How can you be sure your faith is more than just words? This episode is a deep dive into the heart of Christian assurance and spiritual growth, drawing from the profound insights of 2 Peter 1:5-10. We unpack the crucial difference between merely hearing the gospel and experiencing the transformative inward call of the Holy Spirit, which marks authentic salvation. Water baptism, a public declaration of our faith, is also demystified, emphasizing its role as a symbol rather than a means to salvation. Join us as we explore the foundations of a secure, dynamic faith that propels believers toward a fulfilling walk with Christ.
Are you grounded in your divine calling and election? We address this and other pressing concerns head-on, providing a candid discussion on the doctrine of election, which for many can be a tough pill to swallow. Election isn't about elitism or exclusivity; it's about resting in God's grace and recognizing that our response to His call shapes our journey of trust and obedience. We'll guide you through understanding how your personal story fits into the larger narrative of God's redemptive plan, and why this knowledge is vital for navigating the trials and tribulations of life with unwavering faith.
As we wrap up, we don't shy away from confronting the current political climate's impact on Christians. We call for introspection on where our allegiances truly lie and encourage the strengthening of faith through prayer and engagement with grace. The episode culminates with a poignant reminder of the triune God's role in our salvation and an open, albeit declined, invitation for dialogue with a critic. So, come be part of a conversation that will leave you both challenged and comforted, ready to embrace the blessings of the Lord's Day with conviction and joy.
How can you be sure your faith is more than just words? This episode is a deep dive into the heart of Christian assurance and spiritual growth, drawing from the profound insights of 2 Peter 1:5-10. We unpack the crucial difference between merely hearing the gospel and experiencing the transformative inward call of the Holy Spirit, which marks authentic salvation. Water baptism, a public declaration of our faith, is also demystified, emphasizing its role as a symbol rather than a means to salvation. Join us as we explore the foundations of a secure, dynamic faith that propels believers toward a fulfilling walk with Christ.
Are you grounded in your divine calling and election? We address this and other pressing concerns head-on, providing a candid discussion on the doctrine of election, which for many can be a tough pill to swallow. Election isn't about elitism or exclusivity; it's about resting in God's grace and recognizing that our response to His call shapes our journey of trust and obedience. We'll guide you through understanding how your personal story fits into the larger narrative of God's redemptive plan, and why this knowledge is vital for navigating the trials and tribulations of life with unwavering faith.
As we wrap up, we don't shy away from confronting the current political climate's impact on Christians. We call for introspection on where our allegiances truly lie and encourage the strengthening of faith through prayer and engagement with grace. The episode culminates with a poignant reminder of the triune God's role in our salvation and an open, albeit declined, invitation for dialogue with a critic. So, come be part of a conversation that will leave you both challenged and comforted, ready to embrace the blessings of the Lord's Day with conviction and joy.
Christians, good afternoon. On this Lord's Day, I'm going to be speaking out of 2 Peter 1, verses 5-10, putting an emphasis on verse 10. 2 Peter 1, starting from verse 5, which says the following but also, for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue To virtue, add knowledge To knowledge, add self-control To self-control, perseverance To perseverance, godliness to perseverance, godliness and to godliness, brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness, love. For if these things are yours and do abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is short-sighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins Verse 10. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things, you will never stumble. Now the first thing Peter is dealing with in this passage in terms of how to grow fruitful in the faith. This is what Peter is concerned about educating us on how to become more fruitful as faithful servants. But I want to put my emphasis on verse 10, which says Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure. Weight on the fact that we, as believers, need to become more knowledgeable about our Lord and Savior, jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:So many Christians like to scapegoat knowledge so that they can cover up laziness. So that they can cover up laziness. And most Christians that I have known have never read the Bible from beginning to end. Most Christians don't read the Bible consistently. But it is important to not just know what we believe, but it's also important to know why we believe it. We need to understand God's logic, which is different than man's logic. But as Christians we begin to understand God's logic. We get to see things through the prism of spirituality rather than the prism of sinfulness and wickedness when the old man has died and the new man has come to life. Now we begin to see things the way the spiritual man sees things or ought to see things.
Speaker 1:But in this verse, peter says make your call and election sure. And he says be diligent, be diligent to make your calling and election sure. So first off, diligence. We all know what diligence is. Diligence is to work through things heartily, to pursue things aggressively, to be active, to be cautious, to be careful, to learn more. And I don't mean careful in terms of avoiding, but I mean careful in terms of discerning and being able to pay attention to with anxious drive to desire and to be adamant about growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, jesus Christ. This is what he's talking about being diligent to not let things fall to the wayside, to always be paying attention and to be abreast of how we are being affected spiritually. So he says be diligent to make your call and election sure.
Speaker 1:There is something important in this, because Peter is saying to make our calling and election sure. In this, because Peter is saying to make our calling and election sure. You cannot make your calling and election sure unless you first know what the calling is and knowing what the what election is. We need to understand what it means to be called and we need to understand what it means to be elected and we need to know that we have been called and we need to know that we are amongst God's elect people. Now, here's the problem. You have so many people, so many Christians today, so many Christians who don't even believe election is real. No matter how many times you see the word election in the Bible Christians, christians now, they are the ones that deny it, they are the ones that deny it, they are the ones that resist it. And to know that you have been called and to know that you are amongst God's elect is critical in how you walk as a Christian. It is critical to your sanctification, it is absolutely critical. So much so that Peter says to make your calling and election sure, to make it sure, to make it certain, to make sure that you are called, to make sure that you are amongst God's elect, and if you don't believe that God is electing or has elected sinners to salvation, then there's no way you can make sure you have it. But Peter says makes it clear that this is something that all those who believe have. If you are a true believer, it is because you have been called. If you are a true believer, it is because you were elected.
Speaker 1:Now let's distinguish between the two, because Peter says make your calling and election sure. So what is calling? Make your calling and election sure. So what is calling the calling? And keep in mind that. What predicates those who are called in the election, in the elect? What predicates that is that Peter assumes you are saved. He is talking to believers. He's telling believers to make your calling and election sure. He's telling believers this. In other words, make sure your calling and election is sure. He's saying make sure it is secure, make sure you have it on lock, make sure that you have what is essential in order to be able to produce fruit as a believer. Make sure that your calling and election is sure so that you can be certain that you can have all those blessings that comes with salvation.
Speaker 1:So what is calling? So what is calling he says to Christians? To make your calling sure, to make your election sure. So he assumes you already have it. What is your calling? Your calling is that inward call that God gave you and made you a vocational subject in his kingdom. And made you a vocational subject in his kingdom. He made you a servant. He called you to be a believer in him. He called you to be a servant and he lists the things that are expected of us as believers. We are expected to have faith. We're expected to have faith. We're expected to have virtue. We are expected to have knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. But if you are not certain that your calling and your election is sure, it is going to be difficult for you to produce the fruits that signify the assurance of salvation that you have in that you were called and that you were elected by God. 2 Peter, 1, verse 10 says Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure. So the calling that you have is understanding that God has called you to the faith and that you are in the faith because he has called you.
Speaker 1:There's a difference between the call that the person gets who is converted, versus the call that goes to the outward, to the world. There is two separate calls there's an outward call and there is an inward call. The world receives the outward call. Whenever someone preaches the gospel in church people in sitting in the pews they hear the outward call. Whenever somebody is preaching on the street, the people who are passing by they hear the preaching and they receive the outward call. But true believers true believers are believers whom God has elected from eternity past to become Christians they receive an inward call. So there's an outward call and there's an inward call. There's an inward call that can come through preaching, that can only come by way of having heard the preached word, having heard the gospel.
Speaker 1:So the inward call is the one that saves.
Speaker 1:The outward call does not save.
Speaker 1:So the inward call is the one that saves. The outward call does not save. So the inward call is the one that you get when the spirit of God finally lays hold and seizes upon your heart and converts your soul and renews you by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. That is the inward call. And when that inward call happens, you are born again, you are a new creature in Christ and therefore old things have passed away and, behold, all things have become new. When you have been called with that inward call of the Holy Spirit, that call is salvific, it is a saving call.
Speaker 1:And this is the call that Peter is saying that you must make sure you have had. You need to make diligently sure, with all due diligence, to make sure that you as a Christian have actually been called, that you as a Christian have actually been called. So a Christian is expected to know unequivocally and to believe by faith that they have in fact been called. And that call is very different because, as I said in verse 10, peter is talking to Christians, peter is talking to Christians and water baptism does not do this. Water baptism is not an indication that you are saved. So I want to make sure that we make sure that that's clear, because a lot of people believe that if you are not water baptized, you are not saved.
Speaker 1:Now let me say this while I'm on this subject Every Christian, as the first act of obedience should be to get baptized, because water baptism is an act, an open act to the world, telling the world that you have put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and that he has saved you. That is your outward testimony to the world that you now serve him. But water baptism does not save you. What saves you is the grace that comes by way of Christ and the faith that is given to us by grace that enables us to lay hold to these spiritual realities, primarily those that consist in Christ, trusting him as having died in our place and provided for us the redemption that we could not obtain on our own and through our own efforts. But I do believe Christians, if you are not, if you call yourself a Christian and you have not been baptized, you are being negligent. You are being negligent as, in terms of what is necessary for us to do, our first act of obedience, our first act of obedience is to be baptized is to be water baptized, which is the pledge of a good conscience toward God made public.
Speaker 1:Basically, it's the same thing as when a person, when people get married, they have a big ceremony with witnesses and all people around. The marriage ceremony doesn't validate their love for each other, it doesn't invalidate their engagement, but it solidifies it because now witnesses are there, people see it and you've made this open commitment to your spouse to dwell with them forever under God. So the water baptism is similar. It is that ceremonial aspect of your union with Christ and your union with the body of Christ and all fellow believers. So now some people say it's unnecessary. I had never said it's unnecessary.
Speaker 1:Baptism is necessary, but it is not necessary for salvation. It has nothing to do with your salvation. It is the pledge, openly, that you have already been saved. So, and it is not a commandment, because otherwise every one of those here's the thing, christians because somebody is asking the question about you know baptism. So while I'm on this, while we're talking about this, we might as well address a little bit here's the thing Baptism. If baptism was essential to salvation, salvation would involve baptism. The grace, the gospel, would involve baptism and it does not. Christ came to save sinners. And I'll put it to you this way If you go back to Genesis and you go all the way from Genesis to Malachi. In fact, you go all the way from Genesis up until the day Christ died on the cross.
Speaker 1:All those believers David, solomon, elijah, elisha, moses, noah are they not all believers? Are they not all Christians? They all are. All of them have been saved by grace. All of them have been saved by grace through faith, the same way we are today. None of them were water baptized. None of them. None of them. So are we going to say that they are not saved because they weren't water baptized? And if you're going to say that they were not saved by water baptism but you're saying that water baptism is required now for salvation, then what you're saying is that the mode and method of salvation was different for them than it is for us. And if you say that you're lying, you're telling a lie. Salvation has been the same for every single believer that has ever lived. And so everyone who is saved Abraham, moses, david, all those Old Testament saints, all the patriarchs they were saved, just as we are saved today. Nothing has changed. The only difference is they look forward to their Messiah, who would die for them, and we look back to the Messiah that we know has already died for us. That is the situation. So hopefully this subject of baptism has been put to rest, because I've made the point and that's the truth. Believe it or make up your own gospel.
Speaker 1:Now back to making your calling and election sure. The calling that I've already said is that inward call of the Holy Spirit that renews the soul and enables that soul to become a believer. It alters the will, it changes the nature of the Christian. The soul in that person is now able to believe and is now able to choose, and what that soul chooses now is righteousness. It chooses faith, it chooses grace, it chooses mercy. It recognizes that God is a compassionate God and has made that person understand something about themselves that they did not know before and were willing to admit, which is that they were dead in sin and trespasses. They recognize that they have now obtained the newness of life which is required for eternal life.
Speaker 1:I mean, this should be very easy, and Peter is telling us to make sure that your calling is sure. Make sure your calling is certain. Make sure your calling is certain. Make sure your calling is certain. This is what he is saying. Hold on for a minute while I boot out this guy, mr Eastside, who just wants to be contrary for the sake of being contrary. Okay, so now what else does Peter say? He says to make your election sure, make your election sure, make your election sure. So let me deal with this for a second.
Speaker 1:Anybody who listens to me from time to time will know that I am very adamant about Christians understanding the doctrine of election. It's important because the doctrine of election is the principal doctrine that provides the highest degree of assurance for the Christian that they are saved, known and loved by God. Election is the height, is the doctrinal height of assurance. Height of assurance If you know that God has elected you to salvation, if you know that your name was written in the Lamb's book of life before the world began. Nothing can give you more confidence as a Christian than that that God chose you to salvation.
Speaker 1:Now election comes under different terms. We see in the Bible elect or election. We see foreordination. We see preordained. We see preordination or foreordination. We see predestination. All of these things are speaking to the fact that God has chosen us to be believers in him before, not only before our birth, but before he even began creation. Before Genesis, chapter one, verse one we were chosen in God to be saved through Christ. At which time we come to faith. At which time we come to faith, and the hard part for people to accept, the hardest thing for people to accept is this doctrine of election, the very same doctrine that Peter says here in verse 10. He says to make sure your calling. He says to make your call, your calling and your election sure.
Speaker 1:Now I've heard a lot of people, a lot of Christians, christians now, who say election for the true believer in Christ is not biblical. Or they will say that it doesn't apply to us today, or they will say it only applies to the Jews, that only they were elect or and will be elect. But they refuse to recognize that we are elect. And the some that do recognize that we are elect, they say that we only become elect after we've been saved, which is absurd. Because if you're saved unto, if you're saved unto election, then what is the point of being elected after you've already been saved? But no, you are. You are elected unto salvation. Every single person who is saved by grace. It is because God chose them before. I know that this is a bitter pill, but the bitter pill is only in the fact that either one, you are uncertain about your own salvation, or, two, you have an issue with those who you love who aren't saved. Let me state a fact for you. Let me state a fact for you Everyone is not going to be saved.
Speaker 1:Salvation is not universal. It is not the efficacy of the redemptive work that Christ did has. The efficacy is universal. In other words, christ. The death of Christ is able to save every single person. If that were God's purpose, it would be enough. The death of Christ could save 10 billion planets of people. But the death of Christ is only applied and given to those whom God has elected. And those whom God has elected he gave to his son In John 6, this is all over John 6 and it's all over the New Testament. God, the Father, gave to his son individuals that he wanted his son to redeem, and Christ came to redeem those people and no more.
Speaker 1:It is up to us as individuals to know for sure that he has called us and that he has elected us. And if we know that and if we make that sure, then we will have assurance and we are expected. God expects us to have the assurance of faith. There are no benefits to doubting. I know that some people believe that there's something holy in uncertainty. There is nothing holy about being uncertain. Some people believe that saying that you know you're saved, some people believe that saying that you know you're saved is prideful. It is not prideful to know you're saved. It is not prideful to know you have been called. It is not prideful to know you have been elected to salvation.
Speaker 1:Now there are some people that ask me the question all the time how do you know you're elect? And that's a good question, because Peter says here in verse 10 of 2nd Peter, chapter 1, he says to make your calling and election sure. So how can you be a Christian and have assurance of faith if you don't even know you've been elected to salvation? But here's how you know you've been elected to salvation Because you received the inward call to faith and you accepted it when you heard the gospel, at whatever point it was, when you came to faith. When you heard the gospel and you realized you were a sinner and you turned to Christ, that means you've been called. If you rep to Christ, that means you've been called. If you repented from your sins, you've been called. If you look to Christ in faith, you've been called and if you've done these things, you know you have been elected. You know that you are amongst those chosen by God. If you want to know, if you are elect, my question to you is do you believe? If you want to know, you've been chosen by God to salvation. My question to you is do you believe, do you trust Christ as your Lord and Savior? It's not just that you do, I'm not just asking do you believe in this bare sense, like devils do and demons do?
Speaker 1:Satan believes.
Speaker 1:He's a believer, but he is not faithful.
Speaker 1:He is not faithful. He's not faithful to God. He wants to circumvent God's mission and redemption for us. He wants to trip us up, but he believes in God. He believes in Jesus Christ. He believes who they are, what they do, what they're capable of doing and what they're going to do. He knows, but he's not a believer. And there are so many Christians that are just like Satan. They believe, but they're not saved. Satan is a believer, but he is not preserved by God's grace. He has been cast into the bottomless pit, which is where he will be forever, forever. God has called us. God has called us because we were elected to be called, chosen to be in him, chosen to believe, and we should be, and we should understand the value of this blessing.
Speaker 1:Now you get people that come on here and they give you the laughing things and whatever they think it's a joke. Listen, christians, I don't care about people laughing at me when I've talked about the gospel. I love it. I love it. I love it when sinners laugh. It's that embarrassing, foolish laugh. You know where. They know that what we're saying is true, but they want to reject it and they want to find reasons in how we present ourselves so that they can continue rejecting God. They scoff and they scorn, and you know what that is for us. It is an opportunity and it's a blessing for us. Let them laugh, because these people the Bible calls fools, fools.
Speaker 1:The Bible says it is a fool. It is a fool that says there is no God. Now I did a message the other day where I tried to explain what that verse really means. When the Bible says when the Bible says it is the fool that says in his heart that there is no God. This is what it really means. So if you're listening, christians, pay attention to this, because we've all heard this verse the fool that says it is the fool that says in his heart there is no God. Now, I have said in the Bible teaches us plainly, especially if you read Romans, the first three chapters. And we know, as Christians, we know that every man Believes. There is no such thing as an atheist. You get people like Ricky Gervais the comedian, all these kind of people who champion the fact that they are atheists. They're not atheists.
Speaker 1:The reason why the Bible says that the fool says in his heart there is no God. They're called fools because they know. They know that God is, they know that God is. But here's what it says. Here's what it means the fool says in their heart no to God. That's what the verse really means. So for those of you who are students of Hebrew or the Greek, if you go back and look this up, you'll see what I'm talking about. The fool says in his heart no to God. I will have nothing to do with you. I will have nothing to do with you. Somebody here says I'm wrong. No, I'm right, I'm 100 percent right. And only a fool thinks that what I'm saying is wrong. So let me put it to you this way the fool is a fool because they know God and that he is. And in spite of that knowledge, in spite of that knowledge, they say no to God. They're like I know what you're saying, I get it, but no, I will have none of it. God says you need to worship and submit to me. They say no, that's what makes them fools. Not that they don't believe, because there is no such thing as an atheist. Let no one tell you that. They're atheists. Every atheist that I've ever debated with in my life, in my life, in my early days as a Christian, every atheist, I tell them boldly to their face you are not an atheist, there is no such thing. They are not even extinct because they never existed. There are no atheists, there are only fools. Why are they fools? Because they know God, they know what he says and they say no to being obedient to it. So back to the text.
Speaker 1:Make your calling and election sure and election sure. Election and your calling are absolutely pivotal in your salvation. If you have not been called, it's because you have not been elected. And if you have not been elected to salvation, you will never receive that inward call. You will hear the outward call. You will hear the outward call. You will hear the outward call. Everybody hears the outward call, but the inward call is the one that saves.
Speaker 1:That internal inward call that saves you, that call that you get where you know the Spirit of God has been tugging on your heart and is grappling with you to bring you to faith. Spirit of God has been tugging on your heart and is grappling with you to bring you to faith in Christ, and you always do. When God gives you that inward call, you repent, you turn and you are born, born from above, transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Now you've been given the ability to will those things which do please him, beginning with turning from your sin to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repenting from sin and turning to faith. Otherwise, there is no way. Without this inward call, without this election, without these two things happening, you are not saved and it is impossible.
Speaker 1:And so you need to make your calling and election sure, as I was saying earlier, be bold in your faith, know that you believe and know what you believe and know why you believe it. Know what you believe and know why you believe it, and that comes through prayer and that comes through study, that comes through attending upon the means of grace, whatever God has given you to establish you firmly in his faith that you claim you now have. Know that it's real. It is some people who believe that they are exercising humility and not being certain, and people will make you believe you're being arrogant.
Speaker 1:If you're sure, let me tell you something, every Christians, because you need to say the things I'm about to say to you about me. I know that I belong to Christ. I know I've been chosen to believe. I know it. I don't doubt one word of his word of God. Do I understand everything that I read in the Bible? No, and no man does. But I do know who it is and whom I believe. I do know it is what he saved me from and I do know what he has saved me unto. And I do know that he has called me to do what I'm doing right now, and this has been a part of my Christian walk for 42 years and I do know that I will never turn my back on Christ, never, never. It will be. It's an absolute impossibility. It is impossible for me to turn from faith. What I'm telling you, every one of you should be able to say, and if you can't, say that you need to seek God and aspire to be able to say I know who I believe. I know he saved me. I know I can never fall away. I know he chose me before I was born. I know he chose me before my parents were born. I know he chose me before I was born. I know he chose me before my parents were born. I know he chose me before earth was born. You need to know that you belong to Christ, like my sister says, without a shadow of a doubt. You need to know it and when you speak to people, you need to speak with that assurance that you are invincible, because you are. I'm trying to encourage all of you, because this encouragement and this edification we all need to have because of the days that are coming.
Speaker 1:We now live in a society, in America especially, where they're trying to squash the gospel, the gospel. They are trying to, one by one, remove the ability for you to taste the seasoning of God's word. What do I mean by that? They are trying to, little by little, remove ingredients from the gospel. They're trying to take out the gospel ingredients. They're going to tell you. They're trying to tell you now, and there's been rumors about not being able to say who crucified Christ, not being able to say Jews, or not being able to say you know all these different things because they don't want you to disrupt you know. But the Bible talks about the Jews. The Bible talks about the Babylonians. The Bible talks about the Egyptians. The Bible talks about all these different peoples of the earth, talks about all of them. None of them are more special and above the others. But we are living in a time where men and people in our government are trying to pass legislation to silence us. In history, they tried to burn Bibles when they couldn't get rid of the Bible. They tried to burn the Christians who believe the contents of the Bible that didn't stamp out Christianity. So what are they going to do now? They want to try to alter the gospel by limiting what we can say publicly.
Speaker 1:When I started this message, I'm doing right now this, this message I'm doing right now I prepared to do last night. I got, 15 minutes into the, into the message, this message right now, 15 minutes in, and TikTok shut me down for community violations, because talking about the Bible is hate speech. Now, I don't know what prompted it, somebody complaining or I don't know what, but I was only 15 minutes in and didn't even get into the meat of it, didn't say anything that could violate anything and, as a result, I appealed and they restored it. But my point is the fact that it's even happening like this, the fact that it's even happening right now. They're going to try to take elements out of the gospel, telling you you can say what you want to say out of the Bible, but you can't say this, you can't say that, you can't say this, or we're going to shut your, your, your system, you know your message down. This is what they do. And here's the thing when you take any element out of the, out of the gospel, it is no longer the thing. When you take any element out of the gospel, it is no longer the gospel. Anything you take out of the gospel makes it no longer the gospel. And Christians, we are getting our just due because we have Christians who are Trump supporters, which is fine. Nothing wrong with you supporting Trump, nothing wrong with you supporting Bible. Don't care.
Speaker 1:But what I'm saying is this I know so many christians who advocate, who cheer, who advocate for trump, who cheer for trump, who defend trump, who worship, who defend Trump, who worship Trump, who adore Trump in ways that they don't do for Christ. They speak up for Trump and they are vigorous, vigorous. That's the same for Biden too. It's the same for other politicians. But I have never seen in my 42 years on this planet. I have never seen in my 42 years on this planet. I have never seen the adoration and the worship for a man that has been elected to office in our country than they have been for Trump. I've never seen it. Not Obama, not JFK, not Bill Clinton, not Reagan. These people worship Trump in a way that people that true Christians don't worship Christ.
Speaker 1:And my point was nothing to say. I said nothing bad about Trump. What I said was I don't understand how Christians who who support him they, they show their support for him in ways that they don't support Christ. I don't understand it. I don't understand it. So then I heard but here's the crazy thing I got a lot of people, a lot of Christians, who responded, attacking me for saying something bad about Trump. I didn't say anything bad about Trump. I said nothing bad about him. I didn't say anything about him at all. Only that my point was this Christians, my point was this If you are a Trump supporter, that is fine. If you want to, if you want to support him, that's fine. If you want to support him, that's fine. But what I'm saying is, the way you support him is good, if you support him. All I'm asking is why do you not give Christ that same type of energy? Where is the same type of energy that you have towards your support for Trump, toward Christ?
Speaker 1:People are afraid. Christians are afraid to speak up for the Lord, jesus Christ and what he has actually done for them. But they support a man in a crazy way, whether or not he's done anything for them and the fact that people don't care what he does. They, they. There's all this adoration. Again, I'm not speaking about him. Is he my guy? No, he's not. He's not my guy. I'll tell you, tell you the truth. He's not my guy. But but in the last election, when he won my life, I benefited, and I benefited equally or more so under this current administration. So I vote for me and my family.
Speaker 1:But my point is this Whoever you support, whoever you support, if you're out there with signs and going to rallies and whatever people go to rallies, political rallies who are Christians, and they don't even go to church. What is wrong with the Christian church today? And then we wonder why politicians are getting away with censoring us from speaking the gospel truth In this country. I can tell you, I totally believe in this country we're going to see Christian persecution. We're going to see Christian persecution. It might not be as vulgar as it has been in the past. It may not be from. It may not be, um, because it may not be, because, hold on, I gotta. I had to delete one of these, these fools, but anyway. Anyway, back to my point.
Speaker 1:I believe persecution is coming to America. Do I believe it's going to be on the scale of the Dark Ages or when Catholics were killing the Protestants? Do I think it's going to be burning at the stakes? No, do I think it's going to be guillotines? No, do I believe it will be imprisonment? Yes, I do. I believe that Christians are going to be in prison. I believe that they're going to try to go after your livelihood. I believe they're going to go after you know, censoring on a major way and penalizing you. It's going to happen. It's going to happen because of the parties that are involved in the upper echelons of government.
Speaker 1:There are certain people who don't want you talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. There are certain people who don't want the spread of the gospel going out, acknowledging Jesus Christ that he is the Messiah. There are powerful people who don't want the acknowledgement to be spread that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Messiah and he is. They don't want people talking about who crucified the Messiah. Let me tell you who crucified him. Let me tell you who crucified him, because it was the Jews, it was the Romans, it was the us, the Africans, it was the Chinese, it was the Indians, it was all of us, everyone who has ever been a sinner, every nationality of people, every ethnic group of people who have sinned. They all crucified Christ on that cross. Every one of us, we are all responsible for putting Christ on that cross, for putting Christ on that cross and, as a result, we are all responsible to believe in that resurrected Savior if we are going to have salvation with the God of the Bible, and there's only one God of the Bible, the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament, and his son is coming back. As sure as I'm talking to you at this moment, as sure as I'm talking to you at this moment, as sure as I'm talking to you at this moment. Hold on, I got another idiot to give the boot. Some people just need attention because they don't like to have the truth being told to them, so I got to kick them out, but anyway.
Speaker 1:So, christians, today my message was to make your calling an election. Sure, if you have been saved, you need to have the assurance of that salvation. You need to be assurance that, now that you are saved, that you have been given a vocation in service to christ, and you need to know what that vocation is. You need to know what it is. He has called you to do and you need to do it. Every single one of us know what your calling is, know that you have been called and know what your calling is. Furthermore, when you know that you have been called and you study the word of God, it is important for you to also know that the reason why you have been called, the reason why you have been called, is because you were chosen by God. You were elected by God, the Father Elected. You have the entire Godhead at work in your salvation. God the Father, god the Son, god the Holy Spirit all three are at work in your salvation and determined to get you to the point of being assured, assured.
Speaker 1:God the Father what is his role in your salvation? Election. God the Son what is his role in your salvation? Redemption. God the Holy Spirit what is his role in your salvation? Regeneration. God the Father. Election God the Son. Redemption. God the Father. Election God the Son. Redemption, god the Holy Spirit. Regeneration. And that is how we are saved, and that is the involvement of the triune, god in our salvation. And this is what we are here to do Now.
Speaker 1:That being said, prepare yourselves for the days to come ahead, because they are coming and your faith is going to be tested and tried.
Speaker 1:This world, this country, is going to really dramatically. This world, this country, is going to really dramatically test your faith. You're going to find out, one way or the other, what side you're actually on and if you're lukewarm, christ himself said he will spit you out of his mouth. He will spit you out of his mouth. And so let these people who ridicule, who mock, let them do this, because this person, these people that are on here, that are talking all this stuff to me, they're going to find out what's coming. The Lord, jesus Christ is coming for you, in fact. That being said, I want to end here and allow the rest of you guys to enjoy the rest of your day, but in the meantime I'm going to listen to a few people, because there's one clown sort of wanted to be invited, so now I'm inviting him in to see who wants to talk. I guess he doesn't want to do it. In that case, christians, enjoy the rest of your Lord's Day and be provoked and be persuaded, and may God bless you all.