Puritan & Revival Sermons
George Whitefield — the great open-air preacher of the Great Awakening — with Edwards, Spurgeon, Owen, Bunyan, and more, in full.
Hear them ›GO STAND AND SPEAK
LIFT UP THY VOICE WITH STRENGTH;LIFT IT UP, BE NOT AFRAID
ISAIAH 40:9
Grace Team University
Street Preachers Corner
“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” — Mark 16:15
Shirts That Speak — The Shop
Street-preaching shirts, hoodies, banners, and signs — the gear that preaches before you ever open your mouth. Our shop is stocked by Shirts That Speak, makers of apparel for open-air preachers: when you buy, you buy from them, on their site — we simply point the way.
“I look upon all the world as my parish.”
“…in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty to declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation.”
— John Wesley, on preaching in the open air, 1739
The pulpit God built first was outdoors. Jonah was sent to the streets of Nineveh; the prophets cried in the gates of Jerusalem; the Lord Jesus taught in the streets, on the hillsides, and from a boat; Paul reasoned in the market daily; and Whitefield drew thirty thousand at a time into open fields. This corner of the university belongs to that ministry: the charge of Scripture, the preaching itself, and the men of God who have done it.
The Corner at a Glance
Everything in the Corner, on one list — tap a name and go straight to it.
THE CHARGE & THE BRETHREN
The Charge — in the Words of ScriptureFive texts of Scripture that send the preacher into the street — Mark 16:15, Jonah 3:2, Acts 20:20, Romans 10:14, 2 Timothy 4:2. Fellow Preachers of the Open AirTen brethren in the same work, on their own YouTube channels — tap a name and watch them preach. From the Archives — Preachers of the Open AirWhitefield and the Puritan & Revival preachers, and the twentieth-century men — Ravenhill, Reidhead, Washer, and Tozer.TRIBUTES
Giving Honor Where Honor Is DueThe Corner’s tribute section — the brethren of the open air who have finished their course, honoured in one place. A Tribute to Ruben IsraelBible Believers · Los Angeles · † June 24, 2023 — his life, and his preaching in his own voice. In Memory of Pastor NoéOur brother of Tapachula, † May 2026 — his memorial film, and recordings of his own preaching.LEARN & TRAIN
Studies for the Open-Air PreacherTwo full studies: the history of street preaching, and being a man of prayer. Street Preacher’s Training GroundOne door to the preacher’s own training — the Key Bank armory and the games built for the open-air man. Street Preacher Simulation TrainingNine simulations for the street — Heckler Mode, Preach the Verse, Two Witnesses, the Greek words, and the journeys of Paul and Moses.ANSWERS & RESOURCES
Evangelistic Literature — Free Gospel TractsThe Corner’s one home for tracts — Chapel Library, the Fellowship Tract League, and gospel stickers, free to request. The Armory — Apologetics & the Defense of the FaithNine doors into the whole collection: the answered objections, the refuted cults, the Refutation Library, and the Key Bank. Apologetics — The Positive Case for the FaithThe eight apologetics studies, standing here in full. Preaching MaterialSeven banners and signs — Matthew’s four and Ron Cardiel’s three black banners — full size, ready to print. The Tabernacle — Every Detail Points to JesusA video walk through the tabernacle, station by station. Debates — Defending the Faith in the Open Air of IdeasCraig, Knechtle, Turek, Cameron, and Comfort — the resurrection, the existence of God, and the origin of life, debated before skeptics. Get Your Preaching GearShirts that preach before you open your mouth, and the field gear of the street — in the university shop.The Charge — in the Words of Scripture
Mark 16:15And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Jonah 3:2Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
Acts 20:20And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house,
Romans 10:14How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
2 Timothy 4:2Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
Fellow Preachers of the Open Air
Brethren in the same work, on their own YouTube channels — tap a name and watch them preach. (Channels verified live, October 2026.)
Gospel Invasion MinistriesCleveland Street PreachersTeam Jesus PreachersTorch of Christ MinistriesChrist’s Forgiveness MinistriesGive Me An AnswerCry to GodRay Comfort — Living WatersJeff Durbin — Apologia StudiosOpen Air Outreach
From the Archives — Preachers of the Open Air
Twentieth-Century Preachers
Leonard Ravenhill, who preached in the streets of Leeds before he filled churches, with Reidhead, Washer, Tozer, and others.
Hear them ›Giving Honor Where Honor Is Due
This Corner keeps a roll of honour: the brethren of the open air who have finished their course and gone ahead of us, remembered here in their own preaching — for Scripture bids us render honour to whom honour is due.
“Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.” — Romans 13:7 (KJV)
A Tribute to Ruben Israel — Bible Believers
Ruben Israel · Bible Believers · Los Angeles, California · † June 24, 2023
Photo: Santi Holley for Sojourners — Ruben preaching at SOAPA, September 2018
For some forty years, on the streets of America, there was a preacher who was bold as a lion. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California — his name was Ruben Israel, and this Corner keeps his memory.
Repentance was his theme. “Not one time, in the entire Book of Acts,” he said, “did those men preach ‘Jesus loves you.’ The theme has always been — in the Old Testament, to the Gospels, to the Book of Acts — repentance.” He called himself an equal opportunity rebuker, and in Salt Lake City he was still asking young men his famous question: “Can you give me the 10 commandments in order?” To every critic he answered with his text: a wicked generation, he said, needs cruel messengers — men sent to plant seeds that may not sprout for years.
And he carried that message everywhere — Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the Super Bowl, pride parades and campuses, year after year, post after post. Through a bullhorn in Jackson Square he cried, “This is your wake up call!” — and when a fortune-teller shouted “Call the cops!”, he answered, “If she was a real psychic, she would have had the cops here before we got here.” Bold, fearless — and laughing.
Ruben led the Bible Believers, a national company of street preachers, and he hosted the SOAPA conferences that trained them. He ran an outreach like a captain: “Stand here. Hold the banner like this. You preach now.” And men who agreed on little else stood shoulder to shoulder under his banners — for Ruben could unite them. “We can debate doctrine over dinner,” he would say. “Out here, we stand together.”
The law has his name on its books. At Dearborn, Michigan, in 2012, a hostile crowd pelted his team with bottles, and Ruben himself was struck in the face. The sheriff’s answer was to remove the preachers. Ruben sued — and the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled in Bible Believers v. Wayne County (2015) that the county had violated their First Amendment rights, silencing them with a heckler’s veto. Every preacher who lifts his voice in America today works freer because Ruben Israel stood his ground.
At his last outreach, Ruben never took the bullhorn. He set every other man to preaching, and stood back — the captain, passing the torch. On June 24, 2023, the Lord took him home, at sixty-two. His family wrote that he was a dedicated servant of God, and that he rests now in God’s loving arms. He left an army behind him, still preaching.
These are the texts over his life:
“The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.” — Proverbs 28:1 (KJV)
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:” — 2 Timothy 4:7 (KJV)
Hear him preach — these are the very recordings this university’s tribute film was cut from:
Venice Beach, 2017 — preaching Christ at the Hare Krishna parade: “Your life is but a vapor… Time to get serious about the God of the Bible.”
Mardi Gras, New Orleans — thirty years on Bourbon Street, and the word never changed: “Time for you to repent.”
His testimony — how the Lord took hold of him at eighteen, told by Ruben himself at a preachers’ conference.
More of the work: Dearborn, 2012 — the stand that became Bible Believers v. Wayne County · His advice to street preachers
Watch the work: Jesse Morrell’s documentary Ruben Israel – The Movie follows him from sunup to sundown on the streets of Los Angeles, and Ruben’s own preaching still fills YouTube:
Hold the banner up, brother, sister — and do not drop it. Honour to whom honour.
In Memory of Pastor Noé — a Preacher to the Forgotten
Pastor Noé Nahamán Sambrano Meléndez — Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico · † May 2026
Pastor Noé was a Salvadoran preacher who carried the gospel through the streets of Tapachula, in southern Mexico. He preached Christ in the open air and brought the Word of God to people battling addiction. His own testimony was plain: “I do not preach a religion — I preach Christ the Lord.” Grace Team Seattle preached beside him in Tapachula’s central square, and stood with his ministry from 2021 to 2023.
In May 2026, Pastor Noé was detained by Tapachula’s municipal police. Hours later he was dead inside their base. The cause of his death has never been officially released, and as of the last reports (May 27, 2026) the investigation remains open. We set his name here because he was our brother in the work — and because his family still waits for the truth.
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” — 2 Timothy 4:7–8 (KJV)
And hear him preach, from Grace Team Seattle’s own trips to Tapachula: People Repent in Tapachula, Mexico · The Fear of God Hits — 7 People Get Saved in Mexico
Rest in Christ, brother. Your voice is still preaching.
“And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” — Daniel 12:3 (KJV)
Studies for the Open-Air Preacher
Two full studies stand here in the Corner for the preacher’s own grounding: the history of the work he has taken up, and the prayer life that powers it.
The History of Street Preaching
From Noah to the modern street — God’s open-air preachers through all ages: who they were, what they did, whom they reached, and the Scripture pattern their open-air work followed.
Read the study ›Being a Man of Prayer
The power a man carries into the street is made in the prayer closet — the Bible’s teaching on prayer, meditation, and seeking God’s face, proven in the lives of Daniel, E. M. Bounds, and George Müller.
Read the teaching ›Evangelistic Literature — Free Gospel Tracts
Tracts are the street preacher’s seeds — left in hands, on benches, and at doors long after the voice is gone. The Corner’s one home for them gathers the whole tract catalog of Chapel Library (Mount Zion Bible Church, Pensacola, Florida), the Fellowship Tract League, and gospel stickers: browse by author or topic, tap a cover to read the tract, and request free printed copies.
The Armory — Apologetics & the Defense of the Faith
Before a preacher opens his mouth on the corner, he is armed here. Epistemology settles how we know what we know; Soteriology settles the gospel itself — Christ died for the whole world; and the Defense of the Faith collection gives the positive proof, answers the objections, and refutes the cults out of their own books. The whole collection lives here in the Corner now — one home, under one roof.
Defense of the Faith — The Whole Collection
The hub of the armory: the apologetics studies, the fifty answered objections, the refuted cults, and the Refutation Library — every study and every answered book, gathered in one place.
Enter the collection ›Apologetics
Eight studies of positive proof: the Bible is God’s Word, Jesus Christ is God, the Resurrection, salvation by grace alone, Christ died for the whole world, one way to God, creation and science, and how we got the King James Bible.
Enter ›Epistemology
How we know what we know: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7) — the foundation under every answer the preacher gives.
Study ›Soteriology
The doctrine of salvation, taught the Baptist way — with Dr. Leighton Flowers’ Soteriology 101 collection, answering the Calvinist system text by text.
Study ›Objections to Christianity Answered
Fifty questions skeptics ask about God, the Bible, and Christianity — each one stated the way the skeptic states it, and each one answered from reason and the King James Bible.
Read the answers ›Answering the Skeptic
The deepest arguments against Christianity, stated the way the skeptic states them — and every one answered: tap a question and watch the answer given face to face, with the refutation from the King James Bible written beneath it.
Give the answer ›Kingdom of the Cults
The counterfeit kingdoms under one banner: the Marks of a Cult, then the groups — Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Roman Catholicism, Christian Science, Oneness Pentecostalism, and Unitarianism — their teaching stated honestly, then refuted from Scripture, with the book behind the name honored at the door.
Enter ›Key Bank
The street preacher’s keyword study — a bank of keys, each one a word or phrase of Scripture, counted from the Bible itself and hung with the verses that preach it. Tap a key and its Scriptures drop down on the spot — built for a man standing on a sidewalk with a soul in front of him.
Open the Bank ›The Refutation Library
The cults are known by their books: the Quran, the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price, the Doctrine and Covenants, Science and Health, the Bhagavad Gita, the Dhammapada, and the Tao Te Ching — opened, searched, and answered.
Enter the Library ›Street Preacher’s Training Ground
A man does not learn to fence by reading about swords. Here the preacher trains before he stands on the corner — the Word learned by its key words, the verse known by heart, the answer ready before the question is finished. The games built for the open-air man are gathered on their own ground, through one door.
Street Preacher’s Training Ground
The gathering place of the preacher’s own training: the Key Bank armory and the games built specifically for street preachers — Find the Key Verse, Preach the Verse, Two Witnesses, and Heckler Mode. Enter, be proved, and leave readier than you came.
Enter the Training Ground ›Street Preacher Simulation Training
The deep end of the training ground — the simulations built for the man who preaches in the open air. Answer the heckler out of the Scriptures, preach the verse from your heart with no page between you and the soul in front of you, know a true witness from a stranger, and walk the roads of the men who preached before you. This is training for the street, and it does not go easy on you.
The Training Ground
The Corner’s own proving ground, through one door — the Key Bank armory and the games built specifically for street preachers, gathered in one place.
Enter ›Heckler Mode
A heckler in the crowd shouts an argument against the faith — and four verses stand before you. Only one of them is the verse that answers him. Strike back with that verse, against the clock: the crowd does not wait.
FIVE LEVELS — Babes · Novices · Ministers · Masters · Hey Moses
Enter ›Preach the Verse
A reference is called, and nothing else — no text, no passage around it, no hints. Preach the verse from its reference alone, word for word, as if a soul on the street just asked you for it.
FIVE LEVELS — Babes · Novices · Ministers · Masters · Hey Moses
Enter ›Two Witnesses
A theme of Scripture is named, and two verses stand before you as its witnesses. One truly testifies to it; the other is a stranger wearing its clothes — near in sound, foreign in substance. Tell the true witness from the stranger.
FIVE LEVELS — Babes · Novices · Ministers · Masters · Hey Moses
Enter ›Find the Key Verse
A key word is named, and verses stand before you: tap every verse that belongs to that key, and leave the strangers standing. Command of the very verses that answer the street’s questions, trained on the Key Bank itself.
FIVE LEVELS — Babes · Novices · Ministers · Masters · Hey Moses
Enter ›The Key Bank
The armory beneath the training: 248 key words of Scripture, counted from the Bible itself, each one hung with the verses that preach it — the verse you need, in your hand in seconds, with a soul standing in front of you.
Enter ›Greek Training Simulator
The words behind the Word: 217 Greek words of the New Testament. Study each band — meaning, definition, and the verse the word stands behind — then be drilled on it until every word in your set is mastered.
FIVE LEVELS — Babes · Novices · Ministers · Masters · Hey Moses
Enter ›Follow Me As I Follow Christ
Walk the apostle Paul’s road station by station, from the light outside Damascus to Rome, choosing at every crossroads the path he actually took — then drill the very order of his journeys in The Next City.
FIVE LEVELS — Babes · Novices · Ministers · Masters · Hey Moses
Enter ›Follow Moses
Walk the lawgiver’s whole road, from the Nile to Nebo, choosing at every crossroads the path Moses took — the road Scripture records, hard parts and all, nothing tidied away.
FIVE LEVELS — Babes · Novices · Ministers · Masters · Hey Moses
Enter ›Hide the Word
“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” The memorization simulator: a verse of Scripture stands before you with the clock beside it — then it vanishes, and you must speak it back from memory, graded word by word. A thousand of the most important verses in the Book; the level is the memorization clock, from ninety seconds down to fifteen.
FIVE LEVELS — Babes · Novices · Ministers · Masters · Hey Moses
Enter ›Apologetics — The Positive Case for the Faith
The positive case for the Christian faith, study by study — every claim tried by the Scripture itself. The eight studies stand here in full, where the preacher is armed for the street.
The Bible Is the Word of God
The Bible does not merely contain the word of God — it is the word of God. Its inspiration is plenary (every part) and verbal (the very words), and God has preserved what He inspired.
God breathed the Scriptures
Paul states the fact plainly: all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Peter adds that holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost — the writers were carried, not inventing.
2 Timothy 3:16All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2 Peter 1:21For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
2 Peter 1:20Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
God promised to preserve His words
The words of the LORD are pure words, and He promised to keep them from this generation for ever. Heaven and earth will pass away; His words will not.
Psalms 12:6The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Psalms 12:7Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
Matthew 24:35Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Isaiah 40:8The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
The Scripture cannot be broken
Jesus Himself treated the written Word as unbreakable authority and built arguments on single words of it. The Bible's own testimony about itself is consistent from Genesis to Revelation.
John 10:35If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
Matthew 5:18For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Psalms 119:89For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.
Jesus Christ Is God
The deity of Christ is not a church invention — it is the plain teaching of Scripture, claimed by Jesus Himself and confessed by His apostles.
The Word was God, and became flesh
John opens his Gospel by identifying Jesus as the eternal Word who was with God and was God, and who was made flesh and dwelt among us.
John 1:1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:14And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Jesus claimed the divine name
When Jesus said 'Before Abraham was, I am,' His hearers took up stones — they understood He had claimed the name God gave Moses at the burning bush.
John 8:58Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
John 10:30I and my Father are one.
Exodus 3:14And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
The apostles worshipped Him as God
Thomas confessed Him 'My Lord and my God,' and Jesus received the confession. Paul writes that in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and the Father Himself addresses the Son as God.
John 20:28And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.
Colossians 2:9For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Hebrews 1:8But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Christianity stands or falls with the empty tomb. Paul stakes the whole faith on it: if Christ is not risen, our preaching is vain. He is risen — and the evidence was public, early, and examined.
Prophesied, then accomplished
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures — the gospel Paul preached is exactly what the prophets foretold.
1 Corinthians 15:3For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
1 Corinthians 15:4And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Seen by witnesses, including enemies and crowds
He was seen of Cephas, of the twelve, of above five hundred brethren at once, of James, and last of Paul — an enemy of the faith converted by the risen Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:5And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
1 Corinthians 15:6After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
1 Corinthians 15:8And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
The fact that changes everything
Because He lives, death is not the end for those in Christ: He is become the firstfruits of them that slept, and our labour is not in vain in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:20But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
1 Corinthians 15:17And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
Matthew 28:6He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
Salvation by Grace Alone, Through Faith Alone
No cult, no religion of works, and no sinner can add anything to the finished work of Christ. Salvation is a gift — received by faith, never earned by merit.
A gift, not wages
By grace are ye saved through faith — not of works, lest any man should boast. If it is by grace, it is no more of works; the two cannot be mixed.
Ephesians 2:8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Ephesians 2:9Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Romans 11:6And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
Justified freely by His grace
All have sinned, and all who believe are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus — a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Romans 3:23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 3:24Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Romans 3:28Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Titus 3:5Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
The finished work of Christ
By one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Nothing remains to be added — not purgatory, not probation, not our own righteousness.
Hebrews 10:14For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
Galatians 2:16Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Isaiah 64:6But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Christ Died for the Whole World
Grace Team University teaches, without apology and without the Reformed system, what the Scripture says in plain words: Jesus Christ died for the sins of the whole world. God wills all men to be saved; the ransom was paid for all; the grace that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men; election is according to God's foreknowledge; and men perish, not because Christ did not die for them or because grace could not be resisted, but because they will not come. This study sets out the doctrine in detail and answers the Calvinist proof-texts one by one.
The atonement is for the whole world — the plain words
John the Baptist announced Him as 'the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world' (John 1:29) — the world, not a favoured fragment of it. John the apostle closes the question: 'he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world' (1 John 2:2). Paul writes that Christ 'gave himself a ransom for all' (1 Timothy 2:6), that God is 'the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe' (1 Timothy 4:10), and that 'one died for all' (2 Corinthians 5:14). Hebrews says He tasted death 'for every man' (Hebrews 2:9). Isaiah saw it coming: 'the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all' (Isaiah 53:6). The Reformed doctrine of a limited atonement requires every one of these verses to mean less than it says.
John 1:29The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
1 John 2:2And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
1 Timothy 2:6Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
1 Timothy 4:10For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
2 Corinthians 5:14For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
Hebrews 2:9But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
Isaiah 53:6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
God's will and the free gift are for all men
The God who 'will have all men to be saved' (1 Timothy 2:4) is 'not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance' (2 Peter 3:9). 'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish' (John 3:16). Paul draws the parallel as wide as the fall: as judgment came upon all men, 'even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life' (Romans 5:18). Christ promised, 'I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me' (John 12:32), and the grace of God 'hath appeared to all men' (Titus 2:11). A gospel that must be preached to every creature (Mark 16:15) is honest only if it was purchased for every creature.
1 Timothy 2:4Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
2 Peter 3:9The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
John 3:16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Romans 5:18Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
John 12:32And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
Titus 2:11For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Romans 10:13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Even the lost were bought — 2 Peter 2:1
The hardest verse in the Bible for limited atonement: false teachers arise 'denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction' (2 Peter 2:1). These men are bought by the Lord and yet damned — bought, and perishing. If Christ's death purchased only the elect, this verse is impossible; if He died for all, it is plain. The price was paid for every man; the benefit is received by those who believe. A ransom paid is not a ransom applied, and Scripture never confuses the two.
2 Peter 2:1But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
John 6:51I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
2 Corinthians 5:15And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
Election is according to foreknowledge
Where the Bible explains election, it explains it by foreknowledge: 'Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father' (1 Peter 1:2). Romans 8:29 puts the order in a single sentence: 'whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son.' Foreknowledge stands first; predestination follows it, and what believers are predestinated to is conformity to Christ and final glory — not a bare decree selecting who may believe. Ephesians 1:4 says God 'hath chosen us in him' — the choosing is IN Christ: God chose the place, the Person, and the plan, and men enter it by faith. Nowhere does Scripture teach an unconditional election that passes by the willing and drags the unwilling.
1 Peter 1:2Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
Romans 8:29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Ephesians 1:4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Romans 10:13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Grace can be resisted — the Spirit strives with all
From the beginning, 'My spirit shall not always strive with man' (Genesis 6:3) — He strives, and striving can end. The Spirit's office is to 'reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment' (John 16:8) — the world. Yet Stephen charged Israel, 'ye do always resist the Holy Ghost' (Acts 7:51). Jesus wept over a city He would gladly have gathered: 'how often would I have gathered thy children together... and ye would not!' (Matthew 23:37), and told the unbelieving plainly, 'ye will not come to me, that ye might have life' (John 5:40). The Reformed doctrine of irresistible grace cannot survive these verses read at face value; the Baptist doctrine of a God who calls, strives, and can be refused, can.
Genesis 6:3And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
John 16:8And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Acts 7:51Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
Matthew 23:37O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
John 5:40And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
The Calvinist proof-texts answered
John 6:44 — 'No man can come to me, except the Father... draw him.' True: men come only as the Father draws — and Christ Himself defines the drawing: 'I... will draw all men unto me' (John 12:32), and the next verse in John 6 explains the mechanism: 'Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me' (John 6:45). Drawing is by the word heard and learned, and it is for all. — John 10:26 — 'ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep.' Read Christ's order in the same chapter: His sheep are those who hear His voice and follow (John 10:27); unbelief is the reason given throughout ('ye will not come'), not a secret decree. — Acts 13:48 — 'as many as were ordained to eternal life believed': the same chapter shows men 'judging themselves unworthy of everlasting life' by refusing the word (Acts 13:46); the ordained are those disposed and appointed by their own hearing of it, glad and glorifying the word (13:48). — Romans 9 — Jacob and Esau are nations in the passage itself (Genesis 25:23, 'two nations'), God's freedom in choosing instruments and nations for His purpose in history; and the chapter ends not with a decree of damnation but with this: whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed (Romans 9:33; 10:11, 13).
John 6:44No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:45It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
John 12:32And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
John 10:26But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
Acts 13:48And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
Romans 9:13As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
Romans 9:22What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
Romans 10:13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
One Way to God
In an age that says all roads lead to heaven, Jesus says the opposite about Himself — and the apostles preached the same exclusivity at the cost of their lives.
Jesus is the way — the only way
He did not say He shows the way; He said 'I am the way.' No man comes to the Father but by Him.
John 14:6Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
No other name
Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, told the rulers of Israel there is salvation in none other — no other name under heaven given among men.
Acts 4:12Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
1 Timothy 2:5For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Two roads, two ends
Wide is the gate that leads to destruction, and many go in thereat; strait is the gate that leads to life. The issue is not sincerity but direction — which road a man is on.
Matthew 7:13Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Matthew 7:14Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
John 3:18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Creation, Science, and the Bible
True science and the Bible are not enemies. The Bible spoke of the earth's suspension, the water cycle, the springs of the sea, and the life in the blood centuries before men measured them. (Our full 'Science and the Bible' teaching is in production.)
God created, and it was very good
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The heavens declare His glory to every honest observer.
Genesis 1:1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Genesis 1:31And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Psalms 19:1The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
Facts of nature, stated early
Job says God hangeth the earth upon nothing, and describes the rain cycle; Isaiah speaks of the circle of the earth; Moses recorded that the life of the flesh is in the blood.
Job 26:7He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.
Job 36:27For he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof:
Isaiah 40:22It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
Leviticus 17:11For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
Men suppress what creation shows
The wrath of God is revealed against those who hold the truth in unrighteousness — the evidence of His eternal power and Godhead is clearly seen in the things that are made, so men are without excuse.
Romans 1:18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Romans 1:20For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
How We Got the King James Bible
God not only inspired His Word; He preserved it. This is the short account — a full teaching video, 'How We Got the King James Bible,' is in the teaching queue.
From the prophets and apostles to us
The Hebrew Scriptures were kept by the Masoretes with extraordinary care, and the Greek New Testament was copied and spread by the churches. God's promise was to preserve His words — and He did.
Psalms 12:7Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
Matthew 5:18For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
1 Peter 1:25But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
The road into English
Wycliffe's hand-written Bible (1380s) gave England the Scriptures; William Tyndale printed the New Testament in 1525–26 and sealed his testimony with his life in 1536. The Geneva Bible (1560) carried the Reformation across the English-speaking world.
Psalms 119:105Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
1604–1611: the translation
At the Hampton Court Conference (1604), King James authorised a new translation. About forty-seven of England's finest scholars, in six companies at Westminster, Cambridge, and Oxford, worked under fifteen strict rules for four years, comparing the Hebrew and Greek and the earlier English versions. The Authorised Version was published in May 1611 — formally equivalent, reverently translated, and proven by four centuries of fruit.
2 Timothy 2:15Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Defense of the Faith › · Kingdom of the Cults ›
Preaching Material
The banner preaches before the preacher ever opens his mouth — it preaches to the whole street at once, to the ones who will not stop, and to the ones who only pretend not to read it as they pass. These are the banners and signs of this work, carried as found: Matthew’s own banners first, then the black banners of Ron Cardiel. Tap any banner to open it on its own page, full size, ready to print.
Banners and Signs — Matthew’s Banners
The Bible Banner
Matthew's great Bible banner in its filled edition — the whole sweep of Scripture, every book, era, and turning point of the Bible's story, drawn as one long panoramic timeline, made for teaching at a glance.
The Revelation Banner
Matthew's companion banner on the last book of the Bible — the visions of Revelation as one sweeping panoramic chart: the churches, the seals, the trumpets, the vials, and the coming of the King, laid out in order for teaching and for preaching.
The banner’s words: REVELATION: THE END TIMES
Ask Me Why You Deserve to Burn in Hell
The hell side of Matthew's two-sided 5′×8′ street banner — the question that stops the crowd, with the answer carried in the verse beneath it. (BlueWave order, October 2026.)
The banner’s words: ASK ME WHY YOU DESERVE TO BURN IN HELL — “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” — Romans 6:23 (KJV)
Though Your Sins Be as Scarlet
The promise side of the same two-sided 5′×8′ banner — scarlet sins made white as snow, and the only way to God named plainly: Jesus Christ. (BlueWave order, October 2026.)
The banner’s words: THOUGH YOUR SINS BE AS SCARLET, THEY SHALL BE AS WHITE AS SNOW; JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY WAY TO GOD — REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL TODAY — Isaiah 1:18 (KJV)
Banners and Signs — Ron Cardiel’s Banners
Ron Cardiel preaches with Gospel Invasion Ministries. His banners are the black ones — white letters, one text of Scripture, readable a block away. They are shown here as they stand in Matthew’s photographs and footage of their preaching together.
Ye Must Be Born Again — the Black Banner by Night
Ron Cardiel (right, holding the pole) with his black banner on the street at night, preaching with Matthew and Justin. Ron's banners are the black ones — white letters and one text of Scripture, readable a block away.
The banner’s words: BORN AGAIN. — John 3:7 (the panel beside it reads “…Wrath to Come” — Matthew 3:7)
The Born Again Banner at Salmon Days
Ron preaching Christ at Salmon Days in Issaquah, the black banner standing over him in the middle of the crowd — the same Born Again banner in daylight. Part of the banner stands behind the video's own Scripture captions; what is written on it is carried in the words line below.
The banner’s words: Repent & Believe the Gospel — JESUS SAID: YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN. — John 3:7
Only Jesus Saves from Hell — Portland
One of the black banners carried on the street in Portland — white, green, and red letters on black: only Jesus saves from hell.
The banner’s words: ONLY JESUS SAVES FROM HELL
The Tabernacle — Every Detail Points to Jesus
The Tabernacle Explained: Why Every Detail Points to Jesus — Bible Made Simple
Walk through the tabernacle station by station: enter the outer court and come first to the bronze altar, where the sacrifices were offered, and the laver, where the priests washed. Pass through the door into the Holy Place — the lampstand giving its light, the table of shewbread, and the altar of incense before the veil. Then through the veil into the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant rests beneath the mercy seat. Every piece of it preaches Christ: “the tabernacle, and all that is therein” was made after the pattern — and the pattern points to Him (Exodus 25:40; Hebrews 8–9).
Debates — Defending the Faith in the Open Air of Ideas
Before the preaching comes the proving. These debates and campus sessions put the resurrection, the existence of God, and the origin of life on the table before skeptics — Craig, Knechtle, Turek, Cameron, and Comfort — so the street preacher can watch the arguments made, tested, and answered.
Resurrection Debates
Ehrman vs Craig: Evidence for Resurrection
The flagship resurrection debate — William Lane Craig vs. Bart Ehrman, “Is There Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus?” (College of the Holy Cross, 2006).
Cliffe Knechtle — Could Eyewitnesses See Jesus Risen From the Dead?
Cliffe works through the eyewitness evidence for the risen Christ with students — the 1 Corinthians 15 creed and the five hundred witnesses.
Does God Exist & Origin of Life
Does God Exist? William Lane Craig vs. Christopher Hitchens
The famous 2009 Biola debate — cosmology, design and origins, morality, and the resurrection all in play.
God and Cosmology — Dr. William Lane Craig vs Dr. Sean Carroll
Craig vs. the Caltech cosmologist on the origin and fine-tuning of the universe (Greer Heard Forum, 2014).
The God Debate II: Harris vs. Craig
Craig vs. Sam Harris at the University of Notre Dame (2011): “Is Good from God?”
Campus Debates & Q&A
Cliffe Knechtle — Why Does God Allow Evil?
Give Me An Answer #2114: Cliffe’s flagship answer to the problem of evil and suffering.
Stuart & Cliffe Knechtle at MIT — Is Atheism a Selfish Religion?
Father-and-son open-air Q&A on the MIT campus — evolution, morality, and the ground of the good.
Cliffe Classics #19 — Give Me An Answer
A classic Cliffe campus session: his four pieces of evidence for God, and the student pushback.
Stuart & Cliffe Knechtle — Cliffe Talks About Sex and Guilt
Campus dialogue on sex, guilt, and grace — real student questions, answered from Scripture.
Cliffe Knechtle — Are Your Beliefs the Same as Reality?
Cliffe presses students on truth, belief, and the resurrection as the test of whether faith matches reality.
Does God Exist? Frank Turek vs Christopher Hitchens
Turek vs. Hitchens at Virginia Commonwealth University (2008) — the arguments for God’s existence, origins included.
What Best Explains Reality: Theism or Atheism? Turek vs. Shermer
Turek vs. skeptic publisher Michael Shermer — origins, design, and morality as competing explanations of reality.
Is Morality Better Explained by God or Science? Turek vs. Shermer
The 2015 Stony Brook rematch with Shermer, on whether God or science better explains morality.
Frank Turek Answers an Atheist’s 3 Objections to Christianity
UT Dallas campus Q&A — the moral argument, the “uncaused universe,” and the objection of hell, answered live.
Cameron & Comfort
Kirk Cameron & Ray Comfort vs. the Rational Response Squad — ABC Nightline (2007)
The ABC Nightline “Face-Off” at Calvary Baptist Church, Manhattan, moderated by Martin Bashir — presented here in the Rational Response Squad’s own official upload of the broadcast.
Ray Comfort Films
Evolution vs. God — Ray Comfort
The full film (Living Waters): Comfort interviews UCLA and USC professors and students and presses for observable evidence for Darwinian evolution.
“180” Movie — Ray Comfort
The full 33-minute “180” film (Living Waters) — the one question that turns hearts on abortion, by way of the gospel.
Get Your Preaching Gear — Gear for the Street Preacher
Shirts & Gear for the Street
Shirts that preach before you open your mouth, and the field gear that keeps a preacher heard and standing — speakers, microphones, stands, cameras, rain gear, Bibles, and free Gospel tracts, gathered in the university shop.
Get Your Preaching Gear ›