August 2026
Sermon Transcript
Speaker 1 — Brother Phillip - Why You Must Believe Jesus is the Word of God
(11:15)
The title of my message is Why You Must Believe Jesus Is the Word of God. Today I want to look at why it is important to believe this doctrine, and what heresies can come from it when you have a low view of God and when you do not believe Jesus is the word.
Turn to John 1:1. We use this out soul-winning to show that Jesus is God. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And John 1:14 tells us who this word is: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" — that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, if you think there are faults or errors in the Bible, it means you can also assume there can be errors in Jesus. If you have a low view of God's word, you can assume that about God as well. Even well-meaning Christians — and most denominations — will admit that Jesus is perfect, but then say his word is not. And if you think there are errors in the Bible, anything in the Bible is up for debate at that stage. You have to believe the Bible is inerrant, just like Jesus.
Turn to Revelation 19:11.
"And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God." We see here that Jesus is both the living word of God and the written word of God. I am not saying Jesus is the ink in this book, because words can exist without being written down. But Jesus is the living word of God and the written word of God as well.
Catholics and Orthodox believe the word is not enough to save you — you have to rely on the priests, their church traditions, their church councils, their rituals, and the church fathers to guide you to eternal life. They refuse to see that they admit Christ is the head of the church, but because they do not believe the Bible is Jesus, they put the Bible beneath themselves. And it is funny because they refuse to see the word of God as literally being Jesus, but they say a wine and a cracker transform into Jesus's body. They reject the gospel of trusting Jesus in your heart alone, but then say oh, to be saved, you need to have Jesus in your stomach — you need to partake of their communion. They worship Mary, the angels, and saints, and elevate anything but Jesus. I have never seen a Baptist get down on the floor and prostrate himself before the book, but these hypocrites literally bow down in church and kiss blasphemous icons. Their saints and church fathers have been roasting in hell for a long time. The more you look into Orthodoxy and Catholicism, the more you realise how pagan it is. They place the Bible beneath the church, subject to their false authority rather than the other way around.
Turn to 1 Timothy 3:15.
This is a verse the Orthodox and Catholics commonly use to prove that their denomination is the end-all and be-all of authority, and that common people are forbidden from interpreting the Bible for themselves. But the only requirement to understand the Bible is to be saved, because you have the Holy Spirit — and that is exactly why these people cannot understand the Bible. The verse says: "But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." Another word for pillar is column. The church is like columns holding up the truth — elevating it, not placing themselves above it. A church that loves the Bible elevates the Bible above all else. This is why in most Baptist churches the main part of the service is the preaching of God's word. We are not like most modern fun centres where you have an hour and a half of entertaining music and then a fifteen-minute sermon that barely uses scripture. I reckon one of our hymns has more doctrinal content than an entire service at one of those places.
We encourage our children from a young age to get the word of God into them because that is how much we value it. We see it as precious and we want our children to see it as precious also. If Catholics and Orthodox can confidently break the second commandment — "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image... thou shalt not bow down thyself to it" — it is because the Catholic priest said so. They make up anything as they go, even if it is very clearly against the Bible. Matthew 15:9: "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." And honestly, these religions are so far gone that Jesus cannot even say this about them anymore, because they are not even worshipping Jesus. They are worshipping all the saints and Mary.
We get accused of being Bible idolators sometimes. It is like — I say amen to that. Jesus is the word of God. I trust the Bible alone. How else can you know about God apart from this book? You cannot. While you are waiting for an angel to reveal something to you in a vision, or for the priest to tell you what it means, Jesus is not physically walking around telling people to believe in him. He left us his word. James 1:18: "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures." How were we born again? By trusting in his word, the word of truth. The word of God. That is when we became his children.
There was a viral video some years ago from communist China where Christians received suitcases full of smuggled Bibles. The whole room was in tears of joy passing them out, cherishing them, embracing them, kissing them. One of the women said, through tears, this is what we have needed the most. They were not crying and waiting for Catholic priests or Orthodox icons to arrive with suitcases. It is the word of God they desired. What a great attitude to have. And it is not something we should take for granted. In the 17th and 18th century, a Bible would set you back about two weeks worth of wages. We have no excuse for not reading it. You can even listen to it audibly while driving or at work — just play it and you can have God speaking to you.
This also reminds me of the woman who kissed the feet of Jesus and washed them with her tears. She recognised who Jesus is. Psalm 2:12: "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him." She went to Jesus and kissed him, she worshipped him, she put her trust in him. And Jesus said to her in Luke 7:50: "Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace." Thy faith has saved thee. Not thy works, not thy faith plus thy works, not thy genuine faith that produces works. Just thy faith. And there you have faith alone in the Bible.
1 Kings 19:18: "Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him." Kissing can definitely be a form of worship. And we look around today at all the religions that do the kissing — the Orthodox and Catholics kissing their man-made idols, Muslims kissing the black rock in the desert, Jews kissing the wall in Jerusalem. Satan is behind all these religions, just as he was behind Baal.
Let us also look at the occult Pentecostals who do not think the word of God is enough. Similar to the Orthodox, they say we need their prophets and their priests to reveal what God is telling them and to guide us in this world. But is that what the Bible tells us? 2 Timothy 3:16: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." The Bible is not saying it is enough to make you unto some good works or most good works — it says all good works. You do not need some lady to tell you what God whispered in her ear. That is what Saul did — he went to the witch. And if you go to these people to reveal things to you, you are going to destroy your family like Saul did his.
Psalm 19:7 says the scripture is perfect, complete, and all-sufficient. You are not going to experience anything in this life that the Bible cannot help you with. "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." We hide God's word in our hearts because we love God and do not want to sin against him. These Pentecostals put their trust in man and in women, memorising what the prophetesses tell them, meditating on their words. If only they treated the Bible that way. I have heard of Pentecostals that instead of the Bible, they have a folder full of multiple prophecies they have received from prophetesses over the years. They meditate on these words, wait for them to be fulfilled. They put their trust in what man has said. Psalm 130:5: "I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope." We should be hoping in God's word, not man's word. Jeremiah 17:5: "Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man." If you put your trust in man, you are under a curse. You are going to curse your family.
And it is not thus saith the Lord when they say it in charismatic churches — because this applies to today as well. Thus saith the Lord, cursed be the man that trusteth in man. Romans 15:4: "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope." This gives me hope. This gives me comfort in life.
Now what is the last chapter in the Bible? Revelation 22. It is not Revelation 23, 24, or 25 like the amount of revelations these people have received from God. And right at the very end of the Bible, the final words specifically warn about adding to God's word. Revelation 22:18: "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book." What a strong warning, right there at the back of the book. Proverbs 30:6: "Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." These people disregard the words of God to elevate the words of false prophets. And the main reason they are false prophets is not just because they blasphemously claim thus saith the Lord, but because they have a false gospel in the first place. As Pastor Stucky preached from Galatians 1 — whoever preaches another gospel, let them be accursed.
I am not angry at the normal person who goes to a Pentecostal or Catholic church. That person just grew up there and believed what they were taught. Once someone is confronted with the gospel though, they have a decision to make to trust in Christ.
How do they get away with putting down God's word? They need to separate Jesus and the word. But 1 John 5:7 says: "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." It is not four — it is not the Father, the Word, the Holy Ghost, and Jesus — because Jesus is the Word. It is just three. They claim to obey him but they refuse his word. Hebrews 1:1–2: "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son." God has spoken to us by the Son, the word of God. It does not say he has spoken to us by the Pentecostals.
Colossians 1:18: "He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence." In everything, God has to have first place in your life. And if what the Pentecostal prophets say was biblical, why would you even need it? It is already in the Bible. There is no point having another channel. Job 23:12: "Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food." What a great attitude to have towards the Bible.
To avoid going into heresies, you need to have the highest view of God's word. And in conclusion — suppose God could not preserve his written word and could not keep his promises. How could he then preserve your soul? But God did preserve his word and God will preserve your soul, if only you place all your trust in him. If the Bible is all-sufficient, his blood is all-sufficient. His promises are sufficient to be believed. His grace is sufficient. Do not set aside God's word for anything.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you that I was able to preach. I hope it was understood. I pray for the next preacher, to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Speaker 2 — Oscar - St Augustine vs the Bible
(30:53)
My mini sermon is called St. Augustine Versus What the Bible Actually Says.
Some of you may know who St. Augustine is and some may not. They call him saint, but spoiler — he was not a saint in the sense we mean, which is a saved brother. A bit of background. Augustine was born in 354 AD. He is considered the single largest individual contributor to Western Christian theology — which in saved language means he is the single largest contributor of false doctrine. All the weird doctrine out there that you wonder where it came from — it probably came from Augustine, or from someone who read a lot of Augustine, such as Mr. Calvin.
He grew up around a church courtyard. His mum sort of dropped him off there. Long story short, he did not like all that Christianity stuff he was hearing and went to study rhetoric at 17 — the art of using smooth talk. He had a son with a woman he never married. He picked up the Bible, wanted to see if it was interesting like reading Cicero and all that stuff, decided it was beneath his level, and did not like it. He then joined a cult called the Manicheans, a Christian group who taught that the God of the Old Testament was evil and that Christ never had a real body. So he liked that kind of Christianity. He was not a quiet member of this cult — he preached it loudly, converted his friends, and made fun of Catholics for believing a religion he considered a fraud for simple people. But then he changed his mind and became a Catholic himself.
He got a job using his pagan political connections, flattering the emperor with his rhetoric — comparing a thirteen-year-old emperor with heroes and gods from antiquity, and everyone knew it was a lie but did it anyway. He consulted astrologers. His mother arranged a marriage for him. The problem was the girl was too young — if you do the maths, she was about ten years old and he was about thirty. They had to wait until she was twelve to marry legally. But in the meantime, to deal with his other arrangement, he sent the mother of his son to Africa. And then he could not wait the two years for the girl to become twelve, so he slept with another woman. And this is the man that most of those Christians out there worship, either by directly praying to him or by elevating his words above the Bible. His words are treated as high authority. You will show people verses in the Bible that contradict his teachings and they will still believe what he said.
Point one: God cares about his words. Matthew 4:4: "But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God — not the gist of his word, not the general feeling or vibe of it, not just the parts people think are right. He puts emphasis all the time on the words. And they are pure words. Psalm 12:6: "The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever." God himself promises to preserve his word — not faulty human beings. Mark 13:31, Matthew 24:35, and Luke 21:33 all say the same thing: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away."
2 Corinthians 11:3: "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." God gave us simplicity and there is the guiling with subtlety. We are going to look at that beguiling subtlety from Mr. Augustine right now.
Augustine wrote — and these are his words, not the Bible — that he would not believe the gospel except as moved by the authority of the Catholic Church. That is the foundation of everything I am going to say here. You on your own with the Bible cannot understand it, and no one can be saved without the Catholic Church. You need the church to tell you what the Bible means. A lot of Baptist churches would even say something similar — be careful just reading it on your own. But here is his rule of interpretation — whatever there is in the word of God that cannot, when taken literally, be referred either to purity of life or soundness of doctrine, you may set down as figurative. Anything that does not feel pure to him is figurative and not literally true. And he wrote elsewhere that this feeling is actually our love — if we do not like the literal interpretation of something, that feeling is telling us God meant it figuratively. That is what they call their principle of interpretation. The Bible calls that making God in your own image. 1 Corinthians 2:11–13: "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual." To understand God you need the Spirit of God. And the method of interpretation the Bible gives us is comparing spiritual things with spiritual things — comparing things in the Bible with things in the Bible. Not deciding something is metaphorical because my feeling of love tells me so.
The problem is not that the Bible is too complicated or mysterious for regular people. The problem is that they do not have the Holy Spirit. The solution is to get saved, not to go to another unsaved expert to explain it to you.
The Bible says God made everything in seven days. I believe that. I do not think seven means completeness in the Hebrew so that the six days represent millions of years, or that the garden is a metaphor for the cosmos, or that the serpent is like roadworks developing. No, it is just a garden and there was a serpent. It is just plain, as it says it. It is not complicated. You do not need a big explanation.
Point two: Baptism washes away sin. According to Augustine. He went back to the Latin — and I guess he was not very good at Latin — and concluded that we do not just inherit sinful nature, but we inherit the guilt of Adam's sin. And baptism, he said, washes that sin away. That is why the newborn baby is baptised — because it is born in debt already, guilty of original sin. That is why so many Christians are in a hurry to baptise their babies. And his argument to support this is — shall we say — interesting. He says because the church universally baptises infants for the remission of sins, and infants have committed no sins of their own, therefore the sin being remitted must be inherited. The practice proves the doctrine. He is not asking why we are doing this — just assuming that since it is done, there must be something to wash away. What is funny is that some people delay the baptism of the child a little bit because the sins you commit yourself feel somewhat worse than the inherited ones — so if you wait a little bit and get some additional personal sin mixed in with the inherited sin, you sort of wash a bit more at once. Augustine's own mother actually did this with him. He was sick, nearly died, and she put off baptising him because she did not want him to sin again after the baptism and die in those sins. Like not wanting to run the dishwasher when it is half full — she wanted to fully load the dishwasher with sin before turning it on.
Acts 8:36–37: "And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest." The requirement is belief and then comes baptism. A baby cannot believe with all his heart, so a baby is not a candidate for baptism. And as to whether baptism saves or washes sin away at all — Ephesians 2:8–9: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." Baptism is works. It is something we choose to do. We could boast about it. So it does not save us. It is ceremonial. It pictures death and rebirth. It is like a marriage ceremony where you are publicly and officially becoming a Christian, not proving it, but making things more official in a way. It does not do anything for your salvation.
Point three: Only the chosen elect can believe and be saved. This is what Calvinists believe. Calvin was a huge fan of Augustine and quoted him extensively in his writings. Every letter of TULIP — the Calvinist acronym — goes back to Augustine. Every single one of them.
Augustine taught that election — referring to where the Bible speaks about the election of grace — is not based on any faith that God sees in you. God did not choose the faithful because they were faithful. God chose them so that they might become faithful. So the causation is reversed. He wrote that when the gospel is preached, those who believe — well, it was given to them to believe. And those who do not, it was not given to them to believe. God made it that they would believe or not believe. No choice is involved. It is their fate and it will happen. He wrote that humanity is a condemned lump and God mercifully rescues some and justly leaves the rest. He selects the ones to save. You cannot believe unless you were secretly picked — and you cannot know if you were picked or not. And if you were picked, you cannot refuse the call. It is inescapable that you will believe.
Romans 10:13: "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?" Whosoever is a very strange word to use for a select group. Imagine I said whosoever wants to play in the NBA may do so — of those who have the genetics of being seven feet tall, and if you are seven feet tall you will have an irresistible compulsion to sign up. That is not describing whosoever chooses to be — that is just saying only people who are seven feet tall can, and they have no say in it. And look at the chain of logic in Romans 10 — they call on him because they believed, they believed because they heard, they heard because someone preached, someone preached because they were sent. That whole chain of explanation is completely pointless if the real thing deciding it is a secret decision made before they were born.
Verse 17: "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." It does not say faith cometh by God giving you faith. It is from hearing.
Revelation 22:17: "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Whosoever will — not whosoever was made willing.
2 Peter 3:9: "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." Not willing that any should perish. Compare that to Augustine's God who appears to be unwilling that most should be saved.
Point four: You can lose your salvation and you can never know if you are saved. Augustine taught using the Catholic terminology that a man can be genuinely regenerate — meaning he is trying really hard to be a serious Christian — and he can still fall away. In their works-based system, you try really hard and then peter out at the end and you are not going to be saved unless God gives you the gift of perseverance. And he says — and I quote because he is not even pretending to get this from scripture — I assert therefore that the perseverance by which we persevere in Christ even to the end is the gift of God. He is just asserting it. Trust me, bro. No evidence to back it up. He just asserts it. And all these denominations build their doctrine on this man's teachings where he is essentially just saying trust me. Someone who can still fall away unless they are given the gift of perseverance cannot know whether they have that gift. So you can never know if you are saved.
John 10:27–29: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." Never perish. No man is able to pluck them out — including yourself. You cannot lose your salvation once you are saved. You are not going to overpower God's hand with your mortal hand.
1 John 5:13: "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life." God is telling you that you can know. And Augustine says nobody can know. You cannot know. God says you can know. You cannot believe both are true.
Just quickly, there are a number of other beliefs that come from Augustine that I will run through. Amillennialism — the idea that the millennium is happening right now, that we are already in the kingdom of Christ — comes from Augustine. The idea that there is no local church comes from him. His argument was that if the local church were the real church, everyone would go there and it would be the mega church. But the mega church is where everyone goes, therefore it must be right — majority rules. Baptism is valid regardless of whether the minister is holy or not — he actually wrote that even Judas may baptize and it is still valid. Purgatory also comes from him, where he says it is possible that some believers shall pass through a kind of purgatorial fire and in proportion to their devotion to perishing goods, be more or less quickly delivered from it. He also prayed for his mother after her death and said the dead benefit from the prayers of the living, showing he believed they were still in some kind of lobby waiting to go up or down. And the books that belong in the Bible — Augustine listed Tobit, Judith, two books of Maccabees, two books of Ezra, and others. He even admitted that Wisdom and Sirach were not written by Solomon but said because the church has received them into authority, they are authoritative. His argument is that the majority of Catholic churches accepted them, and majority rules.
Those are twelve of the main ideas that come from Augustine. There are more but that gives you an idea of where all this false doctrine is coming from. They elevate a man higher than he should be. They have the word of God and the word of a man, and they choose the man. Proverbs 30:5–6: "Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." Every word of God is pure. Add thou not unto his words — as Augustine the liar has. And all those churches that add his words to the Bible are going to be reproved and found liars, guilty of the curse God puts on those who add to his word.
Dear Father, thank you for giving us this church in Melbourne after so long without a church where we can hear good preaching. Help us to be strong surrounded by all these other churches that are criticising us for following what the Bible says. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Speaker 3 — Dylan - The Synagogue of Satan
(1:07:02)
I want to start by thanking Pastor Stucky and brother Christian for this opportunity to preach. Please turn to Revelation chapter 2.
The title of my sermon today is The Synagogue of Satan.
Revelation 2:8–9: "And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, but thou art rich, and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan." People have different opinions on who the synagogue of Satan is. Some say it was a group from the first century that no longer exists. Some say it is unknowable. The Zionists will actually say that those of us who believe in replacement theology are the synagogue of Satan — which is ridiculous, because we are clearly not in a synagogue right now, and we do not worship Satan, we worship Christ.
It is not hard to figure out who the synagogue of Satan is if you just believe the Bible for what it actually says. The Bible is not complicated or unclear regarding this issue. It is actually crystal clear. I am going to break down Revelation 2:9 into five points and compare scripture with scripture.
Point 1: The Jews Are Blasphemers
The first portion of Revelation 2:9 says I know the blasphemy of them. The synagogue of Satan is associated with blasphemy. The Jews are blasphemers.
Turn to Matthew chapter 12.
Matthew 12:22–24: "Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils." The Pharisees are the Jewish religious leaders. They are accusing Jesus of casting out devils by the power of Satan — an obviously very blasphemous thing to say. And look at how Jesus responded in verse 31: "Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men." Not only have they blasphemed Jesus here, but they have also blasphemed the Holy Ghost. The Bible teaches that if someone blasphemes the Holy Ghost they become a reprobate — this is an unforgivable sin, and they are beyond the hope of salvation.
Turn to Acts chapter 13.
Acts 13:45: "But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming." Here we have the Jews in general blaspheming — not just the Pharisees.
Turn to Acts chapter 18.
Acts 18:5–6: "And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles." If you know anything about the Apostle Paul, you know he had a deep heart for the Jews — he loved them and wanted them to be saved. But their blasphemy got so bad that even Paul gave up on them and said from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.
Turn to Acts chapter 26.
Acts 26:11: "And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities." Before Paul was saved, as a Pharisee and a man of authority in the Jewish religion, he was compelling Christians to blaspheme. So it is very clear that the Jews throughout the New Testament are associated with blasphemy.
Point 2: Outward Jews Are Not Jews
The next portion of Revelation 2:9 says they say they are Jews and are not. Romans 2:28–29: "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God."
What is the Apostle Paul teaching here? He is teaching that being a Jew is not just some physical thing. It is not about your ethnicity or your lineage or your genetics. Being a Jew is actually a spiritual thing, an inward thing. The Zionists accuse those of us who hold to replacement theology of spiritualising the text. But what is the Apostle Paul doing here? He wrote the book of Romans and he says circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit. If the Apostle Paul can spiritualise the text, then I think we can too.
Romans 9:6–8: "Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called." Paul is making a distinction between two groups. There is of Israel — meaning physically Jewish, physically Israelite — which is meaningless. And there is true Israel — those that are part of the promised seed. And who is the promised seed? Those that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are Israel. You are that spiritual promised seed.
Point 3: Synagogues Are Associated With Persecuting Christians
The synagogue of Satan — not just the synagogue, but the synagogue of Satan. If you want to figure out who has synagogues, there is only one religion in the world that has them, and it is Judaism. And in addition to that, synagogues are associated with persecuting Christians.
Matthew 10:17: "But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues." Jesus is warning his disciples that the Jews are going to whip you in their synagogues. Mark 13:9: "They shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten." Luke 21:12: "They shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues." John 9:22: "These words spake his parents because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue." And 1 Thessalonians 2:14–15: "For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men." Contrary to all men — against all men. And this is why so many people throughout history have hated the Jews.
Point 4: The Jews Have Another God, Which Is Satan
The last portion of Revelation 2:9 says the synagogue of Satan. 1 John 2:22–23: "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also." The Zionists say the Jews worship the same God as us. But what does the Bible say? Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. The Jews deny the Lord Jesus Christ. They deny the Son. Therefore they do not have God the Father. But they do have a father.
Turn to John chapter 8.
John 8:37–44: "I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father... If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham... Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." First they claim Abraham is their father — Jesus says he is not. They claim God is their father — Jesus says he is not. Jesus says ye are of your father the devil. So the Jews do not have the Son, therefore they do not have the Father. Their father is Satan.
Running through the whole New Testament, this just comes up again and again. The first time someone preaches in the entire New Testament is when John the Baptist rebukes the Jews and calls them a generation of vipers. Then you have Jesus calling them serpents, vipers, hypocrites, sons of the devil, the cursed fig tree, wicked husbandmen, whited sepulchres, and so on. Then you have the Jews conspiring to kill Jesus, crying out crucify him, his blood be on us and on our children, and killing him. In Acts, the Jews are persecuting the apostles and the early Christians. In Paul's letters — Romans 2 says he is not a Jew who is one outwardly. Romans 9 says Jews are the children of the flesh and Christians are the children of God. Romans 10 says there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek. Romans 11 says the Jews are broken off because of unbelief. Galatians sees Paul rebuking the Judaizers and teaching that Christians are Abraham's seed. Philippians calls Jews the concision — meaning cut off — and says Christians are the true circumcision. First Thessalonians blames the Jews for killing Jesus and their own prophets. Titus warns us not to give heed to Jewish fables. And notably, the only time the word Jewish appears in the entire Bible is when Paul is warning us about Jewish fables. Then you get to Revelation, and people wonder who the synagogue of Satan is. Maybe it is those people the entire New Testament has been warning us about — those who call themselves Jews, who worship in synagogues, who hate Jesus, who blaspheme, who persecute Christians, who Jesus called sons of the devil.
Point 5: Christians Are God's Chosen People
Turn to 1 Peter chapter 2.
1 Peter 2:9–10: "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." The Apostle Peter is speaking to Gentile Christians and he is calling them the chosen generation, the royal priesthood, the holy nation, the peculiar people. He calls them the people of God. The Jews are not God's chosen people. We are God's chosen people. We are the people of God.
If a Zionist watches this sermon, he will probably call me anti-Semitic and say I am hateful. But actually I do not hate the Jews. I am preaching this because I love the Jews. How do we love the Jews? Is it by saying, do not worry, you are God's chosen people, he has a special plan for you, you are the apple of his eye — and then they die and go to hell? No. How we love the Jews is by telling them — actually, you are not God's chosen people. He does not have a special plan for you apart from believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. That is his plan for you. And if they do believe the gospel, they will become God's chosen people just like we did through faith. Have you ever noticed that the Zionist churches never go soul-winning? The Bible says he that winneth souls is wise. And that is why these people believe in the unbiblical doctrine of Zionism — because they lack wisdom from not soul-winning and not actually serving God.
In conclusion, we are God's chosen people, and we are chosen for a purpose — to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Let us fulfil that purpose and keep soul-winning, keep getting wisdom, and keep preaching the truth no matter what it costs, no matter who it offends, and no matter how much persecution comes with it.
Heavenly Father, thank you for this opportunity to preach your word and thank you for Soulwinning Baptist Church. I pray that you will help us to fully realise that we are your chosen people and help us to fully realise the purpose for which you have chosen us, which is to preach the gospel and to win souls to Christ. I pray that you will be with us today and with the next preacher also and help us to go out today and win some souls. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Speaker 4 - Brother Brydon - Using the Law Lawfully
(1:25:54)
Morning all. I am lucky last. Hope you are still awake. The title of my sermon this morning is Using the Law Lawfully. Turn to 1 Timothy chapter 1.
1 Timothy 1:8: "But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully." This means there are wrong ways and right ways to use the law. Looking back a couple of verses to verse 6: "From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm." There are people who want to be teachers of the law but they are not using it lawfully. They are not applying it right, and therefore they do not understand it. Usually people go to one extreme or the other — preaching the law too aggressively and legalistically, or going the other direction and throwing out the law altogether.
Unlawful Use 1: Teaching We Do Not Need the Law
My first point is people teaching that Christians do not need the law. Verse 9 tells us who the law is for: "Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine." When you sin, that is where you need the law to show that sin is sinful. But the law is not made for the righteous man.
Now who is righteous? We know there is none righteous, no not one. But we who are born of God are righteous — not the old man, but the new man. 1 John 3:9: "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." That new man, that spiritual man, cannot sin and does not need the law. When you are walking in the spirit, the Bible says you will not fulfil the lust of the flesh. When you walk in the spirit you do not need to be constantly worrying about what the law says — you are automatically going to do what is right. This leads some people to apply this correctly in concept but wrongly in practice. You hear it from non-denominational, charismatic, and hyper-grace churches — because we are Christians, we are not under the law, just throw out the law and do what feels right to us. But that would only be true if we always walked in the spirit, and do we always walk in the spirit? No. There are times when we are in the flesh. And when we are in the flesh, we need the law to convict us and show us that what we are doing is wrong, so that the Holy Spirit can bring it to remembrance and convict us of our sin.
Romans 7:7: "What shall we then say? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." The law reminds us what we are doing is wrong when we are in the flesh. So we cannot just throw out the law and say there is no purpose for it as Christians. We still need it in our hearts and minds to remind us when we do things that are wrong.
Unlawful Use 2: Hypocritical Judging
An unlawful use of the law is using it to judge but doing so hypocritically.
1 Corinthians 2:15: "But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man." The spiritual man uses the law to be able to judge things — to judge different matters, different controversies in the church. If there is some sin or controversy in the church, we look to the law to determine what is right and wrong. That is what the spiritual man does. But what we should not do with the law is go and judge somebody while being guilty of the same thing or even worse. Matthew 7:1–5: "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."
Why does 1 Corinthians say the spiritual man is judged of no man? Because he is not making judgements where he himself is guilty of that same thing. We should not be using the law to go and tell somebody they are doing wrong when we are guilty of something even bigger. Let us get ourselves right first before we judge others.
Romans 2:1–3: "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?"
This is exactly what Jesus accused the Pharisees of. Matthew 23 — Jesus said the scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses's seat, so observe what they teach. But do not do what they do, because they themselves are not keeping the law. They were being hypocrites. "For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." They are telling people to do all these things and not doing it themselves. Like me getting up here saying let us go soul-winning, and then not showing up to soul-winning next week. Or preaching against adultery while committing adultery. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees. Matthew 23 goes on to say they pay tithe of mint and anise and have omitted the weightier matters of the law — judgment, mercy, faith. There is no point being a teacher of the law, not understanding what you are doing, and not even doing yourself what you are telling others to do.
Unlawful Use 3: Teaching People to Break the Law
Unlawful use number three of the law is teaching people to just break the law or making void the law.
Turn to Mark chapter 7.
Mark 7:7–13: "Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." "Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: but ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; making the word of God of none effect through your tradition." People are saying hey, the law says this, but if you do this, you can get out of doing the law. And look, there are people who desire to be teachers of the law and they do not understand what they say. They are just teaching whatever they want and teaching people to break the law.
Unfortunately even a lot of Baptist churches do these kinds of things. They say the Bible says you should not divorce — except maybe in this case and in this case and in this case. But the Bible only gives one exemption, which was fornication — referring to people having sex before marriage and then finding out before the marriage was consummated. It was not about committing adultery ten years later and then getting a divorce. That is just teaching doctrines and commandments of men.
Unlawful Use 4: Teaching That You Are Saved by the Law
Turn to Galatians chapter 2.
What could be worse than teaching people they have to be saved by the law? A lot of false prophets do this. Galatians 2:16: "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." The Bible could not be any more clear. You cannot be saved by the law. But the false prophets will come and say, well, you are not saved by the law per se, but you have to repent of your sins, there has to be evidence, is Jesus the Lord of your life? That is just false. Galatians 3:10: "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." And James 2:10: "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Galatians 3:11: "But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith." Romans 3:28: "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law."
Conclusion — Using the Law Lawfully
To summarise — the law is good, but we must use it lawfully. A lawful way to use the law is to use it to judge ourselves when we sin, to remind us what is sinful. Use it to judge situations righteously and not hypocritically. Do and teach people to do the laws, not to break them. And use it as a schoolmaster to bring people to salvation — because that is what the law does. Galatians 3 says the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ. In the context of salvation, it is not that you have to do the law to be saved, but that the law shows you that you are a sinner in need of a saviour. That is what we do out soul-winning. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God — because you have sinned, you deserve hell. Now you need a saviour. That is how we use the law lawfully out soul-winning — to show people their sin and then their need for a saviour.
1 Timothy 1:5–7: "Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: from which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm. But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully."
Father God, we thank you for this men's preaching service this morning. Thank you for the great preaching we were able to hear and for those who got up for the first time here in church to preach. Lord, we pray that you will bless our fellowship afterwards and bless the food and the soul-winning today as well. We ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.