Alright, good morning everybody. My name is Brother David Kiefer, and I just want to thank
Pastor Anderson for giving me the opportunity to preach to you guys this morning. But let's
go right into the service, okay? The title of this message this morning is Defending
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In 2018 America and all over the world, the gospel of Jesus
Christ has been under attack more now than it's ever been. Of course, Satan has always
been after God's word. Ever since the time of Adam and Eve, when he questioned Eve to
think, you know, yea, hath God said. God's word has been under attack. More so today,
as time goes on, new false doctrines, new false gospels start arising, and we need to
defend the gospel of Jesus Christ. What is the gospel of Jesus Christ? And I'm pretty
sure 99% of you in here know what the gospel of Jesus Christ is. The word gospel simply
means the good news, okay? And the good news, or the gospel, is the death, burial, and resurrection
of Jesus Christ as our Savior. Knowing that the Son of God came down from heaven, not
the Father, but the Son of God, came down from heaven and lived a perfect sinless life
that you and I or no one could ever live. He was the, what the Bible says, He who knew
no sin became sin for us. So in living that perfect sinless life, He endured everything
on the cross that we deserve to have. Going to the cross, He died. They put His body in
the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea for three days, and His soul went to hell to pay for
the punishment that we all deserve upon ourselves. And then raised from the grave three days
later, victoriously conquering death and hell, promising anybody that whoever believes or
trusts in what Christ has done for them, He will give them the gift of eternal life. That
is the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is what the Bible has always taught, and that it was
promised to us from the foundation of the world. And that gospel is under attack today
through all sorts of false gospels and all sorts of false, you know, people. The Bible
says in 1 Corinthians 2, you don't need to turn there, 1 Corinthians 2, 2, for I determined
not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We as Bible-believing
Christians need to defend the whole entire Bible. This whole entire Bible is the Word
of God, and we need to continually fight for this Word of God. But more importantly
than anything is the gospel of Jesus Christ, because it is the power unto salvation to
everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. So that is how someone
becomes a Christian, is by putting their faith on the Word of God. Now, if you would take
a look down at your Bible at 2 Timothy, verse 1, the Bible reads, I charge thee therefore
brethren and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing
in his kingdom. Preach the word, be instant, in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke,
exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. So the Bible is clearly telling us we need
to defend the whole entire Bible, but most importantly the gospel of Jesus Christ. We
should defend everything that the Bible teaches, but when you go door-to-door soul-winding,
we're not there to debate with people about this doctrine or that doctrine, we're just
there in love to show them the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. Like it said in
1 Corinthians 2, 2, I determined and know nothing except for Christ crucified. If all
anyone can understand is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and put their
faith in that, then they are sealed into the day of redemption and they'll always be saved.
And whether or not they decide to live for God, crack open a Bible and read it, or show
up to a Bible-believing church, that's on them and that's through their walk of life.
But it's better to be in heaven cleaning the pearly gates than to be in hell for eternity.
Now look at verse 3, it says, for the time will come when they will not endure sound
doctrine, but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching
ears. Every false doctrine, every false religion, every false gospel did not come from a Bible-believing
Christian, it came from false prophets. There are people out there today, and like I said,
as time goes on, there's more cumulative false gospels and false presentation. And if you're
a soul winner and you go out regularly, the time I've had since I've been here in Arizona,
in going soul winning, I hear the same three main false gospels that are damning people
to hell. And of course if you go soul winning, you may testify to it, you may hear other
false gospel presentations, but what I believe to be the least threatening to the most threatening
false gospel presentations, what we're going to preach this morning is what's known as
baptismal regeneration, repentant salvation, and faith plus works to be saved. All three
of these are false gospels, and no one will ever be saved by believing in any of these
things. And the ecumenical movement is ultimately teaching that, you know, you may be a little
bit off on this, or you may be a little bit off on that, but we can all agree that as
long as we believe in Christ we're fine, if they understand that none of these three things
have to do with salvation. Now, it says that they will keep to themselves teachers having
itching ears. They're going to turn their ears away from the true word of God, and as
time goes on, more and more our nation and the world is becoming less Christian, less
godly, by influences of false teachers and doctrines. And that's why we are to call out
the false prophet by name. Now, when we go soul winning, I don't want you to yell at
the person at their house. We're to go, like it says in Jude, and if some have compassion,
making a difference, pulling them out of the fire, hating the garments even spotted by
the flesh. So we need to have compassion on the lost, but if you have a platform, if you're
a preacher, if you're a teacher, an evangelist, a missionary, or whatever, you need to call
out the false doctrine, the false gospels, and the false prophets for who they are so
that the people who are deceived by them will wake up and then eventually believe in the
true word of God. Now, people who go to churches who believe in things such as these false
gospels, I liken them in three camps. There's the false prophet, who 90% of the time is
a wolf in sheep's clothing. He is a reprobate. He is against what the Bible truly teaches.
And I say 90% of the time because, just like Paul, who was deceived by the religious, Jewish
religion, you know, Paul was deceived and he got saved. So we can't assume everyone
who's preaching a false gospel is unsaved. But it's most times, I'd say about 90%
of the time, they're wolves in sheep's clothing. And you'll know them by their fruits.
You want to know if they're a false prophet? See what comes out of their mouth. After you
hear what comes out of their mouth, see what their work's about. Who comes out of their
ministries and stuff like that. But the second person that goes to these types of churches
are someone who is not necessarily a false prophet. They're not teaching anything.
They're just normal church members like us who show up diligently and regularly.
They know why they're different from this denomination and that denomination, that faith
and this faith. But they're not necessarily teaching. They're just faithful members
of their church. And they're more likely to be saved because they're not the high-ups
in their church. They're kind of the middle bracket. And they're, I'd say, about 60
to 70% of the time able to get saved. And the last group of people are just the laymen.
Someone who showed up to feel good that week that they went to church. Children who are
maybe raised in that church who don't know. They're just obeying their parents by going
to the church that teaches that. And they're the most likely to get saved because they're
not indoctrinated with all the false religion or false gospel because they're just people
who don't know any better. So when we go soul winning, that's the one that we're
trying to get saved. You want all of them to be saved. God says that, I'm willing
that none should perish, but that all would come to the repentance of God. So ultimately,
we need to understand that all three of these people deserve or should get saved. But when
you come to the door and you find out that this guy is the, if it's a female who's
saying, I'm the minister of this church, it's like, you know, number one lady should
not be, you know, guiding the house of God. So you can kind of put it to bank that's
probably a wolf in sheep's clothing or people who preach false gospels. But as you go on
through your soul winning and your walk in life, you'll understand who is sincere,
who is just trying to challenge you at the door. We're not to debate people. Turn,
if you would, to 1 Peter 3. And if you tune out for the rest of this sermon, if you're
just thinking about what's for lunch, if you're not really focusing or listening
or thinking that nothing here is important to be said, if there's one thing I want
you guys to take home with you today, it's 1 Peter 3, 15. The Bible reads, But sanctify
the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man that
asketh you of a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. Like I said,
try to memorize this passage. This is what the only thing, we're going to keep referring
back to this verse throughout the sermon to understand that, you know, we are to be ready
always to give an answer to anyone that asketh of the hope that is in us. And I understand
that in our Christian lives, there's a big spectrum. There are babes in Christ and
there are fully grown Christians, but we can always learn in serving the Lord. And
maybe if you're a babe in Christ or you're a new soul winner and you go out door to door
soul winning, I recommend that you get yourself an index card to just log some verses to help
you to be able, when the gainsayers or people who are opposing what the Bible truly teaches,
to at least help you to guide them in the truth. The same gospel plan of salvation we
give everyone. We don't give a different plan to the Jew. We don't give a different
plan to the Muslim. We don't give a different plan to the baptismal regeneration type. We
give the same gospel to everyone. But if when you hit a door, someone says that, you know,
they believe in something different than the Bible, before you have them call upon the
name of the Lord to be saved, maybe help cheer them up to understand that, well, you said
earlier you thought X, Y, and Z. Here's a couple of verses that prove that it's just
through believing, because in going through the plan of salvation, you should have hit
a couple of verses that say believe, trust, have faith, and that way they see the Bible
is drilling that point home, and if they're, you know, not challenging you, then you can
help cheer them up with a verse or two on your index card. Be ready always to give an
answer to anyone that asketh of the hope that is in you. And you'll notice when you go soul
winning, you know, the Bible says after the first and second admonition, move on. We're
not there to challenge you. We're there to show you. We're there to help get you saved.
And when someone is being aggressive with you and just like, well, what about this and
what about that, on this index card have maybe one, maybe two, max, three verses to help
sure them up, because every false gospel, every false doctrine has one, maybe two, maybe
three verses max, while they're propping up that idea. So if you could show them, well,
you know, it actually says here X, Y, and Z, and if they're sincere and they're a little
bit, you know, stumbled at that, show them a second. If they don't hear that but you
can see that they want to understand, maybe show them a third. If they still don't understand
it, you know, like it says in Jude, and of some have compassion, making a difference.
And notice at the end of this verse it says, with meekness and fear. We are to love the
lost. Be meek with the lost when we go door to door. But if you're on a platform, it says
with fear. That's when you call out the false prophets and the false doctrine for what it
is with fear. So they fear the Lord and the man of God to tell them that they are wrong,
hoping that they will turn from their wicked ways or turn from what they believe. And in
turning from what they believe, they can understand the true biblical salvation plan of the death,
burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
So let's go into some of these false doctrines, or the false gospels that I hear, or you may
hear out at soul-winding as well. And number one is called baptismal regeneration. Now,
turn if you would to Mark 16 16. What is baptismal regeneration? Baptismal regeneration is simply
the teaching that someone has to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and get baptized to
be saved. And I don't know about you, but if you go soul-winding regularly, when you
knock on a door and say, what do you believe it takes to be saved? A lot of times you'll
hear people say, we got to be baptized. Now, like I said, go through the plan of salvation
like you would with anyone. And that will help them to understand us through the faith.
But if before they call upon the name of the Lord, help them to understand that the
baptism is important, but it has nothing to do with salvation. So that way they can be
shirred up on it. So no one will ever be saved by what they believe and their baptism. That's
just a clear fact in the Bible. And we'll go over a verse that they like to turn to,
to try to prove their false plan of salvation. But who are the people who are preaching and
teaching this baptismal regeneration? These are your duck dynasty kind of guys. Have you
guys ever heard of duck dynasty? Anyone? Raise your hand if you've heard of duck dynasty.
These are these hillbilly people who are on Hollywood and they have a television show.
They're a bunch of dumb hillbillies who believe and are trying to preach through their platform
that people need to believe and get baptized to be saved. So that's why we have to call
them out and say, no one will be saved. So hopefully the followers are the people who
are listening to these duck dynasties type. If you cut the head off the dragon and you
say, this guy's a false prophet. He's teaching damnable heresy. And in doing so, the people
who follow him may be able to look at the Bible and say, wow, that's right. The Bible
clearly says something different. And when you hit the door of someone who believes in
that, don't yell at them. Just explain to them the plan of salvation. And if they're
not sure, they're either in the first or second category of the members of their church,
they're always going to take you to the same verse. And that's Mark 16, 16, to prop up
their doctrine. Now, I could see at first glance, being a babe in Christ, being a layman
or just someone who's not really knowing what the Bible says, at first glance, when you
look at this, you may think that baptism has something to do with your salvation. It's
not what it's saying, but we really got to give the benefit of the doubt. The natural
man receives not the things of the Spirit, neither can he know them because he is spiritually
discerned. So the natural man may look at this and be like, well, it simply says that
you need to be baptized to be saved. But ultimately, that's not what it's saying. Now, let's
take a look at this verse. Mark 16, 16 says, he that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. Now, let's get some context. Number
one, Mark 16, 16 is what's known as the Great Commission. Now, the Great Commission
was the last commandment Christ gave to his disciples to go into all the world. And now
look at verse 15. It says, and he said unto them, go ye into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature. The first part of the Great Commission is the go into all
the world and preach the gospel. It's paralleled in Matthew, I think it's chapter 28, the
Great Commission, and it says, go ye into all the world and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever Christ has commanded you. So the Great Commission is threefold.
It's preach the gospel so they're saved, get people baptized so that they're in
obedience to Christ, and then teach them to observe all things that the Bible teaches.
And that is what this is saying in context, is this is just telling the disciples to go
preach the gospel, get people saved. Once they're saved, get them baptized. Once they're
baptized, teach them to observe everything that the Bible teaches. Now, let's see what
this verse, if we break it down, how we can show that it actually teaches that it's
through faith alone. Notice verse 16 is one sentence, right? And it's broken in the
middle through what's known as a semicolon. And I was, you know, I'm not a grammar expert
or anything like that, but I was told that semicolons or colons work as commas. It's
not a change of thought. It's not a change of sentence. It's one continual sentence
just broken up in two. And if you look, it says, he that believeth and is baptized shall
be saved. Amen. That is true. If you believe in your baptizer, you will be saved. That's
a true statement. It's in the word of God. But he that believeth not shall be damned.
So the two parts of this sentence have one thing in common. And what is that one thing?
Simply to believe. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that does
not believe will be damned. So that would tell us, it's not saying he that believeth
and is baptized is saved, and he that believeth and is not baptized won't be saved. The two
similar parts of this one sentence is, what do you believe? What do you trust? What is
your faith on? And if I was told as I was growing in my, you know, walk of faith, that
if you took that word baptism and you replace it with anything else, it would still be a
true statement. He that believeth and walked down the road shall be saved, but he that
does not believe is damned. He that believeth and does 10 jumping jacks shall be saved,
but he that does not believe is damned. So the prerequisite is, what do you believe?
What do you, anything else? So with that being said, the believing is where salvation
lies. And with that being said, if the person you tell this to is rough and gruff about
that, give them one second admonition. So you don't have to turn there, but one that
I like to go to for helping people to understand who believe in baptismal regeneration is what's
known as the thief on the cross. And the Bible teaches that at the time of the crucifixion
there were two thieves on the cross next to Jesus who were also getting crucified.
And no one in any denomination or any Christian faith is not saying that the thief on the
cross was not saved. One wasn't, and one was. We know that the thief on the cross was
saved because the Bible says, you know, the thief said, we are here justly so, referring
to the other thief. He's saying, I'm a sinner. I deserve to be here. I'm here justly, right?
And then he looks at Jesus and he says, Lord, so he believes that Jesus is the Lord. He
says, Lord, remember is me when thou enter'st into thy kingdom. What does that say? That's
pretty much saying, can you take me to heaven when we die? Jesus looks at him and says,
today thou shalt be with me in paradise. He's not with the son in paradise. He's not with
the son of God in heaven. The son of God still needs to pay for the punishment that that
thief and I and all of us deserve. As a matter of fact, he says, when thou shalt be with
me in heaven, he's referring to the father. The thief went to heaven where the father
was. The Bible says there are three that bear record in heaven, the father, the word, and
the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. Jesus still had to go pay for the sin that that
guy deserved. And when he said, remember is thou me when thou enter'st into thy kingdom,
Jesus looked at him and said, today thou shalt be with me, God, in paradise. So no one's
debating whether or not the thief on the cross was saved or not. But baptismal regeneration
type will refer back to their March 1616 verse and say, well, we don't know that the
thief on the cross wasn't baptized. As a matter of fact, the mere fact that he's calling Jesus
Lord means he must knew or known of John the Baptist. He probably got baptized earlier
in his life, then was put to the cross, died, and believed on Christ. See, he believed and
was baptized. But here's the thing. We know that the Bible teaches in Acts 8, 36 through
37, you don't need to turn there, that first you need to believe and then get baptized.
It's not the other way around. And the Bible says in Acts 8, 36 through 37, context, there
is a man named, oh my goodness, Philip, who is the missionary. And then there's an Ethiopian
eunuch, the unsaved person. The unsaved person looks to Philip and says, here's some water.
What does hinder me to be saved or baptized? What is stopping me from getting baptized?
You know, the evangelist looked at him and said, if thou believeth with all thine heart,
thou mayest. Then the Ethiopian eunuch said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of
God. Then they took him down and baptized him. So we know you have to first put your
faith in Christ and then get baptized. Back to the Great Commission, teach all nations,
baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and then teach them to observe
all things whatsoever Christ commanded.
So even if you go with their argument, OK, let's say the guy was baptized before he
got to the cross, well, it's nothing more than a shower, because he was not scripturally
baptized. And it's not like they took him down from the cross, dunked him under water
and put him back up. So we know that what he believed ultimately got him saved, not
getting baptized before and believing.
So if they hear this and they start understanding, like, OK, I see what you're saying, it wasn't
the prerequisite to get baptized and get saved, but to believe. And the thief on the cross
was baptized at the point of death. But if they're softened to this, maybe show them
a third admonition, because we need to have compassion. Something's clicking. Faith cometh
by hearing, hearing by the word of God. If they're so gruff to it, like, oh, you don't
know what you're talking about, kick the dust off your feet and move on, because it's not
worth debating with someone over this issue.
But something that I like to go to when it comes to baptismal regeneration, if they don't
understand Mark 16, 16, if they don't understand the thief on the cross, is I'll question them.
I say, you know, we know that in the Bible, all the Old Testament saints and prophets
were never baptized. Were they saved? Did they go to heaven when they died? And that
should most times click in their head, like, well, that's true. Baptism only came in the
New Testament. Therefore, we know King David was saved. He was a man after God's own heart.
So most times that helps them to understand that it's the faith that gets them saved,
not the baptism. So if they understand that, help them call upon the name of the Lord to
get saved. If not, then, you know, you need to move on. It's not worth debating over someone
with. So that's the first false gospel that we need, that I notice, I don't hit it a lot,
but I do, I'm sure if some of you go soul winning regularly, you may testify that you
hear a lot of people say you need to be baptized to be saved. So, you know, be ready always
to give an answer to anyone that asketh of the hope that is in you. Be ready. If you're
new to soul winning, just have that index card kind of ready for you to help guide you
through the Bible. So the second, what I believe to be the more threatening fake or false gospel
presentation is what's known as repentance salvation. You know, what is repentance salvation?
Repentance salvation is the thought or belief that someone needs to turn from their wicked
lifestyle or repent of their sins and then put their faith in Christ in the death, burial,
and resurrection to be saved. And this is a very wicked, damnable heresy. More often
or not, when you go soul winning, you ask someone, what do you believe it takes to be
saved? They say, you need to repent of your sins. And of course, with meekness and love,
show them the Bible. Okay, let's go through the plan of salvation. And who are the false
prophets who are preaching this damnable heresy? These are your ray comfort types. Ray comfort
and his annoying repent of your sins. I don't know if you guys have ever heard of Ray Comfort,
but he's this evangelical missionary who goes around teaching people that they need to turn
from their wicked ways and then believe in Christ to be saved. No one will ever go to
heaven by turning from their wicked ways to go to heaven. I personally have a lot of,
a little bit more, this is more near and dear to my heart because I was duped into thinking
that turning from my wicked ways got me saved. Seven years ago this December, I will be free,
I'll be sober and clean for seven years. I used to live a dumb lifestyle, I was a derelict. I turned
from that wicked lifestyle and believed in Jesus, thinking that that got me saved. Now,
I was not truly saved. As a matter of fact, I only got saved just about three years ago. So,
the mere fact that I was duped by this, I have loved ones who are duped by this, I'm sure some
of you could testify that you have loved ones who think they need to turn from their wicked
ways to be saved. You know, this is a very wicked, damnable gospel that we need to call
out for what it ultimately is. And turn, if you would, to Jonah 3. Jonah 3, okay,
now, be ready always to give an answer to anyone that asks you to the hope that is in you with
meekness and fear. So, we need to be meek about this when we talk to people about this. So,
Jonah 3, 9, and 10 is probably the thickest nail in the coffin of disproving that you need to turn
from your wicked ways to be saved. What does the word repent mean? The biblical word for repent,
because we don't use that in our everyday talk, but the word repent simply means to turn,
change of action, or change of thought. If I were to tell you that I'm going to go to the store and
buy milk, but I repent and I'm just going to go home, I was on my way to go get milk. I decided
not to, right? I changed my thought. I changed what I was going to do. If I were to go to the
gym and say, I'm going to go to the gym, but you know what? I repent. I think I should just go read
my Bible. You know, I was going to go to the gym and work out, but then I realized maybe I should
just go read my Bible. That's more important. I repented of what I was going to do to reading
my Bible. So, that's simply what the Bible means when it says repent. Repent means to turn, change
of action, change of thought. And Jonah 3, 9 and 10, not only defined what the word repent mean,
but it also teaches that turning from your wicked way or your sin is considered works in the Bible.
And if you ask these false prophets and these people who teach this damnable heresy, you ask
them, what sins do I need to turn from? They'll tell you the same great sins of don't drink,
and then believe in Christ. Or they'll say, don't be a fornicator and then believe in Jesus Christ.
Or stop using drugs and believe and you'll be saved. But the thing is, everyone has different
answers to what do they need to turn from. They say turn from sin. Well, that's a very vague
thing. We all sin. There's not a just man that do with good and sin if not. If we say we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. So, there's no person in the world
who is without sin. And it's funny when you ask the person who believes that they need to turn
from alcoholism, turn from a bad lifestyle, they're usually big obese McDonald eating
gluttons. And it's like, well, what about gluttony? Do you have to turn from gluttony to be
saved? Oh, no, that's a different sin. You don't need to turn from that one. So, it's like, what's
the standard? How much sin? What sins do I turn from? How do I know I've turned from at all? So,
that's just kind of something to think in the back of your head how, what's the level? How much sin?
But where you are in Jonah 3, 9 and 10, we learn, I think it's something like 55 times in the Old
Testament, it's actually God who's doing repenting. God is without sin. And if you're saying God is
returning from his sin, that's wicked and blasphemous. God is the one who's doing most
of the repenting in the Bible. And it tells us that right here, Jonah 3, 9, it says, who can
tell if God will turn and repent? There's the definition of repent, and turn away his fierce
anger that we perish not. And God saw their works, that they turn from their evil way. God repented
of the evil that he said that he would do unto them, and did it not. When I first came to this
verse, I was super stoked because I was duped by that thinking false gospel of turning from your
wicked ways to be saved. And I really wanted to know, like, what's the one closure on disproving
that false doctrine? Now, when you go to study your Bible, don't study false religion, don't
study false doctrine, study the Bible. When false doctrine or false gospels come to you, you'll know
where to go because you're ready to give an answer to anyone that asketh of the hope that is in you.
And notice what it says right here in verse 9, you know, he saw their works, or he says verse
9, who can tell if God will turn? So we know God is the one who's turning, but if you look at verse
10, it said, and God saw their works that they turn from their evil way. The people who believe
in that turning from your wicked way is not a work, the Bible says turning from their wicked
way is a work. It's an action. It's a deed. It's not that you can just automatically do it. So,
people who think that, you know, aren't not, they're not obviously reading their Bible.
And with that being said, we know the Bible teaches in, for instance, Ephesians 2, 8, 9,
it says, for by grace are you saved through faith and not of yourself. It is the gift of God and not
of works, lest any man should both. To him that worketh not, but believeth his faith is counted
for righteousness. If we say that we have no sin, the truth is not in us. So the Bible is clearly
emphasizing that if you turn from your wicked way, and I can attest to this, that when I changed my
lifestyle, it wasn't like I could just do it out of nowhere and it was easy. It took effort. It
took work. It took my actions to help me with that. So the Bible is clearly emphasizing that
turning from your wicked way, God sees as work. Turn, if you would, to Mark 2. So that's the first
admonition you may give someone. And like I said, maybe don't yell that in their ear, just through
meekness and love. Show them, well, the Bible is teaching that, you know, turning from your wicked
way is considered work in the eyes of God. But while you're turning to Mark 2, I'll read you
a passage of Mark 1, verse 15. Mark 1, 15 says, in saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God
is at hand, repent ye and believe the gospel. Now, like I said, of these people who go to these churches,
there's the laymen, the regulars, and the false prophets. If you're at the door of someone,
you know, they're duped to hearing repent and salvation because that word repent's brought up
a lot in the Bible. So when someone says you need to turn from your sin and repent of your sin,
they're like, well, yeah, I mean, the Bible says a lot about repenting, so that must be right.
But what they're not understanding is repent. Nowhere in the King James Bible we find the term
repent of your sin. You may find that in the false doctrine or the false Bibles out there,
things such as the King James, the NIV, the ESV. You may find it in those Bibles, but it's not in
the true, inspired, inerrant, preserved Word of God that has always been around. In the beginning
was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh. So we know
that the Bible never uses that term repent of your sin. Whether or not they're reading on their false
Bible is one thing, but if a layman, you know, hears that term repent a lot, they may think that
equivalates to of your sin. The Bible tells us that right here,
well, I'll explain it to you really quick, it says, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of
God is at hand. Repent ye and believe the gospel. That would mean they did not believe the gospel.
They need to turn from what they're believing to believing the gospel. So that's what the Bible
is clearly emphasizing. Where you are in Mark 2, there's another passage that talks about,
well, let's just take a look at it. Mark 2 verse 17 says,
When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of a physician,
for they that are sick I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
So that's something they may try to point you at, to say like, see, repent sinners, repent of your
sin, you know, maybe that's what it means. But no, what it's saying is that when Christ came to this
world, the whores, the publicans, the tax collectors, the evil people of this world
that the people thought were bad, you know, Jesus is going to them. He says, I've come not to the
righteous, but sinners to repentance, because sinners, people who are bad in the eyes of the
world know they need a Savior. They know they can never be good enough or even stop their evil way
to go to heaven. So they are the ones who are flocking to Christ to get saved. And that's what
the Bible is teaching us, is that he came not to the righteous, but sinners to repentance,
so that they would turn from what they're trusting into believing on Jesus Christ as their Lord and
Savior. And that is what I believe to be the second more threatening false gospel out there.
So if ever you hear that, you know, give them one admonition, give them two admonition,
if they're hardened to you, move on. Give them a third admonition, if they want to hear that,
help them call upon the name of the Lord. But if not, just, you know, kick the dust off your feet
and move on. Now, the last and what I believe to be the most threatening false gospel out there is
what's known as faith plus works to be saved. I don't know about you, but I can probably attest
to every single time I go out soul-winding, every time, and I ask someone, what do you believe it
takes to be saved? They will all, someone will say, you have to be a good person. You need to be
good to go to heaven. And really, they only have one, they have one or two verses that they go to,
but they'll always take you to James 2, turn if you would to James 2. Now, we know that the Bible
is teaching in James 2 that it's not that you have to work to go to heaven. But, you know, I ask,
I tell a lot of people sometimes when I'm out soul-winding, you know, I should go to church.
I should read my Bible. I should not lie. And I should not steal. I should pick up my cross daily
and follow after Jesus. But the questions asked one time in the whole Bible, in Acts 16 30,
and the question was, what must I do or what do I have to do to be saved? And the answer simply was,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and now shalt be saved. Not you might, not it is possible,
you will be saved if you believe in Jesus. That's what the Bible clearly emphasizes. Now, who,
what is faith plus works? It's all in the name. Faith plus works to be saved. You have to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, and be a good person to go to
heaven. So when you hit the door of someone who says, you need to be good with meekness and fear,
or with meekness, give them the plan of salvation like you would to anyone. But before you have
them call upon the name of the Lord, have them, help them to understand that works has nothing
to do with salvation. Now, the reason why I put repentant salvation right before faith plus works
salvation is they're kind of closely related. They're cousins. Repenting of your sin or turning
from your evil way means you will believe and then live a good lifestyle. But they're different
because some people who believe in repentant salvation say that once you believe, it's maybe
not necessarily you will always do good, but you had to turn first. The other crowd says, well,
you don't need to turn from your wicked ways, but once you believe a sign of your salvation is you
will do good works. Now both are wrong. And the false prophets who teach this damnable
wicked heresy are people such as Todd Frail and or a man named Jeff Durbin. I don't know if anyone
of you have heard of these people, but I definitely really hate Jeff Durbin. And I do say hate because
I hate every false way. The Bible says, do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee and do not I
that rise up against thee. I hate them with the perfect hatred. I count them mine enemies. We're
in a spiritual war. You guys got to understand that. And the world is under darkness and the
false prophets of this world are blinding the eyes of people so that they think they need to believe
and get saved. And Jeff Durbin is one of those main apologetics of this faith. And it, you know,
once again, there's a little bit more near and dear to me because I moved here from Arizona,
from Kauai and the Hawaiian islands. And this man has just started a ministry in the island
of Kauai where I'm from to then spread this false, wicked gospel to people so they could
be damned to hell. So I definitely, and if I don't suggest it, but if you've ever heard
Jeff Durbin talk, it's foolishness, you know, these left, I mean, these, these false prophets,
these, these teachers of this false doctrine create what's known as a left right paradigm
and left right paradigm means it's one way or the other. So this falls down into the category
of what's known as Calvinism and Arminianism. What's Calvinism? And that's the Jeff Durbin.
Jeff Durbin's a Calvinist. Calvinism ultimately teaches that God, when he created the world,
pre-chose who will be saved and that he will damn everyone else. And human, us, we never had the
chance to have free will to put our faith in Christ, but rather God forced some people to
believe and forced everyone else not to believe. False, wicked doctrine. That's Calvinism.
The second one is what's known as Arminianism and Arminians believe that, yeah, God gave man
free will to choose whatever he wanted to put his faith in, but if you live a bad lifestyle,
God will take your salvation from you. And we know that's a false, wicked doctrine as well.
And this is the left right paradigm of faith plus works to be saved. And, you know, with that being
said, we should do good works. We should go to church. But remember with that question, well,
what must I do? What do I have to do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. I'm not going to go into the eternal security of the believer.
We know that the Bible says, you know, for instance, in 1 John 5, 13, it says,
these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know
that you have eternal life. Know that you have right now, present tense, eternal life. To him
that worketh not, but believeth his faith is counted for righteousness. Jesus says,
verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. You have right now
life that will last forever if you've believed on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus
Christ alone as your way into heaven. He will give you eternal life. He says, I will never leave them
nor forsake them. Jesus says, my Father, which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is
able to pluck you out of my Father's hands. So we know that once you've believed, you're sealed
into the day of redemption. And what you do after that is up to you. But like I said, I'm not going
to go into the eternal security of the believer. Hopefully we all understand that here and today.
And when we go through our plan of salvation, when we're going door to door, we need to emphasize
the eternal security of the believer. But where you are in James 2, take a look down at your Bible.
Now James 2 is their number one go-to for proving or propping up their false doctrine of faith plus
works. Can you grab me my water please? Faith plus works. And in James 2 verse 14, thank you,
the Bible reads,
What does it profit my brethren though a man say he has faith and have not works? Can faith save him?
We'll stop there for a second. Two things we're going to understand. Number one,
the book of James was written to believers. And you'll notice a lot leading up to this point,
he keeps saying, my brethren X, Y, and Z, right? Well, how do you become a brother and sister in
Christ? Jesus says you need to be born again. In John 3, 3, when he's talking to Nicodemus,
you know, Nicodemus says, how shall I be born again? He says, of the Spirit. And leading up
from John 3, 3 is John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. So the brethren,
the sisters of God, are those who have been born again through believing in Christ. That's what
the Bible teaches. So we realize that he's talking to people who have already believed.
What does it profit my brethren though a man say he has faith and have not works? Can faith save
him? One thing is if someone tells you they have faith, it's not necessarily that they believe
that. If someone says they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, does that mean they're saved? No,
the Bible says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth and believe in thine heart.
The prerequisite to salvation is what do you believe? If you say you have faith,
it's not necessarily that you believe or you're saved. As a matter of fact, a lot of people think
or they're lying like the wolves in sheep's clothing that they just say they have faith,
right? But we'll know them through their fruits. Back to what I was saying earlier.
But on top of that, the answer to this question is also if and have not works, can faith save him?
Yes, faith can save him. Some people are like, well, that's not true because let's keep reading.
Context, right? And it says in verse 15, if a brother or sister be naked and destitute of
daily food and one of you say unto them depart, go in peace and be warm and filled. Notwithstanding,
you give them not those things which are needful to the body. What does it profit? Notice that's
the second time it said, what does it profit? It says in verse 17, even so faith, if it had not
works is dead being alone. Yea man may say, I have faith and I have works. Show me thy faith
without thy works and I will show thee my faith by my works. Thou believeth there is one God,
thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble. See, the devils believe and they're
not going to heaven. Number one, devils and angels don't go to heaven or hell. They can't be saved.
They're already in the presence of the lamb. Now, some angels have chose to follow Satan.
They're damned, but angels can't be saved because they're already in heaven with Jesus and the
father. So no, that's not saying that if you believe that's not enough. Number one, verse 20,
but wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified
by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his
works and by works with faith made perfect? When the Bible uses the word perfect, perfect does not
mean sinless or without fault. Perfect means completed or whole. And notice, it keeps leading
you with questions. Never base anything you believe off of a question, but rather a statement.
The statements in the Bible are what we base and put our hats on for doctrine. Questions will prop
up those statements, but the statements are what we put our faith in. Verse 23, the Bible says,
And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him
for righteousness. And he was called the friend of God. So Abraham believed God, and that was imputed
unto him for righteousness. If you keep looking, it says, Ye see then how that by works the man is
justified, and not by faith only. If you guys mark your Bible or you like take notes and stuff,
underline how, really thick and hard, because how ultimately means in what way. You see then
in what way that by works a man is justified and not by faith only. Therefore, we know that
when it says how you are saved, if you're not saved or you're not justified in the sense of
to God, because we know that you don't need to turn there, but in Romans 4 it says, you know,
let me not misquote it because I will misquote it. Romans 4, the Bible reads,
What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God.
So how was he justified if it's not before God? Before mankind and those around him. If I said I
had faith and do not the deeds to prove that I'm saved and or if I don't show that I love God
through my actions and things like that, someone may look at me and be like, I don't think you're
saved because though you say you have faith, like it said earlier, you're not doing anything.
What does it profit? If someone comes to you and says, I'm hungry. Oh, be one or be fed. Good luck
with that. What does that profit that person? He just said he was hungry, but you didn't give him
food. You know, what does it profit to mankind? If you're saved and you're on your way to heaven,
but you do nothing to share what you have to everyone else so they can be saved. That's what
the Bible means with faith without works being dead. Let's keep reading a little bit more.
It says, likewise also when was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had received
the messenger and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead,
so faith without works is dead also. These Calvinists, these Armenian types, people who
look at this passage and strain out a gnat to swallow a camel, though we've already seen
salvation by grace and hundreds of other verses, literally, you could probably point out hundreds
of verses that say, believe, faith, trust, those kinds of words. When they see this, they say,
see, faith without works is dead. Therefore you cannot just believe. But here's the thing,
does dead mean not exist? Faith without works does not exist. No. Notice it says right before that,
for as the body without the spirit is dead, when my spirit leaves my body
and someone looks at my body, they're going to be saying, David is dead. My flesh is on the earth.
Therefore, sometimes I'll point out the dead dog analogy. Maybe you don't want to use this,
but I notice it helps me sometimes. Because if there's a dog on the ground and it's dead and
I ask someone, what is that? They'd say, it's a dead dog. Right. It's a dog, right? Yeah. So
you can't love it. You can't pet it. I mean, you could, but that'd be gross. You can't love it.
It won't bark for you. It won't guard your house. It won't do anything. It's not profiting anyone
around it. It's dead. It does nothing. So faith without works is dead. If you believe and do
nothing, you're ashamed of the cause of Christ. Someone could look at you and be like,
well, I don't know if you truly are saved. Is that true? Can faith save him? Yes. Faith can
save you if you believe with your whole heart. So if you get to the door of someone who believes
that they need to be a good person, they're going to take you here. Explain to them. Be meek. Don't
go to town on them. Just slowly explain this to them. But number two, if there's not any
other real verses they'll take you or you need to really go to with this, but like that card
that I told you to be ready to give an answer to anyone that asketh of the hope that is in you,
on that card, you'll have James 2 down. Also have maybe, you know, another statement to help if
there's a first or second admonition. And one thing that I like to do is I point out prophets
in the Old Testament. No one in the Bible, as a matter of fact, if you look in the Bible,
there's a lot of bad people that were saved, and we all know they were saved. And I like to
sometimes question people like, if they look at you, and remember, they're just being faithful
to their false prophet. Who am I to come at their door and educate them in what the Bible said when
they've been raised in a church for 10, 20 years and been taught that faith plus works is how you
get saved? And I'm telling them that it's belief only, right? And I can see why they're a little
standoffish with you, like, well, I don't think you know what you're talking about. My pastor seems
like a scholar. He seems pretty well educated. He knows Greek and Hebrew, blah, blah, blah.
So when they come to that understanding and they're a little scared to put their faith in
that, help them to understand the Old Testament saints or even, like, I point out King Saul.
King Saul was saved. King Saul put his faith in the Lord. He got a new heart, the Bible says,
and he became a new man. So we all know that King Saul was saved. Some people don't believe him to
be saved, but the Bible clearly teaches that. So let's say they're like, no, King Saul wasn't saved.
Go to Samson. We know Samson was saved. He's in what's known as the great hall of faith in
Hebrews 11. It mentions Samson, you know, and they're like, well, Samson was a whoremonger,
and he did horrible things. You know, he can't be saved because he was a bad person. Okay, let's
give him that. But then I point out King David. No one is questioning whether or not King David
was saved. He was a man after God's own heart, and he did those things which pleased God. But you
know what David did? He committed adultery with Bathsheba, which was a man's wife, and he put that
man to death. He murdered him. So a Calvinist would look at King David at the time and say,
you're not saved. You just committed adultery, and you just killed the husband of that lady.
You are not doing the works. You're not saved. What does the Bible say? That King David is in
heaven because of David's faithfulness to God. Because of that, God allowed Jesus Christ to come
from David's loins, so to say, through the line of the tribe of Judah. So we know that in explaining
this to them, sometimes they should be able to understand. They'll slow themselves down and
think, okay, yeah, it's not by doing good things, but rather by David believed. And I think it even
says that in Romans 4, back to, I don't want to misquote it, but if you want to turn there,
Romans 4 verse 6, it says, even as David also described the blessedness of the man unto whom
God impudeth righteousness without works, without the works. So we know that these people were saved
and they bristled to you to that. Kick the dust off and move on. Understand that not everyone will
be saved. We have compassion on the lost, but their blood is off our hands. They know the
true biblical salvation through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And in closing thoughts, I just want to leave you on one thing. Every man, woman, boy, and girl
should be going out and soul winning. Everyone should be not ashamed of the cause of Christ.
Back to the should. You should do these things. You should love the lost and help get them saved,
because if you don't, your faith without your works is dead. It's not profiting to anyone around
you, but you're still saved. The Bible says that if you store it for yourselves treasures on earth
where moth and wrath doth corrupt and thief can break through and steal, but rather store it for
yourselves treasures in heaven where moth nor wrath doth corrupt nor thief can break through
nor steal, but where your treasures are, there will your heart be also. So we need to, as anyone,
a man, woman, boy, or girl should go out and preach the gospel. You don't need to turn there.
Actually, if you would, turn back to 1 Peter 3.15. The Bible reads in 1 Timothy 6.12.
It says, fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life whereunto thou art also called
and has professed a good profession before many witnesses. We're in a fight, you guys.
A spiritual war is going on. Whether you know it or not, whether you think it's going on or not,
we are the children of God, and we're going out to preach the gospel to the lost, the death,
burial, and resurrection for salvation. We need to fight that good fight and go on continuously
day by day, pick up our cross, deny ourselves, and do the works of Christ to better please Him
so that we can, one day when we're in heaven, Jesus will look at us and say,
thou good and faithful servant, thou good and faithful servant, come into the glory of the Lord.
But also, if let's say you're at the door, you're a babe in Christ, or you get stumped,
I've been stumped. I've hit the door of someone and was not knowing my Bible well enough. I didn't
bring that index card with me. I was not ready to give an answer for the hope that was in me
to anyone that asked me. It's going to happen some from time to time. You may get stumped.
And it's a shame that if someone comes with you with a false doctrine or the false gospel,
and you're not knowing how to defend the faith, that it's embarrassing. But here's what the
Bible says in Matthew 5 10. You don't need to go there. It says, blessed are they which are
persecuted for righteousness sake. You're blessed. If someone calls you out or casts you out for evil
you're an idiot. You can't just believe and be saved. You're just an easy believeism type. You're
just someone who thinks that it's as simple as putting your faith in God. You know, the Bible
says that they were called Christians by others in Antioch. It has a derogatory term. The word
Christian simply means, you know, little Christ. Or in a nutshell, it's kind of like saying,
you're a goody-two-shoe. You know, like, oh, you think you're good. You're a follower of Jesus
Christ. And people are going to persecute you if you're in the war. Yea, all that live godly in
Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. It's not that you might. It's not that it's possible.
If you live godly in Christ Jesus, you'll be persecuted. And if you're not ready to give
an answer to anyone that asketh of the hope that is in you, you may be stumped. It may happen. But
it says in verse 11 of Matthew 5, it says, blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you
and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my name's sake. Notice it says,
falsely for my name's sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven,
for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. I don't encourage you to go out to war
with a sharp sword. You know, we should be shirred up, read our Bible, and be able to know the
scripture, right? But we're all in different walks in our Christian life. You know, we're not all
gonna just be a Pastor Anderson and memorize hundreds of verses of the Bible and hundreds
of chapters of the Bible. You know, you'd think he got like that overnight. You know,
he studied to show himself approved, a workman that needed not that any man should teach him.
We're the same way. We need to, you know, just study our Bible and not study false gospels,
but study the true gospel so that when we're confronted, we can educate, you know, show people
what the gospel says. And if they persecute us, you know, kick the dust off your feet. Move on.
It's not worth getting in debate for. But I'm gonna leave you on 1 Peter 3, verse 15, where we
started. And like I was saying, if there's one thing you guys can take home with you today,
if you can memorize 1 Peter 3, 5, it's be ready always to give an answer to anyone that asketh
of the reason of the hope that is in you. Be ready. Fight the good fight. Defend the gospel
of Jesus Christ. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you
so much for allowing me to preach. We ask that you be with us all today to be safe. And if we go
soul-winding, to open the hearts of the lost, to hear your word, and help us to be ready to give
an answer to them for the hope that is in us so that they can put their faith alone in your death,
brown, resurrection. In Jesus Christ's name, I pray. Amen.