So we're there in Ephesians chapter 2, and this past week a video has been shared amongst some of the men in the church.
And this video was, I suppose you could say, an attack on our soul winning efforts, especially our recent soul winning efforts in Fiji.
Because in Fiji we saw 2,115 souls saved.
You know, and we're talking about 2,115, those are real people that we've spoken to,
real people that have heard the Gospel, received the Gospel, believed the Gospel, called upon the name of the Lord,
and as witnesses we've seen them change their belief from not trusting Christ alone, to changing their belief on trusting Christ alone.
And so this is a very simple topic, this is the milk of God's Word.
In fact, this is the most important doctrine of the Bible, and Ephesians 2 does a great job in summarising what salvation is.
Before I get into Ephesians 2, I just wanted to give you the title of the sermon this morning, and the title of the sermon this morning is
Change the Evidence of Salvation. Change the Evidence of Salvation.
You say, pastor, is change the evidence of salvation? A hundred percent. A hundred percent.
Now, before I get into the sermon I want to say this, I was blessed in one of my previous jobs to work as an auditor.
I've shared some of that stuff with you before.
I served as an auditor in my company, this was a second hat, this wasn't my primary job, but I had my primary job and I had a secondary job in the same business.
And I did this for about four to five years.
About three years I served as an auditor under the head auditor, and then I became the head auditor eventually.
But before I became that, I was taken to do a course, the course was about a week long, and we're talking about business practices,
and we're giving a lot of good tips and advice, and I really appreciate what I learnt during that process.
Because when it comes to auditing, especially when you're auditing a business, the reason you're auditing a business is for transparency.
Ultimately it's to certify the business a certain qualification so that some customers, especially government departments,
especially the larger companies, can know that the company that they're working with or buying from is legitimate,
is transparent, is putting customers first and foremost on top of their minds.
And so it was my job to go department by department to assess, and I'm not the expert of each department,
I don't know how the business runs end to end, but my main job as an auditor was to find inconsistencies.
Okay, now what does that mean? That means that I would observe what the people would do, I would observe their work for maybe a few hours of the day,
I'd ask questions about what they do, I would then read their documentation, I would read their training manuals,
I would read their KPIs and their goals and assess, hey, is what they're doing aligned with what they've documented as a department?
I would also then talk to the department manager, and I would get his view on what he believes his department
was supposed to achieve in light of the business, in light of the customers.
And very often I would find inconsistencies, meaning that, you know, someone might say, well, we're doing X, Y, and Z,
but then when I observe the department, they're doing, maybe they're doing X and Y, but they're not doing Z.
There'd be some type of inconsistency that I would often find.
Now, an inconsistency doesn't mean it's a horrible thing, but it was my duty as an auditor to report on the inconsistency.
Now, I don't know which one, I don't know, I don't know, because I'm not the head of the department.
I don't know what is right, I don't know what is wrong. All I can see is the inconsistency.
And so then it's my job to document that inconsistency into a report and then give that report to the department head.
And sometimes, it depends on the person, on the very early, when I first started as an auditor,
the department head would get angry at me, okay? Oh, you found an inconsistency.
And they'd think that I'm telling them there's something wrong, or something wrong with the way they work.
Maybe there's something wrong with the way they work, maybe it's their documentation that is out of date and that needs to be updated.
In fact, when I find inconsistencies, I'm their friend.
I'm trying to say, hey, you know, you're saying you're achieving, trying to achieve this,
but when I observe your department, they're actually not achieving what you believe they're trying to achieve.
And sometimes, if it was a good manager, they'd be thankful.
They'd say, hey, thank you for identifying that inconsistency.
We made a change six months ago, we made a change, and this is something that's fallen through the cracks.
And I didn't realize until you picked up on it, thank you, that's something that we can change and it's something that we can do.
And I don't say this to boast of myself, it's just that, you know, quite often, even when I hear preaching,
it doesn't matter who's preaching, it doesn't matter who's speaking, I often find inconsistencies.
Now, someone had once said, you know, you talk to different people within church,
and people say, well, you know, I know there's an inconsistency with the pastor because he preached whatever topic last week,
but you know, his life does not line up with what he preached.
Well, yeah, you know what, because the pastor's job is not to preach the pastor's standard or the pastor's life,
it's the pastor's job to preach God's Word.
And guess what, there will always be an inconsistency with your life and God's Word.
Until you reach the standard of Jesus Christ, which is not going to happen until you receive your new resurrected bodies,
there's always going to be some inconsistency.
An inconsistency in the way we live, an inconsistency in the way we think, okay, or whatever it is,
an inconsistency in the way we speak.
But the point of preaching is to see the inconsistencies that we have in our lives and go, oh, I better change that, I better change that in myself.
Now, as an auditor, sometimes the manager did not want an inconsistency reported, okay,
because all department heads can read that, and they can say, oh, you're inconsistent in this area,
or this is an area that you need to fix.
And for sometimes, some people, they feel that's embarrassing.
Again, I'm there to help them.
I'm there to highlight an issue that can be rectified and we move on and everyone's happy.
That's the whole point.
We can retain our certification.
And so when the external auditors come, they don't find any major issue with the business.
I'm there to be a help.
But when you talk to department heads and they're embarrassed about their inconsistency,
I had to learn in time because I realized that people speak in riddles.
They speak in ways that make it seem right.
But as an auditor, I'm supposed to process what I'm hearing and seeing what is being done.
And still, based on my judgment and opinion, to write down, regardless of how people are trying to,
you know, make me feel like everything's okay, if I identify an inconsistency, I have to.
That's my job, is to highlight what that is, report on it, and help them make a change in that area.
And so again, when it comes to preaching, I see a lot of inconsistencies.
And I also, not just inconsistencies, but I also, I see when people are being slimy with the language.
Strange with the language. There's nothing to see here.
And they'll use strange terms.
Now, is change the evidence of salvation?
Of course it is. Of course it is.
Look at Ephesians chapter 2, verse number 8, please.
Look at Ephesians chapter 2 and verse number 8.
For by grace are ye saved. How are we saved, brethren?
By grace.
What does the word grace mean?
Well, if you look up the word grace in the dictionary, it will say something like undeserved favour.
Undeserved merit. It's something that is undeserved.
You don't deserve it. You get it? Okay?
It's kind of like when you give our kids birthday gifts.
They didn't really deserve it, did they?
Mum's the one that laboured, mum's the one that pushed them through, mum's the one that gave them life.
If we're going to celebrate someone's birthday, we probably should celebrate mum.
Okay? For giving them life.
But really, we give them gifts, we give them birthday gifts, but it's undeserved.
Besides them just living a life, breathing air and turning another year, you know, we give them gifts.
It's undeserved, but mum's the one that did all the hard work, isn't it?
That's what grace means. In fact, grace, and I don't know if, you know, I once taught this.
Someone corrected me on the comments on YouTube once.
But you know, the word free in Spanish is the word gratis.
Free. If something is free, it's gratis.
Okay? Gratis means free in Spanish.
And so that's where we get the same word as grace.
The same root word for grace is the word gratis, which is free.
Grace, you know, by default means what is free.
But here's the thing, someone corrected me and they said it.
Even in English, the word gratis is free.
But the thing is, I never use the word gratis in English.
So I didn't know it was an English word.
But yeah, you know, gratis in English also means free.
It's where we get the word grace from.
Grace by default is free.
You don't have to make it free.
It already is free.
That's why it's undeserved favor.
It's undeserved merit.
It's not anything that you need to bring to the table.
And you receive the grace of God.
And so salvation here is free.
It's a free gift.
And then it says, how do we receive that free gift?
Through faith.
Now, I'm going to bring...
I was upstairs while you guys were singing because I just wanted to give you guys an object lesson.
Okay?
Now when I put this up here, this is how we get saved.
Let's say this pulpit represents salvation.
Okay?
This pulpit represents salvation.
Let's say someone over here needs to be saved.
Okay?
And in order to get saved, just as an illustration, they need to cross this pulpit.
Okay?
And over here is salvation on this side.
Okay?
This side is unsaved.
Okay?
I need to get saved.
What do I need to do?
The Bible says it's by grace.
It's free.
And it's through faith.
Okay?
Now faith is the noun for the word believe.
Believe is the verb.
Okay?
So we say belief and faith, it's one and the same thing.
Just two words meaning the exact same thing.
Another way we describe faith or belief is the word trust.
If we're putting our faith on Jesus, we're putting our faith on his death, his burial, his resurrection,
as the all-sufficient payment for our sins, we're putting our trust on Jesus.
Right?
It's not just a faith of a factual...
I believe he did that, but rather I am trusting that he did that for me.
My full faith, my full belief, my full trust is on the finished work of Christ.
And so if I want to be saved, I want to receive the grace of God.
It's free.
And all I need to do is cross this pulpit.
I need to put my faith, my trust, my belief on Jesus.
And I'm over here.
I'm saved.
Okay?
Now most people understand that.
Most Bible verses, when you look for salvation, it's going to say it's by faith.
Okay?
By belief.
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved.
Things like that.
Okay?
But let's continue.
It says in Ephesians 2, 8, it says it is the gift of God.
Well, that makes sense because it's grace.
And grace is free.
And gifts are free.
So it's a free gift of God.
Okay, this is very easy for me to pass from unsaved to saved as a free gift.
Now, this is where people get confused.
When we say it's a free gift, people automatically think that we say it's cheap.
They say, oh, you believe in cheap grace.
No, no.
We believe in free grace.
Okay?
It's a gift.
And if someone is giving somebody a gift, we use the example of a child.
If they're having a birthday and mum and dad give them a birthday gift, is it free?
Well, it's free to them.
It's free to the one that's receiving, but mum and dad had to pay for it.
Right?
And so how did God pay for the gift?
Was it cheap for him?
No, he cost him his son.
He sent the Lord Jesus Christ and he cost the blood of Christ, the death of Christ,
and ultimately his victory over death when he rose again from the dead.
That's how God paid for the gift.
It's not cheap for God.
It wasn't free from God.
It cost him the life of Jesus Christ, the life of his son.
This is not a cheap gift.
It's precious.
It's more precious than you can pay.
If you could pay it, why would Jesus Christ have to die?
Some people say, well, it's free, but I'm trying to pay God back.
You can't pay God back.
If you could pay for it, he wouldn't need to sacrifice his son.
But we'll talk about it in a moment.
So look, it's a gift.
It's paid for.
Paid for by the blood of Christ.
It's not cheap.
It costs God his life.
And then it says in verse number nine, this is so important, not of works.
Alright, so let's put works over here.
Okay, works or performance.
The way you perform, let's put works up here.
It says not of works.
Why?
Lest any man should boast.
The Bible's saying that if he was by works, man would boast.
Look what I've done.
Right?
Yes, I believed on Christ, but look how I've changed my life.
And I'm over here, I'm saved.
And I'm boasting of the great things that I'm doing.
Man, I passed the two churches.
Did you know that?
You know, I've read my Bible cover to cover several times.
Do you know I went to Fiji for a whole week and I went so winning.
See, I'm saved.
Boast, boast, boast.
Do you know the majority of people actually believe this?
Most Christians, let's take Fiji for example.
Most Fijians that we spoke to had a mix of this in their method of salvation.
Oh yeah, yeah, Jesus died for my sins, but got to keep commandments.
Got to follow his ways.
Got to do all that, okay, to be saved.
But what does the Bible say?
Not of works.
It's not just faith.
It's not like faith, but then, yeah, I can have works too, to be saved.
No, no, no.
Not of works.
Not.
Not of your works.
Not of your performance.
Not so we remove this out of the equation.
That's all that's left.
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
His payment for my sin.
It's free.
You see, this is not free.
This requires you to labor, to do, to keep, to follow the commandments, to obey the laws of God.
This is not free.
This requires a lot of work.
And guess what?
I still haven't reached it.
I'm still not at the level of Jesus Christ.
So the question becomes, how much work do you have to do to be saved?
I'll tell you how much work is needed to be saved.
Perfection.
That's why we go to heaven, not based on our works, but on the perfect work and the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Okay?
Now, when we teach this, people often say,
So you're saying that you don't have to fix your life.
You don't need to live a holy life, a pleasing life to God.
No, no, no.
Cause next verse, in verse number 10 says,
For we are his workmanship, created.
So look, created in Christ Jesus.
Okay, we are his workmanship.
Now that we're saved by faith, without works, we are his workmanship.
Creating Christ Jesus unto good works.
Does God want us to do good works?
Absolutely.
But is works how we get saved?
No, we saw that already.
It's without works.
Not of works.
But we are created unto good works.
Which God had before ordained that we should walk in them.
Should we do works?
Yes.
Should we live a holy life?
Yes.
Should we keep the commandments of God?
Yes.
Should we go to church?
Yes.
Should we get baptized once you're saved?
Yes.
Should we read our Bibles?
Yes.
Should we go soul winning?
Yes.
But is that how you get saved?
No.
You get saved by the finished work of Jesus Christ.
You place your faith on him alone.
Okay.
Now, it's strange because people always say,
Oh, you don't believe in living a holy life.
People say that about our church.
They believe salvation is by grace through faith alone.
And yet, I preach three times a week, sometimes four times a week.
By good, blessed about this church.
And like 90%, maybe more, 95% of the sermons are not on salvation.
It's on everything else.
It's trying to be holy.
Trying to be holy in body, trying to be holy in soul, trying to be holy in mind.
That's what it is.
It's about living our life because we're not up to God's standard.
There are inconsistencies.
The Bible's like a mirror, constantly showing our inconsistencies and our failings.
And so we need to fix that.
And sometimes we do fix it.
But then, six months later, we're back in that failure.
We're back there again.
And we're reminded again, you know, of the inconsistencies that we have in our life.
So I am all for living a holy life.
But if you make that the basis of salvation, that is another gospel.
And look, all of this so far is obvious.
You guys know all of this.
Like this is a basic 101.
Is that what they call it?
A basic level Christian.
This is what you must understand in order for you to be saved.
That it's only by the work of Christ and my faith.
It's free.
It's eternal.
It's not based on my works.
It's not based on my performance.
And yet we all believe this.
I hope we all believe this in this church.
But sometimes people give lip service to that.
But they really believe something else.
So I come as an auditor.
And people give me lip service.
I don't know, we're doing what we set out to achieve.
But then when I check your department, they're not doing what you said they're doing.
Or when I check your training documents.
Or I check your KPIs and your goals that you set out.
You're not doing what you set out to achieve.
And it's okay. Just fix it.
Figure out what the inconsistency is and fix it.
Now can you come with me to Romans chapter 11.
Come with me to Romans 11 please.
Romans 11 verse number 5.
We're going to skip through some verses very quickly here.
Romans 11 verse number 5.
Romans 11. We're going to take the book of Romans.
Okay.
Because this video that you guys shared apparently had a lot of...
I've not seen it.
I've not seen the video. I don't care to.
Guys, I've got a bit of a busy life to be honest with you.
Okay.
But based on the feedback that I got on this video.
You know, apparently Romans was a major influence for some reason.
On judging someone's salvation by their works.
Now again, change the evidence of salvation. That's a topic.
Change.
What is it that we have to change in order to be saved?
What is the evidence there?
Well look at Romans 11 verse number 5.
Even so then at this present time.
Also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
Oh we've heard of grace.
Grace means free.
We're saved by grace. Remember that?
Okay. It's free to us but it costs God everything.
And verse number 6.
And if by grace, then it is no more of works.
Is it of works performance?
Or if it's by grace, it is not works.
It's not, oh we can leave it there.
Well okay, let's leave it there for a minute. Let's continue.
Otherwise grace is no more grace.
So if salvation is by works performance, guess what?
It's no longer grace.
Grace is no longer grace.
Because it's no longer free.
Because you're trying to work your way to heaven.
It says but if it be of works, so if it be of works, then it is no more grace.
So if this is, if this is your way of salvation, or even a mix of this, faith and works,
then the Bible says it is no more grace.
And how are we saved?
By God's grace.
So if this plays any role, then God can't save you because it's not God's grace that you're depending on.
You're going to have to try to save yourself by living up to the standard of perfection of Jesus Christ.
Which is impossible.
Which is why we needed a saviour, which is why we're sinners.
We needed a saviour, Jesus Christ.
And then it says otherwise work, so let me read that again.
Then it is no more grace, otherwise work is no more work.
So if it's grace, it's no more work.
We're left with faith.
We're left with belief.
We're left with trust.
I believe this.
I believe this to be true.
You know?
This is what the Bible teaches.
This is the gospel my mother gave me.
This is the gospel I've heard in all the churches I attended.
It's faith on Christ alone.
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
I've heard that over and over and over again.
But sometimes, like an auditor, you hear things and yet people act in a different manner.
Why is that? Why is it?
You see, the devil will always want to creep this into your salvation.
The devil always wants to put your eyes on your performance rather than the performance of Jesus Christ.
Which this is the security.
I don't judge if I'm saved based on how well I'm performing today.
Sometimes I perform very well.
I think so if I'm performing very well as a pastor, therefore I must be saved right now.
But then tomorrow I might get into some sin or might make some major mistakes or just feel a bit faithless or might have some doubts about where God's going to come through.
Might be a bit downcast. I don't know. I don't know what tomorrow is going to bring.
Some trouble. Oh man, that means I'm not saved because look at me.
You know, I'm going through a hard time. I'm going through difficulties and I'm even starting to doubt whether God's going to come through.
I must not be saved now.
Well yeah, if it's based on your performance. Sorry.
If it's based on your performance, yeah, you'll never know if you're saved.
I'll never know if any of you are saved.
Okay, but if it's based on the performance of Jesus, which is 100% complete for us,
I know I'm saved because of what Christ has done and nothing's ever going to change that.
He's paid for all of my sins.
He's paid for even the sin, the last sin that I commit on the day that I die, whatever it is, one might be.
That's already been paid for by Jesus Christ.
Come with me to Romans 4. Romans 4, verse number 1. Romans 4, please. Romans 4.
So what we read in Romans 11, if it's grace, it's not works.
Otherwise it's not grace.
Okay.
So, Romans chapter 4, please. Romans chapter 4.
And again, these are verses you all know, very familiar passages.
The book of Romans with clarity teaches us that salvation is by faith and not of works.
It's by grace.
Romans 4, verse 1.
What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
For if Abraham were justified by works,
he have whereof to glory, but not before God.
So, let's take Abraham. I love Abraham as an example because Abraham lived before the Old Testament.
You see, there's another false teaching out there that say,
well, people are saved differently under the Old Testament.
People are saved differently before the Old Testament.
And in the coming tribulation, people are saved differently.
And so they've got all these different gospels.
But we learn something here about Abraham.
He lived before the Old Testament. Remember?
The Old Testament came into effect with Moses when he received the commandments of God on Mount Sinai.
So, Abraham was before Moses. Abraham lived before the Old Covenant.
Okay, before the Old Testament.
So, it says about Abraham.
If Abraham were justified by works, here it is.
If he were.
So, was he? No.
But if he were, hypothetically, okay, he have whereof to glory.
Look at me, guys. I got saved by my works.
But not before God.
His glory is not before God.
His glory is before what? Man himself.
Look at me. Remember?
Not of works lest any man should boast.
Same thing in Abraham's day.
If works was the basis of salvation, he could glory of himself but not before God.
So, what does the Bible continue to say?
For what saved, verse number three.
For what saved the scripture?
Abraham believed God.
And it was counted unto him for righteousness.
How was Abraham made righteous before God?
He believed God. It's his faith.
Isn't that consistent with what we've read in Ephesians?
Okay, it's Romans, the Bible, this is what the Bible teaches.
Now, look at this. Verse number four.
Now, to him that worketh is the reward, not record of grace.
Well, that makes sense. Is that consistent?
It's not of grace then, if it's by works, but of debt.
Remember that example?
Oh yeah, Jesus paid for my sins. I believe that.
But I've got to pay him back.
Debt.
I've got to do the works. I've got to perform to be saved.
That's how I pay him back.
Well, it's of debt. It's not of grace. Grace is free.
When it's debt, you're trying to pay somebody back.
You're trying to work it off.
There's no work it off, salvation. It's done.
It's paid for you. It's free.
When I give my kids a birthday gift.
Let's say sometimes my older kids, sometimes they get cash now, right?
Let's say I give them 50 bucks.
Oh, you've got to pay it back though.
It's like, what? Is that a gift? No, no, no.
You're trying to, you know, you're twisting it.
You're saying it's a gift, but you're saying you've got to pay it back.
Well, how do I know if you really appreciated the gift?
You've got to pay it back, don't you?
You've got to do the works. You've got to do the labour.
So I can see that you really appreciated what I did for you.
No, it's no more grace. It's no more gift. It's no more free.
Say, pastor, we know this.
I hope you know this.
Because the devil will want nothing more than to confuse you on this topic.
Or to discourage you in your soul-winning efforts.
I'm not discouraged, by the way, just so you know.
We're here to serve our Lord Jesus Christ.
We're here to have a clear conscience before God, first and foremost.
Let's continue verse number five.
But to him that, what, worketh not.
Okay, so to him that worketh not.
Okay, worketh not, works not.
Okay, what are we left with?
But believeth on him.
Okay, beautiful.
That justifieth the ungodly, his faith is countered for righteousness.
Praise God.
Okay, worketh not.
Okay, works out of the equation when it comes to salvation.
Now, I love verse number six.
We saw Abraham before the old covenant.
Well, verse number six introduced us to King David.
King David lived under the old covenant.
King David lived under the old testament.
And it says this, as we just explained Abraham.
It says about David, even as David.
Oh, even as David.
Abraham, even as David.
So they must be the same.
But let's continue.
Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man,
upon whom God impudeth, look at this,
righteousness without works.
Have I got that right here?
Without works.
Oh, even David was imputed of righteousness.
Without works.
Aren't there some people that teach you that
the old testament saints were saved by works?
That's a false prophet right there.
Stay away from that.
There's one gospel.
It's by grace through faith.
It's a free gift.
David, what are we reading?
Without works.
Imputed of 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.
So if it's without works, what's left with David as well?
Even as David.
Abraham, even.
Belief.
Faith.
The trust on the saviour is what saves us.
You're in Romans.
Come with me to Romans 3.
Romans 3.
Romans 3 verse 20.
Look, if this sermon's a little bit long this morning,
I don't know how long this sermon's going to be,
but if it's a bit long this morning,
we've only got one service today anyway.
Okay.
But I really wanted to absorb this
and never, never be confused
because there's such simplicity in the gospel.
Could you imagine if I gave my kids a birthday gift
and they're confused?
Is this really free or do we have to pay it back?
Because if I have to pay it back,
I don't know if I want to open this.
What if I can't afford it?
Yeah, you can't afford salvation.
You're trying to work for it,
you can't afford it.
Only Jesus could afford it.
It cost him his life.
It cost him his shed blood
to save you from your sins.
Romans chapter 3 verse number 20.
It says here,
Therefore, by the deeds of the law,
what's the law?
The commandments of God, right?
The Old Testament laws of Moses.
Therefore, by the deeds of the law,
the doing of the law,
the works of the law,
what do you want to call it?
There shall no flesh be justified in his sight,
for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
So the law is good.
It gives us the knowledge of sin.
Right?
When we look at, for example,
the Ten Commandments
and it says thou shalt not bear false witness,
for example,
and I go, boy,
there are times that I have given false witness.
There are times that I've lied in my life.
Boy, I'm a sinner.
The law serves a purpose
to show us our sins.
Verse number 21,
But now the righteousness of God
without the law is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets.
Okay.
The righteousness of God
without the law
is manifest,
being witnessed by the law,
so the law itself has told us this,
and the prophets,
even the prophets told us.
And of course,
in the light of Romans,
that's the Old Testament prophets.
Even the Old Testament prophets says
it's without the law.
It's without the word of God.
It's without the works of the law.
Verse number 22,
Even the righteousness of God,
which is by faith,
though not with the law,
by faith,
okay,
of Jesus Christ upon unto all
and upon all them that what?
Believe.
All them that believe.
Is that still attached?
Good.
Okay.
All them that believe.
Look, for there is no difference.
This is beautiful.
For all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God,
being justified.
Look at the word.
Freely.
It's free.
There it is again.
There's the word free.
By his grace.
Well, that makes sense
because grace is free.
Okay.
Through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus.
So our faith is on who?
Christ Jesus.
His redemption.
Verse number 25,
Whom God have set forth
to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood.
Faith, again,
in what?
His blood.
How did Jesus Christ
pay for our sins
with his blood?
That's the payment.
That's the propitiation.
That's all satisfying to God
that the payment
would be through his blood.
To declare his righteousness
for the remission of sins
that are passed
through the forbearance of God.
And let's not forget
verse number 26.
To declare, I say,
at this time his righteousness
that he might be just.
Look at this.
And the justifier of him
which believeth in Jesus.
Isn't it clear?
Believe.
Faith.
Right?
Oh, no.
Without works.
Otherwise you're a boaster.
And that's what's going to happen.
When you start to see people
adding this to the equation,
look at me.
I'm living a sinless life.
Look at me.
I'm pastoring two churches.
Look at me.
I'm going soul winning, guys.
That's why I'm saved.
Look at me.
Look how I perform.
Look how well I do.
Look at me.
Twelve kids.
Wow.
Boasting of one.
I'm using my example
so you know that.
I don't want to boast of myself
in my salvation.
I only boast of Christ
and him crucified.
Man, it's free.
Praise God.
Paid for.
God's not asking me,
pay it back.
I can't pay it back.
Right?
That's why Jesus had to come.
He had to do the payment.
The payment in his blood.
So without works.
Not your performance.
Not your keeping of the law.
Pay for loan.
And we know this well as a church.
And most people will say,
yeah, pastor, we believe that.
Okay.
Actually, are you still in Romans 3?
We should continue.
I didn't realize.
I have a few more verses there.
Verse number 27.
So if it's this,
if it's just by believing in Christ,
verse number 27 says,
where is boasting then?
Because if it's faith on Christ alone,
there is no boasting of oneself, is there?
Where is boasting then?
It is excluded.
Look how well I do.
No, that's an exclusion.
You've got to remove that from the equation.
It is excluded.
By what law?
Of works?
Nay.
By the law of faith.
Therefore, we conclude.
Look, this is the conclusion of the matter.
This is like writing an audit report.
At the end of the report,
I have to put a conclusion.
Okay.
Let's summarize the reports.
Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith.
Ah, that works.
Without the deeds of the law.
Get rid of that.
That's not what we need to be saved.
Faith alone and Christ alone.
Easy.
Beautiful.
It's called the gospel, the good news,
glad tidings.
Ah, it's done.
Jesus did it all.
I'm going to trust you, Jesus.
I'm putting my faith on you alone
and not of my boasting self,
only boasting of Christ.
And you're saved.
And look, are we to believe the Bible?
Of course.
So are these words true?
That if someone's put their faith on Christ,
that they're saved?
That they're justified?
That's what the Bible tells me.
So if someone's done this,
someone was over here,
and now they've done this,
guess what?
They're over here.
According to God's word.
Not according to my opinion.
My opinion doesn't matter in this.
Okay.
It's God's grace.
It's his gift.
He's paid for it.
God decides when someone's saved.
They're saved the moment they
put their faith on Jesus
and they're over here.
It doesn't matter what I think.
What matters is what God says.
They are saved.
Now, come with me to 2 Peter, chapter 3 please.
2 Peter, chapter 3.
Is change the evidence of salvation?
Now, in response to some of my church members,
and again, I'm not angry at anyone, okay.
When we start to hear things that are bringing in works,
our automatic response,
and you've got to be careful about this,
is to quickly revert to the other side.
But you don't understand that you're being played.
When I'm doing an audit,
and I'm talking to the manager,
I have to understand when I'm being played.
When words are being said
to put me in a category,
put me in a box.
One of those boxes that was named in this video,
was it Hyper, Hyper what?
Hylesism.
Let's put you in a box.
You know what, I've never heard a single sermon from Jack Hyles.
But what you guys do, that's Hyper Hylesism.
Whatever.
Trying to sound smart.
It's so ridiculous, such nonsense.
No, no, no, we just believe the verses
that we just read in the Bible.
Never heard a single Hyles sermon,
believe it or not.
Brethren, I don't listen to that many sermons.
I've got to prepare sermons.
Whatever box they want to put you in.
No, I'm a Bible believer.
That's what I am.
I'm saved.
I'm a child of God.
And I've been given the great commission to preach the gospel.
And that's what we do.
And most believers don't do it.
So we'll do it.
And it's not easy.
You know, we had 56 soul winners in Fiji.
I'm calculating about a thousand dollars a flight each.
About a thousand dollars accommodation and spending costs each.
There may have been a hundred thousand dollars,
maybe not that much, less,
spent on people going to Fiji
for 2,115 souls to get saved.
But people mock that.
And they don't understand how much it's cost us as a people.
And who cares what it's cost us?
It cost the blood of Christ is what it costs to see these souls saved.
And that's our duty.
To tell people about the wonderful saving grace, free grace, of Jesus Christ.
And, you know, before we went to Fiji, I preached a sermon.
Why we must go to Fiji.
And what did I say in that sermon?
We saw what Paul quoted.
When you're doing a work for God, when you're preaching the gospel,
he says there are many adversaries.
And I told you guys, anytime we do something for the Lord,
there is always an attack.
I just don't know what it is.
I just expect it these days.
I expect it. Okay?
And so when there's a pastor, even a pastor friend,
that wants to attack,
I'm like, well, I knew that already because God's word told me
that the devil's going to use whatever method he can use
to discourage us from preaching the gospel and seeing souls saved.
Oh, I don't believe two thousand got saved.
Okay, what if one got saved?
Was it not worth a hundred thousand dollars to get that one soul saved?
Because that still doesn't come close to the payment of the blood of Jesus Christ.
What if nobody got saved?
Was it still not worth doing the great commission?
Doing the work that God has given us?
He saved us?
And to tell people about the wonderful news of Jesus?
Is that not praiseworthy, regardless of the number?
I don't know if two thousand one hundred and fifteen people got saved.
Maybe three thousand people got saved.
Maybe one thousand people got saved.
Okay, the number, God's got to count.
He knows. He's got those names written eternally in the book of life.
God knows the number.
We have numbers to encourage one another.
That it works.
This person believed the gospel.
They caught upon them, Lord.
I witnessed it. I helped them.
We saw them change.
What did they change?
If salvation is belief, faith and trust, what did they change?
What they believed.
They changed where their faith was.
They changed where their trust was.
Because when you ask them, what must you do to be saved?
And they said, keep the commandments.
And now you've given them the gospel.
And you ask them again, what must you do to be saved?
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved.
Guess what? There's a change.
They were trusting their works.
They've changed.
And I've witnessed their change.
And they say, you know what?
What I said before is different to what I heard now.
And I'm deciding to put my faith on Jesus.
I'm ready to call upon the name of the Lord and get this settled once and for all.
Was there a change?
Of course there was a change.
But they changed their faith.
Their faith was on the wrong thing.
Now their faith is on the right thing.
And the Bible tells me, it's not my opinion, not my judgment.
God's Word tells me they are saved.
Look at 2 Peter 3 verse 9 please.
2 Peter 3 verse 9.
Is change the evidence of salvation? Yes it is.
The question isn't, is change the evidence of salvation?
The question is, what must we change to be saved?
2 Peter 3 verse 9.
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise.
As some men count slackness but is long suffering to ask word.
Not willing that any should perish.
But that all should come to repentance.
Do we teach, does the Bible teach you must repent of your sins to be saved?
Does that verse say you have to repent of your sins to be saved?
What is sin?
This is a transgression of the law.
The law is works.
So if you're saying you've got to repent of your sins to be saved.
You're saying you've got to keep the law to be saved.
You've got to stop breaking the law and keep the law to be saved.
That works.
We know that it's not by works.
What does repentance mean?
And this is again the slimy tricky words that some pastors will say to you.
We don't believe in this church that you have to repent of your sins to be saved.
God never once quotes it.
But as soon as we say that what do they say?
Oh you don't believe in repentance.
Of course we believe in repentance.
You have to repent.
But is salvation repenting from bad works and repenting to good works?
No.
We know that salvation is by faith.
So you're repenting from bad faith on the wrong things.
You're repenting to true faith on Jesus Christ.
There was a change in your faith.
It's alright brother if it doesn't work.
Thank you.
Yeah repentance. We do believe in repentance.
We just don't believe repentance of works to be saved.
We believe in repentance of faith.
Change what you believe.
In fact the word repentance in the Greek is metanoia or some form of metanoia.
Where we get the word metamorphosis from.
What is metamorphosis?
Change.
When a caterpillar becomes a butterfly.
Guess what? It changed didn't it?
There was metanoia.
Metamorphosis that took place when that caterpillar became a butterfly.
What do we have to change?
What do we have to repent from?
From trusting ourselves.
Trusting our works.
Our ability to be good enough for heaven.
And saying hey we're not good enough.
We're going to change that.
We're going to repent from that.
And we put our trust on Jesus Christ.
We make that change from here.
Change what I believe.
To here. I am now saved.
We believe in repentance.
But again when we say oh no it's not repentance of sin that saves you.
The pastors that will teach works salvation will say you don't believe in repentance.
You know that's true.
Okay.
So the Bible is very clear. It is.
Again the question is not whether one needs to repent or change.
Because that's what repent means. It means to change.
Okay.
The question is not whether one needs to repent or change to be saved.
The question is what does one need to repent of or change?
What is it? Is it your works? Is it your performance?
No no no.
It's your faith, your trust, your belief that must change.
You see when you have these slimy words.
Well change is the evidence of salvation. I agree.
But what does that slimy preacher want to make you think?
That you don't believe change is required for salvation.
No we do.
But what you're trying to say is that change of works is the measure of someone's salvation.
How I judge someone's salvation.
Wrong.
Because salvation is not of works.
There's the inconsistency.
That's where the auditor goes, hold on, this is not right.
How can you say it's by faith?
But then you want to judge someone's salvation by their works.
It makes no sense.
Well there's just got to be change of works.
No there's got to be a change of faith.
Look any child would understand that really.
If salvation is by faith then what must change is faith.
And when that person has a change of faith the Bible tells me they're saved.
But when you're trying to tell someone no the change is their works or their performance.
Then what you are indirectly saying or ignorantly saying is that salvation is by works or performance.
Because that's what needs to change in order to go from saved to unsaved.
What a mess.
And brethren then we have the men's chat and I'm not having a go at you because I love you guys.
And we're trying to make sense.
I don't know if there's a saying, I don't know if I've got it here.
I can't remember if I wrote it down.
Oh yeah here it is.
There's a saying that goes you can't make sense out of nonsense.
So don't try, don't waste your time.
When you hear nonsense, don't try.
Well maybe, what a waste of time.
You cannot make sense out of nonsense.
One of my old pastors told me that once and I was like yeah that's really good.
That's why I don't spend time debating on Facebook and social media because there's a lot of nonsense.
You can be there all night, all day trying to make sense out of nonsense.
Judging someone's whether they're saved by works is nonsense because salvation is not by works.
And again I just hope that there's just confusion.
You know maybe a little bit of pride.
I want to boast of myself.
Look at me.
I'm working.
I'm doing the works.
Man I could boast.
We could boast.
Half our church went to Fiji to win souls.
Therefore we know in your life Baptist Church is saved.
That's boasting of ourselves.
But if we wanted to boast we could boast.
You may recall in the writings of the Corinthians there were false prophets within the church boasting of themselves.
And then Paul kind of sarcastically had to start boasting of himself.
And he goes you know, can you bear with my folly?
He's like being sarcastic.
Look I can boast.
Therefore I know I'm a real prophet or a real apostle.
He wasn't really boasting of himself.
He was trying to show how foolish it was to boast of oneself.
It's foolish and it's nonsense to boast of your performance as a measure of salvation.
Now come with me to Acts 20 please.
Come with me to Acts 20.
Don't play the game guys.
Don't play into the slimy games.
Slimy words that people use.
Well if you don't believe someone's wonderful change performing life is evidence you don't believe in change.
Of course we believe in change.
95% of the preaching is change.
But that's not how we measure salvation.
We measure salvation by the change of someone's faith.
Because that's how someone is saved.
By changing their faith.
By repentance.
Acts 20 verse 20.
And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you but have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house.
Testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks.
I love that.
Doesn't matter.
Jews, Greeks, this is what you have to do.
Repentance toward God.
You've got to change how you are toward God.
Another word is turn.
You have to turn to God.
How do I turn to God?
Maybe I've got to turn in my works.
That's how I turn toward God.
To go from breaking the commandments to keeping the commandments.
No.
That's why it follows up by saying,
And faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
What is repentance when it comes to salvation?
Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faith, believe, trust.
Do we believe in repentance?
Absolutely.
How do we repent toward God?
Faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Not of self.
Not of performance.
Come with me to Mark chapter 1 verse 14.
Mark chapter 1 verse number 14.
Again, when someone says,
This church, a new life or whatever, doesn't believe in change.
It's the same as someone says they don't believe in repentance.
Because once again they want you to put your eyes on works and performance.
We believe in change.
We believe in repentance.
But what do you have to change and repent of to be saved?
Your faith.
Your belief.
Your trust.
Mark chapter 1 verse number 14.
Now after that John was put in prison.
Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel.
That's great.
Of the kingdom of God.
And saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent ye.
Change.
Repent ye.
Okay.
There's something I've got to change.
There's something I've got to turn from.
Or turn toward.
What is it that I have to repent?
It says there repent ye and
believe the gospel.
Ah.
So I didn't believe the gospel.
I've got to repent.
Now I've got to believe the gospel.
I'm saved.
Where's repenting of sins there?
Where's performing?
Where's changing your life behavior?
Brevin these are true words.
If we put our faith on Jesus Christ you are saved.
You don't need some pastor to judge your works to determine if you're saved.
That's a man that wants to lord over God's heritage.
Make decisions that are not theirs to make.
Decisions that are made by God already.
You can have security in your salvation because you've made change.
Which is the evidence of salvation.
The change of your faith.
Change the evidence of salvation.
Yes it is.
But see they want you to turn around and say no no no it's not.
Yes it is.
It's what do you change?
And that's the slimy tactics that is often used.
And then you start playing the game without reverting back to God's word.
What does God's word say again?
There is change.
There is repentance.
I have to change my faith.
I have to believe the gospel.
Because I didn't believe the gospel before but I'm going to believe the gospel now.
And that's how I'm sure that I'm saved.
And look when we talk about changing of your faith.
There is so much more change that actually takes place.
You know the moment you change your faith and you put it on Jesus Christ alone.
Guess what else has changed?
You're born again.
That's a big change.
Your spirit is revived.
It's born again.
You're now alive in the spirit.
You can operate in the spiritual realm.
You can operate in the kingdom of God.
Not only that.
God gives you the indwelling of his Holy Ghost.
That's a change.
That's a big change.
What else has changed?
That person's eternal destiny or destination was hell and now it's heaven.
That's a big change.
That's evidence of salvation, yeah.
I was going to hell because I had my faith on the wrong things
but now I'm going to heaven because my faith is on Jesus Christ.
Excellent evidence of salvation right there, yes.
You are saved.
Let me give you another example.
If we want to judge someone's salvation.
Let's say someone walks into the church.
Nobody knows who he is or she is.
And we all talk to that person individually.
I talk to that person, hey, are you sure you're going to heaven?
Do you know you're saved?
And they're like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I've placed my full faith and trust on Jesus Christ alone.
All my sins have been paid for.
I know it's not my works.
I know it's not my performance.
It's eternal life and I can never lose it.
But to be honest, pastor, I'm just struggling with alcohol.
I've been in bondage for so many years.
Well, I'll be like, whoa, I'm sorry to hear about that, brother.
I know the Lord can help you overcome your alcoholism
but I know you're saved.
Now, I can make that judgment call, right?
You say, well, you're the pastor.
No, no, hold on.
Anybody of you can make that judgment call.
As soon as you ask that person, it doesn't matter who you are.
Hey, are you sure you're going to heaven?
They give you that answer.
My faith is on Christ alone, eternal life.
I can never lose it no matter what I do.
I'm eternal and secure in Jesus Christ alone.
It doesn't matter who they talk to in this church.
Guess what's going to happen?
We are all going to conclude independently.
You don't have to check the pastor.
We're going to all conclude independently this person is saved.
So you're not depending on a man.
We're trusting God's word.
If someone's put their trust and faith on Christ, they are saved.
All right.
But what if you wanted to judge someone's salvation by their works or their performance?
This becomes really complicated
because we all have different arbitrary levels
of how much work somebody has to do to be counted as saved.
Don't we?
You might say, well, I know he said he's put his faith on Christ,
but he's struggling with alcoholism.
He's not saved.
Are there people like that?
Yes.
Are there pastors like that?
Yes.
Man, I've been in a church like that
where half the church is like it's faith alone, Christ alone.
The other half is, oh, you're still strong with that sin?
You're not saved.
It's a horrible, horrible situation to be in.
It's like, man, half the church is saved, half is not.
Nobody knows.
But we all call each other brother.
But here's the thing.
You might say, well, you know, how many beers are you having?
Oh, I have five a day.
Well, I don't know.
I guess you're not having 10 beers a day,
so I think you're saved.
And then someone else has a different measure.
How many beers are you having too?
I mean, sorry, he said five, right?
He said five.
Well, no, I think you need to reduce it down to two beers.
Then I know you're saved.
Now I know you're saved.
Do you see how, what's the level?
How do we know?
We'll never know anyone's saved.
In fact, I told you what the level of someone's works
and performance is to be saved.
It's perfection.
That's why we're saved because of the perfection of Jesus.
And if you're not perfect and I'm judging you by your works,
then you're not saved and neither am I.
Nobody is saved.
How much doubt, confusion does that create?
Well, you know, if someone's actively attending church,
they must be saved.
What, an unbeliever can't actively attend church?
Of course they can.
Well, you know, you've got to be reading the Bible.
An unbeliever can't pick up the Bible and read it?
Well, you know, if you've got, you know,
at least a couple of years following Christ in life.
Judas followed Christ for three years and he was never saved.
Can an unbeliever follow Jesus?
Of course he can.
Well, are they tithing though?
Can an unbeliever tithe?
Yes.
Oh, you know, give money to the poor.
Can an unbeliever give money to the poor?
Yes.
Oh, but maybe helping the widows.
Can an unbeliever help widows?
Yes.
What arbitrary level of works are you going to judge someone's salvation by?
Well, think about what work could you say,
this is a work that only a believer can do,
but not an unbeliever.
I believe Judas Iscariot, because Jesus Christ sent them two by two,
I believe Judas Iscariot went out there preaching the gospel.
Some form of God, I don't know what he preached,
but he was out there doing the work.
The disciples were so confused when Christ said,
one of you will betray me.
No one thought he was Judas.
Even when Jesus says, it's Judas,
the disciples are like, who is it?
Is it I?
What works could differentiate a believer from an unbeliever.
You know, every performance, anything can be mimicked by an unbeliever.
There's only one thing that can differentiate an unbeliever to a believer.
Guess what that is?
Faith.
That's the only thing.
Faith.
Say, well, I'm doing all these things, I'm going to church, I'm tithing, I've been baptised,
I go door to door, I've read the Bible cover to cover.
Alright, but what do you believe you have to do to be saved?
Keep the Ten Commandments, you're not saved.
It doesn't matter if you've attended church your entire life,
or you've never attended church once in your life.
If what you've changed is your faith on Christ, then you are saved.
And I'm not the judge of that.
God's Word is the judge of that.
Because I can't create some arbitrary level of standard of works,
because my standard might be here,
and Brother Oliver, by the way he dresses his standard is over here.
And Brother Callum's standard is probably over here.
I won't do that.
And we'll never know.
We'll never know.
Because you're not living up to the right standards.
That's boast in.
Look at my standard.
I know I'm saved.
Look at me.
Look at me go, guys.
What a boaster.
But this will never cause one to boast.
I'm a sinner, I don't deserve it.
It's unmerited.
It's free.
I don't even have to pay God back.
It's none of my performance.
It's faithful on Christ alone.
There is no boast of self in this measure, in this judgment.
Change is the evidence of salvation, brethren.
It's the change of your faith, the change of your trust,
the change of your belief that tells me if you're saved.
I hope no one's struggling with beer and alcohol.
I'm not trying to make light of that situation,
but I'm showing you how foolish it is to judge someone
based on how well they're performing
or how badly they're performing,
and I'm going to judge them on if they're saved or not.
That's nonsense.
And when you can't make sense out of nonsense,
you can't make sense out of nonsense.
Can you come with me to Acts 16, please?
Come with me to Acts 16.
Actually, come with me to Romans 10.
Because the Book of Romans, we all love the Book of Romans.
The Romans is clear, crystal clear.
Because Romans seems to be the book, apparently, that teaches
you judge someone's salvation by their works, apparently.
I don't know.
I'm just judging it on what you're still telling me, guys.
I'm not going to waste my time with nonsense.
Well, you turn to Romans 10.
I'm going to read to you from John 3.16.
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.
Do you believe that?
Someone's going, I believe in Christ.
I was believing my works.
I now believe in Christ.
Do you believe that verse?
If you believe that verse, guess what?
That person's saved.
If you don't believe that verse,
I don't know, let me see their works,
then you don't believe John 3.16.
These are verses we know, right?
Acts 16 verse 30, brought them out and said,
Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
If your family believes too, they too will be saved.
Did I know they're saved?
Well, I don't know.
No, no, the Bible just told me they're saved.
If they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, they're saved.
Do you believe God or do you believe man?
Man's judgments.
Ah, let me see their life.
You see, the reason many times,
and look, I don't know.
I don't want to make judgments.
I don't know, okay?
But the problem with judging someone's salvation by their works,
because we all have different arbitrary levels,
what happens at the end of the day is,
well, we all have different standards.
Pastor, what do you think?
Pastor, is he saved or pastor, is he not saved?
Instead of asking God's word,
God's word, are they saved or not saved?
Whosoever believeth in him shall not perish,
but have everlasting life.
God tells you the answer.
They are saved.
Oh, but I've got to see the works performance.
Pastor, are they saved?
What happens?
The pastor takes on some position of lordship,
and he's the one making the decision whether someone's saved or not,
because whether they're living by his standard or whatever standard he's got,
which is never the standard of perfection.
It's always the standard lower than what they're achieving in life.
It's a horrible way.
No one ever knows.
The pastor has to make the decision.
No, God already made the decision.
This is not how you judge someone's salvation.
They believe on Christ.
They've changed their faith.
They are saved, brethren.
God said so.
John 3.16 says so.
Acts 16, verse 30 and 31 says so.
You're in Romans 10, Romans 10, verse number 9.
Romans 10, verse number 9.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and shalt believe in thine heart that God have raised him from the dead,
you might be saved.
Got to see the works first.
Is that what it says?
No.
Thou shalt be saved.
That's God's word.
Do you believe it?
I believe it.
You know when we were in Fiji and 2,115 Fijians said yes,
I believe that in my heart.
I'm going to call upon the name of the Lord right now,
and we've seen that change.
Guess what?
2,115 Fijians are saved because God tells me.
God told me that.
In the book of Romans, God told me that.
I don't know what Romans someone else is reading.
I have no idea.
The book of Romans tells me they're saved.
Look at verse number 13.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord might be saved.
Got to decide on their performance first, their works.
Shall be saved.
Do you think God's messing with us here?
Or is he just telling us the truth?
Tell us the truth.
And me, like with childlike faith, I'm just going to believe what God says.
Okay.
They're saved.
Now this is where people mock you.
Going, oh, you know, just say a prayer and say, no, no.
There's more to it.
Okay.
Say some prayer.
Okay.
But it continues there in verse number, where am I up to, sorry.
Verse number 14.
How shall they then call on him in whom they have not believed?
So before we lead someone in a prayer, before we ask them to call upon the Lord, guess what?
We make sure they've believed.
We make sure they've had a change.
And I, by their profession, I see the evidence that they've changed from what they were believing
to what they are believing now.
Okay.
And how shall they believe in whom they have not heard?
Guess why we went to Fiji?
So people can hear the gospel.
And how shall they hear without a preacher?
Guess what?
We sent preachers, 56 preachers to Fiji, that the Fijians may hear, that the Fijians may believe,
that the Fijians may call upon the name of the Lord and be saved.
How can someone mock that?
How can people mock the work that we did in Fiji or mock the souls that get saved week in, week out?
Seven souls saved yesterday, by the way, with New Life Baptist Church.
Oh, boasting, no, no, boasting of the truth of God's word, Christ crucified.
You change your faith on Christ alone, you're saved.
I believe that.
Mocking, what is wrong?
Ask the question, what is going on with someone's life?
To mock salvation, to mock the gospel, to mock souls that call upon them Lord.
Oh, they're not saved because where's their works?
I'm sorry, maybe I should call you God instead of God, God.
Who's God in my life?
There's a holy one of Israel who gave me 66 books in the Bible,
the King James Bible, perfect translation English,
and he affirms people that believe, they call, they've heard from the preacher, they're saved.
Oh, could you imagine living a life like that?
It's like, what is wrong?
Is your word more powerful than God's word?
Something strange is going on.
I can't tell you what it is.
It doesn't matter.
I know there's always persecution.
I told you guys, we must go to Fiji.
There was always adversaries.
Our biggest adversary, of course, is the devil.
And the devil's going to even use God's people if he has to,
if that's going to be the fiery darts of the wicked.
How are we supposed to combat the fiery darts of the wicked, by the way?
The shield of faith, shield of faith.
Do I believe God's word that 2115 witnessed,
soul winners witnessed 2115 Fijians change their belief, call upon them, oh Lord, yes.
Shield of faith.
So when the attacks come, I'm not interested in attacking back.
I'm interested in defense.
Shield of faith, faith.
Okay, yes, I believe God's word.
Yes, I believe that they've changed what they said they were trusting in
and so they are saved according to God's word.
Defense.
Shield of faith.
Okay, in our whole armor of God.
Where are we reading there, guys?
Verse number 15 didn't get to finish.
And how shall they preach except they be sent?
15 churches sent their members to Fiji.
Eight from Australia alone.
Is that teamwork or what?
One heart, one mind, one desire to see people get saved.
And then one church decides to mock.
What in the world?
It's so upsetting.
But the Bible's warned us of these things, okay.
And I don't want you guys to get discouraged.
I don't want you to get confused.
Because God is not the author of confusion.
God is not the author of nonsense.
It says, and it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace
and bring glad tidings of good things.
You know what, what we did in Fiji and what we do every single week as a church
and what Blessed Up does every single week?
God says it's beautiful.
It's beautiful.
Okay, so you can have a pastor who mocks
and you can give your attention to that
or you can give your attention to God that says those are beautiful feet.
All I'm saying Brevin is see your heart and your eyes and your mind on the right things.
Focus on what's important.
What does God have to say?
God says it's beautiful.
When we went to Fiji, it was beautiful.
When a man says it's not beautiful and mocks it and thinks it's nonsense, who cares?
That's not God.
God's going to judge.
God's going to judge him however way God sees fit.
None of my business. It's God's business.
We get on with God's business.
We do what God has asked us to do.
The Great Commission. Preach the gospel.
See souls saved.
Believe the Bible.
Cause people to change as evidence of salvation.
Change what they believe.
I'm sorry if I'm going a bit long, Brevin.
But when someone mocks, I'll say this.
Again, let's say one got saved.
Is it worth mocking though?
No.
If zero got saved, do we mock people's attempts to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ?
God knows the number.
God knows.
We always say that, right?
God knows exactly the number.
I just believe his word.
If 2,115 caught upon them, Lord, change what they believe, I just believe God's word, they're saved.
God knows the number.
Again, we were conservative with our numbers.
Could have counted higher.
If we counted higher, we could probably get to the 3,000.
Okay, but it's not about the numbers.
This is about doing God's work.
And you know what?
Those that are going to get saved, guess what?
They're going to be rejoicing in heaven for all eternity.
Thankful that New Life Baptist Church went to Fiji and seven other churches in Australia went to Fiji because they had a love for lost souls.
You say, what is wrong?
Why would someone mock?
Again, I don't know.
All I tell you is there's something wrong with that person's heart, something wrong with their spirit.
Okay?
Worst case scenario, we're dealing with a false prophet.
Best case scenario, we're dealing with a brother who's just confused,
ignorant.
Could be somewhere in the middle.
I don't know what it is.
I don't care.
I care about fulfilling the great commission that God has asked us to do.
And I'm not going to get discouraged.
I don't even really want to preach a sermon.
Right?
I had another sermon lined up for this morning.
But I just want to make sure that our church doesn't lose focus.
And when I tell you guys the devil's going to attack, the devil's going to attack.
The devil's going to find a way.
Okay?
And if the devil has to use envy, the devil has to use, I don't know, friends.
If the devil has to use brothers and sisters, the devil's going to try to find a way to cause darkness in the hearts and the minds of people.
But you focus.
You focus on what God's asked us to do.
Okay?
Guess what's going to happen next year?
We're going back to Fiji.
Guess what's going to happen this Saturday?
We're going to go soul winning.
And when someone changes what they believe, and we've seen that evidence, and they've called upon them, Lord, we're going to count that salvation.
As an encouragement.
Hey, brethren, the gospel works.
The gospel works.
Okay?
Can you come with me to Hebrews 11, please?
Hebrews 11.
As an auditor, you get confused.
People use funny language.
Well, I know you said this, but the department's doing that.
I know you've told me that you're training your staff this way, but your training manual says this other thing.
And again, people use language and strange things.
What I love most about the Bible is that if we used Bible words, if we used Bible language,
we will never get confused.
We use Bible language.
I believe in repentance.
It's a Bible word.
I love that word, repentance.
Change what you believe.
Believe the gospel.
I love that word.
I also love the word evidence.
It's in the Bible.
Okay?
Hebrews 11, verse number 1.
What's the substance of things hoped for?
The evidence of faith.
And it continues, the evidence of things not seen.
You know what?
When someone calls upon them, Lord, and they change their faith, I can't see the born-again spirits.
I can't see the Holy Ghost living within them.
I can't see their name, whatever God does, forever settled in heaven for all eternity.
I can't even see the new heavens and the new earth.
I can't even see Christ crucified 2,000 years ago.
Okay?
But what I can see is their change of faith.
And the Bible tells me that faith is the evidence of things not, this is important, not seen.
When you make works or performance the evidence, what do they want?
I want to see the evidence.
I want to see it.
Got to see it.
The evidence is not seen, my friend.
The evidence is faith.
That's what the Bible teaches.
So when someone makes a title, change the evidence of salvation, and let me tell you all about works,
they use Bible words.
Change, repentance, yes.
Evidence, yes.
But it works.
Sneaky.
The devil is subtle, friends, subtle.
We believe in change.
We believe in evidence.
But what you change, what you repent from, is the wrong faith.
You change it and you put your right faith on Jesus Christ.
And the moment someone's done that, and I witness that, and they say yes, I can see the difference.
Yes, I believe that.
Yes, I want to call upon them, O Lord.
Fifty-six soul winners in Fiji witnessed 2,115 people make that change, change of their faith,
and their faith is the evidence of things not seen.
So, brethren, is change the evidence of salvation?
A hundred percent, but it's the wrong question.
What must we change?
Your faith, your belief.
And when someone's trying to confuse you and make it based on works,
brethren, you've got to be careful.
Know God's Word.
Believe God before you believe man.
Everything you've heard me preach today, go back to God's Word.
Is that what God's Word says?
Don't turn around and say, I believe that sermon pastor Kevin preached.
I'd rather you turn around this week and say, I believe what God's Word said.
I believe what I read in Ephesians.
I believe what I read in the book of John.
I believe what I read in the book of Romans.
That salvation is without works and that faith is the evidence of things not seen.
Okay, brethren, let's pray.