Matt's going to give us the last session on the two world view, two world religions.
There's only two ways to look at this world. There is a God or there isn't.
Nobody's thought of a third option. If you think of one, let me know.
So Matt, come take it away. Thank you for having us, for coming to join us here.
All right, so let's go ahead and start with a word of prayer.
I think that this is probably a more important message than any message I've really taught as
far as creation goes because I love creation and evolution and I think that they're an important
thing to talk about, but my favorite thing to talk about is the gospel of Christ and what the
gospel is. And so let's go ahead and have a word of prayer and we'll get started. Lord, thank you
so much for this opportunity to be at boot camp and to hang out with all of these folks and I
thank you for each and every one of them. I pray you'd bless them. And Lord, I just pray you bless
this message and that you'd hide me behind the cross and make it so this is brought forth in
simplicity and in honor to those who are hearing it and to you. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
So the title of my message is the two world religions. Now, when atheists come to faith in
God, one of the things that I've noticed is they'll say, well, which God is it? You've got
the Hindu God, you've got the Mormon God, you've got the Jehovah's Witness God, you've got the
Christian God, you've got the Baptist God, and you've got all these different gods according
to them. And they'll say, you know, religion is harmful to society because religion in the Holy
Wars has caused so much death in this world. I think that's a hypocritical statement for them
to make because over 110 million people died under atheistic communism. 110 million. More than the
Holy Wars, 10 times more at least, than religion ever thought of doing any killing, okay? So when
they say that, you know, religion is dangerous, I would say that having no faith is dangerous and
that's why they lead the world in suicide, alcohol, drug abuse, and school shootings.
And so, you know, I just let the statistics speak for themselves. And so this message, we're just
going to talk about which God it is and the simplicity that there is in Christ. So the Bible
says in 2 Corinthians 11 3, it says, but I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve
through his subtlety, so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
So the Bible clearly says that there's simplicity in Jesus and there's simplicity in salvation. And
anybody that would complicate the matter, the Bible says, is preaching something that's not simple.
You know, a good preacher can make something simple and easy. He can take a complicated matter
and simplify it rather than complicating a simplified matter. And the Bible clearly says
that salvation is easy, it's simple. The Bible even just says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shall be saved. People ask me all the time, are you one of these easy believists?
Absolutely. Jesus said, I'm the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger.
Is it hard to take a piece of bread and eat it? Jesus actually compared salvation to taking a
piece of bread and eating it. He also said, he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
Never thirst. Is it hard to drink a glass of water? You know, salvation is easy as walking through
a door, opening a door and walking through it. Salvation is as easy as calling upon the name of
the Lord. That's what the Bible teaches. So we want to keep in mind through this whole
little message here that the most important thing that Paul was concerned about was people corrupting
the simplicity that we have in Christ. And so let's go back to the beginning because all religions
really trace back to Genesis. And a lot of religions, a lot of false religions believe in
Genesis, but Genesis and the stories go right over their head. When Adam and Eve took of the
fruit, the Bible says in the eyes of them were both opened and they knew that they were naked.
And so what did they do in response? They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.
So the first act of trying to justify yourself and cover your own nakedness and your own sin
after taking of that fruit was to try to cover themselves up. But what did the Lord do in
response to this? The Bible says in Genesis 3 21, unto Adam and also unto his wife did the Lord God
make coats of skin. So God literally slew an animal and made the coats of skin to put on
them. Do you know what that means? That right at the beginning we have death as an atonement for
sin. Now if every religion claims to believe in Genesis or every main religion, Christianity,
Judaism and Islam, I would think that it would be no problem for them to realize, hey there has to
be a substitute for your sin. But instead they're still sewing their fig leaves together and trying
to tell you how good they are and how they deserve to go to heaven and all that jazz. But their works.
And you know what? You move on through the Bible and every single story, every single instance in
the Bible teaches salvation by faith alone. Every single time. Every parable. Cain and Abel for
example. Abel brought a substitute lamb as an offering. You guys all know the story right?
Abel brought this substitute and Cain brought of the fruit of his own works.
The fruit of the ground. Was God, let me ask you something, was God pleased with that?
The Bible says without faith it is impossible to please him. The Bible says as it is written there
is none righteous, no not one. I'm not righteous, you're not righteous. And if it were our good
works that saved us, none of us would be saved. Because the Bible says the thought of foolishness
is sin. How many of you guys think of foolish thought every day? I know I do sometimes. My wife
can testify to that. And so everybody thinks foolish thoughts. Everybody sins. And you know
what? He that saith he's without sin is a liar and the truth is not in him. Amen. And so you know God
is very displeased. And this is a point I want to make clear. God, the point is that God is displeased
when we try to use our works to justify ourselves. Now you say this is really simple. This is really
easy. Why are you making it so simple? Because Paul said to make it simple. Paul literally said
make it simple. Put the cookies on the bottom shelf. There's simplicity in Christ.
Look at the Tower of Babel. And they said go to, let us build us a city and a tower whose
top may reach unto where? Heaven. So what were these people trying to do? Trying to work their
way up to God. Instead of letting God extend his hand of mercy, they thought well let's just build
us a tower that we may reach unto heaven religion. Was God pleased with that? Look at verse 5. It
says, and the Lord came down to see the city which and the tower which the children of men
builded. So the Lord actually came down to look at what was going on at this tower. And was the
Lord pleased? Well we see it says, so the Lord scattered them abroad from vents upon the face
of the earth and they left off to build the city. So they quit building the city. They couldn't
build it. The Lord was displeased and the Lord scattered them for trying to work their way to
heaven. You know and so that is the definition of about every religion out there. So whenever
I witness to a Jew or a Muslim, I always take them to these stories. Because these are stories that
they claim to believe. And I ask them, how do you deal with this? If you're trusting your works to
save you, then how do you deal with these stories that you claim to believe? They don't have an
answer. Abraham and Isaac, remember that God himself said, God himself, the Bible says God
will provide himself a lamb. And then what happened? A ram was in the thicket. So there was
a substitute. So consistently through the Bible we see in every single instance that salvation is
just simplified. Maybe I should just retitle this salvation simplified, you know. So the serpent in
the wilderness, Numbers 21. Now this one's very important, so pay attention. The Bible says the
Lord sent fiery serpents among the people. Because remember the children of Israel, they messed up.
The Lord was furious with them. And so what happened was, he sent serpents in among the
people to physically kill them. So let me tell you something folks, if you're living in sin,
God will send that fiery serpent into your life. If you continue to reject the chastening of the Lord
as a child of God, he will take you. And he will take you home. The Bible says, and they bit the
people and much of the people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses and said,
we have sinned. And here's where they repent, is when they get chastised. For we have spoken
against the Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord. You know, have you ever had somebody ask
the Lord to pray for you, or have you ever had somebody ask you to pray for them? That is a
biblical concept. You know, they went to Moses, they said, would you please go to the Lord for us
that he take away the serpents from us? They're like, get these things out of here.
And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, make thee a fiery serpent,
set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass that everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it,
shall live. Notice that word, looketh. You guys ever heard that song, look and live,
my brother live? Everyone that looketh upon it shall live. So that's pretty amazing, right?
People call me an easy believism. Is this easy lookism? You know, think about that. So,
shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass that
if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. So when you behold
Jesus, or at that time if you would have beheld the serpent, you would have been healed,
right? That's a miracle. And the Bible says in John 3 14, this is Jesus speaking,
Jesus said, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted
up. So Jesus is quoting this story and he's saying, look, in the same way that you looked
to that serpent back a few thousand years ago, I want you to look to me the same way. The Bible says
that, and he said that I'll be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish,
but have eternal life. And I wrote here, salvation is as simple as looking. Look and live.
The Bible says, look unto me, this is God speaking, look unto me and be saved all ye
ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else. People say all the time, how can you say
you just look to God and live? Isn't that exactly what the Bible says? You say you're making it too
simple, but I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled you through subtlety, so your
mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that's in Christ. There's simplicity in Christ,
folks. Salvation is not rocket science. So, you know, the Bible also says that when you receive
Jesus, when you look to the cross, the Bible says, but as many as received him, notice that word
received. Jesus is a gift. The Bible says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten son. If he gives his only begotten son, you know what that tells me? That you receive
Christ, okay? But as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name, which were born. Past tense. So when you trust Jesus
as your savior, the Bible says you are born into God's family. Past tense. It's done. Jesus said
it's finished. And it says, which were born, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will
of man, but of God. So when you get saved, you're trusting Christ and he brings you into his family.
It's just like my son. My son was born just over three months ago. And nothing, and he's made me
upset a few times because he keeps us up at night a lot. And, you know, and I have to work in the
morning usually, but I've noticed that no matter how crazy he can be sometimes, you know, and not
that he's a bad kid, he doesn't know any better. So we can't spank him. So we just got to love on
him. And sometimes that's how God is with us. He just, he loves us to repentance. So I'm having
compassion making a difference, the Bible says. But anyways, so my son will always be my son,
right? Would there ever be a point in my life where I disown him and say, you're no longer my
son. Because you did such and such thing, you no longer belong to me. Does that make any sense?
Because there's no sense to it, okay. All right, so once you're a son of God, you're always a son of
God. Let's look at eternal life. Jesus said unto them, like I quoted earlier, I am the bread of life.
He that cometh to me shall, notice these two words, never hunger. So Jesus makes a promise that when you
come to him and you receive the gift of eternal life, he says, you shall never hunger. And the
Bible says, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. So the word believeth, let's talk
about that word. So what if, what if Matt and I went rock climbing and I'm up at the top and I'm
crying out, Matt, hold me up. I believe in you, Matt. I believe in you. You know what I'm saying?
I trust you, Matt. I trust you. And believe and trust are used interchangeably all throughout
the Bible. So when the Bible says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, all they're saying is trust,
Jesus, as your savior. You know, it's not about what a man has that saves him. It's about who a man
has. You know, you could have, Jesus said, you could gain the whole world. What that the prophet of man,
if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul. He that believeth on me shall never thirst.
So Jesus said, and he makes it clear, he says it in all sorts of different ways.
John 5 24, really, really, I say unto you, this is my favorite verse in the whole Bible,
he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life. Now, how long does
everlasting go for? Pretty long, right? That's a long time. I heard a guy say, I was in a debate
a while ago debating this, and the guy said, and I don't think he'd ever debate me again on it,
because it didn't go well for this guy, and he got very upset afterwards, and he's been doing
a video series for the past couple years trying to debunk me since, but really he's trying to
debunk the Bible. I just believe the Bible. He said, welcome, he said basically that, you know,
you have eternal life, but eternal doesn't really mean eternal. If you go back to the Greek,
the Greek word is aionion, which means a long time. So Jesus was preaching that if you believe
in him, you'll just be saved for a long time, according to this guy. So, you know, and you got
to watch these people that say, go back to the Greek. I think there's an appropriate place for
that. I know of people that do it, but I think the Lord has preserved his word. Jesus said,
heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall never pass away. So he says, you have
everlasting life, present tense. So if I said, hey Justin, you have eternal life right now,
but then you lose it tomorrow, was that ever eternal to begin with? No, not at all. And so
here's the thing, when you trust Jesus, you have eternal life, and notice what Jesus prophesies.
People talk about prophecy all the time. You talk to these church of God types, and they're like,
we believe in prophecy, and I show them this verse. It says, and shall not come into condemnation.
Did you know Jesus prophesied that when you're saved, you shall not come into condemnation?
No matter what? That's amazing. That's prophecy. So when people say, oh, we believe in prophecy,
and they're denying eternal salvation, show them this verse. Say, do you believe in Jesus's
prophecy? Notice what Jesus says, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death
unto life. So when you trust Jesus, you're passed from death unto life. Now, a lot of people say,
well, Brother Powell, you got to understand that to be eternally saved, you have to have
all these wonderful works. And you know what? Don't get me wrong. I think we should have wonderful
works. And if a brother in Christ isn't working to earn rewards, and to do the right thing,
and to not be chastened by God, I actually will tell them, I'm not going to have fellowship with
you until you repent. Repent, and I can be your friend. And here's the thing, folks. We all need
to take a stand, and there's a lot of Christians out there that get saved, and they're a child of
God, but they're a black sheep. They're like the black sheep of the family, man. They are living
in sin. They're like King David. They're like Solomon, and they need to repent. You know,
we need to tell our brothers and sisters in Christ, he that stiffeneth his neck, the Bible
says there's a way that seemeth right unto a man, and the end thereof is death, but the Bible says
that he that stiffeneth his neck shall be destroyed, and that without remedy. So I, without
remedy, folks, you know. So with that being said, this is what Jesus said. Now, this is, the context
is a bunch of people are at judgment day, and these people are going to say to Jesus,
many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord. So are these people calling Jesus Lord? Absolutely.
Have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done
many wonderful works. Lord, why aren't you letting us into heaven? So notice this, they say,
wonderful works, Lord. We've done all these good things. Why aren't you letting us in?
And then Jesus says, I will profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me that work in
equity. Notice these four words, I never knew you. What if I said, I never knew Dr. Kent Hoban?
I'd be lying to you because I know who he is. What if Jesus said, I never knew you when you're
his child? Would that be honest? So you know what that tells me? That the people who are going to be
damned on judgment day are not people that got their salvation and lost it. They're people that
Jesus never knew. Jesus said, I never knew you. And if you say, well, you can still lose your
salvation, then you have to call the Lord a liar when he says, I never knew you. So if you go to
hell, it's only because Jesus never knew who you were. So the Bible also says that in whom also you
trusted after that you heard the word of truth, so you trusted in Jesus when you heard the word,
faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The gospel of your salvation in whom also,
notice these four words, after that you believed you were what? Sealed. Now when you seal something,
that means that you're gonna, this water bottle for example, it's not going to be sealed here soon
because I'm getting thirsty, but right now it's sealed and it's sealed until I open it. Well,
the Bible says that grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you're sealed unto what day?
The day of redemption. So as a saved Christian, you're sealed not just until, you know, at some
random point in the future, you are actually, when you trust Christ, you're sealed unto the
day of redemption. Pretty clear, right? Very, very basic. Now keep in mind, every false religion and
pretty much every Christian denomination will reject this teaching that I'm telling you right
now, or that the Bible is telling you. I'm just bringing forth the word. I'm just the messenger.
Pretty much every false religion out there will. Jehovah's Witness, Mormons, Muslims, Church of God,
etc, etc. Now you might find some people in the Church of God who are saved, who believe the
gospel, but they just love the Christian rock and roll and they're stuck up and all this stuff,
and you know what? Bless their hearts. I hope they get out of it, but they need to get amongst
people like us who are saved. Amen. So the Bible, now here's what people will always say. Let's talk
about objections to once saved, always saved, and I proudly say I believe once saved, always saved.
I'm very proud of that term. The Bible says, he that boasteth, let him glory in the Lord.
People will say, if you, good grief,
people will say, if you believe once saved, always saved, what you're telling me is that you have a
license to get away with all this sin. Who here has heard that? Everybody has heard, every hand
in the room basically. Here's what's so hypocritical about that statement. The Bible says, for whom the
Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. So people that don't get away
with sin are people that receive Jesus as Savior. You know why? Because Jesus punishes them. Now who
does get away with sin? The world. Who has a license to sin? The world. You know why? Because they don't
have a Father chastening them. So whenever they say, oh once saved, always saved, teaches license
to sin, that's not biblical folks. What the Bible actually says is that once you're saved, God
chastens you. He punishes you. Just like I will punish my son in the future for all the wrong
things he's done now, not really, but once I punish him in the future, it just means that he's my son
and that I'll always love him. The whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom
he receiveth. You can't lose your salvation. Now all the cults out there, I want to
make this real clear, and I know I'm running out of time so I'm going to move quick.
All the big cults out there teach that King Saul is in hell. Now I know that a lot of people
might believe that here. I don't know where everybody stands, but the Bible says,
let's give a little context. So the children of Israel were in peril. They were fighting against
the Philistines, and the Philistines were outnumbering the children of Israel. Now Saul
had turned his back on David, and therefore the Lord turned his back on Saul. You better be careful
about turning your back on a brother, folks. You better be careful about that. Don't just
be so quick to cut fellowship with people. Don't be so quick to throw people in the trash can.
You know, it drives me nuts when people do that, because we're a family. Look, anyone who's trusted
Jesus is a closer brother to me than my physical family who hasn't trusted Jesus. Did you know
that? The Bible actually teaches that, and I should be willing to give up everything, and
the Bible says, greater love hath no man than this, than that a man lay down his life for his friends.
So Saul had turned his back on the Lord, and the Lord was furious with Saul, but Saul, instead of
turning back to God, decided to go to the witch of Endor. Now witchcraft is pretty bad, right?
Bible even says, suffer not a witch to live. Very serious. Then said Samuel. So obviously Samuel got
raised up from the dead. This witch raised up the spirit of Samuel, and Samuel was a prophet, right?
Very famous prophet in the Bible. Then said Samuel to Saul, wherefore then dost thou ask of me,
seeing the Lord is departed from thee, and has become thine enemy? Did you know you can become an
enemy of God? That's pretty scary. You know, the Bible says friendship with the world is enmity
with God. You actually could turn out to be God's enemy. Look at David and Absalom.
Look at situations that we see today in families. Mother and son rising up against each other,
father and daughter, etc. Terrible things go on today in this world. This is a very sad place
our world is. It has become thine enemy, for the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thy hand,
and given it to thy neighbor, even to David. You know how humiliating that would be? You set your
sights against somebody, and the Lord says, you know what? I'm going to give the kingdom to that
person, just because of jealousy. Because, and this is still Samuel speaking, because thou obey
it's not the voice of the Lord, nor extricutest his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the
Lord done this thing unto thee this day. So he's saying, look, Saul, you've messed up. The kingdom's
been removed from you. The Lord's departed from you. Literally, the Lord departed from Saul,
and the kingdom's been delivered to David. That's about as bad as it gets, folks. Oh, but wait,
it does get worse. Moreover, the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand
of the Philistines. So he's saying, look, you're going to be taken over. And tomorrow
shalt thou, and notice this word, these few words, thou and thy sons beware with me. Where was Samuel?
Well, we know the Bible says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, right?
Samuel told Saul, Saul, you've messed up, and because of this, you're going to die,
and you're going to be with me, you and your sons. That's pretty amazing, right? So where was,
Samuel was with the Lord, right? So where did Saul go to be? With the Lord, because Saul went
to be with Samuel. That's why the Bible says, thou and thy son shall be with me. So when people say,
King Saul lost his salvation because he committed suicide. Look, you could take your own physical
flesh once you're saved, but what gets saved when you're saved? The body or the spirit?
Spirit. The Bible says, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but by
his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost,
by the Holy Spirit. So you could take your flesh, you could do terrible things to your flesh,
but when your spirit is born again, the Bible says the spirit cannot sin,
for his seed remaineth in him. So that's pretty amazing.
Let's look at Judas. People say, Judas lost his salvation. Every single time I knock a door to
give somebody the gospel that believes this lordship stuff or this lose your salvation,
God will abort his children sort of a thing, and that's what it is. It's spiritual abortion, folks.
Think about it. If I murdered my own child just because he messed up, that's abortion. If I killed
my own child, that's murder. God would never abort his children, and I did a documentary recently
where the guy's like, well God will do a spiritual abortion on those who, do you know how crazy that
sounds? That is bizarre, but it just, and that's why Paul says there's people that pervert the
gospel of Christ and stuff like that. It's very perverted teaching. So to kind of wrap things up,
Jesus and the apostles. Yes, sir. I like the verse, those whom the Lord loves he chases.
I know that's a few verses ago, but one thing I've said before is, who does God love more?
Bill Gates or you? Okay, now the average person says Bill Gates, obviously. Okay,
now let's add a Bible verse to that. Those whom the Lord loves he chases. Okay, now,
who does the Lord love more? Bill Gates or you, right? It's like, he must love me a lot. Right,
amen. Because I'm getting chased all the time. I don't have everything I ever want. So to kind
of put it in context, you're talking about Saul here. He screwed up bad. Jonah, I mean,
we have a whole list of people in the New Testament. Jonah was mad that they were repentant.
You know what's amazing? Every single Bible character really had some type of sin that they
struggle with. And listen, I'm not condoning sin. I actually believe that we could do better than
some of them through the power of the Holy Spirit. Okay, because they didn't have the Spirit.
But one more question and then we got to move on. Yep. Sure, yeah, that's a good question.
So when it talks about blotting your name out of the book of life, the Bible says that
everyone that is born is automatically written in the books. And at the end of time, the Bible says,
then the books were opened and they were judged out of the things in the book. And those who
were not written in the name, those who had not trusted Christ, at the very end, Jesus blotted
them out because they didn't trust in Jesus as their Savior. Hold the thought. Well, at the very
end. All right, right, right. Okay, no problem. So, but great question. Everybody's name is in
the book of life from before the foundation of the world. If you don't trust Christ as your
Savior, at the very end, that's when the books are opened. How could you be blotted out of the book
before the book's even opened? Think about that. So, right, there is. I'm trying to keep it simple
for everybody. So, Jesus, okay, so here's at the beginning of Jesus' ministry. People say Judas was
saved but lost to salvation. The Bible says, then Simon Peter answered him,
Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life and we believe and are sure that
thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered them, have not I chosen you
twelve and one of you is a what? A devil. Now, this is at the very beginning of Jesus' ministry.
So, was Judas saved at the very beginning of Judas' ministry? No, Judas was never saved. The
Bible point blank says, at the beginning of Christ's ministry, have not I chosen you twelve
and one of you is a devil? So, and not only that, folks, we are saved. When we're saved and we trust
Jesus, we're saved from hell. Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. So, no matter what,
you're not going to be cast out into outer darkness if you've come to Jesus. Jesus says,
I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. You know, can you imagine Jesus saying,
oh, I'll never leave thee or forsake thee. Oh, except for a thousand years, you know,
except for when I throw you in hell there. You know, Jesus said, no, I'll never leave thee nor
forsake thee. And think about this, folks, if you have the Spirit of Christ indwelling you,
is the Spirit of Christ going to descend into hell? It doesn't make any sense because there's
no sense to it. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, the Spirit of God
indwells every believer. How can you undo what Jesus has already done? That's what I'd like to
know. When you've trusted Christ, how can you actually undo that? Now, the Bible says,
and we're almost done, we're really close, folks. The Bible says in Romans 4, 7 and 8,
blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven. And so, past tense, whose sins are covered,
present tense, blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. This context is talking
about those who are saved. So, how could you go to hell or how could you lose your salvation if your
sin is not even going to be imputed unto you? Think about that. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord will not impute sin. That was written by one of the most wicked people in the world.
And you know why I believe God chose David? Just to show that God can use the foolish things of
this world to confound the wise. God can take somebody that wasn't a great person but had a
repentant heart and use him for good. I'm not condoning what David did. In fact, what David did,
I truly believe, cost him his own life. So, just keep that in mind. The last couple verses here.
Now, you say, why is this so important, Brother Powell? Because, and I know this may offend some
people, but because people that don't believe in eternal salvation are not trusting Jesus. People
that don't believe in eternal salvation are not saved. And I know that may come off as offensive
to some, but here's the thing, I have to preach the truth whether everybody likes it or not.
And I've had a lot of people walk out on me during my preaching. And you know what?
I don't take it too personally. I hope the best for them. I hope they come back and
hope they read their Bibles and so forth. You know, I hope the best for people.
But you know what? If you don't believe the record that God has given to this son,
you're not saved. I'm going to make this very simple and prove that you have to believe in
the gift of eternal life. You know how silly it sounds when somebody says, oh, I don't believe
in eternal salvation. When people think they could lose their salvation, they say, well,
I don't believe it's eternal. Jesus said it's eternal. Jesus said in John 6 47,
really, really, I see into you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
People are like, I don't believe in eternal salvation. Why are you preaching eternal
salvation? That sounds so stupid when you say you don't believe in eternal salvation.
But of course, the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness.
So it's foolishness to them, but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God.
So it's the power of God to us Christians, the gospel is. It's foolishness to the world.
Last few verses. Now this is proof that you have to believe the record that God hath given of his
son. He that believeth on the son of God hath the witness in himself. Now if you get the context,
the witness is the Holy Spirit. So when you believe Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit.
He that believeth not God hath made him a liar because he believeth not the record that God gave
of his son. So the Bible says if you don't believe the record, you're making God a liar.
You say, well, what's the record? Well, the very next verse says what the record is.
And this is the record that God hath, notice this word, given to us. Number one, salvation is a gift.
The Bible says for by grace are you saved through faith and that out of yourselves it is the gift
of God. And if you had to work for a gift, it wouldn't be a gift. So number one, he's given
to us what? What did Jesus give you? Eternal life. Now what does eternal mean? Never-ending.
So in order to be saved, you have to believe it's a gift. You have to believe it's eternal.
And where does the life come from? And this life is in his son. That's the record that you have
to believe. That's salvation 101. That is the simplicity in Christ. This is the record that
you have to believe to be saved. That God hath given us, free gift, eternal life. How many people
don't believe that God's given us eternal life? I can name just about every door I knock says,
oh, well, it's through Jesus, but you can lose it. They're missing out that you have to believe
that God has given us eternal life. So if you don't believe God's given us eternal life,
you're not saved. The Bible point blank says that. He that believeth, he that hath the son,
hath life, and he that hath not the son of God, hath not life. And once you have life,
that life never ends. And the son of God is never going to leave you. He said, I'll never leave you
nor forsake you. The Old Testament says, it is he that goeth with thee, he shall not forsake thee.
He's not going to forget you. You know, you may forget him. The Bible talks about the woman that
forgetteth the God of her youth. And you know what? Look, I feel like since I'm at the end here,
this is important to mention. Young ladies, the world right now is telling you to dress like a
harlot. If you look at the media, they say dress like a harlot. Be scantily about your attitude.
Be a whore. The media praises this stuff. Let me tell you something. That is not what a man of God
wants in their spouse. I can tell you that for sure. But the media tries to tell you
that it's good to dress like a whore because that'll attract a man. Yeah, you'll attract a man
all right. Just not the right one. You'll attract a man that'll just want to, you know, I've heard
this stupid saying by these guys, drink, have the milk, but don't buy the cow. Do you know what that
tells me? That they don't actually love the person that they're getting with. You know, I love my
wife. And I'm glad that she dressed appropriately when I met her. And you know what? I probably
would have been reluctant to meet her if she would have been, you know, dressing like a harlot. Like
the media tells you to do. Don't listen to the world. The Bible says love not the world neither
the things that are in the world. Don't love it. And I just, it frustrates me because I don't want
girls to be deceived. I've seen it happen and it troubles me. And I've seen guys get deceived too.
So I'm going to skip this and this is the very end. So a lot of people say, well don't you have
to repent of your sins to be saved? Number one, the Bible never says the phrase repent of your
sins one time. That phrase actually doesn't exist in the Bible. But people say it all the time,
repent of your sins, repent of your sins. That phrase exists in the Book of Mormon.
That phrase exists in the Book of Islam and the Quran. But it doesn't actually exist in the Bible.
Let's look at what repentance is. The Bible says it's the gift of God, right? Not of works. Now
people will say you got to turn from your sins. Well notice this. This is at Nineveh when Jonah
warned the Ninevites. It says, and God saw their works that they turned from their evil way. So
turning from your evil way, the Bible says, is works. I think you should turn from your evil way.
I tell people when they get saved, if you don't turn from your evil way, God will punish you. And
if he continues to punish you and you don't listen, he'll kill you. Because that's what the
Bible teaches. And so, you know, a lot of people say, well, I'm still not convinced. You have to
turn over a new leaf. You know what? We don't come to the cross. We don't change to come to the
cross. We come to the cross to be changed. Amen. Amen. And look, I'm not a lordship salvationist,
but I believe that when you get saved, that love of Christ should be there. It really should be.
And it's going to be down in your heart somewhere. You know, we love him because he first loved us.
And if you're only serving God, and this is what the Lose Your Salvation crowd says,
well, I mean, what's the point of serving God if you're just going to be once saved, always saved?
Why do any good works? What they're admitting is that the only reason they're doing good works is
because they're trying to escape hell. Is that love? Is it love if I just obey my dad just not
to get spanked? That's not love. We love him because he first loved us, and because he's
given us the free gift, we can, he says, as you have received freely, freely give.
So this shows that repentance is receiving. So repentance is a 180 from whatever you're
trusting in to trusting in Jesus. Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost. And now notice this, then they that gladly received his word were baptized.
Notice how it says repent and be baptized? They received the word and were baptized. So do you
see how repent and received are used interchangeably in the Bible here right now? You see how easy that
is? We have to let the Bible be its own dictionary. Now people will say, see how it says repent and be
baptized for the remission of sins? They'll say, see that proves that baptism is part of
salvation because you got to be baptized for the remission of sins. Not necessarily, Paul said in
1 Corinthians 1 17, for Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel. So if baptism
and the gospel are the same thing, that wouldn't make any sense. Paul said I didn't come to baptize,
came to preach the gospel. Last point and I'll be done. So when it says be baptized for the
remission of sins, for means because of. So what if I said you're going to jail for stealing?
That means that you're going to jail because of stealing. If I say get baptized for the
remission of sins, I'm saying because you've been forgiven of sin, be baptized. You see how easy that is?
For the man who has lost everything, for the wife who feels betrayed, the child who is afraid,
for the home that is broken by the scars of sin and shame, there is hope and there is healing
in the power of Jesus name. There is a way, there is a life, there is life in the blood,
the blood of Jesus Christ. You can be saved. He paid the price. This is the gospel, the gospel
of Christ. For the heart that is longing for love, for the mind so confused, the one who is abused,
for a world that needs mercy and the truth that makes us free, there's forgiveness and plenty
at the cross of Calvary. There is a way, there is a life, there is life in the blood,
the blood of Jesus Christ. You can be saved. He paid the price. This is the gospel, the gospel
of Christ. There is a way, there is a life, there is life in the blood, the blood of Jesus Christ.
There is a way, there is a life, there is life in the blood, the blood of Jesus Christ.
You can be saved. He paid the price. This is the gospel, the gospel of Christ.
This is the gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The first thing that people need to understand about the gospel is that it's simple, it's easy.
The Bible says, but I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety,
so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
So the Bible clearly tells us that there's simplicity in the Lord Jesus Christ
and that there's simplicity in salvation. So salvation is not a complicated thing.
No matter what any internet teacher might say, no matter what any person might preach out there,
the Bible says that the gospel is simple, that it's easy. The Bible simply even says just believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And so the first thing that people need to
understand before being able to be saved is that they're not saved and that they are condemned if
they have not believed on the name of the Son of God. The Bible says for all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God. And so obviously all of us are sinners. None of us are exempt from
that. And the Bible does say that sin is the transgression of the law. So when we break God's
law, we sin. And the Bible says that there's a penalty for sin. The Bible says that the wages of
sin is death. And so because we're sinners, one day we're going to have to die. Now you only have
to do one sin to be a sinner. And the Bible says that all liars shall have their part in the lake
which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Now I know that everybody's
lied before. I've lied before. You know, and if you say that you haven't lied before, you're
lying right now. You're lying to yourself. And so everybody's committed sin. And we've all done
stuff worse than lying. So according to God's word, we would deserve hell. The Bible says
that the fearful and the unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and
sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire
and brimstone, which is the second death. And so that's what we deserve for our sin is the second
death. And without Christ, the Bible says that we will go there. We will have to pay for our own
sins and endure the second death, which goes on forever and ever. But the Bible says that God
commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And so even
though we were sinners, even though we didn't deserve the gift of salvation and the opportunity
to go to heaven, Jesus Christ took our place as a substitute. The Bible says that he was God
manifest in the flesh. And so Jesus was basically God with skin on. And the Bible says that he did
not commit any sin. The Bible says he was tempted at all points, like as we are, yet without sin. So
Jesus was fully God and fully man. And Jesus went about doing many miracles. And Jesus would always
tell the truth. And sometimes whenever you tell people the truth, they get really offended.
And they got so offended at the words of Christ that they took and nailed him to the cross. And
the Bible says that while Jesus was on the cross, it says, who his own self bear our sins in his own
body on the tree. So literally every sin I've ever done, every sin you've ever done, it was as if
Jesus had done it himself. You know, he was being punished in our place for our sins. And so he was
the substitute lamb. He was the one who came and took our sins upon his own shoulders on that cross
and bear them in his own body, as the Bible says. The Bible even says that Christ died for us.
And so Jesus took our place. He took my place. He took your place. And salvation is actually as
simple as that. It's as simple as realizing that you can't save yourself and that you're a sinner
and you deserve hell. But Jesus Christ himself came and took your place, took your sins and my sins,
and bear them in his own body and wiped away that punishment and was the substitute lamb for us.
Now obviously they took Jesus's body down and buried it, but three days later he rose again
from the dead. And that's the Gospel, is believing that Jesus died for your sins, was buried and rose
again. The Bible even just simply says in Acts 16, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be
saved. Now it doesn't say thou might be saved or thou could be saved or you just might make it
somehow. No, the Bible says that if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ or you trust him and what
he did on that cross, you shall be saved. There isn't any question about it. When you put your
trust in Christ, he promises to hold on to you. And one of the most important things to understand
is that once you're saved, you're always saved. The Bible says in John 5 24, Jesus said,
verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me,
hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.
And so those are some pretty powerful words that tell us that once we trust Christ, once we receive
that gift of salvation, that we are passed from death unto life. And he also says that you have
everlasting life. Now, everlasting by definition goes forever. And so if I had eternal life today
and I lost it tomorrow, that didn't last forever. And just as you may have children of your own,
nothing that they could ever do would be able to separate them from being your son or daughter.
And it's the same way with God. Once you're born into his family, there's nothing that you can do
to remove those genes. The Bible says that it's not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy
Ghost. So when we get saved, it's not by our own righteousness, but by the righteousness of Christ
and by the washing of regeneration. The Bible also says that to as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name,
which were born. So you get born again into his family the moment you receive him as your Savior.
Even the most famous verse in the entire Bible says, for God so loved the world that he gave
his only begotten son. So notice how it says he gave his only begotten son. It's a gift.
So when God gave Jesus as a gift to us, as a gift to mankind, a salvation,
we just simply receive it. You don't work for a gift, you receive a gift. So if God gave his
only son, that tells me and that tells anybody reading the Bible that you receive Christ as
Savior. God makes a promise to everybody that trusts in him that he will never leave them
nor forsake them. He says, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. That's a promise.
you