service and we had a we had a good day at church even though it's cold outside
so as turn your hymn note your song number 20 hymn number 20 when I see the
blood Christ our Redeemer died on the cross died for the sinner paid all his
do all who receive him need never fear yes he will pass will pass over you the
blood the same as can say he has promised so singer hear him sing his
word for you the blood is come oh singer Haystead let Jesus say this will pass
over you the blood on this love the setback is true believe a store power you
see the blood the blood the blood good thing let's open the service with a
little prayer thank you love for this day and thank you for the salvation that
we had this afternoon I pray that you bless the service and bless the men who
are preaching tonight and I'm pretty soon Jesus name in alright turn to song
number 29 at the cross song 29 and did my Savior bleed dear that saved had such
a cross where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart away see be all
the day to know young green sad across where I first saw the light and the
burden of my heart stairs see my side and now I am happy all the day the Sun
inside and shut his glory since the mighty occurred I the creatures say sad
across where I first saw the light burden of my way stairs see my side now
I am happy all the day job of grief where I first saw the and the bird see
inside and be all the day good singing and let's go over the bulletin raise
your hand if you need a bulletin and I'll show will bring one to you welcome
again to show foundation Baptist Church and I thank miss Hannah for playing the
piano she has picked up piano really really fast or praise the Lord for that we
need more musicians if anyone wants to learn to play flute violin cello viola
drum you know just let me know what's the week later in chapter 1 verse 8 the
Bible says but though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto
you then that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed so you know
God is very serious about a false gospel and we need to contend about the
simplicity that is found in the gospel on the inside page we have a social
media YouTube Facebook rumble and X we have service time Sunday morning at 11
Sunday afternoon service at 4 and Wednesday night double study at 7 p.m.
this coming Wednesday we'll be talking about the second half of Gideon's battle
in chapter number 8 judges chapter number 8 this coming Wednesday so please
join us we have so many times Saturday morning at 1030 and Sunday afternoon
so morning at 1 30 p.m. today we have six soul winners and one salvation one
salvation person low for that you know I was joking that ice is oppressing the
stranger because I because I almost slid on the ice ten times so anyway if you
know you know praise report salvations and attendance is for you to see and we
have one baptism this morning praise the Lord for that so upcoming events
Christmas service will take place on Sunday December 21st there'll be a
potluck right after the morning service there'll be a regular soul winning and
the afternoon service that day so please invite family and friends Christmas
Eve service will be on Wednesday December 24th at 7 p.m. and then so any
marathon coming up Evansville spying scouting trip will be on December 6 so
we'll meet at 130 at the address below so that's way south from here we'll go
so winning straight and then we can just have a one big session December 27 is
the winter wonderland so any marathon this afternoon is a good dry practice of
that winter wonderland so we'll meet here at 1 p.m. we'll go someone equals three
and a half to four hours straight I don't care how cold the weather is we're
gonna push it through and then we're gonna meet for dinner on December 27th
that's the last one winning event of the year next year we plan to go to more
cities and just you know stay tuned for next year's calendar we are trying to
nail that down by the end of the year and help us with the cleaning of the
church building right after service today we also have a men's preaching night
during the service today I'll talk more about it later after the offering and
December preaching schedule is for you to see Titan offering is down below
flipping on the backside today it's Cooper's birthday the family wasn't able
to make it today so please wish him a happy birthday and then if your schedule
is in December but it's not on that list please let me know so I can update your
birthdays as well as the anniversaries so with that being said let's sing the
third let's sing the third song turn your song number 41
make sure you feel it on the back of the communication card and drop it when
the air often goes by. Honda's birthday is on the fourth oh my bad sorry I missed it
Honda's birthday yeah right yeah okay last thing happy birthday to you under
my bad I did not see it all right last thing happy birthday
How do we be? Eight. Is that right? Two witnesses? Alright. Happy eighth birthday. Let's sing her
birthday to you, Brother Hunter. Ready? Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday.
God bless you. Happy birthday to you. I need to get my eyes checked. Hey, this glass is good for
shooting, but not for reading. Anyway, let's sing Psalm number 41. It's a lead by and by, Psalm 41.
There's a land that is fairer than day, and by faith we can see, for the Father waits
o'er the way to prepare us a dwelling place there. The sweet shall meet on that beautiful shore.
The sweet shall meet on that beautiful shore. We shall sing on that beautiful shore.
The male song, now spirit, shall song sing of rest. The sweet shall meet on that beautiful shore.
The sweet shall meet on that beautiful shore. The sweet shall meet on that beautiful shore.
Mushers, please come forward. We'll take up the offering.
Brother Mac, would you pray for the offering, please?
This time we'll have our men's preaching night, and due to the weather condition,
we only have two preachers today, so I'll give them up to 30 minutes to preach.
They don't have to use all the time, so it might be a shorter service,
but they have up to 30 minutes to preach, and the rule is, you know, wear a shirt and tie,
use the King James Bible, and no heresies, and do not go over 30 minutes. Otherwise,
the ushers will have to escort you down or throw you on the ice, and the ice is coming for you,
but I mean the man's preaching is an opportunity for preachers to learn how to preach and to
develop their sermons, and hopefully in the future we'll have all the boys, young guys,
they can preach as well, because God's will is for all people to be preachers, so that's the goal.
So since we only have two people, so I think who goes first will be determined on a rock, paper,
and scissor competition. So Brother Christian, could you come forward? Let's have a rock,
paper, scissor competition with Brother Wade. I'm sorry, I didn't tell you before, but that's...
All right, are you ready on my mark? Ready? Rock, paper, scissor, shoot. Whoever wins goes last.
Ready? Rock, paper, scissor, shoot. Again, rock, paper, scissor, shoot. Ah, okay, so by the way,
we'll be going first, but the question will be going last. Hey, good afternoon. So the title
of my sermon this evening is "Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ." Believing on the Lord Jesus
Christ, would you turn to 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Corinthians 15 verse 1. "Moreover,
brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received
and wherein you stand, by which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preach to you,
unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received,
how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he
rose again the third day according to the scriptures. So I just, you know, want to start
by saying thank God that salvation is a hundred percent by grace through faith. You know, you
think about all the other world religions and Christianity is the only religion that is by
grace through faith is the only religion that requires no works to go to heaven, that requires,
that doesn't require that you have to be baptized, you have to pray 20 times a day,
you have to do all these commandments and rules. It's the only one that is by faith alone and
praise God for that because, you know, the other ones they make it so hard and they make it
complicated and I think it's confusing to people. So naturally when we go to their door,
they're confused about salvation. So, you know, the world's a complex place. I mean, people,
you know, are dealing with complicated things in their lives. They're trying to navigate through
a career. I mean, that can be really complicated changing your career. They're trying to, you know,
navigate through politics and how complicated that is or, you know, let's just turning from sin,
turning from, you know, a drug habit or an alcohol habit. I mean, people don't just wake up and fall
into sin. I mean, everyone has their reasons. I mean, they have their struggles, especially
something like substance, you know, abuse. You know, maybe they're depressed and they're dealing
with complicated things. You know, people have a hard time putting faith in others. You know,
it's hard sometimes to put faith in people, isn't it? I mean, because people, you know,
they lie to us. They play mind games with us. We're not always sure who we can trust. And,
you know, in that, people can lose hope. So, it's a complicated world. And we're simply just
prideful. You know, we're prideful. We don't want help when we need it. We don't want to admit
that we need help. And we want to do things ourselves because then we can boast.
Because then, you know, if someone believes that maybe there is a heaven, maybe there is a God,
they can get there and say, "I did live a good life." But, you know, God makes it so much more
simple for us, you know, that salvation is just by faith and people want to believe that it's by
works. You have these famous songs, you know, like "I Did It My Way," Frank Sinatra, you know.
I know a lot of older people that love that song, and I like the song too, but, you know, it's kind
of saying, like, "I did life my way. Look what I did." And because of just some of these influences,
people believe in work salvation. So, but Jesus just made it simple for us and died on the cross
and pardoned us for all our sins, and all we have to do is accept the free gift He offers us by faith.
So, you know, it's funny because its simplicity is what makes it so powerful. You know, it's,
there's only one way to really be saved, and that's to believe on Lord Jesus Christ. I mean,
it's just that simple, but it's like powerful at the same time. And, you know, that phrase I chose
for this sermon, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, because I believe, I mean, this is the
language Christians should speak. It's the language we should expect to hear, not, you know, these
different slogans like, you know, you ask someone like, what do you believe? Do you believe in God?
Are you a Christian? They say like, well, I surrendered my life to the Lord. And what does
that mean exactly? I mean, that, that sounds complicated to me. I surrendered my life to the
Lord. I mean, you know, I, or they'll say like, I don't have a religion. I have a relationship,
you know, so it's kind of like, well, are you a Christian? And they're like, well, I don't
necessarily go by that. I have a relationship. So it just complicate people complicate things,
you know, or how about this one? I made Jesus the Lord of my life, you know, he's the Lord over
everything I do. And these kind of, you know, these kind of descriptions are just not found
in the Bible. And people are confused today when really, they need to speak the language of the
Bible believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. So, and that's the will of the Father. So let's turn to
Matthew seven, I was going to add this into my sermon since I was kind of expecting to like 10
or 15 minutes, but I'm just going to add this in here. Matthew seven verse 21, Matthew seven verse 21,
"Not everyone that saith unto me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that
doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have
we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many
wonderful works, and then while I profess unto them, I never knew you depart from me, ye that work
iniquity.'" So a lot of people, you know, look at this. When we look at it, we see the parallel
passage of John 6.38. So if you can go ahead and turn there while I'm talking, we'll go there in a
sec. But John 6.38 is the parallel passage that, because many people will look at this and say,
"Well, the will of the Father is that, you know, the reason these people aren't going to heaven
and he's saying, 'Depart from me, I never knew you,' is because they didn't have a relationship
with the Lord." So essentially what they're really saying is that this person didn't do
the commandments, or they didn't pray enough, or they didn't go to church enough, whatever it may
be. I mean, it comes down to just doing works is what they're saying. But what it's actually saying
here, the will of the Father, in John 6.38. Let's go ahead and turn there. I always love to use this
one when I'm out soul-winning, talking to people, you know. So this one, John 6.38, "For I came down
from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And this is the Father's will,
which hath sent me, that all that He hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up
again at the last day." And this next part is most important, "And this is the will of Him that sent
me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise
Him up at the last day." So the will of the Father, it's very clear there, is to believe on Jesus
Christ. So that is the language that a Christian should be using, is "I believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ." That would be the right answer at the door, and I've run into it before, where people
say that, and I'm like, you know, kind of shocked. I mean, last weekend, me and Brother Steven ran to
two people in the same neighborhood who basically said that same thing, and it definitely gave us a
big smile that day. So, but I want to go a little more in depth on this idea of believing on Lord
Jesus Christ. You know, what does it mean to believe on Lord Jesus Christ? Because, you know,
we'll read Acts, we'll read Acts 16 30 to 31, and that's exactly what it says, "Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Or we'll read, you know, this one, like I just read there,
you know, "To believeth on him," or John 3 16. And I think people don't always like think in depth
about what that means. What does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? It's not simply enough
to just believe He existed, or just believe He died on the cross, or that it happened,
okay? It's more than that. So, you know, obviously like, I'll just use like my wife for example,
you know, I met her and I believed on her that she would be my wife. I believed that I put my
faith in her that she would be the one that I would marry, that she was the right one for me.
That's, now this is like a different example here, but just an example, I, um, there was something
about her that gave me the faith to believe she was going to be the right one to marry, okay?
So believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, it's not enough to just say like, you know, he existed,
yeah, he died on the cross, I believe on him, I'm good to go, okay? It's what is it about Jesus
you believe? And, you know, because I mean, James too, I mean, it says like even the devils believe,
I mean, the devils believe he exists, okay? The devils are afraid of him and they fear him,
but they don't believe on him. So what does it mean to believe on Lord Jesus Christ? It means
you're putting your faith in Jesus to save you and not yourself. That's what I always explain to
people. So when we're at the door and we get to this part, I say, you know, what does it mean to
believe on Lord Jesus Christ? It means, and that's the first thing I always say to people is that
If you are trusting in him to save you and not yourself and not your works
But it also means you believe the record god gave of his son
So that would be the deity of christ the death burial resurrection and eternal life
So let's go through that. So the deity of christ turn to john
John 1 john 1 the deity of christ john 1 verse 1 in the beginning was the word and the word was with god
And the word was god the same was in the beginning with god
All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made
Let's skip down to verse 10
He was in the world and the world was made by him the world knew him not
He came unto his own and his own received him not but as many as has received him
To them gave he power to become the sons of god
Even to them that believe on his name which were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor the will of man
But of god and the word this this part's uh
Essential to the deity the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory
The glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth
So the word was made flesh the first verse there says in the beginning was the word and the word was with god
And the word was god. So the only begotten of the father is jesus christ
So he is this word in my hand right here made flesh amongst us
So this is proof of his deity and believing in the deity of christ is essential to salvation
It's always best to explain this to people because if they if they don't believe in the deity of christ, okay
How can you believe the rest? How can you believe he resurrected?
how can you believe his death on the cross is going to to pay for all man's sin and
Unfortunately, you know the muslims don't believe this. They don't believe he was the actual son of god
They believe he was the prophet and they they give him, you know reverence, but they don't give him the reverence
We do. I mean we believe he was the son of god god in the flesh
It's very hard to get through to a muslim. We actually uh me and brother landing were out today and we ran into this and
You know, it's really hard because that many times they'll just say like I just don't believe the bible
I don't believe this is correct at all. So it's really hard to read from it and reach them
But you have to believe in the deity of christ, okay
uh
The death of christ so turn to mark, uh 1539 death of christ
So mark 1539 says and when the centurion which stood over against him saw
That he so cried out and gave up the ghost he said truly this man was the son of god
So this centurion witnessed jesus dying on the cross the moment he cried out and said in your uh,
Hands, I commend my spirit and he gave up the ghost and I mean he himself even said truly
This man was the son of god
So he there was witnesses to the death and this would be a roman and if you were to look in roman history
or uh
jewish history
You know you would find that there is there is evidence of people giving an account that jesus actually did die
So it's a fact that jesus died on the cross
Okay, but you have to believe in that death a certain way. It's not just that he just died
Okay, so romans 5 8 9 says but god commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners
Christ died for us much more than being now justified by his blood
We shall be saved from wrath through him
So when you believe on the lord jesus christ you are justified by his blood
And you are saved from wrath through him. It doesn't say that you're saved through works
It doesn't say that you're saved through baptism or gifts or how good of a life you can live
It says you're saved through him. So it's important to explain that to someone that that the death
Is part of believing on the lord jesus christ. You also go to uh, first john 2 2
And he is the propitiation
For our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world
So believing on the death is also believing that believing that he was the propitiation for our sins that he died
For everybody's sins the whole world past present and future and that's where we are today in the future
So no one no one else has died for your sins. I mean has there ever been another man
Throughout history that died for all man's sin or that even can die for all man's sin
No, he can't because it's special because it's the son of god
It's the blood of god poured out for all man and like the hymn we sing
There's power in the blood. Amen. So believing in the death is essential the burial. Let's go to the burial matthew
1240 um, i'll just read this one off. I'll have you turn uh while i'm reading this off. Why don't you turn to matthew 27?
57 matthew 27 57
In matthew 1240 it says for as jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly
So shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. This is jesus
speaking here and
You know
He's giving us the same picture of what happened in the book of jona when jona was swallowed by the whale
That picture in joe of jona in the whale's belly is the same picture of jesus
Being in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. So let's go to matthew
157 when the even was come there came a rich man of aramathia
Named joseph who also himself was jesus' disciple
And when joseph had taken the body he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth
And laid it in his own new tomb
Which he had honed out of the rock and he rolled a great stone to the door
Of the sepulcher and departed so joseph I mean begged the body
Of jesus and actually it's joseph's account. I believe that's in
um the jewish history of the burial here, so
You know not only was a stone laid over the door of his burial
But I mean pilot even ordered that there would be a seal set over it and he set some of his men to watch
so
You know because the jews assumed that like the disciples would steal the body away
And obviously that's not what happened. I mean Jesus was was buried in there. There was a stone set over door. It was sealed and
When he resurrected this stone was removed, and they couldn't explain it, so let's move to the resurrection
So you have to believe on the burial you have to believe on the death you have to believe on the deity now
Let's talk about the resurrection, so it's turned to Luke
24 34 Luke 24 34 says some pages flippants always
Luke 24 34 saying the Lord is risen indeed and hath appeared to Simon and they told
What things were done in the way and how he was known of them in breaking of bread and as they thus spake
Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and saith unto them peace be unto you
But they were terrified and affrighted and supposed that they had seen a spirit and he said unto them
Why are you troubled and why do thoughts of rise in your hearts?
Behold my hands and my feet that it is I myself
Handle me and see for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me have and
when he had thus spoken he showed them his hands and his feet and while they yet believed not for joy and
Wondered he said unto them have you hear any meat and he gave them and and they gave him a piece of broiled
Fish and of a honeycomb and he took it and did eat with them and he said unto them
These are the words which I spake unto you with while I was yet with you that all things must be
Fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning me then opened he their
Understanding that they might understand the scriptures and said unto them thus
It is written and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise
From the dead the third day and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in the name among all nations
Beginning at Jerusalem. So I mean this right here this account is from the disciples evidence that Jesus stood before them in the flesh
I mean and he ate before them
So, you know that stone was rolled away and the Roman guards
Obviously, you know had no answers there of where Jesus went and you know, you have the Bible
Of course, you have these scriptures that speak of the resurrection, but I mean also just historically let's just ask
I mean, where's the body of Jesus? I always ask people that question. They can't give you an answer
Where's the body of Jesus?
I mean you would think if there was one body to produce to prove all of Christianity wrong
They they'd have an answer for that but they don't because Jesus resurrected from the dead and you have to believe that
To be saved if you can't believe in the resurrection, then you're not saved
That's the victory is that Jesus conquered death hell and the grave. So this is just something I always like to
You know explain to people with a variety of scriptures
But you know the the deity of Christ the death the burial the resurrection
What does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ eternal life? Let's talk about eternal life
The last point first John 5 he that believeth on the son have to witness in himself
He that believeth not God have made him a liar because he believeth not the record that God gave of his son
And this is the record that God have given to us
Eternal life and this life is in his son
He that hath the son hath life and he that hath not the son of God have not life
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the son of God that you may know
That you have eternal life and that you may believe on the name of the son of God
So you have to believe the record it says and this is the record that God hath given to us
Eternal life and if you don't believe that record you have made God a liar and most people they do struggle with this eternal life
concept because they believe you could lose it and that's because originally they probably believed and trusted in their works to begin with so
You know, it's like I said, it's so simple once saved always saved. This is why we believe once saved always saved
This is what it means to believe in once saved always saved is that the moment you are saved
You are sealed with the Holy Spirit and that cannot be removed that God is the one that's holding on to you
You're not it's not about you holding on to God
It's about God holding on to you forever. And if it's not eternal, then it's if it's not forever
It's not eternal. So the moment you get saved, I mean you're sealed with the Holy Spirit
And I always like to read Ephesians 1 13 in whom you also trusted after that
You heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation in whom also after that you believe you were sealed with that Holy
spirit of
Promise so once saved always saved is the way to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
And what if it's not once saved always saved you're not saved if you believe in anything else
If you deny once saved always saved you're denying that that God gives eternal life
You know can anyone undo God's seal think about it. I mean I would think if God put a seal on something
I would not be able to undo it right
I mean you have man putting a seal on things on letters I can undo that but you can't undo God's seal
I would think that is impossible, but people believe that you know you can pluck yourself out of God's hand
All right, you can pluck yourself out. I mean God won't you know take away your salvation
I believe that but you know I could I could lose myself. I could walk away, but let's read Romans 8 38
I mean you can also think of John 10 28
You know I mentioned earlier about you know that that no man should pluck them out of God's hand
Well, it says here in Romans 38 Romans 8 sorry Romans 8 38 for I am persuaded
that neither death nor life nor angels nor
Propalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any creature
Shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord
So once you're saved you're held by the hand of God like I also mentioned there in John 10 28 and according to Romans 8 3
I mean just this whole list. There's nothing that's going to separate you from the love of God once your child so in
Conclusion, you know, I like to always ask a person, you know
Can you be saved and not believe in the deity of you could say like oh, I believe in the resurrection
I believe in the barrel. I believe in the death
But like if you don't believe in the deity of Christ, can you be saved?
Can you be a Christian?
No, because if you don't believe he was the son of God
How can you believe in the power of the death on the cross and believe in the account of the resurrection?
Well, I believe the rest but I don't believe in once saved always saved
Well, then then why are we even talking about salvation if you can't be saved forever if I could lose it
You know if I have to wonder the rest of my life
I mean, why would someone want to believe in Jesus if that was the case if it was conditional you see
So like all the other religions, that's the way they believe it is conditional but with Jesus Christ
He's made it so simple for us and praise God for that
So I you know always explain in depth what it means believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
Okay, the title of my sermon is giving what God gives you and I try to make this sermon about
God's grace a lot of the time in life as we
Excell in knowledge a lot of times pride can take over and we forget to be graceful and humble to others that sometimes
Now that's about anybody here
But
This is like this is the only idea
So to define grace grace obviously means an unmerited favor means something we don't earn
so when we talk about giving grace to other people we shouldn't try to
Rationalize it as to whether they deserve it or not because by definition they don't deserve it
Let's see. Um, so there's a difference between grace and
Condemnation they're both kind of opposites when you condemn someone you're basically
you know
reproaching or
Correcting that person in such a way that is relevant to
What they've done wrong and what they would deserve for their wrongdoing grace would be
Giving them blessings or patience in spite of their wrongdoing, right? So you can turn to Matthew 6
verses 14 and 15 you 6 14 and 15 here the Bible reads for if you forgive men their
Trespasses your heavenly father will also forgive you
But if you for if you forgive not men their trespasses neither will your father forgive your trespasses
So we ought to be gracious and forgiving to other people and forgiveness is also an act of grace because people don't really deserve forgiveness
Exactly, right?
forgiveness isn't really a just thing per se it kind of goes against logical justice and it
Surpasses it in such a way that we are giving someone grace in spite of the wrongdoing toward us, right?
That's what forgiveness is. So in the same way that we would forgive others
We could sometimes get forgiveness in return
So we should be gracious toward others that we might be have grace ourselves. You can turn to Matthew 5-7
Matthew 5-7 here, Jesus says, "Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy."
So if we're merciful unto others, we'd be more likely to obtain mercy.
A lot of times in our lives we can decide not to be gracious to people, most of the time out of pride.
But eventually it'll come back to haunt us.
You know, obviously karma isn't real, Hinduism isn't real, but we do reap what we sow in our lives and
throughout our lives people are gonna do a lot of wrong to us, but also we have to consider that later in life
we're gonna end up doing a lot of wrong to other people.
So if we want grace and forgiveness in the long term and mercy from other people,
we're gonna have to first give that to people that do us wrong and do terrible things to us in our lives.
So I think that's something to really keep in mind.
A couple examples of that recently is like at my job
we're like classified as like 1099, which is like actually illegal as hell.
So that's not just, but I'm not like calling a lawyer, you know, and getting OSHA on the phone,
but it's not right. You know, yelling and stuff. A lot of things are really uncalled for.
I didn't even do that job. That wasn't me.
I'm getting screamed at. A lot of things can happen, but you know, I'm gracious,
then that would encourage my boss to be gracious with me.
When I do stupid things, like dropping metal duct tape on my head.
Or flooding a church. That was like a thousand dollars in property damage.
Cost my company money. So when they're gracious to me, it's a lot easier for me to be gracious to them.
And that's another aspect of it, too, is
when you receive grace from others, and I've received a lot of grace from people at this church, you know,
I'm not gonna say everything they did exactly.
But, a lot of people have been very gracious to me, you know, maybe stupid things I've said, just ask Landon.
Landon will give you about 20 pages of things.
And, you know, I've said stupid things, I've done stupid things, kind of, especially at my job, really. But,
through being given grace from other people, it encourages you more to give the grace to others, right?
When you receive grace, it feels a lot better and a lot easier to give that grace to others.
Because, you know how you felt and how better the situation became when you received grace from someone else, and
when someone else wrongs you, it encourages you to stop and think like, "Well, wait a minute.
I did this person wrong a few months ago. Now, this person's doing me wrong.
I should show grace and forgiveness to them." It makes it a lot easier.
Another thing is
the wrong we do to others here. So, Luke 23, 34. You can turn there. "Then said Jesus, 'Father forgive them,
for they know not what they do.'" The reason I bring up this verse is a lot of the time we can...
I mean, just like with unsaved people, a lot of times we can get caught up in so much of what we know from the Bible,
all the experience and knowledge we've had in this church, for example. And we kind of look at
unsaved people like they should just automatically have everything figured out, you know.
And that's really wrong for us to do because they haven't had the experiences and knowledge that we've had.
You know, we've been saved for probably years, some of us decades or something.
We shouldn't just automatically assume like all these people ought to know the Trinity or salvation by grace or whatever.
They haven't had that knowledge and been exposed to the power of God like we have, especially like at Thanksgiving.
I think a lot of people lately have been talking about like arguments they have with people at Thanksgiving.
"My family are Calvinists" or something, but we should show grace toward those people and in a lot of the time showing grace is
one of the only things you can do to get through to them because we are seen as a reflection of Christ in the world.
So by giving grace toward others that are spiritually ignorant,
that's like one of the only things we can do to really get through to them. Logical arguments aren't going to work with those people.
And so we should be patient and gracious. I mean, just like, what was Jared's brother's name, Cody?
He got saved recently and he also got baptized. It took me like five years to get baptized.
Actually longer than that after I was saved or something. I didn't get baptized for a real long time.
And he's already getting baptized and everything and we shouldn't just like expect him just to get everything and do everything.
Why are you going soul wedding? Why are you showing up three times a week or whatever?
We should be really patient with people like that who have recently gotten saved and not hold them to the same standards that we hold ourselves.
Everybody starts at some point in the beginning. And that's kind of the interesting contrast between grace and pride like I alluded to earlier.
The more prideful you become, the less gracious you become. Grace often times comes from humility.
I mean, even with salvation, we got grace from the Lord, from his humility to put himself in our place.
You know, that's how we got God's grace. And we give grace to others from our humility to put other people above ourselves.
Screw this up. Matthew 5, 44, I believe. Yes, here we go.
Jesus saying, "But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you."
And I believe this is a powerful teaching as well. When our enemies do wrong to us, doing any physical wrong isn't really going to change anything.
But rather, if we're patient with those people, they would basically see Christ through us, and let me just go to 2 Corinthians 5, 5.20 I believe, 2 Corinthians 5.20. Here we go.
The Bible reads here, "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead be reconciled to God."
I believe that's a reference to salvation in the question of, you know, if the Corinthians are even saved by their behavior or something like that.
But this is focusing on the fact that we're supposed to be ambassadors for Christ, and a lot of the time, what I think of at work or other situations is,
you know, if we're supposed to be ambassadors of Christ, that means we're supposed, you know, our actions and our speech are supposed to reflect who Christ is and what Christ has done.
And, you know, Christ suffered for the world that he could pay for their sins on the cross, that we can have salvation, and that we can have such a great benefit from God's grace.
So when we're mistreated by others, one of the best ways we can do is give people grace and compassion during those times, I believe.
Because I think that is really what would get through to them, is by being gracious to them and patient.
A lot of the time, you know, when people are acting that way, they're not really focusing on what they're doing and what they're saying.
Like when people are angry, they're focusing more on your actions and your speech.
People don't really stop and recognize when they're angry and when they're kind of going over the top about what they're saying and if what they're saying is correct.
They got angry because they're pride and their pride makes them think they're correct.
So they're not really focusing on if what they're saying is okay, they're focusing on if what you're doing is making them mad, if that makes any sense.
So if you focus on what you're doing and saying and not making them angry by what you're doing and saying, that's going to impact them more than anything else.
It goes back to loving your enemies.
I'll just go to Ephesians 2, 8 and 9.
Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, "For by grace are you safe through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast."
The Bible obviously is referring to grace in terms of salvation, that we don't merit grace, and that we don't earn grace, and that it is the gift of God.
Well, our behavior, again, in terms of grace, the grace we should have, should reflect in such a way that it comes off as undeserving.
We shouldn't ask ourselves, or at least try not to, "I make mistakes in these areas a lot." That's actually why I'm preaching about it.
But when we act or react to other people and interact with them, we shouldn't really ask if they deserve to be treated this way or talked to this way.
Rather, we should ask how that person would like to be treated, how we would like to be treated, and how we can be gracious to them, of course, within reason.
Obviously, there are some people that don't deserve grace in the world, but the majority of people do deserve grace.
And I think a lot of the time it's just our pride that gets in the way that convinces us otherwise,
that we would nitpick people and try to figure out something we just don't like about them,
as to reasons as to why we shouldn't talk to them, or be nice to them, or be around them.
But I think that for the most part, we should be extending grace to most people, in general.
Oh, you can turn to numbers 3223.
These verses are kind of, you know, about something else.
Israel's behavior in relationship with the Lord at the time, and their obedience in war.
But anyway, this verse says here, "But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord,
and be sure your sin will find you out."
Another thing that I think of when I think about grace, is the fact that,
I think about the unforgiving servant, forgot to put that in my sermon.
But anyway, as the unforgiving servant, you know, he owes all these talents of gold to this king.
You know, referring to salvation.
And it's referring to the fact that, since God has forgiven us of so much things,
we ought to be able to forgive other people, especially of more petty things than we were forgiven of.
And when I look at this verse here, and you know, I think about the unforgiving servant,
and how he was, you know, punished and sent to prison,
because he couldn't even forgive someone of a might, you know, some small amount of money.
What I think of is that, if we're not gracious to people about smaller things,
you know, it increases the likelihood of not only punishment from God of the larger things in our personal lives,
but it also increases the likelihood of people coming against us, uniting against us over those same types of things.
It goes back to getting grace when you give grace, right?
And also Psalm 18.25, about the last point I have here.
The Bible says here, "With the merciful, thou would shew with thyself merciful.
With an upright man, thou would shew thyself upright.
With the pure, thou would shew thyself pure.
And with the foward, thou would shew thyself foward rebellious."
So this is referring to the fact that how we act toward other people and toward the Lord is how God is going to react to us.
Obviously God is the most powerful, most understanding, wise, knowledgeable being in the world. And the last person we want as our enemy is the Lord.
So if we're gracious toward other people and we're also humble toward the Lord, we can have a lot of security in the Lord.
And just like in another parable actually. But anyway, how we react to a lot of people in our lives is how the Lord is basically going to treat us.
Our treatment toward others is going to be reflected a lot of the time in how the Lord treats us.
So we should be gracious toward others so we can kind of invest in having grace toward the Lord.
If we nitpick other people and get on people about tiny little things that don't really matter all the time.
And just treat people like garbage when we feel bad. It's going to increase the likelihood of God doing the same thing to us.
We wouldn't want God to nitpick us on every tiny little sin we commit every day, you know.
And so why would we want to do that to someone else? Oh, that was another thing. I almost forgot.
Another interesting thing I think about grace in humility is a lot of the time,
smaller sins that other people are committing, we view them as a much bigger deal than that person does.
Because everyone has different sins, right? And everyone has different perspectives.
So, you know, let's say lying isn't that big of a deal to Landon, of course.
I'm kidding. But stealing isn't that big of a deal to me.
Well, if I lied, you know, Landon wouldn't care.
But if Landon's lying, I would take offense to that because I'm a thief.
But, you know, if I'm stealing, Landon would really hate that.
And think that that's a much bigger deal to me.
Because, you know, we have different flesh, we have different minds.
Somewhere in our screwed up minds, we both convinced ourselves that both of these things, respectively, aren't really that bad.
You know what I mean? Does that make sense?
So, if we can be gracious toward other people about their small sins,
it's a lot easier for other people to draw that understanding from our perspective of how we've completely rationalized this stupid thing in our minds.
And we can easily get more grace from other people.
When you reach an understanding with someone else, it's a lot easier for someone to reach that understanding with you through grace.
Thank you.
Oh, it's like an actual magnetic. Well, thank you, Brother Wei and Brother Christian, for your sermon.
Good points to take from someone, you know, always talk about Jesus Christ, He is God, that He's perfect, that He's never sinned.
Because only a perfect God can die for our sins, right?
And also showing grace to people, realizing that people have different walks in their life.
You know, obviously, we're not saying that we should tolerate sin, but give people some grace, give people time to grow, and be gentle towards them.
And let's sing one last song, and then we can go home.
Song number 18, "Take the name of Jesus with you."
Song number 18.
Take the name of Jesus with you, child of sorrow and of woe.
It will joy and comfort give you.
Take it, and wherever you go.
Precious name, oh how sweet.
Hope of earth and joy of ashes.
Precious name, oh sweet.
Hope of earth.
Take the name of Jesus as a shield from every temptation strong to gather.
Breathe that holy name in prayer.
Precious name.
Hope of earth, precious name, sweet.
Hope of earth, joyous name of Jesus.
Our souls with joyous loving arms receive us.
His sounds our tongues implore.
Precious name, oh sweet.
Hope of earth, precious name, oh sweet.
Hope of earth, Jesus bowed straight at his feet.
Kings in heaven will cry, "Journey is complete."
Precious name, oh sweet.
Hope of earth, precious name, oh sweet.
Hope of earth.