🎵Music🎵
Alright good morning
everybody welcome to Verity Baptist Church
take out your bulletin here today
and our verse of the week is
Genesis 2 verse 7 the Bible reads
And the Lord God formed man of the dust
of the ground and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life and man became a living soul
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 a mother baby room back there for your
convenience as well as the ladies restroom
the men's restroom is up here in front
remember no eating during the services
and maintain a professional atmosphere
and keep the children from running and making noise
during the church service. On the next
page are service times listed. Our first
service is at 10 AM then a short
break in our 1130 service
Wednesday evening Bible study is at 7 PM
our so many times are listed
during the bulletin
Wednesdays two hours before the church service
at 5 PM on Saturdays
from 10 to 12 morning session
lunch is provided by church and then
the afternoon session of soul winning
and then we have soul winning
this afternoon at around 2.15 PM
obviously people go soul winning throughout the week as well
if you want to go with other people but those are official
times and our salvation's are
listed there for January for here in Manila
214 salvation's year to date
not including this past week
birthdays and anniversaries are listed down there
below quite a bit in January both of my kids
are born in January
and on the next page are
Bible memorization challenge so
I did change this section a little bit if you
notice in your bulletin because I know
nobody ever pays attention to announcements
it's just the way it is at churches but I made
a change here you know maybe you wouldn't notice
I'm not sure but for the memorization
challenge you know
it's been this way anyway but I just kind of
wrote it officially any chapter you memorize
in the Bible we're going to give you a
prize for any chapter
okay and so
obviously it makes sense if I'm preaching through a book
it's a good book to study and everything but
I'm starting Daniel and I'll be honest
because I'm in Daniel 4 right now with the memorization
it's a tough book to memorize
right it's very very difficult
I mean it's an awesome book but it is a hard
book to memorize so you know
anything you memorize is going to be profitable
so whatever encourages you to memorize even if you
pick the shortest you know chapters in
the Bible that's perfectly fine
you'll get one candy or snack prize
for any chapter memorized
chapters must be individually quoted perfect
so I did want to make a note on that
because I'll be honest I'm not
the toughest critic if somebody quotes a chapter
to me like if somebody says on
two versus two I'll just kind of
briefly mention it to them I don't want to be that
strict with it I don't want it to just
be a free for all where basically you just read
the chapter and made a thousand mistakes and you
get the prize but if someone
you can tell has obviously spent the time to memorize
and they just have a few minor issues
I think you should give them the benefit of the doubt
because I'll be honest you memorize a chapter
and then you still make like one mistake
over and over and over again so I don't
really know how to write that in the bulletin but just
if somebody quotes it to you it's okay if there's
like minor mistakes you can always have
them hey you know retry that verse this is the
first word or something like that I
just want to motivate people to memorize the Bible
and also next week I want to put something in the
bulletin for I want to get kids involved
in this if they want to be and for kids they
might not be able to memorize the whole chapter
but for memory versus for example I
would love it if my son he's turning four
on Friday I don't know if
he'll be able to when he's four or not but if we can
start getting memorized one verse then that's a
pattern that develops in your life when
you get older so I've got to figure out
what the age is going to be for that but obviously we
don't expect a five year old to
memorize a whole chapter but we want to get
them involved and who likes candy more than
kids right so
praise the Lord though if they memorize chapters
or memorize verses it's going to be helpful for them
so just want to make note of that
but we do have a prize if you memorize a chapter
perfectly and also for the kids if they
would quote a verse upcoming
activities so we have our
chess tournament next Sunday who's
excited about that right
so I had to think of a way
to make the rules in my favor
favor so I have a better chance of winning
so I was thinking about a rule if you've tested positive
for COVID in the month of January
then you
can't compete you know I'm sorry brother
Franklin but it's just like it is what it is
it's the rules right
that's I just think that's fair right
we want to be safe and everything so that's what
I was thinking about making for the rules but
anyways just kidding on that but
I will say this that if
you're going to be in the chess tournament next week
obviously you know it's fun you know
if you play and you don't win it's fine
you know most of us obviously there's only
going to be one winner it's perfectly fine
I will say this though if you know how to play
chess a five minute game is
very different so I'm just trying to help
you out go online and practice a couple
times because your first game you're either
going to run out of time or you're going to
make a million blunders because you're like
panicked you know you need to get
down like practice to really understand
the time it's very hard
right I've been doing some practice games because
I'm competitive I want to win and everything
I was against a computer doing very well
but I ran out of time it's like I got a rook
and a queen all they got is a pawn I couldn't checkmate
them though in time I'm like man
it's like this five minute rule so if you want to compete
in the tournament just to give you a heads up
get some practice games in for a five
minute game because it's very very different
than a long game it's very
hard so anyways that will be
next week hopefully a lot of people will be able to
to compete in the tournament depending
on how many people are in the tournament we'll figure out
what our structure is for example
if we have six people we might divide into two groups
and we got four chess
boards that I'll be bringing we have two already here
I'll bring two more just like that and
so we'll figure out the structures and the rules and
everything but also I
think what we're planning on doing is playing
chess online pretty much every Thursday
if anyone wants to play right
now we're doing five minute games
because we've got this tournament coming up
most likely you know
we'll change that sometimes it won't always
be five minute games because the one thing about five minute games
at least for me at the level I
am I just try not to make a mistake
and move quickly it's very different
than you know
strategy right really building
strategy so it's very different
I kind of like the longer games but
obviously longer games is kind of hard you know
for a tournament everything so we have the five minute games
but it's fun you know we have a
couple people from humhanga that I think are going to be
joining one of them just learned chess last week
so but that's how you learn
right you play and you get better
so you know praise the Lord for that it's
just like if we had a basketball game at church
everybody would be invited
to play right even if you're a beginner
it's just a source of fellowship so
next week is a tournament but like
on Thursdays we're just kind of
playing for fun and for practice and fellowship
so you don't have to be like oh I don't think I'm going to win
so I'm not going to play right it's just for
fun so obviously it's up to you I'm not
forcing you but it's a good source of fellowship
I enjoy chess also
coming up in a couple weeks is our
married couple sweetheart
banquet and
I think I have
the date wrong
what day is Sunday in February that doesn't seem
right is it February 13th
13th
right does anyone have
where's that right
13th
ok I thought because that was 15 days after
I was like that doesn't make sense because Sunday Sunday
it should be so
February 13th obviously you know
on Sunday after you know
soul winning and everything we did that
last year it's going to be fun and so part of
it if you're new to our church
or newly married since the past year
is there is a trivia game
ok so now's the
time to start learning the basics like
you know your wife's middle name
what month was she born
right you know what's your wife's favorite food
you know steak I'm a vegetarian honey
what are you talking about right those are
the sorts of things because if you don't win it's fine
but you don't want to just completely just
you know fall flat on your face
right so now's the time to start talking to your
spouse and so that's going to be
fun we have that in a couple weeks also
our New Testament Bible reading challenge so we basically
have a little bit more than one week left
and so if you read all of the New Testament
in January then you will get a prize
we have lots of snicker bars
back there you'll get a prize for reading it
and current and upcoming series we are starting
the book of Daniel today we are
still in false philosophies and Genesis
on Tuesdays information
on our group chat and then on the back
there is a place for notes for the sermons
here today so I believe that's it for
announcements at this time we will have brother Marlin
lead us in another song
yes
you
all right turn to Genesis chapter number
two in your Bible Genesis chapter
number two Genesis
chapter number two
and
as
our custom is at Verity Baptist
Church we'll read the entire chapter
of Genesis chapter two
Genesis chapter two
Genesis
chapter two starting at verse number one
the Bible reads
thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all
the host of them and on the seventh day
God ended his work which he had made and he
rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made
and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified
it because that entity had rested from all his
work which God created and made
these are the generations of the
heavens and of the earth
when they were created in the day that the Lord
made the earth and the heavens and every
plant of the field before is in the earth and every
herb of the field before it grew for
the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth
and there was not a man to till the ground
but there went up a mist from the earth and water
the whole face of the ground and the Lord God formed
man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life and man
became a living soul and the Lord God
planted a garden eastward in Eden and there
he put the man whom he had formed and out of
the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that
is pleasant to the sight and good for food
the tree of life also in the midst of the garden
and the tree of knowledge of good and evil
and a river went out of Eden to water the
garden and from thence it was parted and became
into four heads. The name of the first is
Pison that is it which compasseth the whole land
of Havilah where there is gold and the gold
of that land is good there is Dallium and the
Onyx stone and the name of the second river is
Gihon the same as it that compasseth the whole
land of Ethiopia. The name of the third river
is Hedekul that is it which goeth
toward the east of Assyria and the fourth river
is Euphrates and the Lord God took the
man and put him into the garden of Eden
to dress it and to keep it.
And the Lord God commanded the man saying
of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely
eat but of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil thou shalt not eat of it for
in the day that thou eatest thereof thou
shalt surely die. And the Lord God said
it is not good that the man should be alone
I will make and help meet for him.
And out of the ground the Lord God formed every
beast of the field and every fowl of the air and brought them
unto Adam to see what he would call them. And whatsoever
Adam called every living creature
that was the name thereof. And Adam
gave names to all cattle and to the fowl of the air
and to every beast of the field. But for Adam
there was not found and help meet for him.
And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall
upon Adam and he slept and he took one of his ribs
and closed up the flesh instead
thereof. And the rib which the Lord God
had taken from man made he a woman and brought
her onto the man. And Adam said this is
now a bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh
she shall be called woman because
she was taken out of man. Therefore shall
a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave
unto his wife and they shall be one flesh
and they were both naked the man and his wife
and were not ashamed. Let's open in a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father thank you for allowing us
to be here today in your house and ask you right now to
help us put aside all distractions from
our minds. Help us to be focused on your word.
Please give me boldness and clarity to deliver
your message and help us to be attentive. We pray this
in Jesus' name. Amen. So we're continuing
our series on false philosophies
and the name of the philosophy we're covering
in this sermon is called
animism. Animism.
Now who's familiar with that term animism?
You know it's probably not the most famous term
I see one hand, right?
It's not the most common name
but I would say this that a lot of the philosophies
we've already covered fall underneath
the umbrella of animism.
Okay now let me just give you a definition here
of animism and then I'll explain.
It says animism is
the belief that objects, places
and creatures all possess
a distinct spiritual essence.
Potentially animism
perceives all things, animals, plants,
rocks, rivers, weather
systems, human handiwork
and perhaps even words as
animated and alive. Animism
is used in the anthropology of religion as a term
for the belief system of many indigenous peoples
especially in contrast to
the relatively more recent development
of organized religions.
And so what animism teaches
is that not just human beings
but all animals,
plants, rocks
and the river are basically
you know spiritual as well.
They have a spirit to them and they're also
alive. I mean even human
handiwork. So some people would say
that this pulpit is as
much alive and breathing as I
am. Right? Now that's pretty crazy
you'd say brother Stuckey what religions would
believe that? Hinduism?
Right? I mean Hinduism
believes that God is represented in everything
and there's life in everything. Right?
They're so paranoid about you can't kill a bug
you can't kill any insects
you know the cows you know are
just as important as you and they're like
gods and everything. Hinduism is a
big example. That's not their big focus
but Hinduism is an example of that.
Buddhism is an example of that.
Last week we talked about Jainism
they're so worried about the bacteria in their mouth
that they're against brushing their teeth.
Right? I mean this is this extreme
version of animism where you say everything
has life. Some of the other examples
are the old Norse religion
shamanism
pretty much any natives in Pampanga
the Aidas are very common
and you know when Mount Pinatubo took place
the Aidas just kind of stayed
and just let themselves die
because of the fact they worship
mother nature. They worship the river
they worship the volcanoes
they worship those gods and they're praying
to those gods and they said no we're going to
stay here we're just going to pray to them
instead of fleeing and the only people that died
were them. Right? Because
of this weird and warped idea
that rocks
and a river have life to them
and they have a spirit to them. I mean
if you live a bad life here on earth you might
get reincarnated as a rock.
That's the sort of belief they have.
Right? I mean this is crazy
and here's the thing. It sounds
crazy to us because this is
basically a Christian country.
Right? I'm not saying most people are saved
but what I'm saying is this is the
one country in Asia that is
like a westernized
view. Right? Very similar to
America where Christianity is the dominant religion.
You go to these other countries though
and it's crazy the eastern
philosophies that they believe in
all these warped ideas and you're like this doesn't
make any sense. Like how could
they believe this? Right? The old beliefs
in the Philippines with bahala and
those sorts of beliefs.
It's very similar to animism.
Now we don't really use this term anymore
because there's these major religions
that have come in but these are the sorts
of beliefs. But really
the one religion or
one country that really kept this for
a long period of time where it wasn't
just the beliefs of the natives but became
basically the religion of the
country was Japan with
the religion and philosophy of Shinto.
Right? Now in our modern
day if you're to ask people in Japan
you know what their belief systems
are who knows what they're going to say.
Right? You look at polls
online it will say well they're
85 percent Shinto and 80 percent
Buddhist. Look I know not everybody
majored in math but 85 percent plus
80 percent is a lot more than 100 percent.
But what they say is you're
born a Shinto and you die a Buddhist.
That's the sort of phrase. And basically Shinto
became part of the culture itself.
Nowadays I don't think people
would really say they believe it but here's the thing.
If you look at religions like Christianity
it never caught on in Japan.
It was illegal in Japan for quite
a long time. It was rejected.
And a lot of countries, Islam
has taken over. It didn't take over in Japan.
Right? In Japan they had this
weird warped view and it became this
massive just country wide
view. They also used to believe that their
emperors were basically God
on Earth. Right? Just a
weird warped idea. Now let me read you about
Shinto so you can understand what I'm talking about.
Here's what it says about
Shinto. And nowadays
in Japan people go to these Shinto shrines
and I don't think most of them really believe it.
It's just kind of well that's what my grandma
did. That's what my granddad
did. So that's what I do. Kind of like people
growing up Catholic. It's like well why are you
Catholic? Well my dad was a Catholic.
My granddad was a Catholic.
Right? We've been Catholic for
generations so do you believe it?
I don't know. Right? But they just
kind of do it because it's tradition.
Here's what it says about Shinto.
Shinto gods are called Kami.
They are sacred spirits
which take the form of things
and concepts important to life.
Such as wind,
rain, mountains,
trees, rivers
and fertility.
So basically you could look at a mountain and say
you know what that's a god. It's real.
It's got a spirit to it. It's alive.
It's a Kami or this spirit
which could be your dead ancestor
or just some sort of ghost-like angel
creeping around that just kind of
became that mountain.
It's like what in the world?
Is this a science fiction book?
Right? I mean just crazy but that's
what they believe. That's what Shinto teaches.
Humans become Kami after they
die and are revered by their families
as ancestral Kami.
So basically when you die you're just
kind of floating around in space
and you become kind of like at one with
the universe. Now in some of these other
Eastern philosophies like Hinduism and Buddhism
the goal is to
stop being reincarnated.
And basically your soul is not at
rest until boom you're no longer
reincarnated. Right? So there's
kind of some similarities
there. With Shinto
you die and you become like a Kami
that's just kind of floating around and then
families will revere their dead ancestors
that have passed away.
Now biblically speaking when you die you're in
heaven or earth. You're not floating
around in outer space.
Right? You're in heaven
or in hell. Not heaven
or earth. Heaven or hell forever
there's no second chance
it's forever. Right?
And it says the Kami of extraordinary people
are even enshrined at some shrines.
The sun goddess
Amaterasu is considered
Shinto's most important Kami.
So you look at a religion and philosophy
that basically worships the sun and yet
throughout human history having a lot of religions
worship the sun and worship the moon
and worship the stars
and worship the rivers. Right?
This belief of animism
is very widespread. Throughout
human history many people believed it and in
today's world many people believe it.
There are people that would say that this
is alive. Literally
people would actually say that. That
this is alive and you know you can't
harm it. Right? Because you might get
reincarnated into something worse if you
harm this you know container of
water. Right? Just bizarre
weird beliefs. Okay? You say
well how do you disprove that from the Bible?
Well point number one there's a difference
between humans and the rest of
creation. There's a major
difference between human beings
and the rest of God's creation.
Okay? Genesis
2 verse 7
and it says in the Lord God
formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life and
man became a living
soul. See when you look
at human beings we have
a soul that is going to spend forever in
heaven or in hell.
Right? This pulpit
does not have that. Right?
Animals don't have
that. Plants don't have that.
A river doesn't have that.
Right? We have a soul that's either
going to spend forever in heaven or in hell.
Now in this verse we're basically seeing
the trinity because it says or I mean
not the trinity but the fact that we have
three parts to our body. Body flesh and
spirit. We have body
spirit and soul I should say
because it mentions soul. You see the body
and the fact that it's a living soul
that there's life to it is indicating
the spirits. Okay?
And we are made up of body
soul and spirits.
This pulpit
is not made up of body soul and spirit.
If you want to say body
as in there's something here, an object
okay, but there's no soul
there is no spirit to this pulpit.
Right? Now sometimes I feel foolish
preaching some things. It's like isn't that obvious
Brother Stuckey? Well not to half the world.
Right? There's no
soul or spirit in this container.
Right? Now
turn to Genesis chapter 3.
Genesis 3.
Genesis chapter 3.
See a
light version of animism
is when you start to basically
worship animals. So if you want an easy
way to remember animism think of animals
because basically if you're an
animist you really lift up
animals like really highly.
And you would basically say well animals
you know have a spirit
and a soul just like human beings.
And if you're a good animal you go to heaven.
If you're a bad animal you go to hell.
People believe that. Right? People believe
that their dog if their dog is a
good dog it's going to go to heaven forever.
Right? That's not what the Bible teaches.
The Bible teaches that human
beings have an eternal soul.
Animals do not. When animals
die they're dead.
Right? Now look I'm not saying
there's anything wrong with liking your pet.
If you've got a dog or you've got a cat.
Look I had a dog growing up.
I love my dog.
Most of the passwords on my computer
have the name Sammy in it
which was the name of my dog as a kid
because when I first started on email
and all that stuff it's just like
you know I put my dog's name there.
Look there's nothing wrong with loving your dog or loving
your cat but just realize
it doesn't have an eternal soul.
It's going to die and it's dead.
And that's it.
God did not put animals on the level
of human beings. And in our
modern day people are trying to lift up
animals as if they're on the same level of human
beings. There's no comparison between
a human that dies and
an animal that dies.
Literally an animal could attack
a human being and kill a human
being and then people would be outraged
if you say that animal should be put to death.
And it's like
what kind of a warped idea do people have
in 2022? Animals
aren't human beings.
Human beings are above animals.
They're better than animals.
And animals are an animal
that's going to die and that's it.
That's what the Bible teaches.
Genesis 3 verse 17.
And unto Adam he said, Because thou
ist harken unto the voice of thy wife, and hast
eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying,
Thou shalt not eat of it.
Cursed is the ground for thy sake, and
sorrow thou shalt eat of it all the days of
thy life. Thorns also and thistles
shall it bring forth to thee,
and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.
And the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread
till thou return unto the ground.
For out of it was thou taken, for dust
thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Now when it comes to a human being you say
what takes place when they go back to the dust
when they die?
Okay? Because as I mentioned in
Shinto they say that your soul is just
kind of floating out there.
Right? In this spiritual realm you're just kind of
out there. And a lot of religions teach this.
What the Bible teaches is we are made up of
body, soul,
and spirit.
And what takes place when someone
dies is the body and spirit
separate.
Because what the Bible says is
the body without the spirit is
dead. So here's the thing.
Biblically speaking you are
alive if your body and spirit
are together. But as the
body without the spirit is dead
is what the Bible says.
So once your spirit and body are no longer
connected you are dead biblically speaking.
See somebody could be declared
dead in a hospital and their heart's
not moving and then they're brought back to life.
Here's the thing though. They weren't really
dead. They seemed dead.
We thought they were dead but
God wasn't done with them. Because the
spirit was still in the body. And you see
these miracles that take place but in reality
that person wasn't really dead.
Because it's not that the body and spirit
separated and the soul went to heaven
or hell and then all of a sudden they got brought
back to earth. No.
What took place is they weren't really dead
even though we thought they were dead.
Now usually when someone's declared
dead they are actually dead
biblically speaking. They're not going to return.
However, there are some times
when you might think somebody's dead
but the only way they're actually dead is when the body
and spirit separate from one another.
Think of Paul the Apostle. He got stoned
and everyone thought he was dead.
Right? And then all of a sudden it's like oh I guess he's not
dead because he stood back up a little while later
and he never actually died. Right?
So
what takes place when someone dies
is the body and the spirit separate. Now in that verse
also it says even so faith without works
is dead also. Now let me explain something
to you real quickly on a rabbit trail.
Right? Because I want to be very clear about salvation
and repentance in our stance.
Let me give you an example. Because
the body without the spirit is dead.
So let's say for example you know I got shot
in the head. And I died.
And I fell down. Okay?
And I'm dead right here. Okay?
So I didn't want to fall face first.
Right? So I'm dead right here. But is my
body here?
Yes. My body exists
though I am dead.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
Here's the thing. When I die my
body is still going to exist unless I
died in an explosion or something.
Right? My body is still going to
exist. Right?
Well here's the thing. Faith without
works is dead also. But does the faith
exist? Yes. Just as the body
exists. Even without works
the faith exists. But see
a dead body, what does that mean? It means
it's not producing anything.
It's like for example if you got a computer and you
put water on it. You'd say it's a dead
computer. Now that computer
wasn't alive in a biblical sense but
that's the terminology we use. And what
you mean by a dead computer is
it's not producing anything. It doesn't work
anymore. But does it exist?
Yes.
Right? I mean it's
up to you if you want to try this. Go home and smash
your computer with a hammer and guess
what? It's going to be dead
but it's still going to exist.
Here's the thing. What the Bible is saying is this.
You can have faith without works.
It just means someone who has a
faith that's not doing anything good or productive.
If somebody is saved, they
believe on Jesus Christ but they never read the
Bible. They never go to church.
They never go soul winning. They never try to
obey God's rules. Here's the thing. That person
saved. You say how could you say
that? There's no works. He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life.
And he that believeth
not the Son shall not see life but the wrath
of God abideth him. Right? Two
types of people. Those that believe
and those that don't believe.
And if you believe you're on your way to heaven
whether there's any good works or not.
But I would say you have
a dead faith if you're not producing
anything.
But that doesn't mean the faith doesn't exist.
Right? The faith still exists just
like a body exists that dies.
Okay? But what takes
place going back into our sermon
right? I'm not preaching
on repentance here today. At least I don't think I'm
preaching on it. We'll see. But basically
you know when the body and spirit separate
the soul is going to spend forever in heaven
or hell. And the body is going to be
buried or cremated or whatever
you know people do with the body
or whatever. But basically when the body and spirit
separate that's when someone
is dead biblically speaking. But then
that person is going to live on forever in
heaven or hell. Because see my body is just
you know my outward. It's just
the body is kind of easy to define.
It's hard to explain but everybody knows
what a body is right? Your soul
is basically who you are though.
Right? Your body is just kind of an
outward shell but your soul is like your personality
and who you are and
your spirit is the fact that you're being
given life. Okay?
And so it's kind of a tough thing to describe
especially. I'd like to preach a whole sermon on it in the future
but just as a general idea if you're thinking
about who you are that's basically your
soul. Your body is just kind of your body.
Right? And then your soul is going to
go to heaven or hell forever. But see here's the
thing. Animals don't have
this. Plants don't
have this. This pulpit
doesn't have this.
This pulpit is not going to go to heaven
or hell forever if it's a good pulpit.
Right? Human beings have
that. Humans are above the
rest of creation. That's what the
Bible teaches. Man dies
and then they go forever to heaven or hell
and that's forever. Right?
And here's the thing. This sounds obvious if your Bible
believe in Christian but many people are confused
especially about animals.
Right? They really think well you know my dog's
going to spend forever in heaven. There's that movie
when I was a kid. All dogs go to heaven.
Right? Now when I was a kid
I hated cats.
I love dogs. So it's like
we always made the joke all dogs
go to heaven meaning all cats go to
right? But
actually in the movie or in the
sequel the devil is a cat if I remember
correctly. Right? But here's the thing
though. I mean that's biblically completely wrong.
Right? That's not what I mean and
in the movie I remember the dog
it's like they're worried because the dog's not a good dog
it might not go to heaven. It's like that doesn't
determine I mean animal's an animal.
It's dead. That's not even accurate for
human because it's not whether or not you're good
or not. Right?
Turn in your Bible to Ecclesiastes 3.
Ecclesiastes 3.
Ecclesiastes chapter 3.
And in Ecclesiastes chapter 3
verse 18 notice what the Bible says
Ecclesiastes 3 verse 18
it says, I said in
mine heart concerning the estate of the sons
of men that God
might manifest them that they might see that they
themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons
of men befalleth beasts, even one thing
befalleth them as the one dieth so dieth
the other, yea they have all one breath
so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast
for all his vanity. Now people would quote a verse
like this and say well see you don't
have any preeminence above a beast.
What's the context of this verse?
As a human being dies
so dies an animal. Right?
Animals die, humans
die. Right? I mean animals are
alive biblically speaking.
Right? I mean animals have life to them
and then they eventually die just as human beings
die. So when it says no preeminence above a beast
it's the fact that both
animals and humans die.
Right? And then many animals live a very
short life, insects usually a short
life, even your cats and dogs
15 years, maybe 20 years
if they live a long life. There are some
sea creatures that live a super long
life. Right? Hundreds and hundreds of years or whatever
but eventually every animal
and every human being dies.
Okay? So animals are the
same as humans in the sense
that they're alive.
Right? Notice what it says
in verse 20.
All go unto one place all are of the dust and
all turn to dust again. Who
knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward
and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
So notice the difference here. You say brother
Sucky I thought you said that
animals don't have a spirit. I said they don't have a soul.
Animals are alive.
Your spirit is your life and yes
the Bible teaches animals have a spirit.
However, when they die
they don't go to heaven or hell
because there is no eternal soul in there.
Right? And it says the spirit
of man that goeth upward, the spirit
of the beast that goeth downward to the earth.
Not referring to hell but referring to
just dead. That's what the Bible teaches.
I know this is basic stuff.
I'm just showing you what the Bible says. Yes,
animals are alive but they do not have an
eternal soul inside of them
that will go to heaven or hell.
Right? Now, turn in your Bible
to Matthew 10.
Matthew 10.
Matthew chapter 10.
Brother Sucky, I thought the Bible said
preach the gospel to every creature.
Right? I mean, animals are creatures, right?
It's just like, come on.
It's obvious that's referring to preaching
to human beings. Okay.
The Bible says in Matthew 10 verse 28.
Matthew 10 verse 28.
And, you know, one thing that I found
in, you know, Christianity
and, you know, in church and stuff like that,
you know, you preach certain things and to a lot
of people they're going to be very basic because they've heard
them preach and everything. But maybe some people
haven't heard it before. And what takes place
is, you know, sometimes you haven't
heard something so you almost feel foolish asking
a question about it because you don't want to
look like foolish. Because I should already
know the answer so I'm just going to figure it out.
And it's just like, so whenever you preach anything
there are people that haven't quite heard it
or they haven't thought about it. Right?
There's many Bible questions that you could ask me
and I'd be like, you know, I'm not sure.
I haven't thought about it.
And the answer might be obvious, I just haven't taken the time
to think about it and I don't want to say something
that's wrong. So, I understand a lot of this
is very basic but this is what the Bible teaches
about humans and animals.
Matthew 10 verse 28.
And fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill
the soul. See, somebody can kill
your body, they can't kill your soul.
By the way, you cannot kill your
soul either. You see, I could
kill my body.
That's not my soul. This is why
suicide doesn't send you to hell because you can't
take your soul out and go
Right? You can shoot your body
you can't shoot your soul.
Suicide kills the body, it doesn't kill the soul.
Then the Bible says this, but rather
fear him which is able to destroy both
soul and body in hell. Now,
this is not saying that a saved person
can have their soul and body destroyed in hell
but the Bible is saying, fear the one
fear God which
does cast some people into
the lake of fire. What takes
place when an unsaved person dies
is their soul goes to hell.
Not their body. Their body
would just be burned up. At
the great white throne
judgment, their body and soul
will be reunited and thrown into
the lake of fire, second death
for all eternity. And
their soul and body will be destroyed
in hell. Because if your body went to hell right now
then you'd just burn up.
Right? I mean like
Korah, they just went to the heart of the earth but it's just like
the body dies eventually along the way.
Right? But at the
great white throne judgment, the soul and body
are going to be reconnected because when somebody dies right
now unsaved, they're basically
going to suffer in hell equally with
every single person that's died and went to hell.
Right? Whether
it's Adolf Hitler, whether it's
Saddam Hussein, whether it's
a pedophile, or whether it's just a nice person
that never believed. But
is that fair? Because God's a fair
God. Well no it isn't. Because they need to be
judged based on their actions and they will
be at the great white throne
judgment. Okay?
And so the Bible's saying this, human
beings, they're different than
animals. You're never going to find verses in the Bible
where it says an animal gets judged based on
what they did. Okay?
Go to 1 Thessalonians 4.
1 Thessalonians 4.
You say, brother Sucky, are you
saying that there's no animals in heaven?
Well, I do believe that God specifically creates
animals for heaven. What I'm saying
though is your pet dog
is not going to be in heaven with you.
Say, brother Sucky, that's mean. I can't...
Well, it's the truth.
And I'll tell you what, it's an important
truth to know because then maybe you'll stop
elevating your animal above human beings.
Look, when I was a kid,
I loved my dog.
Right? My dog, you know, died a long time ago
when I was in college, but I loved my dog as a kid.
But I'll tell you what, when I got saved,
I started to just
realize sort of the vanity because
I started to really understand the difference between
humans and animals to a deeper
concept. And then let me explain this.
If you have children, when
your child is born,
it's completely different than having a pet.
I mean, it's unexplainable
unless, you know, you've had a child born.
There's this attachment to that child
a million times above an animal.
And look, when I was a kid, I loved animals.
But, you know, now I'm like, no, I don't want a pet.
I mean, I have kids.
I have a son, I have a daughter, I have a third child on the way.
It's just like, I have children that are far
more important to me than an animal.
Right? There's a huge difference
between humans and animals. We need to realize that.
It says in 1 Thessalonians
4 verse 13,
But I would not have you to be ignorant brethren
concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow
not even as others which have no hope.
And the Bible says here in verse 13
that God does not want you to be sad.
He doesn't want you to be filled
full of sorrow. And he says,
concerning them which are asleep, which is a
term for someone who has died.
Because when somebody dies as a
saved person, their body
is just dead. But they use
the terminology asleep because
they're going to get the glorified body at
the rapture. And that's what this passage
is talking about. What the Bible is saying is
I don't want you to be sad because
your lost loved ones are going to be
in heaven with you. That's the context.
The context is
not, don't be sad because you're just going to be
raptured out of nowhere. That's not what the verse is
talking about. What the verse is saying is this,
I don't want you to be sorrowful.
I don't want you to be sad because
your lost loved ones that died
that are in heaven, you'll be
reunited. They that are
asleep are going to rise again just like
you get your glorified body.
That's what the Bible teaches, right?
So look, the Bible is saying don't be sad
because you're going to see your lost loved ones again.
You don't have to be sad like
others that don't have any hope in this world.
Because look, if
you don't believe in heaven and hell
and you don't believe about salvation
and you don't believe in the afterlife,
there's kind of no hope when your relative dies.
Right? It's just
kind of like, well, I'm never going to see him again. Now of course
the sad thing is when an unsaved relative
dies, and you know what? I've experienced that.
Probably all of us have.
And it's a very sad thing but
there's nothing that can be done about it.
Don't spend your whole life sorrowing about
that because it's not going to do you any good.
Right? Now I understand that, you know, if you've gone
through that, like, I know of relatives
of mine that died unsaved.
Anyway, I knew certain people were pretty
close to them in my family and so
I don't make it a point to mention that because
I don't want them to have sad feelings
and stuff like that. What I'm saying is
this, if you have a saved lost
loved one who died, you don't
have to sorrow like someone who has no hope.
You will see them again.
Look, I'm not asking for a show of hands but
many people in this room, including myself,
have lost children at a very
young age. Either a miscarriage
or a tragedy that took place.
And it's a very sad thing.
But, you know, the thing to
cheer about, the thing to be happy about is
we don't have to sorrow like those that have no hope because
I am going to meet my children in the air
one day. Right? Even though I didn't see
them here on earth. And so look, the Bible
is saying that if you have lost loved ones
you will see them again. That's the context.
Because when humans
die, their soul goes to heaven
or hell, but
they're going to get the glorified body if they're saved
one day. Now turn to
to 1 Corinthians
2. 1 Corinthians 2.
1 Corinthians chapter 2.
Say, Brother Psyche, do people really believe this sort of
stuff about animism? Look, people
have a lot of weird beliefs around this world.
And you say, Brother Psyche, are you
saying that if you don't have, like, Christian
beliefs that you have weird beliefs? Yes.
That's what I'm saying.
Right? Now this is just my opinion,
but when I talk about religions, I'll say, you know,
well, at least Islam is a normal religion.
Right? It's a false religion, but at
least it's not like, like you're
in the twilight zone or something. But these
Eastern philosophies, it's like, it's
crazy. And yeah, you know what it is?
It's because I was raised in a Christian
country or generally in
church, you know, I mean, so I had
Christian ideas. But you know what? It's the
reality that these other religions, this
Eastern philosophy, this yoga and meditation
to the sky, I mean, it's crazy.
It's weird.
It's strange. These religions
are strange. Hinduism is a strange
religion. Buddhism is a
strange religion. Shinto is
a strange religion. Jainism
like we talked about last week?
Strange religion.
Right? You say, Brother Stuckey, how could you insult
those religions? I mean, it's false.
Jesus said, I am the way, the truth,
the life. No man cometh unto the Father but
by me. You wouldn't insult me
by saying something bad about a
false religion. They're false religions.
They're strange. They're
warped. And Shinto and
animism, it is a strange belief system.
It is definitely not what the Bible teaches at all.
Right?
1 Corinthians 2, verse 9,
But as it is written, I hath not seen nor
ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for them that love
him. But God hath revealed them unto us by
his Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things,
yea, the deep things of God.
For what man knoweth the things of a man save
the spirit of man which is in him? Even so,
the things of God knoweth no man, but the
Spirit of God. No, we
have received not the Spirit of the world, but the
Spirit which is God, that we might know the things that are freely
given to us of God. Now, what the
Bible teaches is that this Bible
is a spiritual book.
And the one thing I agree with
animism is these words actually
do have life to them. The
Word of God is quick and powerful. Quick meaning
alive. It's a Makalumong word for
alive. Right? So this book,
which is a true book, is actually a spiritual book
that has life to it. Right? Now, this,
no life.
This, no life.
But this book, I mean, the words of God are
actually, you know, God breathed. There's life to them.
Right? And see, what
happens is we have a Spirit, and when we
get saved, though, we're indwelled with the Holy Spirit of
God, and we can understand this book
because with the Spirit of God,
we can understand a spiritual
book. That's what the Bible teaches.
This is not something that an animal
can do, though. An animal doesn't get
the Spirit of God inside of them. They don't
get indwelled with the Holy Ghost.
You say, why? Well, go to Romans 2. Let me explain
this to you. Romans 2.
Here's the thing.
No animal
is guilty.
No animal is guilty.
You say, why? They don't have a
conscience.
They don't have a conscience.
They're not guilty. It's just a dumb animal.
It's a beast, the Bible says.
See, we as human beings,
we have a conscience.
We have free will where we make our
choices in life.
Now, we understand that a young child that's,
you know, one year old,
even older, I don't know where the exact
line would be. If they die, they go to heaven
because they're not at the point of comprehending
all these things. A good way to judge that
is the fact that, you know, a young child, a baby,
they basically have no shame
in being naked. And the Bible talks about
Adam and Eve, and they had no shame until
they sinned. And it's the same thing with a baby.
A baby's born. They don't feel anything
about being naked, right? You give your daughter
or son a shower. They run out of the shower. They don't
think anything of it. And then as a parent,
you're like, no, no, no. Put some clothes on.
Put your diaper on, right? And then they're
just kind of playing, but
eventually they're going to reach the age where they'd
be shamed to be without clothes, right?
All of us, I hope,
would feel shamed to just be without
clothes. It's built into you.
But, you know, it's not built into a baby,
right? So it's just like babies
don't understand that. But eventually they're going to reach
that age of comprehension for these
things, and that would be the moment where they would
be held accountable, right?
An animal feels no
shame about being naked, right?
They don't have these sorts of things of a conscience.
They don't have that. They don't have a free will
where they're making their choices. Do I want
to do this? They operate on instinct.
That's the way animals
operate. Let me
give you an example of this. I
said last week in the example, let's say there's a
new law that makes it legal.
It's okay to steal from
7-Eleven. Now, if anybody
steals from 7-Eleven after the service, I did
not say that was okay to do.
Okay. But if it
became legal to steal at 7-Eleven,
I promise you 7-Eleven would have
nothing left in their store after an hour
because a lot of people that live nearby,
there'd be some people, the law's not made for
righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient.
Some people would say, hey, I'll
take all the food from there. I'll take
all the drinks from there. Now, I
would hope that none of us would, though.
Why is it you would feel bad about it? Because
you have a conscience. Even though it's
legal, you know it's wrong,
right? But
let me explain something to you. Let's say
it was okay to steal all the food at
7-Eleven. Do you really think an animal
is going to stop and say, well, you know what, I
don't think I should do this because I feel guilty.
I think it's wrong. The Bible says, no.
They don't have
that understanding. All an
animal is going to do is steal if
they can get away with it, and the only thing that would
stop them is they're worried about getting
caught or getting in trouble. But if they can do
it, they're going to do it. Because it's an
animal. They're not human beings.
Right? They're nothing
like human beings. And the Bible's very clear.
We read Genesis 2. Those early
chapters in Genesis, there's no comparison
between humans and animals. You
can see, by the way, God created humans.
There's a difference between humans
and animals. Right?
And so
Romans 2, verse 14, let me show this to you.
Romans 2, verse 14.
For when the Gentiles which have not
the law do by nature the things contained in
the law, these having not the law are
law unto themselves, which show the work
of the law written in their hearts, their conscience
also bearing witness,
and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else
excusing one another. Now,
the Bible talks about people
that would do right, but
not because they grew up in a Bible-believing
church, but just that they have
a conscience that tells them, I'm
not supposed to steal. I'm not
supposed to murder. Right?
Even if they got very mad at someone,
most likely they're not going to kill them
because they would feel guilty about that,
as long as they still have a conscience.
Right? I mean, they're going to feel guilty about
that, so they're not going to do it in general.
Right? I understand murder takes place. Not
every murder is a reprobate, but you know what I'm saying.
Right? You have a conscience that tells you
right from wrong. That's not
the same as an animal.
Animals will do things if they can get away with
it. Right?
You know, when I was a kid, and you say, why do you need
to preach something like this? Look, I mean, if you came
close to me, you'd see a scar right here
on my body from where a dog bit
me when I was five years old, and I got three
stitches. And you know what? My sister
pet the dog. We knew this dog. We knew the family.
My sister pet the dog. I pet
the dog. The dog jumped up. I'm five years
old. Right? I'm not super tall. I don't
remember how. The dog seemed like a
giant to me when I was a kid, but I'm not really
really sure, you know, looking back now.
But the dog jumped up and bit me
really close to my eye. Right?
Very close. I mean, I could have been blind if
it was just a little bit higher or had
major eye problems or whatever. But
that dog attacked me. Well, biblically
speaking, what should take place
to that dog? They should be
put to death. How could you
say that? Because animals aren't
human beings. And what the Bible
teaches is if it attacked one time,
guess what? It might attack again.
Right? That's what the Bible
teaches. And the animal attacks
a human, and you say, well, here's the thing
about this. Most likely, a
human's not just going to punch you in the face
in front of other people. Even if it got
mad at you, you say, why? Because they have a conscience
inside of them. But an animal
is just an animal. It doesn't think
like that. For whatever reason,
I don't know, it just jumped up
and attacked me. Right?
And this takes place.
There's no comparison between humans
and animals. Now turn
in your Bible to Genesis 1.
Genesis 1. Genesis
chapter 1.
You say, Brother Sucky,
that's just your opinion. Well, let me
ask you a question. When that man was
possessed by many devils,
my name is Legion, for we are many,
and then those devils were
cast out by Jesus into those
swine, into those pigs, and just drowned
and died, did it seem like God really cared about
those animals that much?
God cared about a human being.
Right? He didn't really care
about those animals. You say, why?
It's an animal. Look, I'm
not sitting here saying that, you know, it's wrong
to have a pet. I think that's perfectly fine
if you have a pet and you love your pet.
But make sure that you elevate human
beings far above an animal.
There is no comparison between
humans and animals.
An animal is going to die and that's it.
That's what the Bible teaches. There are many religions,
many of them under this philosophy
of animism, and they would never
eat meat because I don't want to harm that chicken.
Well, God created those
chickens to be eaten by humans.
You say, brother, that's your opinion.
Well, let's look at what the Bible says. Genesis 1,
verse 26.
And God said,
let us make man in our image
after our likeness. Now,
it looks like the Bible says, man is
made in the image of God.
Last I checked, I don't look like a horse
or a monkey or an elephant.
So that means that an elephant's not made in the
image of God. Man is made in the image of
God. You say, brother, what about Ganesh?
Right? What about that Hindu God
got the elephant head, right? Not the image
of God, my friends. And you know what you'll
find throughout the Bible is you always have these
morphed half-animals, half-human
gods that they worship throughout
history, which is, by the
way, the same reason why I would say,
hey, don't watch the movies and TV shows
like Batman and Spider-Man, which are basically
false gods. Same thing
throughout the entire Bible.
I mean, they're always half-animals, half-humans.
Brother Stuckey, I wish I could be a bird
and just fly around. It's a stupid idea.
You're a human being.
You're better than a bird.
Right? I mean, I wish I could be a bat and have
this night vision. You're a human
being. It's far better than being an animal.
Right? There's no comparison
between being a human being
and being an animal. Right?
Genesis 1, verse 26,
God said, Let us make man in our image, after
our likeness, and let them have
dominion. See, point
number two is the dominion. Point one is
the difference between humans and creation.
Point two, the dominion,
the domination of humans
over or above
the rest of God's creation.
Humans are above animals.
Humans are above
the rest of God's creation in the eyes
of God. Right? I mean, what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed
upon us that we
should be called the sons of God?
That doesn't take place with an animal, though.
Right? And it says, Have dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl
of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the
earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth.
Go to Genesis chapter 9.
Genesis 9. Genesis 9.
And the Bible says we have dominion. It says
to subdue the earth and have dominion over it.
That's what the Bible teaches.
And I'll show you this in Genesis
9, and then I'll explain real quickly, because
there's a clear difference between humans
and animals.
Genesis 9. And look, with
animism, they go as far as to
talk about how, like, this could have
life, but obviously it's
understood if I'm preaching against animals, I'm preaching
about against this having life.
Animals is kind of the way that people kind of
meet it halfway in the middle, where it's
like, No, no, no, I don't believe that this has life,
but of course animals, you know, have a soul
that's going to go to heaven or hell forever.
Right? No, animals have a spirit,
according to the Bible. They are alive, but
then they die. They don't go to heaven or hell,
according to the Word of God. Genesis 9
verse 1.
According to verse 2,
every animal is afraid of human beings.
And let me just say that
from personal experience, I have
seen that happen in person. I've used this example
before. I was at the woods
near my parents' house, just hiking
and memorizing the Bible. They live kind of
out toward the countryside, and
there's not a lot of people. And whenever you have
areas without many people, you'll have a lot of animals
oftentimes. And I was just kind of
hiking. I had an
iPod. I was, like, listening. I had my
head down, and all of a sudden I heard
a big thud that hit the ground. So I look up
because there's nothing really around.
I'm just walking in the wilderness, and
it turned out a bear, just
20 feet in front of me, 25 feet,
had dropped out of a tree and hit the ground.
Because there are bears in
Pennsylvania, right? Especially
when there's not humans around. And
what took place is that bear dropped down and
just ran away from me. The bear was a lot
bigger than me, and it just ran away from me.
Right? You say, brother, are you saying you
weren't afraid? No, no, no. I said the animal was afraid of me.
I didn't say I wasn't afraid of the animal.
It went running that way.
I went running this way.
I'll tell you what, it's amazing how fast
you can run when you need to.
Right?
It's pretty much uphill, so I'm running
downhill, and of course you run downhill,
you're careful not to trip. You slow down, but
man, I'll tell you what, I was, like, flying down
that hill, just jumping 50 feet and
running inside and everything. I was
definitely afraid. Right?
But that animal just ran away from me.
Now, here's the thing about this.
I didn't have any weapons on me.
If that animal wanted to kill me,
it could have killed me. But
animals are afraid of humans.
And it makes sense. You know why?
Because humans are smarter than animals.
And animals and animals, humans are
far smarter. It's why humans
dominate, have dominion
over animals.
If an animal attacks you, it's either
because it's afraid, it's a defense
mechanism, it's super hungry,
but they are afraid of
human beings. They will avoid
that battle.
Right? They will generally run
away from human beings. It's why at the zoo
you have a person that will walk in with lions
and they're not really that afraid. Because
99% of the time, the lion doesn't
attack. Now, the only ones you
see are on YouTube when the lion does attack,
but in reality, usually they do
nothing. You say, why? Animals
are afraid of human beings.
Unless they're super hungry, they're gonna
avoid you. They don't want to attack or
unless they're afraid, because animals
are afraid of human beings. You
say, well, that's your opinion. Well, that's Genesis 9
verse 2. You interpret that for
me then. And the fear of you and the
dread of you shall
be upon every beast of the earth.
Every beast means every beast.
All.
They're afraid. And it's the
same reason why when you have
locations without people,
animals come in and dominate.
When people come, the
animals flee. I mean, isn't that what it talks about in the Old Testament?
Where basically areas being
overrun by animals is because the people are leaving,
right? But when the people come in,
what takes place is animals flee.
And in America, you know,
Detroit, Michigan, which used to be kind of a
big city, you think of like
rock music, Detroit Rock City is
you know, a famous phrase or whatever
in Detroit, Michigan. And
basically, all the people left Detroit,
like half the people.
And all of a sudden they said, hey, you know what? It's
been overrun by animals. You walk down
the street, you got lions, you got bears,
it's like you're in the jungle or something.
You say, why? Because there's
no humans there anymore. And as humans
are gone, animals come because they're no longer afraid.
Why would they be afraid of humans? Because we
kill them. We eat them.
God put that fear in them
to help protect us, but also
it's logical because of the fact
we kill animals and we
eat them. And most
likely, if you don't kill animals, you still eat
them. And if not,
I mean, that's totally up to you. But
I'm just saying that in general, humans
eat animals. It makes
sense they're afraid. It makes
sense that the cockroach will run away from you
and the lights turned on. You say, why? You're going to kill it.
Right?
The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon
every beast of the earth and upon every
fowl of the air and upon all the movement upon the earth
and upon all the fishes of the sea. Into your
hand are they delivered. Every moving
thing that liveth shall we meet for you, even as the
green herb have I given you all things. See, the
Bible says, every moving
thing that liveth shall be meat for you.
The Bible's saying you can eat any food.
That's what the Bible's saying. Any
animal, you're welcome to eat. It's
not wrong. It's not sinful. Now,
we understand that in the Levitical
law, there were certain clean
versus unclean animals.
In general, the animals
that are unclean are not the healthiest
animals to eat. But it's not
a sin to eat them. Right?
The Bible says that you can eat any
animal. It's perfectly fine because
the Bible says every moving thing that liveth
shall be meat for you.
But flesh with the
life thereof which the blood thereof shall ye
not eat. And surely your blood of your lives
will I require. At the hand of every beast
will I require it. And at the hand of man, at the hand
of every man's brother will I require the life of man.
Whoso shedeth man's
blood by man shall his blood be
shed. For in the image of God made he
man. And so what the Bible teaches
is here is if a person
were to kill a person or an
animal kills a person, boom,
they're put to death. That's what the Bible
teaches. It's not the same thing
for an animal though. Look, I'm
not saying go out there and just kill
animals for fun. That's weird. You're probably
a psychopath if that's you.
But I would say this, that you know what? I've killed a lot
of mosquitoes the past week.
I don't feel very bad about it.
I'm more concerned about dengue than I am about
the mosquito. Right?
For whatever reason we got a mosquito problem where we live
and it's just like, right?
My son thinks it's a game. We're just clapping
the air and everything. It's like, go for it, right?
Because we need to get rid of them. You say, why?
Because I don't elevate a
mosquito. Aren't you worried
that if you're mean to mosquitoes
you'll be reincarnated as a mosquito?
Right? That's the sort of thing they teach.
No, I'm not worried about that. Because
when you die you go to heaven or hell forever.
That's what the Bible teaches. Now turn in your
Bible to Luke 17. We'll look at a few
more places. Luke 17.
And I'm skipping things for sake of time.
Luke 17.
Point number one, there's a difference between
humans and creation. Point two, the dominion
of humans over creation. Point three,
the determination of the future is based
on humans, not based on animals,
not based on the water, not based on
this pulpit, but on human beings.
I've talked about this recently so I'm just going to give you
one reference here. But it says in Luke 17
verse 26, and as it was in the
days of Noah, so shall it be also
in the days of the Son of Man. What was
in the days of Noah? The earth was filled
with violence, right?
The imagination of man's heart was
only evil continually, the Bible says.
Right? Then it says this
in verse 28,
verse 28, likewise
also as it was in the days of Lot.
They did eat, they drank, they bought,
they sold, they planted, they builded.
So what was it like in the days of Lot?
Think of Sodom and Gomorrah, right?
Filled full of sodomy.
These sodomites attacking
human beings in the days of Lot.
That's what took place. Why did God destroy
Sodom and Gomorrah? Because of the sin of
man. Why did God destroy the
earth in Genesis 6 through 8?
Because of the sin of man. Not because of
animals, right? Not because
of the river, right?
Not because the river got dirty or the animals
did something bad, but because of human beings
and their sin. The Bible says in verse 30,
even thus shall it be in the day when
the Son of Man is revealed. See, one thing that's
going to take place during the end times is
this world is going to be filled full of sin.
Do we see that taking
place in 2022?
It's definitely taking place.
Right? This world is getting worse and worse
and worse and worse. I don't personally think
it's going to get bad enough where God basically
pulls the plug on this earth.
That's my opinion in my lifetime.
But, I'll tell you what, it's a rapid
descent. Maybe I'm just being optimistic.
I don't know, right?
Because this world is getting very bad
very quickly, right?
And this is one of the major things about
the end times. See, the determination of
the future is based on humans.
Look, if we want God's blessing here
in Metro Manila or in Pasig or wherever
you live, you know how you get God's blessing
on the location that God would not
pour out judgment? You serve God,
you go soul winning, you read the Scriptures,
you obey His word, right?
You get involved in a Bible-believing
church and serve God and help that
church grow to reach more people, and that
can withhold the judgment
upon that location because
it's based on humans, not
based on animals.
Go to Daniel chapter 4.
Daniel 4.
Point number 1, there's a
difference between humans and the rest of creation.
Point 2, there's
the dominion of humans over creation.
Point 3, the determination
of the future is based on humans.
Point 4, let us
talk finally about the destruction
of human beings.
The destruction of human beings. Notice what it says
in Nebuchadnezzar 4 verse 33.
The same hour was
the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar
and he was driven from men. So basically
he's away from all other men,
and this is the most powerful man in the world.
And, you know, if you're not familiar with Nebuchadnezzar,
we're starting the book of Daniel today. We'll cover
it here over the next several months.
But it says, and did eat grass
as oxen.
Now it's not saying he is an oxen, it's saying
he's acting like an oxen. He's eating
grass. And it says,
and his body was wet with the dew of heaven
till his hairs were grown like
eagle's feathers and his nails like birds
claws. It's not saying that he's a
bird, it's saying that he's not taking care
of his body and his nails are growing.
And his hair is growing.
Right, I mean, eventually, you know, you've got to shave,
you've got to trim your nails, you've got to do these basic
things, and he's eating grass. I mean, he's acting
crazy. He's acting
out of his mind. He's acting
like a big, dumb animal.
Right?
That's what he's acting like.
Now the good news for Nebuchadnezzar is
it was temporary. Nebuchadnezzar
gets saved in Daniel chapter 4. We're going to see
that here in the next several months. For him,
the good news is it was, it was
just temporary. Basically, God had to humble
him so he could eventually get
saved. And praise the Lord for it.
Right, that he ends up getting saved. And look,
I'll tell you what, you hear stories about people that
are rich and powerful and they get brought to
nothing, then they get saved. And that's
actually a blessing to them if they would end up
getting saved, that that would happen in their life.
The good news for him is it was temporary
that he acts like an animal.
And then in verse 37 it says,
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor
the king of heaven, all whose works are truth,
and his ways judgment, and those that
walk in pride he is able to abase.
So Nebuchadnezzar gets humbled, brought
to nothing, ends up getting saved.
The curse upon the life
of Nebuchadnezzar is acting like an
animal. Right? Go to
2 Peter 2.
This is easy for me to understand
more so than maybe if you grew up in the Philippines
because there's many, and in the U.S.
drugs are very common
and a lot of people are drug addicts.
I mean literally, and you know
you meet people here that are crazy
but it's all over the place
in America. Especially
big cities. There's plenty of people that you meet
that are just like zombies
or something and they're just drugged out of their
mind. And they're crazy. And basically
the drugs have warped their
mind so they're not acting like a
human being. They're crazy.
They're out of their mind. You see it all over
the place. I mean it's crazy how
many people are, I mean that are just insane. They're
just like ugh. And they're acting
like an animal. They're crazy. The worst
thing you could have is to lose your mind
and act like an animal.
That's the curse of God upon
your life. That's the worst thing.
It's a foolish idea. Man I want to be powerful.
I want to come back as a rhino.
That's a dumb idea.
You're a human being. You're better than
animals. There's no comparison.
And see the curse of God is to be
like an animal. But see here's the thing.
Nebuchadnezzar, it was temporary
and yet there's a high percentage of this population
that have that curse upon them
but it's not temporary.
They act like animals. You say
what are you talking about?
1 Peter 2 verse 12.
But these as natural
brute beasts made to be
taken and destroyed speak evil of the things
that they understand not and shall utterly perish
in their own corruption. The Bible speaks about
people that are children of the devil, rejected
by God, reprobates
and they act like natural
brute beasts. They
act like an animal.
And let me tell you something. That is the curse
of God to act like an
animal. And it's forever for them.
Right? The Bible says with males
they call them dogs. Like go to 2 Peter 2
look at verse 22.
2 Peter 2 verse 22.
Acting like
an animal. 2 Peter 2 verse 22.
But it has happened unto them according to the true
proverb. The dog has turned to his
own vomit again and the sow that
was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
And the Bible says here in verse
22 with males the
dog has turned to his own vomit
again with females the
sow that was washed to her
wallowing in the mire. The Bible says
that males that are reprobates are dogs
females swine or
pigs or sows. It's a female pig.
That's what it's referring to. And so
the terminology for a male is
a dog. That's an insult.
Right? If somebody calls you
an animal that's an insult and
biblically speaking you become as
an animal when you become a reprobate.
I'm not saying you turn into an animal but you
start acting like an animal.
You say, what are you talking about brother Stuckey?
I'm talking about dogs and pigs are
filthy animals.
Look, I loved my dog as a kid
but dogs are physically filthy
animals. They do
things that no human being should do.
Disgusting.
Look, pigs are filthy animals.
It's disgusting the things they do.
And you know what? Reprobates that have
been rejected by God. They live
physically filthy lives.
Physically filthy.
Right? The average homosexual sleeps
with hundreds of people in their life.
That's disgusting.
That's disgusting. That's wicked. It's sick.
I mean they get drunk. They just
wake up in their own vomit. Do drugs.
That's disgusting.
Why are you acting like an animal?
You're too good to drink alcohol. You're too
good to do drugs. You're not an animal.
You're a human being.
They live filthy, wicked lives.
It's the curse of God upon them.
They live physically filthy lives.
They live spiritually filthy lives.
And guess what? They don't have a conscience
anymore. Just like a big dumb
animal. Acting like an
animal and God sears that conscience
so they act like an animal.
Go to Romans 1. Romans
1. Romans 1.
You say, brother Stuckey, why do you always preach
against the homos? Because I value humans
above animals.
And they're animals. They
act like animals. They're filthy.
They're disgusting. They're sick
perverts. They're pedophiles. That's what the
Bible teaches. And you say, brother Stuckey, I
don't agree with you. You know what? You've never read the
Bible cover to cover. I promise you that.
Because if you've read the Bible cover to cover
and paid attention to what you're reading,
there's no other way to interpret Genesis 19.
They act like animals.
Just as an
animal would go to 7-11 to take the food
because they can get away with it. In Genesis
19, no rules. Acting
like an animal. And these people, they hate their
lives. They don't like their lives,
but they want to bring other people down to their
level of depravity.
They take pleasure in them that do
them, the Bible says. They're
sick. They're perverts. They hate
their life. They're filthy. They want
to bring other people down to their level because they
hate their lives. That's what the Bible teaches.
And their conscience is seared
just like a big, dumb animal.
They're physically filthy.
They're spiritually filthy.
Morally filthy. They're disgusting.
That's what the Bible teaches. Oh, but they're so
nice. Right? They act so
nice. It's fake.
It's an act.
Why don't you just believe what the Bible says about them?
They're disgusting. They're filthy.
That's what the Bible teaches.
Romans 1. Romans 1.
Romans 1, verse 21.
Because
that when they knew God, they glorified
him not as God, and neither were thankful, but became
vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart
was darkened. Professing
themselves to be wise, they became fools,
and changed the glory of the uncruppable
God into an image made like a
man, and to birds, and four-foot
of beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore,
God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of
their own hearts, to dishonor their
own bodies between themselves, who
changed the truth of God into a lie, and
worshipped and served the creature
more than the Creator, who is
blessed forever. Amen.
Now, oftentimes we look
at Romans 1, and we immediately
think of, like, atheists. And that's a
good application. People that believe in evolution
and reject God, they're worshipping the creature
more than the Creator. That's a good application.
But I'll be honest with you, there's far
more religions in the world that fit this
even more so, I think.
Shinto, Hinduism, I mean,
they're worshipping the creature more than the Creator.
Right? There's billions of people in this world
that are worshipping the creature more than the Creator.
You say, what's the problem with that? Because it's a
road down to becoming a reprobate.
Right? This depraved idea
rejecting the God who's the Creator
and then worshipping the creation.
Look, I mean, go outside and look at
what God made, and praise the Lord,
the moon is beautiful, the stars are beautiful,
the sun is beautiful, but don't pray to
them. That's foolishness.
Be amazed at what God
created, but to say, oh, it's
got spirit and it's got life.
I mean, the Kami just became a river.
You're crazy.
It doesn't make any sense.
There's one God.
Worship God and be amazed
by what He made. Look, I'm
preaching against this idea of worshipping animals,
but I think the animals God has made are
amazing. They're beautiful.
You look at some of these creatures that God has made
and it's like, wow, God is an amazing
Creator. But what you don't do is say,
man, I wish I was a bird.
I think it's cool that birds
fly. I don't want to be a bird, though.
I mean, I think these animals are
cool, but I don't want to be an animal. You say, why?
Because that's called being a reprobate,
acting like an animal. Because
humans are better than animals.
Far better than animals.
Far smarter.
We have a conscience.
God loves us. He cares about us.
I mean, there's no comparison between humans
and the rest of God's creation.
But it says,
Now the Bible speaks about these vile affections.
One example of this is men
that would be attracted to other men
or women being attracted to other women.
Men that would have a relationship with other men.
That's disgusting.
It's not normal.
Well, I mean, the animals do it.
Yeah, that's my point.
They're acting like animals.
Not human beings.
That's the defense people use. Well, I mean, it's common in the natural world.
That's what the animals do.
Yeah, that's what the animals do.
You're not an animal.
You're a human being. God did not
create us to be interested in someone
of the same gender. That's weird.
It's warped.
It's perverted.
That's what the Bible teaches.
Now, look, I've known the reprobate doctrine for a long time.
I've heard it preached.
But I'll tell you what, sometimes you hear things preached
and you believe them, but until you actually
experience something, it's, you know,
hard to fully grasp.
And I'll just give you two quick stories
about how, first let me give you the story
about how my wife really adopted this doctrine.
Right, where she knew,
it is totally true.
She was on a gypney in Pampanga several years ago,
six, seven years ago or whatever, and I had talked to her
about this doctrine.
And there was like this young kid on the gypney
and there was these two homosexuals.
And these homosexuals start flirting with this little kid
when he's on the gypney.
And then they started just commenting openly
once he left about, hey, this little kid's gonna be easy.
All we gotta do is buy him something
and we'll be able to...
You're an animal.
That's disgusting.
And my wife, remember, she called me and she's like,
frantic, man, you won't believe what happened.
I'm like, well, I do believe that.
It doesn't shock me.
They're animals.
Or like when I said when we were protested in Sacramento,
it's just like the threats of these homeless are like,
we're gonna rape your children.
Are you an animal?
What is wrong with you?
Right?
I remember I was going soloing maybe 12 years ago.
I was going soloing with a friend of mine.
And you know what, with dogs, you know,
and I personally believe it's up to you,
but if I had pets, I would
spay and neuter them unless you're, you know,
breeding for sake of making money or whatever.
I don't know.
But I remember that, you know, we always had to be careful
because there was other dogs in the neighborhood
and they would get in heat.
They basically, you know, I don't know if it's the terminology
they use here, dogs being in heat,
where they have that desire for physical, right?
And they will go after whatever,
and there was one time we caught a dog like
raping our dog on the back porch
because this is what dogs do when they're in heat.
We always had to be careful because our dog was a small dog.
So you have bigger dogs.
They go in heat. They'll just attack whatever.
But I was going soloing 12 years ago,
and there was this dog that was in heat.
It just ran up and started, like,
attacking this other dog,
as in physical, sexual way, right?
I'm trying not to be very explicit,
but I'm trying, it's very hard.
And then that dog got away from that dog.
That same dog
just attacked another dog that was nearby
because there were several dogs.
It just went from one to the next just a couple seconds later
because it couldn't get to the one.
And I just dawned on me, we're out soloing,
I was just thinking of the homos.
I was like, that's what they're like.
That's disgusting. They're perverts.
They're perverts.
It's like, what is wrong with you?
To just go and just attack whatever,
but that's what they're like.
You say, Brother Suggie, I don't believe you.
Have you ever read Genesis 19?
I mean, I'm not saying have you ever heard a sermon preached on it
because there's a good chance you heard a sermon preached on it
that explained away every single verse in Genesis 19.
Read Genesis 19.
That's your homework assignment if you think I'm crazy right now.
Read Genesis 19 and then you're going to be like,
what in the world?
I can't believe they'd be like this, right?
And I'll be honest, I couldn't believe that either
until I started believing the Bible.
You know why? Because we get brainwashed by the world.
That's what they're like.
They're made to be taken and destroyed, the Bible says.
They're filthy. They're disgusting.
And what the Bible says in verse 28 to close up,
and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,
God gave them over to a reprobate mind
to do those things which are not convenient.
And the Bible says God gave them over to a reprobate mind
and they're just out of their mind,
their consciousness is seared,
they just do wicked and filthy and disgusting things.
Basically, they act like animals.
Is it a shock the Bible says they're dogs and pigs?
It's pretty fitting, right?
This idea of worshipping animals,
look, humans are better than animals.
Humans are far better than animals.
The curse of God in the Bible upon a human being
is to act like an animal, to be like an animal.
Filthy, disgusting, no conscience,
that's what takes place.
This idea of animism, it's garbage.
Trying to lift up, and look,
and I just mainly covered animal worship, right?
But to another extreme, worshipping animals
to another extreme, worshipping this, worshipping this,
that's insane, that's crazy.
It's a warped idea.
What the Bible says is humans are created above
the rest of God's creation.
You're not an animal, you're not a river,
you're not a mountain, there's one God,
don't pray to the sun God, don't pray to the moon God,
there's one God that created everything.
And look, the things that God created are amazing.
All the animals God created, amazing.
Some of them are so beautiful to look at,
but God is an awesome creator.
The moon, amazing, the stars, amazing,
the sun, amazing, but there's one God to worship.
Let's close in a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us
to be here today and getting to see your word on this topic
and help all of us in this room
to understand the spirit of the sermon
and help us to elevate humans above
the rest of God's creation and spend our time
trying to get people saved and benefit other human beings
and realizing that humans are above animals
or any other of your creation.
We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.
All right, for our last song,
let's go up in 13 number 14.
Let's go up in 13 number 14.
All right, let's go up in 13 number 14.