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

["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] ["Pomp and Circumstance," by Edward Elgar, plays in the background.] Nā rā tūta sāpī Sādha dāni eso Bhāvādhi ho laiṇu ho Sādha dāni dāni sīnu ho Sādha dāni dāni ho Sādhi bhāntai eso Sādha dāni bhā Bhāvādha dāni dāni Bhāvādhi ho laiṇu ho Sādha dāni dāni sīnu ho Sādha dāni eso Bhāvādhi ho laiṇu ho Sādha dāni dāni sīnu ho Sādha dāni dāni ho Sādha dāni dāni ho Sādha dāni dāni ho Sādha dāni dī arguments Bhāvādhi ho bhāvai N Areas of agreement Bhāvādhi ho kṣa Bhāvāda gṛ Pledge Take out your bulletin and on the front we have our verse of the week 1st Corinthians 1 verse 23 the Bible reads but we preach Christ crucified onto the Jews a stumbling block and onto the Greeks foolishness and that's a great verse there. We are a family integrated church meaning children and infants are welcome during the services we do have the mother baby room as well as the ladies restroom back there and the men's restroom is up here in front remember no eating during the services maintain a professional atmosphere and keep running and rough housing before and after the church services our weekly service time is listed Sunday morning at 10 a.m. and short break then our 1130 service I'll just warn you the first sermon is going to be longer second sermon will probably be shorter though okay it's going to balance out here today so second service is probably not starting at 1130 but I'll do my best our Wednesday evening Bible study at 6 p.m. we're going through the book of Hosea so many times listed Wednesday afternoons we meet here at 4 p.m. at the church building and then Saturday afternoons so winning is round 1 10 a.m. to 12 round 2 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. lunch provided by church brother Ermin's the Saturday so winning captain so if you have any questions then just get a hold of him and Sunday afternoons are you know we have lunch fellowship till 2 15 p.m. then we have soul winning around 2 15 p.m. here today our praise report for 2021 557 salvation's this month and 1143 salvation's year-to-date not including this past week so far this week we have 195 salvation's just with the church in Manila and we have 12 salvation's in Pampanga so that's great work everybody we're not going to break our record unless we have just an amazing day but we'll probably be our second bet I think we're going to definitely be our second best total ever 200 salvation's is awesome for us so great work everybody our Singapore Bible study fellowship there at 116 salvation's year-to-date birthdays and anniversaries for February and we only have one one birthday in February so it's the same in Pampanga we have six people who have a birthday or anniversary in January and one person in February it's like what in the world it's like I don't know what's wrong with February but you know and so information for first-time guests there below you know thank you for being our guest you know you should have a visitor communication card in your bulletin if not we do have one on the back table and we have a gift for you after the service if you're a first-time visitor on the next page our Bible memorization challenge so we're going through the book of Hosea and if you're just starting this say brother sucky I'm motivated to memorize the Bible well forget about challenge B probably right you're probably not going to memorize the whole book here in the next you know four or five weeks or whatever but you can do challenge a though you know there's 14 verses I think in the book of Hosea chapter 1 and you know if you're doing challenge B just one chapter per week is the pace you needed to maintain and so upcoming activities so we have a prayer meeting on March 21st so I guess that the holiday I had listed last week is not like an actual non-working holiday so we don't have a soul-winning marathon so we have a bit of a break in March and then at the beginning of April is going to be Easter work where we have probably a lot of soul-winning going on okay so basically get some rest this next month and you know in April forget about rest okay obviously you know we have a rainy season coming up in June depending on the weather and everything we want to hit it hard the first half of the year while it you know we're able to it's already starting to get more hot out there though isn't it I noticed that yesterday I was like man I kept looking at my clock it's like it's only 3 15 p.m. it's like it's so hot right so we got to you know get used to that but you know we're gonna have a lot of soul-winning in April but in March it's gonna be kind of a more relaxing month we have the prayer meeting on March 21st current in upcoming sermon series you know we're going through the book of Hosea and the book of Romans in a couple weeks we're gonna start our false philosophy series we just ended the series on the family nobody quit the church so that's a success you know praise for that so and our information on a group chat down there below then on the back we do have a place for sermon notes for the first sermon here today Christian apologetics exposed and then circuit riding preachers is the second sermon and also for those that are listening online you know you can check out our YouTube channel we're live streaming to that and we're kind of testing it out we're kind of making changes a little bit each week we think we got all the things worked out so it should be good if you want to check out on YouTube that might give you better sound quality and even video quality on the YouTube as opposed to the Facebook but if not just keep watching the Facebook and I think that's it for announcements and we'll have a brother Rafi lead us in another song you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you four appointed in the bounds of their habitation. So he's made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth. What does that mean? Well, what it means is the same God who's the God of the Philippines is the same God of a Muslim country and the same God of a Hindu country and the same God of a Buddhist country because we're made of the same blood. That's what he's saying. It's not that we have the Christian God and Muslims get to heaven by Muhammad and their way and the Buddhists get to heaven by their, no, no, no, he's made of us all of one blood. The same God, the same Lord Jesus Christ died for the sins of the whole world, the Bible says. Not just of some people. He is the way to heaven no matter where you're from. And that's what Paul is explaining. Paul's saying it's not okay that you've got your idea of God and I've got my, no, no, you must change what you believe. That's what he's saying. Then he says here in verse 27 that they should seek the Lord if happily they might feel after him and find him though he be not far from every one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being as certain also of your own poets have said for we are also his offspring. Now he brings up the poets here because what he's trying to explain to them is that what you believe is really contradicting itself. Even your poets have explained this idea and yet you don't seem to get it. And it's not that the poets were saved but he's showing them that their religion just contradicts. It just doesn't really make sense is what he's saying. Verse 29, for as much then as we are the offspring of God, we're the creation of God, we're the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like on the gold or silver or stone graven by art and man's device. So once again, understanding who God is, it's not this gold God that you make. It's not this silver God that you make because God made us, okay? We don't create God with our hands. And look around the world, there are so many people that they just create these gods to worship, right? There's this guy who became famous in India because he made this statue and it looked very realistic of Donald Trump and Donald Trump was his God and then two months later he died and he was a young guy. It's like, I don't know what happened there, right? But it's just like people like make these gods and it's like, well, I'm gonna worship God in this way. It's not good enough. And it doesn't make logical sense, right? To create a God with your own hands and that's who you worship, okay? Verse 30, and the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. Now when it's saying repent here, you have to understand what is the whole context? He's not rebuking them for drinking alcohol. He's not rebuking them for committing sins. He's not rebuking them for fornicating or committing adultery. He's rebuking them for their understanding of God. So what is he saying? He's saying change what you believe and believe on the true God. That's the context, right? You can't just pull a verse and say, well, there's the word repent. I told you you had to quit drinking to go to heaven. Is that really the context? He's saying change your mind about who you believe and believe on Jesus. Because here's the thing, you cannot believe in this warped idea of God and then put all of your trust in Jesus. You must change what you believe. And by the way, Paul gives us a template when we preach the gospel. Now this is true when we preach to people of a Catholic background or just a normal Christian type background where they've got to change what they believe. And sometimes I'll ask them that before this conversation, you said, I've got to be good. I've got to be nice. Do you still believe that? Or do you believe what the Bible says? To make sure that they're changing their mind. But this is very important if you talk to someone with a very weird background. Because they might hear this and say, I like that. But they're not rejecting what they believe. And believing on Jesus. They're just saying, sounds good to me. I mean, I've got 20 idols, make it 21, right? That's the sort of idea some people have. Verse number 31. Because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. Now look, we just saw repentance is clearly in reference to what you're believing. But people would look at verse 31 and say, but he's going to judge the world in righteousness. So it must be talking about your works. Here's the thing. Walang sinumang matuwid. There's none righteous. Right? All of us have sinned. So the fact that God's judging us in righteousness means you're not going to work your way to heaven. So you've got to change what you believe and put your trust in Jesus because your works aren't good enough. Because he is going to judge us in perfect righteousness and we're not righteous, okay? That's showing us we need to believe on Jesus Christ. It's not referring to living a good life because we're not righteous. There's none righteous, no, not one, the Bible says, right? The Bible says there is none good but one. None good but one. And who is that? That's God, right? And Jesus spoke that referring to the fact that, you know what, if you're going to believe on me, you've got to realize that I am the true one. It's not I'm a good master. No, I am the way to heaven. There's none good but one. Where if he hath given assurance unto all men and that he raised him from the dead? Now here's the thing, he's going to judge us in righteousness, so how do we know if we're going to heaven then? Well, he's given us assurance by the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. The fact that Jesus rose from the dead means I'm going to rise from the dead one day, meaning I'm going to get my glorified body. The fact that Jesus rose again, that's the proof to us as believers that we have that assurance that we're going to rise again, that we're going to get the glorified body, because there's really no physical evidence that I'm saved. There's no physical evidence. When a person gets saved, you don't see this bright shining light. It's like you're preaching the gospel. You're like, man, I don't know if they got, oh, I see the light, right? They're saved. No, that's not the way it works. The assurance we have as individuals is the fact that when you put your trust on Jesus, believing that Jesus rose again from the dead, that means you're going to rise again from the dead. And you can have that 100% assurance. You don't have to wonder if you're going to heaven. You can know you're going to heaven. You can be 100% sure. The religions of the world, they're 80% sure. They're 85% sure. They're 90% sure. I'm 100% sure. Amen. Say, how do you know that? Well, Jesus rose again. That's how we can have that assurance, because it's not based on our works, okay? Verse 32. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. Isn't it true we preach the gospel and some people laugh at it? That's foolish. It's foolish to think that one man died for your sins and now you can go to hell. All you have to do is believe. Some mock at our message. Is that not true? I mean, it's so frustrating. When people mock at you, it sometimes really irritates you, you know what I mean? But it's like, people are going to mock at us. We preach the gospel and sometimes they laugh at us. And it's just like, well, it's real funny now, but we're going to see one day, right? And it says, some mocked and others said, we will hear the again of this matter, because this is very strange to them. And some said, this is interesting. I need to hear it again. And isn't that what we'd expect if we were so winning in a society that had this weird, warped view of God? There'd probably be a lot of people that would listen to us, but not get saved. And they would say, that's interesting, but I don't know. I'm not sure. And the same thing happens today as well, though. We talk to people and a lot of people are just like, I don't know, maybe. I mean, it's interesting, I'm just not quite sure. But to be saved, you've got to put your full trust in Jesus Christ. So look, Acts 17 is the big chapter. All I see is Paul preaching the gospel. I don't see these wise arguments or man's words. I see him just explaining the gospel. That's what you see, okay? Go to Acts 18, Acts 18. Acts chapter 18. All Acts 17 shows us is that when people do not have a Christian type of background, you might need to explain more in depth and spend more time. And be more patient, right? And maybe even not even try to rush at the end to pray with them, but really make sure they get it and it's okay if they don't. They might just think about it and say, well, hear the again of this matter, okay? That might be what's gonna take place because it's gonna be hard for them to change their entire belief in 20 minutes or 30 minutes. It might take them a couple weeks. I know people that have gotten saved from various backgrounds. One of my best friends in the US, his wife was raised in Thailand. So don't be surprised she was raised Buddhist, right? Almost everybody in Thailand is Buddhist. And you know what, he gave her the gospel many times. And then eventually she got it because, you know, people that have a different background like that, it just might take some time. And here's what you have to realize. It's not a waste if you get a chance to explain a verse from the Bible and just put in the seed of the word of God, right? And this is true when you have, you know, family time during Christmas, you know, unsaved relatives. Explain Romans 6 23, right? They give you a gift and say, man, this reminds me of how the Bible says the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. I mean, it's free. I don't have to pay for it. I don't earn it. And it's through Jesus Christ. And just quickly get in the word of God for 30 seconds and then back away before they get frustrated and mad at you for preaching to them. But just kind of get in the word of God a little bit. And look, it's not in vain if they don't get saved immediately. They might need to hear it many times and you're slowly preaching the gospel to them. It might not be like at the door 20 minutes. Because when we go soul winning, we ask people if they're willing to listen. Some of your family would say no at the door. Now look, we don't spend hours at the door trying to force people. But with your personal family you see every year, spend a little bit of time every opportunity you get, right? So in Acts 17, all Paul's doing is preaching the gospel. Acts 18, verse 28, for he mightily convinced the Jews in that publicly showing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ. Acts 18, verse 28, for he mightily convinced the Jews in that publicly showing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ. So Paul the Apostle, he took opportunities to preach sermons to people and preach about salvation. You know, whether this is referring to just publicly where people are listening, a captive audience, or just in public where he's talking to people to those that met with him. He's preaching, but how is he showing that Jesus is actually the way to heaven? Through the scriptures, right? Isn't that what you see? In this verse, you see one man preaching the gospel using the scriptures, right? Now at our church, we are King James only. Amen. We believe the King James Bible is perfect. This is the word of God in the English language. Now I want you to look at Acts 18, verse 28, and I'm gonna read this to you from the NIV. And tell me if this is the same thing. In the NIV, this is what it reads. For he vigorously refuted the Jews' opponents in public debate. Is that what your Bible says? Does it look like Paul the Apostle set up these organized apologetic debates? I mean, does it look like Paul the Apostle was a forerunner to James White? And he got James White here, and he got the Muslim apologists there, and they got this big debate, and I got 15 minutes, you got 15 minutes, I refute your argument. Look, that's a waste of time. You say, why? Because the unsaved person, you're listening to nonsense for an hour and a half. Look, when we preach the gospel, we give the gospel to people that are willing to listen. It's not a 50-50 conversation. Every once in a while, you knock on a door, and then they wanna tell you what they believe. And here's the thing, I'm not interested in hearing what they believe for 10 minutes. And look, I've said this to people, and this gets them really mad, but I've said before, hey, I came here to explain what I believe. When you knock on my door, you can tell me what you believe. That really gets them mad, because they don't go door-to-door soul-winning. So it's like, good luck finding my door. Because the reality is, this person might not be interested, but this person at the house right beside, he might be interested. And you don't wanna waste your time. You get reminded of this all the time, right? Just a couple weeks ago, there was this guy that worshiped Eli, right? And you know, Eli Soriano, and he just didn't wanna listen, he wanted to argue. And guess what, I just went to the next door, a few doors down, and then several people got saved. And you just get reminded, hey, don't get in the flesh and just argue with someone if they don't wanna listen, okay? Just preach the gospel to people that are willing to listen. You're not seeing a public debate, because debates are a waste of time. They're a waste of time. Look, here's the way debates work. People walk into the debates, they already know what they believe, and they don't change their mind. And the people that are on the fence about it, they don't end up putting all their faith on Jesus Christ. If you wanna get those people saved, you knock on their door and talk to them. That's the way it works. Debates just don't work. Go to Acts 20. Acts 20. Acts 20. Not only do debates not work, the person that's right doesn't always win the debate. The person that's right probably wins the debate maybe 70% of the time, because having the truth will help you, but it doesn't mean you win the debate. Look, I'm not trying to be, I don't have this attitude. I would crush anybody in a debate. You know what? I'm sure a lot of these heretics, hey, they're experts at debating. They might win the debate. It doesn't mean that they're right. I mean, I've watched plenty of debates before from people of various sides. There's Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron. They had this big debate on ABS or CBS versus these atheists. Look, I mean, if you're honest, the atheists smashed them. I'm like, good night. What a terrible way to defend the existence of God. They look terrible. Did that make me say, man, maybe I don't believe in God either. No, I know God's real. It's not a debate that determines who's right or who's not. The truth is obviously God's real, and unfortunately, Ray Comfort doesn't know what he's talking about. So he uses the banana to defend the existence of God, and it's just like, it's an inside joke if you've seen that video. Check it out on YouTube. Ray Comfort banana, it's pretty fun, right? I'll show you after the service. But look, that doesn't determine whether or not God's real. It's not a debate. If somebody wants to know, prove to me God's real, here's my answer. Step outside. And then they come back. Where was the proof? Well, if you didn't see it, then you're just not gonna believe. I mean, it's obvious God's real. It's built into you, and you're being willingly ignorant if you say God's not real. And I'm not gonna waste two hours arguing with someone in a philosophical discussion that wants me to prove like a math problem that God's real. It's obvious God's real, and it's built inside your conscience, and they know that, but they're being willingly ignorant. Acts 20, verse 20. Acts 20, verse 20. Acts 20, verse 20. And here's the thing, I'm showing you that there's no scripture to defend this idea of needing these apologetics ministries. I'm not going to the soul-winning passages that are normal like John 3, but in John 3, what do you see? Jesus just proclaiming his deity and the fact that it's a free gift. All of the soul-winning conversations are like that. Acts 8, Acts 10. We looked at the complicated one, Acts 17, because the person has a different idea about God, but when you're looking at all the soul-winning presentations, do they have to prove for 20 minutes that God is real before they preach the gospel? They just preach the gospel. And if you're a soul-winner, you know it works, right? It works every single week going door to door. We don't need these big, complicated apologetics ministries, okay? Acts 20, verse 20. And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but I've showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house. So there's Paul the Apostle going door to door preaching the gospel, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks. So two groups of people from different backgrounds, the Jews and the Greeks. And so what did Paul say? Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. So see, what Paul the Apostle did was he just explained the gospel and he told people, change what you believe. Change your idea of God and put your faith on Jesus Christ. That's all he did. Go to 1 Peter 3, 1 Peter 3, 1 Peter 3. You know why Christian apologetics ministries are so popular? Because if you're like me, when you first got saved, you started to wonder, how can I get a Mormon saved? How can I get an atheist saved? How can I get a Hindu saved? And it's like, you don't even know how to get a normal person saved, but that's how I was. When I first got saved, I was like, I gotta figure out how to get a Mormon saved. And it's like, I hadn't even read the Bible. Right? And it's just like, I get it. You know, you're thinking about, how can I reach all these different groups of people? But honestly, what you need to do is just read the Bible, memorize the Bible, listen to preaching, slowly learn. And here's the thing, probably before you're gonna get a Mormon saved, you get practice on just kind of normal conversations. Then you kind of add to your knowledge, and God might give you the opportunity to reach someone that's a little bit more difficult, but you kind of just start simple and just kind of add to it, right? And so look, it makes sense, because a lot of people are wondering, and the problem is, when people first get saved, they think a far higher percentage of people out there are actually saved, right? And when you got saved, you thought 20% of people in this country were saved, right? And then all of a sudden you started realizing, oh wow, it's really, really small. So then all of a sudden that kind of adds to the value of just getting normal, everyday people saved, because you start realizing all of these Christian coworkers, man, most of them aren't Christian. Isn't that true? Right. Now I grew up in a non-Catholic country, but like most people have a Protestant background or non-denominational background. So when I got saved, I just kind of figured, you know, probably like, you know, half of the Methodists are already saved, they've already heard this, half the Lutherans, and then all of a sudden you start realizing, oh wow, narrow. It's not just narrow, it's very narrow, is the way which leadeth unto life. Then all of a sudden you start realizing, I need to just learn how to get normal people saved, because it's not like they've heard the true gospel either, oftentimes, right? It's not just that the Mormons have not heard the true gospel. No, the average person hasn't really heard a 20-minute gospel presentation from someone who knows the gospel and how to explain it, right? First Peter three, verse 15. Here's the big verse. Here's the big verse used to say we need apologetics ministries. First Peter three, verse 15. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. So the Bible says we need to be ready to answer every man when they ask us questions. Now look, I believe this. This is true, okay? We should be ready to answer questions. What I'm saying is we don't need this mega big ministry of apologetics. Now look, some of the questions that are brought up at these debates and things like that, we should try to find answers to these questions. But the problem is they're replacing soul winning with these big discussions and apologetics meetings, okay? And I want you to realize something. People look at these apologetics leaders as the wisest people in Christianity. Is that not true? People thought Rabbi Zacharias was the wisest Christian in the world. Now here's the problem with that. From a biblical perspective, who's wise? He that winneth souls is wise. So why do I want to listen to someone that's not a soul winner explain to me how to reach people with the gospel? Does that make any sense? I mean, if he's not a soul winner, what is he gonna teach me? It doesn't make any sense. And here's my point. Look, you know, if Pastor Jimenez made a video of defending difficult questions, I would watch it. Why? He's a soul winner. He's wise. But someone like Rabbi Zacharias that doesn't go soul winning, James White, what am I gonna learn from them? They're not soul winners. They're not wise. What they're doing is giving you worldly wisdom to defend Christianity. They're not giving you godly, biblical wisdom. They're giving worldly wisdom to prove Christianity. Look, people don't get saved from worldly wisdom. And so I don't want to listen to someone. I'll give you an example. Just yesterday, Pastor Anderson, a lot of us know him and listen to his sermons, he put a video just smashing this Muslim apologist. It was great. Many of you shared it. It was awesome. It was hilarious. I learned things. But you know why I listened to that video? Because he's a soul winner. He knows what he's talking about. James White, he might be able to win a debate versus a Muslim, but that isn't gonna be profitable to me because he doesn't know how to win a soul of the Lord though. It's not about trying to win arguments with people. Because I'll be honest with you, I don't really get into a lot of arguments. Right, when we go soul winning, we don't really get into a lot of arguments. Is it like every other door you have to spend an hour arguing with someone to get them saved? No, there's people that are willing to listen and if people don't wanna listen, what do you do? You move on to the next door. And so look, I want you to realize we should be able to defend what we believe and slowly learn difficult questions and Bible contradictions and stuff like that and why we believe the Bible and not the crayon and things like that. But here's my point, for someone who first got saved or is new to this, we need to just read the Bible and learn the Bible and learn those things slowly as you go, right? Learn to get a normal person saved before getting a hardcore Muslim saved or something like that, okay? Now turn in your Bible to Titus 3, Titus 3, Titus 3. So look, I'm not saying it's bad to try to defend difficult questions, I'm just saying this is a very improper balance where you have these mega apologetics ministries. What I'm saying is I'm not gonna cancel a sermon to just hold an apologetics seminar because it's a waste of time and you need to be edified with a sermon. Now perhaps I'll preach a sermon one day on Bible contradictions, but my point is this, we're not just changing our ministry and saying, we've gotta spend like half of our sermons just answering difficult, philosophical questions that are oftentimes foolish questions. Now an example of this, there's a Christian apologist, so to speak, his name's Eric Hovind, who knows Eric Hovind? Eric Hovind, who knows Ken Hovind? Ken Hovind's son, Eric Hovind, there you go. Ken Hovind's son is Eric Hovind, okay? Now Ken Hovind, you know, he's a very smart, intelligent person. His son is not, okay? Eric Hovind's just not a smart person, okay? It is what it is. And proof of that is just go on YouTube and type in Eric Hovind Burger King and there's your proof, right? Who's seen the video I'm talking about? Eric Hovind and Burger King, it's the funniest thing you'll ever see. You think it's a joke. He walks into Burger King and somebody's filming this and this is like to defend Christianity or preach the gospel. He's like, I've got this awesome new method to preach the gospel. He's like, what's this, right? And he goes up to Burger King and the woman asks, what's your order? He gives his order and he said, and she's like, what's your name? Because you know, they'll call out the name of the person, you know? And he says, my name is Jesus Christ is Lord. It's like, Senua Lingkaba, right? Is your name actually Jesus Christ is Lord? Are you just lying, right? And he said, when my order's ready, I want you to say it really loud so everybody can hear. And then all of a sudden, you know, she's like, okay. And he looks at the camera, he's like. And then all of a sudden, like they cut to later on the video and she screams out, order number 47 for Jesus Christ is Lord. And he's like, this is an awesome evangelical method. Is this a joke? I mean, I encourage you type in Eric Hovind, Burger King on YouTube, right? I think it's E-R-I-C. I don't think it's with a K, right? It's a joke, it's embarrassing. As Christians, it's like, what in the world? It's like, quit being an apologist, right? We don't need you to defend our faith, right? And it's just like, this is the wisdom though, of people that don't go soul winning and are trying to figure out man's wisdom to reach everybody with the gospel, right? No, you just go up to people and talk to people and explain the word of God, okay? Point number one is it's just unscriptural. You're not gonna find lots of scripture saying we need these apologetic ministries, right? Point number two is it's unproductive. The reason why there's not scripture to defend this method is it's unproductive. It's just not an effective way to reach people with the gospel. Now, man's wisdom, it makes sense. It seems like it would really work to reach the Muslim that we've got to prove to them Christianity, but it doesn't work. It's unproductive. And the Bible shows us this. The Bible tells us this. And if you have experience, you know this is true. It's just unproductive. Titus 3, verse nine. Titus 3, verse nine. Titus 3, verse nine. But avoid foolish questions and genealogies and contentions and strivings about the law, for they are unprofitable in vain. Unproductive, unprofitable. The Bible says avoid foolish questions. Look, many of these questions they answer in these apologetics ministries are foolish questions that we should avoid. We shouldn't even give an answer. It makes you look like a fool when you give an answer to some of these stupid questions. Right, you know, I know in the US, the big question, atheists try to stump Christians. It's like, is God all powerful? And you say, yes. Well, if God's all powerful, is he able to create a rock so big that he's not strong enough to lift it himself? And if he cannot create a rock like that, he's not all powerful. And if he can't lift it, he's not all powerful. There you go, God's not real. That's a foolish question. They're an idiot. It's stupid, right? I don't even need to give a reason. You think I'm gonna write a book and just answer a bunch of stupid questions like that? It's like, look, you want the proof of God, walk outside. And if you don't believe it, you're willingly ignorant. And look, if somebody reads the Bible and they can't tell us the word of God, they're being willingly ignorant because the Bible proves itself. You can tell the Bible's the word of God, but people don't like the word of God. It's not that they need to see some sign to believe, right? They require a sign, but the only sign given to them is the sign of the prophet, Jonas. As Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. You know what Jesus Christ said is, I'm not gonna answer stupid questions. That's what he said. You know what my proof is? The proof is I'm gonna rise again from the dead. And many people had all the evidence in the world that Jesus rose again from the dead. And guess what? They didn't believe. You say, how is that possible? Because some people just won't believe. It just is what it is. Some people are not willing to believe. And having this idea, I've gotta get all these complicated questions, it's not gonna work. I want you to realize this. With 99% of the cases, if you as a soul winner cannot get that person saved, neither would have the Lord Jesus Christ if he talked to them. Neither would have Paul the Apostle if he talked. Because some people are receptive and some aren't. And if they aren't receptive, it doesn't matter how good of a soul winner you are, they're not gonna get it. That's just the way it is. I mean, there are plenty of times they preach the gospel. And look, some people mocked Paul. I'm sure Paul did a much better job preaching what he believed than me. But they still mocked him. Why? Because some people just don't believe. They're just not gonna believe. It just is what it is, okay? And the Bible says, avoid foolish questions and genealogies and contentions and strivings. So avoid the fights, right? That's what the Bible's saying. Avoid the contention, avoid the strivings. Isn't a debate just a big fight between two sides? And then this is what people say. Well, no, no, no, not a debate. It's a discussion. Then why are you arguing and yelling at each other? Right? You're debating, you're arguing. And the Bible says, avoid that. It's a waste of time. That's what the Bible says. A man that is in heretic after the first and second and admonition, reject. The Bible says if someone's a heretic, meaning we preach the gospel a couple times and they reject the truth, just move on. Avoid wasting the time. An example is when you're preaching the gospel and then you show somebody something, they just don't believe it. A few weeks ago at our soul-winning marathon, I knocked on the door of a oneness Pentecostal, which are like the cults of the Pentecostals, right? And you know what? They brought up the fact of Jesus. They brought up the fact of oneness. And I showed them verses that Jesus was God, but I showed the Trinity, and they just refused to believe it. And it's just like, well, it's time to move on to the next door. And as I'm done with that door, they're kind of laughing saying, ha ha, I won that debate. Well, go ahead, congratulations, you won the debate. You're not gonna get saved, I'm not gonna waste my time. You know, it is okay to walk away from the door and allow the person to feel like they won that argument. In fact, it actually takes a lot of strength to be willing to do that, because in your flesh, you wanna make them look like a fool. Right? But here's the thing. You know what? Some people are just gonna think you're a fool, because they don't believe what the Bible says. And you know what? You could spend an hour arguing with an atheist at the door, or you could have enough strength to just walk away and say, you know what? It's okay, I don't care what they think. I don't care what man thinks about the message of God. They don't wanna listen, you just move on. That's the wisdom of the Bible. If they're a heretic after their first and second admonition, reject that person. Now, that does not mean that that person's a reprobate. But what it means is they're not ready to get saved right now, okay? Knowing that he that is such is subverted and senteth being condemned of himself. Basically, you know what? This person's just not gonna believe. Just move on, live to fight another day. And maybe in six months, they'll think about it and change their mind. They'll hear the gospel again and change their mind. Go to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1. Now look, this sermon goes completely against man's wisdom. All of it goes against man's wisdom, because I get it. Logically, it seems like it should work apologetics ministries, but it does not work. And logically, we think there's no way you could get a Hindu saved with just the gospel. And yet, the word of God is that powerful, that some are willing to listen and some are willing to get saved. Now, I want you to realize something. You can get, I mean, let's say you go out soul-winding today and you tell me, hey, Brother Stuckey, I got a Catholic saved. Praise the Lord. But I'm not gonna believe you if you come back and say, I got the Pope saved. You know why? Some people just aren't gonna get saved. And people are like, man, how can I get somebody like Richard Dawkins saved? He's not gonna get saved. How can I get a Mormon bishop saved? Look, you might get a normal Mormon saved. You're not getting a Mormon bishop saved. Do you understand what I'm saying? People wanna figure out, man, how could I get someone like Ray Comfort saved? It's not gonna happen. Right? The only people we ever get saved are those that are not dogmatic about what they already believe. You're not gonna get a hardcore Baptist saved that believes in repentance of sins. You're not gonna get a hardcore Methodist or Lutheran. If somebody already knows and believes something and they're unwilling to change, there's no magic formula to get them saved. And look, it doesn't necessarily mean they're a reprobate, but if they're that hard-headed that they won't listen and that hard-hearted, you're just not gonna get them saved. It doesn't matter what you say. It doesn't matter what verses you use. Hopefully, later on in life, God will humble them and they'll listen, but they're not ready right now. It just is what it is. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 17. 1 Corinthians 1 is also a passage where they say, well, this is why we need apologetics ministries. And when I hear people say that and I read this, I'm just thinking, what are you missing in this passage, right? Because notice verse 17. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 17. For Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel. Notice this. Not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. Do you see how if we use wise words, the cross of Christ will become uneffective, unproductive, just not very useful? Do you see what we're saying? When we preach the gospel, do you realize we don't use this complicated wisdom for man to preach the gospel? Do you realize explaining what a gift is is a very simple explanation? And look, some people will believe it and some won't. It's very simple. Being born again. Doesn't it make sense that you're only born one time? Your parents are always your parents. They punish you when you do wrong, but they're always your parents. It makes sense with spiritual eternal life, how you're born into God's family when you put your faith in Jesus Christ. Simple explanations. Look, when we go soul winning, don't use some complicated explanation that you have to have a doctorate degree in chemical engineering to understand. You say, what's the problem with that? Very few people are gonna understand that. Right? Now here's the thing. I love math. I love math. And so if somebody explains something complicated in math, I might be like, that is a really cool explanation. The problem is a lot of people aren't gonna get it. But here's the thing. Everybody knows what a gift is. Pretty simple. No exchange for a gift. Nothing you have to, I mean, everybody understands that. So look, God actually gave us the template on examples. I am that bread of life, eating tinopi, very easy. The living water, drinking water, very easy. I am the door, opening a door, very easy. Those explanations, how it's a gift, how you're born into God's family, those are the ones God gives, and it's the simple things that confound the wise. And the atheist will mock at this, but you know, honestly, that's how people get saved. It's that simple. This goes contrary to man's wisdom. But Paul said, I don't use wise words because then the gospel loses its effect. Now here's the thing. Was Paul an educated person? Yes. Paul was a very educated person. Very smart person. I mean, in fact, if Paul the Apostle was a member of a church, he'd probably be the smartest, most educated person at a church. Right? I don't know how many languages a guy spoke, but he was like a polyglot, right? He spoke a lot of languages, very smart guy, very educated, but you know what? He said, I don't try to use wise words. Why? The gospel loses its effect. Yeah, I really see why we need apologetics ministries, according to 1 Corinthians 1, because it seems like the exact opposite according to verse 17. Verse 18, for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. So they cherry pick verse 18 in one other verse that we'll talk about in a second, and they say, well see, preaching the cross is foolishness to people, meaning we gotta have a different method. It's just like, what in the world? Because Paul just said I don't use wise words, and he's just stating for a matter of fact that those that don't get saved, it sounds like foolishness to them. They'll mock it. They'll laugh at it. But you know, us that are saved, we're like, man, it makes perfect sense. Doesn't it just make perfect sense that salvation's a free gift? Sometimes I think to myself, because I spent 18, almost 19 years unsaved, like half my life I've been saved almost, right? I'm coming up on that. I'm just thinking, man, was I Bobo my first half of my life. It's like it just makes sense that salvation's a free gift. Because if it's by works, why did Jesus die for us? Doesn't make any sense, right? It makes sense to us that are saved. You know, it doesn't make sense to the unsaved person. They think it's foolish. They laugh at it. They mock it. But it doesn't mean we change our method just because they're gonna mock us, right? Because there's plenty of people that will hear it and say that makes perfect sense. In fact, sometimes you hear people say, that makes more sense than anything I've heard my entire life. Isn't that true? I love it when you hear that. It's like, man, there's a humble person that's just ready to hear the word of God. There are people like that, okay? Verse 19, for it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding and the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? Now, what's the wisdom of this world? Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking, right? These people have seemed so wise, and yet Stephen Hawking is gonna bow down on his knees and proclaim Jesus Christ is Lord, and beg for mercy, and there's gonna be no mercy. God will give him the ability to walk for the first time, right? Stephen Hawking, a hardcore atheist that's in hell right now that mocked God, didn't believe in God. God will give him the ability to get out of that wheelchair and bow down and beg for mercy, and there is no mercy coming. These wise people that mock Christianity, and look, these are not harsh words, because this is not your ordinary person. These are people that mock Christianity, and laugh at God, and reject it, and they are trying to openly teach people that God is not real. Richard Dawkins is a wicked person, right? The most famous atheist in this world, he is a wicked person. Here's what Richard Dawkins has said before. He said teaching Christianity is child abuse, and the same man said that pedophilia is not wrong. The same man defends actual child abuse, but then he says teaching Christianity is child abuse, and he said that, you know, I think he said he was molested, and there's nothing wrong with it. It's not harmful for people. That's a wicked person, right? Someone like that, they're not gonna get saved, and God's gonna make them look like a fool one day. They're gonna be in hell, and look, when you listen to them, it's not that they have evidence against God. They just don't like the God of the Bible. Here's the problem. It doesn't matter whether you like the God of the Bible or not, he's still the same God. God's not gonna change to meet what you want. God is who he is, and you've gotta change to meet who God is. That's reality. Verse 21, for after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. So it's not the world's wisdom that makes you understand the true wisdom. It pleased God by the foolishness of an apologetics ministry. Is that what it says? It pleased God by the foolishness of a creation evolution debate. Is that what it says? It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that belief. Now realize, he's not saying preaching is foolish. What he's saying is the world's gonna look at it as foolish. They're gonna laugh and say, this is foolish, this is dumb. How can that be possible? He's saying, but that's the method. Now that doesn't mean like a sermon. It means preaching the gospel, right? Going out, preaching the gospel, and look, it might seem foolish to the world, but our church has 195 salvations this week. We had 195 people that were not only willing to listen, but changed what they believed, right? And the world can say that's foolish, but you know, 195 people would disagree with that, right? Foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Now here's the thing, verse 22, this is the big verse they use, right? Along with 1 Peter 3.15, 1 Corinthians 1.22 is the big verse why we need this apologetics ministry. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. I mean, the Jews require a sign, so we just have to give it to them. That's what they say. The Greeks seek after wisdom. You can't just explain the gospel. I mean, Ken Ham was famous for saying, you gotta start in the book of Genesis. Good night, how long's your gospel presentation? Starting in the book of Genesis, it's like, good night, you're gonna get them to come to church for 20 years before, I mean, the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but that doesn't mean that we give them a sign, because the only sign is the resurrection of Jesus Christ, according to Matthew 12, verses 39 and 40, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. They wanna understand God by wisdom, but look, the world by wisdom doesn't know God, according to the passage. So giving them what they want doesn't get them saved. What gets them saved is the word of God. And what's funny about this is I've seen them use this verse and I'm like, have you seen the next verse? They require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. Onto the Jews a stumbling block and onto the Greeks foolishness. So what does Paul say? They require a sign, but you know what, we just give them Jesus Christ. The Greeks require wisdom, we just preach Jesus Christ, and you know what, it's foolishness to them, but that's the method we give them. There is no plan B, my friend. This is God's method, we just preach the gospel, and if they're not gonna get saved that way, they're not getting saved another way. It just is what it is. I mean, I don't know how you could look at this passage and walk away and say we need an apologetics ministry, because Paul rebuked that by saying not wise words. And isn't that what these Christian apologists do? They use wise philosophical discussions to prove who God is, and yet the Bible says we don't do that. Turn your Bible to Romans 1, Romans 1, Romans 1, Romans 1. Like I said, first sermon long, second sermon not so long. Don't worry, okay? Point number one, why is it that we don't believe in these big Christian apologetics ministries? They're just unscriptural, you're just not gonna find scripture to support it. Why is it that there's no scripture for this method? Because it's unproductive. And not only that, it's just unnecessary. Point number three, it's unnecessary. You don't need these things to get somebody saved of another religion. Romans 1, verse 14. I am deader both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. So as much as in me as I'm ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. Notice verse 16, very important verse. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. You know what that shows us? The power is in the gospel. That's what the Bible says. The power's in the gospel, the power's in the word of God. We use the word of God to explain the gospel, very simple explanation, not a complicated one. Simply explain the gospel through the word of God. That gets the Jews saved. That gets the Greeks saved. And by the way, it gets the atheists and the Muslims and the Hindus and the Buddhists and the Jehovah's Witness and the Mormons and everybody's saved. That is the method. You say, Brother Shucky, that's too simple to work. What Bible verse do you have to support what you're saying? If you think that's too simple to work, I'd love to see the Bible against what I'm saying because I'm admitting what I'm saying doesn't make sense with man's wisdom. But yet we base things on what does the Bible say? And this is what the Bible says we don't need in the Christian apologetics ministry because the gospel is the power of God to the Jew and to the Greek and to everybody. That is the method, right? There are people that are atheist or agnostic, not sure what they believe, not sure if God's real, and yet the word of God has the power to reach on the inside to them too. That's the method. It's not a creation evolution debate. Now look, is there some profitable information in those things? Yeah, you can learn some things that are profitable, but the problem is there's a really improper balance. If you spend all your time just listening to philosophical discussions, you're wasting your time. Just read the Bible and the power is right here in God's word, okay? Verse 17, for therein is the righteousness of God and revealed from faith to faith. Someone who has faith passes on that faith to somebody else through the words, okay? As it is written, the just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. See, according to verse 18, there are people that hold the truth in unrighteousness. Now what does that mean? It means they hear the truth and they don't like it. That's what that means. They hold the truth in unrighteousness and they say God's not righteous. It's not fair. It's not fair that somebody that grows up in a Muslim country doesn't get a free chance to go to heaven or an extra chance. It's not fair that someone that grows up in a Mormon home has to believe on Jesus and change what they believe. It's not fair that somebody that grows up with parents that are atheists doesn't get a free pass. That's man's wisdom. What are they doing? They're holding the truth in unrighteousness because the Bible says it is fair, it is right, it is just, and everybody who goes to heaven is because they changed what they believed and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what the Bible says. Verse 19, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath showed it unto them. Look, it's manifest in people that God is real, okay? For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power in God had so that they are without excuse. And the Bible says, you know what? He's given us a conscience. We see outside, we know God is real, he's proven himself. Now why is it that people will reject the idea of God? They reject it because there's all these false religions. There are people that wanna know the truth and then they grow up in a false religion and they're thinking this doesn't make sense. This can't be right, there's problems, there's inconsistency, so maybe something else is right. Now there's that group of people and realize that group of people are gonna be receptive when you show them the truth because it is gonna make sense, right? But then there's also people they don't believe because they hate the God of the Bible. They reject it, they say it's unrighteous, they don't like the God of the Bible. Here's the thing, they're just not gonna get saved then. They're making their choice, they just don't like the message of God's word and it's strange to me because I love the message of salvation. I was so happy to hear it, I was so thankful. I was like man, God loves me, he died for my sins, it's that easy. But you know a lot of people, they don't like the message. Isn't it surprising you get saved and you're so excited to tell all your family? You're thinking everyone's gonna love this, they just haven't heard it. And then you got your Catholic family that like hates your guts then. You're like why aren't they happy? It's a gift, how dare you say it's a gift? It's like doesn't make sense to me but that's because I'm saved. Doesn't make sense to us because we're saved but you know a lot of people, they just don't like this message. They wanna just work their way to heaven, they just don't wanna humble themselves and believe on Jesus Christ. It is what it is. Verse 29, verse 29, last verse we're gonna look at then I'll explain for a little while. Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate. One attribute of someone who's a child of the devil that's rejected God, that hates God is they're filled full of debate and yet many of the Christian leaders out there and apologists, they're just filled full of debate. Now I'm not saying that that means that they're automatically reprobates but it certainly makes you wonder. Like why are they so obsessed with winning debates? I mean they just seem very Mayabang. I've gotta look like the smartest guy in the world. I mean you listen to James White and it's like can anybody become more Mayabang than that? It's like that guy is so arrogant, right? I mean I remember, I can't remember if it was in that movie New World Over Bible Versions or in the full length interview with Pastor Anderson but I remember Pastor Anderson just starts out and says just introduce yourself. And look, I give James White credit, he tried to be humble. He really tried. I mean he really tried to be humble for 30 seconds. I'm just kind of a simple ordinary person. 30 seconds later, I've held debates with leading Muslims in 27 countries across the world and just goes on and on and on about look how great I am. That doesn't mean that you're right about what you're talking about because you've been in all these countries debating people. It's like congratulations, okay? That doesn't mean that you're right. Look, point number one, these apologetics ministries, they're unscriptural. Point number two, they're unproductive. They just aren't effective and they're just unnecessary. Point number three, because you can reach people from every religion around the world simply with the word of God. That's the truth. Now realize this. If you talk to someone of a unique or strange religion, it's gonna take more time, right? I'm not saying that when you talk to a Hindu, it's like it's the exact same because you're gonna have to explain the nature of God and spend more time like in Acts 17. You know, when I was in Guyana, I got the opportunity to preach the gospel to many Hindus and I saw Hindus get saved, but it wasn't in 15 minutes. It was probably in like 30 minutes, right? It was more time, but then they heard it. It's just like that makes sense. And what I found was that when I talked to Hindus, most would listen in Guyana. Most did not get saved though, but some got saved. Now when I talk to people of other Christian backgrounds, most actually did get saved when they listened. So yeah, it's harder with people of other religions because what they believe is so far from what the Bible says. But they can still be reached without these apologetics ministries, okay? Point number four, last point, and we don't have any more verses, but point number four is this. Unsaved. Unsaved. You say, what do you mean? What I mean is almost every single one of these Christian apologists is without question unsaved. Now I don't wanna give a dogmatic opinion about every single one in this list because people can have different opinions and that's fine, but there's no question the vast majority of the names I'm gonna name were clearly just unsaved. They believe just different things than what the Bible says. Now there's a guy named Charles Mayleek, and this is actually the only one whose name I did not know, but apparently he was a famous apologist from a long time ago. Now his religion was Orthodox. Is Orthodox the same as what we believe and what the Bible says? Absolutely not. Orthodox, you know, because you say that Protestants are like, you know, like Catholicism, right? Orthodox is like heavy Catholicism. It's like Catholicism on steroids. I mean, they're idols and images, like it's so weird, it's so creepy, right? It's more hardcore than Catholic, right? Here's what he said. The greatest danger besetting American evangelical Christianity is the danger of anti-intellectualism. Anti-intellectualism is what's destroying Christianity. I thought sin is what was destroying Christianity. I thought the fact that these countries were being filled with a bunch of homos is destroying Christianity. I thought a lack of Bible reading, a lack of soul winning, a lack of serving God and preaching the truth is what's destroying Christianity. Not a lack of anti-intellectualism. People need to be able to intellectually and philosophically prove God, but that is the wisdom of these apologetics experts. They believe they're like the greatest Christians in the world. They really do, right? The most famous guy before Rabbi Zacharias was Walter Martin, okay? Walter Martin wrote the book, Kingdom of the Cults. Has anyone ever read Kingdom of the Cults? Nobody. I read that book when I was like 21 years old or something like that, and there's a lot of true and good information in the book about exposing the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses and stuff like that, but the problem is this guy is just not like-minded at all. Now I'm not giving you a dogmatic opinion of his salvation, but he certainly isn't like-minded. You say, why do you say that? He's not King James only. There's really no point of listening to someone talk about the Bible that's not King James only. And he also, he didn't believe in the eternal sonship of Jesus Christ. He believed in the incarnational sonship, meaning that Jesus became the son at the virgin birth. Well, now you're messing with the nature of God, and now I certainly put a major red flag where I would certainly not think you're saved. So I hope the guy's just confused, but I really don't think so because I think he debated on that topic. By the way, for the first half of his ministry, John MacArthur refuted and disagreed with the eternal sonship of Jesus Christ. He was a hardcore proponent in the incarnational sonship. I guess he changed his mind because it wasn't popular to be a heretic, right? And too many Calvinists didn't want to listen to him, okay? But there's no doubt Walter Martin wasn't like-minded, though, okay? So why would I want to listen to what he has to say? William Lane Craig, the greatest Christian debater of the last hundred years. Here's a problem with it. He wasn't a Christian. He's not a Christian. He's a Catholic. So explain to me why Baptists would say we've got to preach the gospel and get Catholics saved, but then when you got to get an atheist saved, well, let's listen to this Catholic explain to me in a debate for two hours. Does that make any sense? It's just like he's not a Christian. He's not saved. He's Catholic, okay? He believes a different gospel. Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron. I mean, if you know anything about these guys, you know they're not like-minded. You know they're not saved. They're a hardcore repentance of sins, and they are the worst debaters in the history of Christianity. It's like literally Ray Comfort, he like, well, hold up a banana, and he says, this banana, prove it's the atheist's nightmare is the banana. He literally says that. It's like this is embarrassing, right? He holds a banana. He says, look how easily the banana peels, right? This disproves atheism. It's just like, are you intentionally just mocking Christianity, right? Because here's my thing. Anything created by God proves the existence of God. I agree that the banana proves the God. So does the apple. So does the orange. So does anything God made. But like spending 20 minutes explaining how the banana proves Christianity, there's your apologists. Wow, real smarts, okay? Ken Hovind. Ken Hovind is just very unclear on repentance. It's like, what do you actually believe? Is it salvation by grace through faith, or is it repentance of sins? And look, you know, I probably watch Ken Hovind more than anybody in this room. You know, I'll have to ask Brother Matthias. Maybe he's, I know he watched him a lot too in the past, but he's this big creation expert, right? And look, he has a lot of good proofs against evolution, but the problem is those proofs don't actually get atheists saved. I'm not saying there's not good information, but what I'm saying is when I first got saved, I just watched those seminars for hours and watched his debates and watched him debate all these atheists. I found out that doesn't actually get atheists saved. It's actually mainly just kind of a waste of time. Is there true information? Yes. Is learning some of the information good? Probably so, some of it, but spending all your time learning this proof that the earth is young and not knowing how to explain the gospel, it's a waste of time. It just is, right? And by the way, he also believes, and he's like, on the fence, do Christians go to hell for a thousand years if they're bad Christians? How is that like-minded to us, right? Dave Hunt, one of the big experts, he's the big expert in exposing the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. Well, there's a problem with him. He doesn't believe in a literal hell. This is a guy who's written books and made a lot of money off Christians buying his books. It's like, yeah, it's probably pretty easy to talk to Jehovah's Witnesses when they say, I can't accept the gospel message because I don't believe in hell. It's like, don't worry, there is no hell. It's like, no wonder you're so good at talking to Jehovah's Witnesses. Explain to me what you're getting saved from if there is no hell. It doesn't make any sense, but this guy's made millions of dollars off Christians that buy his books and he's the expert and he's not even saved himself. C.S. Lewis, he wrote Mere Christianity, right? He did the Chronicles of Narnia, right? C.S. Lewis did the Chronicles of Narnia, which is like a morphed version of Jesus, right? He wrote Mere Christianity. He was a Catholic. So why am I gonna read his books on explaining Christianity when he believes something different, right? Hugh Ross, his big ministry is teaching that the Earth is old. You say, well, Brother Stuckey, Hugh Ross, he can reach the evolutionists that think the Earth is old, right? No, because if somebody doesn't want to accept what the Bible says, they're just not gonna get saved. It's like, the Earth is less than 7,000 years old. There's just no debate about that. I mean, if you believe what the Bible says, you cannot read the Bible and walk away and say the Earth is four and a half billion years old. You just add up the dates from Adam and Eve, this Earth is less than 7,000 years old. And I don't care if atheists think that's foolish. I think evolution's stupid. I think evolution's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my entire life. And honestly, I'm dead serious. I don't care how popular evolution is. It's literally the dumbest thing. It's a very entertaining science fiction story you'd see in a movie. How people actually believe that, though, is ridiculous. It's like all the matter in the world just condensed into the size of a dot and just exploded. And now all of a sudden, it's like the Big Bang Theory, and it will happen again one day. And look, just common science disproves that because some of the planets spin different directions than the other ones, right? And the conservation of angular momentum would mean they'd spin the same way. Like someone holding onto a merry-go-round that lets go, their spin stays the same direction, right? There you go, I disprove scientifically the Big Bang Theory. But you know what, that doesn't get people to say what I just said. Even though it breaks the basic laws of physics, the conservation of angular momentum, that just does not get atheists saved. I agree, it's foolish, you can disprove it with science, but that just doesn't get people saved. Is it interesting? Sure, it's interesting, but it doesn't get the atheists saved, okay? Let's see, here we have just a couple more. Kinham, Kinham was a Calvinist, loved Charles Spurgeon, Repentance of Sins, not King James only, okay? Definitely not like-minded. R.C. Sproul, Roman Catholic Sproul. Was that his name? No, no, no, he was a Protestant that just would always defend infant baptism and say it's scriptural, so he was a Catholic, Roman Catholic Sproul, right? Baby baptizer, not King James only, hardcore Calvinist, his big Ligonier Ministries, right? R.C. Sproul, okay? Not like-minded at all. Why would I wanna listen to someone who's not even saved explain Christianity? And lastly, Rabbi Zacharias, the famous apologist who just died. Well, it turned out that this famous apologist who just died was a complete pervert and he was a rapist. He raped a lot of women. I mean, it's just a fact. I mean, even the ministry, and here's the thing, on his ministry, many of the people on staff are his children and relatives, and they're admitting, yeah, it turns out our dad just raped a bunch of women while he was still married to their mom, right? The kids are saying, admitting, yeah, you know, he raped a lot of people. And people are shocked and like, man, this great apologist of our time, and then some people are like, man, it's just, you know, some people were saying great men of God, it's just they're really good in one area and bad in other areas, so that's why, you know, it's like they're trying to defend this guy and everything. It's like, why are you trying to defend him? He's a pervert, he's a rapist, and we don't need these apologetics ministries. They're a waste of time. It doesn't sadden me, it doesn't, I mean, and here's the thing about this. If this makes Christianity look embarrassing, right, and people say, man, we can't go to apologetics ministries anymore, well, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. I mean, maybe this is good because people will quit wasting their time watching all this garbage and just start reading the Bible and going soul winning and going back to the actual old paths rather than these parachurch ministries that are sucking away money from people and actually doing a good work for God that are just a waste of time and a waste of space, right? I mean, look, when his own family is admitting, you know what, he was guilty. It's like, what's been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt? And this is something that he hid for decades. And he used his position in ministry where basically he had these things that he owned and he would basically molest these women and they felt like they had to go along with it. He used his position of power, just a terrible person, right, as a reprobate, didn't even believe. But you know what, he was very good at debating. And I'll be dead honest, if there was a topic today, if he was still alive and we took a topic and we debated about it, he would probably win. You know why? Because he was very good at man's wisdom, very good at worldly wisdom, and that's what wins a debate, not the truth. But here's the thing about this, those intellectual and philosophical arguments, that's not actually what wins souls to the Lord. And you know what, to me, you might say, Brother Stuckey, this sermon's harsh, but you know what, honestly, it should be encouraging. Because when I first got saved, I used to look at people like this and I thought these were like the greatest Christians in the world, like man, I could never be someone like that. They're so great at winning these people. Right, my first couple summers I was saved, I went to Utah, and so I tried to learn how to win Mormons to the Lord. Now, here was my foolishness, I didn't read the Bible to try to figure that out. I just started studying these apologetics ministries. And the big one I studied was named Alpha and Omega Ministries. Now, who owns Alpha and Omega Ministries? James White. Man, he's like my number one person in the US, I can't stand, it's embarrassing now to say. But here's the thing, I tried his methods, didn't work. I memorized every single year the Mormons made a false prediction. In 18 whatever they did this, in 19 whatever they did this, and you explain it to people, and guess what, doesn't get them saved. And now I look back and say, man, what a waste of time learning all of that information. Now, here's the thing, if I lived in Utah, I would probably try to keep some of that information in memory, because maybe it could be useful to some degree. But here's the thing that's great, you don't need to learn all that stuff to win a Mormon. What you need to do is find a Mormon that's receptive. And once you find one that's receptive, if you know the word of God, guess what, you can get them saved, right? Let me just give you this example to close here. Let's say, for example, your job was to spot counterfeit money, okay? Now, here's the thing, there's like so many different ways someone could make counterfeit money. Is that not true? People could just do everything they could to make counterfeit money that's gonna be a little bit different. But people that study counterfeit money, what they do is they don't study the false versions of money. What they do is they spend their time holding the real thing. And they learn by just picking it up, how heavy is it, how does it feel, what's the texture? And then they look at it, and look, they've studied the real thing so much that when anything's slightly false, and all of a sudden they hold it, man, something's not right, they spot it immediately. You say, Brother Stuckey, how does that relate to Christianity? Look, there is just a million false religions out there. Go ahead and read every book under the sun about every religion known to man. Go ahead and spend your whole life doing that and not spend time on the word of God, and tell me how effective it is. Or know this book, learn this book, memorize this book, listen to good preaching, and guess what? Once you see the fake, you're gonna spot it immediately. And here's the thing, you're gonna be able to prove to that person why it's false, why what they believe is wrong. Because it's the word of God that converts them, not these wise intellectual arguments that these Christian apologetics have. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to hear this sermon. Help us to understand why we believe what we believe, God, and be able to defend our faith, but not be just overly obsessed with this and spend all of our time where we're not reading the Bible, we're not listening to good preaching, we're not memorizing the Bible. Help us just study the real thing, but help us be able to reach people of other religions, God, and help us just to use old-fashioned Bible methods of just knowing the gospel, being able to explain it like Paul in Acts 17. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. SINGING IN LATIN SINGING IN LATIN SINGING IN LATIN SINGING IN LATIN SINGING IN LATIN SINGING IN LATIN SINGING IN LATIN SINGING IN LATIN