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to listen to your word, Lord, this day as you send me a prayer, amen. All right, we're here in 1 John chapter 4 and the name of this sermon is A Response to John MacArthur, How Do I Know If I'm Really Saved? Now, John MacArthur is a famous American preacher, but he's pretty famous here as well. He's worldwide one of the most respected Baptist preachers and he's kind of a reformed Baptist type and he believes in a doctrine called Lordship Salvation where it's not good enough to just believe on Jesus, but you have to give your will and your life and all of your desires over to the Lord in order to be saved. Of course, we believe that salvation is a free gift. Whosoever believeth in him should not perish but of everlasting life. It's as simple as just putting your faith in Jesus and not trusting in yourself. But there's this video of John MacArthur online where he's asked, basically, how does someone know if they're saved or not? How can you be confident? And he gave four different answers of how we can know for sure that we're on our way to heaven. How do I know if I'm really saved? And the first point he said was this, love. Love is a determination of whether or not you're saved. Here's a quote from him, what do you love? You are a new creation so old things are passed away. Do you love God? Do you love his word? You don't love the word like you should, but you love it and you love his people and you love church. Love is the first evidence of a transformed heart. So according to John MacArthur, the number one way you can tell you're saved is not what you believe, but what do you love? See, according to Calvinism, before you're saved, you hate God. Before you're saved, you hate God and you're basically a reprobate, according to Calvinism. And then after you're saved, you go from hating God to just loving God because God just decided to make you saved and just transform you and change you. This is not what the Bible teaches, though. The Bible does not say that when you get saved, automatically your love just changes from hating God to loving God. That's not what the Bible teaches. But according to John MacArthur, the first way to tell whether or not you're saved is, do you love God? Do you love reading the Bible? Do you love listening to the hymns? Do you love going to church? And if you don't love those things, you might want to check your salvation. Right? And this is what Baptist churches will say. Well, what does the Bible say about this? So let's look at two groups of people here today. The saved and the unsaved. Do saved people automatically love God just because they're saved? Well, what does it say in 1 John 4? Verse 7. 1 John 4, verse 7. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. And everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. So according to 1 John 4, verse 7, everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. Now notice, it does not say that everybody that is born of God loveth. It says everyone that loveth is born of God. Right? For example, you know, like, you know, all squares are rectangles, right? But it doesn't mean a rectangle is a square. Right? And see, here's the thing. To have the proper love of God, you do need to be saved. You do need to understand what Jesus Christ did for you because love is not just feelings, but it's actions. And understanding that Jesus Christ died for us can help us have that love for other people. It's not automatic, though. And here's the thing. If it was automatic, why is this verse commanding you to love other people if it's automatic? Right? I mean, if this is all automatic, no matter what, why does God constantly command us to love your brethren? Right? Love other people more than yourself. If it's automatic, what's the point of doing that? But see, it's not automatic. And he's writing to save people and saying, hey, let us love one another. He's commanding us to love one another because it's not automatic. Right? Verse 8. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. And this was manifested the love of God toward us because that God sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him. Here in his love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. You know, the Bible says we love him because he first loved us. Jesus died and paid for our sins. And you know what? It's not possible to fully love God unless you understand that, unless you're saved. Here's the thing, though. Being saved is not synonymous with loving God. And there's no guarantee you're going to love God just because you are saved, which is why he always commands us to love him and to love your brethren and to love God's word and things like that. Go to Matthew 7. Matthew 7. Matthew 7. What's funny about this is if you look up love in the Bible, love is not just this feeling, but it's like John MacArthur's been watching too many Hollywood movies because one of the later commandments is, or one of the later things is obeying God's commandments. But that's linked with loving God because if he loved me, keep my commandments. Right? Now let me ask you a question because when we're saved, we are born into God's family. Right? Do all children love their parents? Do all children just obey their parents and love their parents? And yeah, you can't say that with all kids. A lot of kids are disrespectful to their parents. It doesn't mean that those aren't their parents, though. It just means they're not showing love to their parents. Right? So when it comes to saved people, there is no guarantee that just because you're saved, you're going to love God. Okay? And it does not mean that we're automatically going to love other people and care about other people more than ourselves. When it comes to the unsaved, what's funny is the unsaved think they love God. Right? Because the question to John MacArthur is how do you individually know if you're saved? Well, every unsaved person thinks they love God. I guess all the Mormons are saved because they think they love God. Right? I guess all Jehovah's Witnesses are saved because they think they love God. I guess every Muslim and Hindu and Buddhist is saved because if you ask them, do you love God, they would say yes. We go soul winning. We knock doors and we ask people, do you know for sure if you're going to heaven? Most people would say, I'm not sure. Right? But if you ask them, do you love God, they'd be like, oh yeah. I love God. Right? Everybody thinks they love God, so how is that a good test if somebody's saved when everybody thinks they love God? Right? And I'll prove this to you. Matthew 7 verse 22, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works. You say, Brother Stuckey, they sound saved to me. Well, you didn't read verse 23. And then while I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. These are people that are cast into the lake of fire. You say, why? They're trusting in their actions. They're trusting in themselves, but they think they love God. They say, we're doing this in thy name, Jesus. It's like we've been prophesying in thy name. I said prayers in Jesus' name, you know, amen. Right? It's like we're doing, our whole life is in your name. It's like the name Jesus is even in our church name. Right? Jesus is Lord whatever, whatever the name of the church. It's like we're doing things in the name of Jesus. How could we not go to heaven? Right? They think they love God. Everybody thinks they love God. So if the first test to whether or not you're saved is, do you love God? Everybody's going to say yes. You know what the truth is? Actually, once you get saved and start serving God, you might actually start having a lower opinion of how much you love God because you understand what it means to love God. Right? I mean, unsaved people probably feel like they love God more than most of us because everybody does what's right in his own eyes. They think what they're doing is okay. Right? But once you actually start knowing the Bible and understanding what love is, it's like, oh wow, this is hard to actually love God and show love. But here's the thing. Unsaved people think they love God. So how is that a good test for whether or not you're saved? See, the other problem is this. You might feel like you love God right now, but what about if you commit a sin tomorrow? You're not going to feel like you love God so much. Now you should start doubting your salvation because according to John MacArthur, you can't lose your salvation, which is correct. You can't lose it. But you can feel like you're saved and then not feel like you're saved and feel like you're saved and not feel like you're saved. Hey, you're coming to church. Right now you feel saved. And then tomorrow when you do something wrong, you listen to a rock song that blasphemes God. Man, I don't feel saved anymore. Right? This is foolish because feelings come and go. Right? And if you're basing everything on a feeling, it is going to mislead you. Okay? Now turn in your Bible to Luke 18. Luke 18. So is whether or not you love people a good test of whether or not you're saved? Absolutely not, because saved people can believe on Jesus without actually showing love or without actually obeying God, without actually doing what's right. And you can be saved and not feel very spiritual sometimes. You can be saved and just not be interested in serving God sometimes. That doesn't mean that you're not saved. And the unsaved people are saved. That doesn't mean that you're not saved. And the unsaved, they think they love God. So this is about the worst test you could possibly come up with of whether or not someone's saved. Right? Number two, he says humility. Number one, if you're saved, he says you know that you love God. Number two, he says that you're humble. Now, I've never heard of a Calvinist being accused of being humble before. But according to John MacArthur, if you're saved, you're going to be humble. Okay? Now, let me just explain to you what Calvinism teaches. Basically, Calvinism teaches that Jesus only died for a small number of people. And basically, if you're a Calvinist, what you believe is, well, Jesus died for me, but not for you. There's not really a more arrogant belief you can have than that. Right? But according to John MacArthur, this is what he says, there's a sense in which you are aware of your sinfulness and you never really get over this incredible grace that's been given to you. Okay? Now, let me be clear. When a person gets saved, they do have to humble themselves to get saved. Because what salvation is, is when you take your trust off yourself and you place it on Jesus Christ. Okay? Luke 18, verse 14. Luke 18, verse 14. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other for everyone that exalts themselves shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. So the person that gets saved is the person who humbles himself and God will exalt him. And the person who is abased or humbled is the person who exalts himself. However, this doesn't tell you whether or not they feel like they're humble. Do you understand? Because the Pharisee probably doesn't feel like he's arrogant, but we know he's arrogant. The publican might not feel humble, but he obviously is humbling himself to get saved. And just because they are humble, doesn't mean that they realize they're humble. Just because they are arrogant, doesn't mean that they realize they're arrogant. And look, if somebody asks you, are you humble? And your reaction is, oh yeah, I'm very humble. It kind of negates the fact that you're actually humble. Right? So look, if you feel like, man, I am really, really, really humble, it's probably the opposite. Right? Turn to Luke 14. Luke 14. Luke 14. Luke chapter 14. And look, this is very common in Baptist churches. They'll say things like this. Well, I mean, if you're not reading the Bible, you might want to question your salvation. You stop giving all of your January salary to our church. All the COVID excuse, right? It's like you need to pay your bills or whatever. It's like you might want to question your salvation. Right? You know, you're not going to church all the time. You might want to question your salvation. Right? This is the sort of garbage that's preached in churches. And it's like the Bible teaches the exact opposite. Because salvation is not that I gave my life to Christ. Salvation is that Christ gave his life for us. Right. It's not me giving my life to God that gets me saved. It's the fact that Christ gave his life for us to be saved. It's all about him. It's not about us at all. Right? But here's the thing. Just because somebody's arrogant does not mean that they realize they're arrogant. Right? Let me show you an example. Luke 14, verse 7. And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief room, saying unto them, When thou are bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room, lest a more honorable man that thou be bidden of him. So what the Bible's saying is, if you get invited to a wedding, don't just pick the best seats because you feel entitled. Right? Like, I'm going to sit by, you know, because at a marriage, you have the bride and the groom up front. Like, let me just add a chair there so I can sit right by them because I deserve it or whatever. Right? And see, what the Bible's saying is, you should basically humble yourself, and then someone who is more honorable sits in the good seats. You should not have this attitude that you're entitled to it or that you deserve it. Right? Verse 9. And he that bade thee in him come and say to thee, Give this man place, and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. But when thou are bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room, that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher. Then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at me with thee. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Now, let me give you a modern-day application of this. Let's say we take a picture with our church. We have a picture because we have our anniversary service, we have a big day or whatever, and we take a picture, and then you have to sit in the front so everybody sees you. Right? You're not satisfied with just being on the side where nobody notices you, but you have to be like right here in center, right behind the pulpit so everybody sees you. And look, honestly, this is a great test, because I have gone back and looked at a lot of the pictures that our church has had, and you know what? Everyone who ended up getting kicked out was always someone who had to be front and center. Is that not true? And so I look back at some of these pictures from like two years ago, and this one person has his hands on the pulpit, and me, I'm like, if you know me, I'm never, I have to be in the center. You know what usually happens? People say, no, Brother Stuckey, you sit in the front seat. Is that not true? Because I don't feel like I deserve better than anybody else. I don't feel like I've got to be right here when we take a picture, and what usually happens is someone says, hey, no, Brother Stuckey, you sit right here. But what I've noticed is we take pictures, and a lot of people that cause problems, they've got to be front and center where everybody notices them, and if they're not, they've got to just make sure that they're above everybody. This is the truth, and this is an application of Luke 14, and I'm just saying your actions reveal what's in your heart. Most people, when they take a picture, what is not on their mind is, I've got to be noticed in this picture of 100 people, right? But there are some people that that's exactly how they are. What is that revealing? It's revealing their arrogance, but here's the thing. Do they think they're arrogant? They probably don't even realize that they're doing this. They probably don't even realize that there always have to be front and center. It's just who they are, right? Just because somebody's arrogant does not mean that they realize they're arrogant. Almost every politician in the world is extremely arrogant, but if you were to ask them, are you arrogant? I actually consider myself a very humble person, right? Isn't that what they would say? They don't feel like they're arrogant, although everybody listening to them can tell. Right? Well, here's the thing. Sometimes people that are humble, they don't necessarily feel humble. Let me show this to you. 2 Corinthians 12. 2 Corinthians chapter 12. And let me give you an example of soul winning, right? We knock doors. We ask people, do you know for sure you're going to heaven? Well, do you know? Right? And then they're like, you know what? And then they're like, you know what? It's arrogant for you to say you know you're going to heaven. What's funny is those same people are like 80% sure that they're going, but they say it's arrogant for us to be 100%. Well, we're 100% because we realize it's 100% Jesus. We are actually the ones that humble ourselves to get saved. You have to humble yourself to get saved. They're actually the ones that are arrogant, trusting in their own life, and they think that we're the ones who are arrogant. Do you see how this is a terrible measure? Sometimes people that are arrogant think they're humble, and sometimes people that are more humble might not feel that way about themselves, right? And look, if you are humble, you're probably not going to feel like, man, I'm so humble. That's not going to be your attitude. And you know what? It makes sense from a Bible perspective because here's the thing. God is light, and light reveals problems. The more humble you get, probably the less humble you feel because you start seeing all the problems revealed in yourself, right? I mean, you go to a room, and it's dark. You go home tonight, 7 p.m., it's dark. Man, my house is so clean. It's so neat. I don't see any problems. Then you turn on the light. Oh, man, there's EPs everywhere. There's a mouse. There's a rat. It's like, okay, it looked a lot more clean when I was in darkness, and here's the thing. Whether somebody's saved or not, if they're not living for God, if they're not close to the light, and they might feel like, I don't have any problems. It's like, no, you need to start reading the Bible a little bit more, and you're going to start seeing, right, all the problems that you actually have. So just because somebody is arrogant doesn't mean that they feel arrogant. It's like, do you feel humble? Because that's the proof of whether or not you're saved. It's like, that's foolishness. It's not in the Bible. It's his opinion. No verses to support it, and it doesn't even make logical sense, right? 2 Corinthians 12, verse 7, and this is what Paul said, and lest I should be exalted above measure, and exalted basically means when you lift yourself up, you're basically put into a high position, and lest I, Paul's speaking about himself, he's saying, I could be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations. There is given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. Now, I believe the thorn in the flesh is the eyesight of Paul the Apostle, okay? But Paul the Apostle is saying, if I didn't have a problem with my eyes, I might get very arrogant, because Paul's saying, I'm going to all these countries preaching the gospel. I'm getting churches started. I could start looking at myself as being really special, right? And Paul's saying, God had to humble me. Now, look, I would say Paul was probably a very humble person from what you read in the Bible, but he's saying, even I could get lifted up. Here's the thing, a saved person can get arrogant. Did you realize that? Saved people can be prideful, and I think if we're honest, all of us struggle with pride at least a little bit. All of us do, right? Now, look, hopefully if you're saved and you're growing, then you're going to start to change, but look, all of us struggle a little bit, right? A topic comes up about something that you're good at, and you want to let people know how good you are at it, right? It's natural for us, and look, it's wrong, it's a sin, but look, we all struggle with pride. Sometimes when I go soul winning, sometimes you're doing really well soul winning, everybody wants to listen, and sometimes nobody wants to listen. When I feel like I'm getting a lot of people saved, and you start feeling like everything you touch turns to gold, it's like, I can talk to the Pope and get him saved, right? I can talk to some Muslim leader or whatever and get him saved. Then all of a sudden God's like, okay, I got to humble you. Then all of a sudden, not interested, not interested, not interested, not interested. Then all of a sudden it's like, okay, all right. It's like, maybe I'm not so special, and I'm just being honest. That's the way I feel. When you're having good results every week, you start thinking, man, I'm really good at this, right? And then all of a sudden God's like, no, actually you just happened to knock the doors where people wanted to listen, and sometimes when you're going soul winning, nobody gets saved for a while. Sometimes you get a lot saved. It really just depends who you're talking to. It doesn't matter who you are usually, right? If Jesus Christ was here today, you know what? He would have times going out soul winning and not get anybody saved. You're saying the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, what can you do if you talk to people that aren't interested? You can't force them to listen. There's people we talk to that are never going to get saved, right? People we talk to that are just not interested, they don't want to hear. There's no magic formula to basically just get inside their heart and then just boom, I'm going to get them saved. No, you just got to go into the next door. That's the way it works. Now, go in your Bible to Romans 7, Romans 7, Romans 7. And another example of this is Elijah in the Bible because in 1 Kings 18, it's one of the most exciting chapters in the Bible. And if you've never read 1 Kings 18, I encourage you to go home and read it. I mean, it is an exciting chapter where it's Elijah versus the false prophets of Baal. What a great chapter, right? And when you're reading that chapter, don't you kind of walk away thinking, man, nothing could go wrong with that chapter. It's a great chapter. Don't you kind of walk away thinking, man, nothing could get Elijah down. He almost seems like a superhero, right? It almost seems like nothing could cause Elijah to be unsuccessful. And then in the next chapter, he gets threatened by Jezebel and he gets depressed and he makes a statement, it is enough now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am not better than my fathers. And if you pay attention to what he's saying, I am not better than my fathers, what it's implying is that when things were going well, Elijah started to feel like, man, I am better than anybody else who's come before. I'm better than my fathers. I'm better than Moses. I'm better than Abraham. Now, he wouldn't have audibly said this, but he's saying this is how I actually felt in my heart. And look, the truth is that when things are going well for you spiritually, you start feeling that way. You start feeling like, man, I'm more zealous than other people. I'm better than other people. And it's a terrible attitude, but it reveals the pride inside of you. Look, if Paul the Apostle and Elijah could get lifted up full of pride to save people, did you know that we could too? I mean, Elijah is arguably the greatest character in the Old Testament. I mean, I believe he was one of the two witnesses, so I would put him in my top two. It's a 50-50 chance in my book, Elijah versus Moses. You might have a different opinion. There's a lot of great characters in the Bible that are mentioned, but Elijah is certainly up there, right? And he's saying, I could get lifted up full of pride. Paul the Apostle, I'm pretty sure when it comes to great evangelists, there's really not much of a comparison to Paul the Apostle. And he's saying, I could get exalted above measure, right? And you know what? This speaks to something here. Let me show you this math graph we got here, okay? This is what's called the Dunning-Kruger effect, the Dunning-Kruger effect. And what this graph is, it's a study done with these two people, Dunning and Kruger, where basically the x-axis is how good you are at something. So for example, if you've never played basketball, you'd be at none. No ability whatsoever. If you're Michael Jordan, you're at expert level. If you're LeBron James, you're somewhere here in the middle, right? But if you're really good, you're at the expert level, right? Like a Michael Jordan's like the best of the best. Whatever you're really good at, maybe you're here on some things. You know, all of us have things that were probably right around here. All of us have a lot of things we're here. We have a lot of things we're just kind of somewhere in the middle, right? But the y-axis is how confident you are in your abilities. It's how good you think you are. What's interesting is people with very, very little ability are very confident in their ability. People that show no love whatsoever, they feel like, man, I show a lot of love. I'm very loving. People that are not humble at all will feel like they have a lot of humility, right? Isn't this true with people we talked to about the Bible? People think they really know the Bible, right? They feel like, man, I really know the Bible well, and they've never read it cover to cover. They are right here. I feel like, man, I know my Bible, but they really have very, very, very little knowledge, right? You can't self-assess yourself. That's ridiculous. It doesn't even make logical sense. And look, here's a study that basically shows it doesn't make any sense. And look, you can look at your own personal life as proof. Because here's the thing. For most of you, you started listening to a few online sermons, and you're like, man, I know my Bible, right? You started to read it a little bit more, started to memorize it, and all of a sudden your confidence started to go down. Is that not true? And here's the thing. When you're the big fish in a small pond, you can feel pretty powerful. Then you start coming to this church, it's like, man, a lot of people in this church know the Bible. A lot of people in this church read the Bible. A lot of people in this church know how to go soul-winding. And all of a sudden you realize, you know what? I'm just one of a lot of people trying to serve God, right? Just because you feel like you're good at something doesn't mean that you are good at something. A great example of this graph is someone who's a single lady who doesn't have kids, is not married, but they listen to a sermon about how to be a good mom, and then they start giving advice to all the moms at church. You say, Brother Stuckey, does that happen? Look, I can't tell you how many ladies have given my wife advice on how to be a good mom that aren't married, that don't have kids. And I'm just thinking, you know, what do I even say to this, right? It's just like you listen to a sermon, right? It's the same thing as getting a college degree. It's like, man, I got a doctorate. Look at how smart I am. I had the best grade in my college class. First day on the job, you're the worst employee. Because you know nothing until you're actually in the situation. And look, just because people think that they're good at something doesn't mean they are. Now, here's the thing with the graph. If you actually become very good at something, you're probably going to be aware of it because you actually understand the deep things about it, right? All of us probably have a few things where we know, you know what, I'm pretty good at this, at least compared to other people or whatever, but when you first start studying something, you're going to feel like you're really good, but actually you're barely scratching the surface. You just don't understand how deep it is, right? So if I were to ask you, do you love God? And you say, man, I am this confident. Well, it could mean that you don't love God at all. Or it could mean that you actually know what it means to love God, right? You can't self-assess yourself. This is ridiculous. It doesn't even make any sense, okay? Point number one is love, according to John MacArthur. How do you know you're saved? Do you love God? Point number two, are you humble, right? Point number three, are you obedient? So according to John MacArthur, if you are saved, you're going to be obedient. You're going to obey God's rules. You're going to do what's right, okay? Because according to Calvinism, before you're saved, you hate God. You never read the Bible. You don't love the things of God. And once you get saved, there's a magical change, and you just automatically obey God's commandments, and you love God, right? Well, let's test that with the Bible. Romans 7, let's look at Paul the Apostle. Romans 7, let's look at Paul the Apostle. Obviously, Paul the Apostle is saved, right? Verse 14, Romans 7, verse 14. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. You say, Brother Stuckey, I've heard it said that there's no such thing as a carnal Christian. I don't know what Bible people are reading sometimes, because Paul, as a saved person, said, I am carnal. Well, that was before he was saved. Am is present tense. I am, not I was carnal, right? You never see in the Bible Paul saying, I was carnal, but now I'm spiritual, right? He's like, I am carnal. Why? Because when you get saved, your flesh doesn't change. You get indwelled with the Spirit of God, but you have the same flesh. You have the flesh, you have the Spirit, and the question is, are you going to walk in the flesh or walk in the Spirit? It's your choice. And on days when you're walking in the flesh, you're carnal. On days when you're walking in the Spirit, you're spiritual, right? He said, I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow not. For what I would, that do I not, but what I hate, that do I. And what Paul is saying is, the things I don't want to do are the things I'm doing. And the things I do want to do, I'm not doing. If then I do that which I would not, I consent under the law that it is good. Now then, there's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, and he's going to clarify this, that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For the will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. Isn't this the truth in our lives? You come to church, you hear a sermon preached, and you're thinking, man, I want to start reading the Bible more. I want to start going so many more. I want to start getting more zealous for the things of God. And the Spirit is willing. You start walking in that flesh, but the flesh is not. Right? And there's that war that takes place. It's not easy to live for God. I wish it was. I wish that I could say, hey, here's the magic formula, and you're going to just read the Bible for hours and just serve God and do right all the time. That is not the way it works. It's hard. And Paul the apostle said, the things I want to do, I'm not doing. And the things that I don't want to do are the things that I am doing. Right? Look, sometimes we're worldly. Sometimes we listen to a song or watch a movie or whatever, and it's like, man, you know, this is wrong. And you're feeling guilty about it. The Spirit's willing, but the flesh is weak. Right? Go down to verse number 23. Verse 23. And the Bible says, but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bring me into captivity to do the law of sin, which is in my members. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Because what the Bible teaches is we're going to get our glorified body at the rapture. Whether or not we're alive or whether or not we sleep in Jesus, we're going to get our glorified body at the rapture. Right? Now, we earnestly look for that day, but that day does not occur now. The Bible's very clear, your flesh does not change when you get saved. And look, this is Romans 7, but if you remember Romans 8, it's very clear about it, is it not? That there's no change. It's a hope. It's something we know is going to take place, but there's no physical manifestation of it. There's nothing that we see. I know, I know one day I'm going to be in heaven, but I don't have any empirical proof to show you. I know I'm going to get the glorified body, but I don't have evidence right here to show you. Right? That's just this physical evidence. Like, wow, look at my obedience to God. That's my proof I'm saved. That's not what the Bible teaches. Okay? You have free will when you're saved to either serve God or not serve God. Turn to Luke 18. Luke 18. Luke 18. I mean, this is why, because when people are not saved, it seems like they think every single verse in the Bible is about salvation. Like, people will show you a verse like, well, if you love me, keep my commandments. See, there you go, Brother Stuckey. That's proof you got to keep the commandments to go to heaven. It doesn't say to go to heaven, keep my commandments. It says if you love me, keep my commandments. See, there you go, Brother Stuckey. It says if you love me. Because believe it or not, the Bible's written for saved people. People that are already saved. And the Bible's written that us as saved people can look at it and learn, and it tells us, hey, you know what? If we really love God like we think we do, keep his commandments. Because that's our proof of whether or not we love God. See, if you keep God's commandments and you're being obedient to God, then that could mean that you love God. Unless you're faking it. Unless it's just vain to just try to be seen in man or whatever. Here's the thing. If you're not serving God and you're drinking alcohol and you're smoking cigarettes, I will not question your salvation. I would certainly question whether or not you love God, but I wouldn't question your salvation because whether or not you obey God's commandments has nothing to do with salvation. Now, it does reveal whether or not you love God because if you love me, keep my commandments. But that doesn't reveal whether you're saved or not because you have the same sinful flesh before and after salvation. And think about this. Let's say a drunk got saved today. Let's say we go out soul winning and somebody is sober. We preach the gospel, but he's usually drunk, okay? Here's the thing. He's still a drunk after he gets saved. Nothing's changed. Now, look, with the Spirit of God indwelling him, he might start feeling guilty about some of the things that he was doing before, but you know what? His flesh is going to be just as powerful. There's not going to be any change in his actions immediately. And what changes take time. You don't just get saved and then two months later, you're reading the Bible for two hours every day. You're memorizing the Bible for 45 minutes. All you think about and meditate on is God. That's not the way it works, right? It takes time to get close to God. When it comes to saved people, saved people are not necessarily being obedient to God's commandments. Here's the thing. Unsaved people think they are obedient. Unsaved people think they are obedient. So if you were to ask an unsaved person, are you obedient to God's commandments? I guarantee you they're going to say yes. Us that are saved are probably more at the middle stage here, right? But the unsaved are right here. They think they're obedient. And what takes place is when you have a theology that teaches works get you to heaven, you don't become more spiritual. What you do is take every single sin and just say, well, it's not really wrong to do that. It's not really wrong to do this, right? Like, for example, in Mormonism, they always quote, be therefore perfect as your Father, which is in heaven is perfect. Like, we should strive for perfection. I had Mormons that I was friends with in college someone I had gone to high school with, and I remember I was hanging out with him one time and some of his friends. I had been saved for, you know, maybe a year and a half or two years. And I'm not suggesting you do this. You know, this was a long time ago. But I didn't drink. I didn't party. So there was one time I was playing table tennis with these Mormons at their church, okay? I'm not telling you to do that, okay? I'm confessing my faults from when I was 20 years old. I'm 36 years old now, okay? But it was funny to me because I thought, that as Mormons, they probably live pretty righteous lives because, you know, they, at least on the surface, they have a form of godliness, right? And then the music they were listening to, I'm just like, what in the world? I mean, it was just this blasphemous music. And I remember mentioning something to my friend, and he's like, well, what verse says that's a sin? You know what happens when you have a theology that your works get you to heaven? What you do is you take sins and just say, well, that's not really wrong. You don't elevate yourself. You just kind of de-elevate the holiness and the commandments of the Bible, right? And let me prove to you, unsaved people think they're obedient. Luke 18, verse nine. Luke 18, verse nine. And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous. What that's saying is people that were arrogant, right? They're trusting in themselves and despised others. Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a prophet. The Pharisee, this is the unsaved person. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are. Boy, this guy's humble, right? I'm thankful I'm not as other people are. This is the Calvinist, actually. If you remember, I preached a sermon from this passage on Calvinist because they literally believe we are not as other men are because we've been elected and others haven't, right? I thank thee that I am not as other men are. Extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican standing afar off would not lift so much up as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner. Here's an unsaved Pharisee that thinks he's obedient, right? Look at all the works that I'm doing. And yet, this is the group of people that crucify him, right? Boy, you're really righteous, right? It's like, look at me. I fast during the week, and then I murder somebody, right? And to murder the Lord Jesus Christ, they lied about it to get him put to death, right? They didn't reveal all the information. So here's an unsaved person. They think that they're actually spiritual. They think they're godly. They think they're obedient. You know what the truth is about the Bible? The Bible says they're workers of iniquity. Do you know what that means? They're evil people. They do wicked things. They work iniquity. They work sin. They're reprobates. People have this idea, well, you know, the false prophets, you know, they're actually pretty godly. They just have the wrong view on salvation. No, they're evil, wicked people. And they do actions to be seen of man and they do actions to be seen of man and they do actions to be seen of man and they do actions to be seen of man to look spiritual, but actually inside of them, they're wicked, evil people. The Bible says they're workers of iniquity. You say, how do you know that, brother Secchi? Go to Matthew 7. I'll prove it to you. Matthew 7, Matthew chapter 7. You know, another example of this is when you come to a church like ours, you get confronted with the truth, don't you? Church is the pillar and ground of the truth and I preach what the Bible says. Anyway, sometimes I preach sermons and in the back of my head, I'm thinking of various people at church. I'm like, I hope this person gets this, right? You know, I'm preaching a sermon about, you know, why we should go soul winning, why we should read the Bible or why whatever. And there's certain people where I'm aware of the fact. I'm not preaching the sermon because of them, but I'm not ignorant either. You know, I'm aware certain people are better at things than other people, right? What's funny is if I preach a sermon about why we should go soul winning, you know, the people that are going to say, man, that was a great sermon. I needed to hear that. Are the people already going soul winning? But the people that don't go soul winning straight over their head, right? The ones who go soul winning feel like, man, I should go soul winning more, right? The ones who don't go soul winning are just kind of like, eh, it's not my gift, right? This is the truth, right? If you go soul winning, probably in the back of your mind, you can think of people that you should have preached the gospel to. Have you ever had those times, even sometimes we go out soul winning, we're going door to door, but you're not as zealous as at other times. Somebody walks right by you, right? 18 years old, just a guy who's 18 years old, that's a good candidate to get saved. An 18 year old kid walking by you, right? And it's like, you know, you're just not very zealous at that moment so you let them walk by. And it's like us that are soul winners, I can say I have plenty of experiences like that of people that I should have talked to. And then all of a sudden that you kind of let them get away and then you're just thinking, God sends somebody, right? And literally God just put them right in your path. Here's the thing though, if you don't go soul winning, you don't even notice these things. Us that are soul winning, you're thinking, man, there's so many people I should have talked to, right? Look, self assessing yourself doesn't work. In reality, if people are better at something, they could often have a lower view of themselves because they have an idea what it actually means, right? Matthew 7 verse 22. Matthew 7 verse 22. And the Bible reads here, we're talking about being obedient. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works. Look at all the works I'm doing. I've prophesied in your name. I've cast out devils. Do these people think they're obedient? They think that they're obedient, right? They think they're doing what's right. They say, look at my wonderful works. Look at everything I've done. They think they deserve to go to heaven. And what does Jesus say? Depart from me. I never knew you. And what does he say? Workers of iniquity, right? These are actually people that are very evil and yet they think they're very good. And look, to disprove what John MacArthur is saying, all you have to do from a secular standpoint is talk to people that are in prison for a terrible crime. Literally, you can listen to murderers say that they're good people. And you know what they'll say? Why only kill one person? So and so killed a lot more people than me. Or it's like, well, I have a special situation because my mom showed more love to my sister than me. That's the reason why I ended up being a murderer, right? They blame somebody else, right? Or literally you'll hear them say something like, yeah, you know, I killed someone, but at least I have love for other people. You got these Christians here that just hate everybody, always preaching against people. So much hate. I'm filled with love. I just made one mistake. Literally, this is the things they say. They think they're obedient. It's like you killed someone. But their self-assessment is, man, I'm very obedient. I just made one minor little mistake. I just murdered someone, right? Turn to 1 Kings 19. 1 Kings 19. 1 Kings 19. Here's the thing. I'm sure John MacArthur thinks that he loves God. I'm sure that John MacArthur thinks that he's humble. I'm sure that John MacArthur thinks he's very obedient. And yet the same John MacArthur who thinks he's so obedient, I've heard him just talk about how wine is such a great thing, and he will use the topic of wine to say that we're really bad people because we preach against it. I mean, I heard an argument recently, and this was not from him. It was from somebody else. But if you preach against alcohol, you're blaspheming Jesus Christ. And I'm just like, how do I even respond to that? And see, what the argument is is this. They say, well, Jesus turned water into wine. Now, here's the thing. I don't have time to go into it, but Jesus turned water into grape juice. He didn't turn it into alcoholic wine. The word wine in the Bible can either be alcoholic or non-alcoholic. Obviously, Jesus didn't go to some party where people are drunk and say, let me throw another keg on this party. That's ridiculous, okay? But they'll say, well, Jesus turned water into wine. So here's the thing. If you preach against alcohol, then you're blaspheming Jesus Christ because Jesus liked to drink wine, right? I'm like, how do I even respond to that? So the fact that I don't drink wine and I preach that it's a sin, I'm blaspheming Jesus Christ, and I'm a wicked person, right? People that are very disobedient, right? This is gonna be the drunk person. Man, look at how obedient I am because I never preach against Jesus for drinking alcohol. It's like, how do you even respond to that, right? The Bible says the poison of asps, right? It means it's a wicked person. It means it's a wicked sin. It's a terrible thing. And John MacArthur, what he has said is this. He's like, well, you know, people like to compare wine with smoking weed. He's like, it's not the same at all. Not the same at all. He said because weed will inhibit your judgment and literally he said, wine does not inhibit your judgment at all. I'm like, how do you respond to that? Are you kidding me? It's like, even people that drink alcohol will admit, yeah, you know what, drinking wine will inhibit your judgment. Don't drink and drive because you won't be able to perceive things. But according to John MacArthur, wine doesn't inhibit your judgment at all. Boy, there's a lot of Bible verses that would say the exact opposite of that. But see, here's somebody, because he's a Christian, he wants to be righteous and look at how obedient I am, right? He's doing the same wicked sins as the person who's a drunk. He's just justifying his actions. It just shows his arrogance. He's not obedient. He's a worker of iniquity, according to the Bible. Point number one, John MacArthur said, hey, if you want to know you're saved, do you love God? He said, number two, you want to know you're saved, are you humble? Point number three, do you want to know you're saved, are you obedient? Number four, he said, what can your faith survive? What can your faith survive? According to John MacArthur, a good test whether or not you're saved is can your faith survive something difficult? And has your faith survived anything difficult? Because here's the thing, according to Calvinism, if you're saved, you will endure onto the end. They don't just mean your belief. They also mean your actions, right? They say you'll get more and more sanctified until the day you die. So according to him, if you're really saved, your faith is going to survive. It's going to endure. And if you ever quit church, it means you were never saved. That's what they teach. You could be a member here for 40 years, and then you quit when you're like 70 years old. I don't think that person was ever saved. That's what Calvinism teaches. People could be at John MacArthur's church for 30 years, and then they quit, and then all of a sudden, they were never saved. Isn't that what our Baptist churches say here in the Philippines? It's like you're at a church for a while, but then all of a sudden, you quit along the way. Well, I guess they were never really saved. Look, the Bible does say there's certain things where we could question someone's salvation, like if they're doing wicked, evil sins, but just quitting church does not mean you're not saved. We've had plenty of people that stop coming to our church. I don't question their salvation. Why would I question their salvation? Because they don't come to church. Now, can we question whether or not they love God? Well, of course, because your actions are revealing what's in your heart about your love, not about whether or not you're saved, though, okay? But according to him, if you're really saved, your faith is going to survive. Well, there's only a couple of problems with that. Number one, Elijah. Elijah is a problem with your theory, Mr. John MacArthur, that your faith is automatically going to endure, because notice 1 Kings 19, verse 1. Remember, this is right after this exciting chapter where Elijah looks like he can conquer anything. 1 Kings 19, verse 1, And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal he had slain all the prophets with a sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger onto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me and more also if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. And so what Jezebel says is this. You know what? Elijah is going to be put to death. We're going to kill him, okay? Verse 3, And when he saw that, he arose and went for his life and came to Beersheba, which belonged to Judah, and left his servant there. So notice that Elijah, when he gets persecuted, he just conquered all these false prophets. The next chapter, there's this one woman, Jezebel, who threatens to kill him. You feel like he's not going to back down, right? And then you read it, and he's afraid for his life. And also at the end of verse 3, it says he left his servant there. Now, if you ever noticed in the Bible, you'll notice that Elijah's mission is going solo without helpers. John the Baptist had helpers. Elijah has his servant here, who's obviously a godly person. And Elijah makes this big mistake of leaving his servant there. This is what people do when they go through storms. They quit going to church. It's like, well, I don't feel like being around people because I'm depressed. That's only going to make you more depressed. Right. The last thing, the worst thing you could do is leave your servant there when you're going through trouble. Look, when you do not feel spiritual, that's when you actually need church more. Right. And he leaves his servant there. So remember this. In verse 3, Elijah runs for his life to save his life, and he leaves his servant behind. Well, then in verse 4, notice this. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree, and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is enough now, O Lord. Take away my life, for I am not better than my fathers. So in verse 3, Elijah runs to save his life, and then in verse 4, Elijah's like, Just kill me, God. It's like you just ran to save your life, and now you want to die. You know why? Because he left his servant behind, and now he's more and more depressed, and he's like, I just don't, I don't want to do it anymore. Right? Did Elijah's faith survive this difficult journey through good works and doing what's right? No. He said, I want to die. I'm done. This is the greatest man in the world. And in argument, you could say this is the greatest man in the Old Testament. Right? Certainly in the discussion, you could say Elijah's the greatest man in the Old Testament for over half of human history, except Melchizedek and the Lord Jesus Christ appearing as the Son of God in the Old Testament. But in terms of, you know, just human beings, the greatest man in over half of human history, and then all of a sudden, he's like, I don't want to go on anymore. So here's the thing, Mr. John MacArthur, and I'm not trying to offend you, but I think Elijah was a better man than you, and Elijah's faith didn't survive. Right? Go to Matthew 26. Matthew 26. Let's see what John MacArthur says in that video is he says, he's like, well, maybe this doesn't apply to people that are very young because they're too young to have gone through trials. But for me personally, my faith, my faith has survived difficult. I have endured through tough situations. I'm not going to be arrogant, but it's just like, you just talked about humility a few points ago. And he's like, look at how strong my faith is. I'm not going to be arrogant about it. I'm not going to be arrogant about it. I'm not going to be arrogant about it. Well, one problem with his theology is Elijah. Another problem is this Peter. Peter's another great example of someone whose faith did not endure. And this story is kind of funny when you read it. Notice what it says in Matthew 26, verse 31. Then saith Jesus on to them, all ye shall be offended because of me this night. For it is written, I will smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. So in verse 31, Jesus says, all ye and ye is plural. So what Jesus is saying is every single one of you, my closest followers, you are going to be offended because of me. Verse 32, but after I'm risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. So he tells them very clearly he's going to rise again. And yet I don't, I don't know. They're not paying very much attention to what he's saying or whatever. But verse 33, Peter answered and said on them, though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. Look, this statement is a very arrogant statement by Peter because the Lord Jesus Christ just said, all of you, all of you will desert me. And what Peter says is, though all men desert you, not me, right? I mean, picture this in your head. Imagine Jesus Christ was here and he's talking to all of us and he says, all of ye will desert me. And then you just stand up in your seat saying, hey, you know, Jesus, everybody else in this church might desert you, but not me. Arrogant, right? An arrogant statement, right? And he feels like his faith is going to survive. He feels like his faith is going to endure, though all men deny you, not me, right? Notice what it says in verse 34. Jesus said unto him, verily I say unto thee that this night before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. Peter said unto him, though I should die with thee, yet will I never be offended yet will I not deny thee. Look, if Jesus specifically says that you're going to do it, you can probably believe what he says, right? Likewise, also said all the disciples. So it wasn't just Peter. Peter's kind of the loudest voice in the room, but they all said that. All of them said everybody else might deny you, but I'm never going to do it, right? Kind of a modern day application would be like, hey, Brother Stuckey, though everybody else might leave this church during persecution, I would never leave this church. I am your right hand man. I'm going to stick with you no matter what. Well, some people have said that and I don't see them. Some of the people that have said that before, right? A lot of times people that are very confident, it doesn't actually mean that they're very spiritual. It doesn't mean that they're going to last. I mean, literally, we've seen this before, you know, in Sacramento where somebody's a first time visitor and they're really excited and it's just like, you know, man, I love this church. I love the preaching. I'm going to be here literally, you know, you always say afterwards, that person is never coming back. That's always the way it works. Right? And you know what, you know why? Because they're living off emotion. They feel very emotional. And you know what, they have that emotion at that time, that emotion's going to fade away though. And you know what, I mean, and look, of course, I love it if there's exceptions, but you know, oftentimes some people that just come to church, they just enjoy the service. They don't make a big scene about it. They just like the service. They just keep coming and everything, right? But oftentimes people that feel like they're very spiritual, they fade out actually very quickly. And this is Peter in all of them. Go to verse 74. Verse 74. Verse 74. So let's see how this ends for Peter. Verse 74. Then began he to curse and to swear saying, I know not the man and immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus which said on to him, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out and wept bitterly. Did Peter's faith survive during this trial? No, it didn't. That's why Jesus specifically said to Peter before this event, you know, when you're converted, strengthen your brethren, right? When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. Because Peter knew, or Jesus knew, Peter feels like he's very spiritual, but he's actually not. Now Peter ends up becoming, you know, basically the best out of this bunch. You know, obviously Paul the apostle comes later on. Peter was a great man of God, but he wasn't as good as he thought he was. And honestly, probably all of us have a little bit higher opinion of ourselves than is actually justified. All of us feel like we would never deny Jesus. All of us feel like I'm going to serve God until the day we die. But you know what? Just because you feel that way doesn't mean it's true. And here's the thing, if Elijah and Peter, if their faith didn't survive, does that mean that everyone's faith is going to survive if they're saved? I mean, it's so stupid because there's so many examples. What about Demas? Oh, he was never saved, is what they'll say. What about David? Oh, he only got saved, you know, after Nathan rebukes him. This is what Calvinists say. Many Calvinists will say, well, David wasn't saved because there's no way he could have committed adultery if he was saved. That's not possible. So he got saved after Nathan rebukes him because that's when he repented of his sin. It's like, what do you say to these people? Right? Well, what about Peter? I mean, well, he got saved after this, right? What about Paul when he said, I am carnal? Yeah, I mean, he hadn't quite yet been. I mean, it's ridiculous. I mean, literally, the theory of Calvinism is so stupid. There's a million holes in it. And all of these points are ridiculous. You see great people in the Bible whose faith did not survive difficult trials. Now go to Hebrews 11. Let's close up. Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11. I mean, in fact, the Sermon on the Mount is a great example because at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, it gives two groups of people. Well, you say, Brother Stuckey, he's preaching to, you know, just everybody, saved and lost people. Well, why does he go up to a mountain to just talk to the closest of his followers? Because he wants to preach to save people, believers, okay? And what we see at the end of Matthew 7 is there's two types of people, those that are founded upon a rock and those that are not. If you're founded upon a rock, your faith survives during difficult times. If you're not, it does not survive. That doesn't say whether or not you're saved though. Now don't misunderstand me because if you believe on Jesus Christ, I do believe you're going to believe on Jesus until the day you die, but it does not mean that you're going to live a life walking by faith. It doesn't mean you're going to be in church your whole life. It doesn't mean you're going to read the Bible all the time, right? Your faith is not necessarily going to survive just because you're saved. It's going to come down to your choice of whether or not you decide to serve God or not. You say, brother Stuckey, if this is not my evidence of salvation, what is the evidence of my salvation? How do I know if I'm saved? Hebrews 11, verse 1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. How do I know if I'm saved, brother Stuckey? What do you believe? What do you believe? What is your faith in? What do you believe? You say, brother Stuckey, you know what? I go to church every week. I read the Bible for an hour every day, but you know what? And you came and knocked on my door and I was singing the soul stirring songs and hymns. Yeah, but you told me your works are going to get you to heaven. I don't care what you're wearing or what you're reading or whatever. Your faith is in the wrong thing. Even if I come to your door and you're singing verily, verily. That's the last song for this service, right? The last song. You're singing verily, verily, a great song on salvation dressed in a suit and a tie. And then in your house you've got all these sermons. You've got New World Order Bible versions after the tribulation, marching to Zion and everything. But you tell me, you know what? I think I'm going to heaven because I'm a good person. You're not saved. It doesn't matter what your works are. Your belief is wrong. But what if you knock on somebody's door and somebody's stumbling around because they're drunk? They're smoking a cigarette and based on the way they're living their life, you're like, man, that person is not living a very good life. But you ask them, do you know for sure you're going to heaven? They say yes. You say, well, how do you know that? Because I believe Jesus Christ died and paid for my sins. It's a free gift and you can never lose that. That person saved. You say, brother, suck you, but they're drinking alcohol. Yeah, many safe people drink alcohol. Is it a sin? Absolutely. Do I preach against it? Absolutely. But it doesn't mean that somebody's not saved. Right. And here's the thing. People like John MacArthur and I've heard stories from people that have been at churches. One of my friends, he went to a church several years ago and you know what? This preacher told this story during church service one time. He said one time we had our altar call at the end of service and this guy came up to the front to get saved and I was talking to him and this guy told me, you know, that he was living with his girlfriend and then this is what the preacher said. He's like, I told him he was not ready to get saved until he kicked out his girlfriend from his house. This is what Calvinists believe because they believe you have to turn over your will and your life and everything. Look, Christ gave his life for us. You don't have to change anything. Whosoever believeth. And look, somebody like that can get saved while living with their girlfriend and live with them unmarried for their entire life and you know what? They're still saved because when you believe on Jesus you're saved is that simple. Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen. That's how we tell somebody saved. When we knock on someone's door we don't ask them do you drink alcohol? We don't ask them what type of music do you listen to? Right? We don't say hey, let me look through your clothes to see if I approve of this, to see if this fits with the Bible. What do we ask them? Well, what do you believe it takes to get to heaven? And if they believe the right thing they're saved. It's that simple. That's how we tell if other people are saved. That's how we tell if we're saved too. I know I'm going to heaven. You say why Brother Stuckey? Because you lead this church. No, that's not the reason why. I started knowing I was going to heaven five days before I died. Half my life ago. You say how is that? Because somebody gave me the gospel and you know what? I believed on Jesus Christ and I got saved. Right? And look, over the course of 18 years I can say that I've grown in Christ and started to serve God. I've been a part of good churches, heard good preaching and everything. But you know what? There's a lot of people that get saved at the age of 18 or 19 or 20 and you know what? They're not going to make changes in their lives. And praise the Lord if you've made changes and you're trying to serve God. But here's the thing. Somebody can get saved and make zero changes in their life. Right? I can think of people that I got saved in college and it's like people that I was around so I knew them. It's like somebody I know who became a drunk after he got saved. Didn't really drink before he got saved because he got saved. I gave him the gospel when he was a teenager. He got saved when he was 15 or 16 years old. Five years later it's like he became a drunk and his goal in life was to be Donald Trump. Before Donald Trump was the president. Just when Donald Trump was this arrogant, rich person. Okay? But basically his goal in life was to be swimming in money. Right? Pierce himself through with many sorrows as the Bible would say. Here's the thing though. I never questioned that person's salvation. You say, why did you never question his salvation? Because he never changed his belief. If you had asked him with a bottle of beer in his hands, he would have said, I know I'm going to heaven because it's a free gift right? Someone's salvation is based on what they believe. And you know why this is important? Because sometimes saved people are at churches like John MacArthur's and they are actually saved and then they hear the preacher saying things like, well, if you're really saved, then you're not going to listen to that type of music. If you're really saved, you're going to go to church. And if you're not going to church, you might want to check your salvation. Right? How many people have heard that in services before, right? This is what Baptist preachers say. You know what it does? It actually makes saved people start to doubt their salvation. This is the truth. I mean, if you sit in a church with a false prophet, you might start questioning some things because of the fact you're hearing something and you don't know what the Bible says, you could start questioning things. You'd be like, man, I thought, I mean, I believe it's, I mean, I thought I got saved. I mean, I believe it's a free gift, but it's like, yeah, you know, he's right. I'm not reading the Bible. It's like, man, you know, maybe, maybe I'm not saved, you know, cause you know, they're saying I got to have fruit and it's like, you know, it's like, I like Gouli, not fruit. So no, I'm just kidding. But it's just like, this is the sort of stuff you hear in churches. You know, if you're in this room, you say, brother Stuckey, I was doubting my salvation today. Here's the thing. If you believe that Jesus Christ died and paid for your sins, it's a free gift. Salvation's forever. You never have to have a reason to doubt. Even if you're committing sins, even if you're doing wrong, you know what, it is hard to serve God, but it's very easy to be saved. I mean, the three examples in the Bible that I use sometimes so many, Jesus said being saved is like drinking a glass of water. Is it hard to drink a glass of water? It's pretty easy. My daughter is less than two years old. Did you know she can drink a glass of water? There are sometimes there's spills to clean up, but you know, she can drink a glass of water. Jesus said, I am that bread of life. And did you know that verse is right beside verily, verily I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. Is it hard to eat a slice of bread? Jesus said, I am the door. Do you know it's pretty easy to walk through a door? But you know what's hard? It's hard for someone addicted to cigarettes to quit smoking. It's hard for a drunk to quit drinking. It's hard for someone to give up their sins and start serving God. And none of us have fully given up all of our sins. Christ gave his life for you, and if you believe on Jesus Christ today, you never have to doubt your salvation, no matter what John MacArthur or any pastor is going to say. They are just a false prophet sent by the devil to try to deceive you. As simple as believe on Jesus Christ, that's how easy it is. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today, God, and ask you to help us to apply this to our lives. Help us never to doubt our salvation and realize just how simple it is to make this clear to other people that we talk to. Help us get many people saved. We ask you to help us have good weather later in the day so we can explain about how salvation is a free gift, God. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.