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

Alright, we're here in March chapter 9, and we're starting a new series called Unwise Comparisons. This is probably going to be a three week series, and I want you to notice actually in your bulletin the verse that's on the front there in 2 Corinthians 10-12. It's kind of the theme verse for this series, and the Bible reads, For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves, but they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise. And so what the Bible teaches is that when you compare yourself to other people, it's not a wise thing. It's not a smart thing. Another way to say unwise is Bobo. Okay, basically it's Bobo to compare yourself to other people. There's many reasons why we're going to see that during the sermon series, but I want you to look in March chapter 9 at a great example of this, and what we're talking about this morning is unwise comparisons in terms of your personal walk with God. It is very foolish to compare your personal walk with God to other people's personal walk with God. Notice what it says in Mark 9 verse 33, And he came to Capernaum, and being in the house he asked them, What was it that you disputed among yourselves by the way? And so Jesus asked them, you know I heard you guys in an argument, you guys were arguing about something, you're debating about something, so what was it? And you know of course they don't answer. It says in verse 34, But they held their peace. Basically they didn't say anything. They didn't answer Jesus. You know why? Because they're guilty. They're myself. That's why. For by the way they had disputed among themselves who should be the greatest. And so what they were arguing about is basically which one of us is the best Christian. They're arguing saying you know I think I'm better than you. Someone's saying no I think I'm better than you. And they're arguing about who is the greatest. And of course when Jesus asks you, hey what were you arguing about? They're not going to say well you know we're arguing about which one of us is the best Christian. Which one of us is the most God. Which one of us wins the most souls to the Lord. They obviously didn't answer that question. Why? Because it's obviously foolish and it would be a sin to do that. Okay. Notice what it says in verse number 35, And he sat down and called the twelve and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all and servant of all. So what he reminds them of is this. If you want to be the best, if you want to be number one, that means you're the servant unto all. Basically you lay down your life more than anybody else. Now I'm sure what they were basically arguing about was who's read the Bible more? Who knows the Bible more? Who goes soul any more? Who's more zealous? Who's the best preacher? Who's the most bold? But you know what Jesus says, well which one of you is the biggest servant? That's what makes you number one. So they were considering themselves and looking at the achievements they've done, how much they pray, how much they read the Bible. Anyway, Jesus tells them, no, it's who makes himself a servant unto all. Okay. And so we're going to look at four different points here this morning, but I'm going to give you four reasons why it is foolish to compare your personal walk with God to other people. Turn to Hebrews chapter five, Hebrews five. And the first reason why it's foolish to compare basically how godly you are or your personal walk compared to other people is quite frankly, we've been saved different amounts of time. In this room, there's people that have been saved for just a few years or even less than a year. And there's people that have been saved for decades. It's not the same comparison. I mean, wouldn't it be pretty foolish if somebody's been saved for six months to be compared to someone who's been saved since they were a five-year-old child, right? It's not the same thing. It says in Hebrews five verse 12, for when for the time he ought to be teacher. See, there's a time in your spiritual life where you should become a teacher. You're someone who knows the Bible. You've learned the Bible. You're someone who can instruct other people. You can teach them how to go soul winning. You can give them wisdom from the Bible and how to read their Bible better. Teach them things from the Bible. Now, obviously, I'm the one preaching the sermons and obviously from time to time people get a chance to preach. But even outside of that, you could still teach new members at church various things. They're going to ask you, you know, why do you believe this doctrine? Or what do you believe about this? And quite frankly, new people are probably going to ask you and not me. That's usually the way it works. And so it's very important for the members to also know the Bible so you can help instruct new people. And you can tell them, why do we believe these things? It can't always be me. And so there's a time you ought to be a teacher where you're no longer asking all the questions, but you're actually giving the answers to the new people. You're basically more seasoned as a Christian, okay? But see, there's a time he ought to be teachers. But when you first get saved, that's not that time. See, when you're first saved, you're a babe in Christ, okay? You don't know all of these things. Notice what it says in verse 12. You have need that one teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God and are become such as have need of milk and not of strong meat. And see, there's a time when you should become a teacher. And the problem here in Hebrews 5 is these people never really reached this point. They've been saved for 20 years and they know nothing about the Bible. They've been saved 30 years. They know nothing about the Bible. They've sat through, you know, hundreds of sermons in their lives, and they still don't read the Bible. They still don't pray. They still don't go soul winning. They still don't come to church that often. They've been there, and yet they're not teachers. And they still need the milk because they're on the basis, okay? When a newborn baby comes into this world, what do they drink? They drink milk. You don't put a t-bone steak in front of them and cut it up and expect them to eat that. If that's what you try, that child will literally die if they don't get milk. They need milk to survive. You know, I remember reading this article online. There was this woman who was like a big liberal, and she was like very much against, you know, eating meat or dairy. Basically, she was obedient, and she thought it was a sin. She probably would have thought it was a sin to kill like an ant or something like that, but she thought it was a sin to eat meat, and it's a sin to drink milk or whatever. And so what she did is she fed her newborn baby just juice, and that child died after a couple weeks. You say, why? Because a baby needs milk to survive. A baby will not survive without milk. Now look, you cannot lose your salvation, as one saved always saved, but you will not survive spiritually unless you get the milk of the world. As the Bible says here, you need milk and not the strong meat when you first get saved. Now we know what the milk is. That's referring to the word of God, okay? And so when you first get saved, guess what? You don't need to understand that verse in Ezekiel chapter 32 that you don't understand. You don't need to understand the book of Zechariah word for word. What you need is the basics of guess what? You know, how to read the Bible, how to have a consistent prayer life, and the basic doctrines. Have a strong understanding about salvation and the false systems of salvation that are out there. Those are the things you need when you first get saved. You don't need to understand these deep dark things during the end times. Now is that stuff good? Absolutely. But even at a church, do I just always preach about the end times? No, I don't. I say, why? Because quite honestly, that's not really what most of us need. And honestly, no matter how spiritual you are, you still need to be reminded about the basics of salvation, the basics of the King James Bible, the basics. And one reason why is there's going to be new people at church and new people are going to need the milk and not the meat. Now for someone who's reached the point where you really understand the milk very well, you're at the point where you're a teacher and that's a good thing to be. But you have to understand there's going to be new people at church, okay? There is a time for the meat, but when you first get saved, it's still the time for the milk. So here's the thing. If you've been at this church and you've been saved for 10 years and somebody else just got saved last week from soul winning, don't expect someone who got saved last week to know what you do. And it would be very foolish to compare how spiritual you are to someone who just, I hope you're more spiritual than someone who just got saved. I mean, if you've been saved for a decade, I hope you've read the Bible more than someone who just got saved last week. I hope you know more about the Bible than them. It's not an accomplishment if you know more than them. I mean, you should know more than them. And so what people usually do is they compare themselves to someone who's not that spiritual and they say, well, look at this person. Yeah, this person doesn't read the Bible as much as me. This person doesn't come to church as much as me. This person doesn't come soul winning as much as me. Well, I mean, if you've been saved for a long time though, it's not an apples to apples comparison. It's apples to bananas, apples to oranges. Turn to 1 Peter 2, 1 Peter 2. Now, you have to understand the analogy when it talks about a newborn baby, because in Hebrews 5, it talks about a newborn baby getting the milk. And it mentions the same thing here in 1 Peter 2, verses 1 and 2. Wherefore, laying aside all malice and all guile, and hypocrisies and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby. See, the Bible says, if you're a newborn baby Christian, what you should desire is the milk, the word of God. How does a baby express their desire when they're hungry? What does the baby do? They cry out. See, the Bible has given us an analogy. I mean, every time, you know, your son or your daughter's crying and you're like, oh, it's so my Eni, man, I'm so annoyed right now. Realize, you know, God's giving you a nice analogy. That's how much you got to care about the word of God. And sadly, with Christians, you know what? They have the Bible right beside them. They hardly ever read it, okay? And so the Bible compares a baby. Now, think about this, though. It makes sense for a newborn baby or a one-year-old or a two-year-old to be held by their parents and then their drinking milk. What doesn't make sense, though, is someone who's 20 years old to be drinking from a bottle. Wouldn't it be really strange if I just brought brother Erwin up here? It's like, it's time for your goddess. Here you come, here's the bottle. Here's your goddess, time to drink. That would be weird, wouldn't it? Now, when you think of this spiritually speaking, though, there are a lot of people that have been saved for a very long time, and yet they need the milk of the word. They don't know the basics of the Bible. Now, sometimes it's not really their fault because they have the wrong church, okay? That doesn't really encourage them and teach them what they need to know. But quite honestly, if you've been saved for a long time, you ought to be a teacher, okay? It shouldn't be that you're always just drinking milk your entire life. You need to move on to the meat. But that comes with time, okay? Spiritually speaking, when you first get saved, you are a baby Christian. But I will say this, that people start off at different levels when they first get saved. Some people start off a little bit more spiritual, even though they both just got saved. You say, why? Because people have different backgrounds in life, okay? It's completely different. But no matter how much you know before you get saved, when you first get saved, you are still a baby Christian, okay? Now, in the Christian life, you can accelerate faster than a baby can just in an earthly setting. If you really read the Bible, you really, you know, dive into church. But at the same time, when you first get saved, you're going to be a baby Christian. So look, when someone is new to church and they haven't been saved long, you cannot expect them to know as much as you do. It'd be a foolish comparison. Turn to 2 Peter 3, 2 Peter 3. Now, one thing we need to understand is that it's not just knowledge of the Bible. Because usually you'll look at someone who seems like they really know the Bible, and you think, man, that person is so spiritual, okay? It's not just how much you know, though. That's part of the Christian life, and that's very important. But it's also the way you act in your personality, okay? Notice what it says in 2 Peter 3, verse 18. But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen. What does it mean by grace? Obviously, we know we're saved by grace, but in this context, what it's basically talking about is your personality, okay? Here in a couple of months, we're going to be doing a 10-week series on the fruits of the Spirit. There are nine fruits of the Spirit. We'll have an introduction sermon, and we'll have a whole sermon on each one of the fruits. You say, why? Say, I want to know about the end times. Because of the fact you need to grow in grace as well. And here's what happens in our movement. When it comes to people who listen to a lot of sermons online, they learn a lot very quickly. But at the same time, when you first get saved, you're a baby Christian. And just because you can learn a lot of doctrines quickly, that does not mean your personality flips overnight. That's something that it takes time to grow in grace, okay? And so when somebody first gets saved and they've only been saved for a short amount of time, you can't expect them to know all that stuff. You can't expect them to be as mature seriously as maybe you are, okay? And so even if somebody knows how to prove the poster of rapture, that doesn't mean that their personality has really grown much. Because you can learn how to prove the poster of rapture in, I mean, pretty much five minutes. I mean, the Bible is pretty clear about it. But you might know all of that stuff. You might have listened to a ton of sermons online about that. But that does not mean that your personality is going to get fixed overnight. And quite honestly, you're going to start off as a baby Christian, and you know what? It's going to take you time to grow. And so you know what? All of us in this room, if you think there's somebody in this room who maybe isn't very mature, or maybe they don't know much about the Bible, you need to be patient with that person. For one, you've probably got areas of your life that aren't so perfect either. But at the same time, you know what? Honestly, it takes people time to grow. And honestly, since most people are not in good churches, and honestly, most people in this room have probably not read the Bible many times, you know what? Honestly, you're still in the stage of growth then. And all of us are no matter how much we've read the Bible. But look, if somebody's only been saved for a couple of years, they're still in the process of growing. And they might have a lot of knowledge, but you know, they have to grow in grace as well. And quite honestly, it takes time for a baby to grow. It'd be pretty weird if tomorrow, my son went from just being a baby to just all of a sudden being like 15 years old. Just, you know, cooking a steak, and cutting it, and eating it. What just happened here? That doesn't occur. It doesn't happen spiritually either. You don't go from being a baby Christian to all of a sudden you're a pastor. I never did that in the Philippines, okay? I understand the Baptist churches, they go from being a baby Christian to being a pastor like that. That's not the way God has it though, okay? Now turn in your Bible to Luke chapter 8. Luke chapter 8. And so, first off, when it comes to being unwise to compare yourself to other people, it's, you know, we've been saved for different amounts of time. So unless you have somebody who's been saved the exact amount of time as you, it's already an unwise comparison. If you've been saved for seven years and they've been saved for five years, honestly, that's not the same thing. There's definitely more time to grow in there in two years. But see, it's important because sometimes people do the opposite. Instead of comparing themselves to someone who maybe is a new Christian, some people do the opposite and they compare themselves to someone who maybe has been saved for a really long amount of time. I mean, there's probably people in this room that in the back of your mind, we're thinking, man, I could never go so-and-so. I can never preach a sermon like so-and-so. Well, I mean, if you've only been saved for a short amount of time, you know, why are you comparing yourself to someone who's been training to be a pastor for a long time or training to be a missionary for a long time? It's not the same comparison. And it's a foolish comparison according to the Bible. Okay. Luke chapter 8. That's in verse number 13. And the second point we have is this, not only have people been saved for different amounts of time, but honestly, people have had different places where they were able to grow spiritually. Okay. And notice what it says in Luke 8, verse 13. They and the rock are they, which when they hear receive the word with joy, and these have no root, which for a while believe it in time of temptation, fall away. Now in verse number 13, this is referring to someone who gets saved. Okay. And you can see this when you cross-reference this story with other stories, but they receive the word with joy and receiving the word is when you get saved. And when it says with joy, it's saying they actually grew a little spiritually. They got excited about the things of God. They probably got baptized, got connected to church, but they don't have any root. Whenever you look up root in the Bible, it's talking about being rooted in church. So they learn all these things, but they don't really get grounded and rooted fully in what they believe. So they believe for a while in time of temptation fall away. That's not saying they stop believing the gospel. All it says is which for a while believe. It doesn't tell you what it's referring to, but you can tell from the context, it's referring to the things that get you rooted in church. Because when you come to a church like this, you learn a lot of things. But if you choose to backside and fade out of church, you'll stop believing a lot of the things that you believe now. Right. One thing you will not stop believing though is the gospel. You say why? Because when you get saved you're gonna dwell with eternal life. Okay. It's the spirit of truth. But if you were to leave this place, honestly, a lot of your standards for godliness and worldliness, those would change quite a bit. And when people leave a church, they start to stop believing some of the things they used to do. They stop realizing the importance of the doctrines and teachings that are from the Bible. And so these are people that get saved, but you know, honestly, they are on the rock. Look, how successful is gonna be a CB that's thrown on the rock? It's not gonna be very successful. What does it say in verse 14? And thou which fell among thorns are they which when they have heard go forth and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to perfection. So in verse 13, we basically talk about someone who basically fades out due to persecution. In verse 14, someone fades out due to worldliness. Okay. Basically, they're too concerned with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. Instead of looking at the life that we have up in heaven and the rewards we can get, they're concerned about this life and gratifying the flesh. This is someone who's thrown amongst the thorns. They also believe. Okay. But look, when you're thrown amongst the thorns, that is not the best place to plant vegetables. Right. If you throw your gulai inside of thorns or on a rock, it's probably not going to grow that well. But what does it say in verse 15? But that on the good ground are they which in an honest and good heart having heard the word keep it and bring forth fruit with patience. It says last in verse 15, that on the good ground. These are the people that last in the Christian life and they win many souls to the Lord. But I want you to understand that these three different types of people are three different types of people that get saved, they believe, but they're honestly not on the same ground. Right. And here's what you need to understand. You know what? A lot of Christians, they don't have a church like this. Right. There are same people around town that are not going to this church. And quite honestly, I find it unlikely that the church they go to is really teaching them more about the Bible and this church. And I'm not trying to say that to be arrogant. I'm just trying to say that churches don't preach anything because they want your money. They don't want to offend you. They don't want to speak the truth about what the Bible actually says. So quite honestly, people go to churches like that and they learn nothing about the Bible. Absolutely nothing. Look, I've been in churches like that where I go to church and I knew I'm going to show up and learn nothing. Absolutely nothing. And when we brought visitors to church, I realized the pastors probably not going to teach them much. So quite honestly, I'm going to have to teach them on the car ride over to church. And look, many of you have been in that situation before. It's pretty frustrating. But realize that if people are in that situation, you cannot expect them to grow in grace or knowledge as fast as you do. Many of you in this room, you've listened to years of online preaching. And it's a great opportunity we have with the online preaching and you learned a lot of things. But realize some people didn't listen to sermons for 100 hours like you did. And so you can't really expect them to have the same knowledge that you have or the same grace that you have because you're learning things from the Bible as you hear all of these sermons. And so quite honestly, there are people that get saved, but they're not in great churches. Now, when you're at a church that's a good church, you ought to grow more quickly than if you're at a bad church because you're learning from all the sermons and you also have like-minded people in this room that will motivate you to go soul winning, motivates you to read the Bible, motivates you to live for God. Now turn to Proverbs 13. Proverbs 13. And so when it comes to being in different places for growth, this really hits on a lot of different things. You have to realize some people get saved, but quite honestly, they have acquaintances that are not the best people that they should be talking to. Or they have friends that they know that quite honestly, they're better off without those friends in their life. Or maybe they have a job where they're around worldliness and ungodliness all the time and they can't avoid it. In this room, people have a lot of different jobs. And for some of you, you know, you're probably around people that are talking about sin all the time. And quite honestly, it's going to affect you. You say, well, how do you know that? Proverbs 13 verse 20. He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. And obviously, when you go to a church, you're around people that are wise and trying to live for God. But you know what? The Bible says that we are in the world. We're not supposed to be of the world, but we are in the world. And for some of you at your jobs, you're around a bunch of fools all the time. You're around a bunch of people that are just ungodly. I worked at a job in an office where the person that was beside me in the office, you know, she was known as like the biggest gossip, you know, in our job. And she knew everything about every single person. And people would come over to her and tell her all their things in their life. And I remember one time, another woman at work came over and she was openly talking about how she was committing adultery on her husband to this woman. And it's like, you have to hear that. And for some of you, that's reality. For some of you, you work with people that are very ungodly people and you're hearing people talk about foolishness all day. That affects you. And so honestly, when it comes to even people in this room, even though you have the same church and you've been saved for a while, you've heard lots of sermons. For some of you, you're in an atmosphere you cannot avoid every single week. You know, eight hours a day, five, six days a week, you're working and you're around people that do not love the Lord. They don't care about the things of God and they talk about sin openly all the time. That will affect you. Now, I'm not saying to leave your job because you know, you have to earn money and you have to be in the world. It just is what it is. We are in the world. Where we're not just going to put ourselves in a big bubble and just expect everything's going to work out in life. You're going to have to go to the grocery store. You're going to have to do things and you're going to be around and see things that are ungodly. But the reality is, the more you're around that, the more it's going to affect you. And so quite honestly, even with our jobs or acquaintances or relatives, it's not the same situation. Now I personally, I do not advise people to completely separate from their family, okay? It depends on the situation. This is something where you've got to decide based on your situation. I do not fully separate from my family though. I talk to my parents on Skype every single week. I have a close relationship with my wife's family. You know, they were in town recently and you know, I spend time with them. They're obviously here at church and everything. I get along with them well. You know, they're very nice people and for me personally, in my situation, I don't think it's wise to separate. You know, I enjoy spending time with them and gives opportunities to preach the gospel and they're very nice people and things such as that. But you know, for some of you, you have family that you do see on a regular basis and they're not that godly and they do talk about getting drunk and they get drunk in front of you all the time. And unfortunately, that's the situation you're in. Now depending on your situation, you might want to separate but that's up for you to decide. I'm not going to decide that for you because I don't know your situation. What I'm saying is, you might be around people and quite honestly, they're going to bring you down. And so our situations in this room are not the same. My parents are very nice people. They're very good people. My wife's parents are very nice people. They're very good people. That might not be your situation though. And so if you're going to compare yourself to me, I mean, we're not in the same situation. So why in the world would you compare? Turn to Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4. And the reason why I say I don't, you know, advice is just fully separate from family on most occasions is this, you know, honestly, I think you ought to give a real shot of getting your family saved. And when I say give a real shot, I don't mean one shot. I mean actually try to get your family saved. You say, but I gave them the gospel, they didn't get saved so they're never going to get saved. Look, a lot of people don't get saved for the first time. The Bible talks about you sowing the seed and then you water. I'm not saying that you have to go over their house every single night and hang out with them every single day. Okay? And in your situation, you might want to separate. That's for you to decide. But what I'm saying is giving the gospel to somebody one time and just throwing in the towel, I think that's foolish. If you have somebody you're friends with, you know, your acquaintance is with, you can try to give them the gospel many times. You don't have to just give up after one time, okay? And with your family, you know what, I think you ought to really give it a shot to try to get your family saved, okay? It says in Ephesians chapter 4, now we're going to talk about the church. You have different places for growth depending on what church you are at. Notice what it says in verse 16. From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supply, according to the affection working in the measure of every part, make an increase of the body under the edifying of itself in love. Now, this sounds like a confusing verse but it's really not when you break it down. When it says the whole body, it's talking about a local church body. This is a church at Ephesus. This is an individual local body. This Bible talks about as being and it says the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supply. Basically, all of the joints, all of the members, they basically work together. They're compacted, they're put together. We are a local body, okay? According to the affection working, what does it mean by effectual? It means it has an effect. What the Bible is saying is when you're in a church, it works effectually. Other people will help motivate you to be a better Christian. Other people will help encourage you to go soul winning. Other people will help encourage you to live for God. Well, if you went to a church and nobody went soul winning, I can almost guarantee your soul winning would be basically nothing. You say why? It's hard to be self-motivated when nobody else is doing the work. But when you're at a church that actually is living for God, it's effectual. When we read the Bible together, we memorize the Bible, we're encouraging one another to live for God. But if you're not at a church that's doing that, you're not going to have that positive effect come on to you. And so it's going to be very difficult to grow much when you're at a church that does not teach the Bible and is not really living for God. Notice what it says in verse 14. That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, verse 14, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of man and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. But speaking the truth in love, they grow up unto him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. And see, there's people that quite honestly, they bounce back and forth on their doctrine because they're not really being taught what the word God says. And they really don't even know what they believe. Now at a church like this, our doctrine doesn't change. It's very clear what we believe and it's not going to change anytime soon. On any core belief, you're not going to see any change at this church. I know what I believe. I've studied the Bible. I've read the Bible. I've preached there. I know what I believe. We're not going to change on those things. We're not going to change on salvation. We're not changing on the King James Bible. We're not changing on the end times. You say, why? Because the Bible is very clear about things and we know what's right and we know what's wrong. But honestly, a lot of people bounce back and forth because quite honestly, there are churches where they change all the time. I mean, there's churches that are changing their standards on the LGBT. Why are they changing their standards? Well, because when you walk outside, you see a bunch of guys dressed up as women and so they're changing their standards because it's not popular anymore. There's churches that are changing their standards on the repentance topic. It's like, why are you changing your mind about salvation? Decide what you believe and stick to it. There's churches where one week you're reading from the King James Bible, the next week it's the NIV. It's like, what are those churches doing? They are changing because they want to bring people in. Look, we're not going to change. You say why? Because God does not change. We do what the Bible says and we're not going to change whether it's popular or not popular. And last I looked, this room is filled full of people that love the Lord. And you like to hear the truth. And so it might not be something that most people want, but honestly, there's plenty of people here in Manila that want to serve God and want to know what the truth is. Turn to Proverbs 22. Proverbs 22. When you think about churches, there's two different churches I can think of in the Bible that are very different from one another. The Church of Corinth and the Church of Thessalonica. Which church would help you grow spiritually more? The Church of Thessalonica. You say why? Because at the Church of Corinth, there was a guy who was sleeping with his father's wife. And because there's open sin in the church, and obviously the pastor didn't have the guts to just preach hard and get sinned. But in the Church of Thessalonica, it always talks about them being godly. See, if you're in a more godly church, you're going to grow more. Why? Because it's an effectual working, and you affect one another. It says here in Proverbs 22, another thing I want to mention when it comes to different places for growth is the family that you're in. Okay? That's what it says in Proverbs 22, verse 6. Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. See, the Bible says that if you train up a child in the ways of the Lord, when they grow older, they will not depart from it. Here's what you need to understand. Some people get saved at 20 years old, but quite honestly, the way they were trained growing up was terrible. Their parents did not teach them to be hard workers. Their parents didn't teach them to be courteous and nice and respectful. And quite honestly, even though they get saved at the age of 20, the same age as somebody else, because they weren't trained in a very good way before they were saved, those are a lot of habits that they still have. Now, I can honestly say that my parents did a really good job raising me. Okay? My parents were very strict against a lot of things, and when I was in public school and elementary school, I remember my parents were the ones that wrote that note that said, No, our son is not allowed to watch PG-13 movies. And I was like, Mom, you're embarrassing me. I'm like the only kid at school. But you know, I'm glad I had parents that, you know, would have spanked me really hard if they ever saw me drink or smoke, because it kept me from being a bad person. It helped keep me on the right path. Honestly, a lot of people didn't have parents like that growing up. And when we see new people at church, sometimes you see people that join church, and honestly, you know, their kids are pretty well behaved. Now, I know of a family I can think of in very Baptist church that they've only really been kind of like minded for five years. And when they first came to church, like two or three years, but their kids were just very respectful, very hard working, very nice, good kids. Why? Because even before they were saved, they're being trained in the right way. But honestly, some people though, they join church, and their kids are bouncing off the walls and everything like that. It's like, well, you know, people have different backgrounds from when they get saved and how they were trained and taught. And honestly, you know, a lot of people, they have parents that could care less about them and then don't teach them the rules and what we're supposed to do. And honestly, it affects people. That's what I said in Proverbs 31. Turn to Proverbs 31. And so what happens, some people, when they get saved at the age of 20, the life they've lived, the first 20 years of their life is maybe a lot rougher than somebody else. And even though they both just got saved, look, if you go down a road of living in sin, it's a lot easier to commit those same sins. I am pretty sure that I'm never going to become just addicted to cigarettes because I've never smoked a cigarette. I have no interest. But if you're someone who basically smoked your whole life, quite honestly, that's something that you might sell a desire to do. If you're someone who basically used to drink a lot of alcohol, when you first get saved, it's not just overnight. Wow, you have no desire to drink. Quite honestly, you might still have a desire and you might still struggle with that from time to time. We don't have the same background. Even if you get saved the same amount of time and you're in the same church, the life you live beforehand is not the same as other people. Here's what it says in Proverbs 31, verse 1. The words of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. Here in Proverbs 1, Proverbs 31, his mom is teaching him about the dangers of drinking alcohol. He had a mom that was actually training and teaching him. A lot of people don't have that though. And a lot of people know they're pretty much kind of on their own. They might get saved through the online ministry, but honestly, they didn't have the background where they were taught what was right and what was wrong. Quite honestly, it's going to affect them. Turn in your Bible to Matthew 6. Matthew 6. And so not only have people been saved different amounts of time, and not only do we have different places of growth, but I want you to understand that it's not a 2 plus 2 equals 4 situation. It's not just a really easy, simple thing when you're thinking about comparing yourself with one another. You say, why? Well, notice what it says in Matthew 6, verse 2. Therefore, when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Barely I say unto you, they have their reward. See, the Bible says that if you basically make it a point to let people know how much money you're giving, you got your reward by people knowing about it. You're not going to get rewarded by God. You say, man, I just put in a big donation, but I told every single person at church. That's your reward. You're not going to get rewarded by God. And so even though people might be doing the same actions, it doesn't necessarily mean they're going to get the same result. Let's say two people go soul winning during the week for three hours, but one person is doing it because they want to be seen of men and tell everybody how spiritual they are, whereas somebody else is just kind of doing it quietly because they love the Lord and they just want to get people saved because they don't want to see people go to hell. Well, the person that's doing it quietly and not just making their works be known to men, they're going to get rewarded by God, but the person that's doing it to be seen of men, they already have their reward. You can honestly do something great for God but lose your reward because of the way you do it and because you want people to know how spiritual you are. You go on a four-day fast and you come to church and you say, man, guess what I did these past four days? I went on a fast because I love the Lord. Well, you got your reward. Everybody's aware of the fact that you went on your fast but you're not going to get a reward up in heaven. You say, why? Because God doesn't want you to make your works be known. He doesn't want us to brag about every single thing that we do. Everybody knew what Jesus did but honestly he didn't go around bragging about everything he was doing. People found out about him and he just kind of did it kind of quietly and silently and just it ended up being known by everybody. Look at verse number five. One example I can think of this is GoFundMe. Who knows what GoFundMe is? I don't think it's as popular here in the Philippines as the US but basically you can set up something for someone or even for yourself when you're asking for money. Like somebody has a hospital bill and they can't pay it and somebody can set up a GoFundMe for that person. We're trying to raise $5,000 or whatever to help for this person pay. When you donate on GoFundMe you have two options. You can either donate anonymously where nobody knows that you did it or you can let your name be seen. You say which should I do brother Stuckey? Well if you want to get rewarded by God do it anonymously. Right. You say well you know but I put in a big donation I want everybody to know. Well you got your reward then. You should just keep your money then if that's the reason why you're going to do it. No when you do things you're not supposed to be let it be known. And honestly I've seen when people have GoFundMes and almost everybody puts their name. And I don't know if some people just miss the part they don't realize you know that you can do it anonymously. But it's just like you know everybody wants to be seen in men. Everybody wants you as other people to know look at what I do look at how Godly I am. That's not what God wants you to do. Verse five and when thou prayest thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets that they may be seen in men. Verily I say unto you they have their reward. Quite honestly there are people that do this. They make it a big point to let people know how much they pray and they do it in front of every single person okay. There's a Baptist pastor here in the Philippines that he did supposedly some great work and he puts it all over Facebook he's on there he's like you got your reward. You're not going to get rewarded by God up in heaven for that though when you make it a point to let every single person know everything you did. He's like he literally he's like look at what I did I did this and this and this and this Have you not read Matthew 6? I mean most people start in the New Testament. It's only the sixth chapter. I mean you only had to get through five chapters. I mean this is in the sermon on the mountain. You haven't read the sermon on the mountain. I mean the Bible is very clear in Matthew 6. Notice what it says in verse 16. More of a wingy fast be not as the hypocrites of a sound count sad countenance for they disfigure their faces that they may appear on them in to fast. Verily I say unto you they have their reward. And people will literally do this when they fast. They may get a point to look really sick and pale. Why would they do that? So people ask them hey are you sick? No I've just been fasting. They're doing it a point to be known to men. That's the reason why they're doing it because they want people to ask them so they can say yeah this is what I did. Okay look at me. Turn to 1st Corinthians 3. 1st Corinthians 3. Have you ever wondered why all these false religions have like really weird clothing? You know how a lot of these you know priests not just with the Catholics with all the Protestants and the Orthodox they wear these really weird things. Buddhist monks they wear clothing that is just really strange. You say why? Because they want to be seen of men. Because when you're in a public place of 10,000 people you can spot a Buddhist monk from a mile away. You say why? Because their clothes just stand out. You can spot the Orthodox priest or spot the nun in their clothing from a long ways away. They're intentionally dressing in a way so it draws attention to their self. Look at me. I'm a Buddhist monk. I'm a guy wearing an orange dress. Look at me. Look at how godly and spiritual I am. Okay that's why they do it. 1st Corinthians 3 verses 6 through 8. I have planted a Paulist water but God gave me increase. So then neither is he that planteth anything neither be that waterth but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that waterth are one and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. And see the Bible says that you're rewarded based on the labor you do. What I want you to realize is God doesn't specifically give you what your rewards are going to be. He doesn't say one hour of Bible reading equals two rewards. He doesn't say one hour of prayer equals three rewards. He doesn't give you a list of exactly what rewards you're going to get. So you say well brother Stuckey what gives you more rewards? Doing two hours of soul winning or two hours of prayer? I don't know the answer to that because the Bible doesn't have the answer. What gives you more rewards? Reading the Bible or memorizing the Bible? I don't know what the answer to that question is. But see I'm not trying to live my life just worried about am I better than other people? And you shouldn't do that either. You say why should I go soul winning? Because you don't want people to burn in hell and because you love the Lord and you want to do what the Bible says? Why should you read the Bible? Because God tells you to and you should love the Word of God. It shouldn't just be well I'm trying to do these things so I can be better than somebody else. And so honestly the way God gives you rewards in the Bible it's not a two plus two equals four situation. Obviously going soul winning is going to get you some rewards but that's not the only thing that gets you rewards. And quite honestly we don't know the exact system but I do know that the way you do your works will affect how much rewards you get. And so you could honestly do just as much soul winning as somebody else and get pretty much no rewards compared to them because you're doing it to be seen in men and people do that. And you will honestly lose your rewards. But also when we look at our country it's very receptive here. Two hours of soul winning here in the Philippines we're going to get more people saved than two hours in America or two hours in just about any other country. Does that mean we're going to get more rewards? Well I don't think so because it's still the same amount of work we're doing and you have to realize people are not in the same situations. In our bulletin we have a lot of salvations in this church but that's not the same thing as a church that's in a really unreceptive area. We have more salvations than our sending church in Sacramento but we have less soul winners. We're doing less hours of soul but we have more salvations because it's just more receptive. You have to understand that they're not the same thing. It's foolish to compare them because it's a different situation. Turn to Romans 12. And so in Romans chapter 12 the Bible reads in verse 3 Christ saved through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. So the Bible says God's dealt to everybody the measure of faith but even more so in this chapter it's not talking about faith to get saved but what it's talking about is just different areas of your life. Basically we all have different abilities that we've been given. And you say Brother Stuckman what's going to give you more rewards? Doing song leading for church and spending a few hours practicing the music or you know taking up the offering at church or doing the accounting I don't know. I mean you know I'm not trying to spend my whole life I don't have a ranking system at this church where this person is going to get the most rewards in heaven. This person is number one at a church this person is number two this person is number three I don't know and I will say this that honestly just because you're the person preaching the sermons that does not mean you're going to get the most rewards because you're awarded based on the work you do okay? Now look obviously I go soloing a lot I spend a lot of time about my sermons but honestly a lot of you are sermons and God has quite a bit as well. Now there are churches where the pastors they don't spend any time on your sermons say how do you know? Because you listen to the sermons and you can tell. They didn't spend any time on sermons and they don't spend any time reading the Bible. So the Bible talks about you know an elder deserving double honor when they labor the word of doctrine part of preaching sermons is quite honestly studying the Bible a lot and making sure you spend a lot of time I don't just get up here five minutes beforehand and say well let's just throw down these verses and just kind of wing it I spend real time preparing my sermons you say why? Because that's the job you have if you're preaching the sermons but just because you're the one preaching the sermons does not mean you get the most rewards and honestly I don't know if I'm to get the most rewards or get less than a lot of people here I don't really know but I'm not trying to live my life just comparing myself to other people and say man I gotta get more rewards than someone I'm just trying to serve God just like you guys are doing the same thing and so comparing yourself to someone else turn to Matthew 23 it's a very foolish thing to do especially when you're comparing yourself to someone else who loves God you should just be thankful that they love God and are serving Him whether or not they're doing more or less than you okay compare yourself to other people and the last point we have is this another reason why it's foolish to compare ourselves is quite honestly we really don't know how godly people are or what people are actually doing in their lives it says in Matthew 23 verse 15 woe unto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you compass sea and land to make one cross the light and when he is made you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves and obviously in this verse we're talking about an evil person a reprobate a false prophet but I want you to notice what it says in verse 15 this person compasses sea and land to make one cross the light what is that saying? it's saying they do every single thing in their power to convert one person to false beliefs do you realize that people that end up being false prophets are usually the most zealous people say what? well I mean the Bible says in verse 15 that's what's going to happen they compass sea and land to make one cross the light basically they will do anything they can to make somebody else a false prophet it kind of boggles my mind that when someone turns out to be a bad person people say things like you know I can't believe that I mean they were the most zealous soul winner it's like that's always what people say and what I've noticed is what those people usually do though is they make it a point to let it be known how zealous they are they're never silent about how much they go so many people that end up being bad people basically they not only do some so many they make it a point to let people know every single time they go so many and some people think they go like all the time because they're always posting about it they're always talking about it they're always saying hey you know I did this they're letting their works be known to men some people think they're a lot more spiritual than they are honestly you don't know in this room how spiritual other people are you don't know whether so and so spent 30 minutes praying this morning before they came to church or whether or not someone spent 30 minutes you know watching a movie before church you don't know you don't know whether or not somebody is singing the psalms and hymns in their spiritual time or whether or not they're you know just you know listening to Len Zeppelin when they go home whatever the rock means Justin Bieber I don't know Justin Bieber Katy Perry Lady Gaga you know you don't know what people are doing in their free time and just because someone acts spiritual in front of you it doesn't mean they are spiritual turn to first Thessalonians five first Thessalonians five and the Bible reads in first Thessalonians chapter five for they get sleep verse seven for they that sleep sleep in the night and they that be drunken are drunken in the night okay what I want you to understand is there's certain things that are done during the day and there's certain things that are done during the night time according to verse seven people typically get drunk at night time isn't that true it's almost always true whenever somebody gets drunk during the day you're known as just being the person who just wakes up and the first thing they do is drink booze that's honestly pretty rare most people when they get drunk they get drunk at night time most people when they commit adultery they do it at night time most people when they fornicate they do it at night time they don't do these things in the day to be seen okay most people that commit murder they're going to do it at night time where they won't get caught the only exception that we know is the catholic church because they went through a lot of polls they just did it in broad daylight because they're the most powerful person they can get away with it most people though when they sin and do wrong they do it at night time okay and what you have to understand in this room you honestly do not know what people are doing in their free time you do not know whether or not somebody's reading the bible an hour every day or whether or not they never read the bible whether or not people from time to time drink or whether or not people are living just trying as godly as they possibly can you do not know and so it's very foolish to compare yourself to someone else because honestly we have no idea how much people are honestly living for god we don't know how much they're reading the bible we don't know how much they're praying we don't know how much they're going so many i had a friend of mine back in college and he had been saved for like five years he was really excited one day he told me he's like guess what brother Stuckey i was like what he's like i finished reading the bible cover to cover in the back of my head i was thinking i would have figured you finished that like four years ago and i just kind of assumed this person read the bible quite a bit but quite honestly you know that's the first time he had finished it cover to cover and honestly in this room you might think and so and so he probably spends two hours reading the bible every day i mean you don't know that and and honestly people do lie sometimes too just because somebody tells you how much they're doing that doesn't mean it's actually true people lie sometimes and turn to Philippians chapter three Philippians three we'll look at one last place and so there's there's two main reasons that i can think of why it's very foolish to compare yourself aside from all the points but basically the problem is people either compare themselves to someone who's very unspiritual or they think they're unspiritual and it makes them very puffed up full of pride because they're like look at me i do more bible reading than anybody else at church and you know honestly when people go to churches that are not very godly it's very easy to look at your life and think man i'm going so many more than anybody else i'm reading the bible more than anybody else but once you have that sort of attitude you're going to kind of stop doing that because you're like well i'm already number one in church anyway and so honestly when you compare yourself to people that maybe you don't think it occurs as spiritual it makes you very prideful makes you very arrogant because you think you're something special and pride is a guaranteed fall in your life it comes before destruction and you will fall if you lift up full of pride but the other thing people do is this they look at their lives and they compare themselves to someone who's maybe been saved for a really long amount of time and they basically just get down on themselves and they think man i could never preach a sermon i could never go soloing i don't know the bible as much as so and so well notice what it says in Philippians chapter 3 verses 13 and 14 reverend i count not myself to have apprehended but this one thing i do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth onto those things which are before and so what Paul the apostle said was the one thing he did is he forgot those things that were behind now i would assume that everybody in this room you probably have a better background before you got saved than Paul the apostle say why? Paul the apostle helped persecute christians i'm assuming that nobody's done that before Paul the impossible in his background was pretty rough it would have been very easy for Paul the apostle to look at his life and just say man i've been such a bad person and just get down on himself and he would have never done anything for God but we know Paul the apostle as being the most zealous person in the new testament basically he wrote half the new testament why? because he forgot about those things which are behind notice what it says though at the end of this verse well this is verse 13 reaching forth onto those things which are before okay what do you reach with? you reach with your hands right? reaching forth onto those things which are before things is plural okay what does it say? basically you're reaching with both hands under those things which are before you're fully you're not holding on to the past and reaching forth because it's multiple things you're just fully reaching forward to what's before and honestly you know some people never really grow spiritually too much because they're holding on to their past they can spend their entire lives and say wow man i i did this sin i can never be used by God or you know i've done this in the past you know and honestly you're not going to grow spiritually if you can't just forget about what's in the past and so comparing yourself to someone else can make you prideful but it can also make you feel very lowly and not do anything for that verse 14 i press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus and Paul the apostle said you know he presses towards that mark and to do that you need to throw every single thing aside and honestly when it comes to comparing ourselves you say brother Stuckey is this really a problem? i promise you it's a problem at churches you say why? because if the people Jesus specifically chose were arguing about this then that's something people would argue about today as well now here's the thing you might not argue about that utterly but it doesn't mean that you don't think about this from time to time and you're thinking about wow man i think i am more spiritually so and so and i go so many three times a week so and so only go so many two times a week so and so you know they don't read the bible as much as i do look if it happened during the day of Jesus and these are the people he specifically chose it's going to be something that's a sin that's common to man that anyone can struggle with and it's something we all need to to put a check on and not compare ourselves to other people look it'd be very easy for me to just look at all the other pastors around this area that aren't really preaching the bible and feel like man i just know everything about the bible just because they're not preaching anything in the service no i still need to study the bible and learn and learn and learn and learn and learn and grow in grace and in knowledge and with all of us we shouldn't be comparing ourselves to other people because quite honestly we haven't attained yet there's still a lot that we we need to know there's still plenty of things i could open up in the bible and quite honestly i wouldn't know what it's talking about every single day when i read the bible there's things i do not understand you know i remember that somebody at verity baptist it was a while ago they were and i think he mentioned this recently so i apologize if i did but they just mentioned to me that um this is a long time ago they were talking they were having kind of problems in their marriage and then they were saying you know brother stuck you know this is something you and sister tan never fight do you and i was like you know of course we fight you know everybody does from time to time they just kind of assumed man i'm sure brother stuck never gets in any fights with his wife and it's just like sometimes we can have that attitude we look at other people in this room and we might think they're really spiritual honestly you know it's foolish to compare yourself because you honestly don't know the sorts of lives that people are living and quite honestly whether or not someone's more godly than you or less your goal should just be to be growing every single week spiritually let's close in order prayer