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

Alright, well I'm trying not to be too long tonight since we have the storm and everything and we're fighting early, sometimes on Wednesdays with situations like this, but you know, one thing that's pretty cool is last week we had problems with the weather, we were still able to go out soloing beforehand before the rain hit, and also today as well, you know, where the rain really came down right after we got back to the building, so we were able to get five souls saved a day which is great, and so I'll try not to be too long, I might skip some things tonight, we're not going to hit every single burst, but the name of this sermon is A Lesson in Serving, A Lesson in Serving, that is the main theme of this chapter, not every chapter in John really has like this really strong main theme, but this one really does, so we're not going to hit every verse, we're just going to kind of look at some points here, but notice how it says in the first few verses, Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own who drew in the world, he loved them unto the end. And suffer being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son to betray him. Jesus known that the Father had given all things into his hands, that he was come from God and went to God, he riseth from supper and laid aside his garments and took a towel and girded himself. Verse five, after that he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with a towel wherewith he was girded. And see the first point I want you to see here in this chapter is this, that Jesus did the remedial basic tasks, okay? Here he is washing the disciples' feet, okay? Can you really think of anything that's more humbling than washing somebody's feet? You can't really think of too much more than that. That's a very humble thing that he did. Now we live in a day where, you know, most Baptist pastors get this attitude that, oh, I'm a pastor, I'm too good to do the things that other people do, I'm too good to, you know, wash, you know, clean the floor, take out the trash, I'm too good to go soul with it. That's something that the people that are the basic members do, I'm just here to kind of run the show, blah, blah, blah. But you know, what you see from Jesus in the Bible is that he did the basic things that he expected everybody else to do. Turn to Matthew 20, Matthew 20. Look, just from a logical standpoint, you won't really have that much respect from your members if you feel like you're too above doing what you expect them to do. That's ridiculous. And you wonder why churches don't go soul winning. Well, maybe they look at the pastor, maybe they look at the evangelist or whomever and say, well, you know, that person never goes out soul winning. Why should I go out soul winning if they don't go out soul winning? Look, it's not hard to get your members to go soul winning if that's what the point and emphasis of the church is. Our church is going to be filled with people that will go soul winning. I mean, have you even noticed that sometimes the people that come on Sundays that just visit here, they always go soul winning, don't they? It's like, well, what do you do afterwards? Well, we eat and then we go soul winning. And so a lot of people that come, you know, even people that don't necessarily come to church that often, usually they stick around for soul winning. Why? Because that's what our church is about. But here's the thing. If I never went soul winning, you know what, honestly, this church wouldn't go soul winning that much. And you know, honestly, a lot of you probably wouldn't even come to this church if we didn't go soul winning that much. That's the emphasis of our church. And what you see in the Bible is that Jesus did the basic remedial of taxes. Okay, not even 21st 24. And when the 10 heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren. But Jesus called them onto him and said, You know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. So what Jesus is explaining is that in this world, people that are great people that have the power, they exercise authority upon other people. Okay, people that are rich people that that are politicians and senators and congressmen, these people, they exercise authority upon other people. Yeah, they have the power. They're in a position of power. But look what it says in verse 26. But it shall not be so among you, but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister, and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant. And so what does Jesus say? The person that's great, the person that's chief is the one that's a servant. Yeah, see the secret to being successful or to be great in this life is the humble yourself, the lesson yourself is the lower yourself. And so if you want to be you say, Well, brother stuck, you know, I want to be great in this church. Well, maybe a servant to the Bible teaches. Okay, and look, me, me being the person who preaches the sermons. Look, I do everything that I expect other people to do as well. I do the basics things here. I do the cleaning here, you know, along with other people that help with cleaning, you know, I go soul winning. I don't just have tasks where I say, You know what, that's something that I'm just too good for. Right? I mean, when we have to dump water out of the baptistry, I do that as well. Look, I'm not above anybody else. Why? Because if you're going to be great, then you must be a servant. Yeah, okay, that is what the Bible teaches. And that's what Jesus was about. He did not come to be a conquering hero. He came and he was a servant as an example to us that he wants us to do the same thing. Verse number 28 even as the son of man came not to be ministered onto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. It wasn't just that Jesus died and humbled himself becoming a weeding on the death, the survival says, among the Philippians, but it's also his whole life. He humbled himself and became a servant onto all. Okay, and he left us it as an example. And people would naturally think that, of course, Jesus would be here as the son of God and just have everybody else would bow down to him and he'd expect them to do everything. That's not what you see, though. When he was here, he was a servant onto all. Now turn back to John chapter 13. Now let me just say this as a side point which we're going to see here in John chapter 13 that, let's say, for example, somebody wants to do something nice for you. They want to be a servant on you in terms of doing something for you, helping you out with something. When we look at what the biblical advice here is, you should let people do nice things for you. Let's say, have an example. Let's say somebody makes you cookies or something and they make you cookies and they give them to you. Let's say, for example, you're allergic to chocolate or whatever. There's chocolate in those cookies. You know what you do? You say thank you. You take those cookies home and you don't tell them that you're allergic to chocolate. You act as if you obviously are going to eat them, even if you're not able to eat them or you can get them to a neighbor and give them to a relative or whatever. But look, you take it and you're appreciative of it. I remember Pastor Jimenez gave an example that somebody had joined Verde Baptist Church, and I think it was long before I was there, and they got him a Christmas card or a birthday card. On the card, it had an NIV person on it because the person was new to church and they were just trying to do something nice. They either didn't realize the topic about the King James or they didn't realize how important it was. You know what he did? He took it, he smiled, he said thank you, and then months later that person apologized to him. They said, I'm so sorry that I got you that card. You say, what would have happened if he was just a jerk to them? Well, who knows? They might have quit the church. So if somebody wants to do something nice for you, even if you don't want them to, hey, you know, accept it. Somebody wants to do something for you for free or fix something for you, hey, you need to be willing to allow that because it's going to make them feel good. What we see here in John 13 is an example is verse six. Then come with me to Simon Peter and Peter saying unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now? Thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Okay, now here is an example where Jesus is doing something nice for him and Peter's rejecting it. Now look, that might seem like, you know, he's being really humble, but honestly, that's the wrong attitude to have. Jesus is trying to do something nice. You accept it. Okay, and Simon Peter's trying to reject it because he looks at Jesus and says, You know what? You're just too great to do something remedial like this, but he's not understanding the fact that Jesus was here to be a servant. Okay, so if somebody wants to do something nice for you, you know, accept it. Be happy. Somebody buys you a Christmas gift and it's something you really don't like or you don't want or maybe you think it's worldly or whatever. Hey, just be nice. Don't don't rebuke them. Don't have a bad attitude about it. Just be nice. Be friendly. Just thank them. Okay, now in verse number nine, let me say this in verses eight through 10. This kind of gives you some symbolism on salvation. Okay, verse nine. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my feet. Jesus saith unto him, He that has washed me did not say to wash his feet, but is clean and ye are clean, but not all. So in verse 10 he's giving symbolism with salvation because ye are clean, but not all. Why? Because Judas Iscariot was not a believer. He was always an unbeliever. He didn't lose his salvation. He never was sick. He never had salvation. He never believed on Jesus Christ. He was a phony. Going back to verse eight, Jesus had said, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. So you're seeing the symbolism there where he's saying, Hey, if you're not washed, look, then you know you have no part with me. Now turn to Titus three five. Titus three five. Let me turn there myself. Make sure I quote this correctly. But you're seeing the symbolism there with salvation, and you can cross reference with the book of Titus where it says in verse five, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. And you're seeing that symbolism with washing. Okay, that's a term given that is used to symbolize salvation because when we get saved we are washed clean. Okay, now that doesn't mean that we're perfect. Our bodies aren't clean. Our bodies aren't perfect. We still choose to make mistakes in our flesh. But look, our spiritual man is perfect. Okay, you're dwelled with the Holy Ghost, and it's going to be perfect forever. I'll turn back to John chapter 13. And in verse 11, it said, For he knew who should betray him, therefore said, He are not all clean. So the reason why he's saying that you're not all clean is because he's looking at Judas Iscariot. So he's saying that you're clean, Peter. The rest of you are clean, but not Judas. Okay, Judas was always a false person. He was always an unbeliever. And so the first thing we see is simply this, that Jesus did the basic tasks in life. But I want you to see the second point is that greatness is found in servitude. Greatness is found in servitude. Notice what it says in verse 12. So after he had washed their feet and had taken his garments and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me master and Lord, and ye say, Well, for so I am. Okay, now Jesus is explaining, Yes, I'm the master. Yes, I'm the Lord. Yes, I'm the Savior. Yes, I'm God. But it doesn't change the fact that he still washed their feet. Go to Malachi one. Malachi one. And in Malachi chapter one, let me read you in verses 13 and 14 where the Bible says, He said also, Behold, what a weariness is it. And ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts. And ye brought that which was torn in the lame and the sick. Thus he brought an offering. Should I accept this of your hand, saith the Lord? But cursed be the deceiver which hath in his flock a male, and voweth in sacrifice unto the Lord a corrupt thing. For I am a great king, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen. So yes, you know what? Jesus is a great king, and he demands the respect from people. He demands our best. And he's saying, you know, someone would sacrifice a sacrifice and just give a bad sacrifice. He said, cursed be the deceiver which would do that. He's saying you ought to give your best, okay? And it's the same thing with us in our lives. We ought to be giving our best to God. Yes, we're saved. We're on our way to heaven. Nothing's going to ever change that, but he demands and expects our best in life. He expects us to be servants. Go back to John chapter 13. And the truth is, if you want to earn people's respect, the way you do that is you labor and you work hard, okay? Look, if I did not go soul-winding at this church, you would not respect me, right? But you know, the soul-winding times, guess what? Every single Sunday, other than the time my son was really sick, either one or two times I missed soul-winding and the church has been around for basically six months, okay? You know, every single midweek time for soul-winding, I'm always here. You know, most Saturdays I'm out, depending on if I have to do something here at the building, then I'll go soul-winding here instead if I'm not able to make it. But look, you guys see me out soul-winding. But you don't see most pastors, you don't see most evangelists or missionaries out soul-winding because their soul-winding is present dynamic sermon, play just as I am and try to get people to come down to the altar. That's their version of soul-winding, okay? And look, they count as big of numbers as us. Those churches will count crazy numbers, but people get saved. People get saved through hard work, okay? Look, on Monday, we counted 17 salvations from soul-winding, okay? But look, that was five people that spent a lot of time. It was probably about 17 hours of soul-winding for the same. Yes, you know what, the Philippines is receptive. You still have to put in the time to get them saved, though. We put in a lot of time. I mean, people showed up here at 10. I mean, people were still going soul-winding when I left. I left around, I don't know, around 2 p.m. or something, you know, a little bit of soul-winding after lunch, and people were still here for another hour. I mean, that's a lot of time spent soul-winding, okay? Now, other churches can count 17 salvations because they just, you know, just get tons of kids to visit their church, they preach this fancy sermon, and then just count all the kids as saved because they heard the gospel for two minutes and prayed a prayer and walked away thinking that they had to keep the sacraments, and they, you know, did the Catholic sign, you know, while they're praying and everything like that, so they didn't get saved, okay? It takes a lot of hard work to get people saved. In John 13, verse 14, if I, then, your Lord and Master wash your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you, okay? So he's emphasizing the fact that your greatness is found in your servitude. I'm giving you an example. He's saying, I'm doing this, you ought to be willing to do the same thing, okay? Now, look, in this chapter, he's giving symbolism, okay? And he did literally wash their feet, but there are churches that this is part of their church. You do foot-washing, like, every single week. Now, look, we're not going to have a foot-washing ministry, okay? That's not going to become a ministry of our church, okay? I mean, you can take a shower if you want, I mean, that's fine. You can wash off your feet in there, you know, that's fine. But, you know, you have to understand, he's giving symbolism. He's giving symbolism of salvation, and he's giving symbolism of being a servant, and that's the main emphasis he's trying to make. Verse 16, verily, verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord, neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. Look, the servant is not greater than his Lord, and if Jesus spent his life serving, what do you think he expects you to do? You say, Brother Stuckey, man, it's so difficult, you know, I just can't make it to church. I mean, it's so difficult, you know, it's like a 40-minute drive and everything like that. It takes up most of my Sunday. Look, Jesus spent every single day just being a servant, and you can't even come to hear the preaching. I mean, I guess it's pretty easy to just listen online and things like that. Look, I mean, Jesus spent his whole life serving. Another application you can make, though, is the servant is not greater than his Lord. Let me ask you a question. Was Jesus persecuted when he was here? Yes, he was. Now, are we greater than our Lord? No, we're not. But we're just going to magically just disappear. I mean, bring tribulation rapture before there's any persecution. I mean, are you greater than your Lord? Because he went through persecution. Are you greater than all the prophets in the Old Testament that were persecuted? Are you greater than your Lord? Are you greater than the Lord Jesus Christ who went through persecution? That's what people are saying that believe in a preacher rapture. You're not greater than your Lord. Everyone's always been persecuted who lived for God. It's not going to be any different. I mean, have you ever read the Bible? Every single book in the Bible, people are getting persecuted for the cause of Christ. And yet, magically, there's going to be this time period where people just magically get, you know, raptured before the tribulation with no persecution. That doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Why? Because we're not greater than our Lord. And our Lord went through persecution, and Moses went through persecution, and Jeremiah, and Elijah, and Elisha, and just name the names. John the Baptist, Paul the Apostle, Peter, I mean, everybody, they went through persecution. We're not greater than them. And name those names. I don't think any of us will ever achieve what they achieved or become better people than them. Obviously, we strive to do that. Obviously, they were just men, and we could do that if we chose to be that dedicated. But I don't think any of us ever will. I don't think any of us think that we're going to ever reach those heights. We're striving to do that. Those are some of the greatest people that ever lived, and guess what? They were persecuted. Why? Because they're not greater than their Lord. Now, let's look at John 13, verse 17, and I want you to see something else. I want you to understand that happiness is found in serving. Happiness is found in serving. Verse number 17, if ye know these things, happy are ye, if ye do. If ye do. Okay? What has he been talking about these verse 16 verses? He's been talking about being a servant. Okay? Look, happiness is found in serving the Lord and being a servant. Turn to 1 Kings 10, 1 Kings 10, verse 17. And this is something that people need to understand, and honestly, I don't think most people get this. You know, most people seem to think that, you know, hey, I'm just living my life to make money and to have fun and everything like that. Look, you know, you're not going to reach the true happiness that the people in this room are going to reach. I get my happiness by serving. I get my happiness by seeing souls get saved. I get my happiness by seeing people's lives change. I get my happiness by serving God. Okay? Now, look, it's not fun to sweep a floor when you're doing it, but you know what? When you get done with that, you go to sleep at night, you know, you can honestly feel like, you know what, man, I'm trying to serve God. But people that just spend their life and every day just to get everything they want, they're never contented. Okay? Happiness is found in serving. 1 Kings 10, verse 4. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom in the house that he had built and the meat of his table and the sitting of his servants and the attendance of his ministers and their apparel and his couplers and the sin by which he went up into the house of the Lord, onto the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. And so the Bible talks about the sitting of his servants and the attendance of his ministers. Okay? And these are people that are, these servants, obviously they spent time serving, but they also spent time sitting, listening to Solomon's wisdom is what the Bible says. The attendance of his ministers. Okay? These people, they spent their lives serving and they also loved hearing the word of God. They were very similar to, you know, the people in this room. Okay? And so I want you to understand though that these people are happy people. These are people that are spending their lives serving and listening to the word of God. You know, people out in this world, they don't understand how we can have fun without watching movies. How can you possibly have fun? You don't watch TV. You don't watch the movies. You know, you didn't watch the new Avengers movie or whatever movies coming out. You know, how can you have fun? You're not, you know, watching these movies. You don't even know what the TV shows are that are popular. You know, how can you have fun in that? Why? Because happiness is found in serving. Okay? And here's what saved people need to understand. Okay? Because the unsaved world, they don't understand anything. They would hate the singing of the hymns, the average unsaved person. They don't get it. Okay? Because when you're saved, these songs are a lot better to you than the rock songs. Okay? The unsaved world is not going to get this. But unfortunately with saved people, you know why a lot of people don't live for God? They think that they're going to get more excitement and contentment from the world than from God. Look, if they realize that they would be a lot happier by coming to church and reading the Bible and going soul winning, then they would do it. Now look, there are times when I don't feel like reading the Bible. But you have to do it out of obligation even if you don't feel like it. But what ends up happening is once you're learning things, you learn something new and then you hear a phrase or you're reading something and you remember hearing that in the sermon, it's enjoyable. It does make you happy. It makes you feel good. And it makes you just feel great during the day. When you start your day off praying and reading the Bible, there's something spiritual about this that you can't really explain. It's not a normal book. Because you could spend an hour reading some other book. But if you spend an hour reading this book, it just makes you feel better. It makes you feel good. You know what you're doing is right. You say, why? Because happiness is found in serving and obeying God's commandments. That's what the Bible teaches. Notice what it says in verse 6. And she said to the king, it was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words until I came and mine eyes had seen it. And behold, a half was not told me. Thy wisdom and prosperity exceeded the thing which I heard. Happy are thy men. Happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. You know what the Bible says? The queen of Sheba noticed that the men and the servants were happy. Now look, there's people that listen to our sermons online that go to other churches here in Metro Manila. And they should come to this church, but they don't. But here's what they have to understand. The people that chose to leave their churches and are here, all of them are happy. All of them are glad they made that choice. And there's tons of people. Half of our members were in Bible Baptist Church before they were here. Every single one of them went through a conflict where they had to leave. And you know what? They got persecuted for it. They had family rejected. They had friends. They had people they knew online, acquaintances and everybody. They mock us. They make fun of us. But at the end of the day, everyone in our church is very happy. People that go soul-willing, they come to church, they're happy. Now look, I understand that people put a smile on their face and pretend to be happy. But look, the majority of people that are going to church on Sundays, they don't enjoy it. And honestly, usually they aren't even going to put a big smile. I mean, you go to Catholic churches like, whoa, did I walk into a funeral? You know, I thought this was church and everyone was just depressed and unhappy. They don't enjoy being there. And look, I promise you, I've been to independent Baptist for a long time. A lot of people in Baptist churches, they're kind of happy. Why? Preaching is boring. They're not learning anything. They're not serving God so they don't really feel good because they're serving God. They're not going soul-willing. They don't even feel good going there. But you know, our members, they're happy. That's the truth. We're all happy. Why? Because we're serving God and happiness is found in serving God. That's what the Bible teaches. Turn to Ecclesiastes 2. Ecclesiastes 2. See, this is what we need to remember when, because no matter how happy you are, no matter how things are in life, you're going to have times where you do feel down. And you know, the foolish thought that creeps into our head is being taught to us by the world is that, you know what, I'm just too exhausted. Maybe if I just take a break from Christianity, maybe if I just kind of tone it down, just kind of watch some movies, I'll still serve God, I'll still go soul-willing, but I'll get a little bit worldly. And we think that's going to fix our problems and make us happy. It doesn't. You're just going to be miserable. Look, by saying I'm going to quit reading the Bible, kind of tone things down, just get a little bit worldly, look, it's not going to make you happy. It's going to make you miserable. Why? Because happiness is found in serving God. Now, Solomon, we just read about him in 1 Kings 10, and Solomon's there and he sees how happy everyone is, and I'm sure Solomon's happy, but here at Ecclesiastes 2, we're going to see another picture of Solomon at a different stage in his life. Later on in life, Ecclesiastes 2, verse 8, I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces. I got me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem. Also, my wisdom remained with me. He says, you know what, I've got everything I want in life, silver and gold, peculiar treasures, anything man could possibly want. I was greater than any king before me. Notice verse 10. And whatsoever mine eyes desired, I kept not from them. I withheld not my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor. This was my portion of all my labor. Then I looked in all the works that my hands had rotten on the labor that I had labored to do. Behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun. Look, Solomon got everything he wanted. Everything his eyes saw that he wanted, everything his ears heard that he wanted, he gathered all of it, and guess what? Didn't make it happen. And look, he said he didn't withhold any joy from himself. So basically, anything that he wanted, he got. Here's the thing. Worldliness and sin, it will make you happy for a very short time. It will make you miserable for a very long time. And so, you know what, if you decide to live your life and say, you know what, that looks good, I want that. You know what, you'll be happy for a short time, but you're going to end up being miserable. It's going to be vexation of spirit. That's what Solomon's teaching us. And look, we need to realize this in terms of people that have a lot of money in this thing. Because people that have a lot of money are not happier than you are. If you became rich overnight, you probably wouldn't be any happier in your life. Why? Well, look at Solomon. Once you gather everything that you want to yourself, look, he says this is all vexation of spirit. There's no profit under the sun. Look, and if God blesses you with money, you know there's nothing wrong with that, obviously, but I'm just trying to tell you that money doesn't make you happy in life. And Solomon, he becomes the greatest man. And look, he's not happy at all. He has everything he wants. He has to feel your treasure, you know, whatever. I mean, my mom talks about him having peacocks and all these weird things, and now in our day, like, we literally have everything. I mean, you can just go on YouTube and see everything that, you know, he spent all this time and effort and energy to get. You know, we're truly great in this life. We have, you know, indoor plumbing. That's a great, you know, modern invention that we have. You know, we have great lives compared to even people that were great in the Bible. There's a lot of modern conveniences, but look, if you decide to live your life just trying to get everything you can, you need the fanciest new home. You need the fanciest clothes. Man, you need to go to that, you know, you need to stay at a five-star hotel. You need all the rich restaurants and everything like that. Look, that's not going to make you happy. It'll make you happy for a short time, okay, but it's not going to make you happy in the long run. Why? Because happiness is found in serving. Turn to John 13. Let's have one last point. And the last thing I want you to see is this, that love implies action. Love implies action. And obviously, when you're serving, being a servant, you know, that is action that's being performed. But I want you to notice in John 13, verse 34, a new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you. That you also love one another. And so Jesus gives a commandment to love as he loved, okay? Now, when it comes to him loving, this is not just simply that Jesus, you know, has a strong feeling for us. No, I mean, what's this whole chapter about? You know, we're skipping the middle section because the main theme is, you know, servitude, but what this chapter's about is being a servant, okay? So when he talks about as I have loved you, what has he been doing this chapter about? He's been showing them, I mean, he was washing their feet. He was washing Peter's feet, giving them an example, washing the disciples' feet. Look, he's showing you that love is not just a feeling. Turn to 1 John 5, 1 John 5. That's why a lot of marriages are miserable, because people get married simply because they have a strong feeling towards someone. Look, that is a foolish reason to get married if that's your only reason. You ought to have more than just the fact that you have this strong feeling towards someone. You say, why? Because feelings come and they go. They come and they go. You have days where, you know, you're happy, days you're sad. Look, we go through various emotions, and if you live your life just basing it on a feeling, it's going to make you end up making you miserable, okay? Notice what it says in 1 John 5, verses 2 and 3. By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments. Look, love implies action. Here it talks about loving God, it talks about keeping his commandments. Loving God is not simply a feeling. You know why? The Pentecostals, this is why I'm praising this, because the Pentecostals think they love God. The non-denominational crowd thinks they love God. The average Baptist in the Philippines thinks they love God. Everybody thinks they love God. Then why don't you read the Bible? Why don't you do the solenoid? Why don't you keep his commandments? Why do you live a worldly life? Love implies action. Just because they feel like they love God, that doesn't mean they do love God. If you love God, you keep his commandments. That is what the Bible teaches. And people think that, you know, hey, I love God. Why? Because they have a strong feeling. They listen to that worldly Christian rock song and it makes them feel fuzzy and everything. They really feel like they love God. If you're not keeping his commandments, you don't love God. That's the truth, okay? Notice what it says in verse 3. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not grievous. Look, his commandments are not grievous. You say, man, it's so tough to try to keep all the rules in the Bible. His commandments are not grievous. That's what the Bible teaches. You say, it's so hard to go to church every Sunday. Why is it so hard to show up to church every day? I mean, he tells you, for saving out the assembling of yourself together, why is that hard to keep? His commandments are not grievous according to the Bible. Why is it hard to keep the commandment of reading the Bible every day? Why is it hard to keep the commandment of praying? Why is it hard to keep the commandment of going so long? His commandments are not grievous. Why is it hard just to, you know, just to follow the rules that you see in the Bible? Why is it hard not to listen to songs that blaspheme God? It's so hard not to listen to that song that blasphemes God. Look, his commandments are not grievous. They're not that difficult to keep. Okay, now look, I'm not claiming to be perfect. Obviously, I choose to do what's wrong sometimes. But look, what I choose to do is things that are wrong. It's not because his commandments are just so grievous. They're just making you miserable in life. His commandments aren't that difficult, honestly. We're just pretty weak when it comes to the flesh. But look, this Bible is pretty big, but why don't you just get like a whole book of all the rules in our country, all the rules that they expect you to follow. It's going to be a lot bigger than this. Look, he doesn't have that many commandments compared to what the world has. The world has so many commandments. We don't even know what the rules are. His commandments are not ridiculous. Turn back to John 13. Now look, it obviously requires work. It takes effort to read the Bible. It takes effort to go soul-winding. But honestly, he doesn't really expect that much from us. And honestly, when it comes to keeping his commandments, the people that are in this room, I know everybody pretty well in this room. And all of us, we sin. But at the same time, we're trying to do what's right. And we don't make excuses for ourselves. We make mistakes, and we realize, God, I'm sorry, and we try to just, tomorrow's a new day. God's mercies are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. But look, most people, though, they just choose to make excuses for all their sins. They just say, well, I don't really think that's wrong. I don't know if it's really wrong. As long as it doesn't use the Lord's name and name the song, it's not wrong. As long as there's not a major sin in that movie, it's not wrong. As long as they're not blaspheming God, as long as you're not seeing people together intimately. People try to make excuses for their sin. Let's just cut the excuses out and just admit, when we mess up, hey, I'm wrong, God. And in this room, we know what the commandments are. I'm preaching to the people that are in this room. We know what the commandments are. We know what the Bible teaches us. Don't make excuses if you choose to do what's wrong. Just admit you messed up, and you're doing what's wrong, and make the change. John 13, verse 35, by this shall all men know that you're my disciples, and you have love one to another. Now, I want you to think about verse 35 for a second. He said that people can know that you're my disciples. Now, if love was merely a feeling, no one could know that you're a disciple of the Lord. This is something that's visible to other people. By this, all men shall know that you're my disciples. What that's telling you is there's actually action showing it. Look, by us going soul winning as a church several times during the week, the proof is in the pudding. People can see what we're doing. You can see that, yeah, these people are dedicated. These people, this is what they believe. If love was just a feeling, and we weren't doing anything to show that we have love, to show that we love this lost love, to show that we love God, people wouldn't be able to know. This is something that's very evident. He says all men shall all men know that you're my disciples if you have love one to another. This is something where there's action being involved. Verse 36, Simon Peter said unto the Lord, and let me just go on one quick rabbit trail. The Bible says if you love me, keep my commandments. If you love me, keep my commandments. Once again, love implies action. I've done soul winning, and plenty of times I've heard people throw out that verse and say, say what? If you love God, you're going to keep his commandments. And they try to say that to say you've got to do good works to be saved. It doesn't say to be saved, keep my commandments. It doesn't say to go to heaven, keep my commandments. It says if you love me, keep my commandments. You don't have to love God to go to heaven. You say, how can you say that? Look, most people don't love God. Most saved people don't love God. You say, how do you know that? Because they're not keeping his commandments. Because if you love him, you're going to keep his commandments. And since they don't read the Bible, because they don't go to church, they don't go soul winning, because they're living very evidently worldly lives, it's obvious they don't love God. Obviously when there's new people, new people come to our church, they get a chance to grow and hopefully they'll go past those phases and stuff. But look, when people just disobey what God says and don't even care what God says, they don't love God. Now they'll tell you they love God. It doesn't mean they do love God. Everybody tells you they love God. Everybody will tell you they love God, except some really wicked atheist or somebody who clearly just hates God. Everyone else will say they love God. Even the wicked atheist wouldn't say that they, probably wouldn't even tell you they hate God, but they truly do hate the God of the Bible. But the truth is that when people are not keeping his commandments, they do not love God. Now they'll say that they love God because of the fact they'll just make these speeches for all the sins that they commit and all the commandments that they don't believe and they say, well that was Old Testament. That was just for a specific culture and a small group of people. That's not something for us today to keep. No, if you don't keep his commandments, you don't love God, that's what the Bible says. Verse 36, Simon Peter said unto the Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, whither I go, thou canst not follow me now. Thou shalt follow me afterwards. Peter said unto the Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life, I say. Now, I am positive that Peter honestly believed that he would lay down his life for the Lord. He didn't think he was going to deny Jesus Christ. Look in this room, I don't think any of us think that we're going to deny the Lord. I don't think any of us feel like that, hey, you know, if persecution comes to this church, I don't think any of us really feel like, hey, you know what, I'll deny, you know, this church, I'll deny, you know, I'm associated because I'm afraid for my job and stuff like that. But, you know, if Peter did that, then it's possible for any of us to believe this. Peter was one of the boldest men who ever lived. I mean, if you were to come up with a top five list of the best Christians in the New Testament, everybody would believe in that list, right? Every single person, I mean, he'd probably be in everybody's, like, top three list. He'd be like Paul the Apostle and John the prophet. I mean, there's other great characters. Barnabas is great, and obviously plenty of great people. Obviously great women, too. Obviously the Bible highlights the men, but obviously there's just many great women. The Bible's a loved one. But I'm just saying Peter's one of the greatest people who ever lived, and he honestly feels like he's got to lay down his life for the Lord. And then once that persecution comes, he just backs down, right? Notice what it says in verse number 38, Jesus answered him, wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say to thee, the cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice. And see, this chapter's talking about, towards the end, about love and everything, and Peter really feels like he loves Jesus at this moment. And obviously, you know, to some degree he does, but obviously he didn't love the Lord as much as he thought he did, because he ends up denying God. Now, you know, assuming secular history is correct, and honestly, you know, I think the Bible hits this, too, you know, Peter was persecuted to the point where he, you know, was crucified. He died a martyr's death. It doesn't necessarily tell us the exact thing. You know, history tells you that he was crucified upside down. You know, maybe that's true, I'm not sure, but I do believe Peter died, you know, when he was, you know, a martyr, you know, and he was willing to lay down his life eventually, okay, but he got kind of a lesson along the way that, you know what, at this point he's not really willing to lay down his life. And honestly, that's the truth when it comes to Christians as well, that, you know, oftentimes when you feel like we're spiritually strong, we might not be as spiritually strong as we think we are. And this is why it's so important to constantly be growing in our lives, not reach a point where we feel like we've arrived or something like that. And look, you know, this internet preaching is great, and in this room, you know, all of us know what the Bible says about all manner of life. We can prove, we know what the Bible teaches. That doesn't mean that you're willing to stand up in the face of danger and threats, okay. You know, when the persecution happened at a very Baptist church in Sacramento, in my mind, you know, obviously, you know, we all have opinions, we have thoughts and stuff like that, and you know, there were people in my mind that said, you know, this person is going to quit the church, obviously. I didn't tell people that, but that's kind of what I was thinking in my mind. There's other people out there where I thought, man, these persons are wrong. You know, this person is strong, they're bold, they never quit, right. And yet I saw people that, you know, were, you thought were, but they ended up leaving the church. You know, some left immediately and some, you know, a few months later, you know, and they wouldn't have said it was due to the persecution, but it was obvious that he hasn't sold anything. It was tied to that. Then there was other people where I wouldn't have been surprised if they left the church, and they just kept coming. Every service, they kept coming, soul winning. And you know what, you honestly don't know how you're going to react to these situations until you're actually put in that situation. And so we must always be constantly growing. But what's the main theme that we find in this chapter? You know, the main theme is that God expects us to be servers, okay. And when you think about how this works from a practicality standpoint, but when we go soul winning, we're basically serving others, okay. Even if we don't feel like going soul winning, we go out and do it. Why? Because in fact, you know, we love God, we know what the Bible teaches, we want to serve Him. You know, when it comes to, you know, laboring at church, volunteering for things, look, you're serving God when you feel like it. And you say, well, you know, Brother Stuckey, you know, I don't want to volunteer. Well, it's perfectly up to you if you want to volunteer. Because the word volunteer means you're choosing to say I'm willing to do something. That's a great thing to do. In about a month, we're going to have a sermon where we talk about, you know, various volunteer opportunities, and obviously it's people's choice if they want to do that or not. But you know, this is what God expects us to do. And look, you know, ever since I've been saved, I've been a part of churches, and I've been willing to volunteer, I've been willing to serve, and look, you know, that's the main lesson we need to learn. Happiness is found in serving. It's what God requires. It's closing the work, correct? Your Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing me to do this.