...for Baptist Church. It's good to see everyone here on this Sunday night service.
Let's all take our hymnals, please, and turn to hymn number 343.
We'll begin tonight with hymn number 343, Revive Us Again, hymn number 343.
Let's sing it out on that first verse.
We praise Thee, O God, for the Son of Thy love, number 343, revive us again.
We praise Thee, O God, for the Son of Thy love, for Jesus, who died and is now mine above.
Hallelujah, line of glory, hallelujah, amen.
Hallelujah, line of glory, revive us again.
We praise Thee, O God, for the Spirit of life, who has shown us our Savior and scattered our life.
Hallelujah, line of glory, hallelujah, amen.
Hallelujah, line of glory, revive us again.
All glory and praise to the Lamb that was slain, who has borne all our sins and has cleansed every sin.
Hallelujah, line of glory, hallelujah, amen.
Hallelujah, line of glory, revive us again.
Revive us again, fill each heart with Thy love.
Things only we can love with Thy love, our love.
Hallelujah, line of glory, hallelujah, amen.
Hallelujah, line of glory, revive us again.
156, there have been names that I have loved to hear, but never has there been a name so near.
156, on this first verse together, 156.
There have been many times I've loved to hear, but never has there been a name so near.
To this Lord of mine, as the name divine, the precious, precious name of Jesus.
Jesus is the sweetest name I own, and He's just the same as His lovely name, and that's the reason why I love Him so.
Oh, Jesus is the sweetest name I own.
There is no name in earth or heaven above, and He should be such shelter and such love.
As the blessed name, let us all acclaim, that wonders for His name of Jesus.
Jesus is the sweetest name I own, and He's just the same as His lovely name, and that's the reason why I love Him so.
Oh, Jesus is the sweetest name I own, and some day I shall see Him face to face,
to make Him praise Him for His wondrous praise, which He gave to me when He made me free, the blessed Son of God called Jesus.
Jesus is the sweetest name I own, and He's just the same as His lovely name, and that's the reason why I love Him so.
Oh, Jesus is the sweetest name I own.
Alright, this time we'll go through our announcements.
If you don't have a bullet, then slip up your hand nice and high. We'll get to you with one.
On the inside we have our service time. Sunday mornings at 1030 is our preaching service.
Sunday nights at 6. Wednesday nights at 7 is our Bible study. This week we will be in Ecclesiastes chapter number 8.
We've got the soul-winning times listed there below, as well as salvations and baptisms.
And then Happy Father's Day to all the dads. Hopefully everybody got a root beer float this morning, or two.
And then below that we've got the Bible memory passage, 1 Corinthians 2, 9 through 13.
So hopefully you're working on that. Great little passage of Scripture.
And then the deadline for the whole thing is July 11th. Congratulations to the Castro family on the birth of baby Jonah.
Got a great little picture there, and so be sure to congratulate them.
On the back there's a baby shower on June 26, which is a Saturday, this Saturday, from 2 to 4 right here.
And that is in honor of Mrs. Dawn Battaglia. Please RSVP if you can, otherwise just show up.
And then also, if you're planning on going to hear Pastor Thompson down in Tucson on July 1st,
you can also just show up for that, of course. But if you could, just let Brother Corbin Russell know that you're planning on going.
And then below that is the note about the Red Hot Preaching Conference.
If you're planning on going, please sign up for that right away.
And then the other upcoming events that are listed there, we've got the small town soul winning in Heber this weekend.
So Heber is about 45 minutes beyond Payson, and it's even like 20 degrees cooler than Payson.
So it's like 30 degrees cooler than Phoenix. So we're seeking out some greener pastures for these soul winning trips.
So that's going to be this weekend, and then we're going to be doing the single day trips in Payson.
And then it looks like the music emphasis night has moved from Thursday to Friday. Is that what that is?
So it was going to be on the Thursday. This time it's going to be on Friday, July 2nd.
So be sure to make a note of that. Just this one time, it shifted to a Friday.
So it's in red there so that you'll pay special attention to that.
Then it'll be back to the normal Thursday rotation. And that's about it for announcements.
Let's go ahead and count up the soul winning from the past few days, going back to Thursday. Anything from Thursday?
Okay. Anything else from Thursday? What about Friday? Okay. Anything else from Friday?
Okay. Anything else? And then Saturday, I know we had three for the group in Payson.
Outside of that, we've got one more. Anything else outside of Payson?
And then what about today, Brother Scott? Four. All right. Any other groups?
Got another four over here. All right. Any other soul winning groups from today?
Keep up the great work out, soul winning. With that, let's sing our next song. Come lead us.
All right, and your hymnals, please turn to hymn number 100. Day by day, hymn number 100.
We'll sing it on that first day by day and with each passing moment. Number 100, sing it on this first verse together.
We'll sing it on that first day by day and with each passing moment. Number 100, sing it on this first day by day.
We'll sing it on that first day by day and with each passing moment.
Amen. Up to hymn number 222. Moment by moment, number 222.
Dying with Jesus by death, reckon mine, number 222 on this first verse, moment by moment.
I know it's new, but focus on these words as we sing number 222.
Moment by moment, oh Lord, I am Thine. Moment by moment, I'm kept in His love.
Moment by moment, I'm high from above.
Looking to Jesus, till glory does shine. Moment by moment, oh Lord, I am Thine.
Never a child that He is not there. Never a burden that He doth not bear. Never a sorrow that He doth not share.
Moment by moment, I'm under His care. Moment by moment, I'm kept in His love.
Moment by moment, I'm blind from above. Looking to Jesus, till glory does shine.
Moment by moment, oh Lord, I am Thine. Never a heartache and never a throne. Never a teardrop and never a moan.
Never a danger but there on the throne. Moment by moment, He thinks of His own.
Moment by moment, I'm kept in His love. Moment by moment, I'm blind from above.
Looking to Jesus, till glory does shine. Moment by moment, oh Lord, I am Thine. Never a weakness that He doth not feel.
Never a sickness that He cannot heal. Moment by moment, in war it will. Jesus, my Savior abides with me still.
Moment by moment, I'm kept in His love. Moment by moment, I'm blind from above.
Looking to Jesus, till glory does shine. Moment by moment, oh Lord, I am Thine.
Amen. Great singing tonight.
Alright, this time we'll pass the offering plates around. As the plates go around, let's turn our Bibles to Joshua chapter number 2.
Joshua chapter number 2, as we always do. We'll read the entire chapter, beginning in verse number 1.
Follow along silently with brother Dan as he reads Joshua chapter 2, starting in verse number 1.
In Joshua chapter 2, the Bible reads,
And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho.
And they went and came into an Arlet's house, named Rahab, and lodged there.
And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither tonight of the children of Israel to search out the country.
And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house, for they be come to search out all the country.
And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wisn't not whence they were.
And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out.
Whither the men went I want not. Pursue after them quickly, for ye shall overtake them.
But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she laid in order upon the roof.
And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan, unto the fords.
And as soon as they which pursued them were gone out, they shut the gate.
And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof.
And she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.
For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt,
and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.
And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt.
Neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you.
For the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.
Now therefore I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have showed you kindness, that you will also show kindness unto my Father's house, and give me a true token.
And that you will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.
And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business, and it shall be, when the Lord hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.
Then she let them down by a cord through the window, for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.
And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you, and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned.
And afterward may you go your way.
And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath, which thou hast made us swear.
Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window, which thou didst let us down by.
And thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household home unto thee.
And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless.
And whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.
And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath, which thou hast made us to swear.
And she said, According unto your words, so be it.
And she sent them away, and they departed, and she bound the scarlet line in the window.
And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned.
And the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not.
So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them.
And they said unto Joshua, Truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land, for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.
Lord, thank you for today. Lord, I ask that you would be with Pastor, and you would fill in with your spirit, that he can preach to us things we need to hear, Lord.
And Lord, open up our hearts, and soften our hearts, Lord, that we may take heed to your word today. In Jesus' name, amen.
So my sermon tonight is Rahab the harlot. Rahab the harlot, of course a harlot is a prostitute.
And in Joshua chapter number two, we have two spies coming into the land, and they lodge at Rahab the harlot's house.
And she ends up hiding them, and saving their lives, and sending them away.
Let me just briefly go over the story, and then I want to get into the main application about Rahab the harlot.
But it says in verse number one, and Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim, two men despised secretly, saying, Go view the land, king of Jericho.
And they went and came into a harlot's house named Rahab, and lodged there.
And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold there came men in hither tonight of the children of Israel to search out the country.
And of course they come over to Rahab the harlot's house, is my microphone not working?
Now is it working?
Alright, so the title of my sermon tonight is Rahab the Harlot.
So, in this passage here, they go to the home of Rahab the harlot, that's where they're hiding out.
The king of Jericho finds out that they're there, and he sends officers over there to arrest them.
And she ends up lying for them, hiding them, and they end up being saved as a result.
And it says in verse number four, the women, excuse me, and the woman took the two men and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wish not whence they were.
And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark that the men went out, whither the men went, I want not, saying, I don't know which way they went.
Basically, pursue after them quickly, for ye shall overtake them.
And of course then, she talks to them, and explains to them how they're all terrified of them, and that she knows that their god is the true god, and she heard about the parting of the Red Sea, and all these different things.
So they end up making this agreement with her, because she's basically telling them, I want to be spared.
You know, I know that you're going to take over this land, I know that you're going to destroy Jericho, but I want to be saved, I want to be spared.
So they make this deal with her on how she and her loved ones can be spared.
It says in verse 17, And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.
Verse 18, Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by.
And thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household home unto thee.
And it shall be that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless.
And whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.
And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.
So what she's told to do is to hang this scarlet thread outside of the window and then everyone who's inside the house is safe.
So if anybody is outside the home and the Israeli troops come in, then, you know, they're saying that's not our problem because we're going to kill everybody except for the people that are inside of the house that has the scarlet line marking it.
Of course scarlet is another word for the color red.
So we see here this is very similar to the picture found in Exodus chapter number 12 with the Passover.
Because if you remember with the Passover, they would paint the blood of the lamb on the doorpost and then everyone who's inside the house is safe from the death angel that would pass over.
And it specifically says in Exodus chapter 12, you know, don't let anybody leave the house.
Everybody needs to be inside the house to be safe.
And they tell her the same thing.
So this is obviously a picture of salvation through Jesus, right?
The blood of Jesus, the scarlet thread.
It's not scarlet or red by coincidence but it pictures the blood of Christ just like with the Passover, the same exact thing.
Now this is referenced in the New Testament.
I want to show you some key things about how this is referenced in the New Testament.
First we're going to look at Hebrews chapter 11 and then we're going to look at James chapter 2.
Hebrews 11 and James chapter 2.
And a lot of times this scripture in James chapter 2 is looked at and studied and expounded without really making reference back to Joshua.
You know, when we're reading something in the New Testament and it references an Old Testament story, sometimes it's good to actually go back and look up that story and get some more details to understand what the New Testament is saying.
Because I think if you actually compare what James 2 says with what we read back in Joshua, it makes a lot more sense than the way a lot of people are wrongly interpreting James chapter 2.
But first of all, let's look at Hebrews chapter 11 and let's compare it with the actual Rahab story.
So in Hebrews chapter number 11, it says in verse 31,
By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.
So we see here that in this verse, two different times in one verse, the emphasis is placed upon her faith.
She perished not because of her faith.
And the people who did die, why did they die?
Because they believed not, right?
So that's what's being emphasized in Hebrews chapter 11, this great faith chapter.
And it says she perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.
Okay, now let's go to James chapter 2 with that in mind.
James chapter 2, and we're going to see another mention of Rahab the harlot in James chapter 2.
It says in James chapter 2 verse 25,
Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had received the messengers and had sent them out another way.
So here the Bible says that she was justified by works when she had received the messengers and had sent them out another way.
Now of course James chapter 2 is a passage that's often abused by those who want to teach a works-based salvation.
You know, they want to teach that you get to heaven by being good, by following the commandments, by cleaning up your life,
going to church, serving God. I mean, look, we go out soul winning and knock on people's doors.
I mean, how many times did we just hear it yesterday alone, out soul winning, just everybody just saying, you know, live a good life.
You know, what do you think you have to do to get to heaven?
You know, keep the commandments, follow Jesus, live a good life, do good things.
You know, stop sinning. I mean, this is what you hear all day long from people.
And we knocked on this one guy's door who was a Mormon and this was the only verse he knew was faith without works is dead.
He didn't even know the whole verse. He didn't even know the whole context.
It's just he just had that little mantra that was taught to him by the Mormon church that anybody who tries to tell him that salvation is by faith,
it's just, you know, faith without works is dead, you know, it's like a parrot repeating that back without understanding it,
without knowing the context, without knowing the other hundred verses that clearly state that salvation is by faith and that it's not by works.
I mean, we clearly have scripture that says, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves is the gift of God,
not of works lest any man should boast.
And notice it doesn't say faith and works are two sides of the same coin.
No, it says you're saved by faith and you're not saved by works.
Get that down. You're saved by faith and you're not saved by works.
It doesn't say for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves is the gift of God and, you know, works are part, no, it says not of works.
So for people to say, well, you know, I mean, faith and works are kind of the same thing.
Then why does it say you're saved by one and not the other? Because they're not the same thing.
Because the works that he's talking about there are the works of the law and by the works of the law there should no flesh be justified in his sight.
You cannot do good works to be saved and you cannot do the works of the law to be saved, which by the way, not sinning is fulfilling the law or following the works of the law.
You know, if you're not stealing, not killing, not committing adultery, what are you doing?
The deeds of the law. That's what the Bible teaches in the book of Galatians.
So let me just show you how wrong of an interpretation it is of James chapter 2 to try to use James chapter 2 to teach a works-based salvation and basically turn the rest of the Bible on its head.
You know, you'd have to completely throw out the Gospel of John, you'd have to throw out Romans, throw out Ephesians, you'd have to throw out the teachings of the New Testament.
But right here in James chapter 2, let me just point out to you the elephant in the room right here that all of the James 2 parrots don't want to talk about, which is verse 10.
Because, you know, before we even get into James 2 verse 24, how about we read verse 10 and I would like these works salvation teachers to explain to me how in the world they're going to be saved by works in light of verse 10.
Because the Bible says in verse 10, for whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offended one point, he's guilty of all.
So good luck repenting of all your sins to be saved. Good luck keeping the commandments to be saved.
Good luck, you know, being like Jesus to be saved. Hey, none of us is that Christ-like, my friend.
We've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. There's none righteous, no not one.
And the Bible says right here that if you keep the whole law and yet offended one point, you're guilty of all.
And it says, look, for he that said do not commit adultery said also do not kill.
Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
So people might say, well, I've never killed anyone or I've never committed adultery.
Yeah, okay, but what about the sins that you did do, though?
Because we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. There's none righteous, no not one.
So that right there, verse 10, completely eliminates an interpretation of chapter 2 as, well, it's faith plus works.
Well, no, because if it has anything to do with keeping the commandments, we're doomed because of verse 10, okay?
But let's get into what James 2 is actually teaching, okay?
Now let's look at the whole thing in context and we're going to compare scripture with scripture.
But the Bible, excuse me, the Bible says in verse number 14, what does it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith and have not works, can faith save him?
And the first thing I want to point out is that it does not say, what does it profit, my brethren, though a man have faith and have not works, can faith save him?
Is that what it says? Does it say that this guy has faith, but he doesn't have works, so can faith save him?
No, it says that he says that he has faith. Does everybody see that difference?
If a man say he hath faith and have not works, can faith save him?
Okay, it's just a question, it's food for thought and then he explains what he's getting at here.
If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food and one of you say unto them, depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body, what do the profit?
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead being alone.
Okay, so he starts out by giving this illustration of somebody needing help, either they need food or they need clothes, and you just bless them in the name of the Lord and tell them to depart in peace and be warmed and filled, but you don't actually give them what they need.
You're not helping them, you're not profiting them.
And even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead being alone.
Now one of the things that James is getting at here is that if you have faith but you don't have works, you're not profiting anyone else around you.
You're not helping anybody. I mean imagine if I were saved but I never said anything about it to anyone and I never did anything for God, well then I'm not a profitable servant unto the Lord or unto my fellow man.
I'm not helping anyone else. And that's the first context here is about helping other people, you know, giving them food and clothes and things that they need.
And then it says in verse 18, Yea man may say, Thou hast faith and I have works, show me thy faith without thy works and I will show thee my faith by my works.
Now the next thing that we see here is that other people can't see inside of our heart to know whether or not we have faith.
So if I say I have faith, does that really mean that I have faith or have there been people who've said that they believe in Christ that turned out later they didn't.
But they said that they did, they lied about it. And so we can't see the heart so we don't really know whether someone has faith or not but we can only look at people's actions and their actions will demonstrate in many cases what it is that they believe.
And that's all we can see because we can't see inside their heart. We can listen to what they say, we can look at their actions and we can make judgments upon them in that way.
And that's how people are going to judge us whether it's right or wrong. People are going to look at our actions and judge us based on that.
So a man might say, well you know, you have faith and I have works, show me thy faith without thy works, I'll show thee my faith by my works.
So we see first illustration is about our works being a blessing or helping other people and then this is about showing our faith to other people.
Does everybody see that?
And then it says in verse 19, thou believeth that there is one God, thou doest well, the devils also believe and tremble, but wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead.
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works and by works was faith made perfect?
And the scripture was fulfilled which saith Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness and he was called the friend of God.
You see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only.
So the illustration that's given is Abraham and it says, look, wasn't Abraham justified by works when he offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Okay, keep that in your mind. Wasn't he justified by works when he offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
And he says, so then you see how by works a man is justified and not by faith only.
Now keep your finger here and go to Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter number 4, let's compare scripture with scripture because that seems to go contrary to the scripture's teaching of justification by faith.
Over and over again we have all these scriptures teaching justification by faith and then all of a sudden James 2 is saying, well, wasn't Abraham justified by works?
And so you see how or in what way, you know, a man is justified by works and not by faith only.
Okay, well look at Romans chapter 4 and it's all going to make sense. It's all going to come together.
It says in Romans 4, 1, what shall we say then that Abraham our father as pertained to the flesh hath found?
And look at verse 2. Do not miss it. For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory but not before God.
You see that? So if Abraham were justified by works, what did James 2 say? James 2 said Abraham's justified by works.
This verse says if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory but not before God.
So who can he glory before? People, other men. But can he glory before God? Is God looking down at Abraham and saying let me justify you by your works?
No way. Because Abraham is justified by faith. He believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness.
Abraham is justified before God by his faith. But he is justified before mankind by his works.
Okay, what does the word justify mean? Justify means to declare righteous. Okay, just and righteous are synonyms in the Bible.
In fact, almost every language in the world, justice and righteousness are the same word.
It's pretty much only English that I know of that divides those into two separate words, you know, righteous and just.
You know, think about other languages. Who here speaks another language? Okay, so think about other languages.
In Spanish, what is righteousness in Spanish? Justicia. What's justice in Spanish? Justicia, right?
What about in Romanian? Is it the same way? Justicia? Justicia. Alright.
And then, you know, I can't vouch for every language, but I know that in German, for example,
is going to be both righteousness and justice, right? So just and righteous are used interchangeably in the Bible like it talks about just a lot and then it says that righteous man.
Okay, so here's the thing. Justified is declared to be righteous. So when we talk about justification by faith in regard to salvation,
we're talking about where God looks down at us and sees us as righteous and declares us as righteous,
not because of our own works, because our own righteousnesses are as filthy rags.
But God looks down and he sees the imputed righteousness of Jesus. He declares us to be righteous because of the blood of Jesus, because of our salvation through Christ.
That's our justification by faith. So what does it mean to be justified before man?
Because we're not justified before God by our works. Romans 4 is clear here, okay?
But we're justified before man. We're declared to be righteous by man, right? Man looks at us and says, this guy has faith.
Man, and what is he looking at? He's looking at our works, okay?
Think about the life of Abraham, because we all know Abraham to be a great man of faith, the father of faith.
If you looked at the entire life of Abraham and you read the entire story in Genesis, which story would you point to if somebody said, well, prove to me that Abraham was a man of faith.
Show me Abraham's greatest act of faith. We would all turn to the same place.
We would all turn to Genesis 22 and show where he offered Isaac his son upon the altar, because that was his supreme act of faith, okay?
So that is where he was justified before man, not before God. And I will prove it to you. Let's keep reading in Romans 4.
It says in verse 3, for what sayeth the scripture? Abraham believed God and it was counted on him for righteousness.
So if you were justified by works, he hath the word of the glory, but not before God, because the scripture says that Abraham believed God and it was counted on him for righteousness.
So between him and God, his justification was by faith.
But in front of other people, he's justified by his deeds because nobody can see his heart, nobody can see his faith, okay?
Look at verse 4, now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Even as David also described it, the blessedness of the man unto whom God impudeth righteousness without works,
saying blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
Don't miss these next few verses.
Comment this blessedness then upon the circumcision only or upon the uncircumcision also.
For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness, how was it then reckoned?
When he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision?
Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised.
That he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed unto them also.
Abraham was saved when he was circumcised or uncircumcised.
The Bible's crystal clear.
When was he justified?
When was the righteousness imputed unto him?
Before he was circumcised.
Okay, how old was Abraham when he was circumcised?
Ninety-nine.
So Abraham was circumcised at ninety-nine years old.
How old was he when he offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Well over a hundred.
You can't be dogmatic about exactly how old he was.
One thing we know for sure, he was much older than one hundred.
You know, I would guess that he was somewhere around a hundred and thirty years old, you know, and that if Isaac is picturing Jesus, maybe he's thirty-three years old, you know, that's a theory.
But either way, it's for sure way after his hundredth birthday.
So when was he justified by faith?
When was he declared righteous before God?
When was the righteousness of Jesus imputed unto him when he was in uncircumcision, meaning before he was ninety-nine years old?
Because obviously it's back when he was in Ur of the Chaldees that he believed in the Lord.
You know, he's obviously saved from when we meet him in Genesis.
He's saved.
He's a believer, okay?
So he's got the righteousness imputed unto him.
He's saved and justified by faith way before he's ninety-nine.
And when was he justified by works according to James 2?
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he'd offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
So is that talking about his personal salvation as far as getting to heaven?
No. It's talking about something that he did that was a testimony to others where we're here thousands of years later still talking about how Abraham is such a great man of faith because he was willing to offer his son Isaac upon the altar.
That's his big act of faith.
And it was decades after he'd already been saved, okay?
So that's the key thing that we need to understand there from Romans chapter 4.
Now let's go back to James chapter 2 with that in mind.
And so we see that works justify us.
We're justified by works but not before God.
Before man.
Before our fellow man.
That's how people look at us and see our faith.
Show me your faith without your works.
I'll show you my faith by my works because man can only see our works.
He can't see our faith, okay?
Now look at James chapter 2 and look at the next example after, and by the way in verse 24 it says you see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only.
You see in what way?
Not in the way of, oh, justified by works God looks down and declares you righteous and you're going to heaven now because of your works.
Wrong.
It's you're justified before man the same way Abraham demonstrated his faith by offering Isaac.
We do the same thing with our works.
But look at the next verse.
This is the one that just completely puts the nail in the coffin of this wrong interpretation of James 2 that teaches a workspace salvation.
Look at James 2 25.
Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works.
Okay, just stop right there.
Just stop.
Did you just read that?
Rahab the what?
Rahab the dedicated godly Christian following Christ doing great works.
Rahab the harlot.
How are you going to teach works salvation in the sense of keep the commandments and be good to go to heaven like that prostitute.
Be like the prostitute.
Earn your way into heaven by being good.
It makes no sense.
It's a prostitute.
Rahab the harlot was justified by works when she stopped being a prostitute.
Is that what it says?
Is that what the Bible teaches?
That she stopped being a prostitute?
That she turned from her sinful ways of being a prostitute?
Is that what it says? No.
It says that she was justified by works when she had received the messengers and had sent them out another way.
Now keep your finger there.
Let's go back to the Rahab story and get what actually happened.
And I want you to keep the words of James 2 in your mind how she received the messengers and sent them out another way.
Okay.
And then also I want you to be reminded of the words in Hebrews chapter 11 where it says that she received the spies with peace.
Right?
So she received the messengers and sent them out another way.
That's when she was justified by works.
Okay, well let's look at that story here.
It says in verse number 18,
Behold, we're in Joshua chapter 2 verse 18,
Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by.
And then of course it talks about how she's going to bring everybody into the house and whoever's in the house is going to be safe.
Look at verse 21.
This is the key. Verse 21.
And she said, According unto your words, so be it.
And she sent them away and they departed and she bound the scarlet line in the window.
So what did she do when was she justified by works?
What did she do?
She told them, okay, yes.
She agreed to put the scarlet thread.
She puts the scarlet thread out the window and then she sends them away.
And what did the Bible say in James chapter 2?
That she was justified by works when she had received the messengers and had sent them out another way.
Isn't that what we just read happened, right?
She receives the messengers, sends them out another way, puts the scarlet thread out the window, done.
Now let me ask you this.
In Joshua chapter 2, is there any inkling of them telling her you guys changed your lifestyle or you're getting smoked with the rest of the Canaanites?
You're going to get wiped out with the Canaanites.
Is there even any inkling of that in this story?
Is there even a hint of that?
Is there any hint of, hey, you're a prostitute for crying out loud?
Are you willing to turn from that sinful lifestyle?
Are you going to get this wicked sin out of your life?
Because if so, then put this scarlet thread out the window.
Is there anything like that in the story at all?
No.
And yet people will take James chapter 2 and say, hey, if you follow the commandments and go to church and get baptized and do all the good deeds that the Mormon church is telling you to do or that the Catholic church is telling you to do or that whatever the religion is,
because you know, I mean, faith without works is dead.
That's what it says.
You got to do these works.
Folks, what are the examples he gave to explain what he meant?
James explained what he meant by pointing to Abraham.
James explained what he meant by pointing to Rahab.
And what happens when we look up scriptures about Abraham and Rahab?
What do they confirm?
That this isn't about turning over a new leaf.
This isn't about keeping the commandments.
This isn't about turning from all your sins and following Christ daily.
No, it's about people who believe the Lord, but they showed that faith unto other people by some kind of an action.
You know, how did they know that Rahab believed them?
Because she put out the scarlet thread and brought everybody in the house and shut the door.
And that was basically how she was declared to be righteous in their sight.
And that's why they spared her and didn't kill her and she did not perish with those that believe not.
How did Abraham show his faith?
By being willing to offer Isaac.
Now, uh, keep your finger in Joshua 2.
We might come back there, but go to Matthew 21.
Matthew chapter 21.
Because what you have to understand is that Rahab the harlot being saved is a foreshadowing of harlots that are going to get saved in the time of Jesus.
Right?
Because we know that in the time of Christ, publicans and harlots got saved, didn't they?
And this is a foreshadowing of that.
So think about it this way.
The two messengers come, it makes you think of soul winning.
Because, you know, Jesus Christ sent out his messengers two by two into all the cities
and he told them, as you go preach, saying the kingdom of God is at hand.
We go out soul winning, two by two.
Basically, two guys go to the house of this harlot.
They tell her how to be saved.
She believes and gets saved.
So it's a picture of salvation.
Okay?
If you think about it, and obviously they're not talking to her about spiritual salvation.
They're talking to her about physical salvation.
They're telling her, hey, put this literal thread out the window and you're literally not going to get stabbed when the sword comes through here.
Right?
The scarlet thread pictures the blood of Jesus.
And being spared from the physical death is a picture of being saved from spiritual damnation in hell.
And so, you know, it's a picture of soul winning.
You know, the two messengers of the Lord, she receives them with peace.
She, and think about even that wording, when she received the spies with peace.
She's justified by faith when she receives the spies with peace and she doesn't perish with those that believe not.
When Jesus sends them out preaching two by two, he tells them that when they come to a house to salute it and to say peace be upon you.
And he says, if they receive you, then your peace will remain on them.
But if they reject you, I'm paraphrasing, but if they reject you, your peace will return to you.
And so we see her receiving them with peace.
Again, another picture of what we see in the New Testament with soul winning.
You know, with preaching the gospel two by two, house to house, etc.
Now look at Matthew chapter 21 and verse number 32.
Actually, let's start in verse 31.
It says, whether of them twain did the will of his father, they say unto him the first.
Jesus saith unto them, verily I say unto you that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.
Now this is not what the Pharisees wanted to hear.
I mean this is not, they see themselves as very religious, they're very separated, they're very godly in their own mind.
And so imagine Jesus telling them that a prostitute is more likely to go to heaven than them.
Or more prostitutes are going to heaven than you guys.
Or, you know, a prostitute is going to heaven before you.
And here you are, Mr. Righteous, Mr. Holy, Mr. Separated One.
And the harlots and the publicans will enter into the kingdom of God before you.
And then he says in verse 32 why that is, he says, for John came unto you in the way of righteousness and you believed him not.
Why are the Pharisees damned?
Why are they not saved?
Because of the fact that when John the Baptist came unto them and preached the word of God, they did not believe the word.
They did not believe him.
That's why they're doomed, right?
It says, but the publicans and the harlots believed him.
So why did the publicans and harlots get saved?
Because they believed the word of God as preached by John the Baptist.
Why did the Pharisees not?
Because, why are they not entering the kingdom of heaven?
Because they didn't believe him.
But then here's the key at the end of the verse.
It says, and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward that ye might believe him.
Now what does it mean in this context to repent?
Because the word repent can mean a lot of different things in a lot of different contexts because it's such a broad word.
It just means to turn.
Repent simply means to turn or to change.
And so it really depends on the context because if I said, I was going to the grocery store yesterday, but I repented.
What does that mean?
That means, you know, I planned on doing it, but now I'm not going to do it anymore.
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, someone who's a native Spanish speaker, isn't the word repentance actually used more in modern,
we would never use it in English.
We would never say, I planned to go, but then I repented.
We wouldn't use that kind of language in 2021 America.
But in Spanish, would you use the verb repentirse just in everyday speech about changing your mind?
I see one person, can I get a witness?
Yeah.
A few people are telling me that, yeah, you would.
That was my understanding too, is that that's not, in Spanish, that's not just a biblical lingo.
You would actually say something like, I was going to the grocery store, but you know,
I repented myself, you know, I changed my mind about it.
And in fact, if you even look at the etymology of the word repent, if you look at the pent part,
it comes from the same Latin root as the Spanish verb pensar.
And what does pensar mean?
To think.
Repentirse is related to that.
Okay, because it has to do in many cases with changing your mind.
Okay, now a lot of times in scripture, it has to do with, you know, actually changing a course of action as well.
You know, you have all kinds of examples where God's going to destroy a city or God's going to destroy a group of people,
and then the Lord repents of the evil that he had thought that he would do unto them and he does it not.
And so you have people repenting.
Also, you have the children of Israel.
When they are leaving Egypt, God says he's not going to take them by the way of the Philistines
because he's afraid that when the children of Israel see war, they'll repent.
He doesn't want them to get to the Philistines and then turn back and go to Egypt.
Now, let me ask you this.
If they're leaving Egypt, think about this for a second.
If they're leaving Egypt and heading for the Promised Land, are they going in the right direction?
Yeah, right? They're going in the right direction.
Leaving Egypt, heading for the Promised Land.
And God says, I don't want them to repent.
I don't want them to turn around and do what?
Head backward into Egypt. That's what he doesn't want them to do.
So is repentance always good?
No, because here's the thing.
If you're heading for the Promised Land and you repent, that's bad.
That's a bad repentance because you were doing something good and then you repented of something good
and then you went back into bondage, that would be bad.
So people are wrong when they try to take the word repent and always attach to it sin, repenting of sin.
So what happens is people will take a verse in the Bible that talks about repentance
and they'll just tag on of your sins.
Every verse that says repent, they just add of your sins.
You can't add that because that's not part of the word.
Okay, you'd have to spell that out. You'd have to say that.
Okay, for example, God repents more than anyone else in the whole Bible.
God's doing the most repenting.
God doesn't have any sins.
God never does anything wrong.
God never sins.
And so how could he be turning from his sins?
So a lot of people say, oh, repent means turn from sin.
No, it doesn't. Repent just means turn.
Repent of sin means turn from sin.
But repent, period, just means turn.
So you could turn from the promised land.
You know, you could turn from going to the grocery store.
In this case, what does repentance mean in this context?
Well, we have one group of people that believes John the Baptist preaching.
We have another group of people that doesn't.
And he says when you saw that, the publicans and harlots believed you did not repent that you might.
He's saying that didn't make you change your mind.
Does everybody see that?
That didn't make you change your mind.
You know, when you saw all of these publicans and harlots getting saved,
okay, believing the word of God,
that should have gotten your attention and you should have afterward repented and believed him.
And they had many, many chances afterward to repent and believe
because then Jesus came along after John the Baptist's short ministry,
then came along Jesus.
Jesus is doing miracles and preaching all kinds of powerful sermons.
And the Bible tells us in John chapter 12,
though he did so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him.
Even though he did all these miracles, they didn't believe on him.
So what does that mean? They didn't repent afterward that they might believe him.
Now, look at verse 32 here and tell me,
can you honestly say that in this verse when it says they repented not that they might believe,
you know, that you repented not that you might believe him,
that he's talking about quit drinking.
If you darn Pharisees would just quit drinking,
if you just get off the drugs,
I wish you Pharisees would just get rid of your live-in girlfriends
so that you could believe John the Baptist.
Is there any inkling of that?
But that's what people read into all these verses, don't they?
They get a verse that says repent and believe the gospel and they're like,
see, you know, you gotta stop fornicating, you gotta stop drinking,
you gotta stop smoking, you gotta stop taking drugs,
you know, you gotta stop stealing, you know,
because you gotta repent.
But what's the repentance in regard to salvation?
The repentance in regard to salvation has to do with turning from idols to the living God.
Turning from unbelief to belief.
Turning from a false religion of the Pharisees
to the true Word of God as being preached by John the Baptist and Jesus.
Does a Buddhist have to repent to be saved?
Absolutely.
But what does that mean?
It means they have to stop being a Buddhist.
Does a Hindu have to repent to be saved?
Absolutely.
They can't just add Christ to Hinduism.
They must reject Hinduism and believe on Christ.
Why?
Because they're not believing with all their heart on Christ if they're still a Hindu.
You know, if someone is trusting in good works to save them,
you know what they have to do?
They have to repent of trusting in good works
and now believe on Jesus as their sufficient payment for sin.
That's the repentance in regard to salvation.
Now, if repentance in regard to salvation was quit being a prostitute,
right, which, guess what, is not in Joshua 2
and is not even in James 2
and is not in Hebrews 11 and is nowhere in the story.
If salvation were stopped being a prostitute, stop and think about this.
If that were the message, hey, put a scarlet thread out the window
and stop being a prostitute.
If that were the message, then you know what?
You'd have to stop doing all your other sins too
because you can't just single out one sin
because what did the Bible tell us in James 2?
If you keep the whole law and yet offended one point, you're guilty of all.
So if I said, well, I'm not a prostitute.
Okay, but what about the lies that you told?
What about pride?
What about gluttony?
What about blasphemy?
What about theft?
Right? I mean, think about that.
So how could we just single out a certain sin and say,
stop being a prostitute, but what about all our other sins?
Any sin will damn us because if you've kept the whole law and yet offended one point, you're guilty of all.
So therefore, today, modern preachers, that's what they're often doing.
They're saying, you know, well, you have to quit drinking to go to heaven.
It's like, okay, well, what about the other sins?
And if you're going to tell me that you have to quit all of your sins to go to heaven,
then I'm just going to give up right now because I already know that that's impossible.
Because the Bible says in Ecclesiastes chapter 7, there's not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not.
Doesn't exist.
John said if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
Now, look, it's only logical that if you have to repent of one, then you've got to repent of them all.
And if you've got to repent of them all, then we're all doomed.
Because there's not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not.
Now, there are people out there who carry this to its logical conclusion and then they say,
well, yeah, you have to totally stop sinning.
And so then they teach a sinless perfection doctrine.
Who's ever talked to or run into someone who believed that it was possible to be sinlessly perfect
or that you had to be sinlessly perfect to go to heaven?
It's a sinless perfection doctrine.
Let me just give you an easy way to debunk sinless perfection,
just super easy way to debunk it.
I've never had one of these sinless perfection bozos be able to answer this.
Why does the Bible say, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourges every son whom he receiveth?
Does he beat them for not sinning?
Think about it.
Does the Bible say that he scourges every son whom he receiveth?
Every single saved person gets chastised by God.
Why would you get chastised if you're not sinning?
I mean, think about that.
It's like, all right, son, you know, it's time for you, you know.
It's like, but I'm sinlessly perfect, God.
No, every single son, you know, every son whom he receiveth, you're getting a, you know,
you're getting a spanking whether you need it or not.
Is that right?
That makes no sense.
Why is it that God chastens us?
The Bible tells in Hebrews chapter 11, he chastens us for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
He chastens us so that our behavior will improve.
Why do we spank our kids?
So that their behavior will improve.
That's why.
That's the only reason.
Okay, we want our children's behavior to improve.
Think about how little sense it would make for God to punish people that are sinlessly perfect.
It's insane.
It makes no sense, okay.
Not only that, John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, who leaned on Jesus at the Last Supper said,
if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
So if John says that, how much more are we in a sinful condition?
What about the Apostle Paul who said that he is constantly doing things that he hates.
And that he delights in the law of God after the inward man, but then he finds this other law warring against the law of his mind.
And there's the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh.
And these are contrary to one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would.
Jesus said the spirit truly is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Okay, we as Christians are not sinlessly perfect.
You don't have to become sinlessly perfect to be saved.
You don't have to be willing to become sinlessly perfect to be saved.
What does that even mean?
Well, you just have to be willing to give up all your sins.
Folks, if you were willing to give up all your sins, they'd be gone.
Why do you still have them?
Okay, now look, I'm not saying that we shouldn't live for God and get rid of our sins, but here's one.
Look, I'm for, I'm for repenting of your sins, okay?
But guess what?
Repenting of your sins is something that you do on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
And guess what salvation is?
Something you do one time.
You don't get born again and again and again and again and again.
You get born again once.
One time you're saved, you're passed from death to life.
Repentance of sin is daily.
People have accused me of, oh, Pastor Anderson doesn't believe in repentance.
Yeah, I just want everybody to keep living a sinful life.
Can't you tell that by my preaching?
Of course I believe in repentance.
That's like saying I don't believe in baptism.
Do I believe in baptism?
Not for salvation.
So does that mean I don't believe in baptism?
No, it means I have baptism in its proper place after salvation.
Unrelated to salvation.
A picture of the salvation you already had before you got baptized.
That's it.
So I believe in baptism, but it's not part of salvation.
I believe in repenting of your sins.
I get up and preach week after week against sin and I'm preaching about, you know,
don't do this and don't do that and God wants us to do this and, and, and,
and I'm preaching righteousness, but not a works righteousness for salvation.
Rather a works righteousness to justify us before our fellow man and to profit our fellow man.
Because if I have faith and works, you know what?
I am profitable unto others.
Now I'm profiting other people.
If I have just faith by myself and I don't do anything with it, then yeah,
I'm going to heaven.
But what does that do for everybody else?
Nothing.
And, and are people going to look at me and think I'm saved?
Are they going to think I have faith?
No.
People are going to look.
You could be truly saved, but if you're out there living a very sinful life,
aren't a lot of people probably going to mistake you for an unsaved person or
think that you're unsaved or accuse you of being unsaved or say, well,
I don't believe that guy saved.
But does that really change your standing with the Lord?
Because your salvation is between you and the Lord.
And what other people think about it, if everybody in this building,
if we all agreed that a certain person were unsaved,
but what if that person really were saved?
Would, would, would our opinion matter in the Lord's sight on judgment day?
No.
So, you know, there's what people think and then there's reality between you and God.
The reality between Abraham and God was settled when he was uncircumcised.
It was settled with Rahab the harlot.
She believed and she sent those messengers out another way.
Now look, I'd be willing to bet, just using my imagination,
I'd be willing to bet, in fact, I would bet huge amounts of money that Rahab the harlot eventually stopped being a prostitute.
You know what I mean? I'd be shocked if she just continued in that lifestyle.
That, that would be because of the fact that she's in the genealogy of Christ.
So therefore it seems that at some point, you know,
she settles down with some kind of a godly man from the nation of Israel
and, you know, produces a godly son and produces this lineage that eventually leads to Christ.
So, but that's, but here's the thing, does the Bible tell us that anywhere?
So it's not relevant because if it were relevant, it'd be in the Bible.
If it had anything to do with what he's making the point of in Hebrews 11 or James 2,
couldn't God have just written something like, you know, and then she stopped being a prostitute, you know?
And I wonder this, when did she stop being a prostitute?
When she sent the spies away that moment?
Or do you think she might have continued her line of work until Jericho got destroyed?
Who knows? It's all speculation.
If it mattered, it would be in the Bible.
And you know what? I'm going to base what I believe on what the Bible says, not on what the Bible doesn't say.
And what does the Bible say? The Bible says, here's the deal,
scarlet thread out the window, you get in the house, you shut the door, you live. Okay.
New Testament interpretation, Rahab the harlot, by faith, received the messengers and did not perish with those that believe not.
James chapter 2, she was justified by works when she had received the messengers and sent them out another way.
Why? Because how did they know that she believed and was ready to get on the Lord's side because they saw her heart?
No, what did they see? What did they literally see?
They saw a red scarlet thread hanging out the window.
And you know what? If that scarlet thread had not been there, she could have had the faith in her heart, but they wouldn't have been able to see it, would they?
You know, she could have made things right between her and the Lord, she could have called upon the name of the Lord and been saved, but would they have realized that?
Would they have thought that? No, because they had to see something physical, right?
Because that's all we can see as humans, we can't see inside the heart.
And so when you actually dig a little bit deeper, it's pretty obvious that James 2 cannot possibly be teaching a workspace salvation.
Now I'll say this, you know, when I was a little child, I remember being, you know, 7, 8, 9 years old, just a little kid, and I remember reading James chapter 2 and being confused by it.
Because I read James chapter 2 and I was like, man, this sounds like it's teaching a workspace salvation.
But you know what? I just said to myself, I said, there's no way I've got to be missing something because I know for a fact there's all these verses that say it's all by faith.
So I'm just going to understand this some other time later. And then later on, I understood it perfectly and it makes sense.
And it's ludicrous now to think of it as teaching a salvation by deeds or salvation by the law or salvation before God by doing good works.
And you know, I don't understand everything in the Bible right now. No one does. Nobody on this planet understands everything in the Bible.
We're constantly learning, we're growing, we're reading, so here's the important thing to realize.
Always base what you believe on clear scripture that you understand, that's in context, it's clear, it's obvious.
And when you come across something that seems to contradict that or something that seems to teach something that flies in the face of the rest of the Bible, you know, that's the stuff that you're probably getting wrong.
I mean, if I have a hundred verses saying one thing and one verse that's saying something else, which one do you think I'm interpreting wrong? The hundred or the one?
You know, but see the Mormons are lying to their people, okay, they are deceiving their people, they're brainwashing their people, it's a cult.
Okay, it was started by a pervert. It's just like Islam where it started by some guy with a bunch of child brides.
You know, you look at the history of Joseph Smith, he's marrying a bunch of teenagers, he's got all his child brides and he did it secretly.
But then the guy who took over after him, Brigham Young, he ended up doing it openly and teaching it to everyone.
Hey, we're all going to do this. We're all going to do polygamy and they're a bunch of perverts with their teenage brides and they're teaching lies and they're teaching garbage and they have their people deceived into ignoring the entire Gospel of John, the entire Book of Romans.
And they just have them trained like a monkey or something to just repeat to you, faith without works is dead. It's sad.
It's sad when you run into somebody who just like a trained animal just repeats something to you and they have no thought of what it even means.
And look, I don't hate the Mormons. I hate Joseph Smith. I hate Brigham Young and I don't know who their president or prophet is who's running that religion but I hate him. May he rot in hell.
But let me tell you something, I don't hate the Mormons because you know what, the Mormons, it's sad for them because they're deceived. They're brainwashed. Many of them are nice people.
They need to be saved and you know what, when I knock their door, I'm not rude to them, I'm not mean to them, I'm not unkind to them but man, is it frustrating when you try to show them the truth and they just, they're so brainwashed, they just won't even, like this guy that we ran into yesterday, it was just like talking to a brick wall, I was just like, couldn't talk to the guy.
He's like, alright, see you later. We spent like 90 seconds at the door because the guy's not listening and it's like that week after week with the Mormons.
They take one verse but look, we don't want to be that way in our Bible study where we just take one phrase, one verse and just ignore context because you know what, I wonder how many Mormons have chapter 2 verse 10 memorized.
I wonder how many Mormons have James 2 10 memorized. I bet if we asked a thousand Mormons, virtually none of them could quote us James 2 10.
Even if we started it for them, for whosoever shall keep the whole law, they'd just be like, but they'd all be like, oh, oh, ah, ah, ah, Satan that works is dead.
They love it. They love that verse. They love it. Why do they love it? Because they're wicked.
Anybody who loves to take that verse and teach lies with it is wicked. Let me tell, let me say that again.
It's a wicked person who wants to be justified by their works. It's wickedness.
Anybody who just gets excited about faith without works is dead being my reason for not believing in salvation by faith.
Now look, it's a great verse. I love the verse too, but that's cause I know what it means.
They love work salvation because of the wicked pride and arrogance of their heart that doesn't want to accept the free gift. Period.
And look, like I said, they're nice people, but they have this wickedness in their heart.
Every unsafe person has this wickedness in their heart that just loves that. Oh yeah, you gotta have works to be saved.
Right? Why? Because they think they're better than other people.
You mean to tell me that this guy can live however? You mean to tell me that a prostitute's going to heaven?
Yes, that's what I'm telling you. Well that just doesn't seem right to me.
Well you know what, it's not right for you to go to heaven either, so enjoy hell, sucker.
Because guess what? None of us deserves to go to heaven.
And you know what the Bible says? It says, judge not that you be not judged, for with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged.
And with what measure you meet, it shall be measured to you again.
So you know what, think about this. If people are going to sit there and say, well that guy's not going to heaven because look at his sinful life, you know what they're going to be judged by?
That standard. That standard. How would you like to be judged by that standard on Judgment Day?
How would you like to stand before God and have him say, well you know, back on June of 2021, you said that you don't believe that anybody who's committed murder should ever go to heaven.
Remember when you said that? Oh well, I mean, yeah I guess, you know.
You said that nobody who murdered committed murder. What about when you hated your brother in your heart without a cause?
Huh? Because in my word it says, whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer.
Oh well, you know.
Or what about you said that anybody who commits adultery, right? They don't get to go to heaven because they committed adultery. What about when you looked on a woman with lust in your heart?
Or, okay, you didn't do those things? Well what about the time that you stole something? What about the time that you lied?
What about all the good things you were supposed to do that you didn't do?
And folks, with what measure you meet, it shall be measured to you again. If you're going to get out the measuring stick and start measuring people's lives, well these people are good enough to go to heaven because they're a bunch of clean cut Mormons.
But these people over here, man, they're too wicked. Well you know what? God's going to expose the wickedness of your life someday and the wickedness of your heart and your mind.
The Bible says the thought of foolishness is sin. And so therefore, this attitude that desires to be justified by the works of the law, that just delights in debunking God's plan of salvation by taking God's own word and throwing it back in his face.
Well faith without works is dead. You've got to do works. You've got to live a good life. You've got to follow Jesus. You know what? When they talk about being like Jesus, don't think that it somehow is a good thing they're saying.
You know what they're basically saying is, it's more like Satan wanting to be like God is more what it's like.
See when I say I want to be like Jesus, you know what I mean by that? When I say I want to be like Jesus, it's like I'm humbly looking to my Savior, the God of the universe, and just thinking, man, I want to try to be as much like him as I can and follow his example because he's so great, he's the perfect standard and so I want to live my life as much like him as I can.
When they say I'm going to be like Jesus, you know what they think is, I'm going to get into heaven on my own merit because I'm so much like Jesus because I'm like God. It's satanic.
How can anyone, I mean look, if I said I want to be like Jesus, that's, you know, any actual saved person is humbled by that thought.
Any actual saved person, if you said to that person, be like Christ, you'd be like, whoa, I got a long way to go, I'm going to work on that. That's a project of a lifetime.
It's a humbling thought. It makes us fall on our knees and confess our inadequacy to God. Like Peter fell on his knees before Jesus and just said, depart from me, I'm a sinful man.
Not like, yeah, I could be like you Jesus and get to heaven. Yeah, I can do it. I could be like you.
What kind of presumptuous garbage is that to think that you're going to be on the level with Jesus?
Folks, I'm telling you, a lot of these false religious teachers, they think they're God. They have like a God complex. That's why they're always telling you, oh God, you know, God spoke to me and it's stuff that they made up because they think they're God.
In fact, uh, who's ever heard of this false prophet Steven Furtick? I preached against this guy literally 15 years ago and said, this guy is a homo.
He said all these filthy homo things about another preacher cause he's a pervert weirdo. And just this week I saw a video where this false prophet Steven Furtick got up in church and said that he was God.
I kid you not, just apropos of nothing. And I watched the whole clip in context. The guy gets up and he's preaching and he's just going along. He's talking about something totally unrelated and he gets up and he says, he says, I'm in a covenant with God almighty.
And everybody's cheering and excited. You know, he's kind of like working the crowd into a frenzy cause he's kind of this charismatic guy and everybody's just cheering and clapping and woo.
He's preaching this really charismatic sermon and he's got, he's using his coat kind of as a, as a prop because he was talking about like, you know, people imposing limitations on you cause he's kind of this prosperity preacher, kind of a motivational speaker type.
So he's talking about these people kind of like, you know, they put this stuff on you and you know, you don't need that stuff. And he's talking about this stuff and he gets up and he says, ah, he's like, I'm not in a covenant with these people.
I don't care what these people think. I'm not in a covenant with these people. He said, I'm in a covenant with God almighty. And then he just said, I am God almighty. And everybody's just cheering.
Watch the clip. If you don't believe me, he literally who saw the clip and can verify what I'm saying. Yeah, it's about seven, eight people have seen it. He literally just apropos of nothing.
Just because that's how his mind works. Cause he's like, I'm in a covenant with God almighty. He's just like, wait a minute. I am. I am God almighty. Yeah.
And all the idiots,
but folks, let me tell you something. Steven Furtick is not alone. My friend. It's a lot of people out there that think that they're God.
And when they talk about being Christlike, when they talk about, Hey, you asked him like, well, how do you get to heaven? Oh, by being like Jesus, they don't mean what we mean.
When we say being like Jesus, we're like just humbly, you know, we, you know, we're like John the Baptist saying, you know, I'm not even worthy to unloose his shoe latchet. Isn't that how we, that's how we like when we say be like Jesus, we're, you know, trying and we know that we can barely even touch the hem of his garment.
That's how we feel. But to sit there and say, Oh, you get to heaven by being like Jesus. And then you just ask them if they're going to heaven. And they said, what? They said, yes. Hey, do you know for sure you're going to heaven? Yes. How do you know you're going to heaven or what do you have to do to go to heaven? Be like Jesus.
So what are they basically saying? I'm like Jesus. You go to heaven by being like Jesus. And I know I'm going to heaven because I'm being like Jesus. And it's like, Whoa, you've missed it, my friend. Because all of us would get up and preach that we should be like Jesus. Amen. But who would stand up right now and say, I'm like Jesus right now.
I mean, wouldn't that be absurd? No one in a Baptist church would stay except Stephen Furtick because he declares himself to be the almighty God. He calls himself God omnipotent from the pulpit. But any, I don't know, is this church Baptist? Sort of, kind of. I'm sure it's not on the sign, but maybe deep in some drawer somewhere, you know, it says that they're Baptist. What is it? American mercy.
American Baptist. All right. But, you know, the thing is that in a Baptist church, a normal Baptist church, where people actually believe, you know, Baptist doctrine or believe the gospel, no one would get up and say, I'm like Jesus. You know, my life is a reflection of Christ's life.
They would say, like, that's the goal. I'm working toward that. But they wouldn't be praising themselves. They'd be humbled by that. But I'm telling you, my friend, it's pride. It's pride that says you go to heaven by being like Jesus and, you know, I'm pretty much there.
You know, I mean, yeah, mission accomplished. Folks, it's not by works. And you know what, there are two kinds of people in this world, my friend, people that are saved and people that are lost. And let me tell you what all saved people have in common, all of them. They all, all of them realize that they don't deserve to go to heaven and they're leaning totally on what Jesus did to get them there.
You know, and obviously, yeah, people can be saved and be wrong on doctrines, you know, and be mixed up on things. But that's one thing that all saved people have figured out. Any saved person is relying 100% on Jesus and saying, hey, if it were based on me, I wouldn't be going. Every saved person knows that they're a sinner and that they're only getting to heaven by grace, period. Okay.
And so don't be stumped when somebody comes at you with James chapter two or don't be confused by James chapter two. The easiest way to explain it to people is just to compare it with Romans four. Just take them to Romans four and show them the first couple of verses, you know, justification before God versus justification before man. That's the short answer. It's simple.
But even if we take a deeper dive into it and we look at Rahab, doesn't the Rahab story confirm the exact same thing? That it had nothing to do with her cleaning up her life, but that it had everything to do with a scarlet thread. It had everything to do with, with just showing them her faith outwardly. That's it.
And her salvation was between her and the Lord in her heart. And then she showed that by her works to other people. That way the spies would know what God already knew because God can see the heart, but we can't.
And so at the end of the day, those that trust in their works are not saved. If they're trusting in their works, they're not saved. And here's the thing. We might think, man, they're nice people. They're such good people. How can they be damned?
But they've got this wickedness in their heart, this pride that's, that's exalting themselves and lifting themselves up. And listen to me. I'm not exaggerating when I say it's the same spirit that was in Satan.
That's what it is. I mean, listen, the same reason why Satan was cast out of heaven is the same reason why every single person goes to hell who's going to hell. Don't miss that. Everybody's going to hell because they're too proud to accept the free gift.
And why was Satan cast out? He's, he's proud. I'm going to be like the most high. You're basically, if you're trusting in your works, you know what you're saying? I'm going to be my own savior.
And you know what? 99.9999% of false teachers and false prophets, they're not going to make it as obvious as Steven Furtick and just get there. They're not just going to come out and say like, I am the most high. You know, they're, they're not going to come out and say it like that.
But you know what? That's in their heart though. It may be down a few layers of the onion, but it's in there. That wicked thought is in there somewhere saying I'm going to be my own savior. I'm going to be my own Messiah. I'm going to be my own way to heaven.
It's wickedness. And it's going to be judged harshly in the lake of fire, my friend, for all eternity. And it's our job. And look, we should never be rude or unkind to people. Anybody who's gone soul winning with me can testify that I'm nice out soul winning. In fact, sometimes they're even surprised by how nice I am.
You know, I'm nice to people. Not out there because I'm not, it's not my job to go out. I didn't come to condemn. They're condemned already. I'm not there to condemn. I'm there to save. To seek and save the lost.
And the thing is, you know, we need to be nice. We need to be gentle. We need to be loving. But I'm telling you something. We've got to get these people saved. Right? We've got to, we've got to get them to see the fact.
And, you know, say it tactfully. Say it, don't just be like, let me show you what you have in common with Satan. Turn to Isaiah 14. I'm not saying that's the soul winning method. But, you know, what we do want to do, we want to get them to understand, though.
And, you know, anybody who goes out soul winning knows this. What are we trying to really get people to see is how they're basically trusting in themselves. How many times, anybody who's gone soul winning has said this a thousand times.
You know, hey, if you're trusting in works, you're trusting in yourself. Isn't that what we always tell people? Trusting in yourself. You've got to trust in Jesus. Okay.
And, you know, we need to be tactful and kind and loving. But that's what we need to get people to see is that they need to stop lifting themselves up as their own savior and trust in the one who actually died on the cross for them.
Let's have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much, Lord, for the story of Rahab the harlot. And, Lord, it's very odd. It's very odd to think about, you know, why these two spies are staying at the home of a harlot. Why are they hiding on the roof of a harlot? Why a harlot, Lord?
But I believe that you put that in there just to use this extreme example showing salvation by faith. That you would even use harlots as an example, as a foreshadowing of Jesus reaching out to the harlots, Lord.
And, Lord, help us to reach out to the publicans and harlots of our day. But, Lord, also the Pharisees of our day. Help us to get as many people saved as we can, whether they be Mormons or Catholics, Hindus, Buddhists, Pharisees, Jews.
And, Lord, help us to get as many people saved as we can. And, Lord, help us to be able to kindly show them the arrogance and the pride of a workspace salvation and allow them to be humble enough to embrace the free gift. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Amen. Let's take our hymnals, please, and turn to hymn number 129. Rock of Ages, cleft for me, number 129.
On this first verse together now, hymn number 129.
On this first verse together now, hymn number 149.
To thy cross I cling, while I draw this fleeting breath, when my eyes shall close in death.
When I rise, new worlds are known, and behold me on the throne. Rock of Ages, cleft for me, when they hide myself in Thee.
Amen. Good singing tonight. You are dismissed.
Amen.
Solomon, will you clean up the terrace here?