Amen. So it's been a minute since I've been in the pulpit on a Sunday morning.
We had somebody fill in last week. I was up in Phoenix. The week before that, we had brother
Oliver Gonzalez here, and then the week before that, I was sick. So
feels like it's been a little while. But if you recall, we're going through our distinctive
doctrine series. And so far, we've covered just going through that acronym that you often see,
the Baptist acronym, we've covered the biblical authority, we've covered the autonomy of the local
church, we've covered the priesthood of the believer, and we've covered the ordinances,
the believers baptism and the Lord's Supper. And then this morning, we're going to find ourselves
in the eye of that back of the acronym, which is going to stand for the individual soul liberty.
And really, you could apply this to different ways. And what I found with this acronym
is that as you study this, and you look into the way other people have taught it,
and some of these letters, people apply it in different ways, they want to say, actually,
it stands for this, or it stands for that. And that just goes to show you that we really are
independent Baptist, that we can't even get our own acronym. We can't even agree on that as a
whole. So, but amen for that. But really, the way this one I kind of want to apply this morning is
just really to the unbeliever, and then to the believer, the way this would apply. So what,
but really, what essentially boils down to is that the doctrine of individual soul liberty
simply means that every person has the right to believe as they see fit. And these kind of things
kind of are these kind of acronyms, or these doctrines are often birthed when because of
the fact that people have gone through things and they want to they want to lay a foundation
to make sure that that error that the things that they suffered don't go through. Again,
you have to remember the Baptists for a long time, were persecuted for what they believed
and told that they were not allowed to believe what they believe, even about a doctrine as
simple as baptism. And they said that they had no right to establish a doctrine outside of,
you know, a state run church or a or, you know, the Catholic Church wouldn't allow other people
to preach anything different than what they believed. So our forefathers thought it was
important that we understood this idea of individual soul liberty, that every one of us,
not only as unbelievers, but also as believers, as we'll talk about towards the end of the sermon,
have the right to believe as we see fit as individual people.
So everybody has the right to believe as they see fit. Now, how would that apply
to the unbeliever? Well, that would apply to the unbeliever that every person has the right to
either choose or reject the gospel. And that's very contrary to a popular doctrine that we hear
about a lot today, the doctrine of Calvinism, and specifically predestination that we'll talk about
that here in a minute, that God is picking and choosing who's going to be saved and who's going
to go to hell. Okay, but we don't believe that as Baptists. We believe that every person has the
right to either choose to believe the gospel or the right to reject the gospel. That's left up
to the individual themselves. It also means that a believer, and I also want to apply it this way,
is that as believers, we have the right to determine, in fact, the responsibility to
determine what doctrines are biblical and what doctrines are unbiblical. We're not going to just
go along with whatever the church says simply because the church said so. We need to be
comparing these spiritual things with spiritual and determining for ourselves why we believe what
we believe. And we have the right and the responsibility to do that. We'll just get right
into it here. The first thing I want us to understand this morning is that individuals
have the ability to accept or reject the gospel. Now, notice I said ability. Again, that's contrary
to the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination of the believer, the belief that God has already
chosen who will be saved and who will be damned. That God is somehow up in heaven before the world
even began has decided, well, you're going to be saved and you're not. That's not a loving God.
I mean, saying that what's the point of even trying to preach the gospel to these people
if God has already determined who's going to be saved and who's not? And really, quite often, I
think that's why a lot of even independent Baptists are starting to allow that doctrine to creep in
and are starting to fall under its spell a little bit because they get a little lazy, they
get a little backslidden, and they still want to stop soul winning. And so they say, well,
they say things like, well, if they're going to get saved, they're going to get saved.
If God has decided that so-and-so is supposed to get saved, whether I preach them a gospel or not,
somebody else will come along. That's not true, though. If you don't preach the gospel to be
somebody, that might be their only chance to get saved. God's not just up there pulling strings
and has us all pre-programmed like some kind of a ... This isn't the matrix where it's just a
bunch of ones and zeros and God's the great programmer or whatever, and we're just running
through some preordained, predestined story. This is something that we all play a part in.
I think of those people out on the Navajo reservation. If we don't go out into those
two tracks and slap around in the back of that van and bump our heads on the ceiling, and
we didn't bottom out any shocks, but it's possible. If we don't go out there and do that,
who else is going to do it? Probably nobody. Maybe a Jehovah Witness or a Mormon or something like
that. You're going to sit there and tell me, well, if that person back there is supposed to
get saved, they will. Well, how? How shall they hear the word? They have the word preached to
them. How shall they preach except they be sent? This is why he has to be touched upon
in the sermon. It's because this kind of thinking and this kind of doctrine creeps into Baptist
churches. Even independent, fundamental Baptist churches, to all appearances, have the gospel
right. You would say they believe the right gospel. Even then, they can let this thinking
creep in to where they end up saying things like, well, God will just save who he wants saved,
and they'll show up here at our doorstep. That's not how it works. In fact, predestination,
the concept, the manner in which the Calvinist teaches it, is contrary to the nature of God.
That's what I believe. Because think about it. If God is choosing who will be saved and who will be
damned, that's contrary to the nature of God. That's not love, then. You're going to tell me
God loves the people in hell? How can you say that God so loved the world if he's already
preordained some people to go to hell? In fact, the vast majority of people are going to go to
hell. Broad is the way which lead to the destruction, and many there be which go in there
at. So God, just right out of the gate, just hates the majority of people. Then John 3.16 is a lie.
For God so loved the world is a lie. That's against the nature of God to say that he is
preordaining who's going to be saved, and preordaining who is not going to be saved,
or who's going to be damned. It's contrary to a multitude of Scriptures. And I don't want to spend
a lot of time on this, because we're all saved here this morning, and I think there's another
concept that we really need to make sure we have nailed down. But we could just think, probably go
around the room, and we could probably all think of a few verses that would debunk this idea that
God is picking and choosing who's going to be saved and who isn't. For example, 2 Peter
chapter 3 verse 9, the Lord is not slack concerning his promises. Some men count slackness, but his
longsuffering to us were not willing that any should perish. The Bible says that God is not
willing that any should perish, but the Calvinist will tell you, you know, God willed that some
people would go to hell. Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance. How many should come to repentance? Everyone. God wants everyone to be saved.
John 1-6, where there was a man sent from God, whose name was John, the same came for a witness
to bear witness to the light that all men through him might believe. How many men did God want to
believe? All men. Not just some. And we could go on and on. 1 Timothy 4-10, 1 John 2-2, John 3-16,
1 Timothy 2, for this is good and acceptable sight of God our Savior, who will have all men to be
saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. You could turn to Matthew 23 and read Jesus as he was
coming in to Jerusalem before he was crucified and said, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that
killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often I would have gathered
together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens that are her wings, and ye would not. So he would
save them. He would have been their Messiah, but they chose to reject him. So this concept that God
predestines who's going to be saved is contrary to the doctrine of individual soul liberty. Every
person as an unbeliever has the right, the ability to choose whether or not they're going to believe
or reject the gospel. That's why it's so important for us that we go out and preach the gospel. It's
contrary to the nature of God to say that God is picking and choosing who goes to heaven, who goes
to hell and who doesn't. Because what sends a person to hell? It's sin, right? Sin, you know,
the wages of sin is death, right? We understand that that's part of that death is our spiritual
death and we go to hell. So to sit there and say that God chooses some men to go to hell,
well you're kind of saying well now it's not even about sin that takes them to hell. Now it's more
about because just God decided that's the way it is. In fact, it almost starts to imply that God
forces men to sin. I mean if that's what's going to take people to go to hell, if that's what takes
people to go to hell is them having to commit sin, then you know they would have to. That means that
if God wanted someone to go to hell, then they would have to sin, wouldn't they?
And we know that God is not, cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.
Let no man when he is tempted, say when he is tempted, excuse me, but every man is tempted
when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then lust when he hath conceived bringeth forth
sin and when sin is finished bringeth forth death. So this doctrine is just completely false. It's
not something we should entertain and it's wicked and it casts God in a bad light quite frankly.
It makes them look like this just this cold heartless being who is just choosing you know
based on what I don't know who's going to be saved and who's going to go to a lake of fire
for all of eternity. I mean it's a I mean hell is a serious place you know we shouldn't take it
lightly so just say that well God is just on a whim just sending people there just because he
feels like it is wicked. Now the reason people get mixed up on this is because of the term
that are used. Terms like predestination or predetermined or preordained or words like
ordained or you know these are these type of terms that get thrown around and people have a
have a misconception of exactly not necessarily what it means but the way in which it's being
used and what it's referring to. We see an example of that there in Ephesians chapter one. It says in
Ephesians chapter one we'll go ahead and just pick it up there in verse three where it says blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
and heavenly places in Christ according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of
the world that we should be holy and blame before him in love. So let's say we'll see there in verse
four it says he hath chosen us in him so they'll say that means some people go to heaven and some
go to people go to hell based on whether or not God has chosen them but this the way it's using
chosen there is does not mean to the exclusion of other people you know he hasn't chosen us
so that others would be excluded it's we're chosen what in him that's what the choosing is that we're
chosen in him you know the way we're going to go to heaven is through Christ it's not it's not
do you see what I'm saying there it's not about God picking and choosing somebody it's the fact
that if you're going to heaven you're chosen in him we are chosen in him that we should be holy
and blame without blame that's what's predetermined that if you're going to come
to the father it's going to be through Christ no man cometh in the father but by me Jesus said
that's what's being predetermined the manner in the the way that you're going to get to heaven
is in him that if you're going to be holy and without blame before him in love it's going to
be in Christ it goes on there in verse five and it says having predestinated us unto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will
so see see there some people are predestined and it says there we have been predestinated right
having being predestinated unto the adoption of uh of children by Jesus Christ to himself
now does that mean that because you're predestined that God chose you
and and excluded somebody else that God drew your name out of a hat and said oh you're one of my
chosen drew another name out of a hat and said he is not that's not that's not how it works what
he's predestined it says there is we are predestinated unto the adoption just like we are
chosen in him we are predestinated unto the adoption by Jesus Christ that if you're going
to be God's child if you're going to be adopted if you're going to be an heir of salvation it's
by Jesus Christ it's not talking about who it's talking about the how you're predestinated to be
adopted by Jesus Christ you see you're not going to be made holy you're not going to be made
without blame by any other way than through Jesus Christ look there verse 11 it says in whom we also
have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his will see there again and they'll just pick out a word now you
can turn to just some there there's no false you could pick any false doctrine you want and you
could find a scripture to twist and make it sound say what you want it to say say well we believe
in predestination because the bible uses the word predestination we have how does it use it what's
it referring to what's the context it says we're predestinated look there in verse 11 we have
obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his will the sentence continues in verse 12 that we should
be prayed to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ the predestination is that you
should be to the praise of his glory that's what God has before determined that those of us that
come to Christ that we are going to bring him glory in heaven that's what's being predestinated
here again it's it's the what it's the how it's not about the who it's not about who's getting
picked and who isn't it's about those people that are saved what is what lies ahead for them
and what lies ahead for us is that we should be to the praise of his glory
we are predestinated to bring him praise this ties in with first peter
chapter two go ahead and turn over there real quick first peter chapter two
first peter chapter two beginning of verse nine the bible says but ye are a chosen generation
right now see they're right there well there you have it some people are picked and some
people aren't no that's not what it's saying here because again if you're going to say that if
you're going to turn to this scripture or another scripture in ephesians one and say well it says
predestinated and some we are chosen well then that's and you're going to interpret it that way
to say that god picks and chooses who's going to be saved now you've just created a huge glaring
contradiction in scripture because all the scriptures i read earlier that said that god
is not willing that any should perish now you have a contradiction and the bible cannot contradict
itself so we have to understand you know we already understand that god wants everybody to
be saved so now when we read these verses and we read ye are a chosen generation it's we
now understand it's not talking about the fact that we're being picked but with no uh with with
no act of will on our own part that god just has just predestinated so we can't even help it we're
just going to be saved irresistible grace these other doctrines that they teach it says we are
a chosen generation to do what that ye should show forth the praises of him with calls you out of
darkness you're chosen to do something you're chosen to be a royal priest at a holy nation
that ye should show forth his praises who have called you that's what we've been called unto
that's what we've been chosen to do that's we're predestinated to to bring him glory and praise
and it's all done through christ so god predetermines the fate of those that are
foreknown and really that's the term we really need to come to grasp with and that's the term
a lot of calvinists want to ignore is that that term foreknowledge because when you understand
foreknowledge predestination makes a whole lot more sense god predestinates things based on his
foreknowledge god foreknows everybody is going to be saved that doesn't mean he picked who's going
to be saved just because you know something ahead of time doesn't mean that's you made it happen
you know i'm trying to think of some some carnal examples but it involved food but we're not going
to go there just take your time but you know god predetermines the fate of those who he has foreknown
god because god knows all things right god is all all-knowing he knows the beginning from the end
the bible says in isaiah 46 verse 9 i'll read to you remember the former things of old for
i am god there is none else i am god and there's none like me declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done saying my counsel shall stand i shall do all
my pleasure god says that he declares the end from the beginning that when they that from the
beginning god already knows the end and he declares the things that are not yet done the
things that are going to come to pass god has foreknowledge god already knows who's going to
be saved and who isn't but that doesn't mean he picked them what he has determined for those
people is that they should bring him glory that they should be pre be to his praise that they
should be conformed to the image of his son that was what god has predestinated us to and there's
a lot of other uh you know scriptures that we could turn to and look at but um i think we get
the point on that and i kind of want to move on and hopefully i'm not just touching and going on
that but i think we all get that i think everyone i don't think anyone's you know is is teetering on
the brink of going into full-blown calvinism this morning you know and if you are if that's you if
you're really struggling with this come talk to me and we can look at some other you know we can
turn to romans 8 we can turn to romans 14 we can look at these other passages but uh what i want
to kind of focus in on uh this morning is the fact uh that you as a believer have you know someone
who's already chosen to receive the gospel by your own free will right you have the individual
liberty because remember that's what we're talking about this morning is the individual liberty
the the individual liberty that you have to either reject the gospel or to believe it
not only that but you as a believer have the the liberty to deny or reject doctrine that is taught
in a church and this is important because now there's some caveats here we're going to get into
now because here's the thing some churches will teach things that you might not agree with
does that mean you can't go there you know does that mean you shouldn't you shouldn't even go
darken the door of that church well you have to kind of take some things into account like what
exactly are they're teaching what specific doctrine are we you know talking about because
and this is important because some people today you know they get all bent out of shape because
some church preaches a pre-trib doctrine now i sat in church for for over a decade where the
pre-trib was believed it necessarily wasn't taught because it's hard to teach that doctrine and make
any sense because it doesn't make any sense but people go to churches and you know people become
post-trib they read the bible they read matthew 24 where it says after the tribulation you know they
they read all these passages they read the bible for themselves they come to that you know that
that determination by themselves and then they end up going to a church that doesn't believe that
is that a doctrine that you should separate over no i don't think it is you know some and some
people will make a big mistake and say no you should i don't believe that i i believe that you
have the you have the responsibility to be in church because here's the thing if you decide
if you decide that's going to be a a deal breaker for you as far as a church goes you're gonna have
a hard time finding a baptist church you know you just narrowed your your your selection down quite
a bit because a lot they all believe it the vast majority of them at least in america they believe
it that by and large so what i'm talking about is the fact that you as a as a as somebody who's
attending a local church you have the right and responsibility to choose whether or not you
believe what is preached as doctrine by this church and go ahead and turn over to romans
chapter 14 romans chapter 14 now that doesn't just mean that you just have a license to just
teach whatever you want you know or to to uh you know object beyond reason
for now you're going to make it a point of contention over some doctrine some trivial
you know uh tertiary doctrine some peripheral doctrine that isn't one of the main tenets of
the faith now you're now that's going to be your hobby horse we'll talk a little bit of that but
you do as an individual have the right and the responsibility to either reject or accept the
doctrine that is taught by a church look there in romans chapter 14 beginning in verse 1 where
it says him that is weak in the faith receive he but not to doubtful disputations you know so if
somebody comes in and they believe some weird doctrine or they if they've got something wrong
in their doctrine biblically they're a little off on something the bible says it doesn't say to just
reject that person out of hand and have nothing to do with them you know call them a heretic and
beat them with the rod out the door you know and tell them never to come back no it says to receive
them they're weak in the faith receive them you know give them time admonish them show them from
the bible why they're wrong teach them allow them to grow let the let the preaching come across the
pulpit and begin to correct them you know let that happen and receive them but not to doubtful
disputations that's where that caveat comes in you know where somebody's going to come in and
bring in a strange doctrine or a wrong doctrine that's fine but as long as it doesn't lead to
doubtful disputation you know disputings people that are going to make contention out of it well
i'm going to tell you why the earth is flat you know i believe the flat earth and by the time i'm
done with this church everybody will you know ain't going to happen you know or or whatever
strange doctrine that's out there today you know the nephilim you know the lizard people or bigfoot
all these strange things that people that spend too much time on youtube get into
and they want now they find a local church you know and they you know they're and they they go
in there and now they have this doubtful disputation they're weak in the faith they're
not church they're not read up in their bible you know they've been they've been up till two in the
morning you know watching you know some conspiracy stuff or whatever and i'm all for that you know
some of that stuff there's some good conspiracy videos out there but that's not the meat and
potatoes of the christian life you know this is right here getting in this book and we should you
know if we just spent more time on this getting into this we would have right doctrine so he says
not to receive them to doubtful disputation so there is a line there you know where somebody if
they're bringing in something and they're just making a point of contention they're not going
to give it up after they've been corrected then you know then we have to sit sit down and have
a talk but it goes on in verse two it says for one that believeth that he may eat all things
another who is weak eateth herbs okay so specifically what he's talking about here is
that there's some people are saying well you shouldn't eat meat you know they're vegetarians
and he's saying you know that's fine let them be a vegetarian you know but don't let them impose
that upon you don't make that a matter of you know dispute uh for one believeth that he may
eat all things another now it is worth noting he who is weak eateth herbs right push the salad
aside and have a double portion of meat right let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not
you know if somebody says hey i don't eat meat don't despise that guy you know that's fine that's
their choice and let not him which eateth judge not him not judge him that eateth so don't let
the vegetarian come in and say hey why aren't you why are you eating meat don't you know that's
murder you know don't let them go to the pescatarian i think that's what it is they only
eat fish right is a pescatarian i don't know nobody here knows is it i got okay i got the head
knot i'm good so the you know go hey just because you can't hear him scream doesn't mean it's not
murder you know that fish has a life you think that's you laugh i've seen it people who are
approaching people out in public fishing and saying that fish has a right to live and calling
people out in public did anyone see that facebook video that guy just went off on that dude in the
park i'm thinking man if i even if i felt that way i would first of all if guy's taking his time on
his day off and he's down at the park and and he's he's fishing you know he might be he might be a
little bit of an outdoorsman he might be one of those you know a little bit more of a rough neck
i don't know if he'd be approaching strange men who are fishing and start running my mouth at
him you never know he might be in there with the fishes before you know that didn't happen but
this guy's just going off you know calling the cops throws the guy's fish back in after he catches
it you know what's he doing he's judging him that that edith not you know he's despising him it's a
doubtful disputation and it says therefore god hath received him so if it's a believer in christ
if it's a brother in christ you know there's more important doctrines there's more important things
that we need to focus on than some something as as silly as you know whether or not we're
going to eat meat now it says there in verse four this is kind of the thrust of it who art thou that
judges another man's servant to his own master he standeth or falleth so we should really be
more concerned with what we believe and what we're going to decide we believe than what somebody
else is believing right he goes on yay he shall be holding up for god is able to make him stand
one steam with one day above another another esteem every day alike let every man be fully
persuaded in his own mind you know don't be so if someone doesn't want to celebrate birthdays
you know more cake for you you know then you don't have to give him a gift
praise god right you know what a pain that is but i'm kidding but you know he's just saying look
don't sit here and judge each other over you know some people and i've seen people coming to churches
and say they're they're big they're whether or not i'm coming to church is whether or not you
celebrate christmas do you put a christmas you know go to the pastor write him a letter
you know i i i hear you celebrate christmas is that true you know i'd love to be a member here
but if you guys decorate a tree on christmas i don't i don't know if i can do this yeah right
or bacon yeah hit the road jack there's going to be bacon getting eaten around here you better
believe it okay but people make these kind of silly things this is this is what makes or breaks
their church membership you know they esteem one day above another they don't esteem the day the
same way somebody else does or they they don't like the way somebody else assumes a certain day
they say oh i can't believe you celebrate christmas you know it's pagan holiday
so is everything else in the world i mean everything is pagan to these people
so what it's showing us here is that we all have the right to act in accordance to our own
conscience right in verse four who art thou that judges another man's servant to his own master he
standeth or falleth you know every man shall give an account of himself to god so we should be more
concerned with our own doctrine our own beliefs than we are what somebody else is believing and
it also shows us that we have the right to act in accordance as our conscience dictates you know you
know who you don't you don't owe me an explanation for why you believe what you believe you owe that
to god and we'll get into why you know it's not such a big deal because if we're all believing the
same book we're all going to end up believing the same thing for the most part by and large and
there's going to be small things that we probably differ on but that's good that's healthy you know
that's that means people are reading the bible they're thinking about what they're hearing
they're thinking about their reading they're contemplating these things they're not just going
along out of uh of just you know like robotically you know they're they're involved so you have the
right to act in accordance to your own conscience you will answer to your own master you will stand
or fall based on what you believe we don't have to go around policing one another in this area
it says there in uh second corinthians 5 i'll read to you for you must all appear before the
judgment seat of christ that everyone may receive the things done in his body according that he hath
done whether it be good or bad so it's not saying good bad is in the sense of sinful but what you
know it's it's whether or not your works were were good and right the motivations were right
or whether they weren't and uh you know it says that every we must all appear before the judgment
seat of christ you know i you know your our pastor isn't going to just go and stand in our place for
all of us you know and and he's going to be responsible for everything that everybody
believed in his church you know we're all going to give an account for whether or not for the
things that we did we're all going to rise or fall based on our own merit and god's going to hold us
accountable as individuals therefore because god is going to hold you accountable as an individual
you have the right as an individual to determine what it is that you believe the bible says look
there in verse 12 so then every one of us shall give account of himself to god you know because
i'm going to give an account to myself before god and i can't just say well brother so-and-so or
pastor so-and-so told me so you know that's why he's gonna say no you should have known you should
have figured that out that was your responsibility so yes individual soul it's a liberty it's a right
but it's also a responsibility that we have before god you know if a doctrine or a practice is
upheld by a church by a church that goes against what you personally believe you have the right
to disagree because you're going to give an account to that now obviously that's within
there you know you can't go overboard with that they're they're all because the fact is you know
you might have the right to to uphold your own beliefs that are contrary to what the church
teaches or what's taught across the pulpit but you also have to understand that the church or
church leadership also has the right to draw lines and that cannot be crossed you know that
well they have that right because they're you know we're going to give an account too and say
look there's certain things that if you're going to go here you have to believe right and that
that should go without saying you know but not every single thing you know if you're going to
come here you should probably believe in the king james bible right right you know you're just you're
going to get tired of it you're going to come here you're going to have to believe that salvation is
by grace through faith right you know you don't have to you don't have to believe that to to to
walk through the doors we'll we'll work on you you know come on in we'll work on that right
but you're not going to go around soul winning telling people that faith is you know salvation
is by works and be a part of this church because that is a damnable heresy and that's really where
the line is drawn damnable heresies you know we're teaching people to sin that some sin is
okay or excusable so there are lines that are drawn but you know within that there is space
for us to disagree with one another we don't all have to believe the exact same thing on every
little minutia of scripture and have every single little thing you know all lined up um
that that's just not that's just it's it's it's unreasonable to think that
and you have the right to disagree now if a church is going to say hey there's certain
lines that you cannot cross there's certain things that you must believe those lines should
be very clear they should be very distinct everyone should know where they are and i feel like
you know if you're here at faithful word baptist church you know probably know where those lines
are you know we've already talked about some salvation by grace through faith the king james
bible the preservation of scriptures on so on and so forth i'm sorry what was that yeah oneness
yeah we had to bring that up didn't we just in case you haven't figured it out yet you know if
you deny the trinity or the eternal sonship of christ this church is not for you you know you
can take your sorry carcass over to jacksonville florida and go hang out there you know i've heard
that the doors are open so and anyway i don't want to go on about that um but yeah oneness is
another one you know the nature of god you know there are certain things that you can't that you
yeah you have to line up with the church but it's not because it's the church saying well that's
just what we believe because that's because we just want to you know domineer and control your
life you know it's because that's what the bible teaches because it could these things are couldn't
be more crystal clear from the bible you know and and when you start you know changing the nature
of who god is or what the nature of salvation is then yeah there's a problem there you know then
we need to we need probably need to separate and go ways you know but the church what's really
important but the reason we want to preach this and understand this is because you don't want to
fall in the trap of letting a church dictate to you what you must believe in in these smaller
areas of life and churches do this you know they'll say hey you should not read the bible
for yourself well the bible says we should be reading the bible for ourselves there are some
churches that will you know even outside of the baptist faith especially that will start to tell
you that you have to believe this because we said so and it's not even a matter of what the
scripture says this is secondary to them you have to believe this because this is what our church
teaches and that's it bottom line well the bible doesn't say that we don't care well you know our
our our church trumps the bible you know and that's not what we believe when we started out
with biblical authority that was the b in baptist that is the foundation this book if it doesn't
line up with this book then we throw it out we don't want anything to do with it so we should
understand that the bible says i mean jesus rebuked people for this kind of an attitude
you know the pharisees he called them hypocrites he said well did isaiah's prophesy of you saying
this people dryeth nigh unto me with their mouth and honor me with their lips but their heart is
vain is far from me but in vain they do uh worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men
and that's really where the church has to draw the line for itself to say we can only teach
the come we can only teach uh the doctrines of god we can only teach the commandments of men
we cannot get up here and preach the commandments of men as the doctrines of god i can't get up here
and say well this is my personal preference and you will have to abide by that you know this is
my opinion and if you and i know i don't have a leg to stand on scripturally but if you want to
come here you have to do the same thing and start teaching things that are our own opinions our own
personal beliefs as the doctrines of god and that's what jesus was rebuking them for for
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men that's not biblically based it's just something
that our church made up so the church leadership they have to draw lines they the church has to
draw lines of saying look this is this is a certain doctrine that we uphold that cannot be
crossed you have to be within these bounds and they should be clear they should be distinct and
they should also those lines should find their source and authority in scripture they shouldn't
be these these doctrines of men that are just made up go ahead and turn over to first scranton's
chapter 14 we're going to look at one particular doctrine that this would rubble a lot a lot of
people the wrong way and this would rub the fur of the wrong way but as i've you know heard so
eloquently spoken once if the if i'm rubbing the fur the wrong way the cat can turn around
right because it's what the bible says so such lines such that the point i'm trying to make here
is that when we teach something as a doctrine as saying this is the way it's going to be in
this church it has to find its source in scripture this has to be the authority this is what we have
to appeal to so look at first corinthians chapter 14 verse 34 let your women keep silence in the
churches for it's not permitted under them to speak that that right there is going to set some
people off that's going to set these people off right over here across the hall you know with
their with their female preacher with their female pastor you know did they did they not read that in
seminary or is it just this isn't their final authority and that they have their own doctrines
that they're teaching so it's saying right there i mean that couldn't be any clearer it says they
are to not to speak in the church and it goes on it says but they are commanded to be under
obedience as i also say at the law if they will learn anything let them ask their husbands at
home for it is a shame for women to speak in the church so we as a church have the right to get up
and say look there will never be a woman preacher behind this pulpit period because that's what the
bible says i didn't write this and if people don't like that too bad you know that's what it says
he says what came the word god out from you or came it unto you only if any man think himself to
be a prophet or spiritual let him acknowledge that the things i write unto him are the commandments
of the lord you know he's saying look you want to know if you're right with god or not you want to
you know whether or not you're spiritual well then acknowledge this as the truth and there'd
be a lot of people that are they're proclaiming themselves to be very spiritual today right but
they're not acknowledging what paul wrote you know the joyce myers of the world and they want
and they want to put themselves out these great preachers these great these prophetesses you know
and these these just devout spiritual women but they don't acknowledge what paul wrote here
in fact they have whole books written to to dismiss paul what paul really meant well paul
was just a woman hater it was the culture they write these kind of things to dismiss this so
that they can get up and preach so we see here again this is a perfect example of a church saying
yes you have the right to believe as an individual as you see fit but there are certain lines that
are very clear and distinct in scripture that cannot be crossed within a church and women
keeping silent is a very clear command in scripture i mean it couldn't be any clear now
what if we were to start dictating other behaviors about women in the church and saying it was it was
the commandment that you must do it this way like saying in this church women will feed their their
women in xyz manner you know they will pitch a tent in the parking lot and anytime they need
to feed their child they will go in there they will wear a burka on the way to the tent and when
they are in the tent they may remove the burka and then feed their child right if we were to
start saying something like that then that would be out of line right and here's the other here's
the other other extreme you know other other we can't sit here and say well you know you must you
i don't want to get into it a lot because it's really not it's not really a we'll spend a lot
of time on it but we can't sit here and dictate how women are going to feed their children in a
church that's right and how they're not whether they're gonna they're gonna breastfeed uncovered
or covered that's your personal preference you know and you get to decide how you want to do that
and i'm not going to get up and you say well i say that because there's been churches that do that
let's say you must go to the broom closet and go sit in the bathroom stall and and and make
sure no one knows what's going on in there when you feed your child i mean it's ridiculous these
churches they're so squeamish about it this is a whole subject you know that we could probably get
into a little bit tonight with this idea of thinking that that you you know it's some kind
of a sin to to breastfeed your child publicly it's not okay and the church can't get up and
tell you that it is because they have no scriptural basis for that that's your personal preference and
i can't teach that as the commandment of god now what's interesting here is verse 36 and it says
this in verse 36 what came the word of gout out from you or came it unto you only doesn't really
answer that does he when we think about that question in the context here he's saying look
did the word of god come out from you what's the answer to that no it didn't you don't get to just
make up whatever you think that the bible says or came unto you unto you only look the word only
came unto us we could only come to it and see what it says and determine what we believe based
on what it says i can't go well i can't come to you and say well i'm speaking to you the words of
god and tell you whatever i believe and say well this is this is scripture this is authority
the word came unto us only and uh that question you know determines the authority and that the
authority is scripture and not our own selves so he says there he answers and says the things that
i write unto you are the commandments of the lord you know the things that i'm writing the
word that's coming to you these are the commandments of the lord and they're very clear
aren't they and if we're spiritual we're going to acknowledge them we're going to say the things
that paul wrote this book are the things of the lord these are the commandments of god and that's
how we're going to determine what we believe and that's how you're going to have for the most part
by and large harmony and unity in a church is when we all agree that this is our authority
from the pulpit to the pew and everywhere in between if we all let this be our final authority
then everything's going to fall into place you know we're all going to end up believing for
the most part everything the same way and the things that we differ on are probably
going to be matters of our own personal preference and it says there if we if we
are spiritual acknowledge them but the fact is if somebody refuses it what does he say about them
but if verse 38 but if any man be ignorant let him be ignorant you know don't don't kowtow don't
bend don't say don't try to well maybe you know change what the bible says to appease somebody
else who's just being ignorant just let him be ignorant in that area so what he says there when
he's saying if any man be ignorant let him be ignorant you know what that means is that you
have the right to be wrong that's what you have in a church you know that's what individual soul
liberty means you have the right to determine what you believe for yourself and that means you
have the right to be wrong and you know what we're no one's going to have it right all the time
none of us sometimes we're going to go to the bible and and and get something wrong and this
is just something to keep in mind because you know as the church grows and we have more people
and in and i've seen this especially in phoenix where new guides come in and they and and people
have a fresh look on things and someone will preach something or say something they'll be
talking about the bible and then somebody will kind of just will will challenge that person
on their interpretation of a scripture and people get so touchy about it because because you know
they've just had this long-held belief about what they think a certain passage means and then
somebody challenges them a little bit on that and you know they instantly want to say well this guy's
being heretical or this guy's just like well no maybe maybe that guy has a clear understanding
you know that's the great thing about fresh blood in a church or people who are new to the faith
coming in you know people that have been reading the bible and taught the bible and have come to
just kind of be set in their ways like this is how this passage is interpreted there's only one way
to understand this or they just have some kind of conception about what this passage means you know
they kind of get set in their ways and they never they can never maybe see the a deeper meaning or
a different meaning or the maybe even the correct meaning in some instances and then some fresh
blood comes in there's someone who's read the bible maybe just a few times and they've got they
don't have preconceived notions about a passage and then they challenge somebody on that you know
that's a good thing we should allow people to challenge us on scripture now i'm not saying
if someone wants to come to you and say well was jesus eternally the son of god you know we that's
a line that we're not going to cross we've already determined that you know is god three persons or
just one or whatever is salvation by faith or is it you know works involved is it predestination
you know that there are certain lines but if someone wants to come to you and challenge you on
you know some interpretation of some passage or some some meaning of something you know not that
doesn't mean that you should just cast them off you know we should allow we should hear what
they're saying and maybe consider it in the light of scripture so you have the right to be wrong you
have the right to be corrected you have the right to to disagree you know i'm not saying if you
disagree you're automatically wrong but i'm just saying you have that right to be to believe what
you want and you should develop your beliefs and how what you believe your life based on your
understanding of the scripture that's what it boils down to that you as an individual you need
to determine what you believe for yourself you know by all means use the preaching by all means
use the reading of the word of god to determine that but at the end of the day you can't just say
well i believe that because pastor so-and-so believes that because that's what faithful
word teaches that's the only reason you believe it well what if we change on something not that
we're ever going to but what if we did make some major change on some you know very important
essential doctrine are you going to change with us or have you determined what you believe for
yourself you have the right to do that you have the responsibility of that you need to base your
life and your understand on the understanding your understanding of scripture that's why the
bible says in second timothy kind of get ahead of myself here but it says study to show thyself
approved unto god a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth it
said study to show thyself approved you need to study to show yourself approved you know the
bible says that the the spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets you know the guy who's
getting up and preaching he's subject to i'm subject to you you know paul praised the barians
because they searched the scriptures daily to see whether these these things be so he said they're
more noble than those in thessalonica because they didn't just hear what paul said and said well i
must settle it they went oh that's what he said and then they they searched the scripture said
you know he's right or you know maybe maybe get i'll get up and say something you'll go home and
read the bible say i don't know if i necessarily agree with that you know you have the right to do
that uh you have the responsibility to do that i mean that's why god gave us the church that's
why he gave us as it says in ephesians 4 apostles and prophets evangelists pastors and teachers for
the perfecting of the saints you know we should be hearing the things that we hear we should hear the
preaching we should receive it and then we should study for ourselves to see whether these things be
so so you have the you have that liberty as an individual to determine for yourself what you
believe but again as i've already touched upon you're not at liberty to preach heresy that's
where the lion is drawn you know the bible says in titus 3 uh a man that is an heretic after the
first and second admonition reject you know we love to apply that out soul winning and it applies but
that's within the church walls too you know somebody comes in here and they start preaching
heresy they're going to get two admonitions and then it's going to be well there's the door
and you say well what are the heresies well we'll cross that bridge when we come to it
you know if you're worried that you're preaching a damnable heresy just let's find out
you're probably not though right you know i mean you have that liberty you have a liberty up to
a point you can't go around just preaching blatant heresy and here's another thing you're not at
liberty live in willful sin you know if you say well i don't think that's a sin what i'm doing
and it is a sin well that's just my personal belief that's just my i have that liberty
no the church has very clear things that you there are certain things
that are not allowed or tolerated within the church in first corinthians 5 and there's that's
been talked about discussed at length you can go read it for yourself i'm sure we're all familiar
with with with those things you're not at liberty live in willful sin does that mean you have to be
sinless and perfect no but there are certain things that you cannot be found guilty of as
a church member you or you will be disciplined for the bible says in galatians 5 for brethren
you've been called unto liberty only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh
you know don't use this liberty that you have in christ to think that well since i'm not going to
be condemned for my sin and being condemned to hell that i can just live however i want with
no consequences there are going to be consequences there will be consequences even within the local
church so you have the right to to believe as you see fit and there are certain lines
that are drawn you know heresy willful sin you know certain sins and then you know there's also
you shouldn't be going around you know trying to force others to believe against their will you
know that's that's really what it kind of boils down to that's what liberty is all about is that
we all have the right to believe as we see fit and we don't have to all try to just pry each
other into our another person's mold and say you have to be just like me in every regard you know
my christmas tree is approximately this high you know i get i get uh what kind do we get is the
evergreen i don't know we get the conifer i don't know i don't know what it is we get one of those
ones from oregon you know those really nice ones you know and so that's the christmas tree you
have to have you know and i like silver tinsel and we only use the red bulbs and uh you know
i can't this is this is the kind of things that people do though they they get into these strange
things where they want to make everybody believe exactly like them on every little thing that's
just not practical and it's not reality if you're there if i probably didn't keep anything ever go
back to romans chapter 14 romans chapter 14 you have the right to believe what you want within
to a certain degree you could still believe whatever you want but you'll just suffer the
consequences if you cross certain lines that's what it comes down to but you also have the
responsibility to to make sure that what you're believing is correct that the things that you're
being taught are correct that you're you're weighing these things out that you're searching
the scriptures it says in romans 14 verse 13 let us not therefore judge one another anymore
but judge this rather that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way
so instead of sitting here trying to make everybody do everything that
the way we want it done we should probably be more concerned that what we're doing isn't being
you know going to cause somebody else to fall you know and that within the context of you know
going back to eating meat paul said if meat causes my brother to offend i you know he wouldn't eat
meat for the to the end of the world and he said i'll stop i'll quit eating you know i became to
all men i became all things to all men you know if if me eating meat you know we know that meat
meat sacrificed unto an idol is nothing we know that an idol is nothing but if some brother is
weak in the in the faith sees us eating meat sacrificed onto an idol and that this isn't
happening in united states but it is applicable in other parts of the world and he says whoa this
guy's claiming to be a christian but he's eating this meat well in that case for conscience sake
not for meat's sake for that not our own conscience but the conscience of a weak brother
in the faith we should abstain so go ahead and have your personal beliefs but don't feel like
don't go forcing them on others because it might cause somebody else to offend you know if you have
something a way you like doing things or you interpret scripture a certain way as long as
it's not damnable heresy as long as it's not leading others into sin you know that's fine
if it's going to cause somebody else to stumble maybe just keep it to yourself maybe just say hey
you know what if i if i if i start talking to this guy he's weak in the faith this is just going to
confuse him this is going to cause him to stumble then maybe we don't need to go and try and force
everybody to believe you know let me tell you where the let me tell you where the preacher's
wrong let me tell you i got it wrong you know we don't we don't need to go around doing that
now if i get up here and preach something that's completely heretical by all means call me out
by all means get on the horn with pastor anderson and say hey he's teaching oneness
which is never going to happen down here never
so yeah um go and turn over psalms 119 psalms 119 because here's the thing if we all agree
that the bible is our final authority by and large we're all going to believe the same thing
and that's why i know i as as overseeing this body down here don't have feel like i have to
go to every individual and make sure that you line up with everything you know and say well
what do you believe about this what do you believe about that what do you believe about this you know
i'll just get up and preach what the bible says and if it's a point if i if it's something that
you just can't abide or can't tolerate then you know there's other churches but here's the thing
if we all believe the bible we're all gonna end up on the same page for the most part he says in
psalm 119 verse 45 and i will walk at liberty for i seek thy precepts you know you're going to have
liberty when you're in the word of god you know you you have that liberty and i'm not worried
about people in this church coming up with strange and weird doctrines and and doubtful
disputations if they're reading their bibles if they're saved they have the holy spirit and
they're faithful to reading their bibles it's it's all going to fall into place now we're going to
read passages that we don't understand we're going to read things that we don't fully comprehend and
that's fine you don't have to get everything at this you know all at once but for the most part
you know everyone's going to end up on the same page so the point of the sermon is this the
individual soul of liberty is just teaching us that you need to believe and practice that which
is right you have the right to determine what you believe is correct and you need to believe that
for yourself you need to practice that for yourself and if we do that you know we're going
to agree on the most important subjects all the real important ones that those lines that can't
be crossed not worried about it we're all going to end up on the same page because we're all reading
this book and we're all love his precepts we all seek his precepts so believe and practice that
which is right you know and the rest will will fall into place let's go ahead and pray