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You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You My eternal Oh Me All right, great singing thank you for being here this morning thank god for heaven amen Looking forward to the millennial rain the new heaven the new earth and simply just being in eternity with the Lord. Amen Am I hearing something is there music going on or am I am I getting old? All right, it's the trumpet Let's pray father. We thank you so much for our salvation We're so thankful for church and for the preaching and for the Word of God Lord I pray God that you'd be with us throughout the service that you would be honored and glorified through it Help us to be edified through the sermon and bless the soul winning thereafter Lord and all there is today That you would be honored and glorified in all that we do in Jesus name we pray. Amen You may be seated song number 310 footprints of Jesus song number 310 Song number 310 footprints of Jesus Right there at the bottom of your hymn book right there. We'll see you on that first verse Sweetly Lord have we heard thee calling, come follow me And we see where thy footprints falling, lead us to thee Footprints of Jesus that make the pathway go We will follow the steps of Jesus wherever they go Though they lead o'er the cold, dark mountains, seeking his sheep For along by Siloam's Mountains, he'll be the weak Footprints of Jesus that make the pathway go We will follow the steps of Jesus wherever they go If they lead through the temple holy, reaching the world Or in homes of the poor and lowly, serving the poor Footprints of Jesus that make the pathway go We will follow the steps of Jesus wherever they go Then at last when on high he sees us, our journey done We will follow the steps of Jesus wherever they go Footprints of Jesus that make the pathway go We will follow the steps of Jesus wherever they go We will follow the steps of Jesus wherever they go We will follow the steps of Jesus wherever they go We had a great soul winning training yesterday. I think it was a total of about 63-65 people showed up. Thank God for that. If you want to continue to learn how to preach the gospel, be placed on the team so you can be trained to do so. You see the list of expecting mothers there. Please continue to pray for them. Important reminders, please make sure that you are supervising your children in the building. No children should be in the mother baby room or any other room alone without their parents. No men allowed in a mother baby room. If you are taking your children out during the service, just make sure you utilize the fellowship hall or the foyer area. There is a screen and speaker there available for you. See the upcoming church events. Today after the service is Miss Olivia Lee's baby shower. By the way, welcome them home. Brother John and Miss Olivia came back. I'm not going to be a part of the baby shower, but I'm sure everyone else is looking forward to it. That will be in the fellowship hall. When we have a baby shower, we typically don't meet for soul winning. So 1245 team leaders, just make sure you get with your team, instruct them and you can send them out after that. If you have any questions about the baby shower, you can see Miss Ashley for more details about that. Miss DJ's bridal shower is on Sunday, January 30th. And then the pastoral institute begins on Friday, February 4th. And so the last day to register for that will be January 23rd. Just keep that in mind. And we do have the sign up sheet in the back. Now, let me just explain what I explained on Thursday. This is obviously it's for men who want to be pastors. But if you want to be a part of the class because you want to just be a better leader, a greater asset to the church, you're welcome to come. The difference is this is that, you know, if you miss one class because it's compiled, it's basically six classes, six weeks. OK, if you miss one, then you're out for the fall until the following year. OK. And so if you're going to come, you just got to make sure you're committed to come every Friday. It starts at eight o'clock p.m. OK. And it lasts for about two hours. So the first hour, the first half is preaching. And that'll be the first class for every week for those six weeks. But the second hour will be just different subjects. For example, church finances, media, soul winning, leadership, the pastor and his family, things of that nature. And so if you're interested in doing that, make sure you sign up in the back and so we can get a head count on that. If you have any questions, you can see me after the service. We need to start preparing for a potential church planning, man. And so we need to make sure that we're training the men in our church. And so we want to do our part in doing so. Saturday, February 12th is the Valentine couples activity. That'll be here at the church building. You can sign up in the back. We're probably going to have Lucille's and we'll have some games. And so if you're interested in coming to that, married couples, you're welcome to do so. Ariel's baby shower will be on Sunday, February 13th. And then, of course, quiet time resumes on Sunday afternoon between three p.m. and four fifteen in the main auditorium and mother baby room. Take advantage of that. Make sure you get a nap in, get some rest in to be refreshed before Sunday night church. And no food or drink allowed in the main auditorium except for water and coffee. Make sure you silence your phones during the preaching so as to not be a distraction during the service. All right. And that's pretty much it for our announcements. Let's go to see our next song. Song number fifty five. When the roll is called up yonder. Song number fifty five in your songbooks. Amen. Song number fifty five. When the roll is called up yonder. We'll see it on that first verse. When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound. See it on that verse. When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be naught. And the morning breaks eternal, proud and fair. When the seed on earth shall gather over all the unashamed and the roll is called yonder I'll welfare. When the roll is called up yonder. When the roll is called up yonder. When the roll is called up yonder. When the road is called the Gondar, I'll be there All that writing about this morning when the dead in Christ shall rise And the glory of his resurrection shared When his chosen ones shall gather to their homes beyond the sky And the road is called the Gondar, I'll be there When the road is called the Gondar When the road is called the Gondar When the road is called the Gondar When the road is called the Gondar, I'll be there Let us labor for the master from the darkness and the sun Let us talk of all his wondrous love and care And when all the fighting's over and our work on Earth is done And the road is called the Gondar, I'll be there When the road is called the Gondar When the road is called the Gondar When the road is called the Gondar When the road is called the Gondar, I'll be there Amen. Wonderful singing. At this time our ushers will be receiving the offering and please turn your Bibles to John chapter 6. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee which is the sea of Tiberias. And a great multitude followed him because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up into a mountain and there he sat with his disciples. And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes and saw a great company coming to him, he saith unto Philip, When shall we buy bread that these may eat? And this he said to prove him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Two hundred penny worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes, but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place, so the men sat down and numbered about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples and the disciples to them that were set down, and likewise with the fishes, as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth, that prophet, that should come into the world. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone. And when he even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea, and entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them. And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship, and they were afraid. But he saith unto them, It is I, be not afraid. Then they willingly received him into the ship, and immediately the ship was at the land where they went. The day following, when the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none of the boat there, save that one whereinto his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone, albeit there came other boats from Tiberius nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, out that the Lord had given thanks. When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, now their disciples, they also took shipping and came to Capernaum seeking for Jesus. When they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you, for him hath God the Father sealed. Then they said unto him, What shall we do that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him when we have sinned. They said therefore unto him, What sign showest thou then, that we may see and believe thee? What dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 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. But I said unto you, that ye also have seen me and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. The Jews then murmured at him because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God he hath seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father assent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me even he shall live by me. This is the bread which came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead. He that eateth of this bread shall live forever. These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying, who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at him, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given to him of my Father. From that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? And Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve. Let's pray, dear Lord God, just thank you for this church, thank you for our pastor. Just ask that you would be with him now, please strengthen him, fill him with your spirit, and please just bless the preaching of your word and continue to bless our church. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. Okay, we're in John chapter 6 this morning, and the title of my sermon this morning is The Heirs of Reformed Theology, The Heirs of Reformed Theology. Or another fitting title could be The Discrepancies of Calvinism. Okay, The Discrepancies of Calvinism. Now, what is Reformed Theology? Well, Reformed Theology is not necessarily a phrase or a term that we would commonly use. We would use Calvinism to describe this type of doctrine, but Reformed Theology is simply a theological system of doctrines that were set forth by Protestants in the 16th century to rebuttal the errors of the Catholic Church. That's basically what it is. The Catholic Church is putting forth a false knowledge of God, of course, because they don't know the Bible, they're not saved. And so the Reformers came and amended or reformed those doctrines to make them fit what the Bible actually taught according to them. But here's the thing is that at the end of the day, Reformed Theology is simply an evolved version of Catholicism. That's all it is. Because of the fact that when you look at Protestant circles today, you have the Presbyterians, you have the Lutherans, you have the Congregationalists, for example, who practice sprinkling babies, which is a Catholic practice. And there are even Protestants who still believe in transubstantiation. They believe that the Eucharist can be consumed and it turns into the body of Christ and that's how you get saved. And so that's obviously a Catholic doctrine, that's a Catholic belief. Now there are minor nuances between these groups, but the common denominator that you and I or others would be familiar with is the doctrine of election and predestination. So there's all types of differences between these groups, between these Reformed groups here, whether it's Reformed Baptists, the Lutherans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, they all have these differences. But the common denominator, the most conspicuous doctrine that we know about, the one that stands out, the one that's like a red flag, is election and predestination. Which is a false doctrine and it's not found in the Bible and we're going to go over that this morning. And so why am I preaching this? Why am I talking about Calvinism? Is Calvinism leaking into the church? Is Reformed theology becoming a thing here? No, it's not. The reason I'm actually preaching this is because of the fact that a couple days ago, there was this reformer on social media who found my sermon on why John MacArthur is an abomination. And if you haven't heard that sermon, I strongly encourage you to go listen, there's a great sermon. It's a good sermon. And they were very highly offended by it. You know, because I had some choice words to say about John MacArthur and you know, I basically said I hope he splits hell wide open. You know, stuff like that. And they were really upset about that. And so what they did is they took the hottest parts of the sermon, put it into a clip and posted it on social media. It went viral like on Twitter and then on Instagram they're posting it. And so I have all these reformers just like bashing me and saying how I'm wrong and all these things. And let me just go on the record by saying that I take nothing back. Everything that I said in that sermon, I'd say it again. There's nothing wrong with what I said. It's completely biblical. But here's the thing is that a lot of the followers that I have on social media are actually reformers, believe it or not. They're Calvinists because of the fact that I put out a lot of content against vaccinations and these mandates. And so they like that stuff. And so, you know, they're for medical freedom. They're against vaccinations, but they're reformers. And so, you know, they like my stuff. So they're kind of conflicted. They're like, well, he's right about this, but man, why would you say this? And so I've gotten so many messages where it's just like, hey, you know, I really like your stuff, but man, this seems a little extreme. Why are you saying these things against JM? You know, what has he done? Why do you think he's a false prophet? And they thought I was just going to say, hey, I'm really sorry. I was young. I was immature. I didn't know what I was talking about. And what I basically said was, I don't take anything back, you know. He is a false prophet and this is the reason why. And, you know, I got messages from people who were saying, you know, you're going to turn a lot of people away from the gospel by saying stuff like this. But literally when I got that message, I literally got another message that wasn't happy about what I said, but said, you know, why do you think he's a false prophet? And I gave the reasons and they said, you know, that's interesting because I've been thinking about that subject for quite some time. And I wonder if I'm saved sometimes. I'm wondering if my children are saved. And you're the only one who's actually brought that up because that's kind of like the elephant in the room within these Reformed churches is that they have this teaching of election. And, you know, there are certain people that are chosen to be saved, certain that are not. And so you have a bunch of people in these churches who are kind of doubting whether they're saved or not. Because, you know, the way you confirm that you're the chosen is based upon how much you love God. Do you read the Bible? Are you in church? Are you doing it righteously? Do you believe these things? And so it's like, where do you draw the line, though? And so you have a bunch of people who are just struggling with this matter of whether they're saved or not. And, you know, a lot of those people are contacting me now. And I told this person, well, the reason that lady, that loud-mouthed lady on social media, God allowed her to post that is to reach people like you. And so that's why I'm preaching this. And so I want to talk about Reformed theology. I want to talk about Calvinism. Let me just make myself very clear that we are not a Calvinist church. We reject all five points of Calvinism. We don't believe in predestination or election or any of these doctrines that they teach. And, in fact, many of them have contacted me and said, hey, I went on your website and you said you reject all five points of Calvinism. I caught you, you know, kind of thing. And it's just like, yeah, but I'm an independent fundamental Baptist. I'm not a Calvinist. You know, because there are Baptists out there that claim that they are Reformed Baptists. They'll claim, you know, they believe in Reformed theology, but they're Baptists as well. Well, we're not one of them, okay? And we're very open about that. Now, let me preface everything I'm about to teach right now by saying, first and foremost, let me go over this introduction. Let me say that there are certain doctrines that Calvinists teach that are actually right. There are certain things that they actually believe that are right. And the reason I want to make that statement is because, you know, sometimes we're accused of just being so one-sided and, oh, you guys think you're just always right. There's no one else who's right. No, actually, the truth is that we love the truth. We love the truth. We embrace the truth. So we actually have no problem with looking at another religious group, another denomination. And if they have something right, we have no problem with saying they're actually right about that. Whereas a lot of the independent fundamental Baptists of old, they'll just throw out the baby with the bathwater and say they're just all completely wrong. And it kind of skews their integrity because people look at it and say, well, they're actually right about this, but you're just not willing to admit that. No, I'm willing to admit that there's some things that the Reformed theologists actually believe that are correct, certain things that the Calvinists teach that are actually correct. And I'm going to give you some of those right now, okay? What are some of the things that Calvinists believe and teach that are actually right? Well, number one, covenant theology is actually right. Now, you're like, what is that? Well, we would teach, we wouldn't say, we wouldn't call it covenant theology. We call it replacement theology, which is the teaching that believers have replaced the Jews and the nation of Israel as being God's chosen people. They're actually right about that. They believe that. Now, the reason they call it covenant theology and not replacement theology is over some little nuances. But at the end of the day, when you look at how they describe covenant theology to be, it's exactly what we believe. Because they'll say, well, we call it covenant theology because of the fact that the Jews were the branch that were broken off and we're the branches that were grafted in. And to that I say, amen. That's absolutely true. You're absolutely right about that. You can read that in Romans chapter 11. We see that in Ephesians chapter 2, that of Twain, one new man was made. We were grafted in. We became fellow citizens of Israel, according to the Bible, according to Ephesians chapter 2. So they're right about that. The difference is this, is that we have a tendency to emphasize the fact that they were actually replaced because Jesus said that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. So yeah, we were integrated into the vine, which is Jesus Christ. Therefore, we're partakers of that promise. But more accurately, it would be to say they were actually replaced. Because the Bible actually says in Romans chapter 2 verse 28, for he is not a Jew which is one outwardly. Neither is that circumcision outward in the flesh made of hands. But he is a Jew which is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the heart and of the spirit and not of the letter, whose praise is not a man but of God. And in fact, I remember years ago when I first started reading my Bible, I came across Romans chapter 2 and I saw that. And obviously I was going to a dispensational church, a mild dispensational church. And I remember reading it and I was like, oh okay, that means we're the Jews then. You know, I just kind of threw that out there and I was like, I guess we're the Jews. And I remember we had a Calvinist who used to go to our church. And we were out soul winning one time, which shows that some Calvinists actually go soul winning. And I remember him telling me, hey Bruce, did you know that we're actually the real Jews? And I remember now that I look back at it, I think he was trying to test the waters a little bit. But my reaction was just like, oh yeah, Romans 2, I just read that. And he was like, yeah exactly. So we found common ground and I was thinking to myself, what's the big deal? But then later on, of course, I found out the reason why it was a big deal is because independent fundamental Baptists believe that the Jews are God's chosen people. And it's almost like blasphemous to say that they're not. They hold that up there with the doctrines of Christ. But replacement theology, covenant theology, we agree with them and they're actually right about it. Now are there little nuances that are different? Yeah, they might refer to believers as the church. We don't necessarily use that term because the Bible talks about churches. I think it's more accurate to say that all believers have replaced Israel. All believers are part of that new covenant. Those who have believed in Christ. And so they're right about covenant theology. I love that doctrine. Replacement theology is biblical. It's found throughout the scriptures. You can read Hebrews chapter 8, Galatians 3, Galatians 4, Romans 2, Romans 11. Romans chapter 10. I mean, it's found throughout the word of God that Jews are no longer God's chosen people. The Bible actually says, but ye are a chosen generation, referring to those in Cappadocia, Bithynia, Galatia, Pontius, right? It says, ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called thee out of darkness into his marvelous light. And who's he talking to? Galatians, not Galatians, or yeah, Galatians, but he's referring to Gentile believers. And that's a statement that's taken from Deuteronomy when he's talking to the Jews. Talking about being a chosen people. That's reiterated in 1 Peter to Gentile believers. So, you know, that's an easy one right there. But they're right about that. And so we agree about that. Here's the second thing that the Calvinists are right about. Now, you know, I use the term Calvinist and they don't really like that term. Because they think it's very misleading. You know, because again, there's nuances. But I'm just going to use Calvinist or Reformed theology to describe who they are. Okay? Here's another thing that they're right about. They're anti-dispensational. They're actually right about that. Or at least you can turn that off. They're actually right about that. Okay? And here's the thing is that we're anti-dispensational. In fact, our church came out with a movie a couple years ago called The Dispensation of Heresy. Where we exposed all the flaws of dispensationalism. And what, you know, these Peter Ruckman type people teach. You know, we preach against Robert Breaker. We preach against Gene Kim. We preach against Peter Ruckman. And any other dispensationalist that teaches this manner of teaching. And here's the thing is that this is obviously uncommon for independent fundamental Baptists. Because of the fact that unfortunately our fundamental Baptist brethren have embraced that doctrine. Okay? They embrace the preacher of rapture. They embrace the Jews being God's chosen people. And church ages. Well we completely reject that because we love the truth. Okay? And so we're not hyper dispensationalists. We're not mild dispensationalists. We're not dispensationalists at all. And of course the dispensationalists will say, we're dispensationalists in the Bible. You know, somehow, and somehow that means that their definition of dispensation is what the Bible's teaching. Okay? Dispensation simply means to dispense. To give out something. Okay? And so they're right about that. And one thing that they highly emphasize when it comes to being anti-dispensational is that salvation has always been the same in the Old Testament as in the New Testament. Which, by the way, is where dispensationalism will ultimately lead you to. So someone who says, well I'm not a hyper dispensationalist. I just believe the Jews are God's chosen people. And I have differences when it comes to eschatology and end times Bible prophecy. Well, that very belief is stemmed in the teaching that there are different ways of getting saved throughout the ages. There's dispensational salvation. That people were saved through the keeping of the commandments in the Old Testament. That the sacrifices in the Old Testament were saved by grace through faith because we're in the church age. And then in the end times people get saved by repenting of their sins and works or whatever. You know, that salvation changes. That's completely false. Okay? And I agree with Calvinists. I agree with those who believe in Reformed theology. That salvation has always been the same. Never changed. Okay? I reject dispensationalism. C.I. Schofield. We're completely against John Nelson Darby and his teachings. Clarence Larkin and his stupid charts. You know, we completely reject that. It's heresy. It's false. And they're right about that. So check Covenant theology. You guys got it. Anti-dispensationalist? My man. You guys got it. Okay? Here's another thing that they're actually right about. And that is that they do esteem the law of the Lord. And what I'm specifically referring to is that they actually are for the death penalty. Okay? According to God's word. And in fact, I remember brother Alex is here today. But I remember brother Alex posted on our YouTube channel when we first started the church. When Ted Cruz was running for office. He had some reformed pastor get up and kind of open up for him. You know, like his opening act or whatever. And what he chose to talk about was how Sodomites deserved the death penalty. According to Leviticus 2013. And he was like, I mean, this is some good preaching. He's like, they deserve the death penalty. I mean, Leviticus 2013 sounded kind of funny. You know what I mean? Because he's probably quoting from like NASB or something like that. But it got the idea across for sure. You know what I mean? And I remember Alex and I were watching and we're like, how come no one's talking about this guy? Why is everyone always persecuting us, but they don't persecute this guy? You know what I mean? Because he actually got up on a political forum. This wasn't a church service. It's a political forum and actually said those things and caught no flack for it. Whereas us, I mean, and here's the thing. It might be that God's just like, I'm not going to let this guy get persecuted and get all these rewards. He believes all kinds of false doctrine. Now I will say that they're not as strong on this concept as we would be. But I'll take it though. If we can get someone else to say the things that we say and believe that the death penalty should be instituted for capital crimes, you know, I'm for people saying that even if they're a Calvinist. Okay? And so they esteem the law of the Lord. They are for the death penalty. They may not be as vocal about it as we are, but they do believe in it. Whereas, you know, a lot of our independent fundamental Baptist brethren, they make all kinds of excuses for the laws of God. Like, oh, we're in the New Testament now and we're under grace. And they make this difference between, like, the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New kind of thing. Whereas, honestly, Calvinists and Reformed Theologists and us, we actually believe that God has just been the same all the way through. You know? And we have plenty of proof for that. And in fact, just to let you know, the Book of Revelation is in the New Testament. And that is where the majority of God's wrath is being poured out on this world. Okay? And so they're very misled in that area. But Calvinists are right about Covenant Theology. They're right about being anti-dispensational. They're right about esteeming the law of the Lord. And, let me say this, is that there is now a minority of Calvinists and Reformed Theologists that are actually KJV only. They're actually going back to the King James Bible. And so it's not a large group, but there are those who actually esteem the King James Bible as being the inspired and preserved Word of God. And to that I say, Amen. And you say, oh, I don't know about that. Is that really true? Yeah, because James White is making a big stink about it. He's very unhappy that a lot of people are leaving his false versions that he's using and going to the true Word of God, which is the King James Bible. And so I think that that's great. You know, I think it's great that they're right on these things. But at the end of the day, they're right about a lot of other, they're wrong about a lot of other stuff. Okay? And we're going to talk about that this morning. Now go with me if you would. Hold your place there in John six. We're going to come back to that and go to Romans chapter number two, Romans chapter number two. Now, if we're going to consolidate what the Calvinists believe into a few statements, it's very easy to do because they actually do it for you. They put forth what's called the TULIP. Okay? It's not referring to an actual flower. It's referring to an acronym that describes their particular doctrines and teachings. TULIP basically means, you know, total depravity. You have unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints. This is what they believe. Okay? And we are against those five points. Okay? They're completely wrong. And I'm going to explain to you why in the sermon. And by the way, some of you may already know this front to back, left to right, but this is just good to emphasize. And it's always good to re-preach, you know, certain doctrines and preach against old heresies because of the fact that there's constantly new people coming into our church. You know, we need to make sure we cover everything to make sure that Paul's doctrine and heresy doesn't infiltrate our church. So first and foremost, let's talk about total depravity. Okay? What is total depravity? Now, think about this. What does it mean to be depraved? That's a strong word. To be depraved means you're just wicked, vile, corrupt, perverse. Right? Well, they teach what's called total depravity. In other words, man is completely corrupt and incapable of seeking after God with the exception of those who are actually elected. Okay? Now, you know, when you look at that, you're like, well, that is kind of true because there are people in this world who are totally depraved. There are people in this world who are just completely corrupt, completely vile, just wicked, and they're going to split hell wide open. We would talk about reprobates, right? And so when you look at that, you're like, well, you know, it sounds right. But here's the thing. What's being logically implied, which is this is a phrase that they would commonly use, because it's like if you can't understand this, it's like, well, let me logically explain this to you. Because Calvinists and Reformed theologists, you know, they're all about intellectually explaining these things rather than speaking to the common people and putting the cookie on the bottom shelf. Okay? What's being logically implied here is that those who are not elect, in other words, they're not chosen, are reprobates. So if they were to categorize the world into two parties, it would be those who are chosen and the rest would just be reprobates. Okay? Now, we would categorize it into three, we would segment them off into three sections. We would say they're saved, unsaved, and then there's the reprobates, right? Well, according to the Reformers, because they believe in the reprobate doctrine, just not our reprobate doctrine, not the Bible's reprobate doctrine. What do they teach? According to Reformers, reprobation is the doctrine that God has eternally decreed to refrain from extending salvation to specific individuals, not based upon the rejection of God in the Gospel, but just based upon the whim of God. Okay? Based upon, they would say this, the good pleasure of His will. So they say, well, you know, some people in this world are just reprobate, they are totally depraved, they can never come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Why? Because they rejected Jesus? No. Why? Because they reject God? No. Why? Because they hate God? No. It's based upon the good pleasure of His will to just make them reprobates right off the bat. This is a false teaching, folks. And along with that, they say, you know, people who are totally depraved, they can never do good. It's impossible for them to do any good. And this is false. Look at Romans chapter 2 and verse 14. Look what the Bible says in Romans 2, 14. It says, for when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves. Amen. Amen. Hold on a second. So here it's telling us that Gentiles, people who are not saved, who don't have the word of God, they have the law of God written in their hearts. They know that murder is wrong. They know that stealing is wrong. They know that lying is wrong. They know that these sins are wrong. And the Bible says that these people will actually do that which is contained in the law. Did you know that you don't have to be saved to be a good person? Now, here's the thing. There's none that do with good. No, not one for salvation. Our righteousness are as filthy rags in the eyes of God for salvation. But there's plenty of good moral people in this world. No, there isn't. Then tell me why there's not just utter chaos and rape and murder just taking place left and right. You know, is that what's happening today in our world? Obviously, there's segments of the population where that is prevalent. But the vast majority of people are law-abiding citizens. They're just not going around raping and murdering and stealing. Folks, did you know there's people who get married and stay married and they're not even religious? Did you know that that's happened for thousands of years? Well, they've done right and just were faithful, they were loyal. There's plenty of people who think that stealing is wrong and they're not even saved. There's actually people out there who are just moral individuals who are law-abiding citizens. How can this be? I'll tell you how because the law of God is written in their hearts and the Bible says that they do by nature the things contained in the law. Now, here's the difference. That person who's a law-abiding citizen is still going to go to hell. Because of the fact that good works and trying to abide by the law doesn't get you to heaven because no one is perfect. There is none righteous, no not one, the Bible says. He says there, these having not the law are law unto themselves which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts, the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. So according to reformers, the unsaved man, the individual who's totally depraved is incapable of doing any good whatsoever. This is completely false. And you know, they'll pull out scriptures that maybe can even indicate that. But here's the thing folks, when you run into two scriptures that may seem like they're in complete opposition one to another, we know because we believe the word of God that there is no contradiction. What we should do as those who are students of God's word is seek to reconcile those scriptures, not choose one over the other. Right? So when you have two scriptures that don't seem to like, you know, make sense or it's just like this says this but this seems to say something completely different, it's not like well let's just go with A instead of B. We'll just completely disregard B and we'll go with A. No, because it's God's word they should be reconciled. They do correspond one with another and we just need to reconcile it. Now let me give you an example. Psalm 10 verse 4 says the wicked, you're in Romans 2, go to Romans chapter 3. Psalm 10 verse 4 says the wicked through the pride of his confidence will not seek after God, God is not in all his thoughts. And the Calvinist would say, there you go. Right? He's not going to seek after God, God is not in all his thoughts and boom you got yourself the verse right there for total depravity. Look at Romans 3 verse 10. As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. Now how do we reconcile this because we have other scriptures that say that they do that which is written in the law because of the fact that they have the law of God written in their hearts. Well number one, let me just say this, because people out there don't seek God, that's why God commands us to seek them. Right? This is why the commandment of the Great Commission to preach the gospel is present because God wants us to seek out the lost. But here's the thing folks, even if that were the interpretation to say well unsafe people don't seek after God, we know that's not 100% true because there's examples of unsafe people in the Bible who sought after God. There's examples, the Ethiopian eunuch for example, sought after the Lord. The centurion sought after God. There's plenty of people in the Bible who actually sought the Lord and they found him through a soul winner. Someone who came and gave him the gospel and showed him the way of the Lord and got them saved, that's exactly how it works. Now go to Romans chapter one, go to Romans chapter number one. So the first nail in the coffin is the fact that they can do good because the Bible says that they have the law of God written in their hearts and they do those things which are contained in the law. But here's another nail in the coffin to say well the totally depraved, those who are unsafe, they can't know God because they don't seek after God. Wrong. Look at Romans 1 verse 21. Because that when they knew God and this is talking about reprobates. Because that when they knew God oh they can't know God, they knew God. Well a new God there doesn't really mean to know God, it means actually what? To know God. They had a knowledge of God. Because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened professing themselves to be wise they became fools and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God and to an image made like to corruptible man and to birds and to four-footed beasts and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. So what do we see here? We see that they knew God but then they rejected God and then we see them going down this spiral of immorality to the point they become depraved and then God gives them over to a reprobate mind. So reprobation is actually conditional. It's based upon the condition that when the truth is given to them and they reject the truth God gives them over to a reprobate mind. He says in verse 25, Who changed the truth of God into a lie. Now how do they change the truth of God if they don't have the truth? And worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator is blessed forever. Amen. For this cause, for this reason, because of this condition God gave them up to vile affections for even their women to change the natural use into that which is against nature and likewise also the men leaving the natural use of the woman burned in the lust one toward another, men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving themselves that recompense of their error which is me. So on and so forth. So what do we see? Well what we're looking at here is the actual teaching of being a reprobate. It's not that God chose them for reprobation before the foundation of the world. It's that there's certain conditions based upon that. Because look folks, we're not going to deny that there are people out there who are totally depraved. There are wicked sons of Belial, children of the devil, just completely disgusting haters of God who hate the truth, that turn the truth of God into a lie, but that's not every unsaved person. Whereas the Calvinists would just couple all unsaved people under that category. They'll say everyone who's unsaved is a reprobate because they're not elect, therefore they're completely rejected of God, but no that's not true because we see here in Romans chapter 1, in context of the teaching of being a reprobate, it says when they knew God. So that's proof that they can know God. Now obviously that doesn't mean that they were saved. It means that they had a knowledge of God. It means that the truth was given unto them. And we could go to Hebrews 6 and prove that as well. That they tasted of that heavenly gift and they were there on the brim of salvation, but they rejected it and therefore they became thorns and briars in the eyes of God. To be burned eternally because they were reprobate. And so reprobation is not something that happens at a whim. What takes place is that they reject the truth and the Bible says that he gives them over to a reprobate mind so that they can't believe the truth. But it's based upon the fact that they don't want the truth to begin with. And so false, total depravity is completely false. Go back to John chapter 6. John chapter 6. I feel like this room is very extreme. It either gets really cold or really hot. Because now I'm like really hot. Is everyone else really warm? Raise your hand if you're really warm. Raise your hand if you're really cold. Not enough, turn it up. Crank it! Yeah. Okay, so total depravity debunked. Okay. Not everyone in this world is totally depraved. And in fact, you know what the Bible teaches is that unsaved people, the reason soul winners come to them, the reason they're given the knowledge of the truth is because they're actually responding to the light that God has given to them. That's what the Bible actually teaches. Okay. It talks about people who work righteousness. They're accepted with God. It doesn't mean that they're saved. It means that they're responding to the light that God has given to them. And we're all born with that light. This is the light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world, the Bible says. And what is the light that we begin with? The law of God written in our hearts. When we respond to that light, we keep responding to the light, we want the truth, then God is faithful to send someone to give us the gospel to get us saved. But there's some people that when they come to that brink of the truth, they don't want it. And in fact, they become aggressive towards God, antagonistic towards him, they become a hater of God. They don't want to retain God in their knowledge. And God is a gentleman, folks. He's not going to force himself upon anybody. And in fact, he will assist you in your endeavor to not think about him or to hate him and he'll give you a reprobate mind. He'll do you a favor, basically, and remove your ability to believe. And unfortunately, that removal comes with it, a removal of your morality as well. And that's why they do the disgusting things that they do. So total depravity is only halfway true, because there are people in this world who are totally depraved, it's just not every unsafe person. Now the next one is this, unconditional election, which is similar to what we just looked at with total depravity. Unconditional election is the teaching that salvation isn't based upon the contingency of someone's faith in Christ, but rather on God's just capricious decision to save them. Like they don't do anything to be saved, they were just, by chance, picked at random, by God, to just be saved. Okay? Now here's the thing is that we don't disagree with them that believers are the elect. Right? All believers are elect. We are the chosen, we are the elect. The disagreement lies on the stipulation to be elect. Okay? They believe it's at random. And this is also known as predestination. Okay? They're predestined for salvation. Well, look at John chapter 6 and verse 68, because what does it mean to be elect? It means to be chosen. Right? Well, we can debunk that in just a couple of verses right here. Look at verse 68. Look at verse 68. Now answer this, Calvinist. How is it that a person can be chosen, yet be a devil? I'll tell you how, because of the fact that chosen here doesn't necessarily mean, oh, you know, he was chosen for salvation, although that's what they would claim, since the word, according to them, means to be elect. You know? They would claim, well, this just means that, you know, this is just the exception to the rule or something like that. No, folks, he was chosen to be one of the twelve, and yet he was a devil himself. He was one of the twelve disciples, he was an apostle, he was doing the work, and yet the Bible says that he was a devil. So what is, what was it based upon, though? Well, it's based upon the fact that he didn't believe from the beginning. Now here's another thing that Calvinists teach, and a lot of them are getting into, is this matter of repenting of your sin for salvation. Now they'll pay lip service and say, well, we don't believe in a workspace salvation. You can't do works to be saved. But then they'll turn around and say you have to repent of your sins to be saved. And then when you tell them, so are you saying that I have to stop sinning in order to be saved? Well, not stop sinning, but you have to be sorry for your sin, though. Well, maybe not be sorry for your sin, but there has to be some sort of, there has to be something there that you do on your part. Well, that's a workspace salvation. That's a thinly-veiled workspace salvation. Because let's just let you know, repenting of your sin is a commandment of the Lord. God wants us to turn from our wicked ways to clean up our life and get right with God, but here's the difference, it's not to be saved. This is something that takes place after salvation and has no bearing on your eternal security whatsoever. Whereas they'll say, well, yeah, we believe in eternal security, but if you don't persevere until the end, then you just weren't really safe to begin with. So the implication there is that you have to do works all the way until the end, and if you don't do those good works all the way until the end, then they'll just say you weren't safe to begin with. So you're basically saying that I have to do works to be saved. Go to Ephesians chapter number one, if you would, Ephesians chapter number one. Ephesians chapter number one, 1 Peter chapter one verse two, you're in Ephesians. 1 Peter 1, 2 says, Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you and peace be multiplied. So it says here that we are elect according to the foreknowledge of God. It's basically what he knew before. What did he know? He knew that we were going to believe on Jesus Christ for salvation. That's what that means. Now look at Ephesians chapter one in verse number four. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will. So this would be like the checkmate for the Calvinist, right? It says right here, he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. And then it says in the second part, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children. So you look at that, you say, well, that kind of does sound like it's teaching like he's elected us or chosen certain people. So how do we reconcile that? Well, you know, the Calvinists are really big on context, but only when it's fitting to them. What does it mean? What does context mean? It means read the doctrine with text, read the text with the previous text and the text that comes after, right? We have to read everything that it says in this regard. So go to verse 11, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated. Oh, there's that dirty word again. According to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory, look at this, who first trusted in Christ. So the stipulation there is that if you've trusted in Christ, you're predestinated. If you're trusted in Christ, you're chosen. If you've trusted in Christ, you are now the elect. So what is the condition who first trusted in Christ? Well, no, you know, according to John Calvin, John Calvin's in hell. The guy got no credibility. The only guy who's in hell that I will listen to is the rich man. He's the only one who actually taught some good doctrine. Going to my father's house. You know, he actually said that's probably why God gave him a voice because he was actually going to say something true. It's funny, he didn't bring up John Calvin or anybody else. I'll tell you why, because of the fact that it's false. Folks, the prerequisite to become predestinated, by the way, the Bible tells us in Romans chapter 8 that we're predestinated to be conformed to the image of his son. Doesn't say be predestinated for salvation. It says we're predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. That means every person in this world, you know what God's will is? For them to be conformed to the image of his son. But how do they get to that point? Well, they have to first trust in Christ. That is the stipulation. That is the condition. It's not unconditional. There's actually conditions behind it and they have to trust in Christ in order to do so. It says in whom you also trusted. After that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and whom also after that ye believe, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. And look, I've heard John MacArthur, and by the way, John Piper, that's his name, right? Came out and now it's just full blown work salvation. He's literally, I mean, it shouldn't surprise us obviously, but I'm saying like, you know, it's surprising that he would be just so blatant about it because he actually came out and said, you have to do works to go to heaven. It's not by faith alone. You have to do works. You know, most false prophets would just be like, we don't believe in workspace salvation. He's just plainly saying you have to do works for salvation. And he's a reformer. Okay. But a lot of these guys, such as John MacArthur, they can't really explain this. You know, because there's thousands of people in those people's churches who wonder whether they're saved or not. They don't know if they're the elect because it's chosen at random. And when they ask, like, how do I know if I'm elect? They're like, well, do you love the Bible? Do you love God? Do you do all these things? And, you know, obviously they're going to say yes, but you know, there's going to be some doubt because guess what? Not all of us love God 110% all day long. So where do you draw the line? Do I have to love God as much as you claim to love God? Do I have to read the Bible as much as you read the Bible? Are you the standard for how to be saved? That's basically what they're saying. And herein lies the reformer's greatest dirty little secret. Okay. If babies and infants die and they're not elect, do they go to hell? They don't want to answer that. And I've spoken to reformers who have a lot of problems with that because of the fact that to say that an infant went to hell because they're not elect is so wicked. To think that an infant or a child, if they die and they're not elect, that they're going to hell is super wicked. It's something they're like, you know, like a false prophet would teach or something, you know? Right? And this question is posed to the reformers such as John MacArthur, and they always say, well, an intellectual answer would be, and then they go over their little election doctrine. Look, just say yes or no. You see, we plainly tell you what we believe. Anytime someone asks me, are you saying that sodomites should be put to death? Yes. It's not like, well, you know, according to the Bible, you know, I'll just say yes. Si. Portuguese, sim. Right? Is that correct? Probably not. Yes in every language possible. Absolutely. So you don't have to wonder what I believe. I'm not going to put all these little cute little phrases together and try to sound intellectual to try to throw you off and try to justify. No, I'm just going to tell you, yes, that's what I believe. But they can't do that because they know how wicked they would sound if they did. But that's exactly what they believe. There's thousands of babies, millions of babies who have died in the womb or been aborted. And you know what? According to the reformer, some of those were not elect. So that means, according to them, there are certain infants and babies that are currently burning in hell right now. And I encourage our reformer listeners out there to go ask your reformer pastor, hey, if a baby is not elect and they die, do they go to hell? And just say, give me a clear answer, yes or no. If they're honest about what they believe, they're going to say yes. But it's completely false. Okay. Go to Matthew 22, Matthew chapter 22. This is why we're not going to apologize for preaching against John MacArthur and hoping that he splits hell wide open. Do you know how many people's lives that man has destroyed? Do you know how many mothers' lives that man has destroyed? Where mothers are probably weeping, crying themselves to sleep at night because their child perished and they're wondering were they saved, were they elect? I mean, that's terrible. It's a nightmare, folks. But he doesn't care. He can care less. In fact, I remember seeing a clip of John MacArthur because he has like a Q&A sometimes at his church. And a lady got up and said, you know, my brother died. But he had gotten away from the Lord and all these things. He's like, was he saved? Like, it keeps me up at night wondering if he was saved. And I'm telling you, this is the same song of a lot of those people who are in those churches. They struggle so much with this. And he's like, well, yeah, there's no easy way to say it. He's probably, you know, probably in hell right now. But he was basing it off of the works that that guy did because he backslid or something. Now, obviously, we don't know what that guy believed. We don't know. And let me just say this. I believe there are safe people in these Reformed churches for sure. Are there safe people in Catholic churches? Probably not. Are there safe people in Mormon churches? No. Are there safe people in Jehovah's Witness congregations? Nine. But are there safe people in Reformed churches? Yeah, for sure. Because I've met people out soul winning where they go to these Reformed churches and they're actually saved. And they screw them up on doctrine and they get all mixed up with their terminology or whatever. But, you know, that's not an isolated incident that happens all the time. And I've spoken to them where they're just like, I don't know if I'm saved. I struggle with this. Folks, we don't struggle with this. These things I've written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. And that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. That's what the Bible says. We can speak with authority and say you can know for sure too. It's not like, well, I don't know if you're elect like I'm elect. I'll just tell you, you can be elect like me. And it's real simple. It's based upon your faith in Christ. Oh, you turn in the grace of God into lascivious. You're giving people a license to sin. People sin with or without a license. Folks, if people drive without a license, if they drive without insurance, you think they're just, they're going to sin without a license. They don't need someone to tell them not to sin or to sin in order to do it. Backsliding doesn't get you unsaved, doesn't mean that you're not saved, that you didn't believe from the beginning. You know, so it's nonsense. Now look at Matthew 23 verse 14. Because this is a verse that they will commonly use. I've heard many people tell me this. Verse 14. For many are called, but few are chosen. Many are called, but few are chosen. And it's just like their little checkmate there, right? Many are called, pastor, but only few are chosen. You know, salvation is extended to everyone because he died for everyone. But honestly, the only people that will get saved are the chosen. Because many are called, but only few are chosen. Well, Mr. Calvinist, let's take your context, you know, little argument and let's use it. Because I don't like to just quote one verse. Why don't we just read what the chapter's about? Look at verse number 1. Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding, and look what it says, and they would not come. Now what does it mean when it says they would not come? In other words, they exercise their free will to say no. Right? Again he sent forth other servants saying, Tell them which are bidden, behold I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fatlings are killed and all things are ready, come unto the marriage. But they made light of it and went their ways, went to his farm, another to his merchandise, and the remnant took his servants and entreated them spitefully and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth and sent forth his armies and destroyed those murderers and burdened up their city. By the way, this is prophetic about the Jews. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Now why were they not worthy? Because they would not come. It's not because, you know, they just did bad works. No, actually they would not come, the Bible says, and that's what made them not worthy. He says in verse 9, Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. And let me just say this before I continue to go on here on this passage. Calvinism, you know, this doctrine of election and predestination makes Calvinists lazy to evangelize. So they could use this all they want, but I don't see any Calvinists bidding anybody to come into the kingdom of God. Right? Many are called, if you're a chosen bro, you're called to go preach the gospel and you're still not doing it. You're supposed to go bid people to go trust Christ as your Savior and you're still not doing it. You're not even going under to preach your false gospel. He says in verse 9, Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So the servants went out into the highways and gathered many together, all as many as they found, both bad and good, and the wedding was furnished with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. And he said unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to his servants, bind him hand and foot and take him away. Cast him into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for many are called and few are chosen. So what does the wedding garment represent in this story? It actually represents the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Because they can't say, well, that's our righteous works. No, because the Bible clearly says that our righteousness are as filthy rags. God will not accept our righteousness for salvation. That's why it needs to be imputed unto us according to Romans chapter number 4. The wedding garment is signifying the righteousness of Jesus Christ that is given to a person when they choose to come. So yeah, many are called, absolutely. We're calling everyone for salvation, go out there and preach the gospel. But why are few chosen? Because not everyone is going to actually accept the invitation. That's why. It's not based upon, yeah, call everyone, but psych, you're not really invited here. It's only for a select few. It's nonsense, folks. Go to 2 Peter chapter 2. 2 Peter chapter 2. The covenant of God is cruel, folks. He's a cruel God. And I'm telling you, that is their dirty little secret that they don't like to talk about. Because it sounds cruel and it is. Well, you say that people should be put to death, that's cruel. No, it's not cruel. The law of the Lord is perfect. It's wonderful, it's beautiful. It's like honey in my mouth. Cruelty is to say that a child will die and go to hell if they die because they're not elect. Not based upon, they're not even able to believe. You know, you say, well, where do babies go when they die? Well, all of them, according to the Bible, go to heaven. Because they haven't raised the age, they haven't reached the age of accountability. They can't discern between good and evil, and therefore they are innocent, and so God, they are safe in Christ. You know, that's why when David's child perished, he said, I shall go to him, but he shall not come to him. Well, that just means that he was elect. You know what it means that babies go to heaven? That's what that means. Now let's look at limited atonement, which is probably the most peculiar teaching of the Tulip. Because the teaching of limited atonement basically states that his blood only atones for a limited few, which are the chosen. So in other words, Jesus Christ did not die for the whole world. He didn't shed his blood for the entire world, he only shed his blood for a select few. They also call this a particular redemption. Christ took the judgment for the sin of the elect upon himself and thereby paid for their lives with his death. In other words, he did not simply make salvation possible, he actually obtained it for those whom he had chosen. So according to them, he only paid for, listen to this, the elect. So the totally depraved, the reprobates of this world, he did not pay for them. Makes sense, right? I mean, I'm not saying it makes sense as in it's right, but you understand what I'm saying, okay? So again, particular redemption means that he paid for the lives of his own sheep and that's it, okay? Well, let's see if that's true. Look at 2 Peter chapter 2, verse number 1. Now would you say that a false prophet is saved? That's a hard question, huh? False prophets are not saved, okay? They're like the scum of this world. They are the children of the devil and very wicked people according to the Bible, right? So I just want to give that little disclaimer there. But there are false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them. Bring upon themselves swift destruction. No, no, Jesus only paid for the elect. Well here it says that he bought even the false prophets. And no Calvinist is going to say that a false prophet is saved. No Calvinist or reformer is going to say that a false prophet has eternal life. They're reprobate, they're totally depraved. The salvation is not extended unto them according to their doctrine, but yet here it says that Jesus Christ bought them. There you go. Go to 1 Timothy chapter 4. Here is the balanced teaching of this. Jesus Christ paid for the sins of the whole world with his death. But that payment can only be received if you trust in Jesus Christ as your savior. So it's like if I put a check for a million dollars right here, it's like this is for, if I put 30 million dollar checks here out of this pulpit, and it said this is for everyone, it has Ron's name on it, it has Don's name, it has everyone's name on it. But you have to come and get it. You just ask for it and I'll give it to you. Well that means, I mean the money is allocated for you to have. I've already given it, it's a gift. Well here's the thing, it's only in effect if you actually take it. Right? But we can't say like, oh well certain people didn't take it therefore I didn't give it. No I gave it to them, they just didn't take it. And in fact, here's a biblical illustration to prove this point, is the fact that everyone's name actually starts off in the book of life. Did you know that? Names are not written in the book of life when you get saved, they start off in the book of life, and they're actually blotted out when you either die and go to hell or become a reprobate. Everyone's name starts off in the book of life, why? Because he's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance, that's why. He wants everyone's name to remain in the book of life, but it's blotted out when you die and go to hell, if you choose not to trust in Christ, or when you become a reprobate it's just blotted out a lot sooner. You plucked up by the roots. And so, no, the atonement was not limited, God's blood, Jesus Christ's blood is not limited to only the elect. He's actually able, he's basically purchased everything. He's purchased the unsaved as well as the saved. Okay, look at 1 Timothy 4 verse 10. For therefore we both labor and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God who is the savior of all men, especially of those that believe. Why is he especially the savior of those that believe? Because they believed. If someone is drowning in the ocean and a lifeguard is present there to save them but they refuse to be saved by him, it doesn't mean the lifeguard was not there to save them. He's extending his, you know, his salvation to that individual to deliver them from being drowned. But if that person says, I'd rather not, we can't say that that salvation was not extended to them. He's the lifeguard of all these people who are drowning. But he's especially the lifeguard of those who chose to be saved, to be delivered, in other words. Go to Romans chapter 5, Romans chapter number 5. This is a great verse here to debunk limited atonement. Romans 5 verse 18 says, Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men. All men means everyone. Everyone. All men. To condemnation. Even so, by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. So the judgment came upon all men and the free gift came upon all men as well. So it doesn't look like it's limited to a certain few, it's actually for all men. Let's say the famous phrase, folks, all doesn't really mean all though. So it's nonsensical. Now, I'm not really going to spend a whole lot of time on irresistible grace just because it's just a weird teaching. Like we can't, you know, the elect can't resist, you know, God's grace that they're truly elect. But we have plenty of examples of people who were saved in the Bible who actually resisted the grace of God. Peter resisted the grace of God. Hey, the children of Israel in the Old Testament says, the Bible says that they limited the Holy One of Israel. Okay. And so that's a nonsensical doctrine. Irresistible grace is not true. And here's the thing, you know, that's how they based their salvation was like, well, do you feel God drawing you in? Right? Don't they say things like that? Do you feel God drawing you in? Is he calling you? You know, folks, and by the way, a sure way to just debunk Calvinism and this matter of election and predestination and repenting of your sins is just the teaching of the new man versus the old man. Because according to the Calvinists, they believe that you come with batteries included if you're elect. You're not going to struggle with sin. You're just going to do right all the days of your life. False because you still have the corruptible flesh according to the Bible. And you have idiots like Paul Washer who's a reformer who's also going to split hell wide open. I forgot to pray for him to die as well. But Paul Washer will say, there's no such thing as the carnal man, carnal Christian. And then you have, you know, that beam of what's that guy, Fisher or whatever, he's just like looking. And it's Paul saying, I am carnal. Romans chapter seven. What's that guy's name? Lawrence Fishburne. That meme of Lawrence Fishburne just looking like, well, I'm carnal. Paul, one of the greatest Christians said in Romans chapter number seven, I am carnal. Paul Washer, Paul Washer, there's no such thing as a carnal Christian. He's carnal, we're carnal, and you're nothing but carnal. Because you're not even, there's no new man in you. Lastly is the perseverance of the saints. Now I do agree with them in this regard depending upon what they mean by this. Because I believe that we have to persevere in our faith. In other words, you have to believe the doctrines of Christ to basically, you know, all the days of your life. Right? So if a person claims to believe the doctrines of Christ but deviates from that, no longer believes in the Trinity, no longer believes in Jesus Christ, we would say that person didn't persevere in their faith and therefore they were never saved to begin with. Now there are certain Calvinists that actually believe that. But the vast majority will say, well, no, we mean like persevere, like stay in church, be in the will of God, do righteousness, serve God all the days of your life. And they'll often quote 1 John chapter 2 where it says, you know, they went out from us for they were not of us for if they had been of us they would have no doubt continued with us. And they'll say, you know, and they'll apply that to just like any church member when in actuality in 1 John chapter 2 it's actually referring to Antichrist and more specifically Judas, who was a false prophet. Okay? It's referring to the exposure of false prophets. They show themselves for who they really are, the wolves in sheep's clothing when they go out from among us. This doesn't apply to regular church members because the Bible says we are not of them to draw back into perdition but believe to the saving of the soul. So even if you draw back and you fall away, you get involved in sin and you're just out of church, out of the will of God, it doesn't mean you're not saved. But you know what? There's a lot of reformers in these churches that have literally said, I wonder if I am saved. How do I know? And then what happens? They come back and they're like, well rededicate your life to God. And so there's this constant battle within them wondering, man am I really elect or not because I'm not living a righteous life. Folks, living righteously has nothing to do with salvation. And here's where people get mixed up. We literally live by the life of Christ. His righteousness is what keeps us saved. Not our righteousness. Are you saying we're not supposed to live a righteous life? Of course we're supposed to live a righteous life. Not for salvation. We don't have to persevere in our works to confirm that we're saved. Now does it help others? Does our light help others? Absolutely, but it has no bearing on our eternal security. And so I hope that helped. I hope it was a blessing to you because of the fact that this is an issue. And I still hate John MacArthur. I still hate these guys. But I do feel for and love the people who are in those churches because the struggle is real. And it saddens me when people message me saying that I cry myself to sleep because I just don't know if my husband who passed away got away from the Lord if he was even saved or not. How do I know that? How do I know if I'm saved? How do I know if my kids are saved? How do I know if my brothers are saved? How do I know if my sisters are saved? How do I know? That ye may know what the Bible says. And here's what really makes me mad. People message me like, oh you're calling out John MacArthur but these are just doctrinal differences. These are just differences. You guys just have a difference. Folks, there's a difference between differences in doctrine and damnable heresy. Differences in doctrine is just like what we believe about eschatology. Differences in doctrine is what we believe about the Jews or secondary things that don't pertain to salvation. But when it comes to differences in salvation, then guess what? Now you're delving into damnable heresy where you're messing with someone's eternal destination. At that point, them's is fighting words. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word. We're so thankful for eternal life that was extended to us that's still being extended to the unsaved. And we're thankful that you've made salvation so clear in the Bible that there's no room for doubt. There's no room for doubt. But we know that there are wolves in sheep's clothing who creep in. They come as messengers of light. They come as angels of light, as the apostles of Christ. They come with swelling words, but they pervert the ways of salvation, Lord. And they leave people in doubt. They leave people in fear, wondering what their eternal destination actually is. And Lord, I pray that you'd help us to reach some of them. I pray that this sermon would reach some of them, that they would reach out to me, that we can get it settled. And even if they don't agree with the other things that we teach, who cares? As long as they get this thing settled of salvation. And I pray, God, that you'd help them to do so. And help us to remain a doctrinal church, Lord, where we emphasize these things and earnestly contend for the faith. We love you so much, Lord, and we thank you. Pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Song number 127, for our last song, "'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus." Song number 127. Song number 127, sing it on that first. "'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take him at his word, just to rest upon his promise, just to know the saint, the Lord. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I prove him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, hope for grace to trust him more. Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus, just to trust in planting blood, just in simple faith to trust him, in the healing, planting blood. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I prove him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, hope for grace to trust him more. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I prove him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I prove him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I prove him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, hope for grace to trust him more. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I prove him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I prove him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, hope for grace to trust him more. Amen. Wonderful singing. You are dismissed.