The True Gospel | Brad Straarup

Hey, I have a question for every single one of you here today.

If I were to give you a$20 bill that was counterfeit, that was fake, do you think you would know?

Now, I would argue that for many of us, we wouldn't know, and what we would do is we would take that bill, we would spend it, we would share it, we would pass it on, not realizing the entire time that we had actually been given a forgery.

Well, today we are starting a brand new series entitled Cults and Counterfeits.

And here's why.

I believe this is more important than anything that we can study.

You know, as you're coming into the summer, so often what people do is they take a step back from church, they take a step back from the things of God, and we just believe this that at Spirit we reject that summer needs to be a time that we take a step back, and what we're saying is, no, summer's a time that we're stepping forward into the things of God.

We're not going shallow.

What we're doing is we're going deep into the things of God, and we're doing that in the series.

And I think there is no more important conversation that we can have.

You know, the Bible actually warns us in 1 Timothy 4, it's Paul says that the Holy Spirit says this, that at the end days there are gonna be people who are gonna turn away from the faith and they are gonna follow what deceiving spirits teach.

And God has actually put it on pastors to train.

Ephesians 4, it says that God has given pastors and teachers to equip the saints for works of service.

And I want to show you what happens if you are trained well, it says this, Ephesians 4 14, then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching, which is so often happening in our culture today.

It says by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful schemes.

He's saying, I want you to be solid in the things that you believe, that you're able to speak the truth in love.

Can I get a good amen?

How many of you know it's not enough just for us to know the word of God?

What we need to do is know it enough that we can speak it in love.

And we're doing this series, not that you can win an argument at the dinner table.

You're like, well, let me tell you what I think about that.

Like, that's a cult, that's a kind of that's not why we're doing this.

We are doing this so that you can speak the truth in love, and we can grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, and that is Christ.

So we are jumping in today.

This series is gonna be deep, it's gonna feel like a fire hydrant, especially today.

Y'all, I got like 60 scriptures to share with you.

Y'all pray for me.

Okay, we're going deep.

That's what we're gonna do.

Welcome to Spirit Church.

If you like the Bible, we like the Bible too.

But I know that that's a lot to take notes on, so we actually created a new experience for you guys during this series that will be available from here on out.

If you take out your phone and you tap that tap connect right in front of you, that circle disc, what it's gonna do is it's actually gonna take you to a new app, and there's an area at the bottom of that app where you can actually take notes.

Every single thing that I'm gonna share on the screen is right there on the app.

So you can read it right there.

There's a little place where you can click a button, you can take your own notes.

At the end of the service, you can email it to yourself, you can save it.

Because if you're gonna try to keep up, let me just say, yeah, I ain't gonna keep up.

Like we're gonna be moving, we're gonna be moving today.

If that doesn't work, you can also go to app.spiritchurch.co.

Y'all ready?

We ready?

We got it?

Here's the uncomfortable truth for so many of us is that counterfeits don't work by looking obviously fake.

Counterfeits work because they look real but they're not.

And the challenge is so often when it comes to the gospel, when it comes to everything we see on Instagram, you will often see things that appear to be like the gospel, but they're actually not.

And that's the most deceptive and dangerous thing of all.

Paul actually writes about this to the Galatian church because that's what was happening to them.

Galatians 1, verse 6, it says this I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one that is God, the one who has called you to live in the grace of Christ.

Galatians 1:6

What is that?

The fact that you can be saved, that you can be forgiven, that you can be healed just by putting your faith in Jesus.

He says you are abandoning that, and you are turning to a different gospel, a counterfeit, which is really no gospel at all.

Evidently, some people are throwing you into confusion and they're trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.

But even if we get this, even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel different than the one that I have preached to you, let them be under God's curse.

As we've already said, so now I say again if anyone is preaching to you a gospel other than what you have accepted, let them be under God's curse.

Let me give you some context as to what's happening.

Is Paul has gone to the Galatian church and they have received the gospel of Christ.

But now some teachers have come and they're like, Well, you know, that's not really the gospel, because what you also need to do is you need to be circumcised.

There's a bunch of people that are saying, Whoa, hold up.

Like, I don't can we talk about this?

Like, I don't know if I want to go through with that.

Like, that's just this.

And Paul is saying, No, you don't have to be circumcised in order to actually believe the gospel.

You can just believe it as is.

He's saying, that's what's happening, you're turning to something different.

And I want you to notice this.

Paul is not frustrated that they are abandoning the faith and turning to something evil.

He is frustrated that they are turning to something that looks like the gospel but is not.

I think most of the time the danger is not that we're turning from the good things of God to go to what is evil.

Most of the time, what's happening is we're settling for something almost true.

And if it's almost true, it's completely fake.

When it comes to the gospel, if it's almost true, it's completely fake.

So the question becomes this how do you spot fake?

How do you spot fake?

I was doing some research this week and I learned something that the Secret Service in 1865, they were formed for one reason and it was actually to stop counterfeit money.

Like at the end of the Civil War, one third of all dollars in the United States was actually counterfeit.

They've done a great job.

Right now it's about a hundred thousand, I mean a hundred million dollars that are circulating.

Okay, but they were formed in order to spot fake currency.

I want to show you a$20 bill.

This is a$20 bill.

Why I'm showing this to you is this is the most counterfeited bill there is.

Why?

It's large enough that it can make a difference, but it's small enough not to like raise any suspicion.

Right?

You can go and you can just pass this$20 through it.

So they had to learn how it is that we can spot a counterfeit.

And when you think about that, you would think the way to spot a counterfeit must be to learn all the ways fakes can be created.

Like, let's take every forgery, let's put it up on a stack and let's start studying that.

And if I can study it, we can tell what's real.

No, no, no, no.

The way that they learned to spot a fake was not by studying the fake, it was by studying the real.

And if you know the real enough, the second you are given a fake, you can spot it.

What we're doing in this sermon is I want to give you the real.

I want to give you the real gospel.

Before we look at the fakes in the week to come, I just want to show you the real that you can feel what it feels like, that you can know the weight of it, that the second you're given something else, you're like, wait, this feels off.

They would so study the weight and the feel and what it's supposed to look like that the second they were given something else, they were like, This isn't right.

Not only though was it a feel, there's also objective diagnostic things that you can use to tell whether a bill is fake or not.

One of the things is if you just rub your hand on the bill, you'd find that there's certain parts that are actually raised.

And what happens is the ink has been built up in those parts.

Most printers can't do that.

It takes a very advanced printer to be able to do that.

There's other diagnostics you can do.

For example, if you take the 20 and you actually tilt it up, you'll see that it goes from copper to kind of like a green.

It's color shifting ink.

That is another security measure.

Another security measure is the watermark.

If you were to take that up to light, you will see a watermark that isn't printed, it is embedded into the currency.

A fourth one is this a security strip.

If you put that under UV light, it glows different colors.

The$20 bill, it glows green.

Different bills glow different colors.

The reason I show that is it wasn't just enough for them to have a feel.

They needed objective measures to tell whether or not it's fake.

What I'm gonna do in this sermon is I'm gonna show you what the real is.

I want you to feel, oh, this is what the gospel is.

And then I'm gonna give you some things that you can use to spot fakes.

Okay?

And it's not gonna be eight things, it's gonna be three.

You'll know there are three things, there are three questions you can ask that if you just ask these questions, you'll spot a fake in a second.

So that's what we're gonna do in this series.

Are we ready?

I think this is the most important thing that we can do.

Why does this matter?

It matters because if you accept money, it becomes your responsibility.

And if you go up to a teller and you give them a fake bill, what they'll do is they'll take it.

If they realize it's fake, they'll confiscate it.

And at that point, you're left with nothing.

Now, if it's$20, you know, you're like, I'll survive, you know, like I'll be good.

But can you imagine if you spend your entire life working, saving, building up, waiting for retirement, and then you go and you take these savings and you go and give it to a teller, and everything gets confiscated because what you realize is your entire life you were working for something that was fake.

That's what we're talking about.

There is no more important series that we can do in summer or any point because we're not just talking about money, we're not talking about that at all.

What we're talking about is how do people stand before a righteous God who are sinners and get to spend eternity with him forever.

Do you know how long forever is?

Forever.

And ever.

And ever.

We're talking about how do people go to heaven, how do people go to hell.

There is no more important understanding that as a church we can have.

And it's important because right now counterfeits are being handed out.

Turn on the news, turn on culture, turn on Instagram.

What you'll see is it's handed out all the time.

And there's people who are like, man, I kind of like that.

I like that part of the Bible.

I'm gonna take that.

And they're like, but I don't like that part, so I'm not gonna take that.

And they're collecting stuff based on their beliefs, and they think what they're doing is novel, but it's actually what the Bible predicted the entire time.

Second Timothy 4, verse 3, it says this for a time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.

2 Timothy 4:3

That's happening right now.

Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers.

In Instagram, you can gather a great number of teachers.

It's easier to do than ever before.

To say what their itching ears wants to hear.

And they will turn their ears away from truth and turn aside to myths.

That is happening in our lifetime more so than ever before.

And I want us to be a church that is so theologically grounded that that can't happen to us.

So Paul asks this question to the Galatians.

He says, What gospel do you believe?

And my question for you today is this What gospel do you have?

What gospel do you have?

Not only what gospel do you have, what gospel do you share?

And do you know that you're sharing the real thing or are you sharing a counterfeit?

Okay, so let's study the real thing.

Let's take the gospel, let's put it up to some light, let's take a look at the watermark, let's see everything that the gospel actually is.

First question is this what is the real gospel?

And instead of me just explaining it, I'm gonna read it in scripture.

If you're like, what is the best scripture that explains the gospel?

One of the best is Ephesians 2, verse 1.

Ephesians 2:1

Here's what the gospel is, as defined by the Bible.

As for you, you were dead.

Well, that's great news.

Can you imagine it's like welcome to Spirit Church?

Let me just tell you something.

You're dead.

He says, You were dead in your transgressions and sin in which you used to live when you followed in the ways of the world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air.

That's Satan.

The spirit which is now at work in those who are disobedient.

All of us, say all of us, all of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts.

We all did things that were evil.

Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

There is no way that we can stand before a holy, perfect God.

He can't be in relationship with us because of our sin, because of everything that is with us, and that is bad news.

But the good news is this but God.

In our sin, but God.

Here's what it says: but because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions.

It is by grace that you have been saved.

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in heavenly realms in Jesus Christ, in order that in the coming ages we might see the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in his kindness to us.

For it is by grace, say grace, that you have been saved through faith.

And this is not work from yourself.

There ain't nothing you can do to earn this.

It is a gift of God, not by work, so no one can boast.

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ to do the good things that he planned for us in advance to do.

Can y'all put your hands together for the gospel?

Come on, it's good news.

It's good news.

People ask, what does the gospel mean?

By definition, it is good news.

That's what it means.

It is good news that is proclaimed.

And if you're looking for a simple definition, I have it right there in your app.

It says this the gospel is the good news that a holy God looked on hopeless sinners and sent his son Jesus, God in the flesh, to live a sinless life, to die a sinner's death in our place.

He rose from the grave so that everyone who turns to him and trusts in him is saved by grace alone, through faith alone, and is reconciled to God for eternity.

You're looking for the gospel?

That is the gospel that we were separated, but God sent Jesus to come.

There's five things in there that I want us to pay attention to that we could get a real feel for the gospel.

It's this God, sin, Jesus, salvation, and eternity.

God, sin, Jesus, salvation, and eternity.

So now's the time.

I'm about to rap.

I'm about to throw some scripture on you guys.

So you better have that up open.

We're about to fly.

Okay?

What is the gospel?

Okay?

Here it is.

Number one, God.

A holy God made us for himself.

We need to know who God is.

The Bible says us that God is holy.

We just sang that song, Isaiah 6, verse 3.

Isaiah 6:3

It says that the seraphim, the angels are singing, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.

He can't be in relationship with things that are imperfect because he is so holy.

Not only is he holy, God is just, which means he doesn't call evil good and good evil, which is bad news for us, because by nature we are evil.

How will we ever have relationship with him?

It's because he's not only holy, and God is not only just, he is also gracious.

Titus 2, verse 11 says this for it is the grace of God that has appeared to us and offered salvation to all people.

Titus 2:11

Not only is he holy and just and gracious, but he created us for himself, by his will, in his image, for his glory.

The Bible says that.

If you're like, I don't know what my purpose is, I've just been trying to figure it out.

Like, I don't know, like what is my here's your purpose.

Bring God glory.

Congratulations, you just found your purpose for your life.

Our purpose is that we can bring God glory.

The problem is sin.

You see, because sin enters the picture, that's the second thing.

Sin.

We rebelled and we can't undo it.

What was the crime?

We rebelled.

Prove it gladly.

Isaiah 53, verse 6.

Isaiah 53:6

We all like sheep have gone astray.

Every single one of us have turned our own way.

Romans 3 verse 12, all have turned away.

Romans 3:12

There is no one who does good, not even one.

Romans 3 23.

For all, say all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Not a single one of us is safe.

Genesis, God creates Adam and Eve, and what happens is he says, Do not eat out of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and they eat of it.

And at that moment, sin enters and it gets passed down.

But the beautiful thing about Jesus is Jesus comes in the same way sin enters through one man.

We are saved through one man.

That is the gospel.

What is the crime?

We rebelled.

What is the effix?

Guilt, shame, fear.

You see it, they start hiding away from God.

Adam and Eve does.

What is the verdict?

We're guilty.

James 2, verse 10.

James 2:10

For anyone who keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at one point is guilty of breaking it all.

If you've ever had a bad thought, if you've ever done a bad thing, if you were ever selfish, if you broke it once, it's saying, nah, you broke it, you broke everything.

And the result of that sin is separation from God.

Isaiah 59, verse 2.

Isaiah 59:2

But your iniquities have separated you from God.

And the sentence is death.

Because of that separation, the sentence is death.

Romans 6.23, the wages of sin is death.

Ephesians 2 verse 1.

Ephesians 2:1

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions.

I looked up the Greek for that word dead.

Do you know what it means?

Dead.

Like dead.

Like dead, dead.

Like super dead.

Like super uper duper dead.

Like you know, if you're dead, you can't breathe because you're dead.

You know you can't think a thought because you're dead.

What they're trying to say is there is nothing you can do because you are dead.

Like dead, dead.

Dead people can't bring themselves back to life.

Who will help us?

The spotless lamb, because the challenge is the only way that this can be paid is through blood, and we can't afford the price because it needs to be perfect blood, and we're not perfect blood.

Hebrews 9 22 says this under the law, everything is purified with blood.

Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.

It always required a spotless lamb, but even that was temporary.

God wasn't up and being like, Jesus, you better hope this whole bull and goat thing works out.

Because if it don't work out, bro, you're gonna have to take one for the team.

I have to tap you in.

You have to go down there.

Jesus was always the plan.

What the law showed is that we are unable by ourselves to ever bring ourselves back to God.

There is nothing you can do.

Jesus came, Hebrews 10:4.

Hebrews 10:4

It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin, which is why Jesus had a came, which leads to three.

Jesus, only Him can rescue us.

Now a lot of religions are gonna disagree with everything I'm about to say, so let's pay attention.

Like every single thing, okay.

Jesus, we believe this.

Jesus is God in the flesh.

Can I get a good amen?

He is God.

John 1 1.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He is God, but not only is He God, He is God in the flesh.

1 14 says this the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

He lived the life that we could not live.

Hebrews 4 15.

He was tempted in every way, just as we are, and yet he did not sin.

He is the spotless lamb.

As perfect man, he is our perfect substitute.

But as perfect God, he is the only one that can pay the price because it took something divine to pay the price.

Only Jesus.

He died the death that we deserve and he gave his blood.

Romans 3 25.

For God presented Jesus as a sacrifice for sin.

People are made right by his shedding of his blood.

2 Corinthians 5.21.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

You need to get this.

The nature of sin is we substitute God for ourselves.

My way.

I want to do this my way.

The nature of salvation is that God substitutes himself for us.

It's called the great exchange, and I don't understand it.

Like I have no idea why he would do that apart from his great love for us.

He is God in the flesh.

He lived the life that we could and he died the death that we deserve.

And here, contrary to what Islam, Judaism, Jehovah's Witness believe, we believe that he rose.

He rose from the dead and he was victorious over sin, says this Revelation 1.18.

I am the living one, I was dead, and look, I am now alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.

Oh my gosh, he rose again, and that means he is Lord.

The Bible says this, Acts 2.36, God made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.

The question is not, is he Lord?

I'm gonna answer that question.

He is Lord.

The Bible says that every knee and every tongue will confess.

Our decision is not is he Lord.

Our decision is do we bow the knee now or when it's too late?

That's the decision.

Is he Lord over everything in your life?

Because he ready is.

We just have to submit to that.

And there is no other name.

Say no other name.

There is no other name by which we can be saved.

Acts 4, verse 12.

Acts 4:12

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under the heaven by which mankind can be saved.

John 14, 6, Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one, no one, no one comes to the Father except through me.

Not your effort, not some other religion.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

1 Timothy 2, verse 5.

1 Timothy 2:5

For there is one God and one mediator be between God and mankind, and he is the man, Jesus Christ.

So what do we do?

Salvation.

We receive salvation by grace, through faith, and not works.

Salvation is a gift, Ephesians 2, verse 8.

Ephesians 2:8

God saved you by his grace when you believed.

Period.

Not by works.

And you can't take credit for this.

A gift of God, period.

Salvation is not a reward for the good things you have done, so that no one can boast.

We receive it by faith and faith alone.

Galatians 2 16.

We know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law.

And he like doubles down.

And we've believed in Jesus Christ so that we may be made right with God because of our faith in Jesus Christ, not because we've obeyed the law.

He's like, if you didn't get the first time, I'm gonna hit you again.

Like I'm gonna say that a second time.

And then he says it a third time.

For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.

We are saved by Jesus, faith in Jesus and faith in Jesus alone.

We are not saved from our good works, but we are saved to do good works.

Good works don't save you, but they do show that we are saved.

Okay?

In other words, an apple tree needs to produce apples.

Christians need to look like Christians.

Real faith will always bear fruit.

And people are like, I said the Sunnah's prayer, like I did the thing.

The prayer doesn't mean anything if you just say the words, but you're not actually making Jesus Lord and saying, I'm following you with everything.

If you say get baptized, I'm getting baptized.

If you say do this, I'm gonna do this.

Ephesians 2.10, for we are God's handiwork, created in Christ to do the good works which He planned for us in advance to do.

I love the NLT.

It says, for you are God's masterpiece.

Say masterpiece.

Masterpiece.

You might as well wear a cape and just walk around.

People are like, why are you wearing a cape?

You're like, you didn't hear?

I'm a masterpiece.

I'm a masterpiece, created in Christ to do the good things that he planned for me long ago.

Hi everyone, my name is Brad, and I'm a masterpiece.

Says God.

That's what it says.

James 2, 17, in the same way, faith by itself, if it's not accompanied by action, is dead.

But someone will say, You have faith and I have deeds.

No, no, no, no.

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.

Salvation through Jesus, through faith alone, by grace alone, which leads to eternity.

Our response today determines our destination.

You need to know this that it is urgent and there is no second chances.

Hebrews 9.27, just as people are destined to die once and after that face judgment.

I don't know if you'll know this, but death is kind of like a perfect statistic.

Like it kind of happens to all of us.

And I pray that it happens many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many years away.

But every single one of us at some point, unless Jesus comes home, that moment is going to be real for us.

And here's the good news: John 3.18, whoever believes in him will not be condemned.

However, those who do not believe in him stand condemned already, which is going to lead to two destinations.

Those who reject God, despair, forever separated from him.

2 Thessalonians 1.9, they will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut off from the presence of the Lord and from his glory and might.

But those who accept, who trust, they will get hope forever with God.

Revelation 21 3, it describes the end of this present age.

And it says this, and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Look, God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God, and he will wipe every tear from their eyes.

I don't know what hardship that you are facing.

Let me just say the good news is this as we persevere, there will come a time where God will wipe every tear from our eyes.

There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old things have passed away.

So now we have a choice, and that choice is this.

We choose Moses says this in Deuteronomy 30.

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you.

That I've set before you life and death, blessing and curses.

Now choose life so that you and your children may live.

That is the gospel.

The gospel is the good news that a holy God looked on hopeless sinners and sent his son Jesus, God in the flesh, to live a sinless life, die a sinless death in our place.

He rose from the grave so that everyone who turns and trusts in him is saved by grace alone, through faith alone, and is reconciled to God for eternity.

How are we feeling?

Y'all just got baptized in scripture.

Praise God.

I'm like, I know it's baptism Sunday, but y'all just got baptized in scripture.

We have to believe it.

That's what the real feels like.

God, sin, Jesus, salvation, eternity.

And I want you to know that so much.

Write that on the tablet of your heart that whenever you're getting something that seems like a fake, you're immediately gonna know.

But here's what I want to do in the remainder of our time.

I also want to give you those security measures that you can use.

You should know what the real feels like, but I'm gonna give you a couple of questions that anytime you're in conversation, if you have these questions, it's gonna help you know what the truth is.

Okay?

We need to be able to have this.

And I pray that it's so obvious.

Like super obvious.

Like super duper obvious.

Like my son Saint, I walked into his room the other day and he found like a red coloring block that had like paint on it, you know, and he like scrubbed the wall for some reason.

I don't know if it was cleaning, but he was like, you know, and I walked up and I saw it, and I was like, hey buddy, what is this?

I was like, did you do this?

And he goes, huh?

If you're if y'all were here a couple weeks ago, you'd know.

Yo, side note, we realized after that sermon, I know where he got it from.

Me.

I say that all the time, and I did not even realize, forgive me, I repent.

Like, apparently I'm the problem.

So I'm like, hey, buddy, who did this?

He's like, huh?

And I'm like, I'm like, who did this?

And he and and he kind of was like, uh-uh.

But and and he's like three.

So I'm like, he just turned three.

So I'm like, do you understand my question, or are you lying?

Like, you know, when they're like growing up, you're like, okay, I like I don't know quite, and I got I got to this place, I was like, I know it's not your mom.

It's not me, it's not your sister, she's one.

It has to be you.

Like it, like I pray that the truth is so obvious.

That a lie, you're like, I know that's a lie.

Like, that's my prayer.

Is that when it's so obvious, you're like, no, I can spot a lie because this is true.

Okay, so here's what we're gonna do three questions that I want you to be able to ask.

And I and I pray that you embed these on your heart.

The Bible says this, John talks about it.

He says, Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.

That's what we want you to be able to do.

We want you to be a Berean.

Acts 17, 11.

The Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica.

They received the message with eagerness, but they examined the scriptures to see if what Paul was saying was true.

Please be a Berean.

Don't just think because I said it it must be true.

Y'all, I'm gonna make so many mistakes.

Check the Bible, read the Bible for yourself.

Okay, three questions, three detectors that we need to have.

The first is this what is your final authority?

Like if you're in conversation with someone, what is your final authority?

Let me give you the answer: the Bible alone and nothing added.

That's the final authority.

You see, what cults and counterfeits, what they're always gonna do is they're always gonna add a secondary source apart from scripture.

It's gonna be a tradition, it is gonna be other scripture, it's gonna be a prophet, it's gonna be a feeling.

They are always gonna add something else to the Bible.

Like, countless times people have come up to me and they're like, what is your opinion on various social issues?

Like, what is your opinion on LGBTQ?

What is your opinion on gender ideology?

And I've talked about all of that in our church before.

But my response is simply this.

I believe what the Bible says.

And they're like, what does the Bible say?

And I'm like, I'm glad you asked.

And then I'm in a conversation.

Sometimes, if I know they do not even believe in the Bible, I won't even answer.

What I'm gonna say is, well, what do you believe about the Bible?

Do you believe it's the authority of God?

Because if you do not believe the Bible has authority, then our conversation is not actually about the issue.

It's about do you submit to the same source of truth?

Let's stop there.

Let's determine that this is truth.

And once we know this is truth, we can talk about this.

But I'm not gonna talk about this until we talk about this.

We're so pressured to answer questions.

Jesus, wait, I wrote this down.

This is fascinating.

Be like Jesus.

Where do I have it?

Where do I have it?

Jesus here.

He was asked 183 questions.

Do you know how many he answered?

Three.

And he asked 307.

My man Jesus.

People are like, what do you believe?

He's like, Well, what do you believe?

Like, that's crazy.

What do I believe?

What do you think about that?

What do you think about that?

It's crazy.

What do I think?

Like, it's crazy.

Every single time for me, the Bible is what I stand on.

It is complete.

2 Timothy 3.16.

All scripture is God breathed.

It's profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, training in righteousness, that the man of God might be complete.

It has everything we need, equipped for every good work.

Deuteronomy 4 verse 2, it's a warning.

Deuteronomy 4:2

Do not add to what I have commanded to you.

Do not subtract from it.

Do not add another source of scripture to the scripture, Revelation 22, 18.

It says this.

This is a cute little promise.

I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of this prophecy, if anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book.

Wow.

And it says this if anyone removes anything from this book, God will remove that person's share in the tree of life and in the holy city that was described in this book.

Y'all, we have to be so careful with the way that we handle the word of God.

We do not add anything to it and we do not subtract anything from it.

It is all good.

Who is your final authority?

Answer the Bible.

Second question.

Who do you say Jesus is?

Is he just some dude?

Is he a prophet?

Is he a good guy?

Here's the answer.

Jesus is fully God and fully man, one in three persons of the one true God, uncreated, not a second God, crucified in our place.

We believe that Jesus is fully God and fully man.

Amen?

Fully God, fully man.

I just talked about that earlier, so I'm not gonna hit that again, but we do believe this.

He is one in three persons.

And I want you to clock in.

That is a conversation around the Trinity.

And as Christians, we believe in the Trinity.

And a lot of counterfeits reject it.

Okay?

Mormonism, Jehovah's Witness, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism.

All rejects the Trinity.

Okay?

So I want to quickly talk to you in like one minute about what the Trinity is.

Lord help me.

Okay?

Because it is really hard to talk about the Trinity.

People are like, people are like, it's kind of like an egg.

I'm like, really?

The Trinity's like an egg?

It's like, yeah, you know, you get like yoke and you get like the white.

Like God is like the yoke and Jesus is the white, and you know, then the spirit is like the eggshell.

Y'all, can we please not reduce God to an egg?

That would be awesome.

Like, I'd love that.

Oh, they're like, it's kind of like water.

I'm like, what do you mean?

It's like it's like H2O.

I'm like, explain it.

And they're like, you know how water is like solid, liquid, gas?

Well, God is like the same thing.

That is, that is modalism.

Which means this.

Like, people often say, no, no, no, I'm, I'm, my name is Brad, and I am an I am an uncle, I am a son, and I am a brother.

God is father, son, and spirit.

One God, three forms or functions.

That's called modalism.

That is not what we believe.

We believe one God in three persons.

Okay?

Here's how the Bible describes it: one God, Deuteronomy 6, verse 4.

Deuteronomy 6:4

Here, O Israel, the Lord our God is one.

So he is one.

He is three distinct persons.

Genesis 1, 26.

Then God said, Let us make mankind in our image.

When Jesus gets baptized, what happens is he comes out of the water.

God the Father says, This is my son in whom I'm well pleased, and the Spirit comes and descends upon him on a dove.

How does that happen if you're just one dude?

Jesus ain't schizophrenic talking to himself while he himself is the dove landing on himself.

Y'all explain that to me.

What you see in that one picture is you see all three persons of God in that place.

Jesus is different, he is distinguished from the Father.

John 1 1, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The Spirit is distinguished from the Son.

John 14, 26.

But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, this is Jesus speaking, whom the Father will send in my name.

Can you see all three representing right over there?

The Father is distinguished from the Spirit.

Romans 8 26.

The Spirit helps us in our weakness because it intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God.

He's interceding according with the will of God.

Again, they're distinguished.

But they are all God.

Counterfeits will reject that.

They are all God.

God the Father is God.

1 Corinthians 8.6.

Yet there is one God, the Father.

God the Son is God.

Titus 2.13.

While we wait for the appearing of the glory of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

John 1.1 says that the word was God.

Also, God the Spirit is God.

People forget that they think that what the Spirit is is some kind of weird form or function.

No, it is a person of the Godhead.

Acts 5.3.

Then Peter said, Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart?

You have lied to the Holy Spirit.

You have not lied just to human beings, but you have lied to God.

Jesus is fully God and fully man, one of three persons.

The one true God, uncreated, not a second God, crucified in our place.

So the final question becomes this: how are we saved?

And I've already given you the answer.

By grace, through faith in Christ, not by works.

If you take those three questions, every cult and counterfeit becomes so easy to spot, and I'm going to help you do that in the next couple of weeks.

People have asked me, Brad, can I bring my Mormon friend to this series?

Yes.

We're going to be kind, we're going to be loving, we have to do it in love.

That's what the Bible commands, but we're going to be truthful.

And what we're going to do is we're going to answer those three questions throughout the series, and I'm going to show you how all of these various counterfeits fail on those three questions.

Okay, that is your detector that we have to use.

So who needs the real thing?

Erebody.

Say everybody.

Erebody.

If you walk around Phoenix, I think a lot of people won't realize this, but 27% of Phoenix belongs to Mormonism, Jehovah's Witness, and Catholicism.

Now let me just say something about Catholics because I have met some Catholics.

There are Christians and there are different kinds of Christians.

There are Catholics and there are different kinds of Catholics.

I've met Catholics that believe that Jesus Christ alone and not works is the savior of the world and is the one that gives them salvation.

I have met Catholics that believe that.

I think a lot of times they don't even realize what Catholics believe.

Okay?

So we have to be so, so, so careful in terms of like not how do you define yourself, but what do you actually believe?

So we're gonna talk about all of that.

I encourage you to bring friends.

27% of Phoenix holds a counterfeit.

8% holds a different currency altogether.

And that is Islam and Buddhism and Hinduism and Judaism.

So we're not even gonna talk about that because they're not even trying to pretend pretend to be Christian.

They're just different.

Only 8% hold that.

So maybe one day we'll do a series on that.

The final thing is this those who are empty-handed, which is a third of Phoenix, that are agnostic or atheist.

So I need you to understand that.

Two-thirds of all people, when you're walking around the grocery store and you count, one, two, three, the first two people statistically don't have the count don't have the one true gospel.

They have a counterfeit.

Or they have nothing in their hands.

Does that make sense?

So here's a choice that we have, and then I'll pray for us.

What do we do?

We believe the gospel.

I pray that you believe the gospel.

Whoever believes in him shall not perish, John 3 says.

I pray that you repent, Acts 3.19, repent and turn to God.

And then I pray that you submit.

Can you just do what Jesus tells us to do?

If you declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord.

Luke 9 23.

Whoever wants to be my disciples must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me.

Matthew 7 21.

Not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven.

But the one who does the will of my Father, it's not good enough that we just say a prayer and then we forget about it and we like, I said the prayer, I'm good, I'm gonna keep living my life the way that I used to.

No, no, no, no, no.

You make him Lord.

Believe the gospel and then defend the gospel.

Guard it.

Second Timothy 2.15.

Do your pres do your best to present yourself as one approved, a worker who handles the truth.

And then spread the gospel.

1 Peter 3.15.

In your hearts, revere Christ as Lord.

Be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks you the reason for the hope that you have.

But do it with gentleness and respect.

My prayer is that you will have a reason for the hope that you have.

Throughout the series, whenever someone asks you why do you believe what you believe, that you can give them a reason for the hope that you have.

So next week we'll talk about Mormonism, Jehovah's Witness, people that come to your door.

The week after that, we'll talk about Catholicism, workspace, salvation.

And I think for a lot of us that hits home because we have family members that are in that space.

We'll talk about the prosperity gospel.

We'll talk about theological liberalism.

It's gonna be awesome.

It's gonna be great.

Praise God.

Welcome to Summer at Spirit.

We're different.

Can I pray for you?

God, I want to pray for every single person who is here under my voice.

God, I want to thank you for the deep desire that we have to know your word.

Lord, I want to thank you for the army of believers that you are rising up.

Lord, we don't want to just sit in church and be entertained.

God, we want to drink from your scripture.

We want to know your word.

We want to know your Bible.

God, there is no other thing that we would love to know more.

And I thank you, God, for this church.

I thank you for this incredible church.

God, I pray for such a blessing upon every single one of them.

Give us the wisdom to know how to reach that person who is far from God but close to us.

While you're still praying, I want to take a moment and recognize that there's people here, and maybe you do not know this Jesus.

You've gone to church, you've checked the boxes, but you have not put your faith in him.

And if that's you, and you know you're far from God and you want to come back to him or you even want to start a relationship with him.

No one's looking around.

I'm gonna count to three.

I just want you to wave at me.

Here we go.

One, two, three.

If that's you, just lift up your hand.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

I love that.

If you settle for something counterfeit, that's incredible.

Pray this prayer off to me.

Just say, dear Jesus, I believe that you're the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

I believe you came to this earth, you died on a cross, and you were raised.

That I can have life.

I make you my Lord, I make you my savior.

In Jesus' name.

In Jesus' name.

Hey church, can you put your hands together for everyone who just said that for the first time?

We love you, church.

And if you just said yes to Jesus, that is the best decision you could ever make.

We are so proud of you, but you do have a next step.

We want you to text the word Jesus to 480-485-3405.

Because we have a gift we would love to give you, because you were not meant to walk this journey alone.

We have something called You Said Yes, a 21-day written devotional we want to get in your hands.

And hey, if you do call Spirit Home, we have a couple things we would love for you to pray about.

The first, we would love for you to pray about sharing this message.

You never know how much a simple share could impact someone's life.

And second, we would love for you to pray about partnering with us financially because your giving enables us to get messages just like this with people like you and all around the world.

So thank you so much for what you do and how you give.

You can do that by going to spiritchurch.co forward slash give.

Well, hey, we love you, church.

We'll see you right back here next week.

And remember that with God, there is more.