In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of recognizing our sins and the consequences they have before God. He challenges the notion that God's love means He will overlook our transgressions, comparing it to a judge who pardons a criminal without consequence. The preacher also criticizes preachers who tolerate ungodly behavior in their churches for the sake of financial gain. He then highlights the message of redemption through Jesus Christ, explaining that Jesus died on the cross to bear the punishment for our sins and offers salvation to those who receive Him.

We thank you, we praise you, O God, may every ear be a hearing ear. Everyone, Father, a seeing eye, may we see in Scripture what you have endeavored to get into our hearts, and not just into our minds, Father, into our practice, into our very lives. We thank you for it in the name of Jesus. Amen. Praise God. So it is our intention to found Freedom Church upon the word of God. I want to tell you the temptation as a pastor, and my wife can testify as well, to veer away from Scripture, to go to a proven, canned, church growth method is strong. It's strong. We drive around town and we see churches built on something that is not the full gospel, and the pressure to bend and the pressure to compromise is strong. And we will not do it. We will not do it because we see what it is pulling us from, and it's too great a cost. Too great a cost. There are Scriptures today that we will read that are strong Scriptures, very strong, but these are the things that sinners cannot endure. Only the people of God can endure these messages. Only the true people of God can endure these kinds of words, because a sinner will be disgusted. I've heard that before. I don't want to hear this anymore. Until God converts their soul, a sinner wants nothing to do with them. Amen. Amen. We're basing the church upon biblical salvation, not cliché salvation. Much of the church of this country has been based upon clichés and t-shirt sayings. God is love. Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven. There's truth to some of those. There's truth to those. But is it the full truth? No. It depends. Look in practice. It depends. It really depends how you see it. There's all kinds of other clichés that people have called their gospel, and you see what they mean by their cliché, you find out it is not the real gospel. Not at all. Amen. Let's say I pulled a quarter out today, and I don't have change, I don't carry any cash. It's really nice when you're at a... I was at a gas station a week or two, and this guy comes up and says, Hey man, you got some money? I ran out of gas. I said, Where did you run out of gas? He said, My car, back down the road. And I looked back down the road, and I don't see any car. Well, I wasn't up for a fight. I needed to get moving. I wasn't going to argue with the man. I said, I don't carry cash, man. I only have plastic, sorry. He was like, Okay, okay. Well, apparently he went all over the place looking for money. I drove back down the road, and I never saw a car back down that road. I was so thankful. I didn't have to feel guilty over his lie. I'm so glad. My point is this. What if I had pulled out a quarter? Now, this has nothing to do with what... I don't know what that had to do with. But anyway, anyway, I was going somewhere with it. But picking up where I was saying, Let's pretend I pulled a quarter out of my... I don't carry cash. That's what it is. Thank you. I appreciate you helping me with that. I don't carry cash. So let's say I did have some on me. I pulled out a quarter, and I said, Hey, look at this United States quarter. It's worth 25 cents. And let's pretend I walk around talking about this beautiful little quarter. And upon closer inspection, you actually found out it's not even an American quarter. It's a Canadian quarter. Now, let's pretend I'm a professional coin collector. And I'm walking around talking about what a wonderful, expensive, rare coin this is. And upon closer inspection, you find out it's got the Queen of England on it. Not that. I don't know what that meant. The Queen of England on it. And you're like, Wait a second. It may be a valuable coin, but that is not from my country. That's from north of the border. Well, you would have a hard time understanding the knowledge, or let's put it this way, the discernment that that numismatist, that coin collector, truly had. Would you be apt to buy anything from that person? I would say probably not. My goodness. I mean, if they don't have enough cents to look a little closer, all they do is pick it up and go, Hey, look at this. Look at my quarter. And they didn't look any closer to realize what it truly is. That shows a person with very little discernment. Yeah, they know it's a coin. Yeah, they know it's silver. Yeah, it's probably worth twenty-five something. Who knows what? Finnick? Pennies? Whatever. But obviously the person is lacking discernment on what a real American coin looks like. Amen. I'm here to tell you today that many people have picked up some clichés and picked up some Christian American habits and still call themselves a Christian. But when you look closely, you find out the thing that marks them as a Christian is missing. And what my intention today is by this message is to help all of us gain a little more discernment about what a true believer really is. Amen. I've said it before that in the last fifty, eighty years, I don't know, last hundred years, our country has turned very fast from the truth on which it was founded. And there was a time where people sought God and looked at God as a nation. Quickly we are running from that. Amen for it. Not amen for it. But anyway, my point is this. There's been a time, there's been an age of deception that has come upon our country where people can obey the laws of our Christian country and believe they are a Christian. Now let me ask you, let's pretend they're really not. Is it worth going along with them and to find out they didn't make it to heaven simply because we didn't want to inconvenience them any? Is it worth it in the scope of eternity to take someone's lips, confession of their lips, but their life lacks the very demarcation of what a godly person truly is? Is it worth taking their word for it when you don't see the fruit in their life that God says must be in place to prove that they're a genuine Christian, a genuine believer of Jesus Christ? Is it worth, well I don't want to bother, we don't bring up those questions. Is it worth losing your best friends, your family simply because you refuse to acknowledge that the fruit that should belong to the profession of Christ is lacking? Is it worth seeing them miss heaven? Is it worth seeing them miss Almighty God simply because they were a good person but they were not saved? The main thing I find myself struggling against in our country is people who believe that questioning a salvation is taboo. You don't do it. Is that right, taboo? You don't do that. You might upset some people. I hope to upset people. Jesus didn't do that. Yes, He did. And if the preaching of the Word of God doesn't upset somebody or revive somebody, it isn't the Word of God. And it isn't the preaching of Almighty God. It's fine flabbing foolishness, words of ease and comfort to pacify our flesh as we comfortably and easily slide off into hell. Is that what we want? Of course not. Of course not. Jesus came on this earth to seek and to save those who are lost. And I'm telling you today, I heard a CD which I'm going to introduce to you later today. After this message, I heard a CD where the Southern Baptist Convention met and they got together and they were very, very honest. A person who does this is very, very honest. They got together and they put out some kind of rapport. Somehow it got out that they said, if we take from Scripture everything that it says should be in place of a true believer, they calculated and estimated in the Southern Baptist Church less than 10-15% are truly believers in their own churches. That's a very honest statement. And that ought to be one of the most alarming ones that ever can be seen. That tells me this, the devil has moved into this country in such a clever, fine way that he has been able to create some counterfeits. That if a fine, good little person can be churchy and talk some talk and drop a few lingo, they actually deceive themselves into believing that they know God and they do not. I've been severely challenged at times past, you shouldn't do that pastor. You can't do that pastor. I am to do that by the Word of God. Your offering doesn't mean enough to me to disobey Scripture. The church is not for sale. There is no bribes that will change the Word of God. I will die before I let go of this Word. I love you enough to be committed to this book to the day I die because I am accountable to God for what you hear me say. I don't come up here and make show. If you knew where I was a few years, 5, 6, 7, 10 years ago, I would be sitting on the back row and happy being a dead, worthless, lifeless, fruitless so-called Christian. I didn't pray. I didn't read my Bible. I didn't care about the people around me. But I was a Christian. Bull. A load of it. I was self-deceived. And I thank God. He gave us the opportunity to join a church that was full of Laodicea so that once we saw what was in our lives in other people, then we began to see how disgusting it really is and deal with it inside our own lives. Some of you thought we got to go to a church on fire and that changed the situation. No. No. God put us in a church that we deserved. Comfortable. Happy. Fine words. Very little scripture. Scripture that was quoted. And then sometimes when it was quoted, a specific verse right in the middle of the whole passage would be skipped because it was unsettling. That's the kind of church. We realized something's not right. Something's not right. Oh God. We were brought to this church. We were attracted to this church because something's not right here. And I realized, as I began to see where's the fruit, I realized in the mirror there's no fruit. And Jesus says it's not optional. Your reward is not based. Your fruit does not determine your reward. Your fruit determines whether you're truly saved. Proverbs 16.25 says, Well I don't understand how someone could be that deceived. Then you don't know the devil. You don't know how cunning, how he masquerades as an angel of light. Man, I can tell you I've heard it a hundred times. I've grown up since I was seven years old in this thing. I've been a preacher's kid since I was eight years old. I've heard thousands of sermons. We never had vacations. Twice a month, twice a year, we go to Bible seminars. That was our vacation. I spent the whole week listening to the Word of God. Hallelujah for it. It's now finally doing something. Because I'm obeying what I finally have heard. Proverbs 16.25 says this, There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. That is a person who is so deceived. They think they're on the right road. And they find out after it's too late that they really were on a path to hell. On the indignation and the righteousness that every one of us deserves. I heard a minister preaching one day. He said, we have been told that heaven is heaven because God is there. And we've been told that hell is hell because God is not there. He says, I tell you this. And he has Scripture. I say heaven is heaven because God is there. He says, I also say hell is hell because God is there also in all of His righteous, fiery, righteous indignation against the godless people who did not love Him. Do you realize the Bible says that He's coming back? And it doesn't say He's coming back for those who prayed the little prayer of salvation. It doesn't say He's coming back for the churchy people. It says He's coming back for those who obey Him. You and I today know people who think they are a Christian, but they have no fruit. They have no love for God. They're running from things. And we have been duped into believing the same lie that they are believing, that they are born again and they are not. This is a warning call. What will you do? What are you going to do? What am I going to do? Let them die and go to hell because we didn't want to lose their friendship? We don't want to make the family upset? Let them die and go to hell? I can say this. I can say this. If the Bible says that you see your brother in need and you can, out of the love of your own heart, give them something to help them out, then let me ask you this. It says, can such faith save him? Let me ask you this. Can we truly believe that we have the love of God dwelling us when we know people around us do not know God and we'd say nothing? What's worse? Letting someone go without food and eat? Food and drink? Or letting them die without knowing God? Without trying. Trying. It might be a weak attempt. It might be a failure. But to try to say, Jesus loves you. My God, that's wrong. They already know Jesus loves them. That's not what converts a person. This is where we bump up against modern cliche Christianity. The Bible doesn't say the love of God converts the sinner. Yes, His goodness leads us to repentance. But if you already think you're a good person, there's no more goodness. You got it all. What could God actually add to your goodness if you believe you're a good person? It's not true. In the Bible, no one is good. We're to be righteous. Not good. Righteous. Not good. Godly. Sinners believe they're good people. And good people die and go to hell. But godly people do not. There's a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. This sermon today is not for genuine believers who struggle with sin. If you struggle with sin, praise God, you know that you've come from death to life because you love the brethren. But another clue that you have come from death to life is that you hate the sin. This message is not for those who struggle. Oh God, I wish I hadn't done that. Oh God, I shouldn't have said that. Oh God, I'm a wretch. Please forgive me. And to receive His forgiveness, fresh and new. This message isn't for you, except for this. To help you understand that the enemy has deceived millions of people, and I don't want you to be deceived in believing that certain people know God when they don't. And therefore, when you recognize these people, you must begin to prayerfully seek God for their souls. Petition. And if they're family, the chances are there's nothing you can do about it. Not much. Because they know you in the flesh. And if they know you before Christ, it's iffy whether you can do something for them now. So what do we do? Easy. What the Bible says, Jesus said, Pray the Lord of the harvest that He'll send laborers. He'll send someone else that they will listen to. Maybe it's on their deathbed, but it'll be some nurse, some minister, maybe even a doctor. Minutes before they take their last breath to confess and recognize that they're a sinner before Almighty God. And then He changes their heart. So what does change someone? What does change someone? Telling a sinner, God loves you, means nothing. All you do is allow them to live in their sin with acceptance. That's not the whole Gospel. God is love. Jesus loves you. Wrong message. You can't give grace until they recognize their need for it. So what converts the soul, Carrie? The Bible says, The law of God. The law of God. But we're free from the law. No, we're free from Moses' law. We are not free from the law of love. We are not free from the New Covenant law. We're free from do's and don'ts. No, we're not. The New Testament is full of do's and don'ts. And if you can despise these things, listen to them, endure the preaching on Sunday, and go home and turn on the trash, and listen to all that foolishness, and engage in all the frivolities of this world, and not even desire the Word of God, you too are lost. This is not a message of condemnation. If there's anything going on in your heart, it ought to be conviction, unless you are already born again and you are slipping away from the Lord. Then your heart should condemn you. That's not my fault. How you live your life outside church is not my business. But God does know. And some of the most deceived people are the people who say, better not let pastor hear about that. Better not let pastor see that. Pastor doesn't need to see it. God sees everything. And the Bible says He will hold everything accountable, even the most idle words. Idle words. But this is putting me in a box. Yes, it's the same box that Jesus lived in to obey the Father. He obeyed the Father by doing everything God wanted Him to do. This message is for those who believe that they are Christian, believe that they are a disciple of Jesus, and you love your sin. You love your world. Oh, you're just engrossed in all that's going on. All the temporary. And it does not bother you on the inside in the least. You can sin. You can fail. You can drink it up and party it up. You can smoke it up and dope it up. And it doesn't bother you to the least bit. I'm here to tell you that if there is not a work of God in your heart that convicts you when you sin, you do not know God. Luke chapter 13. I'll give you the title of the message. Salvation. Know them by their fruit. Know them by their fruit. Paul told Timothy, he said, go tell certain people to stop preaching certain things in all the churches. He said, because they're stirring up strife and they're preaching bad things. He said, rebuke them. Paul told Timothy, a young pastor, he said, go rebuke them. Tell these people to stop preaching and teaching these things. He said, do this out of a heart, a pure heart. Why? He said, the command of this is love. The command is love. I've got to tell you this. If you go to most churches in our country and you hear how they make God out, they will make Him out to be the most codependent, needy thing who actually, in essence, becomes your servant because He just needs you so bad. Let me make it very clear. God doesn't need us. He doesn't need you. He wants you. But if you don't want Him, He will leave you alone. And what we've got to realize, church, is before we can place health, before we can place the provision of God being filled with the Spirit on the foundation of this church, we've got to know what true Bible salvation is. And 90% of this country doesn't know it. And most churches don't know it. Because we say, God loves you. Well, I like that. I want to change my life. Well, then pray this prayer. Do they have faith in what they're praying? Most of the time, no. Because they've not been taught. If someone prayed you the prayer of salvation, and you had no remorse for your sins, if you didn't understand why Jesus was nailed to the cross, chances are you're not born again. Someone accidentally misled you. Someone misled you. I'm sure that no one would do this intentionally. Although the Bible seems to indicate that in the last days there will be people who will make up stories to make merchandise of the flock. Ministers who will concoct stories of all kinds of spectacular things to make merchandise. And because people don't love God, because the people don't love the Word of God, it's not sweet to them. They can go weeks, they can go days without touching this thing. They don't miss it. They don't love it. Those very people will be attracted to those ministers because all they want is the outward flashy stuff. Just show me the miracles. Just show me the signs. Let me know that God's working and I'm a part of it. In some way, I don't really want to get in all the doctrine. And the Bible says that He will send a grand delusion. They will believe the lie. God will bring them a lie that they will bring because they loved not the truth. Church, we must love the truth. If you don't love the truth, you will be misled by a lie. If you don't hate lies, you will be caught in a lie. If you don't hate deception, but it was mostly the truth. It was a lie. If you don't hate deception, you will be caught up in a deception. I didn't say the people. I didn't say the people. If you don't hate sin, you will be caught up in it. The Bible says in 1 John, if you don't hate sin, you are an enemy of God. You're a friend of the world. Now while we all can hear this for other people, we need to first and foremost hear it for ourselves. Let me ask this. I did this a couple weeks ago and I want to do it again. Luke 13, I hope you're there. Luke 13, verse 23. Asking the question, am I a Christian? Am I saved? And we've touched this before and we're going to move on after this. Luke 13, 23 through 28 says this. So when asked him, Lord, are only a few people going to be saved? He said to them, Now if you went to most churches today, the answer to that would be, oh well, outside the church, oh yeah, it's not going to be pretty. But oh gosh, all the people in my church, yeah, they're all going to be saved. All of them are going to be. Hey, if you're in church, you're fine. In fact, there's a phrase today that says a person who doesn't go to church, they're unchurched. I can't tell you why I hate that term. Well, I can tell you. I can't tell you how much I hate it. Because it tells people that their problem is not that they don't know God, but that they don't have church. And I've heard people, I've heard people tell people who do not have the fruit of salvation, they're living in sin and they think God's okay with it. That is not a born again person. They will die and go to hell unless they convert and change their ways by the grace of God. I've heard people say, well, you can't go to Pastor Carey's church, but you've got to go to church somewhere. Church is not their answer. It's the relationship with God that's broken. Not their church attendance. It's not their membership card was split up and thrown in the garbage. That's not their problem. The problem is that they don't know God. And in some broken fashion, I did my best to inform people that you don't know God if you live in unbridled, unrestricted, unconvicted sin. God does not live inside you. So what was Jesus' answer? Make every effort to enter through the narrow door because many, I tell you, many, I tell you, many, I tell you, oh yeah, all those sinners, all those sinners, many, I tell you, will try to enter. Here's the revelation of the day. The sinner on the street is not trying to enter through the narrow gate. It's the people who sit in church day in, day out, weekend, Christmas, Easter, and wedding who are thinking that they're trying to enter through the narrow gate. And Jesus says, it's those people who are many and will not be able to. Well, this is frightening and unsettling. Good! The fright and the unsettling was already there and you had it masked under all kinds of other things. And the Word of God needs to bring it out because if you are unsettled in your heart that you belong to the Lord, you need to rush to His throne. Well, Pastor, we pay you to tell people if they're saved. No, you don't. Because it's not even scriptural. The Pope doesn't determine who is born of God. No deacon can determine if you're born of God. Romans 8 says, that it is the Spirit of God that bears witness with our spirit that we are a child of God. If you don't have the witness in your... But I know in my heart of hearts. That's not the answer. The answer is, has the Spirit of God born witness that you're a child of God? Yes, He has. Then where's the love? Where's the peace? Where's the fruit of the Spirit? Why the self-righteous anger? Because they don't know Him. And the question, therefore, is warranted. Jesus said, many, many will try. This is works, Pastor. No, it isn't. It's obedience to the laws of Almighty God. It's us complying our lives. Let me ask you this. If you think it's worth your time to come to church on Sunday, then why do we not think it's worth our time to spend the time with God during the week if He really is as good as we say He is? Why? Why do we just have Him in moderation? Oh, just enough to get to heaven. Tell you what, that kind of person will not be there. They will be some of the many who tried and will not be able to enter. And the Bible says they will be outside the gate weeping and gnashing teeth. Who are the weeping ones? Those who tried to enter and failed. Who are the gnashing ones? Those who never tried, lived for the devil, fool of the devil, and never cared for God. Tell you, the Bible has this all written in it. But if we decide to live our Christian life on cliche, we will miss the truth that has been there all along. And when we stand before God, He will recount the very verses that we spurned. We were too busy. I got my boat. I had a man tell me, I'd like to come to church, but I got a house. I wish I could go back. I wish I could go back and stand in His face and say, your house will condemn you before God because you do not love Him. You don't love Him. And you don't know Him. And hell is moved to greet you at thy coming. Unless you repent and turn from your wicked ways and turn from your wicked sin. Who gives you the right to say that, Pastor? The Word of God, it says you will know them by their fruit. It doesn't say you'll know them by their profession. Oh yeah, I know God. I'm going to heaven. I told you the story. My family member has already told me that. I'm going to heaven. But when I push and when I prod at Him, do you really love God? His answer was, I refuse to have any remorse over any way I've lived my life. I've had a good life. He said, Carrie, life is what you make it. I said, no it isn't. Life is what God gave you and He is expecting to see something back in return. I said, I salute, I thank God for your military service. But what have you done with your life that will matter to God when you die? I don't go into these at length, Carrie. I don't go into discussion with that. What did I do? I found different words to say the same thing and I came at it again because I refuse to let my family member die. I would rather my family scorn me for upsetting an old man on the verge of going to hell because he doesn't know God. There's no fruit. A good man? Oh yeah, he's a good man. Goodness means nothing to God because it doesn't exist outside Him. Well, I don't kill anybody. No, but you murder people in your heart, that's what God is looking at. 2 Corinthians 13. 2 Corinthians 13. Now guys, you can look at that scripture we just read and say, well, that was one scripture. That was just one. It is in there throughout. Well, I cannot listen to that scripture because it's just one little phrase, you know, and it doesn't really mean that, Pastor. Read the book. It does mean that. It does mean that. Hallelujah. The days of not growing spiritually are over. If you want to grow spiritually, you are going to love this church. If you have no interest in growing beyond who you already think you are in Christ, you will hate this church. And I'm okay with that because at least I can say before God, they heard the truth and it won't be on my shoulders. The sandals, the dirt, your own blood be upon your own head. If you do not love God, that's scripture. I'm not being mean. God, the disciples, Jesus said these things. We have asked the question for more than the two years that we've been here, do you love Jesus? Do you love Jesus? You don't have to answer. Your life already reflects whether you know Him or not. It's amazing what you can learn about a person within just two minutes of their talking. Man. 2 Corinthians 13. Pastor, you're not supposed to challenge people's salvation. After all, after all, Brother Hagin, in one of his books, says there's people locked up in mental institutions because they think they've lost their salvation. I say, well, as soon as I see a huge percentage of my flock being locked up in mental hospitals, I'll know I've gone too far with it. Until then, we're on the other side of the ditch. I'm not striping for that. That proves nothing. Well, yes it does. It's not good though. We're on the other side of the ditch. We're not on the ditch of people worrying about their salvation. Oh God, did I lose it? Did I lose it? We're on the other side. Yeah, I am. Don't bother me. I'm fine. Leave me alone, man. I'm a Christian. Did you see my cross? I said, God bless you to the lady the other day. Don't bother me about my Christianity, man. We're on the other side of the ditch. Society is on the other side of the ditch. They don't worry about eternal things. God, do I really know you? When I read your word, do I feel, do I sense, do I know you talking to me? Or have I just made this lip service? Yeah, I know him. I know him. Many will try to enter. Many will try to enter. The people outside churches are not trying to enter. It's the people in the churches who say they're trying to enter. And I'm telling you guys, we live in the age of Laodicea and America is leading the charge in lukewarmness. What about Europe? They're cold. They're cold. Bitter against God. America, we're lukewarm. You know, I got one foot in hell because it feels so good. Oh, so nice and warm. Man, I just love when they sing up and shoot up and boy, but I don't want to lose anything so I'm going to do this. That's a person trying to enter the narrow gate who will not be allowed to enter. Jesus didn't die with one arm smashed to the cross and one leg out here. He gave his whole self. And Jesus said, this is how you serve me. You die to yourself. 2 Corinthians 13, 5 says this, examine yourself. Do you have your Bibles today? Are you there? 2 Corinthians, I mean, yes, 2 Corinthians 13, 5. Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. I heard a minister who I highly regard and I still highly regard him say this, we're supposed to examine ourselves to make sure that we're in faith when we pray. That is not what it's talking about. Yes, we should. Before you step into prayer, you need to know that you are convinced without a shadow of a doubt that God's going to hear you and that what you request of Him is already His will. And then you know you have your petition. That's not what it's talking about. He is talking to a fleshly church and He says, guys, I'm concerned for you. He said, examine yourself. Whether you're in the faith, test yourselves. Do you not realize? Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you? Why is He saying this? To get a big offering? Of course not. You don't build big churches on this kind of preaching until God shows up. But if I want to come in here and just butter us up with lies, what bothers me most is some of you will be so quick to tell your people and your friends how wonderful Pastor is, but when he preaches the truth, you have no interest in sharing it with anybody. That bothers me because the truth is more valuable than fine-sounding lies that damn people to hell. 2 Corinthians 13, 5, examine yourself. Why does He say test yourself? To know whether you're in the faith. Not in faith, in the faith. Because of the deception that was in their time. They had a church, people living in sexual immorality, sexual sin. The church knew about it. He said, you should have rather mourned that this would be removed from your midst. Instead, you were proud. This was a church that they were lawsuit happy. They sued each other. Read the book. This is Paul. This is Almighty God loving His church with tough love. 2 Corinthians, why does tough love work? Because it's Bible. What converts a sinner? The law, the law, the law. Have you ever committed adultery? Well, no, no, no. Well, Jesus said, if you've ever looked at a woman or a man in lust, flirtatious desire, you have committed adultery in your heart. Well, that's like a lesser charge. No, it isn't. It is not. Jesus made it very clear. You're an adulterer. He said, have you stolen anything? Yeah. When I was three, I stole a pack of gum. Okay. What does that make you? Stupid little kid. What does it make you when someone steals? What makes me a liar? A thief. Well, if you've flirted and carried on with other people, even the same sex, it doesn't matter if it's opposite sex anymore. You're flirting around with sexual desire. It could be the TV. It doesn't even have to be a person. You flirt around with all that and desire, what does it make you? An adulterer. What just makes me human? Just like anyone else. Everyone else is going to hell. Do we want to be like everyone else? Jesus says, those who don't receive me are condemned already. By default, this world is passing away. By default, automatically, this world is going to hell because they don't know God and do not love God. By default. So how does the law convert the sinner? Have you ever sworn God's name? Use His name in vain. Well, yeah. I got real frustrated and I said, you know, J-E-S-U-S. So you've used the Lord's name in vain. What does it make you? Well, frustrated and human. No, it makes you a blasphemer. So, are you a good person? Well, yeah. Other than that. Okay. Well, you've already admitted that you're a liar, a thief, an adulterer, and a blasphemer. That's four out of ten commands. What is God going to do with you when you stand at His judgment? What's He going to do with you? Well, God is love. There's one of those clichés again. God's love. What does that mean? Well, He's going to know that I did my best and, you know, I didn't kill anybody. You can't get me there. That's not true. Not always. He's just going to let me off the hook. I said, is that what's going to happen? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'm fine. He said, well, let me ask you this. Let me ask you. This is the law. This is the law. Converting the soul. In Psalms it says this. The law converts the soul. You've got to get them to see their need for a Savior. Jesus loves you. Just means, oh, I'm a good person and God's going to come and make me a little bit better. To see the law shows how depraved mankind is. I changed something on our church website. On our list of tenets of faith it says we believe in sin and the fall of man. That sounds so sweet. You know, the fall of man. So nice. Just a fall. Man just did a fall. I replaced that with the word depravity. We didn't simply fall. We were depraved of God. You see how the devil is so subtle. There are churches today who on their statement of faith says this. And I know the man who does it and I know who they're copying. And I'm concerned for them. I'm very concerned. Them and all their flock. And all those, because he's a successful pastor and everyone just wants to be like him. Who cares about Jesus? This man's getting the attention. And I want to be like him. I want to be on TV. I want to have the flock. I want to have the big church. I want people to see me. So what do we do? Forget God. I'm going to go follow this guy. Forget Jesus. On his website it says sin is an attitude of disobedience against God. Every man is born with this attitude. Now I hope none of you in here just said, well that sounds okay to me. If you do, let me encourage you. Seek God. Sin is not an attitude of disobedience. If it's just an attitude, I can change my mind. And then I'll be okay with God. You can't do that. You need your soul converted. Your heart changed. It's not an attitude. Sin is what is entrenched in the soul of man. Because Jeremiah says the heart is exceedingly wicked. So when a person says, well I know I'm saved in my heart of hearts. How do you know your heart is wicked until God cleans it up? How do you know your wicked heart isn't misleading you? Therefore you should examine yourself to see whether you're in the faith. Test yourself. I determine to lay the groundwork for this church of biblical salvation. Because until we get it right, until you get it, there's no use going to anything else. Why should we teach people in the church how to get healed from almighty God? How he'll meet their needs just so they can die and go to hell? Because they were living a lie that we never had the guts to address. Examine yourself. It's not meant to examine others, but people do reveal where they're at with God. You can't miss it. See, some people, esoteric is the word. God is just, you know, salvation is one of the things you just really can't tell. Only the person knows. That's not scripture. The devil is the one who's taking what's blaring out in the open and trying to hide it back. Oh, you just never know. Get back. You just don't know. Oh, there's some fruit popping up. You just don't know who's really saved. You know, it's just, gosh, who really could tell? I've heard a minister, Tony Campolo, I'll tell you his name. Tony Campolo, my understanding, used to be a fine youth minister. Today, he says, we just really don't know who God's grace might touch. We just really don't know who's going to go to heaven. That's a lie. What does that mean? There are ministers who are listening, listening to itchy ears. In the last days, people with itchy ears heaping to themselves, teachers and teachers and teachers, because they love lies. They don't want the truth. And some of these ministers, some preachers, here's the error of the day, here's the danger of the day, to be a preacher, to be a minister. Doctrines of demons and seducing spirits. Come on. Come on. It would be a lot easier if you would just do this, Gary. It would be easier for you. Less stress. People would be happy if you would just be nice and preach, you know, love. God's Word doesn't change. It says what it has said from the time that it is written, and it does not change. It is the bedrock and the anchor upon which everything I intend to build my life upon is built. Because it will not shift. Jesus said that over in Luke. We just didn't read the whole thing. 2 Peter, let me read it again, 2 Peter 2.10, it says, Make your calling and election sure. Make your calling and election sure. So we're going to ask you today, are you born again? Are you saved? Are you a Christian? I'd like to do this right now. It's not easy to do, but I would like to strike from all of our vocabulary the word Christian and the word saved. Because it no longer means what it truly means. Ask a person if they're a Christian. Well, yeah, I was born in America. Are you a Christian? Yeah, I was confirmed. Are you a Christian? Yeah, I was baptized. Wrong answer, wrong answer, wrong answer. Sorry to tell you, you have been told a lie. And I love you. I care about you. I want you to know the truth. If you stand before God as a lion, thief, adulterating, blasphemer, is God going to let you off the hook? Well, yeah, because His love hates sin. What's going to happen? What would you think of a judge who found a murderer, a blasphemer, a thief, or whatever the other one is? Just petty thievery. Just petty. Stole, you know, 50 bucks over here. Knocked off a bank. But he only got a few hundred dollars. So it's really not a big deal. And the judge says, well, I see you committed these crimes against society. But, you know, I think it's okay. I'm a good judge. So I love you. I'm going to let you go. Would you call that man a righteous judge? Would you call him a faithful judge to the laws of the land? Why do we think God is a liar that He upholds His laws but people can stand before Him and He'll set aside it? I was just bluffing. I was just bluffing. I'm a liar. Sorry. Come on in. I know you're wicked. I know you can't help yourself. I'm going to share it. I put a message on our church website to other preachers. And it is one of the harshest things I have ever felt in my heart because they are the purpose. They are the cause of this mess. They are the cause. Preachers are to blame for the state of the church today because they tolerate people in their churches who do not care for God because they want their offerings. I know there's bills to pay but God's either big enough to do it His way or I will go back into business where I wanted to go before He called me into ministry. Unless God says something else there is no other else. Make your calling and election sure 2 Peter 1.10 Why does the apostles tell the people check yourself, check yourself because they don't want anyone to live in a false profession a false assurance. 2 Peter 1.10 Make your calling and election How do I do that, Carrie? You seek God like nothing else and you keep seeking Him until you find Him. I know of a man I'm going to say that for later Let's go to Philippians Philippians Well, Carrie, you're trying to be an exclusionist. No, I'm not. What kind of a fool would say such mess? A deceived one. I am not trying to exclude people. I'm trying to include people the way God includes them because there is no other inclusion into the Kingdom of God. Church membership does not save. It's a heart that has been converted by Almighty God so that they hate the things they once loved and they love the things they once hated. If you do not hate sin I wonder if you truly know God. God does. If you love the world love primetime TV if you prefer it over anything forget the Bible I'll hear that on Sunday that's what that's for. You don't know God and your soul is in jeopardy. You're one of the many who will try to enter and if something doesn't change, will fail. Well, that just doesn't sound like God. You don't know the Bible. The Bible says to whom much is given much is required. And He takes it personally when we refuse to accept what He gives us simply because we don't want to be responsible for it. That's called rebellion. Clenched fisted rebellion. I heard this minister preaching. He said when God speaks the mountains roar. When He commands the oceans flow. He says come this far and they come this far. He could speak to a mountain. He could speak to the planets rush across the universe. He could speak to the galaxies and spin them into orbit and they spin into orbit. He can command the wind and it blows. And then when He takes His Word and He gives it to a professing Christian He says do this and they say no. And we think we've got the discernment to come along and say yeah that's a Christian. They said they were. No they're not. A Christian is a person who has submitted to God's Word as nature is. That's the narrow road. That's the narrow gate. Some people have preached well it's a narrow door but it's a broad path to the narrow door. No! It's a narrow door and a narrow way. Philippians 3 I trust you're there but I'm not. Philippians 3 Philippians 3 I want you to see something. We've got 15 more minutes here. I haven't even touched it. Man, I haven't touched it. Philippians 3 17 through 19 says this. Join with others who follow my example brothers. He's writing to fellow believers. Let me stop and finish what I started and didn't finish earlier. I wish we could strike. I wish we could strike from our vocabulary the words Christian and saved and replace them with born again, converted. You ask most Christians today quote unquote are you converted? They'll say what is that? Are you born again? What is that? That's the kind of person that God needs to show them the deception that they've been told. Do you realize that there are people who preach if you're confirmed at birth or baptized at birth you're saved. You're fine. You're going to heaven. Did you know Adolf Hitler according to Isaac Asimov's book was in good standing with his church during the Holocaust. Oh yeah. Roman church. You know what it is. Debatable whether it ever was Christian. It certainly is not today. Philippians 3 17 through 19 any religious system that doesn't preach the truth cannot be from God. Join with others and follow my example brothers. Take note of those who have prayed the prayer of salvation. Isn't that what we do? Take note of those who attend church regularly. Isn't that what people have been told? Take note of those who talk the talk but don't walk the walk. It doesn't say that. It says this. Take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. He completely sidesteps a prayer of salvation. He sidesteps the conversion. Why does he do that? Because if you're not living the life you have not received the eternal life from God. Praying the prayer of salvation for a sinner who does not know why Christ died. Who doesn't know that they are a sinner and deserves hell is like trying to get a sinner to receive healing by faith. They don't know the word. Therefore there is no faith. Receiving healing from God is the same way you receive salvation. I just, Lord, I want to. Then one day the light comes on. Oh. Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha. You want me for this? This is for me? Then you got it. Then you got faith. Now you're ready to pray. You preach to a sinner. God sent his son to die for you. Yeah, I know that. He says in his word that you are a sinner, that you and I deserve hell because we did not know God or love God. We were reprehensible to him. We hated him and he hates sin. Yeah, I know that stuff. It says that God made a way to redeem mankind to himself. Yeah, yeah, the thing with the cross. It says that Jesus surrendered himself under the cross so that he could die in your place. What? Jesus died in your place. What was that again? God sent Jesus to bear the brunt of punishment for you so that if you would receive him, you would receive all that Jesus was entitled to because he took all that you and I were entitled to. Yes. Oh my God. Oh my God. He died for me. Now they're ready to pray because they see with their heart the truth. But sometimes we're too angry and upset. The service went too long and we've got dinner waiting for us that we rush it. Oh yeah, yeah, just pray the prayer. Oh, got one more. Got one more in the kingdom. We didn't even look to see if the fruit was there and they walk out the door a bad tree. Only now they think they're a good tree and they've been deceived because we didn't follow the true gospel pattern of what Bible salvation really is. How did Jesus minister to people? He ministered God's law to the stiff-necked and the hard-hearted. I refuse to obey God. I got my own plan. You don't have to ask me these questions. I already know these things. No you don't. Love would be coming out of you. You would be rejoicing in the truth if you really knew it instead of vehemently opposed it in self-righteousness. How did he minister to those people? Law, law, law, law. They did one of two things. The law either made them angry or it broke them and after it broke them of their self-righteousness, it broke them of their pride, their eyes began to see that they need a Savior. At that point he ministered the grace. At that point he ministered the grace because now it's not casting pearls before swine. Do you know why we have produced so many confessing Christians? Because we were casting pearls before swine. We were offering salvation to people who don't need it, don't believe they need it. But if it'll help me, you know, if it'll help me hold my liquor, if he'll protect me while I'm driving drunk, yeah I'll take Jesus. Yeah that'll help me. If it'll help me enjoy my boat, you know, a little better or whatever. If he'll help me get an extra house, yeah I'll take him. You know, I can skip church more. Yeah I'll take him. He'll help me do all those things, yeah. Casting pearls before swine. You got to take the swine. They got to realize that they're a swine. This isn't foreign if you know exactly what I'm talking about. If you know what I'm talking about, you are in the kingdom because this is how you get in the kingdom. It's someone who goes, well this doesn't make sense to me. That's not the way Gospels ever preached to me. I don't understand that. I don't think you're right pastor. That's the kind of person I'm preaching to. You need to check yourself according to Scripture, not according to your cliches. No pastor can approve of your salvation. No church ticket can approve. Only the Spirit of God can confirm and we will know it by your fruit. We'll see a life transformed. Philippians 3 17 says this, take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. Who is he talking about? Look just a few words back. Brothers. This is Philippians. This is Paul in prison. This is his last book he will ever write. He's writing to a church in a city called Philippi and he says brothers take note of those who live according to the pattern. They conduct their life according to the laws of Almighty God and they don't make excuses for disobeying them. Oh God understands. He says take note of those who follow the pattern. They live their life in obedience to God's Word. Okay why do I need to do that? Because he goes on, for as I have told you before and now say again with tears, many, many. Same word Jesus used to describe those who will try to enter the narrow gate. Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Yeah those are outside the church. He was writing that to people inside the church. Deceived people who had joined the midst before they had joined the kingdom. We want people to join our church but more importantly we want them to join the kingdom. We would love to have their body in our pew but we want to know that their heart is in the kingdom and I'm not convinced that all the church growth is souls getting in the kingdom. It's sinners who are being tickled with entertainment and appeasing words of man's wisdom. That's not what convicts. That's not what converts. Matthew 12 30 let's go there I'll just cut the rest of this off. Matthew 12 30 we are not trying to exclude people. I've not kicked one person out of church. They all made decisions to disobey God's Word and they were wanting us to go along with it and I said I cannot by Scripture. You cannot come to church if you call yourself a believer and you live in sexual immorality. I cannot according to 1st Corinthians. I cannot according to Timothy. I cannot according to Thessalonians. I cannot according to James. I cannot according to Jesus. Allow you fellowship with the brothers because you aren't one. They had a choice. Repent or leave. They left. They. It's not like it's a bunch of people. There is no kicking out but people have a choice. If you name the name of Christ and you begin to live a way that shows that you never knew him. We are obligated by Scripture to remove you from our midst lest you taint our worship with your wickedness. You know why most churches don't have power? Because they're not doing it God's way. They know their brothers living and shacking it up. They call them Christian. They eat with them. They're disobeying God on both of those. You're actually fellowshipping and partnering with their sin. Well that just doesn't sound right. That's because you don't know Scripture. This isn't the opinions of Cary. It's the gospel of Jesus and we're commanded to obey these things. Once the sin gets wriggled out, wringed out of the body, God's glory will come. Hallelujah. I can't do it for you. The Bible says, here's a test, do you really love Jesus? Do you really believe he's coming soon? Are you really converted? Are you really a disciple? Here's the test right here. How do I test myself? 1st John is the test. 1st John. Read it carefully more than once. Here's a test right here. The Bible says that whoever has this hope in himself, what hope? Jesus is coming back. He's coming back soon. The fig tree has blossomed 60 years ago. Israel has been gathered back together. He's coming soon. I'm telling you, I can't think of it every single day. That news guy died last week. I'm thinking, oh God, did he know you? He belonged to a certain church, but did he know you? I don't know. It's too late. Here's the test. He's coming soon. I can't look at an obituary. I can't hear the news without seeing 17 people died in a bombing in Baghdad. I go, oh God, did they even know you? Chances are they didn't. That's the grim reality. Here's the test. Jesus is coming soon. And the Bible says whoever has this blessed hope, his return in themselves, here's the test, purifies themselves even as they are pure. If your life is not purer, cleaner, if your talk isn't more pure, isn't more God-honoring than it was last year, you don't have it. The Bible says strive for holiness. That's works. Yes, it is. Not to earn salvation, but to prove it, demonstrate it, show the proof of what you got. Stop acting like an imposter, masquerading as light. Imposter, Cary, that's harsh. Read the Bible. Imposter is in there in one of the translations, not King James. Hallelujah. Those who know God said yes and amen. Amen. This is the truth of God's word. Matthew 12. Here we go. Here's the crux of it right here. Matthew 12 verse 30. Matthew 12 30. He who is not with me is against me. He who does not gather with me scatters. Guys, I read that and I was alarmed. If I'm not gathering people, if people are not attracted to the Jesus that's in me, by default I am a scatterer. But how can that be? I don't see people hating God because no, no. You keep them in the state that you found them in. Scattered. So I tell you every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men. Jesus is speaking obviously. But the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. Anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven either in this age or in the age to come. Verse 33. Make a tree good, its fruit will be good. He's talking about salvation. Let's not hide this fact here. He's not talking about how many notches you're going to have in your crown. This is salvation. Make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad for a tree is recognized by its fruit. He didn't say the tree is recognized by its profession of whether they're going to heaven. It's not a profession of whether they've ever felt God in the past. It's not a profession as to whether when I was called as a young child. The profession, the fruit of a person who has confidence before God that they're in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ is that the fruit, what comes out of their life is God-like. When you see the totality of their life, it is God-like. It doesn't mean they don't miss it. But when they miss it, they don't make excuses for it. They run to God and seek repentance over the smallest infraction because they love himself. What's the purpose of this again? We as a church need to wise up with Bible discernment and recognize who really knows God and who really doesn't know God. Because if they don't know God and they say they do, they are going to be terribly disappointed. And it's like I can hear people in hell screaming your name because you didn't tell them. Why didn't you tell me? I don't want that. Would I want to be that person? No. Hebrews says it. If you haven't touched Hebrews in a long time, get in Hebrews. If you haven't read the Bible in a long time, repent because he says the word of God ought to live in you fully. Let it dwell in you richly. If the word of God is not dwelling in you richly, repent because it is supposed to be dwelling in us richly. It's not an option. J.C. Ryle said this. J.C. Ryle, we may depend on it or you can count on it is what he's saying. Men will never come to Jesus and stay with Jesus and live for Jesus. That's it. Living for him. Unless they really know why they are to come and what is their need. Those whom the Spirit draws to Jesus are those whom the Spirit has convinced of sin. Without thorough conviction of sin, men may seem to come to Jesus and follow him for a season but will soon fall away and return to the world. How many of you would say, I know people, I thought I led to the Lord. Next thing you know, they're gone. They're living like the heathen they were when I found them. You know why? They were not convinced that they needed a Savior or they would have never left him. Well, you can't judge a person's heart. No, of course not. You can judge their fruit. Their fruit. You'll know a tree by their fruit. Are you a good tree or are you a bad tree? You know it more than anything. You know what secrets lie in your weekly routine. You know what you indulge in during the week in darkness. You know what you struggle with and if it doesn't bother you, you're lost and Jesus wants to save you. But you have to recognize that you are in the pit, not him. You have to recognize that you have to come out of the pit and come to Christ, Jesus, as the Savior and renounce the sin and wickedness or you will not be saved. It's either Scripture or it isn't. It's either heresy or it's God's Word. If it's God's Word, Pastor Kerry doesn't back it up. God will back it up. And the Bible says it's a terrible thing for people to fall into the hands of a living God. You know who that was written to? The Hebrew Christians. Hebrew Christians. Let me say one more thing before we close. A sinner who doesn't know God can die and go to hell. But the Bible says there is yet a greater, greater, greater travesty, a person who comes to Christ and then turns away and gets entangled in the world and overcome. The Bible says it would have been better that they had never known the way of life. It would have been better for them to have just gone straight to hell than to have known the law and received it and then turned away and gone back into the world. It would be better a person who says they know Christ and really did know Him and turned away. The hell they will suffer will be immensely worse than Joblo's sinner on the street who just dies and goes to hell living for themself all the way in. It will be worse. And it says how much sorer punishment is it for someone who has trampled the blood of Christ. Oh yeah, He saved me. Thank you Lord, He saved me. And then over a period of time, die, fall off the vine and go back into the lifestyle and to love it and enjoy it. The very things that impaled Jesus to the cross to go back into the world. Oh yeah. And you still call Him your Savior and He hung on a cross for the things that you now enjoy. Make up your mind. Who are you going to serve? Jesus or yourself? Those are the options. Amen. How many people do you think chased Noah down when the door was shut? Let us in. Let me in. Let me in. Let me in. I can't swim. I've never needed to know how to swim. I've never done this before. The sky is falling. And God said, I gave you 120 years of preaching. The day has come. God is not knocking anymore. You can run from God and you can run from God. And you can say, yes, I know in my heart. I know it. I know it. He has called me. He wants me to do things. The day will come. He will no longer bother you. And that is a frightening place to be, people. It's a good thing when you sin and something inside you goes, oh, man. It's a dangerous place to be to be able to sin. Nothing bothers you. Dangerous place to be. My God, we need to get over our pride and get over ourselves and begin to bow our knees at a holy God. Men, it's time to be men. Stop being wimps in your home and be a man of God. Humble yourself before God. Be a man before God. Put on the armor of light and be a soldier. And stop making excuses for our fruitlessness. I need godly men in this church because the mission we have cannot be done by the women. So it's time to get on board. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we love you. Oh, God, I pray that these words will not be forgotten.