Amen. Okay, so keep something in John chapter 3 and turn of 1 Peter chapter 3 please.
So keep something in John 3 and turn of 1 Peter 3. So being a new
independent church I thought it might be good to make it very clear what we
believe here at this church. Therefore I've decided to start a Sunday morning
series called What We Believe. Okay, What We Believe. Just assuming that everyone
in our church understands our core doctrines would be foolish wouldn't it.
And we have a statement of faith on our old website, it'll be on our new
website, but I'd like to spend probably the next several weeks just explaining
our statement of faith. Possibly won't be the most exciting sermons especially for
those of you that may be very, you know, very clear about these things, but it'll
be a good reminder anyway. Look, doctrine is important, right? Okay, doctrine is
important. Our Sunday evening series is a bit more kind of practical, but however
there's still a lot that we can still apply from this and we'll talk about
that in a bit. 1 Peter 3 and verse 15 where you are says this, it says,
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an
answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with
meekness and fear. And I don't think that's just talking about the gospel,
it's talking about what we believe, right? Why do we believe what we believe? Are
you ready to give an answer? Do you understand why? Do you understand that
the Bible scriptures are verses which would explain why you believe what you
believe in? Just to make it clear, we believe the Word of God, don't we? So
everything we believe at this church, I believe, is clear in the Word of God and
and if you're sitting there thinking, well it could be quite exciting, we're
going to go into the post-Trib pre-wrath rapture, we're going to go into sodomites,
we're going to go into... No, funnily enough that's not what what what we
actually shape in our statement of faith. That stuff's important, yeah, don't get me
wrong. Okay, eschatology is important, that's, you know, end time studies, right?
Look, the reprobate doctrine is important, however, there's some other
stuff that's more important, okay? And we're going to talk about probably the
most, the most important doctrine of our church, which is salvation today. And
we're, you know, on our statement of faith, in fact, you'll notice when you go to
many of these churches, which at least look on their statements of faith, they
have all sorts of other stuff on there, but they won't be very clear about what
they believe about salvation. They won't be very clear about what they believe
about the Word of God or other things that we're going to talk about over the
next several weeks, but I'm going to make it very clear what we believe. Hopefully
also it's something that if someone says, well, what does your church believe about
that? You can say, well, actually there's a sermon series on our channel
where he spends an hour talking about what we believe about that, okay? Okay, so
the series with that in mind, we'll bunch some of those statements on our
statement of faith into categories, and the first category today is salvation,
but it's going to cover a few statements that's on our statement of faith, okay?
What we believe as a church. So the title is what we believe about salvation, what
we believe about salvation. I'd like to pray before we get started. Father, thank
you for your word. Thank you for, well, this church, Lord, this church, and just
the fact that we have many people in this church who are just grounded and
solid on the clear doctrines of the faith, Lord, but however, you know, this is
always good stuff to go over, nothing wrong with going over old ground, Lord, and
for some maybe it will be, help them to just be a bit clearer on what they do
believe, why we believe these things in this church, help me to preach it all
just clearly, Lord, and accurately, Lord, and as you'd want it preached, and full
of your spirit, help me to be bold, Lord, in what I preach, in Jesus' name, for all of this,
Amen. Okay, so turn to Acts chapter 16, our statement of faith reads this, when you
turn to Acts 16, our statement of faith says we believe that salvation is by
grace, through faith, and not of works. This means that salvation cannot be
earned by any work, church attendance, baptism, repenting of your sins, etc, etc.
Salvation is putting your faith in Jesus Christ, and that he died, was buried, and
rose from the grave to pay for your sin. You receive salvation by believing in
the Lord Jesus Christ and simply asking him to save you. Then in brackets we
have some verses, Acts 16, 31, John 3, 16, John 3, 36, 1 Corinthians 15,
verses 1 to 4, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, and Romans 10, verses 9 to 13. And Acts 16,
we're going to start a little bit earlier than verse 31, and I just want to
go through some of these verses, we're just going to hit the verse, some of them,
I'm just going to give you the context of the verse, I want to go through these
verses on our statement of faith, just help you to see why we understand that,
maybe you've never gone through it and gone right, let's look at each verse on
that. We're going to start with Acts 16, Paul and Silas have been put in prison,
it says in verse 25, and at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praise
unto God and the prisoners heard them, and suddenly there was a great
earthquake, so the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all
the doors were opened and everyone's bands were loosed, and the keeper of the
prison, awaking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open, he
drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing that the
prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice saying, do thyself no
harm, for we are all here. Then he called for a light and sprang in and came
trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas and brought them out and said,
Sirs, what must I do to be saved? So he's asking, it's a clear question, what do I
have to do, what must I do to be saved? And they said, repent of your sin. Did
they say that? Feel sorry for your sin, give your life to Christ, did they say
any of that stuff? No, they said believe, didn't they? They said believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and the house. They made it pretty
clear, didn't they? It was a clear question, what must I do to be saved? And
the answer was, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
Okay, I don't think they kind of missed out, well yeah, but however, you know,
you've also got to do this, do these works, do these continued works, etc. No,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Why, why thy house? If you ever read this
and wonder, what did he say in thy house as well? Is that automatic? It's, well,
look at the next verse. Verse 32 says, and they spake unto him the word of the
Lord and to all that were in his house. Okay, so they're saying, look, believe on
the Lord Jesus, believe, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved and thy house because they then go and preach to his house, right? Okay, we
want to get your house saved as well. And, and just quickly, that's a good reminder
when you're out soul winning as well. It's something I try and remember to do
sometimes is, if I get someone saved, is then say to them, is there anyone else
in the house that might want to listen? Or sometimes when they say, I don't want
to listen, go, oh, well, you know, if by any chance, would your kid who's at the
door with you be interested in hearing the gospel? And you'd be amazed how many
people go, who don't believe and aren't saved, then let their kids stay there and
get saved. It's great, isn't it, when it does happen. And it's a good reminder,
isn't it? However, it then says in, in verse 33, so verse 32, they spake unto
him the word of the Lord, didn't they? Okay, and to all that were in his house.
Verse 33, and he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes
and was baptised, he and all his, straight away. Yeah, we don't do baptism courses,
by the way, here either, okay? We don't, you don't have to have like an eight
week course before you're baptised or anything like that, no. He baptised them
straight away, right? And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat
before them and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. So they were
happy because they'd all turned from a life of sin. Is it, is that why? Is that
what it says? No, because they were believing in or putting their trust in
God. They're rejoicing because they're like we're saved. Yeah, they put their
trust in God. They put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation,
right? Turn to 1 Corinthians 15. What is that faith in? What were they trusting
about Jesus? What were they believing? They were believing that the death,
burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ had paid for all their sin, like our
statement of faith says. 1 Corinthians 15, you're turning to, 1 Corinthians
and chapter 15 and verse one reads, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you
the gospel, which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and
wherein ye stand. We stand on the gospel here, don't we? Yeah, I may, I have no
apology about that. We stand on the gospel, the biblical gospel. Okay, we
stand on the gospel. Verse two, by which also ye are saved. He said, he said,
you're saved by which ye are saved. If you keep in memory what I preach unto
you unless you've believed in vain. So you're not saved if you can't remember
why you're saved. That should be pretty obvious, shouldn't it? If you say to
someone, well, yeah, I'm saved, why? I don't know, something to do with Jesus or
something. Well, you're clearly not saved, are you? You don't know why you're
saved. If you just agreed but didn't really put your trust in Christ, there's
people out there, right? And they'll say, they'll say all the right, they're yes
men. How many yes men out there? They just say what you want them to say. They
haven't really put their trust in Christ, yeah. But ye are saved, are saved, if you
keep in memory what I preach unto you unless you've believed in vain. For I'd
live unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for
our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose
again the third day according to the scriptures. That's the gospel. That's the
gospel, that Christ died for our sins. Now, that goes without saying that you're
acknowledging that you're a sinner, right? If you're acknowledging that Christ died
for your sins and you're acknowledging that you have sins that need paying for,
right? And why do they need paying for? Because of where they would take you,
okay? Now, he didn't say Christ died for our past sins, did he? He didn't
say some sins. He didn't say as long as you maintain an aversion to those sins
in the future, did he? He just said that he died for our sins. But also notice how
the burial and resurrection are a key part of that belief too. Turn to Ephesians
chapter 2, okay? They're clearly part of it, aren't they? That he died for our
sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day
according to the scriptures. That's part of the gospel, that's part of our belief.
If you go, yeah, yeah, Christ died for our sins but I don't believe he came back from the dead,
well, you're not believing the account that God gave of his son, okay? You ain't
saved if you're denying the resurrection, okay? It all goes hand in hand, okay?
You're turning to Ephesians 2. So when we say that salvation is by grace through faith,
it's God's grace which is free, undeserved merit given to us due to our faith, our belief in the
gospel, okay? Verse 4 says, but God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us,
even when we were dead in sins have quickened us, made us alive, basically, together with Christ,
by grace are you saved. So it's by grace we're saved, right? Like I said, grace being free,
undeserved merit and it raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus, that's salvation, that's going to heaven, not hell, that in the ages to come he might show
the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are
you saved through faith and not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works lest any man
should boast. Now those verses are so clear, aren't they? They're so clear, I mean they're
some of the just clearest verses in the Bible, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. So many people would
obviously preach Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 if you're trying to show someone how to get saved, how
anyone can then interpret the word repent that we see in other verses when talking about salvation
as repenting of sin, turning from sin, it's just beyond me. It's through faith, it's not of
yourselves, it's a gift, it's not of works. But there are people all over the world, in fact,
how many people do you come across all the time that you're not going to adore?
You know, hi there, I'm from Strong Tower, now Baptist Church, yeah, okay, would you, you know,
do you know for sure if you died today you'd be going to heaven? Well, you know, yeah, I think I'm
saying, okay, how come? Well, I repented of my sins. Oh, okay, so how does that look? What did you do?
Well, I gave up this sin, I gave up that, I continue not to sin or something else. Or you get
someone who's saying, no, I don't know I'm going to heaven, and you go, why not? Well, what do you think
someone has to do to go to heaven? Repent of their sins. What do you mean by that? Stop certain sins,
turn from certain sins, give up certain sins, not do certain sins of future. It's the other religion,
is it not? And that's what we see and hear all the time, and look, anyone ever come across
anyone when you're out soul winning, who says I've got to repent of my sins, who's then actually saved?
Any hands? I didn't know you'd done so with a young lady. But, uh, that's cool. Okay, so we've got, we've got
a church of seasoned soul winners here. No one has ever come across anyone who said that they had to
repent of their sins that didn't combine that with work salvation, that didn't mean work
salvation by that. Because what do we usually do? We go, okay, what do you mean? What do you mean?
And they never say something other than some sort of work salvation, don't they?
Go back to John 3, which is one of the clearest chapters there is about salvation.
Okay, John 3 is clear as day about salvation. This is where we started. Again, it's very clear,
the book of John, as we see it in, in the second last chapter of John, we see that it was written
so that men might believe. Okay, it's clear as day that, that it was, that, and of course so much of
the Bible you can preach the Gospel from, but the book of John is one of the clearest for me. It
probably is the clearest, right? Okay, along with maybe Romans, but the book of John just makes it
even clearer, I would say, yeah? How clear it is. We've just seen, though, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9,
two of the clearest verses, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves it
is a gift of God, not of works as any man should boast. Verse 14 in John 3 says, and as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish but have eternal life. Okay, whoever believes in him, we've just seen what
that is, that faith and trust is in the Gospel, the death, burial and resurrection, paying for all your
sins. He said, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world
to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is
not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already because he has not believed in
the name of the only begotten Son of God. And just to make it clear, if you're adding any works to
salvation, you're not believing in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Any works at all, you're
not trusting Christ, you're still trusting yourself. And that simplicity is also highlighted at the end
of the chapter, John 3 36 being another of our proof texts in our statement of faith, John 3,
and again look, this statement of faith, they're just select ones, we've inherited that statement
of faith, I agree wholeheartedly with the whole thing, okay, and they're just, you could go to
tons of verses. John 3 36, I really like preaching this when I'm trying to get someone saved,
John 3 36 says, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life and he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him. It comes down to two types of people
ultimately, doesn't it? Yeah, there's many types of people in the world but when it comes to salvation,
you're either saved or you're not, okay. There are those that trust solely in Jesus Christ for
salvation and there are those that don't and that's what it comes down to. Turn to Romans 10,
our statement of faith says, we believe that salvation is by grace through faith and not of
works. This means that salvation cannot be earned by any work, church attendance, baptism, repenting
of your sins, etc, etc. Salvation is putting your faith in Jesus Christ and that he died, was buried
and rose from the grave to pay for your sin. You receive salvation by believing on the Lord Jesus
Christ and simply asking him to save you and now this is where the calling on the name of the Lord
heretics tried to turn heads. So they'll say it's works, you've heard these people come out with
this, yeah, and again I don't, you don't really come across them out because it's a bit of a more
kind of, I would say a niche one online to try and attack soul-winning churches. They'll go it's works,
they'll go I just believed and I never asked. You heard these people, right. However, they're
synonymous with each other, okay. It's like trying to separate the biblical repentance from belief
and people try and do that, don't they? They try and separate the biblical repentance from
belief. If you truly believed, you put your faith, your trust in Jesus Christ, then you change your
mind from your false belief and accept it was wrong. If you really put your faith in Christ and
you clearly stop believing whatever it is that you did before, that's biblical repentance, you, you
change your mind from unbelief to work so much from whatever it was to faith in Christ
alone. They go hand in hand but in the same way if you truly put your faith in Jesus Christ
then you called upon his name for salvation. Okay, if you've trusted Christ then you've asked him to
save you. It's the same thing. That's why we see him use interchangeably in the bible of Romans 10.
It combines them together. Romans 10 and from verse 9 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. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is
made unto salvation. Now I've heard people say you had to believe before you called. No, no, you can't
call unless you believe first. No, they go hand in hand. Okay, that's why verse 9 and 10 are either way
round. Okay, and verse 10 says unto salvation, by the way, with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation. They say I called in my heart. You've heard this one. Now verse 9 and 10 say the mouth.
Okay, it says with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. However, I understand there may
be exceptions. Some people like to point out the exception. There may be an exception where someone
can't for some reason. Okay, call with their mouth and they're calling in their heart. There might
be those times but I mean that's pretty, that's pretty rare, right? Okay, and the reality of it is
you have to ask him for salvation. You put your faith, you have to confess the name of the Lord.
You basically say whatever. There's no magic words. Okay, it's not magic words. We make that clear
but you're with your mouth confessing your belief, your faith, you're calling on the name of the Lord
like we see time and time again throughout the Bible. Now yeah, there are times in the Bible when
calling on the name of the Lord is not about salvation but there are many times when it is
and here it makes it clear. It says for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved
in verse 13. What's that talking about? Oh no, no, well it's because he's quoting Joel, he's actually
talking about like physical, he's talking about salvation. Just say confession is made under
salvation. For the scripture saith in verse 11, for the scripture saith whosoever believeth in him
shall not be ashamed. Okay, why did he just say for with the heart man believeth under righteousness
with the mouth confession is made under salvation, then say for the scripture saith whosoever believeth
in him shall not be ashamed. Because it's the same thing, it's the same thing. You call with your mouth,
you believe in your heart. Because you believe on him by confessing his name, calling on his name,
that's how you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. 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. What a great verse of the Bible that is,
and it's pretty simple. Okay, it should be pretty simple and of course, and one of the reasons
by the way why soul winning is so important, one of the many reasons, okay, is that the experienced
soul winners here will have regularly come across people that say, I believe everything you say,
I believe, I believe that's in the Bible, I believe that's it, I'm just not ready to get saved.
Now the call on the name of the Lord heretic will say, that person's saved, they just said they
believed everything you said. But believing is putting your trust, your faith in Jesus Christ.
You're believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, you're not just believing that what the Bible says is
correct, you're putting your trust in him for salvation, and you do that by calling on the
name of the Lord in faith. Okay, and look, when you're soul winning a lot, you're like, yeah,
come across these people all the time, it's like, it's a non-issue, unless you're trying to hit
people. Now for the new believer, you could see someone getting their head turned by this,
for maybe the baby in Christ or something else, because they're not soul winning, they're not
seeing that, and they're like, well yeah, actually it did just say believe in that verse, so that must
be it, but no, because it's the same thing. Okay, and one of the reasons that soul winning helps
strengthen your faith, doesn't it, helps you be stronger in the core doctrines of the Bible,
because you're practicing it, you're practicing the word, you're not just a hearer, you're a doer
of the word as well, and you just see these examples when you're out there, don't you?
Okay, which obviously helps, but we should be able to just go to the word of God, obviously,
and see what the word of God says. The word of God says, for whose search the call upon the name
of the Lord shall be saved, and we could go to many places, but these are just our proof texts,
and otherwise the sermon would be a very long sermon. Okay, our statement said this,
we believe that salvation is by grace through faith and not of works. Okay, so I hope everyone
understand that. Salvation being saved from hell is by grace through faith and not of works.
No works at all, and you know it's funny, isn't it, that you can talk to people who go like, oh yeah,
yeah, faith alone, yeah, oh okay, well okay, great, so obviously if I did this, well of course
you've got to do some works. Well, but we just read Ephesians right now, for by grace you say
through faith and not of yourselves, it's a gift of God, not of works, that any man should boast.
Okay, Romans 4-5, but to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifiably ungodly is faith,
he's kind of a righteous, and there are so many other verses, right, now an obscure verse here or
there, out of the Bible, taken out of context, doesn't suddenly discredit all of these clear
salvation verses, but what it comes down to is this, people can choose, they can choose grace
through faith alone, or they could choose one of the many, many, many versions of work salvation,
and they have the choice, and they can find something, look, the Bible's a big book,
you can find something in the Bible, God gives you enough right to hang yourself with,
you know, you can find something out of context, something else, and put your faith in some form,
or what, well, you know, my faith is that I gave up all these sins, my faith is that I used to be
this person, now I'm this, my faith is in, well, look at the new man I am, my faith is, but ultimately
what are all those people trusting? They're calling him Lord, Matthew 7 says, they said, Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in thy name, in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name have done
many wonderful works, they think they're saved, they think they could talk to the Lord Jesus Christ,
and then will I profess unto them I never knew you, depart from me ye that work in equity, and there's
a lot of people out there like, you'd be amazed how many people there are out there that deep down
in their heart they're trusting some form of works, but they'll parrot what we say.
We believe it's grace through faith and not of works, this means that salvation cannot be earned
by any work, church attendance, baptism, repenting of your sins, etc, etc, salvation is putting your
faith in Jesus Christ that he died, was buried, arose from the grave to pay for your sin, you
receive salvation by believing the Lord Jesus Christ is simply asking him to save you. Turn to John
chapter 5, the next statement when it comes to salvation is this, we believe in the eternal
security of the believer, once saved always saved, just like there is nothing you can do to earn
salvation, there is nothing you can do to lose it, and our scriptures are John 5 24, 1 Peter
chapter 1 verse 3 to 5, John 11 26, and you can add a ton of scriptures to this, okay, and I want
to preach this off these scriptures quickly because look, these are great scriptures, now in reality
all of those verses we just looked at prove eternal security, every single verse we've just
looked at which proves that salvation is by grace through faith also therefore proves that you don't
have to do anything in the future otherwise it's not grace through faith, okay, which means that once
you're saved by the way, when we're talking about eternal security it means you're secured
for eternity, once you put your faith in Christ you're saved, Romans 10 13 said shall be saved,
John 3 36 said he that believeth on the son have everlasting life, John 3 36 said whosoever believeth
in him should not perish but have everlasting life, it's everlasting and you got it you can't
lose it can you, Ephesians 2 8 said and that not of yourselves it is a gift of God, if it's a gift
it's got nothing to do with you how could you even attempt to maintain it, it makes no sense,
1 Corinthians 15 2 said by which also ye are saved, present tense you're saved,
Acts 16 31 said believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, okay clear as day yet
there are still so many people out there that claim to believe these verses but then say that
you can lose your salvation, so many aren't there, how many do you come across them every time pretty
much you go out soul winning, people that say it's grace through faith they say all because they know
what the bible says then I've come across these people a lot they'll say what the bible says
but then they'll add their own interpretation so they kind of parrot the right stuff
but then they'll add however well not if you did this sin or not if you did that sin well not if
you did this or that but John 5 24 says this verily verily I say unto you this is Jesus Christ speaking
he that heareth my word okay you need to hear the word of God to get saved and believeth on him that
sent me you need to put your faith and trust that God sent Jesus Christ to die for your sins was
buried and rose again hath present tense everlasting life like I said if you have something in its
everlasting how could you lose it if you could it wasn't everlasting and shall not come into
condemnation that means you will never go to hell shall not come into condemnation that's Jesus
Christ talking here but is passed from death under life I love that that last part of the verse is
passed that second that point that you put your trust in Jesus Christ you pass from death
unto life you're saved it's done that's pretty clear isn't it I mean that's a clear verse of
the but I know like I said there are many and I'm sure many of you here have your favorite verses
to prove eternal security skip forward to chapter 11 our statement said we believe in the eternal
security of the believer once saved always saved just like there is nothing you can do to earn
salvation there is nothing you can do to lose it and in John chapter 11 and verse 23 onwards
we're going to look at Martha's brother Lazarus is dead okay and verse 23 Jesus said unto thy brother
shall rise again Martha saith unto him I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection
at the last day Jesus said unto her I am the resurrection and the life he that believeth in me
though he were dead yet shall he live and whosoever is really good from now on
no whosoever does it do any sins that that particular pastor has cut out no whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never
die believeth thou this do you believe that oh look I know our church believes that okay
however there are so many that don't seem to believe that she saith unto him yea Lord I believe
that thou art the Christ the son of God which should come into the world because it goes hand
in hand if you're believing he's a Christ the son of God which should come into the world she's
believing the gospel she's believing on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation turn to first Peter one
which shows us why we can be so sure of our salvation so first Peter one shows us why we
can be so sure of our salvation first Peter one and and I don't often go to this this these
verses I like the I like this because it's it's really nice and clear here first Peter one and
from verse three says blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according
to his abundant mercy has begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not awake it won't go
anywhere right reserved in heaven for you it's reserved okay he's put a reserve if you put your
faith in Jesus Christ there's like a reserved little whatever you call like a little card there
I think it's probably like made out of something nice and card yeah okay reserved okay he's put
that reserve does anyone think that that can someone up there is going to take it away
no anyone in heaven gone he did something we didn't like no it's reserved in heaven for you
now look at this verse five though who are kept by what by your own power or by the power of God
by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time so thank
God that it's through the power of God and not our own power our own ability to maintain some
sort of salvation because you can't maintain it if you had to maintain it well we're all we're
all done because all have sinned to come short the glory of God because there's none righteous
no not one because you cannot maintain it but it's we're kept by the power of God it's God that
keeps you because he promised to keep you if you put your faith in Jesus Christ it's reserved it's
done you're sealed by the Holy Spirit you've passed from death unto life like there's so many
verses in the bible aren't there okay it's clear as day isn't it but still there are so many out
there that believe you can lose your salvation and and just again just to make it clear if you
believe that you can lose your salvation you're not saved you're not trusting in Christ you're
trusting in yourself it's one or the other in fact Romans 11 6 makes it very clear it's one
or the other because if by grace then is it no more of works otherwise grace is no more grace
but if it be of work then is it no more grace otherwise work is no more work it's one or the
other you can't have both and anyone that's trying to claim both isn't saved and needs to get saved
okay they need to get saved however there is a point for many and we'll look at that in later
weeks when it's they're done they can never they'll never get that they'll never understand that
they'll never be able to trust fully in Christ they'll always try and trust some form of work
and and that's ultimately what it comes down to two religions in the world it's work salvation
it's many forms of some are so subtle and some are so blatant and then there's faith alone in
Christ alone but let's look how important that salvation is turn to mark chapter nine mark
chapter nine we believe that the unsaved will spend eternity tormented in a literal hell and
eventually the lake of fire and our our proof text approved mark chapter 9 verse 43 to 48
jude chapter 1 and verse 6 obviously that's the only chapter in jude revelation 14 and verse 11
and revelation 20 verses 14 to 15 now in mark chapter 9 in mark 9 jesus gives a hard warning
okay in mark 9 jesus gives a hard one he says this in verse 42 and whosoever shall offend one
of these little ones that believe in me it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about
his neck and he were cast into the sea and like i said the other day that's beyond drowning that's
head explosion stuff that's a bit of both you're kind of drowning while you just sink at such a
fast rate that the the sheer pressure would end up with you just exploding i mean that's a pretty
grim way to die right that was jesus christ saying that by the way yeah he said whosoever
should offend one of these little ones that believe in me it was better for him the millstone
were hanged about his neck and he were cast into the sea why is it better because people that harm
god's little children go to the lowest depths of hell it would be better to have a millstone
cast back your neck and drowned in the lowest in the deepest ocean he said verse 43 and if thy hand
offend thee cut it off it is better for thee to enter into life maim than having two hands going
to hell into the fire that never shall be quenched now obviously he's using what you could maybe call
hyperbole he's basically saying look it would be better to cut off your hand than to go to hell
he's not saying you need to cut off your hand to go to heaven okay in case anyone gets carried away
there is a sore actually in there so no obviously not okay but but the point and what we're going
to really focus on in these verses and i've preached through these before in our matthew
um studied in the parallel chapters but but the fire that never shall be quenched okay
it doesn't sound very temporary to me does it okay hell isn't temporary now look some you might
sit there or maybe maybe not or people could and would and go like oh well you know this all sounds
a bit grim but that's the word of god that's a preserved word of god that's the word of god
that's a miracle we even have the word of god that that doesn't get anything wrong that is
a hundred percent truth from start to end that that has got everything right that it's ever been
put to the test to however many slanderers and liars and discreditors are out there
it never comes up does it when it comes to king james bible and my bible is clear as day that
there's a hell it's not nice for us to read we don't all get fuzzy feelings when we read that
part of the bible we don't all you know feel all kind of happy and start high-fiving about
sometimes we do about certain people but usually not about hell but that's just the reality of the
bible isn't it it's a fire that never shall be quenched where their worm dieth not and the fire
is not quenched now some argue that this is referring to remorse i don't know if you ever
heard this before talking about the worm but i think that it's creating a picture of a worm
feasting on a dead body that's what i believe it is point being that it's eternal and there are
many places in the bible it talks about the worms but worm singular is talked about you don't have
to turn to in joe 24 20 joe 24 20 is speaking of the dead and says the worm the womb shall not
forget him the worm shall feed sweetly on him he shall be no more remembered and wickedness shall
be broken as a tree the point being it's eternal the worm dieth not it's just continual for me it's
it's continual torment okay it's eternal their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched
it's not just our were a little bit of time and that's it it's eternal the bible's clear about
that and we're going to see a couple of other verses he said in verse 45 and if thy foot
offended cut it off it's better for thee to enter halt into life and having two feet to be
than having two feet to be cast into hell into the fire that never shall be quenched
look that's it's look it's a hard truth right and you know what it would be much easier to try and
argue it away wouldn't it be much easier oh it's symbolic oh well it probably isn't like that oh
well i'm sure like you know that's only the worst of the people and you know old you know old granny
you know granny doreen and everyone else not not him you know whatever else you know she's all right
you know and and look but the reality of it is most people are going to hell broad is the way
that leads to destruction it's a sad truth and many there be which go in their mouth
when their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched said verse 46 and verse 47 says and if
thine eye offend thee pluck it out it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of god with one
eye than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire where their worm dieth not and the fire is not
quenched pretty clear it's eternal now look it's not a nice topic okay maybe we would find it
easier an easier truth it wasn't eternal it said but we have eternal souls and if you have an
eternal soul then you have to accept that eternal soul go somewhere for eternity and there are only
two places that eternal soul can go for eternity it's either going to live forever or it's going
to die forever that's what the word of god says that's what this amazing book this book that just
by reading it you know it's the word of god let alone this book that is tried and tested this
book that teaches you so much about everything else in life you can't just then just oh yeah but
hell probably doesn't exist well that bit's probably wrong it's not we're not talking about
one or two verses either are we okay hell is mentioned time and time and time again in the
bible turn to uh revelation 14 which shows again that it's tormented shows again that it's eternal
so revelation chapter 14 and verse 9 says and the third angel revelation 14 so i'll give you a second
turn there revelation 14 we're going to look from verse 9 revelation 14 9 says and the third angel
followed them saying with a loud voice if any man worship the beast and his image and receive his
mark in his forehead or in his hand the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of god which is
poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation and he shall be tormented that's
basically tortured with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of
the lamb no hell isn't separation from god is it how many liberal bible scholar types out there
are trying to now change it shift the goalposts disqualify the word of god and go no i like
separation from god yeah it sounds pretty rough though i remember a guy saying to me but can you
imagine being separated from god you already are you unsaved devil what you're talking about
but but hell is hell is not separation for god hell is being tortured in the presence of god
and you know what they probably would hope that they were separated from god and not having to
have the the omnipresent god there basically having to look at him knowing they rejected him
that all they had to do was put their faith the lord jesus christ and they could have avoided
eternity burning in hell he said he said in the presence of the lamb that's jesus christ that's
god in the flesh that's the son of god and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and
ever and they have no rest day nor night who worship the beast in his image and whosoever
receiveth the mark of his name and you go what's all that about that this is a time to come when
there'll be people that choose to worship the beast and his image this is talking about a man
the anti-christ a one world leader and will take a mark of the beast and they're done once they do
that they're done and these are regular people pretty much or before taking the mark like like
many people you and i know this could happen in our lifetimes and those people are done and that's
the same but but you know what take away the remark of the beast and people go to hell the
smoke of their torment ascends up forever and ever and they have no rest day nor night because that's
hell turn to jude now jude in verse six talks of the devils those rebelling angels okay so jude
obviously just before the book of revelation and it's it's talking of of these basically rebellious
angels we call them devils some will call them demons it says in the angels which this is jude
in verse six and the angels which kept not their first sustain but left their own habitation he
has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day now what he's
basically saying for me here is that those devils are reprobate angels okay they're reserved unto
the judgment and jude the context is reprobates it's church infiltrators there's only one place
that they're going okay they they're reserved to that day to that judgment okay it's not talking
about all like like hell isn't filled up with all these devils right now okay the devils are out
there okay believe me all right and what's going on here is he's talking about their reserve though
there's no like there's no getting out of that like with a rep rate once they're given over
once they're rejected they're reserved unto that judgment now they're reserved unto the judgment
turn of revelation 20 which then shows us that eventual relocation where what that judgment is
and what happens there our statement while you're turning revelation 20 said we believe that the
unsaved will spend eternity tormented in a literal hell and eventually the lake of fire
we we've looked at mark chapter 9 we've looked at jude chapter 1 we've looked at revelation chapter
14 and you're turning to revelation 20 and we're going to look from verse 14 hell is eternal but
hell is eventually relocated to the lake of fire where body and soul will burn together after the
great white throne judgment okay so there there is a point when ultimately that eternal hell is
relocated to the lake of fire it's all hell and it says in revelation 20 of verse 14 and death
and hell were cast into the lake of fire this is the second death and whosoever was not found
written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire and again that's eternal that's a lake of
fire that's a sobering thought isn't it and that's why salvation is so important and that's why what
we believe about salvation is so important and that's why what we believe about salvation is
exactly what the bible says about salvation because as soon as you start changing it and
chopping it and it becomes another gospel and another gospel takes you to hell because there
is only one way jesus christ said i am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the father
but by me and that's faith and trust in christ alone so it's an it's a sobering thought but it
should be an inspiring thought too shouldn't it so look that's a pretty that's a rough first kind of
you know to finish on hell is rough however what should that do what should knowing about hell
knowing about eternity knowing that the the most people are going to hell because they're rejecting
the gospel whether you go oh but they might not have heard it yeah they still ain't saved okay
yeah there's an onus on us we need to go and preach the gospel and that's what this should
inspire us to do we should look at that and go i need to get people saved because there are people
dying like this in this world aren't there and where are the vast majority of those people going
to hell to hell like this it's horrendous to think about how many people go to hell now that's not
because god's mean it's not because god's out of order it's because they're sinners deserving of
hell and they put in the faith of jesus christ now however as much as there is a choice however
that people can seek him look many don't and those people that don't still we can reach them can't we
we can reach them find them preach the gospel to them and get them saved and and that's the
responsibility we have because faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of god
and and and it's faith to faith if you ain't saved you ain't getting people saved
we're saved we need to go out and get people saved because there's a lot of people out there
that are encompassing sin and land to find one fossilite and make him too far more than trying
to hell than themselves there's a lot of people out there like that and that makes it even more
important we get out and try and reach them early and try and find people and get them saved and
obviously talking about the school singer in south africa and if we could try and encourage
more that stuff we've had a plan here to try and get to schools want to try and reach people
ask people can i speak to you can i show you keep the gospel nothing wrong with that yeah if you get
the parent's permission great and and i've had that many times and i'm sure many people have
as well where you have a parent go yeah they're weird sometimes they just walk off and if you
preach the gospel it's great get them saved right but because look it's that important because the
alternative is the lake of fire and it's sobering it's inspiring and that's why we believe what
that's why not only we believe what we believe about salvation but why we believe it's so
important and we'll never compromise on the gospel and we're never going to you know start bending
and turning and trying to trying to you know go oh well you know let them do it their way everything
else so we're going to preach it loud we're going to preach it clear we're going to preach it hard
because the gospel is of utmost importance that's what we believe about salvation and obviously that
included hell and and obviously um obviously internal security which goes hand in hand
um and next week we're going to be looking at the word of god on that we're going to play
father i thank you for your word i thank you for all salvation lord thank you that it is a free
gift that there's nothing we have to do for and there's nothing we have to do to keep it lord
that salvation is by grace through faith um and it's not of ourselves it's a gift of god and and
we thank you for that free gift we thank you that you know you're a righteous judge you're
the perfect judge that that you know despite with with all of that in hand you therefore
you you love the world so much that you gave your only begotten son to be that that payment for sin
lord that um as much as people might mock and try and discredit the word of god they can't
disprove it the word of god is there it's true it's it's uh it's well it's a preserved word of
god as well and well we thank you for that we thank you it's something we can stand upon we
stand upon our salvation we stand upon the gospel here help us to go and preach that that truth
loud and clear to those people of south end today and to other areas in in other times and in with
other events as they come up in the future so help us to get many people saved lord to really
make a difference in this nation especially lord we thank you for everything help us to
to return back for this evening's service in jesus name for all of this amen