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

Amen. I know we're in 2 Peter, but please go to Matthew 21 41. We're going to come back to 2 Peter chapter 1, but please go to Matthew 21 41 where you're going to Matthew 21 41. Let me just tell you a couple stories that happened this week. You know, so on Friday I spoke to one of our online listeners. You know, they emailed saying that they had questions, they wanted to know what to do. So they put their cell number on there, ended up getting a call. You know, so they want to talk about salvation. You know, want to talk about going to heaven. You know, turned out that they went to a church from, I don't know if it's a religion, I guess they call it the Church of the Mennonites. Who knows what I'm talking about? The Mennonites. You know, so he went to this church, which obviously teaches completely different what we teach. You know, but as far as the Mennonites, it seems that there's about, from what I looked at on the internet, 2.1 million of them, you know, 2.1 million and they're throughout the world. Just give an idea of where they're at. You know, this is from the internet sources that I found. Supposedly in Africa, they have about 735,000 followers, you know, down in Africa. In North America, they have about 672,000 followers. Asia and Pacific, they have about 420,000 followers. And in Latin America and the Caribbean, they have about 270,000 followers. And in Europe, they have about 63,000 followers, which is kind of funny because that's where they came from. But they were started by some man named Mano Simons. He lived from 1496 to about 1561, so he died about 65 years old. And this guy was from Friesland, which today is a province of the Netherlands. This organization of Mennonites, they claim to be Christian, but it's interesting that their founder, Mano Simons, is reported to be a former Roman Catholic priest. A former Roman Catholic priest and he's from Friesland, the region of the Low Countries, who supposedly became an influential Anabaptist religious leader. Anabaptist. Well, we come from the Anabaptists. We didn't come from the Catholic Church, we came from the Anabaptists. Of course, they were called Christians first in Antioch and they continued to spread the word through history. Catholic Church didn't like that. Started to mock them and call them Anabaptists, which to me, I believe it means rebaptizer. You know, so they're going around rebaptizing people. Why? Because the Catholic Church was powerful and they were baptizing babies, they were baptizing people, even adults, and they didn't even believe. But of course, there's only one way you can be baptized, that's to believe with all your heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. So you have to be saved in order to be baptized, but of course, Christians, they kept the faith, they were mocked, cruel mockings, they were called Anabaptists, but a bim in the butt because I like that Baptist name, amen? So they went from Anabaptists to about today's time or a little bit in the past, they went just from Anabaptists to Baptists and that's kind of what we have today, amen? So supposedly this guy is part of the Anabaptist movement, they consider themselves to be Christian, and I guess they may even consider themselves to be somewhat Baptist, but nothing can be further from the truth. You know, so when it comes to this individual I was talking to, you know, they were telling me, look, this is what's going on, I came across Pastor Anderson and I came across his salvation presentation, I was blown away. You know, blown away by what he said, you know, is it really that easy? I'm like, absolutely it's really that easy. But of course, the cult, you know, false religions make it very difficult, very difficult to be saved. So if you're right there in Matthew 21 41, here's one of the things that they use, here's what the men in Christ used, and I'm sure it's not just them, in order to keep people in bondage, keep them in fear, keep them from leaving. So it says in Matthew 21 41, they say unto him, he will miserably destroy those wicked men and will let out his vineyard unto other husband men which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. What do we got here? We got the chief priests and the Pharisees. You know, there is in Christ, Christ just told him a parable of a guy that owned a vineyard and he said, look, he left the workers behind, he took off. Then he wanted some fruit, it was time for some fruit. He sent a servant and ended up killing that servant. He sent a second servant, they killed that second servant. Then the story goes, then he finally sent his son. They will honor my son. Well, guess what? They killed the son as well. So then Christ is saying, what is this man going to do to these servants? And that's where they answered in verse 41, he will miserably destroy those wicked men and let out their vineyard unto other husband men, which shall render him the fruits in their season. Matthew 21 42, Jesus says unto them, did you never read in the scriptures the stone which the builders rejected? The same is become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. Matthew 21 43, therefore say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof and that nation is us. We are the real Jews, we are the nation. They took from them, they gave it to the Gentiles, it belongs to us, it's going to be for us forever. Now I can still go to them if they obviously believe they can be part of the kingdom, but now it's been taken from them and given to us. And it says in verse 44, and whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but whosoever shall fall, it will grind him to powder. Verse 45, and when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. And that's exactly what he was talking to them. You guys are going to have the kingdom taken from you and it's going to be given to another. Skip to the next chapter please, go to Matthew 22 1. So this continues on, he's still talking to them. He's not talking to a whole different group, he's still talking to them, that's why that chapter starts like this. And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables. So who is he talking to? The chief priests and Pharisees, the exact same people. And let's continue reading. And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables and said the kingdom of heaven is unto a certain king which made a marriage for his son. And this king represents God the Father. The son represents Jesus Christ. And it says instead for his servants to call them that were bidden, that which means invited to the wedding, and they will not come. And again, he sent forth other servants saying tell them which are bidden, behold I have prepared my dinner, my oxen, my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come unto the marriage. Verse 5, and they made light of it. And they're still making light of it today. And they made light of it and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise. Verse 6, and the remnant took his servants and it treated them spitefully and slew them. Sounds familiar? Similar to the parable he just spoke about. Verse 7, but when the king heard thereof, he was wroth and sent forth his armies and they destroyed those murderers and burned up their city. And that ended up happening. They ended up getting their city burned, the temple was destroyed after they crucified Christ. Go to verse number 8, Matthew 22. They say he to his servants, the wedding is ready but they which were bidden, those that were invited, were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways and as many as ye shall find bid to the marriage. And Matthew 22 says this, so those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all as many as they found. Look at this. Look down at your Bibles. Both what? Bad. Bad and good and the wedding was furnished, filled with guests. So what can we learn from here? Bottom line, I don't think anybody in this room, if they were to make a wedding for their children, their friends, or whatever, if they went through all the trouble of making a wedding, invites everyone, and sure enough, let's just say, no one shows up. How do you think that person's going to feel? Same thing with birthday parties, right? You know, if you have a birthday party for your kid, you get the jumper, you get the caterer, you set everything up, you pass out invitations to everyone in the church, and sure enough, you pass out invitations to a hundred people, and then the day comes and zero, zero show up. How is that person going to feel? Ah, I hope God miserably destroys those wicked church members. Oh Lord, forgive me for that thought. Hey, don't blame him for thinking such a thing, because all that work, all that money, all that effort, all that sacrifice, all for not so nobody can show up? At that point, I guarantee you, they'll probably be thinking, you know what, let's call the neighbors. We haven't spoken to them, but invite them over, see if they have kids. Get them over here on the jumper. Hey, we have free food, we have a cake. You know what, church members didn't want to show up, let's go through the neighborhood really quickly and see if anybody's free and can come to my birthday party, because I don't want to just have this stuff go to waste. Wouldn't that be something that somebody would think if nobody showed up? Hey, this is exactly what's happening. The Jews, the original ones, hey, they were invited, you guys are the ones that I'm inviting, you guys are the ones that are bidding, hey, they didn't want to come show up, so sure enough, the king is wrong, and he's going to destroy them and says, you know what, I want my wedding filled. I want my wedding filled. I don't care. Go find everybody. The lame, the mame, if you read the other parables, find everybody. I don't care. You know what, I want my house furnished so bad, I want this wedding filled up, I want this stuff to be used, that I don't care, even bring me the bad. Bring me the bad. And the good as well, not too many bad, but bring me the good too. That's what it says right there. Let's keep reading. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment, and he said unto him, friend, how cameest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, they shall be weeping and gnashing the teeth. And of course, the outer darkness, that represents hell. That is hell. But see, verse 10 is there to keep us from thinking that an individual can lose their salvation. Verse 10 is there to keep us from thinking that yeah, if you make it to the wedding, but you mess up or you come in the wrong way, hey, you're done, you're going to be cast into outer darkness. That's why that verse is there. And when it comes to this story, this story is not teaching that you can lose your salvation. It's not teaching that at all. Because here's the thing, he says bring me the bad, and bring me the good. So is he mad at this guy that showed up? Is he mad at him because of his iniquity, or because he's an idiot? Because he's an idiot. Because here's the thing, what kind of a person, knowing that there's a wedding and that you have to dress up in a wedding garment, shows up without one? What kind of a person does that? Some prideful, arrogant individual that thinks the king will understand. You know, I'm his friend. I mean, he says friend. Now I can't prove it, but I think that still represents a Jew. He says friend, friend. I mean, we don't really talk like that to people that we don't know. But he says friend, what are you doing here without wedding garment? And he says hey, you know what, get him out of here. Because he was a fool, and that's what the Jews are. They're foolish. Look at how much it's been given out to them. And they did nothing with it. They rejected the Messiah. They had to send John the Baptist to kind of fix him a little bit and prepare the way of the Lord. So what is this sort of representing? Somebody that lost their salvation, or just a foolish individual that thinks that there's a certain way to get into this wedding and stay in this wedding, you know? What does it represent? Just some idiot that doesn't know what he's doing, thinks he knows better, and shows up without a wedding garment. How foolish can you be? It's not talking about somebody who's a child of God that can lose their salvation. If you got your Bible, go to 2 Timothy chapter 2. Meet me in verse 15. While you go there, I'm going to read from Romans 3. Romans 3 says this. What advantages then hath the Jew? So the subject is the Jew. That's verse 1. Or prophet, is there a circumcision? The answer is simply this. None. None. Does the prophet do nothing to be a Jew or to be circumcised? Nothing. I'll skip to verse 9. What then? Are we better than they? Of course not. I'm not saying that I'm better than Jews. I'm not saying that at all. I want them to get saved. I want them all to get saved and come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. I don't want a single one of them to go to hell. Same thing with Mormons, same thing with Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses. I don't want a single person who's unsafe to go to hell. If I had a friend that was a Mormon, Jehovah's Witness, I don't care. I'd be praying for them until the day that I'm dead. Unless I know for sure they're a reprobate, but as far as I'm concerned, I would see them as a deceived individual, not the deceiver. So I would do my best to pray for them. Hopefully they get saved like the thief on the cross at the very last second, and that's what I would do if I loved my friends who were unsafe or whatever the case may be. They wouldn't be my closest buddies, but of course I would pray and do my best. So I'm not looking at them like, wow, you unsafe idiot. I'm not looking at them like that. Am I better than they? No. And no, why? For what? For we have before proof of Jews and Gentiles, they are all understand. Look, they're all sinners. Jew, Gentiles, they're all sinners. One is not better than the other. As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understand it. There is none to seek it after God. They are all getting out of the way. They are all together to become unprofitable. There is none to do with good, no, not one. They throw us an open sepulcher with their tongues. They have used the seed, the poison of ashes under their lips. Whose sole mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways. In the way of peace have they not known that there is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what think soever the law saith is saith to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. So going back to that parable of this man that was speechless, why? That represents the future, when they're going to get resurrected and the books are going to be open. And sure enough, the laws are going to be shown. And just like it says right here in the book of Romans, what's the law there for? It's to stop their mouths. I'm a Jew. It's going to stop when the law comes out. And not just that, they're going to be found guilty before God, speechless like this guy at the wedding. He has nothing to say. All he's going to do is just stand there and take it and he's going to be cast into outer darkness. Why? Because they rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why. We're not saved by keeping God's commandments. We're not saved by walking in his laws. The Bible makes it very clear. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in the sight. For what the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the laws manifest being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. For there is no difference, for all hath sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace. By his grace to the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Hey, grace can be free. It says right there, freely, justified freely by his grace. Yes, love and favor is something we should look for. And if you do the right thing and if you're keeping God's commandments or serving the Lord, hey, you're building up love and favor. But grace right here says it's clearly free. Bottom line, free. Just like Mary found favor in God's eyes because she was a righteous individual. She was chosen to bring in the Messiah, to give birth to the Lord Jesus Christ. But when we see grace, grace here, free. That's what grace means, something for nothing. Last time I checked, but people tried to turn it into this whole thing. Well, no, no, no, no, no. We're saved by grace, but you have to earn it. And you have to earn it by keeping God's laws, keeping God's commandments, yada, yada, yada, blah, blah, blah. So I'm going to go back to Matthew 22, 13 for a reason. I'll get to 2 Timothy 2, 15 in a second. Then they say, but it says that the king's servants, you know, they took him hand and foot, cast him out into outer darkness. This guy was in, now he lives in salvation, now he's getting cast out. Well, Matthew 8, 11 says something similar. It says unto you that many shall come from the east and west and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. So it's clear that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, they're saved. Yes or no? They're in the kingdom of heaven. Verse number 12, but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness. There should be weeping and gnashing of teeth. See, the children of the kingdom. We're children of God. Don't you see it? Right there, it's possible for them to get cast out into outer darkness. There should be weeping and gnashing of teeth like that guy at the wedding. But wait up. Either we can lose our salvation or we cannot, right? Either it's everlasting life or it's not. It's either eternal or it's not. What does it mean to be saved? I'll get into that later on, but let me just cover really quickly. We're saved from hell. Saved from the fire. Yes, people. What are we saved from then? We're saved from the sins. What does it mean? It means fire. How do you know? Jude, and some have compassion, making a difference, right? Others saved with fear, pulling them out of the what? Fire. So what are we saving people from? Fire. What must that do to be saved? Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. From what? From the fire. It's just simple stuff. But people take the simplicity which is in Christ and they try to add all kinds of stuff that makes it confusing. They can say, hey, you're either saved or you're not. You can lose your salvation or you cannot. But this is what ends up happening when people don't read the Bible like they should. And this is just simple stuff. Just coming to church, you'll learn this stuff. You don't even need to read the Bible. If a preacher's doing a good job, this is the stuff that you're going to learn right away, especially if you want to be a soul winner. It's like, get this stuff down before you can go out. If you think you can lose salvation, you're not ready to even go out or step out and you're probably not even saved or you're super confused. You're just a brand new believer and you're super confused. So what does it mean by the children of the kingdom? Well, here's the thing. They just mentioned who? Abraham. They just mentioned who? Isaac. Who they mentioned? Jacob. Hey, they're in the kingdom, right? They're Jews. Hey, what is it? They are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So those are in the kingdom. What makes up the kingdom? Just streets of gold? You know, that's what makes up the kingdom? No, we make up the kingdom. Christ said, the kingdom of heaven is in you. We make up the kingdom. Just like the church, is the building the church? No. When we say church, we're talking about who? Believers, right? But the building can be part of the church. We're saying, go to the church. We're talking about building, but when we know exactly what is the church, it's the people. It's the people, bottom line. So of course, the children of the kingdom, hey, these are the Jews. The descendants of those that are in heaven, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Hey, they're in the kingdom. The children of those that are in the kingdom, those are the Jews. They're going to be cast out for one reason and one reason only, because they rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. They haven't put their faith on him. And they should be cast out, like it says in Matthew 25, 30, and cast out, ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness. You should be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Hey, they were the original servants. They're the ones. They're the ones that are being called out throughout these parables. They're the ones that are getting shown left and right. Look, you guys blew it. You guys messed up. You guys were my servants. You guys did not. The one individual that took that talent and digged it, hey, you were afraid. You didn't trust. You didn't believe. You didn't make something happen. You're the one that's going to be cast out into outer darkness. Bottom line, because he was an unbeliever. That's just what it comes down to. Luke 13, 22 says this. I'm almost there, 2 Timothy. Don't worry. I'm getting there. Luke 13, 22. And he went through the cities and villages teaching and journeying towards Jerusalem. Then said unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, strive to enter in at the straight gate. For many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in and shall not be able. Why? Well, once the master of the house is risen up and is shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us. And he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not when ye are. And when people read that, it's like, see, you can lose your salvation. They're knocking at the door. You know? They're saying, Lord, open up to us. Open up to us. But then they read it and they don't even see it. Like Catholics that quote John 3, 16. You know, they quote it to you, but they don't see it. You know, if you go and knock on doors, they're going to run into Catholics. Hey, you know, sure you're going to heaven. Well, I'm not really sure. Well, can I show you one verse? No problem. The Bible says, for gospel of the world, and then they quote it for you. Who's had that happen before? They literally quote it from you. They have it right there. Everything they kind of need to know in order to be saved, they read it, they probably have it memorized, and yet it goes over their heads. It's like, whoosh. Same thing with people that read this. Look, here's a verse that shows you can lose your salvation. He's talking to Jews. It says, hey, strive, strive, strive. See, you need to strive to enter to the gate. What gate is that? It's the gate to the New Jerusalem. You know, you've got to strive to get in there. But hold up. He's telling these people that, hey, I know you not. I know you not. We'll get into that in a second. They actually begin to say, we have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not. These are not saved people. They are not saved by a long shot. I know you not when ye are. Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. You guys familiar? And all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourself thrust out. So who are these children? The children of the Jews, the ones that are in heaven. He said, you guys are going to get thrust out. You, you, the Jews. Why? Because I don't know you. You're not my own. Luke 13, 20 says this. Let me skip to 19. And it shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And behold, there are last we shall be first, and there are first we shall be last. The Jews were the first. They were God's chosen. They're going from first to last. The Gentiles going from last to first. That's what that's talking about. You're right there in 2 Timothy 2, 15. It says, study to show the self-approve unto God. A workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, but shunned profane and vain babblings, for they were increased unto more ungodliness, and their work would eat at thus a canker, of whom is how many Ayahs and Philetus, who concerning the truth, have erred, have erred. These guys have gone from the truth to erring. Now they're in error, saying that the resurrection is past already, and overthrow the faith of some. And this is what these false prophets are doing. They will try their best to overthrow the faith of some, of some. So they're out there. They're out to get. So this is why I say, if you're a Mormon, Catholic, Methodist, whatever, unsafe individual, I feel bad for you. You know, I don't hate you. I don't want you to burn in hell. You know, I want you to get saved. Hey, it's your leaders that are keeping you in darkness. They're the deceivers. You're the deceived. Here's the word of God. You do what you want with it, but it's telling you you cannot lose your salvation. Period. Point blank. And if you keep looking, look what it says. They've erred from the faith. Verse 19. Nevertheless, thou foundation of God standest sure, having this seal. Read that with me. The Lord knoweth them that are His. So look, when it says, I know you're not, how can you say those are believers? You cannot. He says, I know them. I know them. The Lord knoweth those or that them that are His. Let everyone in the name of Christ depart from iniquity, because that's who's going to hell. Those that know not God. Those that have no idea who He is. They think they know who He is. They think they know God, just like that guy at the wedding. He thinks he knows the king. He thinks the king is going to be okay with him showing up without a wedding garment. Hey, he got the shock of his life. Did he not? What are you doing here, friend, without a wedding garment? Hey, get this guy out of here. Thrust him out of here. That's what ends up happening with people that think they're going to heaven, where they're going to get the shock of their life when they realize they're not saved. They think they know God. Oh, I know God. I'm good. I'm a pretty good person. I'm sure if I die right now, I'm going to make it into heaven. I'm living a good life. I'm going to church in my Bible three times a day or whatever the case. You know, I had a guy tell me that I've been reading my Bible two hours, two hours every day for the last 40 years. But before he even started talking to me, I asked him, do you know if you're going to heaven to die? No. No. Who was with me? Was I by myself? I probably was. But this guy literally says, hey man, I've been reading the Bible two hours a day for the last 40 years. But if you die right now, do you know if you're going to heaven? I don't think anybody knows. Like that guy in the wedding. You think you know how the king is. Wait until you find out how he really is. Wait until he thrusts you out. But look what it says in 2 Thessalonians 1.8. In flaming fire, talk about Jesus Christ, take the inventions of them that know not God. Who knows God? I mean, come on, who knows God today, right now? Absolutely. You really think you have to worry about the flaming fire of Jesus Christ? Absolutely not. Unless you're lying. Hey, guess what? If you truly know who Jesus Christ is, you don't have to worry about the flames ever. No lake of fire, no whatever. You're good. He's not going to come and take flaming fire on you. You know he's coming to take flaming fire on those that know not God and obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ. Those that start with Jesus say, hey, come unto me. He's telling them, come, come, come. Come unto me and I'll give you rest. I don't know. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this one. I know that's what the Bible says, but I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to do with that. Well, Matthew 7 21 says this, not everyone that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven by he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven. No, it didn't say wills. Wills of my Father, which is in heaven. The will, will, won. Well, of course, God has many wills. It's his will that we have stayed from fornication. That's his will to be sanctified. That's his will. But there's only one will, one thing that will get you everlasting life. And it's right there clear as day. You know, in John 6 40, and this is the will of him that sent me that everyone who seeth the son and believeth on him might have everlasting life and may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. You will have it. You will have it. And if that wasn't clear enough, John 6 47, seven verses later, very liberally sent to you, he that believeth on me hath, hath, hath everlasting life. You're like, we know this stuff. I know, but the Mennonites don't. And those that are in the Mennonite church, they don't know about this stuff. So when I was covering this with this individual, he's like, wow, man, that's insane. That's pretty good. I'm like, hey, this is basic stuff, believe it or not. Nothing new. I mean, you guys have heard this stuff probably hundreds of times if you've gotten here for a few years, but this is what the Bible says. Blessed and holy is he that have part in the first resurrection. On such the second death hath no power, no power. John 6 40, I'll just finish it up. And this is the will of him that sent me that everyone would see the son and believeth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at that last day. God will raise you up at the last day, the last day, the last day of this world, the last day from Adam until the last day. Anybody that believed on him, God's going to resurrect you. And like it says right here in Revelation 26, blessed is he that has part in the first resurrection. The second death hath no power over you. Amen. Matthew 7 22 says this, many were said to me in that day, the last day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works. More evidence. And then when I profess unto them, I used to know you. No. Who's he sending to hell? Who's he casting out into outer darkness? He says, I never knew you. Never. We just saw 2 Timothy where he says, hey, God knows his own. God knows them. That's what the Bible says. Famous verse. Hey, my sheep are my voice and I know them and I give unto them eternal power. My sheep are my voice and I know them and I give unto them. At that point, it's like if God gives his own life, hey, he can take it to the bank. He knows you. He knows you are his own. You belong to him. You're his. So this is not evidence that you can lose your salvation. This is not evidence that these were believers, you know, but now they're no longer believers or these were believers but they screwed up their lives and guess what? Now they're ending up in hell. Not happening. Because God from the beginning has said it's eternal. Titus 1, 2, in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. And he is not a liar. He cannot lie. What did he promise before the world even began? What did he promise us? Eternal life. Not conditional life. Not conditional life. Eternal. What part of eternal don't people understand? They make eternal seem like it can end and it wouldn't be eternal. It'd be something else. And we know that they got saved back in the Old Testament the same way we get saved today. How do we know? From 2 Timothy 3.15, he's talking to Timothy and he says this, that from a child that has known the Holy Scriptures. Now do you think that's the New Testament he's talking about in regards to the Holy Scriptures? No, he's actually writing part of the New Testament as he wrote them. You know, so we know that this is referring to the Old Testament. Those are the Scriptures that he knew when he was a child, which are able to make the wise unto salvation through works. No, through faith. Faith in who? It says right there, faith in Christ Jesus. They were able to figure it out in the Old Testament that it was by faith. And it tells us in the New Testament that yeah, they got righteousness, they were justified by faith. By faith. So when I told this listener, it's like look, you know, I can see why you're confused, I can see that the men and I, it's just somebody told me, it's like hey, listen up, they're hard core, repent of your sins. Like they are scared to death to lose their salvation. You know, that's why I left because you know what, I tried to live that life but it got so complicated, it got so hard, I just gave up and I got into drinking. It's like man, I'm an alcoholic. You know, because I felt like well if I'm not going to be good enough, I can't be like mom, I can't be like dad. I can't do it, I tried, I don't know how you do it, I can't do it. Oh you know what, you gotta try, try, try, try, fail, I quit. I quit. That's what happens with these people in these cults. They quit and they're like you know what, if I'm going to hell anyways, might as well party it up. That's what ends up happening. But when it comes to us, yeah we're still going to sin, we're not going to be perfect. But you know what, I am so happy I'm going to heaven, I make a stronger effort to live right. Versus if I thought I could make it to hell, I'd be like them. If I could lose my salvation in whatever way, shape or form, if I screw up it's like oh man, now I got to get it back again. Oh man, now I got to fix it and make up for it because you know what, I could end up in whatever hell you think is out there if you can lose your salvation. But guess what, I don't walk around fearing hell, period. You know, I believe it makes me at the end serve God more than trying to earn my salvation, trying to make it. Because here's the thing, yes, fear is a motivator, fear gets you up in the morning to go to work because you're afraid to get fired, fear is a great motivator. But honestly, let me tell you this, you know, if they came between love and fear, I'd rather have my kids love me and do things because they love me than because they fear me. I'm just being honest. You know, yeah I could say, if you don't get up at 6am, honey get the belt. You know, we're going to have some pain tonight. Or would it be, hey guys, you know what, you guys want to go hang out with dad at 6am, yeah let's do it, dad come on, let's get up, you know, let's read the Bible, whatever. You know, that to me is a lot better. Then it's like, if you're not here, I'm going to get the belt, I'm going to beat you out of that bed, boy, if you don't get down there by 6am and get your Bibles out, and yada, yada, yada, whatever. Hey, I believe that our God is the same way, he wants us to love him. Yeah, fear is a good motivator to please him and stay out of sin, and you know, by the fear of the Lord, man, depart from evil, et cetera, et cetera. But come on, seriously, God must rather we do things out of love because we love him and we appreciate what he's done for us. You know, and he wants us to turn from sin, not because we have to, but because we want to. We want to. Why? Because we love our father and we want him to be happy, and his happiness means more to us. Bottom line. You know, so I told him, look man, you're going to struggle. You know, it's like, yeah man, they're hardcore, repent of your sins, they're constantly afraid to lose their salvation, you know, this is what it is, some of them even just quit because they think they can't make it, et cetera, et cetera. And they're like, man, if you live in sin or if you die in your sins, you're not going to make it into the kingdom. And then if they end up saying, well, honestly, you know, nobody really knows. You know, it's like, just keep trying, trying, trying, trying, but at the end, nobody can really know. I said, I know I'm going into the kingdom. I know I'm going to be there because there's only one requirement to make it into the kingdom. John 3, 3, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. That's the only requirement. Amen. That's it. It doesn't say whoever keeps my commandments until the very end is going to make it into the kingdom of God. I don't think so. He said, unless a man is born again. And how are you born again? We'll cover in a second, but bottom line is by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because that's John 3, 3, and then he tells them in John 3, 15, John 3, 16, John 3, 17, and the very last verse, he that believes in the son has everlasting life. And think about it, if you have everlasting life, seriously, are you seriously telling me there's a chance you can go to hell if you have everlasting life? Seriously? It's even possible? And that's what he said in John 3, 3. I mean, what part of Acts 16, 3, don't you understand? The prophet said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? If we had to keep God's commandments, do his commandments, whatever the case may be, he would have told them right there. Perfect opportunity to mention it, don't you think? I mean, if it's required, you know, to stay saved or get saved, that's a perfect opportunity to say, hey, you have to do God's commandments, my friend. But that didn't happen. It's just believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Romans 10, 9, that if thou shall confess with the mouth of the Lord Jesus and shall believe in the heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Saved from what? Her sins. What do you mean by that? Let me tell you what it is. From hell, the lake of fire, that's what we're being saved from. Everlasting fire prepared from the devil and his angels, that's what you're being saved from. Men and knights, that's exactly what you're being saved from. Always has been, always will be. And even Revelation 21, 23, hey, it gives you a reason to smile. You know, if you have your Bibles, go to Revelation 22. I'll read from Revelation 21, 23, which says this. And the city had no need of the sun. This is the New Jerusalem that came down from heaven. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it. For the glory of God did light in it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. Here's some good news. And the nations of them which are saved. That's me, man. And that's just that, but those are the ruling and reigning. It says the nations of them which are saved. And it also talks about the kings as well, and the kings of the earth, you know, they're bringing their glory into it. And it says, and the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day. So this New Jerusalem, yeah, you know, people say, hey, if I die and I'm at the pearly gates, you know, I'm pretty sure God will let me into heaven. I had somebody tell me that this week. I'm pretty sure I'll be at the gates. Well, I don't know what you're going to wait for because it says right there that the gates are not going to shut. So what are you waiting for, man? You know, walk in. Are you waiting for Christ to meet you at the gate? Because that's what it says. And the gates of it shall not shut at all by day, for there shall be no night there. Translation, this gate doesn't shut at all. The reason why it would say it doesn't shut at all is because obviously in this world, kingdoms have to shut those gates to keep the enemy out. During the day, they can find them. At nighttime, they don't want them to sneak in. So they will close the gates because a bunch of wicked nations will try to invade you and take your power. But in this situation, there's no night. So why even shut it? Why? It says the nations that are saved, that's me, and the kings, those are the ones that are ruling and reigning, hey, they're going to go in there. They're going to bring their glory and honor into it. And there shall no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh alive by day which are written in the Lamb's book of life. That's me, amen. I'm in that book of life. I'm going in there and so are you if you're in the book of life. And it says in Matthew 5 19, whosoever therefore should break one of the least commandments and shall teach man so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them that things shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. But brothers and girls, it says right there, the least commandment. If you're a guy who's teaching lies, if you're a guy who's a liar and you're just teaching others to lie all day long, hey, you'll be in the kingdom, but if you do something worse than that, like adultery, you're not going to be in that kingdom. You're not going to be there. This is a truth for those who have messed up in small ways, but you got to do what's right, you know, because if you die in your sins, if you end up blowing it, if you end up making something that causes God to be super upset, you're not going to be in that kingdom, then all those other verses are just contradicting each other all day long. All day long. What it's saying is, hey, even if you mess up the smallest commandment, guess what? You're guilty of pretty much everything. If you don't keep the small, you're guilty of all. That's just what the Bible teaches. If you think you need to keep God's commandments to make it into the kingdom, then of course the Bible's what it teaches, you know? Well, if that's how you feel, it's not just the small, it's all. You got to keep all then. And people that believe they have to keep God's commandments, I like to just ask them, I haven't done this, maybe you could do this for me if you run into them. If they believe you have to keep God's commandments, we'll ask them, well, how many commandments are in the Bible? How many are they? 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60? Oh, you don't know? Then there's a chance you ain't going to make it. How are you going to make it if you have to keep God's commandments if you don't even know half of them? And if you really want to embarrass them, hey, do you know the 10 commandments by heart? I know one, you know? I know one, that should not, you know, steal or something. It's in there, right, stealing? Okay, you're doing good, you're doing good, but you still got 500 to go. Man, it's going to suck to be you on judgment day. But that's what they believe, because isn't that the truth? If you believe that you have to keep God's commandments, do his commandments to make it into the holy city, isn't that saying that you need to know them all? Or am I crazy here? Where's the list? Where's the list of all the sins in the Bible? Because I want to give it to you so you can see that you're not even close. You're not even close. I'm going to read from Romans, if you have your Bible. Go ahead and go back to 2 Peter 1. Here's the verse they throw out there. For I say unto you, except your righteousness to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you should in no case enter into the kingdom of God. See, you have to be better than the Pharisees. You know, the Pharisees won't keep it any of God's commandments. So if you're not better than them, you're not going to make it into the kingdom. Okay, but let's read Romans. I'll just read it for you. What should we say then, that Abraham our father is pertaining to the flesh I have found? For if Abraham were justified by works, and that's what keeping God's commandments is, is works, is hard work. Either believe we're saved by faith alone, or you believe we're saved by faith and grace, or faith by works, or whatever the case, but works at the end of the day is keeping God's commandments, turning from your evil ways. And once again, if you believe that, well, how many commandments are in the Bible? Let's go. You know, let's start there to see just how well you're doing. And it says in Romans, for if Abraham were justified by works, he hath wore off the glory, but not before God. For what saith the scriptures? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is a reward not breaking of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justified the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also described it, blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputed righteousness without works, saying blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. And here was the problem with the guy at the wedding. He had the wrong cover. He didn't have the wedding garment. He has something else. So guess what? You need to have your sins covered by the blood of Christ. That's what's going to get you into heaven. That's what's getting you saved. And guess what? Once you're saved, once you're washed, you're permanently washed. And when you're sinned, it's the old man that's doing it, not you. God looks at you, sinless, perfect, justified in his eyes, just as if you never sinned. Are you going to sin? Of course. But he blames the old man, not the new man. The spirit indeed is willing, but your flesh, your flesh is weak and is the reason why you sin so much. But if you don't have your sins covered, you're not saved. Once they're covered, they're always covered. Your sins are separated as far as the east, as from the west, done, over, everlasting life. Believe it or not, it means everlasting. Amen. I'm going to read from Revelation 22. You know what? Just go join me in 1 John 5. Join me in 1 John 5. I should have had you go to Revelation 22, but forgive me, my wrong. I'm going to read from Revelation 22. This is what they love to bring out. Blessed are they to do his commandments, that they may have the right to the, remember that, tree of life, the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates. Hey, here we go. Blessed are they to do his commandments. See, you have to do his commandments. Then we have a ton of contradictions in the Bible. As soon as you say you have to keep his commandments, now John 3 16 is garbage, John 3 15 is garbage, John 3 36 is garbage, John 6 47 is garbage, and you name it. It just contradicts all the good verses that we use to get people saved, to give people the good news. Hey, I got good news for you. I spoke to a Catholic woman. Hey, let me show you what the Bible says. Wow, I've never heard it like that. That's different. Wow. That easy, that easy. Just by believing, just by believing. She said, let me write that down. That's how good it was. Think about it. If you heard something that wasn't that good, are you going to write it down? No, she ran into her apartment, got a pen and paper. It's like, let me get those verses, man, because I do Catholic Bible studies. I'm going to check this stuff out. You know, it's like, hey, think about it, because it's very important. Makes sense? Oh, that makes sense to me. I just never heard it like that. So it's hard to believe. And I can give her credit for that. All right, I understand. They didn't get saved, but it woke her up, woke her up. She's like, wow, let me go write that down. If you come to my house telling me, look, man, you want to go to heaven? You have to believe on Jesus and keep his commandments. I'm like, whew, buddy. I've been trying that since I was a kid. That's my mama. I've been doing my best to obey. That's my papa. See these belt marks right here, brother? I'm still challenging, man. It's still, whew. Commandments? All right, well, you know, sorry, man. I can't do that, brother. My girlfriend won't let me. But that's what they use. Blessed are they to do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter into it. And it's like, oh, you're mocking, mocking, mocking. I'm mocking the false prophets. I'm going to tell you right now, those that are deceived, I feel bad for them. I love the ones that are deceived. I'm telling you right now, I don't want nothing bad to happen. I don't want them to be chastised. I don't want them to be turned into a reprobate mind. People that believe this stuff and they're new babies, whatever. You know what? I feel very bad for them. I love those people. I love the world. I'm not talking about reprobates. I'm just telling you right now that I feel bad for these individuals that fall into this garbage. And it's like, look, all it is is just looking at scriptures again. I know, I know. You think that you're right. But look, here's the bottom line. How can this work with everything else? Well, I don't know, but this is what I think. It's like, look, I feel so bad. Everlasting is everlasting, believe it or not. It's hard to believe, but it is. Many nights, everlasting means everlasting. Tell you what, if they were to just keep reading, they will figure it out. It says, blessed are they to do his commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life. Remember the word tree of life. And in fact, you know what? Go to Revelation 2 7. I think you can get there before I finish. Trust me, you'll thank me later. So the subject is the tree of life. Blessed are they to do his commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without our dogs and sorcerers and whoremongers and murderers and idolaters and whosoever loveth, they make it a lie. I lie, not lies, I lie. All right, Jesus said, my angel to testify unto you these things in the churches and the root and the offspring of David and the bride and morning star and the spirit and the bride say, come and let him that hearers say come and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely, freely. If they would keep reading, they'd probably stop right there and be like, whoa, hold up. How can we make sense out of this blessed are they to do his commandments? It's like you have all these clear verses. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. What must I do to be saved? Believe, believe, believe. All these different verses, everlasting life, eternal life. He that lived and believed in me shall never die. I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, but I still think they can. Those are clear verses. So what we got here? We either got a contradiction in the word of God or something's up with the way we're looking at this. Water of life freely. You're right there in Revelation 2 7. Remember, Revelation 22 14, blessed are they to do his commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life. Okay, that's the last chapter of the Bible. Don't you think when John wrote it, he was expecting me to start from the beginning, not the end? I mean, did he give us the book so we could start in Revelation 22? No. You think the Bible is written the way it is coincidentally because the Catholics decided that? You think that's why the Bible goes the way it is, the order that it is? I think God expects us, before we get to Revelation 22, to go through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John maybe? You know, 1 and 2 Corinthians maybe? Maybe go through those before you get to the very last chapter, right? Maybe go through, I don't know, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, maybe? I think that's what God kind of expects, don't you think? Well, you're right there in Revelation 2 7, correct? Remember, you have to keep God's commandments to make it through the tree of life. Okay, okay. You know, Revelation 2 7, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches, to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the what? The tree of life. So what do you have to do? Overcome. Did it say commandments? But hold on, what do we got here? A contradiction or somebody's misinterpretation, some false prophet's perversion? Well, if you can, just quickly go to 1 John 5 1. Trust me, you'll thank me later. 1 John 5 1, don't worry, I'm keeping it at 9 o'clock, I'm 46 minutes in, amen? Upon the finish, I let you guys early this morning, but you guys have the tough crowd, the real crowd, right? The one hour crowd. Don't preach to us no 30 minutes, brother, girl, you disappointed me this morning. I got your back tonight, trust me, brother. You guys are right there in 1 John 5 1. I'll just quickly tell you what it takes, according to Revelation 2 7, to get to the tree of life. He that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life. Okay, let's get to 1 John, which is obviously before Revelation. 1 John 5 1, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Sounds familiar? Born again, born of God, right? You go from dead to being alive. You were dead and trespassed as a sin, so now you're quick and now you're made alive. How? By believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and receiving eternal life. Now you become part of God's family. Now you're born into His family. Now you're born again spiritually, and then the sins figured out to be into His family, and now you're His child. And is God taking flaming fire on His children? Is that what 2 Thessalonians says? No, He's taking fire on those that know not God. Who is He casting out of hell? The ones that He says, I know you're not. Now could He say that to us if we're His children? If we're born into His family, can He say that to us? Can I say that to any of my kids that screw up in this world? Can I say, apart from me, I don't even know who you are? I would be lying, would I not? I would be lying to Him. So for Christ to say, I know you're not, and that's to say, believer, then He's lying. And God's not a man that He shall lie. That's just what the Bible teaches very clearly. So it says in 1 John 5, 1, Whosoever believeth that Jesus Christ is born of God, and everyone that loveth Him that begat loveth Him also that begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. As I say, by this we know that we have eternal life and the right to the tree of life, when we keep His commandments. Is that what He's saying? Keeping His commandments has nothing to do with salvation. If you love God, it says keep my commandments. And it says, by this we know that we love the children of God, when you love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God. It doesn't say, this is salvation. This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments and the commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God, what? Sounds familiar? Sounds like Revelation 2 7, doesn't it? Well, let's get into 5 because then it gets even more clear. For whatever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, our works. Is that how we overcome the world? Through our works? Is that how we defeat the world? Through our works? Didn't we read in Hebrews today in 11? By faith, they subdue kingdoms. By faith, they shut the mouth of lions. By faith, women raised their children back from the dead. I know I messed that up, but anyways. Well, let's look at verse 5 just to end this controversy about overcometh. Overcometh means to defeat. Well, Jesus said, I overcame the world. You know, He didn't need to believe on Himself in order to go to heaven. He had no sins. Well, the world couldn't get Him to sin. That's a good victory in my opinion. What did you say? I overcame the world. You have good cheer. I've overcome the world. You know, it's like, hey, they had nothing on me. They couldn't do anything to me. They were tempting me. Couldn't get me to do anything. You know, so don't worry about it. I know how to overcome the world. And I'm going to tell you how to do it. And He does in many books. So what do we see in verse 5? Who is He that overcometh the world? But He that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. So how do we get to the tree of life? Is it because we do His commandments? Is it by keeping His commandments? Or by putting your faith on the Son? Because that's what John says. This is what it means to overcome. And in case you didn't know, John wrote Revelation. Right. I think he kind of expected you to read this epistle before you got to Revelation. So when he threw things out there, he kind of expected you to know what he meant. Not to just read it before you read any other books. Then you're going to be all messed up. You're going to get to that verse and be like, whoa, I thought salvation was my faith. That's a good lie to me. I have to keep His commandments. Well, all I can say is simply this when it comes to that verse. Of course, blessed are they to do His commandments. Of course. Because here's the thing. Why would you keep God's commandments if you didn't even believe it was real? Why would you keep them? This is talking about believers. It's like, hey, those that keep His commandments, they're blessed. Those are actually saved people. Well, the Catholics keep God's commandments, not in God's sight they don't. Because they have another God. Same thing with the Mormons. Well, the Mormons keep God's commandments, not in God's eyes they don't keep His commandments. They have another God. They have another Jesus Christ. When it says, blessed are they to keep His commandments, those are His trueness of believers. Because think about it. I keep God's commandments. I come to church because I believe that's what God wants me to do. I don't commit saying I do my best to serve the Lord because I believe in Him. Because I'm a believer. I wouldn't do this stuff unless I was a hypocrite or a believer. True or false. And guess what? If you're not a believer, I don't care how many, I don't care if you have that list of all the commandments and you're obeying them all, God calls you a hypocrite. You're going to have your part with the hypocrites, with the unbelievers. There's a Christian getting cast out. He just told him you're going to have your part with the unbelievers. Yeah, because you're an unbeliever yourself. You're obeying supposedly God's commandments, but it's not the God that you're worshiping. So yeah, blessed are those that keep His commandments. Absolutely. Blessed are those believers. Blessed are believers. You keep His commandments, of course He's going to be blessed. He's going to reward you according to your works. That's what He's going to do. But if you're not saved, I don't care how many commandments you follow. I don't care if you got the memorized, the 10 commandments tattooed on your chest and you look at them every morning. And you got them to the T, you know, you can, you're bam, to the T, the Sabbath and everything. You know, God looks at it as like you're a hypocrite. You're not a believer. You're not the blessed are they that keep His commandments. What He's saying is, hey, if you're saved, you're going to have the tree of life. You know what those that keep His commandments, He's just making it clear. Those are the believers He's talking about. What are life freely? The other previous chapters, that's what it's referring to. It's not saying you have to keep God's commandments to enter into the kingdom or enter into the new Jerusalem. It's not saying any of that. Or else, John 3 16 and everything else, just throw it out the window. Now you got a bunch of contradictions in the Bible. A ton of them. This is what the Mennonites can't figure out. Like how could it say salvation is by grace through faith? And then in Revelation, it says you have to keep His commandments. Or over here, it talks about this guy being cast out. Over here, this person's being told, hey, depart from me. I never knew you. He's saying, Lord, Lord, what's going on? I got it. You can lose your salvation. Let's start figuring out all the commandments so we can earn our salvation. Well, good luck with that. Good luck with that. 53 minutes into it. Let's just get to the end. So we already saw, who is he to overcome the world? It's clear. It's believers. Believers. Who is he that overcome it? Hey, you overcome, you're going to have the right to the tree of life. So I told this person, hey, I don't know what to tell you. Life is going to be hard. But the Bible says endure hardness. As good soldiers of Jesus Christ, if we please Him, we've chosen you to be a soldier. I don't know what to tell you. I don't know what's going on. He's like, man, they're going to disown me. My man and I family, man, they're probably going to kick me out. They're probably going to disown me, man. He's like, I don't know what to say because they freak out. The minute they think somebody believes that salvation is once they've always saved, they freak out. They go nuts. What do I do? It's like, look, I don't know what to tell you. You know, I'm an independent fundamental Baptist. All I can say is keep the fundamentals. The fundamentals. The fundamentals. So the story that I told this guy was like, look, you know, I came from the Catholic background, so I understand. My mom freaked out when I'm like, mom, hey, I'm saved. I have eternal life. She took her purse, slammed it on the ground, stuff went everywhere. It was funny seeing her pick stuff up. I didn't even help her. I'm like, forget that. You're that mad at me. I'm not going to help you. She's just like, how many Baptist you slam? Her makeup, everything, keys, money, everything went everywhere. Like a pinata, just busted on the ground. And I'm like, you're mad? I ain't going to help you. You're going to be that mad at me. I just got saved, man. I was in a good mood, not trying to mess me up. Forget that. So then here's what I told him. It's like, look, just keep the fundamentals. And so now that I got my short introduction out of the way, here's the title of my sermon. Five to thrive. Five to thrive. All right, let's get into the sermon. Amen. So tell them, look, the first thing I need to show you is, hey, get into the word. You're right there in 1 Peter 1. Go ahead and look down at 1 Peter 1. Don't worry. I got five minutes. Shutting this thing down in five minutes. All right. So tell them, look, these are the five things that will help you thrive. These are not everything. There's some advanced stuff like preaching, getting behind the pulpit. That stuff is advanced stuff. But here's stuff that God wants you to do. This is the basic stuff. This is the fundamentals that can keep you in the game, keep you from falling away. Number one, Bible reading. 2 Peter chapter number one says this, Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to them they have obtained life, praise, and faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through knowledge, through knowledge. Skip down to verse number three. According to this divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Him. Knowledge of Him. Whereby given unto us, verse four, exceeding great and precious promises that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature. Saying, look, you're going to be like God if you get into His word and you get the knowledge that you need, growing grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that you may be partaker of the divine nature. Verse number five. And besides this, given all diligence, add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge, knowledge. Verse number six, and to knowledge. Temperance and temperance patience, the patience of godliness and to godliness, brotherly kindness and brotherly kindness, charity. For these things being you and abound, they make you they should neither be barren nor fruitful in the knowledge, knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And it says in verse 10, wherefore the wrath of brethren give diligence to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things ye shall never fall. Doesn't mean you're never going to sin, it's just not going to fall away. You know, not going to be the ones that don't grow and just stay whatever and get chewed up and ate up by the devil. And the last verse, the last verse in second Peter, the last thing before Peter signs off, the last thing he wanted people to know, he's like, man, how can I end this epistle? This is the last thing he said, about going grace, growing grace and in the knowledge. Out of all things he could have said, the second epistle, all things he could have said, he finished it by saying, after he started already, knowledge, knowledge, knowledge, knowledge, knowledge, guys, knowledge. The Bible is the most important thing. If I had 10 minutes in the morning to do either something, either pray or read my Bible, it's going to be written in my Bible. Why? Because I can pray while driving. Amen. Lord, please don't let me crash. You know, I'm late for work. I got to get there fast. So the first thing I tell them is Bible, my friend, second thing, hey, get a prayer life going. Get a prayer life going. You have to, you know, pick three times during the day. That way, if you miss two, you got one more. Amen. And so I told them, look, the Bible says in First Thessalonians 5, 7, pray without ceasing. You know, Samuel said, moreover, as for me, God forbid that I should sin against God in ceasing to pray for you. What else did I tell them? Look, the third thing, church attendance, my friend. Not forsaking the assembly of ourselves as the men are some is, but showing one another, so much the more. That scares me. It's like, man, right when I think about maybe churching, no, it's important. So much the more, so much the more, as you did see the day approaching. Why? Because it says, hey, he that walk in wise man shall be wise. Not everybody in church is super smart. Look, I'm not trying to paint anybody, but of course we have people in church that are dumb. Nothing wrong with that. They're going to be smart sooner or later. Amen. You know, they continue to come, continue to grow, continue to know, hey, they're going to be good to go. They're going to be good to go. You know, then you'll be like, you can be my friend now. You know, I love you, man. Where have you been my whole life? Well, when I got here, you didn't even talk to me. Yeah, you're kind of weird, bro. And now you're sharp as a knife. Hey, come talk to me, man. Let's go have some lunch. We need that. We need to walk with wise men. Amen. That's what we got to do. And of course, church is here in case there's issues. Like I just spoke about this morning, bad things will happen. As Christians, bad things will happen, but your family's here to help you out. Praise the Lord. My wife told me, hey, they raised 32,000 out of 50,000 for their family that lost that child over at Verity Baptist. I'm like, hey man, last time I checked, it was 4,000. I think that was about four days ago. You know, he did a call out to his brothers and sisters nationwide. You know, I don't know how many listeners we have, but they all gave a dollar. Boom, that thing will jump to 50,000 by tonight. You know, if you have 30,000 listeners, hey, a buck each, bam, you know, done, over. And I think we have that many listeners that just don't know about it. If they would, they would be jumping in and helping out. But church is there to help you, to help you grow, edify you. Soul winning. And he said to them, go into the world and preach the gospel to the creature, one of his last commandments. So you got to start some soul winning. I don't know what to tell you. Maybe we can talk about it more later. I've been talking to you for a little bit, but look, got to get the soul winning. That's why we started 1030 soul winning. Not because I don't have stuff to do, because I figured, you know what? When I was a cable guy and I had a day off, I always say, you know what? I would like to go soul winning, but it's so late in the day. You know, it's at five o'clock and I don't like the pressure on my day off. I need to spend time with my family. We go out in the morning and I feel the rush in the back of my head. Like I got to get back to the building by five. I hated being stressed out on my day off. Who hates being stressed out on their day off? I hated it. So I was thinking about it. It's like, man, you know what? If they would have had soul winning at 1030, I would have came because then boom, 1030 to 12, I got the rest of my day with my family from 12 to 10, 12 to midnight if I wanted it. And that's why I say, you know what? I'll be there at 1030. I'll hang out, you know, and be a silent partner or whatever the case may be. And that's why I'm doing it. Hey, I'm bringing you back to the building by 12 so you can spend the rest of your day off with your family from 12 to 12 if you want. You know, you said that's a way to get up. They're like, where's the girl? I'll be there. All right. All right. I'm telling you this because it's hard for me to get up in the morning, but I know if you're waiting for me, I'll get up quicker. So there you go. Monday through Friday, hey, 1030 to 12. And then we got the evening soul winning as well. If you want to come in the evening, come in the evening. But see, that's what the church is for, to help you earn rewards. And not just that, to help each other out. And that's a lot of stuff that I told this guy. And so of course, number one, Bible, number two, prayer, number three, church attendance, number four soul winning, the last thing is meditation. Psalms one, I'm not going to read it. Read it when you get a chance because I'm already a minute over, but it's about meditating on God's word, taking the scriptures, you know, that we have something to keep it from sinning, whatever verse you need, whatever temptation you have, there's always a verse for it. And that's why I told him, look, find some verses. I told him, look, I recommend starting with Psalms 34. Psalms 34 kind of helps you out really quickly. If you don't know where to begin, it gives you precious promises. It guarantees things. It'll give you power, my friend. So get started on Psalm 34, memorize it, and do your best to learn it. You know, and I'll tell, hey, start working on those five things. Those five things, those five will help you thrive. Amen. Let's pray. Dear Father, thank you so much for all that you've done. Father, I thank you for your time. I thank you for everything. I thank you for everybody that's here. Lord, please bless them as they go home. Give them safety, help them out, whatever problems they have. Father, just honor their faithfulness in the name of your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.