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

Please take your seats and turn to song 23. Song number 23, there's power in the blood. Song number 23. There is power in the blood, there is power in the working part, there is power in the blood of the lamb, there is power in the working part, in the precious blood of the lamb. There is power in the blood, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part, there is power in the working part. Pray for the soul's pride home, say will he find you and be still watching, waiting, waiting when the Lord shall come. If at the dawn of the early morning he shall call us one by one, when to the Lord we restore our talent, will he answer thee well done. O can we say we are ready, brother, ready for the soul's pride home, say will he find you and be still watching, waiting, waiting when the Lord shall come. Have we been true to the trust he left us, do we seem to do our best, if we obey all the Lord from past, we shall then be truly blessed. O can we say we are ready, brother, ready for the soul's pride home, say will he find you and be still watching, waiting, waiting when the Lord shall come. Blessed are those whom the Lord finds watching, in his glory they shall share. If he shall come at the dawn or midnight, will he find us watching there. O can we say we are ready, brother, ready for the soul's pride home, say will he find you and be still watching, waiting, waiting when the Lord shall come. Sunday nights at 630 and then Wednesday nights at 7 is our Bible study. This week we will be in Jeremiah chapter number 52, the last chapter of Jeremiah finally. Jeremiah 52 this Wednesday, we have the soul winning times listed there below as well as salvation, baptisms and offering totals. We will have the baptistry set up this morning, so if you need to be baptized, we have everything available, just see either myself, brother Baker or brother Segura. Yes, 130. Okay, so Gilbert soul winning time. Let me just say a few things about the soul winning times. The church wide soul winning, that meets right here at the church property. If you come to any of those soul winning times, all you have to do is just show up right here at that time and there will be people to pair you up with, even if you have never gone soul winning, you can just be a silent partner. And the regional soul winning groups, you meet up with the group leader on that, okay. So for example, on Sunday's brother Fairchild over here, stand up brother Fairchild, he holds a soul winning group in Gilbert. They're moving the time on that, it's no longer going to be at 2.30, it's at 1.30. So coordinate with him, that meets at your house or just kind of meets in that area. Yeah, it meets out in Gilbert. So for the regional soul winning groups, those don't meet at the church property, they meet in other regions of the city where they're going soul winning. The purpose of that is that it would be convenient for you if you live out that way or if that's just a good time for you. And also because the area around our church, we've knocked the door so many times in many cases, it's good to go a little further out and start radiating from there. So you'll see there's a big orange patch in Gilbert that's sort of spreading, that's where they're soul winning out there in Gilbert. We also have other regional soul winning times, for example, Saturdays at 4.45 in Northwest Phoenix with John and Jesse McPhail. We've got one with brother Tyler Baker in Tempe and one that Mike Madison does on Sundays at 2.30. Where have you been going soul winning? North Phoenix. North Phoenix as well. And then also a brand new one that we've been starting up with brother Josh Hall and Russell Bops. Where are you? Stand up Russell Bops. You guys are meeting out off of the 51st Avenue and Riggs Road. Yeah, somewhere kind of between St. John's and Riggs Road off of 51st Avenue. So get with him if you want to be a part of that soul winning on the Native American reservation there. So anyway, lots of opportunities to go soul winning. And then the last two, the North Phoenix soul winning times, meet at our FWBC North location on 35th Avenue and Cactus. And cross the page, thank you to all those who joined us on the camping trip this past week. Helped us make it such a memorable time and everybody seemed to have a great time. We heard a lot of great preaching from, I didn't do any of the preaching. So it was a nice break for me to just sit back and listen to a ton of sermons last week. And then below that we've got the small town soul winning marathon. This Saturday, this is going to be great. Sacaton, Arizona, I believe it's considered the poorest town in the whole state of Arizona. That's what I heard. But anyway, it's part of it's an Indian reservation, part of it's not. We're going to crank out the whole city, God willing, this Saturday. So we're going to meet here for breakfast a little later than usual. It's going to be 830 AM here for breakfast. And then we'll be out of here at 915 Sharp to drive about 40 minutes to Sacaton. It's not super far away. You can see there on the map where it is in relation to Chandler. It's only like 40 minutes away from where we're standing. So we'll plan on starting soul winning down there at about 10 o'clock. We want to meet here at 915 at the latest if you want to ride with us, carpool with us, get organized with us. But it's better if you can get here earlier and have breakfast with us at 830. Now let me just get a head count just because we need to plan on the breakfast and the lunch, how many people are coming. Who's planning on coming to the breakfast this Saturday for the soul winning marathon? Keep your hands up really high because I want to count really quickly, all right? One. Is that the whole family, Brother Dickon? Okay, so how many is that all together? Help me out. If you don't know, I certainly don't. Keep your hands up. Don't put them down. There's somebody over here. Okay, he's in your family. All right, so 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44. Anybody else? Keep them up. 45. Okay. 46. All right, you're going to be there, son. 47. Several of my kids. So basically we have over 50 people that are going to be coming. And then I'll ask again tonight and Wednesday night for those who didn't already raise your hand. That'll get us in the ballpark. Look, if you didn't raise your hand, show up anyway because we're going to order extra food and everything because we always plan on a few late entries coming in. So no problem, but we just want to get a ballpark. You say, oh, you're wasting too much time in the morning service counting all those 50-some people. Hey, at least we have 50-some people that want to drive 45 minutes away to go soul winning, amen? On this Saturday, in addition to all the other soul winning that's going to go on this week. So praise the Lord for that. I'm excited about this Saturday down in Saccaton. We will provide breakfast here. We will provide lunch at Panda Express for those who are with us through lunch. And so we want to feed you breakfast, lunch. It's a great time of fellowship, great time of service for the Lord. And, you know, you don't have to come for the whole day if you want to just come until lunch and call it a day. Or if you just want to come for an hour. I mean, just whatever you can contribute, we'd love for you to come and be a part of it. And for those who go the long haul, you know, we'll take care of you and feed and water you and keep you rolling. So that's this Saturday. Don't forget about it. Mark the calendar. The annual Mother Daughter Tea has been extended because it was so popular. It got all packed out on May 21st. So there's a May 28th option as well. So if you haven't already signed up, please sign up for one of those dates. It's not on Mother's Day. It's the two weeks following Mother's Day. So you can double dip and do your own plan on Mother's Day and then come to this a week or two later. On the back, we've got also the memory passage. We're just wrapping up with Philippians chapter 2 verses 1 through 16. Great passage of Scripture to memorize. Who's already got this thing done? You're finished with it. All right, who's not done but you're going to be done in the next week or so? All right, great. And then a bunch of other things are listed there that are coming up. So pay attention to all that. That's about it for announcements. Let's go ahead and sing our next song. We're going to sing our Psalm of the Week here on the blue sheets, which is Psalm 67. Psalm number 67 off the blue sheets. Let's sing it out on that first verse, Psalm 67. Let all the people praise thee, O let the nations be glad and sing for joy. For thou shalt judge the people, righteously and on earth. The nations upon earth, the nations upon earth still love. Let the people praise thee, O God. Let all the people praise thee, O let the nations be glad and sing for joy. They shall the earth yield her in peace. And God alone, God shall bless us. And God shall bless us in all the ends of the earth. Let all the people praise thee, O God. Let all the people praise thee, O let the nations be glad and sing for joy. All right, this time we'll pass the offering plate. And as the plate goes around, let's turn our Bibles to Matthew chapter 3. Matthew chapter number 3 in our Bibles. And as we always do, we'll read the entire chapter beginning in verse number 1. Follow along silently with his brother, Josh Hall here. Brother Josh Hall, as he reads Matthew chapter 3, beginning in verse number 1. Matthew chapter 3, the Bible reads, In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Uzziah, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins, and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him and Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits, meat for repentance. And think not to say within yourselves we have Abraham to our father, for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees, therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor and gather his wheat into the garner, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water, and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him. And lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Brother Shelley, will you pray for us? Amen. The part of the chapter that I'd like to focus on is beginning there in verse number 7 in Matthew chapter 3, when the Bible reads, But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits, meet for repentance, and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father. For I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axes laid unto the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Now this is significant because this is actually the first preaching that we really get to from a man of God in the New Testament. John the Baptist comes on the scene and starts preaching before Christ has even come on the scene and started preaching. He's the forerunner of Jesus Christ. And right away, the subject that is just brought up right out of the gate, you open the New Testament and you start reading the first book, the book of Matthew, and one of the first things that comes out of the mouth of a man of God is telling the Jews, Don't think within yourselves to say, We have Abraham to our father. For I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Now what's interesting about that is that there's a movement out there today known as Hebrew roots. And it's so funny how they actually use that word root to describe their movement, the Hebrew roots, when that's the exact root that Jesus and John the Baptist and all the preachers of the New Testament explain, that the axe was laid to the root of that tree. That tree was cut down and they're trying to dig up that old dried up dead root and build their faith on that root and build their religion on that root. The title of my sermon is this, Greek, the language of the New Testament. And an alternate title for my sermon would be this, laying the axe to the Hebrew root, laying the axe to the Hebrew roots. But we hear it all the time, even amongst independent fundamental Baptists now, saying, hey, we need to get back to our Hebrew roots. And you'll see independent fundamental Baptists even that are King James and Solomon saying that we need to celebrate the Passover and put on a funny hat. And they get out the Star of Rimfan and they go with all these Jewish traditions and Jewish fables. We need to lay the axe to the root, that Hebrew root movement. It's false. But what I want to preach about this morning specifically is that the language of the New Testament is Greek. It's not Hebrew. The New Testament was written in Greek. And I'm going to prove that to you from the Bible. Now, let's just start out by opening our Bibles to the table of contents. OK, that's somewhere that most preachers don't have you turn. But turn to the table of contents right at the beginning of your Bible there and just look at the books of the New Testament. And this might be handy for you to refer back to throughout the sermon. And sometimes those of us who grew up in church might just take for granted that everybody knows the books of the Bible or where they are. Because we grew up in Sunday school, you know, memorizing Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, the Epistle to the Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. Who learned that song when you were a kid? Yeah, like five people. Out of 300, five people. Hebrews, James, 1st and 2nd Peter, 1st and 2nd and 3rd John, Jude, and Revelation. So, you know, the five of us that grew up in Sunday school with that song, you know, OK, we know where they are. But I remember when my wife first got saved, one of the first things she had to do was memorize the books of the Bible. And she took initiative and memorized them right away. And I remember we'd go to church and the pastor would say, turn to so and so the book. And she'd go like this. And I could see like wheels turning. And then she'd go there. Because she had to learn it. It wasn't something that just came to her naturally. So as we look at the table of contents here, we see the 27 books of the New Testament. And that's what I want to focus on today is about the New Testament. And let's start out by looking at the Epistles of the New Testament, OK? So first of all, we got the first four books, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Those are the four gospels that tell us of the life of Christ. Then the book of Acts picks up the story where the four gospels leave off and talks about what Christ's apostles did after the death, burial, and resurrection. And then from Romans, the sixth book that you'll see there, all the way to the book of Jude. So almost to the very end are epistles or long letters that were written by the apostles unto various Christians or churches and different people. And those epistles contain the doctrines of the New Testament. And they explain the life of Christ. They explain his death, burial, and resurrection. They explain salvation. They explain end times prophecy. They are just the teachings and the doctrines of the New Testament. And then, of course, the book of Revelation gives us the end of the world, the end times, that which is to come, that which is future. So as we look at the New Testament today, I want to show you that this book is written in Greek. And it's written for a reason in Greek because God could have delivered it in Hebrew just as he delivered the Old Testament in Hebrew. And there's a false teaching out there going around now with this Hebrew roots movement where they claim that it was originally written in Hebrew. And that the Greek New Testament came later or that the Hebrew New Testament was hidden or suppressed or whatever. Let's prove that to be false right now. Look at the table of contents and let's start with the epistles and let's look at the epistles. These are places, right? Romans, that's a place. To the saints which be at Rome, it tells us at the beginning of that book. 1 and 2 Corinthians. So these books are being written to people who live in a city called Corinth. And you could go and visit that city even today. You could go to these physical places and where would they be located? Well, somebody tell me where Rome is located. Italy, right? Okay, where is Corinth located? It's located in Greece, okay? Now, Galatians is written to the churches, plural, of Galatia because Galatia is not just a city, it's a region, okay? And that region of Galatia is in modern day Turkey. The next book, Ephesus, Ephesians, right? If you look at your table of contents, Ephesians is written to the people living in Ephesus. That's a city in Turkey. Philippi is a city in Macedonia back then. Today, it would be northern Greece, okay? Colossae, where the Colossians lived, is another city in modern day Turkey. And Thessalonians is written to the people in Thessalonica or Thessaloniki and that's in modern day Greece. Now, you say, Turkey? What's going on with that? Well, at that time, Turkey was a Greek speaking place. Later on with the Muslims and the Ottoman Empire and so forth, Turkey was taken over by Muslims and so forth. But at the time that the New Testament is being written, Turkey was a Greek speaking place from the time of Alexander the Great and into the Roman Empire and so forth. So what do all these places have in common? We just went through a bunch of places. Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae, Thessalonica, these places are all Greek speaking places, okay? Corinth is in Greece. The rest are either in Turkey or Greece. The only one that's not in either Turkey or Greece, both Greek speaking places at that time, is Rome. But at that time, in the Roman Empire, Greek was a language that was spoken all over the place. Certainly, Rome, Italy was not a place where Hebrew was spoken. That should go without saying. So what we see is that out of all of these epistles, they're all written to Greek speaking places. So obviously, they're written in Greek. Not only that, but the next three books, if you look down at your Bible there, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and then we can even include the fourth book of Philemon, these are known as the Pastoral Epistles. So they're not written to a church or a group of Christians in a geographic area, but rather they're written to a pastor, Timothy, Titus, or Philemon. These men are Greek. Timotheus, his father, was Greek. Titus was Greek. Philemon was Greek. Now, turn, if you would, in your Bible to Colossians chapter 4. I want you to go to Colossians chapter 4, and then I want you to go to Philemon as well. So go to the book of Philemon, which is toward the end of the New Testament, a little tiny book right after Titus, and then I want you to also find the epistle of the Colossians chapter 4. Let's start, first of all, in chapter 4 of Colossians. The Bible says in Colossians 4, 9, with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, watch this, who is one of you. They shall make known unto you all things which are done. So according to Colossians 4, 9, Onesimus is a guy from Colossae. Everybody get that? Look down at verse 17. And say to Archippus, by the way, these are all Greek names of Greek people. Say to Archippus, take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfill it. So when he writes a letter to the Colossians, he has a special message for a guy named Archippus, and he talks about how a guy named Onesimus is from there. Now look at Philemon. Philemon chapter 1, verse 1, there's only one chapter. It says in Philemon verse 1, Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy, our brother, unto Philemon, our dearly beloved and fellow laborer, and to our beloved Appiah, and Archippus, our fellow soldier, and to the church in thy house. Look at verse 10. I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds. So notice, he's talking to Archippus, and he's talking about Onesimus as being a guy who's from there, which proves that Philemon is at Colossae, Archippus. And they're all at a city in where? Asia Minor, modern day Turkey, a Greek speaking place, which goes to prove that all of these epistles that Paul wrote from Romans up through Thessalonians to these different cities, and all four of the pastoral epistles are written to Greek people in Greek speaking places. Now that's a lot of the New Testament. That's 13 books if we go to our table of contents. We just talked about 13 books from Romans to Philemon as being all written to Greek people in Greek places speaking Greek. But we're supposed to believe that the New Testament was really written in Hebrew, and we need to get back to Hebrew roots of Christianity. Well, if half of the New Testament has just been demonstrated to be written toward Greeks, that's not a Hebrew root. That's a Greek root. Now if you would, go to 1 Peter chapter 1. So, and we're not done. We've only looked at 13. We're going to show that more and more of the New Testament is written unto Greek people. That's just starting with Paul's epistles. Because some people would say, well, that's because the apostle Paul is the apostle to the Gentiles. There's a goofball teaching out there called dispensationalism. And I don't believe in any of it. None of it. It's false doctrine. It should be completely just cast in the garbage can. And we just need to get back to reading the New Testament, believing it for what it says, and getting rid of this false man-made paradigm known as dispensationalism. Well, dispensationalism says, well, the part of the New Testament that applies to us directly is the part that Paul wrote. Because Paul's the epistle to the Gentiles. Because Paul called himself the epistle to the Gentiles. But here's where they're getting that wrong, is that all of the other apostles were also apostles to the Gentiles. Because every apostle that Jesus sent out was an apostle to the Gentiles. Because he told all of them to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And he said to all of them to teach all nations. Now, some of them for a while were disobedient and just kept preaching to the Jews only. That was their disobedience. That wasn't God's plan. God didn't have this weird dispensational plan of he's going to reveal a new salvation through Paul, a new doctrine, and Paul's going to be... I mean, look, why would God send the 11 apostles and tell them, the ones that met him on that mount in Matthew 22 or Matthew 28, why would he send them and say, okay, we've been preaching to Israel for the last three and a half years. Just keep doing that. Just keep doing that. Even though they rejected it. And I'm going to send one guy to reach the whole rest of the world. Does that make any sense? But that's what they want us to believe. They want us to believe that Peter, James, John, that they're all to the Jews. And that Paul's the apostle to the Gentiles. No, they're all supposed to be an apostle to the Gentiles. Because God told the Jews, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruit thereof. And he laid the axe to the root of that tree. He destroyed, you know, finally none of them could be an apostle to Jerusalem anymore because he destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. So the point is that it's not just Paul who was the apostle to the Gentiles or preached to the Greeks or the Gentiles. Because let's look at what Peter wrote now. Right? 1 Peter. The Bible says in 1 Peter chapter 1, 1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, and let's see who he's writing to. To the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, all Greek speaking places. Do you notice some of them that are familiar? Galatia. Where's Galatia? Modern day Turkey. Asia there is referring to Asia Minor. Modern day Turkey. Greek speaking place. Who's he writing to? Look at verse 2. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. So he's writing to those who are saved by the blood of Christ in all these Greek speaking places. That's who Peter is writing to. Now some people would take this and I'm just going to give all the arguments of the other side and why they're false. Some people would say, well, he's just writing to the Jews in those locations. The diaspora. The dispersed Jews. And that's why he says the strangers scattered throughout. Okay, we'll go to chapter 2 and let's see if that's really true. 1 Peter chapter 2. Let's see if he's writing to Jews or Gentiles because these are Gentile places. Galatia is a Gentile place. Pontus, Cappadocia, Bithynia. Look at 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 9. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Watch this. Which in time past were not a people. Now were the Jews or Israel in time past a people? Yeah, they were a people. Israel. The Jews. But he's saying that the group that he's writing to now in all these various geographies, Bithynia, Asia, he's saying you guys in time past were not a people. But are now the people of God. That's something new. Look, the Jews had already been the people of God in the past. He says you that I'm writing to in time past were not a people but now are the people of God which had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. But look at verse 11. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works which they shall behold glorify God in the day of visitation. So the Bible is clearly saying he's writing to people who are living among the Gentiles. They're strangers and pilgrims. Why? Because this world's not our home. That's what's meant by strangers and pilgrims. Because we are like Abraham and Isaac and Jacob where we desire a heavenly country. We desire a better country. We're not mindful of that country from whence we came out. And the Bible says, and you say, well, but it says they're among the Gentiles. Yeah, but look at Ephesians 2. Flip over to Ephesians 2. Ephesians chapter 2 and then we're going to go to 2 Peter. Look what the Bible teaches in Ephesians chapter 2. And again, Ephesians is being written to Greek people, Greek speaking place, book of Ephesians, chapter number 2, Gentiles. Look what he says in verse number 11. Wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh. Are they still Gentiles? He said in time past you're Gentiles in the flesh. So he's saying now that they're saved, they're not really considered a Gentile anymore. Because in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile in that sense. So the point is that when he says you're living among the Gentiles, he's saying you're beyond just being a Gentile or a heathen. Because the word Gentile has the implication of like the heathen, the nations, the Gentiles. He says wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands. That at that time you were without Christ being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. So he's saying you were aliens of Israel. You were strangers or foreigners to the commonwealth of Israel. But jump down to verse 19. Now therefore you're no more strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God. So when you get saved, you receive a spiritual green card. You know, you receive a spiritual citizenship status. You receive a spiritual immigration document into the spiritual nation of Israel. So whereas you were just a heathen, Gentile, Greek, Italian, whatever, when you believe on Jesus Christ you're no more a stranger. You're not an alien anymore. You're actually a fellow citizen in God's kingdom. You're a fellow citizen of the commonwealth of Israel. You're graphed in. You are part of that holy nation, that peculiar people. So when Peter talks about them being strangers, he's saying they're a foreigner to this world. They don't fit into this world. They're a peculiar people. Whereas in the past they were a foreigner unto the people of God. They were a stranger unto the people of God. And now they're a citizen of God's kingdom and a stranger and a pilgrim in this world. Go if you would to 2 Peter. So it's clear that the book of 1 Peter is writing to the Gentiles living in Gentile places and telling them in time past you were not a people but now you are the people of God. Why? Because you've believed on Christ. Because you've got Jesus in your heart. Because you have been sprinkled by the blood of Jesus Christ. You are now a people of God. That's not written to the Hebrews. That's written to the Gentiles. Now the book of 2 Peter, let's see who 2 Peter is written to. It says in verse 1, Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ, grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Let me ask you this. Is there anything in that that limits it to a certain nationality? Is he saying, hey, I'm writing to the physical descendants of Abraham. I'm writing to the Hebrews. I'm writing to the Israelites. No, no. He's saying I'm writing to everybody who's saved. Anybody who has obtained like precious faith with us. Now look at chapter 3 of 2 Peter. He says in 2 Peter 3 verse 1, this second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance. That tells me right there that 2 Peter is written to the same people that 1 Peter is written to. Because he's saying I'm writing you guys the second epistle. So if 1 Peter is written to Gentiles living in Bithynia and Pontus and Asia and Cappadocia and Galatia, guess what? 2 Peter is written to the same people, those who have received like precious faith in Christ. Go if you would to Luke chapter 1. So now we've seen 15 books so far that are specifically spelled out as being written to Gentile people in Gentile places and specifically Greek speaking people in Greek speaking places. So the count's up to 15 now and there's only 27 books in the New Testament. Let's look at Luke and see who Luke is written to. Luke chapter 1 verse 1, this is the first of the four gospels we'll look at. It says, for as much as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed. So we have a Greek guy named Lucas writing to a Greek guy named Theophilus. So the book of Luke is clearly written to a Greek speaking audience by a Greek speaking man. The book of Acts, you don't have to turn there, is written to the same audience. Luke wrote Acts as well. That's why Acts chapter 1 says, the former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. So in Acts chapter 1 verse 1, he talks about having written the book of Luke and he's writing the book of Acts to the same guy as a follow-up. He's writing Acts to him to let him know what? Look down at Luke 1 verse 4. What's the purpose of the book of Luke? Thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed. This guy already knew the Gospel. He already was saved. He already knew the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. But Luke wanted him to know the certainty of the things wherein he was instructed. And that's exactly what we need today in church. When we come to church on a Sunday morning, a Sunday night, and a Wednesday night, we need to be shored up on what we believe. We need to be rooted and grounded. Why? So that we're not tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. Something that's so easy to prove from the Bible that the New Testament is a Greek book written to Greek people. But people come up, well, hey, did you know it was actually written in Hebrew? And people follow that hook, line, and sinker. Why? Because they don't know the certainty of the things wherein they've been instructed. They're not getting doctrine today. In fact, your average independent Baptist church, here's what they tell you. Son, daughter, you need to go to Bible college for at least one year so that you can get a foundation of doctrine. Well, what have you been doing with my time for the last 17, 18 years when you had three hours a week to preach to me? What are they doing? It's a lot of fluff. It's a lot of ra ra shish kumba. It's a lot of encouragement. And look, I'm for encouragement. I'm for a pep talk. I'm for motivational sermons. I'm for hard preaching against sin. We need hard preaching against sin. We need somebody to get up and rip face and cry aloud and spare an eye. But let me tell you something. You know what else we need? We need somebody to teach us the Bible. And the Bible says the pastor needs to be apt to teach. And we need more teaching going on in churches today. We need to learn the Bible and know the Bible. I want you, as a member of Faithful Word Baptist Church, to hold this book in your hand. And you know that there's 66 books in it. And you know what the Old Testament's about. And you know what the New Testament's about. You know who wrote it, who it's written to, what it says, what the doctrine is. And then when somebody comes to you with these goofball doctrines like, Do you know his name's not really Jesus, it's actually Yeshua? You're immediately going to say, that's a lie, that's a fraud. I know what the Bible says and I know why I believe it. And I know the certainty of the things wherein I've been instructed. But something as basic as the name of Jesus, that's pretty basic. I mean, would you call the name of Jesus a deep doctrine? Or would you say that's kind of a starter doctrine, a basic, beginner doctrine? But yet today we have Christians even being drawn away and confused, where they're like, whoa, have we got the wrong name? It's like, are you even saved? That's the only name whereby we must be saved. But we have today these institutions called Bible colleges, that basically give an excuse for pastors not to teach the Bible. Because they say, oh well, you'll get your doctrine over there. And then they ship them off to some other city or some other state to go get their doctrine. And listen, a lot of the doctrine coming out of these Bible colleges is not right. It's not the right doctrine. And the doctrine in the local churches is usually better than the doctrine that's found in the Bible colleges. Because usually the local churches, there's a lot of just humble pastors who are reading their Bible and just preaching it as they see it. These institutions that are Bible colleges, you know, they teach a lot of corrupt doctrine. And they have an agenda of bringing in more students. So they kind of want to appeal to a broad range of churches. So that's going to affect their doctrine. Whereas, you know, you're more likely to get good doctrine just from a local church, just from an independent pastor who's just got the Holy Spirit living inside of him. And he opens the Bible and reads it and preaches it. You know, and we'd be better off today if people followed the doctrines of the thousands of churches across America than these Bible college doctrines. And the point is that you shouldn't have to go to Bible college and pay a bunch of money to learn the Bible. What are we coming to church for on Sunday morning? Sunday night? Wednesday night? Look, if you go to this church for a year, you will learn a lot about the Bible. You will know the Bible well. You don't need to go to Bible college. You come here for a year, and we're only going to take three hours a week, and it's free. And you'll learn more, because we're actually teaching the Bible here. But the problem is you get a shallow sermon. Everything's an encouragement. Everything's a sermon against sin. Everything's a motivation to go soul winning. No, no, no. We need to balance the package here by teaching the Bible. And you need to learn the certainty of the things wherein you've been instructed. You know, how about, for starters, that the New Testament is written in Greek and that His name is Jesus, not Yahshua or Yahashua or Yahshua, whatever different spellings that the Hebrew roots movement or the black Hebrew Israelites or whoever else comes out with of the spelling of the week. Let's go, if we would, to our next book, Revelation chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1. Last book in the New Testament. Why? We want to be rooted and grounded in what we believe. And coming to church is not enough. You've got to read the Bible on your own. You know, I'm just giving you the skeleton this morning. I'm just giving you the outline. You've got to go in and read the whole book of Luke. Read the whole book of Acts. Read the whole book of Revelation. Fill in the blanks. So what we've confirmed so far is that 17 books so far, right, 13 epistles that Paul wrote, two epistles that Peter wrote, and the two books that Luke wrote were up to 17 books confirmed Greek books to Greek speaking audience, right? Go to Revelation chapter 1, verse 4. Who is the book of Revelation written to? Because now we're getting into a new author. We've talked about Paul. We talked about Peter. We talked about Luke. Let's talk about the next author of the New Testament, the Apostle John. This is not John the Baptist. This is the Apostle John that followed Christ. Verse 4. John to the seven churches which are in Israel. Is that what it says? No. John to the seven churches which are in Asia. Grace be unto you and peace from him which is and which was and which is to come and from the seven spirits which are before his throne. Look at verse 11. Saying, I'm Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. Alpha and Omega? What alphabet are those letters from? Notice he didn't say, I am Aleph and Toph. He didn't say, I'm Aleph and Toph. He said, I'm Alpha and Omega. What alphabet is that? That's the Greek alphabet. I'm Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. And what thou seest, write in a book and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia, unto Ephesus, that's familiar from the book of Ephesians, unto Smyrna, unto Pergamos, unto Thyatira, unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. Now flip over to chapter 9. So again, clearly he's writing to Gentile places, Greek speaking places, Greek speaking people. Now look if you would at Revelation chapter 9. Here's some internal evidence also that the book of Revelation is written in Greek. This verse, Revelation 9-11, would only make sense if this book were written in Greek. It wouldn't make sense if it were written in Hebrew. Look at Revelation chapter 9 verse 11. It says, They add a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. Now if he's just writing to people in Hebrew, wouldn't it be enough to just say, hey, this guy's name's Abaddon. His name in the Hebrew is Abaddon. I mean, that should be enough. Why? Because Abaddon is a Hebrew word from the Old Testament. So if he was talking to people who spoke Hebrew, right, he would tell them, this guy's name is Abaddon. And then they'd go, oh, I remember reading that word Abaddon in the Old Testament. Now I know what you're talking about. That makes sense. Why in the world would he tell them, oh, by the way, here's what it is in Chinese. Why doesn't it say what it is in Chinese? Oh, by the way, here's what it is in Korean. That wouldn't make any sense, would it? No, what he's telling them is that in the Hebrew tongue, his name is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. So he's basically saying, here's a name that you'll understand. Right? Here's the tie-in to the Old Testament, Hebrew Abaddon, but in the Greek for you, that would be Apollyon to you. Right? So it's clear that Revelation is written in Greek, Alpha and Omega, Greek tongue, it's Apollyon, it's written to seven churches in a Greek-speaking region. Go back to 3 John, just a couple pages before the beginning of Revelation. Go back to Revelation chapter 1, just go a few more pages left, you'll find a book called 3 John. So John wrote five books in the New Testament. He wrote the Gospel of John, three epistles, first, second, and third John, and then he wrote the fifth book, the book of Revelation. Clearly, Revelation is written in Greek. Okay? So we can take that one out of the way. So let's look at some other books that John wrote to figure out who John writes to and in what language he writes. Look at 3 John, verse number 1. The elder unto the well-beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth. So he's writing this epistle to one guy named Gaius, right? Gaius. Well, Gaius is a Greek name. Not only that, look at verse 9. I wrote unto the church, but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Guess what kind of name Diotrephes is? A Greek name. You say, well, how do you know that? Well, the same way that I know that Juan, and Pablo, and Maria are Spanish names. The same way that if somebody were named Jaime or Santiago, I would know that that person has a Spanish name. I don't have to wonder if Francois or Philippe are French, or they have some kind of a French name for some reason. These names are distinct, right? Whereas if somebody comes up to me and their name's Shlomo, you know, that's going to say something about their background. So we can look at these names, and these names cry out. It's a Greek name. Diotrephes. Okay, that's who's in the church, so it's a Greek church. Okay, Greek people. And then here's the good example in the church. Look at verse 12. Here's a good guy in the church. The bad guy in the church is called Diotrephes. The good guy's name is Demetrius. Demetrius hath good report of all men. That's not a Hebrew name. That's not a Bible name from the Old Testament. That's a Greek name. Demetrius hath good report of all men and of the truth itself. Yeah, and we also bear record, and you know that our record is true. Okay, so we see that when John writes an epistle, he writes it to a Greek guy in a Greek church. There's a Greek hero and a Greek villain. Now let's go to the book of John, the Gospel of John. When we go to Revelation, he's talking Alpha and Omega. He's translating stuff into Greek, Apollyon. He's writing it to seven churches in Asia. What about the big one, the Gospel of John? Who is the Gospel of John written to? Well, let me start out by saying this. First of all, that the Gospel of John is by far the most negative about the Jews. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the one that's pretty negative about the Jews is the book of John. And that's where you find Jesus telling the Jews, I know that you're Abraham's seed, but Abraham's not your father. You're of your father, the devil, he told them. I mean, he uses very strong words to condemn the Jews in the book of John. The Gospel of John has that as a theme that the Jews are doing wickedly at that time, by and large. It starts out the book, he came unto his own, meaning to the nation of Israel, to the Jews, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born not of blood. They weren't born of blood. It's not, oh, it's in my blood, because I'm of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. No, they're not born of blood, nor of the will of man, nor the will of the flesh. They're born of God. And how do you get born of God? By believing on Jesus Christ. You're born again. You're a child of God. John 1-12 teaches us that. John 3-16 teaches us that. But look at John chapter 6, and what you'll find over and over again in the book of John is clear evidence that he's not writing to Jews, but that he's writing to a Greek-speaking audience, a Gentile audience about the Jews. Notice what he says in chapter 6, verse 4. Why doesn't he just say, in chapter 6, verse 4, why doesn't it just say, and the Passover was nigh? Wouldn't that be enough for a Jew to understand? Is there any Jew or Hebrew or Israelite who doesn't know what the Passover is? So why doesn't he just say, hey, the Passover was nigh? He says, the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. So he has to educate the audience here of what the Passover is. By the way, that's a Jewish holiday. And notice, he doesn't say that it's even... Well, look at chapter 7, verse 2. Let's see the same thing. So in 6-4, it said, the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. John 7, verse 2, now the Jews' feast of Tabernacles was at hand. Why didn't he just say the feast of Tabernacles was at hand? Why? Because it's not for us. It's not something that we celebrate, and it's obvious in the book of John that he's distancing from these, saying, oh, that's what the Jews, that's what they did. That's the Jews' holiday. That's why, as a Christian, I'm not going to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles. And I'm not going to put on a yarmulke and celebrate the Jews' Passover. That's why it says in John, chapter 2. You don't have to turn there. You go to chapter 11. John, chapter 2, verse 13, and the Jews' Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Look at John, chapter 11, verse 55, and the Jews' Passover was nigh at hand, and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. So notice, all throughout the book, I just showed you four examples in the book of John, and there's more of, hey, it's the Jews' Passover. Oh, the Passover, that's a feast of the Jews. Jews' Feast of Tabernacles. He didn't say it's the Christians' Feast of Tabernacles. He didn't say it's our Feast of Tabernacles. He didn't say it's the Lord's Feast of Tabernacles. No, no, no, because we don't follow those practices. We don't do those holidays. Those things are done away in Christ. It's very clear. And so the book of John is clearly, you can't read this and say, oh, it's written to the Jews. That'd be silly, wouldn't it? All the books that John wrote, which is five books, are clearly written to the Gentiles. They're written to Greeks. Diotrophes, Demetrius, Gaius, churches in Asia. So now that brings us up to 22. So I've just proved from the Bible that all the books that Paul wrote, that we looked at, that Peter wrote, that Luke wrote, that John himself wrote, that they're written to Greeks. So look, there's only 27 books. We've looked at 22. There's five left. Okay. So let's talk about those last five. Here's the last five that we didn't just prove are written to Greeks. We have Matthew. This is what's left. Matthew, Mark, Hebrews, James, and Jude. Right? Matthew, Mark, Hebrews, James, and Jude. Now, who do you think Hebrews is written to? The Jews. Right? Hebrews is written to the Hebrews, amen? So you have a book there that specifically is addressed to the Hebrews. You're not going to get an argument out of me on that. I mean, look, I have no dog in this fight. If it's written to the Hebrews, it's written to the Hebrews, friend. But guess what? Luke isn't. John isn't. Acts isn't. Romans isn't. Corinthians isn't. And on and on. Go to James chapter 1. Let's see who James is being written to. Who is James primarily addressing his epistle to? The book of Hebrews is addressed to the Hebrews. It's written to the Jews clearly. Look at James chapter 1, verse 1, and we will see who this book is written to. James 1-1 says, James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes, which are scattered abroad, greeting. So who is James written to? It's written to the Israelites, right? It's written to the 12 tribes scattered abroad. See, if it's written to the Israelites, God tells us that. So Hebrews and James are written to the Israelites. Now, the other three books... I'm sorry, there's one more that I believe is clearly written to the Hebrews, and that would be the book of Matthew. Why? Because when you read the book of Matthew, there's so many references to the Old Testament, so many Old Testament quotes, it clearly is written toward a Jewish or Hebrew audience. So I believe that there are three books in the New Testament that clearly have a Hebrew audience, and that would be Matthew, Hebrews, and James. I proved 22 books are for sure written to the Greeks. And then there are two books that don't really say for sure, you know, either way, and that would be the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Jude, or I mean the Epistle of Jude. So the Epistle of Jude and the Gospel of Mark, I don't have any real clear evidence, but I personally have zero doubt that those are written to a Greek-speaking Gentile audience, in my opinion. Just from reading them, just from, you know, I don't have like a smoking gun like I do with the other 22, where I could just prove it to you. So, in total, here's what we're left with. Everybody paying attention? Here's what we're left with. Twenty-two books that are for sure directed at the Gentiles, three books that are for sure directed at the Hebrews, and two books that, although I don't have the clear proof, I believe are clearly directed toward the Gentiles as well. Two that you could argue could go either way, even though I wouldn't believe it for one second. So let me ask you this. Is this a Hebrew root? Okay, let me ask you this. How many books of the New Testament would have to be written in Greek and use the name of Jesus in order for Jesus to be a name that the Holy Spirit has taught us? How many would have to use that name? Only one. If there's one book inspired by God that says His name is Jesus, then we'd say His name is Jesus. How many would it take? Just one. But we have 27 books that were all written in Greek, because even the books that are directed at the Hebrews were originally written in Greek, because the Hebrews spoke Greek. They were scattered all over these Greek-speaking nations, and they knew the language where they lived. Now here's the other thing that people say. You expect me to believe that Jesus and the apostles spoke Greek? Now go, if you would, to the book of John, chapter 12. You expect me to believe that Jesus and the apostles spoke Greek? Obviously they spoke Hebrew. Okay. Well, where did Jesus grow up? What's the name of the region where Jesus grew up? What's it called? What's it called? Nice and loud. Galilee, right? Jesus grew up in Galilee. And you know what Galilee is called in the book of Matthew? It's called Galilee of the Gentiles. Galilee of the Gentiles. Why? Because Jesus lived in a place where He was right on the border of where Greek was predominantly spoken and where Aramaic, which is sort of just a bastardized Hebrew, where Aramaic was spoken, He was right on that borderline between the Aramaic-speaking area and the Greek-speaking area. And let me tell you something. If we were to get in our car right now and go to a border town like, say, Nogales or Yuma or El Centro or if we were in McAllen, Texas, let me tell you something. You're going to hear a lot of Spanish. And when you turn on the radio, you're going to hear Spanish. And you're going to hear Spanglish, where the radio host... And this was the weirdest thing the first time I heard this. I was driving down Interstate 8 and I was really bored and I was flipping through the AM dial and I heard Spanglish. And I've heard that term Spanglish, but I didn't really know what it was. Because I thought Spanglish just is when you're struggling, you don't really know the language, and you're kind of mixing it a little bit. But no, no, these people are fluent in both, but they speak Spanglish. Like, they'll talk for like 20 minutes on the radio and just every other sentence... But they're not translating. They don't say the same thing in English and then translate it in Spanish. They'll just start the sentence in English and finish it in Spanish. Start the sentence in Spanish, finish it in English. And they just go back and forth. And they're just talking back and forth, just back and forth, back and forth. Why? Virtually everybody in that town speaks both English and Spanish, that's why. They speak both. If we were to go to Africa today, the average person in Africa speaks two or three languages. The average person in India speaks two or three languages. The average person in Europe speaks two or three languages. What do you call somebody who speaks two languages? What do you call somebody who speaks three languages? Trilingual, right? And what do you call somebody who speaks one language? An American. You call them an American. Why? Because we already speak the main language of the world, English. So the vast majority of people in America have no need to learn a second language. There's no reason for it. But in other parts of the world, people speak usually about three languages. They usually speak their local dialect. This is very local to them. Then they usually speak a more regional language and then they'll speak English as a third language, usually. When we were in Botswana, pretty much everybody spoke two languages. They all spoke Setswana and English. Virtually everybody. Okay, a lot of people in India will speak their regional dialect and Hindi, which is sort of the national language, and English. So the point is that Jesus and his disciples probably spoke a couple languages, especially living near the border. They're all from Galilee, right? Are not all these which speak in us Galileans? Now think about how ridiculous it is to think that Jesus, who's 30 years old, right? 30 to 33 was his ministry, pretty much, right? And then think about the men that are following him. We know that Peters, Mary, I mean, these men are adults. They're fishermen, they're tax collectors, they have jobs. These guys, I mean, how old were they? We can assume they're probably like 30 themselves. Okay, 20, 30, 40, whatever. But let's just assume that these guys are like 30 years old. So I'm supposed to believe that these guys are preaching and teaching all throughout Israel, all throughout Judea, all throughout Samaria and these different places. And although they avoided, you know, really evangelizing Samaria until after the crucifixion, they did go through there and spend some time there. There are stories like that in the New Testament. But I'm supposed to believe that these guys didn't speak a lick of Greek. They just spoke Hebrew, but that they wrote all these books in Greek. Well, how do you, let me ask you something. Can you write a book in a language that you don't speak? Okay, if you're 30 years old and you don't know a lick of Spanish and then you start learning Spanish at age 30, you think you're going to be writing a book in that language? No, you're not. That doesn't make any sense, folks. In order to write a book in Greek, you have to speak Greek. Probably as a native language, probably as a language that you're very, I mean, it's hard, look, it's hard to write a book in English. Who here has written a book before? Put up your hand if you've written a book. All right, who has never written a book before? Okay, so, and is it because of a language barrier? No, but now write a book in a foreign language. Now you say, well, it's the Holy Ghost. Yeah, but the Holy Ghost is using human beings. They speak as they're moved by the Holy Ghost and they're not writing in a foreign language that they don't understand. They're spending time in these places. They're writing to people that they know, that they're buddies with. They know who Demetrius is. They know who Gaius is. They know all these people. They're hanging around with people that are Greeks because they spoke Greek, because they spoke both. So to sit there and say, oh, Jesus didn't know Greek, the apostles didn't know Greek, it doesn't make any sense. Look at John chapter 12. This is really interesting. John chapter 12 verse 20. And by the way, this book that I'm holding in my hand never mentions Yeshua one time, never once. It just says Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. And this book was translated from this book, okay? This is a Greek New Testament. This is the source of this. This was translated into English for us, thank God. But this is the source. And this book never says Yeshua in it one time, not even once. And this is the original language. This is our language. Neither one of them says Yeshua. But we have a bunch of liars and frauds today putting out a King James Bible with the sacred names restored, they say. And you can buy now at the store a King James version that takes out Jesus and puts in Yeshua. It takes out the Lord and puts in Yahweh. And these names, Yahweh and Yeshua, are a total fraud anyway of modern Christ rejecting Israel. Those aren't even the original ancient names. And the bottom line is that Jesus, his name is Jesus. He said, wow, that wasn't really Jesus. He didn't have a J back then. Okay, here's how it's spelled. Here's how it's spelled. Let me spell it for you in this book right here, the Greek New Testament. Because I know this is all Greek to you. Let me just spell it for you. I, and I'm using English letters equivalents, okay? I-E-S-O-U-S. Everybody got that? I-E-S-O-U-S. Now, if we were to go to the back of the auditorium, and you can do this after I'm done preaching, go back to that corner back there and you will find an exact replica of the 1611 edition of the King James Bible. And if you pick it up, that's the exact weight. The paper is made out of the same material. Everything about that book is authentic back there because I've held the real one in my hand that's worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. And you can go to a museum in Goodyear, Arizona, and see an original first edition. And you'll see that that is an accurate representation down to the last typo, down to the material of the paper. And if you go back there and you look up the name of Jesus, you know how it's going to be spelled in that English book right there? It's spelled like this, I-E-S-U-S. So in this book, it's I-E-S-O-U-S. In that book, it's I-E-S-U-S. So let me ask you this. Is this book, the King James Bible, accurately representing the name of our Savior? Because is there a difference between O-U-S and U-S? No, it's both us, right? Or us, if we were speaking Spanish, right, we'd say Jesus. Or if we were speaking German, we'd say Jesus. And if we're speaking English, we'd say Jesus. That's just how we pronounce it. Jesus. That is no J. There's no J in the King James either in 1611. But an I and a J are used interchangeably in the English language until recently. The J is just a stylized I. It's just an I that has a little tail at the bottom, right? Now you say, well, what in the world does an I have to do with a J? Okay, well, if you want to know that, talk to anybody who's from South America. You can talk to, where's Evelyn Royero? Where is she? All right. Ask her if the I can ever make a J sound, and she'll say Jess, it does. Okay? And she'll tell you about a city called Hermosillo. Okay, why? Because of the fact that different people in different areas, they will make that Y sound into a J. It's the same sound. And you know what a Y is called in Spanish? E-Griega. Greek I. E-Griega. So, you know, I'm not trying to go down all deep this morning. The point that I'm trying to make here is that the name that's in this Greek book right here, and the name that's in this English book, that's his real name. It's Jesus. There's no Yahshua, Yahashua, Yahshu-wa-wa. None of that's in here. And you know what? If you believe in that stuff, if you're going to say, oh, I think it's Yahweh. I think it's Yahshua. You didn't get that from the Bible. You didn't get that from any Bible. You got that from an internet video, or an article, or some Judaizing crypto Jew sold you that bill of goods, or some Black Heber Israelite dressed up like Battlestar Galactica or something. That's where you got that from. You did not get that from the Bible. But if you're going to tell me, and you say, don't make a big deal, it's just a name, it's just a language. No, no. Let me tell you this. If his real name is Yahshua, listen carefully. If his real name is Yahshua, and his real name's not Jesus, or Jesus, or Jesus, then let me tell you something. Then this book is a lie. Because it has the wrong name. That makes this book a lie. And if this book is a lie, that means this book's a lie. Because this book is translated from this book. This, that's exactly, that's the end game. That's where you end up. So it starts out with just, hey buddy, hey kid, come here. Psst, hey kid, over here. His real name is Yahshua. And then it seems like, oh okay, yeah, we're just kind of getting back to our Hebrew roots a little bit, you know. But you know what it eventually is designed to do? To destroy faith in this book. That's the end game. That's where it leads you. I want you to know the certainty of those things wherein you've been instructed. They want to basically destroy your faith in this book, because this is the progression. First you say, oh it's Yahshua. Well then the logical conclusion is that this book's wrong. And the logical conclusion would also be that this book's wrong. So they start you out with a gateway drug of a King James that says Yahshua and Yahweh. But as soon as you actually have two brain cells to rub together, you're going to realize, well if the King James had it wrong about the name, maybe it's wrong about other stuff too. And if it's pulling from a Greek New Testament, well we've got to discard that, because that's not a Hebrew root. And then we end up discarding this. And you know what we end up left with? We're left with the Old Testament Hebrew Bible and the Talmud. It's a gateway to get you into Judaism. Christ rejecting Judaism. That's the plan. That's the plan. It's to de-Christianize and to Judaize. And look, it's evil. It's of the devil. It's a false, wicked agenda. And I want to close on the... Oh, we never looked at John 12, did we? Let's look at John 12. This is interesting. John chapter 12 verse 20 says this. It says, There came certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast. The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. We want to see Jesus. And by the way, this is like a week before Jesus is crucified. This is right at the very end of his life. Sir, we would see Jesus. Look at verse 22. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew. And again, Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. So this isn't just a run-of-the-mill thing. Lots of people want to see Jesus. I mean, Jesus is a popular guy. Jesus, when he preaches, has thousands of people coming to hear him. When he preaches in a house, the house is overflowing and people are falling out the window. But this is special. God made a point to tell us about this. And in fact, it's so significant that these Greeks come and ask to see Jesus that the Bible records this run-of-the-mill encounter. But not only that, when they tell Philip, Philip feels like he needs to go tell Andrew and that they both need to have some kind of a pow-wow, and then we're both going to go tell Jesus together. So it's interesting to them. It's not just an everyday thing. Because they're used to Hebrews and Israelites and people who are coming to worship at Jerusalem. But these people were not among the worshippers. They came among them physically, but they were not themselves the worshippers, but they came among the worshippers. Meaning, all these people came, but then all of a sudden there's these Greek guys. It's like, what are these guys doing here? And then the Greeks come and they say, Well, sirs, we want to see Jesus. And it's like, wow, you guys came here because you heard the fame of Jesus. You're Gentiles. And they have to talk to each other because they're probably thinking to themselves, I don't know, does Jesus want to talk to Gentiles right now? Because in the past he was focusing on the Jews and Israel. So, you know, I don't know, Andrew, what do you think, Andrew? These Greeks want to talk to Jesus. What do you think, Andrew? Well, I don't know, let's go tell Jesus. Let's go together. Nothing in the Bible is coincidental, my friend. This story, if it didn't have significance, it wouldn't be here. It doesn't tell us every time they got up and sat down and ate lunch and went to the store. It tells us things that matter. Especially the book of John has very few stories in it. It's mainly Jesus' preaching. So it's significant. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew, verse 22, and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. And Jesus answered them. So is Jesus talking about something unrelated? He's answering them. They're saying, hey, these Greeks are here to see you. And how did he answer them? He answered them saying, the hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. Now come down to verse 27, now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say, Father? Save me from this hour? But for this cause came I unto this hour. He said in verse 32, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die. What's his response when they come to him and say, hey, these Greeks are here to see you? You know what? It's time. The hour's come. It's time for me to die. Why? Because the death of the testador is what brings in the New Testament, according to Hebrews. He's saying, you know what? It's time to bring in a New Testament. And these Greek people who came to talk to Jesus was a sign. It was a sign from God. And when Jesus saw it, he recognized this is a sign. They tell him, these Greeks are here to see you. These Gentile Greeks want to see you, and he says, you know what? It's time. That was the signal to Jesus where he said, it's time. Why? Because God is symbolizing or picturing the fact that the New Testament is not going to be about Israel. It's not going to be about the Jews. It's not going to be about the Hebrews. It's going to be about the Greeks and the Gentiles. That's who it's going to be about. So that's the side. Go to Matthew 21, and we'll close with Matthew 21. That's not an accident that those Greeks came and wanted to see Jesus, and he said, you know what? Now my hours come. And I'm troubled because I have to go to the cross and suffer for the sins of mankind. But look at Matthew 21, 43, and I'll close on this thought. The Bible says, therefore say unto you, the kingdom of God, and he's speaking to Israel, to the Jews. He says, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. Here's the bottom line. I'm just going to tie it all together for you today. Well, everything we just looked at. Why spend a whole sermon talking about the fact that the New Testament is written in Greek? What's the point? Here's the point. This book right here is a tool. This is the sword of the Spirit. This is a weapon. This book is what we use to do the work of God, right? Without this tool, we can't do the work of God. Now this tool is not going to do you any good unless you speak Greek, but this tool right here is what you need, the English translation of that book. You can't do anything for God. You can't preach a sermon without these words. You can't win souls to Christ without this book. This is the tool to serve God. What does it mean to be the chosen people? I mean, does chosen people mean that you're just chosen to be special? You're chosen to be better than everyone else. You're chosen so that we can all bow down to you and think you're great. Is that why he chose Israel in the Old Testament? Is that why he chose 12 apostles? Just, you win. You get to be the people that everybody looks up to. No, no. You're chosen. What does it mean to be chosen? You're chosen for service. Get this point. You're chosen for service. That's why Jesus said to the apostles, You've not chosen me, but I've chosen you and ordained you that you should bring forth fruit and that your fruit would remain. He picked 12 disciples to work. I'm choosing you to be my full-time workers. He chose 70 other apostles to do work. To work. Why did he choose the Old Testament nation of Israel? Just to be the special chosen ones? No, he chose them to do a work. They were supposed to be a light to the Gentiles. They were supposed to be a pattern nation. They were supposed to be the ones who would preach the Word of God to the whole world and be an example where all nations would hear of their righteous laws and their righteous nation and want to come and be a part of it. That's what it says in Deuteronomy. You know, what nation is like this nation? That's what they should be saying. And that's mentioned in the context of them being chosen. So, in the New Testament, the Jews are not the chosen vessel. They're not the chosen people. Why? Because, first of all, God didn't even give the tool in their language. God gave the tool in the language of the people that are going to use the tool. Because his chosen vessel in the New Testament is the Gentiles. Now, the Jews can get on board if they'll believe on Christ, because in Christ there's neither Jew nor Gentile. Any Jew who wants to believe on Christ can be a part of Christianity. I said Christianity. And they can be equal with the Gentiles as Christians, but there's nothing special about them at all. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. Why? Because the service is what they're chosen for. And look, you and I today have been chosen to serve. God has chosen to use us. That's why he gave us the Bible in our language so that we could do work with it. Why do we have a- and people say, well, why would God give us the perfect Bible in English? Why English? English. You know why he gave us the perfect, pure word of God in English in the form of the King James Bible, preserved and passed down and accurately translated from the original tongues? Because we're the ones that are doing something with it. Now, look, the Greek people these days, they're not doing much with it, are they? I mean, when was the last time you saw Greeks going all over the world and preaching the gospel? You don't go to Africa and run into all these Greek missionaries and there's Greek missionaries. No, no, no. The Greeks are dead spiritually now. They're not doing the work anymore. So God couldn't just leave it in Greek. First of all, he wanted to translate it into all languages so that all men could be saved anyway, and so that all men could have the tool to do works for him, of all nations. But today, the people that are doing the most soul-winning and the most preaching and serving God the most speak English. Like it or lump it. No, no, no. Guess what? Guess what the Spanish speakers, most of them are doing? Catholic. Most of them- most of the Spanish, what are they- Pentecostal. Now look, are there great Spanish-speaking churches that are being used greatly by God? Yes, amen. There are a lot of great Iglesias Baptistas that are doing great work for God. I'm not trying to say that, but I'm trying to tell you that if you took all the languages of the world and put them in a row, you'll notice that the one who's doing the most for God are the ones that speak English. Now look, it doesn't have to be that way. Because do you think God cares whether we speak English or Spanish or Chinese? You know what he cares about? Getting the work done. And if the Spanish speakers want to step up to the plate and be the next great missionaries and the next great preachers and the ones to reach the world with Christ, then let's do it, Spanish speakers. Right? If the Chinese want to become the greatest Christians of all time and bring the gospel all over the globe, do it. If the Arab Christians want to do it, do it. Why? Because God is going to use whoever brings forth the fruit. And in the New Testament, that's not the Jews. It's never been the Jews. It's never going to be the Jews. Because that root has been chopped, that tree has been withered, and that fig tree will never bring forth fruit again. We're the chosen generation. Now what does that mean when we say we don't have a t-shirt about it that we like to wear? We're the chosen people. Is that a prideful statement of, hey, we're better? No, no, no. What it means is that we're the ones God's using. But you know what? God can use you, too. You can buy that shirt, too. You can make that shirt, too. Anybody who wants to can wear that shirt. You don't have to be white to wear that shirt. You don't have to be black to wear that shirt. You don't have to speak English to wear that shirt. You don't have to be Jewish. You don't have to be non-Jewish. The only thing you need to do to wear that shirt is just believe in Jesus. And if Jesus is in your heart, you can wear that shirt. We're the chosen people. In time past, we were not a people, but now we are. Chosen for what? Chosen to reach the entire world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. What the Jews failed to do, we're going to do. We're going to succeed. And God knew that, and he looked down from heaven, and he saw that English-speaking people were going to take the Bible into Africa and India and China and all over the world. And he said, you know what? I better make sure they get the tool. I better make sure that King James authorizes 54 of the smartest men who ever lived to spend seven years translating it, because I want to make sure that sword is sharp. Because there's going to be so many people wielding it. You know what? And today, as we see more Spanish-speaking churches starting and more Baptists and more Christians and people being saved amongst the Spanish-speaking world, we notice that their sword's getting sharpened up. They're sharpening up that Reina Valera version and getting it sharpened up, getting it improved and better. Why? Why did God give us the tool? Because we're going to use it. And anybody who's going to use it, he'll give them the tool if they do with what they got. And if somebody speaks a language where all they have is John and Romans, well, you know what? If they take that John and Romans and they start winning souls and preaching and winning people to the Lord, you know what? God's going to give them more. Because unto him that half more shall be given and he shall have more abundance. But guess what? The Jews, they're not doing anything with it. They're blaspheming it. They're hating it. They're not the chosen ones. And I'm so sick of the Baptist pastors and preachers just repeating this lie that the Jews are the God's chosen people. It doesn't even make sense. Chosen to do what? To hate Jesus? Chosen to do what? Have a democracy in the Middle East? Is that really God's program? Go into all the world and create democracies. It's the preaching gospel of Jesus. That's the choosing. That's what we're chosen for. Amen? We're the elect. We're the chosen. Why? Because God has a job for us to do and you're hired if you believe on Jesus. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Lord, we thank you so much for giving us the word of God in our language, Lord. And I thank you so much, Lord, that you chose, even in the original, not to put the whole original in Hebrew, Lord. I think that it was just so wise of you, Lord. You are so wise and so perfect that you were smart enough, Lord, and wise enough to put a different language for the Old Testament and the New Testament so that we would know that you don't just care about one group of people, but that you want the gospel to go to the whole world and that one nation is not better than another, Lord. Help us to realize that and to understand that you're willing to use us whether we're red, yellow, black, and white, Lord. Thank you for using us, Lord. And thank you for giving us the tool that we need to get the job done. The powerful sword of the Spirit, the word of God. Thank you for giving it to us in our language in English, Lord, also. And in Jesus' name we pray, Amen. All right, let's sing one more song before we go. Song number 129, Rock of Ages, clef for me. Song number 129. Song 129. Rock of Ages, clef for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood From thy womb and side which flow In thee I'll sit the double core Safe from wrath and make me more Where my tears forever flow Will flood my soul, no anger, no Peace for sin, but not at all Thou must save me now alone In thy heaven, O Christ, I pray Simply to thy cross I plead While thy blood is bleeding well When thy eyes shall close in bed When I rise to the altar long Empty hold beyond my throne Rock of Ages, clef for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Thank you for coming. You are dismissed. Thank you for coming.