🎵Music🎵
Let's take our sit and let's start our first service and get our hymns and turn to hymn
number 324.
Hymn number 324.
Let's sing the song, Draw Me Nearer.
I am thine, O Lord, I have heard thy voice, and it's all thy love to me.
But I love to rise in the arms of thee, and be closer drawn to thee.
Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to thy cross where thou hast stopped.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to thy precious leading side.
Consecrate me now to thy service, Lord, by the power of grace divine.
Let my soul look up in a steadfast hope to the beautiful Lord.
Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to thy cross where thou hast stopped.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to thy precious leading side.
O the pure delight of a single heart, I spend when I kneel in prayer.
And with thee, my God, I communest when to pray.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to thy cross where thou hast stopped.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to thy precious leading side.
There are depths of love that I cannot know till I cross the narrow sea.
There are heights of joy that I may not feel I rest in peace.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to thy cross where thou hast stopped.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to thy precious leading side.
We thank the Lord for this morning. We ask, O God, that you protect the members who are still coming here.
I pray that you bless our first service from the congregation of singing, the reading of the word, and the preaching of the sermon, Lord.
I pray that you would hug our pastor this morning to preach to us.
And I pray that you would fill him with the Holy Spirit, O God.
I pray that you would also help us, the members, Lord, and who are the listeners, to be attentive with the sermon, Lord.
Forgive us for our trespasses, Lord.
And I pray that you would also bless us a good letter this afternoon so that we can go out and preach the gospel.
We're asking all of these things. We love you. Do the same for you.
All right. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church.
And take out your bulletins here today. We'll go through some announcements.
And our verse of the week is 1 Samuel, chapter 30, verse 24.
The Bible reads, For who will hearken unto you in this matter?
But as as part as they goeth down in the battle, so shall as part be that tarryeth by the stuff, they shall part alike.
And that's a great verse. We'll tie into our second sermon.
We are a family-integrated church, meaning children and infants are welcome during the services.
We do have a mother-baby room back there for your convenience.
We have some basic rules on the mother-baby room down there below.
On the next page, we have our service times listed. First service is at 10 a.m.
Second service, 11-15. The wind saving Bible study at 7 p.m.
So many times listed there in the bulletin. 2 p.m. on Wednesday's meeting at Marikina Freedom Park.
Of course, we have so many on Saturday, schedule announced every week in our group chat.
And of course, we do have soul winning around 1-45 here today.
Our salvation and baptisms are listed there for the year as well as the month for all of our churches.
And as you can see in Manila, we broke our record from last year.
We have already passed the mark.
And actually yesterday in Pampanga, we also broke our record for a year as well.
So praise God for that.
On the next page, we have just our basic announcements on upcoming activities.
So today, we actually have the Laguna Church service.
We had to delay it for a week, so those members that are part of the Laguna Church service are down there today.
Next week is our monthly prayer meeting.
And our plan for our first Sunday in the new building is going to be in two weeks.
So that is exciting.
On October 6th, it's coming up very quickly.
Obviously, going to a new building, there's a lot of small things you don't think about.
I'm sure once we get in there, there's still going to be a lot of things that we need to make some adjustments and figure out.
So obviously, be patient with us.
But we're definitely excited about that.
So in two weeks, we'll be moving there for the first service, unless we have another typhoon or whatever, you know.
But hopefully in two weeks, so praise God for that.
Coming up then in the end of November, Bonifacio Day, on that Saturday, we're going to have a big event in Tanay Rizal.
So we'll have more information as we get closer to that event.
Our birthdays and anniversaries are listed down there below.
We have the basic rules of conduct there in the back.
And you should have an insert in the bulletin for notes for the sermons here today.
I do want to thank you for the prayers for my travels recently.
And it's tough to adjust to a 12-hour time difference.
So yesterday, I fell asleep at 6 p.m.
I wasn't planning to fall asleep.
I was trying to stay awake.
And my head went down.
And then my wife had to wake me up saying, hey, you need to move to the bed.
Because I was just out.
And so if I fall asleep during the sermon, the first man that comes up here, just take my notes and just finish the sermon.
But actually, preaching keeps you awake when you're tired of it.
I've learned that from experience.
But anyways, that'll be it for announcements.
We'll have Brother Marlon lead us in another song.
All right, for our next song, let's start on hymn number 325.
Let's sing the song, Cross and Obey.
When we walk with the Lord In the light of His Word
What a glory He sheds on our way
While we do His good will He abides with us still
And with all who will cross and obey
Cross and obey
For there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus
But to trust and obey
Not a shadow can rise
Not a cloud in the sky
But His might quickly drives Him away
Not a doubt nor a fear
Not a sign nor a tear
Yet above all we cross and obey
Cross and obey
For there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus
But to trust and obey
Not a burden we bear
Not a sorrow we share
But our God He thought richly we'd make
Not a gift nor a loss
Not a frown nor a cross
But He's blessed if we trust and obey
Trust and obey
For there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus
But to trust and obey
But we never get through
By the light of His love
Until on the altar we lay
For the favor He shows
And the joy He bestows
Not a man who will cross and obey
Cross and obey
For there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus
But to trust and obey
Then in fellowship sleep
We will sit at His feet
Or we'll walk by His side in the wind
What He says we will do
When He says we will go
Never fear only
Trust and obey
For there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus
But to trust and obey
It's time to take our Titan offering
For our script reading, please open your Bible to Macho chapter number 8.
Macho chapter number 8. We will read beginning from verse number 1 to verse number 27. Please say amen if you dare.
Macho chapter number 8 beginning from verse number 1 the Bible reads
When He was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him
And behold, there came a leper and worshiped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt thou canst make me clean
And Jesus poured His hand and touched him, saying, I will be clean
And immediately his leprosy was cleansed
And Jesus said unto him, See thou tell no man, but go thy way
So they stopped to the priests and offered the gift that Moses commanded
For a testimony unto them
And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum
There came unto him a centurion beseeching him
And saying, Lord, may servant Liet at home take up the palsy previously tormented
And Jesus said unto him, I will come and heal him
The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof
But speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed
For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me
And I say to this man, Go, and he goeth, and to another, Come, and he cometh
And to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it
When Jesus heard it, he marveled and said to them that followed
Merely I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in sale
And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west
And shall keep down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven
But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness
There shall be weeping in nothing of fear
And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee
And the servant was healed in a short same hour
And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid
And sick of a fever, and he touched her hand and a fever leper
And she arose and ministered unto them
When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils
And he cast out the spirits with his sword, and heard all that were sick
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying
Him thought took our infirmities and burnt our sicknesses
Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side
And a certain scribe came and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest
And Jesus said unto him, The passes have hold, and the birds of the air have nest
But a son of man hath not wertalized his head
And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and burn my father
But Jesus said unto him, Follow me and let the dead bury their dead
And when he was entered into a sheep, his disciples followed him
And behold there arose a great impasse in the sea
And so much that the sheep was covered with a weight, but he was asleep
And his disciples came to him and awoke him, saying, Lord, stay back, be fairies
And they said unto them, Why are you fearful of your little faith?
Then he arose in the view of the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm
But a man marveled, saying, What man of man is this, that even the winds in the sea obey him?
Let's pray.
Alright, we're here in Matthew chapter 8 and we've taken a bit of a break from the book of Matthew
And if you remember, we finished up with the Sermon on the Mount with Matthew 5 through 7
And so here in Matthew chapter 8, that's the context
The Sermon on the Mount has just ended, the most famous sermon
And it says here in verse number 1, when he's come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him
And obviously Jesus was preaching to a big crowd during the Sermon on the Mount
Great crowds are following him, and it says here in verse 2
And behold there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean
And Jesus put forth his hand and touched him
And it's really easy when we're reading through stories of the Bible to kind of quickly read over it
And not really think about it, but it's pretty significant that Jesus touches this leper
Now turn in your Bible to Leviticus chapter 5
And I would say that if you're an adult in this room, you've probably heard a good bit about leprosy
Especially if you've read the Bible, but maybe if you're young in this room
You might be like, well, what's leprosy? You don't really understand how this is a big deal
But leprosy was a very dangerous infectious disease
And it still exists today, just it's not as big, and it's kind of, they've found techniques to kind of heal it
So it's a little bit easier
But this was a disease where basically if you would get leprosy, you would be isolated or quarantined from the rest of the population
They would realize you have this sickness, and it's a skin disease, so it could be seen
And you would live in basically a leper colony, and the government would basically drop down food to you
But you had to be a great distance from the population
And if somebody saw you from a long distance, they could tell you had leprosy, they would just run away
They would be afraid
The Bible even says that if you have leprosy, cover your lip and scream, unclean, unclean
Because of the fact no one's going to want to be near you because they're afraid they're going to get that disease from you
Now Leviticus chapter 5, it talks about a lot of different uncleanness and situations
And it says here in verse number 1
And if a soul sin and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it
If he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity
Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcass of an unclean beast, or a carcass of unclean cattle, or the carcass of unclean creeping things
And if it be hidden from him, he also shall be unclean and guilty
Or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal
And it be hid from him, when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty
And so the Bible says whatsoever uncleanness a man has
And what greater example could you think of than having this infectious disease of leprosy
And so Jesus literally touches this man that has leprosy
So imagine this, he's preaching, he's got thousands of people around him
And all of a sudden this leper just kind of comes up
I would imagine that the crowd just kind of basically ran away
You know a large part of it, why? Because they're afraid
And then all of a sudden they see Jesus go up and they see him touch this man
I mean they're going to be completely bewildered
They're going to be completely confused because that's the last thing you would ever do if somebody has leprosy
You would avoid them, you would get away from them, right?
You would be afraid of it
It kind of reminds me, during the early days of COVID
Before the disease had spread to other countries
And it was kind of primarily in China
There was a lot of YouTube pranks people had
Where they'd be on the phone, it's like man my doctors say I have COVID
And you'd see people just like run away, like really afraid
And with leprosy, I mean if you were living during this time period
And you saw somebody had leprosy, you would run away
You would be very afraid of that person because you don't want to catch that disease, okay?
Now turn to 2 Corinthians 6
Now in the Bible there's something known as the letter of the law
And there's something known as the spirit of the law
And it's a terminology given in the book of Corinthians
And you know it's something that preachers will often mention
And what that basically means, the letter of the law is literally what's written in the law
You know, thus saith the law, do this or don't do that
The spirit of the law basically represents the intent of the law
So basically the letter of the law, the certain laws and rules that we have
They have an intent or reason why they're actually in the law
Now maybe in our government today there could be laws that are kind of pointless or not really useful
But in the Bible there's a reason for every single law
Now literally Jesus broke the letter of the law because the law says don't touch someone who's unclean, right?
But what is the spirit or intent of that law?
Well the intent of that law is that if you are clean and you touch somebody unclean
You could get that uncleanness and more so you can spread that to other people
So the intent of the law is, well if you do this it's going to cause an infection or uncleanness to spread
Well here's the thing, Jesus did break the letter of the law but here's the thing
He didn't have to worry about getting unclean by touching this man
Because he's doing a miracle
And he doesn't have to worry about I'm going to get this disease and spread it to other people
So he's not actually breaking the spirit or the intent of the law
Now of course if a Pharisee or a scribe or someone that was really against Jesus saw this
They would immediately be horrified and be like, well thus saith Leviticus chapter 5, right?
But of course what we see is that Jesus does this miracle and he actually heals this man
Now this is actually what the Bible says but here's the thing
What is the purpose for us today in this law?
Because there's the literal do not touch someone that has uncleanness or you will be unclean
What is the spiritual application?
Because the Bible says all scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine
For reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness
The question is how is this profitable?
What does that actually mean to us today?
Don't touch someone that's unclean
Now obviously there's the direct application that if you have an ailment or a sickness
Don't go out in public
Or if you go out try to cover your mouth and make sure you're not spreading that disease
And of course you know you as a person that are clean or healthy
You don't want to be around a bunch of people that are sick because you might get that sickness as well, right?
What is the Bible actually trying to teach us?
Well notice what it says here in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 14
Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers
For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?
And what communion hath light with darkness?
And what concord hath Christ with Belial?
Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?
For you the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them
And I will be their God and they shall be my people
Verse 17
Wherefore, come out from among them and be ye separate
This is the main verse we use when we say the doctrine of separation
Separating from those that are unsaved
Separating from those that are ungodly
Separating from those that don't want to serve God
And it says here
And be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing
And I will receive you
Now look, when you're reading the book of Leviticus
It's not the most exciting part of the Bible, right?
I'm actually in Leviticus right now
And you know what?
A lot of it you're reading about all these laws of uncleanness
And they go to the priests
They see what color is it in the skin
And all these things you're like, what's the purpose of this?
Well, what the Bible's reminding you over and over and over again
Is touch not the unclean thing
And what it's saying is, in a spiritual sense
Touch not the unclean thing
Separate from those that are living ungodly
You say, what exactly are you talking about?
I'm saying, don't sit in front of a television
And brainwash yourself with the world's material
I'm saying, don't sit here and listen to this rap and rock
And all this garbage music
The Bible says, touch not the unclean thing
You say, why?
Because if you are clean and you touch somebody unclean
You're not Jesus
You're not going to make what's unclean clean, are you?
It's not going to happen
But you know what could happen?
You touch something that's unclean
And you might actually be unclean yourself
Maybe you've seen these videos before
Where you have two things of water
And you got the clean water
At least I hope this is clean because I'm drinking this
And you got the unclean water
And you pour clean water into unclean
Guess what? It's still unclean, isn't it?
But you pour unclean water into clean
What takes place of the clean water?
It's now dirty
I mean, if you wash your shoes and shine your shoes
And they're perfect, they're immaculate
And then you step in dog do or whatever
Guess what?
You made your shoe dirty
You didn't make the dog do clean, right?
That's just what takes place when something clean touches something unclean
What's clean becomes unclean
But people have this idea in a spiritual sense
It's like, well, just eat the meat and spit out the bones
You can just listen to whatever you want and watch whatever you want
And you're just so spiritual that you will just find the small little nuggets of good information
And discard all the garbage
That's not the way it works, my friend
If you sit here and listen and watch the world's garbage
You're going to be filled with that stuff, right?
What are some of the examples of this?
Because, you know, in today's world, you know, there's a lot of opportunities with YouTube
And the computer to watch all manner of things
And one thing a lot of people do is they'll listen to a lot of politics, right?
And they'll listen to maybe even conservative politics
Now, look, if you listen to conservative politics in the US, it's Fox News
Or you listen to news here
There might be some good information
But you know what? You're also going to get a lot of lies
You're also going to get a lot of garbage
Now, I'm not saying you can never pay attention to anything that is on the news
I mean, I've been paying attention to what's happened to Apollo Kibbeloy recently
But I'm just saying
Just for my entertainment and enjoyment, right?
But I'm just saying that if you sit here and just fill yourself with that hours and hours and hours all day long
You know what's going to take place?
You did not just make all of politics in this country become righteous
You know what you did?
You just made yourself a little bit unclean
You just filled yourself with this
Or, for example, in today's world, there are a lot of conservative podcasters
One of the most famous guys, a guy by the name of Joe Rogan
Right? And Joe Rogan, he's had TV shows
He's a UFC announcer
And in many ways, he's, I guess, a conservative podcaster
But the guy, I think he's an atheist
He's very blasphemous against God
Here's the thing
If you were to listen to Joe Rogan
You would actually get a lot of good information
Because a lot of what he says is actually true
But you know what you would also get?
You would get a lot of bad information
And here's the thing
You're not going to all of a sudden turn this blasphemous, foul-mouthed person
Into a righteous and godly person
You know what's going to take place?
All of a sudden, you're going to start acting and talking like the world
That is what actually takes place
Go in your Bible to Psalm 101
Psalm 101
Psalm chapter 101
And in your personal life
Don't hang around with ungodly people
And think that you're going to make them righteous
It doesn't work
There's some people, they get saved
And then, you know, they're like, well, I don't want to leave my church
Because I want to try to reach them
And it's like, look, a lot of us have tried that before
Maybe you've stayed at Baptist churches
Or stayed at churches that are wrong
And guess what?
Those churches never change, do they?
They never change
And I get it
I've tried that before
I've been at churches and I realize there's a lot of problems
And I was like, well, let me try to help this church
Maybe I can teach them, you know, about soul winning
Maybe I can help clear up these doctrines they're wrong on
And what ends up taking place?
You end up being the bad guy
You end up being the person that gets preached against, right?
And what you're trying to do is make something unclean clean
But it doesn't work that way
Something clean is not going to make something unclean clean
Unless you're Jesus, right?
What's going to take place is you will end up being unclean
I was actually reading this in my Bible yesterday before church in Psalm 101
And sometimes I try to read five Psalms a day in a month
In addition to my Bible reading, you know, 150 chapters in Psalms
So I came to Psalm 101
And notice what it says here in verse 3
And this is a very famous verse
But I want you to pay attention to a part that maybe we kind of skip over sometimes
Psalm 101 verse 3
I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes
Now, obviously when this verse was written
The television was not invented
The computer was not invented
The cell phones were not invented
Obviously that's a great modern day application
But they had applications during those days as well
Right? To a lot of things they would not go to
Because of what they would see with their eyes
But notice what it says
I hate the work of them that turn aside
And of course that's the way that you ought to feel about the vice pangites of this world
You ought to hate the sin and the wickedness that exists in this country
And exists in this world
But I want you to notice what takes place if you do set yourself before something that's wicked
It says, I hate the work of them that turn aside
It shall not cleave to me
You know what that's implying?
That if you do set wicked things before you
You know what's going to take place?
It's going to cleave to you
It's going to stick to you
You watch ungodly movies and shows
You listen to ungodly music
You know what's going to take place?
It is going to stick with you a little bit
All of a sudden you're going to think
Well maybe it's not that big of a deal
You know, this sin that they promote or whatever
Because what do they say about rock music?
It's sex, drugs, and rock and roll
Right?
And that's literally what it's about
I used to listen to rock music
And the amazing thing about listening to rock music
Is you never pay attention to what they're saying
And it just goes to your subconscious
Right?
I used to listen to Aerosmith and Guns N' Roses
And if you know those bands, very wicked
Blasphemous, evil bands and evil groups
And you listen to this music
And you don't really realize it
But you're promoting, or what they're promoting
Is drinking and drugs
And look, I've always been against drinking
Ever since I was a kid
Because my parents, they didn't drink
But the thing is, you listen to this over and over again
And all of a sudden you start thinking
Well, it's not that big of a deal
Right?
Or they use the Lord's name in vain
And you hear that over and over again
All of a sudden
Well, I mean, it's wrong
But it's not that big of a deal
Why is it that you have that reaction?
Because of the fact you get desensitized
Right
It's called the process of normalization
Right
It's so common
And you see it in here all the time
All of a sudden it starts to actually feel normal
You say, what's the biblical advice?
Here's the biblical advice
Set no wicked thing before your eyes
You realize something is wicked
Just say, no, you know, I don't want to watch that
I don't want to listen to that
And here's the thing
If you're actually around godly people
They're probably not going to try to get you to listen to something ungodly
So there you go back to the separation of 2 Corinthians 6
Don't hang around a bunch of ungodly and wicked people
Turn back to Matthew chapter 8
Matthew 8
And you know what
Where it really hits close to home
Because you might feel like you're spiritual
And it doesn't affect you
Which is not true according to the Bible
What about though if you allow this stuff to enter into your home
And it sticks with your children
See, children are actually very impressionable
And if you allow this stuff to be seen and heard inside the home
Do you realize that it's going to stick and cleave to a young child
Well, it's no big deal
I mean, it's one of the big things as a parent
That you start
Because kids pay attention to everything that you listen to
And everything that you watch
You know, we do let our kids watch some things
But we have a rule that when they say something like
You know, oh my god
It's like, change it now
It's like, you're not watching that again
But what can easily take place is
Parents can be hypocrites where
I'm not going to let my kids do this
But then you say, well, you know, it's okay for me
It's like, no, it's not okay for you
What's going to take place is
It's going to cleave to you
And what's even worse
It's going to cleave to your children
Right
Here's what it says in Matthew chapter 8 verse 3
And Jesus put forth his hand and touched him saying
I will be thou clean
And immediately his leprosy was cleansed
So right when Jesus touches him
This man is healed
And I'm sure a lot of people are watching him
And looking at Jesus
Figuring, well, he's going to get dirty or whatever
But they see this man
And immediately they see that this guy is cleansed
This is a skin disorder
Also a nerve disorder
But they would see immediately
All of a sudden the leprosy is gone
Right
Now here's the thing though
Do you think that everybody would automatically feel safe
Being around someone who had leprosy
And just got healed
Probably not
I don't think I would
It's like, well, I'm still going to keep my distance
For a couple months
And just kind of see what happens
Okay
Here's what it says in verse 4
And Jesus saith unto them
See thou tell no man
Right
Now Jesus says this many times in the Bible
I'm not going to have you turn anywhere else for sake of time
But Jesus says, you know, don't tell anybody about this
And that seems kind of weird to us
Because if we get somebody saved
The last advice we're going to say is
Just keep going to Catholic Church
Pretend that you don't believe on Christ
Pretend that you're worshipping these idols
Don't tell your family about it
That's the last advice I would ever give
Right
But obviously with Jesus it's a little bit different
Because he's got a big crowd following him
And what you see in the Bible is that
He gets surrounded by people
It makes it impossible for him to actually go into cities
And preach the gospel
And it has actually become a bit of a distraction
It's kind of like you're preaching the gospel
And sometimes you'll have a bunch of kids will surround you
And then the kids are surrounding you and making noise
And it makes it actually hard to preach the gospel
To other people that want to listen
Because they're being a distraction
And I can say that as a white person
This takes place to me in the Philippines a lot
There'll be like a bunch of just little kids that come around
And I realize they're probably too young to understand what I'm saying
But I'm trying to talk to older kids
Often they become a distraction
Okay
Now here's what it says in verse 4
And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man, but go thy way
Show thyself to the priests and offer the gift that Moses commanded
For testimony unto them
Now turn to Leviticus chapter 14
Leviticus chapter 14
So here's what you have to understand about leprosy
If your neighbor got leprosy and you're living in this day
Everybody would end up finding out about it
It would be a very public thing
Everybody would know about it
Everybody would talk about it
Everybody would be afraid
I mean if your neighbor got leprosy
You'd probably be looking in the mirror every morning
And just kind of concerned
Maybe you have leprosy
You'd be worried about if your neighbor got leprosy
What about the relatives that are still there
They might get leprosy then we might catch it
You'd be afraid of that
It was a very very public thing
And because it was a very public thing to get this infectious disease
The actual cure when it takes place
There was a very public situation to make everybody aware
That somebody was cleansed of leprosy
Notice what it says in Leviticus chapter 14
Leviticus 14 verse 1
And the Lord spake unto Moses saying
This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing
He shall be brought on to the priest
And the priest shall go forth out of the camp
And the priest shall look and behold if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper
Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed
Two birds alive and clean and cedar wood and scarlet and hyssop
And you know what Jesus said is
Offer the gift that Moses commanded
What is the gift that Moses commanded
Well the Bible mentions right here
This is the gift, this is the requirement
In fact you see other examples in the New Testament
Jesus cures those 10 lepers and what do they do
They go to the priest
They go to the priest you say why
Because they had to offer this gift
It had to be a very public thing
People had to realize so and so has been healed
It wouldn't be good enough if you get leprosy and go back to your home
And your neighbors are afraid
Don't worry I'm cured
It's like well where's the proof that you got cured
Right you would want a real proof
And of course the proof would be you went to the priest
And this becomes very public it becomes very known
What is the symbolic example
Well an example I thought of is think about if somebody gets kicked out of church
That's a very public thing
That's a very known thing
I mean many of you were members of this church when various people got kicked out
And guess what you know it
It's a known thing it becomes a very public thing
Now if somebody's not really a member of church
They just come from time to time
And they get mad and leave and they go quietly
No big deal
But unfortunately that's not usually the way things take place
Often when somebody gets kicked out of church
It becomes a very public thing
Right it becomes a very known thing
And here's the reality
If somebody gets kicked out and it's a big situation
And I don't really say anything about it
You know what's going to often take place
That person's going to say a lot of lies on the other side
I mean you've been at our church
When this has happened haven't you
If you've been here for several years
You were here when a family tried to split our church
And they started to just tell other members of the church
Well you know pastor Stuckey's a liar
This is what he said blah blah blah
And they just try to make excuses for all the list of sins that were committed
And it's like are you kidding me
It's like you did all these things
And then it's like you try to throw out dumb excuses
Right and it's like look I mean all these sins are there
There's so many witnesses
But the reality is it's a very public thing
If somebody gets kicked out of church
For whatever sin it is
And then later on let's say they're allowed back at church
I make the decision, they've repented
They've gotten right with God
It wouldn't be good enough to just let them come in
And sit down beside someone at church
Because people would be like whoa
Doesn't this person have leprosy
I mean isn't this person you kicked out
Isn't this the person you preached against
I mean it would be a very public thing to let them back into church
And look if somebody gets kicked out of church
And they get right with God
Well praise God for that
That's not a very common thing
But if that happens praise God for it
But because it's a very public thing to get kicked out of church
Guess what it would be a very public thing to be let back into church as well
Now when I say a very public thing
I'm not necessarily saying the entire internet world needs to know
Because I don't really care about the internet world that much
Every once in a while you got to let the internet world know
Because of the fact you know they're known in the internet world or whatever
But in general I mean if it's a local church thing and nobody knows about it
It's like oh we'll turn off the cameras
I'll talk about it quietly so nobody else knows
And that's fine right
But it's a very public thing because everybody at church knows
It would be a very public thing to let them back at church as well
Go to Matthew 8
Matthew chapter 8
And when you think about leprosy
What is the fear of leprosy?
The fear is it will spread
When somebody gets kicked out of church
Here's the thing people are like well what about that person
They try to make excuses
Here's the thing I'm not really concerned about the person getting kicked out of church
You know who I'm concerned about?
I'm concerned about everybody that does not have leprosy
Somebody gets kicked out for fornication or drunkenness or extortion or whatever it may be
I'm worried about all the members at church that don't have leprosy
I'm worried about the young kids that are impressionable
I mean I'm sure many of you have been at Baptist churches
Where all of a sudden just teen girl after teen girl just ends up getting pregnant
And nothing's ever said about it
Nothing's ever done about it
Isn't that right?
And it's like the evidence is right there
And you know what you're actually teaching kids
You can get up here and preach whatever you want
But when you accept it when you allow it
You know what you're actually teaching the young people here
It's not that big of a deal to fornicate out of marriage and get pregnant
And here's the thing I don't want my kids to be taught
It's no big deal to go out and fornicate and get pregnant out of wedlock
I want to teach my kids at a young age
You know what? You need to stay pure until the day that you're married
If we just allow whatever sin in this church it becomes a free for all
And then what's the point of preaching any rules if we don't actually live by those rules
Right? Matthew chapter 8 verse 5
Matthew 8 verse 5
And in Matthew 8 verse 5 the Bible says
And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum
There came unto him a centurion beseeching him
And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home
Sick of the palsy, grievously tormented
Now turn to your Bible
Keep your finger in Matthew 8
But turn to Luke chapter 7
Let's see the parallel story in Luke 7
Luke 7 verse 1
Now when it ended all his sayings in the audience of the people
He entered into Capernaum
And a certain centurion servant who was dear unto him was sick
And ready to die
And when he heard of Jesus he sent unto him the elders of the Jews
Beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant
So this centurion is a very powerful man
And he sends elders of the Jews to Jesus saying
Will you come and heal my servant?
Okay?
Verse 4
And when they came to Jesus they besought him instantly saying
That he was worthy for whom he should do this
For he loveth our nation and he hath built us a synagogue
Verse 6
Now at first glance this seems kind of strange
This man, the centurion, sends elders of the Jews
To bring Jesus
And when Jesus gets there he says
Don't come to my house
That seems kind of strange doesn't it?
It's like well didn't you ask him to come
And now it sounds like you're rejecting him
Go to Matthew 8 and I'll explain what's taking place
Matthew chapter 8
Matthew 8 verse 7
And Jesus saith unto him
The centurion answered and said
So the centurion says
I'm not worthy
You're better than coming into my house to heal this man
Now before I explain
I want to explain to you what a centurion is
When you see that word centurion
You see that root, the c-e-n-t-u-r
It might remind you of the word century
Century is 100 years
And this is the same root
Or you think of cents
There's 100 cents in a dollar
And what it's saying here
With centurion is this
It says
A centurion was a commander
Nominally of a century
A military unit originally consisting
Of 100 legionnaires
The size of the century changed over time
And from the first century B.C. through most of the imperial era
Was reduced to 80 men
So basically a centurion
Is a man that's in charge
Of 100 legionnaires
I mean basically he's a very powerful man
He's a man who's respected
He's a man with money
He's a man who's known
Well here's what it says in verse 9
What he says is
I don't want you to come into my house
Because I'm a powerful man
That tells people to go and come and do
What he's basically saying is
If you come into my house
People are going to think that I'm bossing you around
That I'm telling you
Come into my house
Do this, heal my servant
And then go and he's like
People are going to think that I'm above you
Or in charge of you
And he's like I don't want people to think that
I'm not worthy of that
Because this is a man who's very famous and powerful
I mean it'd be like if there's a high level politician today
And they said
Pastor Stuckey I want you to come and pray for this person
Now I don't expect that to take place
But they're naturally going to assume
Well of course
Pastor Stuckey came because he had to
Because this man is powerful
He's going to feel like he's obligated
And what this centurion is saying is
If I have you come into my house
People are going to think that I'm above you
That I'm better than you
And this man realizes
Hey you have the ability to heal people
You are the savior
You're above me
I'm nothing compared to you
Because people are going to think I'm ordering you
Come and do this
Now go and lead because you did what I told you
So he's saying instead of you coming in
Just speak the word
And my servant will be healed
It says here in verse 10
When Jesus heard it
He marveled and said to them that followed
Verily I say unto you
I have not found so great faith
No not in Israel
Now that's a pretty insulting comment
That Jesus said
To those that are from Israel
Because they're the chosen nation
They're God's people
And then this Roman centurion
Has this great faith
And then Jesus says you know what
He had better faith than anybody in Israel
Right that's a very offensive comment
To those that are of Israel
Because they think they're better than everybody else
They're the chosen nation
They're God's people no matter what they do
And then now Jesus is saying you know what
This Roman centurion
He's actually better than the rest of you
Right
And of course we understand that you know
Because the elders of the Jews go and they say
This man's worthy because he loves our nation
And he built a synagogue
I don't think that Jesus was impressed
That this man loves the nation
And built this synagogue
Because like well these are the people that are going to kill me
The synagogue is no longer
Going to be a Godly thing whatsoever
Right
But he realizes that this is a Godly man
And this is a Godly man
This is a good man, a Godly man who has this great faith
Verse number 11
And I say unto you that many shall come from the east and west
And shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac
And Jacob and the kingdom of heaven
But the children of the kingdom
Shall be cast into outer darkness
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth
Now what exactly is Jesus saying?
Here's what he's saying
That Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
Are known kind of as the fathers of faith
Right
You know obviously going back to Genesis
You know with Adam
Adam was a saved man
We get that
But Abraham's kind of the man that we kind of look back to
The promise through Abraham
He believed it was counted them for righteousness
The book of Galatians talks about Abraham as the example
And it's not being a physical descendant
It's about spiritually believing the same thing
Right
And of course Abraham had a son named Isaac
Isaac had a son named Jacob
Jacob had 12 sons
Jacob has renamed Israel
You have the 12 tribes of Israel
Right
And what he's saying is
Many people from the east
And in the Philippines we're in the east
Right
Many people from the west
The United States
I mean I'm kind of you know both here
Are going to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
But you know a lot of people that are not going to sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob
Are the children of the kingdom of Israel
Those that should have been God's people
Those that had the oracles of God
Those that heard the word of God
Those that should have believed
And he's saying you know what they're going to be
They're going to be at a place where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth
Right
And that's the reality with most of the Jews
Now of course during the days of Jesus
There were a lot of Jews that did convert and believe on Christ
And then there's a lot that didn't
In our modern day you know what the religion is
It's not the religion of those that actually believed on the coming Messiah
It's those that rejected the Messiah
The religion of Judaism is 2,000 years after the group of people that rejected and killed Jesus Christ
And of course if you were to look at Jewish teachings today like the Talmud
They blaspheme Jesus Christ
It teaches in the Talmud that Jesus is the bastard child of a man by the name of Pantera
He's the son of Pantera
That's what it teaches
And they teach that Jesus was a sorcerer
That basically he healed by the power of Beelzebub
Same thing that those that rejected Jesus taught during the days of Jesus
And you say what's going to be the end result of the Benjamin Netanyahu's of the world
The Jerry Seinfeld's, these famous Jews
You know what the end result is going to be?
There's going to be weeping and gnashing of teeth where there's outer darkness in the heart of the earth
In the lake of fire burning for all eternity
And you say wow that sounds offensive
Well the Bible says he that believeth not the son shall not see life
I mean it doesn't really get much simpler than that
For all of sin to come short of the glory of God
And guess what?
Regardless of whether you're in the Philippines or the US or Israel
All of us are sinners
And the only forgiveness, the only salvation is in Jesus Christ
Doesn't matter what your lineage is
Now a modern day example might be this for those that are kids here today
It doesn't matter if your parents believe on Christ
You've got to believe on Christ
It's like wow I mean I've got the bloodline of two saved parents
That does you no good
You've got to believe on Christ yourself to go to heaven
The Bible says here in verse 13
And Jesus said unto the centurion go thy way and as thou hast believed so be it done unto thee
And his servant was healed in the self same hour
Verse 14
And when Jesus was coming to Peter's house he saw his wife's mother laid in sick of a fever
And he touched her hand and the fever left her and she arose and ministered unto them
So here's what the Bible says in verse 14
It says that Peter, his wife's mother was sick
Okay
So it's saying Peter has a mother-in-law
If you have a mother-in-law what does that mean that you have?
It means you have a wife
Right
Go to Matthew 16
Matthew 16
Now look
According to the Catholic Church
The big church here in the Philippines
What do they say?
They say Peter was the first pope
Right
Now the Bible is very clear here
That Peter had a wife
He had a mother-in-law
His wife's mother
Right
Now in the early days of Catholicism there are actually a lot of popes that were married
So basically they changed their teachings like 1500 years ago
And said you can no longer get married
Because today I mean Pope Francis is not married
Pope Benedict is not married
Pope John Paul was not married
I mean I have no doubt that they probably all have mistresses
I have no doubt that they have you know little boy slaves or whatever
But they're not married you know as a man to a woman
And the Bible of course is very clear
That you must be the pastor having a wife
Right
You're not a pastor if you don't have a wife
You have to have a wife
Right
Very basic requirements in the word of God
Well how is it that Peter is the first pope
If the Catholic Church says well you cannot be married to be a priest
Because priests today I mean isn't it there's the denomination in the Philippines of those that are married
What is it Agla Payan is that the name of it
And they basically rejected the Catholic rules
And you know they are married and you know I've seen documentaries on it
There's a large number here
And look I would say this
I believe that during our lifetime the Catholic Church will actually let priests get married in the future
You say why is that
Because they've got to eventually cover up the scandal of all the pedophilia and homosexuality
And because of the fact they're not finding enough priests that actually want to agree to a life of celibacy
Right
But Peter had a wife and according to the Catholic Church you're not supposed to have a wife if you're the pope
Now let me just read you what the Bible says
Then we're going to read what the Catholic Church says about this
And here's what it says in Matthew 16 verse 13
When Jesus came to the coast of Caesarea Philippi
He asked his disciples saying whom do men say that I the Son of Man am
And they said some say that thou art John the Baptist
Some Elias
And others Jeremiah's are one of the prophets
So Jesus is asking his disciples who are they comparing me to
And some people say you're like John the Baptist
You're like Elijah
You're like Jeremiah
You're like one of these great prophets that came before
He saith on to them but whom say ye that I am
He said okay that's what the world says about me
But what do you say about me
And Simon Peter answered and said thou art the Christ
The Son of the Living God
You know what Jesus is saying in the example he's giving
He's saying I am better than everybody else
Isn't that what he's saying
I'm better than John the Baptist
The man that was greater amongst you know of anyone born of a woman
I'm better than John the Baptist
I'm better than Elijah
I'm better than Jeremiah
You know it doesn't really get much better than John the Baptist and Elijah
I believe Elijah is one of the two witnesses
John the Baptist I mean is perhaps the greatest man
Unless somebody came after him that was better
Nobody before him was better according to the Bible
I mean he's as good as anybody who's ever lived
And maybe there's like a small group of the greatest who have ever lived
Maybe he's not literally saying that you know you're better than anyone
But you're like the best of the best or whatever
But these are some great men no question about it
And you know what he's showing
But they're not the Christ
They're not the Messiah
They're not the Savior
I am better than everybody else
That is the context as we get to this famous scripture
Jesus is using a comparison
I am better than everybody else who has ever existed
Right
Verse 17
And Jesus answered and said unto him
Blessed art thou Simon Bar-Jonah
For flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee
But my Father which is in heaven
And Jesus saying Simon you're right
I'm better than John the Baptist
I'm better than Elijah
I'm better than Jeremiah
I'm better than anyone who has ever existed
Verse 18
And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter
And upon this rock I will build my church
And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it
What is the context before verse 18
Jesus saying there's nobody better than me
Would it make any sense then in verse 18
To basically say the exact opposite
And say but you know what Peter you're really good as well
You're better than John the Baptist
Elijah and Jeremiah also
And you know what you're the first pope
The gates of hell will not stand against you
You're better than everybody else on earth
Does that really make a lot of sense
Because the context leading up to it
Is saying no one's even close
Right because I would say
I mean if I were to rank
I'd say John the Baptist is here
And Elijah is here and Jeremiah is here
Maybe I'm wrong
And all these great people are in this list here
So they're here
And maybe you know us in this room
That are soul winners are here
And then Jesus is like you know way up there
There's no comparison
Would it make any sense then
To then just state but you know what Peter
You're the rock
The gates of hell are not going to stand against you
It's funny because throughout the Bible
Who does the Bible mention as being the rock
On Christ the solid rock I stand
Rock of ages
That's not about Peter my friend
It's about Jesus
And every verse like without dispute
The rock is Jesus
He's our rock
And then people think that he's teaching the opposite
Well the context shows
He's referring to himself
Now I don't know if he literally pointed to himself
And said upon this rock
Or if he's basically stating that this statement you said
About me being better than everyone
Me being the Christ upon this rock
Saying yes I am that Messiah
Yes I am that Christ
But what he's saying in the context is
I'm better than everybody else
Now here's where people get confused
This is a local church
And of course Jesus is going to be leaving earth
And if you have a local church
The only person to be in charge of the local church
Is Peter at this time
He's the one who has the keys to the kingdom of heaven
And that's true
In a local church you need a leader
That doesn't make you the leader of Christianity on earth
Because nobody could be that
And every single individual church
Who is the head of that church?
Jesus Christ
He's better than anybody else
There's no comparison between Jesus and anybody else
Because you look at Peter
Can you really say about the life of Peter
That the gates of hell did not prevail against him?
I'm pretty sure later on in the book of Matthew
People come up to him and say
You know you're with Jesus
He's like no no not me
You say why?
Because men fail
Look you know Paul said
Follow me as I follow Christ
What's the idea?
Hey if I'm leading the charge and going soul winning
And reading the Bible follow my example
But if I'm not
Follow Christ my friend
Don't be very careful about putting too much trust
Or faith in men
You say why?
They will fail
They will mess up
Look I will do my best as your pastor
To be a great example
But you know I'm going to make mistakes
I'm going to fail
And the reason you should read the Bible is not because I'm reading the Bible
You read the Bible
You go soul winning
You live a separated life
You be a godly person
You do what's right
Because it's the right thing to do
Regardless of what anybody else does
Why?
Men are going to fail
But guess who doesn't fail
Don't we sing Jesus never fails?
Jesus is the rock
Peter's not the rock my friend
The gates of hell
It doesn't take the gates of hell to prevail against Peter
It takes a little girl
And he's afraid of the confrontation
And I'm not trying to be down on Peter
I think Peter's going to get more rewards in heaven than me
It's just a fact though
Right?
It's like Peter did a lot of great things
But the Bible also highlights a lot of mistakes that he did
Right?
Now
I want to read you what the Catholic church says about this
Okay
St. Matthew recording the gospel
Jesus entered Peter's house
And found Peter's mother-in-law in bed with a fever
He took her by the hand and the fever left her
Note that the passage does not mention St. Peter's wife
But only his mother-in-law
The gospels however make no mention of St. Peter's wife
Living or non-living
Therefore St. Peter's wife must have died
Before Jesus called him to be an apostle
Now I don't know about you
Because I read the Bible a lot of times
And never once did I walk away
And say, you know what?
It seems like Peter's wife is dead
Because when it mentions
Peter's wife's mother
I mean the implication to me is she's still alive
That he has a wife that's living
And I don't know where you would get that
But what is the Catholic church doing?
Basically they're just teaching for doctrines
The commandments of men
They're just making stuff up
Because they want to teach you, well, priests are not allowed to be married
Popes are not allowed to be married
Cardinals are not allowed to be married
They want to make up that excuse
And they'll say, well Peter wasn't really married
Peter was already dead
And it's so stupid because so many popes in history
Had wives while they were the pope
Are you going to just stand up here and say
Pretend like that's not true
I mean you can just go on Wikipedia
Look up all the popes that have existed
Many of them in the early days actually were married
They had wives
And guess who also did? Peter
Right?
Turn back to Matthew chapter 8
Matthew 8
Now here's the thing about this
And I don't want to go on to too big of a rabbit trail
Because the sermons are going to be very long already anyway
But
Despite the fact you have all these priests
And cardinals and bishops and the pope and everything
And they make a vow of celibacy
I'm never going to be intimate with a woman ever
And of course nuns make the same thing
Of course the Bible never says that
It says pastors should be married and have children
But the Catholic church says the opposite
Right?
Here's the thing about this
Don't be foolish and think that all these priests
Are just going celibate their entire life
There's probably never been a priest
That's ever been celibate their entire life
Number one
The Catholic church
Is filled full of sodomy
And the LGBT with the Catholic priests
But number two
Catholic priests actually have a lot of children
Nuns have a lot of children
You say, wait a minute pastor
Where are you getting this from? What children do they have?
I mean have you ever heard of an orphanage?
Do you know why the Catholic church
Is so obsessed with orphanages?
Because they got to hide
All the children of the Catholic priests
All you have to do is go on YouTube
And watch documentaries where this person
Didn't know who their father was
They found out it was a Catholic priest
I grew up in an orphanage I didn't know my father
They just basically don't tell you who your father is
You just grow up
Orphanages are filled
And honestly, you might say, well that sounds like a conspiracy
Literally, go on YouTube
There's so many documentaries of people that say
Hey, you know what, I was fathered
By a Catholic priest, I never met him
And what does the Catholic church say?
Well, we'll give you money to help take care of this child
Only if
This news never becomes public
Basically they would tell that woman
We'll give you money to take care of that child
Unless you let people know
That the father is actually a Catholic priest
Right, and I encourage you
Because I remember the first time I heard that
It was probably 10 years ago
Immediately I'm like, you know what, that makes sense
And I verified it
It is certainly true that all over the world
Orphanages are filled full of the children
Of nuns and Catholic priests
And the Catholic church is just trying to keep it quiet
Because how stupid is it
To say, you've got to live a life
Of celibacy
There's kind of something called natural desires
That God has given both men and women
And so to sit here and say, well, they're just going to stay celibate
That's ridiculous
Anyways, Matthew chapter 8, we'd better hurry
For sake of time, verse 16
When they even was come, they brought him to a many
That were possessed with devils, and he cast
Out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick
That it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet
Saying, himself took our infirmities
And bare our sicknesses, verse 18
Now when Jesus saw
Great multitudes about him, he gave commandment
To depart onto the other side
Verse 19
And a certain scribe came and said unto him
Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest
And Jesus saith unto him
The foxes have holes
And the birds of the air have nests
But the son of man hath not where to lay his head
And so this man says
I'm going to follow you wherever you go
Jesus already commanded, it's time to depart
To the other side, and this guy says
I'm going to follow you no matter where you go
No matter what happens
Jesus just let him know, just to let you know
I don't always have a place to sleep at night
Sometimes I make my bed just a rock
And you know, the grass, or whatever
And here's the reality
You know what, if you're going to go all out serving Christ
You have to make sacrifices
And you know what, a lot of people are not willing to make those sacrifices
Now this man says he's going to follow Jesus wherever he goes
And I'm sure that he thinks this is true
But Jesus realizes, you know what, it's not true
Once you realize it's actually going to be tough
You know what's going to take place?
You're going to quit
You're going to give up
It says here in verse 21
And another disciple said unto him, Lord
Suffer me first to go and bury my father
But Jesus said unto him, follow me and let the dead bury their dead
Now if you were to take these verses by themselves
You could go way overboard and get the wrong idea
Because throughout the Bible
Is burial a good thing or a bad thing?
It's a good thing
It is the honorable thing to do to the dead
To bury the dead
Especially if they're a believer
Right, it's a good thing to do
Jesus is not saying, you know what
Don't waste your time on the matters of the world
Just go all out serving God
Don't worry about providing for your family
Or brushing your teeth or anything
Just go all out serving God
That would be the wrong application
What you have to realize is Jesus said
Hey, it's time to depart to the other side
There's not time
Basically either come now
Or there's no time
And this person says, well let me first bury my dead
So, and actually let me give you one other example
You don't have to turn there
But in Luke 9 it adds another one
It says, and another also said
Lord I will follow thee
But let me first go bid them farewell
Which are at home at my house
And Jesus said unto them
No man having put his hand to the plow
And looking back is fit for the kingdom of God
So this person says
I'm going to go
But let me first say goodbye to my family
And Jesus basically says no
Now look
Obviously there's separation sometimes from family
But there's nothing wrong with being close to your family
And you know, in the Bible we actually see almost the opposite
Because if you remember
When Elisha was called to the ministry
He says to Elisha what?
Let me go and basically say bye to my parents
It's not that he's never going to see them again
But he's not going to be working with his dad anymore
He's not going to be around them all the time
And guess what?
Elisha lets him go and say bye to his family
You know what the difference is?
Elisha actually put into action what he said
He said I'm going to say bye and come and follow you
And that's exactly what he did
This man says he's going to do that
But Jesus knows all things
And he knows that's not actually true
Because isn't it true that many people refuse to separate from family when necessary?
It is one of the big reasons people do not serve God
Because they're too attached to family
I mean you get saved here
And your relatives are Catholic
And a lot of people refuse to actually live a separated life from them
Now I'm not saying it's wrong to ever see them
But people want to be so close to their Catholic relatives
And I just think to myself
You know what?
Jesus said that those that are hearing the word of God are my mother and my brothers and my family
And you ought to be close to your spiritual family
You say why?
Those are your spiritual brothers and spiritual sisters in Christ
So it's not that there's anything wrong with burying your dead
It's not that there's anything wrong about saying bye to your family
But their heart wasn't actually in it like they were claiming
Verse number 23
Matthew 8 verse 23
And when he was entered into a ship his disciples followed him
And behold there arose a great tempest in the sea
Insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves
But he was asleep
And his disciples came to him and awoke him saying
Lord save us we perish
And he saith unto them
Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?
Then he arose and rebuked the winds in the sea
And there was a great calm
But the men marveled saying
What manner of man is this
That even the winds and the sea obey him?
So we'll finish up Matthew 8 next week
There's a lot of great information
And obviously we're spending several sermons per chapter
You know I could have divided this even more
Except there's going to be a lot of repetitive information
But you know there's a lot of great information
Especially I want you to be highlighted on this centurion
Because here's a man who didn't have the word of God
Like we have the word of God
Or like the Jews have the word of God
But here's a man that has strong faith
That says you don't even have to enter into my house
I have enough trust and faith in you
That you can heal my servant even if you never enter in
Let's close in word of prayer
Dear Heavenly Father
Thank you for allowing us to be here today
And I ask you to help us to apply the sermon to our lives God
Help us to have the great faith like the centurion had God
Help us to be willing to give up all
And surrender all to you to go all out to serve you God
We pray all these things in Jesus' name
Amen
Alright for our last song
Let's turn our hymn to hymn number 360
Let's sing the song for you about everything
Hymn number 360
Pray about everything
Once I was burdened
Ready on the first thing
Once I was burdened
With many a care
Problems too hard for my weak soul to bear
Then in God's word came a message so clear
Pray about everything
A wonderful treasure
Prayer's a wonderful thing
Blessing all hearts without measure
So pray about everything
As of your father he loved it to plead
He gave us the keys
Claiming this promise I dropped to my knees
Pray about everything
Prayer's a wonderful treasure
Prayer's a wonderful thing
Blessing all hearts without measure
So pray about everything
On earth
Doubting and fretting
Can only bring shame
Worry and fear will dishonor his name
Go to your savior
Pray about everything
Prayer's a wonderful treasure
Prayer's a wonderful thing
Blessing all hearts without measure
So pray about everything
Riches in Jesus abundant and free
Needs in our word for whatever it be
Ours for the asking this only is plea
Pray about everything
Prayer's a wonderful treasure
Prayer's a wonderful thing
Blessing all hearts without measure
So pray about everything
Thank you for watching!