["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.]
Nā rā tūta sāpī
Sādha dāni eso
Bhāvādhi ho laiṇu ho
Sādha dāni dāni sīnu ho
Sādha dāni dāni ho
Sādhi bhāntai eso
Sādha dāni bhā
Bhāvādha dāni dāni
Bhāvādhi ho laiṇu ho
Sādha dāni dāni sīnu ho
Sādha dāni eso
Bhāvādhi ho laiṇu ho
Sādha dāni dāni sīnu ho
Sādha dāni dāni ho
Sādha dāni dī arguments
Bhāvādhi ho bhāvai
N Areas of agreement
Bhāvādhi ho kṣa
Bhāvāda gṛ Pledge
Take out your bulletin and on the front we have our verse of the week 1st Corinthians
1 verse 23 the Bible reads but we preach Christ crucified onto the Jews a stumbling block
and onto the Greeks foolishness and that's a great verse there.
We are a family integrated church meaning children and infants are welcome during the
services we do have the mother baby room as well as the ladies restroom back there and
the men's restroom is up here in front remember no eating during the services maintain a professional
atmosphere and keep running and rough housing before and after the church services our weekly
service time is listed Sunday morning at 10 a.m. and short break then our 1130 service
I'll just warn you the first sermon is going to be longer second sermon will probably be
shorter though okay it's going to balance out here today so second service is probably not
starting at 1130 but I'll do my best our Wednesday evening Bible study at 6 p.m. we're going through
the book of Hosea so many times listed Wednesday afternoons we meet here at 4 p.m. at the church
building and then Saturday afternoons so winning is round 1 10 a.m. to 12 round 2 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
lunch provided by church brother Ermin's the Saturday so winning captain so if you have any
questions then just get a hold of him and Sunday afternoons are you know we have lunch fellowship
till 2 15 p.m. then we have soul winning around 2 15 p.m. here today our praise report for 2021
557 salvation's this month and 1143 salvation's year-to-date not including this past week so far
this week we have 195 salvation's just with the church in Manila and we have 12 salvation's in
Pampanga so that's great work everybody we're not going to break our record unless we have just an
amazing day but we'll probably be our second bet I think we're going to definitely be our second
best total ever 200 salvation's is awesome for us so great work everybody our Singapore Bible study
fellowship there at 116 salvation's year-to-date birthdays and anniversaries for February and we
only have one one birthday in February so it's the same in Pampanga we have six people who have
a birthday or anniversary in January and one person in February it's like what in the world
it's like I don't know what's wrong with February but you know and so information for first-time
guests there below you know thank you for being our guest you know you should have a visitor
communication card in your bulletin if not we do have one on the back table and we have a gift for
you after the service if you're a first-time visitor on the next page our Bible memorization
challenge so we're going through the book of Hosea and if you're just starting this say brother
sucky I'm motivated to memorize the Bible well forget about challenge B probably right you're
probably not going to memorize the whole book here in the next you know four or five weeks or
whatever but you can do challenge a though you know there's 14 verses I think in the book of
Hosea chapter 1 and you know if you're doing challenge B just one chapter per week is the
pace you needed to maintain and so upcoming activities so we have a prayer meeting on March
21st so I guess that the holiday I had listed last week is not like an actual non-working
holiday so we don't have a soul-winning marathon so we have a bit of a break in March and then at
the beginning of April is going to be Easter work where we have probably a lot of soul-winning going
on okay so basically get some rest this next month and you know in April forget about rest
okay obviously you know we have a rainy season coming up in June depending on the weather and
everything we want to hit it hard the first half of the year while it you know we're able to it's
already starting to get more hot out there though isn't it I noticed that yesterday I was like man
I kept looking at my clock it's like it's only 3 15 p.m. it's like it's so hot right so we got to
you know get used to that but you know we're gonna have a lot of soul-winning in April but in March
it's gonna be kind of a more relaxing month we have the prayer meeting on March 21st current in
upcoming sermon series you know we're going through the book of Hosea and the book of Romans in a
couple weeks we're gonna start our false philosophy series we just ended the series on the family
nobody quit the church so that's a success you know praise for that so and our information on a
group chat down there below then on the back we do have a place for sermon notes for the first
sermon here today Christian apologetics exposed and then circuit riding preachers is the second
sermon and also for those that are listening online you know you can check out our YouTube
channel we're live streaming to that and we're kind of testing it out we're kind of making
changes a little bit each week we think we got all the things worked out so it should be good if you
want to check out on YouTube that might give you better sound quality and even video quality on the
YouTube as opposed to the Facebook but if not just keep watching the Facebook and I think that's it
for announcements and we'll have a brother Rafi lead us in another song
you
four appointed in the bounds of their habitation.
So he's made of one blood all nations of men
for to dwell on all the face of the earth.
What does that mean?
Well, what it means is the same God
who's the God of the Philippines
is the same God of a Muslim country
and the same God of a Hindu country
and the same God of a Buddhist country
because we're made of the same blood.
That's what he's saying.
It's not that we have the Christian God
and Muslims get to heaven by Muhammad and their way
and the Buddhists get to heaven by their,
no, no, no, he's made of us all of one blood.
The same God, the same Lord Jesus Christ
died for the sins of the whole world, the Bible says.
Not just of some people.
He is the way to heaven no matter where you're from.
And that's what Paul is explaining.
Paul's saying it's not okay that you've got your idea of God
and I've got my, no, no, you must change what you believe.
That's what he's saying.
Then he says here in verse 27
that they should seek the Lord
if happily they might feel after him and find him
though he be not far from every one of us.
For in him we live and move and have our being
as certain also of your own poets have said
for we are also his offspring.
Now he brings up the poets here
because what he's trying to explain to them
is that what you believe is really contradicting itself.
Even your poets have explained this idea
and yet you don't seem to get it.
And it's not that the poets were saved
but he's showing them that their religion just contradicts.
It just doesn't really make sense is what he's saying.
Verse 29, for as much then as we are the offspring of God,
we're the creation of God, we're the offspring of God,
we ought not to think that the Godhead
is like on the gold or silver or stone
graven by art and man's device.
So once again, understanding who God is,
it's not this gold God that you make.
It's not this silver God that you make
because God made us, okay?
We don't create God with our hands.
And look around the world, there are so many people
that they just create these gods to worship, right?
There's this guy who became famous in India
because he made this statue
and it looked very realistic of Donald Trump
and Donald Trump was his God
and then two months later he died
and he was a young guy.
It's like, I don't know what happened there, right?
But it's just like people like make these gods
and it's like, well, I'm gonna worship God in this way.
It's not good enough.
And it doesn't make logical sense, right?
To create a God with your own hands
and that's who you worship, okay?
Verse 30, and the times of this ignorance God winked at,
but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.
Now when it's saying repent here,
you have to understand what is the whole context?
He's not rebuking them for drinking alcohol.
He's not rebuking them for committing sins.
He's not rebuking them for fornicating
or committing adultery.
He's rebuking them for their understanding of God.
So what is he saying?
He's saying change what you believe
and believe on the true God.
That's the context, right?
You can't just pull a verse and say,
well, there's the word repent.
I told you you had to quit drinking to go to heaven.
Is that really the context?
He's saying change your mind about who you believe
and believe on Jesus.
Because here's the thing,
you cannot believe in this warped idea of God
and then put all of your trust in Jesus.
You must change what you believe.
And by the way, Paul gives us a template
when we preach the gospel.
Now this is true when we preach to people
of a Catholic background
or just a normal Christian type background
where they've got to change what they believe.
And sometimes I'll ask them that before this conversation,
you said, I've got to be good.
I've got to be nice.
Do you still believe that?
Or do you believe what the Bible says?
To make sure that they're changing their mind.
But this is very important if you talk to someone
with a very weird background.
Because they might hear this and say, I like that.
But they're not rejecting what they believe.
And believing on Jesus.
They're just saying, sounds good to me.
I mean, I've got 20 idols, make it 21, right?
That's the sort of idea some people have.
Verse number 31.
Because he hath appointed a day
in the which he will judge the world in righteousness
by that man whom he hath ordained.
Now look, we just saw repentance is clearly in reference
to what you're believing.
But people would look at verse 31 and say,
but he's going to judge the world in righteousness.
So it must be talking about your works.
Here's the thing.
Walang sinumang matuwid.
There's none righteous.
Right?
All of us have sinned.
So the fact that God's judging us in righteousness
means you're not going to work your way to heaven.
So you've got to change what you believe
and put your trust in Jesus
because your works aren't good enough.
Because he is going to judge us in perfect righteousness
and we're not righteous, okay?
That's showing us we need to believe on Jesus Christ.
It's not referring to living a good life
because we're not righteous.
There's none righteous, no, not one, the Bible says, right?
The Bible says there is none good but one.
None good but one.
And who is that?
That's God, right?
And Jesus spoke that referring to the fact that,
you know what, if you're going to believe on me,
you've got to realize that I am the true one.
It's not I'm a good master.
No, I am the way to heaven.
There's none good but one.
Where if he hath given assurance unto all men
and that he raised him from the dead?
Now here's the thing, he's going to judge us
in righteousness, so how do we know
if we're going to heaven then?
Well, he's given us assurance
by the fact that Jesus rose from the dead.
The fact that Jesus rose from the dead
means I'm going to rise from the dead one day,
meaning I'm going to get my glorified body.
The fact that Jesus rose again,
that's the proof to us as believers
that we have that assurance that we're going to rise again,
that we're going to get the glorified body,
because there's really no physical evidence that I'm saved.
There's no physical evidence.
When a person gets saved,
you don't see this bright shining light.
It's like you're preaching the gospel.
You're like, man, I don't know if they got,
oh, I see the light, right?
They're saved.
No, that's not the way it works.
The assurance we have as individuals
is the fact that when you put your trust on Jesus,
believing that Jesus rose again from the dead,
that means you're going to rise again from the dead.
And you can have that 100% assurance.
You don't have to wonder if you're going to heaven.
You can know you're going to heaven.
You can be 100% sure.
The religions of the world, they're 80% sure.
They're 85% sure.
They're 90% sure.
I'm 100% sure.
Amen.
Say, how do you know that?
Well, Jesus rose again.
That's how we can have that assurance,
because it's not based on our works, okay?
Verse 32.
And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead,
some mocked.
Isn't it true we preach the gospel
and some people laugh at it?
That's foolish.
It's foolish to think that one man died for your sins
and now you can go to hell.
All you have to do is believe.
Some mock at our message.
Is that not true?
I mean, it's so frustrating.
When people mock at you,
it sometimes really irritates you, you know what I mean?
But it's like, people are going to mock at us.
We preach the gospel and sometimes they laugh at us.
And it's just like, well, it's real funny now,
but we're going to see one day, right?
And it says, some mocked and others said,
we will hear the again of this matter,
because this is very strange to them.
And some said, this is interesting.
I need to hear it again.
And isn't that what we'd expect
if we were so winning in a society
that had this weird, warped view of God?
There'd probably be a lot of people
that would listen to us, but not get saved.
And they would say, that's interesting, but I don't know.
I'm not sure.
And the same thing happens today as well, though.
We talk to people and a lot of people are just like,
I don't know, maybe.
I mean, it's interesting, I'm just not quite sure.
But to be saved,
you've got to put your full trust in Jesus Christ.
So look, Acts 17 is the big chapter.
All I see is Paul preaching the gospel.
I don't see these wise arguments or man's words.
I see him just explaining the gospel.
That's what you see, okay?
Go to Acts 18, Acts 18.
Acts chapter 18.
All Acts 17 shows us
is that when people do not have a Christian
type of background, you might need to explain
more in depth and spend more time.
And be more patient, right?
And maybe even not even try to rush at the end
to pray with them, but really make sure they get it
and it's okay if they don't.
They might just think about it and say,
well, hear the again of this matter, okay?
That might be what's gonna take place
because it's gonna be hard for them
to change their entire belief in 20 minutes or 30 minutes.
It might take them a couple weeks.
I know people that have gotten saved
from various backgrounds.
One of my best friends in the US,
his wife was raised in Thailand.
So don't be surprised she was raised Buddhist, right?
Almost everybody in Thailand is Buddhist.
And you know what, he gave her the gospel many times.
And then eventually she got it because, you know,
people that have a different background like that,
it just might take some time.
And here's what you have to realize.
It's not a waste if you get a chance
to explain a verse from the Bible
and just put in the seed of the word of God, right?
And this is true when you have, you know,
family time during Christmas, you know, unsaved relatives.
Explain Romans 6 23, right?
They give you a gift and say, man,
this reminds me of how the Bible says
the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
I mean, it's free.
I don't have to pay for it.
I don't earn it.
And it's through Jesus Christ.
And just quickly get in the word of God for 30 seconds
and then back away before they get frustrated
and mad at you for preaching to them.
But just kind of get in the word of God a little bit.
And look, it's not in vain
if they don't get saved immediately.
They might need to hear it many times
and you're slowly preaching the gospel to them.
It might not be like at the door 20 minutes.
Because when we go soul winning,
we ask people if they're willing to listen.
Some of your family would say no at the door.
Now look, we don't spend hours at the door
trying to force people.
But with your personal family you see every year,
spend a little bit of time every opportunity you get, right?
So in Acts 17, all Paul's doing is preaching the gospel.
Acts 18, verse 28, for he mightily convinced the Jews
in that publicly showing by the scriptures
that Jesus was Christ.
Acts 18, verse 28, for he mightily convinced the Jews
in that publicly showing by the scriptures
that Jesus was Christ.
So Paul the Apostle, he took opportunities
to preach sermons to people and preach about salvation.
You know, whether this is referring to just publicly
where people are listening, a captive audience,
or just in public where he's talking to people
to those that met with him.
He's preaching, but how is he showing
that Jesus is actually the way to heaven?
Through the scriptures, right?
Isn't that what you see?
In this verse, you see one man preaching the gospel
using the scriptures, right?
Now at our church, we are King James only.
Amen.
We believe the King James Bible is perfect.
This is the word of God in the English language.
Now I want you to look at Acts 18, verse 28,
and I'm gonna read this to you from the NIV.
And tell me if this is the same thing.
In the NIV, this is what it reads.
For he vigorously refuted the Jews' opponents
in public debate.
Is that what your Bible says?
Does it look like Paul the Apostle
set up these organized apologetic debates?
I mean, does it look like Paul the Apostle
was a forerunner to James White?
And he got James White here,
and he got the Muslim apologists there,
and they got this big debate, and I got 15 minutes,
you got 15 minutes, I refute your argument.
Look, that's a waste of time.
You say, why?
Because the unsaved person, you're listening to nonsense
for an hour and a half.
Look, when we preach the gospel,
we give the gospel to people that are willing to listen.
It's not a 50-50 conversation.
Every once in a while, you knock on a door,
and then they wanna tell you what they believe.
And here's the thing, I'm not interested in hearing
what they believe for 10 minutes.
And look, I've said this to people,
and this gets them really mad, but I've said before,
hey, I came here to explain what I believe.
When you knock on my door, you can tell me what you believe.
That really gets them mad,
because they don't go door-to-door soul-winning.
So it's like, good luck finding my door.
Because the reality is, this person might not be interested,
but this person at the house right beside,
he might be interested.
And you don't wanna waste your time.
You get reminded of this all the time, right?
Just a couple weeks ago,
there was this guy that worshiped Eli, right?
And you know, Eli Soriano,
and he just didn't wanna listen, he wanted to argue.
And guess what, I just went to the next door,
a few doors down, and then several people got saved.
And you just get reminded, hey, don't get in the flesh
and just argue with someone if they don't wanna listen, okay?
Just preach the gospel to people that are willing to listen.
You're not seeing a public debate,
because debates are a waste of time.
They're a waste of time.
Look, here's the way debates work.
People walk into the debates,
they already know what they believe,
and they don't change their mind.
And the people that are on the fence about it,
they don't end up putting all their faith on Jesus Christ.
If you wanna get those people saved,
you knock on their door and talk to them.
That's the way it works.
Debates just don't work.
Go to Acts 20.
Acts 20.
Not only do debates not work,
the person that's right doesn't always win the debate.
The person that's right probably wins the debate
maybe 70% of the time,
because having the truth will help you,
but it doesn't mean you win the debate.
Look, I'm not trying to be, I don't have this attitude.
I would crush anybody in a debate.
You know what?
I'm sure a lot of these heretics,
hey, they're experts at debating.
They might win the debate.
It doesn't mean that they're right.
I mean, I've watched plenty of debates before
from people of various sides.
There's Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron.
They had this big debate on ABS or CBS
versus these atheists.
Look, I mean, if you're honest, the atheists smashed them.
I'm like, good night.
What a terrible way to defend the existence of God.
They look terrible.
Did that make me say,
man, maybe I don't believe in God either.
No, I know God's real.
It's not a debate that determines who's right or who's not.
The truth is obviously God's real,
and unfortunately, Ray Comfort doesn't know
what he's talking about.
So he uses the banana to defend the existence of God,
and it's just like, it's an inside joke
if you've seen that video.
Check it out on YouTube.
Ray Comfort banana, it's pretty fun, right?
I'll show you after the service.
But look, that doesn't determine whether or not God's real.
It's not a debate.
If somebody wants to know, prove to me God's real,
here's my answer.
Step outside.
And then they come back.
Where was the proof?
Well, if you didn't see it,
then you're just not gonna believe.
I mean, it's obvious God's real.
It's built into you,
and you're being willingly ignorant
if you say God's not real.
And I'm not gonna waste two hours arguing with someone
in a philosophical discussion
that wants me to prove like a math problem that God's real.
It's obvious God's real,
and it's built inside your conscience,
and they know that, but they're being willingly ignorant.
Acts 20, verse 20.
And here's the thing,
I'm showing you that there's no scripture
to defend this idea of needing these apologetics ministries.
I'm not going to the soul-winning passages
that are normal like John 3,
but in John 3, what do you see?
Jesus just proclaiming his deity
and the fact that it's a free gift.
All of the soul-winning conversations are like that.
Acts 8, Acts 10.
We looked at the complicated one, Acts 17,
because the person has a different idea about God,
but when you're looking at
all the soul-winning presentations,
do they have to prove for 20 minutes that God is real
before they preach the gospel?
They just preach the gospel.
And if you're a soul-winner, you know it works, right?
It works every single week going door to door.
We don't need these big,
complicated apologetics ministries, okay?
Acts 20, verse 20.
And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you,
but I've showed you and have taught you publicly
and from house to house.
So there's Paul the Apostle going door to door
preaching the gospel,
testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks.
So two groups of people from different backgrounds,
the Jews and the Greeks.
And so what did Paul say?
Repentance toward God
and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Repentance toward God
and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
So see, what Paul the Apostle did was
he just explained the gospel and he told people,
change what you believe.
Change your idea of God and put your faith on Jesus Christ.
That's all he did.
Go to 1 Peter 3, 1 Peter 3, 1 Peter 3.
You know why Christian apologetics ministries
are so popular?
Because if you're like me,
when you first got saved,
you started to wonder,
how can I get a Mormon saved?
How can I get an atheist saved?
How can I get a Hindu saved?
And it's like,
you don't even know how to get a normal person saved,
but that's how I was.
When I first got saved,
I was like, I gotta figure out how to get a Mormon saved.
And it's like, I hadn't even read the Bible.
Right?
And it's just like, I get it.
You know, you're thinking about,
how can I reach all these different groups of people?
But honestly, what you need to do is just read the Bible,
memorize the Bible, listen to preaching, slowly learn.
And here's the thing,
probably before you're gonna get a Mormon saved,
you get practice on just kind of normal conversations.
Then you kind of add to your knowledge,
and God might give you the opportunity to reach someone
that's a little bit more difficult,
but you kind of just start simple
and just kind of add to it, right?
And so look, it makes sense,
because a lot of people are wondering,
and the problem is,
when people first get saved,
they think a far higher percentage of people out there
are actually saved, right?
And when you got saved,
you thought 20% of people in this country were saved, right?
And then all of a sudden you started realizing,
oh wow, it's really, really small.
So then all of a sudden that kind of adds to the value
of just getting normal, everyday people saved,
because you start realizing
all of these Christian coworkers,
man, most of them aren't Christian.
Isn't that true?
Right.
Now I grew up in a non-Catholic country,
but like most people have a Protestant background
or non-denominational background.
So when I got saved,
I just kind of figured, you know, probably like,
you know, half of the Methodists are already saved,
they've already heard this, half the Lutherans,
and then all of a sudden you start realizing,
oh wow, narrow.
It's not just narrow, it's very narrow,
is the way which leadeth unto life.
Then all of a sudden you start realizing,
I need to just learn how to get normal people saved,
because it's not like they've heard the true gospel either,
oftentimes, right?
It's not just that the Mormons
have not heard the true gospel.
No, the average person hasn't really heard
a 20-minute gospel presentation
from someone who knows the gospel
and how to explain it, right?
First Peter three, verse 15.
Here's the big verse.
Here's the big verse used to say
we need apologetics ministries.
First Peter three, verse 15.
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts,
and be ready always to give an answer to every man
that asketh you a reason of the hope
that is in you with meekness and fear.
So the Bible says we need to be ready
to answer every man when they ask us questions.
Now look, I believe this.
This is true, okay?
We should be ready to answer questions.
What I'm saying is we don't need
this mega big ministry of apologetics.
Now look, some of the questions that are brought up
at these debates and things like that,
we should try to find answers to these questions.
But the problem is they're replacing soul winning
with these big discussions and apologetics meetings, okay?
And I want you to realize something.
People look at these apologetics leaders
as the wisest people in Christianity.
Is that not true?
People thought Rabbi Zacharias
was the wisest Christian in the world.
Now here's the problem with that.
From a biblical perspective, who's wise?
He that winneth souls is wise.
So why do I want to listen to someone
that's not a soul winner explain to me
how to reach people with the gospel?
Does that make any sense?
I mean, if he's not a soul winner,
what is he gonna teach me?
It doesn't make any sense.
And here's my point.
Look, you know, if Pastor Jimenez made a video
of defending difficult questions, I would watch it.
Why?
He's a soul winner.
He's wise.
But someone like Rabbi Zacharias
that doesn't go soul winning, James White,
what am I gonna learn from them?
They're not soul winners.
They're not wise.
What they're doing is giving you worldly wisdom
to defend Christianity.
They're not giving you godly, biblical wisdom.
They're giving worldly wisdom to prove Christianity.
Look, people don't get saved from worldly wisdom.
And so I don't want to listen to someone.
I'll give you an example.
Just yesterday, Pastor Anderson,
a lot of us know him and listen to his sermons,
he put a video just smashing this Muslim apologist.
It was great.
Many of you shared it.
It was awesome.
It was hilarious.
I learned things.
But you know why I listened to that video?
Because he's a soul winner.
He knows what he's talking about.
James White, he might be able to win a debate
versus a Muslim, but that isn't gonna be profitable to me
because he doesn't know how to win a soul of the Lord though.
It's not about trying to win arguments with people.
Because I'll be honest with you,
I don't really get into a lot of arguments.
Right, when we go soul winning,
we don't really get into a lot of arguments.
Is it like every other door you have to spend an hour
arguing with someone to get them saved?
No, there's people that are willing to listen
and if people don't wanna listen, what do you do?
You move on to the next door.
And so look, I want you to realize
we should be able to defend what we believe
and slowly learn difficult questions
and Bible contradictions and stuff like that
and why we believe the Bible and not the crayon
and things like that.
But here's my point, for someone who first got saved
or is new to this, we need to just read the Bible
and learn the Bible and learn those things slowly
as you go, right?
Learn to get a normal person saved
before getting a hardcore Muslim saved
or something like that, okay?
Now turn in your Bible to Titus 3, Titus 3, Titus 3.
So look, I'm not saying it's bad
to try to defend difficult questions,
I'm just saying this is a very improper balance
where you have these mega apologetics ministries.
What I'm saying is I'm not gonna cancel a sermon
to just hold an apologetics seminar
because it's a waste of time
and you need to be edified with a sermon.
Now perhaps I'll preach a sermon one day
on Bible contradictions, but my point is this,
we're not just changing our ministry and saying,
we've gotta spend like half of our sermons
just answering difficult, philosophical questions
that are oftentimes foolish questions.
Now an example of this, there's a Christian apologist,
so to speak, his name's Eric Hovind, who knows Eric Hovind?
Eric Hovind, who knows Ken Hovind?
Ken Hovind's son, Eric Hovind, there you go.
Ken Hovind's son is Eric Hovind, okay?
Now Ken Hovind, you know,
he's a very smart, intelligent person.
His son is not, okay?
Eric Hovind's just not a smart person, okay?
It is what it is.
And proof of that is just go on YouTube
and type in Eric Hovind Burger King
and there's your proof, right?
Who's seen the video I'm talking about?
Eric Hovind and Burger King,
it's the funniest thing you'll ever see.
You think it's a joke.
He walks into Burger King and somebody's filming this
and this is like to defend Christianity
or preach the gospel.
He's like, I've got this awesome new method
to preach the gospel.
He's like, what's this, right?
And he goes up to Burger King
and the woman asks, what's your order?
He gives his order and he said,
and she's like, what's your name?
Because you know, they'll call out the name of the person,
you know?
And he says, my name is Jesus Christ is Lord.
It's like, Senua Lingkaba, right?
Is your name actually Jesus Christ is Lord?
Are you just lying, right?
And he said, when my order's ready,
I want you to say it really loud so everybody can hear.
And then all of a sudden, you know, she's like, okay.
And he looks at the camera, he's like.
And then all of a sudden, like they cut to later
on the video and she screams out,
order number 47 for Jesus Christ is Lord.
And he's like, this is an awesome evangelical method.
Is this a joke?
I mean, I encourage you type in Eric Hovind,
Burger King on YouTube, right?
I think it's E-R-I-C.
I don't think it's with a K, right?
It's a joke, it's embarrassing.
As Christians, it's like, what in the world?
It's like, quit being an apologist, right?
We don't need you to defend our faith, right?
And it's just like, this is the wisdom though,
of people that don't go soul winning
and are trying to figure out man's wisdom
to reach everybody with the gospel, right?
No, you just go up to people and talk to people
and explain the word of God, okay?
Point number one is it's just unscriptural.
You're not gonna find lots of scripture saying
we need these apologetic ministries, right?
Point number two is it's unproductive.
The reason why there's not scripture to defend this method
is it's unproductive.
It's just not an effective way
to reach people with the gospel.
Now, man's wisdom, it makes sense.
It seems like it would really work to reach the Muslim
that we've got to prove to them Christianity,
but it doesn't work.
It's unproductive.
And the Bible shows us this.
The Bible tells us this.
And if you have experience, you know this is true.
It's just unproductive.
Titus 3, verse nine.
But avoid foolish questions and genealogies
and contentions and strivings about the law,
for they are unprofitable in vain.
Unproductive, unprofitable.
The Bible says avoid foolish questions.
Look, many of these questions they answer
in these apologetics ministries
are foolish questions that we should avoid.
We shouldn't even give an answer.
It makes you look like a fool
when you give an answer to some of these stupid questions.
Right, you know, I know in the US,
the big question, atheists try to stump Christians.
It's like, is God all powerful?
And you say, yes.
Well, if God's all powerful,
is he able to create a rock so big
that he's not strong enough to lift it himself?
And if he cannot create a rock like that,
he's not all powerful.
And if he can't lift it, he's not all powerful.
There you go, God's not real.
That's a foolish question.
They're an idiot.
It's stupid, right?
I don't even need to give a reason.
You think I'm gonna write a book
and just answer a bunch of stupid questions like that?
It's like, look, you want the proof of God, walk outside.
And if you don't believe it, you're willingly ignorant.
And look, if somebody reads the Bible
and they can't tell us the word of God,
they're being willingly ignorant
because the Bible proves itself.
You can tell the Bible's the word of God,
but people don't like the word of God.
It's not that they need to see some sign to believe, right?
They require a sign, but the only sign given to them
is the sign of the prophet, Jonas.
As Jonas 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 know what Jesus Christ said is,
I'm not gonna answer stupid questions.
That's what he said.
You know what my proof is?
The proof is I'm gonna rise again from the dead.
And many people had all the evidence in the world
that Jesus rose again from the dead.
And guess what?
They didn't believe.
You say, how is that possible?
Because some people just won't believe.
It just is what it is.
Some people are not willing to believe.
And having this idea, I've gotta get
all these complicated questions, it's not gonna work.
I want you to realize this.
With 99% of the cases, if you as a soul winner
cannot get that person saved,
neither would have the Lord Jesus Christ
if he talked to them.
Neither would have Paul the Apostle if he talked.
Because some people are receptive and some aren't.
And if they aren't receptive, it doesn't matter
how good of a soul winner you are,
they're not gonna get it.
That's just the way it is.
I mean, there are plenty of times they preach the gospel.
And look, some people mocked Paul.
I'm sure Paul did a much better job
preaching what he believed than me.
But they still mocked him.
Why?
Because some people just don't believe.
They're just not gonna believe.
It just is what it is, okay?
And the Bible says, avoid foolish questions
and genealogies and contentions and strivings.
So avoid the fights, right?
That's what the Bible's saying.
Avoid the contention, avoid the strivings.
Isn't a debate just a big fight between two sides?
And then this is what people say.
Well, no, no, no, not a debate.
It's a discussion.
Then why are you arguing and yelling at each other?
Right?
You're debating, you're arguing.
And the Bible says, avoid that.
It's a waste of time.
That's what the Bible says.
A man that is in heretic after the first and second
and admonition, reject.
The Bible says if someone's a heretic,
meaning we preach the gospel a couple times
and they reject the truth, just move on.
Avoid wasting the time.
An example is when you're preaching the gospel
and then you show somebody something,
they just don't believe it.
A few weeks ago at our soul-winning marathon,
I knocked on the door of a oneness Pentecostal,
which are like the cults of the Pentecostals, right?
And you know what?
They brought up the fact of Jesus.
They brought up the fact of oneness.
And I showed them verses that Jesus was God,
but I showed the Trinity,
and they just refused to believe it.
And it's just like, well,
it's time to move on to the next door.
And as I'm done with that door,
they're kind of laughing saying,
ha ha, I won that debate.
Well, go ahead, congratulations, you won the debate.
You're not gonna get saved, I'm not gonna waste my time.
You know, it is okay to walk away from the door
and allow the person to feel like they won that argument.
In fact, it actually takes a lot of strength
to be willing to do that,
because in your flesh, you wanna make them look like a fool.
Right?
But here's the thing.
You know what?
Some people are just gonna think you're a fool,
because they don't believe what the Bible says.
And you know what?
You could spend an hour arguing with an atheist at the door,
or you could have enough strength to just walk away
and say, you know what?
It's okay, I don't care what they think.
I don't care what man thinks about the message of God.
They don't wanna listen, you just move on.
That's the wisdom of the Bible.
If they're a heretic after their first
and second admonition, reject that person.
Now, that does not mean that that person's a reprobate.
But what it means is they're not ready
to get saved right now, okay?
Knowing that he that is such is subverted
and senteth being condemned of himself.
Basically, you know what?
This person's just not gonna believe.
Just move on, live to fight another day.
And maybe in six months, they'll think about it
and change their mind.
They'll hear the gospel again and change their mind.
Go to 1 Corinthians 1.
1 Corinthians 1.
Now look, this sermon goes completely against man's wisdom.
All of it goes against man's wisdom,
because I get it.
Logically, it seems like it should work
apologetics ministries, but it does not work.
And logically, we think there's no way
you could get a Hindu saved with just the gospel.
And yet, the word of God is that powerful,
that some are willing to listen
and some are willing to get saved.
Now, I want you to realize something.
You can get, I mean, let's say you go out soul-winding today
and you tell me, hey, Brother Stuckey,
I got a Catholic saved.
Praise the Lord.
But I'm not gonna believe you if you come back
and say, I got the Pope saved.
You know why?
Some people just aren't gonna get saved.
And people are like, man, how can I get somebody
like Richard Dawkins saved?
He's not gonna get saved.
How can I get a Mormon bishop saved?
Look, you might get a normal Mormon saved.
You're not getting a Mormon bishop saved.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
People wanna figure out, man,
how could I get someone like Ray Comfort saved?
It's not gonna happen.
Right?
The only people we ever get saved
are those that are not dogmatic
about what they already believe.
You're not gonna get a hardcore Baptist saved
that believes in repentance of sins.
You're not gonna get a hardcore Methodist or Lutheran.
If somebody already knows and believes something
and they're unwilling to change,
there's no magic formula to get them saved.
And look, it doesn't necessarily mean they're a reprobate,
but if they're that hard-headed that they won't listen
and that hard-hearted,
you're just not gonna get them saved.
It doesn't matter what you say.
It doesn't matter what verses you use.
Hopefully, later on in life,
God will humble them and they'll listen,
but they're not ready right now.
It just is what it is.
1 Corinthians 1, verse 17.
1 Corinthians 1 is also a passage where they say,
well, this is why we need apologetics ministries.
And when I hear people say that and I read this,
I'm just thinking,
what are you missing in this passage, right?
Because notice verse 17.
1 Corinthians 1, verse 17.
For Christ sent me not to baptize
but to preach the gospel.
Notice this.
Not with wisdom of words,
lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
Do you see how if we use wise words,
the cross of Christ will become uneffective, unproductive,
just not very useful?
Do you see what we're saying?
When we preach the gospel,
do you realize we don't use this complicated wisdom
for man to preach the gospel?
Do you realize explaining what a gift is
is a very simple explanation?
And look, some people will believe it and some won't.
It's very simple.
Being born again.
Doesn't it make sense that you're only born one time?
Your parents are always your parents.
They punish you when you do wrong,
but they're always your parents.
It makes sense with spiritual eternal life,
how you're born into God's family
when you put your faith in Jesus Christ.
Simple explanations.
Look, when we go soul winning,
don't use some complicated explanation
that you have to have a doctorate degree
in chemical engineering to understand.
You say, what's the problem with that?
Very few people are gonna understand that.
Right?
Now here's the thing.
I love math.
And so if somebody explains something complicated in math,
I might be like, that is a really cool explanation.
The problem is a lot of people aren't gonna get it.
But here's the thing.
Everybody knows what a gift is.
Pretty simple.
No exchange for a gift.
Nothing you have to, I mean, everybody understands that.
So look, God actually gave us the template on examples.
I am that bread of life, eating tinopi, very easy.
The living water, drinking water, very easy.
I am the door, opening a door, very easy.
Those explanations, how it's a gift,
how you're born into God's family,
those are the ones God gives,
and it's the simple things that confound the wise.
And the atheist will mock at this,
but you know, honestly, that's how people get saved.
It's that simple.
This goes contrary to man's wisdom.
But Paul said, I don't use wise words
because then the gospel loses its effect.
Now here's the thing.
Was Paul an educated person?
Yes.
Paul was a very educated person.
Very smart person.
I mean, in fact, if Paul the Apostle was a member
of a church, he'd probably be the smartest,
most educated person at a church.
Right?
I don't know how many languages a guy spoke,
but he was like a polyglot, right?
He spoke a lot of languages, very smart guy,
very educated, but you know what?
He said, I don't try to use wise words.
Why?
The gospel loses its effect.
Yeah, I really see why we need apologetics ministries,
according to 1 Corinthians 1,
because it seems like the exact opposite
according to verse 17.
Verse 18, for the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness,
but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God.
So they cherry pick verse 18 in one other verse
that we'll talk about in a second,
and they say, well see, preaching the cross
is foolishness to people,
meaning we gotta have a different method.
It's just like, what in the world?
Because Paul just said I don't use wise words,
and he's just stating for a matter of fact
that those that don't get saved,
it sounds like foolishness to them.
They'll mock it.
They'll laugh at it.
But you know, us that are saved,
we're like, man, it makes perfect sense.
Doesn't it just make perfect sense
that salvation's a free gift?
Sometimes I think to myself,
because I spent 18, almost 19 years unsaved,
like half my life I've been saved almost, right?
I'm coming up on that.
I'm just thinking, man, was I Bobo
my first half of my life.
It's like it just makes sense
that salvation's a free gift.
Because if it's by works, why did Jesus die for us?
Doesn't make any sense, right?
It makes sense to us that are saved.
You know, it doesn't make sense to the unsaved person.
They think it's foolish.
They laugh at it.
They mock it.
But it doesn't mean we change our method
just because they're gonna mock us, right?
Because there's plenty of people that will hear it
and say that makes perfect sense.
In fact, sometimes you hear people say,
that makes more sense than anything
I've heard my entire life.
Isn't that true?
I love it when you hear that.
It's like, man, there's a humble person
that's just ready to hear the word of God.
There are people like that, okay?
Verse 19, for it is written,
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
and will bring to nothing
the understanding and the prudent.
Where is the wise?
Where is the scribe?
Where is the disputer of this world?
Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
Now, what's the wisdom of this world?
Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking, right?
These people have seemed so wise,
and yet Stephen Hawking is gonna bow down on his knees
and proclaim Jesus Christ is Lord,
and beg for mercy, and there's gonna be no mercy.
God will give him the ability to walk for the first time,
right?
Stephen Hawking, a hardcore atheist
that's in hell right now that mocked God,
didn't believe in God.
God will give him the ability to get out of that wheelchair
and bow down and beg for mercy,
and there is no mercy coming.
These wise people that mock Christianity,
and look, these are not harsh words,
because this is not your ordinary person.
These are people that mock Christianity,
and laugh at God, and reject it,
and they are trying to openly teach people
that God is not real.
Richard Dawkins is a wicked person, right?
The most famous atheist in this world,
he is a wicked person.
Here's what Richard Dawkins has said before.
He said teaching Christianity is child abuse,
and the same man said that pedophilia is not wrong.
The same man defends actual child abuse,
but then he says teaching Christianity is child abuse,
and he said that, you know, I think he said
he was molested, and there's nothing wrong with it.
It's not harmful for people.
That's a wicked person, right?
Someone like that, they're not gonna get saved,
and God's gonna make them look like a fool one day.
They're gonna be in hell, and look,
when you listen to them,
it's not that they have evidence against God.
They just don't like the God of the Bible.
Here's the problem.
It doesn't matter whether you like the God of the Bible
or not, he's still the same God.
God's not gonna change to meet what you want.
God is who he is, and you've gotta change
to meet who God is.
That's reality.
Verse 21, for after that in the wisdom of God,
the world by wisdom knew not God.
So it's not the world's wisdom that makes you understand
the true wisdom.
It pleased God by the foolishness
of an apologetics ministry.
Is that what it says?
It pleased God by the foolishness
of a creation evolution debate.
Is that what it says?
It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that belief.
Now realize, he's not saying preaching is foolish.
What he's saying is the world's gonna look at it as foolish.
They're gonna laugh and say, this is foolish, this is dumb.
How can that be possible?
He's saying, but that's the method.
Now that doesn't mean like a sermon.
It means preaching the gospel, right?
Going out, preaching the gospel,
and look, it might seem foolish to the world,
but our church has 195 salvations this week.
We had 195 people that were not only willing to listen,
but changed what they believed, right?
And the world can say that's foolish,
but you know, 195 people would disagree with that, right?
Foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
Now here's the thing, verse 22,
this is the big verse they use, right?
Along with 1 Peter 3.15, 1 Corinthians 1.22
is the big verse why we need this apologetics ministry.
For the Jews require a sign,
and the Greeks seek after wisdom.
I mean, the Jews require a sign,
so we just have to give it to them.
That's what they say.
The Greeks seek after wisdom.
You can't just explain the gospel.
I mean, Ken Ham was famous for saying,
you gotta start in the book of Genesis.
Good night, how long's your gospel presentation?
Starting in the book of Genesis,
it's like, good night, you're gonna get them
to come to church for 20 years before,
I mean, the Jews require a sign,
and the Greeks seek after wisdom,
but that doesn't mean that we give them a sign,
because the only sign is the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
according to Matthew 12, verses 39 and 40,
and the Greeks seek after wisdom.
They wanna understand God by wisdom,
but look, the world by wisdom doesn't know God,
according to the passage.
So giving them what they want doesn't get them saved.
What gets them saved is the word of God.
And what's funny about this is I've seen them use this verse
and I'm like, have you seen the next verse?
They require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom,
but we preach Christ crucified.
Onto the Jews a stumbling block
and onto the Greeks foolishness.
So what does Paul say?
They require a sign, but you know what,
we just give them Jesus Christ.
The Greeks require wisdom, we just preach Jesus Christ,
and you know what, it's foolishness to them,
but that's the method we give them.
There is no plan B, my friend.
This is God's method, we just preach the gospel,
and if they're not gonna get saved that way,
they're not getting saved another way.
It just is what it is.
I mean, I don't know how you could look at this passage
and walk away and say we need an apologetics ministry,
because Paul rebuked that by saying not wise words.
And isn't that what these Christian apologists do?
They use wise philosophical discussions
to prove who God is, and yet the Bible says we don't do that.
Turn your Bible to Romans 1, Romans 1, Romans 1, Romans 1.
Like I said, first sermon long, second sermon not so long.
Don't worry, okay?
Point number one, why is it that we don't believe
in these big Christian apologetics ministries?
They're just unscriptural, you're just not gonna
find scripture to support it.
Why is it that there's no scripture for this method?
Because it's unproductive.
And not only that, it's just unnecessary.
Point number three, it's unnecessary.
You don't need these things to get somebody
saved of another religion.
Romans 1, verse 14.
I am deader both to the Greeks and to the barbarians,
both to the wise and to the unwise.
So as much as in me as I'm ready to preach the gospel
to you that are at Rome also.
Notice verse 16, very important verse.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
for it is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth,
to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
You know what that shows us?
The power is in the gospel.
That's what the Bible says.
The power's in the gospel, the power's in the word of God.
We use the word of God to explain the gospel,
very simple explanation, not a complicated one.
Simply explain the gospel through the word of God.
That gets the Jews saved.
That gets the Greeks saved.
And by the way, it gets the atheists and the Muslims
and the Hindus and the Buddhists and the Jehovah's Witness
and the Mormons and everybody's saved.
That is the method.
You say, Brother Shucky, that's too simple to work.
What Bible verse do you have to support what you're saying?
If you think that's too simple to work,
I'd love to see the Bible against what I'm saying
because I'm admitting what I'm saying
doesn't make sense with man's wisdom.
But yet we base things on what does the Bible say?
And this is what the Bible says we don't need
in the Christian apologetics ministry
because the gospel is the power of God to the Jew
and to the Greek and to everybody.
That is the method, right?
There are people that are atheist or agnostic,
not sure what they believe, not sure if God's real,
and yet the word of God has the power
to reach on the inside to them too.
That's the method.
It's not a creation evolution debate.
Now look, is there some profitable information
in those things?
Yeah, you can learn some things that are profitable,
but the problem is there's a really improper balance.
If you spend all your time just listening
to philosophical discussions, you're wasting your time.
Just read the Bible and the power
is right here in God's word, okay?
Verse 17, for therein is the righteousness of God
and revealed from faith to faith.
Someone who has faith passes on that faith
to somebody else through the words, okay?
As it is written, the just shall live by faith.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men
who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
See, according to verse 18, there are people
that hold the truth in unrighteousness.
Now what does that mean?
It means they hear the truth and they don't like it.
That's what that means.
They hold the truth in unrighteousness
and they say God's not righteous.
It's not fair.
It's not fair that somebody that grows up
in a Muslim country doesn't get a free chance
to go to heaven or an extra chance.
It's not fair that someone that grows up
in a Mormon home has to believe on Jesus
and change what they believe.
It's not fair that somebody that grows up
with parents that are atheists doesn't get a free pass.
That's man's wisdom.
What are they doing?
They're holding the truth in unrighteousness
because the Bible says it is fair, it is right,
it is just, and everybody who goes to heaven
is because they changed what they believed
and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's what the Bible says.
Verse 19, because that which may be known of God
is manifest in them, for God hath showed it unto them.
Look, it's manifest in people that God is real, okay?
For the invisible things of him from the creation
of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power
in God had so that they are without excuse.
And the Bible says, you know what?
He's given us a conscience.
We see outside, we know God is real, he's proven himself.
Now why is it that people will reject the idea of God?
They reject it because there's all these false religions.
There are people that wanna know the truth
and then they grow up in a false religion
and they're thinking this doesn't make sense.
This can't be right, there's problems,
there's inconsistency, so maybe something else is right.
Now there's that group of people and realize
that group of people are gonna be receptive
when you show them the truth
because it is gonna make sense, right?
But then there's also people they don't believe
because they hate the God of the Bible.
They reject it, they say it's unrighteous,
they don't like the God of the Bible.
Here's the thing, they're just not gonna get saved then.
They're making their choice, they just don't like
the message of God's word and it's strange to me
because I love the message of salvation.
I was so happy to hear it, I was so thankful.
I was like man, God loves me, he died for my sins,
it's that easy.
But you know a lot of people, they don't like the message.
Isn't it surprising you get saved
and you're so excited to tell all your family?
You're thinking everyone's gonna love this,
they just haven't heard it.
And then you got your Catholic family
that like hates your guts then.
You're like why aren't they happy?
It's a gift, how dare you say it's a gift?
It's like doesn't make sense to me
but that's because I'm saved.
Doesn't make sense to us because we're saved
but you know a lot of people,
they just don't like this message.
They wanna just work their way to heaven,
they just don't wanna humble themselves
and believe on Jesus Christ.
It is what it is.
Verse 29, verse 29, last verse we're gonna look at
then I'll explain for a little while.
Being filled with all unrighteousness,
fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness,
full of envy, murder, debate.
One attribute of someone who's a child of the devil
that's rejected God, that hates God
is they're filled full of debate
and yet many of the Christian leaders out there
and apologists, they're just filled full of debate.
Now I'm not saying that that means
that they're automatically reprobates
but it certainly makes you wonder.
Like why are they so obsessed with winning debates?
I mean they just seem very Mayabang.
I've gotta look like the smartest guy in the world.
I mean you listen to James White
and it's like can anybody become more Mayabang than that?
It's like that guy is so arrogant, right?
I mean I remember, I can't remember
if it was in that movie New World Over Bible Versions
or in the full length interview with Pastor Anderson
but I remember Pastor Anderson just starts out
and says just introduce yourself.
And look, I give James White credit, he tried to be humble.
He really tried.
I mean he really tried to be humble for 30 seconds.
I'm just kind of a simple ordinary person.
30 seconds later, I've held debates with leading Muslims
in 27 countries across the world
and just goes on and on and on about look how great I am.
That doesn't mean that you're right
about what you're talking about
because you've been in all these countries debating people.
It's like congratulations, okay?
That doesn't mean that you're right.
Look, point number one, these apologetics ministries,
they're unscriptural.
Point number two, they're unproductive.
They just aren't effective and they're just unnecessary.
Point number three, because you can reach people
from every religion around the world
simply with the word of God.
That's the truth.
Now realize this.
If you talk to someone of a unique or strange religion,
it's gonna take more time, right?
I'm not saying that when you talk to a Hindu,
it's like it's the exact same
because you're gonna have to explain the nature of God
and spend more time like in Acts 17.
You know, when I was in Guyana,
I got the opportunity to preach the gospel to many Hindus
and I saw Hindus get saved, but it wasn't in 15 minutes.
It was probably in like 30 minutes, right?
It was more time, but then they heard it.
It's just like that makes sense.
And what I found was that when I talked to Hindus,
most would listen in Guyana.
Most did not get saved though, but some got saved.
Now when I talk to people of other Christian backgrounds,
most actually did get saved when they listened.
So yeah, it's harder with people of other religions
because what they believe is so far
from what the Bible says.
But they can still be reached
without these apologetics ministries, okay?
Point number four, last point,
and we don't have any more verses,
but point number four is this.
Unsaved.
You say, what do you mean?
What I mean is almost every single one
of these Christian apologists is without question unsaved.
Now I don't wanna give a dogmatic opinion
about every single one in this list
because people can have different opinions
and that's fine, but there's no question
the vast majority of the names I'm gonna name
were clearly just unsaved.
They believe just different things than what the Bible says.
Now there's a guy named Charles Mayleek,
and this is actually the only one whose name I did not know,
but apparently he was a famous apologist
from a long time ago.
Now his religion was Orthodox.
Is Orthodox the same as what we believe
and what the Bible says?
Absolutely not.
Orthodox, you know,
because you say that Protestants are like,
you know, like Catholicism, right?
Orthodox is like heavy Catholicism.
It's like Catholicism on steroids.
I mean, they're idols and images,
like it's so weird, it's so creepy, right?
It's more hardcore than Catholic, right?
Here's what he said.
The greatest danger
besetting American evangelical Christianity
is the danger of anti-intellectualism.
Anti-intellectualism is what's destroying Christianity.
I thought sin is what was destroying Christianity.
I thought the fact that these countries
were being filled with a bunch of homos
is destroying Christianity.
I thought a lack of Bible reading,
a lack of soul winning,
a lack of serving God and preaching the truth
is what's destroying Christianity.
Not a lack of anti-intellectualism.
People need to be able to intellectually
and philosophically prove God,
but that is the wisdom of these apologetics experts.
They believe they're like
the greatest Christians in the world.
They really do, right?
The most famous guy before Rabbi Zacharias
was Walter Martin, okay?
Walter Martin wrote the book, Kingdom of the Cults.
Has anyone ever read Kingdom of the Cults?
Nobody.
I read that book when I was like 21 years old
or something like that,
and there's a lot of true and good information in the book
about exposing the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses
and stuff like that,
but the problem is this guy is just not like-minded at all.
Now I'm not giving you a dogmatic opinion of his salvation,
but he certainly isn't like-minded.
You say, why do you say that?
He's not King James only.
There's really no point of listening to someone
talk about the Bible that's not King James only.
And he also, he didn't believe
in the eternal sonship of Jesus Christ.
He believed in the incarnational sonship,
meaning that Jesus became the son at the virgin birth.
Well, now you're messing with the nature of God,
and now I certainly put a major red flag
where I would certainly not think you're saved.
So I hope the guy's just confused,
but I really don't think so
because I think he debated on that topic.
By the way, for the first half of his ministry,
John MacArthur refuted and disagreed
with the eternal sonship of Jesus Christ.
He was a hardcore proponent in the incarnational sonship.
I guess he changed his mind
because it wasn't popular to be a heretic, right?
And too many Calvinists didn't want to listen to him, okay?
But there's no doubt Walter Martin
wasn't like-minded, though, okay?
So why would I want to listen to what he has to say?
William Lane Craig, the greatest Christian debater
of the last hundred years.
Here's a problem with it.
He wasn't a Christian.
He's not a Christian.
He's a Catholic.
So explain to me why Baptists would say
we've got to preach the gospel and get Catholics saved,
but then when you got to get an atheist saved,
well, let's listen to this Catholic
explain to me in a debate for two hours.
Does that make any sense?
It's just like he's not a Christian.
He's not saved.
He's Catholic, okay?
He believes a different gospel.
Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron.
I mean, if you know anything about these guys,
you know they're not like-minded.
You know they're not saved.
They're a hardcore repentance of sins,
and they are the worst debaters
in the history of Christianity.
It's like literally Ray Comfort,
he like, well, hold up a banana,
and he says, this banana,
prove it's the atheist's nightmare is the banana.
He literally says that.
It's like this is embarrassing, right?
He holds a banana.
He says, look how easily the banana peels, right?
This disproves atheism.
It's just like, are you intentionally
just mocking Christianity, right?
Because here's my thing.
Anything created by God proves the existence of God.
I agree that the banana proves the God.
So does the apple.
So does the orange.
So does anything God made.
But like spending 20 minutes explaining
how the banana proves Christianity,
there's your apologists.
Wow, real smarts, okay?
Ken Hovind.
Ken Hovind is just very unclear on repentance.
It's like, what do you actually believe?
Is it salvation by grace through faith,
or is it repentance of sins?
And look, you know, I probably watch Ken Hovind
more than anybody in this room.
You know, I'll have to ask Brother Matthias.
Maybe he's, I know he watched him a lot too in the past,
but he's this big creation expert, right?
And look, he has a lot of good proofs against evolution,
but the problem is those proofs
don't actually get atheists saved.
I'm not saying there's not good information,
but what I'm saying is when I first got saved,
I just watched those seminars for hours
and watched his debates
and watched him debate all these atheists.
I found out that doesn't actually get atheists saved.
It's actually mainly just kind of a waste of time.
Is there true information?
Yes.
Is learning some of the information good?
Probably so, some of it,
but spending all your time learning this proof
that the earth is young
and not knowing how to explain the gospel,
it's a waste of time.
It just is, right?
And by the way, he also believes,
and he's like, on the fence,
do Christians go to hell for a thousand years
if they're bad Christians?
How is that like-minded to us, right?
Dave Hunt, one of the big experts,
he's the big expert in exposing the Mormons
and Jehovah's Witnesses.
Well, there's a problem with him.
He doesn't believe in a literal hell.
This is a guy who's written books
and made a lot of money off Christians buying his books.
It's like, yeah, it's probably pretty easy
to talk to Jehovah's Witnesses
when they say, I can't accept the gospel message
because I don't believe in hell.
It's like, don't worry, there is no hell.
It's like, no wonder you're so good
at talking to Jehovah's Witnesses.
Explain to me what you're getting saved from
if there is no hell.
It doesn't make any sense,
but this guy's made millions of dollars
off Christians that buy his books
and he's the expert and he's not even saved himself.
C.S. Lewis, he wrote Mere Christianity, right?
He did the Chronicles of Narnia, right?
C.S. Lewis did the Chronicles of Narnia,
which is like a morphed version of Jesus, right?
He wrote Mere Christianity.
He was a Catholic.
So why am I gonna read his books
on explaining Christianity
when he believes something different, right?
Hugh Ross, his big ministry is teaching
that the Earth is old.
You say, well, Brother Stuckey, Hugh Ross,
he can reach the evolutionists
that think the Earth is old, right?
No, because if somebody doesn't want to accept
what the Bible says, they're just not gonna get saved.
It's like, the Earth is less than 7,000 years old.
There's just no debate about that.
I mean, if you believe what the Bible says,
you cannot read the Bible and walk away
and say the Earth is four and a half billion years old.
You just add up the dates from Adam and Eve,
this Earth is less than 7,000 years old.
And I don't care if atheists think that's foolish.
I think evolution's stupid.
I think evolution's the dumbest thing
I've ever heard in my entire life.
And honestly, I'm dead serious.
I don't care how popular evolution is.
It's literally the dumbest thing.
It's a very entertaining science fiction story
you'd see in a movie.
How people actually believe that, though, is ridiculous.
It's like all the matter in the world
just condensed into the size of a dot
and just exploded.
And now all of a sudden, it's like the Big Bang Theory,
and it will happen again one day.
And look, just common science disproves that
because some of the planets spin different directions
than the other ones, right?
And the conservation of angular momentum
would mean they'd spin the same way.
Like someone holding onto a merry-go-round that lets go,
their spin stays the same direction, right?
There you go, I disprove scientifically
the Big Bang Theory.
But you know what, that doesn't get people
to say what I just said.
Even though it breaks the basic laws of physics,
the conservation of angular momentum,
that just does not get atheists saved.
I agree, it's foolish, you can disprove it with science,
but that just doesn't get people saved.
Is it interesting?
Sure, it's interesting,
but it doesn't get the atheists saved, okay?
Let's see, here we have just a couple more.
Kinham, Kinham was a Calvinist, loved Charles Spurgeon,
Repentance of Sins, not King James only, okay?
Definitely not like-minded.
R.C. Sproul, Roman Catholic Sproul.
Was that his name?
No, no, no, he was a Protestant
that just would always defend infant baptism
and say it's scriptural, so he was a Catholic,
Roman Catholic Sproul, right?
Baby baptizer, not King James only,
hardcore Calvinist, his big Ligonier Ministries, right?
R.C. Sproul, okay?
Not like-minded at all.
Why would I wanna listen to someone
who's not even saved explain Christianity?
And lastly, Rabbi Zacharias,
the famous apologist who just died.
Well, it turned out that this famous apologist
who just died was a complete pervert and he was a rapist.
He raped a lot of women.
I mean, it's just a fact.
I mean, even the ministry, and here's the thing,
on his ministry, many of the people on staff
are his children and relatives, and they're admitting,
yeah, it turns out our dad just raped a bunch of women
while he was still married to their mom, right?
The kids are saying, admitting,
yeah, you know, he raped a lot of people.
And people are shocked and like,
man, this great apologist of our time,
and then some people are like, man, it's just, you know,
some people were saying great men of God,
it's just they're really good in one area
and bad in other areas, so that's why, you know,
it's like they're trying to defend this guy and everything.
It's like, why are you trying to defend him?
He's a pervert, he's a rapist,
and we don't need these apologetics ministries.
They're a waste of time.
It doesn't sadden me, it doesn't, I mean,
and here's the thing about this.
If this makes Christianity look embarrassing, right,
and people say, man, we can't go
to apologetics ministries anymore, well, praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
I mean, maybe this is good
because people will quit wasting their time
watching all this garbage and just start reading the Bible
and going soul winning and going back to the actual old paths
rather than these parachurch ministries
that are sucking away money from people
and actually doing a good work for God
that are just a waste of time and a waste of space, right?
I mean, look, when his own family is admitting,
you know what, he was guilty.
It's like, what's been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt?
And this is something that he hid for decades.
And he used his position in ministry
where basically he had these things that he owned
and he would basically molest these women
and they felt like they had to go along with it.
He used his position of power, just a terrible person, right,
as a reprobate, didn't even believe.
But you know what, he was very good at debating.
And I'll be dead honest, if there was a topic today,
if he was still alive and we took a topic
and we debated about it, he would probably win.
You know why?
Because he was very good at man's wisdom,
very good at worldly wisdom,
and that's what wins a debate, not the truth.
But here's the thing about this,
those intellectual and philosophical arguments,
that's not actually what wins souls to the Lord.
And you know what, to me,
you might say, Brother Stuckey, this sermon's harsh,
but you know what, honestly, it should be encouraging.
Because when I first got saved,
I used to look at people like this
and I thought these were like the greatest Christians
in the world, like man, I could never be someone like that.
They're so great at winning these people.
Right, my first couple summers I was saved,
I went to Utah, and so I tried to learn
how to win Mormons to the Lord.
Now, here was my foolishness,
I didn't read the Bible to try to figure that out.
I just started studying these apologetics ministries.
And the big one I studied was named
Alpha and Omega Ministries.
Now, who owns Alpha and Omega Ministries?
James White.
Man, he's like my number one person in the US,
I can't stand, it's embarrassing now to say.
But here's the thing, I tried his methods, didn't work.
I memorized every single year
the Mormons made a false prediction.
In 18 whatever they did this,
in 19 whatever they did this,
and you explain it to people,
and guess what, doesn't get them saved.
And now I look back and say, man,
what a waste of time learning all of that information.
Now, here's the thing, if I lived in Utah,
I would probably try to keep some of that information
in memory, because maybe it could be useful to some degree.
But here's the thing that's great,
you don't need to learn all that stuff to win a Mormon.
What you need to do is find a Mormon that's receptive.
And once you find one that's receptive,
if you know the word of God, guess what,
you can get them saved, right?
Let me just give you this example to close here.
Let's say, for example, your job
was to spot counterfeit money, okay?
Now, here's the thing, there's like so many different ways
someone could make counterfeit money.
Is that not true?
People could just do everything they could
to make counterfeit money
that's gonna be a little bit different.
But people that study counterfeit money,
what they do is they don't study
the false versions of money.
What they do is they spend their time
holding the real thing.
And they learn by just picking it up,
how heavy is it, how does it feel, what's the texture?
And then they look at it,
and look, they've studied the real thing so much
that when anything's slightly false,
and all of a sudden they hold it,
man, something's not right, they spot it immediately.
You say, Brother Stuckey,
how does that relate to Christianity?
Look, there is just a million false religions out there.
Go ahead and read every book under the sun
about every religion known to man.
Go ahead and spend your whole life doing that
and not spend time on the word of God,
and tell me how effective it is.
Or know this book, learn this book,
memorize this book, listen to good preaching,
and guess what?
Once you see the fake, you're gonna spot it immediately.
And here's the thing, you're gonna be able to prove
to that person why it's false,
why what they believe is wrong.
Because it's the word of God that converts them,
not these wise intellectual arguments
that these Christian apologetics have.
Let's close in a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us
to be here today and getting to hear this sermon.
Help us to understand why we believe what we believe, God,
and be able to defend our faith,
but not be just overly obsessed with this
and spend all of our time where we're not reading the Bible,
we're not listening to good preaching,
we're not memorizing the Bible.
Help us just study the real thing,
but help us be able to reach people
of other religions, God,
and help us just to use old-fashioned Bible methods
of just knowing the gospel,
being able to explain it like Paul in Acts 17.
We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.
Amen.
Thank you.
SINGING IN LATIN