🎵Dramatic Music🎵
Good morning everyone, good morning, let's start our first service. Let's take our seats and get our hymns. And turn to hymn number 205. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church Middle School. We're going to start the first service by singing He Kips Me Singing, hymn number 205.
🎵Piano Music🎵
Put your body on the first.
🎵Piano Music🎵
Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Verde Baptist Church. Take out your bulletin. We're going to go through some announcements real quickly.
And welcome to the Philippines. If you're just coming in, just, it's a long flight, grab some coffee, get a cobra energy drink, whatever you need to do, alright?
So you wake up and you're ready for church. But on the front of our bulletin is our verse of the week, 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 1.
The Bible reads,
Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified even as it is with you. And that's a great verse there.
And down below, we are a family integrated church, meaning children and infants are welcome during the services.
We do have a mother-baby room back there for your convenience, as well as the ladies restroom is there in the mother-baby room.
The men's restroom is up here in front. On the next page are service times listed.
Our first service is at 10 a.m. Our second service, I'm estimating 1130, but we did not give Pastor Sepulveda a time limit, okay?
So however long the Spirit moves him to preach, you know, we might have to skip lunch or whatever, you know.
We're not skipping soul winning, but we might have to skip lunch. We'll see.
But anyways, our Wednesday evening Bible study, which will also be here this week, is going to be at 7 p.m.
And so let me just go through some announcements overall for the missions trip before we move on to the bulletin.
Obviously, we are a packed crowd here today. There's something in the Philippines called Filipino Time,
meaning, you know, halfway through the sermon, we might have like another 10 people come into the church, okay?
And so let me just say this. If we end up getting too packed and we have too many seats, ladies are welcome to stay back there in the room.
Unfortunately, we're going to be out of chairs, but we do have mats set up.
If we run completely out of chairs, some of the young kids could sit on their parents' laps.
Some of the able bodied men at our church could just stand up through the service.
I'm planning to stand during the first service if that is necessary.
Right now, we're okay. I'm just saying I'm used to Filipino Time.
I'm used to preaching to nobody, and then like halfway through the sermon, you know, people are coming from every direction.
We're also accepting offers for people to be like Eutychus in the Bible.
You know, halfway on the outside, you know, barely hanging on on the railing, you know, that's okay.
But, you know, we are not liable for, you know, like health insurance, life insurance, things like that, okay?
Just to let you know. But anyways, our soul winning times are listed.
And our official soul winning times on Wednesdays, we have soul winning at 2 p.m. at Marikina Freedom Park.
Brother Chris said he's going to be there actually all day in Marikina, so we're going to be at soul winning a lot of different places.
After the soul winning today, we are going to have a meeting to go through what's going to kind of come ahead the next several days.
Some things are still up in the air. It's going to come into my sermon.
With K-Some Memorial Circle, it's like, will they let us go soul winning there? Will they not?
We do have backup plans, but we do have a meeting after soul winning today to discuss these things.
So let's see. For today, I moved the lunch time back because I think it might take longer for some people to get lunch here today.
So basically, the soul winning pairing is going to start not at 2 p.m. as it says here, but at 2.30.
So it's going to give you roughly one and a half hours to get lunch.
And so if you brought lunch, that's great. If not, we do have, we call it a car under area nearby the church where basically people cook food in their home.
I'm sure many people from our church can help you find that.
At the end of the street there, it's about a ten minute walk or if you get a tricycle, you'll be there in like a minute.
There's the world famous McDonald's, right? And the world famous Jollibee, right?
And so that's like our version of McDonald's kind of here in the Philippines, the big fast food place.
So real gourmet cooking you can get just at the end of the road, okay?
But soul winning pairing will start at 2.30. We always have a lot of people soul winning on Sundays.
Obviously with a lot of people coming in, it's going to be a bit more complicated here today.
We have two Japanese rented which can fit about 20 people.
So what we want you to do during the soul winning pairing, we're going to say, hey, we need 20 people, 20 foreigners to just go with brother so and so.
And once we give you your group, we're going to need you to just go.
Because we're going to, it's going to be a lot easier if there's not like a hundred people in front of you who are still trying to pair them.
So we'll send off a group of 20, another group of 20.
We have an area we call the gulay or vegetable area. All the streets are named after vegetables.
We'll have, you know, if there's any foreigners that are young and able bodied to go and then a large group of singles from our church, we're going to send you in that direction.
Most of the families at our church are going to be going to Hardeen and whatever's left, we're going to go nearby the church.
Obviously when you're trying to partner a lot of people together, it's complicated.
So that's what our plan is here today.
Obviously I'll talk about that later on when we do the actual pairing though.
But soul winning pairing starts at 2.30 and roughly 2.45. We're going to be out there.
Sunday is not our biggest soul winning day in terms of the amount of time we go.
It's our biggest in terms of the most people go.
But we're not sending you out for three hours.
It's roughly an hour to an hour and a half, about an hour and a half.
That's it.
And then make sure you're done on time so the whole group is not waiting on you.
Then we come back here.
We're going to go through the details for the rest of the week.
And then you can get some rest.
And then of course it's the battle plan for the whole week of doing a lot of soul winning.
Right?
So hopefully that makes sense.
But in terms of if you came here you say I want to be baptized, of course we do offer baptisms.
We don't have room anymore to keep our baptistry inside the building.
So we bring it out when necessary.
So if you want to be baptized here today, after the soul winning time we will fill it up and I can baptize you here today.
Or on Wednesday night because with the traffic in Metro Manila a lot of people from our church are not going to be able to come on Wednesday.
And so we're going to have more room.
Or next Sunday even though we're meeting at a different location I can come back here and baptize you.
My family is going to be here from Monday to Wednesday so if none of that works let me know.
We can come down to the church building and do a special occasion.
But I would say later today might be the best day for Wednesday night.
But let me know or let one of our church members know and we'll make sure to get you baptized.
But our salvations and baptisms are listed there for the year as well as the month for all of our churches.
I think the final report we had was 140 salvations and intramurals yesterday so praise God for that.
We had 15 salvations in Pampanga so we broke our monthly record in Pampanga.
Last month in January we broke our monthly record.
We just broke it again and we still have a lot of time left in February so praise God for that.
Then we have our churches and ministries listed down there below.
A lot of our church is gone here. They're part of the BBC Laguna group.
So about 20 people are gone here today that are part of that ministry.
On the next page our Bible Memorization Challenge is listed.
And as I mentioned today is our monthly Laguna church service.
We have Pastor Kevin Sepulveda.
He's going to be preaching the first service here today so we're excited to have him come here and guest preach for us.
And then the way our services work are different than probably most churches.
We have a short break, 10 minutes, and we jump into the second service.
So basically after the first service here today we might give a little bit longer.
But basically it's not necessarily the time to fellowship.
It's like get water, get pandesali, the bread back there, and then we jump into the second service.
And so that's our schedule here today.
Of course the missions trip starts tomorrow officially and runs through until next Sunday.
Next Sunday's church service, as I mentioned in the group chats, is going to be at the Kayenta Green Park Village.
That is not that far from here. It's going to be in the covered courts.
If you have any questions about the directions I sent it in those group chats.
If you're not part of those we can let you know.
If you have any questions about how to get there we can let you know during the week.
But next Sunday we're going to be meeting there at 10 a.m.
It's going to be one church service.
It's going to be a very long sermon but just one sermon, extra time to fellowship.
And that's going to be next Sunday.
And so one thing that's not here in the bulletin I did want to mention.
We do have a missions trip coming up in Cebu.
It's going to start on June 30th.
And so it's the sixth year church anniversary of Faith and Verity Baptist Church pastor Sammy Mancilli.
So I'll be preaching for their anniversary service.
And it's going to start, it's going to kick off a missions trip.
So that's just more than four months away.
I've never been to Cebu so I'm excited.
I know a lot of people from our church have expressed interest in going.
But for those of you that are in town if you want to go to another missions trip,
Cebu coming up in just more than four months is an opportunity to have a lot of like-minded people
and have a great time and get a lot of people saved.
So that's coming up on June 30th.
Our birthdays and anniversaries are listed there for the month of February.
Rules of conduct for our church.
And then there's an insert in your bulletin just to take notes during the sermon.
So I believe that's it for announcements.
We will have Brother Marlon lead us in another song.
Alright, for our next song let's turn hymns to hymn number 146.
Hymn number 146.
Let's sing the song, A Shelter in the Time of Storm.
On the first.
The Lord's our God, in him we hide.
A shelter in the time of storm.
Take your whatever will be time.
A shelter in the time of storm.
Oh, Jesus is a rock in a weary land.
A weary land, a weary land.
Oh, Jesus is a rock in a weary land.
A shelter in the time of storm.
A shame by day, defense by night.
A shelter in the time of storm.
No fears alarm, no foes afraid.
A shelter in the time of storm.
Oh, Jesus is a rock in a weary land.
A weary land, a weary land.
Oh, Jesus is a rock in a weary land.
A shelter in the time of storm.
The raging storms may round us big.
A shelter in the time of storm.
We'll never leave our secret trade.
A shelter in the time of storm.
Everybody on the chorus.
Oh, Jesus is a rock in a weary land.
A weary land, a weary land.
Oh, Jesus is a rock in a weary land.
A shelter in the time of storm.
Oh, rock divine, oh refuge dear.
A shelter in the time of storm.
Be thou our helper ever near.
A shelter in the time of storm.
Oh, Jesus is a rock in a weary land.
A weary land, a weary land.
Oh, Jesus is a rock in a weary land.
A shelter in the time of storm.
Great singing.
It's time to take our thanks and offering.
For our script reading, please open your Bible to Second Chronicles chapter number 32.
Second Chronicles chapter number 32.
We will read that word chapter.
Please say amen if you're there.
Second Chronicles chapter number 32 beginning from verse number 1.
Our Bible reads,
After these things, an established mentor of Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered into Judah,
and encamped against the Pensyrias, and thought to win them for himself.
And when Ezekiel saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem,
he took counsel with his princes and smiled at men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city,
and they did not help him.
So there was gathered much people together who stopped all the fountains,
and a brook that ran through to the midst of the land,
saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?
Also he strengthened himself and built up all the wall that was broken,
and raised it up to the towers.
And another walk without, and prepared Melo in a city of David,
and made theirs and shows in abundance,
and set captains afar over the people,
and gathered them together to him in the streets of the gate of the city,
and spake comfortably to them, saying,
Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed.
For the king of Assyria, and for all the multitude that is with him,
for there be more with us than with him.
With him is an arm of flesh,
but with us is the Lord our God to help us,
and to fight our battles.
And the people rested themselves upon the walls of Hezekiah king of Judah,
after these kids, and after the king of Assyria, sent servants to Jerusalem.
But himself laid siege against Lachis,
and all his power with him,
unto Hezekiah king of Judah,
and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying,
That said, Hezekiah king of Assyria,
whereon do you trust that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem?
That not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves,
so that by payment and by truth, saying,
That Lord our God shall deliver us out of the hands of the king of Assyria?
Had not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his authors,
and commanded Judah in Jerusalem, saying,
Ye shall worship before one author, and burn incense upon him,
knowing not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands.
Who are the gods of the nations of those lands,
and in a way is able to deliver their lands out of my hand?
Who was there among all the gods of those nations,
that my fathers utterly destroyed,
that could deliver his people out of my hand,
that your God shall be able to deliver you out of my hand?
Now therefore, let not Hezekiah deceive you,
nor persuade you on his banner,
neither yet believe him,
for no god of any nation or kingdom
was able to deliver his people out of my hand.
And at the hand of my fathers,
and how much less shall your God deliver you out of my hand?
And as servants speak yet more against the Lord God
and against his servants Hezekiah,
he wrote also letters to rail on the Lord God of Israel,
and I speak against him, saying,
As the gods of the nations of other lands
have not delivered their people out of my hand,
so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of my hand?
Then I cried with a loud voice in due peace
unto the people of Jerusalem,
that grant the world to up-pride them,
and to trouble them that they might take the city.
And I speak against the gods of Jerusalem,
as against the gods of the people of the earth,
who swear the work of the hands of men.
And for this cause Hezekiah the king,
and appropriate Isaiah the son of Amos,
prayed and cried to heaven.
And the Lord sent an angel,
which cut off all the mighty men of Pharaoh,
and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria,
so he returned with a shame of faith to his own land.
And when he was come into the house of his god,
they that came forth of his own bowels
threw him there with a sword.
Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem
from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria,
and from the hand of all others,
and gathered them on every side.
And many brought kids unto the Lord to Jerusalem,
and present to Hezekiah king of Judah,
so that he was magnified,
and a sight of all nations from the transport.
In those days Hezekiah was sick to the death,
and prayed unto the Lord,
and spake unto him, and gave him a sign.
But Hezekiah rendered not again affording
to the benefit that unto him,
for his heart was lifted up,
therefore there was wrath upon him,
and upon Judah and Jerusalem.
Notwithstanding, Hezekiah humbled himself
for the pride of his heart,
both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon them
in the days of Hezekiah.
And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honor,
and he made himself pressurize for silver,
and for gold, and for precious stones,
and for spices, and for soothes,
and for all manner of piece of jewels,
storehouses also for the increase of corn,
and wine, and oil,
and stoves for all manner of beasts,
and cause for blacks.
Moreover, he provided him theories,
and possessions of blacks, and herds, and abundance,
for God had given him substance every month.
The same Hezekiah also stopped
the upper water first of Gihon,
and brought it straight down to the west side
of the city of David.
And Hezekiah prospered in all his works,
howbeit in the business of the ambassadors
of the princess of Babylon,
was sent to him to inquire of the wonder
that was done in the land.
God led him to try him
that he might know all that was in his heart.
Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah
and his goodness,
behold, they have written the vision
of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos,
and in the book of the kings of Judah,
and Israel.
And Hezekiah slept with his fathers,
and they buried him in the chief place
of the simple curse of the sons of David.
And all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem
did him honor at his death,
and Manasseh's son reign at his death.
Okay, well thank you for having me to preach here.
I first of all want to just thank
Pastor Matthew Starkey for allowing me to come here
and inviting the church for this soul-willing event.
It's going to be exciting to be able to go out
to another country and to give the gospel.
I hope you don't have a hard time
understanding my accent.
Of course, I'm from Australia,
and my name's Pastor Kevin Sapulveda.
I'll just quickly introduce myself.
I am married with 12 children,
and most recently my eldest daughter got married
a few months ago.
So we're back to having 11 kids.
And obviously it's too difficult to bring the whole family,
but I did bring one of my son's Christian.
And we do have some of our church members
attending this week as well.
So we have a few of our members of my main church,
which is New Life Baptist Church.
And that's located on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland.
That's the church that I serve full-time as a pastor.
And so I have a few members here from that church.
And then we also establish a church plant in Sydney,
which is Australia's largest city.
And that church plant, right now,
I travel for midweek services,
and we have a rotation of men,
faithful men that preach there on Sundays.
And so I have a few members from that church here as well.
And so for the Australians, if you don't mind,
just raise your hand so they know that you're the Aussies,
the Aussies visiting the church here today.
Great to have you guys.
And obviously we have some friends as well attending.
And I know Brother Christian.
I've known him, you know,
probably a few months before he came to visit Verity Baptist Church.
And obviously I know some other faces as well,
some Americans that have traveled.
I've met you as well.
They'll please forgive me if I don't remember everyone's names.
And, you know, please feel free to introduce yourself
to the brethren here from Australia.
I mean, it's so exciting to be in the Philippines.
I never thought I'd be in the Philippines, I'll be honest with you.
But so excited to come to a place
where we can have brothers and sisters
from different places across the world.
And obviously Australia is very different to the Philippines.
I mean, as soon as you get off the aeroplane
and you get in a taxi,
you can tell how different it is.
Like in Australia, we drive inside the lanes,
whereas you guys drive in the middle of the lanes.
I don't really understand the rules that you have here.
Well, praise God, it seems like things work here.
And of course we have at least people from America,
maybe from other countries as well, visiting.
And so when I was thinking about preparing a sermon for today,
I wanted to share something of one of my favorite characters in the Bible,
which is King Hezekiah.
But I also was being mindful about the fact that
we all come from different backgrounds,
we all have different experiences,
we come from different churches, different countries.
And different cultures.
And, you know, things can be very different in different places.
But one thing I do want to encourage,
especially the Filipinos today,
is to be thankful for what you have.
In the sense that, you know,
praise God that you've got a pastor
that was willing to relocate himself from the United States
to come here to establish a church,
you know, a church that teaches sound doctrine,
a church that prioritizes soul winning.
You know, that's something we ought to be thankful for.
And I know it's been a few years.
And, you know, even as God's people,
and we see, you know,
we're able to do some great works for the Lord,
we're able to further his kingdom,
and we see the hand of God in our lives,
sometimes we forget to be thankful for the things that we do have.
You know, like, many have traveled to the Philippines
because we hear how receptive it is in the Philippines.
Like, we're excited to come to a place
where we get the opportunity to give the gospel
people are willing to hear.
And, you know, you've got a God fearing nation
where people are not just willing to hear the gospel,
but to put their faith and trust in the Lord.
And so when we see these great numbers,
like literally in the hundreds,
you know, that's something I want to encourage you
as the Filipino people
to be thankful that you live in a country
where people are so receptive to the word of God.
You know, in Australia, it's not like that.
In Australia, it's very difficult to find someone
who is willing to allow you to give you the gospel,
and then even once you've given them the gospel,
and, you know, they've understood it,
to get them to actually call upon the name of the Lord,
it's like pulling out teeth.
Because we don't have that church going.
We don't have that praying culture.
And sometimes people may just feel embarrassed,
you know, in front of you to call upon the Lord.
And so what I'm trying to say to you,
you know, especially for the Filipino brethren,
be thankful that you live in a country
that people have a fear of the Lord.
You know, a country that you can actually be driving down the road,
and there are actually some Bible verses,
maybe some perverted versions of the Bible,
but nevertheless, there are some Bible verses
where people still have a respect for God's word.
We don't have that in Australia. It's very difficult.
And so the opportunity to just come here
and to be in fellowship with you,
and to experience and get excited,
a little bit more excited for winning souls,
and, you know, it's something that you guys have that is of great value,
that people are willing to lay down hundreds and thousands of dollars
to come to the Philippines to experience,
to get a slice, you know,
of the experience that you guys have on a weekly basis.
So, you know, the reason I say all of this is because,
you know, we're human beings,
and we have a sinful nature, we have a fallen nature,
and it's so common, it's so easy to be serving the Lord
and to forget to thank Him,
thank Him for the blessings that He has given us.
And like I said, you have a great past,
you've got a great church,
you've got a great nation where people are God-fearing,
and I want you to remember, please be thankful for that.
And the reason why this came to my heart is because,
you know, there are many Filipinos in Australia,
and many Filipinos travel to places like the United States,
and the main reason people do that is to seek,
you know, a higher income, a better quality of life,
and I'm not saying that's your heart here this morning,
but I'm just saying that many times,
people are trying to escape a country
and get that better quality of life,
and quite often, you might have this impression,
and maybe there's someone here today, you have that impression,
the grass is greener on the other side.
Like, you know, life would be so much better
in some other place in the Philippines,
but what I'm trying to say to you is when you lose,
you know, your appreciation, when you lose your gratitude,
you're going to have that mindset,
and I want to just remind you, boy,
what a blessing to be in the Philippines,
what a blessing to be able to give the gospel,
what a blessing to be able to see so many people saved,
like, what a blessing to have literally hundreds,
hundreds come to know Jesus Christ as Savior.
Boy, when you enter into eternity,
you're going to have hundreds of people, you know, thanking you,
you know, for coming to them and giving them the gospel,
for having a heart for these lost souls,
and that's something that, you know,
we're going to have a few, don't forget, don't get me wrong,
in Australia, we have some of that,
but all the noise is going to be when Verity Baptist Church
enters into eternity.
That's where the noise is going to be, you know,
and so that's, again, something to be appreciative of.
Now, before we get into 2 Chronicles 32,
I'll just quickly read to you from Ephesians 5-20,
you don't need to turn there, Ephesians 5-20 says,
giving thanks always for all things,
unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The title for the sermon this morning is,
giving thanks always, giving thanks always.
Now, it's hard to give God thanks
when we're going through difficult times,
but when we're going for good times,
and I've gone through this,
you know, I'm not saying I'm some perfect man here,
I've gone through this, where God, I've seen God's blessings,
and I've seen how God is doing a great work in my life,
and God is blessing the family,
and God is blessing the church, and I forget to thank Him.
And how sad is that, when we forget to thank Him.
Now, we have this great King in the Bible,
King Hezekiah, one of my favourite characters in the Bible, surely.
You know, he was able to do such a great work,
and he was able to clean the land of Judah from the idol worship,
and go in ways contrary to the Lord,
and he's able to get people excited about the things of God again,
he was able to fix up the temple of the Lord,
and get the nation back on track serving the Lord as they should.
But even a man like Hezekiah got to a point in his life
where he forgot to give thanks for the blessings that God gave to his life.
Now, before we read Ephesians, sorry, before we read 2 Chronicles 32,
can you come with me to chapters prior, 3 chapters, 2 Chronicles 29,
come with me to 2 Chronicles 29,
and I'm going to give you a bit of a back story with King Hezekiah,
let's see what the Bible says about him,
here in 2 Chronicles 29, 2 Chronicles 29, and verse number 1.
2 Chronicles 29, verse number 1, the Bible reads,
Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old,
and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem,
and his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
Look at this, and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord,
according to all that David, his father, had done.
He, in the first year of his reign, in the first month, look at this,
opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them.
You see, before he came to reign, the doors of the house of the Lord was closed,
the temple was closed, they weren't worshipping God as a nation,
they were worshipping false gods.
When I think about Verity Baptist Church, you know, the Lord God sent a man here,
your pastor, Matthew Stuckey, to come and open the doors of Verity Baptist Church.
And just like King Hezekiah, his heart is toward the Lord,
his heart is toward the people of God,
and making sure that as a people, we're back worshipping God the way that we ought to.
It says in verse number 4,
And he brought in the priests and the Levites,
and gathered them together in the east streets,
and said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves,
and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers,
and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.
And so not only does he open the doors, not only does he repair the house of the Lord,
but then he organizes the preachers, the leaders, the spiritual leaders,
the Levites, that's what their responsibility was.
You know, to go and clean up the house of the Lord,
so they can return back to worshipping the Lord as they should.
Now, if you don't mind, keep your finger there in 2 Chronicles,
and come with me to 2 Kings.
Let's get a little bit more of a summary of the life of King Hezekiah.
In 2 Kings chapter 18, 2 Kings chapter 18, please.
2 Kings 18 and verse number 1.
It says, Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea,
son of Eli, king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz,
king of Judah began to reign,
twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign,
and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem,
and his mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah.
So you can see it's the same man right there.
And then it says, And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord,
according to all that David his father did.
He removed the high places, and break the images,
and cut down the groves, and break in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made,
for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it,
and he called it Nahashtan.
So his first role as the king is to destroy the idol worship,
to those high places where they set up images of false gods, gods of the other nations.
He destroys these things.
You know he's trying to cleanse his nation from false worship.
And you know one of the wonderful things about being in a church like Verity Baptist Church
is that even though people have a fear of the Lord,
they don't know the Lord, do they?
Even though people have a fear, they still haven't grasped, they understand.
Like obviously Easter here in the Philippines is a big deal.
It's a big celebration, isn't it?
And they recognize if you ask them, Do you know about Jesus?
They know about Jesus.
Do you know about his death and his burial and resurrection?
They know about that.
Do you know that he paid for your sins yesterday?
They know about that, but are they trusting Christ?
No, they're trusting anything else.
They're trusting everything else.
They're trusting their idols, and they're trusting their good works,
like many other places in the world.
And so King Hezekiah, his goal was to ensure that we get rid of the false worship out of the nation.
It continues in verse number 5.
He trusted in the Lord God of Israel,
so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah,
nor any that were before him.
Wow!
You know, for God to say that about a king,
there's no other king like you in all of Judah.
You know, this is why King Hezekiah, by far, is like one of my favorite characters in the Bible.
What a great reputation for God to write that in his word about a man.
And then verse number 6.
For he clived to the Lord, and departed not from following him,
but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses.
And the Lord was with him, and he prospered with a solver he went forth,
and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.
He smelt the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof,
from the tower of the watchmen to the fence city.
And so not only does he fix the house of the Lord,
not only does, you know, when you talk about the house of the Lord in the New Testament,
that's your local church, isn't it?
And so not only is he ensuring that we're back to worshiping the Lord,
not only is he ensuring that the idols and the false worship is being taken out of the land,
he's also being blessed by God,
and he's having a victory, you know, over long-term enemies like the Philistines.
The king of Assyria, the Assyrian empire, powerful empire at the time,
even he was able to push back against the Assyrian king and say,
no, you know, we're going to be a sovereign nation.
And so the Lord was able to help king Hezekiah in such a way.
And wouldn't you say that king Hezekiah has much to thank the Lord for?
You know, to turn a nation around, not just in their prosperity,
but in their spiritual life, and also as a sovereign nation,
to be, once again, a strong power on the land, you know,
not being fearful of the king of Assyria.
Now if you come back with me to 2 Chronicles, back to 2 Chronicles 32,
this is all just laying the groundwork so you get to know about king Hezekiah a little bit more.
You know, 2 Chronicles, come with me to chapter number 32,
2 Chronicles 32, where we had the reading from.
We're now fast-forwarding in the life of king Hezekiah.
You know, he's been blessed by God, he's done great things.
Now toward the end of his life though, the Assyrian empire, once again, was causing a lot of problems.
You know how the nation of Israel was divided into 2 kingdoms after the reign of king Solomon,
and the northern kingdom maintained the name of Israel, and the southern kingdom had the name of Judah.
And so the Assyrian empire at this point had taken over the northern kingdom of Israel.
You know, they had conquered the land and the people were taken into captivity.
And the king of Assyria, he was so proud, he was so mighty in his ways,
that he thought, well now we're going to take over Judah.
You know, now we're going to take down the southern kingdom of Judah where king Hezekiah is.
And look at verse number 1, it says,
After these things, and the establishment thereof,
Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered into Judah.
So he actually makes it into Judah,
and encamped against the fence cities, and fought to win them for himself.
So he thinks, we're going to have victory over Judah.
We're a powerful nation, we're a powerful kingdom, we're a powerful people, we're a powerful army.
There's no way he believes that king Hezekiah is going to be able to have victory over him in this time.
And you know, as I was preparing this, I saw the messages on the chat,
how, you know, one of the plans was to go to, let me see if I got it right,
Kezon Memorial Circle for soul winning.
You know, that was closed as an opportunity to go soul winning,
but then it was reopened, and then it was closed again by some sodomite head of that place, okay.
Well, you know, just for that illustration,
if you don't mind thinking of the king of Assyria as that sodomite head
that's closed down, the opportunity to preach there in that area.
And so you got somebody thinking that, hey, you can shut down Hezekiah,
you can shut down the work that Hezekiah is doing there in Judah.
And it says in verse number 2,
And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem,
he took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city,
and they did help him.
So they stopped the waters from, so they went into Jerusalem as their main fort,
their main place of protection, and they stopped the waters from flowing,
hoping that they would stop the, you know, the commencement of the army of Assyria.
Because if they haven't got water, if they can't nourish themselves, they might retreat.
That's kind of the idea that they're thinking at that time.
Verse number 4,
So there was gathered much people together who stopped all the fountains
and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying,
Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?
And he strengthened himself and built up all the wall that was broken and raised it up to the towers,
and another wall without and repaired Milo in the city of David and made darts and shields in abundance.
So he prepares for war.
He prepares to fight against, you know, the king of Assyria.
Now obviously the battle that we fight is not one of flesh and blood,
but you know we can take many parallels of the battles in the Old Testament,
and we can take that and apply that to the spiritual battle that we have in New Testament times.
And so you can see that he prepares the wars of Jerusalem.
He builds them up.
He's making sure there's no soft points, you know, that can be easily broken in in the city of Jerusalem.
He makes sure they've got weapons and they've got shields.
They're ready for the battle.
And of course, when we talk about the whole arm of God, it's something that we need to put on as believers.
You know, when we go out and we do a work for God,
obviously the devil is not happy with the work that this church is doing.
Obviously the devil is not happy that so many of us have come from other nations today to be here,
to be an encouragement, to get a taste of the soul winning.
And so you need to recall that your battle, our battles are a spiritual battle,
and just like King Hezekiah prepared himself, you know, by building the city and getting the weapons ready,
that we get ourselves ready to put it on the whole arm of God that he's given us.
So look, King Hezekiah is a great man.
Like you can see his heart, his heart for the Lord, his heart for his people.
And then it says here in verse number six,
and he said, Captains of war over the people and gather them together to him in the streets of the gate of the city
and speak comfortably to them saying, look at this, look what he says,
Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria,
nor for all the multitude that is with him, for there be more with us than with him.
Look what he says in verse number eight, with him is an arm of flesh.
He says, look, his strength, the strength of the king of Assyria is that of men.
It's a fleshly strength.
Then he says, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles
and the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah.
So let me encourage you, you know, you guys, look,
it seems like in the Philippines, you are going to have these this constant battle,
you know, with the devil trying to stop your soul win efforts.
You know, I would love to be at Kezon Memorial Circle.
Okay, but hey, what kind of fight are we going to take?
Well, it says right here, we're going to allow the Lord, our Lord to fight that battle.
You know, when we go in and we preach the gospel,
we want God going before us and defeating the enemies of darkness
so that we have easy access to give people the gospel
and see them come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
So you can see that Hezekiah, his strength, his strength in the Lord,
but he's encouraging others.
He's encouraging his army to get the strength from the Lord,
not to be afraid of the enemy.
The whole point of this brethren, just as the starting point here,
I just want to show you that even a man who is serving the Lord faithfully,
like myself included, your pastor included, yourselves included,
we can be on fire for the Lord doing great things,
you know, not being fearful of the enemy, you know,
but as we keep going, you just find that the gratitude is lost.
The thanksgiving is lost in the heart of Hezekiah.
It's sort of hard to imagine as you read through this story,
but what this reminds me of is that this can be us.
Like we can forget to thank the Lord.
The Lord is fighting our battles.
The Lord is blessing us so much, and we forget to thank Him.
And look, again, you know, I'll confess my sins here somewhat.
You know, I'm sure the Lord has answered so many prayers,
has blessed me so much,
and I'm without doubt that I've not thanked Him for every single thing that He's done in my life.
I'm sure there are areas that I've just forgotten to thank Him.
Maybe pride. Maybe pride creeps in,
and you think, look what I've accomplished,
instead of, hey, look what the Lord has accomplished.
You know, these things can happen even when you're in the greatest success,
you know, doing the work of the Lord.
And it keeps going there. Look at verse number nine.
After this did Sennacherib, king of Assyria, send his servants to Jerusalem,
that he himself laid siege against Lakish, and all his power with him,
unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying,
Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria,
Whereon do ye trust that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem?
So that he sends these messages, the king of Assyria sends these messages,
and saying, What are you trusting in?
Why are you hiding yourselves in Jerusalem?
Like he's trying to create doubts in the hearts of the soldiers,
and the people of Jerusalem.
And it says, as it continues in verse number 11,
Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst,
saying, The Lord our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars,
and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying,
Ye shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it?
You know what they're saying?
They're saying, look, how can this king Hezekiah deliver you out of the hands of the Assyrian empire,
when he's taken down all the idols?
Like he's removed all the other gods.
You guys think that one god can help you?
Like that one god that you offer sacrifices unto the altar?
Like obviously, they've had success overcoming other nations,
and those nations had many gods.
And they're like, oh man, we're conquering these nations.
We defeated all these gods.
You think your one god can defeat us?
Like he's trying to create doubt, okay, in the hearts of the people of Jerusalem.
Let's drop down a little bit here.
Let's drop down to verse number 16.
It says, And his servants spake yet more against the Lord God,
and against his servant Hezekiah.
He wrote also letters to rail on the Lord God of Israel,
and to speak against him, saying,
As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people out of mine hand,
so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand.
And they cried with a loud voice in the Jews' speech.
So they started to speak Hebrew.
Unto the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, and affright them,
and to trouble them that they might take the city.
You see, the reason you face opposition is that these wicked people in government,
these wicked people with power, they want to cause fear in your hearts, okay?
They want to trouble you.
Now look, let's take this a little bit differently.
Let's take it a different direction.
Because I guarantee you, every family here today has some difficulty in life,
some trial, some, you know, some challenge that you're going through.
I mean, just a very brief conversation that I've had with you.
Some of you guys are, you know, trying to be patient with visa requirements coming through.
I mean, those are trials that you might face.
You know, sometimes as we go through life,
you can't live a life without fears and trials and difficulties.
These things are going to enter into your life.
Even as you're seeing, you know, even as you're doing a great work for God,
even as He's blessing you, you know, and sometimes as Christians,
you might think, well, Lord, I'm serving you faithfully.
Why do you allow these trials to come?
Why do you allow these difficulties, these tribulations to enter into my life?
And just, you know, for your sake, for the sermon,
I want you to think about what you're going through, what kind of difficulties,
what kind of trials you're going through right now.
I guarantee you there's some difficulty going through,
whether it's some financial difficulty, whether it's a health difficulty,
whether it's a relationship issue, whether it's friendships,
you know, there's, you know, whether it's illness, you know, in the body,
whatever, you know, there'd be some difficulty that we all go through.
You know, something that I sort of underestimated before I became a pastor,
I thought some people's life just was just always good and right,
they don't seem to go through problems.
But since becoming a pastor and people are open to share with you,
I just realized, wow, everyone, like everyone is going through some difficulty,
everyone is going through a trial and that's the truth.
Like that is the honest truth, we all have difficulties and trials
and sometimes it brings fear, concerns, insecurities, hopelessness even.
And that's what the King of Assyria is trying to do,
to drive these fears and concerns in the hearts of the people of Jerusalem.
And it says here in verse number 19,
And they spake against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth,
which were the work of the hands of men.
Verse number 20,
And for this cause, look at this, for this cause,
Hezekiah the king and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amos, prayed and cried to heaven.
Prayed and cried to heaven.
You know, when's the last time, look, we've prayed, even in the service we've prayed.
When's the last time that you've actually cried to heaven?
When's the last time that you've lifted up your voice and said,
Lord, I'm going through a challenge, Lord, I'm going through a difficulty
and you've wept sore and you've sought the Lord and you've wrestled him as Jacob wrestled the Lord.
And you said, Lord, I can't let go of you until you give me a blessing.
We don't pray a lot like that.
We often pray for service and nothing wrong with service and praying for our meals
and we should be doing all those things.
But one thing, at least, again, I was speaking for myself here
and I know we're made of the same flesh and blood.
Like I know you're from Adam and Eve.
I know we've got the same condition in our flesh.
In our flesh, there are times that I just forget to cry to the Lord, to just open my voice, you know, to him.
But sometimes, look, when you're going for difficulties, that's what's required of you.
You know, to just find yourself a place and find an Isaiah, find someone that can help you
and just pray and weep and cry.
Lift up your voice to the Lord as you're seeking his deliverance.
Verse number 21, look what the Lord does.
Verse number 21, and the Lord sent an angel which cut off all the mighty men of valour
and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria.
So he returned with shame to face, to face to his own land
and when he was come into the house of his God,
that they that came forth of his own bowels, slew him there with the sword.
So the Lord answers the prayer.
What's he do?
He sends one angel.
The Lord sends one angel and that one angel destroys the army of Assyria.
So much so that the king of Assyria runs back, he retreats and then is slaughtered by his own family.
You know, I mean this is what God can do in your life.
And you know what, I'm sure, not only do we have problems and trials and difficulties.
I have no doubt that every family has got some difficulty right now.
But you can also say to me, pastor, I've had problems in the past.
I've had tribulations in the past. I've had fears in the past.
But God has come through and delivered me from all those difficulties.
I know if you've been saved long enough, you have that testimony.
I've seen the hand of the Lord in my life and he has helped me through some difficult times.
Well if he's done it before, will he do it again? Absolutely.
But sometimes, this is what I'm trying to say.
Sometimes the Lord does amazing, this is a miracle, an angel comes and slaughters an army.
God can do a miracle in your lives and we forget to thank him.
We forget to thank the Lord. We're going to have a look at a moment when Hezekiah does this.
Verse number 22.
Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria
and from the hand of all other and guided them on every side.
And many brought gifts unto the Lord to Jerusalem and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah.
So that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from henceforth.
In those days Hezekiah was sick to the death and prayed unto the Lord and he spoke unto him and he gave him a sign.
So this story you can read more about it in 2 Kings.
But we have a situation where king Hezekiah is sick, he's going to pass away.
In fact that's prophesied that he's going to die and the Lord does a miracle.
He shows Hezekiah, no you've been healed because you've called upon the Lord.
You sought the help of the Lord and Hezekiah lives an extra 15 years than what the Lord originally planned for him.
So once again not only do we see a godly man, not only having a victory over the most powerful kingdom at that time
but even at a point of death, a sickness that will cause him death, the Lord is able to come through and heal him.
But look at verse number 25 and this is the saddest part in this story.
It says, But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him.
For his heart was lifted up, therefore there was wrath upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem.
Doesn't verse number 25 just seem out of the normal?
Like, hold on, Hezekiah, you are such a godly king.
Hezekiah, you've let's say started a church even.
You've opened the house of the Lord.
You've gotten preachers ready to serve the Lord.
You've cleansed the land of idols and false worship.
You've even defeated the most powerful kingdom on the land.
You've even been healed from a deadly sickness.
But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him.
See, the Lord gave him a benefit.
The Lord gave him a blessing.
The Lord gave him victory.
But he forgot the Lord.
He forgot to thank the Lord.
And I find that sad.
Like, King Hezekiah is like a hero to me.
And it's like, man, you forgot to thank the Lord.
But these stories are in the Bible for a reason.
Because I guarantee you, you've forgotten to thank the Lord.
The Lord's done great things for you.
The Lord God has delivered you.
He's probably performed miracles that you don't even understand, that you can't even comprehend.
We forget to thank the Lord.
And, you know, to very Baptist Church in Manila,
thank the Lord once again for the fear of God that's in this nation,
for the receptiveness, you know, of the gospel.
You know, I guess, you know, living in the Philippines,
I'm not saying you're old, I don't know.
I don't really know you guys.
I don't really know your hearts.
And, you know, obviously, I want to think the best of you.
But, you know, when you grow up in a nation,
our minds are often, this is what's normal or this is what's...
We get used to, you know, how life is.
And we even can take things for granted.
Like in Australia, one thing we take for granted in Australia
is how easy it is to make a living.
And sometimes, you know, we forget to thank God
about how easy it is to make a living in Australia.
Like you don't need to be this highly educated person.
You can enter into a basic entry level job
and you can survive quite easily in Australia, okay?
And yet, guess what Australians complain about?
We're not getting paid enough, right?
You know, but then you come to a place like the Philippines
and then our taxi driver from the airport,
you know, was sharing his story that he works in Manila,
driving his taxi or driving his grab taxi.
And we asked him about his family
and he's got a wife and a daughter.
And I was under the impression after work,
he's going to catch up with his family.
He says, no, sir, I've not seen them for six months.
You know, they're in Bohol, Bohol province.
And I've not seen them for six months.
And, you know, I've got to come to Manila
to just, you know, earn enough to make sure
that I can take care of my family needs.
And I just thought, wow, you know,
like the kinds of blessings that are in Australia
and we forget to appreciate what God has given us in Australia.
We forget to thank the Lord for the blessings that we have in Australia.
And even for those that are traveling from the United States.
You guys have blessings.
I often hear about how horrible the United States is becoming, right?
The nation itself is turning from the Lord
and toward, you know, just essentially just the most wicked ways.
And I understand that.
Like the United States has such an influence on the Western world.
The United States has such an influence even in Australia.
But I'm telling you, Americans, I'll tell you this.
It's still more receptive than Australia.
You still have a more fear of the Lord in the United States and Australia.
I'm not saying to feel sorry for us.
We have other blessings, you know.
But what I'm trying to say to you,
it doesn't matter what nation you're in,
you have something to be thankful for the Lord about.
Don't take it for granted.
You know, very baptized, just don't take it for granted
that there are people from Australia, from the United States
wanting to come here just for a slice of what you experience every single week.
Don't be like Hezekiah and you forget to thank the Lord,
you know, for the benefits, for the blessings that he's given you in his life.
And Australians, let's not forget to thank the Lord.
Let's see how people struggle in a place like the Philippines.
You know, it's not, you know, the expense to just live in a house, to have a house,
you know, and, you know, maybe as Australians,
we forget to be thankful for the country that we live in,
the benefits and it's easy to whine and complain.
And, you know, for Americans, praise God, you've got a church-going culture.
Like you've got several great churches, you've got great preachers.
You know, just the ability to visit one church and visit another church
and have a guest pastor on a semi-regular basis and build friendships,
you know, amongst like-minded brethren, we haven't got that in Australia.
Be thankful for what you have.
You know, there's something to be thankful for every single time.
And, you know, to my shame, like I said to you, I admit, I forget to thank the Lord.
You go about life, you take things for granted.
This is what I do, I serve the Lord, I have these blessings and I forget to thank the Lord.
But what was Hezekiah's problem there in verse 25?
It says,
But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him,
for his heart was lifted up.
His heart was lifted up.
He defeated the Assyrian empire.
Well, he didn't really, he was the angel of the Lord.
He's healed from sickness.
And at some point he says, wow, I've done well.
Starts patting himself on the back.
Look at me as a king, a great king.
Now look, Hezekiah's a great man, don't get me wrong.
But even great men, even great church members, even great believers, we all have pride.
It's there.
Please don't forget the pride in your hearts, it's there.
And it works contrary to the Lord.
You know, pride will want to thank yourself.
You know, pride will want to lift yourself up.
Pride will want to be seen as the one who has been successful.
Rather than saying, Lord God, it was you all along.
Lord God, it was you that blessed me.
Lord, it was you that allowed me to open the doors of the house of the Lord.
Lord, it was you that put me in this nation with these blessings.
And we forget to thank the Lord.
And what a shame that is when we forget to thank the God who gave us life.
Who's given us salvation.
Not just life, but everlasting life He's given us.
He's given us good churches, He's given us good pastors.
And we can take that for granted.
And look, I don't want anybody taking your life for granted.
And sometimes, like we see with Hezekiah, the problems comes.
Okay, the battles come.
Okay, the problems, the fears, they come.
But even when that happens, please, please don't forget to thank the Lord.
He is worthy of our praise, He is worthy of our worship.
You know, what a great God that we serve.
What a great God.
Would we even know each other if not for our Lord God?
Would we even know each other if not for the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ?
Isn't it wonderful that we can say to one another here,
I trust that you're all saved here this morning.
That this is my brother in the Lord.
This is my sister in the Lord.
This is my Christian family.
You know, some of you grow up in broken Christian homes.
Some of you might say, Pastor, I just did not have a good family.
You know, I did not know who my mother was.
I don't know who my father was.
But isn't it wonderful that God has given you a family?
That He Himself, the Lord God, is your father.
You know, that you can cry as a father to Him at all times.
What a blessing.
Like, what a blessing that I can be in the Philippines.
And even though I've not met many of you,
I still love you because you're my family in the Lord.
Like, I know you in the Lord even though we've not met necessarily face to face.
What a blessing.
What a blessing we have.
And we need to make sure that we thank the Lord God today.
We thank the Lord God for this missions trip.
For the souls that are saved.
We thank the Lord that He gives us the ability to preach the good news of the Gospel.
To see people get saved.
What a blessing that is.
Can you come with me to John chapter 4?
Can you come with me to John chapter 4, verse number 35?
John chapter 4, verse number 35.
Here we have the story of Jesus Christ and the very famous story of Jesus and the woman at the well.
The Samaritan woman at the well.
And you may recall that He sent His disciples to get some food and they come back.
And they're kind of surprised that He's talking to this Samaritan woman.
Well, that woman, she leaves and she speaks to the men of the city.
And she's preaching the Lord Jesus Christ.
And people from the city, they start coming and gathering themselves to see this Jesus.
And then Jesus turns to His disciples and says these words in John 4, 35.
Say not ye, there are yet four months and then cometh harvest.
Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields for they are white or ready to harvest.
Brethren, I want to tell you this. This is the Philippines.
The Philippines is ready to harvest.
Look, I'm not saying that we don't do work in Australia.
We don't do some work in the United States. Of course we do.
But what a blessing to know there are places on this earth like the Philippines that are ready.
People are desiring to hear the gospel.
They're willing for you to open the Bible.
Brethren, you don't understand Australia.
If you walk with a Bible in your arm, house to house, and the person at the door sees the Bible,
they're not going to open the door to you.
You've got to hide the Bible in your pocket and pull it out when you're ready.
That's how it is in Australia.
What a blessing. You can have a Bible here in the Philippines and people respect the words of that book.
Wow. Wow.
Look at verse number 36.
And here that reapeth receiveth wages, and gather fruit unto life eternal,
that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
Boy, what rejoicing there would be here in the Philippines seeing these people saved.
But I want you to notice, if you reap, if you win souls, the Lord God guarantees wages, a payment.
Treasures in heaven.
Like I said, you know, a lot of times when you have, you know, it's just that the perception we have in Australia,
I suppose, when you see many Filipinos come into a place like Australia,
like I said, one of the main reasons is for the increase of wages.
But brethren, those are just earthly wages.
They're all going to burn. You can't take it with you to heaven.
Boy, what a time and place to be in the Philippines, to earn great rewards in heaven,
great wages, treasures in heaven, so that when you go home to believe the Lord,
you can show him exactly what you've done.
You know, please, you know, I just want to encourage very Baptist Church,
you continue this work, the work that you're doing, boy, you're going to be so rich in heaven,
so wealthy in heaven. And I tell you what, I'll be praising you. I'll be excited for you.
You know, please continue doing this great work. You're an encouragement.
Okay, you're an encouragement to us.
You know, seeing you guys go out every week, you know, ladies and men and children and, you know, parks and places,
and, you know, you haven't taken it for granted. You keep doing the work.
And you may not know this, but you truly are an encouragement to us in Australia.
You know, and I'm sure you're an encouragement to those in the United States.
What a blessing you truly are as a church.
But as you do the work, the main thrust of my sermon today is don't forget to thank the Lord.
Thank the Lord for everything you're doing. Can we be lifted up in pride?
I had 10 salvation today because of me. I guess it's possible.
I mean, it is because of you. The Lord is using you.
But don't forget, if not for salvation, you would not be able to win a single soul.
If not for Jesus Christ. Well, we're all damned for hell, if not for Jesus Christ.
We need to make sure that we thank our Lord God who gave us the ability, not just the salvation,
but the ability to go and win a harvest for Him, to earn great treasures in heaven.
Now, did I, I don't, you might, if you turned away, I'm sorry.
I just realized I had one more verse that I wanted to read to you from 2 Chronicles 32.
2 Chronicles 32. Verse number 26. 2 Chronicles 32 and verse number 26.
Because I don't want to leave King Hezekiah this morning in a bad light.
Okay? Hey, he made a mistake. Who hasn't made a mistake?
He was lifted up in pride. Who's not been lifted up in pride?
He forgot to be thankful. Who's not, you know, who's not forgotten to be thankful here this morning?
But notice in verse number 26, it says,
Notwithstanding, Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart,
both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
So you know what, if you've not been thankful, if you say, pastor, you know what, you've just shown me,
maybe I'm prideful. Maybe I have lifted myself up. Maybe I have forgotten to thank the Lord.
You know, maybe I have seen the hand of the Lord work so nicely in my life and I forgot to acknowledge Him.
But what's the solution? Just like Hezekiah, humble yourself, okay?
Take down the pride in your heart and obviously give God the thanks.
Give Him the glory. Give Him the praise for everything that you've achieved in life.
And so, you know, Hezekiah is just a perfect example, a great example of a man who did great works for God,
but also remembered to acknowledge his Lord God, you know, for the great works that he's done.
Can you come with me to Psalm 30? Come with me to Psalm 30.
Psalm 30 and verse number 4.
Psalm 30 verse 4, it says,
Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.
You know, if you need to be encouraged and, you know, maybe you're not very thankful,
then what we see here, one way that can help us to give thanks to the Lord is by singing.
That's why coming to church is awesome, okay?
You know, you can be gathered together with brothers and sisters, singing and praising the Lord.
You know, that's going to help your heart to be able to give God thanks.
But as you give thanks, remember His holiness.
Remember that He's a righteous God, a just God, okay?
A loving God, a merciful God, you know, a holy God, a God without sin, a God without darkness.
When you just remember who He is, you know, what He is and what He's done,
you know, that's going to cause you to remember to give Him thanksgiving.
When you compare yourself, boy, I've got pride.
Boy, I've got problems. Boy, I've got sin in my life.
You compare yourself to a holy God, you know, that's going to help encourage you to remember,
I need to give my Lord God thanks.
Look at verse number five.
For His anger endureth but a moment.
In His favor is life.
Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
Aren't you glad His anger endureth but a moment?
With King Hezekiah when he lifted himself up with pride,
you see the wrath of God was upon him and upon the nation,
but he got himself right, he confessed his sins before the Lord
and the Bible says that the wrath of God was removed from him and from the land of Judah.
But for a moment.
What a great God.
Like we're just to go before Him and say, Lord, I'm sorry.
Yeah, I've been lifted up.
Lord, I've forgotten to thank you.
And so quickly like that, He forgives you.
What a holy God that we serve.
Can you come with me to Psalm 35?
Psalm 35, verse number 17.
Psalm 35.
Actually, verse 18, sorry.
Psalm 35, 18.
I will give thee thanks in the great congregation.
I will praise thee among much people.
It was actually this verse that kind of caused me to preach this sermon.
Because I was thinking about the congregation here this morning, once again, you know,
that we've come from several congregations to be here gathered together from different nations
and truly it's a great congregation.
Like I look at the numbers here and I look at the different faces and different backgrounds we're from,
truly this is a great congregation.
So when I thought about this great congregation that we're going to be here this morning,
I just looked at it and said, well, that's what it says.
It says, I will give thee thanks.
And so what I want to do is just to give God thanks for this church.
I want to give God thanks for allowing us to travel here.
I want to give God thanks for the missions trip that he's allowed us to have here
and for the souls that get saved and for the work that we're able to do.
I want to give God thanks for the souls that get saved.
You know, that's why we're here gathered together, okay?
Not for the strength of flesh but the strength of the Lord that we can depend upon him.
Again, once again, what a beautiful, what a great, what a glorious God
that we serve and worship.
Come with me to another passage. Come with me to Ephesians chapter 1.
Ephesians chapter 1 verse number 15.
Ephesians 1, 15. Ephesians 1, 15.
And I know I already touched upon this but I just want to show you scripture here.
It says, of course, this is an epistle of the Apostle Paul and he's writing to the Ephesian church.
And he says, Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus,
and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you,
making mention of you in my prayers.
What does it say there in verse number 16?
Cease not. He says, I don't stop to give thanks for you.
And I want to say to you, especially from those coming from Australia,
you know, we want to give God thanks for you.
For inviting us to this missions trip.
You know, for being hospitable.
You know, for welcoming us.
Like I said, we're strangers. You don't know who we are.
But you welcome us and you have a smile on your face and you know, you want to get to know us.
I want to thank you for your faith.
I want to thank you for your work.
And once again, you know, this is something, we thank our Lord God for who he is,
but we also thank God for the brothers and sisters that he's allowed us to meet,
and to fellowship with, and to do a great work together.
And so he says, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.
You know, let's remember to pray for one another.
I would love for you to continue to pray for our church, New Life Baptist Church,
and Blessed Our Baptist Church in Sydney.
Please do. Please remember, it's not as easy given the gospel in Australia.
Keep that in mind. Okay.
Please pray for us that the Lord will continue using us,
that he would lead us to people that are receptive to the word.
Please pray that we would not take for granted the blessings that are in Australia.
And I promise you, we'll be praying for you in return.
That the Lord will bless you greatly.
Okay, that you would not take for granted, you know, the opportunity and the blessings
that you have here in the Philippines.
You know, to remember you and your pastor in prayer,
and the great work that you guys are doing.
Please, we see this practice in the Bible.
We see the heart of Paul, the Apostle, giving God thanks
for the very people that are serving him in the local church.
Come with me to one more passage, Colossians chapter 1.
Colossians chapter 1 and verse number 12.
Colossians 1.12.
Giving thanks unto the Father, which have made us meet,
to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.
Wow! God has given us an inheritance.
You know, eternal life, a home in heaven, mansions on high,
streets of gold, the new Jerusalem, the new heavens and the new earth.
God's promised us not just salvation from hell,
but we've been made part of the royal family.
He's made us kings and priests.
Boy, you're important people.
And you know what? When Christ comes back and rules for a thousand years,
the Bible says that we're going to rule and reign with Christ as well.
Imagine that. Imagine that.
You know, yourselves in positions of prominence in the Philippines or in other places.
I don't know what the world's going to look like when Jesus Christ comes back,
but to take on positions of authority.
What an honor to be called a child of God and the promises that He's given us in His word.
It says in verse number 13,
who have delivered us from the power of darkness and have translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son,
in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.
Isn't it wonderful to have your sins forgiven?
Like it's wonderful to make peace with a person that you might have had a conflict with.
You know, maybe someone you've wronged and you've asked for their forgiveness,
you've apologized and you've been made right with that person.
That feels good.
But what about making peace with our Lord God?
Wow, what a burden off our shoulders to know that no matter what happens in our life,
it doesn't matter if today was our last day,
we would know for certain that we would be in heaven because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
What a blessing.
You know, something else that we can be thankful for God,
just our salvation, our confidence.
Boy, you know, people that do not know Christ, they've got a heavy burden on them.
They don't know what happens after.
They don't know whether they're going to be right with God when they stand before Him.
But we have that assurance.
We have that liberty knowing that no matter what happens from today forward,
we're going to be in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Can we turn to one more passage? Will that be okay?
Can we go to 2 Corinthians?
Can we go to 2 Corinthians 12?
2 Corinthians 12.
So one thing we learned with King Hezekiah is even when things are going so well,
you know, great victories, we see the hand of the Lord, we can forget to thank Him.
Even then we can be lifted up with pride.
But in reverse to that, in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 7, the Apostle Paul also speaks.
And it says here in verse 7,
And lest I should be exalted above measure, through the abundance of the revelations,
there is given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me,
lest I should be exalted above measure.
He says, for me not to be exalted above what I ought to be,
the Lord God just allowed Satan to have one area of my life,
to beat me up in one area of my life.
He says in verse 8,
For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
So here, Lord, you know, three times it came before the Lord,
you know, crying and saying, Lord, please remove this messenger of Satan in my life.
And then verse 9,
And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength,
this is so important, please pay attention,
for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Wow, this is something that I feel it's been a lifelong journey to learn this truth.
And I feel that I've learnt it.
Again, I've got to be careful because, you know, the flesh gets in the way.
But even in the face of difficulties, even in the face of infirmities,
Paul was able to say, thank you, Lord.
You know, even this trial, even this difficulty,
as much as I would not want it in my life,
as much as I've gone before you, God, three times in prayer,
asking that you remove this from me.
He says, I'm still thankful that the Lord has allowed me to have this,
because His strength is made perfect in weakness.
In weakness.
We have to acknowledge, we're weak.
And we need God's strength.
You know, when I'm preaching this sermon,
I don't want to preach this sermon in my strength.
I'd rather be weak and say, Lord, you give me your strength.
Lord, you give me your words.
Lord, you give me a message that will touch the hearts of your people here this morning.
And when you go soul winning, be weak in the flesh,
but be strong in the Lord.
Okay, so when you have success,
you know, when you have those numbers that you remember,
boy, it's because of God's strength.
I can thank Him for what He's done in my life.
And let's just end in verse number 10 there.
He says, therefore, can you honestly say this in your life?
I want you to be challenged with these last words.
Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities.
Is there someone, don't give me the answer,
is there someone today that is struggling with an infirmity,
that you can say to yourself, Lord, I'm struggling with this infirmity.
And it's bothered me.
This is something maybe that, you know, it does not go away.
It's something that I might have to deal with for the rest of my life.
Can you say within yourself, I take pleasure in that infirmity?
Like, you can be honest to yourself.
Be honest before yourself and before the Lord.
I don't think there'll be many people that would say that.
Oh, man, I'm pleased this is happening to me.
I'm pleased that my body is breaking down.
But he takes pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions.
Boy, that soddle might stop in us from going soul-winning at that park.
Hey, that's a persecution.
But what should we do?
Take pleasure.
Wow, there are people trying to stop us from doing a work of God.
That means we must be doing something great for the kingdom of God.
For the devil to try to stop us.
Boy, I'm going to take pleasure that God looks down and we're doing a work for him and he bothers the devil.
I'm going to take pleasure in the persecutions that I receive.
In distresses, stress, concerns, worries.
For Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then am I strong.
See, Hezekiah had to learn that lesson.
Even though he was a great man of God doing great things.
He had to get to a point where he was weak.
Where the wrath of God fell upon him and he saw, boy, I'm trusting in my own strength.
I'm trusting in my own might.
He's lifted himself up before the Lord and forgot to thank Him.
Just a reminder for you today.
Like I said, the sermon, title of the sermon was,
Given Thanks Always.
Always.
That doesn't mean just when good things happen.
That means when the infirmities, the distresses,
the difficulties of life, the turmoils of life, the tribulations, the hardships,
even when they enter your life, you know what?
You need to give God thanks.
Say, Lord, you've allowed me to go through this trial, this difficulty.
One thing that I've learnt in my life is when I go through a difficulty,
my first thought is, okay, do I have some major sin in my life
that God has allowed me to go through this difficulty?
And look, we all sin, we understand that.
But if I can't identify sort of one significant area,
I'll say, well, maybe, Lord, maybe this is persecution of the devil.
Or maybe this is just the consequences of living in a fallen, sin-cursed world.
But regardless of what the issue is,
if the Lord is allowing you to go through a difficulty, take pleasure in it.
Can you say, thank you, Lord.
Thank you, Lord, that I'm struggling financially.
Can you say that?
Thank you, Lord, that I'm struggling in my body with this infirmity.
Thank you, Lord, that I've got persecutions.
Boy, that's the level that we need to get at though, isn't it?
That's the challenge that I have for you this morning, giving thanks always.
And let me just end by saying, I am very thankful for Verity Baptist Church.
You are an encouragement.
You know, Brother Oliver was telling me, we even look up to you guys
for the work that you're doing, for the souls that you're seeing saved.
Praise God for you. Be thankful.
Don't take it for granted. Don't take it for granted.
You know, don't take these events for granted,
where people from across the world are willing to travel,
to spend their hard-earned wealth to come and to be an encouragement.
Again, to get a slice of the experience that you have on a regular basis.
Be thankful that you live in the Philippines.
You know, like I said, there are many that want to escape the Philippines.
But look, the harvest is ripe right now.
What a blessing to be able to earn great rewards in heaven for all eternity.
Okay, giving God thanks. Let's pray.
Our Heavenly Father, Lord, we appreciate you.
Lord, we want to give you gratitude. We want to give you thanks.
Lord, we thank you for this great congregation this morning
and the songs that we sang.
And Lord, truly our thanks, our thanksgiving is toward you.
Lord, you've given us salvation. You've given us a home in heaven.
And Lord, you've given us such a beautiful work
to be able to give the gospel to a lost and dying world.
Lord, we thank you for the Philippines.
And even though it might be a difficult place to make a living,
Lord, it is a place that we can earn great rewards for all eternity.
And Lord, I thank you for this mission's trip.
I pray that you would be blessed.
I pray that we would all be weak in our flesh but we would be strong in you.
Lord, we pray that the Holy Spirit will work in our hearts and minds
and give us the ability to do the greatest work that we can
during these few short days, these few short weeks that we have here.
And Lord, that we can be an encouragement one for another.
Lord, I thank you for our brothers and sisters from across the world.
I thank you for the pastor here, Pastor Stuckey, for the great work that he's doing.
And Lord, when pride begins to creep up in our lives, please remind us of that, Lord.
Please show us the errors of our way.
Please remind us, Lord, when we forget to be thankful toward you.
And Lord, once again, we thank you for being such a great,
merciful, wonderful, beautiful, pleasing God.
A God that is long-suffering, a God that is merciful, a God that loves us.
Lord, help us to be able to do a great work for you once again.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Amen.
Okay, thank you.
All right, for our last song, let's turn to hymn number 164.
Hymn number 164.
Let's sing the song, Praise Him, Praise Him.
On the verse.
Ready, everybody sing.
Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus our blessed Redeemer.
Sing over His wonderful love proclaim.
Hail Him, hail Him, highest art angels in glory.
Strength and honor give to His holy name.
Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard His children in His heart.
He carries them all day long.
Praise Him, praise Him, tell of His excellent greatness.
Praise Him, praise Him, ever in joyful song.
Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus our blessed Redeemer.
For our sins He suffered and bled and died.
We are rock of hope of eternal salvation.
Hail Him, hail Him, Jesus the crucified.
Sound His praises, Jesus who bore our sorrows.
Love unbounded, wonderful, deep and strong.
Praise Him, praise Him, tell of His excellent greatness.
Praise Him, praise Him, ever in joyful song.
Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus our blessed Redeemer.
Heavenly portals, love with those saddest rings.
Jesus, Savior, great and forever and ever.
Ground Him, ground Him, Prophet and risen King.
Christ is coming over the world victorious.
Power and glory unto the Lord belong.
Praise Him, praise Him, tell of His excellent greatness.
Praise Him, praise Him, ever in joyful song.
Brother Mark, can you close us in a word of prayer?
Our Heavenly Father, thank you for this day.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak to us.
For not being an emergency, but also for the preaching
and to praise Lord God.
And to teach us as our Lord and Savior to be thankful
for all the messages that you are sending to our society.
Thank you, God.
I love you, Lord God.
It's great to see that our relationship with God
Amen.
Let's have a short break.