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I'm in. Road, road, road, road. Hey, good morning, welcome to Verity Baptist Church, Manila. Let's start our first service and let's open our hymn book to hymn number 88. Let's sing the song, Sometime We'll Understand. Hymn number 88, Sometime We'll Understand. Hymn number 88, all the prayers. Ready, everybody sing. Not now, but in the coming years. If maybe in the better land. We'll read the meaning of our tears. And there's sometime we'll understand. Then just in God through all the day. Fear not for he who'll hold my hand. Though dark thy face you'll see and pray. Sometime, sometime we'll understand. We'll catch a road trip again. And finish what we here began. And when all the mysteries explain. Then we'll understand. Then just in God through all the days. Fear not for he who'll hold my hand. Though dark thy face you'll see and pray. Sometime, sometime we'll understand. We'll know why clouds instead of sun. Where over many cherries stand. Why so messy when stars began. Tis there sometime we'll understand. Then just in God through all the days. Fear not for he who'll hold my hand. Though dark thy face you'll see and pray. Sometime, sometime we'll understand. Or at last God knows who's the way he holds the key. He'll guide us in our hood here again. Sometime we'll tear those heights we'll see. Yes, there up there we'll understand. Then just in God through all the days. Fear not for he who'll hold my hand. Though dark thy face you'll see and pray. Sometime, sometime we'll understand. Amen. Amen. Amen. All right, good morning everybody. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church. Take out your bullets in here today. And our verse of the week is Acts chapter 6 verse 1. The Bible reads, And in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. That's a great verse there. We are a family integrated church, meaning children and infants are welcome during the services. We do have a mother baby room back there for your convenience, as well as the ladies restroom. The men's restroom is up here in front. Remember, no eating during the service. Maintain a professional atmosphere and keep the children from running, making noise during the church service. Weekly service times listed. First service is at 10 a.m. Second service at 11.15. Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 p.m. So many times listed. 4 p.m. here on Wednesday's meeting at the church building. On Saturdays all day at Case and Memorial Circle, with lunch provided by church. And we do have soul eating, of course, this afternoon around 1.45. We have ice cream arriving today around 12.30 because of our record attendance last week. And so we have a lot of ice cream. It's going to arrive at 12.30, so feel free to partake in that. But we're still going to try, no matter how full you are, to get started at 1.45 for soul eating. You can work it off, you know. But anyways, that's coming at 12.30. We do have soul eating this afternoon. Salations and baptisms are listed there for the year, as well as the month to date. Birthdays and anniversaries down there below for the month of March. Bible memorization challenge. So option one, for ages 11 and above, is memorizing any chapter perfectly. Option two, for the next week, is 1 Corinthians 11 verses 17 through 34. It shouldn't be hard to figure out what the L is for the alphabet of Bible doctrines. The Lord's Supper. Okay, so I intentionally timed it at that time. The L is kind of given, so I'm just going to let you know. So I'll be preaching on the Lord's Supper next week. We will take the Lord's Supper on Easter in two weeks. So last year we took it the week before Easter. We're going to do it on Easter this year. But next week I'll preach a sermon on the Lord's Supper to show you what our belief is on the topic. And anyways, today is the last day to quote Acts 6 verses 1 through 7. Ages 8 to 10, memorizing seven verses perfectly. Below the age of eight, memorizing one verse perfectly. Today is our monthly prayer meeting that will take place after. We also have choir practice here today, which will be after the prayer meeting. Next week there's a basketball fellowship event. You can ask Brother June for more details. April 5th through April 9th is the Sony Mega-Marathon. So QMC is closed for Thursday and Friday. And so I just found that out last night. So we'll figure out what the schedule is for that. I'll let you know next week. We'll mention it in the group chat. But for Thursday and Friday I guess QMC is not going to be open. Of course in two weeks is our Easter service. It will be Easter. We will have a choir and also the Lord's Supper. And the wedding of Brother Fabian Anaya and Sister Christine Sayo is coming up on April 12th on Wednesday at 11 a.m. Information on our group chat is down there below. And then on the back there's a place for notes for both of the sermons here today. I believe that's it for announcements. We'll let Brother Marlon lead us in another song. And for our next song, it's string number 119. Feel the storm pass us by. On a first in the dark of the midnight Have I offed in my face While the storm bows above me And their soul will hide in place In the crash of the thunder Hear my cry On a chorus Feel the storm pass us over Till the thunders have sworn Till the clouds roll forever From the sun Hold me best, let me stand In the hollow of the head Keep me safe Till the storm passes by us again Many times it was worth There is no need to try For there's no end of sorrow There's no hope For in love I hold guard with me And fall Over the storms Never dark in the sky Till the storm passes over Till the thunders have sworn Till the clouds roll forever From the sun Hold me best, let me stand In the hollow of the head Keep me safe Till the storm passes by us again When the long night has ended And the storms come no more Let me stand in the presence Of the bright, peaceful shore In the hollow of the head Ever gone, stormy eyes Will we be When the storm passes by On a chorus Feel the storm pass us over Till the thunders have sworn Till the clouds roll forever From the sky Hold me best, let me stand In the hollow of the head Keep me safe Till the storm passes by When the storm passes by On a chorus Feel the storm pass us over Till the storm passes by On a chorus Feel the storm pass us over Till the storm passes by On a chorus Feel the storm pass us over Till the storm passes by Amen. First scripture reading. Please open your Bibles to the book of 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3. We have Philippians, Colossians, 1 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy near the end of your Bible. 1 Timothy chapter 3. Please say amen if you are there. Amen. We will only read verse 1 down to verse number 7. 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 1 This is a true saying That a man desireth the office of a bishop He desireth a good work A bishop then must be blameless The husband of one life Vigilant, sober, of good behavior Given to hospitality, apt to teach Not given to wine, no striker Not greedy of filthy lucre The patient, not a brawler, not covetous One that ruleth well his own house Having his children in subjection with all gravity For if a man know not how to rule his own house How shall he take care of the church of God? Not a novice Lest being lifted up with pride He fall into condemnation of the devil Moreover, he must have a good report Of them which are without Lest he fall into reproach and then the snare of the devil Bless the reunion of God's Word Let us pray Lord God, we thank the Lord for this day that you've given to us I pray that you would please bless the Lord this day Give us good weather, our soul, and our fellowship later on And I pray that you would please bless the preaching And I pray that you would love to say We love you, Jesus, and we pray, Amen So we do have two sermons on the series here today And the name of the sermon is Pastoral Training Act to Teach Notice what it says in 1 Timothy 3 verse 1 This is a true saying If a man desireth the office of a bishop He desireth a good work A bishop then must be blameless The husband of one wife Vigilant, sober of good behavior, given hospitality Then it has a statement Act to Teach And being apt to teach means having the aptitude to teach Which means having the ability to teach Go to 2 Timothy chapter 2 2 Timothy 2 You say, Brother Sucky, I'm not planning to preach sermons I'm not going to be a pastor How does this apply to me? Well, I'd say all of us are teachers in one way or another I mean, certainly if you have kids You're going to be teaching your kids things And so even if you never preach a sermon You can still take away from it lessons on How to teach your kids Or in your work Or whatever the setting would be So we can always learn from the word of God All scripture is given by inspiration of God And is profitable Says in 2 Timothy 2 verse 24 And the servant of the Lord Must not strive But be gentle unto all men Act to Teach And this is in 1 and 2 Timothy Which are known as the pastoral epistles Where basically Paul wrote To various young men that are in the ministry To kind of give them some guiding principles On things that they needed to know And he says here, Act to Teach Act to Teach It comes up multiple times You say, why? Because obviously that's one of the big things you do as a preacher Right? Now it's not the only thing you do I mean, I really wish it was But it's not the only thing that you do But it's certainly a big thing Because that's the thing you really look at With people that are preachers You think, well, how do they teach the word of God? That's the thing that's kind of front and center Obviously done several times a week You hear the sermons And if you're going to lead a church If you're going to lead a ministry You better have the ability to teach Right? That is a major thing And I would say that at our church You know, we're not a church that offers A lot of amazing programs Right? I mean, a lot of churches They have like the greatest music ministry in the world I mean, I think the people that are in the music ministry Do a great job But we're never going to be Like, you know, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Right? Or some, you know, the world's biggest What was that last week? On Dotting God On the world's biggest choir Or whatever that they were doing You know, that's not going to be us Right? The big thing we have here is The teaching of the word of God and soul winning Those are kind of the two marquee things That we are about Those will always be the two big things And I would say People come to this church Why? Because of the teaching of the word of God And because we're zealous for soul winning Those are the two big things That draw people into this church So how do you become a church So how do you become apt to teach How do you have the ability to teach Well, go to verse number 15 in the same chapter Point number 1, study Point 1, study The Bible says here in verse 15 Study to show thyself approved unto God A workman that needeth not to be ashamed Rightly dividing the word of truth Look, if you want to have the ability To teach the word of God You need to study and know this book Why? Because this is what you're going to be teaching Right? Look, if you're teaching anything You better be knowledgeable About what you're teaching about Right? I would not make the world's greatest Mandarin Chinese teacher You say why? All I know is ni hao and ni hao ma Right? I'm sure my pronunciation is not that good For those two words Or two phrases or whatever Right? If you're going to be good at teaching something You have to have knowledge You have to study and prepare yourself And if you're going to be a teacher of the word of God You better know this book You better read it many many times Memorize chapters and books of the Bible Practice preaching All these things are essential Now it's hard to realize because in our modern day People become pastors that are unmarried And have never read the Bible I don't understand that at all It's certainly not what the Bible teaches But if you are going to be a good preacher of the word of God You need to study and know this book You've read it many many times You memorize places in the Bible You really study topics out You say why? Because if you're the teacher You have to have more knowledge than the students Now I'm not saying that people at our church Cannot really know their Bibles I'm just saying I was a math tutor for like 15 years Outside of being a teacher And people came for tutoring Because they expected me to know more than them They don't pay you if they know more than you It wouldn't make any sense And I obviously wouldn't charge you to come to church But I'm just saying if you're going to show up to church You're showing up with the idea Hey I believe this person can teach me something I believe I can learn something I believe I can be motivated To be better at studying and know what the Bible says Even in this verse At the end of this verse it says Rightly dividing the word of truth And you've got a lot of Baptist churches That take this a little bit too literally And they say let's just divide This book into like four chunks And this is chunk one This is chunk two We're rightly dividing the scripture No no we're actually needing to rightly divide every verse Look at the context of every verse you preach It's not just that this is like a big pizza That she divided into eight slices That's not the way it works Every verse you've got to look at the context Understand who it's being written to I mean the Bible is a deep book Most things, a lot of things are very surface level But there's also things that you read every single day And you're like I don't know That's a good question You say how do you find the answer? You study You study to figure out what the answer is Go in your Bible to Ecclesiastes 12 It would make no sense to not have studied this book much at all And then all of a sudden you become a pastor And then you've got to write three sermons a week I mean what are you going to teach? You're going to go to Google and just preach somebody else's sermon That was preached Just use their sermon title Maybe change the title Keep the same points And use basically the same verses Why? Because you're not going to have anything to say And to be honest If you were just writing sermons having no knowledge of the Bible Let's say you just got saved And you're writing three sermons a week You don't know your Bible You're going to say a lot of wrong things You say why? Because a lot of fun ideas come in your head when you're reading the Bible Maybe this is what it's talking about A couple chapters later Maybe not That's why you've got to know your Bible if you're going to be teaching it Another thing to think of People ask me this question Should a person who stays study false religions? What I would say is in general the answer to that would be no I would not recommend studying false religions or false doctrine Here's the difference though If you're teaching somebody why a doctrine is false You kind of have to actually know what they teach to be able to teach against it I preach against Jehovah's Witnesses, Hindus, Mormons, a lot of denominations Yeah I had to learn a little bit about what they believe You say why? How else am I going to teach against it if I don't know what they believe? So if you are actually preaching sermons You have to study and know on a bit of a deeper level Than the normal church member would need to know Because you're teaching about the topic Okay And moreover because the preacher was wise He still taught the people knowledge Yea he gave good heed and sought out and said in order of many proverbs So sought out or to seek out He's studying and knowing what the scriptures say And as a result of studying he's able to teach the people knowledge Verse 10 The preacher sought to find out acceptable words And that which was written was upright even words of truth The words of the wise are as goods and as nails fastened by the masters of assembly Which are given from one shepherd And further by these my son be admonished Of making many books there is no end And much study is a weariness of the flesh You know what when you study the Bible it's tiring It's exhausting You see you could pick up a book and just read it for fun and leisure And you could do the same with the Bible I mean reading 1 Samuel 17 is a very enjoyable chapter isn't it David and Goliath That's a great chapter Very entertaining I mean it's not hard to read that We're always excited when we come to that Or you know Liza versus the false prophets of Baal It's a very exciting chapter But if you're actually studying a chapter out it's a little bit different Because you're memorizing you're cross referencing You're not really doing that for leisure It's actually tiring It's exhausting Think about studying for school And you memorize a bunch of words and phrases for a big exam you're taking That's not exactly That's not actually just leisure and fun It's like you're just memorizing and memorizing and memorizing and memorizing It's not fun It's exhausting It's tiring But you do it because you want to get a good grade or pass the exam or get the bonus or raise or whatever it may be Well if you're going to be teaching the word of God you've got to study and study and study And here's the truth It's tiring It's exhausting When I study topics out you know I have paper and I'm writing down notes And then sometimes I'll stop and say I am so confused what is going on And it can be frustrating But if you're going to be preaching that's what you have to do You have to actually study and know what you're talking about ahead of time Turning your Bible to Deuteronomy 17 Deuteronomy 17 Deuteronomy 17 Of course Bible says if you desire the opposite of this if you desire a good work Well part of that is just studying the Bible Which can be very enjoyable but the truth is sometimes it's not When I memorize the Bible I'm going to have to be memorizing And maybe it works for other people maybe it doesn't but I just can't really sit still So the way I memorize is I just walk back and forth for like an hour I remember going to go sowing on Sundays most of my memorization when I was living up here was there I would just walk back and forth walk back and forth I come back in after walking for like an hour and a half I'm drenched in sweat my shirt is soaked My wife's like you know it's like what are you doing right you're going to kill yourself right But that's how I memorize the Bible because I just have trouble just sitting still and memorizing So that's kind of the technique that I use It's tiring and here's the truth I enjoy memorizing because of the end results But the actual memorizing itself is not actually that much fun Just like in school if you get an A and an exam you're very excited But the actual studying in order to get that A is not necessarily that enjoyable Deuteronomy 17 people ask what's the balance between studying and reading if you are a preacher Well notice Deuteronomy 17 verse 18 And it shall be when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom that he shall write a copy of this law and a book out of that which was before the priest to Levi's And so the king of God's nation was actually supposed to write out the word of God I remember one year I had an idea you know I tried this year to write out the Bible I lasted a couple days You say why? It takes a lot of time To write three chapters is like 20 minutes or 30 minutes going in really quickly And it's like that is a great way to study the Bible and be honest To write out actually the scripture I mean the king was supposed to be his own scribe with the word of God Verse 19 And it shall be with him and he shall read there in all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the Lord's God To keep all the words of his law and these statutes and do them See the Bible says you gotta read God's word every single day You don't necessarily have to study the Bible every single day if you're preaching sermons But you need to read every day You need your daily food, your daily sustenance Why? Because reading there in is going to cause you to fear God Say how do you know this applies to people that are not just the king? Because we all need to fear God Right? Because we all need to keep the words of these statutes to do them So we all need to read the Bible every day That it's hard to not lift it up above his brethren Look if you don't read the Bible you're going to be arrogant That's what the Bible says here in verse 20 Well all of us need to be humble So we need to read every single day Right? Go to Malachi 2 Malachi chapter 2 You say by the way this seems very basic Yeah but here's the thing If you preach several sermons a week and you're studying various topics It can actually be very very easy to forsake your Bible reading You say why? Because you feel like you've already spent time in God's Word But here's the thing If you preach a sermon, for example on this sermon This is not a verse by verse sermon Although a lot of sermons I preach are verse by verse This is not So you say how do you write a sermon like this? Bible gave away your e-sword You just look up the words and phrases that you're looking for What does that mean? It means that you already have the knowledge that you're going to preach on You're not necessarily learning something new You understand what I'm saying? Preaching a topical sermon is great But to be honest If you preach a topical sermon You learn less about the Bible than if you preach verse by verse Why? Because you're only looking for verses you already know If I was preaching a sermon about the LGBT It's like Genesis 19 Right? Judges 19 But if you preach verse by verse through those chapters It really actually forces you to really understand everything So I personally I like going verse by verse You know, we in the math We come up here in several weeks And it's good because For one, the Bible kind of outlines itself into its own sermons So God kind of makes three point sermons Just put in a few verses anyway But it also causes you to really know your Bibles Because you're learning something new What I'm saying is this If you preach sermons Make sure you still have your daily time Just reading the Bible Spending time in prayer Because it's very easy to feel like you're doing spiritual work And then forsake something God said to do All the days of the life Malachi 2 verse 7 For the priest that should keep knowledge And that they should seek the law of his mouth For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts The Bible says the priest The spiritual leaders in the Old Testament Should keep knowledge They should have knowledge They should know the Bible Right? If somebody comes to church They're coming with the expectation That they're going to learn something Now here's what's sad There's a lot of Baptist churches That you can go to And you go to church You learn nothing And then you head home Is that not true? Many people have been at that I've been at Baptist churches like that Where I went to church expecting to learn nothing I mean that's sad But that's reality At a lot of Baptist churches they teach nothing And you say why? Because they're trying to be like CCF in victory They're like look at all these people Those churches are reaching So they want to get a message They don't preach on doctrine Why? To bring more people in And what's funny because if people were to ask me my advice I'd say well you know we don't do that And we have no problem packing this place out We've had no problem growing as a church By doing things God's way Preaching the word of God Tell us so many Not holding back God has lost us But a lot of Baptist churches You go to church You learn nothing You walk out I mean it's frustrating There's times you go to church out of obligation But you don't actually want to walk into church Why? Because you just don't think you're going to learn knowledge in the sermons You don't expect to be motivated in the sermons I'm not saying all Baptist churches are like that I'm not trying to say we're just so much better than anybody else But a lot of Baptist churches you go to You just don't learn that much What's the proof of that? The proof of that is most of you don't live near this church building Right? Many of your parents have said Hey there's a Baptist church just down the street Why don't you go to the church? Because there's a difference between Baptist churches That's reality Right? Point number one You need to study If you are going to be a preacher You need to know your Bible I mean read it and read it and memorize and memorize and memorize and memorize Right? Learn as much as you can And the more you study The easier it is to write a sermon If I were to write a sermon On salvation from John 3 It would take me about 20 minutes Because I would copy and paste I wouldn't need much notes I already know what those verses are about in John 3 Now if I'm preaching on something from the book of Ezekiel It would take 20 hours You say what? I haven't been done in deep study in Ezekiel So I wouldn't feel all that comfortable To preach a sermon on Ezekiel on short notice John 3 I feel pretty comfortable Luke 16 You know the parable of the rich man and Lazarus I mean Not parable Okay That shows my knowledge of Luke 16 Not parable At least I corrected myself I was very comfortable Because obviously that's a very famous story on hell Right? So the more you study The easier it is actually going to be to write sermons Right? Point number 1 Study Point 2 In Isaiah 58 verse 1 Spare not Spare not The Bible says in Isaiah 58 verse 1 Cry aloud Spare not What that means is You don't hold back From the message You don't withhold information In order to make people like you You spare not You don't hold back You speak the truth An obvious example is A sermon on the LGBT Right? I mean churches preach on the homeless And they definitely hold back From the sermon They hold back from the preaching Because they don't want to offend somebody Right? But God says Spare not Preach at all And make no mistake about it If a random visitor came in here to church And I'm preaching on Genesis 19 High chance they're going to get offended by what I say Why? Because the Bible is just offensive to people in 2023 Because people don't read their Bibles that much That's the reason why But what God says is Spare not Don't hold back You preach on various sins I mean in today's world You preach against worldliness Or rock music Or stuff like that It could offend a lot of people Why? Because people live in those sorts of lifestyles But you know what? Honestly And let me finish this verse here Cry out out Spare not Lift up thy voice like a trumpet And show my people their transgression And the house of Jacob Their sins The Bible is very specific Their transgression And it says Their sins What is specific to a church? For example If there is a big issue with salvation at our church You know what book I would probably preach through Verse by verse For the next several months Galatians Doesn't that make sense? Right? We don't have a problem as far as I know But I would probably preach through Galatians You preach on what is specific to Who you're preaching to Right? The Bible is very specific Their transgression And their sins And here's the thing If I preach about Galatians And we get a big issue with salvation here A lot of people would be offended Why? Because a lot of people would disagree With what I'm saying Right? If I preach a sermon about repentance And we're not clear on that topic A lot of people would get offended Why? Because they have different opinions Right? You preach on what is specific Now there's this expression Hard preaching And this is an expression that's kind of a man-made expression So people can kind of take it different ways But I think there's kind of a misconception on hard preaching Because honestly I don't think if I preach a sermon on Genesis 19 I would really consider that hard preaching Because in our type of church It's not controversial at all Everybody would agree with everything I said Hard preaching would be if people inside the church Might not agree with you And here's this misconception about hard preaching Hard preaching is not just hard for the listener It's hard for the speaker You understand this? You say why? Think of Paul in 2nd Corinthians 7 Where he said You know what? I did not repent Though I did repent I felt bad about writing 1st Corinthians He said why? Because it made people feel bad I want people to like me That's what he's saying But hard preaching It's hard for the listeners But also the person speaking You say why? Because you don't want people to be mad You want people to like you Right? I want people at this church to like me But God says fear not And I can't hold back from the message Just because somebody might not agree Right? Turn your mind on Malachi 2 Malachi chapter 2 And look, if you're planning to go in the ministry You just have to make the decision up front Ahead of time That you will not hold back What God has laid on your heart Or what is necessary That you're willing to preach Whether people like it Or don't like it Why? Because you're the one leaning and running the church You gotta say And do what you believe is correct Right? You've got to spare not as the Bible says Now look, at other churches They certainly hold back We're living in a day Where basically denominations are being washed away Even the Catholic church is being washed away For just Pentecostal, Charismatic, and non-denominational churches Where it's just very generic, CCM music You feel good and everything And nobody gets offended That's not the way God intended it Right? He says call out, spare not Malachi 2, verse 4 And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment on you That my covenant might be with Levi, said the Lord of Hosts My covenant was with him of life and peace And I gave him to him for the fear that he compared me And was afraid before my knee And there's kind of a dual application If you think of life and peace Think of eternal life and the gospel of peace And look, every spiritual leader Is going to be a soul winner But then in verse number 6 It's not really in reference It's just soul winning Though that is another application you can make Whenever you're seeing peace in the Bible For example, the book of Esther ends And it talks about Mordecai spoke peace to his people It's saying he spoke the gospel of peace Saying that he was soul winning Trying to get people saved There is that application obviously Here with the life and peace But then in verse 6 The law of truth was in his mouth And a nickname was not found in his lips He walked with me in peace and equity And did turn many away from iniquity By preaching the truth It turned people away from iniquity Go to Acts 20 In my last service in Sacramento Before I moved here to the Philippines Before my family moved One of the members of the church He came up to me and sat beside me And he said, yeah brother, I want to tell you something He said, you know what, about a year ago You preached a sermon on alcohol And I was still drinking alcohol He said, I have not drank alcohol Ever since you preached that sermon He's like, I made that decision that night Never drink again As a preacher, that is very encouraging Because you don't necessarily know when you preach sermons You know what's going on in people's lives Or how people take it or whatever That really encouraged me Because here's the thing You get up and you preach the word of God with boldness And then someone says, hey, because of that I never drink alcohol again I'm thinking praise God That's exciting And you have such an important responsibility as a preacher When you preach the word of God You have the ability to change people's lives I'd say all of us would say, you know what, hard preaching changed my life I remember sitting in, you know, I was living in Morgantown, West Virginia And I was listening to a sermon online About music and worldliness I remember stopping the sermon Taking all my rock CDs I threw them in the trash I bundled it up and threw it outside the garbage Because I knew at that moment And I already knew my music was wrong But I felt so guilty And I was like, right now I am clear headed, this is correct It's right from the Bible I need to apply it to my life and I applied it immediately You know what, your life doesn't get changed Without hard preaching If somebody just said, you know what, God loves you no matter what music you listen to Is that going to cause you to get rid of the world of music? God loves you no matter what you listen to Watch whatever you want Listen to whatever you want And the Lord will be with you and happy with you no matter what But isn't that the way a lot of people preach? That doesn't change people's lives What changes people's lives What changes people's lives Are things that hurt Right? When the word of God hurts on the inside And you get a little bit mad That's actually what makes a change That's the reality And by preaching the truth You can help turn people away from problems in their life Acts 20 verse 26 Wherefore I take you to record this day Acts 20 verse 26 Wherefore I take you to record this day That I am cured from the blood of all men Why is he cured from the blood of all men? Why is he not done to declare you all the counsel of God? Often times people quote this As if it is in reference to soul winning It's not really a reference to soul winning though I mean you could make that application That we're cured from the blood of all men And if we at least give them a chance to hear the gospel And I get to that But this verse is about teaching all the counsel of God We don't teach all the counsel of God out soul winning We don't teach all the counsel of God out soul winning We don't chase all the counsel of God out so many. And at least you shouldn't, right? Your gospel presentation should be 50 hours long if you're teaching, you know, I went to a church, you know, just jogged back in my memory, and this church was Calvinist for 10 seconds, and I was kind of new at so many things the second church I went to, and I told my pastor, hey, I got this friend, you know, I'd really like to see him get saved. I think maybe it could be much better than you know, showing him the gospel, you know, talking about the Bible, and he said, okay, I'm fine with that, but he asked me willing to sign up for a six-week Bible study. At the end of the six-week Bible study, he might be ready to get saved. I'm just thinking, I was newer, I was thinking, well, that's not how I got saved. I mean, I got saved with one conversation. And he's like, I really want the Holy Spirit to have time to convict his conscience. I'm thinking, so I just tried to get in the gospel myself. Right, now of course he was a heretic preacher, but it's just like, you know what, obviously your gospel presentation doesn't need to be six weeks long, okay. And it says, take heed therefore, verse 28, unto yourselves, and all the clock of God, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, with which he hath purchased his own blood. As a spiritual leader, you are feeding the church of God. Right, this is your brunch. Right, this is your in-between breakfast and lunch that I'm serving up here today. Your spiritual brunch that you're getting. Now, of course the Bible talks about if you're a spiritual leader, you start with running your own home. How do you feed your kids? Mom and dad have ice cream for breakfast. Okay, son, here you go. Is that how you feed your kids? You understand? You don't just give them whatever they want. You know what kids want at a young age? Ice cream, pizza, and Coke. That's what they want. They wouldn't eat it all day long. They don't understand the concept of cavity. They don't understand the concept of health problems. And here's the thing, if somebody's newly saved, they don't understand the repercussions of going down certain roads in their life, right? And your job is to feed and not give people what they want, give people what they need. That's the reason why God gave that example, feeding the church of God. How do you feed your kids? Just give them whatever they want. No, it's like give the Buddha. They don't want it. Make them eat it. Right? They say, I always want to drink Coke. Make them drink water. You know what, make them brush their teeth. Make them take showers. You can't just let them do whatever they want. You're gonna destroy their lives if that's the case. As a spiritual leader, you must feed what is necessary because you're the one who's the pastor running the church, the shepherd running the church. You're feeding what they need, not necessarily what they want, right? First Timothy chapter three, first Timothy three. By nature, naturally speaking as man, none of us, none of us want to be approved. None of us want to hear something negative. Right? We want people to say, you're doing a great job. Right? All of us, that's what we naturally want. Now the reason why you like this church is because you're choosing the spiritual side over the carnal side. But in reality, your flesh does not like this type of preaching. Because this preaching offends, this preaching says, hey, keep walking in the flesh, walk in the spirit. That can be offensive. At our church, we're not gonna feed what people want. We're gonna feed what people actually need. And here's the thing, if you're alive, you know what? Maybe it hurts sometimes, but it's what's good for me. Right? You should go to a church where you're actually being fed and it's hot and it's causing you to make changes in your life. And look, if you're at a church and you never get upset and you never feel guilty one time and you're there for 10 years, there's something wrong with the church. It's a fact. Look, when I was there, there were plenty of times I got mad at Pastor Jimenez when he preached something. He said, why? Because if I'm guilty, my flesh doesn't like it. And all of a sudden, inside, we start to make those excuses on the inside. And it's just like, am I gonna be stubborn and just accept the message that Pastor Jimenez gave? Right, you feed what is necessary, not necessarily what people want. 1 Timothy 3, verse 14. These things right now, you need to become out of these shortly. But if I carry along without me, I'll have a modest behavior in the house of God which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. Church ought to be the one place you can go where you get the truth. You show up to church and look, a lot of pastors, they're like politicians, right? How does a politician get elected? They never say anything controversial. Right? They never say anything controversial. People say, man, I like that politician. Why do you like that politician? They never said anything that offended me. That's the reason why people like them. Why do people like Joe Loestein? He's never said anything that's offended them. And the way I say you can listen to Joe Loestein's sermon, I would certainly not recommend it. But if you did, you probably wouldn't even hear anything wrong. Be generic. Be God loves you, well that's true. God wants you to live a life of peace, well that's true. God wants you to have more kindness in your life, that's true. God has a plan for your life, that's true. Probably not what he's saying. Probably what he's not saying. He's not saying anything negative. He's not saying anything that ever offends anyone. Why? Because look at how big his church is. We've grown a lot as a church, we're not gonna be as big as Joe Loestein's church. That's not gonna happen. Say why? Because of my preaching. Right, I mean people come here because of the preaching, people don't come here because of the preaching also. That's reality, right? Go to Ephesians four, Ephesians four. Ephesians chapter four. I've said before, I mean I preach a sermon on it and how preaching sermons is like spiritual surgery. Boy, surgery hurts. Right, I've been in surgery before I had knee surgery when I tore my ACL and my meniscus. Man, I was unconscious when they did the surgery. But I woke up and it's like, man, that's painful. Once the numbness wore off and when they rejected my leg, it's like, man, it was painful. It hurts, right? For several days, the pain was basically unbearable. I mean, I woke up in the middle of the night because they had injected my leg with whatever, I don't know. And then once the numbness wore off and I could actually feel, it's like, the doctor said 18, I vividly remember, 18 to 24 hours from now is gonna be the most painful thing you've ever had in your life. I woke up in the middle of the night, 18 hours almost to the dot, and it was the worst pain I've ever had in my life. And to this day, the worst pain I've ever had. It's horrible. You say, why? Because I had surgery. You expect surgery to be painful, don't you? Hey, you know what, preaching's painful, right? Because it's like spiritual surgery. Say, why spiritual surgery? Because it's like a sword, right? The Word of God, it pierces the inside, the joints and marrow. It's talking about hitting the inside. It's saying that the Word of God has the ability to get to the inside like nothing else. And yeah, physical surgery is painful. Spiritual surgery is painful. Now here's the thing, obviously some surgeons might cause less pain than others. The big thing is, did it fix my knee? Because 15 years later, I don't really care about the pain anymore. What I care about is, I'm healthy. Isn't that what you care about about a surgeon for the most part? I mean, obviously, look, look, if you've gone to the dentist's office, nobody likes the dentist. It's horrible, right? Something so small, how can something so small cause so much pain, and yet it does. Right, when you get to the nerves and it's like, ah, the pain is unbearable. But you know what, some dentists are gonna cause less pain than others, but the big thing is, did it fix the problem so I never have to return? That's what matters. You care, do they get the job done? It's like spiritual surgery, what it hurts because they're not sparing. They're preaching the truth with power. Number one, study, point two, spare not, point three, speak in love. Point three, speak in love, verse 11. And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Till we all come in the unity of faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that with his forth be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sight of men, and cunning crafting is whereby they lie and wait to deceive. But speaking the truth in love may grow unto him in all things which is the head, even Christ. If you are preaching sermons, your goal is to get the point across and not hold back in as much of a way as possible to do it in love. An example, think about when we go out sowing. When we go out sowing, we say the meanest and harshest thing that anyone could ever hear. You're gonna spend forever in hell. That's what we're, you might not use those exact words, but that's what you're teaching people. That's a harsh thing. That's rough. But there's ways that we can say that in a nice way so as not to offend. There's a guy in Sacramento many years ago, he got kicked out of Verde Baptist in Sacramento for a million reasons. But it's like, you know, he was going sowing shortly before he got kicked out because it became a big problem. He would knock on a door, and if somebody said, I'm Catholic, so you're responsible for murdering the people of my ancestors hundreds of years ago. It's like, you're just a noxious jerk. And by the way, if you do that out sowing, just let me know and you're just not about to go sowing. It's like, we're not gonna have somebody being a noxious jerk at a church out sowing. Here's the truth, though. We are saying harsh things to people out sowing. We're telling them they're on their way to hell. As much as is possible, you try to say it in a nice way with the end goal being that they will change their belief on Christ. An example of what not to do, you know, have you ever seen Ray Comfort in Way of the Master? It's like Ray Comfort will go through the Ten Commandments and he'll embarrass people. You know, a guy will open the door and his wife's right behind him, and he's like, yeah, the Seven Commandments, thou shall not commit adultery, but Jesus said if you look at a woman who lusts after her, you've committed adultery with her already in his heart. While his wife's right there. Have you ever done that? It's just like, you know, why would you say that? You're just trying to embarrass him. Right, and if he says no, well, the Ninth Commandment, thou shalt not bear witness, right? It's just like you're being an obnoxious jerk. You know, we're trying to present the good news. You know, you get the bad news, and don't misunderstand me. We have to be clear about the bad news as we go out sowing. We must be clear with people that they have to change their belief. But your goal is to say it in as nice of a way as possible where it's very clear to them. Otherwise, you're gonna offend them, and they're not gonna wanna listen, right? Same thing is true when you're preaching service. Now, here's the thing. You go soul winning, sometimes people get offended no matter how you say it. I mean, you get the gospel of Muslims, they're probably gonna get offended by you, right? Because you're telling them their religion is wrong. But as much as is possible, you wanna try to say it in love. Speaking the truth in love, verse 16. From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplyeth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, make an increase of the body onto the edifying of itself in love. The goal is to be fitly joined together, and part of that is speaking the truth in love as much as possible. Go to Isaiah 58. Isaiah 58. Ooh. And look, if you have a desire to be a pastor or preach sermons from time to time and you've never done it, there's gonna be verses in the Bible that start making a lot more sense to you. Be not afraid of your faces. It'll start to make more sense to you. Why? Because of the fact, you know what? People have reactions when you preach sometimes. I mean, I've seen people cry during sermons before. It's uncomfortable when you're preaching sermons, because it's really hard to get through the message when you see somebody that's obviously emotional based on the things you're saying. Right? Sometimes people get mad. Sometimes people roll their eyes or they get a whatever. It's just like you gotta learn to avoid that. My strategy is I usually just try to avoid faces if there's any sort of reaction that's not the normal one. That's the easiest way to get through a sermon. It's the most respectful way to be honest. It's also the easiest way to get through a sermon, to be honest. But it's like as much as you try to speak the truth and love, sometimes people are just gonna disagree with you, sometimes they're gonna be mad. It's just the way it is. Point number one, study. Point two, spare not. Point three, speak the truth and love. Point four, spirit filled. Spirit filled preaching. Isaiah 58 verse one. Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet and show my people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. The Bible says here to cry aloud. Okay, this is not like boo hoo, I'm really sad. Cry aloud means cry out. Right, scream, cry aloud, spare not. Lift up thy voice like a trumpet. Be loud. Right, that's what the Bible's saying. Cry aloud, lift up thy voice like a trumpet. Now look, preaching loud and yelling during sermons, it doesn't come naturally for most people. It didn't come naturally to me when I started. You know what, when you think of sermons that are like-minded preaching or like-minded pastors that you like to listen to, it's not just that you like the doctrine, one reason why you like those sermons is you feel the passion. They preach with intensity. You can tell their spirit filled. It makes you wanna get on board with it. It makes you excited. It makes you wanna make changes. I mean, they can say something in the same way, I mean, say the same words somebody else says, but when they say it, you're like, man, let's do it. Let's go soul winning. Why? Because they're excited about what they're saying. Their spirit filled. Look, nobody wants to go to a church where the pastor's preaching and they're just like, this is so boring. You wanna get excited, you wanna get motivated. One of the big things I like about churches that helped change my life is they were excited about what they were saying. They're excited, they're bold. It makes you wanna get on board with it. Right, whereas if you just say it, I mean, look, the more intense you are, the more of a reaction, just think with your kids. I mean, once you raise your voice, your kids immediately, right? It causes reaction, even at a young age. My son, Esa, the other day, he was pulling my hair and I was like, ouch! You know, I said that really loud and he starts to cry because he knew that daddy's mad at me, right? And it's just like what I'm saying is when you're intense about something, it causes people to wanna get on board. When they can tell you believe in what you're saying. And look, even if you disagree with some of the things they say, you wanna get on board with someone who's excited. Someone you wanna follow. Turn to, in your Bible, to 2 Kings 9. Look at one story in the Bible. Actually, 2 Kings 10, go to 2 Kings 10 for second time. And I'm not gonna read this whole story, but we're gonna look at some of it here. And we're gonna look at a character who, the first time I read through the Bible, as I'm reading this story, I mean, I was amazed. I was like, how is this not the most talked about character in the Bible? I mean, it's so exciting, the story of Jehu. Jehu, Jehu, however you pronounce it. It's like the first time you've seen a story. You're like, surely this is like the greatest guy ever. And of course, later on, he sought not the Lord with his whole heart, unfortunately. But you see his passion and excitement in just reading the story you wanna get on board. Second Kings 10, verse 15. And when he was departed then, as he landed on Jehona down at the center of Rabkab coming to meet him, and he saluted and said to him, is thine heart right as my heart is with thy heart? And in Jehona's answer, it is. If it be, give me thine hand, and he gave him his hand. And he took him up to him in the chariot, and he said, come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord. So they made him ride in his chariot. He's like, come with me, and see my excitement in serving God. Yeah, I would say, hey, come to our church, and you'll learn how to get people saved. Come to our church, and you'll learn how to make changes in your life. I'm confident of that. I mean, you come to our church, you're gonna hear preaching that's exciting and motivating. You can make changes in your life. And what I would say to people, what I would tell you to say to people on Sony is, hey, come with us, and see our zeal for the Lord. Like, man, you guys are out here, and the priest in the gospels is like, yeah, we got 50 people at our church. Why? Because we're excited about the things of God. Come, and you're gonna see it too. Right? And then you see this story with Jehu, which is one of the most exciting stories in the Bible. Now, I don't know whether everything he did in this story was correct, but it's certainly an exciting story here. Verse 17. And when he came to Samaria, he slew all the remaining on the eight, having Samaria until he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the Lord, which he spake to Elijah. And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, they have served Baal little, but Jehu shall serve him much. And so Jehu's being dishonest here, because serving Baal is basically worshiping the devil, and Jehu has no intention of worshiping the devil. He's pretending to, that way he can destroy all the worshipers of Baal. Now, he did correct in destroying all the people worshiping the devil. That is actually correct biblically. However, I don't know if the meaning of what it was necessarily correct, but it's certainly an entertaining story. Right, he is a little bit dishonest here, but it gets the job done. Verse 19, now they're calling me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests, but none be wanting, private great sacrifice to do to Baal, whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it, and suddenly, in the intent that he might destroy the worshipers of Baal. And Jehu said, proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal, and they proclaimed it. Solemn meaning very serious, okay? Verse 21, and Jehu sent through all Israel, and all the worshipers of Baal came, so there was not a man left that came not, and they came to the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was full from one end to another, and he said unto them that there was a vestry, bring forth vestments for all the worshipers of Baal, and he brought forth vestments. So he causes those that are worshiping the devil to wear certain clothing to make it obvious they're the worshipers of the devil. He wants to make sure he doesn't kill anyone who's not a worshiper of the devil. Then it says here in verse 23, and Jehu went and Jehu sent a great cabin in the house of Baal and sent him to the worshipers of Baal. He searched and then looked that there be here with none of the servants of the Lord but the worshipers of Baal only, and when they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings, Jehu appointed four scoremen without, and said if any of the men who might have brought in your hands escape, he that letteth them go in his life shall be for the life of him. So basically he's a bit dishonest to get all the worshipers of Baal together, and he gets them all together, and then they end up killing every single one of them. Now this is not the same thing as just killing somebody who goes to a false church. These people are worshiping the devil. But what you're seeing is excitement, right? And look, people wanted to get on board with Jehu, and why? Because he's excited. Now look, obviously we're not gonna do this during our sowing time. What we're doing is going out and preaching the gospel and getting people safe. But I'll tell you what, when I was a young man and I still need to make a lot of changes in my life, seeing a church that is zealous about sowing is very exciting. You wanna do something with your life, right? Because if you get saved, and you wanna accomplish something that has lasting value, and you're like, how can I do something that has eternal value? And unfortunately in a lot of places you don't find that. You don't know. But I'll tell you what, if you are doing a good job as a preacher, people are gonna see that you're spirit-filled. They're gonna wanna get on board with you, right? So look, if you're planning to start a church one day, and look, it's like this with all areas that you're gonna be teaching. But what you need is number one, to study. You need to know what you're talking about. Number two, you spare a knot. You don't hold back what you need to say. Point three, you try to speak in love. And point four, you're spirit-filled. And in all areas of our lives, it's important to be spirit-filled. You're gonna teach your kids you need to be spirit-filled. Right, have the spirit of God upon your life to accurately teach them. Let's go to the water parable. Dear heavenly father, thank you for allowing us today in getting to see this topic, and help us understand things in this sermon, whether or not we ever plan to print sermons, whether or not we're just gonna be teaching our kids, or just other areas, or work, whatever, whatever your life might be. Pray these things in Jesus' name, amen, amen. As God calls us to prepare us to sing a number of nights to our friends, and to sing a number of nights to heaven. Let's sing a song, I need me, here we are. We have a verse, ready, sing. I need thee, here we are, most gracious Lord, most ever most divine, and beautiful Lord, I need thee, oh I need thee, every day I pray for thee. I need thee, here we are, I need thee, oh bless me now my Savior, I come to thee, I need thee every hour, stay now nearby, and please, most therefore, when thou art mine, I need thee, oh I need thee, every hour I need thee, oh bless me now my Savior, I come to thee, I need thee every hour, enjoy your feet, come with me and abide, for life is free, I need thee, oh I need thee, every hour I need thee, oh bless me now my Savior, I come to thee, I need thee every hour, most only one, oh make me die in thee, thou blessed son, I need thee, oh I need thee, every hour I need thee, oh bless me now my Savior, I come to thee. I need thee, oh I need thee, every hour I need thee, oh bless me now my Savior, I come to thee. Okay everybody. Let's start. And three, two, one. Let's sing it. And , and again, eight, Oh