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14, hymn 114, The Great Physician. Hymn 114. Go ahead, so. The great physician now is near the sympathizing Jesus. He speaks the drooping heart to cheer. Oh, hear the voice of Jesus. Sweetest note in seraph song. Sweetest name on mortal tongue. Sweetest carol ever sung. Jesus, blessed Jesus. Your many sins are all forgiven. Oh, hear the voice of Jesus. Go on your way in peace to heaven and wear a crown with Jesus. Sweetest note in seraph song. Sweetest name on mortal tongue. Sweetest carol ever sung. Jesus, blessed Jesus. All glory to the dying Lamb. I now believe in Jesus. I love the blessed Savior's name. I love the name of Jesus. Sweetest note in seraph song. Sweetest name on mortal tongue. Sweetest carol ever sung. Jesus, blessed Jesus. And when to that bright world above we rise to be with Jesus, we'll sing around the throne of love. His name, the name of Jesus. Sweetest note in seraph song. Sweetest name on mortal tongue. Sweetest carol ever sung. Jesus, blessed Jesus. Amen, great singing. We've got a few more folks in here. Brother Joshua, you wanna open us up with a word of prayer? Yes, Father God, we thank you so much for this church and for this day and for everyone who's here right now. Please help pastor, help the Spirit to heal us as well. And our sin is to worship you and as we hear your words. In the name of your son, Jesus, we pray, amen. Amen, all right. So our next song is 310, Footprints of Jesus, 310. Ooh, I like that. 310, Footprints of Jesus. Here we go on the first. Sweet, we have heard the calling, come follow me. And we see where thy footprints falling lead us to thee. Footprints of Jesus that make the pathway glow. We will follow the steps of Jesus where they go. On the second. Though they lead o'er the cold dark mountains seeking his sheep. O'er along by siloed land, O'er along by Siloam's fountain helping the weak. Footprints of Jesus that make the pathway glow. We will follow the steps of Jesus where they go. If they lead through the temple, holy preaching the word. O'er in homes of the poor and lowly serving the Lord. Footprints of Jesus that make the pathway glow. Footprints of Jesus that make the pathway glow. We will follow the steps of Jesus where they go. On the last. Then at last when on high he sees us our journey done. We will rest where the steps of Jesus end at his throne. Footprints of Jesus that make the pathway glow. We will follow the steps of Jesus where they go. Amen, great singing. So we're gonna go ahead and take a look at our bulletins. We do actually have some bulletins at the back. I made sure to squirrel some away after the Sunday service. So they weren't all lost. There's like four or five left. One bulletin. Just raise your hand and our usher will give one to you. All right. All right, everyone has a bulletin now. We'll go ahead and look at the front cover here. We have the verse of our week, Proverbs 20 verse seven. The just man walketh in his integrity. His children are blessed after him. And that was in celebration of Father's Day on, when we celebrated Father's Day on Sunday. Let's go ahead and take a look at the inside cover here. We have, we're inside of the Wednesday evening service. Starts at 6.30. We also have Sunday service at 6.30 p.m. But starting on the first it's gonna be at 5.30 p.m. So make sure that you make note of that for earlier soul winning time and then earlier church time too. Speaking of soul winning time, we had soul winning today at five. How many people did we get saved? One. Just one? Right, Brother Alexis, huh? And three cops showed up. And three cops showed up. All right, we'll make a note of, we'll have another separate column for cops. Cops, three. They were looking for two ladies outside. I was like, well, there's no ladies with us. It was weird. And then they were like, okay, well. Those two ladies? I didn't think about them. They were on the opposite side of the road. I don't know why they were over there. Dang. Well, keep doing what you're doing. I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna keep going. Hey, praise God for that. Right on. Sweet. Okay. So that puts us up to 58 for our church's life. Or the existence of our church. We're at 58 today. So that's fantastic. And Lord willing, we'll get plenty, plenty more. It was pretty receptive there. A lot of people wanted to talk and stuff. It was good. So we also have soul winning times on Saturdays from 11 to 1 and also on Sunday from about 4, was it like 5? Is it 4.30? I never remember. What is it? 4.30 to 5.30? Sundays? What is it? About 4 to 5.30. There we go. So a bigger chunk of time for soul winning on Sundays. And over here, you can see the attendance. And like I said, the salvation numbers. You can take a look at the June tithes and offerings right there. Let's get on to the upcoming events. We had Father's Day, a little get together after the service, which was fun. We got a little key chain pepper spray, which was really, really neat. We had some cake and ice cream that went over really well. Got a good cake. Let's see here. June 30th, which is not today. Through the second, we have Bible Believers Baptist Church in Yakima. They have a big weekend coming up. Deacon Corbin Russell preaching Friday at 7 PM. There's going to be soul winning on the reservation from 11 to 2. Meal and fellowship at the church building at 3 PM. And then on Sunday, the 10.30 AM and 3.30 PM service will be preached by Pastor Aaron Thompson. July 19th, Pastor Steven Anderson preaching at Sure Foundation Spokane at 6.30 PM. That's the 19th. First Spokane. Yeah, on Spokane. And then the 20th and the 23rd. OK, good. Take notes. There's going to be a quiz after this. On the 20th, Pastor Anderson will be preaching down in Vancouver. And then also on the 20th and the 23rd, will be the Red Hot Preaching Conference. And like we had mentioned before, that there's no published schedule because they want you to be surprised. You just go in there. You get all the good preaching. You don't just be like, oh, Pastor Anderson is preaching on this day. You pop in and pop smoke. Just go and enjoy the whole conference if you can. And then let's see here. On the 28th, Pastor Jimenez will be preaching at Sure Foundation Vancouver at 7 PM. And then August 3rd through the 6th is a Toronto soul winning trip. And Pastor Thompson gave me this neat print out here of what's going on for the Toronto soul winning marathon. And I'm not going to read all the stuff going on. There's a lot going on here. But wow, if you're curious, come up after the service and take a look at it. Just don't steal it, please. And then on the back, we are still working on getting the birthdays and anniversaries populated back here so we can celebrate your birthday anniversary. And if you haven't filled out a contact card, if you've been coming here for a while, there's a bunch of other birthdays and anniversaries listed on the back. Just fill it out and give it to one of the ushers or myself and we'll get it to the right place so we can get on a database so we can get it printed on there. Because we want to celebrate with you. We're glad you're here and we want you to feel like you're part of our family. Upcoming preaching schedule Wednesday nights is going to be Pastor Thompson for the book of John. And then we had brother Alex Kronichuk this last Sunday. It was a great, great sermon. And then we got brother Sean Conlon coming up on the 25th. That's going to be a good, good time. So notes about the building. There is a mother baby room or a parent baby room in the back. It needs to be locked open at all times unless you're using it for nursing or discipline or you just need a quiet space with your child for a little bit. Then you can shut it, but make sure you open it back up and latch it back open for insurance purposes. Please leave the lights off and the doors open in the bathrooms after you're done using them as a courtesy to the next people going in. There's a trash can in the kitchen all the way in the back. So if you have like you brought some food in, I know we have a tight schedule. We got just food wrappers, bottles, water, any other trash put in that trash bag back there to keep our place clean. And we don't have any reason to go upstairs or on the stairwell because that's a different church uses that from time to time. That's just that's not our purview. There's also a patch of grass out there for your kids to play in. If you want to make sure you supervise them and know running in the church. And I think that's about it. If this is your first time visiting us, I think we have some gift bags back there we want to thank you for coming to visit our church and just appreciate you could have gone anywhere, but you decided to come here and we really, really appreciate that. And if you're not 100% sure you're on your way to heaven, ask pretty much anyone in here who's a soul winner just approach someone and say, Hey, what must I do to be saved? And it'll run you through the gospel so you can know for sure that you're going to heaven. And with that, that will conclude the announcements. Okay, so we're going to go ahead and turn to our next song, which is Rock of Ages. And then after this, we will receive the offering. So turn to page 129, please. Rock of ages cleft for me Let me hide myself in thee Let the water and the blood From thy wounded side which flowed Be of sin the double cure Save from wrath and make me pure Could my tears forever flow Could my zeal no languor know These for sin could not atone Thou must save in thou alone In my hand no price I bring Simply to thy cross I cling While I draw this fleeting breath When my eyes shall close in death When I rise to worlds unknown And behold thee on thy throne Rock of ages cleft for me Let me hide myself in thee Alright, this time, our guest is going to come up with the plates and take the offering. Brother Neb, can you pray for our offering, please? Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for gathering us all here today, bringing us safely in. And thank you for the one salvation, Lord. I pray for all the people that had a seed planting. Pray that God be good and that need be saved, Lord. And that we may pray to the Bible, believe in God the Lord. And that we may baptize and then serve you in the Lord. Pray that you bless the offering and bless the giver, Lord. And in Jesus' name we pray, Heavenly Father. Amen. Amen. Thank you. If you would please turn to John chapter 5. John chapter 5, as we read aloud the chapter. John chapter 5. The Bible reads in John chapter 5, After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water. Whosoever then first, after the troubling of the water, stepped in, was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man. When the water is troubled, to put me into the pool, but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked. And on the same day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the Sabbath day, it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? And he that was healed, wist not who it was. For Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole, sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus which had made him whole. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. Then answered Jesus, and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do, for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth. And he will show him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is past from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself, and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice, and shall come forth, they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. I can of mine own self do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. There is another that beareth witness of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth, but I receive not testimony from man, but these things I say that ye might be saved. He was a burning and a shining light, and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. But I have greater witness than that of John, for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bare witness of me, and that the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape, and ye have not his word abiding in you, for whom he hath sent. Him ye believe not. Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. I receive not honor from men, but I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not. If another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me, for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? Please let us pray. Heavenly Father, please give pastor the word to speak, and give us the ears to hear, and an understanding heart. Amen. Sorry about that. I didn't mean to surprise you. All right. Good evening. Glad to see some new faces in here that I haven't met before, so happy to be here to preach, of course. And we've been going through the book of John, and last week I preached about the woman at the well, or the woman of Samaria. I kind of went through a lot of things that were very important. And the book of John emphasizes salvation. It emphasizes salvation by faith alone. It emphasizes eternal security, but it also emphasizes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that He is God. So that's very evident from the first verse of the first chapter. But tonight we're going to be learning about the healing. Well, I mean, there's several different topics in here, but the title of the sermon, I guess, if it had a title, is The Healing at the Pool of Bethesda. So, number one tonight, Jesus heals an impotent man. So let's look at verse number one, where the Bible reads, After this there was a feast of the Jews, and the Jews went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. And these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, and it says they're waiting for the moving of the water. So there's this pool, apparently by the sheep market, and this place is called Bethesda in the Hebrew tongue, has five porches. A bunch of people are hanging out there, and it says impotent folk. So what is an impotent folk? Well, it's people that have some sort of a disability, is what it is. And it doesn't necessarily say what all their disabilities are, but it does say blind. That would make you impotent, right, unable to see where you're going. Halt, where they have some sort of an ailment of one of their limbs. It says withered, and if you remember Jesus healed the person with the withered hand. Yeah. And, you know, he made his hand whole like the other one. So, and then it says waiting for the moving of the water, for an angel went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled the water. Whosoever then first, after the troubling of the water, stepped in, was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. So basically you kind of have a season of this angel coming down, and the angel, when the angel troubles the water, I don't know if that was a certain time during the day, but they're waiting for this angel to come down and trouble the water. And I believe that this is actually happening, this is the Bible telling us the story of what's happening, and so do I believe that there really was an angel troubling the water? Absolutely, that's what the Bible says, right? But some people would explain that away, and, you know, it's just ridiculous. When the Bible is saying something and it kind of seems like it's the narrator there, you know, obviously John is writing the book, but the narrator also being the Holy Ghost, when it says things like this, that means that that is truly happening. So it might seem strange to us, and a lot of the things in the Bible, you have to take on faith. It's like, well, why was it going on? What was exactly what was going on here? Well, exactly what it says. You know, we've just got to take the Bible for what it says and not for what it doesn't say. We need to take the Bible as absolute truth, because it is. And I believe that this was happening, I believe it's absolutely true, and for whatever reason God was doing this kind of miraculous healing in this way, you know, he's doing it for a reason. And I think it's, you know, one of the reasons is so he could show his glory to these people when he appears. So when it says a certain season, I just take that to mean that either it's a certain time of the day or it's a certain season of the year. And so you have all these people just trying to be the first one to get in, right, to get their whatever healed. And look at verse 5, it says, And a certain man was there which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. So, and it doesn't say what his infirmity is, but what is an infirmity? Well, it's an unsound or unhealthy state of the body. Weakness, feebleness, old age is subject to infirmity. So the older you get, the more your body breaks down, and the more aches and pains you're going to get. You'll see that, young people here, pretty soon. But the older you get, the more pains you got, but when it's dealing with an infirmity, there's something that makes this guy what we would call modern day handicapped, or he has a disability, right? And a disability is want of competent natural or bodily power, strength or ability, weakness, impotence, as disability arising from infirmity or broken limb. So whatever this guy had, it was something that was physically stopping him from being able to be the first one to get to the water. And it says in verse 6, when Jesus saw him lie and knew that he had been now a long time in that case. So Jesus is here. All these people have disabilities of some sort, ailments of some sort. They're wanting to be the first one in so that they can get healed by this angel. And Jesus shows up at this feast, and he's just kind of obviously going to this spot. Remember last week how he just happens to be in this right spot where this woman from Samaria who's had five husbands, she's got kind of a shady past, right? And we saw that Jesus specifically took the time to deal with that one woman. And because of that one woman getting saved, a lot of the people in that village end up getting saved in Samaria. And then obviously there was later on you had Philip who had a great, you know, a great sowing campaign there where Peter and John showed up. And we saw last week the power of just one person getting saved can just be a miraculous thing for all the people around them. And it also shows this that Jesus cares about the individual. He cared about that woman. And no matter how sinful she was, he knew she was going to get saved. It was a divine appointment. That's what we call a divine appointment. Jesus knows all things. He's God. He knew she was going to be there. He knew his disciples were going to get bread. He had a chance to talk with her one on one. And that's also a good thing for us to have like some one on one soul winning opportunities wherever you might be. It doesn't have to be at the soul winning time. So, but, so Jesus knew that he had been now a long time in this case. He knew that he was impotent. He knew he had a disability and infirmity. And he said unto him, will thou be made whole? Just asking him the question, do you want to be made whole? And the impotent man answered him, sir, I have no man when the water is troubled to put me in the pool. But when I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, rise, take up thy bed, and walk. So at the command of Jesus, that's what he's going to do. But again, last week we saw him dealing with, and you would think it's the people that are not high society type people. See, Jesus loved everybody, but he knew who was going to get saved. He knew that that woman with the shady past with five husbands had a live-in boyfriend at the time that he meets up with her. But you know, when he met her, that changed her life. That changed her life forever. And you know what, when he got saved, if you're saved in this room, that will change your life forever. And so now we see him dealing with another individual by himself. You know, there's nobody else around. It doesn't say the disciples are with him. It's just Jesus walking up, knowing the situation. So I personally believe that Jesus just knew that this guy was going to get saved. He chose this guy for a specific reason. But probably the reason is because he knew he'd believe, right? So, and you know, here we have another person that's not really high on the big rank of list of people that are important to this world. Someone that has a disability. You know, a lot of times people will just look away from them or not care about them. And you know, we should care about everybody. And Jesus, he wasn't just worried about getting the richest people in some neighborhood saved so they could be good tithers. He was not just worried about the people that were beautiful, the people that were muscular, the people that were smart. He's coming after everybody. He wants everybody to be saved. And you know, people that have lower stations in life, you see throughout the scriptures that Jesus had a lot of times where he interacts with people that have these types of disabilities and problems. So God cares about people that have disabilities, doesn't he? But you know, what's really sad to me sometimes is when someone has a disability and then they won't accept Jesus. Like, I remember I walked, I knocked on the door of a blind man one time and I was pleading with this guy to get saved because, and I was just like saying, hey, you know, you've been blind your whole life because he said he'd been blind his whole life. And I said, you know what, you know, if you get saved, when you go to heaven, you're going to be able to see. You're going to have eyes for all eternity. You know, and he just did not want to believe. He didn't want to accept that and didn't end up wanting to get saved. Hopefully the guy ended up getting saved later. He thought about what I had to say. But Jesus cares about those people that are marginalized in our society, people that nobody else would take the time, and that just should be a lesson for us that we should care about those people too. We should care about those people just because someone's sitting somewhere in a wheelchair at a bus stop or something doesn't mean that that person won't get saved. So we should care about all people, and it seems like Jesus does reach out to those people that are having more of a hard time or more sinful than other people because Jesus cares, right, for the individual. Now, look at verse 9, it says, And immediately the man was made whole and took up his bed and walked, and on the same day was the Sabbath. Uh-oh, well, the Sabbath, the Sabbath, you know, these Jews are just like really just very stringent about certain things. You know, they're not stringent about selling someone's hide for 30 pieces of silver and having them murdered, but they're really strict about picking kernels of wheat off of a stock. They're really upset about when people don't wash their hands before they eat dinner. You know, they're really strict about doing anything on the Sabbath day. But, you know, the Sabbath was made for man. That's what Jesus said. It was a day for us to rest. But it's also a picture of how Christ paid for our salvation. And, you know, when he died, it was a three-day period of time where there was supposed to be, it was like a high Holy Day Sabbath. So all those days that Jesus was in the grave, we were not supposed to work, which pictures the fact that Jesus did all the work for us. He let us rest and did all the works for us so that we could be saved. So, but they're acting like, you know, to the Pharisees, they literally swallow camels. They strain at gnats and swallow camels. That's what Jesus says about them because they just, the big things they don't think are a big deal, but the things that are smaller according to God are a big deal to them. So, and then some things are just man-made doctrine that they came up with. So look at verse 10. It says, the Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, it is the Sabbath day, it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. He answered them, he that made me whole, the same said unto me, take up thy bed and walk. Now, it wasn't against the law for people to walk on the Sabbath day, but this guy hasn't walked right in 38 years. 38 years, Jesus knew he was in that state. Jesus knew the law. Was he telling him to break the commandments? He wasn't telling him to break the commandments. Obviously, there was a certain amount of steps that you could take in a day, a certain amount of length that you could walk. And, you know, the Jews take this so crazy these days that they won't even push the walk sign on a button on the Sabbath day. I was doing a paving job in Portland in this Jewish area that's off of Capitol Highway or whatever, and we were paving the whole thing. It was the Sabbath. It was Saturday. And I was just watching all these families walk to this certain light, and it never changed to walk. And I'm like, and so there's cars that are just speeding past, and, you know, people are aggravated because there's construction going on and stuff. And I just kept watching these people run across the road, you know, people almost hitting them, all this stuff. And you know why that was happening? Because they refused to push the walk sign. They have to... What did I drop? Oh, I'm sorry. Okay. So the walk sign, you know, they can't push that button because it energizes electricity. I mean, I just don't see that in the Bible. I've never seen where if you push a button that that's working on the Sabbath day or something. I mean, the Bible, you know, it says if someone's ox or ass falls into a pit or a ditch on the Sabbath day, thou shalt, you know, and you see your neighbors struggling with that, thou shalt help them. You know, you're supposed to help somebody on the Sabbath, but Jesus heals a man that's been impotent and disabled for 38 years. And their response to him is, what are you doing walking on the Sabbath day? And it's like, he's probably happy to walk. He's like, you know, took up his bed and walked. So, and it says in verse 11, He answered them, he that made me hold the same said unto me, take up thy bed and walk. Then ask they him, what man is that which said unto thee, take up thy bed and walk? And he that was healed was not who it was, for Jesus had conveyed himself away a multitude being in that place. So, he heals the guy, he kind of just disappears, right? Doesn't hang around. But he hasn't forgotten about him. Because it says in verse 14, afterward, Jesus findeth him. So, how did Jesus find him so easily? Well, he's God. I mean, he knows people's hearts. He knows people's minds. He knew exactly where to find him. But it says, afterward, Jesus findeth him in the temple and said unto him, behold, thou art made whole. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. So, he's kind of given him a little bit of follow up. And what this makes me think of is that it's possible that some sin that he was involved in caused this problem in his life. Because, you know, it doesn't say what his sin problem is. It doesn't even say what his disability is. But the fact that Jesus would say that to him to me implies that there was something he was doing before that caused this disability to come upon him and God can't strike us disabled. You know, if you think you're too good looking, maybe God will make you ugly. If you think your body looks all great, well, maybe God will make you fat. You know what I mean? Some people just need to be, you know, they need to have themselves. Sometimes God will just allow you to be humble because you won't humble yourselves. And what's going on with this guy, I don't know. It doesn't really say, but he did say sin no more. Now, obviously, nobody can ever stop sinning for the rest of their life. And people will just take verses like this and just kind of flip them on their head and say, see, if you sin again, then you're going to lose your salvation. No, that's not what the Bible is saying. You don't. So, and anyway, so what I like about this verse here, though, verse 14, is that it says Jesus findeth him. You know, Jesus is still finding people today. He's still in the business of saving individuals. He's still in the business of healing individuals. He's still in the business of caring for one person at a time. And we should really take that to heart because, yeah, one person got saved today. You know, and you might think, well, you know, that's not a lot. I mean, you know, whatever. Hey, for one hour for eight people, that's not bad. That's not bad. But it's one person. And if that one person has had their life changed for the right, you know, for the truth, for righteousness, maybe they will get plugged in. Maybe they will get baptized. Maybe they will be a soul winner someday. But even if they're not, you know what they are? Going to heaven. And that's the most important thing, isn't it? So look at what it says in verse 15. The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus and sought to slay him because he had done these things on the Sabbath day. That escalated pretty quickly, didn't it? I mean, he healed somebody on the Sabbath day. That's what they're mad about, right? It says they sought to slay him because he'd done these things on the Sabbath day. So you healed somebody on the day you're not supposed to do anything. Where does the Bible say you can't heal somebody on the Sabbath day? See, these guys are just teaching for doctrines, the commandments of men, and they want to kill the Lord Jesus Christ because he healed somebody on the Sabbath day and told him to take up his bed and walk. And so, I mean, to go from, you know, I mean, that's not normal, right? Say we get someone saved and then someone's like, you're not supposed to get someone saved. You know, say it's like a Sabbath day Adventist and, you know, they think that we've taken the mark of the beast or whatever and they see us get somebody saved on the Sabbath day, you know, normally I don't think that they're set out to kill us and they're going to have some murder plot against us. And that just shows you how wicked these people are. You know, and people are like, well, you hate Jews. I don't hate Jews, but I do hate their religion. And so if a Jew wants to get saved, I'd be glad to lead him to Christ. But you know what, it's very few and far in between that that happens because they kind of put a curse upon themselves and upon their children when they gave the Lord Jesus Christ over to Pilate. And even Pilate wanted to wash his hands of it. He said that, you know, even you're more evil than the Roman government. The Roman government wanted to let him go and they were pretty mean. I mean, Pilate sacrificed, did a sacrifice and mingled people's body parts in with it. It wasn't like a real nice guy. You know, he was sent there because it was very troubleless in Jerusalem. These guys, you know, were always causing problems and having insurrections. That's why Barabbas was arrested because he had an insurrection. He was a murderer. So the Jews cared more about their land and all this other stuff than they did about people, than they did about their savior. So it escalates really quickly from persecution to seeking to slay him. They're trying to kill him. And so this is kind of another theme throughout the book of John that from here on out, you're going to probably see in pretty much every chapter that the Jews wanted to kill him. They sent people to capture him. And they said, never a man is fake like this and so on and so forth. But he eventually gets so famous and so wanted that he's having to travel outside these cities and areas in order to get to these places to minister to people because they're always seeking to try to murder him throughout the whole thing. And he calls them out on it later on. We'll get there eventually. But look at verse 17. It says, But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. And that's why Jesus came. He came to work. He came to get it done. God the Father works. And he's saying, and I work. And so he's really about to upset them. So point number two tonight is Jesus is equal with God. Jesus is equal with God. Look at verse 18. The Bible says, Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him. So they already wanted to kill him, but now they really want to kill him because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. And again, that's John saying this under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. And I believe that when he's saying that making himself equal with God, he is equal with God. You know why I think John said that? Because he's equal with God. And because he is God. Right? So at this church we believe the Trinity. And obviously we believe that God the Father, you know, you have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But people will say, well, you're saying that God's higher than Jesus and Jesus is higher than the Holy Spirit. Look, they're not the same person. They're individual persons. But they're the same God. And you're like, well, how do you explain that? I just believe the Bible. So whether I understand that fully or not, it doesn't matter whether I understand it. I just have to believe what the Bible says. And in our doctrinal statement for our church, we have this little blurb, and I'll just read it to you, and you can write the verses down and look them up later if you want, but this is what we believe about the Trinity at our church. We believe in the Trinity, which is the belief that there is one God that exists in three persons. The three persons or members of the Godhead are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The three members of the Godhead are distinct and separate persons, each possessing their own body, intellect, and will. The three are all equally God and eternal, meaning that they have eternally existed as three persons. The three members of the Godhead voluntarily submit themselves under a chain of command. So they voluntarily do this, but that's just because a father usually has authority over a son. So the Holy Spirit speaks of those things that God the Father wants him to speak, and he's trying to get people to believe in Jesus. He's trying to go before, and the Spirit does a lot of things, but just because he's the Holy Spirit, he's still God. He's still God. And you're like, how do you back that up? In the book of John, you're going to see a lot of times when Jesus puts himself as equal with God. That's why the Jews were always trying to kill him, because they didn't like that. In the rest of our little doctrinal statement here, it says, we acknowledge that each member of the Godhead is not partially God or a part of God, like a pie that you'd cut in three pieces, and without the third piece there that's not really God. That's not what we believe. But believe that each member is all God and all of God. We reject partialism, the belief that each member of the Godhead is a part of God that comes together to make up one God. It's not Voltron, okay? So we reject polytheism, which is the belief that each member of the Godhead is a separate God. See, that's where people will go too far with it. And they'll say, well, they're separate gods. No, they're not separate gods. That's not what the Bible says. And so we reject oneness, also the belief that each member of the Godhead is the same person playing different roles, because we'll see that Jesus prays to the Father. Well, how do you explain that? Well, because it's a different person, yet the same God. Again, I don't think anybody can fully grasp that. You're like, well, you should be able to explain that, and I'm trying to explain it to you right now. But let the Bible tell you what to think. Let the Bible tell you how these things work. So just look at Colossians chapter 2, 9, then we'll move on to my third point, which I'll show you some of these things. But Colossians 2, 9, just keep your finger in John 5, and then Colossians 2, 9, it's just one of the verses. I'll give you the other ones if you want to write them down, that's fine. So you can kind of study yourself further. But it says, for in him, talking about Jesus, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. When Jesus was baptized, what was he filled with? The Holy Spirit, without measure. We've already talked about this. But also, he talks multiple times about how the Father is in him, and he is in the Father. So the Father is in him. When people ask him, show us plainly, show us plainly the Father. And he's like, have I been so long with you, and you don't know what he looks like? He looks like me. Because he's the manifestation of God bodily, Jesus Christ is. So he's going to look like him. He's going to do the same works as him. He's going to have the same power as him. All those things are going to be true. So he's the fullness of the Godhead bodily. The Godhead was within Jesus Christ. That's what it says, right? How do you explain that? I don't have to explain it. That's what it says, right? So if you believe the Bible, then that's what you believe, the truth. So number three, the authority of the Son of God. So Jesus is made equal with God. He is equal with God. And that's what the Jews were mad about, that he's making himself, when he called himself the Son of God, in their culture, that's like saying that he's equal with them. Because a father gives his son and his inheritance and all the stuff that he accumulated and everything that he has, right? And so that makes him equal with him. So look at verse number 19 in our text. It says, Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do, for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. So what does he do? He does the same things that the Father shows him how to do it, right? And so he's saying he can do nothing of himself, but that which the Father does. So he's doing the will of the Father. But there's a point in John chapter 17 where he's praying that God would take away that cup from him, that he wouldn't have to go through what he has to go through, but he says, Nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done. So he's under the subordinate. See how he's under the subordination of God the Father? But now look what it says in verse 20. It says, For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth, and he will show him greater works than these that ye may marvel. He's saying you haven't seen nothing yet, baby. And verse 21, For as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. So he has authority, doesn't he? But he has authority to do what he knows that the Father does and what the Father wants him to do. But it says he has the choice. I mean, when it's his will, he has the choice to raise people from the dead. So God the Father raises people from the dead, and the Son of God has the opportunity to raise people from the dead. So how quickeneth, you know, when you raise someone from the dead, it says, you know, and quickeneth them, that means he's making them alive again. So you raise them up, you make them alive again, that's called a resurrection, right? Verse 22, For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. So is that giving the Son authority? Yes, it is. It just says the Father judgeth no man right there, right? But committeth all judgment to the Son. So he's inheriting the blessings of being the Father, isn't he? I mean, right? Isn't that what it's saying? He has the ability to raise people up, whoever he wants to, and the ability to judge things because the Father put that in his hands. Look at verse 23, and that all men should honor the Son even as they do the Father. So even as, what's that mean? In the same way. So there's nothing wrong with saying, you know, with putting the Son of God equal with the Father, right? I mean, they should honor, so whose name do we have to call upon to be saved? Jesus. Jesus Christ. So he's saying that we should honor the Son even as they honor the Father. In the New Testament, when you call upon the name of the Lord to be saved, you're calling upon the name of Jesus. So that's what, I mean, I do stress that, and I know that sometimes people, you know, they're like, well, it's semantics, it's still God or whatever, but we should do what the Bible says to do. So when we lead someone to the Lord in the sinner's prayer, we should pray, Dear Jesus. So it's just a habit that you should get into. And sometimes, you know, because we pray in our normal prayers, Heavenly Father, and we pray through Jesus the Son to bless our food or whatever else we ask for, but when it comes to salvation, we are supposed to call upon the certain name. The name is Jesus. So it says that all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. So these Pharisees are not honoring him, so who else are they not honoring? They're not honoring the Father. Because unless you're going to honor the Son, you're not going to have the Father to honor. Look at 1 John 2, verse 22, and again, keep your finger there in John. And this is a huge chapter. I'm going to try to get through this all tonight, so I'm trying to get through it fast, but I also want to take the time to teach what we need to teach out of this. And also, there's going to be a few baptisms right after church. I forgot to mention that, but we do have three baptisms, and the water's hopefully going to be pretty warm. We've been trying our best to get it warm, but don't just take right off after church, but stay and witness these baptisms. But anyway, 1 John 2, verse 22 says, Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. So by proxy, if the Jews say, Oh, we don't believe in Jesus, we just believe in Jehovah. No, you're an antichrist. That's what the Bible says, right? So when people say, Well, you just hate the Jews. No, I just tell you what the Bible says. The Bible is going to tell you what was wrong with the Jews. They rejected their Messiah. Look at verse 23. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. So they'll say, Oh, well, in Judaism, you know, we all believe in the same God. It's just they just don't believe in Jesus. No, if they don't have the Son, they deny the Son. What does it say right there? That's what the Bible says. It says, But he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. So when these Jews are coming up to them and they're wanting to murder him, who else are they wanting to murder? They're wanting to murder the Father because they don't really truly believe in him. Because if they did believe in him, they would do the right thing. They would believe on the Son and they wouldn't be trying to persecute him. And then it says that they wanted to kill him even more. It's like, we really want to kill you, but now we really want to kill you. I mean, they're freaks, right? Look back at John chapter 5 verse 24. It says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life. This is a great soul wanting verse to prove eternal security. It's also a great proof verse to show them that believing is what saves you. But notice how it says, hath. You can just underline that in your Bible. Half everlasting life. What does that mean? You have it. It's not something you're working towards. It's not, you know, you have to have seven steps to get to heaven. Or you have to wait until the final bell. You know, this is what the Muslims believe. That they really don't know until the final moment. And then it's kind of up to God at that point. It's like, who would want to be in a religion like that where you just never know where you sit? You never know where you stand. The Bible tells us to know, we can know where we stand with God. And one of those, you know, we know where we stand when it comes to life, eternal. Because it says, if you believe on him that sent me, you hath or have everlasting life. And, this is a good and here, shall not come into condemnation. That means what? That because you're saved and have everlasting life, you'll never be sent to hell. I mean, you show that to people and if they still say, well, I still think that if you, you're, look, you just don't understand the Bible. You don't, you can't, you're not hearing his word. He said, he that heareth my word. Hear the word of God. You bozo. Get saved. This is what it says, you believe on him and you will not come into condemnation. You have everlasting life. It says, but is passed from death unto life. So that moment that you believe, you pass from death to life. And how long of a life? Everlasting life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live. So, he's got this kind of category here where he's talking about the, there's certain people that are going to hear the voice of the Son of God. That's, what's it talking about? The resurrection. It's talking about the rapture when those people that are dead in Christ, they're going to hear the voice of the Son of God. That's, that's pretty cool. It's like, I don't know what he's going to say. Just wake up. Get up. You're alive again or whatever. But what I think is funny about this also is that the same is true now. The same is true now, isn't it? If somebody today hears the voice of the Son of God, when they hear and believe, they that hear shall live. So it's not just the time in the future. Yeah, that time, that's true. But even right now, anybody that hears the voice of the Son of God, if they hear that and if they believe that in Him, they're going to hear and live. Even this present time. So, John 5 verse 26 says, For as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself, and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also because He is the Son of man. Marvel not at this. For the hour is coming in the which all that are in the grave shall hear His voice. So now he's, he's not just talking about saved people that are going to hear His voice. Everybody is going to hear His voice. All that are in graves, right? And it says, And shall come forth they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. So, now here's another verse that people try to spin and twist. And it says, well, see, you have to do good. Or, you know, that's how you get the resurrection of life. But what's the context of this? What's the good thing that He said you had to do? You have to hear the voice, you have to hear the word of God, and you have to believe on the Son. That's the good thing that you have to do. That's it. It's not talking about works. Why would it just be like, believe, believe, you're saved, eternal life, believe. You know, it's all faith, it's all belief. You know, Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8 and 9, You know, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. So, you know, you can't take a verse and isolate it outside of its context. And this is what people that are devils do. They'll take the Bible and they'll twist it. They'll say, well, what about this first thing? It's like, shut up. What's the Bible say? It says you have to believe. And if you believe in Him, you'll have everlasting life. That's the good thing that you got to do. And it says that some are going to come, it says in verse 29 again, and they shall come forth, they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. So, again, he just got done saying, if you hear His word and believe in Him, you'll have everlasting life. So, I mean, to say that that's talking about work salvation is just ridiculous. You know, it's either life or death. We have the choice and He doesn't make us believe. We're not Calvinists at this church where we just think that God has to give you the faith. And once He gives you the faith, you know, just all this weird stuff. Like, if you believe, that's your choice. And you can choose to not believe it all you want, but there's a bad option involved in that. And people are like, so you're saying if you don't just believe, exactly like your little narrow way. It's God's narrow way. You know, broad is the way that leads unto destruction. And many there be that go in there act. You know, narrow is the way of salvation. And few there be that find it, right? So, it's a narrow way. It's not impossible. It's not hard. But it is, it's so narrow that it's only one way. That's what it's saying. You know, I didn't probably quote that verse all the way right, but that's the gist of that verse. So, anyway, yeah, so you believe or you don't believe. It's eternal life or eternal death. There's no second chances. There's no purgatory. That's not real. It's a Catholic lie. So that the Catholic church could get some money off some bones and, you know, kissing pictures of dead saints and all this other stuff. And, you know, you pay a certain amount of money for, you know, you want to commit a rape this weekend. You pay seven dollars at the Catholic church. It's called indulgences. And, you know, if you follow the Pope on Twitter, he was offering to give you, get you some years off of your time in purgatory. This is a sick religion, isn't it? But there's no such thing as reincarnation. Either Buddha. So whether you follow fat Buddha or skinny Buddha, both of those roads lead straight to hell. Which is, you know, brother Stuckey preached a really good sermon about this where he's talking about how Buddhism is like the most unreachable religion that there is. Because their goal is to not live anymore. Right? They want to reach nirvana where they just cease to exist. And so it's hard to put eternity in someone's heart that's from the time that they were a child. They grow up and all they're told is that, you know, you want to just become nothing and cease to exist. I mean, that's what atheists believe too. But, you know, so they got a religion of their own. But that's just another sermon for another time. But I'm just saying, the Bible says you only got one choice and one chance in this life. Hebrews 9.27. It's a good one to memorize. It says, and as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. So once you die, you know, you're facing judgment. If you're saved, there is no condemnation, right? That's what the Bible says. But if you die without Christ, you're facing judgment. You're just waiting in prison, hell prison, until the final resurrection. So let's turn to a couple of passages here. I think I got some time here. Revelation chapter 20, verse number 10. Because, you know, it's really important to preach about hell. And a lot of times people avoid talking about it. They're like, it's just separation from God. You don't really want to be separated from God. They just like try to puff your little pillow a little bit. So you can just, you know, it's just separation from God. It's hell! It's hot! It's torturous! It's a bad place to go. It was made for the devil and his angels. It's a place we need to avoid. It's a place we need to shun. Look at Revelation 20, verse 10. Sorry if I jump scared you there. But, Revelation chapter 20, verse 10. And I was just trying to wake you up. I started noticing you're falling asleep there. But it says in verse 10, And the devil that deceived them was cast in the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are. Isn't that funny? It's a future thing. It's already saying they're there. Because it's going to happen. And shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. You know how long that is? It's forever and ever. And it's not just the devil that's going there. Look at verse 11. This is exactly what Jesus is talking about in this passage. Look at verse 11. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. So, yeah, if you want to work your way to heaven, guess what? You're going to be judged according to the works that you were trying to do to get there. And you know what? Every person's going to fall short. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to our own way. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. So, look what it says in, let's see, where was I at there? So, according to their works, verse 13, And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged, every man, according to their works. So, how are they judged? According to their works. How are we judged? According to Jesus' works. So, we win. That's a positive, because his works were wonderful. The Father works, and I work hitherto. And what was he working for? Our salvation. See, salvation's free for us, but it wasn't free for Jesus. Jesus had to pay a heavy toll and a heavy price for that salvation. Look at verse 14, And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever, that means anybody, right, was not found, written in the Book of Life, was cast into the lake of fire. Not purgatory for a second chance. You don't cease to exist like the Buddhists want to believe, and all these reincarnation gurus and Hindus or whatever. It's the lake of fire. It's serious. It's serious business. Look at Revelation 14, 9. Revelation 14, 9. Just a few pages back in your Bible, it says, And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast in his image and receive his mark on their 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 with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. Doesn't sound like a very good end for them, does it? So these people that take the mark of the beast, what's going to happen to them? Their end is going to be really brutal. You know, fire and brimstone. And so these people don't want to say, oh, it's separation from God. Look at what it says right there. It says, And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. Does it sound like they're going to be separated from God? No, it sounds like they're going to be with him in some capacity where he's tormenting them or whatever. And it says, And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. So we're talking about people in the end times that are taking this mark. And I think that their punishment is probably going to be worse than other people's. But the people that led them to that place, there are levels to hell. And Jesus, I believe, suffered in the lowest hell. So that's a sermon for another time. But if he died for every single person sin in the whole world, even people that don't get saved, didn't he die for everybody? I know Calvinists don't believe that, but he did die for everybody. That's what the Bible clearly teaches. So if he died for the worst sins and the worst sinners in the world, that means that when his soul was put in hell, it had to have been the worst part of it. So to think about that, how he endured that even for three days and three nights, that's probably tougher than anything we'll ever have to go through. We'll never have to spend a second in hell. That's how much he did for us. We will never set foot in hell for one second, and we'll never understand what it's like totally because we're never going to go there. He did it for us, right? And verse 11 says that the smoke of their torment ascended up forever and ever. So let's turn to Mark chapter 9 verse 43. People just say, well, you guys just tugged us too much on hell and all this other stuff. And it's just like, Jesus focused on it. This is the revelation we just went through, the revelation of who? Jesus Christ. So now Mark 9 is one of the, I think, the most terrifying passages of scripture in the whole Bible. Because if someone's headed for hell, then this is what you got waiting for you. It says in verse 43, and if thy hand defend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter into life maimed than having two hands to go into hell and to the fire that never shall be quenched. So how long will we be on fire for? Forever because it's never going to be quenched. Where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter halt into life than having two feet to be cast into hell and to the fire that never shall be quenched. I mean, do you think he's trying to get a point across here? I think he is. Because there's a fire that will never be quenched. Where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. There he says it again. And if thy 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. Where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. That's scary. You know, and people just, they hate the doctrine of hell and they hate it when we preach it to them. But we have to preach it to them. You can say it in a nice way when you're preaching to them at the door. I mean, it is, you know, you're going to go to hell, you know. But you don't have to just, you know, you can say it in a tactful way where even though it's still offensive, it's, you know, I just, you know, you got to be a little, you know, not everybody's used to the preaching that you're going to hear in this room and when they hear it at their door. So, I mean, but you can say it in a way that like, you know, when you explain to them that there's, hell is the punishment for our sins and you say, you know, I don't want you to die and go to hell. Right. You know, where does the Bible say you're going to go? It says you go to hell. I mean, that sounds kind of nice, I guess. But it's true. Yep. Amen. You know, if we're supposed to be, if we're firefighters for God, or we're trying to get people out of the fires of hell to not tell people that there's a fire, you're not warning them of a fire that's going to happen, that's happening, then what kind of a firefighter are you? Right. If you're a first responder and you're not telling people the dangers of, you know, there's signs all over this world that tell us danger, falling rocks. You know, sometimes you'll see that sign that says trucks or deer. You know why they put the deer sign there? It's not so you can go, oh, let's just look for some deer. No, it's because they'll jump out in front of your car and kill you. Yep. Because, I mean, they're big animals, right? Yep. There's all these things that, you know, people, you know, we're supposed to warn people for danger for all kinds of things, and then people are like, you're just hateful because you're warning people about hell. No, I'm loving. Yeah. Love, it's love to tell people about hell, but they just don't see it that way. Look at Luke chapter 16, verse 22. Luke 16, verse 22. The Bible says, and it came to pass, and it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried, and in hell lift up his eyes, being in what? Torments. Torments. And so where did he wake up at? He woke up in hell, and he lift up his eyes, and he was in torments. He was already being tortured. Yeah. So when a saved person dies, you know where they wake up at? Heaven. In heaven. Yeah. You know, their body might be dead on this earth, but their soul is in heaven. That's what the Bible took. You know, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. That's what the Bible says, but what does it say when someone is going to go to hell? There's no reprieve for them. Once you die, it's too late. And the beggar, who was begging outside of his gates, was apparently saved and just was down on his luck or whatever, even though he's a beggar. I mean, obviously the Bible says a man doesn't work, neither should he eat, but obviously this guy had some problems. You know, dogs are licking his sores and all this other stuff, which is kind of gross, but you know, the rich man had it made while he was on the earth. Everything was great. But you know, a lot of times when people are rich, they don't care about the things of God because they already have the things that they want and need. And so they're like, well, why do I need God? I already got all this stuff. I got mansions and I got my own place. You know, and even someone that's a middle class, you know, the middle class is pretty much dead in this country now, but a middle class person, if they got like a decent sized house, they got the picket fence, you know, they got all these nice things. They got a three or four bedroom house. They have some yard that they can worship, you know, and you know, they won't come and bow their knees before people, before God at church, but they'll bow their backs down and dig dirt in the garden. Right. And plant trees and flowers and oh no, we're good. No, you're not because there's going to be a time when you're going to be not planting trees. You're going to be dying in hell for all eternity. So, but have you noticed that though, when you're soul wanting and people are gardening, you know, they're like, no, we're good. Yeah. We're keep worshiping your dirt, keep worshiping your trees, keep worshiping your flowers and see where that ends you up. So, so it says, uh, he left up his eyes being in torments and see if Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, father Abraham, have mercy on me and send me Lazarus that I, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I'm tormented in this flame. And then as he goes on, he's like, please send somebody to my brother so they don't have to go to hell. And people just act like, you know, you know, this is a weird phenomenon that you can come across and soul wanting to, or someone says, well, if my dad's in hell, then I don't, you know, and then I don't want to go to heaven. Yeah. I'd rather go and be with him in hell, but as their dad's probably going, you idiot, get saved. I don't, don't come down here because what did he care about? He cared about the people that he loved that are on their way to hell and said, Hey, send somebody to them so they don't have to come to this place because it's just so bad. That he just said, just, just a, a, a little drop of water on my tongue. Please just, just give me that. But Abraham's like, you know, you had your chance and if they won't hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe someone even though they rose from the dead. And so Jesus did rise from the dead, didn't he? But even though Jesus rose from the dead, they still won't believe. So they're like, wow, were you there to see it? Well, no, but there's lots of witnesses that did. There's over 500 at once. You know, you believe your stupid science book that's been outdated every other, every other four years or so you have to update your science and say that the world's older than it, than it was before. And if you look in the textbooks from many years ago when they started teaching the evolution stuff, it was like 10,000 years old. Then it was like, you know, it just got to a million. And then now it's like what, some odd billion years, huh? What is it? 4.9? Something like that. Probably in a month. No. The next edition. But, you know, God wants people to be saved. And why am I preaching these verses? Well, because people need to hear it. Yeah. You know, people, hopefully someone is listening or will listen to this sermon later and say, hey, I don't want to go to that place. And you know what? Your parents don't want you to go to that place if they're in hell. Your auntie that you love so much, she doesn't want you to go to hell. Your brother that died or other family members. They're screaming probably while they hear you say stupid things like that, like, well, if I, if my dad's in hell, then I don't want to go to heaven. That's stupid. If you hear the truth and you know that you can go to heaven, there's nothing your dad can do about it now. But there's something that you can do about it. You can get saved. And then, you know, obviously you'll make your parents happy. Do you think that they're going to be happy that you join them in hell? You can't even talk to them. People act like you're going to be playing poker with the devil and just all this weird stuff about how you watched too many Looney Tunes cartoons when you were growing up. And if you don't know what Looney Tunes cartoons are, I know that just aged me a little bit, but, but they'll have stupid cartoons like that where, you know, or when you get saved that you're just with a dress on like Sylvester, you know, and you're plucking this harp up on a cloud or something. It's like I always thought, you know, as a kid, I thought that seems boring, but that's what they're trying to do with these things. They want you to think heaven's boring. You know, these Holly weirdos and all these different manga cartoons and all this other weird stuff, they're pointing you away from Christ. They want you to love that stuff more than you love God. So number four tonight is the witnesses to Jesus, the witnesses to Jesus. Look at verse 30 back in our text. It says, I can of mine own self do nothing as I hear I judge, and my judgment is just because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. There is another that beareth witness of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. See, John the Baptist was supposed to tell everybody of the truth of Christ. But I receive not testimony from man, but these things I say that ye might be saved. He was a burning and a shining light, and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. People went to John, they flocked to John, and what did he do? He pointed them to Jesus. That was his job as the messenger that God was supposed to send him before and point him to Jesus. But I think that term right there, a burning and shining light. You know, some Christians' lights burn brighter than others. And John, the Bible says he was a burning and shining light, and his light was snuffed out early. And you're like, well, why? Well, because he preached, he was a Baptist. He was John the Baptist. He preached some hairy sermons, and he preached sermons that hair-lipped leadership. He preached sermons that made the Pharisees hate his guts. He preached things that made Herod ultimately kill him because his wife was so mad that he would dare to preach against that. So people would say, well, how dare you speak about our president like this or like that or whatever. It's just like, our president is a reprobate. And Herod became a reprobate later, but at the time that John was preaching to him, he wasn't. But Jesus wouldn't even talk to Herod. At a certain point, you could see the progression where finally Jesus wouldn't even talk to him. If Herod could have got saved, don't you think Jesus would have told him how to get saved? So basically you have here this burning and shining light, John the Baptist. And it kind of just made me think of how some lights will shine brighter than others and how God compares us to the stars of heaven. Look at Daniel chapter 12, verse 2. Daniel chapter 12, verse 2. Daniel chapter 12, verse 2. And it's interesting how this applies to the resurrection that we've been kind of talking about tonight. Look at Daniel 12, 2. The Bible says, And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. And you think about the stars that you see outside that some shine brighter than others. I think that that is a picture for us to see that some people just shine brighter. But they're all shining, aren't they? Even some of the lightest stars you can see, you're like, well, I better put my glasses on so I can see that one. But God, you know, if you think about it, it's because individuals do different things. Some people, like the thief on the cross, he might be a low shining star, but he's still a star, isn't he? He still believed. He still got saved. He was basically like, you know, people say that you could get saved up to the last minute. Well, he really did get saved up to the last minute. So yes, it is possible. But not everybody has that opportunity. But he just happened to be being hung there next to Jesus Christ. And before he's mocking him, and then as time goes on, he's like, maybe there's something to this guy, you know? Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. But we can shine bright. And obviously the Bible says that John was a burning and shining light. So do you think his brightness was more than other people's? Yeah. And it's because of his faithfulness. You know, when we obey God, he likes that. So you can be doing all these different things, but if you don't obey God, then you're not going to shine as brightly. What did he do? He told him to go preach. He told him to be the messenger for Christ. That's what he did. He pointed people. Even in chapter 2, you know, people are like trying to make him be at odds with Jesus. And this is what people do this to like me and my pastor friends sometimes, where they're just like, well, Pastor Thompson said this. And what do you think of that? Because I know that you believe this. And they try to pit us against each other like that. And we're not stupid. We know what you're doing. So just stop. You know, it doesn't matter. Because if it's not something that's a major doctrine, then it's like, who cares? But when people do that, it's just weird. And that's what they were doing with Jesus and John, is that they're like, well, see, Jesus has more followers than you now. And it's like, yeah, well, I must, he must increase, I must decrease. That was his duty. That was his job. And so where did John's life end? This burning and shining star in a dungeon of some prison somewhere, wondering whether God's going to deliver or not, with whatever they use to chop his head off, going through his neck. That's what happened to him. But he's going to be great in the kingdom of heaven. The Bible says that among those born among women, there's none greater than John the Baptist. So he was a great man of God, and he was a burning and shining light. But you know what? We can be burning and shining lights, too. Maybe we're not going to shine as bright as John. But, you know, stick with the Baptist. I mean, really, what other groups are doing great works for God in this world? Is Hillsong doing great works for God? When they got all these queers working for them as choir directors and all this other stuff. And just, you know, just completely disregarding the commandments of God. So they can what? Make money. And religion is a lucrative business. There's a lot of people that are duped by a lot of false teachers. You know, and there are, there's Baptists that aren't great. The Modern Baptist Convention is pretty much gone by the wayside. Independent fundamental Baptists have really taken a turn for the worse also in a lot of different ways. I mean, there's still some good ones out there, but, you know, they're teaching some weird stuff, though. Like this born that way after all garbage. I mean, that is just an abomination. It's an abomination. What else can you call it? Or you're saying that, you know, you're not really a queer. You were born that way, but you were just a eunuch. Putting in danger every single person in your congregation because they're going to listen to you because you have, you know, some, you know, you have some people believe what you say because you're a pastor. And you're like, here, read this book. This will explain to you why your son's a queer or whatever. They were just meant to, you know, be over the children's ministry and put them in place, you know. They're really great people. No, they're not great people. They're wicked as hell and they're going to split hell wide open when they die. You know what else is wicked is for a saved man of God to sit there and promote a book like that and say, here, you're born that way after all. And then you put them in the child ministry. You know what they're going to do? It's like just taking these lambs, these beautiful, sweet, innocent lambs, putting them in a pen and then letting the worst wolf in amongst them. And, you know, as Baptist, we have a responsibility to preach what the Bible says and to not shy away from the hard parts of it. And John didn't shy away from preaching even against the king of his nation at that time, Herod the Tetriarch. You know, he preached against him and it cost him what? It cost him his head. But does that mean that John was a bad person because he preached against Herod? Look, Joe Biden is a hair sniffing freak. He is. And he likes to touch people and girls and like there's all these videos where he's just like sniffing them and touching them. It's like, get away from her, you weirdo. And then you see the stuff that he's, you know, all Hunter Biden. He's, you know, my son is so great. Yeah, I mean, he's got the laptop from hell that he accidentally left in some place. And you're like, well, why are you preaching about politics? I'm just preaching against the wickedness of our country. When Joe Biden is holding like some LGBTQ plus AI, whatever you want to call it, have this big thing at the White House and he's like, I support trans kids. There's no such thing as trans kids. It's groomers telling them that they're trans. There's no such thing as that. It just isn't true. Show me all the trans kids from the last 6,000 years. You're not going to find them because, you know what, homos weren't allowed to adopt people back then. Right. That's a new thing. Just being an open transvestite is a new thing. They used to be deep in the closet. Like, you know, homos were in the closet before, but the trannies were real deep in there. And now it's just like, everybody's a tranny. All the kids are trannies. Like, are you kidding me? They're making them like that. And here's the thing that's really going to be confusing for us in the future, is that if somebody made them that way, because the Bible talks about eunuchs being made that way by other people, we won't really know if they're a reprobate or not. Maybe someone just turned them into that and they didn't want that. Maybe they were adopted by some weirdo couple or their parents were some kind of sodomites or something and they're forcing all that garbage on them and they're just a bunch of groomers that are trying to ruin our country and our world. How are we going to decide? I mean, it's just a weird phenomenon that we're living in and it's like, well, how do you really know they're reprobates? I mean, obviously if they're saying that they're this and that, obviously if they get out of that or whatever and say, hey, I was made that way, I really don't feel that way, someone gave me these puberty blockers, someone gave me this medication to make me more womanly or more manly or whatever, it's going to be hard. But that's just the world we're living in because we have a weird dictatorship going on in our country and really he's not even the one that's pulling the strings. He can't even put a sentence together. America can be summed up by this word, one word. I mean, that's our president and the media ignores it. Even right-wing media ignores it because they're like, well, we're being too mean. It's like if any conservative president was ever in that capacity, they'd have him out quick. We're ruled over by some weird dictatorship right now where all their stuff is good and where right is wrong and wrong is right and we need to really be able to discern the signs of the times here. We're going into dangerous territory. I don't even know how I got off on that. But anyway, we're shining and bright. We can shine bright, right? I was just saying because John the Baptist, was he bad because he preached those things? No. He wasn't bad. He was good. Jesus said he was good. Look at verse 36 in our text. It says, But I have a greater witness than that of John, for the works which the Father hath given to me to finish, the same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself which hath sent me hath borne witness of me, yet have neither heard his voice at any time nor seen his shape, and he have not his word abiding in you, for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. Search the scriptures. The Bible is important. Search the scriptures, for in them you think that you have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. What scriptures? All of them. Go back to the Old Testament. You're going to find a lot of pictures of Christ. Some are very clear. Some are a little more hidden. But he's saying go back and look at the scriptures because they're leading you to me, and then you're rejecting me. You're rejecting the person that God the Father sent here. It says, And you will not come to me that you might have life. Remember who he's talking to here? He's talking to the Pharisees. You will not come to me. Why won't they come? Because they're evil. They're the workers of iniquity. They're wicked. Look at verse 41. I receive not honor for men, but I know you, that you have not the love of God in you. He's really giving them the business, and he's talking to them in a way that they've probably never been talked to in their whole life. They're like, He's like, I know you. That would be a pretty scary thing for Jesus to be saying, I know you. I know you don't have the love of God in you. That probably just pissed him off, right? It says, What's he talking about here? He's talking about the person, the Antichrist, that's going to come later on, and they're going to be like, Oh, he's the Messiah. Let's accept him. And then right at the midpoint, he's going to be like, Sorry, suckers, I'm going to kill you all. And then that's when the Bible says that they're supposed to flee, right? But they're going to receive, they won't receive the truth. They'll receive the Antichrist, the beast. And verse 44 says, So now he's really giving it to them. And what's he saying? That they trust in Moses. They don't trust in God. They trust in Moses. And they're not going to trust in Jesus, but they'll trust in Moses because they want the law. They want to be under the law. But again, the law is the schoolmaster to bring us under Christ. That was the purpose of it, right? So it says in verse 46, And Moses did write of him. The Bible talks about in 1 Corinthians, or maybe 2 Corinthians, the rock that followed them was Christ. So, and there's just all kinds of things in the books of Moses, but he specifically told the children of Israel to look for someone that's like him. And Moses was the one that brought in the Old Testament covenant. He's the one that was the mediator through the blood that he shed, and he sprinkled blood on everything. And he received the law at God's mouth. And Jesus Christ is bringing in another covenant, a new covenant. It was prophesied from, you know, Jeremiah talked about it. David talked about it. And he, you know, obviously, so he's telling these guys, you believe in Moses. It says if you have believed in Moses, you would have believed in me for he wrote of me. So look at Deuteronomy 18, verse 15. I just have a couple more passages, and we're done. Deuteronomy chapter 18, verse 15, this is what he's talking about when Moses, I think this is exactly what he's talking about. Because Jesus Christ has come on the scene, and we're early in the book of John still. He's only done two miracles that we've seen, yeah, he's done two miracles. Now this is the third one, right, that we know of. So, but he's come on the scene and done some pretty incredible things already. He said, you haven't seen nothing yet. I'm going to show you some other stuff, but look what it says in Deuteronomy 18, 15. It says, the Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me, unto him he shall hearken. So he's pointing them to Jesus Christ, saying there's going to be someone that's a lot like me. And he's like, because Moses did all these, Moses talked to God face to face. There's a lot of parallels with Moses and Christ. But he's going to be a lot like me, he says. Now look at verse 18, it says, I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all I shall command him, and it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. So he's referencing the Pharisees back to these scriptures and what are they, they're mad at him, they want to kill him, and he's just like, well, you know, this is what Moses said about me, and if you don't hearken unto my words, which, you know, if they're not going to hearken unto the words of Jesus, then he's going to require it of them. What does that mean? Your soul, your life. You're going to go to hell. So last verse, John 547 in our text tonight says, but if you believe not the writings, his writings, excuse me, how shall you believe my words? So now he's just flat out telling them, you don't even believe what he said. So how are you going to believe my words if you don't even believe Moses' words? Because he wrote of Jesus, and he's like, you don't believe that I'm the guy that, you know, they don't hear the truth, they don't hear the sound of the shepherd's voice because a lot of these people are already done. God's already done with them, and they're going to get worse and worse, and I just wanted to point out that Pastor Anderson did a film, of course, you probably all saw it, but it's called Marching to Zion. And he goes and he interviews all these rabbis, and he just asks them all these multiple questions, just basic Bible questions, do you believe in a six-day creation? None of them believed in a six-day, he's just like asking them the things that Moses taught, and they don't believe any of the things that he taught. And so that's why Jesus is saying, if you would have believed Moses, you would have believed me, but how are you going to, if you don't believe his writings, how are you going to believe my words? And so now today, the state of Judaism is that they don't even believe Moses. They put the Ten Commandments up as this big thing, they keep the Sabbath days, they wear all kinds of funny wizard costumes and stuff like that now, but the truth is, they don't really believe the Bible. You know, and what did I say earlier? If they don't have, if they don't have, if they don't accept the Son, then they don't have the Father. So, what do they really have? The synagogue of Satan. It's a demonic religion, where they're doing just all kinds of strange practices that God never asked them to do. They believe in this book called the Talmud, that is basically the most blasphemous book against Jesus that's probably ever been written. It says that Mary was a whore, and that Jesus is the bastard son of a Roman centurion called Pantera, your favorite rock band. No, not really, but somebody's favorite rock band. A lot of people, I used to listen to Pantera a long time ago when I was younger, when I was not saved, obviously. But, you know, they're named after the supposed Roman centurion that was supposedly the real Father of Jesus. That's how evil they are to say something like that about, they say that Jesus is in hell, boiling in hot excrement, which is doo-doo, right? That's where Jesus is now. They call him Balaam. I mean, how can these Jews get saved if they're gonna say all these blasphemous things about God and spit on the ground three times when his name is mentioned? They don't want to hear it, but there's some that will. There's a remnant out there that will believe, and we love Jews. We want them to get saved, but, you know, unfortunately, they're blinded at this point, and for the most part, anybody that claims to be some Jew believing in Judaism today, if they're not saved, then they probably never will get saved. So, anyway, that's John 5. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for this great church, and Lord, I'm so excited about the things you're doing in it. We thank you for the word of God and how clear you make your word, Lord, to us, and I pray that, Lord, we take these things to heart. There's a lot of subject matter tonight, and I just thank you for helping me to get through it, Lord, and we pray for the baptisms that are to follow. I pray that you would just bless everyone as they go their separate ways and keep us safe on our way home. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. All right. And remember to stay tuned after the last song. We're going to go outside there where the portable baptismal is, and we'll all witness the baptism that's going to happen. Praise the Lord for it. Okay, our last song this evening is song 74, Christ Returneth, 74. On the first, it may be at morn When the day is awaking When sunlight through darkness And shadow is breaking That Jesus will come In the fullness of glory To receive from the world his own O Lord Jesus, how long How long, yeah, we shout the glad song Christ returneth, hallelujah Hallelujah, amen Hallelujah, amen It may be at midday It may be at twilight It may be perchance That the blackness of midnight Will burst into light In the blaze of his glory When Jesus receives his own O Lord Jesus, how long How long, yeah, we shout the glad song Christ returneth, hallelujah Hallelujah, amen Hallelujah, amen O joy, O delight Should we go without dying No sickness, no sadness No dread and no crying Caught up with the clouds With the Lord into glory When Jesus receives his own O Lord Jesus, how long How long, yeah, we shout the glad song Christ returneth, hallelujah Hallelujah, amen Hallelujah, amen All right, amen Thanks again for coming out tonight Again, we have baptism right around the corner out there Brother David, do you want to close in a word of prayer, please?