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You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You Okay, don't go police about this Is Page number one one four page number 114 page number one One for Michaela and muggling coke I Christo Say I'm a puppet in a book. I will be put out in person. So I can last answer First I'll tell my gala Maligaya. I'm going to store person's already saying Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh I I Man I would put a nap on a level of it. What about ice a peach number one? peach number 16 peach number 16 Peach number one six. I would put I in an English book page number 16 page number one Page number 16 he abides He abides Page number 16 he abides first time suppose I ended up above about this I say ma'am, but first has a tile. I am rejoicing night and day first as I really sing Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh All right, good morning everybody welcome to very Baptist Church, let's go through a couple things real quickly first Let's count up any Salvations that we have let's start in the back. Is there anybody's salvation? Two two two and oh my son. How many did you get Seth? And two. All right, so that's eight. Everybody's got two. Okay, so eight Gotta love pins All right. So this section salvation one anybody else? All right Anybody here Four and two so that's 15 total. Great work everybody. Of course. We do have soul winning around 2 15 p.m Here today. The only other thing is after soul winning We do have a music ministry meeting And so if you're looking to be a part of our music ministry Then you know that's a meeting you need to be at and this is kind of the opportunity because from time to time People will mention that they're interested in being part of the music ministry So we kind of have meetings from time to time as an opportunity to join it So if you want to be a part of it, then, you know come to the meeting and you know You're gonna have the option of if you want to sign up for stuff You're gonna hand in a sheet to me so you can come to the meeting You don't have to worry about you're gonna be thrown into something. You don't want, you know tomorrow, whatever You're welcome to come to the meeting and then you can let me know and also if you're just interested in doing it As a backup or from time to time you can be a part of the meeting. That's perfectly fine You can let me know in the signup sheet that I give you So I believe that's it for announcements while brother Rafi lead us another song I Mean type in willing willing am I with Punta Pota is a page number 26 page number two six page number 26 a new name in glory Page number 26 a new name in glory for size up. Oh, they'll say me put it in a book I once was a sinner first times already saying Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Right scripture reading please open your Bibles to the book of Acts Acts chapter 17 Acts chapter 17 And As our custom we will be reading the entire chapter acts chapter 17, please say amen if you're there Acts chapters They came to test the Thessalonica where was a synagogue of the Jews and As manner was went into them and three Sabbath days reason with them out of the scriptures Opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead and that this Jesus who might preach unto you is Christ and Some of them believed in consorted Paul and Silas out of the devout Greeks a great multitude and a chief woman not a few The Jews which believed not move with envy Took up to them certainly fellows with a base resort and gathered the company and said all the city in an uproar and Unsolved to the house of Jason and sought to bring them out to the people And when they found them not they drew Jason and certain brethren to the rulers of the city's crying These that have turned the world upside down or come hither also Whom Jason had received and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar saying that there is another King one Jesus And they trouble the people in the rulers of the city When they heard these things and when they had taken security of Jason and of the other they let them go And the brethren and the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night into Berea Who coming further went into the synagogue of the Jews? These were more noble than those in Thessalonica and that they received the word with all readiness of mind And search the scriptures daily. Why did those things were so? Therefore many of them believed also vulnerable women which are which were Greeks at a men not a few And when but when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the Word of God was preached to Paul at Berea they came through there also and stirred up the people and Then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the scene, but Silas and Timotheus above there still And they that conducted Paul brought him into Athens And receiving a commandment into Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed they departed Now while Paul waited for them at Athens his spirit was teared in him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews and with a devout persons and in the market daily with them that met with him Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him and some said what will this babbler say? Others some they seem it to be a center for the strange gods because preached unto them Jesus in the resurrection And they took him and brought him into their aerophagus saying may we know what this new doctrine where of thou speakest is For that brings certain strange things to our ears. We would know therefore that what these things mean For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spend their time in nothing else But either to tell or to hear some new thing Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said the men of Athens I perceive that in all things you're too superstitious For as I passed by and beheld your devotions I found an altar with inscription to the unknown God whom therefore you ignorantly worship him declare I unto you God that made the world and all things therein Seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth dwelleth not in temples made with hands Neither is worship with men's hands as though he needed anything Seeing he give it to a life and breath and all things And I've made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell in all the face of the earth and have Determined the times before appointed and it bound to their habitation That they should seek the Lord if happily they might feel after him and find him though He'd be not far from every one of us For in him we live and move and have our being a certain also our your own poets have said For we are also his offspring For as much then as we are the offspring of God We ought not to think that the Godhead is ligand to gold or silver stone graven by arts and man's device and At times of this ignorance God winked at but now commanded all men everywhere to repent Because he had appointed a day in the what she will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained Whereof he had given assurance into all men and that he had raised him from the dead And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead some mocked And others said we will hear thee again of this matter So Paul departed from among them How he had certain men glaive unto him and believed among the which was Dionysius the Erupagite and A woman named Damaris and others with them Bless the name of God's word. Let us pray Lord God in heaven we thank you Lord for this day that you've given to us I pray that you would please bless the Lord for this day Bless the preaching and the preaching of your word Lord this day And I pray that you would also give us good weather for our soul winning and our fellowship later on in Jesus' name we pray All right We are here in Acts chapter 17 and we've been doing this series for a while kind of off and on this false philosophy series and it's possible that in the future I'll come across a Famous or popular false philosophy that we'll cover But we're pretty much kind of wrapping up this series and if you notice, you know If you're familiar with your Bible and our memory verse one thing I've not talked about are the Epicureans and the Stoics And the reason why is because if you ask somebody on the street, you know, hey, you know, what do you think of stoicism? They're gonna be like, what are you talking about? Right? It's not like it's a common false philosophy in today's world We've covered a lot of very common and famous false philosophies But I think it makes sense to actually cover the ones mentioned in the Bible And so we're gonna look at what the Epicureans believed here today next week We'll look at what the Stoics believe and we're gonna see why these things are false now start here at verse number 16 Acts 17 verse 16 the Bible reads now while Paul waited for them at Athens His spirit was stirred on him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews and with the devout persons and in the market daily with them that met with Him now you see that this city is given to idolatry in Athens Greece Okay. Now if you're familiar with studying false religions and you know You've you've done some time looking at that and comparing them What you're going to find is that Hinduism and Greek mythology are like the exact same Right. I mean there's crossover from a lot of different false religions But it's it's like the exact same thing and what you see in this passage is it talks about the unknown God Where they've got all of this idolatry and then there's this this this statue where they're talking about The unknown God that they're ignorantly worshipping. They don't know what they believe now the way I'm used to hear this preach And the way I used to believe it is they're not sure which of these gods is correct But that's actually not really what's being said What is being said is that they don't understand who this God is and they use idols to try to represent who that God Is which is exactly what Hinduism teaches? I was reading a book on the history of India one time and one of the chapters was titled the unknown God and It didn't mention the Bible at all. It wasn't referencing acts 17 But I was like, well, that's pretty interesting because the concept of Hinduism is the same thing as what you see here in acts chapter 17 so if you're trying to understand what's going on in acts 17 in this religion of Hellenism or the Greek mythology and the things they believe very similar to what you would see with Hinduism here today, okay, and They're basically have all of this idolatry which of course that's just like Hinduism lots of idols that they have verse 18 then certain of the philosophy certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him and Some said what will this babbler say? Other some he seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection And it's interesting me in verse 4 verse 18 Paul is preaching about Jesus Christ And of course, he's preaching that there's one God But when they hear the Trinity, they're like, well, it sounds like strange gods It's like you've got a million idols And you have this belief in this one unknown God But it's like you could fool me because you look at all these idols It's like it looks like you're you're you know into polytheism. I was about to say polygamy That's not the word polytheism, right? You had all these different idols and it's like you're saying you believe in this one God and yet I see all these idols It's like you could have fooled me and yet they hear about the Trinity and they're like, oh, that's multiple gods that you're worshiping Worshipping that's strange gods. And of course, we preach the gospel sometimes the Muslims and they would accuse us of that It's like why you know, those are strange gods that you're preaching when we believe in one God They just don't understand the concept of the Trinity But it mentions the Epicureans and the Stoics. So what did the Epicureans believe? Well, here's what it says from online Epicureanism is a system of philosophy based on the teachings of Epicurus Founded around 307 BC. It teaches that the greatest good is to seek modest pleasures in order to attain a state of tranquility freedom from fear and Absence from bodily pain. So there's a lot of things that you can take from this statement And it was a system of philosophy like many others where you're searching after happiness and pleasure Now the difference is you've got a philosophy like hedonism which teaches give yourself into every vice get drunk Do drugs Fornicate and it's going to make you happy, right? It's not really what Epicureanism teaches What Epicureanism teaches is you should seek after pleasure But you should use wisdom of whether or not it's going to give you a state of peace or tranquility and quietness in your life Basically, is it worth it? And so what what the Greeks would do, you know These these famous philosophers of these different systems. They would sit around and debate for two hours Is it worth it to get drunk? Is it worth it to do drugs? It's like you know what you like the feeling but the question is it kind of disrupts your life So is it worth it? And that's what this philosophy basically is saying It's like you kind of decide is it worth it to give into this vice? Right where basically you seek after pleasure, but you have to ask yourself. Is it worth it in the end? Well, it's pretty simple in the Bible sin is never worth it It's that simple, right? We don't have to spend hours and hours like fear God and keep his commandments God makes it very simple for us. Is it worth it or not? Sin is never worth it, right? and so it says here in verse number 19 and They took him and brought him on to Arropegas saying may we know what this new doctrine where of thou speakest is For that bring a certain strange things to our ears. We would know therefore what these things mean. It's like Paul's bringing strange things. You've got all these idols that you're worshiping and what Paul is saying is strange It's like how does what you believe makes sense and what Paul is preaching does not make sense Verse 21 for all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else But either to tell or to hear some new thing so basically there's a system with these Greeks where basically they listen to anybody they're willing to debate and just Philosophize about every single thing under the Sun as I said very similar to Hinduism because Hindus are very receptive to the gospel They often listen even though they believe very strange things because like the Greek philosophy Which it's all about wisdom Same thing if you study Hinduism, the biggest thing they say is we are the religion that's seeking after wisdom, right? What's interesting is you look at religions today and the dumbest religion is probably Hinduism of famous religions, right? I mean, it's crazy. It's bizarre. So for them to say that we're searching after wisdom It's like you kind of missed the mark Right because your religion is so far out there. It's like the opposite. What's the same thing with the Greeks? The Greeks are known to be these famous, you know, the smartest people these philosophers and yet Greek mythology is a joke The name of the religion is Hellenism, but it's known as Greek mythology because everyone knows it's a myth It's a joke. It's these stupid stupid stories that don't make sense. And yet that was their religion That was a very popular religion. Nothing new under the Sun go to 1st Corinthians 1 1st Corinthians chapter 1 And let us see a little bit more about the Greeks and their so-called wisdom that the Bible speaks about in 1st Corinthians 1 It was actually a very very common religion even after Alexander the Great around the world Actually, the primary religion in Egypt after the time of Alexander the Great was Hellenism and Greek mythology That became the dominant one and many of them were worshipping Alexander the Great But it was a dominant religion throughout the world, you know, Greek mythology was Very very common and it hasn't really gone anywhere because a lot of the same false religions have very similar teachings Worshipping idols, which the biggest one in our neck of the woods here in the Philippines is Catholicism because Roman religion came from the Greek mythology the Hellenism and the Roman Catholic Church I hate to break it to you. It came from Roman paganism and all these gods. That's why you have all these idols Not that much different. The only the only difference is these people would openly admit that they're idol worshippers Whereas Catholics would say no. No, we don't worship idols Right, you know, this is kind of a funny story and a side point, you know Just a couple days ago. My daughter saw a statue of Jesus, you know white Jesus With a beard and I hadn't shaved in a couple days and she's like, it's daddy. It's like, alright, I'm gonna shave, right? I Don't want my wife to think that's or my my daughter to think that's me, you know Cuz it's like a white Jesus. It's daddy. You know the beard he's white. It's like no, that's not daddy, right? 1st Corinthians 1 verse 18 The Bible reads for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness but unto us which are saved It is the power of God. So to those that are unsaved that don't believe the gospel They consider the message of Jesus Christ foolish. I mean in Acts 17 many people mock Paul. They think it's foolish It's like, you know, it's like what will this babbler say? It's interesting you have a conversation for a couple hours about is it worth it to get drunk and you call somebody else a babbler Right, I mean, I'm pretty sure drinking alcohol is what makes you babble like you're a fool, right? But this is kind of the way the world is those that believe the message They're like that makes sense to us that are saying it's the power of God it makes sense Jesus died and paid for all of our sins Bible speaks about the power of the resurrection and Yet people hear the same message that are not saved and many of them will mock it. They think it's ridiculous You talk to famous evolutionists or people that reject Christianity completely They think it's foolish to say that Jesus Christ died and paid for a sense yet to us is the power of God Makes sense, right? We believe it makes sense. It's powerful, but others would mock it For it is written. I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent Where's the wise where's the scribe? Where's the disputer of this world hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? And by the way, you know you think of the Greek wisdom God says it's foolish You know, I don't think Aristotle Plato and Socrates are the smartest men that ever lived I think what they believe was absolutely foolish and I've never read these books of these Greek philosophers but there are literally books of these Greek philosophers where they debate about stuff while they're drunk for hours and they'll debate about topics like You know homosexuality and and boy sex slaves and things like that and they debate about this while they're drunk That's the the genius philosophy we're meant to follow this wisdom of Aristotle and Plato and Socrates Right who a lot of these people I don't know specifically with those three specifically many of these philosophers were open Sodomites that had boy sex slaves. That's the wisdom we follow. It sounds like foolishness to me, right? I mean who would possibly think that Debating about stuff while you're drunk and writing a book about that and yet that's the wisdom people follow. It's like it's madness Right, why would you possibly look at that as being wise people that are drunk act like idiots Doesn't matter how smart how book smart they are if somebody's drunk they act like an idiot and that's the wisdom We're meant to follow right? That's the wisdom of the Greeks verse 21 factor that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew God Knew not God it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe see there's a lot of people That are searching after wisdom Right and this comes from the atheistic world those that reject, you know, the belief in God all together It also comes with religions like Hellenism or Greek mythology Comes with religions like Hinduism where they're searching after this hidden wisdom of the world But yet the world by wisdom knew not God because they're using man's wisdom man's philosophy. What seems right to them You're not going to know God that way How do you get to know God when somebody preaches the gospel to you and you believe it? And then you start reading the Bible and there are people that are genuinely seeking after wisdom and yet they're gonna arrive at the exact opposite of wisdom because you know the fear of the Lord is The beginning of knowledge the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom I mean you have to fear God and obey his commandments and read what he says if you want to get wisdom and Many people that are very smart so called in this world the things they believe are foolish the things they believe are stupid And yet they're searching after wisdom the world by wisdom knew not God it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that belief for the Jews require a sign and The Greeks seek after wisdom a lot of people take this verse This is a lot of apologetic ministries, and I don't believe in apologetics. I think it's a joke I think it's a waste of time what apologetics is or Christian apologetics is where you basically debate about different topics For example have a big debate about creation and evolution and Supposedly that's how you reach the atheist by having a big debate with creationists or evolutionists Or there's famous guys like Rabbi Zacharias was a famous guy in various Christian apologetics where they debate Topics and they prove things, but you know you have to use the gospel of Jesus Christ if you want to get people saved and They'll look at a verse like verse 22, and they'll say well see we can't reach the Jews unless we give them a sign We can't reach the Greeks Unless we give them wisdom the literally quote verse 22 the Greeks seek after wisdom. This is why we need a creation ministry Just thinking did you read the next verse? The Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified Onto the Jews a stumbling block and onto the Greeks foolishness Look if you run into a Jew out soul-winning or somebody who says I want a sign to believe it's like I'll give you the sign of the Prophet Jonah as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whales belly But so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth But I'm not going to try to prove to you Intellectually or whatever give you some sort of sign of the reality of God or of Jesus Christ The Bible says I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation To everyone that believeth to the Jew first and also to the Greek How do you get the Jews say the gospel how do you get the Greeks say the gospel how do you get evolution to say the Gospel, right and the Greeks would represent basically the non-jews But really those that are seeking after wisdom and you run into a lot of people like this You say what do you do you give them the gospel? You say but what if they're not willing to listen you move on to the next door That's what you do You can't reach everybody There are plenty of people we knock on their door They could listen for hours and they're not going to get saved and I'm not even saying people that are reprobates I'm just saying people that are just not going to get saved They're just not going to listen to it. They're not going to believe it It's like in people Christians try to meet them at their level. Well, they reject Jesus. So I got to reach them at their level that's not what the Bible says and Honestly, that would be pretty intimidating If you're a soul winner when you got to learn how to reach all of these different groups of people The great news is all we have to do is give them the gospel Maybe sometimes give them more verses if they have a different religion, but we reach them with the gospel That's what the Bible says here. The Jews require a sign. What do we give them? We give them the gospel of Jesus Christ the Greeks seek after wisdom. What do we do? We give them the gospel of Jesus Christ And you want although many of them might mock it or disagree. Some of them will get saved in Acts 17 a lot mocked some got saved right turn your Bible to Matthew 6 Matthew chapter 6 Matthew 6 And look I get it that doesn't seem right because you know by man's wisdom because I'll freely admit when I first started going soul winning and I'd run into someone who was an evolutionist I would just spout out all these facts on creation for an hour. I Tried to just prove to them that God was real and disprove evolution and I have memorized a lot of facts I used to know a lot about the creation topic and you know What's amazing is you give them all these facts and they don't get saved I Mean you can I mean and I get it I believe I believe you can look at the world that we have you can look at the oldest tree that they have on Record it comes like right after the time of the flood like the timing and everything like just over 4,000 years old Yeah, all this stuff the oldest coral reef oldest tree. Yeah, it's just over 4,000 years. It doesn't get people saved And it's true. I mean there's verification of the flood There's verification of a young earth, but yet that doesn't get people saved What gets people saved is the gospel of Jesus Christ? That's how you reach the Jew the Greek the Buddhist the Hindu the Muslim the atheist whatever religion. It's the gospel of Jesus Christ That's what the Bible teaches But Epicureanism Says that seeking pleasure should be your number one goal in life What does the Bible say about seeking pleasure? Well what the Bible teaches is actually seeking God first is what you should be doing Matthew 6 verse 33, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added on to you see the Bible says instead of seeking after money instead of seeking after pleasure What do you do you seek God first that is the opposite of what the Epicureans taught go to John 5? John 5 John chapter 5 And They literally use the word seek So we're just looking up the word seek in the Bible and see what the Bible says we should seek after John 5 verse 30 Jesus Christ speaking I Can of mine own self do nothing John 5 verse 30 as I hear I judge and my judgment is just because I seek Not mine own will I seek not the pleasure for myself. I seek not what I want But the will of the Father which hath sent me and that kind of gives us a template as believers It's like instead of seeking after what you want or seeking after pleasure seek after what God wants go to Philippians chapter 2 Philippians chapter 2 Philippians 2 I Mean probably most people in this world whether they admit it or not They are they're seeking after pleasure and happiness is what their goal of life is You know what makes them Happy, that's what they would say. And what's interesting is if you seek after happiness, you're not gonna find it If you make that the biggest goal of your life I mean because here's the thing you look at the extreme section and this is just to prove a point It makes it very easy to understand look at people that have like a million vices people that are drug addicts people that are drunks Right you look at these people and do you really believe that these drug addicts are happy I Mean they're miserable They hate their lives now It's easier to see in America because there are a lot of drug addicts everywhere You see people stumbling around, you know out of their minds all the time and I remember once you know They're there what I what I noticed was a connection of many people that are drug addicts that are missing You know body parts arms or legs of their body and I didn't know why my friend told me it's because what happens is every once while they get an infected needle and they end up having to cut off a body part because they get a Disinfection and it's either they're gonna die or you got to cut off the arm and you'll see many people that are drug addicts missing limbs of their body missing arms Missing legs why because they used infected needles. Well, that really sounds like I'm missing out on something Right. I mean it sounds like I'm really missing out on the life of being because I've never done drugs It sounds like I'm missing out. It's like wow, there's really something to offer in those drugs Right people like that. They hate their lives. They're not happy then they get addicted to it and they can't get off it And then they're miserable unless they're doing those drugs. I don't need drugs to be happy. I Don't wake up in the morning saying I need drugs Right. I mean I'm happy without drugs Right, I mean people that are drunk. So these heat in this let's just search after every vice I want or just fornicate with everybody under the Sun they end up being miserable. They're not happy We're not missing out on anything as Bible believing Christians don't ever think don't be like a staff in Psalm 73 and Envy the wicked of this world and feel like you're missing out on anything You're not missing out on anything what the world has is nothing compared to what God has for us Bible says in Philippians 2 verse 19 But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy is shortly on to you that I also may be of good Comfort when I know your state for I have no man like minded who will naturally care for your state for all seek their own Not the things which are Jesus Christ and Paul said you know what there's a problem that I have Is that you know what most people seek their own they seek what they want They seek after pleasure what benefits them rather than the things that are Jesus Christ's Now, of course Paul is speaking about other safe people Right he's saying you know what I can't really find people that I can really trust for this And and you know I'm sure a lot of those people You know what they were doing some things for God But they didn't go all the way in serving God because they felt like they're missing out on something But what I would say to you is that Paul probably had a pretty happy life Right me Paul had many things to rejoice about I mean he gets beaten in prison and they're singing praises to God They're not upset He's not missing out on anything that the world has to offer get a first Corinthians chapter 13 first Corinthians 13 Look I'm not I'm not sitting up here saying that You know it's wrong to go on a vacation. I mean you can go on a vacation. There's nothing wrong with that I'm not saying you can't do anything. That's fun. I'm not saying you have to spend 24-7 Bible reading prayer Memorizations soul winning you know rinse repeat 24-7 day after day after day I mean you can get burnt out if you did that sort of thing Obviously you need to read the Bible every day you need to pray every day the Bible gives us a general template on these Things there's nothing wrong with having hobbies or going on vacation I'm not saying that but but you need to make sure that your life is about seeking what God wants and not just What you want out of life, that's what the Bible teaches first Corinthians 13 verse 4 Charity suffer the long and his kind charity envious not charity Varnath not itself is not puffed up doth not behave itself unseemly Seeketh not her own is not easily provoked thinketh no evil so someone that is filled with charity in their life They're not seeking their own They're not seeking what they want they're seeking about what other people want and what benefits other people go to first Corinthians 10 We'll look at one more verse on this first Corinthians 10 First Corinthians chapter 10 verse 24 First Corinthians chapter 10 verse 24 The Bible reads let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth now when the Bible says seek another man's wealth I think it goes without saying what he's saying in this verse But it's not saying don't just look after your own money try to take other people's money, right? It's like just covet everybody's money and all their stuff. Don't just seek what you got take everybody's now What it's saying is you're not concerned about your own personal benefit. You're not concerned about your own personal money You're concerned about other people rather than being self-centered and only caring about yourself Turn your Bible to John 13 John 13 John 13 John chapter 13 Now a lot of people would hear this and they might say well They know that sounds pretty depressing, you know living your life Just caring about other people Rather than seeking what you want. You're always concerned about other people other people other people but yet what the Bible teaches because it's funny because Epicureanism is about seeking after pleasure. That's the number one goal of your life is to seek after pleasure right Anyway, if we were in this room, we were asked people what's your number one goal? There might be different answers such as getting people saved, you know reading the Bible I mean but answers centered around spiritual things or at least they should be But here's what's interesting when you're seeking after happiness you end up being miserable Because if all you're concerned about is yourself it ends up being pretty depressing You look at people that are celebrities and famous people where their whole life is about themselves Everywhere they go It's like everybody wants to get a picture with them get their autograph and all of this stuff everywhere They go it's about them them then they have all the money everything life could have to offer just like Solomon had in the book of Ecclesiastes and yet they're miserable and if they were open and honest They'd say what Solomon said. I hated life Not happy and they can't figure out why I have all the money in the world. I got 50 cars and 20 houses It's like why am I not happy and yet they're not happy and Yet you find people that are serving God and they don't have much in this life They're not rich. God provides their needs, but they're not rich. They're not going on all these fancy vacations, and yet they're happy I Mean I can say this as a person who's trying to serve God. I am happy with my life I'm happy I've spent half my life saved and half my life unsaved and I can say before I was saved I wasn't really happy because I was really wondering in my head. What is life about? You know I was like I was in college I was like you know and I was just before I was saved because I got saved as a freshman I was in engineering and I was thinking okay. I'll get an engineering degree Get a job, and it's like is this what life's about and you know a lot of people out there They're trying to search after pleasure. They're figuring out What's gonna make me happy and they try this they try this they try this and some people go down the road of like Hedonism just give yourself into every vice some people go down the road of this road or this road or whatever the Epicureans they do these different sort of systems and yet They don't find pleasure and you know what the Bible teaches is that if you seek after God You know what you actually end up getting pleasure you actually become happy You actually have a fulfilled life, but if you seek after pleasure as your goal. You're not gonna find it Just like those searching after wisdom they end up worshiping cows. It's like It's like you just and you know brother Marlon said this to me the other day It's like and I believe it's probably I didn't you know a judgment on the Hindus over there like a hundred thousand cows Got some virus and died and it's like maybe God's saying quit worshiping them eat them right Kill them and eat them rather than worshiping them, and then maybe I wouldn't have to strike them down Right it's just like and look that goes I mean that's not a natural disaster, but I believe to say it's kind of like the plague It's like the great urine or upon the cattle. It's just like yeah You know you're not gonna do what I say then it's just like that's what happens right But it's like these these philosophies they search after something and they arrive at the exact opposite right Turn your Bible to John 13 John 13 Number one the Epicurean saying seeking pleasure is the number one goal in life while the Bible says seek after God Number two the Epicurean say Do things if they're gonna benefit you so when you're deciding upon a task When you're deciding upon something you ask yourself if it's gonna benefit you So if it's about getting drunk you have to ask yourself is it gonna benefit me right if it gives this much happiness But it caused this many problems is it worth it or not everything you do you decide does it benefit me? You know what's interesting is as a Bible believe in Christian We don't have to think that hard about what we're gonna do just do what God says We don't have to stop on everything. It's all right. Let's spend 20 minutes. Is this gonna benefit me? Right and that's called being selfish. It's called being self-centered where you only do things that benefit you But what does the Bible say John 13 verse 13? You call me master and Lord and you say well for so I am If I then your Lord and master have washed your feet He also ought to wash one another's feet for I've given you an example that you should do as I have done to you Barely barely I send you the servant is not greater than his Lord neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him if you know these things happier ye if you do them and What what Jesus is saying in verse 16 is basically I'm not greater than God the Father and obviously there's an authority structure With the Trinity obviously Jesus is God we understand this but God the Father is higher in authority Than God the Son that's why he says I do not my I seek not mine own will but the will of the Father Which hath sent me and what he's saying is, you know, basically us as people Because he just said that he's the Lord. We're not greater than the Lord Right, like he's the boss and yet he gives an example of serving other people What he's saying is hey if the boss is willing to serve other people Surely those that are underneath the boss should be willing to do the same thing Right, but what he says is basically he gives an example of washing feet and look I'm not of the opinion that there are churches that have a foot washing ministry. That's it's not something That we're gonna do here Okay, not something to do. But let me just say this that you know, washing someone else's foot is it's a pretty humbling thing It's not exactly you know, this this job where it's like, I mean if we added that ministry It's like alright push washing ministry who wants to do it. Nobody's gonna sign up for that Right. It's it's a very humbling job and he gives an example and he's saying you know what? You ought to have the same sort of attitude where you care about other people more than yourself You say brother stucky if I do that, I'm gonna be miserable. Is that what it says in verse 17? If you know these things happy are ye if you do them What the Bible saying is if you live your life Being more concerned about other people Than yourself it Makes you happy It doesn't make you miserable It makes you happy and what happens is sometimes people will kind of you know, do things to help other people out But they believe the world's philosophy and they find themselves You know going half-in for God and half-out and they're kind of depressed and they think it's because they're going half-in for God No, no, no, it's because you're going half-out for God Because we actually devoted your life to other people you'd be happy You realize life and this this is the central theme in the Bible your life is not about you. Oh I mean, is this gonna benefit me? Today does that benefit me? I mean, is that what the Bible says? That what the Bible says is you should do things that benefit and help other people out better first Peter 3 first Peter 3 first Peter 3 And Let me give you some examples of this of things that don't really personally benefit you and Yet they lead to fulfillment in life or happiness. One thing is suffering for your beliefs suffering for your beliefs because the truth is that and you know what honestly in 2022 living in the Philippines, there's not a whole lot of persecution for what we believe But there are parts of the world where if you're going to serve God, it might mean some real suffering There are still parts of the world that getting baptized could be The death sentence. I mean try that in a Muslim country try converting to Christianity getting saved and making a public confession of Jesus Christ, which that's what baptism basically is you're publicly stating I'm a Christian Right with Islam of their you know, five steps the five pillars of Islam the the first one is publicly confessing Islam and Muhammad and If you get baptized publicly you're basically rejecting Islam publicly look try doing that in a Muslim country You're probably gonna get your head chopped off Probably gonna get shot. It's illegal to convert to Christianity in a lot of countries It's illegal to preach the gospel in a lot of countries. We don't have a whole lot of persecution in 2022 But we also don't know what's going to take place 50 years from now There might be persecution one day here Bible says in 1st Peter 3 verse 14 But and if you suffer for righteousness sake Happy are ye and Be not afraid of their terror and neither be troubled The Bible says if you suffer for righteousness sake now suffering doesn't really benefit you getting beaten Doesn't really benefit you. I Mean when Paul the Apostle and Silas were beaten in prison, it didn't really benefit them, right? I mean getting beaten on your back. I mean that doesn't really help you out and yet It benefited other people because it motivated them and They were actually happy they're saying praises to God and What I'm showing you is this you know what you do things that don't really benefit you and yet you find yourself Happy which is goes flies in the face of what epicure anism teaches go to 1st Peter 4 1st Peter 4 1st Peter 4 I I Mean literally in this room there are people that over the last couple years have gotten devoted to our church and Since you got devoted to serving God and going soul-winning What you found is friends that have rejected you Family that has rejected you Co-workers that are mocking you and rejecting you you find yourself Busier than you've been because all your free time is reading the Bible going soul-winning church events and all these things All these people are making fun of you were approaching you mocking you and yet you're happier than you've ever been Why is that because you seek after God first and God actually does give you happiness Now I know this goes against worldly wisdom. I Mean, it's like before I started serving God. You know what? It's just like I had more free time I was able to do whatever I wanted just play sports go to the gym all the time Nobody was making fun of me or mocking me Right doing everything the world had to offer any movie I want to list watch any music I wanted to listen to and yet I wasn't happy Now it's like you know what I I get rid of a lot of those worldly things in my life And yet I find myself happy Friends, I mean every single person pretty much other than the person who got me saved and his roommate who I became friends with As well in college all the people I was friends with before I was saved I haven't talked to them in like a decade I saw one of them at a wedding like eight years ago. But other than that, I mean, I'm not friends with any of them I mean literally, you know what my old my old roommate in college I've seen things on YouTube where he's like making fun of me and because he's like in he Studied Islam for a little while after he rejected Christianity He became an atheist and he's mocking me and saying like, you know, I'm some cult leader or whatever and my old roommate Right. He's a person I room with as my freshman year in college I was good friends in high school played soccer with him and he says like I'm like a cult leader now or whatever And yet you know what? I actually find myself happy in life You can say whatever you want about me You can reproach my name and yet I'm happy and many people in this room would say the same thing People called you everything under the Sun. I mean you're deceived. You're brainwashed. You're part of a cult I mean, they're telling you what to dress how to dress they're telling you what to wear They're telling you what to listen to and yet you find yourself happy. Is that not true? what because you're serving God and You know what it's not like God says you have to serve me and you're gonna hate your life until the day you die No, actually when you serve God you find yourself happy But you're not seeking after pleasure You're doing what God says because it's the right thing to do and yet what you find is you end up being happy Right first Peter 4 verse 13 But rejoice in as much as you're partakers of Christ's suffering that when his glory shall be revealed You may be glad also with exceeding joy if he be reproached for the name of Christ Happy are you? People mock you they criticize you your approach for the name of Christ and yet you know what you find yourself happy You know, you know that you're right with God you're doing what's right and you find yourself happy in life Go to 2nd Corinthians 5 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 Look obviously when people first Go through this they start serving God because this is the same for pretty much everybody You start serving God and and a lot of people get mad about it Right, they get upset at you It's a bit of a shock to the system because you have not experienced it because obviously we're all sinners Right. We understand that but in general I'd say the average person in this room has probably lived a pretty clean life compared to the average person You've always tried to be a nice person You've always tried to be a good person and you know what when you try to be a nice person and a good person I mean people like you you don't have any problems But then once you start serving God they start hating you it's kind of a shock to the system It's like how is this possible? Right. It's just like I go back to my my my school where I'm from in Bridgeport It's like I'm sure my reputation is like the worst of Anyone because of the things that I believe it's like man brother stuck He went religious or whatever and it's like when I was growing up and everything It's just like I was friends with like everybody, you know, there's nobody I didn't like I was friends with everybody I got along nobody. I don't know of anyone who really disliked me growing up But then all of a sudden you start serving God it changes Right, and it's a bit of a shock to the system So look when people first start coming to church We have to realize that when people first start coming to this church My hope because what I've found what I've seen at other churches what I've found here is I know someone's gonna get connected to our church and probably be a part of it Once they start sticking around for the fellowship and it seems very basic, you know We have the fellowship lunchtime after the church services, but once people start sticking around to that I'm thinking yeah You know what? They might end up being a member right like someone who sticks around That's when they get connected with other people but before people do that They're getting reproach for the name of Christ and they're not really replacing that with other friends. That's why you need the fellowship right It's a shock to the system to new people and we need to be aware of that when people first start coming here try to befriend them Try to get them connected because if they don't get connected and they're just sticking around for the preaching They're gonna end up fading out. That is what pretty much always ends up happening But another thing where it doesn't really benefit us is preaching the gospel Preaching the gospel doesn't really benefit us now. Yes, you get rewards in heaven I understand that and yes, you know what soul winning results in happiness. It brings us joy But here's the thing. I don't need to do anything to go to heaven. I'm already saved You know the main people that are benefited by us going soul winning those people that we talked to They're the ones that are benefited us going soul winning. It doesn't really benefit us I mean if I was to stop and say hey this soul-winning thing, is it gonna benefit me? Well, not really I'm already saved Yesterday we went soul winning as a family and you know, we're at Astro Park and it's like Christabel is asleep Ezra's crying like crazy because I think he's teething. I mean, he does everything at a young age, right? And then it's just like I've got all the three kids in the car and I'm trying to like You know calm down Ezra for like 45 minutes. My wife's going out soul winning and here's the thing that didn't really benefit us Right. I mean the whole time I just couldn't wait to see my wife coming to the car because I'm like man This is a nightmare. But yet she got people say they've benefited those people When we go soul winning, we're not doing that to benefit ourselves We do that to benefit other people 2nd Corinthians 5 verse 18 And all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation To wit that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses on to them And hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation now, then we are ambassadors for Christ As though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christ said be reconciled to God We are given the ministry of reconciliation. We are the representatives or ambassadors for Jesus Christ here on earth We are the Jehovah's Witnesses, right? We are the Jehovah's Witnesses witnessing on behalf of Jehovah representing God here on earth Right now somebody's gonna take that quote from the sermon and you know brother Stuckey Brother Stuckey confesses to being a Jehovah's Witness, right? Isn't it? Wasn't that the soul winning demonstration? I was a Jehovah's Witness right like then that soul winning demonstration for those that saw like 10 years ago. It's true Okay It's still inside of me, right Anyways, but when we go soul winning it doesn't really benefit us It benefits other people and when I first started going soul winning, I did not want to Did it because I was like, you know what? I'm I'm basically obligated. I Felt guilt for not talking to people. I did not want to do it I remember telling my friend who got me saved. I was like Mike I was like, it's not my gift I'm not the sort of person that can do this. I don't just walk up to random people, you know I'm a shy guy, you know It's just it's just not me and you know what you do it out of obligation Probably most people have the same story you do it out of obligation And you know what you weren't doing it because you're like man, this is gonna give me so much fun And yet it does We do so many events. I mean we rejoice and we try to mix in fellowship You know, we have you know We try to allow people to go to nice restaurants and have fellowship and we try to do events and stuff like that But it's like, you know, we rejoice you do a so many marathon and as a group I like 30 people you have 80 salvation's you rejoice It's exciting. It brings happiness to your life that the world does not have to offer Doesn't matter how good you are at anything or what you've done in life I mean actually soul winning brings about a joy But you're not seeking after that pleasure. You're not doing it to benefit yourself. And yet it does bring you happiness Go to Hebrews 10 Hebrews 10 Hebrews 10 What about going to church I Mean probably every single person when they first start going to the church or when he decided to come to this church Of course, you're finding a church that you agree with with doctrine But you're going to church because you're thinking you know what it benefits me But really that's not what the Bible says of why you should be at church Now you do need to make sure you're part of the right kind of church But honestly, you should decide to be here not because of yourself Not because it's what you want not because it benefits you but according to Bible in Hebrews 10 because it benefits other people Hebrews 10 verse 24 and let us consider one another To provoke unto love and to good works Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as a manner of some is but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching Why is it you should be in church? Because you're considering one another You're considering what benefits other people. I am benefited by you being at church here today You are benefited by other people being at church here today If a bunch of people don't come it will negatively affect you I get it some days You don't feel like coming to church some days. You're tired exhausted or whatever You're not in the mood to come to church, but the end of the day It's not about do you want to come to church? It's about do people at church want you to be at church? Because it's not about benefiting yourself It's about benefiting other people and when you take that sort of mindset where it's like What can I do to help out other people? What you're gonna find is you start doing what God says because it's the right thing to do but yet it gives you happiness Many times I've walked into church, and I was not in a good mood. I didn't feel like being at a church It's like good luck seeing a couple hymns and not being in a good mood. I Mean they just change your attitude quickly And I've had times I've been in church, and you know what I speak not really to I mean It's it's true here as well. You know obviously sometimes you're not in the mood or whatever But even before I was a church leader And I'd be at church And I didn't really feel like being there and all of a sudden you start singing the hymns And I was thinking man how foolish am I this is like the best place to be Right literally. This is the best place in Metro Manila to be on a Sunday morning This is the best place in Metro Manila to be Being with God's people. There's no better place to be I don't care What rock concerts are doing or what sporting event or whatever? It's like this is the best place to be in Metro Manila right now and Why should you want to be here because it benefits other people? That's the reason why go to Ecclesiastes 12 Ecclesiastes chapter 12 Or you can just trust in the Greek philosophy and sit around for two hours talking about should we get drunk or not I Mean should we do heroin or not? Should we do crack cocaine or not? Right and that's literally the stupidity that the Greeks would discuss That's the wisdom that this world is based on the wisdom of the Greeks this hidden wisdom, right? I mean, it's it's foolishness point one They say the Epicureans seeking pleasure is your number one goal in life The Bible says seeking God should be your number one goal number two They say do things if they benefit you well what the Bible says is do things that benefit other people Put yourself second care about other people more than yourself and lastly they say, you know, what don't fear God Because it upsets tranquility or peace Tranquility is like peace or quietness and they're saying do not fear God Because you're not going to end up having any tranquility. Well, I thought the Bible said the peace of God which passeth all understanding. I Mean people that are God-fearing people they actually have a peace and tranquility that comes upon them that the world can't offer I Get it by human wisdom. It doesn't make sense doesn't matter. It's still the truth There's a peace of God that passeth all understanding and you want unsafe people can't understand that These Epicureans they can't figure it out. So don't fear God. It's gonna get rid of peace No, actually if you really feared God you would actually have real peace. That's what the Bible teaches They say don't fear God. What does the Bible say? Ecclesiastes 12 verse 13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man Trying to figure out what choices to make in life. Well, God makes it pretty simple fear God Keep his commandments do what he says Right for God shall bring every work in a judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or whether be evil go to 2nd Corinthians 5 2nd Corinthians 5 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 Look if if what you're doing is right, you don't have anything to fear if my kids are obeying me and and look I I spank my kids I Believe in spanking right, you know Ezra not Ezra. Sorry. He's Zeph and Christabel once you start having a lot of kids you forget their names I'm already at that point, you know getting older forgetting their names my birthday's in like a week and a half but It's like, you know what? I spank my two oldest kids But but here's the thing my kids, you know have a fear of me and they understand if they do wrong They're gonna get a spanking but you know most of the day they're not afraid of me at all Because they know they're not doing anything wrong. If you're not doing anything wrong You're not worried about God just coming down and just pouring out his wrath upon you The only people that really have to worry about that are those that are doing wrong So here's the thing. I mean as long as I'm serving God I can have tranquility about my life I mean you have that healthy fear and respect for God realizing He can punish you if you do wrong, but if you're not doing anything wrong, you don't have to worry And so here's the thing my tranquility is not messed up as long as I'm obeying what God says Now if you're living a wicked life, well, yeah, because what they want to do is man We want to be able to get drunk and do drugs and fornicate and we want to have peace Well, good luck figuring that one out That's really gonna happen for you be a drunk and do drugs and destroy your life and your job your marriage your family your kids and Then somehow have peace in your life. I mean, it's madness It doesn't make any sense, but they're trying to figure out how to sin and get away with it. Well, you can't right Second Corinthians 5 verse 7 for we walk by faith not by sight We are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the body and to present be present with the Lord Wherefore we labor that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may receive the things done in his body According to that he hath done whether it be good or bad the Bible says, you know We ought to fear God because us as safe people will appear before the judgment seat of Christ And when it's saying good or bad, it's not saying Sinful and and and righteous what it's saying is things that abide by the fire something that has value So something that's bad is something that gets burned up in the fire symbolically speaking. There's no reward for it But what it's saying is, you know, we ought to fear God And it says in verse 11 knowing therefore the terror of the Lord We persuade men We ought to go soul winning because we're afraid of the Lord we understand God's a God of judgments and Part of it is because we ought to do what God says because we're afraid God commands us We better obey him. But the other thing is this knowing the terror of the Lord Knowing the reality of hell we persuade men. I mean ideally of some have compassion Making a difference you ought to have compassion on the lost But if you don't find that compassion in your hearts Others save with fear. What does that mean? It means you fear them going to hell because unsaved people don't fear going to hell They don't understand that but we realize they're unsaved We fear that and it's like if you don't have compassion to make a difference fear to preach the gospel Right others say with your pulling them out of the fire because you know, they're on their way to hell Right knowing the terror of the Lord knowing the reality of hell we ought to persuade men Go to Galatians 6. We'll close up Galatians chapter 6 See the Bible tells us we should fear God And it's not the only religion that says not to fear God There's there's a lot of different religions that teach that now Bottom line is the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and If you have a religion that teaches you not to fear God, it's gonna arrive at the exact opposite I mean the the biggest one of prominent religions. It's like a big teaching in Buddhism. Do not fear God Right because same sort of thing. It's gonna upset your tranquility Right. So you're gonna have suffering in your life You're gonna be so depressed because you fear God and everything and it's just like well The Bible says that you ought to fear God you got to do what God says You got to have a healthy, you know fear of God in your life and if you're doing what's right You don't have to fear God coming down and raining on you in your life but all of us that are honest would say that are saved people would say there have been times where you knew that there was Something that God would not be happy with what you did and you are afraid, you know Because what does it say in Galatians 6 verse 7 be not deceived God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap and That's a scary verse and it can be a good thing because you know what you're gonna reap in a good way if you do What's right, but if you do what's wrong, you're gonna reap in a bad way And why does it say God is not mocked and not to be deceived? Because God usually doesn't rain down on you immediately Right, usually with sin, it feels like you're getting away with it. God's not punishing you. Well be not deceived God is not mocked and he will punish you for the sins that you've committed And look, here's the thing. You know what these religions and philosophies They can say whatever they want about not fearing God. It doesn't change reality They can feel like well, you know the God I believe in is just a God of peace the God I believe in Would never send somebody to hell the God I believe in would never punish me Yeah, you know what? That's true. The God that you believe in probably is you believe in Santa Claus my friend It's not a real bad Doesn't matter what you believe What matters is what's the truth? I? Mean you can believe a million different things. I mean, it doesn't make any difference Go to the tallest building in Metro Manila Jump off the top and believe that when you hit the ground, you're not gonna die doesn't change reality Doesn't matter what you believe I Mean you believe in a stupid God It's not gonna help you out because guess what your stupid God is not gonna judge you At Judgment Day the real God is What matters is what the truth is and in Acts 17? You got all these these Greek philosophers with all these stupid theories just sitting around and they listen to everything Let's just listen to this person. What does this person have to say? What does this person have to say and they have no guideline? They're just using human wisdom and there's all these groups and these are not the only two groups These are just the specific ones the Bible mentions the Epicureans and the Stoics What the Epicureans taught was you know what what we believe is the big thing in life is seek pleasure It doesn't matter what you believe that's wrong and You seek after pleasure You're gonna be miserable You're gonna hate your life Seek after things that benefit you. Is that what the Bible says the Bible says do things that benefit other people Right, you know one of the great examples is you know when you're raising kids, you know You pour out your time and your heart and your energy into those kids Your life is about your children You spend so much time devoted to your kids and yet, you know what you see a great happiness when you see them I mean just as simple as seeing my son Ezra smile. It's like the greatest joy that comes across me It's just it's it's it's it's unexplainable, but it's just like, you know, you see your children smile You see your children, you know do what I mean just even simple things, you know the other day I was upstairs and and my son runs upstairs. He's like daddy, you know, Christabel is gonna check you out and I was thinking Okay, I don't know what that means But she had like what is it a stethoscope and everything and then she comes up to me and puts it, you know On my heart. I was just like, I mean, I was so happy with her doing that Right, just seeing that they're having fun. They're playing and everything you pour your heart into your kids and it brings you happiness And here's the thing all these philosophies and religions They teach make life about yourself what the Bible teaches you make your life about other people It's gonna bring about a joy that cannot be explained and the world does not have to offer Let's close it close in a word of prayer dear Heavenly Father Thank you for allowing us be here today and Getting to see what the Bible teaches about this and why what the Epicureans believe was false and help us just to Not get weary and well-doing not to get depressed and feel like we're missing out on what the world has to offer Help us realize the greatest place to be is in your will and serving you God. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen I Bring a moment. What is a pitch number one zero five. Oh, it put in a tagalog What the put is a page one zero five page number 105 Say a member put it in a book first NASA put aya Ah, it's our first times I already sing Ah Ah Oh Oh I see my dream You