(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

So, in verse number one, the Bible reads this, the elders which are among you I exhort who am also in elder. And so the word elder can mean a couple different things in the Bible. It can mean someone who we would call a pastor. There's three terms for that position of pastor, elder, and bishop, okay? But elder can also be somebody who's older, okay? Now, of course, then you got these Mormons with these name tags. They're like elder so-and-so and they're 19 years old. That is not enough. But an elder, vividly speaking, is either somebody who is older or somebody who is what we call a pastor. And when you're saying elder referring to a pastor, you're speaking to their experience, okay? Now, when he says the elders which are among you I exhort who is also an elder, what Peter is saying is that he was a pastor. He was an elder. He was a bishop. Today we use the term pastor most usually, but elder's referring to the same thing. And he says in a witness of the sufferings of Christ, okay? Now, go to Luke chapter 22 in your Bible. Luke 22 in your Bible. Luke 22. And we're going to have a look at the character of Peter a little bit here tonight and see kind of his backstory, right? He's obviously one of the most famous characters in the Bible. And when Peter started, he was a very zealous young man. And you know what? He did a lot of great things, but he also made a lot of mistakes. And we can learn a lot about Peter here in Luke chapter 22. Notice what it says in verse 31. Luke 22 verse 31. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, the old Satan hath desired to have you that you may sit to his wheat. But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not, and when thou art converted, strength in thy brethren. And so the Bible says here verse 31, the Lord says Satan hath desired to have you, okay? When you're looking at your King James Bible, the word you is referring to plural. It's referring to multiple people. Ye and you are plural and thee and thou, that's singular, okay? So it says Satan hath desired to have you. You say why? Because Satan wants to destroy all of us. He wants to destroy all of our lives. So the Bible is saying, hey, Satan hath desired to have you. But notice this in verse 32. But I have prayed for thee. So what he's saying is Satan hath desired to destroy everybody. But Jesus is saying I specifically prayed for you individually, Peter, okay? Because thee is singular. So he's saying I prayed for thee, Peter, that thy faith fail not. And one thing you need to realize is this, that when it comes to Peter, he really was kind of the main leader in the early church after Jesus Christ. He really had a position of influence. He did a lot of great things. And so Jesus specifically says I prayed for you, Peter, that thy faith fail not. And when thou art converted, now oftentimes when we think of the word convert, we're referring to someone that we've won to the Lord. Like this is my convert in the faith. This is the person I helped convert from whatever belief to believing on Jesus Christ. But here it's not saying, hey, Peter, I prayed for you until you end up getting saved. That's not what he's saying. Peter is already saying when he's saying thou art converted, basically converted to having strong faith. And it says once you have strong faith, I want you to strengthen your brotherhood. Now why does he say that? Because if you know the story of Peter, his faith failed him. And this does not mean he lost his salvation because salvation is eternal life. I give and then eternal life and they shall never perish. And so you get saved by putting your faith in Jesus. When you talk about somebody having, you know, a walk with God, having strong faith, you're talking about the fact that they're really looking for God. And Peter had moments in his lifetime where it really screwed up. Notice what it says in verse 33. And he said onto him, Lord, I'm ready to go with thee both into prison and to death. And so Peter basically tells the Lord that it's wrong. Because what the Lord says to Peter in verse 32 is, hey, you know, I prayed for you specifically, Peter, and thy faith will not, and you are not converted yet to having strong faith. I'm praying for you so you will have a strong faith so be able to strengthen your brethren. And then Peter's like, hey, I'm ready to go with thee into prison and death. Right. And isn't this the truth how most people feel before you get into the battle? It's like, man, I'm ready to go in the end, no matter what. I'm going to go down fighting. I'm never going to back down. And then when the situation actually comes, that might not actually be the case, right? All of us feel like we can take on the world. Once you get into those spiritual battles and proof is in the pudding, you actually find out who's actually ready for those battles. And it was not ready to those battles. Okay. Verse 34. And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not grow this day before the thou shalt price, deny that thou knowest me. And Jesus basically tells Peter, you know what? Actually, you're not ready. Actually, you don't have a strong faith. You think you have a strong faith, but you're going to deny me. Now, look, none of us would sit here and think that we would deny Jesus Christ. None of us would think that we would back down from the truth and be embarrassed to be a Christian or embarrassed to be a part of this sort of church and have these sorts of beliefs. But the bottom line is when you get into a situation of peer pressure, isn't it true that sometimes you kind of back down a little bit? Anyway, I'm putting myself in that as well, that unfortunately there are times where you might be ashamed to be a Christian or a little bit embarrassed. Look, we should never be embarrassed for what we believe. It doesn't matter that all of the world thinks that what we believe is crazy. Here's the truth. They're crazy. What we believe is actually normal. And sometimes people want to make you feel bad because of what your beliefs are. And it's just like they try to get you to back down and be embarrassed about being a Christian or embarrassed about what you believe. But you know what? We need to stand up for what the truth is. And Peter's told by Jesus Christ that you know what? Your faith is not strong yet, not converted yet. You are saved, but you do not have a strong faith. But here's the thing. I want you to get a strong faith so you can convert the other brethren. Now go to John 21. John 21. John 21. Kind of reminds me of that verse the Bible says, Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride is born in the condemnation of the devil. The Bible says someone is going to be a pastor and not be a novice. Now being a novice is not a sin. There's nothing simple about the word novice, right? The word novice is not talking about, you know, adultery or gambling or anything crazy like that. It's just somebody who's new when we're saying the novice. It's not an insult. Like, for example, I mean, if you've been saved for six months, you're a novice in the faith. It's not an insult. It's just you're new, you know, when it comes to the faith. Or, for example, if you're new at soul winning, you're a novice at soul winning. There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing simple about that. But the Bible says if you're going to be a spiritual leader, you cannot be a novice because if you're not experienced, if you don't have that experience, you don't know your Bible, you haven't been through those battles before, it's very easy to get lifted up full of pride. It's interesting because Peter ended up becoming a pastor. And honestly, when what we saw in Luke 22 is he was a little bit prideful. I'm going to follow you to death. No, Peter accomplished probably far more than I ever will. He's one of the greatest Christians, greatest people that's ever lived. I'm not trying to criticize him. I'm just saying this is the way we naturally are. We think we're a lot stronger than we actually are. And Peter was not ready in Luke 22. That's why the Lord said, Hey, you need to get strengthened. You're not ready for the battle yet. You think you'll follow me to death, but actually you're going to back down under pressure, right? John 21, John 21. And John 21, we see the story. Jesus is already resurrected. He's already showed himself under the apostles and everything like that. And we remember that Peter denied Jesus three times and everything. But even after they saw the Lord Jesus Christ, they still worked strong in the faith. They were still afraid. It was obviously a scary time, but it also kind of goes to show us that it takes a while to get close to God, but it's very easy to fall down and backslide, right? I mean, getting close to God is an uphill climb, but if you climb a mountain, it might take you two hours to get to the top, but you know what? If you just start rolling down, it's going to take like 10 minutes, right? Or five minutes. Doesn't take long. And the truth is that you can backslide a lot quicker than you can draw close to God. John 21, verse three. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go fishing. They say unto them, we also go lifting. Now you say, Brother Specky, is there anything sinful about fishing? Is this teaching us to be obedient here because we see Peter fishing and it's a bad thing here? Now, the reason why it's mentioning this is, well, a couple of reasons. We're going to say this about something else later on, but Peter used to be a fisherman. That was his job. That was his career. That was his profession. And basically the Lord had called him into the ministry. He had chosen specifically Peter. Obviously during the early church, Jesus specifically chose a group of people and Peter was one of those people. And he was expected to be one of the leaders of the early church, one of the strong Christians, and he was one of the closest to Jesus Christ. But here in John 21, this man who said he followed Jesus to death has basically retired from the ministry and he's back at his own job. Hell, there's nothing sinful with not being in the ministry, but Peter was specifically chosen by God. God wanted him in the ministry and here we see him backing down, okay? And notice the influence he has. I go fishing, they say I know we also go with me. You know, the reality is that whether you realize it or not, you will influence those around you. If you backside, other people will too. If you say, well, you know what, I'm gonna quit church, other people might quit church too. That is reality. We all influence those that are around us. And Simon Peter, he says, you know what, I'm going fishing. And everyone's like, well, I mean, if Peter doesn't have the boldness to stay in the fight, I don't need her. And they all just retired into fishing. Then it says they went forth and then into a ship immediately. And that night they caught nothing. And so they didn't catch any fish. And what we're seeing here is that God chose not to bless them in their secular career because he wanted them to actually be in the ministry, okay? And so notice what it says here in verse four. But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto them, children, have ye any meats? They answered him, no. Because they haven't caught any fish, they don't have any meat. And Jesus, they don't realize it's him, he says, do you have any fish? Have any meat. And he said unto them, cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw for the multitude of fishes. And so they're not able to get any fish, and then all of a sudden they cast the net again, and all of a sudden there's this multitude that they can't even pull up because it's so heavy. So they're on the begotten, right? Now he said, what is this trying to teach you? Well, realize that being a fisher of men is a terminology for winning souls of the Lord. And so what he's showing is this, that basically if you're not right with God, you're not gonna catch anything. But if you are right with God, if you get back into the fight, you can catch a great multitude of fish. And the same thing is true for us in today's world, that if you decide to live for God, you're gonna get a lot of people saved. You're gonna win many people to the Lord. You're gonna get much fruit won to the Lord if you get on fire with God, and you get right with God. And I also believe that Jesus is trying to remind about the excitement of getting people saved, of catching fish. You know, the truth is that our lives get very busy. We get tired. We get exhausted. And sometimes you come to the point where you're just kind of going through the motions and you forget the excitement of winning someone in the world. And yet there's nothing more valuable or more amazing in this world than actually winning someone in the Lord. But sometimes we can kind of forget about that and we just kind of go through the routine of life and don't even really realize how amazing that is. And then basically Peter is backslidden. He's been out of sobering and then Jesus is kind of reminding him and the other people, hey, remember what you used to do? Remember the fish, meaning the men that we used to get saved? It's like, I want you to get back into that. Now there's a couple of lessons we can learn from this. One lesson is this, that if somebody, and I want you to realize that Peter is backslidden, but he's not committing wicked sins, right? I mean, he's not, I mean, he went back to his old job. There's nothing sinful about being a fisherman. It's not like he's, you know, selling alcohol, okay? So he's backslidden, but he's not in the wicked sin. And when somebody is just a little bit depressed in the Christian life and somebody's a little bit down, it's not the time to step on their throat and just rip them apart. Now there is a time to rip people apart and that time was this past weekend, you know, in terms of service preached, okay? Not here, but you know, in terms of in Manila. But I'm saying if somebody's just a little bit backslidden and somebody's just a little bit depressed, like they're just kind of tired in life, they're going, you know what? That's not the time to rip them apart and say, you're wicked, you're not coming so many. That's the time to try to encourage them because what Jesus actually did was he tried to encourage them to get back into the work. He didn't rip them apart. And the truth is that all of us are going to have ups and downs. Now hopefully when you go to a down, you're not committing wicked sins because if that's the case, you gotta be rebuked and admit that you've done wrong and admit you've sinned. But if you're just on a downhill slope where you're just kind of depressed and tired and just things aren't going right in life, that's not the time for us to rip people apart. That's the time for us to encourage people to the excitement of sowing. So look, we ever have somebody at our church that just kind of backslides and they kind of fade out of the things of God a little bit? The best thing I would say based on John 21, once again, this is not somebody committing wicked sin. It's just somebody who's a little bit down is to try to encourage them, try to remind them about the excitement of winning souls. Because once you see somebody get saved, it's just, there's nothing more powerful. And Peter is brought back to the excitement by Jesus encouraging him when he sees that great multitude of fish. Verse seven, Therefore that disciple who Jesus loved, saying unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girded Fisher's coat on him for he was naked and then cast himself into the sea. Now this is one of the more entertaining verses in the Bible because it says that Peter is fishing and he's fishing naked, okay? Now I want you to realize something that the way the world defines naked is not the way the Bible defines naked. When he's saying Peter was fishing naked, it's not saying he wasn't wearing any clothes, right? Wouldn't that be a little bit ridiculous? Who goes fishing without any clothes? Hey look, if one of your buddies is going fishing without any clothes, you're not going to join them. That's just weird, right? So what does it mean by naked? Let me go to Exodus 28. Let me show you a verse. Exodus 28 verse 42. Exodus 28 verse 42. And the Bible says Genesis, Exodus, your second book in the Bible, Exodus 28 verse 42. It says, and now shall make them linen britches or breeches. This is referring to pants to cover their nakedness. So the purpose of pants is to cover their nakedness from the loins even on the thighs they shall reach. And so these pants will cover the nakedness. They reach from the loins to the thighs, okay? Now the loins is referring to right here around your waist, okay? And then the thighs, it's not referring to the top of the thighs. I've heard people say, well, it could be referring to, you know, the loins and the thighs at the top of the thigh. That's basically in the same spot. It's referring to this area to this area, right? To the bottom of the thigh. And so the Bible saying is that basically in between the knee and your waist is actually nakedness. And it doesn't make a distinction between whether it's the front of the back. Because I know in today's world, it's just like people are wearing far and far less clothes and everything, but whether it's the front or the back would still be defined as nakedness. So the Bible gives us a set standard that nakedness would be from here to here, okay? Now, when it talks about Peter fishing naked, I obviously believe that he was wearing some clothes. And so the best explanation would probably be that he was wearing shorts, okay? He's wearing shorts, and then he sees Jesus, and he has to get a fisherman's coat on him. Now you say, Brother Stuckey, how do you know that he wasn't fishing without his shirt on? Well, you know, I'll be honest, I'm not 100% dogmatic. I would just say this, that I don't know of a verse in the Bible that would specifically say that this would be referred to as nakedness. Now look, here's the thing. I don't walk around the street just not wearing my shirt because I don't think that would be appropriate. I don't walk into 7-Eleven just without my shirt. I'm just saying I don't know of a verse in the Bible that would specifically say that is nakedness. But there are verses that specifically say that this part of your body would be nakedness. So the indication would probably be that he's wearing shorts, like those, you know, makulamak, basketball shorts, the short shorts or whatever. And then all of a sudden Jesus shows up, and then all of a sudden he grabs, you know, the fisherman's coat on him to like cover up his body, and then he just like crashes into the water. I'll be honest, when I first got saved, you know, I didn't realize what the Bible said about nakedness, the distinction. In that verse, and John was far more entertaining just thinking like Peter wasn't wearing any clothes, but he was wearing clothes, okay? He just had a part of his body that was nakedness. Go back to John 21, John 21, John 21. But he's embarrassed because like I shouldn't be fishing out here like this because, you know, what if a woman were to see me? It's inappropriate and he realizes that. Verse eight. And it says in verse eight, John 21, verse eight. And the other disciples came in a little ship, for they were not far from land. But as there were 200 cubits dragging the net with the fishes, as soon as they were coming to land, they saw a fire of coals, there were fish laid thereon and bread. Jesus said unto them, bring of the fish which he had now caught. Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of great fishes and a hundred and fifty grapes. And for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. Jesus said unto them, come and dine, and none of the disciples were asked of you who art thou, knowing that it was worth it. I think in verse 12, it's probably referring to the miracle of the fact that it says it's so heavy, it's so ground to be got, but yet the net doesn't break. It seems to indicate that God did not allow the net to break, whereas it normally might have broken. And then it says there in verse 12, you know, come and dine. That's our famous song that we sing, you know, in our hymnal, you know, come and dine, the master's calling, come and dine. Verse 13, Jesus then cometh and taketh bread, and giveth them and fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples after that he was risen from the dead. This is not when he first showed himself to them. He already showed himself to them, but they were already very vastly. Verse 15, So when they had died, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon son of Jonas, love is thou me more than these? He saith unto them, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto them, Feed my legs. So Jesus asked him, Hey, do you love me more than these? And he's like, Yes, you know that I love you. And then Jesus basically says, Well, the proof is important, you know, feed my limbs. Verse 16, He saith to them again the second time, Simon son of Jonas, love is thou me? He saith unto them, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto them, Feed my sheep. Verse 17, He saith unto them the third time, Simon son of Jonas, love is thou me? Peter was breathing because he said, unto them the third time, love is thou me? And he said, unto them, Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto them, Feed my sheep. Now, why is it that Simon is breathing the third time that Jesus says this? Well, I believe the reason why is because Peter denied Jesus three times, right? And Peter denies Jesus three times. And remember, before Peter denied Jesus Christ, he felt very spiritual. He felt like he had strong faith. And then he denies Jesus three times because of peer pressure. And then he feels bad about it when he realizes what he did. And then Jesus kind of is reminding him back toward that event. And it's kind of reminding him that, you know, his faith wasn't that strong. And what he's going to do is try to transition and say, hey, this is your moment of getting converted in terms of having strong faith, because Jesus wasn't going to be around here forever. I mean, he went back to heaven and then it's pretty much like ever since then we're on our own. Of course, he gets saved. He get involved with the Holy Ghost. But I'm just saying physically seeing the Holy of the flesh, he's not hearing. And you know what? Whether it's our church or another like minded church, of course, his spirit is with us. But at the same time, you know, he's not physically with us. He's not preaching the stories. He's not running the show. He's left us in charge to actually do that. Verse number 18. Barely, barely has sanity when thou wast young, thou werts thyself, walkest with thy worst. When thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands and another shall gird thee and carry thee whither thou wouldst not. Verse 19. This spake he's signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, follow me. And so Jesus reminds him about how he denied him three times. Then in verses 18 and 19, he talks about when you get old, you are going to suffer a very torturous death, right? This spake he's signifying by what death, he should glorify God. So look, I'll tell you what. Peter, I can tell you for a fact, did not believe in an imminent return of Jesus Christ. And you say, how do you know that? Because he was told he lived to be an old man. He was told you are going to glorify God and die as an old man in a very, you know, terrible and gruesome way. So Peter did not believe in the imminent return of Jesus Christ because he was told, hey, you're gonna live to be an old man. So here's the thing. I mean, if Peter was here, then he can tell you, well, I know for a fact, Jesus is not returning in my life because I already know how I'm going to die. He can't return at any moment. This had to actually take place. Now, of course, Peter has already died at this point, but that's not the only thing that had to take place before Jesus came. The Antichrist must reveal himself. That's obviously a big thing, but Peter for sure believed in a poster of rapture because he knew he was going to have to glorify God. And you know what? Jesus basically warns him, tells him what his future is going to be. Go to Matthew 16. Matthew 16. And he said there at the end of that verse, when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, follow me, follow me. Matthew chapter 16 verse 21. From that time forth began Jesus to show his disciples how that he must go into Jerusalem and suffer many things in the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day. So Jesus was pretty clear that he was going to die and resurrect after three days. You know, I'm not really sure where the confusion was after that after he was dead, but he made it very clear. They notice this in verse 22 that Peter took him and began to rebuke him saying, being far from the Lord, this shall not be unto thee. Now this is interesting because Peter is basically telling Jesus, you're too good to die, right? And it's just like, no, that's not going to happen. That's not a good thing. We don't want you to die and everything. It's like he's not fully putting the picture together. You know, obviously, he knew that Jesus Christ was going to die and pick for sins, but he's just not quite putting it together. And he's just saying, you know, you're abusive, be it far from the Lord. And look, the reality is that we are going to get persecution and suffering in our lives and we should not shy away from it. It's just part of reality. Verse 23. But he turned and said unto Peter, get thee behind me, Satan. Thou art an offense unto me, without sabers, not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Then said Jesus under his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. See, that is the same word that used there. What we saw in John 21, where basically Jesus tells Peter, you're going to live to be an old man and suffer a very bad death. And then he says, follow me. And he said, you must be willing to follow me to death to serve me no matter what persecution comes. Here, Peter rebukes Jesus and then Jesus rebukes Peter and then he says to everyone, take up his cross and follow me for whosoever will save his life shall lose it and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it and see what God demands of us is to give them our all. Right? I mean, that's literally what God demands of us. He demands us to read the Bible every day. He demands us to serve him 100% with our homework. Now, of course, we're never going to be perfect. I'm not saying that that is even possible, but I am saying he expects us to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow him. And he's saying, you know what? You're going to have a cross that you're going to have to suffer on in your life. Now, that does not mean that you're literally going to die, but it does mean that your life is not about you. And that is what Jesus is trying to tell Peter. Peter thinks that he's really strong and he can rebuke Jesus for saying he was going to die. And then Peter says, you know, you're not actually strong yet. You're not ready to actually go with me to death. But he says, when you're converted, strengthen thy brethren. And so Peter gets the change in John 21 where Jesus tells him, you know what? You're going to suffer a very terrible death. And I mean, this is the moment he got converted in terms of what Jesus was saying there to give your whole heart to me and be willing to lay down everything to die for me if necessary. Now, of course, we don't know what our future holds. I don't know if it's going to happen in our life. But if persecution becomes very heavy, then we must be willing to suffer to the very end. Go back to 1 Peter 5. 1 Peter 5. We're almost done with verse one. Almost done with verse one and verse Peter 5. 1 Peter 5. And it says in 1 Peter 5, verse one, let me read you the verse. It says, And see, I want you to realize, I believe there's this link that the more you're willing to suffer for Christ, the more you deny yourself is the more that you're going to partake of the glory that shall be revealed. Meaning you're going to get more rewards than heaven. The more you're willing to die for yourself, the more fruit you're going to produce. The more you're willing to lay down your life, the more things that you're actually going to accomplish in this world for God. Verse two, Feed the flock of God, which is among you. And so Peter is speaking to other pastors, and he says, Feed the flock of God, which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraintful willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of ready minds. Now, a lot of churches, a lot of Baptist churches, I think they're confused on this one. It says, Feed the flock of God, because it seems like they think this means having a children's ministry and literally feeding them and to solve, right? That's not what he's referring to in First Peter, chapter five, verse two. When he's saying, Feed the flock of God, he's saying spiritual food, not the physical food, but the spiritual food. And if you are a pastor or running a church, one of your main jobs is to just teach the congregation, just feed the flock of God, just teach people the word of God. And honestly, that's the big thing that is missing around the world with churches where you don't learn anything at church, right? I mean, you show up to church and then you got your plate here, got your fork, got your knife and your spoon. You got your napkin and everything. You're ready. It's like, all right, I'm ready to go. What do I have? And then nothing. It's like nothing's on the plate. And that's the reality at a lot of churches that you show up every single week and you learn not the other word now. And they don't even go over any verses. They don't even explain any verses. I mean, it's amazing to me how people have the ability to speak for an hour about the Bible without using any verses. I don't know how they do it. I'm not talented enough to do that. I have to use verses. And they tell story after story after story after story. And it's just like you don't learn anything. Anyway, it's a shame though when you come to church and listening to the sermon is actually boring. You dread the sermon, right? And I've been to churches where you show up for church and you just can't wait for it to be done. Right? You're like, I'm not going to learn anything. I'm just getting this over with. You know, I'm right with God. I came to a church that God wants me to do. It's like, I cannot wait for this to be over then. That's sad because there's so much to learn in the word of God. And that's the big thing. Beating the flock of God. But it also says this, taking the oversight thereof. And when it says taking the oversight thereof, it means you're in charge if you're the pastor of the church. Okay? Now, in case anyone's confused, you know, at this time, I'm not the pastor of this church or the church of Manila. We're still underneath the authority of Pastor Jimenez after he baptized. I'm the ordained evangelist. Lord, only one day I will be the pastor of this church. But one thing you must do, and one thing I also have to do since I'm the boots on the ground running this, is taking the oversight thereof. And what that means is you are in charge in making it very clear that there are rules and that you are in charge. And you know what? When you do that, it's not the attribute that makes it the most like person sometimes. Sometimes when you have to preach really hard about something, sometimes it can offend people, but it's like, you know, people need to realize that the person who's in charge is the shepherd of that church. The shepherd's in charge of the sheep, not the sheep in charge of the shepherd. They might get it backwards at other churches, but what we believe here is that things should be done decently and in order. Things that should be organized. That's what the Bible teaches. And it says, not by constraint, but willingly. So this should not be something where it's like, oh, I don't want to do this. It's like, I dread this job, but I just, I don't have anything better to do. Right? I mean, one of the big things of being a pastor is you desire the office of the bishop. And yet there are people that go into the ministry and they don't want to be in the ministry. I've known people that pick the ministry because they're like, wow, this is my best job opportunity, but they have no desire to actually do it. It's like, well, this is the wrong career building. You know, if you're going to be a pastor, you better have a desire to actually do it, because if you don't have a desire, it's just not going to happen. You're not going to put your heart into it. The things that you put your heart and time and effort into are the things that you enjoy. And the Bible is saying, you know what? If you don't have that desire, then don't do it. There's nothing wrong with being a member of a good church. Nothing sinful about being a member of a good church. There's nothing more spiritual about being the leader of a church. You can serve God while you're in the congregation or whether you want meeting the service or whatever. But if you're going to be a pastor, you better have a desire to do it. And you say, why? Because the ministry is not always one. It's not. I do have this idea that, you know, this is what the ministry is. You just preach three times a week. Your job takes about three and a half hours. We have three and a half hours of services and that's literally all your job all week. So it's like big paycheck. It don't work. It's not reality. Because if you're going to take the oversight there, you have to actually be paying attention to what's going on. When there's problems, you got to fix them. When there's problems, you got to deal with them. And this is especially true if you're part of a church that's actually doing something for God. Because we do have activities like a lot of active churches, but also very zealous for doing so. And stuff like that takes time for organization and stuff like that. And it's like, but you know what? If you're going to do a good job, you need to actually have that desire. And look, I will never try to force you to go in the ministry. That's not something I'm going to do. Now, if you have a desire to go to ministry, then praise the Lord. It's just like, you know, we can help get you prepared and give you opportunities to to agree from time to time. Make sure you learn how to do everything. If you have any questions, I can help you out along the way. You don't have that desire. It's okay. It's not the end of the world. But if you do have that desire, one thing that it says is this, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. One of the big things, if you're going to go in the ministry, one of the big things the Bible says is, you better not be going into it for filthy lucre. And honestly, this is a consistent thing throughout the Bible. And it's something I've noticed in this world is a major problem. People try to use the ministry for money. And it's a terrible sin. I'm not going to recreate what I preach on the weekend, but it's referring specifically here to pastors and they better not be doing it for filthy lucre's sake. And you say, well, how would that manifest itself? Well, it manifests itself when you have first fruits offering and you steal somebody's whole January salary. That's ridiculous. I've never even seen them give a verse that of why they do it. I listen to a whole sermon by a Baptist pastor here in the Philippines because I wouldn't be here without verses they used. They didn't give any of it. They just preached a generic sermon about, you know what, the proof of your love is how much you give. And it's like, all right, now give your January salary. Right? I mean, they didn't have any proof because they don't have any proof. But if you're going to go in the ministry, you better not be doing it for filthy lucre's sake because it's going to manifest itself also the way you preach. You're going to preach just what is acceptable and what's popular, and you're not going to preach the thing that could possibly drive somebody away. But you know what? You cannot be concerned with somebody being driven away by the preaching of God's Word. Of course, you preach the truth in love but you're supposed to preach the entire Word of God. That's what the Bible says. Go to Exodus 18. Exodus 18. Second book of the Bible, Exodus 18. And there's this principle about people being in leadership in the book of Exodus. Exodus 18 verse 21. And notice what it says here in Exodus 18 verse 21. What does it mean by being an able man? Does that mean you're skilled, you're powerful, such as your God? Being able means that you fear God, men of truth, hating, covetousness. Hating, covetousness. See, one of the big things of being a leader, and this is not specifically a church but it is the church of the wilderness. But the Bible is indicating that if somebody's going to be in a position of, you know, spiritual leadership, they better be someone who's not given to covetousness. They better be someone who hates covetousness. Now, of course, this would be true if you're part of a company as well. You wouldn't want someone in leadership that's just, you know, obsessed with making money and stuff. But specifically in terms of religious setting, the people that you put in positions of influence are people that hate covetousness and place such over them to be rulers of thousands and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. So we don't have any full-time workers at our church, but if we do have a full-time worker in the future, probably the main thing I'm going to look for is someone that I've determined is not given to covetousness. Because that's honestly the thing that you see throughout the Bible is someone who's not given to covetousness. You think of Genghisai in the Old Testament, and Genghisai had the opportunity to use the ministry and he used it for financial gain. And I believe Genghisai was probably a saved man, but you know what? He was given to covetousness and it manifested itself, right? And even a saved person would be given to covetousness. But see, if somebody's going to be in a position of leadership to the best of our ability, we're going to try to find people that are not given to covetousness. They don't love money, but they just want to serve God and they fear God in the ministry. Go back to 1 Peter 5. And it's sad to say, but the reality is in a religious setting as well, people will attach themselves to religion for the purpose of making money. And you know what? It's good business. There's this guy in the US his name was L. Ron Hubbard and he's the one who founded Scientology. And you know, he wrote in one of his, he was assigned. He was an author. He was an author. He was a writer and he invented a religion. He started a religion. But in one of his books, before he started that religion, he says, if you really want to make money, start a religion. And he started religion and made lots of money, right? Because that is unfortunately a way that people actually make money. So this is something that, you know, you have to guard yourself for, especially as a local church, especially people that are going to be in a position of leadership. 1 Peter 5 verse 3. And it says, neither is being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to God. And so in 1 Peter 5 verse 3, when we're talking about people that are in positions of authority in terms of pastors, spiritual leaders, it says, neither is being lords over God's heritage. And you might have heard that expression, you know, lording over God's people, basically being a dictator in people's personal lives is what it's referring to. And so how that would manifest itself is that there's some churches where they'll tell you, you know what? Before you buy a car, you better ask me about it first. Right? And it's just like, hey, you know, you better ask me if I like the color, right? I mean, if you say, you better make sure I like the color of that car before you buy it. But I've literally been to a church where pastors have all decisions in their personal lives shouldn't be run by the pastor. Now, here's the thing. If I was going to buy a car, most likely I would get advice from someone who knew a lot about cars in the church. If there's somebody in our church who knew a lot about cars, it makes sense to go to them. Let me be honest with you. I don't know a lot about cars. Right? I mean, I really don't know that much about cars. So if you have questions about a car, I'm not the person to answer those questions. Now, if you have questions about a calculus problem, then tell me if you want to go for it. Right? If you want to talk about math or soccer, I'm here all day. I'm ready to try to help answer your questions. But look, I'm not an expert at all of these different fields. What am I going to know about that? Right? Now, I do think that there's wisdom in terms of making spiritual types of decisions or making big money investments with getting some advice. And of course, there's nothing wrong with asking me if you have questions. Like if you were to ask me, Brother Stuckey, do you think that this is a good decision for my life? Of course, I'll try to give you my best answer. And sometimes it's good to go to spiritual leadership for that. What I'm saying is this. You know what? As much as I preach against rock music, you can go home and listen to rock music if you want. It's up to you. Now I would say it's a sin. I'd say it's wrong. I mean, I personally don't find vice-ponging funny. But if you find vice-ponging funny, then, you know, go ahead and just love the LGBT all you want. Now, I think it's ridiculous. I'm certainly not going to do that. But if that's what you want to do, look, I'm not going to make your decisions for you is what I'm saying. I preach the whole word of God that at the end of the day, you make your own decisions in life. That's the way it works. Okay, verse four. And when the chief shepherd shall appear, he shall receive a crown of glory that faded not away, reforming the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse five. Likewise ye youngers, submit yourselves onto the elders. Submit yourselves onto the elders. Now, there's a couple applications to this because oftentimes the Bible has things that are a dual application. Obviously, when it says ye younger, submit yourselves onto the elder. I certainly think that could mean a young person should submit to someone who is older. For example, people that are kids should be respectful to adults. And of course, kids are learning, which is found in the heart of a child. But you should show respect to your elders. That's something that's kind of being lost in today's world, but younger people should show respect. I know in the US, it used to be a long time ago that let's say there's a group of four people there, and someone's a kid there, 10 or 12 years old. It's like, you speak if you're smoking too, but otherwise you don't speak. And I think that's a good rule. And it's something we do need to teach our kids because kids always want the attention. And it's just like, they need to realize it's like, no, there's a proper place, right? The Bible talks about, you know, honoring the hoary head, referring to someone who's got a grayish hair, someone who's a little bit older. And it's even, you know, it even talks about that you give them your seat or stand up for them if they were to come. Just a sign of respect. And I do think we should show respect onto people that are more than us, but there's also an obligation since it was talking about an elder as a pastor of a church, that people should show respect to the church leadership. And I think that should be given. I mean, it should be obvious that you should show respect because in any walk of life, you have to show respect to the authority. I mean, if you're at a job and you're the employee, you've got to show respect to the boss, right? But somehow, when it comes to spiritual things in the Bible, people think this is like the one exception to everything. It's not an exception. You've got to show respect to those that are in authority. Now, we're a young church, but let's say in the future we run a hundred people. We have a couple full-time workers and we have ministries and people in charge of themselves. The person who's in charge of that ministry, people should show respect over that person, right? I mean, you should show respect and not just say, that you're better than them or whatever. There should be respect for positions of authority. Then it says, may all of you be subject one to another and be clothed with humility, for God presents to the crowd and giving grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore into the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time. So once again, the more you humble yourself, the more God's going to exalt you. So if you're a very Mayavim person, then God is not going to be exalting you because he already exalts yourself, right? And you know, I want you to think about this because I believe that God made earthly examples for us to understand stuff. Imagine that, you know, I drop a book from here. It's going to hit the ground. It's going to make a little bit of noise. But imagine if I drop it from up here, it's going to hit the ground a lot faster, right? I believe acceleration is 9.8 meters per second squared. If I remember correctly, it could be wrong. Basically, the higher an object is, the faster when it's going to hit the ground because until it reaches terminal velocity, okay? And so you're continuing to understand the more you lift yourself up, the more you're going to be humble, right? If you're only a little bit arrogant, you're only going to look a little bit foolish. It's only going to hurt a little bit. But if you really lift yourself up, then you're going to fall really hard. The opposite is true as well. If you humble yourself, the more you humble yourself, the more God's going to exalt you. And so one principle in the Bible is that the way up is down. The way up is down, right? I remember I heard that sermon like 10 years ago. You know, my pastor preached a sermon. The way up is down. I've never forgotten that. I'm like, that is a very clever sermon. It's so simple and yet it's so true. The way up is actually down because if you humble yourself, God's going to exalt you. And people get this idea in this world, well, I've got to exalt myself, to show myself, and make myself powerful. But that's not what the Bible teaches. The Bible says you humble yourself and then God's going to actually exalt you. It says in verse seven, casting all your care upon you or casting all your care upon Him for a careth for you. Verse eight, be sober, be vigilant because you're adversary the devil as a roaring lion, walking about singing who you may develop. So it says here in verse eight that our adversary, the devil, he walks around as a roaring lion, okay? Singing who you may devour. What that's indicating is that there are some people that Satan can devour and there's some people that he cannot devour, right? He's walking around. He's not attacking every Satan person but he's attacking some because there are some that he's able to devour. And so it's kind of like when Jesus told Peter that, you know, Peter, the devil wants to sit you at least, right? You got to make sure that you're strengthened and you're strong because if you go through a trial in life and you're not ready for it, the devil might devour you, right? And when we're talking about this, we're saying being spiritually strong, making sure we have strong character and being spiritually strong because if we do not, the devil could actually devour us. Verse 9, whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. So it tells us to resist the devil. Steadfast in the faith. Unmovable, resist the devil. Now this is kind of a parallel passage to James 4. Go to James 4, we're going to be done pretty soon. James 4. In case you're wondering what next week's book is, 2 Peter. 1 Peter, 2 Peter. So I picked those books because honestly, they weren't the books that I knew most about, so I wanted to study them out. So we did 1 Peter, we're going to do 2 Peter starting next week. But notice this in James 4 verse 6, but he gave him more grace. Wherefore, he said, if God resists the problem, give grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil and he will plead with you. So you see there in verse 7, there's a guarantee that if you resist the devil, he's going to plead with you. OK. Now it doesn't mean he's going to plead immediately, but it means he's eventually going to plead. See, the devil walks around seeking whom he may devour and some people will abandon seeking him and if you're someone who resists the devil, the devil will eventually back down because he's not omnipresent. He cannot be everywhere at once, so he's not going to waste his time with you when he can focus on somebody else. And so the great promise for us is that, you know, we might go through trials in life and tough times, but you know, if we resist the devil, the devil is actually going to back down eventually. Now, don't take this out of context and be like one of these Pentecostal churches where it's like, I'm going to rebuke the devil in the name of the Lord. The Bible doesn't teach that. OK, the Bible doesn't teach that we should rebuke the devil. The fact that it teaches it's a worse thing to try to do something like that and you're not going to win a battle versus the devil. OK, but it does say we can resist the devil and you think of Jesus being tempted in Matthew chapter four and he'll resist the devil and he will eventually drift away from me. Now, one application to think about is when we go soul winning, we get a lot of people saved. We invite a lot of people in church and very few people that are saved come to church. I mean, it's a very small number. Now, a lot of them tell us they're going to come to church, right? Now, sometimes I just ask them, you know, sinawali kaba, right? They say, hey, I'm going to be at church on Saturday. Sinawali kaba, right? I can get away with it saying that, you know, sometimes a laugh or whatever, but it's like they commit to being at church sometimes. Here's the thing, I don't think that they're trying to lie. I think that they think at that present moment, hey, I'm planning to come to church. What I think takes place is they wake up, they're a little bit tired, then all of a sudden they're thinking next week and next week comes and then they never get home. Anyway, I think it's a good thing to kind of follow up with people that you get saved if you're a good convert. I will say this, though, it's a very frustrating thing sometimes. I mean, I've showed up in people's houses and it's like, oh, man, next week. It's like, you know, you could have told me that when I was on the way over here that you're not going to come, right? And it's just like, you know, the reality is most people that are planning to come to church never end up doing it. You say, why is it? I think it's just because they're not going to sit together. I think the devil just kind of basically makes it a little bit difficult to come to church that first week. And here's the thing. If that person is going to skip church from just being a little bit tired, they're never going to get committed to church because the devil will always make something happen. However, if you stay steadfast and say, I'm going to be part of church and serve God no matter what, the devil is going to back down. Now, I'm not saying that he's never going to bug you in your life, but I'm just saying that, you know what, he will back down from that battle and, you know what, he'll come back later on and he won't expect it. Verse eight, draw him out of God and he will draw him out of you. Cleanse your hands, these sinners will purify your heart, seeing double-minded. Be afflicted in mourning. Wait, let your laugh return to mourning and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves on the side of the Lord and he shall lift you up. Now, do you see how this is parallel to what we saw in 1 Peter? Being resisting the devil, being steadfast in the faith, humbling yourself and he's going to lift you up. And so this is actually parallel there to that passage from 1 Peter 5. Back to 1 Peter 5, we'll finish up. 1 Peter 5. Now, I'll just help you out in case this ever becomes a trivia question, you know, what is my favorite chapter in the Bible? Because sometimes we have the anniversary of any trivia questions. James 4 is my favorite chapter in the Bible. James chapter 4. So if you don't get that right on a trivia question, you have no excuse. Now, if I end up changing my favorite chapter before then, then, you know, I guess tough luck, but that's been my favorite chapter for over a decade, so it's probably not going to change. I really love James chapter 4. 1 Peter 5, verse 10. When the God of all grace who hath called us onto this glory by Christ Jesus, after they have suffered a while, making perfect, established, strengthened, settling. So you see how he's talking about how we get our point to suffer? This is something that is part of our life. He talked about the sufferings earlier on in 1 Peter 5. Here he talks about after that he has suffered a while. And the Bible says, gain all the will of God, the Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. It is a guarantee that you're going to suffer to some degree in your life. And look, if you've got it on fire for God, then you probably know this family and friends that, you know what, just don't want to be friends with people. And what you need to realize about this, that this happens to everybody that's serving God. Yeah, it's always interesting because sometimes people think it's only them. Remember this guy told me this, we were in a circle in Verity Baptist in Sacramento. We'd always have a circle of churches after the service, like in the auditorium holding in. There'd be like 15 churches, or 15 chairs, and we'd just talk after the service or whatever. And he was talking about like all the suffering he was going through, his family didn't want to talk to him since he was part of the church. And the way he was saying it was that he thought it was only happening to him. And we're listening and we're like, no, that's happened to all of us. Right? It's not just you. It's like this happens to all of us that you're going to have a family that just do not like your beliefs. Martin, how does the world hate you? Because what we preach and believe is just not the same message as the world. And you can even take that to as small of a level as salvation. Isn't it interesting how just about every Christian church is okay with other Christian churches as long as they teach more salvation? Even if it's not the same method of works, hey, you know what? You think you gotta be baptized when you're saved? I think you gotta be baptized and speak in tongues, but hey, you know what? It's okay. At least we believe it works, right? But if you believe salvation is by grace through faith, they need your guidance. Right? I mean, people talk about the damnable doctrine of eternal security. And it's like they cannot stand the sort of church that says once you're saved, you can always save. Well, I mean, it's eternal. It's everlasting. That's what the Bible says. And sometimes in the Dorian of people asking questions, they think they'll back down or something like that. There's like you're saying no matter what you do, act and you get saved. Now you can never lose it. It's like, is that what I'm saying? One time there's this guy in, I don't remember where I was living at the time, and he was struggling with eternal security. He was really struggling with suicide. Because the Bible teaches that obviously suicide kills your body, doesn't kill your soul. You're still going to go to heaven if you have spiritual eternal life. Obviously it's a sin. Obviously it's wrong. But suicide is not a straight thing into hell. And you know, this guy was clearly not saved. And he's, but you know, everybody who's a Christian thinks that if they say the name Jesus, they're saved. You're saying all you have to do is believe? You're saying then who goes to hell? It's like, well, 99% of people go to hell because they're not putting all their faith in. And this guy is clearly believing it works. And he's saying, you're telling me that I can go out and just do whatever I want and then end my own life and also go to heaven? I was like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm saying that I could do that, but you're not saved. I was like, you didn't come to hell. All right, I was like, you don't believe. And I kind of made it like a joke, but that's true. It's like, no, no, I was like, you don't believe? I was like, if you put your faith in Jesus and you have eternal life, then yes, you can do whatever. And still go to heaven. And because it's eternal life, it's that simple, right? And so the bottom line is this, we are going to suffer in this life. So don't be surprised when you go through a valley of life. And one thing about this is obviously our church has been around for a while, but there's been a lot of ups and downs given the fact that we weren't able to have a church for a while. So it's kind of like a new beginning in these last three months or so, right? When you're part of a new church, it's always exciting at first. And sometimes I think people have this idea once I get a good church, all my problems will vanish away. It's like, once I have a good church, no depression, no money problems, happy all the time. I'll have a six pack and convention, 400,000, everything. Everything in life is going to be great. Once I just am part of a good church, it doesn't work that way. And I always tell people that, in terms of life is difficult and sometimes people are so excited to be part of a good church. They think it's going to fix all areas of their life, but the reality is you have ups and downs no matter what church you're part of. Now, I do believe if you're living Godly, you can avoid some of the bad situations in life, but look, you are going to suffer if you're serving God. Verse 11, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever hated. By Sylvanus, a faithful brother on you, as I suppose, I bring briefly exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God, where it needs to end. The church that is a bad one would like to be resolute with you, and so doth Marcus, my son. Grace you one another with the kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen. Now, just on a side point, it really doesn't have to do with the sermon, but in verse four, there's this guy one time, this is a story from Sacramento. This guy was a weird guy. He was out dirty Baptist. He ended up leaving. He was not saved. We went to his house to try and get him saved and came on a bus route. And he had Hindu stuff on the wall and this ninja stuff and all this weird spiritual stuff and these weird smoke things or whatever. He said he was a Christian, but it's like, this guy was strange. And he was very effeminate. And he's from another country, so we're like, well, maybe that's his accent or something. He's from Jamaica, so maybe that's part of it. But he's very strange, OK? Very strange, not saved. And he came up to me at church one day, and he's like, brother Max. And then he holds out his arms. The Bible says, greet me one another with a holy kiss. And then he just hugged me before I had time. Thankfully, he didn't kiss me. Let me just say this. It's like, that is not how we get greetings here, OK? Don't walk up to people and greet one another with a kiss of charity, OK? Handshake, hey, that's fine. The fist bump, that's fine. Don't greet one another with a holy kiss though, OK? That's not appropriate, OK? And anyways, that's the book of 1 Peter. Let's close the door first. Your Heavenly Father. Thank you for allowing us to be here today and to sing this hymn of glory. We also bless our lives in the entire book of just living for heavenly things.