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Amen. Okay, so keep something in John chapter 3 and turn of 1 Peter chapter 3 please. So keep something in John 3 and turn of 1 Peter 3. So being a new independent church I thought it might be good to make it very clear what we believe here at this church. Therefore I've decided to start a Sunday morning series called What We Believe. Okay, What We Believe. Just assuming that everyone in our church understands our core doctrines would be foolish wouldn't it. And we have a statement of faith on our old website, it'll be on our new website, but I'd like to spend probably the next several weeks just explaining our statement of faith. Possibly won't be the most exciting sermons especially for those of you that may be very, you know, very clear about these things, but it'll be a good reminder anyway. Look, doctrine is important, right? Okay, doctrine is important. Our Sunday evening series is a bit more kind of practical, but however there's still a lot that we can still apply from this and we'll talk about that in a bit. 1 Peter 3 and verse 15 where you are says this, it says, But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. And I don't think that's just talking about the gospel, it's talking about what we believe, right? Why do we believe what we believe? Are you ready to give an answer? Do you understand why? Do you understand that the Bible scriptures are verses which would explain why you believe what you believe in? Just to make it clear, we believe the Word of God, don't we? So everything we believe at this church, I believe, is clear in the Word of God and and if you're sitting there thinking, well it could be quite exciting, we're going to go into the post-Trib pre-wrath rapture, we're going to go into sodomites, we're going to go into... No, funnily enough that's not what what what we actually shape in our statement of faith. That stuff's important, yeah, don't get me wrong. Okay, eschatology is important, that's, you know, end time studies, right? Look, the reprobate doctrine is important, however, there's some other stuff that's more important, okay? And we're going to talk about probably the most, the most important doctrine of our church, which is salvation today. And we're, you know, on our statement of faith, in fact, you'll notice when you go to many of these churches, which at least look on their statements of faith, they have all sorts of other stuff on there, but they won't be very clear about what they believe about salvation. They won't be very clear about what they believe about the Word of God or other things that we're going to talk about over the next several weeks, but I'm going to make it very clear what we believe. Hopefully also it's something that if someone says, well, what does your church believe about that? You can say, well, actually there's a sermon series on our channel where he spends an hour talking about what we believe about that, okay? Okay, so the series with that in mind, we'll bunch some of those statements on our statement of faith into categories, and the first category today is salvation, but it's going to cover a few statements that's on our statement of faith, okay? What we believe as a church. So the title is what we believe about salvation, what we believe about salvation. I'd like to pray before we get started. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for, well, this church, Lord, this church, and just the fact that we have many people in this church who are just grounded and solid on the clear doctrines of the faith, Lord, but however, you know, this is always good stuff to go over, nothing wrong with going over old ground, Lord, and for some maybe it will be, help them to just be a bit clearer on what they do believe, why we believe these things in this church, help me to preach it all just clearly, Lord, and accurately, Lord, and as you'd want it preached, and full of your spirit, help me to be bold, Lord, in what I preach, in Jesus' name, for all of this, Amen. Okay, so turn to Acts chapter 16, our statement of faith reads this, when you turn to Acts 16, our statement of faith says we believe that salvation is by grace, through faith, and not of works. This means that salvation cannot be earned by any work, church attendance, baptism, repenting of your sins, etc, etc. Salvation is putting your faith in Jesus Christ, and that he died, was buried, and rose from the grave to pay for your sin. You receive salvation by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and simply asking him to save you. Then in brackets we have some verses, Acts 16, 31, John 3, 16, John 3, 36, 1 Corinthians 15, verses 1 to 4, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, and Romans 10, verses 9 to 13. And Acts 16, we're going to start a little bit earlier than verse 31, and I just want to go through some of these verses, we're just going to hit the verse, some of them, I'm just going to give you the context of the verse, I want to go through these verses on our statement of faith, just help you to see why we understand that, maybe you've never gone through it and gone right, let's look at each verse on that. We're going to start with Acts 16, Paul and Silas have been put in prison, it says in verse 25, and at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praise unto God and the prisoners heard them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bands were loosed, and the keeper of the prison, awaking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice saying, do thyself no harm, for we are all here. Then he called for a light and sprang in and came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? So he's asking, it's a clear question, what do I have to do, what must I do to be saved? And they said, repent of your sin. Did they say that? Feel sorry for your sin, give your life to Christ, did they say any of that stuff? No, they said believe, didn't they? They said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and the house. They made it pretty clear, didn't they? It was a clear question, what must I do to be saved? And the answer was, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Okay, I don't think they kind of missed out, well yeah, but however, you know, you've also got to do this, do these works, do these continued works, etc. No, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Why, why thy house? If you ever read this and wonder, what did he say in thy house as well? Is that automatic? It's, well, look at the next verse. Verse 32 says, and they spake unto him the word of the Lord and to all that were in his house. Okay, so they're saying, look, believe on the Lord Jesus, believe, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house because they then go and preach to his house, right? Okay, we want to get your house saved as well. And, and just quickly, that's a good reminder when you're out soul winning as well. It's something I try and remember to do sometimes is, if I get someone saved, is then say to them, is there anyone else in the house that might want to listen? Or sometimes when they say, I don't want to listen, go, oh, well, you know, if by any chance, would your kid who's at the door with you be interested in hearing the gospel? And you'd be amazed how many people go, who don't believe and aren't saved, then let their kids stay there and get saved. It's great, isn't it, when it does happen. And it's a good reminder, isn't it? However, it then says in, in verse 33, so verse 32, they spake unto him the word of the Lord, didn't they? Okay, and to all that were in his house. Verse 33, and he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and was baptised, he and all his, straight away. Yeah, we don't do baptism courses, by the way, here either, okay? We don't, you don't have to have like an eight week course before you're baptised or anything like that, no. He baptised them straight away, right? And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. So they were happy because they'd all turned from a life of sin. Is it, is that why? Is that what it says? No, because they were believing in or putting their trust in God. They're rejoicing because they're like we're saved. Yeah, they put their trust in God. They put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, right? Turn to 1 Corinthians 15. What is that faith in? What were they trusting about Jesus? What were they believing? They were believing that the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ had paid for all their sin, like our statement of faith says. 1 Corinthians 15, you're turning to, 1 Corinthians and chapter 15 and verse one reads, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel, which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand. We stand on the gospel here, don't we? Yeah, I may, I have no apology about that. We stand on the gospel, the biblical gospel. Okay, we stand on the gospel. Verse two, by which also ye are saved. He said, he said, you're saved by which ye are saved. If you keep in memory what I preach unto you unless you've believed in vain. So you're not saved if you can't remember why you're saved. That should be pretty obvious, shouldn't it? If you say to someone, well, yeah, I'm saved, why? I don't know, something to do with Jesus or something. Well, you're clearly not saved, are you? You don't know why you're saved. If you just agreed but didn't really put your trust in Christ, there's people out there, right? And they'll say, they'll say all the right, they're yes men. How many yes men out there? They just say what you want them to say. They haven't really put their trust in Christ, yeah. But ye are saved, are saved, if you keep in memory what I preach unto you unless you've believed in vain. For I'd live unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. That's the gospel. That's the gospel, that Christ died for our sins. Now, that goes without saying that you're acknowledging that you're a sinner, right? If you're acknowledging that Christ died for your sins and you're acknowledging that you have sins that need paying for, right? And why do they need paying for? Because of where they would take you, okay? Now, he didn't say Christ died for our past sins, did he? He didn't say some sins. He didn't say as long as you maintain an aversion to those sins in the future, did he? He just said that he died for our sins. But also notice how the burial and resurrection are a key part of that belief too. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2, okay? They're clearly part of it, aren't they? That he died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. That's part of the gospel, that's part of our belief. If you go, yeah, yeah, Christ died for our sins but I don't believe he came back from the dead, well, you're not believing the account that God gave of his son, okay? You ain't saved if you're denying the resurrection, okay? It all goes hand in hand, okay? You're turning to Ephesians 2. So when we say that salvation is by grace through faith, it's God's grace which is free, undeserved merit given to us due to our faith, our belief in the gospel, okay? Verse 4 says, but God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins have quickened us, made us alive, basically, together with Christ, by grace are you saved. So it's by grace we're saved, right? Like I said, grace being free, undeserved merit and it raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that's salvation, that's going to heaven, not hell, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through faith and not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. Now those verses are so clear, aren't they? They're so clear, I mean they're some of the just clearest verses in the Bible, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. So many people would obviously preach Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 if you're trying to show someone how to get saved, how anyone can then interpret the word repent that we see in other verses when talking about salvation as repenting of sin, turning from sin, it's just beyond me. It's through faith, it's not of yourselves, it's a gift, it's not of works. But there are people all over the world, in fact, how many people do you come across all the time that you're not going to adore? You know, hi there, I'm from Strong Tower, now Baptist Church, yeah, okay, would you, you know, do you know for sure if you died today you'd be going to heaven? Well, you know, yeah, I think I'm saying, okay, how come? Well, I repented of my sins. Oh, okay, so how does that look? What did you do? Well, I gave up this sin, I gave up that, I continue not to sin or something else. Or you get someone who's saying, no, I don't know I'm going to heaven, and you go, why not? Well, what do you think someone has to do to go to heaven? Repent of their sins. What do you mean by that? Stop certain sins, turn from certain sins, give up certain sins, not do certain sins of future. It's the other religion, is it not? And that's what we see and hear all the time, and look, anyone ever come across anyone when you're out soul winning, who says I've got to repent of my sins, who's then actually saved? Any hands? I didn't know you'd done so with a young lady. But, uh, that's cool. Okay, so we've got, we've got a church of seasoned soul winners here. No one has ever come across anyone who said that they had to repent of their sins that didn't combine that with work salvation, that didn't mean work salvation by that. Because what do we usually do? We go, okay, what do you mean? What do you mean? And they never say something other than some sort of work salvation, don't they? Go back to John 3, which is one of the clearest chapters there is about salvation. Okay, John 3 is clear as day about salvation. This is where we started. Again, it's very clear, the book of John, as we see it in, in the second last chapter of John, we see that it was written so that men might believe. Okay, it's clear as day that, that it was, that, and of course so much of the Bible you can preach the Gospel from, but the book of John is one of the clearest for me. It probably is the clearest, right? Okay, along with maybe Romans, but the book of John just makes it even clearer, I would say, yeah? How clear it is. We've just seen, though, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, two of the clearest verses, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is a gift of God, not of works as any man should boast. Verse 14 in John 3 says, and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. Okay, whoever believes in him, we've just seen what that is, that faith and trust is in the Gospel, the death, burial and resurrection, paying for all your sins. He said, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And just to make it clear, if you're adding any works to salvation, you're not believing in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Any works at all, you're not trusting Christ, you're still trusting yourself. And that simplicity is also highlighted at the end of the chapter, John 3 36 being another of our proof texts in our statement of faith, John 3, and again look, this statement of faith, they're just select ones, we've inherited that statement of faith, I agree wholeheartedly with the whole thing, okay, and they're just, you could go to tons of verses. John 3 36, I really like preaching this when I'm trying to get someone saved, John 3 36 says, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him. It comes down to two types of people ultimately, doesn't it? Yeah, there's many types of people in the world but when it comes to salvation, you're either saved or you're not, okay. There are those that trust solely in Jesus Christ for salvation and there are those that don't and that's what it comes down to. Turn to Romans 10, our statement of faith says, we believe that salvation is by grace through faith and not of works. This means that salvation cannot be earned by any work, church attendance, baptism, repenting of your sins, etc, etc. Salvation is putting your faith in Jesus Christ and that he died, was buried and rose from the grave to pay for your sin. You receive salvation by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and simply asking him to save you and now this is where the calling on the name of the Lord heretics tried to turn heads. So they'll say it's works, you've heard these people come out with this, yeah, and again I don't, you don't really come across them out because it's a bit of a more kind of, I would say a niche one online to try and attack soul-winning churches. They'll go it's works, they'll go I just believed and I never asked. You heard these people, right. However, they're synonymous with each other, okay. It's like trying to separate the biblical repentance from belief and people try and do that, don't they? They try and separate the biblical repentance from belief. If you truly believed, you put your faith, your trust in Jesus Christ, then you change your mind from your false belief and accept it was wrong. If you really put your faith in Christ and you clearly stop believing whatever it is that you did before, that's biblical repentance, you, you change your mind from unbelief to work so much from whatever it was to faith in Christ alone. They go hand in hand but in the same way if you truly put your faith in Jesus Christ then you called upon his name for salvation. Okay, if you've trusted Christ then you've asked him to save you. It's the same thing. That's why we see him use interchangeably in the bible of Romans 10. It combines them together. Romans 10 and from verse 9 says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt 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. Now I've heard people say you had to believe before you called. No, no, you can't call unless you believe first. No, they go hand in hand. Okay, that's why verse 9 and 10 are either way round. Okay, and verse 10 says unto salvation, by the way, with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. They say I called in my heart. You've heard this one. Now verse 9 and 10 say the mouth. Okay, it says with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. However, I understand there may be exceptions. Some people like to point out the exception. There may be an exception where someone can't for some reason. Okay, call with their mouth and they're calling in their heart. There might be those times but I mean that's pretty, that's pretty rare, right? Okay, and the reality of it is you have to ask him for salvation. You put your faith, you have to confess the name of the Lord. You basically say whatever. There's no magic words. Okay, it's not magic words. We make that clear but you're with your mouth confessing your belief, your faith, you're calling on the name of the Lord like we see time and time again throughout the Bible. Now yeah, there are times in the Bible when calling on the name of the Lord is not about salvation but there are many times when it is and here it makes it clear. It says for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved in verse 13. What's that talking about? Oh no, no, well it's because he's quoting Joel, he's actually talking about like physical, he's talking about salvation. Just say confession is made under salvation. For the scripture saith in verse 11, for the scripture saith whosoever believeth in him shall not be ashamed. Okay, why did he just say for with the heart man believeth under righteousness with the mouth confession is made under salvation, then say for the scripture saith whosoever believeth in him shall not be ashamed. Because it's the same thing, it's the same thing. You call with your mouth, you believe in your heart. Because you believe on him by confessing his name, calling on his name, that's how you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. What a great verse of the Bible that is, and it's pretty simple. Okay, it should be pretty simple and of course, and one of the reasons by the way why soul winning is so important, one of the many reasons, okay, is that the experienced soul winners here will have regularly come across people that say, I believe everything you say, I believe, I believe that's in the Bible, I believe that's it, I'm just not ready to get saved. Now the call on the name of the Lord heretic will say, that person's saved, they just said they believed everything you said. But believing is putting your trust, your faith in Jesus Christ. You're believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, you're not just believing that what the Bible says is correct, you're putting your trust in him for salvation, and you do that by calling on the name of the Lord in faith. Okay, and look, when you're soul winning a lot, you're like, yeah, come across these people all the time, it's like, it's a non-issue, unless you're trying to hit people. Now for the new believer, you could see someone getting their head turned by this, for maybe the baby in Christ or something else, because they're not soul winning, they're not seeing that, and they're like, well yeah, actually it did just say believe in that verse, so that must be it, but no, because it's the same thing. Okay, and one of the reasons that soul winning helps strengthen your faith, doesn't it, helps you be stronger in the core doctrines of the Bible, because you're practicing it, you're practicing the word, you're not just a hearer, you're a doer of the word as well, and you just see these examples when you're out there, don't you? Okay, which obviously helps, but we should be able to just go to the word of God, obviously, and see what the word of God says. The word of God says, for whose search the call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, and we could go to many places, but these are just our proof texts, and otherwise the sermon would be a very long sermon. Okay, our statement said this, we believe that salvation is by grace through faith and not of works. Okay, so I hope everyone understand that. Salvation being saved from hell is by grace through faith and not of works. No works at all, and you know it's funny, isn't it, that you can talk to people who go like, oh yeah, yeah, faith alone, yeah, oh okay, well okay, great, so obviously if I did this, well of course you've got to do some works. Well, but we just read Ephesians right now, for by grace you say through faith and not of yourselves, it's a gift of God, not of works, that any man should boast. Okay, Romans 4-5, but to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifiably ungodly is faith, he's kind of a righteous, and there are so many other verses, right, now an obscure verse here or there, out of the Bible, taken out of context, doesn't suddenly discredit all of these clear salvation verses, but what it comes down to is this, people can choose, they can choose grace through faith alone, or they could choose one of the many, many, many versions of work salvation, and they have the choice, and they can find something, look, the Bible's a big book, you can find something in the Bible, God gives you enough right to hang yourself with, you know, you can find something out of context, something else, and put your faith in some form, or what, well, you know, my faith is that I gave up all these sins, my faith is that I used to be this person, now I'm this, my faith is in, well, look at the new man I am, my faith is, but ultimately what are all those people trusting? They're calling him Lord, Matthew 7 says, they said, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name have done many wonderful works, they think they're saved, they think they could talk to the Lord Jesus Christ, and then will I profess unto them I never knew you, depart from me ye that work in equity, and there's a lot of people out there like, you'd be amazed how many people there are out there that deep down in their heart they're trusting some form of works, but they'll parrot what we say. We believe it's grace through faith and not of works, this means that salvation cannot be earned by any work, church attendance, baptism, repenting of your sins, etc, etc, salvation is putting your faith in Jesus Christ that he died, was buried, arose from the grave to pay for your sin, you receive salvation by believing the Lord Jesus Christ is simply asking him to save you. Turn to John chapter 5, the next statement when it comes to salvation is this, we believe in the eternal security of the believer, once saved always saved, just like there is nothing you can do to earn salvation, there is nothing you can do to lose it, and our scriptures are John 5 24, 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 3 to 5, John 11 26, and you can add a ton of scriptures to this, okay, and I want to preach this off these scriptures quickly because look, these are great scriptures, now in reality all of those verses we just looked at prove eternal security, every single verse we've just looked at which proves that salvation is by grace through faith also therefore proves that you don't have to do anything in the future otherwise it's not grace through faith, okay, which means that once you're saved by the way, when we're talking about eternal security it means you're secured for eternity, once you put your faith in Christ you're saved, Romans 10 13 said shall be saved, John 3 36 said he that believeth on the son have everlasting life, John 3 36 said whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life, it's everlasting and you got it you can't lose it can you, Ephesians 2 8 said and that not of yourselves it is a gift of God, if it's a gift it's got nothing to do with you how could you even attempt to maintain it, it makes no sense, 1 Corinthians 15 2 said by which also ye are saved, present tense you're saved, Acts 16 31 said believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, okay clear as day yet there are still so many people out there that claim to believe these verses but then say that you can lose your salvation, so many aren't there, how many do you come across them every time pretty much you go out soul winning, people that say it's grace through faith they say all because they know what the bible says then I've come across these people a lot they'll say what the bible says but then they'll add their own interpretation so they kind of parrot the right stuff but then they'll add however well not if you did this sin or not if you did that sin well not if you did this or that but John 5 24 says this verily verily I say unto you this is Jesus Christ speaking he that heareth my word okay you need to hear the word of God to get saved and believeth on him that sent me you need to put your faith and trust that God sent Jesus Christ to die for your sins was buried and rose again hath present tense everlasting life like I said if you have something in its everlasting how could you lose it if you could it wasn't everlasting and shall not come into condemnation that means you will never go to hell shall not come into condemnation that's Jesus Christ talking here but is passed from death under life I love that that last part of the verse is passed that second that point that you put your trust in Jesus Christ you pass from death unto life you're saved it's done that's pretty clear isn't it I mean that's a clear verse of the but I know like I said there are many and I'm sure many of you here have your favorite verses to prove eternal security skip forward to chapter 11 our statement said we believe in the eternal security of the believer once saved always saved just like there is nothing you can do to earn salvation there is nothing you can do to lose it and in John chapter 11 and verse 23 onwards we're going to look at Martha's brother Lazarus is dead okay and verse 23 Jesus said unto thy brother shall rise again Martha saith unto him I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day Jesus said unto her I am the resurrection and the life he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live and whosoever is really good from now on no whosoever does it do any sins that that particular pastor has cut out no whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die believeth thou this do you believe that oh look I know our church believes that okay however there are so many that don't seem to believe that she saith unto him yea Lord I believe that thou art the Christ the son of God which should come into the world because it goes hand in hand if you're believing he's a Christ the son of God which should come into the world she's believing the gospel she's believing on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation turn to first Peter one which shows us why we can be so sure of our salvation so first Peter one shows us why we can be so sure of our salvation first Peter one and and I don't often go to this this these verses I like the I like this because it's it's really nice and clear here first Peter one and from verse three says blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy has 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 awake it won't go anywhere right reserved in heaven for you it's reserved okay he's put a reserve if you put your faith in Jesus Christ there's like a reserved little whatever you call like a little card there I think it's probably like made out of something nice and card yeah okay reserved okay he's put that reserve does anyone think that that can someone up there is going to take it away no anyone in heaven gone he did something we didn't like no it's reserved in heaven for you now look at this verse five though who are kept by what by your own power or by the power of God by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time so thank God that it's through the power of God and not our own power our own ability to maintain some sort of salvation because you can't maintain it if you had to maintain it well we're all we're all done because all have sinned to come short the glory of God because there's none righteous no not one because you cannot maintain it but it's we're kept by the power of God it's God that keeps you because he promised to keep you if you put your faith in Jesus Christ it's reserved it's done you're sealed by the Holy Spirit you've passed from death unto life like there's so many verses in the bible aren't there okay it's clear as day isn't it but still there are so many out there that believe you can lose your salvation and and just again just to make it clear if you believe that you can lose your salvation you're not saved you're not trusting in Christ you're trusting in yourself it's one or the other in fact Romans 11 6 makes it very clear it's one or the other because if by grace then is it no more of works otherwise grace is no more grace but if it be of work then is it no more grace otherwise work is no more work it's one or the other you can't have both and anyone that's trying to claim both isn't saved and needs to get saved okay they need to get saved however there is a point for many and we'll look at that in later weeks when it's they're done they can never they'll never get that they'll never understand that they'll never be able to trust fully in Christ they'll always try and trust some form of work and and that's ultimately what it comes down to two religions in the world it's work salvation it's many forms of some are so subtle and some are so blatant and then there's faith alone in Christ alone but let's look how important that salvation is turn to mark chapter nine mark chapter nine we believe that the unsaved will spend eternity tormented in a literal hell and eventually the lake of fire and our our proof text approved mark chapter 9 verse 43 to 48 jude chapter 1 and verse 6 obviously that's the only chapter in jude revelation 14 and verse 11 and revelation 20 verses 14 to 15 now in mark chapter 9 in mark 9 jesus gives a hard warning okay in mark 9 jesus gives a hard one he says this in verse 42 and whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he were cast into the sea and like i said the other day that's beyond drowning that's head explosion stuff that's a bit of both you're kind of drowning while you just sink at such a fast rate that the the sheer pressure would end up with you just exploding i mean that's a pretty grim way to die right that was jesus christ saying that by the way yeah he said whosoever should offend one of these little ones that believe in me it was better for him the millstone were hanged about his neck and he were cast into the sea why is it better because people that harm god's little children go to the lowest depths of hell it would be better to have a millstone cast back your neck and drowned in the lowest in the deepest ocean he said verse 43 and if thy hand offend thee cut it off it is better for thee to enter into life maim than having two hands going to hell into the fire that never shall be quenched now obviously he's using what you could maybe call hyperbole he's basically saying look it would be better to cut off your hand than to go to hell he's not saying you need to cut off your hand to go to heaven okay in case anyone gets carried away there is a sore actually in there so no obviously not okay but but the point and what we're going to really focus on in these verses and i've preached through these before in our matthew um studied in the parallel chapters but but the fire that never shall be quenched okay it doesn't sound very temporary to me does it okay hell isn't temporary now look some you might sit there or maybe maybe not or people could and would and go like oh well you know this all sounds a bit grim but that's the word of god that's a preserved word of god that's the word of god that's a miracle we even have the word of god that that doesn't get anything wrong that is a hundred percent truth from start to end that that has got everything right that it's ever been put to the test to however many slanderers and liars and discreditors are out there it never comes up does it when it comes to king james bible and my bible is clear as day that there's a hell it's not nice for us to read we don't all get fuzzy feelings when we read that part of the bible we don't all you know feel all kind of happy and start high-fiving about sometimes we do about certain people but usually not about hell but that's just the reality of the bible isn't it it's a fire that never shall be quenched where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched now some argue that this is referring to remorse i don't know if you ever heard this before talking about the worm but i think that it's creating a picture of a worm feasting on a dead body that's what i believe it is point being that it's eternal and there are many places in the bible it talks about the worms but worm singular is talked about you don't have to turn to in joe 24 20 joe 24 20 is speaking of the dead and says the worm the womb shall not forget him the worm shall feed sweetly on him he shall be no more remembered and wickedness shall be broken as a tree the point being it's eternal the worm dieth not it's just continual for me it's it's continual torment okay it's eternal their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched it's not just our were a little bit of time and that's it it's eternal the bible's clear about that and we're going to see a couple of other verses he said in verse 45 and if thy foot offended cut it off it's better for thee to enter halt into life and having two feet to be than having two feet to be cast into hell into the fire that never shall be quenched look that's it's look it's a hard truth right and you know what it would be much easier to try and argue it away wouldn't it be much easier oh it's symbolic oh well it probably isn't like that oh well i'm sure like you know that's only the worst of the people and you know old you know old granny you know granny doreen and everyone else not not him you know whatever else you know she's all right you know and and look but the reality of it is most people are going to hell broad is the way that leads to destruction it's a sad truth and many there be which go in their mouth when their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched said verse 46 and verse 47 says and if thine eye offend thee pluck it out it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of god with one eye than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched pretty clear it's eternal now look it's not a nice topic okay maybe we would find it easier an easier truth it wasn't eternal it said but we have eternal souls and if you have an eternal soul then you have to accept that eternal soul go somewhere for eternity and there are only two places that eternal soul can go for eternity it's either going to live forever or it's going to die forever that's what the word of god says that's what this amazing book this book that just by reading it you know it's the word of god let alone this book that is tried and tested this book that teaches you so much about everything else in life you can't just then just oh yeah but hell probably doesn't exist well that bit's probably wrong it's not we're not talking about one or two verses either are we okay hell is mentioned time and time and time again in the bible turn to uh revelation 14 which shows again that it's tormented shows again that it's eternal so revelation chapter 14 and verse 9 says and the third angel revelation 14 so i'll give you a second turn there revelation 14 we're going to look from verse 9 revelation 14 9 says and the third angel followed them saying with a loud voice if any man worship the beast and his image and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of god which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation and he shall be tormented that's basically tortured with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb no hell isn't separation from god is it how many liberal bible scholar types out there are trying to now change it shift the goalposts disqualify the word of god and go no i like separation from god yeah it sounds pretty rough though i remember a guy saying to me but can you imagine being separated from god you already are you unsaved devil what you're talking about but but hell is hell is not separation for god hell is being tortured in the presence of god and you know what they probably would hope that they were separated from god and not having to have the the omnipresent god there basically having to look at him knowing they rejected him that all they had to do was put their faith the lord jesus christ and they could have avoided eternity burning in hell he said he said in the presence of the lamb that's jesus christ that's god in the flesh that's the son of god and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever and they have no rest day nor night who worship the beast in his image and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name and you go what's all that about that this is a time to come when there'll be people that choose to worship the beast and his image this is talking about a man the anti-christ a one world leader and will take a mark of the beast and they're done once they do that they're done and these are regular people pretty much or before taking the mark like like many people you and i know this could happen in our lifetimes and those people are done and that's the same but but you know what take away the remark of the beast and people go to hell the smoke of their torment ascends up forever and ever and they have no rest day nor night because that's hell turn to jude now jude in verse six talks of the devils those rebelling angels okay so jude obviously just before the book of revelation and it's it's talking of of these basically rebellious angels we call them devils some will call them demons it says in the angels which this is jude in verse six and the angels which kept not their first sustain but left their own habitation he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day now what he's basically saying for me here is that those devils are reprobate angels okay they're reserved unto the judgment and jude the context is reprobates it's church infiltrators there's only one place that they're going okay they they're reserved to that day to that judgment okay it's not talking about all like like hell isn't filled up with all these devils right now okay the devils are out there okay believe me all right and what's going on here is he's talking about their reserve though there's no like there's no getting out of that like with a rep rate once they're given over once they're rejected they're reserved unto that judgment now they're reserved unto the judgment turn of revelation 20 which then shows us that eventual relocation where what that judgment is and what happens there our statement while you're turning revelation 20 said we believe that the unsaved will spend eternity tormented in a literal hell and eventually the lake of fire we we've looked at mark chapter 9 we've looked at jude chapter 1 we've looked at revelation chapter 14 and you're turning to revelation 20 and we're going to look from verse 14 hell is eternal but hell is eventually relocated to the lake of fire where body and soul will burn together after the great white throne judgment okay so there there is a point when ultimately that eternal hell is relocated to the lake of fire it's all hell and it says in revelation 20 of verse 14 and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire this is the second death and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire and again that's eternal that's a lake of fire that's a sobering thought isn't it and that's why salvation is so important and that's why what we believe about salvation is so important and that's why what we believe about salvation is exactly what the bible says about salvation because as soon as you start changing it and chopping it and it becomes another gospel and another gospel takes you to hell because there is only one way jesus christ said i am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the father but by me and that's faith and trust in christ alone so it's an it's a sobering thought but it should be an inspiring thought too shouldn't it so look that's a pretty that's a rough first kind of you know to finish on hell is rough however what should that do what should knowing about hell knowing about eternity knowing that the the most people are going to hell because they're rejecting the gospel whether you go oh but they might not have heard it yeah they still ain't saved okay yeah there's an onus on us we need to go and preach the gospel and that's what this should inspire us to do we should look at that and go i need to get people saved because there are people dying like this in this world aren't there and where are the vast majority of those people going to hell to hell like this it's horrendous to think about how many people go to hell now that's not because god's mean it's not because god's out of order it's because they're sinners deserving of hell and they put in the faith of jesus christ now however as much as there is a choice however that people can seek him look many don't and those people that don't still we can reach them can't we we can reach them find them preach the gospel to them and get them saved and and that's the responsibility we have because faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of god and and and it's faith to faith if you ain't saved you ain't getting people saved we're saved we need to go out and get people saved because there's a lot of people out there that are encompassing sin and land to find one fossilite and make him too far more than trying to hell than themselves there's a lot of people out there like that and that makes it even more important we get out and try and reach them early and try and find people and get them saved and obviously talking about the school singer in south africa and if we could try and encourage more that stuff we've had a plan here to try and get to schools want to try and reach people ask people can i speak to you can i show you keep the gospel nothing wrong with that yeah if you get the parent's permission great and and i've had that many times and i'm sure many people have as well where you have a parent go yeah they're weird sometimes they just walk off and if you preach the gospel it's great get them saved right but because look it's that important because the alternative is the lake of fire and it's sobering it's inspiring and that's why we believe what that's why not only we believe what we believe about salvation but why we believe it's so important and we'll never compromise on the gospel and we're never going to you know start bending and turning and trying to trying to you know go oh well you know let them do it their way everything else so we're going to preach it loud we're going to preach it clear we're going to preach it hard because the gospel is of utmost importance that's what we believe about salvation and obviously that included hell and and obviously um obviously internal security which goes hand in hand um and next week we're going to be looking at the word of god on that we're going to play father i thank you for your word i thank you for all salvation lord thank you that it is a free gift that there's nothing we have to do for and there's nothing we have to do to keep it lord that salvation is by grace through faith um and it's not of ourselves it's a gift of god and and we thank you for that free gift we thank you that you know you're a righteous judge you're the perfect judge that that you know despite with with all of that in hand you therefore you you love the world so much that you gave your only begotten son to be that that payment for sin lord that um as much as people might mock and try and discredit the word of god they can't disprove it the word of god is there it's true it's it's uh it's well it's a preserved word of god as well and well we thank you for that we thank you it's something we can stand upon we stand upon our salvation we stand upon the gospel here help us to go and preach that that truth loud and clear to those people of south end today and to other areas in in other times and in with other events as they come up in the future so help us to get many people saved lord to really make a difference in this nation especially lord we thank you for everything help us to to return back for this evening's service in jesus name for all of this amen