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

The subject that I'm going to be preaching on tonight, the title of my sermon is Doubting Your Salvation. There's a lot of people, a lot of believers, probably most believers at some point in their life end up going through a time where they may end up doubting their own salvation or thinking on it, did I really get saved, am I, you know, and having these types of thoughts. Now normally this, normally this happens for people, especially when you're earlier on after getting saved, you can start having doubts, or maybe you hear some preaching on a subject that might rattle you or shake you, you hear some real hard preaching and you start wondering, whoa, wait a minute, you know, did I not do something right, did I, you know, did I really get saved, you know, and I want to cover multiple issues when it comes to this and hopefully be able to provide some reassurance, but, you know, many times people will think, you know, maybe they were young when they got saved, right, this is kind of a common one, and they go, I don't know if I fully understood everything, I don't know how much I knew, you know, my mom or my dad, you know, they led me in a prayer, but I'm not sure if I really got it, and sometimes people have a hard time, because when we go out and preach the gospel, we try to bring people to a point to where they're making a decision to put their faith in Jesus Christ, that's what we're doing, we're trying to persuade, provide a lot of verses, scriptural evidence, give the understanding, help them to just, to just realize and get it, and see that they need a savior, and you can pinpoint it and say, that's the day that that person got saved, because when we walked up to the door, they were trusting in their own works, but when we showed them the gospel, they, you know, they saw it, they realized it, they changed their mind, and they put their faith in Jesus Christ, and it's pretty clear cut, pretty cut and dry, right, that's what happened, and you have that moment, but some people, they say, I don't really remember that happening, and they're gonna cause you to doubt, well, I'm not sure if I'm really saved, because I, like, it didn't happen like that for me, I don't know, you know, and I've heard that quite a bit, and it caused people to start to doubt, well, just right off the bat, and this is an answer, a question you could just ask yourself, just for any situation, any scenario is, what do you believe right now? What do you believe right now? What do you believe it takes to be saved? If you're believing that salvation is a free gift, it's completely by grace, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you could never lose that salvation, it's nothing what you did, you're trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ, when he died on the cross and rose again from the dead, you're trusting in him, you know you can never lose it, you're secure in Jesus Christ, if you're believing that, you're believing the right gospel, you're saved. That's the bottom line, so, you know, sometimes you just need to make it that simple, instead of getting complicated and going back, like, I don't know about this time, was it then, I don't know, you know, this other thing happened in my life, I don't know, look, if you believe today, you're saved, and it doesn't matter when the time was that you actually made the decision and put your faith in Christ, you don't have to doubt your salvation if that's what you believe today, because if that's what you believe, then I don't care what anyone says, that's all the Bible says, you know, whosoever believeth should not perish, so that's what scripture says, and scripture can't be broken, so if you believe, then you are saved and you have eternal life, so that's good, I mean, that's just right off the start, I could just close the sermon here, we're done, right, no, but we're gonna go into some more things, because there's other things that pop up and can cause people to doubt, and I do wanna try to deal with that, help people out, and there's, the next point is actually kind of a big one, we're gonna park it on this, because I've heard a lot of people also say, well, what if I was already a reprobate, what if, you know, I've gotten phone calls on this, I've talked to people about this, where they think, like, well, I just don't know, I mean, I don't, they're all like, and I'll ask, I'll go back to the same thing, well, what do you believe, you know, it's like, yeah, but I don't know, I mean, I might, you know, these things happened when I was young, and, you know, maybe someone was abused or some other thing went on, you know, and they had some issues in the past, and they're just like, I don't know, I might have, I might have just, you know, like, there's a point in my life where I really hated God, I've heard that before, too, you know, they lost a loved one, and I just, there's just a point where I just really hated God, and I was just really angry at him, you know, and they start thinking of these things, because, you know, you hear preaching on Romans 1, you hear preaching on the reprobate, and these are, for the vast majority of people these days, it's a new concept, because it's not being taught in most churches, it's not a new doctrine, doctrine's been around forever, but it's been, it's kind of gone by the wayside as far as just historical preaching is concerned, it's just been one of those things that's just kind of faded away, and is now making more of a resurgence, and one of the problems with that, and this is actually, it kind of irritates me a little bit, people hear things, and they get, and out of a zeal, and being on fire, and you know, like, you know, loving the hard preaching, some people have a tendency to go overboard and just start labeling, oh, that person's a reprobate, oh, this person's a reprobate, oh, that person's a reprobate, oh, they don't believe exactly like I do, they're a reprobate, and they start throwing this word around very loosely, and that is not right, because people who do that, you don't even understand what a reprobate is then, and it's actually kind of hurting to the point to where some people now are going to be thinking, you know, people start seeing this, especially people who are younger in the faith, they don't know as much, it's going to make them say, wow, this person's a reprobate, that person's a reprobate, this person's a reprobate, then like, maybe I was a reprobate, and especially nowadays, I've heard it even more frequently, that, you know, maybe you've seen some people that have been around our movement for a long time, and they go out soul winning, and they seem like, man, they're really solid people, and they're really these, you know, these pillars, and these strong soul winners, and all this stuff, and then they turn out to be false prophets, and that also adds the confusion, but I just want to say right now, that also demonstrates the amount of damage that these people do when they do creep into churches, they creep in unawares, and they gain confidence of people, and then, when they're finally exposed as being a false prophet, that causes people to think, oh, wow, I just had so much trust in them, then they start questioning themselves, and I call it the Lord is it I mentality. Keep your place here in 1 Timothy 1, I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself, but turn if you would back to Matthew 26, because there's one thing about a reprobate that needs to be understood. They're wicked from the beginning. It's not like they used to be really good, and then they got into some heresy and became a false prophet, and now they're bad. They crept in unawares. They snuck in. They infiltrated, and think about an infiltrator. A person doesn't infiltrate unless they have bad motivations from the beginning. That's what a treacherous person does. They're not sneaking in and creeping in unawares with only good motives from the beginning, because then they don't have to creep. They don't have to be sneaky about it. And this is one thing that we need to recognize and understand about the reprobate is that they are bad from the beginning. Like Jesus said of Judas, he was a devil from the beginning, but Judas was so good at keeping his cover that nobody suspected him. And he was with Jesus Christ's ministry for three and a half years. And remember we read this morning about Jesus Christ saying, you know, when people said they wanted to follow him, he's like, well, I don't have a place to stay and all this other stuff. Well, his disciples did follow him. The Twelve, the apostles, they were with him, traveling with him, and they did stay out where he stayed out, and they spent a lot of time together, and they devoted their whole lives into doing this, and one of them was there the whole time as a devil. But in all outward appearances, nobody was, no one was the wiser on who he was on the inside. So much to the point to where Jesus is just about to be crucified, and he's having that last supper with his disciples, and he announces, saying, hey, one of you is going to betray me. Look down at verse number 21 in Matthew 26. It says, and as they did eat, he said, verily I say unto you that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? No one else is coming to mind saying, yeah, you know, I've been suspecting that person. They've been acting kind of funny. They're kind of weird. Because they can't think that way on anyone else, they're saying, is it me? Am I going to do it, Lord? Because they don't know how to feel against someone else. They can't see that being in anyone else, that they just have to question themselves, like maybe that's me. But the thing is, every one of the disciples, they were honestly asking that question, except for Judas. Why? Because Judas already knew that he was the traitor. If you jump up earlier in this passage, it says in verse 14, then one of the 12 called Judas Iscariot went unto the chief priests and said unto them, what will you give me? And I will deliver him unto you. And they covenanted with him for 30 pieces of silver, and from that time he sought opportunity to betray him. So all of them said, is it I? Is it me? Including Judas. But Judas already knew that it was him. So you see, everyone else out of a pure heart is just going, wow, you know, like, am I going to be the one to do it? Honestly, not knowing and just asking, but Judas already knew. Yet he still faked it. Why? Because everyone else was doing it. This is what I'm supposed to be doing. Yeah. Well, is it me? Yeah, it is you. And you know that it's you. See, Judas knew from the beginning, yet he's still playing along. Judas was a thief from the beginning. He had the bag. No one suspected him. But he was rotten from the beginning. And it's people that may have been around for a while that end up becoming exposed because eventually the wolf shows their fangs. Eventually the reprobate does become known. Eventually they drop their cover when it's at the point, whatever, when they think that they're going to be able to do damage, because the whole point is to come in and to creep in and to do damage and hurt churches and hurt the work of the Lord. Then that's when it's going to happen. And there's different ways that, you know, methods that these reprobates will use to do this. But that's what they're all about. But just because those people exist, see, when someone is questioning, well, maybe I already was a reprobate, that alone is probably enough for me to say you're not a reprobate if you're even worried about it. If you're concerned about the fact that, well, maybe I did something, maybe I hated God, maybe I blasted, you know, and you start to worry about these things. Just the fact that you're really concerned and worried about that is showing me that you're probably not the reprobate, because the reprobate goes in with the evil intent. They don't care about the, you know, that's why they're there. But going back to just throwing that word around, someone who is a reprobate is not your average, and go back if you would to 1 Timothy chapter 1. This isn't any unsaved person, first of all. And second of all, it's not even just people who are really bad sinners. They're just automatically a reprobate. Most reprobates you're not going to be able to identify. Now some you can. The Bible gives us some clear outward expressions of someone who's already been given over to a reprobate mind. For example, Romans 1 talks about, you know, men with men and women with women are burned in their lust, one towards another. The reason why they're even doing those things is because God gave them over to a reprobate mind. So, someone who's burning in their lust, a man with a man or a woman with a woman, and they're just, I mean, that's like, I don't want to talk anymore about that. Someone who's like that, that now has become obvious, well you've been given over to the reprobate mind. Someone who is into children, a pedophile, you know, obviously, okay yeah, they've been given over to this reprobate mind. The other reprobate that the Bible gives us a lot of detail about would be a false prophet. In 2 Peter chapter 2 in the book of Jude. And that's where it's talking about, that's what the reprobate that we've been seeing more recently that have been creeping into the good churches and coming out with these damnable doctrines and preaching another Jesus and really doing damage on that front and denying the Lord that bought them. But we need to be careful just because some of these situations have come up not to be too quick to pull the trigger on just pronouncing somebody a reprobate. Because you think about it, there really is nothing worse that you could call someone than a reprobate. You are just totally rejected of God. And that is going to impact how you deal with that person, how you view that person. If you think that someone is just totally unsavable, I mean, you see the Scriptures, you know, do not hate them Lord, that hate thee, and you see that. So if you're going to go that route with someone, you better be sure and confident that you know that they are who you think they are, but that they are actually a reprobate. My standard for pronouncing someone a reprobate is very high. There's a very high limit or threshold that they have to cross. I need to see evidence that like, yes, this is that person. And here's why, especially when it comes to a false prophet type of person. We look at the Apostle Paul. Was the Apostle Paul a reprobate? No. Of course not. It's ridiculous to even think that he would be, but when we look at the Apostle Paul's life, and we need to remember this, the things that he did before his salvation, if you just looked at his actions, and if you saw that and said, oh man, that guy is a reprobate, then you need to take a look at yourself and your own pronouncement of who you say is a reprobate. He attacked the church of God. He was an enemy of the church. He would go in pretending to be, you know, a saved person, oh hey brother, and then go in and have those people arrested because he was going around trying to stop what the disciples were doing. It was pretty bad. And he was a witness to murder and covered it up. So he was involved, and he was a Pharisee. You say, oh, well he's a false prophet then. But no, he wasn't. There's a difference, and here's the key. And this is why it's so hard to determine who a reprobate is and who isn't sometimes is because the key is it has to do with their heart. The Apostle Paul, and we're going to read this passage again in just a minute, he did it ignorantly. All the sins that he was committing, all these outward signs where someone might say, well, that person's a reprobate because look at what he did. The reason why he wasn't a reprobate is because he literally was thinking that he was serving God and he was doing this ignorantly in unbelief. He didn't reject the Gospel. He didn't reject God. He didn't hear the Gospel and just refuse it. He never understood it and knew it. He fought against it, but he did it ignorantly. It means without his knowledge. When you read Romans 1, Romans 1 says, because that when they knew God, they glorified Him, not as God. The reprobate knows God. They've heard. They've rejected. They hate God. That's the reprobate. There's a big difference between that and someone who just doesn't know better. They don't know God. They've been deceived. There are deceived people all over the world been deceived by false religions. They've been deceived. They're ignorant of the truth. They're ignorant of salvation. They're ignorant of what Jesus Christ actually did for them, but that doesn't make them a reprobate because they may be sincere in their belief. Now, that doesn't mean that they're going to go to heaven because they're sincere in their belief. They need to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved, but that doesn't just make them automatically just damned reprobate too bad. Sorry. People can be saved. People have been saved out of, I believe, every religion just because they thought they were following truth and they found out they were wrong about that, even if they spread lies, even if at one point they preached a false gospel, but they did so ignorantly in unbelief. Just because someone was telling people, hey, you need to work or whatever. I mean, what happens if you find a Mormon missionary and they're going around and they're trying to spread Mormonism and stuff, and then you preach them the gospel and they get saved. Well, they were preaching and teaching a wrong thing, but they're not considered a false prophet in the sense that the Bible identifies someone as a false prophet in 2 Peter and Jude. Because those are people who are willfully, knowingly wolves in sheep's clothing that are intent on destruction. That's what that person is. They're not just simply deceived. Let's read a little bit about Paul's history. He gives his own history here in 1 Timothy chapter 1. Look at verse 12, the Bible says, And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. Who was before a blasphemer. So he said blasphemous things about God, about Jesus Christ. You hear someone speaking blasphemy against Jesus, don't be just so quick to say, oh, well, they're a reprobate. Just because they say blasphemy. Obviously blasphemy is a wicked sin. It's not some small thing. That's a big deal. That's a major sin. He said, and that's the first thing. It was before a blasphemer and a persecutor. So he's persecuting the church and injurious, like literally causing harm and injury. But I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly and unbelief. He was able to obtain that mercy because he wasn't just intent on destroying God's people because he hates God. He thought that they were wrong, sincerely. Like he sincerely thought that what he was doing was right and was just deceived by that, by that false religion. And then it says in verse 14, And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came in the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering for a pattern of them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. He's saying that he was like one of the things that God was showing with the apostle Paul being saved is his longsuffering. How merciful God really is to allow people to sin and sin and blaspheme and do all these sins and still have them, give them the opportunity to get saved. And he's using himself as a living example of someone. He's like, wow, remember me when you're looking at other people. Remember that Christ Jesus came in the world to save sinners because we need the proper balance as we hear all the hard preaching on sin on the fornication, on the wickedness, the lascivious, on all these things that we need to get this wicked sin in our life. We need to hate that sin. We need to just have nothing to do with it and live a righteous life. We need the balance of remembering, especially the more righteous you get, the more you get that out of your life that you can't just now because you feel so holy and righteous start labeling everyone else a reprobate. Oh, I can't believe that they blaspheme. Oh, I can't believe that they are drunk. Oh, I can't, you know, whatever and start looking on people in a proud manner and just start labeling people reprobates because they're engaged in a behavior that is not right or that's wicked. Now, I mentioned before, I'm not talking about the out and proud homo and the pedophile, you know, and the people that are clearly identifiable as being given over the reprobate mind. But we need to keep that balance of while we want to keep ourselves unspotted from the world, remember that, hey, we're also sinners and Jesus Christ came in the world to save sinners and we need to be giving people the benefit of the doubt like as much as humanly possible. I mean, I need to know unless, you know, when I go out sowing, I am almost positive sometimes that there is someone that's a sodomite. And if I know that they are, I'm not going to waste my time with them. Okay, just so you understand that, I don't cast my pearls before swine and I'm not going to try to save someone that God's already rejected. However, there are men that can be effeminate and deceived and there's been so many people where I'm just like, well, I don't know, are they not? If you're ever on the fence or if you ever have a doubt and not quite sure, you always love them enough to give them the gospel. Always. Because if you don't know, I mean, you can't make that call. Now, if someone shows up, he's like, hey, yeah, my husband wants to hear this too and it's a guy. Alright, see you later. Actually, give me my invitation back because you're not welcome. That's fine. That's appropriate. But in many situations, though, you're not going to know that. You just won't. You might have suspicions. You might think, well, I don't know. And I remember so many times, I was like, was that guy a fag? You know, like, I don't want to waste my time, but I don't know. And they're like, yeah, I think so. But you need to have that level of just give them the benefit of the doubt. Because, you know, there's so many times where you're not going to know. But that's kind of a little rabbit trail. I don't want to get too more involved in that. But doubting your salvation, right? So, you know, one more point on that because when it comes to people doubting their salvation, maybe someone has had, and I don't like getting too deep into this because people always want to push you to say like, you know, do you believe that all homos are reprobate? Yes, I do. I do. I believe that. But people always want to try to pin you down. Well, what about if this, you know, and they just want to go down to see like, where is that dividing line? And that's a foolish question. And I'm not going to go down that path. But I'll speak on that this much. There are things that there are acts that I believe that can be committed between two people that are that are horribly abominable acts. That just because the act has been committed, doesn't make that person a reprobate. For example, someone being, you know, abused, right, the person being abused, that doesn't make them a reprobate. But I've also seen situations, not like not like physically firsthand, but known of situations where people maybe a lot of drinking and drugs have been involved. And there have been some things that have happened as a result of that people not being in the right frame of mind, but they still think like, yeah, that's gross. That shouldn't, you know, that's not who I'm just proclaiming to be a reprobate. Okay, and I'm just gonna leave it at that. Because there's no point in just starting to nitpick. But for people who may have had or know someone that's had some weird, horribly bad, wicked, sinful experience in their past, that makes them wonder, well, well, I don't know, maybe I'm a reprobate. What do you believe right now? That'll tell you, right, and just the fact they're even concerned about it is telling me you're probably not a reprobate. But if you believe right, right now, then you're not that answers the question. The reason why is because a reprobate the Bible says cannot believe. They can't believe. They're ever learning and never able to come to knowledge of the truth. It doesn't matter, no matter how much they even, even if they want to believe. Like Esau found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. It doesn't matter. They just can't. Once you're given a reprobate mind, it's impossible to believe. And if you believe, then that's safe, and that should settle it. Another thing that people, well here, actually turn to John chapter 12. I forgot I had this in my notes. John chapter 12. I'm just going to prove that to you, that they can't believe. And I quoted this earlier, but I'll read the whole passage in 2 Timothy 3.7. Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith. Those are people that just, they resist it. You know, the people who I'm talking about who are like doubting salvation, they're not resisting truth. They just want to know the truth and embrace the truth. The reprobate, they resist it. They don't want to actually have the truth. Look at Joshua 12 verse number 37. The Bible says, But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him, that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report, and to whom at the arm of the Lord been revealed. Verse 39, Therefore they could not believe, because as Isaiah said again, he hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. That's all God blinding their eyes and hardening their heart, and he's saying they couldn't believe because God did that. Because God hardened their heart. And this is in context, just like with Pharaoh, wouldn't let the children of Israel go, why? Because his heart was hardened. Even when he saw enough miracles of God to just, like anybody in their right mind would say, let him go. No, because God hardened his heart, he still wouldn't let him go. The same way with these reprobates when Jesus was around, he performed so many miracles. I mean, even bringing someone back from the dead, you would think this should be enough for anyone in their right mind to realize this is the real deal. This is the Son of God. No, they still refused him because God hardened their heart. They couldn't even believe because they'd already rejected him. They'd already known about him, they'd already known the truth, and they rejected it. Then God hardens their heart, and that's what happens. But one thing we never see is, and one thing that's interesting too, and this is just a little experiential knowledge from years and years and years of soul winning and running into people that I didn't realize were a reprobate at first. Every single person that has come out in my conversation with them, because sometimes you run into people and they act and sound normal, and you don't think, I mean there's no indication. Every single time, they've always known that they're reprobate. Every time. Every time I'm thinking of right now, I'm thinking about people I've talked to. People that say, you know, I've gone through, given the Gospel, I remember one girl in particular in Prescott Valley, I was giving the Gospel to her, and she's like, well I don't think I'd be welcoming to church, and I spent a long time trying to get her to hear the Gospel and she's asking all these questions, and they're kind of weird questions too. It's just kind of like, not questions you always hear all the time. And you know, the homos came up quite a bit, but she still just seemed like this normal person, so I wasn't really thinking too much of it just because of the society we live in today, you know, homos come up a lot anyways, and then when she said, well I don't know if I'd be welcoming to church, it's like, well, why? She didn't know if she could be saved or whatever, because of her past, well what could possibly be done, and then she's like, well I'm bisexual. Like, oh. Yeah, but see that showed me that she already knew that she was without hope. She already knew that. And she wasn't saying like, oh one thing happened one time, no, she's like, I'm bisexual. I like girls and guys. She's already burning her lust, and she already knew. And there's been other experiences along the way where it's just like, I think that the reprobates, they know in their heart that they can, and it may eat at them, and it may bother them, and I know it bothers them. I mean, Judas commits suicide. It did bother him, but it doesn't change the fact that he was a devil. It doesn't change the fact that he ended up rejecting God, and just because God hardened his heart, that was still of his own doing and his own choice. Anyways, I just wanted to point that out. Now, turn if you would to Matthew chapter 17. Because one of the things that people, shifting gears here, doubting salvation. You know, I've brought up a lot, well what do you believe right now? What do you believe, right? And people say, one of the things I've heard about people doubting their salvation is like, well I don't know if I really believed enough. You know, yeah I believe it, but I don't know if I'm quite believing enough. And it's sad, but people will complicate the gospel more than it really is. It's a very simple concept. And especially for those of us who are very secure and settled on our salvation, yeah, it's a really easy thing. I mean, I just believed. You're not trying to make it hard. But some people will get so concerned and worried about this that they really start micro-analyzing it. Did I believe right? Did I believe everything I needed to believe? And did I believe enough? And they'll hear a verse, because I use this verse out of soul winning sometimes. In Acts chapter 8, Philip's preaching the gospel of the Ethiopian eunuch, and he says, you see here's water, what doth hinder me to be baptized? And what does he say? If thou believeth with all thine heart, thou mayest. Right? And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. We need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ with all of our heart. So sometimes people will hear that and say, well, I don't know if I believed with all of my heart. Maybe I only partially believed. Because you have to believe with all of your heart to be saved. So I don't know if I fully believed. And again, you know, this is just a lack of understanding. Believing with all of your heart, it's not like a meter of like, I'm believing, you know, I'm believing, I'm trying to believe as much as I can. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. All right, I believed with all of my heart, right? Making it some real difficult thing. What he means by that, by believing with all of your heart, and I use this example, I'll tell one thing. If someone were to ask you, if you were to die today and you were facing God, and God said, why should I let you into heaven? Whatever your answer is to God at that moment for that question, that's what you're believing in to get you to heaven. That's where your trust is. That's what you're relying on. Whatever that answer is. Now the correct answer is, Jesus paid my way to be here. He paid for my sins when he died on the cross and rose again, and I'm trusting in what he did for me because your word said that that's what I had to do. Okay, that's it. That is believing with all of your heart on Jesus. Why is it with all of your heart? Because you're not trusting in anything else. Now if I were to say, well God, you know, I believe in Jesus Christ and that I did, you know, but I also did all these good things, and I went to church, and I prayed, and I preached, and I did this, and I did that. Well, all of my faith isn't in Jesus, so I'm not believing on him with all my heart. I've split it up into multiple things. So it's not this, did I believe enough? It's just basically, is that your only belief? Because if that's your only belief, then you are believing it with all of your heart. Does that make sense? And when it comes to a quantity of faith, in Matthew 17, I had you turn and look at verse number 19, the Bible says, Then came the disciples of Jesus apart and said, Why could not we cast them out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief, for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Basically, Jesus is saying, the mustard seed is very, very, very, very little, and he's saying they didn't even have that much faith as far as quantity goes, because he said if you even had that, you could just remove this mountain. You'd have enough power through God to move mountains. So it's not, believing with your heart isn't the quantity of faith that you have. It's where is your faith. So don't let that bother you either. I don't know if I quite believed enough. That was something that I actually struggled with myself. We're going to get to my own personal example here in a minute, but we're going to get into some other reasons that doubt comes up in people's minds, and it's usually caused by other false teachings, especially in regards to salvation. But false teachings in churches will get people to start questioning their own salvation. Turn back to Matthew chapter seven, and we're going to see a very common one, where people, how many people have heard this? Raise your hand if you've heard this before, that you can tell if a person is saved based on their fruit. You've heard that before? Yeah, almost everybody has heard that before. That teaching is just a total twisting of what the Bible says in Matthew chapter seven. So what people like to do is just read Matthew seven twenty that says, wherefore by their fruits you shall know them. See, what's their fruits? Well, when someone does good things, well obviously they're saved, and when people are committing sin and doing bad things, then they must not be saved. Well, now you're basing salvation on your works. Of course people are going to be confused and doubting their salvation if it has to do with your works. That's why every person we run into out soul winning that's trusting in their works is going to tell you, well of course I don't know for sure that I'm going to heaven if I die today. I mean, how could you? I don't know if I've done enough, because they're trusting in their works. And this horribly false belief is making people doubt their salvation. But let's look at the context of that passage. Jump up to verse number fifteen. The Bible says, beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing. We heard us talking about this. But inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Who's the them? The false prophets. Does this say, beware of every single unsaved person you come into contact with. Ye shall know them by their fruits. No. Beware of false prophets. You're going to know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? Now thorns and thistles, those are not good fruits. That is the rejected thorns, briars, dead, you know, destruction type of fruit. Why? Because a bad tree can't bring forth good fruit. And a good tree can't bring forth evil fruit. And the trees are referring to prophets. Good prophets versus bad prophets. True prophets of God whose fruit is going to be bringing forth other converts that are good. The bad prophet is going to make a proselyte twofold more the child of hell than himself. And his fruit is going to be bad. Verse number seventeen says, even so every good tree bring forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bring forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them. You could match this up with Jude. You could say they're twice dead, plucked up by the roots. Trees whose fruit withereth twice dead. It's the exact same type of person. It's the false prophet. That's who you know by your fruits. Not whether or not a person is saved or unsaved. It's too much of a leap. Because this is talking about judging who's the reprobate. The false prophet. Not judging who is saved and it's not talking about their fruit being, well, are they doing good or are they doing bad? Just in general. Are they sinning? Well, I'm sinning. Everybody sins, right? I mean, find a day where you're not sinning. In one capacity or another. Oh, that's your fruit. It's bad fruit. You must not be saved. You must be a false prophet. No. No, don't let that cause you to doubt your salvation. Another one is, did I repent of all of my sins? I've heard that. Plenty of people get confused about that too. Why? Because you've got someone preaching a false doctrine from the pulpit saying, well, you've got to repent of your sins and be saved. And sometimes it's well-meaning preachers that actually are saved that have been caught up into repeating a phrase that is just completely inaccurate. I've heard people use that phrase that are actually saved, but never took the time to think about what they're actually saying. Because some people, they've twisted it so much and it is thinking, well, you've got to recognize that you're a sinner and you deserve this punishment. Yeah, but that's not repenting of your sins to understanding that you deserve a punishment as a sinner and needing a savior. Those are two different things. Turning from your sins means you're not going to do those sins anymore. And if that's what you're trusting in to be saved, then you do need to be doubting your salvation because you're not saved if you're trusting in how well you're keeping the commandments and how much you've turned from your sins because no one has turned from all their sins. The Bible says in Titus 3.5, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our savior, that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Not by works of righteousness as we have done. Not by turning from our sins, turning over a new leaf. That would mean you don't sin anymore. Flip over to 1 Timothy chapter 2. Ultimately, if you're looking at your sins and questioning your salvation, then what you really ought to question is what are you trusting in to be saved? Because if you're looking at your sins to doubt your own salvation, it sounds like you're trusting in your good behavior and your good works to save you. So again, in that situation, you ought to doubt your salvation. But if you say, no, that's not what I'm trusting in. No, I know. Then you have no reason to doubt your salvation because of your sins. Does that make sense? Now, that was a problem that I had because I got saved when I was 20 years old. I didn't have a soul winner come to my door. I'm not sure exactly who the person was that ended up planting the seed and giving me the gospel. But I got saved calling on the name of the Lord in my bedroom one night, late at night, all alone. And I know that that's the day I got saved. And that's the day I put my faith in Jesus Christ. And I know I received eternal life from that moment forward. I almost said I never had a doubt. But yes, I have had doubts. But you know when the doubts came? The doubts came when I was living probably in some of my most wicked life. And the reason why I doubted was because I just asked myself, but see, my source of doubting, it wasn't because I was trusting in my sins. It was, my question was, how can I say that I believe this book when I'm doing all of these things that it says not to do? Now, deep down, I still knew I'd put my faith in Christ. But when you really just feed the flesh and not the Spirit, and you're not walking in the Spirit and you just are walking in the flesh, that can lead you to some doubts. And you know what would have helped me is getting in a good church would help to ease those doubts. Now, at the end of the day, if you're saved, it doesn't matter how much you doubt you're still saved, right? But it does impact your life and your walk. I mean, that was a very big deal for me to even go through that. And you know what? Sometimes people need to get to that point to really make a turn in their life and say, wow, you know, I really need to analyze my own life. Because I already knew my testimony was shot. Whenever conversations would come up about Jesus Christ or anything, I never shared my faith because I didn't want to look like the hypocrite. I was ashamed to talk about my faith because I thought, who's going to listen to me? And it's true, who's going to listen to me? What I'm doing, living this life that is completely contrary to what God's Word says, oh, but I believe this book. Yeah, you should listen to me. You need to be saved by Jesus. Yeah, you're destroying your testimony. It doesn't make you unsaved, but you're destroying your testimony. Our actions do speak louder than our words, especially in the eyes of many people that we know and deal with on a regular basis. The way that you act is going to make a profound impact on them. And then when you actually get the opportunity to preach the Gospel to them, the way that you've been living will impact how much they're going to listen to you. And the more you're walking in the Spirit too, the less you're going to be doubting your own salvation. That should go without saying. When you're doing right and kind of doing according, you know, I think I brought this up this morning about just the fruits of the Spirit. You're going to have that. You're going to have the joy and the peace. You're not going to be doubting your salvation at all. But either way, again, you could always go back to what do I believe? If this is what I believe, you know, do I know that Jesus paid for my sins and that's what I'm trusting in, then you're saved. Oftentimes people say, well, I don't know if I gave my life to Jesus. Again, this just comes from people using bad terminology and false teaching. Well, that's backwards. You don't have to give your life to Jesus to be saved. That's a lordship salvation. That's a, you know, I'm doing something to be saved as opposed to just trusting what Jesus did. It's backwards. He's the one that actually gave his life for us. The Bible says, even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. He gave his life for you to be saved. 1 Timothy 2.5 says, for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. Is that right? Did I have you turn to 1 Timothy chapter 2? Well, that was the reference. Verse number 5 and 6. Turn to Romans chapter 7. Sorry, I had you turn there so long ago, I didn't even remember that I had you turn there. Romans 7. Romans 7 actually deals with what I was just talking about in my own experience, my own life, my own doubting. Romans 7 will help you to understand how you can actually still be saved and believe in Jesus and still commit sin and how it's possible to have the two together. Yes, you're acting like a hypocrite. You are. You absolutely are. But that's still totally reasonable and it's part of reality that you can have both exist at the same time. Some people will try to tell you, oh no, you can't have both. If you really truly believe, then all things have become new and you won't sin and you won't do those things that you used to do before. Yes, you will. Or you can. You absolutely have to. Some people will, some people won't. But that doesn't make you unsaved if you do those things. Romans chapter 7. Let's read the Bible here, get some more clarity. Verse number 13. Romans chapter number 7. The Bible says, Was then that which is good made death unto me, God forbid, but sin that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good, that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow not. For what I would, that do I not, but what I hate, that do I. Now this is a little bit of a tongue twister, kind of trying to think of what he's saying here, especially because he uses words like would. Would just means what I want to do. So when you read that word, would is just this, it's my will, it's what I want to do. And he's saying that which I do. So what I'm doing is not what I really want to do. He's saying I allow not. I don't want to sin. I'm doing it anyways, but the things I do, I don't want to do those things inwardly, right? But outwardly, I'm actually doing them. And then he says, but what I would, the things I actually want to do, the really me on the inside, spiritually, he says, I'm not doing those things. I do not those things, but what I hate, that I do. So he's bringing up this conundrum. Why am I doing this stuff? I don't want to do this stuff. I don't want to sin. I don't want to be involved. But I'm doing it anyways. And then the things I really want to do, man, I really want to go serve God. I really want, I'm not doing all those things. Why not? Verse number 16, if then I do that, which I would not, I consent under the law that it is good. So now at first he's just saying, look, if I do those things I don't want to do, the law is still the law, the law is still good. It's not the law's fault that I'm doing bad things. The law is great. It's the law of God. It's perfect converting the soul. Verse number 17, now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, and he clarifies, that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing, for to will is present with me. So what I want to do is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. For the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that, I would not. If I do those things I don't want to do, is what he's saying, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. Remember when we were talking about, you know, and you shall know the truth, probably about being disciples, and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. This is the bondage that he's talking about. He's giving us insight into what is going on in our minds and in our bodies, in our spirit versus the flesh. He's saying, in the spirit, because you're saved, because you're born again, you want to do what's right, you want to do what's good. And me, personally, genuinely, I wanted to do what's right. I can say that I love God in my heart, but in my actions I wasn't doing that. I was committing sin, I was doing all these things that were wicked, doing things I didn't really want to do. Now my flesh wanted to do those things. So the way that we reconcile this is that, yes, I'm still saved, my spirit is still saved, but my flesh is still wicked. So when I'm indulging the flesh, that is the flesh coming out and me yielding to the flesh. Which is still wrong, it's not absolving responsibility, but it's explaining how these things happen. It should give you the understanding. Now I wish I had known this or read this during that time in my life, it would have helped a little bit to understand. Well that makes sense. The reason why I still actually do believe and I'm saved, I don't need to doubt my salvation, is because inwardly I do want to do good things. But my flesh is kind of leading me into this sin. And until we lose this wicked sinful flesh, we have that battle and that struggle every single day. But we know that that's real. We know that that flesh is going to drive us to sin, and if you're losing that battle and you're being brought into bondage of sin, that doesn't make you unsaved. You're not a disciple, right? Being a disciple you know the truth, the truth is going to make you free from that bondage. But thank God you don't have to be a disciple to be saved. And this is the Apostle Paul speaking. Let's re-read here, I think it's verse number 22. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. These are all words coming out of the Apostle Paul's mouth, right, or in his writing here. Obviously it's the word of God, but I'm no Apostle Paul, but when I could see someone like him having this come out and explaining, you know, man I really just want to do what's right and good, it's kind of like you did a lot of what's right and good. What do you mean you're not doing what's right and good and the things that you allow, you know, you allow not, you're doing those things. But he's giving us the explanation of how all of that works and how that happens and that we don't need to doubt our salvation just because we've been brought under bondage of sin. Let's see, what do I want to hit? We're almost done. Last place I'll have you turn is 2 Timothy chapter number 2. 2 Timothy chapter 2. We have assurance of our salvation all throughout the Bible. God promises that we have eternal life. He promises to preserve us and this kind of gets a little bit more theoretical, but the question comes up sometimes, if believing on Jesus Christ is all that you need to be saved, well what happens if you stop believing? What happens if you turn your back on God? I don't know if you turn your back on God though you're not saved. Well according to scripture you actually are. Now I personally don't think that someone who, I don't think it's possible for someone to just completely stop, who have genuinely believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and then to no longer believe on them. It doesn't compute. I don't see how that could even happen and I think that like once you believe, you know, the Spirit of God bears witness with your spirit that you're a child of God. I don't see how you cannot know that. So I would just question that that person ever understood to begin with, personally. But the scripture still says here in 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse number 11, it is a faithful saying for if we be dead with him we shall also live with him. If we suffer we shall also reign with him. If we deny him he also will deny us. Look what it says here, if we believe not yet he abideth faithful he cannot deny himself. And what that's saying, what that's proving is that God is faithful to his promise no matter what. So if he says whosoever believeth in me shall never die, once you believe on him you'll never die and he has to stay true and faithful to his promise. John 5 24 is a verse I like using most out-soulning. Is it verily, verily I say unto thee, verily I say unto you he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is past from death unto life. Past, present, future, tense. All tenses. You're saved. You're saved right now. You have everlasting life. You're not going to be condemned. You're not going to go to hell. You've already passed from death unto life. It's already done. It's over. You're sealed. You're secure. Everlasting forever. You can never lose that. So if Jesus makes that promise and says if you believe you have it right now and then adds the future tense, how can you go back on your promise like that? How can God go back on his promise? He can't. He has to remain faithful. You know every man can be a liar and lie to you and make false promises but God can't. He is true and faithful to his word and we get to Jesus Christ who is true and faithful said that, that you shall not come into condemnation. So we can trust that. So no, if you stop believing, no, he abides faithful. He cannot deny himself. There is no situation that you can come up with that once you've already received eternal life that you could no longer have that eternal life. There is not one situation that anyone can come up with. Because if there were, then the Bible would just be a book of lies. We are preserved. And I'll just blow through some of these passages for you. You can take note of them if you want. Great for out-sowning. 2 Corinthians 1.21, Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ and hath anointed us is God, who hath also sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 13, In whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, under the praise of God. God preserves us. God seals us. He says, you're bought, you're paid for. This is the earnest. I'm giving you the Spirit right now as the earnest that I'm putting down until the full redemption where your whole body, soul, and spirit is just completely saved and with the Lord. Body's changed. New body. You've got your soul, your spirit, and you're there and you've been conformed on the image of Jesus Christ and you no longer have sinned and you're completely saved. And he's given us the Holy Spirit as the sign or the symbol of his promise, the earnest, the down payment. Ephesians 4, 30 says, And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. So you're not sealed until you screw it up real bad and you make a bad sin. No, until the day of redemption. You're sealed all the way until that first resurrection. Because that's when you're going to be redeemed. John 6, 37, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. You've come to Jesus, you put your faith in him. Jesus said, I will never cast you out. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. I will in no wise cast them out. Verse 39, And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. It's a promise. I mean, promise after promise after promise we can see all these scriptures are clear. We don't have any reason to doubt. Reasons people doubt? False doctrine, usually. Or they get carried away with something else. They're confused about certain other doctrines. Or they're living a life of sin. And they feel, you feel like you're kind of separated from the Lord. Just because you're just doing all these things you don't feel like you're very spiritual. Because you're not. You're not being very spiritual if you're living a life of sin. But that doesn't change what the Bible says about salvation. We'll close on this passage. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 13. You don't have to turn there. The Bible says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. God is the one that keeps us. And God's the one who promised he's not going to throw you away. You're never going to be cast out. You can doubt every man in this world, but you have no reason to doubt God. God's not a liar. If you're willing enough to trust him with your soul, if you could put your soul into his hands, then you ought to be able to believe him at this word. Why would you entrust your soul to someone you can't believe that you think might be lying to you? Well, if you've entrusted God with your soul, believe his word. Take comfort knowing that he saved you and he gives you eternal life and you'll never die. That's a good promise. It's about right as I have a word of prayer. Dear Lord, we thank you so much for the assurance that we can have of our own salvation. Dear Lord, I pray that you would please help. I don't know where everyone is at in this room spiritually, dear Lord, but your words will be a blessing unto them or maybe in the future if people end up backsliding or straying away that you'd help them to remember these words of encouragement and want to realize that salvation is by grace through faith. It's eternal. They can never lose it. To receive comfort from that and just allow that to bring them back and to be guided back into good standing with you, dear Lord. God, we thank you so much for your free gift. Lord, I pray that you would please help us that love you and are zealous towards serving you to not be inappropriate in our application of, you know, when it comes to people being reprobated or things like that, Lord, that we would extend the same amount of long suffering and mercy and that you would, the example that you give us, dear Lord, that the love that you've shown to us, I pray that you would please help us to be able to exhibit and reflect the same amount unto others, dear Lord, and that we would be very careful with our application of the knowledge that we have of different types of people and the reprobates, dear Lord, that you would help us not to falsely identify somebody as being a reprobate when they're not because that is a very big deal, Lord, and just give us the wisdom and discernment to make righteous judgments. In Jesus' name we pray.