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

All right, we're here in Psalms chapter 22, and this sermon is a bit more of a Bible study, so it's not necessarily like a preaching, pounding the pulpit sort of sermon, but we're going to look about just kind of going verse by verse. Psalm 22 is basically a picture of Jesus Christ. You're going to see a lot of things in the New Testament that show that this happened with Jesus Christ. Now, that does not mean that these things did not happen in the days of David, but it is a picture of Jesus Christ, and we'll look at some other points during the sermon. And so the first reference or the first picture of Jesus Christ is found in the first verse. Notice it says in verse one, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Okay, that should sound familiar to you if you've read through the Gospels before. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me and from the words of my roaring? Now, keep your finger in Psalm 22, because we're going to be going back and forth to Psalm 22 today. Go to Matthew 27 in the New Testament, though. Matthew 27, Matthew chapter 27, so we're going to look at five references to Jesus Christ, and I do believe that there's a literal application to David that he felt like God had forsaken him. Obviously, God hadn't, but when you're going through trials in your life and tribulations, you're struggling, you're scared or whatever, you might feel like God has forsaken you. Okay, and I think that's the attitude that David had, but this is also a picture of Jesus Christ. Okay, notice what it says in Matthew 27, verse 45. Now from the sixth hour, there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And from the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, that is to say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? So this is what Jesus Christ said. Now, look, if you first read that, you might say, well, why would God be forsaking Jesus? What exactly does that mean? Now, obviously, we believe in the Trinity around here. We believe in one God, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost, okay? And so there are, God is three, the Bible says, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost. Now, Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and he was here. And when he was on the cross, he was dying for the sins of the world, okay? And so look, there is no sin in heaven. When people go to heaven, you know, there is no sin on the records. God has forgiven everything, okay? So realize that when Jesus was paying for the sins of the world, though he was perfect, it says, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And when he dies, the Bible teaches that Jesus' soul was in hell for three days and three nights to pay for our sins when his body was in the ground. Turn to 1 John 3, 1 John 3, 1 John chapter 3, 1 John chapter 3. And so in 1 John 3, verse 5, 1 John chapter 3, verse 5, toward the end of your New Testament, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Revelation, 1 John chapter 3, verse 5, the Bible reads, and ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. Now, when you read this verse, it's very obvious this is referring to Jesus Christ. In him is no sin, never committed any sins. I can't die for your sins because I've sinned before, okay? You can't die for my sins because you've sinned before. Now, I did meet somebody last week out soul winning that had never told a lie before. I'm like, wow, that's good, okay, because I've lied many times, okay? They said they've never told a lie, and I'm just like, all right, have a nice day, okay? But look, everybody sinned, the Bible says, there's none righteous, no, not one. And so Jesus Christ, he didn't sin, in him is no sin, he was able to die for our sins. Now, let me say this, though. I have heard people, and I'll explain what this means if you're not sure what this is, I've heard people that believe in the oneness doctrine that say, this is God the Father in 1 John 3.5. Now, the reason why they say that is because Jesus is not mentioned before verse five in 1 John chapter three. So they say, well, see, you know, it must be God the Father. You say, what is oneness? Oneness is the belief, let me explain with Hinduism. Hinduism actually believes in only one God. That might surprise you. They only believe in one God. They do not believe in trillions of gods. They believe in trillions of manifestations of God. That there was one God in the beginning, and God manifests himself in different ways and different time periods. That's not what the Trinity is, because the Bible says, in the beginning was the Word. Jesus was here at the beginning. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost have been here from the very beginning. In the beginning was the Word. So it's not that Jesus is a manifestation of God, no, Jesus is God. He's been here from the very beginning. At the very beginning, God has always been a Trinity. Just like we have a body, soul and spirit. There are three with God, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost. Jesus has always been here. Okay. Now, some people that believe in oneness, what they say is that, well, God was one, but he's kind of it's like, you know, what, Transformers or the Terminator? I don't know Transformers. Well, like, you manifest yourself in different ways, like, well, here's God over here. Here's God. God is, you know, Allah in Islam. God is Shiva in India. God is Buddha in, you know, I don't know, Thailand or whatever. And some people believe that about God. That's not who God is. God is a Trinity, the Bible teaches. How do we know that in verse five, this is referring to Jesus? Well, one thing you need to understand when you're reading the Bible is that sometimes at the end of a chapter, the thought is not gone. When the Bible was written, it did not originally have chapters and verses. The chapters and verses were added because it's pretty helpful. If I said, well, just turn in your Bible to Psalms somewhere in the middle, it would be kind of complicated to follow along, right? It helps that there's chapters. But I want you to realize that, you know, when the person made the chapters, that doesn't mean at the end of the chapter, it's like the end onto the next story, because the end of 1 John 2, the thought is not gone. The thought is continuing. So they go to 1 John 3, verse one, and they say, well, see, it says, behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knows us not because it knew him not. And they say, well, see, it's the Father in 1 John 3, 5, because the only thing that's mentioned is God the Father. We'll go back to 1 John 2, 1 John 2, 1 John chapter 2, and notice what it says in 1 John 2, verse 28, and now little children abide in him that when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming. Who is going to appear one day? Who is coming back? Is God the Father coming back? Jesus Christ is coming back. God the Son is coming back. And so 1 John 2, verse 28 is referring to Jesus Christ. At his appearing, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his second coming. The second coming, not of God the Father. The second coming of Jesus Christ, because Jesus already came once, and then he's going to come the second time. The second coming of Jesus Christ. Verse 29, if ye know that he is righteous, who's that referring to? Jesus Christ. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of him. So the context is Jesus at the end of chapter 2. It doesn't say the end, we're on to a new thought. It's not the end of the thought, okay? The context is not broken. And so what they say in verse 5 is this, well if it says he was manifested and there's no he other than God the Father in the first four verses, this must be God the Father. No, because Jesus was mentioned a couple of verses before that. So it can go back to 1 John 2 because the thought is not broken. So sometimes when we're reading our Bible, we need to realize that at the end of the chapter, it's not necessarily the end of the thought. There's many chapters that start off with the word therefore, or for. And do you know what therefore means? It means you've got to connect what was at the end of the last chapter to what's about to be said, okay? So the start of a new chapter is not necessarily a new thought. Obviously the chapters are helpful, but when you're reading your Bible you need to realize that, okay? And I understand some books are really long, and some books like Psalms, every Psalm is its own thought, okay? Or some books like Proverbs, there's Proverbs that were specifically written, it's not tying together. Or even in the Gospels, there's various stories and then Jesus heals somebody and then they're on to a new story and it is a new thought, even within a chapter. But when you're talking about books like Ephesians or Philippians, oftentimes the whole book ties together. And sometimes you're in chapter four and that ties together to chapter one. We need to remember that when we're reading the Bible, and that's what we see in 1 John for example. Now go back to Psalm 22, Psalm 22. And so the first thing we saw was simply this. We saw the first reference to Jesus is, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And along with five references to Jesus, I want to give you kind of three points to think about also in this text. Notice what it says in verse two, oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hear'st not, and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, oh thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. And see the Bible says about God that he inhabits the praises of Israel, the songs we sing. And so we better make sure we're singing the right kind of music, because the first point is this, talking about praising God. Go to verse 22. Verse 22, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. So it says in the midst of the congregation I'm going to praise. Now this was in the Old Testament and the church starts in Matthew 16 is the first time the word church is used. But I want you to keep your finger in Psalm 22 where it says in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee, and go to Hebrews chapter two in your New Testament. Hebrews chapter two. And in Hebrews chapter two, and quite honestly it would be useful for comparing these verses to have like a video up here to see them side by side, but you've got to just keep your finger in the spot, okay? We're not that technologically advanced because I'm not, okay? Hebrews chapter two verse 12, Hebrews two verse 12, saying I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. Now do you notice that's pretty much the same verse as Psalm 22, except for the fact instead of in the midst of the congregation, it says in the midst of the church. What does that teach us? Well congregation and church are being used interchangeably there. And so what is the definition of a church? Because you go soul winning sometimes, and someone says, no, no, I don't go to a building, I just have church here at home. You know, I'm just kind of reading the Bible, I'm just doing church here at home. It's like, well wait a minute, what is church? Because what we see in Psalm 22 in Hebrews two is church is a congregation. It's when people are congregated together, okay, and if they're not congregated together, it's not church. Right now we're having church, but you know, we're not having church with steadfast Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas right now. You say, why? Because they're not congregated with us. Now they're going to be having church in like, I don't know, like 10, 12 hours or something like that, okay, you know, when it's Sunday in America, but look, they're not having church right now. You say, why? They're not congregated with us, okay? A church is a congregation. Why is that important? Because you have churches like the Roman Catholic Church, and they basically consider every Catholic in the world part of their church. Are you all congregated together? I mean, if you live in Italy and somebody lives in France or you live in Italy and somebody lives in, you know, South Africa, are you congregated together? Are you in the same area, singing the same songs, doing the same preaching? No, you're not. So that's not church, okay? See, there's this idea that every saved person is part of this universal church. Well, show me that in the Bible. We're all part of, you know, the family of God. We're brothers and sisters in Christ with people all over the world. We're not in the same church because there's individual churches. There's Verity Baptist Church, Manila. There's Verity Baptist Church, Sacramento. We're in different locations. It's a different church, okay? There's Faithful Word Baptist Church. That's another church, okay? Now, they're like-minded brethren. We're in the same family. We love them. But look, there's individual churches, and we're not all part of the same church worldwide. One day in the book of Hebrews, it says, we're going to be part of the church of the first born. One day, because when we're all in heaven together, guess what? We're congregated. But right now, we are not having church with people in Europe, okay? Look, we love Brother Matthias, but, you know, a year ago before he moved, he wasn't part of our church. You say, why? Because he lived in another part of the world, okay? He wasn't congregated with us. Church means a congregation. How do you know that? Well, if you compare spiritual things with spiritual, Psalm 22, verse 22, and Hebrews 2, verse 12, in the midst of the congregation and in the midst of the church, are used interchangeably. So church is a congregation, which means you're congregated together. You're like a puzzle, okay? Everything's put together, okay? Now turn back to Psalm 22, Psalm 22. See, most people have this idea that, well, there's individual churches, and then there's like a big church we're all a part of. It's like, no. I mean, when the Bible says the churches of Galatia or whatever, there's individual ones there, okay? There's a lot of different churches out there, and we're all part of the same family. But the Bible does not use the terminology that we're all part of the same church. So when you meet somebody who says, why just do church at home? And what they mean is they just kind of, you know, watch a sermon on TV, and that's not church because you're not congregated with people, okay? And look, I understand during this time period, people aren't able to come to church, and we love you out there, the ones that are watching via livestream. But what a church is is when you're congregated together. That's what it means, okay? Now let me just say this, and we don't do this, but let me say this. You could call something a church if you had a group of 20 people that were meeting and like watching sermons together. If it's organized, and it's not just someone doing it off the cuff, but it's actually organized by a church, you could do a satellite church like that. That's not what we did at Verity Baptist Church with Verity Baptist Church Vancouver. We had somebody preaching there, Pastor Thompson, before he was a pastor, and that's not what we do here, but you could do a model like that. But what I'm trying to tell you is a church means you're congregated together, okay? Now Psalm 22 verse 25, Psalm 22 verse 25, my praise shall be of thee in the great congregation. I will pay my vows before him, them that fear him. And so it says, I will praise thee in the great congregation. And so it's talking about praising God, and when we're singing praises to God, we want to make sure we're singing songs that God actually likes, singing songs that line up with what the Bible says. Let me just say this real quickly to add on to what I said about having a satellite church like that. The reason why you generally have somebody preaching there is because a live sermon is a million times better than a non-live sermon. You could hear the greatest sermon in the world via just watching it on YouTube, but yet, you know, a sermon that maybe not is as good, but you get to actually hear in person is just a lot better. That's why in Pampanga, what we do is we have live preaching there for the service. And it does take some effort to send people down each week, but you know what? Quite honestly, everybody loves it there because you're hearing live sermons, and that has more of an impact than just watching it through a video, okay? Now, there's nothing wrong if that's your situation to watch via video. There's people around the world that don't have a good church, and that's really what they have to do, okay, unless they want to go to the Roman Catholic Church, okay? But you know, honestly, the best thing is just to be there in person, okay? Psalm 22, verse 4, our fathers trusted in thee, they trusted, and now didst deliver them. They cried unto thee and were delivered, they trusted in thee and were not confounded. Verse 6, but I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and despised of the people. So David says here, I am a worm, okay? Now, this does not mean he was literally a little snake, okay? But he says, I am a worm. Well, what is a worm, okay? Well, let me give you some attributes of worms, okay? Worms, they prefer darkness. They don't like to be out of the ground, okay? Now, I don't know, I haven't really necessarily seen a lot here. I mean, worms are pretty similar to a lot of bugs, but we'd have a lot of worms back in the US when it would rain, and basically, they'd be forced out of the ground due to the water coming in, they're kind of suffocated or whatever, but basically, worms like to be in darkness. They don't like to be out in the light, kind of like cockroaches or any bugs like that, right? And so a worm is something that prefers to be in the darkness and not to be, you know, not to be out in the light, and that's how they're designed and things such as that. And look, a worm is very kind of disgusting and slimy creature, okay? Now, I want you to turn to Isaiah chapter 66, Isaiah 66. Now I believe David was being symbolic, where basically, he felt like a worm because of the fact he's being rejected. He's a reproach of men and despised of the people, so that's kind of how he felt, but I want you to see what worm can also represent in the Bible, because there's actually a couple different references, and this kind of helps us understand a little bit more about hell when we're going to see this reference here later on. But Isaiah 66 verse 24, notice it says, And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men. What is a carcass? It means the body, the flesh, the carcasses of the men. That have transgressed against me, for their worm, carcass is basically a dead body, their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. So we see here that the carcass of men is then called the worm later on. So worm sometimes represents a body. I mean, do you notice that? It says they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me, for their worm shall not die. The worm is referencing back to the carcass. Well, turn to Mark 9, because this is actually quoted in Mark chapter 9, and it's worded a little bit differently, but this is a quote from Isaiah 66, their worm shall not die, referencing the carcass. What does that mean exactly? Well, turn to Mark 9, and in Mark 9, we have a very famous passage on hell toward the end of the book of, end of Mark chapter 9, and it says in verse 43, And if I hand a fin, they cut it off, it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched. And obviously hell is an eternal fire, tormented day and night forever and ever. Okay, that gets rid of your thousand years in hell doctrine that some people have. It says into the fire that never shall be quenched, but notice this, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. It says their worm dieth not, in reference to being in hell, their worm does not die, the fire is not quenched. Now that quotes back to Isaiah 66, where it said their worm shall not die. And what it said the worm was, was the carcass of the men, referring to the body. You say, well, wait a minute, Brother Stuckey, I thought that when you died, your soul went to heaven or hell. Yes, but one day, not only will we get a glorified body as believers, but those that go to hell, they're going to get a new body as well, and it's not going to burn up. Why? Because their worm shall not die, my friend, referring to their body. So in Mark Chapter 9, because I've heard a lot of weird doctrines on Mark 9. I've heard people say, well, you know, basically you have a worm designed to torment you in hell, and you know, a lot of different things, or you turn into a worm in hell. I've heard a lot of different doctrines like this, a lot of different theories, but look, if you compare spiritual with spiritual, and you see this is quoting back to Isaiah 66, it's referring to the carcass, referring to their body, because those that go to hell one day will get a new body, and their worm shall not die. Now look, hell is not a place of eternal life, it's eternal damnation, eternal death, it's spiritual death, but they will get a new body, and their worm shall not burn up, their worm shall not die. The fire's not going to be quenched, but their worm's not going to die either, okay? We get a glorified body, they get whatever the opposite of a glorified body is, okay? And their worm shall not die, that's what it's referring to in Mark 9, and it mentions this several times, their worm dieth not, and look, I'll be honest with you, I remember when I first started reading the Bible, I'm like, their worm dieth not, it's like, what are you talking about, okay? But that is what it's referring to, it's referring to the body they're going to get, because when people go to hell, they will one day get a new body. Not right now, but one day they'll get a new body, and you know what, it's not going to burn up, because their worm dieth not, the Bible says, okay? Now turn back in your Bible to Psalm 22, Psalm 22, and that is why you need to compare spiritual things with spiritual, because that is a quote from Isaiah 66, and that's why the whole Bible, and you know, it's funny, because I've heard dispensational teachers say that, you know, well, you can't compare spiritual things with spiritual. It's like, that's what the Bible says to do, because sometimes you see something in a book of the Bible, or a chapter, and you're like, what is this talking about? The book of Daniel, the last half of Daniel is pretty confusing if you don't have the book of Revelation. Let me just be honest with you, okay? I've read Daniel plenty of times, especially now as I'm going through Revelation, I'm writing stuff down, I'm like, what is it talking about? And yet the answer is in another book of the Bible, and oftentimes with the prophetic books like Isaiah, the answer is found in Mark, or vice versa, you compare spiritual things with spiritual, and that's how you can understand what things are talking about, okay? Now the second reference to Jesus we see in Psalm 22 is in verse 7, the mocking of Jesus Christ. Psalm 22 verse 7, and they that see me laugh me to scorn, they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, okay? Now this is the same thing that happened to Jesus Christ. I believe this literally happened to David, something very similar, but it's also meant to be a picture of Jesus Christ. It's like I believe Jonah was literally swallowed by a whale for three days and three nights, and what Jonah said is, out of the belly of hell, cried I. Now does that mean that he was literally in hell? I've also heard that preached before, no. He was in a whale's belly in the middle of the ocean, okay? But I'm sure it was a good symbolism of hell, I'm sure the stomach acids hurt a lot, I'm sure it was dark in there, I'm sure it wasn't very nice, I'm sure he wasn't hanging out with his iPhone just checking out how things are going, okay? But he was not literally in hell, okay? Now in Psalm 22, in verse 7, I believe this literally happened to David, but turn to Matthew 27, Matthew 27. Because this is also quoted in Matthew 27, and look, we'll be in Matthew 27, I believe, several more times in this sermon, so you can also keep your finger or your toe or whatever you gotta do in Matthew 27 if you want, Psalm 22, Matthew 27. But in Matthew 27, notice what it says in verse 38, then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand and another on the left. So Jesus was crucified in the middle, and they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, okay? What it said in Psalm 22 was shaking their heads, okay? Here it says they were wagging their heads. And so basically they're walking by, they basically mocked Jesus Christ, and saying, thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. So they're mocking Jesus Christ and they say, you destroy the temple and then you build it in three days. You say, what is that referring to in verse 40? What are they mocking about? Well go to John chapter 2, John chapter 2. Now, what's interesting, and I don't know if this is intentional or an accident, is they quote him in John 2, but they misquote him. Because what they said in Matthew 27 is, thou that destroyest the temple. What Jesus said is, he said destroy this temple, implying you're going to destroy this temple, not I'm going to destroy this temple, okay? I'll show you this in John 2, verse 18, then answered the Jews and said unto them, what sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Unsafe people always want a sign. In another part of the Bible, he said the only sign given to you is the sign of the prophet Jonas or Jonah, for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Unsafe people do not need a sign, they just need to hear the gospel, because that is the power of God unto salvation, the Bible says, okay? But they're saying, give us a sign, why are you doing these things? How do we know you're the real deal? Jesus answered and said unto them, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. So he's telling them, you're going to destroy this temple, destroy this temple, and in three days I'll raise it up. When they hear temple, they assume it's referring to a building, you know, a gusale, right? But when he says temple, he's actually referring to his body, because your body is referenced as the temple of the Holy Ghost, the Bible says. Then said the Jews, forty and six years was this temple and building, because they're thinking of the literal building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? They say, it took us forty-six years to build this, and you're saying that if we destroy it you're going to build it up in three days? And so they're mocking because they don't understand what he's talking about. But he spake of the temple of his body, when therefore he was risen from the dead. His disciples remembered that he had said this unto them, and they believed the scripture in the word which Jesus had said. And so it's referring to his resurrection. He's saying, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Now whenever I talk to a Jehovah's Witness, and look, I don't believe in wasting your time out soul winning if somebody doesn't want to listen, but sometimes you'll kind of give them a verse, and you kind of walk away on that verse to think about. And sometimes I'll talk to Jehovah's Witnesses, because if you ask this question to Jehovah's Witnesses, who resurrected Jesus from the dead? They're always going to say, well God did, or God the Father did. And then I'll ask them, well if I showed you that Jesus resurrected himself from the dead, would you believe he is God? Because they don't believe Jesus is God. They believe Jesus is the mighty lower case God. Mighty God, but not the almighty God. And so sometimes I'll ask Jehovah's Witnesses, if I can show you that Jesus resurrected himself from the dead, will you believe it? And then of course they're kind of scared to answer that, because they know, well he's going to show me a verse I don't know how to answer. And so I take them to John 2, and I show them this, because in verse 19, what did Jesus say? Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. He says he's going to resurrect himself from the dead, okay? Now look, I can show you verses in the Bible that say that God the Father resurrects Jesus. I can show you verses that say the Holy Ghost resurrects Jesus. That does not mean that they're one and the same, because at the very beginning there are three that bear record in heaven. Look, when it comes to the Trinity, trying to fully grasp that, I always say it's not like a math problem. I do believe that God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost were here at the beginning, the Bible teaches that, and they will always be here, okay? But I also believe that God is the Trinity, and Jesus says, you know what, he's going to resurrect himself from the dead. I'm not saying I fully understand that in my head, like I've got the picture fully, but look, the Bible says that Jesus said he's going to resurrect himself from the dead. And when he resurrected himself from the dead, it proved who the living God was. There was no question after that point. Now turn back to Psalm 22, Psalm 22. See, one thing you have to understand, and I'll probably preach a sermon on here soon, and I'll kind of explain it and everything, is that Jesus was fully God, okay? It says, in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Now I do believe Godhead's referring to the Trinity there, and I'll probably preach a sermon, kind of explain it and everything like that, but I believe he was not just like part of God, because that's partialism, okay? Jesus was not one-third God, that basically there's one-third God and one-third God and one-third God. And look, we use examples with the Trinity, and none of them fully are perfect. Like sometimes you hear the egg example, there's like a shell and an egg and, you know, a yolk. The egg white, the yolk, and the shell, but look, that's not really a perfect example, because Jesus Christ was fully God. He wasn't fully one-third God, he was fully God. In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, the Bible teaches, okay? And so I want you to understand, when Jesus said he would resurrect himself again from the dead, yeah, that makes sense when you understand that Jesus is fully God, okay? And he says, I destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up, okay? Psalm 22, now that does not negate the Trinity though, that at the very beginning was God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, okay? Now Psalm 22, let's see the third reference to Jesus. And in verse 8, Psalm 22 verse 8, he trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him. Let him deliver him seeing he delighted in him, okay? Now this is more mocking. And this is taking place to David, but I believe it's also taking place with Jesus Christ. This is quoted in the New Testament. Go back to Matthew 27 where you have your toe right now. Go back to Matthew 27 and I'll show you here, starting at verse 41. Matthew 27 verse 41, Matthew 27 verse 41. And notice what it says here in verse 41, likewise also the chief priests mocking him with the scribes and elders said, he saved others, himself he cannot save. If he be the king of Israel, let him now come down from the cross and we will believe him. And so basically they said that, you know, Jesus was not able to deliver himself. If he's really God, he's going to come down from the cross and deliver himself. That wasn't what his goal was. His goal, his mission, his objective, his cup, so to speak, was that he would die for the sins of the world. And so when Jesus is there, they're mocking because it looks like they lost. And look, our enemies, when things are not going well for us, they will mock us. That's the truth. And you see that with enemies of God today, that look, if things are not going well, they've been waiting for the opportunity to mock and they will mock, okay? And so what it said in verse 43 was, he trusted in God, let him deliver him now, if you will have him, for he said, I am the son of God. If you're really the son of God, you're going to deliver yourself or God's going to deliver you. And if not, you must not be the son of God is what they're saying. Go back to Psalm 22, Psalm 22. And that's a direct quote because it said in verse eight of Psalm 22, he trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him, let him deliver him. Okay. Psalm 22 is a picture of Jesus Christ, okay? Psalm 22 verse nine, it says, but thou art he that took me out of the womb, thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts, I was cast upon thee from the womb, thou art my God from my mother's belly, be not far from me, for trouble is near for there is none to help. Many bulls have compassed me, strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round, okay? Verse 13, they gaped upon me with their mouths as a ravening and a roaring lion, okay? Now why does he refer to them as a lion, okay? Now a lion can be a good thing in the Bible because the Bible says Jesus is the lion of the tribe of Judah, but the devil is also referred to as a roaring lion. Now these are people that are mocking and wanting to kill David. So this is not the lion of the tribe of Judah sort of reference. And it's saying a ravening and a roaring lion. It's basically like their father, the devil. This is referring to reprobates, okay? Turn to First Peter five, I'll show you this. First Peter five, First Peter five, and look, a lot of our greatest enemies are going to be reprobates, which are children of the devil, people that hate God, that have been rejected by God, that had their chance, and they basically rejected God. And basically their whole life now is set to do evil. Their minds are seared, the Bible says, with a hot iron. First Peter five verse eight, First Peter five verse eight, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. And so our adversary, the devil, he is as a roaring lion. And what it said in Psalm 22 was as a ravening and a roaring lion, okay? So like their father, the devil. Go back to Psalm 22, I'll show you a few more verses. And so in Psalm 22, we do see reprobates mentioned here, okay? Psalm 22 verse 14, I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, it is melded in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws, and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me, the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me, they pierced my hands and my feet. Now, this is a great example how you need to compare spiritual things with spiritual, because you'll hear people preach that there's like a bunch of, you know, hound dogs or dalmatians that want to kill, you know, pit bulls around David here, okay? This is not referring to pit bulls, when it says dogs have compassed me, because it says the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me. So dogs are wicked people. For dogs have compassed me, surrounding him, the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me. This is not a literal dog. These are wicked people that are referred to as dogs. Look, Jesus called people vipers and things such as that, okay? It's referring to a dog, a wicked person as a dog. A dog is always a bad reference in the Bible. Now, this hurts me because I was a dog person in the US, because a lot of people have pets, and I hate cats, and I love dogs, okay? But dogs are a very bad reference in the Bible, okay? Dogs have compassed me, these are wicked people, but it gets more specific than wicked people when you go to Deuteronomy chapter 23. So turn to Deuteronomy 23, and we're going to see what these dogs are, okay? And so notice what it says in Deuteronomy 23, verse 17, there shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, okay? Now that's obviously referring to female, no whore of the daughters of Israel, so no female whore, okay? Nor a sodomite, because a male whore would be a whoremonger, okay? Female whore, so it's a female there, there shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel, okay? And so a sodomite here is referencing a male because it says of the sons of Israel, okay? Verse 18, there shall not bring the hire of a whore. Now that links back to no whore of the daughters, okay? Thou shall not bring the hire of a whore or the price of a dog into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow, for even both these are abomination unto the Lord thy God. So the Bible mentions a whore. Now look, when it comes to someone who's a whore, I mean, whores can get saved. Women that are harlots, that are whores, that are hookers or whatever, they can believe on Jesus Christ and get saved, okay? But then it mentions, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel, and that links to the price of a dog. So a sodomite is referred to as a dog, okay? What is a sodomite? Well, that word comes from Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodomy is male homosexuals, okay? That's what it's referring to. So a sodomite is referred to as a dog. So when it says dogs have compassed me, yet not all reprobates are sodomites, but a lot of them are, okay? That's what the Bible teaches. And so a sodomite here is called a dog. That's what it's referring to in Psalm 22. Now I go back to Psalm 22 for a second, Psalm 22. Now I want you to remember, though, as you go back to Psalm 22, what it said in Deuteronomy 23 is it separated the female from the male, didn't it? It said the whore of the daughters of Israel. Then when it referred to the sodomite, it says of the sons of Israel, the male, okay? And so the sodomite there is referred to a male homosexual, okay? Psalm 22, verse 20, deliver my soul from the sword, my darling from the pit bull. No, from the power of the dog, not an actual pit bull, okay? Referring to the sodomite there. Save me from the lion's mouth, for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns, okay? Now I believe dog can probably refer to male reprobates, not necessarily homosexuals, but we definitely see how it can be a sodomite. Now you might ask yourself this question, the word, we'll look at verse 21 real quickly. Actually from the lion's mouth. So the power of the dog, the lion's mouth, Psalms 22, this is referring to reprobates. You might ask the question, can a dog reference a female reprobate also or just a male reprobate, okay? Well, keep your finger here, go to 2 Peter chapter 2, 2 Peter chapter 2. A dog in the Bible is only referencing a male reprobate, not a female, okay? And I'll show that to you in 2 Peter chapter 2. So when you see dog in the Bible, it's referring to a male reprobate, okay? And oftentimes a sodomite or a homosexual, okay? But I want you to see a difference here. And I know we're going really deep. That's why I said take notes. You know, we're going to a lot of kind of deep stuff. It's more of a Bible study with this sermon. But we saw basically in Deuteronomy 23 that a sodomite's referred to as a dog. We can see in Psalm 22, it's referring to reprobates. 2 Peter chapter 2, notice verse 22. 2 Peter chapter 2, verse 22. But it has happened on to them according to the true proverb, the dog is turned to his own vomit. Again, you see how the Bible's being consistent? The sons of Israel, his own vomit referring to the male. The dog is turned to his own vomit again. That's masculine, that's male, right? His own vomit. Again, you say, Brother Stuckey, if male reprobates are referred to as dogs, I mean, don't the female reprobates get a term also? They do, okay? It's also in this verse. So male reprobates are dogs. But then it says, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. Do you see the difference there? With the dog, it's his own vomit. With the sow, it's her wallowing. You say, Brother Stuckey, what's a sow? It's a female pig, okay? And so female reprobates are referred to as female pigs here. That's what you see in 2 Peter 2. So when you're reading the Bible, and you're referencing reprobates and it says dog, that's not referring to female reprobates. It's referring to male reprobates. Because women get a special term also that are reprobates, okay? They get sow, which is a female pig, okay? I'd rather be a dog than a pig, but I'd rather be neither one, okay? Because these are referring to reprobates, okay? But females get the term of a sow if they are a female reprobate. But let me just say this because, you know, obviously the Bible is giving terms that are not very nice. You don't want to be referred to as an animal, okay? That's obviously an offensive term. Like if you called somebody a horse, that's obviously very offensive. It's like, man, you look like a horse. It's like, wow, thanks a lot, okay? It's like, you know, obviously that's an offensive term and God's using offensive terms because God's offended at how wicked they are. And look, I use the name that's most common in the Philippines, vise pangit, because everybody knows who that is. But let me tell you something. Those are wicked dogs and sows, the Bible say, okay? They live very wicked lives. It's disgusting. It's filthy. And look, God's opinion doesn't change because I am the Lord, I change not. Genesis 19, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Why didn't He destroy them? Because of sodomy, because of homosexuality. And look, here's the thing, in today's world, when I was a kid, you know, sodomy was not very common. When I was growing up, I didn't see a bunch of homos everywhere. But now in today's world, they're everywhere. Not just here in the Philippines, but in most countries, not all countries necessarily, but most countries around the world, it's everywhere. And look, has God's opinion changed? I mean, in the beginning, it was Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve, my friend, and God has not changed, okay? And so I want you to realize God uses offensive terms because it's something that's disgusting. It's something that's filthy, okay? And so that's why when you look at terms and you say, I'm offended that you'd use an offensive term. Well, God uses offensive terms. And so if somebody says, well, they're queer, meaning strange, it's like, yeah, that's accurate. It's weird. It's not normal. And it's never going to be normal, no matter how common it is, that does not make it normal. Okay? Go back to Psalm 22, Psalm 22. And so in Psalm 22, when David is saying dog, he's referring to the male reprobate. When he's saying lion, he's also referring to the male reprobate because a female lion is a lioness, okay? So he's referring to the male reprobates, okay? Not the female ones. Psalm 22 verse 16, let's see the fourth reference to Jesus, Psalm 22 verse 16, for dogs have compass me, the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet. Now that should be a pretty obvious reference to Jesus. They pierced my hands and my feet. I'm not going to turn there because I think we all know that, that obviously, you know, Jesus Christ, his hands and his feet were pierced, right? You'll see the fifth reference to Jesus here in Psalm 22 verse 17. I may tell all my bones, they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture, but be not thou far from me, O Lord, O my strength, hasty to help me. Okay, now turn to Matthew 27 again, Matthew 27. And in Psalm 22, what it said is they part my garments, the clothing, okay? Now I want you to realize that when writers of the Bible were writing these books, look, they didn't always necessarily know what that would mean one day, because I believe he's being, you know, literal there. He's experienced great trauma and everything, maybe a lot of symbolism. But then all of a sudden you see this is obviously the word of God because of the fact it's being quoted in Matthew 27. And he's foretelling of events that he wouldn't have even known, hey, this is going to take place 2000 years from now or whatever. And so that shows you the Bible is written by God because, look, the books of this Bible, a lot of them were written in prison from people that live thousands of years apart from one another in different places in the world. And all of a sudden, magically, it just kind of came together because it's not magic. It's God's hand behind that, okay? So we know this is the word of God. Matthew 27 verse 35, and they crucified him and parted his garments, just as it said in Psalm 22, they part my garments. Matthew 27 verse 35, they crucified him and parted his garments, casting lots that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet. They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. So it was spoken by the prophet referring to the Psalmist, which is David here. And it said, you know what, quotes, they parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots, okay? Go back to Psalm 22, Psalm chapter 22, and we'll just kind of close up here, going verse by verse. Psalm 22 verse 22, I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the congregation while I praise thee. And so we mentioned this earlier, but just kind of a reminder, because this shows us why we should have songs in church, because it says praising in the midst of the congregation or the church, and that is why we sing a few hymns before every single service, and then it kind of sets the mood for the preaching, we're in good spirits, and then we close with the song that's often related to what's being preached about, and so it kind of just ties the sermon together, because singing songs amongst the congregation, that is very biblical. Now here's the thing, if we're singing songs and then your mouth is like this, you're not praising with us, okay? See, I mean, when the songs are being sung, everybody should be singing the songs. You say, well, I don't have a good voice. Yeah, well, I mean, just don't sing that loud then, okay? If you don't have a good voice, don't worry, the other people will drown you out, okay? And look, I don't have the greatest voice in the world, it's tamalang, I think, right? Not terrible, right? It's tamalang. It's okay. But look, you know what, it's encouraging to hear praises sung to God, and look, I was at a church one time, and the pastor, and you know, going back, this church was a heretical church, but you know, I didn't know that at the time, but the pastor led the music, okay? And he had a terrible voice. I mean, it was awful, but he sung with excitement. And when he sung, even though it wasn't a great sound coming out, even though it wasn't this melodious tune, okay, even though he wasn't the best singer, you were encouraged after that. Like, you were motivated because he sung with enthusiasm. In fact, when you're leading music, okay, and I'm not an expert at leading music. I know some things, because I used to lead the music at Verity, you know, for at least one of the services during the week, but look, what I was taught by Pastor Mendez is that your main goal is to basically encourage the people, motivate them. Now obviously, you want to try the best you can to do this, and a lot of people aren't that great at it, okay? Obviously, you want to try to do the best you need to know the difference between, you know, a four or a three. But the biggest thing is just, I mean, you could have the perfect hand motions, which I don't, and you could sing perfectly in tune, but if you're not singing with enthusiasm to encourage everyone, you're not doing as well as somebody who's actually encouraging people. That is the biggest thing, okay? And so when you're leading music, you're trying to encourage the people, but you know, it's also encouraging when you're leading music that people are singing with you, okay? And so we should all be singing praises to God, not just some of us, but all of us, whether you feel like you have a good voice, you say, well, I don't like to sing. Yeah, when you practice singing, it makes you better. You don't have a good voice because you don't practice, perhaps, okay? The more you do it, the better you're going to get, okay? Verse 23, ye that fear the Lord, praise him. I mean, if you fear God, you're going to praise him. All ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him, and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. Free hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, neither hath he hid his face from him, but when he cried on to him, he heard. My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation, I will pay my vows before them that fear him. Verse 26, the meek shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise the Lord that seek him, your heart shall live forever. All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord, and all the kings of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the Lord's, and he is the governor among the nations. And all they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship, and all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him. And when it says all that go down to the dust, that's referring to basically dying, okay? We're made out of the dust of the earth. And none can keep alive his own soul. A seed shall serve him, it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born that he hath done this. So this is a great chapter here. There's a lot of references to Jesus Christ, and it kind of just shows us the Bible was written by God. Every single verse, every single line, okay? And look, the writers of the Bible, they didn't necessarily know everything they were writing. Daniel, basically, he wrote stuff, and he literally said, I don't understand this. And he's like, I want to understand, and he was basically told, just wait, these things are sealed up. Basically, one day, you'll find out, but it's not for you, okay? But this shows when you see all these references to Jesus Christ, and these are only from Psalm 22. I mean, there are hundreds and hundreds of things that Jesus fulfilled showing that he truly was the living God. Let's close in on a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today, and just getting to hear your word preached, and help us to apply these things to our lives that we learned today, and also help us to remember the things we learned. It's great to learn information, but it doesn't do a whole lot of good if we forget it. You know, help us to remember this, God, and keep it in our minds, and we can understand the Bible better, God. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.