Here we are, I hear you, oh, bless me, oh, my Savior
I come to thee, oh, yes, I am, I hear you, here we are
Savior of the aircraft, and to you is the Lord
And now of our time, I hear you, oh, I hear you
Every hour I give you, oh, bless me, oh, my Savior
I come to thee, oh, yes, I am, I hear you, here we are
Lord of the airspace, I hear you, oh, I hear you
Every hour I give you, oh, bless me, oh, my Savior
I come to thee, oh, yes, I am, I hear you, here we are
Oh, may you be my King, thou bested child
I come to thee, oh, I hear you, here we are
Oh, bless me, oh, my Savior, I come to thee
All right, good morning, everybody. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church.
Take out your bulletin. We'll go through a couple quick things.
First, let's count up any salvations this past week. Did anybody have any
salvations to report? One, one, all right. Anybody else?
Four, all right. Anybody else? All right, we'll have soul
winning at around 2 15 p.m. here today after we have lunch.
And a couple other things for today. We do have our choir meeting for the choir
that's going to be performing during Easter.
And so look, if you're going to serve God, you got to make some sacrifices.
No table tennis, no chess, right, no darts after church or whatever.
So if you're in the choir, you know, obviously we need you as part of the
practice and everything like that, so practice is generally going to be
basically right after soul winning. And so anyways, though, if you're planning
to be part of the choir, we do need you to be at the meeting here today.
We'll go through some basic rules, especially if you're new to the choir.
Many of you already know these, but we always have new people at church, and so
it's good to kind of go through these things to be as organized as possible.
A few other things coming up next week is our prayer meeting.
And on April 10th, we will be taking the Lord's Supper, which is
one time per year, so it's a pretty special time to be at church.
And then of course the next week is Easter, so I believe that's it for
announcements while Brother Rafi lead us in another song.
As thy faith and strength shall be in measure,
this thou canst to be in me.
And I'll be there in every tribulation,
so do try thy heart in sales for more.
And I'll be there in every tribulation,
so do try thy heart in sales for more.
And I'll be there in every tribulation,
so do try thy heart in sales for more.
One by one, there is no more misleading,
till I meet upon this land.
I'll be there in every tribulation,
till I meet upon this land.
I'll be there in every tribulation,
till I meet upon this land.
Amen.
Amen for scripture reading. Please open your Bibles to the book of Daniel.
Daniel chapter 3.
Daniel chapter 3, and as our custom we will be reading the entire chapter.
Daniel chapter 3.
Daniel chapter 3. Please say amen if you're there.
Amen.
Daniel chapter 3 verse 1.
The book of desire of the king made an image of gold,
whose height was three square cubits and a breadth thereof six cubits.
He set it up in the plain of Jura, in the province of Babylon.
Then the book of desire of the king sent together to gather the princes,
the governors and the captains, the judges, the treasurers,
the counselors, the sheriffs and all the rulers of the provinces,
to come to the dedication of the image with which Nebuchadnezzar the king had
set up. Then the princes, the governors and
captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs and all the
rulers of the provinces, were gathered together to the dedication
of the image Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up,
and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Then an arrow cried out loud, to you it is commandment, O people, nations and
languages, that at what time you hear the sound of
the cornet, flutes, harp, cypher, psaltery, dulcimer and all kinds of music,
you fall down and rush with the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had
set up, and also fall not down and worship it
shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fire furnace.
Therefore at that time when all the people heard the sound of the cornet,
flutes, harp, cypher, psaltery and all kinds of music,
all the people, the nations and the languages fell down and worship the
golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near and accused the Jews.
They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king live forever,
thou O king has made a decree that every man that shall hear the sound of the
cornet, flutes, harp, cypher, psaltery and dulcimer
and all kinds of music shall fall down and worship the golden image,
and do so fall not down and worship it that he shall be cast into the midst of
a burning fire furnace. There are certain Jews whom thou has set
over the affairs of the province of Babylon,
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. These men O king have not regarded thee.
They serve not thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou has set up.
Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the
king. Nebuchadnezzar's pagans said unto them,
Is it true O Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego?
Do not ye serve my gods nor worship the golden image which I have set up.
Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute,
harp, cypress, sultry and dulcimer and all kinds of music,
ye fall down and worship the image which I have made. Well, but if ye worship not,
ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of the burning fire furnace.
And who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands?
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered and said to the king,
O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
If it be so, our god whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fire
furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine
hand, O king. That if not, be it known unto thee, O king,
that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou has
set up. Then the most Nebuchadnezzar, full of
fury, and the form of his visions which changed against Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego, therefore spake and commanded that
they should heed the furnace one seven times more
than it was want to be heeded. And he commanded the most mighty men that were
in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
and to cast them into the burning fire furnace.
Then these men were bound in their coats, to their hosen and their hats, and to
their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the
burning fire furnace. Therefore, because the king's command was
urgent and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men
that took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, fell down down into the
midst of the burning fire furnace. Then the Nebuchadnezzar the king was
astonished and rose up in haste and spake and said unto his counselors,
Did not we cast three men down into the midst of the fire?
They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said,
Lo, I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire,
and they have no hurt, and the form of the fold is like the Son of God.
Then the Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fire furnace and
spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,
ye servants of the Most High God, come forth,
and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came forth to the midst of
the fire, and the princes, governors and captains
and the king's counselors being gathered together
saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power,
nor was a hair of their head singed. Neither were their coats changed,
nor the smell of fire had passed on them. The Nebuchadnezzar spake and said,
Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who had sent his angel and
delivered his servants that trusted in him,
and had changed the king's word and yielded their bodies that they might not
serve nor worship any god except their own god.
Therefore I make a decree that every man, that every people, nation and language,
which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,
shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a
downhill, because there is no other god that can deliver after this sort.
Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
Blessed be God's word, let us pray. Lord God, in having me thank you, Lord, for this
day to give it to us, and I pray all those who would give us good weather, and
would be blessed, Lord, for our soul-winning, our meetings, and also, Lord,
for our lunch fellowship later on. I pray that you would bless the preacher
and the preaching of your word, Lord, as they give us wisdom. We love you.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
All right, we're here in Daniel chapter three, and this will be our last week in
Daniel three, and some of you are thinking, I thought we finished it last
week. Well, we kind of did, but the name of the sermon is Daniel
chapter three, the lost levels, and if you grew up playing Mario, you know,
they had like secret levels and lost levels. If you jump in a certain green
pipe or whatever, it puts you to this other world,
and the reason why I call it that is because our Bible has 30 verses here in
the book of Daniel chapter three. Everything's there. It makes sense, but
the Catholics actually have a very different version of Daniel chapter
three. Like, you guys might have thought 30
verses to being read for the scripture reading was a lot.
It's a hundred verses in the Catholic Bible, so they have 70 added verses,
whereas we have 30 verses, they have 100, okay?
And I'm going to quickly go through all the problems in their Daniel chapter
three, but I just kind of want to do this to
show you an example, because sometimes we get asked this question,
well, how do you know that the Gospel of Thomas
shouldn't be in the Bible? Or how do you know that your version of Daniel three
is correct? I mean, it's just as likely to be correct as theirs is,
and they'll basically question the books that are in the Bible, how do we know our
version's correct, and things such as that, and I want to just kind of show you
it's actually not that complicated, because if you see false versions and
false books, it's obvious they do not make sense, okay?
Now, I'm going to use a lot of Bible in this sermon, but to start, I'm going to go
through a lot of the problems in this Catholic Daniel chapter three first.
Reason number one is found in their version of Daniel three, verses 28
through 30. This is what it says in their version,
true is the sentence you have given and all that you have brought down on us and
on Jerusalem, the holy city of our ancestors,
for you have treated us rightly and truly as our sins deserve.
Yes, we have sinned and committed a crime by deserting you. Yes, we have greatly
sinned, we have not listened to your commandments,
we have not observed them, we have not done what you commanded us to do for
our own good. And so, according to the Catholic version,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are in the fiery furnace, and they're saying to God,
we deserve to be in this furnace. We've sinned,
we deserve this, the punishment is fair, it's just because, you know, Jerusalem
departed from God, and you know what, our sins, we
deserve this. How did they deserve to be in the fiery furnace? They were in
the fiery furnace because they did not sin.
They were not in the fiery furnace because they did sin, right? I mean,
it's the exact opposite of what the Bible says, and there's nothing in Daniel 3
mentioning about Jerusalem, that's not the context.
I mean, yes, they went into bondage to Babylon,
but God told them to go into bondage, just go into bondage, and look, you could
serve God in Babylon and be right with God, and that's what Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego were doing, but apparently in the Catholic Bible,
once they get thrown in, we deserve this.
According to what our sins, you know, what we've done, we deserve to be in this
fiery furnace. I mean, isn't that the exact opposite of what we've seen in
Daniel chapter 3? It just doesn't make any sense, and look,
I'm quickly going through these because I want to get to the Word of God,
right, so I could spend more time, but that's what it says in their verse in
Daniel 3, verses 28 through 30. So number one, the focus on Jerusalem and
saying that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego deserve that,
doesn't make sense. Another reason this doesn't fit is what's found in verse 32
of Daniel, and some of you are looking down at
your Bible, you do not have a verse 32 in the Catholic Bible. I hope you do not
have a verse 32. If you do, we have Bibles we can give you
after the service, okay? Daniel 3, 32 in the Catholic Bible,
you have handed us over to our enemies, to a lawless people,
the worst of the godless, to an unjust king, the worst in the whole world.
So according to their version of Daniel 3, they say that Nebuchadnezzar is the
worst king in the world, yet there's no indication that Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego ever thought that. Now obviously what he did was wrong, but if
you pay attention, they actually had a decent relationship
with Nebuchadnezzar before this, because even Nebuchadnezzar gives them another
chance. He says, you know, okay, you didn't bow down, at what time
you hear it, bow down now. He wouldn't have given a second chance to
other people, but he liked Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
which is why people were envious against them and wanted them to be in trouble,
right? There's no indication that they thought he was the worst in the world,
nothing in our version of Daniel chapter 3.
Number 3, verse 38, and here's what it says in the Catholic Bible,
we now have no leader, no prophet, no prince, no burnt offering, no
sacrifice, no oblation, no incense, no place where we can make offerings to you.
We have no leader. Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand a... I mean, what are you
talking about? No prophet. Daniel literally has already
interpreted dreams. He's already prophesied, not just
preaching sermons, but literally prophesied predicting the future.
We have no prophet. What are you talking about? You're best friends of prophets.
We have no leader, and look, even they were leaders also.
I mean, they were standing up for God. Why would they say we have no leader,
no prophet? That doesn't fit with the book of Daniel at all. It doesn't make
any sense. The fourth reason is found in their
verses, verses 46 through 48, and here's what it
says about the flames in verses 46 through 48.
All this time the king's servants who had thrown them into the furnace
had been stoking it with crude oil, pitch, toe, and brushwood,
until the flames rose 49 cubits above the furnace, which is 73 and a half feet.
So apparently this furnace, there's flames flying out like a volcano
in the Catholic Bible. 73 and a half feet. And leaping out burnt those Chaldeans to
death who were standing around it. Okay, it mentions, because it says all this
time, the reason why it says that is in Daniel 3, they get thrown into the fiery
furnace and they're having a conversation and walking around and
praying to God. Like, hours are going by. A lot of time
is going by, right? Which is not the indication in our
version of Daniel 3. It's immediate, right? But it says that the men who threw
them into the fire all this time were stoking with... they
were dead. Isn't that what we saw last week? The men
who threw them into the fire are dead, so how are they stoking it with oil
when they're already dead? And then stoking with oil and it's flying 73 and
a half feet in the air? That's ridiculous. I mean, they're making
Nebuchadnezzar out to be some crazy guy. You know, more oil, more oil, just put
more in. And then there's volcanoes exploding. Look, they would have stopped
listening if people are dying left and right, because they'd be afraid.
And somehow they are the ones doing it, but they're not dying,
but other people are dying. This doesn't make any sense. I mean, is it really hard
to see that this version makes no sense whatsoever? It just contradicts every
common sense, errors, it just doesn't make any sense. Fifth reason is what it says
in verses 49 and 50 where it says there's actually a cool spot to the
flames. It's actually not hot in the furnace. It says in verse 49,
"...but the angel of the Lord..." It's like the Baptist, you know, the Abraham's bosom.
Daniel 3 verse 49, "...but the angel of the Lord came down into the furnace beside
Azariah and his companions. He drove the flames of the fire outwards from the
furnace, and in the heart of the furnace Waf did a coolness to them as of the
breeze and dew, so the fire did not touch them at all and caused them no pain or
distress." So in the Catholic version, the reason why the flames are flying out is
because there's no flames inside the furnace. They're stoking with oil and the
flames are flying out, but they're inside with that waterfall, you know, just
drinking the bucco as I talked about recently, just hanging out, right? But
that's not what the Bible says. The Bible says Nebuchadnezzar saw them walking in
the fire. It never says anything about the flames flying out, and he saw them
walking in the midst of the fire. Here's what it says in the actual Bible, verse
25. You can look down on this one, Daniel 3 verse 25, "...he answered and said, Lo, I
see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt, and
the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." He's not amazed because he
doesn't see a fire. He's amazed because the fire is all around them, and yet
they're not hurt. Yet they're not on fire. Nothing's happening to them. He's like,
this doesn't make any sense, right? It's the exact opposite of what the Bible says
in the Catholic version. I mean, a cool part to the furnace, it doesn't make any
sense. It destroys the whole story. It also says this in verse 88, and I don't
even understand what this means, but in verse 88 of, obviously not our Bible, but
in the Catholic one, "...Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael, bless the Lord, praise and
glorify him forever, for he has rescued us from the underworld." What does that
mean? I mean, do they go to some alternate reality? The underworld? They were inside
of a furnace. I mean, I don't even know what that means. Is that supposed to be
purgatory? I didn't grow up Catholic. Maybe some of you guys can help me out,
right? I really don't know, but it's like, well, that's just weird, right? He has
rescued us from the underworld. The last reason I'll show you before we really
get into the Bible is found in verses 91 and 92, where it says this, "...King Nebuchadnezzar
sprang to his feet in amazement. He said to his advisors, did not we have
these three men thrown down in the fire? The answer the king, certainly your
majesty. But he went on, I see four men walking free in the heart of the fire
and quite unharmed, and the fourth looks like a child of the gods." And so
obviously the child of the gods is wrong, we talked about that last week. This
contradicts here, it says, "...walk in the heart of the fire," because the other part
it says it's cool in the furnace, so it doesn't really make sense. But here's the
thing, in their version, this is verses 91 and 92, a lot of time is going by in the
Catholic Bible after they get thrown in the furnace. But what does it say in
verse 24 of our Bible? Daniel 3 verse 24, King James Bible, Daniel 3 verse 24,
"...then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished," so he's shocked, he's
surprised, "...and rose up in haste." Now what does that mean in haste? Very quickly.
So basically, it's not that they throw them in the fire and then all of a
sudden they're just spending a couple hours playing chess and snakes and
ladders and stuff and having choir practice, then I'll say, well, let's see
what happened to them. Wait a minute, there's flames flying. No, they actually
throw them in and as common sense would say, they watch to see what happens.
Nebuchadnezzar wants them to die. They get thrown in and then they're looking
and immediately he rises up in haste. It's quick, it's immediate. You say, why?
Because he sees they're not dying. It doesn't make sense. There's not time
going by in this story, it's just immediately he's astonished. Right after
they throw them in, he's astonished and then he rises up and then he says, "...did not
we cast three men bound in the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the
king, true, O king." So he's shocked because they throw them in. There's not
time going by, there's not this secret level or lost level or hidden things in
the Catholic Bible of all these extra things and these things just contradict
what the Bible says. Okay, now go to John chapter 17. John 17. John 17. See, one thing
we can realize about our Bible is there are no errors in the Word of God. There
are no errors. It is 100% perfect. And look, that's a very unique thing because
all throughout this world there's errors. There's things that are not true. I mean,
turn on the news, it might be true, it might not. You read books on history, I mean,
even if they're not trying to make errors, it might be true, it might not.
History changes. Science changes. The medical industry changes, but you
know what? God's Word does not change. It's perfect. It doesn't need updated. It's
100% perfect. It's complete. It says in John 17, verse 17,
Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. I mean, why do you come to a
church like this? To hear the Word of God preached. You say, why? Because you're
tired of being lied to. You want to know the truth, right? The pillar and ground of
the truth. The Bible says about the church, the Word of God is preached at
church. You want to hear the truth. And we can take it to the bank that what God
says is perfect, it's accurate, there are no problems or mistakes. Now, of course,
when I preach sermons, I do make mistakes sometimes, because I'm a human, right? But
if I read to you a verse, there's no problems with those verses, and you can
take it to the bank that the vast majority of what you're hearing is true,
because I'm just showing you what the Bible says. God's Word is perfect. Turn to
Ephesians, chapter 1. Ephesians 1. Ephesians, chapter 1, verse 13.
Ephesians, chapter 1, verse 13. It says in Ephesians 1, verse 13,
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of
your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that
Holy Spirit of promise. And the Bible says that when a person puts their trust
or their belief in Jesus for their salvation, they hear the word of truth.
Everybody got saved because somebody preached the gospel to you. I still
remember the person who gave me the gospel as an 18-year-old college student.
I heard the gospel, I believed something else, I believed on the Lord that day,
right? We got saved because we heard the word of truth, because God's Word is
truth. This is another reason why we believe you get saved from the actual
word of God, and so if there's errors in what you're showing them, they're not
going to get saved because it is the word of truth, okay? Turn to James, chapter 1,
James 1. Now what's interesting is pretty much everybody in this country would say
they believe the Bible, but yet sometimes you show people things in the Bible and
they don't believe it. Things that are just very clear, and they just don't
believe it, they don't get it, and you explain stuff, and then it's like, you
know, you could just read Genesis 1 or Genesis 2 and they say, well, I
still believe in evolution. It's like, how? You said you believe the Bible. In the
beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. There's no room for evolution, and
yet they'll say, well, you know, I believe the Bible and I believe in evolution, or
something like that, right? They'll believe something that contradicts what
the Bible says, just very, very clear things. It's like, you don't really
believe the Bible. You say you do, but you don't really believe the Bible. You
believe the parts of the Bible that you like. You love the part, love thy neighbor
as thyself, right? From Leviticus. You don't love, if a man also lie with man,
kind as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination, they
shall surely be put to death. It's like, you love that part of Leviticus, love thy
neighbor as thyself. I mean, those great rules, love thy neighbor as thyself. What
about the other part of Leviticus, right? There's many things, obviously, in
Leviticus, but what I'm saying is, people will say they believe the Bible, but what
they really mean is, I believe the parts that I like. It says in James 1, verse 18,
Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth. Speaking about being
begotten, receiving our spiritual birth, being born again, you're begotten, or
begotten, with the word of truth. You say, why? Because our Bible is correct, it's
accurate, it's perfect. Now, I don't want people to be confused, because sometimes
you preach on things like this, you talk about King James only stuff, and people
misunderstand stuff. For example, someone might say, well, you're
saying that you have to be saved through a King James Bible. What about people
that, before 1611? Well, look, before 1611, the versions are actually very similar,
and many of the salvation verses are basically identical to what it says in
the King James, but see, the problem with the modern versions is they just corrupt
the Word of God. It's not just, you know, because whosoever believeth is the same
thing as whoever believes. It's the exact same word, it's just a modern day versus
you know, a makalumong way to say that word, but it's the same thing, right? I've
seen the other versions, it doesn't say that. It will change it to obey, it will
change it to baptism, it will change the repentance or whatever, they just changed
what the message actually is. So yeah, of course you can't get saved from a
version that's teaching something false, it's got to be true. And then sometimes
you say, well, you know, people get saved through a King James Bible, and they'll
say, well, you're saying you can't get saved in another language. No, that's not
what we're saying, because the Bible can be in any language. I mean, I preach my
sermons in English, so obviously I speak in regards to the English language, but
you can translate verses into another language and it's perfectly fine, right?
The Word of God can be translated into any language, and especially because the
salvation verses are very simple verses, usually. The gift of God, look, people
don't have to be, you know, an expert at 20 languages to translate the gift of
God into their language and get somebody saved. Or He that believeth on
the Son, I mean, you can do that and translate into your language, whatever
language you speak around the world, and get somebody saved. And guess what they
did in English-speaking countries before they had a Bible? They did the same thing.
They basically knew the Word of God, and you know what, they translated it just
individually into their own language and said, well, this is what the Bible says,
right? So we're not saying that you can only get saved through a King James
Bible. We're saying it's got to be the Word of Truth. It's got to be accurate.
It's got to be correct what's being said, and the problem is these modern versions,
they change the Word of God. Turn to 2 Timothy chapter 2. And look, there's
nothing magical about the English language either, because some people
that are King James only, they go too far and they say, well, the English language
has some secret, you know, I don't know, golden nuggets or whatever, you know, in
chicken nuggets, I don't know, whatever, that you don't have in another language.
That's ridiculous. That's not what the Bible teaches. No, because the reality is
the Old Testament was not written in English. The New Testament was not
written in English. Hebrew primarily, some of Daniel Aramaic, and then Greek for the
New Testament. So here's the thing, obviously the Word of God could be
translated in those languages, and here's the reality, God exists outside of
languages. So the Word of God can be translated in any language, but when
you're preaching the gospel to someone, you better be showing them the truth.
It could say John 3.16, but if the words coming after are repent and get baptized
and live a good life, you're not going to get saved from that. Just because it says
John 3.16, it better say, whosoever believeth in him should not perish, right,
but have everlasting life. 2 Timothy 2 verse 15, study to show thyself approved
unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of
truth. The Bible tells us that the Word of God is the word of truth. It's perfect,
it's accurate. Now this is also a verse that people take way out of context
because rightly divide the word of truth, and they think this is, you think I
talk about math, they really make it like a math class. It's like, this is a pizza,
this is a pizza, let's cut it into eight slices. Here's, you know, piece number one,
dispensation number one, here's dispensation number two, and you got
the pepperoni, it's like a pizza of eight different, you got the pepperoni, you got
the Hawaiian, you got the, man help me out, I don't eat pizza enough, you got the
Supreme, you got, you know, whatever, the cheese, and you cut it into like eight
different slices, and then we're living in one of those slices and nothing else
matters. That's not what it means by rightly dividing the word of truth. What
it means is basically every single verse in the Bible you got to look at the
context, you got to cross-reference things. It's not just in sections, I mean
every verse you need to rightly divide. Every verse you need to make sure you're
not taking it out of context, because you could, you could quote a verse that
sounds like it's saying something, but it's really the opposite because you're
taking it out of context, right? So you got to rightly divide every single word,
but what the Bible says is the Word of God itself, it is the word of truth. So
what should we do? We should study the Word of God so we know it, right? When I
preach sermons, the vast majority of sermons I preach is because I'm reading
or memorizing and I see something and I want to preach on it, and then I preach a
sermon about it. When I preach chapter by chapter, I memorize those chapters ahead
of time because I'm trying to study the Word of God so I can just preach what
the Bible's saying. And look, whether you're preaching sermons or not, whether
you're a man or a woman, a boy or a girl, you should be studying the Bible for
yourself. The primary way is obviously reading the Bible, but you can memorize
the Bible, you can cross-reference, study topics out. The problem is people,
instead of studying the Word of God and the Word of truth, they study, you know,
Clarence Larkin's dispensational charts. And look, I'm not saying there's anything
wrong with having Bible charts can be good if they're accurate, but I'm saying
you ought to be studying the Word of God, not just studying these, you know,
dispensational books or whatever. I knew somebody who went to Hiles Anderson
College and actually turned to Hebrews 4. He's a friend of mine from West
Virginia and he graduated from Hiles Anderson and he told me that when he was
in Bible college, he said, nobody read the Bible because they were too busy
reading all these other books, like literally nobody read the Bible. It's
like you're studying the Word of God in Bible college and they've got you so
busy studying books that are not the Bible that you don't have time to study
the Bible. And look, I'm not saying it's wrong to read a book outside of the
Bible. You can study things and learn things and some people have good
information to teach you, but if you don't have time to read the Bible,
there's a problem there because the Bible says study the Word of God, right?
If you're very knowledgeable about this book, even if you're ignorant about other
things, you're actually going to have wisdom and knowledge. And to be
completely honest, you need this book as basically your foundation, so if you hear
other things, you know whether it's true or not. There are certain things that I
know for a fact. For example, once saved, always saved. Eternal security. So here's
the thing, if there's a religious book written by someone who doesn't believe
in eternal security, all right, well it's time to shut that book and not listen to
that guy because it's not the Word of Truth. So you need the Bible as your ultimate
number one foundation, so if you hear even a sermon or read another book or
whatever, you make sure, hey, it's accurate with what the Bible says, right?
And look, you should always be doing this, even if you're listening to my
preaching or online preaching, make sure it lines up with what the Bible says. Now
turn to Hebrews 4. Hebrews 4. Number one, we know our Bible's perfect because there
are no errors, but honestly the big reason why I know that this is the Word
of God is because when I read the Bible, I can tell it is completely different
than any other book. There is just power in the Word of God. And look, an unsaved
person would not understand this. And in fact, some unsaved people have their own
holy books, and they would say that about their holy books. For example, I read the
Bhagavad Gita, which is known as the Bible of the Hindus. It's the worst book
I've ever read, and I've read a lot of false scriptures. That is the worst. I
mean, Daniel 3 was far better. At least it's entertaining. Flames flying out, you
know, it's entertaining, right? But the Bhagavad Gita was the biggest nonsense. It
was boring, it made no sense, it contradicted. I mean, it was praising the
devil all throughout it, and yet you'll hear certain, you know, especially Hari
Krishna, because that's their big book, and they'll say, you know, this book is
not like any other book. Well, you're right about that. There is a spirit to
that book, I believe, but it's not a godly spirit. And of course, they say that
about their books because they have a false religion, but for us that are saved,
you can easily tell the difference between Daniel 3 and the Word of God
versus Daniel 3 in a false version. It's just obvious, and sometimes you can't put
your finger on it necessarily, but you can just tell it's not accurate, right?
The same thing is probably true for many of you that have been saved for a long
time, and yet you heard certain sermons that you didn't fully understand all the
doctrines and stuff, but you're like, this does not make sense. It just doesn't
make sense. I remember my wife telling me a long time ago when she was, she
heard a sermon on the gap theory, and then my wife was asking me about it
before we were married, and she's just like, this doesn't make sense, it's
confusing. I was like, yeah, because the Bible doesn't teach, there's a four and a
half billion year gap between the first two verses of the Bible. That's nonsense,
right? But it's just like, as a saved person, you hear something false and
there's the spirit of truth inside of you that says, that's not right, that's
not true. Doesn't make sense. As a saved person, you can understand this. When you
read the Bible, you can tell it's the Word of God. Now, you might not be able
to prove it, you know, empirically and win a debate versus someone, but you yourself
know that it's true and it's the Word of God. I mean, I don't think that I could
win debates versus people that are these expert scholars that throw out all
these vain arguments, and yet if I were to speak to people that are saved, they'd
say, amen, I agree with what he's saying. Because there's power to the Word of God,
and we can tell when we read it, it is the Word of God. The Bible says in Hebrews
4 verse 12, for the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and
of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart. Now, the Bible says the Word of God is quick and powerful, and it's
not very complicated what that means. I mean, when it says quick, it's a
word for alive, okay? For example, there's an old Western movie, The Quick and the
Dead, which is the alive and the dead. It was basically an old-fashioned
makalumong word to say quick, okay? It's not saying quick as in, wow, it really
moves fast, and wow, it lifts weights, right? Now, that's very obvious. We read
that, it's obvious to us, but the biggest book to debunk the King James Bible I
have read personally, the King James only controversy, and that was one of his big
arguments, well, that's confusing. The Word of God is quick and powerful. My Bible
doesn't lift weights. My Bible doesn't run. I was like, I mean, that was the James
White, this super expert genius James White, and I was only like either 19 or 20
at the time, because I was at a church that was not King James only, so they
gave me that book to read, and I was like, you just made me more hardcore King
James only. I mean, that's one of your best arguments. My Bible is not
quick and powerful. It doesn't lift weights. It's like, is that a joke?
It's not confusing, especially, I mean, the word quick, I get it, because it's not as
common, but powerful, if you say something's powerful, a five-year-old
knows what you're talking about. They know that you're not talking about
lifting weights, okay? It's very obvious, but what this verse actually
means is the Word of God, it's alive and it's powerful, and basically it has a way
to get to the inside, to even the thoughts and intents of the heart. You
say, what do you mean, Brother Stuckey? I'm saying when the Word of God is preached
or when you read the Bible, it is a way to get to the inside, which no living
weapon or sword could actually do. Meaning, if you're reading the Bible and
you're guilty of a certain sin and you read about it, all of a sudden it pierces
you on the inside. Or we've all heard those sermons that stepped on our toes,
right? I've heard sermons that stepped on my toes. I was a worldly college student
that watched all the wrong movies, listened to all the wrong music, and
I heard sermons that just ripped apart rock music and these movies, and so you
know what? I felt very guilty, took all my music, threw it away in the trash. How
does that happen? Because the Word of God is powerful. It is a way to get to the
inside. And here's the thing, I already knew it was wrong to listen to
Aerosmith. I'm not an idiot. They're talking about drugs and drinking and sex
and drugs and rock and roll and all that stuff. I knew it was wrong, but I enjoyed
the sound of it, right? I liked rock music. But then when you hear that sermon, boom,
it hits you, you start feeling very guilty, right? I'm sure all of us could
make a testimony at various times. We've heard sermons and it just hits you hard
where you felt very guilty. Now here's the thing, you have a choice how you
react to that. For example, you could decide to quench the spirits and say, you
know what? I don't care what the Word of God says. I'm gonna justify my sin. I'm
going to lie and deceive myself, which the Bible speaks about. And then, of
course, you're gonna leave a church like this because you don't like your toes
being stepped on, right? Or when you hear that message, you can decide, you know
what? I can't deny what the Bible says. I just need to change. People oftentimes
say, well, you know, I'm not like this. I'm not the sort of person that reads. You
know, reading the Bible, it's hard for me. I'm not a reader. Change! Change! Isn't
that your purpose of being at church, to change? Yeah, you know, we're all different.
I mean, I remember saying, hey, I could never preach the gospel to anyone. I told
my friend, I was like, hey, I'm too shy. It's not me. I'm not an outgoing person.
It's just not the gift that God has given me. What happens? You change! Many
people would say the same thing. You would have never been the person to
randomly walk up to someone that you don't know and start talking to them. And
yet, what happened? You changed. You say, why? Because that's what the Word of God
says. And probably for most of us, we probably started soul-winning because we
just knew that we were supposed to. And then all of a sudden, it's like, man, it's
exciting. It's fun. And you know, the first time you go soul-winning, for those of you
maybe that are nervous to step your foot in that water, you actually realize,
actually, what was I nervous about? Right? People think like they're gonna knock on
the door of, like, the smartest Jehovah's Witness in the world and get destroyed
in the debate. Number one, Jehovah's Witnesses don't know much about the
Bible. Number two, if somebody wants to debate with you, regardless of whether or
not you can win that debate, you just move on. You don't have to wait until
you're the most knowledgeable person about the Bible to go out soul-winning.
Look, I could run into someone out soul-winning that could bring up
something that I don't know how to answer. But if they're trying to debate
with me, does it really matter? It's like, all right, well, I'll just move on to the
next door. Right? Because there's no purpose of debating anyway. But anyways,
go to Luke chapter 4. Luke 4. Luke 4. But see, there's a power to the Word of God
that is unlike anything else. And, you know, why is that? Because, yes, this is a
book, but it's a spiritual book. It's different than a man-made book. It's
completely different. This is like no other book in the entire world. Luke 4,
verse 32, it says, "...and they were astonished at his doctrine, for his word
was with power." Go to verse 36, "...and they were all amazed and spake among
themselves, saying, What a word is this! For with authority and power he commanded
the unclean spirits, and they come out." And look, there are people that don't
believe the Bible, but even they, if they're honest, could admit there's just
something about the Word of God. Because look, unsaved people, even if they don't
believe this, there's something about this book that offends them. Right? You go
soul-winning and explain to people the gospel, and they get really mad when
you're quoting Bible verses. It's like you quote, "...all liars shall have their part
in the lake which burneth." And then they're really mad at you. It's like, I'm
just showing you what the Bible says. Right? But they get really mad because
they don't believe it, and they don't want to think that they deserve hell.
That happens. Why is that? Because the Word of God has power. Right? God's Word
has power like nothing else. Turn to 1st Corinthians 2. 1st Corinthians 2.
I mean, sometimes I read verses in the Bible, and I just kind of stop and I
think of the beauty of that verse about how it's worded so perfectly. And I just
think to myself, the greatest poet in the entire world wouldn't be able to do this.
I mean, it's just fantastic. It's just written 100% perfectly. No matter
how eloquent anybody is, it's like, it's nothing like the Bible. The Bible
is different than any other book. I mean, there's a reason why it's the greatest
selling book ever, and unsaved people read it. I mean, it used to be kind of a
common thing that everybody read the Bible. Not so much anymore. But it's just
like, there's a difference between this book and any other book. And you know
what? There's also a difference between Daniel 3 in the Catholic Bible and
Daniel 3 in the real Bible. It's just madness in the Catholic Bible.
1st Corinthians 2, verse 3, Paul the Apostle speaking, "...and I was with you in
weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching
was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the
Spirit and of power, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men,
but in the power of God." Here's a man, Paul the Apostle, which was very educated.
Probably more educated than any of us. Intelligent man, he knew a lot of things,
and he said, when I preached, I made sure that I did not give you enticing man's
wisdom, right? I basically preached so you could understand the Word of God. For
example, when a person gets up to preach a sermon, and this is kind of helpful
advice for those of you that might one day preach a sermon, you have to ask
yourself, what is your goal when you're preaching a sermon? Is your goal to
preach a sermon where people are really confused and think, that guy's the
smartest person in the world? I didn't understand any of that, right? Like some
of your math professors, right? We've had math teachers, and the first day of
class, it's all letters. Is this math class? Like, I thought I was signed up
for math, and it's all letters, and you're just completely confused, and all the
teacher had to do was give a sample problem and put the number, oh, it's
actually pretty easy, right? But it's just so confusing, you don't understand, but
then you think, man, that guy's just so smart. Actually, he's just not a good
teacher, because your goal is actually to make something complicated simple. My
goal is to preach sermons and bring it down to a level where you say, man, I
understand that, it's not complicated, now I can apply it, right? My goal should not
be to make myself sound really intelligent, but actually bring the Word
of God down to a level that you can understand it. I mean, if you're gonna
teach your kids, don't you want them to understand what you're saying so they
can apply it? I mean, it makes just common sense. Your goal should not be to
confuse people. And look, this sounds very basic, but there's many pastors out there
that just speak in ways that people don't understand. It's like, we're
starting a five-part series on soteriology, and they go on and on, and
you're like, soteriology, the study of salvation. Why not just say salvation
where people understand it? Right? I mean, it's just like, why not use words that
people actually get? But they're trying to make themselves look smart. That was
not Paul the Apostle. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 6. 2 Corinthians 6.
I can't even remember all the terms. I've heard them from various people, these
terms that, you know, are really complicated and nobody understands and
everything like that. And eschatology is an example. You know, a lot of people
don't know what eschatology means. Right? Now, preachers will mention eschatology,
and it's okay to say the word as long as you explain what that means. It's a study
of the end times. People understand that, but they'll literally preach a sermon on
eschatology, and you don't even know until 30 minutes into the sermon what
it's about. Right? Or you hear a sermon, and this is very common with
dispensational teachers, where they bounce all around. It's like, all right,
we're in Genesis 1. All right, now there's a four and a half billion year gap here.
Let's go to the book of Jeremiah to see what this is talking about. And you're
like, what? And you get done with the sermon. You're like, man, that guy's so
smart. I mean, I better buy these books and study. I don't understand what he's
talking about. Right? There's literally pastors. That's the way they preach.
This is a bunch of nonsense. You're supposed to preach in a way where people
actually understand what you're saying. You say, why? Because the Word of God is
actually written in a very plain way. The Bible says, make it plain that he may run
who readeth it. The Word of God is written in a plain and very simple way,
so you can easily apply it. The Bible's not complicated. God's not trying to
confuse you. Now, I get that there's deep things in the Bible, but most of the
Bible's just bottom shelf, simple to understand, hard to actually do. Right?
Read therein all the days of thy life. Read the Bible every day. Everybody could
understand that verse. Easy to understand, hard to do. That's the way the Word of
God works. It's very easy to understand, though. Right? 2 Corinthians 6 verse 7,
by the Word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness, on the
right hand and on the left. And the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6 verse 7, the
Word of truth and the power of God, why? God's Word has power. And this is unlike
any other book. When you read it, you can tell it's the Word of God. Turn to Acts
chapter 6, Acts 6, Acts 6. And look, when you read something that's false, like
Daniel 3 in the Catholic Bible, you can tell it's not the Word of God. If you're
saved, you can tell. It's not actually that complicated. Acts 6 verse 8, and
Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the
people. Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue
of the Libertines and Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and
of Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and
the spirit by which he spake. So Stephen preaches the Word of God, faith, power, the
wisdom by which he spake, and they end up stoning him. Why? Because the Word of God
has power. Look, one lesson when you preach sermons, make sure you use a lot
of Bible. You say, why? I don't care how good of a speaker you are, you're not as
good as you think. The Word of God is what has power, not man's words. Even in
a sermon like this, I'm still using a lot of Bible. I would not preach a whole
sermon against Daniel 3 in the Catholic Bible and never turn to a verse.
That's ridiculous. The Word of God has power. You better find a way if you
preach a sermon, because sometimes you have a good idea. This would be a great
sermon, but I can't think of verses or passages to use. Got to come up with a
different sermon. There's some times I have a really good idea and I'm just
like, where does it talk about this in the Bible? I know it's in there somewhere,
but I don't know. Well, you got to come up with a different sermon. You say, why? I'm
never gonna preach a sermon that doesn't have any Bible verses. What would be the
purpose of that? Turn to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. Also something to try
to encourage you, maybe that, you know, if you're new at preaching or you want to
preach sometime. Like, for example, I said we're having a men's preaching night,
which is actually going to be on Easter Sunday. That would be the day, April 17.
But here's the thing. Maybe you're saying, well, you know, I'm nervous. I don't know
how to speak. I don't know what to say. I don't have that gift or whatever. You
know, the Word of God is what has power. You could preach a very basic sermon on
why we should go soul winning and quote verses like, the fruit of the righteous
is a tree of life, and he that win its souls is wise. And you know what? Just hearing
that verse is powerful to someone who's a soul winner. People are gonna say, man, amen.
That's what we need to hear. Even the simple truth, if the Bible is used,
they're powerful. Even if you're new at speaking, you don't know what to say,
you're shy, you don't think you have that gift. Actually, there's power. Why? Not in
your words, but in God's words. Think of Moses. I'm not eloquent. How am I gonna
speak? Right? I mean, look, I never considered myself a public speaker. I
mean, that used to be my biggest fear. I thought I was, when we did college things,
you know, I was like the worst in class. But it's something different when you
preach about something you're passionate about and you believe in and you know.
And so look, if you're gonna preach a sermon, preach on something you know.
Preach on something you understand. Right? You know, you don't just get up and just
preach on, let me just preach some deep, dark thing that I'm not quite sure about.
I mean, you just preach what you know. So look, the first sermon you should preach
is probably gonna be something on salvation or soul winning or something
very basic. Why we should read the Bible. And look, those sermons are always good.
We always need to hear verses like that or sermons like that. The Word of God has
power. Sermons have power when you use Bible. And of course, we've probably been
to churches, many of us, where there are no verses used. Right? You sit in church
and you hear one verse and a bunch of stories. You're in church to hear the
pillar and ground of the truth. What's the purpose of that? Now, the worst sermon
I ever heard in my life, and this is worse than heretical sermons, okay? I
heard a sermon from someone I believe who was saved, but he preached an
entire sermon on Abraham Lincoln with zero Bible verses. Abraham Lincoln, a
famous president from the U.S. At least quote a verse about Jesus having a beard
because Abraham Lincoln had a beard, right? Zero verses! Why are you preaching
on it? It's like every pastor in West Virginia is obsessed with the Civil War.
It's like that happened 150 years ago. Nobody cares anymore, right? But it's like
why would you preach a sermon with no Bible verses? I've heard many sermons
where there's like one Bible verse in the whole sermon and it's just like, oh,
what's the purpose? And look, you could hear somebody who's a very gifted speaker,
but if they don't use Bible, there's no power. And yet, I've heard people preach
with a lot of Bible and they're not the best speaker, but I walk away and I like
the sermon. I get reminded at the very least of the basic truths. Of course, you
want the balance of, you know, the Word of God and being dynamic, but the most
important part is just the Word of God by far. With experience, you're gonna get
more dynamic. That's just kind of the way it works, okay? Not only with
preaching does it lack power if you don't use the Bible, but you know what?
If you soul win without using Bible verses, it lacks power. The Bible says in
1 Peter 1 verse 23, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible,
by the Word of God which liveth and abideth forever. See, the Bible says we
get born again by the Word of God, a non-corruptible seed. So here's the thing.
When we go soul winning, we should use the Bible. That's very basic, but when
people first start going soul winning in a lot of Baptist churches, they don't use
Bible, right? When I was at my church in West Virginia, there's always a lot of
people that want to be missionaries, and so we would always have them come out
soul winning with us, and we'd have them knock the first door to see how they did
it. And it's just like most of the missionaries didn't use any Bible.
It's clear they'd never done this before. And it's just like they'd half quote
Romans 3 23, sometimes falsely quoting from another version or whatever, and
then it's... I remember one time, it was really embarrassing. I was with the
assistant pastor at the church who's a friend of mine, and you know, we were with
this guy who was going to be a missionary, and so we have him knock the first door,
and you know, he basically was talking to someone who said they didn't believe the
Bible. He half quoted Romans 3 saying, you know, we've all done wrong. All of us have
done wrong. Do you believe that? That's not quoting the Bible. Say, for all of sin
and come short of the glory of God, then explain, okay? But you don't just say, well,
we've all done wrong. Quote the Bible, right? And then explain what it says. And
then after a couple minutes, this is a woman who doesn't believe the Bible. It's
like, well, would you like to pray and receive Jesus right now? I was
embarrassed. I'm just like, this woman said she doesn't believe the Bible. It's
like, what are you talking about, right? It's always the worst if you're a soul winning
partner, you're the silent partner, and then it's like, man, this is embarrassing,
right? But it's just like, there was no power in the presentation because he
didn't use Bible. And look, the gospel is not complicated. We're just explaining
it's a gift. You don't have to be the most eloquent. I mean, people know what a
gift is, and you explain, well, that's the way salvation works. Eternal life, it's a
gift. Wow, that makes sense. I've never heard that before. And like I
promised you, if you preach the gospel using a lot of verses, the person
listening to you is going to think you know more about the Bible than anyone in
the entire world, right? I mean, it's like, people will literally say that, you know,
to you sometimes, like, man, I've never met someone who knew so much about the
Bible, which sadly, there's very few people that know the Bible in 2022. But
literally, even if you aren't the most eloquent, the person listening is
going to think, man, this is like the greatest Bible lesson I've ever heard in
my life. It makes so much sense. So look, for those of you that are shy to go soul
winning, all you got to do is start coming as a silent partner, see somebody
do it in action, and then you're just showing the Bible verses and explaining
them. Of course, you can get better with time, we understand that, but it's
actually not as complicated as you think. Now turn to 1 Corinthians 2. We'll look at
a few more places. The Bible says, the sower soweth the word. It doesn't say the
sower soweth his personal testimony. Look, I'm always happy to hear about how
people get saved. It's always interesting, you know, people get saved in a variety
of different ways. I'm sure many people at our church would say, online preaching,
you got saved. I got saved because somebody in college gave me the gospel,
right? Many people in this room, I mean, maybe somebody else in this room gave
you the gospel, or a friend, or a brother, or cousin, or whatever, but it's always
interesting to hear somebody's testimony of how they got saved. But here's the
thing, it's interesting to me because I am saved. But if you're going to talk to
someone who's unsaved, you need to just explain the testimony of the Lord,
according to John 3. What he did, not how you got saved. But what do you have to
believe? And if they believe the testimony of the Lord, that's what saves
them, okay? Turn to your Bible, we're in 1 Corinthians 2, and here's what it
says in 1 Corinthians 2, in verse 9,
Now, verse 9 is often associated with, you know, people saying, when we go to heaven,
God's prepared these amazing things. That's not really the context. I'm not, I'm
not against saying that, but it's not really the context here, because the
context in 1 Corinthians 2 is about knowing the Word of God, and
basically saying the deep things of the Word of God, okay? And look, as a saved
person, when you read the Bible, there are things God has prepared for you, deep
things that you can understand that defy any sort of human reasoning, that will
just explain to you the mysteries of life, right? The deep things of God you
can learn. It says in verse 11,
So look, if you do not have the Spirit of God, if you are not saved, you can't
understand a spiritual book. You're not going to get it. Verse 12,
So look, as we preach the Word of God, as we read the Bible, we compare spiritual
with spiritual to understand a spiritual book, and having the Spirit of
Truth inside of you, you can understand. But the natural man, the unsaved man, the
person who only has the flesh, they're not born again, they don't have the
Spirit of God, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for
they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned. You see, if an unsaved person picked up this book and
read it, it would go straight over their head. They wouldn't get it. It wouldn't
make sense to them, right? You have to have the Spirit of God to understand
this. This is why you hear a lot of people say that they started reading the
Bible and they put it down because it was complicated, they didn't understand
what it was talking about. Well, I mean, they might be telling the truth. Maybe
they did try to start reading the Bible, but it just went over their head. And
look, if you don't understand something, it's gonna be boring. What I learned when
I was a math teacher is that there's really three groups in a classroom.
There's those that do not understand what you're talking about, those that
think it's very easy, and those that are kind of in the middle, where basically
they can figure it out, but they got to practice. And what I found is these two
groups are troublemakers. Those that don't understand what's going on, they're
troublemakers because they're confused in their board. And those that find it
very easy, they're troublemakers also. I even think back to myself in school, math
was my best subject, and I was like, I was a worse student in math in terms of
how I acted, you know, I was goofing off and everything, because, you know, I
understood a lot of the stuff, whereas in other classes I did not, right? And here's
what I'm saying, unsaved people, when they read the Word of God, they're here. They
do not understand what it's talking about. It goes straight over their head,
and they're not going to want to read it. But here's the thing, you don't have an
excuse not to read the Bible. If you believe on Jesus, you are saved. You've
got the Spirit of God inside of you, and, you know, here's the thing about the Word
of God, there are things that are very surface level, but there's certainly
things that are not, things you got to study the scripture to know. There's
never a time to stop reading the Bible, right? Turn to John 10. John 10.
Understanding that the natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit
of God, for they are foolishness unto him, realize that an unsaved person cannot
get saved on their own. Because when they pick up this book and read it, it will go
straight over their head. This is why throughout the Bible you have the
Ethiopian eunuch as like, understandest thou what thou readest? How can I, except
some man, guide me? He's like, I don't understand. This is like Mandarin Chinese
to me, right? I don't understand what this is about, right? I mean, that's the way
unsaved people are with the Word of God. They don't understand. And it's like, even
religious people, you'll give them Bible verses, you can tell it goes straight
over their head, right? I mean, you could quote John 3.16 to an
unsaved religious person that is a Christian, and they would say, Amen, you
know, anyone who believes. And you know, if you believe, that means you're gonna
walk the walk and live a good life and get baptized. It's like, it says
whosoever believe it. And yet by that they think, that means, you know, if you
really believe, faith has action, they'll say, right? You got to have a living faith,
a walking faith, or something like that. It's like, no, that's not what John
3.16 is saying, right? The one that's my favorite is when unsaved religious
people turn to Matthew 7 on you, where the person, right? Some people know what
I'm talking about. Because, you know, when someone experiences it for the first
time, like a saved person going sowing, and they turn to a great verse to
prove our, they're in shock. And I always tell my sowing partner, yeah, they do this
sometimes. I mean, it's very obvious, but they don't get it. It's like, many
will say to me that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And then I
named them many wonderful works? And in the name cast out devils, and then I'll
profess it on them, I never knew you. And of course, it's very simple. Someone
trusting in their works, God's gonna say, I never knew you because you were
trusting in your works. But they turn there and say, well, this proves you got
to live a good life, because even a very good person didn't do enough. I'm like,
what? It's like, what are you talking about? Or like, sometimes you turn to the
publican and the Pharisee, you show the story, which one of these people do you
think went to heaven? Well, the Pharisee, right? Because he's a good person. That's
literally what people will say. And you know what? We were all the same way
before we were saved. I'm not trying to insult these people, because we go
out, we try to get them saved, but what I'm saying is that unsaved people, they
just don't get the Bible. And you know what? I believe a big reason why God did not
allow someone to get saved on their own is to try to keep us humble, because
nobody could sit here and say, well, you know what? I just got saved on my own. I
just taught myself the Bible. It's like everything I believe, I just taught
myself. I taught myself to be a soul winner. No, you didn't. You got saved from
somebody else, you learned how to go soul winning from somebody else, you learned
great truths from the Bible from somebody else, as did I, as did every preacher you
hear. They learn things from other people. And I believe God sets it up that way to
keep us humble, because nobody can just say, I've just done this all myself. You
haven't. You got saved because somebody gave you the gospel. Turn to John chapter
10. We'll look at two more places. John 10. John 10. Now there's another thing
taught in the Bible, and what that is is that if somebody is saved, they're going
to understand the voice of the shepherd. They're going to understand the Word of
God. They're going to understand Jesus Christ, and they're not going to be
deceived into something that's false. Okay, now let me show you the verses and
explain that. John 10 verse 27. I actually started John 10 verse 27, and it says here,
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Now some people see
this verse, because this is a great eternal security section, but they'll
look at this verse and say, we'll see if you're one of the children of God, you're
going to follow God. You're going to walk the walk and do the works. That's not
what it means by follow me, because earlier in the chapter in verse 4, John
10 verse 4, and when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the
sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but
will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers. So basically as a
saved person, you're not going to be deceived by Muhammad. You're not going to be
deceived by Buddha. And so wait a minute, we got an appointed son of God in 2022.
Maybe that's the son of God. You're not going to be deceived as a saved
person. Now many people will hear that voice and follow it. Not you if you're
saved, though, because you've got the Spirit of God inside of you. So when he's
saying, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, he's not saying,
you're going to read the Bible, you're going to go to church. No, what he's
saying is, you're not going to follow the Antichrist. You're not taking the mark of
the beast. You're not going to switch to Islam and say you're a Muslim and just
reject Christianity. You're not going to become a Buddhist or become an atheist.
No, because you're going to follow the voice of the shepherd. Now that does not
mean that you're necessarily going to come to church and read the Bible, but
what it does mean is you're not going to follow a false religion, though. You say,
why? Because you can tell it's not the truth, because you have the Spirit of
truth inside of you. Go to 1 John 4. 1 John 4. 1 John 4. And look, a lot of
people disagree with this, but this is just the truth. A saved person is never
going to just not believe in Jesus Christ. That will not happen. And I gave
you John 10 as a reference, but you can look at a lot of references, and I don't
have time to do it, but just another example, you've got to cross-reference
these things, but in John chapter 3, it talks about when you receive the
testimony of the Lord, receiving Jesus Christ, you've set to your seal that God
is true. You're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise when you cross
reference. You're sealed with the Spirit of truth. You've set to your seal God is
true, meaning you're never going to call God a liar. Kind of lines up with 1 John
5. If you don't believe this, you're calling God a liar. As a saved person, you
never will. A saved person is going to know those three things, that it's a free
gift, it's only in Jesus, and you cannot lose your salvation. If someone thinks
they can lose their salvation, they are not saved, because they're calling God a
liar. And here's the thing, you say, well, maybe they believed and changed their
mind. No, no, no, because when you receive the testimony of the Lord, you've set to
your seal God is true, according to John chapter 3. You've got the Spirit of truth
inside of you. I'm not saying you can never be confused about anything, but
there's definitely a limit to that, and the Bible is very clear in 1 John, you
will not get confused on whether or not Jesus is the way to heaven. If somebody
says, well, you know what, I think there's multiple ways to heaven. Not saved. Someone
says, well, you know what, it's not really a gift, we got to also do the
works, they're not saved. Someone says, you can lose your salvation, not saved. Which,
by the way, that's why when we go soul-winning, those are the three things
we're explaining. And of course, the one people really struggle with is, once
saved, always saved. Because every unsaved person knows one thing about the Bible,
and that is, if you commit suicide, you're going to hell, right? And that's not even
true. The one thing they know for sure, it's not even true. And that's the one
thing I knew for sure before I was saved, too, right? I knew that if you commit suicide,
and yet it's not even true, because you have spiritual eternal life, so even if
you end in your own life, you're not going to lose your salvation. 1 John 4,
we'll close up here, 1 John 4, verse 4. Year of God little children, and have
overcome them, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
He that is in you is in reference to the Holy Spirit of God. They are of the world,
therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. Isn't it true
that Joel Osteen has a lot more people listening to him than any good preacher
does? We're never going to have a mega church, and we've grown quite a bit as a
church, but make no mistake about it, we're not going to be running a thousand
people out of church. It's not going to happen. You say, why is that? Because the
truth is, more people are following the advice from the world than the advice
from God. And it says, we are of God, he that knoweth God heareth us, he that is
not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of
error. And this is a pretty deep passage, but in terms of basically being deceived
by, and really this is it largely in reference to the nature of God and
oneness in the Trinity and stuff like that. I preached on 1 John before, you
can listen online if you weren't here for that. But it says, we are of God, he
that knoweth God heareth us. And what John is saying is, hey, people that are
saved, when we preach to them, they're like, that's what the Bible says. Now they
might get mad at what it says, but they know it's what the Bible says. You say,
why? Because they have the Spirit of God inside of them to tell them those things.
But the unsaved person, they don't get these things. So here's what I'm saying,
as a saved person, it is obvious to us the power in the Word of God. When you
read this book, you know it's the Word of God. I don't have any doubts. I mean, when
I got saved and I started reading the Bible, I immediately knew, wow, this is
the Word of God. And I didn't have any reason to believe. I mean, I didn't have
any explanation. I didn't have any proofs. I couldn't prove that the Bible was the
Word of God, but if somebody asked me, it's like, well, I don't care what you
say. I know that this is the Word of God. I mean, I read it. It just is. It's just
obvious, right? And honestly, you know what? You don't have to be able to prove
the Word of God is true, because if someone's going to get saved, how do they
get saved? For I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of
God and the salvation to everyone that believe it. I think it's good to study
those things and learn certain things, but the truth is, when we go soul winning,
if somebody is forcing you to prove the Word of God is true for them to get
saved, well, what sign did Jesus say he was going to give them? The sign of the
Prophet Jonas as he was three days and three nights in the whale's belly? So
shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth? I
mean, it says, I think it's in 1 Corinthians where it's like, you know, the
Jews seek after wisdom, or the Greeks seek after wisdom, and it's just like, but
you don't give them wisdom. You don't give them an evolution seminar. You just
give them the Word of God. Why? The gospel is what has power. So look, when we go
soul winning, when we read the Bible, when we preach sermons, you need to use
a lot of Bible, and as a saved person, if you, I'm not suggesting you do this, I do
this for the sake of preaching against these things, and this is not something I
did when I didn't preach sermons, I'm not suggesting you read Daniel 3 in the
Catholic Bible, but if you do, it's not going to be hard for you to figure out.
There's something wrong here. I mean, a volcano exploding, and yet the people
that are creating this volcano aren't dying? Something just doesn't make sense
here, right? Let's close in word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for
allowing us to be here today and getting to see your Word on this topic, and help
us just to be wise and have knowledge about all these different things, God, but
help us to not just realize the Word of God is perfect, but to actually use it, to
actually read it, to use it as we go soul winning, to study it, God. Help us not just
be people that are just so excited for the Word of God, but we do nothing with
it, God. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen.
First stanza, ready?
Sing.
Come on, let's do this again.