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John chapter 3 and verse number 25 in your Bible. John chapter 3 verse number 25. And verse number 25 reads, Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. And they came unto John and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing except to be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom which standeth and heareth him rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. Let's open in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today, and I just ask you to bless this time as I preach this sermon. I just ask you to give me boldness and clarity to deliver your message. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. And so we're continuing the series on the Protestant Reformation. We just have one more sermon after this. And what we're talking about in this sermon is the Baptist Brighter Heresy. The Baptist Brighter Heresy. Who's familiar with the Baptist Brighter Doctrine? You know, a lot of people in this room. And we're going to show it's a heresy, it's foolishness, it's not what the Bible teaches. And we've been showing in this series that our lineage as Baptists dates back to the soul winners 500 years ago. We showed how the Protestant Reformation is really like the Protestant hoax. You know, I was raised Protestant. It's a joke. And then last week we talked about the Reformed Baptists, which claimed to be that lineage, and yet they speak good of the Protestants and the Reformation and everything like that. And that's obviously false. But another group that has come in and says, you know what, we're the lineage, are the Baptist Brighters. Now let me give you just a brief overview of what this means, because some of you are familiar with it and some of you are not. I actually found out one month ago that the first church I went to after I was saved was a Baptist Brighter Church. I actually did not know that, but, you know, I was listening to a sermon and it was mentioned about the ABA and I was like, well, wait a minute. My church was an ABA church. Then all of a sudden I did some research and I found out that the first church I went to was a Baptist Brighter Church, okay, which I guess makes me pretty special according to the Baptist Brighters, okay. But here's what the Baptist Brighters basically teach. They teach that not everybody who goes to heaven is going to be in New Jerusalem. That there's basically the Church of the Firstborn and then there's a General Assembly. So if you're part of this Baptist Brighter Network and you've got this lineage, which we'll talk about what that means, you get to be inside and be in the Church of the Firstborn and then there's a bunch of saved people on the outside just looking in, right. And I don't know if they knock from time to time and they get to open the door and see what's going on, but they don't get to actually enter in to New Jerusalem like we do. They have to be like on the outside. So according to this doctrine, there's heaven, there's hell, and then there's kind of like the almost made it to heaven zone, okay. Well, and this is bizarre. You're never going to find this in the Bible. But what we're going to do is we're going to look at the five claims they make. We're going to disprove those. And then I'm going to show you beyond a shadow of a doubt what the Bible actually says about this, about how everyone who goes to heaven is going to be there together as one. And so let me just read this to you real quickly. In 1851, SBC preachers such as J.R. Graves disapproved of Protestants preaching in SBC pulpits and SBC churches receiving it in membership, those baptized in Protestant churches. So a man basically said, you know what, I'm sick of Protestants teaching at these Baptist churches. And look, if you've been here for the series, I'd be sick of that as well, right. It's like obviously I wouldn't support that, but I want you to understand sometimes an extreme is wrong on both ends, right. The Protestants wrong, but this Baptist brighter topic, they take the truth and go way over to this side, way outside of what the Bible says, okay. And so look, sometimes and actually usually the truth is kind of in the middle, right. I mean, if there's an argument between two people or there's like a court situation and they go between a judge, usually both explanations are wrong and it's somewhere in the middle, okay. And when it comes to this topic, yes, we're against, we're not Protestants, we're Baptist, but let's not go crazy with this and say that say people that are not part of this Baptist connection, they gotta be on the outside looking in because they didn't get this special baptism that they talk about, okay. Now in John chapter three, the first claim they make is this, okay. They claim that some people are the bride of Christ and some people are just the friend of the bridegroom, okay. They say some believers make up the bride of Christ and some people are just friends of the bridegroom. Notice what it says in John three verse 25, John three verse 25. Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. And they came on a John and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan to whom thou barest witness behold the same baptizeth and all men come to him. John answered and said, a man can receive nothing except to be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. And so what John the Baptist is telling them is this, hey, I wasn't trying to run this mega church ministry and be the most famous person in the world. They come to him and say people are leaving you and they're going to Jesus Christ and following him and he's like, that's great. It's like, is that supposed to be bad news? Okay. And see, that's important for all of us to remember, especially if you're leading a church or you're leading a ministry at church, hey, don't put yourself above the level and say, I want everyone to follow me or whatever. John the Baptist realized I'm doing this on behalf of Jesus Christ. And you know what? If people leave me to follow Christ, praise the Lord for that. Cause he's just fulfilling the will of what God sent him for. Okay. Well, in verse number 29, what he's going to do is he's going to give a story. He's going to give a parable. He's going to give an example. Okay. Notice what it says in verse 29. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom. Okay. On a wedding, there's only two people that matter. The bride and the groom. Okay. The bride is 98% of it that matters and the groom is 2%, right? But it's like on a wedding, 98% of the eyes look upon the bride to make sure, you know, it's the day of the bride, you know, but the only two people that matter are the bride and the groom. Nobody else matters. Okay. That's generally the way it works. Everybody cares about the bride and the groom. Okay. And so what John the Baptist is saying is yes, you know what? Jesus is the groom in this example and then the bride matters. But what he says is this, but the friend of the bridegroom, what he's saying is, you know what? I'm just a friend of the bridegroom in the example he's giving. I'm not the main event is what he's saying. I'm not the groom. I'm not the one getting married. I'm not engaged. Okay. It's like I'm the friend of the bridegroom is what he's saying. This is just a story. You don't form your doctrines off stories or parables. Okay. And they go crazy and they're forming. And I'm gonna show you their five biggest arguments I found. And this is one of their big arguments. This is just a story that John the Baptist is saying. Okay. He says, you know what? I'm the friend of the bridegroom basically, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. And the reality is that if you want God to increase, you must decrease. The more we decrease, the more God increases. Did you know that when a church grows, cause we've got a lot of people here, right? I mean, our church has grown significantly since it started, but did you realize as a church grows, every single one of us becomes a little bit less significant. If there's only five people at a church, then yeah, you know what? You're 20% of the church, okay? But as the church grows, you know what? What happens is all of us become a little bit less significant. And look, that's a good thing. Because we're not trying to lift ourselves up. There's gonna be a problem sometimes where people like a small church. They say it's great we're a small church. It's us four and no more. We're something special. But the reality is it's good when a church grows, okay? And there's more soul winners, more people living for God. And John the Baptist is saying, you know what? It's great that this ministry is growing and now I am less significant. And it's great people are following Jesus Christ. Now they go to this story and they say some people are the bride and some people are a friend of the bridegroom. Now we're gonna see later about the bride of Christ which they talk about. This isn't involving the bride of Christ though, okay? That's way later in the Bible. This is a story that John the Baptist is saying. But what the Baptist bridegroom teaches is this. Everybody in the Old Testament is a friend of the bridegroom, including John the Baptist because he died before Jesus resurrected. They teach we get to be or people that have this Baptist bridegroom thing, they get to be part of the church of the firstborn and John the Baptist and Moses and Eliza are on the outside looking in. That's what they teach. Now some of you lifted up your hands and wanna talk about this Baptist bridegroom doctrine. You might not have realized they taught that but that's what they teach. They teach that you know what? You're gonna be above John the Baptist and Moses and Eliza and Enoch. I mean, Enoch and Eliza already got to go to heaven, okay? They already went to heaven. They didn't even die and they went to heaven. But then at the very end, they're gonna be removed from being in the inner circle is what they teach. I mean, isn't that ridiculous? This is just a story. And to teach that everybody in the Old Testament has to be on the outside looking in, I thought God was not a respecter of persons. There's no respect of persons with God and how much more of a respecter of persons could you be if you say everybody born before Jesus doesn't make it into the church of the firstborn? I mean, do you realize that most of human history was before Jesus Christ, over two thirds of it? And none of them get to actually enter in, okay? Now turn in your Bible to 1 Corinthians 1, 1 Corinthians 1. So the first claim is the friend of the bridegroom claim, which you can see is ridiculous, okay? Now here's the thing, I mean, I don't believe that every Baptist brighter church is preaching a false gospel, okay? This is a very weird doctrine. This is heresy, but heresy is one of the works of the flesh. A saved person can fall into heresy. There's difference between heresy and damnable heresy. We're not talking about someone teaches that, why believe Muhammad died for us? Well, yeah, that's damnable heresy, okay? That will send you to hell. This is a stupid doctrine, but it won't send you to hell if you believe it. Are there Baptist brighter churches that teach the right gospel? Yeah, there are Baptist brighter churches that teach the right gospel. And so here's the thing, some of us got baptized in a Baptist brighter church, and we would love to have that special place in heaven above everybody else, but the truth is the truth, okay? And the reality is in heaven, we're all gonna be together as one, and the Bible teaches that, okay? So the first thing they say is the friend of the bridegroom claim. Another doctrine they claim is a heritage from John the Baptist claim, a heritage from John the Baptist. I feel bad for John the Baptist because it's all about John the Baptist. I don't know what it is about John the Baptist, but they just love John the Baptist, but then he has to be on the outside, okay? The heritage from John the Baptist claim. This is very confusing, but what they teach in Baptist brighter churches is that if you wanna be in the church of the firstborn, you must have been baptized by somebody, by immersion in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, who was also baptized by immersion in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, and a church with the right gospel, all the way back to John the Baptist. So basically over 2,000 years of human history, over 2,000 years, your baptism must, you must have a genealogy going all the way back to John the Baptist. And if the chain is broken one time in 2,000 years, you don't get to go to the church of the firstborn. You are part of the general assembly on the outside looking in. If it's broken one time, that means if 500 years ago, there was an unsafe false prophet pretending to be like-minded who baptized people, then that means our baptism today is not valid if you are passed down from that genealogy. I mean, isn't that bizarre and weird? I mean, it shows a lack of knowledge of history because when I talked about the Anabaptist, realized that for a lot of human history, believers were on the run for their lives, and they were not able to baptize and do things completely properly. On the run for their lives, and some of them did pouring, and look, I've said I'm not for that, but does that mean that your baptism today is not valid because 500 years ago something happened? That's ridiculous, okay? And look, I thought the Bible said genealogies don't mean anything. I mean, isn't that what it says in the New Testament? Genealogies are meaningless. And so look, if you must have a baptism lineage that goes back to John the Baptist, boy, your genealogy means a lot, right? Notice what they say in their booklet. When a person professes faith in Christ and petitions one of the Lord's churches for baptism, the church does not ask the petitioner, have you been immersed? But she asks the would-be member, do you have New Testament Baptist baptism? The question may be asked in a more direct manner, but to ask it in a less straightforward way may allow membership without scriptural baptism. Baptists beware. So basically, because I've baptized many people in this room, right? Now here's the thing, you say, Brother Stuckey, you didn't ask me if I had New Testament Baptist baptism before you baptized me. No, because I thought the Bible said, if thou believeth with all thine heart. I don't remember in the Bible where I have to ask someone, do you have New Testament Baptist baptism, okay? That's ridiculous, okay? And what they're saying then is this, not only are we not accepting Protestant baptisms, which I agree on, we don't accept infant baptism for a baby. I was baptized as a baby and then I got baptized after I got saved, because that's what the Bible teaches. But look, just because we're not gonna accept a baptism of a baby, that doesn't mean that you won't accept the baptism of someone who got baptized at another church by a believer, okay? Now look, many people I've baptized in this church and that was completely your decision. And the only thing we asked you is, do you know for sure you're going to heaven? Because if you know for sure you're going to heaven, I'll baptize you. Now many people in this room, you wanted to be baptized and the reason why is you weren't sure if your old church, if they had the right gospel and things like that, or maybe when you got baptized, you weren't for sure you're going to heaven and you've learned new things and you wanted to make it sure and praise the Lord for that. I agree with that, okay? But look, let's say somebody got baptized at Verity Baptist Church and then they moved to our church. Are we gonna make them get baptized again or ask them, do you have this New Testament Baptist baptism? That's weird. It's bizarre and it's going way overboard with what the Bible teaches about baptism. And look, everything we believe we prove with scripture. They didn't give you scripture, I will give you scripture. First Corinthians one, verse 10. First Corinthians one, verse 10. Now I beseech you brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and the same judgment. In a church, you need to have no divisions. You need to be united. Verse 11, for it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say that every one of you sayeth, I am of Paul and I have Apollos and I have Cephas and I have Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? What Paul is saying is that when you got baptized, they said in the name of the Father and the name of the Son and the name of the Holy Ghost, not in the name of the Father and the Son and Paul the apostle, right? He's saying you weren't baptized in my name. In the name of Paul the apostle, we baptize you. In the name of Matthew Stuckey, we baptize you. That's ridiculous. It's in the name of the Father and Son of the Holy Ghost, like it says in Matthew chapter 28. So here's what Paul's saying. It doesn't matter whose hands actually baptized you. As long as you were saved and you're at a church that's preaching the right gospel, that's fine. Let me ask you a question. Because look, obviously we believe in structure. We're not for free for all baptisms. We're not saying you get somebody saved and dunk them in your pool at home or whatever. That's not what we're saying. Here's what I'm saying though. If I break my arm tomorrow, does that mean we won't have baptisms for six months? You know what we'll do? I'll have someone on behalf of the church do the baptisms here. You say, why? My hands aren't magical. It's still on behalf of the same church preaching the same message of salvation. Look, I do the baptisms here, but if I break my arm, I separate a shoulder, I break a leg or whatever, and I can't do baptisms, the baptisms will keep on going. You say, why? Because these hands aren't magical. Look, at the first missions trip we had, there are men in this room that got baptized. I'm not sure, there might've been ladies too, I can't remember. But I know certain men at this church were baptized by me before I was ordained as an evangelist. You say, Brother Stuckey, why is that valid? Because it was on behalf of Verity Baptist Church by the authority of Pastor Jimenez. He said, I can't be here for the missions trip, but by the authority of Verity Baptist Church, we're gonna do baptisms. Nothing wrong with that. Why? It's based on the authority of the church, okay? Look, if we have deacons at our church one day, and we have deacons that baptize people on behalf of the church, if I'm not able to do it, or we have a soul winning event and I can't go to it, and they baptize people, and then six months later, it turns out the deacon was a heretic. Here's the thing though, on behalf of this church preaching the right message of salvation, it would still be valid. Because the hands aren't magical, and the church is preaching the right message of salvation. Now, if the church has the wrong message of salvation, that's different, okay? But I want you to understand something. There's nothing magical about the hands of anyone. Now, obviously, I do the baptisms here. We have structure, and we're gonna keep doing it like that. I'm just saying this though, that Paul the Apostle said, I didn't baptize everyone at the church of Corinth. Why? There's other people that were probably deacons at the church and things like that. And you know what? It was okay that other people did the baptisms. Did you know that in some big Baptist churches in the US where they have lots of baptisms, they can't have one person baptize everybody. They have many people baptizing at the same time. You say, why? Because they have lots of baptisms that take place. Okay? At Hammond, Indiana, they would do a lot of baptisms every Sunday, especially when they did soul-wanting events. And so they had multiple people doing the baptisms at the same time. Otherwise, it's a 20-hour service, okay? So let's not go overboard, because if it's on the authority of the church and you know you're saved and the church is preaching the right gospel, it's fine. It's valid. That's what Paul's saying, okay? He said, I thank God that I baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius, lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. And I baptized also the household of Stephanus, besides I know not whether I baptized any other. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ be made of none effect. And Paul says, you know what? My main goal was just preaching the gospel. Yes, I baptized some of you, but he didn't baptize everybody at the church of Corinth, okay? Now, here's what the Baptist writers will say though, that your baptism is so important that the person baptizing you, you must make sure that they have a lineage going back to John the Baptist. That's ridiculous, okay? Nobody knows what took place 500 years ago. And let me give you my opinion. I don't believe there's a single person in this world that has a baptism genealogy that would actually go back there. All it takes is the chain being broken one time in 2,000 years. Are you telling me there wasn't a single false prophet along the way? There wasn't a single time? I mean, this isn't 20 years. This is 2,000 years. So the question on your baptism is, were you saved? And where did you get baptized? What was the church teaching, okay? But you don't have to go back five generations and it's like, oh man, it turns out somebody was a false prophet. I just learned 250 years ago. Okay, that's ridiculous. Who baptized you? What was the church? What did you believe, okay? Go to Acts chapter nine, Acts nine. And look, here's my policy. By all means, if you question the authenticity of your baptism, we'll baptize you. I don't have a problem with that. Many people got baptized and they said, I'm not sure if my baptism was valid because of either my old pastor or maybe I learned new things or whatever. By all means, we'll baptize you then, okay? But what I'm saying is this, you don't have to have a genealogy going back to John the Baptist. Make it sure for yourself, but you don't have to make it sure from four generations ago. Say, brother, I wanna get baptized, but you know what? I don't think you have the right genealogy. So you know what? I'm gonna have to go to another church to get baptized because I'm not sure of the genealogy going back hundreds of years. That's weird. That's bizarre. Genealogies don't matter, the Bible says, okay? So number one, they say the friend of the bridegroom claim. Number two, they say the heritage from John the Baptist claim. Number three, they say the name John the Baptist claim. You say, what do you mean by that? They use this argument, John the Baptist was a Baptist because his name was John the Baptist, okay? That's a dumb argument. You say, why? John the Baptist was a Baptist because of what he believed, not because of his name. I have no problem with saying that Elijah was a Baptist. Why? They preached the same things that we preach, the same living God that we believe in, okay? They had the same beliefs, the same teaching. I have no problem with saying that from people in the Old Testament. But look, the reason why I'm a Baptist is not because of the name of John the Baptist. I'm a Baptist because of the beliefs of the Bible and what being a Baptist stands for, okay? The name is not significant. And here's where this gets really weird because they believe that your church has to have this Baptist lineage, okay? Well, turn to Acts 9 and let me show you something because here's the problem with this. Churches weren't called Baptist churches 2,000 years ago. Show me in the Bible where all these churches were Baptist churches. You'll never find it. Acts 9 verse 31. Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria and were edified and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost were multiplied. Now, was the Church of Judea called the Church of Judea Baptist Church? The Church of Galilea Baptist Church, does it say that? No, it's just a bona fide church in that area, okay? At the beginning, Christians were persecuted, right? So here's the thing. Nobody actually wants to start a church unless they're actually the real deal because they don't wanna get killed for something they don't believe in, right? So at the very beginning, you didn't really have the false prophets. Then after like 50 years, they came. So here's the thing. At the beginning, the first churches getting started were bona fide good churches. Then false churches started. And when false churches start, you can no longer say, hey, we're the Church of Manila. Now all of a sudden, it's like, well, you have to say something so people know what kind of church you are. Because if somebody says they're a Catholic church, I don't even need to look at their doctrinal statement. I'm not going. We know what they believe. If someone says they're a Pentecostal church, hey, you know what? I don't believe in getting possessed and speaking in tongues, okay? It's like, I don't need to visit. I don't need to see what they believe, okay? So here's the thing. Over time, people would call themselves certain names to identify the things that they believe. Now look, I have no problem with saying these churches were Baptist churches but because of what they taught and believed. Because we teach the same things the Bible teaches. It's not the name though. Okay, turn to Acts 13. Acts 13. I mean, the seven churches of Revelation, were any of them called Baptist church? No. The Church of Corinth? No. The Church of Galatia? No. The Church of Ephesus? No. The Church of Philippi? No. The Church of Thessalonica? No. How about in Acts 13 verse one? Now they were in the church that was at Antioch. It just has a location. The church that was at Antioch. Now look, I don't believe in starting a church today and saying it's the church of wherever because there's too many false churches out there. So you need to identify what you believe and what you teach by a name. Because look, if somebody's looking for a church to go to, if I'm on vacation looking for a church, I'm gonna type in Baptist churches in this location, right? Isn't that what you do? Why? Because you know the other churches are not gonna teach the things that you believe. Okay, so I do think it's good to say, hey, we're Baptist because that's showing what you believe. But here's what I want you to understand. If you go back 600 years ago, there were no Baptist churches by name. The Anabaptist 500 years ago, that was kind of the start of that. And that wasn't even Baptist. It was Anabaptist, meaning re-baptizers, where the enemies of the Anabaptists named them the re-baptizers because that's what they were doing. Just like we were called Christians because the enemy said your Christ followers were calling you Christians and the name stuck, okay? Turn in your Bible to Hebrews 12, Hebrews 12. I mean, throughout history, there are the Waldensians, the Paulicians, the Novationists, the Montanists. From what I've read, a lot of them taught the right thing and went soul-winning and things like that. But look, it's ridiculous to say you must be part of a church that has the correct name, correct Baptist lineage. What does the church teach? That's what matters. What does the church teach, okay? And anybody who gets saved, whether they get baptized or not, they're gonna be part of the church of firstborn in heaven, and we're gonna see that. Anybody who gets saved is just as saved as you. It's not that you're 100% saved and they're 75% saved, okay? Because they gotta get baptized at the right church in order to get to heaven. I thought salvation was believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, okay? Number four argument that uses this, they say that in Hebrews 12, we have the assembly and church of the firstborn, the assembly and church of the firstborn. Hebrews 12, verse 22, "'But ye are come unto Mount Zion "'and unto the city of the living God, "'the heavenly Jerusalem, "'and to an innumerable company of angels, "'to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, "'which are written in heaven, "'and to God the judge of all, "'and to the spirits of just men made perfect.'" So they go to verse 23 and they say, well, see, it's the general assembly and the church of the firstborn. So they say within New Jerusalem, only some people are part of that church of the firstborn, some are just part of the general assembly because it says and. Look, that is one of the dumbest arguments I've ever heard, because you could say that somebody is strong and mighty and those things mean the same thing, right? I mean, if you look at someone who's strong, you'd say, hey, he's strong and he's powerful. And look, throughout the Bible, doesn't the Bible do that? Oftentimes the word and connects things that mean the same thing. You say, why does he say and here? I'll tell you why. What is a church? What's the definition of that? A congregation or an assembly of believers. What is the Bible trying to do in Hebrews 12 verse 23? It's trying to define what a church is. It's an assembly because in heaven, we're gonna be in the same spot. So it's a church. We are Verity Baptist Church Manila. We are together, we're assembled together, we're congregated together. We're part of a different church than churches in other countries or other states or other provinces or wherever, different churches. Praise the Lord for those churches. It's not the same church, it's a different body. A body must be connected, okay? So when it says the general assembly, all it's trying to do is define to you what a church means. It means you're assembled together. And they look at this verse and this is like their big argument, okay? They say, well see, there's the assembly and the church of the firstborn. It's one in the same, my friend. A church is an assembly of people. And I'll prove that to you later on in the sermon. I'm just disproving what they say right now. Now turn in your Bible to Revelation chapter nine. Revelation chapter nine. Revelation chapter 19. Revelation chapter 19, sorry. Now I want you to understand something as we're going to Revelation 19. We're gonna look at what they say about the bride of Christ here right now. But I want you to understand something logically, okay? When a bride and a groom get married, understand something. They're not a bride and a groom two months before the wedding, right? It's logical, right? I mean, we had many people at our church get married since this church started and, you know, they were engaged before they got married. You know, most recently, brother Matthias' sister angel got married, you know, just over a month. Two months ago, they were prepared to get married but they were not a bride and a groom yet because they weren't married. You're the bride on the day of the wedding, right? Well notice what it says in Revelation 19 verse seven. Revelation 19 verse seven. Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made herself ready. Notice how it says is come. That's present tense. Revelation chapter 19, not now. Say, what are you saying, brother Stuckey? Here's what I'm saying. None of us are part of the bride of Christ right now. Say why? The marriage hasn't happened yet. Is come in Revelation chapter 19. So for these churches to get up here and say, we're part of the bride of Christ, have you not read the Bible? Because the marriage supper hasn't come, my friend. It is come in Revelation chapter 19. None of us are part of the bride of Christ right now. Why? We're only in Revelation 14 on Wednesdays. We haven't gotten to chapter 19 yet, right? I mean, it's like a couple months at the rate we're going, many sermons per, I mean, that's a couple months from now, okay? Look, we're not in Revelation chapter 19 yet. We haven't reached that time yet. So look, the marriage of the lamb is come. That happens all the way in Revelation chapter 19. Now they will say, well, in John three, John the Baptist talked about the friend of the bridegroom. Yeah, that's a parable. The bride of Christ happens in Revelation chapter 19. So look, none of us are part of the bride of Christ right now. One day we will be part of the bride of Christ if you're saved. That hasn't happened yet, okay? Verse eight, and to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, write, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the lamb. And he saith unto me, these are the true sayings of God. So look, the marriage supper of the lamb, it has not taken place yet. And look, every saved person is gonna be part of that, the bride of Christ, okay? Now turn in your Bible to Revelation chapter 21. Revelation 21. Now look, I'm sure that if you read their entire book, they have other foolish arguments. These are the big arguments I saw. I'm sure they have other stuff, but I'm gonna disprove you. I'm gonna prove to you beyond a shadow of a doubt that in heaven, everyone who's saved is gonna be together. Because what they say is basically, if you're before Jesus, you don't get to make it. Because in the Old Testament, they didn't have churches. Well, why did it say with Moses that he was part of the church in the wilderness? They were congregated together, and yeah, things were different, I understand that, but it was still a congregation of believers. They say everybody before Jesus Christ, they don't get to make it, and then few people after Jesus get to make it. Because here's the thing, this is kind of a cool doctrine like within 50 years of Jesus Christ, but it's been 2,000 years. And so at this point, to say that no baptism chain has been broken over 2,000 years, I think it's a little bit foolish. But notice what it says in Revelation 21. Let's see what it says here in Revelation 21, verse two. And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And so it talks about New Jerusalem here, and it mentions the bride, it mentions the husband. Go to verse 10, verse 10. Verse number 10, and I want you to notice this. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Now remember, in this holy Jerusalem, only some people are gonna be partaking in it, okay? There's gonna be a division according to them, not everyone. People in the Old Testament, they don't get to make it according to them. Now, I don't really know what verses they're using. I mean, they used one parable from John the Baptist. It means everybody in the Old Testament is cursed by God because of one parable that they don't know how to interpret, from John the Baptist. But here's the thing, they say nobody in the Old Testament. Well, notice what it says in verse 12. And had a wall great and high, and had 12 gates, and at the gates, 12 angels. And names written thereon, which are the names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel. Is that Old Testament or new? Old. I mean, why, if they don't get to go inside, why does it have the names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel? It sounds like people in the Old Testament got to go in. Right? The 12 tribes of the children of Israel, okay? Verse 13, on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had 12 foundations, and in them the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. So you have the 12 tribes of the children of Israel, you have the 12 apostles. What is God trying to tell you? Old and New Testament, together as one. Everybody. Everybody who's saved. And look, I don't know all these churches that teach these things, but here a lot of people believe weird things, like in the Old Testament, they're saved by works. So they only get to go to the General Assembly because they had a different salvation. They didn't have a different salvation. It was by grace, through faith, it's always been like that. Because the verse where it says, for all of sinned and come short of the glory of God, did you realize that people in the Old Testament sinned? I mean, isn't it so foolish to say that works saved you in the Old Testament? I mean, the reason why works don't save you today is because you've sinned. If works saved you in the Old Testament, according to the Bible, if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily, righteousness should have been by the law. It would have stayed that way, according to the book of Galatians. So look, when it comes to what it's saying here in Revelation 21, Old Testament, New Testament, together as one. Go to Ephesians chapter two. Ephesians chapter two. And look, you know, I don't know, the Baptists here are different than in America, because in the US, they really only hold to one heresy. Here, it's like the Baptist churches, they just combine all the heresies together and say, we got all of it. It's like in the US, this is so weird to me, because in the US, Calvinists and dispensationalists are mortal enemies, they hate one another. They absolutely hate one another, completely opposite of one another. And then coming here, people are like, yeah, the Baptist churches are mortal enemies. And then coming here, people are like, yeah, the Baptist churches are dispensational and Calvinist. I'm like, what in the world? I mean, those things don't really go together. And it's just like all these different heresies, they're like, let's just combine it in one, right? It's like the unholy trinity. We got Calvinism, dispensationalism, and the bride of Christ, Baptist bride of heresy, all together in one, we got it all, okay? It's weird, okay? Ephesians chapter two, Ephesians two. And let me just give you the context here in Ephesians two verse 20. And we'll get into the verses here in a second where it says in verse 20, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, okay? So look, the apostles and prophets, God is combining the Old Testament with New Testament throughout the entire Bible. But notice how Jesus is the chief cornerstone. Is it just to the New Testament apostles or is it also to the prophets? Also to the prophets as well. See, Jesus is the chief cornerstone to both the Old and New Testament, according to Ephesians two verse 20. The apostles and the prophets, New Testament and Old Testament. Why? Jesus is the way of salvation through all ages, from Adam and Eve until the very end. It's always Jesus Christ through the prophets and the apostles, the 12 tribes and the apostles, okay? Go to verse 11, Ephesians two verse 11. We're talking about the heavenly city, New Jerusalem here in Ephesians two. And I'll show this to you. Ephesians two verse 11. Wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision, by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that at that time you were without Christ being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. So it talks about being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and you see a division between the Gentiles and the Jews, okay? Now realize in the Old Testament, the 12 tribes were given specific land that they were supposed to go to, right? Now right when they got that land, a couple of the tribes are immediately complaining, saying, well, we don't wanna go to our land. The land's great over here, blah, blah, blah. And they're immediately rebelling against God. But look, eventually all the tribes rebelled against God. They don't have that land anymore, my friend. That was gone thousands of years ago. Now if they had stayed holy and reached the world with the gospel, like they were commanded, you know, and they had borne fruit like the fig tree was supposed to, the example, the parable, they were supposed to reach the world, they would've kept that land. But God quit using them greatly because they weren't reaching the world like they were supposed to. In the Old Testament, they were supposed to reach the world for the gospel, okay? Not just in the New Testament, they were supposed to reach everybody, okay? But they were greatly used, and here's the thing, the word of God was poured out to them, the 12 tribes, especially the tribe of Judah, the Jews. But guess what? They didn't do what they were supposed to. They became wicked, and the Bible speaks about how they killed the prophets of God. And eventually last that was sent was the son, and then they killed him too, Jesus Christ, okay? So here's the thing, in the Old Testament, realize this, Gentiles could get saved in the Old Testament though. Let's not teach weird things. Gentiles got saved in the Old Testament. Rahab, the harlot, okay? People of other areas were able to get saved, and they were able to link up with God's people if they wanted to, okay? But what God's showing you is this, God has broken down the middle wall of partition, and we are all together as one. There's gonna be no division in heaven. Like, oh, there's the Jews and the Gentiles, or the new IFB, and the non-new IFB, right? No, we're together as one, okay? Notice what it says, aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel, what is an alien? Well, it's not somebody who lives on Mars, as Brother Matthias was saying, right? Like, you know, we don't believe in aliens, right? Amen, that's exactly, we don't believe in aliens. What it's saying is a stranger, a foreigner, right? Aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel, and strangers, it's defining alien, from the covenants of promise, because they were promised and given a certain land, having no hope and without God in this world, in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Verse 14, for he is our peace, who had made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall partition between us. Now realize this, throughout the New Testament, God is always talking about how there is no wall separating the Jews and the Gentiles at all. There is no middle wall partition, you're together as one. What sense does it make to say God broke down the middle wall, but then all of a sudden he's gonna put a giant wall blocking the general assembly for making it into the church of the firstborn? It's like God got rid of the middle wall, he says you are one, but in heaven you're gonna be two. In heaven you're gonna have the church, and then the people that throughout all eternity can say, oh, I wish I could have made it. I wish I could have been part of that church, why didn't I get baptized at that church instead of that church? It's ridiculous, the Bible doesn't teach this. Go to verse 19, verse 19, verse chapter 19. Verse chapter 19, and it says in verse 19, now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God. Notice how it says you are fellow citizens together as one, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself, being the chief cornerstone, okay? So once again, it says the apostles and prophets, Jesus is the chief cornerstone, Old Testament, New Testament together as one, in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are builded together for inhabitation of God through the Spirit. I don't know about you, but it sounds like we're gonna be together as one, right? That doesn't seem like there's any sort of separation going on up in heaven. Go to Hebrews chapter 11, Hebrews 11, I'll show you beyond a shadow of a doubt here in Hebrews chapter 11. And look, you know, here's the thing, some doctrines that you hear taught in churches, you would never believe them by reading the Bible for yourself. I mean, you're never gonna find like, oh man, it looks like not everyone who goes to heaven really gets to make it into the inner circle. I mean, just weird doctrines. One of the ones Brother Matthias was mentioning was like the gap theory in verses one and two of the Bible. It's like you got a new believer who gets saved, you hand them a Bible, and then they're supposed to stop before verse two and say, there's a four and a half billion year gap. It's like, look, I've got a gap between verses one and two, but it's only like, you know, this, it's a pretty small gap, you know? It's not, I mean, I guess I believe in the gap theory. I got a little bit of a gap. I don't have this giant gap though of four and a half billion years. I mean, what in the world? Weird, all right? And look, when this Baptist brighter topic, look, before I'd heard somebody teach this, because here's the thing, I went to a Baptist brighter church and I didn't realize that they were Baptist brighter church. But look, reading the Bible through many times, I never even dreamt up something weird like this. I mean, it's so bizarre to say that, you know, that there's only certain people that go to heaven that actually get to make it into the inner circle. It's sort of similar to like when they say, well, some saved people have to burn for a thousand years in the lake of fire before they get to go to heaven. Right, I mean, there's that weird doctrine out there where you get saved, but if you're not a good saved person, you got to burn for a thousand years to cleanse. It's like, what, I mean, are you a Catholic? It's like, decide if you're a Catholic or a Baptist. Don't combine those together, my friend, okay? And so notice what it says in Hebrews 11, verse eight. By faith, Abraham. Now, I don't know, my memory's kind of foggy, right? Malili mutin akol, okay? Was Abraham old or New Testament? Old. Old. I'm not asking you guys trick questions. Like brother Jay's the only one confident enough to answer these things. Like not a trick question, all right? Old Testament, Abraham, right? Old Testament. By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed and he went out, not knowing whether he went. By faith, he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. Now, if you remember, he was told to leave his land, leave his father, leave his family, and he was literally told that, but that was meant to be an example, a picture, okay? Of actually leaving to be in heaven one day. Okay, I'll show this to you. Verse number 10. For he looked for a city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God, okay? Now, there's a lot of great cities that have been built in this world, but it says the builder and maker of this city is God, okay? Lots of great cities in this world, but God didn't build them with his hands, okay? So when it says a builder whose city and maker is God, this is referring to heavenly Jerusalem. Go to verse 13, verse 13. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. So those that died in the Old Testament, they didn't receive these promises, okay? They saw them afar off. They said they're strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Don't we sing that song? This world is not my home, I'm just a passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. Why? This is not our home. Okay? We're just passing through. And you'll go ahead and build up all these rewards here on earth if you want, okay? Or you can build up treasures in heaven, because we're just passing through this earth. You know, we live 80 years and it's done, okay? And so it says there are strangers and pilgrims on the earth for they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might've had opportunity of return. You say, Brother Stuckey, how do you know this is referring to New Jerusalem? But now they desire a better country that is in heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared for them a city. Who did He prepare a city for? Is it just those that have this New Testament Baptist baptism, or is the context Abraham? Is the context those that died in faith? It sounds like they get to inherit the same place as we do. It sounds like there's a reason why the 12 tribes of the children of Israel were on that wall. It sounds like all of us are gonna be together as one. You're never gonna find a separation in heaven in the Bible, okay? I mean, good night. It's the Mormons that teach, there's like eight heavens or whatever. It's like, go ahead and be a Mormon then. You're gonna teach weird things like that. We're gonna be together as one. We're gonna be a church together as one. And look, I believe 12 people got saved yesterday as a result of our church, both here and in Pampanga, the ministries of this church. And let me tell you something, most of them will never come to our church, and they will never get baptized. I personally am very thankful that I will be in the same place as them one day. Amen. I'm thankful that salvation is by grace through faith, and even if somebody doesn't do anything for God, they get to inherit the same heaven that I do. They get to inherit New Jerusalem just like I do. They don't have to be on the outside looking in. What a weird doctrine. And it's like, look, I get it. You don't like, I mean, he didn't like Protestants teaching at his churches, at Baptist churches. Hey, I agree with you. Don't teach some bizarre thing where you have no Bible for it, though. Okay, and say, well, you know what? You have to be, I mean, what it sounds like they're basically saying back then is this. Hey, we've decided these couple Baptist churches are the only ones that are legit, and you must be baptized at our church. And then once they started a new church, you had to be baptized at that church, okay? I ask the question to these Baptist churches today. Now, go to Ephesians 4, Ephesians chapter 4. But what I wanna ask to these Baptist churches today is this, okay? Because many of them have decided that they believe this doctrine. They're like Johnny-come-latelys. The problem is they don't have that lineage to even go back 150 years. So it's like based on your own doctrine, you're not gonna make it, right? I mean, all these new churches say, hey, this is a cool doctrine. We're gonna believe that as well. Show me your genealogy. You probably don't have it. Because this was just a couple churches teaching weird, bizarre things 150 years ago. So look, the churches here in the Philippines, they don't have that New Testament Baptist baptism going back from 150 years ago. It was only a couple bizarre churches teaching these things and they never had a genealogy to prove they had that special baptism, okay? Now look, by all means, I think this is a great church and we preach the truth in everything. But look, say people that are not part of our church are going to the same place as us. That's what the Bible teaches, okay? Now look, we're gonna be taking the Lord's Supper here in a little bit. And I want you to realize a large part of the Lord's Supper is simply just having unity. Kind of ties together with this sermon because in heaven, there's no middle wall partition. We have unity. We're together as one. What sense does it make for God to say, you know what? I'm just dividing everyone in heaven into special camps. No, I mean, everyone's gonna be together as one. Notice what it says in Ephesians 4, verse 13. Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. Unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sight of man and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. And so don't be carried about with every wind of doctrine, believing all of these weird things, okay? Find out what you believe. You say, Brother Stuckey, I know what you preach. No, find out what you believe. You read the Bible. You memorize the Bible. You say, well, Brother Stuckey, I go to church that teaches the truth. Here, let me explain something to you. When you preach sermons, you have to preach everything in the Bible. All topics. Do you realize that when some false prophet devil comes in here, they're only gonna focus on one topic. And they're gonna brainwash you on that one topic. And look, I can't get up here and preach 50 straight sermons on the same topic. You say, why? I gotta teach on a lot of things. So look, devils come into churches, and you know what they'll do? They'll focus on one topic, and they'll say, wow, you know, sounds like Pastor So-and-so, or sounds like Brother Stuckey. It sounds like he doesn't really know what he's talking about. I mean, he thinks this, but the Bible actually teaches this, and they will become experts at one topic. Think about false cults out there. Think about the Jehovah's Witnesses. Now, we know that Jesus is God, amen? Jesus Christ is God. Now, we know there's a literal hell. We know that Jehovah's Witnesses are full of it, okay? But did you know that the Jehovah's Witnesses, they focus on just a couple topics. They focus on the name of God. That's their big focus, right? Now, here's the thing about this. They focus on only one topic, and guess what? They are experts at that topic. They're wrong, but they are experts at disproving the truth of the Bible. Now, in the Bible, there's many names of God. Above every name, the name of Jesus Christ, according to Philippians 2. So there you go, they're wrong, okay? But look, they focus on that one topic, and most Christians are like, huh, you got a point. Maybe I am wrong about this. They focus on one topic, okay? Here's what I want you to understand. When devils will come in, they're gonna focus on one topic, and they will be experts at proving that one topic, even though they're wrong. And they could deceive you if you don't know what you believe. Amen. You say, Brother Succy, I believe in eternal security. Praise the Lord, that means you're saved. Why do you believe that? What verses prove that to you? Amen. If some devil comes in here, or somebody talks to you and says, well, it looks like you can lose your salvation, and you're like, huh, I don't know how to answer that. There's a problem there. You need to figure out what you believe. Find out what you believe. There is no excuse for Christians not to read the Bible. Amen. No excuse. The vast majority of Christians have never read their Bible cover to cover. I don't think there's any question about that. The vast majority of believers, and here's the sad reality, some of these cults know more about the Bible than independent fundamental Baptists. Some of these cults know more about the Bible than Baptists. That's embarrassing, my friend. Now, don't let that be said about you, though. Make sure you know what the Bible says. Make sure you know more than the Jehovah's Witnesses. Make sure you know more than these weird Filipino cults that have arisen, that are the same thing as the cults all over the world. Make sure you know your Bible, okay? Otherwise, you're gonna be tossed back and forth. Somebody comes in here with some new thing, and you're like, oh, maybe I'm wrong about that. Maybe you gotta be part of the bride of Christ to make it into the church of the firstborn, okay? Make sure you know what you believe and why you believe. I am not in fear of you reading the Bible. That sounds really basic, but did you know most Baptist churches are afraid of their members reading the Bible? I mean, that's the truth. You say, how do you know that? They don't encourage you to read the Bible. Why? Because they don't, I mean, look, most Baptist pastors, let's be honest, pre-trib Baptist pastors or pre-trib believers, they don't know how to prove anything they believe. They really don't. I mean, if you came to them at a verse, they'd say, you know, I don't know. I mean, 50 people in this church have given me that testimony, your old church, they said they're pre-trib, you say, can you give me a verse? And they're like, you know, it's a deep study. It's like the whole book of Revelation, the whole book of Daniel, the whole book of Zechariah. It's just like, they can't give you one verse. I say immediately after the tribulation, right? There you go, after the tribulation, okay? In the Greek, that means before, okay? Look, all I'm trying to tell you is this, make sure you know what you believe and why you believe. I'm not afraid of you reading the Bible. You say, why? Because if you're saved, you have the Holy Spirit inside of you that will teach you the truth, okay? You need to know what you believe. Otherwise, you're gonna be tossed back and forth. Now, look, I don't claim to know every single thing in the Bible, and I'm sure I say things that are off or I mis-preach or whatever, and that's more the reason for you to learn for yourself in case I do say something wrong, right? I'm not saying that I'm perfect in everything I say. Look, I'm not afraid of my beliefs because I base things based on what the Bible says, okay? Look at verse number 15. But speaking the truth in love, may grow up unto him in all things, which is the head even Christ, from whom the whole body, referring to the church of Ephesus, fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplyeth, according to the effectual working and the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body on the edifying of a self in love. See, a body, a church is fitly joined together. This is what's so weird about saying the general assembly in the church of the firstborn. An assembly is a church. So here's the thing. If the church of the firstborn is a church and there's a bunch of people congregated together in an assembly on the outside, that's two churches in heaven, right? A bunch of saved people that are assembling together, that's a church. So what is it, the church of the firstborn and the church of the secondborn? I mean, that's ridiculous. That would be two churches then. There's only one church mentioned in heaven though. Why? Because we're going to be together as one. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and just getting to read your word and see what the Bible says and help us all to understand why we're Baptists. And it's great to be excited about that and everything, God, but help us not to teach weird heresy and things that are not in the Bible, God. And we pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. Quick reminder, after the last.