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Second service, let's get back to our seats and start the second service. And let's turn to hymn number 10, page number 10, let's sing the song, my sins are gone. Hymn number 10, you ask why I am happy on the first, everybody sing. You ask why I am happy, so I must tell you why, because my sins are gone. And when I meet the sufferers who ask me where they are, I say, my sins are gone. They're on to meet the Father, the cross of poverty, the sorrow of his darkness ceased from dawn. In the sea of God's forgetfulness, that's good enough for me. Praise God, my sins are gone. T'was not the old time altar where God gave me my heart and now. The Lord took full possession, the devil did depart, I'm back. They're on to meet the God, the cross of poverty, the sorrow of his darkness ceased from dawn. In the sea of God's forgetfulness, that's good enough for me. Praise God, my sins are gone. When Satan comes to tempt me and tries to make me doubt, I sing. You got me into trouble, but Jesus got me out like that. They're on to meet the Father, the cross of poverty, the sorrow of his darkness ceased from dawn. In the sea of God's forgetfulness, that's good enough for me. Praise God, my sins are gone. Alas, I'm leaving now for Jesus, because my soul is gone. I know my sins are gone. On the cross of poverty, the sorrow of his darkness ceased from dawn. In the sea of God's forgetfulness, that's good enough for me. Praise God, my sins are gone. It's all free here at the Father. As you bless the first service, we ask the Lord for your mercy upon us as we conduct our second service. I pray, Lord, that you would bless each and every part of our service, Lord. And we ask, Lord, that you would bless the fellowship and also the soul of meaning this afternoon. We're asking all of these things in Jesus' name we pray. All right. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church. Take out your bulletin here today and let's go through a couple announcements. Let's start by counting up salvation. So was there any salvations in the back section to report any salvations? All right. How about in this section? Any salvations? Two. Anybody else? Two. How about over here? Any salvations? Three, two, seven. So we're at 16. I'm getting older. I had to stop for a second. Wait a minute. What's seven plus nine? So anybody else? All right. All right. Well, great job, everybody. Of course, we do have soul winning this afternoon at one forty five. And other than that, upcoming activities. So we do have our monthly prayer meeting on the last Sunday of the month. Other than that, there's no soul winning marathons or anything scheduled right now. But anyways, that's it for announcements. We'll have Brother Marlon lead us in another song. All right, next song. Hymn number thirty five. Page number thirty five. Let's sing the song. I'd rather have Jesus. Hymn number thirty five. We'd rather have Jesus. Everybody on first. I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold. I'd rather be his than a maintenance on gold. I'd rather have Jesus than houses or land. I'd rather be dead. I still hear his hand. Than to be the king of the vast domain. For me hell is his throne. I'd rather have Jesus than anything. His world abhors today. I'd rather have Jesus than banks of gold. I'd rather be faithful to his dear gold. I'd rather have Jesus than worldwide fame. I'd rather be true to his holy name. Than to be the king of the vast domain. For me hell is his when swing. I'd rather have Jesus than anything. His world abhors today. Alas, he's fairer than he is for red, red, blue. He's sweeter than honey from half the group. His holy might, honouring spirit, peace. I'd rather have Jesus than death. He'd be meant to be the king of the vast domain. For me hell is his when swing. I'd rather have Jesus than anything. His world abhors today. He's sweeter than honey from half the group. 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I'd rather have Jesus than death. I'd rather have Jesus than death. I'd rather have Jesus than death. Now, let me just say this, that if you're starting to read the Bible for the first time, I would not actually advise you to start in Genesis. I think Genesis is arguably the best book in the Bible, because it's got the most history, it's got the flood, the creation of the world. It might be the most interesting book in the Bible, but at the same time, if you're just reading the Bible, I would recommend that you start in the book of John. Why? Because the book of John is the one that tells you how to get to heaven, and even though you're already saved, it's like, well, the first thing you really got to know very firmly is salvation, so you don't get led astray by false teachers, get confused about things, so you can know what to defend. Or if you want to start, you can start in the book of Matthew. I would recommend the New Testament before the Old Testament. Why? Well, because the New Testament sheds light on the Old Testament, and when it comes to the Old Testament, there's a lot of symbolism that is hard to fully understand. Think about all the offerings. Think about the sacrifices. They were told to do these things, but they didn't fully understand the purpose of them. And then all of a sudden, Jesus Christ dies for the sins of the world, and it's like, okay, it fully makes sense, these are all pictures. The unclean animals. Why can't we eat pig? Well, those are the rules. And then, when Jesus Christ came, you understand, okay, it symbolizes Jesus unclean and clean, and of course, now he rose again, we can eat whatever we want. But what I'm saying is, the Old Testament is sometimes confusing, and the New Testament sheds light on the Old Testament. I'll give you another example. Isaiah 7, verse 14. Isaiah 7, verse 14. Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Now, I'm not preaching on Bible versions, but on the side point, in modern versions, they often change virgin to young woman. And so I'm going to give you a miraculous sign, a young woman is going to have a child. What is miraculous about a young woman having a child? I mean, there's plenty of teen girls that have children all the time. That's not a miraculous event. But a virgin birth, that is a miraculous event. Now, here's the thing. Isaiah 7, 14 is a very, very, very easy verse to understand. But why? Because you know what takes place in the New Testament. Right? This verse by itself, I mean, it's kind of like, okay. Because when you're reading Isaiah 7, honestly, Isaiah 7, 14 kind of pops out of nowhere and you're like, what? But it makes complete sense to us. Why? Because we have the book of Matthew that talks about the virgin birth in Matthew 1, and we know very clearly this is Jesus Christ. What I'm saying is it's only clear to us because the New Testament is shedding light on the Old Testament. Go to Isaiah 40. I'll give you one other example of this. Isaiah 40. Now, I'm not telling you not to read the Old Testament. I believe reading the entire Bible, but here's the thing. People look at a book like Ezekiel or Isaiah, and it's a very cryptic, confusing book sometimes. And it's like, I want to do a deep study of this so I can understand it. Well, why not start it by studying the New Testament? Because the New Testament is clearer, and it's going to be more valuable, and it's going to shed light on the Old Testament. Isaiah 40, verse 1. Or actually, Isaiah 40, verse 3. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Now, once again, this is a very easy verse to understand. Why? Because of the New Testament. We know this is John the Baptist. But it's once again because the New Testament is shedding light on the Old Testament. Otherwise, when you're reading this, speak comfortably to Jerusalem, a voice crying in the wilderness. It's like, what is the Bible talking about? But it's a prophetic event that we can understand via the New Testament. Go in your Bible to 1 Kings 19. You'll see a lot of false churches that preach a false gospel. They will go to Old Testament books with confusing passages as their proof doctrines. When people are trying to add works to salvation, they go to Ezekiel 18. It's like, well, why don't you go to John 3? Right? Why don't you go to Ephesians 2, 8 and 9? I mean, very rarely do they do that. The only false teacher I know that goes to John 3 to try to prove his point of a works of salvation is Eli Soriano. And it's like, he's not that intelligent. It's like, because obviously there's nothing about works in John chapter 3. But usually they'll go to Ezekiel 18. They'll go to the book of Isaiah. Do I think salvation's by faith alone in the Old Testament? Absolutely. Is it preached faith alone? Absolutely. Does Isaiah 64 verse 6 give us a good verse? Yeah, it does. But when I go soul winning, I don't go to the book of Isaiah. Why? Because it's just more confusing. I think it's Isaiah 61, 1, if I remember correctly, is a verse that says like a million times, salvation's forever. But it's still not where I would go because it's still not as clear as John 3, Romans 6, all the soul winning passages that we look at. Titus 1, 2, or any passage on salvation being forever. One mistake people make is they don't allow the New Testament to give us extra info on the Old Testament. Another mistake people make is they read too little. They just don't read enough of the Bible in a day. They sit down to read, and then after a couple minutes, they're done. I'm going to give you a couple reasons why this is a mistake. 1 Kings 19 verse 1. And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal I had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also if I make not thy life, as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. And when he saw that, he arose and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. Now in 1 Kings 19 and verse 3, you see that Elijah makes a big mistake. Depression is a part of life, but he leaves his servant there. He isolates from his servant. Now in my opinion, when I think of the servant, I think of him probably being around the age of Elisha. I don't think he's a little kid because I've seen animated videos where they make Elijah's servant like a young boy. I don't think that's the case. I think he was probably a grown man who was also a soul winner. I could be wrong. It doesn't really give you the exact age. But the thing is, when you isolate from everybody, it's just going to cause you to be more depressed. That's just the way it is. We are made and designed to be around other people. Obviously, you know what, a lot of us probably have that the perfect dream in your head. I want to own that house on top of the mountain away from everybody, and I'll be so happy. But yet, when you're isolated from people, it does not make you happy. And so he leaves his servant there. So in verse 3, he wants to spare his life, and he flees, and he leaves his servant there. Notice verse 4. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree, and he requested for himself that he might die. So he runs for his life, and now he wants to die. Why? Because he isolated from everybody. That's what you're seeing. It only made the depression worse. And then it says, And he said, It is enough now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am not better than my fathers. Verse 5, And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and behold, there was a cake, bacon on the coals, and a crucible of water at his head, and he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. So the angel comes to him, and he says, Hey, you know what? You're down. You're depressed. You haven't eaten. You haven't drank. He's like, Arise and eat. Now, here's the thing. He's directly referring to food. He's directly referring to water. But remember, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. So here's the thing. When you're looking at these stories, they're not just entertaining stories. This isn't like in Greek mythology, Oh, the Iliad's so entertaining, and it has no purpose. Or the Hindu and Buddhist stories that have no purpose. No, this actually teaches us something. So what symbolically is God trying to tell us? Well, we know via the New Testament that the Word of God is often referred to as food. When he's saying Arise and eat, what is he saying? He's saying to him, literally, eat physical food, but to us, symbolically, spiritually, Arise and eat. In fact, many years ago in Sacramento, I preached a sermon called Arise and eat, and it was based on this scripture. And I remember just reading this. I'm like, man, this is really interesting. God's saying, hey, Arise and eat. And you know what I would say when you wake up in the morning? Arise and eat, right? Before you eat your pandesal, before you eat your banana or whatever you eat for breakfast, Arise and eat the Word of God, right? And then it says here in verse 7, And the angel of the Lord came again the second time and touched him and said, Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for thee. And the angel's saying, you know, God's got a big journey for you to go on. You're not going to be able to do it unless you Arise and eat again. And he arose and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God. And what this symbolically is showing us is that the length of journey you can go on for God and how much you can accomplish for God is directly proportional to what? How much you consume of the Word of God. So if you want to do more for God and want to be more spiritual and more used by God, you've got to Arise and eat. And so one reason you should just read more of the Bible in a day rather than just reading a little bit is simply because if you want to do something big for God, you've got to Arise and eat. But even in a logical sense, if you don't read enough in one day, it's really going to harm you. You say, why? Because here's the thing. A lot of books in the Bible are not really meant to be stop after five minutes and pick up the story later. They tie together. I mean, if you're reading the book of Galatians, I would not recommend stopping midway through. I would say read it straight through. You say, why? Because the whole book ties together into a point and a purpose. If you're reading the book of Ephesians, read the whole thing at one time. If you're reading the book of Philippians, read the whole thing at one time. Now, if you get to a book like Romans, I understand it's 16 chapters, so maybe you're not going to be able to do it in one sitting. But what I'm saying is there are books and places in the Bible where you can just kind of stop. It's like, okay, Abraham's gone. Abraham's gone. I'm going to take a break and start tomorrow with Isaac. But not all the Bible is like that. A lot of the Bible you've got to really kind of read in because here's the thing. If you're only reading a very small amount, you kind of forget the characters, you forget the story, you forget the background, and you're missing a lot of the information. Imagine watching a movie and you watch five minutes per day. After 30 days, at the end of the month, you finish the movie. But by the time you get to the end, you probably kind of forgot, well, what was the beginning about? Because you've taken so long to finish the movie. Right? Or you read a book and you're just like, oh, you just stop after a couple pages. It's like by the time you get to the end, you're missing out on a lot. And what I would recommend is that when you sit down to read the Bible, especially if you're in a section where it ties together, try to read the whole thing. And one reason I think people get depressed or down in their Bible reading is because a lot of it goes over their head because they're reading such a small amount. And what I would recommend to you is try to sit down and read a decent chunk. I'm not saying for an hour. I'm just saying really set aside some real time, not just something I'm going to spend five minutes and get on my cell phone. This is not enough. Sit down and take a break from everything else and just dig into the Word of God. Turn in your Bible to 2 Corinthians 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 10. Now look, I didn't say go home and read the book of Isaiah in one sitting. Okay? That's not what I preached. Okay? I didn't say go home and read Jeremiah in one sitting. Obviously, you got a lot of free time if you're able to do that, right? But what I'm saying is it's just like if you're reading a story and you just kind of stop after a couple minutes, you know, you're not going to remember all the characters and the events and a lot of stuff might go over your head simply because you're just not reading enough at one time. And so mistake number seven people make is they don't let the New Testament to shed light on the Old Testament. Mistake eight is they read too little. Mistake nine is they read too quickly. They read too quickly. Now I said last week it's not smart to just stop on one verse and spend forever. But at the same time, it's not a speed reading competition of who can finish first. And, you know, one reason why I think people get into this mentality is they're like, well, wait a minute. So and so read the Bible twice through. I've got to read it through twice. And they'll speed read and miss a lot of the information. Now the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 10 verse 12, For we dare not make ourselves of the number or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves. But they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise. We are not in a competition with one another of how much we can read the Bible or how long to read the Bible or how many times to read the Bible. I think a good goal if you're kind of newer at reading or you've never read through the Bible is try to get through one time per year is kind of a good goal. And we can give you Bible reading charts and there are Bible reading charts that are out there if you need one of those. But the thing is, if somebody else is reading it through three times, you don't have to feel the need, well, wait a minute, I'm going to have to speed read so I can catch up to them. Because the problem is, when you speed read, it all goes over your head. Right? I mean, when you're reading books, what you should really do is sit down with no distractions, have a piece of paper, and kind of take notes from time to time about certain things that kind of catch your eye and not just stop after one verse or stop to try to study something out, but take note of things that are kind of confusing and then just kind of go on. And then after, you know, 20 minutes, you're going to have read three or four chapters or whatever. But you're not trying to speed read either. Okay? Because if I change my Bible reading to speed reading, I could probably read it twice as much as I am right now, but is that really going to benefit me? Because when you speed read, you're not really getting all of the information. Right? Or another thing that's kind of attached to that, what people do is they don't read the Bible in the morning, they get to the end of the night, and they can't finish it, so they turn on Alexander Scorby at double speed on YouTube. So it's like, I got to get through, like, 15 chapters, and then all of a sudden it's just like... Right? You're missing a lot of the information. Right? And look, I know that because, hey, I've resorted to that before, too. I understand it. But it's just like what you're really trying to do is, like, stop and pay attention to what you're actually reading. Go to John 14. John 14. John 14. And we're on our final point, but I'm going to spend more time on this. The tenth point is reading without having an open mind. Reading without having an open mind. So number seven, I said, was reading without letting the New Testament shed light in the Old Testament. Number eight was reading too little. Number nine, reading too quickly. And number 10, and I don't have this number 10 because I think it's not that important or not that big. Quite honestly, I would say that if there's any of these points that I think could apply to us in this room, this would be number one, actually. Reading without an open mind. And I'm just going to say from my personal, I guess, testimony, I would say, of my life, because I've been saved for basically 20 years, and I would say if I'm honest, probably the first ten years I read the Bible, I probably wasn't really reading with an open mind. And what I mean by that is I was just reading the Bible and confirming the things that preachers said that I believed. So basically, I was reading the Bible, but I wasn't really fully reading with an open mind, and I think it greatly hindered my ability to learn information. And here's the thing. I'm sure a lot of people in this room, you went to churches in the past, and maybe you didn't read the Bible that much, and the pastors didn't focus on that. And when you're reading the Bible, it's just like you're just confirming the things that you heard your pastor say. And then, for many people, the case is you started going to our church, and some of your beliefs might be different than they were before, but you still might be doing the same thing. Now, when you're reading the Bible, you're confirming the things Brother Stuckey said or Pastor Jimenez or Pastor Anderson or whomever it may be. That's not the way you read the Bible. And what I would say is I understand that because I was probably guilty of that before, but I just remember one year, it was the start of January, and I said, you know what? I know a lot of things from the Bible. I've heard a lot of great sermons, and I've been reading the Bible for like 10 years, every year, faithfully reading through it at least once, and then the years before that, many more times than once. And then I was like, but I really want to read with a fresh and open mind to see if God can reveal new information to me. And I just remember just every day, I would wake up, and I would have a piece of paper, and I would pray and say, God, open my mind and help me set aside preconceived ideas and just let the Holy Spirit teach me what the Bible says. I'm just being honest. I changed my mind on a lot of things when all of a sudden I'm like, man. And not only did I change my mind on certain things, when I was reading the Bible, stories opened up to me that I just never really noticed before. And I'm just like, wow. You know, for example, the story about arising and eating, I had read that a ton of times, but just not really focused too much. And then I remember just like, man, this is like the greatest sermon, right? You know, there's all these points right here. And what I would encourage all of you to do is make sure you're reading it with an open mind. John 14, verse 25. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. And the Bible speaks about the Holy Ghost of God, which is going to be your teacher. He's going to teach you all things. So look, when you're reading the Bible and you're spending a long time with God, what you're doing is having the Holy Spirit guide and teach you on the things that you're reading. That's what you should be doing. So what you're doing is realizing, look, the greatest teacher in this world is not me. It's not some other pastor. It's the Holy Spirit of God. And I think this is something that people believe intellectually, but they don't really seem to apply it to their Bible reading. But if we really believe this, that the Holy Spirit is the best teacher, what that means is set aside everything else and it's like, okay, what does the Bible say? And you're trying to read passages. You don't just say, well, let me check Google. Let me check YouTube. But let me just check the Word of God to see what the Bible says. Right? Go to 1 John 2. 1 John 2. Look, isn't it true that when you learn something on your own, when the Holy Spirit teaches you as you're reading the Bible, it's like a thousand times more impactful to you? It's really exciting when you learn something new. And I remember when I first got saved, I remember the first thing that I really learned, and it was like the greatest thing ever to me. And this is actually a very basic thing in the Bible, but I just never heard it preached. And I remember I was reading in the Old Testament with Moses as they put the serpent up on the pole. You know, people got bit by the serpent. But if any man looked upon the serpent, they would be healed. And I remember, you know, the first time I read through that, I was like, what a crazy story. Like, why is there a snake being put on a pole? I didn't get it. And I remember as I'm reading through the Bible, I'd probably been saved for a year and a half. I was just like, wait a minute. Now, here's the thing. If I had been paying more attention in John 3, it directly tells you that, but it had just kind of gone over my head. But I just remember seeing that, and I'm like, wait a minute. This symbolizes Jesus Christ. I was like, ah, I get it. And it shows you all Scripture is profitable. It teaches you something, right? What I'm saying is the fact that I learned it on my own, you know, by reading the Bible, it just impacted me a lot more. And it's going to make your Bible reading a lot more exciting if you're every single day learning something new that the Holy Spirit is showing you. He's edifying you, or He's teaching you something new in the Word of God. Acts 17, verse 11. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so. Now, the Bible speaks about the Bereans being more noble in Acts 17 and 11, and He says the reason is they received the word with all readiness of mind, and this is step one, because I do not want you to misunderstand what I'm saying. When the Word of God is preached, have an open mind to what's being said. Now, don't listen to people like T.D. Snakes, okay, or Joel Osteen, because if you listen to people like that, it's like you're going to hear a lot of false things. But I'm saying if you're in a good church and the person you're listening to is a good preacher, they know their Bible, they're saved, they love God, you should have an open mind, because what you should believe is that God might have given that pastor, that preacher a message to give to you. So when I preach things, you ought to have an open mind, and here's how to understand this. When you're in church, there's kind of three categories that can take place. Number one, you hear something and you immediately know that is correct without a shadow of a doubt. For example, if I stand up here and say, salvation is by faith alone, you immediately know that's correct, because you know you don't have to be baptized. You know you don't have to live a good life. I'm not saying you question, say, well, I've got to rethink it as I'm reading the Bible. Maybe salvation is not by faith alone. There are certain things that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt, and you hear a preach, and it's like, amen! Right? There are other things that you hear, you might immediately know, well, that's wrong. Now, hopefully, if you're in a good church, that's not going to take place very often, but a lot of people came from different churches before, and there's probably a lot of stuff that you heard it, and you're like, that's not correct. That's not correct. That's not correct. Right? But then there's a third category, and this third category is one that should happen to everybody in this room sometimes. I preach something, and you hear it, and you're having an open mind, and your attitude is, you know what? That's interesting. I've never really thought about that before, or I've never really heard that before. I'm going to take that thought, write it down, and I'm going to search the Scriptures whether these things are so. It should not be that you automatically hear something new, and you're like immediately, that's right. It ought to be something that you hear it, it's interesting, you've thought about it. Let me double check and make sure it's correct. That's what the Bereans were doing. They were hearing the Word of God, not with a critical attitude, with an open and ready mind, but they were also searching the Scriptures to confirm these things because they're hearing a lot of new things that they had never studied out themselves. Go to Ephesians 3 in your Bible. Ephesians 3. Ephesians 3. From my experience when I was at Verity Baptist, obviously most of the things that were preached, I've listened to Pastor Mendez for years, we've been friends for a long time, even before I went to the church, and so most of the things he's preaching, the reason why I wanted to be a part of that church is because I agree with the church on their beliefs, right? So most of the things I'm like, yes, that's true, beyond a shadow of a doubt, I already knew it. But then sometimes he'd preach things and I'd be like, I don't know. I've never heard it. It's interesting. It always seemed to make sense, but you still have to search the Scriptures whether it's so or not. Because what you're going to find is no matter who your favorite pastors are or the people that you like to listen to outside of this church, you're not going to find any two of them that agree on everything. There are plenty of things that they disagree with. I mean, people that are spirit-filled, they love God and they look at passages and they just see them differently. I don't know a single person on this planet that I agree with everything. The only one I really know that agrees with everything that I do is my son Zeph because I'm teaching him everything. But there's going to reach a day when he's saved and he's reading the Bible for himself where he's going to probably look at some things differently. It's like, Dad, I just don't think that's what it's saying in Ezekiel chapter whatever, right? And here's the thing. Although the things that I preach, I feel very confident in them because I would not preach them if I didn't feel confident, but I'm also aware that there's not a chance I'm correct on all of them. Not a chance. Now, of course, I strive to preach the things that I am fully confident on, but when you're going verse by verse through a chapter, right? And you're not avoiding anything. I mean, I preach through Daniel. I preach through Ezra. I preach through Song of Solomon and Revelation. There's not a chance that I was right on everything that I said. You say, why? Because there's certain passages that can just be taken differently. And if you've been at our church for a while, there should have been things that you heard where you're like, yeah, I'm not sure about that. But you should also have the attitude, you know what, I'm going to search this for myself. Notice what it says in Ephesians 3 verse 1. For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you, word, how that by revelation he made note on me the mystery as I wrote a four in few words. Now, it speaks about knowing the mystery and having it revealed. But notice what it says in verse 4. Whereby when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ. How are you going to understand the mysteries of the Bible? By reading it. That's how you're going to understand it. Now, here's the thing. I use a lot of Bible in my sermons. That's probably something people will comment on, that use a lot of Bible compared to my old churches. But here's the thing. I cannot in a couple sermons a week preach through the entire Bible. You ought to be learning more in your personal time by reading the Bible, where God is opening up your mind and your heart to new things. And if you're not, then it's going to greatly stunt your spiritual growth. Right? And it's going to make things a lot less exciting. But you ought to be reading the Bible. And you know what it says in verse 5? And this verse is exciting, but it's also kind of sad because it says, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. What is he saying in verse 5? He's saying before the New Testament came around, they couldn't fully get this. They didn't have the whole Bible like we have today. But now in 2023, whereby when ye read ye may understand this. Everything I preach from the Bible. You can also come to the same truth by reading the Bible on your own. Now God has given churches, you know, preachers, not modern day apostles, but the section in Ephesians 4 of apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists, and all these things for the edifying of the body of Christ, for the work of the ministry, and all of those things. And absolutely, as I preach the Word of God, it can help you learn new things. It can motivate you. It can help you be well-rounded. But that alone is not enough. Look, you don't just eat a couple times a week physically. Right? You might be on a really strange diet where that's what you do. I don't know. But usually you don't just eat a couple times a day physically. You know, you eat every single day. And you ought to be doing the same thing with the Word of God every day. Let's close up in 2 Kings 22. 2 Kings 22. The other thing you have to understand, when I preach sermons and I go verse by verse through the Bible, even though I go verse by verse, sometimes there's a lot of information. I don't avoid verses. I try to give an opinion on every verse, even if I'm wrong about stuff. But some information in there I just don't cover. And there's extra things the Bible's teaching. There's just not enough time to cover it as you go verse by verse. Even though I don't preach through a chapter a week, I usually break it down so I can try to cover everything. And what I'm saying is, if you're reading the Bible with an open mind, you can see things that I've preached and say, yeah, that's what Brother Stuckey said. That's correct. That's true. But you can also see other things that either I'm not aware of myself or I just haven't preached on. And you can learn even more information. And so when you're reading, do it with an open mind. I'm not saying question everything you believe. Well, let's double check if God is real. That's not what I'm saying, okay? But read with an open mind and realize there are things that you know without a shadow of a doubt 100% this is true. There are other things that you think are true, but if you can't really prove it, then you don't actually necessarily know if it's true or not. And so search the Bible with an open mind to learn and know these things. And look, when I say things like this, and when we do our Bible reading chart in January to read through the Bible, I fully realize I'm putting the power in your hands where you can read the Bible and you might look at something and disagree with me. But I will never be afraid of people reading the Bible too much because, wait a minute, they might have something they disagree with. I remember a long time ago there was a Bible reading chart online from the Orthodox church that I saw, and they gave you what to read each day, but they would skip a lot of verses. It's like, don't read this verse. It's like, read verses 11, 13, 14, and then 17 through 20. It's like, why are you skipping all these verses? Because they're obviously afraid of what you might read. I'm not afraid of what you might read from Genesis to Revelation. Now, if you read the Apocrypha, well, that's a different story. If you read the Book of Mormon, that's a different story. But if you read Genesis to Revelation, I'm not worried what you might read. Even if you come to a different conclusion as me, I'm perfectly fine by that. That's perfectly fine as long as you're allowing the Holy Spirit to guide you as you're reading the Word of God. The Bible says in 2 Kings 22, and here's the thing, the reason why I say that and preach like that is we're not a cult. We're not like the Catholic Church where the Pope is the authority and write on everything no matter what. During the Dark Ages, it's like the Catholic Church, they didn't want people to have the Word of God because it was a cult that didn't want people to know what the Word of God said. That's not our church. We want you to know what the Bible says. It's not like I don't stand up here and say, hey, listen to more preaching and less Bible reading. No, I do the opposite. You say why? Because I want you to have access to the entire Word of God and the information and I want you to let the Holy Spirit to teach you and guide you into all things just like the Bible said would take place. 2 Kings 22 verse 8, And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord, and Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan and he read it. Now, if you find the book of the law, what does that imply? You lost it. Right? You say, you know, if you're at your house and you tell your wife, hey, I found my cell phone. You know what you're telling your wife? Oh, I had lost my cell phone because you don't find it if it's not lost. Right? God's Word is missing. It's lost. It's like, hey, we found a book. Oh, we got a Bible. And then Hilkiah, you know, he finds the Bible and hopefully this is not like at your house but this is probably what it's like. Oh, my eyes, the dust. Right? And it's just like they find the book of the law and then all of a sudden he gives it to Shaphan and what do they do? They read it. They don't preach on it. They just read it. And it says in verse 9, And Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought the king word again and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work that have the oversight of the house of the Lord. And Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book and Shaphan read it before the king. Now the king is Josiah. This is a very famous story in the Word of God. Right? Now let me ask you a question. Is King Josiah, is he a good guy or a bad guy? He's a good guy. One of the greatest kings in the Bible. Before he found the book of the law, was he a good guy or a bad guy? He was a good guy before it was found. He was trying to serve God. He was trying to do what's right. You know, I believe that in 2023, there are people that are not even members of our church that are trying to do what's right. They are trying to follow their conscience and obey God. They don't want to steal. They don't want to lie. They're trying to do what's right. There are people that are not part of our church and they look at the world that we live in and they're like, this is an insane world. What's going on? Without fail, every single day there's something crazy that comes up. In the United States, I looked at a poll earlier today actually and it said Wyoming is the most conservative state in the U.S. And so conservative would be anti-abortion, anti-abortion, anti-LGBT and things like that. The most conservative by how they vote in the U.S. And the reason why I looked it up is I knew Wyoming was a conservative state, but in Wyoming, some dude dressed as a trans dude, woman, whatever, just won like a state tennis competition or whatever. And it's a guy that identifies as a woman. I don't know if he had a change or not and then he's entering a women's tennis competition. And that's the most conservative state. It's insanity. It's like, I mean, just guys entering women, it's like, well, I just identify as a woman, so I want to be a female boxer. I mean, this is a crazy world. If you don't see it, I don't know what it will take. It's like with Pharaoh, knowest thou not yet that this world is insane, right? But what I'm saying is there's people that see those things and they think it's bizarre because the reason why that caught news is somebody got fired because they were involved in the tennis committee. They said, no, why do we have a guy entering the women's tennis competition? And then they got fired. Anyway, that person that got fired, you know what? She is probably a very conservative and moral person that's trying to do right. And people look at this world, there are normal people out there in 2023. We are not the only normal people here in the Philippines. We're not. In fact, I think there are plenty of normal people, but they're afraid to say something. You say what? You say something, you get fired from your job. You say something, you get in trouble. That's the world that we live in in 2023. And Josiah was a good guy. He was trying to do right, but he had one big problem. He didn't have the Word of God. And there are a lot of people that are trying to serve God today, but they don't read the Bible. Notice what takes place when Josiah hears the Bible read. It says in verse 11, And it came to pass when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, remember Schaffen read it. He hears the words of the book of the law that he rent his clothes. He tears his clothes. This is a sign of mourning or getting right with God and the Word of God. Isn't it true that when people read through the Bible for the first time, what's their reaction? And God's a lot harsher than I thought He was. And the best word to say would be holy. He's a lot holier than I thought He was because what do people always hear about God? God is love. God is mercy. God is grace. God is peace. All of those things are true. God is patient. That's true. God is longsuffering. That's true, and that's great preaching, but that is not all that God is. God is also holy. God is also jealous. God will also judge His people. The Bible says time comes that judgment must begin at the house of God, and look, be not deceived. God has not mocked for whatsoever man, so that shall he also reap. Look, if you're saved, you're saved forever, you never have to worry about going to hell, and praise God for that, but you do have to worry about being judged in this life for your sin. And Josiah hears the Word of God, and he rinses clothes, and the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Akbar the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, as the highest servant of the king, saying, Go ye, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah concerning the words of this book that is found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according to all that which is written concerning us. Now here's the thing. Everybody knows it's wrong to tell a lie, but here's the thing. When you read the Bible, you start taking it a little bit more seriously. Everybody knows it's wrong to steal. Everybody knows covetousness is wrong. Everybody knows that envy is wrong. But there's something about reading the Word of God, because this is not a normal book. This is a spiritual book that gets to the inside of your heart, and it will change your life. It changed the life of Josiah. And I'll tell you what. But one of the big problems with Christianity in 2023 is simply people just aren't reading the Bible. They're not spending time with God. The Bible said, Whereby when ye read ye may understand. Moses drew close to God because he would spend whatever you have to do. Find a quiet place and a quiet time without distractions to spend time reading God's Word. You say, why, Brother Stuckey? Because it will change your life. Let's close the Word of Prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today, and I ask you to help all of us to stay zealous with reading your Word and help us to realize how it will change our lives and help us to apply these things of the mistakes people commonly make when reading the Bible. Help us to set aside distractions. Help us to just spend personal time with you each and every day, God. And help us do it with an open mind. And we ask you to help teach us great mysteries from the Word of God that we can apply to our lives. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen for our last song. Let's turn to hymn number 37 of this hymn. Hymn number 37. Hymn number 37. Let's sing a song. This world is not my home. Hymn number 37. On the first, everybody sing. This world is not my home. I'm just a passage through. My treasures are laid off somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from heaven's open door. And I can't feel at home in this world anymore. Oh, Lord, you know I have a friend like you. In heaven's not my home. And Lord, what will I do? The angels beckon me from heaven's open door. And I can't feel at home in this room anymore. They're all expecting me and that's one thing I know. My Savior, Father, King. I know He'll take me through me. I am weak and poor. And I can't feel at home in this room anymore. Oh, Lord, you know I have a friend like you. In heaven's not my home. And Lord, what will I do? The angels beckon me from heaven's open door. And I can't feel at home in this room anymore. I have a loving mother, a big, lovely friend. I won't expect to stop until I shake her hand. She's waiting now for me and you. And I can't feel at home in this world anymore. Oh, Lord, you know I have a friend like you. In heaven's not my home. And Lord, what will I do? The angels beckon me from heaven's open door. And I can't feel at home in this room anymore at last. Just up in glory land will the King turn to you. The saints of every hand march out in victory. Their song of faith is free. And I can't feel at home in this room anymore. Oh, Lord, you know I have a friend like you. In heaven's not my home. And Lord, what will I do? The angels beckon me from heaven's open door. And I can't feel at home in this room anymore. Father, can you pray for us? In heaven's not my home. And Lord, what will I do? The angels beckon me from heaven's open door. And I can't feel at home in this room anymore. And Lord, what will I do? The angels beckon me from heaven's open door. And I can't feel at home. So, march!