Is that your take-off?
Anyways, a couple announcements real quickly.
I believe the water is fixed in the restrooms, right?
So that's good.
So you should be good to go now.
You don't have to go upstairs anymore.
Let's count up salvations.
Did anybody have any salvations to report?
Anybody? Any salvations?
Alright, so we'll have...
9? Alright, amen.
Anybody else?
Alright, so I'm still waiting around 2.15 pm here today.
And so let's see, then
in the middle of our bulletin
on the upcoming activities, just a couple things.
We have choir practice here today.
And of course next week is our three year anniversary.
So obviously you want to be here for that.
And so it's going to be an exciting time.
It's a good time to invite people because
people love free food.
They love events.
And you know what, honestly, we have people at our church
their first service was at our two year anniversary, right?
We have people that are here.
They started coming at the two year anniversary
and they've been with us ever since.
I may have offended them 100 times, but they're still here.
Not necessarily because of me.
So it's a good time to invite people.
It might be the sort of thing that can get them hooked in
where they keep coming after that.
So we're going to be having a table tennis tournament.
And let's see, we're going to have a jump house for the kids.
We're going to have food.
We're going to have a choir perform.
And as I said, there's only going to be one sermon next week
so there's going to be more time for fellowship.
It's going to be a great time.
And so I believe that's it for announcements though.
And we'll have Brother Rafi lead us in another song.
And one type of mali uma with Punta Punta
is a hymn number 274.
Hymn number 274, come on to me.
Hymn number 274, hymn number 274.
Hear the blessed Savior, first sons already sing.
Hear the blessed Savior,
grow to be impressed.
Oh, He may relate,
but to be impressed.
Keep higher over there,
bring my every word,
and bring my every prayer.
Come on, come to me.
Take the fire,
breathe it out.
I'm going to the Lord.
All the rest of my life,
my whole life has used me.
I heard your song once again, are you disappointed?
Coming here and there, where the chains are gathering
For the night we're here, we'll all be free
Because Jesus, we were born for us
I believe your eyes take the fire
We are free of the chaos
I believe you are free
I am the cross for all
I hope you see it's me
I put a smile on my face
Stumbling on the mountain
For the same reason we're turning
I'm the cross that's in the rain
I am the cross that's in the moon
And I am the plan
I'm the temperature of the moon
And I am the place
I'm entering
I am the wind
Failing the water
We are free of the chaos
I am the cross
I am the cross for all
I hope you see it's me
I put a smile on my face
I believe you are free
Because Jesus, we were born for us
I believe you are free
I believe you will be a friend
I am entering
I am a friend
Failing the water
I am the wind
I am the cross for all
I hope you see it's me
I put a smile on my face
I believe you are free
Because Jesus, we were born for us
I believe you are free
Because Jesus, we were born for us
I believe you are free
As is our custom, we are going to read the whole chapter, Psalm 31
Please say Amen when you are there
Psalm 31
In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust
Let me never be ashamed
Deliver me in Thy righteousness
Go down by ear to me
Deliver me speedily
Be thou my strong rock
For an house of defense to save me
For thou are my rock and my fortress
Therefore, Thy name's sake lead me
And guide me
Pull me out of the net
That they have laid trivially for me
For thou are my strength
Into thine hand I commit my spirit
Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth
I have hated them
That regard lying vanities
But I trust in the Lord
I will be glad and rejoice in Thy mercy
For thou hast considered my trouble
Thou hast known my soul and adversities
And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy
Thou hast set my feet in a large room
Have mercy upon me, O Lord
For I am in trouble
Mine eye is consumed with grief here
My soul and my belly
For my life is spent with grief
And my years with sighing
My strength faileth because of my iniquity
And my bones are consumed
I was reproached among all my enemies
But especially among my neighbors
And a fear to mine acquaintance
They that did see me without flat from me
I am forgotten as that man out of mine
I am like a broken vessel
For I have heard the slander of many
Fear was on every side
While they took counsel together against me
The device to take away my life
But I trust in Thee, O Lord
I said, Thou are my God
My time so in Thy hand
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies
And from them that persecute me
Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant
Save me for Thy mercy's sake
Let me not be ashamed, O Lord
For I have called upon Thee
Let the wicked be ashamed
And let them be silent in the grave
Let the lying lips be put to silence
Which speak grievous things proudly
And contemptuously against the righteous
On how great is Thy goodness
Which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee
Which Thou hast wrought for them that lust in Thee
Before the sons of men
Thou shalt hide them in the secret of Thy presence
From the pride of men
Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion
From the strife of tongues
Blessed be the Lord
For He has shewed me
His marvelous kindness in a strong city
For I said in my haste
I am cut off from before Thine eyes
Nevertheless, though here is the voice
Of my supplications
When I cry unto Thee
O love the Lord, all your saints
For the Lord preserve
The faithful and plentifully rewarded
The proud doer
Be of good courage
And He shall strengthen your heart
And hear that hope in the Lord
Let us pray
Thank you, our Father, for this word
And for the Bible
Thank you for saving us
And thank you also for teaching us
So many times
And help us who need to understand your word
And to apply it also in our life
To the door in wisdom
And we pray also that
We give you might and power
Our Father who is preaching
And we pray in your name
Jesus Christ, Amen
Alright, we're here in Psalm 31
Psalm 31 verse 1
And we will go verse by verse
And finish this chapter
And the name of the sermon is
Let me never be ashamed
And let's start off here in verse number 1
The Bible reads
In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust
Let me never be ashamed
Deliver me in Thy righteousness
Now at this time
This is someone who is already saved
Okay, this is not someone who is getting saved here
But he's already spiritually saved
When he's saying I'm putting my trust in you
He's referring to his physical salvation
And he's saying let me never be ashamed
And you know in our modern vernacular
When you say ashamed
You're thinking like embarrassed
And it can mean that in the Bible
What it's often meaning would be something like
Being let down
Basically you're trusting in something
And it doesn't work out
And you're let down
And it doesn't work out
And he's saying I'm trusting you
So don't allow me to be let down
And be destroyed by my enemies
Okay
Now it talks about I put my trust in you
One thing we understand is
When you get saved
There's a moment when you put your trust
On Jesus Christ for your spiritual salvation
And it's interesting because
You also see the word ashamed
Kind of in reference there as well
Go to Romans 10
Romans 10
Romans chapter 10
Now usually when I write sermons
I usually write them in advance
And this sermon was written in advance
But sometimes the timing just kind of works out
For various topics
Because on the internet right now
This is kind of like the hot button topic
Over the last couple days
About this issue of calling on the name of the Lord
Well this is already in my notes
To go to Romans 10, 9 through 13
So we're going to see what the word of God says
We'll look at a few other places
But let's start here at verse number 9
The Bible reads
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus
And shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead
Thou shalt be saved
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness
And with the mouth confession is made unto salvation
You know we're preaching the gospel to people
We go through all the verses
We explain how it's just by faith
And then you get to the end
And then you lead them in a prayer
To call upon the name of the Lord
Now a couple things to realize
When we're talking to people
Sometimes you're going to ask them
You know well what do you have to do to get to heaven
Right maybe at the beginning of the conversation
You might ask that
And you hear a lot of different things
Right you know often hear
You know maat sin ba
Uma waana mabooti
Bautismahana
A lot of different things
But sometimes people say
And yesterday I was preaching the gospel
And they said magdasa
And it's like well I mean
How often do you have to pray right
It's just like pray without ceasing
Pray every day
Like what do you mean by that right
Well when somebody says
You ask them
What do you have to do to be saved
And they answer
Well pray
Right well that's the wrong answer
Because obviously what they mean by that is
You know you're praying all the time
And you have a walk with God
You're always praying to him throughout the day
That's part of salvation being a process
Okay
So they told me that
I said well you know
Let me share with you what the Bible says
You know I don't insult them
But I just say the Bible says something
A little bit different
And I go through the verses
Because when they're saying that
What they're saying is pray every single day
And sometimes people would say
You know believe in Christ
Or believe in God
And what they mean is
Just every day
You're having a walk with God
They don't really understand okay
Well
Let us look at these verses here
Let's look at verse number 11
It says
For the scripture saith
Whosoever believeth on him
Shall not be ashamed
Now
I've heard people say this
And I think they're well intentioned
Usually when they say this
I would just say that this is incorrect
Is
Some people look at this verse and say
Well if you believe on Christ
You're not going to be embarrassed
To call upon the name of the Lord
But that's not what verse 11
Is actually saying
What it's saying is
If you put your trust
Or belief in Jesus
You won't be let down
And end up in hell
Right
When we put our personal trust
On Jesus for our salvation
We don't have to worry about
All of a sudden we die
And we're in hell
Right
Because you know
You don't have to turn there
But in Matthew 7
When people go to hell
They're saying
We did these wonderful works
Right
And we cast out devils in thy name
Right
I mean we did all these things for you
And then they end up being ashamed
They get let down
And go to hell
Why
Well their trust was in their works
Now if you're saved
You can't go to hell
But theoretically speaking
If all of a sudden you woke up in hell
What would you say
But I believed
Right
That's what I would say
Because we know
Salvation is by faith
I'm like
But I believed
I put my trust in you
It's just by faith
Well in Matthew 7
We see the revealing of what's in their hearts
Because once they end up in hell
They're saying
We did all these wonderful works
And this is many of the non-denominational type of people
That might even tell us
Ephesians 2 8 and 9
But then their own words condemn them
Well in verse 11
What it's saying is
If you put your faith on Jesus
You're not gonna be let down
You're gonna go to heaven
You don't have to worry about that
Okay
Verse 12
For there is no difference
Between the Jew and the Greek
For the same Lord over all
Is rich unto all that call upon him
So you see the link
Between believing and calling
That's mentioned
And the Bible's saying
Whether you're a Jew
Whether you're a Greek
Whether an American
Or Filipino
Or European
Mateus has been
To a lot of countries
So just
You're
Then
It's
You know by putting your trust
On Jesus Christ
Right
It's the same for everybody
It's not like
You know
The Jews have a special way
To heaven
The Muslims have a special way
But if you live here
You've got a different way
No it's the same for everybody
Right
Then it says
Then it says this very famous verse
For whosoever shall call upon
The name of the Lord
Shall be saved
And so what Paul is describing
Is the process of
As we go soul winning
After this verse
He's going to kind of go
In backwards order
And just kind of describe
The events that are taking place
As well
But you know
This is basically
You know
You explain the gospel
And once they change
What they believe
Then you end it
And say
Would you like to call upon
The Lord today
Right
Or call upon the Lord
Right now
Now
One thing that will help you
Understand this
One thing that will help you
Understand this passage
Is go back to verse 8
Verse 8
And I added a lot of my notes
That was already in my notes anyway
But I'm going to add a lot
Because it's the hot button topic
And so verse number 8
Notice what it says
But what saith it
This is right before verses 9 through 13
Verse 8
But what saith it
The word is naive
Nigh or near
Even in thy mouth
And in thy heart
That is the word of faith
Which we preach
And what Paul the Apostle was saying
Is the word of faith
And he includes both
The belief
And the part in the mouth
So here's the thing
If Paul calls it the word of faith
What we're seeing is that
When Paul preached the gospel
He did have people call upon
The Lord for salvation
And we also see it's not works
Because he says the word of faith
Right
Now I want to go to more verses
To prove this more in depth
But go to Matthew chapter 7
Matthew 7
And look this is probably
One of the topics that people have
A lot of questions about
Right
And many people have questions about it
Obviously we want to defend salvation
We want to make sure we're not adding anything
Or making it difficult or whatever
And another thing is
Churches do soul winning
So many different ways
I've gone soul winning with a lot of people
I've gone to a lot of churches
Gone soul winning with a lot of people
And you know when you're the silent partner
You never know what the other person's gonna say
Right
I've had times where I was like
Man that's great
They explained it
And then I've had other times
Where I'm just like
Oh wow
Right
It's like I've gone with people
Where their gospel is less than
Two minutes long
Right
When we did the soul winning marathon
In Cavite
Right
That person showed up
That was not part of our church
And then all of a sudden
It's like you know
I'm partnering with him
And he's interrupting me and everything
And he's just like
And when he went
He spent like 30 seconds
Literally 30 seconds
Right
And then all of a sudden
He's just
And then I was like
What are you doing?
I was like
We don't do that here
And he's like
Well at our church what we do
Is we just try to get him to come to church
And then later on
I was like
Well that's not what we do
Right
So I paired him with you
Right brother Marlin
Yeah
Marlin got stuck with him
During the lunch time
I'm like
No I'm this guy
But it's just like
But what I told him was this
I said
Well here's the thing
You can still come with us
But you have to be a silent partner
The rest of the day
Right
And it's
I handled things correctly
And let me just say
As a lesson
It's like
You don't go around asking other people
At church
How are we gonna handle this
No I handle it
And I handle it by saying
Hey if you're gonna stay with us
You gotta be quiet
And he was quiet the rest of the day
Right
He was a silent partner
The rest of the day
That's how you handle it
It's called tough love
Right
Where it's like
Well if you're gonna join our church
You know what
We do things differently
You're gonna have to just be a silent partner
Right
What I'm saying is this though
You go soul winning
With a lot of different people
And you know what
Most people are gonna pray with you
Without using any verses
You can just say
Hey can I pray with you
You don't have to give them any verses
If that's what you wanna do
Right
There's techniques where
You get them to bow their heads
And you haven't explained anything
You put your hand on their shoulder
And then you're saying things
Like alright Billy
Now you're gonna call upon the Lord right now
Just say these words
Dear Jesus
You're like
Dear Jesus
Right
They don't even know what's going on
And then they'll count it
As a salvation
Right
So look
I understand where you have this
One two three
Pray after me
And it causes you to basically
Be kind of against it
But I wanna see what the proper balance is
In the Bible
And one thing we saw
Was that Paul the apostle
When he went preaching
He said it's in thy mouth
And in thy heart
And he said that's the word of faith
Which we preach
Matthew chapter 7
One thing I wanna show you is this
That calling upon the Lord
Is not works
Right
Calling upon the Lord is not works
Cause notice what it says in Acts 7
Or not Acts
Matthew 7 verse 7
Ask and it shall be given you
Isn't a gift something that you're given
Right
By definition
Ask and it shall be given you
Seek and ye shall find
Knock and it shall be opened on you
For everyone that asketh receiveth
And he that seeketh findeth
And to him that knocketh it shall be opened
Or what man is there of you
What man is there of you
Whom if his son ask bread
Will he give him a stone
Or if he ask a fish
Will he give him a serpent
You say brother Stuckey
I think that's a bit vague
How do you know that's a gift
Verse 11
If ye then being evil know how to give
Good gifts unto your children
Do you see that?
Give good gifts unto your children
So basically the child asks
And it's given as a gift
And see what you're seeing is
Asking does not negate the fact
That it's a gift
Right
It was still paid for by the other person
Okay
And it says
If he then being evil know how to give
Good gifts unto your children
How much more so your father which is in heaven
Give good things to them that ask him
Now I'm not saying this passage is
100% about salvation
But we are seeing the words used
We're asking for something that's not
Negated from being a gift
That's what we see in Matthew 7
We saw the same thing in Romans 10 verse 8
Now
Go to 1 Samuel 1
1 Samuel 1
Now look
When we're preaching the gospel
The key what we're trying to do
Is get people to change what they believe
Okay
That's what we're trying to get them to do
If somebody doesn't believe what you're saying
And then you try to get them to pray anyway
That's wrong
Because they have to believe it
Right
I mean it doesn't matter if you can get them
To pray a prayer and say words
It's just like
It's not some magic formula
Where the words
You have to actually believe it
Inside your heart
Our whole goal is to try to get people
To change what they believe
They say that you have to live a good life
We try to change their mind about that
Right
They say they got to repent of their sins
We try to change their mind about that
Right
Now
Let me look at a couple other passages
Then I'll give kind of an explanation here
One thing that was said
Or that's implied
Or I guess was said
Is that when you ask for something
With your mouth
It has to be out loud
It cannot be in the heart
Okay
Basically any time you're asking for something
When the Bible says mouth
It cannot reference your heart
Well that's not true
Notice what it says in 1 Samuel 1
Verse number 12
And it came to pass
As she continued praying before the Lord
That Eli marked her mouth
Now Hannah
She spake in her heart
Only her lips moved
But her voice was not heard
So
Hannah's obviously praying
And then Eli mistakes her for being drunken
And her lips are moving
But nothing's coming out
And she's speaking from her heart
Right
You know it's been said recently
You cannot speak with your heart
Well that's not true
Because you see this right here
Right
We use the Bible to prove what we believe
Speaking in your heart
And then it says
In the rest of the verse
Therefore Eli thought she had been drunken
So he's confused
Because basically
Man looketh on the outward appearance
And her lips are moving
And nothing's coming out
And he's like she's a babbler
Because drunk people babble
And they're just
Out of it
And she's like this
But she's actually just very emotional
Right
And so she's praying
And her lips are moving
But she's not saying anything
There's no sound
But yet it says she's speaking in her heart
Okay
Now turn to John 4
John 4
Why is that significant?
Well it's significant
Because someone can call upon the Lord in their heart
Okay
Someone can call upon the Lord in their heart
Right
Now let me give you just a physical example
Because the physical helps us understand the spiritual sometimes
Jesus said if I have told you of earthly things and you believe not
How shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things?
Let's say you're drowning in water
What are you going to say?
Help
Save me
Something like that
Too long
Right
Whatever you're going to say
You're going to say something
Crying out for salvation
Physical salvation for help
It's just natural
That's what your body's naturally going to do when you're drowning
You're going to be like help
Right
You're hanging on to something for dear life on a rope
You're going to, you know
And if you lose your grip
You're going to fall down and die
You're going to scream help
Help
Right
That's just
It's just natural
It's going to come out
Here's the thing
If you're preaching the gospel to someone
And you're explaining that they deserve help but Jesus died for them
It's going to be natural to call upon the Lord
Right
If you believe it's going to happen
These things go hand in hand
The belief in calling upon the name of the Lord
Here's the thing
Every single person that believes will call
Right
Now when I say that
I'm not saying everyone who believes Jesus exists
Because everybody believes Jesus exists
You say what are you saying brother Sucky?
I'm saying John 4 verse 10
John 4 verse 10
Jesus answered and said unto her
If thou knewest the gift of God
Now what is the gift of God?
Eternal life
Salvation
Going to heaven
Being born again
Right
However you want to call it
The gift of God's eternal life
And who it is that sayeth to thee give me to drink
He's saying
If you understand what the gift is
And who's giving it
Right
Which is Jesus Christ
Right
If you believe her eternal life
And who it is that sayeth to thee give me to drink
Thou wouldest have asked of him
And he would have given thee living water
And see the Bible's saying that if you believe inside your heart
About who Jesus is
And what he does
You will ask for that gift
The Bible says it's a guarantee
Right
It's going to happen if somebody believes it
Right
So you might have a couple questions
And well brother Sucky
If it's a guarantee it's going to happen
If they believe
Why do we even try to do it
Why not just do it inside their heart
Well there's a couple things to think about
Number one is this
Paul gave us the formula
And he said in Romans 10 verse 8
What he did was
In thy mouth and in thy heart
That's what he explained
The other thing to understand is
That we cannot 100% definitively see somebody's heart
Right
We can't
When we're preaching the gospel
We do not know 100% for sure if they got it or not
We try to be as thorough as possible
But the reality is
That we're going through the gospel
And many times they're answering everything correctly
And then you get toward the end of the follow up questions
And it's like
They're completely wrong
It's like you know you've explained everything
It's like what do you have to do to be saved
Just believe
How many times do you have to get saved
Or how many times do you have to believe
Just one time
How long is salvation
Forever
Then you ask them questions at the end
They're like
Well you've got to at least try to live a good life
And it's like they still don't believe it
And they understood what you were saying
But they didn't actually believe that inside of their hearts
Right
So you don't necessarily know 100% for sure
So a very thorough way is to actually go through it
And try to get them to call on the Lord at the end
Now here's the thing
What I'm saying is this
When we're preaching the gospel
I do believe there's people that we talk to
That during the conversation
Before we even try to get them to pray
They have already prayed inside their hearts
Same
That does happen
Once again
I can't see their heart
Right
I mean Eli looks at Hannah
And it's just like
He has no idea she's speaking inside her heart
Right
You're going through it
It doesn't necessarily mean that you know whether they believe it or not
The truth is
You can call in your heart
We already saw that with Hannah
You can speak inside your heart
And if somebody fully understands and believes it
That's a natural reaction that's going to take place
Like somebody drowning in water
But you know many times we get to the end
They're still thinking about it
And then they really tie it up right at the end
Now what percentage of people do we talk to
That call upon the Lord
That fully believe while we're talking to them
I have no idea
Right
What I do know is that the way we really know for sure
Or have a good idea
Is we explain in depth
And we try to get them at the end to call upon the Lord
If they say it's just by Jesus
It's forever
You cannot lose it
And if they say they believe that
And then they pray
We're going to assume that they're telling the truth
Now are there people we talk to
That pray but didn't actually get it
I'm sure
There are going to be people you talk to
That either were being dishonest to you
For whatever reason
Or they were still confused
Right
But
It's the most thorough way
And it's the way that we see from Paul the Apostle
Now it is possible for someone to call upon the Lord
Before the end of the conversation
I have not had this happen often
But it's happened a few times
Where I get to the end
And I show them Romans 10 verse 13
And I explain if you believe this
You can call right now
Because once again I don't see their heart
I've had a couple times where somebody told me
I just got saved
Like one minute ago
When you explain that
I asked Jesus to save me already
And they did it inside their heart
Now once again
I have no way of knowing that
Is that possible
Well yes it is possible
Now here's the thing
Those same people were willing to pray out loud
Right after that
So I mean it's like
They're not going to be embarrassed to call
And say they believe in Jesus and everything
So here's what I'm saying
It is possible for people to get saved
Before we even get to the part about Romans 10
Because inside their heart
They might have already made that decision
Here's the thing though
We don't see their hearts
And so God has a formula
For us to figure out it
And here's the thing
We convince them to believe
And if they really believe
They're not in general
Going to reject calling upon the Lord
Every once in a while
They might be embarrassed to call
Because they might have friends around
Maybe you know
They have family around
They don't want to admit it audibly
Or maybe you're talking to a couple Muslims
And they don't want to admit publicly
Like one of them maybe is changing his mind
But he's thinking
Why believe this
But if my friend doesn't believe it
He'll tell my parents
That I prayed you know
To Jesus
And I got saved
And then I could you know
Be in trouble right
So I'm sure that happens sometimes
In general you talk to people
One on one or one on two or whatever
They believe that they're generally
Not shy to call upon the Lord
But sometimes you might talk to someone
Who does believe
And maybe they just do it inside their heart
And yeah you know what
They'd be saved
But once again
We don't see the heart
Okay
So go back to Psalm 31
Psalm 31
But what the Bible says
Is if somebody believes
If you know what the gift is
And who's giving it
You know what
You would have asked for the living water
That's what the Bible says
What that tells us
Is that if you get to the end
And then they don't want to pray
Why it's probably because they don't understand
Either who Jesus is
Or what that gift is
They probably still have questions
Because when I get to the end
And then they don't want to pray
I usually you know
And I'm just telling you
What my strategy is
You know what
Usually what I do
Is I sort of back away
And I don't
I don't necessarily try to get them to say the words
I'll say something like
You know
Are you confused about anything I said
Is there any part you're not sure about
Because I don't want to get them to repeat the words
If they're still not sure about something
The fact that they didn't want to pray
It probably indicates
There's something they're not sure about
And then many times they'll tell me
Yeah you know I'm just not sure
You know I see what you're saying
But I've always heard
You got to keep the commandments
And it's like
Would you want me to show you more verses
And sometimes they do
Usually they say
Well let me just think about it
They're just not ready
You know what
And that's okay
Because I don't want somebody saying the words
That doesn't quite believe
They're not quite sure yet
They've got to make that decision
If they believe or not
Okay
What I'm saying is this
If we want to be thorough
Then we should get people to call upon the Lord
At the very end
That's what Paul the Apostle did
Now if you never try to get people to pray
You would still get people saved
Because if you can get them to change their minds
Then you know what
They put their belief on Jesus
But the reality is
Many people are not sure
About what they believe
Until the very end
And that's how you wrap up the conversation
And then it's just like
They're making a decision
And many people
Right up to Romans 10 verse 13
They're hearing all of these things
And they're like
Yeah you know it makes sense
What you're saying
But they're still deciding
In their heart if they believe it
Because the gospel presentation
Is very convincing
I mean
You can't poke any holes in it
It makes perfect sense
Right
I mean if hell is the second death
If hell is death
And it says right now
Half everlasting life
Well that indicates
That you're never going to go to hell
Because it's everlasting
And you receive it now
And people understand that
When you explain it
But it doesn't mean they believe that
They can't argue against it
They see what
That's what the bible says
Inside their heart though
It doesn't necessarily mean
They've made that decision
Yet they still might be
Thinking about it
And so
The best way to do is
Go through to the very end
Because you give them a chance
To think about it
You ask the follow up questions
Do you believe this
And many times
When you're asking
Those follow up questions
They're still deciding
On what they believe
I mean people answer
Everything right
And then you ask them
About murder
And then they're like
Oh you'd go to hell
Right
Or then you know
They get murder rights
And then you ask
About suicide
And many times
Their response is
Well that's a sin
And I'm like
Well you know
There's a lot of things
That are sins right
It's like
Lying's a sin
Stealing's a sin
But that's a sin
It's like yeah
There's a lot of sins
Right
We sin every single day
But they just heard that
So often
So it still has not clicked yet
So you're asking
Toward the end
And then you're making sure
They get everything
And then once they believe it
And they're answering it
Correctly
We trust their word
If there doesn't seem
To be any hesitation
We say
Well let me show you
Romans 10
Would you like to call
Upon the Lord
To save you right now
Now as I said
It is possible
Some of them inside
Of their heart
Have already called
Upon the Lord
Once again
I do not see
Their heart though
We don't see
Their heart
What I do know
Is that if they really
Believe it
You know what
They're gonna be willing
To call upon the Lord
If they believe it
Because if you believe
You're gonna ask
For that living water
Psalm 31
It's always a controversial thing
When you preach this
Because you know
People say different things
About this
And people have a lot of
Questions about it
But you know what
We focus on the belief
Because that's what you see
In the bible
But you also cannot negate
The fact that the bible
Does mention
Calling upon the Lord
Now here's the thing
If you believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ
You're gonna be saved
Because every single person
Who believes
Is gonna be in heaven
They're not gonna be ashamed
Because you put your trust
On Jesus
You're gonna go to heaven
Right
And every single person
Who believes
Is gonna go to heaven
There's no question
About that
Okay
If you tell me though
That you believe
On Jesus
And you've
Never asked Jesus
To save you
I'd be like
That's strange
Right
That's weird
Right
Because when I heard
The gospel
I don't even know
If the person who gave me
The gospel
It's been so long
Since I heard it
I don't even know
If he told me
I should ask Jesus
To save me
Because honestly
I'm losing this argument
Right
I don't know what to
And so
I went home though
And I don't even think
He mentioned
Just naturally though
I just went down on my knees
I believed it
And I just asked Jesus
To save me
I don't even think
He mentioned it to me
Now that's not
The most thorough way
To preach the gospel
In a normal conversation
We should try to
You know
Compel them
To call upon the Lord
If they believe
I'm just saying
That if you really believe
Then a person
Is gonna call
That's what the Bible says
There's not gonna be
But then just didn't call
And ended up in hell
Because anyone who believes
Is gonna go to heaven
Okay
Now
Psalm 31 verse 2
The Bible says this
Bow down thine ear to me
Deliver me speedily
Be thou my strong rock
For an house of defense
To save me
Okay
Now a couple things
He mentions here
He mentions
Be thou my strong rock
And he says
For an house of defense
So he says rock
And he says defense
Go to
Matthew 7
He said strong rock
And house of defense
And it brings to mind
The end of the
Sermon on the mountain
In Matthew 7
Now just to double check
It is around 1215
Right now
Right
Because last week
It was like
Oh it's 1215
I still got 30 minutes left
And it was already
115
Just double checking
And so
Matthew 7
Verse 24
This is the first
Just double checking
And so
Matthew 7
Verse 24
This is at
The conclusion of
The Sermon on the mountain
It says in verse 24
Therefore whosoever heareth
These sayings of mine
And doeth them
I will liken him unto
A wise man
Which built his house
Upon a rock
Remember it said
The Lord is
Our house of defense
Our strong rock
Here it says
Building your house
Upon a rock
And the rain descended
And the floods came
And the winds blew
And beat upon that house
And it fell not
For it was founded
Upon a rock
And every one
That heareth
These sayings of mine
And doeth them not
Shall be liken unto
A foolish man
Which built his house
Upon the sand
And the rain descended
And the floods came
And the winds blew
And beat upon that house
And it fell
And great was the fall of it
So the Bible says
That if you're putting
Your trust in the Lord
You're basically setting
Your house upon a rock
And the Lord is
Our strong rock
And our house of defense
The indication is
When the storm comes
You're gonna last
Through the storm
If you don't build
Your house upon the rock though
You're gonna fall
When the storm comes
Okay
Now here's the thing
What it likens it to
Is hearing the words of God
And doing them
Right
Okay
And when it comes to
Hearing the words of God
And doing them
It is not good enough
Just to hear the words of God
You have to actually do it
Right
You come to a church like ours
And this is a church
I think everybody would agree
You hear the word of God preached
You hear a lot of verses
You hear the explanation
Right
I don't have a lot of stories
Maybe I'm not the funniest joke teller
Whatever that's preaching
But I show the word of God
And I teach it
Right
It's not good enough
Just to hear it though
You can hear it all day long
If you don't do it
It means nothing
And you know
Here's the reality
If you're gonna come to a church
Where you hear the word of God
But not do it
My advice would be
To quit coming to our church
You say why
Well God holds you accountable
For what you hear
Right
I mean if you have two kids
And you tell one of your kids
Hey clean up the mess
You know what
You expect that child to do it
If the other child does not hear
Well you would like them
To clean it up anyway
But you know what
You're more merciful
Because you didn't directly
Ask them to do it
Right
It's the same thing with God
If you hear the word of God
The word of God is preached
Then you know what
If you hear the word of God
The word of God is preached
Then you know what
God expects you to actually do it
And what the Bible is showing you
Is this
If you build your house
Your spiritual life
Upon a rock
It's gonna last in the storm
If you don't
You're gonna fade
Now go back to Psalm 31
Psalm 31
Psalm chapter 31
And it says in Psalm 31 verse 3
Psalm 31 verse 3
For thou art my rock and my fortress
Therefore for the name sake
Lead me and guide me
Now what is a fortress?
A fortress is a large
And permanent fortification
Sometimes including a town
And the indication is this
When you're putting your trust
In the Lord
He's a fortress
He's unmovable
Okay
Now the difference between this
And the things you hear in the world
Is the things you hear in the world change
Right
Things change
I mean if you're putting your trust
In the Lord
And doing what he says
It's immovable
God doesn't change
Right
But the world does change
See you build your house upon the rock
And you say these are my beliefs
Because thus saith the Lord
As long as you're trusting in what God says
You stand still at the same place
If you're putting your trust in other things though
It's gonna be shifting
When there's various things in this world
All you have to do is look at this world today
And see that it's a lot different than 20 years ago
In the Philippines
Right
It's a lot different than when many people
Were kids growing up in the Philippines
Right
The world is changing very quickly
But you know God's word has not changed at all
Hasn't changed one bit
And here's the thing
You say well brother Saki
You know it's all relative
If the world changes
You have to take the Bible and change it
To meet the culture
Well that's not what the word of God says
Right
God's word and God's advice works
Whether we're here in 2021
In a very wicked country
Where the LGBT is running rampant
Or whether it's 1991
Where it's like
There is no LGBT
You got Mount Pinatubo in 1991
Right
It's like 1991 you got Mount Pinatubo
2021 you got a much bigger problem
The LGBT
Right
Verse 4
Pull me out of the net that they have laid
Privately for me
For thou art my strength
So it says in verse number 4
That people would put a net out
And they laid it privately
Or quietly
Or privately
Now
Why would you put a net out
Well you put a net out to catch something
Right
It's like you're trying to catch fish or something
You know
You see that in the Bible
They have a large net
To catch a lot of fish
Or you know
You might have like a mouse trap
Or something like that
You put a net out
And if you're trying to catch a mouse
You do it very quietly
You try to shrink the mouse
You know
Move the trap around
From day to day
So they get confused or whatever
And catch that mouse
Well the Bible is saying
Evil people will do this to you
They will basically pull the net out
To catch you
But they do it privately
They do it quietly
Meaning you're not aware of it
And the reality is
That if you're serving God
There can be bad people
That are trying to catch you
In a trap
You say
Well why would they do that
Because they're bad people
That's the reason why
And here's the thing
If they're doing it quietly
You know what
There's a good chance
You're not aware of it
Right
You throw that net out
Privately
It's just that
Privately
It's just like
You're doing that to an animal
And you know what
They're not aware of it
And then you catch them
Well that's what
Bad people would do to us as well
They'd throw out the net privately
You know
Doesn't the Bible talk about people
That would try to catch Jesus
In his words
Right
Catching a net
Things like that
This is something that actually happens
It says in verse 5
Into thine hand
I commit my spirit
Thou ist redeem me
O Lord God of truth
I have hated them
That regard lying vanities
But I trust in the Lord
I will be glad
And rejoice in thy mercy
For thou ist considered my trouble
Thou hast known my soul
In adversities
And what the psalmist is describing here
Is that when he was going through trials
The Lord knew his soul
The Lord remembered him
He's saying
Well what's the significance
Well go to Job 42
Job 42
Right before the book of Psalms
Job 42
Last chapter
In your life
You know what
People might choose
To just back away from you
People that are your friends
Or your family
And when you go through hard times
They're not there for you
Right
This happens
I know that my wife's told me before
That with you know
Her family
Her parents are very generous
And there's been a lot of relatives
They've helped out before
But when their family
Went into rough times
It's like those relatives
They helped
It's just like
Not there to help
Right
And unfortunately
This is reality sometimes
That you can be a very generous person
But then when you need help
Many people
You find out
Oh maybe they were just using you
Right
Maybe they didn't actually care
What happens in this world
It says here in Psalm 31
Or Job 42 verse 10
Job 42 verse 10
And I'm assuming
Most of you are familiar with this story
Obviously Job lost everything
He lost all of his kids
You know
He lost his money
He lost everything
Just instantaneously
Job 42 verse 10
And the Lord turned the captivity of Job
When he prayed for his friends
Also the Lord gave Job
Twice as much as he had before
And all his sisters
And all they that had been
Of his acquaintance before
And did eat bread with him in his house
And they bemoaned him
And comforted him
Over all the evil
That the Lord had brought upon him
Every man also gave him
A piece of money
And everyone an earring of gold
So now all of a sudden
That things are going well for Job
All of a sudden
The family come back
All of a sudden
The friends and the acquaintances
Come back
It's like
Man I've been praying for you Job
I've been thinking about you
I know things have been going bad
I've been really sorry for you
And it's just like
Well they weren't there
When he needed the help
The only people that were there
Didn't end up turning out
To be that great of friends anyway
Right
But unfortunately
This is reality
That when you go through trials
Sometimes people will desert you
Sometimes they'll say
Well you know
We're just
And you know
Why would they do that
Well there's a couple different reasons
One thing might be
They're thinking
Man if Job has all this bad stuff
Happening to him
And I'm friends with Job
Then maybe God will get mad at me
And the same thing will happen to me
Or maybe some of them
Are a little bit too superstitious
And they're just like
I don't want the bad luck
To be passed on to me
Or something like that
And then others of them
Maybe they were just friends with Job
Because he's powerful
And then when he doesn't
Isn't doing well
They're not
The Bible says that
The poor person has many friends
But the poor does not
Right
And so
Those that were his acquaintance
Before they come back
But see here's the thing
When you're trusting in God
God does not desert you
Right
Man may desert you
Man will let you down
Your friends will let you down
Your families will let you down
People at this church will let you down
I will let you down sometimes
I will mess up
The Lord will not desert you though
Right
And you're going to feel like
You're deserted
When you're like Joseph
And you're going through all these trials
But the reality is
God is not deserting you
If you're serving Him
Now of course you're saved forever
Once you have eternal life
But if you're living for God
God's blessing is upon you
And even if you're going through trials
God is not deserting you
If you're serving God
Now
Turn back to Psalm 31
Psalm 31
Psalm chapter 31
And it says in Psalm 31 verse 8
Psalm 31 verse 8
It says
It has not shut me up into the hand of the enemy
Have mercy upon me O Lord
For I am in trouble
Mine eye is consumed with grief
Yea my soul and my belly
And he mentions being in trouble here
And your first reaction might be
That he's talking about all the enemies
That want to destroy you
But I don't really think that's the context
Because what he's going to talk about in the next verse
And what he's going to describe here
With the symbolism of his eye
And his soul in his belly
He talks about his iniquity
And he talks about his sin
And he's basically saying that he needs mercy from God
Because he knows he's a sinful person
He's done wrong
And he needs God's mercy
He needs God's blessing
What he said is
Mine eye is consumed with grief
Yea my soul and my belly
Well go to Ecclesiastes chapter 1
Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes chapter 1
And he says his eye is consumed with grief
Now notice what it says
In Ecclesiastes 1 verse 8
Ecclesiastes 1 verse 8
All things are full of labor
Man cannot utter it
The eye is not satisfied with seeing
Nor the ear filled with hearing
Now there's many applications for this verse
But one application is this
That your eyes are never going to be satisfied
With the things they see
You say brother Stuckey
Just one last movie I want to watch
I know I shouldn't be watching these movies
But there's just this one last movie
I mean Batman 17
It's like I saw the first 16
I can't miss Batman number 17
Or whatever is out there
Indiana Jones 7
I know Harrison Ford is like 100 years old
But I've got to watch this
Or whatever
But your eyes are never going to be satisfied
We have this idea
Just a little bit more we're going to be okay
But it just causes you to want more
It talks about your soul and your belly
And the Bible is going to describe the belly as an example
And it comes to mind with eating and dieting
And things like that
You think man I'm just going to eat one more cookie
And one more cookie turns into
Ten more cookies
Isn't that how it works?
In America the big commercial with potato chips
I bet you can't eat just one
And you know what they're right
You have this idea I'm just going to eat one
I'm just going to eat two
But before you know it you've eaten the entire bag of chips
Right? Or you've got a dessert and you're like
I just got to round off the edges
Make sure it's even and everything
But then you're like oh wow I've got to just do a little bit more
Before you know it you ate like 4,000 calories of sugar or whatever
Right? That's the way it works
Well it's the same thing with our eye
Right? Your eye is never going to be satisfied
You say brother Stuckey you know I just
I know that listening to this music is wrong
But it's just a little bit of music I listen to
And I'll be satisfied with just 15 minutes
No you won't
Because the ear is not satisfied with hearing
The ear is not filled with hearing
It's going to want more and more and more and more
What you have to do is starve off your flesh
I mean think about somebody who is smoking cigarettes
I've never smoked a cigarette
I don't know what an addiction to cigarettes is like
Obviously we've all had various addictions
Of things that we're trying to stop
Or things that we have trouble stopping or whatever
But you know if you want to get rid of an addiction to cigarettes
Well here's the thing
If you stop smoking cigarettes over time
Your desire for it is going to start to die off
Because you haven't had it
Right? I mean I'm somebody who goes on
I go on a lot of diets
I go on a lot of just different extreme diets
Cutting out sugar various times during the year and stuff
And you know when I start a diet
And I cut off sugar
It's like you really want it the first day or two
Right? That cobra is always calling me
Right? The cobra energy drink
Right? But then after like
4 or 5 or 6 days
All of a sudden your desire
Just starts to die off for it
And you know this is true with just
Various things that you desire after
But it's also true with sins
What you have to do is starve off the flesh
And if you're going to win in the battle of the flesh
The secret is to starve off the flesh
Starve off your appetite for doing wrong
Now I'm not saying it's going to be perfect
And you're never going to have any desire whatsoever
But look
Listening to bad music in your life
At some point or another
You threw out the bad music
And here's the thing
I'm sure you desire it less now
Than when you first quit
When I threw out all of my CDs a long time ago
Whenever I heard Aerosmith on the radio
Or at the gym or whatever
It's just like
Man my flesh desired to hear that music
But I can say now if I heard Aerosmith
I wouldn't feel a desire to listen to it
Because it's been more than 15 years
Right? It eventually just kind of dies off
That's the way it works out
And so
Let's see where are we at in the Bible right now?
We're at Ecclesiastes
Well look at Ecclesiastes 2 verse 8
Ecclesiastes 2 verse 8
And it says in Ecclesiastes 2 verse 8
I gathered me also silver and gold
And the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces
I got me men singers and women singers
And the delights of the sons of men
As musical instruments and that of all sorts
So I was great and increased more than all
That were before me in Jerusalem
Also my wisdom remained with me
And whatsoever my eyes desired
I kept not from them
You say what's the problem with letting your eyes
See whatever they want?
Well then it says this
I withheld not my heart from any joy
See what takes place is when you allow stuff
To enter into your eyes and your ears
It enters into your heart
You say I'm just gonna watch this for 20 minutes
But the problem is it then enters into your heart
And you're gonna want it even more
And so the next day
Your desire is gonna be a little bit stronger for it
The only way to win this battle is to just starve off the flesh
You gotta just make sure you just cut it out from your life
Cause otherwise that desire is gonna remain there
It's gonna enter into your heart
Then it says in verse 11
Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought
And on the labor that I had labored to do
And behold all was vanity
And vexation of spirit
And there was no profit under the sun
What he's gonna describe in Ecclesiastes
Is the fact that he hates his life
He's miserable
Right? Isn't that kind of the theme of Ecclesiastes?
You've got a man who has everything in life
And he's not happy
Right?
I mean it's just like he has everything that the eye could want
I mean he mentions all these things
Like peacocks and all these things
And today it's just like
We'll just go on YouTube and see a peacock or whatever
Right?
But back then you know these things you didn't necessarily have access to them
And he bought everything the eye could possibly want
Everything the ear could want
And you would think that would make you happy
It doesn't make you happy though
Right?
Because it's gonna fill you full of grief
When you're doing something that's wrong and you're not serving God
Okay?
Now
Go to
Go to Psalm 31 real quickly
Psalm 31 real quickly
And look it's kind of a silly example
But there's a reason why the Bible mentions the belly several times
But you know it's generally true with junk food too
Right?
It tastes real good when you eat it
And then often times you regret it
You know like 20 minutes later like it wasn't worth it
Right?
Now I don't have a perfect diet
I go in a lot of extreme diets
But I'm not standing up here
I just talked about cobra a couple minutes ago
I'm not standing up here saying I have a perfect diet
Okay?
I'm just stating though that that's reality
That often times you know you eat something that's not good for you
And here's the thing I mean eating something very healthy
Is not necessarily more tasty when you eat it
But then you know
You end up being glad you did it most of the time
Right?
When I eat junk food
I wake up the next day and I'm tired
I'm exhausted
I can't focus
My mind's not
Because it's not good for you
We're like a machine that needs certain things to operate
Right?
And when you don't put in the right things that's what's gonna happen
Now I'm not saying it's a sin to eat junk food
Okay?
So don't misquote me or anything
I'm just saying you know that's an analogy the Bible gives
And it's a good one because
All of us probably eat junk food from time to time
And then you know it's really good when you eat it
But then you often times end up regretting it
But it's also very hard to stop eating it
Right?
It's easy to stand up here and say
I wanna get in shape I'm just not gonna eat
In 2022
I'm just not gonna eat sugar anymore
Very easy to say
Very hard to do
Extremely hard to do
And once you break the diet you end up going right back into it
You know when I was in college
I went one time like 40 days without sugar
The only sugar I had was like from an apple
Or from a banana
But basically no junk food for 40 days
And the only sugar I had was I had basically like
You know two fruits a day
Other than that it was like vegetables
Often times raw vegetables, lean meat
I was trying to get in shape
And I went to my friends you know
He was having a get together kind of a party
And he wanted people to come over
And he had cookies there
I told him I'm on this diet
I really don't wanna eat one and everything
And he was really you know like
No no you gotta eat one
And I didn't wanna be disrespectful
And I do think I made the right choice
Cause you don't wanna be rude you know
But it's like once I ate that one cookie
It's like the diet was gone the next day
I intended to keep the diet
I was trying to stay in shape but it was gone
It's like 40 days of hard work
Back to square one
But that's the way it works right
Now Psalm 31 verse 10
Psalm 31 verse 10
And he said mine eye is consumed with grief
Yea my soul and my belly
And then he says in Psalm 31 verse 10
For my life is spent with grief
Grief or sadness, depression
In my years with sighing
My strength faileth
Why?
Because of mine iniquity
And my bones are consumed
You see you can have many enemies
That wanna destroy you
But that doesn't make you miserable
What makes you miserable is when you sin
What makes you miserable is when you do wrong
Now of course we all sin
We all do wrong
And look I can
And here's the truth
If you're trying to really serve God
Then when you do mess up
It's really gonna feel bad
Right you're getting close to God
And you're doing good things
And then you really mess up
You feel miserable
Right
And the Bible says
My strength faileth
Because of mine iniquity
Look think of like working out
You know you're doing bench press
And you do one rep
And two reps
And three reps
And then you get to the fourth rep
And then you're pushing
You're pushing
And then you got your workout partner
That will kinda help lift the bar
You know to get the bar up
Because you've run out of strength
Right
You can only do it so many times
Well it's the same thing spiritually
You cannot just sin and sin and sin
And then serve God zealously
It doesn't work that way
Your strength is zapped
When you do wrong
Look when you're committing sin
You don't feel like reading the Bible
Isn't that true
When you're committing sin
You don't feel like going to church
You don't feel like you know
Going soul winning
Because your strength is gone
When you're committing sin
That's the way it works
Just as somebody working out
Runs out of strength
And then they don't have the power
To lift anymore
You work out and you get tired
Right
You do repetitions of something
You get to 19
You get to 20
And then you gotta stop
You gotta take a break
You're too tired to do more
Right
It's the same thing spiritually
And it's sin that doesn't
Now go to John 13
John 13
What makes a safe person miserable
What makes a safe person miserable is sinning
It's not that complicated
It seems too simple
You would think
Brother Stuckey
How could you be happy
If you know you don't have things
That other people have
Well the Bible says
What makes you miserable
Solomon had everything
And he was miserable
You say why
Because he gave himself
The wine and wisdom
That's not a good combination
Right
He basically gratified
And look some of the things
Solomon did were not sinful
But many things he did were sinful
And he basically said
I'm gonna test everything
And he's miserable
And he had everything
Life had to offer
You say
Brother Stuckey
What about if you don't have anything
Can you be happy
Well you're in John 13
But remember
Paul said that in whatsoever state he was
He had learned to be content
Whether he was abounding
Or whether he didn't have much
And what Paul was basically expressing is
Hey whether I'm eating a really nice meal
Somebody buys me a steak or whatever
I go to a nice restaurant
Or whether or not I'm eating just
The most basic thing
Right
I can still be happy
I learned to be content
Now it might be something you have to learn
It might not be something that comes naturally
But the Bible says you can do it
But see what really makes you happy
Is found in John 13 verse 17
If ye know these things
Happy are ye
If ye do them
Right
If ye know these things
Happy are ye
If ye do them
Well what if you don't do them
Well you're gonna be miserable
Right
You're better off not knowing
If you're not gonna do it
Right
But what makes you happy is just doing right
I mean
I'm sure everyone in this room could attest to this
That when you're reading the Bible
And you're meditating upon God
And you're going soul winning
You're in a good mood
Things are going well in your life
Now it doesn't mean you don't have trials
It doesn't mean that you never have a depressing time
But when you're serving God
You can be happy even if things are not the best in your life
Right
That's reality
I mean I remember sometimes I've had my life where I was really happy
I remember after I had you know surgery on my knee
When I tore my ACL playing soccer
And you know it takes a long time to recover
But I remember when I was first going soul winning again
And going without soul winning for a couple months is miserable
It's terrible
Right and I really didn't have a choice
Because I couldn't go after I tore my ACL
But once I could finally do it again
I was going around on crutches
Going soul winning
Well I would have liked my knee to be in better shape
I wish I was fully recovered at that time
But I was happy because I was serving God
Right
And when you're doing what's right
You can be happy even if you have the worst circumstances
That's the secret to happiness in the Christian life
Now go back to Psalm 31
We'll have to quickly finish up
Psalm 31
But the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak
Right
I mean we know this
You're in this room right now
And you know that's true
That when you're serving God it makes you happy
But unfortunately when temptations come
We don't always react like Jesus does
And just do right all the time
Sometimes we give in
Sometimes we do wrong
And then you regret it
Then you're miserable
Right
Notice what it says in Psalm 31 verse 11
I was a reproach among all mine enemies
But especially among my neighbors
And a fear to mine acquaintance
And they that did see me without fled for me
I am forgotten as a dead man out of mine
I am like a broken vessel
For I have heard the slander of many
Fear was on every side
While they took counsel together against me
They devised to take away my life
So here he is expressing the fact
That there are people that want to destroy him
And he says the slander of many
And these are things that are being done quietly
Like the net is being spread
So what we're seeing is
The psalmist is saying
I'm hearing about people that want to destroy my life
Because when you say things
It eventually gets back to that person
Right
Now I don't have the exact experience of King David
Because he had a lot of enemies
When he was doing right
I mean
King Saul was trying to kill him
Over and over and stuff like that
But I did have one time at a job
Where there was this coworker I had
Who was a homosexual
Okay
I never said a single word to him
Ever
I mean I've never said a single word to him in my life
He never said a single word to me
Right
But apparently he found out
The things that I believe
Now
When I go to work
I don't go around and just tell everybody
What I believe about every doctrine
Because I'm being paid to work
And you're going to get yourself in trouble
If people know everything you believe
Right
But somehow he found out what I believed
And I had a couple of coworkers that warned me
That he said he was going to wait outside for me
With a baseball bat
And he was going to bash my head in
Right when I came out
Right
And they warned me
He didn't give an exact date
But he just said
You know that one of these times
When I walk out of the store
What a loving person
The L in LGBT stands for love
Right
Love
And gladness
LGBT
I don't know
But it's just like
Oh what a loving person he was
And then he's telling people
That he's going to bash my head in with a baseball bat
I never even said a word to this guy
Now apparently he knew what I believed about homosexuals
But it's just like
What a loving person
Right
He's revealing what's actually inside of his heart
But what I'm saying is this
If you're serving God
People that hate God are going to hate you
If they know what you believe
Right
Now I had another coworker at my job in Maryland
And I don't know if this person was a reprobate
You know I wouldn't say that
Because I don't have any evidence about that
But they really hated the fact
That I read my Bible during my lunch break
And I had my little cubicle that I worked at
So it's closed on three sides
And all I'm doing is I'd have lunch
I'd eat it at my desk
And I'd read my Bible
And I never talked about my beliefs
And I heard from people that they were talking to management
Saying that Bibles should be banned from work
And they were requesting
That I was not allowed to read my Bible
And they said that I should be fired
It's like
And this is also something
I don't think I ever said anything to this person
And it's like what in the world did I do
And just other people told me about that
Just because I was reading my Bible
The reality is when people know what you believe
Sometimes they're going to get angry
Because the word of God is divisive
The word of God is powerful
And it makes people mad that don't like the words of God
That's just the reality
And as we said before
You know what I'm for peace
But when I speak they are for war
It's like we're not even trying to get involved in battles
I'm just trying to read my Bible during my lunch break
It's like well that person should be fired
It's like they shouldn't be allowed to read a book like that
That people disagree with that's controversial
But you know there are countries in this world
Where it would be illegal to read a Bible
Right I mean that's reality in communist countries
Fortunately it's not like that right now
But you never know what will happen one day
Right that's the world we live in
Verse 14
But I trusted in thee O Lord I said thou art my God
My times are in thy hand
Deliver me from the hand of mine enemies
And from them that persecute me
When he says my times are in thy hand
What he's saying is
If I'm serving you and doing right
Basically my life is in your hand
Where if I'm serving you and you choose to allow me to live
And serve you my whole life
Then I know that I'm going to be perfectly fine
And what he's saying is
If I'm serving you and your blessing is upon me
The only way something bad would happen to me
Is if God allowed it to happen for whatever reason
Now of course that happens because there's martyrs in the Bible
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said
We believe our God is going to deliver us
But if not if he chooses not to we're still not going to sin
We're still not going to bow down to a false idol
Right
It is possible to be martyred
And look just because somebody passes away at a young age
Or something tragically happens
It doesn't mean they did something wrong
We shouldn't try to judge other people
But the reality is if something bad does happen to me
Obviously God allowed it to happen if I'm serving him and doing right
Our times are in the hand of God
It says in verse 16
Make thy faces shine upon thy servant
Save me for thy mercy's sake
Let me not be ashamed, O Lord, for I have called upon thee
Let the wicked be ashamed and let them be silent in the grave
And that's a good prayer
Let bad people die and go to hell
Is basically what he's saying
Right
Now we're not just saying people that sin or do wrong
Your average, unsafe person or someone you might argue with
But people that are bad people
It's like let them die and go to hell
People that are reprobates
Let them be ashamed
Let the lying lips be put to silence
Which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous
O how great is thy goodness
Which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee
And so what the Bible says is
God has goodness for us if we fear him
If we're doing what's right
The Bible says, you don't have to turn there
But do not my words do good
To him that walketh uprightly
And if you're walking uprightly
God's words do you good
If you're not walking uprightly
They don't do you good
That's the way it works
Psalm 31, the rest of verse 19
Which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men
Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man
Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues
Blessed be the Lord for he hath showed me his marvelous kindness in a strong city
For I said in my haste I am cut off from before thine eyes
Nevertheless thou hearst the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee
What he's saying in verse 22 when he says I am cut off
Is, you know, in his haste
Which means something that's happening very quickly
He basically feels like he's going to be destroyed
And when you have enemies you might feel that way
Maybe your faith is, you know, a little bit less
It wanes from time to time
And I think all of us have been like that before
Where we've had times where we're really doing right
And we have confidence and boldness
But then sometimes our faith kind of dies a little bit
We get scared, we get nervous or whatever
Then it says in verse 23
O love the Lord all ye saints
For the Lord preserveth the faithful and plentifully rewardeth a proud doer
Be of good courage and ye shall strengthen your heart
All ye that hope in the Lord
So basically the theme of this chapter is
Let me never be ashamed
And look if you're putting your trust in God for your life
Not just to protect you but you're trusting his words
And doing what he says
Do not God's words do good to those that walk uprightly
If we're putting our trust in him
We will not be ashamed or let down
Let's close in a word of prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today
And getting to see your word in this topic
And help us to not just hear these words
But actually use them and apply them to our lives, God
Help us to have confidence and walk by faith
We pray this in Jesus' name, amen
Amen.
Page number 118
Say it one more time.
Thanks for watching!