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Music Let's sing the song, Standing on the Promises, scene number 364, standing on the promises, standing on the promises of Christ my King, through eternal ages let his praises ring, glory in the highest I will shout and sing, standing on the promises of Christ my King. I'm standing on the promises of God, standing on the promises that cannot fail, when the howling storms of doubt and fears assail, by the living Word of God I shall prevail, standing on the promises of God, standing, standing, standing on the promises of God my Savior, standing, standing, I'm standing on the promises of God, standing on the promises of Christ the Lord, back to Him eternally my love so forth, overcoming daily with the Spirit's sword. Everybody on the chorus, standing on the promises, standing on the promises, standing on the promises of God my Savior, standing, standing, I'm standing on the promises of God all the less, standing on the promises I cannot fall, listening every moment to the Spirit's call, resting in my Savior as my all in all, standing on the promises of God, standing, standing, standing on the promises of God my Savior, standing, standing, I'm standing on the promises of God. Let's pray. Dear God, we thank you, Lord, for this morning. We thank you, Lord, for the great weather that you have given us and for protecting us for the whole way. Thank you for being us safe, Lord, and being gathered together here to worship you in spirit and truth. We ask, Lord, that you would bless our first service, Lord, the congregation singing, the reading of your word, and most special to the preaching of the sermon, Lord. I pray that you would help our pastor and feel in your Holy Spirit, Lord. I pray that you would also help us, listeners, Lord, to be attentive. I pray that you would forgive us for our despises, Lord, in our church coming to you, Lord. I pray that we would have a clear heart and mind so that we would open to whatever learns that we may learn in the preaching of the word of God. I pray that you would also bless the members who are still coming here, bless the fellowship, and also the soul winning this afternoon. We're asking all of these things. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church and take out your bulletin. We'll go through some announcements real quickly. Our verse of the week is Matthew 9 verse 38. The Bible reads, Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth labors into his harvest. That's a great verse there. We are a family integrated church, meaning children and infants are welcomed during the services. We do have the mother baby room over there for your convenience. Make sure to make use of it when necessary if your kids are acting up. Then we have the men's restroom, the women's restroom, and the office here. And on the next page we have our weekly service times listed. First service is at 10 a.m. Second service starts around 11.15 Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 p.m. Official soul winning times listed on Wednesday's meeting at 2 p.m. at Maricana Freedom Park. Saturday soul winning to be announced every single week in our group chat. And then on Sundays of course we have soul winning in the afternoon. Down below we have our salvations and baptisms for the year as well as the month for all of our churches and our monthly church services and also our church over there in Europe. On the next page our Bible memorization challenge is the same as normal. Under upcoming activities next Sunday will be our monthly prayer meeting and we'll have that after the soul winning time back here at the building. And then the last Sunday of this month is our monthly church service in Laguna. We also have an event coming up in Tanay Rizal. I think you saw Brother Duncan made a video for it. We just posted in our page yesterday for a soul winning event on Bonifacio Day on Saturday November 30th. And then the next day Sunday we will be having a church service there. And so obviously you're welcome to go to church there. You're welcome to come here. You know either way praise God. And our current upcoming series we're back in the book of Matthew. We're starting our proper balance series. We have birthdays and anniversaries there for the month of October. And I do want to remind you of something okay. When the clock strikes midnight I was born in the U.S. I will still be in my 30s okay. And so I was born at 1 37 in the morning according to my mom. So it's not and it was in Iowa. So that's 13 hours behind. It's 2 37 in the afternoon tomorrow when I hit my 40s okay. But you know life begins at 40. Amen. Everyone who's older than me will say amen to that right. But anyways on the back we have our basic rules of conduct for a church. And you should have an insert in your bulletin to take notes for both of the sermons here today. So I believe that's it for announcements while Brother Mario will need us in another song. All right for our second song let's turn our hymns to hymn number 370. 370 let's sing the song throw out the lifeline. On the first. Throw out the lifeline across the dark wave. There is a brother whom someone should save. Somebody's brother oh the wind will tear. To throw out the lifeline is burial to share. Throw out the lifeline. Throw out the lifeline. Someone is drifting away. Throw out the lifeline. Throw out the lifeline. Someone is sinking today. Throw out the lifeline with hand quick and strong. Why do you tarry? Why linger so long? See he is sinking always in today. And out with the lifeboat all waded away. Throw out the lifeline. Throw out the lifeline. Someone is drifting away. Throw out the lifeline. Throw out the lifeline. Someone is sinking today. Throw out the lifeline to danger brought men. Sinking in anguish where you've never been. Winds of temptation and billows of gold will soon hurl them out where the dark waters flow. Throw out the lifeline. Throw out the lifeline. Someone is drifting away. Throw out the lifeline. Throw out the lifeline. Someone is sinking today. Soon will the season of rescue be o'er. Soon will they drift to eternity's shore. Haste and my brother no time for delay. But throw out the lifeline and save them today. Throw out the lifeline. Throw out the lifeline. Someone is drifting away. Throw out the lifeline. Throw out the lifeline. Someone is sinking. At home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented, and Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. So here in Matthew chapter eight, we have somebody who has palsy. It does not seem to be linked with sin. It does not seem to be linked with devil possession. It just seems to be a health problem that he has. So we have three different people. They all have the same disease with one person it seems attached to his lifestyle or sin, another person due to devil possession, and another person just because we have health problems sometimes. And what we need to understand is that in life sometimes our health problems are as a result of our choices and our actions, and sometimes they are a result of devil possession. But other times people just have health problems. It doesn't mean they've done anything wrong. It doesn't mean they've sinned. And what all of us should do is when we are going through a trial or we have a health problem, we should personally assess ourselves and kind of ask ourselves, have I done something wrong? Am I reading the Bible? Have I committed a major sin? But if it's somebody else, it would be foolish to have the attitude, well, this is why it took place. Look, you know, the rain falls on the just and the unjust. And somebody can be living a wicked life and nothing is happening to them. And somebody can be living a righteous life like Job and go through major trials. That doesn't mean that he did anything wrong. So we have three different people. And with one, it's because of sin. Another person, devil possessed, accompanied by weakness and the loss of feeling and uncontrolled body movements such as shaking. And look, if you've spent time around people as they get older, this is actually kind of common for people as they start to get older. They start to lose control of their nervous system and their body is breaking down. They have a lot of health problems. But it could be that somebody gets this at a young age and it's not their fault. It could be they get it due to devil possession, due to sin. There's a lot of different reasons why it could take place. Go to Matthew 9. Matthew 9. I feel like there's kind of two extremes on this topic. Some people would look at somebody and just say, well, you know what? There is nothing like devil possession. It doesn't matter what lifestyle you live. It's not going to affect you. Well, that's not true because people got possessed during the days of Jesus. And guess what? People still get possessed today. And look, if you've been out soul winning, I mean, you've probably met some people that seem a little bit crazy. And oftentimes, guess what the answer is? They're probably just possessed by devils. But the other extreme would be to say that every time somebody goes through something, it's because they're possessed by a devil. I'll give you an example. You know, seizures are a pretty common thing that people go through. I've never had a seizure before, but a lot of people go through seizures. And I definitely believe that sometimes it is associated with devil possession. In fact, if you were to look up, you know, going 50 years ago, that's what the medical industry kind of thought in the past. But there's also people that just kind of go through it because it's just a health problem. And we don't always understand why these things take place. Matthew chapter nine, verse three, Matthew nine, verse three. And behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, this man blasphemed. Now, why are they claiming or accusing Jesus of blaspheming? Well, go to Mark chapter two in the parallel story. Mark chapter two, Mark chapter two. And in Mark chapter two, it gives us more detail on the story. And notice what it says, starting at verse number one, Mark chapter two, verse one. And again, he entered into Capernaum after some days, and it was noise that he was in the house and straightway or immediately. Many were gathered together in so much that there was no room to receive them. No, not so much as about the door. And he preached the word onto them. And they come on to him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was born of four. And when they could not come nigh on them for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was. And when they had broken it up, they let down the bed where in the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there are certain of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, why does this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only? So you see these scribes that are sitting there and they see that this man is healed of palsy, and then they're reasoning within their own hearts and saying, wait a minute. You know, it's obvious this person has been healed. And they're saying, well, he's blaspheming because he's claiming that he has the power to forgive sins. And the reason why they're accusing him of blaspheming is because he's claiming to do something that only God has the power to do. Right? Look, God is the only one that has the power to forgive sins. You say, well, you know, pastor, I grew up Catholic. And you know what? I would regularly go every single week, you know, to the priest and just confess all my sins. Right? And then that priest would forgive my sins. Well, you know, the Bible says there's one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. The only one that has the power to forgive your sins is God. Now, look, if you're going through problems in your life and you need advice, you can come to me and I'll try to give you advice, but I cannot forgive your sins. If you need to get your sins forgiven, you need to go to God to do that. Go to a quiet place, get down on your knees and beg God for mercy if it's a pretty big sin because I can't forgive that sin. I don't have that power. And it's like, you're saying you can forgive sins. That's in the Bible. Peter said, stand up. In the Bible, Peter said, stand up. I'm a man. And yet today the popes will just love worship. People bow down before them and just worship them and adore them. Whereas Peter looked at himself as just being a man like everybody else. You know, Jesus, he did let people worship him. That's why Thomas said, my Lord and my God worship him. That's why Thomas said, my Lord and my God. Why? Because all of his Apollo is not exactly the most popular person. I mean, if you're from the US, you're not a fan of IRS agents. And here in the Philippines, you're not a fan of people taking your taxes either, right? This person doesn't exactly have the godliest job, but you know what you do see from him? He's immediately willing to give up everything to serve God. Now go to 1 Kings 19. Let me show you another story like this. 1 Kings 19. By the way, this is one reason why Matthew is a great name to name your kids, right? Name your sons Matthew. I think it's a wonderful name. Probably the best you find in the Bible. There is a reason it's the first book of the New Testament, okay? And 1 Kings 19. And by the way, you know, Matthew doesn't have the godliest job, but here's the thing. He doesn't have a job like being a running a casino or something like that. He doesn't have the godliest job, but he's not just committing some evil, really wicked thing like child trafficking or something like that. You know, the reality is, to some level of degree, you kind of got to just take jobs where you can find them. And obviously, you know, you should not sin against your conscience, but the reality is, it's like there's only so many jobs. And I don't think Matthew is a bad guy. I mean, he immediately gives up everything to serve God. Obviously, Jesus thought very highly of this man. It reminds me of Elisha in the Old Testament. So you have Elijah, and then when Elijah is done, he basically has Elisha as his right-hand man. And as Elijah goes up to heaven, Elisha is the one that has the double portion of the spirit of Elijah upon his life to do all these miracles that he does. And here's what it says in 1 Kings 19, verse 18. 1 Kings 19, verse 18, yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed on to bail, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. You know, Elijah had this attitude that he was the only one left on earth serving God. And then what God says is, you know what, there's seven thousand. And by the way, you know, it's easy for any of us to get this attitude like we're the only one. But here's the thing. I don't think anybody in this room would get this attitude. And you know why you wouldn't get that attitude? Because you come to church with a lot of people that are just like you. Elijah is pretty much, and it's kind of Elijah's fault because he leaves his servant behind when he's backslidden and depressed and everything, and he feels like he's the only one. But this shows you the need for church. Because, look, if you don't go to church, if you're not around God's people, and then you see what's going on in this world as a saved person, and you're like, man, there's so much sin. There's so much wickedness. I mean, wicked people walk on every side. All the political leaders are all these evil people. And you're like, I'm the only one serving God. But the thing is, if you come to our church, is that the attitude you have? Because if that's the attitude you have, you need to drop yourself down several levels because there's plenty of people in our church that are serving God. But you know what, I would say there's probably a lot of people that before you had a good church, you might've felt that way. You probably went to churches that had the wrong gospel, teaching repentance of sins, and you're just like, am I the only one that's even saved at my church? Am I the only one that's even serving God? It's like nobody cares about soul winning. It's like we got 500 people, this fancy building, and nobody's going out trying to get anybody saved. Nobody's reading the Bible. But that's not the way that you would feel at our church. I mean, at our church, people do go soul winning. At our church, people do read the Bible. I mean, not everybody in this room, but I would say most people in this room have read their Bible cover to cover probably several times. Because when you're around other people that are trying to serve God, you know what the reaction is upon you? It makes you want to serve God. The Bible says, he that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. And all of us have this need for fellowship and to be around people. And the reality is, if you don't have good people to fellowship with, you're probably going to fellowship with bad people. Probably going to fellowship with people that don't want to serve God. Here, Elijah is by himself, and he's like, I'm the only one. Nobody wants to serve God. And then God basically brings him Elisha, which really lifts up his spirits. Notice what it says here in verse 19. So he departed thence and found Elisha, the son of Shaphad, who was plowing with 12 yoke of oxen before him, and he with the 12th. And Elijah passed by him and cast his mantle upon him. I want you to notice here in verse number 19, that when God is choosing to pick Elisha, God doesn't go to a Bible college, does he? Does God go to a Bible college or a seminary and say, you know what? You're the one that's trained. No, he actually picks someone who's just working a regular job. Because in our modern day, there's this attitude, well, you have to go to a Bible college in order to be a pastor. Well, number one, show that to me in the Bible. Where does the Bible ever say that you have to go to Bible college? By the way, I didn't go to Bible college. I have not spent a single second in Bible college in my life. It's like, well, I mean, how do you get trained then? Well, number one, you do personal training by reading the Bible for yourself. You memorize the Bible. You pray. You have a walk with God. You go to a good church. You get chances to preach. You try to be a blessing to that church. I mean, you don't need to go to Bible college in order to get trained for the ministry. Because here's the thing about this, if you want to become a pastor, if you want to run a church, you know what the best training is? Actually being in a church and actually getting to experience some of it before you're actually doing it. And look, I know a lot of people that are good people that have graduated Bible college. I mean, there's a lot of people in this room that have graduated from your church's Bible college or whatever they call it, the church that you went to. I know someone that graduated from Hyles Anderson College. And he's a really good guy. And what he said is that when he was in Bible college, he never had time to read the Bible because they're having him read all of these other books outside of the Bible. And it's like, they're reading all these books about Greek and and Hebrew and reading all these books about the rapture. Instead of just reading second Thessalonians two, instead of just reading Matthew 24, they're reading all these other books and then they get out of Bible college and they haven't really been reading their Bibles and they don't really know their doctrine. And yet you're going to find that when people are actually in church and they're just reading the Bible and going soul winning, they learn a lot. I mean, look, if you're new to our church and you come from a different Baptist church before it, you would probably be surprised how many people in our church know a lot about the Bible. You say, well, how does that take place? Because they read the Bible. And you know what happens is just unti, unti. Little by little, you just learn a little bit more. You start coming to our church and a lot of stuff, you might be like, man, this is deep. I don't understand this. But you know, you're here for months and you're here for six months and a year and two years and three years. And then all of a sudden you end up learning a lot over time. Right? So you see here that Elijah gets a man who is not in Bible college. He gets a man who's just out plowing with the oxen. He's a hardworking man doing a laboring job, but he's someone who loves God. Verse 20, and he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, go back again for what have I done to thee? And he returned back from him and took a yoke of oxen and slew them and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen and gave unto the people. And they did eat. Then he arose and went after Elijah and ministered onto him. So you know what Elisha says to Elijah is, let me just say goodbye to my parents. Okay. Now, I don't think this means that he never saw them again. I don't think this is teaching us that when you decide to serve God, say goodbye and never talk to your parents ever again. That would be the wrong way to look at this. But the job that Elisha had, he's actually there with his parents all the time and he's working. So he's around them all the time. Now that he's going to be following Elijah, he's just not going to see his parents that much. Okay. Go back to your Bible to Matthew nine, Matthew nine. What we see with Elisha though, is he's willing to give up everything. And when the Bible says he slew a yoke of oxen, what he's basically doing is destroying his ability to go back to his old career. And he makes a decision, you know what? God has called me to the ministry. God has called me to follow Elijah and be his helper. And he basically destroys his opportunity to return back to his old life. Now, I do want to make this clear that, you know, in the Bible you see Elisha, you see Matthew that quits his job. This doesn't mean that when you get saved, you get excited and just quit your job and expect manna to rain down from heaven. Okay. Obviously those are special cases that God has chosen. You know, people that are apostles are very special case. Ordained leadership is a special case. This doesn't mean that when you decide to serve God, never go to work ever again. I mean, obviously the Bible speaks about working and making your own money and all of those things. So we do need to have a proper balance on these things. Verse 10, and it came to pass as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, why eateth your master with publicans and sinners? Now, what they're accusing Jesus of doing is just hanging out with a bunch of really sinful people. Here's the thing, if you work a secular job, you know what a good strategy is to try to get your coworker saved? Invite them out to eat where you're not on office hours and pay for their lunch and try to get him saved. I mean, I've done that many times in my life where I would just say, hey, you know what? I wanted to talk to you about something. Can I take you out to lunch today? And, you know, I'll pay for your lunch. Just wanted to talk to you about something. And you know what? Most people are all about a free food, right? And so many people I talked to that I would just take them out for lunch. And I was talking to them about the Bible. You say, well, why don't you just do that at work? Well, because I'm paid to actually work. So I'm not just going to take a break and just preach the gospel. Number two, if you do it inside of an office, you could get fired very easily. Whereas if you do it outside of office hours and you're paying for someone's food, you can approach the gospel. And, you know, my strategy was that if they're really resistant and they seem to be getting angry really early, it's kind of like, OK, throw in the towel and forget about it. OK, but you got to test the waters to see what the reaction are and you give them the gospel. Well, the reason why Jesus hanging out with publicans and sinners is for what reason? To give them the gospel. Obviously, these are not the people that he's closest to. Obviously, the Bible teaches the doctrine of separation. You don't want your best friends to be people living a sinful life. But of course, you want to try to get as many people saved as you possibly can. Verse number 12. But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, they that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice, for I'm not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now, when these people when he says the righteous, he's not saying that they're actually righteous, but they're self righteous. These people that are these Pharisees and the Sadducees, they always thought they were so special throughout the Bible. And those are people you're not going to get saved. It's like trying to get somebody saved that's undotting to on. It's just like they're so prideful and self righteous. It's just very difficult. They're unlikely to actually want to listen to what you have to say. And if you have a different experience with talking to them, I mean, praise God for that. But that's my experience talking to what MCGI or whatever. And so here you've got the publicans and the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes. I mean, these are the scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees. These are people that are self righteous. But you also have stories like Luke 18 with the publican and the Pharisee. And the Pharisee is prideful. And he said, I'm not like other people like this guy over here. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all I possess. And the publican would not so lift up as much as his eyes on to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner. And there are people out there that are not living the godliest life. But you know what? If they heard the gospel, they would believe on Christ and get saved. So the main application here is just the idea of giving the gospel to unsaved people. But in verse number 12, Jesus also gives some medical advice as well. He says they that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. Now, let me just say this, that if you are a father, and you are a mother, you get to decide for yourself what you do with your kids. I give advice from the pulpit. I'll tell you what I believe on certain things, but it's completely up to you what you do. This is not a church where I go to your house and force you to do everything that I say. If you want to go home and listen to rock music, you can do whatever you want. I'm certainly not going to advise it. I'm going to say it's wrong, but you have free will. I'm not going to lord over God's heritage. I mean, I give you advice from the pulpit. And look, here's the thing. I don't go outside the pulpit to tell people what to do either. It's up to you what you do in your personal life. Raising your kids, those are the kids that God gave you, and you decide what you do with your kids. What the Bible says here is they that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. So what Jesus saying is if you are not sick, if you are well, you don't need a physician. Now, of course, that would mean that if you are sick, then you might need a physician. For example, when I tore my ACL, I needed surgery. And so there are times you got to go to the doctors. There are times when you're in really bad condition and you've got to go. But what the Bible is saying is if you're not sick, you don't need a physician. Now, look, you don't have to do this, but I'm just telling you what we do with our kids. With our kids, we do not give them vaccines when they're born. You're like, how could you not give them vaccines? Because they're whole. They're healthy. So if they're healthy, they don't need a physician. If they're healthy, they don't need an extra vitamin. I mean, if they're healthy, then they don't need anything in additional. Now, I'm not saying that you never take your kids to the doctors no matter what. I'm just saying if my kids are healthy, according to the Bible, they don't need a physician. They don't need to get extra shots. And by the way, if you look at vaccines, when I was a kid, I think I got, my mom told me, eight vaccines when I was a kid. Nowadays, there's like 25 vaccines that they're injecting to a kid at such a young age. It's like, are you kidding me? They're just born and you're injecting them with this medicine over and over and over and over again. It's just like the child is only like seven pounds. It's like, does that really sound safe and healthy? I mean, is there any verse in the Bible? Because we go up with the Bible says, is there any verse in the Bible that would lead you to believe that you should do that? Because I've read Genesis through Revelation many times, and I just don't remember the verse that would make me think, oh, there's where the Bible speaks about vaccines. Now actually, if you read online, I believe it was an early 20th century invention, which the world just did not do for thousands of years and babies were perfectly fine. And you can say you disagree with me and have a different opinion. That's fine because as parents, you have the right to do whatever you want with your kids. I'm just saying, this is what I've told the doctors before. I said, well, they that behold need not a physician, but they that are sick. When our son Zeph was born, he was born about four weeks early, 36 weeks. And when your baby's born early, they say, well, they might get jaundice. It's very dangerous. And of course, as a new father and a new mother, you're going to have some fear because you don't want to mess up. You know what I mean? It's like, so you're kind of worried about what if, right? Now our son was born early, but he was six pounds and 12 ounces. So it's not like he was a small baby. I mean, he might've been born several weeks early, but it's a good size baby, right? Six pounds and 12 ounces. And in the US, you have CPS, Child Protection Services, and you do have to be careful to some level of degree because people can call CPS on you for any reason they want, right? I remember my sister and my brother-in-law, they had CPS called on them when they had their second child and they were called by the neighbor. And the reason why the neighbor called CPS is because my brother-in-law has a beard and because my sister is kind of a homebody, she doesn't go out much. And they're like, she hasn't even left the house for weeks. It's like, who knows what's going on in there? And then they called CPS on my sister and my brother-in-law just because of that. It's like ridiculous. But the reality is you do have to be a bit careful because you know what? You make somebody mad or whatever, they might call CPS on you. And I remember we were at the hospital and when Zeph was born, he was having trouble eating. So he was actually losing weight. And so we had to supplement the milk supply. And we went a couple of times, Zeph got a few shots and everything like that. And then it was at the point where Zeph had gained weight and they're like, he's healthy, he's in great shape, nothing to fear. So I was like, okay, well then there's no need to go back to the hospital. We got this figured out. And so I remember they were trying to set us up for this long line of a pediatrician and everything like this. And I just said, well, we're actually not planning to come back. And then I remember the nurse is like, you have to come back. And I was like, well, legally, I don't have to come back. And I was being very polite about it because I don't want CPS called on us. And I said, I really appreciate all the help you've given me, the advice. It really helped us. We're first time parents and everything. And I said, we just made the decision that we're not planning to come back. She was really trying to press us on it and everything. And thankfully she didn't call CPS on us. But what I told her is, I was like, well, the Bible says they that behold need not a physician, but they that are sick. And my son is healthy now, so he doesn't need to go to the doctors anymore because he's in good health. And she was not very happy about that, but she accepted because I was quoting the Bible. I think there's kind of a fear where we don't want to get into a religious argument or whatever, but this is what the Bible is saying. If you are whole, you do not need a physician. That's up to you what you want to do. I mean, if you want to go to doctor's checkups and things like that, that's up to you. I'm just saying though, unless you have a major problem or there's some sort of concern or whatever, it's like, for me, I'm just like, well, if you're whole, you don't need a physician, right? Verse number 14. And look, you can do whatever you want. If you get offended, it's like, I'm not saying you have to take the advice I gave you. It's completely up to you what you do as parents. We do take our kids to the doctor's sometimes. One of my goals in life is to never go to the doctors ever again, but it's probably unlikely. Most likely I will have to go to the doctors at some point. But anyways, verse number 14. Verse 14, then came to him the disciples of John saying, why do we in the Pharisees fast off, but the disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, can the children of the bridegroom, bride chamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast. And what Jesus is saying is, well, as I'm around them, they're not in a real trial or persecution or fear, so they don't really have much of a need to fast. Look, if you're going through the storms of life and you have a lot of personal problems, that's when you really want to get a hold of God. That's when you might want to fast and spend a lot of time in prayer and Bible reading and all of those things. But what Jesus is saying is, they're not in a situation of mourning because I'm with them. Now, of course, once Jesus was crucified, now's the time you might want to fast, because they were very scared, they were afraid, they didn't know what was going on, but Jesus says, well, I'm around, they're not going to do that, okay? Verse 16, no man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in, to fill it up, taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles, else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish, but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved. Now, verses 16 and 17 are a bit tricky. The Bible is saying that if you have a garment and it starts to get old and tear apart, you can't just put a piece of fabric from a new garment onto the old garment, it's just not going to work, okay? The Bible is saying in a similar way, you don't mix new wine and old wine. Now, go to Luke chapter five, it gives more detail in this story. Luke chapter five. Luke chapter five, verse 36. Luke five, verse 36. It says in Luke five, verse 36, and he spake also a parable unto them, no man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old, if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeeth not with the old. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles, else the new wine will burst the bottles. And I'm just saying, I've been at several churches and trying to help the pastor see the error of his ways, it just does not work. It's just not going to happen. The first church I went to after I was saved, we were trying to teach our pastor about the King James only issue. It didn't work. We just ended up going to a different church. It just does not work trying to revive what's old. What you need to do is just come to what's new. And you know what's amazing to me about this is that at our church here, we will have people visit us that are kind of like on the fence about our church because we're obviously a lot different than other churches. And I'm telling you, when people come to our church like that, and I'm preaching, I see them and they're like really happy. They're nodding their head. They're excited. And often they never come back. And they go back to the old. And it blows my mind, but we've seen it a million times. And I just don't get it where it's like, you have all these problems that you know of at your church. You're not even sure if your pastor is saved. And then for whatever reason, they're just like, well, I'm comfortable with the old though. I'm just going to go back to the old rather than going to the new. Now look, I don't understand this. I don't think this way. And many of you, you left your old churches and you don't think this way, but this is how a lot of people think. You can literally talk to people. I'm sure many of you have talked to people from your old... Matthew 9, verse 18. While he spake these things onto them, behold, there came a certain ruler and worshiped him saying, my daughter is even now dead, but come and lay thy hand upon her and she shall live. Here's another example of people worshiping Jesus. Why does he accept worship? Because he is God. And Jesus arose and followed him and so did his disciples. And behold, a woman which was diseased with an issue of blood 12 years came behind him and touched the hem of his garment. You know, there's a lot of medical advice we can learn from this chapter. And what you're seeing here is here's a woman who has an issue for 12 years and the doctors cannot figure it out. The reality is many times the doctors just cannot figure it out. And I'm not down on the medical industry because there's definitely a place for doctors and nurses. My wife used to be a nurse, but it's just reality that oftentimes... I knew someone in my old job in the US and her husband was having a pressure he felt on his chest and he was having shortness of breath, so he's really concerned. And he goes to the doctors and the first doctor he went to, what they determined is it was something he ate, just kind of indigestion or something like that. Well, a couple of days later, it's getting worse. So he goes back and then the next doctor is like, whoa, you need to have triple bypass heart surgery. I mean, those are pretty different extremes. Number one, it's like you ate a chili dog last night. Number two, you're about to die, right? I'm just saying this is the truth of the medical industry. Oftentimes they just don't know. It's not a perfect science. It's not two plus three equals five. Oftentimes they're just not aware what is the problem. And even if they're aware of what the problem is, that doesn't always mean they know how to fix that problem either. And I'm not telling you not to go to the doctors because there is a time and a place to go to the doctors, but do your best to take care of your own health so you'll have to go less frequently and just realize that it's not a perfect science. Says here in verse 21, for she said within herself, if I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about and when he saw her, he said, daughter, be of good comfort. Thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. Verse number 23, and when Jesus came into the ruler's house and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, he said unto them, give place for the maid is not dead but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when the people were put forth, he went in and took her by the hand and the maid arose and the fame here of went abroad into all that land. So here in Matthew chapter nine, what we see is that Jesus resurrects somebody from the dead. And what Jesus said in the book of John is I am the resurrection in the life. He is the resurrection. Before he rose again, he said, I am the resurrection. And of course, when he ultimately did rise again, that was like the ultimate proof. I am God. But he said, whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die after he said, I am the resurrection in the life. And Jesus, he showed and proclaimed his deity throughout the Bible. Even when it says, I am the resurrection in the life, making the statement, I am the life is a statement of divinity. Because all throughout the Old Testament, it talks about the living God, right? Talks about the living God and the true God. So when he's saying, I am the way, the truth, and the life, that's a statement of divinity that he's making because he is the true God. He is the living God. And here he's showing it by resurrecting somebody from the dead. Verse 27, and when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying and saying, thou son of David, have mercy on us. And when he was coming to the house, the blind man came to him and Jesus saith unto them, believe ye that I am able to do this? They say unto him, yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes saying, according to your faith, be it unto you. And their eyes were opened and Jesus straightly charged them saying, see that no man know it. But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country. Verse 32, as they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with the devil. When Bible's saying dumb, it's not saying Bobo. It's saying, you know, like deaf and dumb. They cannot speak. Okay. So what it's saying is here's a man that does not have the ability to speak and it's a result of being possessed by a devil. Once again, there are people that do not have the ability to speak that doesn't necessarily mean that they're possessed by a devil. Okay. There's many reasons. Some people just have health problems. This person though is possessed by a devil and that's the reason why he cannot speak. And it says here in verse 33, and when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake and the multitudes marveled saying it was never so seen in Israel. But the Pharisees said he casteth out devils through the prince of the devils. And what the Pharisees are saying is we agree that you're casting out devils, but you're doing it by the power of the devil. Okay. Now what I believe about, let's say an Albulario or a Benihin or someone like that is any miracles that they actually do, because honestly I've heard plenty of stories from people at our churches going to, if you get anything out of the sermon, don't walk up to the top of a mountain with an old Albulario that's sitting there. Okay. To get healed from something. But I know people that have done that when they're young and they saw miracles and things that are beyond explanation. And any miracle, whatever you want to call it, that an Albulario does or someone who practices voodoo or whatever, they are doing it by the power of the devil. That is not the power of God. And so what the Pharisees are accusing Jesus of is the same thing we would think about a witch doctor or a witch or a sorcerer. Any miracles they're able to do, they're doing it by the power of the devil. And it is true that there are some people that are given the ability. I mean, during the end times, doesn't the Bible say that there's going to be these false miracles? And if it were possible, it could even deceive the elect, the Bible says. Now it's not possible to deceive the elect, but basically saying it's going to be very convincing. You're going to see things that you cannot explain. Right? What they're accusing him of is basically being a sorcerer. Now here's what's interesting about this. This is what the Jews in the days of Jesus were saying about Jesus. They were saying you're basically a sorcerer. What is the punishment for sorcery in the Bible? Death. And by the way, I'm not preaching against Harry Potter, but don't watch movies like Harry Potter. Don't play video games where you're doing some sort of magic or whatever to kill the giants or whatever. Right? I mean, as Christians, we should have nothing to do with that stuff. But this is what the Jews were saying about Jesus 2,000 years ago. What do the Jews say about Jesus today? They say good things are bad things. Have you ever watched one of these videos where they're in Israel and they're interviewing people, ask them, what do you think about Jesus? They don't say very positive things about him. Now here's what's interesting about this. Every religion in the world that I'm aware of pretty much thinks very positive things about Jesus. Obviously, we believe that Jesus is eternal. He is the Son of God. He's part of the Trinity. He is God. He's perfect, sinless. He's the Savior, the Messiah, all those things. Obviously, Islam is a wicked religion, but somehow Islam proclaims Jesus to be in the Messiah, but they don't think he's God, which doesn't really make sense. But they believe that he was a great prophet. Right? Buddhism will tell you about how when Jesus was 12 years old, he traveled to India and he got his Buddhist teaching over in India. Right? They've even got the cave where he got his Buddhist teaching. Hinduism says basically the same thing, that Jesus traveled to India and he was actually a Hindu and all these things. All these religions will say positive things about Jesus, except for one religion, and that is Judaism. Here's what Judaism says about Jesus. This is in the Talmud, which is their spiritual book. On the eve of Passover, Jesus the Nazarene was hanged and a herald went forth before him, 40 days heralding. Jesus the Nazarene is going forth to be stoned because he practiced sorcery and instigated and seduced Israel to idolatry. So according to the Talmud, Jesus was to be stoned to death for being a sorcerer. Well, that's just one part of the Talmud. Let's just go later on to see if they say more positive things about Jesus. In the Sanhedrin 43a bracket 77 relates the trial and execution of a sorcerer named Jesus and his five disciples. The sorcerer is stoned and hanged on the eve of Passover. So basically they're saying that, yeah, you know what? Jesus was killed for being a sorcerer. How about the Sanhedrin 107 bracket 79? It tells of a Jesus, parentheses Yeshu, that's how they say the name for Jesus, Yeshu, who offended his teacher by paying too much attention to the innkeeper's wife. So basically it's accusing Jesus of adultery. So sorcery, idolatry and adultery are the accusations in the Talmud. Jesus wished to be forgiven, but his rabbi was too slow to forgive him. And Jesus in despair went away and put up a brick idol and worshiped it. So Jesus is accused of adultery. He gets mad. And then all of a sudden he just puts up a brick and starts bowing down and worshiping a brick. These other places say that he was stoned or he was hung for being a sorcerer. Does that sound like they say very good things about Jesus? The Talmud also says that Jesus is the son of Pantera, that Mary committed adultery, and he's the son of Pantera through an adulterous relationship between Mary and this man named Pantera. So the only religion I know of that blasphemes Jesus Christ to that level of degree is Judaism. So let me ask you a question. Does that sound like Judaism is a good religion or a bad religion? And yet in today's world, Christians worship the Jews, right? Christians worship Israel. They worship the Jews. They think the Jews walk on water. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but in the most famous chapter in the Bible, John 3, he that believeth not the sun shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Look, everybody practicing Judaism is going to split hell wide open. And look, I'm not saying I hate Jews. I go out and try to get them saved. But this idea, and look, there are literally churches that will have rabbis come up and speak to a Baptist church. How would you feel today if I brought up some rabbi to come here today? And all of a sudden he starts reading from the Talmud, and then all of a sudden he thinks he's over in Israel, so he turns around and he starts doing this. How would you feel? He blasphemes Jesus. The Talmud hates Jesus. And yet in our modern world, Christians are obsessed. And look, this is only in the last hundred years, this obsession with Zionism. We got to give them back the promise then. What about the entire New Testament where Jesus says they're rejected? God isn't using a country anymore. He's using local churches to do his work. Around the world, the Philippines is one of the most pro-Israel countries in the entire world. Number three on the list of charts I've seen, the most of pro-Israel countries, we are number three. What's number one? Any guesses? The United States of America. So look, I'm not just ripping on the Philippines. I mean, the US is more guilty. I mean, who's the one who supports Israel more than anybody? Any guesses on number two? I've said it before in sermons. India. I don't really understand why that is, but India is the number two most pro-Israel country in the world. You say, well, pastor, I mean, don't you think that we should support Israel over in the war there? The war that's been going on for what, 80 years, that's never going to end? Here's my opinion. I don't care. Islam's wicked. Judaism's wicked. And look, no matter what happens, they're going to be fighting over the Holy Land forever. It doesn't matter. You say, well, don't you care? No, I don't care. I don't really care who wins that war. Now, I don't want to see innocent people die, but I'm not rooting on either side. It doesn't matter to me because you've got two wicked religions, two groups that are doing a lot of wicked things, and regardless of which one's more wicked, they're both wicked. It's kind of like, well, who are you supporting, Ukraine or Russia? I don't really care. You've got both countries that are doing wicked things. Look, nobody wins in war. And when wars take place, let me help you out. Both sides are pretty much always wrong. Isn't that true in fights in your life? If you get in a fight with someone, it's not about whether or not you're 100% innocent. It's about who's more than 50% at fault. You get in a fight with your wife, you know that you're wrong, but you're like, I'm 48% wrong. I will apologize, but since I'm at the 48% level, she has to apologize first. Isn't that how it works? And then of course, the 50 to 75% level, if you think you're that wrong, you're too stubborn to apologize. If you're above that, it's like, okay, I got to apologize, right? But in life, when two people get into a fight, you can pretty much always guarantee that both sides are wrong. And you know, when you hear sides of the story, they're usually very different from one another, and the truth is somewhere in the middle. Same thing in war. But here's the thing, you know, my point is this, Israel is a wicked country. I mean, look, if you look at Israel, it's one of the leading countries in the LGBT around the world. I'm pretty sure the chart I saw recently listed the US, Philippines and Israel tied for first in the world of the highest percentage of LGBT. That doesn't really sound like a godly country. So why is it there's this obsession with trying to support Israel? Where is that in the Bible? What I see is Jesus saying, they're rejected later on in the book of Matthew. I don't see him ever saying, these are my people. Now look, somebody can be born in Israel and have Jewish blood and believe on Christ and get saved, but they got to do what everybody else does. Reject their wrong religion and believe on Christ. That's what we see. But here's what I will say about this. At least the position of Judaism is consistent. You say, what do you mean by this? Here's what I'm saying. Jesus proclaimed to be God. He proclaimed to be perfect. He proclaimed to be the Messiah, to be eternal, to be the Christ and all of these things. If he is lying about that, he's not a good person. Right? All of us lie, but I have never told anybody or tried to convince people that I'm God in the flesh. I've never tried to convince people that I'm the son of God or that I'm going to die for the sins of the world. There are some lies that are just way past the point. I would never sell that lie. Right? So here's the thing about this. If Jesus was lying about being the way to heaven, where he said, I am the way, the truth and the life, you know what that means if he was a liar? He is the most evil man that ever existed. When it comes to the person of Jesus Christ, there's one of two things. Either he is the greatest man who ever existed. He's God in the flesh and everything he said, or he's the most evil man that ever existed. There is no in between. So at least Judaism is consistent. They say, well, we just think he's a fraud and a phony and a liar. Now they're wrong, but at least that makes sense. You know what does not make sense is to say he's a great prophet. He just lied about saying he was God. It's just like, that's not a lie that a normal person is going to tell us. Let's finish up the chapter. Verse 35. Verse 35. So, you know, the checklist of things after this sermon, don't go to the top of a mountain to talk to an Albulario this week. Don't send money to Israel this week. And when you meet Jews, try to give them the gospel instead of just worshiping them as if they're somehow magically special. Matthew 9, verse 35. And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. When he saw the multitude, he was moved with compassion on them because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith the unto his disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the labors are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest that he will send for the labors into his harvest. Now, next week, we're going to be in Matthew chapter 10. And in Matthew 10, Jesus is actually sending them out two by two to preach the gospel. So I'm not really going to talk about those last four verses that apply to soul winning, but there's a lot of great information in this chapter that we can apply to our lives. Let's go to prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and ask you to help us to apply the sermon to our lives. Help us to read our Bibles and to understand it and to love it and to learn it and to know it. God, I ask you to help us get people saved from all of the false religions that are our God. Give us these opportunities and help us find people that are open and ready to receive the truth. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.