I had a lady wrote me, emailed me, and said, why don't you have microphones so people can listen to all of our testimonies? And I wrote her back. I said, because too many are crazy. Too many are too long. Too many are too personal. We don't want you to hear some stuff. Because they watch on the livestream. So I was just kidding. I don't know. Yeah, but I thank you for these. No, they were a blessing tonight. Thank you. All right. Now, this question is thought. This line of thought is all over the world today, this question number nine. I should say question number nine at the top left. Doesn't God reveal himself to people in different societies and cultures in different ways and by different names? That is a very prevalent thought. in the world today and we need to know the answer to this question. How would you answer this question? And so, but let me read that question again. This has come up to me just on a couple of occasions, but it's very prevalent the way some people, some educated people think. Doesn't God reveal himself to people in different societies and cultures in different ways and by different names? Now, the simple answer is no, all right? But we want to go beyond that. And by the way, we're going to have to get into the subject one of these weeks on intolerance because right there is where you're accused of being intolerant, right there when you say no. But let's try to come up with an answer here and then we'll deal with the intolerance thing here probably next week or the week after. But a key verse to know is, Acts chapter 4 and verse 12, when Peter was preaching, notice on your notes here, the key verse, it says, neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Alright, now Peter was either intolerant or he was preaching the truth. Alright, let me read it again. Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." Notice, there is none other name under heaven given among. Now another verse that says about the same thing is the words of Jesus here in John 14. I've asked you to turn there in your Bible. John 14 and verse number 6, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." So to answer that question, put it on someone else. So they don't say, you're intolerant. You can say, well, this is what Peter said, and this is what Jesus said. So if you put it on them, if they want to accuse them of being intolerant, well, that's up to them. You could actually say to them, do you think Jesus was intolerant? Or was He telling the truth? He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. And so use Peter and use Jesus. That'll get you out of a pickle sometimes if you put it on someone else. Well, Jesus said this, what do you think about the Lord Jesus Christ's words? And so there is only one way. Now here's an explanation. Some think God reveals himself to some as Buddha, to some as Allah, to Hindus by millions of names, animals, insects, and to others as Jesus Christ. There's actually people that think this way. Well, God, you know, in different cultures and societies, he reveals himself to these people as Buddha, these people as Allah, and these people could be a fly or the cow walking down the middle of Main Street. You know, that's how God manifests Himself in our Hindu country. You know, there He is, there's God, walking down the street, and people think that. Now here's a couple questions you might want to remember. Is God that confused that He doesn't even know His own name? There's something to throw out there. Or here's another question. Is God so powerless that He can't reveal to us His name? Now, I can tell you what my name is. It's not that hard. It's not that big of an issue. I can tell you exactly what my first name is, middle name is, and last name is. And if I can do it, am I greater than God? Is He not able to do that? Am I greater than God? I can tell you my name. He can't after all these years. He's had thousands of years. I've only had 60. He's had thousands and thousands and thousands of years to tell us his name. He can't do that? I use this illustration once in a while. If I come across somebody like this, I said, if I said to you, my name is Bill, or Frank, or Art, or Larry, or Ken, or whatever name you want to call me by, would that cause you to trust in me? or question my credibility. See, if I couldn't even tell you what my proper name is, you'd probably question everything else that I have to say. Is that right? You'd probably say, boy, I'm not going to believe a thing this guy says. He don't even know what his name is. All right? Now, it's the same thing with God. Is he so powerless that after thousands of years he can't even tell us what his name is? And so we got to get people to think like this. Now, the subject then of course brings up, well what about all those countries where, You know, the name of Jesus Christ isn't known, and they've never heard before the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, we'll answer that some other week, but how would you answer that? Anybody, how would you answer that if somebody said, well, what if somebody lives in a country that nobody even knows who Jesus Christ is, and so on? Ken? Okay, that's a good verse, Tracy. Yeah, we'll go through the seven witnesses of God. We'll go through that again, but you're right on. What are the seven witnesses of God? Anybody know? They all start with C. Creation, church, Christians, conscience, Comforter. Canon. That's the Bible. What did we miss? Christ. Seven witnesses of God. Four of them are universal. They affect every single human being on earth. Which four are universal that affect every single human being on earth? Creation. Conscience. Comforter. Christ, He's the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. Okay, let's have a sword drill here. For those who say, well, what about those nations that have never heard? I want to encourage you to know these two verses. All right? Draw swords. That means hold them up by the binding. Revelation 5.9. Go. Revelation 5.9. All right, so the Bible says there's going to be people in heaven someday from every what? Every kindred and tongue and people and nation okay go to chapter 7 won't have a sword drill 7 verse 9, 5, 9, they both say about the same thing. Notice what the Bible says. After this I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could number of all nations, kindreds, people, tongues stood before the Lamb. Alright. So the Bible says God has people in every single kindred, every tongue, every tribe, every tongue, People, all right? Mrs. Lindsey, she showed me a report last week from CEF headquarters, Child Evangelism Fellowship headquarters. Last year, she showed this to me. It was amazing. Child Evangelism Fellowship is in right now 189 out of 195 countries in the world, reaching children with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let me say that again. Child Evangelism Fellowship is in 189 out of 195 countries in the world reaching children with the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's all they do is preach Christ and reach the children. There's only six nations CEF is not in. Now it's just like God to do that, amen? It's just like God to do that. Pastor Seth was telling me that there may be the possibility that one-tenth of all of China is saved. Now that would be more Christians in China than in America because they're such a big nation. God has people everywhere. God's Gospel has gotten to every tribe, every people, every tongue, every nation will be represented in heaven. Everyone. Everyone. And so, when they say, well, doesn't God reveal himself to people in different societies and cultures and different ways? Know these statistics. Know these verses, Revelation 5, 9, 7, 9. Now, people might not want that answer, but it's an answer. It's an answer, and it's a good answer. And that doesn't mean we should quit soul winning, quit sending missionaries, and quit printing. No, because a lot have never heard. A lot have never heard, and there are four universal witnesses, but there's three that are not universal, and that's the church, the Christian, and the canon, the Bible. We've got to get the Bibles out there. We've got to get churches planted. We've got to get Christians there so more can be reached. We just happened to be born in America, praise the Lord, where we had churches on every corner at one time, where you could hear the gospel and be saved. It's not like that everywhere in the world, but God does. So, the answer is no. God doesn't have to reveal himself by all these other names. So, we believe that God has also revealed himself. What are the two unique ways? What are the two unique ways God has revealed himself to this world? We know there are seven witnesses, but... Okay, His Word, the Bible, that's number one. What else? By unique, we mean one of a kind, one of a kind. What? Born of a virgin, yeah, that's unique. It's the resurrection, yeah, the son Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Jesus Christ. Notice these verses now. It says in Acts 13.30, this is on your notes here. But God raised him from the dead, and he was seen many days of them Which came up with him from galilee to jerusalem notice who are his witnesses? unto the people And that jesus was made flesh. We beheld his glory and the resurrection so Here's something. I want you to remember all year long If you ever get stumped by anybody with a question Any question I don't care who it is if they stump you Bring up the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And ask them, what about that? And see what they say. I don't care if you're talking to an atheist, an agnostic, a secular humanist, an evolutionist, a college professor, a Mormon, Jehovah's Witness, whatever. Bring up the resurrection. Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim. What about the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Bring that up. Bring that up. It says here, God hath raised him from the dead. All right, let's do a sword drill. Draw swords. Acts 1 and verse 3. Go. Acts 1 and 3. Okay, Jesus showed Himself alive by many infallible proofs. I mean, here we are 2,000 years later and nobody can prove Jesus didn't rise from the dead. Nobody can prove it because the proofs are in fact infallible. Now then, what name did God reveal Himself to the world by? Draw swords. Matthew 1.21. Go, Matthew 1.21. All right, thou shalt call his name what? All right, now notice there's no choice given here. God is not suggesting that Joseph and Mary call the baby Jesus. Verse number, let's see, 20. While he thought on these things, the angel of the Lord appeared to him and told Joseph these things. And then what faith just read, and she shall bring forth a son and thou shall call his name Jesus. All right. It was a commandment. It was a commandment. So, there's his name, the Lord Jesus Christ. All right. And that's why Peter said, Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name." Now that sounds really intolerant unless you explain some of the things we just went through. Or again, if you don't like being called intolerant, put it on Peter or put it on Jesus. So, no, no, Peter said this. Jesus said this. What do you think of that? The Lord Jesus said, He's the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me. What do you think about His words? Well, then they're in a pickle. Then they're in a situation where they're going to have to either call Jesus a liar or agree with what he said, one or the other. But we've got to come up with answers. Remember, the heart of the righteous studyeth the answer. And this is a question that is quite prevalent in the world today, or just people who have just said, eh, whatever. All these religions, they must, you know, they're all okay as long as somebody is sincere. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is unique. Let's do one more sword drill before we go to our next lesson. Acts 17.31. Go. Acts 17.31. Because He has appointed a day in which He will judge Did you catch that phrase? Let me read it again. Whereof He hath given assurance unto all men. What's that assurance? And that He raised Him from the dead. That's why I encourage you, bring up the resurrection. Whenever you get stomped by anybody, ask them, what about the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead? I don't care if they're winning the debate and they got you back against the wall. Ask Him, because the Bible says, Whereof He, God, hath given assurance unto all men, in that He raised Him from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead answers all objections. The objection of the atheist, the agnostic, the secular humanist, the evolutionist, the Hindu, the Buddhist, the Muslim, the resurrection of the dead. All men. That's what God says. And so God is on your side when you're talking to people. Whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised them from the dead. Who was Paul talking to there in Acts 17? Anybody know? Offhand? Acts 17. Where was he? Mars Hill. The Athenians. The Greeks. The Greeks who seek wisdom. What did he preach? The resurrection of the dead. Did they believe him? No, a couple did. Most didn't. But it sure made them think. It sure made them think, what new doctrine is this? And everybody you meet, scientists, whatever, bring up the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Not going to say they're going to agree with you, but they're sure going to have to think about that question. What about Christ? Now look at the bottom. Illustration every religious leader that has ever died has remained dead except for one Jesus Christ God put a stamp of approval on all Christ did and Said by raising him from the dead All right now that's not intolerant that's just truth and and You got to kind of work your way around that intolerance objection and say, well, no, Peter said this, and Jesus said this, and Paul said this, and I'm just telling you what they said. Were they right or were they wrong? If they want to say they were wrong, well, that's not much you can do there. Well, let's see. Are the girls winning? Tied? What is it? Three to three? All right. Last question for tonight, number 10. Go to the next page. Does the devil invent religions to confuse people? Does the devil invent religions to confuse people? Oh, we never did read Hebrews. All right. There's going to be a lot of confusion. Find Matthew if you could. All right. Matthew 24, and I'm going to give you the verses 4, 5, 11, 24, and 25. I'll say them again. This is Jesus talking about the last days that I think we're living in. And what does he bring up in these verses? Matthew 24, four and five. And Jesus answered and said unto them, take heed that no man deceive you for many shall come in my name saying, I am Christ and shall deceive many. Verse 11. And many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many. Verse 24 and 25. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before." Alright, in the last days, in three different places in that sermon, in the last days, Jesus brings up that there will be many false prophets. He doesn't say false prophets. He always says many. Many. Where do they come from? Okay, who inspires them? Any idea? Satan. Boy, Satan is going to really be at work in the last days creating religions and raising up false prophets and teachers. And they're going to be so good in the last days, Satan's teachers, it says if possible they deceive the very elect. They're going to be good. In other words, we've got to be sharper than ever in the last days to pick out a counterfeit. But who's behind all of this? Satan. But let's go to our lesson here. We want to notice this is not only in the last days, this is how he began in the first days. What was the first religion he invented? Humanism. And who did he teach that? Who was his first student? Eve. Eve, yes. So our question is, Does the devil invent religions to confuse people? The answer is yes. It's his greatest trick. Folks, there's going to be more people in hell forever because of religion than for any other reason. Any other reason. It's his greatest trick and he began with Eve. He's doing the same stuff today. The only thing we learn from history is that we never learn from history. So you go to Genesis chapter 3 or read it on your notes here. Notice how he invents religion. Adam and Eve have just been created in Genesis 1 and 2. We get to Genesis 3 verse 1 and it says this, now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden. And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. And the serpent said unto the woman, You shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Notice that last phrase, you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. That's about the best description of humanism you'll ever read. You can be your own god. Determine for yourself what's good and what's evil. You're your own god. Make up your own rules. That's humanism. We still hear it today. And it was the first religion Satan the serpent ever created. with the first human being. Now let's look at the explanation. Satan tempted Eve to focus completely on herself. That's what humanism is, the complete focus on yourself, on mankind. He questioned the word of God, first of all. He said, yea, hath God said. And then he changed God's word. He said, you shall not surely die. Now why do you think she believed that? This is something you and I can't explain, but Eve had never seen death. She had never seen a bug die or an animal die or a mouse or anything. She'd never seen death. Death was a concept that was totally foreign to her. And she bit on it real quick, no pun intended. You're not going to die. You know, when he said that, boy, he was subtle. He was sly. Where's death? We haven't seen any death. You're not going to die. Nowadays, you couldn't pull that over on somebody. You'll never die, as we all know. We're just consumed with dying, the human race. But so Eve started to listen. He then got her focus on herself. He turned her focus off of God. Yea, hath God said, you shall not die. So he questioned God's word and then he changed God's word. And then he got her focus off of God and got her focus on herself. By tempting her with the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. Verse 6, which is not on your sheet. He deceived her into thinking she could be her own God and decide for herself what would be good and evil. And ever since those days, men and women have been walking around thinking they're little gods or big gods. I can decide for myself what I can do and what is right and wrong, what the consequences are. Nobody's going to tell me what to do. There's a lot of invincible people. It's funny when you get my age and you hang around other people my age and we start saying, boy, you look good for your age. Like we're gonna cheat death or something. We're not cheating death. And we don't look good for our age. It's funny how you hear them talking. Boy, people actually think they're invincible. It hasn't happened to me, death, yet. It happened to every single person that was ever born in the 1800s or 1700s or 1600s or 1500s, but it hasn't happened to me yet. And boy, he's got a lot of people fooled. Now, that's Eve. Now, the next human being is Cain. Cain was deceived to think that his own works, the fruit of his farming, could satisfy God, right? Remember that story? Many to this day think that their own works can satisfy God, but they can't. There must be a sacrifice and blood shed for sin to appease the Father. Only Jesus Christ ultimately fulfilled this, but what did Cain's brother Abel do? He brought a lamb, right? He brought the firstlings of the flock. And the lamb was slain and the blood was presented. And the Bible said God had respect to Abel and his sacrifice. But God rejected Cain and his own good works and all the fruit and vegetables he brought. And Cain ended up getting so angry. Boy, religious pride makes people angry, doesn't it? Man, you go attack somebody's religion, you might get your head cut off. It's best to revile not the gods, just try to present Christ and see if maybe you can sow some good seed in their hearts and not attack their religion. You might get your head cut off, who knows? But religious pride is a horrible thing and the first murder ever in human history was when Cain slew Abel over religious reasons. God rejected the sacrifice of his own good works. and respected Abel and the sacrifice of a lamb that was slain and the blood that was shed. That was, that was, so there's another religion he invented and at the bottom it says Satan is the inventor of complex religions, philosophies and isms all over the world. He continues to invent more and more religions to confuse people. or to keep them from even trying to seek the Lord. There are people who just throw in the towel. They've just thrown in the towel when it comes to religion. They just said, I can't sort this out. It's too complex. It's too confusing. Why should I even try? Just forget it. Amen? A lot of people just thrown in the towel. Just forget it. Let's eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. That's what the Bible says. If you could look up then 2nd Corinthians 11, 13 through 15. We're going to have a few more sword drills and then we will be done. But if you could read 2nd Corinthians 11. Now here's where the Bible literally says Satan is behind these religions. Go ahead. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works." Okay, it's no great thing if Satan's ministers be transformed as the ministers of light. Some of them are reverends walking all over every town. But they're not preaching Christ. They're not trying to get people to be born again. I've had a few experiences in my life as a little boy where I was patted on the head and just told, be a good little boy. Just be sincere. You know, when it came down to wanting to know how to go to heaven, that was the answer you got, just be sincere. Be a good little boy. And I remember hearing that thinking, I'm not a good little boy. What do I do now? And then when Pastor Bob Ashbach preached the gospel and said, you're not a good little boy. You're a sinner. You need a Savior. That made sense. And I was 12 and I accepted Christ as my Savior. And I'm eternally grateful that He was a man of God, a preacher of the gospel. But there's a lot, and that, think of it, Satan is so subtle, so tricky that that's his greatest tool is to use Christian ministers to damn people everywhere to an eternity separated from God. Christian ministers. Or sincere religious ministers in other religions. And folks, some of these people are as sincere as the day is long. I've been impressed with some of these unsaved ministers and what they have done. All right. In fact, let's have a sword drill. Jesus said they'd be like that. This is to me one of the most shocking passages in all the Bible. You're going to read two verses, whoever finds it first. Matthew 7, 22 and 23. Go. Matthew 7, 22 and 23. and 23. And now one of the scariest texts in the Bible. It's talking about the judgment. That is scary. Many, the Greek word is majority. Many shall say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? I spent my whole life preaching about you. And in thy name have cast out devils, exorcisms, literally seen devils cast out of people in the name of Jesus Christ. And in thy name done many wonderful works. We made hospitals. We made orphanages. We made city missions. We clothed people. We fed them. We gave them housing. We had places for abused women. We did all that in your name. And how does the Lord end it? And then while I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. I guess the important thing tonight is do you know Christ? Do you know Christ? He said to these people, I never knew you. You were never born again. You were never one of my children. That is scary. That is scary. And it's the devil's greatest tool to deceive people by religion. Well, are we tied or what? Girls are winning. Three to two. This one's worth, this is our last one. This one's worth two points. Draw swords. Last one, then we're closed tonight. Mark 13.22. Go. Mark 13.22. Yes Okay, thank you Megan ladies win tonight She was a little quiet there, so let me read it for false Christ now This is Jesus talking about the last days. Do you think we're in the last days I? Do I don't know about you, but I don't know how close we are but listen For false Christs and false prophets shall rise and shall show signs and wonders to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. Do you start seeing Christians being seduced? It says some, right? Some shall. Depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits. What do we do? Isaiah 8.20, to the law and to the testimony. They speak not according to this word, it's because there is no light in them. You've got to use the Bible as your final authority, not your emotions, not your feelings. Because some of these people, boy, you listen to their music and you listen to their teachings and boy, it makes you feel good. But it's all wrong. You can't let your feelings be your guide. You've got to let the Bible be your guide. We've got to know sound doctrine. We've got to know some answers. So, does the devil invent religions to confuse people? Yeah, it's his greatest trick. It's his greatest trick. And all of you probably know somebody as sincere as a person can be, some loved one you have, some relative you have, some family member you have who's involved in a religion that's not preaching the truth, but they are not coming out of it. They're going to die that way. Maybe miraculously they'll be saved, but they think they're right. They think they're right. Well, pray for them. Try to give them something to shake up their faith. That's helped me. It helped me to hear some things that really shook me up. It made me start thinking, maybe I'm wrong here. Or maybe what I was taught was wrong. Well, amen. Appreciate you coming tonight. Next week, we're going to take a little different twist. We've been really into some doctrine all year here, but Mark Twain asked a question that's just unbelievable, especially for how little he knew compared to what we know. And we're going to go over Mark Twain's question next week and use the Bible to answer it. And the Bible does have an answer, and it's an amazing one. We'll probably get two questions in next Wednesday, but I appreciate you coming out on Wednesday nights. I know some of you are tired. I know you worked all day. Some of you go to school. Well, not this week, but appreciate you coming out on these midweek services and hope it's worth your while to get a little bit of knowledge and some questions answered. And if you got questions, don't hesitate to give them to me and I'll see if I can find an answer. If I can, I'll tell you. I don't know. I don't know. All right, let's pray. Father, we thank You for Your Word tonight. Lord, there was a day when I and many in this room were in darkness, and we thought we were right. But we're so thankful for faithful ministers and parents and preachers, whoever it was that prayed for us and showed us the truth. And thank You, Holy Spirit, for the day You came to us, whether we were young or older, showed us what the truth was, and caused us to put our trust in Jesus Christ, God's Son, as our Savior. Lord, we're not intolerant. Baptists especially are the ones that have made sure this country had the Establishment Clause and the Constitution. that no religion would be respected or we'd be against. Baptists have never killed anyone for their faith, ever. We're some of the most tolerant people that have ever existed. But when it comes to doctrine, Lord, we believe in the truth that Jesus is the way. And what Paul and Peter and the Lord Jesus said is true. But help us to say it in such a way that it won't turn off people, but make them think, well, maybe there's some truth to that. Lord, we pray for the people in religion tonight. We were there once, and you saved us and delivered us. We pray for them. We pray for them to have an awakening. Some flicker of light, maybe from something we say, would rattle them to the core of their soul and make them start thinking. Maybe they're wrong, and they need Christ. God help us to be good soldiers and students of the word, but to be meek and kind when we share it with others. Bless these, Lord, we pray, as they go home, and give them a good night's rest, and help them for business tomorrow, and school, and whatever we face. Give us your grace. Well, thank you in Jesus' name, amen. Amen, amen. All right, appreciate you. You're dismissed. Thanks for coming. Got some boxes to move downstairs for print shop, real heavy paper boxes and also got the sign we need to change too.