Music
Good morning welcome to steadfast Baptist Church if you can please find your seats let's turn to song 33
Christ the Lord is risen today let's sing it out 33 Christ the Lord is risen today
song 33 Christ the Lord is risen today
Christ the Lord is risen today
Hallelujah
Sons of men and angels sing
Hallelujah
Raise your voice and triumphs high
Hallelujah
Singing heaven and earth we cry
Hallelujah
Climbs again our glorious King
Hallelujah
Where old death is now my sting
Hallelujah
I eat once the old God says
Hallelujah
Where I dare throw me away
Hallelujah
Thus redeeming work is done
Hallelujah
On the fight the battle won
Hallelujah
Death in vain forgives him right
Hallelujah
Christ has opened paradise
Hallelujah
Spore he now where Christ has led
Hallelujah
All men are exalted there
Hallelujah
May thy hymn life give me rise
Hallelujah
Hearts across the great sky
Hallelujah
Great singing. Let's open up in a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, thank you for this morning.
Thank you for Easter and for your son Jesus Christ to pay the sacrifice for our sins.
Thank you that he rose again from the dead.
We love you. We appreciate salvation.
And I just pray that we'd all have a burden to get others saved.
We love you in Jesus' name. Amen.
For our next song, let's go to 32 right there.
He lives on high.
Song 32, he lives on high.
Three, two, he lives on high.
Christ the Savior came from heaven's glory
To redeem the last what's said and said
On his ground he bore the whole crown glory
And upon Calvary he took my name
He lives on high. He lives on high.
I have no more sin in all this day
He lives on high. He lives on high.
So many needs have been done there
He arose from death and all his sorrow
Too glad that there were no more
He is coming back from life tomorrow
And he'll take all his children home
He lives on high. He lives on high.
I have no more sin in all this day
He lives on high. He lives on high.
So may he's coming again
We bring soul to Jesus of the blessing
Make the church the city of mercy
Look to Jesus and receive the blessing
There is life, there is joy and victory
He lives on high. He lives on high.
I have no more sin in all this day
He lives on high. He lives on high.
So may he's coming again
Good morning, thank you so much for coming to Steadfast Baptist Church
and happy Easter to everyone except for Joe Biden, may he rot in hell
But if you want more of that information you have to come tonight
where we'll be celebrating his event, okay?
On the inside of our bulletin we have our service and soul winning times
also we have our church stats
On the right we have a list of expecting ladies
and we also have upcoming events down below
We have March 31st, you made it, our Easter and communion services
So this evening immediately following the evening service
we're going to observe the Lord's Supper this evening
and so if you'd like to join us please do
Some people may ask, do you have open or closed communion?
Our policy is open, of course it is closed to those who are saved
and those who are not in violation of church discipline issues
but we are open to people that are not an official member of our church
because if you're saved you're part of the body of Christ
and so that is our policy
April 6th is going to be the next preaching class
April 9th through the 10th is the very Baptist youth rally
It's geared towards teenagers
April 13th is the Serivport Louisiana Soul Winning marathon
and we have a sign up sheet, it looks like a lot of people have already signed up
It's a great opportunity to travel not that far, just a few hours away
and honestly it's some of the best soul winning we've had consistently over the years
We've gone there pretty much every year for the last few years
and it's been really receptive, everybody usually really enjoys that specific trip
and so if you can travel with us please consider doing so
May 5th is a spring swap
Essentially we're just going to bring items of value that you have no need for
that you just like to donate to others
and then of course any individual that would like any of the items that are donated
may take them freely
If you do have anything that you're considering donating
we're not going to have you bring them
or we don't want you to bring them until the Wednesday before May 5th
and so also one other item
if you're bringing anything heavy, big, bulky or furniture
you need to have someone lined up that's already agreed to take it
don't bring any of those items unless you have someone already agreed to take it
so you could post it in one of our groups
whether that be Facebook, Whatsapp, Signal, any of the above or anything
email or something
If you have somebody lined up you can but we just want to make sure that we don't have a lot of items
that we can't physically get rid of
Down below we have the note we had a soul winning marathon yesterday
and we had a lot of people come out and join us
We ended up having 53 salvations for the day so praise the Lord on that
Honestly that's still a really good number
I didn't get an exact count of the soul winners but I would say maybe about 50, 60 maybe in the morning
and honestly when you can match about the salvations per soul winners
that's really a pretty good day, a very receptive area
and so we still have a great work to do, a great harvest that's out there
but we have to put in the labor, we have to put in the work of going out there
and so I definitely appreciate everybody who participated and put in effort and energy yesterday
On the back we have the note of our prayer list, please be in prayer for our church family
I was going to make a note on the front of our bulletin is our Bible memory passage
and typically what we do is we wait until we've completed the entire passage
to hand out any kind of prizes
but I am going to make an exception for this specific proverb
and I have some unique prizes with me
So we actually made some custom tumblers
with different colors
So since it's Proverbs 31 I thought maybe I could entice some individuals to memorize this chapter
Now I don't have infinite number of these but I do have several, I have over a couple dozen
and I have limited quantities of colors and everything like this
so what it's going to be is it's going to be a first come first serve
Now there is other prizes, if you have completed Proverbs 31
there's also a gift card prize that's approximately the same value
so you can, if you'd like to just get like an Amazon gift card or something
you can just take that or you can get one of these mugs
If you've already completed the challenge you can see brother Dylan
and you can say I want either the gift card or I want one of these tumblers
and you can get them, okay
You can do that right now after service or from now until we get to the end of the line
but you have to have completed it
In order to complete you have to quote the entire passage
Proverbs 31, word perfect to a non-family member
That's how you can receive that prize
So like I said, if you want to you can claim your prize already if you're that person
if not you can see them after the service
We're going to go ahead and sing our hymn of the week
We've usually been doing a psalm of the week but this is a new hymn that was written
and I want to sing, it's called Where the Spirit Blows
So we're going to sing that now
I called them flasks I think last week or something like that
Some people crook their neck or whatever
But I guess the brand is called Hydroflask, okay
So it's not like I'm just coming up with these things out of nowhere
Of course we drink water in these things, okay
But coffee maybe, I don't know
If you like dirty water
But just basically at least something that has to do with water, okay
We're going to sing our third song this morning
Where the Spirit Blows
You're the first one
Not just the truth
That is going through
Where the Spirit Blows
We will grow
Grow, grow, grow
Where the Spirit Blows
We will grow
Father, Spirit, Son
Each we are one
Holy Trinity
Always with me
Where the Spirit Blows
We will grow
Grow, grow, grow
Where the Spirit Blows
We will grow
We might sit still
Sit twice to tell
But he arose
Fasting our foes
Where the Spirit Blows
We will grow
Grow, grow, grow
Where the Spirit Blows
We will grow
Grow, grow, grow
Where the Spirit Blows
We will grow
Great reminder for soul winning
At this time we're going to turn our Bibles
to 1 Corinthians chapter 15
We're going to read the entire passage
as the offering plates are passed around
So if you would please turn your Bibles
to 1 Corinthians chapter number 15
1 Corinthians chapter 15
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be he steadfast,
unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is
not in vain in the Lord. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Father God, we thank you
so much, Lord, for Easter and just for our church services today. I pray that you fill
Pastor Shelley with the fullness and power of the Holy Spirit as he preaches to us,
give him clarity of mind, and enable him to preach his message with boldness. And Lord,
help us to receive the sermon with open ears and soft hearts. And we thank you, Lord,
for the free gift of salvation as well. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Amen.
1 Corinthians 15 is a very famous chapter about the resurrection, and it starts in verse
number one saying, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you,
which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved,
if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
Now, in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, he's dealing with a church issue where some people in the
congregation are denying a resurrection. They're not just denying Christ's resurrection.
They're denying the idea that anyone can rise again from the dead, which is really a doctrine
coming from the Sadducees. The Sadducees are ones who denied the resurrection, and so there
are people in this church denying the resurrection, and of course, that would apply to Jesus Christ
himself. And the Apostle Paul is saying, you have to remember the gospel I preached because
the gospel I preached was the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And he makes
it abundantly clear in this chapter. But one concept that he brings up here in verse number
two is this, the idea that some people may have believed in vain. Some people may have believed
in vain. I want to preach a sermon this morning on believing in vain, believing in vain.
What does that mean? What was it talking about in this specific chapter? Well,
I believe it's very clear when you study the whole context of this passage and just the
rest of the Bible that what he's trying to say here is to believe in vain is talking about
understanding, acknowledging, or acquiescing to certain facts of the Bible or of the gospel,
but not having actually put your faith in the gospel. So there's a certain level of knowledge
that people can acquire about God, about Jesus Christ, about the gospel, and still not be saved.
If I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross, if I believe that Jesus Christ is the
Son of God, if I believe that Jesus Christ was God manifest in the flesh, but I deny the
resurrection, I'm still not saved. Someone who denies the resurrection is not saved.
They haven't fully trusted in Christ yet. And because of that fact, because of their
status of not being saved, all the other things that they believed are in vain,
meaning that they're meaningless, that they don't accomplish anything. Acknowledging the facts of
the gospel is not enough to save you. And there are many Christians today, there are many
people in this world today that believe the facts of the gospel or they believe certain facts about
Jesus Christ, yet they haven't trusted in the gospel to save them and they're not saved.
One of these aspects specifically is that you have to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Jehovah's Witnesses deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They deny the bodily
resurrection of Jesus Christ and whatever belief they have, whatever their religion is, is in vain.
All of the works that they're doing, they're going to church, they're going out and talking
to people on the street, they're changing of their life, they're repenting of their sins,
they're acknowledging of Jesus, they're writing of pamphlets and their own twisted, corrupted
perversion is profiting them nothing. They are still unsaved and if they die, they will die
in their sins and they will not go to heaven. They have believed in vain. And what we must do
is we must convince many people today who are believing in vain to change their mind about
what they believe and to actually get saved. There are so many Christians today, there are so
many Protestants today, and there are so many Catholics today who are believing in vain.
Meaning that they're not saved. It doesn't mean that they don't acknowledge certain facts
of the gospel. It doesn't mean that they don't understand that Jesus is the son of God.
And in fact, many of them will acknowledge the resurrection. The problem is they're not
trusting that to save them. And the Bible is very clear that you have to believe in the
resurrection to be saved. Go to Romans chapter number 10. Let's go to another passage here.
I'm not going to come back to 1 Corinthians for a while so you don't have to keep a finger
there. I want to flip to a lot of other passages though. Go to Romans chapter number 10
and look at verse number nine here for a moment. Catholics going to mass this morning
and performing a pagan ritual of bowing down to graven statues and performing a blasphemous
form of communion called the Eucharist. They're doing it all in vain. It's not benefiting them
in any way. It's not making them more saved. They're unsaved and what they're doing is in vain.
Now when it comes to salvation specifically, you have to believe in the resurrection
or every other part of your belief is in vain. Look at Romans chapter number 10 verse 9.
According to the Bible, you have to believe in the resurrection. What this tells me is that
it's not simply enough to just acknowledge that Jesus is the son of God to be saved.
Because you could find passages in the Bible or you could see loosely interpreted passages
that talk about, hey, if you believe Jesus is the Christ and you're born of God. We see
many times in the Gospel people are acknowledging that Jesus Christ is the son of God and it
appears like that's the moment that they got saved. And here's the thing, that's true.
There's nothing not true about that. But from a Jewish perspective, when people were
acknowledging the Christ or that Jesus was the son of God, they were acknowledging that He
was the one that was going to die and be sacrificed for them. So they already had
a presuppositional view of what the Christ meant, of what the son of God meant, including
the resurrection. So by them acknowledging that Christ was the lamb that was going to
be slain, by them acknowledging that He was the son of God, they were already embracing
the resurrection. But for many Gentiles who have no concept of the Bible, who don't
really understand anything about Scripture, who have no idea what the word Christ even
means, it would be easier for someone like that to not necessarily attach every single
definition to Christ that should be attached to Christ. They may be confused and be compartmentalized
on certain facts. And so they have to be educated a lot more about what that even
means to be Christ or the son of God or that there's a resurrection. I mean, these
people were pagan idolaters. These people were caught up in all kinds of fake and false
religion. So they had to have a quick education session of, look, all of what you believe
is just wrong. There is one God and He's comprised of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Son created the worlds. I mean, think about what's being taught in the New Testament
epistles, all kinds of great doctrine, a lot of foundational teachings and stuff because
they're needing to be educated and brought up to speed and understanding a lot of these
different doctrines and facts. So there's certain individuals in these Gentile churches
who are denying the resurrection. Well, you know what? You're not saved. You have
to believe in the resurrection. And so as the Apostle Paul is going throughout the
world, he keeps discovering new situations where, oh, well, I didn't understand that
would be a case. Like, I can't believe that I would literally come to you and preach
that Jesus Christ died, was buried and rose again. And then you say you don't even believe
in a resurrection. Like, that's bizarre. Like, I don't understand that. He's like,
if you believe that, you're not saved. So the Apostle Paul is saying there are
certain qualifications of someone's belief to understand that they're saved. And
when we go out soul winning, we try our best to cover a certain number of bases.
Like you have to admit you're a sinner. I mean, if you can't admit that you're
a sinner deserving of hell, what do you need to be saved from? You really don't have
a need for salvation. So we must acquiesce. We must understand. We must embrace the fact
that we're a sinner deserving of hell before we can even embrace salvation itself.
Additionally, we must then understand the facts of the Gospel. We have to understand
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. We must understand that Jesus Christ died on
the cross and paid for our sins, not his sin. That he was sinless. And that he took
all of the sins of the whole world and put them upon himself. That he was then
crucified, slain, put in the tomb, but did not stay dead, but rather rose again
from the dead after three days and three nights. Now while I teach this, I usually
explain that he also went to hell. I don't think that someone has to understand that
to be saved, but I always incorporate that. And I virtually have never had a problem with
anybody understanding that fact or embracing that truth of the Gospel as well. And once
they've understood the Gospel, this is when the real challenge comes in, explaining
to this person that salvation is by faith alone in that Gospel that we just explained.
That it's not, well, I know that Jesus did his part, but you've got to do your
part. Or, well, you've got to embrace Jesus and you've got to do some extra things, too.
Go to Galatians 1, it covers that specific issue. Because there are many Christians
today who believe in the death, but resurrection that are celebrating Easter today, and they're
not saved. And you want to know why they're not saved? It's because they haven't embraced
the Gospel as the truth. They haven't accepted the Gospel as the only form of their
salvation. As the payment for their salvation, they're still trying to pay for their salvation.
They're still trying to earn their salvation. And in Galatians chapter 1, we see another
situation where we could have a group of people believing in vain. What does it mean
to believe in vain again? Well, the word vain just means meaningless. It doesn't
have any value. It could just mean nothing. And it's saying, whatever you believe is meaningless.
It doesn't accomplish anything. In the context of salvation, if you don't believe the right
Gospel, if you don't believe the right facts of the Gospel, and if you don't put 100 percent
of your faith in that Gospel, you're not saved. It's not going to benefit you. It's
not going to give you that salvation that you desire. You must believe in the Gospel
to be saved. Now, Galatians chapter 1 addresses this. Verse 6, I marvel that you are so
soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another Gospel.
Now notice, the Apostle Paul brings up the fact that there's a church that got mixed
up in another Gospel. So this must be different than the Gospel that the Apostle Paul preached,
right? But then look at verse number 7, which is not another. Now that's an important
caveat. You know what the Apostle Paul is trying to explain to them? He's saying,
it's another Gospel, but they didn't change the facts. He's saying, it's not like someone's
going around saying something other than that Jesus Christ died and the cross was buried
and rose again. But they've somehow taken that and they've perverted what it means.
They've perverted what it means, and they've perverted what it means to believe
in the Gospel and the words surrounding it. And verse 7, which is not another, but
there be some that trouble you and would pervert the Gospel of Christ. Pervert means
to make crooked, to change, to alter. And it says here in verse number 8,
The Apostle Paul takes this so seriously. Why would he take this so seriously? Because
another Gospel doesn't save. Because another Gospel is someone believing in vain. If you
go out here not far, if you go under the highway, the 20 over here, you're going
to see a giant church and it's going to say the full Gospel. It's a big church,
a big building, and it's like, hey, the full Gospel church. Well, let me explain something
to you. Their church has another Gospel. And when they put the word full there, what
they're trying to say is it should be F-O-O-L Gospel because you know what? They're
a bunch of Pentecostal, you know, tongue-talking freaks that go over there and they teach
you can lose your salvation. They teach that salvation is not simply by trusting
in Christ. They add works to their Gospel and if you go and talk to people out here
and say, oh yeah, I go to the full Gospel church, you know what? They're not saved.
They're believing in vain. And you know what? You'll notice there's a lot of churches
in this area that are fooling many people with another Gospel. And unfortunately, there's
so many people in this area. I mean, I'll be honest with you. Atheism seems like
a white man religion because when I go in these areas, I mean, this Cedar Hill is pretty
notorious for being a lot larger black population than other areas. I think it's
almost like 50% of the population here, which is way larger because in America it's
only 13%. So it's a lot higher percentage. And when I run into young black people
here or really any black people here, they're all religious. They all go to church.
They all know Jesus. And you know what? They all think that they're saved. But you know what?
The vast majority of them are believing in vain. They're believing in vain and they've
been called into another Gospel, which is not another, but there are people
perverting the Gospel of Jesus Christ and they're causing people to die and go to
Hell. And you know what? Preachers like that should be accursed of God.
They should be accursed because they're damning souls to Hell. Let me explain to you this
other Gospel for a moment. Keep your finger because we're coming right back to Galatians. Go to Acts chapter 15.
Go to Acts chapter 15. You say, well, what does a perverted Gospel look like, Pastor Shelley?
How could someone pervert the Gospel? Well, we have a very clear example of this in the
Bible for us, of what someone did to pervert it. And let's see how extreme
they went. Let's see how much they added. Because you have to ask this question, like,
Well, they didn't change it that much. Oh, no, no. Let me explain something to you, friend.
You change it even one iota and it's now another Gospel and it doesn't save.
You say, well, you say it's faith alone. I say it's faith plus just one thing.
What's that one thing? Well, look at Acts chapter 15. Look at verse 1.
And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren and said,
except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved.
Look what they said. Hey, I like your faith thing.
I like your Gospel. But let me just add one thing.
You got to get circumcised. Because if you don't get circumcised,
notice they made it clear, you can't be saved.
And look, there are people today who do the exact same thing.
They go out and they just add one thing. But let me explain something to you.
That's another Gospel. Go back to Galatians chapter 1.
Go back to Galatians chapter 1. He's addressing that in this specific
epistle, this idea of people adding to the Gospel and putting more things into the Gospel.
Look at chapter 2 and look at verse 21.
I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the law,
then Christ is dead in vain. You know what?
If you have to add anything to what Jesus did or it has something to do with the law,
it's saying everything that Christ did or accomplished was in vain.
And that's similar to what 1 Corinthians 15 is explaining.
It's saying, look, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead,
everything he did was in vain. Do you realize by Christ being born of a
virgin, performing just countless miracles, all kinds of healing people and raising
people from the dead and walking on water and preaching the
greatest sermons that have ever been preached for years and witnessing and
doing all these things and then dying on the cross as a perfect and spotless
lamb and then going to hell. If he didn't rise from the dead,
all that's in vain. And if you add anything to that,
all of it's all in vain too. That's what the Bible is saying,
meaning it's meaningless. And you know what?
We don't want to take everything that Jesus did.
We don't want to take the nails that were put into Jesus' hand and the nails put in
Jesus' feet and the crown of thorns that was shoved on his brow and all of the stripes
that struck on his back and the blood that gushed out of his body and is going and
descending into hell and rising. We don't want to take all of that and
throw in the trash by adding to the gospel. You are trashing Jesus Christ.
You are making his death and burial and resurrection meaningless by adding to the gospel.
I mean, how excruciating would it be to have to watch your Lord and Savior be spit
on and punched and just brutally beaten and laughed at and mocked and then for
someone to just say like, oh, I know you did all that and that was really rough,
but it was meaningless. It doesn't count for anything.
You have to do it over. You have to do it again.
That's what people do when they add to the gospel.
It should make you angry. It should make you frustrated.
Imagine how a little toddler feels when he gets all the blocks and he starts organizing
them and he builds this nice little building, he builds a little house, and then his brother
just comes along and just like, pew! He's like, you built that in vain.
You know what they do? They're like, ahhh! They start beating, you know, they start fighting, right?
He gets angry at the work that he just did.
The two minutes of work he did building blocks, he's so mad at, and it's like, just imagine
all the things that Jesus literally had to do, just being completely wiped off and
just being meaningless, that should make you angry.
Oh, you seem mad at people that add to the gospel.
You better believe it.
It should make you angry too if you love Jesus.
It should make you angry too if you understand what Jesus had to do for us, and to add
to that, and to try to diminish from what he did, and try to take away from what he did,
or to try to make it vain.
You know what?
He says, I'm not going to frustrate, frustrate the grace of God, because if you add anything
from the law, you know what?
Christ is dead in vain.
Look at chapter 4 for a moment.
Look at chapter number 4 for a moment and look at verse 11.
Galatians chapter 4, look at verse number 11.
I'm afraid of you, lest I bestow it upon you labor in vain, saying, look, if I preach
the gospel to you, if I explain to you that Jesus Christ died and was buried and
rose again, and that salvation is a free gift, and it's just by trusting in him,
and once you believe in him, you have eternal life, and then you say, I think I
have to get circumcised, he's like, it's all in vain.
He's like, I'm afraid that I've literally wasted my time explaining to you guys the
gospel, because even though you may acknowledge all that, you say, yep, that's true, yep, that's
true, yep, that's true, yep, that's true, I've got to get baptized.
I've got to repent of my sins.
I've got to go do the catechism.
I've got to go do the Eucharist.
I've got to go do whatever, or I can't be saved.
You know what?
All of that labor was in vain, and that's what the apostle Paul is explaining.
He's like, man, I feel like I've set up this church, and it was a complete waste of time.
I didn't realize I was setting up a Jehovah's Witness cult or something.
I didn't realize y'all were going to all be given over to the Mormons or become Catholic
or something.
He's just saying, I feel like everything I've done is in vain.
That's what he's afraid of.
That's what he's saying to these people.
Go to Galatians chapter 5 and look at verse 3.
For I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the
whole law.
Christ has become of no effect unto you.
Whosoever of you are justified by the law, you are fallen from grace.
For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of the righteousness by faith.
So according to the Bible, if you get circumcised, thinking that that has something
to do to save you, notice what he says.
If you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
And verse number 2.
Sorry, I don't know if we read that verse, but look at verse 2 again.
That if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
It's meaningless.
Everything you believe about Christ, if you decide to get circumcised, now it's meaningless.
You know someone like that?
Young Don.
His name's reborn, but it's really just reprobate.
Young Don reprobate because this guy literally expounded what I'm saying today.
He expounded that salvation was a free gift, that Jesus Christ died on the cross.
He explained that Jesus Christ was buried.
He explained that Jesus Christ rose again from the dead.
He said, you can't lose your salvation.
And then you know what?
He said, all that's a lie, and he got circumcised.
An adult man.
Look, when an adult man willingly circumcises himself, he's a reprobate, folks.
That's an extreme rejection of the gospel.
And notice what he's saying here, very specifically, if you be circumcised, Christ shall
profit you nothing.
Oh, well, he's going to be pleased with what I did.
Not at all.
None.
Notice he says in verse number four, Christ has become of no effect unto you, whosoever
you are justified by the law, you are fallen from grace.
What does that mean, to be fallen from grace?
What is he trying to say here?
Well, to be justified by the law means that you're pointing to anything other than
the gospel as a part of salvation.
Like saying, hey, you have to be circumcised, or you cannot be saved.
They're being justified by the law to circumcise.
If you say, well, you can't commit murder and go to heaven, oh, so now you're being
justified by the law for not having kept murder.
Oh, well, you have to repent of your sins in order, now you're trying to justify yourself
by the law.
You know what?
The Pharisees were willing to justify themselves, what the Bible says.
They thought because they kept the law, that they were saved, and you know what?
Jesus kept trying to point out to them how they didn't keep the law.
Because if someone thinks they keep the law, you have to first explain to them how
they don't.
Be like, if you think you're getting to heaven by keeping the law, what about this
sin?
Oops.
You know, the young rich ruler is just saying like, what good things shall I do that I
may inherit eternal life?
And he's like, you know, keep the commandments.
You know, I like the witch.
You know, what a punk.
Of course, all of them, bro.
Not just the ones that you want to keep, you have to keep all of them.
And Jesus Christ just goes through this whole list of commandments, he's just like,
all these have I kept from my youth, what lack I yet?
And he's like, oh, you're going to be perfect then, sell all that thou hast and give
to the poor and come and follow me.
And then he went away sorrowful.
Why?
Because he's a sinner.
Because literally no one is perfect.
Because literally no one is going to keep the law.
And those who are justified by the law, they're falling from grace.
Now some people say, oh, look, this person lost their salvation.
Wrong.
Grace is unmerited favor.
Grace is the opportunity to even get saved.
You know what?
For by grace, are you saved through faith?
The grace is offered to everyone.
Grace is offered to every single person.
But the only way the grace applies to you is when you accept it by faith.
So everyone is offered the God's grace, the salvation grace is offered to them.
But you know what?
Those who seek to be justified by the law, they've fallen from that grace, they've fallen
from that opportunity to be saved, they've rejected that grace that's been offered
unto them.
And so therefore, they are fallen from grace and they're not saved.
It's not saying that they got saved and then lost it later or something like that.
No, no, no.
It's saying that they were offered the opportunity to be saved, God's grace was extended towards
them and they rejected it.
You're late on your rent payment and the owner says, hey, no problem.
My son's willing to pay for you.
All you have to do is ask him for it.
If you just say, hey, landowner's son, Weinstein or whatever, Goldberg, they always say Jesus
is a Jew, right?
They say, hey, will you pay my rent?
He'll do it.
And it's like this guy's offering you grace, he's offering you this grace saying, look,
my son will literally pay your rent debt.
All you have to do is just ask him for it.
And they say, no, I don't want to ask him for it.
They've fallen from grace.
It was offered to them and they rejected it.
Look, the grace of God is extended to all men.
God loves everybody.
We can tell that when Jesus Christ was born and the angels were coming and singing
and glorifying God, they were saying, hey, there's good will towards men.
There's grace extended to everybody.
But there's so many people that have fallen from grace because they're wanting to be
justified by the law.
And there shall no flesh be justified by the law.
The Bible's super clear.
Hey, well, I don't think that you have to get circumcised, but you do have to get
baptized wrong.
If you are getting baptized to go to heaven, you're not saved.
If you're going to church to go to heaven, you're not saved.
If you're getting catechized to go to heaven, you're not saved.
If you're doing Hail Marys to go to heaven, you know what?
You're going to go to hell.
If you think going to church is going to get you into heaven, you're going to hell.
And if you think that repenting of your sin is getting you into heaven, you're going
to hell.
Why do you preach like this?
Because you know what?
I don't want anyone here to believe in vain.
I don't want anybody, any child, any visitor, any long-time member to have believed in
vain and to not recognize that salvation is a free gift, and if you didn't accept
it as a free gift, you didn't get saved.
You can know 100% sure that you're saved, and you can know that you're on your way
to heaven, but you know what?
You better recognize that it has nothing to do with what you did, will do, or are
doing.
It's only what Jesus did.
That's why our invitation literally says, Jesus paid it all.
And that's not just a cool saying, we believe it.
That's what we believe when we go out and preach the gospel.
And a lot of people give lip service to it, but then they add and attach their works.
Look at verse 12 here in Galatians chapter 5.
Now this is what the apostle Paul thinks of people who are mixed up on the gospel
or trying to confuse people.
I would that they were even cut off, which trouble you.
Meaning that he wishes that these people would just be excommunicated from society.
These people were just completely just abandoned.
No one would have anything to do with them ever again.
The basically heretics would be excommunicated in a sense.
If you read the modern versions, it says something really weird here, all right?
Emasculated or something, it's like, it's weird, okay?
But look at verse 13, this is important.
For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty, only use not liberty for an occasion to
the flesh, but by love serve one another.
Now this is where the Bible is making a good transition, okay?
And I want to make a transition in my sermon as well.
When we talk about believing in vain, and specifically in the context of 1 Corinthians
chapter number 15, it's very clear what we're talking about is salvation.
Someone believing facts about the gospel or believing facts about Jesus and not having
them all together or not putting all their trust in that and what they believe is ultimately
in vain and they're not saved.
But there are people who are saved and can also still believe in vain in another context,
and I want to talk about that as well.
And here's the thing.
Notice what it's trying to say in verse number 13, ye have been called unto liberty.
Look, somebody will say, oh, you're telling me that I can believe in Jesus and do whatever
I want and I'll still go to heaven?
Yes.
You have liberty.
Look, oh, you're telling me that God's going to put a man in the Garden of Eden
and give him access to every tree, even trees, he doesn't want to allow him to eat
and allow him to eat them?
Yes I am, because God gives us free will.
God allows us to make good decisions, God allows us to make bad decisions.
And you know what gives God goner and glory?
When we make good decisions.
And you know what makes God upset?
When we make bad decisions.
But at the end of the day, praise God that he took off the table, me having to make
all the right decisions to go to heaven, and he said you only have to make one decision,
trusting in Jesus Christ.
And once you've made that decision, you're saved for all of eternity.
But notice, since I have this liberty, what should I do with it?
Right?
I could technically literally do anything.
I could right now just go, just quit church, just walk out right now, drive to
the bank, drain my bank account with all the money in it, just go to the Bahamas
or something or go to Mexico and just rent a boat and just go hang out on the ocean.
I could just go play golf all day, every day.
I could literally just go lay on the sidewalk and do nothing ever again.
And if you ever come up to me, I'll be like, I don't even know who you are.
Go away from me.
I could literally just do, I could do anything I want and I would still go to heaven.
You know what?
I'm not going to use my liberty as an occasion to the flesh.
And being homeless isn't that great anyways, okay?
So don't try it, all right?
But there are some things that we could do that are fun.
I'm not saying temporary pleasure, temporary satisfaction, but the Bible is saying don't
use that liberty for an occasion to the flesh.
But notice this, by love, notice this, serve one another.
What is the opposite of serving the flesh?
Serving other people.
You want to know if you're right with God?
Well, let me ask you this question.
How many other people did you serve this week?
Who did you serve on Saturday?
Well, I had a pretty good time serving myself.
Well, you know what?
You're using your liberty as an occasion to the flesh.
Notice what he's trying to command us to do and what he's trying to encourage us
to do is to take that liberty that we have and choose to love other people, choose
to serve other people, to do good unto other people.
Go over to James, chapter number one, go to James, chapter number one.
Want to talk about believing in vain?
Well, here's something.
How about going to church and then literally doing nothing for God?
Let me explain something to you.
You're believing in vain.
You think showing up at this building physically is going to magically give you favor with
God?
You're deceiving yourself.
And I want to explain this.
Look at James, chapter one, look at verse twenty-two.
Let me explain something.
Hearing the word of God is not your goal in life.
You need to be a doer of the word.
God takes pleasure in those who do the word, not those who hear only, because notice
what it says, you're deceiving yourselves.
Why?
You're believing in vain.
Well, you don't understand, Pastor Shelley.
I understand everything in the Bible.
I have all the right doctrines.
I literally know everything, every verse, every line.
Well, what do you do?
Nothing.
It's all in vain.
You've believed it all in vain.
And you're deceiving yourself by thinking that God magically just wants to bless you
just because you've heard the Bible or you've heard good preaching.
Hey, coming to this church and hearing preaching, let's just say, even if it was
objectively better than some other preaching, but you do nothing, and then the guy that
heard the lame preaching does something, he's better off.
You know who's the blessed person?
The doer of the word, not the hearer.
You know what?
The hearer has a responsibility to do what he's been told.
The information that he's received, not, oh, now I'm just automatically blessed because
I heard it.
Look at verse 23, for if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like
unto a man beholding his natural face in the glass, for he beholdeth himself and
goeth his way and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
Meaning that if I look in the mirror and I see that I have a problem, but I choose
not to address it, what will happen as soon as I stop looking in the mirror, I'll forget
that I even have that problem because you can't look at your face.
I don't even know this, unless you're a Jew, you can't even see your nose.
If you can see your nose, there's a little bit of Jew in you, all right?
That's the test, okay?
You wanted to know, you don't need a DNA test, okay?
That's the DNA test right there.
They say, why do Jews have such big noses?
Because air is free, exactly.
Hey, they might change that pretty soon, you never know.
But at the end of the day, you know, we should not be Christians who spend all day
looking in the mirror doing nothing.
Oh, I got all this mud and trash on my face, I got all these problems on my face
and I can see it.
Boy, do I look ugly.
Why don't you comb your hair then?
Why don't you wash your face a little bit?
Why don't you deal with the issue that's going on since you can see?
And notice, they forget what manner of man that they are.
You know, what would be an example of this?
Well, it's when Christians think that their God is pleased with them, but he's not.
What is the manner of man?
Well, here's the thing, when you look at the Bible and you go to church,
you know what you're reminded?
You're a Christian.
You know, but then you leave church and you'll say, oh, I know I'm a Christian,
but I kind of forgot about that because I've been reminded that I'm a Cowboys fan.
I'm an American.
I'm a Texan.
I'm a carpenter.
I'm a dad.
I'm a son.
I'm a friend.
I'm a boyfriend.
I'm a husband.
There's a lot of things that you are, but you know what?
When you go to church, you should be reminded, hey, you're a Christian.
But what many times will happen is many Christians will leave church and then they forget
that they're a Christian.
And they spend their life remembering, well, I'm a Cowboys fan and I'm a Texan and I'm
a husband and I'm an employee and I'm a boss and I'm all these other things and
you know what?
Then their life is in vain.
They believe in vain.
They accomplish nothing with their life.
You know what?
Our lives are not here to just be carpenters and builders and sons and fathers and husbands
and everything else because you know what the Bible says?
Once we die, we want to remember that we're married or not married.
None of that will even matter.
We won't remember all the houses and the cars and the jobs and the buildings and all
the other stuff that we had.
We won't even remember any of these things because they're vain.
The only things that will matter are the things that were done for Christ.
We come to church to be reminded of what manner of man that we are.
Hey, we're Christians.
Hey, we're Baptists.
Hey, we're fundamental Baptists.
You know, a lot of people forget that they're a fundamental Baptist as soon as they leave
these doors.
Then they're an 80s punk kid.
Then they're a rebel.
Then they're whatever, yahoo.
Then they're a worldly person.
You know what?
You're deceiving yourself.
Why show up?
I mean, imagine if you had a mirror in your house and you look at it every day and you
never allow that to affect you.
You never do your hair.
And someone's like, do you have a mirror at home?
It's like, yeah, I look at it every day.
They're like, you look at it every day?
What's wrong with you?
Have you not noticed what's going on with your face?
Can you not know what's going on with your hair?
I mean, that's the insanity of going to church on a regular basis and reading the
Bible and then not making any changes, not trying to be a Christian, not doing anything
for God.
You know what?
You're just believing in vain.
Verse 25, but whoso looketh in the perfect law of liberty and continue therein, he being
not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Notice the blessings come from God when you're a doer of the work, not someone who
just believes in vain.
And this is what James really, really hammers.
It really, really hammers this.
And if we're living this Christian life and not doing anything for God, it's like
what's the point?
Keep your finger.
I want to come back to James 2, but go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 again.
Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 for just a moment.
You know what?
Christians will show up at church on Easter and you know what they're going to be reminded
about?
You know what's being heard in almost every pulpit in America right now?
The resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Right?
I mean, isn't that like what we're talking about?
Isn't that what probably every church, at least God-fearing churches or any semblance
of godliness, they're probably talking about the resurrection.
You know what's important about the resurrection?
You're going to be resurrected.
And you know when you're resurrected, you know what?
You're going to leave behind some things.
This body, this life, this world, all the things that were done.
So you come to church on Easter morning and you're reminded about the resurrection
and then you go outside of church and you forget that there's even going to be a resurrection
and you only live for this life.
You don't even do anything for the resurrection.
You're believing in vain.
Why even go?
What are you doing?
The Apostle Paul is trying to show how absurd the idea of not even believing the
resurrection would be and what kind of a lifestyle that person would have.
He says in verse 12,
Now, if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, I'll say some among you
that there is no resurrection of the dead.
It's like, that's stupid.
Verse 13, but if there be no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.
And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain?
And your faith is also vain.
He's saying like, what are we even doing here?
Our entire religion is built on the resurrection.
If that wasn't true, then everything I've ever preached, everything that we're doing is meaningless.
It has no value.
It has no point, is what he's trying to say.
He's saying in verse 15,
Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that
he has raised up Christ, whom he raised not up.
If so be that the dead rise not, for if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised.
And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain.
Notice how he's going to explain to us what believing in vain means here.
What's the problem with denying the resurrection?
Well, if you deny the resurrection, then whatever faith you had in Jesus Christ is
meaningless because you're still a sinner.
And you're still going to die and go to hell.
So it didn't even matter that you went to church, it didn't even matter that you
learned about Jesus or any of these facts.
Verse 15, I'm sorry, verse 18.
Even they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
This is an important verse to understand what we're about to say.
He's saying if there is no resurrection, every single person that has already died
is gone forever.
David's gone forever.
Like his whole life, it's all now gone forever.
There'll never be another David.
David never gets to do anything ever again.
Everything that was ever accomplished is just gone.
Every single person that has died is just gone and in the grave and it's over and
it's done with.
And there's no more mentioning of them.
It doesn't even matter anymore.
It's just over for them.
They just perish.
It's meaningless.
Verse 19.
And in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
You know what he's saying?
If this is the only life we get, you know the stupid YOLO, you only live once, you
know the only people that that's true for are unsaved people that are going to burn in hell.
For us that are saved, we have the resurrection.
Hey, we're going to live twice, buddy.
In fact, I'm never even going to die according to the scripture.
I'm not even going to taste of death because I'm just shedding this flesh.
You know what?
My spirit and soul are never going to die and I'm not going to experience death.
There is no sting of death.
That's what's being clear in this particular chapter.
But he's trying to say here in verse number 19, why in the world would I ever choose
to be a Christian if the end goal is the grave?
Why wouldn't I be selfish?
Why wouldn't I live for myself?
Why would I want to go through persecution and not being popular and not getting to
enjoy money?
I mean, why in the world would you tithe and give money to church if this is the
only life that you have?
Why in the world would we do anything that we're doing?
He's saying it all makes no sense.
He would say, in fact, not only that, the apostle was saying, like, my life is the worst.
It would be.
I mean, the guy's traveling from town to town getting beaten and shipwrecked and stoned
and just, like, everybody hates this guy.
They're chasing him down.
They want to kill him.
Nobody likes him.
Everybody turns against him.
He's thinking, like, man, if there's no resurrection, this is a terrible way to live
my life, like the worst.
He's saying, we apostles, we're the most miserable.
It wouldn't even make sense at all.
Go if you would to verse 30.
Go to verse 30.
He elaborates on this point.
And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?
The apostle Paul's life is being threatened every hour, folks.
In fact, in one passage of scripture, 40 men make a oath.
They swear that they're not going to eat or drink until they kill Paul.
They're constantly hunting him down.
He's having to be let out of windows.
He's on the run.
He has to go to prison.
He's saying, like, I'm standing in jeopardy every hour.
You read the book of Acts, he's constantly in threat of death.
I mean, he could die in the shipwreck.
I mean, they're in the sea and it's tumultuous and storms and winds and then the guards
just want to slay all the prisoners and they have to convince him not to kill all
the prisoners.
And then they have to go onto this little barbarous island and as soon as they get on
the barbarous island, a snake comes out of nowhere and bites him.
I mean, the apostle Paul is literally, his life is hazarded every hour.
And he's saying, like, why in the world would I live a life standing in jeopardy
every hour?
Why?
Verse 31.
I protest by your rejoicing, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I die daily.
I have fought with the beast at Ephesus.
What advantage does it mean if the dead rise not?
Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die.
The apostle Paul says, hey, if you don't believe in the resurrection, get out of church.
Just eat and drink before you die because it's all meaningless anyways.
And how could the apostle Paul be convinced of such a stupid doctrine when he's basically
torching his own personal life for no enjoyment whatsoever if he doesn't believe in resurrection?
You know why he does everything that he does?
Because he's putting it all on the table.
He's doing everything for the resurrection.
The apostle Paul is not someone who believed in vain.
You know what?
He took his faith to the max and he put it all on the table and he said, I'm going
to put my life in jeopardy every hour.
I'm going to fight with the beast at steadfast.
I'm sorry, Ephesus.
Hey, you know what?
There are some beasts that have been fighting with us through the last few years.
And he kind of has this question like, what is the advantage of that?
None of this is even real.
There is none.
No one wants to see that.
Literally, no one wants to see that.
It's gross and disgusting.
It's filthy.
Why do you think they have to make it illegal to discriminate against these people?
Because everyone hates them.
Because they're gross and disgusting.
There's certain people in this world that can only be described as a beast.
As a brute beast.
As a filthy animal.
And according to the Bible, you know what?
There's no point if there's no resurrection.
You know what?
You're not in a church where you don't believe in the resurrection.
If you believe the gospel we believe, you're not someone who denies the resurrection.
You know what you could be?
You could be a Christian who shows up at church and believes the resurrection while
it's being preached, and as soon as you leave, you forget.
Forget?
You forget what manner of man you are.
You forget that you're a Christian.
You forget that you're a Baptist.
You forget that you're a fundamental Baptist.
You forget that you're going to be risen again from the dead, and that all of your
works are going to be judged before the judgment seat of Christ.
You forget about that, don't you?
And you go and you just live for yourself and do your own thing, and you know what?
All your believing is just in vain.
Well, I believe the reprobate doctrine.
Okay, but what are you doing for Christ?
Nothing, then you believed in vain.
I watched the sodomite deception a hundred times.
Okay, but do you preach the gospel?
No?
Well, then you believe in vain.
Why believe in King James only?
Well, do you read your Bible?
No?
Well, you believe it in vain.
You forget that you're King James only.
You just go out in the world and you don't even read the Bible?
You read some devotional that doesn't even use the King James version?
Look, I know people that go to fundamental Baptist churches where they're preaching
King James only, and then the congregants go out and they just share some NIV verse
on Facebook.
You believed in vain, my friend.
What a joke.
Oh, I believe in do-it-yourself missions.
I don't like all these mooch in areas, going out there and taking bucks from people
and going out there on deputation for such a long time and not really accomplishing much
for Christ.
Oh, okay, when's the last time you went on a mission trip?
Never?
Well, you know what?
You believe that in vain, because even the mooch in areas still got its own kids saved
or a few people saved, and you know what?
Even the mooch in the area who believes in the pre-trib rapture and has squandered
a lot of money, him getting at least a few people saved is more than you doing
nothing and criticizing him.
Oh, I believe what he's doing is not right.
Okay, instead of just telling us that, why don't you show us what's better?
Why don't you do something and not just be a forgetful hearer?
Well, I believe in the post-trib rapture.
Great.
But you know what?
If you're not going to go soul winning during the end times, you're worthless.
The pre-tribber who's like, wow, I was wrong, I'm going to get some people saved, is way better
off than the guy that believed in the post-trib the whole time and goes and hides on his
compound with all of his Alex Jones supplements.
He bought all the storeable food, and he's going to go over there and squander and forget
what manner of man he is, and he's just going to say, I forgot that I'm a Christian,
and I forgot that I'm a Baptist, and I forgot that I'm a soul winner, and I forgot
that I'm an ambassador of Christ, and I forgot that I'm going to be risen again from
the dead, and I'm just living to preserve this worthless, meaningless, old carcass
that I call the old man.
Why in the world do I care so much about my old man?
You know what, I should be building up the new man by preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ,
and not just believing in vain.
That's right.
Well, I believe, you know, women should wear dresses.
Well, okay, great, but are you serving God?
There are so many people, I mean, women out there are doing so many things for God,
and they don't believe that doctrine, but you that believe it, you're not better off
just because you believe that doctrine.
You better do something for God.
Well, I believe in a Thursday crucifixion.
Okay, but if you never preach the death, burn, resurrection, doesn't matter.
There's so many Baptists out there that believe he was crucified on Wednesday or
Friday, and they're preaching the gospel, getting people saved.
They're way better off than you believing it's on Thursday, doing nothing.
Do nothing, Christians.
It means nothing that you believe right.
I believe right.
Congratulations.
Now, look, I'm not against believing right.
I'm all for believing everything the Bible says.
Hey, I want to be right on doctrine.
Hey, I want to be King James only.
Hey, I want to be post-trib.
Hey, I want to be a fundamental Baptist.
But you know what?
If we don't put it into practice, it's in vain, my friend.
We don't do something with it, it was meaningless.
Go to James chapter 2, go to James chapter number 2.
Hey, we look at Christians who aren't saved, Catholics who aren't saved, they're believing
in vain, and we think how silly that is, but you know what?
It's also silly for us that are saved to believe so much things that are right and
not do anything with it.
Silly.
It's silly.
It doesn't make sense.
The apostle Paul is saying this just is bonkers.
Why don't we just eat and drink and be married because tomorrow we die?
You know, what are we even doing here?
Let's put ourselves into practice.
Let's do something for Christ.
You know, I'm not going to check a box like, oh, I showed up at church on Easter.
I'm good.
It's in vain if you don't exercise any of the Christian faith, if you don't actually
go out and do something.
James chapter 2 addresses this point, look at verse 20.
But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Notice what he calls this person, a vain man.
Why?
Because he's believing in vain.
He's believing in vain.
Look at verse 14.
Let's understand this passage a little bit better.
Notice it says, what does it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith and
have not works?
Can faith save him?
Now here's the thing.
It asks two different questions here.
First of all, I never established doctrine on a question.
It says, can faith save him?
I think everybody and their mother would say, what does that mean?
And you know why they say, what does that mean?
Because it hasn't been explained.
It's like when you watch a movie with your wife and a new person shows up in the movie
that they haven't explained at all on the screen.
And she's like, who's this guy?
You're like, I don't know.
He just showed up in the movie.
They haven't explained it yet.
Well, but what is he doing?
I don't know.
Watch the movie.
Who's experienced this?
Okay.
I saw a little laughter.
All right.
You're saying like, just wait.
Okay.
You have to do this with James.
Can faith save him?
We didn't explain it yet.
Just hold on.
Okay.
Just wait a second.
Let's keep reading.
If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say to them,
depart in peace, be warmed and filled, notwithstanding, you give them not those things which
are needful to the body, what does it profit?
Well, you know what?
That kind of makes sense with the idea of can faith save him?
Hey, if somebody's about to die of starvation, and I have food in my hands, and I look at
this guy and I say, well, I sure hope God blesses you somehow.
And I don't give him any food.
Can my faith save him?
No.
It can't.
You know what would save him?
Me giving him the food.
That would save him.
Now, if you notice something very cool in this passage, look at the first phrase of
verse 14.
What doth it profit?
Did you notice that phrase?
Then look at the end of chapter 16, or verse 16.
What doth it profit?
It's sandwiched there.
It's explaining what that meant.
So you have to take those three verses, 14, 15, and 16, and read them as a package
and understand what it's saying.
Does this have anything to do with going to heaven, eternal life, being saved?
It didn't even mention it.
It's saying what is it going to profit, people, if you have faith in the Bible and
you do nothing with it.
It does nothing.
You being saved, you knowing the gospel, and you going to work, and you buying your
co-worker lunch is not going to profit him for salvation.
You know the only way that you can profit your co-worker is if you open your mouth
boldly and make known the mystery of the gospel and you save him.
You tell him how to be saved.
That's the only way.
You believe in the gospel, you can't rub it off on other people.
You have to literally tell them.
You have to do something.
That's what it says.
Just like if I have the food.
Me having food doesn't help hungry people unless I give it to them.
Me having the gospel doesn't help anybody and else unless I give it to other people.
And you know what?
There is a lot of Christians, most Christians that have the gospel are not sharing.
They're selfish with it.
And you know what?
That's a bad attitude that James is trying to address here and he's saying that's vain.
What it's meaningless for other people.
It's not profiting other people.
Yeah, it may have profited you but let's share, right?
Hey, me having food profits me but it doesn't profit other people.
Me having the gospel profits me but it doesn't profit other people.
And if we want to profit other people, let us share the gospel of Jesus Christ which
is even more important than food.
Look at verse 17.
Even so, meaning in the same way, faith, if it hath not works, is dead being alone.
Meaning what?
Like not sharing food is the same as not sharing the gospel.
Verse 18, yea, a man may say, thou hast faith and I have works.
Show me thy faith without thy works and I will show thee my faith by my works.
He's saying, look, you want to show someone your faith?
The best way is by doing it.
If you really want people to be saved, it's not by you just believing the gospel, it's
by you going out there and knocking on the door and telling them the gospel.
That's the best way to convince them of your faith.
Verse 19, thou believeth that there is one God, thou doest well, the devils also believe
and tremble.
But wilt thou know, vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon
the altar?
Seest thou how faith wrought with his works and by works was faith made perfect?
So if you want to be perfect, if you want to be entire and wanting nothing, you
not only need to believe the Bible, you need to do the Bible.
And he's saying, look, here's a guy that not only believed in God and believed the
promises, he acted on those promises to an extreme of even being willing to sacrifice
his own son.
Verse 23, and the scripture was fulfilled to say that Abraham believed God and it was
imputed unto him for righteousness.
Now this is what's so funny to me.
So many people go to James 2 to prove that salvation is not by faith alone, but then
in James chapter 2 it proves that salvation is by faith alone.
Did you read the verse I read?
Notice what it said.
The scripture was fulfilled which said Abraham believed God.
What's the only thing he did?
Believe.
And it was imputed unto him for righteousness.
How did Abraham get righteousness?
By believing.
Did it say by works?
No, it said by just believing.
And then notice it says something else though, and he was called the friend of God.
Not only is he saved, he's the friend of God.
Verse 24, ye see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only.
What is the justification that's being mentioned here?
Abraham being a friend of God.
The only way you'll be a friend of God is by doing the works.
Just like if you want to have friends in this room, the only way you'll have friends
in this room or in this world is by works.
If you show up to somebody, if you meet somebody for the first time and just say
like, we're besties, they're going to be like, you're weird.
Hey, we should get matching rings that say we're besties for life.
You're going to be like, ah, let's not.
You know how you become a friend?
You say like, hey, I want to buy you lunch.
Hey, let's go hang out.
Hey, let's go preach the gospel together.
Hey, let's go to a game together.
Hey, let's do this together.
And then you hang out and you do work together and you hang, you do all these activities
and do all these things, and then you start to build a friendship.
And then over time, by being loyal and faithful and talking to this person and being
friendly to this person, you end up becoming friends.
And you know what?
Abraham was a friend of God, not because he just believed, but because he did the works
as well.
And you know what?
If you, Christian, want to be a friend of God, you got to do the works.
You got to read the Bible.
You got to pray.
You got to go to church.
You got to go out there and preach the gospel.
That's how you're going to be justified in being called a friend of God.
You know what?
It's not saying that Abraham got to heaven because he did the works.
That's another gospel.
That's another gospel and that person's not saved.
Go if you would to 2 Corinthians 6 and I'll finish.
Let us not be Christians who believe in vain.
Of course, we want everyone to be saved.
First application I made is for salvation.
We must believe all the facts of the gospel, but then ultimately put all of our trust
in it.
It's a one-time decision by faith alone, and once you're saved, you're always saved.
You can never lose it.
For those of us, the vast majority of us that are saved, we also don't want to be
someone who's categorized as believing in vain like James 1 and 2 is bringing up where
we simply just hear the Bible and we constantly go to church and we're numb to it and we're
not doing anything.
You say, like, what's something I can do?
Well, you know what?
There's a soul-winding time on virtually every day of the week of the church.
And I know this.
That is for sure doing something.
I know that that's doing something.
And I know this.
If you do it enough, you'll eventually get someone saved, too.
If you share the gospel with enough people, someone will get saved.
Now, if you go to hard areas, if you're in an unreceptive area, it may take hours,
days, weeks even, sometimes.
But you know what?
I know this.
If you just keep doing it over and over, you'll finally find someone.
And it's just, it's so refreshing.
I'll be honest with you.
I've gone a long time recently without getting someone saved in English.
And yesterday was the first time I got someone saved in English in a while.
And I'll just be honest.
It was kind of taxing.
It was just kind of frustrating.
Oh, man.
You know, especially Wednesdays, I've been going to very receptive areas.
And you know, you go, sometimes it just doesn't work out.
I've gotten some people saved in Spanish, so at least that's refreshing.
But I got someone saved yesterday in English, and it was just so refreshing to the soul,
my friend.
It just, it was like, this is what life is about, is helping someone recognize what
it means to be saved and to go to heaven.
You say like, oh, well, did that person come to church?
Not yet, but maybe they went to another church.
What does it matter?
He's going to heaven.
And guess what?
I didn't go out preaching a workspace salvation, so even if he has no works, he's still saved.
I practice what I preach.
I don't have to expect everyone to show up to actually prove that they're saved or
something like that.
You know what?
If you would go to a church like that where they have to prove that they're saved, those
people might not even be saved.
They might be the ones that are mixed up, in fact, but you know what?
I know that all these people are saved because you'll go to the same neighborhood and you'll
run into them every once in a while, and you'll be like, hey, what do you believe?
He's like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's a free gift.
I'm saved.
Yeah, yeah.
I'll see you at church, buddy.
That's what they tell me.
And I'm just like, okay, well, at least you're saved, right?
At least you're saved by faith because you're a liar, that's for sure.
Boy, so many people, they start off their first Christian life with a lie.
I'm coming to church.
It's like, stop.
No, no, no, don't do that because I know that you're not.
But you know, hey, I guarantee that tons and tons of people that we get saved went
to church, just probably not ours.
They probably just went back to their church or another church or whatever, and it's like,
hey, at least they're saved.
You know, it's unrealistic to think that everybody's going to travel as far as you do
for church or be as zealous as you are for church or be willing to fight with the beast
at Ephesus or whatever, or to hear Pastor Shelley get up and scream and yell for an
hour plus.
People are like freaked out by that.
Like, I've never heard that much yelling in my life.
Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 1.
We then as workers together with them beseech you, also that you receive not the grace
of God in vain.
This is what we've been talking about.
Hey, don't be the Christian that received the grace of God in vain.
For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted in the day of salvation, and I
suckered thee.
Behold, now is the accepted time.
Behold, now is the day of salvation, giving no offense in anything that the ministry
be not blamed.
He's saying, you know what's another reason not to use your liberty for occasion of
the flesh?
Is it causes or approach on Christ?
The ministry gets blamed, and a lot of people say, like, well, I don't want to go to church
because they're a bunch of hypocrites.
Well, you know what?
The world's full of hypocrites too, buddy.
It's not like the church is the only one that's got some hypocrites.
Everyone's a hypocrite, but you know what?
As Christians, we need to do our best to prevent that type of accusation being
made against us and against our ministry and against our church, so we take the
commandments of God seriously, and we're not just hearers, we're doers.
What's a hypocrite?
A hypocrite says and does not, oh, I go to this church and they do soul winning.
Oh, you go soul winning?
No, the church goes soul winning.
I go to this church where all the women wear dresses and skirts.
Oh, you wear dresses and skirts?
No, but the church does.
Oh, I go to church where they're King James only.
Oh, you're King James only?
No, no, the church is.
Hey, I go to a church where we actually care about Christian, you know, morals and
actually having godliness in our life.
Oh, so you're godly?
No, no, no, the church is.
Hey, I go to a church where we actually raise our children to love God.
Oh, you do that?
No, I don't even watch my kids.
You know, there's so many people that are hypocrites today, and you know who sees
through all the hypocrisy?
Children do.
Children see all of our hypocrisy.
Don't be a hypocrite for their sake.
Don't be a hypocrite for the ministry's sake.
Don't be a hypocrite for this church's sake.
Giving no offense in anything to the ministry would be not blamed, but in all things
approving ourselves as the ministers of God and much patience and afflictions and necessities
and distresses and stripes and imprisonments and tumult and labors and watchings and
fastings by pureness, by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the Holy
Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the Word of Truth, by the power of God, by the armor
of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by
evil report and good report, as deceivers and yet true, as unknown and yet well-known,
as dying and behold, we live as chastened and not killed, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing,
as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things.
That is the Christian life.
That is one who is not believing in vain.
That is one who has said, you know what?
I die daily because, you know what?
This is not my life.
I'm living for the resurrection and blessed be the God of our salvation who's given
us the victory over death and was risen again from the dead and we celebrate his
life by living a life that's worthy of him.
Amen.
Let's close in prayer.
Thank you Heavenly Father so much for giving us the sacrifice of your Son and the
blessed resurrection of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that we too could die to ourselves
and live a newness of life, that we could walk in the spirit and not in the flesh,
that we wouldn't just look at the perfect law of liberty and forget what manner of
man that we are, but we'd remember that we're a Christian.
We'd remember that we're saved.
We'd remember that one day we will be resurrected and the only thing that will matter is what's
done for Christ.
I pray that you would motivate our spirits to do that which is pleasing unto you and
that we wouldn't live for ourselves, but that we'd live for Christ.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Amen.
All right, for our final song, let's go to 36, Christ Arose.
Song 36, Christ Arose, 3-6, Christ Arose.
Song 37, Christ Arose, 3-6, Christ Arose, 3-6, Christ Arose, 3-6, Christ Arose, 3-6, Christ Arose, 3-6, Christ Arose.
He arose, with a mighty triumph o'er his foes.
He arose, a victor from the dark, no name,
if he lives forever with his saints today.
He arose, he arose, hallelujah, Christ Arose.
Vainly they watched his head, Jesus my Savior.
Vainly they sealed the dead, Jesus my Lord.
Up from the grave he arose, with a mighty triumph o'er his foes.
He arose, a victor from the dark, no name,
if he lives forever with his saints today.
He arose, he arose, hallelujah, Christ Arose.
Death cannot keep you straight, Jesus my Savior.
He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord.
Up from the grave he arose, with a mighty triumph o'er his foes.
He arose, a victor from the dark, no name,
if he lives forever with his saints today.
He arose, he arose, hallelujah, Christ Arose.
We have a couple baptisms this morning.
We have Miss Hannah coming for baptism.
Sister Hannah, have you trusted Christ as your Savior?
Yes.
Then I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, buried in the likeness of his death,
raised to walk in newness of life.
We'll do another verse before our next baptism.
All right.
Let's go really quickly to song 37,
with the next page, song 37.
There'll be no dark valley.
There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes.
Together is love once more.
There'll be no dark valley when we just stop.
Together is love once more.
There'll be no more sorrow when we just stop.
Our glorious sorrow when we just stop.
Together is love once more.
There'll be no dark valley when we just stop.
Together is love once more.
There'll be no more weeping when we just stop.
But our blessing will ring when we just stop.
Together is love once more.
There'll be no dark valley when we just stop.
Together is love once more.
We have brother Wyatt coming for baptism today.
Brother Wyatt, have you trusted Christ as your savior?
Then I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
buried in the likeness of his death,
raised to walk in the name of his father.
We have brother Zeke also coming for baptism.
Brother Zeke, have you trusted Christ as your savior?
Then I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
buried in the likeness of his death,
raised to walk in the name of his father.
Brother Zeke, have you trusted Christ as your savior?
Then I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Made him like some of his death.
Made him some awesome, really good stuff.
All right.
Make sure to congratulate all our baptisms today.
Also, we have a lot of leftover pizza
for any of the soul winners that want to stick around,
and there's still a lot of donuts
in our fellowship room.
Please try to eat those in the fellowship room for us.
If anybody wants one, you can have one.
You are dismissed.
God bless and have a great Easter.