1 00:00:29,939 --> 00:00:38,139 Amen. Enjoy. Enjoy the talent God's given our musicians. And that 2 00:00:38,179 --> 00:00:43,195 sounded like that needed to be played in a lobby somewhere, just 3 00:00:43,267 --> 00:00:49,531 soothing. I meant that in a good way, not a bad way. Love that 4 00:00:49,555 --> 00:00:52,759 song. Turn, if you would, in your Bibles to Romans, chapter 14. 5 00:00:53,859 --> 00:00:59,173 Romans 14. As we continue our series of messages on the Baptist 6 00:00:59,221 --> 00:01:04,581 distinctives. The Baptist distinctives. These are, again, a 7 00:01:04,605 --> 00:01:11,329 collection of biblical truths unique to Baptists. By that, I mean 8 00:01:12,189 --> 00:01:19,489 that as a collection, all these truths together is what makes 9 00:01:19,789 --> 00:01:24,869 Baptists unique. It is not that we don't have other denominations 10 00:01:24,949 --> 00:01:28,831 and. And other good churches out there teaching and preaching 11 00:01:28,895 --> 00:01:34,207 portions of these. It's that Baptist historically. All right, 12 00:01:34,263 --> 00:01:39,023 so historically, these 12, and we're going using 12. Sometimes it's 13 00:01:39,071 --> 00:01:45,727 8 to 12 of them using these 12 that have been historically, again, 14 00:01:45,783 --> 00:01:52,041 a way to describe Baptists. And so I just want to make it clear 15 00:01:52,145 --> 00:01:57,801 that, in fact, I will use an example of a Bible church. A lot 16 00:01:57,825 --> 00:02:02,569 of Bible churches are very, very close in belief to what we as 17 00:02:02,609 --> 00:02:06,361 Baptists believe. But there's still a couple of these as we go 18 00:02:06,385 --> 00:02:10,409 through them, these 12 that you wouldn't necessarily say that 19 00:02:10,449 --> 00:02:14,169 a Bible church absolutely believes this way, but you would 20 00:02:14,209 --> 00:02:16,921 say, again, I know I'm repeating myself on purpose because 21 00:02:16,945 --> 00:02:19,861 I've had some questions as of recently about reading recently about 22 00:02:19,885 --> 00:02:24,529 this, but I'm saying, again, the collection of the 12 together 23 00:02:24,909 --> 00:02:30,389 is what makes, again, Baptist. We are unique. All right, so our 24 00:02:30,429 --> 00:02:35,749 series, our theme verse for the series again, that we as a church, 25 00:02:35,829 --> 00:02:41,701 our churches, have been instructed by the Lord to be caretakers 26 00:02:41,845 --> 00:02:47,161 of the faith or caretakers of the truth. And so we are responsible, 27 00:02:47,225 --> 00:02:51,081 we are accountable to pass on biblical truth to the next generation. 28 00:02:51,145 --> 00:02:54,953 Second Timothy, chapter two and verse two. The things that thou 29 00:02:55,001 --> 00:03:00,249 has heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to 30 00:03:00,289 --> 00:03:05,961 faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. And so we take 31 00:03:05,985 --> 00:03:10,041 these biblical truths, the things that we have heard and the 32 00:03:10,065 --> 00:03:13,883 things that we have witnessed, then we commit those same things 33 00:03:14,051 --> 00:03:17,771 to the next generation. Now, look with me in Romans chapter 14, 34 00:03:17,955 --> 00:03:23,531 and we'll cover the Fourth Baptist distinctive as we go through 35 00:03:23,555 --> 00:03:30,491 this. So again, Romans chapter 14, verse 11. As it is written, as 36 00:03:30,515 --> 00:03:36,251 I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue 37 00:03:36,315 --> 00:03:41,529 shall confess to God. Look at verse 12 now. So then every one of 38 00:03:41,569 --> 00:03:47,817 us shall give an account of what does it say himself. It could 39 00:03:47,873 --> 00:03:55,753 say herself of himself to God, that everyone will give an account 40 00:03:55,841 --> 00:04:01,305 of themselves, himself, herself to God. Let's pray. Heavenly 41 00:04:01,337 --> 00:04:03,993 Father, again, we just pray that you'd be with us today. As we 42 00:04:04,001 --> 00:04:07,221 look at this again, most important subject, I pray God that 43 00:04:07,245 --> 00:04:12,649 you'd help me to be very. Have clarity of thought and make the message 44 00:04:13,389 --> 00:04:17,221 and the truth very clear to the congregation. We thank you and 45 00:04:17,245 --> 00:04:21,893 love you. In Jesus name, Amen. As we think about the Baptist distinctives 46 00:04:21,941 --> 00:04:25,141 we've covered, number one, we covered the Bible. That the Bible 47 00:04:25,205 --> 00:04:29,733 is the final authority for faith and practice. Amen. The Bible 48 00:04:29,781 --> 00:04:32,791 is the final authority for faith and practice. Not just what 49 00:04:32,815 --> 00:04:36,967 we believe, but how we go about applying those beliefs. It's 50 00:04:36,983 --> 00:04:43,815 our roadmap. It's our guide. It's inspired, inerrant, the infallible 51 00:04:43,927 --> 00:04:49,175 word of God. And then number two, the other, the second Baptist 52 00:04:49,207 --> 00:04:51,943 distinctive we've covered is salvation by grace through faith 53 00:04:52,071 --> 00:04:56,423 in the person, life and work of Jesus Christ. Salvation is found 54 00:04:56,591 --> 00:05:04,137 by grace through faith solely. That means only in the person and 55 00:05:04,193 --> 00:05:08,585 work of Jesus Christ. Jesus said himself, I am the way, the truth 56 00:05:08,617 --> 00:05:13,769 and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me. Again, we 57 00:05:13,809 --> 00:05:17,465 know most of you can quote several verses. Not by works of righteousness, 58 00:05:17,497 --> 00:05:20,505 which we have done, but according to his works. All right. 59 00:05:20,577 --> 00:05:23,321 We know that for by grace you saved through faith and that not 60 00:05:23,345 --> 00:05:26,363 of yourself. It's a gift of God, not of works, as we mentioned, 61 00:05:26,411 --> 00:05:29,819 both. So again, on and on and on. Salvation is by grace through 62 00:05:29,859 --> 00:05:32,731 faith in the personal life and work of Jesus Christ. Then last week 63 00:05:32,755 --> 00:05:38,315 we covered eternal security. And that is the security of the believer 64 00:05:38,427 --> 00:05:42,267 that once you're saved, once you've accepted Christ as your Savior, 65 00:05:42,363 --> 00:05:46,251 you're always saved. And we covered it from a little different 66 00:05:46,355 --> 00:05:49,915 perspective this last week when we really went through Romans 67 00:05:49,947 --> 00:05:53,641 chapter four and five in Romans chapter eight, if you'll remember. 68 00:05:53,705 --> 00:06:02,921 Maybe, maybe, no maybe. And we covered how that again, there's a 69 00:06:02,945 --> 00:06:07,113 battle between the old and new nature. But we were given a new nature 70 00:06:07,161 --> 00:06:11,689 when we got saved. And I said, when the Holy Spirit came into your 71 00:06:11,729 --> 00:06:14,809 life, when the Holy Spirit came to abide in you. When something 72 00:06:14,849 --> 00:06:21,091 that big shows up, you'll know it. And there ought to be in your 73 00:06:21,115 --> 00:06:26,259 own life. And there ought to be an assurance that you know that. 74 00:06:26,299 --> 00:06:29,283 You know that you know if you were to die today that heaven would 75 00:06:29,291 --> 00:06:32,739 be your home. John said it himself. He said that you might know 76 00:06:32,779 --> 00:06:36,371 that you have eternal life. And you've heard it, most of you, 77 00:06:36,395 --> 00:06:39,939 as I've heard it for all my life. We do not believe in a hope 78 00:06:39,979 --> 00:06:44,301 so salvation. We have a no so salvation. I can lay my head down 79 00:06:44,325 --> 00:06:48,269 at night. I know that if I were to die in my sleep, I know without 80 00:06:48,309 --> 00:06:52,701 a doubt, without a shadow of a doubt that heaven would be my home. 81 00:06:52,885 --> 00:06:56,061 Every Christian ought to know that. Every person ought to know 82 00:06:56,085 --> 00:07:01,389 that for sure. And you can. And that is eternal security. I did 83 00:07:01,429 --> 00:07:05,181 nothing to gain my salvation. I did nothing to work for my salvation. 84 00:07:05,325 --> 00:07:09,325 Therefore I cannot work to lose it. I can't do anything to lose 85 00:07:09,357 --> 00:07:17,275 it. I didn't earn it. It was a gift. It's a gift on two occasions. 86 00:07:17,307 --> 00:07:20,411 The Bible. The Bible refers to salvation as a gift. If it can be 87 00:07:20,435 --> 00:07:24,091 taken back, it's not a gift. It's just to me, it's simple. But 88 00:07:24,115 --> 00:07:30,235 I know this is one of those areas that a lot, a lot, a lot of 89 00:07:30,307 --> 00:07:35,211 individuals and denominations and churches preach that you can 90 00:07:35,235 --> 00:07:42,605 lose your salvation tonight. And this is one that's not spoken 91 00:07:42,637 --> 00:07:51,741 on or preached on much, is soul liberty. Soul liberty. That 92 00:07:51,845 --> 00:07:56,061 we are accountable to God individually. That's what the verse 93 00:07:56,125 --> 00:08:02,311 said. Right? Shall give an account of himself to God. I'm not 94 00:08:02,335 --> 00:08:06,727 accountable for what you have done or what you will do. You're 95 00:08:06,743 --> 00:08:10,231 not accountable for what I have done and what I will do. I am 96 00:08:10,255 --> 00:08:13,703 accountable. I'm personally accountable to God. By the way, this 97 00:08:13,711 --> 00:08:17,739 is one of the problems with America today, personal accountability. 98 00:08:18,639 --> 00:08:23,175 Personal accountability. It's one of the reasons America is suffering 99 00:08:23,367 --> 00:08:28,705 is because people will not take personal accountability, won't 100 00:08:28,737 --> 00:08:35,601 take personal their own actions. And I could go a lot more 101 00:08:35,625 --> 00:08:41,745 than that and spend time on it. But you are personally responsible 102 00:08:41,777 --> 00:08:47,569 for your actions and you are going to be accountable to God one 103 00:08:47,609 --> 00:08:51,441 day for your actions. By the way, if you're saved not for your 104 00:08:51,465 --> 00:08:56,059 sins, but for your works, the Bible says whether they be good or 105 00:08:56,099 --> 00:08:58,667 bad, in other words, whether they be for your glory or for God's 106 00:08:58,683 --> 00:09:03,451 glory, did you do them out of selfish motivation or did you do 107 00:09:03,475 --> 00:09:06,811 them out of a motivation because you love the Lord and you 108 00:09:06,835 --> 00:09:11,467 love others, Right? And so understand that. But personal accountability 109 00:09:11,563 --> 00:09:15,419 is one of those areas, America. And really across the world 110 00:09:15,459 --> 00:09:18,811 there's a severe problem. And we know. And my wife and I were having 111 00:09:18,835 --> 00:09:22,337 this discussion today. It's a sign of the end times. Me and Caleb 112 00:09:22,353 --> 00:09:25,617 were having the discussion. It's a sign of the end times that 113 00:09:25,753 --> 00:09:30,337 we get to that point where people do not feel personally responsible 114 00:09:30,513 --> 00:09:34,177 for their own actions. It's crazy, isn't it? It's crazy, isn't 115 00:09:34,193 --> 00:09:41,121 it? I want to do some more, talk about that some more. And I 116 00:09:41,145 --> 00:09:45,521 don't want to do that. Every one of us shall give an account for 117 00:09:45,545 --> 00:09:52,911 himself to God. So the Fourth Baptist distinctive is soul liberty 118 00:09:52,975 --> 00:09:58,959 and competency. Competency. How can we, I'm sorry, how can one 119 00:09:58,999 --> 00:10:03,039 be accountable if he does not have soul liberty? In other words, 120 00:10:03,159 --> 00:10:06,559 if we're going to give an account to God, how can we do that 121 00:10:06,599 --> 00:10:09,439 if we don't have soul liberty? In other words, if we're not making 122 00:10:09,479 --> 00:10:13,231 the choices. If we're not making the choices. The Bible makes 123 00:10:13,255 --> 00:10:15,985 it clear that when we, we were created, we were created in the image 124 00:10:16,017 --> 00:10:19,121 of God and we were created with a free will, mind, will and 125 00:10:19,145 --> 00:10:22,161 emotions. Amen. Mind, will and emotions. We talked about this when 126 00:10:22,185 --> 00:10:26,385 we talk about Calvinism and Calvinism kind of it pushes that 127 00:10:26,457 --> 00:10:31,313 out. It makes people, you know, robots who don't have the, 128 00:10:31,401 --> 00:10:34,017 they don't have the option whether to believe in, you know, 129 00:10:34,073 --> 00:10:37,025 salvation by, you know, salvation or not. If you were chosen, 130 00:10:37,057 --> 00:10:41,501 you're chosen. And so God didn't create us as robots, but we 131 00:10:41,525 --> 00:10:45,837 have a free will. And because we have a free will, we are again 132 00:10:45,973 --> 00:10:48,989 personally accountable. So let's look at the words defined here. 133 00:10:49,029 --> 00:10:53,901 The word soul. The word soul. So his or her soul. Again this is 134 00:10:53,925 --> 00:10:58,765 talking about individual and personal. The soul is the innermost 135 00:10:58,797 --> 00:11:02,877 self awareness or self consciousness of a man that makes 136 00:11:02,933 --> 00:11:06,743 him an individual able to reflect upon God, his revelation 137 00:11:06,791 --> 00:11:13,143 to man. All right, so it's that self awareness that enables 138 00:11:13,191 --> 00:11:17,111 me to reflect upon God. I can reflect upon his revelation, in other 139 00:11:17,135 --> 00:11:20,951 words, how he has revealed Himself to me. I have the ability 140 00:11:21,015 --> 00:11:25,319 to look at creation and make a decision. I can make a decision that 141 00:11:25,439 --> 00:11:29,255 that just happened or I can make a decision that that is God 142 00:11:29,287 --> 00:11:32,695 revealing himself to me. And by the way, it is God revealing himself 143 00:11:32,727 --> 00:11:39,783 to me. Creation, all of creation is nothing but a finger 144 00:11:39,831 --> 00:11:44,839 pointing up to God. I created this. I am the creator, I am the 145 00:11:44,879 --> 00:11:49,979 curator, I am the caretaker. And one day he will be the consummator. 146 00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:54,471 This is going to happen. And so all of creation tells us that 147 00:11:54,495 --> 00:11:58,743 there is an absolute, tells us there is a God. So God, we have the 148 00:11:58,751 --> 00:12:02,973 ability, because we've been given again free will and be given 149 00:12:03,061 --> 00:12:08,333 sole liberty to make these decisions and to reflect upon, be 150 00:12:08,341 --> 00:12:12,013 able to reflect upon God and his revelation of himself by the 151 00:12:12,021 --> 00:12:15,101 way he reveals himself through his Bible, through the Word, the 152 00:12:15,125 --> 00:12:21,501 written word of God. And again he reveals himself to us and make 153 00:12:21,525 --> 00:12:24,765 us aware of himself and Himself in light of such. And then 154 00:12:24,837 --> 00:12:28,791 we, we have the ability to act on it. So I have free will, I have 155 00:12:28,815 --> 00:12:32,615 soul liberty, the ability to make choices. And I've been given 156 00:12:32,687 --> 00:12:39,799 the wherewithal to reflect upon God and the way in which he 157 00:12:39,839 --> 00:12:44,519 has revealed Himself to me through creation or through the Bible, 158 00:12:44,599 --> 00:12:50,887 through history. And then I act upon that. In other words, my 159 00:12:50,943 --> 00:12:55,067 actions is what's going to be accounted for, for, accountable to. 160 00:12:55,123 --> 00:13:01,515 Right, accountable for. Stay with me. By the way the human beings 161 00:13:01,547 --> 00:13:05,467 are made are a trichotomy. Body, soul and spirit. Body, soul 162 00:13:05,483 --> 00:13:10,363 and spirit. In the Bible we refer to as a trichotomy. Body, soul 163 00:13:10,411 --> 00:13:16,427 and spirit. The body of course is this tabernacle. That's the world 164 00:13:16,483 --> 00:13:21,437 consciousness. Somebody has said the soul, self, conscience and 165 00:13:21,493 --> 00:13:26,013 the spirit is that part of us which is God, conscience, the body, 166 00:13:26,181 --> 00:13:29,421 soul and spirit. There are some who believe in dichotomy that 167 00:13:29,445 --> 00:13:32,397 believe that spirit and the soul are one and the same. I don't 168 00:13:32,413 --> 00:13:34,221 believe the Bible teaches that. I believe the Bible makes it 169 00:13:34,245 --> 00:13:38,397 very clear that it's a separate part of us that we are as 170 00:13:38,533 --> 00:13:42,125 the Trinity is God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. 171 00:13:42,237 --> 00:13:47,043 So we are a trichotomy as well. Body, soul, spirit. And so 172 00:13:47,051 --> 00:13:51,299 the soul again is that part of which of us that is self conscious. 173 00:13:51,459 --> 00:13:55,799 Alright then, liberty. Well, we all know what liberty means. Freedom, 174 00:13:56,699 --> 00:14:02,307 soul, soul liberty. I always think about KIA soul. Why? I don't 175 00:14:02,323 --> 00:14:07,299 know. That's an ugly car. Soul liberty. I think about those little 176 00:14:07,419 --> 00:14:09,839 is it gerbils in the commercial. Y'all remember that? 177 00:14:10,389 --> 00:14:12,333 That's the stuff that goes through my mind when I'm preaching. 178 00:14:12,381 --> 00:14:17,309 I'm sorry, just that's the way I'm wired. It's just the liberty, 179 00:14:17,389 --> 00:14:24,205 Freedom, freedom, freedom. Every person has autonomy from God 180 00:14:24,317 --> 00:14:29,437 to study His Word and we can come directly to him through Christ. 181 00:14:29,573 --> 00:14:35,357 So the point we're making here is soul liberty. Every person has 182 00:14:35,413 --> 00:14:38,221 the wherewithal to come to Christ, to come to the Word of God, 183 00:14:38,285 --> 00:14:41,813 to come to read the Word of God, to understand the Word of God, 184 00:14:41,941 --> 00:14:47,381 that we can come directly to the Lord through Jesus Christ. We 185 00:14:47,405 --> 00:14:52,389 don't need someone sitting in a booth, you know, confessing our 186 00:14:52,429 --> 00:14:56,549 sins to in order to get direct access to God. No, the Bible says 187 00:14:56,589 --> 00:15:01,141 we are priests, that we are a royal priesthood and we have direct 188 00:15:01,245 --> 00:15:05,459 access individually to God. You do not have to come to the preacher 189 00:15:05,549 --> 00:15:10,099 and come to my office and confess your sins and then ask me 190 00:15:10,399 --> 00:15:14,519 God for forgiveness. No, you go to God on your own, you are personally 191 00:15:14,599 --> 00:15:18,391 accountable. You have soul liberty and you can go directly to 192 00:15:18,415 --> 00:15:22,215 God on your own and ask for forgiveness. We can come directly 193 00:15:22,247 --> 00:15:25,031 to God. Not just for forgiveness, of course, but when 194 00:15:25,055 --> 00:15:28,759 it comes to the word of God, understanding the Word of God. The 195 00:15:28,799 --> 00:15:33,729 Holy Spirit is given to every person who accepts Christ as their 196 00:15:33,769 --> 00:15:38,609 Savior. The moment you're saved, the moment you transfer your 197 00:15:38,649 --> 00:15:44,497 trust from anything else and anyone else or yourself unto Christ 198 00:15:44,553 --> 00:15:49,873 and Christ alone and you put your faith in him, you immediately 199 00:15:50,001 --> 00:15:55,349 you receive the Holy Spirit of God. And that Holy Spirit of God 200 00:15:57,289 --> 00:16:08,319 gives you plenty of blessings. One of those is illumination. Illumination. 201 00:16:08,399 --> 00:16:12,739 In other words, it is the Holy Spirit that leads us into all truth. 202 00:16:14,439 --> 00:16:20,207 He is the one who enables you to understand the Bible, to lead 203 00:16:20,263 --> 00:16:24,831 you to understand the Bible. You have the same Holy Spirit that 204 00:16:24,855 --> 00:16:31,305 I have. I have the same Holy Spirit that you have. Preachers don't 205 00:16:31,337 --> 00:16:37,081 have any special illumination versus the person sitting in the 206 00:16:37,105 --> 00:16:43,065 pew, the chair. One of my favorite Bible teachers is Brother 207 00:16:43,097 --> 00:16:46,601 Stewart. I think he is the smartest man I've ever met. When 208 00:16:46,625 --> 00:16:52,471 it comes to the Bible. He doesn't have a corner the Bible. 209 00:16:52,535 --> 00:16:56,119 In other words, he doesn't have some special revelation from 210 00:16:56,159 --> 00:17:01,319 God, some special light that's been given to him in order for him 211 00:17:01,359 --> 00:17:06,599 to understand the Scriptures better than you or me. We all have 212 00:17:06,639 --> 00:17:11,911 the same Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is there again to not 213 00:17:11,935 --> 00:17:18,351 only to illuminate us, but to fill us, of course, and seal us. 214 00:17:18,495 --> 00:17:21,967 And you can grieve the Holy Spirit and on and on and on the works 215 00:17:21,983 --> 00:17:25,071 of the Holy Spirit in our lives. So liberty, freedom. And then 216 00:17:25,175 --> 00:17:30,431 third is competency again, the wherewithal to act as a free moral 217 00:17:30,495 --> 00:17:36,299 agent. Again, that we are not robots, that we have a free will 218 00:17:36,599 --> 00:17:40,815 and that. And that because we are created in the image of God, 219 00:17:41,007 --> 00:17:46,339 again that body, soul, spirit, again the mind, will and emotions. 220 00:17:47,678 --> 00:17:51,318 I always like to point out when we talk about moral awareness. 221 00:17:51,478 --> 00:17:58,118 So as human beings we have competency. We have moral awareness, 222 00:17:58,278 --> 00:18:03,302 moral awareness. So we are born with some light. That's what 223 00:18:03,310 --> 00:18:07,606 the Bible says. He lit every man that cometh into the world. Romans 224 00:18:07,622 --> 00:18:11,942 says that the law of God is stamped on the heart of every person 225 00:18:12,030 --> 00:18:17,671 born into this world. We know because of sin, because of Adam's 226 00:18:17,735 --> 00:18:23,495 sin, and that sin's passed to every man, all mankind, that that 227 00:18:23,647 --> 00:18:27,319 moral awareness, that conscience that we are given has 228 00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:31,543 been warped. That's why when we say, well, just let your conscience 229 00:18:31,591 --> 00:18:36,135 be your guide, that's not a good thing. Yes, you have a conscience. 230 00:18:36,247 --> 00:18:41,813 Yes, we have moral awareness. But because of sin, that moral awareness 231 00:18:41,861 --> 00:18:44,757 is not like Adam and Eve had before they got saved, before they. 232 00:18:44,813 --> 00:18:48,021 I mean, before the fall. One day we'll have that again. By the 233 00:18:48,045 --> 00:18:57,365 way, one day we'll not sin. One day the Conscience will no longer 234 00:18:57,397 --> 00:19:01,541 be warped. Warped is maybe not the right word, but you get what 235 00:19:01,565 --> 00:19:06,569 I'm trying to get across. So a proof that humans are not animals 236 00:19:07,639 --> 00:19:14,207 again, that moral awareness that we have humans again, human 237 00:19:14,263 --> 00:19:19,519 beings are not animals. We're of a separate created order and we 238 00:19:19,559 --> 00:19:24,991 are above the animals. Animals were made for us. Some of them were 239 00:19:25,015 --> 00:19:31,539 made for us to eat. They're very tasty. Very, very, very tasty. 240 00:19:33,009 --> 00:19:38,229 I'm definitely for people eating. I won't go through with it. 241 00:19:38,769 --> 00:19:43,257 Tasty animals. Sorry, I just had to do it. People eating tasty 242 00:19:43,273 --> 00:19:48,549 animals is really good. PETA? Nobody. Some of y'all. Okay, good 243 00:19:49,889 --> 00:19:54,281 animals do not have moral awareness. Why? Because they were 244 00:19:54,305 --> 00:19:59,689 not created in the image of God. This competency, all right, 245 00:20:00,949 --> 00:20:08,349 it kind of goes back to. We did a study talking about the Gnostics 246 00:20:08,509 --> 00:20:12,493 in the Book of Colossians. Remember that some of you and the 247 00:20:12,501 --> 00:20:18,669 Gnostics believe that you could get to the point of a point 248 00:20:18,709 --> 00:20:22,749 of. That you have a special light that somebody else does not 249 00:20:22,789 --> 00:20:29,207 have, that you have a corner on understanding a certain portion 250 00:20:29,223 --> 00:20:32,391 of Scripture. It's kind of like the person who says, well, you 251 00:20:32,415 --> 00:20:34,679 just haven't gotten there yet. You haven't received enough light 252 00:20:34,719 --> 00:20:39,191 yet. And it's somebody who comes across and says, well, I have 253 00:20:39,215 --> 00:20:42,311 more light than you have. And I'm just telling you we all have 254 00:20:42,335 --> 00:20:47,511 the same Holy Spirit, we all have the same ability. And God hasn't 255 00:20:47,575 --> 00:20:53,595 given, again, some special anointing on someone else that God 256 00:20:53,627 --> 00:20:56,587 hasn't given to you when it comes to Scripture and understanding 257 00:20:56,603 --> 00:21:01,803 the Scripture. Amen. Amen. Alright, so that leads us into the 258 00:21:01,811 --> 00:21:05,467 next point. So when it comes to soul liberty, one of the ways 259 00:21:05,483 --> 00:21:09,851 in which we can kind of track this or talk about it is through 260 00:21:09,955 --> 00:21:14,347 history. How has this been or how has this been affected and whereabouts 261 00:21:14,363 --> 00:21:18,431 did it come from? As far as the understanding of it, One of the 262 00:21:18,455 --> 00:21:21,007 areas is the Pilgrims. Everybody know who those are? Those 263 00:21:21,063 --> 00:21:24,463 used to be taught in school, the Pilgrims. When I was in elementary, 264 00:21:24,511 --> 00:21:27,459 you used to dress up as a pilgrim and some dressed up as Indians. 265 00:21:28,039 --> 00:21:33,951 It was fine. It was fine. And so the Pilgrims have taken a bad 266 00:21:33,975 --> 00:21:41,359 rap because of the revisionist history writers. But the Pilgrims 267 00:21:41,439 --> 00:21:46,763 came to America. Why? Why did the Pilgrims come to America? Religious 268 00:21:46,811 --> 00:21:52,587 freedom. Absolutely. There's no if, ands or buts about that. There's 269 00:21:52,603 --> 00:21:56,859 no debate. That's why the Pilgrims came. They came to get away 270 00:21:56,979 --> 00:22:00,683 from an oppressive king, an oppressive state. They came to get 271 00:22:00,691 --> 00:22:05,451 away from the Church of England. They went to Holland. And 272 00:22:05,475 --> 00:22:08,923 even there they were persecuted somewhat, and they were 273 00:22:09,011 --> 00:22:12,799 what we would call a denomination called Congregationalists. 274 00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:20,359 Congregationalists. And so they wanted to go to a country, go 275 00:22:20,399 --> 00:22:24,391 to a place where they could worship according to the dictates 276 00:22:24,455 --> 00:22:29,991 of their own conscience. Does that sound like anything familiar 277 00:22:30,055 --> 00:22:41,109 to you? That's individual soul liberty that God has given us, again, 278 00:22:41,229 --> 00:22:46,389 the rights, if you Would you believe how you want to. I believe 279 00:22:46,429 --> 00:22:54,645 how I want to. That's called religious freedom. Religious freedom. 280 00:22:54,837 --> 00:22:58,569 The Pilgrims were influenced by Baptists, by the way, in Holland, 281 00:22:59,149 --> 00:23:03,381 and they migrated. Pilgrims migrated to the United States in 282 00:23:03,405 --> 00:23:06,481 waves. So they came. Some of them came. Then some more came. Then 283 00:23:06,505 --> 00:23:12,305 some more came. Pilgrims are sometimes lumped in with Puritans. 284 00:23:12,337 --> 00:23:15,729 And that's not necessarily the case, though, as the Pilgrims were 285 00:23:15,769 --> 00:23:21,473 here first in America, and they kind of melded into. And with 286 00:23:21,641 --> 00:23:29,425 the Puritans, The Puritans came. They really were a sect, religious 287 00:23:29,457 --> 00:23:33,925 sect, that wanted to purify the Church of England. They wanted 288 00:23:33,957 --> 00:23:41,925 to get it purified, to correct it, to get it right. And it wasn't 289 00:23:41,957 --> 00:23:46,613 doable, of course. And so eventually the Pilgrims were absorbed 290 00:23:46,661 --> 00:23:52,901 in America into and in with the Puritans. That's a fact. So you 291 00:23:52,925 --> 00:23:58,753 have the Pilgrims, you have the Puritans. These individuals expressed 292 00:23:58,901 --> 00:24:03,001 and these groups expressed what we're trying to say. Individual 293 00:24:03,065 --> 00:24:06,553 soul liberty. Stay with me now. We're going somewhere. Soul 294 00:24:06,601 --> 00:24:11,241 liberty, this right of understanding that each person is 295 00:24:11,265 --> 00:24:17,001 accountable to God for what they do and what they believe. And 296 00:24:17,025 --> 00:24:19,465 then take into account not only the Pilgrims and the Puritans, 297 00:24:19,497 --> 00:24:22,633 but take into account the Protestants. The Protestants. All 298 00:24:22,641 --> 00:24:26,361 right, so a Protestant, Again, we think about Martin luther, the 299 00:24:26,385 --> 00:24:32,905 early 1500s, their belief in soul liberty. In soul liberty. Again, 300 00:24:32,977 --> 00:24:37,785 this led the ideal that the Bible be equally available to all. 301 00:24:37,857 --> 00:24:43,189 So then you had Tyndale and you had all these Reformists and 302 00:24:44,369 --> 00:24:48,281 the group of Reformers who said, okay, the Catholic Church is 303 00:24:48,305 --> 00:24:53,091 the only one who has the Bible. The Catholic Church made it 304 00:24:53,115 --> 00:24:58,771 illegal to have the Bible in your own language. And when Tyndale 305 00:24:58,835 --> 00:25:02,039 and these others began to translate the Bible into English, 306 00:25:02,379 --> 00:25:05,559 they were burned at the stake. They were killed. They were martyred. 307 00:25:06,139 --> 00:25:10,835 And so that's. Again, as the Protestant Reformation began, Martin 308 00:25:10,867 --> 00:25:15,411 Luther and others, you began to see this shape or this doctrine, 309 00:25:15,475 --> 00:25:18,985 these teachings take shape. And one of those doctrines was individual 310 00:25:19,017 --> 00:25:25,385 soul liberty. Individual soul liberty. Again, the Protestants weren't 311 00:25:25,417 --> 00:25:29,625 perfect about it. I did come across, and I haven't really studied 312 00:25:29,657 --> 00:25:33,433 this much, but we ought to be grateful, the Protestant movement. 313 00:25:33,481 --> 00:25:38,349 By the way, Baptists are not Protestants. We're not Protestants, 314 00:25:38,769 --> 00:25:44,441 we didn't protest the Catholic Church. We were around before the 315 00:25:44,465 --> 00:25:50,921 Catholic Church. Amen. We went through the Reformation, we went 316 00:25:50,945 --> 00:25:54,569 through the dark ages. The 50 million or so Christians that were 317 00:25:54,609 --> 00:25:57,881 martyred during the Dark Ages now called the Middle Ages because 318 00:25:57,905 --> 00:26:02,969 you can't politically correct call it the Dark Ages. Most of those 319 00:26:03,009 --> 00:26:07,577 were Baptists, separatists, Montanists, Novatians. I mean there's 320 00:26:07,593 --> 00:26:11,083 so many different names there. But those who held to the Baptist 321 00:26:11,131 --> 00:26:18,651 distinctives. And so the Protestants had their teachings, 322 00:26:18,715 --> 00:26:22,011 their doctrine versus what the Catholic Church was teaching. And 323 00:26:22,035 --> 00:26:28,043 it's called the five solas. Solis means light of the Protestant 324 00:26:28,091 --> 00:26:32,859 movement. So there are five, if you would, pillars of the Protestant 325 00:26:32,939 --> 00:26:36,309 movement doctrine, their teachings. Alright, here's the five 326 00:26:36,349 --> 00:26:41,781 pillars. Scripture alone, in other words, it's the Bible dictates 327 00:26:41,845 --> 00:26:45,221 what we believe. Just what we're saying tonight, the Bible is 328 00:26:45,245 --> 00:26:48,997 our final rule and authority for all faith and practice. Number 329 00:26:49,053 --> 00:26:54,389 two, by faith alone, that salvation is by faith alone plus 330 00:26:54,469 --> 00:26:58,853 nothing, minus nothing. By grace alone. You say, well, some 331 00:26:58,861 --> 00:27:02,291 of the Protestants didn't practice us very good, I agree. But 332 00:27:02,315 --> 00:27:05,907 this was their five pillars, if you would. By grace alone we believe 333 00:27:05,963 --> 00:27:08,371 that for by grace he is saved through faith. We just talked about 334 00:27:08,395 --> 00:27:13,299 it. And then Christ alone. Number four, Christ alone. And then 335 00:27:13,419 --> 00:27:17,235 number five, glory to God alone. In other words, all glory 336 00:27:17,267 --> 00:27:21,251 goes to God. Not to the Pope, not to someone else. Glory. In other 337 00:27:21,275 --> 00:27:26,851 words, it's God whom we have access to that we don't have to go 338 00:27:26,875 --> 00:27:30,141 through a priest. And he's the one that we, that we ought to bring 339 00:27:30,165 --> 00:27:37,821 glory to, not to some denomination or some. Anyway, so 340 00:27:37,925 --> 00:27:43,773 Baptists benefited from the Protestant movement. Baptists benefited 341 00:27:43,821 --> 00:27:49,165 from the Reformation because of the acceptance of these five truths 342 00:27:49,357 --> 00:27:53,837 by most Protestants. Most Protestants. Now again, that's been 343 00:27:53,893 --> 00:28:00,391 kind of back and forth throughout the ages. But most Protestants 344 00:28:00,535 --> 00:28:07,223 did not sufficiently practice our lineup doctrinally with these 345 00:28:07,311 --> 00:28:13,319 five pillars. They had these five, but they in practice did not 346 00:28:13,439 --> 00:28:18,311 line up. Many of them did not line up with it. All right, so what 347 00:28:18,335 --> 00:28:23,161 happened was because they did not line up with it, you had not 348 00:28:23,185 --> 00:28:31,449 only Catholics oppressing Baptists or separatists, but you 349 00:28:31,489 --> 00:28:40,089 had Protestants. There were Baptists martyred in America by Protestant 350 00:28:40,249 --> 00:28:46,041 churches and denominations, not just the Catholic Church, because 351 00:28:46,145 --> 00:28:51,345 mainly because we believe believer's baptism, that only a believer 352 00:28:51,377 --> 00:28:54,913 can be baptized. Only someone who's been saved can be baptized. 353 00:28:54,961 --> 00:29:00,193 And that baptism has to be done by immersion. Man, go read the 354 00:29:00,201 --> 00:29:05,121 Fox's book of Martyrs. Man, read through. There's so much, so 355 00:29:05,145 --> 00:29:09,921 much history behind all this but in reflection, as we look back 356 00:29:09,945 --> 00:29:12,753 through history, I know it bored some of you. As we look back 357 00:29:12,761 --> 00:29:19,123 through history, we can't discount the impact the Protestant 358 00:29:19,171 --> 00:29:23,999 movement, the Reformation movement had on Baptists as well. 359 00:29:24,939 --> 00:29:31,283 It allowed for so much more to come out and to be done as the Catholic 360 00:29:31,331 --> 00:29:36,723 Church began to lose its influence and the Protestant movement 361 00:29:36,771 --> 00:29:41,735 began to grow. Thank the Lord for it. And many of the Protestant 362 00:29:41,767 --> 00:29:44,711 churches, and there are some still today, still preaching the 363 00:29:44,735 --> 00:29:48,791 gospel, still teaching salvation by grace through faith 364 00:29:48,935 --> 00:29:57,319 and certainly teaching individual soul liberty. So we do 365 00:29:57,359 --> 00:30:02,455 have some today who even in that vein of thought because of individual 366 00:30:02,487 --> 00:30:04,903 soul liberty. So think about this. If somebody has individual 367 00:30:04,951 --> 00:30:09,271 soul liberty, then they have individual soul liberty. It's not 368 00:30:09,295 --> 00:30:12,919 just that the Protestants have it or the Catholics have it, but 369 00:30:12,959 --> 00:30:17,991 sometimes even among Baptists there can be some coercion into. 370 00:30:18,175 --> 00:30:23,939 If you don't believe exactly like I believe, then phooey on you. 371 00:30:26,239 --> 00:30:30,231 Maybe nobody wants to talk about this, but there are a lot, 372 00:30:30,415 --> 00:30:34,929 there are some things going on, some weird stuff out there online 373 00:30:35,309 --> 00:30:39,029 in some of these so called. They call themselves Baptist churches 374 00:30:39,189 --> 00:30:43,157 and they call themselves the New. There's a group called the New 375 00:30:43,213 --> 00:30:47,125 Independent Baptist Churches. And man, that Steve Anderson crowd, 376 00:30:47,237 --> 00:30:52,053 they're something. So just be aware out there that there are even 377 00:30:52,221 --> 00:30:57,909 among people who call themselves Baptists who are oppressors. 378 00:30:58,069 --> 00:31:01,617 And if you don't believe exactly like they do, then they'll 379 00:31:01,633 --> 00:31:03,537 have nothing to do with you. Not just that they won't have nothing 380 00:31:03,553 --> 00:31:07,393 to do with you, they will oppress you. You're not a part of 381 00:31:07,401 --> 00:31:12,961 their club. Then you know there is going to be some oppression 382 00:31:13,025 --> 00:31:16,737 happen. That's just not. And you think, well preacher, that's 383 00:31:16,753 --> 00:31:20,049 just preacher talk. I am telling you it affects individuals. 384 00:31:20,209 --> 00:31:25,073 Individual soul liberty means that I alone am personally accountable 385 00:31:25,121 --> 00:31:33,913 to God for myself and that's the way God made me. Alright, Soul 386 00:31:33,961 --> 00:31:37,001 liberty. Each person is responsible to God for their faith. 387 00:31:37,065 --> 00:31:40,969 Each person is responsible for their salvation. In other words, 388 00:31:41,049 --> 00:31:43,561 accepting the Christ as their Savior. I can't get saved for my 389 00:31:43,585 --> 00:31:46,909 kids. You can't get saved for your kids. They're individually responsible 390 00:31:47,329 --> 00:31:50,825 at the time in which they come to that age that they would accept 391 00:31:50,897 --> 00:31:55,091 Christ as their savior. Personally accountability in the 392 00:31:55,115 --> 00:31:59,379 area of morality and theology. Personally accountable in the area 393 00:31:59,419 --> 00:32:05,075 of morality. I can't control another adult and so I'm not personally 394 00:32:05,107 --> 00:32:09,203 accountable for him or her. Sometimes this happens with parents. 395 00:32:09,331 --> 00:32:13,219 Their kids get raised, their kids become an adult and they still 396 00:32:13,259 --> 00:32:16,099 think they're accountable for what their kids do at the age of 397 00:32:16,139 --> 00:32:19,521 21 I'm not accountable for what my kids do at the age of 21. 398 00:32:19,635 --> 00:32:25,333 They are. Quit beating yourself up over it. If you have 399 00:32:25,341 --> 00:32:30,325 a kid who has strayed. And certainly absolutely pray and pray 400 00:32:30,357 --> 00:32:34,069 that God would intervene. Pray for them, help them when you can, 401 00:32:34,189 --> 00:32:37,685 but be careful about beating yourself up over they're personally 402 00:32:37,717 --> 00:32:40,853 accountable. They're personally accountable and your grandkids 403 00:32:40,901 --> 00:32:46,149 too, by the way. And then accountability to the Scripture as 404 00:32:46,189 --> 00:32:49,863 to what their meanings are. In other words, I'm personally accountable 405 00:32:49,911 --> 00:32:53,303 for what I believe. The Bible is saying search the Scriptures. 406 00:32:53,351 --> 00:32:58,311 The Bible says whether these things be so, whatever coming out 407 00:32:58,335 --> 00:33:01,463 from the pew, we need to be careful that we have searched the 408 00:33:01,471 --> 00:33:08,455 Scriptures and these things be so. Be careful, be careful. We're 409 00:33:08,487 --> 00:33:12,071 all accountable. All accountability, therefore is capable 410 00:33:12,135 --> 00:33:15,463 of responding to God directly. We are all capable of responding 411 00:33:15,591 --> 00:33:21,611 to God directly. And yes, as we read our Bibles, we ask for the 412 00:33:21,635 --> 00:33:25,195 Lord to open our eyes that we must understand the marvelous things 413 00:33:25,267 --> 00:33:29,979 found in the Bible. Lord, help me to understand these things. And 414 00:33:30,019 --> 00:33:34,075 yes, there's still absolutely. The Bible makes it clear that there's 415 00:33:34,107 --> 00:33:38,827 a place for a pastor's teachings that we ought to again, 416 00:33:38,963 --> 00:33:42,907 the pastors to feed the flock, the pastors to be apt to teach. And 417 00:33:42,963 --> 00:33:47,169 so certainly we, we can listen to and be taught by men and women 418 00:33:47,549 --> 00:33:52,849 the things of God. But again, we are personally responsible for 419 00:33:53,309 --> 00:33:59,861 what we believe. What we believe. So be careful. Search the 420 00:33:59,885 --> 00:34:04,149 Scripture again, each person responsible. No group or man has 421 00:34:04,189 --> 00:34:10,453 special light from God. No certain group or man has special 422 00:34:10,541 --> 00:34:14,803 light from God. I'm thankful for good Bible teachers like Brother 423 00:34:14,851 --> 00:34:19,763 Stewart. I'm thankful for mature saints whom I can listen to 424 00:34:19,771 --> 00:34:24,339 them as they teach and as they preach and receive instruction from 425 00:34:24,379 --> 00:34:27,283 the word of God. But understand they don't have a corner 426 00:34:27,331 --> 00:34:33,363 on the market. I have the same Holy Spirit. I'll end here. America 427 00:34:33,411 --> 00:34:37,599 has contributed to governments around the world the teaching of 428 00:34:37,909 --> 00:34:43,677 religious liberty. It is America. It is America. And I would 429 00:34:43,733 --> 00:34:49,009 say to you, and you can do your own research, Baptists influence 430 00:34:49,349 --> 00:34:55,149 among those founding Fathers. It was Baptist influence that influenced 431 00:34:55,229 --> 00:35:00,413 Madison. It was Baptist who influenced George Washington. It's 432 00:35:00,461 --> 00:35:05,917 Baptist who influenced the, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights 433 00:35:05,973 --> 00:35:10,301 and so forth. And that we have religious freedom today. There were 434 00:35:10,405 --> 00:35:14,253 many of our founding fathers who wanted to institute government 435 00:35:14,341 --> 00:35:18,061 churches. In fact, there was one set of plans put forward that 436 00:35:18,085 --> 00:35:21,213 there would be four denominations in America. And it 437 00:35:21,221 --> 00:35:24,589 was again the Baptist influence among our founding fathers 438 00:35:24,749 --> 00:35:30,635 who shouted from the rooftops that individual, that we as individuals 439 00:35:30,667 --> 00:35:36,159 are responsible to God as to what we believe and what we practice 440 00:35:36,499 --> 00:35:41,899 soul liberty recognizes the right of a person to hold views they 441 00:35:41,939 --> 00:35:51,643 choose. I do want to say this. Individual soul liberty gives the 442 00:35:51,651 --> 00:35:56,453 right to choose what you believe. But you can't call yourself 443 00:35:56,501 --> 00:36:05,253 a Baptist if you divert from the Baptist distinctives historic 444 00:36:05,301 --> 00:36:14,069 Baptist belief. And this is where I would caution you that we 445 00:36:14,109 --> 00:36:19,701 live in a day and age in which there are some who call themselves 446 00:36:19,765 --> 00:36:25,055 Baptists who are not Baptist. They do not believe in the historic 447 00:36:25,087 --> 00:36:28,899 Baptist faith. By the way, the historic Baptist faith is Bible faith. 448 00:36:29,639 --> 00:36:31,935 If I thought any other denomination or any other church 449 00:36:31,967 --> 00:36:35,263 was teaching the Bible straightforward as it is what it 450 00:36:35,271 --> 00:36:39,503 is, that's what I would be. But I'm Baptist because Baptists 451 00:36:39,551 --> 00:36:43,583 historically have lined up with the Scripture teaching and preaching 452 00:36:43,631 --> 00:36:49,769 the Bible as it states, as it stands. And there are many out there 453 00:36:49,809 --> 00:36:53,305 today who claim to be Baptists who are not. So again, I would just 454 00:36:53,377 --> 00:36:57,801 caution you there are those who don't have Baptists on their 455 00:36:57,825 --> 00:37:01,849 name anymore, but that do have Baptist beliefs. So it can go both 456 00:37:01,889 --> 00:37:10,393 ways. So liberty, so what, preacher, so what? So what? How does 457 00:37:10,401 --> 00:37:13,897 this affect me? Well, I'm thankful for individual soul liberty, 458 00:37:13,913 --> 00:37:18,509 aren't you? That I can worship God to the dictates of my conscience. 459 00:37:19,249 --> 00:37:22,905 I'm thankful for America where we have religious liberty and religious 460 00:37:22,937 --> 00:37:26,601 freedom based upon individual soul liberty. Because there are many 461 00:37:26,625 --> 00:37:30,121 countries out there that don't have that. There are many in the 462 00:37:30,145 --> 00:37:36,649 Middle east and China, many who are suffering today. Many who 463 00:37:36,689 --> 00:37:43,925 still today are giving their lives for the faith. I'm thankful 464 00:37:43,957 --> 00:37:49,589 for individual soul liberty. Individual soul liberty on every 465 00:37:49,629 --> 00:37:55,429 level encourages Christians to study and read the Bible on their 466 00:37:55,469 --> 00:38:03,669 own. I need to be careful that I don't use so and so podcast or 467 00:38:03,709 --> 00:38:08,987 so and so books or so or whatever as a crutch for not reading 468 00:38:09,003 --> 00:38:14,011 the Bible myself and asking the Holy Spirit to help me to know 469 00:38:14,035 --> 00:38:18,283 and understand what I'm reading. So individual soul liberty 470 00:38:18,331 --> 00:38:20,747 makes me accountable, but the Bible makes me accountable to God 471 00:38:20,763 --> 00:38:24,119 personally for what I believe. Therefore it encourages Bible study 472 00:38:24,819 --> 00:38:30,043 not from just the preacher, but for everyone. Every Christian 473 00:38:30,171 --> 00:38:35,187 ought to be a Bible thumper. Every Christian ought to read and 474 00:38:35,243 --> 00:38:40,147 study their Bible on a daily basis. Every Christian ought to be 475 00:38:40,283 --> 00:38:45,587 just enthralled with this book. This is the meat, this is our 476 00:38:45,643 --> 00:38:51,219 food. This is how we grow spiritually. And I just can't rely 477 00:38:51,299 --> 00:38:56,899 now again, it's wonderful. We ought to seek out good teachers and 478 00:38:56,939 --> 00:38:59,971 good podcasts and all those things encourages us and, and we 479 00:38:59,995 --> 00:39:05,219 can grow and learn a lot. But individually I am to take the time 480 00:39:05,259 --> 00:39:10,083 and walk with God myself, walk with Jesus yourself, have a daily 481 00:39:10,131 --> 00:39:13,635 walk. That's what God desires of you. He desires to personally 482 00:39:13,667 --> 00:39:19,315 walk with you and talk with you. And I know I'm the preacher 483 00:39:19,347 --> 00:39:23,075 up here, but sometimes too, if we're not careful, we can put preachers 484 00:39:23,107 --> 00:39:26,615 on another shelf, another level or. And I'm telling you, preachers 485 00:39:26,647 --> 00:39:30,791 will let you down. I let myself down all the time. That was 486 00:39:30,815 --> 00:39:37,895 supposed to be funny. It's not, but I do. I've had preachers 487 00:39:37,927 --> 00:39:45,991 let me down. Man. Your faith. You are personally accountable for 488 00:39:46,015 --> 00:39:52,647 your faith. You, not your preacher, not your Sunday school 489 00:39:52,703 --> 00:39:57,111 teacher, not that person you're listening to on the podcast 490 00:39:57,175 --> 00:40:04,279 or that book you're reading. But you. Would you want it any other 491 00:40:04,319 --> 00:40:11,383 way? No. I don't want to live in China. Do you? I don't want to 492 00:40:11,391 --> 00:40:15,543 live in the Middle East. Do you? No. I'm thankful for my liberty. 493 00:40:15,591 --> 00:40:19,925 I'm thankful for religious liberty. Amen. Let's all stand. Hymn 494 00:40:19,957 --> 00:40:27,573 156. Individual Soul Liberty, one of the Baptist distinctives Baptists 495 00:40:27,621 --> 00:40:31,381 were. I'm telling you, do your own research. You'll find the influence 496 00:40:31,445 --> 00:40:37,317 of Baptist upon the founding Fathers was indeed the reason why 497 00:40:37,373 --> 00:40:42,347 we have one of the number one reasons why we have religious liberty 498 00:40:42,493 --> 00:40:46,175 the way that it's stated. And I'm so thankful for it. Heavenly 499 00:40:46,207 --> 00:40:50,831 Father, we thank you for. We thank you for freedom. We thank you 500 00:40:50,855 --> 00:40:54,239 Lord, for liberty. We thank you that you created us with a free 501 00:40:54,279 --> 00:41:00,607 choice. And I pray God that you would help each of us to read 502 00:41:00,663 --> 00:41:05,339 our Bibles and pray and develop and have a walk with you 503 00:41:05,799 --> 00:41:10,019 understanding and knowing that we are personally accountable. Well, 504 00:41:10,059 --> 00:41:15,959 what a blessing it is to have direct access to the Heavenly Father, 505 00:41:16,379 --> 00:41:21,491 I thank you, thank you so much for that wonderful truth. In Jesus 506 00:41:21,555 --> 00:41:22,339 name, amen.