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Good evening, everyone. Welcome back to Anchor Baptist Church.
It's time to go ahead and get the service started. If you would find a seat, grab a hymnal.
Turn to hymn number
260.
Hymn number 260.
260. He is able to deliver thee.
260.
We'll sing their starting on the first.
Tis the grand esteem through the ages from
Tis the grand esteem for a mortal tongue
Tis the grand esteem that the world airs
song our God
thank you for all the salvations that were had this afternoon and for those
that the visitors that showed up that got saved as well I just thank you for
leading us to the loss and in some cases leading the loss just straight to a soul
winner that can preach them the gospel I pray for this evening service that
everything would be done decently in an order that you would allow us to open
our hearts to your word and apply it to our lives these things we pray in Jesus
Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful?
Hymn number one hundred eighty one eight zero one hundred eighty we'll sing
So my mind, isn't the love of Jesus something wrong?
mentioned this morning is I brought a whole bunch of clothes in the back there
if anyone wants those are totally free game there's some church ties some
church men's jackets and just regular t-shirts so feel free whoever wants those
please take as many as you would like on the inside you do see our service
times listed there Sunday morning at 10 30 Sunday evening at 4 30 and our
Wednesday Bible study through Proverbs at 7 o'clock we do also have our soul
As far as I know, Soul Winning is still going to be going on on Saturday, led by
Brother Cameron Hull. So if you're in town, don't skip Soul Winning. It's still
going to be happening this weekend.
We do have our year-to-date statistics for soul winning and today went really well
I think we add a total of five for this afternoon. So praise God for that
We do have our upcoming events. Like I said, FBBF is this week August 27th through the 31st
Just keep your eye on the social media accounts of steadfast and Pastor Shelley for any last-minute changes
But I think for the most part the schedule is
released and set in stone for the most part but looking forward to that conference. Then the week
after September 6th is our Ardmore Oklahoma soul winning marathon and so that's south kind of close
to the Texas border so if anyone wants an extra soul winning marathon and is listening in Texas
you're more than welcome to join us of course. The next day will be our men's preaching night
game night fellowship. Then October 6th through the 11th is the Bahamas
mission trip. It's gonna come up really soon and so be praying for that trip if
you would. On the right is our information about online giving and our
visitor card as well as our prayer list.
Make sure to keep Brother Theodore's grandmother in prayer and I mentioned this one verbally this morning
It's not in the bulletin, but Pastor Enrique Reyes
He's having shoulder surgery and I think unfortunately
He's gonna be out of the preaching rotation for fire breathing as a result of that
So I'm sure he's bummed about that but be praying for him for his surgery to go well and for his recovery to go
Well, and that's gonna be it for announcements. We'll go and go to our third song
our third song this evening number 192 ring the bells of heaven 192 192 ring
the bells of heaven
Ring the bells of heaven, there is joy today, For a soul returning from the wild, See the Father beats him out upon the way.
That's the soul always.
Thank you very much.
Chapter number 23, Luke chapter number 23.
Luke chapter 23 and the whole multitude of them arose and led him unto Pilate and they began to
accuse him saying we found this fellow perverting the nation and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar
saying that he himself is Christ the king and Pilate asked him saying art thou the king of the
Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people. I find no fault in this man and
They were the more fierce saying he stirred up the people
Teaching throughout all jury beginning from Galilee to this place
When Pilate heard of Galilee he asked whether the man were a Galilean and as soon as he knew
that he belonged under Herod's jurisdiction.
He sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem
at that time.
And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad
for he was desirous to see him of a long season
because he had heard many things of him
and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him.
Then he questioned him in many words,
but he answered him nothing.
And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused him, and Herod, with his
men of war, set him at naught and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent
him again to Pilate.
In the same day, Pilate and Herod were made friends together, for before they were at
enmity between themselves.
When he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, said unto them,
Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverted the people, and behold, I, having
examined him before you, have found no fault in this man, touching those things whereof
ye accuse him.
No, nor yet hered, for I sent you to him, and lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto
him."
will therefore chastise him and release him. For of necessity must he must release
one under them at the feast." And they cried out all at once saying away with
this man and release unto us Barabbas. For a certain sedition made in the city
and for murder was cast into prison. Highleth, therefore, willing to release
Jesus, spake again to them.
But they cried, saying, crucify him, crucify him.
And then, and he said unto them the third time,
why, what evil have he done?
I have found no cause of death in him.
I will therefore chastise him and let him go.
And they were instant with loud voices requiring
that he might be crucified.
And the voices of them and of the chief priests
pilot gave sentence that it should be as they required and it released some of
them him that first edition and murder was cast into prison whom they had
desired but he delivered Jesus to their will and as they led him away they laid
coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.
And there followed him a great company of people and of women
which also bewailed and lamented him, and Jesus turning unto them said,
Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
For, behold, the days are coming in which they shall say,
Blessed are the barren and the wounds that never bear in the paths which never gave suck
They shall say then shall they begin to say to the mountains
Fall on us and to the hills cover us
For if they do these things in a dry tree in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?
And there were also two other malifactors led with him to be put to death
And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him
and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left, then said Jesus,
Father forgive them for they know not what they do.
and they parted his raiment, cast lots, and the people stood beholding, and the rulers
also with them derided him, saying, he saved others, let him save himself, if he be the
Christ the chosen of God.
And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, and saying,
And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew.
This is the king of the Jews.
And one of the malefactors, which were hanged on the railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ,
save thyself and us.
Does thou, does not thou fear God? Seeing thou are in the same condemnation, and we indeed justly
for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man had done nothing amiss. And he said unto
Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, verily I say
unto thee, today, shout thou be with me in paradise.
And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth under the ninth hour.
And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said,
Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.
And Jesus, and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
Now when the Centurion saw that what was done he glorified God saying
Certainly, this man was a right. This was a righteous man
And all the people that came together to that site
Beholding the things which were done
Smote their breasts in return
and
All of his acquaintance and the women that followed him from Galilee stood a far off be holding these things
And behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counselor, and he was a good man and a just.
The same had not consented to the counsel indeed of them.
He was of Eurythmia, a city of the Jews, who also himself waited for the kingdom of God.
and laid it in a sepulcher that was hewn in stone,
wherein never man before was laid.
And that day was the preparation
and the Sabbath drew on.
And the women also, which came with him from Galilee,
followed after and beheld the sepulcher
and how his body was laid.
And they were turned and prepared spices and ointments and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.
Let's pray.
Gracious Lord thankful to be gathered together. Lord thankful to have a church to gather in. I pray Lord that you can help us.
Man, we are in chapter number 23, and last Sunday evening we started a new series about
the sayings of Jesus Christ on the cross, and there's a total of seven sayings that
he had, the short, powerful statements that we're going to be studying each week, and
last week we looked at Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
And this evening we're going to look at Verily, I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with
in Paradise. Let's start reading in verse number 38 of Luke 23. The Bible says in a
superscription also was written over him in the letters of Greek and Latin and
Hebrew. This is the king of the Jews.
And one of the malefactors, which were hanged, railed on him, saying,
If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
But the other answering rebuked him, saying,
Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art in the same
condemnation? Some people forget that when the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified,
he was not crucified alone. There were people on each side of him
being crucified.
And one was a malefactor who did not believe on Jesus Christ.
In fact, he railed on him.
And to rail basically means to level false accusations against.
And so this false accusation that he's leveling
is basically saying that Jesus is not the Christ.
He's insinuating that Jesus is not the Messiah.
That's why he says,
If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us.
But the other doesn't have that attitude. The other answering rebuked him saying rebuking the other malefactor
Saying does that not thou fear God seeing thou art in the same
Condemnation, you know this other man who was being crucified next to Jesus
He recognized something about Jesus that he's not just the Christ, but that he is God
And he's like saying hey, do you not fear God seeing that you are in the same condemnation?
Look at his humility in verse 41 and we indeed justly
For we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man have done nothing amiss
Very interesting to see the heart of this man who's being crucified next to Jesus. You know most people
when they are going to be put to death or they're being punished by the government,
they're not going to openly admit that they justly deserve the punishment that they're getting,
and they're dead sure not usually thinking about other people. Yet here, this malifactory is saying,
hey, we're receiving what we deserve. We are being punished justly. But you know, this man,
this Christ, this Messiah, he did nothing to miss. He did not sin whatsoever.
Then notice verse 42, and he said unto Jesus,
Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
So of course we realize that this malifactor realized
this is God, this is the Son of God, this is the Messiah,
and this is that malifactor calling upon the name
of the Lord and asking him to be saved.
And we get this powerful statement from Jesus in verse 43.
And Jesus said unto him, verily I say unto thee today,
Shout thou be with me in paradise.
You know, what a cool salvation experience this is because
of course we call upon the name of the Lord in faith
and just as much as this guy got saved,
when people today call upon the name of the Lord,
they are just as saved,
but it's kind of cool how he gets instant confirmation.
of his salvation. When we get people saved there's not a light bulb that comes on.
There's not some sort of like outward manifestation that something has automatically changed about them
other than hey they've believed in their heart, they've called upon them with their mouth
and according to the bible we know that that person is saved but this man he calls upon the name of
Shout out be with me in paradise.
You know, that'd be an amazing thing to hear from the Lord.
But what are some lessons that we can draw from this great statement?
Number one, when a Christian dies, they immediately go to heaven.
You know, this is an important, just doctrinal truth
that we need to make sure that we understand
and are able to explain
because there's all these weird ideas out there today
of purgatory, Abraham's bosom,
all these weird false doctrines
when it comes to the afterlife.
But from this story, we can garner the fact
that when a Christian dies, they immediately go to heaven.
Why? Look at this again, verse 43,
and Jesus said unto him,
Verily I say unto thee, notice today,
in paradise now like I said there's this doctrine out there known as
Abraham's bosom and if you've ever been a part of a
ruckmanite style church or a dispensational style church
even independent fundamental Baptists believe in like this
pseudo-catholic doctrine called Abraham's bosom
If you've been IFB in your life, you've probably heard this doctrine and it's this idea that
there's like a compartment, like a holding cell in the center of the earth where before
Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected where the souls of the saints were held until
that event happened.
I just looked it up online and this is the summary I got of it online.
It says Abraham's bosom is taught as being a temporary compartment in the heart of the earth, where the souls of the Old Testament righteous were held in comfort until Christ's atonement was complete.
Rukmanites emphasize that this doctrine applies to the Old Testament dispensation before Christ led captivity captive,
transferring the righteous souls from Abraham's bosom to heaven after his resurrection.
Weird doctrine, and here's the thing about this doctrine, this is just completely made up.
This is absolutely nowhere in the Bible.
The Bible does not teach this place called Abraham's bosom.
Now there is a parable of the rich man and Lazarus
and the rich man goes to hell
and Lazarus goes to heaven and he's in Abraham's bosom
which just means his chest.
But nowhere does the Bible say that there's this temporary holding cell
for the righteous before Christ died.
It's completely made up.
And you know what, it's really important as Christians
to be actually reading the Bible yourself,
not just listening to the preacher alone,
because the dispensationalists believe
all sorts of weird, crazy stuff
that people just take for granted.
Oh, the preacher says it, it must be true.
No, actually it's found nowhere in the Bible.
And people abuse and misinterpret
the idea of leading captivity captive,
so much so that when I go out soul-winning
and I ask people, hey, when Jesus died,
His body was buried in the ground and his soul went somewhere for three days and three
nights.
Do you think it was heaven or hell?
Sometimes people will tell me heaven.
Sometimes people will tell me,
oh, well, he went to hell because he went to preach to the lost souls in hell.
He went to go fight the devil in hell.
He went to go preach the gospel to the people in hell.
That's nowhere in the Bible.
It's absolutely nowhere in the Bible.
But it's just this dispensationalist,
Schofield reference Bible Christianity
that's crept in,
but it is not what the Bible teaches.
I'm going to prove this to you, but here's what the Bible teaches.
When a Christian dies,
their soul immediately goes to heaven.
There is no Abraham's Muslim. There is no purgatory.
They go to heaven. Go to Revelation chapter number two.
I'll prove this to you. Revelation chapter number two.
And, you know, part of the reason why people.
use this passage to teach this weird Abraham's bosom is because we know from other parts of scripture that Jesus did go to
Hell for three days and three nights. And so they see Jesus saying, well, today thou shalt be with me in paradise.
And we see the Bible saying that Jesus went to hell for three days and three nights.
People conflate this and they say, okay, well, I guess paradise is hell.
The paradise must be a compartment of hell.
I'll explain to you how to understand that in context,
but look at Revelation chapter 2, verse number 7.
Man, we're getting all the pizza deliveries tonight.
Sweet.
All right, Revelation chapter number 2, verse 7.
The Bible says,
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Notice to him that over cometh,
will I give to eat of the tree of life,
which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
So, according to the Bible, those who overcome get access to the Tree of Life, and we're told exactly where the Tree of Life is.
It's in the midst of the Paradise of God.
Now, what makes more sense to say that the Tree of Life is located in heaven, or to say that the Tree of Life is actually in a secret hidden compartment in hell?
Because if paradise means Abraham's bosom, if paradise means hell, well then I guess the Tree of Life is in...
Hell? I mean, isn't it the wages of sin is death?
Isn't hell death? It's everlasting death. Why is the tree of life in death? It makes no sense
whatsoever. No, of course, this is heaven that the Bible is talking about. Go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 5
Well, I read 1st John 5 verse 5
Bible says, who is he that overcometh the world?
But he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. So Revelation 2 to him that overcometh
Will he have access to have the Tree of Life?
That Tree of Life is in the paradise of God.
What does it mean to overcome?
It means that you believe on Jesus Christ.
So those who are saved, they get access to paradise.
2 Corinthians chapter number five, verse six, the Bible says,
We are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight, we are confident, I say, and willing, rather, to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
He's willing, he's confident of this fact that when Christians are absent from their body,
they are immediately present with the Lord.
Now you have to ask yourself, as a Christian, if I die right now and if I part from my body,
and the Bible says that I will immediately be with the Lord, where does God dwell?
Does God dwell in heaven or does he dwell in a secret compartment in hell?
You see, you have to just suspend.
the Bible to believe these weird Rukmanite beliefs, you have to just have been growing up on these
Bible commentaries instead of reading what the Bible actually says, because right here it says to
be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Go to Psalm chapter 11. Psalm 11,
as you're turning there, Philippians 1 verse 23 says, for I am in a straight betwixt two,
having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better.
Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
So notice Paul is saying, hey, I have a desire to depart.
What is he saying?
He's saying, I have a desire to depart from my physical body.
He's saying, I'm ready to go to heaven.
I'm ready to be with, notice, Christ.
He says, that's far better.
So Paul recognizes, when he dies, he's going to be with who?
With Christ.
Where does God dwell?
Psalm chapter 11 verse 4.
This just seals it right here.
The Lord is in his holy temple.
The Lord's throne is in heaven.
His eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.
I mean, how can you get around this clear of a verse?
The Lord's throne is in heaven.
To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
Hey, today thou shalt be with me in paradise.
Jesus was not talking about this guy going to paradise,
some weird compartment in hell.
No, this is talking about how when a believer dies,
they immediately go to heaven.
Go to Acts chapter number.
to Acts chapter number two.
But you know, there's lots of different variations
of this false doctrine, the seventh day Adventists,
the Jehovah's Witnesses believe in something called
soul sleep, that basically you're unconscious
until the great white throne judgment.
You know, that's not what the Bible teaches.
The Bible teaches, as soon as a Christian dies,
as soon as you breathe your last breath,
you are in the presence of God in heaven.
Now here's the thing.
Jesus did go to hell and people wonder like okay well if Jesus went to hell
And Jesus said that this guy was going to be with him in paradise, how do these things work?
Well, let's look at Acts chapter 2, verse 23.
The Bible says,
Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and for knowledge of God,
ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.
So this preaching is against the Jews for the fact that they crucified and murdered the Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice this phrase, having loosed the pains of death.
because it was not possible that he should be holding of it.
That phrase, having loosed the pains of death,
is a reference to Jesus being resurrected from hell.
Because, notice, Jesus was experiencing the pains of death
until a very specific moment.
What is that moment? The resurrection of Jesus Christ.
So, when his body is in the tomb,
He's experiencing the torments of hell in his soul,
and that is called the pains of death.
He's loosed from the pains of death
when he is resurrected from the dead.
Now, why is it talking about hell?
Because here's the thing, death,
the actual experience of dying in our human body
is just one moment.
Now, of course, him being tortured is a long process and is horrific, but, you know, death
is just something that happens in a moment.
It doesn't matter how you die, whether you die, you know, getting blown up in combat,
or you die of suicide, or you die of cancer, or you die of crucifixion, however it is that
you die, the moment of passing from your physical life to shedding your body and your soul either
That's not the pains of death.
The pains of death is talking about hell.
Okay, go to Hebrews chapter two.
Let's prove this further.
As you're turning there, we all know this verse.
Romans 6-23, for the wages of sin is death.
people wrongly think like oh this is talking about your physical death wrong
for the wages of sin is debt is talking about going to hell that's what it's
talking about it's saying what we've earned as a result of our sin is death
which is hell you know when you have the great white throne judgment and the
lake of fire comes into play it says death and hell were cast into the lake
of fire
And so hell is a spiritual experience.
The first death, because people will say,
well, the first death is physical.
The second death is spiritual.
It's actually reversed.
The first death is spiritual when you sin.
When you sin, you have that spiritual death
and you are deserving of hell.
And if you die without trusting in Christ,
you will go to hell, which is known as death.
Then at the great white throne judgment,
the souls of those who are dead.
and the bodies of those who are dead will be resurrected
and their physical body will be cast into the lake of fire.
So the first death is actually spiritual going to hell.
The second death is both spiritual and physical.
So for the wages of sin is death, that's talking about hell.
And again, what does it interchange with?
The word death.
He was loose from the pains of death talking about hell.
Hebrews chapter 2 verse 9.
It says, But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death.
Crowned with glory and honor, notice that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
Now here's the thing, what does it mean to taste something?
It means to partake of something for a short amount of time.
You know, when we have a Thanksgiving dinner, it's not like, well, you know, I tasted my wife's cooking tonight, like, I fully partook of that meal.
You know, we went to SMBs today, we ate a whole burger, I was like, oh, I tasted their burger today, no, I had their burger.
Well, it's like, if we're talking about Jesus' physical death, he did not just taste of...
physical death, no, he fully died.
I mean, he had a physical death, he was crucified,
he was killed, his spirit left his body,
he died physically, but here's the thing,
when he went to hell, he was only there for a short duration.
So that makes sense why the Bible says
that he tasted death for every man.
Go back to Acts chapter number two, Acts chapter number two.
Hey, by the way, that's another great verse proving that Jesus died for everyone right that he tasted death for every man
Don't be a Calvinist today and just deny the Bible acting like Jesus only died for the elect
No, he tasted death for every man
Verse 26 of Acts chapter number 2, notice here it says,
Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad,
Moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope,
Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell.
Neither wilt thou suffer, thine holy one, to see corruption."
So notice here that the author has hope and they're rejoicing and they're glad their flesh
is resting in hope.
Why?
Because God is not going to leave his soul in hell.
Now to not leave something there means that it was there at one point, right?
left in hell. So Jesus is in hell. He's experiencing the pains of death.
He's suffering the pains of death for every man, but
he's there for a temporary time. He has hope that he's going to
get out of it. It says that will not suffer thine holy one to see corruption
talking about how
Jesus' body did not decay when he was in the tomb. He had no decay.
He had no post mortem, rigamortis or anything like that. His body was
preserved perfectly.
Verse number 31, how do we know this is talking about Jesus?
Look at verse 31, he's seeing this before,
spake of the resurrection of Christ,
that his soul was not left in hell.
Neither his flesh did see corruption.
This Jesus hath God raised up.
Whereof we are all witnesses.
Look, the Bible says crystal clear
that Jesus Christ went to hell.
And I don't know why so many old IFB preachers have such a problem with this.
People act like this is some sort of crazy, blasphemous view.
But it's like, hello, the wages of sin is what?
Death.
What is the punishment that we deserve for our sins?
We deserve hell.
And it's only by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that we are saved.
But guess what?
Jesus, he paid all of our punishment for us.
He did it all for us.
He lived the perfect life that we couldn't live.
He died on the cross as that spotless Lamb of God who was never sinned, paying for our
sins.
He was buried and his soul went to hell for three days and three nights.
He took that punishment that we deserved.
I don't see how there's anything weird or blasphemous about this.
When I say this to people about soul winning, sometimes it helps the light bulb click.
And sometimes it makes them realize like, wow, Jesus really loves us.
Wow, Jesus Christ really sacrificed for us to think about how a perfect, sinless God would go and experience the torments of hell for us that don't deserve it.
I mean, oh, boundless love. Divine. I mean, what a beautiful story that is to think about.
But yet, for some reason, people are so prideful as to think that this is talking about...
Sheol whatever that is right a lot of modern versions
They'll take the word hell out of here and replace it with she'll well. What is that?
No one even knows what she'll is it's just kind of weakening what the Bible says no the Bible says Jesus went to hell
He was loosed from the pains of death Jesus went to hell for three days and three nights
That's part of the gospel.
Go to Matthew chapter number 12, Matthew chapter number 12.
Now here's the thing.
David prophesied of this in the book of Psalms.
Acts chapter number two makes this super, super clear
that Jesus went to hell.
Not only that, Jesus himself said and prophesied
that he would go to hell.
Jesus himself told us of this
in Matthew chapter number 12, verse 40.
This is what Jesus said for as Jonas so the Old Testament prophet Jonah for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the
Whales belly
So shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth
Where is hell? It's at the center of the earth
What is Jesus referring to when he says he's gonna be in the the heart of the earth for three days and three nights
He's talking about himself going to hell
Why? Because if you're buried in a tomb, would you really say that that's the heart of the earth?
I mean, you know, we have artichoke hearts. I really love artichokes.
You know, if I just peeled like two layers off of that artichoke, can I say I'm in the heart of the artichoke at this moment?
No, you have to get all the way to the center, then you have the artichoke heart.
Well, it's like, what's the heart of the earth? It's the center of the earth. It's where hell is.
That's exactly where Jesus said he would go.
Go to 2nd Corinthians 5 I'll read for you Jonah chapter 2 verse 2
Jonah's prophesying of this he said and said I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord and he heard me out of the
belly of hell cried I and thou hurtest my voice so Jonas being Jonah being in the center of the
whales belly is a picture of the fact that Jesus would be in the center of the earth that he would
be in hell so much so that Jonah even called the belly of the whale hell of course he wasn't
Christ. Now why would Jesus go to hell? Why would he go to hell? Look at 2nd
Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21, for he hath made him to be sin for us.
Who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him? I mean that is a crazy
Statement to wrap your mind around that of course the Lord Jesus Christ was sinless. He never sinned in his life
He was perfect in every sense of the word yet. He became sin
Like he became a curse for us and and God looked at him and he was
Carrying the sins of the world the Bible says that it pleased the Lord to bruise him
You know that's that's a kind of a dark thing to wrap our minds around
But why not because of anything Jesus did but because of what we do because of our sins
He loved us and so he took all of our sins
He became sin for us and as a result we take his righteousness, you know, that sounds like a pretty good deal to me
The fact that Jesus gets to take our sins, he gets to take our iniquity, all the bad
stuff that we've ever done or thought or anything like that and we get to take all of his perfect
righteousness as a free gift. What a great deal. It's insane today how many people don't want to
take that deal. How they want to try to pay for it themselves with their works. They're out of
their mind. No, Jesus went to hell and burned and suffered and was tormented for our salvation.
And what a joke, what a spit in his face to say,
no, no, Jesus, I know you went and burned in hell for me,
but that's okay, because I live a pretty good life.
Because I haven't murdered anyone, Jesus.
It's like, he literally became sin for us.
All of the most wicked things that people have done in this world,
Jesus Christ died for every person.
Jesus Christ died for people that don't deserve it, that's really all of us.
But Jesus Christ died for people that will never love him,
that will never believe in him. Jesus Christ even died for people
that literally hate him.
Think about the amount of love that he has.
You know, talk about loving your enemies.
Jesus Christ died for Adolf Hitler and Jeffrey Dahmer
and reprobates of this world.
Now, of course, they're going to hell
because they're not gonna accept the gift.
They're not gonna believe in him.
But you know what?
Jesus did die for them.
Jesus did go to hell for them.
Jesus Christ died for us.
Go to John chapter number three John chapter number three now all that to say this let's get back to our original question
You got the thief on the cross. He says, you know, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom
Verily, verily I say unto you today thou shalt be with me in paradise
We know for sure that Jesus went to hell when he died
So how is it possible that the thief on the cross went to heaven and was with Jesus Christ if
Jesus was in hell look at John chapter 3 verse 13
In no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son
of Man, notice this, which is in heaven.
Now, try to understand that from human logic alone, I don't know, but Jesus Christ is
God and He is Omnipresent.
Somehow, you know Psalm 139 talks about how, in hell thou art there.
Hey, if I make my bed in hell, thou art there.
When people are going to hell in Revelation, it talks about how they'll be tormented with
fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels.
of the lamb people are like oh going to hell is separation from God
no it's not people who are in hell will always be in the presence of God
they will always be in the presence of his anger and wrath and hatred
You know, it would be better for them if they were outside of the presence of God, but people
who are in hell, oh, they're very much in the presence of God.
They always will be for all of eternity.
But guess what?
Jesus Christ could both be physically on the earth, doing His ministry, living on the earth,
and He could also be eternally in heaven.
And He could also be eternally in hell, stoking the flames of hell with His very breath.
his physical appearance, his physical coming, is not omni-present, okay?
So don't get this weird idea that Jesus was just how, you know, able to be everywhere physically.
No, no, no, Jesus Christ is God, his physical appearance, he came on this earth, he's in
one place at one time, but being that he's God, he's somehow able to exist everywhere at once.
He's the Word of God. I mean, these are kind of deep things to understand, but again, how could he
And that's another reason to realize that Jesus Christ is God, because notice it says
that the Son of Man is in heaven.
And the book of John is written when there's an earthly ministry of Jesus Christ happening.
Go to John chapter number three. John three should be already there since we're there
The second lesson that we can learn from this great story of the thief on the cross and this great saying of Jesus
Is that salvation is not of works and man?
This is just one of the best stories in the Bible to prove that salvation is not by work since we're there in John 3
Look at verse 15 that whosoever
Believe it in him should not perish but have eternal life
Great clear verse explaining how someone gets to heaven that whosoever that means anyone
That means this thief on the cross who apparently was deserving to be there. I mean, this is not a righteous guy
This is not a guy who's lived a pretty clean life
I mean he committed some sort of capital offense, you know, at least we're assuming that at least
It's probably likely he seems to agree with that
He seems to think that he deserves to be there, but yet that whosoever
Believe it than him should not perish
but have eternal life.
Hey, we know that the thief on the cross
believed in Jesus.
How do we know that?
Well, he rebukes the other guy saying,
hey, don't you fear God who's right here with us?
Don't you fear God?
And he says, Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom.
I mean, Jesus is here slated to die.
It seems like, though, that this man believed
that he wasn't about to be dead forever.
Why is he saying, hey, remember me when you come into your kingdom if this guy is about to die and be gone?
No, he knows this is God.
He's going to rise again from the dead.
And of course, we've gone through studies before how the Old Testament constantly prophesies of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This was not some sort of unknown concept to them.
He was looking at this guy and he knew that he was the Christ.
He knew that he was the Messiah.
And by the way, that's all you have to do to be saved.
To be saved, you have to be looking to Jesus as the author of your salvation.
It is not some sort of mental head knowledge of knowing some facts about him.
Oh, this guy, Jesus, he was born here, he did these miracles.
What it is, is you're saying, this is the Messiah.
This is the Christ. He lived a perfect life.
He died for our sins. He rose again from the dead.
And if only we put our trust in Him, if we only look to Him,
if we only say, hey, remember me, Lord,
when thou comest into thy kingdom, then He'll say to us,
tomorrow you'll be with me in paradise.
It's that simple. It's not a 12-step program.
It's not giving your life to Jesus. It's Him giving His life for you.
I mean, how is the thief on the cross giving his life to Jesus?
Is he going to church?
Is he getting baptized?
Is he going soul winning?
Is he reading the Bible?
Or is he just seeing the Son of God give his life for him?
And that was all it took.
And it's just so crazy today.
And it's so insulting to Christianity.
It's so insulting to our Savior to just take his sacrifice
and act like your little peon, half-hearted, not super wicked
life is somehow good enough to get you to heaven.
Because this is what work salvationists do.
They're not sitting here saying like,
alright, we're following everything perfectly to a T.
Because that's impossible.
We're all sinners.
What they do is they just drop the bar of righteousness so low
that it's basically wherever they're at.
Well, you know, I only got divorced or remarried three times. I'm not that bad. Okay. No, I've never killed anyone
Well, you know, I I haven't done I haven't killed someone drunk driving or whatever the things that they do
They lower the bar of righteousness when the bar of righteousness according to Jesus is so high that none of us can touch it
None of us can keep God's commandments
None of us can be perfect or sinless and so we have to believe in him look at verse 16 for God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish but have everlasting life.
Isn't it amazing how everyone knows this verse in the whole world?
And it doesn't matter if I'm preaching in English or in Spanish.
When I'm preaching and I'm preaching some of the gospel
and I go to John 3.16, they're always finishing it for me.
Isn't that funny how this is the most famous verse in the world?
But so few people actually listen to what it says.
So few people are actually reading it, where they'll read,
for God's all over the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.
Oh, what do you have to do to get to heaven?
Live a good life.
Repent of my sins.
Oh, you know, don't cuss, don't steal, don't cheat.
Do all these good things.
It's like, is that what that verse said?
Does that verse say, repent of all your sins and you'll be saved?
Does that verse say, get baptized and you'll be saved?
Does that verse say, turn over a new leaf and you'll be saved?
No, it says, whosoever believeth in him.
And look, if you are trusting in partly in Christ's sacrifice and partly in your own
good works, you will go to hell when you die because you are not good enough.
You cannot trust in your works and then people get this strawman. Oh, you're just saying that we we shouldn't follow God's commandments
You're just saying we can live however I want of course
You could live however you want if you believe in Jesus and still be saved
But I'm not recommending that and spend some time at our church and you realize we're not telling people to go do whatever they want
We're not saying anything goes. We're trying to dedicate our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ here
Hey, we are trying to give our lives for Christ. We are trying to follow Christ, but we realize that none of that stuff saves us
You know what, I love going soul winning.
I go soul winning every single week of my life.
And sometimes people are like, why are you doing this then?
Why are you out here soul winning?
If you don't think that salvation's not by good works, it's like, have you ever heard
of this thing called love?
Work Salvationists have like never heard of this word called love,
where I'm not just doing every single thing in the Christian life
because I'm afraid if I don't, God's just going to strike me down and send me to hell.
Maybe because I look at the story of Jesus on the cross and I say I love Jesus.
What a beautiful story of him dying for us. What a beautiful story of him going to hell
and rising again. And hey, maybe some of us actually want to do good works because we love him.
You know, here's another reason, maybe some of us want to go soul-winning because we love
this community.
And we love lost souls out in Oklahoma City.
People that are going to spend eternity in hell if they don't hear this message, you
know, maybe love is the motivating factor, but you know what?
It's not for the Mormons.
When the Mormons go out and they go knock doors, they're not presenting people the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
They're not presenting the good news.
They're presenting damnation.
They're presenting a false gospel saying, oh yeah, salvation is by grace through faith.
after all that we can do, right?
They'll say, oh yeah, you gotta believe in Jesus,
but you also have to be a Mormon.
You also have to wear the magic underwear,
and follow Joseph Smith,
and get married in the temple,
and then someday you can be a god of Kolob.
You know, that's really what they believe
at the end of the day.
But you know what,
they're not doing any good works
out of love for their fellow man.
They're not doing any good works
out of love for God.
They're doing good works
because they believe a false gospel,
and they believe that if they don't,
they will go to hell.
Anyone who thinks you have to do good works to be saved is not saved.
Look at verse number 17.
For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world through Him might be saved.
So Jesus did not come to bring condemnation to condemn the world.
Why? Because the world's already condemned, folks.
We have already sinned.
Paul talks about in Romans 7,
I was alive without the law once,
but when the commandment came,
sin revived and I died.
Hey, Paul, as soon as he sinned,
he's destined for hell unless he gets saved.
Though every single person in this room,
when we reach a certain age
where we know God's commandments
and we decide to sin against him,
we will go to hell unless we believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are already condemned.
Christ didn't come to bring condemnation.
He came to bring life.
He's the only hope that we have, verse 18.
Notice.
He that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is
Condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God
So notice according to the Bible there are two types of people those going to heaven those going to hell and just out
Soul winning today. I was preaching in Spanish to a guy and we talked about Jesus's sinless life
the fact that he is God, we talked about his ministry, his death, his burial, going to hell,
the resurrection, and I asked him this question, I said, okay, just because Jesus died for our sins
and he was buried and he rose again, do you think that means everybody just automatically goes to
heaven? And he said, no, no, no, no. He goes, there are people who do good that go to heaven
and there are bad people and they go to hell. And it's just like this is what a lot of people
Read this again.
He that believeth on him is not condemned.
You want to go to heaven?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh, it doesn't mean be a good person, because the thief on the cross was not a good person.
The thief on the cross had sinned.
He lived a pretty rough life.
But you know what he did do?
He believed.
You know what it means to believe?
It means to trust, to trust.
Not just to acknowledge Jesus' existence,
but to actually trust that he's God.
To actually trust that he died for your sins.
But he that believeth not, is condemned already.
See that?
They already had that condemnation.
They're already condemned.
Because, why? Because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
So again, the Bible just makes it really clear.
Especially the book of John, which is written so that we would believe on him.
Written so that we would have eternal life.
John just divvies it up perfectly. There are those that believe. There are those that don't.
Those that believe, though you're a bad person, though you're a drunkard, though you're a sinner,
though you're an adulterer, though you're a blasphemer, whatever your sin is,
And if you're not saved, if you don't believe in Him,
it doesn't matter how many times you try to do good works.
It doesn't matter how many times you went to church.
It doesn't matter how many times you went out knocking doors.
If you don't believe in Him, then you will go to hell.
Flip the page. Go to John chapter number five.
John chapter number five.
John chapter number five verse 24.
I highly recommend you use this verse, I'll soul-winning, I use it every single gospel
presentation because Jesus teaches three times in this verse that you can't lose your salvation.
He says,
everlasting life. So first he says, hey, if you believe in God, if you've put your faith in God,
you have everlasting life.
Present tense, you are the possessor of
everlasting life. He doesn't say someday you'll get everlasting life if you do enough good, if you follow enough righteous acts.
No, right now when you believe in him, you have everlasting life. Not only that, he says,
and shall not come into condemnation.
What is condemnation? That's going to hell.
If you're condemned, means you're damned.
Damnation, condemnation, going to hell.
These are all the same thing.
If you believe in him, you will not come into condemnation.
Notice he says, but is passed from death unto life.
Notice salvation, it's not a process.
Once you've put your faith in him, it's a done deal.
And you're passed from death unto life.
This is why it's good news.
You don't have to wait until you die.
to stand before God and figure out, all right, let's see if I'm saved. Boy, that'd be scary.
Boy, it'd be scary dying, not knowing if you're 100% sure that you're going to heaven.
That is a terrifying thought, and it's so crazy to me how little people care.
You go soul-winning, you ask them, if you were to die today, are you 100% sure
that you would go to heaven? No, I'm not 100% sure.
Hey, here's the good news. The Bible says you could be 100% sure.
It's not based on how good you are. It's not based on your works.
It's actually a free gift. Can I just take 10 minutes to show you?
No, I'm good. I don't care. No, I don't got time. No, it's not a big deal.
Well, it's going to be a big deal if you roast in hell for all eternity.
Yeah, it's a pretty big deal.
You know, people need to wake up today and we need to pull them out of the fire
and sometimes scare the hell out of people saying,
hey, hell is a real place that real souls will burn for all of eternity.
And if you just put your trust in him, you could be passed from death unto life.
The thief on the cross did not have to wait until he was crucified to know that he was saved.
Isn't that amazing to know that?
That Jesus said, hey, today thou shalt be with me in paradise.
You know what, even though Jesus in the flesh gave him that verbal confirmation,
we could know just as sure that we are saved today.
Because these things have I written on to you that believe in the name of the Son of God
that you may know that you have everlasting life and that you might believe in the name of the Son of God.
First John 5.13, we can know for sure that we're saved.
People scoff at that idea.
No one can know for sure.
Do you know for sure?
Yeah, I do.
Yeah, that's why I'm here at your door, actually.
Because I know for sure.
How prideful.
Know how prideful of you to reject the Bible.
Is it prideful to say, okay, God said I could know, and so I agree with God that I could know?
Is that a prideful thing to do? No, no, agreeing with anything in the Bible is not prideful.
What's prideful is kicking against the Bible. What's prideful is hardening your neck.
What's prideful is like a man of God shows up at your door and is ready to give you a free gift,
and you're like, I'm good. No, I'm good. I don't need that. I don't need God. You do need God.
And you know I saw some stupid comment today on X on one of our sermons saying like you will never get us to bow before God
I'm just like I may never get you to bow before God, but believe me every knee shall bow
And every tongue shall confess.
And you know what?
I'd rather bow the knee right now and confess with my tongue right now while I have a chance
to be saved than wait until you're standing before God at the great white throne judgment.
And guess what?
All the reprobates, all the haters of God, Jeffrey Dahmer, Adolf Hitler, whatever wicked
people who've ever lived, they will all give glory to Jesus Christ.
Every reprobate that's rejected us out soul winning, that's mocked us and scoffed us and left the bad reviews and called us.
It's so funny when they call me by the way.
It's like, you don't think I'm going to agree with the people that I'm sending out to do the work that I'm doing?
But you know, all those people, they're going to bow before Jesus Christ.
They're going to give Him glory. They're going to give Him honor.
They are going to acknowledge that He is Lord.
You know, that thief on the cross that said, if that will be the Christ, why don't you bring yourself down from the cross?
He knows He's the Christ now.
He dead sure knows he's the Christ now you know what people need to be wise have some fear of God today and be like the
Other thief on the cross who said hey remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom when you believe in him
You're passed from death unto life. You can know that it's a done deal
You don't have to wonder, you don't have to hope, you don't have to worry.
This is why the gospel is called good news because, hey, it's good news that though you're a sinner,
though you will never be perfect, though you will never stop sinning, God will never take away your salvation.
Once you're saved, you're always saved. You can never lose it.
Now, here's the thing. We could mess up our lives in the temporal.
Boy, have I seen some Christians ruin their lives before. I hate seeing it. It's sad.
You know, you see people go out and just blow up their life, just commit adultery.
And it's like, man, sometimes that's a hard thing to come back from, sometimes people
never come back from that.
And God will make sure to chastise and punish his children, whom the Lord loveeth, he chasteneth,
and scourgeeth every son whom he receiveth.
You better believe that though you're saved and you can never lose your salvation, God
will punish you for your sins on this earth.
Assure is I punish my kids when they disobey.
God will punish his children when we disobey.
But you know where he drives and draws the line though,
he'll never kick us out of the family.
He'll never take away our salvation.
We have that blessed assurance to know
that we are always saved.
Man, I've seen people mess up their lives before,
saved people, you know,
committing, saved people have committed suicide.
Save people have attempted to commit suicide and have to live with the repercussions of that stuff.
And man, I just wish people would listen sometimes. I wish people would stop thinking that they know better.
People thinking, my life will be so much better outside of church. Everything's gonna be so great when I leave church.
Who needs the Bible? Who needs hard preaching? You know what? People ruin their lives when they get out of church.
People's lives are never better when they get out of church.
Don't let people fool you.
Take it to the bank.
You see people quit on serving God.
Their life is worse off.
Stick with the Bible.
Stick with church.
Don't give up.
But here's the great news.
Even the fools and the idiots that quit serving God
and quit listening to the preaching
and quit reading the Bible
and go and ruin their life.
Hey, at least they still have eternity looking ahead.
At least they're going to be saved.
Even if all their works are just wood, hay and stubble.
yet he shall be saved so as by fire."
And you know what? Praise God for that.
Hey, I'm happy that even all the do-nothing Christians
are going to heaven. Of course I'm happy for that,
but here's the thing, I don't want you guys to be that way,
where you just get to heaven, and that's pretty much it, right?
You know, Hebrews 6 talks about how, hey,
we desire that you're not going to be slothful.
God's not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love,
which you've showed for His name's sake.
Go to Romans chapter number 10.
Romans chapter number 10. So we saw here that hey salvation it's simply by faith
It's simply by putting your trust in Jesus Christ now. Here's the question. How do you put your trust in him?
How do you, on a practical sense, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ that Thief on the Cross is a great example of how you do that?
Because some people will say they'll have like a backdoor work salvation, where they'll say with their mouth,
oh, salvation's by faith, salvation's by grace, but what they define faith as, as doing works.
But here's what faith is, it's called calling upon the name of the Lord.
That's what faith is, and year after year you see people attack this doctrine and saying
that you don't have to call upon the name of the Lord to be saved, or that it's a works
salvation.
People accuse us of preaching works salvation by saying you have to call upon the name of
the Lord to be saved.
Well look what the Bible says in Romans chapter 10 verse 9.
Now the context of this is spiritual salvation.
and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Now people freak out and geek out on this. They're like, well, which one has to come first?
Is it the saying it with your mouth or is it the believing it in your heart?
Do you believe it in your heart and then say it with your mouth?
This is two aspects of the same event, folks.
It's the two aspects of the same event.
It's like we talked about in the book of Acts,
it's like whom you slew and hung on a tree, right?
It's just two different words connecting the same act,
which is the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Okay, believing in your heart and calling upon Him with your mouth
is two aspects of the same event called getting saved.
And you know what, let me say this,
if you don't call upon the name of the Lord, you're not saved.
If you've not called out to Him in faith, asking Him to save you, you are not saved.
And if you don't believe in this doctrine and you don't call upon the name of the Lord,
you are not welcome to go soul-winning here.
You can come here and you can learn and you can listen and you can read Romans 10 like a thousand times until you understand it.
But you know what? People are not allowed to go soul-winning here who deny the doctrine of calling upon the name of the Lord.
And look, really, I'm not really worried about that happening because people who deny this doctrine don't really go soul-winning anyways.
because it's a doctrine of people that just don't understand soul winning,
don't understand salvation, and people come up with these stupid ideas.
Well, what if someone doesn't have a mouth?
It's like, bro, you know how many people I've seen in my life that don't have a mouth?
Oh yeah, zero.
I've seen blown up combat veterans that have a mouth, okay?
People have mouths today.
Well, what if they're mute, okay?
Well, they could call upon the name of the Lord
in their heart, right?
You read, I believe it's First Samuel chapter one
where I believe it's Hannah's praying
and it's saying that she was moving her lips
but she was speaking in her heart
and Eli looked at her and marked her mouth
and thought that she was drunk.
And she's like, whoa, don't count me as like
a daughter of Belial.
I'm pouring out my complaint unto the Lord.
I'm praying.
praying. She's calling upon the Lord. Though she's not speaking with her mouth, she's speaking in her
heart. Obviously, you could speak with your heart. There's no doubt about that. But here's the thing.
If you have a mouth, and here I am soul-winning with someone, it's like, all right, you got a mouth.
I got a mouth. Why don't we just call upon the name of the Lord together audibly?
You know, why would I just be, why, okay, you could do this in your heart. Yeah, you can do it in
your heart, but why would I recommend that for someone? Is it true that some people, they could
Maybe they don't want to pray with us because they're socially embarrassed and they go inside their house
And they call upon the name of the Lord
I am sure that that happens because people are shy and you know what that actually encourages me because I think that I
Don't think our our soul winning numbers are inflated. I think they're actually conservative. I think that when we get to heaven
We're gonna find out that we got way more people saved than we even thought
Then we actually recorded because we try to be really just by the book and if there's any doubt in my mind
I don't count that for the bulletin any doubt whatsoever
But look God's not trying to get people hung up on technicalities
He wants all men to be saved if you put your faith in him you call upon the name of the Lord
You're going to heaven and I think we're gonna be excited to see in heaven
You know people were like oh man, I didn't think you got it
And then he's like, I was just shy, man.
I went inside, I got on my knees,
I called upon the name of the Lord.
I believe that we're gonna see that kind of stuff in heaven.
I'm looking forward to that kind of stuff.
But let's keep reading here in Romans chapter number 10, look at verse number 10, it says,
For with the heart, man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.
Notice, this is just two aspects of the same event.
Believing in your heart, saying it with your mouth, one gets you righteousness,
for with the heart, man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.
For the scripture sayeth, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
When we do a study in Romans some day, I'll show you what I believe this is saying.
I believe this is a great proof that you're not going to lose your salvation.
Because I don't think it's saying that whosoever believeth on him will not be embarrassed,
will not be shy or something like that.
What I believe this is saying is that God's not going to forsake you.
God's not going to leave you hanging dry.
That word, ashamed, if you just do a study on that word, ashamed,
often it's interchangeably used with the word forsaken, okay?
So whosoever believeth on him will not be ashamed
or will not be forsaken by God.
Why? For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek.
For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
So notice, God's wanting all to be saved.
The gift of salvation, the gospel of Jesus Christ is offered to all.
There's no difference between the Jew and the Greek.
It's just, hey, whoever believes on him will have everlasting life.
Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
That's what it says next, verse 13.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
You must call upon the name of the Lord to be saved.
Otherwise, please explain to me what this verse means in your Bible.
What, I mean, what a waste of a verse if this isn't true.
Oh, you don't have to call upon the name of the Lord to be saved.
Really, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
It just makes no sense.
It's ridiculous.
And, you know, a few years back, there was this guy who was big.
He has like a big online presence, online ministry.
His name was Norm Diamante.
And what's weird about Norm Diamante is for years and years he made these soul-winning videos
where he would preach the gospel to someone and he would, guess what,
call upon the name of the Lord with that person.
And his soul-winning demonstration showed him calling upon the name of the Lord with someone.
Then all of a sudden he just changed his doctrine.
He hates the new IFB, he hates Pastor Anderson, hates all of us.
All of a sudden he started preaching this damnable heresy
that you don't have to call upon the name of the Lord to be saved.
and he would accuse us of preaching work salvation.
He's accused us of preaching a false gospel.
And I asked this person, I said,
okay, let me ask you a question.
Did you call upon the name of the Lord to be saved?
And he danced around the question a few times
and I just kept coming back.
Did you call upon the name of the Lord to be saved?
Finally he answered and he just said, no.
And I said, well then you're not saved.
You're a false prophet I believe anyone who gets up and says that you don't have to call upon the name of the Lord
That person is a false prophet. You know this guy Josh Tapp
I recently saw who's like this Absalom that just kind of was self-willed and asked pastor Thompson a million times to ordain him
By the way, if you want to get ordained don't ask your pastor a thousand times to be ordained kind of just shows that you're self-willed
Well, all of a sudden he just became a pastor out of nowhere.
He's like some backwoods hick pastor,
and he's getting up teaching that calling upon the name of the Lord
is a false gospel, that we preach work salvation.
You know what? If that person really believes that, then he's not saved.
That's my stance on it, because the Bible is so clear,
for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Hey, I called upon the name of the Lord.
When I got saved I asked Jesus to save me every person I've ever gotten saved in my life
We end that sucker with prayer asking Jesus to save that person and it's not one two three repeat after me
It's not mere words that save someone. It's that belief in their heart calling upon the name of the Lord
That is salvation. That's how you believe that's how you believe folks by calling upon the name of the Lord
Let's look at some more verses on this Genesis chapter 4 Genesis chapter 4
This is not a isolated doctrine that showed up out of nowhere in the book of Romans.
This goes way back in the Bible.
Genesis chapter 4 verse 25.
Adam knew his wife again and she bear a son and called his name Seth. For God said she,
hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel whom Cain slew. And to Seth,
to him also there was born a son. And he called his name Enos. Notice,
then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. So from the very beginning of the Bible.
We have instances of men calling upon the name of the Lord.
Hey, it's a great proof to show how salvation's always been by faith.
There wasn't the dispensation of the law, the dispensation of human government,
where people were saved by works.
No, no, no, people were always saved by Jesus.
Looking forward to the cross, we're looking back to the cross.
Or in the thief on the cross's case, looking directly at the cross.
You know, he was like at that, you know, middle section there.
He's looking directly at the cross, getting saved.
Go to Psalm 116, Psalm 116, Psalm 116, verse 1.
Notice, I love the Lord because He hath heard my voice and my supplications.
Boy, that's a beautiful verse right there.
I mean, just think about calling upon the name of the Lord,
the fact that He heard our voice.
He heard our supplications.
Jesus saved me.
He heard that.
And the psalmist is like, I love God that He heard that.
You know, you see people when you go out soul-winning
and they get saved.
Sometimes you see people getting very emotional.
I think part of that is the fact that they're like,
wow, Jesus heard us.
Jesus is listening to us.
He got saved.
Verse number two.
because he have inclined his ear unto me.
Therefore, will I call upon him as long as I live."
So, you know, there could be other meanings of calling upon the name of the Lord.
You call upon him once, he hears you, he saves you,
but then after that, you know, we should constantly be calling upon the name of the Lord.
what is that? That's prayer. We're calling upon Him to act in some sort of way in our lives, to
intercede. You know, we have our church services and we're calling upon Him to bless our service.
We're calling upon Him to fill us with the Spirit, to incline His ear to our singing. You know,
before I preach, I often pray that God would fill me with the Holy Spirit, that He would
And notice, I will call upon him as long as I live.
That's the attitude we ought to have.
Not attacking this doctrine, but say, you know what?
I call upon him for salvation,
and I will call upon him as long as I live.
Call upon him every day.
First number three, the sorrows of death compass me, and the pains of hell get hold upon me.
I found trouble and sorrow, then called I upon the name of the Lord.
O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.
You know, there's two ways you could look at that.
One way you could look at that is from the eyes of Jesus.
This song could be viewed through the lens of Jesus Christ, where he's in hell suffering for us.
The sorrows of death compass him, the pains of hell get hold upon me.
I found trouble and sorrow, notice, then I called upon the name of the Lord, oh Lord
I beseech thee, deliver my soul.
Remember he had hope that will not leave my soul in hell, neither will thou suffer thy
holy one to see corruption.
So he had hope in that, he called upon the name of the Lord for that.
We could also look at this through the eyes of someone who's unsaved.
And if someone is unsaved and they hear the gospel, they hear the warning of hell, they too may feel like this.
The sorrows of death compassed me.
The pains of hell got hold upon me.
I found trouble and sorrow.
You know, I don't know about you, the thought of hell troubles me.
And you want to know why I got saved for fear of hell and the sorrow of hell and that pain and that terror and that torment
encompassing us round and scaring us and what do you do as a result verse 4 then called I upon the name of the Lord
Oh, Lord, I beseech thee, notice deliver my soul."
Sounds like this is how you get saved.
Sounds like this is how you get saved physically
when you're in a bind.
Call upon the name of the Lord.
Ask him to save you.
And it sounds like if you're afraid of hell
and the sorrows of hell are compassing you about,
you know what you should do?
Call upon the name of the Lord.
And you know what? Again, salvation is not just mentally assenting to facts.
You have to actually put your faith in those facts by calling upon the Lord.
And if you just believe the right facts about Jesus, like it's some sort of academic exercise,
but you personally have never asked Him to save you, boy, you better call upon the name of the Lord.
And it's funny, I've done this, I've heard multiple people do this.
Here's especially if you are a second, I'm sorry, if you are a first generation Christian.
If you did not grow up in a Christian home, myself, I'm a first generation Christian.
When I got saved, I did not fully realize the magnitude of this life changing event that
happened to me.
Why?
Because I didn't grow up in church.
Going to church wasn't a thing.
Reading the Bible wasn't a thing.
Serving God wasn't a thing.
new to me. Now, I did call upon the name of the Lord. I did pray after watching an online
video presentation by the way to heaven. But years and years later, I hear all this preaching of
calling upon the name of the Lord. And I've heard other people have the same testimony,
and they're like, man, did I call out? And they're just like, I'm just going to do it again.
I'm just gonna do it again, you know brother Cameron
I hope he doesn't mind me sharing this he said he literally just pulled over on the side of the road and
Just stopped what he was doing and just called upon the name of the Lord again just to make sure and here chances are in fact
I am a hundred percent positive and I was saved before that brother Cameron saved before he did that
But you just you know you have that doubt a little bit so you call upon the name of the Lord look
That's okay, and I've dealt with people. I've counseled people that that are really struggling with doubting their salvation
it's like causing them all sorts of mental anguish and it's like hey you've
called upon the name of the Lord you've asked him to save you you can know for
sure that you have everlasting life but let me say this if you've never called
upon the name of the Lord you better call upon his name
You better ask him to save you.
Don't think that assenting to facts is going to save you.
You call upon him.
And look, if you are saved,
maybe you just called in your heart and you are saved.
But you know what?
If you have any doubt about that whatsoever,
just say, pull over wherever you're driving right now
as you're listening to this sermon
and ask Jesus to save you
because you never know when your last day is.
You never know when your last breath is.
I mean, ask the 46 victims of homicides
in Oklahoma City in 2025
if they knew exactly where and when they were gonna die.
You don't know when.
And so if you are not 100% sure that you're going to heaven,
you need to get that settled as soon as possible.
You need to call upon the name of the Lord now.
Now is the day of salvation.
Now is when you need to call upon Him.
Notice verse number five, gracious is the Lord and righteous.
Yay, our God is merciful.
The Lord preserveeth the simple.
I was brought low, and he helped me.
Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath
debt dealt bountifully with thee.
For thou hast delivered my soul from death,
mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.
Go to 1 Corinthians chapter number one,
beautiful Psalm there.
First Corinthians chapter number one, back to thinking about the thief on the cross and how he was saved by faith alone
There's a specific false doctrine that's taught by the church of Christ and many others that in order to be saved
You have to be baptized and I run into people out soul-winning
I ask them what you have to do to get to heaven and they say you have to be baptized in water or you're not saved
Okay, well, here's the question. When was the thief on the cross baptized?
Was Jesus wrong? Was Jesus lying to him?
Hey, today thou shalt be with me in paradise.
Just kidding, you didn't get dunked in water.
Is that really what you think happened?
Maybe your doctrine's wrong.
Maybe you're just not believing the truth.
Look at 1 Corinthians 1, verse 14, Paul said,
I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Christmas and Gaius.
Lest any should say that I had baptized in my own name.
And I baptized also the household of Staphonus.
Besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.
So Paul didn't want to get caught up in this cult of personality
where people are like wanting to get baptized in the name of Paul
and they're so excited about getting baptized by Paul.
He's like, I didn't really baptize that many people.
He's like, I baptized none of you.
Just kidding, it was two of you.
Well, just kidding, Staphonus was actually three of you.
But besides that, I don't know of anyone else that I baptized.
Why? Verse 17.
for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words,
lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. What is he saying? When you mix,
works, with faith, you are making the cross of Christ of none effect.
If you believe that salvation is by believing in Christ and getting baptized,
believing in Jesus and going to church, believing in Jesus and living a good life,
well then, you know what? The cross of Christ is made of none effect unto you.
And guess what? Getting baptized is not the gospel.
Repenting of your sins is not the gospel.
Living a good life is not the gospel.
The gospel is he gave his life for you.
The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
The gospel is that we're saved by his life, not by your life,
not by getting baptized.
Christ sent him not to baptize, but to preach the gospel.
Verse 18, for the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness.
But unto us which are saved, it is the power of God.
People who are unsaved and just harden their heart, harden their neck,
the message that I'm giving to you right now, they'll say,
That's so stupid. That's so foolish.
You just think that someone could call upon the name of the Lord and be saved.
Well, that's what the Bible says.
Guess what? You call it whatever you want. It's the only way you could ever get to heaven.
And if you reject that, you will go to hell.
And you know what? It's foolishness to those that perish.
But unto us which are saved, it is the power of God.
You know, why are we even going through this series?
I'll tell you why, because the preaching of the cross is the power of God.
And you know what, those of us in this room, we don't need the message of salvation necessarily
because we're already saved.
But every once in a while, it's good to just feast our eyes on the cross of Jesus.
It's good to just spend some time at the foot of the cross to think about the great sacrifice
he did for us because here's the thing, serving God at the end of the day, people who really
make it serving God and people who really stay in the fight, stay in church, stay in
the ministry, it comes down to people that do two words, love God.
That's really what it comes down to.
It's not necessarily about Team Anchor Baptist Church,
though I love Anchor Baptist Church.
Hey, it's not necessarily about the team new IFB,
though believe me, I love the new IFB.
You know what it comes down to?
It comes to that down to loving God.
People have asked me, hey, what advice do you have
if I want to become a pastor?
Two words, love God.
Because if you do that, everything else will follow.
If you really love God, man, you'll read your Bible.
If you really love God, you'll go to church.
Hey, if you read the story of Jesus on the cross and you love Him, you'll want to serve Him.
You want to live for Him.
You'll want to get baptized.
You'll want to repent of your sins.
You'll want to do those things, not because you think it'll save you, but because you love God.
Because you love Jesus.
Go to Romans chapter number five.
We'll look at a few more verses in Romans.
We'll call it this evening.
Romans chapter number five.
Great verse to prove salvation is not by works,
but to him that worketh not.
You know you could replace that with,
but to him that gets baptized not or whatever, right?
But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifyeth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness.
Even as David also described it,
the blessedness of the man
unto whom God imputed 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.
What a blessing it is to be saved.
You know, I feel bad for the people that are in bondage in this world that are under the lie and delusion that they have to repent of their sins to be saved.
This is why they have no rest. This is why they have no peace.
Because if you had to repent of your sins to be saved, how could you ever know if you've repented of enough sins?
How could you ever know if you're living a good enough life?
you can't, folks. How could you ever know that you're going to heaven?
You couldn't. But here's what you could know. Hey, this is awesome.
Even if I work not, according to Romans 4-5, even if I do no works for God,
but believe on him that justified the ungodly, my faith is counted for righteousness.
Jesus' righteousness is imputed to us.
Our sin was given to him, his righteousness is given to us.
Now, here's the thing, don't stay there.
Don't just say, right, no works, but I believe in Jesus Christ, I'm just going to stay there.
Look, if you do that, you'll be saved.
But of course, hey, we want to encourage people to do good works.
We want to encourage people to go to church.
We want to encourage people to love God, to follow His commandments, but none of those things save us.
Romans 6, verse 23, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Last verse we'll look at,
go to Galatians chapter two, verse 21.
Galatians chapter number two, verse 21.
As we think about Christ's sacrifice,
his death on the cross,
the suffering and anguish he went through,
his descent into hell, raising again from the dead.
Think about the foolishness of saying
that you can earn it yourself as we read this verse.
Galatians 2, 21, I do not frustrate the grace of God.
For if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain."
Christ's death would be meaningless if you could earn your way to heaven by yourself.
That's why the thief on the cross did not say, I'm going to start living right Jesus.
Hey Jesus, I'm going to repent of my sins.
I'm going to stop being a thief.
I'm going to turn a leaf in my life.
I'm going to stop drinking.
I'm going to stop cussing.
You know, he just said, you know what, remember to stow me when thou come us into thy kingdom.
And Jesus said, hey, behold, tomorrow you will be with me in paradise.
Let's pray, Lord, thank you so much for your son Jesus Christ and for the gift of salvation,
for all the suffering and torment and anguish that he went through to pay for our sins.
I pray that we would always appreciate the gift of salvation, those of us that have
it.
And I also pray that we realize so many people in this world do not have it.
They're on their way to an eternal hell.
whether that's people in our family, our workplaces, our friends, and our community here in Oklahoma City.
We love you in Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
For our last hymn this evening, number 411, hold the fort.
Hymn number 411 411 hold the fort
411 we'll sing they're starting on the first