew, it was brought into Aramaic, it was brought into Greek. Forever O Lord thy word is settled in heaven, and it can be brought into any language in the world because God is not bound by a language.

Acts 2:1–4: "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." The day of Pentecost was a religious event where a lot of people from all over the world speaking different languages had travelled to Jerusalem. You have got soul-winners here who speak one language or maybe a few, and then all of a sudden there is somebody from another country. If somebody only spoke Mandarin Chinese, none of us could get that person saved — we do not speak Mandarin. But this was a miraculous event God allowed because it was right after the resurrection, it was a big event, and God wanted to spread Christianity. He gave a group of soul-winners the ability to speak languages they had never learned — they had never studied them or knew very little about them — and then people from other countries were hearing it and saying, how do you know Arabic, how do you know that language?

Verse 5: "And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven." A lot of people were living in Jerusalem who had come from other places — in the Old Testament if you wanted to serve God to the fullest, you would want to move to Jerusalem, where the priests were and where the word of God was. But moving there did not mean you spoke the language perfectly. Some of those people would have understood only a small percentage of what was said. This is what was taking place in Acts 2 — people had moved there and did not fully understand the language perfectly.

Verse 6: "Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language." They are shocked because they are hearing the language which is their native first language. They were all amazed and marvelled, hearing the wonderful works of God in the tongues where they were born.

Does it not make sense that God would want to put the word of God into every language? Honestly, when I think of the greatest projects Christians could do today, one of the big things is getting the word of God into every language. There are a lot of countries and languages where the Bibles being used have a lot of problems. What we believe, as we will get to in point three, is that at least for English a perfect Bible has been brought to us.

Point 3: A Perfect Bible Was Brought to the English Language

Go to Psalm 12. We believe a perfect Bible was brought to the English language. We state we are King James only. What does that mean exactly? It means we are King James only in English — we believe it is perfect, preserved, and it is the Bible we use. That is not to state that in another language they do not have the word of God. In a lot of languages they might have a perfect word of God. In many languages they have decent Bibles. I am just stating that in English I do not speak about things I am not an expert at. What I know is that in the English language we do have a perfect Bible.

What is the logical reason for a perfect Bible in English? The New Testament was written in Greek. Why? Because Greek was the language of the world at that time. In America there is an expression — that is Greek to me — which came about because Greek was the language of the world. If more people speak a language than any other, does it not make sense to have a Bible in that language? Well, in our modern day what is the most common, biggest, and most influential language in the world? English. By far, without dispute. And sometimes you say this as a white American who speaks English as a first language and people say, well, that is just because you are an American. No — it is just a fact. If it were a different language I would say that language.

From babel.com: there is little doubt that English has become the very universal language for much of the world. There are roughly 360 million people whose first language is English — you think of the United States, England, Australia. But an estimated one and a half billion people speak it fluently around the world — twenty percent of the world's population. And honestly I think more than one and a half billion people actually speak it fluently. A lot of people are kind of shy to say they are fluent because it is not their native first language. Here in the Philippines I think most people speak English well enough — you can read, write, and understand it. Accents and phrases are different, but I could give the gospel in English and get plenty of people saved because most people speak it well. Forty-five countries it is estimated that over half the people speak it fluently. You could be dropped in any country in the world and find somebody to speak to in English — that is not necessarily true about any other language.

There are many reasons why English is so widespread. Before the United States was in power, England was the dominant power in the world, and this goes back hundreds of years. Even during that time, English became the dominant language over French and Spanish. I do not know exactly why, but it did. It is just getting bigger now because people watch American movies, listen to American music, learn in English in schools — textbooks in many countries around the world are in English.

Why was the Old Testament written in Hebrew? Because God's people spoke Hebrew. Does it not make sense that if God's people speak a language, you put the Bible in that language? There are 1.3 billion people whose native first language is Chinese. What is the religion of Chinese people in general? Communist, Buddhist, Taoist — not Christian, not Baptist. The second most common native language is Spanish. What is the religion of Spanish-speaking people? Catholic — Central America, South America, Catholic. By and large Catholics are not reading the Bible and they have a different Bible anyway. The fourth biggest language for a native speaker is Arabic at 362 million. What is the religion of Arabic-speaking people? Muslim. The fifth is Hindi at 344 million. What is their religion? Hindu, Jainism, Sikhism, sometimes Islam — but mainly Hindu.

What is the religion of English-speaking people? Protestant. Baptist. Non-denominational. It is a fact. I am not saying most English-speaking people are saved — obviously that is not true, narrow is the way which leadeth unto life. I am just saying in comparison to other languages, Spanish-speaking people are Catholic, and English-speaking people — because the Church of England broke off from the Catholic church — come under the Protestant section. And even if a Protestant is not saved, they still often have their daily devotional, they study the Bible a little bit more than someone who is Hindu or Muslim. It makes sense that God would say: if the most common language is English and the religion of English-speaking people is some sort of Christian — let us get a Bible in their language. That is just common sense. God is not an idiot. This makes logical sense. This is not just saying King James only because you are biased — it actually makes logical sense that if God was going to put the word of God into one language in a particularly complete way, he would put it into the English language.

John Wycliffe started translating the Bible into Middle English over 500 years ago. Then William Tyndale came along and was killed in 1536 by the Catholic Church for translating the Bible into the common language — murdered for giving people the Bible. Then in 1604 King James commissioned the English Bible. Now there were English Bibles before the King James, and sometimes people get confused about that. What is interesting is that when you compare the King James to those Bibles that came before it, they are often word for word identical — very little difference. But that is not the case for the versions that came after the King James. Those are very different, which we will look at in the second sermon.

Psalm 12:6: "The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times." If you get silver or gold it is not going to be 100% pure right away. There is a process to make it more pure — from 80 to 89, getting up to 96 — more and more until they try to get as close to perfect as possible. The Bible states it is the same way with the Bible. The purifying process takes some time. What you are going to see with the Bibles before the King James is that they were slowly getting a little bit better in general, and they are actually pretty decent. Many verses I could probably read from those versions and you would think it is the King James. But that is not the case for versions after the King James — those are very different.

The Bible says the word of God is a sword. What happens when a sword goes dull? You sharpen it. The King James has been around for a long time. Other versions come up and ten years later they are gone. When I first started studying this topic the big version that was becoming popular was the Message — apparently it is not that high on the list anymore. Something that is not the real thing comes up and it vanishes, just like false religions come and go. The King James came and it stayed. Why? Because it is the real thing. It is a sword. It lasts. It is proven through the test of time.

Now the exact details of the translation can sometimes be disputed, but my understanding is there were 54 translators who were the greatest linguists of their day. They spoke 15 languages — these were experts. At the end of the process there were 47 left because some died during it — it took a long time. From 1604 to 1610, six to seven years of translating, 54 of the smartest linguists in the world at that time brought the word of God from Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek into the English language. When people translate versions now they will have like a couple of people spend two years. And then you have got Baptist pastors saying in the original Greek it says this and they are making corrections to the King James. The people who translated the King James spoke 15 languages. They were experts at Greek, English, Hebrew, and all these languages. They were double-checking their work in teams — six teams of nine or nine teams of six, and then after each team was done another team would check their work. And you are saying you know more than 50 plus experts at language? How arrogant is that?

I remember a while back we started a mini project at our church trying to get the salvation verses into a perfectly worded Tagalog booklet. We stopped after a couple of weeks because we sat around for 30 minutes just trying to figure out how to translate only-begotten Son — literally. I was like, man this is a lot harder than I expected. These were 54 experts. I would never sit here and say they made a mistake. I would say, well, maybe I just do not understand something, because languages are complicated.

Now I do believe that in Spanish there is probably a similar story. In the Reina Valera Gomez, which is generally the standard that Spanish-speaking people who know their Bibles will say is the best — very similar to the 1602 version — there is a very similar history of the Catholic Church persecuting those translating the Bible, murdering them, throwing them in prison. I do not know if that purifying process ever fully completed in Spanish the way it did in English, but good people were doing great work. When the King James translators were doing their work they were translating from the original languages, but they were also taking what had already been translated into English and checking it. Often they would look at a previous version and say that is perfect, on to the next verse. But it took seven years because they took this very seriously. It was a full-time job. It is not easy to get every single word and the full meaning across and still make it sound poetic and majestic and powerful. We can see the finished product and know they were successful. You read verses and you can tell this came from God.

Point 4: The Process of Translation

Go to Genesis 1. I want to talk about the translation process from Hebrew to English. One of the things that is different between Hebrew and English is that in the Hebrew language they do not have the words am, is, are, a, or an. Those are some pretty important words in English — they probably represent something like 25% of the words used in English, and they just do not exist in Hebrew. That makes it complicated to go from one language to the other.

What you are going to see in your King James Bible are words in italics. In 95% of King James Bibles you will see words in italics. If you read your Bible on your phone or online you might not see them — they are words that are slanted in the text. Now some people assume these are for emphasis. That is what I first thought when I started reading the Bible. Then you realise why would they emphasise this particular word — it does not make any sense. It is not like words put in bold or all caps. The reason they are in italics is that those words were added by the translators. They were not in the originals. This practice did not start with the King James — it started with the Geneva Bible in 1560, and they kept the same pattern.

Why would you add words? Because if they do not have the word am, is, are, a, or an, you have got a problem when you are translating. If you were to translate literally word for word, I am walking would become I walking. Sometimes in America somebody comes from another country and says something like that — I go to store. I know what they mean, but it is not proper grammar. It is incorrect. Some examples from Genesis 1 just to show you what I mean.

Genesis 1:2: "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep." The word was is in italics — it was added by the translators. If you translate literally word for word it would read and darkness upon the face of the deep. I understand what that is saying, but it does not fully get the meaning across as well. Darkness was upon the face of the deep is much cleaner.

Verse 4: "And God saw the light, that it was good." The word it in italics — without it, you have and God saw the light that good. That sounds pretty bad. But they are not changing the meaning or adding some hidden new revelation. They are just bringing the word of God to the English language. The word it is not in the originals because it is implied by the sentence, but it needs to be there in English.

Verse 7: "And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament." The words were are in italics both times. Without them: and God made the firmament and divided the waters which under the firmament from the waters which above the firmament. Not great.

Verse 9: "And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear." The word land is in italics. Without it: let the dry appear. You get what they are saying, but it is much clearer with the added word.

Verse 10: "And God called the dry land Earth." The word land is in italics here as well — and this one actually matters, because and God called the dry Earth is not even saying the same thing. Not everything that is dry is Earth. Without the added word that would actually be an error. We have the benefit of looking at the finished product and thinking obviously that makes sense, but obviously if you are the one translating, getting the full meaning and power across is not easy.

Go to Deuteronomy 8. Deuteronomy 8:3: "And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live." The word word is in italics. If you translate literally: but by every that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord. By every what? I mean a lot of things can come out. You have to put the word word there to fully get what is being said. But in the Hebrew it is implied.

Go to Matthew 4. Matthew 4:4: "But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." This is when Jesus is being tempted by the devil and quotes from Deuteronomy 8:3. Notice that the word word is not in italics in Matthew 4:4. Why? Because in the Greek New Testament the word is actually there — it is not implied, it is literal. So as you translate from Greek to English you just put that word into English. But in Hebrew it was implied, so the translators had to add it in italics. And yet Jesus quotes that italicised word.

This tells us a couple of things. First, the italicised words are perfect — the New Testament writers will often quote from italicised words, confirming they are meant to be there. Second, it shows how different Hebrew and English are. An implied word in Hebrew was not implied in English, and so they had to add it. When you first become King James only, people will say I believe in an every word Bible — not a single word is missing. I also believe that. But I understand what that means — it means every single thing that is in the word of God was brought across when they translated it, and nothing was left out. However, to go from one language to the next you cannot just say the exact same thing and get the same meaning across. If you did not add words you would actually be removing meaning from the Bible. You must add words to get the entire meaning. So I have no problem saying I believe in an every word Bible, because there is nothing missing from our King James Bible. Every single word is perfect, just as in the original languages, but worded a bit differently because they are different languages.

Point 5: Satan Has a Desire to Attack the Word of God

Go to Jeremiah 36. Satan cannot get rid of the word of God. He simply cannot do it. Around the world countries have tried to get rid of the word of God — they fail. They try to ban it — they fail. Throughout the Bible people try to do this and they fail. Jeremiah 36:27–28: "Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned." Jehoiakim gets the word of God, does not like what it says, and burns it. And God says — all right, let us just bring back every single word you burned. You are not getting rid of a single one. Verse 32: "Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words." Not a single word was missing from the original — everything was brought back, and then even more words were added as a judgment against that king.

The devil cannot get rid of the word of God. So what does he do? He makes fake Bibles and gets people to read the fake things so they do not have the authentic. That is his strategy. For hundreds of years it was King James only — nothing else stood against it. And then the devil just put out all these Bibles, largely for money, and now people are buying the NIV. And what are you seeing? Abortion rising. The LGBT movement rising. Gay marriage. America is a much different place than when I was a kid, changing rapidly. One of the reasons is that when countries get the word of God, the country starts to cleanse itself — because preaching becomes more powerful, people get convicted, and changes take place.

In the 1600s the Catholic Church tried to get rid of the Bible in many different ways. One example is the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. You may have heard the phrase from the movie V for Vendetta: remember, remember the fifth of November, gunpowder treason and plot. There is actually a holiday in England on November 5th because what took place was Guy Fawkes and a bunch of zealous Catholics tried to kill King James for putting the Bible into the English language. They were trying to get rid of the Bible. They got caught. Why? Because God had his hand on the King James Bible. I do not know much about King James and I have heard a lot of things about him, but what he was doing was a great work — getting the Bible into the English language. The Catholic Church tried to prevent it during the time of the Dark Ages, when they did not want people to be aware of it. And they failed. Just like they failed in Jeremiah 36. They are never going to be able to get rid of the King James Bible.

So what is the devil doing instead? Making fake Bibles. And people are reading the fakes instead of reading the King James. And people are not reading the Bible anymore. What is happening to our world? It is a mess.

We ought to be very thankful as people who speak and read English that we do have a perfect Bible. People died to give you a Bible you could read. We have it in the English language in the King James Bible. Do something with it — read it.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to see this topic of the King James Bible. Help us to realise how blessed we are to have a Bible that we can read and understand. Help us not just to have this Bible but actually use this Bible. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

All right, we're in Genesis chapter 2 and we're continuing our series on the Alphabet of Bible Doctrines, and for the letter N we're going to be talking about what the Bible says about nakedness. Now the Bible speaks about all manner of topics, and it's important for us to know what the Bible says about all things. If you were to ask people out in the world, “What is nakedness?” you would have a lot of different opinions and a lot of confusion, but the Bible gives us the answers on these things. Point number one is this: when it comes to this topic of nakedness, nakedness is something that is actually inside of our conscience. It's something built in that we have an understanding of.

Point 1 – Nakedness is in our Conscience.

Genesis 2 verse 24: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” So at first, they're not wearing any clothes, Adam and Eve, and they're not ashamed. Now of course this is a time period where the weather is perfect. You don't have to worry about wearing a winter coat or anything like that, and they're not ashamed. They don't seem to have an understanding that it's kind of weird not to be wearing your clothes. Now go to Genesis 3, verse 6. “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.” Now Adam and Eve were created as adults, not as babies. They're created as adults, and at first they don't seem to understand that there's anything wrong with nakedness. At this point they don't understand the concept of sinfully; they've never sinned, they've never done wrong. Then in Genesis 3, once they eat the fruit, all of a sudden their eyes are opened and they realize, actually, this is not appropriate.

When you think about a child, the Bible says about a baby, “Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither.” There's nothing wrong with a baby not wearing clothes. Obviously, you change the diaper of a baby and you give it a shower, and a baby has no concept that what they're doing is kind of strange. If you give a two-year-old a shower, they get out of the shower and just run out without any clothes, and it's like, “No, no, let's put a towel on you. Let's put on a diaper. Let's change your clothes,” because they don't understand it.

I was explaining this to my son the other day, and I was explaining that at a young age children are what we would call safe, not saved but safe, meaning that if they died as a young child they would go straight to heaven. The Bible teaches that. A good way to kind of understand if kids are at the point where they would be held accountable is whether they have knowledge of sin in this regard. Basically, a three-year-old doesn't feel weird about not wearing clothes. A four-year-old doesn't feel weird about it. But eventually they reach an age where they're going to feel strange about it. If somebody was a teenager, they obviously know they should not go without their clothes on. A three-year-old doesn't get that. A four-year-old doesn't get that. The reason why they wear clothes is because you tell them, “Hey, time to put on the diaper, time to put on the dress, time to put on the clothes,” and they do it because that's what Mum and Dad say, but they don't really understand like we do as adults.

This is interesting because it's in our conscience, but we're not born with it immediately. It's something that you come to an understanding of as you get a little bit older. Verse number eight: “And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.”

I wouldn't recommend this given the fact that Adam and Eve are going without clothes, but people watch various animated things on YouTube, and if you've seen one of these it's probably not accurate because you're probably going to have them hearing a voice from heaven. But it says the Lord God is walking in the garden, so this is the Son of God in the Old Testament walking, and they hear his voice as well. They're hiding because they don't want to be around the Son of God as they're not covered up. Of course, they sewed fig leaves together, but it's probably not doing the best job of accurately covering their body, so they're basically embarrassed because they're naked.

Isn't this what a normal person would feel? If you're not wearing clothes in front of somebody else, you would feel embarrassed. It would be inappropriate; it would be wrong. What I'm saying is it's built into your conscience, but it's not really built at birth. It's once you get a little bit older. Verse number nine: “And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?” And he said, “I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And he said, “Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?” He's saying, “How do you know you're naked?” and they're immediately embarrassed about it. You give your kids a shower or a bath, you change their clothes, but they're eventually going to reach an age where they don't want to be around Mum and Dad while they're not wearing their clothes because they feel embarrassed about it. It's built inside of them, but it wasn't built at birth. It takes several years before they fully get this. Turn your Bible to Romans 2.

For a child that is one year old, two years old, they're completely innocent. They're born without clothes, and obviously you put clothes on as a parent. You don't want your child to be without clothes; there's nothing sinful about the baby. It's not wearing clothes—it's a baby. Unless you've got a perverted mind, you wouldn't think anything weird about it. But as a parent, obviously you want to cover up.

Now I will say this, though: sometimes you go soul winning and some parents don't really care that much if their child's running around without clothes. Especially if you go to some of the poorer areas, it's kind of awkward. You're preaching the gospel and then there's like a three-year-old running around without clothes on. It's kind of like, okay, this is a bit distracting. But you know what? Obviously as a parent you understand it, but that three-year-old doesn't understand that because they're young and they're safe. If they died, they would go to heaven. They're too young to understand the gospel at this point. Once they start feeling ashamed for that, that's kind of a sign: wait a minute, they're starting to understand a little bit better. They need to be able to believe the gospel and get saved, right?

Romans 2 verse 14: “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves.” When it says here they do by nature the things contained in the law, it's not saying they're following Mother Nature and what the lions are doing and what the zebras are doing. It's saying naturally, by nature, biologically, genetically, they just do the things contained in the law.

What are we saying? Every child knows it's wrong to hurt somebody. Every child knows murder's wrong. Every child knows lying is wrong. Kids do things that are wrong and they don't want to tell Mum and Dad because they're afraid to get in trouble, but they know inside of themselves it's wrong. By nature, by how God created them, they understand certain things. Look, you don't have to teach everybody the Ten Commandments for them to get the fact that it's wrong to steal and wrong to lie and wrong to kill someone. They already know that. It's born inside of them. They do by nature the things contained in the law.

Verse 15: “Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another.” The Bible says their conscience bears witness, and people are born with a belief in God, and they're also born with a conscience, and this conscience will tell them right and wrong.

People sometimes try to compare Christianity and say, “Hey, Islam and Christianity are so similar. They both have the Ten Commandments. Buddhism is so similar.” Look, everybody's born with a belief that it's wrong to steal. It's in their conscience. There are certain things that are in your conscience, and nakedness is one of those things, but it's not at birth. It takes them to be at least several years old to understand that it's kind of embarrassing or wrong to be without clothes in front of other people. Now turn in your Bible to Exodus 28.

You say, “Well, Brother Stucky, if that's true, if it's built in your conscience, how come you have native religions and people that live off the land and kind of do their own thing, and oftentimes they're just going without any clothes on or very little clothes?” Because they're rebelling against God. Inside of themselves they know it's wrong. Just because you have some native religion where they're wearing no clothes doesn't mean they don't understand it's wrong. It's that they just don't care what the Bible says, because we see the story with Adam and Eve. Nobody taught them, and they just knew. Everybody, when they reach a certain age, knows it's inappropriate. They know it's wrong.

Probably the most extreme example I know is with the religion of Jainism. If you've heard me talk about Jainism before, this is the religion where they're against brushing your teeth and against using a toilet because you could harm the bacteria, so they just use the bathroom out in public in India and make it a filthy place to live. They would never use a toilet because that's wrong, right? This is one of the most bizarre religions you could find.

There are basically two denominations of them, and in one denomination of Jainism their monks wear no clothes. Of course, these are people that are just walking the land; they don't really have a home that they go to, so they just walk around naked everywhere. A few years ago I was watching a documentary on Jainism, and apparently YouTube doesn't censor this. Immediately they just showed this guy without any clothes, and I'm like, “What is that?”

You say, “Well, why would he go around without any clothes on?” I'll just read you from this: the Digambara monks in India, in the Jainism religion, which by the way is four million people—it's not a small religion—monks of this denomination or sect reject all worldly possessions in order to live a totally ascetic life. Apparently clothing is worldly, is what they're saying. “We're against all worldliness, so we don't wear clothes,” right? These Eastern religions believe you must have zero attachments to this life if you're going to stop the process of rebirth in your life, and so basically you go away from all food, away from everything, and they're against wearing clothes.

It says, “Because they are allowed no possessions whatsoever, they live without clothes and go sky-clad,” which means naked. Digambara nuns wear simple white clothes. Now here's what it says in this article: “Their nakedness is also a statement that they are beyond feelings such as modesty and shame.” Do you notice that? Let me read that again: their nakedness is also a statement that they are reprobates, right? They're beyond shame.

Let me just read you one of the 20 psychopathic traits on the psychopathy test. One of the traits is called no shame or guilt. No shame or guilt: they're beyond shame; yeah, they're reprobate. Psychopaths see no shame or guilt even when the person's behaviour was obviously hurtful. Normal people feel significant levels of guilt, remorse, even shame, when they manipulate others, steal, cheat, or lie.

Someone who's a psychopath never gets embarrassed about doing wrong or making people feel bad. Look, I promise you those Jain monks realise people don't want to see them going sky-clad, but they don't care. You say, why? They don't have a conscience. People try to look at that and say, “Wait a minute, they don't realise it's wrong to wear clothes.” Yes, they do. They just don't care about other people because they're bad and evil people.

It's really bizarre in Jainism because it's like these Eastern religions where they don't work and they just live off the land or ask for donations and money. In part of Jainism, if you are a Jain and a Jain monk or Jain nun trying to reach that level of enlightenment comes to your house, you're supposed to let them in your house and feed them. So these Jain monks that are going sky-clad knock on your door—“I'm hungry”—and then you say, “Okay, sit on my couch.” I mean, can you imagine that? What a bizarre religion Jainism is.

Here's what I'm saying: they know it's wrong. It's built in their conscience, and we saw that in Genesis 2 and Genesis 3. In Genesis 3, they realise, “We're naked; there's something wrong with that.” People that are part of these native religions that are not wearing any clothes know it's wrong. It's built inside of their conscience. Now I'm not saying all of those people are reprobates, but they realise this is wrong. It's not right, but they don't care. Why? Because they don't care what God thinks. They're rebelling against God or they're just following the crowd of what everybody else is doing.

Point number one: nakedness is in our conscience. Point number two: what is the biblical definition of naked?

Point 2 – The Biblical Definition of Nakedness

Exodus 28 verse 41: “And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office. And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach.”

Breeches is an old-fashioned spelling for britches, b-r-i-t-c-h-e-s, and that's kind of an old-fashioned word for pants. So breeches is basically pants, but here's the thing: in the Bible, when you see pants, it could be referring to shorts or it could be referring to pants like we would say pants. So in a modern day, you think of shorts and pants; in the Bible, pants are just basically from here to here, or from here to here, or from here to wherever below the knee. It's the same word that's being used. Now what it says here is these breeches, or pants, are used to cover their nakedness. By the way, the first reason for clothes in the Bible is to cover their nakedness in Genesis 3. We'll look at that here in a second. But it says linen breeches to cover their nakedness, and it says from the loins even unto the thighs.

Now the loins, by definition, are the part of the body on both sides of the spine between the lowest false ribs and the hip bones. That definition is being discreet, and basically it's your reproductive organs, okay, on the front or the back—the certain parts of the body that we would consider the areas that you definitely want to cover up. So basically, when the Bible is saying loins to your thighs, it's basically: look at your waist and then go to the bottom of the thighs. You say, “Well, why not go to the top of the thighs?” Because the waist to the top of your thighs is the same location. Basically, it's saying the pants cover from the waist to the knee to cover the nakedness.

This should logically make sense, because obviously that part of the body is the one that would put certain thoughts in people's minds. What the Bible is saying is when you're wearing clothes to cover your nakedness, it should go from your waist unto your knee on both sides of the body. So if this part of your body is exposed, any part of it, it would be biblically naked according to the word of God, whether it's on the front or the back. Turn your Bible to Genesis 3, verse 21: “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” The first purpose of clothing found here in verse 21 is to cover their nakedness. Now obviously, depending on where you go, you wear different types of clothing. For example, we wear shoes to protect our feet. You wear socks so your feet don't get dirty. You wear a suit if you're in a formal occasion or whatever. You might wear a hat to protect you from the sun. But at the beginning, the weather conditions are basically perfect in the Garden of Eden, so I don't think they had to worry about a lot of the stuff that we would today. So the first purpose of clothing is to cover up your nakedness.

Here's what I would say: when you're getting dressed, the first thing you should probably consider is, am I covering up my nakedness? Because obviously it's a shame, it's an embarrassment, to be showing off your nakedness. Go to Isaiah chapter 20. Let me show you a few other verses that talk about nakedness and what the biblical definition of nakedness is.

I'll be honest: I'm very thankful that the Bible talks about all subjects. It gives us wisdom on everything. When there's a question, you can go to the word of God and find out the answer. If you were to go to the world for advice and ask them, “Well, what is naked? What's your definition?” the first thing somebody's going to say is, “Wearing no clothes.” So of course the question is, what if you are wearing no clothes except for one shoe? Well, you're still naked. Then your definition of naked is not wearing zero clothing, right? The world wouldn't even know what their definition is. So it's an honest question: what is the actual definition? What the Bible said is from your waist to your knee—that part of your body would be nakedness. Isaiah 20 verse 4. “So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.” So it's not just the front part of your body, but if you're showing off the back part below the waist and above the knee area, then guess what? It's naked, because the Bible says your buttocks uncovered is naked. Now this should be very obvious preaching, but in 2023 a lot of this stuff is not that obvious based on the way people dress. The Bible says if you're showing off that part of your body, it's naked. That's what the Bible teaches. Go to Isaiah 47. Isaiah chapter 47 verse 2: “Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. Thy nakedness shall be uncovered.” The Bible says, “Uncover the thigh,” and it's linked with “thy nakedness shall be uncovered” in verse 3. So what the Bible teaches consistently is that if your thigh is exposed, it's actually naked according to the word of God. Now a lot of you say, “Yeah, Brother Stuckey, I already know this,” but there's probably a lot of people in here that are like, “I've never heard that before.” But that's what the Bible teaches: if anything from your waist unto your knee is uncovered, the Bible defines that as being naked. Turn in your Bible to Nahum chapter 3.

Somebody might ask, “Is nakedness always wrong?” Well, obviously you take a shower, you change clothes, and there's nothing wrong with Adam and Eve being around each other without clothes because they're married. Obviously, if you're married, there's nothing wrong with that. The problem would be if you go out in public around other people being naked. That would obviously be wrong. So valid exceptions are taking a shower, or being around your spouse. Let me explain things that are not valid exceptions: going to the beach. Why is it that if you go to the beach, all of a sudden God's rules don't apply and you can be naked? If you're wearing a bikini at the beach, number one, you're probably showing off some of your butt, and you're showing off all your thigh. Basically, you're naked. It's inappropriate. It's wrong. Why? Because it's wrong to be naked around somebody that you're not married to. It's inappropriate, and it doesn't matter if everybody does it. It's wrong.

Look, I mentioned this before, but when I first started going soul winning—and I think this was a terrible idea by the organization I was part of, Campus Crusade—they went to the beach in Florida and preached the gospel. That's probably the worst area that you're going to preach to because people are just going without clothes. But you start talking about the Bible with women, or even guys without shirts on, and they start covering up parts of their body. They start getting embarrassed. Why? Because it's built into their conscience. They know it. They're doing it because everybody else is doing it, but they know it's not appropriate.

You start talking about the Bible and they cover up. I've done soul winning before, knocking the door, and someone's dressed in an immodest way. You start preaching the gospel and they start covering up. They pretend like they're just crossing arms, but you know what they're doing: they're trying to cover up parts of their body because they feel a bit embarrassed. Why is it they feel embarrassed? Because it's in their conscience. They know it's not appropriate. They don't need somebody to tell that to them; they already know that. Yes, people get brainwashed by the world, but why would there be an exception if you go to the beach? Now I'm not saying it's a sin to go to the beach, but if you're going to go to the beach I would highly recommend going into an area that's not super crowded, because this is how people are going to be dressed. Choose a family sort of atmosphere, but I would say cover up your nakedness. It's the same reason that I used to go to the gym a lot when I was younger—and obviously having kids makes it a lot harder now—but one reason I didn't really like to go to the gym when I was in college was because of the way women were dressed. I was trying to get that out of my mind and I just wanted to work out. I love exercise, and then it's just like, I would try to go early in the morning when there were not a lot of people there, because I didn't want to be in that atmosphere. The way women are dressing, it's like I'm trying to get that out of my mindset. I just want to have a clear mind, and it's hard if all these images are popping in your mind where you are.

It's inappropriate to be showing off your nakedness, and that's the first purpose of clothing you see in the word of God: to cover up your nakedness. Nahum chapter 3 verse 4. It's kind of frustrating because the beach is one of the greatest places in the world to go, isn't that true? The beach is awesome, and I've done family vacations before in areas that don't have a lot of people, and it's an awesome time. It's like the greatest thing that you can do. But unfortunately, if you're going where there's a bunch of college students, it's not only going to be the way they're dressed; there's going to be a lot of alcohol flying around, loud music blaring, and it's just not the best atmosphere if you've got young kids. It's something you're trying to get out of your mind rather than just having it right in front of you.

Nahum chapter 3 verse 4: “Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts, behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.” Here's another verse in verse 5 that talks about nakedness, and this can be a confusing verse because of the word skirt. When I talked about men, I said for men it talks about breeches, which is pants, and that could include shorts or pants. It's the same thing with women as well. This word skirt is not referring to like a half dress; it's not what it's referring to.

What a skirt is—and I'm going to give you the definition, then I'll show you what I'm talking about—the first definition, if you go to an old dictionary, is this: “a free-hanging part of an outer garment or undergarment extending from the waist down.” So right now this is the skirt of my garment, you understand what I'm saying? Because they'll say, “Well, Saul wore a skirt in the Bible.” No, no. He was wearing something like this where part of the object is going past his waist. This would be called the skirt of my garment.

Now the second definition of skirt that you're going to find is what we would think of as a skirt, of a woman wearing like a half dress that goes to the knee. Of course, you can see where it gets that name skirt, because the skirt of the garment is below the waist; it starts at the waist, and this is the skirt of the garment. So the Bible's saying here, when it says, “I will discover thy skirts upon thy face,” it's basically saying uncover, and he's saying, “I will shew the nations thy nakedness.” So it's saying that if you have a garment like this covering your nakedness and you bring it up, what are you showing? You're showing your nakedness, because this was covering your nakedness.

So in the Bible the word skirt is consistent. It's referring to basically starting at the waist and going below. This is not a skirt in totality, but this is the skirt, or the bottom, of the garment. Does that make sense, what I'm saying? This is kind of an old way that it expresses it, but that's what the Bible is referring to here. Now go to Matthew chapter 5.

So there's a couple things I want you to keep in mind here about this as we go into the next point. The question that's obviously going to come up is, “Well, Brother Stuckey, you said it's naked from your waist to your knee, but what about starting from your waist to your shoulder?” That's the obvious question that everybody would have. Here's what I would say: if you read the Bible, you're not going to find a clear verse that will say this part of your body is biblically defined as being naked. There's not a clear verse. The one verse I can think of, where basically it's going to be taken different ways, is when Peter is fishing naked.

I remember the first time I was reading through the Bible and I came across that part of Peter fishing naked. I just thought naked was like no clothes, and I'm like, why would you be inside of a ship or a boat without any clothes on? I was like, that's weird. Now I am going to say this: biblically speaking, if you remember Isaiah preached naked. I do not believe God was asking him to sin, because he's only preaching in front of other men, and so biblically speaking it's actually not a sin for a guy to be naked in front of another guy. I still think it's weird, though. If we have a men's preaching night event, make sure you're wearing clothes, okay? But it's actually not considered sinful in front of someone of the same gender.

I think it's still strange. For example, when I was in high school and I played soccer, before you went back on the bus to drive home, people could get a quick shower, and a lot of guys on the team did. I never did because I don't want to be around other guys without my clothes on. I think it's weird. It's strange, but biblically speaking that would not be considered inappropriate. So as Peter is naked in front of the others, basically showing off part of his body that would be naked, he's around the other apostles, and there would be nothing sinful about that. But if you go to a public place, you don't know who you're going to run into.

For example, if you walk out in public and you're showing off this part of your body, you say, “Well, I'm not in front of somebody of the opposite gender,” but you're going to walk by somebody of the opposite gender, and you realise that. So the thing is, that would actually be considered inappropriate. But when it comes to Peter fishing naked, if we're looking at the Bible and the Bible's consistent where it says this is nakedness, then you would say probably that part of his thigh is exposed. Some people say, “Well, maybe he's wearing long pants and he's without a shirt,” but there's not really a verse that you can point to that I'm aware of that would say this part of your body is naked.

Point 3 - Modesty

You say, “Brother Stucky, are you saying there's nothing wrong with showing off this part of your body?” Look, it doesn't really matter if it's naked or not, because there's something called point number three: modesty. It might not be considered biblically naked, but there's something called modesty. When we dress, of course, number one, cover up your nakedness; number two, dress in your appropriate gender; but number three, be modest. When we dress, we might say, “Well, I'm not showing off my nakedness,” but are you modest? Because modesty is actually very important in the eyes of God. Matthew chapter 5 verse 27. Matthew 5:27: “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: but I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Now this is a verse that would condemn guys that have a lustful heart and are setting their eyes upon things that they ought not. That's a proper application, but I would also show you that it says “with her,” and it seems to indicate the woman can also be guilty. You say, why, Brother Stuckey? Because here's the thing: guys do not lust after women if they're dressed in a godly and appropriate manner.

Now I've talked about beauty before in the word of God, and I said that when women dress as a woman, it's a very beautiful thing, but it does not cause guys to lust in the way that somebody that's dressed like a harlot would. You see them and they look beautiful, they look like a lady, but it's not going to cause them to lust in that way. What I would say is, for a guy to lust after a woman, it's probably because she's showing off parts of her body. That's the reality. So as a lady, you say, “Well, guys shouldn't do that,” but you know they're going to, and you ought to dress in a modest way. Number one, of course, you're covering up your nakedness, but you should also try to dress in a modest way where you're not drawing lustful attention onto yourself. You've got to dress modestly. Go to First Timothy chapter 2.

Now I want to be very clear on something. Point number two was the biblical definition of nakedness, and I could stand up here and say, “Thus saith the Lord, this is what the Bible says.” Modesty is a matter of opinion, so one person might think something is immodest, someone else might not, and what I would say to that is that every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. But all of us should strive to be modest. So what I'm saying is the line for nakedness—there's no arguing this part of the body is naked. Nobody could argue that. A question of modesty, people could disagree or argue about various things, but we should just all strive to be modest.

It's kind of like when we talk about hair. The Bible says men have short hair and women have long hair. Well, how short can I let it get as a woman, or how long can I let it get as a guy? How about just not trying to get close to the level of sin, and just have the fact that you're trying to do right and God approves with what you're doing. Don't even go close to the line. And when you're dressing modestly, I'm not saying you have to look like a Muslim woman, right? I mean, the way Muslim women dress, they cover up their entire body. I mean, that's insane; that's extreme. They're covering up both their eyes. I think women were given eyes so they can see where they're going. I don't think you ought to cover up every part of their body like that, but at the same time there's kind of an in-between with how the world dresses and with how a Muslim woman would dress, and what you should strive to be is modest in the way you dress. First Timothy chapter 2 verse 9. “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel.” Apparel is what you wear; it's your clothing. The Bible says, “Adorn yourselves,” wear modest clothing, “with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array.” The Bible says “broided hair,” which would be an old spelling for the word braided, and then gold or pearls or costly array. Now I'm going to give you my opinion on this because an obvious question that comes up is, why is the Bible mentioning braided hair? Is there something wrong with braided hair? I don't believe there's anything wrong with braided hair, but it's kind of a verse that stands out. Why does it mention this?

What I read online—and this is not the word of God, so you can believe it or not believe it; I can't be one hundred percent dogmatic—is that in first-century Roman culture, women would customarily braid or twist their hair high on their heads, often decorating their locks with jewels, gold adornments, and more to garner attention. So the braided hair was a means to put costly stuff in it if you had a lot of money. I don't know for sure if that's true. It sounds believable to me. I wouldn't see anything that would be wrong with braided hair; that's my personal opinion, but I'm not dogmatic. The idea is to dress modestly and not to draw attention to yourself. If you've got gold in your hair and costly pearls, people are going to look and say, “Wait a minute, that person's rich,” and you're drawing attention onto yourself.

Now here's the thing: there's nothing wrong with showing this part of your body, right? We're not Muslims and we're not nuns, covering up everything. But if you're putting gold and silver where people are going to look at it from afar and say, “Wait a minute, that person's rich,” that is drawing attention. Now go in your Bible to First Peter 3.

I would also say there's nothing wrong with earrings for a woman; the Bible speaks about women wearing earrings. But obviously there can be a balance between something that's flashy and trying to draw attention, as opposed to just trying to look nice. There's nothing wrong with a woman trying to look nice. You can't point to a verse that would say it's a sin to wear makeup or lipstick either. There's nothing wrong with a woman doing that, but what we're going to see here is women ought to focus more on the inside than the outside. It's more important to be right with God on the inside, and quite honestly, it's going to be more beautiful to other guys if you're right on the inside than on the outside.

Look, I didn't just preach that sermon on Mother's Day about beauty vainly. I mean it; it's true. If women are godly, it is a very attractive thing to other guys, especially a guy that is right with God. There's no doubt there is an attractiveness to a person that's dressed like a harlot—the Bible speaks about that—in a lustful and sinful way. But if you're a godly lady, you ought to want to dress in a way where you can dress nice. I'm not saying you have to wear clothes from hundreds of years ago, and I'm not saying you can't wear colours, but dress modestly, dress godly. That is actually going to be a very attractive thing to other guys when you're dressed in a modest and godly way, and here's the great thing: it's not going to cause guys to lust after you if you're dressed appropriately. The Bible says in First Peter 3 verse 1. “Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” What these verses are saying is, care less about the outside and care about the inside. The meek and quiet spirit, the godly attitude, the godly person, is in the sight of God of great price. But in the sight of a godly person, of a godly man, it's also of great price as well. That is more important than the outside. The inside matters a whole lot more than the outside.

Now here's the thing: there's nothing wrong with trying to look nice on the outside. You would be going outside the Bible if you said it was wrong for a woman to try to make her hair look nice, or wrong for her to ever wear anything nice, or wrong for her to wear makeup or anything like that. But the Bible is very consistent and clear: focus more on the inside than focusing on the outside. Go to Luke chapter 20.

As I said, with modesty things are a matter of opinion. I don't have a verse that would say, “Well, this is not modest, this is modest.” I would just say that, you know what, we ought to all strive to be right with God and we should strive to be modest. When you dress in something, make sure, “Hey, you know what? I'm covering up my nakedness; it's gender appropriate; but wait a minute, am I modest?” That is also important. For example, you could be wearing clothes that cover this part of your body, but if they're extremely tight, I don't consider that modest. I mean, if they're drawing attention to guys looking because you're covering up that part of the body but they're extremely tight, so every curve and every part of the body is very visible, it's like, I wouldn't consider that modest. I would say you ought to strive to dress in a way that is appropriate and modest, and that is in the sight of God of great price.

Now here's the thing: it is a lot easier for men with clothing than women. It's a lot easier. I mean, here's what you've got to understand: who is it that runs the fashion industry? Women and sodomites. How do you think they want people to dress? I mean, women and sodomites are the ones that run the industry, and probably mainly sodomites run the industry. How do you think they want people to dress? Even as a guy anymore with pants, they try to make them super tight. It's not comfortable as a guy. No guy wants to wear pants like that. You want something that's comfortable, and the way the fashion industry is, they're trying to get people to dress bad, trying to get people to dress in ways that are not appropriate. I mean, it's a fact. You'd have to be foolish to not realise that when homos are running the fashion industry, they want women to be showing off their body and they want guys to be dressing like women. That is a fact, and I realise it is more difficult for a lady to get proper and godly clothes than a man.

Guys, what we do in the morning, if you're not aware, ladies, is we go inside of our cabinet at home or closet, and if we haven't had our coffee, we're like—but it doesn't matter because we just randomly grab whatever, right? I don't spend time like, “What am I going to wear today?” It's like you just grab whatever and put it on. As guys, it's just not that big of a deal, right? So I understand it's more difficult for ladies, but here's what I would say: men also should dress modestly.

Here's the thing: a guy could also dress showing off his nakedness because this is naked for both a woman and a guy. For example, what about the NBA shorts in the 80s, right? When you see those players from the 80s, you see Michael Jordan—I mean, the highlights of Michael Jordan doing that slam dunk—like half his thigh is exposed. I remember when I was younger and I played soccer, there would always be a set day where the uniforms came in and you didn't know how long they were going to be. On that day, sometimes you got your uniform and your soccer shorts for the year would go to like here, and every single guy was angry. You say, why? It's built into your conscience. You don't want to show off that part of your body. You want long shorts to just cover it up, even if you don't know what the Bible says. Is that not true for men that have played sports? You want to cover up that part of the body. You feel weird about it, right? Guys also should strive to dress in a modest way, cover up our nakedness, and dress modestly.

Now I'm going to give you an example of what I'm talking about here, and you can agree or disagree, but here's what I want to say: I believe if it is immodest for a woman to show off this part of her body, it's immodest for a guy to show off this part of his body also. You can agree or disagree, and that's fine. I'm giving you my opinion. As I said, modesty can be something that is a matter of opinion, but I would certainly consider it immodest if a woman is showing off this part of her body. I would say it's immodest if a guy is showing off that part of his body.

Now when I was in college, I was probably 21 years old, and I remember me and my friends were planning to go to the beach one summer—which I am not recommending; these are stories from my past over 15 years ago. We were college students that worked out all the time and were shallow and vain, so we were trying to get muscular abs. Here's the thing: the darker the skin, the more your muscles show. That's the way it works. That's why bodybuilders will put on the spray-on tan. I remember when I was in college we were getting ready to go to this beach trip, and I went running a lot in college. I remember I went running without my shirt on to try to get a tan, and I'll tell you what: as I went running without a shirt on, I felt weird as I ran by other people. I felt embarrassed. I felt shame. I couldn't wait to get back to my car because, man, this is not right; it's not appropriate.

Now I wouldn't have felt that way in front of another guy, because guys around a guy, it's like whatever. When you grow up in sports, you play shirts and skins as guys—no big deal. But in front of another woman, running by other women, I felt weird about it. You say, why? Did I know a Bible verse about it? No, but here's the thing: it was just inside of me. I just felt like it was inappropriate. As guys, I would say that this part of the body is also something that should be covered up. I don't see exceptions for going to the beach either. I think it's something that is immodest. Now if you disagree, that's fine; you're welcome and entitled to your opinion, but I think both for guys and girls that this part of the body is immodest. Now it's not naked; I can't point to a verse that would say that. But we should strive to be modest, and I don't think that is modest. Luke 20:45 says, “Then in the audience of all the people he said unto his disciples, Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes.” Why would a guy desire to walk in a long robe? Seriously, is that the way you would want to dress if you go to Robinsons? Do you want to wear a long robe? Look, I would never wear a suit to Robinsons grocery store, to the Palenque, or anything like that. You say, why? I would feel weird about it. So why would a guy want to wear a long robe that's not going to be comfortable? It says “which desire to walk in long robes,” and “love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms of feasts; which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation.” They like the attention. They like to be called, “Oh, it's a pastor,” right? They want to dress in a way where it's drawing attention to them.

Let me give an example of this. If a Buddhist monk is wearing his orange garb, his orange attire, his orange clothing, and he goes to Robinsons, everybody will stare at him. Why? Because it's going to stand out from people that are dressed like normal people. Is that modest? No, because modest means you're not drawing attention to yourself. When I grew up in the Protestant church, the ministers would wear these long robes, just like you see in the Bible, that were bright purple. They're wearing these purple garments and they had this giant scarf over their neck. I mean, I don't know why except for the fact they're drawing attention, and when people see them it's like, “Oh, it's the minister. It's the reverend,” as they would call them. What are they doing? They're trying to draw attention to themselves. It's like, why are the nuns dressed the way they are? To draw attention to themselves, so when people see them, “Oh, it's a holy person. It's a nun,” right? To draw attention to themselves. That is not modest either.

So here's the thing: if you saw me in Pampanga when I go to the grocery store, you know how I'm dressed? I'm dressed in a normal shirt. I don't wear a suit; I don't wear a tie. We have the ATM near our house, and when I go to the ATM I usually wear shorts and a T-shirt—shorts that go down to the knee. You say, “Why, Brother Stuckey?” Because it's hot, and because I don't want to put on a bunch of clothes if it's just a little bit away. So I make sure I cover my nakedness, go to the ATM, get the money out, and go back to the house because I'm dressed like a normal person. If you're trying to dress to stand out, that's not modest, even if you're covering up every part of your body. Look, the way Muslim women dress is not modest. It stands out. You can see them from a mile away, the way they're dressed. It's like, that's not modest.

And so when we're wearing clothing, obviously we should cover up our nakedness. It's not really part of the sermon, but gender specific also matters. We should also strive to dress in a modest way. So the recap of this sermon is this: what is the biblical definition of nakedness? If you look at all the verses, what is the thing that's very clear? This part of the body from the waist to the knee on both sides would be considered naked according to the word of God. I can't point to a verse that would say this part of the body is naked, but what I would say is it's not modest. We ought to dress in a way that's modest. So number one, make sure you're covering up your nakedness; number two, dress gender specific; but number three, we should dress in a way where we're modest and not standing out.

I mean, this is not what the Bible has in mind where it's like, “Oh, they're going to see your good works. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works. Let your long flowing robe shine before men.” No, that's not what the Bible's saying. The Bible's saying you look and act like a normal person, so when you're a godly person and you're a little bit different, that stands out because they look at you as a normal person. That is what the Bible is actually saying.

Let's go to the Lord in prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and for getting to see this topic on nakedness. God, help all of us to, number one, make sure we dress to cover up our nakedness; number two, dress gender specific; but number three, help us also to dress in a modest way. Help us to strive on the inside to dress in a way that would be pleasing to you, God. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

All right, we are here in Mark chapter 1 and the letter R is on the topic of repentance. And probably this is a sermon that is really going to kind of explain why a lot of people choose to come to this church as opposed to other churches because what we teach and what the Bible teaches on repentance is very different than what a lot of other people teach. And if there's one topic we need to understand, it's something related to salvation. Now, keep your finger in Mark 1. We're going to go back in a second. Go to Genesis chapter 6.

And I want to show you the first time we see the word repent pop up in the Bible. This is a word that people are very confused about. If you were to ask people, what does repent mean? A lot of people would be like, I don't know. That's a good question. There'd be a lot of different opinions that are out there. Notice what it says in Genesis 6:6. "And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." So the first instance of this word repent or any form of the word, who is repenting? The Lord is repenting. Now the most common definition you're probably going to hear about repentance is to turn from your sins. But wait a minute, if the Bible's saying that the Lord is repenting, is he turning from his sins? Is God a sinner? Does God do wrong? I mean, very few people would teach that. Yet the same people would teach you that repentance always means to turn from your sins.

Well, why is God repenting? And it's not just this reference. The one that's most common in the Bible to repent is the Lord. God is repenting many times in the Bible. Obviously, he has no sins to turn from. So, obviously, the definition of to turn from your sins is incorrect because God is repenting. Go back to Mark chapter 1.

Now, when people say to turn from your sins, they are 40% correct. They got the first two words right to turn. And it could be different things that you're turning from. To turn, to change. And the context in the Bible is sometimes about turning from your sins with repentance. Sometimes about turning from your belief and changing what you believe and believing on Jesus Christ. And the context is going to tell you what you are repenting of. But the word repent itself merely means to turn or to change. You know, we tell people that you don't have to repent of your sins to be saved. They think we're idiots because they think we don't realize the word repent is in the Bible. We know the word repent is in the Bible. What we're saying is it doesn't mean what you think it means. We understand the word repent is in the Bible many times. And in fact, point number one, repentance of belief is necessary for salvation. We're not even saying that repentance is not necessary for salvation. We're just saying it's not a repentance of sin that is necessary for salvation. Mark 1:14.

"Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom and saying, The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye and believe the gospel." This is a common verse people will show you. It's like you say you don't have to repent of your sins to be saved. Why does the Bible say repent ye and believe the gospel? Why does it not say repent of your sins and believe the gospel? It doesn't say repent of your sins. I get it. It says repent ye in the context of salvation. But repent of what? It doesn't say repent of your sins. And what it's referring to is repenting of your belief. Change your mind about what you believe and believe on Jesus Christ. Because you can't believe the gospel if you're still believing what you used to believe. Go in the Bible to Acts 19.

You say, "Brother Stucky, that's your opinion about Mark 1:15." I think it's referring to repent of your sins, not repent of your belief. Okay. Well, you're entitled to your opinion. I'm entitled to mine. But let's just look at what the Bible says because the Bible's going to tell us what John meant. We're talking about John. And in Acts 19, if you believe the Bible is the word of God, the Bible is going to tell us what John was teaching. It's going to tell us what Mark 1 verse 15 is referring to. Acts 19:1.

"And it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" This kind of a statement just kind of confirming they're saved. Right? you believe. So you got the Holy Ghost. "And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost."

And then Paul's kind of wondering, do you understand what salvation is? I mean, did you get confused? Did you get caught up in the moment? I mean, obviously John the Baptist is baptizing a lot of people. So there's probably a lot of people said, "Hey, I want to get baptized, too." And realistically, if I'm baptizing 50 people in a day or whatever, I'm not going to be spending 10 minutes double-checking everybody's salvation. Right? So people get baptized, they get caught up in the moment. They think they believe, but they really don't understand the message John was teaching. Verse three, "And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." So what did John the Baptist teach? The baptism of repentance. Repent ye and believe the gospel that you should believe. So change your mind about what you believe and believe the gospel. When the Bible says repent ye and believe the gospel, it's saying change your mind about what you believe and believe the gospel. What John the Baptist taught for salvation is change what you believe. Not quit drinking, not quit smoking, not quit listening to rock music, but change what you believe.

Because you can't believe the gospel if you believe something else gets you to heaven. I mean, if you're trusting in Muhammad and Allah to get you to heaven and the five pillars of Islam, you've got to repent and believe the gospel. I'm not saying you got to quit drinking. I'm saying you got to quit trusting in the five pillars of Islam. And to be saved, you must change what you believe and believe on Jesus Christ. Go to Luke 16.

Now, I will say this though. If you raise young kids, young kids don't really have to repent of what they believe and believe the gospel because young kids, they're taught by their parents, salvation is by grace through faith. It's eternal security. They're just not old enough to fully comprehend that. And so they got to reach an age where they comprehend and choose to believe, but they're not really trusting or believing in a false religion. They just don't understand all of these things, right? You know, and I don't know, you could probably quiz my daughter Crystal Bell. She's only three years old. She's probably going to answer just about everything you say correctly, but she's three years old because she's heard mom and dad say these things. She's repeated these things. She doesn't have a full understanding of that, but she's not trusting in the five pillars of Islam to get her to heaven. She's not even trusting in her good works to get her to heaven. It's just she doesn't fully understand this. However, if you get saved as an adult or when you're older in life, you're probably trusting in your works in some form or another to get you to heaven. Before I was saved, I thought, I don't drink. I don't party. I've never smoked. I've lived a pretty clean life. Surely that's good enough, right? What was I trusting? Or who was I trusting? Myself. I was trusting my good deeds. And I had to repent of that belief and believe on Jesus Christ.

Because you can't put all of your trust on Jesus if you're putting some of your trust in yourself. I mean, if you think your baptism gets you saved, you're trusting something that you do. You're not simply trusting on Jesus Christ. If you think you have to do any amount of good works before salvation, you're trusting in yourself. Here's the thing. If you have to do any amount of good works to keep your salvation, you're also trusting in yourself. You say, "Brother Saki, I believe, you know, I'm saved, but if I commit this sin, like, you know, murder or suicide, I'm going to lose my salvation." So, you're trusting in yourself not to commit those sins. You're trusting in yourself not to lose your salvation. You're still trusting in yourself, whether it's before salvation or after. If you're requiring anything that you do of your works to be saved, you're trusting in yourself. And you've got to repent and believe the gospel. Not quit drinking. You can stay a drunk till the day you die. Not quit doing drugs, not quit living, you know, with a lot of vices in your life, but you've got to change what you believe and believe the gospel.

Luke 16:29. "Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them." And he said, "Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent." And what this rich man is saying to Abraham is, you know, bring someone back from the dead. Bring Lazarus back from the dead. Bring somebody to talk to my relatives. Because if somebody rises from the dead, they're going to believe. They're going to repent, he says. Okay, which we're going to see what that means in a second. But here's the thing about this. You know, Jesus rose again from the dead. Did everybody believe? No. There's many infallible proofs and they actually did not believe the majority of people.

But here's what it says in verse 31 defining repent. "And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." Look, if I'm trying to convince you of something and you don't believe it, eventually you might reach a point you say, "Brother Stucky, you've persuaded me." What does that mean? I now believe what you're saying. Right?

I mean, didn't King Agrippa say, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian"? He didn't say, "You almost got me to quit drinking." No, almost thou persuadest. What does persuade mean? It means that, yeah, you know what? I now believe it. I've been persuaded. I believe this. I changed my mind. Right? So, what is repenting according to verse 30 and 31? Neither will they be persuaded. It means to change what you believe.

He's saying that, you know what, if one rises from the dead, it's not going to cause your brothers to change what they believe and believe on Jesus Christ for salvation. Go to 2 Timothy chapter 2. And the Bible says in 2 Timothy 2:25, "In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves;" "If God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;" Bible says repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. Because here's the thing, you can't believe the truth. Jesus is the truth, right? You can't believe on the truth if you believe something else. But if you repent of your belief, then you can believe on this. If you told me, "Brother Stucky, I think 2 plus 3 equals 6," and I explained to you, "No, 2 plus 3 equals 5," and gave you a visual example, then you're like, "Okay, Brother Stucky, you convinced me." So, you no longer believe 2 plus 3 equals 6. But if you said, "Yeah, I still kind of believe 2 plus 3 equals 6," doesn't that happen when we go soulwinning sometimes? Right.

They're saying they believe it. They're explaining and everything. It's like, well, at the beginning you told me that you have to keep the seven sacraments to be saved. At the beginning, you told me you've got to keep the ten commandments to be saved. At the beginning, you told me that if you're really saved, you're going to live a good life and hold out faithful. And you no longer believe that? And it's like, "Well, I still think, you know, you convinced me it's believe, but it's believe plus." It's like, wow, we got you halfway there. Instead of just live a good life, now it's believe and live a good life, right? Well, they haven't been persuaded to believe this. They're considering it. They're thinking about it. What's the problem? They didn't repent.

They didn't change their mind about what they believe. They still believe in their own works. They still believe what they did before. You cannot be saved if you don't repent. You must change your mind about what you believe to be saved. But you don't have to quit drinking. You don't have to quit smoking. You don't have to change your lifestyle at all. But you got to change what you believe. You say, "Well, brother Saki, I mean, if Jesus died and paid for your sins, you can't just go out and do whatever you want." That's exactly why you can and go to heaven because it's a gift. The gift of God is eternal life.

There are no works required to be saved at all. You don't have to change your lifestyle. You don't have to repent of your sins. But you do have to repent of what you believe. And here's what's funny about it. These people that will say, "Repent of your sins to be saved." It's funny because they're not that strict on what you have to believe to be saved. Right.

I mean, it's like five minutes and just pray a prayer and you're saved. Whereas when we go solo and we say, "Well, you better make sure you change what you believe. Do you believe this? Do you believe that?" I mean, it's a real thorough presentation. Why? Because we understand you've got to change what you believe. But people that believe in repent of sins, it it's like it doesn't matter what you believe. You can believe whatever, right?

No matter what church you're part of, no matter what cult you're a part of, if you say Jesus at all, as long as you believe that you have to repent of your sins to be saved, we believe you're saved. Even if you're Mormon. Yeah. But I mean, he believes repentance of sins. I mean, you must be saved. It's like, but for us that realize you have to repent of your belief, we are very strict with what you have to believe, right?

Why? Because that is required for salvation. Turn in your Bible to Acts 20. Acts 20. Yeah. I was thinking about this this past week. Also I was reading in Genesis and there's a story of Cain and Abel where Cain gives an offering of the fruit of the ground and Abel gives of the first things of his flock, and this is a great symbolism for salvation. Probably a lot of us understand that where the fruit of the ground is your works and the first things of the flock are required animal sacrifice which picture Jesus Christ. So Cain is basically symbolically working his way to heaven and then Abel is trusting in the future coming Messiah. I thought about it and Abel gave the firstlings of his flock. Cain just brought of the fruit of the ground. The Bible says it doesn't say he brought the best. What's interesting is people that believe in repentance of sins for salvation, they usually aren't offering anything special to God. People that trust in their works to be saved, it's like you're drunk. you're trusting in your works to save you. It's like you don't even have impressive works. I mean, literally, people that are trusting in their works to save them, it's not impressive what they're offering to God. They're not bringing the first of the fruits.

They're just bringing their works that are not impressive at all. They don't read the Bible every day. They don't go to church every week. They don't go soulwinning. They're not living a clean life. And they're like, "Yeah, you know what? You got to live a good life to go to heaven." You know, if that was the case and you are the standard for what good is, then everybody in this room is already good to go. Because the average person trusting in their works to get to heaven, they don't have impressive works, right? But here's the thing. When you determine what's required to go to heaven, you always set the bar low enough so you can hop over, right? I mean, if you're not living a very clean life at all, you set it really low. If you're a drunk, let's just set it a little bit lower because I got to make sure I get over there. Right? This is why some people get mad when you take the authority out of their hands and they realize, well, actually it's about what Jesus Christ did because they no longer can set the bar of what they have to do to get to heaven. But the reality is, and obviously there are exceptions to this. In general though, people that think you have to live a good life to get to heaven don't have impressive works to show. And sometimes, you talk to people in some of these low-income places where people have a lot of vices and they gamble and drink and smoke all their money away, and they're usually not receptive, right?

And it's shocking. It's like you would think you'd be so happy to find out it's by faith alone. It's like, nope, you got to live a good life. It's like what? You'd think you'd be happy by this message. And yet, that's usually not what you find. People that are trusting in their works to get to heaven, they usually don't have impressive works to show. And that's just reality in most cases.

Point number one, repentance of belief is necessary for salvation. You must change your mind about what you believe in order to believe on Jesus Christ. Point number two, repentance of sins is work salvation. Repentance of sins is work salvation. So if you're trusting in repenting of your sins or changing your lifestyle, that is a work salvation that you believe in. Acts 20:21, "Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." Now once again, it does not say repent of your sins. It doesn't say that.

It says repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, I don't know about here in the Philippines, but if you visit a Baptist church in the US, like you're on vacation and you call up the pastor and you ask, you know, hey, what does your church teach about repentance? And I've done this many times for myself, but also for people trying to find a church, they will usually quote this verse. What I believe is repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. It's like, I'm happy you memorized a verse in the Bible, but what do you believe that means? And why do they say that? Because they want to accept both crowds. They want the crowd that thinks it's by faith alone. They want the crowd that believes it's repentance of sins for salvation.

Now, here's the thing. At our church, we are happy to get new visitors. And if people don't yet understand salvation, it is okay for unsaved people to visit church. People that maybe takes them a little bit of time, especially from different Baptist backgrounds. Some people might be confused and that's fine. But you know what? If you are adamant that you must repent of your sins to be saved and you're saying, "I am fully persuaded you must turn from your sins. You must repent of your sins to be saved." Here's the reality. I actually don't want you at this church.

You say, "Why? That's not what we believe. That's not what we teach." Now, if you're just confused, we'll give you the gospel. But if you say, "No, you must repent of your sins. Don't come swinging with us." Right? Right? Don't hand out our invitations, right? Because what you believe is the same as that church over there and that church over there. Invite them to those churches because those churches also believe you must repent of your sins to be saved. That's not what we believe.

Because repentance of sins, it's not only that it's not necessary for salvation. It is a works salvation. What this verse says is repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. What I'm saying it means is you change your mind about God. And even the word toward would tell you this because you're not directed toward God. You're not directed in that direction, and you repent toward God. It's like, hey, I was turning left, and I repented and turned right. So basically you're going the opposite way and now you go toward God. Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. So you're believing in something else and you repent of that belief and put your faith on Jesus Christ. That's what it's saying in Acts 20:21. Go to Acts 17.

And I'm going to show you a couple verses in Acts before I show you very clearly. It is work salvation to believe in repentance of sins. Although common sense is going to tell you this if you're saved. If you're not, then yeah, you might not agree.

Acts 17:29. "Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God", and you know what, in Acts 17, if you're familiar with this chapter, I have nicknamed this chapter the Hindu chapter because it's pretty much exactly like Hinduism, although it's a different culture, different religion, but it's not really a different religion. They believe in one God and multiple manifestations and idolatry and all these things. It's basically like Hinduism. Same thing, you know, same religion gets passed around everywhere. The problem with this group of people in Acts 17 is this: is it a problem that they're drunks? No. Does it say they have a lot of vices? No. I mean, they're lazy, right? A lot of, you know, Tomai just hanging out doing nothing. But it doesn't say that they're drunks or drug addicts or anything like that. The problem is that they believe in the wrong concept of God. Is that not true? They've got idolatry, the wrong concept of God. Nothing in the chapter about all these vices that they struggle with other than their laziness. Okay. Acts 17:29. "Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device." Basically, quit making idols and worshiping them. "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:" Ignorance means without knowledge, bobo, dumb, stupid, right? Without knowledge. He's saying you're ignorant. You're worshiping idols because you're ignorant. You believe in the wrong thing about God. Right? That's what he's saying there. You're ignorant. You know, he doesn't say that in a lot of places. He says you're ignorant. You're worshiping these idols because of your ignorance. And look, you know, that offends you, whatever. Idolatry, that's ignorance. If you believe your idols are going to get you to heaven. If you believe that you can make something out of stone and then pray to go, pray to that. I mean, that's absurd. It's ridiculous. Doesn't make any sense, right?

I mean, if you made it, how could it be God? That's foolish. And yet, that's what people believe around the world. Somehow they can turn something into God. It's like you're the one who made that, and he's saying you're ignorant. Then he says, "But now commandeth all men everywhere to quit drinking." Doesn't say anything about them drinking. To quit smoking doesn't say anything about them smoking. What's the problem? They're ignorant. They believe the wrong thing. He commands them to repent.

Because if you're trusting in your idols, you can't believe on Jesus Christ. There's no other way you can interpret Acts 17 of what they're repenting about. They're repenting about their belief. They're ignorant, meaning without knowledge of the truth. They must repent of that in order to believe on Jesus Christ "because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." But people go to verse 31 and say, "Well, see, he's going to judge the world in righteousness. Therefore, you must repent of your sins. Nobody's repented of all their sins. The fact that he's going to judge the world in 100% righteousness, that's why it's not by your works. Cuz there is none righteous. There's none good but one that is God. You can't trust in repenting of your sins because you still sin, right?

The fact that he's going to judge it in righteousness, it's like you better believe the right thing because he's going to judge you by your works. And here's the thing. "All liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." Bible's consistent. There is none righteous, know not one. But when you get saved, you get imputed with the righteousness of God. So if he judges you in perfect righteousness, God's going to say innocent. No sins against you if you're saved. Right? Here's what's interesting. And go to Acts chapter 3. Acts three.

99% of the time if people tell you you must repent of your sins to be saved, they will pick certain sins that you must repent of. Because if you were to ask them, okay, so you never lie anymore? Well, I mean, I still lie. Well, then you didn't repent of that sin. I thought you repented of your sins. Well, which sins did you repent of? And they start to backpedal. Well, I used to be a drunk and now I don't drink anymore. Well, I was never a drunk, so I didn't have to repent of that sin. Well, I used to smoke out of the smoke. I've never smoked a cigarette. They pick certain things. They pick vices that they're guilty of. It's like a lot of people never drank. I mean, there's no reason to bring up people's past sins in this room, but I'm sure a lot of people in this room have probably never drank alcohol in their life.

There's probably a lot of people in this room that have never smoked a cigarette in the day of their life. There's a lot of people that don't fornicate before they're married. There's a lot of people that don't listen to bad music or the bad movies necessarily. Maybe they get raised in a Christian home. So, here's the thing. You point out things that you've repented of that you've changed. What about all the things that you haven't changed? Right? Usually there are very obvious things that those people are guilty of, but they don't bring up those things. They bring up the things that they're innocent of, right? Well, here's the thing. I was never a drunk. I never smoked any cigarettes before in my life. They bring up things like, "I used to be the worst drunk." Well, you know what's better than that? Actually never being a drunk, right?

Why would you brag number one about your sins? But what about people that never struggle with those sins? So since you were drunk, you had to quit drinking. But since I was never drunk, I have to quit lying to be saved. Is that what you're saying? But you don't have to quit lying. Because you were so bad, you only have to get to this point. But those at this point, they got to get to this point. Is that what you're saying? Doesn't make any sense. Because if you have to repent of your sins, which ones? Where is the list in the Bible of which sins you have to repent of? Well, considering that lying is enough to send you to hell, logically, I would say then you must repent of lying to be saved. But wait a minute, there's a problem because everybody lies. That's right.

So, here's the thing. Do you have to repent of your sins or not? And then people start to backpedal. It's like, well, you have to be willing to change. Well, if you're willing, then you would change. I mean, are you willing to come to church on Sunday? Yeah, I'm willing. We come here next Sunday, they don't show up. Well, they weren't willing. What are you talking about? Right? Well, you have to have like a general sorrow for your sin. So what is your definition of repentance since you keep changing it? Now, here's the thing about this. A lot of people when they get saved feel very horrible and sorry about their sins when they get saved. That does not mean it's a requirement to be saved, though. Just because you have that experience does not mean it's required. You know, some people when they get saved cry. I didn't shed a single tear when I got saved. Not a single one. Now, I was very happy. I was overwhelmed. I was very emotional, but I did not cry.

But there's probably people in this room that did cry. But that doesn't mean that you have to cry to be saved. Well, he said he got saved. I didn't see any tears. Wong luha. We're long salvation. Right? That's ridiculous. And here's the thing. Just because some people are very sorry for their sins when they get saved, that doesn't mean that you have to be. And just because you made changes doesn't mean that everybody did, right? Because I could point out to the things that I don't do or I do do now that I didn't before. Like, hey, I read the Bible every day. Does that mean you have to repent of your non-Bible reading to be saved? Like that sin? No. That's ridiculous. But they point out specific things they are not guilty of to justify themselves. It's like, what about the things that you're still guilty of?

Acts 3:19, "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out." And people quote this verse and say, well, see, you got to repent of your sins. Once again, it does not say repent of your sins, but it says your sins are going to be blotted out. Yeah, because when you believe on Jesus Christ, your sins are blotted out. It does not say repent of your sins to get your sins blotted out. Actually, if you want your sins blotted out, it's by believing on Jesus Christ. Because what must I do to be saved? And they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Go to Jonah 3.

You know, there's a few reasons why I'm preaching the sermon. Obviously, repentance is probably the most important topic starting with the letter R that we could preach on, I would say. But here's the thing. Number one, of course, there's new people at church. You want people to understand this, but the reality is there are saved people that are genuinely confused about this word because they've heard false preachers and heretics. And so I want everybody at our church to be very clear, but I also want you to be able to help out your relatives and people at your old Baptist churches that might be confused. You could walk up to someone and say, "What does the word repent mean?" And they might say, "Turn from their sins." But they're actually saved.

And when you start pinning them down, they're going to backpedal. They'll be like, "I don't know." They're going to be confused. I would say the first couple years I was saved, I would have probably been confused on this word because I had heard a lot of false preaching saying if you're really saved, you're going to live a good life. Now, here's the thing. If repentance of sins was required for salvation, which it is not, the logical conclusion is that works would be the evidence of your salvation because there's evidence that you repented of your sins. So, there's works to prove it.

Right? Now, when people say they believe that if you're really saved, you're going to live a good life, it's kind of like the big red flag. Like, I don't know because that's the logical conclusion of believing you got to repent of your sins to be saved. So, I hope you're just confused. Now, here's the thing. What is required of salvation is a repentance of belief. So, we can look at someone and after they get saved or we think they get saved, we can check what they believe, which is what we do when we go soulwinning. And if they believe the wrong thing, the evidence would say, well, they're not saved because they believe the wrong thing.

Now, of course, you hope they're confused. But if they believe the wrong thing, you're going to assume they're not saved. And if they really are saved and then they've been confused by false doctrine, you show them a few verses, they've already got the Holy Spirit inside of them, they're going to believe it because they've got the truth inside of them. If somebody spends 20 minutes arguing with you about repentance of sins for salvation, they're not saved, right?

Because that's proof. That's evidence they believe the wrong thing. What's funny is people that believe in repentance of sins for salvation. They're not strict, as I said, about what you believe. They will look at someone that believes the wrong thing, but as a moment when they got saved, but they believe the wrong thing, and they'll say, "Well, they're saved." Well, how do you know they're saved? They don't drink anymore.

And it's just like we will look at the exact opposite. They'll look at someone who gets saved and they believe the right thing, but they still drink. I'm not sure if they're saved because they still drink.

You believe in a work salvation, my friend. You are trusting 100% in works. That's what you're looking at. That's your evidence. It's all about repentance of sins. It's not about repentance of belief at all. We look at someone's belief. We knock on a door. It's like, "All right, you know, we just want to show you how to get to heaven. Do you drink alcohol?" Is that what we said when we started our presentation? It's like, no, what we ask him is, "Well, what do you believe it takes to get to heaven?" Right? Do you know for sure you're going to heaven? I know I'm sure. Why? I used to be a drunk and I don't drink anymore. Amen. If that's how you do your soul winning, just don't come back. Right? It's like, no, that is not salvation. We ask people what you believe.

And here's what's foolish about this. If you're going to take people that are Baptists who believe in a works salvation repentance of sins, it's just like, well, yeah, but they're Baptist or they're non-denominational. It's like, why not just look at someone who's a Hindu, though? They have a red dot on their head and they say, "Hey, I used to drink. I don't drink anymore." Yeah, I think you're saved. I see the evidence. I see the evidence they're not saved. They're still Hindu. What are you talking about? Because we look at what they believe, not their lifestyle. News flash: there's plenty of people in this world that wouldn't even claim to be saved, but they used to be drunks and they're not anymore. Does that mean they're saved?

I mean, they've got programs to quit drinking in America. Alcoholics Anonymous and lots of people quit drinking. Lots of people quit doing drugs. It doesn't mean they got saved, right? It's repentance of belief, but trusting in repentance of sins. We're going to see here in Jonah 3. It's a works salvation. "Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?" Now, once again, if God is repenting, obviously, he's not turning from his sins. He's not a sinner, but he does change his course of action in the town of Nineveh. He said it's going to be destroyed in 40 days, but since the people changed, he changed what he was going to do. He repented of what he was going to do, and he did not destroy it. So the king of Nineveh is saying, "Hey, maybe God is going to change his mind and instead of pouring out his wrath upon us, he's going to change his mind and we're not going to be destroyed." That's what the king of Nineveh is saying. Verse 10, "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not." God saw their works that they turned from their evil way.

Another way to say turn from your evil way is to turn from your sins. Turning from your evil way is what? According to Jonah 3:10, works. Because it takes work to change your lifestyle. Look, there are people that have been addicted to smoking for decades, and they are trying and trying to quit. But it takes work, right? There are people that have been trying to quit drinking for years and they still struggle with it. Why? It takes work.

And on a Christian level, and obviously people in this room, I'm sure there's people that struggle with those various things. But let's talk about reading the Bible every day. It takes work to read the Bible every day. It's hard. Takes work to spend time in prayer every day. Takes work to go soulwinning every week. Takes work to memorize the Bible. Your flesh doesn't want to do it. It takes work. Right? If you have to change your lifestyle, repent of your sins, that is a works salvation. And common sense would tell us this.

And if people don't understand this, there's one reason. It's because they're not saved. Because it makes sense to the world. Of course, you got to repent of your sins. You know why it makes sense to the world? Because that's what that church teaches. And most Christian churches, most Christian churches and every religion, repent of your sins to be saved. That's what they believe. And so it makes sense to people because they're not saved. I mean, if somebody were to hear this sermon and think you're a heretic, it's because you're not saved. Right. That's the reason why. That's right.

Because they believe the exact opposite of us. If you're saved, you're saying, "Amen." You're right, brothers. I used to think I had to repent of my sins to be saved. Yeah. Now it's like, you know what? I was wrong. Now I'm thinking, praise the Lord because there are other people just like me in Baptist churches that are confused or unsaved themselves that we need to reach. Go to Romans 6.

Jonah 3:10 is a very key verse. Acts 19:4 is a very key verse in Jonah 3:10 on this topic of repentance. Acts 19:4 makes it very clear. Repenting what John taught was to believe. Jonah 3:10 makes it very clear, turning from your way or turning from your sins is a work salvation.

Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Eternal life is a gift, right? I mean a gift is paid for by somebody, but it's 100% libre for the receiver, walang condition, no strings attached if it's a gift, right? Imagine someone says, "I got a gift I want to give this to you, but just wash my car, clean my house, obey my rules, do this and this." You'd be like, that's not a gift. You'd say that's work. It's not a gift. I mean, here's the thing. If God said the same thing, it wouldn't be a gift. It's a gift, but first, get baptized. Go to church every week. Quit drinking. Quit smoking. How is that a gift? I mean, man, if that's what you think a gift is, if that's what your Christmas was like growing up, you had a more miserable Christmas than INC or Jehovah's Witnesses. It's I don't know.

It's Christmas time again. My mom's going to make me vacuum for two hours every day and cook the dinner and do this and this. I don't want the gift. Right? I mean, why couldn't we have just been Jehovah's Witnesses growing up, but we don't celebrate at all. Right? That's what you think. I mean, it's like your boss is like, I got a gift for you. Oh, that's great. He's going to give you a 5,000 peso bonus. That's great, but you got to work 40 hours of overtime this week to receive it. You'd be like, "No thanks. How's that a gift?" And see, if God is requiring you to make changes in your life, it's not a gift. It's works. Go to Ephesians chapter 2.

I get a sermon like this. I mean, we understand repentance. The vast majority of people in here have heard me preach this many times, but one thing that's good about a sermon like this is it stirs your heart for soul-winning, doesn't it? Right? It reminds you because we realize most people don't agree with what I'm saying in this world. Now, in this room, people agree, right? But when you hear a sermon like this, it reminds you, yeah, you know what? I used to believe something similar before I was saved. And so it's like, you know, praise the Lord, a sermon like this preached. And it's like, I need to go out and soul-win and get people saved to make a difference. Because here's the thing, people don't get saved on their own. They must hear the word of God from somebody. That's what the Bible teaches.

Ephesians 2:8 and 9. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." I mean, if salvation is a gift, what that means is it's not of works. Now, here's the thing. Bible says, "Lest any man should boast." You know, there's no arrogant person in heaven.

Because nobody in heaven can say, "I'm here because I'm better than other people. I'm here because I quit drinking and he didn't." Nobody can say that. Everybody in heaven is going to say, "I'm in heaven because I was a sinner that did not deserve to be here. I believed on Jesus Christ who paid it all and I'm saved. Everybody. Isn't it interesting how God set up a system of salvation where nobody can boast in what they've done? So, here's the thing. If you got a preacher up here saying, "Well, I used to be a drunk and I don't drink anymore." Are you boasting? Right? That sounds like boasting to me. It sounds like bragging. Well, that's not salvation, my friend, because there's no boasting in salvation. And when you make a statement like that and say, "Hey, you know what? I'm saved. I used to be a drunk. I don't drink anymore. That's my salvation. That's my proof." Well, according to Ephesians 2:8-9, you're not saved because nobody can boast in their salvation because it's not what you do at all. Turn your Bible to Revelation 2.

Revelation 2. And for sake of time, I'm going to skip some of the verses in my sermon here. Various verses that I'm sure we're familiar with, but I'll just quote you. The Bible says, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done." It's not about you reforming your life or quitting drinking or quitting smoking or anything like that.

Because those are things that they'll often have changed. But then it's just like, they still listen to the wrong music. They still watch the wrong things on TV. They don't point out those things because they're innocent. And you know, whatever you're innocent of is something that, you know, you're, for example, the famous preacher Charles Spurgeon that a lot of Baptists love and quote from, he smoked cigars every day of his life. And people commented about that like, "When are you going to quit smoking cigars?" Well, I mean, here's the thing.

Obviously, he can't point out that sin that he repented of because he's still doing it, destroying his health, right? And it's just like they'll point out whatever they're innocent about. Whatever they're guilty of, they're never going to bring up because, you know, that saying reproaches me, right? And so, it's like usually they'll just point out a few vices that are kind of common. It's like, well, if you still drink, I don't know if you're saved, right? Because they assume people have quit that or at least they've quit that themselves.

Revelation 2:4, "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love." And the first love here is referring to the first works. And the first works is referencing soul-winning. And the first love of a church, because this is in the context of a church, is soul-winning, reaching the lost. Because when you're a new church, you don't have a big congregation. You got to reach new people. So the first thing you do is not have all these programs or activities. It's really to try to get people saved and bring them to church. Verse 5, "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." Now, people quote this to say, see, if you don't repent of your sins, you will lose your salvation.

This is a church. This is not an individual person. He's saying that yes, if this church doesn't get back to the first love of soulwinning, I'm going to remove them. That's not about salvation. It's a church. You can't apply it to salvation. The context is in a church and saying, "Yeah, you know what? Change and get back to the works. Get back to what you were doing. Otherwise, I'm going to remove the candlestick." Well, the candlestick is not symbolic of the Holy Spirit. You can't just put symbolism wherever you want it. Hey, if you don't repent, God's going to remove your candlestick. Candlestick is not symbolism of the Holy Spirit in the Bible. You can't just make up symbolism wherever you want it. It's not what it's referring to. It's referring to the local church. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 7.

Now 2 Corinthians 7 is a church epistle. It's written to a church. It's written to the church of Corinth. Now, of course, there's first Corinthians, which Paul wrote to the first church of Corinth. And with the church of Corinth, there is a problem that there was a man sleeping with his father's wife. Not sleeping with his mother, but his father had apparently remarried. Okay, regardless, that's perverted.

That's weird. And the Bible says "it is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife." That's not even common in the world. I mean, outside of a Baptist church, if someone said that they were involved with their father's wife, people would be like, "What is wrong with you?" It's like, you're a pervert, right? I mean, that's a very perverse and major sin. And he writes this letter, 2 Corinthians, after the fact. Notice what it says in 2 Corinthians 7:8.

"For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent." And what he's saying is, I wrote 1 Corinthians. And he's like, "You felt sorry. You felt bad when I wrote the letter and I do not present tense repent of that." He says, "Though I did repent." What he's saying is when I first wrote the letter, I kind of changed my mind. I felt bad about it. I wondered if I made a mistake. But he's saying I do not repent now. Although when I first wrote it, I was kind of like, I don't want to write this, right?

"For I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance." He's saying, "I wasn't happy that I made you feel bad, but I'm happy that you sorrowed to repentance." "For ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing." And what he's saying is this, that if you had not repented, if you had not changed your actions and dealt with the problem, he says you would have received damage from us. You say, "What does that mean? Damage from us." Look, if I preach a sermon against drinking alcohol and you hear that sermon and you see what the Bible says and you understand what the Bible's saying is true and you don't apply it, you are held accountable for what you hear and you're going to receive damage by the words. Did you know that simply going to church and hearing the truth does not mean it's going to benefit you? If you don't apply it, it's going to cause you damage. It's going to cause you God's judgment. You're held accountable.

Doesn't it make common sense if you raise kids? If you explicitly tell your kids, "Don't do this," and then you see them do it a minute later, they're accountable because you just told them, right? But he's saying they repented. And here's the thing, he's not happy that they were sorry. These repent-of-sins preachers and street preachers stand out on the street and scream at people, you're a drunk, you're this, you're that. And people are throwing stuff at them. And they're so happy that people are mad. It's like, well, that's not Paul the apostle. He's happy that they changed.

Not happy that he made people mad. Like, why do you want to make people miserable? It's not a goal I have when I preach. I'm not trying to make people feel bad. It's like, man, what a great day it was. I saw two people cry during the sermon. I'm so happy with myself. It's like, what's wrong with you? Paul didn't want to see people cry or make people feel miserable. What he's happy about is he preached the truth and they changed. They had sorrow to repentance. Verse number 10, "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death."

Now, people point to this phrase. This is probably the most common one they'll point to and say, well, see, repentance of sins is required for salvation. Number one, this is a church. Now, I do believe you can apply it to an individual, but it is to a church. But here's the thing. When it says godly sorrow work repentance to salvation, it's not referring to getting saved. They're already saved. These are believers.

You say, "Well, how does godly sorrow work repentance?" Well, the example I just gave, if I preached on alcohol and as a result of the sermon, you quit drinking, you saved your kidney, you saved your liver, you saved another 25 years of your life. You're going to live longer now. You saved destroying your marriage. You saved destroying your job. You saved destroying raising your kids.

Often in the Bible, the word saved or salvation has nothing to do with getting to heaven. For example, I mean, Paul said in the book of Acts, "Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved." So, if you don't stay in this boat, you're going to go to hell. Is that what he was saying? No. What he's saying is there's a storm and if you get out of the boat, you're going to be destroyed physically. But he's not talking about going to heaven or hell. And when he says, "Work repentance to salvation." What he's saying is this. When you hear the truth and you apply it to your life, it saves you from destroying your life. Did you know that? I mean, here's the thing. If you don't apply the message, it will give you damage. But if you do apply it, it's going to help benefit you. It's going to help heal you. It's help going to help save you from a multitude of problems in your life.

Coming to a church like this, if you come to a church and you hear the preaching, it will benefit your life. It will save you from making bad choices. It will help you from destroying your life. This has nothing to do with being saved from going to hell, though. They're already saved.

Okay? And the key is not to be repented of. Not to be repented of is you don't go back on it. You don't change your mind about it. So basically, you make a change. And what godly sorrow is is where you change your mind and it's permanent. For example, go to Titus 2.

Everybody who gets in trouble feels sorry when they get caught. Everybody. Even serial killers, they feel sorry when they get caught. It doesn't mean they feel sorry about what they did. And here's the thing, there's godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. The best way to explain this in the Bible or comparison is King Saul versus King David. King Saul, when he got rebuked, he did not have godly sorrow. He felt bad that he was getting rebuked. He felt bad that he was embarrassed. But he went back and did the same thing. David, on the other hand, what he did was probably worse. But when he got rebuked, he had godly sorrow, not to be repented of. He didn't go back and do the same thing. He changed when he got rebuked by Nathan. Right? And so what the Bible's saying in 2 Corinthians is this church had a major sin in First Corinthians. They repented of it. They changed. They got right. And you know what? The church's candlestick was not removed. They were saved from that destruction. Number one, repent of belief is necessary for salvation.

Number two, repentance of sins is work salvation. Number three, repentance of sins should take place after salvation. It has nothing to do with being saved. There's not a guarantee it will take place, but it's something that God wants you to do after you're saved. I mean, we believe in repentance at this church. You say, "Brother Saki, you guys don't believe in repentance." Well, we believe in repentance of belief, which you don't believe. And you know what? We also believe in repentance of sins, just not for salvation.

Bible says in Titus 2:11, "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men." Jesus died for everybody. But notice this, teaching us. The us is referring to people that are saved. Right? Jesus died for everybody, but it doesn't teach everybody that "denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world." It teaches us that that are saved. It teaches us. I mean, when you understand what Jesus Christ did for you, even though you don't have to change at all and you don't have to commit your life to God and even though you might not ever commit your life to God, there is a realization of the fact that since Jesus did that for you, I should do what God says. Before you're saved, you don't really get it. I mean, everybody knows the Lord's name being used in vain is a sin. It's wrong. And yet many of us probably listen to music where they did it all the time before we were saved. Didn't think anything of it. But then after you're saved, there's just kind of this understanding. Well, wait a minute. I shouldn't do this. Jesus died and did everything for me. I should start to obey him. It doesn't mean you will, but you should live soberly. Go to 1 Peter 1.

I mean, you talk to people that aren't saved, they think it's bizarre that we don't get drunk. And to us, even if you don't know the Bible verses, I mean, I'll be honest with you. When I first got saved, I had no idea what the Bible said about drinking alcohol or rock music or anything like that. But right after I got saved, although I still struggled with certain sins, like listening to the wrong music, I just knew it was wrong. It's like I heard the Lord's name being used in vain. It's like, well, God obviously doesn't accept that, but I didn't really have that understanding before I was saved. I mean, it just didn't resonate with me. I didn't use the Lord's name in vain. I have never been a person to use curse words in any form, much less use the Lord's name in vain. But after I got saved, I was like, "Wow, I should have nothing to do with this." As someone who's saved, I just had that understanding. 1 Peter 1:13. "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind." "Be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance." So when you were ignorant, you were not obedient. You just did whatever. You didn't think anything of it. And what he's saying is now you're saved. You're no longer ignorant. You can't use the excuse, well, I mean, I wasn't saved. I didn't know any better. It's like, well, now you are saved. And being saved teaches us that we should live soberly, righteously, and godly. The Bible says in verses 14 and 15, "but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." God calls you to live a holy life.

He expects you to obey his rules. Look my kids don't have to do anything to be my kids at all. They're my kids, but I expect them to obey what I say. This idea, well, I mean, we're saved by grace. We're not under the law, man. God still expects you to obey the law, though. Yeah, you don't have to do that to get to heaven, but God expects you to obey it. And here's the thing, at our church, what's interesting is we're like the exact opposite of these repentance of sins preachers. They teach that, you know, they don't have a firm belief on what you have to believe to be saved. As long as there's a general belief in Jesus and you repent of your sins, you're saved. Because repenting of their belief for salvation is not that important. Their evidence is works, not what you believe. Exact opposite of us.

Repentance of sins is a work salvation. We don't look at someone's life to determine if they're saved. We look at what they believe. But what's interesting is these same preachers that are really like you got to repent of your sins to be saved, they don't really preach hard against sins in churches, right? They don't have a high standard of living. As I said at the beginning, it's like Cain bringing of the fruit of the ground doesn't even bring anything impressive. I mean, I'm sure a lot of you think at my old church, they never preached against this and that, and you, Brother Stucky, are preaching against it. It's like what we wear, what we listen to, what we watch. Yeah. Because God has called us to holiness, right?

Christ is your life. He wants all of you. He wants to be pleased with you in all areas of your life. What you let go into your eyes, what you let go into your ears, your entire lifestyle, the way you live your life, the way you talk, the way you dress. Yes, God has called you to holiness. And being saved, you should repent of your sins, right? Because you already are saved. Not as an evidence for your salvation, not as a requirement to be saved, but because of the fact as we sing in our hymnal, he gave his life for us. And what hast thou given for him? I mean, he gave you his entire life. He died and paid for all of your sins.

And here's the thing, your life is not about you. In this room, the vast majority, if not everybody who's old enough is already saved at our church. This sermon did not just make you think, "Man, I've been here for 5 years. I always thought repenting of my sins got me saved." Nobody thought that. But here's the thing. What you can take away is this. If Christ died for you and is offering you a free gift. Look, if I gave you a phone as a gift, if it's a gift, you don't have to do anything for it and you don't have to do anything to pay it back. But isn't there just this general thing on the inside of you, or there should be, that if somebody gives you a gift, I should do something for them. Not that you have to because it was a gift, but it's like if they did something for me, I should do something for them, right?

And what does God want you to do? He wants your entire life. Now look, none of us are anywhere close to that level because none of us have repented of all of our sins. None of us are even close to that level of giving Christ our entire life. But you know what? That is what God has called you to. And God expects you every day to wake up and read his word, memorize his word, pray to God, meditate upon God, get sin out of your life, not talk the way the world talks, not watch the things the world watches. God expects you to repent of your sins. Why?

Not to be saved, not to prove you're saved. Because salvation is not us boasting about anything, but because of the fact he gave you a gift and he's commanding us to do it. We're not paying back the gift. We'll get rewards for repenting of every sin that we repent of after we're saved. We get rewards for what we do. But that's what God expects from you. He expects you to repent of your sins and obey him because you're already saved. He wants you to obey his commandments.

Let's close in a word of prayer.

Dear heavenly father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and ask you to help us to understand this sermon. Ask you to help us to be able to explain this to other people that are confused about repentance, what repentance is, what it is not, God, and what exactly we have to change about our lives before we're saved, which is just simply our belief, God. And help us be able to go out today, later today, and give us fair weather so we can preach this and teach this to other people that they can repent of their belief, change their mind about what they believe, and believe on you for salvation. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

All right, we're here in Deuteronomy chapter 28, and we're finishing up the Alphabet of Bible Doctrines. We're going to be looking at Zionism here for the letter Z. Now, this is a very in-depth topic, and we've got one sermon on it, so I've got a lot of Bible, and I'm going to be preaching very quickly. I'm just kind of giving you a warning about that. Even yesterday, by doing that, I was still way over time because it's such an in-depth topic. So, you know, I'll probably be preaching very fast as I go through this. But when it comes to Zionism, what we're basically talking about is the land of Israel and whether or not that was given to the present-day Jews, whether that land belongs to them, and what the Bible teaches about that. Now, to even understand that, we have to go all the way back to before they even entered into the land. Point number one I want you to realise is this: the promise of the land was based on obedience. It was based on obedience.

Point 1 - The promise of the land was based on obedience

Notice what it says in Deuteronomy 28:1: "And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth." Notice what it said in Deuteronomy 28:1. Before they enter the land, he says, "if thou shalt hearken diligently" and if you observe and do all his commandments. So, it is what's known as a conditional covenant. For example, in computer programming or maths, if you have an if statement, it's known as a conditional statement, meaning it's a statement that's true as long as certain things are met. For example, if X is greater than 7, then you do this, but if not, you do this, and it's different, right? So, if is a conditional statement. When they're entering into the promised land, it was a conditional covenant. It's not the same thing as salvation. A lot of people try to apply this to salvation, where you believe on Jesus Christ and you have eternal life, but that's not conditioned on something we have to do to keep our salvation. It's a done deal. The condition is believe on Christ, but then it is eternal, and it doesn't matter what we do; it stays forever. Salvation is forever. It's eternal. But the land itself was based on conditions. If you observe and do, if you hearken to what I say. Verse number two: "And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God." So he's saying, if you hearken unto me, if you listen to what I say, then there are going to be these blessings. Okay, go down to verse number 14.

Think of it like renting an apartment. You sign a lease for one year and rent an apartment, but there are conditions in that contract, right? You've got to pay the monthly rent, you've got to pay the utilities, and you've got to pay the water bill. I mean, if you started breaking things in the apartment, then the contract's over, right? Because it's conditional. It's based on certain things. God's covenant with Israel was a conditional covenant. He says that land belongs to you if you do this. It's not just yours no matter what. You say, why, Brother Stuckey? Because throughout the Bible, the Bible says all of the earth, all of the world, belongs to who? To God. All of the land belongs to God. That's throughout the Bible. It all belongs to God. God is the landlord, so to speak, of the entire earth. It belongs to him, and he said, I'm going to give this group of people this land if you do this, if you observe and do. I mean, even before Deuteronomy 28, they got rejected from the promised land because they did not obey what he said. They didn't want to enter at first, and then they changed their mind, and he's like, well, it's too late. You've got to wander for 40 years as a punishment. So it's always based on conditions. It wasn't this automatic eternal covenant no matter what they did. Go down to verse number 14.

And the Bible says, "And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them." Now, here's the thing. We looked at the first 14 verses. We read through this, and this is a very long chapter. You've got the first 14 verses that are the blessings of God upon the people if they do this, and then what do you have the rest of the chapter, the part we didn't read? All of the curses if you don't obey what I said. So, you know what? You can either be blessed or you can be cursed. The same thing is true in our lives. We can either be blessed by God or we can be cursed by God, depending on what we do. Then it says here in verse number 15: "But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field." Now go down to verse number 62. The context is the same. We're just not reading every single verse here in Deuteronomy about all of the cursings upon them if they disobey. Verse 62: "And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the Lord thy God." "And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it." Before they entered the promised land, he said, if you obey, you're going to be blessed. If you disobey, you're going to be cursed. He said you're going to be plucked off the land. Now, that really can't be debated because they were plucked off the land. That happened in the Bible; we see that. We'll talk about Israel and Judah later on, but Israel's gone, and then Judah gets plucked off the land for 70 years. So, that cannot be disputed; that did take place. Then it says here in verse 64: "And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone." "And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind." "And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life." What he's saying is, if you don't obey, you are going to be in fear. You're going to be scattered everywhere. You're going to have no assurance of life. Another thing to keep in mind is that Solomon was promised by God that they would have, what, on every side peace, right? That's throughout the Bible. He said, if you are right with me, you're going to have peace on every side as a nation. Peace on every side. You're not going to have the fears that it mentions here. Let me ask you a question: modern-day Israel, do they have peace on every side? I mean, it's the place that's at more war than pretty much anywhere in the world, right? There is no peace. There's fear on every side. They don't have peace. But the promise of God was this: if you're right with me, you're going to have peace on every side. You're not going to have battles. I mean, there were battles to get into the promised land, but once you get there, if you're right with me, you're going to have peace on every side. What he told Solomon is, if you obey what I say, if you follow what I say, there will be peace on every side. Then it says this in verse 67: "In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see." Verse 68: "And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you." So God said, if you don't obey me, you're going to be scattered everywhere. You're going to have fear on every side. You're going to be bondmen and bondwomen. I'm going to put you back into bondage in Egypt like you were before, and you're going to have no blessings at all, all these cursings upon you because you didn't obey. Now go to 1 Kings 11.

And you know, it makes sense when you think about the fact that God owns this world. God owns planet Earth, right? God owns every country. God owns every city. God owns every river. He's basically the landlord, symbolically speaking, and he doesn't just give you free will to do whatever you want with no repercussions. What landlord would do that if they rented to you a building? Why don't you just do whatever you want? No matter what, you want to stop paying rent? No problem, right? You want to break things? No problem. Well, of course, there are going to be rules that you have to follow. When he gave them the land of Israel, it was a conditional covenant where he said, hey, I am giving this to you. I'm going to bless you as a people. You're my people. If you do this, I will bless you. If you don't do it, you're going to be cursed, and you're going to regret it, right?

Point 2 - Israel gets rejected. The northern kingdom of Israel gets rejected.

Now I want to clear up a confusion before we really get deep into this sermon about the Jews versus Israel, because these are not synonymous at all, but they're used interchangeably in today's world. In fact, I use them interchangeably because they're kind of understood interchangeably. But biblically speaking, the Jews and Israel are by no means the same thing, and it's important to understand this. We see this in 1 Kings 11:28: "And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph." Now, I want to say on a side point: do not confuse Jeroboam with Rehoboam. Rehoboam is the son of Solomon that takes over for him. Jeroboam was one of the men of Solomon who ends up being against Solomon. Okay, verse 29: "And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field." "And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces." So imagine you're wearing clothing, and then all of a sudden somebody just tears your clothing, right? Like if I went up to you and just tore your shirt into twelve pieces. That's what the prophet does to Jeroboam.

Then he says this in verse 31: "And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee." So what he says is, I'm taking the kingdom from Solomon, and you're going to get ten out of the twelve tribes. Verse 32: "But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel." Now, in verses 30 to 32, this is known as one of the great Bible contradictions, because remember, he said, I'm going to rent it in twelve pieces, and he said, I'm going to give him ten pieces, and I'm going to leave one piece for him. You don't have to be an expert at maths to realise that ten plus one does not equal twelve, right? Ten plus one equals eleven. So you say, well, why is it twelve pieces, and then he mentions eleven pieces? Well, the ten tribes is accurate; it is ten tribes. The one tribe is kind of accurate, and it's kind of not, because the one tribe he's referring to is the tribe of Judah. What you would have is the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.

Now, the northern kingdom of Israel retains its name after this event. You say, why? Because they retain ten out of the twelve tribes. I mean, imagine that there is a committee with twelve people and two leave. You're probably not going to rename the committee because two are no longer a part of it, but if you're a small remnant left, you're probably going to rename it. For example, think of music and a couple of people split off from a band and start a new band with a new name, right? So the ten tribes retain the name of Israel. You have the northern kingdom of Israel, and then what you have is the southern kingdom of Judah. But the southern kingdom of Judah was not really by themselves. The tribe of Benjamin is the other tribe that goes along with Judah. You say, why does it say one tribe? Because there's one dominant tribe, named after the tribe of Judah. Judah was one of the twelve tribes of Israel, and it's the dominant one in the southern kingdom of Judah, but Benjamin is also with it. So if you were to try to split the names because, you know, maybe you'd say, well, Judah and Benjamin, let's just kind of combine them and you've got Jenjamin. It's not that great of a name. Or if you've got Benjamin and Judah, you've got Buddha, right? They didn't name the new kingdom Buddha; it's Judah. Okay, and personally, I much prefer the name Judah to Buddha, or Jenjamin. So they're known as the southern kingdom of Judah, but really, it's Judah and Benjamin.

Of course, after this event, when you're reading 1 Kings and 2 Kings, and 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles, what are you seeing? You're always seeing the northern kingdom of Israel at war with the southern kingdom of Judah. With the northern kingdom of Israel, what do you always see? A new king rose up, and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. Then a new king comes, and he does that which is evil in the sight of the Lord, and pretty much without fail in the northern kingdom of Israel, every leader does evil. So here's the thing: even though Solomon rebelled, and that is the reason, at the same time, the northern kingdom became wicked, and so separating was a good thing. You say, why? Because you've got ten tribes that have become wicked, and then you've got two tribes that actually want to serve God. Obviously, the Bible speaks about separating from people. For example, if people become ungodly and drunkards, those are not people that you should be spending time with, because they will affect you. You will not positively affect them; they are going to negatively affect you, actually. So we see the separation of the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Then in verse 33: "Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father." Now go to 2 Kings 16.

Now look, this is not the way that God intended it. He wasn't trying to separate the twelve tribes where there are enemies with one another, but you're constantly seeing this. You'll see the northern kingdom of Israel side with another nation and fight against the southern kingdom, and both sides are going back and forth. Now, the southern kingdom didn't exactly remain righteous either, because you're going to have a king that will rise up and he does that which was good. The next king does that which is evil. The next one does that which is good. The next one does that which is evil. I mean, it kind of goes back and forth between good and bad for a while in the southern kingdom, but in the northern kingdom, they're pretty much all bad. Just king after king after king does that which is evil, and they're setting up false gods. Jeroboam is the one that set up the false idols in Bethel and Dan. The people are worshipping because he was afraid people would go back to Jerusalem to worship, which is the epicentre of God's people at that time. Then he's like, well, we don't want this, so we're going to set up a golden calf here and one here. Just go to Bethel, go to Dan, right? Go to 2 Kings 16, verse 5.

And the Bible says in 2 Kings 16:5: "Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him." So we're seeing the northern kingdom of Israel going to the southern kingdom of Judah to war. "At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day." Now, it says they drave the Jews. This is not linking back to Israel; it's linking back to Jerusalem. In fact, this word Jew that's mentioned here in 2 Kings 16, you might realise this, you might not, but this is the first time the word Jew appears in the Bible. It's the first time. I mean, look, Jacob gets renamed Israel in the book of Genesis, but you're not going to see the word Jew in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, or 1 Kings until you get to 2 Kings 16. You say, why, Brother Stuckey? Because a Jew and an Israelite are not synonymous. You say, what's a Jew? Someone from Judah. Does that make sense with the name? Someone who's a Jew is someone who comes from the southern kingdom of Judah, and if you lived in that area, you were a Jew, right? So, the terms in our modern day are used interchangeably. Like, if you ask somebody, if they said they're a Jew, which tribe are you from? Well, I'm from the tribe of Reuben. Well, they weren't part of the southern kingdom of Judah. I'm a Levite. Well, I mean, it doesn't make sense, right?

Now here's the thing. God did allow immigration. If you remember, a couple of weeks ago I preached on xenophobia, and I said that God is for immigration for people that adopt the country and want to live for the country. God was fine with people coming to be with God's people as they adopted the religion, but they weren't able to just bring in false idols, false gods, and paganism, right? So other people would come to the southern kingdom of Judah, and it became very intermingled with people from all around the world, because that's the area you would go if you wanted to serve God during that time period. But a Jew is someone that is from Judah, right? So, a Jew and an Israelite are not the same thing. Now, we use them interchangeably today because that's the way people understand them, but they're not really the same thing when you look at this biblically. Now go in the Bible to 2 Kings 17.

Now this is important to understand because the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom are at war with one another, and as I said, the northern kingdom was worse. There's no doubt about that. Pretty much every king that rises up is wicked, and then eventually the northern kingdom of Israel gets rejected by God. The northern kingdom of Israel gets rejected by God, although the southern kingdom of Judah is still continuing on at this point. In 2 Kings 17:7, the Bible reads: "For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods," "And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made." "And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city." "And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree:" "And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger:" "For they served idols, whereof the Lord had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing." So the Lord said unto them, "Ye shall not do this thing." Now remember back in Deuteronomy, what did we read? If you obey me, I'm going to bless you. If you disobey, I'm going to curse you, right? So they didn't obey. They're worshipping false idols, which is exactly what he warned about. Go to verse number 22.

"For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them;" "Until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day." They get removed. They get scattered abroad. And notice this: as he said by all his servants the prophets. All his servants the prophets spoke of this. They all foretold this. If you remember, and this is a little bit later in the time frame, but I preached through the book of Hosea a few years ago, and that book is a warning to the southern kingdom of Judah: don't do what the northern kingdom did. Don't rebel. Don't start worshipping idols. It's all throughout the Bible that, hey, if you don't obey God, God is going to curse you. Look, our salvation is eternal no matter what we do, because it's not based on conditions. It's not, whosoever believeth if you continue to stay in church. No, it's whosoever believeth; it's he that believeth. But when it came to entering the promised land, it was a conditional covenant. You say, why do you say it's conditional? Because you see that word if. That was the requirement to have the land, and the northern kingdom of Israel rebelled, and he said, I'm going to scatter you. He said all of the servants, the prophets, foretold this. So Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day. Now go in your Bible to Daniel 9. Daniel chapter 9.

Now look, God's plan in the Old Testament was to use a nation to reach the world, and they had the same thing we have. As Jesus rose again, in Acts 1 it says to be witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Our job is to evangelise the world, get churches started everywhere, go soul-winning everywhere, and get a ton of people saved. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." That is the job of every single church, and every individual at a church, to evangelise and get people saved. That's what God has left us with. But here's the thing: in the Old Testament, it's not like God didn't want anybody in other countries to be saved, because think about Jonah going to Assyria to preach, right? God wanted the world to hear the gospel, and so it was the job of a nation to evangelise the world. Unfortunately, they weren't doing it. They weren't getting the job done. I mean, even after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, then you have Peter and the other apostles, and they still don't want to evangelise the world. Why do we know Paul the Apostle so well? Because he went to the Gentiles. He did what the other apostles and other people were not really willing to do, by and large.

Point 3 - Jews get put on time out

In Daniel 9, we're going to see point number three: the Jews get put on time out. The southern kingdom of Judah, they're put on time out. Whatever word you want to use, I call it a 70-year time out, a 70-year punishment by God that is spoken of in the book of Daniel. We're not going to turn there, but at the very beginning of Daniel, Daniel gets taken captive because he lived during these 70 years. He was a young child, and he lived through it as God's people were able to return to the land. Okay, Daniel 9:1.

In Daniel 9:1, the Bible says: "In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;" "In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem." And by the way, we're preaching on Bible reading in the second sermon. Daniel understood by books the seventy years. He understood by reading. He understood by studying, and he said he understood it because he saw the seventy years in Scripture. That's how he understood it. It's easy for me to preach this today because we just look back at what happened, and they spent seventy years in time out and came back. It's like, oh, okay, I get what the Bible's saying. But when you're looking at something toward the future, it's a lot more complicated, right? Then it says in verse 3: "And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:" "And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;" "We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:" "Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land." And you know what you see here? Daniel just basically takes the blame for this as a people and said, we didn't follow what you said. We got what we deserved. We got the punishment, seventy years. That is what we deserve because we rebelled against you. During these seventy years, you have the Chaldean Empire, you have Nebuchadnezzar and those that followed him, but eventually King Cyrus becomes basically the head person in the world, and then Darius gets appointed here in the location of Babylon. Go to Ezra chapter 1.

So there can be no doubt that there was a seventy-year time out given to the southern kingdom of Judah, right? The northern kingdom of Israel gets rejected; the southern kingdom of Judah gets a seventy-year time out. Now think about this logically. Let's say your son bites your daughter and you give your son a spanking, okay, and you tell him, don't do that again; the spanking is going to be bigger next time. Isn't that pretty logical? The punishment gets worse if you do the same thing, and then all of a sudden, fifteen minutes later, your son bites your daughter again. You say, Brother Stuckey, is this spoken from experience? Well, not really, but it kind of, you know. And then it's like, guess what? The punishment the second time is going to be bigger. Doesn't it make sense in a courtroom? You get caught driving under the influence, driving with alcohol, DUI, and you get a six-month suspension on your licence or whatever. If you do it again, what takes place? They remove your licence, they revoke it, or you get a three-year suspension. Your fine gets bigger. You get jail time. The punishment is bigger the second time. If you rob a 7-Eleven and they give you a small warning or small punishment, the next time it's going to be bigger for the same crime. Even if the crime is not bigger, the punishment is bigger. Doesn't that make logical sense? Isn't that what you do when you raise your kids? The punishment's going to get bigger if they disobey. So here's the thing: they had a seventy-year time out, and now they're returning. They ought to be very careful, right? Because they've already been put out of the land for seventy years during the life of Daniel. It's like, you better take heed to what's being said. That's why you'll see the prophets, as they enter back into the land, they're very worried. They're very concerned, and they're preaching very hard, saying, hey, we better obey this time, because if we don't obey, we know what is spoken of in the prophets. We know what happened in the northern kingdom of Israel. We could get removed, right? Ezra 1:1.

Now in Ezra 1:1, the Bible says: "Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying," "Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah." "Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, he is the God, which is in Jerusalem." And so God gives them a chance to enter back into the land. Now, why does God let them enter back into the land? Because they begged for mercy, because they were repentant, because they were sorry. Isn't that what you always see in the book of Judges? They become wicked, and when they beg for mercy, God gives them another chance, and he raises up a righteous judge. Same thing with your kids. When they ask for forgiveness, you give them another chance, right? God gave the Jews another chance. He said, I will let you go back in the land. Because here's the thing: during these seventy years, there's a big problem, because they're not able to serve God one hundred per cent. Why? Because you had to have the ordained priests. You had to do the offerings and sacrifices, and you couldn't just do this stuff on your own, so they weren't able to serve God one hundred per cent. It would be like if somebody got saved in a Muslim country and they want to get baptised, and it's like, what do I do? Go down to the Catholic church and have water sprinkled on my head, right? You can't really serve God one hundred per cent; you just don't have the means for it. And here's the thing: there are people that are very righteous and they love God during this time period, but they couldn't really serve God one hundred per cent like they really wanted to because they're out of the land. Everything is just chaotic at this point as a result of their sin, and he says, you get to return. So a lot of people return to the land, and then, of course, people migrate to the land. Now, between Malachi and Matthew, you've got 300-plus years that go by, right? And if you remember, at the end of the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, all of a sudden, immediately, what do the people start doing? They start marrying people from heathen lands, and all of a sudden you've got homes where they're worshipping false gods. It's like, why did you even come to Jerusalem if you didn't want to serve God? They're very angry because they're like, you're doing the same thing that God kicked us out of the land for seventy years, and they're worried, as a people, they're going to be removed completely because these people are marrying false gods. Now, I don't agree with what they decided to do, where they forced them to get divorces as a result, because you've got kids without parents. What I would say in that difficult situation is they should have just kicked those people out of the land, because you're going to get us all kicked out of the land. Just kick them out. That's what I would have done in that situation. I would not have advised divorce, but that's what they required them to do. They're worried, wait a minute, we're going to all get kicked out of the land because we're going to start having idols, false gods; people aren't going to be worshipping the true God, and the same thing is going to happen that took place to the northern kingdom of Israel. Go in your Bible to Matthew 21.

Point 4 - The southern kingdom of Judah gets rejected.

So you've got basically a 300-year gap, and then you've got John the Baptist that comes on the scene, right? When you're reading the Gospels, are the people in Jerusalem the Jews? Because you've got to realise this is before Jesus Christ. Obviously, Jesus is going to come and be born, but it's like, you know what? Jesus comes on the scene at the time of Jesus being born. Are the people, by and large, serving God? Do you see that in the Gospels, that the Pharisees and the scribes are serving God? No, they're wicked. They rebelled. They're not serving God. Now, of course, there are people that are righteous and good people, but by and large, they become very wicked. Then we get to Matthew 21, and what we're going to see is the Jews don't just get put on time out. Jesus prophesies about the rejection of the Jews. Matthew 21:33: "Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:" Now, the certain householder is representing God the Father, and it's going to be very clear in this parable that the husbandmen are representing the Jews. So you've got God the Father represented by the householder, and you've got the Jews represented by the husbandmen, or the land of Israel, right? The land of Israel are the husbandmen. "And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it." So he sends servants, and the servants represent the prophets. The householder sends servants just to collect the fruits. In a symbolic sense, when it comes to people that are preaching the word of God at our church, when we look at the salvations in this bulletin, 5,382, did I get most of these people saved? No, I didn't, right? What takes place is that even the prophets in the Bible, they're not getting everybody saved. I mean, a church that is a soul-winning church, when you look at the salvations, it's very much a team effort of a lot of people doing the work. It's not possible for one person to get that many salvations in, what is it, seven months, right? That's just not going to happen. So it's very much a team effort. Servants were sent, and these are the prophets, and they're just there to collect the fruits. Now remember, we're not going to look at the other parable, but remember when Jesus curses the fig tree. Why did he curse it? Because it was not producing any fruits, and it was an understanding of the nation of Israel. It's like they better get back to producing fruit; they're not doing what they're supposed to do, right? Then it says in verse 35: "And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another." Isn't that what you really see with the prophets of the Old Testament? Which of them was not persecuted? I mean, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." You read Isaiah, you read Jeremiah, you read Ezekiel, you read all of these prophets, and what's taking place? They're persecuted. They're persecuted by people that reject the proper religion but live in the area with the proper religion, so they're not really saved themselves, by and large. It's unsaved people that are persecuting them, although even saved people can persecute, right? You know, that's obviously true as well. But then it says here in verse 36: "Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise." "But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son." Now, who do you think the son represents? If the householder represents God the Father, who do you think the son represents? God the Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is speaking about himself, right? He said last of all the householder sent his son. Then it says, "They will reverence my son."

"But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance." In this parable, the husbandmen kill the son. They kill the son of the householder. Now here's the thing. This makes sense from when Jesus was born, right? At the beginning, King Herod is troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Why is King Herod so upset? Because, wait a minute, I'm the king. I don't want somebody else to be the king, right? I don't want somebody else to make the rules. I'm the king, and my son's going to be the next king. So he goes to kill all of the babies because he wants to kill Jesus, right? Then it says in verse 39: "And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him." "When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?" So here's the thing. If you're a householder and you own a big farm, and you've got a lot of workers, and you send people to kind of watch the farm in your absence, right? You know, people will buy a house and rent it out overnight to various people, and they have people watching it, but they're not really there themselves oftentimes, right? So what are you going to do if your workers are killing the people that you're sending? They're coming to collect the money, the rent from the house that you're renting out, and then you end up killing them, and last of all he sends his son, and they kill the son. Well, what are you going to do? You're going to get new workers. You're going to have new people watching the vineyard, right? So it's just common sense. I mean, above that, you're going to have them arrested or killed if you can, right, if they killed your son. So Jesus asked that question: what will the lord of the vineyard do? "They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons." It's like they had a job to collect the fruit. They're not doing it, and they're killing all the servants, and they're killing my son. He's going to destroy them. That's what they said. And it says in verse 42: "Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?" "Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." He says the kingdom of God is going to be taken away from you and given to another nation. Okay. Now in my opinion, this parable is very clear. I mean, it's very clear who the son is. It's very clear that God the Father is the lord of the vineyard, right, the householder. It's very clear who the servants are. I mean, it makes perfect sense. But here's the thing. Let's just look at the reaction of those that heard what he said, where the kingdom's going to be taken from you and given to another nation. It's going to be taken from Israel and given to another nation. Then it says this in verse 44: "And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." "And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them." He's like, I think he's talking about us. "But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet." They get so mad at this parable that they want to kill Jesus. They're not putting hands on him to shake hands; they want him killed, right? It basically ends up being a self-fulfilling prophecy because he makes them so mad that they do exactly what was spoken of in the parable: they kill the son, right? Because they heard this parable and they realised, okay, he's speaking of us. He's speaking against the nation of Israel, and they're angry about it. I mean, we're going to be rejected, but the northern kingdom of Israel got rejected. You're already on a seventy-year time out. Ezra warned about that. All the prophets warned about this. I mean, it should be common sense to you, right? Turn to your Bible to Matthew 27.

And here's the thing: this isn't really debated either, because historically speaking, in 70 A.D. they did get removed, right? It's a famous seven-year war, and midway through that war, basically, they get removed. I mean, that's actually a fact. That's what took place, and they got scattered everywhere, just like God said would happen. That already took place, right? So they persecute, and they end up killing Jesus Christ here in Matthew 27. Notice what it says in verse 24: "When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it." Now let me just say this about Pontius Pilate: he's not an innocent victim. Okay? It's like, you know, a long time ago I saw the movie The Passion of the Christ, and they make Pontius Pilate out to be like a good person, a sympathetic character. Look, he might not have been directly responsible, but he could have stopped what took place. He's not a good guy by any stretch of the imagination. When you're looking at political leaders, assume they're bad. Okay, not just in the modern day; two thousand years ago, just assume they're bad, because usually that's true. Pontius Pilate is not an innocent victim. When he says, hey, I'm just washing my hands, I'm clean from this, that doesn't make you clean. It's kind of like when Jacob said, I'm going to seem like a deceiver to my dad if I say that I brought the venison, and then his mum's like, well, I'll take the blame for you, and then he ends up doing it. Yeah, but then Jacob is the one that's cursed, and he has to leave for fear of his life, and he's gone for decades. He never sees his mum again. I mean, she says, let me take the responsibility. It doesn't work that way. If you sin, you're held accountable, even if others are also responsible. I mean, Adam's like, but I mean, the woman that thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the fruit. Yeah, but you're also accountable, Adam, right? I mean, you can't just blame her. Or, you know, Eve's like, but the serpent. It's like, well, no, you still made your own free-will choice, right? Then it says in verse 25: "Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children." Look, the Jews took credit for it during this day. In our modern day, you know, if you were to ask Jews, are you responsible for killing Jesus? A lot of people get very angry at the accusation: how dare you say we're responsible? But that's what the Bible says. Now, they're not the only ones responsible. I get that. I understand that. I mean, the Romans are certainly responsible, but who does the Bible chiefly put to blame for this event? The Jews. And the Jews said, hey, we'll take it, and the blood can be on our children as well. Go to Acts chapter 2. Acts 2.

Now I'll say this: some Jews will get very angry at the accusation, but not all Jews. There's a famous Jewish comedian; her name is Sarah Silverman. She is a very wicked and, you know, evil person, the things that come out of her mouth. And you know what? She, in a comedy skit that was on YouTube that got a lot of controversy — anyway, it's interesting because things that are righteous and godly and good, the media says, how dare them say that, and tries to brush it away. But you can say just about anything vulgar or perverse, and anything's allowed to go. But what she said was so bad that even just the mainstream said, whoa, that's too far, where she was doing a skit of Jesus Christ. It's like, did you guys kill Jesus? She's like, yes, we did, and we would do it again, and she's bragging about it and mocking the death of Jesus Christ. It's like, well, "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh", right? And so the Jews themselves, some might deny it, but the Bible specifically holds them accountable. And make no mistake about it, in the writings of Judaism, they do not speak well of Jesus Christ. In the Talmud, they say that Jesus is a bastard child from a man named Panthera, and he was a sorcerer, and he's going to be in hot excrement, hot dung, for all eternity as a punishment. That's what it teaches in the Talmud about Jesus Christ in their writings. Now, it's interesting because find me another religion that speaks bad about Jesus. The Muslims don't speak bad about Jesus. Now, they reject the Jesus of the Bible, but they say he was a prophet. Hindus say he was a prophet. Buddhists say he was, you know, a prophet. But in Judaism, in their writings, they flat out say that Jesus was a wicked person, right? And here in Matthew 27, they took credit. Now Acts 2:22, notice what the Bible says.

"Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:" "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:" "Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it." Now who is Peter referring to? Ye men of Israel. There are a lot of people that get saved in this story, but Peter is specifically preaching to the men of Israel. A lot of people are going soul-winning in Acts 2, but Peter is specifically preaching to ye men of Israel. So what did Peter say to the men of Israel? Ye have crucified and slain the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter holds them responsible, and all throughout the Bible, it's the Jews that are held accountable for this event. They're the ones. I mean, in other parts of the Bible, all the blood from the beginning to the end is held upon them because they kill the prophets that are sent. That's what you see all throughout the Bible. Go to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.

Now, I gave you an analogy earlier about a son biting your daughter, and then you give a warning or a spanking, and 15 minutes later they do the same thing, and the punishment is going to be worse. Now, the original punishment was a 70-year time out. The next punishment is going to be worse. But here's the thing: that is a misleading statement that I made because this is not the same thing as a son biting a daughter and doing it again the second time. This is like your son biting your daughter, they get a spanking, and 15 minutes later they stab your daughter, right? Because they killed the Lord Jesus Christ. That is far worse than anything they did. That's not the same thing at all. It's not just, well, you did the same thing again; let's move the punishment. No, no, it's far worse than what they did before. And in the parable in Matthew 21, what it's saying is you're going to be rejected once this takes place. Now here's the thing. My opinion is that it's the point of no return after killing the Lord Jesus Christ. I think that's what the parable speaks of, where basically you no longer ever have a right to the land. It does not belong to you. But here's the thing. Let's say you disagree with that. Let's say you say, well, Brother Stuckey, I still think that they can return to the land. Well, here's the thing: why did they get to return to the land the first time? Because they got right with God. They got right with God. And so the land of Israel, starting in, what is it, 1945 I think was the year, or somewhere around there, 75 years ago, if the land was given back to them 75 years ago, it must be because they all turned to God like the Ninevites did in Assyria, right? Well, the question is, did they all turn back to God 75 years ago? Well, here's the thing. They still reject Jesus Christ as the Saviour, so how can you really say they turned back to God? Tel Aviv is in competition with San Francisco to be the gay capital of the world. I mean, you can't look at that country today and say that they're living righteously and living godly. So what's my opinion? My opinion is the land was taken from you. Now here's the thing. Personally, I don't care who is living in that land. I really don't care if Palestine gets it or Israel, because it doesn't involve me at all. Because here's the thing: this actually ties into Bible prophecy. Go in your Bible to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.

Point 1: The promise of the land of Israel was based on obedience. It was not simply because of your blood type, or your eye colour, or your hair colour, or whatever. It was based on obedience.

Point 2: Israel gets rejected. The northern kingdom of Israel gets rejected.

Point 3: The southern kingdom of Judah gets put on time out for 70 years.

Point 4: The southern kingdom of Judah gets rejected.

Now, historically speaking, in 70 A.D., the temple gets destroyed. There's a seven-year war, and they get scattered everywhere in the world. Of course, that's true. I mean, that's historically true. Everybody knows that to be true. They did get rejected out of the land. The only question is, well, do they have a right to return back to the land? As I said, if they're going to return back to the land, then they must have gotten right with God, which they didn't. There's no indication of that. And here's what you have to understand about it. Whenever you're preaching on Judaism, it's like, are you preaching about the religion or the people ethnically speaking? Look, Judaism is a false religion, just like Islam is a false religion. But when you're preaching against a religion, that doesn't mean that you're preaching against people because of their skin colour, or that doesn't make you a racist because you're saying the religion is wicked and saying that they don't have the land belonging to them. Well, I mean, here's the thing: all the land belongs to God, and there are people all over the world that have no right to any land. They got the land for a long time, and then they got removed from the land.

But here's what you have to understand about Judaism at the time of Jesus Christ. When Jesus came on the scene, many people immediately believed on Jesus Christ that had believed in Judaism. Why? Because they were already saved, and the Bible says that if you're saved, once you saw the Messiah, you're going to know that's the voice of the shepherd. You're going to know it's from God. Every single person that was saved believed on Jesus Christ, and when he came, they knew, hey, this is the real deal. Then a lot of other people converted and believed on Christ. They were not actually saved before. They were not putting their full trust in the coming Messiah. When the Messiah came and he fulfilled all these miracles, they're like, yeah, this is the real deal, and they believed. Many people that were in the land of Israel did believe. Many people got saved. But what about those that did not get saved? See, here's the thing. When you're looking at the religion of Judaism today, it's the remnant of those that did not convert over to Jesus Christ. It's the ones that rejected Jesus Christ. It's the ones that killed Jesus Christ, right? And, you know, in some churches they go so extreme to say that the Jews don't even have to believe; they get a free pass to heaven. I mean, "he that believeth not the Son shall not see life". There's none righteous, no, not one. Nobody gets a free pass to heaven. Everybody must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, no matter who you are, right? But the land itself was a conditional covenant, and they got removed permanently. "And I will give it to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." That's what the Bible teaches. But the thing is, this ties into Bible prophecy because this actually prepares for the end times.

Notice what it says in 2 Thessalonians 2:1: "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him," "That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand." And at hand means about to take place. It does not mean it's already taken place. It's an expression saying about to take place. He said, don't let anybody deceive you that the day of Christ is about to happen. So basically, don't let anybody deceive you that the return of Christ is at any moment. That's what he's basically saying. Then he says here in verse 3: "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;" Now, who is the man of sin? Who is the son of perdition that's being referred to? Obviously, the Antichrist. Regardless of what your end-times view is, everybody pretty much agrees the Antichrist midway through Daniel's 70th week is going to declare himself to be God in the abomination of desolation. What I say is, the day of Christ is going to be after that event because it's going to be midway through when there's the falling away and that man of sin is revealed.

But notice what it says in verse 4: "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." So the Antichrist is going to declare himself to be God. Now let me ask you a question: what or where is the temple of God? Where is it located? In Jerusalem, right? I mean, the events during the end times, what's the central location? Over in the land of Israel, no doubt about that. I mean, that's why he says, woe unto you that are in Israel, because the abomination of desolation is going to take place, and those of you that are living right there, it's not exactly where you want to live when it takes place if you're rejecting the mark of the beast, right? But here's the thing: in the temple of God. So before the end-times events are going to take place, what are you going to see? You're going to see the third temple, right? Now here's the thing. Modern-day Judaism, they don't do sacrifices. They don't do offerings. Why? Well, they'll say, we don't have the third temple. Once the third temple comes, we're going to start them again. The Bible tells us there's going to be a third temple. That was destroyed in 70 A.D., but it's going to be rebuilt. There are even Christian groups that will donate money to help build the third temple. I'm just like, what? I mean, now here's the thing. The end-times events are going to take place no matter what, so I'm not saying we try to stop them from taking place. They're going to take place. There's nothing we can do to stop that. When the world becomes so wicked, everything is going to unfold. It's not like, well, maybe this will happen, maybe not. No, no, the Bible tells us what's going to take place, right?

But here's the thing. We're not going to donate our money to the land of Israel to worship offerings when the offering and the sacrifice already came. And yes, the third temple is going to be built. This ties into Bible prophecy. But see, what's going to take place is that when the abomination of desolation takes place, it's going to surprise the Jews. You say, why, Brother Stuckey? Because the Jews in 2023, they are not looking for a spiritual Messiah. They're not. They're looking for a messiah that's going to bring them to power, and that's what the Antichrist is going to do. But then, when he declares himself to be God in the temple of God, it's like, well, wait a minute, wait a minute, that's not what we signed up for. And then he's going to turn on the Jews. He's going to use them. That's what he's going to do. The Bible foretells of these events, and then he says, everybody must bow down and worship me. So he's going to turn on the Jews midway through. Now honestly, that is the best thing that could possibly happen to the Jews. You say, why? I mean, it is, right? Because some of them might actually humble themselves and get saved, and say, wait a minute, maybe we're not the chosen people anymore. Maybe we have to believe on Christ. I mean, it's the best thing to kind of shake them out of their beliefs and realise. Look, I've been soul-winning for many years, and in the US, you run into plenty of people that are Jewish where I'm from. Obviously, there are always exceptions, but by and large, they are very anti-gospel. They mock it. They think it's a joke. They reject it completely. They think they're better than you. Are there exceptions? Yeah, there are exceptions. But here's the thing: when you're told for thousands of years, we're God's people, we're God's people, we're God's people, what's the sort of attitude that's going to come? A very arrogant attitude, right? And by and large, that is what you see take place. But in the temple of God, the Antichrist is going to turn on the Jews at that moment. Go to Matthew 24.

Now, I mean, here's the thing. It's like, and I don't think there's anything wrong with visiting the country of Israel. I mean, there are obviously a lot of historical events over there. I think it would be pretty cool to visit Israel. Personally, when I grew up, I always wanted to visit the pyramids, so I'd probably rather visit Egypt in terms of just, you know, my secular interest or whatever. But there are a lot of cool things that took place in Israel, and sure, it would be great to visit, but there's no extra spiritual blessing upon Israel. Remember, if they were right with God, the promise of God is you're going to have peace on every side, not that you're going to be saved from being destroyed over and over again. It's like, you're going to have peace. You can't say the land of Israel today has peace. Now here's what's interesting about this. You might realise this, you might not, but there are a lot of Jews that are anti-Zionists, and I'm saying those of the religion of Judaism that stand against Zionism. In fact, you can watch videos online. You'll have a bunch of rabbis holding up Palestinian flags against Zionism and preaching against Zionism. To give you an understanding, this is already a long sermon, and I'm doing my best to wrap it up. We're on our last verse here in a second, but I want to help you understand why this has taken place. If you go back a couple of hundred years ago, almost everyone of the Jewish religion, just look it up, read old articles, they would have been all against Zionism before they entered the land of Israel. They're pretty much all against Zionism. They were against the idea of returning. You say, why? Because what they kept telling their people was, well, the reason why we've been scattered all over the world is because we must have the Messiah come first, and when the Messiah comes, he will bring us back to the land. But then, 75 years ago, what took place? Well, the opportunity to return to the land came early before their Messiah came. Now, of course, their Messiah is going to be the Antichrist. I mean, their Messiah is false. It's not true. Obviously, Jesus is the Messiah. But they said, we believe in a coming Messiah, and he has not yet come, and so until he comes, we can't enter the promised land. Now eventually, that percentage kind of switched, because even 75 years ago, it was a big split. A lot of Jews said, no, we cannot return, because if we return pre-emptively to the land of Israel before the Messiah comes, God is going to curse us another thousand years. That's what they taught. That's what they taught in their synagogues. They're telling their people, hey, we've been cursed, and if we try to return back to the land early before the Messiah comes, we're going to be in more trouble. But eventually, a bunch did return, and a bunch didn't. They got scattered or killed; those are rejected. But there are some today that stand against Zionism and against the modern state of Israel, and you can watch. I mean, if you don't believe me, go online. It's very interesting seeing Jews chant Palestine and be like, down with Israel. It's very interesting. But those Jews say, well, wait a minute, we've always said that the Messiah must come. It hasn't happened, so we reject it, right? But now in our modern day, obviously, the overwhelming tide is that the land belongs to Israel. But when did they return back to God? It never happened, right? Matthew 24. We'll close up here. Matthew 24:1.

Matthew 24:1 says: "And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple." "And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." "And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Now, this can be very confusing because often in prophetical statements, it speaks about multiple things. It is known as a dual application. Matthew 24 speaks about the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D., but that does not mean that all of Matthew 24 is about 70 A.D. Some people say the end-times events took place two thousand years ago and make all of Revelation symbolic, but that is not what the Bible is speaking about. He speaks about 70 A.D. and the destruction of the temple, but then he segues into the very end times. So what you have to realise is that the modern state of Israel and rebuilding the temple tie together for the end times. The third temple is going to be built because in 2 Thessalonians 2, "he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." If you remember, I preached on Antiochus Epiphanes, which came before the time of Jesus Christ, and it was like a type or picture of the Antichrist. This was in the book of Daniel. It talks about how he stood up and slaughtered a pig. This was before the time of Jesus Christ, so that is an unclean animal. It is blasphemous. They handed out coins at that time where basically his name came out to God, and so he is basically saying, I am God, and he demanded people to worship him. It was like a type of the abomination of desolation, although it is only a picture of what is actually going to take place during the end times. But look, in terms of this general idea of Zionism, honestly, it is not my fight. I really do not care who is in the land. Islam is a wicked religion. Islam is a wicked religion. So is modern-day Judaism. It is also a wicked religion. I do not believe that 75 years ago God gave the land back to them. I do not believe that is found in the Bible. I believe they got rejected from the land. But my bigger concern is just getting these people saved, because these end-times events are going to happen. We cannot stop it. I would not suggest donating your money to build the temple so the Antichrist can declare himself to be God, but the end-times events are going to happen no matter what. It is what it is.

Let us close in a word of prayer.

Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and just getting to see this really deep topic on the topic of Zionism. Help us, throughout this entire series, all the things that we looked at from A to Z, help us to know our doctrines and study and know our Bibles, and be able to defend what we believe and why we believe things, God. I ask you to just continue to bless our church. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.