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We are a family integrated church meaning children and infants are welcome during the services. We do have a mother baby room back there for your convenience as well as the ladies restroom the men's restroom is up here in front remember no eating during the services and maintain a professional atmosphere and keep the children from running and making noise during the church service. On the next page are service times listed. Our first service is at 10 AM then a short break in our 1130 service Wednesday evening Bible study is at 7 PM our so many times are listed during the bulletin Wednesdays two hours before the church service at 5 PM on Saturdays from 10 to 12 morning session lunch is provided by church and then the afternoon session of soul winning and then we have soul winning this afternoon at around 2.15 PM obviously people go soul winning throughout the week as well if you want to go with other people but those are official times and our salvation's are listed there for January for here in Manila 214 salvation's year to date not including this past week birthdays and anniversaries are listed down there below quite a bit in January both of my kids are born in January and on the next page are Bible memorization challenge so I did change this section a little bit if you notice in your bulletin because I know nobody ever pays attention to announcements it's just the way it is at churches but I made a change here you know maybe you wouldn't notice I'm not sure but for the memorization challenge you know it's been this way anyway but I just kind of wrote it officially any chapter you memorize in the Bible we're going to give you a prize for any chapter okay and so obviously it makes sense if I'm preaching through a book it's a good book to study and everything but I'm starting Daniel and I'll be honest because I'm in Daniel 4 right now with the memorization it's a tough book to memorize right it's very very difficult I mean it's an awesome book but it is a hard book to memorize so you know anything you memorize is going to be profitable so whatever encourages you to memorize even if you pick the shortest you know chapters in the Bible that's perfectly fine you'll get one candy or snack prize for any chapter memorized chapters must be individually quoted perfect so I did want to make a note on that because I'll be honest I'm not the toughest critic if somebody quotes a chapter to me like if somebody says on two versus two I'll just kind of briefly mention it to them I don't want to be that strict with it I don't want it to just be a free for all where basically you just read the chapter and made a thousand mistakes and you get the prize but if someone you can tell has obviously spent the time to memorize and they just have a few minor issues I think you should give them the benefit of the doubt because I'll be honest you memorize a chapter and then you still make like one mistake over and over and over again so I don't really know how to write that in the bulletin but just if somebody quotes it to you it's okay if there's like minor mistakes you can always have them hey you know retry that verse this is the first word or something like that I just want to motivate people to memorize the Bible and also next week I want to put something in the bulletin for I want to get kids involved in this if they want to be and for kids they might not be able to memorize the whole chapter but for memory versus for example I would love it if my son he's turning four on Friday I don't know if he'll be able to when he's four or not but if we can start getting memorized one verse then that's a pattern that develops in your life when you get older so I've got to figure out what the age is going to be for that but obviously we don't expect a five year old to memorize a whole chapter but we want to get them involved and who likes candy more than kids right so praise the Lord though if they memorize chapters or memorize verses it's going to be helpful for them so just want to make note of that but we do have a prize if you memorize a chapter perfectly and also for the kids if they would quote a verse upcoming activities so we have our chess tournament next Sunday who's excited about that right so I had to think of a way to make the rules in my favor favor so I have a better chance of winning so I was thinking about a rule if you've tested positive for COVID in the month of January then you can't compete you know I'm sorry brother Franklin but it's just like it is what it is it's the rules right that's I just think that's fair right we want to be safe and everything so that's what I was thinking about making for the rules but anyways just kidding on that but I will say this that if you're going to be in the chess tournament next week obviously you know it's fun you know if you play and you don't win it's fine you know most of us obviously there's only going to be one winner it's perfectly fine I will say this though if you know how to play chess a five minute game is very different so I'm just trying to help you out go online and practice a couple times because your first game you're either going to run out of time or you're going to make a million blunders because you're like panicked you know you need to get down like practice to really understand the time it's very hard right I've been doing some practice games because I'm competitive I want to win and everything I was against a computer doing very well but I ran out of time it's like I got a rook and a queen all they got is a pawn I couldn't checkmate them though in time I'm like man it's like this five minute rule so if you want to compete in the tournament just to give you a heads up get some practice games in for a five minute game because it's very very different than a long game it's very hard so anyways that will be next week hopefully a lot of people will be able to to compete in the tournament depending on how many people are in the tournament we'll figure out what our structure is for example if we have six people we might divide into two groups and we got four chess boards that I'll be bringing we have two already here I'll bring two more just like that and so we'll figure out the structures and the rules and everything but also I think what we're planning on doing is playing chess online pretty much every Thursday if anyone wants to play right now we're doing five minute games because we've got this tournament coming up most likely you know we'll change that sometimes it won't always be five minute games because the one thing about five minute games at least for me at the level I am I just try not to make a mistake and move quickly it's very different than you know strategy right really building strategy so it's very different I kind of like the longer games but obviously longer games is kind of hard you know for a tournament everything so we have the five minute games but it's fun you know we have a couple people from humhanga that I think are going to be joining one of them just learned chess last week so but that's how you learn right you play and you get better so you know praise the Lord for that it's just like if we had a basketball game at church everybody would be invited to play right even if you're a beginner it's just a source of fellowship so next week is a tournament but like on Thursdays we're just kind of playing for fun and for practice and fellowship so you don't have to be like oh I don't think I'm going to win so I'm not going to play right it's just for fun so obviously it's up to you I'm not forcing you but it's a good source of fellowship I enjoy chess also coming up in a couple weeks is our married couple sweetheart banquet and I think I have the date wrong what day is Sunday in February that doesn't seem right is it February 13th 13th right does anyone have where's that right 13th ok I thought because that was 15 days after I was like that doesn't make sense because Sunday Sunday it should be so February 13th obviously you know on Sunday after you know soul winning and everything we did that last year it's going to be fun and so part of it if you're new to our church or newly married since the past year is there is a trivia game ok so now's the time to start learning the basics like you know your wife's middle name what month was she born right you know what's your wife's favorite food you know steak I'm a vegetarian honey what are you talking about right those are the sorts of things because if you don't win it's fine but you don't want to just completely just you know fall flat on your face right so now's the time to start talking to your spouse and so that's going to be fun we have that in a couple weeks also our New Testament Bible reading challenge so we basically have a little bit more than one week left and so if you read all of the New Testament in January then you will get a prize we have lots of snicker bars back there you'll get a prize for reading it and current and upcoming series we are starting the book of Daniel today we are still in false philosophies and Genesis on Tuesdays information on our group chat and then on the back there is a place for notes for the sermons here today so I believe that's it for announcements at this time we will have brother Marlin lead us in another song yes you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you all right turn to Genesis chapter number two in your Bible Genesis chapter number two Genesis chapter number two and as our custom is at Verity Baptist Church we'll read the entire chapter of Genesis chapter two Genesis chapter two Genesis chapter two starting at verse number one the Bible reads thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them and on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that entity had rested from all his work which God created and made these are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created in the day that the Lord made the earth and the heavens and every plant of the field before is in the earth and every herb of the field before it grew for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth and there was not a man to till the ground but there went up a mist from the earth and water the whole face of the ground and the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul and the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden and there he put the man whom he had formed and out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food the tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of knowledge of good and evil and a river went out of Eden to water the garden and from thence it was parted and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah where there is gold and the gold of that land is good there is Dallium and the Onyx stone and the name of the second river is Gihon the same as it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. The name of the third river is Hedekul that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria and the fourth river is Euphrates and the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man saying of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. And the Lord God said it is not good that the man should be alone I will make and help meet for him. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them. And whatsoever Adam called every living creature that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle and to the fowl of the air and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found and help meet for him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman and brought her onto the man. And Adam said this is now a bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh and they were both naked the man and his wife and were not ashamed. Let's open in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father thank you for allowing us to be here today in your house and ask you right now to help us put aside all distractions from our minds. Help us to be focused on your word. Please give me boldness and clarity to deliver your message and help us to be attentive. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So we're continuing our series on false philosophies and the name of the philosophy we're covering in this sermon is called animism. Animism. Now who's familiar with that term animism? You know it's probably not the most famous term I see one hand, right? It's not the most common name but I would say this that a lot of the philosophies we've already covered fall underneath the umbrella of animism. Okay now let me just give you a definition here of animism and then I'll explain. It says animism is the belief that objects, places and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially animism perceives all things, animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork and perhaps even words as animated and alive. Animism is used in the anthropology of religion as a term for the belief system of many indigenous peoples especially in contrast to the relatively more recent development of organized religions. And so what animism teaches is that not just human beings but all animals, plants, rocks and the river are basically you know spiritual as well. They have a spirit to them and they're also alive. I mean even human handiwork. So some people would say that this pulpit is as much alive and breathing as I am. Right? Now that's pretty crazy you'd say brother Stuckey what religions would believe that? Hinduism? Right? I mean Hinduism believes that God is represented in everything and there's life in everything. Right? They're so paranoid about you can't kill a bug you can't kill any insects you know the cows you know are just as important as you and they're like gods and everything. Hinduism is a big example. That's not their big focus but Hinduism is an example of that. Buddhism is an example of that. Last week we talked about Jainism they're so worried about the bacteria in their mouth that they're against brushing their teeth. Right? I mean this is this extreme version of animism where you say everything has life. Some of the other examples are the old Norse religion shamanism pretty much any natives in Pampanga the Aidas are very common and you know when Mount Pinatubo took place the Aidas just kind of stayed and just let themselves die because of the fact they worship mother nature. They worship the river they worship the volcanoes they worship those gods and they're praying to those gods and they said no we're going to stay here we're just going to pray to them instead of fleeing and the only people that died were them. Right? Because of this weird and warped idea that rocks and a river have life to them and they have a spirit to them. I mean if you live a bad life here on earth you might get reincarnated as a rock. That's the sort of belief they have. Right? I mean this is crazy and here's the thing. It sounds crazy to us because this is basically a Christian country. Right? I'm not saying most people are saved but what I'm saying is this is the one country in Asia that is like a westernized view. Right? Very similar to America where Christianity is the dominant religion. You go to these other countries though and it's crazy the eastern philosophies that they believe in all these warped ideas and you're like this doesn't make any sense. Like how could they believe this? Right? The old beliefs in the Philippines with bahala and those sorts of beliefs. It's very similar to animism. Now we don't really use this term anymore because there's these major religions that have come in but these are the sorts of beliefs. But really the one religion or one country that really kept this for a long period of time where it wasn't just the beliefs of the natives but became basically the religion of the country was Japan with the religion and philosophy of Shinto. Right? Now in our modern day if you're to ask people in Japan you know what their belief systems are who knows what they're going to say. Right? You look at polls online it will say well they're 85 percent Shinto and 80 percent Buddhist. Look I know not everybody majored in math but 85 percent plus 80 percent is a lot more than 100 percent. But what they say is you're born a Shinto and you die a Buddhist. That's the sort of phrase. And basically Shinto became part of the culture itself. Nowadays I don't think people would really say they believe it but here's the thing. If you look at religions like Christianity it never caught on in Japan. It was illegal in Japan for quite a long time. It was rejected. And a lot of countries, Islam has taken over. It didn't take over in Japan. Right? In Japan they had this weird warped view and it became this massive just country wide view. They also used to believe that their emperors were basically God on Earth. Right? Just a weird warped idea. Now let me read you about Shinto so you can understand what I'm talking about. Here's what it says about Shinto. And nowadays in Japan people go to these Shinto shrines and I don't think most of them really believe it. It's just kind of well that's what my grandma did. That's what my granddad did. So that's what I do. Kind of like people growing up Catholic. It's like well why are you Catholic? Well my dad was a Catholic. My granddad was a Catholic. Right? We've been Catholic for generations so do you believe it? I don't know. Right? But they just kind of do it because it's tradition. Here's what it says about Shinto. Shinto gods are called Kami. They are sacred spirits which take the form of things and concepts important to life. Such as wind, rain, mountains, trees, rivers and fertility. So basically you could look at a mountain and say you know what that's a god. It's real. It's got a spirit to it. It's alive. It's a Kami or this spirit which could be your dead ancestor or just some sort of ghost-like angel creeping around that just kind of became that mountain. It's like what in the world? Is this a science fiction book? Right? I mean just crazy but that's what they believe. That's what Shinto teaches. Humans become Kami after they die and are revered by their families as ancestral Kami. So basically when you die you're just kind of floating around in space and you become kind of like at one with the universe. Now in some of these other Eastern philosophies like Hinduism and Buddhism the goal is to stop being reincarnated. And basically your soul is not at rest until boom you're no longer reincarnated. Right? So there's kind of some similarities there. With Shinto you die and you become like a Kami that's just kind of floating around and then families will revere their dead ancestors that have passed away. Now biblically speaking when you die you're in heaven or earth. You're not floating around in outer space. Right? You're in heaven or in hell. Not heaven or earth. Heaven or hell forever there's no second chance it's forever. Right? And it says the Kami of extraordinary people are even enshrined at some shrines. The sun goddess Amaterasu is considered Shinto's most important Kami. So you look at a religion and philosophy that basically worships the sun and yet throughout human history having a lot of religions worship the sun and worship the moon and worship the stars and worship the rivers. Right? This belief of animism is very widespread. Throughout human history many people believed it and in today's world many people believe it. There are people that would say that this is alive. Literally people would actually say that. That this is alive and you know you can't harm it. Right? Because you might get reincarnated into something worse if you harm this you know container of water. Right? Just bizarre weird beliefs. Okay? You say well how do you disprove that from the Bible? Well point number one there's a difference between humans and the rest of creation. There's a major difference between human beings and the rest of God's creation. Okay? Genesis 2 verse 7 and it says in the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. See when you look at human beings we have a soul that is going to spend forever in heaven or in hell. Right? This pulpit does not have that. Right? Animals don't have that. Plants don't have that. A river doesn't have that. Right? We have a soul that's either going to spend forever in heaven or in hell. Now in this verse we're basically seeing the trinity because it says or I mean not the trinity but the fact that we have three parts to our body. Body flesh and spirit. We have body spirit and soul I should say because it mentions soul. You see the body and the fact that it's a living soul that there's life to it is indicating the spirits. Okay? And we are made up of body soul and spirits. This pulpit is not made up of body soul and spirit. If you want to say body as in there's something here, an object okay, but there's no soul there is no spirit to this pulpit. Right? Now sometimes I feel foolish preaching some things. It's like isn't that obvious Brother Stuckey? Well not to half the world. Right? There's no soul or spirit in this container. Right? Now turn to Genesis chapter 3. Genesis 3. Genesis chapter 3. See a light version of animism is when you start to basically worship animals. So if you want an easy way to remember animism think of animals because basically if you're an animist you really lift up animals like really highly. And you would basically say well animals you know have a spirit and a soul just like human beings. And if you're a good animal you go to heaven. If you're a bad animal you go to hell. People believe that. Right? People believe that their dog if their dog is a good dog it's going to go to heaven forever. Right? That's not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that human beings have an eternal soul. Animals do not. When animals die they're dead. Right? Now look I'm not saying there's anything wrong with liking your pet. If you've got a dog or you've got a cat. Look I had a dog growing up. I love my dog. Most of the passwords on my computer have the name Sammy in it which was the name of my dog as a kid because when I first started on email and all that stuff it's just like you know I put my dog's name there. Look there's nothing wrong with loving your dog or loving your cat but just realize it doesn't have an eternal soul. It's going to die and it's dead. And that's it. God did not put animals on the level of human beings. And in our modern day people are trying to lift up animals as if they're on the same level of human beings. There's no comparison between a human that dies and an animal that dies. Literally an animal could attack a human being and kill a human being and then people would be outraged if you say that animal should be put to death. And it's like what kind of a warped idea do people have in 2022? Animals aren't human beings. Human beings are above animals. They're better than animals. And animals are an animal that's going to die and that's it. That's what the Bible teaches. Genesis 3 verse 17. And unto Adam he said, Because thou ist harken unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for thy sake, and sorrow thou shalt eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. And the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground. For out of it was thou taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Now when it comes to a human being you say what takes place when they go back to the dust when they die? Okay? Because as I mentioned in Shinto they say that your soul is just kind of floating out there. Right? In this spiritual realm you're just kind of out there. And a lot of religions teach this. What the Bible teaches is we are made up of body, soul, and spirit. And what takes place when someone dies is the body and spirit separate. Because what the Bible says is the body without the spirit is dead. So here's the thing. Biblically speaking you are alive if your body and spirit are together. But as the body without the spirit is dead is what the Bible says. So once your spirit and body are no longer connected you are dead biblically speaking. See somebody could be declared dead in a hospital and their heart's not moving and then they're brought back to life. Here's the thing though. They weren't really dead. They seemed dead. We thought they were dead but God wasn't done with them. Because the spirit was still in the body. And you see these miracles that take place but in reality that person wasn't really dead. Because it's not that the body and spirit separated and the soul went to heaven or hell and then all of a sudden they got brought back to earth. No. What took place is they weren't really dead even though we thought they were dead. Now usually when someone's declared dead they are actually dead biblically speaking. They're not going to return. However, there are some times when you might think somebody's dead but the only way they're actually dead is when the body and spirit separate from one another. Think of Paul the Apostle. He got stoned and everyone thought he was dead. Right? And then all of a sudden it's like oh I guess he's not dead because he stood back up a little while later and he never actually died. Right? So what takes place when someone dies is the body and the spirit separate. Now in that verse also it says even so faith without works is dead also. Now let me explain something to you real quickly on a rabbit trail. Right? Because I want to be very clear about salvation and repentance in our stance. Let me give you an example. Because the body without the spirit is dead. So let's say for example you know I got shot in the head. And I died. And I fell down. Okay? And I'm dead right here. Okay? So I didn't want to fall face first. Right? So I'm dead right here. But is my body here? Yes. My body exists though I am dead. Do you understand what I'm saying? Here's the thing. When I die my body is still going to exist unless I died in an explosion or something. Right? My body is still going to exist. Right? Well here's the thing. Faith without works is dead also. But does the faith exist? Yes. Just as the body exists. Even without works the faith exists. But see a dead body, what does that mean? It means it's not producing anything. It's like for example if you got a computer and you put water on it. You'd say it's a dead computer. Now that computer wasn't alive in a biblical sense but that's the terminology we use. And what you mean by a dead computer is it's not producing anything. It doesn't work anymore. But does it exist? Yes. Right? I mean it's up to you if you want to try this. Go home and smash your computer with a hammer and guess what? It's going to be dead but it's still going to exist. Here's the thing. What the Bible is saying is this. You can have faith without works. It just means someone who has a faith that's not doing anything good or productive. If somebody is saved, they believe on Jesus Christ but they never read the Bible. They never go to church. They never go soul winning. They never try to obey God's rules. Here's the thing. That person saved. You say how could you say that? There's no works. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth him. Right? Two types of people. Those that believe and those that don't believe. And if you believe you're on your way to heaven whether there's any good works or not. But I would say you have a dead faith if you're not producing anything. But that doesn't mean the faith doesn't exist. Right? The faith still exists just like a body exists that dies. Okay? But what takes place going back into our sermon right? I'm not preaching on repentance here today. At least I don't think I'm preaching on it. We'll see. But basically you know when the body and spirit separate the soul is going to spend forever in heaven or hell. And the body is going to be buried or cremated or whatever you know people do with the body or whatever. But basically when the body and spirit separate that's when someone is dead biblically speaking. But then that person is going to live on forever in heaven or hell. Because see my body is just you know my outward. It's just the body is kind of easy to define. It's hard to explain but everybody knows what a body is right? Your soul is basically who you are though. Right? Your body is just kind of an outward shell but your soul is like your personality and who you are and your spirit is the fact that you're being given life. Okay? And so it's kind of a tough thing to describe especially. I'd like to preach a whole sermon on it in the future but just as a general idea if you're thinking about who you are that's basically your soul. Your body is just kind of your body. Right? And then your soul is going to go to heaven or hell forever. But see here's the thing. Animals don't have this. Plants don't have this. This pulpit doesn't have this. This pulpit is not going to go to heaven or hell forever if it's a good pulpit. Right? Human beings have that. Humans are above the rest of creation. That's what the Bible teaches. Man dies and then they go forever to heaven or hell and that's forever. Right? And here's the thing. This sounds obvious if your Bible believe in Christian but many people are confused especially about animals. Right? They really think well you know my dog's going to spend forever in heaven. There's that movie when I was a kid. All dogs go to heaven. Right? Now when I was a kid I hated cats. I love dogs. So it's like we always made the joke all dogs go to heaven meaning all cats go to right? But actually in the movie or in the sequel the devil is a cat if I remember correctly. Right? But here's the thing though. I mean that's biblically completely wrong. Right? That's not what I mean and in the movie I remember the dog it's like they're worried because the dog's not a good dog it might not go to heaven. It's like that doesn't determine I mean animal's an animal. It's dead. That's not even accurate for human because it's not whether or not you're good or not. Right? Turn in your Bible to Ecclesiastes 3. Ecclesiastes 3. Ecclesiastes chapter 3. And in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 18 notice what the Bible says Ecclesiastes 3 verse 18 it says, I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men that God might manifest them that they might see that they themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts, even one thing befalleth them as the one dieth so dieth the other, yea they have all one breath so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast for all his vanity. Now people would quote a verse like this and say well see you don't have any preeminence above a beast. What's the context of this verse? As a human being dies so dies an animal. Right? Animals die, humans die. Right? I mean animals are alive biblically speaking. Right? I mean animals have life to them and then they eventually die just as human beings die. So when it says no preeminence above a beast it's the fact that both animals and humans die. Right? And then many animals live a very short life, insects usually a short life, even your cats and dogs 15 years, maybe 20 years if they live a long life. There are some sea creatures that live a super long life. Right? Hundreds and hundreds of years or whatever but eventually every animal and every human being dies. Okay? So animals are the same as humans in the sense that they're alive. Right? Notice what it says in verse 20. All go unto one place all are of the dust and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? So notice the difference here. You say brother Sucky I thought you said that animals don't have a spirit. I said they don't have a soul. Animals are alive. Your spirit is your life and yes the Bible teaches animals have a spirit. However, when they die they don't go to heaven or hell because there is no eternal soul in there. Right? And it says the spirit of man that goeth upward, the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth. Not referring to hell but referring to just dead. That's what the Bible teaches. I know this is basic stuff. I'm just showing you what the Bible says. Yes, animals are alive but they do not have an eternal soul inside of them that will go to heaven or hell. Right? Now, turn in your Bible to Matthew 10. Matthew 10. Matthew chapter 10. Brother Sucky, I thought the Bible said preach the gospel to every creature. Right? I mean, animals are creatures, right? It's just like, come on. It's obvious that's referring to preaching to human beings. Okay. The Bible says in Matthew 10 verse 28. Matthew 10 verse 28. Matthew 10 verse 28. Matthew 10 verse 28. And, you know, one thing that I found in, you know, Christianity and, you know, in church and stuff like that, you know, you preach certain things and to a lot of people they're going to be very basic because they've heard them preach and everything. But maybe some people haven't heard it before. And what takes place is, you know, sometimes you haven't heard something so you almost feel foolish asking a question about it because you don't want to look like foolish. Because I should already know the answer so I'm just going to figure it out. And it's just like, so whenever you preach anything there are people that haven't quite heard it or they haven't thought about it. Right? There's many Bible questions that you could ask me and I'd be like, you know, I'm not sure. I haven't thought about it. And the answer might be obvious, I just haven't taken the time to think about it and I don't want to say something that's wrong. So, I understand a lot of this is very basic but this is what the Bible teaches about humans and animals. Matthew 10 verse 28. And fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul. See, somebody can kill your body, they can't kill your soul. By the way, you cannot kill your soul either. You see, I could kill my body. That's not my soul. This is why suicide doesn't send you to hell because you can't take your soul out and go Right? You can shoot your body you can't shoot your soul. Suicide kills the body, it doesn't kill the soul. Then the Bible says this, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Now, this is not saying that a saved person can have their soul and body destroyed in hell but the Bible is saying, fear the one fear God which does cast some people into the lake of fire. What takes place when an unsaved person dies is their soul goes to hell. Not their body. Their body would just be burned up. At the great white throne judgment, their body and soul will be reunited and thrown into the lake of fire, second death for all eternity. And their soul and body will be destroyed in hell. Because if your body went to hell right now then you'd just burn up. Right? I mean like Korah, they just went to the heart of the earth but it's just like the body dies eventually along the way. Right? But at the great white throne judgment, the soul and body are going to be reconnected because when somebody dies right now unsaved, they're basically going to suffer in hell equally with every single person that's died and went to hell. Right? Whether it's Adolf Hitler, whether it's Saddam Hussein, whether it's a pedophile, or whether it's just a nice person that never believed. But is that fair? Because God's a fair God. Well no it isn't. Because they need to be judged based on their actions and they will be at the great white throne judgment. Okay? And so the Bible's saying this, human beings, they're different than animals. You're never going to find verses in the Bible where it says an animal gets judged based on what they did. Okay? Go to 1 Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians 4. You say, brother Sucky, are you saying that there's no animals in heaven? Well, I do believe that God specifically creates animals for heaven. What I'm saying though is your pet dog is not going to be in heaven with you. Say, brother Sucky, that's mean. I can't... Well, it's the truth. And I'll tell you what, it's an important truth to know because then maybe you'll stop elevating your animal above human beings. Look, when I was a kid, I loved my dog. Right? My dog, you know, died a long time ago when I was in college, but I loved my dog as a kid. But I'll tell you what, when I got saved, I started to just realize sort of the vanity because I started to really understand the difference between humans and animals to a deeper concept. And then let me explain this. If you have children, when your child is born, it's completely different than having a pet. I mean, it's unexplainable unless, you know, you've had a child born. There's this attachment to that child a million times above an animal. And look, when I was a kid, I loved animals. But, you know, now I'm like, no, I don't want a pet. I mean, I have kids. I have a son, I have a daughter, I have a third child on the way. It's just like, I have children that are far more important to me than an animal. Right? There's a huge difference between humans and animals. We need to realize that. It says in 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 13, But I would not have you to be ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not even as others which have no hope. And the Bible says here in verse 13 that God does not want you to be sad. He doesn't want you to be filled full of sorrow. And he says, concerning them which are asleep, which is a term for someone who has died. Because when somebody dies as a saved person, their body is just dead. But they use the terminology asleep because they're going to get the glorified body at the rapture. And that's what this passage is talking about. What the Bible is saying is I don't want you to be sad because your lost loved ones are going to be in heaven with you. That's the context. The context is not, don't be sad because you're just going to be raptured out of nowhere. That's not what the verse is talking about. What the verse is saying is this, I don't want you to be sorrowful. I don't want you to be sad because your lost loved ones that died that are in heaven, you'll be reunited. They that are asleep are going to rise again just like you get your glorified body. That's what the Bible teaches, right? So look, the Bible is saying don't be sad because you're going to see your lost loved ones again. You don't have to be sad like others that don't have any hope in this world. Because look, if you don't believe in heaven and hell and you don't believe about salvation and you don't believe in the afterlife, there's kind of no hope when your relative dies. Right? It's just kind of like, well, I'm never going to see him again. Now of course the sad thing is when an unsaved relative dies, and you know what? I've experienced that. Probably all of us have. And it's a very sad thing but there's nothing that can be done about it. Don't spend your whole life sorrowing about that because it's not going to do you any good. Right? Now I understand that, you know, if you've gone through that, like, I know of relatives of mine that died unsaved. Anyway, I knew certain people were pretty close to them in my family and so I don't make it a point to mention that because I don't want them to have sad feelings and stuff like that. What I'm saying is this, if you have a saved lost loved one who died, you don't have to sorrow like someone who has no hope. You will see them again. Look, I'm not asking for a show of hands but many people in this room, including myself, have lost children at a very young age. Either a miscarriage or a tragedy that took place. And it's a very sad thing. But, you know, the thing to cheer about, the thing to be happy about is we don't have to sorrow like those that have no hope because I am going to meet my children in the air one day. Right? Even though I didn't see them here on earth. And so look, the Bible is saying that if you have lost loved ones you will see them again. That's the context. Because when humans die, their soul goes to heaven or hell, but they're going to get the glorified body if they're saved one day. Now turn to to 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Say, Brother Psyche, do people really believe this sort of stuff about animism? Look, people have a lot of weird beliefs around this world. And you say, Brother Psyche, are you saying that if you don't have, like, Christian beliefs that you have weird beliefs? Yes. That's what I'm saying. Right? Now this is just my opinion, but when I talk about religions, I'll say, you know, well, at least Islam is a normal religion. Right? It's a false religion, but at least it's not like, like you're in the twilight zone or something. But these Eastern philosophies, it's like, it's crazy. And yeah, you know what it is? It's because I was raised in a Christian country or generally in church, you know, I mean, so I had Christian ideas. But you know what? It's the reality that these other religions, this Eastern philosophy, this yoga and meditation to the sky, I mean, it's crazy. It's weird. It's strange. These religions are strange. Hinduism is a strange religion. Buddhism is a strange religion. Shinto is a strange religion. Jainism like we talked about last week? Strange religion. Right? You say, Brother Stuckey, how could you insult those religions? I mean, it's false. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. You wouldn't insult me by saying something bad about a false religion. They're false religions. They're strange. They're warped. And Shinto and animism, it is a strange belief system. It is definitely not what the Bible teaches at all. Right? 1 Corinthians 2, verse 9, But as it is written, I hath 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. 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. No, we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Now, what the Bible teaches is that this Bible is a spiritual book. And the one thing I agree with animism is these words actually do have life to them. The Word of God is quick and powerful. Quick meaning alive. It's a Makalumong word for alive. Right? So this book, which is a true book, is actually a spiritual book that has life to it. Right? Now, this, no life. This, no life. But this book, I mean, the words of God are actually, you know, God breathed. There's life to them. Right? And see, what happens is we have a Spirit, and when we get saved, though, we're indwelled with the Holy Spirit of God, and we can understand this book because with the Spirit of God, we can understand a spiritual book. That's what the Bible teaches. This is not something that an animal can do, though. An animal doesn't get the Spirit of God inside of them. They don't get indwelled with the Holy Ghost. You say, why? Well, go to Romans 2. Let me explain this to you. Romans 2. Here's the thing. No animal is guilty. No animal is guilty. You say, why? They don't have a conscience. They don't have a conscience. They're not guilty. It's just a dumb animal. It's a beast, the Bible says. See, we as human beings, we have a conscience. We have free will where we make our choices in life. Now, we understand that a young child that's, you know, one year old, even older, I don't know where the exact line would be. If they die, they go to heaven because they're not at the point of comprehending all these things. A good way to judge that is the fact that, you know, a young child, a baby, they basically have no shame in being naked. And the Bible talks about Adam and Eve, and they had no shame until they sinned. And it's the same thing with a baby. A baby's born. They don't feel anything about being naked, right? You give your daughter or son a shower. They run out of the shower. They don't think anything of it. And then as a parent, you're like, no, no, no. Put some clothes on. Put your diaper on, right? And then they're just kind of playing, but eventually they're going to reach the age where they'd be shamed to be without clothes, right? All of us, I hope, would feel shamed to just be without clothes. It's built into you. But, you know, it's not built into a baby, right? So it's just like babies don't understand that. But eventually they're going to reach that age of comprehension for these things, and that would be the moment where they would be held accountable, right? An animal feels no shame about being naked, right? They don't have these sorts of things of a conscience. They don't have that. They don't have a free will where they're making their choices. Do I want to do this? They operate on instinct. That's the way animals operate. Let me give you an example of this. I said last week in the example, let's say there's a new law that makes it legal. It's okay to steal from 7-Eleven. Now, if anybody steals from 7-Eleven after the service, I did not say that was okay to do. Okay. But if it became legal to steal at 7-Eleven, I promise you 7-Eleven would have nothing left in their store after an hour because a lot of people that live nearby, there'd be some people, the law's not made for righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient. Some people would say, hey, I'll take all the food from there. I'll take all the drinks from there. Now, I would hope that none of us would, though. Why is it you would feel bad about it? Because you have a conscience. Even though it's legal, you know it's wrong, right? But let me explain something to you. Let's say it was okay to steal all the food at 7-Eleven. Do you really think an animal is going to stop and say, well, you know what, I don't think I should do this because I feel guilty. I think it's wrong. The Bible says, no. They don't have that understanding. All an animal is going to do is steal if they can get away with it, and the only thing that would stop them is they're worried about getting caught or getting in trouble. But if they can do it, they're going to do it. Because it's an animal. They're not human beings. Right? They're nothing like human beings. And the Bible's very clear. We read Genesis 2. Those early chapters in Genesis, there's no comparison between humans and animals. You can see, by the way, God created humans. There's a difference between humans and animals. Right? And so Romans 2, verse 14, let me show this to you. Romans 2, verse 14. For when the Gentiles which have not the law do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law are law unto themselves, which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. Now, the Bible talks about people that would do right, but not because they grew up in a Bible-believing church, but just that they have a conscience that tells them, I'm not supposed to steal. I'm not supposed to murder. Right? Even if they got very mad at someone, most likely they're not going to kill them because they would feel guilty about that, as long as they still have a conscience. Right? I mean, they're going to feel guilty about that, so they're not going to do it in general. Right? I understand murder takes place. Not every murder is a reprobate, but you know what I'm saying. Right? You have a conscience that tells you right from wrong. That's not the same as an animal. Animals will do things if they can get away with it. Right? You know, when I was a kid, and you say, why do you need to preach something like this? Look, I mean, if you came close to me, you'd see a scar right here on my body from where a dog bit me when I was five years old, and I got three stitches. And you know what? My sister pet the dog. We knew this dog. We knew the family. My sister pet the dog. I pet the dog. The dog jumped up. I'm five years old. Right? I'm not super tall. I don't remember how. The dog seemed like a giant to me when I was a kid, but I'm not really really sure, you know, looking back now. But the dog jumped up and bit me really close to my eye. Right? Very close. I mean, I could have been blind if it was just a little bit higher or had major eye problems or whatever. But that dog attacked me. Well, biblically speaking, what should take place to that dog? They should be put to death. How could you say that? Because animals aren't human beings. And what the Bible teaches is if it attacked one time, guess what? It might attack again. Right? That's what the Bible teaches. And the animal attacks a human, and you say, well, here's the thing about this. Most likely, a human's not just going to punch you in the face in front of other people. Even if it got mad at you, you say, why? Because they have a conscience inside of them. But an animal is just an animal. It doesn't think like that. For whatever reason, I don't know, it just jumped up and attacked me. Right? And this takes place. There's no comparison between humans and animals. Now turn in your Bible to Genesis 1. Genesis 1. Genesis chapter 1. You say, Brother Sucky, that's just your opinion. Well, let me ask you a question. When that man was possessed by many devils, my name is Legion, for we are many, and then those devils were cast out by Jesus into those swine, into those pigs, and just drowned and died, did it seem like God really cared about those animals that much? God cared about a human being. Right? He didn't really care about those animals. You say, why? It's an animal. Look, I'm not sitting here saying that, you know, it's wrong to have a pet. I think that's perfectly fine if you have a pet and you love your pet. But make sure that you elevate human beings far above an animal. There is no comparison between humans and animals. An animal is going to die and that's it. That's what the Bible teaches. There are many religions, many of them under this philosophy of animism, and they would never eat meat because I don't want to harm that chicken. Well, God created those chickens to be eaten by humans. You say, brother, that's your opinion. Well, let's look at what the Bible says. Genesis 1, verse 26. And God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness. Now, it looks like the Bible says, man is made in the image of God. Last I checked, I don't look like a horse or a monkey or an elephant. So that means that an elephant's not made in the image of God. Man is made in the image of God. You say, brother, what about Ganesh? Right? What about that Hindu God got the elephant head, right? Not the image of God, my friends. And you know what you'll find throughout the Bible is you always have these morphed half-animals, half-human gods that they worship throughout history, which is, by the way, the same reason why I would say, hey, don't watch the movies and TV shows like Batman and Spider-Man, which are basically false gods. Same thing throughout the entire Bible. I mean, they're always half-animals, half-humans. Brother Stuckey, I wish I could be a bird and just fly around. It's a stupid idea. You're a human being. You're better than a bird. Right? I mean, I wish I could be a bat and have this night vision. You're a human being. It's far better than being an animal. Right? There's no comparison between being a human being and being an animal. Right? Genesis 1, verse 26, God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion. See, point number two is the dominion. Point one is the difference between humans and creation. Point two, the dominion, the domination of humans over or above the rest of God's creation. Humans are above animals. Humans are above the rest of God's creation in the eyes of God. Right? I mean, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God? That doesn't take place with an animal, though. Right? And it says, Have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Go to Genesis chapter 9. Genesis 9. Genesis 9. And the Bible says we have dominion. It says to subdue the earth and have dominion over it. That's what the Bible teaches. And I'll show you this in Genesis 9, and then I'll explain real quickly, because there's a clear difference between humans and animals. Genesis 9. And look, with animism, they go as far as to talk about how, like, this could have life, but obviously it's understood if I'm preaching against animals, I'm preaching about against this having life. Animals is kind of the way that people kind of meet it halfway in the middle, where it's like, No, no, no, I don't believe that this has life, but of course animals, you know, have a soul that's going to go to heaven or hell forever. Right? No, animals have a spirit, according to the Bible. They are alive, but then they die. They don't go to heaven or hell, according to the Word of God. Genesis 9 verse 1. According to verse 2, every animal is afraid of human beings. And let me just say that from personal experience, I have seen that happen in person. I've used this example before. I was at the woods near my parents' house, just hiking and memorizing the Bible. They live kind of out toward the countryside, and there's not a lot of people. And whenever you have areas without many people, you'll have a lot of animals oftentimes. And I was just kind of hiking. I had an iPod. I was, like, listening. I had my head down, and all of a sudden I heard a big thud that hit the ground. So I look up because there's nothing really around. I'm just walking in the wilderness, and it turned out a bear, just 20 feet in front of me, 25 feet, had dropped out of a tree and hit the ground. Because there are bears in Pennsylvania, right? Especially when there's not humans around. And what took place is that bear dropped down and just ran away from me. The bear was a lot bigger than me, and it just ran away from me. Right? You say, brother, are you saying you weren't afraid? No, no, no. I said the animal was afraid of me. I didn't say I wasn't afraid of the animal. It went running that way. I went running this way. I'll tell you what, it's amazing how fast you can run when you need to. Right? It's pretty much uphill, so I'm running downhill, and of course you run downhill, you're careful not to trip. You slow down, but man, I'll tell you what, I was, like, flying down that hill, just jumping 50 feet and running inside and everything. I was definitely afraid. Right? But that animal just ran away from me. Now, here's the thing about this. I didn't have any weapons on me. If that animal wanted to kill me, it could have killed me. But animals are afraid of humans. And it makes sense. You know why? Because humans are smarter than animals. And animals and animals, humans are far smarter. It's why humans dominate, have dominion over animals. If an animal attacks you, it's either because it's afraid, it's a defense mechanism, it's super hungry, but they are afraid of human beings. They will avoid that battle. Right? They will generally run away from human beings. It's why at the zoo you have a person that will walk in with lions and they're not really that afraid. Because 99% of the time, the lion doesn't attack. Now, the only ones you see are on YouTube when the lion does attack, but in reality, usually they do nothing. You say, why? Animals are afraid of human beings. Unless they're super hungry, they're gonna avoid you. They don't want to attack or unless they're afraid, because animals are afraid of human beings. You say, well, that's your opinion. Well, that's Genesis 9 verse 2. You interpret that for me then. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth. Every beast means every beast. All. They're afraid. And it's the same reason why when you have locations without people, animals come in and dominate. When people come, the animals flee. I mean, isn't that what it talks about in the Old Testament? Where basically areas being overrun by animals is because the people are leaving, right? But when the people come in, what takes place is animals flee. And in America, you know, Detroit, Michigan, which used to be kind of a big city, you think of like rock music, Detroit Rock City is you know, a famous phrase or whatever in Detroit, Michigan. And basically, all the people left Detroit, like half the people. And all of a sudden they said, hey, you know what? It's been overrun by animals. You walk down the street, you got lions, you got bears, it's like you're in the jungle or something. You say, why? Because there's no humans there anymore. And as humans are gone, animals come because they're no longer afraid. Why would they be afraid of humans? Because we kill them. We eat them. God put that fear in them to help protect us, but also it's logical because of the fact we kill animals and we eat them. And most likely, if you don't kill animals, you still eat them. And if not, I mean, that's totally up to you. But I'm just saying that in general, humans eat animals. It makes sense they're afraid. It makes sense that the cockroach will run away from you and the lights turned on. You say, why? You're going to kill it. Right? The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every fowl of the air and upon all the movement upon the earth and upon all the fishes of the sea. Into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall we meet for you, even as the green herb have I given you all things. See, the Bible says, every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you. The Bible's saying you can eat any food. That's what the Bible's saying. Any animal, you're welcome to eat. It's not wrong. It's not sinful. Now, we understand that in the Levitical law, there were certain clean versus unclean animals. In general, the animals that are unclean are not the healthiest animals to eat. But it's not a sin to eat them. Right? The Bible says that you can eat any animal. It's perfectly fine because the Bible says every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you. But flesh with the life thereof which the blood thereof shall ye not eat. And surely your blood of your lives will I require. At the hand of every beast will I require it. And at the hand of man, at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso shedeth man's blood by man shall his blood be shed. For in the image of God made he man. And so what the Bible teaches is here is if a person were to kill a person or an animal kills a person, boom, they're put to death. That's what the Bible teaches. It's not the same thing for an animal though. Look, I'm not saying go out there and just kill animals for fun. That's weird. You're probably a psychopath if that's you. But I would say this, that you know what? I've killed a lot of mosquitoes the past week. I don't feel very bad about it. I'm more concerned about dengue than I am about the mosquito. Right? For whatever reason we got a mosquito problem where we live and it's just like, right? My son thinks it's a game. We're just clapping the air and everything. It's like, go for it, right? Because we need to get rid of them. You say, why? Because I don't elevate a mosquito. Aren't you worried that if you're mean to mosquitoes you'll be reincarnated as a mosquito? Right? That's the sort of thing they teach. No, I'm not worried about that. Because when you die you go to heaven or hell forever. That's what the Bible teaches. Now turn in your Bible to Luke 17. We'll look at a few more places. Luke 17. And I'm skipping things for sake of time. Luke 17. Point number one, there's a difference between humans and creation. Point two, the dominion of humans over creation. Point three, the determination of the future is based on humans, not based on animals, not based on the water, not based on this pulpit, but on human beings. I've talked about this recently so I'm just going to give you one reference here. But it says in Luke 17 verse 26, and as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. What was in the days of Noah? The earth was filled with violence, right? The imagination of man's heart was only evil continually, the Bible says. Right? Then it says this in verse 28, verse 28, likewise also as it was in the days of Lot. They did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded. So what was it like in the days of Lot? Think of Sodom and Gomorrah, right? Filled full of sodomy. These sodomites attacking human beings in the days of Lot. That's what took place. Why did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? Because of the sin of man. Why did God destroy the earth in Genesis 6 through 8? Because of the sin of man. Not because of animals, right? Not because of the river, right? Not because the river got dirty or the animals did something bad, but because of human beings and their sin. The Bible says in verse 30, even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. See, one thing that's going to take place during the end times is this world is going to be filled full of sin. Do we see that taking place in 2022? It's definitely taking place. Right? This world is getting worse and worse and worse and worse. I don't personally think it's going to get bad enough where God basically pulls the plug on this earth. That's my opinion in my lifetime. But, I'll tell you what, it's a rapid descent. Maybe I'm just being optimistic. I don't know, right? Because this world is getting very bad very quickly, right? And this is one of the major things about the end times. See, the determination of the future is based on humans. Look, if we want God's blessing here in Metro Manila or in Pasig or wherever you live, you know how you get God's blessing on the location that God would not pour out judgment? You serve God, you go soul winning, you read the Scriptures, you obey His word, right? You get involved in a Bible-believing church and serve God and help that church grow to reach more people, and that can withhold the judgment upon that location because it's based on humans, not based on animals. Go to Daniel chapter 4. Daniel 4. Point number 1, there's a difference between humans and the rest of creation. Point 2, there's the dominion of humans over creation. Point 3, the determination of the future is based on humans. Point 4, let us talk finally about the destruction of human beings. The destruction of human beings. Notice what it says in Nebuchadnezzar 4 verse 33. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar and he was driven from men. So basically he's away from all other men, and this is the most powerful man in the world. And, you know, if you're not familiar with Nebuchadnezzar, we're starting the book of Daniel today. We'll cover it here over the next several months. But it says, and did eat grass as oxen. Now it's not saying he is an oxen, it's saying he's acting like an oxen. He's eating grass. And it says, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hairs were grown like eagle's feathers and his nails like birds claws. It's not saying that he's a bird, it's saying that he's not taking care of his body and his nails are growing. And his hair is growing. Right, I mean, eventually, you know, you've got to shave, you've got to trim your nails, you've got to do these basic things, and he's eating grass. I mean, he's acting crazy. He's acting out of his mind. He's acting like a big, dumb animal. Right? That's what he's acting like. Now the good news for Nebuchadnezzar is it was temporary. Nebuchadnezzar gets saved in Daniel chapter 4. We're going to see that here in the next several months. For him, the good news is it was, it was just temporary. Basically, God had to humble him so he could eventually get saved. And praise the Lord for it. Right, that he ends up getting saved. And look, I'll tell you what, you hear stories about people that are rich and powerful and they get brought to nothing, then they get saved. And that's actually a blessing to them if they would end up getting saved, that that would happen in their life. The good news for him is it was temporary that he acts like an animal. And then in verse 37 it says, Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the king of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment, and those that walk in pride he is able to abase. So Nebuchadnezzar gets humbled, brought to nothing, ends up getting saved. The curse upon the life of Nebuchadnezzar is acting like an animal. Right? Go to 2 Peter 2. 2 Peter 2. This is easy for me to understand more so than maybe if you grew up in the Philippines because there's many, and in the U.S. drugs are very common and a lot of people are drug addicts. I mean literally, and you know you meet people here that are crazy but it's all over the place in America. Especially big cities. There's plenty of people that you meet that are just like zombies or something and they're just drugged out of their mind. And they're crazy. And basically the drugs have warped their mind so they're not acting like a human being. They're crazy. They're out of their mind. You see it all over the place. I mean it's crazy how many people are, I mean that are just insane. They're just like ugh. And they're acting like an animal. They're crazy. The worst thing you could have is to lose your mind and act like an animal. That's the curse of God upon your life. That's the worst thing. It's a foolish idea. Man I want to be powerful. I want to come back as a rhino. That's a dumb idea. You're a human being. You're better than animals. There's no comparison. And see the curse of God is to be like an animal. But see here's the thing. Nebuchadnezzar, it was temporary and yet there's a high percentage of this population that have that curse upon them but it's not temporary. They act like animals. You say what are you talking about? 1 Peter 2 verse 12. But these as natural brute beasts made to be taken and destroyed speak evil of the things that they understand not and shall utterly perish in their own corruption. The Bible speaks about people that are children of the devil, rejected by God, reprobates and they act like natural brute beasts. They act like an animal. And let me tell you something. That is the curse of God to act like an animal. And it's forever for them. Right? The Bible says with males they call them dogs. Like go to 2 Peter 2 look at verse 22. 2 Peter 2 verse 22. 2 Peter 2 verse 22. 2 Peter 2 verse 22. Acting like an animal. 2 Peter 2 verse 22. But it has happened unto them according to the true proverb. The dog has turned to his own vomit again and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. And the Bible says here in verse 22 with males the dog has turned to his own vomit again with females the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. The Bible says that males that are reprobates are dogs females swine or pigs or sows. It's a female pig. That's what it's referring to. And so the terminology for a male is a dog. That's an insult. Right? If somebody calls you an animal that's an insult and biblically speaking you become as an animal when you become a reprobate. I'm not saying you turn into an animal but you start acting like an animal. You say, what are you talking about brother Stuckey? I'm talking about dogs and pigs are filthy animals. Look, I loved my dog as a kid but dogs are physically filthy animals. They do things that no human being should do. Disgusting. Look, pigs are filthy animals. It's disgusting the things they do. And you know what? Reprobates that have been rejected by God. They live physically filthy lives. Physically filthy. Right? The average homosexual sleeps with hundreds of people in their life. That's disgusting. That's disgusting. That's wicked. It's sick. I mean they get drunk. They just wake up in their own vomit. Do drugs. That's disgusting. Why are you acting like an animal? You're too good to drink alcohol. You're too good to do drugs. You're not an animal. You're a human being. They live filthy, wicked lives. It's the curse of God upon them. They live physically filthy lives. They live spiritually filthy lives. And guess what? They don't have a conscience anymore. Just like a big dumb animal. Acting like an animal and God sears that conscience so they act like an animal. Go to Romans 1. Romans 1. Romans 1. You say, brother Stuckey, why do you always preach against the homos? Because I value humans above animals. And they're animals. They act like animals. They're filthy. They're disgusting. They're sick perverts. They're pedophiles. That's what the Bible teaches. And you say, brother Stuckey, I don't agree with you. You know what? You've never read the Bible cover to cover. I promise you that. Because if you've read the Bible cover to cover and paid attention to what you're reading, there's no other way to interpret Genesis 19. They act like animals. Just as an animal would go to 7-11 to take the food because they can get away with it. In Genesis 19, no rules. Acting like an animal. And these people, they hate their lives. They don't like their lives, but they want to bring other people down to their level of depravity. They take pleasure in them that do them, the Bible says. They're sick. They're perverts. They hate their life. They're filthy. They want to bring other people down to their level because they hate their lives. That's what the Bible teaches. And their conscience is seared just like a big, dumb animal. They're physically filthy. They're spiritually filthy. Morally filthy. They're disgusting. That's what the Bible teaches. Oh, but they're so nice. Right? They act so nice. It's fake. It's an act. Why don't you just believe what the Bible says about them? They're disgusting. They're filthy. That's what the Bible teaches. Romans 1. Romans 1. Romans 1, verse 21. Because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, and neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncruppable God into an image made like a man, and to birds, and four-foot of beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. Now, oftentimes we look at Romans 1, and we immediately think of, like, atheists. And that's a good application. People that believe in evolution and reject God, they're worshipping the creature more than the Creator. That's a good application. But I'll be honest with you, there's far more religions in the world that fit this even more so, I think. Shinto, Hinduism, I mean, they're worshipping the creature more than the Creator. Right? There's billions of people in this world that are worshipping the creature more than the Creator. You say, what's the problem with that? Because it's a road down to becoming a reprobate. Right? This depraved idea rejecting the God who's the Creator and then worshipping the creation. Look, I mean, go outside and look at what God made, and praise the Lord, the moon is beautiful, the stars are beautiful, the sun is beautiful, but don't pray to them. That's foolishness. Be amazed at what God created, but to say, oh, it's got spirit and it's got life. I mean, the Kami just became a river. You're crazy. It doesn't make any sense. There's one God. Worship God and be amazed by what He made. Look, I'm preaching against this idea of worshipping animals, but I think the animals God has made are amazing. They're beautiful. You look at some of these creatures that God has made and it's like, wow, God is an amazing Creator. But what you don't do is say, man, I wish I was a bird. I think it's cool that birds fly. I don't want to be a bird, though. I mean, I think these animals are cool, but I don't want to be an animal. You say, why? Because that's called being a reprobate, acting like an animal. Because humans are better than animals. Far better than animals. Far smarter. We have a conscience. God loves us. He cares about us. I mean, there's no comparison between humans and the rest of God's creation. But it says, Now the Bible speaks about these vile affections. One example of this is men that would be attracted to other men or women being attracted to other women. Men that would have a relationship with other men. That's disgusting. It's not normal. Well, I mean, the animals do it. Yeah, that's my point. They're acting like animals. Not human beings. That's the defense people use. Well, I mean, it's common in the natural world. That's what the animals do. Yeah, that's what the animals do. You're not an animal. You're a human being. God did not create us to be interested in someone of the same gender. That's weird. It's warped. It's perverted. That's what the Bible teaches. Now, look, I've known the reprobate doctrine for a long time. I've heard it preached. But I'll tell you what, sometimes you hear things preached and you believe them, but until you actually experience something, it's, you know, hard to fully grasp. And I'll just give you two quick stories about how, first let me give you the story about how my wife really adopted this doctrine. Right, where she knew, it is totally true. She was on a gypney in Pampanga several years ago, six, seven years ago or whatever, and I had talked to her about this doctrine. And there was like this young kid on the gypney and there was these two homosexuals. And these homosexuals start flirting with this little kid when he's on the gypney. And then they started just commenting openly once he left about, hey, this little kid's gonna be easy. All we gotta do is buy him something and we'll be able to... You're an animal. That's disgusting. And my wife, remember, she called me and she's like, frantic, man, you won't believe what happened. I'm like, well, I do believe that. It doesn't shock me. They're animals. Or like when I said when we were protested in Sacramento, it's just like the threats of these homeless are like, we're gonna rape your children. Are you an animal? What is wrong with you? Right? I remember I was going soloing maybe 12 years ago. I was going soloing with a friend of mine. And you know what, with dogs, you know, and I personally believe it's up to you, but if I had pets, I would spay and neuter them unless you're, you know, breeding for sake of making money or whatever. I don't know. But I remember that, you know, we always had to be careful because there was other dogs in the neighborhood and they would get in heat. They basically, you know, I don't know if it's the terminology they use here, dogs being in heat, where they have that desire for physical, right? And they will go after whatever, and there was one time we caught a dog like raping our dog on the back porch because this is what dogs do when they're in heat. We always had to be careful because our dog was a small dog. So you have bigger dogs. They go in heat. They'll just attack whatever. But I was going soloing 12 years ago, and there was this dog that was in heat. It just ran up and started, like, attacking this other dog, as in physical, sexual way, right? I'm trying not to be very explicit, but I'm trying, it's very hard. And then that dog got away from that dog. That same dog just attacked another dog that was nearby because there were several dogs. It just went from one to the next just a couple seconds later because it couldn't get to the one. And I just dawned on me, we're out soloing, I was just thinking of the homos. I was like, that's what they're like. That's disgusting. They're perverts. They're perverts. It's like, what is wrong with you? To just go and just attack whatever, but that's what they're like. You say, Brother Suggie, I don't believe you. Have you ever read Genesis 19? I mean, I'm not saying have you ever heard a sermon preached on it because there's a good chance you heard a sermon preached on it that explained away every single verse in Genesis 19. Read Genesis 19. That's your homework assignment if you think I'm crazy right now. Read Genesis 19 and then you're going to be like, what in the world? I can't believe they'd be like this, right? And I'll be honest, I couldn't believe that either until I started believing the Bible. You know why? Because we get brainwashed by the world. That's what they're like. They're made to be taken and destroyed, the Bible says. They're filthy. They're disgusting. And what the Bible says in verse 28 to close up, and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. And the Bible says God gave them over to a reprobate mind and they're just out of their mind, their consciousness is seared, they just do wicked and filthy and disgusting things. Basically, they act like animals. Is it a shock the Bible says they're dogs and pigs? It's pretty fitting, right? This idea of worshipping animals, look, humans are better than animals. Humans are far better than animals. The curse of God in the Bible upon a human being is to act like an animal, to be like an animal. Filthy, disgusting, no conscience, that's what takes place. This idea of animism, it's garbage. Trying to lift up, and look, and I just mainly covered animal worship, right? But to another extreme, worshipping animals to another extreme, worshipping this, worshipping this, that's insane, that's crazy. It's a warped idea. What the Bible says is humans are created above the rest of God's creation. You're not an animal, you're not a river, you're not a mountain, there's one God, don't pray to the sun God, don't pray to the moon God, there's one God that created everything. And look, the things that God created are amazing. All the animals God created, amazing. Some of them are so beautiful to look at, but God is an awesome creator. The moon, amazing, the stars, amazing, the sun, amazing, but there's one God to worship. 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 all of us in this room to understand the spirit of the sermon and help us to elevate humans above the rest of God's creation and spend our time trying to get people saved and benefit other human beings and realizing that humans are above animals or any other of your creation. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. All right, for our last song, let's go up in 13 number 14. Let's go up in 13 number 14. All right, let's go up in 13 number 14. All right, let's go up in 13 number 14. All right, let's go up in 13 number 14. All right, let's go up in 13 number 14. All right, let's go up in 13 number 14. All right, let's go up in 13 number 14. All right, let's go up in 13 number 14. All right, let's go up in 13 number 14. All right, let's go up in 13 number 14.