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

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Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to come out this evening, Lord, to church. Pray that you bless the service. Thank you for the people that are here, Lord. Pray that you bless the singing, the preaching, and the fellowship to come in. We love you, and in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. All right. It's now time for favorites where if you're selected, we will sing a stanza from the song that you picked. Let's start with Emily. Go ahead. 144. 144. 144. You can do this. Song number 144. A mighty fortress is our God. Song number 144 on the first. A mighty fortress is our God. A bulwark never failing. Our help of the young is a flood. A mortal else revealing. For still our wings can fall. The sea to earth as well. This grass and path of grain. An open, pure old hay. Our earth is not busy before. Brother Nate, go ahead. Twenty-eight. Twenty-eight. Three, two, eight. Song number 328. I'm on that mountain. Three, two, eight. On the first. I saw the giant crayless nest upon a mountain high. He laughed so hard on my abandoned knee. No longer in the wilderness I'll stay and so I cry. I want that mountain. It belongs to me. I want that mountain. I want that mountain. Where the milk and honey grow. Where the greens are next to grow. I want that mountain. I want that mountain. The mountain that my heart has given me. Asiana, go ahead. What was it? 185. 185. Song number 185. My savior's love. 185. On the first. I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus and Nazarene. And wonder how he could love me. I stand, I contend, I plead. How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful, and my savior's love to me. Go ahead. 143. 143. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a cold taste of glory divine. Get of salvation, precious of God. Born of his spirit, washed in his blood. He is my savior's love. I stand, I contend, I plead. How marvelous, how wonderful, and my savior's love to me. Born of his spirit, washed in his blood. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my savior, all that they love. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my savior, all that they love. Miss Ava, go ahead. 155. This will be the last song this evening. Song number 155. It's a good song, so let's sing it twice, all right? We're going to sing doxology. We're going to do it super quickly. So sing it twice on the first. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him, all creatures, here below. Praise him above the heavenly host. Praise God, the son and holy ghost. Sing it one more time. Praise God for our home, all blessings flow. Praise him, all creatures, here below. Praise him above the heavenly host. Praise God, the son and holy ghost. Amen. Amen. All right, well, let's take our bulletins. We'll look at some announcements real quickly tonight. If you do not have a bulletin, just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you. If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up and we'll get one for you. The verse this week, Proverbs 28, 5. Evil men understand not judgment, but they that seek the Lord understand all things. And that's a good verse there. We like that. If you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service times Sunday morning, service 1030 a.m. And we had a wonderful service this morning. We're glad you're back out tonight for the evening service. And we do invite you to be back on Wednesday night for the midweek Bible study. And we are in the book of Amos. We'll be in Amos chapter number four this coming Wednesday. So if you'd like to read ahead and get ready to study that chapter together, that would be great. If you look at our sowing times, our main sowing times on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. and then we have additional sowing times on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays at 2 p.m. And if you are a sower, I just want to remind you that we'd like for you to add your salvations on the communication card if you have somebody saved so that way we can update the bulletin. If you have a map that is not finished, please turn in the unfinished map so that we can get it recycled back through and get it finished. And also if you're running late, call us or text us at the number there, 916-868-9080. Let us know that you're planning on being there, but you're running late. That way we can have a partner and a map and everything ready for you. If you're a first-time guest, if it's your first time here at Ready Baptist Church, we're glad you're with us. We'd like to give you a little gift. As you leave here tonight, you go out the main foyer or out the secondary foyer. You'll see a little table set up. And on that table, you'll see these little gift bags. Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you. And if you are a guest, we'd ask that you please take a moment and fill out the communication card, which is inserted in your bulletin. And if you need a pen, just raise your hand and one of our ushers can bring you by a Ready Baptist Church pen. And you can throw this. You can put this into the offering plate when it goes by. We'd love to have a record of your attendance. If you look at the announcements there, we of course are a family-integrated church. What that means is that children and infants are always welcome in the service. We do not separate children from their parents for any reason. However, we do have mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience. So if you have a child that's being distracting during the service, or if you need some privacy, we would encourage you to please use the mother-baby rooms and the daddy rooms. If you're not sure where they're at, you can look at the back of the bulletin and you'll see a layout of the church building. If you need to be baptized, you can let us know on your communication card. And we'd love to baptize you. We'll follow up with you to let us know on the card. If you look at the announcements and upcoming events, of course the nine chapters a day challenge is over. And if you finished it and you have not yet let us know, please make sure you let us know on your communication card. Write your name legibly so we can get the list going and we can get the plaque made. And you should also have, I don't think I announced this in the morning, but you should have the Old Testament reading chart. And we'd love for you to have one of these so that you can continue reading the Bible through the year and read the Old Testament and read the Bible cover to cover this year. Most Christians have never read the Bible cover to cover, not one time. Hopefully that's not true here at Verity Baptist Church, but most Christians in general haven't and I want to encourage you to read the Bible. This Friday, February 10th at 6.30 is the married couple's sweetheart banquet. So I encourage you to sign up. You have to sign up by today. Today's the deadline. If you've not yet signed up, it'll be a fun time. It'll be a catered dinner and then we'll play the not so newlywed game. There's a $50 gift card to the Cheesecake Factory. And then next Sunday or this coming Sunday is I Love My Church Sunday. You should have one of these cards in the bulletin and we want you to use this card as a tool to invite somebody to church this coming Sunday for I Love My Church Sunday. And I just want to make sure somebody brought this up to me that it's not in the bulletin, but we want you to know on the cards here that we're giving out the bags of pink vanilla and caramel Valentine's Day popcorn. We've got the choir singing on Sunday morning, the choir and orchestra having special music. And then on Sunday night, so the evening service, we're having a potluck after the service in the fellowship hall. Now I realize that we just had a potluck on Wednesday night, but I did not plan that, okay? I planned this. So I expect you to get on board with this one and make sure you bring food and have a good time. So we encourage you to be here for that. And then of course tonight, we've got the mailer's assembly in the fellowship hall if you can help us after the service, right after the service, if you're able to help us in the fellowship hall assemble mailers, we would appreciate your help. And then you'll notice there that all the ladies are invited to a baby shower for Ms. Ajana Gonsharab on Saturday, February 25th at 3 p.m. And Ms. Ajana is having a boy and she is registered on Amazon. It is a potluck, so if you can, please bring a dish to share. And if you'd like to attend, you can sign up on your communication card, choir and orchestra, they have a practice homeschool group. They've got a Valentine's Day party coming up on Tuesday, February 14th at 11 a.m. Please sign up on your communication card if you're planning to attend. My wife has the handouts for all that information, so make sure you get that from her if you need it. And then PE class is on Thursday, February 16th. There's other things there for you to look at. Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service so that they're not a distraction to anybody. If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of February, we have Miss Katie Rosenberg's birthday is tomorrow, February 6th, and Joanna Nellitescu's birthday is February 7th, Miss Courtney Rubin's birthday is February 7th, Laurel Rubin's birthday is February 10th, and Miss Lisa Sweeten's birthday is February 11th. Praise Report, Money Matters, all those things are there for you to look at. And I think that's it for all of the announcements, so we're going to go ahead and sing the chorus of the week. I'm sorry, we're not going to sing the chorus of the week. Take your songbooks and go to page number 441. Page number 441. And we'll sing Great Is Thy Faithfulness as we prepare to receive the offering this evening. 441, Great Is Thy Faithfulness. Sing it out on the first. Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father. There is no shadow of learning with thee. Thou changest not thy compassion, may fail not as thou hast been, thou forever will please. Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness. Good morning, new mercies I see, all I have needed thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me. 441, sing it out on the second. Summer and winter, springtime and harvest, sun, moon, and stars in their forces above, join with all means great, valuable with rest. Great is thy faithfulness, mercy and love. Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning, new mercies I see, all I have needed thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me. Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, my own dear presence to cheer and to guide, and to heal and bright hope our King above. Blessings on mine, with glad vows and desire. Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning, new mercies I see, all I have needed thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me. Amen. Good singing. We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time. And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank you for allowing us to gather together tonight. Lord, we pray that you bless the offering, the gift, and the giver. Lord, we pray that you would meet with us as we take another doctrine of the word of God and teach it. Lord, I pray that you'd help us to learn it and to internalize it. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Please open up to Romans, chapter number 10. Romans, chapter number 10. If you need a Bible, just put your hand up and one of the ushers might bring you a Bible. Romans, chapter number 10. If you need a Bible, just keep your hand up and we'll come by. Romans 10, we read the entire chapter as our custom. Romans, chapter number 10, beginning in verse number 1. Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. If I bear them record that they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. For Moses described with the righteousness which is of the law that the man which doeth these things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise. Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? That is, to bring Christ down from above. Or, Who shall descend into the deep? That is, to bring up Christ again from the dead. But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is, the word of faith which we preach. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth into righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made into salvation. For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For as I saith, Lord, who hath believed the report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes, verily. They are a sound one to all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. But as I say, Very bold and saith, I was found of them that sought me not. I was made manifest unto them, and asked not for me. But to Israel he saith, All day long have I stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening. God, I thank you for your word and for our church, for whom it's here. Please give us all tender hearts with a message tonight, God. I ask that you please be with our pastor to strengthen him. And from the word of the Spirit, we love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Alright, we're there in Romans chapter number 10. And of course on Sunday nights we've been going through our Declaring Doctrine sermon series. And this is a series in which we are going through a study systematically through the major doctrines of the Bible. We've been going through this series off and on for a couple of years now. We'll come to it, look at one kind of subject of doctrines, one family of doctrines, and then we'll stop and come back. And we are on our 27th doctrine out of 60. So we're about halfway through this thing. And we're going to do a few more and then give it a break and come back to it later. But tonight I am finishing up and kind of wrapping up the section of doctrines that have to do with sin and salvation. Of course we've been talking about sin the last several weeks and we've had sermons on the subject of salvation. And tonight I'm preaching on the subject of the doctrine of calling upon the name of the Lord. And this is sometimes referred to as the sinner's prayer. You're there in Romans chapter number 10. And of course Romans 10 is probably the quintessential verses when it comes to this idea of the sinner's prayer or calling upon the name of the Lord. In verse 9 the Bible says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Notice verse 13 the Bible says for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And of course here at Verity Baptist Church we have always believed that when it comes to soul winning that people must call upon the name of the Lord. That we have always believed as a soul winning church that we must help people to call upon the name of the Lord. And we believe in the doctrine of the sinner's prayer. And I'd like you to keep your place there in Romans chapter 10. We're going to come back to it. But go with me if you would to the Old Testament book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 4. It should be fairly easy to find the first book in the Bible, Genesis chapter 4. And let me just say this, it's important to preach a sermon like this for several reasons. Honestly I'm preaching about it tonight just because it needs to fit into this doctrinal series that we've been going through. I've been in ministry now for 12 years and what I've noticed is that this idea of attacking the sinner's prayer comes into our church. Honestly it seems like every three years or so somebody will show up who wants to start attacking the sinner's prayer, calling upon the name of the Lord. I've spoken to some of my pastor friends and Pastor Anderson specifically and he's kind of had the same thing. About every two to three years somebody shows up attacking this doctrine and it's a good doctrine to just defend every once in a while. And it's important because of the fact that we are a soul winning church. I don't know if you noticed there in the bulletin but last week we saw there in the bulletin we had 121 soul winners out from our church. And I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful for the fact that we're a soul winning church and I'm trying to do my best to raise up a soul winning army here in Sacramento. But the Bible says that if we're going to strive together, we must strive together for the faith of the gospel. We must do it in unity and we've got to believe and agree on the same things. And I want to speak to you tonight about the subject of the sinner's prayer, calling upon the name of the Lord. And I'd like to give you four statements tonight in regards to why we believe in calling upon the name of the Lord. Why we believe in the sinner's prayer. If you're taking notes tonight on the back of your course of the week, of course there's a place for you to write down some things. Maybe you can jot these down. Number one, I'd like you to notice and I'd like to begin tonight by emphasizing the fact that calling upon the name of the Lord is emphasized throughout the Bible. Calling upon the name of the Lord is emphasized throughout the Bible. And I should say it this way, it is emphasized throughout the entire Bible. It is one of these things that comes up literally throughout the entire Bible. We could spend the whole night going to verse after verse on this. I'm not going to do that but I am going to show you enough verses to make the point. Now I want you to notice that this is not just something that's mentioned in one epistle, one book, mentioned one time. But this concept comes up all throughout the Bible. Genesis chapter 4 and verse 26, I want you to notice the Bible says there, And to Seth, to him also there was born a son, and he called his name Enos. And the Bible says, Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. And of course we know that at this point this is not the first time that somebody got saved in the Bible. But the Bible emphasizes here that man began to call upon the name of the Lord. There seems to indicate that through Seth or through his son Enos some sort of a soul winning revival maybe took place. Because when they showed up, then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. I hope that in heaven they say that about Verity Baptist Church. That when Verity Baptist Church was started here in Sacramento, then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. And that's what's being spoken of here. But I want you to notice that all the way in the Old Testament, all the way in the very first book of the Bible, when we're still in Genesis chapter 4, which Genesis chapter 4 is right smack down in the middle of those first 10, 12 chapters in the book of Genesis that deal with the origins of man. And at the very beginning we see this emphasis on calling upon the name of the Lord. Go to Genesis chapter 12, look at verse 8, notice what the Bible says. Genesis chapter 12 and verse 8, the Bible says, And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Haai on the east. And there he builded an altar unto the Lord. Notice what the Bible says, and called upon the name of the Lord. Here we see Abraham, the father of faith, all the way in the Old Testament in the book of Genesis. The Bible tells us that he called upon the name of the Lord. Go to Genesis chapter 26, Genesis 26, look at verse number 25. Genesis 26 and verse 25, the Bible says, And he builded an altar there, notice it again, and called upon the name of the Lord. And pitched his tent there, and there Isaac's servants digged a well. So we saw Abraham call upon the name of the Lord, Genesis 12. We see Isaac here call upon the name of the Lord, Genesis 26. Go to Psalms, Psalm 116, if you open up your Bible just right in the center, you'll more than likely fall in the book of Psalms, Psalm 116. And I want to begin by just showing you that this is something that is emphasized throughout the Bible. And I'll just be kind of honest with you up front. I've got four statements, kind of four arguments that I want to make. And I'm beginning with the weakest arguments and moving towards the strongest arguments, and I think undeniable arguments. So if you think, well, this doesn't mean anything, well, just hang on tight. But I want you to notice that this is something that is emphasized throughout Scripture. Like I said, we can spend all night looking at verses. I'm not going to do that, but I'll show you enough to just make the point. We saw there a few in Genesis, Psalms 116, if you would. Look down at verse number 13, Psalm 116 and verse 13. I want you to notice the connection between the idea of salvation and calling upon the name of the Lord. Psalm 116, verse 13. I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. Look at verse 17, same Psalm. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call upon the name of the Lord. Let's look at another passage. Go to Zephaniah, chapter number 3. Zephaniah, chapter number 3. You're not sure where that's at? You start at Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, and go backwards. You've got the ZH books there. You have Zephaniah, you have Malachi, if you go backwards, Zechariah, Haggai, Zephaniah. Malachi, Zechariah, Haggai, Zephaniah. Zephaniah, chapter 3. Look at verse 9, the Bible says, For then will I turn to the people a pure language that they may all, notice the emphasis, call upon the name of the Lord. And the point that I'm trying to show you is that this is found all throughout the Bible. You see it in the book of Genesis, the historical books. You see it in Psalms, the poetic books. You see it in Zephaniah, the prophetic books. You see it in the New Testament. Go to Acts 22, Acts 22. It's pretty rare when something is emphasized consistently throughout every genre of the Word of God and even when it goes from the Old Testament into the New Testament. There are so many things that did not cross over from the Old Testament to the New Testament. There are many things that we believe, and this is a sermon for another day, but we believe in replacement theology where there are many things that were done away in the Old Testament that no longer apply in the New Testament. But this is not one of them. Why? Because this is connected to salvation. This is how people get saved and salvation has always been the same. You say, how do people get saved in the New Testament? Well, notice there Acts 22, 16. Acts chapter 22, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts. Acts 22 and verse 16. Paul says, and now, why terriest thou? This is Ananias speaking to Saul or Paul. He says, arise and be baptized. Notice what he says, wash away thy sins. How do you wash away your sins? Calling on the name of the Lord. This is how Paul got saved. How did Paul get saved? Paul got saved the same way that Abraham got saved, the same way that Isaac got saved, the same way that every believer throughout all history has ever gotten saved by calling on the name of the Lord. Go back to Romans, Romans chapter 10, where we started. If you're there in Acts, you flip over to Romans chapter 10 and verse 13. Notice the quote from the Old Testament, for whosoever, this is a quote from the book of Joel, by the way. I didn't show it to you in Joel, but just so you're aware of it. Romans 10, 13, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So we see that this idea of calling on the name of the Lord is emphasized. I mean throughout the entire Bible. There are very few things that you could find that you could say are taught in the historical books, the poetic books, the prophetic books, the New Testament, the epistles. It's found throughout the entire Bible. And here's where I want to begin and just explain that this idea of calling upon the name of the Lord is emphasized throughout the entire Bible. I don't think you could be intellectually honest and not admit that this is something that God obviously chose to emphasize throughout the entire word. I mean we've literally gone from Genesis to Zephaniah to the New Testament and it's throughout all the Bible. And here's the point that I want you to understand. Here's a lesson on Bible study. We should put the emphasis where God puts the emphasis. If God emphasizes something over and over and over, brings something up, literally from the origins of man all the way to end times, which is what Joel is talking about in the book of Joel, calling upon the name of the Lord. If God emphasizes that, then you know what? You and I should emphasize that. And this is something that is undeniable that God emphasizes throughout the entire Bible. And let me say this. I am always concerned. I'm always concerned. In fact, I'm highly concerned by people who want to throw shade on, who want to come out so strongly against something that God emphasizes so much. It's always interesting to me when people show up and they're like, well I don't really know what I think about this calling upon the name of the Lord. And I think to myself, have you read the Bible? Because the phrase comes up all over the Bible. You ever read the Bible cover to cover once? Because I don't think you can miss the fact, I don't think you can go without noticing the fact that it's brought up over and over and over and over again. So I'm always concerned. It's always a little bit of a red flag. When somebody says, well I don't know what I think about that whole calling upon the name of the Lord. Hey, when God emphasizes it so much, it's concerning. When people want to come out so strongly against something that God emphasizes. Because here's what I believe as a Bible-believing biblicist that we should put the emphasis where God puts the emphasis. And if God emphasizes something one time, that's important. But if God emphasizes it over and over and over and over again throughout the Bible, then be careful about minimizing it. Be careful about simply dismissing it. Well I don't really think that's needed. Oh really? Then why is it all throughout the entire Bible? So when it comes to this doctrine of calling upon the name of the Lord or the sinner's prayer, I don't mind either one. Some people don't like one or the other and I like them both. I like anything that gets anybody saved. When it comes to this idea of calling upon the name of the Lord, we should begin by realizing that it is emphasized throughout the entire Bible. And because it is emphasized throughout the entire Bible, we should put our emphasis where God puts his emphasis and God emphasizes this a lot. Let me give you a second thought. First, calling upon the name of the Lord is emphasized throughout the entire Bible. Number two, go back to Romans 10. I think you're there in Romans 10, but look down at verse number eight. Here's a second thought. Calling upon the name of the Lord is done in connection with believing or faith. The Bible is very clear about the fact that believing is how you get saved. What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. However, calling upon the name of the Lord is done in connection, or the sinner's prayer, whatever you want to call it, is done in connection with believing or faith. Let me prove that to you. You're there in Romans chapter 10. Look at verse 8. Now, Romans chapter 9 is where we always want to go when we talk about calling upon the name of the Lord, but I want to remind you that Romans chapter 10 and verse 8 is the context that gives us verses 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13. Romans chapter 10 and verse 8, notice what Paul says under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. He says, but what saith it? The Word. I want you to notice the wording that Paul uses because he's going to talk about this idea of faith and calling upon the name of the Lord. And sometimes people want it to be, well, where should we put the emphasis? Is it faith or is it the words? Is it simply a prayer or is it believing? Well, notice what Paul says. He says, the Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is, you say, well, which one should we emphasize, the Word or the faith? Well, notice what he says, the Word of faith. He says, the Word of faith, which we preach. So you say, well, which one should we emphasize, the words that people say or the faith in their heart? Well, the Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart, the Word of faith. And what Paul is teaching here is that there is a connection between the calling upon and the believing. Look at verse 9. Look, you cannot deny it. If you look at the Bible and just look at it with no preconceived idea and with no agenda that you're supposing upon the Scriptures, it's undeniable that that is what the Apostle Paul is teaching. Romans 10, verse 9. That if thou shalt, number one, confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus. Now, somebody may want to make the argument and say, see, that's the first thing he mentioned. That must be the most important. Confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus. And, number two, shalt believe in thy heart. Somebody could take Romans 10, 9 out of its context and say confessing with your mouth must be more important than believing in your heart because it's mentioned first. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. The problem with that is that when you get to Romans 10, Paul seems to contradict that. In verse 10 he says, for, number one, with the heart man believeth unto righteousness. And, number two, with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. And it seems like Paul is confusing. Well, which one is it? Is it confess with your mouth? And believe in your heart? Or is it believing in your heart and confession is made with your mouth? Is it confess with thy mouth and believe in thine heart? Or is it with the heart man believeth unto righteousness? And with the mouth confession is made unto salvation? And I want you to understand that the reason that Paul swaps these two, in one verse he gives us the order as confess with your mouth, believe in your heart. In another verse he gives us the order as believe in your heart, confess with your mouth. Why does he do that? Because both of these are done in connection with each other. People want to argue, well, do you confess first and then believe, or believe first and then confess? You know what? You confess and you believe, or you believe and you confess, either way you get saved. Romans 10, 9, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation, for the scriptures say it. Now, just in case you don't have enough proof, look at verse 11. Verse 11, for the scriptures sayeth, notice this phrase, whosoever believeth. So then you got the crowd that wants to minimize calling upon the name Lord, and those say, well, Lord, now he's emphasizing believe. Look at that little phrase there, whosoever believeth. That must be the most important. Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed, for there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon his name. But I want you to notice verse 13, because remember, in verse 9 and 10, he said, confess with thy mouth, and believe in thine heart. In verse 10 he said, with the heart man believeth, with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. He swapped the two, almost like they're connected. Almost like they're done synonymously. Almost like calling upon the name of the Lord is done in connection with believing, and believing is done in connection with calling upon the name of the Lord. But then in verse 11, he highlights belief. He says, whosoever believeth. But I want you to notice, in verse 13 he says, for whosoever shall call. Well, wait a minute, Paul. Is it verse 11, whosoever believeth? Or is it because in verse 11, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. And the word ashamed there, I don't have time to get into this, but the word ashamed is not embarrassed. It means let down. Whosoever believeth is not going to be let down. They're going to be saved. Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Verse 13, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be ashamed. So you've got to ask the question, and if you want to be actually just neutral on the subject and say, you know what? You know what everybody's attitude should be when we come to the Word of God is, I don't have an agenda. I don't have a dog in this fight. I'm fine with whatever the Bible says. Well, if you're fine with whatever the Bible says, then here's what you ought to do. You should underline this phrase in verse 11, whosoever believeth. And then you should underline this phrase in verse 13, whosoever shall call. And then you should draw a line between whosoever believeth and whosoever shall call. And if you want to know, well, which one is it? Is it whosoever believeth, and then you'll be saved? Or whosoever shall call, and then you'll be saved? Here's the answer. Whosoever believeth will call. Calling upon the name of the Lord is done in connection with believing on faith. Is it confess with thy mouth and believe in thine heart? Or is it what the heart man believeth and what the mouth confession is made on salvation? It's both. Calling upon the name of the Lord is done in connection with believing on faith. You can't look at Romans 10 and walk away with any other interpretation. It's obvious that from the beginning, from verse 8, Paul is emphasizing both the word and faith. He calls it the word of faith. Because confession is made with, you confess with your mouth, you believe in your heart, with the heart man believeth, with the mouth confession is made, whosoever believeth, whosoever shall call, it's all connected. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. You're there in Romans? Just flip over to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. You say, Pastor, what are you saying? Here's what I'm saying. Anyone who believes will call. Now, people like to ask questions, hypothetical questions, so let me go ahead and answer the questions. What if someone calls and does not believe? Well, you know, here's the thing. That is possible. Obviously. A false profession, we see those in the Bible. And I'm sure people do call all the time, especially the way some of you go soul winning, with your repeat after me, 1, 2, 3 repeat after me, make people pray, then yeah, you're not thorough. I'm sure there's all sorts of people who pray prayers and call and they don't really believe. Is that possible? Yes. What is the answer to the question? What if someone calls but does not believe? Well, then they're not saved. Praying a prayer doesn't get you saved. Saying words doesn't get you saved. But here's the point that I want to make. Because then people ask the question, I just want to give you the answer of Pastor Jimenez and the stance of A.D. Baptist Church. What if someone believes but does not call? That's not possible. That is impossible. If someone, and I've literally had somebody look me in the eye and say, well, I believe and I never called and I never will call. And you know what I said to them? You're going to die and go to hell. Because for somebody to believe and to be so against opening their mouth and calling upon God and Christ for salvation, it just means you don't believe. So if you ask me the question, well, what if someone believes but they don't call? That's not possible. It's not going to happen. Anyone who believes is going to call. Is it confess with your mouth and believe with your heart? Or is it with the heart, man, believeth and the mouth confession is made? Is it whosoever believeth or whosoever shall call? It's all of it! Because anyone that believes will call. So if someone calls but does not believe, that's a false profession of faith. Obviously that is possible and those people are not saved. And you know what? That's why Jesus taught that there's going to be the wheat and the tares and God is going to figure it out at the end. God knows who's saved and God knows who's not saved and he'll be the one that decides that and figures that out. But if the question is if someone believes but does not call, the answer to that question is that's not possible because everybody that believes calls. Now I showed that to you from Romans. Let me show it to you from 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 2. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 2. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 2. ts. Notice these words, Now we're not Roman Catholics around here. A saint is anybody who is saved. I don't have time to prove that from the Bible. You can study that out on your own. This is not saying that you're going to get your picture put on some Mexican candle. So notice, someone who is a saint someone who's saved. They're called to be saints and they're called, he's talking about people in the Church of Corinth that are called to be saints and they're called to be saints with, notice this word, all. All. With all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord both theirs and ours. What is this verse saying? Here's what it's saying. Anyone who's a saint whether it's in Corinth or anywhere else, anyone who's a saint, they've all in every place called upon Jesus Christ. So you can't be saved and say you've never called upon Jesus Christ. If you say I'm saved and I've never called upon Jesus Christ, you're not saved. And doesn't it make sense? I mean the Bible says Jesus said for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. So if you believe in your heart wouldn't they just come out of your mouth? Jesus said out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. And then you get soul winners that want to make all these excuses, well you can believe in your heart and not come out of your mouth. I'm gonna go with Jesus. Jesus said out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. So if you believe in your heart Paul says you'll confess with your mouth in the heart with the heart man believeth and with the mouth confession is made would you say what is it? Is it whosoever believeth or whosoever is your call? It's both because you cannot have one without the other. What if someone calls and does not believe? They're not saved. What if someone believes but does not call? That's impossible. Then it's impossible for someone to believe and not call. So if they did not call is because they did not believe. Because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Now let me just make some statements real quickly. You go to Luke if you would. Luke chapter 11. You're there in 1st Corinthians. You go backwards past Romans, Acts, John, and Luke. And let me just give you some thoughts on this idea of calling upon the name of the Lord as we kind of set up the third point. The first point is this. Calling upon the name of the Lord is emphasized throughout the entire Bible. I don't think anybody can argue that. When you find the exact phrase word for word from Genesis to the New Testament, you cannot argue the fact that this is emphasized and brought up throughout all of Scripture. So we should be very concerned when people want to minimize what God emphasizes. We should put the emphasis. You're not smarter than God is and you're not a better soul than God is. And if God puts the emphasis on calling upon the name of the Lord then we should put the emphasis there too. Number two. Calling upon the name of the Lord is done in connection with believing or faith. You can't look at Romans chapter 8, chapter 10, verses 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and walk away without any other belief than this. Connected to believing is calling, period. You can't make that argument. I mean it's so apparent. It's just tearing you in the face. He's just purposely swapping them back and forth. Whosoever shall call, whosoever believe. Why? Because both will happen. Calling upon the name of the Lord is done in connection with believing. Let me just give you some thoughts real quickly on this idea. First of all let me just say this. The act of confessing or calling or asking does not have to be done audibly. I feel even silly addressing this but people ask the question and let me just go ahead and answer it. Because you preach like this and be like, well what if somebody can't speak? Well they're gonna die and go to hell. Is that what you think? God's just gonna send them to hell because they're mute. The act of confessing or calling or asking can be done in your head. It can be done in your heart. It does not have to be done audibly. Nobody has to actually say it out loud. Now it's better if you say it out loud. You say, well prove that. Okay go back to Romans 10 real quickly. Look at verse 8. Romans 10 verse 8. But what saith it? The word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart. What's in your heart? The word. What word? That is the word of faith which we preach. So does somebody have to out loud open their mouth and go through the sinner's prayer behind the track? No. They can do it in their mind and their heart. But here's what I'm telling you. They better do it. Because if they don't do it, if they don't call, they're not saved. You say, is that because you're saying that salvation is required a prayer? No because believing is required for salvation and anyone that believes will call. Period. Will they do it out loud? Maybe they will. Maybe they won't. But they'll do it. Whether in their mind or in their heart. The word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word of faith which we preach. So first of all, let me just say this. The act of confessing or calling or asking is not something that has to be done out loud or audibly. It can be done in your head. I literally, I was also, I want to say I was also in brother George. And we went into somebody's house, an elderly lady, she wanted to hear the gospel. And she asked us to also give the gospel to her daughter who was just in a medical bed in the middle of the living room. And she could not speak. She couldn't, she could barely see. I mean she was very paralyzed. She was conscious. And I mean we went through the whole gospel and we asked her, I said to her, I know you can't speak, but you know, do you believe what I'm showing you? Would you like to ask Jesus to save you right now? And she started blinking her eyes. You think God just let that lady die and go to hell? I promise you when she understood the gospel in her head, she couldn't open her mouth. And she was trying. You could tell her mouth was moving, just trying to speak. She couldn't. You say, why would she do that? Because anybody that truly believes is just the natural response. When you realize I'm a sinner on my way to hell and Jesus loved me and died on the cross of my sins and I can put my trust in him, the natural response is not to say, but I'm not gonna ask. I mean that's a terrible attitude. The natural response is, be merciful to me a sinner. Natural response is, Lord save me! That's the natural response. So if somebody tells me, well I don't have that response. My response is, I don't have to pray any prayer. Go ahead and die and go to hell then. Your pride will send you to hell. The act of confessing, calling, or asking can be done in your head. It doesn't have to be audible. It can be the word that is not in your mouth or the word that is not in your heart. But let me be clear, the act of confessing, calling, or asking, whether it's out loud or in your mind, in your head, is not an optional add-on to salvation. It is required because if you don't do it, then you didn't believe. And you say, well what if you, what if you believe? And you know what, let me not get ahead of myself because I've got points that I need to get to. Let me, let me, this is what I wanted to say and to set up the next few points. I want you to understand this, that the term confess and call are used interchangeably. Do I need to go back to Romans 10? I think it's pretty clear. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It's in the same context, talking about the same things. The term confess and the term call are used interchangeably. And let me give you another term that is used in the Bible for what we would refer to as a sinner's prayer. When we're talking about the sinner's prayer or calling upon the name of the Lord, these are the three words that are used to refer to that. Confess. Anybody want to argue that? Romans 10, 9. Call. Anybody want to argue that? Romans 10, 13. And ask. The word ask is used throughout the Bible in reference to salvation. The Bible, Jesus taught that. Jesus is the one that told us that, so you might not want to argue that one either. These terms are used interchangeably and I want you to understand that. Are you there in Luke chapter 11? Look at verse 13. So let me just kind of deal with one argument that those who want to attack the doctrine of the sinner's prayer will often bring up. And it's this idea that, well, if you have to, if you have to call, then that's you doing something and therefore you're working or earning salvation. Okay, so number one, calling upon the name of the Lord is emphasized throughout the entire Bible. Anybody want to argue that? Calling upon the name of the Lord is done in connection with believing or faith. I think that's clear. And number three, calling upon the name of the Lord is not adding works to salvation. I mean, I think that should be obvious but let's just look at it. Because people will say, well, if you have to ask for it, now you're, I mean, we had a guy who eventually got thrown out of our church who came to me and said, if you have to ask for the gift, if you have to confess with your mouth, you're preaching a work salvation. Luke 11 13. If you have a red letter edition Bible, you'll notice that these words are in red because these are the words that Jesus spoke. If ye then being evil, know how to give good gifts. I want you to notice the context we're talking about, gifts. What does the Bible say about salvation? For the wage of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Salvation is a gift. If ye then being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give, notice the context, we're talking about giving good gifts, give good gifts, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit. By the way, when you get the Holy Spirit? When you get saved. So we're talking about salvation here. How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that, don't miss it, ask him. What if you ask for it, it's not a gift. Should I follow you or Jesus? Because Jesus said, if ye then being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him. Is asking then a work or is it still a gift? According to Jesus it's still a gift. Go to John chapter 4. Look at another passage there in Luke, flip over to John. I won't take the time to go through the whole thing with the story but it's the woman at the well. Of course it's one of the passages where we see Jesus clearly present the gospel. Notice what Jesus says, John 4-10. Jesus answered and said unto her, if thou knewest the gift of God, the wage of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life. If thou knewest the gift of God and who it is that say it to thee, give me the drink, thou wouldest have, notice the words, asked of him. Jesus referring to himself. If you knew the gift of God and if you knew who I was, thou wouldest have asked of him and he, referring to himself, would have given thee living water. By the way, living water is used in other passage of Scripture as a reference to the Holy Spirit. So according to Jesus is it not a gift if you ask for it? And the answer is no. If you ask for it, it's still a gift. Calling upon the name of the Lord is not adding works to salvation. You can ask for a gift and it is still a gift. Asking for a gift does not mean you earned it or you worked for it. Because people want to argue and say, well if you have to pray then you're adding a work. Well am I supposed to follow you or Jesus? Because Jesus said if thou knewest the gift of God, thou wouldest have asked of him and he would have given thee living water. So you can ask for a gift. Asking for a gift does not mean you earned it or you worked for it. And of course there's the illustrations we've used through the years and I'll use them now. Right across the street we have a welfare office. I mean just right across the street from this building there's a welfare office. You come here tomorrow morning and you'll come here during business hours during the week. You know what you'll find? People in that office asking for checks. Asking for debit cards with cash on them. Asking for money. But you know what? None of those people worked for that money. I mean they got up, they got dressed, they went to the welfare office, they filled out the form, they asked for it and they received it. They received it but none of them worked for it. In fact that's the whole point. They're on welfare. They're not working. So you can't tell me the government gave them a check but because they asked they earned it. No they did not. That was a gift. Now whether they should have got the gift or not going to give us a sermon for another day the point that I'm making is just because you ask for it doesn't mean you weren't for it. Just because my kids asked me for a birthday gift or asked me for a Christmas gift doesn't mean well now you earn that gift. You ever had kids? All they do is ask. You're on the store in every aisle. Can I get this? No. Can I get this? No. Can I get this? No. I said no. Man son you really put in a good day's work today all that asking. No you did nothing. All you did was ask. What about the person who's shipwrecked? This is actually an illustration in the Bible of salvation. What about the person who's shipwrecked? What about the World War Two pilot that gets shot down in the middle of the ocean. He's out in the middle of the ocean by himself shipwrecked for days for weeks and all of a sudden here comes a ship and he calls out and says hey help me save me I'm here and they notice him and they see him and they they throw out a life raft and they bring him up and then that that soldier gets interviewed by the media gets interviewed by a newspaper and again well I saved myself. How were you rescued? Well you know I called and I just saved myself. No you called and they saved you. You asked but they saved you. So simply asking or calling does not mean that you saved yourself or you worked or you earned or you did anything. In fact the whole point of calling and this is the big problem with people who don't want to call the whole point of calling is you admitting I can't save myself. I need you to save me. So someone who's not willing to do that I just don't believe that they believe. Calling upon the name of Lord is not adding works of salvation. Anybody want to argue that? I mean I think it's super clear in the Bible. Go to John. You're there in John chapter 4. Look at verse 10. Let me give you the fourth point. Here's statement number one. Calling upon the name of the Lord is emphasized throughout the Bible. Number two. Calling upon the name of the Lord is done in connection with believing or faith. Number three. Calling upon the name of the Lord is not adding works to salvation. Number four. Calling upon the name of the Lord is directed towards the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember the terms that are used for the sinners prayer or calling upon the name of the Lord? What were they? Confess, call and ask. Right? I mean those are the three words Jesus used the word ask. Paul used the words confess and call synonymously. He used them interchangeably. Those are three words that are used in the Bible to express this idea of calling upon the name of the Lord or what we would call the sinners prayer. So let me ask you a question. Well actually let's not ask you a question. Let me just show you what the Bible says. I don't even know what you think about it. John 4 10 and you don't need to know what I think about it. We all need to just know what the Bible says about it. John 4 verse 10. Jesus answered and said unto her if thou knewest the gift and who it is that saith to thee give me to drink thou wouldest have asked of who? Thou wouldest have asked of, some of you guys can ask your wives for permission to say something in church. Thou wouldest have asked of, what does it say? Thou wouldest have asked of him. So according to the Bible when we ask for salvation who's that directed to? Because here's the point that I want you understand because here's the argument that's made. Well what if somebody just says they believe? Somebody just said well I believe that. I mean is that good enough? If I just walk up to somebody I explain the gospel to them and I'm like hey do you believe that and they're like yeah mm-hmm I believe it. It's not good enough for them to be saved? Well wait a minute. There's three words that are used synonymously with calling upon the name of the Lord or the sinners prayer. So let's just systematically work through these three words. The first word is asked. Is it possible to ask someone something without it being directed towards that person? According to John 4 if you're going to ask for salvation you would have asked of who? You would have asked of him the son of God the son of man if thou knew is the gift of God and who it is that say it to thee give me to drink. Thou wouldest have asked the soul winner. Is that what it says? Do you get saved by asking the soul winner to save you? Now look that should be pretty obvious right? If you're gonna ask for salvation who do you ask? The Savior. You would have asked of him. I'm not trying to trick you. I think some of you think I'm trying to trick you. I'm really not. I'm trying to make a very obvious point. It should be fairly obvious that if you're going to ask someone for salvation the person you're going to ask is who? Jesus. The Savior. You're not gonna ask the soul winner to save you. The soul winner cannot save you. You're gonna ask Jesus to save you. So the question, because people say what if somebody just says they believe? Okay but here's the thing. The three terms that are used in the Bible are ask, call, and confess. So let's just work through those three. Can somebody ask for salvation without asking Jesus? The answer is no. If thou knewest the gift of God and who it is that saith to thee give me to drink thou wouldest have asked of him. I mean I hope that makes sense. I think that's pretty obvious. If you're gonna ask for salvation you're gonna ask, not the soul winner, not the church, not the Pope. You're gonna ask Jesus. The ask is directed towards Jesus. That should be obvious. Okay let's talk about call. Who should call be directed to? Go to 1 Kings. Let's look at some passages just so you don't say that I'm just using logic. Let's look at the Bible. I mean God is a reasonable God so we can use logic. Let us reason together saith the Lord. But let's look at the Bible. I think it's obvious. If you're gonna ask anybody for salvation who you gonna ask? Jesus. I'm God one of you saved. I'm not trying to trick you. I'm really not. If you're gonna ask someone to save you who do you ask? Jesus. The Lord. Do you ask the pastor? No. Do you ask the soul winner? No. Do you ask the deacon? Dead sure no. Who do you ask to save you? Jesus. If you're gonna ask if that's the mode you want to use, is that the word you want to use? Who do you ask? Jesus. If I knew it's the gift of God and who it is, he says thou would have asked of him. That should be obvious. But what about call? 1 Kings 18 24. Now I just want to show you the word call. Okay I'm purposely showing you verses that have nothing to do with salvation because I want you to see the biblical definition of the word call. 1 Kings 18 24. This is actually the prophet Elijah on Mount Carmel facing off with the 400 prophets of Baal, the false prophets of Baal. Notice what he says to them. And call ye on the name of your God. He says you call on the name of your God and I will call on the name of the Lord. By the way you say well when did he call upon the name Lord? What is he referring to? He's referring to the prayer that he makes later on in this chapter when he asked God to send on fire. So don't miss the point. What did Elijah do on Mount Carmel? He prayed. And specifically what does it mean to pray? He asked. But what did Elijah call it? Elijah called it calling on the name of the Lord. And call ye, he tells them, you call on the name of your gods and I will call on the name of the Lord. He says I'm gonna call on the name of the Lord. But when did he call? He went off and he prayed and he asked God to do this. And the God, notice what he says in verse 24, and the God that answerth by fire let him be God. And all the people answered who said it is well spoken. So hold on. He says I will call on the name of the Lord and how will we know who's the true God? The one that answers. Why would he need to answer? Because when I call I'm asking. Because when I call Elijah says I'm about to do a little prayer and I'm gonna ask God to do something. So I want you to notice that the call is used synonymously with prayer or asking. Go to Psalm 4-1. Psalm 4-1. You're there in 1 Kings. You got 1 Kings. 1 Chronicles. Esther Nehemiah. Esther Job. Psalm. Psalm 4-1. I mean he says I will call the name of the Lord and the God that answerth by fire let him be God. How did Elijah get God to answer by fire? He prayed. He asked. So Elijah used the words call on the name of the Lord. Literally used the phrase call on the name of the Lord synonymously with the idea of prayer and asking. Psalm 4-1. Hear me when I call, O God. I mean enough said. Asking is directed towards who? Jesus. What about calling? It's directed towards God. Towards Jesus. Elijah says I will call the name of the Lord then he put in a prayer request and then the God that answered by fire let him be God. Hear me when I call, O my God. O my righteousness that has enlarged me when I was in distress. Have mercy upon me and hear my prayer. Look at verse 3 same chapter. Psalm 4-3. But know that the Lord has set apart him that is godly for himself. The Lord will hear when I call unto him. So is calling simply? Well yeah I believe that. Not directed at anybody. Not stating it to anybody. Can you call that calling? And the answer is no. Because when you're calling it is directed at somebody. Hear me when I call, O God. The Lord will hear when I call unto him. How about this one? Jeremiah 33 33. You're there in Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Psalms, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah. Jeremiah 33 3. One of the most famous verses in the Bible. Jeremiah 33. This is what God says. He says call unto me and I will answer thee. You show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not. So can you call it calling if you just said I believe but didn't direct it at anybody? You can't call that asking. I think that's obvious. And you can't call that calling. I should also be fairly obvious that if you're going to call or be calling or call upon someone for salvation it would be Jesus. I mean don't don't don't overthink the word. Think about just like a phone call. Who you on the call on the phone with? I'm not talking to anybody. I'm just talking. Talking to somebody? No. Directing at somebody? No. Then you're not on a call. I mean do you sin? If you're gonna call somebody it is directed towards someone. When our King James Bible was translated in 6 and 11 the terms call on someone was used as a phrase that meant to go visit or to see someone. They would they used to say oh I'm gonna call on so-and-so. What'd that mean? That means I was gonna go and direct my attention towards that person to speak to them. I mean what if I was at the store with my wife and I saw brother Oliver there. He's shopping and he's in an aisle and my wife and I see him and I say to my wife there's brother Oliver. Look there's brother Oliver. And then we just walk off. And then the next day at work I'm like hey brother Oliver did you see me? I was calling you. Can you really say that I was calling him if I just told my wife like oh yeah there's brother Oliver. For me to call him out I have to say hey brother Oliver. Hey hey brother Oliver. Now here's the thing usually when my wife and I see somebody at the store from our church if I see somebody from the church at the store I say there's brother so-and-so hide. Because I don't want to talk to you. Because then it's like oh hi oh God bless you oh yeah oh yeah you want to talk about your problem okay yeah hmm yeah your husband did what on so like I'm sorry yeah oh I gotta go. That's that's so I'm not I'm not this is not a factual illustration because I'm usually hiding. But I'm just saying like could you really say if I saw somebody from church and could I tell him like hey I was calling you when they were over there and I'm like hey honey there's brother Oliver. Is that calling? Here's calling hey brother Oliver how are you? Why are you here? You're supposed to be at work. That's calling. Look it should be fairly obvious that asking these are the three words that are used anonymously with the terms calling upon the name of Lord or the sinner's prayer. Asking is directed towards Jesus. Calling is directed towards Jesus. If you're going to be saved who are you going to call upon for salvation? It's Jesus. Go to 1st Kings. Go back to 1st Kings chapter 8. Then we have the third word confess. Because here's a question that's asked. Why does somebody have to pray? Why does somebody have to call? Can't they just say they believe? Can't I just ask them hey do you believe this? And they nodded. Isn't that enough? Why do they have to say anything? Now logic would tell you if there's three words that are used anonymously with the word with the word the phrase calling by the name of Lord or the sinner's prayer. There's three words that are used interchangeably. Ask is directed towards Jesus. Call is directed towards Jesus. Wouldn't it make logic sense that confessing is directed towards Jesus? Now that should just make logical sense but if logic is not good enough for you then let's just look at what the Bible says. Because when people are too dumb to understand it we always have the Bible. 1st Kings 833. When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy because they have sinned against thee and shall turn again to thee. Again this is not about salvation but I want you to see how the Bible uses the words. And shall turn again to thee and notice our word confess. Because here's what people like to say. Well they can just confess. They can just say I believe it. They don't have to pray a prayer. They don't have to direct it to anybody. They don't have to say it to anybody. They can just say I believe. They can just nod when I ask them do you believe and that should be good enough. Okay well notice what the Bible says. And confess thy name and pray. Notice how the Bible notice how the Bible uses this word synonymously. And confess thy name and pray and make supplication. You see the word supplication? You know what the word supplication is synonymous with? The word pray. The word supplication means prayer and treaty, petition or request. You know what prayer means? Intreaty, petition, request or supplication. And the two words are used synonymously with the word confess. So wouldn't that tell you that confessing is not just making a statement I believe? Let me ask you this. Doesn't James say that the devil's believe and tremble? Are they saved? Have they called upon Jesus for salvation? Have they asked Jesus for salvation? Have they confessed with their mouth their need? Because the word confess means to admit. And what you are confessing is you're saying I admit that I cannot save myself. That I am a sinner on my way to hell. And because I'm confessing that I'm a sinner and deserve salvation and deserve hell, I'm going to call for salvation. So when someone says, well I'm not willing to confess, then you don't even understand salvation. You're not willing to admit that you need a Savior. But look at the Bible. The words confess, pray and supplication are used interchangeably. They're used interchangeably here in the context, not of salvation. And they're used interchangeably in the context of salvation, in the context of salvation. Paul used the words confess and call interchangeably. Jesus used the word ask. All three words mean the same thing. So if you're calling, who you calling? It better be Jesus. If you're asking, who you asking? It better be Jesus. But you can confess it to your soul winner. Well if your soul winner died on the cross for your sins, then good luck with that one. But it better be Jesus. 1 Kings 834. I'm not done. Look at it. Then hear, I mean I could honestly, I couldn't make this up if I tried. I mean it's so plain in the Bible it's embarrassing. Then hear thou in heaven. You know what the Bible says? The Bible says when you call on his name, he will hear. Which means you're speaking to him. Then hear thou in heaven and forgive the sin. Oh that kind of sounds like salvation. That's not about salvation. But you see the, you see how it's connected in the same idea. This is not about salvation. It's just about sin in general. But when you confess, when you pray, when you make supplication, then hear thou in heaven and forgive the sin of thy people Israel and bring them again unto the land which thou gave us unto their fathers. Verse 3-5. When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against thee, if they pray toward this place and, don't miss it, confess thy name. Can you really walk away from this and say confessing and praying and supplication are not used interchangeably? Not if you actually care what the Bible says. I mean it's as clear as the nose on your face. If they pray toward this place and confess thy name and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them. Let me give you another one. Go to Philippians. You say, why another one? Because I'm gonna beat this horse to death. I'm gonna beat this horse till it becomes glue. Philippians 2. 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians. Philippians chapter 2. Well, can't they just confess? Can't they just say, I believe? Was that good enough for the devils? Can't they just tell the soul winner, I believe? I agree with you. I believe in that. No, no, no. If you're gonna be saved, if you're gonna believe, you're gonna confess or call or ask, all used interchangeably and they're all directed at, not the soul winner, Jesus. And if somebody says to me, well I believe but I just don't want to say that to Jesus. Okay, devil. Because the devils believe but they're not asking or confessing or calling upon Jesus. They're not submitting to Jesus. And I'm not talking about submitting for your works. I'm talking about submitting in the sense that you understand I need Him. I can't save myself. I need Him to save me. Philippians 2. Look at the consistency in the Bible. At the name of Jesus. Call upon the name of the Lord, right? At the name of Jesus every knee should bow. Of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth. This is talking about end times after the judgment. The Bible says that everyone's going to do this, everybody. After the great white throne, I believe after the great white throne, every person who's ever existed will do this. You will bow your knee and confess the name of Jesus voluntarily or you will do it forced before you get thrown into hell. Do you hear me? I think I can believe but I'm not going to confess. Oh you're going to confess one way or another. Either voluntarily by getting saved or right before God throws you to hell. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Now let me ask a question. The Bible says that every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Who wants to argue that we're just randomly doing that? We're just randomly doing that to who? To no one. We're just confessing that Jesus is Lord. No, you know what? You're bowing your knee to Jesus. You're confessing with your tongue to Jesus. You're bowing your knee to Jesus and confessing every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. That's not just a generic general ah, just a confession, like a confession of faith. No, no. You're looking at Jesus, you're bowing to Jesus, you're confessing to Jesus. This is what the Bible says. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. The words ask, call and confess are used interchangeably. You can't argue that. I mean I've totally demolished that. They're used interchangeably, they're used anonymously and all of them are directed to Jesus. So don't tell me it's good enough to just say I believe but I don't have to say to Jesus. What do you have against Jesus? That's the question I want to ask. Well I believe but I don't think I'm just I don't just say anything to Jesus. Well what's your problem with Jesus? What's wrong with Jesus? Why don't you love Jesus like I love Jesus? Maybe because you don't actually believe. Go to Psalm 107. Psalm 107. While you turn there let me just read some verses to you. You know that everyone in the Bible who got saved had some sort of confession, calling or asking? Every single one. Let me give you some examples. You go to Psalm 107. I'll read to you from Luke 18. Luke 18 is the story of the publican. This is where we actually get the concept or the phrase the sinner's prayer. Not the phrase but the idea of the sinner's prayer. Luke 18 13. The publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes into heaven. Why does God emphasize that? That he wouldn't lift up his eyes into heaven but smote upon his breast saying. Why does Jesus feel the need to emphasize that he would not lift up his eyes towards heaven but he was saying? You know why? Because what he was saying was directed to heaven. What he was saying was directed to Jesus but his humility kept him from even looking up to heaven and the publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes into heaven but smote upon his breast saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. And that's what everybody says in their mind or in their heart or out loud. Everyone who realizes I'm a sinner but Jesus loves me and he died on the cross for my sins is going to call out or ask or confess to Jesus not the soul winner. Sorry to burst your bubble but you're not the sinless Lamb of God. You're not my Lord and Savior soul winner. You're a sinner. Let me give you another example. Luke 23 42. And he, this is the thief on the cross, said unto Jesus, just I'm just reading the Bible, and he just confessed randomly to nobody just making a statement of faith. Is that what it says? No. And he said unto Jesus, Lord remember me when thou enters into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, verily I say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. How about Acts 8 36? And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water and the eunuch said, see here is water, what doth hinder me to baptize? And Philip said, if thou believeth all thy heart, thou mayest. And he's answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And this is the one that people like to say, see he just said I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Well wait a minute, I just showed you an hour's worth of verses that say that asking, confessing, and calling are all directed to Jesus. But you're going to just suppose and put onto the Bible that he was just saying that to the eunuch. Well how do you know that he didn't call already in his heart? How do you know that he didn't call and pray? The Bible gives us Paul's testimony. We have to get through several chapters before we find out that he called. But we should have already known that he called because anyone that believes calls. I think that this is directed to Jesus. I don't think that he's confessing this to Philip. He's saying, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. But whether you believe that or not doesn't matter because the Bible is consistent. And here's what I can tell you. Anyone that believes confesses and calls and asks. They're all used interchangeably. Do they have to do it out loud? They can do it in their heart. Don't ask me dumb questions. But they ask. Everyone that believes calls or asks or confesses. And all three are used interchangeably. They all mean the same thing. And they're all directed at Jesus, not you. They're directed at Jesus. Sorry to break it to you, but you're not special. Now you're special as a soul winner in the sense that you bring the gospel of Jesus Christ. But who does the saving Jesus Christ? And in fact, I tell people, I ask people, do you believe what I said? Yeah, I believe what I said. You know what I say to people? I say, well, you don't need to say it to me. I'm not God. You say it to Jesus. Let me help you form a prayer that you can say to Jesus. You say, why do you, why do you guys, you know, emphasize the sinner's prayer? You know why? Here's why. Because I've been soul winning for over 20 years now. I've literally been soul winning my entire life with my dad. I've been a talker at the door since I was 16 years old. I just turned 37 years old, so I've been doing this for over 20 years. And I've had multiple times, multiple times, where I've been going through the gospel with somebody and I'm asking the questions as we go, hey, do you believe that? Oh yeah, I believe. Do you believe that? Oh yeah, I believe that. Do you believe that? Oh yeah, I believe that. And then we get to the end. Do you believe everything? Yeah, I believe it. And if I was a lame soul winner like you, I'd just walk away. So I got saved. Multiple times. But you don't have to say that to me. I'm not God. You have to say it to God. You want to pray right now and ask Jesus to save you? Oh no, no, I don't want to do that. Well then, I don't believe that you believed. I've literally had, I've had two times in the last 20 years where I've asked the questions as I'm going, do you believe that? Do you believe that? Do you believe that? Do you want to pray and ask Jesus to save you? Yeah, I'd like to pray. Okay, repeat after me. Jesus, Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner. I'm not going to say that. Two times. Well, why don't you want to say it? Well, I don't, I don't, well, I thought you said it. Well, yeah, I said I believe that, but I'm not going to say that I'm a sinner. You know what they're saying? I will not call. And you know what that tells me? They don't believe. So don't sit here and tell me that them confessing to you means anything because you're nobody. I'm nobody. No one's going to get to heaven by saying, well, I confessed to Pastor Jimenez. Who's Pastor Jimenez? You need Jesus to save you. And if you're not willing to confess I'm a sinner and I deserve to go to hell and call upon Jesus for salvation, you're not saved because you don't believe. That's what the Bible says and that's what we've always believed here. So don't come in here and try to change what we believe. We believe this since we started this church. We believe this, no offense, since most of you, since most of you were even before you were saved, we believe this. I think it's funny. We've taught this at this church since before most of you were saved, but now I'm supposed to submit to you and you're the expert because you read the Bible one and a half times. You know, I don't say this arrogantly, but I'm on my 26th time of reading the Bible cover to cover this year. I don't know how many times Pastor Henderson has read the Bible, but I would assume that he's read it that many times. And the men of God and the preachers of God who've been leading soul-winning revolutions, who've read the Bible, studied the Bible, memorized the Bible, all look at Scripture and say, yeah, that's what it says. And then some punk who's read the Bible twice, no, I got a better idea. No, you don't. Why don't you humble yourself and listen? The word call and ask and confess are used interchangeably. You don't confess it to the soul-winner. When it comes to calling Father in the name of the Lord, you say, why do you believe it at Verity Baptist Church? Here's why. Because it's emphasized throughout the entire Bible. Have you noticed? Maybe by the time you've read the Bible five times, you might catch on to the fact that it's mentioned throughout the entire Bible. And we should put the emphasis where God puts the emphasis. And this is something that God emphasizes a lot. And it's always highly concerning when people want to come out so strongly against something that God emphasizes so much. That's always a concern of mine. Why would you be so against something that God is so for? Number two, calling Father in the name of the Lord is done in connection with believing or faith. You cannot look at Romans chapter number 10, which is the quintessential passage on this, and tell me anything different. Calling and believing are used interchangeably in the passage. Why? Because you cannot believe without calling. Can you call without believing? Absolutely. That is possible. And you're not saved. But if you honestly truly believe, you will call. There is no such thing as, what if someone believes but they don't call? That doesn't happen. What if they don't have the ability? You'll see their mouth moving, you'll see their eyes blinking, their mind and their heart will be saying, be merciful to me, a sinner. That's what will happen. Well, I think that you're adding works to salvation. No, it's a gift. And if you ask for a gift, it's still a gift. Well, I think that you can just say it. You don't have to direct it to anybody. You don't have to pray any prayer or ask anything. Well, you know what the Bible says? The Bible says you have to confess, and the Bible says you have to call, and the Bible says you have to ask, and all three of those are used interchangeably, and they're all directed at Jesus. Psalm 107 and verse 2. Here's what the Bible says. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Let the redeemed the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. You know, if you're saved and you're honestly truly saved, you should have no problem saying it. You should have no problem bowing your head and saying, Jesus, I'm a sinner and I deserve to go to hell. Please forgive me of all my sin and please give me eternal life. I don't want to go to hell. Please save me. I don't want to say that. Then go to hell. Because if you don't want to say that, you got a problem with Jesus, then you must not believe. Oh, well, I believe, yeah, like the devil's. And hell is reserved for them. And you say, well, pastor, you know, I can believe whatever I want. You know, you can believe whatever you want, but don't come into this church and try to change what we believe. You say, I don't believe all that, and keep it to yourself. We believe this is before you're even saved. Honestly, most of you, I'm not going to say all of you because we've got several that aren't, the vast majority of people that come to this church got saved after we started this church. And let me tell you something. We believed, everything we believe right now, we believe before you got here. Everything. Give me the date when you got here and I'll show you that we believe. So when King James, Bible, heart, people say, hey, it's really angry. It was angry when you got here. It's really loud. It was loud when you got here. It's the King James, it was the King James when you got here. The old him. It was the old him when you got here. It was the sinners prayer when you got here. It was soul when you got here. It was standards when you got here. It was skirts on ladies when you got here. It was shoring haircuts on men when you got here. We've not changed, so don't try to get us to change. If you don't like it, go somewhere else, but we're the same. It was what it was when you got here. So why don't you humble yourself and conform so we can strive together for the faith of the gospel. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, I think it's impossible for anybody that has a genuine heart to walk away from the Word of God and say, you don't have to confess. You can just ask me. You don't have to ask Jesus. Lord, the honest truth is that people need to make their own decisions in their own hearts, and they can decide whatever they want. But I pray that you would help all of us understand that I will exercise my authority, and I will use the influence of the pulpit to make sure that this church stays straight on what we believe. And I'm not gonna allow people to try to cast shade on what we're doing. Well, yeah, pastors have to do that, but we don't need to do that. No, no. That's what the Bible says. Lord, I pray you'd help us to be humble enough to submit ourselves to the Word of God. Lord, I pray that we would have an army of soul owners that would walk out of this church and preach the gospel, help people understand that they must believe, and then help them call upon the name of the Lord. Because if they believe, they will call. Lord, I pray that it would be said of Sacramento, California, that when a young guy with his young wife showed up and began to hold services in a living room in 2010 in Sacramento, California, then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. That's my prayer. Lord, I pray you'd help us, help us to be thorough with our soul-winning explanations and help us to not drop the ball when it comes to the sinner's prayer. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen. We're gonna have Brother RJ come up and lead us in a final song. Just want to remind you a couple of things. First of all, don't forget that if you'd like to get a flyer for the homeschool Valentine's Day party, my wife has those flyers, so make sure you see her and she can get those to you. And then don't forget that this Sunday, well, first of all, this Friday is a Married Couple Sweetheart Banquet, so don't forget about that. Friday, February 10th, 630 p.m. This Sunday is I Love My Church Sunday, so make sure that you are inviting someone to church. Get somebody saved. Get somebody on your radar. Think of a co-worker, a friend, somebody, and invite them to church. Bring them to church on I Love My Church Sunday. And then, of course, we want to ask for your help. If you would like to help, we've got the flyers assembly right after the service in the fellowship hall. If you'd like to help with that, we would appreciate your help with getting that together. Brother Shaw is running that, so make sure you see him. That'll be right after the service in the fellowship hall. If you could help us with that, we appreciate it. If there's anything that we can do for you, please let us know. We'll have Brother RJ come up and lead us in. Oh, no, before I forget, clean your area, if you don't mind. Look around and put your handbook back and get everything back together. We'd appreciate that. That would help to clean yours tomorrow. If there's anything we do for you, please let us know. Brother RJ will come and lead us in a final song. Man, let's grab our songbooks and turn to page number 281. Song number 281, Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior. Let's go ahead and sing it out on the first. Ah ah ah ah ah Amen. Great seeing brother there. Would you dismiss us with the award of prayer? Thank you, Lord, for the children and blessed parents and for their soul winning as we go out throughout the week. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Ah