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🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 Alright, welcome to the second service of Verity Baptist Church Manila. Take out your bulletin here today. Let's go through a couple things real quickly. First, let's count up salvations. Did anybody have any salvations to report for this last week outside of the two? Alright, outside of our soul winning event and the ones I know about? Bevin? Alright, anybody else? Anybody? Alright, great work everybody. Just a reminder for soul winning here today. Obviously, you know, the curfew is at 6 p.m. and everything and they are kind of strict about it. Don't feel obligated to stick around for soul winning. If you got to go home early or leave after lunch or leave before, whenever, that's fine. Our soul winning is going to be nearby and we're going to knock the doors we've knocked a million times just for safety purposes and things like that. People still get saved. Praise the Lord for that. More likely to get visitors when we knock nearby. Probably won't get as many salvations but given the situation we're going to be knocking nearby. And obviously pray for the government's decision. I personally hope that the lockdown will just completely end and things will open up and everything. I think it will be better for our church and all of us that are families for work and things like that. But we'll see. You know, there could be another announcement tonight. I'm not sure. The other thing I wanted to mention is that I know of many people that are trying to move here close to our church, both families and individuals. So if you personally are aware of places that are really nearby our church that are a good price or whatever, just kind of keep your eyes out, your ears open if you know about something. Because I know of many families and individuals that are trying to relocate close to our church and praise the Lord for that. That's great for a church, you know, to have people that are nearby. So if you're aware of that, just, you know, let people know or maybe you might know somebody or be able to help get a good deal or whatever. Just keep your eyes and ears, you know, open for that. So I think that's it for announcements. We'll have Brother Prince lead us in another song. Song number four zero. Song number fourteen. Song number four zero, let's sing, no disappointment in heaven. Song number four zero, let's sing, no disappointment in heaven. Song number fourteen, let's sing, no disappointment in heaven. Let's sing it all the first. There's no disappointment in heaven. No weary, no sorrow or pain. No hearts that are bleeding and broken. No song without minor refrain. The clouds of our earthly horizon will never appear in the sky. For all the rings of shining blackness will never absorb our sight. I bow for that beautiful city. My Lord has prepared for His own. For all the wreaths in the holy guest sing glory around the white throne. Sometimes I go hunting for heaven and the glory will share. I bow for that beautiful city. My Lord has prepared for His own. For all the wreaths in the holy guest sing glory around the white throne. Sometimes I go hunting for heaven and the glory shall be more. What a joy that will be when my Savior I see In that beautiful city I'll go on the line. There'll never be quick fun but for you. All good and all clean in the sky. No reason not in sight of glory for there is not ever a light. Behold, we are there forever transforming a moment of time. Behold, the world's ending is like that the stars in the sun to come shine. I bow for that beautiful city My Lord has prepared for His own. For all the wreaths in the holy guest sing glory around the white throne. Sometimes I go hunting for heaven and the glory shall be more. What a joy that will be when my Savior I see In that beautiful city I'll go on the line. In that beautiful city I'll go hunting for heaven and the glory shall be more. In that beautiful city I'll go hunting for heaven and the glory shall be more. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. 1 Peter 2 1 Peter 2 Please say amen if you're there. Amen. Wherefore, laying aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy as it envies He desires to serve both of the world that he may grow thereby. If so be it tasted that the Lord is gracious to whom coming is unto a living stone thus allowed a deed of men but chosen of God and precious. The oldest of his lively stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifice as acceptable to God by a Jesus Christ. For unto them which be disobedient the stone which the builders disallowed the same is made the head of the corner. And so the stumbling and the rock of the fence even to them which stumble in the word being disobedient were unto also they were appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims. I abstain from flesh and lust which war against the soul. Having in conversation honest among the Gentiles, whereas I speak against you as evil doers they may by your good works which they shall behold glorified God in the day of visitation. Take yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake. Whether it be to the king of supreme's aid, whether it be to the king of supreme for unto governors as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God that with well doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men as free and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness but as a service of God. Honor all men, love the brotherhood, hear God honor the kings. Servants be subject to masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle but also to the thrower. For this is thank worthy of a man for conscience toward God and for grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it if when ye be puppeted for a pulse ye shall take it patiently. But if when ye do well and suffer for it be taken patiently this is acceptable to God. For even hereunto recall because Christ also suffered for us, leaving as an example that ye should follow his steps. For did no sin, neither was thou found in his mouth. For when he was reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered he threatened not, but committed himself to him to judge his righteousness. For his own self bears sins in his own body in the tree, that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness by whose stripes were healed. For he were a sheep going astray, but are now returned to the shepherd and bishop of your souls. Amen. Let us pray. We're here in 1 Peter chapter 2 and in the name of the sermon we're continuing our series on false philosophies and we're going to be talking about Buddhism. Now this sermon is not really a sermon preaching against Buddhism like the last sermon against Seventh-day Adventists. It's focusing on like the main guiding principle or thought behind their religion or philosophy of why it's so popular. I'm not going to go through all their doctrines and beliefs and things like that. But what I want to talk about and focus on is their main philosophical system that makes them popular and it's all about removing suffering from your life. If you ever listen to Buddhist talk it's all about get rid of suffering. You'll never be happy because you've got suffering and suffering's bad and we've got to remove suffering. And they're just 100% focused on getting rid of suffering. That's what it's all about. Look, they're not the only philosophical system or religion that's all focused on that. If you ever see the pamphlets that Jehovah's Witnesses hand out, will suffering ever end? That's one of the famous pamphlets for Jehovah's Witnesses. Will suffering ever end? And then they show you how you can live on a paradise-type place and everything can be nice. And they're focused on this idea. And you say, why is this popular? Because we don't like to suffer. We don't like to have problems. I understand why it's popular. I don't like to suffer. I don't like to have problems. I wish I didn't go through suffering. But here's the thing. Is that reality though? Can you avoid suffering in life? You're going to go through problems in life, okay? And it's actually not a bad thing for you. It's actually a good thing, okay? And this is the way that God designed it. God didn't design you to have a perfect life. Now, in some ways, some of these philosophies are kind of similar because with Taoism it was all about an effortless life. And it's sort of similar but not the same thing. With Buddhism though, it's like removing suffering. And that's the magic formula for a great life. Get rid of suffering. This is why the pre-trib rapture is so popular. Explain to me why everybody believes in the pre-trib rapture. Is it a Bible verse? No. It's because people don't want to suffer. The person who led me to the Lord believed in the post-trib rapture and he taught me about the rapture and everything after I got saved. And one of his old friends, because he used to be a preacher of himself and I read the Bible and learned and studied and stuff, one of his old friends didn't want to listen to him. And he's just like, I don't care if it's true or not. He's like, I just want to believe in the pre-trib rapture. And it's like, you don't care whether it's true or not? You say, why? People don't want to go through suffering. But it doesn't matter whether you believe in it or not. You can't wish it out of existence, okay? This is what people try to do. You can't wish the post-trib rapture out of existence. It's going to happen. And you cannot wish suffering out of your life. It will happen, okay? Notice what it says in 1 Peter 2, verse 20. 1 Peter 2, verse 20. For what glory is it if when ye be buffeted for your faults ye shall take it patiently? But if when ye do well and suffer for it ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that ye should follow His steps. You know what the Bible says? Jesus Christ gave us the example of basically going through suffering, going through trials, having a hard life. And He did it as an example to us that we should follow in His footsteps. Look, if you're living a godly life, you're going to go through some trials. You're going to go through some persecutions. You're going to have ups and you're going to have downs, okay? That's reality. Go to Job 1. Job chapter 1. Job chapter 1. When it comes to suffering, as someone who's living for God, part of that suffering is just basically for the cause of Christ. If you're serving God, you're going to go through trials. It is what it is, okay? But I want you to realize if you're someone who lives a sinful life and just says, I don't care what the rules of the Bible are, there's inherent suffering built into sin. I mean, if you go and just drink away your life, you're going to destroy your liver, right? You're going to die at a young age. You're not going to be successful at work. You're going to be a bad husband, bad wife, bad father, bad mother. I mean, if you go down the road of being a drunk, you're going to destroy your life. I mean, then you're going to have a lot of suffering. So people just get upset about, man, suffering if I'm living for God, suffering if you go the opposite way of what God says. It actually works out better for you if you do things God's way, okay? But there is suffering involved when you're living godly, the Bible says. Not only that, but also there can be suffering attached to tragedies and other problems in your life. I mean, it doesn't matter who you are. When you start to get older, life will hit you in the face. You start realizing, wow, it's not as easy as when you grow up, right? You're a kid and your parents feed you. They take care of you. And all you do is run around and play all day and everything's going well. And then all of a sudden you're seven years old and then your grandma dies. And it's just like it's a reality check on life. You know what? Life can be tough sometimes. Life can have tragedies. Job is a great example of this. And Job was a very godly person. Now here's the thing. You've got these Pentecostals and other people that teach the prosperity gospel. Basically, if you're right with God, you're going to have money, you're going to have good health, and everything's going to go well in your life. And if it's not going well, then you don't have enough faith. Right? If it's not going well, you know, if you're struggling financially, you just didn't give enough money. If you're struggling financially, you just don't have enough faith. And you know what? If you had stronger faith, you'd have no problems. Isn't that what people teach? Is that what the Bible teaches? Now it's not hard to see why that's popular. Right? Wouldn't that be great? It's just like everything in life is easy. Man, if you're saved, God has called you into just a five bedroom mansion, and a nice car, and a nice job, and nice food, and no problems. It's not reality though. Okay? It will be reality when we get to heaven. We're not there yet. Okay? And so all lives have suffering. And part of it can be tragedies. Job is the great example here. Notice this. Job 1 verse 8. So the Lord basically says to Satan that, you know, Job is the greatest person in the world. There's no better believer. There's nobody more righteous. There's nobody more complete as a Christian. Job is the greatest person in the entire world. Now here's the thing. If the prosperity Gospel is true, wouldn't it make sense that Job would have no problems? Because this is the greatest man according to the Lord. So if the prosperity Gospel is true, then Job's never going to have any problems, right? But wait a minute. Does he have problems in his life? Verse 9. Satan's saying, you know what? Yeah, Job's really righteous because of the fact he's rich. He's got a nice family. He's got everything he wants. He only fears you because he doesn't have to actually worry about anything bad happening, right? Then it says in verse 10, Of course, we know the story with Job, right? All of his kids die instantaneously. All of his kids just immediately die. And not only do all of his kids die, he loses all of his money and all of his business just overnight, right? And then all of a sudden in Job chapter 2, he loses his health. Everything is destroyed. His money, his health, his family life, tragedy after tragedy, just back to back to back. Look, this is an example for us that we're going to have hard times in life. And it really hits Job hard, but I want you to realize, no matter who you are in this world, saved, unsaved, child of the devil, it does not matter. You have ups and you have downs. Everybody's going to go through good times. Everybody's going to go through bad times. You're going to have problems in your life no matter who you are. And it's easy to pretend like it won't happen, but that's not reality. There's nobody that doesn't go through problems. And look, a church our size, I promise you every single week there are people going through real suffering at our church, people going through real problems. And I might not know what those problems are. I might not be aware of it, but it's true. And look, when I've preached sermons like this before, literally people have told me or my wife right afterwards, wow, man, I'm going through like this major storm. And I had no idea. And part of it is because God maybe has designed the sermon for the right time, but the other thing is just that we have a lot of people here. And people go through hard times. And I know that there's 50 plus people. Look, there's at least one week out of every year I'm going through a storm. So when you've got 50 people, there's a lot of people going through storms. It just is what it is. It's reality. Now turn in your Bible to John 13. John chapter 13. Now we'll talk about later on just briefly what Buddhism teaches about this idea of suffering, because they agree with that, that there's going to be suffering in life. But they just have the wrong conclusion on why it happens and how to get rid of it. But in the introduction, my point is this. God intends your life to have some suffering. When the beginning of your philosophy is we've got to remove all suffering from our lives, you know it's the wrong philosophy. Because does God intend all suffering to be gone from your lives? Right? I mean, that's the basis of their philosophy, but ask yourself the question, did God intend you to have an easy life with no problems, no suffering, every single day everything is perfect? No, He didn't. God intended you to go through some suffering. And so you know Buddhism is a false philosophy. No matter how many people are going to follow that sort of... I mean, your best life now, as Joel Osteen says. Look, it's not reality. You're going to go through problems in life. Okay? Now, point number one is this. The burdens of the Buddhist focus are the burdens of the idea of having no suffering. Because here's the thing. If you try to have no suffering in life, you're actually going to have a lot of suffering and a miserable life. By trying to avoid all suffering, it will actually screw up your life. Okay? Notice what it says in John 13, verse 15. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. Okay? Jesus Christ often said things like this. Directly what He's talking about is washing people's feet. But the thing is, His whole life was about service. And what He's telling people is, I want you to do what I do. Basically, live your life to care about other people and not yourself. And as I mentioned in the introduction of this series, that is the message of Christianity. Your life is not about you. It's about other people. Live for other people. Don't live for yourself. That's why we go soul winning. That's the primary reason given for why you should come to church. That's why we learn the Bible so we can teach other people. That's why you keep the commandments because you love your brethren. I mean, it's all built around this idea of caring about other people and not yourself because your life is not about you. Okay? Verse 16, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord. And what he's saying is, I'm the Lord, you're the servant, basically. And he's saying, in a situation like that with a master and a servant, the servant's not greater than the Lord, neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. And what he says is this, I'm telling you, you need to serve other people and what the Bible says is, it will make you happy if ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. You know what makes us happy? When we do what we know we're supposed to do. It's reality. Look, when you wake up and read the Bible in the morning, you feel good because you know you did what was right. When you live your life caring about other people, you feel good because you know you did right. Look, when we go soul winning, we're excited because we know we did right. We know we're right with God. We know we made an impact on the world. It makes you feel good when you obey what you're supposed to obey and do what you're supposed to do. When you do what God says and when you don't focus on yourself but you focus on other people. You know what the problem of Buddhism is? It's 100% focused on yourself. That's what the philosophy is. You have suffering. You need to remove suffering. You have suffering because you have desires. You need to get rid of all those desires. It's 100% focused on yourself. You know why you're suffering? You know why you're miserable? Because you're focused on yourself. That's why they're miserable. And they think by focusing on themselves it will make them happy. No, that makes you miserable. It's the exact opposite of what the Bible teaches. If you focus on other people and serve other people, that makes you happy according to the Bible. But see, the world's philosophy, this is the point of this series. Every philosophy of the world is the exact opposite of the Bible. And you've got to decide how do you determine what you believe. Is it based on what the Bible says or is it based on what the world says? Turn to 1 Kings 10. 1 Kings 10. 1 Kings chapter 10. 1 Kings chapter 10. I mean, just think about this logically. Because look, I don't form what I believe based on logic, right? But we looked at verses here. Let's just be logical though. If you've got a real problem in your life, does it really make sense to just focus on the problem that's really bothering you? By focusing on what's bothering you, it's going to magically make you happy. No, actually by not focusing on what's bothering you, it makes you happy. Right? And that's what we experience when we go soul winning. Sometimes you go soul winning and you've got some real storms in your life and then you go soul winning and you're like, man, I feel good because you made an impact on somebody else. But just logically, if you've got problems in your life and all you do is sit around and think about it 24-7, yeah, that's going to make you happy. I mean, the world's just foolish. Right? They don't even think about it. It doesn't even make sense. It's going to make you miserable. But they claim to have the magic secret to remove all suffering from your life. Well, first off, that shouldn't be our goal in life. And secondly, you're living in a fantasy world if you think you can remove all suffering. It's just a foolish idea. And yet, hundreds upon hundreds of millions of people follow Buddhism. It's the fourth biggest religion outside of Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. So obviously, it's appealing. And look, I understand why it's appealing. I wish, but if you told me, Brother Stuckey, take this pill and you'll never have any problems in life. Look, of course, in my flesh, I would want to take that pill because I don't want to have problems. Brother Stuckey, you've got a choice. This coming week, you can either lose every single penny you have or you can find out, you know, that you have some inheritance from someone you didn't even know of like 50 million pesos. Yeah, that's a tough choice for me. Of course, I would want the money, right? Nobody wants to go through suffering. I'm not saying you're like, man, I can't wait to go through suffering. Of course, you don't want to go through it. I'm just saying it's a reality. And I'm saying it's not something you should try to avoid because it's going to happen and it's actually a good thing for you. 1 Kings 10 verse 8, Happy are thy men. We're talking about being happy, right? Because Buddhism says they have the secret to be happy, remove suffering, then remove desire to do that. But wait a minute, 1 Kings 10 verse 8, Happy are thy men. Happy are these thy servants. Do you see how happiness and being a servant are tied together? Isn't that the same thing as John chapter 13? I mean, they're happy. Happy are thy men. Happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee and that hear thy wisdom. And so Solomon had servants that were working and building and just working full time. And you know what? They were listening to the wisdom of Solomon, preaching the Word of God. Basically, they were working hard, serving others and listening to the wisdom and it made them happy. That's the template on happiness. Come to church, hear the Word of God preached, go out, work hard, serve other people and you're going to be happy. That's the secret. It's not complicated. It's not easy. But it's not complicated. This is what the secret is. Now that does not mean there will never be any suffering. That's not what I'm saying. Because you will have ups and downs. Of course, if you find out somebody close to you died or you have this major, major health problem out of nowhere, obviously, you're not going to be happy about that. Obviously, there's a grieving period. Obviously, we should be compassionate on fellow church members and people that are grieving. We shouldn't expect them to just immediately recover. We should tell them we're praying for them and everything. Look, I understand. You go through a hard time. I'm not saying you're going to be the happiest person in the world. I am saying this, though. You should still come to church, though, because by isolating yourself, you're going to be miserable. You're happy if you hear the wisdom and you fight through that turmoil, you fight through that suffering, and it makes you better on the other side. Right? I mean, doesn't Jesus say at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, the greatest sermon ever preached, the longest sermon in the Bible, and then He ends with two types of people. He says one group goes through these storms in life, and the others are founded upon a rock and the house stands, and the others are not founded upon the rock, and that's the person that's not applying the wisdom of God. But with both situations, whether you apply what I preach or not, whether you apply what you read or not, the storm is coming. You're not avoiding the storm. Look, if you were an atheist, you're still going through problems in life. Avoiding God doesn't get rid of all your problems. You're going to go through problems. And whether or not you apply what I say or not, whether you listen to the sermons or not, whether you read the Bible or not, you're still going through problems. The difference is if you prepare yourself for the storm versus not being prepared. You know what not being prepared is? By just trying to focus on yourself and remove all your suffering. You know what? The better idea is actually prepare for when that suffering comes and when the problem comes, and then your house is going to stand during that difficult time. Okay? Esther 5. Esther 5. Esther 5. Look, I wish I could give you that formula. I wish I could give you that mathematical equation for the easy life where everything's great and you're always happy and no problems and no stress. And look, if you solve that equation, tell me what the answer is, right? Of course, we don't want to go through the suffering. It doesn't change the fact it's going to happen, though. I mean, it's ridiculous to say you're not going to go through suffering. I mean, look, you grow up and then you have people that you know, relatives, friends, people that die tragically or you have health problems. It just is what it is. We're going to go through these problems in life. You have good times financially. You have bad times financially. You have stress. You have problems. Look, we're all going to go through these things, okay? It is going to happen. Esther 5, verse 9. Esther 5, verse 9. Let me show you why it's actually a burden to be in this idea, I don't want to have any problems in life. Notice what it says here with Haman in Esther 5, verse 9. Then when Haman fought that day, joyful and with a glad heart, but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood not up nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai. Nevertheless, Haman refrained himself, and when he came home, he sinned and called for his friends and cherished his wife. Here's Haman, who is the second most powerful man in the world behind King Ahasuerus, which I believe is Xerxes, King Xerxes. But he's the second most powerful man in the entire world. Here's a man who, he talks about how he's married, he's got riches, he's got a family, he's the second most... I mean, doesn't that sound like you'd be happy? I mean, you've been blessed in every way imaginable. You're rich, you're famous. People are bowing down to you and worshiping you. I mean, from a logical standpoint, from a worldly standpoint, man, you would think you'd be happy. Because doesn't money just solve all your problems? Isn't that what we think, just with our worldly wisdom, right? Logically speaking, we think everything's going to be gone if I just had more money, more riches, and here we see Haman, and Haman is angry because one person doesn't bow down to him and worship him. Look, I promise you, Mordecai was happier than Haman. I mean, Haman's the sort of person where if you get him a gift, he'll be like mad about it. He's like, this is all you gave me? Right? It's like, do you want to be one of those people that just you could never be happy or thankful for anything? Right? Because I mean, think about kids that grow up. You've got kids that grow up and let's say they're really rich and they're given everything, they never have to work for it, they never have any struggles. Those kids grow up and they're brats. And they're never happy, they're never thankful, and they're miserable people. They hate their lives. They're never happy. And yet, if you actually go through problems in life and something good happens to you, even if it's small, you're very thankful. Look, if you were to find out around the world, if you were to look at people that are happy versus not happy, you're not going to find that in the richest countries people are happier. You're going to find that people in rich countries have problems too. And look, in general, richer countries are actually not as happy. You say, Brother Stuckey, I heard Scandinavia was the happiest place on the planet based on the polls they took. Well, first off, how do you take a poll of the happiest people in the world? What kind of standard are you using for that? Because Scandinavia finished number one and they're like the richest part of the world. But let me give you some logic because Scandinavia is also number one in antidepressant medication. Doesn't it seem like if you're so happy you wouldn't take so much antidepressant medication? I mean, maybe I'm not that smart. Maybe I'm not smart enough to figure out this poll, but if you're the number one happiest place in the world, the countries of Denmark and Norway and Iceland and Sweden and all those countries, if they're so happy, why are they right at the top of antidepressant medication? Right. I mean, it seems like they're not that happy, right? Look, it's a lie. But, you know, the world's trying to lie because it's trying to promote... And look, those countries are atheistic countries. They always have children out of wedlock. You have kids without parents. Parents, do you think that that would make you happy in those lives? You're not going to be happy. You're going to be miserable. It's a God-hating part of the world. That's reality. But they're the happiest people on the planet. By what metric are they the happiest? Because I'm sure people would look at me and say, man, Matthew Stuckey's such a miserable person. His life, he's preaching sermons and just going... He has nothing better to do than go soul-winning. Nothing more exciting to do than... I mean, no parties to go to. What a loser, right? You don't have parties. You're going soul-winning and reading the Bible. Man, your life's terrible. That's what they probably say about us, right? But yet, when you're serving God, aren't you as happy as you ever are when you're serving God? You're happy when you're serving God and doing what's right. The world is lying to us. It says here in verse 11, And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king. So Haman tells his friends, which are fake friends, because when you're this sort of person, you don't have real friends. He tells them, hey, I'm rich. I've got a great job. I'm the second most powerful person in the world. Do you want a friend like that? That the only thing they ever do is talk about themselves, man, I'm great. I am so rich and powerful. I'm the second most powerful man in the world. You know what? You're going to get vain friends, fake friends that will follow you only because they have a benefit from you. They don't actually care about them. And when you meet people like this that are always just talking about themselves, these people are miserable. And look, I'll tell you what. The people that are the most miserable are the people that are always bragging. You want to find out who's miserable? Just find out who's always bragging on Facebook. That's reality. Fake book, right? It's like the people that are bragging, man, my life is so great. I've got the greatest marriage ever. Greatest marriage ever. And then all of a sudden you find out, oh, man, they had the worst marriage in the world. And look, I know so many inside stories, not at our church, but in the U.S. from people I heard. And it's just like I remember one of my friends told me one time because he was related to the person. And he said, yeah, they're at the point of divorce. They've had the worst marriage. And I was like, they seem so happy on Facebook. They're always posting, oh, my husband's the greatest husband. My wife's the greatest wife. And then like off of fake book, they're like at the point of divorce and they've been married like a year and a half. It's like, look, it's not reality just because people say, oh, I'm doing a great job. I'm sure everyone in ISUN, man, I'm so happy. We're the happiest people. Then why are you taking the antidepressant medication? It's a lie. Verse 12, Haman said, moreover, yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king onto the banquet that she had prepared but myself. And tomorrow am I invited onto her also with the king, yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate. I mean, he's miserable just because he doesn't get what he wants. Can you imagine, you know, like we're going soul winning or whatever and then we go to Jollibee, right? And it's just like, of course, I'm not the biggest fan of Jollibee, but did I sit in the car and complain, oh, this is miserable. I hate my life. I don't care how many people I got saved. We didn't eat at Mung Enasal or whatever, right? Or you're at the drive-thru and you go to order the Angry Burger on the way back from Pampanga, Walang Angry Burger, so you get the chicken sandwich. Oh, I can't be happy now. Great soul winning today. Great church services. They didn't have the Angry Whopper. I hate my life, right? And yet there are people like this, right? Where something doesn't go their way, they're just miserable. They just hate their life. Look, life doesn't go your way all the time. In fact, life is not always fair. Life has problems. It doesn't go like you want it to. Look, many things in our lives, they just don't go like you want them to. And if you allow that to make you miserable, you will hate your life. Why? Life is filled full of problems and suffering and things don't go the way you expect them to go. It's just the way it is, okay? Turn in your Bible to 2 Corinthians 12. 2 Corinthians 12. 2 Corinthians 12. I mean, if fame and fortune and money made you happy, then celebrities should be the happiest people in the world. Why are they drugging themselves to death? Why are they drinking themselves to death? Why are they just... Because here's the thing, you drink alcohol, you don't even remember what happens. I'll be honest, I like my life, so I don't like to just black out and not remember the events of my life and just basically sleep it away and just... No, I actually like my life, so I don't need to get drunk. I don't need to do drugs because I actually like to be awake to know what's going on. And if these people are so happy, why are they drugging themselves to death? Why are they getting drunk all the time? They're not happy. They're miserable. And look, it's literally the worst thing to become super famous and then you realize, wow, this is really not even that great because then you're going to be really miserable. You're thinking, I've reached the top of the world and you know what? This sucks. It's terrible. It's going to make you hate your life. And look, many famous people hate their lives. There's a video on the Verity channel, Jim Carrey, how to hate your life. And Jim Carrey is just open and honest about how he hates his life and how it's miserable. He's like, you'd think fame would make you happy and he just talks about how his life is terrible. It's like, well, that's what happens when you focus on yourself. It is what it is, right? Now, here's the thing. The unsaved world will never get this concept. They just won't understand it. But us that are saved, we form our beliefs based on the Bible and the Bible says you're happy if you do these things, meaning you serve other people with your life. That is the secret to being happy. You want to be happy in your life, don't focus on yourself because when you focus on yourself, you start realizing, I'm not as great as I thought I was, right? You know, when it comes to Buddhism, the example we have of the Buddha, if you've ever seen the documentary on Buddhism, this guy was born into royalty. He was rich. He had everything he wanted and there was like, and look, we don't know if this story is 100% accurate but I'm just saying they based their philosophy off this one man who supposedly existed. Here's their story. Here's their example, okay? Because Buddhism will say that Jesus was a Buddhist. Like he went to India for 18 years between 12 and 30 to study Buddhism, right? And so, well, let's see if Buddha is like Jesus Christ. Here's a man born into royalty and he gets older and he starts realizing, oh, actually there's suffering in life. And so he determines, man, you know what? This is not what it's cracked up to be. I need to reach spiritual enlightenment and go search after, you know, this religious thing. And so basically, his wife gives birth to a son. He's married. His son is born. He looks at his newborn son and his wife is with his son and he's just like, man, if I don't leave now, I'm never going to be able to leave. And he runs away, does not say goodbye to his wife and is gone for years and years and years and years. That's called one of the most selfish people that's ever existed. I mean, he literally, his son's born and he just leaves to search after enlightenment. And it's like, good night. You're born into royalty. You're rich. It's like you have all the money in the world and now you have a son and then it's like all your son needs is you to be there. And it's just like, and he just leaves to search after enlightenment. So the first thing he tries is, well, let's just go without eating. That's going to make me reach nirvana. Right? So he just goes without eating and here's the misconception about Buddhism. If I ever make a, you know, three myths about Buddhism video or whatever, it's like people think Buddha was fat and I make jokes about rubbing the belly. That's just the Chinese version of Buddha. Buddha was very skinny because, you know, he went without eating any food. Right? He was trying to basically starve himself to death and then all of a sudden he saw like this young girl or young woman who had a couple of grains of rice or something by the water. Then all of a sudden he realized, oh, maybe God doesn't want me to starve myself to death. Right? And then all of a sudden he starts eating again. He was at the point of death and then all of his followers, because he had a group of followers that were coming after him, his twelve disciples or whatever. And it's just like, it wasn't twelve. I'm just making fun of him. But then all of a sudden all of his followers are like really upset with him. How dare you eat food? It's like this is our... And then all of a sudden he teaches them, no, actually we're supposed to eat food. Hey, I already knew that. And then all of a sudden after being gone for a super long time, I don't remember how long it was. I think it was more than a decade. I could be wrong in that. I think his son has grown by that point. He comes back having been gone for his son. He was gone his entire life and he just comes back to the family. Look, that's called a deadbeat dad. Right. And he literally basically just divorced his wife. You know, symbolically divorced his wife and left. That's the example. Because does that sound like somebody who's laying down their life for other people? Or does that sound like somebody who's only focused on themselves? Only focused on himself. And he just runs away and doesn't spend any time with his family. That's the example. Does that sound like the Jesus of the Bible? Who lived his life for other people instead of himself. It's the exact opposite. Okay. And look, all of these leaders of these false religions are miserable people. Because Buddha's great compared to Muhammad, who slept with a nine-year-old that he was married to, the leader of Islam. It's like, good night. I mean, these leaders are just these terrible people. It's like, Buddha's great compared to him. It's like, but you know, we have the example of Jesus Christ and his whole life was just about other people. Right. Point number one, the burdens of the Buddhist focus. Point number two, let me give you the benefits of suffering. There are benefits of going through suffering in your life. 2 Corinthians 12 verse 6, For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool, for I will say the truth, but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seemeth me to be or that he heareth of me. Paul talks about, people might think too highly of me. People might think, man, this is the great preacher of our generation. They might think too highly when they hear about me. Then he says this in verse 7, And lest I should be exalted above measure, meaning becoming arrogant and lifted up through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. And what Paul says is this, because of the fact that I'm preaching these sermons and I'm doing these sowing campaigns and everything, I could easily get lifted up and so God gave me a thorn in the flesh to keep me humble. So I don't become arrogant. I don't get too lifted up. Look, if somebody's living a godly life, if somebody's doing something big for God, they're going to go through real problems in their lives. They're going to go through trials in their lives. Why? Well, one reason why is it keeps you humble. It's going to humble you. And if you never go through any problems, you become arrogant and lifted up. And isn't that the way it works in the world? People that are very successful are very arrogant oftentimes if they're not going through a lot of problems. But actually going through problems, it keeps you humble. And you're like, that's a good thing. Verse 8. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me. Now, I personally believe that the thorn in the flesh he's referring to is his eyesight and there's reasons why I believe that. But let's say it's his eyesight or some other physical element, whatever. If he came into church today, Paul the Apostle, to preach, we've heard about Paul the Apostle. He's this great man of God. And then all of a sudden if he's coming in and then he has to be very careful because he has real vision problems, you would start to look at him on a lower level than lifting him up like a God-like man. You'd look at him and realize he's just a man with problems just like anybody else. And it forces Paul to be humble because he realizes I'm just a man being used by God. Right? And so he has this thorn in the flesh and the reason why he has it is one reason it keeps him humble. Now here's the thing. Does anybody want to have problems with their eyes? Does anybody want to have eyesight problems or physical problems? Of course not. So Paul prays that God would take it away and that's actually a good thing to do. You pray to God but he might not answer that. Verse 9, And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong. And so this thorn in the flesh was given to humble Paul. But the other thing is this, when you go through suffering in life, it forces you to rely on God rather than yourself. Paul prays to the Lord, Please allow this to depart. And what the Bible says is, My strength is made perfect in weakness. Right? What it said in verse 10 at the end, When I am weak, then I am strong. And what the Bible's saying is this, we, if we go through no problems, we get lifted up and we feel like we're strong, but we're actually weak because we're relying on ourselves. But when we're going through problems, when we're weak, that's when we're actually strong. I mean, isn't it true that you pray to God more when you're going through problems than when everything's going great in your life? I mean, it's certainly true with me. Because when things are going great in our lives, we tend to forget about God. Everything's going well. It seems like no problems will happen. Then when we go through problems in our lives, we start praying to God and relying on Him. And honestly, if we would just pray to God when things are going well, He might not have to give us so many problems in life, so we'll rely on Him. Right? Now, look, I'm not perfect at this by any means because when things are going well in my life, I tend to just not think about it too much. And then all of a sudden, you get humbled and then all of a sudden, you start relying on God. It's just the way it works. Right? Go to 2 Corinthians 1. 2 Corinthians 1. 2 Corinthians 1. Now, let me just say this as your turn to 2 Corinthians 1. I am not saying that if you're going through suffering, it's your fault. I'm not saying if you're going through suffering, it's because you're not praying enough. I'm not saying that. Of course, that is possible. But the reality is, whether you're doing everything right or not, you're going to go through suffering. Obviously, on an individual level, when you go through suffering, you should think about it. Meditate about it. Read the Bible. Pray to God. And wonder why you're going through this. It could be you have some sin. But you know what? It could just be you're going through suffering. It could just be because you have problems in life. Right? I mean, it just is what it is. There's suffering in life. That's what happens. It doesn't mean you've done something wrong. So, one benefit is you're humble. Another benefit is you rely on God. And another benefit is it gives you the ability to comfort others that are going through hard times. 2 Corinthians 1, verse 3, Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation. So, God comforts us that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. So, the Bible says that when you go through problems, you can actually use the comfort you receive from God to actually help other people that go through problems. But if you never go through problems, you're not going to be able to comfort people that are going through problems because you don't know what it feels like. Or if there's something specific that, you know what, you have no experience with. And let me give you a general template of what you should do in situations. If someone at our church is going through real suffering and it's not really something that you have experience with, you know what, the best thing you can do is just say, I'm praying for you. Let me know if there's anything that I can do for you. You know, just yesterday I sent a message to someone who's not in our church. I just told them that. You know, I just told them there's anything that we can do. Let me know. You know, we're praying for you. Right? And that's always a good thing to say. Now, actually pray for that person. Don't just say it. Actually pray for that person. Here's the thing, though. If you've gone through something specific, you might actually be able to come for people that are going through something very similar because you have experience. But if you didn't go through that, then you might not be able to do that. Right? And you know what, we go through various things in life. I know with my wife and I, you know what, it took us several years to be able to have kids and it was a pretty frustrating thing. But you know what? We know plenty of people that have been in similar situations and because we went through that, we're able to help people out that have gone through that. Or the pain of losing a child at a young age. It's a very painful experience. But when you go through an experience like that, it does give you the ability to help comfort people that are going through that. It's not an easy thing. It's not something you enjoy. However, that causes you to rely on God and you can use that comfort you got from God to help somebody out one day. And you need to realize our lives are not about us. They're about other people. And you might go through a real problem and you know what, allow yourself to rely on God, get comfort through the situation, don't give up, don't quit, fight through it and then use that comfort to one day help somebody else who's going through something very similar. And you know what, if you have experience, you'll be able to do that. Okay? This is what it says Verse 5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so are consolation also abounded by Christ. So the more problems you have, the more consoling you get from God. Verse 6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer, or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. Paul says when we go through problems, I realize it's in order to help other people. That's the way Paul looked at it. Verse 7 And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so ye shall be also of the consolation. Now turn in your Bible to Matthew 5. Actually, turn to Acts 5. Acts 5. We'll hurry up. Acts 5. Acts 5. But see, what's the purpose of Buddhism? To reach nirvana, to reach enlightenment, right? Well, here's the thing. That's a hundred percent focused on you reaching nirvana, because in Buddhism, like all of these religions, salvation is not in a moment. It's a lifetime of work, and you're focused on yourself reaching nirvana. Well, what about salvation? Salvation happens in an instant, and then your entire life is focused on other people. That's the goal. Right? That's not automatic, but that's the goal. That's what God would have you to do. But in Buddhism, your whole life is focused on yourself. Right. It's a very selfish religion. It's a hundred percent focused on yourself. Right? So number one, we saw the burdens of the Buddhist folks. Number two, we saw the benefits of suffering. Let me show you lastly the bliss in suffering. There is happiness that can be associated when you're going through suffering, and when you've gone through the other side of suffering and have fought through that. It can actually make you very happy, the Bible says. Acts 5 verse 38, And now I say unto you, refrain from these men and let them alone. For this counsel of this work be of men, it will come to naught. But if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it, lest happily you be found even to fight against God. Acts 5 verse 40, And to him they agreed, and when they had called the apostles and beaten them, they commanded them that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. So they beat them for soul winning, and then they say, You're not allowed to preach the Gospel anymore, and then they let them go, because they have no reason to arrest them. Right? But they're trying to threaten them and get them to stop soul winning. Verse 41, And they departed from the presence of the counsel, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name, and daily and in the temple and in every house they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. Look, they go through persecution, they get beaten, and then all of a sudden they're let go, and they're just smiling and happy as can be. Do you realize how irritating that would be to the government of that day? It's like, We stopped these guys. We beat them, and they're happy. And then all of a sudden they're going soul winning more boldly than ever before, and then they're probably thinking, Man, I mean, we shouldn't beat them more because they'll do this more. It's like, What do we do? Right? And it's like, that's the reaction you see in Acts 5. Go to James 5. James 5. James 5. James 5. In fact, I would say, I mean, without question, the biggest reason why Christianity spread to the world is what reason? Suffering. I mean, because they were pretty comfortable, weren't they? Acts chapter 2. Right? I mean, what does he tell? I mean, not Acts. Acts 1. He said, Go to all the world preaching the gospel. Right? To Jerusalem and Judea and all of Samaria and all of the uttermost part of the earth. And you know what? They didn't obey that commandment. When you're reading through the book of Acts, they don't obey that commandment. And then Jesus told them, I want you to go everywhere. But they're comfortable. They're happy. And it makes sense. Right? You've got a nice church. Things are going well. You're successful. But he says, No, wait a minute. I want you to go to the ends of the world. Guess what ends up moving them to the ends of the world? Persecution. Suffering. And all of a sudden it caused them to spread out. And then all of a sudden you see churches in all the areas that Jesus said, I want you to go. Suffering spread the gospel. And see, the enemies of us believe that by persecuting us they're going to stop us. It doesn't work that way. You persecute us. The worst thing you could do is to persecute us because we're just going to go even stronger. Even bigger. I mean, the worst thing the world could do to try to end this work in the Philippines is to persecute me, throw me in jail. Man, if I get out after a couple years, I'm like, man, the church is like five times as big. It's like 7,000 salvation this week. What in the world? I mean, it's only going to spread the message. It doesn't stop the message. And if it stopped the message, how come most of the apostles were persecuted to death and then the message just kept spreading? And what you see is persecution actually spreads the message because when we don't have any problems we get a little bit too comfortable in our lives. And we don't rely on God. We get arrogant. We get satisfied with what we have rather than just going Let's sing We Never Say Goodbye We Never Say Goodbye Song number 61 Let's sing it On the first We say goodbye partly with the ones here below We always hope to meet again As on our way we go But of our hearts are cradling For those we never meet We'll say goodbye in sorrow Till we meet at Jesus' feet We'll never say goodbye in glory In the morning over yonder We'll never say goodbye in glory We'll never say goodbye up there Our children leave the home next For school or wedding bells For country's song For nations we'll Maintain them for us well Now wedding bells are happy And us we'll always cry And us and once we'll grip them In the city always cry We'll never say goodbye in glory In the morning over yonder We'll never say goodbye in glory We'll never say goodbye up there We meet and part with dear ones We say hello goodbye And letters by our fellowship We kiss them though we try To fill them always near us And follow them with prayer But parting these heart and death When we meet them in the end We'll never say goodbye in glory In the morning over yonder We'll never say goodbye in glory We'll never say goodbye up there Oh happy land of coming With Jesus in the sky For sometimes he's too far away Though always if we try We find him near to help us His spirit flows with him A lowly perfect hymn now When we have them entering We'll never say goodbye in glory In the morning over yonder We'll never say goodbye in glory We'll never say goodbye up there We'll never say goodbye in glory But parting these heart and death We'll never say goodbye in glory