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All right, we're here in 1 John chapter 5, and the name of the sermon is Overcoming the World. Overcoming the World. So we're going to finish up 1 John 5 here today, and there's several different points, and honestly, you can make a whole sermon out of each of the points. We're going to finish up chapter 5 here today, and the point number one is this, that God's commandments are not grievous. God's commandments are not asking too much from us. Notice what it says in verse 1. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments. We talked about how last week, how we know whether or not we love God is whether or not we're obeying his commandments. And by obeying his commandments, we're fulfilling the law and not doing any ill to our neighbor, because by breaking the commandments and sinning, we are harming other people whether we realize it or not. Okay? Well, here's the thing. God has all of these commandments for us to obey, but then it says in verse 3, for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous. See, yes, God says we need to obey his commandments, but his commandments aren't grievous. They're not asking too much from us. He's not expecting too much from us. It's actually not really that much. Okay? Go to Genesis chapter 3. Let me show you an example. Genesis 3. Now, I think some people have this idea that there's, you know what, only 10 commandments, and it's like, well, no, there's a lot more than just sampung utos, right? I've never done a study of it, but I've heard like 600 some or something like that. I have no idea. But quite honestly, that might sound like a lot, but if you were to look at just basic rules of living in a city, they've got a lot more than 600 commandments. I mean, the book would be like this big to give you all the rules. So look, God is not really asking that much from us. And when you look at Genesis chapter 3, notice this in verse 1. Now, the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made, and he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And so Satan says, Did God say ye couldn't eat of the fruit? And the woman says, We can eat the fruit from any of these trees, except the one that is in the midst, okay? Is that unreasonable? You can eat from 999 trees, but this one tree you're not allowed to eat from. Is that really asking too much? It's not like God is saying you're only allowed to eat from this one tree. No, he says the opposite. This is the only tree you're not allowed to eat from, and it works the same way with God's commandments. People complain about stuff, well, it's not fair. Well, God lets you do a multitude of things. He just says you're not allowed to do this, and then people complain, right? I mean, there's so much freedom that we have in our daily lives. The Bible says where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, and look, God gives us great liberty to do what we want. There's so many hobbies you could do that are not wrong, that are not sinful. You get home from church today, you can spend time with a family, you can cook a meal, you can hang out, you can work out. There's so many things that you can do, but you know what? The world gets mad and says, Well, I want to get drunk. It's like, Well, God lets you do 100 things, but you complain because there's this one thing that you've got to be able to do, right? See, actually, God's commandments are not grievous. He's not asking that much from us. We actually have great liberty in Christ. Go to Malachi chapter 3, Malachi 3. And here's the thing. If somebody says, Well, you know what? It's not fair because I want to be able to go home and drink. Well, you know what? There's a lot of things that you can drink. You can drink water, you can drink any multitude and number of juices, you can drink iced tea. I mean, some drinks aren't the healthiest, but you can drink pop if you want. God doesn't say no Coke, right? You can drink Coke. You can drink Coke Zero, Diet Coke, Coke One, Coke Two, Coke Three, whatever there is. White Coke, you know, Sprite or whatever, right? When I say white Coke, I mean the drink, not, you know, the drug. But it's like there's so many things that we can drink, but it's like, Oh, I want to drink alcohol. Look, God is not really that restrictive. There's so many things that you can drink. There's so many things that you can eat. There's only a small number of things where God would say, Well, you're not allowed to eat this or you're not allowed to drink this. There's so many hobbies that you can have, so many things that you can find to entertain yourself. There's very few things God actually says no on, but people get mad and say, Well, it's not fair that I can't do this. I mean, think about it. As a guy, there's 8 billion people in this world, roughly, right? Now, there's more women than men in this world because men have a higher mortality rate at every stage of life. But in general, there's 4 billion women, 4 billion men. Do you realize that you have a choice between a lot of different women that you could marry? But then in our modern day, Well, I want to be married to a guy. It's like, What is wrong with you? God's so restrictive. It's like you've got in this country over 50 million people to choose from, and you say, Well, it's not fair. God's so restrictive. It's ridiculous. It's lunacy. It doesn't make sense. I mean, they think that God's restrictive. Actually, God gives great freedom. Notice what it says in Malachi chapter 3 verse 8. Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee, in tithes and offerings? Ye are cursed with a curse, for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation, bringing all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house. And prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, If I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, there shall not be room enough to receive it. And the Bible speaks about the tithe here, and we know that the tithe is representing 10 percent. 10 percent is the tithe. Here's what I want you to understand. God is not asking for 90 percent. If God was asking for 90 percent, then I would say, Yeah, that seems like a lot. He's asking for 10 percent. And the reality is, if you get the wisdom from the Word of God, it will more than make up for that 10 percent. Now, here's the thing. People would complain about that and say, Well, that's not fair, 10 percent. And yet, don't governments take more than 10 percent of your money? I mean, you tell people what your salary is in the U.S., people are like, Man, you had such a high salary. It's like, Well, you don't realize how much of that money the government takes. Because 35 percent of the money, boom, gone immediately. It's like, Yeah, it sounds like a lot until all the taxes come. Right? And it's just like, you know, the government takes a lot more than 10 percent of your money. So if you're going to say, Well, you know, God's really restrictive, well, then the government's obviously more restrictive than that. So look, God is not being too strict when he says 10 percent. And what I'm trying to show you, you could preach a whole sermon on this, but I want you to realize we have great liberty in Christ to do any number of things. He doesn't actually ask that much from us. Go to Exodus Chapter 20. Exodus 20. You say, Brother Stuckey, it's not fair, I have to read the Bible every single day. I mean, you're on Facebook for an hour a day, and then God wants you to read his Word for at least 15 minutes a day. Is that really asking too much? I mean, in our modern day, we have so much free time, so much free time. You're on social media for two hours, and God just says, Hey, can you just take a 30 minute break to spend time with me and get close to me? God's so restrictive. He wants me to read the Bible and pray every single day. I got to go to church every single week. And it's just like, God's not asking that much from you. He's like, Guess what? Do whatever you want on Monday. Right? Do whatever you want on Tuesday. He's like, Well, today is Sunday. It's a day of church. He didn't ask you to go to church for six hours every single day, every day of your life. He says, No, I mean, just come to church. Come to church on Sunday. That's not asking that much. He's not asking your entire schedule and your entire life 24 hours a day. Actually, you have freedom to do what you want in a lot of areas. You have freedom to go on a vacation. You have freedom to spend time with your family. Now, it could be that there might be a specific vacation where God would not approve of. But it's like, you know what? Most vacations, there's no problem with it. God is not being that restrictive. It's just that the world wants to do certain things, and people do not like having any authority. This is why people are following the Dow in their lives, because they don't want any authority or rule over them. That's reality. It says here in the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20, verse 12, Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. The Bible tells us to honor our parents. Well, think about this. Your mom gave birth to you. They're the ones who are with you in the middle of the night when you couldn't sleep because you were sick. They're the ones that fed you every day and changed your dirty diapers and spent all their time. Is it really asking much that you just honor your parents? I mean, they've literally devoted hundreds, I mean, thousands, tens of thousands of hours or whatever. I don't know. Right? I'm not in the math field anymore. I don't want to think. Okay? But it's like they've literally devoted so much time to your life. Is it really asking much that you should honor them for all the stuff that they did for you? It's not asking that much. Thou shalt not kill. God is so restrictive. Right? I want to kill this person, and God says I can't murder someone. God is so restrictive. Is that really asking much? That God tells you not to take the life of someone who I have actually created? Right? Thou shalt not commit adultery. Well, it's not fair. Well, look, you know, you're allowed to be married to the same person and spend your entire life with them. Is it really asking that much that God says I want you to be committed to that one person? Thou shalt not steal. Is it really asking much to say don't steal from somebody else? Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Is it really asking that much to say don't lie to other people and swear falsely about other people and lie about them? Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. Is it really asking that much for God to say, you know what, you have your own stuff, don't covet something that belongs to somebody else? It's not asking that much. Right? But people in today's world, they want to live a sinful life, they don't want to have any rules, and then they get mad, and God's commandments are so strict. God's commandments are so grievous. It's so difficult. Actually God does not really ask us that much. Right? Go back to 1 John chapter 5, 1 John 5, 1 John 5. Now look, I'm not saying it's easy to live for God because obviously we sin every day and, you know, it's hard to put aside the things of the world, but what I'm saying is this, don't make this excuse in your mind, well, I'm only sinning because God's commandments are so difficult. No, it's actually we just sin very easily. Right? We can't blame God because we keep committing the same sins over and over again. It's just like that's just called we need to make changes in our life. Point number one, God's commandments are not grievous. He's not asking that much. Point number two, overcoming the world. Overcoming the world. The Bible speaks about overcoming the world. It says in 1 John 5 verse 4, for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. Now people look at this phrase throughout the Bible and some people would say, well, to be born of God, to be saved, you've got to overcome the world, therefore you must repent of your sins to be saved. Now I don't know about you, but my Bible doesn't say repenting of your sins. It just says overcoming the world. And people assume, well, if you have to overcome the world, it must mean that you've got to work really, really, really, really hard to get to heaven, but yet it defines what that means in the rest of the verse, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. And see, what overcomes the world is actually our faith in Jesus Christ because Jesus did overcome the world, okay? So putting our faith in Jesus Christ, that is what overcomes the world. That is how you get saved. Faith is the victory, like we just sang, right? Verse 5, who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? Our method for overcoming the world is believing on Jesus Christ. However, I don't think anything's an accident in the Bible. Why does the Bible use the terminology of overcoming the world? Because that actually does sound difficult, doesn't it? Saying you've got to overcome the world. Why does God use that terminology? Because it's very easy to be saved. You just believe on Jesus Christ, and yet overcoming the world doesn't sound very easy. Well, go to 2 Corinthians chapter 4, 2 Corinthians chapter 4, 2 Corinthians chapter 4. And in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 3, 2 Corinthians 4, verse 3. And in verse 3, 2 Corinthians 4, verse 3, it talks about the Gospel. It says, but if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. So unsaved people, people that are lost, you know, it's hidden from them. They don't comprehend it. They don't believe it. In 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 it says here in verse 4 that Satan is the God of this world. It's not God who is blinding people's eyes from believing. It's referring to the devil. And it says Satan is the God of this world, and to be saved, we've got to overcome the world. You say, what are you trying to say? Here's what I'm saying. The devil has made it as difficult as possible to get saved. And what I mean by that is he brainwashes you from a young age to get you not to believe on Jesus Christ. Every time you watch movies, every time you watch TV shows, you're getting brainwashed by the devil. You're getting brainwashed by the world. And to be saved, you've got to actually overcome that. Now the overcoming is actually very simple, just believing on Jesus Christ. But don't we give the Gospel to people and they say, that's too easy, right? Because they've been brainwashed for year after year after year. And to be saved, people have got to overcome the world. And you know what? It's very easy to do that. But because people have been brainwashed for 20 years, it can be very difficult for people to believe. Go to 1 John 2, 1 John 2, 1 John 2, because you have to remember, Satan is the God of this world. I mean, why are people popular in the music industry? I mean, people want to say, well, you know, this is just a conspiracy. They'll say it's just a conspiracy that all of these artists sell their souls to the devil. Why is it that many of them tell us that they sold their soul to the devil? I mean, many of them say, and it's like people always think they're joking. Like Beyonce Knowles went into great detail about how she gets possessed by a devil and that's how she performs good. Like her name, Sasha is the name, Sasha Fierce, I think is the name of the woman that possesses Beyonce Knowles. How did you do such a great album? I Get Possessed by Sasha Fierce. Oh, that's so funny. It's like they all say something like that. Oh, it's just a joke. It's not a joke. That's a strange joke to spend 15 minutes talking about how you got possessed by a woman, right, and go in great detail about it. You know, why is it that those music artists that are popular are so popular? Because Satan's the God of this world. They're not fundamental Baptists. They're not Bible-believing Christians. You say, what about the Christian rock artists? Why do they all have long hair? Why do all the Christian male artists have long hair, right? It's like the Christian rock artists, those aren't being promoted by God because Satan's the God of this world and he's the one who promotes them to popularity. Actors and actresses, do you think they're very godly? And I'll tell you what, stuff used to be more hidden in the past, but if you actually read various things about these famous actors and actresses from 70 years ago, a bunch of them were sodomites. They were just in the closet. They were wicked. They were ungodly. And I want you to realize, when you're watching movies and music, you're being brainwashed whether you realize it or not. I mean, when I was a kid watching Star Wars, I had no idea what Daoism was, and yet you're being brainwashed with a false philosophy without realizing it. And it seems fun and it seems entertaining, but things like that are making it more difficult for people to get saved. And it's not just the entertainment, it's everything that the devil has set up in this world to try to prevent you from getting saved. It says in 1 John 2 verse 15, love not the world, 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 lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. The Bible tells us not to love the world, and it says it's not of the Father. These are not things of God. You say, what are you trying to say, Brother Stuckey? I'm saying people listen to rap artists who will talk about how there is no hell. And then you'll talk to people and they say, well, I don't believe in hell. Why don't you believe that? Because that's what, you know, Tupac, Jay-Z, whoever's popular today, that's what Tupac said, right? And they don't believe in hell because some rapper told them that there is no hell. I mean, that is what you're basing on what you believe? What some rapper says? Someone who sings about doing drugs and, you know, fornicating and killing people and stuff like that, and that's what you're basing your belief. Somebody who calls himself Snoop Doggy Dogg is where you're going to get your spiritual doctrine from. You're a fool, okay? You look at these celebrities, and a bunch of them, the flat earth is being promoted by a bunch of celebrities. You got Kyrie Irving and Shaq that will say that the earth is flat, and it's just like But then people believe that because their favorite basketball player believes the earth is flat, so he must be right. They'll believe whatever they hear. People believe what they hear, and people are getting brainwashed every day by the world without realizing it. Go to 1 John, chapter 5. 1 John 5. 1 John 5. I mean, why is it that people don't believe in God? Why is it that atheism is the fastest growing religion in the world? It's not even close. If you look at a hundred years ago, atheism was almost nonexistent, and now it's like skyrocketing. You know why people become atheists? Because they're taught in school that there is no God. They're taught in school that the Tao created everything, this force, the Big Bang Theory, and that's why people, because they're being brainwashed in public school. That's the reason why. They're being brainwashed by the things they watch. They watch some cartoon where they tell you that the dinosaurs are hundreds of millions of years old. Why don't you believe that God created everything 6,000 years ago? Well, I mean, I saw it in a cartoon. It's literally why people are believing this stuff. They're getting brainwashed. And kids at a young age, they're going to be unstable in their beliefs. They're going to believe what they hear. And if as parents we let them watch and listen to whatever, they're going to believe whatever they listen to. They're going to believe whatever they watch. This is why the world is getting brainwashed, and you know what, it's going to make it harder and harder for us to get people saved because they're brainwashed. I mean, look, I would say that if you went back 100 years ago, everybody believed in hell pretty much. I mean, how could you not believe in hell? First off, if you believe in heaven, it makes no sense not to believe in hell, okay? That's a whole other sermon for another day, I mean. But it's just like the Bible talks about it all the time, and people used to actually read the Bible or at least know some things about the Bible. They used to know about Noah's Ark and the flood. Nowadays they don't really know that much. But, you know, I run into a lot of people that tell me they don't believe in hell. I mean, literally, I always ask people after I show them in Romans chapter 3, I mean, do you believe in hell? And many times they'll say no or they're not sure. Now, they usually change their mind really quickly when they see it in the Bible, but people are getting brainwashed now that there is no hell. Now, let me just say this, if there is no hell, then how is God just when He allows all these pedophiles and rapists to go free without any punishment? It doesn't make any sense. If you believe in God, you have to believe in hell, it's logical. But people are being brainwashed by the public school, by the political system, by the movies, by music, and look, that's why the Bible says we've got to renew our minds, because whether you realize it or not, you're getting brainwashed every single week by the world. Every single week, and look, there's no way to avoid it. If you go to the grocery store, the devil is trying to program you and basically get you not to believe the things of the Bible. Because the things you see is what you're going to believe. So people go to a grocery store and women are dressed completely inappropriately, but it starts to sink into their head that that's how people should dress, because they see it, right? All of us are going to get brainwashed if we have the wrong source of information. We're going to get brainwashed by it, which is why you need to be in church, reading the Bible to un-brainwash yourself, but this is also why the Bible says we must overcome the world, because the devil has tried to deceive people and trick people, and the Bible says he has blinded people's minds, okay? It says in 1 John 5, verse 18, 1 John 5, verse 18, 1 John 5, verse 18, it says, we know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not, referring to the new man, the spiritual man, you're spiritually perfect, but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. Notice this in verse 19, and we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. The whole world lieth in wickedness. Now, you know, before I was saved, I've always thought abortion was murder. I mean, you have to be an idiot not to believe that. I mean, it's just common sense. I mean, abortion is murder, right? But you know what, before I was saved, you know, I knew things like abortion was murder, and I knew, you know, homosexuality was wrong, and I knew that there was a lot of sin in this world, and there were a lot of problems, but I wouldn't have said that I thought the whole world lieth in wickedness before I was saved, right? But you know, when you get saved and you start learning the Bible, you start realizing the whole world lieth in wickedness. Is that not true? Is there any country that you can go to that's going to be a safe haven from the sin and wickedness? And the answer to that is no. Many people believe this is the most spiritual country because they say, well, it's the most zealous Christian country. Well, is this a godly country? I mean, this is not a godly country at all. People are shocked when they come here, and it's like, well, you shouldn't be shocked because the whole world lieth in wickedness, and around the world is becoming more and more wicked. And you know what? God is making it hard for people to get saved because they're being deceived. Point number one, God's commandments are not grievous. Point two, the Bible speaks about overcoming the world by putting our faith in Jesus Christ. Point three, the Bible speaks about the Trinity and the nature of God. It says in 1 John 5 verse 6, this is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ, not by water only, but by water and blood, and is the spirit that beareth witness because the spirit is truth. Verse 7, for there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. Now, in my opinion, verse 7 is the best verse in the Bible to sum up the nature of God. The three in one, right? This clearly teaches the Trinity. Now in many Bible versions, though, they take this verse out. The NIV is very famous for removing verse 7, and sometimes you'll have those Bibles where they don't remove it, they just have a note that says, well, this isn't supposed to be in the Bible. But then they still have it, but they're trying to basically make you think, well, it's not really supposed to be there. And what they'll do in various versions of the Bible, they'll take verse 8 and they'll cut it in half, and sometimes they'll have 7 written there, and they'll make it look like they have verse 7 when they actually took verse 8 and cut it in half and put the first half on verse 7 and put the second half on verse 8. So they're lying to you. They're being deceptive. I mean, if you don't believe there's a verse 7, then just, you know, cut it out and don't make it look like there is a verse 7, right? And some of the ones of the NIV will just remove verse 7, but some will basically have verse 7 and have part of verse 8 there for verse 7, okay? It's funny how the best verse teaching the Trinity they want to remove from their Bible, right? But notice how it says these three are one. Now this is what we would call the Trinity. We believe in the Trinity. We believe in the three and one. Now a lot of people have a problem with this. They say, well, I don't believe in the Trinity because the word Trinity is not in the Bible. Now that might sound like a strong argument, but it's actually not a very good argument at all because there are a lot of words that are not in the Bible. Now the answer that people do not like is that the Bible teaches the concept of the Trinity and we have a modern word that represents that. They don't like that answer, but that is actually the true answer, that the Bible teaches that concept but the word is not found there. And they say, well, I'm not going to believe it because the word Trinity is not in the Bible so I do not believe it. Well, you could ask someone this, do you believe that God is everywhere at once no matter where you go? And pretty much everyone's going to say what? Yes. Well, what would you say then? What is the word for that? Omnipresent. Well, I don't believe that God's omnipresent because it's not in the Bible. Show it to me in the Bible or I'm not going to believe it. I mean, it doesn't matter that the Bible says God is everywhere. Unless I see the word omni present, I don't believe it. Do you see how that's a weak argument? Because the word omni present is not in the Bible. Do you believe that God knows everything? Yeah, I believe God knows everything. Well, what's the word for that? Omniscient. Well, the word omniscient is not in the Bible so I don't believe it. That would be a pretty dumb argument, wouldn't it? But the word omni present, the word omniscient, they are not in the Bible, but doesn't the Bible teach the concept that God is everywhere and that God knows all things? You say, well, why do you have a modern word for it? Because it's a lot easier saying I believe in Trinity than saying I believe in the three in one where there's one God but there's three persons. That's a really long explanation, okay? There's many words in language that sum up a great amount of information and it's a lot easier saying I believe in the Trinity than saying I believe in the three in one, okay? The word rapture is not in the Bible. And some people say, well, I don't believe in the rapture because the Bible doesn't have the word rapture in there. But it talks about people rising up, the dead in Christ shall rise first. I mean, what do you think that's talking about? And you're going to meet them in the air, right? But isn't it a lot easier saying that you believe in the rapture than that the dead in Christ are going to rise first and we which are alive and remain unto the coming Lord is shown. Isn't it just a lot easier saying the rapture and people can understand that? So look, the Bible teaches the concept of the Trinity and you know what, they're right that the word Trinity is not in the Bible but it doesn't change the fact that the concept is taught in the Bible. It says in verse 8, and there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit and the water and the blood and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his son. Drop down to verse 20. Drop down to verse 20. And it also says this about the nature of God. Verse 20, and we know that the son of God has come and hath given us an understanding that we may know him that is true and we are in him that is true. So the son of God is obviously Jesus Christ, him that is true referring to Jesus Christ. But then it says even in his son, Jesus Christ, this is the true God and eternal life. You know, throughout the Bible, it talks about believing in the true God in the Old Testament and the New Testament. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, okay? So this shows us that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. But you say, Brother Sukkiah, I thought there were three persons. There are three persons. I'm not saying it's a simple thing to understand but this is what the Bible teaches. There's one God that exists in three persons that is eternally existed and always will exist in three persons. That's what the Bible teaches. Verse 21, little children, keep yourselves from idols, amen. Now why does the Bible say this? Well, because many people think that idols actually are God and they make something with their own hands and they think that those idols have a magical power to them. I mean, there's a lot of people that go to the Feast of the Black Nazarene every non-lockdown year, right? And they think somehow if they rub the feet of that idol, then somehow they're going to be healed from a disease, right? It's not just here in the Philippines. I mean, people believe this with various religions all over the world that something has magical powers to it and they think that God is represented by that idol but the Bible says keep yourselves from idols because they're worshiping devils whether they understand it or not. When Catholics are worshiping these idols, they're worshiping devils. They're worshiping false gods. That's what the Bible teaches. So point one, God's commandments are not grievous. Point two, the Bible speaks of overcoming the world. Point three, the Bible speaks about the Trinity and the nature of God. Point four, it tells us how to be saved, how to know that you're saved. Notice what it says in verse 10. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. Now obviously the Son of God's referring to Jesus Christ and when it says the witness, it's referring to the Holy Ghost. So when you get saved, you are indwelled with the Holy Ghost of God, okay? And then it says he that believeth not God hath made him a liar because he believeth not the record that God gave his son. So the Bible describes two groups of people, those that believe in the Son of God and those that don't. There is no middle category. Do you see that? You either believe or you don't. And this is consistent through the Bible because it says he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life. There's always two types of people, those that believe and those that don't believe, okay? And the Bible says if you do not believe, then you are making God a liar. You say, why would it say you're making God a liar if you don't believe on Jesus Christ? Well, because this is what God said. And if you don't believe it, then you're basically saying he's a liar. Let me give you an example. If I said I have, you know, one child, you would say, Brother Stuckey, that's not true. So what are you calling me? A liar, right? If you don't believe what I'm saying, you're saying I'm lying. If I say I have one child and her name is Christabel, you say, Brother Stuckey, you're lying because you have two children, right? Now if I said I have two children and you believe me, then you're not calling me a liar. But if you say you don't believe me, then you're calling me a liar. And so here's the thing, the Bible's saying you either believe what's written or you don't. And if you don't believe what's written, then you're calling God a liar, okay? And then it says here in verse 11, and this is the record. So what is the record that's written about his son? What do we have to believe? Because if you do not believe this record in verse 11, the Bible says you're calling God a liar. And those are clearly unsaved people. And this is the record that God has given to us eternal life and this life is in his son. Now you could preach a whole sermon on this verse, right? We're not going to do that for sake of time. But there are three things mentioned in this verse that we need to key in on to know what that record is. Now the last thing mentioned, which is what I usually like to bring up first, is this, that life is in his son. Life is in Jesus Christ. Eternal life is only in Jesus Christ. If someone tells you, well, you know, I believe in Jesus, but I also think that if you're Buddhist you can go to heaven in a different way, they're calling God a liar. They're not saved. You must believe that life is only in Jesus Christ. Now in the Philippines, many people already believe that. They believe that salvation is found in Jesus, they just don't necessarily understand what that means. But the Bible is very clear, you must believe in the son. No other way is good enough because Jesus said, I am the way. Life is in his son. It also says God hath given to us eternal life. You know, when you talk to people at the door and you ask them what is a gift, they'll often say, well, it's something somebody gives you, right? And when it's saying God hath given to us eternal life, what it's saying is that eternal life is a gift. That's what it's saying. It's not something we work for. It's not something we earn. So here's the thing. If we meet somebody who thinks they have to live a good life to get to heaven, they're not saved. If we meet somebody who thinks they have to be baptized to go to heaven, they're not saved. If we meet somebody who thinks that you have to quit drinking to be saved, they're not saved. You say, why? Because they don't believe that eternal life is being given to them. They think their own works, their own lifestyle is going to be what gets them to heaven. The Bible says you must believe that eternal life is a gift, it's something that is actually given to you. And if somebody doesn't believe that, then they're not saved. Now, many people here in the Philippines already believe that life is in His Son. So I like to start there because that's kind of the easy one, okay? Many people would say, yes, I believe salvation is in Jesus. But are there many people we run into that think salvation is a gift? Not too many people, right? Pretty much everybody says, well, you got to at least try to keep the commandments. You got to keep the seven sacraments. Okay, what are the seven sacraments? I'm not sure, right? Have you ever met somebody who knew all seven sacraments when you asked them? I haven't. They don't even know the seven sacraments. I mean, I think one of the sacraments is entering the priesthood or something like that, and it's just like, and one of them is having a family, and then one is entering the priesthood. Well, those things contradict. So how are you going to keep all seven sacraments when two things contradict one of them? But they don't realize that because people just believe whatever they've been taught. They don't even study it. They don't even think about it. They're just kind of believe. Just go with the Tao. Go with the flow of what you've been taught, and it will lead you down some road. Yeah, it will lead you down some road, right? But they don't believe it's a gift. And here's the thing. If somebody thinks that they have to live a good life to get to heaven, they are not saved. Now, some people might tell you that you do not have to do good works to be saved, and then they spend five minutes describing all the works that you need to do to be saved, right? Ephesians 2, 8, and 9 is a very famous scripture. People will say, hey, for by grace are you saved through faith, not of works, right? And then they'll describe to you all the works that you have to do to be saved. It's like I don't think you understand, you know, what that means, right? Well, here's the thing. Some of those people are very nice people, and they're well-intentioned. They're just deceived, but they're not saved. That's reality, okay? I mean, people have this idea. Anybody who says the name of Jesus is saved. Well, if that's the case, then most people in the Philippines are saved, but actually very few people are saved, and the Bible says narrow is the way which leads them to life. The other thing is this. God hath given to us eternal life, so we must believe that life is eternal or everlasting. Now, this is not physical life, because obviously we will die one day. It's referring to spiritual life, because what does the Bible call hell? The second death. Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, right? The Bible speaks of hell and the lake of fire as being a place of death, okay? Not life, because sometimes you talk to people, and you'll show them John 3.16, and they'll say, yeah, if you believe, you're going to live forever somewhere, either heaven or hell. It's like that's not what John 3.16 is teaching. It's teaching that if you believe, you're going to go to heaven, because hell is death, okay? Here's the thing. If someone does not believe it's eternal life, they're not saved. That's what the Bible teaches. If they think it's conditional, they're not saved. If they think it's temporary, they're not saved. So here's the thing. When we're explaining at the door about salvation, we need to make sure we're explaining all of these things, because if there's any part they don't get, then they're not saved, right? Now the part that's the hardest is the part of eternal life. I think we would all agree on that, because you can show them verses that say it's just by faith, and many people will say they believe that. And honestly, when it comes to it being eternal life, this is actually associated with the part of it not being of works, but basically people often don't add works on this side of salvation, but they add works on the other side of salvation. They'll say, yeah, it's just by faith, but I can lose it if I do this. Well, that's not believing it's eternal life, right? That's still thinking that you have to do something. There's no works required to be saved. There's no works required to stay saved, and if you add works on either side of salvation, either side of that gift, it's a work salvation, okay? So when we're preaching the gospel, we need to make sure that we're explaining these things to people. Now, I want you to turn to Romans 6 real quickly, Romans 6, Romans chapter 6. I would say, undoubtedly, the question or the sin that people struggle with the most here in the Philippines is suicide, right? Most people believe that everyone who commits suicide has a straight ticket to hell. Isn't that what people believe? You say, why is that? It's a Catholic country. I grew up Protestant, which is basically the same, but you know what? I was very dogmatic before I got saved that suicide sends you to hell. I don't know why I was dogmatic. I guess, you know, whatever you're taught, you're brainwashed by the world and you believe it. And that's actually what led me to hear the gospel because I was, I don't know what we were talking about, but my friend Mike who gave me the gospel, I don't know, you know, somehow we were talking about suicide or something like that and I said, oh, that will definitely send you to hell. Maybe he asked me a question about the Bible and that's when I started to hear the gospel because he heard me say the wrong thing about suicide and then he gave me the gospel. But in this country, most people you talk to, they think that if you commit suicide, you will lose your salvation and you'll end up in hell. And they'll say it's a mortal sin, okay? And they'll say, well, you know, of course it would send you to hell because God gave you that life, right? Well, here's the thing about this though. God is promising eternal life and it's not physical life. It's spiritual, right? Now when people get confused on suicide and eternal life, the best way to explain the gospel is always the simple things. Always the simple things. Because the Bible describes salvation being like a gift. It describes being born. I mean, isn't it true that when you're born, it's the mom that does the work, not the baby, right? When it comes to us being born into God's family, it's Jesus who did the work. So the explanations in the Bible, it's like drinking a glass of water. Pretty easy. It's like opening a door. He said, I am the door. Pretty easy. He said, I am that bread of life, eating a slice of bread. Pretty easy, right? So the explanations in the Bible are pretty simple. So when we're explaining suicide, we should explain it in a simple way that's easy to understand. What I've found to be the best way is just explaining there's a difference between your body and your soul. And if you kill the body, you only killed your flesh, but your soul is what has eternal life. One thing that helps explain that is mentioning during the conversation, saying it's your soul that receives eternal life. Your soul will go to heaven or hell forever. So then later on when you talk about suicide, it's really easy for them to pick up, okay? And so the thing is that no sin will cause you to lose your salvation because it is eternal, which means it never ends. But if people think it will end for whatever reason, then they're not believing the record that God gave his son. Now 1 John 5.11 is actually parallel to Romans 6.23, because notice this. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Now what it said in 1 John was God hath given to us eternal life. The gift of God is eternal life. And it says through Jesus Christ our Lord, whereas in 1 John it says life is in his son. So it's basically parallel with 1 John 5.11. Now I usually just go to Romans 6.23, because I think it's a lot simpler for people. 1 John 5 is really deep, but it's the same thing as in Romans 6.23. Now go back to 1 John 5, 1 John 5, 1 John 5, 1 John 5, 1 John chapter 5. You know, one thing I love about the Gospel is how simple it actually is. Because if you were to become, let's say, a math teacher, English teacher, science teacher, whatever, you have to study and study and study and study and study to be able to understand and to be able to explain it to people. But you know what? You don't have to do that with the Gospel. Obviously the more you know about the Bible and the more experience you have, you're going to get better, obviously. But in John chapter 4 we see this woman who gets saved, and she's just proclaiming the good news, and then people got saved. And it's very clear some got saved from her words, and then others she brought to the Savior, and they got saved from Jesus Christ. She got people saved. You say, how did she get people saved? She just got to save herself because she just explained, I got a free gift. It's not that complicated. The gift of God is eternal life. It's a very, very simple thing to explain, and it's so simple that a child can get saved. Now of course we can get better with preaching the Gospel with time, but I'm just saying it's not actually that complicated. So when you're preaching the Gospel, one thing you want to avoid is being complicated in your presentation because if you're getting complicated, there's probably a much simpler way to explain it because the Gospel is meant to be simple and easy to understand. It says in 1 John 5 verse 12, he that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. So notice how there's two types of people. You say, Brother Secchi, what about those that go to purgatory? Well that is a word that's not in the Bible, and it's a concept not taught in the Bible either. You're either believing on the Son or you're not believing on the Son. And once you believe on the Son, it says hath, and hath is present tense, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. So the moment you believe, you've already passed from death unto life, the Bible says. But if someone does not believe, then they do not have life. Then it says in verse 13, these things have I written on you that believe in the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life. And that ye may believe in the name of the Son of God. See, the Bible says if you believe these things that are written about the Son of God, if you believe it, then you know you have eternal life. We run into many people that say, well, you can't know for sure you're saved. Isn't that what people tell us? Nobody knows for sure they're saved. Well, the reason why they think that is because they think salvation is based on their works, and they would be right. If it was based on my lifestyle, I could not know whether I was saved or not. I couldn't know if I did a good enough job to get to heaven. But what they do not understand is that salvation is not based on your own works. It's based on what Jesus Christ did. And if you believe these things, then you know you have eternal life. It's a guaranteed thing. It's a done deal, okay? Now one thing I've said before, and this is true if you fully believe this philosophy or religious belief, Calvinists do not believe you can know you're going to heaven. It is impossible to know for sure you're saved if you're a Calvinist. You say, why? Because they teach that the only way to know for sure is if you persevere onto the end. And what they teach is it is possible that you could be one of the deceived people and then find out 50 years from now I was never saved. That's what they teach. Now they're not very open with teaching this, but that is what they teach, that until you persevere onto the very end, you cannot know you're saved. So if a Calvinist tells you they know for sure they're going to heaven, they either don't fully understand what Calvinism is teaching or what they really mean is I must be one of the elect, but they can't actually know based on their philosophy. They're 99% sure I think I'm one of the elect, but it is possible I'm not, right? Now it is very hard to find an honest Calvinist. Very rarely do they actually tell you what's inside their heart. But if you listen to R.C. Sproul, John Piper, they have made quotes before that show you, you actually can't know for sure you're going to heaven. Like R.C. Sproul, because he had a big, you know, Ligonier Ministries is really famous. He was one of the, he's like best friends with John MacArthur before he died. And you know, he was kind of famous because he was actually a Protestant Calvinist. He believed in baby sprinkling and everything, but he was best friends with John MacArthur because as long as you believe in Calvinism, they don't care about any other doctrine, right? And Sproul talked about how sometimes this fear would come upon him or he's like, I don't know what would happen if I die. And this is a guy who's leading Ligonier Ministries and he's this famous Calvinist. And he said, this spring of emotion would hit me. What if I'm one of the deceived? What if I'm one of the deceived? And then I said, I started thinking to myself, but if I was one of the deceived, then why is it I love the Bible? Because you can't love the Bible unless you're one of the elects and anyone who is the elect will love the Bible. But I love the Bible and I love God, so I must be one of the elects, right? And he goes on and on and talks about it. And he says, this is what he tells people when they have doubts about their salvation. It's like, would you love God fully? And people are like, no, I don't love God fully. Do you love him at all though? It's like, yeah, then you're saved. That's the assurance that one of the famous Calvinists, R.C. Sproul, and I like to call him Roman Catholic Sproul because it fits with his, because he says he's a Protestant and yet he still believes in Catholic doctrine, right? Roman Catholic Sproul, R.C. Sproul. But that's what he'll say. He's like, well, you know, your assurance is the fact if you love God at all, then that means you're one of the elect because no unsafe person loves God. But isn't it true that everybody would tell you they love God, right? I mean, we talk to people all the time and we ask them, do you know for sure you're going to heaven? And they're going to say no. But if you ask them, do you love God, they're all going to say yes. Unless they're an atheist, right? Quite honestly, people like us are more likely to say we don't love God than the normal Christian out there because we realize loving God implies actions and we know that we fail. And it's like, you know, there's definitely times I'd be like, yeah, based on my actions, I'm not showing a love for God. I need to make changes in my life. But almost everybody's going to tell you they love God. That means they're all saved? Stupid, right? But in their belief with Calvinism, you cannot know for sure you're going to heaven because until you persevere out of the id, you say, Brother Stuckey, isn't that eternal security? No, no, no, no. We believe in the preservation of the saints. You put your faith in Jesus Christ and the Bible says in Jude, we are preserved in Jesus Christ. What that means is we don't keep ourselves saved. Persevering means you keep yourself saved, right? But see, preservation, God keeps you saved. So here's the thing. No matter how bad you screw up, if you're saved, you don't have to worry about it, right? This is what the Bible teaches. And so here's the thing. If you're saved, you know you're saved. If you don't know for sure you're saved, it's because you're not saved. If people tell us they're 95% sure they're going to heaven, that tells us zero, right? It doesn't matter whether it's 1, 2, 3, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 90, 99.9999999%, zero. Because you either believe the record or you don't. And when you believe the record, then you know you have eternal life. Now I understand that people can have doubts in their lives sometimes, especially if they're hearing some false teacher lie to them and stuff like that. You know, the truth is that after you get saved, you have that assurance that comes over you. And I remember feeling this relief, like, man, I'm saved even if I screw up. Even when I screw up, I'm still saved. So lastly, let's talk about this. God answers prayer. God answers prayer. And it talks about that in 1 John 5, verse 14. And this is the confidence that we have in Him. Now this is after it talks about how to be saved. So us that are saved, this is the confidence that we have in Him that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us. And the Bible promises if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us. Now one way that we should know this is the fact we ask for the greatest gift of all, and if you believe it, God gives it to you, right? It just talked about salvation, and, you know, you ask for the gift of eternal life, He gives it to you. And if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us. And if we know that He hear us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him. So look, if you ask for things from God and it is according to His will, then that is something God's going to grant, okay? So here's the thing, if you ask something like this, Brother Stuckey, I prayed that God would give me 50 million pesos, but I didn't get it. Well, it's probably not according to His will, right? I mean, if you pray something dumb, then you're not going to get that. Now sometimes we can pray things that we think will be a good thing, but maybe it's not. And God sees the end of the matter. But here's the thing, if you pray a prayer like this, God, help me to be a good husband. Isn't that a prayer God's going to answer? God help me to be a good wife. Isn't that something God's going to answer? God help me to be a good father. God help me to be a good mother. God help me to be successful at work. God help me to be more patient. God help me not to get angry so quickly. Look, if you ask things according to His will, He's going to hear you, and He's going to answer those things. And you know what, I've seen things in my life before where I prayed for things, and then it's just like God answers it, and you can tell that God's directly given that to you. You know, you pray, God, can you send somebody for me to preach the gospel to today? And it's amazing how God will send people in your life to preach the gospel to. You say, why? That's according to His will. And He's like, well, if you're going to take advantage and preach the gospel, I'll send you as many people as you need, right, because it's according to His will, right? And so look, this is important for us to remember because we're living in very difficult times. We're going back into difficult times. This is why we're moving the prayer meeting till today because I think there's a lot of people right now that, you know, we want to pray and get a hold of God, and what we need to realize is, say, people, God answers prayers. If it's according to His will, He answers those prayers. Now that does not mean that we won't go through difficult times. That does not mean that He's going to answer a prayer in our timing. It could be. It could take more time. But you know what? The Bible says that God answers prayers. It says in verse 16, if any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death. I do not say that he shall pray for it. You say, Brother Stuckey, what does it mean by a sin unto death? It means if you commit really bad sins, God might kill you. That's what it means. It means if somebody's committing terrible sins, God might kill them. There is a sin unto death. Okay? Now, look, in our modern day, there is not the death penalty for every single sin that the Bible has. But if you're a saved person and you're going out and murdering people, well, yeah, God might kill you. You're going out and committing adultery, yes, God might kill you. You say, what's the proof of that? Well, God killed 23,000 people in one day due to the sin of fornication, and adultery is worse than fornication, right? It's like, you know, when you're living a sinful life, you should be afraid. Maybe God won't kill you, but he might judge you very harshly, right? Look, we need to be in fear. We need to have a healthy fear of God in our lives, okay? Because the Bible says there is a sin unto death. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is not a sin unto death. There is a sin not unto death. So look, many sins you do, you don't have to go to bed every night afraid God's going to kill you. That's not what I'm saying, right? If you didn't read your Bible enough today, I don't think you need to go to bed at night and say, God, please don't kill me. But if you're committing wicked sins, then you do have a reason to fear what God might do to you. And the amazing thing is that when you're serving God, it's going to be typified by a life with very little fear. Isn't that true? When you're serving God and doing right, you just don't get that fearful. When you're doing wrong, you're like King Saul, who's afraid of everything. He constantly thinks David's trying to kill him. He doesn't have a sound mind, because the Bible says if you have the spirit of fear, you're basically going to lose your mind. And you know what? That is a good description of the world we live in today, where it's like you have a lot of fear, and then people lose their minds. They're not insane, but they're acting insane. You know what? That is honestly the world that we're living in today. But you know what? Just to close, the Bible does say God answers prayers, and you know what? Later today we're going to have a time of prayer, and you know what? We do need to get a hold of God, and we have difficult times in our lives. You look at people like Hezekiah in the Bible. He goes through rough times. What does he do? He gets a hold of God, and he actually changes the direction that God goes. He's told he has a short time left to live, and you know what? He prays, and God gives him more life, because he got a hold of God, right? And that's what we're going to do here later today. 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 on this topic, and help us to learn and realize and understand all these things, God. We ask you to bless all of us in this room in our lives, help us be successful at work in our lives, and help us to work on our character in all the areas that we have shortcomings, God. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.