OK, so Romans chapter 10 now on our study through the Book of Romans,
which starts with verse one, reading,
brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.
Now, this is following on from chapter nine,
where the whole chapter is dealing with the fact that the physical descendants
aren't the children of God. Yeah, we went through this.
It's clear as day in chapter nine, isn't it?
The physical descendants there talking about Israel,
physical descendants of Abraham are not the children of God based on the fact
that they're physical descendants.
Yeah, if any of them are the children of God, it's based on the fact that they're saved.
Yeah. OK.
And we went through that. That was, I think, clear as day in chapter nine.
If you're wondering, you're a bit unsure about that,
please go back and read chapter nine.
If you're still unsure, listen to it preached as well.
I think I think it's pretty clear there.
We looked at verses like Romans nine, six,
which reads, not as though the word of God has taken none effect,
for they are not all Israel, which are of Israel.
Now, nowadays it seems to be the opposite, doesn't it?
So it seems that if at any point you've
rejected to this sort of Christ rejecting religion,
you will then be considered one of the physical seed.
So it's very odd, isn't it?
It's completely like inside out and back to front that if you've
converted to it, you become physical seed, which makes absolutely no sense at all.
And I know, you know, I've heard a lot of the preaching on this.
And my stance is on this because some people talk about, well,
they still refer to them as kind of these people.
They're like they're some sort of physical descendants.
I don't believe that at all.
I believe the vast, vast majority of people claiming to be Jews,
claiming to be, you know, members of the nation of descendants,
whatever they want to call themselves, have some sort of heritage,
some sort of right to that land. For me,
the vast majority, I believe, are converts, Ashkenazi converts from somewhere
around the eighth century and have absolutely no more heritage
than you and I in this room, OK, for me.
So, you know, I'm not one that sees them as like the physical.
What I do see them as is people that follow a wicked,
blasphemous religion called Judaism and people that have converted to that
and now seem to think that they have some sort of physical line to Abraham
because they converted to a wicked religion.
And it is absolutely bizarre, isn't it?
It is absolutely bizarre.
And sadly, you have, like we said many times,
the vast majority of what seems to be like so-called Christians in this world
believe in this nonsense. And you've got severe extremes.
I mean, I remember listening to this guy
many years ago when I was first saved, I'd come up on some wicked radio station,
premier Christian radio station. Yeah.
I was newly saved, anyway.
He's definitely going, what?
And this guy called John Hagee, anyone heard of John Hagee?
I mean, this guy is just, it's like full on Zionism, you know, flags.
But he believes, I think, that they're just they're automatically saved
because they're apparently the physical descendants,
because they follow a wicked religion which rejects Christ.
Absolutely just amazing, isn't it?
But that guy's popular, isn't he?
A big old following of these kind of Zionist types.
Amazing, isn't it? Well, that's not the truth, though, is it?
That's not the truth from the word of God.
And just going through the Book of Romans, it's made it pretty clear, hasn't it?
And we've seen chapter after chapter make it clear.
And it's a great book for that, isn't it?
In fact, it's not the only book, though.
You just go through the New Testament and it's so, so, so clear, isn't it?
And when you talk to these guys and you talk to these because there's a lot
of these guys around, I've been at churches where they're really,
they're really heavily into this, you know, and, you know,
and they claim to believe grace through faith.
You're trying to tolerate them
because, like I've said before as well, it's not, you know,
there are, you know, there are nations where there are churches, which are right.
They're a bit hung up on this a little bit, but they're all right in other ways.
For us here, we were really scraping the barrel, weren't we?
We were trying to tolerate a church which kind of hardly ticked any boxes.
Well, it had the King James.
They just about seem to seem to claim to believe grace through faith.
But the Zionism wasn't just, oh, now and again, you've got to hear that preach.
You could tolerate that, couldn't you?
I was at a church where it was week in, week out,
week after week after week about it, anyone who doesn't believe it's a heretic,
et cetera, it was hard going, really hard going.
And it was a dire church at the same time.
But you're kind of, you're a bit stuck because, well, where else do I go?
And they're so wrong and they're so wrong.
And what do they and a lot of the time they don't even go to scripture.
They just try and go to an Old Testament
promise or something and go, oh, that carries on and just forget everything else.
Well, we are in a New Testament, by the way.
We are in a New Testament, if anyone's, if anyone's unsure.
Now, he ended Chapter nine, Paul, with Romans nine thirty three,
which read, as it is written, Behold, I lay inside a stumbling stone,
a rock of offense, and whosoever believeth of him shall not be ashamed.
Now, clearly referred to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Yeah. Then he begins this chapter.
So he's talking about basically believing, getting saved,
begins this chapter saying that his desire and prayer is for them to believe on him.
Yeah. He said, brethren, my heart's desire
and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.
Let's go to the Lord in the word of prayer before we carry on.
Father, thank you. Thank you for this great chapter of the Bible.
Thank you for the many truths that are in this chapter.
Please just help me to preach them just just clearly and accurately,
boldly, fill me with your spirit.
Just help me, help me to get across what you want to get across to people today
and help them to have a tent of peace, help them to stay,
just stay awake and focused and alert and just just help,
help all these things to be done in your name.
We pray. Amen.
Right. So verse two.
For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge,
for they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to
establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
So, yes, they have a zeal or enthusiasm for God, but they're not saved.
They're not saved.
And there are many people you come across that seem to have a zeal, don't they?
And enthusiasm when you're first saved.
I mean, when I was first saved looking at people and they seem to mention God,
maybe they're saved.
Well, they've got a cross somewhere, you know, and then you kind of with time,
it starts to get a bit disappointing when you realise sadly how few really are saved.
You know, and just because they've got a zeal,
just because they've got an enthusiasm doesn't mean that they're saved.
God's righteousness is imputed to us through Jesus Christ, isn't it?
Through faith in Christ.
Philippians, you don't have to turn there, three, nine,
talking of Jesus Christ says, and be found in him not having mine own
righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith
of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.
Yeah. And again, there's been some great chapters in this.
Obviously, Romans chapter three, Romans chapter four and five.
We've looked at this, you know, clearly it is of faith alone.
No works at all.
We'll get you saved that is.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.
Now, the end of the law isn't, oh, right, that's it, the law done.
It's a fulfilment of the law, as in it doesn't mean, right, that's it.
We never have to have any regard to it at all because we should.
There are some great lessons from the law
out there and the great ways that we should be living by the law.
It's got nothing to do with salvation.
Now, he's talking about the fulfilment of the law.
Like he says in Matthew 5 17,
think not that I am come to destroy the law of the prophets.
I have not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
For Moses, verse five, where we are here,
describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth
those things shall live by them.
Now, there's nothing wrong with the law, is there?
Yeah, the law was perfect.
Yeah, because I say that because there are people that don't look at it like that.
Are there?
Even though Galatians 3 21 says,
Is the law then against the promise of God?
God forbid, for if there had been a law given which could have given life,
verily, righteousness should have been by the law.
Because there are Christians out there, aren't there,
that talk about the law as if it's some sort of curse word.
Have you been around those sorts of people?
They use terms like some sort of legalist and, oh, what, the law, you know,
talking about the law, one of those churches where they preach
about the law, like there's something wrong with the law.
Like the law is this bad thing that, oh, you know, that God just kind of,
he punished them with it.
No, no, the law, the law was perfect, wasn't it?
The law was perfect.
And if you could have kept to the law, you would have been worthy of heaven.
You could do that your whole life, but no one could do that, can they?
But it's not because of the law.
It's because of us.
The law wasn't the problem. We're the problem, aren't we?
Verse 6 says,
But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise,
say not in thine heart, who shall ascend into heaven?
That is, to bring Christ down from above.
Or who shall descend into the deep?
That is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.
Now, some people find this passage a little bit tricky.
Speaketh on this wise is like saying speaks in this manner or way.
OK, so the law is saying,
but the righteousness which is of faith speaks in this manner or way.
Yeah, say not.
Now, verse six, in thine heart, who shall ascend into heaven?
That is, to bring Christ down from above.
Or who shall descend into the deep?
That is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.
Now, turn to Deuteronomy 30, because Paul here is using an
I don't want to say altering,
but he's using a passage from there about the law to make his point here about faith.
Now, while you turn now, I'm going to read verse eight where we are.
And we'll come back there anyway, which says,
But what sayeth it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart.
That is the word of faith which we preach.
OK, Deuteronomy chapter 30, and from verse 10 here,
so Moses is offering them either blessings or cursings, and he says,
If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments
and his statutes which are written in this book of the law.
And if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy
soul for this commandment, which I command thee this day,
it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
It is not in heaven that thou shouldst say, Who shall go up for us to heaven
and bring it unto us that we may hear it and do it.
Neither is it beyond the sea that thou shouldst say, Who shall go over the sea
for us and bring it unto us that we may hear it and do it.
But the word is very nigh unto thee in thy mouth and in thy heart that thou mayest do it.
See, I've said before this day life and good and death and evil.
And remember where we just were, if you keep a finger there,
Paul said in Romans 10, 6 to 8,
but the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise say,
not in thine heart who shall ascend into heaven.
That is to bring Christ down from above.
Or who shall descend into the deep?
So he changes this here.
That is to bring up Christ again from the dead.
What sayeth that the word is neither even in thy mouth, in thy heart.
That is the word of faith which we preach.
So here in Romans 10, like in Deuteronomy with the commandment,
we don't have to bring Jesus down again from heaven as evidence is what he's saying.
OK, we don't have to bring Jesus Christ
back again as evidence or up again from hell as evidence.
Because we have the words of the living God, don't we?
Because that's what it comes from, the words of the living God,
the words of faith, and it's all about faith, isn't it?
It's all about faith.
We don't need him to come down to prove it,
to get to have faith because we have the word of God.
Notice in verse seven, by the way,
how it's descending in where we are in Romans 10.
It's it's descending.
That's down into the deep to bring up Christ from the dead.
Yeah, for me, that's another just another nice passage,
just to prove what everyone here knows, that Jesus Christ went to hell,
that again, many, many, many churches just deny these these passages, don't they?
And obviously this isn't as clear as when you're in Acts 2.31 and in other places.
But again, well, I mean, where else is that?
Who shall descend into the deep to bring up Christ again from the dead?
Because I don't believe that tomb was was particularly deep, was it?
Into the deep to bring him up again from the dead,
talking about the dead being being held, being the centre of the earth.
So the righteousness, which is of faith,
comes from the word that is near us in our mouths and hearts.
Yeah, that's what it's saying here.
Everyone will agree with that there.
And what is it that Paul says we preach then?
What is it that Paul says we preach?
Well, verse nine says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus
and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead,
thou shalt be saved.
That's pretty clear there, isn't it?
Isn't that pretty clear?
Obviously, if you're confess, if you're preaching
that people believe in their heart, that God is raising from the dead,
you're preaching that he died, you're preaching why he died,
you're preaching what happened there and you preach about the cross
and what that death is signifying.
Yeah, that's pretty clear, isn't it?
Yeah.
Now, it's a great verse, isn't it?
Absolutely great verse.
Many people here preach this verse when they're trying to get someone saved.
When I first started trying to get people
saved using the word of God, I first started learning.
This was, I actually had a very short originally,
just used to use the Book of Romans and this was obviously one of the key verses.
Yeah.
Thou shalt be saved.
Let's say it doesn't say thou might be saved, does it?
It doesn't say thou shalt start being saved.
There's no process, is there?
Thou shalt be saved.
That's clear as day, isn't it?
And truthfully, look, many people have and you can,
you could get someone saved from this verse and a few others.
Look, we have a way.
We like to be thorough, don't we, when we preach the gospel.
And many of us here have a way and obviously like to go to Revelation and
preach a bit more about hell and maybe people don't, you know, that's kind of
been watered down more recently, I'd say more as well.
So I think it is important to do that.
But you could get someone safe from the Book of Romans.
Yeah, you could get someone safe and many people have and many people have done so.
And this verse is clear as day.
Look, we like to go to many other eternal security verses, don't we?
But that verse is eternal security all day long, isn't it?
Thou shalt be saved.
If you believe that, thou shalt be saved.
There's no maybes, no ifs, no buts, you're saved.
Yeah, clear as day.
Now, notice that there are two requirements there.
Confessing with your mouth and believing in your heart.
Yeah.
Now, this is where someone says, oh,
but I thought you just had to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Yes, you do. Yeah.
Yeah, that's what it takes to be saved.
You do just have to believe.
But what does it mean to believe?
What do you explain to people when you're showing them what it means to believe?
Because the Muslims believe that there was a person called Jesus Christ, don't they?
Yeah, and the Muslim believe there was a prophet in their eyes called Jesus Christ.
Actually, I had a funny Muslim today.
I've just got to share this with you quickly.
This is a quick commercial break here.
So this was, I haven't heard this one before.
This guy, apparently, to go to heaven, you have to believe in a God.
Yeah, OK.
So are you saying, what, any God?
He said, yep. So Krishna.
Yeah, as long as it's one God.
So one God, nothing else.
As long as you believe in one God, any God.
What about Satan? Well, no, that's Satan.
OK, so he said, well, I said, so what about if I believe in Krishna
and I believe in another one? No, no, one God.
As long as you believe in one God apparently.
So this guy had a sort of faith style religion here that I haven't heard before.
Anyone heard this coming from a Muslim's mouth before?
So this is apparently, you just had to believe in one God.
Any one God. Didn't matter.
Didn't matter who it was as long as it was one God.
Then he said, but if you're going to say
to him, my door, that Jesus Christ is God, I'm going to slam the door in your face.
Wow. OK, so as far as he was concerned,
it didn't matter which God, didn't matter what version of God,
it didn't matter if I had literally just turned up
and five minutes before made my own God.
If I'd just gone right and got a new God, it's a snail God.
Yeah, as long as it was one God
and there's only one snail God, that was all right.
Yeah, as long as it was only one God,
that was fine as long as you didn't come with that truth.
As long as you didn't come with the word of God.
Yeah, anything but the word of God, anything basically but the triune God
really is what he's saying, because of course it is one God in three persons
and he could not accept that.
So that was quite an interesting one anyway.
But the Muslims believed, I don't know if it was a person called Jesus Christ
according to the Muslim, the Jews believed that there was a man
called Jesus Christ, don't they?
They believe there was a man called Jesus Christ,
or at least that's what they claim.
But what are they saying?
Do they go to heaven?
No, no, heaven.
So what does it mean to believe?
It means to put your trust, your faith, doesn't it?
It's putting your trust, your faith in his shed blood, his death, his burial,
his resurrection, paying for all of your past, present and future sins.
That basically means to trust him,
to put your faith and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
When you do that, you call on the name of the Lord, don't you?
If you're believing on the Lord Jesus Christ,
what's to stop you then with your mouth calling on the name of the Lord?
I mean, I didn't understand all the, you know, the arguments for and against this.
And there's some pretty weak arguments against this.
I didn't understand any of that.
When I was, when I heard the gospel, I got down on my knees and I called
on the name of the Lord, OK, because that was obvious, wasn't it?
I wanted to get saved, so I asked Jesus Christ to save me.
It should be pretty obvious, shouldn't it?
But like many obvious scripts in the Bible, they get attacked by heretics.
Yeah, by damnable heretics who attack it.
And of course, many of you have heard this.
Of course, we had this this absolute moron on our WhatsApp group trying
to attack this recently as well.
Look, just to make it clear, because maybe some people, you know,
a bit unsure about this, or maybe some people just haven't done that much.
Look, I have had multiple people tell me to my face that they believe everything
that I've just showed them, everything I've told them.
They believe what the Bible says.
And I said, are you ready to call the name of the Lord?
No, I'm not ready.
And it wasn't shyness.
It was nothing to do.
Oh, just not right now.
You know, I'm going to do it in my head.
No, it was like, I'm not ready.
I don't want it. I don't want to do it.
They believe it all.
They believe what I'm saying is true,
but they're not believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Yeah, you see the difference there.
And this is what people get confused about.
Oh, you've just got to believe it.
Yeah, yeah.
But when you're believing on the Lord Jesus Christ,
you're putting your faith, your trust in Jesus Christ.
And you do that by calling on the name of the Lord.
That's what it's about.
That's what the scripture is about.
But
how lost is this on many people?
Look at verse 10.
For with the heart man believeth under righteousness,
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
What is the purpose of that verse if you don't have to call upon the name of the Lord?
What's the purpose of it?
So could someone, could any of these guys just explain to me?
Because when they go to, when they try
and do all their arguments, they never go to these verses, do they?
They never go to the last idiot who did
his thesis at twelve thirty at night, never went to this scripture, did he?
And with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
So what's the point of that?
Just Paul had just a little kind of just a weird moment there, did he?
Yeah, what do they think?
For the scripture saith,
whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
They go hand in hand, don't they? Yeah.
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek,
for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Now, this is where they like to create their straw man.
It's not about repeating a prayer.
That's not what gets someone saved.
Saying magic words isn't getting anyone saved.
Repeating a prayer has got, that's not what we're talking about here.
It's about calling on the name of the Lord in faith,
in faith, believing in your heart, so you call on the name of the Lord.
And they love the whole straw man.
Ha ha. Just because you said a prayer, you think you're saved?
Oh, well, I'm just, I don't tell people they've got to follow.
Look, they need to call the name of the Lord.
Yeah, they need to believe on him.
And that that goes hand in hand with calling on the name of the Lord.
And they love that just because you said a prayer straw man.
Yeah, you've heard this by these heretics.
And it's just another angle of attack.
It's another angle of trying to attack clear doctrines in the Bible.
The funniest one is people. What about this one?
This guy tried to say this.
The funniest one is when they try and say it's work salvation.
What on earth? Yeah, it's work.
Wow, that would be a pretty easy job, wouldn't it?
You just have to say, say, say someone's name.
Wow. If you get paid for that.
Work salvation, they try and say.
Is hearing the word then preach work salvation as well?
Yeah. Oh, well, yeah.
Work salvation because, you know, you had to hear the word of God preached.
No, you need to hear the word of God.
But it's not work salvation.
It's not the works of the Lord calling upon the name of the Lord.
It's not the works of the law.
Yeah. Turn to John, Chapter four.
I said to you, I've got some brand new Bibles.
Forget the Bible memory challenge.
I've just got a stock of these great new Bibles.
They're free for anyone that wants them.
Or you've got to just come up and ask me after the service.
Would you go away after, ask me after the end of the service and go,
I really had to work for that Bible.
Cor blimey.
That was some hard graft.
I had to go and ask him.
I can't believe I had to ask him.
You know, in fact, if I said to you,
don't even have to come up and ask me,
you just have to call out from anywhere in the church.
Call out. Oh, man, he made me work.
I don't want it. I've got to work for it.
Absolutely. It would be ridiculous, wouldn't it?
Wouldn't that be absolute?
And that's how ridiculous it is.
The work salvation, they try and claim.
Well, John four and verse 10, Jesus answered and said unto her,
if thou knewest the gift of God and who it is that sayeth to thee,
give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him and he would have given thee
living water. Was Jesus preaching work salvation?
Was Jesus preaching work salvation?
No, he was not preaching work salvation.
Turn to Psalm 14, whilst you turn there.
I'm going to read a few other verses
in case you're wondering if this is the only verse.
So somebody, oh, well, it's just this bit in Romans 10.
We'll just avoid that.
Well, let's read a few more, because Romans 10, 13 is quoting Joel 2, 32,
which reads and it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be delivered for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be
deliverance as the Lord have said and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.
Talking about the rapture after the tribulation,
because calling on the name of the Lord
has always been required for salvation, hasn't it?
Genesis 4, 26 says, and to Seth to him also there was born a son and he called
his name Enos, then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.
Psalm 116, verse 13 says,
I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord.
Isaiah 55, 6 says, seek ye the Lord while he may be found.
Call ye upon him while he is near.
Acts 2, 21 says, and it shall come to pass.
That whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Acts 9, 14, talk ye of Saul says, and here he has
authority from the chief priest to bind all that call on thy name.
And 1 Corinthians 1, 2 says unto the Church of God, which is at Corinth,
to them that are sanctified in Christ, Jesus called to be saints with all that
in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.
Because when you put your faith in Jesus Christ you call upon the name of the Lord.
Yeah, it's clear as day, isn't it?
However long you want to do a thesis, mixing up prayers when you're saved
with everything else to show some holy spit, it's just ridiculous.
And it just shows that these people,
I mean, these people, some of them will come out and go,
I never called on the name of the Lord. Anyone hear that?
It was that heretic, Norm Diamante, yeah?
And then he deleted his comments, didn't he?
He turned off his comments, but people had screenshotted it, I think, as well.
If you didn't call on the name of the Lord, you ain't saved.
Yeah.
So why wouldn't someone, why wouldn't you call on the name of the Lord?
Well, turn to Psalm, you're in Psalm 14, aren't you?
Have a look at verse four.
Remember we talked about what works of iniquity are, yeah, they're reprobates.
Of all the workers of iniquity, no knowledge,
who eat up my people as they eat bread and call not upon the Lord.
Why don't they call upon the Lord?
Because they're workers of iniquity, they're incapable.
Now, I'm not saying to everyone it doesn't call upon the Lord, it is a reprobate.
But what I am saying is it's one thing to say I believe in the Gospel, isn't it?
Yeah, it's one thing to say that.
It's another to admit that you are a sinner and you need a saviour.
Yeah, it's another to admit that, isn't it?
It's one thing to say, oh, yeah, yeah, I agree.
Yeah, I agree. That's what it says.
I believe it's another thing to actually put your faith, your trust in Jesus Christ.
Yeah. And some people are incapable of doing that and some people won't do that.
Yeah.
But God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble, doesn't he?
Yeah. And it takes a certain humble spirit to go, yeah, I need a saviour.
And obviously those are the most extreme and they cannot do that.
But many people just won't do that.
And like I said, I have had those people,
anyone else had people like that before when they were out soul winning.
Yeah, there we go.
Countless people who, yeah, they say they believe.
Yeah, they say they've heard it all.
Yeah, yeah, they believe everything you say.
But no, don't want to call the name of the Lord. Yeah.
OK, let's move on from that, because it should just you should be able
to just read through those scriptures, shouldn't you?
And just go, yeah, clear calling upon the name of the Lord.
Yeah, you would you would assume you could do that, wouldn't you?
But sadly, no.
Sadly, the heretics, the and that's, you know, I don't
I wouldn't call that a subtle attack, but it's just another attack on the gospel.
Another attack on the gospel.
And these people are everywhere.
And look, if you're in here and you're still wondering, you're still
and you're going, yeah, no, saying your prayers,
saying your prayers at work or anything else that come and see me afterwards.
If you want to show me some scripture, it shows that if you've got a problem
with every single one of those scriptures saying call upon the name of the Lord,
if you've got a problem with with what it says clearly in Romans 10 there,
then you've got big problems.
You've got big problems.
Now, there are people, I remember talking to someone not long ago
who just kind of, you know, talked about this.
He just said, I haven't really thought about it that much.
But yeah, it's clear as day.
Yeah. And you're saved.
You should be able to look at scripture, shouldn't you?
And just go, yeah, that's what that's what the Bible says.
Yeah, the Bible says that you should be able to look at Romans 10 and go, OK,
maybe I haven't really thought about it much.
Yeah, clearly you need to call upon the name of the Lord.
Yeah. Yeah, that's what that goes hand in hand with faith.
Yeah, that's it.
Yeah. If thou shalt confess thy mouth to the Lord Jesus
and believe in thine heart that God is raised from the dead,
thou shalt be saved.
What a great verse. Yeah.
OK, moving on verse 14.
How then shall they call on him?
Yeah, they've got to call on him in whom they have not believed.
And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach except they be sent as it is written?
How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace
and bring glad tidings of good things?
Now, these are obviously rhetorical questions here.
Verse 14 is saying that you can't call on him without believing.
So, again, no one here preaches, oh, yeah, you just call out his name.
Yeah, just say a prayer.
No, you need to believe and call the name of the Lord in belief. Yeah.
You can't believe without hearing about him.
That's what it's saying, isn't it, in verse 14.
You can't hear about him without someone preaching about him, can you?
And that's where the soul winning Christian comes in, isn't it?
That's where we come in.
That's what it comes down to.
It comes down to every single person here.
If you're saved, you have a responsibility to preach the gospel,
because how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher?
And that's not talking about the man behind a pulpit.
That's talking about every single person here who is ordained of God
to preach the gospel.
You're saved, you're commanded to preach the gospel.
OK, the Bible's clear about that.
We've gone over that many times before.
And that's where we come in, isn't it?
That's where we need to, we have to look at scriptures like this and go,
yeah, that's why I'm not soul winning, because they have to have a preacher.
They have to have a preacher.
But what do they need to hear from the preacher?
So what do they need to hear from the preacher?
Is it, is it about you?
They need to hear about your salvation testimony,
about what a wicked sinner you were before.
Is that what we're going to tell people?
Just look at the change in me and look how great I am now.
And I managed to, I managed to give up the booze.
It must be real, because I gave up the booze.
Well, many people give up the booze without faith in Jesus Christ, don't they?
Oh, I gave up the drugs, so I must be saved.
Yeah, I gave up the drugs, so look, God's real.
You know, look, why don't you listen to me talk about me for an hour?
And there are a lot of people that do that, aren't there?
In fact, I was at a church before where salvation, where baptism
started with someone standing up and telling everyone about themselves
before they got baptized.
Yeah. What's all that about?
I don't want to hear about them.
I want to hear about the Lord.
And it was like, invite all your friends and family.
Everyone come down, we get a big gang of them
and then you can tell them all about yourself.
What a wasted opportunity.
What a wasted opportunity when you get someone behind the pulpit,
when you could have had a man of God there standing
and preaching to those unsaved people, the word of God, yeah?
Because that's what it's about, isn't it?
Because that's what they need to hear about.
They need to hear about him.
That's what it's about.
How shall they hear without a preacher?
And what is it that they're listening to?
How should they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
It's not about you.
It's not about your, you know, the changes to you and everything else.
Preach the word of God.
Preach the gospel.
And how many guys, they still do this, don't they?
People who seem to be saved, people who seem to believe in,
you know, grace through faith and the word of God.
And then they're just there, just rambling on about, you know,
how they came to salvation, how they came.
A lot of the time it's just how they came to belief in God, isn't it?
And well, verse 15 there says,
And how shall they preach except they be sent?
It's saying that you need to be sent to preach, don't you?
And that's where the Soul Winning Church comes in, yeah?
So the soul winner comes in because they need to preach,
but the Soul Winning Church comes in because they need to send them to preach, don't they?
Yeah, and that's why, you know, this church will never stop preaching about soul winning.
And will never stop preaching about needing to go out and soul win
because the minute it stops, the minute less soul winning will happen, won't it?
If we weren't preaching it here, look, it will dwindle.
Look, we all have the flesh.
It's so easy to just start missing and missing and missing more and more and stopping soul winning.
But we have to because how shall they hear without a preacher?
Yeah, we have to.
And how shall they preach except they be sent?
Now you might say, well, I managed to go out soul winning before you, but you were sent.
Sad thing is you were sent from 5,000 plus miles away.
With many people here, we were being sent out by,
I mean, originally I was sent out by preaching that was dead, yeah?
I was sent out by preaching that was dead.
I was listening to brother Jack Hiles and him telling me to go out soul winning.
The guy wasn't even alive, he was dead, he was buried 5,000 miles away.
No, I'm sure he's in heaven, but, you know, look, a lot of us, a lot of us here,
and then I was getting sent out by people like Pastor Anderson and others,
and look, I wasn't even at their church.
But they were encouraging people to go out soul winning, weren't they?
They were saying, look, if you're at a church which is so lousy,
they're so wicked, they so don't deserve to be a church,
they can't even send people out soul winning, they still go out soul winning, yeah?
And how many of us here, you know, those that have been here for a while now,
but before this was a church, right, we just had to find a way to get outside.
It's not because we're great, it's because we were getting convicted by churches sending people out, yeah?
And that's what a church has to do.
It has to send people out soul winning.
And look, as and when in the future we have more churches like this in this nation,
they have to be sending people out because that's the whole point of the church.
It doesn't matter how great the band is,
it doesn't matter how lovely the food and drink, how great the decor is or anything else,
if they're not sending you out soul winning, I say they're in a church, yeah?
God was going to remove that candlestick, yeah, except they repented and did the first works,
and the first works going out and preaching the gospel, yeah?
I mean, here we've just been, well, they seem to have the gospel, right?
Like, how many of those churches have really sent you out soul winning?
They were tolerating you soul winning, yeah? Weren't they?
Oh, well, you could come along while we kind of, you know, give some leaflet out.
Is that really preaching the gospel?
I don't believe so.
We were like, well, they seem to be preaching the gospel from the pulp here,
because that's how bad it got in this nation, isn't it?
But maybe there's one or two out there, I hope there are.
It's not that I hope there's not, I do hope there are.
But that's where we come in.
Now, he's quoting Isaiah 52 7 here, which says in Isaiah 52 7,
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good,
that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth.
So, basically, when God looks at a soul winner's gnarly old bunioned,
yellow taloned, hairy knuckled feet, yeah?
Yeah, I know some of you have got those sort of feet out there, yeah.
He sees beautiful feet, yeah?
Why does he see beautiful feet?
Because it's what those feet are doing, isn't it?
Yeah, it's what those feet are doing.
It doesn't matter, you know, how many, is it a pedicure?
Yeah, pedicures for the feet, isn't it?
Doesn't matter how many pedicures you get,
doesn't matter, you know, how beautiful those feet are,
because, you know, some people have a thing about nasty-looking feet,
don't they, a nice-looking feet?
Doesn't matter how perfect, how, you know, in line those toes are,
a nice slope, but doesn't have one that sticks up and out,
a crooked, weird toe in the middle, doesn't matter.
If you're not out pounding the pavement, preaching the gospel,
God looks down and sees disgusting feet, yeah?
You're a Christian and you're not out preaching the gospel,
God's looking down at those feet and he's seeing some nasty old feet,
isn't he? He's seeing some stinking feet, yeah?
But, look, when he looks down,
those who preach the gospel are at their beautiful feet, yeah?
Beautiful feet, and, yeah, I'm quite pleased with that myself.
Cos, yeah, yeah, a lot of us can probably do with God looking down
and going, no, they're still beautiful, they're still beautiful.
Because it's what those feet are doing, isn't it?
Now, it says in verse 16,
Now, that's from Isaiah 53.1, where, and, again, you have to,
and a lot of you probably maybe did these memory verse,
a lot of people know these verse, but it says,
So, who's it revealed to?
Well, verse 17 says,
And those that hear the word of God preach to them, yeah?
Yeah, that's who it's revealed to, that's who believes it.
Faith comes by hearing the word of God, yeah?
Hearing the word of God.
And, again, you're thinking, yeah, OK, what's your point, brother Ian?
Because, again, how many churches seem to think that faith comes
by reading the word of God?
That faith comes by reading or hearing something similar
to the word of God?
Faith comes by hearing your explanation of the word of God
and no actual word of God?
No, faith comes by hearing the word of God, yeah?
You have to hear it, and, again, that's why we go out
and we preach the Gospel.
We don't go out and give out tracts.
We don't drop, you know, mini-Bibles through letterboxes.
We don't, you know, just send Bibles to people
and let God do his magic, yeah?
We go and preach the Gospel because that's what the Bible says.
Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
And this isn't the only place where it talks about hearing the word of God.
Turn to Matthew chapter 13.
While you turn, I'm going to read a couple of verses.
Galatians 3.2 says,
This only would I learn of you,
received ye the Spirit by the works of the law,
or by the hearing of faith.
Ephesians 1.13 says,
talking about Christ in whom ye also trusted,
after that ye heard the word of truth,
the Gospel of your salvation,
in whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed
with that Holy Spirit of promise.
I mean, that's just clear as day, isn't it, in Ephesians 1.13.
OK, you trusted Christ after that ye heard the word of truth,
the Gospel of your salvation,
in whom also after that ye believed
ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
What a great verse, isn't it?
Just eternal security in there as well.
And it shows clearly how that comes.
That comes by hearing the word of God,
the word of truth, the Gospel, the good news,
the glad tidings of your salvation.
And again, I don't want to preach the choir here,
but that's why we will only ever preach the Gospel
out of this church with the King James Bible.
Yeah, there is only one word of truth, isn't there?
There can't all be the word of truth
if they all say something different.
Yeah, if they're saying being saved,
yeah, that you're being saved,
or they say that, you know,
yeah, if you basically confess that Jesus is Lord.
Well, what exactly does that mean?
Yeah, or declare that Jesus is,
no, how about if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus.
There's a difference there, isn't there?
Because then you start getting,
then you start getting Lordship salvation
coming out of there.
Well, if you make Jesus Lord of your life,
well, what does that mean?
Have I done made Jesus?
How do you make Jesus Lord of your life?
Because it's all full stop tree.
It doesn't make any sense.
It doesn't line up with scripture.
There can only be one word of truth.
And that's why you need the word of God
to get saved, don't you?
Bible's clear about that.
Now you turn to Matthew chapter 13,
look from verse 18.
Famous parable about soul winning.
Matthew 13, 18.
Hear ye therefore the parable of the soul.
And he's explaining it.
When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom
and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one
and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart.
This is he which received seed by the wayside.
But he that received the seed into stony places,
the same as he that heareth the word
and anon with joy receiveth it.
Yet have ye not rooted in himself,
but jurith for a while,
for when tribulation or persecution ariseth,
because the word by and by he is offended.
He also that receives seed among the thorns
is he that heareth the word.
And the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches
choke the word and he becometh unfruitful.
But he that receives seed into the good ground
is he that heareth the word and understandeth it,
which also beareth fruit and bringeth forth
some an hundredfold, some 60, some 30.
That's why we go forth and preach the word.
Amen.
Yeah, that's why.
And again, that needs preaching regularly
because this attacks everywhere, isn't it?
Oh yeah, read it, give them a tract.
Oh, they'll come to, oh, Jesus will appear to them.
Oh, God does the saving.
Oh, well, if the, you know, or the Calvinist,
well, if they're going to get saved,
they're going to get saved.
Anyway, you know, some way it'll work out.
There's all this, all this false doctrine out there
and that will creep in the church
if it's not preached regularly.
And something we have to remember here as well,
sometimes you're going to hear preaching
that you're sitting there thinking,
yeah, but I know that, brother Ian.
Yeah, of course we know that.
But it needs preaching.
It needs preaching regularly.
Doctrine, clear, bread and butter,
doctrine needs preaching regularly
because false doctrine creeps into churches.
Okay, and it needs preaching and even things
that you're sitting there going, well, I know that,
but it needs reminding, it needs reminding, okay?
Verse 18 says, but I say, have they not heard?
Yes, verily their sound went into all the earth
and their words unto the ends of the world.
Okay, so look, make no mistake.
These people that try to say,
what about the untouched tribe in wherever?
Yeah, you name the place.
Well, what about them?
Is that fair?
You know, look, look, the gospel's gone everywhere.
Okay, the gospel has gone everywhere.
Now, yeah, maybe their ancestors,
I don't know how many years down the line,
chose to basically reject it at some point.
And yeah, they chose to keep having kids
and their kids had kids and that's not God's fault.
Yeah, God, the gospel's gone out.
The gospel continues to go out.
Let's be honest, we're in a day and age now, yeah,
and I understand there are places
that don't have the technology that we have,
but we're in a day and age now where, I don't know,
for me, it's quite interesting coming up to that end time
where God's not willing that any should perish.
He seems to be patient, long-suffering.
We're coming to a point where there's less and less areas
that can't access the gospel, yeah,
that couldn't access the gospel.
And of course, it needs preaching.
Of course, we need to go out to those places
and of course, and there's less and less places
that we can't access, like we can access places,
and we're able to get places.
I know COVID was a little hiccup in that,
but look, we've got the internet as well.
We've got all these different means at our disposal.
We go out and preach the gospel.
People are going everywhere
and the gospel has already gone everywhere.
And if they reject it and they want to keep rejecting it,
well, that's their choice to do that, yeah,
but we still go out with the gospel
and we continue to do that.
But I say, have they not heard?
Yes, really, their sound went into all the earth
and their words unto the ends of the world.
That's what the Bible says, it's gone everywhere.
I believe it's gone everywhere.
I believe it continues to.
I was just looking a little while back.
I think, isn't it the Chinese sort of,
you know, the pictures used,
anyone looked into that sort of thing before?
Yeah, really interesting.
They're basically like Chinese lettering
is like groups of different pictures and images
to make words.
And quite, there's quite a lot of them,
which are basically from biblical truths, you know,
like things like a boat or arc is like eight people
and other things combined together.
There's many of these sorts of things.
Yeah, I'm going to do it disservice
if I say too much about it here
because I'm going to probably get things wrong,
but go away and have a little look at that.
It's quite, you know,
if you're interested in that sort of thing,
it's quite fascinating to show that the Chinese
at least understood quite a lot.
In fact, I think there's a,
I can't remember where there's like a snake
and other things for temptation, I think,
and many of these sorts of things.
If anyone does know much about it
and wants to show people a bit more after them, please do.
Because I've found it really interesting anyway.
But that was a long time ago that that Chinese writing,
and people look at places like China,
go, oh, they probably never heard it.
No, they have heard it and they rejected it.
Ultimately, further down the line, yeah.
But I'm sure there's still a remnant there,
like there's a remnant in most places, aren't there?
Well, people have heard it,
but people have rejected it as well.
Verse 19 says,
But I say, did not Israel know?
First Moses saith,
I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people,
and by a foolish nation I will hang you.
Now that was in Moses' song,
prophesying of the replacement of Israel, okay?
That's what he's talking about.
They had a replacement of Israel.
That's why it's called replacement theology.
Verse 20 says,
But Isaiah says, very bold,
and saith, I was found of them that sought me not.
I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.
But to Israel, he saith, all day long,
I stretch forth my hands unto a disobedient
and gainsaying people.
And I'll turn to Isaiah 65,
which is what is being referred to here.
He's talking about Isaiah.
He's referring to Isaiah 65 here.
He said, I'll read it again while you're turning there,
but Isaiah is very bold and says,
I was found of them that sought me not.
I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.
But to Israel, he saith, all day long,
I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient
and gainsaying people.
And Isaiah 65 one reads,
I am sought of them that asked not for me.
I am found of them that sought me not.
I said, behold me, behold me unto a nation
that was not called by my name.
I've spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people,
which walketh in a way that was not good
after their own thoughts.
A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face,
that sacrificeth in gardens and burneth incense
upon altars of brick,
which remain among the graves and lodge in the monuments,
which eat swine's flesh and broth of abominable things
is in their vessels,
which say, stand by thyself, come not near to me,
for I am holier than thou.
These are a smoke in my nose,
a fire that burneth all the day.
That's a pretty damning indictment, isn't it?
Yeah, that's it.
That's how he's describing basically Israel.
That's what he's describing the physical nation,
the physical people there.
He's saying there are smoke in his nose,
a fire that burneth all the day.
You know how annoying that is when you can just,
you know, if you're by a smouldering fire
and it's just getting up your nose and it's not very nice.
That's what he's saying.
He's saying that they rejected him.
He spread his hands out, but they're rebellious, yeah?
They're rebellious.
So, look.
He just said there, look at this here.
Because verse five, he said,
These are a smoke in my nose,
a fire that burneth all the day,
having just said, which say, stand by thyself,
come not near to me, for I am holier than thou.
So, that's in verse five there.
That's where we get the term the holier than thou's from.
It's actually talking about, originally here,
talking about these basically, these unsaved Jews,
these unsaved Jews,
these unsaved Israel who thought they were so special,
so holy, and they weren't even saved, were they?
And, you know, they're saying here,
stand by thyself, come not near to me.
They're like, oh, don't come near me, because I'm so holy.
And, look, there are a lot of holier than thou's around, yeah?
Well, you've got to make sure, yeah?
We've got to be really careful
that we don't become holier than thou's, yeah?
That none of you here can be described,
I hate holier than thou's.
They really wind me up, yeah?
And a lot of the time, and like probably here as well,
because these are a wicked bunch, aren't they here?
They're doing wicked stuff,
and then they're trying to lift themselves up,
and so often it comes from insecurity.
So, it comes from their own failings,
their own lackings, their own sins,
make them then try and lift themselves up
and strain at gnats and swallow camels, yeah?
So, they're swallowing the camel here of, you know,
they're eating swines, flesh and broth of abominable things,
yet then they'll come not near me, for I am so holy, yeah?
And what is that?
And what is it that they're probably complaining about?
Something that's, a lot of the time,
not even a scripture, is it?
You know, people are like, well, what about this?
And what about, and it's like,
there's not even a thou shalt not with that, right?
Well, at the same time,
you're just in all sorts of wickedness yourself.
And even if they're not, even if there's not,
obviously, a lot of the time there is, yeah?
These people are just constantly trying
to prove their own holiness,
they're all like, how holy I am,
and how unholy you are, in one way,
a little comment here, oh, do you really do that?
Or are you into this?
Or, oh, really?
Those people, it's like, sort yourself out, yeah?
Sort yourself out, it's ridiculous, yeah?
And of course, you know, of course,
we want to try and encourage our families, don't we?
We want to encourage those that we love to live right,
we want to encourage them to live right for God.
But we don't want to do that by being a holier than thou
and trying to lift ourselves up,
because that's a wicked person to be, isn't it?
And God looks at that, and what does he say about that?
He says, there is smoke in my nose
and a fire that burneth all the day.
And of course, he's really referring to Israel there,
because in the last few verses that many Christians know,
don't they, the last few verses looked into,
for the truths about calling on the name of the Lord, yeah?
Needing a preacher, faith coming by hearing the word preached.
Great verses, many people memorize them,
many people use them for some of those fundamental truths
as a soul-winning church, yeah?
Love those verses.
But he's also getting the point across
that Israel had it preached to them, didn't he?
That's what he's doing.
He's getting that point across
that Israel had all this preached to them.
They heard it, but they have not all obeyed the gospel.
And obeying the gospel is
by putting your faith in Jesus Christ.
And like many gospel rejecters, they're holier than thou's.
Like many gospel rejecters,
because of course, we don't want to be like that,
but how many, how did you get when you're out and about
and he's holier than, and you knock on the doors?
All these work salvationists, how holier than thou are they?
Oh yeah, well, I do that.
Even today, I mean, just a few people
that even talk to me today.
Sure, I heard one that was telling me
about some sort of charitable work they do,
and another one that they do this,
and it's just, come on.
Yeah, well, I'm a pretty good person, I'm that.
But God, they're smoking his nose.
The fire that burneth all the day.
And who's he really talking about here?
Israel, the physical seed.
The physical seed that our wicked apostate Christianity
around this nation and many others put on a pedestal
because they're some sort of chosen people.
Send money to these people that are smoking God's nose
and the fire that burneth all the day.
Yeah, send money, send aid,
obsess about preaching the gospel to them.
Forget everyone else, got to win Israel, got to get to it.
A lot of these people have long ago rejected him
for the last time, haven't they?
Yeah, so many of them, yet these people are obsessed with them.
It's absolutely bizarre, isn't it?
And again, we're going to carry on with that theme a bit.
I think of Romans 11, but there's a lot more you can get from that as well.
Obviously, I mean, Romans 10, there are some great truths there.
Ultimately, one of those, one of the main truths
and that is calling upon the name of the Lord, isn't it?
And, you know, if anyone comes in this church
who starts trying to whisper that, trying to preach that sort of heresy
that you don't need to call upon the name of the Lord to be saved,
then, you know, you tell me quickly and we can kick them out nice and fast.
Yeah. On that, let's pray.
Father, thank you. Thank you for a great chapter of the Bible.
Thank you for the great truths in that chapter.
But let's not miss the kind of the, you know, the overriding message
there as well about, about, you know, the nation of Israel there
and the physical nation, as opposed to what is a spiritual nation now in us,
in us saved Christians.
But those truths, let's not ever forget those truths.
Let's not get our heads turned or weakened by all the heretics out there.
And let's, you know, just help us to just be strong on all the key doctrines
of the Bible and obviously the not so key doctrines,
but especially those key doctrines of the Bible.
Help us be strong and help me to preach those doctrines regularly
and clearly and help us here to want to hear that as well,
to want to get our, you know, the milk as well as a strong meat of the word.
And I pray that, you know, we'll just have a great week now going forward.
We'll get everything done that needs to be done.
So we're ready to, you know, to extend your house and to have a great day
in church and hopefully a new place to preach from from next week.
In Jesus' name, we pray all of this. Amen.
Amen.