(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Right, we're here in Psalm 14, and the name of the sermon is Denying Reality, Denying Reality. And you say, what does that mean to deny reality? Let me give you a definition, and this is kind of from a perspective of, you know, psychiatrists or people such as that. It says, reality denial is a subconscious defense mechanism characterized by refusal to acknowledge or rationalization of unwanted or unpleasant facts, realities, thoughts, or feelings. So basically, what denying reality is, is when somebody presents you with information, it's clear as day, you cannot deny it, two plus three equals five, it's so obvious, and you're like, I refuse to believe that. I will not believe that. It's basically being prideful when you're confronted with the truth and you just don't want to admit that, right? And this is something that all of us naturally tend to do, because when you get confronted with something and you're told that you're wrong and you've got to change your mind, the natural reaction is, why can't be wrong, right? We don't want to humble ourselves and admit that we're wrong, but you know, it's really foolish because everybody on the outside can look at it and say, you're just denying reality, and this is what people tend to do. A great example of this is if you ever show people, and look, I'm not very big in conspiracy theories. For one, I think they're a bit of a waste of time to spend a lot of time on them, and some people I think can go to extremes, but there's some conspiracy theories that to me are like, one plus two equals three. It's obvious that this is not actually correct what the government says, and sometimes you show people that information, and the reaction is, I just don't believe the American government would ever do anything bad to the people or something like that, and it's like, you're just denying reality. It's like, watch this building magically fall to the ground with nothing happening to it. Well, I just don't believe. I believe there must have been some sort of strong wind that pushed it down or something, and it's 20 years since 9-11 next week, okay? So I'm just keeping that in my mind if you know what I'm talking about, but just denying reality is when you're presented with the truth, and it's obvious. There's no way that you can say it's not true, and yet some people are just like, I don't believe it, right? I'm going to give you four examples of this. One example is with atheists. One example is with atheists that choose to deny reality. Now, when it comes to atheists, we need to understand there's basically two types of atheists, okay? One type of atheist is someone who basically has been lied to about evolution, lied to about the Big Bang Theory, and basically they grew up in a false religion, and they end up adopting atheism, but it's not like they don't want to believe in God. They're just not sure what the truth is, but there's another type of atheist who do not want to believe in God. They hate the idea of a God. They hate the idea of rules and authority, and when they're presented with information that proves that God is real beyond a shadow of a doubt, they just say, I just refuse to believe that. I think it's more logical that nothing exploded 18 billion years ago, and here we are today. It's like you're denying reality, okay? You say, well, that's your opinion, Brother Stuckey. Well, what does it say in Psalm 14, verse 1? See, the Bible speaks about somebody who inside of his heart says, I will not believe in God. There is no God. I don't want any authority, and the Bible says that person is a fool. You say, why does that make them a fool? Because whether or not you choose to believe it, it doesn't change reality, and it's obvious that God is real, and to choose to deny it just means you're going to be held accountable to the God that you say you don't believe in, right? It says that person is a fool. You say, Brother Stuckey, I thought that Richard Dawkins was a really smart person. I thought that Stephen Hawking was so smart. All these evolutionists, I thought they were like the smartest people in the world. Look, when you listen to these people, they will tell you that we're not really alive, that we're just a part of a computer simulation. That's what they say. They'll literally say, it's called the simulation theory. It's the new way to get rid of the idea of God, and what they say is, it's more likely that we were just created by some 12-year-old in his parents' basement that made a computer program, and we're just, you know, basically robots that are just doing what this 12-year-old tells us to do. It's like, you're a fool. That's ridiculous, right? The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Now, why is it they deny God? Well, because they don't want to believe in God. They are corrupt. They have done abominable works. There is none that doeth good. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside. They are all together become filthy. There is none that doeth good, no, not one. Have all the workers of iniquity, no knowledge. And it says they're workers of iniquity, and what that means is, their lifestyle is characterized by sinning and doing wrong. And it says they have no knowledge, because here's the thing, whether you believe in God or not, God's real. Anyway, you are accountable for the actions that you do, and you are a fool. You work iniquity, and one day you're going to be judged by that God you say you don't believe in. Look, they have no knowledge. They're foolish. And you listen to these people, and the world says they're so smart, and you know what, when we listen to them, we're like, this is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. I mean, they literally believe dinosaurs turned into birds. Like, what in the world? Right, that's more logical than believing that God created everything? I mean, you've got to be kidding me. How is that logical? I mean, you can see pictures online if you don't believe me. Look at pictures on Google Images, you'll see this giant dinosaur and just slowly becomes a bird. It's like it's madness. That's crazy. But those are the wise people in this world. What are they doing? Well, they're denying reality. Turn to Psalm 19. Psalm 19. Psalm 19. Now, just like any false religion, if somebody starts studying, you know, evolution and atheism, they're not going to tell you every single thing that they believe right off the bat, because some of the stuff just comes across as being crazy, right? For example, dinosaurs into birds, that's probably not the first thing they tell you, because that sounds insane. You know why? It is insane, right? And look, evolution's been around because there's nothing new under the sun, but in the 19th century, it became big with Charles Darwin and everything. And here's the thing, when evolution started, you know what it taught? It taught that white people are better than everybody else. It was a racist theory. It taught that white people are more evolved than black people. That's what they taught. Now, they don't want to tell you that now, but it's a racist religion. That's what they teach. They teach that white people are better than other people. That's what Charles Darwin taught. I mean, if you read his book, this is the name of Charles Darwin's big book. The Origin of Species is a short title. See, back then, books had very long titles. The actual name of the book is The Origin of Species or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Means and Struggle for Life. You know what that book's about? That white people are more evolved than other people. That's what it teaches, right? They're racist. And it's funny because people accuse Bible-believing Christians of being racist and sexist, and that's exactly what Charles Darwin was, right? Psalm 19, notice what it says in verse 1. It says, the heavens declare the glory of God. So look, the things that God has created, it shows His handiwork. It shows the works made by God. Now, the firmament is basically referring to the open air because it talks about the fowls flying in the firmament of heaven. And so when you look up at the firmament, you're looking at clouds and the sun and the moon and the stars. Doesn't that show the handiwork of the Lord? I mean, you can look up at the sky, and that shows that God is real, doesn't it? I mean, it's obvious. When you look up at the handiwork, what God has created, it shows His handiwork. And it says this, day unto day uttereth speech and night unto night showeth knowledge. You say, what does that mean? Day unto day uttereth speech, that's referring to the sun, okay? During the day, looking at the sun will show you that God is real. Night unto night showeth knowledge because you've got the moon and the stars. And you can look at what God has created and know what obviously didn't create itself, right? I mean, think about this. This pulpit is very nice pulpit, right? What if I told you that there was an explosion and that's how we got this, right? Like we were thinking about buying a pulpit or making a pulpit. I'm like, man, I'm stressed out. It's going to cost money. Where am I going to go? Then all of a sudden, you know, I was cooking. I didn't do a very good job. There was an explosion. And then all of a sudden we had this pulpit. You'd say, Brother Stuckey, that's ridiculous. That's what the Big Bang Theory teaches. It's stupid. It's foolish. And look, this pulpit is nothing compared to a single cell in your body. So if you're not going to believe that an explosion could create this, why could an explosion create a human being that operates like a machine on the inside? It's like it's madness. It's crazy. And you look at what God has created. It's obvious that God is real, right? The firmament shows the handiwork of the Lord. Verse three, there is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. You say, Brother Stuckey, what does that mean? Well, no speech nor language. What it's saying is there's nowhere in this world where they don't have a sun and the moon and the stars, right? No matter where you go, people have a sun. No matter where you go, people have a moon and the stars. So here's the thing. No matter where you live, there's no excuse for being an atheist because you can look at what God has created and know that God is real. It's really that simple. And it's not even that hard to explain to a young kid. A young kid's going to ask you, Dad, where did that sun come from? God created it. You know, it makes sense to them, right? Because they didn't have 10 years of brainwashing from the public school system. Verse four, their line has gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. And them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun. See, the line of these things he's created has gone through all of the earth. So no matter where you live, you see the sun. No matter where you live, you see the moon. No matter where you live, you see the stars. Verse five, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and rejoicing there's a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven and his circuit under the ends of it. And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. There's not a single place in the world here on earth that does not have the sun that's heating it. Now there are places in this earth that are a lot colder than other places. Obviously here in the Philippines it's a pretty warm place. It's pretty hot. You here are saying, man, I wish I could see snow in person one day. Well, that's because you've never been around snow. There is nothing more miserable than snow. Just take that as a fact for me. Try driving in the snow. It is miserable. It's terrible. But even the cold places on earth, you know what? They have the sun that's heating it. And actually, you know, you often get sunburns in snowy weather because what happens is the sun basically reflects off the snow. And people assume it's cold. I can't forget a sunburn. They go outside. It's zero degrees. Then all of a sudden they have this massive sunburn. They're like, man, it's cold. How did that happen? That's just the way it works. Okay. Now here's the thing. There's not a single place in this world that does not have the sun and moon and stars. However, I'm not saying that somebody gets saved by looking at the sun. I'm not saying that somebody gets saved by looking at the moon. You can look outside and know that God is real, but you cannot get saved by looking at the sun, moon, and stars. It teaches you that God is real, but that doesn't get you saved. You say, Brother Stuckey, what gets you saved? Verse 7. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise and simple. You say, Brother Stuckey, what does that mean? Well, the law of the Lord is referring to the entire Bible. Right? Some people try to say, well, the law of the Lord must be what? Sampum utos. No, it's referring to all the Bible. Okay? And what converts the soul? The Word of God. How do we get people saved? Is it a creation seminar? No. We get them saved with the Word of God. That's what gets them saved. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. Looking at the sun does not get you saved, but it does show you that God is real. Okay? Now turn to Romans 2. Romans 2. Romans 2. And look, if people want to look outside and say, well, I just think it evolved on its own, they're just denying reality. I mean, it's obvious that God is real. And you know what? It's hard for us to understand here in the Philippines because the vast majority of people we talk to say they believe in God. It's not like that all over the world, though. You go soul-winding in the U.S., and then one out of every five or ten doors is going to tell you, well, you're not. It's a very common thing. You go soul-winding in Europe or some of these communist countries, you're going to have a lot of people that don't believe in God. But you know what? And some of them are just brainwashed because of their public schools and things like that. But I'm telling you that from a young age, they do believe in God. You have to be brainwashed into God not being real. I've had people ask me this question before, well, how do you know that God is real? And what made you decide to believe in God? And you know what my response always is, is everybody automatically believes in God. So the better question is what made you to decide not to believe in God? Because everybody is born believing in God. You don't have to make a decision where it's like, man, it doesn't make any sense, but I'm going to believe it. No, actually everybody is born believing in God. And the only people that don't believe in God are people that have changed their mind and chosen not to. You say, well, how do you know that, Brother Stuckey? Romans 2. Romans 2. For when the Gentiles, verse 14, verse 14, for when the Gentiles which have not the law, you say, what is that referring to? Well, Gentiles and Jews are used as a comparison, and Gentiles are just referring to people that don't have the word of God, the typical unbeliever. And it says, which have not the law, meaning they don't have the law of the Lord, do by nature the things contained in the law. These having not the law are a law unto themselves. You say, Brother Stuckey, what does that mean? It means when it says by nature, it's not referring to mother nature. If you look up nature or natural in the Bible, it's referring to basically nature versus nurture. Nurture is basically how you're raised in the environment you're brought up in, and nature is basically genetically or biologically how you're born. And so when it's saying by nature they do the things contained in the law, what it's saying is this, that the average person is born, and by nature they just naturally obey many of the commandments just automatically, even if they don't know that the Bible says something's wrong. You say, what are you talking about, Brother Stuckey? Look, five-year-olds don't murder people. You say, Brother Stuckey, do you have to teach your five-year-old not to be a murderer? They already know not to murder. Now, look, of course as parents we teach everything the Word of God has, but what I'm saying is inside of themselves they already know that's wrong. They already know things are wrong, and by nature they just don't do certain things. You might ask them, you know, why don't you do this? They'll probably say something like, well, I feel guilty if I do it. You say, why do they feel guilty? Well, verse 15, verse 15 of Romans 2. It says, Romans 2, verse 15, which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness in their thoughts, the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. The Bible says it's written in their hearts, and it says their conscience, right? The Bible speaks about people whose conscience is seared with a hot iron, and the indication is everybody is born with a conscience, and people that are bad people can choose to rebel against God and have their conscience seared, but they are born with a conscience, and that conscience tells you right and wrong. It tells you what's right and what's wrong, and look, people sin all the time, and they know the things that they're doing are wrong, even if they don't know what the Bible says, right? Even if they don't believe what the Bible says, they still feel bad about it. You know, I had a co-worker a long time ago, and this was kind of a friend of mine at work, you know, but, you know, he wasn't saved. I was trying to get him to come to church. I gave him the gospel, and, you know, this guy was, I invited him out to eat, and I was giving him the gospel, and this guy had started a relationship with a married woman who was not divorced but going through the process, which, you know, the Bible, it's wrong, right? And so I was teaching him about the Bible and everything, and I was reading, you know, Revelation 21 8 and going through the verses and everything and explaining something, and you know what? I was not trying to, you know, point out his sin and make him feel miserable because that's not the point of soul winning. You make them realize they feel that they're guilty and they need a savior, but you don't have to make them feel like they're dirt, okay? You don't have to make them feel like they're a wretch. They just need to understand that they deserve to go to hell, and you know what? I was going through the various commandments and everything and just explaining to them, hey, we're all guilty, and I mentioned adultery in passing, not even thinking about him, and he's like, please don't say that word, and it's just like, he said he didn't believe in the Bible. Why did he feel so guilty? You say what? Because he had a conscience, and his conscience told him that what he was doing was wrong, even though I wasn't trying to make him feel miserable, and he said he didn't believe the Bible, but he still has a conscience that even if he doesn't believe the Bible inside of himself, he knew what he was doing was wrong, right? Go to Romans 1, Romans chapter 1, Romans 1. Romans chapter 1. And notice what it says in verse 22, Romans 1 verse 22. It says, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and see, the Bible says there are people that profess themselves to be wise that are actually fools. Anyway, honestly, most people that think they're really wise are actually fools. That's the truth, okay? But it says in verse 23, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptable man into birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. Wherefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. Notice this in verse 25, who changed the truth of God into a lie. You say, what does that mean? It's called denying reality. They have the truth of God and they say, I do not want to believe it. I refuse to believe it. And it says, and worshiped and served the creature more than the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. Is this not what atheists do? They worship the creature rather than the creator. I mean, they'll tell you, you're just an evolved animal. Well, you wonder why people act like animals in today's world. Maybe because you're teaching them they are an animal, right? Look, man is not an animal. Man was made in the image of God, created directly by God. And look, the Bible says we are above the animals. There's no comparison, but there's no comparison for an animal that dies and a human being that dies. It's not close at all. Look, and I'm not for like harming animals, but what I'm saying is people are so much above an animal, there's no comparison, right? Look, if you love animals, you love your dog, your cat, that's fine. I love my dog growing up, but you know what? It's nothing compared to having a baby and having a child, right? And if some animal attacked my son or attacked my daughter, it's an animal. And there's a difference between animals and human beings. There's no comparison, right? The Bible even speaks about if an animal were to attack a human, they're supposed to be put to death. That's what the Bible says. Now you say that in today's world. It's like, how dare you say that? It's like, well, I have a young son and a young daughter. And it's like, you better believe that if someone attacks my young son or my young daughter, an animal attacks, I have no problem destroying that animal if I need to, to protect my kids. There's no comparison. God gave them up on the vile actions for even their women to change the natural use into that, which is against nature. You say, what does it mean the women change the natural use into that, which is against nature? Well, what it's going to say here and describe is that men are created with a desire toward women and women are created with a desire toward men. And then there's certain people that want to rebel against God and get given over. And all of a sudden you see guys that are attracted to other guys. That's strange. That's weird. Look, let me explain something. It doesn't matter how normal it is or how common it is. It's very bizarre for a guy to dress in a dress. For a guy to show up wearing a dress is like, what are you doing? And it doesn't matter if we see it all over the place now. It's weird. It's bizarre. It's crazy. And the Bible says that is against nature. What is it called? It's called people that are denying reality and are sinful and want to reject God and they just want to commit sins to make God mad. It says in verse 27, And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lusts one toward another, men with men, working that which is unseemly and receiving themselves that recompense of their error, which is meat. Verse 27 talks about men burning in their lusts toward another man. You say, Brother Stuckey, what's your opinion about people that would burn in their lusts toward another man? I would say stay away from my children. Because if you're not going to go for the natural use of a woman and have some weird, bizarre fantasy, hey, stay very far away from my kids. I don't trust you around my kids at all. You say, Brother Stuckey, I can't believe you'd say that. Look, it's amazing to me that every time you see major stories of homos, there's proof of everything the Bible says and people deny reality. They don't want to admit that the Bible's true. Look, you got two stories of homos in the Bible, Genesis 19, Judges 19, go home and read them and then tell me how nice they are. And if you go home and read those chapters and say how nice they are, you're either like really tired when you're reading, you got it on audio, or, you know, you're just denying reality. And I always encourage people, you know what, to read for yourself and make your own decisions. I got interviewed, you know, about six years ago when Verity Baptist was protesting in California. They actually interviewed four people from our church, but they only took two of the interviews. And what I said was this, you know what, because the reporter was asking me questions, well, how can you believe this? And I said, you know what, I just encourage people, read Genesis 19 on your own and come to your own conclusion. And you can decide whether what I'm saying is actually what the Bible says or not, right? Because I am very confident that if anyone read Genesis 19 and was paying attention, they would be like, whoa, what in the world? I'll tell you what, that's the first book in your Bible. There's a lot of Christians here in today's world that have just never read the Bible. I mean, the first reaction people have when they read through the Bible for the first time is, wow, God's a lot meaner than I thought He was. He's a lot more holy and righteous than I thought He was. I always heard He was just love and, you know, I always heard He was a giant care bear that just hugged you and gave you gifts like Santa Claus or something. It's like, well, you know, God is love, but that's one aspect of God, okay? Turn your Bible to Matthew 13. Matthew 13. See, many atheists, when confronted with the idea of God, they deny reality. I mean, it's obvious God is real. I mean, even when they try to argue on an intellectual level, there's so many things they can't answer. For one, they can't answer what created everything. They'll say the big bangs happened, what, 13 to 18 billion years ago. What about before that, or 13.8 billion years ago? What about before the big bang theory? I mean, how does nothing explode? It's like they don't have an answer for the origin of everything, right? They'll say, well, this is how we came here on earth, but they don't have an answer for the actual origin of everything. They're never going to have an answer. There is no answer. There's so many things about atheism that don't make sense. I mean, look, if this earth is four and a half billion years old, why is it still hot in the center of the earth? It doesn't make any sense, and I've read articles trying to explain that. Theories like, well, maybe this is why it's hot. I mean, if it's so hot in the center of the earth, which it is, why is this whole earth not burned up? Why is it not burned up or just cooled off after four and a half billion years, right? Because you know what? If you like coffee, which I like coffee, you heat up your coffee in the morning, and sometimes you forget about it. Fifteen minutes later, it's like, mollygumgum, right? This is disgusting, right? Things cool off, and look, after four and a half billion years, it's probably going to cool off if you use common sense and logic, but atheists deny reality. They don't want to admit the truth. One group of people that denies reality are atheists. Another group of people that often deny reality are unsaved people when confronted with the gospel. Unsaved people when confronted with the gospel. Now, here's the thing. When it comes to unsaved people we talk to, you can kind of divide it into kind of three groups. Some people we talk to get saved, right? Some people we talk to aren't sure. They're thinking about it. Maybe they're still confused. They're not denying the truth. They're just not sure about it, but then there's another group of people that we talk to that are just denying reality, and they say that, no, you've got to live a good life and be a good person. They say they believe the Bible. You show them verses, and it's like they don't even listen to anything you say, and what they're doing is denying reality. The Bible says in Matthew 13 verse 18, Matthew 13 verse 18, it says, Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth the way that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the wayside. So some people we talk to, they hear the gospel, and they don't understand it. They don't fully grasp it. It's not that they're denying the truth, but they're just not really sure about it. Isn't it true we get to the end of our gospel presentations, and you ask them something like, you know, well, do you still believe you need to live a good life, or do you believe it's 100% Jesus like I explained? And sometimes people are like, not sure, right? Anyway, that's important for us to ask us that because we want to really know what's in their heart. Do they believe it, or are they not sure? And if they're not sure, what I'll sometimes ask is, do you want me to share with you a few more verses, or do you just want to think about it? And many times they'll say, I just want to think about it, right? And they're just not ready at that moment to get saved, but they might get saved later on. I'm sure many of us in this room, the first time you heard the gospel, you probably didn't get saved. It probably took you several times. People that got saved from the online preaching, you might have heard a lot of sermons about the gospel and heard the gospel presentation, and you're like, man, this is a lot different than repentance of sins, and it took you a little while, right? When I heard the gospel, I heard it for a long time, and then I went home, and I thought about it, and I got saved that night. I was like, that makes sense. You know, I can't deny it. It makes perfect sense. But some people we talk to just deny reality. Go to Romans 3. Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3. And look, I know we understand the gospel here, but let me just go over some of the famous verses we used during our gospel presentation. And what I want you to understand is this, that when we explain the gospel that Jesus died and paid for our sins, was buried and rose again, that it's a free gift, what we are explaining to people makes perfect sense. We don't have to convince them of something that doesn't make any sense, that's not logical. It makes perfect sense. Now, an unsaved person doesn't realize that, but as a saved person, we look back at before we were saved, and we're like, how foolish was I? Because of course it's a free gift, and it's eternal. It's the only thing that makes sense, right? So of course it makes sense to us. But what I'm saying is this, when we're preaching the gospel to people, we're not trying to convince them of something that doesn't make any sense, that there's no evidence. We're explaining something that makes perfect sense. Romans 3 verse 23. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Well, I mean, isn't it true that all have sinned? Right? I mean, doesn't that make perfect sense? We've all sinned. I mean, is there any question about that? Everybody's sinned. Everybody's done wrong. And because of that, we come short of the glory of God. Well, doesn't that make sense that we come short of the glory of God? God's perfect. We're not perfect. I mean, it makes perfect sense, right? You say, brother, this is like a Sunday school lesson for five-year-olds. Yeah, it makes perfect sense. Very simple. Very easy to understand. Go to Revelation 21. Revelation 21. Revelation 21. And it says in Revelation 21 verse 8, but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters. You say, brother Stuckey, I'm not those things. I'm not a sorcerer. I'm not a wizard. I'm not a murderer. But notice this, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. So the Bible even says all liars shall have their part. One of my favorite words in the Bible is the word all in Revelation 21. It's such a great word because, you know, people think, well, of course, murderers go to hell. Of course, sorcerers go to hell, but not me. Not me. But, you know, here's the thing. One murder makes you a murderer. One lie makes you a liar. And to make it very clear, God says in case there's any doubt, not some liars, not the really bad liars, all liars shall have their part. That includes all of us. Right? Everybody's lied before. There's not a single person who has not lied. Everybody has lied before. So here's the thing. That shows us that all of us are guilty and deserve hell. I mean, according to the Bible, every single one of us, okay? And it makes perfect sense because we've broken God's rules. Go to 1 John 3. 1 John 3. 1 John 3. You know, sometimes you show people Revelation 21.8, and they refuse to admit that they deserve hell. You show them all liars, and they say, well, you know, I've only told white lies. Well, that's actually another lie because I'm sure that's not true. But here's the thing. That doesn't change the fact all liars. Why only tell lies in order to help other people out? Yeah, right. It's like, do you expect me to believe that? It's like, what are they doing? They're denying reality when you're talking to them. They don't want to admit that they deserve hell because it's an uncomfortable truth. Because here's the thing. You know what? If you determine whether or not you're good enough to go to heaven, you're always going to say you're good enough. Before I was saved, I wasn't 100% for sure, but I was pretty sure. Because I said, well, you know, I don't drink like other people drink. Isn't that what we do? We compare ourselves to other people. But here's the thing about it. It doesn't matter how bad of a person you are. You always compare yourself to other people. If you ever hear people in prison that are asked questions like these, they'll say, yeah, I murdered one person, but other people have murdered a lot more people than me. And it's like, what in the world, right? Everybody thinks they're good enough to go to heaven, but see, the Bible says all liars. So what does that show us? Well, it shows us we're all guilty. Everybody needs a Savior. Well, that makes perfect sense, right? And the Bible says in 1 John 3 5, and you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him is no sin. There is no sin in Jesus Christ. Why is it that Jesus is the only way to heaven? Because He's the only one who died for us, and He's the only one who could die for us because He's sinless. Wow, that makes sense. Yeah, it makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, it makes perfect sense that Jesus is the only one who could die, because here's the thing. If a sinner could die for you, then you could die for yourself. But see, Jesus was perfect. That's why He was able to die for us. Well, why was He perfect? Well, He was God, the Bible teaches. It makes perfect sense. Go to Galatians 2. Galatians 2. The Bible also says He died for the sins of the whole world. I'll tell people out of soul winning, that means Jesus died for the Muslim countries. Jesus died for the Hindu countries. Jesus died for the Buddhist countries. Jesus died for the Catholic countries, the Protestant countries, whatever you want to name, right? Jesus died for the sins of the world, the Bible says. The Bible says the sins of the whole world, okay? And it makes sense because here's the thing. Muhammad didn't even claim to die for Muslims, right? Buddha didn't even claim to die for Buddhists. But Jesus Christ claimed to die for the sins of the whole world. He's the only one who's ever done it because He was actually perfect. It says in Galatians 2, verse 21, I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. See, the Bible says if righteousness, getting God's righteousness and going to heaven, comes by the law, then Christ's death is in vain, meaning meaningless. There's no point. What the Bible is saying is there is no point of Jesus dying on the cross if you get to heaven because you're a good person. Doesn't that make perfect sense, right? I've asked people this question before that are unsaved, you know, why did Jesus die for you? And they're like, man, that's a good question. I've said, you know, if your good works get you to heaven, why did Jesus die for you? And it's like, wow, that's a good question. I've never thought about that before. And I'm not trying to mock those people because that's all of us before we're saved, you know? When you're not saved, it doesn't make sense, right? What I'm showing you is the gospel makes perfect sense. Christ's death is meaningless if our works get us to heaven. Look at Galatians 3 verse 21. Galatians 3 verse 21. Galatians 3 verse 21, the Bible reads, is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid. For if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. So the Bible says here, if there was a way that was written in the law or your works, your actions that could get you to heaven, that's the way it would have been. That's the way you get to heaven. See, Jesus would not die on the cross unless he had to die on the cross. And he came and died and paid for our sins because he had to. Nobody else was perfect. You know, that's why all of the sacrifices in the Old Testament, it will say a lamb without blemish. Because the Lamb of God was sinless and he had to be sinless to die and pay for our sins. Turn your Bible to Matthew 24. Matthew 24. And look, you could go on and on with the Gospel. All I'm trying to explain you with the Gospel is it makes perfect sense. I mean, if you say you believe the Bible, and here's the thing, if you say that you believe in God but you don't believe the Bible, your religion does not make sense. Because, you know, they don't have a standard in these other religions. What exactly will send you to heaven or hell? Basically, well, just live a good life, you go to heaven. Well, what does that mean to live a good life? Where is the cutoff point? They don't have a standard. It does not make sense. When I got saved, the person who gave me the Gospel mentioned this to me when I was kind of arguing back and forth with him. He said, well, he's like, let me ask you, you know, Brother Stuckey, or not brother at the time, but he's like, let me ask you, Stuckey, you know, where's the cutoff line of heaven and hell? Of how good do you have to be to go to heaven and that to go to hell? He asked me, does it make sense that someone right here gets to spend forever in heaven and someone just a little bit worse spends forever in hell? And I'm like, yeah, you know, you got a point. That doesn't make any sense, right? That's what you believe, though, if you believe in a work of salvation. Unless you believe everybody goes to heaven or everybody goes to hell, you've got to have a cutoff point and it doesn't make any sense. Here's the thing, though. If salvation comes down to faith, if you're saved, there are no sins, right? If you're not saved, who knows how many sins there are? Maybe at least a thousand a day, right? I mean, the thought of foolishness is sin. So if you don't have the blood of Jesus Christ covering your sins, you have a multitude of sins. Of course you would go to hell then, right? It's obvious, but it makes sense if you believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins. If you believe salvation's by works, it doesn't make any sense. And here's the thing, there's really two religions in this world. Salvation by faith alone versus all of the other religions that say, by your works, you get to heaven, nirvana, moksha, whatever they call it in their religion. So point number one, atheists, when confronted with the idea of God, they often deny reality. But oftentimes with the unsaved people, we preach the gospel to people and some people just deny reality. They just refuse to believe what the Bible says. And it's like what they say doesn't make any sense. You know, just last week, you know, in Pampanga, me and Brother Miggs, we talked to someone who said she was a Baptist. And she was very excited to be a Baptist, right? I told her, you know, that, you know, Tagavari Baptist Church, you know, Pokame, and then I invited her to church. And she's like, I'm a Baptist too. I'm like, okay, great. You know, what do you think it takes to get to heaven? And she's like, well, you got to live a good life. You got to be a good person. You got to read his word. I mean, I'm like, this doesn't even sound close to being a Baptist. Because usually when somebody's a Baptist or they're, and then they're excited to be a Baptist, they give an answer that is at least somewhat close. But I'm like, man, this sounds like a Jehovah's Witness, like live a good life, be a good person, and all these things that she mentions. And you know what, it was, it was kind of a dry day for soul winning, meaning nobody wanted to listen. So I kind of broke a basic rule. I spent way too much time with this person because I was like, well, 50 people have already rejected us. Nobody wants to talk. It's like, whatever, right? But you know, I started the conversation with her because she was willing to listen, and she was just denying reality the entire time. And then she started to just kind of mock us and say, this is ridiculous that all you have to do is believe. And I'm like, that's what it says. And of course, guess how many Bible verses she showed me? None. Right? The only thing she said is, faith without works is dead. Right? And I was like, yeah, that shows you can have faith without works. Faith without works says you can have faith. And I explained, like, you know, I pour water on a computer. It's a dead computer, but the computer exists. And then she's like, oh, that's just stupid. Right? It's like, no, you're just denying reality because that makes perfect sense. Right? And then all of a sudden, I don't know if this was her son or her grandson yelled from inside the house. He's like, that makes sense. I agree. I thought he was agreeing with me at first. Then all of a sudden he's like, that's right. Faith without works is dead. This guy walks out. He's a homosexual telling me how you have to be a good person to go to heaven. I'm like, is this the Twilight Zone? Like, what kind of a Baptist church is this? Right? But what I'm saying is this. We run into some people that when they hear the gospel, they just don't want to believe it. They refuse to believe it. They would rather trust in their own works, and they just are hard-headed and stubborn, and they don't even want to listen how simple the gospel is. And it's so frustrating because we understand how simple it is. We're thinking, man, if you just kept an open mind for 10 or 15 minutes, you could spend forever in heaven, but some people, they just want to deny reality. You say, Brother Stuckey, what do you do? You can't do anything. If somebody's going to deny reality, you can't do anything. I mean, throughout the Bible, you see soul winners preach the gospel to people that don't get saved. I mean, how is Jesus going to get the Pharisee saved? How do you get somebody saved that's denying reality? You can't. It's impossible because they must make that freewill choice. Point number three, though, how about save people when confronted with different Bible doctrines that they don't believe? Save people when confronted with different Bible doctrines. Matthew 24. Matthew 24. And I'm mainly speaking about Baptists that hear Bible doctrines that they haven't heard before, haven't believed, and they get shown what the Bible says, and instead of just admitting, man, I must have been wrong, they just deny reality. They don't want to admit it. Matthew 24, verse 29. Notice what the Bible says. Immediately after the tribulation, of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. Now, this is obvious. It's talking about the rapture because in verse 31, he shall gather together his elect. The four winds is saying north, south, west, east, right? North, south, east, west, right? The four directions. What it's saying is he's going to gather together all saved people in the entire earth, okay, from one end of heaven to the other, basically stating everywhere. Nobody's going to be left behind, okay? Everybody that's saved, I don't mean to use that term, but everybody's going to be raptured, okay, that's saved, okay? Now, here's the thing, though. What's the context of when this is going to happen? You say, Brother Stuckey, are you setting a date? I'm not setting a date at all because I have no idea when it's going to happen. My opinion is it won't happen in my lifetime, but with each passing day, I become more convinced it might, right, in the crazy world we live in, okay? But notice the context in Matthew 24 verse 29, immediately after the tribulation. Now, look, I don't know when the day's going to be, but one thing I do know is it's after the tribulation. You say, Brother Stuckey, I thought the Bible taught a pre-tribulational rapture. Where does it teach that? Nobody even has a verse. And it's like you show people this immediately after the tribulation, and what ends up happening? Denial of reality. They don't want to believe it. They just refuse to believe it. And they come up with just these weird reasons why, well, this is not what it's talking about, you know, obviously, you know, that can't be what it is because we know, we know that nobody knows the day or the hour. Well, I don't think you know where that verse in the Bible is either. Because look at verse 36. Verse 36, but of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. So of that day and hour knoweth no man. Here's the thing. I don't know the day. I don't know the hour. But one thing I do know is it's after the tribulation. I know it's not today. I don't know the exact day. But one thing I know is it's not today. Right? I mean, this is just common sense. I mean, if you were just looking at, you know, a sporting competition and, you know, let's say there's 16 teams in the NBA playoffs or whatever, you say, Brother Stuckey, who do you think is going to win? I'll say, well, I don't know which team is going to win, but I know that the teams that didn't make the playoffs aren't going to win. Right? And here's the thing. Since God said after the tribulation, one thing I know is it can't be today. You say, why? Because the tribulation hasn't happened yet. It's after the tribulation of those days. So we don't know the exact day or hour, but we know, well, it can't be today. Right? And here's the thing. What's funny is people that believe in a preacher rapture, they will tell you that Matthew 24 is not about the rapture. They'll say, Brother Stuckey, this is just written to the Jews. Well, here's the thing. That doesn't change the fact the word after means after. But here's the thing. They'll say, Matthew 24 is written to the Jews. Well, here's the thing, then. Don't use verse 36 to promote your theory if it has nothing to do with the rapture. Right? They use 36 as their main verse, and they'll say it's not about the rapture, and then they'll show you a verse in Matthew 24 to prove the rapture. It's like, what are you missing? What are they doing? They're denying reality. They don't know how to answer what they believe, but they refuse to actually change their mind about what they believe. They just deny reality. I mean, it says immediately after the tribulation. And here's the thing about this. They'll say that this is just to the Jews, but that's not true. Go to Mark 13. Mark 13. Mark 13. See, people have an idea. They'll say, well, you know, all the 12 apostles, they were all Jews, so it was just written to the Jews. One of the 12 apostles was Simon the Canaanite. And when people hear that, they'll say, well, that doesn't mean, you know, that he's a Canaanite as and from the location. That's just like a title given to him. Matthew Stuckey the American. That doesn't mean he's from America. I mean, like, this is called denying reality. It's like, I mean, there's nothing wrong with being proven you're wrong. Just admit you're wrong. And you know what? Here's the thing. All of us are wrong sometimes. You know, what makes perfect sense is just humble yourself, and then you don't have to look like a fool your whole life, right? But when you just deny reality, and it's obvious to people, you just look foolish. You say, Brother Stuckey, how do you know that Matthew 24 was not just to the Jews? Well, Mark 13 is a parallel chapter in the Bible. And notice what it says in verse 37. And what I say unto you, I say unto the Jews, the elect, unto all. What I say unto you, I say unto all. Watch. You say, what does it mean by all? It means all. It means to everybody, right? He's explaining, look, anybody can open Mark 13 and say, okay, this is what's going to happen in the end times. Because Christ is saying this to everybody. And what does it say? It's after the tribulation. It's plain as day. You say, Brother Stuckey, I've always heard it's before the tribulation. But what part of the Bible teaches you that? Why do you believe that? And look, you might not realize this. This is not just my opinion, but people that are Baptist pastors, they don't have a verse for why they believe in a preacher rapture. They don't. It's just something they were taught. So that's what they're teaching other people. That's the truth. Go to 2 Thessalonians 2. 2 Thessalonians 2. And look, we tend to believe things that we're taught. And we don't question them. Right? I'm sure many of us were taught Santa Claus. I was taught Santa Claus as a kid. And you know what? When I got confronted with the idea that Santa Claus is not real, I was like, no, I don't believe that. I mean, Santa Claus is real. It's like, there's no way my parents told me that if he's not real. Santa Claus is real. And of course, then they start presenting evidence why Santa Claus makes no sense. And it's just like, well, they're right. It doesn't make any sense. Right? And it's like, but what's the natural reaction? We deny reality. We don't want to admit it. Right? I mean, that's the truth. You say, Brother Stuckey, well, prove to me, prove to me then how that the rapture cannot be right now. Well, notice what it says in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 1. Paul says this. Now, keep in mind that 2 Thessalonians was written after 1 Thessalonians, obviously. 1 Thessalonians is very famous for having the rapture passage. Right? But the rapture passage in 1 Thessalonians doesn't really give you the timing. Okay? It just kind of says some basic things. It does give you some information. Like, you know, he's not going to be a thief in the night to save people, meaning we're going to be aware. So it does kind of show you the same things. But it's not as clear as 2 Thessalonians because he's clarifying some stuff. And he says in verse 1 of 2 Thessalonians 2, chapter 2 of 2 Thessalonians, Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him. So this is obviously referring to the rapture. Our gathering together unto him. And it says in verse 2 that ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled, neither by spirit nor by word nor by letters from us, as the day of Christ is at hand. Now, what does it mean to be at hand? It means it's about to take place. Right? If I were to say church service is at hand, it means it's about to happen. Okay? It could happen at any moment. It's, you know, imminent, basically. And what Paul is saying is don't let anybody make you think that the day of Christ is imminent. Because what pre-trib teaches is the imminent return of Jesus, that it can happen at any moment. And what Paul is saying in verse 2 is don't let anybody teach you that it can happen at any moment. That's exactly what he's saying. I mean, 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 2 is saying the pre-trib rapture is false. That's what he's saying. It's not at hand. It wasn't the word of God that taught you that. And look, that's true because it's not the word of God where people are getting the pre-trib rapture. They're just hearing it from their preacher and they believe it. Verse 3, let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. And see, in verse 3, what Paul's saying is don't let anybody deceive you because that is not going to happen except a falling away takes place first and the man of sin be revealed. Well, this is the antichrist. And everybody agrees this is the antichrist, the man of sin. Here's the thing. Has the man of sin been revealed? Do we know who the antichrist is? No, we don't. You know what that means? Jesus can't come back now because the antichrist is going to come back first. God's people have always gone through tribulation and persecution, and it's always going to happen, right? And then it says the falling away is going to take place first. You say, well, Brother Stuckey, this is your side of what you're saying. I don't know what the pre-trib defense is. Well, I'll tell you what the pre-trib defense is. They say the falling away means going upward. They say if you go back to the Greek, the falling away means the catching up. I'm like, how do I respond to that? And it's like, they don't speak Greek, but they're positive that's what it means, that falling means going upward. You're denying reality. Why don't you just believe what it says that, hey, you know what? I guess I was wrong. Christ can't come back. The antichrist is going to be revealed first. So look, I don't care how many people tell you this. Jesus is not coming back today. And you know what? It's funny because people get so offended if you say this, and I think the reason why they get offended about this doctrine, this is a doctrine they have no verses to prove what they believe, and so they get very defensive because they don't know what to say, right? People are scared. And look, you know, I think if you're at a good church and they teach the pre-trib rapture, I'm not saying you start an argument with your pastor. I wouldn't do that. But what I'm saying is this, that if you show people you know just clearly, hey, you know, it's after the tribulation, well, I don't believe that, right? I mean, so many people I know believe it's pre-trib. They must be right, even though the Bible is very clear about it. What is that called? It's called denying reality. Now, I just gave you one example. I have a lot more written down. I'm not going to go through all the examples with this, but obviously we know there's a lot of people that grow up in Baptist churches and they become very dogmatic about what they believe, and then when they get confronted with the truth, they don't want to change what they believe. And look, all of us are naturally like this because admitting you're wrong is called humbling yourself, and none of us like to humble ourselves. Have you ever been in an argument with someone and you knew you were losing the argument, you realize during the conversation you're wrong but you refuse to admit you're wrong, and you just pretend like you're right and you keep arguing? I've done that before. I'm sure I'm not the only one. We all do this. What is that called? It's called pride. And look, we all can be guilty of this. And look, this is something as a saved person. We need to make sure that we don't act prideful. If you're wrong, just admit it because otherwise you're just going to keep making the same mistakes. Just admit you're wrong. Make the change and just move on. Turn in your Bible to Luke 8. Luke 8. I mean, here in the Philippines, there's a lot of Catholic traditions, and you know what? None of these traditions are biblical. It's like, man, we should pray the rosary every day. Show me the word rosary in the Bible. Show me where anyone prays the rosary. They don't have a verse, but they're dogmatic. Well, no, but we need to do it, right? Well, show me why. There's no verse. There's nothing that says that, and they don't even have a verse. It's like, okay, well, if everybody goes to purgatory when they die, show me purgatory in the Bible. Show me where the Bible says there's an intermediate state, and it's like they don't have it, but they're still positive there must be a purgatory. Show me where there's a pope that basically is the vicar of Christ on earth in the Bible. Show that to me. And it's like, well, they don't have a verse, but they believe it. Now, look, the good thing is many Catholics are receptive to the Gospel and willing to admit, hey, I was wrong, and get saved. But there are also staunch Catholics that say, I was born a Catholic. I was bred a Catholic, and I'm going to die a Catholic. Isn't that true? Haven't you met people that are like that? I was born Catholic. I was raised Catholic, and I'm going to die Catholic. Why? Because that's what my grandparents were. That's our family tradition, and I'm going to keep it to my grave. You're a fool. It's like, just change what you believe. I mean, just see, the Bible doesn't... I mean, where does the Bible say the seven sacraments? Right? I mean, look, it's actually literally impossible to keep the seven sacraments. You say, why? One of the sacraments is entering the priesthood, and another one is having children. Now, I guess there are priests. There are actually a lot of priests that are able to do both those things, so maybe I'm wrong about that. But I'm just saying, it's like, well, wait a minute. If you're supposed to be celibacy, how can you do both things? But then people don't even realize that, because they hear something, and you ask people, what are the seven sacraments? Nobody knows. And I'm not saying to ask people this out soul-winning, but I've never met a Catholic that knew all seven sacraments. Right? There's probably nobody in this room that could name all seven sacraments off the top of their head. Right? But you have to keep them to go to heaven. Well, where does it ever say that in the Bible? Right? But it's tradition. Point number one, we looked at atheists. Point two, we looked at the unsaved when confronted with the gospel. Point three, we looked at saved when confronted with doctrines. But I want to apply this sermon to people like us. Right? Because if you're in this room, you're probably saved. You're hopefully not an atheist. You're probably saved, so that gets rid of the first two. Right? And look, if you're a regular attendee at this church, you've obviously made the decision that you're willing to leave behind false doctrines you were taught and say, hey, I'll humble myself and realize I had the wrong church before. So that number three doesn't apply to you. But you should always make sermons applicable to the people you're talking to. So how do we deny reality? Well, here's how we deny reality. When you get confronted with your sin and you refuse to admit it. And this is something that you find all throughout the Bible. Any one of us, any one of us, including myself, could be guilty of this. Where if you're doing something wrong and you're making mistakes and you get confronted with the truth from the Word of God, you can either decide to make the change or get hardheaded, stiff necked, stubborn and say, well, you know, I have my reason why I do this. But that is our natural tendency to be hardheaded and not admit it. But notice what it says in Luke 8 verse 15. Luke 8 verse 15, the Bible reads, but that on the good ground are they which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it and bring forth fruit with patience. Now this is part of the parable of the sower and this is the last group. Now I don't have time to explain really the parable of the sower, but the first group does not get saved. The next two, the middle ones, they get saved but they don't really serve God their whole life. This last group, these are people that get saved and serve God their entire life. Isn't this your goal to serve God your entire life? I mean, isn't that the goal of our lives? I mean, the last verse or the next sermon we're going to look at is that I'll dwell in the house of the Lord forever. We sing that song, you know, dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That's a goal to serve God our entire lives. What's the secret? What it says is those in the good ground, what do they do? They have an honest and good heart. What's that referring to? Well, it's not referring to the moment they get saved. It's referring to after they get saved that they have an honest and a good heart. That's the pattern of their life, that having heard the word, every time they hear the word, they keep it and bring forth through with patience. So having an honest heart means what? Not denying reality. That's what it means. It means when you hear a sermon and you realize, man, the Bible says that what I'm doing is wrong, have an honest heart. Step one, just admit that you're guilty. What's a good heart? Well, good heart means make the change. Whenever you look up good in the Bible, it's actually doing the works, doing the good works. So basically when you hear a sermon, what you do is does this apply to me? And if it applies to you, you make the change. Right? But see, that's not the natural tendency of people. This is why people don't like a church like ours, because you get confronted with your sin and your problems. And the natural reaction is, well, I'm justified. Right? People don't want to have an honest heart, but it's really foolish because if you're making a mistake your entire life, you can either fix the problem or keep making the same mistake. Look, you keep making the same mistake, it's going to screw up your life. Just have an honest heart when you get confronted with your sin. And you know what? Have a good heart. Make the change. It's that simple. James 3. James chapter 3. James 3. The Bible speaks about the Word of God being quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. And what it's saying is that the Word of God has a way to get on the inside of you like nothing else. Because a physical sword could kill you, but the Word of God has a way to get on the inside and make you feel guilty about stuff. Right? You read the Bible sometimes and you read something and you're like, man, I feel guilty. I need to make changes in my life. And you know what? Here's the truth. We have to be reminded of the same things over and over again because we're all hard-headed. Right? You know, it's like sometimes I read things in the Bible and I'm like, man, this is like the 50th time, you know, in my Bible reading I've come down to the altar and said, man, I'm going to make this change. Right? It's like, you know, but when you read the Word of God, it confronts your sin and your problems and it's like we need to just be honest and say, you know what, I need to make the change. I need to quit being stubborn and just make the change. And see, the Word of God is a way to get on the inside of you. And when the Word of God is preached, it has a way to get on the inside of you. And here's the thing, that's a very uncomfortable feeling, having a sword piercing you all the time. You're going to do one of two things. You're either going to make the change or you're going to get mad at the message. Right? Most Christians get mad at the message. This might be hard for you to believe, but most Christians want to be lied to. Most saved people don't want to know the truth. Right? You know, an example, you know, when we talked about the last point with the preacher of rapture, the person who led me to the Lord, when he learned about the poster of rapture, he was showing all of his old friends from Baptist churches. One of his friends told him this, and this was the son of a preacher. This guy said, well, you know, Mike, I don't care if the poster of rapture is true. I don't want to believe it. I don't want to know about it. I don't want to believe it. I'd rather just believe it's pre-trib. It's like he doesn't want to know the truth. And see, he was actually honest with what he was saying, but that's actually how most people are. They don't want to know the truth. Right? People don't want to admit, you know what, I was wrong. James 3 verse 14, but if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, James 3, but if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, this is someone who's filled full of strife and envy. They're not right with God. It says, glory not and lie not against the truth. What does it mean to lie against the truth? It means to deny reality. Because when the Word of God is preached and there's verses showing it and it shows that you're guilty and it's right in front of your face, it's like you can either make the change, which is the logical thing to do, or just be like, no, I refuse to believe it. I'm justified. And when you lie to yourself, you'll actually start to believe it. Right? But people do this, they lie against the truth. Go to 1 John 3. We'll look at two more places. 1 John 3. 1 John 3. I mean, I wish this weren't the case, but this is the truth. People deny reality. Anyway, it's so common in our world that they actually have a term for it, right? Denying reality. And they describe what it is, and basically it's when you have an uncomfortable truth and you just don't want to admit it. And of course, you know, it's uncomfortable when you see a Bible verse that says, you are living in sin. It's not very comfortable, is it? Because you know what most people want? Most people want to come to church and they want me to pat them on the back. You're doing a great job. You're awesome. You're like the best Christian in the world. It's like, you know, it doesn't matter that you committed all these sins and everything. It doesn't matter that you're a drunk. It doesn't matter that you're living in adultery or whatever. You're okay. You're awesome, right? This is what most people want. Why do you think Joel Osteen has such a big church? Because his messages are so positive. Well, what does that mean? He makes me feel like I'm really godly. Well, if you're not godly and he makes you feel godly, is that really the goal of preaching? The goal of preaching is to show you your sin so you can make changes. 1 John 3, verse 20. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. You say, Brother Stuckey, what does this mean? Well, what is saying if our heart condemn us? If basically you come to the realization that you're wrong and you feel guilty, like you see something in the Bible or you hear something preached and you know that you're wrong, realize this. God is greater than your heart. And if you have one thing that you know you're guilty of, God's like, I've got like five million things you need to change. So this is how foolish it is to get confronted with your sin and not make the change. It's not just that one thing. You've got all kinds of things. And God's greater than our heart. And if you get confronted with sin and you realize, man, I'm guilty. I need to make a change. God knows all things. He knows all kinds of problems in your life. And here's what takes place. If you refuse to change this, you're not going to change the next thing or the next thing or the next thing, right? Look, we all have a lot of problems. So when you get confronted with your sin, make the change on this. And you know what? God's going to bring to your mind something else you need to make the change. But if you refuse to make this change, you're never going to fix all the problems in your life. Let me give you one example. Second Chronicles 16 verse seven. Second Chronicles 16 verse seven. And here's what takes place. Everybody loves the sermon when I'm ripping and yelling on somebody else's sin. But when it hits a little too close to home, how dare him say that? He doesn't know my situation, right? It's funny because you love it if I make fun of the Hindus worshiping a cow. That's hilarious, right? But it's like if I were to call out your sin, you'd be like, whoa, how could he say that, right? How dare him say that? That's not fair. He doesn't know my situation. That's our natural reaction to the Word of God. And look, I'm the same way when I hear preaching. There's a natural defense mechanism you have where you just do not want to admit that you need to make changes. And part of what can happen is we can look at our lives and think to ourselves, you know what? Well, I'm more godly than 99% of other Christians. That doesn't mean that you're okay though. You still need to make changes, okay? 2 Chronicles 16 verse 7, and we'll close up here. It says, and at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa, king of Judah. Now here we have king Asa of Judah, and let me ask you the question, was king Asa a good king or a bad king according to the Bible? He's a good king, right? He was a good king, right? This was, brother, this wasn't our morning Bible reading, right? Yeah, this was our morning Bible reading, right? It was already in my notes. And so king Asa was a good king. The Bible says he was a good king, and you know what? That's actually a rarity because most kings, he did that which was evil. But king Asa was a good king. Verse 7, it says, and said unto them, because I was relied on the king of Syria and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore as the host of the king of Assyria escaped out of thine hand. Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because thou didst rely on the Lord, he delivered them into thine hand. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou is done foolishly, therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars. Now here's the thing, king Asa gets rebuked by a prophet of God. Wouldn't you expect that his reaction as a godly person would be, thank you so much for letting me know that I have judgment from God. I'll make the changes. Forgive me. I will beg God for forgiveness. I messed up. You would think that would be the reaction, right? I mean, he was a godly person. He gets confronted with sin. You would think you would say, man, I didn't realize that. Thank you very much. And look, you know what? That's what you would think for most people at our church, right? You're trying to serve God if you get confronted with your sin. You would think the reaction of people would be like, thank you very much. I had no idea I'm going to make that change immediately, right? I don't want God's judgment on my life. But what is Asa's reaction? Verse 10, then Asa was wroth with the seer and put him in a prison house, for he was in a rage with him because of this thing, and Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time. What does king Asa do? He arrests the man of God for rebuking him. Look, king Asa is a saved man. He's a good man. He gets rebuked. And you know what? What ends up happening? Well, he arrests him. It's like, what in the world? Like, what is it? It's called denying reality. It's called you get confronted with your sin, and what takes place? You know what? We have the natural tendency to deny reality. You know what this teaches me? That some of you, if you had the opportunity to arrest me, you probably would sometimes, right? It does show me this, that you know what? A saved person can get extraordinarily backslidden because you're arresting the man of God? It's like, you've got to be kidding me. But that is exactly what he does. Why? Because he does not like the message that is being given to him. And he gets mad. Instead of making the change, he gets mad. Well, here's how foolish that is. That doesn't change reality. If you deny reality, it doesn't change reality. Right? And then people tell you, well, you know, how dare you? Look, if you're giving people the truth, how could people get upset about that? Let me give you a foolish example. Let's say somebody was on the top of a building that's, like, 50 stories in the air. And then all of a sudden they say, you know what? Hey, I believe that if I jump, I can land on my feet like a cat, and I'll be perfectly fine. And you tell them, hey, you're going to die if you do that. Hey, how dare you tell that to me? How dare you tell that to me? I'm going to be perfectly fine. Well, look, they can deny reality all they want, but you know what? They're going to accelerate at 9.8 meters per second squared, and they're going to smash into the ground, and they're going to die whether they believe it or not. Right? And it's like, denying reality does not change reality. This is very simple. Right? But yet, honestly, it's not just the atheists. It's not just the unsaved world. It's not just the lame Christians. We could do the same thing at times. And you know what? When you get confronted with your sin, and you see things that the Bible says, and you realize you're wrong, or you do your Bible reading, and you see something, and you're like, man, I am screwing up my life. Instead of being stubborn about it, just admit it and make the change. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to see your Word. And I ask you to help us all to be humble in our lives, God. Help us to be willing to admit when we screw up and when we're wrong, God. Help us never to be...