God is not to blame for the confusion in our world, or the confusion amongst churches or
amongst believers, because God is not the author of confusion. Confusion does not come
from God, and confusion does not come from the Word of God. Confusion has other sources
besides God's Word, and what I'm going to preach to you about this morning is the sources
of confusion. What is the reason for all the confusion that we have today? Why are people
so confused? One of the things that struck me just yesterday out on our small-town so
many marathon, just talking to people, just how confused some of them are. And it's not
that they're bad people or that they don't want to understand the Bible, but they're
just so confused because they've heard so many lies and they can't figure out what the
truth is. And it's just hard to get people sometimes to understand the Gospel. It seems
like that's half the battle with getting people saved, is just getting them to understand
the Gospel. Why are people so confused? What is the source of the confusion? I'm going
to give you several sources this morning. First of all, I believe that the biggest source
of confusion today is the fact that we have all these different Bible verses, all these
different so-called versions of the Bible. That's confusing to you. It's very confusing,
because we've got the Bible here in my hand that has all the answers, that is the final
authority in all matters of faith and practice. If we all have the same Bible and we all have
the same Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we should all believe the same things and come
to the same conclusions. We might be wrong about something, but we could be corrected
by God's Word. But when I have a completely different book in front of me, a completely
different authority than someone else has, there's never going to be unity. There's never
going to be agreement. There's never going to be an understanding. There's going to be
total confusion. Now think about, and I like to use this illustration of how the final
law of our land in our government today is the Constitution, right? And so whenever people
argue about laws and what they mean, pretty much it goes all the way to the Supreme Court
and they decide things based on the Constitution. That is, if there's a law that contradicts
the Constitution, they go with the Constitution, because that's the main law of the land. Now,
have you noticed how different people interpret the Constitution differently and they argue
about what it means and they have all different interpretations of it? Well, can you imagine
if there were different versions of the Constitution? I mean, think about how bizarre. I mean, they
already are confused. But let alone if you had 400 different versions of the Constitution
and said, well, my version of the Constitution says something completely different. Mine
doesn't say cruel and unusual punishment. Mine just says what we say is not cruel. Torture
is okay in my version. So it doesn't make any sense that if God's Word is the final
authority, we'd have 400 different versions of it. And you say, well, Pastor Anderson,
that's just different translations. No, they're not different translations. If they were all
just different translations, they'd all have the same verses, wouldn't they? Just translate
it different. Why are there 15 verses missing from all modern versions? Because they're
not just translations, they're a different version. They change what God said. And you
say, well, as long as they just get the thought, it's a thought what counts. No, God said,
man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth
of God shall man live. He said, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall
not pass away. It's the words that count, not just the thought, not just the idea. And
you see, the changes in these modern so-called versions of the Bible are strategic changes.
They're not just accidental changes. They're not just random changes. No, there's an agenda
behind these modern versions. Because look, if God's not the author of confusion, then
who is? The devil. Think about it. Confusion has an author, and it's not God. It's the
devil. And what better way to confuse God's people than to have a whole bunch of different
versions? Now, I don't know if you've ever been to a Bible study like this, but when
I was a teenager, I'd go to these different Bible studies through my public school or
through churches that I went to. And you'd sit around and have a small group Bible study,
and it seemed like everybody had a different version. I had the King James Version. And
by the way, I was the only one with the King James Version. And then somebody else would
have the NIV. Somebody else would have the New American Sin. Somebody else would have
the Living Bible. And who's ever been in a Bible study like that? Yeah, and literally,
the teacher of the Bible study or the group leader, he would be giving a lesson, and some
people would be like, well, that's not even in my Bible at all. Like, your whole lesson
is not even in my Bible. Everything you're saying is not found in my Bible. And then
literally, we'd do these Bible studies where we'd go through a chapter of the Bible, and
you'd read five verses, you'd read five verses, and sometimes you'd have trouble even following
along because you can't even tell them what they're reading. And that's why today you
have churches with the big screens now. It's not just because they want to spend a bunch
of money on a big screen. The reason that they have big screens, there's a reason, you
against those big screens. Well, let me just tell you why they have big screens. The big
screen is because everybody has a different Bible that says something totally different.
So they have to put the verses on the screen so that everybody's looking at the same thing.
And I've been in these churches with the big screens and all the different Bible verses.
Sometimes in the same sermon, they'll switch versions throughout the sermon. They'll quote
one from the New American Standard. They'll quote one from the NIV. It's just whatever
fits their sermon. So instead of making a sermon that fits God's Word, they go through
all the Bibles until they can find a verse that fits their sermon. Well, the way the
New American Standard says it here, that's going to help my point a little more. So I'm
going to put that on the screen. And so that's why they have these screens. And then there's
another reason for the big screens, because they don't sing the hymns. So they can't have
a hymn book. They're coming out with a new song that they got off the Christian contemporary
rock and roll station this week. They have to put it on the screen because nobody even
knows the song. And then they have the little bouncing ball karaoke and everything so that
everybody can sing along with songs that they've never known or heard because they just came
out last week. And so that's what's going on with these big screens. But it's confusing
when you have everybody with a different version, a different Bible. It's hard enough to get
people to agree on what the Bible means sometimes. Let alone when you have all these different
versions, that's just making it more confusing and the devil loves it. Because he's the author
of confusion. He loves confusing people. Let me show you some differences because I like
to point this out to people from time to time that these differences are not accidental.
Let me give out some versions here. We've got the new King James version. So I'm going
to give that to Brother Garrett. And then Brother Matt, you want to take the NIV. And
then Richard, how about the New American Standard for you? Don't tell me that these
changes are just accidental or just a translation or coincidence. Is it a coincidence when they
just take out the word hell completely from the Old Testament every time it occurs? Whoops!
Did hell not exist for the first 80% of the Bible? No, that's not an accident. That's
not purposeful when they take out... Is it a coincidence when they're just consistently
attacking the deity of Jesus Christ, saying that Joseph is Jesus' father, saying that
he had an origin, saying that he had a beginning, saying that all these different things that
he's not equal with God in Philippians 2? No, it's not an accident. Let me show you
one interesting... Turn to Titus chapter 3. Let me show you how bad these modern versions
are. Titus chapter 3. And look, if this doesn't confuse you what I'm about to show you, I
give up. Because there's nothing more confusing to me than these perversions of the Bible.
Look at Titus chapter 3, verse number 10. Now, it says in Titus 3, 10, a man that is
a heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject, knowing that he that is such as subverted
and sinneth, being condemned of himself. So what is a heretic? What is heresy? It's somebody
who teaches and preaches and believes false doctrine. That's what it means. Somebody who's
wrong. Somebody who believes in lies, okay, is called a heretic. That's what heresy means.
Now, go ahead and... Are you there, gentlemen, that I gave out the false virus to? Okay.
Go ahead and read for me, Brother Garrett, from the New King James. This is where King
James, they dug him up and he signed it with his dead hand. Go ahead and read for me Titus
3, 10 from the New King James. Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition.
Okay. So the Bible said reject heretics, right? People who are preaching and teaching false
doctrine. That one says reject a divisive man, okay, the New King James. Now, here's
what's interesting. The word division is used in the Bible six times, okay? Two times in
the Old Testament and four times in the New Testament. Every single time the word division
is used in the New Testament, guess who it's talking about? Jesus. Bringing the division.
Being divisive, okay? Listen to these verses. You don't have to turn there, but in Luke
12, 51, this is Jesus speaking. Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth, I tell
you nay, but rather division. So Jesus said I didn't come to bring peace on earth, I came
to bring division. John 7, 43, so there was a division among the people because of him.
Talking about Jesus. John 9, 16, therefore said some of the Pharisees, this man is not
of God because he keepeth not the Sabbath day. Others said, how can a man that is a
sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them. So again, it's Jesus that caused
division. And in John 10, 19, there was a division, therefore, again, among the Jews
for these saves. That was just after Jesus had finished preaching. So only four times
in the New Testament the word division is used, and all four times it's Jesus causing
the division. All four times. So basically what the New King James is telling you to
do is reject Jesus Christ. Because what did they say? Read it for us right here. It said
the New King James, reject a divisive man. Who's the most divisive man in the Bible?
Who's the only one that the Bible calls divisive? Jesus. Four times. And it just says he's divisive,
he's divisive. And look, if we're going to be like Jesus, we're going to cause division.
I mean if a preacher preaches like Jesus, there's going to be division. And yet, they're
telling you to reject Jesus and reject anybody who preaches like Jesus. Now that's not an
argument. That's confusion. Don't tell me it's not confusing when I'm reading the Bible
and I read four times, Jesus brought division, Jesus caused division, division because of
Jesus, Jesus brought division, reject a divisive man. And you see why people are confused?
And look, have you ever heard people say this, oh the Bible's filled with contradictions?
You know why? Because they're reading these phony Bibles. Because half the time when the
people are pointing out contradictions in the Bible, they're giving it to you from the
NIV. And I'll be the first to admit, that NIV and that New King James and that New American
Standard, they are filled with contradictions. They do contradict themselves. But God's word,
the King James Bible, does not contradict itself. It's just these newfangled translations
so called that are confusing. And look, I'm confused when I read four verses that say
Jesus is division. And nothing negative in the whole Bible about division. Every time
division, it's Jesus doing it. It's God doing it. And then all of a sudden, hey, reject
the divisive man. They're basically saying reject Jesus. Give it to me from the NIV there.
Okay, so warn a divisive person once, then warn him a second time, after that nothing
negative read the next verse. Awesome. You may be sure that such a man is working simple
himself again. Okay, so according to the NIV, Jesus is warped and sinful. Yes. Because it
says you can be sure that anybody who's divisive is warped and sinful. They're saying that
Jesus is warped and sinful, because he's the one that kept saying was so divisive and causing
division among the people. That's a bad book. That's a confusing book, when it contradicts
itself so much like that. And then give me the New American Standard. Now, by the way,
you know why we need these modern versions, supposedly? Because they're so easy to understand.
Go ahead and read for me the easy to understand New American Standard.
A rejected factitious man after a first and second warning.
What is a factious man? You're so, you're so, you know, it's not as when I'm arguing
with my wife, I'm just like, you're so factious. Nobody knows what that, what does that even
mean? Are they making up words? Oh, but Pastor Anderson, that's a real word. It's in a dictionary
somewhere. Nobody knows what that word means. Factious. It's just, and supposedly that's
easier to understand than a heretic. I've heard the word heretic come out of people's
mouths thousands of times. I've never heard anyone say, that preacher is factious. Okay,
and so it's not easy to understand. It's nonsense. But factious means divisive, divisive, divisive.
So again, they're telling you not to divide, even though God's the biggest divider that
ever was. Because whenever you preach the truth, it causes division. Because some people
want to believe the truth, and some people want to reject the truth, and that's division.
Anytime anybody stands up for the truth, it causes division amongst people. But these
new versions are telling us to reject divisive people, okay? Go to 2 Thessalonians 2, and
while you're, go to 2 Thessalonians 2 and these phony versions also. And you don't have
to turn there, but I'll just give you this one quickly for sake of time. In Matthew 7.14,
you don't have to turn there, but in Matthew 7.14, the Bible says, because straight is
the gate, straight s-t-r-a-i-t, as in a narrow place. It says, because straight is the gate,
and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. In the New
King James, it says, difficult is the way that leads to life, and few there be that
find it. So they're making salvation difficult. Jesus said it's narrow, as in few there be
that find it, but it's not difficult to be saved. It's easy to be saved. Jesus already
did the hard part when he died on the cross. He did the hard part when he lived a perfect
life. All we have to do is receive the gift of eternal life that he already paid for.
The hard part is paying for an expensive gift. The easy part is receiving the gift and tearing
open the wrapping paper. And that's what the Bible is using as an illustration here. Salvation's
easy. The New King James wants to make it hard. But you see, these new versions, they
have an agenda to change Bible doctrines, to contradict themselves. They don't make
any sense. Look at 2 Thessalonians, chapter number 2. I'll read for you from the King
James Bible here, Paul, along with your Bible. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him. Now there's nothing hard
to understand about this so far, is there? The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our
gathering together unto him. So Jesus is coming, and we're going to be gathered together unto
him. Pretty easy to understand. Look at verse 2. That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or
be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day
of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come
except there come a falling away first, and the man of sin be revealed the son of perdition,
notice the sentence isn't over yet, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called
God within his worship, so that he hath God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself
that he is God. Period. So the Bible tells us here very clearly, don't let anybody deceive
you, don't let anybody shake you up about this, to think that the day of Christ is at
hand. That Jesus Christ coming, our gathering together unto him, is at hand. He says, don't
let anybody deceive you. That day will not come except X, Y, and Z come first. Right?
I mean, it's pretty clear. He's saying, look, that's not about to happen, because first
there's going to be this, there's going to be this, there's going to be this. He says
first there's going to be a falling away, then the man of sin is going to be revealed,
and then he's going to declare himself to be God. You know, because that's the Antichrist.
He declares himself to be God in the flesh, he poses the second coming of Jesus Christ.
So the Bible is real clear here. He says, hey, people are telling you that Jesus Christ
can come at any moment, and the day of Christ is at hand, don't believe them, because these
things have to happen first. First there's going to be a falling away, then the man of
sin is going to be revealed, then he's going to declare himself to be God. Those things
have got to happen first. Okay, read it for me from the NIV. Let's start there for the
matter. Let's start reading in verse 2, and you're following along in the real Bible,
nice and loud, Matt, reading chapter 2, verse 2, 2 Thessalonians.
Not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report a letter supposed
to have come from us saying that the day of the Lord has already come.
Okay, so you see the difference? So in the NIV it says, don't let anybody deceive you
that it's already happened. Now wait a minute, the King James said, hey, it's not at hand,
because X, Y, and Z has to happen first. It's not about to happen, because this, this, and
this has to come first, and if that stuff hasn't happened, then he's not going to come
until that stuff happens. The NIV changes it as, well, don't let anybody fool you into
thinking that it's already happened. So according to the NIV, it still could be about to happen
at any moment, it just hasn't already happened. And here's the other thing about this. It
says this, you know, saying that the day of the Lord has already come, don't let anyone
deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs, and the
man of lawlessness is revealed, the man due to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt
himself over everything that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sets himself
in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Now, this doesn't even make sense. In
the King James, it makes perfect sense, because he says, like, don't let anybody tell you
it's about to happen, because this, this, and this has to happen first. The other one
says, don't let anybody tell you that it already happened, because this and this has to happen.
It doesn't even make any sense. And they're purposely changing it, because 99% of the
people who preach out of that NIV tell you, Jesus can come back at any moment, don't they?
He can come back before this sermon is even over. He can come back at any moment. Well,
guess what? The Bible says anybody who teaches that's a deceiver, because X, Y, and Z has
to happen first. The NIV conveniently takes that out. Even the New King James. Read it
from the New King James, verse 2, 2 Thessalonians 2. Not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled,
either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ
had come. As if it had already come, you see? The New King James does the same thing. And
so we see that these are strategic changes that are of the devil. Taking out the word
hell. Why? Because they don't want people to be warned about hell. Because they want
people to go to hell, so they don't warn them about hell. They take out the word hell. Strategic
changes. Attacking the deity of Christ. Because they don't want people to believe on the Lord,
Jesus Christ. Because it's the rulers of the darkness of this world. It's spiritual
wickedness in high places. It is the author of Confusion, the devil himself, that has
put out all these so-called versions to soften up the Bible, to tone things down, to take
out the word hell, to take out anybody who wants to be like Jesus and bring some division
between right and wrong. And I'm all about division today. In fact, sometimes I wish
I would have called this church Division Baptist. That's a great name for a church. Division
Baptist Church, where we divide between male and female, which our society fails to do,
and they think that male and female are the same. Where we divide between right and wrong.
Where we divide between the truth and lies. Where we divide between saved and unsaved.
Look, it's all about division, my friend. But these new versions attack that. They attack
the doctrine of the second coming of Christ by changing it into this thing, well, he could
come at any time. Who does the Bible say is coming? The man of sin first. Who's the man
of sin? The Antichrist. Who is the Antichrist pretending to be? Jesus Christ. Who do they
think is coming at any time? Jesus Christ. Who's really coming at any time? The Antichrist.
The Antichrist. So who are they going to think the Antichrist is? Jesus. They brainwash
people. Jesus can come back at any moment, and then the Antichrist comes and they say,
here he is. Well, guess what? The Bible tells us, hey, don't let anybody deceive you. First
comes the Antichrist before Jesus Christ. Then Jesus will put down the Antichrist. This
lie of the pre-tribulation rapture. I'm sick of it. And that brings me to my second point.
Number two. Number one, the source of confusion, the modern so-called versions. Confusing everybody.
We can't even agree on what the Bible says. We're not going to agree on anything. And
especially when you have Bibles that contradict themselves and don't even make sense. But
secondly, why are people confused today? They're confused because of preaching that does not
make the Bible clear. That's why they're confused today. See, the Bible tells us over and over
that as preachers, we should make the Bible very clear and plain. Let me give you some
scriptures on that. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 3 verse 12. And if you would, turn to 1 Corinthians
14 where we started. 1 Corinthians 14. Confusion reigns today. I mean, throughout our world,
throughout churches, it's confusing. It's confusing to walk into the Bible bookstore
and there's, you know, 30 different Bibles and they all say something different. And
you're like, well, which one do I buy? Which one do I read? And they say, well, let's see
which one you like. No matter what you buy. How about which one's right? I want to just
walk into the Christian bookstore and say, which of these is the right Bible? Oh, my
God. So anyway, the 2 Corinthians 3 12 says, seeing then that we have such hope, we use
great plainness of speech. What is plainness of speech? Plain. Have you ever heard this
expression? Plain and simple. You know what it means? Clear. It means that people understand
what you're saying. Now, look at 1 Corinthians 14. Remember in verse 33, it says, for God
is not the author of confusion but appeased as in all churches of the saints. And we have
some of the sources for the confusion in this passage. We saw the one about languages and
translations. You know, when you got all these phony so-called translations that are really
perversions of the Bible, that's confusing. But not only that, look at verse number 7.
The Bible reads in 1 Corinthians 14 7, and even things without life, this is talking
about things that are not alive. Giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction
in the sounds, how shall it be known what is pipe or harp? For if the trumpet give an
uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? So likewise ye, except ye utter
by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? For
ye shall speak into the air. So the Bible is explaining to us that when we speak to
people and when a preacher preaches, unless he uses words that are easy to be understood,
he's wasting his time and he's speaking into the air. The Bible says we need to use plainness
of speech, speak clearly, speak in a way that people can understand what we're saying.
Now, he uses the illustration about musical instruments, a trumpet for example. He said
if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? Now in
the old days before they had walkie talkies and radios and all these different ways of
communicating, they would communicate with a trumpet because they would give a trumpet
sound and then that would tell them that the battle is beginning. That would be the signal
to start the charge or to start the attack because they didn't have radios and cell phones
and ways to communicate beyond that. So the trumpet would sound, and everybody would hear
that sound and say charge. Now can you imagine this? The battle is about to start. Everything
is riding on the timing. When you hear the trumpet, that's when we charge and you just
hear like an uncertain sound. You'd be like, what does that mean? What is that? Is that
the trumpet? You know what you'd see? Some people charging and some not. Because they
hear like, you know, this is great. What's going on? What do we do? And then can you
imagine if you said charge? If it was just like charge? Charge? And that's the way a
lot of preaching is. It's not clear. It's not just firmly, clearly, just a certain sound.
Hey, this is what we're going to do. Hey, it's time to charge. Let's go. It's like,
all right, here we go. Okay, it's confusing. And if we do not utter by the tongue words
that are easy to be understood, the Bible says it's going to cause, basically it's going
to bring confusion because people won't know who shall prepare himself to the battle. How
are they going to know that it's time to fight when they get an uncertain sound of
a trumpet? And a lot of preaching today is unclear or vague or using words that people
don't understand. And therefore, people are confused. They don't know what to do. They
don't know what the Bible says. And you know, we were out soloing yesterday. You know, I
talked to a lady and she went to a Baptist church and I think this lady was probably
saved. But she couldn't even hardly express to me the plan of salvation because I asked
her if she was saved. She said, yes. And I said, what do you believe a person has to
do to be saved? And this is a person who's been in church for years. They're going to
church week after week after week at a Baptist church. And they can't clearly tell me what
being saved means. Oh, well, accept him. What do you mean accept him? I'm having trouble
finding that verse, accept him. Other people, well, I gave my heart to Jesus. What does
that mean? Basically, you get all these things that nobody understands, just these little
buzz words and buzz phrases that people use. Nobody knows what they mean. What is that?
What are you talking about? You know, you got to have a relationship with Jesus. What
does that mean? Does that mean I need to talk to him every day? Does that mean I need to
take him out to dinner or something? I mean, what does that mean? But they use unbiblical
words that are confusing that nobody knows what they mean. It's not clear what they believe
about salvation. And I explained salvation to this lady in just a few minutes. I think
she probably was already saved. She just couldn't express it. Because once I explained
it to her, she totally agreed with that. And she had already said to me that the person
couldn't lose their salvation and that it's all paid by Jesus. But she was confused. And
then I explained it to her in just a couple of minutes. And then she said, oh, yeah, that
makes perfect sense. That's exactly what I believe. That's clear. That's perfect sense
of what I believe. And people are confused today because of this vague, uncertain preaching
that's going on. And a lot of it is because preachers are trying to be like politicians,
where they want to talk out of both sides of their mouth and have it both ways. You
know, and politicians are masters of this. This is what it means to be a politician.
I mean, they get up and they give a speech and everybody hears what they want to out
of that speech. Everybody hears what they want to hear because they kind of say everything
both ways. And then everybody hears what they want. And then they have the most followers
possible. You see, if a politician started just drawing a hard line and just saying this
is right, this is wrong, then you know what? He'd lose a lot of followers. Because anybody
who draws a hard line, what do they cause? Division. When anybody draws a hard line and
says this is right, this is wrong, they cause division. Well, then they're not going to
have as many followers, they're not going to get the votes, and they're not going to
be a successful politician. That's why no successful politician draws a hard line or
speaks clearly or makes it plain because then they wouldn't be a politician because
they wouldn't get elected. You know, and so they ask these politicians questions and
they can't get them to give a straight answer. That's what these debates are like. You know,
they ask them a question, they can't give the answer. You know, so what do you believe
about this? But the sad thing is we have a lot of preachers who hang around with politicians.
And they hang around with the mayor and they hang around with the governor and they hang
around with the city council and they begin to learn their ways. And they get in their
fancy cars and they got their fancy suits and then whenever somebody asks them a question,
it's like, well, you know, that's a really difficult question. You know, what do you
believe about salvation? I remember I walked up to a pastor one time. I started going to
a church and I walked up to the pastor and I said, hey, do you believe a person can lose
their salvation or not? Well, let me draw you a picture. And he literally sat down in
a whole lot of piece of paper and started drawing me a picture. And he drew like a cross
and a guy and a guy, you know. And I talked to the guy for 20 minutes and I never could
really figure out whether he believed a person could lose their salvation or not. You know,
it started to kind of sound like he was saying you couldn't lose it. But then I would have
said, so basically no matter what I do, I'm still saved. And he said, no Christian would
ever say that. What? Why not? Is it too clear? Does it make too much sense? No matter what
I do, I'm still saved? Let me put it another way. No matter what my son Solomon does, he's
still my son. I'm still going to love him, right? Now, I'm going to disappoint him when
he does wrong, but no matter what he does, he's still my son. And no matter what I do,
I'm still God's son. That's not complicated. And there's nothing confusing about the Bible.
And a lot of people today, they say, well, the Bible's confusing. All these different
religions, I'm confused. It's not God that's the author of confusion. And if you're sitting
in church confused, you're probably in the wrong church because God's not the author
of confusion. If you're reading the Bible and you're confused, it's not the Bible's
fault. It's your fault. If you're sitting in church and you don't know what's being
preached and you can't understand what's being said, it's you're probably just listening
to somebody who's not making things clear. Let me make it clear to you today. The King
James Bible is the Word of God. These other versions are from Satan. That's why they
tell you to reject Jesus. That's why they tell you that Jesus is warped and sinful.
That's why they tell you that there's no hell in the Old Testament. That's why they
tell you that Jesus can come back at any moment because they're full of lies, because they're
in the devil. Now, does anybody have any questions on where I stand on the Bible issue?
The King James Bible has zero mistakes in it. Any questions? What do you believe about
salvation? I believe that salvation is by faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus
did everything. We don't have to do any works before, during, or after salvation to be saved
because Jesus did all the work. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
Any questions? That's clear. I can back it up with scripture. I can give you a hundred
scriptures on it right now that'll tell you that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish but have eternal life. That's the kind of preaching we need. Clear Bible preaching
where there's no doubt left in anybody's mind what the preacher believes and what the
church stands for and what the Bible says. People say, well, what do you believe about
if you believe a person has to repent of their sins to be saved? Well, that's a really
tough question. Let me draw you a picture. Let's sit down and talk about it. No, clear.
Here's my answer. Does a person have to repent of their sins to be saved? No. N-O. No. Because
if you did, then nobody would be saved. Repent of your sins? That's something you have to
do every day. Turn from your sins. Hey, the Bible says that that's works. The Bible says
that God saw their works that they turned from their evil way and God repented of the
evil that he said he would do unto them and he did it not. And I hear preachers all the
time and they want to have it both ways like, well, we believe in repent. Repent and trust
Jesus Christ. But they just won't tell you what repent means. And then half the people
in the church think it's salvation by faith alone. And then the other half think it's
repent of their sins and they all think the pastor agrees with them. I heard him say repent.
Yeah, but I heard him say it was belief only. And there's confusion today. And I'm telling
you something. When we go out soul-witting and we talk to a bunch of people, because
when you do this small town soul-witting that we do, it really becomes clear to you. Because
you end up literally talking to just a whole bunch of people that go to the same church
in one day. Because there's only a couple of churches in town. There's like one Baptist
church, one Catholic church, one Pentecostal church. And so you'll talk to people. And
when you talk to five people that all go to the same church and they all believe something
completely different about salvation from one another, that tells you that that church
is not preaching clearly at all. I mean, if you ask the people at our church what salvation
is, they're all going to tell you the same thing. It's belief. It's faith. It's not
what works. They're all going to tell you that. And if you ask them what they believe
about repentance, they're all going to tell you the same thing. And it's not because
they're a bunch of clones. It's because they all know what the Bible says and talk
to them. Other people are confused and they don't even know where the church stands. They
don't even know where they stand. Because the preaching is so unclear and vague and
confusing. And I'm sick of preachers trying to have it both ways, trying to say things
in a way where everybody will agree with it. You know, they'll use the word repent, but
they won't define it. That way they can keep both crowds happy. You know what? I want that
other crowd to get out of here. That's what I want. I want them happy. Somebody believes
that salvation is attained by you quitting drinking or being willing to quit drinking
and quit. Look, you don't have to quit drinking to be saved. You just have to believe on Jesus
Christ to be saved. And you've got these people who want to string them along that teach work
salvation. And I'm sorry, but when you have a church that's filled with heresy and filled
with a bunch of people believing, a bunch of false doctrine, different things, there's
something wrong with the preaching in that church. Because these people either need to
get taught the truth or get out. That's the way I see it. You shouldn't have a bunch of
confusion within the local church about people not knowing what they believe. And you can
boil it down to any subject. That's just one subject, salvation. When a preacher preaches,
it ought to be clear what's being preached. And I believe the Bible is very clear. There's
nothing unclear about what hell is. The Bible says it's a furnace of fire. What's unclear
about that? But you have all these different doctrines of people confused about what hell
is or what heaven is or what salvation is or when the rapture takes place. Hey, the
Bible tells us when it takes place, after the tribulation. Any questions? But there's
confusion today because nothing's being preached clearly because people have the wrong Bible
version. And thirdly this, go if you would to chapter 14, go to verse number 37. The
Bible reads in 1 Corinthians 14 is 37. It says, if any man think himself to be a prophet
or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments
of the Lord. But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. Okay, so this is right after
he said God's not the author of confusion. He said the confusion is coming from people
who think they're spiritual, they think they're a prophet, but they don't acknowledge that
God's word is the final authority. They don't acknowledge that the things that Paul has
written unto them is the words of the Lord. So number one, they got the wrong Bible or
they don't have the Bible or they have a phony version of the Bible. Number two, preaching
that's giving an uncertain sound is causing them to become confused. They don't know what
to believe. They don't even know what the church is preaching to them or what's being
said. But number three, the reason for confusion, the source of confusion today is ignorance.
The Bible says if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. That's what is causing people
to be confused is the fact that they're ignorant. Okay, what does it mean to be ignorant? Ignorant
means that you don't know things. Now, some people confuse the word ignorant with the
word stupid. Now, a person that's stupid, they can't learn. Right? You keep showing
them things and teaching them things and they just can't learn. They just don't get it.
And you just say they're stupid. They cannot learn. But an ignorant person is someone who
has just not learned. It doesn't mean that they can't learn. It just means that they
have not learned. It means that they lack knowledge. They lack understanding. And so
people are ignorant today because they don't read the Bible, because they don't study to
show themselves approved, because they're not learning anything in church when they
go to church, and because they're not studying and reading today, they're totally ignorant.
And therefore, they become easily confused. I mean, if I'm talking to somebody, when I'm
out knocking doors, soul winning, if I'm talking to somebody about the Gospel and I ask them,
do you know what the word forgiveness means? And they say no. And that just happened to
me a week ago. I asked this girl, do you know what the word forgiveness means? She said
no. Do you know what it means to forgive someone? No. She was like 14. I asked her, I said,
do you know what the word saved means? Do you know what it means to be saved? No. Have
you ever heard of Adam and Eve? No. And it's really hard to give somebody the Gospel when
they're so ignorant of not only the Bible, not only the stories of the Bible, but they're
actually ignorant of even what basic English words mean. And look, you can see why people
get confused about repentance. They don't know what the word repentance means. You can
see how people get confused about the word tribulation. They don't know what the word
tribulation means. And why do they not know what it means? Because they're ignorant. Because
they're unlearned. And we live in such a dumbed down society. I was trying to talk to this
teenage girl yesterday. I'm trying to give her the Gospel. And she's like texting the
whole time I'm trying to give her the Gospel. Her little phone beeps. And she has to just
povlovs dogs. She hears this little sound of bing. And she's like bing. She can't wait
a couple of minutes until I'm done talking to her. She says, oh, let me see. LOL. Whatever.
She just gives her little response. And over the course of this conversation, she just
keeps going to it. Just the texting. And she's trying to listen. And she couldn't even understand
what I'm saying. And I asked her, do you ever read the Bible? No. Do you ever read anything
besides texts? The thing is, we live in a time where the young people and the children
are very dumbed down. They don't do reading. They all have ADD. So they cannot focus themselves
on sitting in front of a book and reading it. And so they don't know what the Bible
says. They don't know science. They don't know history. They don't know math. We live
in a dumbed down society. And I hear them constantly saying, oh, we need better education
than the public school. And yet, kids are dumber today. And not just by my standards.
Even by standardized testing results, kids are dumber today in 2011 than they've ever
been in the history of our nation. They are. I mean, the scores just go down. And then
they just make the test easier. And it's getting to the point where people are so ignorant.
That's why they're so easily confused. Think about it. A little child, it's easy to confuse
them. And then basically it's like, I'm confused. What's happening to your finger? Why? It's
not that they're stupid. They're just ignorant. They haven't learned yet about tricks, slight
of hand. And it's the same thing with people today that are ignorant. And people are ignorant.
You know, the Jehovah's Witnesses can walk up to them and say, hey, did you know Jesus
didn't die on the cross? He actually died on a stick. Really? He died on a torture stick.
Oh, okay. People can just come up and get them to believe anything. And hey, did you
know that you came from an ape? And they just believe anything. And it's easy to confuse
them. I touched on it earlier with that Bible verse about the rapture and the tribulation
and Jesus Christ coming. A lot of times when I preach a sermon on that subject, a lot of
people can't even follow the sermon. And they're just, oh, that stuff just confuses
me. The Bible prophecy and the book of Revelation, I'm just so confused by it. It's all just
so confusing to me. You know why it's confusing to you? And a lot of people might have even
been confused a few minutes ago when I started to touch upon that. You know why you're confused?
Because you're taking it. That's why. Because if you read the book of Revelation 10 times
and read the book of Thessalonians 10 times, then come back and then I explain it to you,
you won't be confused. Because, oh yeah, I read that. Okay, I understand that. I see
that. But people today, they spend so much time texting. And I'm not saying that it's
wrong to send a text message, okay? Not saying it's a sin. But let me tell you something.
People today, they spend so much time texting and Facebooking and tweeting and basically
watching TV, watching movies, listening to music, and they're doing everything except
learning. That's what they're doing. They're doing everything except reading. And the Bible
tells us to read in the book of the law all the days of our life. And they're doing everything
except reading. They're doing everything except learning. And they're so dumbed down. Their
vocabulary is so dumbed down. Because they're used to just talking in these incomplete sentences.
Just, what up? You know, and that's how they communicate. I mean, are we just, I don't
understand it. Are we just devolving to the point where it's going to be like everybody
talks like a five-year-old? Me, go there. You know, me, eat food. And you know, LOL.
And they can't even perform complete normal sentences and understand complex sentences
and understand big words. And then they say, oh, the teaching in the Bible is too complicated.
I can't understand it. It's too hard. I don't know what the word heretic means. I don't
know what these words mean. And so it gets dumbed down because of ignorance. And look,
you're going to be confused in your life. You're going to come to church. If anybody's
confused in my sermons, it's usually just probably because they're ignorant of what
words mean and they're ignorant of the Bible. You need to shut off your devices for a while,
honestly, and just read the Bible. And look, I have a businessman and I've got the devices.
I've got the smartphone, the 4G network. I've got the apps and the Android and all that
stuff. But you know what? I make a point to just shut that stuff off and open the black
book and read it for hours because I have to stay a normal human being and not become
an android. Android will turn you into an android. So what I'm saying is I'm not confused
today about what the Gospel is. I'm not confused today about who God is. Most of you are not
confused either. What is the source for all the confusion out there in the world? Well,
first of all, it's all these different versions. Second of all, it's a bunch of preachers who
confuse people by speaking in unclear words, mincing their words, not making things clear,
using words that aren't in the Bible just to confuse people. Protoevangelium, Christophany.
You know, it's like, what? And they use these words to sound smart and to confuse the listener.
And number three, it's because of ignorance, of not understanding and knowing what the
Bible says, what basic words mean. We need to be smart people today. God doesn't want
us to be ignorant and dumb. The Bible says a wise man will hear and will increase learning.
God commands us to learn. I just don't like reading. God commands us to read. He commands
us to learn. He commands us to grow in knowledge and in wisdom and in understanding. And there's
a lot of confusion today because people are ignorant. If you ever read the Bible cover
to cover, by the way, you're ignorant. Read the cover to cover again and again and again
and you won't be ignorant. And when we hear preaching, it should be clear what's being
preached. And look, I'm not the best preacher in the world and a lot of people may hate
my preaching, but at least they know what I said. At least they walk out and know what
I believe. And maybe I'm not eloquent or maybe I stumble over my words or maybe my sermon
is not three points in a poem, but at least I know what I believe and at least everyone
else knows what I believe. And no one is confused. They might be mad, but they're not confused.
They might not come back, but they're not confused. And confusion is the plague of our
day. And most of the people don't get saved up. Somebody says they're so confused. It's
like you can't even get through to them anymore because they're so ignorant. They've been
so confused they can't even understand the truth anymore. Let's not be confused as God's
people. Let's not be ignorant. Let's read our Bibles. Let's be clear and not be confused.
Let's go ahead and have a word of prayer. Father, thank you so much for your word there,
God, and how clear it is. And God, I thank you that you're not out to confuse us and
you're not trying to confuse us. And if anything in my sermon confused those that are here,
then I'm sorry for that and I hope that no one is confused. And Father, I pray that we
would all study and read and learn so that there would not be confusion in our minds
as there is confusion among the world. They're so confused, they don't even know which way
is up, Lord, but they're not saved. That makes sense. But help us as saved Christians not
to be confused, but to have it clear in our mind who we are, what we believe, what we
need to do with our lives. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.