you
you you
you
I need baptize with water into repentance
but he that cometh out from me is mightier than I
whose shoes I am not worthy to bear
he shall baptize with the Holy Ghost
and with fire
whose fan is in his hand
and he will thoroughly purge his floor
and gather his wheat into the garden
but he will burn up the shaft with
unquenchable fire
bless the ring of God's word let us pray
Lord God in heaven we thank you Lord for the state that is given to us
and God the truth please bless God for this day
give us good weather for our soul winning
and our fellowship later on
and for the truth peace bless the preacher
the preacher of your word for this day
we love you Jesus name we pray amen
John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness
of Judea now
you wouldn't really think that if you're trying to reach
a lot of people you'd start in the wilderness
but that is where John the Baptist started
he started kind of away from the crowds
and people came to him
to hear him preach
verse number two
and saying repent ye for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand
repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand
now this word repent is a very
important word and there's a lot of opinions
about it and we can see here
that John the Baptist preached repentance
what exactly does that mean
turn to Acts
chapter 19
Acts 19
Acts chapter 19
and in Acts 19 we're going to see this story
where Paul the Apostle runs into people
that got baptized but they're not actually
saved right
and it says here in Acts 19 verse 1
and it came to pass that while
Apollos was at Corinth
Paul having passed through the upper coast came to Ephesus
and finding certain disciples
he said unto them have ye received the Holy Ghost
since he believed
and they said unto him we have not so much as heard
whether there be any Holy Ghost
and so Paul's running into people
and you know what he's just kind of
assuming that they're probably saved
because they're disciples they're followers
and he asks them a very basic question
and they're like you know what's the Holy Ghost
you know what are you talking about
and then Paul's kind of wondering
it's like are these people really saved they seem like they're kind of confused
verse 3
and he said unto them unto what then were ye baptized
and they said unto John's baptism
now look John the Baptist
baptized a lot of people
right and here's what I would say
if you're baptizing a lot of people
you're not really going to stop
and individually ask everybody about their salvation
and of course people are coming
to hear John the Baptist preach
so there's people that he hasn't even met
and there's like 20 people lined up
it's kind of like you're going to baptize some people
that maybe just got emotional they didn't really believe
they're confused
it's going to happen right
and it says here in verse 4
then said Paul
John verily baptized
with the baptism of repentance
now what does that mean
saying unto the people
that they should believe on him
which should come after him
that is on Christ Jesus
so when John the Baptist was preaching repentance
what he's saying to the people
is they should believe
on the one coming after
which is
Jesus Christ
and so when it comes to salvation
when we talk about the word repentance
you don't have to change your lifestyle
to be saved
you don't have to quit lying
and quit every vice
to be saved
what you've got to do is change your belief
so for example
if you're a Muslim
you've got to change what you believe to be saved
you cannot believe on Muhammad
you can't believe in Jesus and still believe in Muhammad
you've got to make a choice
and if you grow up Roman Catholic
and you believe in a work salvation
like the Roman Catholic Church teaches
you've got to change what you believe
in order to be saved
I'm sure probably over half of this room
grew up Roman Catholic
and you rejected that
and when you got saved
you were making a choice weren't you
saying you know what I'm no longer
going to believe in the pope and the sacraments
and the last rites
and confession and baptism
and all these things I'm just going to believe
on Jesus Christ for salvation
and John the Baptist
had people from different backgrounds
and what is he saying
quit trusting in what you used to trust in
quit believing what you used to believe in
and believe on Jesus Christ
for salvation
even outside of that
there's a lot of people in this room
that were Bible Baptist before
because probably over half of you
grew up Catholic
and probably over half of you came from
Bible Baptist more recently
and many of you would tell me
that yeah you know what I was Bible Baptist
and I wasn't even saved
right and you had to reject the ideas
and the false teachings you were learning
and realize hey it's not what I do
it's not my lifestyle change
I'm not going to heaven simply because I'm not Catholic
look I didn't grow up Catholic
that wasn't getting me to heaven though
not being Catholic
is not the same as salvation
you've got to change your mind
about what you believe
and put all your faith on Jesus Christ
to be saved and that's what John the Baptist
was preaching to people
go in your Bible to Matthew 3
Matthew chapter 3
Matthew 3
so as the Baptist
repents he wasn't saying to people that they should
quit smoking
nope he didn't say that they should quit drinking
no he's saying that they should believe
right
now when it comes to repentance
and I do believe that's what it's referring to
with John the Baptist here
but John the Baptist also preached
another type of repentance as well
because when you look at a
spiritual sense
there's kind of two types of repentance
now here's the thing what repent means
is to change
to change, to turn
but the context
is going to tell you what you're repenting of
what you're turning from
right so in a spiritual
sense we think of changing
our belief or
turning from our sins are kind of the two things
that you think about when it comes to
salvation what you've got to change
is your belief
not your lifestyle
however if you're already
saved there's another type of repentance
that is preached to you because in church
I don't usually preach on salvation
that much you know
why? because
most everybody if not everybody
in this room is saved
you believe
you need to hear more in your life than just salvation
every single week
and there are churches where every
sermon is about salvation
you said brother Seki what's the problem with that
there's a lot more in this book than
just salvation
I mean when you first get saved
that's all you can think about you're excited
but then after a little while
because I went to a church where every sermon was on salvation
for the first couple of months I'm thinking this is great
and then I was thinking
is there anything else?
right? you know I've heard the same
sermon on salvation every single week
right? and
the primary thing in a church like this
you hear is quit doing
that, quit doing that
repent of that, repent of that
you say why? because I'm trying to get you to change your life
at a church like ours I
tell you quit listening to that music
right?
change the way you're dressed
quit watching that
now here's the thing you have free will to do
whatever you want
but as a man of God I'm going to stand
up here and tell you what the Bible says
and John the Baptist when he's
going soul winning or preaching to people about salvation
he's saying believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ
but what do you really preach in a sermon?
repent of your sins
change your life because I'm
trying to get you to live a godly and
holy life look when a person
first gets saved
unless they grow up in a church like this
they've got a lot of things
in their life they need to change
they need to change what they
listen to what they watch
the friends they hang out with
the places they go
the vices that they might
be attached to I mean there's a lot they need
to change they don't have to change
any of that to be saved all they've got to change
is their belief repent of their belief
however after you get
saved it's time to start serving God
it's time to enlist
for the fight it's time to
sign up for the spiritual warfare
and you know what that means?
that no man entangles himself
with the affairs of this life if you're going to sign
up for that warfare meaning
it's time to make some changes in your life
don't get mad at me when I
preach against the sins that you're attached to
because maybe God wants you to hear it
maybe God wants you to make those changes in
your life and so
we see this about repentance and it says here in verse 3
for this is
he referring to John the Baptist
that was spoken of by the prophet
Isaiah saying
the voice of one
crying in the wilderness
prepare ye the way of the
Lord make his
path straight now it's interesting
how the Bible says
prepare ye the way of the Lord and then
it says
make his paths
straight what is the Bible saying
make his path straight prepare ye the way of the Lord
go to Isaiah chapter 40 where this is quoted
from Isaiah chapter 40
Isaiah chapter 40 verse 3
and John the Baptist was
prophesied in the Old Testament here in Isaiah
chapter 40 Isaiah 40 verse 3
the voice of him that crieth
in the wilderness and by the way
when it says crieth in the wilderness
it's not referring to
shedding tears you know there are some
emotional usually Pentecostal preachers that
will try to you know shed some tears
to get the emotion going
when it's saying crying it's like cry loud
spare not
lift up thy voice like a
trumpet that's what the Bible is saying when
cry loud right
and it says
the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness
prepare ye the way of the Lord
make straight in the desert a highway
for our God now what does it mean
make straight in the desert a highway for our God
there's a lot of symbolism
that's being mentioned here
in our modern day
when you're trying to travel somewhere
I mean if you've got a car you just drive
on a road that's paved for you
or you can book a
grab on your phone
get a tricycle
I mean I'm gonna be flying to the US here in
September and it's like well
it's like I just hop on a plane
and it's like you just go
and you know exactly
you know when you make a flight it's gonna tell you
okay it's this many hours
it's gonna take this long
in our modern day we use the expression
you know ETA estimated time of
arrival right that's probably not something
that they had 2000 years ago
when they're going on a trip but it's like hey
I'm gonna arrive in 11 minutes and you send
a text out and the path they're
going on is a well-paid path
that you know has been traveling
on a million times but here's
the thing 2000 years
ago when somebody
would be going on a journey they didn't necessarily
know where they're going
and what it said to us that in
times past when you would have kings that would
go on journeys what would take place
is they'd send a group
ahead of time to
prepare the way to figure
out what direction are we going
to make sure I mean make a
path in the desert and
literally they would make a path
for the king to travel because you're not gonna expect
the king to go on a path and
pave his own way out you're gonna
send the servants are gonna go
and they carve out a path
and so then he's gonna come back and say okay
this is what you need to do
this is what we need to bring this is how long it's gonna
take and they are basically preparing
the way for the king
right and so here's the thing why does this
relate to John the Baptist and Jesus
because Jesus is the king
and when the Bible is saying John the Baptist
is preparing the way
I mean he was kind of smoothing out the rough
spots because here's the thing make no
mistake about it regardless of what movies
or TV shows you've seen with Jesus with
long hair and preaching these
soft you know sermons
I mean Jesus preached some really
radical stuff that offended people
they tried to get mad I mean they got
mad at him many times I mean obviously they ultimately
crucified him but his first
sermon they tried to throw him off a cliff
now here's the
thing John the Baptist kind of prepared the way
before though by laying down the hammer
and it's like whoa and then the
shock waves were kind of less when
Jesus came because like yeah it's pretty similar to what
John the Baptist was doing now
it's interesting because in modern day
movies John the Baptist
is really like rugged and
tough he's got short hair
you know he's got you know camel
skin and everything like that
and then all of a sudden you've got Jesus
that comes to get baptized and he's got
long hair and he's talking
in a soft way you hypocrites
right
and it's like whenever you see this
comparison it's like
John the Baptist and
Jesus it's like they're completely
different from one another now
here make no mistake about it John the Baptist
is a normal man that's a sinner and Jesus
Jesus Christ is the Son of God is
perfect but here's the thing the
preaching of Jesus was similar to John the Baptist
and
it's not just John the Baptist or in our modern
day you go back to the prophets of the Old Testament
Jeremiah, Isaiah,
Ezekiel I mean they're saying pretty radical things
I
mean Zephaniah is
probably the meanest prophet in the Old Testament
why'd you name your son Zephaniah I mean
he's like the meanest prophet in the Old Testament
right preaching against this
and this and this
right and so John the Baptist
he's preparing the way
by preaching very hard
obviously they started baptism and things such as that
go back to Matthew 3
Matthew chapter 3
now we just came from the book of Isaiah
and the book of Isaiah
is referred to by
some people as the mini
Bible who's heard of Isaiah
being called the mini Bible before
some hands in this room
and Isaiah is a book
with 66 chapters
now
our Bible is made up of
66 books
now if your Bible is not made up out of 66 books
you've got a lot of problems with your Bible
but 39 in the Old Testament
and 27 in the New Testament
right
now the reason why people call the book of Isaiah
the mini Bible is because
if you look at the first chapter of Isaiah
there's a lot of symbolism
and things that line up with the first book of the Bible
Genesis
you go to the second chapter of Isaiah
a lot of things line up with the second book of the Bible
if you go to the last
the 66th book of the Bible
or the 66th book of Revelation
you see a lot of things that line up with the 66th chapter
in Isaiah
and myself I've seen it
I do believe that yeah
there is definitely a correlation
between the chapter of Isaiah
and the book of the Bible
and one of the clearest ones
is what we just looked at
Isaiah chapter 40
how many books are in the Old Testament?
39
so the book of Matthew
would be the first book of the New Testament
it is the 40th book of the Bible
and so it's interesting
the 40th chapter of Isaiah
talks about
John the Baptist
and then you see Matthew
where it's like John the Baptist
I don't think that's a coincidence personally
now here's the thing
when the Bible was first written
there were not chapters and verses
now the chapters and verses
are very helpful for us
from my understanding
they first came in with the Geneva Bible
and you know
these things are very helpful for us
I would say this
so where they make the breaks in the chapters
I don't really understand
I think it's kind of an odd place
and I'm not necessarily saying
every chapter or verse is inspired
the way they did that
so for example you get to the book of Ephesians
Ephesians chapter 5
and I think it's starting at verse 20
it talks about husbands and wives to the end of the chapter
but here's the thing
the first verse of that is submitting yourselves
one to another in the fear of God
and some people take that
well husbands and wives submit themselves
one to another
well that kind of contradicts the rest of what Ephesians 5 is talking about
with wives submitting to husbands
but here's the thing
what it's saying is submitting yourselves one to another
because in chapter 5 we see the example
of husbands and wives
then at the beginning of chapter 6 what do you have?
children obey your parents
in the Lord
for this is right
then what's after that?
servants obey your masters
so if you're in a position of having someone as the authority
you submit yourself to that authority
so in my mind it would make sense
to make it Ephesians 5-20
to Ephesians 6-9
would be kind of the logical break
other examples are
the first word of chapter
sometimes is therefore
so the thought is not over
right? so you've got to be very careful
when you're reading the Bible to assume
it's the end of the chapter
now we're on to something brand new
sometimes the thought continues
with the book of Isaiah
though it's interesting because
you do see a correlation of the 66 chapters
in the 66 books of the Bible
in the book of Isaiah
there are a lot of very
logical chapter breaks
so maybe somebody was aware of this
and then they kind of made those breaks
at the very obvious spots
I'm not really for sure
and this would not be my number one
proof of why the Bible is inspired
by God but I do think it's interesting
if ever I preach through the book of Isaiah
I'll show you a lot of those correlations
and one of them that's very clear is
Isaiah 40 with
Matthew the 40th book and it talks about
John the Baptist but go back to Matthew 3
Matthew 3
and it says in Matthew 3 verse 4
and the same John
had his raiment of camel's hair
and a leathern girdle about his loins
and his meat was locusts and wild honey
now the word meat in the Bible
is not necessarily referring to
chicken, steak, beef
and things like that
meat is like
it's just your food
and so like in the Bible sometimes
it says making a meat offering
that doesn't mean it's an animal sacrifice
it could be referring to bread or whatever
but it says his meat is
locusts and wild honey
now I think everybody
in the world loves honey
I'm pretty sure
I mean honey tastes awesome
here's the reason why people don't eat honey
right?
I mean if honey was not
expensive you would probably eat it every day
right? I mean it tastes great
at least that's my opinion I mean honey is awesome
so that part of this diet
is pretty cool
locusts I don't know because I've never really tried
locusts I've eaten crickets before and
I thought they tasted tamalang
that was my opinion
right? it required a lot of
deep frying to make them
at that level but
I don't know maybe you can try this out
tell me how it tastes dip a locust in
honey or whatever but what you're
seeing is that John the Baptist is willing
to make some sacrifices in his personal life
in order to be used by God
I'm sure that in his
flesh he would have loved to have a
bed to sleep on at night and then just come
out and preach and look
I'm not saying you've got to sell your house
now and live in the wilderness
especially if you're married and you have a family
that's probably not a good idea
but what I'm saying is
there are sacrifices to serving God
though and quite honestly
I don't think any of us are going to make a sacrifice
like this and have to live out on the streets
to be used by God I mean
God has given probably all of us a place to stay
at night and here's the thing
God says if you have food and raiment
be content
here's the thing all of us have food
and raiment we also have a place to
stay and so whatever place you
have you ought to be thankful and happy
for that the Bible says
actually go to Matthew 11
Matthew chapter 11
Matthew chapter 11 verse 7
Matthew 11 verse 7
and as they departed
Jesus began to say on the multitudes
concerning John
what went ye out in the wilderness
to see?
A reed shaken with the wind?
Now what does he mean by a reed shaken with the wind?
Well look if you are
standing in a field around grass
and flowers and stuff like that
and the wind is blowing
what are you going to see?
You're going to see the flowers and the grass
just shake with the wind
right? If the wind's blowing
if it's not very heavy it's going to be moved
right? And the Bible's saying
John the Baptist was not someone
that got moved or shaken very easily
the Bible says
be stable
I mean the Bible says we ought to be stable in our lives
not just you're bouncing back and forth
so for example
one week hey I'm excited to be at church
so next week you're not
hey one day you're reading the Bible and next week
the next day you're not but we need to be stable
in our lives
your visibility is being grounded in church
and settled in church
but part of it is just your daily walk with God
and the Bible also uses this example
not being tossed to and fro
with every wind
of doctrine
I had a friend of mine in college
and I got saved as a freshman
and you know my friend I also thought
got saved at the time it turns out he never actually
believed you know now he's
maybe Islam's correct he doesn't really know
but I remember though
it's a great example though because
we'd be talking about the Bible me and my friends
and he'd go home from college on the
weekend to see his family
he'd come back and say you know what my dad had a
good point maybe you do have to be baptized
to go to heaven
and we're like what's wrong with you?
and literally every single time he went home
that's the way it was
then he'd come back the next time and say hey you know
my dad had a good point maybe you can lose your
salvation
we're like hey what's wrong with you
what are you talking about it's eternal life
and then all of a sudden he'd go home on another
weekend he'd come back and he's like
yeah you know actually you know my dad he's really
studied Greek a lot and he says the King
James has errors
I mean literally every single
week he went home
it's like you know one time he went home and his mom
was a big Joel Osteen fan he comes
back and says yeah you know what Joel Osteen's a really
good preacher you're like
it's like Brian what's wrong
with you? yes that was his name
right? but
it's just like what's wrong with you?
now of course in hindsight
he never actually believed himself
but it's just kind of like
you don't want to be someone though who's saved
that bounces back and forth
you need to study your bible to know what you believe
don't
just take my word for it
say well how do you know this?
well brother Stuckey said it
really is that your reason for why you believe things?
now look
if you have a preacher if you hear good things preached
in sermons then yeah you
know you ought to respect the person who's preaching and believe
that they're led by God but they're also a sinful
fallible person
and look I promise
you I'm not right about everything
nobody's right
about everything so you ought to know what
you believe yourself
the bible speaks about the Bereans were more noble than
those in Thessalonica and that they received
the word with all readiness of mind
so yeah receive the word of God with
all readiness of mind and search
the scriptures daily whether
those things were so
in fact what we're going to look at in
Matthew 3 there are actually
several verses that good people
have different opinions on
I'll tell you what I believe about
these verses but at the end of the day
you decide for yourself
because if you're saved you have a much
better teacher on the inside of you than
brother Stuckey you've got
the Holy Spirit of God
the Holy Spirit of Truth
I'll show you
both sides on these things and then you decide
for yourself with the Holy
Spirit of God you decide not don't make this
well it's like you know I have all these
preachers that I like well four of them say this
and two say this that means they're right
because they've got majority is that how you
decide stuff decide it with the
Holy Spirit of God on the inside of yourself
if you're saved that's how
you know what's true what's not true because
look all of us make mistakes
all of us can be wrong
all of us are fallible it's like
the reason why you believe stuff should not be
well brother Stuckey said it
because look the Catholic
church why do they believe things
well that's what the Pope said
and he's the vicar of Christ on earth
that's what you call a cult
you decide what you believe
based on what does the
Word of God say
we don't live in the dark ages you've been given
a Bible that you can read for yourself
so as I preach through
Matthew 3 in your free time
this week search the scriptures whether those things are
so why is it I try to encourage
people to memorize the Bible
because I want you to know
what the Bible says I'm not afraid
oh no the people
are going to read the Bible then they're going to
quit the church it's like look
I want you to read the Bible I encourage you I
encourage you to memorize it in fact this memorization
this week is the shortest it's ever going to be
five verses I'm
not afraid well you're going to memorize it and then
next week oh no
you're going to hear my sermon and then you're going to quit the
church or whatever look
because here's the thing if you have the Holy Spirit
of truth inside of you we're going to
arrive at the same conclusion on
99% of things
because it's the same teacher
the Holy Spirit of God
right and so
the Bible says that John the Baptist
was not a reed shaking with the wind
bouncing back and forth and then
notice what it says in verse 11
verily I say
in you among them that are born of women
there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist
notwithstanding
he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater
than he and Jesus says there hasn't
been someone who is better
than John the Baptist now
here's the thing
of course Jesus Christ he
is better than John the Baptist but he's kind of the
exception to everything because he's God in the flesh
the other thing is this
Paul the Apostle comes after John the Baptist
so if you want to like do your comparison
let's put these in order of the greatest
characters ever you know it's like
well I don't know whether Paul was greater than John
the Baptist or not but
John the Baptist was a great man of God
go back to Matthew 3
Matthew 3
then it says in Matthew 3 verse 5
then went out to him
Jerusalem and all Judea and all the
region round about Jordan
and were baptized of him
in Jordan confessing
their sins now this is a
verse that is very debated
where it says they are baptized of him
in Jordan confessing
their sins so I'm going to
tell you what I believe it's referring to when it says
confessing their sins
when a person comes to a
spiritual event in their life like
getting baptized like
taking the Lord's Supper
these are things that cause you to
contemplate eternity and
think of spiritual and heavenly
things when a person gets
baptized you know you know what
usually goes through their mind
I want to draw closer
to God I want to
make changes I want
to read the Bible more I mean
nobody when they're getting baptized is thinking
man what's the score in the sports game right
it's like let me see
what you're thinking about is spiritual and heavenly
things at least for me when I got baptized
that's what was going through my mind and
I was confessing my sins inside
of my own mind thinking man I want
to draw close to God I
believe these people have already gotten saved
so when they're confessing their sins it's kind of like
just getting right with God and it's not
a thing of well you got a Catholic priest
that you confess your sins to
I am not a Catholic
priest I don't want you to
confess your sins to me right
as I've said before you know
when we've had you know kids
that have visited our church and then sometimes they call
me Father it's like whoa wait a minute
you can call me a lot of things
but don't call me Father I am not Father
Stuckey right I'm not a Catholic priest
nor was John the Baptist
but I believe when they're confessing their sins
I don't think they're getting saved at this moment
I don't think this is them
confessing with their mouth the Lord Jesus
I believe what it is is
they're getting right with God because they're doing
something spiritual that's my opinion
you can have a different opinion
and that's fine right
often when people are coming to church you know
at the end of sermons maybe the sermon kind
of hits your heart and you're thinking
inside your head I want to draw close
to God you might confess your sins to God
inside your head but that's not
your salvation you've been saved for a long time
it's just a matter of getting right with God
so I think that's what they're doing here
I don't think John the Baptist is requiring them
to confess every sin in order
to get baptized I think it's just them drawing
close to God as they're doing
something spiritual
says in verse 7
but when he saw many of the
Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism
he said unto them
hello generation of vipers who hath warned
you to flee from the wrath to come
and so a lot of Pharisees
and Sadducees come up to his baptism
the question is why
that's a good question
now obviously
John the Baptist doesn't trust them
it's very obvious from that
are they lining up to get baptized
are they there to try to cause
trouble I think they're probably there to try to cause
trouble I'm not really sure what they're trying to do
exactly but he's saying wait
wait a minute if you're here if you're planning to get
baptized hold on one second
right what he says is
oh generation of vipers
here's the thing
Pharisees and Sadducees
they weren't believing on Christ for their salvation
here's the thing
some of the Pharisees
believed on Jesus
we do see some of them believing on it
in the New Testament now with the
Sadducees they denied a pretty
important part of the gospel
what did they deny?
they denied the resurrection
in fact I've heard it said in Baptist churches
this is why they were sad you see
because you're of all men most miserable
if you deny the resurrection
that's why they were sad you see
they're Sadducees
but anyways they denied the resurrection
so the Sadducees can't be saved
because you must believe in the bodily resurrection
of Jesus to be saved
but here's the thing
he says oh generation of vipers
let's say for example
somebody visited church
with you know a bunch of
Hindus you know they're Hindu
and they visit with a bunch of Hindus
and you can tell they're Hindu because you see a lot of red dots
so let's say
five ladies show up with red dots on their head
that are Hindu
and then they say hey they want to get baptized
and I'm like oh generation
of vipers right
here's the thing
if you had actually denied Hinduism
and you believed on Jesus
you wouldn't actually be offended by that
you'd be like you know what you're right
Hinduism is wicked
it's false
I am denying Hinduism
it's like I just couldn't get this scrubbed off
you know it's like but I believe on Jesus
and I brought my lost friends
for you to preach the gospel to right
you wouldn't be offended
I grew up Protestant and I was taught
to work salvation do you think I get offended
when people you know criticize the Protestants
and women pastors and all no
say why cause I'm not Protestant
anymore
I mean when I preach against Catholicism
if that offends you
I don't know what to tell you
because if you're saved
it's not going to offend you
so the statement
oh generation of vipers is very strong
but if someone in that midst is actually saved
it's not really going to offend them
cause like you know what you're right you can't be saved
denying the resurrection I reject that
I'm showing up to this baptism
I do believe
don't let me in with those people
the other thing he says is this
who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come
what is John the Baptist
literally saying
in those words
who gave you the gospel
right
because when we preach
the gospel to people
we warn them about the fires
of hell
and what he said is
who hath warned you
so if someone were to say that
hey brother Schuckey who hath warned you to flee
from the wrath to come
Michael Milutich
that's the answer to the question
that's the person who gave me the gospel
my friend in college gave me the gospel
if you're saved
you're saved because
somebody warned you to flee from the wrath to come
right
so what he's saying is who gave you the gospel
if you're like
well you know I'm a Pharisee
I was born a child of God
I'm automatically going to heaven because of my blood
it's like
somebody had to give you the gospel
you have to be born again
I mean except a man be born again
he cannot see the kingdom of God
you've got to be born again
so what he's saying is who gave you the gospel
and look if someone's going to get baptized
and they say well I've always been saved
it's like whoa wait a minute
who gave you the gospel again
because you go from being lost to saved
right
you're not born saved
you're born safe
meaning a baby that dies goes to heaven
because they're not held accountable
but as you become an older age
and you learn to comprehend these things
you've got to be born again
and how do you do that
do you just do it yourself
no somebody gives you the gospel
and so you know I remember hearing the gospel
it warns you to flee from the wrath to come
go to John 3 I'll show you one verse in this
John 3
and the Bible says
and here's the thing
so if you do not grow up
in a fundamental Baptist home
it's almost a guarantee
you're going to be born believing
a work of salvation a false system
of the gospel
there are other Baptist churches that are right
on salvation so you could have parents that are
saved themselves but you know
most people in this world
they grow up with a
false gospel a false understanding
and the average person if you ask them
do you know for sure you're going to go to heaven
what are they going to say
no
and if you ask them what percent are you
they're going to say 80%
90%
they're not sure
why aren't they sure because they believe in a
work of salvation how could you ever be sure
if you're good enough and you can't
so they've got to hear the gospel and get saved
what if somebody grows up in a church
like this
well if you grow up in a church like this
you're still going to hear the gospel from someone
now you're probably going to hear the gospel from me
in bits and pieces through sermons a lot
but honestly
you're still more likely to get saved by your mom or your dad
as they just
explain these things very clearly
and you can ask them questions
so you're hearing the gospel from someone
I mean when people grow up
in fundamental Baptist homes they still
got saved because their dad gave them the gospel
when they were a kid or their mom
gave them the gospel when they were a kid
they were warned about the wrath
to come from somebody
John 3 verse 36
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 on him
now
there are two types of people
those that believe on the son
and those that do not believe on the son
now we understand that
babies that die as I said
they go to heaven because they haven't reached what we would
call the age of accountability they cannot
fully comprehend this
but once you reach that age
the Bible says you must be born again
right
is there anybody
that has reached the age of accountability
where they can understand this
but
they don't believe on Jesus
but they go to heaven anyway
no
he that believeth not the son
shall not see life
you say well brother Stuckey what about somebody who
grows up in you know some
deep dark jungle somewhere
they never hear about Jesus
number one everybody has heard about Jesus
his name is gone to the ends of the world
the Bible says
but number two they still
have to believe on Jesus
they must hear the gospel and believe
granted it is easier
in this country to get saved
than if you grow up in a Muslim country
no doubt about that
but somebody who grows up Muslim
they must be born again
they must hear the gospel from someone
and believe on Jesus Christ for salvation
right
somebody who grows up in some native tribe
they must hear the gospel and get saved
anyway this idea that
that half the world has never heard about
Jesus I watched a documentary
here in from the Philippines
one time and
it wasn't the Ida's but it was one of the
groups that kind of lives up on the mountains some of the
natives and one of the parts of the
not Philistines
right
and they were going to these people that
supposedly were
100% isolated
from the world
and they were showing them major
events and asking them
have you heard of this
and so they brought in a video
for these people to hear
out of the woman who is a very famous reporter here
that does these documentaries in the Philippines
and so she is showing them these things
it's like have you heard about
going to the moon and then
there would be a few people that raise their hands
supposedly 100%
isolated how did you
hear about the moon landing
right and yet
there were some that raised their hands and they went through a lot of various
famous events and then they got
to one of Michael Jackson every single
one raised their hands
every single one
knew who Michael Jackson was
don't tell me everybody
knows about this famous pedophile
but they've never heard of Jesus
everybody
knows who Jesus Christ is
everybody's heard of Jesus
before that doesn't mean that everybody's
heard a clear presentation of the gospel
but look the name of Jesus
has spread to the ends of the world
they'll say here in the Philippines
that there was no Christianity
until Ferdinand Magellan
really
why don't you go on the Wikipedia
page for how Christianity was introduced
into the Philippines
oh actually it was like right after the time
of Christ and I know
that's commonly reported by the Catholics
but not according to Wikipedia
Wikipedia says actually sailors and merchants
were bringing the message of Jesus
over right
after the resurrection of Jesus Christ
so there's a lot of things
you hear from people
that doesn't mean it's true
but what I'm saying is you must
believe in the son to be saved regardless
of how you're raised or where you're
raised go back to Matthew 3
Matthew 3
and I'm going to talk more about that in verse
number 9 but I want to take kind of
a rabbit show in verse 8 for a little while
where it says this statement
bring forth therefore fruits meet for
repentance now there are a lot of
opinions from good people that have different
opinions what is this referring to
there's no doubt that
John the Baptist is asking for
evidence of what that salvation is
but here's the thing
going to church is not really an evidence
of salvation because plenty of
safe people don't go to church
my opinion of the
fruits is that he's
actually asking for converts
of the Pharisees and Sadducees
and here's the thing the Bible is recording
what John the Baptist said
I don't know if I would word it like this
obviously he's filled with the Spirit of God so he's
probably more right than me
it seems kind of a bit odd for him to say that but you have to
realize the Pharisees and Sadducees
are religious leaders
not just people
that go to a church
there is a difference between
someone who grows up Catholic
and somebody
that's a Catholic priest
I mean if somebody came to our church today
and they said yeah you know what I grew up
Catholic I'm here to be baptized
and they said they believed on
Jesus I'd be like great
if a Catholic priest
came here today
to get baptized by me
I'd be like
wait a second
you're a Catholic priest it's like yes?
and you want me to baptize
something doesn't make sense do you understand what I'm saying?
The
Pharisees and Sadducees were religious leaders
and so
I believe what he's saying is okay
you've been teaching false things about
salvation I want to see proof
that you're actually teaching the right thing
you've converted a lot of people to damnable heresy
I want to see proof that you're converting
people to the truth
right? Now I do want to make
a quick statement though on this
the fruit of the Spirit
versus the fruit of the Christian
these are different
things notice what it says in
Galatians 5
turn to Galatians chapter 5
and the Bible says in
Galatians 5
verse 22
Galatians 5 verse 22
but the fruit of the Spirit
is love joy peace long suffering
gentleness goodness faith meekness temperance
against such there is no law
and people sometimes say well if you're going to be saved
you must have fruit therefore
you must have love joy peace long suffering
gentleness goodness faith meekness temperance
well hold on a second
don't unsaved people
have love sometimes
don't unsaved people
have joy sometimes
unsaved people exhibit
all of those nine things
sometimes
now if you're filled with the
Spirit of God
then you're really going to exhibit
the fruits of the Spirit
now here's the thing these are the
fruits of the Holy Spirit
that's not the fruit of the Christian
so when the Bible says the fruit of the
righteous is a tree of life
and he that winneth
souls is wise
we're talking about winning souls
or as we would say
soul winning
and that's linked with
the fruit of the righteous
that is the fruit of the
Christian that's not the fruit of the Spirit
so the fruit of the Christian
is getting
other people saved
just as an apple tree
produces apples
the goal of every Christian should be
to win souls of the Lord
right? get people saved
go ye into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature
and when you get somebody saved
that is your fruit
that is your spiritual fruit
it's the fruit of the Christian
and let me ask you a question
does every saved
person win
other people to the Lord?
absolutely not
in fact
very few people do soul winning
in 2023
I mean when sin abounds the love
of many shall wax cold right?
I mean one thing
that makes us unique as a church is we are
a soul winning church
and we don't apologize for it
it's like hey there's this new
holiday on Wednesday soul winning marathon
right?
it's like we do soul winning that's what we believe in
getting people saved because we know
they're not going to get themselves saved they got to hear the gospel
and we're thankful that
somebody gave us the gospel
and we want to repay that by giving
other people the gospel
right? that's not the
fruit of the Spirit though that's the fruit of the Christian
so for someone to say well you
got to have fruit to be saved well what do you mean
by that? because
if you're saying the fruit of the Spirit
everybody has love and joy
sometimes
if you're saying getting people saved
well most people actually don't have that that are saved
go back to Matthew 3
Matthew 3
so I believe he's
literally asking for
converts of theirs in the verse
in verse 8 because they're religious
teachers if a
Mormon elder showed up
here today
right? I mean if two Mormon elders
were sitting in our church because they always travel
in packs of twos right?
cockroach never travels alone right?
if two Mormon elders
showed up here today
and they're like man I'm so moved
by that sermon I want
you to baptize me
now here's the thing
I would allow a Mormon elder
to show up to church and listen to the sermon
I would allow that as long as they're not causing problems
that's fine
but here's the thing if they want to be baptized
I would actually want to talk to them or have someone
at our church spend some time talking to them saying
well wait a minute you realize if you're
getting baptized you are rejecting Mormonism
otherwise
like we're not going to baptize you if
you just got emotional and you're like hey I just
want to get baptized to cover all my bases
right? I got baptized in this church and this church
just in case there's something
you know about salvation
without baptism we would want to make
sure that they're actually saved so
with John the Baptist
what I believe he's saying to this you religious leaders is
I want to see some evidence and I think what he's saying
about evidence is I want to see your converts that you're
actually preaching the truth or at least evidence
that you're preaching the truth and you
deny what you used to believe
I mean if you're a Sadducee
do you believe that Jesus rose again?
right?
because literally if a Jehovah's witness
came here today because they do not
believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus
I would literally ask them
do you believe that Jesus
bodily
rose from the
rose again from the dead
because they're going to say Jesus rose again
but what they mean is a spiritual resurrection
no no no do you believe that
Jesus his body rose again
from the dead and if they're
unwilling to answer that well I'm unwilling
to baptize you because I need to see
proof that you no longer believe what you
used to believe right?
I believe that's what he's saying there in verse 8
verse 9
and think not to say
within yourselves we have Abraham to our father
for I say in you that God is able
of these stones to raise up children onto Abraham
and what John the Baptist
is saying in Matthew 3 verse 9 is this
he's saying you Pharisees
and Sadducees because here's
the thing this is a religion that became
corrupted I mean Judaism
in the Old Testament when you're looking at characters
from the Old Testament like Daniel
like Mordecai
Esther any characters from the
Old Testament they believe in the same God that
we do Moses
believe in the same God that we do
Abraham believe in the same God
that we do God has not
changed God is not a man that he should
change right? I'm the
Lord I change not the Bible says
they believe in the same God but
wait a minute Judaism became
corrupt along the way
because modern day Judaism does not believe
that Jesus Christ died because when the Messiah
came what took place
is some believed on Jesus and
some didn't and the religion
that's left over of Judaism those are the ones
that did not believe on Jesus Christ
and these Pharisees and Sadducees
they seem to think according to John the Baptist
that you know what
I've got Abraham to my father physically
so I'm good to go
it does not matter
who your mom or your dad
is that does
not help you get to heaven
sometimes you
go soul winning and it's like do you know for sure
you're going to heaven? yes I do
how do you know that? my dad's a preacher
what?
what does that have to do with you?
I've literally heard
before at the door my grandmother
is a preacher
it's like
my grandmother is a preacher
and it's like and look you know what it might be
tempting to make jokes out soul winning
but we don't do that right? now inside I'm thinking
well that's not going to prevent you from going to heaven
it's certainly not going to help you though
right? but it doesn't matter who your
parents are look if your father was
the godliest person in the world is that going to get
you saved? I mean
here's the thing what about Eli's kids?
I mean
Eli's a man of God our father
well that didn't help them
get saved they didn't get saved
just because your mom or your dad
is saved that doesn't help you
and on the contrary
for many people in this room
your family is primarily Catholic
right? that doesn't
prevent you from getting saved either
but your parents being Baptist
and let me say this
many people grow up in Christian
homes and churches just like this
and they grow up and they never
believe on Jesus Christ
it's one of the saddest things you see
and you know the thing is
some parents get this idea
well if they grow up in a church like this they're automatically
going to get saved because they're hearing it preached
now they're going to get saved if their mom
or their dad takes the time to spend time with them
and give them the gospel
that is how your kids are going to get saved
95% of the time is because you
preach the gospel to them
you teach those things to them
I'm here to help
reinforce you as a mom
or a dad but you should be doing
most of the teaching to your kids
not me
I'm just preaching a few sermons a week that your kids
hear but you as the mom and the dad
you can teach your kids
these things that we learn from the word of God
so it doesn't matter who your mom
or your dad is
that doesn't affect whether you go to heaven
it's what do you believe about Jesus Christ
verse number 10
and now also
the axe is laid under the root of the trees
therefore every tree which bringeth not
forth good fruit is hewn down and
cast into the fire this is another
verse that is disputed I don't normally
preach sermons where I say good people have
different opinions about this but people
have different opinions how to interpret this verse
what I would say is this
there are three types of trees
in a spiritual sense
one
is a tree which produces
good fruit
another tree
is a tree that produces
bad fruit
another tree is a
tree that produces
nothing
most trees produce what?
nothing
most people are not
soul winners and most people are not
false prophets
so they produce nothing
what do you do with the tree that produces nothing?
I visited the house of one of our family members
in Pampanga just this past week after
soul winning and their backyard
they have a lot of trees that have various
types of fruit and he had
to chop down some trees that were not
doing their job because what happens
they just get in the way of the other
trees right and it's the
same thing in a spiritual sense if you are
a Christian that is
not producing anything for God
you're basically useless to God
it's like what are you doing
if you're not furthering the kingdom
of God you're just cumbering the ground
as the Bible says
now here's the thing in this verse
what I think he's saying is
trees that are producing a type of fruit
but it's not a good
fruit like a false prophet
it's like they're going to spend forever
being cast into the lake of fire
that's what I believe it's referring to
and so in my opinion
then in John 15 you don't have to turn there
John 15 is
different it's not referring to hell
though in John 15 in that parable
that is my opinion
what I would say is there's a lot of examples in the
Bible and you know sometimes with
symbolism and examples people can interpret them
differently what's the main point he's
trying to get across I do believe in verse
10 it's referring to hell
what I would say is
you can't cross reference that to John 15
though because in John 15
it is certainly not referring to hell
but it is a similar type of example
that he's giving
that's why I think it's referring to hell is
he's speaking to the Pharisees and Sadducees
so I think that is the context
but anyways verse number 11
now there are two primary
opinions from Bible believing Christians
on this verse
of what is the baptism
with fire
go to Acts chapter 2 I'll give you one of the opinions
and as I said
this is a sermon I encourage you
search the scriptures and see whether
these things are so you might interpret
some of these verses differently
I will explain what I believe Acts 2 is talking about
or what Matthew 3.11 is talking about
but I'm going to show you the other side as well
here in Acts 2
Acts 2 verse 1
and when the day of
Pentecost was fully come they were all with one
accord in one place and suddenly there came a sound
from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind
and it filled all the Holy Ghost where they were sitting
and there appeared unto them cloven tongues
like as of
fire and it sat upon
each of them and they were all
filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with
other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance
and so you can certainly see
why in Matthew 3.11 when it says
the baptism with the Holy Ghost and with fire
that it could be referring to
what it talks about in Acts 2
go back to Matthew 3
that is not
my opinion though
I do not believe what Matthew 3.11
is referring to is the same as
Acts chapter 2
now I could be wrong
this is something where I'm willing to admit
I've heard good people that have different opinions
it's not my opinion but there's people
that are good people that might be your opinion
it's a valid opinion
there's obviously a cross reference that you're turning to
in Acts 2 of
baptism of fire baptism of the Holy Ghost
okay
in my opinion the fire is
referring to hell
and what I think is being said is this
that the baptism of the Holy Ghost
mentioned in this specific example
is someone who's saved
and the baptism of fire
is someone who's baptized in fire
for all eternity
baptism what it literally means is to be immersed
and so
in a symbolic sense
you know when you're baptized with the Holy Ghost
what I would say in this example
is that you're indwelled with the Holy Ghost forever
you're not 99% indwelled
or you're partially indwelled with the Holy Ghost
you are 100% indwelled with the Holy Ghost forever
someone that goes to hell
obviously the baptism of fire
is symbolic whatever it's referring to
I think what he's symbolically saying
is you're going to be baptized in
a lake of fire
for all eternity
now the reason why I believe that
is because of the next verse
Matthew 3.12
whose fan is in his hand
and he will thoroughly purge his floor
and gather his wheat
into the garner but it will burn up the chaff
with unquenchable fire
there is no doubt that
in verse 12 he's making a comparison
between the saved and the lost
right? Nobody disputes that
what people would say when they say
the baptism of fire is referencing Acts 2
what they would say is verse 11
and verse 12 are unrelated
I don't think that because I think
it would be a bit confusing
I don't think the Bible would word it that way
there certainly in my opinion seems a link
between verse 11 and verse 12
where basically it's kind of giving more information
where it's like basically gathering the wheat
those are the saved people
or the chaff, the unsaved
will be baptized in the lake of fire
for all eternity
you also see at the end of verse 11
at the end of the word fire
is a colon
and so I don't think the thought is over
I think we're crossing over to verse 12 as well
so I think there's a clear link
between verse 11 and 12
but I also understand the argument
people make because Acts 2
does mention baptism of fire
it's just not what I would hold but I would say
I'm not against you if that's your thought
I understand where you're coming from
now verse 12
it's a pretty confusing verse if you're not familiar
with some of these terms
I have a group chat to help explain
and I have this picture here
to help explain what we're talking about
because the word fan
you're thinking of is like
maybe pa my pie or you're thinking of that
that's not what the Bible is referring to
it's referring to a winnowing fan
and so winnowing
is a process to separate
the wheat from the chaff
or here in the Philippines
you're probably thinking of separating the rice
and it's a very similar process
and it's really fascinating
if you haven't seen this
that if you watch a slow motion
of the process
because in fast motion you don't really see
what's going on as well
but when you see it in slow motion
it's pretty fascinating how basically
as it's wheat or rice or whatever it is
it's a heavier object so it drops to the ground
and you see the other parts
the chaff, the part that's not useful
just blows away
and you don't really see that at least
from what I saw on a fast
play or just normal speed
but if you slow motion see it
it's like there's a lot of chaff
that is blowing away
the word garner here is referring to the object
of collecting the wheat
but the idea that he's expressing
is obviously in a culture
that understands this
we don't really live in an agricultural
society today as much
so a lot of examples found in the word of God
can go over our heads because we're not
familiar with it
I myself didn't grow up in a culture like this
when I first read it
whose fan is in his hand
I'm thinking of like
a fan where it's like I'm just cooling myself off
it's not actually what they're
and actually if you look at pictures on Google
of this verse
there are pictures of him holding a fan
because they don't understand
what it's referring to either
but the fan is a winnowing fan
where basically
some processes to do this they might use
a fan like this to help
from the winnowing fan they throw it up in the air
and it kind of blows away or whatever
and it blows away very easily because it's not very heavy
but the analogy is with
saved and lost and basically how
the unsaved are just going to blow away
and in my opinion
be baptized in a lake of fire
for all eternity
and here's the thing with a normal baptism
you get out after a couple seconds
right?
with the baptism of fire
it's like that is for all eternity
there's no turning back from that
it's like you have a chance to believe on Christ
while you're here in this life
we don't believe in being prayed out of purgatory
or like the Mormons
like you can baptize somebody for the dead
or these weird things
now what the Bible says is
he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life
he that believeth not the Son shall not see life
but the wrath of God abideth on him
and when you die unsaved
it's too late
you never have a second chance
so what does that tell us as soul winners?
preach the gospel now
and you know
think to yourself about your
lost loved ones and friends
and relatives
everybody in this room has
unsaved Catholic relatives pretty much
I don't actually have any unsaved
Catholic relatives but I'm married into
you know my wife has
she was raised Catholic
so most of her family is Catholic
probably everybody in this room pretty much
has unsaved Catholic relatives
and sometimes you know you can put off
preaching the gospel oh maybe it's not the right
time I'll do it later
and the years go by
and then all of a sudden it's going to be too late
you could lose your opportunity
and what's going to happen? well they're going to be
baptized in the lake of fire for all eternity
you are their hope
as a saved person and you know
the sad thing is because the Bible says
everybody's been given a soul winner to preach
the gospel to them you know the sad thing is
a lot of people never hear the gospel because the people
that are meant to give them the gospel they never do it
they never do it
now here's the thing when we go soul winning
door to door and talk to people in the parks
it's usually
one chance
if they reject it
it's like I hope
someone at our church gets a chance in the future
or I get another chance but probably not
it's different with your family
I've seen unsaved
family that heard the gospel and they
did not accept it
and several years later they did believe on
Christ and they got saved
don't give up on your family because he gave the gospel
once or twice
or three times I mean if the opportunity
to give the gospel is gone it ought to be
because they're just so upset at you telling
them that basically
they cut it off not that you cut it off
don't ever cut
off your family from the gospel
until it is permanently
too late for them let's close the word of prayer
your heavenly father thank you for allowing us to be here today
and getting to see this man John the Baptist
that was filled with the spirit and did all these
mighty things God and help us to use him as an example
to try to serve you
and to be zealous
for you and help us preach the gospel to people before
it is too late we pray these things in Jesus name
amen and we do have a baptism
here today and if anybody else wants to get
baptized as long as you're not a
Pharisee or a
Sadducee if you believe on Christ
you're welcome to we'd love to have you also get
baptized alright we'll have Rapha lead us in a
song
one zero six
one zero
six
one zero six
one zero
six
one zero six
one zero
one zero six