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

We're starting our new series here in 1 Corinthians 10. We're looking at the series common versus normal. Common versus normal. And oftentimes you hear these words used interchangeably as if they're the same thing. They don't mean the same thing, even though oftentimes people use them as if they're the same thing. And we're going to look at the Bible to see what the definition of common is. Notice what it says in 1 Corinthians 10 verse 13. There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. So the Bible says there's no temptation that comes upon you that it's only you that deals with this problem. It's common to man, means that everybody deals with these things. Look, when you get married, sometimes you and your wife or you and your husband, you're going to have fights from time to time. You say, oh, this is just me. No, that's just part of life, okay? Raising kids, sometimes it's difficult, okay? That's common to man. Other parents in this room, they could say they went through the same things. Their kids got sick, they had little sleep, they were frustrated, they got tired. These things are common to man. And so when you look at your life and the things you struggle with, you lack patience sometimes. Sometimes you're bitter, sometimes you're angry, sometimes you covet things. That's common to man. We all can deal with those things. We all go through storms of life. These things are common to man. Now it is true, there are certain bizarre, weird sins that are not common to the general person but only someone who's a child of the devil, okay? But the word common means, just it occurs a lot, okay? And it's common to man because everybody can deal with these things. Turn to Jude 1, Jude 1, Jude 1, Jude chapter 1, and we'll look at another place here that defines the word common, Jude chapter 1, Jude chapter 1 verse number 3, the Bible says in Jude chapter 1, Beloved, verse 3, Jude 1 verse 3, Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation. What does the common salvation mean? It means it's the same salvation for every single person in the entire world. Whether you grow up in a Hindu country or a Buddhist country or a Catholic country or a Muslim country or a Jewish country, it's the common salvation. It's the same for everybody in all time periods. See before Jesus Christ died, what did Jesus say in John 3? Whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life, referring to the son which was himself. He's saying you've got to believe on me to have everlasting life before he even died. So salvation in the Old Testament, because that is Old Testament, before Jesus rose again, look under that old covenant it was believe in Jesus. The new covenant believe in Jesus. It's always been believe in Jesus. Now it's true in the Old Testament, they didn't always know his name, I mean the name Jesus didn't come until Jesus was here, but they still put their faith in the true God. It was not by works, it was not by animal sacrifices, it was always by believing. But I do want you to understand also when it's common to man, that means it's available to anybody. Mr. Calvinist, Mr. I believe in predestination and we don't have free will to get saved, why does it say common salvation? It's available to everybody in the world. Everybody has the opportunity to believe in Jesus Christ. Who would believe in a God that says I'm just creating these people and just want to see them burn in hell with no chance of going to heaven. What a wicked God they serve. That's not the God of the Bible because the Bible says it's the common salvation which means everybody who's saved in this room, you got saved the same way. A soul winner gave you the gospel from the word of God and you chose to put your trust, your belief in what Jesus did for you. That is salvation, it's always been that way, it's common. What does that mean? It means it's available to everybody here in this verse. But what is common? Here's a dictionary definition, occurring, found or done often, prevalent. It means it happens a lot if it's common. Common salvation is available to everybody. It's common to man. Common means it occurs or it happens quite a bit. I want you to understand this, if you lived in India, it would be common to worship a cow. Right? It would be common to worship cows and rats and everything they can. Look, you say you don't believe me, look, you can listen to the testimony from the missions conference yesterday and someone who moved from India to Faith Ward Baptist Church confirmed everything I've always said about India because I've read books, I've watched documentaries, they worship animals, it's the most heathen and wicked religion in the world. It's wicked and they worship a bunch of animals and they make the idolatry in this country seem like nothing. I mean, they put the Catholics to shame in India, right? I mean, the idolatry from these Hindu countries is ridiculous. They worship elephants, you know, the half elephants, half humans, just this bizarre stuff and snakes and all this demonic, wicked stuff. In India, it's common to worship cows. When we were going sowing the other day, we pulled up a video of this woman who was praying to a cow in India. Is that not true? That's exactly what we saw, the cow comes up and then all of a sudden she's bowing before the cow. Oh, but they say they don't worship cows. Then what does it mean, okay? You're literally like bowing and praying to a cow. That's literally what she was doing in the video. It's just like, what in the world? They worship cows over there. It's very common. Now, it's not common here. It's common there. It happens a lot, okay? Back in the Greek civilization, and this is something they brag about, this is something Herodotus bragged about and wrote about and everything like that, it was very common for guys to be a bunch of pedophiles, to have little boys as sex slaves. A lot of those artists that draw those weird, effeminate pictures and those naked sculptures, a lot of them were known to be pedophiles with little boys as their slaves. What people say is, well, that's just what they did in that society. It was normal in that society. Why did they say it was normal? Because it was common. It was common in Greece to have a bunch of little boys as sex slaves, a bunch of pedophiles and perverts and weirdos. That was their culture, okay? In this country, in Pampanga, it's common for people to basically beat themselves, to crucify themselves, and look, it's more common than you might realize. And I was there last Easter. It shocked me how common it was. It happens a lot over there, okay, even though it doesn't necessarily happen a lot ever. I know in Bulacan, you know, some other areas they do that too, but it's common in certain areas here, even though it's not common in other areas of the world. What I'm trying to tell you is, the determination of what is common is based on your society or your culture. Your society or culture will determine what is common, what occurs a lot. And something that's common in India is not necessarily common here in the Philippines. Something that's common in the Philippines is not necessarily common in India. Where you live in your society and your culture, that determines what is common. Turn to Judges 17, Judges 17. So when we're talking about common versus normal, when we're saying common, we're saying things that occur a lot, okay? Now look, I believe in preaching for the area that you live in, okay? The sermon should be geared to where you are. So when I'm saying common in this series, we're focusing on things that are common here. I'm not going to preach, you know, a five part series on why we shouldn't worship a cow. Because if you've got a problem with that, then, you know, go hear the gospel after the service, okay? That's not common here, so there's no point in preaching that, okay? But there's a lot of things that are very common here in the Philippines that occur quite a bit that are not right, okay? Judges 17, notice what the Bible says in Judges 17, verse 6. Judges 17, go through the books of Moses and you have Joshua, Judges, Judges 17, verse 6. In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. And the Bible says, no king, no rules, no authority, so it was a free for all. The cat's away, the mice will play. No rules, no authority, we'll just do whatever we want. Now, God did not set up a system with a king. He set up a governmental system, but they weren't following that either. And if you don't have any government at all, then yeah, it would be better to have a king to have established rules so you can't just go out and murder people and do whatever with no repercussions, no problems as a result. Look, it's true, governments are wicked, but honestly it's better to have a government that's wicked than just a free for all, because according to the Bible, they'll just do whatever they want. If there are no rules whatsoever, it's true the government has a lot of dumb rules, but if there are no rules and you can do whatever you want and get away with it, it would be madness. It would be worse, okay? It's not good to have a wicked government, but you know what, it's worse to have just no rules at all, okay? Now turn to Judges 21. Now here's the thing, society never followed God's rules. God laid down the rules in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. You have the rules right there, the people never followed them though. They followed them a little bit, but they're not really following the laws of the Bible. It's the same thing today because we're a Christian country, right, somewhat, but do we follow what the Bible says? Are our laws of our country based on what the Bible says? No they're not, okay? Now there's some that are, but the majority are not, okay? That's the way it's always been. Now when you turn to Judges 21, I'll read to you in Proverbs 14, there is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death, okay? Certain things seem right to you and they seem okay, but the end are the ways of death. That does not necessarily mean the second death, although it could. It doesn't necessarily mean physical death, although it could, but basically you're going to have destruction in your life when you go against the things of God, okay? Now in Judges 21 verse 25 it says, in those days, verse 25, in those days there was no king in Israel. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes. And so in Judges 17 you say there's no king, everyone just does whatever they want. In Judges 21, no king, they do whatever they want. What happens right in the middle of those two chapters when there's no rules and no authority? How about the weirdest chapter in the Bible, Judges 19, you said, I thought it was Sodom and Gomorrah. No, it's worse than Sodom and Gomorrah in my opinion. It's weirder than Genesis 19. Look, just what the Bible says, they want to rape this guy and they end up raping and killing a woman, the Sodomites. That's what's happening in Judges 19. And look, I'm not just using my words. That's what the Bible says. In between no rules and no authority is the weirdest chapter in the Bible. So what was common during that society? Who knows the wicked things they were doing. Because the weirdest section of the Bible is those five chapters. They're just doing bizarre things with idolatry, with sodomy, raping and killing people. Why? Because there was no authority. And what was common in that society was these really wicked things. But does that make it normal because it's common? No it doesn't. Okay? Now turn in your Bible to 1 John 3. 1 John 3. You see, a lot of people, they define common and normal as the same thing, okay? People would tell you when you preach things like this, oh, you know, that's just normal. Well, why do you think it's normal? Well, I mean, everybody's doing it. Oh, so since it's common, it's normal. That's what they're saying. See, when something occurs a lot, people say that's normal. See, people would find it weird to pray to a cow here in the Philippines. They think you're crazy. But those same people say, no, that's normal to do that in that country. Why do they say it's normal? Because it's common. Look, just because it's common doesn't make it normal. It doesn't matter what a society does and whether it's common, that does not make it normal. Okay? You say, what's the definition of normal? Because the word normal is not a Bible word. So we must go to the Bible to find out what do we mean by normal. Well, this is what it says, conforming to a standard, usual, typical, or expected. So conforming to a standard. So basically you have a standard, and if you deviate from that standard, it's not normal. Okay? Now here's the thing. The world doesn't have a standard. You have to actually have a book. Our standard's found right here. See, here's what's normal, and right around this area is how we should live our lives, and here's how the world's living. See, this is what the world's doing. This is very common, and then God's standards are right here. This is not normal. They don't have a standard. We do have a standard. Okay? The Bible says in 1 John 3 verse 4, 1 John 3 verse 4, it says, whosoever committed sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. That's the definition of sin is when you break the law, not the law of the country, God's law. Sin's a transgression of God's law. When we break his law, that's a sin. Okay? Proverbs 22, Proverbs 22, now you say, Brother Stuckey, are you saying that any sins we commit are not normal? That's not what I'm saying, because we have a sin nature. See, actually, the majority of sins are actually kind of normal for people to do. I'll show that to you in a second in Proverbs 22. Look, everyone's lied. The Bible says, let God be true, but every man a liar. Now it's a sin. It's wrong to tell a lie, but that's still normal. That's part of our sin nature. That's very basic. Okay? You could start this world over a million times, and then everybody would still be a liar. Right? Look, when you have young kids, you can tell at a young age. You don't have to teach them to lie or to be dishonest. Okay? They start at a young age, and the Bible says that. They come from the womb speaking lies, the Bible says. The Bible says in Proverbs 22 verse 15, foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. So the Bible tells us, children are foolish. Isn't that true? Children are foolish. Right? I mean, you have little kids, babies, you know, basically, they can become very massooni, very easily. Right? They lose a toy or something. They start crying. It's like, yeah, that's normal for a baby. It's not normal for someone who's like 30 years old, oh, you sat in my seat, oh, I'm quitting the church. Okay? Now, that wouldn't be normal. It is normal for a baby to act that way, though. Right? So I'm not saying committing sins are not normal, because there's certain sins that, you know, that's normal, that's expected. And look, here's what I'm saying. Here's what I'm also not saying. This sermon series has nothing to do with the LGBT. This is going to be the only sermon I even mention it. You say, why? We're focusing on things that Christians are normal, just everyday unsaved people do that are not normal. Because here's the thing, no saved person becomes a sodomite. So that has nothing to do with this series. We're talking about things that believers could do or just your average unsaved people. No saved person is going to become a pedophile and a sodomite, because that's something you do when your conscience is seared. We're not focusing on that in this series. We're focusing on things that are just so bizarre, but even Christians are doing these things. Things that are not normal at all, but they're very common, and unfortunately a lot of Christians and just normal people are doing these same exact things, okay? That's what we're focusing on. Turn to Romans 5, Romans 5. Romans chapter 5. And here's what you need to understand during this sermon series, because as I mentioned, your society or culture determines what is common, but there's something called being desensitized. And when you see something over and over again, it feels normal. And I'll prove that to you, I'll show you as we'll talk at the end of this sermon. But when you see something over and over again, it's going to feel normal. Look, I can pretty much guarantee that myself, maybe I have to ask Brother Matthias, maybe he even more so. To me, idolatry seems super weird. Probably more so to me than you, because you don't have idolatry in the US. You have very little idolatry. But we have other sins. I'm not saying we don't. We have weird, bizarre things that are not normal at all either. But I'm just saying in terms of idolatry, I never saw idolatry in the US. I mean, you go by Kiyapo, you've got all these major statues. It's like, what in the world is idolatry? All these Catholic churches, they're just worshiping idols. That's weird. That's bizarre to me. But for some of you, it feels normal. Growing up, you just see all these giant statues of people. Feels very normal, because it's common. And when something is very common and you see it a lot, eventually it starts to feel normal, even if it's not. And your society and culture, it determines that. Romans 5, it determines what's common, not what's normal. Romans 5, verse 12, it says, Wherefore, as by one man's sin entered into the world and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men for that all sin. The Bible says we've all sinned. I'm not standing here and saying, if you've ever told a lie, you're not normal. No, I mean, that's normal. That's what people do. We've all lied before. I get it. We've all had times where we committed various sins. No temptation taking you, but such is as common to man. But what I'm focusing on is things, and what we're going to focus on in this series, are things that are not normal at all. But even believers are doing these sorts of things. Now turn in your Bible to Titus chapter 2. And here's what you need to understand. This right here represents what's normal. This is what's common. Here's the truth. The average person is living their lives a lot closer to this than they are to this. And here's the thing. Most people think that since this is common, it's normal. So we look at them and we say, that's not normal. It's weird. It's wicked. Did you know that they look at us and they say, you guys are weird. It's crazy. I mean, you read the Bible every day? You go to church three times a week, you go soul-willing? You guys are strange. They're not normal. That's what they think about us. You say, why? Because they think that this is normal. And they look at us and they think we're weird. And guess what we do? And I hope you do this. You look at them and say, man, they're strange. That's not normal how they're living their lives. But they think the same about us. Why? Because what's common is what people think is actually normal as well. Because they think it's the same word. They're not the same words. The problem is they don't have a standard. We do have a standard. And what's sad about this, even though this is the standard and these are the bizarre and I'm talking the far extreme pedophiles, sodomites, far extreme, okay? But the sad reality is even most Christians are more toward this side of the pulpit than that side. And they literally, because whenever situations like this come up and this kind of preaching, they don't go on my side and preach against that. They go and preach against us. Isn't that true? You say, why? Because they're a lot closer to what's bizarre and crazy and common than what's normal. And look, Christians don't want to admit that, but that is the truth. They are much closer to the world and what's bizarre and crazy than what's normal. And that's why they think I'm bizarre. Pastor Jimenez is bizarre. The things we preach, how dare you say that? And it's just like a lot of those people are people that go to churches and then they're preaching it. I mean, it's like, have you ever read the Bible? I mean, we don't have time to go through Judges 19, but we looked at chapter 17, chapter 21. You read chapter 19, and if you haven't done that, read Judges 19, and if you've never done that, you're going to be shocked. Like, what in the world was going on there? Well, there were no rules. No authority, no rules. That's what happens, okay? Titus 2, verse 11. Titus 2, verse 11. The Bible says, for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. As we talked about the common salvation, it's available for anyone. It's the same for everyone. It hath appeared to all men, okay? Jesus died for everybody. We know that. But notice verse 12. Teaching us. Teaching us. See, I need you to understand a distinction between these verses. God's grace appears to everybody, but it teaches us. What's he saying? God's grace is for everyone because Jesus died for everybody, but it teaches us that are saved something. Yes, Jesus died for everybody, but look, getting saved, it does teach you something. What does it teach you? Well, notice what it says. Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. The Bible says being saved teaches you that you should be a good person. You should obey God's rules. That does not mean you will become a good person because you get into work salvation when you start saying, if you're really saved, you're going to start to do these things. That's not what the Bible's saying, but it does teach you that you should live godly. See, we being saved people, we know that we should live godly. Now obviously, the more you know about the Bible, the more you know I need to do this and this and this and this, but being saved, it does teach you that you should live godly. Unsaved people, they don't understand why we go to church three times a week, why we go soul winning. Now we know that we should do those things. It doesn't mean that we will do them, but we know that we should do them. God's grace teaches us that, and see, the average world, they look at us, they think we're bizarre because they don't understand. They're not saved. They don't understand. But sadly, you see a lot of Christians that go to this side as well, and since they don't know what the Bible says, they think they're living a good life, even though they're not. That's the reality. Now saved people, they know they should live a good life, but they might not know what that means they need to do. The unsaved world, though, they don't understand. They think we're bizarre. They think they're crazy, and I'll show that to you in the Bible here. Verse 13, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. What does peculiar mean? What it's saying is you're a little bit different than the world. A lot. A lot different than the world. Not just a little bit. A lot different than the world. You're basically, they look at you as being strange. Why? Because this is what they think's normal, and they look at us and they say, wow, you guys are peculiar. You're strange. You're weird. You don't listen to rock music. What's wrong with you? You don't listen to rap music. What's wrong with you? They think that's strange. I mean, you don't watch these movies and this music and this TV and all these things. They think that's strange. You go to church several times a week. You go soul winning. You do these things. You go to this sort of church where they're yelling at you and preaching against these things. They think that's strange. They think we're peculiar. Why? Because they think this is normal. They don't realize that this is normal. And so they look at us and they say, wow, you guys are strange. And look, you have to just decide, I am happy to be looked at by the world, from the world as being a strange person. If the world looks at me and they think I'm a little bit weird, go, who cares? Because God says you should be a peculiar person. And look, when you look in this room, there are plenty of people in this church that you can be great friends with. Plenty of people that love God. There are plenty of people that have not bowed the knee to Baal. There are plenty of people here in the Philippines that are living their lives like a normal person and they know the difference between right and wrong. They've read the Bible. They know the preaching of God's word. There are plenty of people you can be great friends with in this room. But the reality is that your old friends, they are more toward this side. And it doesn't matter how much you played basketball when you were kids. I had friends growing up that I used to hang out with all the time. After every day of school, we spent hours playing basketball together and soccer and these sports and everything like that. But the reality is, I'm a much different person now. And here's the truth, they didn't really change. Because I used to be living my life over here too because I didn't know what the Bible said. But once you get saved, it teaches you that you should live godly. And all of a sudden, it's like, wow, I started going over here. They didn't really change. You remember when Moses goes up to the mountain to get close with God and afterwards he comes down and they don't even recognize him. They're like, what in the world? Why? You're uniquely changed and that represents you spiritually changing when you get close to God. You say, why is it all my friends are rejecting me now? Because you changed. They didn't change. You changed and since you changed, it's time to get new friends. How do I find those friends? Look around. Here's your friends. Here's your church family. Here's the people that love you. Here's the people that pray for you. Here's the people that care about you. Here's the people that understand why you live your life the way you do. And look, I think it's a sad thing when you've got Christians, saved people, that just don't take church seriously. You say, why? These are your friends. This is your church family. These are the people that God has placed you with here living in this part of the world. These are the people that God wants you to be close friends with, the people that are going to care about you. The reality is that all of us have changed quite a bit since we first got saved because we saw what the Bible said and we made a free will choice to make the changes in our life. I'm not the same person at all. If I was the same person as I was when I was 18, I wouldn't be friends with any of you and you wouldn't be friends with me. Growing up, all I did was play sports. So look, if you were really into sports, we might have been close friends and everything. But look, I'm a much different person than when I was 18 years old. And the reality is all my friends that were close friends, all of a sudden, man, Brother Stuckey's peculiar. He's strange. He got religious. It's like, wow, that's weird. And they think the same thing about you as well. You say, why? Because you've changed. And they think this is normal. Now here's the thing. When I was a kid, this was normal. This was common and people thought this was normal. This is actually normal. It doesn't change. It doesn't move. But now this is common and people think it's normal. And then all of a sudden this is common and they think it's normal. What happens is this keeps moving the far extreme and then the average person is pretty close to it, not exactly there. But they think it's normal. People think that it's normal and even today they're trying to justify being a pedophile. They are trying very hard to justify being a pedophile. It used to be that people thought being a sodomite was bizarre and wicked and weird. Now they're justifying being a pedophile and this is what they're saying. They're saying, hey, when you're a kid, you know, you're in elementary school or middle school, you know, you got a crush on someone, you know, you kind of find, you know, this young girl attractive, you know, you're both like 11 years old and you find her attractive and they're like, you're just like the pedophile. The difference is as the pedophile got older, they still found an 11 year old attractive. So it's just kind of a little minor disease they got because you also used to find an 11 year old attractive. That's what they're saying. I'm not making that up. That is literally what they're saying to say it's normal. Hey, everybody finds, you know, little kids attractive at one point in their life. It's just they never change. They become 80 years old, a Catholic priest, and they still find a six year old attractive. That is bizarre. That's wicked, but it's becoming common and quite honestly, the average person here in the Philippines thinks we're stranger than them. I mean, what kind of world are we living in? Why don't we understand this? Because we're living our lives close to this point. We're not perfect. We make mistakes, but we're trying to follow the standard of right and wrong. And so we see that and that's bizarre, but they look at us. They think we're bizarre. Why? Because quite honestly, the average person is living a wicked life here in the Philippines. Now look, that doesn't mean that we're innocent of sin. We sin every single day. We need to come before God, say God forgive me, cleanse me, forgive me. But the average person is living a very bad life. That's the reality. And so the result is people want to justify their actions and they think that we're strange. They think that we're not normal. Turn in your Bible to 1 Peter 2, 1 Peter 2. It's always bizarre to us when we first start living for God because you get saved and if you decide to start living for God, you're making a lot of changes, but you don't really realize how much you're changing. And so you're just trying to bring the Gospel to family and friends and you wonder why they're getting so mad at you. It's like, man, I never used to fight with them before and it's like now we're fighting all the time and arguing and everything. Well here's what's happened. You changed. That's the reality. You changed and you're trying to present the message of the changes you made to help them change. They changed their lives. The reality is you changed. They didn't change. It's not like they, now it is true that as the world gets more wicked, the average person just keeps getting closer to the world, but the reality is that you've changed a whole lot more than your old friends that reject you now. That's the reality. And look, we shouldn't, and look, we shouldn't be like, you know, shy about that. Fine. I've changed. I'm a different person. Yes, the people I was friends with when I was a teenager are not the people I'm friends with now. We live different lives and that's fine. I'm glad I've changed. I'm glad I'm a different person. I'm glad I actually care about what the Bible says. I don't want to ever justify that wicked and filthy lifestyle that the world's justifying. And if the world goes far past this point, all the way to the end of Magsaysay, we need to be standing right here. We need to not change at all. But as they get further that way and the world follows them, they're going to start looking at us being stranger and stranger and stranger. Why? Because they think this is common. They don't understand the difference between something being common and normal and they don't understand that when you're around something that happens a lot, it starts to feel normal. Okay? 1 Peter 2 verse 9, 1 Peter 2 verse 9, But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, 1 Peter 2, 9, it says a peculiar people. See the Bible says you are supposed to be different than the world. A peculiar person. And the world should look at you as being a little bit different. Hey, praise the Lord if you used to go out to the bar with your old friends and you don't do that anymore. They will think you're strange. But praise the Lord you made those changes. Now we don't glory in our shame. Don't go up here and brag. You don't see me standing up here saying, let me tell you about all the sins I committed in my life. It's like I'm not a repentance of sins, Calvinist preacher, all right? Obviously I'm not going to do that, but hey, praise the Lord we made changes in our lives. Praise the Lord that instead of just wasting time, you know, spending time on things that don't matter, I spend more time reading the Bible now and things such as that and so on. Praise the Lord if you've made changes, okay? You are to be a peculiar people, which means you're supposed to live your life differently from before you got saved and after. You should learn the word of God and make changes. The Bible says He's put a new song in your mouth. So here's the thing, the music you listen to before you were saved, it ought to be a whole lot different than the music you listen to after you were saved. There should be a major change. And so yeah, you know, we all used to listen to foolish music and things such as that. Hey, it's great that you've made a change, okay? Why? Because quite honestly, the way you were living your life 10 years ago wasn't normal. That's the reality. Because you didn't know, but that's the truth. It wasn't normal, okay? This is normal even if only one out of a thousand people is living their life like this. It doesn't matter how common something is. It would not matter if 99% of people in the Philippines were pedophiles. Does that make it any more normal? No, it just makes it more common. It doesn't matter if it becomes more and more common. That doesn't even make it change at all from being normal. Why? Because God's way is unchangeable. I'm the Lord, I change not. He doesn't change at all, so His rules don't change. And as we live in this wicked world, the world is going to keep going that direction. You have to realize, it's going to keep going further and further and further away from what's normal. And they're going to start looking at us like, man, you guys are strange. Even more so than they are right now. Now turn in your Bible to 2 Corinthians 4. Second Corinthians 4. You say, oh, man, everyone makes fun of me, my old friends, I don't know if I can take the persecution, my family wants to reject me. You know, doesn't the Bible say to choose God over family? And those can be harsh words, but the reality is, you know what, there's certain family you're probably not going to be best friends with. Look, you know, I lived in Sacramento, California before I moved here, I was at Verity Baptist Church, and I only have two first cousins, okay? And I don't really know, I didn't have a big family, so I didn't really have a lot of cousins, but I had two first cousins, and one of my first cousins lived in Sacramento, California. He's so incredibly liberal. I've given him the Gospel before, he didn't get saved, he's incredibly liberal, not like me at all. And when I was kids, yeah, I ate Thanksgiving with him, we played video games together, we watched movies together when I was a kid, at family get-togethers. Here's the thing, when I moved to Sacramento, do you know how many times I hung out with him? Zero. I don't hate him. But I didn't spend any time hanging out with him, you say, why? I mean, it doesn't matter that he's my family, he's not like me. This is my family, that's the way I look at it. And the reality is that, you know what, it doesn't matter whether your family rejects you and your friends reject you, that's just the way it is, and look, here's the thing, they're not different than anybody in this room, because every single person in this room has gone through that. Every single person. I always find it funny when someone first starts living for God, and they're like so shocked, they're like, oh man, my cousins hate me now, my uncles, my brothers, they think like they're the only person in the world, and I was like, yeah, every single person. I was like, look around, every single person deals with that. And if you're a rare exception, hey, praise the Lord for that, but I promise you, you have at least a cousin or an uncle or someone who would hate your guts if you spent time with them. Why? Because they're living their lives over there. Unless your whole family is soul winners, maybe there is someone in this room, praise the Lord for that, that's not the way it is for most of us, though. And so we talked about what is common, what that means, we talked about normal, and we talked about basically the difference between common and normal, but what I want to talk to you about last of all is the process of social normalization, or desensitization. What I'm saying by that is the devil essentially in the world is trying to make these bizarre lifestyles feel normal to you. They're trying to normalize sin. It will never be normal, but they're trying to make it feel normal. They're trying to make you say, well, it's not just that it's common, it's actually normal as well. And there's two methods the devil uses to make something feel normal. Notice what it says in 2 Corinthians 4 verse 4. In whom the God of this world, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. The Bible talks about the God of this world. That is none other than the devil, Satan, Lucifer. That's who that's referring to. That is not referring to God, because in your Bible you'll notice a lower case G. Why? It's not really God. Satan is the God of this world, and the reality is that the devil does have power in this world. And when you look at all these things, you look at the entertainment industry and the movies and the music, I hate to break your heart, but God's not the one who put up that person as, oh, I'm going to give this person the opportunity to make millions of dollars. Kanye West, man, Kanye West loves God so much, I'm going to put him in a position, no, that's the devil that did that. It's hard to break your heart, and look, I was never a fan of rap, so I don't know much about Kanye, but it doesn't matter how much you liked Kanye West or how much I liked Brooks and Dunn a while ago, that doesn't make it normal, it doesn't make them godly, because the devil's the one that puts them in that position. Now turn to Daniel 7. Daniel 7. Daniel 7. So see, what the devil is trying to do is he's trying to make this sort of lifestyle feel normal. He's trying to make sin and wickedness and all these evil things feel normal to you, and it's becoming common, but there's basically two main methods the devil uses to make it feel normal to you. It's never going to be normal, because this is normal, but it can start to feel normal to you, okay? How does the devil do that? Well one method he uses is your ears, your ears, Daniel 7 verse 25. Daniel 7 verse 25. Daniel chapter 7 verse 25, and he shall speak great words against the most high, talking about against God, the antichrist is speaking against God, and notice this, and shall wear out the saints of the most high. Daniel 7 verse 25, it says he shall speak great words against the most high and shall wear out the saints of the most high. What is that saying? When you're talking about wearing somebody out, and I'm not here to promote boxing or Manny Pacquiao, but just think of a Manny Pacquiao fight, which a lot of you have probably seen, and I have as well. Manny Pacquiao, in the early rounds, he had energy, but so did the other person, but then in round seven and eight and nine, Manny Pacquiao still had a lot of energy. The other person was worn out. Manny Pacquiao had tired out his opponent, then he knocks him out. Basically you wear out your opponent where they get exhausted. The devil wants to wear you out from serving God. So in the seventh round, basically your hands are down, you don't have the energy to put your hands up, and then you're going to get punched right in the face and knocked out. That's what the devil wants to do to you. He wants you to get worn out so you no longer are defending yourself and then you get destroyed. What it says in Daniel 7 verse 25 is he speaks against the most high and that wears you out. What the Bible's teaching you is that when you constantly hear people blaspheme God, it wears you out from serving God. When you watch all of those movies that you love to watch and they're blaspheming God, it wears you out from serving God. And you say, why don't I love soul winning as much as I used to? Maybe because you're living a worldly life now. That might be why. If you constantly hear people speak against the most high, according to Daniel 7, this is not just a prophecy section of the Bible. There's good meat here in the major and minor prophets there. If you hear somebody speak against the most high, it will wear you out. Look, if you listen to rock and roll music all day long or pop, K-pop, whatever, that will wear you out from serving God. Because they will speak against the most high, they'll speak against God, and all of a sudden you're not going to find yourself wanting to read the Bible as much. Good luck spending two hours listening to worldly music every day and two hours reading the Bible. What's going to happen? You're going to quit reading the Bible and just listen to the music. Why? Because the devil wears you out when he speaks against the most high. So when the devil allows things to enter into your ear, it will wear you out. Turn the Bible to Job 31, Job chapter 31. Now I don't want you to misunderstand me because look, we can't live in a bubble. You got to work your jobs, and I've worked an office job before you're turning to Job 31, and realize if you work at an office job, you do hear people speak against the most high and you cannot avoid it. It's part of life. You work a secular job, people will speak against the most high, but let's not be dishonest with ourselves. When people speak against God, it doesn't motivate you to live for God, it actually wears you out. That's what the Bible says, okay? Now I understand you've got a job, you've got to hear that, you can't avoid it. Look, I had an office job where people talked about committing adultery on their spouses. What can I do? I have to work. I can't do anything about it. But there's a difference between your living your life and working a job, and unfortunately there's worldliness out there, versus you coming home and saying, in my free will I'm going to take out the remote and turn on the TV, and just show me what you got, devil. Show me what you got, devil, I want to learn from you. What do you think the God of this world is going to teach you on there? Do you think that you're going to just turn to like a famous TV channel and it's going to be like a soul winning seminar from an independent fundamental Baptist? No. And so when you choose in your free will to allow yourself to hear wickedness and blaspheming and gossip and all these things, you are allowing yourself to be worn out by the devil. The Bible says that in Daniel 7 verse 25. So one method the devil uses to basically desensitize you or to normalize that sort of lifestyle, is he allows things to enter into your ears. And it probably won't be shocking to you what the next point is. He also allows it to enter into your eyes. Notice what it says in Job 31 verse 1, Job 31 verse 1. This is Job speaking and he says, I made a covenant with mine eyes, why then should I think upon a maid? And so basically what Job is saying is, I made an agreement, I made a covenant, I just made a decision, kind of like a contract, that I will not look upon someone of the opposite gender and lust after them. I won't even let my eyes see that person. That's what he's saying. Job's a married man. He says, I made a covenant with mine eyes, why then should I think upon a maid? What are the dangers of allowing your eyes to look at things that you shouldn't? Well notice verse 7. Verse 7, if my step hath turned out of the way and mine heart walked after mine eyes. Look, God forbid any one of us will just choose to cheat on our spouses, but the Bible says, take heed lest ye fall. If you allow yourself to just lust after other people that you're not married to, it is very possible that your heart is going to walk after your eyes. That's what the Bible teaches. See, if you allow yourself to look on things that you shouldn't, your heart might walk after your eyes one day. You say, Brother Stuckey, what about David? David looked upon Bathsheba and then he allowed, it enters into his heart. It starts with your eyes and your ears as well. It enters into your ears and your eyes and then all of a sudden it gets to your heart. And once it gets to your heart, it's a little bit too late. You see, there's this philosophy that, well, you know, after you're married, it's not wrong to look. It's not wrong to look at somebody as long as you don't do anything with them. Well, first off, you're committing adultery in your heart, the Bible says. So it is wrong to look. But the reality is, nobody just decides, man, I'm just going to go out and commit adultery. That happens because you first allow it to enter into your eyes and your ears and it affects you. You say, what's the secret? Well, I'll tell you what the secret is when you're raising kids. You teach your child when they're too young to have that sort of attraction to always just look away if there's someone dressed like a whore or a harlot. And those are Bible words, don't be mad at me. That's what the Bible says. Amen. You teach your kids at a young age. Because you know what, my son, when he's five years old, he's not going to have the sorts of natural desires that you get when you're older. So if I teach him at the age of five not to lust or look on someone before he's even capable of lusting, and I teach him not to look at the age of five, and I just say, hey, son, turn away your eyes. You know what's going to happen when he's 20 years old and he does have those desires? He's already trained himself not to look. But what takes place if you never train him at a young age and they do have those desires? It's going to be very easy for them to just look. Look, you know, we went soul winning in case of Memorial Circle yesterday, and we love going there. We get a lot of people saved. But even when you're soul winning, isn't it true that a lot of people are dressed like Coors and Harlots? And they don't even know any better. They don't even know what the Bible says. But the reality is people are dressed like that. Even when you're soul winning, you've got to make sure that you're just being focused. Because I mean, you get people saved that are dressed like that. I got people saved yesterday that were dressed just very inappropriately. And it's like you just have to make a decision. But I want you to understand, it's a lot easier if we teach our kids at a young age. We teach them at a young age before they have those desires. Because if we don't teach them, they could end up like a Solomon or David who were godly people. But they allowed their heart to walk after their eyes. I think that's just this example. Not just David. I mean, Solomon too will turn in your Bible to Ecclesiastes too. Go forward in your Bible, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes. Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes. And I want you to realize, nobody thinks they're going to commit wicked sins. Of course, I don't think I will ever cheat on my wife. Just like you that are married don't think you're going to do that either. But what I want you to understand is it's possible for anyone to cheat on their wife or husband. And it starts though with the eyes. And so you've got to train your eyes because if you don't train your eyes and make a decision, make a covenant with your eyes. This is Job. Tell me a character in the Bible who was a better person than Job. I mean, maybe Moses, maybe, I mean, he's in the top five probably, and he made a covenant with his eyes. And if someone like that says, you know what, I need to make a covenant so I don't make stupid mistakes, I'm going to make a covenant with mine eyes. And we're going to teach our kids at a young age. They're going to grow up in a church like this and hopefully they won't have to listen to the ungodly music that blasphemes God that I heard growing up and I chose to listen to before I was saved. We can teach our kids at a young age and they can get to a much better start than us. Because, you know, a lot of us are first generation Christians. A lot of us, we didn't grow up just with really old-fashioned, okay, beliefs. We grew up just like the world grows up. Okay? Now, I had great parents and they helped me avoid a lot of stuff. I was homeschooled part of my life and things such as that. They're very strict. But, you know, even still, I had a lot of influences from the world and that's the way it is. But hopefully we can teach our kids and they never have to go down those roads because if you allow it to enter into your eyes or your ears, your heart will walk after that after some time. And who knows what's going to happen? And the devil wants you to see this and hear this all the time and you know what happens when every single person tells you that's normal? You start to feel like it's normal. That's why you need to be reading your Bible and go to church that's going to cry aloud against this. Otherwise you will think that's normal one day and then you'll say, man, Brother Stuckey's such a hate preacher. You say, Brother Stuckey, could I actually say that? Yeah, actually any one of us could say that if we choose to basically just fill our minds with the garbage of the world and never fill our minds with reading the Bible and hearing this kind of preaching. It would happen to me as well. You'd start to feel like, man, this is not normal. They're too hateful. Why? Because you're starting to walk this direction and getting closer to the world. That's the reality. Notice what it says in Ecclesiastes 2 verse 10. How does a man who writes the book of Solomon, who loves his wife so dearly, how does he end up just marrying all these women and committing these wicked sins? Ecclesiastes 2 verse 10, and whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them. Notice this, I withheld not my heart from any joy. Notice what takes place first. He allows it to enter into his eyes and then what takes place? All of a sudden it enters into his heart. You say, why? It starts with just choosing to look and the result is it enters and affects your heart. What's wrong with just looking as long as you don't do anything? The reality is it's going to change your heart. It will change your heart and all of a sudden what used to be considered weird and wrong, it will feel normal. Now turn in your Bible to Lamentations 3. So what I want you to realize is that the devil, he is brainwashing you slowly and the way he's doing it is allowing things to enter into your ears and your eyes and we can't avoid it because as you leave this place today you're going to see people dressed inappropriately. It's out there, but we must make a decision to try to avoid at all costs seeing things and hearing things that are wrong and ungodly. Yes, we've got to go to Robinson's or whatever store to get groceries, but you need to train your eyes as you go to avoid looking at things you shouldn't. You say why? It doesn't feel like a big sin. Yes, it's going to enter into your heart and the Bible says you're committing adultery in your heart if you lust after someone and so you need to avoid looking at things that you shouldn't and not just with lusting after women, also just with everything. Things that are ungodly, when you see them and you hear them it affects you. Let's not lie to ourselves and when you see it over and over again it wears you out. Yes, when you see it from time to time you get angry about it, but when you see it over and over and over again it actually ends up just wearing you out and it causes you to get tired from serving God and if you just fill your minds every single week with everything that Vise Pangit has to offer, it will wear you out. It will feel normal to you. Why? Because it's just very common to you now and when it's common it starts to feel normal. That's the reality. Lamentations 3 verse 51, you say not me, not me brother Stuckey, I can watch whatever and hear whatever and it won't affect me brother Stuckey. Lamentations 3 verse 51, mine eye affecteth mine heart. Mine eye affecteth mine heart. Are you better than Jeremiah? Jeremiah says mine eye affecteth my heart. You're better than Jeremiah. Whatever you look at doesn't affect you. You're lying to yourself. You're being dishonest with yourself. You say I can just look at whatever and it's not going to affect my heart. You know you're lying to yourself. You know what the Bible says. Mine eye affecteth mine heart. When you allow yourselves to be filled with what the devil has to offer and he speaks against the most high and you're looking at things that are ungodly and wicked, it will start to make you think that it's normal because you're filling your minds with it. Why does, look a hundred years ago nobody thought this weird LGBT agenda, all these people, guys dressed as women, nobody thought that was normal, but in today's world most people do. We are in the top ten of countries that are the most pro-LGBT. I'm not going to lie about the statistics. That's a fact. Look at the charts. Most top ten lists, and I've looked at them, we make the top ten. And you know quite honestly we're like right near the top of Asia of just really supporting the LGBT. And you know people think it's really normal and you know why do they start thinking it's really normal? Because it's on TV all the time and they see it. They see this all the time and all of a sudden instead of thinking it's really strange they say, well I wouldn't dress in a dress, but I don't think it's that weird for a guy to dress in a dress. Literally that's what most people think. I wouldn't do that, but it's not that strange. I mean it's a little bit strange, but you know I'm only like this far from them. It's a little bit strange, but going soul winning is like really strange. Reading the Bible every day, man I mean the whole New Testament in the month of January, man those guys are bizarre. I mean yeah this is a little bit strange, dressing up in a dress as a guy, but that is really strange. That's what they think. Why? They're closer to that side. That's the reality. And the Bible says mine eye affecteth my heart. Now I do want you to realize something though about Lamentations 3. When he says mine eye affecteth my heart, he's not really saying it in a negative way. He's saying he sees the problems and he wants to fix it. Here's what I want you to understand. Your eye affects your heart and your ears affect your heart for good or for bad. See if you spend an hour reading the Bible, your eye affects your heart. It can be in a very bad way, but hopefully in January you've been reading the Bible every day and the good news is this, when you choose to read the Bible, your eye affects your heart. When you choose to hear good Bible preaching, your ears affect your heart. And look you're at this church. You know, we have three sermons a week. Hey, if you've got extra time, go home and listen to Pastor Jimenez. Go home and listen to Pastor Anderson. Why? Your ears will affect your heart in a good way. Your eyes affect your heart in a good way if you set it upon something good. But if you set it upon something bad, it will also affect your heart. It will cause you to be worn out as a Christian and live a more ungodly life. Your eye affects your heart. That could be good or it could be bad. Let me read you the definition of the word desensitization. Desensitization, basically when you experience something quite a bit, your senses don't react to it as much anymore. If something you see for the first time happens, you know, it's going to kind of shock you. For me, when it comes to seeing a guy dressed up as a dress, and this is just a good example, and look, the rest of the series has nothing to do with the LGBT because we're not focusing on things that some wicked person would do, we're focusing on things that a believer could be guilty of, things that are very over there and yet people are actually doing them and they think it's normal. But when it comes to this, I didn't see a bunch of guys dressed up as girls in the United States. That was something like once, I probably saw it a couple of times in my life. The times I saw it, I'm like, what in the world? You're just staring, you're like, what is wrong with that person? You say, why? Because I never saw it. You come to the Philippines, go soul winning in Rizal Park, you see it like ten times in one day. It starts to feel more normal, doesn't it? Because you're being desensitized to it. Look, when something you only see every once in a while or hear every once in a while, you're going to be like, what is that? You hear somebody blaspheming God and using the Lord's name in vain? Man, that makes you mad as a believer when people blaspheme God's name. But look, if you listen to rock music and you choose to hear people blaspheme God several times every day, do you realize that when you hear somebody say it in public, it doesn't really feel that weird to you? Why? It's common in your life, you listen to it all the time, and all of a sudden, it starts to feel normal. Well, we're focusing on this series, and actually, let me give you one example about this. I've known two people in my life who were American snipers in the military, two people that have killed more than 20 plus people apiece in the military, in war, because look, I'm against what's going on in Iran, that's a whole other subject. I'm against just bombing innocent people and fighting wars, and sadly, that's the thing, they want the oil from those countries, they start a war with them, that's a whole other subject. But I want you to realize that I've talked to a few people that were snipers, and they didn't like talking about this, but what they both said is that the first time they killed someone, they were just like, they pulled that trigger, because you're pulling it from like hundreds of feet away. You're aiming at someone that doesn't know that you're trying to kill them, and they pull that trigger, and it's almost like their hands are just like, what did I do? I just killed someone. But then after they'd done it a few times, it became a little bit easier to pull the trigger. Why? You become desensitized to it. That's just a fact, okay? That's just what happens in life. When you experience something a lot, you become desensitized, and I want you to realize the world is jamming their agenda down our throats all the time, and the reality is some of these things that I'm going to talk about in this series, they might feel kind of normal to us because they're very common. That doesn't make them normal, and look, God's standard, it does not change. It will never change, and look, this world is not going to get better with the television, with the television, and the cell phones, and the music getting worse and worse, the LGBT agenda, the liberal agenda, it's going to get worse and worse and worse and worse. God's word doesn't change, because a hundred years ago, the way people lived their lives was a whole lot closer to this than it is now. We're just on a downward slide to hell. There is no return, okay? I know that people for a long time have thought, man, the end of the world is going to come sometime. Look, I want you to realize it's not going to ever get better. It's never going to get better. It's just going to get worse and worse. You say, is it just here in the Philippines? The whole world lieth in wickedness. The whole world lieth in wickedness, but here's the thing. I didn't decide to start a church in North Korea or South Korea. If I lived there, then I'd preach against the problems in those countries. We have problems in this country. Don't lie to yourself. I love living here, but we've got problems in this country, and there are a lot of problems. There's a lot of things that are not normal, and the world thinks they're normal. I want you to be honest with yourself during this series, because I'll go through some things that I'm sure some people are guilty of, because I want to make sure I cover everything in the Bible. There are some topics I haven't covered, and we've got to just be honest with ourselves when the word of God comes and says, you know what? What I'm doing in this area of my life is not very normal. I'm doing this because I'm used to it. I grew up with this. It feels normal, but this is not what the Bible says. It's bizarre. It's not right. It's wrong. Let's close with a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and just getting to read your word and this new series that we're starting, Common versus Normal God. Help us to apply this to our lives, including myself, God. You know, some of the things we'll mention during the series, you know, all of us can be guilty of from time to time, God, and we need to make sure we do our best to just live according to your standards, God. Help us try to live godly lives and help us to always be trying to make changes in our lives and always trying to fight against what the devil has to offer God because we live in a wicked world in today's world. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.