All right, take your Bibles, if you would, please, and we're going to give them a workout tonight. Are you ready? I say, are you ready? I'm ready. All right, get that Bible, and we are going to give it a workout tonight. I have just been having a wonderful time. I don't know about you, but getting ready for these ten toughest questions has just been a re-education for me. And I think Phil was back here, or maybe it was Naomi. I can't remember which one was telling me tonight that they missed a few. Listen to them. Download them on the Internet. Just listen to them that way. Others have talked about how they've been using them and giving them to other people and using them. But I tell you, the person who's getting the greatest benefit out of this is always me, because I get a chance to just sit down and just restudy and look at some things that are so very important to our faith. And I want to share with you tonight, the next question that we have is, what about those, Pastor, who have never heard about Jesus? That just seems so hard-hearted and so cold. that people all around this planet, in places where perhaps they've just never heard his name, how can they be held accountable for information that they do not have? How many of you, that's crossed your mind? I mean, how can God hold them accountable when they've never heard? Me too. You know, me too. And it seems like a very difficult question. And it is. And we're going to look at it together tonight and going to give our Bibles a workout. And I want you to just use them and mark them. Bring your little notebook from week to week. and write things down. Before I forget, I'm supposed to tell you, Mike Huff, our Sunday night cook, is back there busily getting ready. Open Face Sloppy Joe's for a little bit later and some other things are going to be there, chips, etc. And so if you're already hungry, you've got about 45 minutes to get a little more hungry before you get a chance to go back to Open Face Sloppy Joe's. Then, this is for everybody. Are you here tonight? Raise your hand. All right, then you're a volunteer for the next project. After the service tonight, please do not race off anywhere. Don't even race off to the Family Life Center. And Chuck, if I forget to tell everybody about this, then you are in trouble. Isn't that nice how I can do that? Chuck, do not let me forget to mention the Operation Christmas Child Boxes. Folks, did you see that pile of boxes out there? Do you know how many boxes are in that pile? Our goal was 600. Last year we did 550 some odd. Our goal was 600. There are over 700 boxes ready to go. Isn't that wonderful? Praise the Lord. They go out this week. But you know what? We don't want them to go out unless we pray over them and dedicate this whole project to the Lord. So you know what? We're going to have a group picture. We're all getting around that thing, that whole pile out there, and Karen and all of her team's going to get up there by the table, and we're going to just stop and we're going to pray that God would take both the love gifts that we're sending and the message of the love gift that he sent, which is Jesus Christ, that he will add his blessing and that somehow, in some way, God's name would be magnified and that people would come to know him as Lord and Savior. All right, I want you to participate. You already volunteered, so I'm not going to ask you to raise your hand again. So we're going to do that right after the service. Therefore, I need to really get at what I'm doing here tonight. What about those that have never heard? Pastor Phil, don't you think that religion is cultural? I get I'm starting to get that a lot. You know, Pastor, don't you think that religion is cultural and that the people all over the world are just doing the best they know how, according to however it is that they've been raised? And how in the world is somebody in Saudi Arabia raised in a country where they're going to get their hands chopped off and maybe even their head chopped off if they If they come to Christ, how in the world is God going to hold them accountable? Is that a tough question or is that a tough question? It is. I'm going to share with you from the Bible what I believe God's word says. Somebody else might say, well, don't you think that God will take whatever form or plan of salvation that a particular region or religion believes and accept it because of their sincerity? Well, lack of sincerity among the world religions is really not a problem. They're very, very, very sincere. Tonight, as we stand here, the sun is going to be rising in India very soon and there are going to be mothers, mothers in the nation of India that are going to take the most favored child in their family and they're going to go to a river and they're going to throw that child to the crocodile. Because they believe that they are going to be appeasing that crocodile or some river god or Something like that. In fact, there are going to be boys and girls that have diseases that are going to be stepped on by elephants in India tomorrow. And they're going to be stepped on, and the mothers and the fathers are going to cry because of missing their children, but they're going to think that the right thing happened because a God just stepped on one of their children. That's sad, isn't it? All over the world, there are many religions. And isn't it unfair to hold people accountable for information that they do not have? There are people all over this world that have never heard of Jesus. Pastor, the name Jesus has never come through their ears and never crossed their lips. How can God hold them accountable? Now, we're going to look at many passages of Scripture, and I want you to have your pen ready. You're not going to be able to turn to every one as fast as I'm going to read them, but you should jot down some references. I had somebody tonight tell me they wish they They had what I was talking about a few weeks ago when they encountered somebody. Well, take notes, go study, read, prepare yourselves. Be ready always to give an answer to anyone that asks you a reason for the hope that's in you and do that with meekness and fear. Somebody asks you why you hope, why you believe, be ready to give an answer. What are the basic problems? Well, there's two verses that I want to launch with and take your Bible and turn to one of them. You know what it is, but underline it. Write this down and write the word. The right the word exclusive beside this passage of scripture in John chapter 14 and verse 6. This happens to be the passage that we are using for our preaching foundation for all of this year and next year and the year following that we've got three years of John 14 6. And you say why would you take one verse and preach on it for three years. Well you very well know I'm preaching much more than just John 14 6 however. It's the launching point, and the reason that is, is because of the importance of it. It's of paramount importance. In fact, it's a mountain peak of Scripture. And look what it says. It says there in John 14, in verse 6, very clearly, Jesus answered, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Now write the word exclusive out there because that's what we are really accused of. There was a man by the name of Templeton who grew up with Billy Graham and at a certain time in his life, Templeton had far more people listening to him preach than Billy Graham did. And they were fellow evangelists. And Templeton, I can't remember his first name, but he preached all over, and he had big crowds. And he got to California, and he got to meet some people that were quite wealthy, and he met some very educated people, and they began to challenge him on what he taught, and this evangelist friend of Billy Graham decided that he no longer believed that the Bible was inerrant. And then he decided that he no longer believed most of the stories of the Bible. Then he decided that he didn't like the idea of a God at all. And pretty soon he was just a there is no God at all. Of course, his crowds dwindled. And you know what happened to Billy Graham's crowds, by the way. Notice when you start when you start sacrificing the truth, you also start sacrificing God's anointing on your life. And it's so true. And he decided finally that all that he can really come up with to think, if you would make an exclusive claim and point to John 14, 6 as the reason for it, that's just equal to spiritual racism. And you are the reason and the cause for all of the problem and hatred going on in the world. Did you know that when I stand up and say something like this, that outside of the doorway, which is Jesus, And without coming through Him, who is the bread of life, the door, without coming to the Father through Jesus, no one comes to heaven. I immediately, because of my dogmatic statement, am guilty of spiritual racism, prejudice, pride, egotism, and hatred. And I am the enemy. You see, the world really doesn't like this passage of Scripture. Because all the other religions of the world, even though they are exclusive in many ways, they allow for there to be more than one way. Let me give you another verse. Write this verse down, if you would. Acts chapter 4 and verse 12. And these are very familiar verses. And the reason they're familiar is because they're so important. Acts chapter 4 and verse 12. Salvation is found in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. Now, the context, of course, identifies that as Jesus Christ himself. It doesn't say there is no other name in Israel given by whom we must be saved. It does not say that there is no other name given in North America or in Des Moines or in the state of Iowa or in just the western hemisphere, or this happens to be a local religion. It doesn't say anything of the sort. It says that there is no other name given under what? Heaven. And just for your information, heaven, it just pretty much envelops the earth. There is no other name. Now, those are very, very dogmatic statements. You know, from time to time, people accuse me of being a very pointed, dogmatic and absolute sort of a preacher. Guilty. I am. I'm just guilty as I can be. Because I read verses like this that are very pointed and dogmatic and clear-cut, and I don't see any room for me to find any other way than the way that God's Word says we go to heaven. We go to heaven through Jesus. Are you with me? Let me go on. You say, but those are New Testament passages, Pastor. There were people who lived in the Old Testament, and you know, they didn't know about Jesus Christ. Are you aware of that? Are you aware that many, in fact, all of the Old Testament people didn't have a clear understanding of Jesus Christ? You say, wow, they're all lost and they went to hell. Wait just a minute. Isaiah chapter 44 and verse 6, you need this one. Write it down. Isaiah 44 and verse 6, this is what the Lord says, Israel's King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty I am the first, I am the last, apart from me there is no God. Who is like me then? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people and what is yet to come. Yes, let him foretell what is to come. Isaiah 44, 6. I'm God, he said. Listen to Isaiah 45 and verse 5. one of the most central verses in all of the Bible. I am the Lord, there is no other. Apart from me, there is no God. Have you got that in your Bible, Mark, there? Somebody says there's lots of gods out there. Well, we only have one, we only have one unchangeable, immutable book that has stood the test of time, the inspired Word of God. We only have one reference. that says anything about that. And you know what it says in Isaiah 45, 5, I am the Lord. There is no other apart from me. There is no God. So let me give you some thoughts tonight. Those verses are powerful. You say, well, that doesn't answer the question about the Old Testament people not knowing about Jesus yet being believers. Well, I'll get to that at the end. But let me just follow a line of thinking, and I want you to see with me. Write these main points down. The first point I want to make to you is the Bible declares clearly that God is everyone's judge. Our God, the God, Elohim, is everyone's judge. You say, well, how do you know that? Well, take your Bibles. This time, go ahead and turn to Acts chapter 17 and verse 30. You need to mark this verse. Acts chapter 17 and verse 30. It says, Now in the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent. You see those words, all and everywhere? Do you suppose He means all over Israel and everywhere in Israel? Or do you suppose He's calling repentance to everyone on the planet? He says very clearly there in the sermon that's being preached by Paul, In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people Everywhere to repent now look at verse 31 for he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice By the man he has appointed he has given proof of this to all men by raising him From the dead how many all do you see in there a whole bunch of them? They're in there. He said, he set a day when he will judge the world with justice. So the first thing I want to say to you tonight is, is that God is everyone's judge. Worldwide, nobody out from under the heavens of God. If you're under the heavens of God, then you are going to be judged by the one God, Isaiah 45, 5. Just one God. There is no other God. And God is the judge of everyone, of all men. Second, write this down. God is a just judge. Can I ask you a question? Do you suppose there are any judges sitting on benches today that really aren't very just? I knew I'd get a laugh out of you. Do you suppose there are any lawyers pleading cases before the judge that are not just? Do you suppose there are any people getting off free that are guilty? Do you suppose there are any people that are being hung with a crime that they didn't do because somebody paid off somebody to make it happen? Do you suppose that there's a lot of crookedness going on in our court system? Let me ask you a question. Do you suppose that anybody could pull one over on the God of the universe? Do you suppose that the God who knows everything, who is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, He was there when it started, He'll be there when it ends, and He's seen all points in between, even the numbers of hairs on our head. Do you suppose we can hide anything from Him as we stand before Him? No. And you suppose the just. One, the advocate, Jesus Christ, the righteous who stands before the father is going to, quote, unquote, pull any punches as he stands there and please our case before the father. No, he is the faithful and true witness. He's not only he's not only this is so great. I didn't intend to get into this, but Chuck, if you've ever thought about that, the Bible says, the Father says, and I've committed all judgment to the Son. So when you go into the great judgment chamber one day, you know who's going to be sitting on the bench? Jesus. Do you know who is going to be pleading, who's going to be up there defending the person who is in front of him? He is also the lawyer, the advocate, Jesus. And do you know who's going to be the witness that's giving testimony? Jesus. He's the judge, he's the advocate, and he's the witness. That's the kind of person I want pleading my case. How many of you are with me on that? Amen. He's going to say, don't hold that against him. I died for every sin he did. I didn't intend to preach on that tonight. That's not part of my sermon. That's free. It doesn't cost anything. But I want you to know that every time I get to thinking about everything Jesus has done for me, it wells up in my heart, and I just cannot go on without saying, praise be to God Almighty in heaven, that Jesus is judging me, but he also died for my sins, so there's no judgment to be passed. There's therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. for them that walk according to the Spirit. Are you understanding what I'm saying tonight? If you're here and you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, there is no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. I did not say there are no condemnation for them who are in Grace Church. I did not say there is no condemnation for them who are in a Christian family. I said there is no condemnation for them that are in Christ Jesus. If you're in Christ, you're saved. You can be at Grace Church, but out of Christ. You could be at this church in Des Moines, but outside of Jesus. You could be at the doorway of salvation, but outside of Christ. But for those that are in Christ, there's therefore now no condemnation. That's just a side sermon. I want you to know tonight that Jesus died for you, and He took your sins away. And if you put your faith and trust in Him, then He's the judge, He's the lawyer, He's the key witness, and you stand completely justified tonight. Can we give the Lord a hand tonight? That is just so wonderful. You'll never be judged. You'll never be judged for what Jesus did. But God is a just judge. I don't know how I got off on that. Psalm 96, 13. Write that verse down. Listen to what God says. He said, He, God, will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His truth. You see, He's going to do it according to truth. He's going to have all the information. That's the next point. Write this down. God is everyone's judge first. Second, God is a just judge. Third, God has all of the information. He has all of the testimony. Just this week they came up with a verdict out in California in the Lacey Peterson thing, Scott Peterson trial. I mean, you've been keeping up a little bit on that. I have. I'm sort of, I don't know, I guess I could be a lawyer junkie sort of a guy to sort of check out those kinds of things. And I've been reading about it and studying it and all. And boy, they had their jury. They were worried about the jury. And they had a couple of people on there gathering information on the outside. And oh, it was something. And boy, they just wanted to be so sure they'd heard the whole story. They called in some of the previous information to reread some documents. And they wanted to see some more pictures of the boat. And they wanted to do it. You know what? The problem was that they were worried that they just didn't have enough information to make a good judgment. Well, can I say that the judge of everyone who is a just judge has all of the information. He's got all the information. In fact, the Bible says this, that the rocks and the timbers and the created elements that are in this world are nothing but recording devices for him. He can call out the rocks and the timbers. He can call out the trees of the forest who were sitting there listening to the words you said and seeing the deeds that you've done. He can say, look, hey, come over here, rock. I want you to testify now and tell what you saw. Whoa. You see, he has all of the information. Listen to this verse, Jeremiah 1710. Write that down. I, the Lord, search the heart and examine the mind to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve. I, the Lord, search the heart and examine the mind. You see, he's examining the seed of your volition, which is your heart. And he's also examining your information gathering apparatus, which is your mind. And he's just going to examine the whole thing. And then he's going to make a judgment. God will judge people, number four, according to the light they have been given. This is crucial for you to understand tonight. How's God going to judge the world? Well, He's everyone's judge. He is a just judge. He's a judge who has all the information. And then the next thing, He is going to judge people according to the light that they have been given. Now, you need to look up this passage. This is Romans chapter 2 and verse 12. And I am dancing around doing a whole series on the book of Romans and just teaching that whole book, textual, textual expository preaching all the way through it because I've referred to it so many times recently. And I, well, I just think we just really, really need to get a hold of that. So take your Bibles and turn to Romans chapter two and verse 12. And I want you to see something very important. It says in verse 12, look up all who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law. Are you listening? Paul is writing. He has pointed out that the Gentiles do horrible things. He's talking to the Jews, but he's talking about the Gentiles. He says in chapter 1 that they do despicable things. They had God in their knowledge. They did not like to retain God in their knowledge. Romans chapter 1, verse 21. They didn't want to think about a God. They didn't want to have a God. They preferred to worship a God of their own creation, a reptile, a bird. They preferred all these things, and they preferred, even if need be, to worship themselves, worship the forms of men. All these statues and artwork and everything that go on in the world, they have an origin. I won't go into that tonight. But he said, all who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law. That's talking about those people who never had the law, now one day in their lives. They didn't know anything about God, they didn't know anything about His law, but you know what? They perished. In fact, Galatians says that, you know what Romans says in chapter 6 and verse 23? It says that the wages of sin is what? But do you know that not everybody all over the world has ever heard the story of Adam and Eve and of how sin came into the world? Nevertheless, nevertheless, even though they have not known the truth of their origins because of sin, every man dies. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death is passed upon all men. Because why? Because all have sinned. Now follow me now. Think with me for a minute. This verse says, look up, all who sin apart from the law will also perish or die. apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law." You say, what's that all about? Well, the Jews were under the law. They thought they had a corner on God's grace. They thought they had the corner on God's law. Well, you know what? I'm a Jew. I was born a Jew. I'm a child of Abraham. Everything's for me. All the promises are for me. The books of the Bible are coming through us, through our line. I mean, we're the chosen, the favored. We're it. We're the apple of God's eye. Why in the world should I worry? But they were breaking the law of God, having it. They had the law of God and they broke it. All over the world there were people who did not have the law of God, but they broke it. They even broke laws that were in their hearts, that they knew what was right or wrong without having a written law before them. Besides the fact there was a time that men were dying, women were dying, boys and girls were dying before the law was ever given at all. Galatians talks about that. Think about this. All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but those who obey the law who will be declared righteous." Now, don't get mixed up. This doesn't mean you can earn your salvation by keeping the law. It is just simply saying that if a person is going to say, well, we have the law, all right, good, you have it, but do you obey it to the nth degree? You never sin. Indeed, when the Gentiles, verse 14, who do not have the law, they don't have it, but they do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves even though they do not have the law. Now watch. Since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts. You say, what? Oh, well, there's all kinds of evidences of God's law in the world. Why, this is the best copy. This is the best place to find it. It's written down. It's unchangeable. But even apart from the written Word of God, there are many of the laws of God. What is right and what is wrong is written on the hearts of men, women, boys and girls around the world. And that is what this is saying. It says here, and you say, how is that? How's it written on their heart? It says their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts now accusing, even defending them. And he says, this will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares. And so we have people all over the world. We have those people that are in the know, and we have those people that are not in the know. Guess what? They're all dying. I mean, in case you hadn't figured this out yet, everybody dies. There's only been two that haven't died, and that was Enoch and Elijah. And I think there's a little trip for them planned to earth during the tribulation in which they are going to die. That's Daniel and Revelation study beginning in January. That's another story. But listen to what I'm saying. Everyone all over the world is dying. Why are they dying? Well, because sin, when it's finished, brings forth death. And the wages of sin is And wherefore is by one man sin into the world, and death by sin. So then death is passed upon all men, because all have sin. So you see, death is reigning all over the world among those that are in the know and among those that are not in the know. You see, God is going to judge people according to the light that they've been given. You see, the Jews had far, far, far, far, far, far, far more light than anyone else. And then the Gentiles, those that didn't have it. Now let's bring that into the day today in which we're living. You are in the room tonight and you have a copy of the Word of God on your lap and you have a chance to come to church from week to week. In fact, you don't even have to come to church to hear God's Word preached. You can turn on your radio in about five or six different stations in Des Moines and you can hear the Word of God preached by some pretty good preachers and teachers. You just turn it on and listen to them. You can go to a Christian bookstore and you can buy sermon outlines and read them. You can hear the Word of God preached and taught in this country like no time in the history of man and like no other place on planet Earth. Guess what? To whom much is given, much is? I'm going to tell you what. I would hate to be. I would hate to be a citizen of the United States of America with the advantages that we have had of the preaching and teaching of God's word and to stand before God and say, I didn't know. But you say, what about the darkest of Africa? You know, they have not had the advantage that we've had tonight. They have not had every opportunity to hear the word of God. They've not had it all. But guess what? The Bible says very clearly that there is no man, no woman, no boy, no girl that can stand before God and say they have an excuse. You say, wow, that's tough. All right, let's look at it. You say, so how does that work? Well, God says, number five, write it down. God says no one will have an excuse when he judges the earth. No one. No one. Romans 119. It says, Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities and His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood by what it has been made. What are we talking about here? When it says, From the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, eternal power, divine nature. What are we talking about? Where do we see that? Where can any man, woman, boy or girl anywhere on the planet see that there's a God? Where can they see it? Where? Creation. Say that with me. Where can they see it? They can see it in creation. There are people all over the world that look up and they say, wow, look at that sun, that big ball of fire. Well, there it comes and there it goes. Wow, that's really something. The next day they see that sun and go up and do it again. The next day they see that sun and do it again. Huh, I think that tree does that. Hail the tree. It doesn't make sense, does it? They see the sun and moon in the circuit. They see the seasons come and go, the rain. They see things grow out of the ground. They see that food is provided on the earth for them if they'll just plant and gather. They see all of the animals, and they see all of the life, and they see that life only comes from life, and they see all the systems of the world. And when they see that much light, they have to make a decision. Hmm. I wonder what this is all about. I'm assuming that the sun, that thing that goes back and forth, it must be in charge. Or they can make a better judgment, and they can say, I wish I knew who made all these things. Let me, before I make a summary statement on that, I want to go a little further. God says no one will have an excuse when he judges the earth. He said because his eternal power and divine nature are evident worldwide from the nature that we see. And so what about it? Is God calling all people to faith in Jesus? You say, Pastor, you say you hadn't got down to that. Well, I'm getting there. First of all, God is the judge of the entire earth. And so God, the whole earth is going to have to come God's way. The answer is all people are accountable to God, whether they have heard about him and heard about him or not. The Bible tells us that God has clearly revealed Himself in nature. We just read it, Romans 1.20. And that in the hearts of people, it's present. Ecclesiastes 3.11 says that every man has eternity in his heart. He knows that there is an eternity, that he's not just going to cease when it comes to the end of his earthly day. The problem is that the human race is sinful. We reject the knowledge and we rebel against Him. Romans 1.21 says that they did not like to retain the knowledge of God and they rejected Him. And so, Because of rejecting him, then God and rebelling against them, then God allows them to suffer the consequences of those things. And apart from grace, God would give us over to the sinful desires of our heart and allow us to discover how useless and miserable life is. apart from him. That's exactly what happens in Romans 1, 24 to 32. He goes on, and Paul is just explaining, you know, people who just openly reject the knowledge and the life that they do have, they're headed down a path toward Sodom. They're headed down a path toward Gomorrah. They're headed down a path toward destruction. Because it didn't say here in Romans chapter 1 that they had all the knowledge, they had all of the gospel. He didn't say that. He just said that they had the creation of the world and the inner witness of the law written on their hearts, and that was enough to get their attention. And if it didn't get their attention, if they decided to believe that a man created it, that a reptile created it, that a lice created it, like they did in Egypt, or that a frog created it, or that a bird in the air created it, or that the sun created it. If they decided that's the way it was, then what they did is reject what light they had. You say, boy, that's hard. Yes, but it is true. Let me go on. So human race is sinful. They reject the knowledge of God that they do have. And in reality, it is not that some people have not heard about God. Rather, the problem is that they have rejected what they have heard and already seen in nature and have attributed what God has done to other people. What is it to attribute the work of God to other people? What is that? Blasphemy. Huh. Did you hear what I just said? Jesus was accused one time of doing His work by the powers of, who was it there, Earl? Beelzebub, right? Well, He's casting out these demons by the power of Beelzebub. Jesus said, you know, all manner, all manner of sin will be forgiven you. Sin against the Son and sin against the Father. But when you sin against the Holy Spirit by attributing, giving credit for the work that God has done to demons, or to other people, you have committed blasphemy. And it will not be forgiven you in this life or in the life to come. You say, Pastor, what are you preaching about? I'm telling you that there is a crossing of the line with God in heaven. When a person has light and they attribute the light that they do have to a demon, to a demon spirit, a dumb spirit, or they attribute that to some creator that they call Ra, the sun god, or whether they call it El Sol like they did in South America, or no matter what they call it, if they attribute the work of God to others, God has no further obligation to give them more light. Now watch. You say, well, is this generational? Is this cultural? I'm going to tell you. Now you just listen to me, and let me tell you why it is so important that you as a Christian stand up and be counted when it's time to vote. Not time to vote. It's all over. It's just done. We're going to put this in neutral and not talk about it for a while. But let me tell you something. Your forefathers, my forefathers, who brought this country into existence by blood, sweat, sacrifice, and the fear of God Almighty, set before us a heritage of believing that there's a God in heaven who holds people accountable. And we had that opportunity in this country, and we are still reaping the benefits of the decisions that they made. Are you understanding that? And there were people all over this world, there were people in Papua New Guinea, and there were people in Erangelia, and there were people all over the world, that they made a decision one day. They said, well, you know, we don't like to retain the knowledge of this supernatural, all-powerful, sovereign God. We got another idea. And they made a decision. And those decisions had great consequences. You say, but you mean it condemned the whole race? It condemned the whole group of people? It condemned the whole cultural group? Well, no, because any one of those people can still look up and see the light that they have, but it sure made it a whole lot darker than it was before. You say, boy, that just doesn't seem fair. Can you get it out of your head that God is fair? That's a human characteristic and trait that we appreciate so much. But God, no, it's not talking about fairness. God is talking about justice and righteousness. Never forget that God Almighty is a just God. He is a holy God. He is a righteous God. You say, boy, this is tough. It is tough. I'm telling you what the Bible says, and I'm going to go on just a little bit further because you need a little more information. And it's 7.01. I'm doing really, really good. Now, I want you to see this. It's not a problem of not having any gospel. It's a problem of rejecting the gospel that they have. Listen to Deuteronomy 4, 29. Jot it down. It proclaims, but if from there, anywhere, you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and all your soul. If you look for him, you will find him. This verse teaches an important principle. Everyone who truly seeks after God will find him. If a person truly desires to know God, God will make himself known to him. That person in a hot and tight somewhere in Erangelia that says, man, I know there's something more to this. There's got to be something more. I wish I knew who it was. A man by the name of Pachacutec said that one day. I know there is an invisible, all-powerful Creator of heaven and earth. I want to know who He is. It wasn't but a generation until the Word of God showed up in South America. See, God, God's watching. He's looking for those that are seeking Him. People are responsible to God for what has already been revealed to them. The Bible says this. It says that people like to reject the knowledge. Take your Bibles, another super important passage, and look to John chapter 6, if you would, in verse 35. You'll want to mark this passage. It's very important. You're not going to think it's talking about this subject, but it is. It's so very important. In John chapter 6, verse 35, you'll remember this is after the feeding of the 5,000, the walking on the water, and the bread of life discourse. So he's just bread, bread, bread. He's talking about all kinds of bread and walking on the water. And if you read another parallel passage, he told the disciples, watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees. And they said, oops, we forgot bread. He's upset with us because we forgot bread. He marveled that they were worried about where their bread was going to come from. He said, what in the world are you worried about bread? Weren't you there when I passed out 5,000 loaves, passed out enough for 5,000, enough for 4,000, and you're worried about where your bread's coming from? I'm not talking about that. The leaven of the Pharisees is don't be like the Pharisees in the way that they sin. He gave that discourse, and then right after that, he talked about being the bread of life, and in verse 35, we'll jump into it. Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me, and still you do not believe. Now, he's talking to these doubters, these Pharisees. You'll find out about them in verse 30 there. They wanted more miracles. He'd already done the 5,000, walked on water. His fame was everywhere, but they just wanted more and more and more and more signs. Can I just tell you a little side secret? The thirst for signs, wonders, and miracles to prove the authenticity of the Bible never produces faith in those that see. You say, what? You mean a power encounter does not produce faith? Nope. It just increases the thirst for more signs, wonders, and miracles. Jesus didn't give it to them. He said, I'm not giving you any sign at all, except the sign of the prophet Jonah, who was three days in the belly of the whale. That's the sign I'm going to give you. The Son of Man is going to die, be buried, and rise again. That's what sign I'm giving you. He says, I told you, you've seen me and you don't believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me, I will never drive away. Circle that verse in the Bible. It says, all that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me, I will never drive away. You say, see there, the Father's got to give it to them so they can come. That's right. And anybody that comes, he will never drive away. He said, how do you know who they are? Well, the ones who are wanting to come must be the ones he called. Sefester, do you make a good Calvinist? I don't. Is they the ones the Father calls or the ones who want to come? They hear the message and they come to Christ. You're never going to find me down at this altar on a Sunday morning if I can ever get all this junk out of here. invite people to come down here and talk to me. You're never going to hear me say to them, you know, I don't know if you're one of the elect. or the chosen. We better talk about this for a few minutes to find out whether I believe you're one of the elect or not. Let's just... Dan, wouldn't that be something? We get down here and you and I have a little conversation with him and I say, Dan, what do you say? Is he an elect? And you say, I don't know. And you say back to me and I get Chuck. Chuck, we have a little powwow down front and here's this guy, he says, I want to be saved. I want to be... You know what I'm going to do if somebody down here comes and says, I want Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I'm going to shout praises to God that there's another one chosen by God in heaven. Real simple. They want to come. Him that comes to Me, I will in no wise cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of all that He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. Now watch. You say, what's God's will? Look at verse 40. For My Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Everyone in Israel. No. Everyone in Western Hemisphere. No. Everyone in North America. Everyone in Grace Church. No, it's not what it says. It's real simple. My Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Folks, I want to tell you that the Bible is replete with teaching that Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except by Me. Now, You say, I've got a question for you then. What about the people who believed in God before Jesus came? Got you there, Pastor. They didn't know about Jesus. Well, let me just answer that. Since the fall of man, the basis of salvation has always been the death of Christ. Let me say that again. Since the fall of man, the basis of salvation has always been the death of Christ. No one, either prior to the cross or since the cross, would ever be saved without the pivotal event in history of the world, namely the death of Jesus on the cross. Old Testament saints and the future sins of New Testament saints were all paid for on the cross. Now you say, how does that work? They didn't know about it. You said that without the name of Jesus, no one can be saved. That's true. Right now. Oh, what do you mean right now? The requirement for salvation has always been faith. The object of one's faith has always been God. The psalmist wrote, blessed are those who put their trust in Him. That's Psalms 212. Genesis 5, 6, 15, 6 says that Abraham believed God and that was enough for God to account it for him for righteousness. It's expanded in Romans 4, 3 to 8. Better write these verses down. The Old Testament sacrificial system did not take away sin. Are you aware of that? Did you know that those priests that went in there and they sacrificed lambs and they sacrificed turtles? How many of you read about that and couldn't quite figure it out in the Old Testament? You read all that and you said, wow, look at all those turtle doves and lambs and rams and all those bloody sacrifices every day and a lot of times on the Sabbath. And then they have those jubilees and they have these special days and, oh, the Day of Atonement. I don't understand it. It's dizzying all of the sacrifices. I want to tell you a little story. The Bible says so clearly, in Hebrews chapter 9 and 10, it says that not one, not one sin was ever taken away, not in the Old Testament, not in the New Testament, by all of those sacrifices that were given. But there was a lesson taught. The lesson that was taught was that sin required the death of someone. And they put their faith in God Abraham is quoted as saying one time when he was offering his only son Isaac on the altar, he walked up there and he said to Isaac, when Isaac said, look, Lord, here's the wood and here's the fire, but where is the sacrifice? And Abraham said, he said that great mountain peak of scripture, he said so clearly, he said, well, you know what, Isaac, God shall provide himself a sacrifice. And then he went ahead and tied Isaac on the altar. You're talking about faith. That is faith. You know what? When he said God will provide himself, he didn't mean God's going to serve himself. It means, in the Hebrew language, it means God himself is going to, he himself, be the sacrifice. Did Abraham understand the cross? No. Can I ask you a question? Do you suppose Abraham's in heaven today? Yes. Matter of fact, when Lazarus died, he went into whose bosom the Bible says? Old King James Version. Who did he, whose bosom did he go to? Abraham's, or it was a, it was a, it was a teaching that it was where paradise was at that time. Oh, yes. Abraham is a believer. So very important. Well, what is it that changed through the ages? What has changed through the ages is the content of a believer's faith. God's requirement of what must be believed is based on the amount of revelation he has given to mankind up until that time. Are you listening? Adam didn't have very much to believe in. but he believed in what God gave him. You see, they believed God was in charge and their faith was in Him. They put their faith in God. Did they know Jesus was on the way? They didn't know who was on the way. But they knew that God was God and He was faithful. But you see, Jesus, who is Jesus? You see, if you study the Bible, you find out in Revelation chapter 4 and 5 that Jesus is the Lamb of God, slain when? Before the foundation of the world. So for God, it's all past tense. He's seen it all. It's all right now. Jesus died for all men for all time. This is so very, very important. And so This is called progressive revelation. Adam believed the promise God gave him in Genesis 3 15 that the seed of a woman would conquer Satan. He believed it. Adam believed and he demonstrated it by giving his wife the name Eve, which meant the mother of all living. The Lord indicated his acceptance by immediately covering them with coats of skin. Abraham believed according to the promises and a new revelation given him in Genesis 12 and 15. Prior to Moses, no scripture was written, but mankind was still responsible to God and still died because of sin. Throughout the Old Testament, believers came to salvation because they believed that God would someday take care of their sin problem. They look forward to some sort of sacrifice. We look back to an exact day and moment in time when a particular person did exactly what God said he was going to do. We live in a day of far more revelation. They didn't have the revelation we did. We can't just go back and say, well, I just believe in God and I'm just going to be fine. No. They believed in God. They put their faith in Him. They went so far as to be willing to sacrifice their sons. But you know what? It won't work for you and for me just to say, well, I believe in God. I don't think we need this Jesus Holy Spirit. I just believe in the Father. That's not going to cut it. Because today we have further revelation and we have to believe. God, who at various times and in various ways, I'm reading Hebrews 1, 1, spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son. Our salvation is still based on the death of Christ. Our faith is still the requirement for salvation. And the object of our faith is still God. Today, for us, the content of our faith is that Christ died for our sins. He was buried. He rose again the third day. And I'm going to tell you tonight, with all authority of Scripture, that there is no salvation outside of what I just told you. There is no salvation outside the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They must hear and they must believe. Some people know very little. Some people who knew very little of the truth did become believers, though. You say, well, how much theology do we have to have? Well, just calm down. You don't have to have all the theology in the world. Now, here's what the Bible says. Do you know who Rahab the harlot was in the Old Testament? Do you know who she is? She's in the bloodline of Christ. How much Bible did she know? Not much. Why, she was a harlot. She lived in there among the quote-unquote Canaanites. And I mean, she practiced her vocation, but you know what she got word of? She got word of what God had done down in Egypt. She got word of what was going on. She got word of how they crossed the Red Sea. She got word of how they went through the south part of the Sinai Peninsula. She got word of how they came into Moab and eliminated them. She got word of how they came in among the Ammonites and among the Moabites and eliminated those kings. You know what? Everybody was just shaking in their boots, but not Rahab. She said, boy, you know, I tell you what, there's a God, they got a God. I don't know, I don't know everything about him, but I'll tell you what, that's the one I believe in. And you know what? She took in those spies. She proved her faith. You know where Rahab is today? Heaven. Ah, that throws a lot of new light on it, doesn't it? She received all the light that she had. She believed. How about Cornelius the centurion? Remember him in the New Testament? Why Cornelius? He was really something. He was a centurion. He had it made in life. But you know what the centurion understood? He understood that he was lacking. He knew he needed something. He was on his knees praying to find out who the true God was. And I want to tell you something. Anybody that wants to know who God is, anybody that's got that curiosity in their heart, they've got that void speaking out and saying, who is God? Do you know who's going to answer? God is going to answer. You know the story. God comes down. Peter's waiting for lunch. He's starving to death. How many of you are starving to death? Anyway, he's starving to death and he wants to come down off the roof and God comes and says, OK, you're hungry, but I'm going to tell you something. He lets down a sheet and you know the whole story and all the animals and everything. That's why I eat pork today, because there was a pig in that blanket. But anyway. I'm a good eyewitness and I'm going to tell you right now. Listen to me. How did Peter know where to go? How did Peter, the apostle of Jesus Christ, know where to go? He got a call from God because somebody was looking for God over there, and Peter got a call from God. Up he goes, and he goes up. Let me tell you why I went to Peru. It's real simple. It's just real simple. God put a burning desire in my heart to go and preach the gospel in Peru because there was a desire in so many people's hearts down there to know who the true God was and to know Him personally, and He sent a messenger. And all over this world today, when the people of our church, like the Baron Geigers and the people of our church, get a call and a burning desire in their heart, and they're ready to leave home and leave everything they've got and just pick up and leave, that's not because they're trying to be a hero. That's because God is telling them to go somewhere, because over there somewhere, somebody's saying, oh God, who are you? And that's how God gets His Word to the world. Ladies and gentlemen, there is none other name given among men whereby we must be saved except one name. What's his name? Jesus. Would you bow your heads? Dear Father, add your blessing to the message. If there be one here tonight that thought that salvation was through works or church membership or just being a good guy, I pray that they would come to know you as Lord and Savior. Bow the knee before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and say, Jesus, save me. I pray they do it tonight before it's eternally too late. Are you here tonight and say, Pastor, I need to trust Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Pray for me. I need Jesus in my heart. Would you raise your hand? Nobody's looking. I'll pray for you. I saw that hand. God bless you. Anybody else? I need Jesus to come into my heart and save me. I want to be saved. I want to go to heaven. My dear friend, you raised your hand. I challenge you to, right where you are, call out and say, I'm a sinner, Father, separated from you. And I've heard tonight that the only way to you, the only way to heaven, is through Jesus Christ, your Son. Father, I believe you sent Him. I believe, Jesus, you died. I believe you were buried. I believe you rose again. Right here, right now, on this 14th day of November 2004, I put my total life in your hands. I trust you to save me. I give myself to you. I believe in you. Receive me yourself. I receive you in my heart. God bless you. I pray that you did that. If you did, going out the door on the left side is a little packet. It says getting to know God. There'll be somebody waiting. Go grab a packet. Give them your name. We'll start praying for you now. Father, bless everyone. Help us to not be ashamed of your name. To not be bullied in a corner, told that we're unkind. The kindest thing we could ever do, Father, is to tell somebody that there's only one way to heaven, and it's through your name. Give us courage to do it. In Jesus' name, amen.