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

All right. Well, I just want to say I'm really grateful for being able to preach behind this pulpit. I'm grateful for Pastor Merrill giving me an opportunity to preach. I know the opportunities like that are few and far in between, and I know there's a lot of preachers better than I, and they're great men of God that can preach the Bible, so I just say I'm very grateful for that. Now here in John chapter 4, we're in the story of the woman at the well where the Bible gives an account of this woman from Samaria meeting with Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was at the well, and they both shared a conversation, and I'll begin reading in verse 7. It says, Then cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, Give me the drink. So he asked this woman for a drink of water, for his disciples were gone away into the city to buy meat. Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. So this is an unusual circumstance. You know, to have a Jew talk to a Samaritan, they didn't have any dealings with one another. In verse 10 it says, Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who is it safe to give me the drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. And right here, so he tells this woman that, you know, if you know what the gift of God was, if you knew it, and who is it safe to give me a drink? So he's saying, if you knew who you're talking to, you would have asked of him. So he's saying that you would have asked of me, and I would have given you living water. And what he's talking about right here, when he's talking about living water, he's talking about everlasting life, okay? If you actually study his badges, I mean, if you've read through the book of John's a couple of times when you're saved, you know, you can understand that's what he's saying right here. When he's talking about the gift of God, he's talking about, you know, eternal life. You know, it says Romans 6 23, The gift of God is eternal life to Jesus Christ our Lord. And what he means when he says, you know, he's, when he says, give me living water, and he's talking about drinking this water, it says in verse, I'll read verse 13, Jesus answered and said unto her, Who's to drink of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I should give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in a well of water springing up everlasting life. And in order to drink this water, in order to receive this everlasting life, you have to believe on him, okay? It says John 6 35, And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life, he that cometh me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. So the way you receive that is just by believing. It says, and John 7 37, In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. So in verse 37, he says, Let him come to me and drink verse 38. He says, He that believeth on me so we can see that come to Jesus Christ and drink just means to put all your faith in Jesus Christ. He died for since buried rose again. Okay, and I know most of you understand that. But you know, the Bible says, Prove all things. And, uh, and obviously we understand verse 39 says, But this make he of the spirit, which they that believe on him should receive for the Holy Ghost is not yet given because that Jesus is not yet glorified. The Holy Ghost is given those who believe on Christ, those who believe in his name. Okay, and, uh, and obviously, you know, he calls it. He says, If you drink this, why should never thirst? Well, salvation is a one time deal. Once you're saved, you have everlasting life. You can never go to hell. You could never perish. Now, one part of the verse I want you toe look at is it is Jesus Christ said in verse 10, Jesus answered and said into her, If thou newest the gift of God. So he said, there's some things you have to know in order to be saved. He said, You have to have some knowledge and and the title of the sermon is called The Knowledge of the Gift of God. The knowledge of the gift of God. And, you know, in order for someone to be saved, in order for someone to receive everlasting life, they have to have knowledge. They, um, you have to know certain things about what the Bible says about salvation in order to get saved. And, uh, I have three different points of the sermon. One salvation is the knowledge. It's not a feeling. Salvation is a knowledge. The reason people are not saved is because they lack knowledge. Number two, in order to have the knowledge of the truth, you know, you have to know the truth. You have to know what the Bible says about what you need to believe to be saved. And number three, in order for people to get saved, another saved person has to take the word of God and explain that another person verbally and they have to transmit that knowledge to someone else. You know, people don't receive the knowledge of truth by its osmosis. Someone actually has to take the Bible and explain to someone else how to be saved. Now we say, why preach a sermon? Well, a lot of people scoff at this, and you know, a lot of people say, Oh, you independent funnel Baptist, you know, they'll use a straw man. Say you think they're the only ones that go to heaven now? That's obviously not true, because, you know, there's false prophets out there like Keith Gomez and Phil Kidd, who who call themselves independent phone Baptist. But then they both teach a workspace repent of our sins to be safe salvation. But also, you know, no one ever actually says that. I mean, if you call yourself a Pentecostal, but if your doctrine is right on salvation, you know, you can call yourself Pentecostal all you want, you know, but you're still safe, okay? That's a straw man. Now, and false prophets, they'll scoff at this, and people that teach a workspace salvation, because they think think salvation is by works, they will de-emphasize knowledge. They won't emphasize clear doctrine for salvation, because they don't think you get saved by knowledge, they think you get saved by works. One example is Billy Graham. Now, Billy Graham, he's dead, he's burning in hell right now. But Billy Graham taught, okay, and it was like one of the last things he said that was like really publicized, is that you don't need to know the name of Jesus Christ to be saved. What he said was that, basically, if you're like a Muslim, if you're a Buddhist, or if you're like, if you're a non-believer, as long as you turn to whatever light you have, you know, God will save that person. Well, I mean, that's crazy. What if someone is a sane worshiper, and that quote-unquote light in them is telling to worship the devil? I mean, is that gonna work? You know, what if their light tells them, you know, tells them to sacrifice a human to Satan? That doesn't make any sense. That's foolishness, and the Bible says that they speak not according to this word, it is because there's no light in them in Isaiah 8. You have to be right on the gospel, you have to understand what the gospel is in order to be saved, okay? And turn to Hebrews 8, and one thing you'll find common with the entire Bible, both Old Testament and New Testament, is salvation is about knowledge. The only reason anyone ever went to hell is because they lack knowledge on how to go to heaven, and of course, when you confront a false teacher on this, you know, 99% of the time what they'll say is, oh, God knows their heart, okay? And they mean different things by this. I can't exactly figure out what they mean. A lot of times what they mean is by God knows how they feel, or God knows that they're sincere, so even if they are wrong, but again, it's because they have an agenda. So I just want to get this out of the way, you know, understand this, that when the Bible uses the word heart, it's just, you know, when it's talking about a person's thoughts or a sense of a person's, it's just talking about a person's mind. I'll prove it to you right here. You're in Hebrews chapter 8, verse 10, it says, for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts. Okay, so right here, God says, I will put their laws into their minds and write them in their hearts. Go to Hebrews 10. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 16, it says the same thing, it's just worded a little differently. It says, this is the covenant that will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them. So in Hebrews 8, 10, he says, write them in their hearts. Hebrews 10, 16, he says, in their minds will I write them. And when he's talking about it, he's talking about it with the law. Okay, so you can see mind, heart, you know, and when it's talking about a person's thoughts, it means the exact same thing. Okay, and yeah, and they're, yeah, obviously people do have emotions that come from their mind, but that's not the primary definition of the word heart. Okay, when it's talking about a person's thoughts, it's talking about a person's mind, heart, they just, they mean the same thing. Now, and now salvation happens when you receive the knowledge of the truth. If you would, turn if you would to 1 Timothy chapter 2, verse 3. 1 Timothy 2, verse 3 through 4. We're going to go through a lot of verses that show that salvation is about knowledge, and while you're turning there, I'll just read to you. In 1 Timothy 4, 3 it says, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meat what God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. It says in 1 Timothy 2, 3, it says, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, who will have all men to be saved and come unto the knowledge of the truth. So again, you can see that they're used hand in hand. Why? Because salvation is knowledge. It says, 2 Timothy 3, 6 through 7, for of this sort are they which creep in houses and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lust, ever learning, and never able to come unto the knowledge of the truth. So what's a false prophet's problem? The problem is that it's not that they're learning, and they have knowledge. They just don't have the knowledge of the truth, and with the knowledge of the truth, it's talking about they don't know what they need to believe to be saved. Because their heart's been hardened, they've been given knowledge from a corrupt and reprobate mind, okay? And Hebrews 10, 26, for if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth that are made of no more sacrifice for sins. And you turn to Romans 10, you see, and when it's talking about after we receive the knowledge of truth, it's talking about once Jesus Christ has washed you of your sins, has saved you, okay? That's talking about salvation. It says in Romans 10, now those who are unsaved are ignorant, or they lack knowledge. Now it says in Romans 10, 1, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved, for I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not in the court of knowledge. Now you think of the word zeal. What's zeal? Zeal is when you have your, when you're like, where you're passionate about something. You know, if someone's zealous, we say that person is really fired up. And the Jews in Romans 10, verse 1, the Bible says that they have a zeal of God means they're zealous about God, but it says but not in the court of knowledge. I mean, not according to what the Bible says. So they have the feelings right, but again, they're not saved because they don't have the knowledge. Verse 3, for they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteous of God, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Now what does it mean to be ignorant? Well, you know, ignorant just means lack knowledge. They're ignorant of God's righteousness. They don't know what God did for them. They don't know he died for all their sins. They don't know that if they believe in him, they will receive his righteousness, and they're going about establishing their own righteousness. They're doing their own works in order to go to heaven. Okay? And, you know, if you want, you can turn to Acts 17. Acts 17, you know, Paul and Mars Hill. So he's speaking to a bunch of, you know, a bunch of pagans. It says, Acts 17, 22, then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said, ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious, for as I pass by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, to the unknown God, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. So Paul's talking to these group of pagans that they're just worshipping a whole bunch of gods, and he's referring to the unknown God. So they basically, they said this statue, this placard, it was devoted, basically they thought, well, if there's any God out there that we haven't, you know, gave respect to, you know, what they're saying, you know, because they believe in polytheism, he says, to the unknown God, okay, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. It says in verse 30, and the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now cometh all men everywhere to repent. So you can see right here, it's, the problem is with unsaved people is they are ignorant. They don't have the truth. They don't have the knowledge of the truth. They don't know what they need to believe to be saved. Matthew 12, chapter 12, verse 6, Jesus Christ said, But I say unto you, that in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. You know, the reason why the Jesus Christ, the reason why the Jews hated Jesus, and why they crucified him, why they put him to death, is because they didn't know who he was. They didn't know that he is the Savior, and you know, they still don't know that today. You know, contrary to what, you know, Messianic Jews will tell you, you know, they don't believe in Jesus Christ and their salvation. They are, they worship a false God. And right here, because the Bible says he denied the Son, the same as not the Father, and they denied Jesus Christ the Son. They don't have the Father. It says, But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, not sacrifice. So again, again, they didn't know what that meant. I will have mercy, not sacrifice, and therefore they condemned the guiltless. Jesus Christ is the guiltless. He's completely without sin. And really, if you would, turn to Hosea 6, verse 4. Hosea 6, 4, and I'm gonna be turning a lot of place tonight, and I, I'll just read to you 1st Corinthians 2, verse 6. It says, Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world that come to naught. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of the princes of this world knew. For had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. So, you know, if they knew what who their, their crucifying was, they wouldn't have done it. That's what the Bible says. It says in Hosea 6, Hosea 6, I'll just be gonna read verse, verse 5. Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets. I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth. For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. But they, like men, have transgressed the covenant. There have they dealt treacherously against me. Now, when it's talking about mercy, it's talking about the knowledge of God. It says, you know, it says, For I desire mercy not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. So mercy is used interchangeably with knowledge of God, and sacrifice and burnt offerings. It's like this. When you have the knowledge of God to be saved, you have to receive mercy, and that's pretty apparent. Now, the Bible also talks about people that are saved as knowing the Lord. Now, it's important to make a distinguishing right here, because there are a lot of false teachers that try to teach a works-based salvation. They'll point to you passage in the book of 1 John, and they'll say, Oh, right here, it says if you know not, if you're walking in darkness, you don't really know God, and they'll try to use that to teach that you're, you know, you're not saved, you don't do the works. And what they're doing is they're teaching a works-based salvation. You know, there's a difference between someone knowing the Lord as Savior versus someone knowing the Lord as a friend, okay? You know, all you have to do to be saved, you have to know the Lord as your Savior. You have to know him as the only way to heaven. But if you want to have fellowship with God, you have to, you have to know him, you know, as a friend. But again, that has nothing to do with salvation. And right here, I'll get to that in a second, but I want you to, I want you to see some different verses, and turn you over to Hebrews 8, Hebrews 8, and I'll read to you Galatians 4, 6-9. Galatians 4, 6-9, it says, And because you are sons, God hath sent forth the spirit of a son into your hearts, crying to God, Father. Wherefore, thou art no more a servant but a son, and if a son than an heir of God through Christ, howbeit when ye knew not God, ye do service unto them which by nature are no gods. So the people in Galatia, the church in Galatia, before they knew who God really was, they were worshiping other gods. They were idolaters. They did service unto them which by nature are no gods. So, you know, obviously if you're saved, you understand that a statue, that's not a, that's not a god. That's just a statue, and the Bible even says that the things with the Gentiles sacrificed, they sacrificed in the devils. You know, if you have someone that's worshiping, you know, that what they say is Mary, or they're worshiping like an image that they're calling Peter, or if they're worshiping like a Buddha statue, the Bible says they're worshiping devils, but they're not worshiping an actual god. The Bible says there's one god, but it says in verse 9, But now after that ye have known God, or rather known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto you desire again to be in bondage? So it's talking about the people, church in Galatia, after they knew gods, after they got saved, a lot of them started bringing in like the the Judaistic practices. They started trying to bring in the law again that was done away in Christ, and he's asking why they did that. Hebrews 8, it says, Hebrews 8 verse 10, For this is the covenant thou will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts, and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people, and they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know me from the least to the greatest, for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins their iniquities, while I remember no more. So right here it says that there's people that have unrighteousness, but it's saying that all these people shall know me. The reason why is because knowing the Lord as Savior, versus knowing the Lord in terms of fellowship, they're two different separate things, okay? And it says, For all shall know me. Well, in the Old Testament, you know, people that are part of the nation of Israel, well, just you know, they were, in the New Testament it's a spiritual Israel, in the Old Testament it was a physical Israel. Now they're in the New Testament, everyone that's part of Israel knows the Lord, okay? And because they know as terms of Savior. Now if you would turn to 1 Samuel 2, I'm going to show you a few examples in the Old Testament. 1 Samuel 2, it says in 1 Samuel 2, Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial, they knew not the Lord. You know, the sons of Belial are, that's another word for sons of Satan, sons of the devil, reprobates. They were the children of Eli, they did not know the Lord. I mean, yeah, they were priests, but they were not really saved, they were reprobates, okay? It says in 1 Samuel 3, if you turn over, there's one page over, the Bible also talks about knowing the Lord, talks about Samuel. It says, And the Lord called yet again Samuel. And Samuel rose and went to Eli and said, Here am I, for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not my son, lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. And another example, you can turn there if you want. Actually, just turn if you would to 1 John 2. 1 John 2, and I just wanted to show you these distinguishing really quick, but while you turn there, I'm going to read to you the, I forget, I think I got the point across. I'll just go to 1 John 2. Again, it's important to distinguish between knowing the Lord as Savior versus knowing the Lord as a friend, okay? Now it says in 1 John 2, And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keep not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. Okay? And work salvations, they love this verse right here, because they, you know, again, they're, but, and people that teach like a Repentance-style gospel, they try to teach, well, if you don't keep the commandments, then you don't really know the Lord, not saved. But like I said before, if you turn to 1 John chapter 1, the Bible explains the context of what it's talking about. It's talking about knowing the Lord. It's not talking about knowing the Lord for salvation. It says in 1 John chapter 1, verse 3, That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. So the book of 1 John was not written to get people saved. The book of 1 John was written that ye may have fellowship with us. It was written that your joy may be full. Now, just because someone's saved, that does not mean that their joy is going to be full. Okay? There are a lot of people that are quenching the Holy Spirit, they're walking in darkness, that they're still, that, you know, they're still saved as anyone else. It's talking about knowing them for fellowship, knowing them so you can have joy. Why? Because when you have, when you're a good friend with somebody, there could be a joy in that relationship. It's, you know, you don't have to turn there, but Philippians 3, verse 7 to 10, it says, it says, But what things were gained to me, those I counted lost for Christ? Yet doubtless, and I count all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dunk that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I might know him. And Paul, you know, he explains what he means when he says, but that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffering, being made conformable unto his death. You see the word fellowship right there? He's talking about knowing the sense that, knowing him and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his suffering. You see, in order to know Jesus Christ as a friend, you have to go through suffering. You have to suffer for the cause of Christ like he suffered, and in order to know the power of his resurrection, if you want to, you know, be filled with the Spirit and do great things like Jesus Christ did, well guess what you have to do? You have to go through affliction. And you see that example all throughout the Bible? You see the Bible teaches that in Acts that when the Church of God was afflicted, when Saul persecuted the Church of God and wrecked havoc, the Bible teaches that they went everywhere preaching the Word of God, and it multiplied and grew. Why? Because that's how it works. You know, in order to have the power of God in your life, you have to go through suffering. Paul said, I once gladly therefore will glory my infirmities that the power of Christ might rest upon me. But again, that's for fellowship. And again, I'll explain you one more verse that they try to twist. Romans 1, you know, it says, Romans 1 verse 21, it says, because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither thankful. Now, Romans 1 21 doesn't say they knew God as Savior, it just says they knew God. Means they had a knowledge about God. It says in verse 28, but even as they did not like to train God their knowledge, God gave them order to reparate mind. Do those things that are not convenient. So again, these people, they knew God, but they didn't know him as Savior, they just knew God in the sense they knew that they had some knowledge of God in some way, shape, or form. Whether they heard about him at church, whether they just, they knew that there's a creator because the invisible things of him, the creation world are clearly seen, and they can see the creation, they can understand by just seeing these things that there must be a creator. You know, it's just common sense. And I think the best way to explain this is just, let's say there's there's a doctor out there named Jim, okay? I'll use Jim example. Let's say, let's say there's three people that know Jim, okay? Person one is unsaved person, okay? They'll say, okay, person one knows that Jim is a guy that heals people. So person one could say, I know Jim. Let's say person number two is a saved person. They could say, Jim is my doctor, you know, he has healed me. So he knows Jim in the sense they knows he's, he's healed him. Person three, he's a saved person, you know, could represent a saved person as fellowship and friendship. You know, Jim healed me, and Jim and I heal people on a regular basis. I know a lot about Jim. He's my best friend. We have a good friendship together. Now, person one and two could both say that they know Jim or they don't know Jim to pay in the context. Like for an example, I mean, we meet people all the time who we know or acquainted with briefly, but we don't know them like personally. I mean, I have people in my job that I know. I know my boss's name, but I don't know him on a personal level that well, okay? But again, it depends on the context. Now, person three is the only person that cannot truthfully say, I don't know Jim, because again, he knows him. And then, okay, you also had person four. Person four is some guy who heard about Jim, but just doesn't want to think about Jim anymore, okay? That's, that would be an example of that. You know, he just doesn't want to think about, he's like, I hate Jim. I don't want to know about Jim. I'm gonna pretend Jim's something else. I'm gonna pretend, you know, Jim's like a gorilla or zebra or something. And now that we see that a person, you know, and it turns back to what John chapter four, now that we see that the Bible clearly teaches that a person must have the knowledge of truth to be saved, and that the knowledge of the truth equals salvation, and people that are unsaved, they don't have the knowledge of the truth. Let's go back and on John chapter four to see what the knowledge of truth is. It says in John chapter four, Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and whose it is that saith thee, give me to drink, thou wast the vast of him, and he would have given thee living water. You know, right here, Jesus Christ is saying that in order to ask, he's saying right here, anyone who has the knowledge of the gift of God, and the knowledge of who Jesus Christ is, will for sure call out to God and ask for everlasting life. But notice he says, if thou knewest the gift of God. He's saying, if you know it is the saith of thee, give me drink. It's because you have to know what the Bible says about salvation, and you know, in order to be saved. You have to have that knowledge, okay? Now, you know, what's the gift of God? Well, the gift of God, you know, you have to understand it's a gift. It means it's not of works. It's not by repenting your sins. It's not by baptism. If you think you have to earn salvation by your good works, if you think you have to turn over a new leaf and get this in our life, you don't know the gift of God. You don't know what salvation is. You're not saved. Also, you turn to 1 John 5, you have to understand that the gift of God is eternal life, okay? You have to understand the gift of God is eternal life. It says in 1 John 5, 1 John 5 verse 10, He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath made me a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave a son, and this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Right here, the Bible gives two groups of people. Those that believe on the Son of God, those people that put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and the Bible says they have the witness in themselves, and the witness is talking about the Holy Ghost. It says he that believeth not God hath made him a liar, so they're calling God a liar. They're making out to be a liar. Now, God cannot lie. It's saying they made him a liar. They're saying they're making him out to be, and the reason why is because he believeth not the record that God gave a son, and that record is in verse 11. It says this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, okay? In order to be saved, you have to believe that that record is eternal, and when you go out soul winning, if you're preaching the gospel to somebody, that person needs to understand that that gift lasts forever, that it's eternal, that it can never end. If they don't understand it's eternal, if they think you can lose if you do something really bad, if they think you lose it, you know, if you commit murder, suicide, or something to that effect, it doesn't matter what it is. They're not saved because they don't believe the record that God gave a son. They don't know the gift of God, and you know, in this church, this is not a contending point, and everyone here, you know, pretty much everyone, like 99% of people that are Savior understand that that's an essential doctrine for salvation, and even then, it just makes sense. I mean, if you just break it down really quick, people that believe you can lose your salvation believe you have to work to keep your salvation. People that believe you can lose your salvation, they think they have to constantly do something to keep it. They don't believe it's a gift, and therefore they're calling God a liar in their heart, but every church I've been in that's like an IP church that hasn't been heavily influenced by Pastor Anderson, or treats the doctrine of eternal security as a non-essential doctrine, and they think, you know, a lot of times they'll have children in their church, that they'll get saved when they're young, and when I say get saved, I mean, they just, they pray. They didn't understand the gospel, and then they'll have these same kids, they'll constantly get resaved over and over and over again, and they don't call, either they'll say the kid got resaved, and they'll just count, you know, count the numbers again, because Baptists count everything in calories, or what they'll do is they'll say, well, he got, he or she got a shirt for salvation, because the parents will get really mad if they say, well, your son wasn't really saved, or your daughter wasn't really saved, but when you went to our youth camp, you know, they actually had a soul winner teaching the gospel, and this has been something, and this has been like a pet peeve of mine, but here, the Bible is very clear, is that, you know, you have to believe that record to be saved. You have to believe it, and the funny thing with this crap is that eternal life is heavily emphasized in the book of John. It's heavily emphasized. Now, keep in mind that John was a book written specifically to get people saved. It says in John 20, verse 30, and many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing he might have life through his name. So the reason why the book of John was written so that you believe in him, I have life through his name. Translation, it's written so you get saved. Now, I just did a quick count to see just some statistics of eternal life in the book of John, and again, I mean, these are some things I counted out, and if I miss something, well, maybe someone disagrees. Maybe I should have counted that. I mean, that's fine. This is something I counted, okay? The words eternal life and everlasting life are mentioned in the book of John 17 times. The words live forever are mentioned two times. Never perish, that's mentioned once. Never die, that's once. So that's 21 specific words or phrases teaching that you can never go to hell after you get saved. There are seven ways the Bible uses in the book of John to explain the doctrine of eternal life. You know, it calls Jesus Christ the bread of life. You know, he'll never hunger. It calls it living water, that if you drink, you'll never thirst. You know, it calls Jesus Christ the Passover lamb. He said, who's to drink if my flesh eats my blood, dwells in me and I in him. It explains the concept of immortality. You know, Jesus Christ said, who soever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. It says the Bible teaches once you're saved, you're in the good shepherd's hand. He said, and I give them some eternal life and they shall never perish. You know, once you're saved, you know, you become a children of God. The Bible says, but as Mays received him, to them give you power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. And also, the Bible teaches in the book of John, another way to explain it, is that you're justified. You know, it says, he that believeth on him is not condemned. And it says, but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed, and the name of the only begotten son of God. So it's heavily emphasized in the book of John. I mean, now I was in an independent Baptist Church in Tennessee. You know, this wasn't Tony Hudson's Church of Crazy. This is another church that actually, that was actually right, that didn't teach a bunch of heresy, you know, but where the church staff, you know, openly marked and ridiculed a teenager who's constantly doubting their salvation and constantly getting re-saved. Now, I thought this is pretty wicked because, you know, even I knew that even if, like, you don't think it's an essential doctrine for salvation, if somebody thinks that, you know, that you can believe your salvation, even then back then, I thought, well, that's something you should show somebody because why would you want that person worrying about going to hell every night? It doesn't make any sense. That was a pretty wicked thing, I thought, myself. And this is before I knew that, you know, you had to believe that to be saved. But even back then, I'm like, what is he, you're saying? And I would hope that this guy, you know, you know, if he found out the truth that he would be very, you know, repentant, I mean, and, you know, because that's just pretty wicked. I mean, I would take that kid, I would show him. I remember even before I knew that it was an essential doctrine, if someone said you could lose your salvation, I made it a point to teach them that you couldn't, you know, until they, either they prayed again or they just, you know, they said, oh, I believe that or they went away. But here's, and also, yeah, and anyway, so I was with this guy, and he started talking this Pentecostal, and even off the bat, I knew this guy wasn't receptive, but I was like, okay, I'll just let him talk to him really quick, and the guy was like, no, I'm saved, I believe it's just faith in Christ you're saved, but I think you can lose it. And I said, hey, come on, man, he's not receptive, he doesn't want to hear, you know, he's telling us to get lost, but he still wanted to talk, and then the guy said something really weird to this guy. He said, I'm not going to say you're not saved, but, you know, I'm in doubt of you, and I came butt in, I said, look, you're not saved, and you need to, you don't need to tell him that, because you're denying the doctrine of eternal security, and look, and it doesn't matter if they call themselves a Baptist or not, because we have a lot of people that call themselves Baptists, you know, if you knock on anyone's door here, like, there's a good chance they go to some Baptist church, but, you know, I don't care, you know, if they call, you know, free will Baptists, if you don't think, if you can lose your salvation, any reason, not saved, period, case closed, end of story, being Baptist is not a good thing to say, being an independent phono-Baptist does not make you saved, and also, I'll say this too, if you say, if you don't think that's an essential doctrine right there, I don't know how you can call yourself fundamental, because a fundamental is like, that's like a pillar right there, right, that's like, that's fundamental, that's, I don't know how you can call yourself that, and yeah, I also had another heretic of this church, he told me, we know in part, we prophesy in part, we're saved in part, you know, I called him out, I said, you're a heretic, and the reason why this is going on along in the church, is because the pastor, I don't know what he believed in that, I know that every time he preached the gospel, he included eternal security, you know, you know, but he, I don't think he was making this clear, now I thank God that our pastor, he makes that very clear, and that he makes it, he's clear a crystal clear doctrine, and I'm just gonna reiterate the fact, you have to believe that to be safe, and anyway, and the last point is this, you know, in order for someone to get saved, in order for someone to receive the knowledge of truth, they have to have someone else transmit, they have to have someone else preach the gospel in order to get saved, okay, so really, you're in John chapter 4, John chapter 4, it says, John chapter 4, it says verse 25, it says, the woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah's cometh, which is called Christ, when he is come, he will tell us all things, Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he, and upon this came his disciples, and marveled that he talked with the woman, yet no man said, what seekest thou, or why talkest thou with her, the woman then left her water pot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, come see a man which told me all things that ever I did, is not this the Christ? Then they went out of the city, and came unto him, so after Jesus Christ told her that he was the Messiah, after he told this woman that he was the Christ, this woman, she went out, and she told other men in the city, she told him about the Christ, they told him, she told him about Jesus Christ, and notice it says she told them, so she actually spoke to them, it says, then they went out of the city and came unto him, and in verses 31 through 38, it talks about sowing and reaping, and that's something this woman was doing, she was sowing and she was reaping, because if you read the rest of the story, you know, some people got saved, you know, by just by hearing her word, other people got saved by hearing the words of Jesus Christ, you know, and of course, you know, they both got saved by hearing the Word of God, just some of them need to hear Jesus Christ himself speak, it says in verse 39, and many of the Samaritans in that city believed on him for the saying of the woman which testified, he told me all that ever I did, so when the Samaritans were coming to him, they besought him that he would tarry with them, and he bowed there two days, and many more believed because of his own words, and sent it to the woman, now we believed, not because of thy saying, for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this indeed, this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world. So, you know, some of them, some of the men in the city, the woman got saved personally herself, others came to Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ spoke, the Bible says, you know, we have heard him ourselves, but notice it, in all these verses, it says that, you know, it has people speaking, it has people hearing, it doesn't say, now we believe, not, you know, for we have read him, about him ourselves, it says we have heard him, because in order for someone to get saved, they have to hear the Word of God, they have, you know, it doesn't say, now we, it doesn't say the woman, many of the Samaritans in that city believed on him for the writing of the woman, it says they believed in their saying of the woman, because she had to open her mouth boldly to make known the mission of the gospel, and here's the point, and turn to Ephesians 6, you can't get saved just by reading a gospel tract, you can't get saved just by picking up the Bible yourself, and just kind of figuring it out, and just underlining a verse here, look, there are people that really believe, the Bible says, you know, how should they call him in whom they out believe, how should they believe in him of whom they out heard, you have to hear the Word of God to get saved, friend, it says faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, it says in Ephesians chapter 6, praying always with all prayer and supplication of the Spirit, and watching thereto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints, and for me that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mission of the gospel, he doesn't say that I might write boldly the mission of the gospel, Paul only wrote boldly to people who are saved, he opened his mouth boldly to what? To make known the mystery of the gospel, because the gospel is a mystery, you can't receive that knowledge just by reading the Bible yourself, it says in 1 Corinthians 2 verse 13, which things also we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual, but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolish unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discernible. Can an unsaved person, you know, receive the knowledge through themselves by thinking the Bible? The answer is no, absolutely not, they don't have the Spirit of God, they don't have the Holy Ghost well inside them, they're not saved, and they can't figure it out themselves, if someone says, well I got saved by reading the Bible, I got saved by reading Jack Trictrack, now here's the thing, no one got saved by reading Jack Trictrack, because that guy teaches a repentant person to be saved gospel, the guy's burning in hell right now, no one got saved that way, but also you can't get saved just by picking a gospel, even if the the gospel track says the right thing, you need someone to have, the Bible teaches you need to have someone make known the mission of the gospel by speaking to you, by opening a legend that Christ suffered, you know, and that's the thing, people that aren't saved, they can't figure that out, and also another thing too, if someone says, well I got saved that way, well either one, they're mistaken, they don't understand the doctrine of salvation, you know, two, they're lying, or three, worst case, they're not saved themselves, and they're trying to deceive you, okay, it doesn't say how should they hear without a writer, it says how should they hear without a preacher, okay, faith doesn't come by reading, it comes by hearing, and the last point, and if you would, turn to 1 Peter 1, 1 Peter 1, people cannot get saved unless the incorruptible seed is preached on, you cannot get saved unless someone uses the actual word of God to preach, okay, and you have these, you see this example, this woman speaking, the men in the city of Samaria, you know, she would not have been able to do that if she didn't actually have the Word of God, it would have been impossible, because we look at, we always look at clear scriptures to interpret unclear scriptures, and clear scripture is teaching that you need the Word of God to be saved, it says in 1 Peter 1, 23, it says being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God which liveth and abideth forever, for all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of men is the flower of grass, the grass withereth, and the flower there falleth away, but the Word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word by which the gospel is preached unto you, in the English language, the incorruptible seed is the King James Bible, anything else, any other thing, NIV, NKJV, ESV, they cannot get someone saved, it's completely impossible, that's what the Bible teaches, because we're not born again of corruptible seeds, because a corruptible seed cannot give you everlasting life, a corruptible seed cannot get you born again, James 1 verse 18, it says, of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, okay, so it says we're begat, that is worth the word of truth, now we're not began with the word of lies, if you have a Bible verse, a verse that changes, that changes the Word of God, that changes verse in the Bible, then guess what, that's not the word of truth, that's a fact, okay, and I'm gonna close with this, if you would, turn if you would to 1 Corinthians 15, this is the closing thought, you know, people need knowledge for salvation, they need the knowledge of the truth, but they need to know what the Bible actually says, what to be saved in order to be saved, they need knowledge in the right things, and obviously I didn't get through this much in the sermon, they also need to know who Jesus Christ is as well, they need to understand that he's God manifest in the flesh, that he's a son of God, that he paid for all their sin, so they can't be denying the deity of Christ, they cannot be denying the resurrection of Christ, they need to understand who he is and what he did for them, and that being said, it's, you know, it's impossible for people to understand who Jesus Christ is unless someone else preaches to them, they have to have someone else transmit them that knowledge by opening their mouth to them, and they can know unto the mystery of the gospel, and according to the Bible, you know, it's a shame if, you know, if you're saved and you're not preaching to people the gospel, the Bible says it's a shame, okay, I'll read you right here, it says, else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead not rise at all, why are they then baptized for the dead, and why stand we in jeopardy every hour, I protest by your rejoicing, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily, if after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage did that mean, if the dead rise not, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die, be not deceived, evil communications corrupt good manners, awake to righteousness and sin not, for some have not the knowledge of God, I speak this to your shame, he's saying right here, you know, so there are people out there, the Bible is as broad as the way There are a lot of people out there, the vast majority of people out there, especially in the Fort Worth area, do not have the knowledge of God, they don't know what they need to believe in order to be saved at all, they don't know who God is, they don't know about the gospel, their church is teaching them a bunch of false doctrine, they're teaching them work, salvation, you know, Baptist or not, and the Bible says I speak this to your shame, he doesn't say I speak as my shame, you see, you know, look, I think I praise God for Pastor Merrill, he's a great man of God, and I thank God that he's a great soul winner, and that he preaches crystal-clear doctrine, and you should pray for him every single day, okay, if you're not, you know, shame on you for that, because, you know, we need him, but here's the thing, you know, you can't just write off that the coattails of Pastor Merrill and say, okay, well, he preached the gospel, I don't have to do it, you can't write out the coattails of other people in the church saying, oh, they got it, so I don't have to worry about it, my shame is gone, I don't have to worry about it, and he says I speak this your shame, he doesn't say I speak this to my shame, you see, the church of Corinth, they couldn't just write the coattails off the ball, and look, and they're paying them wages, which they should, you know, the Bible says thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treads out the corn, you know, if someone is actually doing the work of God, they should definitely be paid for it, it's a perfectly godly thing for, you know, a pastor to get paid, but he says I speak this to your shame, you know, it's a shame for people around here to go to hell because you're not preaching the gospel, it really is a shame for people in your neighborhood or people, you know, when we go out soul winning, where we can't get as many people saved because, you know, you're too lazy or you have other priorities in mind, you have better things to do, I mean, you say this, well, I have bad health problems and I can't preach the gospel, well, I've heard of people do this before, you know, where they actually, they'll just call, and I'm not saying, don't say I recommend this, where they'll call RAM numbers, and they'll get people saved that way, just take up the phone book, I mean, if they say I don't want to be called more, take up the phone book, okay, so, look, I heard it works, I heard people get people saved that way, so don't say I can't do it, I can't do it, I had this problem or that problem, look, if you have a voice, you can preach the gospel, okay, you know, that's all you need, you need a voice, if you're saved, if you got the Word of God, and if you got a voice, there's no reason why you're not preaching the gospel to people, because Paul, he doesn't make it, he doesn't make it as easily, I speak as you're ashamed, except for, you know, so and so and so and so, I mean, there are people in the Bible, you know, the one example that I can't remember his name is, but is it Ephronitis, I can't remember, what's his name, where basically he said, you know, he was preaching the Word of God, and basically he was sick nine to death, I can't remember his name, so basically he was preaching the gospel so much, he's working, you know, he's doing the Word of God so much, he's worked to death, you know, to supply your lack of service to me, so the thing is, is that, you know, it's a shame if you're not preaching the gospel, and if you're too lazy, or if you have other priorities in hand, and you're, really, you're living like those people he's talking about, where he says, let's eat and drink it tomorrow we die, so I'm gonna, and one more thing too, you know, the Bible says, as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge, knowledge profits up, but charity edifies, and again, you can have all the knowledge of the world, and you can be in the church, and you can sit in it, you can hear preaching, okay, but here's the thing, just listening to preaching, you know, that's not gonna help the people outside these walls get people saved, okay, and if you just listen to preaching, you're like, oh yeah, this is great, because I got all this knowledge, you know, I know a lot of things other people don't about, you know, how to explain the gospel to people different ways, this way, and that way, well, if you don't use that knowledge, the Bible says, knowledge puff it up, that charity edifies, you're not building anyone up, okay, you're not, you're not really helping people out, okay, and if, you need to make sure you're preaching the gospel, yeah, being proud is the weakest in the sight of God, let's pray, your father, God, I think there's opportunity to preach, I pray that it was understandable, and that people would apply this truth in the Bible to their soul wedding, and that they would, you know, that you be with us as we go out, help everyone to get home safe, and I pray all these things in Jesus' name, amen.