Keep your finger in Romans chapter 8, if you would, and turn to Hebrews chapter number 11.
Keep your finger in Romans 8. We're going to compare something between Romans 8 and Hebrews 11.
And this morning, I want to explain to you why many people will never be saved.
Now, there are a lot of reasons why people don't get saved.
There are a lot of reasons why people do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ that they might be saved.
And I'm going to explain to you one big reason this morning why many people will never get saved.
Many people who you've given the Gospel to, and they say,
well, I'm searching, or I'm thinking it over, or I'm looking at it.
They will never be saved, and this is why they'll never be saved,
because they don't understand what I'm about to preach to you this morning.
That's why they'll never be saved.
You see, I'm going to preach to you this morning the difference between knowing something and believing something.
That's the difference I'm going to preach on.
What is the difference between knowing something and believing something?
Look at Romans 8, where we just read, in verse 24.
The Bible says in Romans 8.24,
For we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope.
For what a man seeth, why doth he get hope for?
But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Keep your finger there. Compare that to Hebrews 11.
Look at Hebrews 11, verse 1, which is known as the faith chapter.
Look at Hebrews 11.1, it says,
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and here's the key, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith is the evidence of things not seen.
You see, something that you see with your eyes, and it's all just laid out for you, okay?
That doesn't take any faith to believe it.
You don't have to hope for it.
You can just know that it's true, because you've seen it, you've handled it, you've touched it, you've heard it.
And you know it to be true.
But you see, faith is the evidence of things not seen.
You see, you don't need evidence that Jesus Christ rose from the dead,
or evidence that God created the world, because faith is that evidence.
If you had concrete evidence that Jesus Christ lived and died for your sins, and that he was God in the flesh,
then there would be no faith involved.
But look at verse 6.
It says in Hebrews 11 and 6,
But without faith it is impossible to please him.
For he that cometh to God, and here's the key, must believe that he is.
Not know that he exists, but believe that God exists.
He said he must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Now let me explain to you something.
I don't believe that I'm going to heaven this morning.
I know that I'm going to heaven.
The Bible says this.
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, and that's me,
because I believe on the name of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
He said that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God.
I know I have eternal life.
I know for sure, and that's why we ask that question, do you know for sure if you died today that you'd go to heaven?
But let me explain something to you.
The reason I know that is because I'm already saved.
Look at Romans chapter 8.
Romans chapter 8, if you would, and then we're going to go to 1 John.
Romans 8 16 says this.
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.
That's part of how I know I'm saved, because the Holy Spirit bears witness with my spirit that I'm saved.
Look at 1 John chapter 4.
Flip over to 1 John chapter 4.
While you're turning to 1 John chapter 4, I'm going to read for you 1 John 3 24.
And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him.
And hereby we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he hath given us.
Did you hear that?
Hereby we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he hath given us.
1 John 4 verse 12.
No man hath seen God at any time.
You see, that's why it takes faith to believe that he is, to believe that he exists.
It says no man hath seen God at any time.
If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
Hereby know we, notice the knowledge there, that we dwell in him, and he in us,
because he hath given us of his Spirit.
That's how I know I'm saved.
But you see, without the Holy Spirit living inside of me, the Bible said in Romans 8 and another verse,
if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he's none of his.
You see, the moment that you believe on Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit lives inside of you,
he bears witness with your spirit that you're a child of God.
He opens your eyes and shows you wondrous things out of God's Word.
He guides you and leads you into all truth.
How do I know that Jesus Christ is in me?
The Bible says Christ in you, the hope of glory.
How do I know that Jesus Christ is inside of me?
Because of the Spirit which he hath given me.
That's what the Bible says here in 1 John 3.24.
And in 1 John 4.13.
Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
We already looked at 1 John 5.13.
Look at 1 John 5.20.
This is a page over in your Bible.
And we know.
Does it say that we believe?
No.
We're already saved.
We know that the Son of God has come, and hath given us an understanding
that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ.
This is the true God and eternal life.
Now let me explain something to you.
Many people will never be saved because they want to see the evidence,
or they want to know for sure that the Bible is true before they believe on him,
and that's why they'll never be saved.
You see, before you get saved, you don't know for sure that the Bible is true.
You've never seen God.
You've never seen Jesus Christ.
You don't know for sure that the Bible is true until after you get saved,
because I can tell you right now, I've been saved this morning.
I've been saved for 22 years, and I can stand up here and tell you,
I don't have to have faith to believe that God's real.
I don't have to have faith to believe.
I know God's real.
I know the Bible is true because I've been saved for 22 years.
I've had the Holy Spirit living inside of me.
I've been reading his Word.
I've had my eyes open, but look at 1 Corinthians chapter 2 if you would.
You see, I know I'm saved.
I don't just believe I'm saved.
I don't hope I'm saved, but let me explain something to you.
The unsaved person can never know that.
They can't know it.
You see, before I got saved, I didn't know for sure that the Bible was true.
I had to take a step of faith and say, you know what?
I choose to believe the Bible.
Let me give you a testimony of my wife's salvation.
Maybe this will shed a little light on what I'm talking about.
My wife was raised in Germany,
and in Germany, there is very little of the Gospel being preached or heard or known.
I mean, it's unbelievable the power that the Catholic Church
and the Evangelical Lutheran Church has people just in bondage over there,
and literally, my wife did not even know that Christianity even existed outside of the Catholic Church
and the Evangelical Church, which, by the way, is virtually identical to the Catholic Church in Germany.
They're the same thing.
It's 60% Catholic, 40% Lutheran, but just call it 100% Catholic
because there's no difference between the two.
It's just a few little differences on the outside,
but it's pretty much the same religion over there in Germany.
And they have religious education in the schools.
The tithe is taken out of your paycheck.
It's not the same as in America.
It's just the official state church.
And she didn't know that there was any Christianity outside the state church.
She knew that there were a few cults.
She'd seen a few strange cults,
and, you know, there was a weird guy when I was there,
and whenever I first met my wife, the day I met my wife,
we saw this guy holding up a weird sign,
and he had a really long beard.
He said he was Moses, to come back from the dead.
You know, she'd seen stuff like that.
But she just thought, you know, Catholicism was in it,
and when she got to be a young teenager, she rejected Catholicism.
She saw the inconsistency.
She saw the idolatry.
She knew it was wrong.
So she rejected that,
and she became what most people would probably term an agnostic.
Somebody who just doesn't know what they believe.
Maybe there's a God.
Maybe there's not a God.
That's how she was when I met her.
But she'd been brainwashed by a system of education in Germany
that taught her that evolution is a fact,
the Bible's a fairy tale,
the Bible is not God's word,
the Catholic religious education and the Lutheran religious education.
I went to one week of high school while I was in Germany just to try it,
and I went to three different schools,
and I sat in the religious education,
and the teacher was just teaching us that the Bible was not true.
That's literally what they were teaching when I was there.
He was showing us what he called contradictions,
and trying to show us that the Bible was phony.
That was their religious education class that I sat in personally.
I'm not getting the second hand.
I sat in the class.
And so my wife had had all this false teaching and brainwashing.
So when I met my wife, I gave her the gospel.
I presented the gospel to her in about 20 minutes.
I went through the Bible, and I got to the end of it,
and I asked her if she wanted to be saved,
if she believed what I showed her, and she said this.
She said, well, that's not going to do me any good if I'm late to work.
So she said, you know, I got to go to work.
Nice to meet you.
So I got her phone number for a little follow-up, you know?
You know what I mean?
But anyway, so I got her phone number, and eventually we talked again.
But I talked to her again and gave her the gospel again.
You know, I gave her the gospel again, gave her the gospel again.
We ended up spending a lot of time together,
and I started going through the gospel with her,
showing her stuff in the Bible,
going over with her again and again.
But she was just really hung up on a lot of different things,
you know, evolution, and she just taught all these wrong things.
It's hard to explain, but just imagine the most left-wing person possible.
You know, that's who my wife was, seriously.
I mean, she was very left-wing.
You wouldn't believe that now, you know?
But it's the truth.
So basically, my wife came to a point.
She came to church with me on a Sunday morning and a Sunday night.
And at the end of that Sunday night service, there was an invitation,
and they had a raise of hands, like if you're not saved, you know, raise your hand.
So she raised her hand.
This lady came to her and said,
hey, can I talk to you?
And she sat down and went through the verses with her out of the Bible.
And she said, you know,
okay, so pray with me and ask Jesus Christ to save you.
And she said, no, I'm not going to.
She said, I already know everything that you just told me.
She said, Steve has been showing me these things.
I've already seen it over and over.
But I'm just not sure yet, and this is the key. Listen to this.
I'm just not sure yet whether it's the truth.
I don't know.
I don't know for sure.
I'm not sure.
And she said, I'm not going to pray something I don't believe here.
And so I'm not sure.
I'm just still thinking about it and so forth.
And so, you know, she went home from that service,
and we went out to Roundtable Pizza afterward.
This message is brought to you by Roundtable.
But we went out to Pizza afterward and talked.
And we got back to my parents' house,
and she went up to her guest bedroom where she was staying up at my parents' house.
I went down to my room, and I got on my knees.
I literally got on my knees and started praying because I wanted her to be saved.
And I prayed for a long time.
I mean, I was just begging God and really pouring out my heart to God.
Not just saying words, but, you know, I was really praying
and begging God that she would be saved.
And little did I know that literally while I was on my knees
praying for my wife to be saved, she was getting saved.
Because she went up to that room, and she'd already heard it from me so many times.
She'd heard it in church from the pulpit.
She heard it from this lady at church that went through with her again.
But she went up to her bedroom upstairs,
and she was wrestling in her mind about being saved.
I don't know. Is it true? Is it not true?
But there came a point, and you can ask her. She'll tell you this.
There came a point where she said, you know what?
I don't know whether it's true or not.
She said, I don't know.
You know, I don't know. Is it evolution? Is it creation?
I mean, she was still not sure on that.
You know, she's not a science expert.
She didn't know all the science.
But she just said, you know what?
I choose to believe the Bible.
I'm going to believe what God has said. I'm going to believe God's word.
And she basically just looked up to God and just said,
OK, God, please save me. I'm trusting Jesus Christ alone as my Savior.
I believe you.
And, you know, at that time, that's where a change took place in her mind.
And literally, after that, she just knew evolution was false.
You know, she knew that the Bible was true.
She knew that she was saved, and she understood what it meant to be saved.
But she'll tell you that before that moment, when she got saved, she'll tell you she did.
She never fully understood it.
She told me, like, Steve, you explained it to me 20 times,
but I never quite completely understood it until the moment that I got saved.
She said, that's when it clicked in my mind.
After I prayed and asked Jesus Christ to save me, she said, then I knew I was saved.
Then I knew evolution was false.
But what if my wife would have just said, you know what?
I'm just going to wait until I know for sure she would still be unsaved to this day.
Because you will never know for sure that you're saved, or that the Bible is true,
or that Jesus Christ even will save you if you call upon Him and believe on Him.
You'll never know that until you have the faith to believe that.
Then the Holy Spirit moves in, and that's when you'll know for sure.
But you see, so many people today are waiting until they know for sure that the Bible is true.
That's not faith.
You must believe God's Word, and once you believe it, then He'll open your eyes.
Then you'll know it's true. Then you'll know that you're saved.
I know I'm saved because I am saved.
But see, the person who is not saved, they don't know for sure that if they believe on Jesus Christ, they'll be saved.
They just have to take that step of faith.
You see, look at 1 Corinthians 2. I'll show you what I mean.
The Bible says this.
It says in 1 Corinthians 2.12,
Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God,
that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
The only way we're going to know the things of God is by the Spirit of God.
Look at verse 14.
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.
You can't know for sure that the Bible is true.
You can't know what the Bible means.
You can't know what salvation is until you take the step of faith and say,
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
I'm taking it by faith.
Without faith, it's impossible to please Him.
That's why it says they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
He said faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
If you see it, why would you yet hope for it?
Now let me just give you an illustration just to make this easy.
If I told you, Brother Dave, and Brother Dave, I've known Brother Dave for almost four years now.
Okay, going on four years.
If I said to Brother Dave, I have a red car, Brother Dave, do you believe me?
That's a silly question because he doesn't have to believe me.
Because he has ridden in my red car.
He's seen my red car.
I mean, do you believe me?
I believe the past, past, past, and the red car.
Do you really believe that?
You know it. You know it.
You see the difference?
But what if I talk to somebody who I've just met now for the first time?
Let's say Brother Nelson here.
I say, Brother Nelson, I have a red car.
Do you believe me?
You see, he doesn't believe me.
That's why he'll never be saved.
No, he's kidding.
But the point is that he would have to believe me because he's never seen me drive a red car.
He's never seen me sit behind the wheel, turn the keys in the ignition.
Whereas Brother Dave has seen me in that car hundreds and hundreds of times.
And even before this car, I had a different red car.
You know, I drive a red car, my next car will be red, and so forth.
And if you want to know which car is mine in the parking lot, just read the license plate.
You'll figure it out.
It's the one that has a license plate that says KJV only.
So it won't be hard to find.
Oh, by the way, let me tell you a story about that license plate.
Scott and I, just a couple of nights ago, we don't know when it was.
We worked so many days and nights.
We lost all track of time.
But I think it was Friday night.
A guy walks up to us in the parking lot, and I'm sitting behind the wheel.
Scott's in the passenger seat, and I was pouring a little bowl of soup.
We bought some bowls of soup at this health food store.
And we're getting our soup together, and Scott's like,
hey, there's a guy standing and staring at you out your window.
So I open the door.
I said, hi, how you doing?
And he said, I don't want you to tell me why the KJV only.
So at first I thought he was trying to pick a fight with me or argue with me.
I was thinking, well, here we go.
He's like, I don't want you to tell me why the KJV only.
So I said, okay, I'll explain it to you.
And I said, in Romans 3.23, it says for all of sin.
And I just started giving the guy the gospel.
Nothing about the KJV.
I get about five, six, seven minutes into it.
And he says, wait a minute, what does this have to do with the KJV?
I'm like, this has everything to do, just stay with me.
So I just went through it.
I go through the whole gospel with him, go through it with him, explain it all to him.
And the guy ended up getting saved eventually.
And then I said, now let me tie this in with the KJV.
Because I didn't want to be just totally lying.
So I basically said, I'll tie this in.
So I just basically showed him a verse in the NIV
where it attacks the true doctrine of salvation by saying that
instead of unto us which are saved, it's the power of God.
You know, to us which are being saved.
I said, I'm not being saved.
He's like, no, no, we're not being saved.
We're saved. It's done.
And so I showed him that and then I handed him a King James
and said, here, you can take this.
And we ended up talking for a long time and whatever.
So that license plate's already working out.
Let's do it.
He's only the second person who's mentioned it to me.
Another person just said that they liked it and kind of walked away.
But that's about it.
What was I talking about before I got into that totally meaningless story?
That I'm doing the horror.
Believing. Thank you.
You know, believing that my license plate says KJV only.
No, I'm just kidding.
You know, you don't have to believe something that you know for sure.
Do you see that believing and knowing are not the same thing?
And a lot of people mix up these two things.
And that's why they'll never be saved.
Because they say, well, I want to know for sure.
I want to see the evidence.
Faith is the evidence.
Now let me give you an example.
Look at Luke 16.
Luke chapter 16.
Luke chapter number 16.
Now, many people are unsaved for a lot of different reasons.
But this right here is a reason why many people will never be saved.
Because they want to see the evidence.
They want to know it for sure.
You'll never know for sure until you believe.
It's got to be faith.
It's by grace through faith.
And without faith it's impossible to please it.
Because no man has seen God at any time.
You must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently see.
You say, well, they've seen Jesus Christ.
Well, the Bible says no man has seen God at any time.
The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He had declared Him.
Yes, they saw Jesus Christ, who was God in the flesh, according to the Bible.
God was manifest in the flesh.
But let me tell you something.
If they saw Jesus Christ, they could have just said, He's just a man.
And that's what a lot of people did say.
So they didn't see Him in all of His glory to know that He was God.
Now, you remember in the book of Acts, when Paul is preaching in Acts chapter 10 to Cornelius and his household?
He talks about how Jesus rose from the dead and showed Himself, not to all the people.
Get this. This is Acts chapter 10.
Not to all the people, but unto us, to chosen witnesses, over 500 brethren at one time.
To the apostles.
He didn't show Himself to unbelievers.
He showed Himself to believers.
He showed Himself to believers, because you know what?
He's not going to show Himself to the unbelievers, okay?
Because basically, they needed to have the faith to believe.
He showed Himself to people that were already saved.
You know, the only person that He showed Himself to, quote-unquote, that was not a believer was the Apostle Paul.
But see, Paul, all he saw was just a bright light.
And he heard God's Word.
He didn't see the image.
He said, I saw no similitude, no image.
He just heard a voice that was God's Word and a blinding light.
He then was led by the hand to Ananias.
He wasn't even given the whole Gospel there on that road.
He was then sent to Ananias, where he would find a man that would tell him what he needed to do.
Ananias then took him and said, call upon the Lord.
You know, told him to be saved.
He called upon the Lord.
The scales fell off his eyes.
He was then baptized.
He was saved by faith in God's Word.
But the disciples who saw him after he rose from the dead and put their hands in his sight, they were already saved.
Because you're saved by faith.
They saw Jesus, yes, but they could have just said, well, He's just a man.
That's what a lot of people said.
He deceived with the people.
That's what some people said.
There was nothing about Him where you could just look at Him and say, this is God in the flesh.
He looked like a human being.
He was clothed in flesh.
Where did I have you turn? I'm sorry?
Luke chapter 16.
Let's begin reading this famous story about the rich man and Lazarus.
It says in verse number 19, there was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.
And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus which was laid at his gate full of sores and desired to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table.
Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores.
And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom.
The rich man also died and was buried.
And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off and laid Lazarus in his bosom.
And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.
But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receiveth thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things.
But now he is comforted and thou art tormented.
And beside all this, between us and you, there is a great goal fixed, so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot.
Neither can they pass to us that would come from thence.
Then he said, I pray thee, therefore, Father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house.
For I have five brethren that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
Abraham saith unto them, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them.
And he said, Nay, Father Abraham, but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded.
No one rose from the dead.
You see, it's not physical evidence that people need to be saved.
It's not some sign or miracle that they need to see to be saved.
You know, and people will try to say it, and a lot of people will misquote the scripture.
They'll misquote it. Let's just go there, just to make sure there's no bones about this.
Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 1.
1 Corinthians chapter 1, because a lot of people will misquote this.
There's a lot of false teaching that revolves around this scripture that I'm going to turn to and show you.
Because they basically misquote it, they take it out of context.
And this wasn't in my notes, so bear with me, I want to find the part that I'm looking for.
Maybe somebody can help me out if they know the Bible well.
Oh, here we go, I found it.
Watch what the Bible says here, and see how this is taken out of context usually.
Every time I've heard a priest who is taken out of context.
It says in verse number 21,
So what's God's method for getting people saved?
Preaching that they might hear the preaching and believe.
Just like it says in Romans 10, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, where it says,
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, how then shall they call on him in whom they have not heard?
How shall they believe in him...
Good, that makes it up.
Let's start over.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in him in whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher?
And then he says later,
Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
God's word is preach, you hear and believe.
That's salvation.
But look what it says here.
This is the part that's taken out of context and misquoted.
He said that he pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe,
for the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom,
but we preach Christ crucified,
unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness.
Now people will take this verse, and it's funny when people use a verse to teach the exact opposite of what's really being taught.
And that's what they do make it.
And they'll take this and they'll say,
See, the Jews require a sign.
So that's why Jesus gave them the signs.
And the Greeks, they just require wisdom, so God's going to give them what they want.
He said, I give neither the Jew the sign, I'll not give the Greek wisdom,
I'm going to preach the word, and they have to believe it by faith.
He said, look, the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom,
but we preach Christ crucified, which is neither one nor the other.
I'm going to prove that to you in the next chapter.
He said, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness,
but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.
You see, Jesus told the Pharisees and all the Jews and the scribes,
and by the way, the Jews rejected Jesus, did you know that?
He came unto his own and his own received and not.
And he said to the Jews, a foolish and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign,
and there shall no sign be given unto it.
That's what he said.
In another place he said to them differently, that's the way he said it in one place.
In another place he said, a wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign,
and there shall no sign be given unto it but the sign of the prophet Jonas.
For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly,
so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
He said, you want a sign? You want to see and believe?
Show us the sign that we may see and believe.
He said, I'm going to preach you God's word, believe it.
Now he did many signs, both for Jews and Greeks and Gentiles.
He did many miracles, but you know what?
The people who didn't believe on his word, they didn't believe the miracles either.
I mean, Jesus rose Lazarus from the dead in John chapter 11.
People walked away and said, let's take counsel how we might put him to death.
And they saw Lazarus come forth from the dead.
They saw the water turn into wine.
They saw Jesus feed the 5,000.
And yet, the people who didn't believe his word didn't believe those things either.
Because listen, if they don't believe most in the prophets,
remember what was told unto the rich man?
Neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
Because faith doesn't come by seeing, faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God.
Look at John, well before we go to John, 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 1 says this,
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom,
declaring unto you the testimony of God.
So here's a Greek city. Remember the Greeks require wisdom?
He said, I didn't come preaching wisdom.
He said, I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified.
He said, and I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom,
but in demonstration of the spirit and of power,
that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
It wasn't the signs, it's not the wisdom, it's believing God's word that saves.
Look at John chapter 7.
This wasn't in my notes either, but this came to mind.
John chapter 7, it's one of my favorite scriptures.
I love the book of John, what an amazing book.
I love the book of John, and chapter 7 is a great chapter.
Let me find the part that I'm looking for here.
Let's look at verse number 37.
It says, In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying,
If any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink.
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said,
Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water,
but this he spakey of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive.
For the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified.
Many of the people, therefore, when they heard this saying said of a truth,
This is the prophet.
Others said, This is the Christ.
But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee?
Hath not the scripture said that Christ cometh out of the seat of David,
not of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?
So there was a division among the people because of them,
and some of them would have taken him, but no man laid hand.
What's the division here?
The division between those who say, We believe the word that he just preached.
They heard what he said, and they said, This is that prophet.
This is the Christ.
Other people said, Well, wait a minute.
Does Christ come out of Galilee?
He said, We know whence this man come from.
If you go back just a few verses, we're not going to read the whole chapter for the sake of time.
But he said, We know from whence this man.
But when Christ cometh, no man will.
We want to see where we come.
We want to see the birth certificate.
You know what I mean?
Sorry to draw that parallel.
We want to see that birth certificate that shows that he's from Bethlehem.
We saw him from Galilee, from Nazareth.
Jesus was not born in Nazareth.
He's not born in Galilee.
That's what they could see, though.
They saw that that's where he grew up.
He spoke in the manner of a Galilean.
They could tell that that's where he was from.
He was carried into Egypt as an infant.
Not as an infant, but as a small child of two years old, approximately.
He was carried into Egypt and was there until the death of Herod.
Then he was brought back and brought up in Galilee.
So people thought that he was from Nazareth.
People thought that he was from Galilee.
See, they were trying to see the evidence.
They wanted to see for sure the birth certificate.
Like, This is the right guy.
This guy is really born in the seed of David.
The others just heard his word preached and said,
You know what? I'm going to believe on Christ because of his word.
You see, believing and knowing are two different things.
Do you believe Obama's birth certificate is real?
You don't know that for sure.
I don't know why I'm talking about that.
Just kidding.
But anyway, the point is that believing and knowing are two different things.
If you know something, you don't have to believe it.
You already know it.
And when you believe something, it's a step of faith.
It's taking God at his word.
It's taking the Bible at its word.
Then, after you believe it, the Holy Spirit moves in.
Now you know you're saved.
Now you know the Bible is true.
But that's why many people will never be saved.
You see, they're looking for evidence.
And this is the problem that I have with...
Turn to 2 Corinthians 5, if you would.
2 Corinthians 5.
And you know, I'm not against science.
I think science is wonderful.
My children go to the Phoenix Arizona Science Center constantly.
They're studying science.
They go to programs down there and understand science.
We teach our children science.
I think science is fascinating.
Now the Bible warns us of science falsely so called.
But science is a fascinating thing.
Understanding how plants operate.
Understanding the science behind the animal kingdom
and all the different microscopic life that's there
that for men for thousands of years did not even know existed.
Today we know.
Today we can see with the eye.
All the millions and billions of microscopic creatures
that are located even just in a few drops of water.
We can look up and see the stars and the heaven.
Science is fascinating to understand
the process of precipitation.
And then condensation...
I'm sorry, evaporation, condensation, precipitation, that cycle.
Somebody needs to explain to people who think
that we're going to run out of water.
It falls out of the sky, my friend, because it evaporates.
It's been doing that for several thousand years.
We're drinking the same water that Adam drank.
It's the same H2O.
It keeps getting cycled through.
And science is a fascinating thing.
But let me tell you the definition of the word science.
The word science means this.
If we were to just put it in one word, knowledge.
That's what science is, knowledge.
You think of omniscience means that someone is all-knowing.
People say God is omniscient.
That comes from the word science.
The scientific method is therefore a way to determine knowledge.
And in order to practice the scientific method,
first you formulate a hypothesis.
You formulate a hypothesis, you make a theory.
And when you make that theory,
then you perform an experiment to see whether your theory is correct.
Then you accumulate data from multiple experiments.
Because you can't just do it once.
It could be a fluke.
There could be other factors that are messing up your experiment.
And so you want to do a variety of different experiments,
different scenarios, testing your theory from all different angles.
Then you gather the data and you analyze the data that you've discovered.
You get all the results.
You might make a graph.
You might make a chart to help codify the data.
Then from that data, you form a conclusion.
And you look at it and you say,
my theory is false, my theory is true, or maybe it was partially true,
maybe I've learned something else.
And then you start over again and try it from a different angle.
There's a lot of testing and there's a lot of things that you have to see with your eyes
in order for something to be classified as science.
Now there's a difference between science and history.
Because history is not something that we can experiment and watch.
History is just something that we basically have to believe.
We get a history book, someone tells us there's a man named Thomas Jefferson,
this is what he did, this is what he said.
We're never going to be able to experiment with that and see whether it really happened.
Does everybody understand the difference between science and history?
Okay, big difference.
Science is a wonderful thing, but let me tell you something.
Science does not lead to salvation.
Get that.
Science will not lead to salvation.
If you're trying to use the scientific method to get saved, it's not the plan of salvation.
Try that at the door solely.
We're going to start out by doing some experiments right now.
I'm going to prove to you that the Bible is true, we're going to experiment with it.
It's foolishness.
And by the way, just because someone believes that evolution is false, that doesn't make them saved.
Just because somebody believes that God exists, that doesn't make them saved.
The devil believeth that there is one God.
The devil also believeth and trembles.
You can say, oh, I believe in God.
Well, the Muslims believe that there's one God.
Are they saved? No.
So just because you believe that God created the world, whoever that God is, that doesn't make you saved.
You've got to be saved by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You must believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
And so science doesn't save.
Many people today think that the answer to getting people saved is a science seminar.
Now, I'm all for a science seminar for educational purposes.
I think it's fascinating. I think it's interesting. I like to learn science.
Wouldn't it be great to learn some science from somebody who's not an evolution believer?
Which is not science either. You can't experiment with that.
You can't show me that.
And so I love to listen to and learn about science.
That is not the way to get the Gospel out, period.
That is not the one way to get the Gospel out. It's called preaching.
And I'm not talking about just behind the pole.
I'm talking about man, woman, boy, and girl.
I'm talking about you taking the Bible, whether you're male, whether you're female, whether you're young,
whether you're old, as it says in Acts chapter 2,
and opening your mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the Gospel.
Why don't you preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified?
Not some fossil that you can show me and prove to me that the Bible's true.
You can't prove that the Bible's true.
I heard these bunch of creation activist people, and I think it was Kirk Cameron is really into this,
and Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort and these guys, who, by the way, they believe that in order to be saved,
you have to turn away from your sins.
I don't believe that. I still haven't turned away from all my sins. I'm a human being.
I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus paid it all.
All the Him I owe. Sin that led to crimson sand. He washed it white as snow.
Turn from my sins. Repent from my life.
Repent and believe the Gospel. That's what repentance is, is believing on Christ.
If you believed the wrong thing before, now you change and believe the right thing.
But the point is that these guys, they said this.
We're going to prove the existence of the God without the Bible.
And they did this big challenge on TV. It was like some kind of a debate between them and these atheists.
They said, we will prove the existence of God without using the Bible.
I said to myself, you know what? That's garbage.
And I said, you know what? It's not even possible.
I'll side with the atheists on this one.
You can't prove God's existence without the Bible.
This is the proof that God exists in my hand right now, the Bible.
And without the Word of God, there's no evidence that God is real.
There's no evidence that God exists.
And these logic people with all their wisdom and all of man's wisdom
to prove to you the existence of God, that is not how you get saved.
You hear God's Word and you believe it.
And if you don't believe it, the Bible calls you a fool if you don't believe it.
He says the fool that's dead in his heart, there is no God.
He said, in the beginning, God.
Believe it or don't believe it.
If you don't believe it, you're a fool. You'll go to hell.
You believe it, you'll be saved and have everlasting life.
You hear God's Word.
They said when they heard Jesus, never man spake like this man.
And there's no book like this book.
There's no word like this word.
This is what you have to believe to be saved.
Not a science lesson.
But people get so caught up in the science lesson that they neglect the soul in it.
Instead of knocking doors and giving people the gospel of Jesus Christ,
instead of preaching God's Word with their mouth,
they spend all their money and time and energy into a science lesson.
That's not going to save you.
It's not going to save anybody.
My wife, I told her some science about evolution.
I was trying to explain to her scientifically why evolution was false because it didn't get her saved.
She just had to take that step of faith and say,
I believe God's Word. That's what she got.
And she'll tell you that when she got saved, she wasn't even sure.
She had not yet rejected evolution.
She was not yet sure.
But when she prayed and got saved, then she knew it was false.
Because she chose to take her faith off of the humanistic paradigm that she had of evolution
and no God or maybe a God or a distant God or an impersonal God
and got her faith on Jesus Christ.
The other problem was taken care of. The evolution problem was gone.
And I'll tell you what, I go out soul winning every week.
I give people the gospel every single week of my life.
And let me tell you something, rarely do I run into people that are hung up on this thing of evolution.
Rarely do I.
And you know, when I do run into those people that want to bring up evolution,
you can sit there and prove them false and they usually don't get saved.
You know that when you run into those doors and people are talking a bunch of evolution to you
and you prove them false.
Because I can't prove to you the existence of God.
I can't prove to you that the Bible is true.
But it is possible to prove evolution false.
That is possible. Don't get me wrong.
You can prove evolution false, but you can't prove creation true.
You believe it by faith.
Through faith, you say, I don't agree with you Pastor Andrew.
Okay, do you agree with Hebrews 1-3?
Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God.
So that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
Through a science seminar, we understand that the world is framed by the Word of God.
No?
You see, I've seen science seminars about creation,
but guess what, I already believed that creation was true decades before I saw the seminar.
So that's why I enjoyed the seminar.
And we've got to stick with preaching God's Word.
The power of God unto salvation is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Not carbon isotopes.
Carbon isotopes.
Get it right. I'm serious.
Because you see, people's problem isn't that they haven't seen all the evidence.
It's that they don't believe God's Word.
And there are many reasons why they don't believe God's Word.
That's a whole other sermon in and of itself.
Here's one reason why they don't believe it.
Because they're looking for knowledge when they ought to be understanding it's faith.
It's faith.
It's not knowledge. It's not knowledge based. It's faith.
Now, we have knowledge now.
We speak wisdom among them that are perfect, the Bible says.
Howbeit not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, which come to naught,
but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery to those who are already saved.
But to those who are not saved, we preach Christ crucified.
Like when we go out sowing, we don't give people a lesson on the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and spend three hours with them.
We preach Christ crucified.
We preach the gospel, the death, the burial, the resurrection.
We preach heaven and hell.
We preach salvation.
And until they get salvation, they won't understand the rest of the Bible because the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.
He that is of God heareth God's words.
Ye therefore hear them not because you're not of God.
You must understand God's Word through the Spirit.
It's spiritually discerned.
That's why the Ethiopian eunuch read the Bible.
And Philip asked him, understandest thou what thou readest?
He said, how can I, except some man should guide me?
Then that's when he took him on a science tour.
No, he opened the Bible at the same scripture and preached Christ unto him.
And so that's where faith comes from.
God's Word.
Not seeing evidence.
You see, evolution is something that people who are willfully ignorant choose to believe in.
It defies all science.
People say, oh, I'm just too much of a scientist to believe the Bible.
Who's ever heard somebody say something like that?
Well, I'm just too much a believer in science.
That is the stupidest thing anybody could say.
You know, I'm not trying to offend anybody, I'm just saying it's nonsense.
To say I'm too much of a scientist to believe the Bible because I just know that evolution's true.
Have you seen it? No.
Can you demonstrate it? No.
Can you experiment with it? No.
But they just know it's true.
You know why they know it's true? By faith.
You know how I know the Bible's true? By faith.
You say, well, what's the difference?
The difference is that they're going to burn in hell for all eternity and I'm going to be in heaven for all eternity.
That's the difference.
Well, how do you know that you're right?
I don't have to prove I'm right.
It's impossible to prove that I'm right.
God doesn't prove.
Show me the part of the Bible where God's proving that he's real and that he really exists to you.
He just starts out just, in the beginning God created heaven and Europe.
Now obviously there are signs that we can see that there's a creator.
There were signs that Jesus did.
He did miracles.
You know, there's stuff out there, but you know what, it's not enough evidence to make it concrete or else there'd be no faith required.
You ever wonder why they don't find the Noah's Ark or they don't find the Ark of the Covenant?
They don't find... what are some of the other things that they look for?
Somebody help me out.
The Mount Sinai.
The tree, yeah, Mount Sinai.
They want to find the actual place where the fire, the Lord burned.
They're trying to find the pillar of salt from a lost...
I mean, it probably eroded by now.
I don't know what kind of a pillar it was, but they say, well, I'm trying to find out the evidence of the Garden of Eden or the Tower of Babel.
You know, you can't really find any conclusive evidence of that stuff, and I think there's a reason why.
Because God's not going to show it to you.
I mean, if God wanted to, he could just appear to every person and say, believe on me.
Couldn't he?
But that doesn't please God.
He said, no, you have to believe.
Now, salvation's easy.
Don't let anybody try to tell you it's hard, because you know what, if you got saved hard, you didn't get saved.
If you had to do something that was hard, you're not even saved then.
Because that'd be worse.
Salvation's easy.
There's only one thing you have to do, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
But let me tell you something, that is the one thing you have to do.
And if you're not willing to do that, you cannot be saved.
And you'll never get saved.
And if you say, well, I'm just the type of person who just has to see it to believe it, you're going to go to hell.
Until you decide to get your faith in the right things.
Because you can just say, well, I'm a scientist, I've got to see it to believe it.
Your science is going to take you to hell.
And this is why many people will never be saved.
Now, if you would, I have a lot of stuff that I'm going to kind of cut out.
But what I wanted to explain, I wanted to prove from the Bible that Thomas was already saved.
Who's ever heard of this term, doubting Thomas?
Turn to John 6, we'll look at this quickly.
I'm going to cut off something else from my story.
I think this is kind of important.
So I'm going to cut off some other stuff at the end.
The part that I'm cutting out was just explaining how if you keep resisting being saved,
you come to a point where God basically hardens your heart.
And you'll no longer ever be able to see it.
And you'll go to hell.
God will reject you.
I have some interesting scriptures on that.
But that will be another sermon.
Let's look at John 6.
Keep your finger on John 6, look at John 2.
I want to show you that Thomas is truly called doubting Thomas.
Who's ever heard that term, doubting Thomas?
That is very accurate.
Not Thomas the Unbeliever, but doubting Thomas.
You see, it's possible after you get saved to have doubts.
The greatest man who ever lived, John the Baptist,
there was not a greater man than was born a woman, according to Jesus.
He said, Behold the Lamb of God which has taken away the sins of the world.
He pointed at him.
And then his followers switched to following Jesus because he pointed him out and said,
Behold the Lamb of God which has taken away the sins of the world.
He said, I knew that it was him when I saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him.
I mean, here's John the Baptist.
He believed, he saw, he knew.
I mean, the whole ball of wax.
I mean, he was a great, great preacher, great man.
But there came a time when he doubted.
In Matthew chapter 11, when he's in a prison cell, you don't have to turn there,
and he's lost all of his followers.
He's in prison.
And that's a bad place to be.
Two things to your head, right? To be locked up in a prison cell?
Who knows what it's like.
I've known of a lot of people going insane from being locked in prison cells for a long time.
And he began to doubt.
He said, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?
And he had said that he believed and knew that it was him.
It's not that John the Baptist was an unbeliever.
You can't lose your salvation.
He just had doubts. That's all.
Same thing with Thomas.
He had doubts. He was saved, but he came to a time where he doubted.
Look at John chapter 2, it says in verse 11,
This beginning of miracles did Jesus and Canaan of Galilee,
and manifested forth his glory, and his disciples believed on him.
It's referring to the twelve disciples. I'll prove that to you.
Look at John 6.
That's John 2.11, right at the beginning of his ministry, the Bible says his disciples believed on him.
So they were saved.
Let's look at John chapter 6.
And it says in verse number 60,
Many therefore of his disciples...
And keep in mind, this is not just talking about the twelve here.
This is talking about a great big group of disciples.
Because you're going to see that a lot of people go away,
and then only the twelve are left.
Excuse me.
It says in John 6.60,
Many therefore of his disciples when they heard this said,
This is an hard saying. Who can hear it?
When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said to them,
Does this offend you?
What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before?
It is the spirit that quickened it.
The flesh profiteth nothing.
The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.
But there are some of you that believe not.
Now notice, is that plural or singular, the some?
Plural.
He said there are some of you that believe not.
But he's not just talking to the twelve here.
He's talking to a large group, because look at the next verse.
For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray him.
And he said, Therefore said I unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my Father.
And watch verse 66.
From that time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more amid them.
Now, some of them believed not.
And they were the ones who left at that point.
They took out.
But then there were many others who did believe on him, but they also got disillusioned at this point and left.
Because there's a difference between many and some.
But look what he says, Then said Jesus unto the twelve.
Now let me ask you this, did the twelve leave?
No.
This other group, this big crowd, because he was speaking to a multitude.
If you get the context of John 6, it was a huge multitude.
Many of them went away.
He said, Some of you don't even believe on me.
Bunch of them left.
Then he said unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go?
Thou hast the words of eternal life.
And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?
He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon, for he it was that should betray him being one of the twelve.
You see, the eleven disciples believed on him.
They believed and were sure that he was a Christ.
I mean, even when he preached the hardest things, he said, Are you going to go away too?
Notice Jesus wasn't begging people to come to his church either.
He just said, Hey guy, hit the road, Jack.
You don't want this kind of preaching.
And basically he said, Will you also go away?
And they said, No, we believe that thou art the Christ.
We know, we're sure, we believe you.
You have the words of eternal life. Did you get that?
The words of eternal life.
It's always the emphasis on the words.
But then Jesus is careful to just tell us about the one who didn't believe.
Obviously Jesus was sending these men out to preach the Gospel.
I've heard people say that Peter wasn't saved until the book of Acts.
It's like, why is Jesus sending out all these guys to preach if none of them are saved?
People say, Oh, they all got saved after Jesus rose from the dead.
Unbelievable doctrine, because Jesus sent them out to preach two by two.
A bunch of unsaved people? Talk about the blind leading the blind.
Now there was one man among them.
Get this, there were eleven saved and one devil, one infiltrator.
He had him there for a reason.
That the scripture might be fulfilled.
He allowed this man Judas to be the tare among the wheat.
But the eleven were definitely saved.
They were preaching God's word. They were doing great things for God.
Then there was the one phony.
To give us an illustration also that we'll always have that one in our church.
If there's not one today, there will be one tomorrow.
People will constantly creep in.
But the point is that these men were saved and yet Thomas, look what he said in John chapter 20.
John chapter number 20.
I'll finish up with this.
John chapter number 20, the Bible says this, verse 24.
But Thomas, one of the twelve called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
Jesus came, he showed himself in his resurrected form.
Thomas was not there.
The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord.
But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
And after any days, so he couldn't believe that he actually rose from the dead.
The Bible also talks about that they didn't know that scripture.
That he should rise from the dead.
So it's not that Thomas didn't believe that Jesus was the Christ.
He just didn't believe the part about him rising from the dead.
He didn't understand that.
He didn't know that scripture.
He was saved by calling upon the name of the Lord.
As men have always been saved.
But he did not yet know that scripture because Jesus was not yet risen from the dead.
He hears about it.
At first, he's in a time of doubt.
And he says, I want to see it to believe it.
Watch what it says in verse 26.
And after eight days, again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them.
Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands.
And reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing.
And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
By the way, that's who Jesus is.
That's why Jesus then blesses him for saying that.
He said, Jesus said unto him, Thomas, because thou has seen me, thou has believed.
Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Because let me tell you something.
If you're waiting to see the evidence, if you're not saved, you're going to be waiting a long time.
You say, well Pastor Anson, we're all saved.
And that's probably true. Who knows?
Maybe there's somebody here that's not saved.
But chances are, most people, or all people here that are in church, that's why you're in church.
It's because you are a believer.
That's why you come to Faithful Word Baptist Church.
You know, you're saved.
But you know what?
If you're saved, and you're going out and getting people saved, and giving people the Gospel,
if you're trying to show them evidence, you know, you're missing the boat.
It's not Paul's, it wasn't Paul's method.
It wasn't Jesus' method, it wasn't Paul.
He said, you know what?
It's the preaching of the cross.
I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ,
It is the power of God unto salvation.
It's the words of God that say,
Faith cometh by hearing, not by seeing.
Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
If you see it, you don't have to believe it.
You don't have to hope for it.
Oh wow, I hope you'll be in church.
No, I see you in church.
I believe that you were there this morning.
I saw you.
Understand that between knowing and believing, you'll be a better soul winner.
When you get to the point where you teach people that they're saved by faith, they've got to believe.
And if they say, well I'm not sure,
because have you ever got to this point where you get done with the whole Gospel,
and they say, I'm just not sure.
I mean, doesn't that happen a lot?
Most people who don't get saved, that's what they say.
Well, I just don't know.
I'm not sure, I'm going to think about it.
I always tell them this, I say, you know,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
That's a command.
God wouldn't tell you to do something that you're incapable of doing.
He's given us all faith.
He's given to every man the measure of faith.
I say, you know what, you are capable of believing.
You just need to choose to believe on Christ.
Because if you're waiting until you know for sure, you will never be saved.
And sometimes you can convince people to step out of faith and be saved.
But many times they'll still just say, nope, nope, I just don't know for sure yet.
I'm still searching.
That's why down at ASU, have fun trying to get those students saved.
You know, and thank God we've had many of them saved.
But you know what, have fun trying to get them saved.
Because that's the hardest place if you want to go soul winning.
If you want to pick a hard place to go soul winning, go to Tempe, Arizona.
ASU University on that campus.
Because they're just so smart and they have to know everything.
They don't need faith.
And you know what, they're falsely so called science and knowledge and wisdom of this world.
Which is foolishness with God.
And I'm not going to go down there and get a BA or BS in foolishness.
What's your major down at ASU?
Oh, don't tell me, I already know what it is.
Foolishness!
That's what you major in when you go to that college.
Amen.
You major in foolishness because the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.
You say, oh you're ignorant, you're a hillbilly, you're a redneck.
Look, I speak several languages.
I study math, I study science, I read more books than the average person in a typical week.
But you know what, I'm not against education and knowledge, I'm against foolishness.
And that's what that school is.
That's what most school is.
That's what most colleges are.
Foolishness.
And so don't mix up knowledge, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
He who knows this book has knowledge.
And then you know nothing of this book down at Fool State University.
Where you major in foolishness and a minor in ungodliness on the side.
That's why you're going to have a hard time getting those people saved.
You know, I'll give them the gospel, I'll preach the gospel to every creature.
But that's going to be the hardest place.
And maybe if you comprehend the sermon this morning you'll be a better soul winner down there on that campus.
Getting people to realize it's faith.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word.
Without your word, God, I can stand here and confidently say I would not be saved without your word.
Because your word is why I'm saved.
Because I believed John 3.16 and John 5.24 that was shown to me as a child and I believed it with the faith of a child.
And that's why I'm saved today.
And God, I can say with equal confidence that every single person in this room who is saved, it's because they believed on your word.
Help us to preach that word in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Not relying on man's wisdom or science or a slideshow or a DVD or a seminar.
Help us to open our mouth with a physical Bible in our hand and the Holy Spirit living inside of us and preach your word and see people saved, dear God.
Help the people of Arizona, dear God, and the people of Tempe to realize that they must have faith.
They'll never know it's true, they'll never know for sure, until they've just gotten saved.
That's when they'll know for sure, but they'll never know before that.
Help us to be filled with your Spirit as we go, dear God. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.