(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Now the verse that I wanted to preach about tonight is there in verse number one where the Bible reads, He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy. And this has to do with a term that you'll see throughout the Bible, those that are stiff necked. Those that are often reproved but they harden their neck, meaning that they resist being corrected. They resist stubbornly what God says and they want to continue in their false doctrine or in their wicked lifestyle or whatever the case may be. Go back to Genesis chapter 4 if you will, let me show you a perfect example of this right at the beginning of the Bible with Cain. Genesis chapter 4 beginning in verse number 5, and of course this is a famous story of Cain and Abel and Abel has brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof, he brought the animal sacrifice that God had requested, but Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. Not what God had asked for, but he brought his best, you know, he brought his works and his goodness. And it says in verse number 5, but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. So God did not respect Cain's offering it says. And Cain was very wroth. So Cain's reaction to God not accepting his offering is anger, wrath. It says that Cain was wroth and it says his countenance fell, but look what God says in verse 6, and the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door, and unto thee shall be his desire and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother and it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him. So in this passage here we see that God is being very patient with Cain. Cain disobeys, God gives him an instruction, he brings the wrong thing. And Cain expects God to accept it and when he finds out that God does not accept it, he becomes enraged, he becomes angry, he becomes furious. It says he was very wroth, which is a very strong word for anger there. And he's just enraged that God doesn't like what he's doing and God just calmly and patiently says to him, Cain, why are you mad basically? What is the problem here? If you do well, you'll be accepted. And if not, sin lieth at the door. And he's just giving him a choice here to correct his ways, to be reproved, to make a change. And instead of being corrected, he gets angry, he doesn't want to be corrected, and he ends up in his rage taking it out on somebody else and killing Abel. Who was not the problem? The Bible says, not as Cain who was of that wicked one who slew his brother and wherefore slew him, because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous. So he was so angry about God not accepting his offering that he then takes that out on somebody who has nothing to do with the problem. Abel was not the problem. Abel did what he was supposed to do, but because Abel did what he was supposed to do that made Cain angry at him, you know, for obeying, well he's disobeying, and he kills Abel. And so this attribute of refusing to be corrected is what destroyed Cain's life. Because there was still hope for Cain when he made a mistake, and listen to me, everybody makes mistakes. Nobody's perfect. Everybody has wrong opinions at one point or another. Everybody does things that are wrong and makes foolish decisions at one time or another in their life. But the difference between those that are going to be the servants of God and those that are going to live a life blessed by God, and those who are going to live a life cursed by God, because that's the result here, if you look at verse 11, now art thou cursed from the earth. You know, the curse came upon Cain's life, not because he made a mistake, not because he misunderstood, not because he was wrong, because frankly everybody's wrong at some point in their life. The problem with Cain is that he refused to be corrected. That was the problem. You're not going to go through life without sinning, you're not going to go through life and just be right about everything and you're never wrong and you never make a mistake, but there are two kinds of people in this world. There are those who receive the correction and those who don't receive the correction. Go to 1 Samuel 15, and let me show you another person that refused to be corrected. And that's King Saul. Go to 1 Samuel 15. You see, King Saul was the first king of Israel, David was the second king, and these men both reigned for 40 years, and they both had a lot of things in common, and they had some differences. Now, did Saul make some mistakes as king? Did he do some things that were wrong? Absolutely. Did David make some mistakes and do some things that were wrong? Okay, so why does Saul go down in history as being a sinful king, a wicked king, a bad guy? You know, you go out soul-ending and most people won't even believe you when you tell them that Saul was saved, and you have to prove that to them from the Bible, because he goes down as being a bad person. Whereas David is someone that we exalt and lift up, and the Bible says that man after God's own heart. And how many people do we know that are named David? Because they're named after the David of the Bible. What was the difference between these two men? Because if I look at some of the sins that David committed, and I look at the sins that Saul committed, it seems to me that David did things that were just as bad as what Saul did. I mean, David did some pretty bad stuff, and to me, if I look at David's sins, and obviously I'm not the final judge, I'm not God, but as I look at David's sins versus Saul's sins, in some ways, stuff that David did looks worse, in my opinion. Because David committed adultery with another man's wife. I didn't see Saul doing that. And then David had one of his most trusted advisors killed, one of his right-hand men. Of course, Saul tried to do that, because he tried to kill David, who was his loyal servant. And so you see similarities there between the two men. But here's the colossal difference between Saul and David. See, Samuel would come to Saul and try to correct him, and to try to tell him, you've done wrong, Saul, you need to change this, you've made a mistake, Cain, you brought the wrong offering. But the difference is that when Samuel came to Saul with that message, Saul hardened his neck, did not want to receive that correction, and refused to change. Whereas David, when he was confronted by Nathan the prophet, basically the Samuel of his generation, the Samuel of his day, when Nathan the prophet came to him and rebuked him for his sin, he didn't argue, he didn't try to make excuses, he didn't just dig in and say, I'm right, I'm right. No. He said, I've sinned. I'm sorry. I made a mistake. That's the difference between Saul and David. And that's why they ended up differently. And that's why their descendants ended up differently. Because of one thing about Saul that just was his downfall, he would not be corrected, he would not take reproof and rebuke. David, on the other hand, received the correction and received the rebuke. Look down at your Bible there at 1 Samuel 15, 23. Actually go to verse 22. This is where Samuel's rebuking Saul. Says in verse 22, And Samuel said, Hath the Lord his great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? And this is Samuel's response to Saul arguing with him and telling him why he's not wrong and why he hasn't done anything wrong. He said in the end of verse 22, Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken in the fat of rams. Watch this. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. And look at this next phrase. And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king. So when someone tries to correct you or reprove you or rebuke you and you harden your neck, wouldn't that be called stubbornness? When someone shows you, here are the facts, you're wrong, and you're just, no, no, and you're stubborn about it. And you're rebelling against the word of the Lord there. And he says, rebellion is the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. How many times have you run into this about Saul winning? You show somebody really clearly from the Bible something about salvation and it's crystal clear and they just say, I don't believe that. They don't have a reason, they're just being stubborn. They just have a certain way that they believe and it's just stuck in their mind and they don't want to change. They don't want to hear anything different. Now let me show you some scriptures that show you, go to Deuteronomy 21, that stubbornness is actually equated with rebellion in the Bible in a few different places. Because here he said, rebellion is the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. That means being stubborn is a sin that is on par with worshiping idols. So if we were to rank sin, which sin is worse than others, he says, well, you could easily compare being stubborn with being an idolater. And idolatry is a major sin in the Bible. Now would you say witchcraft is a major sin? Oh yeah, that's a big sin, right? He says rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. So we need to be careful that we don't become a stubborn person, a rebellious, stubborn person that when somebody tries to tell us, you've sinned, you've done wrong, you've made a mistake here, you need to correct something, that we don't just harden our neck and refuse to change. Because God is comparing it to some very wicked sins. Look down if you would there at Deuteronomy 21, look at how stubbornness and rebellion are used together. Let me get there myself, I'm in the wrong chapter here. Deuteronomy 21 beginning in verse 18, and again this should show you how serious this matter is. It says, if a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, notice how the two go hand in hand, which will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and that when they have chastised him or chastened him will not hearken unto him. So they've tried to discipline this boy, they've tried spanking him, they've tried beating him and basically he just will not obey. He's stubborn, he's rebellious, he will not change, he will not obey his parents. Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him and bring him out unto the elders of the city and under the gate of his place, and they shall say unto the elders of his city, this our son is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. He is a glutton and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones that he die. So shall thou put away evil from among you and all Israel shall hear and fear. Now who believes that that was a good idea? Well if you don't, then you're saying that God is putting things in the Bible that are bad ideas. Now I believe that the Bible is the Word of God and that the Bible is perfect in every way. I think that that was a pretty good idea. And if you don't think that, then I guess you're smarter than God, because God's the one who wrote that down. And God said that there are some people who are so stubborn and so rebellious and they just won't listen and they just won't learn and they will not obey, and mom and dad tell them till they're blue in the face and they won't obey. He just said take them out and kill them. I mean that's what the Bible said here. So what I'm trying to show you with that scripture, and obviously I'm not saying to go take anybody out and kill them tonight, because obviously we're living in the New Testament. This is not the law of the land in the United States and we live under our law and blah blah blah, obviously you know that. But what I am showing you is that God sees this as a major problem when people are stubborn and rebellious, doesn't He? I mean if this were a minor sin or a minor problem, would God have told them to handle it in that way? Stoning with stones? If it was just a little thing? If it wasn't a big deal? If rebelling and being stubborn when your parents are trying to tell you the truth, they're trying to tell you to obey and you won't listen, deserves this kind of a punishment according to the Bible, how much more if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven? How much more when we rebel against the word of the Lord? How much more when we stubbornly refuse to listen to the word of God and we stubbornly refuse to listen to the preaching of God's word when it's straight out of the Bible and we say, well I'm just going to do it my way anyway. I'm just going to keep doing it my way or I'm just going to keep believing what I believe regardless of what the Bible says, regardless of what the word of the Lord says, regardless of what our Heavenly Father says, that's being stubborn and that's being rebellious. And it's like witchcraft, it's like idolatry, and it's something that God rebukes very sternly in this passage. Here's another scripture, go to Psalm 78, where God ties in stubbornness with rebellion. And He explains to us that rebellion is basically being stubborn to the commands of the Lord and the words of the Lord. Go to Psalm 78, beginning in verse number 7 there in Psalm 78, the Bible reads that they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments and might not be as their fathers a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that set not their heart aright and whose spirit was not steadfast with God. Go to Acts chapter 7, Acts chapter 7 is another place where Stephen is preaching and he rebukes the Jews that he's preaching unto for being stiff-necked and stubborn and rebellious. Look what he says in Acts 7.51, ye stiff-necked, and remember the first verse I read said, he that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, that's a stiff neck, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy. He says right here, ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. You do always resist the Holy Ghost. As your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the just one of whom ye have now been the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the disposition of angels and have not kept it. And he rebukes them for being stiff-necked, stubborn, uncircumcised, and he said you're resisting the Holy Ghost. Now the opposite of resisting the Holy Ghost is going to be what? To change. Now go to Revelation chapter 2 and let me show you this. In Revelation chapter 2 we see the opposite of what we saw in Acts chapter 7 where he's saying you're resisting the Holy Ghost, you're resisting the Holy Ghost, you're stiff-necked, you're stubborn, you won't change, you won't listen. So in Revelation 2 and 3, when Jesus Christ gave the seven letters to the seven churches, he gave these special messages to each church. He wanted the whole book of Revelation to be sent to each church. He wanted the whole book of Revelation to go out to all seven churches, and one big reason for that is because that way it couldn't be changed. I mean think about it, if I wrote one letter and sent it to one person, what if the mailman got a hold of that letter, opened it up, made some changes, erased some things, added some things, and Paul, or I'm sorry John, well Paul, he'd had that happen. He basically had talked to the Thessalonians about somebody who'd written a forged letter that claimed to be from Paul, and he had sent it unto Thessalonica and Paul was saying hey I didn't write that letter. If I didn't sign it in my own handwriting, you'll know that it wasn't for me. Well when John sent out the book of Revelation, he sends it to these seven churches, and that right there can show you that if all seven of them are saying the same thing, that tells you it hasn't been tampered with. And of course there's that very stern warning at the end of Revelation about anyone who would try to tamper with it. Very important to God that the book of Revelation arrived intact at these seven locations. Well he also gives a message, even though the whole book of Revelation is written to each church, he has a specific message to each of those individual churches that's just for them that pertains to them. Now there are certain elements that you'll see come up over and over again in these letters to the seven churches. One of those is that he tells them almost always to repent of something. You know, he tells them what they're doing that's good, and then he tells them what they're doing wrong, and he says, repent of what you've done wrong. And then he says at the end of all seven of them, he says, he that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. So what that tells me is that God is speaking to the churches throughout God's Word, and the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit is the one who is speaking through the Word of God, telling people to change, and they either have an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying, or they resist the Holy Ghost and they don't want to hear, and they don't want to hearken to what the Spirit is saying. Now the word repent, if I could just sum it up in one word, I would probably say change, you know, because we don't really use the word repent a lot in our modern vernacular. And so because we don't really use the word repent a lot, some people struggle with the meaning of the word repent, they don't know what it means. But if you look at the Bible, it's used in a variety of ways, a variety of contexts, and it always has to do with something changing. Or another word you could use to describe the word repent is turn, right? Turning or changing. Now a lot of people will say, well repent means to be sorry for your sins. Well, no it doesn't, because the person who repents more than any other in the Bible is God. 37 times I believe it talks about God repenting. And so God doesn't have any sins, so to say that repent means to be sorry for your sins would basically be to say that God has sinned and been sorry for it 37 times. Well God has never sinned, God cannot sin. And so repent just means a change needs to take place. Now the word repent is used in the Bible, I'm going off the top of my head, but I believe it's used 107 times. I know it's used over 100 times. So wouldn't you say that repentance is a major message of the Bible? How about this, is it a major theme that runs its course in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation? A theme of man needs to repent? I mean isn't that something that comes up a lot? When we're in Revelation he's telling these churches, repent, repent, repent. John the Baptist comes on the scene and he's preaching. He says, repent, repent. Jesus comes on the scene and he's preaching, he says, repent. The apostles say, repent. Paul says, repent. The Old Testament prophets are telling people to repent. And even if they don't use the word repent, which is used 107 or so times, even if they don't use the word repent, the concept of repenting is found when God is telling you change. Listen Cain, what you did is not acceptable. You need to do it right, you need to do well, you need to change your offering. You need to change what you believe. You need to change your life. You need to change your actions. All throughout the Bible there is a message from Genesis to Revelation telling man to repent. You know why? Because man isn't perfect. No one is perfect, therefore everyone needs to change. There's not a person on this earth that doesn't need to change something about what they believe or something about the way they live their life or something about their life. They need to change it because man's not perfect. And because man is sinful, because man is imperfect, because man makes mistakes, God is telling him over and over and over again throughout the Bible, repent, repent, repent, repent, change, change, change, change, change. And man has one of two responses to that. He can either have an attitude that says, I'm willing to change, I'm willing to hearken and to have an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to me, and I'm willing to change my doctrine, I'm willing to change my actions, I'm willing to correct this sinful thing about my life, and then there are the people who just harden their neck and say, this is the way I am, this is just how I am, and I'm not willing to change. Do you see that? From Genesis Revelation, there's this message telling man to change and to repent and to fix things, and then man says, I don't want to change, this is how I am. You know, isn't that what these filthy sodomites say? I was born this way, I can't change. You know what? Fine, you can't change. But let me tell you something, I agree with that. But let me tell you this though, we as God's people ought not have this born this way attitude about our sin. That's just how I am, I mean I've just always struggled with X sin, and you know I've just always struggled with that, and that's just how I am, and I just can't get up. Change. Change. Don't worry, well I've just been a Catholic my whole life. Change. Well, I've just never been the type to want to go out soul winning. You need to change. And see, repentance is when you're willing to change something and you're willing to turn something and you're not going to be one that just says, no, I'm going to stay the same. My opinions are going to stay the same. Everything's going to stay the same. Why even come to church if you're going to stay the same? You're supposed to go out a different way than you came in. If you don't need to change anything, then going to church is just an exercise for you. We ought to come in to church ready to learn something new that might change our perspective, or learn something new that might change something about the way that we live our lives. When we approach the Bible, we're looking for something that needs to change. What do I need to change, God? What do I need to repent of or repent from? Now where people get into false doctrine is when they say you have to repent of your sins to be saved. Well, if you say you have to repent of your sins to be saved, then I guess nobody's saved. Because can anybody tell me if somebody who's repented of all their sins, oh well I didn't say all your sins. Okay, well which sins do I have to repent of? Just the ones on your list? What do I need to repent of? Is it drinking? Is it drugs? Is it fornication? All the big ones, you know, well that's not the message of salvation. The message of salvation is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in thy house. So you ask this, well is repentance necessary for salvation? People will say, is repentance necessary for salvation? Well if something needs to change, yes. I mean think about it. If I'm not saved, that means I don't believe on Christ. That means I'm trusting something other than Christ, okay? What needs to change? What I believe needs to change, right? And here's the thing, unless what I believe changes, I'm not going to get saved. Praying a prayer is not going to save me unless what I believe changes. You know, saying words, it's going to have to come from the heart and in order for words to come from the heart that are confessing Jesus Christ as my only savior and my only way to heaven, something has to change in my heart. There has to be a change in what I believe, okay? So in that sense, repentance could be necessary for salvation if you want to look at it that way, that something is changing, okay? But what is it that's changing? I'm turning away from a life of sin? No, see that's work salvation. Because turning away from a life of sin, okay, that's not grace through faith, salvation. That's me turning over a new leaf. Alcoholics Anonymous will do that for you, but that's not salvation. You know, turning over a new leaf isn't salvation. You know what? I'm sick of living a sinful life, I'm ready to start living God's way. That's not salvation. Salvation is when you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thy heart that God has raised him from the dead. That's salvation. And so a lot of times people will take verses that associate with repentance with salvation, but what they do is they insert the term repent of your sins. Go if you would to, and I don't want the whole sermon to be about this, but just go to Acts 17. I'll just show you one quick example. One quick example, well two, but I don't want the whole sermon to be about this. I just wanted to briefly touch on this. But go to Acts 17, here's a verse that people will bring up to say, you know, you've got to repent of your sins to be saved. It says in verse 30, and the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. See right there, you've got to repent of your sins to be saved. Well here's the problem with that. Number one, does this verse mention anything about being saved? Does this mention that people have to repent of their sins? No. So do you see how ridiculous that is to say that this verse proves that you have to repent of your sins to be saved? It neither mentions being saved nor repenting of your sins in the verse. Now because God commands us to do something doesn't make it necessary for salvation. God also commands us to be baptized. It says in Acts 10 they commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Do we have to be baptized to be saved? No. God commands us thou shalt not steal. Does that mean if we steal we're not saved? God commands us thou shalt not bear false witness. Does that mean if we bear false witness we're not saved? That doesn't make any sense, but look at the context. Is he even talking about repenting of your sinful lifestyle as those who preach this would say? Back up a few verses. It says in verse 29, for as much then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver or stone graven by art and man's device. So should we think that the Godhead is similar to a statue made of gold, silver, or stone? Should we think that? No. And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. So what needs to change here? How we view God. Do we view him as a statue? Do we view him as a graven image? Do we view him as gold, silver, and precious stones? Or do we view him as the creator of the universe that does not dwell in temples made with hands? So this is where they have to quit fornicating. Is that what he's talking about? This is where they have to be willing to quit drinking. Is that even in the context there at all? Go to Acts 3. Here's another one. You say, well, that one didn't mention salvation, Pastor Anderson, but let me show you one that does mention salvation in regard to repentance. This one proves that you have to repent of your sins, and if somebody's not willing to quit drinking, and if somebody's not willing to quit fornicating, they can't be saved is what they'll tell you. Because you've got to repent of your sins to be saved. Okay, look at Acts 3 and look at verse 19 right here. Here it is, folks. "'Repent you therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out.'" See, there you go. Boom. Salvation. Sins blotted out. Converted. Bam! You've got to repent of your sins to be saved. But hold on. Where's the of your sins? See how it's missing? "'Repent ye therefore.'" Well, God repented. "'Repent ye therefore and be converted.'" Now, all we have to do is get the context to see what it is that needs to be repented of or what needs to change. Back up a little bit. It says in verse 14, "'But ye,'" ye means you, right? "'But ye denied the Holy One and the just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you.'" A murderer that they desired to be granted unto them. Barabbas, right? So they rejected Jesus Christ and they chose Barabbas instead of Jesus, did they not? And what did they do in verse 15? "'And killed the prince of life.'" He's saying you killed the prince of life. Same subject from verse 14. He said, "'You desired a murderer, Barabbas, and you killed the prince of life, and whom God raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses. And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know. Yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. And now, brethren, I watch it thee through ignorance you did it, as did also your rulers." He's saying, look, I know you didn't do it intentionally. I know you did not intentionally reject the Savior. You did it through ignorance. Your rulers did it through ignorance. But those things which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets that Christ should suffer, he has so fulfilled, "'Repent ye therefore, and be converted that your sins may be blotted out.'" So what do they need to repent of? Their rejection of Jesus Christ, but more specifically, they need to repent of their ignorance. And what did he say in Acts 17, 30? "'And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.'" Here he said, you're ignorant. You rejected Christ through ignorance, but don't stay ignorant, repent. But does this have anything to do with turning over a new leaf of your lifestyle? Did he say you're living in sin and you need to stop sinning? You need to stop living such a wicked, sinful life. Is that what he said? No, he said you need to stop rejecting Christ. You need to stop being ignorant of who Christ is. You need to stop being ignorant of who the Godhead is. That's why it says in 2 Timothy 2, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God, peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, not repenting of all their sinful lifestyle, but repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. You're not acknowledging the truth now. You need to repent and acknowledge the truth. You think the Godhead is like gold and silver. You need to change that. You think that Barabbas is better than Jesus. That needs to change. We need to understand this doctrine of repentance because it's a biblical doctrine that goes throughout the Bible. Listen, it's for unbelievers and believers. Unbelievers are told to repent of worshiping false gods, thinking that God's an idol, thinking that Jesus is not the Savior, being ignorant of the word of God. What needs to change? They need to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. They need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ that they might be saved. But then believers are told to repent in Revelation 2 and 3. Churches filled with believers are being told to repent. Of what? Losing their first love, not doing the first works. Of what? Fornication. Of what? Having a woman that's allowed to preach and teach in the church at Pergamos. What do they need to repent of? They need to repent of being lukewarm in the case of the church of Laodicea. What did the church of Sardis need to repent of? The fact that they were living in the past. They were living on their past glories. And they were not doing the works that they had once done and they needed to repent. They needed to change something. And so my question for you today is, are you willing to repent? And I'm talking to the saved today. I'm not talking to the unsaved. This message is not geared toward the unsaved. This message is geared toward the saved. Almost everybody here or maybe even everybody here is saved. The majority is saved, no doubt, in this church. And I am asking you, are you willing to repent? Are you willing to change? When you open your Bible tomorrow morning and you see something that comes in direct conflict with what you believe, are you willing to accept the truth of God's word or will you say, no I'm just going to stick with what I've always believed? I'm going to stick with what I've always been taught. I've always lived my life this way. You know what? I've had somebody say to me this, well you know what? My whole life I've just always been kind of one foot in church and one foot in the world, that's just how I am. That needs to change. Well I'm just a shy person, I don't want to do any soul winning. Change. Pray for boldness. Be willing to make a change. I don't want to be the same as I was last year. I don't want to be the same as I was 10 years ago. And you hear a lot, don't change, don't change, don't change. Well when you're right about something, don't change. Amen. We shouldn't be the type of person that's tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. But you know what? Does that mean that when we're wrong we're just not going to change because we're so afraid of making a bad change that we're just not going to change? Well then you've basically just rejected the whole message of repentance of the Bible, which is constantly telling us to change. Constantly telling us to repent. Constantly reproving. I mean, what is preaching? What is the definition of preaching? He said preach the word, be instant in season out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. See what is the difference between preaching and teaching? Preaching includes teaching. Because when he said preach the word he said reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. And doctrine means teaching. So preaching must include teaching. He's saying don't just reprove, don't just rebuke, do it with doctrine. Do it with teaching of God's word. That's where the reproof needs to come from. So basically the difference, let me just give it to you in a nutshell, the difference between preaching and teaching is that preaching is teaching with a kick in the pants. Preaching is teaching that slaps you in the face. Preaching is teaching that tells you you're wrong. That's the difference. You say what's the difference between being a teacher and a preacher? Well the math teacher doesn't get up and tell you, you know what, you're wrong. I don't care what anybody says, you know, 2 plus 2 is 4, you're wrong, change! You know he doesn't say that, why? Because the students aren't really resisting what he's saying is why. Preaching is one that confronts you and says you're wrong. You say I don't agree with that definition, well what does rebuke mean? If it doesn't mean to tell somebody they're wrong. What does reprove mean if it doesn't mean to tell somebody they're wrong? And what does exhort mean if it doesn't mean to get somebody to do something that they were not already doing? That's what it means. That's what preaching is. It's a rebuke, it's a reproof, it's a you're wrong message. That was the message of John the Baptist, he told everybody they were wrong, that was the message of Jesus. You're wrong, repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. He told them over and over again that something needed to change, something needed to change. And you know what, there are many people today who just are dug in on false doctrine, they're dug in on a sin in their life, and they need to be open to the fact that something might need to change. You know, it's interesting, a lot of churches have a statement of faith, in fact probably every church has a doctrinal statement or a statement of faith, right? Probably every church has it. And you know, sometimes that doctrinal statement, they say, we will not ever change our doctrinal statement. Amen, amen, amen. And you know what, most of the stuff in their doctrinal statement is probably great and probably should not change. But how about that imminent return of Christ? That is in almost every single doctrinal statement that you'll find. And it's false. It's always mentioned. We believe in the imminent return of Jesus Christ, we believe Jesus can come back at any moment. That is not biblical. Second Thessalonians chapter 2 says that that is a deception. And he said, let no man deceive you by any means. That day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition. And here's what they say, well, but if we change that, we have to change everything. Because the doctrinal statement is the foundation for what we believe. It's like if you change their doctrinal statement, to them it's like you're just ripping the rug out from under them. Like you're just ripping out the rug out from under them. Well you know what, I thank God this is my rug. This is my rug. You're not going to rip this out from under me. The doctrinal statement should not be, listen to me now. The doctrinal statement should not be the foundation for what we believe as a church. It should be a statement, meaning this is just us telling people what we believe. Not the foundation of what we believe, not the source of what we believe, but just a statement where we tell the world what we believe. Now look, I'm not ashamed of what I believe. Are you ashamed of what you believe? Are you trying to hide what you believe? I want to shout it from the mountaintops and shout it from the rooftops. Therefore to me a doctrinal statement is just, hey let's just tell everybody what we believe. Part of the purpose of why we have a doctrinal statement and why our church website has a doctrinal statement on the home page is so that people don't have to keep asking me questions, the same question, I have to keep answering the same question about what we believe. It's just like, you know how a lot of websites have a FAQ, like a frequently asked questions? You know what I'm talking about, FAQ, frequently asked questions? You go there, instead of wasting their time asking them the same thing, you go there and look at it. To me that's all a doctrinal statement should be. Are you listening? That's all it should be. You say, what's the purpose of having a doctrinal statement? It's the frequently asked questions. Because for example, early in our church history people kept asking me the same thing and I was like, I need to add that to the doctrinal statement because people keep asking me this. This way they can just see the answer right there when they go to our church website. Because we're just trying to make it clear who we are. You know, we were out soul-winding today and I talked to this lady that was a Mormon and I asked her if she believed that people are living on other planets. And she would not tell me. She would not answer that question. And because of course Mormons do believe that there are billions of other planets and that there are human beings living on other planets with other gods. But here's what's funny, whenever you ask them that they don't want to tell you that. But if you pull out the quotes of their leaders or if you really press them on it, eventually they'll admit to you, I was out soul-winding with my son John and we finally got this woman to admit it. This woman today, she wouldn't ever come out and say there's other planets with people living on them. She's like, probably. She said there are probably other planets with other people living on them. So I'm like, so you're not sure? No I didn't say that. I mean, they're out there, but probably, but I don't know, maybe. But do you notice how she's not proud of that? Mormon missionaries don't knock on your door and say, hi, I'm from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Let me tell you about the distant star Kolob. Let me tell you about all the extraterrestrial life that's in our universe today. That's the last thing they want to talk about. Let me tell you about secret temple rituals. Let me tell you about funny underwear you will wear for the rest of your life if you enjoy the Church of Mormon. You think that's what they tell you? No, because they're ashamed of what they believe. Let me tell you something, I'm not. I want to pronounce as loudly and clearly to everyone I meet everything I believe. Even that scripture we turn to in Deuteronomy is a scripture that Christians try to, I'm afraid of or hide from it, I'll embrace it, I'll preach it, I love it. Good stuff. Amen, brother. Say it again. Listen, the doctrinal statement is a way for us to broadcast what we believe just to make it real clear so nobody had any question about this is what we believe, about salvation, about the Bible. But here's the thing, it's not the foundation for what we believe. Is it inerrant? Is it infallible? Then it can change. If it's wrong, it needs to be changed. We should not base what we believe on any man-made statement of faith. A lot of people have embraced this 1689 Baptist confession and they have this doctrinal statement that's really old. It's from 1689, the Baptist confession of 1689 and they say, you know what, we need to stay with this thing and we need to be true to the 1689 Baptist confession. That document means nothing to me. I've never even read it and I have no desire to ever read it. It means nothing to me. Because I don't care what some church believed 300 and some years ago. I'm not interested. I care what the Bible says and I care what churches believe now. I don't care what some, like that's going to influence me on what I believe. I'm sorry, it doesn't. And then there's this other thing called the Apostles Creed. And it's like this old doctrinal statement, it's basically a doctrinal statement that goes back to like, I don't know, do you know, Brother Garrett, what year that's from? The early centuries of whatever, right? Do you know, Brother Dave? You've chanted it five million times when you grew up Presbyterian, right? But I don't know when it's from. I don't know, what's it from, 100 AD, 200 AD, 300 AD? Somewhere in that ballpark. But it's really old and it's a doctrinal statement. We believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. It says like, and we believe in the Holy Catholic Church. Well you lost me there, brother. It does say that. And so we need to be careful that we as a church never get to the point where we're just not willing to change, not willing to let the Bible cry. Now look, don't change. Don't change unless you're shown scripture to make you change. Don't change on things that we're right about. Don't change on things that are crystal clear in scripture. But you know what? Somebody said to me, Pastor Anderson, you changed your view on this, that, or the other. Well some people grow and some don't, is what I would say to that. And I thank God I've changed almost nothing in the last seven years. Go back, and that's why I can put all the 2006 and 2007 sermons online from the first few years of our church, and you can listen to all of them and you'll see that I've changed. Probably the only thing that's really changed is my political views. You know what I mean? My political views were not really as clear cut in scripture. I learned more after that. But you know, doctrinally, I haven't really changed on anything major. Can't think of anything. But there are little tiny things. Like recently I changed my understanding of the 144,000 in Revelation. You know what I mean? Things like that. You know what? But I'm okay with changing. If somebody can prove me from the Bible that I'm wrong, I am ready to change. Because the Bible is my final authority. Not me, not tradition, not what I've been doing. Show me scripture and I'll change. And I'll say this, if I won't change, I'll give you a reason, biblically, why I'm not going to change. But we need to be willing to change, and especially when it comes to our life as Christians, to be willing to be different. Well, I've just always been this type of person. My eyes have always wandered on things they shouldn't. Well, you need to work on that, you need to pray about that. And don't just go through life being the same, the same, the same, the same, the same. You need to get better and better and better and better and better. And that's what the word repent means. And that's the message of repentance throughout the Bible. Don't harden your neck when you're approved. Don't dig in, don't be stubborn now, don't be rebellious at the word of the Lord. Be willing to realize, hey, I was wrong and I'm sorry. And you know what, when you confess and forsake your sins, you find mercy. When you harden your neck, you get suddenly destroyed. And you know what that means? I'll close with this. You know what that means when it says, he that being often reproved, hardened at his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy? What that means is that a lot of times when you hear a verbal rebuke, whether it be from God through His word, or whether it be through preaching, or whether it be through other people that are just telling you the truth, a lot of times there's no consequence that comes at you right away. Let's take a rebellious teenager, a rebellious young person. And let's say this young person turns 18 years old and they start thinking, you know what, I don't need to listen to mom and dad anymore. I don't need to listen to my pastor anymore. I'm going to go out, I'm going to date an unbeliever. I'm going to hang around with the world. I'm going to go live the party life. I'm going to go worship the golden calf and eat, drink, and be married. You know, when a young person starts living that lifestyle, a lot of times people in that person's life will tell them, maybe a pastor will go to that person and say, you know what, you're going down a wrong path, I love you, please change, let's get back on course. Maybe mom and dad are saying, look, honey, you haven't been in church, you're not being faithful to church. Are you reading your Bible? Why are you dating an unbeliever? Why are you drinking? Why are you posting yourself half naked on Facebook? You know, whatever. People in that person's life are trying to reprove them. And then maybe they show up to church every once in a blue and the pastor's up here, and it's just going in one ear and out the other. They're hardening their neck, right? And they feel like they're getting away with it. They feel like nothing bad's happening. They feel like everything's going pretty good, right? Well, and then they might get in a horrible car accident and die or be crippled. And you know what, I know people like that, who rebelled against the voice of the Lord and bad things happened to them. Punishment came. God's thunderbolt came in their life and punishment came and it's like, you didn't listen. You were often reproved, you hardened your neck, and then just suddenly, I mean you're just driving along, you're blasting your worldly music, church is the last thing on your mind, mom and dad are the last thing on your mind, the pastor's the last thing on your mind, la-da-da-da. And what? Bam! You're suddenly destroyed without remedy. I mean, there's no way to go back and fix that. You know, you're injured permanently or you're killed, or you end up marrying an unbeliever and then next thing you know, your spouse is committing all kinds of adultery or bringing in all kinds of things that you don't want in your home or teaching your children. You know, there's certain things where you can't really fix them. When somebody dies, you can't bring them back from the dead. You know, I mean Jesus did that a few times, Elijah and Elisha did that a few times, but you know what, once that young person dies, that's it, you know, they died. You know, if they were saved, of course they're in heaven, but you can't bring that life back, they can't serve God, they can't make it right, they can't get it right, they've screwed up and there's no way to fix it. And so what I'm saying is that a lot of times you'll get reproved on something and basically God's warning you, God's warning you, God's warning you, and if you're smart you'll listen before He has to come and suddenly destroy you without remedy, before He has to cloud up and rain on you. You know, if you're smart you'll just be sensitive to, wait a minute, I think God's trying to get my attention here. I keep reading my Bible, I keep seeing this stuff, every time I show up at church it seems like the pastor touches on it. Either he's got a spy camera and he knows what I'm into, or else maybe God's trying to get him to rebuke me on this because maybe this is what I need to hear, maybe the Spirit's leading him to say, and you keep coming to church and you keep hearing stuff that applies to you and you just, oh it's a coincidence, no, and then what happens? Sudden destruction without remedy. But if you're smart you'll listen, you'll be sensitive to it. In every sermon you should examine yourself and say, you know what, is what Pastor Anderson saying right or wrong? And if it's wrong, ignore it. But you should say, you know what, is there something that I need to change? Is there something about my life or my doctrine or my beliefs or my lifestyle that needs to change? And every time you read the Bible it should be like, well what do I need to change in light of this passage? Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, help us to be people that don't harden our necks, not to be stiff necked or stubborn. Help us to be people that are willing to repent, willing to change, willing to hear someone tell us that we're wrong, and willing to make the corrections that are necessary. And it's a lot easier said than done, but help us to have the humility to be willing to accept reproof and to follow that way of life, and in Jesus' name we pray, amen.