The Goodness of God | Matthew 19:16-26

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

If you would take your Bible and turn to uh Matthew chapter 19, Matthew chapter 19, that's titled this message, The Goodness of God. The goodness of God. Remember what James says about all good things? Talking about everything in this world comes from God, comes down from the Father of lights. So I want us to think about the goodness of God today and how amazing that he is with all the good things he's given us. And because that's who he is. He's good. We serve a good, good Father. There's no doubt. So Matthew 19, look at verse 16, it says, And behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? This rich young ruler came to Christ and he asked him the most important question What can I do to be saved? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? Jesus' response. He says, There is none good but one, that is God. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. Let's go to the Lord in word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we just humbly bow before you. Again, Lord, thank you for the beautiful day and for the opportunity to be here this morning and to worship you in spirit and truth. And Lord, I pray we all realize and understand that you are the only thing that's good in a sin-cursed, fallen world, and that uh it's through your goodness that we are saved. It's through your love, your mercy, and your grace. And Father, I pray that we all understand that, and for the lost to see your goodness on the cross, your love, that you put Christ there for us to die in our place. We pray that the lost would understand, uh, yield to the Holy Spirit and repent and be saved. For us that are saved, Lord, that we would share your goodness in our life, the way we live our life, that people can see the good in us. It's not us, but it's you inside us, and lead others to be saved. Again, Lord, we just thank you for your word. We thank you for your Holy Spirit. We thank you again, Lord, for your goodness that's found in Christ, in Him alone. Again, we just love and we praise you. We ask forgiveness of sins and we ask it's all in Jesus' name. Amen. So it's a very interesting story, very familiar story, and you probably hold it probably your entire life. The rich young ruler comes to Christ, and it's really one of the saddest stories. Because if you know it, you know how it ends. He rejects Christ. He goes away sorrowful. We're gonna look at that a little later. But I want to think about being good, because that's what he thought he was gonna be good. And trying to be good and being good are two totally different things. I think the world tries to be good. Man is not good. And the sooner we realize that, the better off we are, realizing that we're all sinners because we have a sin nature. We're fallen, we're separated from God. We can never be good as the person we are born into this world as. You can never be because we're sinners separated from God. That is why Jesus says in Nicodemus and John chapter 3, you must be born again. It's nothing that we can do that is good that will ever make us be saved. It's in the goodness of God. It's through Him giving us Christ as the only way for us to be saved. And becoming a Christian is never about being a better person than what you were as a teenager or anything like that. Thinking, well, if I'm just better than I was when I was young or from the mistakes I made, if I'd just be a better person, obey the laws, do things that are right, then God will love me and God will save me. That's nothing to do with it. That has nothing to do with it. Or something idea like that. It's uh it's the trying to be better than you were yesterday, as far as trying to be in pleasing to God and justified by God. It's not what it's about. Because we're all sinners, we're all fallen. Uh and this is a very deep message. I really want you to think about because it's so deep and so serious, because it's about what? What's the Yutriangular esque? How to have eternal life, how to be saved. It's the most serious question. It's the most serious conversation you ever have to understand how to be saved by understanding salvation, because our world is so upside down about the lies about being who God is and who he's not and what he does and what he doesn't do. So to know the truth. So this young ruler had no idea about real salvation because it was all about him.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

What can I do to be saved? Until when?

SPEAKER_01 4:05

Until when Jesus spoke to his heart. He spoke the word and went straight to his heart. Then he had to make a decision. He made the decision what? Not to be saved. Be rejected. The world would have told every young man to go and be a better person, that God is love and he wants you to, all us to be better people. He doesn't want us to be better people, he wants us to belong to him. It's a huge, huge difference. I heard a good friend of mine, y'all know him, David Burke just told me a shocking thing years and years and years ago. We saw him about heaven, talking about hell, and who's going to be there. And he said, I'm not here to tell you. Hell is full of what we would call good moral people. They try to be good, they try to obey the laws of the land, they try to do this, that, and the other. But guess what? They reject Christ. And so to reject Christ, you send yourself to hell. And so many people make this argument like, how can God be a loving, just God and send so many good people to hell? Here's the thing: God sends nobody to hell. You send yourself by rejecting the gift. So we are all guilty of sin. And if you reject it, you remain guilty. But God has pardoned us through the blood of Christ. That's what we want, we want everyone to understand. God wants everyone to understand how much your love is a free gift, salvation is a free gift that you must receive and understand. He wants us to belong to him. It's not religion. It's not doing some good deed or some good service. It is a relationship with God. But people want a simple answer. They want to do a simple thing. Or something challenging. A friend of mine used to say, if God said to be saved, all you gotta do is go climb Mount Everest and you'll have eternal life. Guess what? The line would be so long, it'll wrap around the world. Thinking, I can have to go climb this mountain to do this thing. Guess what? We'd never reach the top. Why? Because it's like the pilgrim's progress, that sin on the back of our back would hinder us to the point we'd never make it to the top. So it's understanding, because the simple answer, like he says, look in verse 16. And behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing. He wanted a simple answer, a simple solution to eternal life. That's what's so amazing about Christ, the master teacher. He just gets it right down there for him. He says, Here you go. I'm going to give you a simple answer to a very serious question. We're going to say that the problem with a plan of salvation is thinking we can do something to be saved. We can do nothing to be saved. I want you to turn to Isaiah 64. Help us understand that there's nothing we can do to save ourselves.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

Isaiah 64. Isaiah was a prophet of the Lord. He's talking to God about the nation, about all of us.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

And he says in Isaiah 64, 6, but he says, But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away. I love what he says. He includes himself all in us, and we. We realize we must see our condition and realize we can never save ourselves. What must we see? To be saved, we must see what? The goodness of God. That he is the light, he is the way, the truth and the life, that Jesus says in John 14, 6. Remember the story of the prodigal son? When you think about what Isaiah says here, that we're all filthy. We're all sinners. We're all separated from God. But what does the prodigal remember in Luke, in the story of the prodigal son? Well, turn to Luke 15. We're not going to look at the whole story. I just want you to see where he comes to himself. When he has a realization of who he is and where he is and who his father is and where he's at. In Luke 15, you know the story of the prodigal son, he asks his dad for his inheritance before his dad's even died. So it's like he's dead, his dad's dead to him. And he jumps over the older son to receive his inheritance, and the father just gives it to him. He runs out, wastes all his living, and he's out there feeding the pigs, and he's starving to death. Well, look what it says in Luke 15, verse 16. And it says, He would have fain have filled his belly with the husk and the swine didn't eat. What he's saying is he's so hungry he would have ate the pig slop. That's hungry. Because that is some nasty stuff. I've been around a few pigs in my life. Man, they are nasty creatures. And man, they smell and they stink. And here that guy is so hungry. He said, if somebody would have given me a little bit of pig food, I'll bear the word. Spare you the word. I would have ate it. That's what he's saying. That's how hungry he is. But he says, what? And no man gave it to him. He's so hungry, yet no man would give him even pig food. Why? Because man's not good. All about self. He said, I ain't gonna feed that guy. I'm gonna feed my pigs, make more money. Again, it all goes back to the selfishness of man. And no one would even help this poor guy. He was hopeless. But then we see in verse 17. And when he came to himself, what'd he do? He realized where he was. He stood around, looked around where he was from where he had been. And he said, What do you remember? And he said, How many hired servants of my fathers have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger. What do you do? He remembered the goodness of his father. How he even treated the servants with plenty to eat and a good place to sleep. He remembered the goodness of the Father. When we get to the point of starving to be saved, there's only one place we can look to be saved.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

And that's the goodness of God.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

And what do we see the goodness of God? In the cross. But what happens to us though is we get to looking at other people. I was guilty of it for years and years and years. And I've shared it with you before. I told you I said Tina married a heathen. We're talking about going to church, talking about being saved, this, that, and the other. I said, I'm a good guy. And she said, Ron, I said, I haven't never murdered anybody, I haven't never raped anybody, ain't you stolen all these terrible things you could do? I said, I'm a good guy. She said, Ron, if you're going to start comparing yourself to other people, you have to start with Christ. I'll never forget it. I just left a softball game. Was heading back from Newport, going through Jacksonport, was just popped across that bridge, and for the first time in my life, I realized I was lost. Really lost. That I couldn't save myself, what I should say.

SPEAKER_00 11:07

I think, man, I'm not that good a guy. I wait for her to say, Amen. I'm not, and I realized it. I am. I'm not that good. What happens? Well, turn to Romans chapter 2. Turn to Romans chapter 2.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Romans chapter 2 and verse 1, the Apostle Paul says, Therefore, thou, talking to all of us, talking to the Jews here, really, he says, art inexcusable, O man. Whosoever thou art that judgest. That's what the Jews were so guilty of, because he taught the message in chapter 1 about all the sexual immorality, the reprobate mind, the homosexual, those who commit adultery, all those things, and the Jews were listening to that story, and they were just puffing up, man. Man, those wicked people, they are so wicked. I'm a lot better than they are. Same thing I had in my mind. That's a lost man thing. Well, I've never murdered anybody or stolen anything or robbed or killed anybody and all these different things. Although I'm a good, upstanding guy. Well, what does God's word tell us right here? That they're unexcusable. He says, For wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself.

SPEAKER_00 12:34

For thou art that judgest doest the same things. And that's just like, wow.

SPEAKER_01 12:42

He says, But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judges them which do such things and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?

SPEAKER_00 13:01

Look what he goes on to say in verse 4.

SPEAKER_01 13:03

Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering? And here it is. I pray you understand this part of the message, because this is the key to the message. Of all the verses we look at and the stories we talk about, this is the key to salvation, to understanding who we are and understanding how good God is. He says, for it says, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. That rich young guy in that food troll, in that food pig pen, what did he do? He remembered the goodness of his father, and it melted his heart. And wanted to do what? Go back to his father and ask for forgiveness. When we see our wickedness, when we see where we're at, running with the pigs, running with the devil, being just vile and filthy and terrible, and then we remember God's word of how awesome God is and what he has given us, it convicts us to do what? To repent if we're saved, to repent and renew that fellowship with God. But the loss, it should drive us to our knees and say, Lord, save me. It's the goodness of God. We realize that until we ask him to save us. Because it's the goodness of God that leads us to see ourselves as filthy rags. It's the word, the law that's the mirror that Paul says it drives us. That we look into the law of liberty, and what's it do? It reveals us. It's a mirror. Why are so many people convicted by God's word? Because they read it and they see themselves. That's why they close the book. They don't want to read it anymore because of conviction. Because the law drives us where? To the foot of the cross. Knowing that we're sinners. The law tells us we all are sinners to fall short of the glory of God. Understanding that we are to call out to God and understanding God's grace, it is through his goodness that he gives us grace and mercy. But salvation is a choice. It's a choice. We are all free-willed beings. We're all free-willed beings, regardless of what the world might say, or even some Calvinists. Some men I really respect, they're Calvinists, but I think they're truly wrong. I believe all have the opportunity to be saved. And I believe it all goes back from the very beginning when God created Adam from the dust of the ground. Turn to Genesis chapter 2. So don't think for a second that you don't have a choice. You have a choice.

SPEAKER_00 15:33

Because God didn't create robots, He created us in His image.

SPEAKER_01 15:39

And we're fallen because of a choice that was made in the garden. Look in Genesis chapter 2. All the way back from the very beginning, verse 7. And it says, And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the bread of life, and man became a living soul. Alive forever, spiritually, either lost or saved. Your soul will spend an eternity either in heaven or in hell. It's all about the decision that you make. And out of the ground man uh ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life, also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. So it's true trees in the midst of all the garden of all the trees that he mentions, the tree of life and the tree of good and evil. And I want you to jump to verse 15. And the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden and to dress and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. All these fruit trees, of all the fruit trees are everywhere. So you can have all of them except what? And the Lord God commanded that the man, yes, of every tree of the garden that thou mayest eat freely, but in verse 17, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in that, in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. There is free will, free choice. God says, You can have all the trees, but of the one you cannot partake of it. Because from the moment you do, you will die. So let's look in chapter 3 and verse 6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that was pleasant to the eyes, the tree of good and evil, was pleasant to the eyes, and the tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her, and he did eat. And the eyes of both of them were open, and they knew that they were naked, and they sow pig leaves together, made themselves aprons, and they hid from God in verse 8. That's where sin is, what we do when we're sinners, we run from God. They made a choice. They made a choice to do what? Disobey the Lord, not obey his word. Just like the rich young ruler that wanted to do something to be a part of God to be saved, a simple, something simple, something good thing, something easy to do. What do you need me to do, Lord? What do you want me to do? That they could do save themselves. And you think about where Adam and Eve is in the garden. They're in them in the garden and they have broken God's word. They have fallen into sin. And we're going to see here that man's heart hasn't changed since the fall of the garden. When they wanted to do something simple or to come to God and say, What good thing can I do? Can I do? Because look in verse 21. All the way down to verse 21. And Adam also, and to his wife, did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothe them. First example that we see of God having a sacrifice of blood to cover the sins of man. Only God can cover sin and take away sin. And look what it says in verse 22. And the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become as one of us to know good and evil. There it is. There's no excuse. You know right from wrong. And all the nonsense that's in our world today saying, well, they just didn't know. We shouldn't punish them. We shouldn't do this. We shouldn't do that. Yes. You know.

SPEAKER_00 19:35

You know right from wrong. When you reach the age of accountability, you know right from wrong. You know right from wrong. Look what he goes on to say.

SPEAKER_01 19:49

To know good and evil. And now, lest he put forth his hand and take also the tree of life and eat and live forever. God knew.

SPEAKER_00 20:01

Just like the rich young man that came to Christ, God knew what Adam and Eve would do the moment he would turn his back. Because they wanted something easy apart from God to live forever. What would he do? What would you do? You're in the garden.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

You've talked to God and says he does, he says, do not eat of that tree of good and evil. Or the tree of everlasting life. As soon as God left, what would a man have done? Hey, we're dying. We're going to die. They would have run straight to that tree of life and grabbed that fruit and said, Whew. Ah, I'm alive again. And then what would happen? They looked at that tree of good and evil and said, Boy, that thing looks so good and it tasted so good. Then it tastes so good. Then our flesh just feels so good. They'd run to that tree and eat of it and die again. And they'd be back. I'll just say in my mind, it's kind of what I picture. What man would have done to do what?

SPEAKER_00 21:06

To bypass God. To bypass God. So what did God do?

SPEAKER_01 21:13

God created another tree and he hung his son on it. That once you taste of the fruit of the tree of good and evil, you'll never get back to the tree of life until you come to the foot of the cross. The tree that he made for his son to die for us. Then you have to make a decision. When Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me. Understanding the message of the cross. Because what does God do in verse 24? In verse 23. Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Edom. He kicked him out of the garden to till the ground from whence he was taken. And look what he does in verse 24. Kind of talking about my point I was trying to make. So he drove out the man and put Place at the east end of the garden of Eden cherubims, which were angels. And what'd they have in their hands? And they had a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life. From who? From fallen man. Because just like the rich young ruler, they was like, what can I do? What can I do to get in there? The world would see this, when you read this story, the world would see this as God being mean. Well, how can I mean look how mean God is.

SPEAKER_00 22:30

He would drive them, kick them out of the garden, and then put an angel up there where they can't get to the tree of life. Well, why did God do it? Why did God do it? One, because he's God. Number two, because they were in sin, separated from him.

SPEAKER_01 22:55

And God had a plan. The only way they're going to be able to approach him was through a repentance in his son.

SPEAKER_00 23:04

Being covered in his blood. But once man was being cast into the world, and they see the darkness of the world, what would he have to remember?

SPEAKER_01 23:14

The goodness of God. The goodness of God. Agent Rogers used to say this all the time. He'd say it's the bad news that makes the good news good. It's the bad news that makes the good news good. It is. You hear really bad news. Like you're lost in your sin, you're going to hell. That's some really bad news. What makes the good news good is what? God loves you. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. That who believed in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. That makes the good news great. And it's for all of us. But what happens to man? He kicks him out in the garden. And they would one day see the goodness of God. Remember the goodness of God. Turn to Genesis chapter 4. Look in verse 25. Cain has killed Abel. Cain's been cast out as a Vagabond. Adam and Eve have another child. Verse 25. And Adam knew his wife again, and she bare him a son, and called his name Seth. For God said, She hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also where there was born a son, he called his name Enos. Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. Isn't that amazing? We've got four chapters in the Bible. And what's going on? The people must call upon the name of the Lord for salvation. It's a choice. It's a choice. And what does Romans 10 say? Let's turn to Romans 10. I don't want you to not see Romans 10. To me, it's the greatest verse is about salvation. Understanding through God's word that we have a choice. Romans chapter 10. Well, look at you to look in verse 1 to see the context. It says, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel that they might be saved. So that's the context of Romans chapter 10 is salvation. And what's he going on to say? Let's just read it. He said, For I bear them record they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. So many people are religious. The Islamists, the Buddhists, the Hinduists, guess what? They're all very religious. And they have a zeal, but it's not for the one true God. Because what'd he say? But not according to knowledge. It's not according to the word of God. He says, for they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. That's it. And what is the righteousness of God? Jesus Christ. He says, For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. For Moses described the righteousness which are the law that the man which doeth those things must live by them. Kind of like we're going to see when Jesus told the rich eye, the rich young ruler. You know, if you're going to say you're going to fulfill the law, you've got to live by it. He says, but the righteousness which is of faith spoken on this wise, say not in thine heart, who shall ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down from above, or who shall descend into the deep, that is to bring up Christ again from the dead. He says, But what saith it? What's he talking about? He's talking about the word. What does it say to us? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart, that is the word of faith which we preach. The rich young ruler, where was the word of God?

SPEAKER_00 26:34

Right in front of him physically, and right in his heart spiritually. And what was he to do? Look what it says in verse 9.

SPEAKER_01 26:45

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever shall believe on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord overall is written to all that call upon him. Remember Genesis chapter 4? Isn't that amazing? To call upon the name of the Lord. Well, verse 13 says, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's all of us. Anyone, at any time. We are all free will beings after salvation, before salvation. But as saved people, we have the Holy Spirit inside of us teaching us to do what? To praise the Lord and to remember his goodness. Turn to Psalm 100. Psalm 100.

SPEAKER_00 27:39

I love this Psalm. In verse 3, he says, Know ye that the Lord, He is God.

SPEAKER_01 27:52

Do you believe in your heart of hearts that Jesus Christ is God? I pray you do. You have to. You must. The word become flesh. The Father, as Jesus says, I and my Father are one in John. He says, I am. All the I am's, and he says, what? Showing people that he is God. And he says, Know ye that the Lord He is God. It is He that has maketh us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. He says, Ear into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him and bless His name. That's what we as safe people should be doing. Then verse 5, what does it say? For the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting, His truth endureth to all generations. We ought to see the goodness of God and be saved. See the goodness of God and serve Him. But it's a choice. It's a choice. Turn it back to Matthew 19. Here's the conversation. This is how it's going to end. Between a rich young ruler and Jesus Christ. And I pray that the Holy Spirit speaking to you about salvation, that you're listening. That you would listen and make the right decision. He says, and he said to him, Why callest thou me good in verse 17? There is none good but one, that is God. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. And he said to him, which? Like he's like, What commandment? And Jesus says, Thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness. Honor thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And the rich man, the young man, said unto him, All these things have I kept up from my youth. What lack I yet? Basically telling Christ that I'm perfect. I've done everything I'm supposed to always do. So here's the test. It's a heart issue. He had it in his mind, thinking, Man, I'm this perfect person. But it's the word of God that's going to reveal that he's not. That's what the word of God does. It's the righteousness of God that leads us to repentance, the goodness of God. And so Jesus asked him. In verse 21, Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come and follow me. Jesus is like, okay, man, you're so good. You're so righteous. You're as good as I am. You're equal with me. Go sell everything you have, give to the poor, and follow me.

SPEAKER_00 30:35

Because here's the thing about God: He doesn't want 10% of us.

SPEAKER_01 30:41

He doesn't want us for a day or for an hour or five hours or five years. Guess what? He wants us for our life. That we belong to him. It's like a marriage. What does God expect from a marriage? Does that be life until death? That's what a relationship with God is, that it's forever, that we belong to him. And here's what's amazing about God is when he saves us, he keeps us saved. But we have to commit ourselves to him to accept that free gift. Because what happens to the rich young man? Verse 22. It said, but when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. He counted the cost.

SPEAKER_00 31:24

And he said, God's not worth it, basically. I have all this stuff. I have all these things.

SPEAKER_01 31:38

Jesus said to the disciples in verse 23, Verily I say unto you that a rich man shall hardly enter the kingdom of heaven. Why is it so hard? They have the pleasures of this world. They have money. They have all these different things. And it blinds them. They think they control the money and they control their assets and their houses and their cars and all. They think they can have it, but what happens? It ends up controlling them because they won't let go of it. And they they don't realize the goodness of God, but they don't think it's good enough. I'm here to tell you that the sacrifice of Christ was good enough. It was good enough. It was perfect. And he says, Again I say to you, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And when the disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? Why were they so amazed?

SPEAKER_00 32:32

Because they had been taught that, man, if you're rich, God is really blessing you. That's not at all.

SPEAKER_01 32:45

Yeah, God can bless, or you can be wealthy. Look at Abraham and David and Solomon, the richest man ever. Yes, they were righteous and God blessed them. But it has nothing to do with their salvation. They were blessed because they belonged to God. The Bible tells us that God reigns on the just and the unjust. Why? Because he's good. Hoping that the unjust would be saved. But Jesus beheld them and said unto them, With men this isn't possible. But with God, all things are possible. What a great verse. What a great verse.

SPEAKER_00 33:18

The goodness of God who gave us everything in Christ.

SPEAKER_01 33:25

And we see the rich young guy reject the goodness of God. Don't reject the goodness of God. And never forget that last verse. Never forget that through the goodness of God, that all things are possible, that even a simple person can be saved. Would please stand. Miss Michelle and Brother Matt will come forward. I encourage all of us to truly see the goodness of God. And do we have that reflected as saved people? Do we have it reflected in our life, in our attitude, in the way that we live our life, and the way that we come in contact with other people? Are we like Christ? That's what He is shaping us and making us mow into the image of be like Christ, to be good like Christ. That's the importance that we be the light, that we be the salt. But it begins with salvation. So I encourage you, if you've never been saved, see how much you love. See the goodness of God and Christ on the cross. That he died for you, that he paid your sin death. Give you the opportunity to be saved. I pray you'd yield to the Holy Spirit, repent of your sins, and call upon him and be born again. As we sing.