[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you'll be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. How do you lead someone to the Lord? What steps do you lead them through?
[0:14] How do you lead someone to the Lord? What steps do you lead them through? Let me shoot my bow over into that area. That's a joke from Deacon's meeting.
[0:26] That means somebody's over there. All right. Let's do this. Open your Bibles real quick. And let's just kind of get a basic thing. You know, when you're witnessing to someone, John DeLuce and I were talking about this this morning.
[0:41] You know, the plan of salvation that people are going to give you, you're not often going to get to go through that whole plan unless somebody wants to listen. And I hope you don't shove it down people's throats.
[0:52] You know, if you do all the talking, if you do all the talking, they're just going to think you're ramming it down their throat. So you want to talk and you want to listen and you want to go as far as the Holy Spirit works things out in a person's mind.
[1:08] So when you're witnessing to somebody, be careful not to be like a fire hydrant. Nobody can drink from a fire hydrant. You drink from a fire hydrant. I mean, you're going to be like one of the cartoon characters.
[1:21] You're going to explode. You're going to expand up real big and you're going to bust. And so don't do that. So let's just go through. The first thing I want them to know is that they're a sinner. So open your Bibles to Romans 3.10.
[1:33] And let's look at that verse. We'll look at 3.10 and 3.23. The guys can pop them up here. So look at it. As it is written, there's none righteous, no, not one. What I want to establish with somebody is that they are sick.
[1:44] Jesus said that the well people don't need a doctor. It's the doctors are for six people. And so if I'm going to talk to somebody, I'm going to say to them, this is what the Word of God says. This is what the Word of God says.
[1:55] Listen to this real quickly. Don't ask them if they believe the Bible. Never ask them if they believe the Bible. We don't care if they believe the Bible or not. It doesn't change anything, does it?
[2:07] I mean, if I had a gun and I'm pointing it at you and I was going to try to defend myself with it, I wouldn't say, you do believe this is a gun, don't you? You do believe if I pull the trigger, a bullet's coming out and it's going to be traveling at this rate of speed when it comes out.
[2:20] You don't want that to happen. This is a gun. This is a real gun. Touch it. It's real. You don't have to do that. Pull the trigger. They'll figure out it was a real gun. So the Bible works. So you've got to get your confidence.
[2:32] If you're going to witness somebody, you've got to get your confidence in two things. Are you ready? Two things you've got to have confidence in when you're witnessing somebody. One, the Bible. How many of you can have confidence in the Bible? Say amen. I believe that it works.
[2:46] I believe that it is really alive and it's really powerful. And it's quick and powerful and sharper than you need to edge your sword. And it understands people and what they're thinking. And so all you've got to do is put the Bible up there.
[2:56] That's the number one thing you trust. Number two, Holy Spirit. You don't have to trust you. You say, I'm not sure I know enough. You don't. And I'm telling you that the most knowledgeable person in the room, if that's me or if that's you, we don't know enough.
[3:11] It's never about how smart you are. It's never about how quick your wit is. It's never about how good a debater you wit is. It's about does God take his word and plunge it into their heart and convict them of their sin.
[3:22] So once you get that straight, then you can relax a little bit witnessing. So number one, I want them to know they're a sinner. Romans 3.10. Nobody's righteous. Not a one. Romans 3.23. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
[3:34] Because you can't get well if you don't get sick. You can't get well if you don't get sick. So show them that. Suppose they say, well, I don't believe that. It's in the Bible.
[3:44] I say, you think you're perfect? You really think you're perfect? That's what you're saying? And they'll probably go, well, no, I don't think I'm perfect. Oh, so it is right. So you don't have to argue.
[3:56] You just let them argue for themselves. But if I could say, if you're going to, if you're going to, when you're giving out the gospel, you don't give out this much. You don't say, like when I was, when I first started witnessing when I was a kid, they showed me how to do this.
[4:08] When I started, I didn't pause. I knew if I paused, somebody might interrupt me. They'd get me off track and I wouldn't be able to say anything. So they just had to sit there going. And when I finally finished all the things I was supposed to say, well, you don't have to do that.
[4:21] Because you trust God and you trust his word. So the first thing I want them to see is they're a sinner. And you can use tons of verses, by the way. Romans 3.10 is only the beginning of a series of verses that run all the way to verse 23 that talk about us being sinners.
[4:38] If they deny that, don't go any further. If they say, if after you get through, you say, well, you're a sinner. The Bible says you're a sinner. If they say, I don't believe the Bible. Well, do you admit you're a sinner?
[4:49] I don't think I'm a sinner. Do you think you've ever done anything wrong? And by the way, when you explain sin, all you got to do is explain to them what sin is. And sin is when you don't do it God's way.
[5:01] Whatever it is, it's not God's way. Can we go back to Romans 3.10 and let's flip through the verses. Look at Romans 3.11, I guess. Let's go there. Look at what Romans 3.11 says. There's none that understands.
[5:12] There's none that seeks after God. Number 3.12. They are all gone out of the way. There's what I call the definition of sin. They're all gone out of the way.
[5:23] Everybody has left God's way to do their own thing. And I would say, would you admit you're doing your own thing and you don't necessarily agree with the God thing? And they'd go, yeah. I'd say, well, the Bible says that's sin. And then if they, but look, and I say this because some of our young guys are really, if they reject that, you don't need to keep going.
[5:39] You don't have to say, you're going to hell. They know it. And the Holy Spirit will tell them. But you kind of got to, you got to be real careful. It's kind of like fishing back in the old days when I was a kid.
[5:50] You got a bobber on the top. You know, you got one of those floats, kind of red and white floats, and you let it sit there and the fish starts nibbling. If you snatch it too quick, you won't catch a fish. You'll just lose your worm.
[6:01] So you want to let them nibble long enough to grab the hook before you try to set the hook. And so I mean by that that sometimes we're like, I got to show you and I got to prove it to you and I got to argue you down.
[6:13] But you won't be able to. Take your time. Let the Holy Spirit do it. Number one, you're a sinner. Number two, there's a penalty for sin. Look at Romans chapter 6 and verse 23. There's a penalty for sin.
[6:24] There's tons of verses you can use, but we're going to go real basic. Romans 6, 23 says the wages of sin is death. And you can just stop right there. The Bible says the reason man dies is because of sin.
[6:35] You can go back to Romans chapter 5 and get all the way down to verse 12. You can read from 12 to the end of that and all the way down to 6, 23, you're going to find out man dies. But here's the simple truth. According to the Bible, man sins, man sin brings death.
[6:50] And death is also the second death. You can write down Revelation chapter 20 and like verse 15. It will go right there with it. I believe it's 15. You can check. It says the second death.
[7:00] And so I say to them, number one, the Bible says you're a sinner. In South America, almost everybody would agree to that part. Most people I've ever talked to here will agree to it. Now they'll say they always want to change subjects with me.
[7:12] They'll say, well, I don't believe the Bible. And when they tell me they don't believe the Bible, here's my simple answer. I don't care. I don't care whether you believe the Bible or not. It doesn't change anything. The Bible says you're a sinner. Are you or not?
[7:24] And if they say, well, I don't believe in Adam. I'd say, we're not talking about Adam. I didn't bring up Adam. Did you bring up Adam? What are we talking about Adam for? I want to know, do you know you're a sinner? See, they want to dodge that.
[7:34] So just stay on target. Don't be ugly. Just stay on target. And if they say, well, they say, well, how do we know the Bible's the word of God? Well, that's not a discussion right now. Right now what you need to understand is you have sinned against God.
[7:48] You've done wrong. If they say, I don't like the word sin, say, okay, let's use another word. You ain't perfect. And so when they get that, then you go to the second one. That is there's a punishment for it.
[7:59] The wages of sin is death. 2014. Change that from 5 to 4. Now go back, if you would, to Revelation 6.23. The third part's good news. First part, we're sinners.
[8:12] Second part, there's punishment. Third part is, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So you can earn death or you can receive a free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
[8:27] So show them that Jesus is the only answer for man's sin and the penalty of man's sin. Romans 5.8. Write that one down. That's God committed his love toward us while we were yet sinners.
[8:39] Christ died for us. Show them that verse and explain to them that God proved, God showed his love toward us while we were yet sinners. You can go to Romans 5.6 if you want. And it says, when we were without strength and ungodly.
[8:53] Without strength and ungodly. When you realize you've sinned. And then the last one, I would take them to Romans 10.9 and 10 and 13. And that's what I would show them. So 10.9 says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
[9:11] Verse 10. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness with the mouth confessions. You've got to believe that on the inside out. I'm not going to go through the whole plan. I wish I'd like witnessing to you. But that's the basic idea.
[9:21] Romans 10.13. Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. You can work on through that. I would like to back up so I can be real clear. You might have noticed that vision is that Austin Gardner, I should not say vision.
[9:32] That's not fair because you're vision. But Austin Gardner is not, I don't give, I don't give berating, hard, pushy invitations. I'd like to.
[9:44] I really like it when people got to come to the altar. I love it when people come to the altar. It's one of the most discouraging things is that nobody ever comes to the altar here. I mean, I really, I mean, I just love it when God's people come to the altar, when people get saved.
[9:58] But I decided a long time ago that if I could talk you into getting saved, you could easily be talked out of it. And so when I, when I give the gospel, I try to give all the truth. I try to lay it out there and I try to back away.
[10:10] And then I leave the rest of it up to the Holy Spirit. This is what I know from doing this for over 40 years. Lasting work is God's work. And anything man does never seems to last.
[10:21] You come back 30 years from now and they won't be there. But those of you that are truly born again, you know it wasn't a preacher that talked you into it. It wasn't smooth talking. It wasn't an emotional service. Something happened that convinced you that you were a sinner.
[10:34] And something happened that made you realize you deserve to go to hell. And something happened that made you realize Jesus died for you and you trusted him. So when you witness, you do not need to get a decision.
[10:45] You need to plant a seed. You plant a seed. And you know, if you, if you give them the fire hydrant treatment, they may not listen the next time. But if you leave them with, well, the Bible says you're not perfect.
[10:59] And they say, well, I don't like that. You say, well, it's no problem. And then they'll let the subject leave. Let's drop the subject. The next time you're talking, you bring something up again. Sooner or later, if the Lord's working, they're going to come around and want to know more about it.
[11:12] So I, that's my personal opinion. I'll give you another one. I mean, get them to church. Get them under preaching. Get them under somebody reading the Bible over and over. They don't know.
[11:23] When people tell you they don't believe the Bible, what they don't believe is all the idiots they've heard that use the Bible. Very few of them have ever heard the Bible. I mean, when you, our, our church is quite unusual because if I could take my outlines and lay them out for you, they're mostly red.
[11:38] And in my outlines, I make all the verses red. And so we read a lot of Bible. It is probably common to read 30 or 40 verses in one message. So they've never heard the Bible.
[11:50] Get them to church. Get them to church. There's something about being in a church and hearing the gospel that might bring conviction and work in their life as they hear the word preached. If a person is sprinkled when they're a baby, will they be saved if they are never baptized?
[12:05] Well, water has nothing to do with you getting saved. Water has nothing to do with you getting saved. Whether you were sprinkled or not sprinkled, whether you were baptized by immersion or not baptized by immersion, has nothing to do with you getting saved.
[12:22] So let's look at a couple of verses to make sure that's true. Let's look at, let's look at Ephesians 2, 8, and 9, if you would. Ephesians 2, 8, and 9. For by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves.
[12:36] It's a gift of God, not of works. Listen, any man should boast. So water doesn't get me saved. Doesn't keep me saved.
[12:47] Doesn't wipe away original sin. That's nowhere in the entire Bible. There's nothing in the Bible that talks about being baptized as a baby. My wife Betty was baptized as a, she was sprinkled when she was a baby.
[13:01] She was sprinkled again when she was 12 and got put in the church. And then when she got saved, she got baptized. So know this, Titus 3, 5. Can you throw that up there? Titus 3, 5.
[13:12] Not by works of righteousness, which we have done. Not by works of righteousness, which we have done. But according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration. The washing of the rebirth, the new birth.
[13:24] And the renewing of the Holy Ghost. So it's not the works that we do, but it's what God does. And I don't know the verses by memory, but if you go to Romans chapter 3, 4, and 5, right in there, you're going to find out more than one time when it just simply says, we're saved not by works, but by grace.
[13:45] You're not saved by what you do. The fact is, let's look at one verse that really sums it up. It's not really talking about salvation, but it's got the exact truth there.
[13:56] Look at Romans 11, 6. Look at Romans 11, 6 with me. And if by grace, then it's no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be works, then it's no more grace.
[14:07] Otherwise, work is no more work. That's a crazy tongue-tying, tongue-twisting thing, but here's what it means. You've got to do it one way or the other. It's either what you do or it's what he did.
[14:18] We are saved by what he did. And so, you know, if you got baptized and they took you down under the water and your nose didn't get under the water, they don't have anything to do with it.
[14:29] Your nose just didn't get under the water. I baptized somebody one time, and as they went down, they stuck their hand up, and their whole hand's sticking up out of the water. I'm like, I didn't get you baptized. I thought about grabbing that hand, slamming it under their body, slamming them one more time, and I thought, well, what's the big deal?
[14:43] So we had a, I have a friend who got baptized three times face forward in the water. They put him under water in the name of the Father, by the face of the Father, in the name of the Son.
[14:53] And then the Holy Ghost, he said, what do you think of that? I said, it sounds like a lot of work to me. You could have got them all on one time. I've never seen anybody buried face forward, but I guess it could be. But the whole deal is this.
[15:04] Salvation's not by water. Now, why do you get baptized? Now, why do you get baptized? Let's go to Acts chapter 2 and verse 41. Let's go to Acts chapter 2 and verse 41.
[15:15] Here's why we get baptized. The first picture of people that were excited about hearing and accepting the word of God, they got baptized. In Acts chapter 2 and verse 41, then they that gladly received the word were baptized, and the same day were added to them about 3,000.
[15:34] And over and over throughout the scriptures, baptism is an outward symbol of an inward reality. It's an outward symbol of an inward reality.
[15:45] And so baptism, we do it out of obedience, but not to get saved. Two examples. Number one, I'm wearing a wedding band, and this wedding band doesn't make me married.
[15:59] This wedding band does not make me married. I am not unmarried now. The wedding band does not make me married. Are there any married men in here that do not have a wedding band on? If you would, would you hold your hand up? One right back there.
[16:09] Anybody else? Brother Frick, I thought you were married. Him and Miss Judy have been living together forever, and they don't even have a wedding band. So the wedding band doesn't make them married.
[16:19] Brother Warren and Miss Judy got a great marriage and have for many years. The wedding band doesn't make them married. The wedding band is only a symbol. The baptism doesn't make me saved. It's only a symbol.
[16:30] It's a testimony. Watch this. In Peru, it's a big deal among our believers if you got married at the church or married at the justice of the peace.
[16:42] Like, if you got the legal marriage done and didn't get the church marriage done, the Catholic church told them they weren't really married. But if you went to ask people at the state, they'd say, we don't care what the Catholic church does.
[16:53] The only one that counts is what you do here. The truth is you're married either way. And I've known people. They'd say, well, I only got married in front of the government, so I don't think I'm really married. I'd say, well, what made you unmarried?
[17:04] And I've been to those wedding services. I've signed my name as a witness to them. So just remember this. It doesn't matter. The water doesn't make you a Christian. It doesn't wash away any sin.
[17:16] It doesn't do anything more than give an outward testimony about what Jesus did for you. And you're not ashamed of him. You're not ashamed of him. And so you're getting baptized and say, I am not ashamed of him.
[17:28] I want to make a public profession. This is who I was. This is who I was. I'm buried in the old man and being raised to walk in the midst of life. Let's show that verse and I'll move from this question because I could belabor the point and preach on one subject so long.
[17:40] Look at Romans 6, 2. We'll just start Romans 6, 1 because I like it. In Romans 5, 20, he said, where sin did abound, grace did much more abound.
[17:52] In other words, the idea being God's so good that no matter how much sin you have, his grace is bigger than that. In Romans 6, 1, he said, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid.
[18:04] How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer there? Look at verse 3. We're going to get all the way down to 4. Know ye not as many as us were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death. Verse 4.
[18:15] Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life. It's just a picture. Here's the old man.
[18:26] Here I am buried and given a testimony that I have left that old life. I've trusted Christ and I'm raised to walk in the newness of life. That's what's happening when we get baptized. So if you're not baptized, you ought to get baptized.
[18:38] You ought to get baptized just like you'd want to tell people, I've been married, I've been saved, I'm not ashamed. And when you get baptized, you are not getting saved.
[18:49] You're just making a public profession. You do know that when people get married in America, I do weddings occasionally. And, you know, it's always amazing.
[19:00] I've never had anybody answer the questions wrong at a wedding. You know, you look at that girl and you say, do you take him? And she goes, I never thought about it. This is the first time that's ever crossed my mind.
[19:11] Why are you asking me that question in front of everybody? She knows I'm going to ask her that question. We practiced it the day before. I said, I'm going to ask you the question right there. And here's where you go, I do.
[19:21] Yeah, I want him. You got to say something. You don't just go, what? And so it's all to say, I really do love him. And when you get baptized, you know what you're saying?
[19:34] It's already a reality. I just want you all to know it. And when I say, hey, you want to marry this guy? She goes, of course I do. Why do you think I'm all dressed up? Why do you think we spent all this money?
[19:44] Because I love this guy and I want to marry him. When you get baptized, you're saying, I love Jesus. And I just want everybody to know it. So I'm going to take that stand. If Jesus is God, is the Holy Spirit God also?
[19:55] Yes, yes, yes, and yes, and yes. And guess what? God the Father created the earth, and Jesus created the earth, and the Holy Spirit created the earth, and Jesus is God.
[20:07] Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 3. Good guess. Let's go back to 1, read down 2 of that.
[20:18] Maybe I'll find one. Not that one. 2. Let's go to 3. That's where I wanted to be, sir. How good I am. I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ.
[20:28] The head of the woman is the man. The head of Christ is God. What's verse 4 say? Okay. I messed up. Verse 3. Go back to it. Christ is equal to God.
[20:41] He is God. How about a verse for that? John chapter 1 and verse 1 says, In the beginning was the word. The word was with God, and the word was God. And verse 2, nothing was created.
[20:53] The same was in the beginning with God. One more verse. All things were made by him, and without him was not made anything that was made. Jesus is God. He created the earth. And the whole trinity is mentioned in Matthew chapter 4.
[21:07] Let's go to Matthew chapter 4. And Jesus is getting baptized. That's 3. That's 3. He's going to the tempted in 4. Hold on one sec. Go to Matthew 3 and 13.
[21:20] The Bible said, Then comes Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee. Comest thou to me? And Jesus answering and said to him, Suffer to be so now, for thus to become thus to fulfill all righteousness.
[21:36] When Jesus, that's God in human flesh, was baptized, he went up straightway out of the water. And lo, the heavens were open, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove. That doesn't mean a dove was the Holy Spirit.
[21:48] The Spirit of God was like a dove, and lighting upon him, and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And so you have in the Bible all three persons of the Trinity.
[22:01] The Comforter, John chapter 14, he's come. The Paraclete, to live in us. And so that's God in spirit. So yes, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost.
[22:11] By the way, when you got baptized, you were supposed to be baptized that way. But Matthew 28, 19, real quick. Matthew 28, 19. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
[22:24] All three. One person, three persons. You say, I don't understand that. Don't worry. You're in real good company. But they're all God. Open your Bibles to 1 John chapter 5 verse 6.
[22:34] I want to show you about five verses. Real quick. Is the Spirit God? 1 John chapter 5 verse 6. This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ.
[22:45] Not by water only, but by water and blood. It is the Spirit that beareth witness. The Spirit is truth. Verse 7. There are three in heaven. For there are three that bear record in heaven.
[22:56] The Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. All right. Let me give you. Let's go here to Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 14. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 14, if you would.
[23:08] How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit, the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead, works to serve the living God.
[23:23] Let's look at Matthew 12, 28. Matthew chapter 12 and verse 28. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is coming to you.
[23:34] Jesus said, I cast them out by the Spirit of God. But 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 10. I don't want to give you a whole bunch more. I got more, but I would just do this. But God hath revealed them done to us by His Spirit.
[23:47] For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. Spirit knows the deep things of God. Verse 11. For what man knoweth the things of man, say, the Spirit of man which is in him.
[23:58] Even so, the things of God knows no man but the Spirit of God. How about 2 Corinthians 3, 17. I put errors by some of these.
[24:10] Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. So that's a real brief rundown on some verses. You need to know this. The Holy Spirit is God.
[24:21] Jesus is God, and God is God. And He's a triune God. He's three in one. One God. Three people. They're not the same person.
[24:32] They're not three different manifestations of Him. He is three completely distinct persons, but they're all equal. And all through the Bible, you're going to find all the characteristics assigned to all three of them.
[24:44] It'll use the word Spirit. It'll use the word of the Son or whatever word for Him, and then the word for the Father. So God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. That is a cardinal doctrine for us.
[24:55] That is a basic fundamental that we cannot walk away from. What is the purpose of music in the church service?
[25:07] Well, who knows, man? You guys want, what is this? You know, I was just up preaching Monday and Tuesday. We were at a church in Cherry Grove, church in North Carolina, which is outside of Wilkesboro.
[25:22] And before I got up to preach, the guy said, we'll only sing two songs tonight. Austin Gardner's here, and he really don't like music that much anyway. We're just going to have preaching. I was like, man, I don't want to develop that reputation.
[25:35] I will say a couple things about music so you understand. You know, music's not worship. It is worship, but it's not worship. You guys sometimes use the terms, we're going to have worship, and that means singing.
[25:48] But in the Bible, worship is service. In the Bible, worship is giving. In the Bible, worship is study. So worship's a whole lot of things. So I think music, I think we are doing what the Bible said to do.
[26:02] Let's go to Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3 and verse 13. I don't know. Let me see. Colossians chapter 3 and verse 16, did you say?
[26:16] It ain't 16. Oh, I'm in 2. That's why I need 16. It is 16. Boy, you're smart. Colossians 3, 16. Let's look at this. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
[26:36] So if I could challenge you, and we'll go to Ephesians in a second and read the parallel verse to this. No, I won't. I ain't got time. We'll just stay here. Look at this. You are to teach and admonish each other.
[26:47] So we do it in Sunday school. We do that in discipleship and foundations. But we sing. You're really not supposed to sing just like a prelude to the church. You're supposed to be worshiping God.
[26:58] And by the way, it was a big deal in the Old Testament. They had entire groups of people that were dedicated to the music. And that was the way God set it aside. He said, I want that music. And so we communicate with each other.
[27:10] When you sing the right songs and sing the right doctrine, you communicate through the words of that song to another person to help them grow in Christ. So we are teaching and admonishing in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts the Lord.
[27:25] And so music ought to set the stage for the preaching and studying of the Word of God. It ought to be a way to put to memory much of the truths that we're learning.
[27:36] So we should only sing doctrinally rich songs that you'll recall. And so that when later on you're thinking about them, when you're thinking about them, they will bring gospel truth to your mind.
[27:47] So singing is for you to teach others, to prepare your heart, to worship God. You ought to lift your hearts to Him. I wish everybody would understand that real worship is not singing. Actually, the biggest worship time in the service is probably offering.
[28:01] But you'll never hear a preacher say that because nobody wants to hear that. But the truth is it costs you nothing. When you give an offer and you're saying, I'm here to worship. In the Bible, worship was falling on your face and giving usually.
[28:15] Go read about it in the Bible. So it's a time that you surrender and yield to Him. So music is going to teach us and challenge us. We're going to learn things from it. We're going to get our hearts ready to open the Bible and read the Bible together.
[28:28] Judges 19-29. Let's look at the verse and you'll have to bring me back the question. This is a crazy story. This is kind of a wicked guy here. And I think right above this, a couple of angels come to visit him.
[28:43] And he's in the house and he puts his concubine, which is like a second class wife, kind of a slave wife. He puts her out there. And the men abuse her. And I think she comes to the door.
[28:55] And she's dead or dying on her last gasping of her breath. And so he cuts her up into pieces and sends her into all the coast of Israel. And that's to call all the people to army together to go and fight somewhere.
[29:08] So some kind of crazy, ridiculous nut who mistreated his wife. Number one, he shouldn't have had a concubine. He ought to have one wife for an entire lifetime.
[29:18] No secondary wives. You don't need second class wives. Amen. Nor should your wife ever be treated like a secondary woman or secondary person. Shall be treated like your joint heir and like your partner for life and shall never be treated that way.
[29:31] And so he did. And which in that time and day and time was a fairly common practice. And so he's calling the people together. Now let me see the question.
[29:42] So I want to answer the part I think is where you want to go. What's that question? In Judges 19, why did he cut his wife in 12 pieces? There's 12 tribes and he's a nut. There's 12 tribes and he's a nut.
[29:55] I mean I cannot imagine bringing my wife's body in and chopping her into 12 pieces. And she's probably going to cut me into a thousand but not 12 pieces. Also, why did God let the woman in Judges 9 suffer?
[30:07] I can explain to you why all people suffer if you'd like to know. In the very beginning God prepared a perfectly wonderful world and man chose to go his own way and plunge the world into sin.
[30:20] And all the consequences of God's blessings not being here and death and sin entering into the world. And that's why people do wrong. So it's easy for you to want to blame God for things.
[30:33] But you know what the drunk driver that killed your child or the pervert that molested you or whatever happened. God didn't do that. Some idiot did it. So put the blame where the blame goes and it never goes on God.
[30:44] He did not do that. Why did God let or allow the woman in Judges 9 to suffer? Because God sends the rain on the just and on the unjust. He raises a son on the just and the unjust.
[30:57] And if we will learn to follow the scriptures and do that, which we're not going to do as a human race until Jesus comes back. And right now, according to scripture, this world is under the power of the prince of the air.
[31:09] It's under the power of the devil. Because of our walking away in our own way, Satan took over. Let's look at Matthew chapter 4 right quick. I'll read you that verse and we will answer another question or two.
[31:20] Matthew chapter 4. In Matthew chapter 4, Satan comes to tempt Jesus. And he says to him in verse 8.
[31:35] Matthew 4, 8. The devil takes him up into an exceeding high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. And he said unto him, all these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
[31:48] And then said Jesus unto him, get thee hence, Satan. It is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve.
[31:59] So I want you to notice something. The devil offered Jesus. Look at what else. The kingdoms of this world. Look at what it says, if you would, in verse 8. Exceeding high mountain.
[32:10] And he showed him all the kingdoms of the world and all the glory of the world. And then he said in verse 9, these things will I give you if you will fall down and worship me. And Jesus doesn't respond, you're a dingy buddy.
[32:22] Those things don't belong to you. They belong to me. He didn't say that at all. He didn't respond saying you're mistaken. They don't belong to you. He responded and said, get you hence, Satan. It's written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve.
[32:37] See, Satan was trying to offer Jesus a shortcut. Here's a good way to get all the world to love you. And you won't have to die on a cross. You won't have to shed your blood. You won't have to do all that. I got you a shortcut.
[32:49] And Jesus said, no, God's plan is that man rebelled and man chose not to love God. And man chose to walk away from God. And God's plan and my plan is that I will die on a cross. And I will not accept your secondary way of getting it.
[33:01] You do own the world. You do own the world. But I'm winning the world back. I'm here to redeem the world. I'm here to rescue the world. I'm here to reconcile the world. And I will die on a cross and pay the sin debt of the world.
[33:13] But people will come to me because they choose to respond when the Holy Spirit convicts them. And so we came to a place in our lives where we realized we'd sinned against God. And we realized that because he convicted us.
[33:25] Because all of salvation starts with God. It all ends with God. It's all God doing a work in our lives. So God did a work in our lives. And we trusted him. And we got saved. And so Satan owns the world.
[33:36] You can know this. Satan owns the world. The prince of the power of the air, the Bible calls him. He's the ruler of this world. The kingdom of darkness. And Jesus is light. And that's what we're preaching about Jesus.
[33:48] And we go overseas. We go overseas and share the gospel. We're trying to take light to dark places so they'll come to know Jesus as their Savior. Will we still have free will in heaven? What will we do there?
[33:59] Will we have literal mansions? Okay. Go to John 14. John 14. And then we'll go to Matthew 6.
[34:12] Let me see here. John 14 says, In my Father's house are many mansions. So, the Bible says, Chapter 14, verse 1.
[34:24] Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself.
[34:37] That where I am, there you may be also. And that word mansion there is like, it's a word for where we'll stay in his house. His house is all a heaven.
[34:49] The scripture he gives of it in the book of Revelation is like 1,500 miles this way, 1,500 miles that way, 1,500 miles that way. He's got all this built and given us a special place to live and a special place to be.
[35:02] And so, go back to the question. Let me make sure I'm answering the question. Will we have, what will we do there? What will we have literal mansions? So, yes, we'll have literal mansions.
[35:12] Yes, we will be reveling in all the great and wonderful grace. You ain't going to stay in the house much so you can get your mind off that. It ain't never going to be night. You ain't never going to need a bed. The sun's always going to be shining because Jesus is the sun.
[35:24] The river of life is there. The trees of life are there. And he's going to have tremendous and wonderful things for us to do. All of heaven will settle back down on the earth. And we will go and come from the new Jerusalem.
[35:37] And it will be more like the Garden of Eden. And the craziest thing, we'll go back to where God intended for us to be in the very beginning. And we'll have a ministry to do for him that will be exciting and enjoyable, similar to the book of Genesis in the Garden of Eden, I believe.
[35:53] And we will enjoy all of that time. We'll enjoy all that time with him. Now, the question is, will we have free will? I want you to go to Matthew chapter 6. I want to show you something about it.
[36:04] You need to get your mind off of your having your own will and get your mind on to getting into his will. Whoa, that'll preach. So look at Matthew chapter 6 when Jesus taught him how to pray.
[36:15] In Matthew chapter 6 when he taught him how to pray, go down to verse 9. Matthew 6, 9. After this manner, therefore pray ye.
[36:25] Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. So God's will is done in heaven and I'm supposed to want that same will done in earth.
[36:41] So really, a born-again Christian is supposed to be surrendering their will. Hallelujah. It's not supposed to be you walk around saying, I'm a big baby and I want my way.
[36:55] I'm a big baby and I want my way. It's supposed to be, you're my king. You're my ruler and I have trusted you and I want your will to be done forever. Thy kingdom come.
[37:06] Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. So in heaven, they're obeying God. In heaven, they're serving God. And then when I get to heaven, that's what I'll be doing. And that's so, in heaven, my will will be his will.
[37:18] And by the way, if you ever get really right with God, that's what you want to do here. We want to serve him. Look at Psalm, Delighted, Delighted, Delighted, Lord, and he shall delight, what is that?
[37:30] Psalm 30 something, haven't we, somebody? 37.4, all these smart people. Look at Psalm 37.4. Boy, Andrew was there before I ever looked up.
[37:41] Look at that. Delighted thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart. When I was a kid, I remember praying this prayer and I said, now, God, I've been being real nice to you. And I've been being like I'm happy in you.
[37:53] And so now I want you to give me my desires. So I was kind of like, God, I'll do this for you. And you do this for me. That's not what that verse is about. That verse is, thy will be done in heaven and earth as it is in heaven.
[38:05] What I'm supposed to do is say, man, I love God. And I want what God wants. And I love the way God does things. And so when you fall in love with God and want what God wants, then you'll get the desires of your heart because God's going to do it.
[38:18] I'll give you one crazy illustration, but it's the truth. Betty and I were dating way back in 1973, I guess it was. And we went on our first date, I suppose, in 1973.
[38:32] And I had never had pizza. I'm a country boy. If you can't grow it on the farm, I don't eat it. And so we didn't grow pizza nor pepperoni. And so the first time we went out for pizza, I remember being nervous.
[38:45] I was like, what's that stuff going to taste like? It looks kind of funny the way they got it on that round piece of bread. I don't know what that is. That's the truth. I know you don't believe that. And I ate pepperoni. And I thought, well, that's pretty good stuff.
[38:55] I like it pretty good. And I also had Canadian bacon. But when people said, well, what kind of peachy? Like I said, pepperoni. I only knew one kind. I really like pepperoni now.
[39:07] I like all, give me all the meat you can put on there. Amen. Every kind. No anchovies. No anchovies. And no olives. Praise Jesus. No black olives. Keep them for yourself.
[39:18] And so Betty and I go on a date. And we sit down at the table. And I order. They said, man, back in those days, pizza wasn't like it is now. And so we sat at this pizza restaurant.
[39:30] And they came. And they said, we can give you a half and a half. You can put half on one side and half on the other side. So I said, being selfish, I thought, I've already tried that Canadian bacon. That's what I want. I said, I'd like half of it to be Canadian bacon.
[39:43] Betty, loving me, said, well, I'd like half of it to be pepperoni. So when it came, I started eating the Canadian bacon. Nobody was touching the pepperoni. Betty's eating Canadian bacon.
[39:54] I'm eating Canadian bacon. And finally, Betty said, you don't like pepperoni? I said, well, not as much as I do Canadian bacon. But you see, what happened was her love for me made her choose what she thought I wanted.
[40:04] And when you fall in love with Jesus, that's what you'll do. You'll quit saying, I want my will. So get away from that. You'll quit saying, I want my will. You'll start saying, I love Jesus. And I want what Jesus wants.
[40:16] Amen. That's where you want to get to. Not my will be done, but thy will be done. That's how we ought to pray. And that's what ought to be in our heart. How do I love a person if I don't like that person?
[40:27] You want to go back to first? No, I just love it.
[40:38] Okay. First Corinthians 13 explains what love is. It uses the word charity in the King James Bible, which is what we're using here. And it says in first Corinthians 13, what about verse four?
[40:51] It says charity. And it starts naming all these characteristics. So I'd like you to listen to this one, I'm fixing to tell you. Number one, the word they used when they translated that into English there was charity.
[41:01] And that's a great word. It's a great word because charity is what you give when you expect nothing in return. Charity is what you give when it's all giving and no getting.
[41:14] And that's what that word means in the original language. It means a giving love, not a taking love, not a back and forth love, but a complete giving love. And so the Bible translators put charity, which means a giving love suffers long.
[41:29] So when I love somebody, I put up with them. Is that where it starts? It is four, right? It doesn't start in three when it starts giving that definition. I think it's four.
[41:40] Okay. All right. Look at it. Charity, love suffers long. It's patient. In other words, it's kind. It doesn't get jealous. It doesn't brag and get all puffed up and smart like you about it.
[41:51] Verse five, it doesn't behave. It has good manners. Doesn't get easily angry. It never thinks bad about the other person. Verse six, it doesn't rejoice in iniquity.
[42:01] Let me tell you this. Most of us rejoice in iniquity because I remember when I was a kid, I read that and I said, well, I don't know what that means, rejoice in iniquity. I don't rejoice in iniquity. I thought that meant I rejoiced in getting drunk.
[42:12] But actually what rejoice in iniquity means is I rejoice in other people getting drunk because it makes me look better. It's kind of like this. You know, I've had a weight problem for a long time.
[42:26] And in Peru, I mean, I look like a walking whale. I mean, you go down. When everybody weighs 85 pounds and you weigh three of them, you know, you're walking down the street.
[42:37] I mean, everybody sees you like here comes the ballena, the whale. He's coming walking down the street. And so we come back to America. I love going to go to growl because I went to go to growl.
[42:47] I could rejoice in fat people. All of America's been to go to growl a lot. I go by. Whoa, check him out. That's fat. I tell baby, I'd say, ha, ha, I'm not fat.
[42:57] Check out that lady right there. What was I doing? I'm rejoicing in fat people. And here's what we do at church. Like we'll say, well, I'm a good husband. I'm not as bad as somebody else.
[43:08] That's rejoicing in iniquity. That's rejoicing in bad stuff. And so if you really love them, you don't go around trying to find somebody worse off so you can feel better about yourself. You say, I'm going to keep loving. And you rejoice the truth.
[43:19] So how can I love them if I don't like them? Well, loving them is not how I feel. It's how I act. And your feelings will follow your acting. Your feelings will follow your actions.
[43:31] If you learn to say sweet things and act sweet things and do things because you're doing what your father does. Your father loves. And love just gushes out of the God of heaven.
[43:44] And he's the greatest lover that ever lived. And it just gushes out of him. We saw in Matthew just the other day, he wouldn't put out a smoking flax.
[43:55] He wouldn't hurt a bruised reed. He's just great. He went into the town and he healed everybody. That's my savior. That's my savior. And the love of God, Romans chapter 5, is shed abroad in our hearts by spirit.
[44:07] As the God of the Holy Spirit works in my life. And so I need to look at you and say, you know, sometimes I don't like the way you act. Sometimes I just flat out don't like you. But I'm going to love you. And by the way, once you love people, you'll find out you'll end up liking them when you love them.
[44:22] Because if you keep acting nice, if you keep acting nice and keep doing all the things that the Bible said about loving, you're going to find some different things about them. If you quit looking at them and saying, here's the reasons I don't like you, which means you're thinking about you, then you can fall in love with them.
[44:38] When you're a missionary in another country, it's so easy to start seeing them and us. That's how they do it. That's not how we do it. I'm from America and they're from here.
[44:49] And you get that attitude of them and they, but when you fall in love, man, it's the most wonderful thing. When you realize I can see where they are, I can see what they're doing, and I can get in where they are, and I can accept that.
[45:00] So let me give you one illustration. I'm going to answer the last question, even though I'm stealing just a tad of time. Let me just, let me, let me, let me say this. One of the most wonderful times in my ministry in Peru was a night when we had a whole bunch of Americans and they had gone in to preach and we were after the service.
[45:17] We didn't have very many people. We were probably running 30 or 40, 50 people, I don't know, 60 people. And after the service, they came out and I was talking to the young men, all the Americans had left. And I said to them, how many did we have tonight?
[45:28] And they said, we had this number. And I said, and they said, and we had this many Americans. And I said, no, no, no, you, we had a lot more Americans. I mean, there's six in my family. And they said, we didn't count you as one of them. And I said, good deal.
[45:42] I ain't one of them gringos. I'm a Peruvian. I love that. And what happens when you love them, you'll start seeing things totally different. Love makes you see their differences and say, I love them.
[45:55] My dad told me when I was a boy, Mexicans all carry knives. And he said, they'll be nice to your face, but you turn your back, they'll stab you. You better watch them. That's what he told me when I was going to Mexico as a missionary on the way down to learn the language.
[46:09] After I learned the language, I was talking to my buddy Alberto. And I said, Alberto, I said, do all Mexicans carry knives? He said, no, but my daddy told me all Americans do. He said, my daddy told me they'll be real nice to your face, but when you turn your back, they'll have to stab you.
[46:25] I said, our daddies must have been related. Amen. But love broke that barrier down, and I found out Mexico is the most wonderful people on the planet. So love will help you do that.
[46:36] In the Genesis 5, 1 through 4, where the angels, I think that's Genesis 6, isn't it? Let's look at that. Somebody look up Genesis 6, 1 through 2, or 3, or 4, right in there. I thought Jesus was the only son of God.
[46:49] It came to pass on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto men, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair. They took them wives, all of which they chose.
[47:00] Okay, let's go back to the question now. Let me just give you an answer. Number one, first answer. There's a lot of sons of God. I am one. How many of you are sons of God? Raise your hand.
[47:11] Say amen. John 1, 12 says, To as many as received him, to them gave you the power to become the sons of God. So there's a whole lot of sons of God. I am one. And in the Bible, in Job chapter 1, the sons of God come before God, and are talking to God, and it's referring to the angels.
[47:29] It's referring to the angels. And Satan was among them, and they come before God, and they said to God, in Job chapter 1, God says to the devil, says, Hey, you notice Job really loves me.
[47:41] And the devil said, Sure he does. You're nice to him. You protect him all the time. And God and the devil had a conversation. God said, I'll just let you do this to him. And he goes and does it, and he comes back, and God says, Ha-ha, did you check out my man Job?
[47:55] No matter what you do to him, he's doing good. He said, Yeah, but you won't let me affect his body. He said, Well, go take care of his body. Work on his body if you want to. Goes down and gets him sick as a dog. He's sitting in an ash heap, scratching sores all over his body, still loving Jesus.
[48:09] The devil comes back up, and God said, Told you he loved me. Told you he loved me. And those were the sons of God. So in Genesis chapter 6, the Bible makes a comment that the sons of God took wives among the humans and had babies.
[48:24] And so the question is, Who are the sons of God? I don't know. That's my best answer. My best answer, I don't know. Two answers. One, the sons of God might refer back to the line of Seth.
[48:39] Genesis and the creation. Adam and Eve have three children that are named. They have lots of children, but three get named. Cain, Abel, and Seth. Cain kills Abel, so Abel's dead.
[48:51] Cain's a bad guy, and he's got a mark on him and leaves. And there's another guy who has the godly line. That's a good chance that's who it's talking about. That the people that came out of Seth were following Jesus and continued to have a godly line.
[49:04] Possibly that. And so they met. But by chapter 6, the godly people started mixing with the worldly people and having babies, and that might have been what happened. Possible. Others think it could have been angels that were fallen angels that are found in 1 Peter that are in a place called Tartarus in the Greek, which is they're in a hell where Jesus may have gone to preach, and that's possible.
[49:27] We don't know. You're going to read your Bible. Let me explain something to you. Don't worry about what you don't know about the Bible. Everybody needs to hear what I'm about to tell you. Never worry about what you don't know.
[49:37] Because you're never going to know all of it. If you had it memorized, you still wouldn't understand it all. Here's the thing you have to understand about the Bible. It is alive. It is quick and powerful. It's alive.
[49:48] It is the book of God. And so no human being understands it. The greatest Bible scholars never scratch the surface. None of us, and I'm not even a scholar, I mean the smart guys, they never scratch the surface.
[50:02] So you'll never understand the Bible that way. But what you can know is you can know the truths that are obvious to you and let God teach you all through your life, and you'll live according to the light you've been given.
[50:13] So if you run across something, say, I don't understand that. Don't get hung up on that. Go to what you do understand. Do you understand you've sinned against God? Do you understand you ought to go to hell when you die? Do you understand Jesus died for you? Then trust Jesus.
[50:24] Do you understand in the Bible that God hears and answers prayer? Then pray. Do you understand in the Bible how you ought to live and serve him? Did you understand what we went over today? Then do it. But if there's stuff you don't understand, well, that's okay.
[50:37] Now, I've been studying the Bible avidly for over 40 years, and I will tell you that I do think that I have got a good hold on about a thousandth of 1%.
[50:48] I am really getting up there. You say, you're just being facetious. No, I'm not. I can know where stories are. Why'd that guy cut that woman in 12 pieces? Because he's an idiot.
[50:59] Does the Bible say why? No. He just divided her up and sent her across the place. You know, there's all kinds of stories in the Bible I don't understand. There's all sorts of things I don't understand. And the smartest thing to do is just admit.
[51:11] It's a God book. He said, my thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways. My thoughts are so high above you, like the skies are above you on the earth, like the heavens above you on the earth.
[51:21] You can't understand me. You don't understand me. And so we just slowly study it. Say the Bible the rest of your life. You will love it. You will learn. You will grow. Don't get hung up on what you don't understand.
[51:33] Grow with what you do understand. Get involved in foundations. It'll get you a real good start. Get you involved in foundations. It'll get you a real good start. Don't miss church services, which you don't. That'll get you a good start.
[51:44] Keep reading your Bible every day. I read this on a blog yesterday by a scholar. In the last 15 years, he'd read his Bible through six times, and he was pretty sure he was right about what he was saying.
[51:56] And I thought to myself, if I'd only read the Bible six times in 15 years, I wouldn't be writing like a scholar. I mean, maybe 30 times, two times a year. But, I mean, what are you doing trying to explain a book you don't read?
[52:08] Hello. And so just read the book. Amen. I'll tell you this. There are laymen in this room that really know God's book and know God. They don't know everything, but they know God.
[52:18] And I'll tell you what they do. Little by little, they read his book. That's it. They just let God work in their life. Amen. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfredo, Georgia.
[52:30] For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com, where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.