1 Corinthians 9, verse 1.
Am I not an apostle?
Am I not free?
Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?
Are not ye my work in the Lord?
And Paul's saying in verse 1, you know,
I'm an apostle because I have seen the Lord Jesus Christ,
and this church of Corinth, he says,
you're my work in the Lord.
He got many of them saved.
He preached the word of God to them.
Now, I don't know why Paul wants to take credit for the church of Corinth
because they got a lot of problems,
but that was Paul's work in the Lord.
That's what he says, okay?
Verse number 2.
If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you.
For the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.
Mine answer to them that do examine me is this.
Have we not power to eat and to drink?
Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife,
as well as other apostles and as the brethren of the Lord and Cephas?
And what Paul is saying is there's other apostles that got married.
Cephas or Peter got married.
I have the freedom to get married.
In fact, in the context, notice what it says in verse 1
where it said, Am I not free?
Do you see that phrase?
He has the freedom to get married if he wants to.
Well, I thought the Catholic Church said spiritual leaders can't get married.
Well, in the context here, Paul says, I am free to get married, okay?
In fact, being a pastor, that's one of the requirements to actually be married.
But he is free to get married if he wants.
But in verse 5, I want you to notice what it said.
Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife?
Do you notice how before he mentions a wife, he says a sister?
Now, he's not talking about his blood sister.
He's talking about a sister in Christ.
He's talking about a saved person.
Now, obviously, no one should be dating unbelievers.
You're not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
Don't even go down that road.
So the assumption is when I'm talking about dating in the house of God
that you're dating somebody who's saved in the house of God, not an unbeliever, okay?
But I want you to realize the first thing we need to realize about dating in the house of God is this,
that no matter what happens in the relationship,
you must remember that is your brother or your sister in Christ.
And what I've seen happen at churches is sometimes a relationship doesn't go well
and then both people quit the church.
Now, that hasn't happened here, but I've seen it happen at churches
where two people start dating, it doesn't go well, they're both uncomfortable,
then they both quit the church, right?
That is not the response that we want.
And look, one aspect of dating is the fact that you're mature enough to date.
And if you're not mature enough, then you shouldn't even be dating to begin with, okay?
Go to 1 Corinthians 6, 1 Corinthians chapter 6.
So when you have a relationship at church with a fellow saved person, okay,
you need to remember that is your brother or your sister in Christ.
What does that mean?
It means that if two people date for four months and it doesn't go well,
it means you as the lady don't gossip to your other friends at church
about how bad the guy was that you were dating.
And that happens at church all the time.
In fact, it's always the guy's fault if a relationship doesn't work at church.
The lady's gossip, this guy was such a terrible guy, blah, blah, blah, and everything like that.
Look, that's wrong.
And as the guys, you shouldn't be talking about, well, you don't understand,
this girl was crazy, she was insane.
I mean, it's like, you know, that's your fellow church member.
It's not just some random person you're dating outside of church.
This is not your coworker where if it doesn't go well, no big deal.
It's inside the house of God.
And look, if there's a relationship at church and it does not go well, you know what?
Oftentimes that causes church problems.
It is a very common thing.
Now look, realize I'm not against people at our church dating.
You know, we've had, you know, obviously we've had people get married from this church
that met at this church, and I think that the best place to meet someone is probably not a bar.
It's probably not a club.
I think it's good that you're saying, hey, I want to meet someone in the house of God.
But you need to be mature enough to know how to date.
If you're in a date in our church, somebody else who's saved, okay?
And if it does not go well, you know what, you need to treat it with maturity
and, you know, not be someone who just, you know, gossips about that person and everything like that.
No, if the relationship doesn't go well, that's still your brother or your sister in Christ.
And above all, you do not want to harm somebody's walk with God.
Now attached to that is also the issue of staying pure.
And that is attached to the issue of knowing they're your brother or sister in Christ.
1 Corinthians 6 verse 15.
1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 15.
Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?
Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot?
God forbid.
What?
Know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body?
The Bible's saying that when two people come together physically, as they do in a marriage,
they become one flesh.
The Bible's saying there's an attachment that takes place.
Now look, if you do this before you're married, you formed an attachment.
It doesn't just break apart.
Do you understand what we're saying?
The two get bonded together as one.
So look, if you break up and you start dating somebody else, there's an attachment that's stuck there, okay?
And so look, in the context here, as it's talking about fornication, this is something to avoid.
Verse 17.
But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
Flee fornication.
Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that comitteth fornication
sinneth against his own body.
The Bible says flee fornication.
It does not say do not commit fornication.
Flee is a much stronger word.
What does flee mean?
Think of Joseph in the book of Genesis, right?
He runs out of that house.
That's called fleeing from fornication.
Don't even give yourself the opportunity to do it.
That's what the Bible's saying.
And look, this might sound like old-fashioned preaching, but you know what?
I don't think that people before they're married should be kissing and hugging and making out.
You say why?
You're going down a dangerous road that might end up with a major problem.
And I want you to understand this logically.
Because the Bible gives us the answers on all topics.
Is that not true?
Think of the story of Amnon.
Amnon had a friend, right?
Amnon and Tamar.
Amnon loved Tamar, right?
He wanted to marry Tamar.
Then he forces Tamar.
What happens afterwards?
He's not interested in her.
You know what the Bible's trying to tell you?
Hey, if you go down that road of getting involved physically before you're married,
you will lose actually your interest in that person.
The only interest you're going to have is in a lustful, sinful way.
But not in terms of looking for a partner to marry.
That's what happens with Amnon and Tamar.
It is in your best interest not to go down that road.
And what you must realize is if you start to get involved with someone,
even if you don't commit fornication, what if it doesn't work out?
And you've already slightly become attached to somebody,
and then you're dating somebody else at church six months later.
Look, that sort of stuff causes church problems.
Can you not see that?
This happens all the time in churches.
And then once somebody starts dating somebody else, it causes massive problems.
This happens in churches all the time.
And look, you must remember this is your brother or your sister in Christ.
It's a little bit different if it's somebody at your workplace
where if it doesn't go well, hey, you know what, it's up to you.
You want to go down that road.
But look, inside of church, we don't want to lose church members.
We don't want to cause problems.
We don't want to cause church splits.
And look, you need to be mature in handling that situation.
It does not matter if the world is fornicating all the time.
That doesn't make it okay.
And realize this, just because the world is fornicating
doesn't mean we can change our perspective on what the Bible says
and go to this position where, well, you know, we're not fornicating,
but we're making out and putting ourselves in dangerous positions.
Look, can a man take fire into his bosom and his clothes not be burned?
That's what the Bible says.
You're walking a very, very, very dangerous road, okay?
Turn in your Bible to 1 Timothy 5.
1 Timothy 5.
And I want you to realize that, you know what, both of these sermons,
it's kind of like a step back in history a hundred years.
Because a hundred years ago, everyone would be like, well, of course.
Of course before you're married, you shouldn't be, you know, kissing
and making out and hugging and all that stuff.
But since the world's becoming so bizarre, Christians have this idea,
well, we can start moving this direction.
God doesn't change.
The word of God doesn't change.
I'm telling you, it is a dangerous road you're going down.
And I understand, people have made decisions in the past,
and the past is the past.
I'm not trying to rip on you for something you did in the past,
but starting from now, you ought to apply this to your life.
And we need to teach the young people in this room
that are not at the stage of even dating yet how to date properly.
We need to teach our kids how to date properly.
Now, growing up in the United States,
people date a lot more before they're married than here.
I mean, if you're dating somebody, the chances of getting married are like 1 in 50.
Because people date people all the time.
And at a young age, they consider it cool if you have like a girlfriend or a boyfriend.
So when I was in elementary school, I had some friends that had girlfriends.
They're like nine years old, eight years old, and they had a girlfriend.
Now, usually it meant absolutely nothing.
It was cool to say, hey, I have a girlfriend or whatever.
My parents wouldn't let me date even in high school.
I had to actually be out in college before I was even allowed to date.
My parents are very old-fashioned, and praise the Lord for that.
But there's people that are dating at the age of eight years old and nine years old.
All of us would hear that and say, that's bizarre.
Is it appropriate for eight-year-olds to date?
Of course not.
But why is it that that's wrong?
Why is that that doesn't make sense?
Because realize this, God is the God of the black and white.
Most things in the Bible are not the gray area.
There's one specific reason why eight-year-olds should not be dating.
Here's the reason why.
They are too young to get married.
The purpose of dating is to get married.
And eight-year-olds are not capable of getting married.
Are nine-year-olds capable of getting married?
No.
Are ten-year-olds?
No.
Are eleven-year-olds?
No.
Are twelve-year-olds?
No.
Are thirteen-year-olds?
No.
Are fourteen-year-olds?
No.
Are fifteen-year-olds?
No.
They're too young to get married.
Now, I don't know what the exact cutoff age is, and that's going to vary depending on
the situation and things like that, and I'll give you some principles here in a second.
But look, if you're too young to get married, you're too young to date.
Because the purpose of dating is to find somebody to marry.
And look, if you're going down this road at a young age, you know what?
You're going to harm yourself in the future.
This is for your benefits.
I mean, if you date a lot of people and you're nine, ten, twelve years old, it's a fast track
to committing fornication, and it's also a fast track to getting yourself attached to
people that you're not going to spend your life with.
If you're too young to date, you're too young to get married.
Because the purpose of dating is to find somebody to marry.
Okay?
1 Timothy 5.
So we talked about remembering this is your fellow saved believer, remembering to stay
pure in that relationship, but also you need to ask yourself, are you mentally mature
and financially ready to get married?
Are you mentally mature and financially ready to actually get married?
Okay?
1 Timothy 5, verse 8.
But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied
the faith and is worse than an infidel.
Notice in verse 8 how it says, his own, his own house, he hath denied the faith.
Do you notice how the emphasis is on the guy?
And from the context, you can tell this is the guy because it's going to talk about the
lady several verses later.
The Bible's saying it is the husband's job to provide for a family.
Okay?
It says his own, his own house, he hath denied the faith.
What's interesting is guess what the NIV does not say?
Doesn't say his, doesn't say he, just changes it to their own house.
If any provide not for their own.
It's interesting how the NIV takes away the responsibility from the guy.
Why?
Because the world is changing.
See, God's system is, guess what?
The husband's the head of the home, he's the provider, the wife stays home, she raises
the kids.
Okay?
That's the set pattern in the Bible.
But in the NIV, they just change it because it's not popular in 2020 to say that husbands
are the head of the home.
It's not popular in 2020 to say that guys are meant to provide for their families.
That is what the Bible teaches though.
And notice what it says, his own, his own house, he hath denied the faith.
Verse 14, I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house,
give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully for some are already turned
aside after Satan.
See, the Bible says that the younger women, their goal in life should be to be, get married,
to have children, and to have a family.
That ought to be the number one goal for ladies.
So, guys at a young age, we should be teaching them at the age of four, five, six years old,
hey, this is your responsibility in life.
So, they can prepare for that time period.
We should be teaching this to ladies at a young age.
In the United States, they had the first ever female vice president.
Everyone's so excited.
Kamala Harris, this is so exciting.
The first female vice president.
The first, you know, black vice president, even though she's mostly Indian, right?
It's like she's like one quarter black, but you know, in America, if you got one drop,
then you're 100% black according to them, right?
But it's like the first female vice president, everyone thinks that's so great and everything like that.
Look, that's not the number one goal for ladies in their lives.
It's not the goal to become the CEO of a company, to be really powerful.
That is not the goal.
I remember my sister, she went to college, you know, when she was 15 years old.
And you know, she almost went when she was 13, but my parents thought it was too young,
so she waited.
You know, she's a lot smarter than me.
Okay, my sister.
And my sister, you know, very intelligent.
She skipped three grades growing up and everything like that.
And then my sister, you know, decided to, she got married when she was 17.
She was a senior in college.
And you know what, she has, you know, 10 kids now.
And she stays home and she raises the kids and she homeschools them.
And do you know what everybody in our hometown said?
Oh man, why'd she throw away her life?
She was so smart and she's wasting it by just staying home and raising the kids.
Now, first off, that is a very bastos thing to say.
Very rude thing to say.
And look, you know, if you disagree with people's decisions, that's fine, but you know what,
you don't have to let it come out of your mouth, even if that's what you think.
Okay?
Very rude thing to say.
But how is raising your children throwing away your life?
You see, according to the Bible, that is the number one goal for ladies in their lives,
is to raise those children.
And look, that is built into women.
To have that desire to be a mom and to raise those children.
Okay?
And we need to teach kids at a young age, both boys and girls, not to go along with
the agenda of the world, but to realize, you know, the real value in women is to raise children.
But as guys, what does that mean?
It means you gotta work hard to be ready for this.
Because providing for your family is not easy.
It's difficult.
Look, there's a lot of people here in the Philippines.
I know a lot of people I talk to every month that donate to our ministry, and they're overseas
Filipino workers right now.
They have families here in the Philippines, but they have to provide for their family.
And look, it's a difficult situation, but you know, the Bible says you must provide.
And if that's the extreme you have to go to, you know what, in that situation, that's what
you have to do.
You say, why?
The Bible says, if any, provide not for his own.
But here's the thing, every single one of those people, if they could, they would still
be here with their families.
They do it out of necessity.
Okay?
I want you to realize, young guys that are not at this position right now, hey, bear
the yoke in your youth, because you don't want to be put into a situation where you've
got to do something you don't want to do.
Prepare at a young age to be able to support a family.
Prepare at a very young age.
Okay?
Go to Numbers chapter 30.
Numbers 30.
I don't know the feeling that comes across to a woman when she's going to have a child
and when the baby's born, but I understand what happens in the perspective of a guy.
Okay?
And honestly, you know, if you do not have children, you know, I do not think that you
can fully comprehend this.
But, you know, when you're having a child and then especially when that baby is born,
as the father, there is just this inborn sense inside of you that I must make sure to provide
and take care of this family.
And all of the fathers in this room, they know that feeling.
And you know what?
It's not something that you can fully comprehend until you have that child.
But here's what I want you to understand.
Some people have this idea, man, my life is so tough.
If I only got married, I'd be happy.
If I only had children, I'd be happy.
Look, if that is your attitude, you're never going to be happy.
You need to learn to be happy no matter what stage you are in life.
But I want you to realize this, that yes, you know what?
It's a blessing being married and having kids, but you're also doubling the stress level.
I mean, I wouldn't change being married and having kids for the world, but you know what?
You're adding to the stress.
And I'll tell you what, you know, you would rather prepare yourself ahead of time because
once that baby is born, your amount of stress is going to like triple or quadruple.
Look, every guy in this room who has children, they're kind of laughing right now.
Like, yeah, these young guys are going to figure it out one day.
Look, what I'm trying to tell you is this.
Look, make sure you prepare yourself, okay?
And it's a lot easier to do at a young age than as you get older.
Numbers 30.
So we talked about how dating in the house of God, remember that they are your fellow believer.
Make sure to stay pure.
Make sure you're mentally mature and financially ready.
But the other thing is this, get the parents' approval to date their daughter.
Now I want you to realize something.
If it's a family that's not in our church, maybe it's just the lady at our church,
the situation is a little bit different, okay?
Now I would say, advisably, it would still be smart to get the approval of the parents
and get the parents to like you.
I remember on a Saturday morning driving up four and a half hours to Washington, D.C.
with trembling hands, knocking on the door of my future, you know,
mother-in-law and father-in-law, praying they didn't have a shotgun,
praying that they'll like me and everything,
praying I did the mono correctly and everything like that
and I was respectful and didn't make any mistakes and everything like that.
And I'll tell you what, it's pretty intimidating.
But I'll tell you what, you know, that actually really earns the respect of the lady that you're interested in.
She's thinking, oh man, he must really like me that he was willing to put himself out there like that
and to take that chance.
And look, this is considered very old-fashioned, but you know what?
I believe the Bible is still relevant today.
And I'm going to show you in the Bible, this is actually a biblical thing,
but I'll tell you what, if the family is in our church though,
then you definitely better get the parents' approval.
Okay, notice what it says in Numbers 30 verse 16.
Numbers 30 verse 16.
These are the statutes which the Lord commanded Moses between a man and his wife,
between the father and his daughter, being yet in her youth in her father's house.
And the Bible's saying throughout this entire chapter that basically the parents and specifically the father,
you know what, they are the ones that are the overseer of their children, especially their daughter.
It's the father's job to make sure their daughter stays pure before she goes to the altar.
It's the father's job to make sure, I mean, in this chapter it says the daughter can make a vow
and the father can say, no, I don't agree with that.
Okay, because he is the one who's the head of that household.
Okay, and look, ultimately it is the father's decision whether or not that little girl he has is going to be able to marry you.
Okay, now look, my daughter's very young at this age.
But I'm just telling you my perspective in my mind when she's older, when she's 18, 19, 20 years old.
Look, if there's a guy at her church who's interested in her and he wants to marry her or whatever
and he doesn't come to me about it and I find out about it, then my answer's going to be no.
You say, why? Because I'm old-fashioned.
Because you ought to come to me first.
Okay, and here's what you must understand.
If you're interested in a lady at her church whose family is here, the father is going to do this.
He's going to hear that and then he's going to at least make you wait a couple months.
I mean, that's what I'm going to do with my daughter.
I'm sure all the fathers would say, yeah, we're going to make him wait a couple months.
You say, why? Well, here's the thing.
I like everybody at her church and, you know, I pray for everybody at her church.
But once somebody wants to marry my daughter, I'm going to start paying very close attention to that person.
Right? I'm going to be like a hawk flying overhead, looking at everything they do.
Like when they open the door, I mean, are they polite?
You know, every single thing about them, right?
They're probably going to have to have dinner with us and I'm going to really test them out and see how they act.
You say, why? Because I need to make sure it's someone that I approve dating my daughter
and potentially marrying my daughter, okay?
And what are the questions a guy's going to ask?
Well, realize the father being the head of the home, he's the provider for his family.
And so if somebody's going to be marrying his daughter, he's going to want to make sure that that guy can provide for my daughter.
And he's going to make sure that that guy is respectful and godly.
And look, it's going to take at least a few months to really determine that, okay?
Because another thing you want to make sure is this.
Well, I want to make them wait a little while to make sure they actually really do care about my daughter.
And it's not just that I'm single and I found this girl because here's the thing.
I want to make sure whoever marries my daughter really actually loves and cares about her.
It's not just it's a single guy or a single girl, but I really actually care about this girl, okay?
Now turn in your Bible to Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4.
Now here's the thing. All the advice I just gave, I mean, it might sound like tough advice,
but realize this. It is in your best interest as a guy to apply this.
You say why? Because you greatly increase your odds if you actually come to the father of that family.
It is very intimidating, but I'll tell you what, I've heard plenty of stories
how ladies will talk about how much it impressed them
that the guy actually approached their father and said they were interested, okay?
And this is considered very old-fashioned, but you know what? Numbers 30 is very old-fashioned.
The Bible was written a long time ago, okay?
And look, as a father, you know what? You want to make sure the person who marries your daughter, you approve of.
That takes some time to make sure that you approve of that, okay?
One aspect of behaving yourself in the house of God is dating in the house of God.
Another aspect of behaving in the house of God is this, language in the house of God.
Now when I say language, I'm not saying English, Tagalog, that's not what I'm saying.
I'm saying any words that come out of your mouth, what's coming out of your mouth?
There's a proper way to talk in the house of God.
Ephesians 4 verse 29, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth.
Now in the Bible, communication is more like pamamuhay, not really usappan, but it says out of your mouth,
so it's being very specific with the words that are being said, okay?
He's saying let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth,
but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace onto the hearers.
And the Bible says whatever comes out of our mouth, it ought to be edifying.
It ought to be helpful. It ought not to be corrupt.
Go to Ephesians 5, Ephesians 5, Ephesians chapter 5.
I mean we need to get back to the place in life where young people are respectful to elders,
they are polite to people, they have good words coming out, and the world is very much changing.
The way the TV is and the music is and everything, just everything comes out of their mouth,
just disrespectful and everything like that, that's not how you behave in the house of God though.
The world is crazy, and I understand what goes on at your work.
Everything comes out of people's mouths. That's not how you talk in the house of God, okay?
Ephesians 5 verse 1, be therefore followers of God as dear children,
and walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for sweet smelling saber.
Verse 3, but fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you as becometh saints.
So in verse 3 it's saying don't commit any fornication, don't be covetous, don't be unclean.
Now skip verse 4 for a minute. I'm going to prove a point to you. Notice what it says in verse 5.
For this ye know that no whoremonger, now isn't being a whoremonger pretty similar to fornication?
You say what's the difference? Fornication is the sin itself, whoremonger is the person committing that sin.
It's the same thing, just the emphasis is on the sin versus the person committing that sin.
For this ye know that no whoremonger nor unclean person, now isn't an unclean person pretty similar to uncleanness?
What's the difference? Uncleanness is the sin itself in verse 3, unclean person is the person committing that sin.
Then it says, nor covetous man. Now isn't a covetous man pretty similar to covetousness?
What's the difference? Covetousness is the sin itself, covetous man is the person committing that sin.
See verse 3 is talking about the actual sins themselves, verse 5 is the person committing those sins.
You say what's your point brother Stuckey? Why is verse 5 not verse 4? Did you ever think about that?
I mean wouldn't it logically make sense that if you're talking about the sin and then the person committing that, why isn't it the next verse?
Logically you would think it would be the next verse. But see God is trying to drive home a point in verse 4.
So let us see what verse 4 says. Verse 4, neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor jesting which are not convenient but rather giving of thanks.
And in verse 4, foolish talking and jesting are specifically referring to what comes out of your mouth.
Foolish talking, obviously. Jesting is joking in an improper way basically.
But verse 4 is really emphasizing the words. Verse 3 emphasizes the sin, verse 4 emphasizes the words, verse 5 emphasizes the person committing those sins.
You say what are you trying to say? Well I think not only is it wrong to commit those sins, it's wrong to let that stuff come out of your mouth as well.
That would be a corrupt tongue, a corrupt mouth. There's a reason why verse 4 emphasizes the words, verse 3 is the sin itself, verse 5 is the one committing those things.
Look at verse 6. This includes the jokes we make, this includes the words we say, the way we talk to people and it also includes curse words.
Now look, I do not know the curse words in Tagalog and I'm not interested in learning them.
That's like the only words I'm not interested in learning in the Tagalog Filipino language.
But I do know the curse words in the English language and I'm going to prove a point to you here in a second because I believe when you look at the big curse words in the English language, it is a sin inherently just to say the word.
And I'll give you my biblical basis why. And look, I understand there's a lot of people that have a different view on this and I might be considered to have very makalumang preaching on this, but this is how I was raised.
I was raised in a very conservative family and I have verses I'm using to support this. Think about what is the big curse word in the English language.
The big curse word is a letter coming after E, the F word. That word is the big curse word in the English language.
But the actual definition of that word, what it means, goes along with fornication or being a whoremonger.
The actual definition of it, it's like a very vulgar way, it's like the worst way you could possibly say it, but the actual meaning would fit with fornication and whoremonger.
Think about the other big curse word in the English language, the S word. Doesn't that go along with uncleanness?
Isn't it interesting how the two biggest curse words in the English language are guilty of the exact things it mentions in Ephesians 5 verses 3, 4, and 5?
Now look, I don't know if that's true in the Filipino language or not.
And I'm not saying I have the answer for every single word that's considered a curse word because I understand there can be some gray areas.
But here's what I am saying. Nobody in this room ever hears me cuss at all. Isn't that true?
Nobody ever hears anything corrupt coming out of my mouth. Nobody hears me say anything even close to being corrupt.
I don't think anyone would even say that. I've even heard Brother Stuckey say a word that's even close to being close to cussing.
You say, why? Well, one, because the Bible says this, but two, because when I was a kid and I said something my parents thought were inappropriate,
they pulled out the tongue and rubbed it with soap. You know what that teaches a young kid?
Hey, you know what? It's not worth saying that word. Okay?
And I'll tell you what, I used to think that was extreme when I was a kid, but I'll be honest, as I see that the way people talk,
it's just like, you know what, honestly, unfortunately, my son and my daughter are going to learn the same thing one day.
You say, why? Because you know what, honestly, the world we live in today, people just say everything under the sun.
And look, I do not know if you cuss in front of me, if you're cussing in Tagalog, because I don't know the words.
But I will tell you, I'm giving you a biblical reason why I believe it's wrong.
And I'm giving you a biblical reason why when you get really angry, there ought to be something else coming out of your mouth,
or you ought to learn to have a better attitude about it. You say, why? Because it mentions specifically fornication and uncleanness,
and those go along with the big curse words in the English language. Okay?
Now you say, Brother Succy, I think you're too old fashioned about this.
I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with saying those words.
That might be your opinion. But let me help you realize something.
I am not the only person in this world that was raised in that way.
Other people were raised like that, too.
And I was raised on top of my parents that when people say curse words, it's because they're Bobo and because they're perverse.
That's what I was taught.
Well, you say, Brother Succy, that's not really true. Hey, it might not be true.
But you know what? That's what I was taught.
And since I was taught at a young age that when people curse, I was taught they have nothing more intelligent to come out of their mouth.
They can't think of a word to say because they have very bad grammar, so they just say a curse word.
That is what my parents taught me.
And you know what? There's other people that were taught that at a young age as well.
And the natural reaction when you speak in a perverse way, in a corrupt way, even if you don't think it's perverse,
some people will look at you and just think you're dumb.
And I'm just saying that's how I was raised.
You don't really break the way you're raised.
The way you're raised is just kind of how you end up.
Train up a child and the way he should go when he is old, he will not depart from it.
And you know what? I still have that philosophy.
I'll be honest with you.
I am very shocked sometimes when you listen to sermons online sometimes, and sometimes there's arguments below and everything like that.
And when every F word's coming out and everything like that, and I'm like, what in the world?
And I'm just being completely honest with you.
If my parents walked into a church and they heard people saying that, they would immediately walk out and leave.
And I'll tell you what, there are old-fashioned people here in the Philippines, and if we have perverse tongues, it will cause them to leave the church.
Why? They don't want to raise their kids in that sort of environment.
Man, I dread the day when my son hears a curse word from some other kid at church and then I hear him say a word that I consider is perverse.
And that's where kids often learn from other kids.
But I'll tell you what, we need to know how to behave ourselves in the house of God.
And you know what, that includes the things coming out of our mouths.
And I'll tell you what, it's not even smart to go close to the line of what would be wrong or what wouldn't be.
People will look at you as not being that intelligent and not being that godly if they hear you with a corrupt tongue.
That's just reality, okay?
Turn to 1 Corinthians 14.
Actually, Ephesians 5, let me show this to you.
Ephesians 5, verse 6.
Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
In the context, I think the vain words are referencing what he's talking about in verses 3, 4, and 5, those specific sins.
Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
For ye are sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord.
Walk as children of light.
What does that mean?
It means when you're at your office and somebody gives you a really perverted joke,
instead of just making a chuckle to fit in with your co-workers, you know what you do?
You either walk away or you say, you know what, I don't believe that's appropriate because I'm a Christian.
I don't want to be around conversation like that.
And here's the thing, you say, brother, I don't want to be rude.
Well, if you don't draw that line in the sand, then they're always going to talk like that in front of you.
Look, if somebody at your work uses the Lord's name in vain, you ought to say, you know what, I don't think that's appropriate.
I'm a Christian.
And 95% of people will be respectful enough not to use that word or try not to in front of you.
Until they accidentally hit their thumb with a hammer and then who knows what's coming out, right?
But it's just like, you know what, you ought to draw that line in the sand.
I mean, if people are making perverted comments and jokes and stuff about various things, you know what,
you shouldn't feel comfortable in that environment and you should let people know about that.
Now, I'm not saying to be rude to someone, but I'm just saying you can in a polite way say, you know what,
I'm a Christian, I'm sorry, I don't feel comfortable with this conversation.
Or just quietly walk away and people will get the idea, okay?
You should do that.
And I'll tell you what, if you don't do that, it's going to rub off on you and then you bring that environment into this church.
And then what happens?
Then it rubs off on my children.
I don't want to rub it off on my children.
You need to stop it at the door before you come in.
What's better is actually if you change your heart and you know what, you don't just naturally just say these perverse things.
It just never comes out of your tongue.
Turn to 1 Corinthians 14.
1 Corinthians 14.
So look, I'll be honest, I advocate and this is how I was raised that, you know what,
if your kids say things that are perverse, what do you do?
You wash out the mouth with soap.
I'll tell you what, there's nothing much more disgusting I remember from my youth than just that.
But I'll tell you what, you know, it only happened to me like two or three times, right?
I heard a friend at school say some word and I said it when I got home and then my parents,
what did you say?
And then all of a sudden it's just like, and then all of a sudden I go to the bathroom,
they wash out my tongue with soap and guess what?
The word never came out of my mouth again, right?
It works, okay?
1 Corinthians 14, verse 40.
And so look, when it comes to how to behave ourselves in the house of God,
we need to know how to date in the house of God.
We need to know what proper language we have in the house of God,
the words coming out of our mouth.
Now something I don't want to spend a lot of time on,
because I touched on it last week, is understanding authority in the house of God.
Now since I talked about it last week, I don't want to spend much time,
but 1 Corinthians 14, verse 40, I want to show this to you.
1 Corinthians 14, verse 40.
Decently and in order.
Look, the Church of Corinth had a lot of problems,
and a lot of this stemmed from the fact it was just disorganized.
It was not orderly, okay?
As a church, we need to treat it almost like a business.
I must be about my father's business, where it's very professional,
you know, just everything is just very, very organized.
Now, as I mentioned here in a few weeks, I'll preach a sermon on volunteering
and we can start getting more organized.
I know it's been very magalo this last year.
You say, what are we trying to do here in Manila?
What we're really trying to do is just recreate Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento.
And you say, why?
It's an effective church.
It works.
It's very orderly.
I mean, literally, you know, I know somebody who ended up moving to Verity Baptist Church,
they visited for the Red Op Preaching Conference several years ago,
and the first thing they noticed when they went in,
because this is a person who's very successful in their career,
done a great job raising their kids and stuff like that,
and you know, the first reaction they had within the first five minutes is,
man, Pastor Jimenez does a very good job running this church.
It was very obvious.
Just because it was just done decently and in order,
everything was very structured, okay?
And look, as a church, that ought to be the goal.
You say, why?
It helps remove a lot of potential church problems.
The less orderly you are, the more church problems you're going to have.
I mean, it's just common sense.
So we want things done decently and in order,
and that attaches to the fact of authority in the House of God.
Now, let me give you an example of something.
Outside of the House of God, sometimes we have this philosophy,
and it's not always a bad philosophy,
where it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
Now, we apply that philosophy when we go soul winning in areas
where we know they won't give us approval, right?
You go soul winning in the riverbanks, and our strategy is this.
Hey, you know what? It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
In Sacramento, we go soul winning in apartment complexes
where if we ask for permission, they will say no.
If we don't ask for permission, we'll get a lot of people saved.
They'll ask us to leave. We'll be respectful.
We'll leave, and we'll come back and live to fight another day
six months down the road.
Sometimes that isn't a bad philosophy, but I want you to realize
that's not the proper philosophy in the House of God, though.
I get it that sometimes in life that might be a good philosophy to use,
but I'll tell you what, that's not the proper philosophy in the House of God.
1 Corinthians 6.
You say, Brother Sucky, this sermon's rough.
Look, the second sermon's rougher.
I told you, this is the hardest hitting one, two sermons I've had,
dating in the House of God, language in the House of God,
authority in the House of God, and finances in the House of God.
1 Corinthians 6, notice what it says in verse 1.
Dare any of you having a matter against another
go to law before the unjust and not before the saints?
Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?
And if the world should be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
In the Church of Corinth, amongst all of their problems,
one problem they had was people were suing one another at church.
We don't know why they were suing one another
or what was the stem of the money problem, but that's the reality, okay?
Verse 3, know ye not that we shall judge angels?
How much more things that pertain to this life?
If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life,
set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.
I speak to your shame.
Is it so that there is not a wise man among you?
Know not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?
But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.
Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you,
because ye go to law one with another.
Wouldn't it be embarrassing at our church
if we have brothers and sisters in Christ suing one another?
That'd be an embarrassment, wouldn't it?
It's like, you know, hey, what are you doing tomorrow?
Well, you know, I'm going to the courthouse
because I'm suing brother Marlon tomorrow.
It's like, that would be kind of embarrassing.
It would be a shame to the church, wouldn't it,
if people are suing one another?
That's what's taking place here in 1 Corinthians.
That's what it's talking about.
It says, why do ye not rather take wrong?
Why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?
You see, the Bible says if there is a financial issue
with one of your brothers or sisters in Christ,
you ought to be willing to take the wrong in the situation.
Now we do not know why there's this problem at church.
You know, it might be because they're doing business together
or maybe there's money loaned or something like that.
We're not really sure.
Go to Galatians chapter 6, Galatians 6.
Galatians 6.
Here's the thing.
Not only when you date in the house of God
you need to make sure that you're financially ready
and mentally mature enough to date,
but if you're going to do business with people at church,
you need the same philosophy.
You need to make sure that you're mature enough for that situation.
Because here's the reality.
Sometimes there's disagreements, okay?
Honestly, this is what most pastors suggest.
They say in general it's good not to do business with people at church
because sometimes it leads to problems.
And sometimes, you know, both sides might end up being mad
or disagree about it, right?
Now I've heard of some extreme examples.
Like I remember I mentioned in a sermon before, you know,
Brother Jared in California, someone at church,
he basically, you know, stole $500 from him and everything like that,
where basically he gilded him into giving him money for like an operation.
He's like, Oh, I didn't need the operation, but he kept the money, right?
I mean, that's a pretty extreme example.
Hopefully we wouldn't have something like that.
But the reality is sometimes people do business with people.
Now it's not wrong.
It's not a sin to do business with people.
But if you do, you know what?
You ought to make it as professional as possible
and have guidelines and not just kind of some random thing
because that can lead to problems.
Things should be done decently and in order.
Now notice what it says in Galatians chapter 6.
Galatians 6.
Now we know the verses about reaping what you sow and everything like that,
but I want you to notice the verses after.
Verse 9,
And let us not be weary in well-doing,
for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.
Now many times when we look at these verses in Galatians 6,
people focus on the fact that you better not commit that sin
because you're going to reap what you sow.
That's a good application.
It's not the only application.
Or sometimes they would say as believers,
hey, you ought to be reading the Bible till the day you die
and going soul winning because you know what?
You're going to reap from that.
That's a good application as well.
It's not the only application though.
Look at verse 10.
As we have therefore opportunity,
let us do good unto all men,
especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
Do you see, the context is not, you know,
do good unto all men, do as much soul winning as possible.
No, he says even above the unbelievers,
do good unto those that are your saved brothers and sisters in Christ,
especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
And you know, what I found in this world
is that when people really treat their brothers and their sisters in Christ correctly,
they reap a reward from that.
And this is a biblical thing.
And so when it comes to integrity in our finances,
you want to make sure you have integrity,
especially with fellow church members.
And what I believe God's going to bless you for that.
You say, what? Why?
That's the context of Galatians chapter six.
Okay, go to John chapter two.
John two.
John chapter two.
We ought to have this attitude that, you know,
we love our brothers and sisters in Christ,
you know, above anybody, right?
You know, even Jesus said,
I don't pray for the world.
I pray for those that are saved
and those that will get saved is what he says,
paraphrasing, right?
As a church, we ought to care about our church family
above people outside of our church.
And look, God is going to bless you
if you actually really treat your fellow church members.
And this goes along with all the points,
whether it's dating in the house of God or language,
caring about your church members more than yourself, okay?
And if we would do this, you know what?
It would greatly reduce the church problems that we have, okay?
One aspect of proper finances
is when you do business with people at church.
Another thing is selling in the house of God.
Selling in the house of God.
John chapter two, verse 13.
And the Jews pass over was at hand,
and Jesus went up to Jerusalem
and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves
and the changers of money sitting.
So in verse 14,
there's people that are sitting in the temple of God
and they're selling animals.
Now, some people look at this and they say,
well, the problem is this is not a spiritual thing.
They're selling animals.
No, this is before Jesus died on the cross.
These animals are going to be sacrificed.
They were used for a spiritual nature, okay?
And that's the whole reason why they would be selling it
because they know, hey, this would be a great place,
you know, to sell this because we make a lot of money
because people, it'd be like, for example,
if people were selling Bibles right in front of our church,
thinking, hey, if there's first-time visitors,
this is like the great people to market to.
It's like, yeah, it would be an effective strategy.
That's why they're selling something of a spiritual nature
because they realize, hey, you know what?
We could make money in this situation.
Verse 15,
And when he had made a scourge of small cords,
he drove them all out of the temple and the sheep and the oxen
and poured out the changer's money and overthrew the tables.
Now, look, I understand there's these movies
like the Jesus movie where Jesus has long hair
and he's always nice and everything.
I don't really think you can fit that with the context here, right?
I mean, he makes basically a whip
and he overthrows the money and everything
and he's just causing mass chaos, okay?
That's not the Jesus with long hair who, you know,
can't even bench the bar at bench press and everything.
No, I mean, this is a tough guy, right?
He flips over the money changers, flips over everything.
Verse 16,
And said unto them that sold doves,
Take these things hence.
Now, notice he does not say stop selling this item.
He says take these things hence.
What does hence mean?
It means some other place.
Some other place.
He's saying, you know, it's not wrong what you're doing.
There's nothing wrong with having a business,
nothing wrong with making money.
In fact, in today's world,
honestly, a smart thing to do when there's financial problems,
starting a business is a good,
it's a good time to start a business.
It can really take off.
You can make money.
That's a very smart thing to do.
But what Jesus is saying is this.
You know what?
Don't do it in the house of God.
Why?
Make not my Father's house and house of merchandise.
And, you know, what I believe is this,
that when we have integrity with our finances,
God will actually bless us more in the latter end.
That's what I believe, right?
If we have integrity with our finances,
and look, that blessing might mean you get a raise at your work
and you never realized that was God giving you that raise
based on the fact you had integrity.
But look, the Bible said do good,
especially under them who are of the household of faith, okay?
And see, the Bible says we're not to sell in church.
Now, there's nothing wrong with having a business.
There's nothing wrong with,
and look, I'm not even against if people at church
they buy something from someone else,
but we don't want to make this in the house of God.
I mean, you've got these churches
that are non-denominational type of churches.
They've got like a coffee shop
where they're selling stuff and everything like that,
and it makes the church a mockery.
The first thing when they come in is they see the coffee.
That's what catches their eye, right?
You know, that is not how we operate a church.
Now, look, our church, we don't sell anything.
I mean, I've never sold anything at our church and said,
you know what, you want to go soul winning?
Well, I mean, these invitations, I mean, they cost money, right?
And so we'll give you a deal, right?
These cost us three paces.
We'll sell them to you for two paces apiece,
and look, I've heard of Independent Fundamental Baptist Church
is doing that.
If you go soul winning,
you have to buy invitations from the church.
Imagine why they're soul winning programs.
I can't understand why our soul winning program's not taking off.
Nobody wants to go soul winning.
It's like, yeah, because you're forcing them
to buy the invitations.
I mean, can you imagine going soul winning
like that door to door?
You're going door to door and everything like,
oh, yeah, can I get an invitation?
No.
I mean, it costs them a couple paces, right?
I mean, literally, sometimes you go soul winning
and people think you're trying to sell them something
because, you know, people do that sort of stuff, right?
I mean, that's obviously not appropriate
when we're going soul winning either.
Like when I first came here
and I was getting better explaining the gospel in Tagalog,
sometimes when I use the gift example,
they thought I was trying to sell them, right?
Because I wasn't as clear with saying,
and explaining what I meant by that.
And like, oh, okay, no, no, don't give me money, right?
I don't want the curse of God on my life, right?
But it's just like, you know,
there's nothing wrong with selling.
There's nothing wrong with having a business,
but it's not appropriate in the house of God.
And look, when we have integrity with our finances,
I believe God is gonna bless us in the latter end for that.
Our church, we don't sell anything.
Now, here's the thing.
Obviously, stuff costs money.
Now, the way you get the money for church is through tithes,
which I'll be preaching on in a couple of weeks.
Tithes and donations people have,
and offerings and stuff like that.
Obviously, stuff costs money.
It's gonna come from some source.
But the way church is supposed to operate
is that you know what?
You don't sell in church,
and the church survives off the tithes and offerings.
What does that mean?
It means if our tithes are low,
the amount we spend is gonna be less, right?
Now, I believe God's really blessed our church.
You know, I'm amazed just in a couple of years as a church,
God has really blessed us with a lot of things.
I didn't know that we'd be able to have and everything.
God has really blessed us as a church.
But you know, if the money doesn't come in,
you know, you don't spend it.
Now, that ought to be the way we operate
in our personal lives too as well with our money,
which a lot of people don't do.
But look, if the money doesn't come in,
then you don't have money to spend, right?
You gotta be smart with the finances you have, okay?
So what did we talk about in the sermon?
We talked about dating in the house of God.
There is a proper way to behave yourself
in the aspect of dating in the house of God.
And the main thing to take away is to always remember
that is your brother or your sister in Christ.
And if there's problems in that relationship
or you start going down a road physically with that person,
you can be causing long-term problems to their spirituality
and to our church as well, okay?
If you're going to date in our church,
hey, that's okay if you wanna date at a church.
Make sure you're mentally mature enough,
financially prepared, and make sure you realize
they're your brother or sister in Christ.
In terms of language in the house of God, okay?
Look, everything we say, we oughta make sure, you know what?
Ask ourselves, is this appropriate to say?
I was at a church one time, you know, over a decade ago,
and this person was new to church, okay?
And I want you to realize something.
The aspect of behaving ourselves in the house of God,
if people are new to church,
they might not know all these things.
They oughta understand by seeing the way
all of us act as a church,
and they're gonna learn just by seeing it.
That's gonna have even more impact
than maybe even my words that I say.
They just see things happen, and they just replicate it, right?
But I remember somebody was new to church,
and they told a joke around me,
one other church member, and the pastor, okay?
And I'm not gonna repeat the joke.
It was very inappropriate, okay?
But they told this joke,
and then all of us are just like,
we just, very awkward.
And then after a couple seconds,
they're like, that wasn't appropriate, was it?
We're like, no, that wasn't appropriate.
It was the sort of joke that would get a lot of laughs at work.
And I'll tell you what,
here's the thing, behaving in the house of God,
honestly, these things we should really apply
outside of the house of God as well.
But unfortunately, if people are not around church
and they don't have this sort of system,
maybe they aren't applying these things.
When it comes to our language in the house of God,
the things we say, make sure they're edifying.
Make sure they're not harming people,
they're not hurting people.
Make sure they're not perverse.
Make sure they're not sinful.
You know, with dating, with language,
with authority in the house of God.
Now remember, I'm the one leading this church
underneath the authority of Pastor Jimenez, okay?
And we need to have integrity with our finances.
And I'll tell you what,
if we apply these things as a church,
this will greatly reduce our church problems.
Many problems come just from these four things
that I mentioned here today.
Let's close in a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father,
thank you for allowing us to be here today
and just getting to see your word
on these various different topics
and help us as a church family, God,
to be a church that's very mature
and that loves one another
and we know how to behave ourselves properly, God.
We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.