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Number one, let's count up salvations for this week. Did anybody have any salvations to report to? All right. Anybody else? Whoops. He's pinned. You've got to take this off to work. There we go. Anybody else? Any salvations? All right. We'll have soul winning here mid this afternoon, as we usually do. And then just in the middle of your bulletin, let's look at a couple upcoming activities. So we do have our prayer meeting here today. So basically right when we get back from soul winning around that time, we'll have a quick prayer meeting dividing into groups of four or five. We try to do that once a month. And we do have our first annual children's day in two weeks. So this is going to be an exciting time. And especially if you have kids, this is going to be an event you want your kids at. We're going to have a lot of games. It's going to be geared toward the kids. We're not going to sing goofy Sunday school songs, but we'll have a lot of games specifically for the kids. We're going to have kind of make it as like a fair or like a carnival sort of atmosphere in terms of the food and everything. So it's going to be a fun time. And it's going to be great. We're going to have that in a couple of weeks. And so those are the major announcements that we have. We'll have Brother Marlon lead us in another song. For our next song, let's turn to hymn number 233. Let's sing the song, Tell Me the Old Old Story. Hymn number 233, Tell Me the Old Old Story. Tell me the old old story. Hymn number 233, let's sing the song, Tell Me the Old Old Story. Tell me the old old story of unscent things above. Of Jesus and his glory. Of Jesus and his love. Tell me the story simply adds to a little joy. For I am weak and weary and helpless and deaf. Tell me the old old story. Tell me the old old story. Tell me the old old story of Jesus and his love. Tell me the story slowly that I may take it in. That wonderful redemption what's ready for sin. Tell me the story of death for I forget so soon. The early dew and mourning has passed away and good. Tell me the old old story. Tell me the old old story. Tell me the old old story of Jesus and his love. Tell me the story softly with earnest thoughts and grief. Remember that the sinner from Jesus came to save. Tell me the story always if you will believe me. In any time of trouble I'll conquer to be. Tell me the old old story. Tell me the old old story. Tell me the old old story of Jesus and his love. Tell me the simple story when you have cause to fear. That this world's empty glory is costing me to near. Yes, heaven's afterwards glory is dawning on my soul. Tell me the old old story. Christ Jesus is the Lord. Tell me the old old story. Tell me the old old story. Tell me the old old story. Of Jesus and his love. Now let's take our offering. Amen. Amen for a scripture reading. Please open your Bibles to the book of Psalm. Psalm 28 right in the middle of your Bible. Psalm 28. And we will be reading the entire chapter as our custom. Psalm chapter 28. Please say amen if you're there. Amen. Psalm 28 verse 1. Unto thee will I cry, O Lord, my rock. Be not silent to me, lest thou be silent to me. I become like them that go down into the pit. Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity which speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts. Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavors. Give them out to the work of their own hands. Render to them their dessert, because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands. He shall destroy them and not build them up. Blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. The Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusted in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth, as with my song will I praise him. The Lord is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed. Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance. Feed them also, and lift them up forever. Amen. Bless me with God's greatest prayer. Lord God in heaven, we thank you, Lord, for your stage has been given to us. Please give us good weather for our soul, winning our fellowship, Lord, later on. Please bless, Lord, with the wisdom and knowledge of the Holy Ghost. And we love you. Peace and we pray. Amen. Amen. Right, we're here in Psalm 28, and this is a pretty short chapter, so it's not going to take too long. The first sermon was a bit longer. But let's just start here at verse number 1, where the Bible reads in Psalm 28, verse 1, On to thee will I cry, O Lord my rock. Be not silent to me, lest if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. So kind of the first thing you see right here is it says, O Lord my rock. That kind of shows throughout the Bible, it talks about the Lord being the rock. And he says, On to thee will I cry. And what he's saying is basically crying out or praying to God. We'll use the word supplication here in this chapter. And he's saying, Don't be silent to me like you're silent to those that go down into the pit. By and large, if somebody's an unsaved person, those are prayers God is not going to listen to. Now, as I said before, I do believe there's some exceptions, like, for example, in Assyria in Jonah chapter 3 or with Cornelius where prayers can be answered from someone who fears God but is an unsaved person. But by and large, God will hear his children but not those that are not saved. Kind of the analogy we can look at is with our personal children. If my son comes to me and says, Dad, I want to tell you something, I'm going to listen to him because he's my son. If he asks me for something, because prayer is asking, I'm going to listen to him. He says, Dad, can you get me some ice cream? You know, I might get my son some ice cream depending on how he's acting, right? But if some random kid walks up to me and says, Can you buy me ice cream? I'll be like, Who are you, right? It's like, Ask your mom. Ask your dad. It's like, No, I'm not going to buy you ice cream, right? And it's the same way with God. If you're his children, you have a special interest into God and I pray to him to have your prayers answered, okay? Now, one thing I mentioned here in this verse, at the end of verse 1, I become like them that go down into the pit. Down into the pit. What is that referring to, down into the pit? Well, go to Revelation chapter 9. Revelation 9. Revelation chapter 9. And in Revelation chapter 9, we're going to see that hell is actually referred to as the bottomless pit. Hell is referred to as the bottomless pit. It says in Revelation chapter 9, verse 1, Revelation 9, verse 1, And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven onto the earth, and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. So the Bible here refers to hell as the bottomless pit. So what is that referring to? Well, I mean, a pit would be like, for example, a big gap in the ground. You know, for example, Joseph was thrown into a pit, or like a ditch would be kind of a more, at least in America is a more modern day word that we would use. But it says it's a bottomless pit, so it's like a ditch or a pit that never ends. Kind of like bottomless fries or bottomless chips or, you know, bottomless rice if they had that. I don't know, you can just keep eating and eating and eating and eating. And bottomless chips in the U.S., okay? But basically you can have as much as you want, free refills basically, right? And you can have as much as you want, and they're never going to run out. Well, here it says the bottomless pit. So the indication is a pit that just goes forever and ever and ever, and it's referring to hell. Now, what I've heard preached, and this is the stance I would take, is I believe that, you know, people that go to hell, they obviously go to the center of the earth. Hell is in the center of the earth. It's not like they're standing on solid ground in the center of the earth. It's not like they're holding onto anything or sitting down in a chair while they're burning. I believe it would be giving them the feeling of basically endlessly falling due to gravity, okay? Now, I'm not an expert at this, but it makes sense is what I've heard preached, because, you know, if they're in the center of the earth, they're not going to fall to the other side of the earth. They're just endlessly in the center, but they're basically just endlessly falling because they're not sitting down on anything. They're not standing on anything. And one of the descriptions of hell is it's a bottomless pit. Now, I don't think that's number one on the scariest or worst things about hell, but at the same time, I would say, if you're falling and you can't hold onto anything, that would be a pretty terrifying feeling, right? That would be a pretty scary feeling if you're falling and you're not able to stand on anything, you're not able to sit down on anything. The Bible indicates that that is what hell is actually going to be like. Now, go back to Psalm 28. Psalm 28. Psalm 28. And in Psalm 28, verse 1, the Bible reads, On to thee will I cry, O Lord my rock, be not silent to me. So basically, you know, I'm praying to you. You know, he's asking for an answer from God because one thing you have to realize is when you're praying or where you're asking for, when you're praying, what you're doing is you're asking for something, right? There's one thing called praising God where you talk about how great God is, but if you're actually praying, what you're doing is asking. So within a prayer, actually praying is when you actually ask for something. You say, what are you talking about? If you say, God, help me to be a good husband, that's a prayer. You're asking for something from God, right? So prayer is actually asking for something. What he's saying is, you know, God is silencing me as I'm asking for something. He says, lest if thou be silent, I become like them that go down into the pit. Well, why would the psalmist say, you know, I don't want you to be silent because if he's saved, isn't God always going to listen to him? Well, the answer to that would be no. God does not always listen to our prayers. Let me show this to you in Psalm 66. Psalm 66. Now, once again, prayer is like an aspect. Go back to the example of having a son, and let's say your son is acting really bad one day, disobeying and yelling and complaining, and it's like, Dad, I want some ice cream. It's like, no. I'm not going to listen to that. I'm not going to give you some ice cream because you're just being bad all day long. I'm not going to give you some reward for causing all these problems. Right? You know, if your kid is doing something good, and they have a good attitude, and they ask for something, as a parent, you want to give that to them, if possible. But what if your kids are just disobeying you? They're just not listening to anything you say, and then they ask for something. Dad, can you get me this? It's like, no. It's like, first, eat your vegetables. Then maybe you can get ice cream. It's like, no, you're not getting ice cream when all of your food is still on your plate. It's like, we gave you soup. We gave you rice. We gave you whatever food. We gave you meat. You need to eat this before we're going to give you something else. Right? What are parents going to do? Because you have to realize, and if you don't realize this yet, maybe you don't have kids, or maybe they're too young, but you know what? Kids can be very picky eaters. You give them something, and it's like, no, I don't want this, and then they refuse. And then it's just like, no, you need to eat like five spoonfuls. And then they just barely just get one piece of rice in their mouth. And it's just like, it will be frustrating sometimes. Right? Kids will often do this, and then they want chips or ice cream like an hour later. It's like, no. It's like, you got your unfinished food there on the table. Eat that first before we're going to give you anything. And you say, why would you have that reaction? Because if you don't, your kids are going to push you around all the time. Right? You have to be willing to say no, and you know what? If you tell your kids to do something, it's like, I can just do whatever I want and sin and commit all these wicked, and obviously I don't believe in Santa. Okay? But I'm just saying, people treat him like people treat sin. Like, I can do whatever I want and commit all these sins. It's like, okay, God, you know, I want you to give me this. You're committing adultery on your wife. God, can you give me a job promotion? It's like, why do I want to listen to you right now? You know, you're not obeying anything that I say. But see, this is not just my opinion. This is what it says in Psalm 66, verse 18. Psalm 66, verse 18. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. But verily God hath heard me. He hath attended to the voice of my prayer. See, the Bible says if you regard iniquity, and iniquity is a synonym for the word sin, so if you have a sin that basically you're following and you're not making changes in your life, if you regard sin or iniquity or transgression inside your heart, God's not going to hear you. So look, if you want God to answer your prayers, you know what? You have to make sure you get the sin out of your life. Don't expect God to answer all your prayers and give you everything you want when you're not doing anything that he says. He says, I'm not going to hear you if you regard iniquity in your heart. But see, the Psalmist says confidently, verily God hath heard me. Do you know if you're right with God or not? Now, none of us are perfect. But at the same time, you know what? If you go to God in prayer, if you're honest with yourself, you can decide whether or not you're right with God or not. Are you doing what he says or not? I mean, if you're committing obvious sins and then you're going to God and asking for something, he's going to say, get rid of the sin first. I'm not going to give you anything when you're refusing to listen to what I have to say. But you know, if you're right with God, God will listen to you. If you go to 1 John 5, 1 John 5, 1 John 5. Now, when it comes to getting our prayers answered, the first step is simply praying, simply asking for something. You say, Brother Stuckey, you know, that's foolish. Everybody knows that. But yet, when people call for computer tech support or printer tech support or whatever, the first thing they're instructed to tell people is, is it plugged in? Of course it's plugged in. Do you think I'm an idiot? Oh, okay, it's not plugged in. I forgot that step. That's usually the number one thing with tech support. It's just like, and I do the same sorts of things. It's the basic stuff that, you know, you tend to forget. Right? Whenever I made mistakes, because math was the subject, the degree I graduated with was math, but whenever I made mistakes, it would be something like 2 plus 4. You solve a calculus problem, and then 2x plus 4 equals like 24x, and it's just like you're not thinking, right? And sometimes the easy stuff you kind of look over because it seems so basic, but see, in our lives, many people go in their lives and they don't pray to God. They don't ask for anything. Why is my life such a mess? Why is God not answering my prayers? You didn't pray. You didn't ask. You say, Brother Stuckey, I don't know. Well, that's what James 4 says. You have not because he asked not. God says the number one reason you don't have is you're not asking for anything. Right? Many times in our life, we think of our lives, we get frustrated, we're upset. Why isn't God blessing me? It's like, well, you never actually stopped in the morning and sat down by a chair and said, God, can you please help me with this? And then you wonder why you have all these problems because you're not actually praying. It's the truth. And the other reason might be because you're not living a Godly life. Right? You never read your Bible, never come to church, never go soul winning. You watch anything you want on YouTube or the TV or whatever. You don't feel guilty about watching anything, just anything, you know. It's just vice-pung and he's hilarious. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. No big deal. I'll just watch whatever I want. And then you're like, God, can you just bless me in this area? It's like, well, when you're not listening to anything he says, is that how you would treat your kids? Well, no, you love your kids, but you expect them to obey you. And if they're not obeying you, you're not going to answer their requests. That's the way it works. And the Bible says if you regard iniquity in your heart, God is not going to hear you. But you can confidently say, God hath heard me if you're right with God. Right now, this is easiest to do on a Sunday because you come to church, you come soul winning, you go home, and it's just like, but you know what, other days, what about other days where maybe you're just kind of sitting around, just on YouTube, on Facebook, just watching everything, but you're not actually reading the Bible, you're not praying, and then all of a sudden you're asking from God, you know, if you do ask, he might say, you know what, I need you to make some changes in your life before I'm going to bless you. That's what the Bible teaches. But here's the thing, if we are right with God, we do have a special entrance as God's children to go into the throne of God and ask prayers from God. It says in 1 John 5, verse 14, And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. So number one, you have to pray for something. Number two, you need to be right with God. Number three, it needs to be according to his will. So you say, God, help me win the lottery today. That's probably not going to be answered. It's probably a foolish thing to pray. It's like, why are you playing the lottery? Did you just happen to find a lottery ticket or what, right? It's like, why are you gambling? Well, God's probably not going to answer that prayer. But you know what, in another sense, God sees the end of things and we don't. Maybe you're praying for a job. You know, you have a job interview, you're praying, you know, help me get this job. And God looks at your heart and says, you know what, you want to serve me, you're doing what's right, but that is just not going to be a good fit for you. It seems like a good fit right now, but six months down the road it's just not going to work out because God sees the end of things. So if you're actually right with God, God looks at your life and says, you know what, you're praying for this, but you know what, I might just redirect it around to this because this is actually better for you. It's very important to be right with God because otherwise we might just kind of go on our own path and sometimes it's best when God just stops a door in front of us and says, no, I need you somewhere else, right? I'm not going to give you what you want because it's not good for you. Here's the thing, though, if you're not right with God, God might give you or allow you to have the things that you want and it actually is not a good thing for you, right? So it needs to be according to his will and one thing is you could pray for something that is just wrong, like winning the lottery or something like that, but you might have a prayer that's honest and sincere, but you don't see the end of things and God says, you know what, that's not my will for you. You might think it is and I understand why you want that job, but I see the end of things and it's like that's not good for you. You're just going to wait a couple of months and it's going to redirect you into a different route. And if we know that he hears us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. Go back to 1 John 3, 1 John 3, 1 John 3. What is this special place of prayer? Why do we have a special place? Well, it's because we are his children. It says in 1 John 3, verse 1, Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us. Obviously the book of John, 1 John, was written to save people. So upon us, upon us that are saved, that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not because it knew him not. The Bible speaks about something special about being called a son of God. Well, here's the thing about this. No one else is a son of God but people that believe on Jesus Christ. I mean, if you believe on Jesus, you are a son or a daughter of God. You are a child of God. Now, I preached recently in Pampanga on Genesis, chapter 6, and I talked about how the fallen angels were never called the sons of God. The Bible is very clear about that. The Bible is very clear the fallen angels are just fallen angels. The sons of God in the Old Testament are saved people. When the sons of God marry the daughters of men, you have saved people marrying unsaved people. That's what it's teaching, right? And so when it says that we're sons of God, it's something special that it calls us a son of God or a daughter of God, but it's not just a name that he gives us. I mean, if you were to call someone the president, then you would treat them like the president, right? And if he calls us his children, he treats us like his children in the same way, right? I mean, he chastens every son whom he receiveth, the Bible says, because that's what you would do to your children, right? At the same time, when you ask for prayer from God, when you pray for stuff and ask for stuff, well, you're like his child. And if you're right with him and it's according to his will, he's going to give it to you. Now, if it's not according to his will, then he's not going to give it to you. But if you are right with him and you ask him, he treats you as his child, not just some random person asking for a prayer. You know, you think of the difference. Let's say there's somebody who's an unsaved person that's just drowning in the water or whatever, and let's say they're just like a real derelict. They're getting drunk all the time, a drug dealer and all this stuff. I'm not saying they're a reprobate, but they just live a pretty bad life. And then all of a sudden it's like, you know, God save me. Well, you know, it's possible God could allow that person to be saved or not, but I'm just saying I believe if you're God's children, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. So if he were to allow you to pass away, obviously God said, you know what, I'm going to take them home to heaven early, but I don't think he's just going to randomly allow us to just pass away if we're right with him, unless for whatever reason that's according to his will. And see, there's something special going in under the throne of God, and everybody prays in difficult situations throughout the book of Psalms. It talks about praying when you're in tough times and you're afraid. Well, you better hope you're right with God, because if you're right with God, God can protect you. God can help you. If you're not right with God, who knows what's going to happen? I mean, if you leave here today and you get drunk and you just drive down the road, who knows what's going to happen, right? I mean, it's like you're willfully just committing some sin. It's just like, you know what, you're like a speeding weapon, right, when you're drunk. I mean, have you ever driven on the road before where people are drunk? It's a scary thing when you're driving on the road and you see people drunk. Like, it makes me mad, because I remember one time I was driving on the highway in California in the U.S., and there was this guy who was drunk that was on the highway. The problem with people that are drunk is they either drive really slow or really fast, and then they're all over the place. And this person was like speeding up to like, oh, man, kilometers to miles. I think of miles, like 100 miles per hour. What is it? Is it like 1.6 kilometers per, like 160 kilometers per hour? It's pretty fast, right? 160 kilometers, I mean, just flying down the road, and then all of a sudden he's going like 50 kilometers, like a couple seconds. I mean, he's like flying and then slamming on the brakes, and he's going from side to side. And I was just thinking to myself, I don't know whether I should try to pull over to the side of the road, because this guy's like all over the place. It's like you don't know whether you're going to be able to avoid him, right? You know, if you see a race and then there's a wreck, it's really hard. They try to fight their way through. You don't know what's going to happen. But if he wrecks into someone on the highway, you got like a 20-car wreck. I mean, it was very—lots of traffic. It's going to be a very dangerous thing. You know, what I did is I just prayed to God. I was like, I don't know what else to do, because I was like, you know, part of me said, maybe I should just try to speed up and go past this guy, but that's not very safe. And then he's going up to like 160 and then 50. You just don't know, right? I just prayed to God. It's like, God, just help keep me safe, because this guy was like in the lane here, and then he's like behind me and there, and then he's swerving. It's like, what do you do? I prayed to God, and you know what? I was protected, right? I was safe. Here's the thing. That's a very dangerous situation, but I think if you're right with God, God can protect you through that. If you're not right with God, you know, who knows what's going to happen? Now, of course, when you— The Bible says not to be afraid of sudden fear, but realistically, and I understand perfect love casteth out fear, but I'm not perfect. I'm not perfectly right with God. It's like sometimes sudden fear comes upon you. You're like, oh, God, please, please, please help me, right? But, you know, I do believe God's going to help you if you're right with him. We have a special entrance onto him. Go back to Psalm 28, Psalm 28, Psalm 28. Psalm 28 and verse 2. You say, brother, it's only nine verses. It's going to be like a 15-minute sermon, right? Well, you know, I'll do my best. We're through one verse, one ninth of the way done, okay? Verse 2, hear the voice of my supplications when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. Now, when you see the word supplication in the Bible, you know, it means prayer, but it's a lot stronger. It's basically, you know, really beseeching God, you know, really, you know, really seeking after God. So it's not just something, you know, hey, God, can you, you know, you know, before you eat lunch, you know, it's like you ask God to bless the food, and I believe God answers that, but we don't have a one-and-a-half-hour prayer like, God, please bless the food. Please bless this food to my body, right? Now, we're obviously sincere, and we mean it when we pray, but it's not a one-hour prayer. But what if you have something major, right? Some major thing that's taking place. You have a major surgery that's coming up. You know, you would really get a hold of God, you know, every morning leading up to that surgery or whatever, and say, God, please protect me. God, please keep me safe. And that's what we're seeing when we're seeing supplication. It's a very strong term for praying, not just, you know, you pray and you forget about it, but something that really is important to you. And he said, you know, hear the voice of my supplications. Then it says in verse 3, Draw me not away with the wicked and with the workers of iniquity, the workers of iniquity. Now, when it says the wicked here, it says workers of iniquity. So wicked people, people that are working iniquity, what does that mean? Well, I mean, your works are basically your actions, you know, what you do, right? Iniquity is a synonym for sin, kasalana, right? So when it's saying workers of iniquity, it's saying people that sin a lot. They work iniquity, they work sin, workers of iniquity. So their lives are filled with sin and sin and sin. And look, there are people in this world, that's what they are. They seek and strive after committing sin. They want to do wrong. They want to do evil. Go to Matthew 7. Let me show you a few more verses on this. And look, before you get too mad at me preaching about the reprobate doctrine all the time, I'm just going verse by verse through the book of Psalms. I don't avoid any verses in the Bible. Obviously the Psalmist is just like, I mean, he's not just talking, he's singing this, right? The workers of iniquity, right? And so it's something that's a common thing because here's what we need to understand. As God's people, people that are serving God and trying to strive for God, basically our battle is against the children of the devil. Now the children of the devil is a small percentage of people, but they do a lot of the damage, right? Even though they make up a small percentage of the people, they're the ones that fight against us. They're the ones that hate us. They're the ones that are trying to tear us down, okay? Matthew 7, verse 22. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? Now this is Jesus Christ speaking, and he's speaking of other people, and he speaks of people saying that we've prophesied or preached in your name. So that he's referring to people that are doing this in the name of Jesus Christ because this is Jesus speaking, right? So it's not really referring to a Muslim or a Hindu or a Buddhist. We're really looking at, I would say, someone who claims to be a Christian, right? We've prophesied in your name. We ended prayers in Jesus' name, right? We've prophesied in thy name and in thy name of cast out devils. So there you got your Pentecostals, right, or something like that. In thy name of... This is Benny Hinn or Kenneth Copeland, right? Then it says, and in thy name done many wonderful works. So they're saying, in your name, Jesus, we've done wonderful works, right? We've done all of these things in your name. You say, well, these are good people, right? Well, what does it say in verse 23? And then while I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. So Jesus says, you know what? I never knew you. You were never saved. You were never my children, right? I never knew you, so you were never saved. You were never my children. Depart from me. Leave me. But then he says this, ye that work iniquity, workers of iniquity. Now, look, this term workers of iniquity or work iniquity, it's not just like a way to try to put someone down, like you're a worker of iniquity. He's actually describing what they are. You say, but Brother Stuckey, these are people that did all these wonderful works. They said they did all these wonderful works. They believe they did all these wonderful works. But what Jesus is saying is, you didn't do wonderful works. You're actually a bad person. He said, but these are religious people. Well, go to Matthew 23, Matthew 23, Matthew 23. We're looking at very religious people. We're looking at basically false prophets of some sort. And what you have to understand is people that are unsaved, that are a false prophet, they're not just unsaved where basically they don't have the truth, but they're a nice person just like you and me. No, no, no, they're a worker of iniquity. They're a bad person. Mark it down. Pope Francis is a wicked devil. He's not just, well, he's confused. I mean, he's religious. No, no, he's a wicked devil. He's a worker of iniquity, worker of sin. He's a bad person. False prophets that are not saved are bad people. Oh, they're just innocently confused. No, no, the average Catholic is innocently confused, not the leaders. There's a big difference. It's one thing growing up Catholic and going to church, and you just kind of follow what your parents did, right? Isn't that what we all did? That's different than someone becoming a priest, and basically their whole life is dedicated to Catholicism, and they've been trained the opposite of what the Bible says, right? What the Bible says is these people are workers of iniquity. What that means is they are bad people. They do bad things. Matthew 23, verse 25. Here's an example. Woe and dew, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you may clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. And what Jesus says about the scribes and Pharisees is on the outside they look pretty good. It's like all the men have short hair. The men are wearing, you know, I don't know what the clothing of the day was. I think a tie wasn't yet invented, and I'm not sure, but they were wearing nice clothing, wearing their dress clothes. They looked really good on the outside, but that doesn't mean that they're actually a good person just because they put on a suit, just because somebody is dressed up nice. Oh, they must be a really nice, respectable person. Well, maybe. I don't know. I mean, Ted Bundy looked pretty dressed up when he was in, you know, the courtroom defending himself for killing like 50 people. I mean, people, I mean, literally, people thought Ted Bundy, he was called the all-American serial killer because everyone's just like, man, he just looks like such a nice guy. It's like so many women fell in love with him, honestly, like during when he was defending himself. They're just like, he's just so nice, though. He's so charming. It's like, you know, I can't, there's no way he killed all those people. I mean, he had to have a good reason, right? It's like, but the outside can be fake. You have to realize that. This is just clothing you can put on whatever. It doesn't mean that that actually shows what's on the inside. It says then in verse 26, Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe, new scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness. And it's like somebody can look good on the outside, and the same thing could be for a lady. A lady could have a really nice-looking dress, really respectful and everything. It doesn't tell you what she's actually like, though. It could indicate. Obviously, man looketh on the outward appearance. It could be fake, though. It doesn't mean it's real. And what he said about the Pharisees is, they look good on the outside, but within they are actually wicked people. And it says, verse 28, Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe, new scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye build the tombs of the prophets and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which kill the prophets. So basically they're saying, You know what? This religion that we followed, yes, some of our forefathers made mistakes persecuting the prophets, but we wouldn't do that. Isn't it true today that all of these Christians, oh, they love Jesus, don't they? Doesn't every Christian say they love Jesus? Do you think that they would all love him if he was actually here? Nope. Because the Jesus they believe in and they're promoting and they say they love is not the Jesus of the Bible. I just love Jesus because he was just so much love, love, love, love, love. Just loved everything. Never hated anything, never hated anybody. It's just like, well, that's actually not the Jesus of the Bible. Don't mistake me. God is love, but the Bible also speaks about, you know, there's a time to love and a time to hate, my friend. You need a proper balance on things. If it was all hate, hate, hate, well, that would be wrong, but if it's all love, love, love, that would be wrong. I mean, the same God that loves us also sends people to hell. It's not a very loving thing to do, but you say, why? Well, he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, the Bible says. They get sent to hell for all eternity because God is holy, which is the number one attribute I would say about God. So look, God is not just simply love, love, love, no matter what, and here's the thing. They say we wouldn't kill them, but you know what? He's saying you actually would kill the prophets. You say, what's the proof of that? Well, they killed the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember that parable? He keeps sending these people. Well, they'll reverence my son. It's like, no, they just basically fulfilled that prophecy when they killed the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 37, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sinned unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathers their chicken under her wings, and ye would not, behold, your house is left on you desolate. So they killed the prophets. But if you remember, when Jesus Christ was killed, all of a sudden these religious leaders go to Pilate, and they say, oh, we forgot that he's going to rise again from the dead. Oh, man, I can't believe we forgot to tell you he's going to rise again from the dead. And see, what you see is, and they call Jesus that deceiver. It's actually projection because they're the deceivers. And see, what you see is this, that they were willing to lie and deceive to get somebody put to death. They have no problem having somebody killed. Now, they're not the ones that actually killed with their hands, but they're the ones that caused it. So these people that look really nice with the suit are the same people that lied to get Jesus to put to death. Well, it doesn't sound like they're so great after all, right? What's funny is, people that are bad people, they think they're good people. They really do. People that are bad people think they are really, really good people. And it's like this with everything. We talked about recently that graph, the Dunning-Kruger effect. But if somebody's a really lazy person, they usually think they're a very hard worker. That's the way it works. It's like this with everything. Someone thinks, man, I'm a really patient person. You just beat up that person. Well, I mean, they had it coming. They provoked me. And it's just like people that are bad at stuff, oftentimes they just don't want to admit reality, and they basically just, you know, believe the opposite of themselves. And it's just like, that's why it's very difficult to self-assess yourself. Go back to Psalm 28. Psalm 28. Psalm 28. Psalm 28. And notice what it says in verse 3, the end of verse 3, which speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts. So it says they speak peace. They will say things like, you know, no, you know, just I love everybody and everything. They'll say really nice things, but actually inside their heart is mischief, and mischief, you look throughout the Bible, is linked to like killing and murder and death. So these people are saying all these nice flattery things on the outside, but within they're full of mischief. Now, here's the thing about this. If you remember, as I talked about when we looked at the 20 traits of psychopaths, one of the ones was basically the shallow effect is what it's called, and the idea is this, that with psychopaths, since they don't actually feel these things, they try to gauge the proper reaction, and sometimes they're too emotional, sometimes they're not emotional enough, and sometimes they just mess up. So basically, you know, you might tell them, for example, you know, like, oh, man, I got a ticket today. I got like a thousand peso fine. Oh, that's terrible, and then they go way overboard with it. Well, obviously a thousand peso fine's not fun, but it's not the end of the world. I'm not dying. I didn't tell you I have, you know, some terminal disease, but then you might tell them something like, oh, man, my brother tragically died, and then they're like, oh, that's terrible. What do you want to do for lunch? You want to go to Jollibee? It's like, I just told you, and because they don't get it, so sometimes, you know, they mess up, and see, here's the thing, when they're saying speak peace to their neighbors, I want you to understand this, that if somebody is just way too peaceful, that actually might be a red flag. If someone's just too over the top with it, because, you know, sometimes you talk to people, and there's just something just doesn't seem right. You can't put your finger on it, but it's just a little bit different than how you would interact with somebody else. It might actually be something on the inside that's kind of, because, you know, we're used to interacting with people 24-7, all day long. You don't even think about it. It comes naturally, and if somebody's acting a lot differently than other people, it might be something on the inside saying, you know, something different. It might actually be a red flag. Speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts. Go to Psalm 55. Psalm 55. Psalm 55. And the idea is this. If they're workers of iniquity, they work iniquity, they do sins, they do bad things, you can't necessarily trust their words. You've got to look at the actions, right? This is what the Bible talks about, that you have to actually look at their actions. It always says, in this the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil, saying there's a difference in their actions. Now, it's not like two plus three equals five. I'm not saying that we need to go around and just, you know, just with every single person give them a scare or whatever. I'm just saying, though, if you see red flags, it ought to be something that you kind of point out inside your mind and just kind of write it down and just kind of think about it like, okay, you know, something just doesn't seem quite right. It says in Psalm 55 verse 21, Psalm 55 verse 21, the words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart. See, the Bible speaks about people whose words are smoother than butter. I mean, they're so smooth, right? So charming, so glib, right? I mean, so smooth, but war was in his heart. You know, whenever you think of somebody who's smooth, when you think of people that are like famous people, at least in the U.S., you'd always say, okay, here's a picture of Bill Clinton, the smoothest talker you would ever listen to, right? I mean, I remember being a kid, and I actually met Bill Clinton once. He came to West Virginia. I'm kind of embarrassed about that, but it was a big crowd. It wasn't just me, okay? It's not like I'm close to old Billy or whatever, but I'm just saying he was known as like the smoothest talker, and what I mean by that is if you listen to Bill Clinton say something, even if you disagreed, it's like a vacuum that's sucking you in, like, oh, man, that makes sense. That's why abortion's okay. He was just so smooth that he really seemed like he actually cared about you, but war was in his heart. I mean, he's a bad person. I mean, it's just like some people are just very smooth. That doesn't necessarily mean that they're a good person. It could be war is in their hearts. His words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords? And see, the words were used as a means to cause harm, and it's all in act to kind of suck people in. Go back to Psalm 28. Psalm 28. Psalm 28. And you say, well, Brother Stuckey, you know, what do you mean by looking at the actions? What sort of actions should we look at? Well, what I would say is, you know, just look at what we see in the Bible about certain things. Now, there's certain things that are just like, for sure, 2 plus 3 equals 5. They're a reprobate, like a pedophile, right? There's no disputing it. There's no arguing it, right? Someone who just does this abominable thing that is not natural, that's not normal or whatever, but at the same time, you don't have to wait for somebody to come out as being a pedophile or a serial killer to know that they're bad or to have serious suspicions. There's a lot of characteristics of bad people in the Bible. They do the same sorts of things. Now, you know, I read recently some people on the psychopathy checklist, which I preached a whole sermon series on it, and look, I stand by the psychopathy checklist, and the reason why I do is all 20 of those traits are found in the Bible with psychopaths, all 20. I mean, I preached it in the series, and I'm going through videos one each week. Those are good characteristics to look at. You say, well, just look at the Bible characteristics. Well, flattery kind of goes along with charm, glib, superficial charm. It's the same thing, just kind of a different way to describe it. Now, I'm not saying a world's list is perfect, but it's actually a very good list. I mean, it gives you a good characteristic that you can apply all 20 of those things to people that are actually psychopaths. You know, we need to be very careful. You know, obviously the world is wrong on stuff. It doesn't mean that 100% everything they say is just useless and wrong and bad, because all 20 of those characteristics you can actually find in the Bible with psychopaths. Right? We had it in the series, and it gives you an indication. You're seeing those subtle little things. You're seeing those clues. You see them in the Bible with these people that are bad people. And see, the Bible says workers of iniquity, so what the Bible's saying is, hey, actually look at their works. Right? Look at the things that they're actually doing. Well, here's the thing about this. I don't believe that in Matthew 7 we're looking at open pedophiles or open serial killers. We're looking at people that are religious people that pretend to be good people, and the Bible says, well, they're workers of iniquity. It tells us that for a reason. So it's saying people that are just committing all of these sins, and you can identify certain things that are very common with someone who's a reprobate that is not common with the average person. I'm not saying a checklist is perfect, but I am saying it is actually a very, very, very strong correlation. It's actually a very, very useful thing. And see, the Bible says that. It says workers of iniquity. Right? Where are we? Psalm 28, verse 4, right? Give them according to their deeds, give them according to their actions, give them according to their works, and according to the wickedness of their endeavors, give them after the work of their hands, render to them their desert. And it says, according to the wickedness of their endeavors. Well, when you're thinking about endeavoring, endeavoring means that you're basically trying to do something, and you're really pursuing it very strongly. It's like a very strong word to seek to do something. Where it's not just kind of a plan like, oh, man, you know, I want to, you know, bench 300 pounds, but you're really seeking after it. Right? You're really putting in a lot of effort. That's what it means to endeavor. When it says the wickedness of their endeavors, what it's saying is these people, they put in great effort to cause problems and commit sin. They will go through great effort to do wrong. Go to Proverbs 4. Proverbs 4. Proverbs 4. Anyway, this is something that's hard for us to understand because of the fact if you're a normal person, your mind doesn't think that way. You know, you don't go to bed at night thinking, how can I cause somebody harm? Right? How can I destroy somebody? How can I just destroy some random person's life? It's not the way a normal person would think, but that's actually the way that these people think, people without a conscience. Now, what's interesting is this. For us that are saved people or even an unsaved person that's normal, you know what? There's something about having a clear conscience that makes it very easy to sleep. Right? You know, if you're going to bed at night and you're not quite right with God, you feel very guilty. You feel terrible. I've had times where I prayed to God, said, God, forgive me, and then I go back five minutes later and say, and again I pray because, you know, I'm just like, I feel really bad. I still feel bad after praying the first time. It's like, man, and it's like it's hard to sleep at night if you have a guilty conscience. Isn't that true? There's something about having a clear conscience where you haven't committed any major sins, you're trying to serve God, and it's easy to sleep at night. Well, here's the thing. It's the exact opposite for a reprobate. The Bible tells us it's literally hard for them to sleep at night if they haven't done enough wrong. Notice what it says in Proverbs 4 verse 16. For they sleep not except they have done mischief. They sleep not except they have done mischief. Except they've done harm, except they've done destruction, they sleep not. And their sleep is taken away unless they cause some to fall. Well, it's just being symbolic, Brother Stuckey. No, I think you need to take the Bible a little bit more literally than you are if you just think, oh, it's just symbolic because it restated basically the same thing. Said it twice. They can't sleep unless they've caused problems. So literally someone that's a bad person, they get to the end of the day, man, I didn't do enough harm, and then they endeavor on their bed. What can I do tomorrow? What can I do? How can I cause harm? I'm being dead serious. This is what the Bible says that they do. Literally people that would go to bed at night and just think to themselves, how can I cause destruction to someone? Now, look, this is not a high percentage of people, but the Bible speaks about a small percentage of people whose conscience is gone, and they work iniquity. They endeavor to commit wickedness. They want to commit crimes and do evil. They're just bad people. That's what the Bible says. Go to Psalm 28. Psalm 28. Psalm 28. You say, Brother Stuckey, I don't know this. I know you talk about the reprobate doctrine and stuff. I just have trouble believing this. Okay, well, let me just give you a story about how my wife converted on this topic, okay, because this was like six years ago before we married, and we were talking about it, and my wife and I, we talked about the Bible all the time before we married, and I was talking to her about this topic before and what the Bible said and everything. She didn't disagree with it because the verses were there, but it's one thing to hear something, and there's another thing to experience something, and she was going on a jipney in Pampanga, and she was there, and there was these two homos that were on the jipney, and then all of a sudden there was this little kid who came on like 10 years old or whatever, and the kid got off. They had talked to the kid and everything and gotten his number or whatever, and then they just said a comment just openly that my wife heard about how, oh, this kid's going to be real easy. All we have to do is buy him something, and we can do whatever we want to him. And my wife, just openly, I mean, they're not even embarrassed. No shame, right? I mean, she's like, what in the world? And my wife was just like, the next time we talked, she's like frantic. Like, you won't believe what happened, and she's explaining. I was like, it doesn't surprise me. It's like, I'm glad you finally came around. I mean, I've been telling you this. I was like, there are people that are like this that just wanted to file a little child. I said, I told you, right? It was hard for her at the time because she was a teacher. Her principal was a homo, so it's kind of like you know people that are like that, and you don't want to believe it or whatever, but she actually experienced it, and I want you to realize you're hearing me preach this. You say, Brother Stuckey, I've heard this, but, well, I mean, hopefully you don't have to experience something that hits close to home, but the reality is this exists, and here's the thing. In 2021, in a country that's becoming a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah, you've got to be very careful with your kids. This is becoming a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah, and it's becoming like this in countries around the world, but the Philippines is way ahead of just about everybody else. I mean, I'm dead serious. It's just like, you know, people talk about how bad San Francisco is, right? It's just like, well, you know what? I never saw all these, you know, people wearing dresses all the time in San Francisco. You see it here all the time, though, right? It's like, you know what? Our country is becoming a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah. You need to be very careful with your kids, and, you know, sometimes we see these kids that are just running around on the street. Their parents aren't around. It's just like, well, that's the sort of thing that happens, right? It's a dangerous world in 2021. Psalm 28, verse 5, Because they regard not the works of the Lord nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them and not build them up. Now, this is interesting if you look at the wording. They regard not the works of the Lord nor the operation of his hands. Well, that's kind of similar, and we're kind of short on time, so I'm not going to turn there, but that's very similar to Romans 1, where they worship the creature rather than the creator because a creator operates with his hands, and the Bible's saying here in Psalm 28 that, you know what? They regard not the works of the Lord nor the operation of his hands. Basically, they're not acknowledging God for creating this world and everything he's done. They worship the creature rather than the creator of the creature. They're rejecting the operation of God's hands to create this world and to create the animals, create the sky, create the ocean. And look, when you look at the things that God created, it's pretty amazing. I mean, it's amazing all of the animals that God has created. You look at some of those animals, like, wow, it's fantastic, but I'm not going to worship an animal. It's like that animal was created, and we can look at it and see its beauty and see the amazing power of God, but not to worship it. And the Bible says in Romans 1, people that basically worship and serve the creature more than the creator, and it's just like in Psalm 28 where they regard not, you know, the operation of the Lord, the work of his hands. They just don't adhere to it. They don't acknowledge it. Now, look at Psalm 28, verse 7, and it says, the Lord is my strength. Actually, verse 6, blessed be the Lord because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. Once again, supplication is when you're earnestly asking in prayer. And then it says in verse 7, the Lord is my strength and my shield. So in verses 6 and 7, you see the word supplication, strength, shield. It's a good three-point, alliterated sermon, but it's also a good Ephesians 6, Ephesians 6. It's interesting because in Ephesians 6, we see all these things as well. Ephesians 6. And we only got a few more things we'll look at that we'll close up here. Ephesians 6. And first thing that was mentioned in Psalm 28 was supplication. Well, Ephesians 6, verse 18, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. So it talks about basically earnestly seeking after God in prayer. It's going to mention some specific things. One of the things it mentions is to be able to boldly preach the gospel in verses 19 and 20. The Bible says that's something that we should be earnestly praying for. When we go soul winning, if we're right with God, you get filled with this boldness, and you have courage to just talk to people. But if you're not right with God, sometimes you kind of shy away. You know, sometimes somebody might be walking down the street or whatever, and if you're a little bit more zealous at that moment, you might just stop them and try to give them the gospel. But if you're not quite as zealous, you might let them walk by. And look, I'm confessing my faults one to another. I've had people that walk by, and I didn't choose to stop them because I just wasn't quite as zealous at that moment or whatever. But the Bible talks about, you know, Paul is saying, Paul the apostle is saying, Pray for me that I have boldness to preach the gospel. And if Paul the apostle needed to pray for that, it's something we should pray for also in 2021. So it mentions supplication in verse 18, but then in verse 16, it says, above all, taking the shield of faith. So remember, it said strength and shield, the shield of faith, verse 17, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Well, the sword of the Spirit is like the strength. It's like the thing that's fighting the battle. So you got your shield, you got your strength, and then it talks about, you know, supplication to God. So all those things, just like in Psalm 28. Go back to Psalm 28, Psalm 28. Now, if we actually believe that verse, the Lord is my strength and shield, we don't really have anything to fear. He's the one fighting the battle. He's my strength and He's my protection. It's like, okay. But the thing is, it's a lot easier to see it and say, yeah, that makes sense to actually live your life that way. I mean, the Bible talks about without faith, it is impossible to please God. You got to believe that He is who He, you know, that He is who He said He was, right? You got to believe that He is who He said. But you also have to believe He's a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. So believe on Jesus to please God, but also if you want to please God, you got to walk in faith. And walking in faith is difficult. The indication is it's going to be something where it seems like you got an obstacle you can't win, but you just trust in God and you walk by faith. And see, if God is our strength, we can walk by faith and trust that God's going to fight the battles for us. We can accomplish something. It says in Psalm 28, verse 7, the Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart trusted in Him and I am helped. Therefore, my heart greatly rejoiceth, and with my song will I praise Him. The Lord is their strength, and He is the saving strength of His anointed. Save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance. Feed them also and lift them up forever. So it's not the longest psalm, but there's a lot of great information. And, you know, one thing we can kind of take away is just the idea of God being our strength and our shield. You know, many things in life we would not be able to accomplish without God's power. You know, you think about this church and, you know, you think of everything that's happened in the government since 2020. It would be very easy to just kind of close up shop and, you know, quit soul winning and not do anything and just kind of say, well, you know what, we just can't do it in 2021. It's too hard. There's too many obstacles. But if God is our strength and our shield, He can protect us, and He can help us fight those battles. So when we're going soul winning, it's not just something we say, you know, God, you know, please, you know, fill us with your Spirit and help us, but we actually believe that He's actually working with us. That's what it says at the end of Mark 16, the Lord working with them. Not working without them. We're not Calvinists, but working with them, meaning we do the work, and God's like, all right, I'm your strength and your shield. I'm ready to go, right? And so we need to trust in God. We need to make supplications onto God. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and thank you for this church that you have built, God, and just the great people in this church, the people that love you and all the soul winning and all the great things that go on. We ask you to continue to bless our church, God. Help us to grow more and more as we're going to be closely, or soon to be entering year three, God. Just continue to bless our church, and we just pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. When Jesus whispers, please be still and roll the clouds away. It's just like Jesus to roll the clouds away. It's just like Jesus to give the day by day. It's just like Jesus all along the way. It's just like his great love. Brother Avi, can you pray for us? Let's pray. Amen. Amen.