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

All right, so today we're taking a little bit of a break from the More About Jesus series. I may come back to it, I may not. That's just kind of how those things work with me. But either way, hopefully we're going to get some good teaching from the scripture. Amen. That's what we're here for anyways. Now, this is a pretty basic topic, but I think it's an important one I want to cover this morning. I've titled my sermon, Are They Even Saved? There's many good reasons why you'd want to determine whether or not somebody is saved. Ultimately, what we're going to be doing, what I'm going to be doing, is trying to show from scripture how we could try to understand that, whether or not a person is saved, for the various reasons. One very obvious reason that we want to know if people are saved is how much do we need to focus on giving this person a gospel. Because we're under the command, we're under the direction of Jesus Christ who said that we're supposed to preach the gospel to every creature. Well, obviously we don't need to preach the gospel to people who are already saved. We want to spend our time on people who are not saved. And we don't want to have a false sense that somebody is saved because it's going to do a great disservice if we treat people like they're saved, and we never even think to give them the gospel because we're just assuming that they're saved. We want to know, hey, if this person's not saved, what a tragedy that would be, especially if someone's close to you. You just assume that they were saved your whole life, but they actually were unsaved and ended up dying and going to hell. I mean, that would be terrible. So the first and foremost reason, and probably the primary reason, is just to have that understanding alone on whether we understand whether or not somebody's saved. It's a very important thing to understand and be able to ascertain. Now, along with this, we have to understand that there's some people that you're never going to know for sure. And with anyone, you can't ever really know for sure because it's something that's a heart issue, that God sees the heart. We have our best guesses. We could only know so much. But God is the one who knows whether or not any person has truly, sincerely put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And, you know, this sermon is not designed to make you or to make anyone doubt their salvation at all because you know if you're saved or not, you know if you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's what you need to know for yourself. But it's more going to be focused just on, well, how do I know if someone else is saved? And the reason why, and there's other reasons, too, I'm going to get to those in a minute. But just to give you some examples, or one example specifically, that I see repeat over and over and over again with newer believers especially. So when I first had gotten saved, when I was 20 years old, I called on the name of the Lord. I didn't have somebody like a fundamental Baptist just explaining all kinds of doctrine and everything else to me when I got saved. The seed had been sown in my heart at some point prior to my salvation, and then I called on the name of the Lord, I got saved. I knew enough to know that my trust was in Jesus and that He was my Savior. Very, very basic, very low-level understanding, but you know what? It was enough. And I knew that I was trusting in Jesus, and what He had done for me was enough. I couldn't explain eternal security to you, I couldn't explain various doctrines about salvation, but it is what I believed in my heart. I mean, I knew that I was saved, and I knew I was still a sinner, but I knew that that debt that I owed was covered through Jesus Christ. And I couldn't articulate that very, very well, but I knew that, right? The basic understanding of what salvation is, just putting your trust in the Savior, He saves you, you're saved forever. But at the time, I viewed Christianity as a whole very differently. Because in my mind and through my experience, I looked at Christianity going like, you know, I kind of understood some things. I was raised in a Presbyterian home, or you know, going to church, Presbyterian church. I learned a lot of different facts about the Bible and various things, and you know, I had to go through, it was very scholastic, let me put it that way for me. My education about the Bible from a Reformed theology perspective, right? That's what I had. If you asked me if I was a Christian before I was saved, I would have said yes. You know, but it really wasn't my faith. It wasn't something that I was trusting in or anything like that. It was just more of a knowledge. It wasn't a rejection. It was just something that I learned and knew about and was okay with. But you know, deep down it wasn't my faith. It wasn't really what I was trusting in at all. So when I did put my faith in Jesus Christ, I still didn't understand any of the differences between the various denominations. I was still kind of ignorant on why there are all the different denominations and what they all believed. Even though I had somewhat of an education, it didn't really go into all those different things. And honestly, from that perspective, even from the Reformed perspective, they still kind of treat everybody as just all being Christian anyways. So that was still my understanding of just like, well everybody's, you know, they believe a little different about this. They believe a little different about this. But overall, you know, they're all Christian. So I had this understanding that, oh, okay, once I finally believed, I kind of felt like I was joining this club of believers, which, you know, in one sense you are, but who was in that and who that comprises, I was way off on. And I see a lot of new believers will have a very similar mindset of understanding, of just thinking that like, oh yeah, the Pentecostals are saved and the Jehovah's Witnesses are saved. And it may not go as far as some of the outlying cults like the Mormon Jehovah's Witnesses, but you still kind of just think like, well Catholics are saved and Protestants are saved and all these different people are saved because they all call themselves Christian. But the fact is, they're not all saved because there's so many basics about salvation that they don't believe. You know, the Bible says in 1 John 5 that, you know, the record that God gave a son is that, for this is the record that God has given to his eternal life and this life is in his son. And if you don't believe that record that you're making God a liar, and this is, you know, we're all probably very familiar with that passage because we oftentimes will use that passage when we are preaching the gospel to people and demonstrating, look, if you don't believe these things, you're making God a liar. And these are very, you know, in that verse I just quoted, it's very, very, very basic facts that you have to believe to be saved. One is that he's given to us. Given means it's a gift. Given means it's grace. Given means it's not earned. Given is just something that you receive. So if someone believes, no, no, no, you have to do this and this and this, they're making God a liar because you're not believing that it's just given to you, that it's this free gift. If you're not believing that it's eternal because he's given to us, what is he giving to us? Eternal life. If you think that that stops, if you think that has an end, if you think there's some way you could lose it, you know, you're not believing that it's eternal. You're making God a liar. And if you think that there's any other way than through his Son and through Jesus Christ, then, again, you're making God a liar. If you think that you could obey the law, if you think that you could just follow, you know, follow whatever, anything else, or put your faith in anything else other than the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, then you're not saved. Right? You're making God a liar. So those are the three basic things that we talked to people about, but, see, I didn't understand, especially when, you know, the people who mix in the works with their faith, hey, they call themselves a Christian, so I just thought that they're saved. Right? Because if you ask them, well, do you believe in Jesus? They'll say, yeah, sure, of course I do. I believe I am with all my heart. You know, people can say that, but where their actual faith is and where their beliefs are is a different story. So for the reason alone of understanding whether or not we should be giving the gospel to people and determining whether or not they're saved, that is one very important reason, and I'll tell you this much, that the reason, the best way to determine if somebody's saved is to ask them what they believe. That is, this is the, I mean, point number one is the best and most effective way to know whether or not someone's saved. It's not, well, let's look at their life and see if they're in sin. Because when you get saved, you don't stop sinning. And no, there aren't certain sins that like, well, when you get saved, you're not going to drink anymore at least. No, no, look, if you look close enough at anybody's life and for long enough a period of time, you're going to find them in sin. And the longer you look at them and the closer you look at them, the more sin you're going to find. Some people's sin may be more obvious and others might be more well hidden, but we're all sinners. So looking at how well they lead their life has nothing to do with whether or not that person is saved. What they believe. I mean, isn't that what we believe here? You know, sirs, what must I do to be saved? They said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in thy house. It's a faith. Well, how do you know what someone believes? You can't see their heart. The only way you're going to know what someone believes is by asking them. Now, this covers. Probably the main reason in the majority of why we're even finding out whether or not somebody's saved. And it's important to know that just for your own sake and for their sake, so that you're not just allowing people to not hear the gospel or to go to hell because you have a false concept or false idea that they're saved when they're really not. And I would say this, that the number one thing that people who call themselves Christian. Are not believing in. That they need to believe in to be saved is eternal security. You say, well, why why does someone need to believe in eternal security? What if I've never even heard of that term before? Eternal security just means that you're trusting that what Jesus did when he died on the cross to pay for your sins, that what he did is completely 100 percent sufficient to pay for your sin debt that you owe. And that it covers all of your sin of all time. Not just the sins that you had committed up until you made that profession of faith in Jesus Christ or up until you put your faith in Christ in your heart. It's not just it doesn't just be it's not limited. Well, only those things up to that point. After that, you're on your own. That's ridiculous. That's nonsense. OK, if we if we had to then do extra work after that point. We would be able to we would be able to do the same thing before that point. But that's but that's just not true. We need Christ for all of our sin and needs to cover all of our sin. So the eternal security just means that when God makes a promise, like when the Bible says in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie, promised before the world began. Eternal life. We're in hope of eternal life. Eternal means forever. Eternal means everlasting. It means it doesn't end. It doesn't stop. We're hoping in that life, that eternal life, that God made a promise before the world even began. He made that promise. And we know that God can't lie. So if we don't believe that that life, that that gift or the Bible says the gift of God is eternal life. You're going to give someone a gift. You're going to tell them it's going to last forever. If it doesn't last forever, my friend, that person's a liar. And there aren't any other clauses or catchphrases of like, well, it lasts forever unless you do this or this or this. You're not going to find that anywhere in scripture. It's faith. So, yeah, that's that's it. It's that eternal security is inherent to what salvation even is. Because all of your trust or all of your faith needs to be on Jesus Christ. And if you need to do something else to be saved or keep salvation, however you want to word it, however you want to play the game of. Well, I mean, that person ended up killing somebody. So they I mean, they they're not saved because they killed somebody or whatever. However, you want to play that or try to spin that. You need to believe completely in Jesus. If you if you think that they need there needs to be some level of obedience to the Bible, to God's law. To be saved. There are certain sins you can't do, certain things you can or whatever. You're not putting all of your trust in Jesus Christ for your salvation. At some level, to some degree, you're trusting in yourself, and that inherently is why people are not saved that don't believe in eternal security. OK, but, you know, as extremely important as that is, I want to get into some of the other scriptures. For determining whether or not a person is saved, because that's when you're dealing with people who are honest. They're just going to tell you what they believe and what they're telling you is the truth. Right. There's a couple other examples why we want to know if someone saved. Another example would be. If you're going to be learning from somebody like a pastor or teacher, you want to know if that person saved. Because that's pretty important, whether or not are they are they are they even capable of being led by the Holy Spirit and receiving wisdom of the Holy Spirit? Is that even possible for them? Or are they just a total false prophet? Right. So there's another reason why you want to know if someone's saved. And then there's also another category of the people who, you know, we're still interested in giving the gospel to, but they may say some of the right answers. But they're still not saved, and those are the kind of the most tricky people to. Be able to give the gospel to and to understand whether or not they're saved. So we're going to look at this different passages to help us to ascertain whether or not people are saved other than just their testimony. Obviously, the testimony is the number one thing that we can go off of is what it was. What do they say someone needs to do to be saved? You could ask them the questions and get to the heart of the matter on what they believe. But there are people out there and we started in Titus Chapter one, look at verse number 15. Bible reads, unto the pure, all things are pure, but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God. These are the people who are who are defiled and unbelieving. Says they profess that they know God, but in works they deny him being abominable and disobedient and then unto every good work, reprobate. OK, these are the people that are going to profess this knowledge of God. They're going to say, well, I do know God, and they're going to have a profession of faith. But in reality, they don't believe and they don't. They're not saved. And the perfect example of someone like this and turn, if you would, to Matthew Chapter seven. The perfect example of someone like that is Judas Iscariot. You say, well, why is it talking about in works they deny him? I'll explain that with with especially using this example of Judas Iscariot. OK, because he's a perfect example of this. Someone who professes that they know God, Judas Iscariot, you better believe professing new God. The false prophet. You know that that. Is a devil, that's a bad person. Will oftentimes have this profession of faith. But when they're acting as a wolf in sheep's clothing, it's harder to determine that inside they're a wolf, because if you're just looking at the external, they look like a sheep. They look like everybody else. Right. So they're going to have a profession that they know God, but in works they deny him now. You still and you're not always going to be able to know this. Right. But you have to understand that the Bible talks about here that there's some people here that every good work they're reprimanded, they're rejected of every good, but they can't do any good works. Judas puts on a show, and the Judases of the world will put on a show, just because they don't want to be found out of what they actually believe, because they're bad people, they're wicked people. But they put on a show, so they'll seemingly be doing good works, but even those good works they seem to do are not really good works. The perfect example is when Judas was complaining and got other people complaining about the waste that was made of the ointment that was just wasted all over Jesus. Well, we could have sold this for all this money and given it to the poor. He wants to sound and look really holy and really spiritual, and he was the treasurer and he had the money, and he said, you know, we need to go give this and help people out. And from the outsider perspective, he just looks like he wants to do good and that he's really interested in helping people. But we know that he was a thief, and the Bible tells us, the narrator of the Bible, the Holy Ghost, tells us he's not interested in the poor. He's not interested in those people. It's because he's a thief. That's why he made that statement, because he holds the bag, and he's a thief, and he wants some of that money for himself, and he sees that waste of money he could have had, he could have pocketed, if they would have sold it and then said, oh, we're going to distribute this to the poor. He would have gotten his cut and then done whatever with it, and for that very reason, you know, that seemingly good work of, oh, giving to the poor, that's not good for Judas, because he's a thief. He doesn't care about that. On the outside, he's going to look like he's doing right, but everything that the reprobate does, there's always a hidden agenda and ulterior motive behind it. Judas was a false prophet. So, again, I understand it's going to be harder, so you're not always going to know, and at some point, we're going to have to just accept what people say, but we need to also have the distinction between, you know, a false prophet versus just your average person, right? That's not a teacher, not a preacher, because you're going to want to treat them slightly differently and look a little bit more closely, maybe, into some more things of the preacher than you would of just any average person. And the reason being for that is because of the influence that the false prophet can have in your life, right? The false teacher. You want to make sure that you're not being influenced by someone who's a wolf on the inside, who doesn't care about you at all. Matthew chapter 7, verse number 15. Of course, Jesus warned about the false prophets and tells us how to identify them, so this is a great place to look. Bible says in verse 15, beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. So when we're judging whether or not a person who is a tree, someone who's supposed to be reproducing themselves, someone who's supposed to be making proselytes and followers and disciples, right? Is that person's fruit good or evil? And that goes farther than just like a surface work, right? Because there's lots of people that can have the surface level works, but what are they really doing? For example, you can look at the Jehovah's Witnesses and say, oh, well, here's someone running a kingdom hall and they've got a high level participation of people going out and knocking on doors, you know, preaching the gospel. Well, there may be a lot of work there being done, but it's not the right work, it's not good work, and if you talk to all the members of that kingdom hall, you're going to find out that none of them are saved. So the fruit of that tree is going to be rotten, it's going to be bad because it's not good fruit, it's a dead fruit. And when we're looking at prophets or preachers, then one of the best ways to judge is to judge them by their fruits. You talk to the people of the congregation, talk to the people who are following them and find out. Obviously, there may be people who come in or whatever that may not end up being saved, but as a whole, you overall look at that and be like, well, I mean, when you're finding good fruit in there, you know that a false prophet can't bring forth good fruit. So when you find that good fruit, that's, you know, that'll show you right there that they cannot be a corrupt tree and vice versa, right? You find someone that's just a total child of the devil, you're not going to be brought forth by that person, so by a person who is a good tree. Turn over, if you would, to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Along the same vein of the false prophets, we see warnings being given and warnings are given all throughout the New Testament, especially on the false prophets. We see the apostle Paul and his epistles is warning about these people very frequently, and we're going to see a warning here in 2 Corinthians 11 as well. We're going to go turn to Galatians a little bit later. We're going to see similar warnings because of the amount of damage that false prophets can do. So understanding whether or not a teacher or prophet is saved is very important. Look at verse number 1 of 2 Corinthians chapter 11. The Bible reads, So he's worried about the church at Corinth, about someone coming in and beguiling their minds, just like Eve was beguiled of the serpent, and leading them astray from the simplicity which is in Christ. The simplicity is that Jesus paid it all. It's all, all salvation is through him alone. You start complicating and frustrating the gospel. of Christ, when you start adding works to it and adding other caveats, well, you've got to do this, you've got to do that, well, you could only do this, and, you know, if you, if you've got to do this, you've got to do that, well, you could only do this, and, you know, if you, if you've got to do this, you've got to do that. You start complicating and frustrating the gospel of Christ when you start adding works to it and adding other caveats, well, you've got to do this, you've got to do that, well, you could only do this, and, you know, if you, if you, you know, you've got to believe, but believing's not enough because you also have to be baptized, or you also have to be circumcised, or whatever the case is, you start frustrating it. The gospel's real simple. Christ paid for all of your sins, and you've got to receive Christ as your Savior. You've got to put your faith in him. It's real simple. Really simple. It can be explained in one verse. For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son, and whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Amen. That's simple. But the warning is going out for he that cometh, for the person that might come in, for someone who's going to come in to the flock, come in to the church, and preach another Jesus. So it's going to be a Jesus, but it's not the Jesus of the Bible, so they're preaching another Jesus. They're going to want it to sound like they're preaching Jesus. They're going to want to make it look really close to Jesus, but it's another Jesus, whom we have not preached. So that's not the same Jesus we preach. And look, someone might have a lot of similarities, but if someone's preaching another Jesus, they're not saved. If you have a different Jesus, and this is one of the things I try to explain to the cults, the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses, you're believing in a different Jesus. That's another Jesus. You're not believing in God incarnate. You're believing in just a man that's not deity. That's another Jesus. And when you start messing around, that's one of the reasons why I've been doing a series on more about Jesus, is identifying the Jesus that we preach, the Jesus that we believe in. Because when people start making up other Jesus's, that's not the Jesus I believe in. If you're putting all your faith in one person, you better have the right savior. It's not good enough just to have a savior. It has to be the savior. It has to be Jesus Christ. It has to be the Jesus of the Bible. And Satan has so many ways of trying to get people astray and corrupt the simplicity that is in Christ. And he'll use all means necessary to be able to do that. Taking the word of God and corrupting it. Right? Just changing it and leading people astray that way. And so many different ways. I'm not going to get into all that right now. But then it says, or if you receive another spirit, which you have not received, or another gospel, which you have not accepted, you might well bear with him. So watch out for the people who are coming in, bringing in a different spirit, bringing in a different Jesus, bringing in a different gospel. And mark and avoid and just be like, no, we're not going to have anything to do with that because these people aren't saved. Verse number 12. But what I do that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion, that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. So verse 12, what he's doing, I know we jumped down a little bit in the chapter, but in verse 12, what he's doing, he's saying. That he wants to cut off the occasion to speak against him, that's the occasion he's looking for. Because some people are desiring an occasion to bring Paul down, to try to just make what he's saying of none effect and destroy the work that he's doing. So they're looking for some occasion against him. But he says that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. So they're coming to the church looking like, hey, we're apostles of Christ, too. But then what they're doing is they're saying, they're teaching all these different doctrines and different so-called truths than the apostle Paul brought and taught to them. They're bringing a different Jesus, they're bringing a different gospel, they're bringing a different spirit. And apostle Paul says, you know, watch out for that. Hey, you know how you've been saved, you know where it came from, you know the source. Someone starts coming in and just starting to try to teach you all these different things. Watch out for that. And when people this happens all the time with false prophets. At first, they're going to repeat and say the same things that you've accepted that you've received. Right. Whether they come from within a church or whether they come from without from other church doesn't matter. They always do the same thing because they want to gain your trust that once they have your trust, then they can start introducing these other doctrines. But you need to always be aware going, oh, hold on a second. No, that's not true. And look, this is why parents, it's so important for you to be teaching the Bible to your children when they're young. Because so that when they grow up and they and they they go off and they they marry and have their own families and maybe move away and they go to some other churches that they know. No way. No, I know this isn't right. Hold on a second. This isn't right. This is this doesn't line up what you're trying to teach me here. You're this is another Jesus. This is another gospel. And that they need to be aware of that now. Obviously, we need to be careful that we don't just take this so far, that it's just every doctrine of the Bible, like you just believe, like, well, if you don't believe every single doctrine exactly like I believe it, then you're a false prophet. And, you know, you need to be able to discern where to cut that off. What the Bible is using here in the context is another gospel, another spirit, another Jesus. Right. Those are very, very, very serious doctrines that you just cannot have something different about. Right. We're not talking about the timing of the rapture. You know, the very common doctrine that people can disagree on, but but that's not what this is talking about at all. It's a lot of false apostle. You know, they're bringing in damnable heresy is what they're doing. And that's what you really need to be on the lookout for the people who are who are doing that. Because those are the deceitful workers, they transform themselves in the apostles of Christ on the outside, they're going to look like they're they're great. Hey, we're an apostle. Verse 14 explains further and no marble for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Satan is not that the the the the devil looking creature that is portrayed. He actually appears as an now maybe on the inside. That's how he is. Right. If you're to see inside, he's full of wickedness and and and just ugliness. But on the outside, he's very beautiful. He's an angel of light. So that's how he's going to appear is this this glorious light and everything else. But that's not you know, don't be deceived by that. It's just a front. It's a facade. Verse 15 says, Therefore, so knowing that since Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light, therefore, it's no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness whose end shall be according to their works. Don't think that every minister of Satan is a black cloak wearing pentagram wearing, you know, ritual, ritualistic animal sacrifice or whatever. Those aren't all ministers of Satan. Now, maybe they are right. But that's just one image that they that they carry forth. And they are not nearly as effective as other ministers of Satan. Because they're easy to spot. Right. Those guys that are going to wear their hooded cloak and have all their secret gatherings and do their blood rituals and stuff like that. That's easy to spot and a lot of people are going to right away be like, no, I don't have anything to do with now. They still exist because, hey, Satan wants to have all as many hooks in the water as he could possibly have and get those people just like anyone else. But the ones that you really need to watch out for are the ones that are going to look like, hey, they call themselves Baptist. So how could how could a how could a Baptist be a minister of Satan? Because they're putting on a show, because that's how they're dressing, like, because just like Satan transforms up, how could Satan be an angel of light? Because that's what he wants you to think, that he's good. That he's the light. He wants you to think that. So, of course, his ministers are going to be transforming ministers of righteousness. That's what they're going to look like. But thank God that he gave that that. You know, he gave us means by which we can help to discern whether or not people are right or not, and the apostle Paul says, you know what? Just check, check their gospel, check that they're not teaching you're bringing in these damnable heresies because they always do find themselves out. Turn, if you would, to 1 John chapter two. Because the same type of person, the wolf in sheep's clothing, that up to this point I've just been describing as like a minister or a teacher or a pastor or something like that, they can also come without that level of authority. And still creep into churches and try to do damage. And we look at these people as false brethren. They're going to claim to be a brother or sister in Christ. They're going to claim to have that. But but they're not. And we're going to look at what the Bible says in 1 John chapter two again as more information for us to be able to process whether or not a person is actually saved, because these people aren't saved. These false apostles. One of the things that the false teacher is going to do is start introducing another Christ, another gospel, you know, another spirit. So those are ways to identify, hey, this person, this person isn't even safe. OK. And they're bad news. I want nothing to do with them. Because if you just relied on their testimony, they they they might they'll probably just tell you what you want to hear. So they'll repeat to you what they know you believe. Because they're trying to infiltrate. First, John, chapter two, verse 18, the Bible says little children is the last time. And as you have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now, are there many Antichrist whereby we know that it is the last time? Verse 19, they went out from us. These Antichrist says they went out from us. So they were part of the church and they go out. It says they went out from us, but they were not of us. They weren't really like us. They did come out of us, but they were not really of us. For and this is important for if they had been of us. They would no doubt have continued with us. So watch out for the people that come out of, you know, let's say our church. Sends out somebody to do some great ministry work and everything else. And while they're here, it's oh, yeah, we believe all the same doctrine and all this other stuff. And they're saying that they believe this. And then they get out and it's like, well, I don't believe this and this and all these other things change. Well, they weren't really of us then, were they? Because if they were really of us, no doubt. And again, I'm not talking about like one or two differences of opinion, different, you know, on some of the smaller scale doctrines that are not just very critical. When you start going out and going like. You know, no, no, no, we're only going to we're baptizing the name of Jesus only. That's a big deal. That's not just a minor difference. Now you're now you're bringing up a different Jesus. When you start bringing in the oneness, Jesus. Model is Jesus. That's not the same thing. That's a different Jesus altogether. And you're going to make these major changes. Hey, you might have gone out from us, but you're not of us. Because the Bible says that if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. No doubt. No doubt about it. They would have continued with us. The fact that they're not is just demonstrating they were not really of us. But they went out that they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us. That they're made known. That's how they're made known. They're not really of us. And when this happens, you know, I understand it may be disappointing, but don't get discouraged when people go out and they prove themselves that they're not really of us. Because that, you know, if Satan's bringing those attacks on a church, it's because that church is doing something good. The church is actually doing something and Satan's trying to destroy that work. So even if it happens, you know, over and over again, it's because Satan is trying to destroy the work that's being done. But we have these, you know, some of this evidence, if you will, to look at and see, yeah, that's not right. And these things all ought to be standing out to you and going, wait a minute. How is it that now all of a sudden they're saying all these things? Because people will go in to gather a following after themselves. It's oftentimes the way it works. People show up to church and start gathering influence within the church, maybe trying to aspire to different leadership positions, soul winning leaders, whatever, right? Just different ways and get to know everybody and invite them over and start having their own discussions and then just start inserting their different doctrine to gather a following after themselves. Be on the lookout for that. And especially newer believers, be on the lookout for that. Look, there's nothing wrong with discussing doctrine. There's nothing wrong with talking about the Bible and things like that. You know, I encourage you, I think it's great. If God's word is in your heart and you want to talk about it, of course you want to talk about it. And we do a lot of that here. There's nothing wrong with that. But just be aware when someone starts bringing up these other doctrines and stuff and especially when they don't want to bring it up to the pastor, they don't want to talk about it, but they want to talk about it with you. And they know that that's not what Pastor Mersens believes, but he wants to talk about it with you. Hey, watch out about that. Now, I hope and pray that that doesn't happen here, but it's going to. If it's not now, it's going to at some point. Because if someone's got something to hide, there's a problem with that. And I know that not everyone believes with me on every single thing, and I've talked with many of the people in our church about some of the various differences, but to date, nothing has been that big of a deal, nothing major, that I would have even a problem with people talking about all that stuff. Like that's normal differences on some of the minor things. But if someone is afraid to like have it known outside of just we'll just let's just keep this between us. Watch out for that. Because those are the red flags of someone trying to cause division. Verse number 20 reads, But you have an unction from the Holy One and you know all things. I have not written unto you because you know not the truth, but because you know it. And that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denyeth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist that denyeth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denyeth the Son, the same hath not the Father. But he that acknowledges the Son hath the Father also. Let that therefore abide in you which you have heard from the beginning. If that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son and in the Father. And so many times, all of these references to, hey, look at what you learned at the beginning. Because what they learned at the beginning was through the apostles, through the disciples, right? And what happens is that people come in and have all this external influence to where they start opening their mind to the real truths. Oh, and they turn them against. How many times do you read in the Bible, like, here's one example of saying, hey, you know, this isn't what we preached unto you. This is what someone else is preaching unto you. So go back to what you learned at the beginning. You know, the understanding when you first got saved, that doctrine that you'd received initially is the good doctrine. Just like the apostle Paul, when there's divisions in 1 Corinthians, he's saying, you know, that some people are saying, I'm of Apollos, I'm of Cephas, I'm of Christ. And he says, look, Christ isn't divided. But then he says later on, he says, you know, you may have many teachers and instructors, but you have one Father, right? The person who's bringing you the gospel, the person that you got saved from, that you are the fruit of their ministry, you know, you ought to be giving that importance on the doctrine that they're teaching you. Because there's lots of people out there teaching different things, but, you know, they're not the one that led you to Christ. If nothing else, you should at least know that a person that led you to Christ ought to be a trustworthy source for as much as you're saved based on them leading you to Christ. And we see that over and over again about going back to that original doctrine of what you received. And we're going to be going there, I believe it's in, yeah, in my sermon, it's more in Galatians chapter 1, he talks about people being accursed. He's saying, look, don't listen to other people bringing in this other stuff. Go back to what you originally received. Unfortunately, there's this desire, humanly speaking, for people to want to have extra secret hidden knowledge. And they know that, and that's special for them. And that's an allure of the false prophet that's going to try to teach you these strange doctrines, and especially when they involve salvation or whatever else, that like, oh, man, no, look, this is the big secret, and this is what nobody knows. And this is what, you know, this is how the flat earth thing, you know, those people who get really duped into this, very unintelligent people, ultimately, that get duped into this, into thinking, like, wow, this is the great secret, this is that great mystery that Satan doesn't want anyone to know that the earth is actually flat, because if he did, then everyone would be turning, you know, like, no. You haven't just become aware of this great grand conspiracy that, like, over half the people in the world are actually involved in, in order to keep this facade going on. And, you know, but it's this feeling of privilege and special knowledge, and that's why when you meet these people, virtually all of them, it becomes a gospel issue to them. And they're saying, you know, you're going against a god, if you don't believe in this and stuff, that, you know, people aren't going to be getting saved because you're not really giving them the truth, and it just becomes bizarre, and it's like, yeah, that's crazy. But it's similar, Jehovah's Witnesses are the same thing. They use the same tactic, just with different means, by trying to explain, well, do you know what God's name really is? Oh, you don't even know his name, huh? Well, let me show you something, you know, and it's always these, you know, they try to go to the most obscure passages to try to show you something that you didn't know before, and that's why most of the ones that you talk to, most of the ones I talk to, are real haughty and lifted up in themselves, and it's hard to even have a conversation with them because they just feel like they just know so much more than everybody else, when in reality they know nothing. They've been taught a few things by some false prophet, and they've held to that, thinking that, oh, well, I'm so smart and I know so much, and they're not even reading their Bibles all the way through. They're not even reading the right Bible, but they're studying out of their watchtower literature, and that's what they know. But I don't want to digress too far into that. So he gives us this admonition to, like verse 24 says, Let that therefore abide in you which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son and in the Father, and this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. So I'm telling you these things and warning you for those that would seduce you. They're trying to entice you into believing something different and getting off into some false heresies. An example of this is found in Acts chapter 15. You can turn there if you'd like. This is one of the big false doctrines that was being taught at the time that tied into salvation. This is one of the false gospels that was being presented during the time of the apostles here. Verse number 1 of Acts 15, the Bible says, And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses ye cannot be saved. This is exactly what's going on, and this is what a lot of those letters are talking about, because if you notice, there's men that came down from Judea. So you're saying, well, where else is there a great source of this knowledge and people that we could rely on and depend on to teach us the truth and Judea? I mean, they're coming down from this area where there's all this great work being done, where Jesus was working, and now we've got these men from Judea coming down and teaching the brethren, and they're saying, well, look, you need to be circumcised after the manner of Moses. Now, they're preaching to a newer church and newer converts, but Paul and Barnabas aren't deceived by this, not for a second. The Bible says in verse number 2, When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, so this wasn't just some little thing. It wasn't some little deal. Well, we're going to agree to disagree. No, it wasn't a small dissension. You know what that means? It was a great dissension. It was a big deal. It was a big disagreement saying, no, no, you don't need to be circumcised in order to be saved. You can't fool Paul and Barnabas into believing that not even for a second, as in certain other of them should go up to, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem under the apostles and elders about this question. They're saying, well, we need to go get it from these other authorities. And even the apostle Paul, he puts in here, you know, I don't need letters of commendation to you or from you. You know, these people who seem to be pillars of the faith, you know what, I don't even need their approval or their authority. You don't need the approval and authority of man to put their stamp of approval on a doctrine that's in the scripture, on a doctrine of God. And he's saying, I know this. I don't need anyone else to confirm that this is true. And he even goes on, and I'm going to keep reading here in Acts 15, but turn if you go to Galatians chapter one, it's that same sentiment is being taught that you don't need, you know, the approval of the person to tell you something is true. It's the truth of God's word. Acts 15 verse 23 says, you know, the same chapter says, and they wrote letters by them after this manner, the apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren, which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia. So they've come to the conclusion that, no, circumcision is not right. So when they go down to Jerusalem and they talk to the other apostles, you know, Peter stands up and he tells them how he preached on the Gentiles and received the Holy Ghost and, you know, he gives a testimony of this, you know, confirming what Paul and Barnabas were already saying, that they don't need to be circumcised and they don't need to convince the Gentiles that they need to follow the law to be saved because they don't, because no one can follow the law. And then verse 24 says, for as much as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your soul, saying ye must be circumcised and keep the law, to whom we gave no such commandment. So this is the letter they're sending back to those people, back to that church, saying, look, I know that there are some people that came down from us, but we know they were not of them because they were teaching another Jesus, another gospel, ultimately there's another gospel saying that they need to be circumcised. But how much of everything else was the same? They're still teaching Jesus, they're still teaching, you know, the Lord and Moses and all this other, you know, everything else that goes along with the religion, but they're saying, yeah, but you've got to be circumcised to be saved, too. I mean, it's not just enough to believe. And they came down from that great church where all those great things are happening in Jerusalem, right? So of course we can believe these people. No. No. And what did they say, the apostles said, then when they wrote the letter back, they said that they troubled you with words subverting your souls. Like there's a lot of damage trying to be done to subvert their souls and to get them just off in some horrible heresy. And they're saying we didn't give them any commandment at all, and they straighten out the situation. Galatians 1, verse number 6, we see the same problem creeping in there. The Bible says, I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. So this other gospel is not saying, it's not like it's just some completely different plan of salvation altogether. Like it's just totally distinct from Jesus Christ. It's just a perversion of the true gospel. But it's false, because they've twisted it, they've changed it, just as the repent of your sins gospel perverts and changes the simplicity which is in Christ. The one that says, no, no, no, you have to be willing to turn from all of your sins before you can be saved. In order to be saved, those sins that you're doing, you have to hate them with the utter disgust and hatred and just turn to just want to be obedient unto the Lord. That's what you need in order to be saved. Because then what they do with that is say, well, if you're still sinning, you obviously didn't have enough hatred and repentance of that sin, so you're not really saved. But they've added works, because when you turn from sin, you're turning to keeping the law. They say, oh, you have to turn from sin to the Savior. No one's trusting in sin to save them. If you turn from sin, you're going to be turning to obeying the law. That's the opposite of sinning. The opposite of sinning is obeying the law. So if you're turning from sinning, you're turning to the law. You're turning to obeying the law. Now, look, that's something that we all should do, but it's not what we do to be saved. There's nothing to do with our salvation. The repentance needed to be saved is, hey, I've been trusting in myself to keep the law. I've been trusting in my dead works. I've been trusting in Buddha. I've been trusting in something else. I need to change all that and put my trust just in Jesus Christ alone. It's that simple. I need to turn from those things and put my trust just in Jesus. But there's perversions of the gospel that go on, and they trouble people. There are some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. Why is it troubling? Because now you're getting people going, wow, I don't even know if I'm saved now, and everything I thought I understood, now I don't, you know. Verse 8, this is where he gets the emphasis even off of himself. He says, But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. He's being forceful, saying, look, this gospel is the right gospel, the gospel of salvation by grace through faith. I don't care who comes to you. It could be an angel. It could be me. It could be some other apostle. If anyone comes to you saying, no, no, no, the gospel's changed. The gospel's different. You have to do something else. He's saying, let him be accursed. And he's willing to throw himself in that category. You know what? If I start preaching another gospel, let me be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that you have received, let him be accursed. So how do you know if someone's saved? Well, one of the ways you can tell is if someone's starting to preach another gospel. And other than what you've received already. Flip over to chapter 2. Verse number three, the Bible reads, but neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised, and that because of false brethren, unawares brought in who came in privily to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage. So another warning about false brethren. So they come in privily, like privately, secretly. They don't want to make themselves known. They have an agenda to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus. And they're trying to bring us into bondage. They start to bring in their damnable heresy and their works and trying to bring us back into that bondage. And it says in verse five, to whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. So we didn't entertain that foolishness and that heresy, not even for an hour. And when it comes to the gospel, we're not willing to entertain anything other than what we've already received. I'm not willing to entertain any other gospel than what I've already received. Not for an hour. Why? Because we need the gospel to continue. We need it to further the right gospel. Flip over to chapter four, verse 17, the Bible says, they zealously affect you, but not well. And people might have a lot of zeal. Might have people coming in here with just a lot of zeal, a lot of drive, real excited, right? But if they're bringing in another gospel, they're not going to affect you well. Just because someone is very zealous, you might see a preacher online or whatever and, oh, man, they're on fire and all this and that. I just love listening to them. You know what? They may have a lot of zeal, but if they're a false prophet, if they've got a different gospel, a different Jesus, they're not going to affect you well. It says, yea, they would exclude you that ye might affect them. Verse 18, but it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing and not only when I am present with you. So you're saying, yeah, it's great to be zealous on a good thing, on a right thing. My little children of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, I desire to be present with you now and to change my voice, for I stand in doubt of you. Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? So he's already saying, I'm standing in doubt of you. Why? Why is he standing in doubt of them? He's standing in doubt of their salvation, which is why in verse 19, he says, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. There's no stronger language that he could use with questioning their salvation than just saying, look, it's like I need to give birth again. Because I thought you all were saved. I travailed, I worked, I labored, I preached the gospel unto you, you got saved, but now you're telling me that people need to be circumcised to be saved. Do I need to go through this whole thing again? Because obviously you didn't get it the first time. If you're believing and this works, then now, then something didn't stick. Something's not right. That's the problem that we need to, you know, that we need to watch out for. And that made him doubt is their testimony of even doubting whether or not they're saved. We're almost done. Turn, if you would, to Romans chapter 8. I spent a lot of time on like the false brethren and the false prophets. But just, I'm going to close with a couple of truths about saved versus unsaved people from scripture that will hopefully help you to identify whether or not a person is saved. You know, we talked about the very beginning, we're going to use people's testimony, right, and assume that they're telling us the truth. And we're going to give people the benefit of the doubt, too, by the way. This isn't for the purpose of a witch hunt. This is a purpose of just understanding and knowing. Because, like I said before, if someone that's close to us maybe is unsaved, we want to know if they're unsaved so that we can try to get them saved. We try to give them the gospel, right, because we care about them, we love them, we don't want to just make an assumption. Also, if there's a teacher, someone we're learning from, you know, we want to know whether or not they're saved because we don't want to be just subjecting ourselves to false doctrine and potentially being led away and beguiled through the deceitfulness of a false teacher or false prophet. And also, even with the false brethren, you know, we don't want to just be fellowshipping and being unequally yoked with people that are not saved, especially if they're claiming one thing, but then that's not really who they are. We don't want to even be spending time with those people. We want to be aware of that because people who are coming in with guile, you know, they can do damage. And if it really is a bad person, like a reprobate person, someone who's just wearing the sheep's clothing, they are there to do hurt and to do damage. And while that is foreign for us, which is one of the reasons why I have to bring this up, I think, you know, to be safe, I need to preach on this pretty frequently because it's foreign to people who are not reprobates to even think of who would go through the effort and the trouble to disguise themselves, to say all these things they don't believe, and to plot and to plan to do something evil to people. That is just so far against what normal people even think anyways that it's hard to imagine that people like that even exist. So we have a tendency to not even consider it in the day to day because it's just so foreign, it's so strange. But the Bible tells us over and over again that these people exist and they're real and you see and read about these people in the news from time to time, these people who gain confidence just to do bad things to people and they lie and they're deceitful and they're wicked people. And we need to be aware of that so when we can understand, even just to help give us any level of discernment, whether or not someone's saved versus unsaved, we want to be able to pick up on that and hone that discerning so that we don't put ourselves at risk with people who are just pretending. Okay? Now, again, we try to give the benefit of doubt as much as we possibly can. But there ought to at least be red flags going off in your mind when you start seeing more of these things coming to light. Some things should just be, that's enough, that's all I need to see, but other things you just need to be watchful and mindful. And honestly, some of these people, they may be covered in sheep's clothing so well that you're not going to be able to get through them until they already make themselves manifest. And at that point, it's kind of too late if they're going to do some damage. So always, I recommend for your families, keeping your own rules and keeping your family safe by trusting no one. You don't have to suspect anyone, but you don't have to trust people with the things that are most valuable to you, like your children. Which is why we don't let other people watch our children for us, other than family, like people that, you know, we know that our family and, you know, only a specific family. It's not just any family, right? There's very, very few people still that I can entrust the care of my children to. And even in those situations, you know, I just still try to just do, you know, as much as is possible to be involved to make sure that my children don't ever get damaged or defiled. And that's, you know, hopefully you do the same thing. Romans chapter 8. The Bible reads here, verse 14, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. So in turn, if you go to 1 Corinthians chapter 2, it's the last place we're going to look. There's some truths about saved versus unsaved people. One of them is that a saved person has the Spirit of God that bears witness with your spirit that you're saved. An unsaved person doesn't have that. They may have deceived themselves in the thinking that they're saved, but the Spirit is not bearing witness with their spirit. And only saved people could even understand that knowledge of being saved because the Holy Spirit will bear witness with your spirit that you're a child of God. And it doesn't mean you'll never have a doubt of salvation. And, you know, I could speak from experience. I've doubted my own salvation in the past, but it's still like for me, it was only still a surface level. And the reason why it wasn't because my doubting came not as a result of thinking that, oh, I committed a sin that's going to make me unsaved, that somehow Jesus wasn't able to save me. It had more to do with, did I really believe? Because I knew that faith was the only thing that can save a person. And it's natural and normal, I think, to have that doubt when you're living a really sinful life, which I was. So at the moment when I was doubting my salvation, it was when I was kind of in my worst state after I was saved going, well, how can I even say that I believe the Bible if I'm doing this, this, this, this, which I know that the Bible commands against? Right? And it's the confrontation of your own hypocrisy going, how can I say I believe this? Now, I did, and even through those times, I knew I was still saved. Like, I knew I was saved, but I was having these questions, and it really was a sorrowful repentance that was working to start doing what's right. Because, you know, you ought to be confronted with that, going, well, how can you call yourself a Christian? How can you call yourself this if you've got this wickedness going on in your life? You need to change that. So we have that, but see, that's an internal thing, that witness. You can't see that in somebody else. But here's one last test that I use frequently in general with people, not false prophets, but just people in general, especially those that can give you some of the right answers, right? You say, like, well, do you believe, you know, what does it take for a person to be saved? Faith in Jesus Christ, you know, no works, yet no works. It's just all faith. And then you ask them the eternal security part and say, yep, you know, I believe that it's eternal and I can never lose it. I believe that there are people that will answer those questions correctly that are still not saved. And the reason being is that anyone can repeat things or just say things that could make sense. But when it comes down to it, they're not really fully trusting. Jesus to be their savior. And I know that might sound a little weird and. I never when people give a good testimony, I never get accusatory with those people either, because you have to give them the benefit of the doubt that even if they don't necessarily realize it, because a lot of people you talk to don't they'll tell you they believe in salvation by grace or faith, and they believe that they believe it's by grace. Does that make sense? Like they don't think that what they believe is works. But when you ask them further questions, it gets revealed that it is works because, you know, they believe you all you have to do this, this and this or whatever. You know, they can lose their salvation, whatever else. They'll still tell you that it's by grace through faith. Right. But those people, like I said in the beginning, those are easier to spot. But the people are going to just say, no, there's nothing else to it. That's not works. There's one thing there's one test. There's one differentiation between unsaved people and saved people that the Bible tells us about that. I also use to help discern whether or not I think that someone truly is saved. And again, whether or not I think someone is saved doesn't determine whether or not that person is saved. Right. So whatever you think, if you think a person is saved or not, God knows the heart. Right. And we need to remember that. So, you know, but but this all is helpful in how we live, how we interact with people. You know, the the level of importance of giving someone to God, all these various things. And what I'm going to tell you now, I'm gonna show you this right now. This is the very reason why there's certain there's particular people in my family that I have spent more time trying to give the gospel to and been praying about because they fell into this very category. And the reason being is because specifically, and this is the hardest time I've had with giving the gospel to people who are reformed or a Presbyterian faith like like I came from is because they'll tell you that it's eternal security and they'll tell you that it's faith alone. But there's a lot of people that can tell you that that I still don't think honestly are saved. And he and the reason why is found in first Corinthians chapter two, look at verse number ten, the Bible reads, but God has revealed them unto us by his spirit for the spirit searches all things. Yea, the deep things of God for what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of man, which is in him, even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. So God has given every person who saved the spirit of God. That we might know the things that are freely given to us of God, we know of God's grace, we know of God's gift. We know these things internally inside more than just a head knowledge is more than just academic. You know it because the spirit can work in you and confirm these things are true. And it's hard to put into words the way the spirit works with your knowledge of being a child of God. But it's true nonetheless. And I don't rely on emotions, I'm not saying that the confirmation from the spirit is an emotional thing. It's not something that, oh well if you're not brought to tears and you're not really feeling the spirit, that's not it at all. It's a confirmation of knowledge. It's the truth. For everyone who's saved, you probably all have experienced the same thing because I've talked to so many people and you experience the same exact thing. When you hear a Bible truth that you didn't hear before and you didn't necessarily know before, you can receive that as like, I've always known that. Even though you didn't really always know that, it's so simple, it can be so basic, it's not necessarily like, yes that's exactly what that means. And you can accept that and receive that and know that is exactly right, even if it's the first time you've ever heard that. It's this confirmation of this truth that is just indisputable, undeniable, absolutely that is a fact, that is true. And it's just, you know passages that you might have read over and over and over and over and over again and didn't even have any doubts on or questions on, but all of a sudden you hear it, it's brought to light and you're going, absolutely that's the truth. Amen. People who are saved have that confirmation from the Spirit that absolutely that that's right, that's true. And people who are not, don't have that. So let's keep reading here, it says in verse 13, Again, the Holy Ghost being a teacher. So learning from the Holy Ghost through teaching, through preaching, but still learning from the Holy Ghost is confirming that within you. It says in verse 14, But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judge of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ. So Christ in you, the Holy Spirit guiding you and confirming and leading you into all truth and wisdom. When you hear Bible truth and when you can have them outline and have them just real simply, you can get that confirmation on many truths in the scripture. And obviously it doesn't happen with every single question or doctrine that you might have, but there's many things that are just right there in basic truths. And where I'm going with this is using this evidence when you're talking with someone to try to understand, are they really saved? Can they really understand even some of the most basic spiritual truths from the Bible or just truths from the Bible? Just real simple things. Or is everything different? Is everything like no matter how much time? So you could sit down and talk to someone and start in Genesis and go, well you know the Bible teaches that there was a worldwide flood. Very basic truth. And when you see the scriptures, if you've never thought about that before, you could look at it and go, yeah well I mean if the water rose over the highest mountains, which is what the Bible says, it has to go somewhere. Because there's a lot of people that will downplay and they don't understand how this could happen or science proves this couldn't have happened. So they just want to believe in a localized flood. They just want to believe that for whatever reason. But if you look at the scripture, it's impossible to believe in a localized flood because it's so basic and so on the surface just right there. When the water goes over the highest mountains, it has to go somewhere. It doesn't just have this imaginary wall continuing up above the mountains. No, it's flowing down everywhere. And you've got water coming not just from above but from underneath. Now if someone didn't understand that before because they didn't read it, they didn't think about it, that doesn't mean anything. But when you can sit down with someone and say, okay well let's look at this and here's this passage and here's this passage, and they're just like no, no, no, no, no. And then you say, okay now look, one time someone disagrees with something, again I would consider that a minor doctrine whether or not it was a global flood or a localized flood if you still believe that all the animals died and everything else. Fine. I'm not saying that you're just automatically unsaved because you don't believe that. That's not what I'm saying. But I am saying this, if people just cannot understand scriptural things, then they are unsaved. Because a natural man receiveth not the things of God. And if you can just start going down this list and just be like look, here's what the Bible says here, here's what the Bible says here, here's what the Bible says, and it's just not getting it, not comprehending, then you've got a problem there. And even if they can repeat the same thing about salvation, it indicates, you know what, there's a problem here. Because you ought to be able to at least, you don't have to be a fundamental Baptist, but can we at least talk about some of these basic things in the scripture where the Bible is just absolutely clear on and there should be no debate over this because it's just clearly written on the page. Can you accept that? Right? Because when you accept Jesus Christ, Jesus is the Word. You're not accepting parts and portions of the scripture, you're believing all of it. I mean, for myself, my own personal confirmation, like when I got saved, I knew I was saved, because as soon as I put my trust in Jesus, I knew inherently I was accepting the whole Bible as true. Right? I was accepting all of the Word, so at the time, I believed in evolution and the big bang and all the nonsense that's taught in school, but right away I knew, well, now I've got a problem, because I'm believing this to be true. But see, I actually believed this, so then once I started understanding it, I didn't need to make excuses for this because I knew that this was true and was able to understand more and accept what the Bible actually says and be like, oh yeah. You know, because even before getting saved, I was okay with theistic evolution. Well, I mean, if God just worked it this way, you know, to me it was just something easy to just say, oh yeah, there's no real problem here, who cares? But once I got saved, I knew right away, I knew what Genesis said. Theistic evolution is just a cop-out for someone to try to make themselves feel better as if they could still accept evolution and the Bible when it doesn't fit at all. Not at all. They're two completely different, you know, God created versus it all created on its own, and the way they both are presented as happening, you cannot merge the two at all. So, you know, why determine if people are saved? There's obviously lots of good reasons for that. That last point was kind of a big one, but at the end of the day, you know, the point isn't to deride people or denigrate people if they're, you know, if they're unsaved. The whole point should be, like especially in that last case of trying to determine, well, this person is giving the right answers, but there's still something that seems off about it. There's still just something that makes me think that they might not be saved. You know, you can talk about these things with those people, and then also it gives you an opportunity to just keep bringing up the gospel. I mean, the people that I'm thinking of that were in my life, I just keep bringing up the gospel over and over and over again, because that's ultimately what matters. It's not as much that I want to show, oh, you're not saved. And people like to take this and say, well, you're just saved. I thought all you had to do to be saved was believe in Jesus Christ. And this is what you have to be careful about, because this truth in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, it's true no matter what. I mean, this is true all the time. And if people are going to say, well, I thought all you had to do to be saved was believe. Well, I say I believe, but now you're saying I'm not saved because I believe this and this and this and this. So, all of those things that you're mentioning is demonstrating that you have no understanding of the scripture at all. So, there's a problem. There's a fundamental problem. So, when people are deeming someone unsaved because they believe in a bunch of weird doctrines, it's not that far off when you look at scripture to understand why someone might think you're unsaved. Right? I mean, it's not because we're changing the gospel. It's just because people like to throw out there, well, the Bible says you have to believe this and your doctrine to be saved. No, it doesn't. But you know what? The Bible does say that if they went out from us, if they had been of us, they would have no doubt continued with us. The Bible does say that the things of God are spiritually discerned and the natural man can't receive them. So, you know, there's a balance to be struck there in determinance, but I think if you go out there with the right attitude anyways of just understanding why you're trying to determine that, then you should be good anyways. Hopefully there's a little bit of light shed on the subject as far as that word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much for your word. We pray that you please help us to be able to show good discernment because salvation is so important. It's important for so many reasons. It's important that souls will go to heaven, that we wouldn't give up on people too soon or make an assumption that people are saved when they're really not. Lord, we want to reach as many people as possible. And I pray that you would please help us to do so and have that right discernment. And Lord, we also want to be able to protect ourselves from false teachers and false brethren that might try to creep in and spread some bad doctrine and heresy and try to split the church up and do damage. Even at the individual level or family level, dear Lord, I pray that you would help us to be able to use these truths and gain some wisdom from your word to be able to identify any of the wolves that might be trying to creep in, Lord. And that you would ultimately just watch over and protect us. God, we love you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.