you
welcome to Verdi De Baptist Church Manila
Wednesday night service
first song, please open your hymnals
to song number 44
4 4
we work till Jesus comes
song number 44
we work till Jesus comes
on the first
ready
sing
O land of rest
for the ice I
went with the moment
come
when I shall
lay my arm
on my
bed in peace
at home
we work
till Jesus
comes
we work
till Jesus
comes
we work
till Jesus
comes
we work
till Jesus
we work
till Jesus
I saw that once my Saviour sighed, no more, my strength shall grow within my greatness,
feeling kind and rich.
My strength shall grow within my greatness, feeling kind and rich.
My heavenly hope will work till Jesus comes.
Till Jesus comes, we work.
Till Jesus comes and we'll be gathered home.
the Congregational Singing, and we ask also to bless the reading of the scripture and the sermon,
and also later the fellowship, and we pray all in Jesus' name. Amen.
For our next song, please go to 244 Amazing Grace.
244 Amazing Grace.
144.
On the first ready, sing.
But now I see
For space that brought my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I cursed believe
Whom any dangerous force ends near
I have already come
This grace has brought me safe as life
And grace will lead me home
When we've been there ten thousand years
Light shining as the sun
We've no less days to sing our praise
Than when we first begun
Please open your Bible to Acts 20.
We will begin in verse 26.
Acts 20, beginning in verse 26.
Acts 20, beginning in verse 26, the Bible reads,
Wherefore I take you to record this day,
That I am pure from the blood of all men,
For I have not shouted the guarantee of the counsel of God.
Ache therefore unto your sons, and to all the blood,
Of the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers,
To feel the trust of God,
Which hath forecasted with his own death.
For I know this that after my departing,
Salgivious wolves enter in among you,
Not sparing the blood.
Also of your own sons are men of rights,
Taking for both things,
To draw away the samples after them.
Therefore was and remember that by the space of fears,
I exist not to warn every one night and day with tears,
And now, brethren, I commend you to God,
And to the world of his grace, which is able to build you up,
And to give you an inheritance among all the which are sanctified.
I have to be added no man sober, or gold, or a pharaoh,
Yet your sons know that his hands have ministered unto my necessities,
And to them that word me.
I have showed you all things,
Out of so labouring you ought to support the weak,
And to remember the words of the Lord Jesus.
I was said, It is more blessed to keep than to receive,
And when he had thus broken it all down, and prayed with them all,
And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck,
And kissed him, soaring most of all for the words of Jesus' pain,
That I should see his face no more,
And I accompanied him to the ship.
I was prayed,
All right, we're here in Acts chapter 20,
And the name of the sermon is, By the Space of Three Years.
By the Space of Three Years.
Now, I'm going to confess something.
This sermon was written for a different purpose a long time ago.
I actually wrote it for the three year anniversary in Pampanga,
Not because I felt like there was an issue or anything,
But I was trying to think what to preach,
And I thought, By the Space of Three Years, right?
It made a lot of sense.
But I decided not to because I had preached on that topic a lot,
So I just kind of had this sermon I wrote a long time ago,
And I decided to preach it here tonight,
As obviously this is kind of a special opportunity to preach here tonight.
And so the name of the sermon is, By the Space of Three Years,
Which comes from verse 31.
Now, let me read you verses 26 and 27 here in Acts 20.
The Bible says,
Now, often when you look at verse 26 and how it's quoted,
You think of the Gospel.
And true, when we're going out soul winning,
We're basically free from the blood of men if we give them a chance to hear the Gospel.
It's not really the context, though, of Acts 20, verse 26,
Because he doesn't say,
I have not shunned to declare unto you all the Gospel of God.
Right? He says,
I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
So what he's talking about is after salvation,
Preaching and teaching to people that are saved,
He's saying, I taught everything.
Now, I don't think that means he taught every single verse,
Because that would take quite a long time.
But every topic, every manner of topic that would come up,
He basically covered it all in the course of three years,
Or at least to the best of his ability.
Point one is the job of the overseer.
The job of the overseer.
Notice what it says in verse 28.
Take heed therefore unto yourselves,
And all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers,
To feed the church of God,
Which he hath purchased with his own blood.
And what he's referencing in verse 28 is spiritual leadership.
People that are basically meant to feed the flock of God.
People that are teaching the word of God,
Teaching the counsel of God.
So this is not talking about going out soul winning,
But it's talking about people that are leaders of church,
Preaching sermons,
And he talks about it's your job to feed the church of God.
To feed the church of God.
And so look, if you're feeding the church of God,
It's important, or it should be what you're feeding them.
If my job is to feed you,
I don't want you only eating ice cream.
Right? I don't want you only drinking Coca Cola.
I want you on water and gouli.
Right? I want you on the good stuff that's going to be good for you.
Right? And so it's not just about what people want,
It's about what they need.
Right? And some sermons are things that people are very excited about,
It's something that they're really going to love.
Other times it's kind of like the ouch,
Have I done my best for Jesus?
And it's like, man, I got some changes to make in my life.
Now, I thought of this example,
And, you know, let's say you're going into the doctor's office,
And you got a lot of health problems,
And you need to eat a lot more vitamins,
And the doctor gives you some recommendations,
He says, I want you to start eating ampullae every day.
Okay? Now, I love ampullae,
I think it tastes great, right, personally.
I have no problem, you could ask my wife,
I eat so many vegetables, you know, it's not an issue for me.
But let's say you just really hate to eat vegetables,
And he says, I need you on ampullae.
Right? Now, here's the thing,
If you come back to the doctor's a couple months later,
And, you know, you tell them,
Hey, I've been eating Peanut Bet, you know, twice a day,
Even though that's different vegetables than he recommended,
He'd be very happy. Right?
You're getting some ampullae and even more good stuff
That's going to be helpful for your body.
So here's the thing, when it comes to me preaching sermons,
I have no problem if you're getting good vitamins
Outside of the preaching at this church.
For example, like-minded preachers that are teaching the Word of God,
I think it's good. Right?
You're getting extra vitamins, extra great information,
All it's going to do is make you better church members,
More zealous, and help you grow closer to God.
That's great.
But, if I find out that you're listening to,
Who were the four preachers earlier?
Kenneth Copeland, Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, Billy Graham,
It's like, have I not taught you anything?
I mean, if you're listening to Pastor Bruce Mejia, amen,
If you're listening to reruns of Billy Graham,
I'd be like, man, it's just like,
Alright, let's go back to square one. Right?
And so, when it comes to feeding, I don't feel like,
Hey, you can only learn from the preaching at this church.
I mean, if there's good preachers, you can learn from them too.
I have no problem with that.
But, I would certainly caution you to just go on YouTube
And just listen to whatever pops up.
Because you're going to hear a lot of garbage stuff
That is not good for you.
You're not going to be getting the ampullae.
You're going to be getting the ice cream. Right?
You're going to be getting the chips, and the junk food,
And the energy drinks that you don't need.
When in reality, you need the ampullae, and the gulay, and the good stuff. Right?
Turn to First Timothy chapter three.
First Timothy chapter three.
And, you know, I use those jokes to make a point.
Here's what I'm saying.
You know what? I would be mad if somebody destroyed the work that is going on at this church.
And I don't know this being an issue at our church.
This is just a sermon I wrote a long time ago that I'm preaching now.
But, I mean, not just me.
All of us should be mad if the work is being destroyed at this church.
I mean, this church is doing some big things right now.
I mean, we have certainly grown quite a bit.
Right? Not just this past Sunday.
I mean, we've grown quite a bit over the last year.
We have so much soul winning going on.
It's not a one man effort or a two man effort.
It's really a combination.
We get to the end of the week and it's like, man, 200 salvation.
Where did it come from?
It came from like seven here, eight here, five here.
I mean, people going out several times.
It's a team effort.
So all of us should be upset if anyone was destroying the work that is going on at this church.
And as a spiritual leader, it is your job to be the overseer.
To see how things are going.
And if you see problems, you've got to make the change.
Right?
Now this is not fun.
It's fun just to be a member of church and not have to deal with problems.
But it is necessary when problems come up.
First Timothy chapter 3 verse 1.
This is a true saying.
If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife.
And then it says vigilant.
Vigilant.
What is vigilant?
It means keeping careful watch for possible danger or difficulties.
Now according to the dictionary definition, it says possible danger.
Possible difficulties.
Let's say you're a shepherd and you have sheep.
And you see something out from a distance.
You're like, is that a wolf?
I'm not really sure.
If there's the possibility, you've got to make the appropriate changes to spare those sheep.
Even if you're not for sure.
Right?
You've got to step in there and say, hey, I've got to protect the sheep.
I've got to protect the flock.
Even if I'm not sure.
And being vigilant means you're watching for possible danger, possible problems.
Even if there's no major problem at that moment.
You just see things kind of going down the wrong direction.
It's like, hey, we've got to make sure we're protecting our church.
We've got to do things a little bit differently.
Go to 1 Peter 5.
1 Peter 5.
1 Peter 5, verse 1.
The elders which are among you I exhort, whom also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.
Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint but willingly, not from filthy lucre but of a ready mind.
Now when we're talking about taking the oversight, that's kind of more linked up with the word bishop.
Because you have bishop, elder, and pastor.
The pastor is more about feeding the flock.
Bishop is about being the overseer.
Elder would speak toward your experience, but it's still referencing that same role.
We generally would just call that person a pastor.
But a pastor, it's an appropriate term, but it's one of those three within that realm.
And so when it comes to feeding the flock, that is about being the shepherd where basically you're feeding via your preaching and teaching.
Let's face it.
If people just get saved and they join our church, a lot of this is going to be way over their head.
If you've been saved for years and you've been soul winning for years, a lot of stuff you hear, you're like,
Brother Stuckey, I've heard that 50 times.
But here's the thing.
At the rate our church has grown, I promise you there's people that have not heard it.
I promise you there's people that would say, hey, this is brand new.
I didn't know this.
Thank you for that sermon.
I can make the change.
And your job as a church leader is to feed the flock.
Verse 3.
Neither is being lured over God's heritage, but being examples of the flock.
And that's speaking about the idea of not running people's personal lives.
Now drop down to verse 8.
Drop down to verse 8.
And it says here in verse 8, be sober, be vigilant.
Now the context is actually broken from verses 3 to 8.
It is not simply referencing pastors or spiritual leaders.
However, I think it's interesting that it's right after it talks about spiritual leaders.
And the first trait mentioned in 1 Timothy 3 for spiritual leaders after it talks about the family is to be vigilant.
And so this is very important as a spiritual leader.
But the Bible is also saying all of us should be vigilant.
All of us should be paying attention to what's going on.
Think of the example with a sheep, a shepherd, and a wolf.
Look, if you're a sheep and you see a wolf, you don't have to wait on the shepherd to say, hey, run.
Because you already saw the wolf yourself.
You ought to be paying attention for the danger yourself.
But the idea is there's someone who their job is to actually pay attention to everything that's going on
on a very deep level on various things you might not notice.
But be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour,
whom resists steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
Here's the truth.
If you are a weekly soul winner, the devil wants to get you to stop by any means necessary.
Any means necessary.
And here's the thing.
It's not like the devil has to fight a fair fight.
He can fight underhanded.
I mean, he can use lies.
He can use deceit.
He can use trickery.
He can do whatever he wants.
Anything he can do to get you to stop serving God, the devil doesn't have a problem how he got the job done.
And so here's the thing.
You need to be vigilant and resist the devil and be ready for these things.
You have to be aware of things that are going on in your life and things that are around you.
Now turn in your Bible to Acts 20.
Acts 20.
Acts chapter 20.
Point one, we said the job of the overseer.
Point two, people will come in.
Wolves will come in.
Bad people will come into good churches.
Acts 20 verse 29.
Paul says, for I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Now Paul says, I know that when I leave, bad people will come in.
But you know, there's also kind of a hidden meaning here.
It's not really hidden, but it's another thing that you can look at at this verse.
I believe Paul is also saying that, you know what, when I leave, if there ceases to be strong leadership,
there's certainly going to be more wolves popping up.
I think what Paul's trying to say is this.
Hey, when you have strong leadership, it kind of scares the wolves from trying to mess with the church.
When they see things being dealt with, it's like, hey, you know what, I can't mess with that church.
I'll go to this other Baptist church down the road.
Because Paul says, once I depart, then the grievous wolves are going to come in.
And make no mistake, wolves are going to come in no matter what, but here's what I'm saying.
Strong leadership drives away bad people.
It's just a fact.
I mean, if a wolf comes in, you start shooting at it with a gun, it's going to get out of there.
Now, I'm not going to start shooting at somebody with a gun.
I'm just using an example.
Do not take that too literally.
Okay?
But my point is this.
If you scare the wolf, then you want other wolves to say, wait a minute, I can't mess with this church.
Right?
Now, of course, there's going to be bad people.
That's just the way it is.
And here's the thing.
Don't let that get you down.
Because if you go to the grocery store, there's going to be bad people there.
You go to the mall, there's going to be bad people there.
You go anywhere, there's going to be bad people.
Here's the thing.
It doesn't change if you go to a church.
People get this idea, church is the one place you'd never have a bad person.
Well, that doesn't make any sense because there's bad people everywhere.
That's just the way it is.
Now, the majority of people are not bad people, but there are bad people everywhere.
It's just the way it is.
Right?
And so, Paul says that when I leave, grievous wolves are going to come in among you.
Go to Ezra chapter 4.
Ezra 4.
Now, there's kind of, you know, there's different ways to classify this, but there's kind of a couple types of wolves.
There is the smart wolves, and there are the bobo wolves.
There are some people that are bad, and they just kind of let it be known right when they come to church.
They'll walk in and say, you know what, hell's not really real.
It's like, get out of here.
What are you doing?
Right?
It's like, they don't even hide the fact that they believe in heresy.
And you know what, I wouldn't think that exists, but I've learned through the years,
there are just bobo wolves that will come into church.
And on the first service, it's like, did they mean to go to the Pentecostal church down the street or something?
Like, what are they doing here?
Right?
Where they just basically would say something stupid like, yeah, you know what, people say that, you know, hell's a real place.
And I'm using this as an example because I remember this in Sacramento.
Someone coming saying, but hell's not a real place.
It's like, get out of here.
Right?
It's like, what are you doing?
It's like, this is not the church for you.
Right?
Ezra 4, verse 2.
Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple under the Lord God of Israel,
if you remember, we preached this, I talked about this chapter a lot when we went through Ezra,
that this chapter is talking about the persecution that's going on, and they're starting to do a great work for God.
And as there's a great work for God being done, the adversary, the enemies, are hearing about this.
And look, make no mistake about it, there are enemies today.
There are people that are not excited that we broke our salvation record this past week.
You can't tell me the church down the street there or the church down the street there is going to be rejoicing with us.
Praise the Lord.
You converted more of our people.
That's great.
They're not happy about that.
Right? And look, there are going to be enemies that aren't happy when great things are being done.
Verse 2.
Then they came to Zerubbabel and to the chief of the fathers and said unto them,
Let us build with you.
They're enemies.
They don't like the way it's being built.
They don't want it to be built.
But yet they come in and say, let us build with you.
Let us just work with you.
These are people that hate them.
They hate what's being done.
And yet they come in among them and say, let us build with you.
For we seek your God as ye do.
And we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Azarhaddon king of Asher which brought us up hither.
These people are lying.
Now look, why would they say this?
Why would they lie?
Because they don't have a conscience, these people in Ezra 4.
They don't feel bad about lying.
Because they have an objective to stop the work being done.
And they say, you know what, we can't really stop it, we've tried that.
What we're going to do is, we're going to try to build with you.
Pretend to be like you.
Pretend to be amongst you.
And actually destroy the work that is being done.
Look, we would be naive to think this does not happen in 2023.
There's nothing new under the sun.
And if it happened in those days, it could and it will happen.
Because Paul even said, grievous wolves will come in among you.
That's the way it is.
Go to 2 John chapter 1.
2 John 1.
2 John chapter 1.
What am I saying?
I'm saying people could come in and pretend to believe the same doctrines.
They could pretend to love so many.
They could pretend, you know what, I love the new IFB, I love that preaching.
In the early days of our church, before we had even moved here,
when we were in Metro Manila,
it's like we had somebody join our church and that's what they said.
They called our house phone and they're just like,
I'm new IFB and they're talking to my wife, because you know who I'm talking about.
They didn't speak any English at all.
And Jeremy, and then all of a sudden he's just like,
I'm the biggest Pastor Anderson fan, I love Pastor Anderson.
It's like, you speak zero words of English.
I mean literally, I've never in my life met anybody who spoke less English,
so I wouldn't mean that as an insult, but my point is this,
well how are you listening to Pastor Anderson?
Right, it's like you're the biggest Pastor Anderson fan ever.
He had never heard of Pastor Jimenez.
Then how have you heard of me?
Right, it's like I work for Pastor Jimenez.
How don't you know my boss?
You know what I mean?
It's just like you're the biggest Pastor Anderson fan ever,
but you have no idea who Pastor Jimenez is.
You speak literally zero words, literally.
If you're people that were here at the beginning, you know that's true.
Zero words of English.
But he's the biggest Pastor Anderson fan.
And he was pretending to be like us.
And I remember he came out soul winning with us one time,
and he was my soul winning partner.
And you know what, I'm preaching the gospel.
And he starts talking to someone.
A few minutes later, he's done.
It's like, oh yeah, they got saved.
It's like, you know, what were you telling them?
You know, you got them saved in like two minutes?
And he was pretending to be like us.
And I remember Brother Jay's the one who got it recorded,
where he basically said in James 2,
oh no, if you're really saved, you're going to have the works.
He was trying to say everything to be like us.
I'm still not 100% for sure why he came to us or pretended to be like us.
But he was coming here pretending to be like us.
Let me build with you.
Man, I love Pastor Anderson.
I love the new IFB.
I love all the doctrines.
I'm not welcome at my Bible college.
And yet you still believe everything they believe and not what we believe.
He was pretending to be like us.
Why? Because he had an ulterior motive.
He didn't really like us at all. Right?
The story I was kind of referencing earlier was in Sacramento.
I think I mentioned this before.
But this guy comes to church first time.
And he's married. He has like seven or eight kids.
He has a big family.
And, you know, he's all excited about the church.
And you know what?
First time visitor, he's excited about church.
We're excited to have him.
I mean, if we had a family come in here on Sunday with seven kids,
and they'd say,
Man, you know, I love this preaching. I love this church.
We'd say, Praise God!
Because we do have people that come in that are online listeners.
We think, Great!
Then he comes back the next week.
He says, Man, I really want to go soul winning.
I can't go this week. I'm going to come next week.
He's like, I didn't prepare to come today, but man, I'm going to be there soul winning.
So he came soul winning the next week.
And he comes soul winning with, you know, a few of his kids.
His whole family didn't come that week.
And he was my soul winning partner.
He starts by asking me, like, Hey, can I leave my kids in the car as we go soul winning?
I'm thinking, you know, because we didn't have kids at the time.
I said, Well, legally, I think you can get arrested for that.
I don't think you can leave your kids in the car when it's, like, it was literally, like, 35 degrees Celsius.
It's like, I don't think it's the smartest thing.
I think you should probably bring them with you.
He's like, You know, I think it's going to be fine.
He left them in the car.
It's like, Okay.
As we're going soul winning, he tells me, he's like, You know what?
A lot of people think that the Bible teaches, you know, tells us to go door-to-door soul winning.
He's like, Door-to-door soul winning is great.
And we're going door-to-door soul winning when he says this.
But the Bible actually never tells you to go soul winning door-to-door or house-to-house like people say.
And it was funny because that morning, I had read in the book of Acts,
and I actually showed him where it says house-to-house.
And it's like, Oh, I guess I was wrong.
I'm thinking, because the guy was already giving off this kind of strange vibe.
It's like, You know, what are you doing here?
Right?
And so we go out soul winning and everything, and everyone's kind of like, This guy's kind of strange.
He comes back to church at nighttime because we get done with soul winning.
After the service, he's trying to convince me and a couple other people that the King James Bible is not the Word of God.
This is an example of the bobo wolf I'm talking about.
It's like, You're not even pretending to be like us for very long.
We told Pastor Mendez about the issue, and Pastor Mendez told the guy, Don't come back.
Our church is not the church for you.
Why?
He said, Well, that's mean.
Well, no, he's already shown his true colors.
Who would go into a church their second time and try to change what the church believes?
I wouldn't do that.
I've been a member of a lot of Baptist churches, and if I tried to persuade the pastor,
it would be after I knew him for a long time in a respectful way.
The second service, you're trying to change the church into heresy, saying soul winning is not what the Bible says,
and the King James Bible is not the Word of God.
Turns out, this guy had a big YouTube channel teaching that there is no hell.
He had a ton of subscribers, more subscribers than we had at Verity, and he came into our church,
and I guess he was trying to promote the heresy that there is no hell.
It's like, Look, you're not going to have much luck at Verity Baptist Church.
We know hell's a real place.
But he was pretending to be like us.
Why? Well, he had ulterior motives.
He wanted to change what the church taught and what the church believed,
and look, it's not like this only would happen in the United States.
It would happen in the Philippines or any country or anywhere.
Why? Because when the devil finds out people are getting saved, he's not happy.
He wants to put a stop to it.
Make no mistake about it, our church is getting stuff done.
We're getting people saved.
You can't get a lot of people saved as a church and expect there's not going to be any fight back from the enemy.
Of course there's going to be.
I mean, we're getting a lot of people saved every week.
Our church is growing.
It's like you can't tell me the devil's just going to sit there and say,
Eh, no big deal.
Of course he's going to be upset about it,
and of course he's going to try to put a stop to it by any means necessary.
2 John 1, verse 9.
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God.
He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine,
receive him not into your house, neither bid him Godspeed.
For he that biddeth him Godspeed is partaker of his evil deeds.
Now, I've heard this preached a lot, and usually how it's preached,
it's a good application.
I do not believe it's a primary application.
The normal way I've kind of heard this preached or applied,
which is a good application,
is that if a Jehovah's Witness knocks on your door,
don't let him in your house,
and don't bid him Godspeed as he leaves.
That is a good application.
The primary application is the house of God, though, in my opinion.
And what the Bible's saying is,
if someone were to come in to this church, doesn't have our doctrine,
because in general, false religions don't really do a lot of door-to-door soul winning.
I think what it's warning about is people coming into a house of God,
coming into the church of God, teaching the truth,
and they don't have this doctrine.
They're not bringing this doctrine.
They're not here to learn.
They're bringing doctrine, but not our doctrine.
They're bringing different doctrine that we don't believe in, that we reject.
Look, at our church, we teach doctrine.
We say what the Bible teaches.
We don't hold back from that.
People that would come in and have different doctrine,
the Bible says, receive him not in your house.
Now, is that saying don't allow someone in the church
if they don't believe exactly like us?
No, because obviously people could just be saved,
or they could have different opinions,
but the idea is if somebody comes in in order to teach instead of learn,
and they don't believe what we believe,
what the Bible says, don't even let them in the church.
I mean, somebody comes in, and their second service,
hey, you know what, hell's not a real place,
or King James Bible's not the word of God.
Door-to-door soul winning's not what the Bible teaches.
Don't let them in a church.
You're not welcome.
I mean, literally, if we have a first-time visitor,
and they try to convince you that you've got to turn from your sins to be saved,
not that you're giving them the gospel and they're not saved,
but if you're coming in trying to turn people into repents of sins for salvation,
let me know about it, and we'll say, don't come back.
Hit the road, Jack, my friend,
because that's not what we believe,
and you don't come in with different doctrine
and try to persuade people at church against what the church teaches.
As I said, I don't know of this being a problem at our church,
but here's the thing.
I know it will happen at our church.
You say, why?
Because we're doing things for God,
and if they bring a different doctrine,
and look, here's the thing.
If we kick them out of church and say, don't come back,
don't bid them God speak.
If somebody comes into our church,
and they're trying to teach something different,
and I tell them, hey, you know what?
Don't come back.
We don't believe that.
Don't feel bad for them.
Be thankful that I dealt with it.
We have had people.
I remember a situation a few years ago.
Someone came in, first-time visitor,
and I just point blank asked to his face
because he's not trying to be honest with what he believes.
I just said, are you a Calvinist?
Because he's coming in trying to say,
man, I want to be sent out.
I mean, first-time visitor,
I want to be sent out from this church.
He doesn't know about the new IFB.
He just came to this church.
I want to be sent out to start a church.
And he's coming in and acting really weird
about what he believes,
and I was like, are you a Calvinist?
And he avoids the question,
and he looks at Brother Jay.
I said, Calvinist?
It's like, I know you understand me.
Don't pretend like you don't understand what I'm saying.
And he did not answer the question.
He refused.
He didn't want to say,
because Brother Jay asked,
what do you believe about salvation?
He doesn't want to answer the question.
Why would you not want to explain
what you believe about salvation?
What are you trying to hide?
I mean, if somebody asked me
about what I believe about salvation,
I'm glad to, I mean,
I love to tell the story.
I love to tell it to people that are saved or aren't saved.
I love the fact that salvation is a free gift.
What a great story.
Why would you be ashamed or afraid to say that?
Because you're here to cause problems.
Don't bid that person Godspeed.
I said, don't come back.
Anyway, go in your Bible to John 4.
I added this note to my notes here
just a little bit ago.
And, you know, seeing so many people
that used to be members of Faith Forward Baptist Church,
you know, it brought back memories
from something of Pastor Anderson.
So in case you think that I'm too harsh,
you know, man, Brother Stuckey
told someone not to come back.
You know, I got an interesting story, okay?
And this is a long time ago.
This is probably 2009, a long time ago.
But there's a first-time visitor.
I was at Faith Forward for a couple years
for those that are not aware.
So I was out there in Phoenix,
and there's a first-time visitor.
And of course, you know,
the church at the time was a small church.
I mean, it was 30 people on a Sunday morning.
So every time you get a visitor,
you're excited, right?
Just like, you know,
and we're still excited for visitors,
but when our church was smaller,
whenever we'd have new people,
we were always excited.
It's like, how'd you hear about the church?
You know, and then we'd check their salvation
and things like that.
This guy comes in.
You know, he acts excited and everything like that.
He listens to the sermon.
And this is before there's really
a big online ministry.
I mean, there were some people that listened online,
but not really a whole lot at the time.
And, you know, he comes in the church.
He seems to love the sermon.
And I remember I went out to my car outside
because I forgot something.
And I went outside.
I'm looking in my car for it for a couple minutes.
I get out of my car,
and this first-time visitor,
and before I went outside,
I saw him walk up to Pastor Anderson.
And this guy is now outside.
And then he looks upset.
He's like, your pastor just kicked me out of the church.
And I'm just thinking,
what happened in a couple minutes?
I was only in the car for a few minutes.
Right?
And he walked up to Pastor Anderson.
Apparently, this is what Pastor Anderson said.
There's, you know, witnesses there,
and there's other people there.
And he said, Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah.
Why would you say that as a first-time visitor?
And so Pastor Anderson took him to John 4.
John 4, verse 25.
The woman saith unto him,
I know that Messiah's 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.
What is Jesus saying?
I'm the Messiah.
I'm the Christ.
Is there any other way to interpret that?
And apparently, the guy said,
well, turn here.
He's like, get out of church.
Because what's his purpose?
To cause problems.
Right?
And you know what?
Here's the thing.
As the leader,
you have to be aware of this sort of stuff.
If someone's coming in to cause problems,
it's like, I mean, what kind of garbage?
First-time visitor.
Jesus.
You walk up to Pastor Anderson.
Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah.
It's just like, what is your purpose?
And you know, I mean, honestly,
he was long-suffering by giving him one verse.
And then all of a sudden,
he's like, get out of there.
What would you say to that?
I'd say, amen.
I'd say strong leadership
will prevent more problems from coming.
Right?
You would be naïve to think,
well, that guy's just innocent and misled.
No, no, no.
He's at the church to cause problems.
It's a fact.
I mean, common sense would tell us this.
Turn your Bible to Acts 20.
Acts 20.
Look, if anybody ever comes up to you and says,
Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah,
here's what I would say to you.
Turn to John 4 with them.
And then if they refuse to listen,
you're welcome to just kick them out of the church yourself.
Right?
I mean, I'm not saying,
I don't want to give this policy
that you can kick out whoever you want.
I'm being a bit facetious.
But let me know immediately,
and I'll just say,
you know, get out of here.
Like, what are you doing?
I mean, that's a bizarre doctrine
from some so-called Christian.
Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah.
Right?
It's like, well,
point blank there in John 4.
Messiah and Christ are used interchangeably.
Right?
Number one,
the job of the overseer is to be vigilant,
to look for situations,
for dangerous situations.
Point number two,
people will come in.
Point number three,
the Bible also speaks of people
that are already within the church.
Acts 20, verse 30.
Also of your own selves shall men arise,
speaking perverse things,
to draw away disciples after them.
You know, I mean,
I'm pretty sure that when He said verse 29,
it's kind of like,
yeah, you know, we've been warned.
We've got to watch out
for the people that would come in.
But then verse 30 is like,
well, wait a minute,
of your own selves?
And we've got to pay attention
to the people that are around us.
And that is what the Bible's stating here.
In Acts 20, verse 30.
It says of your own selves shall men arise.
Go to number 16.
Number 16.
I mean, the first 11 apostles,
you know, I'm not including Judas Iscariot,
they got some, you know,
insight in person to that sort of situation.
Someone that was amongst them
for three years.
Judas Iscariot.
Everybody trusted them.
Everybody thought they were a good person.
Turns out they weren't.
Turns out they were there just to cause problems.
Turns out for Judas specifically
it was for the purpose of money.
It wasn't false doctrine.
It was the purpose of money.
There'd be various reasons
why people would come in
to a good church, right?
And you see a lot of scam artists
in this world.
It'd be very foolish to think
that scam artists
would never come into a church.
I mean, that's probably the first place
they would come.
Because people are trusting at church.
Right?
I mean, you're going to come
where people are trusting.
There's scam artists everywhere.
Right?
It just is what it is.
Right?
And so that's the exact purpose
for Judas,
but it could be for various different things.
What I'm saying in verse 30
is to draw away disciples after them.
And this would be someone
who comes in with some new doctrine,
and then he's bringing people along
with his heresy.
And look, I don't know
of this happening at our church,
of someone drawing away
with some false doctrine.
But it also kind of tells you
why we preach doctrines.
It's why we're very clear
on what we believe,
because people could come in
and try to turn the church.
For those that do pay attention
to the online ministry,
I mean, several years ago
the oneness thing was a big thing
at Faithful Word
where people were coming in
and saying, actually,
the Bible doesn't teach the Trinity.
Right?
Now, that's not happened
at our church.
But at the same time,
we've got to be ready
for stuff like that.
Why do we believe?
Why do we believe it?
And I need to teach
what we believe.
Why?
Because here's the thing.
Maybe you've been saved
for several years
and you're not going to be tossed
to and fro with every wind of doctrine,
but Ephesians 4 is letting us know
there's some that would be tossed
to and fro with every wind of doctrine.
I'll be completely honest with you.
In my first couple years being saved,
I could have been let into
some weird beliefs
because I was new
and I just didn't know
that much at the time.
And I did used to believe
some things that are kind of weird
that we definitely don't teach.
Like the sons of God were fallen angels.
I believe that.
Right?
Abraham's bosom.
I thought people in the Old Testament
that were saved
went down to the good part of hell.
I believe that.
I didn't believe that Jesus,
His soul went to hell
like the Bible teaches.
You say, why?
I was taught that
and I just didn't know the Bible
that well at the time.
And so here's the thing.
When you're newly saved,
you can be tossed to and fro
because generally,
if you're newly saved,
you'll kind of look up to anybody
as being a spiritual leader
and you'll be naive.
Right?
When you think of being a baby Christian,
think of babies in general.
Babies are very trusting.
Right?
Babies are very trusting.
And they could easily be led,
I mean a young child
could easily be led
into different beliefs
and be taught things.
I mean look at how many kids
are brainwashed with Santa Claus.
I mean what a foolish belief.
I mean it makes no sense.
You say, Brother Stockett,
are you saying those people are Bobo?
I used to believe in Santa Claus.
I'm saying they're taught that.
And you believe what you're taught.
You just assume whatever you're taught
is correct.
That's what people think naturally.
And when people are newly saved,
they could easily get into weird preaching,
weird beliefs.
That's why we've got to teach doctrine
because otherwise,
someone might come in
and just turn people away from the church
and say actually,
this church,
they're good on some things
but you know what they say
about this topic?
They're wrong.
Here's why.
Come after me
because I got all the knowledge.
Right?
This is reality.
This takes place.
Number 16,
here's an example in the Old Testament.
Number 16 verse 1.
Now Korah,
the son of Ishar,
the son of Kohath,
the son of Levi,
and Dathan and Abiram,
the sons of Eliab,
and Om the son of Peleth,
sons of Reuben,
sons of Reuben took men
and they rose up before Moses
with certain of the children of Israel,
250 princes of the assembly,
famous in the congregation,
men of renown.
These are people that are well known,
people that are well respected,
people that are trusted.
Kind of like Judas Iscariot.
People trusted him.
People thought Judas was a good guy
but it turns out he wasn't a good guy.
Right?
And here there's 250 princes
of the assembly.
Prince is a word not like
prince as in the son of a king,
but prince is someone who's in
power or authority.
And so 250 people that are
spiritually in a pretty powerful position.
Now here's the thing.
You can't really blame Moses so much
because when Moses left Egypt,
it's not like everybody was saved.
I mean he left with some people
that are saved and some that just have
a certain blood so they kind of
went along with the ride
because everybody went.
So I mean imagine if our church
was filled with 200 people,
65 people that believe like we do now
and we just added 65 people
from that church and 65 from that church.
It would be a mess.
It would be horrible.
So Moses, he's got people from
different backgrounds.
Not everyone believes the right salvation.
But these are well-trusted people,
people that you would think are solid.
And they gathered themselves together
against Moses and against Aaron
and said unto them,
Ye take too much upon you,
seeing all the congregation are holy,
every one of them,
and the Lord is among them.
Wherefore then lift ye up yourselves
above the congregation of the Lord.
Now these men are using flattery
to turn people onto their side,
but this is just stupid.
Every single person in the congregation
is holy?
Every single one?
And this is not even a church
of 70 people on a Sunday morning.
This is a ton of people.
Every single one.
I mean they make it very clear.
It's like all the congregation are holy.
In case you misunderstood the word
all, every one of them.
You mean to tell me that every single one
out of thousands of people,
none of them drink?
None of them blaspheme ever?
None of them do anything?
I mean you've got to be kidding me.
Nobody's committing fornication.
Nobody's worshipping idols.
You've got to be kidding me.
But that's what they say.
Now why would they say something so stupid?
Because of the fact it gets people
that are naive to follow them.
So yeah, I'm kind of holy myself.
Right? Good point.
Yeah, Moses is above me.
That's not right.
And what they're doing is
they're mad at authority.
They're mad at leadership.
They don't respect the authority of Moses.
And look, what I would say as a church member
is if you see people that criticize
the leadership at church,
massive red flag.
Now do I do everything right at this church?
Absolutely not.
Does anybody do everything right?
Only Jesus Christ.
There are things I've made mistakes
and if I could go back, I would change them.
You say, why? Because I make mistakes.
But here's the thing.
To try to use any mistakes
or try to turn people against the leadership
or criticize like, you know what?
Everybody's holy.
It's like it's not right of you, Moses,
to lift yourself up.
See, I seem to remember Moses
not wanting the job.
I seem to remember him
not wanting to be the leader.
And then he's being accused
of being the opposite.
He's the meekest man on earth,
according to the Bible,
and they're accusing him
of being basically the opposite.
Lifting yourself up.
When in reality,
God's the one that put him in that position.
Verse number four.
And when Moses heard it,
he fell upon his face.
I mean, obviously,
Moses knows these people
because these are trusted people.
And you know what?
In a big congregation,
he might not know everybody very well,
but men of renown
are probably people that he trusts.
And it's like, man,
the people that I trust
and then they're secretly against me.
And make no mistake,
if you get a bunch of people
to follow you immediately,
you've been doing that subtly
behind the scenes for a long time.
And that's what's taking place here
in number 16.
Go down to verse 41.
Verse 41.
But on the morrow,
all the congregation
of the children of Israel
murmured against Moses
and against Aaron, saying,
You have killed the people of the Lord.
So Moses and Aaron are blamed,
even though God struck them down dead.
Verse 42.
Moses and Aaron are always stepping in
to save the people.
Right?
He's sparing them
from the judgment of God.
I mean, God said,
I'll destroy everybody
and just start over with you.
And then Moses prevents it
from taking place in another Scripture.
He loves the people.
He cares about them.
And yet he's being accused
of being arrogant
and just you lifted up yourself.
What's so special about you?
Well, I seem to remember
that Moses and Aaron
are the ones that did the miracles
because God gave them the ability.
Right?
Well, you know what?
Everyone's holy.
Every single one of them.
Really?
I mean, not everyone's even saved.
I mean, how foolish to say
that in thousands of people,
however many there are,
that everybody's saved?
That would be ridiculous.
That everybody's reading the Bible
every morning?
That's absurd.
Less than half of Christians
read the Bible every day
and you're saying everybody's holy?
You can't be holy
if you're not reading the Bible.
How are you going to obey the Bible
if you're not reading it
and getting fed
with the spiritual milk
and meat of the Word every day?
Right?
And what they're doing
is trying to turn people away,
but what I'm saying is
these are people from within the church.
And here's the thing.
Obviously, I think everybody
would be very cautious
about somebody that's new.
You know what I mean?
If somebody's new at church,
you know, you don't even know them.
Right?
And so you're going to kind of be
more paying attention
to what do they believe
and who are they,
especially if they're acting strange.
And of course,
you're going to trust people
more that are within the church
and I understand that.
I would as well.
What I'm saying is
there's certain things
that you should never do with anyone.
Like what?
Well, you should never gossip
to anybody at church.
Well, I mean, you know,
this person, I trust them.
How foolish are you
to gossip to somebody at church?
And maybe they just act in a certain way
to get people to gossip to them.
Right?
You know, I've seen this at church before.
Somebody got kicked out a long time ago
at a different church
over a decade ago
and when they got kicked out,
all of a sudden,
they came up with,
it's like they had written down
every statement
anybody had ever said bad
about anybody at church.
And they were using it
against everybody.
They were a person
who got all this gossip
and then they got kicked out
and they're trying to turn everybody
at church against one another.
You say,
Brother Stuckey,
could that happen at church?
It could.
Look, you shouldn't be gossiping
to anyone at church.
You say, why?
I mean, you never know
whether a bird might take those words
and it might go to the person
you didn't want it to.
That's what the Bible says.
Right?
And so, here's the thing.
You know, this is not something
to make you sad or depressed
saying there could be bad people.
Because here's the thing,
there's bad people everywhere
in this world.
It is what it is.
There should be a certain level
of caution you have toward anyone.
You say, what are you saying,
Brother Stuckey?
Here's what I'm saying.
I would never just let anybody
just take my kids for a week.
Hey, me and my wife
are going on vacation.
Just someone at church,
I trust them.
Sorry, I don't trust you
with my kids for a week.
Right?
I mean, we have various people
that, you know, various moms
will hold our kids to help us.
You know, obviously it's hard
with three young kids
and we appreciate that
and we're all for that.
But there's also a level of caution
that you should have
for certain things.
And when it comes to your kids,
it's like, well, wait a minute.
Hey, I trust various people
at church.
I've gotten so many people
at church many times
and I trust them
but at the same time
there's still like a level
where it's like, you know what,
I don't trust them that much.
Right?
You say, why?
Because they're my kids.
And here's the thing,
you should never trust anyone.
Well, it's just this one person
I gossip to,
they would never repeat it
to anybody.
You're foolish.
That's absurd.
They will repeat it.
They're probably the person
that's trying to get the gossip
so they can repeat it.
What's it going to do?
It's going to cause problems.
It's going to make you look bad.
You're going to have egg on your face
and you're going to have
apologies to make
because you're saying things
that you ought not
because gossip is always wrong.
It's called being a tail bearer.
It's called being ungodly.
It's wrong.
Right?
And so look,
there should be a certain level
of caution that you have
toward anyone.
Somebody says to you,
hey, I was reading the Bible
and it turns out that
what Brother Stuckey said was wrong.
This is actually the truth.
Oh man, yeah, you're right.
Now I'm not saying
I can't be wrong on something.
What I'm saying is
you better search the Scriptures
to know for yourself.
It's like watch this YouTube video
because what this person said
shows Brother Stuckey's wrong.
Number one,
why is somebody trying to criticize
me to you?
That's a big red flag.
Am I wrong about things
that I've said behind the pulpit?
Of course.
I'm sure I've said things
that are wrong.
I always say search the Scriptures
daily whether those things are so.
Search them and you might disagree
with me on certain things.
But it's like you can't just be naive
to trust people that much.
Point number one,
we talked about the job
of an overseer.
Point number two,
we said people will come in.
Point number three,
there's people within the church
Paul warns about.
Point number four,
this is a constant thing
to warn about.
Acts 20 verse 31.
Acts 30 verse 21.
Acts 20 verse 31.
Therefore watch and remember
that by the space of three years
I cease not to warn everyone
night and day with tears.
Now this phrase cease not,
it's worded a little bit differently
in different places.
The exact phrase cease not
is five times in your Bible.
There's times where it says
I have not ceased.
That's not counted in the five,
but the exact phrase cease not
is five times.
It's not a phrase that appears
that many times in the Bible.
Let me show you one example of this.
Go to Acts 5.
Acts 5.
Let me give you another example
of this phrase cease not.
And this is probably
one of your favorite verses.
As a soul winner,
Acts 5 verse 42.
And daily in the temple
and in every house,
they cease not to teach
and preach Jesus Christ.
That's one of the verses
we live on as a church
and say what an exciting verse.
They cease not to preach the Gospel.
They cease not to get people saved
and bring people to church.
What an exciting verse.
And you would say that phrase cease not,
it's very important.
Five times in the Bible.
One time with one of the most famous
and best verses on soul winning.
But it also mentions in the context
of ceasing not to warn people
about bad people that might be at church,
might come into the church,
or might cause problems.
Go to 2 Timothy 3.
2 Timothy 3.
We'll look at a couple more places.
2 Timothy 3.
You say, Brother Stuckey,
why do you always have to preach on this?
Well, honestly,
I don't think I preached on this that much.
I mean, we did preach on Ezra 4
because we went verse by verse.
That's what the context of Ezra 4 is.
But because it appears a lot in the Bible,
because I love this church,
I want this church to be successful.
We're a growing church.
I don't want to see something
that would destroy this church.
It's also why we teach doctrine a lot.
You say, why?
Because I want our church
to be grounded in what we believe.
Not just people that have been here
for years and years
and have been new IFB
for seven years or something.
People that are newly saved
and want to teach them these things
so they're grounded
and they're not tossed to and fro
with every wind of doctrine.
Now, the first time you ever
see this at a church,
it's always a shock.
Like when Judas Iscariot
turns out to be bad,
everyone's like, what?
You've got to be kidding me.
And I remember the first time
I was at a church like this
and then somebody got
kicked out of church,
I was shocked.
I mean, I thought the person
was kind of strange
and stuff like that,
but you hear this preached
and you never think it would happen
inside of the church you're at, though.
It's kind of something you
just believe theoretically, right?
Like, oh yeah, Judas Iscariot
can creep in,
but that would never happen here.
But if it did happen here,
it would just be obvious
to everybody immediately.
Really?
Because I would wager to bet
or to guess that Peter
and James and John
will probably get more awards
than any of us.
Now, I could be wrong,
but that's what I would guess.
There are kind of some key characters
in the Bible.
They were all shocked.
I mean, Jesus literally said,
it's Him.
Basically.
It's like, what is He talking about?
And it's not because they're bobo.
It's because they would never,
ever guess that.
Because Judas was a mighty soul winner.
Or so they thought.
Judas was very zealous.
He seemed to love God.
They would have never guessed that.
Right?
2 Timothy 3, verse 1.
This know also that in the last days,
perilous times shall come.
For men shall be lovers of their own selves,
covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents,
unthankful, unholy,
without natural affection,
truce breakers,
false accusers,
incontinent, fierce,
despisers of those that are good,
traitors, heady, high-minded,
lovers of pleasures
more than lovers of God,
having a form of godliness,
but denying the power thereof
from such turn away.
And in verse 5, it's kind of giving you
an indication of religious people.
Having a form of godliness.
Right?
You know, from an example,
from recently in the news,
I mentioned it to a few people tonight
that hadn't heard of it,
but what's an example of having
a form of godliness?
The Dalai Lama?
Right?
His holiness!
Really?
I mean, actually he's a sexual pervert
to a young child.
Right?
I mean, in his own words,
for anyone that saw the video,
it's just like,
and I'm not going to repeat it,
it's vulgar, it's disgusting,
oh, he's just making a joke.
Really?
Well, I mean, only a sexual pervert
is going to make a joke like that.
His holiness.
Right?
No, actually, I mean,
he's got a form of godliness.
I mean, people come to him
and call him his holiness.
Even that innocent kid came to him
thinking this is like this great teacher
that can teach me enlightenment,
teach me salvation.
And actually, it's a sexual pervert
and an evil person.
But he's got a form of godliness
Who's got a form of godliness?
Pope Francis?
I mean, I would never want to shake that guy's hand.
I would never want to be near that guy,
but a lot of people think
he's the greatest thing since sliced bread.
And I mean, he's like the coolest pope ever
because he's like all-inclusive
where we can accept all the abominations
and the homos
and everything into our church.
Right?
I mean, go and Google,
I saw the image today with, you know,
the pope sitting down with the Dalai Lama.
They both have a form of godliness,
but you know what?
I'm never going to have a meeting
with the Dalai Lama or the pope.
Right?
And obviously, those are extreme examples,
but you know what?
There's a lot of Baptist pastors
that are just bad people,
teach a false salvation,
but they have a form of godliness.
People come to them,
they think, man, this is a great guy.
No, actually, they have a form of godliness,
but they're actually phonies.
Right?
Verse 6,
Why does it say creep into houses?
Well, I mean, here's the thing.
It's in our modern day,
you just use this.
You don't have to creep into a house.
It's a lot easier to cause problems just instantly
via Facebook,
via social media,
right, via text messaging or whatever.
Right?
In the old days,
and you know, creep into houses
is because here's the idea,
I think, behind creep into houses.
You know, obviously,
it's not like they're, you know,
coming in through the window
and you didn't even know they were there,
and all of a sudden,
whoa, what are you doing here?
Right?
But the idea is they act all nice
and you don't realize it's an E-piece.
An E-piece actually just creeped into your house.
A disgusting little insect or rodent
just creeped into your house
because with a mouse or an E-piece or whatever,
you don't see them come in.
And then all of a sudden it's like,
whoa, they're in there, right?
And people that would act good
and then they would sit down
and have lunch with you
and they act all good,
which you don't really realize
is a snake just slithered into your house
trying to cause problems.
That's what the Bible's stating here.
In our modern day,
probably not going to happen that much
because it's just going to be via cell phone,
via Facebook, via text messaging or whatever.
And lead captive, silly women laden with sins
led away with diverse lusts.
Ever learning and never able to come
to the knowledge of the truth.
So the Bible's saying these people
are ever learning,
but they're never able to come
to the knowledge of the truth.
What it's saying is there are people
that are twice dead,
plucked up by the roots,
children of the devil,
and they could not believe.
That's who's being referenced here
in 2 Timothy 3.
Not the silly women, okay?
The silly women are those that just
don't have a lot of knowledge
and they're tossed to and fro.
And look, don't be mad, women.
Number one, I just read what the Bible said.
And number two,
there's a lot of silly men also, okay?
All of us should beware of false doctrine
or someone trying to cause problems.
Verse 8.
Now as Janus and Jamborees withstood Moses,
so do these also resist the truth,
men of corrupt minds
reprobate concerning the faith.
But they shall proceed no further,
for their folly shall be manifest
unto all men as theirs also was.
You say, Brother Stuckey,
you know, you preach this sermon
by the space of three years
and it kind of scares me.
It's like there could be bad people.
But it should not scare you
because number one,
there's bad people everywhere.
It just is what it is.
I mean, I can't really go a day in Annales
without seeing a guy wearing a dress.
It's everywhere, right?
Here in Metro Manila,
you can't go a day if you're out and about
without seeing a guy wearing a dress.
It just is what it is.
There's bad people out there.
And not all of them make it obvious,
but all of them make it obvious
by wearing a dress, right?
Some of them will just act
like a normal person or whatever.
What the Bible says in verse 9 is this.
Their folly shall be manifest unto all men.
Things are going to be made manifest.
People are going to find out.
You know, Judas Iscariot got found out
after three years, right?
So eventually the folly gets manifest.
And actually turn to one place,
Matthew 13.
I added this to my notes as well.
Now, when you preach a sermon like this,
people can go on extremes
to being too vigilant, I would say.
You know, we're meant to be vigilant,
but at the same time,
you shouldn't just think
every single person is a bad person.
Are there going to be bad people
that come into church?
Well, of course.
Now, I have no idea
with the church our size
if there are or not
at this present time,
but it's something that obviously,
if there's not now,
there will be one day.
It just is what it is.
You say, why?
We're a church that's getting people saved.
And honestly,
our salvation numbers are getting bigger,
and so it could certainly happen
in the future because you know what?
The devil doesn't like what's going on.
But at the same time,
if we get a balanced approach
to this topic,
we need to realize
that we don't need to just distrust
and think everyone's a bad person
because notice what it says
in Matthew 13, verse 24.
Another parable putteth forth unto them,
saying, The kingdom of heaven
is likened unto a man
who sowed good seed in his field.
But while men slept,
his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat
and went his way.
But when the blade was sprung up
and brought forth fruit,
then appeared the tares also.
So you're trying to produce wheat
and then all of a sudden there's tares.
So the servants of the householder
came and said unto them,
Sir, didst not thou sow good seed
in thy field?
From whence then hath it tares?
And the idea behind a tare
is that a tare looked very similar
to the wheat.
So when you looked,
it would be very difficult
to actually see what's the good
and what's the bad.
It would be very hard to see.
Right?
Verse number 28.
He said unto them,
An enemy hath done this.
The servant said unto him,
Wilt thou then that we go
and gather them up?
But he said, Nay.
It's like, Nay?
You're saying there's bad people.
There's tares.
Lest while ye gather up the tares,
ye root up also the wheat with them.
What the Bible's saying is,
you know what?
You might think,
well, you know what?
There's this red flag.
They're a bad person.
You could actually be wrong
about it though.
And when it comes to someone
being a bad person
or whenever anyone would get
ever kicked out of a church,
there has to be evidence
of something they've actually done.
It can't just be,
well, you know, there's possibly this
or possibly that.
It's like, well, that doesn't add up.
You have to have actual proof.
And what the Bible's saying is,
if you're too overly obsessed with this
and you go to pull up the tares,
you might actually be wrong.
Why?
Because saved people get bitter.
Saved people get prideful.
Saved people make mistakes.
Now here's the thing.
You can certainly go too extreme
on the other side also.
Right?
I mean, a guy's at church
and you know what?
He's accused of pedophilia
or something like that
from three witnesses.
Well, we've got to give the benefit of the doubt.
You're insane.
Right?
Now you're going way too extreme
on the other end.
There's obviously a balance here
of what's going on.
What the Bible's saying is,
there's going to be people
that look like you
and seem like you
and are going to be amongst you.
And quite honestly,
that's just the way it is.
Right?
I mean, you know,
you can be depressed by this if you want,
but that's just what the Bible teaches.
That there's going to be
tares amongst the wheat.
It's just what the Bible says.
Right?
So, you know, first off,
we need to just face reality
and realize, well, this is what the Bible says.
This is what Jesus warned.
He said there's going to be
tares among the wheat.
But at the same time,
what He's also trying to say
in this parable is,
don't let it get you down.
Don't let it bother you.
It just is what it is.
You say, why are you saying this, brother?
Here's the thing.
Regardless of whether we have
tares at our church or not,
it's not going to change the fact
that we genuinely are going to get
a lot of people saved next week.
Right?
Because you might have a few tares
at a church,
but the vast majority of people
at a church are certainly not tares.
So here's the thing.
I'm not going to let it get me down
because it's not like I feel like,
man, on Sunday morning,
107 people I was preaching
to five wheat and 102 tares.
Obviously not.
Maybe it's 102 to five.
Maybe it's 107 to zero.
I don't know.
But obviously the vast majority
of people at our church are saved.
And when it comes to people
that are soul owners,
the vast majority of people
that are soul owners at our church
are good people that love God
and are serving God.
But at the same time,
we should not be naive
because the Bible says,
you know what?
There are going to be tares
amongst the wheat.
And it is what it is.
And here's the thing.
Paul warned about this
for three years constantly.
Now, I don't preach on this
every single week.
I preach on this from time
to time about it.
But it is something that
we should be aware of.
And obviously,
I think at a church like ours,
you know, we love the doctrines
we believe in.
I mean, one of the things
that leads people to our church
is doctrines that other Baptist churches
just believe very differently on.
And that's one reason
why we love this church.
And so we're aware of false doctrines
coming in and we should be aware of that.
But not just with false doctrines,
but just with things in general,
we need to be vigilant.
We need to be paying attention.
Why?
Because we are a church
that's getting a lot of people saved
and the devil's not happy about it.
And look, there's other people
that are not the devil,
but they might be sent from the devil
for a specific job to basically destroy
the work that is going on.
And it is going to happen at our church.
Maybe it's not happening now,
but it will happen in the future.
You say, why?
Because if we're going soul winning
and getting people saved,
in that parable in Matthew 13,
once you sow the good seed
and people are getting saved
and the wheat is being produced,
that's when the tares show up.
I mean, if there's a Baptist church
that doesn't go soul winning
and they're right on salvation
and they have 20 people
but never preach the gospel to anyone,
I don't think the devil's that concerned
about that church.
Because it's a bunch of saved people
gathering together to do nothing
in their lives.
That's not our church.
We're a church of saved people
that gather together to say,
you know what, to the work
will work till Jesus comes,
as we sang.
Because that's what God commands us to do.
And so don't let this get you down,
but just be aware of it.
Paul warned about it.
So obviously something we need to be aware of.
Let's close with a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father,
thank you for allowing us to be here today
and getting to see this topic from Acts 20.
And thank you for blessing our church
these four and a half years
and how our church has grown
and we have so many great people,
so many people that love you
and love soul winning God.
We ask you to continue to bless our church.
And we realize that bad people
will come into our church
from time to time
or in the future
and help all of us
to be strong spiritually
so we don't get tossed to and fro
and we can last through difficult situations.
God, we pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
For our last song,
let us remember to 322.
Three to two.
Living for Jesus.
322.
On the first.
Ready.
Sing.
Living for Jesus.
A life that is true.
Striving to please Him
in all that I do.
Healing the leaders
glad-hearted and free.
This is the pathway
of blessing for me.
O Jesus, Lord and Savior,
I give myself to Thee.
For Thou in thine atonement
is give myself for me.
My God, O our Master,
my heart shall be Thy home.
My life I give thanks forth to live
to hope nice for Thee alone.
Living for Jesus
would thine in my place.
Living on carry
nice in endless grace.
Such love constrains me
to answer His call.
Follow His leading
and give me my own.
O Jesus, Lord and Savior,
I give myself to Thee.
For Thou in thine atonement
is give thyself for me.
I, O no other Master,
my heart shall be Thy throne.
My life I give thanks forth to give
hope nice for Thee alone.
Living for Jesus
wherever I am.
Doing each duty
in His holy name.
Willing to suffer
affliction and loss.
Remaining each diet
the heart of my thoughts.
O Jesus, Lord and Savior,
I give myself to Thee.
For Thou in thine atonement
is give Thyself for me.
I, O no other Master,
my heart shall be Thy throne.
My life I give thanks forth to live
hope nice for Thee alone.
Living for Jesus
to rest in the wild.
I hear a special
the light of His smile.
Seeking the lost ones
He died to believe.
Bringing the weary
to fight this in Him.
O Jesus, Lord and Savior,
I give myself to Thee.
For Thou in thine atonement
is give Thyself for me.
I, O no other Master,
my heart shall be Thy throne.
My life I give thanks forth to live
hope nice for Thee alone.
Help us really to do our job the best.
Help us really to continue in our faith life
and not to be distracted by this evil devil
but really fight against with all our might
and we always have our weapons guarded around us
and we pray also for the blessing
and for a safe journey everyone to his home.
In Jesus' name, Amen.