How will you move to walk in the steps of the Savior, stepping in the life?
How will you move to walk in the life of the Savior, stepping in the life of the Savior?
How will you move to walk in the life of the Savior?
1 Corinthians 2, verse 9.
See, the Holy Spirit searches the deep things of God,
and if you are saved, you have the Spirit of God inside of you,
the Spirit of truth, and you can understand this book.
Why? This is a spiritual book.
This is not a carnal book. This is a spiritual book.
And so to understand a spiritual book, you need the Spirit of God inside of you.
You're not going to understand God's Word unless you have the Spirit of God.
But I will say this, that one reason why you come to church
is because you're going to assume the person preaching
probably has read it and knows more than most people at the church.
So you ought to be able to learn from the preaching of God's Word.
Now, the sad reality is there's a lot of churches
where pastors have never read the Bible.
And they're not ashamed of it.
And it's like they've never read the Bible, and they're not even a pastor,
but they haven't got to that part of the Bible yet.
Oh, man, I just found out I'm not a pastor.
I have to be married.
Man, I thought I was a pastor. Everyone was calling me a pastor.
I'm not even married. I didn't even realize it.
But that's the reality we live in today.
We've got churches, and the person preaching, they don't know anything.
What they do is instead of trying to learn from the Bible,
they'll read a commentary to quickly get a sermon.
Or they'll go to these websites where it's basically just print my sermon.
Just what topic do you want? Here's 20 options for a sermon.
And they pay like, I don't know, a thousand pesos a month,
and they can find all their sermons.
There are websites like that.
Verse 11,
For what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of man which is in him?
Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God.
Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God,
that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth,
but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness unto him,
neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.
So according to verse 14,
the natural man, the unsaved man, cannot understand this book.
If you are not saved and you pick up this book,
you're going to be like Acts chapter 8, the Ethiopian eunuch,
how can I accept some man should guide me?
You could be reading about salvation and you're not going to get it.
Someone's got to explain the gospel to you.
Look, if you're saved in this room, somebody gave you the gospel.
You said, Brother Sukkiah, I just read it for myself and got saved.
No, you didn't.
Because according to the Bible, you need somebody to guide you.
Now, I've heard people say, well, aren't these books written by preachers?
So they're preaching and teaching.
Yes, these are our preachers that wrote this,
and people of God, people that serve God.
Here's the difference.
These are the words of God.
It's not an explanation on the words of God.
You understand the difference?
It's like, yes, you're reading a soul-winning conversation,
but that's actually the words of God.
And for someone to get saved, just like in Acts 8,
somebody's got to explain that,
even if they're reading about salvation.
Nobody gets saved unless somebody actually shows them and teaches them.
But what it said here in 1 Corinthians 2
is that there are deep things of God, according to verse 10.
And what a deep thing means is it's not just on the surface and obvious.
Most things in the Bible are very obvious.
We know what the Bible says.
The Bible says, read therein all the days of thy life.
Read the Bible every day.
Pretty simple.
But did you know there's some deep things in the book of Hosea?
Did you know there's some deep things in the book of Revelation,
books that we preach through?
Did you know there's some deep things in the Bible
that you have to spend time studying and memorizing and learning?
And here's the thing.
At many churches, people aren't learning any of those things.
And what that shows you is the pastor, or whoever, the pastor,
he doesn't know any deep things.
He hasn't learned anything.
Most of these churches, what you're hearing is a commentary,
or what you're hearing are stories.
I hate to break it to you, but I am not a talented enough speaker
to spend an hour just telling you stories.
I can't do it.
My son loves to hear stories about shapes when he goes to sleep at night.
It's like telling a story for one minute. I can't do it.
All I know how to do is just see what the Bible says,
organize a sermon into a logical way, and just explain what the Bible's saying.
I don't have the ability to just tell stories for an hour.
I applaud these Baptist pastors that can get away with it.
I can't get away with it.
I have to actually write down a lot of verses,
because otherwise I can't be entertaining for an hour.
I was a math major, not a comedian in college, so I can't do it.
Maybe they have that ability.
But you know what? You need to hear the Word of God,
and when you're not hearing anything taught from the Word of God,
you're hungry. You're starving.
Turn your Bible to Hebrews 4.
If you're at a church and you're not learning anything,
you're at the wrong church.
There's something wrong.
I'm not going to sit up here and say that every single sermon,
everybody learns new things,
but I will say this,
that there's not a single person in this room that can say
that they've never learned anything at our church,
and that they don't learn.
Even people that have read the Bible a lot of times,
you say, how do you know that?
Because I preach sermons, and Pastor Mendez has told me,
man, I never thought about that. That's a good point.
Because nobody knows everything.
You spend hours on a sermon, and you look at it,
and read the Scripture, and study it.
You know what? People are going to learn.
It doesn't matter how much you've read the Bible,
because this is a book of infinite knowledge,
and you're never going to know everything.
Look, you could memorize the entire Bible, and you'd still learn.
You don't know everything about the Bible,
and look, if you're not learning anything at church,
you've got to question, how much does a pastor know?
And look, I've been to churches where you rarely learned anything,
and I remember it's like, if I learned something from a sermon,
I was like, man, that was an awesome sermon.
I learned something, because it just didn't happen very often.
And that's sad, but at a lot of churches,
there's not much Scripture being taught,
and it's just kind of stories and emotion,
and people aren't learning.
Now, here's the thing.
Different types of people like different types of church.
Our church appeals to people that want to learn the Word of God.
It doesn't really appeal to people that just really want to go off emotions
and live their life that way.
Now, other Baptist churches, quite honestly,
they're going to be more successful with building a big church
because of the fact most people don't really want to learn.
They don't really know what the Bible says.
They don't really want to know what the Bible says,
and they want to be lied to.
But if you want to learn the Word of God and serve God,
this is the church for you.
So one problem with being hungry is you're not learning anything.
Another thing is you're not motivated.
You come to church, and you don't walk away motivated to read the Bible.
You don't walk away motivated to go soul winning.
You don't walk away motivated to get sin out of your life,
but you kind of walk away,
and you just feel like you're a good Christian all the time.
It's like the Joel Osteen Baptist Church here in the Philippines.
There's a problem with that.
You ought to be motivated by the Word of God.
You say, why? Hebrews 4, verse 12.
Hebrews 4, verse 12.
For the Word of God is quick and powerful
and sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit
and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The Bible says the Word of God is like a sword,
but it doesn't just pierce through you.
It pierces you on the inside, the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The Bible says the Word of God has a way to get on the inside and pierce you.
Now let me ask you a question.
Is it possible to get stabbed with a sword and not feel anything?
It doesn't hurt at all.
I've never been stabbed with a sword before,
but I'm assuming it's going to hurt, right?
It's going to be painful.
Well, if the Word of God is being preached every single week
and it never hurts, something's wrong.
That person's obviously really bad at aiming that sword.
It's like, oh, man, I missed again.
I mean, if you pierce someone with a sword, it's going to hurt.
I mean, a paper cut hurts.
A sword is going to hurt.
And it's like someone says they're preaching the Bible,
and it never hurts people.
There's nothing where they're like, oh, man, I need to make a change.
Something's wrong.
How can you preach the Word of God week after week
and people aren't motivated to do something?
Look, here's the reality.
When you come to a real church, sometimes you come into church not that motivated,
and then by the end of the service, you're like, man, let's go sowing him.
Man, let's read the Bible.
Man, let's make some changes in our lives.
But at a lot of churches, you don't feel motivated.
You leave and you don't feel motivated to make changes.
And what's sad is people leave and they feel like they're spiritual and they're not.
They come in and they're not spiritual.
You say, how can you say they're not spiritual?
Look, if you don't read the Bible, you don't go soul winning, you don't pray,
you don't memorize the Bible, you're really worldly, you're not spiritual.
And people come in unspiritual, and the way the church service is designed
is to make you feel spiritual and make you feel good without actually being spiritual.
Now, we don't do that.
You say, Brother Sucky, I feel spiritual coming in, and when I go out, I don't feel spiritual.
Well, that's the sword of the Word of God.
That is what the Bible teaches, okay?
And the Word of God is powerful, and if people are not motivated to make any changes,
something's wrong with the preaching, okay?
Verse 13, neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight.
In whose sight?
Well, the reference is the Word of God here.
Now, we understand Jesus is the Word,
but basically there's no creature that cannot get affected by the Word of God, okay?
But all things are naked and open under the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
And so, look, the Word of God, when it is preached, it is going to pierce you.
Now, sometimes a sermon doesn't really, you know, prick you because maybe you're good at it,
but the reality is that when I preach sermons on, let's say, why you need to read the Bible,
the people that already read the Bible are like, man, you got me.
It's like, man, you know, yesterday, you know, I read the Bible in the morning,
but man, you know, I should have been reading more.
I mean, the people that are already doing what's right are the ones that get pricked the most, okay?
I mean, that's the reality.
So the Word of God is powerful.
Go to 1 Timothy 3, 1 Timothy 3, 1 Timothy 3.
Well, when should you leave your church?
Well, if you're hungry.
You're not learning and you're not motivated.
You say, why should I leave then?
Because that's the job of the church leader to teach you.
I mean, 1 Peter 5, which we're going to look at later, that is what teaches us what's the model.
Well, the elder, the pastor, the leader is supposed to be teaching,
and if you're hungry and you're not being fed, you're part of the wrong flock.
That's what the Bible is trying to show you.
You're at the wrong church, and here's the thing.
If he just doesn't know anything, you shouldn't be at that church,
and if he's intentionally not teaching you because he doesn't want to offend anyone, you're at the wrong church.
You ought to be learning. You ought to be motivated.
The other thing is this.
What if you're coming to church and maybe he's teaching you something, but it's poison, right?
I mean, a lot of churches you go to, I mean, can you imagine it's Valentine's Day.
You say, man, I'm a husband.
I want to take my wife out to a romantic Valentine's Day dinner.
It's our first Valentine's together, Valentine's Day.
We're going to go to a restaurant. It's going to be expensive.
It's going to probably cost us about 2,000 pesos for the two of us.
Pretty expensive, nice food, right?
Nice meal and everything.
You're excited. You order this really nice steak, and then all of a sudden the food arrives, and the plate's empty.
It's like, what in the world?
It's like, I paid 2,000 pesos for this, and then they just feed you nothing.
Well, there's a problem there, right?
Or what if they put something on the plate, but the food is just like garbage, like literally garbage, right?
Or what if you get there, and then you get the plate, you spend 2,000 pesos.
Oh, we ran out of steak, so here's some pandesol.
Now, look, I like pandesol. I love pandesol.
I like Skyflakes, but if I want to pay 2,000 pesos for a meal, it better not be Skyflakes, right?
And it's like you go to a restaurant, you spend a lot of money, you invest time and energy and effort,
and then all of a sudden you just get Skyflakes.
There's a problem there, and that's the way it is at a lot of churches.
And you go to church, there's either nothing on the plate, or you're getting fed stuff that is not good food,
or there's a little bit of rat poison mixed in.
Now, the biggest poison you can get at these churches is repentance of sins.
You go to church, and you say, man, I'm just trying to obey God and do what he says,
and then all of a sudden just repentance of sins, repentance of sins, repentance of sins.
It's like, man, I'm trying to eat and avoid the poison. It's hard.
When poison's mixed in with the steak, I mean, when you've got sabaou, you've got soup,
and the poison's mixed in, and they mix it in together, it's like you're eating sinigang,
and you try to get a spoonful of sinigang and avoid the poison, good luck with that.
And that's what it is at churches. It's sad, but it's reality.
What does it say in 1 Timothy 3, verse 15?
But if I tarry long that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God,
which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
So here's the thing. When you go to church, you should be learning, but it should be the truth.
Not just learning something, but what's being said is actually true.
Now, here's the thing. If you go to a restaurant, and they mix in some poison,
and you notice the cook mixing in some poison, you have to ask yourself,
what about the poison I didn't notice that got thrown in there?
Do you understand what I'm saying?
You go to a church, and you notice a lot of things that are wrong, false doctrine.
The question is, how much other doctrine is subtly being mixed in there
that just kind of went over your head or subtly mixed in,
just philosophically or something that's not quite true?
Well, what am I talking about? Here's what I'm talking about.
There's churches that would say they believe in...
Well, you know, if he was really meant to get saved, he would have gotten saved.
How is that biblical?
Just kind of this attitude, well, you know, somebody will give him the gospel.
Well, that's a Calvinist sort of doctrine, and that can subtly be mentioned in a sermon,
and you might not notice it, but it's false doctrine.
And so you might notice when they say Jesus only died for the elect,
but then maybe you miss all the other Calvinism being mentioned in philosophically during the sermon.
Now, the biggest examples here in the Philippines are repentance of sins and Calvinism for poison,
meaning it will literally kill you, meaning somebody growing up in that church,
if they believe that, will die and go to hell, okay?
But you go to other churches, and maybe there's not poison, just maybe not very high-quality food, right?
Maybe it's just pandesal. Look, I love pandesal. Somebody's going to get mad after me.
I love pandesal, right? I have pandesal, but you know what? That's not a 2,000 peso meal, okay?
And so, you know, what are some obvious examples of just a little bit of poison
or, you know, unquality food that's mixed?
Well, one of the things is this. When people will tell you Jesus did not go to hell.
Now, there's a lot of churches where people tell you Jesus didn't go to hell.
Well, go to Acts 2. Acts 2. Acts 2. Acts 2.
Now, I could mention a lot of things. I'm just mentioning some things maybe you've heard at your churches
and things that are just very obvious, and you can't debate them.
It's just obvious that Jesus went to hell. Why? Well, the Bible says Jesus went to hell.
And yet, you go to a lot of churches, and they'll tell you why Jesus did not go to hell.
Acts 2, verse 31. He, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ.
So we're talking about the resurrection of Jesus.
I'm trying to get you in that Easter mentality, right? We're coming up to it in a month.
The resurrection of Christ. What does the resurrection of Christ mean?
Well, it means two things according to this verse.
That his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
Now, his flesh did not see corruption. What does that mean?
Well, what it means is Jesus rose again after three days, and his body did not corrupt.
Because of the fact Lazarus, when he was dead four days, behold, he stinketh.
Meaning, Jesus intentionally waited until the body was decomposing, and nobody could question the miracle.
Once the body's stinking, you know they're dead, right? When a long time's gone by.
And so there's no question, you know, Lazarus was already dead, and Jesus intentionally waits until that moment,
and people didn't get that at first. But Jesus corrupted. He rose again after three days.
Now, obviously, that's going to depend on where someone was dead,
because if it's cold, it lasts longer than, like, hot weather or whatever.
But the Bible's just trying to give you this understanding that his body did not corrupt because he rose again after three days.
That's the flesh aspect. And by the way, that's the aspect you must believe to be saved.
If somebody says they don't believe that Jesus went to hell, well, they can still be saved and believe that,
but they better believe that he physically rose again from the dead.
By the way, the Jehovah's Witnesses, they believe he spiritually rose again,
but they don't believe he physically rose again. Now, I don't exactly know what that means,
but it's like the body wasn't there. The resurrection. Easter's their biggest holiday.
They do a big push, believe that he was buried and that he rose again.
That's what the Bible teaches. But it also says his soul was not left in hell.
So ask yourself this question. Where was his soul if it was not left in hell?
It was in hell. This is consistent in the Bible because it says,
As Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Not six feet under the ground, but in the heart of the earth, in the center of the earth.
And Jonah was a picture of that because obviously being inside a whale's belly is not going to be fun.
It was probably dark. It was probably hot and painful. He was probably burning from the acid.
It was probably a good depiction of hell. And Jesus was in hell for three days and three nights.
Well, this is what Baptist churches will say. What? It says he went to hell, but he went to the good part of hell.
Here's what's funny about this. Growing up, there's not a single person who has ever heard a doctrine about a good part of hell.
You could ask a million kids on the street, is hell a good part? Where would you rather go? Heaven or hell?
Heaven. I don't want to go to hell. Nobody's ever heard of this like good hell doctrine.
There's no other religion that does this. It's only the Baptists. I mean, the Catholics are right about this.
Right? I mean, that his soul was not left in hell. I mean, there's no disputing it. That's what it says.
And then Baptists will say, well, you know, I mean, there's a good part of hell.
Because before Jesus rose again, you know, people went to paradise or Abraham's bosom.
But then after Jesus rose, I mean, he brought everybody with him. Right? Well, here's the question.
Show me one time in the Old Testament where it says that people went to paradise.
Show me the word paradise in your Old Testament. That's your homework assignment.
And whenever you finish it, you're like, brother Stuckey, I didn't find the word paradise one time in the Old Testament.
It's not in there. If everybody went to paradise in the Old Testament, wouldn't the Old Testament mention that at least one time?
Now, I understand that with the thief on the cross that was before the resurrection of Jesus, so that's still under the Old Covenant.
But here's the thing. People use that and say, well, here's the thing.
If he said you're going to be with me in paradise and Jesus went to hell, it must be a good place.
Jesus is everywhere. God is everywhere. He's omnipresent.
So what he's telling the thief on the cross is you're going to heaven.
And look, the two times paradise is mentioned after the book of Luke, it's used synonymously with heaven.
Because they got caught up into paradise. Look, paradise and heaven, it's the same thing.
You're never going to find the word paradise in the Old Testament one time from Genesis to Malachi.
Not even in the first couple chapters in Genesis. In the Garden of Eden, you don't see the word paradise mentioned.
Now, of course, I would say that was a paradise, but it doesn't use the word paradise.
So if everybody went to paradise in the Old Testament, wouldn't it use that word one time?
Well, show me where they went to Abraham's bosom in the Old Testament. Right?
One time. Now, it probably mentions the bosom of Abraham in the Old Testament, I assume.
I don't know, I'll have to double check that. But it never says that people went to Abraham's bosom.
Because your bosom, dib dib, right, is a body part. Your chest.
And you've got these modern, you've got these Tagalog translations and most of them do this.
You look in there and then on Luke 16, it's like translating Abraham's bosom, it's like paraiso. Paraiso?
Look, I'm not perfect at Tagalog, but paraiso, that sounds like...
So when he got caught up, you know, before Jesus rose again, people just kind of looked and said,
hey, there's Elijah. He's just kind of hanging out, kind of, he's like in the kind of heaven land. Right?
It's like he got caught up in the heaven in the Bible. I mean, he went up.
It's like there's really just no dispute about it. You're not going to see them saying,
well, you know, they went down to hell. It's like, no, they went to heaven. Okay?
Now turn to Matthew 24. Matthew 24.
There's a lot of false doctrines in Baptist churches. Those are just very obvious things.
When it says Jesus went to hell, you can't argue it.
When you say people went to heaven in the Old Testament, you can't argue that.
The Bible just specifically states it. Elijah was a special case. That's what they'll say.
I just believe what the Bible says. Right? They went to heaven, they went to heaven.
Another big poison or false doctrine in these churches is the preacher rapture.
A lot of these churches you go to, and then they'll tell you about the preacher rapture.
Now, it's rare that they preach sermons on it because they don't have any Bible for it.
But they'll kind of mention it in passing. Right?
And we believe as a fundamental church, as a makaluma church, we believe that Jesus can come back at any moment.
In fact, he might come back before the end of this sermon. Right?
I mean, if you've heard it once, you've heard it a million times.
I mean, how many times have I heard people say that in sermons?
Look, I've heard it plenty of times in the U.S., how Jesus could come back before the end of this service.
So give us all your money today.
I don't know how those things mix together, but that's what they say. Right?
Well, here's what's funny about this. The preacher rapture, you really can't find...
You know, it's one of these false doctrines. They really don't even have any verses for it.
Matthew 24, verse 29. And look, there's not a whole sermon about the rapture.
I'm sure I'll preach on it here soon. But Matthew 24, verse 29.
Immediately after the tribulation. Okay?
Now, after the tribulation. What does after mean? Right? What's that mean?
I mean, before and after. I'm confused, brother. What's the difference? Right?
Before is just... It's hard to even explain.
It's like before and then after comes after the event takes place. Right?
It's just very simple. Immediately after the tribulation.
Of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give light,
and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven,
and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn,
and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
You say, Brother Stuckey, how do you know this is referring to the rapture?
Well, I mean, the disciples, they're asking about the end times.
Tell us about your coming. And then He explains.
I mean, it's not really that complicated. What they're complicated...
And look, I understand it because this was the biggest argument my wife and I had before we were married. Right?
The pre-trib, post-trib argument. Right?
People are confused at these pre-trib churches.
They do not understand.
You know, when you tell people you believe in a post-trib rapture,
you're saying we're going through the wrath of God.
No, that's not what we're saying.
We're saying we go through tribulation, and then we're raptured,
and God pours out His wrath on those that were not raptured.
That's what we're saying. We're not saying you go through the wrath of God.
We're saying we go through tribulation. Okay?
Verse 31, and he shall send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet,
and they shall gather together as elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other.
So is this not clear in verse 31 this is the rapture?
He's gathering together as elect, tell us of Thy coming, and then he explains it to them.
It's not really that complicated.
But yet at a lot of churches, they don't believe this.
What's funny is they're going to quote later on in Matthew 24 that no man knows the day or the hour.
No man knoweth the day or the hour.
And the context is after the tribulation.
And they're right.
I don't know the day. I don't know the hour.
But one thing I do know is it's after the tribulation.
Right? I mean in verse 36 it's like no one knows the day or the hour.
Yeah, you're right. I don't know the day or the hour, but the context is after the tribulation.
That's one thing I do know. Okay?
That's not that complicated.
Now turn to 1 Thessalonians 5. 1 Thessalonians 5.
They'll say, well, Matthew 24 was only written to the Jews.
Well, I still don't fully understand what your point is.
How does that change the word after?
But here's the thing. It wasn't just written to the Jews.
Simon the Canaanite.
And what they'll say is, well, that was just kind of like a title he was given,
but he was actually a Jew.
That's what I've heard people say.
Matthew Sucky the American.
Well, he's not really an American.
They just like to call him an American.
Right? It's like it doesn't make any sense.
And then what I say unto you, I say unto all it says at the end of Mark 13,
which is the parallel passage in Matthew 24.
It's very clear this is the rapture.
They say, well, Jesus can come back at any moment,
and nobody's going to know.
The Bible says every eye shall see him in Revelation chapter 1.
What do you mean nobody's going to know it?
Right? Now, look, when I was kind of newly saved,
and even after I believed in the posture of rapture,
I believed that for a long time,
because the person who led me to the Lord taught me that,
but I watched Left Behind and everything like that,
and people were on an airplane.
Like, you take a nap, and you wake up. Where is everybody?
Now, first off, let's say they were right.
Let's say you're on an airplane.
You're on an airplane, an airplane of 100 people,
and let's say, for example, the rapture happens at any moment.
Okay? Here's the thing. You wouldn't even notice.
You know why? Very few people would be gone.
Right?
If you run into 100 people, you just assume they're in the bathroom.
Why'd that guy go to the bathroom for a couple hours?
You wouldn't even notice. You know why?
Very few people were saved.
And yet in the movie, it's like one-third of people are gone.
It's like, what, are you taking part of some of the Muslims and Hindus and Buddhists?
Like, what in the world's going on?
Because only one-third of the world claims to be Christian.
Only one-third claims to be Christian,
and that includes every cult and all the Catholics and Protestants and all of that.
It's like you wouldn't even notice, but they say it can happen at any moment.
It can just come as like a thief in the night,
and there's that famous, like, really bad documentary,
a thief in the night, a thief in the night.
Well, let's go to 1 Thessalonians 5,
and I added this, so let me just quickly turn there myself.
1 Thessalonians 5, verse 1.
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
So they're saying, you know, Paul's saying,
you don't need me to write this onto you.
Now, why is that?
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
He's saying, you're already aware of this.
You're already aware it comes as a thief in the night.
Now, they would say, well, yeah, it's a thief in the night.
It can come at any moment.
No, no, no, it comes very quickly.
It doesn't say the day's going to come and you're not going to be aware it happened,
like you're taking a nap.
You know, you're asleep at night, and all of a sudden you wake up.
It's like, oh, man, like my computer was stolen.
It came like a thief in the night.
No, that's not what the Bible's saying.
Okay?
Because the Bible says yourselves know perfectly.
This is not going to come where you don't realize this.
But it's going to come unexpectedly to the unsaved world, though.
It's not going to come unexpectedly to us.
Now, it's going to happen very quickly in the twinkling of an eye, the Bible says.
But notice this in verse 3.
For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them,
not upon you, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape.
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
So basically it's like this.
You know, you're sitting in your house, and you've got an unsaved person beside you.
Right?
Now, you're looking, and it's the light outside.
It's 2 in the afternoon, but to him it's dark.
It's like Mount Pinatubo just erupted, and it's dark to him.
You can't see anything.
And you look at somebody trying to steal something in your house.
It's like, what in the world?
It's like, I can't see it.
But to them, they're just like, they don't even notice it.
It just comes out of nowhere.
Then all of a sudden it's like, man.
You say, what is the Bible trying to teach?
Well, notice what it says here in verse 3.
It says, as travail upon a woman with child.
As travail upon a woman with child.
And so I want you to realize, and I'm not trying to go on too big of a rabbit trail,
but the Bible likens this event to being like a woman in labor.
Okay?
Because what pre-trib people say is, well, we don't have like a set verse alone,
but like all the symbolism in the Old Testament.
So you say, give us a verse, and they say, well, the whole symbolism all throughout the Bible.
Genesis to Revelation, just symbolism, symbolism.
And yet, I wonder, what symbolism are you talking about?
Because the Bible talks about like a woman being in labor.
Well, ask yourself how this works.
Okay?
A woman gets pregnant, she becomes aware of it, and she's got 40 weeks, approximately.
Right?
Now, here's the thing.
Are any of those 40 weeks fun?
Well, probably not.
Right?
It's not fun.
But the worst part is the end.
Right?
Now, here's the thing.
If you're pregnant, you're going to figure it out.
Nobody's going to be like 35 weeks pregnant.
I didn't even realize.
It's like, you're going to figure it out eventually.
Right?
And what happens is, you know, we as God's people,
it's like we're going through that labor for 40 weeks,
and then right when you're at that moment, boom, there's the rapture.
But then they're different.
They don't realize that they're pregnant,
and then, boom, out of nowhere as travail upon a woman with child.
That's the symbolism the Bible's saying.
We go through that.
The tribulation's not fun.
But you know what?
We escape the worst part, because the worst part's the end.
Them, on the other hand, they don't get it.
They don't see the signs.
They don't know what's going on.
And then all of a sudden, they say, peace and safety.
It's like, no, you're in labor right now.
It's like, whoa.
Now, the bad news for them is that labor's not 12 hours.
The bad news is that labor's a long period of time
that they're going to go through, the wrath of God.
But you know, here's the thing.
We don't go through that time period, because we're raptured up.
Look, the symbolism doesn't support them.
What symbolism are they talking about?
Okay?
The Bible's just very clear from cover to cover.
It teaches a poster of rapture.
There's no debating that topic.
Okay?
Now turn in your Bible to 1 Peter 5.
1 Peter 5.
But see, here's the thing.
I'm not trying to disprove the rapture, really, in this sermon.
What I'm trying to do is show you this.
I'm taking a few very obvious things that when you hear them,
it's like, man, a mistake, a mistake, a mistake.
If you catch three mistakes in a sermon,
does that mean that there are only three?
Do you understand what I'm saying?
If you catch a few major mistakes where it's like, whoa,
that's not right, how much other stuff are you catching?
And I want you to realize people that are in these churches,
they know they're hearing false doctrine.
There's people that tune into our ministry,
and they don't come to our church,
and maybe they'll make that decision one day,
but they hear various false things, and they're bothered by it.
The question is, how much else are you hearing,
and you don't notice it, but suddenly it hits you?
And this is especially true if you're kind of new to a lot of this stuff.
You're going to hear a lot of false doctrine,
and you're not going to get it.
But look, I wouldn't recommend as a saved person
who's been a soul winner for 10 years to just listen to this preaching.
Look, if you listen to a Calvinist for 20 years,
it's going to start to affect you.
Now, are you going to become a five-point Calvinist?
No, but you're still going to be affected,
and your soul winning is going to die off,
and your belief and understanding of certain passages is going to be changed.
Why? You're going to be persuaded if you hear a false teacher over and over again.
It's going to affect you, okay?
And people are in these churches.
They learn nothing. They're not motivated.
And then all of a sudden it's like, man!
It's like the meat wasn't cooked.
It's like, what? I got this piece of chicken.
Why is it all red?
And it's like, well, sometimes you catch that red meat,
and sometimes you don't, right?
That's reality.
So number one is this.
When should you leave a lame church?
Well, when you're hungry all the time.
That should not be your situation where you learn nothing,
you're not motivated, and you're hearing false things, okay?
And look, I'm completely sincere in this.
If that is the way you feel about our church,
you should go to a different church.
If you say, Brother Stuckey, I never learn, I'm not motivated,
and I think you're saying a lot of things that are false,
you're better off going to another church.
You say, Brother Stuckey, I agree with a lot of what you say,
but on that repentance of sins topic, I believe something else.
You should go to a different church.
We're not trying to build the biggest church here.
You say, Brother Stuckey, you're too harsh on the Calvinists or the LGBT.
Look, there's other churches that you're welcome at.
It's like, you know what?
When you're at a part of a church,
you're either going to believe in the church or you're not,
and it's like you say you disagree with the preaching,
then I don't know why you would come here.
Now, as far as I know, nobody feels that way.
But the reality is, I don't want to just get all these Baptists.
You know, some Baptist is going to hear the sermon,
and they don't really believe in our church,
but they're mad at their church or whatever.
I don't want to get a bunch of people in here that are not on board with our church.
Do we want to fill our church with like half of repentance of sins
and half of non-repentance of sins?
I mean, good night.
We'll have to have like the saved people on one side
and the saved on the other side, right?
And I'll preach a sermon, and then I'll preach here,
and then I'll turn.
You need to believe on Jesus, and then I'll preach a sermon.
You need to get saved, right?
I mean, that's not the way a church operates.
My goal is the church to preach to people that are already saved.
Now, my goal in the sermon is to try to give you some things
you can tell other people at your old churches
that maybe are thinking about coming to this church
and to also make you realize you made the right choice by coming to this church.
Number one, why should you leave?
Well, if you're hungry all the time, you're not learning anything.
You're not motivated, and you're getting poison or just improper food,
in your diet at that church.
But another thing is if there's hypocrisy from the person running that church.
You're hungry, but there's also hypocrisy from the person running that church.
1 Peter 5, verse 1.
The elders which are among you I exhort,
whom also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ,
and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.
Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof,
not by constraint but willingly,
not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind.
Neither is being lured over God's heritage, but being in samples to the flock.
The Bible says you are to be an example to the flock.
And if you're running a church, you need to be an example.
And if you're not an example, that makes you a hypocrite.
If I preach one thing, and I don't live by that standard,
that makes me a hypocrite.
Now realize this.
We are all sinners, and I preach sermons,
and maybe I'm struggling at various things myself,
and I need to get better at reading the Bible, and I need to get better.
But look, if I preach something and I just brazenly don't try to follow it myself,
that makes me a hypocrite.
And the Bible says the person running the church needs to be an example,
meaning they need to lead the charge.
And if they're a hypocrite, it's the opposite.
What are some examples of this?
Well, in verse 2, we see the biggest example.
Feed the flock of God which is among you,
taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint but willingly.
Notice this.
Not for filthy lucre.
Meaning you're not running the church for the purposes of making money.
You're not trying to make money off the people,
and you're willing to be whatever and not be an example.
You're just trying to get money from people so it's filthy lucre
because you're dishonest. You're a phony.
Go to Jeremiah 6. Jeremiah chapter 6.
Jeremiah chapter 6.
This is the biggest thing you see in the Bible.
If you're trying to see some evidence that preachers are false prophets,
what's when they're covetous, and it's all about money.
And look, that is most Baptist churches here in the Philippines.
Most Baptist pastors here in the Philippines.
Let me be dead honest. I think most of them are reprobates.
I think most pastors here in the Philippines, most Baptist pastors,
and it shouldn't be shocking if someone's a false prophet.
Now are there some saved Baptist pastors? Of course there's some,
but most of them I believe are children of the devil and bad people,
and it's evidenced by the words coming out of their mouth.
Not only are they wrong about repentance, and that alone makes you a false prophet,
but then it's all about money, money, money.
You say, when should I leave my church?
You should leave your church if they ask you to give all your salary in January to the church.
You got to leave your church.
You say, why? Because you got evidence they're reprobates.
You got evidence it's all about fifth and lucre.
You got evidence they're trying to take advantage of you and guilt you into giving them money.
Jeremiah 6 verse 13.
For from the least of them, even unto the greatest of them,
every one is given to covetousness.
And from the prophet, even unto the priest, every one dealeth falsely.
They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people,
slightly saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace.
Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
Nay, they were not at all ashamed.
Neither could they blush.
Neither they shall fall among them that fall.
At the time that I visit them, they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.
Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways, and see and ask for the old paths.
Well, what does that mean?
It means find a pastor that's not covetous.
Find a pastor that preaches the truth.
Where is the good way? And walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.
But they said we will not walk therein.
And look, the biggest link you see, this is just one passage, a famous one,
is the preachers being covetous.
They're taking advantage of the church members.
Now, look, whatever the topic is in the Bible,
I strive to just tell you exactly what the Bible says.
Look, I will preach that, you know what, you're supposed to give 10% of your money to church,
and if you don't do that, you're not right with God.
Because the Bible says you're tied. You're 10%.
Here's what I don't preach, that you ought to give 10% plus one month's salary.
And I haven't even covered all the offerings.
I'm not going to go into every single type of offering that you're supposed to give.
That's like 25% of your money when you add all of these things.
That's a lot of money.
Now, here's the thing about this, though.
If I did believe that, if I did believe that, then I should be willing, as an example,
to give all of my January salaried church too.
So if I'm asking you to be poor for the sake of God, I should be poor.
Now, here's the thing. I don't preach that people are supposed to be poor.
I think it's okay to have a good job and to have money and to have a house.
There's nothing sinful about that.
But if I was preaching you should be poor, I should be poor.
Well, show me these pastors, these Baptist pastors that are requiring you to give all your money,
and yet they're not even ashamed to show you their really, really nice houses.
They have lots and lots of money.
Now, look, I'm not saying it's wrong to have a nice house.
I've never preached that, but it's wrong to say you should be poor and I should be rich.
Right? It's like, what in the world? Is that an example?
No, it's not. You're doing the exact opposite of what you're preaching.
What's that called? It's called being a hypocrite.
It's called hypocrisy when it comes to money.
And look, I tell you, you should give 10%. Guess what? I give 10%.
And if I didn't do that, what would I be? I'd be a hypocrite.
But these pastors are hypocrites. All they talk about is money.
You say, Brother Stuckey, not every sermon in my old church was a sermon on money.
Yeah, but you heard the mini sermon on money.
You didn't get a one-hour sermon on money, but you got the five-minute sermon on money. Right?
You didn't get the big sermon. You just got the mini sermon.
They just kind of mixed it in, just as a reminder, make sure, you know.
It's just like you got the mini sermon on money.
What is that called? It's called the pastors being hypocrites.
I mean, and this is the thing. And look, when people are at these churches,
yeah, you should definitely leave because that's a sign they're probably a child of the devil.
That's reality. Now, here's the thing about this.
My goal is not to get every single Baptist to be a member of our church
because if they don't believe in the things of our church,
then they're probably better somewhere else. Okay? That's reality.
But my point is this, that if your pastor is a hypocrite, why are you at that church?
They're meant to be an example. Go to Mark 16. Mark 16. Mark 16.
Thou preachest that a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
Because if you're saying, hey, you're stealing from God if you don't give your January salary,
well, are you stealing? The one who's preaching this sermon?
Based on the standard that you're setting?
One big thing of the hypocrisy you see in a lot of Baptist churches is in regards to money,
regards to filthy lucre, as the Bible says.
You know, another thing is in regards to soul winning.
A lot of pastors are hypocrites in regards to soul winning.
You say, what do you mean, Brother Stuckey?
They command you to go soul winning, but they never go soul winning.
They command you to preach the gospel, but are they an example of preaching the gospel?
Nope. They never go. You say, why?
Well, I mean, they've retired from soul winning. They're a pastor now.
I mean, you've got a spiritual leader. I mean, he better be retired from soul winning.
Otherwise, he's not called from God. Right?
What does it say in Mark 16, verse 15?
And he said on to them, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
Now look, ye is plural. So it's saying, go ye into all the world.
That's plural, meaning every single person should go and preach the gospel, every single person.
There's nothing in the Bible that says if you reach a certain point, you're retired from soul winning.
Why would you want to retire from soul winning?
And yet you've got churches where they expect all their members to go out soul winning,
but they never go themselves.
Right.
Now, here's the problem with that. The Bible says he that win its souls is wise.
So here's the thing. If your preacher's not soul winning, he's not going to be wise,
so how is he going to teach you? How are you going to learn? Okay?
But they're hypocrites in regards to soul winning.
Go to Deuteronomy 17. Deuteronomy 17. Deuteronomy 17.
Now, I want you to realize, honestly, we're not competing with other Baptist churches for members
because here's the thing. My personal standpoint is if somebody agrees with our type of church,
come to our church, and if you don't, go to another church.
I would assume other Baptist churches would agree with that.
Hey, if they believe different doctrines, why wouldn't they go to the church that believes the same doctrines?
Look, I'm not trying to steal members. I'm not trying to steal people that are unsaved people. Right?
I don't want the people that believe in Calvinism and repentance of sins.
And are there people that are confused in those churches?
Absolutely, they're confused because they've got devils behind the pulpit,
which is all the more reason to preach the truth so people aren't confused by these false doctrines.
Because here's the thing. Many of you were at Baptist churches before,
and you're confused on a lot of these things because of the fact the person preaching to you.
A person gets saved, and then they hear these sermons, and it makes them question their salvation afterwards.
You say, well, what is that poison? Here's the poison.
Well, you know, if you're really saved, there's going to be a bit of a change. Right?
We're not saying you've got to do good works to be saved. Right?
But if you're really saved, if you have true salvation, real salvation, there's going to be evidence. Right?
Right?
It's like, no, faith is the evidence according to the Bible, not your works.
Another part of the hypocrisy is that they teach you need to read the Bible,
you need to memorize the Bible, and yet they've never read the Bible.
It's mind-blowing how anyone could call themselves a pastor and not be embarrassed about having not read the Bible.
I mean, were they ashamed when they committed abominations? Nope, and they didn't blush either.
Not even ashamed. I've never read the Bible. And it's like they say it like it's a cool thing.
Like, I've never read the Bible. Look at me. I can preach sermons. It's like, wow, good job. Right?
Deuteronomy 17, verse 18.
And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law,
and a book out of that which is before the priests of Levites.
And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life.
Now, David is a king, but basically, I mean, this story is toward a king. I mean, not David, but this story is for a king.
But if you are a leader of people and you're teaching them, it's even more important for you to read.
Because you're teaching everybody. Why?
That he may learn to fear the Lord as God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes to do them,
that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left,
to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.
So it's important as a leader to read, because otherwise you're going to get arrogant.
Otherwise you're going to turn aside to the right or to the left.
You're not going to do a good job running the church. Okay?
Look, if somebody's a pastor, they better have read the Bible a lot of times.
And look, if you tell me, Brother Stuckey, I want to be a pastor one day.
I hope one day you're going to ordain me to be a pastor.
Well, you better spend a lot of time reading the Bible.
Because otherwise, you're going to run out of information to teach people.
And honestly, it's for your best because you're going to hate your life as you're just miserable trying to find a sermon to preach.
You need to know what the Bible says. Okay?
Go to 1 Timothy 3. 1 Timothy 3. 1 Timothy 3.
Now here's the thing. We do the January Bible reading challenge, but guess what?
Me and my wife, our names are there. You say, why?
Because we also read the New Testament in January.
We do the Bible memorization challenges.
Look, I'm committed to doing every single one of those challenges.
I'm trying to convince you to memorize the book of Hosea. I memorize the book of Hosea.
It takes a lot of work. It's not easy.
But you're supposed to be the example as the leader.
As if you're asking people to do something, you need to be willing to do it yourself.
And if you're not willing to do it, then how are you an example as the Bible says?
And look, if the person running the church is not an example, then you're at the wrong church because that's their job.
That's what they're getting paid for. Okay?
And if they're not, they're doing things wrong.
Another thing is this, to work hard.
1 Timothy 3, verse 1. This is a true saying,
If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
The Bible says if you desire the office of a bishop to be a pastor, to be a leader of a church,
it is a good work you're desiring. You say, why?
Well, it takes effort to preach sermons where people are always learning.
You've got to memorize the Bible. You've got to study the Bible. You've got to write the sermons.
It takes effort to go out soul winning and organize soul winning.
It takes effort to do these things.
Look, I'm not against a pastor being full time. I think that's great if someone's able to be full time.
I choose not to. I don't take a paycheck from here.
But praise the Lord for pastors that are full time, and there's nothing wrong with that.
But it's a good work.
Here's my point.
If you've got pastors that are full time, they don't have another job sucking away their hours.
They're full time. How is it that they never go soul winning, and you never learn anything from their sermons?
Like, what are they doing?
I mean, honestly, what are they doing with their time?
You know what they're doing? It's like, poof.
Right? That's what they're doing.
And this is reality.
It's like, what are they getting paid for?
And look, I'm not against somebody being full time. Don't misunderstand me.
There's nothing wrong, but if you're full time, that means that you ought to be preaching sermons that people are learning.
You don't have time to go soul winning?
And look, we ran into this all the time in the U.S.
Because they have this deputation system in the U.S. where people go around for two years and beg for money from every Baptist church before they get sent out into the field.
Because they have to be full time from day one.
Because if you're not full time in the ministry, you weren't called by God.
Same in the U.S. as it is here in the Philippines.
And let me just say, I take that as a personal insult because of the fact, since I'm also working hours, it's kind of like I'm being insulted.
I don't understand that. They wouldn't have liked Paul the Apostle very much.
But here's the thing. They go around and they beg for two years.
And whenever those people come into your churches, all they're doing for two years is asking for money from people.
Now common sense says they're going to say things that people like to hear so they can get money from those churches.
But here's the thing about this. They come into town just to preach a sermon or preach two sermons and ask money from the church.
And then you invite them to soul winning. It's like, oh, I'm so busy.
I don't have time. Right? I don't have it in my schedule. Man, I'm so sorry. I would really love to go.
And it's like they're literally going to be full time from day one.
And then they come into town and they don't have time to go soul winning.
So what are we paying them for then? And this is most missionaries.
Look, the Philippines does not have a lack of missionaries.
Did you realize this country has more missionaries from the U.S. than any other country?
More people are sent to the Philippines by far than any country.
The only country that's even close is Mexico. The only one that's even close.
When I was at my one church we had like 70 missionaries or something. Like 15 were to the Philippines. 15.
Now the reality is I didn't really know a whole lot about the Philippines at the time.
So I don't know if it was Metro Manila or wherever, whatever location.
But I'm sure that there's a lot of people that you know that were sent by the U.S. as missionaries.
Now the question is, what are they doing though?
Because if they're full time from day one, why are they not preaching sermons that are changing lives?
Why are they not doing lots of soul winning? They're not doing anything.
They're not doing Christianity the way they're supposed to as a leader.
Turn to 1 Peter 5. 1 Peter 5. 1 Peter 5.
Those are just four basic things, but you have to ask yourself, is the person running your church, are they a hypocrite?
What are the four things mentioned there? Well, I mean, for filthy lucre. Is it all about money?
Well, I don't think you could claim I'm a hypocrite in that regard because I don't take a salary.
So it's kind of impossible to be a hypocrite then.
What about not going soul winning? I go soul winning at least three times a week every single week.
And whenever we have soul winning events, I go to all those soul winning events.
When it comes to reading the Bible and memorizing the Bible, you know, I do all of those memorization challenges.
When it comes to working hard, I wish I got to sleep more. I'll be honest, right?
You know, it's hard work. And look, the reality is this though, everybody should be working hard in their lives.
Everybody should be busy. And it's like a lot of these pastors though, they get a lot of money and they just have a lot of free time.
And you know what's sad is this, people will give to like the missions fund or an offering fund something for a specific cause.
They give money to the missions fund and what it's used on is a pastor eating at really nice restaurants.
They eat at the spiral buffet. It's a really fancy restaurant in Metro Manila and everything like that.
They eat these fancy buffets, like 4,000 pesos per person and everything like that.
And look, I'm not saying it's wrong to have money and eat at those places, but when you're using money designated for something else, for that cause, that's wicked.
And yet, they do this all the time. Look, many of you have told me before that at your old churches you felt pressured and guilty, like you had to give money to the church.
And now you're just like, man, I wish I had saved up that money. It's like the down payment on my house went to the pastor.
That's literally the sort of thing. It's sad, but it's true. So look, when should you leave your church?
If you're hungry, meaning you're not learning, you're not motivated, you're getting fed poison, how about hypocrisy from the person running the church?
If it's all about money and yet they're not living by that standard, they tell you to go soul winning, they don't go soul winning.
They tell you to read the Bible and memorize the Bible and give all to God, and yet they're not reading the Bible. They're not memorizing the Bible.
They're telling you to work hard and they're not working hard. And look, this is not every Baptist pastor that's out there.
I'm sure there are plenty of Baptist pastors that are doing a good job. And here's the thing about this.
If they're doing a good job and they're a good man, they're not going to be angry at what I'm saying.
Why would you be angry unless you're guilty?
I mean, if they're doing a good—and look, there are. And look, in the Philippines, there's rising up some like-minded churches here, and praise the Lord for that.
They're not going to be offended by this because they're not guilty.
You only get offended if you're guilty with what's being preached.
So the question is how. How do you leave your church? You say, Brother Stuckey, okay.
If somebody shares this with a friend, it's like, man, my pastor is a hypocrite. He's probably a child of the devil.
It's like, he's a hypocrite. I'm always hungry. Because here's the thing.
In 1 Peter 5, what you're seeing is the person running the church, they have a responsibility.
If they're not doing their responsibility, if you're part of the flock, you're not obligated to stay at that church.
1 Peter 5, verse 1.
The elders which are among you I exhort, whom also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.
Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly.
Not fulfilled the Elucor, but of a ready mind.
Neither is being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock.
So here it says, you as a member of a church, you're part of the flock of God.
You're part of that local flock, that local church.
Now, put yourself in the position of actually being part of a flock.
Let's say you had a shepherd and you're a sheep. It's going to be very comfortable being part of that flock.
It's kind of hard to just kind of wander off from everybody else, just out on your own, and just have faith in God.
And yet, sometimes you have to do that in a spiritual standpoint.
And it's difficult.
If you've been at a church for 10 years, it's kind of hard to just forsake that church and step out on your own, because you don't know what's going to happen.
When we started our church, we had probably in the mid to high 20s of people on board with this church from day one.
And the reality is that when this church started, many of you left your old Baptist churches to come here.
But you also kind of took a step of faith.
Because, who knows? I could have come here and just left after six months or whatever, right?
You didn't know the new church was going to last.
You didn't know what was going to happen. You never even met me, a lot of you, right?
And it took a leap of faith to come and be a part of this church.
That's a difficult thing to do.
Now, look, obviously this church has lasted and it's going to last and it's going to be strong and get lots of people saved.
But you didn't know that when you started.
You were just taking that by faith, taking that chance.
Now, I want you to realize, for many of you, that was actually a very difficult step to do.
I mean, there's people that ask for prayer requests. There's that group.
I think it's still active in Facebook. It's like the new IFB Philippines.
People don't really talk on it too much anymore, but it's like a big thing years ago and everything.
And many of you asked for prayer. You said, man, I want to leave my church, but I want prayer to have the strength to do that.
Why? It's a difficult thing to do.
Look, I don't think we should look down on other people that maybe are in this in-between stage right now
that might one day become a part of us because, look, some of our best members were kind of at the in-between stage
and then they got on board and they got on board.
But that first step is hard because it's comfortable being part of the flock.
Okay? Go to Matthew 14. Matthew 14.
And it's especially tough because people are taught for 30 years that you're supposed to be loyal to your pastor.
Well, I want you to realize something. If you were part of a good church, okay?
If you're part of a good church and that church helped you and taught you the Word of God
and you're part of that church, and then maybe the church kind of goes to the left a little bit.
It starts kind of swaying away from the things of God.
Look, I would understand that position of saying, hey, I want to be loyal because it's not like it used to be,
but I'm hoping it can be redirected. It's still a good church.
Even if there is another church that maybe is a little bit better, you say, hey, I've been part of this church.
I'm connected. It's still a good church. The person running the church is a good man.
But here's the thing. If you've got one of these people as your leader of your church that's a hypocrite
and you're always hungry, that's not a good leader of your church.
There shouldn't be this loyalty where you say, I'm going to stick with him until the very end,
even though it's not helping me in my life.
Now, you're supposed to be a part of a church that's helping you.
It's helping you become spiritual. It's helping you serve God. It's helping you be motivated.
And look, if this is not the church, I'm dead honest.
If you say, I'm not motivated, I'm not serving God at this church, I'd be better off,
there's another church that's more zealous or I learn more, you should go to that church. That's reality.
Now, I do believe that in this area, if you actually want to serve God, this is a church that you're going to love.
But if you say, Brother Stuckey, there's this other church that I think is better, you should go to that other church.
And look, the reality is, at any church, there's always a few people that have this sort of idea.
Look, you should honestly leave your lame church.
If you think this is a lame church, then honestly, you should leave.
Point number one of when to leave a lame church, if you think your church is lame, leave.
I mean, in reality, if you don't think this is the best church, you say,
Brother Stuckey, I just don't like this preaching, I don't agree, then honestly, you should go to a church you agree with.
But if you do agree with this church, then I do believe there should be a sense of loyalty,
even if the church might make mistakes in the future or isn't perfect.
And the reality is, unfortunately, there's not really a lot of options for people.
That's the reason why. But here's the thing.
Let's say you come from a long distance away and a good church starts nearby you,
honestly, you should just get on board with that church and get involved in the things of God
and be a blessing to that new church.
Look, if a great church starts in Bulla Khan, the people that come from Bulla Khan should just get on board with that church, probably,
and be a blessing there.
We've got people sometimes who come from Cavite.
If a great church starts, and look, I hope, Lord willing, in the next 10 years, we're going to see that.
And that could mean that some people at our church go to a different church,
but that new area is going to need those people to help build that church up.
I'm not trying to get every—because I realize there's a lot of wisdom in a local church,
and you want to be a part of a church that you're nearby is the best situation to be in.
But unfortunately, there's a lot of bad churches out there in 2021.
Matthew 14, verse 28.
And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
And he said, Come.
And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked in the water to go to Jesus.
But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
So Peter says, I want to go on the water, and Jesus says, Come.
Now, here's the thing. When Peter starts on the water, he basically fails.
He looks at the obstacles, and he struggles.
But I want you to see this, that what it says in verse 31,
And Jesus let him drown to death.
Is that what it says in verse 31?
And Jesus let him drown?
And Jesus let him struggle for a while.
Is that what it said? No.
And immediately, and immediately, Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him and said unto him,
O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
You know, the reality is, whenever you step out on the water to do something for God,
you're probably going to make some mistakes or have some problems along the way.
It's not always going to be perfect.
And look, the reality is this, though, that God is going to be right there to catch you.
I'll tell you what. Many people have taken that step to leave their old churches
because they knew they were at the wrong church.
Look, I don't believe anyone at a church would say, Man, I regret it.
If I could go back, Brother Stuckey,
I'm a part of this church now, but if I could go back,
I really love giving my January salary to church, right?
I really miss, and look, I'm sure you do have friends and people you knew at your old church that you do miss.
I hope some of those people come to our church.
If they're good people and they're like-minded or they're kind of in between,
I hope they listen to this preaching and they jump on board with our church.
And we've had people in the past couple years that have slowly come to our church,
and I'm sure we're going to have more, but here's the reality.
When you take a leap of faith to serve God, it's going to be difficult.
It's going to be hard.
Say, How do I do this, Brother Stuckey?
Because many people that might hear this sermon might say,
That is exactly my situation. I just don't know how to do it.
I want to do it. How do I do it?
A lot of people have an obligation, and look, this is totally up to you.
They feel like, I've got to have a sit-down meeting to explain to the pastor that I'm leaving.
Now, this is totally up to you what you want to do, but I know exactly how that meeting's going to go.
You say, Why, Brother Stuckey? Because I've been in those meetings before.
It's going to be called, The pastor will either yell at you,
or he'll just tell you, You're backslidden. You're not right with God.
You should be loyal to me. I've done so much for you, and now you're just going to leave me.
That is how the meeting goes.
I literally know an example of someone who left the church,
close friend of mine, this is in West Virginia,
and basically they just brought in one person at a time.
They wouldn't allow all the friends to go together. I wasn't there, but several friends went,
and basically they let one in, and then they locked the door.
They had the pastor and two deacons.
This person had been saved for just six months, and they made him cry,
just talking about how he was... I mean, this person had been saved for six months trying to serve God,
and he's getting screamed at by the pastor and the deacon about how he's not right with God, he's not loyal.
Unfortunately, this is how most meetings go.
I personally, I don't think, especially if they were a false prophet,
that you're obligated to just have a sit-down meeting, and you can if you want.
If you feel like you should, then there's nothing wrong with that.
Now, if they were a good person, yeah, it would probably be appropriate to tell them that you're leaving,
and you have some differences of opinion, but you're thankful for everything they did.
But the reality is that, you know what, you just got to take that leap of faith.
You say, Brother Stuckey, you know what? I mean, well, you can send that email.
You say, Brother Stuckey, I don't want to have that sit-down meeting.
There's some people like, man, I've got to wait for that sit-down meeting.
Look, if that's what's holding you back, just go and send the email, okay?
It's like, by all means, do the meeting if you have the strength to do that,
but if you can't because of that one thing, then just go and just send the email, send the text message.
And look, I understand it's hard, because how many times does somebody quit a job and they don't even tell their bosses?
I remember my old job in Maryland. It's like, you know, we'd start, depending on your shift,
either at 7.30 or 8.30 in the morning, and sometimes somebody would just be, oh, they're a couple minutes late.
They're 40 minutes late, didn't call, don't know what happened. All right, well, they were gone today.
Next day, they don't show up, and then after a couple of days, we assume they're not dead.
They probably left the job. Now, that's not a wise thing to do, because you need that recommendation.
So that's a really foolish thing to do when you have a job, but people do that.
You know, why is it that they do it that way? Because it's hard to have that meeting,
because it's not like when you tell that, you know, your boss is like, I'm so happy you're leaving. That's great.
Right? It's difficult, but I'll tell you what, it takes a leap of faith. That's what it takes.
But I would say this, that, you know what, if your church is not clear on salvation, you just need to leave.
And if you say, Brother Sucky, I don't agree with the salvation message of this church.
I've been here for six months, and I like a lot of the preaching, and I'm learning,
and I don't agree about this repentance topic with you, then you're at the wrong church.
Because the number one thing, you need to be a part of a church that is right on salvation.
Breathe with on that topic, but you also need to be learning. You shouldn't be hungry at church.
Say, Brother Sucky, I'm starving. I haven't eaten in months at church. There's something wrong.
You ought to be learning spiritually. You ought to be growing, and the person running the church should not be a hypocrite.
Let's close in a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today, and I ask you to just bless this sermon to our ears,
and help us to apply this to our lives.
And maybe we can share this with certain people that we know that are friends, or former church members,
and people that are in that situation where maybe they feel like they should leave their church,
and they've got a good church around them, but they've been there for a long time.
And help to give them the strength, if that's the decision they make, to take that leap of faith, to serve you fully.
We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
For our last song, song number 316.
Song number 316, I have decided to leave the church.
I have decided to follow Jesus.
Song number 316.
Song number 316, I have decided to follow Jesus.
I have decided to follow Jesus.
Song number 316.
Let's sing it on the first.
I have decided to follow Jesus.
No turning back, no turning back.
On a second.
Though not go with me, still I will follow.
No turning back, no turning back.
Sing on the last.
The world behind me, the cross before me.
No turning back, no turning back.
Amen. Let's pray.
Thank you.
Amen.