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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . All right, everyone. For our second song this evening, we will be turning to song number 174. My Jesus, I love thee, song number 174. On the first. My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine. For thee, all the follies of sin, I resign. My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art thou. If ever I love thee, my Jesus is now. I love thee because thou past first loved me. And purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree. I love thee for wearing the thorns on thy brow. If ever I love thee, my Jesus is now. On the third. I love thee in life, I'll love thee in death. And praise thee as long as thou lend its me breath. And say when the death do lies cold on my brow. If ever I love thee, my Jesus is now. On the last. In vengeance of glory and endless delight, I'll never adore thee in heaven so bright. I'll sing with the glittery crown on my brow. If ever I love thee, my Jesus is now. All right, now if everyone would, please turn to the book of John, chapter number three. All right, well, good evening again. John, chapter number three. So tonight we're going to basically study an answer to a statement, which is sometimes sent to us as a question. But this statement I recently saw on a hat that somebody was wearing. My wife showed it to me. And it's the, probably one of the bigger stories and it's the, probably one of the bigger statements that gets emailed or texted or called in to the church and churches like ours to basically say that we're wrong on who and who cannot be saved. And the statement is this. So this hat that we saw where this person was wearing, it says, my Jesus, okay? And then right underneath it, it says, ain't no sinner that he can't save. Ain't no sinner that he can't save. And we're gonna break that down tonight and I'm gonna give you some responses and show you what the Bible actually says about that statement, okay? And now you hear a statement like that, if you're not well-versed in the Bible or maybe you've never been hit with that before, it sounds good. And to disagree with that, it almost can seem like you're devaluing what Christ did on the cross, okay? But I can assure you that is not the case. And now for the title of the sermon is actually the tool that we're gonna go over that I learned probably 20 years ago, okay? And understanding this tool is not only gonna help you with this question, but it's also gonna help you in your everyday soul, okay? And the title of the sermon is this, seven principle negatives, seven principle negatives. And by negatives, I mean, these are all things, we're gonna look at seven, about seven different passages. And in these passages, you're gonna find, and we're gonna talk about it, seven principle negatives or things that Jesus said would not occur, okay? And I really think, I mean, you take one day a week to learn all seven of these, or just to make sure that you have these in a place where you can get them. And I really think it's just gonna be very powerful for you in your conversations with other people. And if you ever needed out-souling. Now, obviously when we're out-souling, we all have our plans and we go through those things. But sometimes you need extra tools, okay? And when you need it, you need it and you're glad you had it. And so if you pay attention, we're gonna go through these and then we're gonna come back and answer this statement here that says, ain't no sinner that he can't save. We're gonna see how accurate that is and really what that means, okay? Because it does mean something and it does fit into the Bible, but not in the way that they think. So we're gonna start out here in John chapter three and we're gonna look at the very first negative, okay? Look at verse number 15. Verse number 15. It says this. That whosoever, okay, now pay attention to that word there and keep it in your mind this evening. Whosoever, okay? That whosoever believeth in him, and here's the first negative that I want you to pay attention to, should not perish but have eternal life, okay? So according to the Lord right there, he says that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, meaning they will never die. A person who is a child of God who possesses eternal life will not perish in the lake of fire, will not enter into hell, okay? Now how some people read this is they read it like this. That anyone always has the opportunity to believe with him and you can see where that's going there. But again, you know, very cut and dry, very clear, and you can see that negative there, okay? Should not perish. Now what is the requirement, according to this verse, to never perish? Believeth in him, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish. No works mentioned, nothing that you have to do or continue to do, but trusting in what has been done, okay? That is the key, what has been done, and of course we understand that that is the sacrifice on the cross. So the first principle negative is John 3.15, Christ says that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Eternal means everlasting, it means forever. When do you get that? When does a person get that? At the end of their life? No, the moment a person believes, the moment a person gets baptized or placed into the body of Christ from calling upon the name of the Lord. So number one of the first seven principle negatives is John chapter three in verse number 15. Now go over to chapter number four and we'll move on to the second one. John chapter number four. So this is just gonna continue through John, okay? And we're gonna get to chapter 11, that's where the seventh one is gonna be, and then we're gonna come back to this statement and talk about how to apply this in chapter number 12. So let's move on here. Number two, statement number two is gonna begin in verse number 13. So this is of course the conversation that Jesus is having with the woman at the well who was of Samaria. Verse 13 says, Jesus answered and said unto her, whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. Okay, again, notice that word, whosoever. Verse 14, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, and here's number two, shall never thirst. But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Very easy to understand. You know, by the time that you're done with all seven of these, okay, it should blow your mind how you could communicate this to somebody, because remember, number seven's the number of completeness. It's gonna blow your mind how you could give somebody these seven statements from the Lord Jesus Christ and then still turn around and say, but there's something you must do. You have to add to that. It's absolutely insane, okay? But also, what you need to understand is because of these seven principle negatives and because people lack understanding, they will use these to just basically say, well, anyone can be saved at any time no matter what they have done. It doesn't matter if they're a pedophile. It doesn't matter if they are a child of the devil and they'll misapply these things, okay? And so we have to have a deeper understanding of these very basic things in order to help people out of that web and snare that is just so prevalent out there. So again, number two, look at verse 14 again. He says, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. Okay, what does that mean? Well, once you're saved, once you're born again, you will not thirst for everlasting life because you have that, okay? Now, if you're on probation, you know, if you're part of the human achievement religion, then of course, you're gonna constantly be thirsting because you're working your way to heaven. You don't have everlasting life. You don't have that assurance. And so the Lord says, no, my children, my people, when they get saved, shall never thirst, never. The words of Christ. So number two, remember, principle number one, the very first negative was that Jesus said, should not perish. Whosoever believes will not perish. Number two, they will never thirst, okay? Pointing to once saved, always saved. Now let's move on to number three in John chapter number five. In John chapter number five. So these pretty much go into order. We skipped chapter seven and chapter nine, but for the most part, they should be easy to find. You can hopefully mark them in your Bible and be able to come back to these things. Sometimes I just think it's easier to give people a tool like this and say, have you ever heard of these seven negatives, you know? And it gets people to think. It gets people to consider, okay? Number three, let's take a look at verse 24. John chapter five, verse 24. Jesus says this, verily, verily. Okay, what does that mean? Let's just stop right there. Okay, that means truly. He emphasizes that word twice because what he's telling you is very, very important. So he says, verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life. Present tense, hath and hath and hath forever. And here's number three, the third negative. And shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death to life. And so look, we're only on the third one. And it's like, how far is this gonna go? How could you explain this to somebody and then still question it? And still think, wow, like no, but I just feel like I still have to turn from my sins. I feel like there's something else that I have to do. But it is very clear that a person who believes on Christ shall not come into condemnation. But that person is, present tense, is passed from what? From death unto life. And of course we know that that life is everlasting life, okay? So number three, very clear, shall not come into condemnation. Now look over at chapter number six and we'll move on to the fourth one. The fourth of seven principle negatives. Now again, I learned these several, several years ago from a pastor and from time to time I'll fall back on these. I was kind of going through some of my notes from back in the day. I was like, you know, I need to talk about that. It's definitely a good tool because look, there's some people out here where I've needed to spend all seven of these like multiple times with before they will get and understand the truth of the gospel, okay? John chapter number six, look at verse number 35. Here is the fourth negative, verse 35. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me, here it is, number four, shall never hunger. And he that believeth on me shall never thirst. So again, backing up what we read in chapter number four. A person who is saved, never hunger. Okay, now obviously we should hunger for the word of God and we should have that, that urge inside of us. But it's very clear here, you are not gonna have that wonder, that anxiety that comes from people that are in these other religions that are just like, oh, I don't know, I don't know if I've done enough. Hopefully we'll find out in the end. Only God can judge, no one can know. You're not gonna have any of that because a child of God doesn't have to hunger. He's been fed the ultimate gift, the ultimate sacrifice and this here is a negative, okay? Now obviously I keep saying negative. I'm not meaning negative like this is bad. No, this is negative but good for us, okay? Good for us but bad for the people in the religion of human achievement. So again, one more time, verse 35. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. And of course this is meant to be taken spiritually, not saying that you're never gonna crave a cheeseburger or something of that nature. Okay, go over to John chapter number eight and we'll look at number five. John chapter eight, look at verse number 12. John chapter eight, verse number 12 says this. Then Jesus spake again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world. And we're gonna talk about that in John chapter 12 here in a little bit. So he says, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me, and here it is, the fifth negative, shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life. A person who is saved will not walk in darkness. You will not go through life wondering constantly will you make it to heaven because the promise is crystal clear. You have the light of life and that is Christ. That is his word as well. And of course, that is what we are supposed to live our lives by and go by so that we can navigate through this dark world. But again, the fifth negative in the gospel of John is this, that we shall not walk in darkness. Okay, now let's go over to John chapter number 10 for number six, John chapter 10. And we're gonna look at verse number 27. Now these might be part of most of your gospel presentations. Let's look at verse number 27. Jesus says this, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. Verse 28, and I give unto them eternal life. Okay, that is what Christ gives. He gives eternal life. He does not give conditional life. And here it is, the sixth negative in the gospels. Remember, these are chief things. These are very principal. These are things that we should be able to recall when needed. And I give unto them eternal life. Verse 28, and they shall never perish. Never perish. Where have we heard that before? Well, it goes back to the very first negative in John chapter three. Okay, he gives us eternal life and the Bible says, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Okay, one of the ways we explain this out giving the gospel to people is we basically, when my kids were little, what I would do is I would grab them and I'd say, okay, try to get away and they couldn't get away because I'm stronger than them and I would equate that to us being in the hand of God and we're not stronger than God and therefore no one can take us from God nor could we even work our own ways out of his hand and people always seem to get it. Okay, now I can't do that with Kayden and these girls are crazy so they either get a little feisty but if you have the small children around or you could just explain it like that and they'll definitely understand. So very powerful verses, okay, very powerful verses. An extremely powerful promise here. Gives us eternal life and the Bible says they shall never perish, ever. Okay, neither shall any man pluck them out of his hand. It says, look at verse 29. He says, my father which gave them me is greater than all. No man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. Verse 30, I and my father are one. Okay, and so there you have it. The sixth principle negative in the gospel. Now let's look at number seven and go over to chapter number 11. John chapter number 11. Look at verse number 25. So of course this is Jesus' conversation with Martha here and he says, verse 25, the Bible says, Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and here's number seven, verse 26, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, what does that say? Shall never die. And notice what Jesus says after that. Believest thou this? Okay, now why would he say that? Because a person needs to believe the fact that it's once saved, always saved. They need to understand the gift that they're receiving which is eternal life, life that lasts forever. If they don't understand that, then how can we say that they are saved? So the seventh negative here is what? It is, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Okay, I love this one. I use this one all the time out so long. Because it's very clear, whosoever liveth, whosoever's alive, who's breathing, who's walking around on this earth, who's on this earth, okay, who is alive in the here and now with this flesh, with the old man, but believes, shall never die. Okay, and I mean, you could go on and on and on about this for just a long time and start talking about how when believers' bodies shut down and they go into the grave, the Bible refers to us as just being asleep. Why is that? Because a believer can never die, never perish. That is why. That is great news. That is excellent news. Now, that right there is what my pastor 20 years ago had taught me and I wrote these things down. I don't use them all the time, but I'll tell you what. If you need like seven just straight points in a row in the Gospels, right? Don't we typically tell people to start reading in the Gospel of John? You need a reinforcement? This tool is very powerful. Okay, very easy to explain and just highlight these negatives, okay? Never perish, never thirst, never walk in darkness. I mean, just over and over and over again. Now, here's the thing. You give them these seven things, you've given them your Gospel presentation. If they don't get it at that point, it's time to walk away, okay? You're probably done because it just doesn't get more clear than that. If they're not gonna hear these seven things, you know, put them on the prayer list, try again another day. Now, go one more chapter over, John chapter number 12. So I think it's important just to give that tool just because, again, I think it's powerful, I think it's useful to you, but also because of these types of verses. People will, this is so crazy, okay? People will use these verses on us and say, I don't like your position and what you say about this crowd of people. I don't like what you say about the past. I don't like what you say about the pedophiles. I don't like what you say about, and this comes in all the time, okay? And I'll sometimes ask them, what do you think a person has to do to be saved? And they'll repeat what they've been told. They'll say, well, you have to believe. You have to get born again. It's like, okay. Well, so you're saying that all the pedophile has to do is just believe, right? Well, no, he has to stop and turn from that and then Jesus can save him, okay? I can't tell you how many times I've gotten somebody like that. And then it's like, oh, okay. Well, then you don't really believe the Bible because the Bible says that works aren't part of salvation. And so, well, you're twisting scripture. It's like, no, why is it free for you but they have to do some sort of works? That doesn't make any sense. And so the problem is they just don't believe the Bible. They themselves oftentimes either don't know the Bible, don't know how to get saved. It's just something that sounds cool. Ain't no sinner. Jesus can't save is what they will say. Now, what I'm telling you, this ought to be your first response, okay? How does he save them? How does he save them? Because the reason why they're saying this, the reason why this is a hat, the reason why this is a shirt, a bumper sticker, the reason why this is in our inbox every single day is because they are attacking the fact that we believe in something called the reprobate doctrine. We believe that there are people on this earth right now, always have been, that have reached a point to where they can no longer be saved. That is not a secret. Everyone who knows anything about our church, our friend's church, that is probably one of the bigger things that they have an issue with, okay? So, since we're going through the seven principle negatives and they like to twist these things and say, well, that applies to just everyone. Whosoever means whosoever at any given moment, as long as they're breathing, okay? What does the Bible say about that, okay? So, when someone says this to me, I often will say, how does he save them, okay? Let's get that straight. Are you saved? Because if you're not saved, the chances of you understanding doctrine are zero, okay? But let's go through this here. Let's try to break this down, okay? How does he save them? John chapter 12, and I want you to keep something here because we're going to start to turn to some other passages, but we're going to finish, for the most part, in John chapter 12 tonight. But let's look down at verse number 44. John chapter 12, verse 44, look at what this says. So, again, John 12, Jesus speaking to a mixed group here. You've got people in darkness, you have people in light, and then you have people in between. They're in darkness and the fact that they just don't know they're saved, they're hanging in the balances, and he is getting some of these people saved. But look at verse 44. Jesus cried and said, he that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth me, seeth him that sent me, verse 46, I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. Now here's verse 47, okay? And this is where we're going to learn our response to this statement. Verse 47, if any man hear my words and believe not, I judge him not, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. Okay? Now it's easy for these types of people that are wearing this hat, wearing this t-shirt, to quote this verse to you. But do you know what it means? Do you really understand how to break this down? What does it mean? Does this mean that everyone goes to heaven? Does this mean that everyone at any point in their life can be saved? Or does it mean something else? Let's take a look. But before we answer that, we need to backtrack a bit. Go to Romans chapter number three. Romans chapter number three. So Jesus very clearly says, hey, you know, if you hear my words and you don't believe, I didn't come to judge you for that. I came to save the world. Okay? Jesus said himself, he came to save the world. Save us from what? The entire world? Just Christians? What does this mean? Who does this apply to? We're gonna answer all that right now. Romans chapter three. Let's start off, first of all, with the main problem. Okay? The main problem since the Garden of Eden, since the fall of man, begins right here. Romans three, verse number nine. So Paul says this. He says, what then? Are we better than they? No and no wise, for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles that they are all under sin. Verse number 10. As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. Skip down to verse number 23. Very clearly the Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Okay? This is no secret to anyone in here. We understand that sin is in the world, that we are all sinners. Okay? Verse 24. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Verse 25. Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood. Okay? This is where we're gonna start to be able to explain what we just read in John 12, verse 47. What does it mean that Jesus came to save the world? Did he actually accomplish that? You know the answer. Verse 25 again, Romans three. Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation. That word there means satisfaction. That is what that means. Okay? So the Bible is saying here, Paul is telling the Romans, he's saying that God sent him, sent Christ, sent Jesus to be a propitiation or a satisfaction through what? Through your own works? Through your own deeds? No, through faith or trust, through faith in his blood, meaning his sacrifice, to declare his righteousness for the what? The remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. So according to this verse, you break this down here. Jesus is the propitiation. He is the satisfaction through faith in his blood. Okay? And because of that, we are to declare his righteousness because according to verse 10, there's none righteous, but we need to be righteous to get to heaven. Okay? So we declare his righteousness for the remission of sins. Okay? And this is very important here. Remission means cancellation. We often use this word today in medical circles and talking about cancer. Okay? And the reason why I don't like to bring that up too much is because sometimes people say, yeah, but if cancer goes into remission, it can come back. Okay? This is a different meaning here. This means a once and done. Remitted, the sins are canceled forever. Look what it says. Remission of sins that are passed. Okay? All sins passed. Why? Because Jesus is the propitiation. He is the satisfaction for all of those. And it even says after the comma there, through the forbearance of God. Okay? Now go to 2 Corinthians chapter number five. 2 Corinthians chapter number five. This will all make sense here in a minute. I'm gonna bring this right back to John chapter 12 because honestly, when people say this and you ever see somebody wearing this hat or they come at you with this, ain't no sinner that Jesus can't save, that statement's true. Okay? And I'm gonna show you how it's true. And hopefully you're starting to see this but if not, it'll make sense to you. That is true. Okay? But maybe not in the way you think. 2 Corinthians 5 19. Paul says this. To wit, that God was in Christ. So who was in Christ? God. Okay? The God of heaven and earth, God was in Christ, reconciling, what does that say? The world unto himself. Not imputing their trespasses unto them and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. So what is this first saying here? It's backing up what we just read in Romans chapter three, verse 25. Okay? That God was in Christ, reconciling the world. What does that mean? That means that through Christ's sacrifice, remember, the Bible says that Jesus is the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. He's the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, meaning his sacrifice went back to eternity past all the way to eternity future and how that works. What this is saying is that he reconciled the world. He saved the world. He fulfilled what he said in John chapter 12, verse 47. You say how? By not imputing their trespasses unto them because his sacrifice paid the sin debt of the entire world. Therefore, he did save the world. He saved the world of what though? He saved the world of the sin debt. That debt has been paid and because that debt has been paid, the only thing left for a person to do is to accept the free gift and that's where people drop the ball, okay? Accept the free gift. That word imputing there, okay? Imputation. What does that mean? That means to charge. God is not charging sin to the world right now because his son died on the cross and paid the sin debt. He paid the price. He is the propitiation. He's the satisfaction for the sin debt of the entire world. Go to 1 John chapter number 2. 1 John chapter number 2. And let's look at verse number 1. 1 John chapter number 2. John says this. My little children, these things write I unto you that you sin not and if any man sin, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Remember, you're saved. You have the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. You're in the body of Christ. We have an advocate, okay? And of course, we all sin. John's saying, hey, don't sin. Why? Because for the believer, okay, our sin affects our fellowship. That's the need and that's why we're to ask God for forgiveness on a daily basis because we want our fellowship restored, okay? Now, on the world's end, that's different. They're not saved. They don't have that fellowship. However, he did save them in the sense that he paid the sin debt of the entire world. He's the satisfaction, okay? And I use this out all the time and I've mentioned this here several times. You know, it's like this. You go to the grocery store. Let's say you're standing in line behind someone and you pay for that person's groceries. Let's say they came up short. Let's say their bill was $100. They had 50. You said, you know what? I've got it. I paid for it. No big deal, okay? Now, what happens, a couple hours later, if that person whom you paid for their groceries came back into the teller and said, hey, I would like to pay my debt. That was a very nice thing that that man did for me, but I'd like to pay it. They're gonna tell you to leave because it's already been paid, okay? And that's exactly what the world is doing today. They're trying to pay for something that has already been paid for. It's impossible. It cannot be done. Hence the need to understand the seven principal negatives to hammer that point home that Jesus is the propitiation. He is the satisfaction. Now look at verse number two, 1 John chapter two. Look at this. And he is, and there's that big word again, the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Okay, you see that there? He didn't just die for the Christian. He died to pay the sin debt for the entire world to make salvation a free gift. And this has always covered humanity, Old Testament, New Testament, millennium, doesn't matter, okay? Now what I'd like you to do is to go back to John chapter number 12. And let's talk about this question again, or this statement. My Jesus ain't no sinner Jesus can't save. What you could say is, well, amen. And you could quote to them, John chapter number 12 in verse number 47 and say, that's right. And if any man hear my words and believe not, I judge him not, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. And then you could explain to them what that means. He saved the world. He saved sinners from the sin debt, but that doesn't mean, okay, let's put it like this. He saved everyone from their sin debt. He never said everyone is always eligible. He saved everyone from their sin debt. He never said everyone is always eligible. And let's take a look at that. Since we happen to be here in John chapter number 12, let's jump over to verse number 35. Remember the three groups of people. You have people that are of the child of the devil. You have people that are saved. And then you have people hanging in the balances. And look at what Jesus says in verse 35. Remember the statement. He saved everyone from their sin debt. He never said everyone is always eligible. Look at verse 35, if you don't believe me. Then Jesus said unto them, yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness, know not whether he goeth. Now in some sense, he is saying that he's about to depart from earth. He's about to die on the cross and to obviously be the resurrection. He's already stated in chapter 11 that he is the resurrection, but he's also stating a principle here, okay. And he's telling these people, yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the light. Meaning not everyone always has the light, but every person on this planet has an opportunity and at some point has the light. And Jesus is saying, hey, you know, today is the day of salvation. You need to understand that this may not always be with you. It could be taken from you. Look what he says. Walk while you have the light. Walk through that door of faith is what he means. Walk while you have the light, less what? Darkness come upon you. So that means that it is possible for darkness to come on people on this earth. And he says, for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whether he goeth. Okay, just go knock some doors with us and you will see people in this category here. Look at verse 36. While ye have the light, believe in the light that ye may be the children of the light. So what he's trying to tell us here is, hey, you know, this light may not always be present for you to believe in. Something could happen that changes that. And to make matters worse, let's keep reading. Verse 36, these things spake Jesus and departed and did hide himself from them. What does that mean? He's just reinforcing what he just said. Walk while you have the light. Make the decision now, because you may not be able to tomorrow. Verse 37, but though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him. Why is that? Why is it that this group of people did not believe? They had the light, they saw the miracles, they heard the word of God? Verse 38, that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake. Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Verse 39, this gets them all. This smashes that hat, this destroys everything. Therefore, they could not believe, because that Isaiah said again, verse 40, he hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and here it is, and be converted. And I should heal them. Okay, so before Jesus departs from this group of people that he's talking to, he tells them, hey, you better walk. You better walk while you have light. You better make up your mind today, because tomorrow there are no guarantees. And then the next thing you know, we're reading about a group of people whom God hath blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts on this earth, on this planet, in real time, and they could not be converted. And because of this teaching, here's why you would never catch me wearing that hat, because this is my Jesus, this is the word of God, this is your Jesus, this is the Jesus of the Bible, who says, he hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, nor be converted, and I should heal them. Okay, verse 41, these things set his eyes when he saw his glory and spake of him. Now, look at verse 42. Nevertheless, among the chief rulers, also many believed on him. Okay, so we're just gonna stop right there. But understand this here, you know, some people in here did get saved, but those who saw the miracles, heard the preaching, they rejected it and rejected it, and finally the Bible just tells you, okay, God hardened their hearts, and they could not believe, they could not be converted, and that is forever. Okay, back to 35 real quick, one more time. Then Jesus said unto them, yet a little while is the light with you, walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you, for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whether he goeth. Okay, and he is alluding to this group of people here who had the opportunity, and that was taken from them. Not because God's a Calvinist, but simply because they darkened their hearts first. They chose to reject, they chose to push away, and God said, I'm going to cement this deal then right now, and you will never be able to be saved. So the question is, is this taught anywhere else in the epistles? Because that's what some dispensation guys will say. Well, is this in the Paul line epistles? Well, let's take a look. Go to 2 Timothy chapter number three, and let's see if there's a group of people that we're worried about in the Bible that fits this bill here. 2 Timothy chapter number three. We're getting close to being done. So again, I want to emphasize this statement here. He saved everyone from their sin debt. He never said everyone is always eligible. John chapter 12 puts that to bed. It puts that to rest, and that is something that we all need to be aware of. So let's take a look at this here. 2 Timothy chapter number three. And of course, this starts out talking about how the end times are perilous, people lovers of their own selves, truce breakers, traitors, all of these different things, okay? Let's take a look here, verse number five. The Bible says, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof from such turn away, verse six, for of this sort are they which creep into houses, lead captives, silly women laden with sins, led with diverse lust. That would definitely fit those Pharisees and those Sadducees and those scribes that are mentioned there in John chapter number 12. Did they not have a form of godliness? Did they not have the long, flowy robes and go to the synagogue and talk religiously? Of course, well guess what? We have those same types of people today. Now look at verse number seven about this same type of personality here. Verse seven, ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Okay, why do you think there are so many different Bible colleges today and then after people graduate those Bible colleges and those theological schools, you know, they stand up in front of their pulpits and they say things like, well, in the originals and well, you know, this was dug up and the Dead Sea Scrolls says this, they're always learning but they don't ever have any truth. Let's take a look at this, verse seven. Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Verse eight, now as Janus and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these. So these types of people here. So do these also resist the truth, right? Just like we saw in John 12, okay? They saw the miracles, they heard the word but they resisted, okay? Remember, this is the Pauline Epistle, New Testament, okay, New Testament timeframe. Now as Janus and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds, and look at this very next word, boy, this triggers a lot of people, reprobate concerning the faith. It's not saying they're all Romans 1 sodomites, it's just saying that these types of people are rejected concerning the faith and that's the same thing you find in John chapter 12 with those religious leaders who resisted the truth and God said, I'm going to harden your heart and blind your eyes so that you cannot see and be converted. These people exist, which is why this statement is so stupid, I don't like the way this is worded. Ain't no sinner Jesus can't save. But at least now, hopefully we have a clear answer to that. And we can say, you're right in this sense, he saved everyone from their sin debt. Never said that everyone is always eligible. That is a lie, that is not true, and because we understand that, and because fundamentalists have this down is why you see the urgency to get people saved. That's why, that's where that urgency comes from, is because we know that tomorrow someone could find themselves in this category, reprobate or rejected, because that's what the word means, reprobate concerning the faith, and that's what we're trying to slow down, that's what we're trying to mitigate out there giving the gospel. And of course, we're not gonna go there tonight, we've talked about it a million times, Romans 1, 28, God gave them over to a reprobate mind. Does God give some people over to a rejected mind to where they cannot be converted, and the answer is yes. I have never had anyone ever be able to refute this, email, text, face to face, nothing. As soon as you bring these things up, like eight out of 10 times, they'll just start attacking you. Well, you're a Nazi. Well, you hate the Jews. Well, according to Romans 2, I'm a Jew. Well, what are you gonna say about that? So we're gonna stop right here, but hopefully this helps, and hopefully you remember these seven principle negatives because understanding those and just having that toolbox, it can really back up your soul. It can help you if you need to encourage somebody, if people are just kinda stuck, like I'm not really sure, I'm not sure. You can give them those things, but you have the deeper understanding now. You know how to refute this silly statement because this statement isn't true. People that wear that hat, people that have that bumper sticker, you know what you don't ever see them doing, or very rarely? You never see them out knocking on doors. You never actually see them trying to get someone saved. You never see them standing up, standing in the gap, and calling out sin for what it is. And calling out the wicked things that are going on in the world today because they just think, oh, it's bad, but they'll probably get saved. Oh yeah, I'm sure that Joe Biden will get saved before he dies. We've been praying for him for years. No. Understand what the word of God says. But also you know that there is some truth to that statement though. It's just not like how they think. So again, one more time, he saved everyone from their sin debt. He never said everyone was always eligible. If you can remember that, it's gonna help you out tremendously. And again, we're not trying to offend people. It's just the natural byproduct of truth. But if you can run into somebody or you know somebody who will listen, look, and you give them these things. They have no choice but to accept it. It's the word of God. It's in the Gospel of John and it's all the way towards the end of the Bible. You should even be able to get a dispensationalist to understand this because it's in the Pauline epistles. So let's stop right there and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Thank you so much, Lord, for tonight. I just pray that you would bless your travels this weekend. Bring us back safely again on Sunday and bless the fellowship after the service. And we thank you for all that you do for us. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. All right, everyone. For our final song this evening, we will be turning to song number 259. Turn there myself. Song number 259, Jesus Saves. On the first, we have heard the joyful sound. Jesus saves, Jesus saves. Spread the tidings all around. Jesus saves, Jesus saves. Bear the news to every land. Climb the steeps and cross the waves. Onward to the first. Jesus saves, Jesus saves. Spread the tidings all around. Jesus saves, Jesus saves. Spread the tidings all around. Climb the steeps and cross the waves. Onward to our Lord's command. Jesus saves, Jesus saves. On the second, left it on the rolling tide. Jesus saves, Jesus saves. Tells us sinners far and wide. Earth shall keep her jubilee. Jesus saves, Jesus saves. On the third, sing above the battle strife. Jesus saves, Jesus saves. By his death and endless life. Jesus saves, Jesus saves. Sing it softly through the gloom. When the heart for mercy craves. Sing in triumph for the tomb. Jesus saves, Jesus saves. On the last, give the winds a mighty voice. Jesus saves, Jesus saves. Let the nations now rejoice. Jesus saves, Jesus saves. Shout salvation full and free. Highest hills and deepest caves. This our song of victory. Jesus saves, Jesus saves. All right, let's bow our heads in a word of prayer. Dear Lord, thank you for this time to hear your word be preached. I ask that you please bless the fellowship after the service and everyone's travels home. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen.