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Most importantly, give us ears to hear and learn from your message, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. All right, we are in 1 Timothy chapter number 2. Look down at your Bibles at verse number 1, it says, I exhort therefore that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of things be made for all men. And it says, for kings and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 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. And what I want to preach on this evening is different salvations in the book of 1 and 2 Timothy. Different salvations in the book of 1 and 2 Timothy. Now, when I say different salvations, I'm not giving, I'm not talking about dispensational salvation, okay? You know, there's a false doctrine out there that says, you know, there's different forms of salvation throughout human history. People were saved differently, you know, in the Old Testament than when they were saved in the New Testament. That's not what I'm referring to at all. But there is various salvations in the Bible in the sense that you have salvation in regards to being, your soul being saved from hell. And then you have the salvation of the flesh, you know, when you are delivered from wicked people, et cetera. And in 1 and 2 Timothy, we see all that spectrum of salvations being displayed in both of these books. Now, the very first one that we see is mentioned right here in verse number three where it says, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. So first and foremost, he begins writing to Timothy, Paul. Paul begins to write to Timothy regarding the most important salvation, right? Which is the salvation of the soul. And in fact, in 2 Timothy, he also begins that chapter referring to that salvation of the soul. And what we see here is that Paul is instructing Timothy, he's saying, look, you need to make sure you pray for all men. You make intercessions, supplications, prayers. You give thanks, you know, for kings, for all that are in authority. Why? That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. So it's not just saying, hey, pray for authorities, just because, you know, there are authorities. Pray for those who are in positions of authority, whether that's in, you know, the police department or the governor or the mayor, just for the sake of praying for him, he say, pray that they would leave us alone. Pray that we can live in all godliness and honesty, that they would not hinder us from doing the work of God. Now, why is that? Well, he says, because God wants all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. So obviously we live in a world that is subject to the law of the land, right? You know, we live in the United States of America. Obviously the highest law of the land is the Bible. But after the Bible, you have the constitution, you have different governors and mayors who are sent to basically institute the laws of the land. But here's the thing, you know, we as Christians are not to rebel against those laws. We're not to fight against those laws. Now, if those laws are being implemented to hinder us from the work of God, then at that point we rebel against it. You understand? But for the most part, the laws of the land as far as morally is concerned are good. You know, it's still against the law to murder people, right? It's still against the law to steal. It's still against the law to rape and to commit pedophilia and all these things. These are things that our country still deems as being against the law, which is good. But here's the thing is that we want to make sure that we pray that God would deliver us from individuals, laws, governors that would seek to hinder us from preaching the gospel and getting people saved. That's really our main point in this life, right? I mean, we have various things that we need to obey from the word of God and various services, but the main thing that we need to do is to seek and to save that which is lost, to get people saved. God wants all men to be saved. He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, the Bible says. And he's the savior of all men, but especially of them to believe, okay? So he obviously throughout the Bible emphasizes the most important salvation, which is the salvation of the soul. Now, there's people out there that want to teach you, well, in order for you to be saved from hell, you got to make sure you're a good person, false. You got to make sure you go to church, you do good works. You got to make sure you repent of your sins and get baptized and keep God's commandments. And the list goes on and on and on and on and on of all these things you have to do, false. The Bible says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved. It's as easy as walking through a door. It's as easy as getting a cup of water. It's as easy as just placing your faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus did all the work for you. So you wouldn't have to do the work. You know, the Bible says, for by grace are you saved through faith in that, not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. So the Bible specifically tells us that salvation is a gift and there's no gift. You know, if someone gives you a gift and then they expect you to do something in return, that's not really a gift. Like, hey, here's a gift from me to you, but just, you know, you gotta make sure that you give me a gift in return, you know. I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine. I'll give you this gift as long as you're willing to give me one in return. That's not really a gift, that's an exchange. You know, there's conditions placed upon that. A gift is something that's given to the individual expecting nothing in return, you know, to earn it. You understand? We don't earn salvation, we don't buy salvation. All we do is accept it by faith through Jesus Christ. And salvation is only through Jesus. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. You know, the Bible tells us, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. You see, the greatest gift that God has given to this world is the Son Jesus Christ. And through his Son, we can have salvation if we just believe on his Son. His death, burial, and resurrection. And recognize, that's all I need for salvation. Plus nothing, minus nothing. Simply, your faith in Christ is all that's necessary for you to have salvation. And by the way, once you have it, you have it forever. God never takes it away. Oh man, but don't you like lose your salvation if you do something really bad? No, you don't. You know, the Bible says in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. And you know how long eternity lasts? For an eternity? Forever, has no end, right? So if he gives us eternal life and he's promised us eternal life, and we believe, well, you know, yeah, it's eternal up until you commit suicide or something. Well, at that point, you've made God a liar. Because this is the witness that God has given of his Son, okay? And all we have to do is believe on his death, burial, and resurrection, we believe on Jesus, and that's all we have to do. And once we're saved, we're always saved, okay? So that's the first salvation that Paul emphasizes to Timothy. And I want to encourage you, if there's someone in here that does not know, you don't know where you're going to go when you die, you're like, man, you know, I believe in God, I believe in the Bible, you know, I'm a God-fearing person, but I'll be honest with you, I don't know where I'm going to go when I die. I hope that I go to heaven. If that's you, you can get that settled today. It's very simple. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart, that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It's easy. But as many as receive them to them give you power to become the sons of God, even unto them that believe on his name. I mean, we can go on and on and on through verses in the Bible that explicitly tell us all we have to do is believe on Jesus in order to be saved. And look, if you don't know, you can get saved today, amen? Have eternal life and be saved forever. So that's the most important salvation, and that's the salvation that Paul is speaking of here in chapter one, as well as chapter one of 2 Timothy. And we'll go there in just a bit. But then he starts getting into different various forms of salvation. Now this isn't referring to the justification of the soul. These are different deliverances that he's talking about here. And look at verse number 11 of 1 Timothy two, excuse me. Now verse 11 is a very controversial verse in the Bible in 2020. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. Okay? A lot of people don't like that. A lot of feminists have to, you know, they just despise the Bible because it says this. You know, but here's the thing is that society has molded the minds of women all across America and all across the world to be against what the Bible's saying here. And look, this is insane from the moment you come into the church doors, just shut your mouth. You can't say anything. You can't laugh, you can't breathe. Is that what it's saying? No, but you know what, the people, the secularists out there want to make you think that that's what it says. They want to make you think that that's what we preach. Oh, as soon as you step into these doors, don't you dare open your mouth. You make sure you shut it. False. What this is saying is that during the preaching of God's word, you need to keep silence with all subjection. And by the way, most men should keep silence with all subjection too when I'm preaching, right? If you're saying amen and you agree and all these things, but there's not more than one pastor preaching here. You understand? You know, it would be confusion for me to be preaching and then we got another individual preaching here. One hath a psalm, one hath a doctrine kind of thing, you know, we want to make sure that we do all things decently and in order. But he says there, let the woman learn in silence with all subjection, but I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. Now, does this mean that a woman can never teach in any scenario? No, because the Bible actually commands a woman to teach her children, to teach the younger women to love their husbands. This is referring to teaching here. It's not their place, according to the Bible. For Adam was first formed, then Eve, verse 13. And look what it says here in verse 14. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression, notwithstanding, she shall be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. Now, the question is, being saved from what? Because you know, if you're a brand new Christian, you read that and you're just like, what in the world? Saved in childbearing? That's how I get to heaven, is by having children or something, or what? We're not Mormons here, okay? This is not referring to that. And one thing you have to be careful is that when you read the Bible, you always got to make sure you read it in its context, especially when dealing with terms such as salvation. Because there's a lot of verses in the Bible that use the term salvation and it has nothing to do with the justification of the soul. You know, the Bible tells us the day that endurance of the end, the same shall be saved. How many false prophets have used that verse to teach, oh, you got to make sure you stick it out to the very end because if you don't, you're going to lose your salvation. False. Or you're never saved to begin with or something, right? We obviously understand that's referring to the salvation of the flesh, okay? And here we see that God is telling women that they shall be saved in childbearing, saved from what? From deception. You see, Satan, and how do we know that, okay? Well, he uses the example of Adam and Eve to be able to describe that. Now, turn to Genesis chapter three, hold your place there in 1 Timothy chapter two. Turn to Genesis chapter three. So keep in mind, he says, you'll be saved in childbearing if you continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety, okay? Saved from what? From being deceived just as Eve was deceived. And look, folks, I mean, Satan's out to get everyone, but when it comes to the home, he's definitely out to get the wife, to deceive the wife, okay? How do we know that? Well, the very first time he attacks in the Bible, he attacks the wife. He doesn't go for Adam, he goes for the wife. Why? Because the Bible specifically says that the wife is the weaker vessel, okay? Weaker in a sense of physically, maybe even emotionally, and spiritually, so therefore, he sets his targets on Eve, look at Genesis three, verse one. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made, and he said unto the woman, yay hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden. Now let me just let you know that the serpent is referring to the devil, okay? This is referring to Satan. And in fact, in Revelation, it calls him that old serpent referencing Genesis chapter three. So he comes to Eve, he doesn't go to Adam, he comes to Eve and he says, did God really say, yay hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Did God really say that? What is that? He's causing Eve to doubt God's word. And the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. Now she's only half right. Because he never said that, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. So she's kind of like added to the commandment. She's kind of exaggerating a little bit. And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die. So you really think you're gonna die if you eat that fruit, that mango, that strawberry? Come on, you're not gonna really die. Now, he's also speaking a half truth as well. Because they're not literally gonna eat the mango and just fall over and die, right? What's gonna happen? He's talking about dying spiritually speaking. He says, for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be open, and ye shall be as God's, knowing good and evil. So what does he say? God's holding out on you, Eve. You know, you gotta follow Adam, you're Adam's wife, you're made out of his rib. You know, and God knows that the day you eat this, you're gonna be like God's knowing good and evil. Now, when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her, and he did eat, and the rest is history, literally. Why? Because at this point, they sin against God, they're cast out of the Garden of Eden, and then the rest of mankind is literally condemned. Damned, okay? So from this point on, people start dying and go to hell because of that. You know, if they don't believe on the Lord. So we as human beings have a predisposition to fall into the same steps and traps as Adam and Eve, and this is why Paul, when addressing women in 1 Timothy 2, references the story of Eve. He says, hey, don't be deceived like Eve was, because Eve was deceived, okay? Now the question is, go back to 1 Timothy, if you would, go to chapter five. The question is, how did Eve put herself in that position to be deceived by Satan? Well, the answer, the solution to the problem actually answers the question, okay? Look at 1 Timothy chapter five, because remember, in chapter two he says, hey, she shall be saved in childbearing, but hold on a second, if she continue in faith and charity, with holiness and with all sobriety. So it's not like, just have babies and you'll be just fine. It's not necessarily saying. You should bear children, guide the house, but continue in faith and charity and holiness with all sobriety. So you gotta make sure you implement those virtues in your life so as to not be deceived by Satan. Now look what it says in verse 11. This is obviously the chapter regarding widows and the instructions about widows. Verse 11 says, but the younger widows refuse, for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry, having damnation because they have cast off their first faith. And with all, look what it says, they learn to be, what does that say? Idle. Now, think about this. How is it that Satan was able to get Eve? Where was Adam, right? Adam was not in the picture. And the implication here is that Eve was possibly being idle. Why, how do we know that? It says, with all they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they are not. Today we would say that she was being a cheese-mosa. You guys know a cheese-mosa out there, you know? You know, the ones always looking out the curtains, like, seeing what the neighbors are doing. Maybe some of our neighbors are doing that right now, you know, what's going on over there, that church and the police and all that stuff. Well, the Bible doesn't use cheese-mosa. It says that they're tattlers, busybodies, speaking things which they ought not. I will, therefore, that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. Look what it says, for some are already turned aside after Satan. So he says, look, in order for you not to be deceived by Satan through your tattling, busybody-ness, and all this manner of gossip that you're doing, going about from house to house, and by the way, now it's not from house to house, it's just from text message, phone call, Facebook post to Facebook post. People gossip in different ways now, right? Technology. And he says these people are being turned aside after Satan, and what's the first faith that they've cast off, providing for their own? So instead of, you know, teaching their children, guiding the house, bearing children, continuing in faith and charity and holiness with all sobriety, they actually invest their time in what, gossip? Being a tattler, a busybody, and what does God consider that to be? Being deceived. Because now the woman has become an instrument of gossip rather than an instrument of righteousness to teach her children, you understand? So God says, look, the way you avoid deception from Satan is you gotta make sure obviously you have children, and look, you know, obviously that's not the same for everyone because not every lady can have a child sometimes. Sometimes they're barren. There's physical complications in that area where maybe God has closed the womb, or they have some sort of ailment or sickness that doesn't permit them to have children for whatever reason. You know, at that point, you say, well, what do I do then? If I can't have children, am I gonna be turned aside after Satan? Well, at that point, your husband and you need to get together and figure out how to keep you busy so that you don't turn aside after Satan. Serve your husband, okay? But those of you who can, that's why we don't believe in birth control. Contraceptors and the like, abortion, have children, guide them, continue in faith and charity and holiness with all sobriety so as to not be deceived by Satan. Hey, save yourself a lot of deception. Save yourself a lot of heartbreak and deception by just doing what God tells you to do here, okay? Don't turn aside after Satan. Go to Titus chapter two. Hold your place there in 1 Timothy. We're talking about different salvations in the Bible. The first one, obviously, is the justification of the soul, the most important one. But then Paul tells Timothy, hey, the women gotta make sure they save themselves in childbearing and not from hell, obviously, but from being deceived, okay? Because look, if you don't have children, you can become idle. You have more time on your hands. And when you have more time on your hands, you're just like going through the comments section and doing all kinds of stuff and watching novellas or whatever and just kind of doing things that are just not profitable at all, right? And through that, Satan can deceive your wife. Satan can deceive you wives because you're not staying busy. And obviously, look, that same principle applies to men. We should not be idle. We should not be lazy. We need to make sure that we remain diligent, working hard, whether that's at our jobs or even when we come home, that we're spending time with our children, our families. We are occupying ourselves in habits that are basically helping us in our spiritual life, whether that's learning a new language, it's learning a trade, it's just keeping yourself busy because an idle mind is the devil's playground. And when you're idle, you're not doing anything, you give Satan a place for it to mess with you, to send you imaginations, to send you lies. And this is why the Bible tells us, cast down imaginations and every high theme that exalted itself against the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. But you know what? You don't necessarily have to do that all the time if you're just always busy. You know, doing, being productive, et cetera. Look at Titus 2, verse one says, but speak thou of the things which become sound doctrine, that the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith and charity and patience, the aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as become as holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things, that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. So what is it telling us here? If you do anything opposite to this, you're actually blaspheming the word of God, according to the Bible, okay? Now go back to 1 Timothy, talking about different salvations in the book of 1 and 2 Timothy. The first salvation is the justification of the soul, the most important one. The second one is salvation and childbearing. The third one will be saving ourselves from what? From false doctrine, which can align with saving ourselves from being deceived as well. Look at 1 Timothy, chapter four, verse 13. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by the prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Meditate upon these things, give thyself holy to them, that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine, continue in them, for in doing this, thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee. Now you can see how people can take a verse like this and just completely take it out of context and say, see, that's why you gotta make sure you gotta stay in church, you gotta read the Bible, because that's how we get saved. Save ourselves and those that hear us. Well, that's nonsense, folks. How is it that we save ourselves and save others through this? That would be nonsensical to think, well, we just gotta read the Bible in order to save ourselves. It's foolish, right? What is this talking about? Well, look at verse one of chapter four. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. So this entire chapter is dealing with the subject of seducing spirits and doctrines of devils and how to overcome those things, you understand? So look, we are in the latter days. We are in the last days. We are in the last days, the last, you know, I think the world's gonna end maybe within the next, at least within the next 50 years or 100 years or so. I don't know, that's still latter days, okay? And you know what? There's a lot of people out there with seducing spirits and doctrines of devils teaching false doctrine. And a lot of people are being swayed and taught and they're believing these false doctrines. So how do we combat that? Well, we need to make sure we meditate upon God's word. We take heed unto ourselves and unto the doctrine. We continue in them and that's how we save ourselves from false doctrine. Now, who is he talking to? Timothy, a preacher boy. And he's instructing him, hey, make sure you give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Because by reading the Bible, that's how you're gonna save yourself from false doctrine. But when you preach, you're gonna be able to save those that hear you as well. From what? From false doctrine, okay? Now, that seems pretty like obvious. It's like, well, yeah, pastors should be reading the Bible. Duh. Shouldn't they be reading, I mean, this is our full-time job as pastors. We should know the Bible, we should be reading the Bible. But folks, you'd be surprised of pastors out there that don't read the Bible. I mean, folks, if you have a doctor who spent, how long does it, Dr. Reed is not here, how long does a doctor spend in medical school? Four years. 10 years. Four years, who said four? Four years for undergrad, four years for med school, and then there's four years of residency. Well, there's 12. Just kidding. So, okay, let's say approximately 10 years, all right? Thanks, Maury. I get it, no, I'm just kidding. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. All right, let's say 12 years, all right? So I don't wanna offend Maury, no, I'm just kidding. 12 years in medical school. You know, they have to learn and read a lot of books, I mean, that's their life, right? Well, you know what, a pastor's life is enveloped in the word of God. So we should know the Bible. Obviously, we're not gonna know it perfectly because the Bible's inexhaustible. So there's always something new to learn, and look, that's why we gotta read it over and over again because of the fact that when we read it, sometimes we forget things. I've read the Bible many times over and over from cover to cover since I got saved 14 years ago, but you know what, I gotta keep reading it because if not, I'll forget certain facts. So that's why every year I read it over multiple times throughout the year in order to stay fresh on my knowledge of God's word, and I gotta keep learning new things from God's word, right? But not only that, I need to learn doctrine and reinforce doctrine into my life in order to save myself from apostatizing, to save you from apostatizing because when I preach God's word, when I'm preaching doctrine, you know what, people are listening to it, they're applying the doctrine, and they don't wanna fall trapped to false doctrine. So when they hear me preach on this specific doctrine, you know, people are like, well, what do you think about Catholicism or Pentecostals or Jehovah's Witness or what's the right doctrine? You know, a pastor's responsibility is to teach you that. Now, you obviously have to teach yourself by reading God's word, but you also learn from a pastor in the pulpit. But you know what, you have pastors today who have been pastoring for 25-plus years, and they no longer know the word of God. Like, where does it say that in the Bible? I think it says it somewhere. You know, I think Judas is a good guy, or you know. He seems like he's a pretty good guy, you know. They call him the son of perdition, and I know he hung himself and his guts burst asunder, but doesn't it say somewhere that he was like one of the 12 or something? It's like, what in the world? Are you reading the Bible? This is basic stuff. And here's the thing, if that pastor's like that, just imagine the congregation. Just imagine the congregation. You know, a lot of people, oh, man, you guys, all you do is preach doctrine. Well, yeah, I mean, shit, I have to, right? What do you want me to preach? You want me to preach like an inspirational sermon and just like give you a motivational speech or something? Now, obviously, that's important sometimes, right? Sometimes we get discouraged, we get depressed, you know, we feel like we can't continue to go on forward because life is difficult sometimes. And sometimes I need to get up and just exhort the brethren to continue in the faith and just be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. But you know what? The vast majority of the time, I need to teach doctrine. Amen. Because then you're reading 1 Timothy, you're like, salvation and childbearing. Save myself and them that hear me. I don't know, what does that mean? You understand? So we need to make sure we do that now. Turn with me if you want to, go to Ephesians chapter four, what's your place there? I'm gonna read to you from 2 Peter. Chapter one, verse 19 says, "'We have also a more short word of prophecy, "'whereunto you do well that ye take heed, "'as into a light that shineth in a dark place, "'unto the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts, "'knowing this first that no prophecy of the scripture "'is of any private interpretation. "'For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, "'but holy men of God spake, "'as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.'" This is awesome, okay? What is the Bible telling us? Hey, there's no scripture in here that is just of any private interpretation. It's like, only God, I'm the only one that God told us to, kind of thing. When I'm preaching, you can read it yourself in the Bible and see that it's true. That's why we encourage people to bring their Bibles to church. To look down at their Bibles when they read. Why? Because I'm not some cult leader. Just trust me, all right? Don't look it up yourself. Just trust what I'm telling you here. There's pastors out there like that. Money-grubbing pastors who just want to take money from the congregation, make merchandise off of the flock of God, and they do it based on the ignorance of the congregation. They want to keep their congregation ignorant. And it literally says that. It says, no prophecy of the scripture of any private interpretation, Joseph Smith. Right? And then he goes on to say in chapter two, verse one, but there were false prophets among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privately shall bring damnable heresies, denying even the Lord God that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction. So he says, look, nothing in the Bible is private. It's for you to know and learn and know what God says. But you know, there are damnable heretics out there that have a private interpretation. They have private damnable heresies that they're trying to give to congregations and people to lead them astray, yea, even to damn people to hell. It's out there, okay? What do I have in return? Ephesians four, look at Ephesians four, verse 11. Now, obviously, we should make sure that we're reading the Bible, right? Every day, reading the Bible. And look, I hope that in 2021, you're reading the Bible all the way through. Get yourself a Bible reading schedule out there in the back and make it your goal. I'm gonna read through the Bible because I've never done it before. Or maybe you have done it before. Read it a couple times, read it twice. But read the Bible every single day. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shall meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein. For then thou shall make the way prosperous and then thou shall have good success. See, in order for us to be successful Christians, we need to hide God's word in our heart. But the way we hide God's word in our heart is not through just memorization, it's just reading the Bible every day, okay? But here's the thing, we also need to be in church. That's how we learn the Bible, right? Look at verse 11. And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints. Now who are the saints, believers? And when it says perfecting the saints, does that mean like we're making you sinless? No. Perfecting in the Bible, another word for perfection is completion. Making something complete, making something whole. So in order for you to be a whole Christian, lacking nothing, you need to make sure you're in church. It says for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Look what it says here. That we henceforth be no more children. Do you know some children, do you know some adults who act like kids today? Yeah. I think we all know at least one adult. It's like you're still playing video games and you're like 30 what? You're still watching anime cartoons and how old are you? Hey, when I was a child I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but the Bible says when I became a man, I put away childish things. Amen. So what do you do when you're a man? You take on responsibility. You get a job. Amen. Amen. Amen. You get a job, you pay your bills. Hey, young men, you get married. Amen. You cherish your wife. You have children. You raise them for the Lord. You live a life of self-sacrifice for them and for your children. You serve God. You become a man. You know what First Works Baptist Church wants to do, produce men? Right. Right? That we henceforth be no more children. We want to mature men in our church. Amen. So if you're coming in here and you're an adult and you're still somewhat of a child, it's time to grow up. Amen. It's time to grow up, be a man. Look what it says. That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. So what happens when you're spiritually a child? You can just believe anything. You're tossed to and fro. You're carried about with every wind of doctrine, the Bible says. So when you come to church, you hear the preaching of God's word. It perfects you. It completes you. It makes you whole and then you're not easily deceived. When someone comes to you and says, oh, you do have to repent of your sins to be saved. Oh, no, no, you have to be baptized in order to be saved. Oh, no, no, you can lose your salvation. You're like, no, I already know what the Bible says about that. You know, you don't need to bring them to me. Can you just debunk this guy real quick, Pastor? No, you debunk him. Hear the verses. Go have at it. You know? But speaking the truth in love may grow up, by the way, speaking love? No, speaking the truth in love. Gotta have both. Even when the truth hurts. May grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. Go to Hebrews chapter five, if you would. Hebrews chapter number five. So look, it's important that you're in church, you attend the services as much as possible. And look, obviously nowhere in the Bible does it say you have to be at every service, okay? But it does say forsake not the sampling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but so much the more as you see the day approaching. And I'll tell you this, is that when I first got saved, one of the things that helped my Christian life more than anything is just coming to all the services. Because more Bible was preached. More things were learned. I just implemented more. It was great. But here's the thing. You also need to read the Bible yourselves. Look what Hebrews five, verse 12 says. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that would teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God. And are become such as have need of milk and not of strong meat. For everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. So you got the child, you have the babe in Christ. But strong meat belongeth to them that are full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil, the Bible says. So look, don't try to hop into the meat if you don't even have the milk ready yet, okay? But as you read the word of God, you're able to digest the basic doctrines of the Bible. Then you move on to the meat. You move on to the sirloin steak. Okay, you move on to the filet mignon or whatever. And then you can learn more. Go back to First Timothy chapter six. So we see the salvation in regards to justifying the soul. Salvation in childbearing from being deceived for the woman. Hey, salvation in reading the Bible in order to be saved from false doctrine. Look what it says in First Timothy chapter six in verse number nine. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. So the Bible actually condemns people who just want to be rich. Now look, how many of you have ever heard stories of people who won the lottery? Does it ever end well for them? Never. Most people think, well, if I just had a million dollars. Like they try to spark a deal with God, right? Like God, I'll give to the church. I'll tithe through the church. Oh man, I'll do so many good things with this money. And you know what? There's literally a book out there highlighting all the stories of people who've won the lottery and every single one of them, like their lives are just completely destroyed. They were either killed themselves by people who were like their friends. But you know, as soon as they got rich, they just kind of like wanted their money or they just like did drugs and overdose. I mean, their lives are just completely destroyed. Oh, does it say something like that in the Bible? It says they fall into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. Now look, folks, work at your job, make money, live a life that's comfortable for you. Obviously, that's not for me. As a pastor, we're not supposed to live luxurious lives. So whenever you see a pastor out there rolling in their bins they got a yacht and all that, that red flag should go up. That pastor should not have that. Because we're God's servants. Now should we be paid in order to provide for our families and we can keep serving the church? Yes, but you know what? You're not gonna see me with a yacht. I'm not gonna have a helicopter. I'm not gonna have a Maserati or whatever. You're not gonna see me with those things. You're not gonna see me with a thousand dollar suit going ha! Because it's not right, folks. It'll drown people in destruction and perdition. It says for the love of money is the root of all evil. Now this is often misquoted. People will say, well the money is the root of all evil. False. Money pays the bills, amen. Money puts food on the table. Money keeps the lights on. Money helps us to buy invitations to get visitors to come to church. Money's needed. Hold on a second. The love of money. You ever met someone who loves money? For the love of money is the root of all evil which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. It's like people who just love money and they make their life all about money, they're not gonna be happy with money. Once they get it, they're still not gonna be happy. It's like one more dollar. Rockefeller. I think it was Rockefeller who said that. So what's the instruction for the man of God? Look what it says in verse 11. But thou, O man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith. Oh, we're supposed to fight in the Christian life? Amen. What in the world? Fight the good fight of faith. Look what it says here. Lay hold on eternal life. Where into thou art also called and has professed a good profession before many witnesses. So what does he mean when he says lay hold on eternal life? Is he saying, hey, follow after these things so you can be saved? No, he's obviously not saying that. He's not saying, hey, be righteous, love godliness and faith, love so you can be saved so God can accept you into his graces and you can go to heaven. It's not what he's saying at all. When it says here lay hold on eternal life, put it this way. When you see someone and they're just kind of losing it, they're just like, I don't know what to do. They were coming to protest or something. I don't know, god, god, god. You know, what do we tell them? Hey, get a hold of yourself. Amen. Right? In other words, hey, check your emotions, check your attitude, check yourself before you wreck yourself. Just kind of like get a hold of yourself, right? So what is Paul telling Timothy? Hey, don't create a love for money. What you need to do is exercise these virtues and lay hold on eternal life. Set your affections on things above, not on things on this earth. When it says lay hold on eternal life, it's just basically saying, be more heavily minded than temporal minded because when you're heavily minded, money doesn't matter anymore. And look, I'm not saying yet you need to live this ascetic life where you just gotta be poor and can't have any fun and the Christian life is just boring and stuff. Obviously that's not what the Bible's teaching at all because the Bible tells us that he gives us all things richly to enjoy. Look, if the Christian life was all about asceticism and just living a boring life, why did God give us taste buds? Right? Because he not only wants us to nourish ourselves, he wants us to enjoy the food that we're eating too. You understand? Someone in the comments section is like, well, it's also to make sure you don't eat the wrong type of food so you can poison or whatever. Lay hold on eternal life is basically saying, hey, you need to make sure that you're heavily minded. When you're in trials and tribulation, hey, right now I'm looking forward to heaven. Man, I'm looking forward to the millennial reign. Man, I'm looking forward to the new heaven and the new earth. I'm so thankful that when I preach those sermons and times pass, they're more real to me today than they were yesterday. Heaven's more real to me today than it was yesterday. That's what it needs to be, why? Because we need to lay hold on eternal life. Because when we lay hold on eternal life, you have to loosen up your grip on something down here. Right? In order to lay hold on eternal life, that means you have to loosely hold the things of this world. And you know what happens when you loosely hold the things of this world? You start realizing the real important things in life. Your spouse, your children, the simple things in life. Look at verse 17. It says, charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded. So obviously, some people, even Christians, come from money, right? Some people are just like, they get an inheritance or something, or they have really rich parents that give them money, or maybe they're just smart businessmen, prior to getting saved, prior to being a Christian, they just made lots of money. Right, they're rich, so to speak. Well, what's the instruction for them? Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded. Don't be proud. Nor trust in uncertain riches. Now, a lot of people, sometimes, because they have a lot of money, they're like, well, I don't need anything, I got a lot of money. I could buy anything, I could buy happiness. No, don't trust in uncertain riches. Who should we trust in? In the living God. Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. That they do good, that they be rich in good works. Ready to distribute, willing to communicate. Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life. So the they's referring to their money. So look, if you're rich, if you got a good amount of money in your bank, this is what you need to do with it. Communicate, distribute, use it for the right purposes if you want to save your money. Like, literally save your money. You know, people today is like, save your money for like a rainy day, or save your money. And then the Bible actually teaches, well, here's the thing, what if you save your money, millions of dollars, and then you die? It's either going to go to the government or your wife's next husband, right? Folks, I personally know a millionaire who died. He's part of our family, he's a millionaire, okay? He owned a lot of properties, oil, just very rich person, he died, and it just was distributed to the wrong people. Given to the wrong people, you know? Here he says, look, the concept of saving money is actually not wrong. Saving money, according to the Bible, is sending it ahead. So you can actually transfer your physical money here in this world into rewards in heaven. That's what God wants us to do. Because look, money, it has wings, you know? It'll just fly away if you don't use it for the right reasons, okay? Now go to 2 Timothy, if you would. I'm almost out of time, so I need to hasten here. Look, it's always good to save money for emergencies, and you're like, well, I really want this possession, and I work hard for it, save money for it. That's perfectly fine. But I'm saying there's people out there that literally save money for no reason whatsoever. They hoard money, actually. They just hoard money, and they don't do anything with it. And look, if that individual dies, it's like you saved that money in vain. Because it's gonna go to someone else. Someone else is gonna enjoy your money. So do something with it, okay? Now, let's talk about salvation in the book of 2 Timothy. This won't be as long. Of course, he goes through the justification of the soul in chapter one. He says in verse number eight, Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. What, the gospel has afflictions? Yes, it has afflictions, if you haven't noticed today. Okay? Who hath saved us, and called us with unholy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. So he talks about God saving us. That's obviously referring to the justification of the soul. Go to chapter two, look at verse number seven. Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. Remember that Jesus Christ, at the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, wherein I suffer trouble, as an evildoer, even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound. So he's saying, look, I'm suffering persecution even to the point where I'm being arrested. But you know, they're not gonna be able to arrest the word of God. The word of God is never bound. Therefore, look what he says, I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation, which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. So he says, look, I'm going through all this, I'm enduring all this, I'm fighting all this for the salvation of the elect. Now the question is this, who are the elect, and what salvation is he referring to? Well, look at verse number one of the same chapter. He's telling Timothy here, Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. So the elect that he's talking about are Christians. And look, you look up that term elect in the Bible, in the New Testament in particular, it's always in reference to saved people, okay, believers. There's a false doctrine that says, well, that's referring to Jews, not referring to Jews. And the Old Testament was referring to Israel, but they have been replaced by the New Covenant, the New Testament, the elect are now all believers, according to the word of God. This is not, that's outside of the scope of the sermon, but that's what it's referring to. So the question is, wait, so he endures all things in order to save believers? How does that work? Well, look what it says in verse 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 will also deny us. If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself. So what is Paul talking about here? Well, 2 Timothy deals largely with Paul encouraging Timothy because Timothy's afraid, he's scared. He sees Paul getting arrested and beaten and all these things, and Timothy's just like, oh man, I don't know if I can go through that. And Paul's telling him, hey, God, he didn't give us a spirit of fear, but a power, love, and a sound mind. So what is Paul trying to do? He's trying to save Timothy. How is he doing that? Well, when you see a man of God go through persecutions and afflictions, and he just plows right through that, you know what it does? It encourages you to do the same. You recognize, wow, I can also obtain salvation, which is the deliverance of our flesh. You know, people are threatening the man of God, they're threatening to kill him, they're threatening to beat him, and to do all manner of evil against him, and they're saying all these things, and God delivers that individual from all those evil workers. It encourages other people to take a stand also. So people hear about a man of God doing that, and they're like, whoa, you know what, I'm gonna stand up for God too. Because God delivered so-and-so, he delivered Paul, he can deliver me too. So we endure all things for the elect's sake that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Jesus Christ. So they can experience the same thing. And folks, we all know a man of God who went through afflictions and trials and persecutions, God delivered him, and you know what it did is? It emboldened us. It made us want to stand up for righteousness too. And I guarantee you, there's someone out there in YouTube land listening to my voice, listening to my preaching, seeing everything that's going on within these recent days, and you know what? It emboldens them. They're like, well, if Pastor Maria's not afraid, if he's standing up against these Sodomites, if he's standing up against the evil workers of iniquity, maybe I can too. God, if you saved him, if you delivered him from every evil work, maybe God can do it for me too. Yeah, he can. And look, folks, that's why it's important. Listen to me, that you endure. You can turn off that AC. People are enduring the coldness right now. It's important that you endure. And let me say this, parents, it's important that you endure for your children's sake. That they may also obtain that salvation. And see your example and say, man, Dad is bold. Dad served the Lord, Dad did this, Mom stood up for righteousness, my parents stood up for righteousness, and they served God even in the midst of trial, persecutions, and threatenings. I wanna do the same. It's important, folks. Don't quit. Don't throw in the towel and say, well, man, I'm just too scared. What if they come and do something to us? What if the enemies of God come and they hurt us? What if? What do we have to lose? Look, folks, let me teach you an important principle here. He that saveth his life shall lose it. But whosoever loses his life, the same shall save it. What is God saying? If all you wanna do is just save your own life, you will end up losing your life because you will compromise, and God will allow you to fall into judgment. But if you're willing to deny yourself and lose it all, you will save your life. And let me just say this on record. I'm willing to lose everything. I have a wife, I have four children, one on the way. I have a church. I have everything that I need. But you know what? I'll lose it all. I will lose everything before I stop preaching God's word. I will never, listen to me, I will never stop preaching God's word. You will have to kill me. You will have to take my life before I ever stop preaching God's word and saying it the way it is. You can threaten me all you want. You can hurt me. You can threaten me. You can make gun signs at me as though you're gonna shoot me. It's fine, I'll lose it all. You say, even your wife? Even my beloved wife. I'll lose everything. I'll lose it all. You will not stop me from preaching God's word. So what if you do lose those things? I'll still keep preaching. Hey, what about Ezekiel? Didn't he lose his wife? Didn't he lose the desire of his eyes? You know what he kept doing? Kept preaching. He said he got up the next day. And he prophesied. This is a different caliber of preaching here, folks. And look, obviously we value our own lives. Who likes living here? I like living. In fact, I like living so much that I wanted eternal life. I just wanna live forever. That's why I got saved. You understand? It's fireworks, don't worry. You know what I mean? Fear not. We all love living, but you know what? If you really wanna live, you gotta be willing to lose it all. He that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them to diligently seek him. But you know what? Whosoever comes after God, after Jesus, we have to deny ourselves. Take up our cross and follow him. And look, there's a reason why he said take up your cross. Why? Because that's symbolic of death. To die daily. To be a living sacrifice. And say, God, if you take everything from me, if you allow them to come, if you just allow my life to be destroyed, I will not disobey you. And God is able to deliver us, but you know, like Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego said, but if not, we will not bow down. And that's my message right there. Amen? God is able to deliver us, oh King. But if not, we still won't bow down. It's not gonna happen. So this is what he's telling him. He said, look, you need to make sure you endure because people are gonna be listening to your preaching, they're gonna be seeing your example, and you know what? You're gonna help them to endure also. You're gonna help them to endure afflictions and persecutions and stick it out to the very end. Okay? Look what he says in chapter three. Go to chapter three. Man, look, I mean, we were studying the book of Acts on Thursday nights. Man, Paul went through some persecutions. We think we have it bad. Paul had 40 guys who would not eat anything until they killed him. We have a vow in our heads that we will not rest, we will not eat until we have killed Paul. And here's the funny thing. They never killed him. So it's like, did you eat? Did you cheat? No. He was like escorted by a military army. You know, God rescued him from every evil word. Look what it says in 2 Timothy chapter three. And verse number 10, it says, but thou has fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch and Iconium and Lystra. What persecutions I what? Endured. But out of them all, the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse than worse, deceiving and being deceived. Go to chapter four. Chapter four. So he says, look, I went through persecutions, afflictions, but look at me. Look what it says in verse 14. Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil. The Lord reward him according to his works. Whoa, Paul, why are you calling people out? Why are you name dropping like that? Of whom be thou aware also for he hath greatly withstood our words. At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me. I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me that by me the preaching might be fully known and that all the Gentiles might hear and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. Look what he says. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom to whom be glory forever and ever, amen. It's amazing. He's just telling Timothy, hey, I was delivered. You're gonna be delivered too. Just endure, Timothy. Don't be afraid. Fear not. And look, folks, if there's ever a time when you're afraid, first and foremost, let me just tell you this. Do right even though you're afraid. Just do right. If you're scared, just do right anyways. Confess and say, Lord, forgive me because I'm afraid. I'm just gonna do right anyways. And then two, pray that God gives you boldness, that he fills you with the Spirit. If your reproach for the name of Christ, happy are ye for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. So when you do right in spite of fear and with all the persecutions, God says you have my Spirit. You're filled with the Spirit of God. So what is the different salvations in First and Second Timothy? We see, well, the actual salvation regards to the salvation of the soul. We see salvation in childbearing so a woman's not deceived. We see the salvation of a congregation and of a pastor when he reads the Word of God. We see the salvation of our finances when we send it ahead, right? We see the salvation of the elect when they endure all things, okay? When we endure all things for the elect's sake, we save them by teaching them, hey, God did it for me, he can do it for you too, amen? Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your Word. So thankful, Lord, for Paul's example. I'm thankful for the men of God in my life who have endured, Lord, examples that I've had and they've inspired me. People and times past, but even people today, I think of Pastor Steven Anderson, who obviously has been an encouragement to all of us, he's been a special encouragement to me. And Lord, seeing him endure afflictions and seeing my friends, my pastor friends endure afflictions and persecutions, it encourages me to keep fighting the good fight of faith and not holding back. And Lord, I pray, Father God, that your hand be upon us. Please continue to surround us with your angels. Legions of angels, protect us from the wicked evildoers. Please confound them, Lord, and I pray, Father God, that we may be able to obtain that salvation of the flesh in these days. We love you so much and we thank you. Pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.