All right, we're turning our Bibles back into the book of Acts, chapter nine, and I wanna just continue right along with this series we've been in. I want us to get a little more acquainted with the church and the work of the church, the call of the church. God's called-out assembly is ecclesia, and we're grateful to be a part of the work of God. We are in difficult days and these days are going to get more difficult and more trying, I am sure. And there is war talk and things taking place in the world that are very, very, very dangerous. And you and I both understand that just because They're not pushing any buttons yet. It's not because they don't want to or that they're not crazy enough to. But it's just God keeping them from it. God, there's nothing going to happen in this world that God is not going to allow to happen and that is not a part of His plan and His purpose. And it's all going to work out. And when Jesus Christ is visibly seen coming back to this world by all the world, there's going to be a great war to take place. That's how the generation will end. And we'll go then, of course, into the Millennial Kingdom, but there's going to be a war fought in the Valley of Megiddo. And it's going to be a war between God and man. They're going to point their weapons toward God. And the Lord Jesus Christ is going to take them all out with a sword of His mouth. He'll speak the word and antichrist armies will be destroyed completely. And the antichrist and the false prophet will be cast into the lake of fire. And the armies as well will be cast into the lake of fire. So things are going to end kind of painfully for this world. But of course, the church will have already been with the Lord for about seven years, and we'll come back riding the white horses with Him, and we won't fight the battle. The Lord Himself will fight the battle. And I think one of these days we're going to find out it's been the Lord all through our Christian journey who has fought our battles for us. And all we had to do was just surrender to the Lordship of Christ and we would find things going a lot better for us. There's no need for us to worry ourselves sick and you can worry yourself sick. but just trust the Lord, and always remember that the Lord is near. And that's what Peter was talking about in the scriptures when he was talking about that we should not worry about anything, be anxious for nothing, because the Lord is near. And he's not talking about the second coming of the Lord there, the rapture of the church, he's talking about He is close, He is near at hand, He is right with us, He's close to us, and He is not going to leave us or forsake us. So we are to make these things a matter of prayer and depending on Him. And so we're very grateful that we have the Lord with us and He's our shepherd. and He loves His people and He is faithful to take care of us every step of the way. But we've got some things that we need to take care of as well that God has called us to as His church. God has a business. Jesus said, I must be about my Father's business. And there is a great business that is taking place on this earth that is above and beyond any earthly man's business, and that's the work of God, the business of God. And we are right now to be busy in God's business. He's called us to be His witnesses. He's called us to testify by our words and our actions. to the greatness of God and His marvelous grace that is at work in our life. And so we want to be about that business. And we want to be yielding ourselves as Isaiah did when God said, Who shall go for me? Who shall go for us? And Isaiah said, Here am I, send me. I'm ready to do whatever you call me to do. and to be active in the work of God. And that's what you and I are to be doing as well, whether we feel like it or don't feel like it. We know what God has called us to and the burden that he's put in our hearts. And if we don't have a burden, there's something wrong with us because God gives burdens and he's the one who does that and he equips his people to follow God and His will for our lives. Now, I really need you to pray for me today. I'm very tired. That camp meeting got to me this past week. It blessed me spiritually, and I got a lot of help, and I wouldn't take nothing for having attended those meetings. I was there every night, but I missed two mornings. I just couldn't go. I just couldn't get up and get with it. And when I get very tired, then my mind gets in pretty bad shape, and I'm already having enough trouble with it as it is. But I want to give it a shot anyway. I want to put forth the effort, be instant in season and out of season, and I just need your prayers, and I would appreciate you praying. I want you to notice here in Acts chapter number two, our text verse, and that's all we're going to read. And I'm going to pick up where I left off as God helps me. Verse number 41 of Acts two. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized. In the same day there were added unto them about 3,000 souls. And so there's a lot of things taking place on that day, the day of Pentecost, and we read about it, and we see, beginning in chapter number one, at the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, after He has shown Himself alive by many infallible proofs, that He was risen, He was risen from the dead, and He was continuing the Father's business while He was here. And so it had come to the day when he was going to ascend back into heaven. When Jesus goes home, that'd be a wonderful sermon right there. Now, you don't hear much preaching on the ascension of the Lord, I understand, but there should be, I'm sure, more preaching on that. Him going back home because he was going back to continue his work. and that is to, He's going to continue by interceding for us, mediating for us, representing us at the Father's right hand. He'll continue to call our name to the Holy Father and to testify to the Holy Father that we have the grace of God and that we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. We are God's children. He'll continue to intercede for us and, and, and save us to the uttermost. And we're so grateful that we have such in one at the Father's right hand for us. But after His ascension, then it's time for the Holy Spirit to come. And after the 120 disciples had spent a little while in that room at prayer, seeking the face of God and taking care of some business that had to be taken care of concerning Judas Iscariot and a few other things that Simon Peter wanted to call the attention of the saints to, God picked him out to do that. And then the scriptures tells us that on the day of Pentecost they were gathered together in one mind, in one accord. And they were surrendered to God. They were ready for whatever was about to happen. And they did not fully understand what was about to happen. But the church, or the people of God were interested. And the apostles did what the Lord told them to do as He gave them some final instructions just before His ascent into heaven. He said, Tarry in Jerusalem. until ye be endued with power from on high. There's something that you need that you don't have, but I'm going to supply it for you. Now he had told them, but they still didn't get the full picture. They understood what they needed to understand at the time, but they knew that something tremendous was about to take place. And of course, the most wonderful thing that was about to take place was our Savior was going to redeem us. was going to redeem his people with his precious blood. His blood would be shed so that you and I could be redeemed. We could be reconciled to God by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Wonderful things was about to take place. God was going to do something extra special for his people because he knew that we were going to need some help. and it was going to take divine help. It was going to take the presence of the Holy Ghost. So Jesus had already told them in John 16, he said, I'm going away. But he said, I'm going to send another comforter to you. and He's going to be just like the one you've had. It'll be the Spirit of Christ. He is coming back, the Holy Ghost, and He's going to do what? He's going to endue you with power, and you're going to be My witnesses, and you're going to witness in the power of the Holy Ghost. and God's going to greatly use you to spread the gospel message to get the word out. Now we're going to be one people. We're going to be the church. God's going to birth the church on the day of Pentecost and there's been at least 2,000 years that the church has been working and has taken the place that God has put us in to be the witnesses. We have not always been what we should be. We have not always done what we ought to do. And friend, God has had to work on us. and he has had to use his rod on us. He has had to child train us, to bring us along, and for our continual surrendering of ourselves to him. We must not ever forget those words that Jesus told us what kind of disciples that we will be, that we must be disciples who deny ourselves. and take up our crosses daily and follow him. And so this is something that we must continually do on a daily basis. And these three things shows that we are indeed the disciples of the Lord. This is what disciples do. They continue to learn, they continue to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. They continue in the way of Christ, obeying God, and doing the will of God, and they are known by a people, thank God, who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, and who do indeed follow the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb, everywhere that he may go. and we are inactive people. Now sometimes if God has to, he'll give us a swift kick in the backside and get us back to going in the direction that he wants us to go in. It may be a painful experience for us, but God's going to do whatever he has to do to make genuine Christians out of us and to cause us to be the people that he has called us to be because there are yet others who need to be saved, who are still lost, and God wants to bring them in, and He hadn't chosen to use the moose club, or the elks, or the masons, or anybody else, but He's chosen His church to do that work. And I'll tell you, sometimes God has to get on to us. And He gets on to us pretty hard at times, whatever it takes. He cautions us, He warns us, He continues to remind us of our activity as His people, what He requires of us. And if we fail to do it, I'll tell you, He'll do whatever's necessary. to either stir us up or replace us, whatever he's got to do. Sometimes I think people leave this world maybe a little before time, and it could be, and it's not always the reason, but it could be because they're misbehaving. If you don't behave away from home, then you'll behave when you get home. but whatever is necessary, God's going to do it, and He has replaced people. Now the scriptures tells us that we'd better do what God's called us to do and obey Him, and be careful that no man take thy crown, and God wants us active. He wants His people doing His will. That's why we're still here. There is much more to do. We ought to be doing today the same thing they were doing at the beginning in the book of Acts. The church ought to be on fire like they were on fire back when the church was first born. When she came forth, praise God, from the womb, when she was born on that day, she was already moving about. She was stirred and she was active. You could tell she was alive and she was doing what God had called her to do. And what did that do? It brought on hostility. Brother, sister, it brought on the devil working against them and persecuting them, and what did that do for them? Did they just start quitting? Well, those people that probably wasn't truly saved began to get out of the witnessing business and the preaching business and the like, and they'd say something like, well, God didn't call me to this. God didn't call me run around here until I'm finally a complete fruit loop. He didn't call me to make me crazy. He called me to do His work, but I don't believe that He wanted the devil to get the high hand on me. Well friends, if that was the case, then they forgot how the devil rose up so hard against the Lord Jesus Christ and our Savior s words, If the world hated me, they re going to hate you. And friend, the fact that he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and the fact that the whole nation of Israel rejected Him. He came to His own and His own received Him not. And the vast majority of His creation rejected Him. He came to the ones that He made, that He created, that He brought on the scene. and they rejected him for the most part, but to as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. Well, these are the ones right here that received him. They received the Lord Jesus Christ. They began to be taught and began to understand that he is the head of a great organism, an organization that is called the church. Jesus is the head of it, and they are the church. They didn't know that was coming, but brother, they learned. They began to understand, and what did that do? Praise God, it set them on fire, and they got busy. and preaching the gospel. Ye shall be witnesses unto me, Jesus told them in Acts 1.8. Ye shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. And so here they are, missionaries. They are missionaries. They are evangelists. They are pastors and friend, the church, the early church is already learning mission work. They are already learning to go out themselves who God appoints at that church at Antioch in Acts chapter 13. I tell you, the Holy Ghost had told the church people, separate Barnabas and Saul for the work, the ministry I've called them to. And what had He called them to do? To be missionaries and to spread the gospel, to leave the church at Antioch and go to those places that are mentioned in chapter 13 and 14. They were to go out to preach the gospel where local churches were going to be born, birthed by the Holy Ghost in those different towns. And what happened to those men? They were persecuted for it. The apostle Paul was stoned, and I believe he was stoned to death, and God raised him from the dead. What did he do? He got up and said, let's go to this church, this place now, this city, and this other city. What took place in Acts chapter 16? The Holy Ghost sent him out again and his missionary team. And when they'd go the wrong way, he'd stop them. He'd say, I don't want you to go that way, I want you to go this way. And he kept on until he guided them down to Macedonia. Down, praise God, to the church at Philippi. And they did not, by accident, run up on some praying women down there. Brother, but it was because God planned it all. He purposed it all. Even the salvation of Lydia that day was God's planned purpose for that good hour and for when those men first came into Philippi. Brother, I'll tell you, they preached till they wound up in jail. So everywhere you go, we ought to expect hostility from the wicked one and from this wicked world. And I'll tell you, there's something bad wrong with us when the world treats us better than they did the first church that God called. and sent the Word of God out. I'll tell you, they were being beaten right and left and put to death and hauled to prison and all this kind of stuff because the world hated the gospel. Now if there's anything that the world can tolerate, and be ready to be a part of, you better believe it's not the gospel of the grace of God. It is not the gospel of God. It is not the person and work of Jesus. But rather, it is a false gospel. The world is not going to line up with the true gospel. They're going to line up with lies, doctrines of demons. And friend, the devil can can put something together that will actually suit the world and they'll be happy to have it. It's a religion that Satan is the author of and this world will be glad to have it, but they will not have the truth. They won't have the gospel of the grace of almighty God. That is still a truth that the devil in the world hates. They despise that, and they'll never bow to the Lordship of Christ. Give them something that does not present as a necessity in it all, the Lordship of Christ, they'll swallow it hook, line, and sinker. But I'll tell you, Only people that God has prepared their heart for the gospel is going to receive the gospel. God gets you ready. And so our first point in this 41st verse is we see these people believing. They that gladly received his word, they believed the word of God. Faith cometh by hearing. And so if they believed the word, they were hearing the gospel. And God had worked in them, the Holy Ghost had done a work in them that caused them to be glad to get this, to actually love the truth. to love the Bible, people that hates the truth, I mean religious people that hates the truth and they'd be happy to drive 100 miles to get away from the truth and find something that'll make them feel good about their self. And friend, they'll be happy to do that because they're not going to have the truth. But when God works on a sinner, he can bring them to the place where they will gladly receive the word. They receive it happily, cheerfully. They want it. God wanted me and brought me to the place where I wanted him. It was God at work. We're not saved by our works, but we are saved by works. were saved by the person and work of Jesus Christ. That's how we're saved, and that's why we call the gospel the person and work of Christ. It was the, it was God drawing us to Himself. in that hour when we experienced the new birth and spiritual life came to us and the Holy Spirit worked on us and called our attention to the Holy Scriptures and we began to look at it in a new light. God given us understanding and He brought us along in that because those whom God draws to Himself, God teaches them. He teaches them truth. And friend, as He teaches us truth, we begin to walk in that light that He shows us until He brings us to that place. When we hear the Holy Scriptures preached, we gladly receive that truth and we bow to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We receive Christ and to as many as received Him. to them gave you power to become the sons of God. That's the work of God. And I don't thank myself. And I don't pat myself on the back that I'm saved, that I finally did the right thing. It's not me doing the right thing, it's God moving upon me, leading me along, leading me along. God don't even force us to get saved. But he brings us along until that's exactly what we want. I didn't want it till God quickened me and I began to see things in a different light. And praise God, when I began to see things in a different light, it was a light that interested me. And I wanted more light. I wanted to see more and get more. It was a battle that went on. Yes, sir. You say, preacher, do you believe you can resist God? I believe that's probably about the way you're gonna start out when God begins to reveal the truth to you about your own self. And the truth to you about, it takes repentance. It takes giving up sin. It takes turning to the Lord and these things. But God's not facing us, He's just making us aware of that truth. We begin to learn for the first time in our life what the real truth is. And God is, God don't save anybody, listen to me. God never saves a sinner without first of all convincing them. He has to convince them. You and me can't convince them. We tell them, we warn them, but we can't convince them. And so it does like we tell our children. You know, it goes in one ear and out the other. And they just don't get it. And the reason I've been convinced and have stayed convinced is because of God's work in me and Him bringing me along. but the day that God saved me, He didn't force me into it. He didn't have to yank my arm up behind my back and shove me to the altar or shove me to Jesus. No, I willingly came to Him. I wanted to come to Him. I wanted to be saved. I wanted my life to change. I wanted to give up my sin. I wanted to please God. Things, I saw reality. I saw the truth and I wanted the truth. I didn't want to live a lie and for a lie because I really believed that God truly loved me. I really believed that God wanted something better, wanted to give me something much better. I really believed that God wanted to take care of me for the rest of my life and bring me to himself in eternity. I really believed, and I'll tell you what I believed, the truth I believed because I was his child. He kept adding other truth to it and bringing me along as I heard the Word preached and heard it taught and read it for myself and the Spirit of God just kept on speaking and kept on speaking and so you and I just kept growing in the Lord and you know, even after all these years, there's so much we don't know, and we want to know, we want to continue to learn, because we've learned that it blesses us. The more we know, the more we're blessed, and the more we grow, I'll tell you, the better that it all is, the knowledge of it, the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, and the work of God. It's just a continual blessing to us. In other words, I'm still glad I'm saved. And if there was an exit to it, I wouldn't want to use it. Would you? No. I'm glad I'm saved. I'm glad I'm in. I'm kind of like the apostle Paul. Two of his, two words that blessed him, it seemed like more than anything else. And those two words were in Christ. He kept using them over and over. In Christ, in Christ. I like that. And I praise the Lord for that. And so, the first thing we talked about, was believing, believing, we believed. They that gladly received his word. Salvation, believing. The next word is baptizing. Salvation, baptizing. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized. we received His Word and were saved. The baptism didn't come until later, water baptism, because that is not a part of our getting saved or being saved. And the Bible, listen to the wisdom of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost was so careful in His, in putting certain things in the Scriptures to teach that baptism is not a part of getting saved. This is not why we're saved. We're saved because we gladly received His Word. were saved because in our gladly receiving His Word, we received, we received the living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ We received Him. We were not of those who did not receive Him. We were of those who gladly received Him. And He is called the Word. And the Scriptures is called the Word. We believe the preaching of the Word. We believe the preaching of Jesus Christ. We believed everything the Bible said to us, that God gave us an understanding of it, and we received that. We received with meekness the engrafted Word that is able to save our soul, because it's telling us about the person and work of Jesus Christ. He that believeth not shall be damned, said Jesus in that great commission. You preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth not shall be damned. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. But denominations that's preaching that baptism is part of it, and one reason you know that is because he that believeth not, or he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. Well, the only thing that He is telling us there is, He says first of all, He that believeth not shall be damned. He doesn't say, He that believeth not shall be damned. He that believeth not and is not baptized shall be damned. That's not what He said. The Holy Ghost carefully worded the statement, he that believeth not shall be damned, because it is by not believing that puts sinners into hell. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. Don't say a word about baptism there. He that received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God. Don't say a word about baptism there. But He said, But he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He does two things for us. He tells us that it is by believing that we are saved. And then He is also telling us that After you believe, then he wants the believer to be baptized. Follow the Lord in believing in baptism. Once you believe, you're baptized. Why? Because that baptism identifies you with Jesus Christ. And that baptism is testifying that you are following the Lord in believers' baptism. It is testifying that you are being obedient. And that's what God wants us to show in our life, that we are new creatures, that once we were rebels against God, but now we are followers and we are obeying God. God is teaching in His Word that He wants believers to follow the Lord and believers baptism. And it is the will of God that we be baptized once that we are saved. It is showing that we are not only identified with Christ, but with Christ's people, with the church family, because now we are one with them. And that is telling us that we are joining together with them. and doing what the other believers has done as well. And the believers who's looking on are saying they are joining together with us. They are showing, here they are with us as we're meeting together and that's a good indication that they have become new creatures and here they are ready to obey God to do what God has called them to do, and the first thing we see here is their obedience and baptism, and so it is testifying of their faith in God, their belief in God. It is showing also that they died with Him when our Savior was crucified. They died with Him. We died with Him. And thank God we were buried with Him. And then on the third day rose again with Him to walk in what? Newness of life. New creatures. Creatures of obedience and creatures of action. Creatures of expectancy. Christians of people of faith. and love for God. Before all that, Ephesians 2 said we were aliens. Aliens of the Jews and aliens of Christ. And God was far from us. And so that's the kind of lives we lived. That's why we went to places we had no business at or we should not have gone to. That's the reason we did things. physically and in our mind that we should not because it's sin and it's rebellion against God. And we were just part of the world and we had our particular place in this world and we were very active in it. And we needed to be saved from our sins and we need to be saved from this present evil world. Now we needed to become a new people, a people that are identified with Christ and we love Christ. The church is an assembly of baptized believers. The church is an assembly of baptized believers. The first time I came forward in a meeting, I told you I think last time I was, after I did that, they took me at my word for it and the pastor baptized me soon thereafter in Yellow Jacket Creek. And so, here's a good question. that preacher that i've made a profession of faith and it wouldn't really and uh... uh... i later on found out that it was a fault profession and so the question is should i be baptized again well i can tell you about myself and i believe this is right and i think i was doing the right thing When I did truly receive the faith, saving faith that comes from God, and true repentance that comes from God, then I was saved. I didn't know enough about the scriptures as to how I should do that, what should I do now. And so it took me a while, took me a long while, But I finally learned from the scriptures that lost people, you don't be saved when you're lost. I'm sorry, you don't get baptized when you're lost. The correct order is you believe and then you're baptized. That's the correct order. And so, I must believe first. First time I was baptized, I was lost. I kind of thought that, you know, that I was all right, but it's only because I didn't know enough Bible, didn't know enough Scripture. You know, you learn as you continue to study. And so when I realized, well, and I didn't even think about this until much later. Well, you know, I believed, I was lost, came forward in a meeting, but I didn't really get saved. And yet I went and was baptized. That baptism didn't do me one bit of good. I wasn't following the Lord and believers baptism. And so, am I to be baptized again? And the answer came to me, yes. You must be baptized again. Because the first time it wasn't the right way. You know when you get saved, you want to do everything right. and whatever mistakes or whatever sins or whatever you did before that, you even want to get those things straightened out, want to get those things right. And so you confess your sins to God and you repent of them and God is faithful to forgive us. You repent. So I had to repent and I had to I had to get baptized again. Now, maybe you've never thought about that, but I have the liberty, I believe, to bring it up. And I want you to think about it. But I'm telling you what I felt like that I ought to do, and I would advise others to do the same thing. If I didn't get it right the first time, I want to get it right the next time. And so once God did bring me to saving faith, then, praise the Lord, and I understood that baptism follows the say it salvation experience, then I called on a preacher to come and baptize me. And he did that. And so, and I let the church know what I felt like I needed to have done. And so, I got it done. And I believe it was the right thing for me to do. I got some peace I didn't have before. A lot of times we don't always know, you know, that there's issues down in your heart we're not aware of. We have to pray and ask the Holy Spirit, reveal to me, bring them to the surface. Let me see these things that seems to be hindering me from getting to peace with God, the peace of God. And so, I had to have that done. You know, that happened to a lot of people back yonder in the dark ages, in a time that the Anabaptists were on the scene. And do you know what, who the Anabaptists were? You know what the word Ana means? It's a prefix that means re, or doing it again, re-baptizing. because many of them had been converted from Roman Catholicism or something else. And as Roman Catholics, you get in that church and you take your babies, and your babies are baptized, actually sprinkled, they're not submerged, but they're sprinkled, which to them means the same thing. And so, The Anabaptists were called Anabaptists because they were baptized as babies or little children or whatever the case, but they didn't get saved until much later on. And so they understood that baptism follows the salvation experience. And so what did they do when they were saved? They said, I want to be re-baptized. I want to be baptized again because this time it's the right thing to do. And that's what they were wanting to do. Does that make sense? Well, it does to me. And so I felt like somewhere in this, concerning this, their being baptized, I needed to bring that up to you. Baptism is very important. Again, it's part of our witness. We're not ashamed to be identified with Christ. And we understand even if people are hostile to it, governments or whatever, and it could possibly bring on death for you to be baptized, it did many of the Anabaptists. They had to die at the hands of the Catholic denomination. their millennial reign. And so it may come that day for the saints of God here. But if God reveals to us, whatever truth God reveals to us, we need to take it and we need to put that truth to work in our life and make it part of our sermons and part of our witnessing, even if it means that people who once may have thought a lot of you, begins to hate you. Even if it means the next time you go by to witness to certain people and they found out that now you're believing this, And you know that your mom and dad didn't believe that and your grandma and grandpa didn't believe that. And so, but there, I know they're in heaven. I know they're right with God. I know they're saved. But now that's not always the case. Everything is not what we believe to be truth. And that's the reason I ask you, don't take something just because I preach it. No sir, go in the Bible and find out what God said. Now I hope that I'm preaching what God said and that is certainly my intentions to speak thus saith the Lord like the Old Testament prophets would enter into a home or into a religious area and stand up and say thus saith the Lord. And anybody who does that, they had better be saying and repeating what the Lord said. But I'm telling you now, if I say anything that you don't have any Bible for it, and you can go in the Bible and see it and know the truth of it, then you take God for what He says. And that includes, if I was dumb enough to do it, but I'm not dumb enough to do it, so I'm not gonna do it, if I pronounce anybody saved. Because you don't take even a preacher's word for that, you take God's word for that. You go to the Bible and find out what does it mean to really get saved. And if you can't find God telling you that you are saved, again, don't take anybody else's word for it, including mine. And sometimes a preacher, it is his business to preach a truth and challenge the people. to even question their self. You see, I don't want nobody causing me to have question marks in my mind. That can be healthy. There are a lot of things that brought questions in my mind as I heard other men preach. And maybe I hadn't studied it out in the scriptures, I hadn't seen it there, but I heard somebody else preach. And I think that it could be very dangerous to take everybody else's word for whatever you believe. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. It's important that we study it out for ourselves as well. And if what we find out is what the preacher said, we believe it because we found it out from God and we amen it when the preacher PREACHES it. And if somebody questions it, you stand in defense of it because it's the truth. We've got to be honest, sometimes you have to take sides. You've got to take sides. When you and I were saved, our salvation experience, part of that was us taking sides with God against our own selves. And you might have to take sides with God even against family members. And there's some folks that ain't never gonna do that because blood is thicker than water. Well, that's true about our Lord Jesus' blood above everybody else's. I had very, very, very close loved ones that was angry with me at times about what I preached. And I knew it would make them angry, but I had to do it anyway because we've got to stand in defense of the truth, what God has told us, what He taught us. And I would long for those family members to get in the Bible and find out, is that what the Bible says? You start calling sin by name and you're going to run up on problems like that. But you got to do it. I didn't want to lie to my family members and them wind up in hell because a lie has never saved anybody. Only the truth shall make you free, nothing else. Well, I can't see a person's faith and you can't. James understood that and Paul understood that. And in the Romans epistle and his other epistles, the apostle Paul said salvation is not by works, it is by faith. Not by works, but by faith. And James said salvation is not by faith, but by works. And it sounds just like a contradiction, unless you understood the other things that Paul said. The other things that James himself, James preached truth. If this James was the pastor of the Jerusalem church, then you know he knew exactly what it takes for sinners to be saved. And what James was saying is, in James 2.14, when he said, What doeth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? Again, please notice the wisdom of the Holy Ghost in this passage of Scripture. In the first place, we understand that a man says that, but he has not carefully chosen the right words. What doeth it profit my brethren, but the Holy Ghost picketh the right words? Though a man, S-A-Y, say he hath faith, Now every one of us know that there are a lot of people in this world, religious people, who say, I have faith. And I'm one of those who gladly receive His Word and I receive Jesus Christ as my Savior. They say that. There are many people who says things. But let's not forget what our Lord, how He cautioned us. Our Lord said, why call ye me Lord, Lord? And don't do what I tell you to do. If I'm your Lord, why don't you obey me? And so what James is saying here is, there are many people who says one thing and lives another thing. But God has taught us in His Word that there is a way that true believers live, and the way they live SHOWS that they have the right kind of faith. So what is, what is James saying here? He said, What doeth it profit my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, but have not works? It's easy to understand that He's cautioning what they're saying and what they don't have, what, the way they're living, what you say and what you live. A lot of people, it's just not in harmony together. The reason we know that Jesus is indeed the true Messiah and the one and only Savior is that we can, we hear what He said And we saw what He did while He was here. He came here and lived the life of purity and holiness and His greatest delight was pleasing the Father. We learned those things from Him. Jesus never had to repent of anything because He did not sin. and he was the one that the Father was always pleased with. He always done those things that pleased God. You and I, we had to have that gift of repentance because we don't always do what we should do, but we have something now given to us by God called repentance. And we can't just lie there in that mud and wallow in it. We got to get cleaned up. And it begins with repentance. And we're not just going to spend the rest of our life in that hog wallow. But we're going to get out of that. We're not buzzards who can feast upon a carcass and enjoys blood mixed with it, and all of its guts and everything. We don't do that. We're not called buzzards in the Bible. We're called doves. Doves. I didn't know it, and I don't know for a fact now, because I've never cut a dove open, but I've heard it said that doves don't even have a gallbladder. Y'all heard that? I don't know if that's right or not. So, we'll just put that under the category believe it or not. I heard a preacher preach it years ago and he said, so there's no bitterness there. He don't, the dove don't walk around bitter, carrying grudges and mad at everybody and his brother and refuse to go to church because of something somebody said or something somebody did or whatever. But whether they have a gall or don't have a gall, it is a bird that is at least put together with peace and with bringing good news. Noah's dove brought him some good news when he brought that leaf in its mouth, in its little beak. Let him know that the ground was drying up. What He is saying here is, What doeth it profit my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? And then He said, Can faith save him? In other words, can that kind of faith save him, a faith that don't have any works? And of course, the obvious answer, the most reasonable answer is, No, it cannot. if it does not have godly works, if it does not show a life of repentance, if it does not show a life that expresses love for God and wanting to live obedient to God. If it don't have that, it's not the right kind of faith. It's not faith that's saved. What kind is it? James goes on to call it a dead faith. A faith without works is dead because true faith is active. It's active in our life. It's not idle. It is active. It shows itself. God already knows that we're saved because He can see our heart. And by looking at the heart, he knows whether he's washed it, whether he's given you a new heart, a new desire, new will, new purpose in life. God can already see that. He already knows that we're saved. But you and I can't see one another's hearts. We can't see one another's hearts. So we've got to have some evidence. because God wants His people to know one another, and to fellowship together, and to work together, to be co-laborers together. God wants, it's very important that we are able to identify our true brothers and sisters in Christ because when we get into the house of God, we are going to want our brothers and sisters to help us in the work. They will be appointed to certain jobs in the church and to take part as they show their self-faithful and we are able to see that Praise God, they have works, they have desires, and they want to be helpful, and they don't make all kind of excuses for not jumping in there and joining together and contributing their spiritual gifts and the like to the church, to the operation of the church. You have that faith. I'm fixing to quit. In Acts chapter 8, the evangelist Philip went down into Samaria. God told him to go there, and he went there, and he preached in Samaria, and I'll tell you, they had revival. God moved in mighty power, sinners were saved, I'm assuming it was something like the atmosphere at Pentecost that had just taken place. And they, God moved in power. And there was an old sorcerer there by the name of Simon. Simon the sorcerer. One who did those incantations and made those spells and all this kind of witchery. He, the Bible said that He believed. He also believed. And the believers were being baptized. Peter had come down there to help Brother Philip with the preaching and the baptizing and the like. But above all, the laying on of hands. because when the apostle Peter laid hands on those people, then they received the Holy Ghost. There seemed to be a transition that was taking place for the Holy Spirit of God to come upon a people a different group of people. These were Jews on the day of Pentecost. These were part Jews and part Gentiles on the day in Acts chapter 8 when the Holy Spirit, when they were able to receive the Holy Spirit. And then the same was true in Acts 19 concerning when the disciples of John, John the Baptist, when they received the Holy Spirit of God. And it was shown then that they too were all part of this one body. So you no longer have three groups, you've got that one body, which is the church. and it was by the Holy Ghost that we become part of that body. That's the reason it was absolutely necessary that the Holy Spirit of God be given to each one so that each one would indeed have the power. Now, the Bible said Simon saw all these others baptized and the Bible said it this way, when Simon believed, it says he believed, And then he was baptized. Well, he was baptized. He said he believed he was baptized. And if I'd have been there, I'd have thought, well, he said he believed, you know, we want to take people at their word. But in all honesty, we all understand that you have to wait a while and watch them a while because you can't take people at their word. you take God and His words and what God says about a true believer, you watch them to see if indeed they have those kind of works. They live that kind of life. But now if they continue in their adultery and they continue in their fornication, if they continue in their gambling and the like, how in the world could we think that Faith was the kind of faith that James said you gotta have, and that our Lord said you gotta have. The same is told of a group in John chapter 2 in the last few verses. They believed, they believed the miracles they saw the Lord do. But Jesus didn't commit Himself to them. And why didn't He commit Himself to them? because they didn't believe that He was indeed who He claimed to be. They didn't have that kind of faith. The Bible said He believed, which means He professed to believe. But your profession of faith could be wrong. And somebody said there's a big difference in a profession of faith and a, what's that other word, commission? Confession, thank you. Huh? Yeah, a profession and a confession. There's a difference in those two words. You profess to know God, but that don't necessarily mean you do. You confess to know God and your confession is seen in your lifestyle and in your actions. You confess it to the degree that it convinces others. because it shows the life of Christianity. This is so extremely important, dear church folk. It's so important. I professed it one time, but I'll tell you right now, I didn't live the confession out before others. It's by your deeds, by the life you live, that that faith is truly seen in you. And so, the Bible said they believed, but Jesus did not commit Himself to them. The word believe in the Greek is the same word that is translated confessed, or yeah, the same word of profession. In other words, what they're saying is, They believed in Jesus, but Jesus didn't believe in them. When He didn't commit Himself to them, He did not believe in them. That's the Greek word. And so, to wrap it up, When that guy, Simon the sorcerer, believed and was baptized, baptism was all wrong for him because he didn't really have saving faith. He had an intellectual faith, but the intellectual faith, it's not by the wisdom of man that we are saved. And so we can say a lot of right things, but now the question is, Are we real? Is it real? Is it real? If it is, thank God, we can tell it. If it's not real, we can tell it. We can see it in our own self. Because if we love Him, we do what He tells us to do. We obey His commandments. if we love Him. See, God put all that in the Scriptures for our benefit. And so, there are a lot of times that we preachers, I don't know, I don't know how many, I don't know the who or anything like that. But it is not at all uncommon for a true God-called preacher to baptize a lost professor of faith. It happens. It happens. The preacher don't know everything. The preacher don't know other people's hearts. At times we misjudge and we're wrong. And that's the reason I want to be very careful about passing judgment on anybody. Now there is a kind of judgment that God wants you and I to use in our discerning of people and spirits and the like. But we've got to be led by the Holy Spirit of God and we have to be careful. I'm going to admit there have been people I just didn't believe they got saved. And it just didn't seem like they got saved. And the change wasn't what I considered to be radical enough. And so I just couldn't see it. But they gradually began to pick up the pace. And I found them after a while walking in pace with the Lord. And maybe it took them a while to learn some things, to grasp some things. And so I want to bear with people as long as possible and try to help them in their growth. But I do want to be honest with folks. And if they tell me that they're saved and they're not living like they're saved, then I have to tell them, why do you live this way then? If you're a Christian, how can you do this? How can you live like this? Because I don't want to face God not having cautioned them and warned them that saving faith is you're able to see it by the life that people lives. Then you try to minister to them. You don't go to them and tell them they're living like they're lost in order to make them mad. Sometimes they get mad anyway. But that's not your purpose. You want to help them. You want them to learn. And then if they're truly saved and God's going to reveal that truth to them, and they're going to want to walk with the Lord. Live for God. You testify to that. And friends, I want to be absolutely certain for myself, and I can't help it, I want to be absolutely certain for my wife. I want to know it as well as I can know it. I don't want her all of a sudden jumping off what I thought she was on the straight and narrow way over on the broad way that leads to destruction. And if she does that, it wasn't because she was on the straight and narrow. It's because she's always been on that broad road that leads to destruction. I want to be careful. Now, if that's the wrong attitude for a preacher and a pastor, then if the Lord will point that out to me, I want to get right with God on it. But I want to know the truth about my wife. and until she shows me differently, I'm pretty much convinced that she's on the right road. And I, same goes for you folks. I want to know the truth about my children. And I have never been more unsure about my children than I am right now. Because of the way things have happened. And the same goes for my grandchildren. And I love them, I'm not being mean to them, I question them along the way, because I love them. And you know the old saying, it ain't in the Bible, I ain't seen it in the Bible yet, and I've read through the Bible quite a number of times. Never have seen it in there, but it sure doesn't make sense. If it looks like a duck, And if it waddles like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it must be a duck. And a lot of people believe that until they found out that it is saying pretty much what the scriptures teach. If they live like a Christian, love God like a Christian, Use the kind of language that Christians use, or better said, if you love the Lord, you're God. And if you love your brothers and sisters in Christ, then you're believers. That's the way it goes. But there's some folks that call themselves a believer. They can't get along with anybody but the devil and the devil's crowd. And they always start trouble elsewhere. God help us. Well, I love you and I appreciate you. And I appreciate you listening. Thank you, Lord, for the Word of God. Thank you, Lord, for truth. Thank you for revealing truth to us. We pray that you would help each one of us to receive with meekness, with humility. And, Lord, softly and carefully help us to receive the Word of God and seek to live out the faith that you have put in us. We pray that you'll be glorified in us, Lord. Thank you now for your love and mercy and grace. In Jesus' name, amen.