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Sing to me, that thy goodness, like a letter, I feel more dear to thee. Oh, to honor, Lord, I hear you. Oh, to hear the heart I love. Hear my heart, Lord. Take and seal it, seal it for thy courts of love. Amen. Hello. And let us open our Bibles to Genesis chapter 3. Genesis chapter 3. Genesis chapter 3. Please say amen when you are there. Genesis 3. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise. She took of the fruit thereof, and it eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden at the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I hear thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou was naked? Hath to eat of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou are cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field, upon thy belly shall thou go, and thus shall thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruce thy head, and thou shalt bruce the seed. And unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorter and thy conception. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and the desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened 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 at the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt thou 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. In the sweat of thy face shall thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground. For out of it was thou taken, for thus thou are, and unto thus shall thou return. And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother for a living. Unto Adam also and his wife didst the Lord were to make coals of skins, and clothe them. And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to no good and evil. And now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also this day of life, and eat, and live forever, therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man, and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden, he drew beams, and a flaming sword, which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. Let us pray. We thank our Father for your words, for the Bible. And we ask you that you give us also understanding, that you help us to apply, or to think that we listen, and give your might and power over the preacher. We pray in his name. Amen. Alright, we're here in Genesis chapter 3, and we're going to be preaching against the false philosophy of race loyalty. I'm going to be talking about racism, and nationalism, and things such as that. And, you know, firstly, actually, look at verse number 20. That's what the Bible says in Genesis 3, verse 20. And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And point number one is that we're of the same race. All of us in this room, we are of the human race. You know, there's no point in even saying that word race, because we're of the same. Right? We're the same. We are different than animals. And obviously, look at teaching like evolution, and these worldly concepts, and we don't believe in those things. But what evolution teaches, whether you're aware of it or not aware of it, what they teach is that basically some people are more evolved than other people. And what they teach is that white people are better than everybody else. That is what evolution teaches. They teach that black people are more monkey-like, and then white people are more evolved, and I'm better than anybody in this room except maybe Brother Mateus. Right? That's what evolution teaches. Now, I don't understand how anybody who was not white would believe in evolution, to be honest, because what it teaches is that white people are better than everybody else. And obviously, racism is going to exist. There's all these things in this world. But people try to attach racism and say that the Bible actually justifies it, and there's actually a lot of racist ideas that come from the Bible. But what the Bible says in verse 20 is that Eve is the mother of all living. All of us come from Adam and Eve. All of us. Go to Genesis 9. Genesis 9. Genesis 9. Look, honestly, we don't really know what Adam and Eve look like. All I would say is Adam looked like a man and Eve looked like a woman, but what was their skin color? I have no idea. Right? What did their language sound like? I have no idea. Right? It doesn't matter. Obviously, as we look at the world today, if you took a random person in China, it would probably look a lot different than a random person in a country in Africa. Okay? We understand that. But at the same time, we all go back to Adam and Eve, back in the book of Genesis. Genesis 9, verse 18. And the sons of Noah that went forth through the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Ham is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah, and of them was the whole earth overspread. So, look, all of us go back to Adam and Eve, but if you want to go more recent, all of us come from Shem, Ham, and Japheth and their wives, because these are the sons of Noah. All of us come from that. Now, some people look at this, and they'll say things like, Well, you know what? Shem was a white man, and Ham was a black man, and Japheth was everything in between, or whatever. They'll say Japheth was white, and that's ridiculous. Right? I'd imagine since they're brothers, they probably look pretty similar to one another. Now, over time, there's been a big variation that has taken place of people that lived in different locations, but we're all still human beings. And the Bible says, Of them was the whole earth overspread. So no matter what country you're from, no matter what your skin color, your hair color, your eye color, we all go back to right here off the ark Shem, Ham, and Japheth. What's interesting is verse 19 basically speaks against this idea of racism, and yet people take this chapter to come up with a very racist idea, and they'll say that the curse of Ham was having black skin. Now, notice what the Bible says here in Genesis 9, verse 20. Genesis 9, verse 20. And Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his younger son had done on to him. Now, this is a very debated story, and there's a lot of different opinions, and I'm sure in this room there's a lot of different opinions, and that's perfectly fine because it's a vague story. There's not a lot of information. I would say my opinion is probably not the prominent one here, and it's okay if you have a different opinion. I think it's pretty clear that the younger son is Canaan and not Ham, which is going to change your perspective because son in the Bible is not just Ezra and Zephaniah. It's actually your grandsons also. So the youngest son at this time was Canaan, which is why the curse comes on Canaan and not on Ham. I don't know why it's called the curse of Ham because it comes upon Canaan. So when I look at what Ham did, I believe Ham covered for what his son did, but I believe the word saw in verse 23, when they saw not their father's nakedness, their faces were backward. I believe the word saw is the same meaning in verse 22, where it's literally talking about what they see and not more than that. But I'm okay if you have a different opinion. That's perfectly fine. You say, Brother Sucky, I think it's Ham. I don't think it's Canaan. That's fine. Whatever your opinion is. Here's the thing, though. You can't look at the story and say the curse upon Canaan was black skin. See, I'm okay if you have different opinions on this section. I've heard great preachers that have different opinions, and that's fine. I'm sure many people have a different opinion than me. But if your opinion is the curse of Canaan, black skin, okay, you've got something wrong with you. And look, I don't quickly label people as a racist, but if that's your opinion, you're probably a racist. Right? It's just like to say, well, the curse is black skin. It's like, where would you ever come up with that in verse 25? And he said, Cursed be Canaan. A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. But he said, Brother Sucky, he's a servant of servants, and black people have been slaves through the years. Through the years, there's proof that he became a black man. Okay, that's just called, if you believe something, you can figure some Bible verse to come up and support what you believe. No matter how crazy your belief is, there's no indication that the curse upon Canaan is black skin. Go to Genesis 4. Genesis chapter 4. Genesis chapter 4. You say, Brother Sucky, then what do you believe the curse is? I believe the curse upon Canaan is that he's going to be a servant. That's what it says. A servant of servants. That's the curse that he's going to be a servant to his brethren. The curse is not a skin color. I mean, it literally tells you what the curse is. He's going to be a servant of servants. That's what the curse is. It's not black skin. They also go to Genesis 4 and try to put racism here as well. Genesis 4 verse 15. Look, and obviously I'm not sure how all Baptist preachers preach here in the Philippines on various things, but this is a big thing coming from the US where they'll basically, especially in the past, as they try to justify slavery through the years, and they'll say, well, here's proof that white people are better than black people. That's not what the Bible teaches. Genesis 4 verse 15. And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. And you know what people say the mark upon Cain is? What a lot of people preach? Black skin? I mean, isn't it obvious? He said a mark. What else could it be but black skin? Right? I mean, that's ridiculous. It's like you're never going to read the Bible and then walk away. And here's what's so stupid about the one in Genesis 4. We all come from Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Of them was the whole earth overspread, and they're going to look pretty similar to one another, so it would be ridiculous to go to Genesis 4 and say the curse is black skin. I mean, religions like Mormonism, they teach things like that, but there have been Baptists through the years that teach the same thing. Now, turn in your Bible to Acts 17. Acts 17. Acts chapter 17. Now, in the 19th century, Charles Darwin wrote his famous book, The Origin of Species. And you know what? I believe the reason why it became so prominent and popular is because it was right around the time of the Civil War in the United States. And of course, you know, regardless of your understanding of the Civil War in America, I'm not an expert at wars or history, really, but one of the big issues was slaves, right? Black people being slaves to white people. That was one of the big issues, regardless of what your opinion is, that was a big issue. Well, it's not really hard to see why the book, The Origin of Species, became popular because that book is an extremely racist book. Back in that time period when you wrote a book, oftentimes the books would have very long titles, and they would give you an abridged or shortened version of the title. Now, we know it as The Origin of Species. That's not the name of the book. That is an abridged version. The origin of species by means of natural selection were the preservation of favored races in the struggle for life. You know what the book is about? White people are better than black people. And it's like black people are the least evolved, Filipinos are somewhere in between, and I'm the most evolved. That's what the book's about. That's what evolution taught. That's why it became prominent because during the Civil War, slavery was a big issue. Things like racism was something that was very talked about. The book became prominent because it justified white people having slaves. Now, look, obviously in the Bible it talks about being servants, and there's a system, and it's too big of a rabbit trail to go on, where basically if you couldn't pay for something, you basically sold yourself into slavery because you had to pay it back. It'd be like you go to a restaurant, you get a big bill and you can't pay it. They make you work to pay it off. And that actually makes sense where basically you get a big debt, you've got to pay it off. But the Bible does not justify slavery or having slaves, as you know in modern society would talk about it. But that book became prominent because it was a justification to have slaves. Why does it not make sense? Well, because we're of the same race. We're humans. We're same, right? Obviously in this room people have different skin color, people have different hair color, people have different eye colors. We all go back to Shem, Ham, and Japheth off the ark. Acts 17 verse 24. Acts 17 verse 24. 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 giveth to all life and breath and all things, and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed in the bounds of their habitation. The Bible says he's made of one blood all nations in the earth. Whether you're from the Philippines, whether you're from America, whatever country you're from, we're of the same blood. We all go back to Shem and Ham and Japheth. And it's like people have this sort of, I mean there's a lot of weird and warped ideas through the years, but some people would have ideas that evolution, like black people evolved over here and white people evolved over here, and really weird ideas. Or they'll say that you can see the transition from monkey to black person, and then there's a transition where their skin gets lighter, and now they're white. Right? That is absurd. That is not what the Bible teaches. Go to Romans 2. Romans 2. Romans 2. And here's a quote from the book where it says this, and this is kind of Mokulumong style of writing, so it's a bit confusing, but it says this from the book, at some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate and replace throughout the world the savage races, referring basically to black people and those that are darker skinned. At the same time, the anthropomorphous apes, you know, those are the black people, as Professor Schofhausen has remarked, will no doubt be exterminated. The break will then be rendered wider, for it will intervene between man and a more civilized state, as we may hope, than the Caucasian and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as at present between the Negro or Australian and the gorilla. So the black person, the Australian and the gorilla, they're one and the same. Right? That's what the book teaches, and white people are more evolved. Now, look, evolution is, honestly, I'm not just saying this as a Bible-believing Christian, but evolution is literally the dumbest thing in the world. I don't care how many people believe it, it's just like, I've always, I have honestly never believed in evolution, even before I was saved. I always thought it was stupid. I was just like, you've got to be kidding me. You're telling me we came from, that there's, you know, whales and pigs, and we just, it's just like, that sounds like a Disney movie, it doesn't sound like real life. It sounds like a fairy tale, but yet half the world believes in it. It's like, I mean, are people crazy? It's like, why would you believe something like this? But a lot of people believe this. Right? And here's the thing. I mean, I don't try to get super philosophical, especially about something that's false, and it's not real, but if you believe in evolution, there would always be people with different skin color because some people are going to be on that chain of evolving, and so there'd basically be monkeys whose grandkids would be black. There'd always be black and white people. It doesn't even make any sense. It's like their logic is gone. It doesn't make any sense. You'd still have all these intermediate people on the way to becoming white. Right? It's absurd. Romans chapter two, so point number one, we're of the same race. We're of the human race. Point number two, your loyalty should be based on godliness. Not on skin color, not on what country someone's from, not on what province somebody is from, but based on godliness. Does somebody love the Lord? The Bible says in Romans two, Romans chapter two, verse six, who will render to every man according to his deeds to them who by patient, continuous, and well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life, but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth but obey in righteousness indignation and wrath. Romans two, verse nine, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first and also of the Gentile. But glory, honor, and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first and also the Gentile. Now, in this passage, you're really looking at salvation because those that are saved can only do good, and those that are unsaved can only do bad, spiritually speaking. Obviously, we all still sin, but at Judgment Day, none of your sins are going to come up. But it says basically whether you're Jew or Gentile, it doesn't matter, right? And then it says in verse 11, for there is no respect of persons with God. And what he's basically saying is God's not a racist. He doesn't care what your ethnicity is. He doesn't care who your grandparents were. He doesn't care what country you come from. What he cares about is do you obey his commandments? Do you love God? Number one, he cares that you believe on Christ for salvation. And number two, he expects you to obey his commandments. It doesn't matter what country you're from. It doesn't matter where you're born. It doesn't matter at all in the eyes of God what your skin color is. Well, people will say, but in the Bible, light is good and darkness is bad. It's like, you've got to be very careful when you use symbolism and then try to go off and then attach that to skin color. It's like, yeah, you know what, light is good and darkness is bad. Trying to attach that to the skin color of people is ridiculous, right? I guess this is a bad shirt. It's dark, right? My pants are black, you know, no longer wear black. Men, I'm evil. Black, black, black. Right? Turn your Bible to Acts 10. Acts 10. Acts 10. Now look, obviously I understand, you know what, if people have similar backgrounds to you, you might have things to talk to them about. I mean, if you're from the same province, you speak the same language, there's similarities. I mean, obviously, I understand that. Some people you can have an attachment to. But here's the thing, you know what, let me give you an example. When we first moved to the Philippines, for the first couple of weeks we stayed at an Airbnb in Ermita because we weren't really sure where the church services were going to be. And you know what, we stayed at the Eton Bayview Park, I can't remember, it's near Rizal Park. But there would be times I'd be going up on the elevator with some scummy perverted white guy from America or Europe. Do you really think that I had anything to talk to them about? Because yeah, let's face it, a lot of people that are white, they're here for perverted reasons, especially in Ermita. It's like, I have nothing in common with them. It's like, they wanted to talk to me, it's like, I don't really want to talk to you. Right? It's just like, you say, but they're also from America. Who cares? I don't care where people are from. I care about people that love God. I mean, I care about this, I mean, look, if at our church in the future there's somebody from another country regardless of what country it is, I am happy to go sowing with them if they love God. It doesn't matter where they're from. What matters is, do they love God? Right? Because He's made of one blood, all nations to dwell on the earth, the Bible says. Acts chapter 10, verse 1. And let me say this, this is an easy thing to, you hear this, it makes sense and everything, but imagine if you lived in the 1940s, and let's say you met somebody who was saved from Japan that really loved God, which was kind of like the enemy of the Philippines, also in America was like the biggest enemy was Japan probably, not actually Germany, I would say. You know, and it's just like, there's that, it's kind of like Jonah going to Assyria, where it's like God tells him to go, he's like, I don't want to go. And then he tries to run away from God. God's faster than you, right? But you say, why? Because he didn't like the Assyrian people. And look, you know, it'd be hard in the 1940s, let's say you met someone from Japan who loved God that was no longer living in the country, I guarantee you a lot of people would look down on that person simply because of what country they're from. But if they love God, what difference does it make where they're from? What difference does it make if they're from, I mean, do people look down on Ruth because she comes from Moab? Would that have been fair to her? Because she loves God, who cares where she's from? What matters is, do you love God? What matters is, you're serving God. And look, I preached against Haiti last week in Voodoo. If somebody from our church is from Haiti in the future, praise the Lord for it if they love God. I don't care that they came with some false religion in their country, that's not them. They love God, that's what matters. It doesn't matter what your skin color is, it doesn't matter where you're born or what country you're from. Now I grew up in, I was not born in West Virginia, I was born in Iowa, but I grew up in West Virginia. And before my wife and I moved to California, I was curious and I typed in on Google basically the most ethnically diverse states. Because California is known to be a very diverse state. I mean, you probably know a lot of Filipinos that live in California. But it's not just Filipinos, there's people from Russia, people from India, I mean people from all over. Especially in California. California was voted the second most ethnically diverse state behind Hawaii. Okay? The least ethnically diverse state, West Virginia. Where I grew up. And I'm not surprised because when I grew up, it's like I remember there was one Hispanic kid in one of my school classes. Until I was like 12 years old, I had never seen a black person in real life. And America's the melting pot. I'd never seen an Asian in real life. And I remember we went to a baseball game in Pittsburgh, we were watching the Atlanta Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates, and I was just staring at black people because I'd never seen it. I mean, I watched Michael Jordan on TV and watched all these basketball players and I was a huge sports fan. But I'd never seen them in real life. And then all of a sudden my parents had to stop me like, you can't stare at the people, right? It could be dangerous. So I grew up in West Virginia. I'd also never seen a homosexual until I visited Pittsburgh. Because in a small town, it just didn't exist when I was a kid. Right? And I come from a very non-ethnically diverse state, especially in the past. So the idea of racism, I mean, many pastors would preach either directly or indirectly against black people. It's a very, very common thing. And they would try to justify it in the Bible. West Virginia was in the dividing point of the Civil War between the unions and confederates. A lot of famous battles took place right in West Virginia, Virginia area. But notice what it says in Acts 10. And the Jews, after Jesus Christ, they have a messed up concept. Those that are saved, those with Jewish ethnicity or blood, they have a messed up concept of what God views about races or identities or ethnicities because they would look down on people from other countries simply because of where they're from. Right? I mean, that's what you see all throughout the New Testament. It says in Acts 10, verses 1 and 2, There is a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, a devout man and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people and prayed to God all the way. And here's what I would say. Here's a man that fears God. What difference does it make where he's from? Right? He fears God. He's giving alms to the people. He's praying to God. Doesn't matter where he's from. And in fact, they ought to be impressed with somebody like this because if you grow up with a false religion and yet you want to serve God, that's actually pretty impressive. But a lot of people would have looked down on someone and actually Peter gets criticized for preaching the gospel to Cornelius. It's like, you know, how could you do this? Right? They had a messed up concept and they had this idea and, you know, it's hard for me to fully understand, but say people would have this idea, it's like they missed the memo. The Jews have been rejected as a chosen people. He's not using a nation anymore. But they had a messed up standpoint where it's like, hey, here's someone who's saved. Praise God. Here's someone who's saved and Jewish. It's like a double praise God. Right? Now, a lot of Baptists, they teach the same thing. They're like, double praise God. It's like if they're saved and Jewish, praise God. Right? They got that ethnicity. It's like, you know, the Bible, though, says that we're all of one blood. And I don't want to go through this whole story for sake of time, but go to verse 13. We'll just kind of look at bits and pieces because God allows two things to enter into Peter's mind here, two concepts where he understands these things together. And Peter gets hungry and it says here in verse number 13, And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter, kill and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. Now, believe it or not, Peter has the right response in verse 14 based on his understanding because there were unclean animals in the Old Testament. And he is unaware. He hasn't figured it out, you know, because it's easy for us to look back and it's very easy to understand which laws apply and which don't. If you're living during the transition, though, it would be kind of hard. I mean, you're the first person who says you can eat unclean animals. What's this new doctrine we hear? Right? We can eat pig? It's like, what? I mean, they would have looked at it as like a new doctrine. And for us, it's very easy. The laws that apply are all moral laws. Thou shalt not kill still applies. All moral laws. But there are certain laws that were symbolic of Jesus Christ. And Jesus just makes it very clear or basically says, you know what? This no longer applies, right? There is no unclean and clean animal. Now, I will say this. If you look at the unclean and clean animals, it's actually very healthy not to eat the unclean animals. It's not sinful. So you can't say it's sinful to eat unhealthy food but the unclean animals are actually pretty unhealthy compared to the clean animals. And so it was a law in the Old Testament that symbolized Jesus Christ. It was actually a helpful law, though, because honestly, the unclean animals are just not as healthy. But you can eat whatever you want. Right? I mean, it doesn't matter to me. You can eat whatever you want. We all have our preferences because there is no common. I mean, there is no clean and unclean animal. You can eat whatever you want according to this. And the voice spake on them again the second time. What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice. And the vessel was received up again into heaven. Now, while Peter doubted himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house and stood before the gate. Now, here's the thing. The Bible speaks about how Peter says we have a more sure word of prophecy, the word of God, than any vision, anything that you see. And so as Peter saw this, he's really thinking, and what he's trying to figure out is, I mean, is this legitimate? He's trying to think about, what does the Bible say? And he comes to the understanding of what the Scriptures say because he's trusting the word of God over any vision or anything that he sees. If you're Peter in this situation, you can understand how he's confused because he's not able to eat unclean animals, and all of a sudden he hears this vision. But the question is, what does the Bible say? Because if it doesn't match what the Bible said, then you've got to figure out something else, right? And so he's thinking about it, and then he realizes, and then right at this time it says this in verse 17, Now while Peter doubted himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house and stood before the gate, and called and asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, were lodged there. While Peter thought in the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them. Doubting nothing, for I have sent them. And God uses this situation to help Peter understand that there's certain laws that no longer apply. There's no dietary laws anymore of clean versus unclean animals. Those are done away. I mean, obviously it's wrong to drink alcohol, but we're saying in terms of clean and unclean animals, based on what the Bible says in the Mosaic law, that's done away. You can eat whatever you want because God's cleansed it. And he also helps him understand, hey, by the way, the Jews are not better than other people. Because right at this time, he's told to go preach the gospel. It's like, don't doubt anything. And he's like, well, I'm preaching the gospel to someone from a different ethnicity, which was something that was very frowned upon during this time period. Drop down in your Bible to verse 34. Then Peter opened his mouth and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. But in every nation, him that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. It's like, you got it right, Peter. Why does God care what nation you're from? But before that, he was messed up on this. He thought it actually mattered. And you see this all throughout the book of Acts and the New Testament. They have a messed up understanding. Those that were of Jewish blood that believed on Christ, they had a messed up understanding. And they would do things like this. We should keep the laws of Judaism, but we believe on Christ. Now look, of course the moral law we keep, right, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal. I mean, those that are written upon your heart, the moral law. But it's like, it doesn't matter what country someone's from. There's no such thing as clean and unclean animals. And what you're seeing here with Peter is saying is, your loyalty should be based on godliness, not on your ethnicity or where you're from or what country you're from. Go in your Bible to Romans 15. Romans 15. And he said, Brother Stuckey, why is it that Jesus Christ said to go and preach the gospel only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel? Well, number one, the last thing he said is, preach the gospel to the ends of the world. Right? I mean, he said to everybody, every creature, starting churches everywhere. But it was kind of like, here's your last chance to the Jewish people. Right? It's kind of like, you know, it's not the exact same thing, but as we go soul winning, we put you in a certain area. Like, this is the area you're going to preach to. And that's the area Jesus said to preach to. It's kind of like a last chance for them. But it's not like they weren't allowed to preach the gospel to someone who's not Jewish. Right? An unsaved person says, what must I do to be saved? Figure it out on your own. Right? I mean, that's not what the Bible teaches. See, loyalty is based not on your race. It should be based on how godly somebody is. Romans 15, verse 8. Now, I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm the promises made onto the fathers. Now, Paul the Apostle, who wrote Romans, he's the one who's really evangelizing the Gentile world, and he's making it a point to say that these laws, they don't apply. And he's basically saying people misunderstand the promises of God. It's like Christ came, he died for all. Number one, he's always died for all. Everyone who has always existed, Christ died and paid for their sins. Regardless of what country you're from. But people just had a messed up view, and then Paul's correcting that in the book of Romans. Now, go to Numbers 36. Numbers 36. Numbers chapter 36. Number one, we're of the same race. Number two, I mean, there is no race. We're humans. Number two, loyalty should be based on godliness, not your skin color or where you're from. It doesn't matter where people are from. What matters is, do they love God? I am happy to go soul winning with any man at our church that loves God. Any saved person at our church that loves God, I'm happy to go soul winning with you. I don't care where you're from. If somebody starts coming to our church that's from another country, you know, praise the Lord. I don't care where they're from. What I care about is, are they saved? Do they love God? That's what matters. Let me give you some examples of racism attached to the Bible. We looked at the stories of Genesis. But some of the things that you'll sometimes hear people preach against. And we'll look at two different examples, but honestly. And let me give you another example that I think is humorous. There's this big political thing in the U.S. over the last couple of years. Black lives matter. Who's heard of that? Black lives matter. Black lives matter. So they would start asking conservative politicians this question. Do black lives matter? Or do all lives matter? All lives matter. You're a racist. It's just like, how can you be a racist when you say all lives matter? Wouldn't it be racist to say only black lives matter? But they'll say you're a racist. And look, I'm even careful with some of the things I say because people go really crazy on issues of race if you don't say things or think the things they believe or whatever. But it's like if you say all lives matter, not just black lives, you're a racist. Or a decade ago when people in America didn't vote for Barack Obama. Oh, it's because you're a white person and he's black. Number one, he's half and half. He's half black, half white. But it's just like because you don't vote for someone, it's because you're a racist. And they throw out that race card all the time. Do black lives matter? All lives. And they want you to say, I mean, a white person's going to stand up and say black lives. Only black lives. It's like that's ridiculous. But that's the crazy world we live in where they've got everything in reverse on like every topic. One of the things that you'll hear preached against in churches, I'm not necessarily sure how much here, but is interracial marriage. Sometimes you'll hear people preach against interracial marriage. That is a racist idea and the Bible never says it's wrong to marry someone of a different race. And by the way, I believe we're of the same race, so all of us are marrying someone of the same race. But what they mean by that is as a white person, don't marry someone from another place. If you're from the Philippines or Asian, don't marry someone who's black or white or whatever. And they say you've got to marry within your race. Is that what the Bible teaches? But they'll go to Numbers 36 to try to prove their point. Numbers 36 verse 5. I'm telling you, I've heard many Baptist preachers in West Virginia preach against marrying someone that is not white. Many different ones preach it. It's a very common teaching. It's very common in the U.S. It is the melting pot, the U.S. people from all around the world. And many people have this sort of idea or mindset. Numbers 36 verse 5. And Moses commanded the children of Israel, according to the word of the Lord, saying, The tribe of the sons of Joseph hath said, Well, this is the thing which the Lord doth command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them marry to whom they think best, only to the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry. Now here's a specific story, and I'm pretty familiar with this because when people ask me, you know, ask my wife, or they ask me about my wife, you know, if she has brothers or sisters, I say she's like a daughter of Zelophehad. You say, What do you mean? She's one of five sisters, no brothers. That's what I mean. Because in this story, there's five sisters, there's no brothers. She has four sisters, she has no brothers. And in this story, you have these five daughters of Zelophehad. Well, the problem is the inheritance is going to be passed down through the sons. And since there are no sons, they're going to lose their inheritance. Because remember in the Old Testament, it mattered what your tribe was because you had specific lots of land depending on where you're from. And so if you don't have any sons, you could end up losing that, right? You could lose your family name. You know, you could see the situation. So they come before God because they're not sure what the answer is. And look, that's the proper response. If there's something you don't know, you go to God to try to find the answer. You ask God, and God gives them the answers on this. And then he says in verse 6, This is the thing which the Lord doth command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them marry to whom they think best, only to the family of the tribe of their fathers shall they marry. Now, there's a specific example here because of the fact they have various lots of land and various tribes. This is a specific situation. But people look at this story and they say, well, see, if you're of the tribe of white people, don't marry someone of the tribe of Africa. Right? That's what they'll say. It's like, well, here's what's funny about this story. I would have figured if you read Numbers 36, you've already read Numbers 12. I mean, 36 is after 12. Am I correct? Go to Numbers 12. Because if you're going to form doctrine on stuff, instead of just scanning to support whatever you want, just read the whole Bible and find out what the Bible says. Numbers chapter 12. Numbers 12, verse 1. And you don't necessarily hear this preaching so much in California because it's a very diverse area. In West Virginia, it's pretty common. Right? Where it's just like, well, if you're white, you've got to marry someone who's white. Obviously, my wife is from the Philippines. But here's the truth. These people that preach against interracial marriage, they're actually not against a white person marrying someone from Asia. What they're against is a white person marrying a black person. That's the truth. They're not against an interracial marriage. They're just against a specific type because, after all, the mark of Cain was black skin. Right? I mean, according to them. That's the truth. They don't say that, but that's the reality where it's like, as a white person, you just don't marry a black person. That's what they would say. And it's just like, this is just kind of a tradition going all the way back to the Civil War that's just kind of passed down from family to family, where it's like, hey, you don't marry this person. But what does the Bible say? Numbers 12, verse 1. And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because the Ethiopian woman whom he had married, for he had married an Ethiopian woman. I don't believe this Ethiopian woman is the first wife of Moses because it would be pretty random in Numbers 12 to just mention she's an Ethiopian woman. We don't really know what happened to the first wife, to be honest. The Bible's pretty vague about the marriage of Moses. It's kind of confusing what exactly took place. This is another woman. Now, here's the thing. With a woman from Ethiopia, Ethiopia is very linked to what country in the Bible? Egypt. Well, obviously, Egypt were the enemy. Those were the biggest enemy of God's people dating back to this time because they fled from Egypt. It had a wicked religion. So if you married someone from Egypt, immediately people would kind of scratch their head and say, a woman from Egypt? A woman from Ethiopia? But this kind of goes back to the idea, does it matter what country they're from if they love God? Look, if you marry someone from Haiti that grew up in a voodoo religion but they believe on Christ and reject voodoo, what difference does it make? If you marry somebody from India that's rejected Hinduism and Jainism and all those religions, what difference does it make if they're from India? If somebody grows up in an Arab country, in a Muslim country, but they get saved and they believe on Christ and reject the false religion, it doesn't matter where they're from. It doesn't matter at all. What matters is, do they love God? Because when we're looking at families in the Bible, the biggest family you should have a connection with is your spiritual family, your brothers and your sisters in Christ. And if you believe on Christ, you are my brother or sister in Christ. That's the family that you should be loyal to. She's an Ethiopian woman, and notice what it says in verse 2. And they said, Have the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Have he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it. Now the man Moses was very meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth. So the brother and sister of Moses are criticizing him, and I would say they're criticizing two other people. And the thing that they're looking at is the fact that he married an Ethiopian woman. And what they're saying is, Hey, God's spoken through us too. They want more leadership and authority. And this kind of goes back to the idea, well, here's the thing. I mean, God chose Moses. He didn't choose you, Aaron. Just live with it. Right? Don't be mad about it. I mean, he chose your brother. You can still serve God. You don't have to be Moses. It's okay. And I mean, Aaron was a good man in the Bible. He did a lot of good things. But here's the truth about Aaron. He had a chance at leadership for a very short time. And literally, it could not have gone worse. The golden calf. Right? I mean, a couple years ago, I was gone from the Philippines for about three weeks when I visited back in the U.S. Well, I mean, if you double that, you got basically the time of Aaron. You know, I'm thankful that when I got back, there was no golden calf. I believe the implication of that chapter is fornication and drunkenness. I mean, there wasn't all these crazy things going on in the congregation and all this crazy CCM music or whatever. Right? Because of the sound of the noise of wars, the Bible says. But that's what took place with Aaron. It's like, alright, just kind of put it in. This calf kind of came out. Wow, that's amazing. That's a lot of talent that you have. Right? And it's just like Aaron had his chance to lead. And you know what? He's just an example of someone who's a good man who was just not fit to be the leader. He was better off not being the leader. Another example in the Bible is King Saul. Because when King Saul started, he was a very humble person. The Bible specifically points it out. He was little in his own sight. Even though he was the tallest man and people looked at him and respected him. But he looked at himself as being very humble. And then he becomes very arrogant when he's a leader. Right? Because he just wasn't good as a leader. He was a good man before that. He did a lot of good things, but he became very arrogant once he was a leader. And Aaron failed as a chance at a leader. It says in verse number 4, And the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forth. And he said, Hear now my words. If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in division and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches. And the similitude of the Lord shall ye behold. Wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed. And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle, and behold, Miriam became leprous. Why is it that Miriam gets this punishment? Because they're speaking against Moses for interracial marriage, right? How dare you marry somebody from Ethiopia and they're trying to look down on Moses. They're trying to find something to tear him apart. These are actually saved people. And saved people can be full of bitterness and things like that. Let me just be honest. If somebody ever criticizes me or my wife to you or criticizes the leadership of this church, you should have a massive just red flag toward that person and be very cautious about that person. Do I do a perfect job running this church? Absolutely not. But why would someone be waiting to try to find fault in me? Like, what's your purpose? And if somebody's doing that all throughout the Bible, what do you see? Well, that's actually a big red flag, right, with Korah and people like that. And I'm not saying that means a person's a bad person because here, Aaron and Miriam are not bad people, but at the very least, it means their heart is not right. Now, of course, we're not talking about something major. I mean, if a pastor, you know, commits a major sin, you can be disqualified for the ministry. We understand that. But if you're just trying to find fault in the leadership, like, oh, I saw Brother Stuckey lose his temper the other day. Did you see it? I'm sure you've seen me lose my temper. If you've been here for three years, I've lost many chess matches and arm wrestling matches and table tennis matches. Yeah, I've lost my temper a lot. I was in a really good mood last week, and then all of a sudden in a really bad mood in just, like, 20 minutes, right? It happens, okay? But my point is this, joking aside that, yeah, you know what, I'll make mistakes. Of course. And did you know that every boss and every leader makes mistakes sometimes? Anyway, here's the thing, though. If you've got a good boss or a good leader, then you know what, you should look over and think, hey, you know what, we're all in bad moods sometimes. All the time we make mistakes. I have to make a lot of decisions as the leader of churches. I don't always make the right decision. Right? I mean, isn't it logical that if you have to make a lot of decisions, you're not always going to make the right decisions? Sometimes I make decisions and they're wrong, and then I adjust for the future. I mean, it is what it is, right? I mean, of course, everybody makes wrong decisions. It's like, but why are Aaron and Miriam trying to point this out? Because they've got something wrong with their heart, right? Now, go to Revelation 3. Revelation 3. We'll look at one more example of racism that you see in the Bible, where people have this racist idea, but this over-obsession with the Jews is actually racist. This idea that the Jews are above other people is actually racist. What's interesting is they'll say, I'm racist for what I'm preaching. In fact, we might get a YouTube strike. The only YouTube strike we've gotten from a sermon is a sermon I preached against the Jewish holiday Purim, and I just read what they do at their holiday, and that got us a strike. It's like, I'm sorry they got, like, a satanic holiday. It just is what it is, right? But this over-obsession that, you know, Baptists have with the Jews and other people have with the Jews is actually racist, because you're saying one group of people is better than other people just because of their blood. Is that what the Bible says? Revelation 3, verse 9. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Right? I mean, what the Bible says here to the churches, he says in verse 9, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie. People that have this blood where they can trace back their roots, like, we're Jewish, but they reject Jesus Christ, he's like, I will make them come and worship before thy feet, and know that I have loved thee, and not them. Right? You know who God loves? Those that believe on Christ. Not someone who's got a Jewish last name because of their ancestry. And here's the thing, if somebody has Jewish ancestry or Jewish ethnicity, and they believe on Christ, they're not going to be offended by what it say. Because they're going to say, yeah, you know what, it's a demonic religion. Judaism is a false religion. But this idea that Jews are above other people, that's actually racist because you're saying they're better than us because of their blood or their ethnicity. Right? Turn in your Bible to Galatians 3. By the way, God didn't look at the Jews above other people in the Old Testament either because of their blood. He chose a nation because they were more obedient, and that's the group of people he used, but it's based on obedience. It wasn't based on their skin color or ethnicity. Because there's great characters in the Old Testament that were not of Jewish blood. We mentioned Ruth is a great example. You know, what a godly woman. And it's just like, are you going to look down on her because of where she was born? Where she's from? That's ridiculous. But a lot of people have this idea, this obsession with Jewish people. When I was in Sacramento, we had a situation. We had to change our locks at our church building. There's a lot of locks and everything. So we were trying to find a locksmith, and we were getting various quotes. And they would come out sometimes and give you an estimate and go back. And this person came out, and he gives us the estimate. And we were really in a rush to get something. So honestly, even though we got overcharged, we had to get something done quickly. I don't remember the exact situation, but I remember we had to change the locks because there was problems with theft or something like that. But this person, you know, he gives me the quote, and he says, Oh, by the way, just wanted to let you know, you can trust me. I'm a Jew. I'm just thinking, well, that's so much better than being a Christian. Right? That's so much better than being Baptist. I mean, you're a Jew? Wow, let me just pull out the red carpet for you. Just this puffed up idea of yourself because I'm a Jew. But you know what that shows? Apparently, most churches look at that as a good thing. Hey, I'm a Jew. Wow, that's great. You know, I'm just a Christian. I just believe on Christ, but you reject Christ. That's great. It's crazy. Right? But I'm a racist for saying this. I'm an anti-Semite because I'm preaching Jews are not better than anybody else. That's the exact opposite of racism. I'm saying all people are the same. And look, there's somebody in Verity Baptist in Sacramento. They grew up Jewish and they rejected Judaism and they believe on Christ. You think I look down on that person because they've got Jewish blood. But I don't look up on them either. They believe on Christ. They're equally my brother or I should say sister in Christ as someone who's from whatever country. It doesn't matter because we're of one blood. It's like this messed up idea about the Old Testament. You know what? They were chosen because they were the ones being obedient. It wasn't this unconditional thing. Right? I mean, we're looking at the book of Ezra. They got basically 70 years of detention or time out. Right? They get to return and then when they crucify Christ, it's kind of like, well, that's the last straw. And actually, we're short on time, so just go to Matthew 21. And I'll just quote you where the Bible says, There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither bond nor free. There is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. What matters is, do you believe on Christ? It's not about Jew or Greek or American or Filipino. It doesn't matter where you're from. What matters is, do you believe on Christ? That's what the Bible teaches. And look, to me this is very obvious in the Bible, but you know what? Most Baptist churches have this weird idea about Israel. They've got this obsession where it's like, we've got to help them build the third temple to prepare for the Antichrist. Like, what are they thinking? It's like no understanding of the end times at all. It's like, yeah, you know what? Cyrus helped them build the second temple, but then they got rejected and God never said, give them another chance. But people say, well, that came 70 years ago when apparently 70 years ago all Jews turned to Christ and they got rid of all their sin. Is that what the Bible teaches? Right? Matthew 21, we'll close up here. Matthew 21, verse 42. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures the stone which the builders rejected? The same is become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing and is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore say unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. Because, you know, there's these other parables that are mentioned, such as basically, you know, you got the workers, they're expecting the fruit and then there is no fruit. And they're killing the servants that are coming to get the fruit. Which is like basically someone who's preaching the Word of God that is saying, hey, let's go out soul winning. Let's go out and preach the gospel. And they get mad at the person that is saying, hey, let's get the fruit. And the idea is the Jews were meant to evangelize the world. It's hard to evangelize the world when you develop this attitude, we're better than other people and therefore we're not going to come into their house and preach the gospel. Right? And once again, at the end, when Jesus Christ leaves his earthly ministry after the resurrection, he said, go and preach the gospel to everybody. Start churches everywhere is essentially Acts 1, verse 8. To the ends of the world. Right? And it says here in verse 43, verse 44, And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever shall fall it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. Here are unsaved people and they realize Jesus is preaching against us. He's saying we're being rejected as a people. We're being removed. And it says, but when they sought to lay hands on him, not meaning shake his hand but kill him, they feared the multitude because they took him for a profit. They want to get rid of Jesus for saying they are going to be replaced. Now what's funny is unsaved people living during this time period, they understood. But in 2022, you have saved Baptists. They've got the Holy Spirit of God inside of them. And you can read the same thing and I have no idea what they would say is the interpretation. It's like the Jews have been replaced. They've been removed. Oh, you're an anti-Semite. You're racist. How could you say that, Brother Stuckey? How could you look down on them? Look, I'm not looking down on them because we preach the gospel to everybody. But I don't elevate them above other people. They've been replaced. And the chief priests and Pharisees, they understood it. The Jews have been rejected as a people. And this idea of pushing Zionism and how we've got to give them their land, it's like their land was taken away by God. They became wicked. I mean, it was taken away for 70 years. Why? Because they became ungodly. They went back. They killed the Lord Jesus Christ. Right? You say, well, Brother Stuckey, that's your opinion. That's what the Bible says. And they took credit for it. Let his blood be upon us and upon our children. They took credit. I mean, the parables he said, you know, last he'll sent my son, they'll reverence my son, and then they kill him. They were replaced. They're done. And if you think that basically they've got this promised land, you would have to think that at some point they turned to God then. That they believed on Christ and they're godly. And when did that ever happen? I mean, Israel has some of the highest rates of the LGBT. I mean, it's a very sinful country. And look, I understand everyone lieth in wickedness in 2022, but it's just like they are a very sinful country. And here's the thing. If God was going to choose them, they would have to actually do it by being obedient. Has that happened? It's never happened. And honestly, it wouldn't even matter if it happened now because they've already been replaced. It wasn't a 70-year detention. It's kind of like, no, no, no, it's permanent. It's like getting expelled from school. It's kind of like you got your detention for a couple weeks, but then you get in trouble, you know, you whatever, steal something from the school. It's like, no, you're now expelled. You're gone from the school because of what you did. They're gone. But this idea that the Jews are better than other people, that's racist. That's looking down on other people and other races. It boggles my mind because, you know what, when you look at countries that are the most pro-Israel in the world, Philippines is, I think, number three on the charts. India is number two, and America is number one. So both the Philippines and America are high up there. I'm not really sure why the Hindus love Israel, but apparently they do, right? But it's like I'm sure the same preaching in Baptist Church, maybe they don't preach against interracial marriage. I'm sure they preach all this elevated stuff with the Jews, though, because this is a very pro-Jew country. Just like the United States of America is. And it's like they'll always preach that just basically the Jews are a special people above other people. And in a lot of Baptist churches, they will literally have rabbis come and speak at the church. And they'll talk about how we've got to build the Third Temple. Forget about evangelizing the world. Help us build the Third Temple for the Antichrist. And they don't exactly say it like that, but it's just like that is exactly why you would be building the Third Temple. They have no understanding of this. It's actually a racist idea, though, because the Bible says there is no respect of persons with God right after he says Jew and Gentile, meaning the Jews are not better than the Gentiles, and the Gentiles are not better than the Jews. Let's close in with a prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to see your Word. Help us to understand this concept. Help us to understand that we should be evangelizing the whole world. Help us to care about people, not about where they're from, what their ethnicity is, their skin color or hair color, but help us just care about people because they love God and they're serving you, God. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. The first one is irony. Sing. The first one is irony. Sing. The first one is irony. Sing. The first one is irony. Sing. The first one is irony. Sing. The first one is irony. Sing. The first one is irony. Sing. The first one is irony. Sing. The first one is irony.