Hey, how you doing? You just wanted to give an invitation to a Baptist church? Do you
go to church anywhere? Yeah, I go to the Assembly of God Church right down here. Okay, alright,
well listen, more important than going to church though, if you were to die today, do
you know 100% sure that you're on your way to heaven? Oh yeah. Okay, well how do you
know that? March 12th, 1988, I confessed my sins, repented, and accepted Jesus Christ,
my Lord and Savior. Okay, well let me ask you this, is there anything you could do to
lose that? Like, let's say you quit going to church, or you live the life of sin, or...
Well, if I turn away from Him, don't repent, yeah. So, okay, so can I just show you what
the Bible says real quick, just take a few minutes and show you? Okay, the Bible says
right here in Romans 3, verse 23, it says, For all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God. So we all have sinned, right? And do we really measure up to God's standards?
We come short, okay, none of us is really good enough to go to heaven, okay, we're all
sinners. The Bible says right here in Romans 6, 23, For the wages of sin is death. Okay,
so what's God's punishment for our sin? Death, yeah, but after we die, that's not the end,
okay, you know, when we die physically, the Bible talks about a second death, okay, 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. What place
is that talking about? Yeah, it's talking about hell. Hell, right? Okay, and you know
what the worst part about hell is? Is that it goes on forever. You know, I mean, once
you go there, I mean, there's no hope, you're burning in hell forever, and it's a terrible
thought. Have you ever told a lie before? Oh yeah. Well, the Bible even says this, and
at the end of Revelation 21, 8, it says, And all liars shall have their part in the lake
which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. So that says right there
that all liars are going where? Hell. Hell, yeah, okay. Well, God loves us, right? Right.
So does God want us to go to hell then? No. No, God wants us to be saved, okay? So here's
what God did for us to provide a way for us to be saved. The Bible says, But God commended
his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So of course,
Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. God himself became a human being, lived a perfect life,
he never sinned one time, and then he allowed them to take him and beat him and spit upon
him, and they nailed him to the cross, and when he was on the cross, you know, he took
upon him the sins of the whole world, the Bible says. And he was basically dying for
our sins. The Bible says he died for us. He was being punished for all the sins that we've
done, okay? Now, when he died on that cross, every sin you've ever done, it was as if Jesus
had done it. Every sin I've ever done. When he died on the cross, they took his body and
they buried it in a tomb, but his soul went down to hell for three days and three nights.
Three days later, he rose again, physically rose again from death. But let me ask you
this. Did he die for everybody? Oh, yeah. Okay. So if he died for everybody, is everybody
going to heaven? No. Okay. So the question is, what do we have to do in order to be saved?
The Bible answers that question right here. It says, And they brought them out and said,
Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved in thy house. So what does that verse say you have to do in order
to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay. Now, does that say that you have to
go to church to be saved? I mean, it just says believe, right? Okay. Does that say that
you must be baptized to be saved? No. What do you do about Acts 2 38? Well, but wait
a minute. This verse right here says what? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shalt be saved. Isn't that all that you have to do to be saved then? Believe? Whosoever
believeth in him. Okay. What do you do about Acts 2 30? Does he say repent? Turn from your
sins? So are you saying that you have to turn from your sins to be saved? I mean, is that
day of Pentecost when the girls came down and they only have to repent? Okay. Hold on.
Let me show you that real quick. Let's look at that. So let me ask, do you believe that
a person has to be baptized to be saved? Well, isn't the one and the same? Isn't what one
and the same? Salvation, baptism. Isn't that required? Well, hold on. Let me, let's look
at Acts 2 38. Acts 2 38. The Bible says right here in verse 37, now when they heard this,
they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, men
and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized, every
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost. Okay. So, but wait a minute. Does that, that verse doesn't
say saved anywhere. Okay. Go back up here. Okay. To verses the day of Pentecost, right?
Let's go back to verse number 21. It says right here, and it shall come to pass that
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Okay. And if you, if you remember
Romans chapter 10 13, it says for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? How shall
they believe in him of whom they have not heard? How shall they hear without a preacher?
So the Bible says that we're saved by faith, saved by believing on Jesus Christ and by
calling on the name of the Lord. Now let me ask you this. If baptism is required for salvation,
how did Noah get saved? How did Abraham get saved? How did David get saved? Because wait
a minute, who was the first person who baptized? John the Baptist. Okay. So wait a minute.
How did all these people for 4,000 years be saved? But wait a minute. Remember in the
Old Testament, it said in the days of Enos in Genesis chapter five, it said, then began
men to call upon the name of the Lord. Remember it says of Noah, Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. So Noah was saved by grace. It says in Genesis about Abraham, Abraham believed
God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Okay. Let me show you a verse here. Look at,
Romans chapter four. It says right here in Romans chapter four, it says, but to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justify at the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Even as David also described it, the blessedness of the man unto whom God impudeth righteousness
without works saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are
covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. And it talks about here,
you know, if Abraham were justified by works, he hath were of the glory, but not before
God. For what sayeth the scripture? Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for
righteousness. So Abraham was saved by believing on Christ. According to that, he believed
God. Noah believed God. Enoch, you know, believed on God, called upon the name of the Lord.
David even says, okay, David also describes the blessedness of the man unto whom God impudeth
righteousness without works. Okay. Now, isn't baptism works? I mean, being baptized, you
know, it's, it's, it's a good work, you know, going to church, that's good works. Okay.
All these different things. So the question is, if baptism is part of salvation, how did
people get saved for all these years? See what I'm saying? Like, what about the thief
on the cross? Did he get baptized? No. So the thief on the cross, he just looked to
Jesus Christ and just believed on and asked to be saved. Okay. So the thing is, it says
here, you know, what shall we do? They're asking what they should do. There's a difference
between what we should do and what we must do. What must I do to be saved? Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Here he says, for whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. In verse, Acts 2 21 right there, earlier on, they said,
what should we do? Repent and be baptized in the Lord. We should repent of sin. You
know, that's a daily thing. You know what I mean? Because we're constantly sinning.
But if we had to repent of all our sins to be saved, none of us would be going to heaven.
And really, he just said, believe on Christ and thou shalt be saved. And look, repenting
of sin is works. Okay. In fact, let me show you that real quick. In the book of Jonah
is one place. Let me give me a second to turn there. But in the book of Jonah right here,
Let's see here, Micah. We'll go back to just one more book. Here's Jonah. Look at this.
It says, and God saw their what? God saw their works that they turned from their evil way.
And God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them and he did it not.
So God saw their works that they turned from their evil. So turning away from drinking,
turning away from sin, that's works. That's a good, I mean, it's good. We should do it.
We should be baptized. We should repent of our sins. Okay. But that's not what we have
to do in order to be saved. Okay. Now he says right here, he says, uh, you know, then
Peter said to them, repent and be baptized. Every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy ghost. Okay. You see
that? So now let me ask this. Have you ever seen a poster that says wanted for murder?
You know what I'm talking about? Like the old West wanted for murder. Okay. What does
that mean? They're wanted because of murder, you know, wanted for armed robbery. They're
wanted because of, okay, so here he's saying, be baptized. Everyone of you, the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. He's saying because of the fact that your sins
have been remitted. Now I'm going to, I'm going to prove that to you. Okay. Because
he's saying here, let's read it one more time. Max 2 38 then Peter said to them, repent and
be baptized. Every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins
and you shall receive the gift of the Holy ghost. Let's look at acts 10. Okay. I'm going
to go just a few chapters forward in the Bible. Now look at this right here. He says right
here in verse 44 while actually let's go back here. Remember how I talked to you about how
the old Testament people were saved by believing on Christ, calling on him, calling on God,
not by baptism because baptism didn't exist. It says in verse 43 of acts 10 to him, give
all the prophets witness that through his name, whose, whose name? Jesus Christ is
who he's talking about. Whosoever believeth in him shall receive what remission of sin.
So who receives remission of sins? Whosoever believe in him. All the prophets preach that
he's saying the old Testament acts 10 43 to him, give all the prophets witness that through
his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet
spake these words, the Holy ghost fell on all them which heard the word. So here's people
that are told, Hey, it's whosoever believeth. While they heard the words, the Bible says,
the Holy ghost fell on all them which heard the word and they have the circumcision which
believed were astonished as many as came with Peter because that on the Gentiles also was
poured out to give to the Holy ghost for they heard them speak with tongues and magnify
God. Then answered Peter, watch this. Can any man forbid water that these should not
be baptized, whichever seed the Holy ghost as well as we, and he commanded them to be
baptized in the name of the Lord, then prayed to him to Terry certain days. So wait a minute.
Here's a bunch of people who believed on Christ and what they get remission of sins, what
they get to give to the Holy ghost. Isn't that what acts two 38 talked about? Okay.
Then they got baptized. So do you get baptized in order to get remission of sins or do you
get it baptized as a result of the remission of sin? So you got to understand the word
for has a couple of different meanings. Okay. What comes first? Believe comes first, then
comes baptism. When you believe you get the remission of sins. When you believe that's
where the gift of the Holy ghost was poured out. When they believed the words that Peter
was preaching, then he got baptized. You see that sequence right there? Same thing in acts
eight 37 verse 36 says, you know, what does hinder me to be baptized? And Phillip said,
if thou believe us with all thine heart thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is son of God. And he commanded the cherry to stand still. And they went down
both into the water, both filter the unity baptized. So look, you saw the order there
next 10 you believe the word of God. And this goes all the way back to Genesis. This is
the whole Bible. Believe on Christ. Believe on the Lord. Call upon him saved. Okay. Sins
are remitted. And then, Hey, now it's time to get baptized as a result. Okay. Do you
see that? So did these people in acts 10 get baptized before or after they received
the gift of the Holy ghost after? Okay. Did that, were their sins remitted before or after
they got baptized before? Yeah. Okay. So you see how clear that is? So it's just salvation's
by faith. Jesus paid it all by grace through faith. Let me show you a few other verses
real quick. Look at John six 47 Bible says right here in John six 47 verily verily I
say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. So a person who believes
on Jesus Christ, they have right now, present tense, everlasting life. Okay. John three
16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever what
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. So it's whosoever what whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but everlasting life. Now, if anybody who believes on Christ
alone for salvation is not saved, how is that true? When he said, who so believe? I
mean, if there was a guy who believes and doesn't get baptized or a guy who believes
and doesn't go to church and he goes to hell, that wouldn't even be true because that says
whosoever believeth. Okay. Let me show you one last verse and this kind of ties the whole
thing together. Okay. It says in Romans six 23 it says for the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Okay. Now as a gift,
is something free or do you have to earn it? It's free. Okay. Let's say I were to give
you this Bible as a gift and I said, here, I'm going to give you this Bible as a gift,
but you got to give me $5. Is that a gift? Okay. What if I said, okay, one cent still.
What if I said, okay, it's free, but you got to, you got to do some housework for me. You
got to clean up my house because you can't work for it. Okay. So let me ask this. Who
pays for a gift, the giver or the receiver? Okay. Who's giving us eternal life? So who
pays for it? How much do we have to pay? And how do we receive it? What do we have
to do to receive it? Believe on Christ is faithful. Do we have to be baptized to, to,
in order to receive it? We should be baptized, right? Do we have to turn from our sins to
receive it? We should, but what must we do to be saved? Believe on Christ. Okay. Now
what's that word? Eternal me. Do you know what that means? Forever. Yeah. Okay. So if,
if we have eternal life, okay. How many times do you think we have to get that gift in the
last for one time? Right. And then we're saved for how long? Okay. So, so I mean, if it's
a gift, let's say I gave you this gift, right? Okay. Who's the blog to me? Can I just come
and take it away from you whenever I want? Cheers. Right. I gave it to you. Okay. So
if God gave you eternal life, is God going to take that away from you? Like, let's say
you were to kill somebody. Is God going to take that away from you? Wait a minute. I
mean, you could turn away from it and lose it. You mean lose your salvation? Yeah. I
mean, you just can't turn away from it. Okay. But wait a minute. Didn't he say it's eternal
life? Yeah. It's everlasting. So he's not going to turn his back on us, but we can turn
our backs on him. Well, hold on a second. Remember that verse I showed you back in John
6 47. It's an, and this is just a really simple verse and it really says the same thing as
what we were just reading in Romans 6 23. Barely, barely I say unto you, he that believeth on
me has everlasting life. That's present tense. So let me ask you this. If you have everlasting
life today and then let's say 10 years from now you were to do something awful like, like
you said, like turn away from him or, you know, commit some awful sin and then God were
to, you know, let's say you were to die and then God were to send you to hell because
you had turned from him. Was that really eternal? Did it go on forever? Your salvation. Okay.
So if I have eternal life today, which is what? March 8th, 2009. If I have eternal life
March 8th, 2009 and then on March 8th, 2015 I kill somebody and uh, and I'm killed and
return, you know, I've committed murder and God says, well that's it. You've turned away
from me or whatever you were saying. Okay. And I die and go to hell. Did that really,
did I really have eternal life back on March 8th? It ended. You see what I'm saying? So
if God's promising that if I believe on him, I have eternal life and then it ends for any
reason, was it ever really eternal? See something that ends cannot be eternal. So if the Bible
says the gift of God's eternal life through Jesus Christ, we only have to believe on him
one time. We'll be saved eternally and God will never take that away from us. Jesus said,
I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee. You see what I'm saying? There's a lot of things
we should do. One thing we must do is believe on him. Now look, I was never good enough
to be saved in the first place. We can't ever be bad enough to where he'll take it away.
It's by grace. We don't deserve it in the first place. If we believe on him through
his shed blood, we will receive the remission of sins by believing on him. We're passed
from death unto life. We have eternal life. Okay. Do you believe that? You see it now?
So is there anything you can ever do to lose your salvation? Because it's free. It's a
gift. It's eternal. Lasts forever. Okay. Well listen, now that you know, when I first
got here, you know, you were saying it's baptism, it's repentance. Do you realize that's works
now? Okay. It's just what by which we're saved. Believe on Christ. Okay. Listen, I want to
help you pray right now and tell God that that's what you believe. That way you'll know
for sure that you're going to have, because in order to be saved, you know, you got to
believe on him with all your heart. You got to have all your faith and trust in him. Not
not some of it in him and some of it in what your actions, what you're doing, your baptism,
your religion, your church. Okay. So I want you to pray this and just tell God that this
what you believe. You can just repeat after me, but I want you to mean this to God. Okay.
Just pray this. Dear Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner. I know I deserve to go to hell,
but I believe that you died on the cross for me and rose again. Please save me right now
and give me everlasting life. I'm only trusting you, Jesus. Amen. Now you meant that, right?
So look, if you were to die right now, where would you go? Why? Right. Okay. And how many
times do you have to do that? And you're saved forever. All right. Well, praise God.