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He's saying, He's saying, Hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Go fight for him. Go fight for him. ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] Go 80, go 80. Go 80. ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] Welcome to Verity Baptist Church Manila. We'll start our first service by turning our hymn book, so hymn number 136, hymn number 136. Let's sing the song, Master the Tempest is Raging. Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging, Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Raging, Raging. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. All right. Good morning, everybody. Take out your bulletin. Welcome to Verdi Baptist Church. And our verse of the week is Psalm 120, verse 7. The Bible reads, I am for peace, but when I speak, therefore, they are for war. That's a great verse there. We are a family integrated church, which means children and infants are welcome during the services. We do have a mother-baby room back there for your convenience. One note of announcement that's kind of different today is right now the bathrooms are out of order. We do not have any water. So the first song we sung was kind of prophetic. You know, Master of the Temps is Raging. Because I turned on the water this morning, and then we'll get it resolved today. But as of now, if you need to use the restroom, then if you could go upstairs. And so I apologize for the inconvenience. It just happened within the last hour. But hopefully we'll get that resolved soon. And so remember no eating during the services. Maintain a professional atmosphere. And keep the children from running and making noise during the church service. On the next page are service times listed. Our first service is at 10 a.m. Our second service is at 1130. And then our Wednesday evening Bible study is at 7 p.m. Soul winning times listed. We do have soul winning at 5 p.m. on Wednesdays, two hours before the church service meeting here. Saturday afternoons we have all day soul winning, two hours in the morning. Lunch break, then two hours in the afternoon. And of course we do have our soul winning this afternoon as well. Salations are listed there for November, not including this past week. 290 salvations this month, almost 6,000 year to date. And we're over 6,000 if you include this past week. Birthdays and anniversaries listed there as well. On the next page are Bible memorization challenge. So chapters 23 through 41. And so I checked and we have five snacks left. So I don't know if people don't like those and maybe nobody will memorize anymore. But once we're out, next week we'll have some new snacks that we'll bring. So keep up the great work with that. And we will be preaching through one of the chapters here today. We do have choir practice here today. And then next week is going to be the choir performance during our three year anniversary. So next week is going to be a great time to invite people to church. You know, we're going to have obviously food provided. We're going to be having a jump house again for the kids. We actually purchased our own which is of use for our churches. So we'll bring that up and the kids can play. And of course, ping pong. Table tennis tournament, right? That's what it's all about. So it's going to be a fun week next week. One thing that will be different, you know, I'll only be preaching one sermon next week. So that's something I really never do. But just so we have more time for fellowship, we did the same thing in Pampanga. So next week there will only be one sermon. I'll try to make it as long as possible and set a new record. But we'll be... Then on the back there is a place for sermon notes. So I believe that's it for announcements. We'll have Brother Marlon lead us in another song. We have for our next song, let's turn to hymn number 280. Hymn number 280. Hymn number 280. Hymn number 280. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Hymn number 380. Let's take our opera. Let's do it. Let us open our Bibles to Psalm 120. Psalm 120. This is our custom, we are going to read the whole chapter. Psalm 120. Please say amen when you're there. Psalm 120. In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and He heared me. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue. What shall be given unto thee? O what shall be done unto thee, though false tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper. Woe is me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedah. My soul hath long dwelled with them that hateth peace. I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war. Let us pray. Thank you Father for this day, also for everyone who is here. Lord, please help us also today to understand this chapter. Help us really to understand this sermon, and give us a heart that really loves you and your word more and more. And please annoy the preacher, and we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Alright, we are here in Psalm 120, and take a look at verse number 7. And it is our main verse for the week. And the Bible reads in Psalm 120, verse 7. I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war. What the psalmist is saying here is that he wants to have a life full of peace. And that should be a goal that we have. We shouldn't want to get involved in all kinds of fights and all kinds of battles. But you know what, if we are for peace and we are serving God, the battles will come to us. For many people, your life, you start serving God, and then all of a sudden your family is criticizing you. Your co-workers are criticizing you. And all these battles are coming to you, and you're not trying to start them. You want to be filled full of peace, you don't want these problems. But the problems are coming to you. Okay, now turn to Numbers chapter 1. And the name of the sermon is Principles of War. Principles of War. So we are going to look at three basic principles of war in the Bible and make some applications from this. And I had us read Psalm 120 because Numbers chapter 1 is a very long chapter. And so we decided to read Psalm 120, it's a little bit shorter. But you know, just as an introduction, not even one of the points, we should strive to have peace in our lives. I mean, if you're getting involved in all these fights all the time and everything like that, and it's like, man, I'm arguing with this person and this person, you're probably doing something wrong. Because most people that are serving God can go at their jobs and just kind of work and not have problems all the time and everything. It's not always possible, but we should strive to have peace if possible. Now, point number one when it comes to principles of war is this. When it comes to fighting battles, a literal war in the Bible, it's men only that fight the war. It's men only. Notice what it says in Numbers 1 verse 2. Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their poles. So there in verse 2 it makes it clear it's referring to males, not females, okay? When it came to actually fighting a war, it was something for the men, it was not something for the women. Now, I know in our modern day, you know, things are very changed and there's oftentimes women that are involved in the military and fighting and stuff like that. But from the Bible, that's not the way it's supposed to be. You see that it's men that are going out to fight the literal battles, okay? But notice what it says in verse 3. From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel, thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies. So it doesn't just say males, but then in verse number 3 it says twenty years old and upward. So we're not just talking about every single male that's out there going to war, we're talking about men that are twenty years old and upward. And the Bible defines that as being able to go forth to war. So it's not just that it's not for women, it's also not for people that are very young either, right? Now go down to verse number 18, we're going to look at a lot of verses because this is very consistent and this chapter talks about it over and over again. And it says in verse 18, and they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families by the house of their fathers according to the number of the names from twenty years old and upward by their poles. Verse number 20, and the children of Reuben, Israel's eldest son by their generations after their families by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names by their poles, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war. Drop down to verse 22, of the children of Simeon by their generations after their families by the house of their fathers, those that were numbered of them according to the number of the names by their poles, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war. Go to verse number 42, verse 42, of the children of Naphtali, throughout their generations after their families by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war. Verse 45, so were all those that were numbered of the children of Israel by the house of their fathers from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war in Israel. So the Bible is very consistent with this, that when it goes to fighting an actual, literal war, one country against another country, it was men ages twenty years old and upward. Now, often times countries have people that are a lot younger than twenty years old fighting battles. You know, sometimes somebody will be a teenager and they'll go off to war and then they'll die in battle as a sixteen year old. And what they'll say is, you know what, he was just a kid, right, he shouldn't have even been there. And you go, that's right, because at the age of sixteen you're not ready for something like that, okay. Now go to Acts chapter two, Acts two, Acts two. Now, we're going to be taking the basic principles of war in the Bible and we're going to be making applications and using symbolism. Now, you have to be very careful when you use symbolism because it doesn't always line up perfectly. So what you use with symbolism is back up things that you already believe. Right, if you use some story or something and use symbolism and it's teaching something completely different than things that you know are true, there's a problem. But what you can do is look at various things in the Bible and take analogies and if it backs up things you already believe, then obviously it's a picture that God has given you. Okay, because let me give you something that would be a wrong application of this. A wrong application would be this, well when we go soul winning we say we go off to war. Right, there's nothing wrong with saying that. When we go soul winning we're out in the battlefield, aren't we? A wrong application would be, well therefore if you're under the age of 20 you can't go. Or therefore if you're a lady, you can't go. That would be a wrong application, you say why? Because we have verses specifically saying that ladies go out soul winning. Right, let me show you this in Acts two verse 17. Acts two verse 17. And it shall come to pass in the last day, saith God, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams. And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my spirit and they shall prophesy. Now, in Acts chapter two, what is the context of this chapter? Is it talking about preaching sermons or is it talking about soul winning? This is a very famous chapter because 3,000 people get saved and then get baptized. I mean that's a miraculous event, isn't it? To be able to get 3,000 people saved and baptized. We don't even know how many got saved but we know that 3,000 that did get saved got baptized. This is a chapter focusing on soul winning so it would be a wrong application to say women shouldn't go out soul winning because here in Acts two it talks about God pouring out of spirit upon women to prophesy but not prophesy behind a pulpit. Prophesy as in going out and preaching the gospel. Going out and getting people saved. And look, not only do we want all ladies at our church soul winning, if people are younger than 20 and they know how to preach the gospel, amen. That's great. Right? You know, I grew up playing sports all the time and there's nothing wrong or sinful about playing sports but you know what? Would to God we could raise these kids to love soul winning at the age of five and six and seven and eight and nine and ten years old and the earlier they're able to preach the gospel the better. Now look, obviously we understand our kids are going to be different. You can't expect all kids to learn at the same exact time or be ready at the same time. Because I can't imagine myself being six or seven years old preaching the gospel but you know what? It is possible, right? Somebody could get saved at a very young age at five or six years old, memorize the verses and you know what? If they practice they might have the ability at seven or eight or nine. I mean it's going to take kids a different time period to learn how to do that but if we have kids at our church that are ten, eleven, twelve years old able to preach the gospel and get people saved, amen. That's great. That is a war for everybody because the Bible says go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature and that is a commandment to everybody, not just men aged twenty years and older. Okay? Now go to First Corinthians fourteen. First Corinthians chapter fourteen. But you know one piece of symbolism or one application we can make is that when it does come to preaching sermons and you know the war behind the pulpits, going off to battle, that is something for men only, right? You will not see ladies preaching sermons in the Bible, right? Now in our modern world you have people like Joyce Meyer and all these famous women that are preaching sermons and everything like that but that's not what the Bible teaches. You say well how do you know that brother Stuckey? Well notice what it says in First Corinthians fourteen verse twenty nine. Let the prophets speak two or three and let the other judge. Now when it's saying speak two or three it doesn't mean speak at the same time because that's going to add confusion, right? If there was two of us up here preaching and somebody said one thing and the other said something else it's like it's just going to lead to confusion, right? Now I saw a movie a long time ago. It was called The Apostle. It's like this Pentecostal movie and they have like two people up here preaching but they would just say like phrases like Jesus is the king of kings and everyone's like amen, right? And then they just go back and forth you know just saying phrases but that's not how you preach a sermon, right? When you preach a sermon you need one person preaching at a time but when it's saying two or three it's saying you know what you're not going to have a church where there's like twenty people preaching every single Sunday. That would lead to madness and confusion and you have to understand also with the church of Corinth here's a church that Paul the Apostle started but remember there's all these problems and Paul said he's judging the situation as absent because he's not there anymore. So what took place in the church of Corinth is they have various people filling in to do the preaching similar to what we do on Wednesdays. We have a rotating schedule of people preaching, okay? Now of course that can lead to problems. Obviously it did with the church of Corinth but that's why he's giving them a principle two or three people preaching. Not just anybody at the church can just step up and preach. That's not the way it works, right? You might say Brother Stuckey I want to preach a sermon sometime here. Well that's a good goal to have but if you got saved a couple weeks ago you're not preaching a sermon up here, right? You say Brother Stuckey how could you say that because you've only been saved two weeks. You need to be saved for a while and read the Bible and know the Bible and memorize the Bible, right? And look, we might have a preaching night someday where we do have it open up to even the younger people as well. But you know what, we're not going to have an eight or a nine year old get up behind the pulpit and preach a sermon. Because they're just not ready for that. That's a war that they're just not ready to go to. And look, I've heard a lot of people preach sermons that are under the age of ten. And I'll tell you what, it's just like they're just not ready for it. Right? You can just tell by the way they preach. And it's not an insult to them because they're zealous and excited but they're just not ready for it. Okay? Now we might have a preaching night where you have people that are teenagers that maybe they get to preach a ten minute sermon. And look, if somebody's very mature and they've proven themselves, I'm not saying it's impossible for a sixteen or seventeen or eighteen year old to preach a sermon sometime. But you know, we have basic principles from the Bible for a reason. Because the truth is when you're young, you're a little bit stupid. That's just the way it works. When I was young, I was less mature. Right? The Bible says when you become a man, you put away childish things. Well the indication is when you're a child, you do a lot of foolish and childish things. Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child. That's the way it works. Right? When you're seven, eight, nine, ten years old, you're not ready. And so a basic principle is twenty years old as a man. It says in verse thirty, if anything be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. And what Paul's saying is, if there's somebody getting up to preach behind the pulpit, and then you're sitting down and you have this great thing that comes to your head that you want to say, you know, you don't just raise your hand and scream from the rooftop. Right? Because God is not the author of confusion. And you might have something that you say, man, I want to say this, Brother Stuckey, you miss this when you're preaching this. Well, maybe I skipped it for a reason. Or maybe it's something I'm not aware of. But look, if you stand up and you just start preaching for thirty seconds at your seat, it's going to lead to confusion. And people are going to think, what's going on here? And look, another application we can make is that would be the same thing if you're preaching the gospel and that happens. Right? When you're preaching the gospel, you know, you have two people that are going together. One person's the speaker, the other one's the silent partner. If you have both people kind of fighting to talk, it's going to lead to confusion and madness. Now, I'm not saying there's never a time for the silent speaker to speak up and say something, but we want to do things as decently and as in order as possible. Right? And see, this is a principle we have from the Bible. Verse 31, for he may all prophesy one by one that all may learn and may be comforted. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. And what that's saying is, you do have the ability to control yourself. Right? We're not Calvinists, we're just robots where it's just like, whatever God makes me say is what I'm going to say. It doesn't work that way. Right? You have control over yourself. You can control yourself. Then it says in verse 33, for God is not the author of confusion, but of peace as in all churches of the saints. Verse 34, let your women keep silence in the churches. Now, here's the thing. When I'm reading the Bible, I want you to keep in mind, I didn't write this book. Right? It's not like I'm Joseph Smith or some modern day prophet or apostle that wrote my book and says, you know what, I'm speaking the words of God, God gave me a special revelation. I'm just prophesying what the Bible already says. And the Bible says, let your women keep silence in the churches. For it is not permitted unto them to speak, but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. Now, you say, Brother Stuckey, what does that mean, keeping silence in the churches? Does that mean that during the singing, the ladies are not allowed to sing? Well, no, that would be a wrong application. Because the context here is during the teaching and the preaching of God's Word. And so when it comes to the teaching and the preaching of God's Word, it should be a man that's preaching. If I get sick this next week and I can't preach next week or whatever, there's going to be a guy that fills in and not a girl, not a lady, to preach a sermon. And it doesn't matter how godly the lady is, even if she's read the Bible more than anybody else at the church, it's not for women to do. And this is not an insult to women. There's just different roles between men and women. And instead of fighting against those roles like society wants to do, you know what, we should embrace the role that God has given us. Whether you're a man, whether you're a woman, whether you're a husband, wife, father, mother, child, whatever your role is, embrace the role that God has given you and do the best you can at that role. Another application is this. It's during the preaching of God's Word, not only should there not be a pastoral or a female preacher or whatever, but here's the thing. When I'm preaching sermons, one thing you'll oftentimes hear with a church like ours is people screaming amen. Or saying, that's right. And what that means is they agree with what I'm saying. When you're saying amen, you're saying, man, that's good. We agree with that. That's good preaching. And you're backing up what I'm saying. That's a good thing because it encourages you when you're a preacher. Anyone who preaches sermons knows that's true. When you're preaching sermons and no one's saying anything like this morning, you guys didn't get your coffee. I'm just like, nobody's saying amen. It's like, are you guys awake? What's going on? When there's amens going out there, it motivates you. And then when there's not amens and people aren't excited, you're wondering, am I saying something wrong? Am I not making sense or whatever? I mean, that helps motivate the person preaching. But here's the thing. If you are a lady saying amen, what you're saying is, I agree with the preaching, but that's not something for ladies to do. You say why? During the teaching of God's word, that is for men. And look, don't be offended at what I'm saying. If you disagree with what I'm saying, then you can read 1 Corinthians 14 and you can come to your own interpretation. But I'm just saying, during the teaching of God's word, that is a time for men to be the ones doing the teaching. Look, I'm not sitting here saying that when you walk inside this building, it's like, hello, how are you? Right now, that would be crazy. But what the Bible's saying is, when it comes to the preaching, it is something for men. Obviously, we sing praises together, we sing hymns together. After the sermons, people are talking, people are fellowshipping. That's great, right? We go soul-willing, that's for everybody. When we have lunchtime, everyone's allowed to eat. But when it comes to the preaching of God's word, that is something that's for men. That's what the Bible teaches. And once again, it's not just that it's for men, it's for people that are a little bit more aged. It's not just going to be some six-year-old boy that's going to come up here and preach a sermon. You say, why? It doesn't matter how zealous they are, they're just not ready for it. They're just too young for it. Now turn your Bible to 1 Timothy 2. And you know what, another application of this, of women not teaching in churches is, at our church, we do not have a Sunday school. And that's kind of unique for Baptist churches, because most Baptist churches have Sunday school, junior church, or whatever kid's ministry. And you know what, some of the reason why churches do this is because you can boost your attendance by quite a bit. We could have 50 kids running around here every single Sunday. But it's also a very dangerous place for kids when the parents are not there to watch over those kids. I mean, churches can be a dangerous place, not just Catholic churches. We understand pedophilia happens at Catholic churches, it also happens at Baptist churches. And when you have a children's ministry, it becomes a breeding ground for those people to come in. What I'm saying is, at most Baptist churches, they won't have a woman preaching a sermon, but what they'll do is have a woman teaching a Sunday school class and teaching boys and girls. And it's like, that's not something, that's not a role that the Bible has given for women. And look, I don't think that's a role for men either, because we don't have that at our church. So I don't think that's for anybody, right? But I want you to understand something, that at some churches, they'll look at the person preaching the sermons, and then what they'll do is every once in a while have some sort of, you know, like ladies Bible seminar, where basically the wife of the pastor will get up and preach a sermon to ladies. And they won't call it a sermon, but they'll open up the Word of God and they'll basically preach a 30 minute sermon. Well, look, my wife is never going to do that, right? It's not right, okay? Now, you said, brother Stuckey, are you saying women can never teach? Well, let's look at what it says in 1 Timothy chapter 2. 1 Timothy 2. And look, as I said, you know, we're looking at basic principles of war and making applications to back up things we already believe. I'm showing you other scriptures to verify the things that I'm saying. 1 Timothy 2, verse 9. And like men are also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broided hair or gold or pearls or costly array, but which becometh women professing godliness with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. So the Bible's telling us that Adam was the head of Eve, and she did not have authority over the man, okay? Now, here's the thing, though. If you are a lady in this room and you're a mom, you are the authority over your children, whether they're boys or girls. In that home, it goes husband, wife, children, right? The mom's the authority over the kids, whether they're boys or girls, right? We understand that. And obviously the Bible speaks about women teaching their own kids, so there's nothing wrong with that. But what it's saying is that the husband is basically the head of the household, okay? Now it says here in verse 14, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding, she shall be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. And when the Bible's saying she shall be saved in childbearing, what it's saying when you cross-reference is that by having children, it will save her. Because if you have too much free time, it can lead to problems in your life, both for men and women. David had free time, and then he gets into trouble. And the Bible speaks about a lot of gossiping in 1 Timothy. And look, reality is that's something that women can struggle with, okay? But before you get mad at what I'm saying here and say I'm a big sexist, it's like I'm just reading to you what the Bible says, and I'm just explaining it. And realize this. It says that the woman does not usurp authority over the man. But here's the thing. Even though I'm the authority over my wife, I'm not the authority over any other woman in this room, right? It's not saying that men are above all women. That's not what the Bible's saying. What the Bible's saying is in that home, the husband is the head of that home. That's the way it works. But I don't go around and tell your wife what to do. I mean, if you're a husband in this room and you're married, you are the head of that home, not me. I preach sermons, but I don't leave the pulpit and then tell you what to do in your personal home. That's your choice. Now if you ask me for advice, I'll give you my opinion or tell you what the Bible says. But at the end of the day, it's up to you to make your decisions. Go to Titus chapter 2. Titus 2. Titus 2. Now one example of what I'm talking about is, and you might have followed this or not, I don't think it's necessarily in the news in the Philippines, but if you have a lot of American friends that's been all over the news, there's this case of this teenager whose name is Kyle Rittenhouse. And look, I agree with what the decision was. He was not guilty. He defended himself. There's nothing wrong with defending yourself. If somebody attacks you and you kill them, there's nothing simple about that. If your life is threatened, and that's what took place. But I do want you to understand something. A 17-year-old should not be going down to a riot where they're burning down buildings and you've got a bunch of drunk idiots in reprobates. It's like, what are you doing there? And see, what I'm saying is, a 17-year-old is just a little bit naïve with the way the world works. Because when you're 17, you believe it's impossible to die. Whether you're saved or not, you think you have eternal life when you're 17, right? You feel like no matter what you do, you're going to be okay because you're young. And look, this kid went down there and all of a sudden he's around a bunch of angry reprobates that are burning things down and rioting. And what happens? Well, they start charging him, trying to kill him. He defends himself, he kills a couple of people, gets away. Look, he's not guilty, but what I'm saying is he shouldn't have been there to begin with. If there was a major riot going on here for whatever reason, you know what I would suggest? I would say get home before it's dark and stay inside and make sure you're safe. There's just no place. It's just not a safe thing. And look, here's the thing. If I was 17 years old, I might do the same sort of thing and just be naïve and think I'm going to be okay, I'm just trying to help out. But you know what? When I'm 37, I'm like there's no way. They that be drunken are drunken in the night. Rioting takes place in the night and when rioting is going on, it's just like that is some place I'm going to stay away from. I'll give you an example. I'm going to confess my faults one to another. And look, I've never killed anyone. That's not what I'm confessing. But when I was 18 years old, I was in college and in America, American football is the big sport. Basketball is number two, but American football is number one. I don't understand why you call a sport like this football because this is using your foot, this is football, and I'm a real football fan. But American football is what's popular in America. And you know what? In college, the college football games are like the big thing. And so I went to some college football games when I was a freshman and I was a sophomore and everything. And our first year, when I was a freshman, I was 18 years old, West Virginia had basically the greatest year or the second greatest year they've ever had. They beat two teams that were ranked in the top five. They beat the Miami Hurricanes and the Virginia Tech Hokies. And what's common is that when you win a big game, basically the crowd rushes the field when you win a home game and you cheer and it's really crowded on the field and everything. But they were worried about that in college sports because they were afraid somebody would get trampled so it was illegal and you were not allowed to do it. So if you rush the field, there's police there and they're using pepper spray and everything. Well, you know, I'm 18 years old and our team just won this massive game and a bunch of people are rushing the field so me and my friends, we do that. We drop like 15 feet down from the stadium, we're running around and everything. Look, I look back and say that's kind of stupid. Even though I wasn't planning to do anything illegal, I wasn't doing anything wrong, I wasn't going to break anything, it's just not the safest place to be. And then that night, we get the big win and then what's a common practice in West Virginia, my home state, is you burn couches when you win football games. I don't understand this but that's what West Virginia is famous for and you burn couches if you get a big win, you burn couches if you get a big loss. Now I would never burn my own couch, I don't really see what the purpose is. Now here's the thing, me and my friends, we're not going to burn a couch, we're not going to burn a building. We were 18 years old, we're like, hey, let's just go downtown and watch this. It's entertaining, it's exciting. Then the police are out and everything like that. Look, that's a dangerous situation to be in. I wasn't burning anything down but, you know, it's a pretty stupid thing to do. But see, it's something that someone who's 18 years old would do because they're just not mature enough for the way the world works. It's a dangerous place out there, it's just not a place to be. At midnight, where there's police out and people are getting drunk and throwing beer bottles and everything, burning couches, people are being arrested, you might happen to have something happen to you because you're just at the wrong place at the wrong time. It's not a good place to be, right? So I'm not insulting this kid who got declared innocent, I'm just saying that's just the way people are that are young. And see, that's why the Bible has a general principle. You're going off to war, it's like 20 years old and men and 20 years old and older. Because they're more mature, they're more able to handle themselves, okay? Titus chapter 2, verse 3. Titus 2, verse 3. The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as become with holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things, that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Now, here it talks about wives or ladies that are basically teaching things and it talks about people that are aged women, people that are older. And aged does not necessarily mean a set age, it's basically speaking toward experience. Because if you see what's being described, it talks about being a mom and a wife, right? So let's say that there was a lady who was 70 years old but she doesn't have any kids and she was never married. Well, she'd have a hard time giving advice on how to be a mom because she doesn't have experience. But let's say somebody gets married when they're 19 years old and then they have four kids that they've raised and then they've been a mom for 15 years. Well, you wouldn't say somebody that's in their 30s is old, right? At least I'm in my 30s so I don't consider you old if you're in your 30s, okay? But you wouldn't say someone who's in their 30s is old but it would be aged in this context because they have experience to actually teach something. I know that when our son Zeph was born, you know what, you think you're ready before your baby's born but then all of a sudden, once the baby's born, you have questions that come up. You just don't know, right? You know, your child is having trouble breathing and you're like, oh, what am I going to do? Well, then you message ladies at the church and then they say, hey, take this medicine, eat this fruit or whatever and then it works because they have that experience. But see, you couldn't take this passage and say, well, see, women can get up and preach a sermon because that's not what they're teaching here, okay? And I don't think there's anything wrong with a woman teaching the Word of God if somebody asks for advice and they say, well, you know, this is what the Bible says. You know, it could help you out, right? I'm not saying you shouldn't use the Bible if a woman comes to you with questions. What I'm saying is it's not right to have some sort of ministry where you're preaching sermons or teaching the Word of God because that's just not the role that God has given women. And look, this is not an insult to women. People hear this and they're brainwashed by the world and they think it's being insulting. How is it insulting to embrace the role that God has given you? How is that an insult? Men and women are different. Let me be honest, it can be stressful preaching every single week, coming up with sermons, something exciting, something interesting, right? And, you know, making sure that what I'm saying is correct. It's not like, wow, it's like, you know, it's so exciting all the time preaching sermons. So, look, you know, don't have this attitude. Man, it's not fair. I don't get to preach a sermon. Look, I enjoy preaching sermons. I like teaching the Word of God and everything. But what I'm saying is it's just like I would be perfectly happy being a member of a church and just serving God. There's nothing wrong with that. I mean, most people in our church never preach sermons, but they're going soul winning. They're serving God just as much as I am. There's nothing wrong with that, right? See, ladies can teach their kids. That's the role that moms should embrace, that they have the ability to teach their kids. And you know what? You can have an impact on people for the rest of their lives. If you train your kids to love God and they become soul winners, you know what? You invested in that and you had a major part in them loving God, okay? Now turn in your Bible to Judges 14. Judges 14. Judges 14. And look, we're seeing a general principle of a number 20 years old and upward, but obviously maturity is not necessarily the exact same for every single person. I mean, you meet people that are in their 40s or 50s that aren't mature at all, right? So I'm not saying that if you're 20 that means you automatically, you know, you're mature and everything. And you know, quite honestly, when most people come to this type of church for the first time or start listening to sermons, there's a lot of immaturity there oftentimes. Now, I don't want to destroy somebody's zeal to serve God. So when somebody's a little bit overexcited, you know what? I don't try to just, you know, completely just destroy that even if I think they go overboard. But what I do try to do is redirect that zeal in the right way. And I'll give you an example when I'm talking about the dangers of being a little bit too excited and not understanding how the world works. And this has not necessarily happened here in the Philippines, but I'm sure it will. But one thing that's very common in America is you go in for a job interview and then they're like, well, you said this on Facebook eight years ago. And they'll just pull up your history. They can easily do that. They do that all the time. Or you could be working a job and then they'll say, well, seven years ago you made this comment about homosexuals. And you can get fired because of something you said out of your own zeal. I'm not telling you not to defend the things you believe. I'm not trying to make you watered down. I hope you understand this. But I just want you to understand, you know what, if you as a Bible believing Christian are completely 100 percent open about everything you believe, you know what, companies are not going to want to hire you. It's like you're saying Catholics are going to hell. It's like a World War III argument and I'm for peace. But when I speak, they're for war. That's the way it works. Right? And so you've got to be wise about some of these things. And quite honestly, you know what, most people that are teenagers, they're not that wise about stuff like that. And look, I wasn't either. When I first got saved and got a fire for God, it's just like I did a lot of foolish things. I'm still trying to block them out from my mind. But I was zealous. I was excited. I was serving God. I was doing right. And many times we have people that come to our church that are like that and that's great. And I don't want to destroy that zeal. But what I also know is that, you know what, as time goes by, you become more mature and you understand more how the way the world works. So it makes sense that God would give a principle of 20 years old and upward. As I said, we're just drawing symbolism from this. You can't make a perfect example from this, but you can use things to back up things we already believe. One principle of war is that, according to the Bible, it was men aged 20 years old and older. Principle number two is this. If you attack people, they will attack you back. I mean, I know this is some deep doctrine that I'm teaching here. You attack someone, they're going to attack you back, right? That's the way it works. If you walk down this street and just slap someone across the face, they're going to come back at you. They're going to swing for the fences. They're going to try to knock you out. I mean, who knows what's going to happen? You attack someone, they're going to attack you back. That's the way the world works. Judges 14, turn to Judges 14. You might say, brother, that's such basic knowledge, but why is it that countries can't figure this out? The biggest countries that are guilty about this are the United States of America and Israel, because they attack people all the time and they get attacked back. It's like, all right, we're going off to war because they attacked us. It's like, you attack them first. Or America will cut off the supply for a country to make money, because America has that power. They can just decide this country is just not going to make any money anymore. They have the resources and the ability, and they do that to a country. Well, of course that country is going to attack back, right? You're starving them, right? You're cutting off their ability to make money. If you land the first shot, they're going to come back at you. Animals are afraid of humans. Isn't that what the Bible teaches? But here's the thing. If you attack an animal, it might attack you back. It might run, but it might attack you. A dog and a cat's not going to do anything, but then all of a sudden you just start annoying it. It's going to start clawing at you or attack you. This is the way it works. You say, why? Because when you attack someone, they attack back. That's the way it works. Judges 14, verse 15. And it came to pass on the seventh day that they said unto Samson's wife, Entice thy husband that he made it clear unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee in thy father's house with fire. Have ye called us to take that we have? Is it not so? And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not. Thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee. And she wept before him the seven days while their feast lasted, and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him, and she told the riddle to the children of her people. So what's happening is Samson is basically gambling. He's gambling, and you can see from verse 16 that he loves his parents more than his wife, according to his own words, because he says, if I didn't tell mom and dad, why would I tell you? That's obviously the wrong philosophy for someone who's married. But then we see in verse 18, he eventually tells the riddle, and it says in verse 18, And the men of the city said unto him in the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If he had not plowed with my heifer, he had not found out my riddle. Now, when he says with my heifer, he's referring to his wife. He's calling her a female cow. That's only a compliment in India and Nepal, to call your wife a cow. Any other country, that is not a compliment. And so he calls his wife a female cow. Obviously, you know what, that's obviously wrong to do, to criticize your wife publicly, and other people are hearing it and everything. Obviously, Samson had a lot of relationship problems. Verse 19, And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them, which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house. But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend. So here in verse 19, Samson and his wife have a fight, and then all of a sudden, he goes home to his father's house. So basically, Samson's pouting. He's the strongest guy in the world, but he gets in a fight, and he just goes home to mom and dad. And I'm sure he's just criticizing his wife and everything like that. And then what happens, because he's gone from his wife, is that the father of his wife gives his daughter to another man. You say, why? Well, obviously, especially in this culture, the husband's providing financially for that family. And then all of a sudden, you've got a woman who's on her own, and the father's looking at the situation like, what happened? Where'd the husband go? I mean, he just killed thirty people. He's gambling. He's left the home. It's like, I don't think most father-in-laws would be happy with their daughter marrying that kind of guy. And it's not like he's communicating with them, as far as we know, because obviously, there's no cell phones. There's no Internet. Unless he sends somebody to tell something, which the Bible doesn't mention, so I don't think that's the case, he just kind of gets in a fight and just leaves his wife for a period of time. And obviously, enough time went by where the father's just like, I guess he's gone from her. I guess he basically sort of divorced her, got rid of her. And so he gives his daughter to another man. Now, what the father does is also wrong as well, but we're highlighting what Samson is doing and what takes place. Judges 15, verse 1. But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid, and he said, I will go into my wife into the chamber, but her father would not suffer him to go in. So basically, Samson's gone for a while, and he thinks he's going to come back, and everything's going to be the same. Verse 2. And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her. Therefore I gave her to thy companion. Is not her younger sister fairer than she? Take her, I pray thee, instead of her. Now, that would be a really messed up relationship, if all of a sudden he was married to this one woman, then married her younger sister right after that. That would be a very strange dynamic, but that's what's going on in the story. Verse 3. And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless in the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure? So in verse 3, Samson is saying that he's doing something that's wrong. But he says, I'm more blameless. He's saying, I'm justified in what I'm about to do because of what they've done to me. Okay? Even though I'm doing them a displeasure, I'm still more blameless than them, because of the things they've done to me. Verse 4. And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burn up both the shocks and also the standing corn with the vineyards and olives. So he basically destroys all of their money. Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire. So the Philistines see this, and they say, well, Samson did this to us, so we're just going to kill his wife and her father. Right? And it says here in verse number 7, And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. So Samson says, You did something to me, I'm going to fire back at you, and then I'm going to stop. Then I'm going to cease. The problem with this philosophy is that when you attack someone, they're going to attack back. You say, I'm just going to punch this person, and then I'm done. But no, they're going to punch you back. And then you're going to go back at them. That's the way it works. And at the end of the day, when you're reading this story, it really doesn't matter who started it or who's more to blame. The end result is just destruction for everybody. Right? It says, going forward to verse 10, And the men of Judah said, Why are you come up against us? And they answered, Divine Samson, are we come up? To do to him as he hath done to us. Verse 11, Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock, eat him, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? What is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. And what you've got is two sides that are admitting they've done wrong, but they're justified to do wrong because of what was done to them. And you read this story, and it's very foolish. At the end of the day, one of these sides has to just decide, I'm going to stop. I'm willing to lose the battle. They can get the last shot. But you know what? The reality is, even though this is funny when you're reading it, so to speak, because you're reading this story and it seems so ridiculous, isn't this the way that fights happen in marriages? Both sides are going at one another. And then the attitude is, I'm going to do to them what they did to me. Right? And then all of a sudden it gets this battle where it gets worse and worse and worse and worse and worse. At the end of the day, you have to be willing to forgive and just say, hey, you know what? It doesn't matter what they did to me. I'm just going to start over. I'm going to forgive them. It's not worth it because attacking them back is not going to benefit you. It doesn't help you. It's better to lose the battle because otherwise your life is going to be destroyed if you have this attitude. Look, if a coworker does something wrong to you and they gossip about you and they lie to you, the temptation in the flesh is to do the same thing to them. But it's just going to get worse and worse and worse and worse and worse. Right? We go out soul winning. We run into some heretic. And then they get the last word and they say something mean. And then you're like, all right. And then you give another verse. It's all right. I'm done. But then they say something. You're like, no. You're not going to get the last word. And then you go back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. At least to the third point, point number one, when it comes to wars, it's men only. Point two, if you attack someone, they're going to attack back. Point three, choose your battles wisely. Choose your battles wisely. Because of the fact, if you attack someone and they're going to attack you back, you need to make sure you choose your battles wisely. And you know what the truth is? Most battles are not worth fighting. Most potential fights, it's better to just say, you know what? It's just not worth it. Turn to Judges 6. Judges 6. In history, there's something known as a Pyrrhic victory. Pyrrhic or Pyrrhic victory. And it was named after a Greek named Pyrrhus, who was basically a general for the army over there. And what a Pyrrhic victory is, is when you basically win a battle, but it actually harms you so much that it causes you to lose the war. You know, you've heard the expression win the battle, lose the war, or lose the battle, win the war, something such as that. And basically, he put in so many resources to these two battles during the war. And he said, I refuse to lose these battles. I have to win this battle. But what took place is he used up all of his resources. He lost the war because he put up too much energy into that. And the reality is, there's many battles out there that are like that. As an example, I just said with soul winning, I mean, you can get in arguments with someone who's a false prophet, and here's the thing. I am confident that if you read your Bible, you can win that debate. You can win that argument 90 plus percent of the time. I'm confident of that. You say, Brother Stuckey, you know, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, they know so much, but they do not. They don't know much about the Bible. What they know is a couple topics. I mean, Jehovah's Witnesses are experts on the name of God, where they think they are. That's all they know. They know a couple really strange things that nobody even really knows much about. Like, you know, they're all about blood transfusions are this major sin. And it's like, well, prove to me that blood transfusions are biblical. Well, that's not something people normally think about because it's like number 700 on the list of priorities of stuff to study. They can sometimes win specific arguments because they're studying on it. They don't know very much about the Bible in totality. They just know the things that they've been taught by the Watchtower. But here's the thing. If you go soul winning, what is the war? Well, the war is to win people to the Lord. Isn't that our goal of going soul winning? Our number one goal for soul winning is to get people saved. Of course we want people to come to church and join the church and everything. That's generally something you're going to strive for after they get saved and listen to the Gospel anyway. But your number one goal is to get people saved. Look, if you come back this afternoon and you're all excited and say, man, I just won this big argument and everything. I just crushed this Jehovah's Witness. He gave me this verse and I came back with this. I made him, I mean, he was crying. I said, oh, great. Did you get anybody saved? No, you spent an hour talking to someone that's not receptive to the Gospel. I get it. In the flesh, that's fun. I used to debate with cult members in the past. And then as you start going soul winning more, you start realizing the vanity of something like that. It's a waste of time. When I was in college, I used to study creation and evolution stuff all the time because you'd run into a lot of people talking about evolution. And it's like when I would run into people like that, I'd spend 45 minutes just arguing about biology and all these different things. Well, what's the purpose of that? Does that get them saved? No, it doesn't. When we're going soul winning, the war is to get people saved. So you might win arguments and debates, but you're causing yourself to lose the war. Because at the next door, they might listen and end up getting saved. Let me give you an example of this in the Bible. Let's compare two people. Judges chapter 6, verse 34. But the spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, and Abazer was gathered after him. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also was gathered after him. And he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali, and they came up to meet them. So we've got a situation where Gideon's involved in war, he's involved in battles, he's outnumbered, and he's trying to rally people up to fight for him. And Abazer is gathered together after him, gathered against him. Go to chapter 7, verse 24. So in chapter 6, he sends messengers out, gathering people up. But then in chapter 7, verse 24, notice what it says. And Gideon sent messengers throughout all Mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Beth-bera and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters unto Beth-bera and Jordan. And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeb, and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeb they slew at the winepress of Zeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan. So what takes place is that Gideon's involved in a battle, and look, if you're involved in the middle of a war, you're just trying to do whatever to win the war, right? You know, you don't have time to necessarily stop and be super. He's just trying to get whatever done to get the job done. Then later on, he's going to call the men of Ephraim when the battle's almost over to finish the job, okay? Well, notice the reaction in chapter 8, verse 1. And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus, that thou callest us not? When thou wentest to fight with the Midianites, and they did chide with them sharply. So they're trying to start a fight with them. And they're mad, and they're saying, hey, why didn't you call us earlier? Why didn't you ask us to join earlier? And they're mad about it. And I would presume why is because they look like they're getting less glory because they weren't involved for the whole thing, and they want more popularity or fame and everything. And they're mad that they weren't involved for the whole thing, right? Well, Gideon's the leader in a war, and he just won the war. It was a stressful situation. And now he has people criticizing him. In the flesh, it would be very easy for Gideon to just come back at them and scream at them, right? Like, you know, we won the battle. Like, why are you criticizing me? But notice what Gideon does here in verse 2. And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison of you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? And what he's saying is, you know what? What I did was nothing compared to you. It's like, yes, I was involved in the whole battle, but the gleaning of the grapes, the leftovers, you killed those two kings. What you accomplished was more than me. And what he's doing is he's avoiding the battle. Doesn't the Bible say a soft dancer turneth away wrath? So if somebody comes at you really angry, what you should do, if possible, is have a soft answer. To avoid the fight altogether, you say, why? Most battles are not worth fighting. Right? You can get involved in lots of battles in life, but most battles, you know what? It's better to just be humble and let yourself lose that battle so you're not involved in this major war that's taking place. Go forward to Judges 12. Judges 12. And the end result is the men of Ephraim, their anger's abated, they're not mad anymore, and he avoids a fight. Judges 12. Now, look, in that situation, I believe the men of Ephraim are wrong. I believe they have a bad attitude. I believe that they want to get the glory for it and they're just using whatever excuse and then they're just complaining and criticizing. I think that they were wrong in that situation, but you know what? It's still better to let yourself lose a battle, even if you're right, in order to avoid that fight. And look, this is very simple and basic advice, but you know what? It would really help us in our lives if we apply this because it's very difficult. In our flesh, when we're right, we want people to know we're right. Right? I mean, if we're right about a situation, it is very hard to let somebody else have the last word and make it look like you lost that argument or whatever. But honestly, most of the time, it's just not worth fighting those battles. I'm not saying it's never a time to fight a battle. That's not what I'm saying. Obviously, you have to use wisdom, but what I would say is most of the battles we fight in life, it would be better off just saying, you know what? It's just not worth it. Another person that we have is Jephthah. Judges 12, verse 1. And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together and went northward and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passest thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? We will burn thine house upon thee with fire. So look, the men of Ephraim have a bad attitude. Right? It was just a couple chapters ago, they're criticizing Gideon. Now they're criticizing Jephthah. They have no respect for the authority. Right? They're saying the same sort of thing. It's like, how dare you do this? We're going to burn down your house. Now what would be the best answer? Something that Gideon said, right? He avoided the fight altogether, but Jephthah does not follow that advice. Notice what it says in verse 2. And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife for the children of Ammon, and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands. And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the Lord delivered them into my hand. Wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day to fight against me? And what Jephthah's saying is, look, you weren't really much of a help. We needed help. You weren't there. Now you're criticizing me, and I put my life. My life was on the line, and you're doing nothing. And now you're criticizing. Is Jephthah correct? Yes, he is. What he's saying is true. What he's saying is right. But is that the best response to have? Because Gideon avoided a fight altogether. Jephthah just started an all-out war. Verse 4. Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim. And the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites and among the Manassites. And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites, and it was so that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over, that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay, then said they unto him, Say now, Sibyleth. And he said, Sibyleth, for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him and slew him at the passages of Jordan, and there fell at that time the Ephraimites forty and two thousand. This is obviously a very famous story in the Bible, where basically because they didn't use the language at a young age, their mouth wasn't able to form certain sounds. Something where you have to be trained at a young age. It's kind of like if I'm saying M-G-A, manga, sometimes it sounds like manga. Okay? Because it's a very awkward and hard sound to make, especially if I'm speaking fast. Right? Manga casa lama, right? It sounds something like that when I'm speaking fast, because it's not a form that you normally say at a young age. Or people that learn Spanish will have trouble, you know, if they didn't grow up speaking, like rojo, like rolling the R as something that's oftentimes very difficult for people. And it's like this for every language. There's certain sounds that are just very hard to say. So we have this famous story. But the cause of this famous story, even though the Ephraimites were wrong, it's also because Jephthah was unwilling to pass over their transgressions. And all I'm telling you is that in life, most battles we fight are not worth fighting. Now look, I'm not telling you to back down and not defend what you believe here today. I'm just saying you have to be wise in the fights that you have. You can't just be involved in every single fight. Every time somebody does you wrong, it's like World War III. I mean, you go to McDonald's and you order a cheeseburger, and then they give you, you know, a double cheeseburger or whatever. It's just like, what? It's probably not worth causing a fight about it. Or you order a double cheeseburger. No one's going to complain if you get an extra, you know, meat. But you order a double cheeseburger, and then all of a sudden you end up getting a single cheeseburger. I mean, is it really the end of the world? Right? Now I'm not saying that you can't be polite and just kindly mention if you would choose to. I usually personally just say, well, it's not that big of a deal. Right? If I order something, if I order a Coke Zero and they give me a Coke, it's just like, it's not worth it to me. It's just like, it's not the end of the day. Right? It's perfectly fine. All I'm trying to say is this, that if you were to really stop and look at your life, you could be involved in a fight every single hour. Every time somebody did you wrong, somebody sits in your seat at church, you're angry about it, so that's another fight. It's like, you've got to choose your battles wisely in life, because you only have so much energy to fight. So what are our three principles? Number one, when it comes to fighting wars, it was men only aged 20 years old and younger. A couple applications are that, you know, when it comes to these sorts of battles, it's not something for ladies, but it's also not something for people that are young because they're just not mature enough usually. Number two, if you attack people, they're going to attack you back. Now, I'm not saying you should never criticize someone. I mean, I've called out false prophets. I've criticized other churches from time to time. I wouldn't say it's something I do all the time though, like every single week, because if I'm starting fights with every church in town, you know what, they're going to be attacking back. It's not worth it to me. Right? And that leads to point number three, the final point is this, you know what, choose your battles wisely. I'm not saying it's wrong, I'm not saying it's sinful to be involved in fights, but be very wise about the battles that you fight. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting us here on this topic. And help give all of us wisdom, God, in terms of the battles we fight. Help us realize that oftentimes it's just not worth it, God. Help us just learn some principles from war here in the Bible. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen for our last song. Let's turn to hymn number 52. Hymn number 52. Hymn number 52. Let's sing a song, Zion's here. The weights, on the first ready, sing. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both. The weights for me are natural for both.