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

We love you, Jesus, and we pray. Amen. All right, we are in Daniel chapter 7, and we pretty much finished this chapter, but I did want to just preach a sermon on the last verse of the chapter. So notice what it says in Daniel 7, verse 28. The Bible reads, Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me, but I kept the matter in my heart. And what I want to preach on is the secret to serving God your entire life. Now, I've preached sermons similar to this before, and this verse teaches the same thing which we've taught before. This verse kind of gives us a template on how to serve God your entire life, okay? And I want you to realize that when we're going through the book of Daniel, obviously during that time period, the way they learned the Word of God was a little bit different than today's world, right? In times past, he spake unto the fathers by the prophets. Now he's spoken unto us by his son, by the Word of God. We have the Bible. We read the Word of God. Back in that day, you know, Daniel's getting dreams, he's getting visions, he's getting direct information from God, and he's learning the deep and complicated things directly from God. The way we do that in today's world is we read the Bible, right? And you learn the deep and complicated things through your own personal reading, okay? So you need to be reading the Word of God and learning as much as possible. You need to read the Bible every day. Come to church every week. You say, why? You need the Word of God to renew you on a daily basis because you get brainwashed every day by the world. But here's the thing. When you read the Word of God and you hear sermons, it doesn't always result in a pleasant side effect. Sometimes it kind of bothers you. Sometimes it troubles you. Notice what it says in verse 28. Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me. Now what is cogitation? It's not really a word we use today. It's the action of thinking deeply about something. Contemplating. Like really deeply, seriously thinking about something. Think about solving a complicated math problem. You know, your cogitation is trouble. You're sitting there. It's like, how do I do this? Right? And so basically, Daniel's learning these deep things, these complicated things, and he's like, I don't even know what's going on. Right? Like, what is this talking about? Okay, go to verse number 15. Verse 15. I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. They troubled him. They bothered him. I came near unto one of them that stood by and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me and made me know the interpretation of the things. So what Daniel's saying is, I was learning these deep and complicated things, but it was going straight over my head. I had no idea what it was talking about. Now go to Zechariah chapter 4. Zechariah 4. Zechariah 4. Now generally, this is the way it works. When somebody first gets saved, they don't really start reading the Bible, but maybe they start going to church, and they start going to church probably before they really start reading the Bible, or they're listening to sermons online before they start reading the Bible on their own. And when you're listening to sermons, you're learning a lot. Right? I mean, the preacher is just explaining stuff. You're like, man, that makes sense. I never knew that on my own. But then you reach a point where if you really want to grow, what do you need to do? You need to read the Bible on your own. Right? You're only going to grow so much from a couple sermons every week. And you've got to read the Bible on your own. Here's the thing, though. When you're reading the Bible on your own, it's a lot more complicated. Right? It's not just a teacher up here explaining what the answer is. It's like, here's the problem. You've got to figure it out on your own. Right? It's a lot more complicated. And see, what takes place is a lot of people get saved. They start serving God. Man, I love this preaching. This is great. But here's the thing. They never stop to start reading the Bible and studying for themselves. And when they do start, they just quit. Why? It's too hard. It's difficult. It's not easy. Right? And that's the truth. It isn't easy. When you read the Bible on your own, it's not simple. Right? There are a lot of things that you just don't understand. Now, a lot of stuff is very surface level. We understand that. But when you're reading the book of Isaiah, that's not surface level. You're reading Zechariah, Daniel, Song of Solomon. These things, I mean, it takes digging in and really studying to learn these things. Nobody just reads these books for the first time just passively, and then they just understand everything about it. I mean, I've read the Song of Solomon, I don't know how many times, I've memorized the entire book. It's like, when you do that, you start learning stuff. But it's not like the first time I read it, I was like, oh, this is what God's trying to tell us. Right? It's like, no, it's complicated. You've got to actually study and put in time. But here's the thing. By doing that, it kind of troubles you. It bothers you. It's hard. And a lot of people, when they run into something difficult, they just quit. It's too hard. Right? Zechariah chapter 4. Zechariah 4. In my opinion, Zechariah is the most confusing book in the Bible. That's my personal opinion. I mean, I know people think of Revelation. Revelation's not really that confusing. There's a lot of books that are more complicated. Or they'll think Daniel. Well, Daniel's confusing, but it's kind of explained by Revelation, and we have all of history. In my opinion, Zechariah is the most confusing book. I mean, Ezekiel's deep. Isaiah's deep. Zechariah, though, I'm like, man, what is going on? Right? It's complicated. And the prophet here is feeling the exact same way. Because notice what it says in verse 4. So I answered and spake to the angel to talk with me, saying, What are these, my lord? He's basically saying, hey, I had this vision. I don't know what's going on. Now, the Bible is a very serious book. Right? It's a very grave book. I mean, the things that we preach are very serious things. When we talk about heaven and hell and the doctrines we believe. These are very serious things. Right? They're not a joke. But there are moments in the Bible that are kind of funny when you pay attention. And this chapter is one of the funniest chapters in the Bible, in my opinion, if you're actually paying attention to what's being said. Because the prophet's like, what are these? I don't know what's going on. Verse 5, then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, no, my lord. So it would be like if he came to me and said, Brother Stuckey, what is this talking about? You don't know what it's talking about? You're like, no. And then I don't give the answer. Right? I mean, that's basically what takes place. He doesn't give the answer. He's like, man, what is this talking about? You don't know? No, I don't know. That's why I asked the question. Right? And the answer's not given. Verse 11, then answered I and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, no, my lord. That's the reason why I'm asking the question. Can you please let me know? Right? Verse 14, he actually does give the answer. It says, Then said he, These are the two anointed ones that stand by the lord of the whole earth. But the basic idea is that when Daniel and Zechariah heard deep and complicated things, it troubled them. Right? I mean, it bothered them. They're trying to figure it out. It's kind of frustrating. I mean, maybe you've been reading the Bible before and you come across something and you're like, I don't know what that's talking about. Right? I'm confused on what I'm supposed to be learning from this and it kind of troubles you. It bothers you. You say, what should you do? Well, you should pray to God for guidance on what that means. That's what Daniel did. That's what Zechariah did. But you know what most people do? They just kind of give up and then they'll just go to Google and just type in and learn from who knows who telling them what that verse means. Some unsaved person that doesn't believe in eternal security, oh, this is what he says about this. Does that really seem like the best way to learn something? Listen to an unsaved person explain something to you? It's like, no, you've got to actually dig in for yourself and learn these things. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians 2. I mean, because many people might like a series on Daniel or Song of Solomon and say, man, this is great. I'm learning all these things. But here's the thing. Are you then going home and just reading it for yourself to try to figure out what the Bible's saying? Are you studying it for yourself to try to figure out? I mean, you shouldn't take for granted that everything that I say is correct. Because here's the truth. I mean, I have actually changed my mind on things I've believed before since I've been saved. I believed something and then later on I believed something different when I read the Bible and I realized, oh, I don't think that's actually right. I've heard things from pastors I love and respect and then later on I said, actually, I don't think they're right about this. And look, if you're saved and you're reading the Bible, there should be some things that you hear that you actually have a different opinion on because there's a lot of complicated things. I don't expect you to see every single thing the exact same way that I do. I would hope that you're reading the Bible enough that there's certain things that you hear and you're like, I'm not sure about that. I have to study it for myself. 1 Corinthians 2, verse 9. But as it is written, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. There are certain things in the Bible that are not exactly surface level. They're complicated things. They're the deep things. Now the truth is that if you study it out and learn it for yourself, it's going to be far more exciting to you than if you just hear it from somebody else. I'll give you an example. I don't really advocate playing video games, but when I was a kid I played video games and there's a lot of secret levels and hidden stuff. And when you find one of those things on your own in a Mario game or a Donkey Kong game or whatever, it's really exciting. Like, man, I found this hidden level. But if you just kind of go to the answer key and it's like just jump at this brick right here and hop over or whatever, it's not as exciting because you didn't figure it out for yourself. What's the same thing with the Bible? I mean, praise the Lord for all the things you learned from godly people that love God and you hear sermons preached. But honestly, if you learn something for yourself, it really will stick out to you even more. It's even more exciting when you learn it on your own. And obviously you're not learning it on your own because it's the Holy Spirit that's teaching you. But when you learn it from the Holy Spirit as opposed to some other man who learned it from the Holy Spirit, it's going to be more exciting to you. Verse number 11. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. What the Bible's stating here is that when a person gets saved, they get indwelled with the Holy Spirit of God. The spirit of truth that will teach you and guide you into knowledge. Okay? What you're doing when you're trying to learn stuff is you compare spiritual with spiritual. If you don't understand something in Zechariah, well I mean you can look to Revelation for the answer. Right? You compare spiritual with spiritual. You don't compare spiritual with Google. Right? And look, I'm not saying you can't learn something that's correct online, but what I am stating is you're going to learn a lot of wrong things as well. And if you don't know the topic well enough, you're easily going to get deceived. Okay? Now go to 2 Chronicles 16. 2 Chronicles 16. 2 Chronicles chapter 16. Sometimes things trouble you because they're complicated and it makes you want to kind of give up and not put in the effort. Sometimes things trouble you though they're not complicated. You understand what the Bible's stating. You understand what I'm stating. You just don't like what I'm stating. Or you don't like what the Bible's stating. Right? Many times things trouble people not because they don't understand, but because they do understand. That's what actually bothers them. Right? 2 Chronicles chapter 16 verse 6. Let me show you an example with King Asa. 2 Chronicles 16 verse 6. And Asa the king took all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Rhema and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha was building, and he built there with Geba and Mispa. Now, before I explain this story, let me ask you this question. Was King Asa a good man or a bad man? Good man. Right? No debate about that. I mean, King Asa was one of the great kings in the Word of God. The Bible praised him for being such a great king. This is not an unsaved person. This is a saved person. Okay? Notice what it says in verse 7. And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah. What is a seer? Well, it's a prophet. The Bible actually, you know, redefined seer because it's a word that kind of goes out of style. But it's somebody who's a prophet, someone who's a seer. Okay? And it says, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand. Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host? With very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because thou didst rely on the Lord, he delivered them into thine hand. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly. Therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars. So basically, Asa's a good man who does wrong and he gets rebuked by the prophet. Now you would think King Asa would be like, thank you for letting me know. I mean, if I'm guilty, I want to know. Right? You know, I did wrong. Thank you for letting me know and I can fix the problem. Right? You would think he'd be happy because the word of God's being preached to him. Shouldn't we always love the word of God being preached? You would think he'd be like, thank you for letting me know about this. But what's his reaction to verse 10? Then Asa was wroth with the seer, angry or wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house. He arrests the man of God. For he was in a rage with him because of this thing and Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time. And so Asa gets so mad at the message of God, he actually arrests the man of God. Right? Can you imagine if, let's say that there was, you know, a politician that was really high up that was a godly person who loved God. I know this is like living in a dream world because that probably doesn't exist, but think of a really godly politician, very powerful, and you know, he loved God, he loved soul winning, he loved reading the Bible, and then I preach a sermon and he gets so mad and he arrests me. That's what's taking place here in 2 Chronicles 16. This is a saved man, a good man, that does not like what the word of God states. Right? And what you have to understand is, being saved alone does not mean that you're going to appreciate the message from God. Saved people can get mad at what the Bible says. Saved people can be troubled because they understand, but they do not like what God has to say. Go to Daniel 7. Daniel 7. Daniel 7. Here's the thing though, arresting the man of God doesn't change the message that he preached. It doesn't change anything. If anything, you got more judgment upon you. Right? I mean, I don't think God appreciates it when you arrest the man of God. And so the message hasn't changed from God. The message is true. Arresting the man of God is going to make it worse. And look, a lot of saved people, this is their reaction when they hear the word of God. They don't like it. It troubles them. It bothers them. Why is it that our church is never going to be the size of other Baptist churches here in the Philippines? And look, you know, obviously, you know, our church, you know, I mean, I'm not saying our church is perfect at everything, but I would state that in terms of the preaching, I feel like you learn the Bible at this church. And sometimes you wonder, people visit our church, and you're like, why don't they stick around? I mean, aren't they learning? They are learning, but they don't like what they're learning. They're used to the pat on the back where basically you feel good. I mean, you feel very spiritual when you walk into church, even if you're not. And you leave feeling spiritual even if you're not. I mean, can you imagine going to the doctor's office? The doctor checks you out for a medical appointment, and your heart is like 95% clogged. You're at the point of death, and he's like, hey, you're in great shape. You're going to live another 30 years. I mean, would that be right of the doctor to do that? And see, if I were to stand up here and just state good things all the time, that you know what? God loves you no matter what you do with your life. I'm lying to you. I'm harming you. But here's the thing about this. People don't like it when they get rebuked, right? That's the truth. And look, I get it. I don't want to show up to the doctors, and the doctor's like, hey, you need to have surgery tomorrow, right? That's not going to be fun. But if it's necessary, it's necessary, right? Turn your Bible to Daniel 7. So number one, your thoughts can trouble you when you hear the Word of God preached. It might be something complicated. It might be something deep. Or it might just be something that you don't like to hear, and especially in today's world where our world is crazy that we live in. It's insane. We are so brainwashed by what the world has taught us. I mean, there's so many things that the average person thinks are normal because that's what they're taught, right? We're brainwashed, every one of us, right? When people first start coming to a church like this, it's a shock to the system. I've never been to a church like this. And look, here's the truth. No matter whether people like it or they hate it, everybody's going to say the same thing. They're like, I've never been to a church like this, right? I mean, I tell people that. I'll say, you know what? Coming to a church, visit it one time. And I said, people either love it or they hate it. But everybody agrees this is different than churches I've been to before, right? That's the truth. And a lot of people, they just don't like the message from the Word of God. You know, their thoughts trouble them as they hear the Word of God preached, and they do not like the feeling. Look, when I get up here and I preach three hours a week of sermons, times 50-plus weeks, 150 hours, over the course of three and a half years, that's 500 hours, 500-plus hours of preaching. Of course, over 500 hours, I'm going to say something that makes you mad. I mean, if there's anybody in this room that has never been mad at something I've said, then you're not paying attention during the sermons. You are sleeping, right? Your eyes are open, but you're actually asleep if you've never been offended. Because I get what it's like to be in church. I've been offended and mad at what the preacher says. You say, why is that? Well, the Word of God is like a sword, right? When a sword pierces you, what's your reaction? Oh, that feels so good, right? It's painful. When the sword, the Word of God, gets to the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart and gets to the inside, that's not a good feeling. And there's basically two reactions to that feeling. Either shove that sword away or basically keep that in there until the problem's fixed. Let the surgery get finished until the problem's resolved. Right? But the easier thing for people to do is kind of lie to themselves and just thrust that sword away because they don't like the feeling. But look, surgery's not fun. Making changes in your life is not fun. Okay? Point number one, your thoughts can trouble you. Point number two, as a result of that, it can bring about sadness or fear or a negative reaction. Okay? Notice what it says in verse 28. Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my cogitation's much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me, but I kept the matter in my heart. And so basically the reaction of Daniel as he was troubled is his countenance changed. Okay? Look, when something bothers you on the inside, it's going to manifest itself on the outside. That's just the way it works. Okay? Your countenance is going to change. Go to Jeremiah 38. I'll give you a couple examples. Jeremiah 38. Jeremiah 38. I mean, isn't it true that when you preach the Gospel, you talk to people, and you can kind of tell whether or not they like what you're saying or they don't like what you're saying? Right? Somebody says they're willing to listen to the Gospel. Then you get to Revelation 21.8, and you see the reaction, and they can fake it all they want, but on the outside, this anger manifests itself. Right? They're just really mad at the message that you have to say, and it's amazing how powerful the Word of God is because people can really switch from being okay to being really upset at something the Word of God says. You know, the most vivid example I remember from soul winning, I was preaching the Gospel in Akron, Ohio, one time, and this guy I was talking to, you know, he said he'd listen to the Gospel, but I could tell he wasn't really interested. You know, I could tell he was the sort of guy who thought he was really smart, and he believed in evolution and stuff like this, and he's listening to it, and he's sort of mocking, but I went to Revelation 21.8, and his countenance changed. He went from mocking and thinking it was a joke to being extremely angry. My question would be, if you don't believe the Bible, why would you get offended by what it says? I mean, if you quote the Quran to me, I'm not going to get offended because I know it's false, right? But when I quoted, all liars shall have their part, I mean, he got really angry, and he tried to hide it, but it was obvious, and I said, well, you can reject me all you want. It doesn't change the fact that if you were to die right now, you would go to hell because you're a sinner, right? And he was extremely mad with what I had to say, and he said, why is that? Because when the Word of God gets to people, I mean, it will cause a reaction, and he got mad on the inside, and it was very obvious on the outside, and when you go soul winning, you can see this sometimes. You can kind of perceive what people are thinking. When you first start going soul winning, you're generally soul winning like this. You know, you never look at the person because you're so nervous, right? But when you get used to going soul winning, you know, you'll look for a second, but you're really paying attention to how they react to kind of figure out what they're thinking, and you can kind of perceive what they're thinking without them saying any words based on their nonverbal communication, right? Notice what it says in Jeremiah 38, verse 17. Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and thou shalt live in thine house. But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall the city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand. Verse 19, And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid. He hears the word of God, and what is his reaction? He's afraid, right? I mean, he has real fear because of the word of God. I mean, it troubled him, it bothered him, and it manifested itself on the outside. I mean, he's afraid. He's upset at what the message is. He's afraid of doing what's right. He's afraid what's going to happen. Go to Jeremiah chapter 1. Jeremiah 1. Jeremiah chapter 1. The word of God is always going to cause some sort of reaction to you. Could be good, could be bad, but it is going to cause a reaction, right? It's going to result in something, either in a good way or a bad way. Just hearing the word of God alone is not going to get you to serve God your whole life because the question is, how do you respond to the word of God? Do you like what God says, or do you not? Many people start going to a church like this, and they're all fired up, they're zealous, they're like, man, this is exciting, I'm post-trib too, I'm King James only, and then the preaching hits a little bit too close to home. And then they leave our church to go to whatever repentsive sins church, and it's like, really? I mean, it's like, you're at a church because of doctrine, you get mad, and now you go to a church preaching a false gospel, right? But that happens all the time, because people do not like the hard preaching. Jeremiah 1, verse 7, But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child, for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speak. And God warns Jeremiah about something. He says, Be not afraid of their faces, for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. Now, why does God tell the preacher, don't be afraid of their faces? Because when people get mad on the inside, it manifests itself on the outside, right? I mean, literally, if I wanted to, I could write down, I'd write down everybody's name, and I would write, this was what they thought of the sermon. Because I can tell what people are thinking sometimes, right? I mean, if somebody's angry, I can probably tell, right? When I see somebody's face, I can say, okay, they didn't like that, right? Or somebody's taking notes, or they're laughing at jokes, or paying attention and stuff, but then sometimes people do not have a good reaction. Sometimes people are angry, sometimes people are bothered, and I'll be honest, it's difficult often as a preacher, I mean, it affects you. Because sometimes I'm just preaching a sermon, and I'm just preaching the Word of God. I'm not thinking specifically of anybody, but I can tell based on the reaction, oh wow, this person, obviously this applies to their life, or it did, or whatever, and it's difficult, right? Sometimes you preach things, and you can see the reaction of people. It makes it difficult. And you say, what do you have to do? You've got to just ignore it. Be not afraid of their faces. Just preach the Word of God, right? I mean, it's amazing sometimes, I preach sermons, and then all of a sudden there'll be people that get a reaction, and I'm thinking, whoa, I had no idea, right? But that's the way it is, right? Turn your Bible to Genesis 4. Genesis 4. Genesis 4. When there's a reaction on the inside, it is going to manifest itself on the outside. Let me give you another example of this. Genesis 4 with Cain. Genesis 4, verse 3. And it came to pass, or in the process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the first things of his flock and of the fat thereof, and the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering, but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect, and Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. Now, I don't know that these two people understood all the symbolism being involved in here, but the symbolism being involved is Cain is basically bringing his good works, his fruit of the ground sacrificed to God and thinking it's going to be acceptable, whereas Abel just sacrifices the animal. And when it comes to salvation, it's not about your good works, it's the fact that Jesus died, right? And so the symbolism is that Cain is basically giving his good works to the Lord, and God's going to be like, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Whereas Abel just does what God asks for, right? And so the result of this is Cain is wroth, he's angry, and what's the result? And his countenance fell. As a result of being angry, it was obvious Cain was upset. Verse 6, And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door, and unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. So what God says to Cain is, if thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And what he's saying to Cain is, you have the opportunity to do right, and you will be accepted. Does that sound like a child of the devil that can be accepted by God? He's not a child of the devil at this point. Because God says if you do well, you're going to be accepted. Right? And at the end of that verse, what he said is, And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. Cain will rule over Abel. You say, why? He's the older brother. What he's saying is, if you do right, you're going to be accepted. But if not, in this verse, what does it say? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And what he's basically telling Cain is this, you got your option here. Here's the message. Here's the word of God. I know you're mad. If you do well, you're going to be accepted. Right? If you choose to do wrong, sin lieth at the door. Just like when it comes to salvation, Jesus said, I am the door. Well, this is like opening the door to be in a reprobate. And basically, on the other side of that door, there's sin. Meaning, he's going to be filled with all unrighteousness and fornication and covetousness and wickedness, rightful of maliciousness, envy, murder, debate, all of these things. Basically, sin lieth on the other side of that door if you choose to do wrong. But in verse 7, he still has an option. There's no question in verse 7 he is not a reprobate. Verse 8, and Cain talked with Abel his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him. Now, here's what's interesting, though. This verse alone would not teach you this, but if you cross-reference with 1 John, when he killed his brother, it says he was of that wicked one. Well, that's an expression to state he's a child of the devil. So basically, in verse 7, he's told, you've got an option. If you do well, you're going to be accepted. However, he didn't do well. He chose to do wrong, and when he actually murdered Abel at that moment, either right before or while he's doing it, he became a reprobate because he was of that wicked one when he chose to do wrong. What's on the other side of that door when you become a reprobate? Sin. Your conscience is seared with a hot iron. You're just a wicked, wicked, evil person. And so Cain was upset on the inside, manifested himself on the outside. Go to Daniel 5. Daniel 5. Daniel 5. Daniel chapter 5. Look, of course we believe that anybody that believes on Jesus goes to heaven. Anyone who believes on the Lord goes to heaven, puts their full trust on him. However, if somebody dies and goes to hell, they're never going to get saved. There's no chance. Even in our modern day, there's not even a whole lot of Catholics that really believe in purgatory. I did meet one the other day that was a really big believer in purgatory. But even most Catholics, you tell them, there's heaven or hell, there is no purgatory. They're like, okay. They believe it. They don't even believe in purgatory. They don't believe in this intermediate stage of half-fire cleansing or whatever. Because it's not in the Bible, obviously. But obviously when someone goes to hell, there is no second chance. And people have this idea, well you have a chance until the end of your life. They might point to someone like the thief on the cross. What's true, the thief on the cross got saved right before he died. But that doesn't mean that everybody has a chance up until when they die. People in this life can turn on God, and Cain is an example because he was of that wicked one. I mean, it's in the section in 1 John, in this the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil. Right? He was a child of the devil. Daniel 5, verse 5, In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against a candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace. And the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Verse 6, Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him. When your thoughts trouble you, it's going to manifest on the outside. Okay, now go to Daniel 7. So look, hear the word of God as much as is possible. Because hearing the word of God is what's going to make changes in your life. But the thing is, it's not going to be automatic. Just because you read the Bible does not mean you're automatically going to change. Just because you hear good sermons does not mean you're automatically going to change. You still have a free will choice how you react to that message. And sometimes it's going to bother you. Look, everybody in this room has been bothered by something that's been preached before. Every single person. Look, I've been in churches and I've been bothered. Because if you get rebuked for something, even if it's not by name, your first reaction is to kind of get mad and make excuses. Right? We like to make excuses. We don't like to admit guilt in situations. So I get it. When you hear this kind of preaching, it doesn't always just immediately make you happy. I mean, it can bother you. Just like going to the doctor's office and finding out you've got a major illness or you need surgery or something, your first reaction is not praise the Lord. Right? But here's the thing. You need that in order to actually fix the problem. And at least when you hear the Word of God, you've got the choice. What are you going to do with the Word of God now? Notice what it says in Daniel 7, verse 28. Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my cogitation's much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me, but I kept the matter in my heart. Daniel didn't understand this. He was confused. But instead of just forgetting about it, you know what? He kept that matter in his heart. Go to Luke chapter 2. Luke 2. Luke 2. It's like my analogy where basically the Sword of God pierces you, and you just keep it inside your heart until you fix the problem. Right? Basically, it bothers you. It troubles you. It troubles you, but you just keep it in there because you want to actually fix what's wrong. I get it. Sometimes you hear sermons, and things trouble you because either you don't understand it, you're confused, or you just don't like what the Word of God states. You don't agree with what the Word of God states. I'm not asking you to automatically agree with everything I preach, but what I'm asking you to do is keep those matters in your heart. If there's something I say, and you say, that can't be right, I disagree with Brother Stuckey. That's fine. Go back and read your Bible for yourself to see if what I'm saying is true. The Bible speaks about the Bereans being more noble than those in Thessalonica because they heard the Word of God, and they actually searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so. When you hear sermons preached, search it. See if it's true. I encourage you this next week, I'm going to preach on Song of Solomon 5. Read Song of Solomon 5 this next week. See if what I'm saying is true. Look at it for yourself to see if what Brother Stuckey actually said was true or whether or not he was just out to lunch. It's up to you to decide that, but if there's something you disagree with, you need to keep it in your heart and consider it. Because here's what your basic reaction is going to be when you hear sermons. Sometimes you hear something and you know, that's right. I preach a sermon about how salvation is eternal and you can't lose it. You're thinking, amen, I agree with that. If you don't agree with that, then we need to talk to you after the service and get you saved. But you hear, once saved, always saved, and you say, amen. That's right. Other times you hear something and you're like, you know what, I don't agree with that. I think it's wrong because the Bible says this. That would contradict that. Look, I've been in church where I heard sermons and I heard things and I already knew I don't agree with that and here's my reason why. Not because of emotions, but because I knew of a verse that, in my opinion, would actually go against that. And then other times you hear something and you're like, I mean, it might be true. I'm not sure. I haven't studied it enough to know on my own. So what do you have to do in those situations? You have to search those things whether they're so. Double check for yourself to find out if what I'm saying is true. Luke 2, and that's what Daniel does. He keeps the matter in his heart. Luke 2, verse 15. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherd said one to another, Now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph in the babe lying in a manger. When they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And they all heard it, and all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherd. So basically they're hearing the word of God preached, and all of these people are just marveling like, wow, that's so interesting. That's so amazing. But notice the reaction of Mary in verse 19. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. You see, people can be in church for years and hear a lot of different sermons, and the reaction is, man, that's really interesting. Right? That's great. But they just kind of forget about it. And it doesn't really do them any good. Because the Bible says don't just be a hearer of the word, be a doer of the word. Otherwise you're just going to kind of forget. You're like the person who looks in the mirror, there's a problem, you don't fix it, and then you forget about it. Right? And so basically when you hear sermons, you don't want to just hear something, you hear something new. Wow, that's amazing. And you marvel at it, but then you just kind of forget about it. Right? You've got to keep those matters in your heart. Especially as you're reading your Bible because you hear something new, you want to keep that in mind so as you're reading the Bible you can double check, is that actually correct? Go to verse number 48 in Luke 2. Verse 48. Verse 48. Bible says in verse 48, And when they saw him, they were amazed. And his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. So basically Mary and Joseph are looking for Jesus and he's been preaching the word of God and they realize he's gone. This is like the movie Home Alone, if anyone ever saw that movie. Where's our son? He's gone. And so they don't know where Jesus is. And so they don't know where Jesus is. In verse 49, they search for him. Then it says in verse 49, So they hear something and basically Mary doesn't really understand and she's also being rebuked. It's kind of a combination of being troubled in both ways. I don't understand what he's saying, but he just rebuked me, but it is, you know, our Lord and Savior. So obviously what he's saying is true. But notice the reaction in verse 51, So Jesus Christ was subject onto Mary and Joseph while he was here on earth. But it says this, I mean, she doesn't understand what Jesus was saying exactly. She knows she's being rebuked. But instead of just shoving that sword out, what did she do? She kept that matter in her heart. This is what you should always be doing when you hear the word of God. Because here's the thing, if it's something you like, you want to keep that in your heart. But if it's something you don't like, you want to pretend like, well, Brother Segi doesn't know what he's talking about. He knew what he was talking about in chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, but not in chapter 7. That's kind of the reaction if you don't like something that's being said. What do you have to do? You've got to keep that matter in your heart. Because the only way to actually fix the problem is actually get it on the inside and it can actually turn your heart and change your heart, okay? Go to Proverbs 4. We'll look at a couple more places. Proverbs chapter 4. Proverbs 4. Proverbs chapter 4. Look, you have to realize everybody gets rebuked by sermons, right? It's not like everybody has their lives perfectly put together. I mean, when I first started going to church when I was 19 years old, it's not like I just had everything in my life perfect. I was a college student watching the same movies and listening to the same music as everybody else, right? It's not like I was just reading the Bible for an hour every day and praying for an hour every day. I had a lot of areas in my life I had to make changes through the years, and even now there's still a lot of areas I need to make changes because the Word of God is always applicable and it will always help reprove us of our problems. All of us are at least hopefully growing, but you're never going to get to that point where you're right there, right? You're still always going to be growing. So look, there's no reason to get upset. Like, I can't believe Brother Stuckey said that. Everybody gets rebuked sometimes. Everybody gets rebuked. And it's tough because in a lot of things you hear and you like them or they're easy to make changes, but then there's that one thing you don't really want to make a change, right? But you have to get over that point, otherwise you're never going to keep growing, right? When I was more newly saved and I came to the understanding that I needed to get rid of all the music that I listened to, it troubled me. It bothered me. You say, why? I was thinking about how much money I spent on those CDs. It's not like everything was on YouTube back then, right? I had a lot of CDs that I had built up and I was thinking, man, it's like I spent so much money on this and now I'm just going to throw it away? It's frustrating. It's like all these movies I had, it's like, man, and it's wrong to watch these movies? Because here's the thing. I never realized it was wrong to watch those movies before I was saved. And even after I got saved, there's a lot of stuff I didn't really realize was wrong, but as you start drawing close to God, everything that's made reproved is made manifest by the light, the Bible says. As you draw close to the light, you'll see what your problems are, right? The light shines in on your problems. And it bothered me. It troubled me. But you've got to make that decision to basically throw down the altar of Baal, so to speak, in your life if you want to keep growing. And look, all of us are going to reach points in our lives where we hit something we do not want to change. And it's hard. You're never going to reach a point where you're perfect. You're always going to have certain things that you've got to decide to throw aside if you want to draw closer. Proverbs 4, verse 4. He taught me also and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words, keep my commandments, and live. So what the Bible says in Proverbs 4, verse 4 is, Let thine heart retain my words. Because a lot of people try to do what the Bible says, but they don't actually let it affect their heart, and they don't really want to change. They're just trying to do it on the outside to be seen of man or whatever. That's not going to last. You've got to decide on the inside that you want to do what's right. It's not good enough just to understand, Well, the Bible says I should do this, so I'm going to do it because he says it, but I don't really want to. You've got to make the change on the inside. You've got to allow that sword to be in there, complete the surgery, and then you get rid of that sword. It doesn't help to finish half the surgery and not finish the whole job. You've got to finish the whole thing. Let thine heart retain my words. Go to verse 13. Take fast hold of instruction. Let her not go. Keep her, for she is thy life. This whole passage is about wisdom and getting the word of God, but it really emphasizes on the inside, on the heart. Go to verse 20. My son, attend to my words. Incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes. Keep them in the midst of thine heart, for they are life unto those that find them in health to all their flesh. Keep thy hearts with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. So the emphasis is on the heart. Now go to Luke 8, and we'll close up. Luke 8. As I said, my goal is to get done a little bit early, so we're going to have a 10-minute break from whenever we get done, and so we can get jump-started on the second sermon a little bit early, get lunch started early, get soul-winning started early, so we get done for the activities here today. But Luke 8, verse 15. And if you're familiar with this passage, this is the passage on the parable of the sower, a very famous parable, very important parable. The Bible says if you don't understand this parable, how are you going to understand all the other ones? Because really, as someone who's newly saved trying to serve God, soul-winning is really the important thing in your life. And this is a soul-winning parable. It's not a salvation parable. It's a soul-winning parable. Verse 15 is the one who serves God their entire life. Notice what it says in verse 15. Luke 8, verse 15. Now, what does an honest heart have to do with serving God? Because Luke 8, 15 is basically how to serve God your whole life. Right? This is the person that serves God their entire life. What does an honest heart have to do with that? Well, I don't believe this is talking about being honest with other people. I think it's talking about being honest with yourself. Because the Bible speaks about people that lie to themselves, where basically they hear something, they know it's what the Bible states, and they just lie to themselves to make themselves feel better. Right? The perfect example just of the recent news is with abortion. Everybody knows abortion is murder. They know it. I mean, common sense, any amount of science or medical knowledge, everyone knows that is a child. Right? Everybody's aware of that. I mean, when an abortion takes place, the baby inside tries to go away from the abortion. Right? When they use the vacuum style, the baby is really trying to stop it. I mean, the baby's got body parts. Of course, the baby's alive. Everybody knows that. So why is it that there's an issue on pro-choice versus pro-life? Because people want to justify their actions. They want to be able to do whatever they want with no repercussions. They're lying to themselves. I mean, it's amazing because, you know what, I never even thought about this when I was younger. I don't even think I thought about this until after I got saved, and I came to the realization people just lie to themselves. Right? You know, another great example, people start going to a church like that over there for job opportunities, and then after they've been there for six months, they lie to themselves and pretend that they actually believe it, and then they actually do start believing it, even though they know it's false. It's like on the inside they know it, but they just reject that because they want to just justify their actions. That's the truth. And the Bible says when you hear the word of God, you've got to have an honest heart. I mean, if the Bible says read therein all the days of thy life, well, that's only referring to that specific king, not to me. It's like, come on. You're lying to yourself. You're being dishonest to justify the fact that you don't read the Bible. I mean, just common sense, you know that, but that's what people do, though. Isn't that true? You show them something in the Bible, well, I mean, maybe that doesn't apply to me. Maybe that just applied to people that lived during that decade. It's like, come on. It's like, are you kidding me, right? And so, look, when you hear the word of God, have an honest heart with yourself. Don't lie to yourself. I mean, if you're guilty, it's not the end of the world. Just fix it. All of us have been guilty before about stuff. Just fix the problem, right? Have an honest heart with yourself. If you're guilty, don't make excuses and say, well, this is the reason I'm in this situation. No, no, no, no, don't make excuses. Regardless of why you're in this situation, you might have good excuses. It doesn't change the fact. You've got to be honest with yourself. And then you've got to have a good heart, which means actually making the change, doing good works, making the change. So be honest with yourself. But here's the thing. Somebody could be honest with themselves and not make the change, right? They know, hey, this is wrong, but I'm not going to make the change. You've got to be honest and have a good heart. Then the Bible says this in verse 15, having heard the word, keep it and bring forth fruit with patience. Now, people get very confused in this verse because, you know, and really the whole parable of the sower, people are confused. When it says having heard the word, it's not talking about you heard the word when you got saved. Yes, everybody who got saved heard the word, but what we're talking about is being a soul winner your whole life. Getting saved when I was 18 years old doesn't make me a soul winner my whole life, right? What makes you a soul winner your whole life is when you hear the word of God as much as is possible, and when you hear the word, you have an honest and good heart. Because it says having heard the word, that's past tense. So the honest and good heart is after hearing the word. Having heard the word, have an honest and good heart, and then you bring forth fruit with patience. So basically every time you read the Bible, every time you memorize the Bible, every time you hear sermons, hear it as much as possible, hear the word of God, read the word of God, memorize the word of God, and when you do it, have an honest heart with yourself. If there's something you got to make a change, make the change. Admit it, right? Have an honest heart with yourself, then have a good heart, make that change. What's the result? I mean, you're going to bring forth fruit with patience. Referring to winning souls to the Lord. With patience because you got to patiently endure your whole life because there's going to be ups and downs. The storms of life are going to come, right? You just patiently endure through the years. And look, none of us are at the end of our lives right now, so none of us can say for surety that we're going to serve God our whole lives. But let me just say this, I've been soul winning for more than 15 years, so I do think I've been soul winning long enough to know a little bit about this. And here's the thing about this, this is actually very simple. It's not that complicated. I don't have some complicated solution for you. Hear the word of God and read the word of God as much as possible. Read the Bible every day, go to church every week, hear the word of God as much as possible. And when you do, be honest with yourself and make the changes if necessary. What is the result? You will never fade out on serving God if you're constantly hearing the word of God and applying it to your life. Those that fade out on serving God, they're either not hearing the word of God, they're not having an honest heart with themselves, or they're not having a good heart and actually making the change. Let's close in the word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and I ask you to help us apply this to our lives. Help all of us in this room strive to come to the end of our lives and say that we fought a good fight and be soul winners until the day we die, God. I ask you to help all of us, including me and my family, to serve God our entire lives. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen for our last song. Let's turn to hymn number 29.