Alright, we're here in John chapter 20. We're getting close to the end of the book of John.
And we're actually next week, instead of doing Psalms, we'll finish with John 21 so we can finish the month and be done with John.
And then we'll move on to, if not Esther immediately, we might do Titus then Esther, but we'll be moving on to a new book.
And we're here in the second to last chapter, John 20, and the name of the sermon is Jesus' Resurrection Revealed.
And notice what it says in verse number 1.
The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
Now, I want you to go to Matthew chapter 28 so we can learn a little bit more about this.
To one side point you can see in John 20 verse 1, as it mentioned, Mary Magdalene went early.
And one thing you're always going to notice throughout the Bible is that godly people tend to do things early.
They start early.
And quite honestly it makes sense because you're more productive early on in the day.
When you wake up early, the early bird gets the worm.
If you wake up early, you tend to be more productive.
And she goes early, and it says it's yet dark in John 20, so it's not even probably 6 a.m. at that time.
Around 6 a.m. is when you presume it starts to get light, but it's really early at this time.
Now in Matthew chapter 28, notice what it says in verse number 1.
In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
Behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven in Cain and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it.
His countenance was like lightning, and his raven white as snow.
And for fear of him the keepers did shake and become his dead men.
The angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not, for I know that he seeked Jesus, which was crucified.
For he is not here, for he is risen, as he said, Come see the place where the Lord lay.
Now, when they say come see the place where the Lord lay, they want her to see it, so she notices that Jesus is not there.
Okay? It's not like they needed to roll away the stones so Jesus could get out.
It's not like, you know, he rose again, he's trapped in there, like, man, I want to get out of here.
It's like that's to reveal the fact that he already has risen, and he's gone.
Now, apparently Jehovah's Witnesses don't get that, though.
Right.
Because they don't believe he physically rose again.
So what's the whole point of this story where they say, hey, come see the grave where he lay?
He physically actually had risen again from the dead.
You know, if it was just a spiritual resurrection, they'd still be able to see his body there.
Right.
But his body is not seen there because he actually didn't just spiritually rise again, he physically rose again.
Not only did his spirit rise and he's no longer in hell, you know, he's there for three days, but his body was no longer in the ground.
It was not merely a spiritual resurrection.
He actually physically rose again from the dead.
They're saying, come see the place where the Lord lay.
This is where he lay, but he is risen in verse number six, according to Matthew 20.
There's literally no way to misinterpret this.
It's obviously talking about his body.
Okay.
Verse number seven.
And go quickly and tell us, disciples, that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he goeth before you into Galilee.
There shall you see him, lo, I have told you.
And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy, and did run to break his disciples' word.
So they are literally specifically told that Jesus has risen again from the dead.
Clearly that is what they're told, but I want you to go back to John chapter 20.
And quite honestly, Mary was no different than everybody else, because we think of Thomas at the end of this story and how he had to see the Lord with his own eyes to believe.
Mary's the same way, though, because she hears this, but if you go to John 20, verse 2, it says,
Then she runneth and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciples whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them,
They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid him.
And so she doesn't fully believe this when she's told this.
Now, I looked this up in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, because at first I was a little bit confused about this,
because she's directly told that Jesus has risen again, and yet when she brings word, she doesn't really repeat that.
It's like she's doubting what took place.
But that makes sense, because didn't all the disciples doubt about it? Didn't Thomas doubt about it?
Well, she's no different in this story.
Now, that seems crazy to us, but quite honestly, look, they did not literally see Jesus rise again with their eyes yet at this point.
And we have to understand, we hear things preached in church all the time, and we're like, man, that makes sense.
But then when push comes to shove and we're at the moment where we have to apply it, sometimes we're just like, hey, you know, I don't know.
Maybe it's not really that big of a deal. It's like, well, how much do we really believe in this?
You know, we hear things, we believe it at the time, but then it kind of fades sometimes.
And it's kind of like me and Brother Jerry were talking about this today, that we preach the gospel to some people,
and sometimes we're preaching the gospel to them. Seems like they believe it.
Their answering correctly does not necessarily mean they believe it that much.
We really don't know for sure. Our number of the bulletin is, I'm sure it's not 100% accurate, because we don't know for sure.
We do the best we can. But look, I promise you, we get false converts every week.
And the reason why we get false converts is we get true converts.
Right.
See, there's a lot of churches that have no false converts. It's like, good job. No false converts. No true converts.
Right.
You know, it's pretty hard to miss a free throw shot if you never take one.
Yeah.
But, you know, when you take a lot of them, you're going to miss some along the way.
And, you know, even some people that they told us that, yes, you know, it's by faith alone, you can't lose your salvation, you know, it's only through Jesus Christ.
Some of those people didn't actually believe it in their heart.
You know, we don't know for sure if people do or not.
And here, we're talking about saving people, but quite honestly, we hear the preaching of God's word, and man, it makes sense when we hear it.
But, you know, quite honestly, sometimes we don't really believe it that much. We have to actually apply this.
Okay.
Verse number three.
Peter, therefore, went forth in that other disciple and came to the sepulcher.
So they ran both together, and the other disciple did outrun Peter and came first to the sepulcher.
And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen clothesline, yet went he not in.
And so the Bible says in verse number four that this other disciple outruns Peter.
Now, we don't really know what they look like.
I know we have pictures on, like, the Last Supper and those paintings and what they all look like.
So I don't know if he was more athletic than Peter. I'm not really sure.
But it says he outran Peter.
You know, I think the application God wants to have, though, is he's a little bit more excited to get them.
I mean, he outruns them as if he's really excited to get them.
Okay.
But when he sees the linen clothesline, he just stops.
He doesn't go in.
Okay.
He understands the fact that, you know, linen clothes are there when there's, you know, someone who's died.
And it's like he has this understanding when he first sees them.
Like, he's running and he beats him there, and then all of a sudden he's just kind of like, man, he's not there anymore.
That's what he's thinking.
Verse number six.
Then come Simon Peter following him and went into the sepulcher and see if the linen clothesline.
And the napkin that was about his head, not lined with linen clothes, were wrapped together in a place by itself.
Then went in also that other disciple, which first came first to the sepulcher, and he saw and believed.
So basically the other disciple outruns Peter, but he stops because of just being very emotional about the situation and he's thinking about it.
Seems to resonate with him very quickly.
He understands what's taken place, whereas Peter maybe doesn't quite get it quite as quickly.
And so Peter goes in first, and then the other disciple goes in and saw and believed.
And so he believes pretty much immediately.
He gets it.
It all just clicks with him.
It makes sense.
Now, it doesn't necessarily mean that Peter was any less godly or anything like that.
It's just that, you know, the other disciple just really resonated with him very quickly.
Verse number nine.
For as yet they knew not the scripture that he must rise again from the dead.
So the Bible says they didn't know the scripture that he had to rise again from the dead.
Now, look, people will try to take a verse like this, and they try to teach stuff like dispensation or salvation.
And they say, well, you know, see, salvation was different in the Old Testament.
You know, they didn't get saved by the gospel.
They got saved by living a good life, you know, good works, you know, whatever.
Look, the Bible makes it very clear Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world.
The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
That was always what God's plan was.
That was always what was going to take place.
Because obviously, you know, man is sinful, Adam needs sin, death passes upon man.
It was always going to be that way, okay?
Now, they did not know the scripture that he was going to rise again from the dead.
In today's world, you cannot get saved unless you believe Jesus rose again from the dead.
The Bible makes that very clear, okay?
And when we talked about the Jehovah's Witnesses earlier, not believing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Look, you give the gospel to a Jehovah's Witness, you better make sure very clearly that you explain Jesus physically rose again from the dead.
Because if they change their mind about Jesus being God, they change their mind about him being by faith alone,
but they do not change their mind about Jesus rising again from the dead, they cannot be saved.
Because you must believe in the burial and the resurrection.
That is part of salvation.
But in the Old Testament, before it took place, they did not necessarily have to have a full comprehension.
They must believe by faith alone, but they didn't necessarily have to believe everything or understand everything that took place, okay?
Now, this is after the resurrection of Jesus, and once their eyes are opened in the scripture, it just makes sense for them.
Because when you're saved, you know, the truth is going to make sense.
Everyone who was saved before Jesus Christ, when they came, they believed on Jesus Christ.
They believed he was the one, okay?
And then, once it's revealed that he rose again from the dead, everyone who was saved is automatically dead.
Every single one of them.
But that does not mean that people in the Old Testament had the same understanding of everything as we do today.
Look, we understand the book of Daniel better than Daniel did.
That's the truth.
I mean, he wrote the book, but quite honestly, he's writing about something that didn't take place yet.
I understand King Nebuchadnezzar, I understand the Persian Empire, I know the history about that,
I understand Alexander the Great, he didn't know who Alexander the Great was.
He didn't understand that, you know, the Romans were going to take over.
He didn't know who Julius Caesar was.
I mean, we know all of this stuff today, and Julius Caesar's not prophesied, but just a big character.
But he didn't understand that Rome was going to take over for Greece and understand everything.
And so, you have to understand that people in the Old Testament, they're not going to have as much of an understanding as we do today about a lot of these things.
Because they haven't been fully revealed.
But I promise you, all of them believe by faith alone in the Old Testament, even if they didn't fully understand everything that took place.
You say, why?
Because when the Bible says for all of sin they come short of the glory of God, look, people in the Old Testament sinned as well.
And so guess what?
They needed a savior as well.
And see, the only way you can be saved is by faith because our works are never going to be good enough.
It could have never been by works because we're not good enough.
So actually, turn to Galatians 3.21.
Let me show you a verse there.
Galatians 3.21.
Let me turn there myself.
Let me make sure I don't misquote it.
Galatians 3.21.
I want you to notice what it says in Galatians chapter 3, verse 21.
It says, is the law then against the promises of God?
God forbid, for if there had been a law given which could have given life,
verily righteousness should have been by the law.
You know what that's saying?
Look, if we could get to heaven by our works, by something underneath the law, by doing certain steps, guess what?
That's the way it would have been.
Jesus would have never died in the cross.
If we could have received our righteousness by our works, that's the way it always would have been.
There would have been no purpose for Jesus dying.
And so look, if that ever took place, it would have stayed that way.
But look, we know we cannot get saved through our works.
We're sinful.
We're guilty.
In the Old Testament, there was no difference.
They also needed to save them.
They didn't get saved by sacrificing animals.
That is not what saved them spiritually in terms of going to heaven.
It was just laws that were carbon ordinances, that were pictures of Jesus Christ.
Now go back to John chapter 20.
And in John chapter 20, let's notice verse number 10, where Bob reads,
Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.
But Mary stood without a sepulchre weeping.
And as she wept, she stood down and looked into the sepulchre,
and she had two angels in white sitting, the one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had laid.
They say unto her, Woman, why weep itself?
She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid.
And so she is very sad at this moment.
Verse number 14.
And when she had thus said, she turned herself back and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.
So she sees Jesus, and she doesn't understand who he is at first.
Verse 15.
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weep itself?
Whom seekest thou?
She is supposing him to be the gardener.
Sayeth unto him, Sir, if they have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
Jesus saith unto her, Mary.
She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master.
And so now immediately she understands who this is.
She understands this is Jesus Christ.
But at first she didn't understand.
Verse number 17.
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren, and say unto them,
I ascended to my Father, and your Father, and to my God, and your God.
Verse 18.
Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.
Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were symbol for fear of the Jews,
came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be on you.
And we had so said, He showed unto them his hands and his side.
Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord.
And see, you know, Mary had told them this, but quite honestly, they didn't really believe it until they saw it with their own eyes.
And this is our general mentality.
We don't really believe things unless we actually see them.
And so none of them are really any different than Thomas, because Thomas is the one that gets the bad rep.
Doubting Thomas, but they were all doubting.
I mean, when Jesus was crucified, everybody was sad.
You know, people didn't really have the understanding of what was going to take place.
And even after he rose again, you know, somebody said, hey, I saw the risen Christ.
They're like, no, that's just elders who saw.
You didn't actually see Jesus rise again.
They didn't really believe it until they actually saw it with their own eyes.
Verse number 21.
Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be on you, as my Father hath sent me, even so sinned I you.
And here in verse 21, this is basically the Great Commission.
This is where Jesus says, even so sinned I you.
What is he talking about?
Think about the song we sing in our hymnal.
So sinned I you, to labor unrewarded.
Let's talk about sowing.
And see, whenever you look at Jesus Christ at the end of his life, well, this is after he rose again,
but whether it's the book of Acts at the beginning, the end of the book of John, the end of the book of Matthew,
what are you seeing?
He's giving the Great Commission to them.
That's what he's leaving them with.
And it's not just on one occasion.
These are different occasions, and he's saying the same thing.
And what is his message always to them?
Hey, go preach the gospel.
That is what we're here for.
Now turn to Acts chapter 1.
Turn to Acts 1.
And I know we know these verses.
Let's look at them.
This is the common theme, and this is the whole purpose of why a church would even exist.
What's the purpose of us coming here and meeting and preaching hard against sin?
Look, I mean, honestly, what's the point of preaching against all these false religions?
Literally, what's the purpose if we don't go sowing?
We preach against them because they're our enemies when it comes to preaching the gospel and getting people saved.
But if we just come here because we all agree the same things, hey, we have a fellowship in game night.
It's fun, but we never do any sowing.
What's the purpose?
Look, I have other activities I can do, but I'm not going to go sowing.
There's other things I can make my hobby.
There's other things all of us can make as our hobbies, but we're here to actually meet and then be sent out to preach the gospel.
Okay?
Acts chapter 1.
It says in verse number 7,
And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the time through the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power,
but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you,
and ye shall be witnesses on me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and on to the uttermost part of the earth.
Look, soul winning is the message that's always being pounded into them.
Okay?
He's saying I'm sending you out to reach Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria, then the uttermost part of the earth.
As a church, our Jerusalem is right here in Passover.
Okay?
That's the area we are because that's why he mentions Jerusalem first because that's where we are.
And he's saying you're located here, but I don't want you to just stay here.
I want you to eventually go to all these places.
Right.
Now the only logical way to reach the uttermost part of the earth is to get churches started in those areas.
Okay?
Now our church cannot just do so many marathons in North Korea, South Korea, Afghanistan, South Africa.
We just go everywhere.
Instead of just like knocking the cities in Metro Manila,
we'll just say, well, we're going to South Africa next week.
We're going to sign up there if you're planning to become and everything like that.
You know, we can't reach those areas.
They're just too far away from us.
Okay?
The only logical way we can do it is if you just slowly spread out.
And so the point of every church is to basically be established, you grow in number,
and eventually you start other churches.
Now the best method would be your church is here and then you start churches around these areas.
Okay?
Not all the way out here, but you slowly spread out.
You say why?
Because as the new church starts, you can help that church with stuff if they need anything,
whether it's giving them supplies, send guys down to preach.
You know, if they have a joint system of people preaching or one person who's the pastor.
I mean, it's still new to them, so it's good for them to get relief from time to time.
Joints, so many marathons, things such as that.
Also, if a church exists, you might start to slowly reach people in an area like two hours away.
Maybe they're not members here, but they'll come from time to time, listen to the sermons,
and they want to be a part of a church like this.
And so it makes sense to slowly spread out.
Now here, you know, there's 100 million people here in the Philippines,
and in Luzon itself there's over 50 million.
And so quite honestly, our church, the goal is to eventually get a lot of churches started.
Now we're a new church, we're a young church, and we're a growing church,
but that is our goal, and I don't want to just be here five years from now,
and we're just, no matter whether we're running 100 or 200,
eventually we want to get churches started.
Okay, that is the goal.
And that's the purpose we see in Acts chapter 1, because that's the only real way to reach people.
We know the scripture in Mark 16, they'll go into all the world and preach the gospel to every preacher.
And so the message that's being left with the disciples is go preach the gospel.
And so any church that is not really doing so, they're not a church.
Because if you leave your first works, you're going to lose your candlestick according to the book of Revelation.
And so it doesn't matter if a church is King James only.
Man, they agree on all the doctrines we do.
If they do no sowing, they're not really a church.
Churches are meant to go and preach the gospel.
And here he says, so sinned are you.
It's the church's requirement to sin, to go out and preach the gospel.
Turn to Romans 10. Romans 10.
And we know Romans 10, 9 and 10.
We know Romans 10, 13, but let's look at Romans chapter 10 verse 14.
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher?
And so the Bible says, you know, people, they're not going to be able to believe unless they've heard and they need a preacher.
So in verse 14 we see, we must preach the gospel to someone for them to get saved.
It is impossible for someone to get saved without a soul winner preaching the gospel.
And look, I don't care if people come with their stories.
Well, I got saved, nobody preached the gospel to me.
Well, you're either mistaken or you're lying.
It's probably the latter.
It's possible it's the first, but usually it's going to be the latter.
And it's like, look, if you think you got saved without somebody preaching the gospel, you're either mistaken or you're lying.
Because the Bible clearly says, how shall they hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach, except they be sinned?
As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel in peace.
And bring glad tidings and good things.
So the Bible says, how do you preach the gospel unless you're actually sent out to preach the gospel?
Well, what sends people out to preach the gospel?
It's going to be the church.
The local church is what sends people to preach the gospel.
It's not these, you know, these various paraministries and stuff like that.
Well, there's this book, the Alpha and Omega Ministries, James Wyatt.
You went out to preach the gospel.
You're not sending anybody.
It's the church's job to congregate, grow, and sin people out to preach the gospel.
That's what we do every single week.
We have several soul winning times.
And we will always have several soul winning times.
Because quite honestly, all of us need to be sent out.
Otherwise it's not going to be easy to preach the gospel.
Look, I've been members of churches that didn't do a lot of soul winning.
It's hard to be motivated to preach the gospel.
Especially as you preach the gospel and then your pastor's not happy about it.
That's a terrible situation and I've been there before.
I went to a church where basically we preached the gospel a lot, me and my friends.
And they just kind of ran out of invitations.
They never got new ones.
They just ran out of invitations to their church.
It was kind of like, oh, I guess that's him telling us.
He doesn't really want us to go out soul winning.
And sadly, that's the reality in a lot of churches.
Because they don't believe in soul winning.
They think it's a waste of time.
Or if they do believe it works, they basically feel guilty because they don't do any soul winning.
And so basically they try to hinder the people that are arguing.
Verse number 22.
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and saith unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost.
Now, in this verse here, this is when they are in quote with the Holy Ghost.
This is something that was prophesied.
Go back to John 16.
And so what we know is that people before this in John 20, they were not involved with the Holy Ghost.
Now, they were still saved forever.
It was still eternal life.
Okay?
Because even before this moment, it said in John 3, 36, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.
Half is present tense.
So you receive everlasting life the moment you believe.
And so that's what he said in John 3.
So they were to dwell with eternal life.
I mean, they had eternal life forever.
They could never lose their salvation.
They became a child of God, but they were not involved with the Holy Ghost until John 20.
Going back to John 16, verse 7.
This was prophesied.
John 16, verse 7.
And so Jesus said that, you know what?
If I don't depart, then the Comforter is not going to come.
He's saying it's needful for me to die and rise again and eventually go with the Father up in heaven.
Otherwise, the Comforter or the Holy Ghost is not going to come on to you.
Turn to John 20.
John 20.
And so in John chapter 20, verse 23, the Bible reads,
Whosoever sins ye, remit.
They are remitted unto them.
And whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained.
You say, what is this talking about?
Well, I would say what this is talking about is in main reference to a church itself.
Because Jesus actually established a church.
We know that from the book of Matthew.
And what it's saying is the sins that you remit, they're remitted.
And the sins you retain, you retain.
So basically, in a church, if somebody is living a really sinful life, a really wicked life,
and you choose to just kind of overlook that sin and just let them in the church, no big deal,
you are choosing to retain those sins.
So you have a choice to either remit those sins or retain them.
Now look at 1 Corinthians chapter 5.
Now we ought to go on God's standard on when to retain sins and when to remit sins.
Because we're all sinners.
We all do things that are wrong.
But God establishes clear things to tell us when you should retain people's sins
and when to remit them.
Now look, if somebody is doing something wrong but it's not that bad,
they don't get kicked out of church for that.
But there are times where you have to practice church discipline and kick them out.
And in 1 Corinthians 5, we see examples of this.
I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators,
yet not altogether with fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters,
for then must he need to go out of the world.
And so the main context in 1 Corinthians is a man who is involved with his father's wife.
You really can't think of too many sins that are worse than that.
And if a church is not kicking him out of the church,
I promise you they're not going to kick anybody out of the church.
And there are Baptist churches that will not kick anybody out of church unless they're solo.
Those are the only people that they're going to want to get rid of.
They will literally not kick anybody out of the church no matter what.
They could be an open sodomite who brings their partner to church with them.
They could literally go to church dressed up as vice-gonda.
And they wouldn't get kicked out.
The church would just allow them to be in there.
And it's like, you're a fool.
And yet they get mad at the soul winner who's preaching the gospel.
They want to keep this sodomite in the church, but they don't want to keep the soul winner who's preaching the gospel.
What in the world?
I mean, the churches that we have today, this is the reality with Baptist churches.
Many Baptist churches will never kick anybody out unless you're post-trib.
Unless you're a soul winner.
Because they just don't like our kind of people.
They find out you listen to sermons online.
It's just like, man, no matter what you do at the church, even if you're just nice to people, you say hello.
You've never said anything bad or even talked about what you believe.
But they find out that deep down you believe in the post-trib rapture.
Deep down you listen to sermons online.
Deep down, you know, you believe the Bible and read the Bible.
They want to get rid of it.
And you say, why would they do that?
Because they're envious.
That's probably the most logical reason.
Because they're envious of the work you're doing and they don't want to do the work because they don't want anybody else to do the work.
It's kind of like, you know, if people are drinking alcohol and one person's trying to quit drinking alcohol, people that have friends.
If the other person doesn't want to quit drinking alcohol, they don't want the other person to quit drinking.
If they choose to keep that sin, they want the other person to drink it.
I know of situations where there was husbands and wives.
And basically, you know, the husbands and wives, this guy's wife, one of my mom's friends, she had lost a lot of weight and she was trying to lose a lot of weight.
Both her and her husband were very heavy.
And the husband got mad about it, that she was losing weight because he didn't want to lose weight.
And so he got mad about the fact that she was trying to lose weight.
And, you know, she was working out and things such as that.
You know, that's kind of the way people are.
And with churches, they don't want to go soul winning.
So they don't like the people that do go soul winning.
That's the reality.
Now, in 1 Corinthians 5, though, it says that fornicators are to be kicked out of the church.
Verse 11,
But now I have written on you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or a covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such an one known not to eat.
So, here's the thing.
At your office, you're going to have people that you work with that are covetous.
You're going to have people that you work with that are fornicators.
You're going to have people that you work with that, right when they get out of work, they get drunk.
Okay?
You can't avoid that, because then musty needs go out of the world.
Okay?
Every country on earth, you know, every country is sinful.
I mean, the people, by and large, are not believers on Jesus Christ.
They don't live for God.
Okay?
You're not going to be able to avoid it.
You'd have to go out of the world to avoid it.
But, church should be a safe haven from that.
Okay?
And so, when it says a fornicator, look, it's not okay to be a fornicator and be at church.
Okay?
Now, I do know of cases where people join churches and, you know, they're guilty of that sin.
And then, all of a sudden, they don't even realize it's wrong.
And then, they end up getting right with God once the preacher talks to them and explains it.
They hear a preacher.
The preacher just sits down and talks to them.
And he does it in a nice way.
Look, you get somebody saved out of soul winning, and they're living with their girlfriend or their boyfriend.
They're welcome to visit church.
Right.
And, you know, honestly, I'll give them a chance to grow.
And eventually, I'll probably just talk to them and be very respectful and nice to them privately.
And just show them what the Bible says and just say, you know, you have a decision right now.
Okay?
But, I'm not going to just rail on them if it's all due to them.
Okay?
But, at the same time, most people, they're already aware of what's going to get you kicked out and not get you kicked out.
Okay?
Most of us, we know the preaching of God's Word.
Now, there are people that are new to our church and stuff like that and praise the Lord for them.
But, you know, we know these scriptures.
Right?
If you're called a fornicator or covetous.
Now, one thing people don't talk about is when you're a covetous person.
And that is actually something that the Bible says could and should get you kicked out of church.
Right.
Now, we're all covetous to a degree.
Okay?
You say, what would get you kicked out of church?
What would get you kicked out of church for being covetous is when every single person in the room, when your name's mentioned, the first thing they think of is, that's a covetous person.
Why would they think that?
Because all you talk about is money, money, money, money.
That's all you talk about.
Right.
And so they're, I mean, I knew someone who, they don't go to Verity Baptist Church anymore.
They did go to Verity Baptist Church.
And before they ended up leaving, kind of getting backslid, every single person would have said, that person loves money.
And the love of money is the root of all evil.
Yep.
And quite honestly, there are people that all they talk about is money.
And all they talk about is, man, with my jobs, I'm going to go for this, right?
And all they talk about is just money and making more money.
Look, that is someone who's a covetous person.
And honestly, the problem with that is it spreads to other people in the church.
Yes.
When somebody's really covetous and they're just always talking about, you know, 24-7, it's like, man, I'm going to do this.
I'm going to get this raised.
I'm going to buy this car.
I'm going to, you know, Bitcoin, this, and all they talk about.
And I'm not saying that it's wrong to ever talk about any of those things.
But when all you talk about is that, you never talk about the Bible.
You never talk about soul-winning.
You never talk about your family.
All you talk about is the almighty dollar.
You're someone who loves money, and love money is the root of all evil.
Quite honestly, this is something that can get you kicked out of church.
Right.
Okay?
Now, this is not something that you necessarily see as super common in church, but honestly, it does take place.
And honestly, those people end up being big troublemakers, and it's best for them to leave before they cause more trouble.
The Bible says, we're in idolatry.
So, look, you know, if you've got some Catholicism in you, you know, ladies, take out your purse and, you know, throw away those rosary beads right now.
You know, being an idolater is just not acceptable at the church.
Okay?
Now, obviously, somebody who is newly saved, is Catholic, honestly, they probably still have some idolatry at their house.
Okay?
So we're going to be patient on things like this.
You don't get kicked out immediately, but it is something that can get you kicked out.
It says, we're a railer.
And so when someone is always just railing at people at church, it can reach the point where it's like, you know what?
It's not welcome at church because they're just causing a lot of problems.
Or a drunkard.
A drunkard is not necessarily someone who drinks from time to time.
Okay?
There's a difference here.
If somebody drinks from time to time, they don't get kicked out of church.
You say, what gets you kicked out of church?
The purpose here is these sins are very evident to everybody.
Okay?
That's the big problem.
Look, if somebody's coverage is, but I'm not really aware of it.
You know somebody's coverage is because they always talk about it.
You know somebody's a drunkard.
Why?
Because they're either always putting stuff on Facebook that they're getting drunk.
Or they're showing up to church, you know, where they're getting over a hangover.
Look, those people aren't welcome.
If somebody comes stumbling into this room drunk, we will ask them to leave.
Right?
Okay?
Somebody comes stumbling in off the street, it's like, no, we're not going to have a bunch of, you know...
people that are drunk.
You're not going to understand anything we're saying.
You're just going to cause problems.
And if it's someone at a church that it's a regular habit of theirs to get drunk, it's
like, you know what?
You're not welcome.
Now, I want you to understand the difference, though, because there are people that lived
sinful lives in the past.
I know people that are good people now that used to be drug addicts, used to be drunks.
And when you go down a road of sin from time to time, it might creep up.
But the difference is when somebody's actually trying to get rid of the problem versus someone
who just doesn't care and just chooses to be a drunk.
If somebody, you know, it's something that creeps up from time to time and they feel
bad and they meet with me, and I find out about it because they meet with me and say,
man, I really messed up.
I'm trying to get over this.
I'm not going to kick that person out because I'm trying to help them through it.
But if they're a person who's just getting drunk just willingly and not trying to correct
it, then we have a problem.
Okay?
If it becomes that big of a thing.
Because it makes it look like we accept that sort of behavior and we don't at church.
So honestly, we're long suffering, but it comes to a point where it's too much.
We're an extortioner, and that is basically when you steal money by force.
Okay?
My opinion is that when people beg for money, that would be under extortion.
Right.
You say, why?
They're forcing by guilty.
Okay?
And look, we did kick somebody out of our church mainly for that.
Okay?
Where they started asking people for money from the church.
Okay?
That's the main reason why they got kicked out.
And also, it's like, you can't go soloing with us when you have the wrong gospel.
Right.
That's another big problem.
It's like, go back to your Bible Baptist church.
Amen.
But when you're forcing people by guilting them, you know what?
That's not acceptable because that is extortion.
Because look, when people are asking for money, there's naturally any disorder.
You want to help them out.
Yeah.
And you're honestly, especially at church, what happens is people will use church for
money.
That is wicked.
It's not welcome here.
Okay?
And so with these people, we're not supposed to eat with these people.
And so quite honestly, when it comes to sins like these, these are people that if they're
guilty of this, they're not welcome at our church, and we shouldn't be hanging around
with these people.
And if you've got a coworker that's super covetous, you are a fool to spend your time
hanging out with.
Now it's inevitable you're going to have people like that at your company, but if you're in
your free time hanging out with them afterwards, you are a fool, and it's against what the
Bible says.
You should not be doing that.
And it's going to destroy your life.
Right.
That's what the Bible teaches.
Now go back to John 4.
Go back to John 4.
And quite honestly, you know, people think this sort of preaching is harsh, but quite
honestly for people that are good people like all of us, this kind of preaching actually
helps us because if we start to backslide, it's kind of good to have that as a mindset,
whoa, you know, I don't want to get anywhere close to the point where I get kicked out
of church.
It's like, man, I don't want to be a covetous person.
I don't want people to say that I'm covetous.
I don't want people to say I'm a realer.
I don't want people to say that I'm an extortioner or any of these sins.
It's good for us that love the Lord because it's a good marker to say, man, I don't want
to be anything like you.
Right.
Okay?
So in verse 20 we see verse number 24 where we see the importance of church here where
it says, but Thomas, one of the twelve called Dinamis was not with him when Jesus came.
Now, I want you to understand that everybody doubted the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
all of his disciples, but earlier everybody else got to actually see Jesus Christ and
Thomas didn't.
And so he's known as doubting Thomas because he doubts.
Verse 25, the other disciples therefore said unto him, we have seen the Lord, but he said
unto them, except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger in
the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
And so Thomas is basically acting like, you know, we do sometimes where we basically put
our feet in the ground and say, I'm not going to believe unless this and that and that and
that.
And that's what he's doing.
He's just being very stubborn and just refusing to believe.
You would think when all of your other closest friends say, you know, I saw that you would
just say, okay, you know, must be real.
But you know, quite honestly, sometimes when we argue, we just want to, we want to be proven
right.
We want to just argue to argue or whatever.
He just refuses to believe.
Verse 26, and after eight days again his disciples were within and Thomas with them.
Then came Jesus, the doors being shut and stood in the midst and said, peace be on you.
Then said he to Thomas, reach hit through thy finger and behold my hand.
Reach hit through thy hand and thrust it into my side.
Be not faithless, but believing.
And Thomas answered and said unto him, my Lord and my God.
Okay, let me ask you a question.
Did Thomas believe that Jesus Christ was God in flesh?
It certainly sounds like it.
My Lord and my God.
Jehovah's Witnesses are really going to hate this chapter.
It's like we see Jesus rising again and we see very clearly my Lord and my God.
That's very clearly what it says.
And Thomas obviously is a believer.
He's one of his disciples.
Look, it would be pretty bad if you were with Jesus for three years.
And yet you did not know.
Like let's say Jesus was not God.
And you're with Jesus for three years and you thought he was God.
Wouldn't that be, I mean, pretty bobo to be there for three years.
And it's like for three years he's been saying I'm not God.
And you think he's God.
It's like man, you're missing everything.
It's like why did Jesus select you to be one of the twelve.
And obviously he believed that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh.
My Lord and my God.
And this is also something you must believe to be saved.
And so from time to time we do have people that we preach the gospel to.
And they do not believe that Jesus is God.
Can they be saved? No they cannot.
They must understand who he is.
It's not just believing on Jesus Christ.
It's understanding who he is.
You have to believe he is who he says he was and that he do what he said to do.
He said he was God in the flesh.
He is the living God.
Jesus Christ is the living God and you must get saved by believing in the living God.
And so if you don't believe he's the living God you cannot be saved.
That's clearly what the Bible teaches.
Let me give you some verses that you can use to show people this.
1 John 3.
I like to stay in 1 John if I have to show Jesus is God because I'll show you a few reasons.
A few things that you can show.
Not all of these are showing that Jesus Christ is God but it kind of ties in where they can understand Jesus is God.
And one thing I think is a good thing when we go soul winning is to try not to bounce around the Bible unless we need to.
If we can show everything in one place then that's good.
Like Romans 3.23 and 3.10 are both right there.
Now there's a lot of verses that say the same thing but those are both right there so it makes it pretty easy.
But sometimes when I'm trying to show people who Jesus is I first heard 1 John 2.2 and he is a propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
So I say well Jesus died for the sins of the whole world.
Everybody sins.
Why was he able to die for our sins?
Well in 1 John 3 verse 5 what does the Bible say?
And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins and in him is no sin.
He's able to die for our sins because he had no sin.
And the Bible says there is none good but one that is God.
I usually don't show people where it says there is none good but one that is God.
I usually just quote it because it's actually a place Jehovah's Witnesses use to try to say Jesus is not God.
They're taking it out of context.
But what Jesus said is because they take it and say well see Jesus was saying that he wasn't God.
Well if he's saying he wasn't God he would say he's not good.
And he was sinless. In him is no sin.
But there is none good but one that is God.
The only one that is good is God.
And so I ask people was Jesus good?
Well yeah he was good but then he's God.
Because there is none good but one that is God.
But here in 1 John 3 verse 5 it says that he is without sin.
Well look at verse 16. 1 John 3 verse 16.
1 John 3 verse 16 is very easy to remember because think of John 3 verse 16.
So it makes it easy to remember 1 John 3 verse 16.
What does it say in 1 John 3 verse 16?
It says hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us.
Who laid down his life for us according to 1 John 3 verse 16?
God laid down his life for us.
And well all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
God laid down his life for us.
That's what the Bible teaches.
Very clearly Jesus Christ is God.
And also go to 1 John 5. 1 John 5.
1 John 5 verse 20. 1 John 5 verse 20.
And this is also not that hard to remember because it's right at the end of 1 John.
So 1 John 3 16 is very easy to remember.
That's why I like to give people that verse when you're showing Jesus God.
It's easy to remember 1 John 3 16.
And also the very end of 1 John in verse 20.
And we know that the Son of God has come.
Well who's the Son of God?
Jesus Christ.
And has given us an understanding that we may know him that is true.
And we are in him that is true even in his Son Jesus Christ.
This is the true God.
And eternal life.
Who's the true God according to 1 John 5 verse 20?
Jesus Christ.
He is the true God.
He's the living God.
He is eternal life.
That's what the Bible teaches.
Let me just show you one more place.
And actually I'll show you two.
1 Timothy 3 16 is a great place to show this as well.
And so that's not that hard to remember because 1 John 3 16.
1 Timothy 3 16.
These are some of the best verses to show that Jesus Christ is God.
Now there's lots of them.
You can go to other places in the Bible.
I'm not saying you have to go here.
These are just kind of the ones that I kind of like and will bring up.
And often times I also just quote this because it's a long verse here.
But it says God was manifest in the flesh.
Who was manifest in the flesh?
God.
Who's that referring to?
It's referring to Jesus Christ.
Now turn to Titus.
I want to show you one last one.
And like I said there's so many.
You can go to the book of Genesis.
I mean right at the beginning of the Bible Genesis 1
you're seeing the Trinity.
But you're also seeing the concept of Jesus being God.
Right at the beginning of John 1 you're seeing that Jesus Christ is God.
He always has been.
But in Titus chapter 1 verses 3 and 4 I also kind of like this where it says in verse 3
But hath the due times manifested in his word through preaching,
which is committed on the being important to the commandment of God our Savior.
To Titus 1 I also have the common faith.
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.
So in verse 3 at the very end it says God our Savior.
And so you can point them there.
But what does it say at the end of verse 4?
The Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.
So who is the Lord Jesus Christ?
He's God.
God.
The Lord Jesus Christ.
Now obviously we see in verse 4 also God the Father mentioned
because it's God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.
But quite honestly if we're trying to get somebody saved here in the Philippines
and the nature of God is a problem,
the problem is usually not the Trinity.
The problem is usually they don't believe Jesus is God.
That's usually what we have to show them and emphasize.
And what I've found through the years is that some people are confused on it
because of these cults that are confusing.
And so they don't know.
They don't deny it necessarily.
They just don't know.
And so when we show them these verses,
even some of the people in their religions,
they're going to see it and say,
Wow, God our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.
You know, it makes sense to me.
Now if other people have other verses they'd like to go to,
that's fine.
There's lots of great verses.
The beginning of Matthew 1, in verse 23 I believe it is,
and so it's all throughout the Bible that Jesus Christ is God.
There's no question about that.
But what we need to realize is that people must believe that
in order to get saved.
Turn to John 11, John 11.
And one thing I've also found through the years
is that when I first got saved,
I didn't grow up in church.
I didn't know anything about God.
I didn't know any verses and it was all new to me.
It was all new to me.
I just kind of slowly learned,
as all of us are doing the same thing.
You learn, you hear preaching.
You know, when I first got saved,
a generic Baptist church,
that was like the greatest thing ever.
Because everything was new.
I was like, Man, I'm learning so much.
This pastor knows so much about the Bible.
And of course, like a year later,
it's like, Oh, maybe he doesn't know that much.
There's nothing new to be brought to the table.
But everything was new to me.
And one thing I noticed is that when I would study a topic,
you know, in terms of something like Jesus being God
or to be able to answer people out so many,
I found that I was given the opportunity to actually use it.
And I believe that's the way God does it on purpose,
that when you actually study something,
it's not going to be in vain.
God's going to give you the ability to actually use it.
And I don't know about here in the Philippines,
but what I found is that in America,
Jehovah's Witnesses are actually very receptive to God's Word.
Very receptive to God's Word.
And it surprises people.
Now, there's a few reasons for this.
One of them is that they're always studying with new converts
and people will say that they're Jehovah's Witnesses,
but it's still kind of new to them.
And so they're kind of studying with Jehovah's Witnesses
and even getting them stated.
And so a lot of people,
they aren't really Jehovah's Witnesses.
They don't go to church.
And they just have a few things programmed in their head
that Jesus Christ is not God.
It's one of the big things.
And so basically they convince people of things that are false.
They might identify as Jehovah's Witnesses
but not be hardcore.
Because you're never going to win someone
who's hardcore in your religion.
Right.
You're not going to win a Catholic priest
that the Lord outsourced.
You're not going to win a Buddhist monk
in his bright little orange dress.
You're not going to win him to the Lord.
You're not going to win a pastor of Jehovah's Witnesses.
I'm not saying that,
but I'm just saying people that identify as Jehovah's Witnesses,
I've actually found them to be receptive
because they're actually willing to debate and talk
and if you can get them to listen
and turn the debate into them just listening,
then sometimes they can actually end up getting saved.
But you have to actually be able to prove that Jesus is God.
And I gave you some verses
and honestly there's other ones you can use,
but I will say this,
if you have to use more than like four or five,
they're not going to get saved.
If you can show them a couple clear verses
and they're not going to get saved,
they're just not going to get saved.
And so in John 11 verse 14,
Then said Jesus on to them plainly,
Lazarus is dead.
And I'm glad for your sakes that I was not there
to the intent you may believe.
Nevertheless, let us go unto him.
Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus,
unto his fellow disciples,
Let us also go that we may die with him.
Now Thomas doesn't really understand what he's saying.
He's having like a Peter moment, you know,
because Peter would very often just say vocal things,
but he had the right heart.
He got a love for him.
You know, he would just say stuff like,
oh, let's make a tabernacle for all three of you.
It's like, oh, what are you doing?
Very zealous, but he talks sometimes
without really thinking.
Well, that's Thomas in John 11.
What you can understand is that Thomas was not a bad guy.
Thomas there has some oldness.
He has some courage, but we don't remember that.
What we remember is that I'm Thomas.
And what you have to understand is the Bible says
better is the end of the thing than the beginning.
And us in this room, we're serving God.
But you know, if you quit serving God one day
and just kind of throw in the towel one day,
you know what, people really aren't going to remember
all the times you let people reward.
They're not going to remember all the sermons you've preached.
I mean, you can think of pastors that maybe you really respect
in the past that, you know what, really fell really hard to sin
and are no longer pastors.
What do you remember about them?
Remember the fact they fell really hard to sin.
You don't remember the sermons that helped change people's lives
or the people they got saved and brought to church.
And quite honestly, you know, the person that I'm thinking
in the back of my head, I know people that he got saved
and brought to that church.
But it doesn't change the fact that people don't remember that.
And any one of us, you know, if I were to one day
just fall in the big sin and just throw in the towel of Christianity,
so to speak, that's what people would remember.
Better is the end of a thing than the beginning.
And so with Thomas, quite honestly, you know,
we remember doubting Thomas because he didn't end the greatest.
And I'm sure after this he did still live for the Lord and stuff,
but in terms of what we read in the Bible,
it kind of ended on a bad note.
So it's a reminder to us to stay faithful and think of God.
Turn back to John 20 where it goes up here.
And it says in John 20, verse 30,
And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples,
which are not written in this book.
But these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God, and that believing he might have life through his name.
So what does the Bible say here in verse number 31?
It's basically showing you that the main purpose of the book of John
was that you would believe on Jesus Christ and get saved
and have life through his name by believing, it says in this verse.
Now, all the Bible is God's word, but books have different purposes.
People are so confused on James II.
Let me ask you a question about James II or the book of James.
What's the purpose of the book of James?
Is it for people to believe on Jesus Christ and get saved?
No, it's about Christian living.
That's the purpose of the book.
And so they get all confused by the book of James chapter 2.
It's like, look, the purpose of James is not for you to be saved.
That's not the main purpose of the book.
The book of 1 John, when you read it, it says the main purpose is that
basically that you'll be living a happy life
and you're obeying his laws is what it's saying.
Here, the book of John, the main purpose is that people will believe and get saved.
I know somebody who's married now.
You know his wife.
Both him and his wife, they love the Lord.
And he first started talking to this girl, and she was from a Baptist church.
So he wasn't sure if she was saved or not.
Because isn't it, with just about every Baptist church,
their version of salvation is very confusing.
And so people that are under that church, quite honestly,
they're not necessarily sure when they get saved sometimes.
And so he wasn't sure if she was saved or not.
And so he was trying to give her the gospel without offending her.
Because he kind of brought it up, but obviously she'd been
Baptist-born and Baptist-read, so it was kind of offensive to her.
And so what he did is he said, well, let's start reading the Bible together.
And so they both started reading the book of John.
He said, you know, start reading the book of John.
And so all of a sudden, she started reading the book of John,
and she realized while reading it that she was not saved.
And then he was able to give her the gospel and get saved.
Because he had already brought it up with her a few times,
but he had mentioned things that probably didn't really resonate as correct.
She's, I'm sure, thinking you have to repent of her sins.
And as she read the book of John, all of a sudden,
he just opened up her eyes to the truth, because the word of God is power.
Now, she doesn't get saved on her own, because he still gives her the gospel afterwards.
But it opened up her mind. So, look, if I want to get somebody saved,
I'm not going to say, hey, you know, the book of Leviticus.
Start reading the book of Leviticus. That's not going to get him saved.
The book of John, though, actually the main purpose is that you believe on Jesus Christ and get saved.
Now, I want to ask you a question.
If the main purpose of this book is that people would believe on Jesus Christ and get saved,
and that they would receive eternal life,
doesn't it make sense that the book would actually mention the things that are required for salvation?
It makes sense. Guess what word you will never find in the book of John? Repent.
Guess what word you will never find? Repenting.
Guess what word you will never find? Repented, repented, repented.
In any form of repent, you will never find in the book of John.
It's supposed to lead people to the Lord, and yet the word repent is never in it. Why?
Because you don't have to repent of your sins to get saved.
Amen.
You have to change your mind about what you believe, and what is this book all about?
People changing their minds and believing on Jesus Christ.
Anyone who says you have to repent of your sins to be saved,
I mean, why is it that the book of John, you never see one?
It's not just that it's not in John 3.16.
If you've noticed over these last 20 weeks or 20 plus weeks,
the word repent never was found in the book of John, and you won't find it in John 21 either.
Why? Because the book was written that people believe on Jesus Christ.
It's not about you living a godly life, and that's something you do after you're saved and repent of your sins to get right with God.
It has nothing to do with salvation.
It's not a guarantee you're going to do it after salvation either.
It has nothing to do, and the reason why people can grow up in Baptist churches and be kind of fuzzy on salvation
is because the pastors don't make it very clear what salvation is and what it isn't.
And look, if you had to repent of your sins to be saved, then the word repent would be in the book of John more than any other book.
And look, I've heard people, you know, James White, I've heard him make his arguments because he said,
wow, that's a stupid argument, blah, blah, blah.
How is that a stupid argument?
I mean, you're saying you've got to repent of your sins to be saved.
It would make sense to me that it would be all throughout the book of John
because the purpose of this book is that people would believe on Jesus Christ
and have life through his name by believing according to the end of this book.
Let's close the door to prayer.
If you're having a father, thank you for allowing us to be here today.