SPEAKER_00: Ministering to the heart of Western Arkansas's River Valley for over 165 years, welcome to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_00: You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Damien and Gary, and Keith and Jacob and choir and orchestra and everyone for just such an incredible day to worship.
SPEAKER_01: If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Philippians chapter 3.
SPEAKER_01: And I just want for a moment to talk about what was finished on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: See, those last two songs are why a worship day is so special for us as believers.
SPEAKER_01: We start with the truth of that last song that Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: He stepped out of heaven, lived a sinless life because we have not lived a sinless life.
SPEAKER_01: Our sins must be punished.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says for the wages of sin is death.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus stepped out of heaven and he went to that cross.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus lived a sinless life.
SPEAKER_01: He would have never had to die as a man because there was no judgment attached to him.
SPEAKER_01: And yet he went there voluntarily so that he could die, a death that could be a substitute for ours.
SPEAKER_01: He took his sinless life.
SPEAKER_01: He went to the cross and he took on all of our sins.
SPEAKER_01: And there he died a full human death, taking the wrath and punishment of God to pay the price for our sin.
SPEAKER_01: And then he rose again, conquering death and sin to offer us new life.
SPEAKER_01: And when you come to Jesus and you make him your Savior, what you're doing is pronouncing a belief in the message of what that song says, of what Scripture teaches us.
SPEAKER_01: That Jesus went there because He loved us.
SPEAKER_01: He loved us first and He made a way of salvation.
SPEAKER_01: And salvation is when I recognize my sin, and I recognize that I cannot do anything to forgive myself, to affect my sin in any way.
SPEAKER_01: I can't do anything to change the reality that I will be judged for my sin, but I know that Jesus paid it all.
SPEAKER_01: And there I give my life lock, stock, and barrel to Him.
SPEAKER_01: I take everything I was, I am, and I ever would be, and I give it all to Jesus, and I place my faith and trust in Him and what He did for me on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: And when I come in faith, believing that He did that, and believing the effect of that is this salvation, there is a spiritual exchange that occurs.
SPEAKER_01: My judgment is paid for.
SPEAKER_01: Old things have passed away, and behold, all things have become new.
SPEAKER_01: He remakes you.
SPEAKER_01: He gives you a new name.
SPEAKER_01: He gives you a new heart.
SPEAKER_01: Gives you a new set of desires.
SPEAKER_01: He gives you a new relationship, a new father.
SPEAKER_01: You are adopted into the family of God.
SPEAKER_01: You have a new family.
SPEAKER_01: And the reality of it is because you are no longer in judgment.
SPEAKER_01: You have a new citizenship.
SPEAKER_01: When you have trusted Christ as your Savior, He has become your Savior.
SPEAKER_01: You have become a citizen of heaven.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul says in this passage right here, our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to return.
SPEAKER_01: That's why we love that other song and the message of songs like that.
SPEAKER_01: We long for that midnight cry.
SPEAKER_01: We long for that moment when, as Scripture says, the trumpet of the Lord will sound.
SPEAKER_01: The dead in Christ shall rise first, and we who remain will be caught up with him to meet him in the air.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus comes back to take us home.
SPEAKER_01: Every Christian, every person who's given their life to Christ is waiting for that moment.
SPEAKER_01: Paul says, our citizenship is in heaven because we have trusted him, from which we eagerly await for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: What happens when Jesus comes again?
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says he will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body by the power that enables him to subject everything to himself.
SPEAKER_01: How can Jesus conquer death and sin?
SPEAKER_01: Because everything is subject to him as Lord and as Savior.
SPEAKER_01: When he takes us home, man, this whole body here, I'm singing in that choir and I'm thinking, I haven't done this a long time, and I'm running out of breath.
SPEAKER_01: It was easier when I was younger.
SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking, man, I ate too much yesterday and it makes me feel miserable, and I couldn't sleep last night, and things are hard, and I'm nervous about how today's gonna go and all of these things.
SPEAKER_01: I live in this body that is still carries that taint of sin.
SPEAKER_01: I've been saved, I'm forgiven, but man, I'm still living through this life in a world of sin, surrounded by people who are sinners in a body that's struggling, been tainted by sin.
SPEAKER_01: And the Bible says, when Jesus comes, he will take me and he will transform me to my eternal body to be like him.
SPEAKER_01: I will be in his presence.
SPEAKER_01: There will be no sin that separates us.
SPEAKER_01: Revelation 21 and 22 tell us how glorious heaven will be.
SPEAKER_01: It says there will be no more pain, no more sears, no more tears, no more sorrow, no more crying.
SPEAKER_01: We will be with him and we will be like him.
SPEAKER_01: That is the promise of heaven.
SPEAKER_01: That's why we love to sing when he steps out of heaven and comes back to take us home.
SPEAKER_01: Pastor Greg, how do you know that's going to happen?
SPEAKER_01: Because Jesus Christ is the King of kings and the Lord of Lords.
SPEAKER_01: Think about what that means.
SPEAKER_01: There's no king greater than him.
SPEAKER_01: There has never been a nation, a country, a people that is greater than the people of God who are led by, who are led by the King of kings, Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: He is the Lord of Lords.
SPEAKER_01: People are always trying to find things to worship.
SPEAKER_01: There are false gods and false religions and all these things.
SPEAKER_01: Why do those things exist?
SPEAKER_01: Because people are looking and searching for an answer for their sin for eternity.
SPEAKER_01: None of those lords can ever change our eternity.
SPEAKER_01: But the Lord of Lords has created a way of salvation.
SPEAKER_01: Because he is the King of kings and the Lord of Lords.
SPEAKER_01: Scripture says he is the only name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
SPEAKER_01: And if you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ, this is your sure promise because of the person of Jesus and the power that enables him to subject everything to himself.
SPEAKER_01: As we close this morning, I just want to ask you: do you know Jesus as your Savior?
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever trusted Him to be your Lord and Savior?
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever taken your sin and given yourself to him and say, I can't affect this, but I know that you paid the price for my sin on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: And Lord, I give you my life.
SPEAKER_01: I give it all to you.
SPEAKER_01: And I receive the forgiveness that only comes from you.
SPEAKER_01: If you've never trusted Christ as your savor, in just a moment, I'm going to pray.
SPEAKER_01: Then God's people are going to stand.
SPEAKER_01: And we're going to sing one last hymn, just a verse or so before we go to lunch.
SPEAKER_01: But we don't want to leave here and worship Jesus and sing of salvation without giving you an opportunity to be saved if you need to be saved.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we thank you for this moment and this day.
SPEAKER_01: We thank you for our friends and our choir and orchestra and sound people and everyone that made today wonderful.
SPEAKER_01: We thank you for the kids that sang and the ones that were baptized, and we thank you for how you have put your thumbprint on today.
SPEAKER_01: But just as we've sung about salvation and we've sung about your glory as the one who can make everything subject to himself, as the one who is our Savior that we eagerly await.
SPEAKER_01: Today we pray, Lord, if there's someone who needs to be saved this morning, that all this will draw them close to you, and you'll give them the faith to place their trust in you as their Savior.
SPEAKER_01: We pray this in your saving name, and all God's people said.
SPEAKER_00: Send an email to contact us at fsfbc.org and let us pray for you and help you in any way we can.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.