All right. Well, I just want to say I'm really grateful for being able to preach
behind this pulpit. I'm grateful for Pastor Merrill giving me an opportunity
to preach. I know the opportunities like that are few and far in between, and I
know there's a lot of preachers better than I, and they're great men
of God that can preach the Bible, so I just say I'm very grateful for that. Now
here in John chapter 4, we're in the story of the woman at the well where
the Bible gives an account of this woman from Samaria meeting with Jesus
Christ. Jesus Christ was at the well, and they both shared a
conversation, and I'll begin reading in verse 7. It says,
Then cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, Give me the
drink. So he asked this woman for a drink of water, for his disciples were gone
away into the city to buy meat. Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How
is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the
Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. So this is an unusual circumstance.
You know, to have a Jew talk to a Samaritan, they didn't have any dealings
with one another. In verse 10 it says, Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou
knewest the gift of God, and who is it safe to give me the drink, thou wouldst
have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. And right here, so he
tells this woman that, you know, if you know what the gift of God was, if you knew
it, and who is it safe to give me a drink? So he's saying, if you knew who you're
talking to, you would have asked of him. So he's saying that you would have asked of
me, and I would have given you living water. And what he's talking about right
here, when he's talking about living water, he's talking about everlasting life, okay?
If you actually study his badges, I mean, if you've read through the book of John's a
couple of times when you're saved, you know, you can understand that's what he's
saying right here. When he's talking about the gift of God, he's talking about, you
know, eternal life. You know, it says Romans 6 23, The gift of God is eternal
life to Jesus Christ our Lord. And what he means when he says, you know, he's, when
he says, give me living water, and he's talking about drinking this water, it
says in verse, I'll read verse 13, Jesus answered and said unto her, Who's to
drink of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I
should give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in
a well of water springing up everlasting life. And in order to drink this
water, in order to receive this everlasting life, you have to believe on him, okay?
It says John 6 35, And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life, he that
cometh me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. So
the way you receive that is just by believing. It says, and John 7 37, In the
last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man
thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture
out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. So in verse 37, he says,
Let him come to me and drink verse 38. He says, He that believeth on me so we
can see that come to Jesus Christ and drink just means to put all your faith
in Jesus Christ. He died for since buried rose again. Okay, and I know
most of you understand that. But you know, the Bible says, Prove all things.
And, uh, and obviously we understand verse 39 says, But this make he of the
spirit, which they that believe on him should receive for the Holy Ghost is
not yet given because that Jesus is not yet glorified. The Holy Ghost is given
those who believe on Christ, those who believe in his name. Okay, and, uh, and
obviously, you know, he calls it. He says, If you drink this, why should never
thirst? Well, salvation is a one time deal. Once you're saved, you have
everlasting life. You can never go to hell. You could never perish. Now, one
part of the verse I want you toe look at is it is Jesus Christ said in verse
10, Jesus answered and said into her, If thou newest the gift of God. So he said,
there's some things you have to know in order to be saved. He said, You have
to have some knowledge and and the title of the sermon is called The
Knowledge of the Gift of God. The knowledge of the gift of God. And, you
know, in order for someone to be saved, in order for someone to receive
everlasting life, they have to have knowledge. They, um, you have to know
certain things about what the Bible says about salvation in order to get
saved. And, uh, I have three different points of the sermon. One salvation is
the knowledge. It's not a feeling. Salvation is a knowledge. The reason
people are not saved is because they lack knowledge. Number two, in order to
have the knowledge of the truth, you know, you have to know the truth. You
have to know what the Bible says about what you need to believe to be saved.
And number three, in order for people to get saved, another saved person has to
take the word of God and explain that another person verbally and they have
to transmit that knowledge to someone else. You know, people don't receive the
knowledge of truth by its osmosis. Someone actually has to take the Bible
and explain to someone else how to be saved. Now we say, why preach a sermon?
Well, a lot of people scoff at this, and you know, a lot of people say, Oh,
you independent funnel Baptist, you know, they'll use a straw man. Say you
think they're the only ones that go to heaven now? That's obviously not true,
because, you know, there's false prophets out there like Keith Gomez and
Phil Kidd, who who call themselves independent phone Baptist. But then
they both teach a workspace repent of our sins to be safe salvation. But
also, you know, no one ever actually says that. I mean, if you call yourself a
Pentecostal, but if your doctrine is right on salvation, you know, you can
call yourself Pentecostal all you want, you know, but you're still safe, okay?
That's a straw man. Now, and false prophets, they'll scoff at
this, and people that teach a workspace salvation, because they
think think salvation is by works, they will de-emphasize knowledge. They won't
emphasize clear doctrine for salvation, because they don't think you get saved by
knowledge, they think you get saved by works. One example is Billy Graham. Now,
Billy Graham, he's dead, he's burning in hell right now. But Billy Graham taught,
okay, and it was like one of the last things he said that was like really
publicized, is that you don't need to know the name of Jesus Christ to be
saved. What he said was that, basically, if you're like a Muslim, if you're a
Buddhist, or if you're like, if you're a non-believer, as long as you
turn to whatever light you have, you know, God will save that person.
Well, I mean, that's crazy. What if someone is a sane worshiper, and that
quote-unquote light in them is telling to worship the devil? I mean, is that
gonna work? You know, what if their light tells them, you know, tells them to
sacrifice a human to Satan? That doesn't make any sense. That's foolishness, and
the Bible says that they speak not according to this word, it is
because there's no light in them in Isaiah 8. You have to be right on the
gospel, you have to understand what the gospel is in order to be saved, okay? And
turn to Hebrews 8, and one thing you'll find common with
the entire Bible, both Old Testament and New Testament, is salvation is about
knowledge. The only reason anyone ever went to hell is because they lack
knowledge on how to go to heaven, and of course, when you confront a false teacher
on this, you know, 99% of the time what they'll say is, oh, God knows their heart,
okay? And they mean different things by this. I can't exactly figure out what
they mean. A lot of times what they mean is by God knows how they feel, or God
knows that they're sincere, so even if they are wrong, but again, it's
because they have an agenda. So I just want to get this out of the way, you know,
understand this, that when the Bible uses the word heart, it's just, you know, when
it's talking about a person's thoughts or a sense of a person's, it's just talking
about a person's mind. I'll prove it to you right here. You're in Hebrews chapter 8,
verse 10, it says, for this is the covenant that I will make with the house
of Israel after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their mind
and write them in their hearts. Okay, so right here, God says, I will put their
laws into their minds and write them in their hearts. Go to Hebrews 10. Hebrews
chapter 10, verse 16, it says the same thing, it's just worded a little
differently. It says, this is the covenant that will make with them after those
days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds
will I write them. So in Hebrews 8, 10, he says, write them in their hearts. Hebrews
10, 16, he says, in their minds will I write them. And when he's talking about it, he's talking about it with the law.
Okay, so you can see mind, heart, you know, and when it's talking about a person's
thoughts, it means the exact same thing. Okay, and yeah, and they're, yeah, obviously
people do have emotions that come from their mind, but that's not the
primary definition of the word heart. Okay, when it's talking about a person's
thoughts, it's talking about a person's mind, heart, they just, they mean the same thing.
Now, and now salvation happens when you receive the knowledge of the truth. If
you would, turn if you would to 1 Timothy chapter 2, verse 3.
1 Timothy 2, verse 3 through 4. We're going to go through a lot of verses that show
that salvation is about knowledge, and while you're turning there, I'll just read to you.
In 1 Timothy 4, 3 it says, forbidding to marry and commanding to
abstain from meat what God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them
which believe and know the truth. It says in 1 Timothy 2, 3, it says,
for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, who will have all men to be
saved and come unto the knowledge of the truth. So again, you can see that they're
used hand in hand. Why? Because salvation is knowledge. It says, 2 Timothy 3, 6
through 7, for of this sort are they which creep in houses and lead captive
silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lust, ever learning, and never
able to come unto the knowledge of the truth. So what's a false
prophet's problem? The problem is that it's not that they're learning, and they
have knowledge. They just don't have the knowledge of the truth, and with the
knowledge of the truth, it's talking about they don't know what they need to believe to be
saved. Because their heart's been hardened, they've been given knowledge
from a corrupt and reprobate mind, okay? And Hebrews 10, 26, for if we sin
willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth that are made
of no more sacrifice for sins. And you turn to Romans 10, you see, and when it's
talking about after we receive the knowledge of truth, it's talking about once
Jesus Christ has washed you of your sins, has saved you, okay? That's talking about
salvation. It says in Romans 10, now those who are unsaved are ignorant,
or they lack knowledge. Now it says in Romans 10, 1, brethren, my heart's desire
and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved, for I bear them
record that they have a zeal of God, but not in the court of knowledge. Now you think
of the word zeal. What's zeal? Zeal is when you have your, when you're like,
where you're passionate about something. You know, if someone's zealous, we say that
person is really fired up. And the Jews in Romans 10, verse 1, the Bible says
that they have a zeal of God means they're zealous about God, but it says
but not in the court of knowledge. I mean, not according to what the Bible says. So they
have the feelings right, but again, they're not saved because they
don't have the knowledge. Verse 3, for they, being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have
not submitted themselves unto the righteous of God, for Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Now what does it mean to
be ignorant? Well, you know, ignorant just means lack knowledge. They're ignorant of
God's righteousness. They don't know what God did for them. They don't
know he died for all their sins. They don't know that if they believe in him,
they will receive his righteousness, and they're going about establishing their
own righteousness. They're doing their own works in order to go to heaven. Okay?
And, you know, if you want, you can turn to Acts 17. Acts 17, you know, Paul
and Mars Hill. So he's speaking to a bunch of, you know, a bunch of pagans. It
says, Acts 17, 22, then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said, ye men of
Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious, for as I pass by
and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, to the
unknown God, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. So Paul's
talking to these group of pagans that they're just worshipping a whole bunch
of gods, and he's referring to the unknown God. So they basically, they said
this statue, this placard, it was devoted, basically they thought, well, if there's
any God out there that we haven't, you know, gave respect to, you know, what
they're saying, you know, because they believe in polytheism, he says, to the
unknown God, okay, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. It says
in verse 30, and the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now
cometh all men everywhere to repent. So you can see right here, it's, the
problem is with unsaved people is they are ignorant. They don't have the
truth. They don't have the knowledge of the truth. They don't know what they need
to believe to be saved. Matthew 12, chapter 12, verse 6, Jesus Christ said,
But I say unto you, that in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye
had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not
have condemned the guiltless. You know, the reason why the Jesus Christ, the
reason why the Jews hated Jesus, and why they crucified him, why they put him to
death, is because they didn't know who he was. They didn't know that he is the
Savior, and you know, they still don't know that today. You know,
contrary to what, you know, Messianic Jews will tell you, you know, they don't
believe in Jesus Christ and their salvation. They are, they worship a false
God. And right here, because the Bible says he denied the Son, the same as not
the Father, and they denied Jesus Christ the Son. They don't have the Father. It
says, But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy,
not sacrifice. So again, again, they didn't know what that meant. I will have
mercy, not sacrifice, and therefore they condemned the guiltless. Jesus Christ is
the guiltless. He's completely without sin. And really, if you would, turn to
Hosea 6, verse 4. Hosea 6, 4, and I'm gonna be turning a lot of place tonight, and I,
I'll just read to you 1st Corinthians 2, verse 6. It says, Howbeit we speak wisdom
among them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes
of this world that come to naught. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,
even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory,
which none of the princes of this world knew. For had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory. So, you know, if they knew what who their,
their crucifying was, they wouldn't have done it. That's what the Bible says. It
says in Hosea 6, Hosea 6, I'll just be gonna read verse, verse 5. Therefore have
I hewed them by the prophets. I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and
thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth. For I desire mercy and not
sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. But they, like men,
have transgressed the covenant. There have they dealt treacherously against me.
Now, when it's talking about mercy, it's talking about the knowledge of God. It
says, you know, it says, For I desire mercy not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God
more than burnt offerings. So mercy is used interchangeably with knowledge of God, and
sacrifice and burnt offerings. It's like this. When you have the knowledge of God
to be saved, you have to receive mercy, and that's pretty apparent. Now, the Bible
also talks about people that are saved as knowing the Lord. Now, it's
important to make a distinguishing right here, because there are a lot of false
teachers that try to teach a works-based salvation. They'll point to you passage
in the book of 1 John, and they'll say, Oh, right here, it says if you
know not, if you're walking in darkness, you don't really know God,
and they'll try to use that to teach that you're, you know, you're not saved, you
don't do the works. And what they're doing is they're teaching a works-based
salvation. You know, there's a difference between someone knowing the Lord as
Savior versus someone knowing the Lord as a friend, okay? You know, all you have to
do to be saved, you have to know the Lord as your Savior. You have to know him as
the only way to heaven. But if you want to have fellowship with God, you have to,
you have to know him, you know, as a friend. But again, that has nothing to do
with salvation. And right here, I'll get to that in a second, but I want you to, I
want you to see some different verses, and turn you over to Hebrews 8, Hebrews 8,
and I'll read to you Galatians 4, 6-9. Galatians 4, 6-9, it says,
And because you are sons, God hath sent forth the spirit of a son into your
hearts, crying to God, Father. Wherefore, thou art no more a servant but a son, and
if a son than an heir of God through Christ, howbeit when ye knew not God, ye
do service unto them which by nature are no gods. So the people in Galatia, the
church in Galatia, before they knew who God really was, they were worshiping
other gods. They were idolaters. They did service unto them
which by nature are no gods. So, you know, obviously if you're saved, you understand
that a statue, that's not a, that's not a god. That's just a statue, and the
Bible even says that the things with the Gentiles sacrificed, they sacrificed in
the devils. You know, if you have someone that's worshiping, you know, that what
they say is Mary, or they're worshiping like an image that they're calling Peter,
or if they're worshiping like a Buddha statue, the Bible says they're worshiping
devils, but they're not worshiping an actual god. The Bible says there's one
god, but it says in verse 9, But now after that ye have known God, or rather
known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto you
desire again to be in bondage? So it's talking about the people, church in
Galatia, after they knew gods, after they got saved, a lot of them started
bringing in like the the Judaistic practices. They started
trying to bring in the law again that was done away in Christ, and
he's asking why they did that. Hebrews 8, it says, Hebrews 8 verse 10, For this is
the covenant thou will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts, and
I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people, and they shall not
teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for
all shall know me from the least to the greatest, for I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness, and their sins their iniquities, while I remember no more. So
right here it says that there's people that have unrighteousness, but
it's saying that all these people shall know me. The reason why is because
knowing the Lord as Savior, versus knowing the Lord in terms of
fellowship, they're two different separate things, okay? And it says, For all
shall know me. Well, in the Old Testament, you know,
people that are part of the nation of Israel, well, just
you know, they were, in the New Testament it's a spiritual Israel, in the
Old Testament it was a physical Israel. Now they're in the New Testament, everyone
that's part of Israel knows the Lord, okay? And because they know as
terms of Savior. Now if you would turn to 1 Samuel 2, I'm going to show you a
few examples in the Old Testament. 1 Samuel 2, it says in 1 Samuel 2, Now the
sons of Eli were sons of Belial, they knew not the Lord. You know, the sons of
Belial are, that's another word for sons of Satan, sons of the devil, reprobates.
They were the children of Eli, they did not know the Lord. I mean,
yeah, they were priests, but they were not really saved, they were
reprobates, okay? It says in 1 Samuel 3, if you turn over, there's one page
over, the Bible also talks about knowing the Lord, talks about Samuel. It says, And
the Lord called yet again Samuel. And Samuel rose and went to Eli and said,
Here am I, for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not my son, lie down
again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet
revealed unto him. And another example, you can turn there if you want.
Actually, just turn if you would to 1 John 2. 1 John 2, and I just
wanted to show you these distinguishing really quick, but while you turn there,
I'm going to read to you the, I forget, I think I got the point across. I'll just
go to 1 John 2. Again, it's important to distinguish between knowing the
Lord as Savior versus knowing the Lord as a friend, okay? Now it says in 1 John 2,
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that
saith, I know him, and keep not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is
not in him. Okay? And work salvations, they love this verse right here, because
they, you know, again, they're, but, and people that teach like a
Repentance-style gospel, they try to teach, well, if you don't keep
the commandments, then you don't really know the Lord, not saved. But like I said
before, if you turn to 1 John chapter 1, the Bible explains the context
of what it's talking about. It's talking about knowing the Lord. It's not talking
about knowing the Lord for salvation. It says in 1 John chapter 1, verse 3,
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have
fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with
his Son, Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be
full. So the book of 1 John was not written to get people saved. The book of
1 John was written that ye may have fellowship with us. It was written
that your joy may be full. Now, just because someone's saved, that does not
mean that their joy is going to be full. Okay? There are a lot of people that are
quenching the Holy Spirit, they're walking in darkness, that they're still,
that, you know, they're still saved as anyone else. It's talking about
knowing them for fellowship, knowing them so you can have joy. Why? Because when you
have, when you're a good friend with somebody, there could be a joy in
that relationship. It's, you know, you don't have to turn there, but
Philippians 3, verse 7 to 10, it says, it says, But what things were gained to me,
those I counted lost for Christ? Yet doubtless, and I count all things but
lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have
suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dunk that I may win
Christ, and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law,
but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God
by faith, that I might know him. And Paul, you know, he explains what he means when he
says, but that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the
fellowship of his suffering, being made conformable unto his death. You see the
word fellowship right there? He's talking about knowing the sense that, knowing him
and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his suffering. You see, in
order to know Jesus Christ as a friend, you have to go through suffering. You have to
suffer for the cause of Christ like he suffered, and in order to know the power
of his resurrection, if you want to, you know, be filled with the Spirit and do great
things like Jesus Christ did, well guess what you have to do? You have to go
through affliction. And you see that example all throughout the Bible? You see
the Bible teaches that in Acts that when the Church of God was afflicted,
when Saul persecuted the Church of God and wrecked havoc, the Bible
teaches that they went everywhere preaching the Word of God, and it
multiplied and grew. Why? Because that's how it works. You know, in order
to have the power of God in your life, you have to go through suffering. Paul said,
I once gladly therefore will glory my infirmities that the power of Christ
might rest upon me. But again, that's for fellowship. And again, I'll
explain you one more verse that they try to twist. Romans 1, you know, it says,
Romans 1 verse 21, it says, because that when they knew God, they glorified
him not as God, neither thankful. Now, Romans 1 21 doesn't say they knew God as
Savior, it just says they knew God. Means they had a knowledge about God. It says
in verse 28, but even as they did not like to train God their knowledge, God
gave them order to reparate mind. Do those things that are not convenient. So again,
these people, they knew God, but they didn't know him as Savior, they just knew
God in the sense they knew that they had some knowledge of God in some way,
shape, or form. Whether they heard about him at church, whether they just, they
knew that there's a creator because the invisible things of him, the creation
world are clearly seen, and they can see the creation, they can understand by
just seeing these things that there must be a creator. You know, it's just common
sense. And I think the best way to explain this is just, let's say there's
there's a doctor out there named Jim, okay? I'll use Jim example. Let's say,
let's say there's three people that know Jim, okay? Person one is unsaved person,
okay? They'll say, okay, person one knows that Jim is a guy that heals people. So
person one could say, I know Jim. Let's say person number two is a saved person.
They could say, Jim is my doctor, you know, he has healed me. So he knows Jim
in the sense they knows he's, he's healed him. Person three, he's
a saved person, you know, could represent a saved person as fellowship and
friendship. You know, Jim healed me, and Jim and I heal people on a regular
basis. I know a lot about Jim. He's my best friend. We have a good
friendship together. Now, person one and two could both say that they know Jim or
they don't know Jim to pay in the context. Like for an example, I mean, we meet
people all the time who we know or acquainted with briefly, but we don't
know them like personally. I mean, I have people in my job that I know. I know
my boss's name, but I don't know him on a personal level that well, okay? But again,
it depends on the context. Now, person three is the only person that cannot
truthfully say, I don't know Jim, because again, he knows him. And then, okay, you
also had person four. Person four is some guy who heard about Jim, but just
doesn't want to think about Jim anymore, okay? That's, that would be an example of
that. You know, he just doesn't want to think about, he's like, I hate Jim. I don't
want to know about Jim. I'm gonna pretend Jim's something else. I'm gonna pretend,
you know, Jim's like a gorilla or zebra or something. And now that we see
that a person, you know, and it turns back to what John chapter four, now that we
see that the Bible clearly teaches that a person must have the knowledge of
truth to be saved, and that the knowledge of the truth equals salvation, and people
that are unsaved, they don't have the knowledge of the truth. Let's go back and
on John chapter four to see what the knowledge of truth is. It says in John
chapter four, Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God,
and whose it is that saith thee, give me to drink, thou wast the vast of him, and he
would have given thee living water. You know, right here, Jesus Christ is saying
that in order to ask, he's saying right here, anyone who has the knowledge of the
gift of God, and the knowledge of who Jesus Christ is, will for sure call out to God
and ask for everlasting life. But notice he says, if thou knewest the gift of God.
He's saying, if you know it is the saith of thee, give me drink. It's because you
have to know what the Bible says about salvation, and you know, in order to be
saved. You have to have that knowledge, okay? Now, you know, what's the gift of
God? Well, the gift of God, you know, you have to understand it's a gift. It means
it's not of works. It's not by repenting your sins. It's not by baptism. If you
think you have to earn salvation by your good works, if you think you have to
turn over a new leaf and get this in our life, you don't know the gift of God. You
don't know what salvation is. You're not saved. Also, you turn to 1 John 5,
you have to understand that the gift of God is eternal life, okay? You have to
understand the gift of God is eternal life. It says in 1 John 5, 1 John 5 verse 10,
He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth
not God hath made me a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave
a son, and this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this
life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. Right here, the Bible gives two groups of people. Those
that believe on the Son of God, those people that put their faith and trust in
Jesus Christ, and the Bible says they have the witness in themselves, and the
witness is talking about the Holy Ghost. It says he that believeth not God hath made
him a liar, so they're calling God a liar. They're making out to be a liar. Now, God
cannot lie. It's saying they made him a liar. They're saying they're making him
out to be, and the reason why is because he believeth not the record that God
gave a son, and that record is in verse 11. It says this is the record that God
hath given to us eternal life, okay? In order to be saved, you have to believe
that that record is eternal, and when you go out soul winning, if you're preaching
the gospel to somebody, that person needs to understand that that gift lasts
forever, that it's eternal, that it can never end. If they don't understand it's
eternal, if they think you can lose if you do something really bad, if they
think you lose it, you know, if you commit murder, suicide, or something to that
effect, it doesn't matter what it is. They're not saved because they don't
believe the record that God gave a son. They don't know the gift of God, and
you know, in this church, this is not a contending point, and everyone
here, you know, pretty much everyone, like 99% of people that are
Savior understand that that's an essential doctrine for salvation, and even
then, it just makes sense. I mean, if you just break it down really quick, people
that believe you can lose your salvation believe you have to work to
keep your salvation. People that believe you can lose your salvation, they think they have
to constantly do something to keep it. They don't believe it's a gift, and
therefore they're calling God a liar in their heart, but every church I've
been in that's like an IP church that hasn't been heavily influenced by Pastor
Anderson, or treats the doctrine of eternal security as a non-essential
doctrine, and they think, you know, a lot of times they'll have children in
their church, that they'll get saved when they're young, and when I say get saved, I
mean, they just, they pray. They didn't understand the gospel, and then
they'll have these same kids, they'll constantly get resaved over and
over and over again, and they don't call, either they'll say the kid got
resaved, and they'll just count, you know, count the numbers again,
because Baptists count everything in calories, or what they'll do is they'll
say, well, he got, he or she got a shirt for salvation, because the
parents will get really mad if they say, well, your son wasn't really saved, or
your daughter wasn't really saved, but when you went to our youth camp, you know, they
actually had a soul winner teaching the gospel, and this has been
something, and this has been like a pet peeve of mine, but here, the
Bible is very clear, is that, you know, you have to believe that record to be saved.
You have to believe it, and the funny thing with this crap is that
eternal life is heavily emphasized in the book of John. It's heavily
emphasized. Now, keep in mind that John was a book written specifically to get
people saved. It says in John 20, verse 30, and many other signs truly did Jesus
in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these
are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and
that believing he might have life through his name. So the reason why the
book of John was written so that you believe in him, I have life through his name.
Translation, it's written so you get saved. Now, I just did a quick count to see
just some statistics of eternal life in the book of John, and again, I mean,
these are some things I counted out, and if I miss something, well, maybe someone
disagrees. Maybe I should have counted that. I mean, that's fine. This is something I
counted, okay? The words eternal life and everlasting life are
mentioned in the book of John 17 times. The words live forever are mentioned two
times. Never perish, that's mentioned once. Never die, that's once. So that's 21
specific words or phrases teaching that you can never go to hell after you get
saved. There are seven ways the Bible uses in the book of John to explain the
doctrine of eternal life. You know, it calls Jesus Christ the bread of life. You
know, he'll never hunger. It calls it living water, that if you drink, you'll
never thirst. You know, it calls Jesus Christ the Passover lamb. He said, who's
to drink if my flesh eats my blood, dwells in me and I in him. It
explains the concept of immortality. You know, Jesus Christ said, who soever liveth
and believeth in me shall never die. It says the Bible teaches once you're saved,
you're in the good shepherd's hand. He said, and I give them some eternal life
and they shall never perish. You know, once you're saved, you know, you become a
children of God. The Bible says, but as Mays received him, to them give you
power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. And also,
the Bible teaches in the book of John, another way to explain it, is that you're
justified. You know, it says, he that believeth on him is not condemned. And it
says, but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not
believed, and the name of the only begotten son of God. So it's heavily
emphasized in the book of John. I mean, now I was in an independent
Baptist Church in Tennessee. You know, this wasn't Tony Hudson's Church of
Crazy. This is another church that actually, that was actually right, that
didn't teach a bunch of heresy, you know, but where the church staff, you know,
openly marked and ridiculed a teenager who's constantly doubting their
salvation and constantly getting re-saved. Now, I thought this is pretty wicked
because, you know, even I knew that even if, like, you don't think it's an
essential doctrine for salvation, if somebody thinks that, you know, that you
can believe your salvation, even then back then, I thought, well, that's
something you should show somebody because why would you want that person
worrying about going to hell every night? It doesn't make any sense. That was a
pretty wicked thing, I thought, myself. And this is before I knew that, you know,
you had to believe that to be saved. But even back then, I'm like, what is he,
you're saying? And I would hope that this guy, you know, you know, if he found out
the truth that he would be very, you know, repentant, I mean, and, you know,
because that's just pretty wicked. I mean, I would take that kid, I
would show him. I remember even before I knew that it was an essential doctrine, if someone
said you could lose your salvation, I made it a point to teach them that you
couldn't, you know, until they, either they prayed again or they
just, you know, they said, oh, I believe that or they went away. But here's,
and also, yeah, and anyway, so I was with this guy, and he started
talking this Pentecostal, and even off the bat, I knew this guy wasn't
receptive, but I was like, okay, I'll just let him talk to him really quick, and the guy
was like, no, I'm saved, I believe it's just faith in Christ you're
saved, but I think you can lose it. And I said, hey, come on, man, he's not receptive, he
doesn't want to hear, you know, he's telling us to get lost, but he still
wanted to talk, and then the guy said something really weird to this guy. He said,
I'm not going to say you're not saved, but, you know, I'm in doubt of you, and I
came butt in, I said, look, you're not saved, and you need to, you don't need to
tell him that, because you're denying the doctrine of eternal security, and look, and it
doesn't matter if they call themselves a Baptist or not, because we have a lot of
people that call themselves Baptists, you know, if you knock on anyone's door here,
like, there's a good chance they go to some Baptist church, but, you know, I
don't care, you know, if they call, you know, free will Baptists, if you don't
think, if you can lose your salvation, any reason, not saved, period, case closed, end of
story, being Baptist is not a good thing to say, being an independent phono-Baptist does not make
you saved, and also, I'll say this too, if you say, if you don't think that's an
essential doctrine right there, I don't know how you can call yourself
fundamental, because a fundamental is like, that's like a pillar right there,
right, that's like, that's fundamental, that's, I don't know how
you can call yourself that, and yeah, I also had another heretic of this church,
he told me, we know in part, we prophesy in part, we're saved in part, you know, I
called him out, I said, you're a heretic, and the reason why this is going on
along in the church, is because the pastor, I don't know what he believed in
that, I know that every time he preached the gospel, he included eternal security, you know,
you know, but he, I don't think he was making this clear, now I thank God that
our pastor, he makes that very clear, and that he makes it, he's clear a crystal
clear doctrine, and I'm just gonna reiterate the fact, you have to
believe that to be safe, and anyway, and the last point is this, you know, in order
for someone to get saved, in order for someone to receive the knowledge of truth, they have to have
someone else transmit, they have to have someone else preach the gospel in order
to get saved, okay, so really, you're in John chapter 4, John chapter 4, it says,
John chapter 4, it says verse 25, it says, the woman saith unto him, I know that
Messiah's cometh, which is called Christ, when he is come, he will tell us all
things, Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he, and upon this came his
disciples, and marveled that he talked with the woman, yet no man said, what
seekest thou, or why talkest thou with her, the woman then left her water pot,
and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, come see a man which told me
all things that ever I did, is not this the Christ? Then they went out of the
city, and came unto him, so after Jesus Christ told her that he was the Messiah,
after he told this woman that he was the Christ, this woman, she went out, and she
told other men in the city, she told him about the Christ, they told him, she
told him about Jesus Christ, and notice it says she told them, so she actually
spoke to them, it says, then they went out of the city and came unto him, and in
verses 31 through 38, it talks about sowing and reaping, and that's
something this woman was doing, she was sowing and she was reaping, because if
you read the rest of the story, you know, some people got saved, you know, by
just by hearing her word, other people got saved by hearing the words of Jesus
Christ, you know, and of course, you know, they both got saved by hearing the Word
of God, just some of them need to hear Jesus Christ himself speak, it says in
verse 39, and many of the Samaritans in that city believed on him for the saying
of the woman which testified, he told me all that ever I did, so when the
Samaritans were coming to him, they besought him that he would tarry with
them, and he bowed there two days, and many more believed because of his own
words, and sent it to the woman, now we believed, not because of thy saying, for
we have heard him ourselves, and know that this indeed, this is indeed the
Christ, the Savior of the world. So, you know, some of them, some of the
men in the city, the woman got saved personally herself, others came to
Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ spoke, the Bible says, you know, we have heard him
ourselves, but notice it, in all these verses, it says that, you know, it has
people speaking, it has people hearing, it doesn't say, now we believe, not, you know,
for we have read him, about him ourselves, it says we have heard him, because in
order for someone to get saved, they have to hear the Word of God, they have, you
know, it doesn't say, now we, it doesn't say the woman, many of the Samaritans
in that city believed on him for the writing of the woman, it says they
believed in their saying of the woman, because she had to open her mouth boldly
to make known the mission of the gospel, and here's the point, and turn to
Ephesians 6, you can't get saved just by reading a gospel tract, you can't get
saved just by picking up the Bible yourself, and just kind of figuring it
out, and just underlining a verse here, look, there are people that really believe,
the Bible says, you know, how should they call him in whom they out believe, how
should they believe in him of whom they out heard, you have to hear the Word of God to
get saved, friend, it says faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God,
it says in Ephesians chapter 6, praying always with all prayer and supplication
of the Spirit, and watching thereto with all perseverance and supplication for
all saints, and for me that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my
mouth boldly to make known the mission of the gospel, he doesn't say that I might
write boldly the mission of the gospel, Paul only wrote boldly to people who are saved,
he opened his mouth boldly to what? To make known the mystery of the gospel,
because the gospel is a mystery, you can't receive that knowledge just by
reading the Bible yourself, it says in 1 Corinthians 2 verse 13, which things
also we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost
teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual, but the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolish unto him, neither can he
know them, because they are spiritually discernible. Can an unsaved person, you know,
receive the knowledge through themselves by thinking the Bible? The answer is no,
absolutely not, they don't have the Spirit of God, they don't have the
Holy Ghost well inside them, they're not saved, and they can't figure it out
themselves, if someone says, well I got saved by reading the Bible, I got saved
by reading Jack Trictrack, now here's the thing, no one got saved by reading Jack
Trictrack, because that guy teaches a repentant person to be saved gospel, the
guy's burning in hell right now, no one got saved that way, but also you can't get saved just by
picking a gospel, even if the the gospel track says the right thing, you need
someone to have, the Bible teaches you need to have someone make known the
mission of the gospel by speaking to you, by opening a legend that Christ
suffered, you know, and that's the thing, people that aren't saved, they can't
figure that out, and also another thing too, if someone says, well I got saved that way,
well either one, they're mistaken, they don't understand the doctrine of salvation,
you know, two, they're lying, or three, worst case, they're not saved themselves,
and they're trying to deceive you, okay, it doesn't say how should they hear
without a writer, it says how should they hear without a preacher, okay, faith
doesn't come by reading, it comes by hearing, and the last point, and if you
would, turn to 1 Peter 1, 1 Peter 1, people cannot get saved unless the
incorruptible seed is preached on, you cannot get saved unless someone uses
the actual word of God to preach, okay, and you have these, you see this example, this
woman speaking, the men in the city of Samaria, you know, she would not have
been able to do that if she didn't actually have the Word of God, it would
have been impossible, because we look at, we always look at clear
scriptures to interpret unclear scriptures, and clear scripture is teaching
that you need the Word of God to be saved, it says in 1 Peter 1, 23, it says
being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God
which liveth and abideth forever, for all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of
men is the flower of grass, the grass withereth, and the flower there falleth
away, but the Word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word by which
the gospel is preached unto you, in the English language, the incorruptible seed is the
King James Bible, anything else, any other thing, NIV, NKJV, ESV, they cannot get
someone saved, it's completely impossible, that's what the Bible teaches, because
we're not born again of corruptible seeds, because a corruptible seed cannot
give you everlasting life, a corruptible seed cannot get you born again, James 1
verse 18, it says, of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, okay, so it
says we're begat, that is worth the word of truth, now we're not began with
the word of lies, if you have a Bible verse, a verse that changes, that changes
the Word of God, that changes verse in the Bible, then guess what, that's not the
word of truth, that's a fact, okay, and I'm gonna close with this, if you would,
turn if you would to 1 Corinthians 15, this is the closing thought, you know,
people need knowledge for salvation, they need the knowledge of the truth, but they
need to know what the Bible actually says, what to be saved in order to be
saved, they need knowledge in the right things, and obviously I didn't get
through this much in the sermon, they also need to know who Jesus Christ is as
well, they need to understand that he's God manifest in the flesh, that
he's a son of God, that he paid for all their sin, so they can't be denying the
deity of Christ, they cannot be denying the resurrection of Christ, they need to understand
who he is and what he did for them, and that being said, it's, you know,
it's impossible for people to understand who Jesus Christ is unless
someone else preaches to them, they have to have someone else transmit them that
knowledge by opening their mouth to them, and they can know unto the mystery of the
gospel, and according to the Bible, you know, it's a shame if, you know, if you're
saved and you're not preaching to people the gospel, the Bible says it's a shame,
okay, I'll read you right here, it says, else what shall they do which are
baptized for the dead, if the dead not rise at all, why are they then baptized
for the dead, and why stand we in jeopardy every hour, I protest by your
rejoicing, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily, if after the
manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage did that mean, if the
dead rise not, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die, be not deceived, evil
communications corrupt good manners, awake to righteousness and sin not, for
some have not the knowledge of God, I speak this to your shame, he's saying
right here, you know, so there are people out there, the Bible is as broad as the way
There are a lot of people out there, the vast majority of people out there,
especially in the Fort Worth area, do not have the knowledge of God, they don't know what
they need to believe in order to be saved at all, they don't know who God is, they
don't know about the gospel, their church is teaching them a bunch of
false doctrine, they're teaching them work, salvation, you know, Baptist or not, and the
Bible says I speak this to your shame, he doesn't say I speak as my shame, you see,
you know, look, I think I praise God for Pastor Merrill, he's a great man of
God, and I thank God that he's a great soul winner, and that he preaches
crystal-clear doctrine, and you should pray for him every single
day, okay, if you're not, you know, shame on you for that, because, you know, we need
him, but here's the thing, you know, you can't just write off that the
coattails of Pastor Merrill and say, okay, well, he preached the gospel, I don't have
to do it, you can't write out the coattails of other people in the church
saying, oh, they got it, so I don't have to worry about it, my shame is gone, I don't
have to worry about it, and he says I speak this your shame, he doesn't say I
speak this to my shame, you see, the church of Corinth, they couldn't just write
the coattails off the ball, and look, and they're paying them wages, which
they should, you know, the Bible says thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treads out the
corn, you know, if someone is actually doing the work of God, they
should definitely be paid for it, it's a perfectly godly thing for, you know, a
pastor to get paid, but he says I speak this to your shame, you know,
it's a shame for people around here to go to hell because you're not preaching
the gospel, it really is a shame for people in your neighborhood or people,
you know, when we go out soul winning, where we can't get as many people saved
because, you know, you're too lazy or you have other priorities in mind, you
have better things to do, I mean, you say this, well, I have bad health problems and I
can't preach the gospel, well, I've heard of people do this before, you know, where
they actually, they'll just call, and I'm not saying, don't say I recommend this,
where they'll call RAM numbers, and they'll get people saved that way, just
take up the phone book, I mean, if they say I don't want to be called more, take
up the phone book, okay, so, look, I heard it works, I heard people get people saved
that way, so don't say I can't do it, I can't do it, I had this problem or that
problem, look, if you have a voice, you can preach the gospel, okay, you know,
that's all you need, you need a voice, if you're saved, if you got the Word of God,
and if you got a voice, there's no reason why you're not preaching the gospel to
people, because Paul, he doesn't make it, he doesn't make it as
easily, I speak as you're ashamed, except for, you know, so and so and so and so, I
mean, there are people in the Bible, you know, the one example that I can't remember
his name is, but is it Ephronitis, I can't remember, what's his name,
where basically he said, you know, he was preaching the Word of God, and basically
he was sick nine to death, I can't remember his name, so basically he
was preaching the gospel so much, he's working, you know, he's doing the
Word of God so much, he's worked to death, you know, to supply your lack of
service to me, so the thing is, is that, you know, it's a shame if you're
not preaching the gospel, and if you're too lazy, or if you have other
priorities in hand, and you're, really, you're living like those people
he's talking about, where he says, let's eat and drink it tomorrow we die, so I'm
gonna, and one more thing too, you know, the Bible says, as touching things
offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge, knowledge profits up, but
charity edifies, and again, you can have all the knowledge of the world, and
you can be in the church, and you can sit in it, you can hear preaching, okay, but
here's the thing, just listening to preaching, you know, that's not
gonna help the people outside these walls get people saved, okay, and if you
just listen to preaching, you're like, oh yeah, this is great, because I got all this
knowledge, you know, I know a lot of things other people don't about, you know,
how to explain the gospel to people different ways, this way, and that way,
well, if you don't use that knowledge, the Bible says, knowledge puff it up,
that charity edifies, you're not building anyone up, okay, you're not, you're not
really helping people out, okay, and if, you need to make sure you're preaching
the gospel, yeah, being proud is the weakest in the sight of God, let's pray,
your father, God, I think there's opportunity to preach, I pray that it was
understandable, and that people would apply this truth in the Bible to their
soul wedding, and that they would, you know, that you be with us as we go out,
help everyone to get home safe, and I pray all these things in Jesus' name,
amen.