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Alright, we're here in 2 Timothy chapter 2, 2 Timothy chapter 2, and we're going to be continuing our series on teaching principles, teaching principles. And as I mentioned last week, this series is not just in reference or in help to people that preach sermons, because quite honestly, whether or not you're a teacher at a school, whether or not you preach sermons, all of us are teaching in some form or another in our lives. Now, if you're married, you know, you have kids, you obviously teach your kids, you know, in life, when we go soul winning, we're teaching people the Word of God. And no matter who you are, all of us, you know, we are teachers from time to time. But I do believe that this sermon series is especially helpful for you that want to preach one day, maybe you want to be a pastor one day, or you'd like to fill in to preach from time to time, or preach on the Sunday afternoons, and I believe this is going to be a very helpful series for you. And let me just be very honest with you here today, that this sermon is going to be a little bit controversial, okay? And when I say controversial, I'm not talking about to the unsaved Catholic out there, I'm not talking about to the atheist out there, I'm talking about to the independent fundamental Baptist in this room. I like to kind of give you a heads up when I'm going to preach a sermon that, you know, maybe you might not fully agree on, you know, offhand. And the reason why is because I want you to have an open mind and see what the Bible says, okay? And so what I want you to see here in 2 Timothy 2, because what I'm preaching is bold, but gentle and meek, bold, but gentle and meek. And what you see in 2 Timothy 2, verse 24, the Bible reads, and the servant of the Lord must not strive, must not strive. What does it mean to strive? You know, you think about the Bible speaks about striving against sin, the Bible speaks about fighting against sin. Obviously, we should fight not to sin in our lives. That is a good fight to partake in. The Bible says, yes, we should strive against sin. Obviously, we strive to get people saved. We fight to get people saved. We're out there preaching the gospel. We fight to bring people to church. We're doing what we can. We fight certain fights and say, why does it say must not strive? Well, notice, but be gentle unto all men. So this is in relation to how we deal with other people, we should not strive, the Bible says. Now, I want you to notice in verse number 24 that after the word strive, there is a semicolon, okay? The reason why there's a semicolon is because there's going to be many things mentioned after striving, and this correlates to what's before the semicolon. In order not to strive, you must be gentle unto all men. You must be apt to teach. You must be patient, and you must in meekness instruct those that oppose themselves. Now notice, when it says that we're not striving, it still says apt to teach. We are to teach, but we're not to strive. Apt to teach means having the ability to teach. And so when you teach, having the ability, that goes along with not striving. Being apt to teach, and what it also says is in meekness instructing those, an instructor or a teacher. And so I'm not saying, you know, not to teach. We are to teach, every single one of us, but we're not to strive. And that's the first point, teach but don't strive. Teach but don't strive. Let's go to Acts 20, Acts 20. Now I'll be honest with you, this is going to be the most difficult from this sermon series to actually apply to our lives. And you kind of have to wait until the end of the sermon to see how it all fits together. Because we take the Bible as a whole, okay? Certain parts of the Bible are highlighting one thing. Obviously the Bible speaks about how there's certain fights to fight. We preach against the false prophets. We preach against the false doctrines. I'm not denying that here today, but all of this stuff goes together. We're going to look at what the Bible says, and at the end of this sermon you're going to see how this pictures together, especially in relation to when you preach a sermon, how this ties together. Notice what it says in Acts 20, the first point. Teach but do not strive, Acts 20 verse 26. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. Verse 27, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. So what Paul said is, I've declared to you all of the counsel of God. Every single word in this book, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, every word in Leviticus, Paul taught all of it. There's nothing he didn't teach. He taught every single word in this book. We must declare all the counsel of God. And that is the reason why Paul was free from the blood of all men. See if you preach sermons, the blood is on your hands if you don't preach all of it. Every single word in this book, every single word, whether it's related to some sin you're preaching against, whether it's related to a sermon on love, every single thing you preach all of it, you show everything the Bible says, you don't hold anything back. So Paul, he taught the whole counsel of God, and yet he's the same man who said, teach but don't strive. Because when he went back to 2 Timothy 2, he said, you're not to strive. And yet he preached everything in the Bible. Look, when you preach certain things from Leviticus, it's going to cause some fights. People are going to be mad. It doesn't matter how you say it. You could give them a cupcake before you preach it and say, here's a gift, and then preach a sermon. They're going to be mad at you. It doesn't matter how big that cupcake is. It doesn't matter what the Pangemagga says, they're going to be mad at you. There's certain things that when you preach, it's going to make people mad, and yet the Bible also speaks about have peace if possible. We should not be trying to fight. It will happen sometimes, though, automatically. Turn to 1 Timothy 4. Because some people would look at 2 Timothy 2, the Joel Osteen's of the world, and he'd say, well, see, we're not supposed to strive, so I'm just not going to preach on sin. I'm not going to preach against anything. I won't preach against drinking. I won't preach against adultery. I'm not going to even use the word sin. I don't want to offend anyone. I won't teach anything. Well, that's not what the Bible says. Take the Bible as a whole, and you see Paul preaching against everything, preaching about everything, and he's pure from the blood of all men because he taught all the counsel of God. At the same time, though, we can't just deny 2 Timothy 2 exists because in the context of apt to teach, it says don't strive. We take all the Bible. Yes, we're not Joel Osteen, but we don't go the other way either, and we'll look at this during this sermon, but notice what it says in 1 Timothy 4, verse 9. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, for therefore we both labor and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God, who is the savior of all men, especially of those that believe. And once again, Jesus is the savior of all men, but it does not do you any good unless you believe because it says especially of those that believe. And look, we live in a Catholic country. The Calvinists can go back to Scandinavia, go back to West Virginia, and go back to the Protestant places because we don't want you Calvinists here. We deal with the Catholics. That's enough of a false religion to deal with. You can take your Calvinism back to where it came from because that's not the gospel because he is the savior of all men, especially of those that believe. It does not do you any good that he died for you and paid for every one of your sins if you don't believe on Jesus Christ. Yes, he died for everybody's sins, every single sin. It does no good unless you believe according to the Bible. Notice what it says in verse number 11. These things command and teach. And so yes, we command and we teach every part of the Bible. There's nothing we hold back. Verse number 12, let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. And what it said in verse 12 is let no man despise thy youth. Now to rephrase that, what it's saying is don't allow anyone to despise your youth. Now look, I am 34 years old. I'm not an old man. I'm not a young man. I'm older than most people in this room, but compared to other pastors in the Philippines, I'm not the oldest person. And because of my age, they could look at me and say, you've only been preaching sermons for a year. Why would I listen to you? I've been doing this for 20 years. You're some young guy. Well, here's the thing. I do not want to give them a reason to despise me. The main context here is not just, hey, you know what, just because I'm young doesn't mean I don't know the word of God. No, the main context is don't give them a reason to despise your youth. If you give them an opportunity to despise your youth, they will do it. So the main context for us as believers is do not give them the opportunity. Look, I have to act extra mature because I'm not that old. See, we automatically will honor somebody who's a little bit older. Somebody's in their 50s, it would be disrespectful if you're just rude to them or whatever. But when you're younger, people can more easily just not respect you because you're younger. And so because of that, even more so, I need to make sure I'm mature in doing what the Bible says. Don't give them a reason or an opportunity to despise my youth. You guys that are young in this room that like to preach, hey, you know what, make sure you don't give people an opportunity to despise you. Make sure you don't do anything for them to be able to call you out because they want to call you out. The false prophets, they hate us. They hate me. They want to destroy me. They want to criticize me. I cannot give them a reason. I must be mature. Notice what it says. It says to be an example of in word and conversation and charity and spirit and faith and purity. That's why we have the fruits of the spirit series. It's not just fighting the false doctrines. We need our personal characteristics. We need to improve them, including myself, every one of us. We need to be strong spiritually, not just against the false doctrine, but against our characteristics as well. We need to grow as Christians, grow in knowledge, but also in the grace. Notice what it says in verse 13. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy with a laying on of the hands of the presbytery. The Bible speaks about a gift being given to you when you're basically ordained to the ministry. I have always taught this, even before I was ordained. I believe that the people that preach the word of God and are willing to preach all of it are given a special ability to understand the Bible, if they're willing to preach it. I believe you men that preached sermons when I was gone, I believe God gave you an ability to understand that passage because you were going to use it for good use. I believe that. I believe that when I study the word of God, God can show me things in the Bible because he knows I'm willing to preach it. Now if I was not willing to preach it, I don't necessarily think God's going to show that to me. But if you're willing to actually use it, look, there's a gift that's given to you to actually preach the word of God, okay? Now let me say this, that if somebody does not have the laying on of the hands of the presbytery in the proper way, they don't have that gift. And they can put pastor before their name. They're not a pastor if they're not ordained. That's what the Bible teaches. And I'm never changing my stance on that. And look, I waited a long time and I still don't take the title pastor because I'm not a pastor. I'm ordained as an evangelist, but you know, I do not qualify to be a pastor and I don't want to be called pastor. I don't get mad at people if they call me pastor because they're being friendly. I'm going to be nice to them. They're trying to be respectful. But look, I do not try to take the title pastor because I'm not a pastor. You know, just call me Brother Stuckey. I'm happy with that. That is respectful. If you say, hey, Brother Stuckey or Brother Matthew, I'm happy with that. I think that's the best way to call me. Verse 15, meditate upon these things, give thyself wholly to them that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine, continue in them, for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee. Now in verse 16, it talks about being saved. This is not referring to being spiritually saved from hell. What the Bible is saying is that when you preach the doctrines of the Bible and preach the truth, it will save people, both yourself and the listeners, because when we take heed to that doctrine, we make the changes that will save us from destroying our lives. The word save in the Bible means many things. Sometimes it's literally salvation from hell. Sometimes it's salvation from dying. And sometimes it's just salvation from destroying your life. Okay? And that's what we're seeing here. And the way this applies is when the whole Bible is taught, it will help save you. So I am not saying here today, don't teach parts of the Bible. Because if I want the word of God to actually save you and benefit you, I need to teach all the word of God. I'm not holding back. You teach. But the Bible said not to strive. Turn to 2 Timothy 2. 2 Timothy 2. And in 2 Timothy 2, let's look at the beginning of the chapter in verse number 1 where the Bible reads, Thou, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses. The same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. So once again, we're talking about people that are faithful. They can be counted on to teach the word of God. So this whole chapter talks about teaching, and the word strive appears many times in this chapter. Notice verse 3. Thou, therefore, endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that worth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. Now the example here and in other parts of the Bible, think of an Olympic race, a hundred meter race, and you strive to win that race, you fight to win that race, you train to win that race, and one person gets the gold medal. Only one. You're striving to get the mastery of that. Okay? Look, there are things, and that is a carnal award that doesn't do us any good, but there are things that we do strive for. We strive to know the Bible better. We strive to teach our children. We strive to become better Christians. There are certain things we should strive for. There are certain things we should not strive for. There's a time to love. There's a time to hate. What you must understand is that if you spend all of your energy fighting the wrong battles, you will have no energy to fight the battles you need to fight. You only have so much energy in life to strive. Look, I preach three sermons a week, and this book is really big. I've got to make decisions what battles I'm going to face. What battles I'm going to fight. There's only so much that I can preach. You must make choices, and in your personal lives, look, you should be fighting the battle to read the Bible more, to go soul-winning more. There are battles to fight. There are also battles not to fight. We need the proper balance on these things. Yes, we are to teach, but we also are not to strive according to the Bible. Okay? Now turn in your Bible to, actually look down to verse number 24. I had a preacher at an old IFB church a long time ago I went to. He was a good man of God. I still pray for him. I like him. He was a good guy. What he would always say, and this is a common phrase in IFB churches, is that allow people to be mad at your position, but not your disposition. You say, what does that mean? Basically, allow people to be upset at you because of what you believe, but not in how you present what you believe. Look, people will be mad because we believe the only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ. People get mad at that. There's nothing we can do about that. We're not going to pretend like we don't believe that, but don't allow them to get mad because of how we present what we believe. We believe some strong things, and we will teach all of it, but there's a way to teach to try to avoid just offending people because of how we present that information. We teach all of the Bible, but I don't want people to get mad at the way I presented at my disposition. Now, they will get mad at my position. Some people just get mad at what you believe. Don't allow people to get mad at how you present that. You want to try your best not to do that. Now, some people will be mad no matter how you present it. Look, there are people that get mad at us. You go sowing, you knock the door, and you say, hey, can I show you what the Bible says? And then they start yelling at you. I mean, you can't do anything about that. That's going to take place. They say, I don't believe it's a gift. Sometimes you can't do anything about that, but sometimes we get in fights because we don't have the right attitude of how we're presenting it, and we need to be careful about that. I want you to notice here in 2 Timothy 2, verses 24 and 25, one thing you will not see in these verses, it does not talk about being bold. It doesn't really talk about preaching with authority. You say, why is that? Well, I want you to understand that Timothy was a young guy, and he probably already knew that. Because when you read the Bible, you see men of God preaching against everything. Don't they? They preach the whole word of God with boldness, and quite honestly, that's kind of the first thing young men learn to preach. The first kind of tip they understand is, man, I've got to preach with authority and lay down the hammer, and that is part of preaching. Boldness is throughout the Bible, but the main information Timothy probably needed is remember to be gentle, remember to be meek, remember to be patient. You say, why? Because boldness usually comes first. That's usually the first thing. Zeal comes first. That's the same first thing with me, man. When I first really got on fire for God, I was laying down the hammer on everything. I had the boldness down. The other part's not so much. And that's probably why the focus in 2 Timothy 2 is not on boldness, but that doesn't negate the fact that, yes, you teach everything, and you are bold according to the Bible. You preach with authority, and in Isaiah 58, turn to Isaiah 58, we're going to see that in Isaiah 58. And so what you have to understand is that sometimes you're reading something in the Bible and it's highlighting a specific thing that doesn't negate that there's other parts in the Bible that might add to that. What's being highlighted in 2 Timothy 2 is not to strive. That doesn't change the fact that throughout the Bible we're supposed to be bold. And let me show you in Isaiah 58, verse 1, Isaiah 58, verse 1, Isaiah 58, verse 1, the Bible reads, cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression in the house of Jacob their sins. And see, the Bible says you don't spare, spare not, which means you preach everything. You show their transgressions, their sins, so you teach everything, and it also says cry aloud. Lift up thy voice like a trumpet. That's called being bold. And so what you're seeing in Isaiah 58, you see that, yeah, we should be bold when we preach. Look, you should try to be dynamic when you preach, and that's kind of next week's sermon. Yeah, you should try to be dynamic. And look, it's something that can be difficult. It's something you've got to work on. It is important, though, because you want to get people's attention. Look, we have been in churches where it's boring, haven't we? And you're sitting there, and you're fading, and it's like, oh, you know, somebody touches your shoulder, you wake back up. Why? Because the preacher's boring. Right. He's not saying anything, and he's just not entertaining. And look, yeah, the most important thing is we teach everything. But yeah, I mean, if you're going to preach the Word of God, there's an aptitude to preach the Bible speaks about. You must learn that skill, and it might be something that takes time. It's not the first thing for everybody from day one. It is important, though, because you're not going to impact people unless you can keep their attention. That is part of it. That's next week's sermon. But what you saw in Isaiah 58, yeah, you know, we are supposed to be bold. Now go to Jeremiah one, Jeremiah chapter one, Jeremiah chapter one, Jeremiah chapter one. And in Jeremiah chapter one, what it says in verse number eight, Jeremiah chapter one in verse number eight, the Bible reads, be not afraid of their faces, for I'm with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. You say, why does he tell Jeremiah, don't be afraid of their faces? You would be surprised at the faces you see when you preach sermons. It would surprise you. If you preach a lot of sermons, you know what I'm talking about. Sometimes you see somebody crying, and you're trying to preach a sermon in the back of your head. You're like, what did I say? Did I offend them? You know, what's going on? You see people mad at you. That happens sometimes. When I preach in this church behind this pulpit, I've seen people cry. I've seen people get angry. You see a lot of faces, and the temptation in your flesh is to try to kind of water down to not cause problems. Be not afraid of their faces when you're preaching the word of God. You're going to be okay. Now, in Jeremiah one verse eight, he says, I'm with thee to deliver thee. So I believe Jeremiah had a real threat of being arrested. You don't have a threat of being arrested here. If somebody's crying, you know, yeah, you know, obviously, be gentle, be meek, don't be a jerk. But sometimes if it happens, you can't do anything about it. You still preach the message God has given you. You preach what the word of God says. Jeremiah one verse nine, verse number nine, then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said on to me, behold, I put my words in my mouth. See I've set thee this day, set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms to root out and to pull down and to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant. Notice Jeremiah is set above the nations. You are going to root out. You're going to pull down. You're going to destroy. You're going to throw down, build and plant. Two thirds negative, one third positive. Four negative, two positive there. That's the principle in the Bible. Okay. And so basically saying you're above the nations, you're going to basically lay down the hammer on them. Turn to Jeremiah six, Jeremiah six. And so absolutely, when you preach sermons, you must be bold, teach everything and preach with authority. Look, when I preach sermons, I don't stand up here and say, well, it's my opinion. I don't want to offend you. It's my opinion that the Roman Catholic Church, it's not the best church, the Roman Catholic Church. I don't think it's the best church to go to. You know, I'm not saying it's evil. I'm not saying it's that bad, but you know, I don't think it's the best church to attend. I think there's something, but you know, that's okay if that's what you want to, no, you don't preach like that. You preach with boldness, you teach everything and you say it with boldness. I'm not going to say anything good about the Roman Catholic Church because it's a false religion. There should be nothing good coming out of my mouth about that church, despite the fact a broken clock is right twice a day and they get a few things right. There's nothing good to say about the Roman Catholic Church, especially when every one of us would have been killed if we lived hundreds of years ago by the Roman Catholic Church. They would have murdered every single one of us because that's what they did throughout human history. There's nothing good to say about them or any false religion. Notice what it says in Jeremiah six, verse 13, for from the least of them, even onto the greatest of them, everyone is given to covetousness, and from the prophet even onto the priest, everyone dealeth falsely. Now it talks about the false prophets being given to covetousness. You say, is that something that exists today with pretty much every single pastor out here in the Philippines? Almost every single one of them is given to covetousness. You say, how do you know that? Because when you hold conferences and all you talk about is money all week, that shows what's in your heart. You say, brother, will we ever have a conference here at Verity Baptist Manila? Maybe I'm not sure, but it's not going to be about money. I mean, we might have a conference and I'll keep that as a consideration behind like a hundred other things that are more in my heart than money, but we're not going to have a whole conference just talking about money, money, money, money. It's like, what in the world? That shows they're given to covetousness. And that's what you see in the world today. That's what you've always seen because bad people will use religion for money. That is what you see, whether it's coming from being a pastor or whether or not it's coming on the small level, people will creep into churches and they'll use religion to make money. Now notice what it says in verse number 14, they have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people, slightly saying peace, peace when there is no peace. Now this is a bit of a misunderstood verse because when you read it, you might think what it's saying is that these false prophets are slightly healing or helping out a little bit. That's not what it's saying. They're helping out 0%. When it says slightly, it's kind of like a magician has a sleight of hand where they're trying to trick you. Basically they're just fooling you. They're just trying to trick you. It's called a sleight of hand. What it's saying here is these false prophets are completely fooling you. The proof is they're saying peace, peace when there is no peace. There's not a little peace. There's no peace. They're completely lying. Why? Because inside their heart it's money, money, money. Verse number 15, were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? Nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush. Therefore they shall fall among them that fall. At the time that I visit them, they shall be cast down, sayeth the Lord. They're not even ashamed about it. You would think they would feel guilty, but there is no guilt from these false prophets. Verse 16, thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths. Where is the good way? And walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, we will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, we will not hearken. See, God has set watchmen to sound the trumpet and to cry aloud and to teach everything and not hold back and be a hundred percent bold. And yet, the Bible said, teach, but don't strive. Turn back to 2 Timothy 2, 2 Timothy 2. You say, Brother Stuckey, you know, how does this work? If I'm being bold, it sounds like you're contradicting yourself. But I want you to notice in 2 Timothy 2, verse 24, because the third point we have here today, first thing is to teach, not strive. The second thing is to be bold. The third thing is gentle. It said in 2 Timothy 2, verse 24, and the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men. That's what the Bible teaches. Now, you say, how exactly does that work? Basically, yes, you preach with authority, but you can say things in a way where you're not just trying to burn the house down all the time. And you're going to see this throughout the Bible. Turn to Revelation chapter 2, Revelation chapter 2. Look, when we go soul winning, we are teaching the Word of God. We're teaching everything. And we're saying some pretty harsh things to an unsafe person. We are telling them that they will die and burn in hell forever. I mean, that's literally the harshest thing you could say to someone. And that is what we say every single week. And we're never going to stop saying that because the Bible commands us to, but we're telling them they're going to burn in hell forever. But how are we telling them that? If somebody says, well, I believe living a good life is going to get to heaven, get me to heaven. Do you say, well, man, you're just going to burn in hell, buddy. Is that how you tell them? No. Why? That would be called being a jerk. We're bold when we preach the gospel. We are gentle in the way we say it. Don't we tell people for all of sin and come short of the glory of God, including myself, I've sinned, I've broken God's rules. All of us deserve hell, including myself. You say, why? Because you're not being a jerk out, soul winning. You are being bold. You're teaching everything, but you're also being gentle and meek. We're going to see how this works together. Now in Revelation 2, what we see in verse number one is in this church, he's going to be rebuking the church of Ephesus. He's coming to lay down the hammer on the church of Ephesus, and yet notice how he starts by talking to them. Verse one, on to the angel of the church of Ephesus write, these things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil. And thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars, and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted. Is he being positive or negative? Positive. It sounds like a great church, doesn't it? I know your works. I know your labor. I know your patience. You've tried the false prophets. I mean he is complimenting them over and over and over again. You say, why? Because he's softening the blow. He's going to be very bold with them, and what he does is he's very gentle by softening the blow. He doesn't just rip their heads off, he actually softens the blow beforehand. Notice what it says in verse number four, nevertheless I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. What he's saying is if your church doesn't get back to the first works of soul-witting, I am going to remove your candlestick. That's a pretty harsh statement. Can you imagine if God told me, and look I understand I'm not a Pentecostal, I'm not going to get a vision, I'm not going to get a dream, but if God told me I'm removing Verity Bapst Manila unless you get back to the first works, I'd be like whoa, that's pretty harsh. That's about the harshest thing that you could say. That is what he says, but before he does that, he softens the blow. Not only does he soften the blow, but notice after this in verse six, but this thou hast that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaidans, which I also hate. He compliments them again, you say why? Because if you're just a jerk to people, it's not going to make them make changes in their life. Imagine if you're raising kids, and let's say your son messes up, do you have to spank them? Yes, the Bible teaches spanking. Do you have to show them, reprove them, show what they did wrong? Yes, but you know what you do? You then give them a hug and tell them you love them. That's what you do, and every father in this room, they know that's the case. If all you do is just spank them and yell at them, guess what? Those kids are going to grow up and hate you. Why? Because you're being a jerk to them. Yes, you're bored. Yes, you instruct them, but you know what? You're also gentle to them. You also give them that hug, and look, when you're preaching sermons, there's a lot of things that we say that could offend people, and you know what? We have to say it in a way where we're not offending people. We're trying not to, okay? Revelation chapter 2 verse 18, and on to the angel of the church in Thy attire are right. These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass. I know thy works in charity and service and faith and thy patience and thy works, and the last to be more than the first sounds like a great church. He's complimenting them because he's softening the blow. Notice what it says in verse number 20, notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee. Because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. He is going to rebuke them now because they're allowing this woman Jezebel into their church. And so what he does, though, before he rebukes them, he actually softens the blow. Now turn to 2 Timothy 4, 2 Timothy 4. Now there are definitely times to be bold and just to be blunt. There are definitely times. There are also times to try to be gentle and meek with how you instruct. And I'll explain to you some examples and how this works and how you say things. But look, just being bold does not make you more righteous. Look, I've heard a lot of people preach at preaching nights, you know, in the US at various different places. And you know, oftentimes it's kind of the young guys that are just really, you know, preach these hardcore sermons all the time. And they kind of try to one up each other. Like somebody will stand behind the pulpit and say, if you don't go soul winning twice a week, you're not right with God. That's foolish. You say, why? Show me the Bible verse that says you have to go soul winning twice a week. Now it's more hardcore. It sounds more bold. It's not biblical, though. And then somebody else will get up here and say, you know what, I think we need to put more time in for God. You have to go soul winning five hours every week. And they're just one upping each other. That's ridiculous. Now that's being bold. And that's called being ridiculous and a jerk. And you obviously don't have any kids and you don't know what life is like when you get older. That's not what the Bible teaches. Yes, we need to be bold, but we definitely need to be biblical. But you know, you should also not have a goal just to one up somebody else. Like for example, somebody has the attitude, man, I want to preach the most hardcore sermon ever against the Sodomites. That's a stupid goal. You say why? Because you just teach what the Bible says and explain it. We're not trying to one up and be more hardcore than someone else. Being more hardcore does not mean that you're preaching better. It will make it seem, because if I get up here and say, hey, if you don't read the Bible for three hours every day, you're not right with God, you know what that's going to do? It's going to make people think that I read the Bible for three hours a day, which I don't. And it makes people think, man, I'm really fundamental and hardcore. Brother Stuckey's like the greatest Christian in the world. That's not how you preach, though. Because that's called edifying yourself, which we talked about last week. And your goal is to edify other people. That's not how you preach. And the reason why I want you to understand this is there is a temptation, especially as you're young and zealous, to just get really hardcore. That doesn't mean it's a better sermon. And see, how do you know if it's a good sermon? It's a good sermon if people understand what you say and are able to make changes in their life because of that sermon. It's not a good sermon because it got the most views on YouTube and people think you're the best Christian. That does not make it a great sermon. What makes it a great sermon is if it causes other people to change their lives. 2 Timothy 4, verse 2, preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. And so you're seeing that, yes, you reprove, and yes, you rebuke, but yes, you exhort. Now here's the thing. If you leave off the exhortation at the end to try to help people, it makes you sound more hardcore and sound like a better preacher. But it doesn't help people. You've got to ask yourself, is your goal to edify yourself or edify the people you're preaching to? And if your goal, you say, Brother Stuckey, man, I liked it when people are saying, man, you're the greatest preacher and everything like that. Look, don't become a pastor. It's going to get to your head. You do not become a pastor or preach sermons because your goal is to edify yourself or to look like a great Christian. That is not the reason. See, the Bible talks about desiring the office of a bishop. It's good you desire a good work if you desire that office, but not the title of a bishop or the recognition of a bishop, but the work, okay? Yeah, you know, I had a desire when I was 19 years old to become a pastor, but I never had this idea, man, I can't wait till people just call me pastor. That's weird. I desired the work because I love soul winning and I enjoyed preaching. I love studying the Bible. And so I desired the work, although I didn't know all of the work that was involved when I was 19 years old. But I didn't desire the title, okay? Now turn to 2 Timothy 2. And so let me give you an example of bold and then let me give you an example of being bold but gentle. Bold would basically be like, if you don't read the Bible every day, you're not right with God. That's being bold. And that's a good statement. It's true because the Bible says read therein all the days of thy life. I'm not against that statement. But here's being bold and gentle. Bold and gentle would be this, if you don't read the Bible every day, you're not right with God. And let me tell you something, it's not easy. It's difficult. We all need to set aside distractions. We all need to set aside Facebook. It's something we got to work on. You say, why is that better? Because that's basically not lifting yourself up. Making just a bold, blunt statement that makes you look like a good preacher, makes you look like a great man of God. But quite honestly, if you want to impact people, you're going to be bold and gentle. That is the way you're supposed to preach. Now notice what it says in 2 Timothy 2, verse 24 and 25, and the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves and meekness instructing those that oppose themselves. Sometimes people ask the question, what does it mean to be meek? Because some people say, are meek and humble the exact same thing? And here's what I would say that I looked up the words meek and humble in the Bible. And from what I looked at, from what I studied, what I believe is this, that when you look up the word humble in the Bible, it's always in reference to you as an individual, that you need to humble yourself, that you need to not be filled with pride. You need to be humble. Meekness is how you interact with other people. Because here it says in meekness instructing, so it's how you're dealing with other people. Basically meekness is humbleness in action. You humble yourself, and the result is you're going to be humble in your interaction with other people. That's meekness. That's what I see in the Bible. Because they are very closely linked, and they're essentially kind of the same thing. It's just an individual thing versus how you deal with other people. Turn to Titus 3. Titus 3. And one thing you'll see is that gentleness and meekness are very often linked together in the Bible. We're not going to look at a lot of verses. We're just going to look at one more in Titus 3. But these statements are often linked together because generally, if you humble yourself, it's going to cause you to be meek with other people and also be gentle with how you approach it. So these things are very merged together. They're very similar. Titus 3 verse 1, put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, to speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, showing all meekness unto all men. Now turn to Numbers chapter 12. Numbers chapter 12. Now, one mistake people do when they're thinking of this word meek is they think the word meek is weak. They confuse meekness and weakness. Being meek is not weak. Okay? You say, what is being meek? Well, we're going to see this in Numbers chapter 12. Numbers chapter 12. But quite honestly, meekness is really the opposite of weakness because it actually shows a lot of strength. And I'll show that to you in the Bible. But in Numbers chapter 12 verse 1, and Miriam and Aaron spake unto Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married, for he had married an Ethiopian woman. And they said, hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it. Now the man Moses was very meek above all the men which are upon the face of the earth. In these verses, Aaron and Miriam, the siblings of Moses, are rebuking Moses and lifting themselves up. And it takes time to say in verse 3, Moses was the meekest man. Why does it say that? Because basically in this story, you see that Moses doesn't rebuke them and say, I was the one chosen, not you, not you kuya. It was me. It was little brother. He doesn't do that. You say, why? Because when you're meek, you let the Lord fight your battles for you. Moses doesn't need to lift himself up. He allows God to fight that battle. It says he's meek because you see him not fighting with his brother and sister. But what you do see in verse number 7 is this. My servant Moses is not so who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches. And the similitude of the Lord shall he behold. Wherefore then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them and he departed. You see that Moses, as a meek person, he allows God to fight his battles. Now turn to number 16, number 16. And let me just give you an example of what does it mean to be bold, but also gentle and meek. Because remember, meekness is basically you humble yourself and it's your interaction with other people. So for example, when I preach a sermon, I'm kind of interacting with you. I'm preaching to you a sermon. Here's what being bold, gentle, and meek is. I use the example of reading the Bible every day. The meek part would be at the end of that statement you say, and to be honest, this is something that I struggle with as well. It's something that I can come to the end of the day and I haven't really read my Bible. I need to set aside distractions. I need to get better at this. That's called being meek. You say, why does that impact people? Because nobody likes a prideful person. And that statement is a true statement too. Everything I preach, I mean almost all of it, not everything, but most of the things I preach, I struggle with these things too. You think I'm just perfectly got it figured out with being a loving person? You're crazy. Yeah, I step on my toes as well. I'm still figuring this stuff out. And see the thing is when you learn to basically put yourself down when you preach, it causes people to be more likely to end up using that sermon to impact their lives. See if you lift yourself up, not only can it offend people, the other thing it does is this, it makes people look at the person who's preaching as if there's some sort of superhero that doesn't really struggle with anything. And that's not realistic. Look, you know, Job, when you read the story of Job, what helps you understand that story better is when you're paying attention, Job is really struggling with the situation. It's not that Job just loses everything and he's like, yeah, no big deal. No, that's called being a psychopath if you have no emotion. Yeah, Job struggled and yet he still conquered through it. Joseph in the Bible, when you read that story, he does not want to forgive his brothers. You say, how do you know that? Because when he first sees them, he doesn't say, oh, by the way, my brother, I forgive you. No, he's actually mad at them. Why? Because all of us would be mad. And see, when you see those stories, it caused you to say, if Joseph could forgive someone he didn't want to, maybe I could do that. And see, when I'm trying to get someone to read the Bible, if I put myself in that position and say, hey, this is what I need to do because I struggle with it, what it does is it causes people to say, hey, if he could do it, I can try to do it as well. See, the best kind of preaching is when you're bold, you preach everything, you teach everything, but you also do it in a gentle and meek way. And that is how people can actually change their lives. Look at number 16, verse one, number 16, verse one. Now Korah, the son of Ishar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Pilat, the sons of Reuben, took men, and they rose up before Moses with certain of the children of Israel, 250 princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown. And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy. Every one of them, and the Lord is among them, wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord. And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face. It's kind of interesting to me in the story that Moses was the meekest man, and he was accused of being like the most arrogant man. Isn't that kind of interesting? He humbles himself. I mean, he prayed for that congregation all the time, and they say, you're lifting yourselves up above us. And it's just like, man, you know, good night, Moses didn't even do anything. But see, here's the thing. When you are a meek person, people will think of that as weak and try to take advantage like Korah does. That's what you see in the story. And see, a lot of people, they don't like preaching with gentleness and meekness because it allows people the opportunity to try to basically take advantage and look at you as being weak. Moses was the meekest man, and he had battles in his life because of the fact he was gentle and meek. But here's the thing. By being gentle and meek, that is what's going to actually help your congregation make changes in their lives. That is the truth. Now, turn in your Bible to 2 Corinthians 10, 2 Corinthians 10. Now, look, I preach the whole Bible. I have a goal to be bold and teach everything in the Bible, but I do not have a goal to be the most hardcore preacher there is. You say, why? I don't think that's the best kind of preaching. I could get up here. I know how to scream, and I could get up here and just scream against something that doesn't make it the best sermon, though. What makes it a good sermon is if you actually preach something and give people an ability to make changes in their life. And I'm trying to help you guys out. I thought everyone who preached when I was gone, I thought you guys did a great job. This is kind of an advanced preaching tip because you say, how do you do this? It's actually very difficult. It's actually not very easy to be completely bold and not hold back and yet still do it in a gentle and meek way. You say, Brother Stuckey, give me an example of this. Well, let me just brag on my pastor a little bit because I think the best person I've ever heard do this is Pastor Jimenez. Pastor Jimenez, there's nobody more bold than him. I mean, Pastor Jimenez was like the most hated man in the world at one time. I mean, completely bold. And yet when he preaches sermons, I've had a lot of people listen to him. And you know what, honestly, he says really harsh things, and yet people don't get offended. You say, why? He's really mastered the art of being gentle and meek while he's being really bold. That's kind of the example I have coming from Verity Baptist Church, and it's something I'm trying to emulate. And I ask you to give me grace because, quite honestly, this is very difficult and sometimes maybe I say things and I might be a little bit too arrogant or I might not say it in the right way. I ask you to give me grace for this because I don't want to not be bold. I don't want to hold back in my preaching. But at the same time, I want to be gentle and meek because that is what the Bible says. And honestly, preparing the sermon, although I knew this, just kind of seeing this in these verses that kind of hit me, you know, what the Bible is saying and thinking of examples of how this works, it's difficult. It's something that takes work. And I do ask you to give me grace in this. But it is something the Bible teaches, that you are not to strive. Now obviously, there are times you just tell it like it is. I'm not saying there aren't. Look, I preached a five-part series against the Roman Catholic Church. I mean, I ripped it limb from limb. But if you remember, I said many times during that sermon series, and there were Catholics that came for that sermon series. They were invited and they happened to show up as I'm ripping their church limb from limb. But if you remember what I said during that sermon series, I said, you know what, and here's the truth, it's not anybody's fault if they grew up Catholic in this country and they don't know this. You say, why? Well, that's the truth. But it's also how you preach in a gentle and meek way. I didn't say, hey, you know what, if you're Catholic, you are Bobo, you're a moron, it's time for us to execute you. I didn't say that. You say, why? Because the Catholics here in the Philippines, they don't even know any of this history. They don't know the truth about it. And quite honestly, we need to give them a chance to learn. First we get them saved and then we teach them all things. And so when you preach sermons, the truth is you have people that aren't saved that visit church, you have people that are newly saved that visit church. And quite honestly, I do not expect people to understand everything from day one. What I expect is people will hear sermons that are kind of new, and some of it they'll get a little bit offended by. But if I prove it from the Bible, the hope is that they love God and they'll kind of observe that saying in their heart as the Bible says. People see what the Bible says and say, you know what? It's the truth. It's what the Bible says. Look, when I first started listening to this kind of preaching, there were sermons I did not agree with that I was a little bit offended by. Let me just confess my false one to another. I thought the sermons when I first heard sermons against sodomites, I thought it was ridiculously too harsh. I was like, wow, why do they hate the sodomites so much? That's what I thought. You say, why? Because I'm brainwashed by the world, as are most people. And so we can't expect people to understand everything from day one. We preach with boldness, but also in a gentle and meek way. And look, this is not something you can fake. You must just learn to humble yourself. And the result is you're going to be meek as you instruct, and you're also going to be gentle. I'm not saying to hold back the message. I'm not preaching a watered-down sermon. And look, when you say this, people could accuse you of being watered down. That's exactly what I'm talking about. When you're trying to be meek, people can use that and say, well look, Brother Stucky's gotten watered down. It's like, that's what the Bible teaches in 2 Timothy 2. It's teaching the whole Bible. In reality, I think that's kind of more bold. Because when you preach sermons that you know some people might disagree with, that's actually really hard to do. Because you know, I mean, man, somebody might get offended, somebody might disagree, they might criticize me. But honestly, the Bible teaches being bold and also gentle and meek at the same time. And I want to highlight the fact that we can only fight so many battles in life. Now let me say this, that if you become a pastor one day, obviously it's up to you. How you preach, what sermons to preach, what sermon series. Obviously here at Verity Baptist Church, I try my best to kind of emulate the style of Pastor Menes. And quite honestly, I think it's a great style. That's kind of a goal I have. But you know, when we preach sermons, yeah, there are times to call out false prophets. But I don't think that should be the main part of our ministry. I don't think it's wise to make the main part of our ministry just calling out false prophets. You say, why? Because honestly, the sermon this morning is the one that's going to step on our toes. A sermon about love. That's the sermon where it's like, man, I needed to hear that. I mean that. I needed to hear that. Those are the sermons that are actually going to help build this church. That's going to help build you personally. Because if you don't grow spiritually individually, what's going to happen is you're going to fade out of church one day. I don't want anyone to fade out. Now some people in this room will fade out. That's just the way it goes. We've had people that have left our church. That's just the way it goes. But the goal is that we can all be growing both in knowledge but also in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice what it says in 2 Corinthians 10 verse 1. Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence and base among you, but being absent and bold toward you. Now look Paul the Apostle, who is also the one who wrote those verses we read, he basically just told it like it was. You see him holding nothing back in his writings and yet in presence and base among you, you say why does it say that? Base is basically rejected. And basically it's the weak things or the despised things of this world. And Paul basically, even though he preached with authority, he was gentle and meek. And what it caused was people when they met him to say he wasn't so bold after all. He wasn't so hardcore after all. I thought Paul was such a great Christian. And in reality, because he was meek and gentle and he was a humble person, the result was people looked at him and said, he's not such a great Christian. See the reality is when you preach with boldness, but also with gentleness and meekness, people will accuse you of being watered down. Look I've had times when I preached a sermon on basically not calling out false prophets because it's something I learned in the Bible and everyone in the Philippines, we would agree with that. Given this country, yeah, you know what, there are certain false prophets that if you want to end up dead, that's the quickest way. It's kind of the easiest way to commit suicide without committing suicide. Just preach against a few of these different false prophets, they will kill you. And I realized that and then I preached a sermon and then some people accused me of being watered down. Not in this room, not in our church, and it's just like it is what it is. Because you preach a lot of sermons, you're going to offend in things sometimes. People are going to disagree with you sometimes. Look if any of you end up being a pastor one day and you put your sermons online, realize that when you preach 150 plus sermons a year, there are going to be people offended. In the room, in the church, everyone's probably going to be offended from time to time by something you said or how you said it because you didn't quite say it right. It's like, man, I'm preaching for 150 hours a year. It's like sometimes you say something and not quite in the right way. It didn't come out the way you expected it. Haven't you guys ever made statements and then right afterwards you're like, oh, I wish I could put that back in my mouth. That's not what I meant. That's not how I meant to say it, but it's too late. Look when you preach for 150 hours, it doesn't matter how much time you spend preparing your sermons. It doesn't matter how much you know those scriptures. Sometimes things are going to come out of your mouth and you're like, oh man, and people are going to hear this online. And that's not what you want them to hear. It just is what it is. And look, you know, you'll have people that will preach against you. You'll have people that criticize you and you will have your option. Are you going to fight fire with fire or are you going to just say, you know what, I just don't want to fight that battle. It's not how I want to strive. It's not that I'm not willing to strive. I just don't want to strive in that way. I feel like we strive enough preaching against false prophets and we do lots of soul winning. It's a matter of how are you going to strive. And when I preach sermons, my goal is not to be the most hardcore person. My goal is to be bold, but I also have a goal of trying to be gentle and meek. And that is what we saw from Paul the Apostle. And I believe that's what we see from Moses as well. Now just think of a couple of examples of this that, let's say for example, you know, you listen to sermons online and let's say, you know, you get saved from the online preaching and let's say your wife is not saved. Okay. Now that is an example that people at our church have dealt with in the past. You know, they got saved and maybe their spouse wasn't saved. You say, well, what do you do? Do you just kind of go in their closet and burn all their clothes because they're too tight or they're too low fitting or whatever? No, that's not how you reach your wife. So you tell your wife, man, you're going to burn it. No, you know what? You're actually, you're gentle and meek. You're bold. You tell them what the Bible says, but you also do it in a gentle and meek way if you want to impact them. You say, how do you teach and train your kids? Yeah, you've got to teach them everything. Yeah, you've got to be bold. Yeah, you guys have seen me spank my son before, but you also have seen me hold my son and love my son and hug my son. You say, why? Because just being bold is not what's going to make my son end up living for God, end up loving me and being a good kid. I also have to mix in the gentleness and meekness. And if you are just bold in your preaching, but you're not gentle and meek, it will make you look to most people like you're very godly. But quite honestly, that is not the best style of preaching. Now, as I said, this is not an easy thing to do. It's difficult to do. I remember when my wife and I first started talking, I had some sermons online and things such as that. And one thing my wife told me was that when I first started preaching, basically that some of my sermons were a little bit arrogant. Now to be honest, when she said that, I was just like, I didn't want to hear that. Well, you know, it's something I observed that saying, and I was like, you know, maybe I need to change the way I interact with people because my goal should not be to preach a sermon and make it look like, wow, Brother Stuckey's like, he reads the Bible more than anyone. No, my goal is to actually help people read the Bible, not to lift myself up and something I needed to work on. Now, let me just use this as an example. When my wife and I first started talking, my wife was an independent fundamental Baptist when we first started talking, but she grew up in the Philippines. So it doesn't mean they believe the exact same things as us. You say, what did you do when you're trying to show your wife all these new things? You know, I was actually gentle and meek. My wife believes the exact same things that I do about the Bible. But if I had just told her, you know what, your view on the rapture, you're a moron, you know, this and that, look, we would not have gotten married. You have to actually be gentle and meek. And yeah, you know, I knew that I was right about these things, but there's a way that you teach because we're talking about teaching principles here. When you preach sermons, most of what you're doing is teaching. A little bit of it, you're preaching hard against something. Now, two thirds of it is negative, but you know, it's not all just screaming in the sermon. Yes, you preach with authority and preach against stuff, but mostly what you're doing is just teaching people and showing what they say. And then you hit certain highlights, you preach hard, you preach intensely. And so if you want to teach in the best way, the best way, go back to 2 Timothy 2, let's look there one more time, the best way is to teach with boldness, but also gentleness and meekness. You say why? Because your goal is for people to make changes in their life. Your goal is not to make yourself look like a great Christian. Your goal is not to preach the most hardcore sermon. Your goal is to preach a sermon that they understand and they're able to make changes in their life. And that is why I try the best I can that at the end of my sermons, I try to make an exhortation, here's how you make the changes, okay? Notice what it says in 2 Timothy 2 verse 24 and 25, it says, and the servant of the Lord must not strive. Striving means to fight. There's a semicolon. Then it says, but be gentle unto all men, act to teach, which means having the ability to teach, which is in the context of being gentle, patient and meek, patient and meekness instructing those that oppose themselves. Now you say, why does it say patient? Other times when it talks about preaching, it talks about being long suffering, because here's the thing, when you preach sermons, it doesn't mean everybody fixes their problem from day one. If I preach a sermon about how you need to read the Bible every single day, it doesn't mean the next day everybody opened up their Bible in the morning. Now hopefully that would be the case, but usually you just have to keep preaching. You got to be patient. Like when you preach sermons, don't expect people to make all the changes. You say, man, this person, I preached a sermon, I thought they were going to apply it to their lives. Look, sad news, it's probably not going to happen. Why did God always tell his prophets in the Old Testament when they're about to preach against things? He's basically, they won't hearken on you. They're not going to listen to you. You know what the truth is, if you guys pastor one day, here's the thing, when you preach sermons, they're probably not going to listen to you. They're probably going to disagree with a lot, but you know, over time what happens is they make changes, and that's the way I learned as well, because when I first got saved, I didn't just start listening to godly music from day one. I'm sure I heard many sermons against my worldliness, and eventually it just kind of makes a difference. We don't make changes overnight, because we're all stubborn people, including myself. That's just how we are, and so, but what I want you to understand when it comes to teaching, whether or not you're preaching a sermon, whether or not you're teaching your wife, whether or not you're teaching your kids, look, yes, you preach everything, and yes, you're bold about it, but don't forget the part about preaching in a way where you're not trying to strive. You're not trying to fight, but you're actually just trying to impact the people you're preaching to. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear heavenly father, thank you for allowing us to be here today in your house, and I ask you to help us to apply this sermon to our lives, and including myself, god, this is something that's not easy to do, and I ask you to give me guidance and help when I'm preaching sermons. Help me not to ever be watered down, god, but help me also to always try to be edifying the people I'm preaching to, to be gentle and meek, and just preach sermons in a way that can actually impact people's lives, god, and I ask you to help all of us in this room. Help us all to just continually grow, to continually love you more, to be less worldly, to read your Bible more, to be more patient with people, to be more loving with people. Help us to make the changes, god, we all need to make in our lives. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.