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I think Romans 12 was my favorite chapter in the Book of Romans. It's an awesome chapter. It's a lot of great information. verses today okay so don't worry we're not going to be here until like three months from now we're just going to preach a couple of sermons but there's a lot of information on these first couple verses and the name of sermon is all in for God all in for God and point of the one is being a living sacrifice being a living sacrifice it says here in verse 1 I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God they present your bodies a living sacrifice now what are we talking about when it says make yourself a living sacrifice but I mean in Pompanga this is what they think it means put yourself on a cross beat yourself you're a living sacrifice is that what the Bible is saying by being a living sacrifice that you literally nail yourself to a cross that's not what it's referring to notice that you present your body as a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service and so to be a living sacrifice you need to be holy you need to obey what God's rules say be holy for I am holy okay and it says this is your reasonable service meaning it's reasonable to make yourself a living sacrifice to give your life a hundred percent over to God okay go to John 15 in your Bible John 15 in your Bible John 15 in your Bible as I mentioned in the last sermon we were in Pompanga for a few days and we were spending some time with my wife's sisters and you know they've got some neighbors that are Hare Krishna followers right who knows Hare Krishna it's like it's such a bizarre form of Hinduism that Hindus think they're cults it's like when Hindus think they're a cult you must be crazy right but it's just like for 40 minutes it was just like you hear Krishna Hare Krishna just the same vain repetition it's like man the Sermon on the Mount really just pops to your head just the same thing over and over again Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Hare Krishna just over and over and over again just this vain repetition and so I was curious about it because you know I know Hare Krishna I've heard of them but honestly there aren't really a lot you know where I'm from or even in Sacramento so I was kind of curious to know a little bit more about them and so a lot of the work I do for Verity in Sacramento is just I don't have to give a hundred percent focus it takes time but I can listen to sermons and things like that so I had some documentaries on the background of Hare Krishna and there was this debate between the leaders of Hare Krishna and this person who was like an expert at exposing cults not from a Christian standpoint but just telling you what a cult is you know psychologically and stuff like that and then the whole argument from this guy who exposes cults is this it's not fair that they expect you to change what you listen to and change you know your lifestyle and you can't work certain jobs that's not fair that's not right because in Hare Krishna they don't watch TV they kind of live against the road in a lot of ways and stuff like that and then this guy's like it's not fair to tell people they can't work certain jobs it's not fair to tell them that they can't do certain things they can't listen to this they can't watch this and their whole lives are just dedicated to following this now look I'm obviously not defending this cult of Hare Krishna but isn't it reasonable that we give our lives to God I don't know if you're saying that God expects certain things from you I mean he died and paid for all of our sins and then he tells us there are certain jobs I don't want you to work is that unreasonable not according to God's Word we're meant to make ourselves a living sacrifice according to the Bible and if there's some jobs you cannot take if you're going to serve God a hundred percent I mean this should be common sense I mean would it be right for a safe person to take a job into prostitution or child trafficking well Fisher would say well that's wrong right so it'd be wrong to be a professional athlete you say right well you can't be in church on Sundays can you right I mean in America the big spirit is the National Football League and they just happen to play all their games on Sundays is it right to just miss church and make millions of dollars well no see there's certain careers you can't take if you're a Christian and there's certain things you cannot do if you want to serve God a hundred percent now God gives you liberty and you're saved forever but you know if there are certain things God tells you no I don't want you to do this okay John 15 verse 12 this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you right he tells you I want you to love one another as I have loved you ask yourself this question has Jesus died on the cross yet in John 15 no he has not but what he says is I want you to love one another as I have past tense loved you he says I loved you in a certain way past tense and in the same way I want you to love one another then he says greater love hath no man than this that a man laid down his life for his friends now here's the thing Jesus had not died for the sins of the world yet now obviously we understand Jesus was a lamb slain from the foundation of the world we understand that we get that but they say universe 13 is this you know what I've made myself a living sacrifice for you and you ought to love one another in the same way meaning your life's not about you it's not about you it's about other people you said better sake you know you know if I asked you why do you come to church look I mean the correct answer is really because people want me to come to church because it's not about you it's not just where I come to church because I enjoy church but you know here's the thing you know what if you stop enjoying church does that mean you shouldn't come no see the question is what are other people want do they want you at church you say brother stuck yeah I don't feel like going so many but do people out there want you to go so one are there unsaved people that say hey you know what I want to know the truth and if the answer that is yes then you ought to still do it why because you make your life a living sacrifice your life is not about you it's about other people go first John 3 first John chapter 3 first John chapter 3 doesn't the Bible say that Jesus did not come to be ministered on to but to minister and to give his life for ransom for many and he ties together those thoughts of you know not only am I here to minister which is being a living sacrifice then he says and give my life a ransom for many then an actual sacrifice see most likely I will not have to be martyred for my faith most likely you will not have to be martyred for your faith most likely I will not have to lay down my life physically and die for my friends most likely I will not have to physically die for my family but yet God said I still want you to love in that way and what that means is on a daily basis you make your life not about you but you make it about other people and here's what's great about this if you actually do this it actually provides happiness in your life see when you make your life all about you you don't end up happening you end up being miserable look at all the celebrities out there is the average celebrity out there happy right there's this video on the Verity channel I think it's called how to hate your life featuring Jim Carrey who's seen that video some people have seen that video is that Jim Carrey and look what's funny is when I was a kid Jim Carrey was like the funniest guy and I loved his movies he was hilarious and everything you know even in laughter that the heart is sorrowful or something like that I'm misquoting the verse but it's just like sometimes people that are the funniest people they're kind of like masking how they're feeling as a Jim Carrey was like the greatest comedian in the world and yet he hated his life he hated he made everybody else happy he's like man I hate my life you say why because your life's all about you you're gonna be miserable everywhere you go it's like pull out the red carpet for this guy you're gonna be miserable but see when you make your life about other people it provides happiness to your life first John through verse 16 hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us so according to this verse the love of God is the fact that God laid down his life for us that God died for you that's what the Bible teaches right plain as day in 1st John 3 16 God laid down his life for us we understand Jesus Christ was eternally the Son of God we understand the Trinity we also understand in and below all the fullness of the Godhead bodily the Bible says and I was as Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world and he died physically for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren that's not really saying you are a dying for other people because you're probably not gonna die for other people but you can stay alive in the same way that he did and he ties together these thoughts of physically dying versus just making yourself a living sacrifice throughout the New Testament and your life is not about you is what he's trying to teach you go to Philippians 2 Philippians 2 Philippians chapter 2 Philippians 2 I mean isn't this kind of what parenting is when you have kids it's like your life is not about you it's about your son it's about your daughter right you say brother second my life and I man we want to go on we want to go on vacation but man these kids are preventing us it's like we're just gonna leave them at home for a week and we're just gonna go to Spain you can't do that right you say well your life's not about you it's about your kids and that's what the whole basis of the Christian life is that your life is not really about you it's not about what you I want it's about what other people want and what does God want in Bible says God wants us to be a living sacrifice which means every step of a life we just decide what does God want me to do you wake up in the morning and you say brother Stuckey I want to go on Facebook and see what's what's the new drama I'm a drama mama and I want to know what's out there here's the question though does God want you to spend all your time on Facebook or spend time praying and reading the Bible you say brother Stuckey I just want to do this with my life you know I just want to relax on Sunday man I just want to just stay home from church and just you know do this thing you know today go to this movie or whatever but what does God want you to do it's not about what do you want what does God want you to do and he tells you to make yourself a living sacrifice now look none of us none of us could say that we are just a hundred percent perfect like man I'm just all in for God brother Stuckey this sermon it's like I kept these things from my youth up it's like I doubt that okay I don't think any one of us can sit here and say man I just kept it up you know perfectly I've got this all figured out and everything it's like no I mean obviously this is something we're striving our entire lives to get closer to God and it doesn't come in one day this comes year after year after year and here's the thing about this you know when you're trying to climb a hill and get close to God there's gonna be bumps and problems along the way there's different unexpected things and seasons and different situations I mean you're climbing that mountain you got a wild raccoon coming after you whatever you come in contact with bears or whatever there's gonna be obstacles along the way it's not gonna be easy but you know this is what God says I want you to make yourself a living sacrifice and you know what that is reasonable it is reasonable that God says I want you to dedicate your life to me and obey my rules through beans to verse 1 if there be there for any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the Spirit if any bowels and mercies fulfill you my joy that you be like-minded having the same law of being of one accord of one mind let nothing be done through strife or vainglory but in lowliness of mind which means being humble but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves you see it takes somebody to be humble to decide you know what it's not about what I want it's about what other people want here's the thing everybody must humble themselves to get saved you can't be saved unless you humble yourself first because you have to admit I can't earn my own way to heaven but even after you get saved you know you gotta look at your life and say other people are just more important than me it's not just all about what I want the world of my life the things I do it's not just about me why you esteem others better or more important or more value than yourself verse 4 look not every man on his own things but every man also in the things of others consider what other people want the things of other people let this mind be in here which was also in Christ Jesus and see the Bible says here in verse 5 but this was the mind of Christ Jesus see people thought Jesus was going to come here and be this all-conquering hero and just he's the king and ruler and look that day is coming but when he came here he came to be a servant and he gave us an example of how we were to live our lives and he laid down his life on a daily basis just making himself a living sacrifice which meant you know what when he was tired and exhausted but he had to preach the gospel to someone he preached the gospel to someone right it means his life was not just about him it was about other people that's what God commands us to do in the same way verse 6 who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation and took upon in the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross and so it says in verse 7 he made himself of no reputation what does that mean it means he didn't just walk into the room and say you know what I'm better than everybody else now look he was the perfect eternal son of God but that's not the way he acted towards people look at how great I am he made himself of no reputation what's interesting about this is Jesus humbled himself and made himself of no reputation more than anyone but is there anybody in the history of the world that has a better reputation than Jesus Christ is there anybody with a better reputation than Jesus Christ because all the religions around the world they don't believe he's the Savior in the Christ like we do but they still have a good opinion how of them except Judaism of course he made himself of no reputation and yet he has a better reputation than anybody it's not even comparable I mean it's just like you got you got Muhammad well Muhammad is a pedophile right I mean it's like well you know he got married about five or six years old yeah but I mean he didn't consummate the marriage yeah until he was nine by their own admission right well you got Buddha you know his child's born and everything he's got a son born he's married he's got a son and he just leaves the home to search for spiritual enlightenment just leave the home and your life's all about you what a derelict loser he doesn't have a good reputation I mean if you're a Bible believing Christian you're gonna preach against that look at a modern-day guy like Gandhi everyone loves Gandhi it's like Gandhi was a pervert I mean literally if you know the story of Gandhi well he would have little young girls sleeping in bed without clothes with him to test himself you know see how spiritually strong he was not to commit any sins it's like what a pervert but a weirdo and here's the thing people don't deny those things all those things are established facts what they'll say about Gandhi well it's just different over there in India but they were men's truest I get where he did sleep with little girls in his bed right to just test himself because he had decided I've taken a vow of celibacy you're you were married it's like what in the world and it's just like but I want to test myself so I just have all these young little girls without clothes in bed with me it's like what a provost whatever I mean does Gandhi have a good reputation well the world will give him a good reputation but here's the thing about it there's obvious flaws in their character no question about it Jesus Christ though he has the best reputation ever and yet he humbled himself he didn't walk into the room and talk about how great he was no he actually was just a servant on the people and he gave people the gospel and got him saved he preached sermons and he showed us that want to live for God that our lives are meant to be a living sacrifice that's what he did okay turn back to Romans 12 Romans 12 Romans chapter 12 Romans 12 I mean it's kind of ties back to the first sermon because you know sometimes as Bible even Christians we might have relatives that are calf you know if some other religion or maybe there's not as zealous as us and they're like man we're having a family gathering this Sunday it's like can't you just skip church this one time I mean your church expects you to be there every single week and reading the Bible every day can't you just take a break and do something else with your life it's trying to serve God here's the thing though we're meant to it's again our lives are not about us and yeah yeah sometimes maybe things come up on Sunday we say man I really wish I could take the time off I'm busy I need to do something else but you know you're meant to be a living sacrifice why you're not about us it's about other people and you know what that is reasonable don't let people bring you into saying this well it's not fair that your church or your God asked you to do this and this and this and then they say you know why do you drive an hour and a half to church I mean there's a Baptist Church you know in our neighborhood there's a Baptist Church right down the street I mean it's like you really have to go all that way you try to explain hey this is the church preaching the truth and then they try to you know criticize what you believe in everything look don't don't let them bully you around like that so you gotta love your church and not let people just badmouth and criticize what you believe right whatever one is being a living sacrifice and you like that is reasonable put it to transform or conform transform or conform verse 2 Romans 12 and be not conform to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind they may prove it is a good and acceptable and perfect will of God and the Bible says not to be confirmed well how do you avoid being conformed to the world by transforming by the renewing of your mind and see one of two things is going to happen in your life you're either going to transform or you're going to conform right now like I should have probably studied this out you know yesterday after I preached a sermon because I never really watched transformers but it's like they turn into something right you know a button happens or something they transform into something you know what the word means right and the Bible says this though that when it comes to a spiritual standpoint we ought to transform and how do you do that well you do that by reading God's Word you do that by serving God by hearing sermons preached and what how do you transform well you stop walking in the old man you start walking in the new man it's a completely different person you're walking in the new man and you're transformed right by the renewing of your mind but here's the thing if you don't transform you're going to conform what does it mean to conform it means to fall in line with socially accepted practices yeah there are a lot of things that are socially accepted that are very common and are considered normal but as Bible believing Christians we ought to stand against those things and if we don't transform our minds we will conform to what the world says the world's crazy the world is insane all you have to do is walk down the street and just realize that people are just insane by the way they're living their lives what's funny is they think we're crazy it's like well you know what we think you're crazy right I remember one time my wife and I were in Portland you know we're Portland organs close to sure Foundation Baptist Church and I was guest preaching there some of you know pastor Aaron Thompson and and we're at this famous ice cream place in Portland and Portland is one of the weirdest cities in the world weird place I mean it competes with San Francisco like it's a competition between Seattle Portland and San Francisco being the most perverted weird place in in the u.s. right and Portland's just a crazy crazy place and work this ice cream place in line and we're just dressed like normal human beings I mean I wasn't dressed in a suit or anything just dressed in your normal jeans and like a shirt like this and everything we had our son and everything well and and everybody else dressed in line looked insane and they're looking at us they're like what's wrong with these people and I was just thinking they're just like normal human beings and we got a bunch of weirdos that are there and they think we're crazy I'm thinking man I think these people are crazy it's like let's just get ice cream and get out of here this is weird right and so here's the thing though if we don't transform our minds that we're gonna start thinking like people like that just because you're saying doesn't mean you're just gonna believe everything the Bible says and just follow everything the Bible says no unless you transform your mind you're gonna conform I mean there's a lot of Bible believing Christians people that are saved and yet they defend the LGBT over what God's Word says they defend the LGBT over the preacher who preaches against these things and it's like what Bible are you reading it's like have you read Genesis 19 have you read Judges 19 before it's like probably not right it's like what Bible are they reading and then they defend things and they live their lives based on things and they always tell you what the world says well this person said this this and you know you realize nothing in your life is based on any verse in the Bible it's just what am I told by other people and let me tell you something if you base your lives just on what you hear you will destroy your lives you have to know why you believe things meaning you need to read the Bible yourself and figure out why do I believe the things that I do and if you do not do that if you don't transform your mind you will conform to what the world wants you to think go to second Corinthians for second Corinthians chapter 4 second Corinthians chapter 4 second Corinthians chapter 4 I mean have you ever had had conversations with people that are maybe friends kind of friends or relatives or co-workers and topics come up and you just can't help but speak the things you have seen and heard and you maybe give a Bible verse with an explanation of why you think something and you're having this conversation with this person sometimes they're even Christians sometimes they're saved and they never get any Bible verse they just give what seems right in their own eyes or what seems right based on what they've heard here's the problem with that what seems right is based on what you've seen and heard and that's different depending on where you live I mean it seems normal to people in in in Jerusalem they're just you know just at the wall and it's just like when I worked out I kind of you know do some stretching in the morning and stuff like that it's not a spiritual activity though in India it's normal to just bow down to a cow but here's the thing I'm not I'm not I'm not trying to mock those people mocking the religion because it's gonna seem normal if that's what you're used to but I use the example my wife growing up in Pampanga you know during Easter time she's like themselves these guys are great right it seems normal if that's what's around you I mean if you're in Rio de Janeiro it's gonna seem normal look up look up at a 1,000 foot tall statue of Jesus that doesn't make it normal though right and here's the thing about this you know you're gonna believe based on the things that you've heard and that's why us is probably believe in Christians what do we need when we need the word of God because this is what is normal the world's not normal the world's crazy second Corinthians 4 verse 4 and whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine onto them and so you're seeing God the word God mentioned twice in this verse okay the second time is who is the image of God well who is that that's Christ is the image of God it's saying that's the true God but it says in the beginning in whom the God of this world notice that lowercase G this is not the God of the Bible because the God of the Bible is later on in that verse it's drawing a comparison the God of this world is none other than the devil then Satan then Lucifer the God of this world is referring to the devil and you have to realize something when you look at the world we live in so many of the things that we have they're not of the true God they're of the God of this world the devil think of the music industry does anyone want to tell me that rock and roll and country and pop was just created by God and this is God's institution and God's gonna lift up you know Bible-believing Christians it's the devil and you want to be successful in that industry here's a secret sell your soul to the devil all you gotta do is go to YouTube and listen to these people these celebrities and they'll say they sold their soul to the devil they literally say it oh they're all just joking really all these actors and actresses just admitting you know what I just sold my soul to the devil and you know what the devil promoted them to power but he's the god of this world you look at the institutions we have in this world and ask yourselves are they of God or are they of the devil is it what the Bible says see your whole life is just a brainwashing session by the devil that's what he wants to do to you I mean you have to realize something in a hundred sixty eight hours in a week you spend maybe 50 hours sleeping you got a hundred eighteen hours look the devil is actively brainwashing you every day whether you realize it or not you said better stucky how is it brainwashing me look when you walk down the street you're being brainwashed by the devil you say how because when you see people dressed in a certain way it's gonna start to feel normal he's brainwashing you very subtly you're being brainwashed every single day look if you're watching television regularly you better believe you're getting brainwashed by whatever you're watching you're listening to the music of the world you better believe you're getting brainwashed into what the devil wants you to think and what the devil wants you to have an idea about you're being brainwashed you say brother stucky this is radical let's start a preaching little cult yeah well people would accuse us of being a call because you know what we say stay away from what the world has to offer he's a very stuck here you trying to brainwash people absolutely with the word of God I'm trying to brainwash you I want you to start thinking based on what the Bible says look I don't shy away when people try to bully me are you trying to try to brainwash people rather stucky yes I am and guess what the devil's trying to bring us every single day the world tries to brainwash us every single day with their institutions with their entertainment they brainwash us day after day after day you better believe I'm trying to brainwash you with the word God I'm going to ask you from the world and learn to trust in what God says and yeah you know we ought to be brainwashed with what this book says because here's the thing if you read the Bible and you read Genesis 19 and you believe the Bible you know you're gonna have a certain opinion about this and the world's gonna mock it they're gonna criticize it here's the thing if you are not transforming your mind you will conform to what the world says that's the way it works just being saved does not mean that you're just gonna have everything figured out now you have to actively read the Bible to have your mind transforms otherwise you're going to conform to what the world says you're gonna believe whatever they say and they're gonna use man's wisdom instead of God's wisdom turn your Bible to 2nd Timothy 4 verse 10 2nd Timothy 4 verse 10 I learned the verse in front of me and so this is a bit of a paraphrase but the Bible says if any man seemeth to be wise in this world let him become a fool that he may be wise meaning you might be the smartest person you're an intellectual you learned all this stuff and the world would say you're so smart and so educated but if you really want to be wise you know what you ought to forget about those things the world has to offer and realize what the Bible says I'm not preaching against getting education I believe Christians ought to know math they ought to know reading I believe you ought to be very intelligent and educated people and ready for this world but what I am saying is that the world is actively trying to brainwash us and they're doing it every day and look I'm not saying to sit at home in a bubble and avoid the world right you got these cults that say hey it's just us 100 people and everybody else is crazy just come to me come with me to Guyana right Jim Jones and everybody else is crazy but we're holy and we're right no that's not what I'm saying because we go out into the world we go soul winning we try to bring people to church and look you got to go to the store you got to work your jobs and look of course you got to go to the store and get your groceries but at the same time you're still being brainwashed when you go to the grocery store whether you realize it or not based on the music based on what you see based on everything they're actively trying to brainwash you that is what the world has to offer can we avoid it no we can't but what you need to do is transform your mind because you're getting brainwashed throughout the week and it's just very small and subtle so you don't realize it I mean if it's very obvious you'd realize it but it happens every single day whether you realize it or not okay 7 to me for verse 10 you say brother stucky I'm a soul winner right I've already forsaken the world I know what I believe who knows what it says in second Tim before verse 10 the demons have forsaken me having loved this present world and is departed on the Thessalonica and it says your demons have forsaken Paul why he loved this present world here's somebody who knew a God had to offer he was a mighty man of God and he fell back into the world you say well I don't know if he was really saved it's like it's eternal life it was funny about this you got these Calvinists why do you always preach against Calvinism because I hate Calvinism all right you say you got these Calvinists that will say there's no such thing as a carnal Christian right and then you got this famous religious leader named Rabbi Zacharias who was this big apologist right and he was considered one of the smartest you know theologians or whatever turned out he was like a liar and a fraud but all this stuff is coming out about him just like molesting all these women and he got these Calvinists that are trying to to make excuses and still claim he's saved it's like I thought according to Calvinism if you committed bad sins you're not saved right isn't that what they teach there's no such thing as a carnal Christian well I'm pretty sure you know raping people is pretty bad but they'll question whether you're saved because you're not reading your Bible enough and yet they'll give a pass to this apologist who's molesting all of these women talk about hypocrisy so the Bible teaches the salvation is a free gift it's eternal life you can't lose that look Demas was a saved man now that was that Christ you know what that there you know he was not a saved man he didn't believe the right gospel Demas was a saved man but he ends up loving this present world now look 2,000 years ago I don't really know what the world had to offer then that it has now right because now it's a lot more difficult I guess today you know I just back then you got the gladiator games right now you got the UFC back then you got the gladiator games and he I don't know exactly but I love this present world and I'll tell you what the world will always be tempting because they're gonna make it seem fun and innocent and no big deal but you got these beer commercials and then you drink this beer and all the ladies will just love you because you'll start to loosen up and you'll be so funny and everything and you drink this six-pack and it will give you a six-pack and all these laws the world has to offer and yet we fall for it so easily right we're tempted by the things the devil has to offer and it destroys our life that was Demas and he quit being a soul winner go to Titus to Titus to Titus chapter 2 Titus to Titus chapter 2 verse 11 Titus 2 verse 11 for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men by by Calvinism the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men everybody but notice this in verse 12 teaching us meaning teaching us that are saved teaching us that denying in godliness and worldly lust we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world see a saved person Jesus died for everybody but if you're saved the grace of God actually teaches you that you should live soberly righteously and godly it doesn't mean that you will but it teaches you that you should when you understand what Jesus Christ did for you it teaches you my life's not about me I ought to I ought to try to serve God right that doesn't mean that people will do that but that's what the world teach or that's what the Bible teaches we should do that's what the grace of God preach teaches us that we should do we ought to live our lives for God and what does that mean it means transform your mind so God make yourself a living sacrifice in this present world go to James 4 James 4 James 4 James 4 so see in Titus 2 it doesn't tell you to separate completely 100% from the world now it teaches you to live godly in this present world meaning you don't just save up money and go on some island where nobody is and just say hey I just want to be godly so I'm gonna avoid everybody well who are you get saved in that island? Bible says preach the gospel to every creature brother Stuckey well good luck with the rails and the birds and whatever right you go try to preach the gospel to the sharks while you're surfing or whatever okay I don't think that effective but no we're not trying to separate completely from the world like the Amish would say no we're in this world it is what it is there are certain things that we have to avoid as Bible believing Christians but we're going to be in this world till the day we die serving God and being a shining light in a dark place is what the Bible teaches James 4 verse 4 ye adulterers and adulteresses know you not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God whosoever therefore be a friend of the world is the enemy of God well you can be a saved person and be the enemy of God you can be a saved person and be on the wrong side of the battle according to God's Word and if you're a friend of the world then you're an enemy of God according the Bible what's funny about that is most Christians would not like our church is that not true most Christians would not like our church they would rather a church that just didn't teach much and everything like that and why is that well they just don't like preaching against the sins of the world they don't like preaching to ask you to make changes in your life what are they doing well they're siding with the world over God's Word what are they doing well they're making themselves an enemy of God I mean we really think about it our church gets a lot of people saves a lot of people saves now of course we're preaching the gospel we don't know if a hundred percent certainty that somebody got saved we don't see a shining light bulb that pops up like boom I see your dog above them like the Holy Spirit right or something like that you know obviously we don't know a hundred percent with certainty but there's no question we get a lot of people say because God's Word does not return void you preach the gospel but that's the power of God unto salvation do they all get saved no I'm sure there's false converts in there but we get a lot of people say no question about that but that doesn't mean that they're all gonna start living for God most people will get saved quite honestly they're just not going to start serving God and what's sad is if you think about how many people our church gets saved you start to ask yourself how is the whole world not already saved there's no I'm saying if you think about man I spend so much time so all it takes is like one out of a hundred Christians to preach the gospel and then everybody would hear it all the time right it shows you that's this small of a percentage of say people actually preaching the gospel very few people actually want to live for God and no side against the things of God inside with the world it's mind-blowing how few people actually want to live for God right now turn your Bible to 1st John 2 1st John 2 1st John chapter 2 just go forward in your Bible to 1st John 2 and the Bible says here in 1st John 2 verse 15 and you say brother Stuckey how often do I need to transform my mind you need to transform your mind all the time because you're going to conform eventually unless you keep transforming your mind it's something that should be done all the time otherwise you're going to eventually conform to what the world says if you get brainwashed all the time by the world you're going to conform to what the world says don't have this attitude I'm so spiritual brother Stuckey I would never conform to the world well okay is that the Bible says you're going to be brainwashed and you're going to conform to the world unless you actively transform your mind 1st John 2 verse 15 love not the world and neither the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him for all that is in the world the rest of the flesh and the rest of the eyes and the part of life is not of the Father but is of the world right we have this term of being worldly or worldly Christian and if somebody who's saved that loves the things of the world rather than the things of God and honestly that's that's pretty tough to try to follow because all of us really need to deprogram ourselves even more from the world than we already are that we have too much of an attachment to the things of this world that are going to fade away but see the Bible tells us don't love the things of the world because if you love the things of the world the love of God is not in you that doesn't mean that you're not saved but it means that you don't love God that's what God's trying to say turn in your Bible to Romans 12 Romans 12 Romans 12 Romans chapter 12 Romans 12 so point number one is making yourself a living sacrifice point to eat transform or you will conform transform or you will conform how you transform well notice what it says in verse 2 and do not conform to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind the renewing of your mind what does it mean to renew it needs to get fresh life or strength to or re-establish a relationship meaning it's not good enough just to hear one sermon preached on a topic and it's like brother Stuckey you know eight years ago you preached a sermon against alcohol and you're preaching against it again well yeah we got to renew our minds we got to hear these same things over and over again you gotta read the Bible all the time to be renewed in these things and if you do not do that you're gonna conform you gotta renew your mind and you might already know things but you need refreshed on those things okay go to 2nd Corinthians 4 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 2nd Corinthians 4 you say okay brother Stuckey I need to renew my mind how often how often should I renew my mind well I'm glad you asked the Bible gives us the answer 2nd Corinthians 4 verse 16 2nd Corinthians 4 verse 16 for which cause we faint not we don't faint okay meaning we don't get tired in the Christian life and give up and we're too exhausted to serve God for which cause we faint not but though our outward man perish right we're going to die one day our outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed day by day this does not happen automatically your inward man doesn't get renewed by itself you have to actively do something to renew the inward man well how do you get renewed day by day by the word of God that's the secret so here's the thing you know one aspect of that is the preaching of God's word you said better Stuckey my own church would preach one sermon and just tell stories why don't you do that because you get renewed by the word of God you need the word of God to be renewed and so here's the thing about this we only have church you know three times a week and two of those times are on Sunday ask yourself this question would you just go out to a buffet one day and eat a lot of food you go to a Chinese buffet and you get out what is that MSG is that what they is in that or whatever you get all that MSG and everything say man I'm full variable sub right now right I'm just going to take a break from eating for six days and I'll just come back a week later and come to this buffet again is that how you live your life when a term your actual physical food you just eat once a week because if you do that I'm pretty sure you're gonna you're gonna have a lot of health problems but yet people do that spiritually all the time they'll come to church they hear the preaching of God's word like man I feel good I feel energized I feel ready to serve God and then they wake up on Monday morning and they don't spend any time in God's Word they're just like oh man I know I should really read God's Word I'm thinking of better Matthias is certainly example yet but that Facebook Facebook right and it's just like but they don't start reading God's Word they don't spend time with God they still just go to what the word has to offer and they do that day after day after day then they come in on Sunday morning and here's the thing if we're gonna look at you spiritually because think about a few in six days without eating you'd probably be really tired and oh man I'm not feeling all that well and everything you know I haven't eaten for six days I haven't drank for six days you'd be at the point of death if we can look at some of some people spiritually they come to church it's like oh man I don't know if I can make it anymore it's so hard yeah cuz you're not renewing yourself right it's kind of like I address my life my life was a nurse and in ECG right you got that that thing with a joke you feel electricity that to bring you back to life or whatever it's like that's how some people are spiritually then he carted in with an ambulance and say oh I'm on my deathbed I can't make it and I judge you with a bunch of electricity man I'm ready to go wow I feel good and then all of a sudden on Monday that man I need to be the word of God but ah man just later on today just later on today then you don't do it and then I'll say like oh man I got to do it tomorrow then you don't do it on Tuesday and then they're like oh man I'm not feeling good and then you come in here on Sunday like a zombie all spirits and almost dead and then I joke you back to life again look if that's how you live your spiritual life you're not going to last in the Christian life because the world is going to kick you around and beat you around and there's just not enough time of preaching better second can't we have church seven days a week no no it's I already preached enough sermons a week I preach five full-length sermons pretty much every week all right that's that's enough for me okay and it's like I'm not shortening my sermons either so it's like you know we preach you know we have sermons on Sunday we have a midweek and stuff like that you need to just read the Bible in your own free time otherwise you're just not going to ask why you need to renew your mind the Bible says every day do Ephesians 4 Ephesians chapter 4 Ephesians 4 Ephesians 4 that's why we don't just have the Bible reading challenge in January we're challenging you for the entire year we gave you a lot of plans of Bible reading plans of options to to read through the Bible cover to cover in in the year and we're trying to get you to do that everything because we need you to grow spiritually every day and here's the thing if you're not growing then you're gonna be sliding back you're gonna be dying right have you ever seen a car that is like stalled or stopped on the side of the road and then you'll have a bunch of guys get out and start pushing that car right who's here has pushed a car before when it stopped it stopped and then you get out push it when you first start pushing it's like this right it's like come on just move move and then we starts going all of a sudden you get some real speed going right yeah I come from West Virginia which is the mountain state right Maraman boondocks saw West Virginia and so everything is hills and mountains and then you got the winter time we got ice and snow and everything so all the time you have cars that are stopped at hills and so people have to put their cars in park and everything and people get out and help somebody get up the hill and you're pushing it to try to get it going once it gets going it just starts driving off no problem right here's the thing spiritually it's the same way we're pressing on the upward way right but at the start of the day we're just kind of stopped you're not moving picture like this every day you're trying to climb that mountain and you only get so far up that mountain and then you're stopped so when you wake up the next day you're not moving you're not falling backwards you're not going forwards but here here's the thing if you don't get your momentum going forward what is probably going to happen you're going to start to fall backwards right that's the way it works so here's the thing I'm not saying that you can't do about reading late at night but the best time is is first thing when you get your day started right you want to get that momentum going and once you get that momentum going you can can basically go through the rest of the day and have that energy going you don't want to start backwards okay and so every day you need to get yourself going spiritually otherwise you're gonna get beat around by the world all day long you're gonna be walking in the old man and it'll be frustrated and tired and exhausted every day and in a bad mood but yet if you take the time to read the Bible in the morning what happens you're in a good mood is that not true when you read your Bible first thing in the morning and you set aside all distractions you spend an hour with God rock man I feel great but if you don't do that you feel miserable and you're complaining all day long you're yelling at your wife and everything and just in a bad mood and all these problems that because your car is sliding backwards now you need to be pushing forward every single day right spending time first thing in the morning Ephesians 4 verse 22 that you put off concerning the form of conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness you see there's two options here there's the old man and there's the new man see the old brother Stuckey what he would want to do with his time is just play soccer all day long right that's what I love doing and I'm not saying there's anything inherently sinful with playing soccer but I'm just saying that's what I would do on the weekends I would just play soccer and just have fun yesterday in Pampanga at the park we saw all these people playing soccer and it's like my old man is like oh I want to play it's like soccer versus soloing is so tough right but it's just like the new man though says I love soloing getting people saved right and so your old man it depends on who you are and what your background is your old man what your interests are but here's the thing about this it's going to be different than the things of God I remember one time you know I in college I just worked at like a restaurant and I've been there for a little while so I got to pick you know what we listen to and so it was my turn to pick the music we listen to Psalms hymns and spiritual songs and like the workers were complaining and like what is this like how do you know like this I mean this is great it's like because that's the new man that likes that but you know the old man isn't really a fan of and can it be and there's power in the blood because the old man doesn't understand that the new man understands that right and here's the thing about this if you don't put on the new man every day you're going to walk in the old man see if some people have this idea where when you get saved you're a new creature and you're just always the new man the old man's gone on no no the old man doesn't vanish the flesh doesn't vanish you still have the old man the difference is you're in dwell with the Spirit of God so now you have the old man and the new man and you can either walk in the new man where you can walk in the flesh the old man so how do I give myself to rock in the spirit by renewing your mind every day by reading God's Word in the morning by listening to good Bible believe in Christian that gives you verses from the Bible you need to renew yourself with the Word of God go to Isaiah 40 Isaiah 40 Isaiah chapter 40 Isaiah 40 I mean got Romans 12 just these two verses and you know what they're just so powerful right Romans 12 verses 1 & 2 is like man this is some powerful stuff here that the Word of God is trying to teach us here and it's not complicated and that's the way the Christian life is the Christian life is not complicated we know that we're supposed to do it's just difficult to actually do it I mean we know we're supposed to pray no question about that it's just difficult to do that we know we're supposed to read the Bible we know that it's not complicated it's not a calculus problem it's just hard to actually do it it's hard to put in the energy and the effort but the Bible says we ought to make ourselves a living sacrifice Isaiah 40 verse 30 Isaiah 40 verse 30 even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall and the Bible says even the youth they get tired right young people they seem like they have all the energy in the world but even they get tired yet these kids are running around like my son they run around all day long I'm like does he ever get tired then all sudden I look over and he's like just to see because even they get tired after a while right no matter what your age is you're gonna get tired after a while right even the youth shall faint and be weary and the young men sure utterly fall okay but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength so in a spiritual standpoint you'll have so much energy to serve God that's why you better make sure the energy and the effort you put in is in the right thing and not just wasting your time on vain arguments and stuff like that we have so much energy to really serve God and here's the thing if you wait upon the Lord you're gonna renew your strength if you're serving God you're reading the Bible look reading the Bible and having your personal time with God those are your calories to get you through the day there's your protein there's your fats right there's your carbohydrates okay it's found in the Word of God that is your spiritual strength okay it's gonna give you the energy to serve God look if you go through your life and it's just so winning so winning so winning so winning but you never read the Bible you never memorize the Bible you never have a personal time with God you're gonna wear out why well even the youth shall faint and be weary you're gonna run out of energy to serve God you need to get the source of renewal right here to act accurately serve God okay and it says they shall mount up with wings as Eagles they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint now it talks about mounting up with Eagles so why does it mention the Eagle because various animals kind of just describe different things in the Bible and they're meant to teach us something well Eagles are kind of known to just kind of float through the air and it's like they're not even putting in any effort it's like they just float through the air from mile after mile after mile and it's like how are they doing that right they're known as the bird that just kind of floats through the air just gliding really easily no struggles and see here's what the Bible saying if we're reading the Bible and getting renewed we're gonna be like that spiritually other people are dropping out and saying it's so tiring it's so hard my family's mocking me my friends are mocking me I don't have the energy but if you're renewing yourself you're just kind of gliding through the air just without many problems now I'm not saying you're never gonna have any problems in life but I'm saying you're gonna be able to ask spiritually if you're renewing yourself if you're not renewing yourself you're gonna be a bird that's and then right I mean here's the thing there's some birds that lasted longer than the flood than others but eventually so I can only fly for so long and boom then they die in the flood right but the Bible says you know what you're gonna renew your strength you're gonna mount up with wings as Eagles they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint now I doubt anybody in this room is like the fastest person in the world like you're not Usain Bolt I'm not Usain Bolt but just imagine if you're running a marathon and let's say you could run and never get tired look any one of us could win that marathon we could just if you would just sprint and never get tired that you'd easily win a long-distance race it wouldn't even be close because you know marathon runners you know they're gonna eventually get tired so they can't just sprint the whole time yeah I mean as far as I know I don't even believe in the 400 meters there's anybody who can sprint 400 meters to the very end I think they have to kind of pace themselves a little bit you can't sprint for too long and get tired just imagine though if you could just sprint and sprint and sprint and never get tired you'd be the greatest athlete ever you'd win everything why don't you just outrun everybody because you never get tired but by saying spiritually that's the way you are if you renew your strength you can just run and run and run never get tired turn your Bible to Romans 12 Romans 12 Romans 12 Romans chapter 12 that's how a lot of people used to win the Olympics because they would like inject themselves with various drugs that would give them this like supernatural it's not just strength but like endurance so a lot of the endurance types of things they would just inject themselves they had this extra endurance that other people didn't have I remember like the the Mexican soccer team got in trouble because like a lot of people tested positive for drugs and they blamed it on bad burritos they said there's something in the wheels like some pepper that made them test positive but it gave them extra endurance where they wouldn't get tired and look at someone who played soccer it's like that would have been very valuable to just be able to run and run and run and run and never get tired you dominate anything right the reality is we do get tired and spiritually if you're not renewing yourself you're gonna faint and get weary and you said better such I would never do that I love so winning I love serving God you like that zero wear off and here's the thing you might love serving God now while you're going through a good season in life but what about when you hit a valley in life what about when you're not on the top of the mountain but you go through a tough time in life a tough time financially a tough time with family just problems in your life or health problems are you gonna serve God during that time period well if you're not renewing yourself every day you might drop out during that Valley you might not be able to climb back that mountain again it might just be too tough that's why you need to renew yourself whether things are going well or bad in your life one is be a living sacrifice point to transform or conform point three renew your mind and point four renewing your mind it teaches you okay Romans 12 verse 2 and be not conform to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God the Bible says by renewing your mind that's what gives us the ability to prove and test what is correct what is good what is right and what is acceptable so if you have questions in your life brother Stuckey should I do this I'm trying to raise my children should I do this or this or this what's the right thing well by knowing what the Bible says it's gonna it's gonna tell you what's right but if you don't know the Bible and you might have heard something preached before but if you're not renewing your mind you just tend to forget stuff over time you forget about how important something is whenever you hear sermons on something it kind of reminds you about how important that is I just preached a fairly sermon on repentance recently it just kind of reminded me of the importance of that topic because you're preaching on these different topics you're talking about other stuff and then every time you preach something it reminds you about the importance I'm reminded right now about the importance of transforming my mind otherwise I might conform and by hearing this preaching it helps remind you it helps teach you even if you've already heard these things go to Colossians 3 Colossians 3 Colossians 3 Colossians chapter 3 Colossians chapter 3 we look at a few more places will be done Colossians chapter 3 and Colossians 3 verse 10 notice this and I've put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the him after the image of him that created him so we're renewed in knowledge okay you can't just you know you think of King Saul in the Bible right he was really backside in quite a bit and then all of a sudden David just played some music for him and he felt better for a little while but didn't just kind of wear off if you want to actually be renewed we have strength it's called reading the Bible it's called having a personal time with God that's what's going to remove good verse 16 verse 16 let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord and see the Bible says that you know what the word of Christ should dwell in us and it teaches and admonishes us okay the word of Christ is what teaches and admonishes us it teaches us what's right what's wrong and that's what keeps us going and it also says in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs see the songs we sing here they need to have some meaning they need to have some value of things that they're teaching us right see when you open up this hymnal you're gonna hear songs that have a lot of meaning to them have a lot of value to them now a lot of the Christian music that's out there they don't teach you anything right at the song our God is an awesome God I it's like okay I agree it's like and then they just repeated over and over again it's like our God is an awesome God I mean it's literally I'm reminded of this because I was just thinking of the Hare Krishna's because they always do the festivals like in the streets right they've got just like these instruments and they're just kind of walking on the street it's like how do you push now how do you push and it's going down the street and just making noise and everything and I just like vainly going down the street and that's like their evangelism they just go down the street and they're just making this music and everything like that in the streets but it's kind of that's how a lot of Christians are it's our God is an awesome God it's just the same thing what is that teaching us what's that teaches our God is an awesome God we look Muslims agree with you how do Christian agrees with you Hindus agree with you Buddhists agree with you what's your point our God is nice what is that actually teaching let's see when you're singing songs like there's power in the blood you know what that's teaching you it's teaching you salvation is found in the blood of Jesus Christ not just in the death of Jesus Christ it's actually teaching us something and what I love it's not perfect there's songs there that I don't approve of we wouldn't sing them in church and there's some songs that maybe I'm not a big fan of but most of the songs that are hymnal are good songs and they're they're usually based on verses in the Bible and so after hearing the word of God through song and it's great it's awesome right and see that's what the Bible saying here that you are it teaches and admonishes us and the music we sing it out of teaches because here's the thing about this the music of the world it teaches you as well if you listen to rock music what's it gonna teach you it's gonna teach you that drinking is great drugs are great sleeping around is great it's gonna make your life awesome is that not what the rock and roll music teaches you that's what it's filled with just drugs I mean they say sex drugs and rock and roll right that's like the mantra of rock and roll that's what it teaches you it those things are great just nice a big party and everything's gonna be awesome it's gonna destroy your life right you better think that in church rather be singing songs that are teaching us something of value because we have brainwashed by the songs of the world all the time whether we want it or not you go to the store you hear the songs of the world you're just going about your day you hear the music of the world at restaurants or wherever you're getting brainwashed we've unbrainwashed you go to first Thessalonians 5 first Thessalonians 5 we'll look at two more places first Thessalonians 5 first Thessalonians chapter 5 now when it comes to a church like ours you know there's no question that sometimes we preach some hard truths we we preach some things that are a little bit tough to take and the truth is that you know when I preach sermons I'm not standing up here saying I've got this all figured out and I'm perfect because many of these sermons I'm like I need to apply that to my life right there's things I need to change about my life there are many people that get angry at the Word of God they're mad at the preaching of God's Word but they're not mad at the person preaching they're mad at God's Word they get mad at the messenger because they gotta get mad at somebody they gotta blame somebody for the problem right it's like they're mad at what the Bible says and they can't change God's Word as much as they want so they get mad at the person preaching it and whenever they get mad it's always the same thing oh he's hateful it's like the first sermon Jesus preached they tried to throw him off a cliff I mean was he just preaching on the love of God and look the love of God's great but you know if they don't try to throw you off a cliff we're just talking about how God loves you and look God is merciful God's loving we understand those things and those things need to be preached but you know there's another side to God it's not just love love love right so that's your point the Bible says in 1st Thessalonians 5 verse 20 despite not prophesying don't get angry at the preaching of God's Word you say brother Stuckey man you preach something today that's hard you're saying I got to do this hey don't get angry at the preaching of God's Word you gotta be thankful that you have a church that's willing to say tough things and just stand up and preach the truth and here's the thing about this you know what you're welcome to disagree with me on something I preach and that's fine right you don't have to to be a member of this church you don't have to be like pre-trib and pro-zionism and all this stuff and and if you don't believe that you know you can't be a member of this church no I mean just just come to our church and you're a member right you're here church you're a member right you don't have to agree with every single thing and I'm mocking the preacher we're anti-preacher we're anti-zionism I don't want anyone to be confused we're post-trib we know what the word after means right we're anti-zionism I'm preaching that every Wednesday but you can disagree with me on that and that's fine you don't have to believe the exact same things as me on all of these topics but here's the thing about this don't get mad at the preaching don't despise the preaching when I preach some tough things you say why should I not despise the preaching because this is what gives you the ability to prove all things in verse 21 and hold fast that which is good this is how you prove all things through the preaching of God's Word and and the reality is this when you're reading the Bible oftentimes you kind of just your mind kind of wanders and you kind of miss some things or maybe you reach over something and you don't realize you know something and if that's why you need the preaching of God's Word to teach you these things and you know okay I'm gonna hold fast that which is good so what do you do well you hear the preaching of God's Word you be like the Bereans who are more noble than those in Thessalonica they heard the word and then they searched the scriptures and yet you hold fast to that which is good meaning if I say something and you disagree with me that's okay hold fast that which is good because certainly most of what I'm preaching is just straight from what the Bible says am I perfect no do I make mistakes I'm sure I do but look if I make a mistake just hold fast that which is good don't get mad and say well I'm quitting the church because then brother Stuckey said something wrong now I can never trust him ever again so I'm just leaving the church it's like well if that's your attitude you're looking for a reason to leave okay because nobody's always going to agree with you on everything abstain from all appearance of evil how do you abstain from all appearance of evil one one thing is the preaching of God's Word tells you what's right and what's wrong go to Luke 8 we'll close up here Luke 8 Luke 8 Luke chapter 8 Luke chapter 8 and I'll tell you what I mean we're in this room and there's people that are on different levels spiritually people have heard this preaching or maybe gone so when you read the Bible for different amounts of time but I'll tell you if you're at the stage in life right now where maybe a lot of what I say is new to you you say brother Stuckey it's right from the Bible I see it but a lot of this is new you're a very exciting stage let me tell you something it's an exciting stage where you're learning all these new doctrines and everything that's good right and here's the thing about this I'll be I'll be I'll be dead set honest with you right because you know many of us you know we've been touched by the ministry of Pastor Anderson in Arizona and the first time I heard a sermon from him it was kind of by chance right you know I knew Billy Graham was a was a bad apple and I was just searching for stuff online I heard preaching about it but I didn't start listening to this preaching then but I came across this preaching later on with John chapter 3 and you know I was I wanted to listen to John 3 because I saw this website you know that he had an answer to a question so I went to the website and I was like you know what I know salvation right I want to make sure this guy saved and doesn't say anything weird about repentance so I was testing him out before I started listening and I remember just learning lots of stuff in John 3 from his sermon I was like oh I thought I knew John 3 and he's explaining all this stuff and everything and I was learning a lot but here's the reality when I first started listening to his preaching I also disagree with a lot of stuff I was like you know I'm not a I don't like the homos but why does this guy hate him so much right that's like one of the things many of you your personal testimony is probably the same about either him or me if you're like man when you when I first started hearing me preach against the homos you're like why is he so harsh against them but then you see these stories on the news just in the last month or sodomites bombing churches and you're like okay it's starting to make sense now maybe he's not crazy right maybe I'm just a little bit brainwashed that's all right and again that's okay I expect people that are new to think I'm a little bit over the top well here's thing about this wouldn't you rather the person preaching you is a little bit too extreme than just lame and not teaching you anything I mean that's that's okay like let's say I have a standard that you think is a little bit too extreme isn't that better than having no standards and not preaching anything of course there's gonna be things I say that you disagree with okay but the preaching of God's Word it's vital to change your life don't hate the preaching God's Word even if you disagree with something okay let's go over to Luke 8 Luke 8 verse 15 Luke 8 verse 15 now Luke 8 verse 15 a lot of people are confused about the parable of the sower because what they don't understand is that this is not a salvation parable it's a soul winning parable I I'm always amazed when you hear false teachers they think everything's about salvation like everything's about salvation right it's like you know beholding the chastening of the Lord it's like see you can lose yourself it's like no he's just saying he's gonna chase in you and discipline you right if they think everything is about salvation and you know in reality a lot of it is because here's the thing people that read the Bible by and large are already saved so he's trying to teach us that are saved and you know what he talks about even more is is so winning like there's a lot of stuff about soul winning that he's giving examples to us or Christian living because the Bible is meant to teach people that are saved not to teach us how to be saved now of course we have the book of John we have the book of Romans but much of the Bible is just teaching us most of the Bible is about how we should live our lives is that not right it's not about how to get to heaven okay well Luke 8 there's the parable of the sower and people think it's about salvation so they're confused no it's a sowing parable saying we're gonna give the gospel to various people and the first person they mention doesn't get saved the next two they get saved but they don't really bear forth fruit but better stocky I mean if you have faith and you gotta have fruit right not according the Bible now according the Bible you can be saved and have no fruit and have no works as evidence okay but in the last one mentioned is Luke 8 verse 15 and this is the person that does have fruit and does get people saved we'll go to verse 15 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 this verse gives us the template on how to serve God your whole life because it's about bringing forth for with your entire life with patience meaning year by year season after season this is really the template how to be a soul winner until the day you die now if you're in this room and in the vast majority of people at our church love soul winning but at the same time many people in this room maybe you've only been serving for a year or two years now I hope your goal is to so on until the day you die right and I would say this is something I know a little bit about because I've been sorting for 17 years that's a long time now it's not 30 years not 40 years and look you can become a demon and really love sowing and fall away during the time period and no longer you're sowing I've been sowing almost you know six months after I got saved and it's it's been a long time 17 years right what's the template to serve God your whole life and not just to get excited about the things of God and then you go through various seasons and you just kind of fade out what's the template to serve God decade after decade after decade well what it said is you hear the word having heard the word now having heard the word is not referring to you heard the gospel it's saying every time you hear the word every time you hear it preached every time you read the Bible what are we doing to hear the word of God well one thing you do right before having heard the word which in an honest and good heart meaning when you hear the word of God preached you need to have an honest and a good heart inside of yourself what's an honest heart an honest heart is admitting if you've got a problem that you need to fix if I preach a sermon about you know not being worldly and you're a worldly person and your reaction is to get mad or make excuses you don't have an honest heart that's what the Bible saying you need to have an honest heart with yourself about the preaching of God's Word meaning if you hear a sermon preached and you're guilty you need to be honest about it isn't it the first step to solving any problem just admitting you have a problem being honest with yourself have an honest heart every time you come into church on Sunday don't have this hard heart where you're blocking the message of God's Word allow the word of God to pierce you on the inside even with the defining asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow right have an honest heart and then what do you do when you have an honest heart well then you have a good heart what does that mean means you make the changes you have an honest heart when you hear the message and then you have a good heart meaning you make the changes you hear that sermon about how to read the Bible every day start doing it start applying it and then every time you hear more from the word of God start applying more and more stuff have an honest heart have a good heart and then it says having heard the word keep it meaning this when you learn something new and apply it don't let that ever slip if you come to a belief in your mind say you know what brother Stuckey I've come to the belief that I should never listen to rock music and I hope you've come to that belief right I mean rock music is straight out of the devil now I'm not naive I'm sure there's people in this room that listen to rock music and worldly music but if you come to that belief that it's wrong to listen that music hey not have an honest heart don't get mad at me for just preaching the truth have a good heart make the change and keep it meaning never fall back into that worldliness never go back to your old ways once you make those changes keep it your entire life and here's the thing if you do that what's the result you're gonna bring forth free with patience meaning decade after decade after decade here's the thing some years the ground is not as good as other years some years there's not enough rain but even through the hard times you can still bring forth fruit if you just keep hearing the word of God on a daily basis you renewing your mind have an honest heart when you make need to make changes have a good heart meaning make the change and then just keep it and here's the thing if you do that you're gonna start to get closer to God every single day and you're gonna be a living sacrifice you're dedicating your life to God you're serving God here's the thing though if you choose not to do that and you say brother stuck yeah I'm too busy to read the Bible I'm too busy that personal time with God you're gonna start to slow the side down that mountain and look you know what our church is doing great things and so many people are zealous and excited for the things of God but a lot of people fade out of the Christian life see it seems easy to serve God when things are going well and yet you see a lot there's a lot of good people that just kind of faded out of our church that is not part of a church anymore and and you know for various different reasons and and and and here's the thing you're gonna find that in your life right if you're at this church ten years from now do you know what you're gonna find you're gonna find a lot of people that are not still here now hopefully that's not gonna be be you but you know a lot of people fade out I mean if you look at our early pictures of our church when we started there's a lot of people that aren't there's like oh who's that person right you said people know photo aside you know that our old photo right up there in the top left corner you look at some of those people and say well who is that person and then we're all like what is that person's name right what is that but why does that happen what happens when people don't renew their minds and then they just don't apply what they hear but you know what I hope your goal is to be a soul winner until the day you die and to do that you've got to transform your mind on a daily basis let's close in order prayer do Heavenly Father thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to hear your word and and help us to applies to our lives that help us to try to be a living sacrifice and just dedicate our lives to serving you and just get closer and closer to you each and every passing day God we pray these things in Jesus name amen you you you you you you you you you you