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Now this is one of the greatest chapters in the entire Bible, especially when it comes to salvation. I mean, on and on we see it over and over again, that he might be the justifier, he said that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. The Bible says in verse 24, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness, not our righteousness, but God's righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. The Bible says in verse 20, therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin, but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. For there is no difference, for all of sin can come short of it. There's no difference who it is that believes or what kind of sin they have in their life. The Bible says salvation is unto all that believe. Now of course we, I'm not going to take a long time with this, but let me just read you some scripture from the book of John about how salvation is only by faith. The Bible says in John 1.12, if you want to flip through these as we go, starting in John 1, I'm just going to go through a few of these for sake of time. John 1.12, but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, who are we talking about, even to them that believe on his name. Look at John chapter 3 of course, James verses, verse number 15, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him, whoever, shall not perish but have everlasting life. Verse 18, he that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. Chapter number 5, if you would, look at verse number 24. Actually no, we missed one. Look at the last verse of John chapter 3. 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 by the common. John 5.24, verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Look at chapter 6, verse 35. Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life, he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. Look at verse 40. And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the son and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up with the last days. Verse 47, verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. Look at chapter 7, verse 37. In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Look at chapter number 11. And again, we're skipping several in chapters 9 and 10, but look at chapter 11. One more. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall be lived, and whosoever believeth and believeth in me shall never die. Believeth others? Do you believe that this morning? Do you believe that whosoever liveth and believeth in Jesus shall never die? Hey, I believe that. I believe that I have eternal life, everlasting life. I believe I'm never going to die, but it's not just me. It's everyone who believes on Jesus Christ shall never die. Whosoever believeth in him shall not embarrass God eternal life. And this is what people call that. They say, oh, easy believethism. You preach easy believe. Yes, I do. It's easy. See, Jesus did the hard part when he was beaten and spat upon. Hey, Jesus did the hard part when he lived for 33 and a half years without committing sin. Tempted in all points like as we are, and yet without sin. We emphasize the death, burial, and resurrection as we should. How about the sinless life? Do you think it was easy for Jesus to resist every temptation? He had flesh and bone. He hunger. He thirst. He was tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Do you think it's hard for you to live the right? He did it. And he still, I mean, you say, could Jesus have sinned? Of course not. He got in the flesh, but he was tempted. Jesus was tempted of the devil. Jesus hungered. He thirsted. He was tired. He was weary. He was sad. He was angry. And yet without sin. You see, Jesus did the hard part when he shed his blood on the cross, died, and was buried and rose again. When he went to hell for three days and three nights, that was the hard part. The hard part that we have to do is very easy. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. It's done. It's, uh, Jesus paid it all. They say this, cheap grace. Oh yeah, you know, you guys believe in cheap grace. You know who told me that? People from Grace Community Church. That's what they're being indoctrinated down there. On Southern Avenue. I'll just name, I'll just call it out right now. Southern Avenue and Mill, I've had a couple different people tell me from that church that I'm preaching cheap grace because I say faith alone is salvation. Oh, so you just live however you want and go to heaven just because you believe on it? That's cheap grace. Oh really? But I guess what they think is expensive grace is their good life. They think that their good life, their church attendance, their turning away from their sins, their, uh, uh, baptism or whatever, they think that's worth more than the blood of Jesus Christ? You think salvation's cheap because it's paid for by the blood? You think salvation's cheap because Jesus paid for it with his death, burial, and resurrection? No, they believe in cheap grace. Quitting drinking for salvation is cheap grace. That's pretty cheap. Hey, getting in the car and putting a dollar in your, in your gas tank to get you to church, that's pretty cheap. But the precious blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. There's nothing cheap about the grace of God. It's not cheap. It's just paid for by Jesus. Not us. I mean, we're not, we're not talking about the value of salvation here. We're just talking about who paid for it. Us or him. That's what we're talking about. Here's the last one. Here's where I get the title of my sermon. They say, well, you know, you're, you preach easy believe-ism, you preach cheap grace, and they say this, you're one of those one, two, three, repeat after me. Who's ever heard that? Put up your hand. One, two, three, repeat after me is what you're doing. And here's the title of my sermon. One, two, three, repent after me. Because that's what they're preaching. You know, we're supposedly preaching, what? One, two, three, repeat after me. One, two, three, repeat after me. No, you got, they're one, two, three, repent after me. There's no, that's the only difference. You say, you say, why do you call it one, two, three, repent after me? I'll tell you why. Because it has nothing to do with how thorough you are when you're giving somebody the Gospel. What, what it really, the problem is, who paid for the Gospel? What really it comes down to is, what is salvation? What's the plan of salvation? You see, they don't spend any more time, these false teachers, these false prophets, at these independent fundamental Baptist churches or community churches or wherever they are, that are teaching salvation by works. It's not that they take any more time to explain it. It's not that they do any more thorough of a job than we do. It's that they're preaching another Gospel. Our Gospel is, hey, one, two, three, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. There's this one, two, three, repent after me. One, two, three, be like me. One, two, three, give up your sins like me. It's wrong. Let me explain it to you right now. Look at 1 John 5. You see, we ought to be thorough when we give the Gospel to people. Did you hear me? We ought to be thorough when we give the Gospel to people. And by the way, I don't believe that praying a prayer is going to get anybody to heaven. Ever. What verse did I just read that said pray a prayer and now shall we take it? None. None of them. It said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and now shall we take it. We believe salvation is by faith, not prayer. We believe salvation is by what you believe, not prayer. That's not what we do. And yet we're accused of one, two, three, repeat after me. One, two, three, repeat after me. Well, what is it that a person has to believe in order to be saved? I heard a new one this week. You know, every week people have new angles for how they're trying to creep in with the work of salvation and this kind of Lordship salvation and this, you know, repent of your sins in order to be saved. I heard a new one this week. They said, well, yeah, you have to believe on Jesus Christ, but what exactly is it that you have to believe about Jesus? You have to believe that he can clean up your life. That's what they said. They said, when it says believe in Jesus, it means believe in Jesus as the one who's going to clean up your life. And then that means you have to want him to clean up your life, which means you want to give up your sins and you want to change and live right and that's why you're coming to Jesus. That's salvation. I mean, just when you think that they're never going to come up with anything weirder, what is it that you have to believe? Well, the Bible tells us. Look at 1 John 5, verse 1. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. That's pretty simple, what do you have to believe? And everyone that loveth him that begat loveth him also that has begotten him. Look at verse 10. He that believeth on the Son of God. Okay, but what does that mean? Okay, well, let's see. Hack the witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath made him a liar because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son and this is the record that God hath given to us in eternal life and this life is in his Son. So what is it that a person believes when they believe on the Son of God? Look at the first words of chapter 10. Verse 10. He that believeth on the Son of God. Right? That's what we're talking about. What is it that he believes? Well, he believes the record. He believes the Bible. Are you listening? He believes the record that God gave of his Son. What is it that the person has to believe to be safe? They have to believe the Bible, the record that God gave of his Son. And it says, and this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life and this life is in his Son. What do they have to believe to be safe? They have to believe that salvation is in his Son and it's through Jesus Christ alone. What do they have to believe? They have to believe that God gave it to us. Salvation is the gift of God, not of works as any man should boast. If they're trusting in their own works, they're not saved. They must believe that God has given to us. What? Eternal life. They must believe it's eternal. If they think that it's something that you lose or that's temporary based on how you live, their faith is not on price. Their faith is in their own life and their own good works. And so he says, to be saved you believe the record that God gave to us. What about this chapter tells you you're believing that he's going to give you the power to overcome sin? The victory in the Christian mind. You say, well, the chapter does mention overcoming. Okay, I'm glad you brought that up. Back up in 1 John 5, earlier in the chapter to verse number 5. Let me open it up to see what the verse number is here. 1 John 5, verse 4. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? Well, that sounds kind of like when the Ethiopian eunuch said to Philip, he asked if Philip If thou believeth with all thy heart, thou mayest be baptized. He said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he said, wait a minute. Do you believe that Jesus will be the Lord of your life? Wait a minute, Ethiopian eunuch. Do you believe that Jesus will deliver you from all your sins? No. He said, great. He pulled over and baptized us. Why? Because he believed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Because he believed the record that God gave his son that Philip had just finished expounding to him from the book of Isaiah and elsewhere in the scriptures. That's what you have to believe to be saved. Now, you say, well, let me read you some examples here. You say, wow, you know, one, two, three, repeat after me. Look, we ought to be thorough when we give people the gospel. Like these verses right here, they say that we need to be teaching people as a gift. We need to be teaching people that it's eternal. And by the way, I never win anybody to Christ without first explaining to them the concept of eternal life and eternal security. You say, why? Because the Bible emphasizes it heavily, number one. Everlasting life, eternal life, eternal life, everlasting life, over and over again. Number two, because if you don't explain that to people, many times they're still trusting works. Because you'll tell them, well, it's all faith. You just got to believe. But then they'll think, yeah, but if I don't live right, if I commit a bad sin, he's going to take it away. They're still thinking that they have some part in it, some work to do, and they're not saved. Now, eternal security is the best way to get them to understand that it's all Jesus. That's why it's the method that Jesus used all throughout the book of John, all that he said, everlasting life, eternal life, eternal life, everlasting life. Because that is the best way to explain it to people, that it's all Jesus and not of works. And so I'm always wanting to be thorough with everyone. Now, some people, you can win the Lord in 10 minutes if they're just ready to get saved and they just are mixed up on a few things. Other people, it might take an hour or two hours. However long it takes, be thorough. We're not in a race. We're not out just trying to see how many people we can, quote, pray a prayer with. And our church is not like that. Our church has never been like that. Are there churches like that? Sure, there are. Are there people that go around repeating prayers with people and, oh, yeah, you're a sinner, a bleed, let's pray, boom, bada bing, bada boom. Wow, there's five more, 20 more, 20 more. There's no point in that, is there? So we have to be thorough. But you know what? Calling somebody, one, two, three, repeat after me because they believe it's all by faith. Now, let's look at some examples of the repentance crowd. Let's get their plan to salvation, okay? And let's see how thorough they are. Well, here's a good example. This is from local church Bible publishers. Parker's Memorial Baptist Church in Lansing, Michigan. This is a big Baptist church in Lansing, Michigan. Fundamental, King James only, soul winning church. And they run out of there, this ministry called Local Church Bible Publishers. And I've had so many people in my life come up to me and they say, so, where do you buy your Bible? Well, I don't know, Barnes and Noble, Borders Books, I don't know, where do you buy yours? The 99 cent store? You know what? I don't know. They say like, where'd you get that Bible? I say, oh, you know, I got it at the Bailamite bookstore down here, you know, Berean or whatever it is. And they say, well, you know, I got my Bible from the local, you know, we ought to be getting our Bibles from the local church and, you know, this local church publishers is where we are. You know, God wants the local church to sell things? Didn't he say not to make his house a house of merchandise? And yet they pontificate like, oh, if you get your Bible at Borders, you're not right with God. If you get it at Barnes and Noble, you're much more right with God. Walk into Borders, get one of their little espressos or whatever they got there, sit out on their couch and pull out a King James Bible and read it and then give them money for it because you're sitting in a business. But you're not sitting in a business this morning, my friend. Faithful Word Baptist Church is not a business. It's not a house of merchandise. You say, well, what's merchandise mean? Well, I'm glad you asked. The definition biblically and in the dictionary, I could prove it both ways, is anything Bob has sold, anything Bob has sold. It could be a human being being sold is called merchandise in the Bible. I mean, food, books, Bibles, anything in the Bible is all at some point referred to as merchandise. He lists things in Revelation, calls it merchandise. Merchandise is anything that's Bob has sold. So don't let people push you around. Buy the Bible at the Dollar Tree. Buy the Bible at Barnes and Noble. This message is brought to you in part by Barnes and Noble. But it says here, and bearing precious seed is their other ministry and these people. Here's their plan of salvation from their website. Number one, uh-oh. Is this one, two, three, repent after me? Number one, we're all sinners. What does God teach us about this important subject? First of all, we're all sinners. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Because of our sin, we are under sin's penalty, which is death. For the wages of sin is death. This penalty means eternal separation from God and hell. Really? Is that why it says in Revelation 14, 10, they shall be punished, they shall be tormented with fire and brimstone. Are you listening? In the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb. So it sounds like Jesus is there. That's why the Bible says if I make my bed in hell, the old doll right there. You see, Jesus Christ is the one who is the king and owner and ruler of hell. He's the one who created hell, believe it or not. And guess what? They will be tormented for all eternity in the presence of the lamb, according to Revelation 14, 10, and 11. So that's wrong, but number two, so we got our one, two, three going. Number one, we're all sinners. Number two, Christ died for our sins. And then it quotes, God committed his love toward us and while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God does not want anyone to go to hell, so he sent his only begotten son to die and gave a penalty for our sins. Number three, eternal life is God's gift. God's love for us is so great that he made a way for our sins to be forgiven. He offers his forgiveness and salvation freely, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Please note that eternal life is offered to you as a gift, but like all gifts, it is not yours until you receive it. To receive Christ is to receive life, eternal life, and a home in heaven. Pretty, we're okay so far, right? How to receive Christ. Here is how you may receive Christ. So we have one, we're all sinners. Two, Christ died for our sins. Three, eternal life is God's gift. Now how to receive Christ? Here is how you may receive Christ. And it quotes the verses that, Thou shalt confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart, that God is raised in the dead. Thou shalt be saved. You must believe with all your heart and call the Lord to save you, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You must repent. And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commanded all men everywhere to repent. To repent literally means to have a change of mind or spirit toward God and towards sin. It means to turn from your sins earnestly with all your heart and trust in Jesus Christ to save you. You see, though, how the man who believes in Christ repents and the man who repents believes in Christ. Now I see it. The jailer repented when he turned from sin to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you remember that part of the story? They're adding to the word of God here, because the jailer, trembling and astonished, said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. What did he do? He believed, his household believed, they were all baptized, and then guess what he did? He came back in the morning and put them back in jail and locked the door on Paul, the preacher of the Gospel. Locked them in jail, and when they came in the morning, they were sitting in jail. What sin did he turn from? Name one sin that that jailer committed, according to the Bible, that it lists for us and shows us. I mean, the only thing I can see that he was doing wrong is that he had Paul behind bars. Right? That's all I can see. He still did that after he got saved! Where's the turning from sin? Can you show me in that story? It's not there, unless you want to add it in there for your little 1, 2, 3, repent after me plan of salvation. He says, Call on the Lord now, so you may know for sure that you're going to heaven. Be truthful, and make this prayer your prayer to God. Here's the repeat after me. Dear Jesus, please have mercy upon me, a sinner. Please forgive me of all my sins. I believe you died on the cross of me, and I believe that it's your blood that washes my sins away. I believe you were buried and that God raised you on the third day. Now will you please come to my heart and save my soul? Thank you for saving me, Jesus. Now, promise him that with his help, you will be true to him the rest of your days. I'm not going to promise that I'm not going to go off into sin or be backslidden. I can't promise. You think somebody who just got saved can really honestly make that promise? I will be true to you all of my days. I mean, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, for the rest of my life. There will not a day go by that I'm not true to Jesus Christ. Can you really promise that today, after you've been saved for all these years, let alone the day after you get saved? But look, was this any more thorough than the way we get the gospel? It's less thorough. This is less verses. I use literally double as many scriptures at least when I give somebody the gospel. I have a list. I've given a list of people the scriptures I use when I give somebody the gospel. It's twice as many as are on this page. And guess what? How long did it take me to read that, even with all my commentary? A couple minutes. And yet every time I talk to somebody, I spend 10, 15, 20 minutes and I use twice as many scriptures. But I'm one, two, three. Repeat after me. Because I believe that Jesus paid it all. Because I believe that the blood of Jesus Christ that He shed on the cross is the only payment for my sin. That we're not justified by the deeds of the law, or the works of the law, or keeping the law, or observing the law. We are justified by the faith of Jesus Christ. Has nothing to do with who's more thorough. Should we be thorough? Yes, amen. But does it mean you're not thorough just because you're not adding to the story? You know, I guess I've never taught the Philippian jailer story thoroughly. Because I never got that part where he turned from his head. The book I was reading, he had them back in jail the next morning. You know, he washed their stripes, he got baptized, he said, alright guys, let's go back to jail. Get back in the cell. Okay, here's another one. So that wasn't very thorough. Middle Cross Baptist Church, Biloxi, Mississippi. This is somebody who wrote to us this week and wanted to be put on our directory of good churches. And they said, we're independent, fundamental, King James Bible only, soul winning Baptist Church. Middle of the road Baptist Church, I'm sorry, Middle Cross Baptist Church. This is their plan of salvation. Okay, the Holy Spirit of God draws you to salvation. And he gives a few scriptures. He says, then he reads this, now when they heard this, there are two scriptures in it. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter, and through the rest of the clauses, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, with the permission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. We see in these verses that God convicts a person to be saved. Really, is baptism part of salvation? Now have you baptized in order to be saved? Because he said, in these verses, we're going to see how God convicts for salvation. These guys were pricked in their heart and they said, what shall we do? Did they say what should we do to be saved? No. Because he already told them what to do to be saved. Go back 20 verses in the chapter, Acts 2 21. He says, and it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Acts 2 21. And then later they asked him a question, well what should we do? Hey look, there's a lot of things that we should do. Should you go to church? Yes. Should you read the Bible? Yes. Should you be baptized? Yes. Should you live a good life? Yes. But do you have to do those things to be saved? No. There's only one thing he said, what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and I shall be saved. But he says here, these verses are showing us how God convicts a person to be saved. Because it says they were pricked in their heart instead of the eater and the rest of the closet. Men and brethren, what should we do? He just said to them, repent and be baptized. And guess what happened? They got baptized. What did they do after that? They got baptized. That's what he told them to do. Is that about salvation? No. Because if it were about salvation, then guess what? Baptism would not be part of salvation. When the Bible says in 1 Peter 3 that baptism is not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but is the answer of a clear conscience toward God. It's the next step. When you have a clear conscience toward God, then you'd be baptized. Just show that. Acts chapter 10. They believed on the word that Peter was preaching. Then they basically received the Holy Ghost. Then they were baptized. OK. And on and on. I don't have to go on and on about that. We obviously, we're Baptists. We know that baptism is not part of salvation. Boy, this is a really clear plan of salvation. I wish I were this thorough with people. I wish I started out my plan of salvation by showing people repent and be baptized. This is salvation. Boy, that would really help people to understand it's kids by faith, won't it? Man, these people are thorough. What have I been doing? Just going on a repeating of prayer with people? I didn't even explain this stuff to them. OK. Number 2. We're all sinners. So number 1. The Holy Spirit of God draws you to salvation. Number 2. We're all sinners. And it's funny because he says this. No man, this is the verse that he quoted twice. No man could come to me except the Father which has sent me, draw him, and I will raise him of blood. See, God's got to draw you. God has, you know, it's Calvinism. Like only certain people, God's drawing. Hey, Jesus said, if I be lifted up, then I will draw all men unto me. If I'm lifted up from the earth, he said. Jesus, let me break it to you. Jesus was lifted up from the earth 2000 years ago. This faith, he signified what manner of death he should die. And when Jesus was lifted up from the earth, he said, I'll draw all men unto me. He said, well, you can't be saved unless God draws you. What's the point in telling that to somebody when God draws everybody? Period. That's what Jesus, he said, I will draw all men unto me. Do you believe that or do you not believe that? And so what's the point in telling? Well, God's got to draw you. Okay, well, you already did 2000 years ago. And so he says here, number two, that was number one. The Holy Spirit of God draws you to salvation. Number one. Number two, we're all sinners. For all sin comes from the glory of God, as is written, there's none righteous, none not one. What is that? It's familiar. The Romans wrote. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin. And so death passed upon all men, for it all sinned. Every person since Adam was born into a sin nature. Therefore, we have all sinned against God. Sin is simply disobedience to God. If we do anything that displeases God, we all need salvation. Number three, there is a price for sin. For the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. He that believeth on him is not condemned. Why is there a great verse in this part? He that believeth on him is not condemned. Amen. Praise God. But he that believeth not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Matthew 25, 41. Then shall he stand at him on the left hand, apart from him he cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil is error. Don't be fooled. God is the holy God. Hell is a real place. There is a price for rejecting his Son, since God is the holy God, the price for sin is eternal death and hell. Okay, so we're all right so far. Okay, the price has been paid. Number three. Am I losing count here? Oh, this is one, two, three, four, repeat after me. I'm sorry. The price has been paid for the wages. See, that's the difference. They added that four. Okay, I get it now. The price has been paid for the ways of sin's death, and the gift of God's eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. When Jesus came, this is his commentary, lived the sinless life, died on the cross, and rose from the grave, he prayed the price that we could not pay. God requires a sinless sacrifice and Jesus was it. Okay, Amen. He said he paid the sin debt with his own blood. God didn't lose one drop of that blood. Jesus shed it for the remiscent sin. I don't know what that means, but it sounds like a great point. I don't know if I can ever figure it out. Okay, the next point. You cannot work your way to heaven. There's only one way. Praise God, I believe that. All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. That's true. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. What we can do is nothing. Amen. Praise to Hallelujah. This is good. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the light. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Galatians 3.22. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith that Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. Maybe I got this guy all wrong. Did I grab the wrong paper? Oh no, here it comes. Here it comes. You must repent. Then Peter said to them again, the same verse, repent and be baptized. Look, why are we just talking about repent then? If this verse is about salvation, let's talk about repent and be baptized, right? Repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. And where does it say repent of your sins? It just says repent, right? That could be, look, God repented. Did God repent from his sins? God doesn't have any sins. Christians are told to repent. We'll get to that in a little bit. But he says, but go ye and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice, for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance, and saying, the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is there, repent ye and believe the gospel. Now here's his commentary. You gotta do this. Despite the modern movement, this is his plan of salvation. This is his gospel track. I mean, this is his plan of salvation that he's using, or not using, or abusing, or whatever. Despite the modern movement that God loves you, is that a modern movement? People are going around saying that God loves you. Don't listen to him. Okay, listen. Despite the modern movement that God loves you and you can keep sinning, the Bible is still true. So basically, if you keep sinning, God doesn't love you. Did you hear that? If you keep sinning, God doesn't love you. Anybody who keeps sinning, that means God doesn't, according to this guy, God doesn't love anybody in this room. Everybody in this room keeps sinning. Would you stop sinning, please? God doesn't love us, according to this guy, okay? He says, you must repent before an unholy God. Repent means to be truly sorry for your sins. I guess that's what it meant when it says, and the Lord repented. And did you know that if you use the type of word repent, it's used more than 50% of the time in the Bible. God is doing the repenting. More than 50%. Did you hear that? Look it up. Go through the list. A. You must repent before an unholy God. And repent means to be truly sorry for your sins, to do an about phase, to turn and go the other way. God wants you to turn from your evil ways and go His way. Now does God want you to turn from your evil ways and go His way? Yeah. But do you have to turn from your evil way and go His way to be saved? Going. Going. That sounds like work, right? When my boss tells me, go to Los Angeles, it's work. Did you know how to get paid for part-time long driving? Did you know how some people go places? Their whole job is just to go. I mean, they drive a truck. Somebody else loads it. Somebody else unloads it. Their only job is just go. Right? Just go to L.A. Just go to Albuquerque. That's their whole job. It's work. Yeah, go His way. Do things His way. Go His way. Go to the church He tells you to go to, right? You live the life He wants you to live. You must confess, believe, and make Him Lord. To make Jesus Lord means to surrender our will for His will. These verses are so simple, they need no explaining. And then He gives verses that don't say anything about His will. Surrender your will. He gives verses that are all about faith and belief. So easy, you don't even need to understand. Okay. One, two, three, four, repent after me. Okay? Chick tracts. Right? Who's ever heard of Chick tracts? These little comic book tracts that they give out. The Bible says there's only one way to heaven. Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Nobody else can save you. Trust Jesus' sake, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart, that God is raised and protected, thou shalt be saved. By the way, I'm reading the last page of every, every single Chick tract. Chick tracts, the last page is identical. You know, they have a comic, and then the last page is always the same. That's why I'm reading. Number one, admit you're a sinner. See Romans 3 pen. I can't see it, because you didn't print it out for me. Okay, I guess. Number two, be willing to turn from sin. Parentheses, repent. Oh, okay. Is that what that means? So I guess God needed to be willing to turn from his sin. So he says, be willing to turn from sin. Number three, believe that Jesus Christ died for you and was buried and rose again. Number four, through prayer, invite Jesus into your life to become your personal Savior. Dear God, I'm a sinner and need forgiveness. This is what you repeat. This is the repeat after me. First it says one, two, three, repent after me, repeat after me. Dear God, I'm a sinner and need forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ shed his precious blood and died for my sin. I am willing to turn from sin. That's a pretty bold statement, because turning from sin. Okay, this is sin. Let's call this pulpit sin, right? This is where we live because we live in the flesh, and the flesh sins. Is that true or not? Yeah. I mean, the Bible says, I know that in me that is in my flesh, dwell of no good thing. That's right. For the will is present with me, but how to perform it I find out. So here I am, living, Pastor Anderson, don't let this get around. Pastor Anderson is living in sin. I mean, seriously. I mean, I'm literally living in sin. I mean, this body is, who's to deliver me from the body of sin? I mean, Pastor Anderson is living in sin. But in order to be saved, I must turn away from sin. Impossible. Can't be done. You'd have to be like Jesus, sinlessly perfect. That's what I mean, to truly turn away from sin. Now, is this making the gospel clear, plain, very thorough? I don't see what's so thorough about any of these. I mean, none of these are as thorough as what I go through with somebody at the door. What's this? Oh, this is yours. Sorry. That was more repent after me stuff. Now, look, let me get into a little more doctrine as we go here. But let's turn our Bibles and see some things. Look at Deuteronomy chapter number 6. I want to show you a little more about why we believe that salvation is by faith alone, not of works, and not by being willing to turn away from your sins, which is what this repent of your sins means. It means you're willing to turn away from your sins. That means that if somebody's drinking, you know, they have to be willing. If they say, well, I want to get saved, but I want to continue to drink, they're saying they can't be saved. That is what they're saying. Because they're saying, if they say, I like to drink. I'm going to keep drinking, but I believe on Jesus Christ. According to them, they cannot be saved. If somebody's living with their girlfriend, is it a sin? Yes. Is it fornication? Yes. Is it wicked? Yes. But you know what? They can still be saved without living that up. Did you hear me? Okay. And so this is what we're, you say, oh, you're splitting hairs. I'm splitting hairs about a guy who says God doesn't love you if he keeps sinning. I'm splitting hairs about people who are saying that you must be willing to give up sins in order to get, that's worse. That's right. And I'll prove it to you. Say, why didn't brother Dave just preach today? If you want to hear, if you want to hear brother Dave preach, go to nursing home and hear brother Dave preach. It's the same thing. Did you hear that? He's going to be preaching the same thing down there. Okay. You're going to put up with me for a while. And then you're going to go hear brother Dave preach. And you know, hopefully you'll catch him tonight. Okay. Okay. Okay. Maybe we'll catch him tonight, you know, if things will pick up. But it says here, but it says in Deuteronomy 6 25. Did I have you turn there? Deuteronomy 6 25. Listen to this verse. And it shall be our righteousness. Are you listening to this? If we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God as he hath commanded us. Now what does observe to do? Well, if somebody observes a certain holiday, what does it mean? It means that as a rule, that's a habit that they have. You know, they celebrate Christmas, they celebrate Easter, they celebrate whatever. It's, it's, they observe these different holidays. You know, the, the, the post office will say, we observe Columbus Day because we observe every holiday that nobody cares about. You know, because we like, we work for the government, we light days off. Okay. And so, they observe this. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, they observe this, they observe that. Right. The Bible said that they were in the whole testament, you know, observe the Sabbath. You know, the Jews, okay. Observe the Passover. It's something that we, uh, practice religiously. It's, it's, it's a habit of life. Right. So, God says this. He says, if you're, if you observe to do all these commandments, you know, so he's not saying that you never make a mistake. You understand what I'm saying? He's just saying, He's not saying you never sinned, but he's saying, you know, these commandments are part of your life. I mean, this is your manner of life. This is your habit of life. He said, guess what it is? It's your righteousness. And let me ask this, can your righteousness save you? No, because your righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and we're all as an unclean thing. Paul said this, think about it, God is saying to you, look, if you observe these... He didn't say if you're perfect. He just said if you observe these commandments, it will be our righteousness if we do that. But Paul said, not having my own righteousness, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. The Bible says that the righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed unto those who believe in Romans chapter 4. And so it's not about our righteousness. The Bible says in Romans chapter 10, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear the record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they be ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness. Your own righteousness. He said, they're going to hell. He said in Romans 7, I wish that I were accursed from Christ like they are, and that they would be saved. But he's saved, and they're going to hell. He said in Romans 7, I need that clear. They're not of Israel. The wrath of God abideth on those who do not believe on Jesus Christ, John 3.36. The Jews today have God's wrath abiding on them, except if they believe on Jesus Christ, which is a very small minority of Jews today that believe on Jesus Christ. God's wrath is abiding on Jerry Sanko right now. Oh, but he's a Jew, let's bow down and worship him. Jeff Goldblum has God's wrath abiding on him right now. Richard Dreyfus has God's wrath abiding on him right now. Billy Crystal has God's wrath abiding on him. Why? Because they're unbelieving Jews. Just like Jesus said in John 3, but he was not. John the Baptist was talking to a bunch of Jews when he said it in verse 36. He said, if you don't believe on Jesus, God's wrath is abiding on you. Deal with it. And so he's saying here, it's our righteousness if we observe God's laws. It's our righteousness if we live a good life. It's our righteousness if we do these things. What is repentance? Well, let's look at some different kinds of repentance. Because what happens is, these people are trying to say, any time the Bible uses the word repentance, they're trying to say it's repent of your sins. You know, God commands all men everywhere to repent. Oh wow, see, that means that if you don't repent of all your sins, you won't be saved. Did that verse mention being saved? No. Did the verse mention your sins? No. What did he mention? Ignorance. Are you listening? And the times of this ignorance God winked at. But God commanded all men everywhere to repent of what? Their ignorance! Did you hear that? Ignorance is what it says in the verse. It doesn't mention your sins, Acts 17, 30. It says, the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commanded all men everywhere to repent. Does it even mention being saved in that verse? No, it says, look, God commands all men everywhere to do a lot of things. Are they part of salvation? They might just be part of our righteousness. But let's see some different examples of what repentance is. How about in Exodus? Actually, no, let's keep that for the sake of time. I'm running out of time. Look at Jonah chapter 3. Here's a good example where God repented. I want to show you an example of God repenting. And this is the bar gun, by far, the most common repentance you will find in the Bible. God repented. The first time repentance was ever mentioned is when it repented the Lord that he made man in the days of Noah. So let's look at Jonah chapter 3. Here's an example of God repented. Let me turn there myself, because I have part of it in my notes, but I wanted to read it a little bit more. Brother Dave, check your cell phone periodically, because that's who's going to receive the call. My phone's not working. What else is there? Okay, look at this. It says in verse number 7 of Jonah 3, He caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, heard nor flawed, taste anything. Let them not feed nor drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God, Yea, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. So what does he want them to turn from? Sins, right? Violence. Evil ways. Evil means hurting other people. He said he needed to turn away from that. Who can tell if God will turn and repent? So God repents, right? So is God sorry for his sins here? No. So repentance obviously has more than one meaning. It can all repent here. It's talking about God will change his mind. He will not be angry anymore. He will change. It says, Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not? Now what were they turning from again? Violence, evil, wrongdoing, sin. Watch this. God saw their works, comma, that they turned from their evil way. And God repented of the evil that he said he would do unto them, and he did not. Now when these people turn from their evil way, what does the Bible call it in Jonah 3-10? Works. I didn't write that. And you must understand English grammar. It doesn't say, And God saw their works, which was evidence of the fact that they had repented in their heart. No, it says, God saw their works, comma, this is a restatement. If I said, The pastor of Faith Board Baptist Church, comma, Stephen L. Anderson, comma, is preaching right now. The commas are to set off a phrase that's going to restate. Are you listening? Restate what was just said. Pastor of Faith Board Baptist Church being restated as Stephen L. Anderson. Pastor equals Stephen L. Anderson. Same thing here. He says, God saw their works, comma, that they, not and that they, he said, that they turned from their evil way was their works. I mean, can you see that? It's right in front of you. Look down at it. That's what it says. So look, a nation was spared. See, God doesn't save. I've heard people say, Every person in Nineveh got saved when Jonah preached to them. Come on. Do you really believe that? When the Bible says, Broad is the way which leadeth unto destruction, many there be which go in their act, because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be to find it. You really think you can go to a city and preach and every single person will get saved? Do you really believe that? That's no. That is false doctrine. Because just because you live in a certain town doesn't make you get saved. Every person, every individual has the free will to believe on or reject Jesus Christ. The whole city of Tempe is going to get saved. That will never happen. No whole town, every single person, receives God. Look, some of these people were no doubt unbelievers. Now, I'm sure a lot of them believe God. It says in verse number 5, that people in Nineveh believe God. But look, did every single person in that town get saved? No. You'll never get me to believe that. Because that would be ridiculous to say that every single person you give the Gospel to gets saved. In any center. A place that was filled with hundreds of thousands of people. You're going to expect me to believe. Everybody just because you happen to live in Nineveh, boom, you get a free pass into heaven. God automatically pulls your strings like a puppet and all of a sudden you're saved. That's garbage. That's false teaching. And so, look, God spared the city physical destruction. Many of the people did get saved. Not every single one of them got saved. But what I'm saying is, God spared the city physical destruction because they turned from their evil way. Let me give an example. If America turned from their evil way, God would spare us physical destruction. But that's not going to happen, unfortunately. We just keep getting worse and worse. But look, God can't judge nations in heaven and hell because nations don't go to heaven and hell. Individuals go to heaven and hell. Are you listening? God judges nations in this world, in this life. And so if we, as America, turn back to God, then God would spare us His judgment. But would that mean every single human being in America would be saved? No. Do you see the difference? How do you get saved and go to heaven? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. How does a nation get spared physical destruction? Turning away from their evil way. Turning from their sins. Repenting of their sins. Which is worse! God looks at the works when it comes to your physical life. I mean, even in your physical life. You can be saved this morning, and yet if you go out and commit sin, you will physically be destroyed. I mean, are you getting the difference here? Your works is what determines how you live in this life. God will bless your good works. God will curse your bad works. God blesses a nation that does good work. God curses a nation that does wrong. But is a person saved by works? No. Was Nineveh saved by works? Yes. Because Nineveh's not a person. Nineveh's a nation. Man, if it weren't for Nineveh, Mrs. Edwards would not even be here right now. Because these are her ancestors that we're reading about. Who didn't know that she's from Nineveh? Mrs. Edwards is... am I telling you? She's literally from Nineveh. She knows what I'm talking about. She can testify. Anyway, the point is, God repents. Repenting is not being sorry for your sins or turning from your sins. It could be turning from your sins. It could be turning from anger. God turned from his anger. God changed his mind. Look at Hebrews chapter 6. Hebrews chapter 6. Look at Hebrews 6.1. We'll see another kind of repentance. The Bible says in Hebrews 6.1, Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on into perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. So here people are repenting of dead works. They're repenting of works, salvation. They're repenting of works to turn from works to faith. That's how a lot of people end up getting saved. I mean, they're going to church and they're trusting works. They're repenting of their dead works. Read the context of the book of Hebrews. He's talking about the priest offering the sacrifice every day. People are going down there trying to be forgiven of their sins. He said their dead works they need to be repented of so that the faith can be placed in God. He says, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands and of resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. Look at 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 25. Just write by the book of Hebrews. Just back up just a little bit and you'll get to, just a couple pages, you'll back up and get to 2 Timothy 2.25. The Bible reads in 2 Timothy chapter 2.25, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. Now is this talking about repenting of your sins? It's talking about repenting to an acknowledging of the truth. That's kind of like when God talked about people repenting of their ignorance, right? Acknowledging the truth, turning from a lie to truth is a kind of repentance here. Nothing to do about being willing to turn from sin or I'm sorry that I sinned type of a thing. Now let me just park here for a moment. Now first of all, let me just explain this to you. And you say, why are you preaching on this? Because we need to take the more earnest heed to the things which we've heard less than any time we should let them slip. This is something that's constantly trying to creep in churches. I've learned that no matter how often I preach on this, there's still some people who are mixed up on it sometimes or don't quite understand it. Or people are being fed to them and lied to. I mean, this is something that needs to be preached a lot. It's something that needs to be repeated, my friend. Because otherwise it'll creep in. It's the big fight. I mean, if there's someone we're going to fight about, let's fight about salvation. I mean, I fight about a lot of things. But look, what do you think is more important? Fighting about music? And I'll fight about music. Come fight me after service about music. But what I'm saying is, I'll fight about music. What do you think is more important to fight about? Music or salvation? What do you think is more important to fight about? Clothing or salvation? I'll fight about both. Be well rounded, amen? But the point is, what I'm saying is, what's more important? What's the most important? Salvation. By grace, through faith, plus nothing, minus nothing. That's the most important thing. And so let me ask you this. If whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And if the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. Let me ask you this. If a person believes, but does not repent of their sin, where does the Bible say they're going? To heaven. To heaven. Because if he said, whosoever believeth on him, and what do they have to believe about him? That God gave us eternal life, right? And this life is in his Son. What do they have to believe? That Jesus is the Christ. That Jesus is the Son of God. Okay. Brother Garrett, come up here for a second. Sorry, sorry to blame you. Come on up here and say it right here, okay? Brother Garrett, right here. Let's pretend right now. He believes that you believe Jesus is the Son of God? Yeah. Do you believe Jesus is the Christ? Of course, okay. And hey, do you believe that God has given to us eternal life? And that this life is in his Son? Where does he go, according to the Bible? Now what if Garrett now told me, and he's not going to tell me this, but what if he said, you know what, but I do like to drink. I drank before I got saved, and I'm going to keep on drinking until I die, probably. Because I love to drink. And if I said, were you willing to give that up? He said, no. He said, oh, that's silly. Because anybody who's saved would be willing to give that up. Oh, really? Are you willing to give up the sin in your life right now? See, drinking is easy, you know what I mean? To point out, because it's external, it's obvious. Are you willing to give up the sin in your life right now? There are people in this room, I'm sure, that probably watch something wrong on television. Are you willing to give that up? If you were willing to, you'd give it up. But you're not. Okay, are you willing to start tithing? Because not tithing is a sin. Are you willing to never pick a bad thought again? Are you willing to never look at something wrong again? Are you willing to quit smoking, for example? Smoking's a sin, right? Are you willing to quit? I guarantee you, there's somebody in everybody in this room has to tell them the sin that you're not willing to give up. Otherwise, you'd be Jesus. I'm willing to, but I can't. Well, the Bible says, I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me. So if you were willing to, you could do it. God would make you able to do it. But let's say it's not great, just whatever the case may be. What if he says, well, I believe on Jesus Christ, but I'm not willing to come to church. I don't go to church. I'm going to worship God in my own home. Right? I'm just going to learn the Bible in my own home. Are there people like that? I don't go to church. Okay. Is he saved, according to John 3.16? Well, he didn't believe right. He didn't have saving faith. Saving faith is believing that Jesus is the Son of God, and that he's the Christ, and that he gave us eternal life. That's what the Bible says. So if this guy is not saved... Let's say God looks down on him and says, well, because he's not willing to give up drinking, I will not allow him into heaven. That would make God a liar, because he believed everything God told him to believe. And don't try to twist what the word believe means. Hey, I have a red car. Do you believe me? You know what believe means. Come on. You know, my wife can have the baby today. Do you believe me? Hey, you know what believe means. Don't try to twist it. Oh, believe means you're doing the works. Go ahead and sit down. Thanks. But you see my point? If God sends somebody to hell who believes on him, he lied when he said we should never believe it. That's right. Oh, but it's impossible to believe unless you've repented. Now here, we're going to get into... And here's the thing. I can't get into everything about this subject, because there's so much to the Bible about it. I've got to just call it a day here pretty soon, okay? But listen. If you want to know more about it, get my sermon called Godly Sorrow Worketh Repentance. That's probably the one where I was the most thorough. I mean, very thorough about this subject. Take apart all of the little repentance, one, two, three, repent after me. Take apart all their little... Take apart all their little arguments piece by piece and throw it at them and say, now what are you going to say? Now what are you going to do? Listen to that sermon if you haven't heard it. You ought to listen to that sermon if you haven't heard it. No matter who you are, because you want to be grounded in these things. But I don't have time that... I'm just kind of hit with some new ones that I've heard this week and last week, you know, just the new ones that people are coming up with. Well, here's another one that these clever work salvation teachers that want to make you... And you say, why is it that you want to repent after me? Repent after me. Because be like me and repent. Because these repentance creatures glorify their sinful past, right? Oh man, before I was saved, I had hair down to here and I wasn't drunk and I was on drugs. And they'll, you know, they'll get up and spend like an hour telling their testimony, how wicked they were, bragging about, you know, how they gave it all up and I was this and I had this and I was making $200,000 a year and I gave it all up for God, you know, and all this stuff. You know, they talk about how wicked they were and I was this wicked and I was that wicked and stuff. Look, I don't care about you. I don't want to hear about how wicked you were. I want to hear about how good Jesus is. I want to hear about how free salvation is. But no, I repented of my drinking so if you don't, then you're not saved. I stopped cussing, so if you don't stop cussing, then you must not be saved. I gave up, you know, because it's always the things that they gave up. You know, and maybe I've seen these repentance creatures that weigh 400 pounds. If you're not willing to give up cigarettes, then you're not saved, you know, and meet us after the service. We're going to see how many White Castles we can eat 500 in one sitting. You know what I mean? Why isn't he willing to give up? Because you have to repent after them, right? You have to repent of what they repented of because when they got saved, they got all the way saved, brother. Look, everybody who's saved is all the way saved or they're not saved at all. It's like saying, you know, when my wife got pregnant, she got all the way pregnant. Like, you're either pregnant or you're not. I mean, you see what I'm saying? But here's a new one that they say, and this is the Calvinist's little spin on it. They say, well, wait a minute. Repentance is not worse. Repenting of your sins, turning from your sins, be willing to turn, it's not worse. It's the gift of God. God gives you the repentance, is what they say. God gives you this hatred for sin and this willingness to change. God gives it to you. And here's their proof of faith. Are we still in 2 Timothy 2? We're going to look at this, and we're going to go a little bit deeper now, okay? But you're smart enough to understand this, so, you know, have great faith in you. It's not being that complicated, but look. It says in 2 Timothy 2, verse 25, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God, their adventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. Now, wait a minute. They say, wait a minute. See, God gives their repentance. Well, first of all, is this repenting of sin? No. It's repenting to acknowledge the truth. Nothing about your sins. It's just about whether you believe, number one. But number two, we have to get this in context, okay? Keep your finger there, and we're going to get the... We're going to read the other verse that says that God gives you repentance, and let's get the context. Keep your finger there and look at Acts 11, 18. Acts 11, 18, and these two verses are used to say, nope, you must repent of your sins to be saved, but it's something that God gives you, okay? Well, let's look at Acts 11, 18. Now, first of all, this is not even God speaking in Acts 11, 18. God is recording what people say. Now, is it always true what people said in the Bible? No. Because what about Job's three friends? Because what about Job's three friends? There were whole chapters in the book of Job. God says at the end, what they said was wrong. Okay? You know what I mean? There's a whole chapter in the Bible where, you know, you've got Eliphaz, the demonite speaking, and God says everything that he said. He said what they spoke, they did not testify truth concerning me. So is what they said authoritative as doctrine? No, because God said they were wrong. What they said... He said, well, not everything he said was wrong. Everything he said about God was wrong. He said what they testified concerning me is false. Look, Satan speaks in the Bible. Is what he says doctrine? No. The Bible records what human beings said. But look at this. But what they said is true, okay? But look at this. It says, when they adhered these things... So this is just people speaking. ...they held their peace and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. See, God grants the repentance. God gives the repentance. Look at the context here. He's saying here that God is granting them or allowing them to repent as well, being that they're Gentiles as opposed to being Jews. That's what it means. Read it. It says that he gave unto the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. He's granted them repentance. Now, they were surprised by this. Just follow me and you'll see how true this is. He says here... We'll look at some verses in Hebrews that'll prove what I'm saying. He's saying here, look, wow, these people were surprised. They thought only the Jews could repent. But he says, wow, God has granted repentance also unto the Gentiles. Repent of their sins? No. But repentance from their dead works, from their false religion... I mean, look, obviously they have to turn from their Judaism in order to receive Christ. People have to turn from Catholicism to receive Christ. Why? They're not changing their works. They're not turning from sin. They're changing what they believe. They're turning from a false belief to a correct belief, okay? That's the only repentance involved in salvation. Turn from, I was trusting works, now I'm trusting Christ. I was trusting Mohammed and Islam, now I'm trusting Christ. I was trusting this, now I'm trusting Christ. But look, so the context here is he's saying, wow, these people are also able to repent, even the Gentiles. God has granted them that privilege. Look back at 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 25. Watch this, he says, In meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves... This is talking about who? False teachers, false priests. He says, in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves. People who believe wrong. If God, peradventure, what does peradventure mean? Maybe, okay? If God, peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who were taken captive by him as well. He said in verse 4, to be gentle, right? The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle in all men. He's saying, they're supposed to be gentle, in meekness, instructing those that oppose them, because perhaps, maybe, God will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. So what's the application here? He's saying, look, don't treat people who believe wrong harshly, because he's saying, if you're harsh and mean to them, that person could get saved. You don't know, peradventure, they will repent of their false doctrine, and believe the gospel. So you don't want to burn that bridge. Does that make sense? You don't want to just rip their face off and say, Oh man, I'm never going to go to Baptist again. I'm never going to talk to Baptist again. Now, you say, both of these are about people that are unlikely. This one is from God's perspective. The people who are wrapped up in a false doctrine, like Mormonism, Jehovah's Witness, listen, they're not likely to repent. I have won well over a thousand people in the Lord in my lifetime, but I have never won a devout Mormon in the Lord in my life. I'm not saying you can't be God. I'm just saying, I've never done it. I've tried. I've never won a devout Mormon in the Lord in my life. I've won a couple of devout Jehovah's Witnesses and had them baptized and everything after they were saved, and I had a guy in the wool Pentecostal saved and baptized. But I'm telling you something, I've never had a devout Mormon saved and baptized. I've never had a devout Mormon saved period. I've had some Jack Mormons saved. I've had a devout JW, but that's pretty tough too. And so what I'm saying is, these people are not likely to repent, but peradventure, they might. Are you listening? Peradventure, God, now you say, wait a minute though. It says God gave them repentance. God allowed them to repent. He granted them repentance. Yes, exactly. Let's see what that is. Look at Hebrews chapter 6. Because you have to understand, some people cannot repent. Are you listening? Now the Jews were mixed up. They thought the Gentiles could not repent. They were wrong. They made, oh wow, the Gentiles can. Of course they did. Of course they could. They always could. And then God says, well these people that are all mixed up are not in the devil's web of false doctrine, like Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, whatever. Maybe God will give them repentance. What's the implication? The implication is maybe God won't. Are you following my logic here? He says God will maybe give them repentance, which means maybe He won't. Are you listening? Maybe He won't give them repentance. Maybe He won't grant unto certain people up repentance. Keep your finger in Hebrews 6. Look at Hebrews 12.15 and we'll see what it means. Hebrews 12.15. Everybody following what's going on here? Look at Hebrews chapter 12 verse 15. The Bible says, looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God. That means lack the grace of God. I mean, the grace of God is not available to him. I mean, if we failed water this morning, it means we don't have any water. Okay, that's just an old word. But he says here, Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled, lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright, for ye know how that afterward, when he would have or wanted to, it's talking about a willingness there, would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected. For he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. Esau came to a point in his life where he could not go back. He pushed God too far. That's why God even said, Jacob, I love Esau, I hate it. In Hosea, he talks about people, he says, I will love them no more. He says, I hated them and I will love them no more. There are people, my friend, who go too far, push it too far with God, their reprobates, the Bible says, they've been rejected by God. They cannot be saved. You say, I believe anybody could be saved. Is that why it says in John 12.39, therefore they could not believe about the Pharisees? They could not believe. Why? They'd already blasphemed the Holy Ghost. They'd already pushed it too far with God. And it says, they could not believe because the Messiah said again, He had blinded their eyes, God blinded their eyes, John 12.40. It says, and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their heart and be converted and I should heal them. God said there are people who are walking on this earth that cannot believe. It's too late for them. They've been rejected. They're a reprobate. Esau was rejected. Pharaoh came to a place. At first he hardened his own heart, later it says God hardened Pharaoh's heart. God did not grant Pharaoh repentance. Are you listening? God did not allow Esau to repent. He had no place of repentance. Do you understand what I'm saying here? And many people who are deep into false doctrine, it's too late for them. But peradventure we should still try and teach them and help because peradventure God will grant on them repentance. All I'm saying is maybe they haven't gone too far yet. Maybe we can still salvage them. Maybe we can still get saved. That's all he's saying. Maybe if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth because many God has already hardened their heart. Do you understand what I'm saying? It's not saying that repentance is like, oh here, I'm going to give you this feeling where you just hate sin and love God and you're going to follow me and promise to live for me all the days of your life. That's not what it means when God gives you repentance. It's saying God gives you the opportunity to repent. He didn't give that opportunity to Esau. He doesn't give that opportunity to most false teachers and preachers of this false doctrine. He didn't give it to Pharaoh but he will grant it unto some that are mixed up if they haven't gone too far. Because I'll tell you who's gone too far. Well the Bible says that if you add to the word of God you've gone too far. Look at the Bible, Revelation 22, 18 and 19. He says your part will be blotted out of the book of life. Your place in the holy city that you could have been, He said it's gone. Look, I still believe that as long as somebody's still breathing air they can still get saved. Is that why it says the Pharisees could not believe? Because God hardened their heart. John 12, 39 and 40. God hardened their heart. They couldn't believe. They were unable to believe. They were unable to be saved. I mean it's the truth. So if we take these verses out of context we get a mixed up meaning. If we put them back in context we see God is giving people the opportunity to repent. Look at it again, Hebrews 6. Same thing. Watch how consistent this teaching is in the Bible. Hebrews 6, verse 4. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come if they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance. Do you see that? There are people who've already tasted it. They've already been enlightened. They've understood the Gospel. They've known it. They've seen it. They've tasted it. The Holy Ghost has spoken them through the word of God and yet they've turned away from it. They weren't saved but they understood it. They saw it. They tasted it and they rejected it. He says it is impossible to get them to change now what they believe because what does repent mean? Change. It could mean God changing his mind. It could mean if you're lukewarm, repent he said. Be on fire for God. Repent if you're ignorant. Learn the truth. Acknowledge the truth. And here he's saying look, some people it's too late for them to change. That's what it says. And so he's saying here, and there's a scripture in Ephesians that's on the tip of my tongue that teaches this exact same thing but I'm having trouble remembering it. But he's saying here look, and keep reading and I'll prove it to you that that's what this is saying. If they fall away to renew them again into repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame, for the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh off the pond and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed receiveth blessing from God, but that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burned. So we're talking about people who've been what? Rejected by God. That's what it says. Rejected. Reprobate. Read Romans 1. Read Proverbs 1. You got the scripture on the World Team? Well this is good. This isn't even what I was thinking of. This is good. Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because the blindness of their heart, who blinded them according to the Bible? God. It says, who being past feeling have given themselves over into lasciviousness to work all uncleanness, uncleanness talking about physical immorality like fornication, homosexuality, these kind of things are all encompassed by uncleanness, with greediness, but he has not so learned Christ. 2 Peter chapter 2. Having eyes, the false prophets mention, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin. They cannot change. You understand? Because people can be rejected by God. It says in verse 8 of Hebrews 6 here, that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected. The end is what? Burning. Going to hell. What beareth thorns and briars? Who wear false prophets, which come to you in thieves sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? You see that? The thorns and the thistles is the false prophet, the false teacher, the false religion. He says it's too late for them. They're rejected. Their end is to be burned. We're not talking about people that are a member of a false church. I'm talking about the people who are actually the preachers of these false, you know, the prophets of it. I'm not saying every Catholic, every Mormon is wicked. I'm saying every Mormon bishop and every Catholic priest is wicked as the devil. That's what I'm saying. And so I'm out of time. I have a lot more in my sermon. We'll have to save it for some other time because there will be another time that I get up and scream and yell about how salvation is paid for by Jesus Christ and that we don't have to add our good works, our good life, or be willing to turn from our sins. You see, there will be another sermon in the future on this subject because I'm going to get up and say it again and again and again and again that you turning from your sins, turning over a new leap, is works salvation. And the Bible says that we are saved by grace through faith, not of works, lest any man should boast. Boast about what? Boast about how wicked they were and now they gave it all up. Boast about how they turned from their sins. Boast about how they gave up rock music, cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs to receive... They didn't give up anything. Paul said, you know what I gave up? Dumb. I gave up dumb. It didn't matter. Oh, he gave up all this to be saved. You know, he was a rock stinger and he gave it all up to be saved. Billy Sunday was a baseball player and he gave it all up to be saved. Billy Sunday was not saved, number one, he's in hell right now. Number two, he's the Billy Graham of his day false teacher. Number two, Billy Sunday was not even good at baseball. Yeah. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. Billy Sunday, you just taught me that this week. He showed me, he's like, look, Billy Sunday wasn't even good at baseball. He gave it all up. He gave up his losing baseball career to preach the gospel. You know what, and of course Billy Sunday was just this ecumenical preacher that got the Catholics, the Methodists, the Presbyterians, all to join together to win people to Christ. And this is what he'd do. He'd stand in front at the end of his sermon and say, all right, come down the aisle and let's say I'm Jesus. This is what he did at every service. If you want Jesus, come shake my hand. It'll be like you're taking Jesus. You're shaking the hand of Jesus right now. And it was the hand that shook a million hands and independent fundamental Baptist preachers today translate that as a million people saved. Because everybody after the service walked up and shook his hand and said, you're saved, you're saved, saved, saved, saved. Hey, who wants to be saved? Come on up here and shake my hand right now. Shake my hand right now and you'll be saved. And if you're listening to this over the internet, put your hand on the screen of your computer right now. If you put your hand on the screen of your computer right now, you will be saved because I've got my hand on the video camera and I've got my hand on the audio recorder and my hand represents Jesus' hand. You don't get saved by shaking somebody's hand. Okay? And then what they do, then they baptized them, right? Wrong. Because see, that would be scriptural if they baptized people that got saved. They didn't baptize them because 90% of the people there were Catholics, Sprinklers, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians who don't believe in baptism. And guess what? They don't believe in salvation by grace either and they didn't when they walked in and they didn't when they walked out. You see, what they ought to have done, and I'll close with this, they ought to have repented of what they believed. And you see, why is repeat after me wrong? Because if they believe the same thing that they believed when you started talking to them, they didn't get saved. They're going to have to repent of whatever false things they believe and acknowledge the truth. But do they have to repent of their sins? Nope. Otherwise we're all going to hell. Every person in America is on their way to hell if you have to repent of your sins to be saved. But thanks be to God, it's through his blood, faith in his blood, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and I shall be saved. Are we 1, 2, 3 repeat after me? Nope. We're 1, 2, 3 believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And 1, 2, and 3 are very thorough and long and in depth. And they're 1, 2, 3 repent after me. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for salvation, that it's free, dear God. It's fun to talk about how free it is because it's a glorious message, the good news that Jesus paid it all, salvation by faith. Please help these wolves and false teachers to be exposed for the liars and phonies that they really are, dear God. And please use this message to strengthen the believers of Faithful Word Baptist Church on what they believe so that they can be solid, grounded, firm in what they believe and be able to preach the gospel clearly and without confusing the issue as this repentance and lordship salvation has muddied the waters of salvation is all it's done. And we love you and in Jesus' name we pray.