All right, we're in Acts chapter 11 here this morning, and I want you to look down at verse number 17.
The Bible reads in Acts chapter 11, verse 17,
For as much then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I that I could withstand God?
Here's Peter talking, and in Acts chapter 10, Peter goes to the house of Cornelius and gets Cornelius and his family saved.
And Peter had this attitude, like a lot of the Jews had back then, that salvation was only for them.
That salvation was not going to come to the Gentiles or the Grecians or other people, but that salvation was specifically just for them.
And he's telling this story, he's had this great victory, and there's a bunch of Jews saying, you know, why did you do this?
Now obviously we know that Jesus died for everybody, and God wants everybody saved.
And in our bulletin that verse read, he's the savior of all men.
And that's what we believe. We believe Jesus died for every single person, and that's very obvious in the Bible.
And notice what their reaction is in verse number 18.
When they heard these things, they held their peace and glorified God, saying,
Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
So they hear this and they say, well, I guess salvation did come to the Gentiles as well.
Now that should have already been obvious to them, because we know that Rahab the harlot got saved in the Old Testament.
God has always wanted everybody to be saved.
No matter what time period, anybody could have been saved if they, by faith, got saved, called on the Lord.
That's what the Bible teaches.
But you know, there's a lot of religions today that believe that Jesus only died for a certain group of people.
And the religion I'm preaching against this morning, I'm preaching against the religion of Calvinism.
Calvinism is a doctrine that teaches that Jesus only died for certain people, that he did not die for everybody.
And you know, you in this room right now, you might be thinking of a lot of verses that come to your mind that Jesus died for everybody.
I mean, John 3.16, For God so loved the world, he loved everybody, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but of everlasting life.
So anybody that believes, it's very clear in the Bible.
There's so many verses, and we're going to look at a lot of them here today, that teach that Jesus died for everybody.
But Calvinism has this attitude.
They teach that Jesus only died for the elect or the chosen, and everybody else, God would rather see burn in hell than go to heaven.
That's what they teach.
And this is a very common religion.
There's a lot of people that believe this doctrine of predestination, and we're basically robots without any free will whatsoever.
What the Bible teaches is that anybody can be saved when they hear the message of salvation.
If they believe on Jesus Christ, they're saved like that.
That's what the Bible teaches.
But Calvinism teaches that God would rather see some people burn in hell than go to heaven.
Now, if you're not that familiar with that doctrine, that might sound pretty evil to you, and it is pretty evil.
That's a pretty evil God that would rather see people burn in hell than go to heaven.
But that is what Calvinism teaches.
Now, Calvinism has an acronym called TULIP that stands for what they believe in.
The T stands for Total Depravity, the U for Unconditional Election, the L for Limited Atonement, the I for Irresistible Grace, and the P for Perseverance of the Saints.
Each one of those letters is going to be one point to this sermon.
And the name of this sermon is TULIP, Calvinism's Deadly Flower.
This doctrine, I would say, is probably my least favorite doctrine out there.
This one annoys me more than anything, Calvinism.
And if you're familiar with Calvinism, I'm pretty sure it annoys you quite a bit as well.
Because it's pretty evil to say that Jesus only died for some people, and God doesn't want everybody to be saved.
There's no point for us to go out soul winning if God's the one pulling all the strings and we're just puppets.
There's no purpose to go soul winning whatsoever if Calvinism is true, because it's all in God's hands.
But the Bible teaches that if we don't preach the gospel, nobody's going to get saved.
They have to hear the gospel from somebody, and they in their free will get to decide whether or not they believe on Jesus Christ or not when they hear it.
Now, Calvinism, to give you a little bit of a background, is named after a man called John Calvin.
At first glance, you might wonder about this.
John Calvin, did this doctrine originate with John Calvin?
Well, the answer to that would obviously be no, because the Bible says there's no new thing under the sun.
See, the same doctrines that we're fighting now are the same doctrines we fought a thousand years ago, two thousand years ago, three thousand years ago.
This doctrine has been out there for a long time.
And you can look back to John Calvin, and he traces his beliefs back to a man by the name of Augustine.
One of those early great church fathers that everybody likes to talk about.
You know, we should just go to what the Bible says and look at Paul as a church father.
See what he said, rather than going to these church fathers that lived in the second century and third century.
But this doctrine has been around for a long time.
Now, this came out in the 16th century with John Calvin.
He really helped make it popular.
He's the second most famous man in the Protestant Reformation.
There's a lot of churches today that are Reformed Protestant or primitive churches or Reformed Baptist,
and these ones trace back their teachings to a man by the name of John Calvin.
But he's not the only famous church father or Protestant reformer that believed in this doctrine.
Martin Luther actually also believed in Calvinism.
There's a guy by the name of Erasmus who wrote a book that talked about the freedom of our will, that we have free will.
And in response, Martin Luther wrote a book called The Bondage of the Will.
Now, I've read about a third of that book. I was trying to finish it before this sermon, but I didn't get to it.
But it's very clear that Martin Luther did not believe in free will.
And the Lutherans believe a pretty similar thing that he did today
because they basically believe in a more form of Calvinism where if you get baptized, you become one of the elect.
You basically are chosen, but you have the free will to throw away your salvation later on.
That's what Martin Luther taught. He believed in predestination, that it's all been determined by God.
And you might say, well, that's just the Lutherans. The Presbyterians come right from John Calvin.
You say, that's just the Lutherans and the Presbyterians.
But this fight went on with the Methodists as well.
John Wesley, who basically created the Methodist denomination,
his most famous pupil was a guy by the name of George Whitefield.
And George Whitefield had this big revival that happened throughout all England.
And then all of a sudden it turned out that George Whitefield had become a full-blown Calvinist.
So there's kind of a huge split in the Methodists as well.
So this fight has been around quite a bit.
And it's not just that, though. You look at the Anglican church, the Church of England, which became the Episcopalians.
In their tree, in their lineage, the Puritans came out as well.
The Puritans were full-blown Calvinists. They believed that Jesus only died for some people.
And it's kind of interesting with these Calvinists because pretty much all the ones I named, they all believe in baptizing babies.
It's pretty clear you don't believe the Bible if you say that baptizing babies is biblical.
What verse are you going to pop up to to say that?
I mean, it's very obvious the Bible says,
If thou believeth with all thine heart thou mayest.
And you might say, well, Brother Stuckey, these are all the Protestant denominations.
But you say, we're Baptists. We're not Protestants.
Why do you agree we're not Protestants?
But did you know in the Southern Baptist denomination,
30% of the pastors in the Southern Baptist denomination are full-blown Calvinists?
30%. And I'll be quite honest. I think it's probably higher than 30%.
Because when you look at the big names, you look at David Platt, you look at Vody Bauckham, you look at Albert Mohler, you look at Paul Washer.
These are big names in the Southern Baptist denomination.
I'd say it's probably more than 30% believe this doctrine that Jesus only died for some people.
There's no point to go soul-winning. God wants people to burn in hell.
There's a lot of people in the Southern Baptist that believe that.
And you might say, well, Brother Stuckey, we're independent fundamental Baptists.
But I guarantee you, with these churches that are lazy out there that don't want to go soul-winning,
they're going to eventually have Calvinism pop into their churches.
Because Calvinism is a really convenient doctrine if you're lazy and sinful.
Because if you don't want to go soul-winning, it's pretty easy to just say, well, it's all been determined by God.
God's going to determine who goes to heaven,
and who goes to heaven.
And I guarantee you that Calvinism is going to become big in the independent Baptist denomination.
And honestly, I think a lot of us have heard this sort of teaching in IFB churches.
I've been at churches before where they preach a sermon on how we need to pray that God's going to send revival.
Who here has heard something like that?
We need to pray God's going to send revival.
Well, where is that in the Bible?
Because the Bible says we need to pray that there's more soul-winners preaching the gospel.
It never says pray for revival, that God's just going to magically just regenerate people.
I mean, honestly, Calvinism is kind of like Pentecostalism.
I mean, somebody could be taking a nap, and then all of a sudden God just comes and boom, regenerates them.
And all of a sudden they're chosen and on their way to heaven.
I mean, it's ridiculous.
That's not what the Bible teaches.
The Bible teaches we need to go out there and do the work and go soul-winning.
And if we don't do that, then a bunch of people are going to go to hell because we are the hope in Sacramento.
If we don't preach the gospel, people are going to go to hell.
And this doctrine of Calvinism, it's straight out of hell.
It's completely false.
We disagree with all five points of Calvinism here at Verdi Baptist Church.
Turn to John chapter 8.
You know, one reason why this doctrine is so common is you'll notice that Calvinists write a lot of books.
They do a lot of apologetics ministries.
They do a lot of stuff on the radio.
And sadly, most Christians spend more time watching stuff like that than actually reading the Bible for themselves.
And I remember just a week after I got saved, I read John MacArthur's famous book,
The Gospel According to Jesus, which really should be called The Gospel According to Satan
because it completely works salvation.
It's completely false.
And they write a lot of books.
I mean, anyone who's been in a part of a lot of college ministries or Young Life high school ministries,
they always want to give you a John Piper book to read, who's a full-blown Calvinist.
Because they write a lot of books, and they say, well, yeah, he's a heretic, but yeah, he has a good book on marriage.
And so their teachings, they start to slowly creep into churches because people read their books,
and they might disagree with a lot of it, but they start to get some of those philosophies.
Now, Calvinism basically teaches that there are two types of people in this world.
They teach that there are children of God and children of the devil.
What Calvinism teaches is that everybody before they are saved is a child of the devil or a child of Belial.
Now, with babies, it kind of is a different opinion depending on what Calvinist you talk to.
Some Calvinists believe that every baby that dies goes straight to hell.
Now, that would be the logical conclusion if you believe in Calvinism
because basically, if the baby died, it must not have been one of the elect is what they'll say.
So basically, every baby that dies goes straight to hell.
Can you imagine trying to console a grieving mom?
And just like you go to a church like that, and then all of a sudden, basically, your baby's in hell.
Can you imagine that?
Some Calvinists say, well, some babies go to heaven and some go to hell.
God can see whether or not they're going to believe on Jesus Christ later on in life,
and some believe that they all go to heaven.
But in terms of people that are old enough to understand the gospel,
Calvinism teaches there are two types of people, children of God and children of the devil.
The first verse they're going to turn to is John 8.44. This is what it says in John 8.44.
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.
He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.
So they'll point to a verse like this and they say, see, these people are children of the devil.
Their father is the devil.
Now here's the thing. At Verity Baptist Church, we agree with that.
It says very clearly, ye are of your father the devil.
But the problem with Calvinism is they do not understand the reprobate doctrine,
which is the problem with a lot of churches.
They don't understand that there are people that are children of the devil.
But at Verity Baptist Church, we don't believe that everybody before they're saved is a child of the devil.
That's not what the Bible teaches.
The Bible teaches that there are children of God, children of the devil, and just your normal, everyday, unsaved person.
The vast majority of people are just unsaved people.
They're not children of the devil.
There's only a small percentage of people that are children of the devil.
And so basically, what we believe about the reprobate doctrine in children of the devil
is pretty much the same that Calvinists believe.
They believe everybody before they're saved is just a full-blown reprobate that's capable of the worst sins imaginable.
You know, one of these famous guys, Brother Vivati, just pointed out to me the other day,
there's this YouTube channel, Acts 17 Apologetics.
This is a famous Calvinist who supposedly got saved in prison.
Well, he went to prison because he tried to kill his dad with a hammer.
I'm sorry, but the average person doesn't want to try to kill their parents with a hammer.
You've got to be pretty twisted to do something like that.
And it's a pretty convenient doctrine if you're a sick, perverted freak to say,
well, you know, that's everybody before they're saved.
And they believe everybody before they're saved hates God and is a child of the devil
and has the same desires to just harm little kids, become a serial killer is normal.
They believe everybody in their nature before they get saved is capable of the worst sins imaginable and is completely normal.
You know, there's only a small percentage of people that hate God.
I didn't hate God before I was saved.
I didn't understand salvation, but I didn't hate God.
One of these famous guys, I can't remember his name, we put up a YouTube video on him, Douglas Wilson.
He said that every single unbeliever wants to kill God, and if they had the opportunity, would murder God.
Now, I'm sorry, but the average person that's unsaved out there does not want to murder God.
But what they believe, their T is called total depravity.
Basically, you're just a depraved, reprobate sinner before you're saved.
But that's not what the Bible teaches.
Turn to 1 Corinthians 2.
Now, here's the thing about this with Calvinism.
They have verses they use to support this point of total depravity.
They go to a lot of verses in the book of John that talks about people that cannot believe.
There are so many verses in the book of John that talk about people that could not believe.
They have no hope of being saved. They can't get saved.
Now, we agree with that at Verity Baptist Church, but that's not everybody.
That's only a small percentage of people.
And I'll tell you what, there's a lot of verses that the normal IFB church can't answer.
Because there are plenty of verses that say there are people that cannot believe.
It's very clear in the Bible.
But like I said, that's only a small percentage of people.
Once somebody becomes a child of the devil, they're never going to go to heaven.
They have no hope of going to heaven.
Once they go down that road, just like when you become a child of God, you're a child of God forever.
When you become a child of the devil, you're a child of the devil forever.
There is no hope of going to heaven.
Everybody is a child of the devil.
And the only way they can go to heaven is if God supernaturally regenerates them.
So they say there's no free will whatsoever.
Because they say a totally depraved sinner has no hope of believing.
In 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14, the Bible reads,
But 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.
And so they'll point to a verse like 1 Corinthians 2,
and the natural man is referring to an unsaved person.
And they'll say, well, see, the unsaved person, the natural man,
they cannot understand the things of God.
They can't understand this book when they open it and read it.
Now, we agree with that, that the unsaved person cannot understand this book.
But they'll point to this and say, well, see, the unsaved person,
they can't understand this book, so God has to regenerate them.
No, but what the Bible teaches is that when somebody hears the gospel,
even though they can't get saved reading this on their own,
when somebody hears the gospel, they do have the ability to believe on Jesus Christ.
We know lots of verses that talk about that.
Whosoever believeth, he that believeth, there's verse after verse.
And so the Bible does not teach total depravity for the unsaved person.
But you know what it teaches? It teaches total dependence, not total depravity.
See, we as unsaved sinners, we are totally dependent on God coming and dying for us.
We're totally dependent on that because we cannot earn our way to heaven.
You see, there's one thing I do like about Calvinism.
I kind of like their flower. I like their acronym.
So I decided to create my own acronym for this sermon.
And it's not total depravity. What the Bible teaches, though, is total dependence.
We are totally dependent on God coming and dying for us.
See, if Jesus Christ never died for us, we would all go straight to hell
because we have no hope of earning our way to heaven.
The Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight.
By our deeds or our actions or what we do, no flesh, which means no man, no woman,
no one's going to be justified.
We are not going to earn our way to heaven through our actions.
So we as unsaved sinners, we are totally dependent that Jesus died for us.
But you know, we're also totally dependent that somebody gives us the gospel.
The Bible's very clear that the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.
You see that in Acts chapter 8.
We read Acts 11, and that's a story where Peter's retelling what happened in Acts chapter 10.
And Cornelius needed a man to come and give him the gospel.
Cornelius is interesting because it says he's a man who feared God and prayed to God all the way.
Does he sound like he hates God?
He's an unsaved man who fears God and prays to God.
I mean, he's not just this total reprobate that hates God. It's very clear.
But you know, Cornelius didn't get saved on his own.
He needed a soul winner to come and give him the gospel.
So we are totally dependent on the fact that God would come and die for us,
and also that somebody gives us the message of salvation.
And like I said, everybody in Sacramento, they are totally dependent on us to give them the gospel.
Because honestly, I don't really see a lot of other churches out there doing the work.
And God is not going to come down from heaven and just regenerate people.
People are not going to get saved unless we give them the gospel.
They're going to end up in hell if we don't preach the gospel to them.
The Bible says,
Now to him that worketh is a reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
We are guilty sinners that are dependent on God dying for us,
and we're guilty sinners that are in need of somebody to preach us the gospel.
When you think about this god of the Calvinists,
this god of the Calvinists basically orchestrates everything that happens in the world.
That's what they believe.
So basically, when a young child gets harmed,
they believe that's God who wanted it to happen.
When you have serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer,
basically that's just God who's just decided he wanted that to happen.
What kind of a god would want things like that to happen?
That's the god of the Calvinists.
The god of the Calvinists wants all this harm and all this evil to happen.
And I've got to be worried about someone who says they're a Calvinist
when they say that this is what they believe about God.
That God wants these little kids to be harmed,
wants serial killers and all this evil.
If God's the one pulling all the strings, he can change it immediately.
All he has to do is regenerate everybody, and then this won't happen.
But the Calvinist god, he wants all these rape and murders and all this evil to happen.
That's a pretty evil god that the Calvinists serve.
Turn to John 3.
So the first point we have is this.
Calvinism teaches total depravity, but the Bible teaches total dependence.
The next point, though, of Calvinism is this.
Unconditional election.
What this point basically teaches is that God,
when he determines who goes to heaven and hell, it's completely random.
He has no rhyme or reason why he picks you to go to heaven and other people to go to hell.
For whatever reason, God wants some people to burn in hell.
That's what Calvinism teaches.
It's an unconditional election.
Whether or not you're elect or whether or not you're chosen, it's completely random.
What the Bible teaches is that if we believe on Jesus Christ, that's what makes us elect.
That's what makes us chosen. The Bible is very clear about that.
But what Calvinism teaches is that it's just unconditional. It's completely random.
You might be here today and you might be thinking of a hundred verses that say it comes down to us believing.
That's what gives us everlasting life.
In fact, there's a hundred verses in the Bible, more than that, that teach by us believing.
And you know what the Calvinist does?
They look at all these verses and they say, well, we've got to throw all those away
because of the fact before you believed, God regenerated you and gave you that faith.
Even though the Bible doesn't teach that in any of those verses, in John 3.16 there's no hint of that,
they say, well, what happened was you got regenerated and then God gave you faith and then you got saved.
In fact, the Calvinists will say this.
Don't confuse salvation with being regenerated or being born again.
Those are completely opposite according to the Calvinists. Being saved is not synonymous with being born again.
Now, if you're a Calvinist, you have to say that because there's no way around verses like
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
But in all those verses they'll say, well, there's this magical thing called regeneration
that happens before that that the Bible never mentions.
And so even though it says, well, if you believe you receive everlasting life,
it's like, well, God hasn't shown you the full picture.
Because basically that person was already regenerated and God gave them faith and then they received salvation.
Yeah, that's ridiculous. There's so many verses that make it so clear it's by believing.
In fact, Charles Spurgeon has a famous quote where he basically says, salvation's like a door.
On one side of the door it says, whosoever will, and once you get to the other side it says,
predestined from the foundation of the world.
So basically what Charles Spurgeon was saying was, yes, there's hundreds of verses that sound like all you have to do is believe,
but if you're really saved you're going to realize that, no, it has nothing to do with believing.
It's like you were predestined and all that other stuff was just a game,
that the Bible just mentions all those verses about believing. It's just kind of like a game.
That doesn't mean anything.
Well, look at John chapter 3. Look what it says in verse number 3.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
In John chapter 3 Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus, and Nicodemus is an unsaved man.
Nicodemus does not understand what it takes to get to heaven. He doesn't understand what it takes to be saved.
And Jesus says, well, you have to be born again to see the kingdom of God.
You have to be born again to receive salvation, to go to heaven.
Then it says in verse number 4, Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old?
Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born?
So you see that Nicodemus is completely confused about being born again.
Now we understand here at Verity Baptist Church that obviously we're physically born, but the Bible talks about a spiritual birth.
And Jesus is trying to explain the spiritual birth, and Nicodemus does not get it.
Why does Nicodemus not get it? Well, he's not saved. He doesn't understand the Bible.
So it says in verse 4, can he enter the second time into his mother's womb?
Nicodemus is saying, I have to be physically born again. He's like, that doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
So since he's confused, Jesus helps him understand what he's talking about.
In verse number 5, this is what it says.
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Now a lot of people take verse 5 out of context when they see born of water, and they say, well, see, you've got to get baptized.
No, that's not what it's talking about at all, because look at verse number 6.
Verse 6 clarifies what it's talking about.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
So being born of water is synonymous with that which is born of the flesh is flesh,
and being born of the Spirit is synonymous with that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Remember, Nicodemus is thinking about a physical birth, and the way Jesus describes that is, except a man be born of water.
What he's telling Nicodemus is, no, you were born of water.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh. You were physically born. Now you must be spiritually born.
So basically what Jesus is talking about to Nicodemus is this.
You have to be spiritually born even though you've already been physically born.
Now you have to be born spiritually.
Now Martin Luther and John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, all these famous Calvinists,
they believe being born of water is talking about baptism.
Now why would they get that interpretation? Well, they're not saved. They don't understand the Bible.
Because it's very clear that which is born of the flesh is flesh. We're talking about a physical birth.
They believe that you had to be baptized to go to heaven.
You had to be baptized, and everybody who's chosen will get baptized. That's what they believe.
And so some of the Calvinists look at verse number 5, and they'll say,
Well, see, here you go. This is where the regeneration occurs, when you're born of water.
Now other Calvinists, though, they don't believe that regeneration occurs at baptism.
They just think it kind of magically happens somewhere in this chapter.
So we're going to see very clearly, look at verse number 12 in this chapter.
In verse number 12, Jesus says,
If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things?
What Jesus is saying to Nicodemus in verse number 12,
He's saying, I'm giving you earthly examples, and you don't get it.
Basically, He's showing very clearly, Nicodemus, you're not saved right now.
He's like, you're not understanding it, I'm giving you earthly examples,
and you don't believe that, you don't understand it, because you're not saved.
It's like, for example, when we explain that salvation is a gift.
We explain salvation is a gift, and when people don't understand the application,
if you ask people, let's say I told you this was a gift, but you've got to give me a penny for it.
Is that a gift? And they say, well, yes, that's a gift.
Those people don't understand salvation, because they never understand the part where you try to turn it around to the fact that God paid for all of our sins.
If they don't get the earthly example, they're not going to get the spiritual example.
And Jesus is telling Nicodemus, He's like, I'm giving you an earthly example of being born again, and you don't understand it.
Look at what it says in verse number 13.
And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
You know, it's very clear from this passage, Nicodemus is not saved right now.
He doesn't understand the earthly example. He's not regenerated. He's not saved, whatever you want to call it.
He's not saved, and Jesus is very clearly in verse 15 that if you believe, that is what gives you everlasting life.
It's very clear, Nicodemus is not saved right now.
He does not understand the words of God, because he is not regenerated. He's not saved.
Verse number 16, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Look at verse 17 at the end. The world through Him might be saved.
See, the Calvinist says salvation and regeneration are completely different.
Salvation and everlasting life are completely different.
But doesn't verse 17 talk about that the world through Him might be saved?
Isn't it pretty clear when you look at verses 15 and 16, talking about eternal life and everlasting life,
that salvation is synonymous with receiving eternal life?
It's pretty clear in that passage.
And it's also very clear that Nicodemus is not saved at this point.
It's very clear he's not regenerated. He's not saved.
He does not have everlasting life, because Jesus tells him in verses 15 to 16,
you must believe to receive everlasting life, and it's very clear that it links with salvation.
What the Calvinists will say, though, in John chapter 3 is,
somewhere along this path there is this magical regeneration that occurred,
and then that's when that person got regenerated,
and then God gives them faith, and then they receive everlasting life.
But that's ridiculous, because you read this passage, it's very clear Nicodemus is not saved,
and Jesus is speaking this to him, and it's very clear salvation and everlasting life are synonymous
when you look at that verse 15, 16, and 17.
Basically, Calvinists believe and teach that God does not want everybody to go to heaven.
Now let's say, for example, that you had a son,
and let's say, for example, that you had a dog that had, let's say, four puppies,
and let's say, for example, that your son just decided one day,
I'm just going to throw a couple of these puppies in the fireplace and just watch them burp.
Now wouldn't you think there's something wrong with your son if he just watched that and enjoyed it?
There'd be something really wrong with someone who would do that
and enjoy just watching puppies burn and take pleasure in it.
You say, man, my son's a psychopath if they do something like that.
There'd be something wrong with a child that just wanted to see animals just get harmed and tortured to death like that.
There'd be something wrong with him, right?
That's the God of the Calvinists.
They teach that God just takes pleasure.
They'll use that term that God takes pleasure in just sending some people to hell and just watching them burn.
God created them, and he just, for whatever reason, didn't like his creation.
It's completely random, and God just says, you know what?
I don't want to elect you. I just don't want to give you that faith.
I don't want to regenerate you. I'd just rather watch you burn.
You say there's something wrong with someone who would have that sort of attitude,
but that's the God of the Calvinists.
That's an extremely evil God that the Calvinists serve.
But you know what the Bible teaches throughout John chapter 3?
We see that whosoever believeth.
The Bible does not teach an unconditional election.
It teaches a universal choice.
We have our choice whether or not we believe on Jesus Christ or whether or not we reject it.
You know, when you that are saved in this room, when you heard the gospel,
you had the decision to believe or to reject the message of salvation.
There's a universal choice that when you hear the gospel, you've got your chance.
You want to believe it, and if you reject it, you're going to end up going to hell.
But God wants everybody to be saved. That's very clear in the Bible.
The Bible says,
The Bible is clear. After you believe, that's when you're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
That's when you're guaranteed you're going to heaven, when you believed on Jesus Christ.
I want to read to you this article from a guy by the name of David Cloud.
Who here knows who David Cloud is?
David Cloud, I think anybody who knows him is going to agree.
The guy's a full-blown heretic.
He's a huge guy on repentance of sins and how you have to turn from your sins to be saved.
It's not just believing, but you've got to repent of your sins.
But David Cloud wrote a long article on repentance,
and he had a lot of points where he said these are various misconceptions about repentance.
Now, we believe repentance, saying you have to repent from your sins, is work salvation.
The Bible says in God saw their works that they turn from their evil way.
So the Bible is very clear that you turning from your works, that's what you do.
That's work salvation, saying that you have to turn from your sins.
If you have to repent of your sins, that is work salvation.
If you have to turn and then just start living a good life or decide I'm not going to do this anymore,
that is your works. That's work salvation.
But David Cloud, on point number five, he said,
Repentance of sins for salvation and lordship salvation, those are not actually the same exact thing.
Calvinists believe something called lordship salvation,
where basically you've got to make Jesus the Lord of your life in all areas if you're going to go to heaven.
Basically, they teach that nobody's a carnal Christian.
Francis Chan, who's a full-blown Calvinist, he said there's no such thing as a lukewarm Christian.
They told him the passage in the book of Revelation, and he said,
I don't think those are saved people that are lukewarm.
He's like, you know, if you're saved, you wouldn't really be lukewarm.
He's like, it doesn't make sense to me.
The Bible's very clear that there are carnal Christians.
The Bible's very clear that there are lukewarm Christians.
It's very obvious in the Bible.
But basically what Calvinism teaches is that if God regenerates you,
obviously God's going to just regenerate you 100%,
and you're just going to walk the walk, live a good life.
You'll never backside. You'll never fall into sin.
And this is what David Cloud said about lordship salvation.
Keep in mind that David Cloud believes in work salvation.
He thinks you have to turn from your sins to be saved.
He thinks that you've got to change your lifestyle to be saved.
But look at what he says about lordship salvation.
We do not support any idea of lordship salvation that teaches that an individual
must make Jesus Christ Lord of every area of his life before he can be saved.
See, the Calvinists will basically say that if somebody wants to be saved,
they've got to make Jesus Lord of all areas of their life.
If they're living with someone they're not married to,
they've got to kick them out before they can be saved.
I've even heard pastors have somebody came down to the altar and wanted to be saved,
and they said, are you willing to quit drinking?
And they said, I don't know if I can stop drinking right now.
And they'll say, well, you're not ready to be saved then.
Because if you're really ready to be saved,
you're willing to make Jesus Lord of all areas of your life.
Now, I don't know about you, but Jesus is not Lord over all areas of my life.
I mean, I sin every single day.
I mean, there's times I wake up and I just choose not to read the Bible.
There's times I don't choose to live for God.
He's not the Lord of all areas of my life, and he dead sure wasn't when I got saved.
Because when I got saved, you know, I had a lot of problems I needed to work out.
And I still have a lot of problems.
And every single person who's saved, we have a lot of things we need to change in our life.
Jesus is not Lord of all areas of our life. That's ridiculous.
But then it says, salvation does not produce perfect obedience,
nor does it require perfect understanding of theology.
A genuinely born-again Christian can be carnal.
The Bible plainly teaches this in 1 Corinthians 3.
And it does plainly teach that.
In 1 Corinthians 3, it talks about carnal Christians.
It says the church at Corinth, they were carnal.
There are carnal Christians who are just choosing to live in the flesh
and choosing not to live for God.
But notice this last sentence. I love what he says.
To require that a sinner make Jesus Christ Lord of every area of his life
is an impossibility and would be the greatest form of work salvation ever devised.
Now here's a guy who thinks you have to repent of your sins to be saved.
But he said to suggest that you've got to make him Lord of all areas
and quit all of your sins and just decide, I'm going to live for God 100%.
He said that's the greatest form of work salvation ever devised.
And honestly, I believe that.
I believe that Calvinism is the greatest form of work salvation ever devised.
And we're going to see lots of points in this sermon why they're not saved.
But they basically believe at regeneration you're willing to change every single bit of your life.
You never want to walk in the flesh anymore.
You never want to sin. You'll never be a carnal Christian.
R.C. Sproul, a false prophet who just died, said that if you're a carnal Christian, you're not saved.
Because he said that does not exist.
It's funny because R.C. Sproul's son, a guy who's been in trouble with the law so many times
and is a famous teacher at R.C. Sproul's ministry,
they don't think he's unsaved.
Because obviously, since he's his son, he just gives him a pass.
But he's been in trouble for drunken driving.
He's been in trouble for being on the Ashley Madison website.
It's like, in what area is he living a godly life?
And it's kind of funny because these Calvinists don't live godly lives.
Look at these Calvinists and they all drink alcohol.
Show me the exception to that.
They all say drinking alcohol is perfectly fine.
They all watch TV. They all do all these things.
They all listen to the same music, watch TV all the time.
And it's pretty easy to say that you don't live carnally if nothing is a sin.
You know, if nothing's really a sin, then it's very easy to say,
well, I don't live a carnal life if you don't consider anything a sin.
It's kind of funny because these people would say that we're unsaved.
But it's like, if you're basing salvation on works,
I'm pretty sure that the person who's justifying drinking and all manner of sin
is living a much more ungodly life than most of us.
Because we hear what the Bible teaches about not drinking
and not listening to the wrong music and watching TV.
But all these Calvinists, they live very worldly and carnal lives,
very sinful lives, but they say, well, if you're really saved,
you're not going to live a carnal life ever at all.
Calvinism is the greatest form of works of salvation.
Turn to John chapter 6.
Excuse me, sorry.
And so the first point we had from Calvinism is total depravity,
but the Bible teaches total dependence.
The next point we had was unconditional election,
where God just randomly decides, I'm going to regenerate certain people,
but I want to see other people burn in hell.
But what the Bible teaches is a universal choice.
But the third point we have is this, the limited atonement.
What Calvinism teaches is that Jesus only died for some people,
that his atonement is limited.
He did not want everybody to be saved.
He doesn't want everyone to go to heaven.
It's a limited atonement.
That's what Calvinism teaches.
Turn to John chapter 6, look at verse 43.
This is what the Bible says.
So Calvinism loves this verse here, verse 44, where it says,
No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him.
And they say, well, see, God doesn't want everybody to be saved
because he doesn't draw everybody.
You can only come to heaven if God draws you.
Well, turn to John chapter 12.
And that is what it says in verse 44,
but this once again is a failure to understand the reprobate doctrine
because when you compare spiritual things to spiritual, look at John chapter 12.
Doesn't the Bible say in verse 32 he's going to draw all men onto him?
Isn't it pretty clear that every single person, God is going to draw onto him?
It's very clear.
You compare spiritual to spiritual, what does it say?
Well, God's going to draw everybody.
But I do believe this.
I do believe there's certain people that God is no longer drawing.
And this ties back into the reprobate doctrine.
I agree there's certain people where God says,
you know what, I'm cutting off the supply.
You cannot believe.
There's lots of verses in the book of John that say that.
But it's very clear, Jesus, if he be lifted up from the earth,
signifying what death he should die,
he's going to draw everybody onto him.
Everybody has an opportunity to believe on Jesus Christ.
The Bible's very clear about that.
God wants everybody to be saved.
It's very obvious in the Bible.
Of course, we serve a loving God.
God does everything he can to get people saved.
But he has given man free will.
And us in our free will, most people, they reject the message of salvation.
They don't believe.
We give the gospel to people all the time,
and just because they hear the gospel doesn't mean they're going to get saved.
They still decide whether or not they believe on Jesus Christ
or whether or not they're going to reject that message.
But it's very clear that he says,
well, he's going to draw all men onto him.
Well, the Calvinists will say, well,
if he draws everybody and not everybody goes to heaven,
then your God's a failure.
That's what Calvinists will say.
They say, well, if he drew everybody and he died for everyone
and they don't go to heaven,
it's like your God's not that powerful
if he can't save everybody that he died for.
You know what I mean?
The Bible tells us we have free will.
It's very clear in the Bible.
We get to decide whether or not we believe on Jesus Christ
or whether or not we reject it.
And one of the arguments Calvinists will use for this limited atonement
to teach that Jesus only died for some people,
they'll say, well, the Bible says Jesus died for the church.
And they say, well, if the Bible says Jesus died for the church,
that means that he didn't die for everybody.
That is a really stupid argument,
and I'll tell you why it's a dumb argument.
Because the Bible does say Jesus died for the church.
He gave his life for it.
But let's say, for example, I told Brother Jared,
Brother Jared, I prayed for you this morning.
Now, here's the thing.
If I prayed for Brother Jared this morning,
does that mean I didn't pray for Brother Mike or Brother Devin?
No, it doesn't mean that.
It just means that I prayed for Brother Jared.
And so just because the Bible says Jesus died for the church,
it doesn't mean he didn't die for everybody.
If I were to say, hey, I went soul winning with Brother Devin the other day,
it doesn't mean that I didn't go soul winning with anybody else.
It just means that I went soul winning with Brother Devin.
And so when the Bible says Jesus died for the church,
it doesn't mean he only died for the church.
Because there's lots of verses that we're going to look at
where it says that he died for every single person.
See, the Bible does not teach a limited atonement.
It teaches a limitless atonement.
There's no limit to God's atonement.
God died for every single person.
There's so many verses that say, the Bible says in Isaiah,
all we like sheep have turned astray,
we have turned everyone to his own way,
and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Not of some, but of all.
He died for every single person.
And the Calvinists will say, well, the all there doesn't really mean all.
It just means some.
Well, the Bible says in 1 Timothy,
who will have all men to be saved,
and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom
for all to be testified in due time.
And Calvinists will say, well, that doesn't mean all.
It just means some.
There's a verse we have in the bulletin,
therefore we both labor and suffer reproach
because we trust in the living God who's the savior of all men.
The all there doesn't really mean all.
It just means some.
Well, does the all ever mean all in the Bible then?
Every single verse that says Jesus died for everyone,
you just say, well, that just means some.
It says he's the savior of all men, especially of those that believe.
So what the Bible shows there is there's a distinction.
Jesus is the savior of all men.
He died for everyone.
But it's only going to come to you getting saved
if you believe on Jesus Christ.
That's what the Bible is very clear about.
It says that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
Well, the every man there just means the elect.
That doesn't mean every man.
I mean, it's ridiculous.
The Bible says he died not for our sins only,
but also for the sins of the whole world.
And they say, well, that doesn't really mean the world.
It just means the elect.
I mean, what kind of game are we playing?
There's a hundred verses I could sit up here and quote
that say Jesus died for everyone.
He's not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance.
Well, that doesn't mean all.
God doesn't want everybody to be saved.
He just wants some people to be saved.
And Calvinists just choose not to believe any of them.
And it's very clear when you show people clear verses in the Bible
and they just don't believe it, it's because they're not saved.
I mean, when they can see clear verse after clear verse after clear verse
and just say, wow, the every man there, it doesn't really mean every,
it's because they're not saved.
They don't understand the Bible or they choose not to believe it.
And see, you know what Calvinists will say?
Because I gave you their big arguments for limited atonement.
On the first two points, they actually have an argument.
They have verses they use.
They have no verses on limited atonement.
They have the verse I showed you in John 6
and they just have philosophical arguments.
Here's one of their big philosophical arguments.
They say, well, you know what, if Jesus died for everybody
but not everybody goes to heaven,
that means that Jesus paid for their sins
and that same person pays for their sins.
So that means the payment's twice, which means God's not just,
which can't be true.
You can use your philosophical arguments all you want,
but when the Bible clearly says he died for everyone,
that's what the Bible teaches.
It's very clear he died for every single person.
Turn to 2 Peter 2.
And I want to show you one other verse on this point.
See, in all the other verses, they play this game
where they say every man doesn't mean every
or all men doesn't mean all or the whole world just means some,
but there's a verse that they cannot get around in 2 Peter 2
without going to the Greek,
because I looked at their explanations and they go back to the Greek
to explain 2 Peter 2.1.
But this is what it says in 2 Peter 2.1,
But there were false prophets also among the people,
even as there shall be false teachers among you,
who privately shall bring in damnable heresies,
even denying the Lord that bought them,
and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
So what the Bible says is there are false prophets
that are going to go to hell,
and the Lord bought them.
He bought their salvation.
He paid for their sins.
I mean, isn't that very clear in 2 Peter 2.1?
And they have no way around that verse.
Do you know what they do?
They go back to the Greek and they say,
well, it doesn't mean bought.
See, the word Lord there has a different connotation,
and it means our Lord Creator, not our Lord Savior.
So basically what the verse is intending to say is
even denying the Lord that created them.
That's what Calvinists say.
You know, whenever you have somebody who has to go back to the Greek
to explain what they believe, you know why it is?
It's because of the fact they can't explain to you in English.
When they go back to the Greek to explain this verse,
it's because they have no answer for this verse.
And at this church, we believe the King James Bible is perfect.
When it says the Lord that bought them, guess what God meant.
He meant the Lord that bought them.
If he wanted to say the Lord that created them,
do you really think it would have been hard to put created instead of bought?
It's very clear, even denying the Lord that bought them.
And here's the thing.
These false prophets, John Calvin, Martin Luther,
the princess of preachers, Charles Spurgeon,
John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul,
you know, these false prophets that are on their way to hell are already in hell,
God bought their salvation.
God wanted them to get saved, but somewhere along the line,
these people rejected God over and over and over and over,
and you know what, they have no hope of going to heaven.
These people are going to die and split hell wide open when they die.
Jesus bought their salvation, but they're going to go straight to hell.
Turn to Acts 7.
And so the first point we had in this sermon,
the Calvinists say total depravity, the Bible teaches total dependence.
The Calvinists say unconditional election, but the Bible teaches a universal choice.
Calvinists say the limited atonement, that Jesus only died for some people,
the Bible teaches the limitless atonement.
And the next point the Calvinists have is irresistible grace.
Basically, when God decides to regenerate you, you can't resist that at all.
God is going to regenerate you.
If he wants to regenerate you, you have no free will in the matter.
If he decides he wants you in heaven, even if you don't want to go, you're going to heaven.
That's what Calvinism teaches.
Well, look at Acts 7, verse 51.
So the Calvinism's point I is this.
Irresistible grace that you cannot resist when God wants you saved.
But doesn't it say in verse 51, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost?
Stephen is preaching and he's saying, hey, God wanted you saved,
but you chose to reject, reject, reject as your fathers did.
God wanted you saved, but you chose to resist the Holy Ghost.
So the Bible does not teach an irresistible grace.
It teaches, basically, an inhibitable grace.
You can inhibit the grace from happening.
You have your free will to decide whether or not you believe it or not.
It's not guaranteed that it's going to happen.
It's an impedable or inhibitable grace.
It's not irresistible.
But you know, the Calvinists actually used Acts 7, 51 as one of their proof verses.
They say, well, how could they use Acts 7, 51 to prove that you can't resist the Holy Ghost
when it says that they did resist the Holy Ghost?
Well, Calvinists say this is talking about every unsaved person.
Every unsaved person in their natural state is going to resist the Holy Ghost.
That's why God has to just force you to be saved.
And these are people that God didn't want to be saved.
Yeah, that's ridiculous.
Stephen's preaching and he's saying, God wanted you saved,
but you chose to resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did.
So do ye.
And Calvinists point to this verse and they say, well, you know what, it's irresistible.
Basically, you know, everybody is a reprobate.
They'll just choose to reject the Holy Ghost and not believe, so God has to force you to be saved.
Turn to Matthew 23.
I mean, when you're dealing with a verse that's very clear, when it says you do always resist the Holy Ghost,
and someone walks away and says you can't resist the Holy Ghost,
you're dealing with someone who doesn't believe the Bible.
When they can look at that verse and see it and say, well, see, you know, that's everybody,
it's just clear they don't believe the Bible.
There's so many clear verses that show what the Bible teaches and they just deny all of them.
It says in Matthew 23 verse 37,
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee,
how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as it hen gathereth her chickens under her wings.
And ye would not. Isn't it very clear that God wants them saved?
He's like, I would have gathered you together, but you know what, you chose to reject it.
Ye would not. Ye did not want to be saved.
The Bible is very clear about this. We have free will in the matter.
It's not an irresistible grace. When we hear this message of salvation, we have the choice if we believe it or if we reject it.
The Bible talks about grieving the Holy Spirit of God. It says grieve not the Holy Spirit of God.
It is possible to grieve the Holy Spirit of God. It's possible to resist the Holy Ghost. The Bible is very clear about that.
So what Calvinists basically teach is this, that God regenerates you apart from your free will,
and when he regenerates you, you're going to completely change.
And if you completely change, you're never going to be carnal. You're never going to be that sinful.
You're just going to always walk the walk and desire to live for God.
And you can go on YouTube and listen to these heretics, John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul and all these guys,
and people will ask questions like, well, how do I know if I'm one of the elect?
And here's the thing, if somebody asks me, well, how do I know if I'm a child of God?
I would say, well, if you believe on Jesus Christ. If you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you're a child of God.
It's like, well, what if you live a sinful life? Hey, if you believe, you're safe.
Whether or not you're drunk, if you believe, you're safe.
The Calvinists will say, well, the only way to really know if you're a child of God is your actions.
How are you living? Are you living a good life? Do you have a desire to live for God?
Do you enjoy reading the Bible? I mean, that's ridiculous.
There's plenty of people that are saved that never read the Bible.
There's plenty of people that are saved that are going to be drunk until the day they die that are going to end up in heaven.
Because salvation is not based on what we do. It is based on what we believe.
And Calvinists will say, well, there's no carnal Christians. It's just proof they do not believe the Bible.
Calvinists show that they're not saved by many different ways.
Turn to Jude chapter 1.
And one reason why I'm harping on the fact that Calvinists are not saved is because people seem to have this idea that Calvinists are saved.
We look at anybody else who teaches these crazy things that say they're not saved.
But, well, Calvinists, the way they get around this, they say, well, you know what? It's not us doing the work. God works through us.
So it's not that we have to live a good life. It's just God makes you where you want to live for God.
But isn't that what all the false religions say?
Because Calvinists will say, well, this is all God 100%. It's not our works at all.
But if you're not doing the works, you're not saved.
If you don't desire to live for God, you're not saved.
If you don't want to change your entire lifestyle, then you're not saved.
You know, Mormons say the same thing. They say we're saved by grace through faith.
Isn't that what every Mormon says, that we're saved by grace?
Every single Mormon. Does anybody in here think that the Mormons are saved? No.
Because they're trusting in their works.
What would make us think that a Calvinist is saved based on what they teach?
They don't believe the Bible. They think that when you get saved, you've got to change your entire lifestyle.
They just say you submit to God in everything. You make him the Lord of your life in all areas.
That's ridiculous. That is the greatest form of work salvation.
These people are clearly not saved.
The first point we had was this.
We saw the total depravity of man, according to Calvinists. The Bible teaches total dependence.
Calvinists teach the unconditional election. The Bible teaches universal choice.
Calvinists teach limited atonement. The Bible teaches limitless atonement.
Calvinists teach irresistible grace. The Bible teaches inhibitable or impedable grace.
And the last point, Calvinism teaches the perseverance of the saints.
And actually, keep your place in Jude, but turn to Ephesians chapter 2 real quickly.
And so basically, what Calvinism teaches by the perseverance of the saints,
they say, well, if you're really saved, you're going to persevere to the very end.
You're going to live a good life until the day you die.
You're going to change your life and walk the walk.
If you're really saved, you're going to persevere until the very, very end.
Well, look at Ephesians chapter 2, verse 10. This is what it says.
For we are his workmanship, creating Christ Jesus onto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Does the Bible say it's automatic, or does it say we should walk in them?
God wants you to live a good life. It does not say it's automatic.
We should walk in them. God wants you to obey his rules. It's not a guarantee.
The Bible does not teach you're going to persevere onto the end.
How many stories in the Bible are there of believers that don't persevere onto the end?
Doesn't Paul say about Demas? Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world.
Doesn't the Bible teach that King Saul, the last thing he did on this earth was he killed himself,
and the Bible teaches that he went to heaven if you go back to 1 Samuel 28?
I mean, throughout the Bible, there's people that did not persevere onto the end.
There's people that just chose to live sinful lives.
And I'm sure a lot of us know Christians that just chose to go back to the world
and forget about the things of God that used to be soul winners.
There's so many people that used to come to this church and really love the Lord,
and they don't love the Lord anymore.
It doesn't mean that they're not going to go to heaven, though.
Just because they don't love the Lord, just because they're not living for God,
it doesn't mean that they're not saved,
because the Bible never teaches that you as a believer will persevere onto the end.
It does not teach that.
Turn to Jude chapter 1.
You look at other people in the Bible.
Samson, look at his life.
The last thing he did was he killed himself.
You look at David.
He certainly lived like a kernel Christian.
He certainly didn't always walk the walk.
You know, the Bible does not teach the perseverance of the saints.
You know what it does teach?
It teaches the preservation of the saints.
Now, perseverance and preservation,
those words sound similar, and they're spelled pretty close.
They are completely different.
You don't want to get confused with these things.
I'll be honest with you.
When I first got saved, I was the sort of person that wasn't really reading the Bible when I first got saved.
I was reading all these books about the Bible, and I was studying all these topics,
and I didn't even know what the Bible taught.
If somebody had asked me, do I believe in the perseverance of the saints,
I probably would have said yes, just because I thought it was just eternal security.
I thought what the Calvinists taught was, once you're saved, you're always saved.
They don't really teach once saved, always saved.
It's completely different.
See, when you say perseverance, what you're implying is this,
that you are going to live a good life till the day you die.
But preservation of the saints teaches this, which is what the Bible teaches,
that God keeps us saved.
We don't have to keep ourselves saved.
God is the one who keeps us saved.
If we had to keep ourselves saved, guess where we would all end up?
We would end up in hell, because we live very sinful lives.
But you know what the Bible says in Jude 1, verse 1?
Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,
to them that are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called.
That's a great promise in the Bible, because if we weren't preserved, we would screw it up.
You know, a guy like Martin Luther, who taught, well, God will predestine you,
but you can still throw it away.
Everybody would throw away their salvation.
Everybody would live a sinful life.
I mean, if you had to keep yourself saved, that's just as ridiculous to say
that you have to work your way to heaven.
We're not going to be able to do it.
We don't live good lives.
We live sinful lives.
We're all trying to grow and change, but we do not always walk the walk.
The Bible definitely teaches that there's carnal Christians.
Turn to 1 John, chapter 5.
This is the last place we'll look tonight, or this morning.
And in 1 John, chapter 5, notice 1 and verse 13.
This is a very common verse we use out soul winning.
These things that I have written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God,
that ye may know that ye have eternal life,
and that ye may believe in the name of the Son of God.
The Bible teaches that you can know you have eternal life.
It teaches that you can know you're saved and on your way to heaven.
And here's the thing.
The vast majority of people out there, they don't know if they're going to heaven.
You know, the vast majority of people out there, they're trusting in their works.
They don't know if they're going to heaven.
They're going to die and go to hell.
But the Bible teaches you can know you're going to heaven.
Now, when we go soul winning, though, we knock that door.
Aren't there a lot of people that tell us they know they're going to heaven?
But they don't know they're going to heaven.
They're just lying to you.
You know, when you're trusting in your works, you can't know you're going to heaven.
Can you know you're going to heaven if you're trusting in your works?
No, because you don't know if you've lived a good enough life.
You don't know what God's standards are.
You don't know if you've lived a good enough life to make it.
You cannot know you're going to heaven if you're trusting in your works.
Notice verse 10, 1 John 5, 10.
He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself.
He that believeth not God hath made him a liar,
because he believeth not the record that God gave his Son.
So the Bible teaches this, that if we don't believe the record God gave his Son,
if we don't believe what's written about Jesus Christ, we're making him a liar.
It'd be like, for example, if I told you, you know, I have a red car.
If I were to ask, you know, Brother Luke, I have a red car, do you believe me?
If he tells me he doesn't believe me, what is he calling me?
He's calling me a liar.
You either believe or you don't. There's no in between.
You either, you're calling me a liar or you think I'm telling the truth, right?
There's no in between with salvation.
It's not, well, I sort of believe and I sort of don't.
No, if you don't believe, you don't believe.
You either believe or you're calling God a liar.
If you don't believe what's written about Jesus Christ, you're calling him a liar.
Verse 11, and this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life and this life is in his Son.
He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
You notice in verse 12 there's just two types of people.
Those that believe the Son of God and those that don't believe the Son of God.
Those that believe the Son of God, they know they're going to heaven.
Like, for example, I know I'm going to heaven.
I don't have any question about it because I believed on Jesus Christ when I was 18 years old.
Now, I'm not saying that you can never have any doubts ever pop up in your life.
Obviously, we go through various different trials and things in life.
But, you know, when you believe on Jesus Christ, you understand that salvation is a free gift and God saved you.
You don't have to do any works to be saved.
You don't have to do any works to keep your salvation.
But, you know, the Calvinist, no Calvinist knows that they're one of the elect.
Not a single one knows if they're going to heaven.
And see, what the Bible teaches about this, if you don't know you're going to heaven, it's because you're not.
See, if you don't know you're saved, it's because you are not saved.
If you don't understand salvation, it's because you are not saved.
Because once you understand salvation, you know you're on your way to heaven.
But if someone does not, because there's only two types of people in verse 12.
Those that believe in the Son of God and those that don't.
Guess which people know they're going to heaven?
Those that believe in the Son of God.
Those that don't believe in the Son of God, guess what?
They don't know if they're going to heaven.
And Calvinists will pretend like they know they're one of the elect, but they don't really believe that.
Because if you get them off the record, they're going to say,
I'm 99% sure I'm one of the elect.
I think I'm one of the elect.
I'm living a good life.
I feel like I love God.
I feel like I want to serve God.
I must be one of the elect.
But even if they were pretty confident, you cannot know you're one of the elect unless you do, guess what?
Unless you persevere until the very end of your life.
Because they believe it's possible that they could just be deceived.
They believe it's possible to be very confident you're on your way to heaven.
But then you find out later on in life, when you didn't persevere until the end, that you weren't really one of the elect.
Because if you're really saved, you would persevere until the end.
That's what they teach.
So basically, no Calvinist knows if they're going to heaven.
And you can go back to history with the Puritans, who were very religious people,
and on their deathbed, guess what?
They were scared to death they were going to die and go straight to hell.
You know why?
Because they did die, and they went straight to hell.
Because they were Calvinists, believed in baptizing babies, they were trusting in their works for salvation.
And Calvinists can sit here and say all they want, that they're not trusting in their works.
It's very clear they're trusting in their works.
To say that you've got to make Jesus the Lord over every area of your life to be saved.
To say that if you're really saved, you're never going to be carnal.
To say if you're really saved, you're going to persevere until the very end.
That sounds like some pretty hardcore work salvation to me.
That you're just going to make God your Lord in all areas and never do anything wrong.
Calvinists don't know they're going to heaven, and there's a reason why.
It's because they're not going to heaven.
Because when you're saved, you understand you're saved, and you're on your way to heaven.
Just three points I want to conclude with.
One thing is this.
We at Verity Baptist Church, you know what we need to make sure?
We need to make sure that we don't just believe in the reprobate doctrine in theory, but in actuality.
It's interesting when you go to a church like this and you hear the reprobate doctrine preached,
and people will say they believe this.
Because they'll say, our pastor will preach about how there's evil people out there,
people that just want to harm kids,
wicked people that just want to harm people, these serial killers.
These are reprobates. They're rejected by God.
And people will say they believe this,
but then you look at these false prophets like John MacArthur, like R.C. Sproul,
and people will think, well, they're just honestly a little bit confused.
They're not confused. They're bad people that are trying to lead people straight to hell.
This guy, R.C. Sproul, died recently, a Presbyterian who believed in baptizing babies.
And I didn't mention this in the sermon, but you look at these famous Calvinists.
Half of them believe in baptizing babies.
Many of them think the earth is old.
I mean, what part of the Bible do they believe in when they come away and say,
I mean, John Piper, who's probably the most famous Calvinist out there,
he said the earth might be hundreds of trillions of years old.
It's like, good night, man. The evolutionists are closer than you.
It's very clear that they do not believe the Bible.
And here's what I want you to understand.
I can't think of a famous Calvinist who lives near our church,
but in Phoenix, Dr. James White lives in Phoenix, Arizona.
Somebody could go soul-winning and come back to Pastor Anderson and say,
Guess what, Pastor Anderson? I got somebody saved from James White's church.
And he's going to be like, praise the Lord, that's awesome.
But do you know something that's not going to happen?
Nobody's going to come back from soul-winning and say,
Guess what? I got Dr. James White saved.
You know why? Because he's a reprobate.
He has no chance of going to heaven.
John MacArthur lives near Faithful Word Baptist Church Los Angeles.
Somebody might go out soul-winning and say, Hey, guess what?
I got somebody saved from John MacArthur's church.
But do you know what someone's not going to do?
Come back to Brother Bruce Mahia and say,
Guess what? I got John MacArthur saved.
You know why? Because the reprobate doctrine is true.
And there's evil people out there that hate God
and just want to cause destruction,
and they're leading people straight to hell.
That's John MacArthur. That's James White.
That's these full-blown Calvinists.
I believe there's people in those churches that are confused
because they haven't heard the truth.
But these full-blown, five-point Calvinists,
they're reprobates that are on their way to hell.
These religious leaders, they're leading people astray.
Don't just believe in the reprobate doctrine and theory, but in actuality.
We made this video of R.C. Sproul, this famous Presbyterian Calvinist,
who died and went to hell, and a lot of people were really upset about this.
I got saved in 2003, and when I got saved,
I went to a lot of Christian groups on college campuses,
Campus Crusade, Baptist Campus Ministries, and all these various groups.
And in these groups, you have people from every denomination under the sun.
You've got Baptists, you've got Presbyterians, Lutherans, Methodists,
Pentecostals, non-denominational. You've got some Catholics.
Honestly, there are probably some Mormons there.
There are people from every denomination under the sun.
It's funny because in 2005, Pope John Paul died.
When Pope John Paul died, most people didn't feel bad for him.
Just your normal people at non-denominational churches, Pentecostals, Lutherans,
pretty much everyone, even though they didn't believe in the reprobate doctrine,
they would have said, well, of course the Pope's not getting saved.
Because obviously he's the biggest false prophet. He's never going to get saved.
Even just your normal Christian out there understood,
well, the Pope is obviously not going to get saved.
He's obviously a false prophet.
Nobody felt bad when he died.
But then, it's funny how people feel bad.
R.C. Sproul died, and they say, well, how dare you say he's in hell?
It's obvious he's in hell when you see what he teaches.
And here's the thing.
I wish that when R.C. Sproul was a 10-year-old boy and he was out riding his bike,
I wish some soul winner had stopped him and given him the gospel
and showed him what it took to get to heaven, and he had believed on Jesus Christ.
But I don't feel bad that a 78-year-old R.C. Sproul died and went to hell.
In fact, when he died and went to hell, I was happy that a false prophet's not in this world.
Because there are bad people in here that are leading people straight to hell.
And I'll tell you what, I have this story from when I was in West Virginia.
I was preaching the gospel one time, and there was this woman on her porch.
And we got up to her porch, and she was reading a book by Charles Spurgeon.
Now, Charles Spurgeon is this full-blown five-point Calvinist.
Charles Spurgeon, the prince of preachers.
Every independent Baptist church loves him, except pretty much our church and the churches and our movement.
They love him.
He had the biggest church in England when he was preaching.
He had this mega church. Everybody loved him.
When everybody loves you, it's because you're a compromiser.
Everybody loved him, and for some reason, people thought Charles Spurgeon was such a good guy.
But this person was reading this book by Charles Spurgeon.
And I asked her if she knew she was going to heaven, and she said,
Honestly, I'm not sure if I'm one of the elect.
And I gave her the gospel, and she ended up getting saved.
But you know what took me about 50 minutes to get her saved?
That's a long time to take to get somebody saved.
You know why? Because this...
I mean, I've gotten Jehovah's Witnesses saved in a lot less than 50 minutes.
50 minutes is a lot of time to spend at the door.
Is that not a lot of time?
Who here spends that long in your normal presentation?
Probably not too many people, but she was so twisted on this doctrine of Calvinism,
it took a lot to get her saved.
And honestly, when she told me she wasn't sure if she was one of the elect,
she was tearing up when she said that.
She was obviously someone who wanted to know how to get to heaven,
and she was at one of these churches, and she had believed in this false doctrine,
and she was on her way to hell.
And I'm glad she was able to get saved,
but you know there's a lot of people out there that are listening to this kind of teaching.
Calvinism is very common.
This doctrine sounds crazy because it is crazy,
but this is a very common doctrine out there.
They have a lot of books they write.
People listen to this stuff.
We need to understand Calvinism is a heresy.
It's straight from hell,
and we need to always realize that these people in Sacramento,
if we don't preach the gospel to them,
the blood's on our hands.
God is not going to come down from heaven and regenerate the people he chooses to go to heaven.
No, God has given us the ministry of reconciliation,
and if we don't go out and do the work, those people are not going to get saved.
Let's close in a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be in your house this morning,
and I ask you to help us all think about these things that were preached, God.
Help us to realize how evil this doctrine is.
Help us to realize how important it is for us to go out there and to do the work
and to go soul-winning, God.
And I ask you to help us to always just realize
the importance of us preaching the gospel and getting people saved.
We pray this in Jesus' name.