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Alright, well we're there in Joshua chapter 13, and we're finishing up our series on the Protestant Reformation, and as I've said throughout this series, you know, I grew up Protestant, and I'm very much against the Protestants. You know, we as Baptists, we are not Protestants. We didn't come from the Protestants. The Protestants came from the Catholics, which is why they're very similar. Very much different than what we believe, okay? In the last couple weeks, I've kind of talked about false groups that kind of claim to have this heritage that goes back to the Anabaptists and groups such as that, okay? Now I talked about the Mennonites a couple weeks ago, but I decided to preach a whole sermon on this and kind of go a bit of a different direction, okay? Now let me read you a few things, and then I'll kind of briefly explain to you Joshua 13 and get into the sermon. And you say, what is a Mennonite? Because I don't think in the Philippines there really are a lot of Mennonites, if any, okay? But my dad, I said his heritage was actually a Mennonite heritage. Let me read this to you. There are about 2.1 million Anabaptists worldwide as of 2015. Now what they call an Anabaptist today are Mennonites, Amish, I think the Dutch Baptists or German Baptists, these groups that are claiming they have this heritage, okay? Now as we talked about several weeks ago, when you looked at the Anabaptists from 500 years ago, they were being killed, they were being persecuted, they were going out and getting people saved and baptizing people. And as a result, persecution came, okay? The group that's claiming to be these Anabaptists today, they believe very different things, okay? So it says 2.1 million of these people today, Mennonites, Amish, Mennonite brethren, Hutterites, and many other Anabaptist groups, formerly part of the Mennonite World Conference, okay? In 1693, Swiss Anabaptist leader Jacob Ammann left Anabaptists because they weren't separate enough. They formed the Amish, which is the group where you have to have like a long beard but no mustache, no electricity, things such as that, no buttons, buttons are a mortal sin, they're terrible, and things like that. We'll talk about that later on in the sermon. But basically these people that are very self-righteous, they have these weird rules like the Pharisees, and they're actually not that godly of people, which we'll see during the sermon, but they have these weird extreme rules and say, well, you must do this to be godly, okay? Now in the 1520s, the Anabaptists were a bit more generic, and a man comes along named Meno Simons, okay? He was a Catholic priest. Sounds pretty similar with Martin Luther and the rest of the Protestants. He's a Catholic priest who converts to being an Anabaptist in 1536, and then he leaves and forms this weird religion that teaches work salvation, that you can lose your salvation. They do pouring for baptism instead of immersion and things such as that, okay? Now you say, why are we going to Joshua 13? Well, in Joshua 13, what you notice is God starts to divide the land of the 12 tribes, okay? There's actually many different chapters where he's dividing the land, and see, God gave a promise to the tribes of the children of Israel. This is your land if you obey my rules. It's not, well, this is your land no matter what you do, right? Because isn't it true that most Baptists today say, well, that land belongs to them no matter what. Whether or not they're a bunch of pedophiles or wicked people, they reject the Lord Jesus Christ, doesn't matter, that land belongs to them, right? I mean Tel Aviv is considered by a lot of people the little Sodom of the world, okay? That doesn't sound like that godly of a place to me. But see, the Bible never gave this promise, this is your land no matter what you do. It never says that. You know, before the service, we were looking up on my phone the countries that are the most pro-Israel in the world. Because I don't think there's any question the United States of America is so incredibly pro-Israel. I mean all the wars they get involved in are because they're pro-Israel. And I was mentioning India is actually number two on most charts I've seen, but what I did not realize is the Philippines is trying to compete, right? I mean it's right near the top of the list, okay? Very much being pro-Israel. And Christians have this attitude, that land belongs to them no matter what they do, okay? That is what they believe. Now, here's why I'm applying this to this sermon, because the Mennonites, the Amish, and these groups, they generally live in isolated areas. They have their own communities, they live under their own rules, and if you don't abide by their rules, you get kicked out, okay? What you need to understand throughout the Old Testament though, and I'll show this to you, God told the children of Israel, your job is to bear fruit throughout the entire world. They weren't supposed to just live in an isolated area where they never saw anybody else, we're godly, us four and no more, we never preached the gospel to anyone. No, they were actually the ones given the job to evangelize the entire world, okay? They weren't supposed to just strictly live in their areas and never have any contact with the outside world. I'll show that to you. Turn to Psalm 68, Psalm 68, Psalm 68. See today, we would say that God wants to reach the entire world with the gospel, right? Did you realize God has always wanted to reach the entire world with the gospel? Did you realize that God always wanted people around the world to get saved and to hear the gospel? Now, in the Old Testament, the group that he was using were the 12 tribes of the children of Israel. They had the word of God poured out to them, and God says, I'll give you your area if you live godly, but a requirement was they went and they bore fruit and got people saved. And see, throughout the Old Testament, soul winning is not a New Testament thing. It's from the book of Genesis to the book of Revelation, God's method is soul winning, preaching the gospel. Notice what it says in Psalm 68, right there in the middle of your Bible, the book of Psalms, Psalm chapter 68 verse 11. The Lord gave the word, great was the company of those that published it, okay? So point number one is quite simply, publishing the word of God. What does that mean? It means preaching the gospel, getting the word of God out there, publishing it to everybody, okay? Now I've seen people turn to this verse and they try to apply this to like printing Bibles. It's like, well, there's publishers and stuff. It's like, I don't even know how to respond to that. This is all the way back in the book of Psalms. They didn't invent the printing press and it's like, you know, no, that's not what it's talking about. It's talking about publishing the word of God, getting the word of God out there, okay? Turn to Matthew 21, Matthew 21. They try to apply that to modern versions, like great's the company of those that publish, you know? We're putting the NIV out to everybody and the New King James, it's like, I don't know how you would try to apply this verse to prove that's a good thing, okay? That's a whole other sermon, okay? Matthew chapter 21, let's go to the New Testament and I'll show this to you, that God required the children of Israel to actually reach the world with the gospel, okay? Matthew 21 verse 18, Matthew chapter 21 verse 18, Matthew chapter 21 verse 18, now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered and when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it and found nothing thereon but leaves only and said onto it, let no fruit grow on me, henceforth, henceforward forever and presently the fig tree withered away. Now here's an example, when you're first reading the Bible and you haven't heard a lot of preaching, like the first time I came across this, I'm like, why did Jesus curse a fig tree? It's like, I don't get it. It's like, you know, I get hungry sometimes, but what's the big deal? But he's actually trying to tie that into a parable later on in the chapter, okay? There's a reason why he curses the fig tree. Matthew 21 verse 33, Matthew 21 verse 33, note the point of a fig tree or a fruit tree is to produce fruits, okay? And he's mad that it's not producing fruit, but not because of his physical needs and I'll show this to you. Matthew 21 verse 33, here another parable, there is a certain householder which planted a vineyard and hedged it roundabout and dig a wine press in it and build a tower and let it out to husband men and went into a far country. And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husband men that they might receive the fruits of it. Now in this parable, the householder is representing God the Father, okay? Now the husband men are representing basically the children of Israel, okay? And they're basically left there to take care of it while the householder's gone and then the servants are representing prophets of God, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, okay? So the householder is representing God the Father and basically it's like a business. You're supposed to take care of the land, okay? And then the servants, they're being sent there and they're coming because they're supposed to get the fruit that the husband men were creating, okay? The husband men are the children of Israel and I'll show this to you. Verse 35, and the husband men took his servants and beat one and killed another and stoned another. And look, if you've read your Old Testament, is that not what the Jews did? Is that not what the tribes of Israel did? I mean they hated Jeremiah, they hated Ezekiel, they hated Isaiah, they hated all of them. And look, John the Baptist died before Jesus Christ. So technically he's Old Testament, okay? And guess what? He was killed. I mean all of them were persecuted, they were killed, they were imprisoned. The biggest persecutors were the Jews. That's the reality. Throughout the Old Testament, they're the ones that are persecuting, okay? Now at the very beginning, the southern tribe, the kingdom of Judah, along with Benjamin, they were sort of godly for a little while, okay? After not too much time, the northern kingdom of Israel just kind of went wayward, okay? They're worshiping idols, 10 of the tribes are already gone. And then God's merciful to Judah for a little. I mean the first chapter of Hosea, this is what he talks about, where he says, you know what, I'm no longer going to have mercy with the children of Israel, the northern kingdom, okay? I'm still going to have mercy with the kingdom of Judah, but no longer the kingdom of Israel. Why? The kingdom of Israel went wicked very early on, okay? Eventually, they all went wicked, okay? That's why they do not have that land anymore, okay? Notice what it says in verse 36. Again, he sent other servants more than the first, and they did unto them likewise. But last of all, he sent unto them his son, saying, they will reverence my son. Now who do you think the son represents? Jesus Christ. He says, you know what, I've sent servant after servant after servant. They beat them, they've killed them, they've stoned them, but you know, if I send my son, they will reverence my son, okay? And obviously we know Jesus Christ was sent here 2,000 years ago. And you know, when Jesus Christ started, did he not say preach the gospel to the tribes of Israel, to the Jews? I mean Jesus said, don't go to anyone else. He said, I'm going to give you a chance, right? I mean in Matthew 10, he says, don't go to the Gentiles. Not yet. Why? He was giving them a chance to turn to God, right? And you know what? They didn't turn to God though. Notice what it says here in verse number 38. But when the husband men saw the son, they said among themselves, this is the heir. Let us kill him and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him and cast him out of the vineyard and slew him. We know the Jews killed the Lord Jesus Christ, okay? He's teaching this parable to the people. And I'll show you in a second, the Jews understand exactly what he's saying, okay? The Baptist today don't seem to understand it, but the Jews, they understood this, okay? Verse 40, when the Lord therefore the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husband men? They say unto him, he will miserably destroy those wicked men and will let out his vineyard unto other husband men, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. He says, you know what? I'm going to give it to a group that's producing the fruits. Why? That is the job of a husband men. That was their job to take care of the land and produce the fruits, okay? God expected the tribes of Israel to produce the fruit, get people saved. Look, we're not talking about Munga, we're not talking about Ampeliah, okay? We're talking about bearing fruit, winning souls of the Lord, okay? Verse number 42, Jesus saith unto them, did ye never read in the scriptures? The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. Notice how Jesus pronounces the judgment. He says, you're not producing the fruits, you're going to lose it. And look, God's method has never changed. Because look at the world today. Doesn't he say in the book of Revelation that if a church is not, doesn't have their first love, if they're not producing fruit, I'm going to remove their candlestick? Look, there's a lot of churches here in the Philippines that they say they're Baptist churches. And it's like, I'd appreciate it if you take Baptist off the name because I don't see you producing any fruit. And according to God, because his methods do not change, hey, if you're not producing the fruit, bye-bye candlestick. My blessing's not upon you, okay? That is what God says here. He has never changed. In the Old Testament, he wanted everybody saved. He wanted everybody to hear the word of God. God has not changed. And look, when people are pro-Israel and they think that somehow they get the land no matter what they do, that's called being a racist. Right? I mean, are Jews better than us that are Gentiles? I mean, that's what they literally are teaching. I mean, at a lot of Baptist churches in the US, they will bring a Jew in to preach behind the pulpit. It's just like they blaspheme and deny the Lord Jesus Christ. It's like, why don't you just let a Hindu get up and say whatever about, you know, I don't know, yoga. I mean, it's just like you let anybody get up here and say whatever. I mean, the Bible says, he that believeth not the son shall not see life, but the wrath of God hath abideth on him. Okay? It's not just believing in God that gets you to heaven. It's believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay? And so notice what it says in verse 44. Now let me say this. The Pharisees hear it, the chief priests hear it. They don't fully understand this because they're actually going to fulfill this by killing the son. And they don't get that part of it. Okay? They understand he's preaching against them, but they don't fully get the fact that, okay, we're actually going to fulfill this when we kill him. Verse 44, and whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. They realize, I think Jesus is talking about us. We're going to lose the nation. Okay? But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude because they took him for a profit. So look, the Pharisees and chief priests, they understand this. And so look, if there's a Jew out there that wants to come up here and say, you know what, you're right in your interpretation. That was us. We want him to kill the Lord Jesus Christ. We did. I mean, if they were willing to be honest, maybe we would let him in. It's like, there you go. A Jew just said, you know what, the nation was taken from us. Okay? But today people don't seem to get this. I'm not really sure how they explain this parable away, but this is clearly talking about how the Jews are going to lose the king. Go to Matthew 23, Matthew 23, Matthew 23, Matthew chapter 23. Now I want you to understand something, you know, this worship of Israel and the Jews, it's really a modern phenomenon. Okay? It's only really the last hundred years. I mean, if you look it up historically, I mean, the Jews were kicked out of country after country after country. See, I thought it was just Adolf Hitler in Germany. No, it's all over the world. It's been like 50 countries because they brought in gambling and smut and filthiness and prostitution. Look, this has happened all over the world. Now look, I don't hate the unsaved Jewish person. I hate the religion. There's the difference. I don't hate Catholics, but you better believe I hate the Catholic church. I hate the false religion. I don't hate the members though. Look, we go sowing and we run into a Jewish person. Absolutely. We'll try to preach the gospel and praise the Lord if they get saved. We don't hate them as people, but we hate the religion. Okay? Matthew 23 verse 23 verse 37, Matthew chapter 23 verse 37. Matthew chapter 23 verse 37, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent onto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathers through chickens under her wings, and ye would not. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth till ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. So I'd like to ask these Baptists, how do you interpret these verses? Thou that killest the prophets. Who's Jerusalem referring to? Okay, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent onto thee. Jesus spoke about this quite a bit. Okay, turn to Numbers chapter 11 in your Old Testament, Numbers 11 in your Old Testament. So the question you have to ask yourself, if Jesus said the kingdom's going to be removed and God said I'll give this land to you if you're obedient and you produce the fruit and do what I say, my question would be this, at what point in history did the Jews turn back to God? At what point in history did they become very godly over there? I mean are they winning people of the Lord today, the children of Israel, I mean people that live there? Is that religion winning anyone of the Lord? No, I mean in fact there is no religion that I am aware of on the planet that actually blasphemes the Lord Jesus Christ except Judaism. I mean the Talmud blasphemes Jesus Christ. They say Jesus Christ was the son of Pantera, okay, so what does that mean? Well Pantera in the Talmud was basically Mary cheated on her husband, she hoard around with Pantera and they had a bastard child and those are biblical words. That is what they teach in the scriptures, okay, and they had a bastard child named Jesus. That's where Jesus came from according to the Talmud. Look you can go to YouTube and watch interviews over in Israel, what do you think of Jesus Christ? Hey they don't think very positively. Now look I've preached against Hinduism you know plenty before and stuff like that and next week we're going to be preaching against it but here's the thing, if you went over to India and asked people what do you think of Jesus Christ, they would say he's great. He's a prophet of God. He's the most loving man in history. You go to any country in the world but if you go over there they'll blaspheme Jesus Christ, they hate Jesus Christ, they'll mock Jesus Christ. You know we were going soul winning in Rizal Park one time, Brother Bo was in from Hong Kong, okay, and you know you don't run into a whole lot of Jews here. In the US I've run into plenty of Jews at the door and from my experience they are the least receptive people I've ever met. It's like sometimes you knock on the door and they're like I'm a Jew. It's just like okay. It's like or sometimes they'll have that thing on outside, I don't know what it's called but then they'll point at it showing that they're a Jew or whatever. It's just like you know I'm good to go, I'm God's chosen and they have this arrogant puffed up attitude. Well Brother Bo though he ran into a Jew, a Filipino Jew, I don't know how that happens in Rizal Park and you know he was like the silent partner during that conversation and his, I can't remember if he was with Brother Matt or somebody else who was preaching the gospel and this Filipino Jew was mocking Jesus Christ and he's like oh look at me I'm on the cross, ow, ow, ow, and he's mocking Jesus Christ while his friends preach in the gospel. Now let me tell you something, other religions wouldn't do that about Jesus Christ. They might hate Christianity but they don't mock Jesus Christ but look the reality is the Jews teach that Jesus Christ was a sorcerer and a wicked person. They believe he was supposed to be put to death and he's going to live his entire eternity in boiling excrement, boiling poop. That's what they teach in the Talmud, okay. So they don't think very positively and doesn't that line up with Matthew chapter 21? As Jesus said you're going to reject the son and you're going to kill him and that's exactly what they did. It wasn't the Romans my friend. It's like the Bible puts the blame on the Jews not the Romans for killing the Lord Jesus Christ, okay. So here's the thing, they were given the 12 tribes in the Old Testament but they were always told that they're meant to go and preach the gospel and win people to the Lord, okay. Numbers chapter 11, numbers chapter 11, let me give you an example of this. Numbers 11 verse 25, numbers 11 verse 25, and the Lord came down in a cloud and spake on to him and took of the spirit that was upon him and gave it on to the 70 elders and it came to pass that when the spirit rested upon them they prophesied and did not cease. But there remained two men of the camp, two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad and the name of the other Medad and the spirit rested upon them and they were of them that were written but went not out onto the tabernacle and they prophesied in the camp. So basically what they're doing is they're preaching the gospel and getting people saved because just because you're part of this lineage doesn't mean you're going to be saved. I'm sure the majority were not spiritually saved, okay. But they're prophesying in the camp and notice the reaction of Joshua. And there ran a young man and told Moses and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp and Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men answered and said, my Lord Moses forbid them. So he tells Moses, tell them not to do this, okay. Moses said unto them, envious thou for my sake, would God that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them, okay. So here's an example where Joshua is wrong, okay. Even people that are good men of God, they're going to make mistakes and they're going to be wrong from time to time. And obviously Joshua is in training and here's what you see a lot of times at churches that, you know, people want to be pastors and they're at a church and if they get rebuked by the pastor they get mad and they quit the church and they start a YouTube channel and five years later they're still just, you know, spending 50 hours a week on that YouTube channel. It's like Joshua gets rebuked and he still lives for God and he's a great man of God, okay. Turn to Joshua chapter two actually, Joshua chapter two. So what do you see in the book of Numbers in the first five books of the Bible, the books of Moses? Well, you see so many, okay. It's like, you know what? Yeah, I want you to soul went in the camp and get people saved. There's people, there's so many going on everywhere. Get people saved. Okay. Look, when they were traveling through to the promised land, I don't believe they were just told to isolate for 40 years. I think they were expected to win people to the Lord along the way. It's like in the Bible, go into a new town, get him saved, right? I mean, God's method hasn't changed. He wants everybody to hear the gospel and if just for 40 years your life is just traveling through and never getting to preach the gospel, that'd be pretty miserable. Okay. But no, they were supposed to get people saved along the way. Okay. You see soul winning in the Bible. Joshua chapter two, Joshua chapter two, Joshua chapter two verse nine. And she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land and that your terror has fallen upon us and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the red sea for you when he came up out of Egypt and what he did unto the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og whom he utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts did melt. Neither did there remain any more courage in any man because of you. For the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and in earth beneath. Now let me ask you a question. Does she sound saved here? Does she seem to believe in the true God? Sounds like it to me, right? She says your, your, your Lord, your Lord, your God, he is God in heaven above. Not the false gods that we have. No, he's God, not the gods we're worshiping. Now how does that happen? Well, it's called somebody gave her the gospel, right? I mean she heard about the word of God, but in the Old Testament they still needed to actually hear the gospel about how salvation was by grace through faith. It was forever and they could get saved. Okay. She understands when they come. She's like, yeah, I already believe that. It's like I'm on your side in this battle. I live in a wicked land, but I believe this. By the way, this also shows you that Rahab the harlot, you know what? You don't have to repent of your sins to be saved. Say, how do you know that? She was a harlot and she was saved. She was a prostitute and she was saved. You're never going to see the Bible say, well, you got to quit drinking to be saved. You got to quit smoking to be saved. You know, I was going soul winning yesterday and I gave the gospel to someone who was smoking a cigarette. He got saved. Okay. I told him during the conversation, I say, you know, your church, the Catholic church, they're going to tell you, well, you got to quit drinking. You got to quit smoking. You got to change your life to be saved. But I said, the Bible says just believe, right? You don't have to change anything and even a harlot could be saved. Why? Salvation is by grace through faith and there is no guarantee of a changed life if you get saved. You say why? Because your flesh doesn't change. You have the new man and the old man. Look, if somebody is, is a drunk, okay, and you preach the gospel and they get saved. Okay. Do you realize there's still a drunk after they got saved? You say why? Because their flesh hasn't changed. See, look at the lives you live. You can look at people the way they're raised and how they were before they were saved. Me, I have never smoked a cigarette before, but the reason why is because my parents never smoked. Okay. But people, you know, they go down the roads and they do certain things in their life and they have these things they're attached to and when they get saved, it doesn't magically change. The things you struggled with before you're saved, those are going to be the same things you struggle with after you're saved. Look, if you're someone who regularly drinks alcohol after you get saved, you're going to struggle with that. If you're someone who's addicted to cigarettes, look, you're still addicted to cigarettes after you get saved. That doesn't change. Okay. Now obviously if you're reading the Bible and praying and hearing the preaching of God's word, obviously God can help you overcome those things, but this idea that there's a magical change that takes place. It's like, brother Stuckey, when I got saved, all of a sudden the room lit up and I saw like all these angels and everything like that and I was talking to God and he showed me a vision of heaven. It's like, look, there's plenty of Pentecostal churches that you can go to that are going to say, man, that's great. You know, why don't you come up here and give us your testimony? Okay. That's not what the Bible says though. Okay. When a person gets saved, there is no magical change that takes place where you no longer to desire to do what's wrong. Okay. Even Paul the apostle talked about that. Go to second chronicle 17 second chronicle 17 second chronicles chapter 17 and look, you know, I'm glad that God's willing to save anybody no matter what their past is because you know what? We can often look at people that you know, Ray have who was a harlot who was a prostitute and look, I have no doubt that she was probably born into that sort of lifestyle and she had no means to make money and things like that. And we can look down on someone like that and say, why would God save that person? But are you sinless? I mean, are you perfect? Because here's the thing. The Bible says all liars shall have their part. One lie. And if every one of us was honest, we'd say we've done things far worse than tell a lie before. Okay. None of us are completely innocent at all. Second chronicle 17 verse nine and they taught in Judah. Second chronicle 17 verse nine second chronicle 17 verse nine and they taught in Judah and had the book of the law of the Lord with them and went about throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the people. You say, what are they doing? It's called something we're going to be doing this afternoon. It's called soul winning. You say, but this is the Old Testament. Soul winning is throughout the Old Testament. God has always wanted everybody to be saved. Okay. Look, if God just wanted the 12 tribes to just isolate themselves from the world like the Mennonites do today, because the Mennonites will say, we're reaching people. They're seeing our lives. They see us on that horse and buggy. They see we're not driving cars. They see that we don't have any buttons on our shirts, right? They see that, you know, we don't have this, you know, that we have suspenders and we have these beards. They see our actions. Okay. They teach that that's how they reach the world basically through their actions, but they do absolutely no soul winning. But look, it's never been like that with God because with the 12 tribes of Israel, if all they did is stay in their own areas, that means 95% of the world is damned to hell. God has always wanted everybody to get saved. Okay. Proverbs 11. Turn to Proverbs 11. Right in the middle of your Bible is the book of Psalms. Right after that is the book of Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 11. Proverbs 11. This is why I always say, you know, people that lived during the Old Testament, if they lived today, they got transported to this world and they sat here, you know, they wouldn't know all these things going on, like vehicles and stuff like that, but look, they'd hear this preaching and they'd say, you know what? That sounds like the same thing. It's like door to door soul winning. Amen. That's what we were doing 4000 years ago. Nothing different. Nothing has changed. Okay. Proverbs 11 verse 30. Proverbs 11 verse 30. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he that win its souls is wise. Okay. Now at most churches, they're going to tell you if you're really saved, there's a guarantee you're going to produce fruit. Okay. But let me explain something to you. If you have an apple tree, what does an apple tree produce? Apples. Does it ever produce bananas? Does it ever produce mangoes? No, it always produces apples if it's going to produce a fruit, right? An apple tree produces other apples. Okay. We are Christians. We are saved. We heard the word of God. So as Christians, what can we produce? Other Christians. An apple tree produces apples. Christians produce other Christians. This idea that, well, if you're really saved, you're going to bear fruit. And what they mean by that is you're going to do good works. Look, I did good works before I was saved. Are you telling me this? I mean, everybody does some good works. You meaning to tell me that if you're really saved, you're going to be nice at least one time in your life. It's like you're going to at least pray to God one time before you die. It's like why? I would hope so. Okay. Look, everybody does that already. People do some good things. And what they really mean by that is, well, if you're really saved, you're going to live a better life than before you're saved. Well, show me that in the Bible because you see plenty of people in the Bible that commit sins that are worse than before they were saved. David committed adultery after he was saved. Turn to Daniel 12, Daniel 12, Daniel chapter 12. And so God's method for us to reach the world has always been soul winning. It has always been getting people saved. It has never been, well, just isolate yourself and just, I don't know, you know, once planes are invented, we'll just throw a 10,000 invitations out the window and they'll fall down throughout the world. And that's our soul winning. Okay. Because that's what a lot of churches do. We'll just like throw invitations out and then somehow people are going to get saved. That's not what the Bible says. Daniel 12 verse three, Daniel 12 verse three, and they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. When it talks about turning people to righteousness, it's referring to winning souls to the Lord. And it's linked with the fact basically how brightly you're going to shine. Okay. What I believe is that this, the more people you lead to the Lord, the brighter you're going to be in heaven. Okay. I believe that's what the Bible is teaching here. But what you're seeing here in Daniel chapter 12 verse three is the fact where it says you need to turn many people to righteousness. Okay. And then you will shine as the stars forever and ever. So if you get up to heaven and there's somebody that's just like, you know, really, you're like, you know, I can't see any light really dark. Well, you know, they didn't win many people, the Lord, right? Turn to Malachi chapter one, Malachi chapter one, you know, the sad reality is there's going to be the vast majority of people in heaven are going to be pretty dark and not shiny at all. You say, why? Because of the fact, you know, most people don't go so well, but we have plenty of people saved out soul winning. Very few come to church. Very few get baptized. Say, wow, did they really get saved? Well, I mean, look, Jesus healed 10 lepers and only one came back to thank him. The other nine didn't get healed because they didn't say thank you or they didn't come to church or whatever. That's ridiculous. Okay. Look, just because they don't come to church does not mean they didn't get saved. See, what we need to realize as soul winners is this, going to a new church is intimidating. Did you realize that going to a new church where you don't know anybody? It's kind of intimidating. Okay. I mean, if somebody visits our church for the first time, especially if they're on their own, they're like, oh, man, I don't know. Am I sitting in somebody's chair? It's like, you know, do I have to do I have to wipe my shoes before I come in? Or what's the you know, they don't know. Right. Or if they're driving like, man, where am I going to find a park? You know, it's just like, it's kind of intimidating to people that are coming. And so when people first come to church, you know what, it's very rare you're going to see people when they first come to church, they're here, every single service and everything like that. You say, why? Because you're getting to know people. It's a bit uncomfortable. I've been on vacation, and I've been an independent fundamental Baptist since I was 18 years old. Okay, I'm 35 years old, 16 years, but you know, whenever I visit, you know, churches when I'm on vacation, going to a Baptist church, and I've been a Baptist half my life, I'm still kind of uncomfortable. You know, it's just like, yeah, you know, it's just like, you know, you kind of want to do your own thing. I'm not the most outgoing person. So you have to realize we get a lot of people saved, and a lot of them do want to come to church. But you know what? Sometimes they need that initial push to actually come to church. Oftentimes, and usually, they're not going to come on their own. Just as a brand new baby is probably not going to do a very good job of feeding themselves. Right? You say, well, you know, the baby is born, I've done my job. It's like, all right, now you provide for yourself. Well, good luck with that for the people that are becoming new parents, but it's not going to work out very well, because those babies are completely dependent upon you for a while. Now the good news is that this church, because I've been to churches before where you bring people to church, and I'm just like, man, I've got to teach them the Word of God on the way to church and on the way back home. But here, if you bring people to church, they're going to hear the Word of God preached. They're going to learn. Okay? There might be things about this church where people say, I wish this was different. I don't like this. But I don't think anyone would say you come to this church and you never learn anything. Okay? The Word of God is preached here. You can learn and you can grow if you bring people to church, and they can change their lives. Okay? Turn to Malachi 1. The last book in your Old Testament. Malachi 1. Notice verse number 11. For from the rising of the sun, even on to the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place incense shall be offered on to my name in a pure offering. For my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts. God's saying, you know what? I want my name everywhere in the world, okay? That my name's great among the Gentiles. And he says, you know what? I want incense being offered on to my name. That would indicate people that believe in the true Lord in that area, okay? Verse 12. But ye have profaned it in that ye say, The table of the Lord is polluted, and the fruit thereof even his meat is contemptible. He said also, Behold, what a weariness is it, and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts. And he brought that which was torn in the lame and the sick. Thus he brought an offering, Should I accept this of your hand, saith the Lord? But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth in sacrifice on the Lord a corrupt thing. For I am a great king, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen. God wanted his name to be known everywhere in the world. I mean, do you remember with the story of Jonah, how, you know, basically they're like, man, obviously God's mad at somebody here on this ship, and they're trying to figure it out. Cry out to every God, you know. And when they found out whose God Jonah was, they're like, oh, no. Not the Hebrew God. It's like, well, you know, that kind of indicates that God is not just love, love, love. Because when they heard about Jonah's God, they're like, oh, no. Not Jonah's God. You know, they were afraid. Okay. Why? Because his name was known throughout the world. Okay. That's not going to happen if the 12 tribes just isolate themselves. Okay. Turn to Acts 1. Acts chapter 1. Acts chapter 1. He said, What are you trying to say, Brother Stocky, with his first point of publishing the word of God? Well, I'll tell you what I believe, because they were given 12 tribes that would have belonged to them, areas of land that they were supposed to have, and they would keep those if they were bearing fruit and if they were living godly. Okay. But I think it's actually pretty similar to like a church is today. See, what do you do on Sunday? You gather for church amongst God's people, and you go out and get people saved. And then eventually you get church plants started so you can reach everywhere. Okay. I don't believe they were just supposed to hang out there and never go and reach the rest of the world. And here's the thing. We don't really see the conclusion of the matter with this because of the fact they became very wicked very soon. Okay. But I believe under God's plan, he would have had them reach everywhere in the world because the Bible says he wants everybody to hear the gospel. So I think he would have been sending people to areas, and you basically have a godly area. You're preaching the word of God, you're learning about the word of God, and then you slowly reach out to all of the world. Okay. Kind of similar to our New Testament church model. You say, why? We're not just scattered all over the place. No, we're in one area to get motivated to hear the word of God, to work together, and eventually, what do you do? You get new churches started, and you eventually reach everywhere. Okay. This is what you see in Acts chapter one, verse eight. Acts one, verse eight. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses on me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. He says, I want you to be witnesses with me starting in Jerusalem, and all Judea, and in Samaria, and onto the uttermost part of the earth. Okay. So when Jesus Christ left this earth, there's several different times where basically his last instructions are preach the gospel. You see different versions in Matthew 28 and Mark 16, because he's giving the same instruction. Preach the gospel, but he's doing it again and again. Preach the gospel. Preach the gospel. Preach the gospel. Then Acts chapter one, verse eight, he's giving you a plan to reach the world with the gospel. First start in this area, and then all Judea, and then Samaria, and then the uttermost part of the earth. You say, how does that look in our modern day? First here in Pasig, and then in Metro Manila, and then in provinces, and then throughout all the Philippines, or throughout all the world, or whatever. That's the model that's being said. You slowly spread out. Okay. Now turn to Acts chapter two. Acts two. But see there's a problem when you're publishing the word of God and doing a great work. See it starts with publishing the word of God, you reach your area, and you know what comes along with publishing the word of God? Persecution. Right. You will not be able to publish the word of God greatly, and escape persecution. These things go hand in hand. You publish the word of God. What comes? Persecution. Acts two verse 41. Acts two verse 41. Acts chapter two verse 41. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day they were added on to them about 3,000 souls. So in verse 41 we see 3,000 people get saved and baptized. Okay. That doesn't tell us how many people got saved, it just tells us how many people got saved and baptized. Because notice how it said they gladly received his word. The indication throughout the Bible is people that are glad when they get saved actually have actions to back it up. But people can get saved without being that glad. They get saved and they're just not that thankful for it. I mean they're obviously glad they're saved and on their way to heaven, but they're not gonna change their lives at all. I mean if you try to bring people to church, and you try to motivate people to come after you get them saved, what you'll find is that some people are gonna be like, yeah I'm gonna be there. I'll be there tomorrow. Okay. What that means is they might be there tomorrow. It's possible. Not likely. But maybe. Okay. But you know sometimes you get people saying like, hey would you like to come to church sometime? No. Not really. You know, I'd like to have my free time or whatever. I mean a lot of people get saved, they literally have no interest in coming to church. Now if you're trying to bring people to church, here's a helpful tip for you. When you find out afterwards if they have interest in coming to church, don't follow up with the people that have no interest. Look, if someone tells you this, you know what, like yeah I'm probably not gonna come to your church. You know what? You can call them a million times, they're probably not coming. Because we know from experience that when you get people saved and they want to come to church, they usually don't come anyway. But they might come to church. Now I don't believe most of those people are lying when they say they want to come to church. It's called they just heard the gospel, they're excited about it, but then you know what, all of a sudden they're like, yeah you know man I like to sleep. They wake up on Sunday, they're like, ah, next week. And then you call them and they say, yeah I'll be there next week. And then all of a sudden the next week rolls around, you call them like, hey you coming, oh man I just, I was out late last night. Next week. I'll come on Wednesday night. Wednesday night rolls around like, oh I forgot I had to go to this bowling thing or whatever. I mean they'll make excuses. Do they want to come to church? To some degree they want to come to church, but they're not really that glad they're saved. They're not really that thankful. Just like only one leper came back to thank Jesus Christ, okay? But what the Bible is saying in verse 41, those that are very glad, they will get baptized. The ones that are very glad and very thankful. Three thousand got saved and baptized and they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers and fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles and all that believe were together and had all things common and sold their possessions and goods and part of them to all men as every man had need. And they continued daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added the church daily such as should be saved. Okay? So what are you seeing? People are getting saved and people are joining the church. They're there for the church, they're there for the fellowship and everything and they're just joining the church. Go to Acts chapter four. Acts chapter four. But look, when you're getting a lot of people saved, the devil's not going to be happy about it. I mean, if you honestly believe in the devil, which if you're a Christian, you should. I mean, the Bible speaks about the devil, Satan. Obviously we realize Satan's going to fight against anyone doing the work. And here's what we need to understand. The devil is not omnipresent. He cannot be everywhere at one time. Okay? That's why in Job he's going to and fro in the earth. I mean, God doesn't need to go to and fro. He's like, well, I'm everywhere already. Right? The devil goes to and fro. He can't be everywhere at once. And here's the sad reality. Since not many churches are doing soul winning, the devil doesn't have to figure out too hard who am I going to try to attack and prevent from soul winning. Because as far as I know in this area, I mean, I hope there's other churches that are doing bona fide soul winning, but I don't know of it. So guess what? It's not going to be too hard to figure out, well, who's the devil going to try to attack and try to stop from going soul winning? It's going to be people that are going soul winning. Okay? Chapter four, verse one. And as they spake unto the people, the priest and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them and put them in hold onto the next day for it was now eventide, preaching the word of God. And now they're arrested. How be it many of them which heard the word believed, and notice this, and the number of the men was about 5,000. That is a lot of people. They hear the word of God. They get saved. And this is not just a couple of people. This is called real soul winning going on for people that love the Lord. So when he's going on, lots of people are getting saved, 5,000 men end up believing. And you know, the Bible says the number of the men was 5,000. I think that's just referring to the men, so that would indicate more than 5,000 if that was the case. Okay? A lot of people are getting saved here, but they just got arrested. Go down to verse 15, verse 15. This is a common theme throughout the book of Acts that they're winning people to the Lord. They're publishing the word of God. They're getting persecuted. Acts 4, verse 15, but when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, saying, what shall we do to these men, for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem. And we cannot deny it, but that it spread no further among the people, let us straightly threaten them that they speak henceforth to no man in his name. And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. So it is illegal to preach about Jesus Christ. Okay? But my personal opinion, and I've said it plenty of times, I am all for if the government is not asking you to sin, to obey what the government says. If they're not requiring or asking you to sin. But here's the thing. They're telling them they cannot preach in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's like, will them be fighting words, my friend? It's like, I'll do the things I don't really like to do that you're telling me to do because it's not making me not be able to worship God. But once you're not allowing us to worship God, then there's a problem. That's what we're seeing in Acts chapter 4. Okay? And it says in verse 19, but Peter and John answered and said unto them, whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. He's like, you decide. If you think I should obey you, you figure it out. You judge that. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. He says, we cannot just stop preaching the word of God. And isn't this true that when you're in church and you hear the word of God preached and you see all the souls that are getting saved and the exciting things. You can't help but just want to go out there and get people saved. It's like, man, I wish I could spend hours and hours just proclaiming, publishing the word of God. You cannot help but speak the things that you have seen and heard. And this is the importance of being gathered together as one. That's what we're seeing. And now they want to preach the gospel. Okay. Verse 21. So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them because of the people for all men glorify God for that which was done. Okay. For the sake of time, I want you to go to Acts chapter eight because I'm looking at the clock and if I didn't cut this part of it short, this would be a very long sermon. So throughout the book of Acts though, chapter two and four and five, they're getting arrested for preaching the word of God. Obviously we know Acts chapter seven, right? Stephen is stoned to death. All these big events are happening. Why is that happening? It's happening because they're publishing the word of God. What I want to ask to the Mennonites is why have you never had any persecution ever? Why don't you have any persecution today? Because they have none. Well, they're not publishing the word of God. In fact, they're against it. They say, isolate yourself and then people just see our horse and buggies, you know, the Amish. They'll look at our horses and say, well, we'll just join you. We want to be a part of that God. Okay. Notice what it says in Acts chapter eight verse one. Now remember Acts chapter seven, Stephen was stoned to death. Okay. Acts chapter eight verse one, and Saul was consenting onto his death. Okay. This is Paul the apostle before he's renamed as Paul the apostle. He was Saul and Saul was consenting onto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church, which is at Jerusalem. Well, you're publishing the word of God, persecution comes. But notice how it said the church, which is at Jerusalem. Okay. Now remember, did God say, I just want you to isolate in Jerusalem and just kind of hang out and get lots of people saved and never do anything. No, he said in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and onto the uttermost part of the earth. Now, here's the reality. They were not obeying God. They were doing a great work for God in Jerusalem. But God said, no, no, no, no, no, Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and onto the uttermost part of the earth. I mean, do you realize the reason why you know who Paul the apostle is more than Peter more than John is because he actually preached the gospel to the Gentiles. He didn't just stay and just preach to those at Jerusalem. He says, no, I'm going to bring the word of God everywhere where they don't have the word of God. And Paul the apostle worked by the sweat of his brow. He's working a job and soul winning and preaching, just working and working and working. He spread the gospel everywhere. And that is why churches got started all over the world because many of them said, we're comfortable here at Jerusalem. You know, it's nice. You know, we like this here. You know, I don't really want to change things up. Okay. And I understand how that feels. Look, when I went to Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento, California, you know, I worked on staff for Pastor Jimenez and it's like, I got a great church. I've got great friends. I've got soul winning. And yeah, you know what? There's part of you that says, you know what, man, it's yeah, I'm just stay here, right? I mean, this is great, you know, and I don't have the stress of running a church and things like that. It's like, this is great. But the problem with that is if you never go and start anything else, it's not going to spread to the whole world. Now, look, I'm not saying that you need to be a pastor because look, I don't think that's for everybody. That's not what I'm preaching about. I'm not saying if you're not a pastor, that's a bad thing. What I'm saying, though, is this. We cannot have this attitude, well, we're just going to stay in this area and that's it. Lord willing, one day we will have churches started all throughout Metro Manila, all throughout Luzon. Right? We'll have churches, whether it's in Pampanga or Rizal or Bulacan or Cavite or Southern Metro Manila. And look, you know what? It's called doing a great work here, but once you publish the word of God here, you spread out to other areas. Okay. Now, part of that will be that people that are men of God say, I've got the desire to preach. I want to get trained and do that work. That's part of it. But it starts with us publishing the word of God. Okay. And I don't know if you've noticed this, but you know what? Our church has grown quite a bit. You say, why is that taking place? Well, because we're publishing the word of God. We're bringing people to church and we're teaching them the things of the word of God and we're growing. Amen. And God's blessing. Okay. And praise the Lord for that. So step number one is publishing the word of God. Then comes persecution. But here's the thing about this. The persecution was necessary because they were not spreading out to the world like they were supposed to. So you notice what it says. There was a great persecution, Acts 8, 1, against the church, which was at Jerusalem, a localized church, and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. Now didn't he say, I want you to reach Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria? And now where are they spread out to? Judea and Samaria. It's like, well, if you're not just going to obey me, I'm just going to make persecution come and it's going to make you spread out more. This is an example where the things that the devil wants can line up with what God wants because I'm sure the devil wanted to persecute them. I'm sure he's bringing in the heat, but God's like, hey, I'm all for it because that's going to mean more churches started throughout the world. It's like bring on the persecution and they spread throughout all Judea and Samaria. Okay. Now go to Acts chapter nine, Acts chapter nine, Acts chapter nine, and as you turn to Acts nine, I'll read the verse from Acts eight forward said, therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. It's like they're finally fulfilling what it said in Acts chapter one verse eight of preaching the word of God everywhere. Well notice what it says in Acts nine verse 31 because remember we had the church of Jerusalem, but now notice this in Acts nine verse 31. Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria and were edified in walking in the fear of the Lord in the comfort of the Holy Ghost were multiplied. See he said, I want you to reach all these areas. And how do you reach an area with the gospel? You need a church there. Now look, we can do so many events in areas and get a lot of people saved and praise the Lord for that, but you actually need a church there to really reach that area. Okay. And so God said, I want you to reach Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and in the uttermost part of the earth. They were not obeying, persecution comes, they're spread out to Judea and Samaria. And now what do you see? You see churches. Okay. Turn in your Bible to Matthew 15, Matthew 15, Matthew chapter 15. He said, brother Stuckey, you know, are you, are you upset when we get any sort of persecution? No, it just spreads the word of God. Bring it on because that's what spreads the word of God and they'll don't have this naive view that you can serve God and nothing bad is going to happen in your life. Here's the reality. When you get on fire for God and serve God, you know what it means? Your old friends don't really like you as much anymore. A lot of your family doesn't want to have much to do with you anymore. It's like, why are you lining up with that hate church, Verity Baptist Church, Manila? It's like, don't you know that he says this or don't you know he believes this or whatever. And look, they don't like our church. Now by the looks of it, there's plenty of people that do like our church, but the vast majority of Baptists here in the Philippines, they hate my guts. I mean, most of the pastors here in the Philippines, they hate me. They hate this church. You say, why? Because we're publishing the word of God and they're not. We're proclaiming the word of God and they're not. And what happens? We get persecuted and they don't. That's just reality. God said, yea, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. What does that teach us? It teaches us you need to be a part of a church where you can motivate and edify one another. It's like, I believe that when you're part of a good church, your best friends ought to be the people that are in your church. You say, why? Because look, every single Sunday, I'm sure there are people that came in here this morning and you're depressed, you're down. You're just like, man, it's so tough serving God. But you know, by the time the two services are done and you have fellowship and you have lunch with everyone, you're excited. Look, I preach the sermons here, but let me be honest with you. There are times I come in here, I'm like, man, I wanted to sleep today. I just want to relax. It's too difficult. Can I just pretend to be sick or something like that? No one's ever going to know. Look, but you know what, when you come to church, you sing the hymns, you're serving God together, you're meeting with your friends, you're edifying one another, you're motivated by the end of the day. But you know, I've been to a lot of Baptist churches where you walk in, you're down, and you walk out, you're down. You say, why? Because they didn't use any Bible. It's like, I used to do this thing in church before, and I'm not talking about at Verity, I'm talking about old churches I went to, where basically, you know, I'd be in the pew. Right? I mean, do you guys have pews here? Like, we'd be in the pew. So I would kind of lean back in the pew, and I'd be memorizing the Bible. I got good Bible memorization. I learned a lot of good doctrines in church. I was just memorizing the Bible. Just look up every once in a while, amen. Amen, pastor? No, but the reality is, in a lot of churches, you don't learn much. I mean, you're going to have a 50-part series about why the first fruit's offering, you got to give your first month's salary. That's how you hear at churches. It's money, money, money. Money, money, money. It's like, I listened to a sermon this past week from a pastor who's preaching about the first fruit's offering, and I was hoping he would give me his argument for his verses, and I realized, nothing. There's nothing. It's just called being greedy and covetous. And it's just like, you know, these churches, all they ask for is money, money, money. You know, there's a lot of things in life. It's not just money. People need to be edified and learn the Word of God. So during Matthew 15, number one, we had this, publishing. Number two, persecution. But now what I want to talk about are pretenders, and here's what you need to understand. The Mennonites are pretenders. They're phonies. They're fakes. Look, my parents live in Bedford, Pennsylvania, and if you know where the Mennonites are, that's Mennonite country. 2.1 million people, yeah, they're right in the heart of those 2.1 million people, right next to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I've been to Lancaster, Pennsylvania many times in my life. That is Amish country. It's like the Mennonites are there. I mean, there's more horses on the road than cars, my friend, okay? It's just like, you know, that is the heart of Mennonite country. But you know what? They are complete pretenders. They act like they're real spiritual. They say, man, we would never go on Facebook or the internet or TV. They act like they're real spiritual. In reality, they're hypocrites, okay? Notice what it says in Matthew 15, verse one. Matthew 15, verse one, then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees which were of Jerusalem saying, why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread. Now look, I like to be clean personally. I like to wash my hands. I think it's good advice to wash your hands before you eat, but you know, it's not a sin to choose not to though, okay? There are many things that I personally think, but you know, if you don't have a verse that says, thus saith the Lord, then that's an opinion. And someone could have a different opinion. And you have to realize this, like I have a lot of opinions about things. And you say, what you need to realize is I don't preach my opinions and say, well, if I have a certain standard and I can't prove it from the Bible, all that is is my standard. And you could disagree with that, okay? I don't sit up here and just preach my theories, okay? I preach to you what the Bible says. And they're saying you better wash your hands. Well, where's the verse in the Bible that says you must wash your hands? Now look, I wash my hands before I eat usually. My wife's going to say, you know, sometimes, but it's just like, you know what, it's not a sin to not wash your hands before you eat, okay? Now in the Amish and Mennonite communities, they have a lot of weird rules, okay? And I'm not preaching a whole sermon on all the weird rules, but here are some examples when I talk about how, you know what, you're not allowed to have buttons on your shirt, okay? Now let me say this, the Amish are more like the extreme Mennonites. They're very much like cousins. The Mennonites aren't as extreme and it can vary between the community. So look, I'm not saying every single Mennonite community, but here's an example. Like with the Amish, hey, it's wrong to have buttons, okay? It's wrong to have buttons. Another thing, no electricity whatsoever. So you can have generators running things in your house, but you cannot have electricity because that can lead into the internet and TV and stuff like that, which is wicked. Now here's the thing, I've stood behind this pulpit and preached against the hellavision many times and preached against that worldly stuff, and I agree with some of what they're saying, okay? But look, it's a little bit ridiculous if you say, well, we can't even have electricity. Electricity, that's like, you know, an invention of the devil that's going to destroy the world. It's just like, well, I mean, you know, good luck living your life without the basic things that are helpful in life, okay? They'll say electricity is wrong. Well, show me the Bible verse that says it's wrong. Another thing they say are wrong are rubber tires, okay? Now try not to laugh, okay? Now realize they're not driving the same vehicles that you are, okay? So I'm not saying a car is driving without rubber tires, okay? Because they don't use cars, okay? We're talking about tractors, okay, that they use, and they say no rubber tires. Now they've been changing some of these rules recently because they're finding it very hard to live without some of these things. It's just like, well, yeah, you should base your things based on what the Bible says. Why are they against rubber tires? Well, rubber tires are seen by the Amish as something which could promote sloth, luxury, or vanity, and thus it's strictly prohibited. So look, they say, you know what, that could represent being lazy if you have rubber tires. Now I don't understand the connection, but they think life ought to be very, very difficult. Now here's the thing about this. You say this is funny, and it is, but if you were Amish and you showed up with a shirt with buttons, you would get kicked out of their community. And see, what they believe is this, I mean, to them, this is like a sin that gets you kicked outside of church. Because to them, the only ones really going to heaven are the people that are living these really strict lifestyles in these communities. They believe it's very hard to get to heaven. Very difficult. I think it's easy. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. They think it's very difficult. And if you don't follow these things, you know what, you could easily have a straight ticket to hell. Okay. And they'll say, well, you know, no rubber tires on tractors. Another thing that's interesting is you must have a beard, but no mustache. Now this varies depending on, you know, what areas you're in. Okay. Depending on the community, they have other rules. Some will say you can't wear this color shirt, like green's a bad shirt. Another community said, no, it's blue. That's a bad shirt. You got to abide by the rules of their community that you live in, or you get kicked out of it. Okay. And they'll say, we got to have a beard with no mustaches. Now look, you might disagree with me, but I will never wear a beard. Let me just say that. This is about as long as it ever gets. I do not like a beard. I never have. Okay. I don't like a beard. But let me say this. It's kind of weird to have a beard with no mustache. Usually those things go hand in hand. Okay. But you have to have a beard with no mustache. You say, why can't you have a mustache? Well, I mean, a mustache, they associate that with the military and they're against the military. So you cannot wear a mustache because it's like the military. I don't understand that connection. Maybe I don't know what was going on when they started this like 150 years ago. But look, these rules are not based on what the Bible says. And you know what I found in my life is that when you meet people that are like so specific on things like why think this is wrong and this is wrong, and they never have any Bible verses to back it up. They are the biggest pretenders and fakes and phonies in the world. Those same people will commit wicked sins. And then they'll say, well, I would never do this while they're committing wicked sins. You say, are the Amish committing wicked sins? Yes they are. And I'll show you that here in a second. But look at Matthew 15 verse three, Matthew 15 verse three, Matthew 15 verse three. But he answered and said to them, why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded saying, honor thy father and mother and he that cursed father and mother, let him die to death. But ye say whosoever shall say to his father, his mother, it is a gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me and on earth, not his father, his mother, he shall be free. Thus have he made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Here's what you have to understand. When people lift up all their opinions in these traditions, it means they're devaluing the commandments of God. If they consider it so important that you dress in a certain way. And look, I understand there's men, men dress a certain way and women in the Bible speaks about that. But look, wearing buttons, I mean, what in the world? It's like, but here's what's funny. They don't draw the lines like God does though. God talks about clothing a lot. He never talks about, well, you cannot wear buttons. You must wear suspenders. Okay. That's ridiculous. Okay. Now let me give you an example of how the Amish and many of the Mennonite communities are very much pretenders. There's something called Rumspringa. Does anyone know what Rumspringa is? Anybody heard of that? For the Amish, this is between the ages of 14 to 16. For the Winger Mennonites, it's 17 to 21 years old. This is a time period where they're basically given where they don't have to follow any rules in the community or any rules in the Bible. They can fornicate with whoever they want. They can do drugs and drink. They could be a drug dealer. They can do all of these things, pedophilia or whatever they want to do. It's perfectly acceptable. After the time period, then they make their decision, are you going to join the community or not? It's like what in the world kind of church would say, hey, go deal drugs. No big deal for a couple of years. The same people that say, man, we would never wear buttons are the same ones that let their teens go sleep around with whomever for a couple of years. The strategy that they use is this because most of them stay with the community because look, when you're in these societies, they don't teach you basic math or reading. They only teach you the things on their communities to survive. I've seen a video on YouTube where this woman had left the Amish community and she's taking a math test and it's like three times five, doesn't know. It's like, you know, it's really hard to survive when you have no reading skills when you're a teenager. I mean, what are you going to do for work if you don't know what three times five is? I mean, she literally, and I'm not trying to insult her because she was not taught. If you're not educated, you just won't know. Your intelligence is largely based on what you learn, what you're educated, not your natural ability. She might have been a very intelligent person, but they never teach them anything. So what happens is they never leave their communities because what are you going to do out there in the real world if you don't know anything? And so basically they stay in their communities. But for a couple of years, they let you just sleep around with whoever you want, get drunk, do drugs. I mean, they make a lot of TV shows in the US about it because people think it's funny or whatever. And it's just like, talk about being a pretender. Talk about being a phony. We would never teach our kids, well, you know, for a couple of years we're going to let you do whatever. It's like you can do whatever sin you want and then you decide if you're going to stick with us. Because look, they're not godly. They have these weird and bizarre rules and the same people with those long beards and those suspenders and everything like that, dressed like they're from the 1500s or whatever. Those are the same people that were whoring around with like 50 different people when they were teenagers. Okay, look at what it says in Matthew 15 verse seven, Matthew 15 verse seven. Matthew chapter 15 verse seven. He says, ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you saying, this people draw nigh unto me with their mouth and honor with me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. This is exactly what the Mennonites do. They teach things as doctrines. If you don't do this, you're kicked out of the community. I mean, you'd be more likely, I mean, because a lot of these communities, most of them, drinking is okay. But you can't wear buttons, but boy, you can drink alcohol every meal. I mean, what kind of beliefs are these? But people think, oh, they're really conservative and everything like that. It's like, no, they just have a bunch of bizarre rules like the Pharisees have. Now let me just say this, because we're pretty much out of time here, but a lot of people will look at us and then they'll say, you know what, that we're Pharisees, right? We get accused of being Pharisees. You know, when I preach a certain way, they're going to say, well, you're a Pharisee. Now what did the Bible say about Pharisees? They were hypocrites. They said, but they didn't do. You say, Brother Stuckey, you preach against rock music. You're a hypocrite. I don't listen to rock music. How am I a hypocrite then? You say, Brother Stuckey, you preach against worldliness. You preach against watching movies. I don't watch movies. How does that make me a hypocrite? A hypocrite is someone who says and does not. You say, look, there is nothing wrong with having strong standards, and look, if you're at a church, I would hope you want a church that preaches strong standards, even if you don't agree with everything. Wouldn't you rather be at a church where you're raising your kids, where they preach strong standards of things to avoid and things to be careful about and things like that? You're not a hypocrite if you're preaching the word of God. You're a hypocrite if you say and you don't do, okay? Just like, you know, this sermon I just heard this past week, and it's talking about being generous, being generous, being generous, hypocrites, go sell everything you have hypocrites. You preach about being generous, but you're not. It's like saying, but not doing. That is what a hypocrite is. I'm not a hypocrite. You say, why? Because I'm not claiming to be perfect, but when I say, you know what? Don't watch any movies. I don't watch movies, but the Amish, they're hypocrites because they claim to be these godly people. Does this really sound like the people that were persecuted 500 years ago? Just use common sense for a second as we're closing up this series. Nobody's going to persecute you if you isolate yourself from the rest of the world and don't talk to anybody and just live off your own community. How in the world are they? Because remember what we read a few weeks ago? They said they were persecuted more than the first and second century Christians 500 years ago. That's right in the heart of the Protestant Reformation. You say, why does that happen? Because you got the Catholics and the Protestants trying to kill you. Look, we are Baptists. We do not come from the Protestants. Peter was not the first Pope. There have been good churches have been around for 2000 years. And here's the thing about this. The Bible says, you know what? You're unknown yet well known in God's eyes. Unknown here on Earth, well known in God's eyes. You say, Brother Stuckey, point to me, the great preacher from 150 years ago. Tell me who the great preacher was. Look, I'll tell you who it wasn't. It wasn't Mino Simons. You say why? Because he's respected and loved by the world. What one do you and men shall speak well of you? I'll tell you who it wasn't. It wasn't Charles Spurgeon. Say why? Because he's loved by the world. It's just like it's going to be someone that we don't know who it is. I'm sure in the 1800s are some of the greatest Christians and soul winners that ever existed. And you know what? We will never know who they are until we see somebody shining very bright up in heaven. That's reality. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here in your house here today and just getting to see this important message and an understanding about soul winning. And this has always been your method to reach the world, God, and help us to realize what makes us a Baptist and groups that are different than us and do not believe the same things, God. But help us to always be a zealous church to win souls, to preach the truth and to grow in the Lord, God. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.