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you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you good evening everyone welcome to the Verde Dei Baptist Church May the Last Man sing a service for our first song let's grab our hymnals and turn to song number 263 song number 263 song number 263 verily, verily verily, verily verily, verily oh what a savior God, he died for me on the first ready, sing oh what a savior God, he died for me from bond and nation, he hath made me free he that believeth on the sunset, he had everlasting life verily, verily I say unto you verily, verily message ever you he that believeth on the sun is true had everlasting life all my iniquities on him were laid all my iniquities by him was made oh who believeth in the Lord had said had everlasting life verily, verily verily, verily I say unto you verily, verily message ever you, he that believeth on the sun is true had everlasting life though poor and needy I can trust my Lord though weak and mental I believe his word and message every time of God had everlasting life verily, verily I say unto you verily, verily message ever you, he that believeth on the sun is true had everlasting life though whole and worthy and I will not doubt for he the common he will not guess out he that believeth on the moon you shall have everlasting life verily, verily I say unto you verily, verily message ever you he that believeth on the sun is true had everlasting life first voice I hear on the first ready, sing the fields of sin bring them in bring them in bring the wandering ones to Jesus who'll go with hell his shepherd kind help him the wandering ones to find who'll bring the lost ones to the gold where they'll be sheltered from the cold bring them in bring them in bring them in from the fields of sin bring them in bring them in bring the wandering ones to Jesus out in the desert hear their cry out on the mountains wild and high heart is the master speaks to thee go by my sheep wherever they be bring them in bring them in bring them in from the fields of sin bring them in bring them in bring the wandering ones to Jesus our scripture reading please open your Bibles to 1 John chapter 2 the first letter of John chapter 2 just before the Galatians should and then the letters of John so the first letter of John chapter 2 please say amen when you're there amen my little children these things right I answer you that you say not and if any man sin we have not required with the father Jesus Christ the righteous and he's the preparation for our sins and not for us only but also for the sins of the whole world and hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments he that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him but whoso keepeth his word in him verily the love of God is perfected hereby know we that we are in him he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk even as he walked well then I write no new commandment unto you but an old commandment which he had from the beginning the old commandment is the word which he have heard from the beginning again a new commandment I write unto you which thing is true in him and in you because the darkness is past and the true light now shineth he that saith he's in the light and hateth his father is in darkness even until now he that loveth his father abideth in the light and there is none occasion of stumbling in him but he that hateth his brother is in darkness and walketh in darkness and knoweth not whither he goeth because the darkness has blinded his eyes I write unto you little children because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake I write unto your fathers because you have known him that is from the beginning I write unto young men because you have overcome the wicked one I write unto you little children because you have known the father I have written unto your fathers because you have known him that is from the beginning I have written unto you young men because you are strong and the word of God abideth in you and you have overcome the wicked one love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of the father is not in him for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father but is of the world and the world passes away and the lust of the love but he that doth the will of God abideth forever little children it is the last time and as if you have heard that antichrist shall come even now are there many antichrists whereby we know that it is the last time they went out from us but they were not of us for if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us but he hath an unction from the holy one and he know all things I have not written unto you because he know not the truth but because he know it and that no lie is of the truth who is the liar but he that denyeth that Jesus is the Christ he is antichrist that denies the father and the son whosoever denies the son the same has not the father but he that acknowledges the son has the father also let us therefore abide in you which he hath heard from the beginning if that which he hath heard from the beginning shall he remain in you he also shall continue in the son and in the father and this is the promise that he has promised us even eternal life these things have I have written unto you concerning them that seduce you but the anointing which you have received of him abideth in you and he need not that any man teach you but as the same anointing teaches you of all things and is truth and is no lie and even as it has taught you he shall abide in him and now little children abide in him that when he shall appear we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming if he know that he is righteous he know that everyone that art in righteousness is born of him let us pray thank you our father that we are here and thank you for every soul that can listen today and we will pray that you will anoint the preacher and that you will give us understanding open our hearts to love your word more and more and yeah help us also to apply all the things that we hear in his name amen alright we are here in 1st John chapter 2 and let me just start at verse number 18 and then I'll tell you what the name of the sermon is and what the sermon is about but at verse number 18 at 1st John chapter 2 the Bible reads little children it is the last time and as you have heard that antichrist shall come even now are there many antichrists whereby we know that it is the last time now when we think about the antichrist there is one ultimate antichrist that is going to come during the end times and we are aware of that but the Bible says even though you have heard that antichrist shall come referring to that antichrist even now are there many antichrists and basically what it is referring to are people that are false prophets and of course in today's world there are a lot of false prophets right this was written 2000 years ago and the idea is that since there is a lot of false prophets you know it is the last time and the indication is as we get closer to the end times you are going to have more and more and more false prophets okay verse number 19 they went out from us but they were not of us for if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us now verse 19 is a bit of a tongue twister and people you know they read that verse and they are like what is this talking about right and they get confused and honestly you hear a lot of false things from verse 19 and the name of the sermon is they went out from us they went out from us now in verse 19 it is being linked back to the antichrist in verse 18 but the main idea I want you to understand is obviously these antichrists are not safe people okay now how people apply verse 19 is in a lot of different ways and a lot of ways incorrectly so I am basically going to do a Bible study on this phrase they went out from us what is that referring to what is the Bible saying now whenever you preach a sermon like they went out from us you are like who went out from us who left our church who is he talking about and so that is not what that phrase is referring to as it is anyway but I am not referring to anybody I am just doing this Bible study because a lot of people are confused about this phrase they went out from us and you hear a lot of different things and so before I explain to you what this phrase actually means let's start with something it does not mean it does not mean somebody leaving church right go to 2 Timothy chapter 4 2 Timothy chapter 4 and this is probably how it is most used by churches they will say well wait a minute somebody used to be part of our church but they went out from us if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us but they went out that they might be made to manifest they were not all of us they were not saved if they were really saved they would have stayed with the church I mean they were at our church for 40 years and then they quit the church it is like they were never saved that is the way people usually apply that verse they will say well they left the church I do not even know if they are saved they went out from us I mean they might be an anti-Christ they are not really saved I mean is that not how you hear that verse apply and even if people do not realize the context they will quote that phrase they went out from us they left the church they were part of the church they left therefore they were never saved that is not what that phrase is talking about and let me just prove to you that when somebody leaves the church they are saved 2 Timothy 4 verse 10 the Bible reads for Demas hath forsaken me having loved this present world and is departed unto Thessalonica Crescendo to Galatia Titus unto Dalmatia now in this verse he is not saying that all of these people forsook him he is just saying Demas forsook him in terms of Demas forsook to live a worldly life now realize that with Paul the Apostle he is traveling around preaching at different locations he would be in an area for a year or two go to a different area but the idea is that Demas basically left the ministry so to speak you could make the application quit the church, quit serving God and so here is the thing Paul does not say that Demas was not saved Paul does not say we question his salvation what he says is Demas loved this present world and see people get this idea well when you get saved it means you love God and those that are saved love God if you love God those that are not saved do not love God that is not what the Bible teaches being saved is not about loving God you get saved and then that does not mean you love God whether or not you walk in His commandments that is the determination of whether or not you love God so Demas loving this present world it does not mean well he was not saved because if he was really saved he would love God where does the Bible say that? commandments it does not say if you love me keep my commandments and that is the determination if you go to heaven the determination if you love God is if you keep His commandments that is not salvation go to John 21 now look at our church if you have been at our church from the beginning we have had various people at our church for various lengths of time and some people were a problem but you know we have had people at our church that went soul winning with our church they were at our church and then somewhere along the way they just kind of quit going to church now I do not question their salvation because they quit coming to our church that is not a reason to question whether or not they are saved now I mean I was disappointed when people like that left their church people that were not causing problems they came to soul winning they came to our church and they just kind of faded out and I do not know whether they are going to church or not but I do not question their salvation because they left the church because the Bible does not tell you to question someone's salvation just because they leave the church that is not what it is talking about in 1 John 2 let me give you another example in John 21 John 21 verse 1 after these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberius and on this wise showed He Himself there were together Simon Peter and Thomas called Didymus and Nathanael of Cana and Galilee and the sons of Zebedee and two other of his disciples Simon Peter saith unto them I go of fishing they say unto them we also go with thee now this does not mean it is a sin to go fishing okay what you need to realize is that Simon Peter that was his job that was his profession before he got called into the ministry okay there is nothing wrong with having that as a hobby there is nothing wrong with having that as a career either it is just the fact that Simon Peter was in the ministry and he basically goes back to his old lifestyle and he says you know what I go of fishing and all the other ones come with him so basically he is essentially leaving the ministry leaving the church saying I do not want to have anything to do with it anymore it is not worth it I do not want to do it I want to go back to my old lifestyle right is that not what you see in John 21 this is after the resurrection of Jesus this is not the first time they are seeing Jesus appear to them this is after that but basically Peter has quit the ministry kind of like quitting the church verse 3 Simon Peter saith unto them I go of fishing they say unto them we also go with thee showing that you have an impact on other people if you do quit our church other people might quit our church other people might get backslidden because you quit the church that is reality the actions you make affect other people they went forth and entered into a ship immediately and that night they caught nothing so basically God does not bless them they catch nothing but when the morning was now come Jesus stood on the shore but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus then Jesus saith unto them children have ye any meat they answered him no and he said unto them cast the net on the right side of the ship and ye shall find they cast therefore and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes anyway here is the thing that reminds you of that story where Jesus said let down the nets and then they let down one net and then it broke because there was too many fish it kind of reminds Peter back to three years in the past and it's kind of like Peter you did all these great things over three years and you caught many fish symbolically speaking saying being a fisher of men and now you're going back to your old lifestyle and he's getting reminded about the soul winning and what he did verse 7 therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter the Lord now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord he girt his fisher's coat on to him for he was naked and did cast himself into the sea now I think people are aware of this but let me just say this because when I was newly saved in reading this I didn't understand what the definition of nakedness was in the Bible so I thought that Peter was not wearing any clothes at all and I'm like what is wrong with you like why would you go fishing and not wear anything but what the Bible defines nakedness as is from your knee to your waist so I would say the indication would probably be that he's wearing some sort of shorts that didn't cover up all of his nakedness but of course if you're in front of the Lord Jesus Christ you're going to be embarrassed about that and all of a sudden he's just like throws himself in the water and he basically is just trying to hide himself from the Lord because he doesn't want to be seen when he's not dressed appropriately and so here's my point though in this passage let's say because they basically quit the church and if the idea is that if you quit the church that you're not saved doesn't it make sense that Jesus would stop to give them the gospel if they weren't saved when do you ever see Jesus in John 21 saying okay let me go through the gospel with you for the one millionth time right? He doesn't stop to give them the gospel you say why? Because quitting the church doesn't mean you're not saved it just means you quit the church right? I mean that's not a reason to question somebody's salvation right? Now look it's nobody's ever happy when people quit the church they get out of serving God or whatever but the reality is there'd be no reason to question someone's salvation simply because they left our church okay? Simply because they stopped going to church, simply because they stopped coming and being part of the fellowship at our church now go to Hebrews 10 Hebrews 10 Hebrews chapter 10 and here's the thing if you think that somebody quitting church means we should question their salvation which is what a lot of Baptist churches teach you're going to have to give me a verse to prove that not just well here's my opinion if you quit the church I don't even know if you're saved that sounds real powerful but it doesn't sound real biblical show me a verse that actually supports that because a lot of I mean pastors can get up saying hey you know what if you're still listening to rock music I don't even know if you're saved well that sounds real powerful and it also sounds real bobo because that's not what the Bible says I mean you can yell all you want and sound powerful that doesn't make it right where's your Bible to back up what you're saying somebody leaving the church is not a reason to question their salvation okay? Hebrews 10 verse 24 Hebrews 10 verse 24 the Bible reads and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works now when he says let us he's referring to other saved people okay? he's saying let us let saved people consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works so instead of thinking about yourself think about other people okay? as a saved person be concerned about other people verse 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is he's saying he's telling saved people you ought to be in church to consider one another okay? he's commanding saved people to be in church which means it's not an automatic thing because why would he have to command it? so here's the thing when he's saying as the manner of some is he's referring to other saved people right? because he says as saved people let us consider one another be in church as a saved person because he's talking about the people at church not forsaking as the manner of some is referring to other saved people he's not saying as the manner of some is as unsaved people don't go to church but saved go to church that's not the context my friend the context is as saved people don't be like other saved people that don't go to church that's what he's saying the manner of some saved people let us saved people consider one another provoke unto love and to good works don't be as other saved people that choose to forsake church but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching so what we're seeing there and what we see in the Bible is that saved people can choose to not go to church turn in your Bible to Luke 8 Luke 8 Luke 8 Luke chapter 8 Luke chapter 8 I mean I didn't start going to church until 8 months after I got saved does that mean that I wasn't really saved until I set foot in church? it doesn't make any sense right? and here's the reality probably in this room if we heard people's testimonies of when they got saved and when they started going to church probably a lot of us were saved for a long time before we started going to church right? and look you know I don't want to see people leave our church in the future if somebody moves and they go to another great church that's fine but I would hate to see people leave our church get out of serving God or whatever but it's going to happen at our church in the future though and it has happened to our church before we've had people that were part of our church part of soul winning then they kind of start skipping church and you're kind of wondering where did that person go? and they just kind of left right? well here's the thing it's happened before it's going to happen again I hope it doesn't happen with anyone that's in this room right now but here's the thing if you quit our church I'm not going to question your salvation now if you don't quit for a valid reason then I might question your love for God but I wouldn't question whether or not you're saved because you quit going to church people quit church there's plenty of Demuses in this world so this phrase is not saying that if you quit church they went out from us they left Verity Baptist Church Manila right? I guess they were never saved that's not what it's saying another thing people say is well they went out from us they started living a sinful life right? they were living a godly life then they started living a sinful life they went out from us they quit serving God they quit living a godly life started listening to bad music they went out from us they were never saved that's what people will say Luke 8 verse 13 are they which when they hear receive the word with joy now this is referring to people that they don't just receive the word they receive it with joy to be saved you must receive the word you don't have to receive it with joy okay? case in point is you know today when me and brother Sean were going soloing the people we got saved they seemed excited about visiting church now we don't know if they're going to but a lot of people get saved and they're not excited about visiting church they have no interest in going to church they're glad to be saved and that's about it and they're not receiving the word with joy but see some people when they get saved they actually are very thankful to be saved they receive the word with joy when you cross reference a synonym to joy is gladness right? the Bible says in Acts 2 that those that gladly receive his word were baptized okay? those that didn't just get saved but were very thankful ended up getting baptized so in a saying here in Luke 8 verse 13 people that receive the word with joy it's referring to people that get saved and they're excited about it right? they do want to serve God and these have no root which for a while believe in a time of temptation fall away and the indication is they're not rooted and grounded in the things that they believe they're excited but then when temptation persecutions come they fade out and isn't this true with a lot of new people newly saved listen to all these sermons online they get excited about church their family criticizes this church then they just quit right? isn't that true? people once their family criticizes them they just quit right? people get up when they have friends and family that criticize they just can't take it due to persecution they just kind of fade out they receive the word with joy but they just were not rooted and then when persecution comes they just fade out okay? verse 14 and now which fell among thorns for they which when they have heard go forth and so they hear the word of God they go forth they start serving God and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to perfection there are many things that want to choke you out of serving God right? they basically prevent you from serving God now think of the analogy the Bible's giving of choking okay? and you know think of like a fight and somebody's in like a guillotine choke or a rear naked choke or whatever if you have any familiarity with you know mixed martial arts or whatever triangle choke if you're being choked you start losing energy you can't fight back as much when someone first starts choking you you're really fighting to get the hands off the neck right? but eventually you start losing your strength and the Bible's saying the cares and riches and pleasures they can start choking you so you don't have any strength to fight back eventually if you don't get those things out of your life they'll start choking you where you don't have any energy anymore to actually serve God but what the Bible's showing you is there's people that get excited about serving God but because of these cares and riches and pleasures and persecutions these things happen and then they quit serving God it doesn't say they're not saved it says they bring no fruit to perfection now look I understand at a lot of churches they say well if there's no fruit there's no salvation because if you're really saved you're going to bear fruit what does it mean to bear fruit? it means to get people saved the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he that winneth souls is wise that's what it's referring to about bearing fruit now what people say is well your fruits are good works okay this is what a lot of people say well here's what doesn't make any sense about that everybody does good works unsaved people do nice things if your fruits talking about good works unsaved people do nice things before I was saved I did some nice things my neighbor growing up you know she was in her nineties you know in our neighborhood and during the winter time with a lot of snow and a lot of ice you know I shoveled her driveway and spent a couple hours that way you know it'd be safe for her that's a nice thing isn't it? I was an unsafe person but you know if you're raised right by your parents you want to do nice things be a good person unsaved people do nice things okay so here's the thing that doesn't make any sense to say you're first talking about good works cause everybody does some good works everybody does some nice things what the fruit is referring to is getting people saved and here's the thing if you're living a worldly and sinful life good luck trying to bear fruit you say why because that worldly life will choke you out so you don't have any energy people have this idea they want to serve God but they don't want to make any changes in their life they still want to listen to the rock music they still want to do all the same activities they still want to commit all the same sins but they want to serve God it doesn't work that way you got to make a choice which way you're going to walk and if you try to go both ways eventually you're going to bring no fruit to perfection that's what the Bible teaches doesn't mean that you're not saved though go to Hebrews 11 Hebrews 11 and people say well you know yes everybody does good things but I mean you're going to have a lifestyle filled full of lots of fruit well how much? 100? 101? give me a number on it where does the Bible say you must have this amount of fruit to prove you're saved it's just referring to getting people saved and look all of us that are soul winners can relate to this I mean if you're living a sinful and worldly lifestyle you're not going to be able to get people saved because if you have some weeks where you're not as on fire for God you're not motivated to go soul winning you're not motivated to serve God but when you're getting sin out of your life and reading the Bible and praying to God you're motivated and filled with the Spirit you want to do big things but when you're kind of going both ways you lose your motivation very quickly is that not true? am I the only one who sins sometimes right? I mean it's true right? when you have areas of your life that aren't perfect and you know it really drains you or chokes you out of going all out serving God and look none of us are perfect none of us are going to be perfect we understand that but here's the thing what the fruit is referring to is getting people saved it's very clear Hebrews 11 verse 31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not when she had received the spies with peace and what shall I and by the way let me just say this with Rahab it never says that she repented of her sin to be saved right? I mean it never says well you know what to be safe she had to quit being a harlot no she had to believe the choices she made it's like those were the choices she made she didn't have to quit that sin to be saved okay? and it says in verse 32 and what shall I more say for the time would fail to tell me the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barak and of Samson now think about Samson Hebrews 11 is known as the what? hall of faith that's what people call it right? it's a list of people that everybody would agree is saved right? it's very clear from the chapter everybody in that chapter is saved it's being mentioned well think about the characters that are being mentioned Samson well Samson did a lot of good things what are the things that Samson is most famous for? Samson and Delilah right? being with a woman he's not married to I mean he was also with prostitutes in the story of him right? he also was the last thing he ever did you know he basically committed suicide took the pillars and just killed himself and other people right? there's plenty of bad things that you see about Samson I mean it doesn't seem like his lifestyle was all that great I mean he's the character in the Bible who goes on these you know he's serving God then committing sin serving God and committing big sins right? but yet he's saved according to Hebrews 11 so here's the thing if living a sinful life means you're not saved I mean it doesn't really get much worse than the last thing you ever did is you killed yourself right? so here's the thing if that's referring to living a sinful life then it doesn't make any sense cause Samson was living a sinful life and yet he was saved right? no questioning whether or not he was saved well that's a special case how many special cases do we need? right? I mean if someone could live a sinful life back then and be saved they can live a sinful life now and be saved and of Jephthah Jephthah what's he most famous for? sacrificing his daughter because he made a dumb vow? I mean when you read the characters when you read the chapters on Jephthah he's not exactly the greatest cleanest character ever either now look I have no doubt that he did a lot of great things for God but in terms of living a non-worldly life being separated from I wouldn't mention Jephthah in my top couple people right? I mean when you talk about the greatest characters of the Old Testament you're not going to name Jephthah if people name Samson it's cause they don't know that many characters in the Bible and they're just like yeah that guy's Samson and Delilah that story right? it's like he's not exactly the cleanest character in the Old Testament Jephthah neither was he either and yet this is a saved person according to Hebrews 11 of David also David hmm now David did a lot of great things for God don't misunderstand me he also did a lot of bad things right? specifically adultery and murder those are two pretty sins my friend right? adultery and he even though he did not physically kill Uriah the Bible says that he did kill Uriah you say why? because he basically just had him on a suicide mission as they would say basically they put him to the front of battle and just said well just leave him okay? so and David's words were so callous when he said hey the sword killeth one as well as another right? and so look David committed some pretty bad sins adultery and murder and yet we don't question whether David was saved you say well David repented of a sin okay well first off what about the last thing he did was commit suicide but with David if you remember and I don't want to go there for the sake of time because I want to share what this passage is actually talking about David said restore to me the joy of thy salvation he did not say restore to me my salvation he said restore to me the joy meaning he had lost his joy and his excitement to serve God because when you live a sinful life isn't it true that you're not excited about serving God right? but he didn't say restore to me my salvation because he didn't lose his salvation because it's once saved always saved always has been living a sinful life that does not mean you should question someone's salvation go to 2 Peter 2 let me give you a couple other examples 2 Peter 2 2 Peter chapter 2 and look actually there are a lot of characters in the Bible that did a lot of bad things and we would never need to question their salvation because the Bible is clear they got saved so I mean I don't know how many exceptions you need 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 I mean a million I mean there's plenty of characters that did a lot of bad things and yet there's no reason to question their salvation according to the word of God and yet they were saved this Calvinistic idea that well when you get saved you're going to start to live a godly life more godly every day well then why is it that David committed those big sins a long time after he was saved? doesn't make any sense if I was not to say that if you get saved you're going to automatically start serving God and loving God more and more and more and look if you ever listen to these Calvinist I don't recommend you ever listening to these Calvinist but look if you're preparing to preach against something you got to kind of study it sometimes to be aware of what they teach and what they say and if you listen to John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul and Paul Washer and these famous people they will say that the determination of whether or not you're saved is if you love God if you want to serve God that means you're saved it's like well where does it say that in the Bible? I thought the Bible said believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and I thought that there's lots of people that live sinful lives that were saved in the Bible 2 Peter 2 verse 6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly and delivered just Lot vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked the Bible says that Lot was a saved man just Lot for that righteous man dwelling among them and when it says just Lot it's not saying he delivered only Lot it's saying just as in just righteous delivered just Lot and it says in verse 8 for that righteous man dwelling among them and seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds the Bible says that Lot was a righteous man he was not righteous in terms of the fact that he was living a godly life though there's none righteous no not one and Lot certainly wasn't living a righteous life but he was saved and yet here's a man who offers his daughters to these Sodomites here's a man who even when he's being told the city's going to be destroyed he's kind of like arguing with God it's like what are you doing then he gets drunk and then his daughters basically you know have their way with him when he's drunk and he has kids that's where you get the Moabites and the Ammonites you look at the life I mean he defends the Sodomites if you're looking at his lifestyle if it's salvation based on works then Lot wasn't saved but salvation's not based on works he did a lot of bad things and yet we don't question the salvation of Lot because I was very clearly saved so look your works don't determine whether or not you're saved or not verse 5 and spare not the old world but save Noah the 8th person a preacher of righteousness bring in the flood upon the world of the ungodly look Noah was a great character in the Bible he did a lot of great things but we also remember him getting drunk right so there's another example of someone who committed pretty bad sin and here's the thing Noah did that 600 years you know into his life and it's like wait a minute if you're supposed to be living more godly every day why is it that he committed that sin a long time into his life rather than like when he was a new Christian or a new believer or whatever right so look it's not saying they went out from us it's not saying they started to live a sinful life it's not saying they quit the church it's not saying they started to live a sinful life go back to 1 John 2 1 John 2 1 John 2 you say well what's it talking about then well here's the thing if you're trying to figure out what a verse means here's the easy way to figure it out look at the context around that verse see people often times will quote a verse and they'll just make it mean whatever they want right we've probably all been to Baptist churches where they quote one verse and they make a sermon out of it and sometimes you're like hey that was a really good sermon but that is not what that verse was talking about right and look sometimes I agree with what they're preaching like amen but that's that verse is totally out of context that you're using right and people quote 1 John 2 19 all the time and they never really talk about the context because they'll say well they left the church they must not be saved what in the context would tell you that's referring to church what is it referring to well it's not that complicated verse 19 they went out from us but they were not of us for if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us what's that mean verse 20 but ye so it's comparing those that went out from us versus ye to save people unction from the holy one and ye know all things referring to having the holy spirit of God and dwelling you and the spirit of God is the spirit of truth and he's saying you're not like the unsaved people because you have the holy spirit of God dwelling inside of you verse 21 I have not written on you because ye know not the truth but because ye know it and that no lie is of the truth he's saying I'm writing to you because you're saved right obviously if you're going to write the words of God you're going to write it to save people not unsaved people unsaved people are not likely to read the word of God and they're not going to understand it as an unsaved person he's saying I'm writing to save people so he's saying you're not like the people that basically went out because you know the truth they did not know the truth you know the truth and when you get saved you're indwelled with the spirit of truth the holy spirit of God and notice this phrase at the end of verse 21 it's really important and that no lie is of the truth verse 22 who is a liar but he that denyeth that Jesus is the Christ he is anti-Christ that denyeth the father and the son so as a saved person you're going to realize Jesus is the only way to heaven you're not going to deny Jesus you're also going to realize there's a father and a son okay verse 23 obviously we believe in the trinity verse 23 whosoever denyeth the son the same hath not the father he that acknowledges the son hath the father also well let's jump forward to first John chapter 5 so what's the context well it's all about the truth see you as a saved person you know the truth when it says they went out from us those are people that did not know the truth it's referring to the truth so when it's saying they went out from us what it's saying is they went out from the beliefs okay they went out from the truth but you're not going to do that you say why you know all things you know the truth and you know that no lie is of the truth if you're a saved person you understand you say but doesn't that make common sense no lie is of the truth well it's going to make more sense when we see the context of first John 5 first John 5 verse 10 he that believeth on the son of God hath the witness in himself those that believe on Jesus Christ after the resurrection once the Holy Spirit was given to all those that were saved indwelling them you get saved you get indwelled with the Spirit of God as a saved person if you are saved here tonight you have the Holy Spirit of God indwelling you okay he that believeth not God hath made him a liar because he believeth not the record that God gave his son now remember we said earlier no lie is of the truth and the Bible says that if you don't believe God you're calling him a liar and the reason why is because you don't believe the record that God gave his son basically what the Bible is saying is there's two types of people those that are calling God a liar and those that believe God is telling the truth telling the truth about what verse 11 and it says and this is the record see if people don't believe this record they're calling God a liar and this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life and this life is in his son so there's three things mentioned here about the record okay the last one mentioned at the end of this verse is life is in his son okay to be saved you must believe that life eternal life is in his son Jesus Christ that's what the Bible says if someone says I think there's multiple ways to heaven well you know what you're not going to heaven unless you get saved you say why? because they're calling God a liar the Bible says life is in his son plus well Buddha if you live in Thailand plus you know Mohammed if you live in a Muslim country plus you know Sheila or whatever God they want to worship if you're in India no you must believe life is in his son you must believe Jesus is the only way to heaven and if you don't believe that it's because you're not saved that's what the Bible says you're calling God a liar because you either believe God or you're calling him a liar and here's the thing us that are saved we know that no lie is of the truth we know that Buddha is false we know Mohammed is false we know that Paul is false it's not confusing to us it's not hard for us to figure out because we know salvation is only in Jesus Christ and we know that's what the Bible says we know there's not going to be another one day we know it's not well Jesus for us but in this part of the world it's Buddha we know that's not true we know that only Jesus died and paid for our sins as a saved person you know that you know no lie is of the truth they think there's multiple ways to heaven oftentimes it says also in this verse that God hath given to us eternal life so God is giving us eternal life kind of like the gift of God is eternal life we must believe that God is giving us eternal life we must believe it's a free gift if someone says I believe Jesus died and paid for my sins he's my savior and I must get baptized to go to heaven they're not saved I say why? because they don't believe God is giving them eternal life it's a gift what does a gift mean? we'll uncover this we'll uncover this we'll uncover this if you're saying wow you know you got to get baptized those are your works you must quit drinking those are your works you must repent of your sins give your life to God those are your works those are your works that's not something that's being given to you right? I mean who wants me to say hey you know what I got a gift for you it's yours come up and take it it's free I'm going to give you this Bible somebody actually gave this to me as a gift and I like it it's a nice Bible I'm going to give it to you as a gift here tonight but but I need you to clean my house I need you to make a list of all the things I need you to do I need you to clean my house I need you to wash my car I don't own a car not anymore but I need you to do all this paper I need you to write my sermons for the next three months it's like oh I don't want it it's not worth it that's not a gift and see when God says he is giving us eternal life it means it's a gift it's free it's 100% free meaning he did the work and he paid for sin there's nothing we have to do look if our works got us to heaven what would be the point of Jesus even dying for us the whole reason why he died for us is because our works are never going to cut we must believe he's giving us eternal life here's the thing if you're saved you know that as a saved person you know that if another person said you must be baptized to go to heaven you'd be like wait a minute no lies of the truth that's not what the Bible says the Bible says it's only in Jesus Christ right? and it says he hath given to us eternal life eternal everlasting forever here's the thing if somebody thinks well you get saved now but you got to do good works to keep your salvation they're not saved you say why? because they don't believe that God's giving them eternal life they must understand what the gift is see there's no works to be saved there's no works to stay saved there's no works on either side of salvation and once you start saying things like well you must do this or you can't do this it's like whoa wait a minute you're adding works to the Gospel my friend right? you must believe it's a free gift it's eternal and it's only in Jesus you must believe it's just 100% paid for by Jesus Christ if someone doesn't believe that they're not saved and here's the thing as a saved person you know that no lies of the truth see what the Bible's referring to is people that would say amen it's by faith alone it's only in Jesus you can never lose it but then one day they went out from us one day they completely changed their beliefs about that one day they leave our church and they join that church right over there it's like what? right? one day they leave our church and they start teaching you must get baptized and go to heaven one day they leave our church see here's the thing I'd question someone's salvation if they leave our church but if they leave our church and just change their beliefs specifically about salvation you better believe I'd question their salvation right? I mean somebody is saved now fire for God they're going soul winning but then all of a sudden one day they become a buzzer they were never saved my friend cause you can't lose your salvation they can't be saved and lost and here's the thing you can't believe another way to heaven and be saved they were never saved never and look as a saved person you know that no lie is of the truth we understand this it's very simple for us let's look at some more scriptures here verse 12 verse 12 it says he that hath the son hath life and he that hath not the son of God hath not life there's two types of people those that have the son those that don't have the son those that have the son believe the record those that don't have the son do not believe the record you're not going to see someone who has the son but does not believe the record doesn't work that way if you have the son you believe the record what is that record? free gift eternal only in Jesus you're not going to find someone who does not believe those things they say well I think there's multiple ways to have it yet they have the son no they don't because when you get saved you're in dwell with the spirit of truth my friend and you will understand salvation until the day you die that's what the Bible teaches verse 13 these things have I written unto you that believe in the name of the son of God that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may believe in the name of the son of God how can you know that you're on your way to heaven well if you believe the record you say why is that? because I know that no matter how bad I screw up my life in the future it doesn't affect my salvation because it's eternal life and look that's a great promise we have because you know you say that to people and they'll say well you might just go out and commit all these wicked sins well last I checked people that are in this room are actually trying to live clean lives okay but here's the thing it's like you know it's very comforting knowing that even if I screw up like some of these people we mentioned in the Bible with big sins I'm still going to go to heaven now I'm going to be judged here on earth but I'm still going to go to heaven okay look I'm not saying somebody could never be confused at all because when you hear heretics you can get a little bit confused but look if somebody says I'm a hardcore Hindu and you see them bowing down to a cow three months after they leave our church they were never saved my friend go to John 3 I'll show you a few other scriptures on this John 3 now look this happens in real life it doesn't just happen in the Bible it happens in real life I've experienced this in my life of people that you thought were on fire for God you thought they believed the same thing and then they just leave one day the first time I ever experienced this was I got saved in college which I've said I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before but when I got saved I told my roommate in college the next day I said you know what you got to talk to this guy because he knew who this person was too I said you got to talk to Mike he'll tell you how to get to heaven cause I didn't know how to explain I was newly saved I was like you got to talk to this guy you got to talk to Mike he explained how to get to heaven I thought I was going to heaven I was wrong I said you got to talk to him and so my friend talked to him the next day and you know my roommate got saved or so I thought right and at this time we had like this group of people that were trying to serve God and doing Bible studies and things like that and then all of a sudden you know we do these Bible studies and everything like that and you know what my friend whenever he went home for the weekend he would come back and he would just say some really weird things he's like yeah you know what my dad had some good points about why you need to get baptized to go to heaven we're like what? and then we show him what the Bible said and we straighten him out he'd go home the next week and he's like yeah my dad showed some good points about how you got to speak in tongues to go to heaven we're like what? and like every weekend he'd come back with something now as a newly saved person I thought my friend was just bobo I was like what's wrong with him right like why does he keep changing his mind well now that I understand more about the Bible I realized well because he wasn't saved right that's the reason why cause here's the thing I didn't fluctuate back and forth like maybe this is the way to heaven maybe this way there's a lot of things I didn't know but I knew salvation my friend though he kept changing his mind all the time well I mean years later he ended up studying Islam and I think he's an atheist now he actually mocks you know my friend who's a pastor in West Virginia he's mocked his sermons online before and everything he's like man he's like a God hater now I mean it certainly seems like he's a record man he hates God but here's someone we thought got saved but then he completely rejected Christianity you know what that teaches me he wasn't saved he said he'd rather suck ya I mean does that make you feel bad he was your roommate at college well he was my friend a long time ago but he hates God now he's not my friend now right I mean he obviously just never believed like we did right he never nailed it down I guess he always had questions about it or whatever he never believed it cause here's the thing if he did believe it he'd still believe it now I mean he might get backslidden he might become a drunk might become a drug addict he might do any matter of sin whatever but here's the thing he would still believe that Jesus is the way to heaven right he would still believe it's a free gift and the fact that he doesn't believe that wasn't saved John 3 verse 15 actually just go to verse 18 verse 18 John 3 verse 18 he that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already now why is a person who does not believe condemned because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God what does that mean he hath not believed he never believed he has not yet believed the person who does not believe has not yet believed he's never believed you're not seeing well somebody did believe and they stopped believing it's saying he hath not believed he never believed he never believed in the name of the only begotten son of God look if someone does not believe now they never did believe right look this is actually very basic in the Bible but a lot of people have a problem with what the Bible teaches about this if someone does not believe it means that they never did believe ok look I understand people can get saved and hear false doctrines and they can get a little bit mixed up on this repentance line and some of these things like well if you're really saved probably not going to commit a big sin they can get mixed up on some of those things but there's certainly a line and when people are saying things like wow Buddha's the way to heaven also or you know what if you're really saved it's just like I'm sorry but they're not saved ok because if they were saved they would understand this verse 36 verse 36 it 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 them once again two types of people those that believe in the son and those that do not believe and those that do not believe have the wrath of God abiding them well here's the thing if somebody could be saved but not believe God's wrath would not abide on them because that's referring to them going to hell so those that don't believe they never believed it's very clear look at verse 33 verse 33 and this is actually a very key verse in John 3 and I think sometimes we just don't focus on it because there's all these famous and awesome verses John 3 verse 33 he that hath received his testimony received the testimony of who what testimony do you need to receive to be saved you need to receive the testimony of Jesus Christ right he that hath received his testimony hath received the testimony of Jesus Christ hath said to his seal that God is true hath said to his seal that God is true right now here's the thing Jesus Christ is the truth and when you get saved you get involved with the spirit of God you get sealed with the Holy Spirit of Prophets go to Ephesians 1 Ephesians chapter 1 Ephesians 1 Ephesians chapter 1 Ephesians chapter 1 verse 13 remember it hath said to his seal that God is true when you get saved you get sealed said to his seal that God is true Ephesians 1 verse 13 in whom he also trusted and trust is a synonym for believing he in whom he also trusted after that he heard the word of truth so you heard the gospel the gospel of your salvation in whom also after that he believed you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of Promise you receive his testimony you believe and you're sealed with that Holy Spirit of Promise and so here's the thing the Bible says set to his seal that God is true because the Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth in Bible sex when you get saved you get sealed with that promise and you've set to your seal that God is true you will always believe that God is true meaning you will never call God a liar right isn't what we saw in 1 John 5 that those that do not believe the record are calling God a liar well here's the thing when you receive the testimony of the Lord you've set to your seal your seal with the Holy Spirit of truth that God is true meaning you will never call God a liar you will never not believe the record that God gave the son this is why Paul questions the salvation of the church of Galatia because of the fact they're getting mixed up on on these various works and saying well if you're saved you should do these things and it's like wait a minute what are you saying right because salvation is by faith alone don't make it confusing by trying to add stuff after salvation okay now look at verse 14 which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchase for possession onto the praise of his glory when you get saved you're sealed with the spirit of God and here's the thing it's God's seal that he's promised you you're saved forever until the purchase possession the glorified body you'll always have the spirit of truth that's going to show you and help you understand what salvation is look you can end up committing sins and quit church and live an ungodly life but what you cannot do as a saved person is end up believing in Buddha for salvation that will not happen here's the thing if you do that one day and you believe Buddha is the way to heaven you weren't saved and here's the thing I would not hesitate if someone started believing another way to heaven to say they were never saved if anybody in this room one day left our church and believed in Buddha for heaven or Muhammad I would say they were not saved I wouldn't even question it I wouldn't doubt it now here's the thing it's shocking when this happens in real life because you don't really expect it right you see these things in the Bible you kind of think they would never actually happen in real life even though the Bible is real life okay but I've seen this and look for those of you that have listened to lots of sermons online there's people that were kind of well known in the new IP circle and then they just completely changed their doctrine what does that mean well when they're changing doctrine and salvation it's proving that they were never saved and look here's the thing I started listening to Pastor Anderson in 2008 I know a lot more names than probably you guys do people from the last like 15 years people that they were really zealous fired up you know preaching at men's preaching nights and then all of a sudden they start a YouTube channel about all these ways you can lose your salvation never saved right it's reality and you got to just and you have to realize this will happen and look it's going to happen at our church as our church grows one day we'll have somebody leave our church and believe something different and I want to give you an example of this not from our church but just what I'm talking about I want to show you I'm living by what I preach okay because recently and I told some of you about this about a month ago but someone I went to college with and roomed with for a couple years this is a different roommate that became a heretic okay someone I roomed with for a couple years in college and I went soloing with this guy like 50 times independent fundamental Baptist King James only I mean anti-repentance of sins for salvation I mean everything there's nothing that would make me question his beliefs at the time or whatever and I've kind of lost touch with this person I'm not really friends with him anymore but you know one of my friends you know back east where I'm from in the United States he messaged me this conversation they had because apparently my friend who became a heretic just got baptized a couple months ago it's like you got baptized like 20 years ago why did you get baptized a couple months ago so my friend asked him you know basically why did you get baptized and I'm not going to read this whole conversation but I want you to just understand what I'm talking about here and what he said was that he's learned a lot of new doctrines and everything he's like walking in this revelation was and continues to be liberating like meaning it's freeing me it has changed my way of thinking and relating with God and others in ways that only being transformed by his spirit can transformed by his spirit now let me just say this that's the sort of terminology of Pentecostal we use I got transformed by his spirit that's the sort of terminology they'll say somebody was a homo but he got transformed by the spirit of God or whatever that's the sort of thing that they'll say that's their terminology I got transformed by only his spirit can with a renewed mind and new perspective on so many things I felt the need to be baptized again so my friend asked were you unsaved when you got baptized the first time because you're getting baptized again it's like so you're saying you were never saved you know when we knew you in the past and by the way the person who got re-baptized he remarried he got a divorce remarried a different person and he goes to a Pentecostal church now okay it's not just he's talking like a Pentecostal he goes to a Pentecostal church now and so my friend asked were you not baptized or were you not saved when you got baptized the first time he said not at all I was born again on November 19, 2004 and was baptized in water sometime in May 2005 so he still says he was saved back then but he felt the need to get baptized again so going on with this conversation he says Acts 19 1-6 this is my friend that's a heretic not my old friend that's a heretic now not my friend that's a good guy okay he says Acts 19 1-6 speaks of believers who were baptized a second time after receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit I'm not going to go there for sake of time I'll probably preach a sermon in the future because this is a big Pentecostal passage those in Acts 19 were not saved they got baptized again because they weren't saved the first time I mean there's people at our church that have been baptized multiple times because you maybe thought you were saved before you realized you weren't and you got baptized later on isn't that true with a lot of people at our church right? Acts 19 same thing they had gotten baptized but they weren't saved so baptism is after salvation so they got baptized it's not referring to people that were saved and then all of a sudden later on they got a second baptism which gave them the baptism of the Holy Spirit and in Pentecostal lingo that means you start speaking in tongues when you get that baptism of the Holy Spirit so he says after receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit water baptism is a picture of the death burial and resurrection of Christ and it also represents newness of life and obedience to him if God asked me to be baptized in water over and over again I would God doesn't ask you to be baptized over and over again it's like yeah you know what I would too if God said get baptized every day okay right? I'll get baptized every day he doesn't ask you to do that though that's a dumb statement I mean God's not asking you to do that right? if God asked me to get baptized every day then I would okay? and he says we're to die to self daily so we're supposed to get baptized daily? we're to be filled with the Spirit not only daily but moment by moment then he says this my mind has been made new I'm a new creature in Christ now wait a minute being a new creature is when you get saved but not in Pentecostal churches a new creature is once you start speaking in tongues and I have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit well that's certainly Pentecostal lingo right? I've received the baptism of the Holy Spirit now look that's Bible terminology but they completely take it out of context what the Bible is referring to when a Pentecostal says I got the baptism of the Holy Spirit that means they're speaking in tongues pretty much right? and he said I've received the baptism of the Holy Spirit you ask what happened to me and this is it he said he would give his Holy Spirit to them without measure that asked him I asked he gave and it's beautiful he's beautiful his love for us is beyond our comprehension it's so weird reading this because this does not sound like my old friend at all like it's beautiful he's beautiful it's like that is totally not my old friend and it's like literally I think there might be something else inside of him speaking through and I'm being dead serious now look I don't know 100% for a fact this person is unsafe because he didn't directly say something about salvation I hope he's just lying about all of this because he mirrored a Pentecostal and for whatever reason he decided I'm just going to try to act like a Pentecostal to make her happy that's best case scenario but I don't think that's likely the truth what the truth is probably they went out from us but they were not of us if they had been of us they would no doubt continue with us but they went out that they might be manifested they were not all of us completely changed his doctrines I mean and look specifically that's referring to salvation but this is linked with salvation as we're talking about the baptism the holy spirit and things such as this like with the Pentecostal church and it's because here's the thing you know what you and our church if you leave our church and go to some lame church you know whatever but if you leave our church and go to a Pentecostal church and tell me you got baptized by the holy spirit after you left our church I mean and here's the thing if he is speaking in tongues for sure he's not saved right because that means you're possessed by devils and that's what I believe is actually taking place but this is someone I roomed with for a couple years I've gone solo with tons of times I listen to a lot of great preaching with him but it seems like he never had the holy spirit inside of him and I'm using this as an example just because it's fresh on my mind with someone who used to be my friend something that really kind of surprised me but you know honestly it didn't surprise me as much as things in the past have because I've just seen this in action before this hits a little bit close to home because this was someone I was actually close friends with at one time but here's the thing you will see it in your lifetime and look make no mistake about it if you stay at our church eventually we'll have somebody leave and just completely forsake all of their beliefs when they leave our church and believe against the truth they'll believe completely different things on salvation completely change all their doctrines you say what does that mean if it happens it means that they're not saved not because they quit our church not because they're living a sinful life but because they quit believing the things on salvation they completely changed their doctrines it means that they were never saved that's what it means is they went out from us look and look this is not the only reason mentioned in the Bible that you would ever question someone's salvation I preached through the psychopath series I talked about comparing child of God versus child of the devil that's too in depth to go into but it's also in 1 John but the bottom line is what that phrase they went out from us what does that mean it means that if people just leave the doctrines on salvation because the context of 1 John 2 was about the truth right when you get saved you are sealed with the Holy Spirit of truth you will never forsake the beliefs on salvation and if someone ever left our church and just believed completely different things or let's say they stayed in our church they didn't go out from us physically but they just changed their doctrines and let's say somebody at our church is trying to go around and teach people that you got to get baptized or teach people you can lose their salvation let me know because we'll kick that person out because they're a heretic we let unsaved people visit our church but you know what they're not allowed to teach different things than what we teach and if someone comes with us for years and then all of a sudden they just change their beliefs and they're trying to persuade other people at church it just means they're a Judas that went to the inside that's trying to cause problems at our church and I wish this would never take place but it does take place sometimes sometimes you will see people that went out from us they were never actually with us they never actually believed like we did they were just pretending it deceived themselves or whatever but they were never actually saved themselves let's close in the word of prayer dear heavenly father thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to see your word in this topic and help us to understand this idea that when it comes to salvation this is something that people that are saved will always understand they will not just completely change their beliefs into some new doctrine help us to realize that when it does happen at our church in the future and somebody leaves or completely changes their doctrine help us to understand that that person was just never saved when they changed their doctrine on salvation god we pray these things in Jesus name amen for our last song let's turn to song number 390 song number 390 have I done me best for Jesus I wonder have I done my best for Jesus on the first ready sing I wonder have I done my best for Jesus who died upon the coral tree to think of his great sacrifice at Calvary I know my Lord expects the best from me how many are the lost that I have lived how many are the help to free I wonder have I done my best for Jesus when he has done so much for me he ours that I have wasted are so many we are spent for Christ so few because of all my lack of love for Jesus I wonder if his heart is breaking too how many are the lost that I have lived and how many are the chain I've helped to free I wonder have I done my best for Jesus when he has done so much for me I wonder have I cared enough for others or have I let them die alone I might have held the wonder to the Savior the seed of precious life I might have sown how many are the lost that I have lived and how many are the chain I've helped to free I wonder have I done my best for Jesus when he has done so much for me no longer will I stay within the valley I'll climb to mountain heights above the world is dying now for one of someone to tell them of the same earth's matchless love how many are the lost that I have lived and how many are the chain I've helped to free I wonder have I done my best for Jesus when he has done so much for me you