Give us an open heart to receive the day of the sermon, and please give your mighty power up on the creature, I bring your name to space. Amen.
Alright, well we're continuing our series on false philosophies, and what I want to look at today is this philosophy of following your heart, right?
There's this question out there, should you follow your head or follow your heart in life, and they don't mean literally your head.
They don't mean literally, you know, your heart.
What they're saying is following logic and reason and common sense versus following your emotions and your feelings.
And this is a big debate out there, where people are kind of 50-50 depending on the topic.
As a Bible-believing Christian, this is not a hard question.
I hope you realize it's like, well obviously we don't follow our hearts. The Bible's very clear about that.
But it is a very common false philosophy, so I think we need to preach a sermon about this.
And so, notice what it says in Jeremiah 17 verse 9.
Jeremiah 17 verse 9.
The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?
See, the first problem with following your heart is the heart's deceitful.
Deceitful meaning the heart lies. The heart is dishonest.
And so look, the heart is going to lie, and the heart can lie to other people.
The hearts can lie to you as well.
It says, who can know it?
And the indication is nobody, including the person who has that heart, can even know their own heart.
The Bible says the heart is deceitful, meaning, you know there's this phrase, the heart wants what the heart wants.
Yeah, but the heart doesn't have to get what the heart wants.
Right? Yes, the heart wants something immediately.
This is what I want, but the heart doesn't have to get what the heart wants.
Okay? And so I want you to realize you must follow your head in life, follow logic, not just let your feelings take you down some dark road.
You don't know what the end of that road is. Okay?
Go to Jeremiah chapter 14. Jeremiah 14.
And look, this is for every single person.
Every single one of us, our hearts are deceitful.
You say, not me, brother Stuckey. My heart's nice. My heart's righteous.
You know, I got saved, so I don't really sin anymore.
Yeah, you do. Yeah, you do.
And your heart is still deceitful as well, and once you start going down that road, you can find yourself in the same road as anybody else.
Right? Because everybody's heart is deceitful.
Your heart is dishonest, and the most scary thing is it's dishonest with your own self.
It will lie to you. You say, why? Well, the heart is selfish.
The heart's selfish. The heart wants what the heart wants, and the heart will do whatever it has to to get what it wants.
Notice what it says in Jeremiah 14, verse 14.
Then the Lord said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name.
I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them.
They prophesy unto you a false vision and divination and a thing of naught.
Now, why do they do this? What's the reason?
Well, in the deceit of their heart. Okay?
Because their heart is sinful. Their heart is wicked. Their heart is deceitful, and they're willing to say whatever they need to in order to get that money.
Right? Look, Joe Lowstein is a multi-millionaire.
Is it because he's such a nice guy? He's so godly. God just blessed him with, like, $50 million.
No, it's because he's willing to say whatever and lie and be dishonest in order to make money.
Right? He's a liar, and the reason why is because his heart is sinful.
And his heart is deceitful, and he's willing to lie to get what he wants.
Go to Jeremiah 23. Jeremiah 23. Jeremiah chapter 23.
Jeremiah chapter 23.
And it says in Jeremiah 23, verse 26,
How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies?
So it mentions the heart prophesying lies.
Yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart.
And see, there's this indication throughout the Bible that our hearts are deceitful.
Our hearts are sinful. Our hearts are willing to do what's wrong.
They're willing to lie to get what they want.
And that's why you individually need to be very careful.
Because the Bible says who can know it, and the indication is you can't know your own heart.
You can't trust your heart. Your heart's going to destroy your life.
Your heart's going to harm you.
And look, if you're trusting in your own heart, as it says in the bulletin, you're a fool.
That's what the Bible says.
Be very careful just trusting your emotions and your feelings.
You have to stop and ask yourself, wait a minute, is this a good decision?
Is this the right decision?
Maybe sometimes getting some godly counsel from other people that love the Lord
because otherwise your heart can destroy your life.
Go to Acts chapter 5. Acts 5. Acts 5.
And yea, the reality is this could happen to any single one of us in this room.
Any saved person could start going down the wrong road.
Imagine it like a fork in the road, right?
You're driving, and then all of a sudden you're figuring out, okay, do I need to go in this direction or this direction?
I remember a long time ago when my wife and I were engaged, but before we were married,
her family lives in Washington, D.C., and Washington, D.C. is like Metro Manila.
And what I mean by that is the roads are going in every direction,
and you're like, I have no clue where I'm going.
I was always lost, and I had a GPS, and it was telling me to turn,
but I couldn't tell. Are you telling me to turn here, here, here, or here?
And then all of a sudden I'm like two minutes away from her parents' house.
Then all of a sudden I make that turn, and it's like you are now 25 minutes away from destination.
I'm like, oh my goodness.
But see, that's how you have to imagine this when you're talking about a fork in the road
where basically there's a right choice and a wrong choice.
You go down the wrong choice, all of a sudden you go from two minutes away to 25 minutes away.
And it's like in life we're going to have a multitude of choices of right and wrong,
and we all make the wrong choice from time to time.
But if you go down too far that road, it's going to get worse and worse and worse.
Acts 5, verse 3.
But Peter said,
Acts 5, verse 3.
But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost
and to keep back part of the price of the land?
Now, I believe Ananias and Sapphira were saved.
I don't really see any indication to say that they were lost.
And actually the proof that I think they were saved is God judged them.
So if they weren't saved, God probably would have let them get away with whatever to a certain extent.
But I believe that they were saved, and the problem is not the fact,
because they basically had this field and then they sold it
and then they told the church, this is how much we sold it for.
Now, the problem was not the fact that they didn't give all the money to the church.
They didn't have to give the money to the church.
What God requires is 10%.
He doesn't require a first fruits offering or a first land offering or a first car offering.
He requires 10%.
The problem, though, was that they lied.
Basically they said, hey, we sold this house or this lot for 500,000 pesos.
We're giving every single peso to church.
But they actually sold it for 2 million pesos or something like that.
So basically they wanted to look good and get credit.
Like, man, these people are so godly.
They gave a field to the church when they only gave part of it.
But they didn't have to give any of it.
The proof of that is verse 4 where it says,
Whilst it remained was it not thine own?
And what that means is before you sold it, it belonged to you.
It didn't belong to the church.
It belonged to you, Ananias and Sapphira.
Then it says, and after it was sold was it not in thine own power?
Look, if you sell a property that you inherit for a lot of money,
it's in your power what you want to do after you get that money.
It belongs to you.
You don't have to give a single peso to our church.
Because it's in your power.
It belonged to you, and it's in your power after you sell it.
So what's the problem?
Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart?
Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
So what happened is they lied.
They were dishonest.
And what we're seeing is the heart and deceit mixed together.
And see, what the Bible's indicating is when you have feelings,
you're willing to lie in order to get what you want,
because the heart wants what the heart wants.
And Ananias and Sapphira, they wanted to get credit for man.
And it's like, well, you got your reward here on earth,
and then it was, you immediately died.
It's like, good job.
Go to James chapter 3.
James 3.
One of the major dangers in listening to these songs on the radio or whatever,
or YouTube, however people listen to the music now,
I don't even know.
I'm too old, right?
But it's like, you know, all of these romantic songs,
they're like the biggest garbage you'll ever hear.
I mean, it's all about feelings and feelings.
Like, I was getting ready to preach this sermon yesterday in Pampanga,
and the song that came on as we're driving was the Bruno Mars song about
you're amazing just the way you are or whatever.
And it's like, when I see your face.
And it's like, you know, you're perfect.
I wouldn't change anything.
It's like, you know, even if you're an abortion doctor,
even if you spend 50 years in jail for murdering 50 people,
but your face, your face is so beautiful.
I wouldn't change anything just the way you are.
And there's nothing in the song about character at all.
And it talks about his lip.
I mean, your lips.
It's like your nose, your ears.
It's just like that's not how we should go down a road of deciding who we marry.
And look, I'm not saying you shouldn't be attracted to the person you marry,
because of course, you know, you should be attracted to the person that you marry,
but it's like that should not be your number one determining factor.
I mean, if I pulled up a picture and said, hey, here's a single girl here.
I mean, look.
And then you're like, wow, she's really beautiful.
And you're like, well, what does she do?
Oh, no, she's an abortion doctor.
It's like, wow, that pretty face fades pretty quickly, doesn't it?
There's a lot of people that are attractive out there.
I mean, I believe God created people attractive,
and I believe he created us differently.
So obviously, you individually find your spouse attractive.
I find my spouse attractive.
She finds me attractive.
And you know, people have different tastes, and that's fine.
But it's just like, you know, God created us.
We're directly made by God, so you know what?
There are plenty of people out there that you could find attractive.
But your goal should be to find someone who's godly, who loves the Lord.
That should be the primary and number one goal, right?
And so point number one is this.
Actually, we're in James 3, right?
I didn't quote that yet.
James 3, verse 14.
But if you have bitter envy and strife in your hearts,
glory not and lie not against the truth.
See, the Bible says if you have envy and strife inside of you,
lie not against the truth.
You say, how does this work?
Well, the Bible says the heart knoweth his own bitterness.
You say, who can know the heart?
Well, the heart knows the heart.
Nobody else knows the heart.
But the heart knoweth his own bitterness.
We'll look at that later on.
But basically, the heart knows,
and what happens is you have the option of doing what's right
or lying against the truth.
Doesn't the Bible talk about the word of God is quick and powerful
and sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit
and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart?
The indication is a metal sword could pierce you and kill you,
but the word of God has the power to get somewhere
where nothing else can.
And it gets inside to the heart,
and the heart knows, am I innocent or guilty?
But the heart has a choice.
Am I going to just admit the truth or lie against the truth?
That's what the Bible is saying.
And we have the option when we hear the word of God,
are we going to admit the truth or lie against the truth?
And look, every time you hear the word of God preached,
you have that option.
I mean, I preach several sermons.
I mean, I've only been preaching four sermons a week.
I've had a bit of a break.
We're getting back into a fifth sermon here soon.
But it's just like, you know what?
When I preach sermons, I'm preaching everything in the Bible.
And you know what?
The truth is all of us get our toes stepped on from time to time.
Sometimes I preach sermons, and I'm like, my own toes are hurting.
Right? I'm not perfect.
I make mistakes.
And when we hear the word of God or we read the word of God,
we've got that option.
How will I respond to the word of God?
Am I willing to face the music, so to speak,
or am I going to lie against the truth?
Now, the easy thing is to lie against the truth,
but you're putting yourself down a dark road if you decide to do that,
and you're going to destroy your life.
Okay?
When we hear the word of God, we must admit what the Bible says
and just come to terms with it.
And look, if we're willing to do that, you know what?
Our lives are going to be good.
God has a great path designed for our lives.
Okay?
But all of us need a healthy rebuke from time to time.
That's reality.
Go to Jeremiah 17.
Jeremiah 17.
I mean, I saw these memes, like, on Google.
It's like, have the courage to follow your heart.
Have the courage to be an idiot.
Right?
That's pretty much what the meme is saying.
Have the courage to let your heart lead you.
Right?
And a lot of these Eastern philosophies, they teach follow your heart.
That's what they teach.
It's like, you know, and maybe it's just because I'm a Bible-believing Christian
and I know what the Bible says,
but it's just like, man, what foolish advice to tell people.
Right?
Just follow your heart.
Let your heart guide you.
Trust in your heart.
It's going to destroy your life.
Point number one, the heart is deceitful.
Point two, the heart is wicked.
Jeremiah 17, verse 9.
The heart is deceitful above all things.
Above all things, your heart lies and is dishonest
and desperately wicked.
Who can know it?
The indication is that your heart is willing to lie
and trample over whomever to get what the heart wants.
And that certainly sounds wicked to me.
And this is everybody.
This is not just, well, that's just unsaved people.
No, no, no, it's saved people, too.
Well, that's just reprobates.
No, it's everybody.
Our hearts are deceitful.
Our hearts lie.
Our hearts are dishonest.
And if they want something, they're willing to lie.
And you know what?
It also says that they're wicked.
Go to Proverbs 14.
Proverbs 14.
Proverbs chapter 14.
I mean, just think on a small level
as a Bible-leading Christian.
Let's say, for example, you woke up this morning
and you're like, man, I don't feel like going to church.
But I know I should go to church.
Have the courage to let your heart guide you.
It's like, oh, I'm just going to skip church
because I don't feel like it.
Maybe God's got some other plan for me if I skip.
It's like, no, you use your head when you make decisions.
Use logic.
You think about stuff.
You can't just let your feelings guide you.
Your feelings are going to destroy your life.
Okay?
It says in Proverbs 14, verse 8,
Proverbs chapter 14, verse 8,
the wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way,
but the folly of fools is deceit.
Fools make a mock at sin,
but among the righteous there is favor.
A lot of famous verses here.
Notice verse 10.
The heart knoweth his own bitterness,
and a stranger doth not enter metal with his joy.
Now the Bible talks about who can know the heart,
but the indication is the heart knows itself.
The heart actually knows the fact that it's sinful and it's bad,
but the heart doesn't really care
because the heart is deceitful and the heart is wicked.
And the heart's willing to lie to get what it wants.
It knows the truth,
but it's willing to lie against the truth to get what it wants.
And it will lie to the rest of you
and make you feel like it's not that big of a deal.
Right?
Because let's look at these verses right after this.
Verse 11.
The house of the wicked,
we're seeing, you know, deceit and wickedness
linked together here with the heart.
The house of the wicked shall be overthrown,
but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish.
And then notice verse 12.
A very famous verse in the Bible, right?
There's a way which seemeth right unto a man,
but the end thereof are the ways of death.
See, the Bible says there's a way that seems right.
You say, why does it seem right?
Because of the fact the heart is lying to you.
The heart is making you think it's okay.
It's making you think that it seems right.
No big deal.
And then all of a sudden you're just like,
yeah, it's not that big of a deal.
You hear a sermon preached on something,
and then all of a sudden you say,
well, you know, it's like I know I shouldn't drink alcohol,
and then your heart wants that alcohol.
Your feelings say, man, I really want that alcohol.
And then your heart says,
well, you're very stressed in life.
It's okay.
You're very busy.
You need to just be able to relax.
It's like, you know, you've got a busy schedule,
so it's okay to have this little pocket of sin in your life
because, you know, you need to be able to relax a little bit.
Your heart is deceiving you
and making something seem okay that's not okay.
Your heart's deceiving you.
I mean, you're seeing that the heart is wicked
and is willing to do whatever it needs to get what it wants.
Why?
Because the heart wants what the heart wants.
I actually agree with that phrase.
I just don't agree with how they explain it.
Yes, the heart wants what the heart wants.
That doesn't mean the heart has to get what the heart wants.
And the problem is the heart is willing to lie and deceive
and trick other people and yourself to get what it wants.
That's reality.
And you know what?
That sounds pretty wicked to me,
and that's all of us.
Our hearts, you say,
man, I thought my heart was really righteous
and I was just, you know,
so perfect in everything before this sermon.
No, actually, we all have a very sinful heart
and we all need to be very, very careful
what directions and choices we make.
Go to Matthew 15.
Matthew 15.
Matthew chapter 15.
I mean, you've got to be very careful
with these movies and TV shows and music.
They have these cute little phrases
that are just completely unbiblical
and they sound cool and everything,
but they destroy your life if you actually apply them.
And it's just like, you know,
it's like, you know that Disney movie?
I think it was Pinocchio or whatever
with that Jiminy Cricket,
like always let your conscience be your guide.
It's like, how about letting the word of God
be your guide rather than what seems right to you?
Right.
Or it's just like in Taoism,
it's like don't be afraid to just flow like a river.
It's like just let yourself flow in whatever direction.
In Taoism, they say you're supposed to follow your heart.
Don't follow your head.
It's like you need to,
don't fight against the Tao,
just flow with it.
It's like you're going to destroy your life,
but there's hundreds of millions of people
and that is their philosophy on life
and it's pretty much just follow your heart.
Notice what it says in Matthew 15 verse 18.
But those things which proceed out of the mouth
come forth from the heart and they defile the man.
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts,
false witness, blasphemies.
These are the things which defile a man,
but he eat with unwashed hands defileth not a man.
The Bible talks about from the heart
precede all of these sins.
I mean, we're talking about murder, adultery,
fornication, and it's like how in the world
could somebody commit these sins?
And then think of King David.
Adultery, he did that.
Murder, he did that.
You say why?
Because the heart wants what the heart wants.
And instead of using his mind in logic,
what did he do?
Well, he did what he had to do to get what he wanted.
Now along the way of King David,
you see a lot of deceit.
And this is what you see in life.
When you're making wrong choices,
you're having to tell a lot of lies
to get what you want or to cover up
so people aren't aware.
And if you find yourself making lies,
you need to be very careful
and take an honest look at your life
and say, man, what am I doing?
Go to Genesis chapter 6.
Genesis 6.
Genesis chapter 6.
Now look, I'm not telling you that
you go home tonight and say,
man, let's go out to eat honey.
We've got to make a decision.
It's like chow king, jolly McDonald's.
Which way does God...
Let us think logically for an hour
and think about does God want us to eat that burger?
Or does God want us to eat that...
Well, God gave us free will.
He doesn't care about a decision like that.
You're not deciding between water and wine.
Well, there you use your head
because one's a sin and one's not.
But we have free will to make various decisions
in our life, but we need to make sure
whatever decisions we make
that it's actually a smart decision,
a wise decision, not a sinful decision,
a biblical decision, a logical decision.
Not just give yourself whatever you want.
And look, here's the thing.
We do have free will to eat what we want
and make various choices in our lives.
But at the same time,
if you just gave yourself everything you wanted
from a standpoint of what you eat...
You know what I'm going to eat when I go home today
if I just give myself what I want?
Ice cream, chips, energy drinks.
It's like just down everything, right?
Everything that tastes good.
And you know what?
I'm going to wake up and be like,
oh, I feel terrible.
I feel miserable.
I mean, try that diet for just a month.
Just eat whatever your heart desires.
Good luck.
I'll visit you in the hospital in a month.
Seriously, I mean, if all you ate all day was...
I mean, I love chips, right?
And here's the thing.
Kids, that's literally what they'll do.
It's like our daughter and our son,
it's like we let them have a little bit of junk food
from time to time,
but you know what?
All they want is ice cream, chips, and Coke.
Right?
That's all they want.
I mean, literally,
if you try to give them a Sprite or an orange drink,
they'll reject you and say,
it's orange Coke.
And they're like, oh, okay.
Then they drink it.
Right?
It's like, you know what?
That's reality.
But if you go down a road
of just doing what your emotions
are telling you what feels good,
for temporary pleasure, whatever,
look, it's going to destroy your life.
Genesis chapter 6, verse 5.
Genesis 6, verse 5.
Now, the context of Genesis 6,
this is right before the flood's coming.
And the verses before,
I don't want to get into too big of rabbit trails
because I've preached it before.
It would take out of the sermon.
But it talks about the sons of God
married the daughters of men
because they were fair.
Right.
Sons of God saved people
marrying daughters of men,
unsaved people,
because they found them attractive.
Right.
Well, that's a good reason
to marry someone.
Man, we marry them
because they're attractive.
It's like, they're an abortion doctor.
But their face is not a thing
that I would change.
And it's just like, you know,
and there's many people that do that.
You have Baptists
that marry Catholics all the time.
Sometimes, you know,
you go soul winning.
It's always interesting sometimes,
you know, when there's people
of completely different religions.
I remember one time
I knocked on a door
and it was a Mormon married
to a Jehovah's Witness.
And I'm just thinking,
what in the world?
I'm like, where do they go to church?
Let's just split the difference
and go to that church
or the Catholic church or something.
It's like,
I don't even know
how you make that work.
But it's just like, you know what?
You ought to marry someone
who has the same sorts
of beliefs as you.
But after they basically married
due to attractiveness,
it says in verse 5,
And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth,
and that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually.
Now, how did this take place?
Well, it took place because
saved people married unsaved people.
And look, if every saved person...
I'm just going to marry
an unsaved person
so I can convert them.
It'll be another salvation
and I'll get them to be just like us.
Good luck with that.
Most likely,
that's not going to happen.
Very unlikely
that you marry an unsaved...
I mean, if you can't get them
saved before you get married,
it's unlikely you're getting them saved
after you get married.
Now, look, I do know cases
of people getting saved after.
But you know, honestly,
in those cases,
the person who was saved
that married an unbeliever,
they weren't exactly living for God
when they got married.
Okay?
If you make a compromise...
I mean, this is the truth.
If you, as a saved person,
marry an unsaved person
as a compromise,
you know what else you're going to do?
You're going to be there
at that first infant baptism.
Right?
You're going to be there
when that baby gets baptized.
You're going to be raising them
in some Catholic school.
Good luck with that.
And you're going to argue
all the time,
or what you're going to do
is just compromise all the time.
It's like,
honey, I don't think
we should let them watch this,
but you're going to just compromise
and compromise and compromise.
And it says here in verse 5,
it talks about the wickedness
of the heart,
and then God talks about
how He's going to destroy the world,
and He does
because of the fact
of their wickedness.
Now, I'm not trying to go
on a big rabbit show,
but notice verses 6 and 7
real quickly.
It says,
And it repented the Lord
that He had made man on the earth,
and it grieved Him at His heart.
And the Lord said,
I will destroy man whom I have created
from the face of the earth,
both man and beast,
and the creeping thing,
the fowls of the air,
for it repenteth Me
that I have made them.
This is the first instance
of that very controversial word,
repent.
Magsisi.
Right?
And the first person
repenting in the Bible is God.
Now, God is not a sinner.
In fact,
God repents more than anyone else.
And so, look,
repent,
the word does not inherently
mean to turn from your sins.
It means to change or to turn,
and that could be
any number of things.
When we're talking about,
like, a Buddhist needs
to repent to be saved,
what we're saying is,
change your mind
about what you believe.
You can't believe in Buddhism,
a better example, Hinduism.
You say,
Man, I'm going to believe
on Jesus Christ.
He's going to be my 300 million
and first God
that I'm worshipping.
Right?
I mean,
and I think very highly of Him.
I'm going to have Shiva, Vishnu,
and right underneath
Jesus Christ above Brahma.
Right?
It's just like,
no, they've got to reject
what they believe
in order to believe on Jesus.
Right.
You can't trust
in a false gospel
in order to believe on Jesus.
You must change
what you believe.
Right.
God, what He's changing about
is He's changing
wanting man on earth.
He says,
I'm going to destroy them
and start over with Noah.
So you have to look at
the context,
the word repent,
repenting of what?
It could be many different things.
Go to Job 31.
Actually,
actually,
we're going to look at that later.
Go to 2 Samuel 13.
2 Samuel 13.
And look,
I don't believe that everybody
in Genesis 6 was unsaved.
I don't believe that for a second.
I mean,
I don't know how many people
were living on earth,
but you need to realize
a lot of time goes by
between Genesis 1 and Genesis 6.
And if you've ever looked
at population charts,
it skyrockets pretty quickly.
I know math again,
exponents,
blah, blah, blah.
But if you pay attention
to exponents and math,
you know, numbers,
and look,
people are probably
having a lot of kids,
especially if you're
living 900 years.
Right?
I mean,
I don't have the ability
to have 100 kids in my lifetime,
but if you live to be
900 years old,
you might have a lot of kids.
Okay?
So look,
the population,
we don't know what it was,
but there are a lot of people.
I don't believe that there
was just eight people
that were saved
on the entire planet.
I just think there's
eight people that got
on the ark.
I mean,
I'm sure there's a lot
of people that were saved,
but they actually got
on the ark
and were actually spared.
And that also shows us
it's not about
just being saved.
You also have to live
a godly life
because Noah was saved
because he was righteous,
the Bible says.
Now, we understand
there's none righteous,
but compared to everybody
else during his day,
Noah was the best man living,
the Bible says.
And so 2 Samuel 13.
First point is this.
Heart is deceitful.
Point two,
the heart is wicked.
Point three,
the heart is destructive,
meaning it will
destroy your life.
Here's an example
in 2 Samuel 13.
And bear with me because
I changed the order
of my sermon in the car,
so I'm kind of like,
you know,
moving stuff around here.
But I want to give you
an example of how your heart
can destroy your life here.
2 Samuel 13.
And it came to pass
after this that Absalom,
the son of David,
had a fair sister
whose name was Tamar,
and Amnon,
the son of David,
loved her.
So here's a story of Amnon,
who is the son of David,
and he loves his half-sister,
the same father.
He loves his half-sister,
Tamar,
who is the full sister
of Absalom.
Now, the reason why
we're in this situation
is because just a couple
chapters ago,
David followed his heart.
Right?
Now, I'm not using that example
because, you know,
we use it a lot.
It's a great example.
But now in 2 Samuel 13,
what do we see?
David's son follows his heart.
Because if I go down a road,
my son's probably going to go
down a similar road.
It's kind of hard for David.
David was a mighty man of God.
He did a lot of great works.
But in terms of relationship,
it's kind of hard to have
the moral high ground
when you have a lot of wives.
It's like, son,
don't marry lots of women.
A day later,
I do for the 10th time.
It's like it's kind of hard
to give advice.
Why do you think Solomon
married so many women?
I mean, Solomon's mom said,
give not thy strength
unto women.
But it's hard for Bathsheba
to have the moral high ground
when she was guilty
of that exact thing.
Right?
It's great advice,
but unfortunately,
Bathsheba, you know what?
It's kind of generational
sort of curse sort of thing.
But we see Amnon
doing the same thing.
There's that classic sermon
you always hear.
Amnon had a friend,
and that's from this chapter.
Verse 2.
And Amnon was so vexed
that he fell sick
for his sister Tamar,
for she was a virgin.
And Amnon thought it hard
for him to do anything to her.
And so Amnon is not married
to Tamar,
but he has a desire
to be with her physically,
with her intimately.
Okay?
Verse 3.
But it says he found it hard
to do anything to her
because he knows it's wrong.
Verse 3.
But Amnon had a friend
whose name was Jonadab,
the son of Shemaiah,
David's brother,
and Jonadab was a very subtle man.
Now, Jonadab is a picture
of the devil.
He was a very subtle man.
Now, I'm not saying
he literally was the devil,
but I am saying
he was literally a reprobate.
And Jonadab basically
tries to use Amnon,
and he does.
He takes Amnon's wrong desires,
and you know what?
He basically subtly tricks him
and destroys his life.
Now, we don't have time
to go for the sake of it
to the end of the story,
but then Jonadab just kind of
walks away at the end of it,
and it's just like,
you know, he basically says,
well, this is the reason
why it happened.
It's like, well,
you're the reason, though.
But he doesn't say that.
Right?
Because Jonadab
was not a real friend.
Verse 4.
And he said unto him,
Why art thou,
being the king's son,
lean from day to day?
That seems to be saying,
you know, why aren't you
eating much?
Why are you so thin?
Wilt thou not tell me?
You can trust me.
I'm your friend.
And Amnon said unto him,
I love Tamar,
my brother Absalom's sister.
And Jonadab said unto him,
Lay thee down on thy bed
and make thyself sick.
And when thy father
cometh to see thee,
say unto him,
I pray thee,
let my sister Tamar come
and give me meat
and dress the meat in my sight,
that I may see it
and eat it at her hand.
And so basically,
what Amnon's friend,
so-called friend Jonadab does,
is he puts Amnon
in a bad position.
He doesn't tell him
to commit a wicked sin,
but what he does is
he subtly puts him
in a bad position.
Now, you have to realize
something about this story.
Just take a step back from this,
and when this action
takes place,
Absalom already knows
automatically.
How is that possible?
Well, out of the abundance
of the heart,
the mouth speaketh.
So I would presume that Amnon
had probably told people.
I mean, he tells Jonadab
right here,
that might not be the only
person that Amnon
has actually told.
And so Absalom's aware
immediately about what took place,
and then Absalom was,
you know, very, you know,
slow to just pour out his wrath,
and then he ends up killing Amnon
a few years down the road.
Okay?
So look, I believe that
Jonadab already knew
what was inside of Amnon's heart,
so he knows what's going to happen.
Because he's a bad person.
He's a child of the devil,
a wicked person,
and he wants to destroy
Amnon's life.
Verse 6.
So Amnon laid down
and made himself sick,
and so he's pretending
to be sick, right?
And when the king
was come to see him,
Amnon said unto the king,
I pray thee, let Tamar my sister
come and make me a couple
of cakes in my sight,
that I may eat at her hand.
Then David sent home to Tamar,
sent home to Tamar,
saying, Go now to thy brother
Amnon's house and dress in meat.
So Tamar went to her brother
Amnon's house,
and he was laid down,
and she took flour and kneaded it,
and made cakes in his sight,
and did bake the cakes.
And she took a pan and poured
them out before him,
but he refused to eat.
And Amnon said,
Have out all men from me,
and they went out,
every man from him.
Now, this is a dumb decision,
because there were just men
in the room,
and people are going to find out
what happened, Amnon.
It's like, what are you doing?
But he's not using his head.
He's using his heart in this story.
Verse 10,
And Amnon said unto Tamar,
Bring the meat into the chamber
that I may eat of thine hand.
And Tamar took the cakes
which he had made,
and brought them into the chamber
to Amnon her brother.
And when she had brought them
unto him to meet,
he took hold of her,
and said unto her,
My sister.
And she answered him,
Nay, my brother,
do not force me.
Now, when you're seeing forcing
in context of physical contact,
it's referring to the word rape
as we would say it.
She's saying,
Don't rape me.
Don't force me.
Now, when it says
he took hold of her, though,
the expression take hold
does not necessarily mean rape
in the Bible.
That's an expression used
when people are physically
together.
They take hold of one another.
That doesn't necessarily mean rape.
But here, when it's saying,
Don't force me,
that is referring to rape.
Okay?
Now, I believe Amnon
was a saved person
because of the fact
when he died,
David was actually comforted.
So this shows that a saved person
could commit a wicked sin.
Because out of the heart
precedes these things.
And it says in verse 12,
And she answered him,
Nay, my brother,
do not force me,
for no such thing
ought to be done in Israel.
Do not thou this folly.
It's foolish.
Don't do this.
And she says,
And I whither shall I
cause my shame to go?
She's like,
I'm going to be embarrassed.
Be an embarrassment to me.
And as for thee,
thou shalt be as one
of the fools in Israel.
Now, therefore,
I pray thee,
speak unto the king,
for he will not
withhold me from thee.
And so what she's basically
saying is,
You know what?
If you talk to David,
he'll let us just get married.
At least if this is
going to happen,
at least we could wait
till we say the I do's.
But Amnon's not thinking
logically in this.
He's letting his feelings
guide him.
And you know what?
We know the end result
of this story.
And so what Amnon does,
notice what it says in verse 14,
Howbeit he would not
hearken unto her voice,
but being stronger than she,
forced her and lay with her.
But here's what's crazy
about this story.
And honestly,
this next verse,
if you are a single person
and you're in a relationship
or before you're married,
you should take hold of verse 15
because of the fact
after this takes place,
Amnon doesn't care
about her anymore.
Then Amnon hated her exceedingly
so that the hatred
wherewith he hated her
was greater than the love
wherewith he had loved her.
And Amnon sat under her,
her eyes be gone.
And so his hatred for her
is more than the love
he had for her.
What does that indicate?
It means that if you
as a safe person
sleep with someone
before you're married,
it's going to destroy
that relationship.
That's what we see in this story.
It's going to destroy
your relationship.
You say, why is it so important
to stay pure until you're married?
What's the difference between
doing it on this day
versus this day
after you're married?
Well, the difference is
whether or not you're going
to love them afterwards
because in the Bible
we see that after this,
Amnon doesn't even care about her.
That's reality
if you fornicate
before you're married.
That's the indication
the Bible's trying to give us.
Man, Brother Stuckey,
it's so makaluma to say
you shouldn't kiss
and be intimate
and do all these things
before you're married.
Yeah, you know what?
When people preach like this,
they're trying to save you
from destroying your life.
If you've got a good relationship,
don't risk it
by doing something foolish.
And look, I'm not preaching
on the past.
Obviously, we have
plenty of people here.
I'm sure people made wrong
choices in the past,
but I'm trying to help people
that are not married yet.
Make sure you don't even
go down that road
and your heart could destroy you.
Go to Proverbs 28.
Proverbs 28.
Now, I believe what good advice is,
and I've heard this preached
before, and this is definitely
what we would do with our kids,
is that if you're too young
to get married,
you're too young to date.
I can say that I don't know
the exact age my son and my
daughter will be allowed to date,
but if I don't deem them
ready to get married,
not a chance are we going
to let them date anybody.
You say, why?
Because you're putting yourself
in a position you might fornicate.
I mean, let's be honest.
Men and women have natural
desires given by God,
but there's a right time
and a right place
for those things.
And the right time is not
before you're married.
And so, look, if someone's
not able to get married,
I don't believe they
should be dating.
Now, you make your choice
with your own kids
when you're raising them.
Let me just say our son Zeph,
he's not going to be dating
when he's too young
to get married.
I mean, maybe if he's rounding
that point where he's very close,
like 18 years old,
and maybe if he is doing
pretty well financially
or whatever, he's got
his career figured out,
but if he's nowhere near
at the point of getting married,
not a chance.
It's like our daughter,
I mean, it's like,
I don't know the exact age.
As I said, obviously my children
are young, but I believe
that is great advice.
If you're too young
to get married,
you're too young to date.
Doesn't that make sense?
I mean, in the Bible,
it's the father's job
to protect his daughter
from something happening.
And so if you're a parent,
you ought to take that
and say, you know what,
I'm going to protect my children
from something happening.
And one great way to do that is
if they're too young
to get married,
too young to date.
Common sense, right?
Makes perfect sense.
Proverbs 28 verse 26.
He that trusteth in his own heart
is a fool,
but whoso walketh wisely,
he shall be delivered.
Now, let me be honest.
All of us from time to time
trust in our hearts.
All of us make decisions
that are wrong.
We commit sins because
we obviously enjoy it.
We're not perfect.
And it's because we have
these feelings and we want
to fulfill whatever
those desires are,
but I'm just saying
there's a dangerous road.
There's importance of living
a clean and healthy life.
Go to Psalm 37.
Psalm 37.
Psalm 37, right in the middle
of your Bible,
the book of Psalms.
Psalm 37 verse 4.
And the Bible says,
Psalm 37,
the book of Psalms chapter 37,
delight thyself, verse 4,
delight thyself also in the Lord,
and he shall give thee
the desires of thine heart.
Now, that's an interesting verse
because I'm preaching against
trusting your heart
and letting your feelings
guide you, but the Bible says
he's going to give you
the desires of your heart.
You say, why?
Because the first half of that
verse, delight thyself
also in the Lord.
That's a person living
a godly life.
Reading the Bible,
and what takes place
that we're going to see
in a little bit,
that actually changes
the desires of your heart
because your heart is influenced
by the actions you do.
I mean, if there's one thing
I say all the time,
it's that your feelings
follow your actions.
Your actions, you know,
can basically change
the direction of your heart.
Okay?
Your feelings
follow your actions.
And so it says
he'll give you the desires
of your heart
because if you've got
a clean heart
that wants to serve God,
you're doing what's right.
Man, you want to come to church?
I'm going to make sure
you have the ability
to come to church.
You want to read the Bible?
I'm going to make sure
you get a chance
to read the Bible.
You want to serve God
and go soul winning?
I'm going to make sure
you get that opportunity.
But you know what?
We should also praise the Lord
that if we're not
doing what's right,
sometimes God does not
give us the desires
of our heart.
If God just always gave us
the desires of our heart,
man, my life would be destroyed
because we all have
wrong desires sometimes.
And I believe God providentially
sometimes prevents us
from destroying our lives,
and we ought to praise God
about that.
We ought to praise God
that sometimes God puts
a stop to stuff and says,
you know what?
No, I'm not going to let you
destroy your life.
Now look, we have free will,
but I also believe
God's guiding our steps.
And I do believe God
is long suffering,
and He will help us
when we go down the wrong road
where He's going to try
to correct us
and straighten us up.
And if He just let us
always have the desires
of our heart,
there's a problem
when your heart's deceitful
and wicked.
It's going to destroy your life.
Now, I'll go to the last point
here in a second,
but I found this list online
of this basically comparison,
following your head
or following your heart.
And what they did is
they polled thousands of people,
and they said,
in this situation,
do you follow your head
or your heart?
Now, this is just
what people are saying.
It doesn't mean
it's actually true,
but I just kind of want
to go through the list
because it's kind of humorous, okay?
Purchasing a home,
93% of people follow their head.
7% follow their heart.
It always equals 100%.
There's no other category, okay?
93 and 7%.
93% of people say,
man, if I can't afford the loan,
I can't pay the bills with the job.
I mean, it makes sense.
Don't buy a home.
You're going to have to get back
to the bank in two months, right?
93% of people say,
hey, I follow my head
when I make the decision
of buying a home.
Retiring,
86% of people follow their head.
Now, just about 100% of people
probably want to retire
before they do,
but you've got to follow your head
and say, man,
I don't want to keep working.
I don't like my job.
I don't want to get so stressed out,
but I don't have enough money
to retire,
so they follow their head.
It's like, brother Sucky,
you know, I just turned 19,
and you know what?
I just want to retire.
It's like, you've got to follow your head
if you don't have the money, right?
You're going to have to wait.
Accepting a new job,
85% of people follow their head.
Doesn't that make sense?
You get a new job offer.
It's like, man,
I really want that job,
and it pays like 10% of my old job.
Well, you're going to follow your head
and keep the job you have, right?
You can't just follow your heart.
You've got to make logical decisions.
Moving to a new city or state,
82% follow their heads.
Choosing an educational path,
77% of people follow their heads.
Where to live,
72% of people follow their heads.
Choosing a career field,
70% follow their heads.
All of these are associated in some form
or another with finances, right?
Every single one,
purchasing a home,
retiring,
accepting a new job,
moving to a new place,
choosing an educational path,
where to live,
choosing a career field,
70% or above.
Choosing a romantic partner,
21%,
21% say follow your head,
79%,
let the Dow just flow through you.
Just let your feelings guide you.
It's like every issue with money,
70 plus percent follow their head.
Choosing a romantic partner,
have the courage to let your heart guide you.
You say,
Brother Stuckey,
shouldn't I marry someone
I enjoy spending time with
and I find attractive?
Yeah, but that's secondary.
That's secondary.
First, are they saved?
I mean, isn't that,
as a Bible-believing Christian,
as a fundamentalist Baptist,
doesn't it make sense?
Are they saved?
Here's the thing.
Most saved people don't want to live for God.
And it's like,
well, you better make sure
that they actually want to live for God.
It's just like,
man, they're saved.
I want to marry them.
And you know,
I'm trying to read the Bible with them
and it's like, man,
we're going to read Jude
and they haven't been able
to finish Jude the last couple months.
I don't think they want to live for God.
That's one chapter.
Twenty-five verses.
It's like,
man, I mean,
a verse a day schedule.
And I missed a few days
so it took me a couple months, right?
A word a day schedule
is what they're on, right?
Look, the reality is
most people don't want to live for God.
Most saved people don't want to live for God.
It's just the truth, right?
Twenty-one percent of people
choose their head
when picking a romantic partner.
I mean, it's foolishness.
I mean, with all decisions,
you don't follow your hearts.
And look, the person you marry,
that's a permanent decision you're making.
I mean, you're committing
to the next 50 years of your life,
however long you live,
to that person.
I mean, if you're just trusting
the fact they look attractive,
I hate to break it to you,
but we all get older.
Our looks change.
It's like it better be
till death do us part
in sickness or health, right?
It better be because you actually
care about them and say,
I'm willing to make commitment.
I love them,
not just I have feelings for them.
They're attractive, right?
Look, if that's your basis
on marrying someone,
you're going to destroy your life
because of the fact...
And look, I'll be honest with you.
I know situations of guys
that married girls,
and it turned out those girls
were faking being saved
so they would marry them.
I know multiple instances
in the United States of people
that were soul winners
that married girls,
and they faked being saved.
And I believe probably a big part
of that was the fact
they married them too quickly.
Let me tell you something.
You don't really know
if someone wants to live for God
if they come to a church for a month.
You might want to take some time
to make sure...
I mean, let's see if they can sit
through all the sermons here.
They might be able to just sit
through a couple,
but man, I preach pretty hard.
And you know what the reality is?
That's going to be kind of the proof
whether or not they're able
to take the Word of God.
I mean, I guess I don't have the talent
to just kind of beat around the bush.
I just say, here's the sword.
It's like, take it or leave it, right?
And it's like, honestly,
I understand.
I got married when I was 30 years old,
and I understand.
When you have beliefs like ours,
it's difficult
because very few girls are even
on the menu, so to speak, right?
Very few are even options
because they're not saved
or they don't love God.
That really narrows down your selection.
I get that, but let me tell you something.
It's actually good
to bring girls to this church
because you know what?
There are plenty of people
that would actually like this preaching.
And they might not be living for God now,
but you know what?
They might actually like this preaching.
But you know what?
Let me just give you some advice.
Don't just rush into a marriage with someone.
See whether or not
they're able to take this church,
whether they really like it.
Whether or not they're willing
to start coming soul winning,
they're able to preach the gospel
for themselves,
showing they actually believe it.
They're reading the Bible.
Make sure that they're actually liking
this type of preaching,
this type of church,
unless you plan to change down the road.
Unless you plan to go back
to your Catholic roots.
Unless you plan to go back
to your Protestant roots, right?
I don't know what everyone else's church
was growing up,
or your roots from that church or whatever,
or other Baptist church or whatever.
But it's like,
unless you're planning to change,
you better marry someone
who actually likes this type of church.
And let me tell you something.
You say it's so hard as a guy.
Actually, women are more spiritual than men.
I promise you,
our attendance at Father's Day
is going to be lower
than it was at Mother's Day.
You say, why?
Because women are more spiritual than men.
I mean, when it's Mother's Day,
you know what a mom's wish is?
Always.
Always for their child
if they're not going to church.
I just want you to come to church with me, son.
Always.
Almost every single woman,
pretty much every woman in our,
if you had a child,
that's what you would say
if they didn't come to church.
Just come to church with mom.
Dad's just like,
son, let's watch the game, right?
Let's relax.
Let's go out and play some pool.
Let's do some darts for Father's Day.
Look, women are more spiritual than men.
That's the truth.
And honestly, you know,
women oftentimes can take this type of preaching.
It's not like we're a room of 100% men.
It's like we have plenty of women
in our church that love this kind of preaching.
And so, look, the reality is
there are girls out there
that would love God
if they heard this type of preaching.
But you know, you need to be patient.
It's not just going to come immediately.
You need to make sure
that they actually like this type of church.
It takes time.
You say, Brother Stuckey,
I hear the preaching.
Go to Job 31.
Job 31.
You say, what do I do, though?
Because my heart's deceitful.
It's wicked, and it's destructive.
Well, all of us have that same heart.
But here's the good news.
The heart is influenced.
The heart is influenced
by the actions you choose to do.
You can change the desires of your heart,
and then God can bless you
and give you the desires of your heart,
the Bible says,
if the right desires.
You can change the direction of your heart.
Notice what it says in Job 31.
Verse 1.
I made a covenant with mine eyes.
Why then should I think upon a maid?
Now, look, Job was probably
the most righteous man of his day,
and he still made a covenant
or an agreement or a contract with his eyes,
basically stating,
I'm not going to look at someone
I'm not married to in a wrong way.
Now, the reality is,
they didn't have YouTube.
They didn't have pornography.
They didn't have the worldly movies,
and I would assume people
were probably dressed a lot nicer
than they were today,
but Job still said,
I made a covenant with mine eyes.
You say, why?
Because, let's be honest,
there's that famous book in the U.S.
I don't know how many copies it sold.
I don't know if you've heard of it.
It's called Every Man's Battle.
It sold like 10 million.
Just saying, guys struggle with ladies.
Why do you think Solomon's mom said,
give not thy strength unto women?
Because she knew,
hey, that could be an area
Solomon struggles with,
and he did struggle in that area.
And so Job said,
I made a covenant with mine eyes.
Verse 2,
For what portion of God
is there from above?
And what inheritance
of the Almighty from on high?
Is not destruction to the wicked,
and a strange punishment
to the workers of iniquity?
Doth not he see my ways
and count all my steps?
If I have walked with vanity,
or if my foot hath hastened the deceit,
let me be weighed in an even balance,
that God may know mine integrity.
Now, I read all those verses
because I don't want to break the context.
Look at verse 7.
If my step hath turned out of the way,
and mine heart walked after mine eyes.
Notice how it says
your heart walks after your eyes.
It'd be like, for example,
a guy is 16 years old,
and let's say he has an ungodly friend
who shows him pornography.
And so he happens to see something
that he doesn't want to see,
but that's what his friend is showing him.
Unfortunately, the scary thing is
his heart can actually walk
in the same direction as his eyes.
Even though he didn't even desire
to look at it to begin with,
it actually changes your heart.
The Bible says your heart walks after your eyes.
Be very careful with things you watch on TV.
You say, Brother Stuckey, it's not a problem.
It's like, I can take it.
I won't change my beliefs.
I'll still be zealous.
What about if your heart
walks after your eyes?
You know what Hollywood does?
They do these movies,
and they don't necessarily
always show something,
but you know they just slept together
as unmarried people, right?
They glorify in these movies
adultery like it's no big thing.
And they make you think,
and you know what?
It's set around a movie
and then the music,
and it brainwashes you subtly
that it's not a big deal.
I mean, in these comedy shows,
they're sleeping with everybody.
No big deal.
Yeah, until it destroys your life.
It's like, why don't you show
the episodes on TV
where you start having lots of kids
with a lot of different women
because you're just
sleeping around with everyone,
because you're a whore monger,
as the Bible says.
The Bible condemns both men
and women going down this road.
It's not just whores.
There's a whore monger,
the Bible says,
in reference to the men.
Your heart can walk after your eyes.
Be very careful what you're
letting your eyes look at.
Be very careful the music you hear.
Turn your Bible to
Ecclesiastes chapter 2.
Ecclesiastes 2.
Ecclesiastes chapter 2.
I mean, this is an expression in the U.S.
I don't know if it's an expression here,
but they make jokes about it.
It's like, well, it's okay to look
as long as you don't do anything.
Like, they'll make the jokes
of a married guy looking at some woman
that he's not married to and everything.
It's like, well, it's okay to look
as long as you don't touch.
Is that a biblical phrase?
It's like, what about when you just chose
to look at someone you're not married to
and now it's entered into your heart?
Man, a saved person
would never commit adultery.
What about King David?
I mean, if it enters into your heart,
then out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,
murderers, adulterers, whatever.
I mean, adultery is in that list, right?
It is possible if you let it enter into your heart,
and that happens because you let it
enter into your eyes and your ears.
Ecclesiastes chapter 2 verse 10.
And whatsoever mine eyes desired
I kept not from them.
I withheld not my heart from any joy.
First, Solomon lets it enter into his eyes,
and then it enters into his heart.
We'll close up in Matthew 6.
Matthew 6.
Matthew chapter 6.
I mean, I said last week,
and we used a lot of these same verses,
right, you know, in the sermons.
But in hedonism, I said there's no more
destructive philosophy for a saved person,
but this one's right there too, right?
Following your heart.
Because there's no question
saved people can choose to follow their heart.
And we see the end result of that in the Bible.
I mean, it's actually closely associated
to what we talked about.
But your turn into Matthew 6.
Let me just quote you where the Bible says,
Mine eye affecteth mine heart.
So here's the thing.
If you choose to look at things that are wrong
and listen to what's wrong,
it's going to affect your heart in a bad way.
What about if you choose to listen to good preaching?
What about if you choose to listen to the audio Bible?
Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
You got a busy day?
You're not able to focus on the Bible?
Just put on Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
That's going to affect you in a good way.
How about setting your eyes upon this?
I made a covenant with mine eyes.
Why then should I think upon a mate?
That's going to affect you in a good way, right?
If you set your eyes on what's right,
it's going to change your heart too.
This is not a hopeless sermon.
What it means is you better make sure
your eyes and your ears are looking
and listening to the things they need to be,
and that is going to affect your heart in a good way.
But it's also a scary thing,
because you can be a zealous Christian,
and if you choose to start heading down the wrong road,
there's destruction at the end.
The other thing is this.
The Bible speaks about if you're going down the right path,
it gives analogies we can picture.
It's guided by light, the light of God's word.
You're getting close to God.
But if you go down the other way,
you stumble in darkness.
Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night
and you have to use the bathroom?
And then you're trying to figure out how to...
And look, I am without my contacts pretty much blind.
Some people have tried on my contacts before,
and everybody was in unanimous agreement.
Brother Stuckey can't see a thing.
You say, Brother Stuckey, you were in contacts? Yes.
If I wasn't, then I would be stumbling around, right?
This is how I'd be doing my sermon without my contacts, right?
I'm not blind.
So when I wake up in the middle of the night,
not only is it dark,
but I also can't see if it wasn't dark,
and I'm like, you know, feeling around
so I don't get hurt and everything.
And so look, but have you woken up in the middle of the night
and you don't know where you're going?
You stumble on stuff.
That's the way your life is
if you're going down the wrong path.
Basically, you don't realize what's in front of you
because it's dark.
You don't realize the end result.
You don't realize the potential problems.
You don't realize that right in front of you,
I mean, if it's light outside,
and all of a sudden, there's this giant gap
where you're coming to a cliff,
you're going to see the cliff,
and whoa, I'm going to stop, right?
But if it's dark, what are you going to do?
Whoa!
Just fall off.
That's the picture God's giving us.
If you're stumbling in darkness,
you're not even going to realize,
and that's when it's scary
when you don't even realize what you're doing is wrong,
and that's when God has to shake us back into reality,
and we've got to make the right decision then.
Matthew 6, verse 19.
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth
where moth and rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves break through and steal.
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven
where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
For where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also.
The Bible speaks about basically
caring about the things of God
and not the things of this earth
that are going to pass away,
and the Bible says lay up treasures in heaven.
What it says is where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also.
So basically, what you put your focus on,
that's where your heart's going to go.
Basically, your feelings follow your actions.
Right?
And so just think of this logically.
Let's say, for example,
you bought a bike for 20 pesos.
Right?
You bought a bicycle.
It's your new bike.
20 pesos.
Right?
Versus buying a bike for 20,000 pesos.
Now which one of those bikes do you care about more
if you end up crashing it?
Probably the one that cost 20,000 pesos.
Right?
I have no idea how expensive your bike was.
Right?
If you buy a car.
Right?
You buy a car and you say,
okay, you know, I'm just going to buy a car.
It's not the fanciest car,
but I just need to get to point A and point B.
I need a car in my life.
But you're buying a really inexpensive one
that you can do, you know,
fix up if there's any problems.
But then you say, well, you know what?
I've been saving up a lot of money for five years.
I'm going to buy a nice car.
And you buy a nice car for what?
Let's say two million pesos.
That's pretty expensive.
Right?
Per car.
And then you crash it the next day.
You're going to care a lot more
than if you only bought that car for less.
Because you have more invested into it.
The same thing as investing our time into something.
You want to care about your wife more,
invest more time.
Because where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also.
Your heart's going to follow.
You want to care about your husband more,
invest more time.
You want to care about your kids more,
invest more time.
Even things in your life
that you used to spend a lot of time on.
Me growing up, all I did was I ate,
I slept, I breathed soccer.
I wanted to be a pro soccer player.
And if I wasn't playing soccer,
I was either training for soccer,
I was watching soccer games,
or I was playing FIFA.
Right?
It was one of those things.
Soccer, soccer, soccer, soccer.
Right?
I mean, if I had grown up where brother Mateus did,
I would have never started serving God.
Right?
I would have just been soccer, soccer,
soccer all the time.
And here's the reality of it, though.
I don't sit around and watch all these soccer games now,
but, you know, if you came up to me and said,
hey, they say this guy is better than Lionel Messi ever was.
He's the best player ever.
You know, I'd be very curious to watch him play
because of the fact I played soccer all my life.
Man, this guy's 20 times better than Michael Jordan.
I doubt it, but I'd be very curious to see.
Right?
Because you've already invested some of your heart.
So the reality is,
if you've invested any of your heart in the past into something,
there still might be some of your heart in that direction.
Right.
The more you have invested, the more...
I mean, if you just started listening to wrong music
and you bought a wrong CD,
it's probably not that hard to throw it away
if you hear the sermons and get right.
But, you know, if you've invested your whole life,
you know, it's going to be a lot harder.
It's like that in all areas.
You need to find out what are my weaknesses.
And we all have them.
Figure out what your weaknesses are in life
to guard yourself from stumbling in darkness
because you will destroy your life.
So what are the points here today?
Point number one, the heart's deceitful.
Point two, the heart is wicked.
Point three, the heart is destructive,
meaning it will end up destroying you.
But the good news or bad news,
depending on how you take it,
is the heart is influenced.
You say, Brother Sucky, man,
I know you preach about how I should read the Bible,
and you know what?
I'm planning to start reading the Bible,
but I just don't feel like reading the Bible.
You know, what's that magic formula
to wanting to read the Bible?
Here's the magic formula.
Start reading the Bible,
and then you're going to start desiring to read the Bible.
Brother Sucky, I know I should go soul winning,
but what's the secret?
I don't feel like going soul winning.
Start going soul winning,
and then your heart's going to follow you.
Your heart is going to follow the direction of your actions.
Make sure your actions are headed down the right way.
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 ask you to help all of us in this room
because all of us can be guilty of this from time to time
of heading down the wrong road,
and help all of us.
God, we do ask you to providentially stop us
if we're heading down the wrong road,
and help all of us just look at our lives
and make sure just on a weekly basis
that we're heading down the right roads
and not making major mistakes.
God, help us to be a godly church,
and we just pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
For 119, till the storm passes by.