All right, we're here in Psalm chapter 42, and the name of the sermon is The Result of
Being Out of Church.
The Result of Being Out of Church.
Now I want you to look at verse number four first, because I just want to show to you
the context of this entire chapter is centered around the concept of being in the house of
God.
And it mentions it in only one verse, but the first couple of verses you wouldn't realize
that.
And then verse four really kind of lets us know.
And it says this in verse four, when I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me, for
I had gone with a multitude.
I went with them to the house of God with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude
that kept the holy day.
And in this verse it says, I had gone, which is past tense.
And so basically he's in a situation of not being in church in this chapter, and he's
looking backward at when he had gone to the house of God with other people.
And you're seeing a man that's very depressed in this chapter.
Now I don't think it's his fault that he's out of church, but when it comes to us in
our personal lives, what we can take away is that when we're out of church, what is
the result?
And you're going to see in this chapter.
So point number one is a burden for church, a burden for church.
Notice what it says in verse one.
And remember, this is a man that is out of church, but he wants to be in church.
It says in verse one, as the heart paneth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul
after thee, O God.
And so just as a deer would just be basically obsessed with getting water if it's thirsty
for its survival, we ought to have the same attitude of being in God's house, where it's
basically like, you know, and for us, obviously our church on the weekends is on Saturday,
not on Sunday, but it should be like, all right, Saturday morning, it's like, when can
we leave?
I want to get to church, right?
I want to be around God's people.
Well, you know, if you're really thirsty, you're just like, let me have water, right?
I mean, one of the biggest requests my kids have, maybe the biggest one is, daddy, can
I have some water?
Right?
Both of my kids, you know, they'll ask that question, I mean, because that is something
for our survival.
But I was saying, and it's going to be the same for an animal.
And just like a deer, a heart would be needing to get water and panting and searching after
water for survival, for us, it should be the same way with being in God's house.
It ought to be something that's a priority.
It ought to be something that we care about.
It ought to be something that we feel like I cannot live without it.
Right?
I mean, just imagine if your life had no church in it.
I can't really imagine what my life would be because my life is centered around church.
And of course, it's centered around God, but here's the thing, if you're going to be close
to God, you need to be involved in a local church.
Because your life is basically centered around the house of God.
And you know, that's what the Bible says it should be just as a heart, pants after water.
I want water.
We ought to be the same way for being in God's house.
Verse two, my soul thirsted for God.
He is, my soul thirsts for the God for the living God.
So notice what he says for the living God.
Now turn to 1 Timothy chapter three, 1 Timothy chapter three.
Now I mean, here's the thing, I mean, David could have gone to other places.
I mean, there's a lot of temples out there, right, I mean, there's lots of religions.
There's a lots of people doing something spiritual, whether it's good or bad, but actually
being in the house of God, that's actually a rare thing, right, I mean, because you could
drive along and say, hey, I'll just stop at the next Baptist church I see.
Unfortunately, not all Baptist churches are the same.
I'll just stop at whatever church I see, oh, INC, Catholic, or right, Hindu, Muslim, but
the thing is, they're not the same.
And so what he's saying is, hey, it's not just that I'm thirsting after something, it's
for the living God.
I want the true living God, I want the true house of God that's serving God, preaching
the truth, going soul winning, that is what I'm thirsting after.
Not just thirsting after something, but actually something real, the house of God.
It says in 1 Timothy chapter three, verse 15,
But if I tell you long that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the
house of God, same terminology from Psalm 42, which is the church of the living God,
the pillar and ground of the truth.
And in today's world, there are a lot of churches.
I mean, the majority of religion in this country is some kind of Christian.
So a lot of churches, right?
But that doesn't mean it's the church of the living God, right?
I mean, in fact, a lot of churches, they don't even believe Jesus is God.
It's like, but Jesus is the head of the church, the church of the living God, okay?
So how do you even call yourself a church when you don't even believe Jesus is a God?
Right, Jehovah's Witness, they don't believe Jesus rose again.
So why, how could you call your church the church of the living God?
Doesn't make any sense, right?
But us that are saved, we understand who the living God is.
And in this room, it's not just that we understand who is the living God and
what salvation is.
It's like we understand correct doctrines, what's right, what's wrong.
A lot of saved people, they don't understand these things.
They haven't been in a church like this.
But for us, we understand this.
And I'm preaching to the people in this room.
And I want to tell you what your life would be like without church.
I mean, you see, David here is like, man, I am panting after,
I'm searching after, I'm thirsting after the church of the living God, right?
Turn your Bible back to Psalm 42, Psalm 42.
And so when he says here, my soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
I mean, the thing that he wants more than anything is just to be in God's house,
be around God's people, hear the preaching, right?
Because here's the thing, you go out in the world and
it's completely different than God's house.
Now there's a lot of churches that aren't that much different.
Here's pretty different though.
And you're in church, you're excited, you're with your friends,
you're fellowshipping.
And then all of a sudden you leave, and then all of a sudden your soul is vexed
by everything you see, everything you hear, by your secular jobs,
those year-round, all the problems, and it gets difficult.
And then it's like, man, I can't wait to get back in church, right?
Just imagine though if you're out of church for a long time.
A perfect example of this is during the days of COVID, right?
Because there wasn't really much we could do.
It's just kind of like we kind of shut down here, church for a while.
Not out of fear of the government or anything, it's just the way it was.
I was up in Manila and it's just kind of like we were out without church for
several months, right?
And it's frustrating.
It's like, man, I just can't wait to be back and just hear the preaching, right?
And that was back in the days,
I mean we were meeting at Heaven's Favor back then, weren't we?
I mean, it's not like that's like the greatest place in the world, right?
It's like an open space, but it's just being around God's people.
It's like it doesn't matter where it is, as long as you're hearing the truth and
you're around God's people and you can go soul winning.
And here's an example of someone who's out of church and it's not his fault,
it just is what it is.
Verse two, my soul thirsted for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
And the way he describes this is that when you go to church,
it's like you're coming and appearing before God.
Now of course we understand that God is everywhere.
But where God is blessing and
where his spirit is resting upon is in the house of God.
And especially in the Old Testament, because in the New Testament you get
saved, you're indwelled with the Holy Spirit of God,
which our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost.
Whereas the terminology in the Old Testament is that God would dwell in
a physical temple.
Whereas in the New Testament, it's like he dwells within inside of us, right?
The Holy Spirit of God.
But the thing is, when you're coming to church, it's like you're coming and
appearing before God, because you know God's spirit is resting upon this place.
You're hearing the word of God.
You're around God's people, right?
And it's like when you're outside of church,
you can kind of justify your actions or whatever.
But then you're around church, it's like you wanna be right with God, and
you feel like, man, you know what, I'm coming before God.
And that's exactly how he describes it in Psalm chapter 42.
Now go to Psalm 84, Psalm 84, Psalm 84.
Now of course, I believe that when you're praying to God, you're coming and
appearing before God.
When you're reading the Bible, you're coming and appearing before God.
But the terminology in Psalm 42 is not about when you read the Bible,
although you could apply that.
It's not about when you're praying to God, although you could make that application.
But the context of this chapter in Psalm 42 is being in the house of God.
Psalm 84 verse 10, For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand.
I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
And he uses the example here, being a doorkeeper in the house of God,
it'd be kind of like the person that's responsible, I would say, to open and
close the door for people.
Which would be considered something that's kind of lowly,
that you would think of, right?
I used to, the first church I went to, I was essentially like a doorkeeper.
Because I had the invitations where when somebody would come,
it's like you'd be at the door as a door greeter, we say.
So they'd come in and you'd greet them, you'd just hand them a bulletin.
That was my job.
Me and one other guy, I was a doorkeeper.
I guess that's what a doorkeeper is, I don't know, something like that.
But it's kind of irresponsible to just basically be there at the front of
the door and you just wait for a while.
And that's not the setup we have here, but
I've been at churches that are like that and I was a doorkeeper.
But here's the thing, and that church was not a good church, but
I just did not know as much at the time.
But here's the thing,
I was happy to be in church just cuz I thought that was the best place to be.
And I said, hey, I'm a doorkeeper, I wasn't upset about it.
And I was happy.
I was like, hey, I get to volunteer, the pastor gave me a responsibility.
I mean, I was happy about it, right?
And the idea is this, that I would rather have the lowliest job or
responsibility at church that people would look down on, people would criticize.
People would not want to have.
Then to basically have everything in life and be rich and
everything the world has to offer.
I'd rather have the lowest job and be a part of God's house than basically be
like the president or ruler or king or whatever in this world.
Go to Hebrews chapter 10, Hebrews 10, Hebrews 10.
And as you're turning there, I'll just read you where the Bible says,
I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord.
Right, I mean, I was glad when they said unto me,
let us go into the house of the Lord.
That ought to be the way that you feel.
When you're coming to church, there ought to be excitement.
You ought to be happy.
I get it, we live busy lives, we live stressful lives, and maybe some weeks or
some services, you're tired, you're exhausted, there's all these problems.
But if you find yourself not enjoying going to church, there's a problem.
Now here's the thing, that problem is one of two things.
It's either a problem with you or a problem with the church.
Now I've been to churches where it's kind of like you're not that excited to go.
Now here's the thing, I'm not trying to lift myself up or this church up, but
at this church, you hear the truth preached, we have soul winning, right?
I mean, it's like it's not a problem with the church.
It's not a perfect church, no church is, but you hear the word of God preached.
You're around people that love God.
You're around a church that goes soul winning.
So it's not a problem with the church.
And so if you find yourself not enjoying going to church week after week after
week, it's a problem with your heart.
It's a problem with the fact that you're worldly.
It's a problem with the fact that you're not right with God.
Because if you're right with God and you go to a good church that's preaching from
the word of God, and it's a legitimate house of God, and you're coming and
appearing before God, as God's spirit rests upon it, and
you don't want to be here week after week after week.
It's not a problem with the church, it's a problem with you.
And here's the thing, this can happen to a saved person.
Where you stop enjoying church because you allow certain things to come in your life.
You know, I've noticed times in my life where I hear sermons, and
I don't really listen to a lot of preaching anymore,
just simply because I'm preaching sermons myself.
But when I would be in church, like when I was at Verde Baptist Church, and
you know, at some weeks I'd hear the sermons and I'm thinking,
this is like the greatest sermon ever.
And I'd be like, man, wasn't that the most awesome sermon?
They're like, yeah, you know, this is like every other sermon.
And what I realized is it's probably because I was just more right with God, so
I was more excited to hear God's word.
And so, you know, oftentimes that's the case when you're really right with God,
you're really excited for every sermon.
You know, if you're not right with God, it just kind of passes over you.
You don't think much of it, right?
But the Bible says, I was glad when they said on me,
Now it says here in Hebrews 10, verse 24,
Now you should want to be in church.
You should have excitement to come to church.
But if not, if you don't feel like going to church,
if you feel like just resting on a Saturday, you don't feel like being at
church or whatever, here's what you ought to ask yourself.
Do people at church want me to come?
Because the number one reason listed here for
coming to church is not because you want to come to church.
It's not because you're going to learn.
It's because let us consider one another when you look at verse 24.
So you ought to ask yourself this question when it's time for church.
It's not about, do I want to be here, but do people want me here?
Now here's the thing.
If nobody at church wants you, that's a whole other problem.
But in general, people want you at church, right?
And I can tell you at this church, I mean, people want you to be here.
They're excited to have you here, right?
And so when you don't feel like going to church, you ought to consider one another.
You say, well, Brother Stuckey, but I don't want to go.
But wait a minute, are our lives about us or about other people?
See, the Bible teaches over and over and over again,
our lives are not about us.
It's about other people.
As Jesus Christ came not to be ministered onto, but to minister
and to give his life a ransom for many.
And look, the Bible says he's called us to be a living sacrifice.
Here's the thing, going to church each week is not much of a sacrifice.
It's not much of a sacrifice.
I mean, you're reading in the Bible and they're going to see Jesus
and they don't have a plan.
What are they going to eat or drink?
It's like, well, we're just going to figure it out.
And that's why Jesus feeds the multitude.
I mean, there's people he's like, they might faint in the way
because they don't have anything planned.
They go out in the wilderness to see John the Baptist.
It's kind of like, well, we'll figure it out.
I want to hear the word of God preached.
It's not much of a sacrifice.
You know, whether it takes a couple of Japanese or 40 minutes or whatever,
it's not much of a sacrifice compared to the sacrifice that other people make
around this world, even today, to be around God's people.
There are parts of the world where people gather together
and it's not necessarily a bona fide church
because legally they probably can't have one,
but people get together in a small little Bible study
and talk about the word of God in fear for their life
because of their government.
It's not much of a sacrifice to drive 40 minutes to church.
It's not, right?
And here's the thing.
Even if you think, oh, I don't want to come,
do people want you there?
Let us consider one another.
Go back to Psalm 42.
Psalm 42.
Psalm 42 verse 3.
My tears have been my meat day and night
while they continually say unto me,
Where is thy God?
It's like, hey, you know what?
If your God's a true God and you're right with God,
why is your life such a mess?
That's the sort of thing that they're saying to David.
Why do you know what?
It's not necessarily the exact same thing,
but we go out in the world and people mock the Bible.
They criticize the Bible.
They say, well, that's old fashioned.
That's a different culture.
And literally what they're doing is criticizing God
whether they realize it or not.
And it's like, well, who cares what the Bible says?
We ought to just love everybody, the LGBT,
let them get married, do whatever.
It's like, it's completely normal.
And I saw a good quote just, I think it was today,
somebody had posted this.
They're like, if it's normal, like the LGBT,
then why do they have to normalize it?
Right, it's a good point.
If it's so normal, why do we have to normalize it
to everybody?
Make it feel, because it doesn't feel normal
on the inside of people.
It's just like, very simple,
but simple things confound the wise.
Like, yeah, good point.
But here's what I'm saying.
It's like you leave this place and you hear people
criticize the Bible.
They say things that are completely unbiblical,
unscriptural, and it can frustrate you.
It can make you mad, right?
And here's the thing though,
this happens during the week,
but then you come into the house of God
and then it kind of resets you.
You get renewed.
Now we need a daily renewal in God's Word.
We also need a weekly renewal.
Because here's the thing,
when I get up and scream against sin,
it kind of helps confirm to you,
hey, you know what, I'm not crazy.
Right?
Because everybody criticizes the things of the Bible.
It starts to make you think.
It's like, am I a little bit overboard?
Am I the only one?
And then you're in church and it's like,
hey, I'm not the only one.
It's like, yeah, you know what, it's right.
Right from the Bible, where did God begin preached?
Right?
So you need that weekly renewal.
A daily renewal you need.
A weekly renewal you need as well in the house of God.
Number one, we see a burden for church
from the psalmist here.
Number two, though, we see a barrier for church
because this man has a burden to get to church,
but there is a barrier, a wall,
something stopping him from being able to enter church.
It says in verse four,
when I remember these things,
I pour out my soul in me,
for I had gone, past tense,
I had gone with the multitude.
I went with them, where?
To the house of God.
With a voice of joy and praise,
with a multitude that kept holy day.
And what the psalmist is saying is,
you know what, when I went with the multitude into church,
I had joy.
I was praising God.
I was excited.
And now he's looking at his life and he's saying,
man, it's frustrating.
I can't be in church right now.
Here's the thing.
I mean, we don't necessarily know
every single one of these Psalms when it's written,
but you know, with David,
it kind of seems like this is when he's on the run,
when he's, is what I would guess here from this Psalm.
You know, on the run from King Saul would be my guess.
But I mean, here's the thing.
David, during that time period,
had a lot of problems in his life.
But the thing that frustrated him
was being out of God's house,
being away from God's people.
Go to Acts chapter two, Acts two.
And he spoke of in Psalm 42,
joy and praise, joy and praise,
joy would be happiness.
Praise is singing praises to God.
And it says in Acts two verse 41,
then they that gladly received his word were baptized.
And the same day they're added onto them
about 3,000 souls.
Some people when they get saved,
they gladly receive the word.
They end up getting baptized.
They start to follow the things of God.
Some people just get saved,
but they're not that glad or thankful about it.
Kind of like 10 lepers got healed
and one came back to thank Jesus.
Here it talks about people
that gladly received the word.
And then this is what it says in verse 42.
This is the proof of them gladly receiving.
This is not the proof of them getting saved,
but it's the proof that they're very glad
about their salvation.
And it continued steadfastly
in the apostles doctrine and fellowship
and in breaking of bread and in prayers.
Breaking of bread would be...
Well, it says apostles doctrine,
so that's kind of like the sermons.
Fellowship is when we're hanging out,
playing games, things like that.
Breaking of bread is eating a meal together.
That's the terminology,
not just bread necessarily,
but it's the terminology
for eating a meal together.
And in prayers,
I mean, we have a monthly prayer meeting,
so it's relatively similar setup.
Verse 43.
And fear came upon every soul
and many wonders and signs
were done by the apostles.
And all that believe were together
and had all things common
and sold their possessions and goods
and part of them to all men
as every man had need.
And they continued daily
with one accord in the temple
and breaking bread from house to house,
did eat their meat with gladness
and singleness of hearts.
They are glad to be around God's people.
They're glad to be preaching the gospel.
They're glad to fellowship with God's people.
You ought to be glad
being around God's people.
I mean, you ought to be glad
to go in the house of God.
Be around God's people.
Hear the Word of God preached.
Be around other people
that love God here in Pampanga.
You ought to be glad to be in God's house.
And it says in singleness of heart.
Now, singleness of heart,
singleness is basically stating
that you have one objective,
one thing, right?
The Bible uses the terminology single.
Jesus speaks about it
when it basically says
your eye ought to be single
or you're fully so fully 100% focused on God.
That you have a singular objective.
So for example,
if somebody's in the Olympics,
they have a singular objective
for what?
A gold medal.
They might even have a picture
of a gold medal on their wall
to just stare at
because that's what they're aiming for.
That's just a secular example.
Or a boxer might have a picture
of like the world championship
and he's just dreaming
about being the world champion.
As a Bible-believing Christian,
what should be our singular objective
that we're aiming for?
To draw close to God.
Right? That ought to be the objective.
And here it says they've got gladness
and here's the reason why they've got gladness
because they've got singleness of heart.
Because if you've got half of your heart
in the world and half in serving God,
you're not going to have that gladness.
But if you're fully focused on serving God
and you've got singleness of heart
toward that direction,
you're going to be glad
when you're around God's people.
You're going to be glad to go soul winning.
Right?
Praising God, verse 47,
praising God and having favor
with all the people
and the Lord added the church daily
such as should be saved.
As the Bible speaks about praising God
when you're around God's people,
being excited, being happy,
and why would you not be happy
to be around God's people?
I mean, there ought to be a joy
and a gladness
because here's the thing,
there are a ton of churches in the Philippines,
but we know there's a difference.
And I'm sure during this day,
the psalmist knew,
yeah, there's a difference
between this house of God
and then what the Philistines are doing.
Right?
What these other Moabites are doing,
what these other religions are doing.
Go to Psalm 150,
last chapter in the book of Psalms, Psalm 150.
And remember what the psalmist spoke about
was joy and praise.
Now, of course, praise is a common theme
in the book of Psalms,
simply for the fact it's a song book.
Now, I really wish that today
we still had the melody
that they were using for these songs,
but we really don't.
I mean, people have recreated various ones,
but this is a song book
in the book of Psalms.
And it says here in Psalm 150
about joy and praising God.
It says this,
Praise ye the Lord.
Praise God in His sanctuary.
Praise Him in the firmament of His power.
Praise Him for His mighty acts.
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet.
Praise Him with the sultry and harp.
Praise Him with the timbrel and dance.
Praise Him with stringed instruments and organs.
Praise Him upon the loud cymbals.
Praise Him upon the high sounding cymbals.
Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.
Praise ye the Lord.
There are many reasons to praise God.
There are many reasons to be excited about God.
And when you're in church,
it's not about you.
Because we go out in the world
and we often just kind of focus on ourselves.
What do I want?
What do I need?
What's good for me?
And then you come into church
and it's all about God.
And then all of a sudden it helps you
reset yourself and realize,
you know, it's not about me.
I'm focusing on serving God.
And you're in church, you're like,
man, there's many things to praise God about.
I mean, sometimes we sing these songs in the hymnal
and you're just paying attention to the words
and it's like, wow, that's powerful.
Right?
And the Bible speaks here about praising God.
And here's the thing,
if you're glad to be in God's house,
then praise is a good thing.
It's not like you have to say that
you're just excited to sing.
Look, all of us realize this,
that, you know what,
when you're right with God
and you're excited with God,
you sing louder.
Everybody knows that.
When you find yourself just kind of like,
when we all get to heaven,
it's like there's something wrong with your heart.
I mean, that's an exciting thing.
Look, all of us are there sometimes.
We're basically, you know,
the singing is going on.
You know, what's interesting though is
you get to church sometimes
and you're not that excited.
And then right when the first song starts
and you're singing,
all of a sudden you're like,
man, this is like the greatest place
in the world to be.
Right?
We've all been there.
You didn't want to be here.
Start singing the first song
and then you're like, amen.
Praise you, the Lord.
And you realize once again,
you know what, it's good for me to be here
in the house of the Lord.
I was glad when they said on me,
let us go into the house of the Lord.
Go back to Psalm 42.
Point number one,
we see a burden for church.
Point two, we see a barrier
to getting to church.
Point three, we see backslidden
from lack of church.
We see a man that is depressed
and backslidden
because they're not in church.
They're not in the house of God.
Psalm 42 verse five,
why art thou cast down on my soul
and why art thou disquieted in me?
Now the way this is worded,
it sounds like being depressed,
being down,
being cast down, he says,
being disquieted in me.
Hope thou in God,
for I shall yet praise Him
for the help of His countenance.
Oh my God,
my soul is cast down within me.
Therefore, will I remember thee
from the land of Jordan
and of the Hermanites
from the hill Mesar.
I mean, he's basically on the run
and he's saying, hey,
I'm going to remember you.
But he wants to be back in God's house
where others are praising God
and he's excited.
Verse number seven,
deep calleth unto deep
the noise of thy waterspouts.
All thy waves and thy billows
are gone over me.
Yet the Lord will command
His love and kindness in the daytime.
And the idea is,
God protecting you during the daytime.
And in the night,
His song shall be with me.
And my prayer
honor the God of my life.
I will say unto God my rock,
why hast thou forgotten me?
Why go I morning
because of the oppression of the enemy?
You see,
when you're not in God's house
and your life runs into problems,
you somehow feel like it's God's fault.
Or why did God do this to me?
You start getting depressed.
He's saying, you know what?
He said, why hast thou forgotten me?
Why go I morning?
Right?
He's depressed.
He's sad.
Why?
Because he's not in God's house.
Look, all of us have been here before
where our lives are not going the greatest,
but you're in God's house
and you're right with God
and you're in a really good mood.
And it doesn't make any logical sense.
It's like, man,
my finances are a mess
and this is a mess
and things are not going well,
but man, I'm very happy right now.
You say, why?
Because you're right with God.
But see, if you're not right with God,
if you're out of church,
what happens is you get back to it
and you start to get depressed.
Why go I morning
because of the oppression of the enemy?
Now go to Matthew chapter 11.
Matthew 11.
And I want to read you a story
about John the Baptist.
And notice what it says in Matthew 11 verse 1.
And it came to pass
when Jesus had made an end
of commanding His 12 disciples,
He departed thence to teach
and to preach in their cities.
Now when John had heard in the prison
the works of Christ,
he sent two of his disciples.
So basically John has been arrested
He's in prison.
He's not around God's people.
And he's hearing about the works of Christ,
but the thing about John is
he's not on a daily basis around God's people.
He's not around God's people.
He's not, obviously he was the one preaching,
but he's not hearing any preaching.
He's just kind of away from everything.
Verse 3,
And said unto him,
Art thou he that should come?
Or do we look for another?
And John the Baptist starts doubting.
He's away from God's house.
He starts to kind of wonder
if everything that he believed was correct
and he starts to doubt.
And you say,
how is this even possible?
It's possible because he's not around God's people.
Now he does send two of his disciples,
but if a man's in prison,
he doesn't get to just see everybody
whenever he wants to.
What I would say is,
from time to time people could visit
and when they do visit,
he says,
Hey, can you send him to ask this question?
Now, you know,
sometimes people get this idea
of John the Baptist
and this is a wrong idea.
And I think they get this from movies
or pictures they've seen.
They think John the Baptist
was one man in the wilderness by himself
and he never had any followers
that were actually actively soul winning with him.
Now, of course,
John the Baptist starts there,
but then all of a sudden you see
that he has disciples.
He has people that are like his right hand men.
So he has other people to encourage him
on a daily basis.
He wasn't just one man preaching
and then everybody leaves
and he's by himself every night.
Look, it doesn't matter how spiritual you are,
you're going to get depressed if that's you.
Part of the apostle had people with him.
John the Baptist had disciples.
And so John the Baptist,
when he's at a low moment
and he's kind of down,
others will encourage him.
Yes, John the Baptist was a greater man than them,
but no matter how great you are,
you need others.
You need people to encourage you.
And so John the Baptist
is away from everybody at this point
and now all of a sudden he just gets depressed.
He gets down.
Starts to have doubts.
Says in verse 4,
Jesus answered and said unto them,
Go and show John again those things
which you do here and see.
The blind receive their sight
and the lame walk.
The lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear.
The dead are raised up
and the poor of the gospel preach to them.
And blessed is he
whosoever shall not be offended in me.
And it's not just simply being in church.
What he highlights to tell John the Baptist
is about the great works that are being done.
There's something about
just hearing about soul winning,
hearing about people getting saved
that just kind of reminds you,
kind of excites you, right?
Verse number 7,
And as they departed,
Jesus began to stand in the multitudes
concerning John.
What went ye out in the wilderness to see?
A reed shaken with the wind?
Now, I like the fact that
Jesus does not really criticize John the Baptist
or rip him apart
or say that he's backslidden.
He just kind of gives them an encouraging message.
And it tells us that when somebody is down,
the best way to get them back
is not to just say,
Hey, you know, you're not right with God.
Best way is try to remind them
of the great works that have been done.
Encourage them because we all have down moments.
And it says in verse 7,
that John the Baptist
was not a reed shaken with the wind.
Now, what the Bible is meaning there
and saying there and what Jesus is saying
is that if the wind goes,
a reed is going to go back in every direction.
I mean, just imagine you're looking at flowers
or the grass and there's a heavy wind.
I mean, they're just going to go back and forth.
No stability.
No strength.
And what Jesus is saying is
if there's anyone that has strength and stability,
it's John the Baptist.
This is not a man that would let things get him down.
Yet even he,
when he's away from God's people,
he gets down.
He starts to have doubts.
And what that shows us is any one of us would.
Because even if you are not a reed shaken with the wind,
you're probably more of a reed
than John the Baptist was.
Right?
Verse 8,
But what went he out for to see?
A man clothed in soft raiment?
Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in king's houses.
But what went he out for to see?
A prophet?
Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.
For this is he of whom it is written,
Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,
which shall prepare thy way before thee.
Verily, I say unto you,
Among them that are born of women,
there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist.
What Jesus is essentially saying is
John the Baptist is the greatest man
that has ever been born outside of,
obviously, himself, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, of course, the question is,
because Paul the Apostle came afterwards,
did Paul pass John the Baptist?
You know, that's a good question.
Because it says there's not risen a greater,
but Paul's afterwards.
So that would not negate Paul from being better,
if that's what you think.
The other way you could look at this,
there hath not risen a greater,
it could be kind of like an expression
where he doesn't necessarily literally mean
he is the greatest,
but basically, this is as good as they get.
But he could have been very little and say,
this is the greatest.
I mean, you know,
obviously, John the Baptist was a great man,
but even John the Baptist,
when he's away from God's people,
he starts to have doubts.
You say, Brother Secchi, I would never do that.
I will stay firm no matter what.
Okay, Peter.
It's like, no, all men deny you.
I never will.
Now, whether we say that out loud,
or not, that's the way we feel in our hearts.
Because we all feel like we would not have denied Jesus
if we were there,
but yet, they all just got scared.
Right?
And what I'm saying is,
this can happen to any of us,
especially if you get away from God's house,
you get away from the preaching,
you get away from reading the Bible,
you start to let yourself slip a little,
and then you never really know
how far you're going to slip.
See, when it comes to getting close to God,
the analogy the Bible gives is,
it's like an uphill climb on a mountain.
Right?
Moses climbed uphill to get close to God.
Right?
He didn't go down, he went up.
Now, when you're climbing a mountain,
you're climbing a hill,
it takes up a lot of energy to climb up.
But if you've ever gone down a hill,
and you started to slip,
you can just slide a long ways.
I remember when I was a kid,
I was going hiking with a friend of mine,
and you know, it's uphill,
so we're like grabbing onto trees and branches,
and slowly working our way up,
and then we'd rest for a minute,
go higher,
and I grabbed a branch in the ground,
because I was trying to go a few feet up.
I thought it was really solid in the ground,
but it was not.
It just pulled up.
I just went tumbling down like a hundred feet,
just all scratched up,
and blood and everything.
It happened in a moment.
It's like it took me an hour to get up this high,
and then I just immediately just went crashing down.
I couldn't stop.
You know, that's actually the analogy God's trying to give you
when it comes to serving God,
where honestly, it takes a long time to get close to God,
but you let yourself slip.
You might just slip a long ways,
and it's hard to stop and get started again, right?
Go back to Psalm 42.
Psalm 42.
Psalm 42, verse 10.
The Bible says in Psalm 42, verse 10,
As with the sword in my bones,
mine enemies reproach me,
while they say daily on to me,
Where is thy God?
Now, he uses the analogy here.
It's very interesting.
He says,
As with the sword in my bones,
what he's saying is these people that don't love God,
it's as if they're stabbing me with a sword.
It's like they're stabbing me with a knife, right?
And you know, the Bible speaks about how Lot was vexed
with the conversation of the wicked.
On a daily basis, he's vexed with it,
because the same person just dwelling amongst the LGBT,
he was vexed.
And we hear people say things sometimes,
and it bothers us, right?
You know, you just hear people say things,
and it makes you mad.
You hear people use the Lord's name in vain
on a gypney, for example.
It frustrates you.
It's almost like they stab you.
It makes you mad, right?
And here's the thing.
I mean, all of us will feel this way
out in the world from time to time.
What's really interesting to me
is people that don't want to go to a church like this,
because they don't want to get stabbed
with the Word of God.
They don't want that sword to hit them on the inside, right?
The Word of God is quick and powerful
and sharper than any two-edged sword.
And yet, they dwell amongst wicked people,
and they get vexed all the time.
And it's like a sword gets them.
And they're okay with that,
but they're not okay with being in church
where the Word of God is thundered from the pulpits.
Look, a sword is going to pierce you either way.
Either come to church,
and you'll get pierced with the Word of God sometimes,
and you'll realize the changes you need to make,
or you can just allow yourself to get pierced all the time
by the world out in public,
hanging out with ungodly people,
and it doesn't help you make any changes in your life, right?
And verse number 11, verse 11,
we'll close up here.
Verse 11,
Why art thou cast down, O my soul?
And why art thou disquieted within me?
Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him,
who is the health of my countenance in my God.
I mean, He has a confidence He's going to be back in God's house.
He's going to be back around God's people,
and it speaks about the health of my countenance.
Yet, did you know that when you're right with God,
it's actually healthy for you?
I don't think this is just a vain word.
I believe that if you're serving God,
it is good for your health.
Now, one very obvious example is,
if you're serving God, you're not drinking,
you're not smoking and doing drugs,
and that's certainly good for your health, right?
You know, a lot of people, they age their bodies so quickly
due to all the vices that they have.
But hearing the word of God, it's actually good for you.
It's healthy for you.
I mean, I do believe that when you're right with God,
it's going to help you live a long and healthy life.
Now, obviously, you know what?
People live different time periods,
and people have different situations,
and we understand that.
And you know what?
There's people like Stephen that die at a young age.
But here's the thing.
When you're in God's house,
it's actually good for your health.
And part of it, he mentions your countenance.
Your countenance is really, you know,
basically the look on your face,
being happy, being joyful.
But you know, what they say is that laughter is like
the greatest medicine for your body.
And you know, when you're a happy person,
it's actually good for you.
It's actually healthy for you.
And here's the thing.
When you're serving God and in God's house
and praising God, you're happy.
So it's good for you.
Look, it's not simply a matter of just being in church.
You know, it actually has benefits for you.
It's actually healthy for you.
It's going to make you happy.
It's going to make you in a good mood.
And look, all of us know this,
that when we're serving God and reading the Bible,
we're happy to be at church.
We're excited to be at church.
I mean, you might be the worst bowler on the planet,
but you're going to have fun next week, right?
It's like you're happy when you're around God's people.
Whereas if you're not right with God,
you're not as happy.
And what I said earlier, what I'll say again is this.
It's a problem with one of two things.
It's either a problem with the church
or it's a problem with you.
I don't think there's a problem with the church.
We preach the truth.
We've got the King James Bible.
We've got fellowship.
We've got soul winning.
I mean, are we a perfect church?
No, but we've got the word of God being preached.
If you're not enjoying church,
it's a problem with your heart.
Because here the psalmist is out of church
and he's like, I'm panting after,
I'm searching after,
I'm thirsting after being in God's house.
And if you come to church
and you can freely come
and you're like, oh man, another day of church.
That's a problem with you.
That's not the way that God intended it to be.
Here's what's interesting about this.
There are people all over this world
that love God,
but don't have a church.
They don't even, in some cases,
know other people that are saved.
They don't know the people that love God.
I mean, I'm not trying to lift our church up,
but there's not a whole lot of great churches in this world.
There are entire countries
where there's probably not a single good church.
And the people that love God in those countries,
they would do anything,
anything to have a good church.
Look, if you're a zealous Christian
and you live in a Muslim country
where you can't serve God,
you want nothing more than to be able to leave that country
If you live in North Korea
and you're saved and you love God,
you want nothing more than to leave that country.
If you live in those communist countries
and you're not able to serve God in those countries,
you want nothing more than to just leave
simply because you're thirsting after the house of God.
You want to be around God's people and hear the preaching.
Here, we in Pampanga, we have that opportunity.
For some of us, it means driving a long distance.
It's not necessarily close to you.
And of course, you know, Lord willing,
there'll be a lot of great churches in 20 years
where people won't have to drive a long distance to church.
But here's the thing,
if you're really thirsting after God
and you want to be in God's house,
it's not a burden to be in church.
It's a blessing to be in church.
You're excited.
You said, hey, you know what?
I was glad when they said,
let us go into the house of the Lord.
Let's close with a word of prayer.
Your heavenly Father,
thank you for allowing us to be here today, God,
and ask you to help just remind us
of how life can be very depressing
if we don't have a good church.
Help us to stay faithful to church
and be excited and happy
for what we do have here in Pampanga, God.
We pray these things in Jesus' name.
Amen.