SPEAKER_00: My title of my sermon this morning is The ABCs of Salvation.
SPEAKER_00: The ABCs of Salvation.
SPEAKER_00: So needs.
SPEAKER_00: We all have them.
SPEAKER_00: Now, some people are more needy than others, but we all have needs.
SPEAKER_00: Those needs change over time as we grow older and as we reach different stages of life.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, for those of you who have small kids, you dropped your kids off perhaps through the kitcheck and they're enjoying the kids' version of church.
SPEAKER_00: If those kids are under eight or eighty pounds, they need, according to the laws of our state, they need to be in a booster seat when they get in your vehicles.
SPEAKER_00: Now, some of you needed crutches either this morning and or in a time gone by because you fractured a bone in your leg, you maybe had a severe strain, a sprained ankle, and so you needed crutches.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you maybe needed braces to help you have that perfect smile that you now have.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you used to need a brush and a comb, but well, you you really don't need that anymore.
SPEAKER_00: Our needs.
SPEAKER_00: There are other needs that we have that are a little bit more sophisticated, and maybe you feel like you have a need for a smartphone, a computer, the internet, and air conditioning.
SPEAKER_00: Now I know from for me, I enjoy benefiting from all of those things.
SPEAKER_00: I enjoy being able to access the World Wide Web and to get information that I might be looking for.
SPEAKER_00: I enjoy good on the internet, maybe ordering something that I can get at a better price online than I can anywhere else, and I can get it delivered within hours, literally, to my door.
SPEAKER_00: I like having air conditioning in my vehicles, my office, my home.
SPEAKER_00: I'm a hot-natured person, and so I like my air conditioning.
SPEAKER_00: Now, those needs are relative.
SPEAKER_00: There are some needs, however, that we all have that go up to another whole level.
SPEAKER_00: And when I preach, whether I'm preaching to adults on Easter Sunday, whether I'm preaching to teenagers at a youth camp event or wherever, there are certain needs that everybody has that I know I can address in my sermon.
SPEAKER_00: And I know that every one of you, you need food, you need water, and you need love.
SPEAKER_00: And is that need for love that I want to just focus on for a brief moment because your need of something else is greater than your need of love, but the need of love has been met by somebody who can meet your greatest need, and your greatest need is a need for forgiveness.
SPEAKER_00: Your greatest need is to know that all is well between you and the one who created you, your God, your your the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: You need to make sure that you're ready for death.
SPEAKER_00: You see, some of you, you were invited by a family member or a friend or a coworker.
SPEAKER_00: You may have been invited by somebody who didn't even know you, but they they cared enough to give you one of our invite cards over this past month.
SPEAKER_00: And so you're here this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Folks, you among all things, you do not necessarily need to get some pictures to capture the new attire that maybe some of you are wearing today.
SPEAKER_00: That's fine if you do.
SPEAKER_00: That is not what you really, really, really need.
SPEAKER_00: You do not need more money or more education, as much as you need to be ready for when you die.
SPEAKER_00: I've been here for a little over 30 years.
SPEAKER_00: In those 30 years, I've done over 300 funerals.
SPEAKER_00: And over the course of those 300 funerals, there have been several people in our precious church family when I was in the hospital room.
SPEAKER_00: I was in their home, I was at the scene of an accident, I was at the hospice house, and I was there.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe I had already prayed or I was about to pray, and I'm there with the family, and they've got their cleanxes and they're wiping their tears and they're holding hands and they're hugging one another, and then he's gone.
SPEAKER_00: She's gone.
SPEAKER_00: Folks, it's appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody in here has got an appointment with death.
SPEAKER_00: My question is: if today was the day when you died, I know you've got plans.
SPEAKER_00: I I've we've got about 18, 19 folks coming to our home for lunch.
SPEAKER_00: You've got your plans, I've got my plans.
SPEAKER_00: Man, you've got things planned for next week, you've got a vacation planned for the summer.
SPEAKER_00: What if your life ended today?
SPEAKER_00: It hasn't even been diagnosed.
SPEAKER_00: You've had no symptoms.
SPEAKER_00: There's an aorta.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's an aneurysm sitting on your aorta.
SPEAKER_00: If it burst, you will never know what happened.
SPEAKER_00: Are you ready to die?
SPEAKER_00: So if the Lord lets me continue to pastor here for a little while longer, I'm gonna do some more funerals.
SPEAKER_00: And whether I do your funeral or another preacher or pastor does your funeral, somebody's gonna probably do your funeral.
SPEAKER_00: There is nothing like being able to stand at Wilkerson, stand here or stand wherever, and address the people who've come to pay their respects to the deceased and his or her family to be able to tell them, folks, I'm telling you what, he or she was ready for death.
SPEAKER_00: If I got a phone call this afternoon to be by your bedside, to be by the car that you were in a wreck with, and if I if I were, if I'm there and I know you and I'm looking at you and I'm thinking, man, are you okay?
SPEAKER_00: Are you, I want to be able to look into your eyes and see blessed peace that passes all understanding.
SPEAKER_00: So without a raising of a hand, without a nodding of a head, without looking left or right, how many of you right now have the blessed assurance?
SPEAKER_00: If I died today, I know I'd spend eternity in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Do you have that blessed assurance?
SPEAKER_00: Because if you don't, then that is indeed your greatest need.
SPEAKER_00: So we've opened our Bibles to Romans chapter 4.
SPEAKER_00: If you were to take the time to read Romans 1, 2, and 3, over and over and over, Paul is he is hitting it hard that we are sinners.
SPEAKER_00: And because of our sin, we have a sin nature, and because of our sin nature, we sin every day.
SPEAKER_00: Might as well say that.
SPEAKER_00: We sin every day.
SPEAKER_00: Some of us we sin a lot, every single day.
SPEAKER_00: We are sinners.
SPEAKER_00: Your sin is like a debt that you owe to God that you can't possibly pay.
SPEAKER_00: It's not possible to pay off your sin debt.
SPEAKER_00: More about that in a few moments.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but also here in Romans chapter 4, we're gonna be introduced to the possibility of your sin debt being canceled and you going from spiritual bankruptcy to having the righteousness of Jesus Christ credited to your account, and you become spiritually wealthy, and you have eternity.
SPEAKER_00: So, Paul's gonna use an illustration to teach incredibly important truth.
SPEAKER_00: His illustration is gonna be about a man by the name of Abraham.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you you readily know about Abraham in the scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: His life is described a few thousand years ago and a few thousand years before Christ came on the scene.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 3 of Romans chapter 4, we're told this Abraham believed God.
SPEAKER_00: And because he did, it, his believing in God, it was counted, it was credited.
SPEAKER_00: I forgot to mention it earlier.
SPEAKER_00: Um, this word counted or credited, if you were to read all of Romans chapter 4, it's there nine times.
SPEAKER_00: Nine times is a very key word.
SPEAKER_00: It's an accounting word, it means to credit.
SPEAKER_00: If you were to have a ledger, it would be on the side where you're putting deposits.
SPEAKER_00: It's a positive, it's a gain.
SPEAKER_00: So Abraham believed God, and because he did, it was counted, it was credited to him as righteousness, right standing with God.
SPEAKER_00: All right, now the question is what did Abraham believe that enabled him to have his sin debt removed and him to have righteousness and therefore right standing with God?
SPEAKER_00: Well, in chapter, in chapter 4, verse 18, Abraham was promised.
SPEAKER_00: Now, it actually happened in Genesis, but Romans 4 verse 18 refers to it.
SPEAKER_00: He was promised to be the father of many nations.
SPEAKER_00: Well, what's so unusual about that?
SPEAKER_00: When that promise came, he was 75 years old, had no children, and his wife had a womb that was dead.
SPEAKER_00: His wife's womb was dead, she was barren.
SPEAKER_00: They'd been probably married for 50, 55 years.
SPEAKER_00: No children.
SPEAKER_00: They just accepted it.
SPEAKER_00: God has not shown favor.
SPEAKER_00: We're never going to have a child, and yet God says you're going to be a father of many nations.
SPEAKER_00: How in the world?
SPEAKER_00: That's not possible.
SPEAKER_00: It's not possible unless God gets involved.
SPEAKER_00: And God did get involved.
SPEAKER_00: And at the age of 100, his wife 90, Sarah had the child of promise.
SPEAKER_00: Now, folks, there's another promise.
SPEAKER_00: And that promise is of forgiveness and cleansing, being able to be at peace when you die.
SPEAKER_00: And guess what?
SPEAKER_00: Their promise, did you know what?
SPEAKER_00: It is banked on one man dying on a cross.
SPEAKER_00: Now you tell me, how in the world can one man dying on a cross enable millions and millions of people to have right standing with God?
SPEAKER_00: That's not possible unless God's involved.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, and he is.
SPEAKER_00: God the Father so loved the world that he sent Christ to be our Redeemer.
SPEAKER_00: God the Son so loved us that he allowed himself to be stretched out on a cruel rugged cross to pay the price for our sins.
SPEAKER_00: And God the Spirit, He's the one who draws people to Himself.
SPEAKER_00: He's the one who convicts of sin.
SPEAKER_00: He's the one who convinces that somebody needs a Savior.
SPEAKER_00: And so, folks, it's almost as though God is saying here in our particular passage this morning, He looks at you and He says to me, All the righteousness that you need to have right standing with God and to have peace when you die, it's available.
SPEAKER_00: All you have to do is access it.
SPEAKER_00: And it's my honor for the balance of my sermon to share with you how to access salvation, how to be prepared when you die, how to know you're going to spend eternity in heaven when this life ends.
SPEAKER_00: And therefore, I want to share with you the ABCs of getting right with God and being prepared to die.
SPEAKER_00: Now, don't make a mistake and think when I'm saying the ABCs, but this is going to be like kindergarten A B.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: It's just that all the main things you need to do in order to be right with God, in order to be ready when you die, they're going to start with an A, a B, and a C.
SPEAKER_00: First, if you want to be ready when you die, the first thing you got to do is admit.
SPEAKER_00: There's some stuff you've got to admit.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, you've got to admit that you're a sinner.
SPEAKER_00: You've got to admit that you're a sinner.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 25 talks about hold on a minute.
SPEAKER_00: Go back.
SPEAKER_00: I just messed up my PowerPoint person.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't even read my text.
SPEAKER_00: Romans 4, verse 23 to 25.
SPEAKER_00: But the words, it was counted to him.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we referred to earlier.
SPEAKER_00: Those words that were referencing Abraham, they were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also.
SPEAKER_00: Folks, I want to just pause for a moment.
SPEAKER_00: For ours also, this in the economy of God could be the day, according to his providence, this could be the day that your whole future changes.
SPEAKER_00: Your whole eternity changes.
SPEAKER_00: God didn't write the word just for Abraham, he wrote it for us.
SPEAKER_00: It could be for your benefit.
SPEAKER_00: So it was not written for his sake alone, but for ours.
SPEAKER_00: It will, righteousness will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
SPEAKER_00: Alright, so there in verse 25 it talks about Jesus was delivered up for our trespasses, our sins.
SPEAKER_00: Now, you've either got to be deluded or dishonest to not admit that you're a sinner.
SPEAKER_00: We all sin.
SPEAKER_00: We've all done sinful stuff.
SPEAKER_00: Every single one of us have lied.
SPEAKER_00: Every one of us, at least while we were kids, you took something that didn't belong to you.
SPEAKER_00: You stole.
SPEAKER_00: Every one of us have used foul language.
SPEAKER_00: Every one of us have lusted.
SPEAKER_00: Every one of us, we've been guilty of gossip, we've been guilty of gluttony.
SPEAKER_00: We've been guilty of who knows what all else.
SPEAKER_00: We've taken God's name in vain.
SPEAKER_00: We've dishonored our parents.
SPEAKER_00: We've been guilty of greed.
SPEAKER_00: We're all guilty.
SPEAKER_00: So you have to admit that you are a sinner.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, but see, here's the thing: there are consequences for our sin.
SPEAKER_00: There are consequences for our sin.
SPEAKER_00: Romans 6.23, the wages of sin is death.
SPEAKER_00: We don't use the word wages as much now.
SPEAKER_00: We just kind of think about a paycheck.
SPEAKER_00: But you go to you go to your place of employment or you work from home and you do what you are supposed to do, then you get a paycheck, you get a direct deposit, and that is what you deserve for the work that you did.
SPEAKER_00: Folks, I just need to be honest with you.
SPEAKER_00: The folks who are a regular part of our church family know with God's help, I've always tried to be honest by the book.
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm just gonna be very transparent and very honest with you.
SPEAKER_00: What you deserve, the wages, what you deserve for your sin.
SPEAKER_00: It's true of me too, it's true of everybody, is death.
SPEAKER_00: But it's not just physical death.
SPEAKER_00: If it was just physical death and then you cease to exist, that's not what it is.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the Bible teaches that it also involves spiritual death.
SPEAKER_00: So on the day at the moment that you die, your soul leaves your body.
SPEAKER_00: Now, you may be cremated.
SPEAKER_00: If you're not cremated, then your body will eventually decompose.
SPEAKER_00: But your soul is instantaneously going to either go to be with the Lord or you're gonna go to be with those who rejected Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We commonly refer to it as hell.
SPEAKER_00: Technically, it's Hades, it's a temporary place that will eventually be emptied, and those who rejected Jesus will then spend eternity in hell.
SPEAKER_00: And all bodies will one day be resurrected.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody.
SPEAKER_00: I don't care whether you were eaten by a shark, blown up by a hand grenade, or your body decomposed.
SPEAKER_00: Your body's gonna be put back together, it's gonna be resurrected, then your soul is gonna be reunited with your body, and you're gonna spend eternity in heaven or hell.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I I wouldn't be surprised if somebody right now is thinking, maybe listening online, or somebody in here, hey, look, hey, wait a minute.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't come here to hear about hell.
SPEAKER_00: I came here to hear about heaven.
SPEAKER_00: I came here to get some hope.
SPEAKER_00: Folks, the hope of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: And the good news of the gospel is so good because the bad news is so bad.
SPEAKER_00: You reject Jesus for all eternity, you will pay the price.
SPEAKER_00: But that doesn't have to be the case.
SPEAKER_00: You can turn, admit that you're a sinner, and you can actually have the wages of your sin canceled, and instead of physical, spiritual, eternal death, you can have life.
SPEAKER_00: You can have life.
SPEAKER_00: So you've got to admit that you're a sinner, and then number two, you've got to admit that you need a savior.
SPEAKER_00: You got to admit that you need a savior.
SPEAKER_00: You see, it's one thing to just own up to being a sinner.
SPEAKER_00: Again, you're going to be deluded or dishonest to not own up to that.
SPEAKER_00: But there are some people who are like, hey, look, don't, hey, look, yeah, I've done some bad stuff, and I maybe have done some stuff that might put me behind bars if it was found out, but I don't need a savior.
SPEAKER_00: That's your call.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says you do.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says that you do.
SPEAKER_00: And so if you're willing to admit that you're a sinner and you need somebody to rescue from the wages of your sin, then I would invite you number two to believe.
SPEAKER_00: Believe.
SPEAKER_00: There's a couple things you need to believe.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, well, let me read verse 24 and 25, then I'll get to them.
SPEAKER_00: Righteousness, I'm picking up the context of what we read earlier.
SPEAKER_00: Righteousness, right standing with God, being able to have peace when you die, it will be counted, credited to us who believe.
SPEAKER_00: It's not mental assent.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just nodding your head, yeah, yeah, yeah, the Bible says a pretty good book.
SPEAKER_00: I guess it's pretty no, fully believing in Him who raised from the dead, Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
SPEAKER_00: So, folks, the bottom line is if you believe, you receive salvation.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't, you won't.
SPEAKER_00: The condition of salvation is not being raised in a Christian home.
SPEAKER_00: The condition for salvation is not doing enough good deeds to outweigh your bad.
SPEAKER_00: That's not even possible.
SPEAKER_00: The condition of salvation is not simply nodding your head toward God, coming to church, whatever, whatever.
SPEAKER_00: No, there are certain non-negotiable things you've got to believe.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, you got to believe that Christ died for your sins.
SPEAKER_00: You got to believe that Christ died for your sins.
SPEAKER_00: So verse 25, Jesus was delivered up for our trespasses.
SPEAKER_00: I think it was Jennifer's mom that first introduced me to this little phrase, and maybe some of you are familiar with it, you use it.
SPEAKER_00: Many hands make light work.
SPEAKER_00: Seemed like she used to always say that at Thanksgiving and Christmas when we were there and she was feeding us.
SPEAKER_00: And the many hands made light work.
SPEAKER_00: Many hands crucify Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Many hands crucified Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: There were religious hands, uh, the Jewish religious elite, the religious establishment of the day, they had their hands in it.
SPEAKER_00: They were so full of envy and uh covetousness toward Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Um Roman hands had a hand in killing Jesus and him being delivered up.
SPEAKER_00: It were the Roman soldiers, the centurions, who did the whipping and did the actual execution of the crucifixion.
SPEAKER_00: But notice, it says that he was delivered up for our trespasses.
SPEAKER_00: The religious folks, those religious hands couldn't give a rip about him being delivered up for our trespasses.
SPEAKER_00: The Roman soldiers certainly didn't.
SPEAKER_00: You see, there was a third set of hands.
SPEAKER_00: Those were the royal hands of Almighty God.
SPEAKER_00: That actually, the tense of that was delivered.
SPEAKER_00: It's what some would call a divine passive.
SPEAKER_00: That is, God.
SPEAKER_00: God is ultimately the one who delivered up Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: That's why we read the remarkable scripture, Acts 2, verse 23.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, and he was crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, in time, those religious people had a hand in it.
SPEAKER_00: The Romans had a hand in it, but before time began, God had planned for Jesus at the appointed time to be lifted up on a cross so that all people might be drawn to Him.
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully you've not experienced it to a certain level, but road rage.
SPEAKER_00: Man, I've seen some video clips of road rage, not that I've ever experienced it myself.
SPEAKER_00: Now, for those of you who are guests, those people who are laughing, they they know me well enough that yeah.
SPEAKER_00: So, but we we've we've seen what happens.
SPEAKER_00: Um, somebody pulls in front of somebody, and or just lays on the horn, and or holds up a certain finger, and then all of a sudden, things start spiraling out of control.
SPEAKER_00: And somebody stops, the other person almost hits them, that person gets out, and next thing you know, there's a broken windshield, there's maybe an injured person, or in some cases, even death.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you something.
SPEAKER_00: Nothing Spiraled out of control when Jesus went up to Via de la Rosa to die for our sins.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it was violent.
SPEAKER_00: But ultimately, it was all planned by God so that you and I could have forgiveness of our sins.
SPEAKER_00: She was terminally ill.
SPEAKER_00: Her name was Jackie.
SPEAKER_00: Jackie DeVita.
SPEAKER_00: She was a 42-year-old mother of three school-aged children.
SPEAKER_00: And on this particular day, she had asked her sister Colleen.
SPEAKER_00: Colleen was single, never married, and she just kind of pulls her in tight.
SPEAKER_00: She was going to request something of her.
SPEAKER_00: This would be a moment in time that neither of them would ever forget.
SPEAKER_00: Jackie pulled her wedding ring off.
SPEAKER_00: She had it in her hand and she asked Colleen to come close.
SPEAKER_00: She said, Colleen, you and I both know my time is limited.
SPEAKER_00: My cancer is incurable.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to die.
SPEAKER_00: And she said, Come here.
SPEAKER_00: And she put her wedding ring in her hand.
SPEAKER_00: Please, I'm asking you, would you would you marry Richard after I'm gone and take care of him?
SPEAKER_00: And I'm begging you, please don't ever, ever neglect my kids.
SPEAKER_00: Would you take care of my kids?
SPEAKER_00: And Colleen's taking a bag, and she she pushed her hand back.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: No, I can't do that.
SPEAKER_00: But I will I will do everything in my power to help take care of your kids after you're gone.
SPEAKER_00: A year goes by, and Jackie DeVita, she did die.
SPEAKER_00: And then three months after that, Colleen did become Mrs.
SPEAKER_00: Richard DeVita.
SPEAKER_00: And she would help take care of her sister's husband for the rest of their lives and help take care of her kids.
SPEAKER_00: I mean no disrespect whatsoever to Jackie.
SPEAKER_00: But I wonder, she got a substitute for her husband and a substitute for her kids.
SPEAKER_00: But did she even think about having a substitute to care for her soul?
SPEAKER_00: Did she think about having a substitute to care for the burden of sin?
SPEAKER_00: You see, substitutes, we can have differences of opinion about substitutes.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you know I play football, basketball, baseball in high school, and I don't think some of you may know that if you're playing sports and you tap your head or your helmet, that means, hey coach, I need a breather.
SPEAKER_00: I don't ever remember doing that.
SPEAKER_00: I'm thinking to myself, I ain't coming out.
SPEAKER_00: Now, coach had to take me out at times because I was playing so poorly, but no, I am not saying, oh, coach, I need a sub.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: But sometimes subs are good.
SPEAKER_00: You need a break, you need a day off, you need a week off.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe if you're a public school teacher and you're about to have a baby, you need a substitute.
SPEAKER_00: A substitute is a good thing while you're on maternity leave.
SPEAKER_00: Folks, there is no greater need of a substitute in your life than for Jesus to be the substitute for you on that cross of Calvary.
SPEAKER_00: He was delivered up for our transgressions.
SPEAKER_00: He was delivered up for our sins.
SPEAKER_00: And that's why we read in Isaiah 53 these words, Isaiah 53, verses 5 and 6.
SPEAKER_00: He, Christ, but this was written 700 years before Jesus was born.
SPEAKER_00: 700 years before the incarnation.
SPEAKER_00: He was pierced for our transgressions.
SPEAKER_00: He was crushed for our iniquities.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord God, God the Father, has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
SPEAKER_00: Again, notice that Jesus was delivered up.
SPEAKER_00: He was crucified for our transgressions.
SPEAKER_00: Now, folks, for those of you who might be newer to the Bible, newer to Christianity, you probably know something about crucifixion.
SPEAKER_00: Don't think that the worst part of Jesus being delivered up, of Jesus being crucified, was the scourging.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I cannot imagine all of your backside just being in ribbons of flesh.
SPEAKER_00: I cannot imagine how painful that would be.
SPEAKER_00: That wasn't the worst part.
SPEAKER_00: The worst part was not the crown of thorns.
SPEAKER_00: The worst part was not even those huge nails being driven into his hands and feet.
SPEAKER_00: Did you know that tens of thousands of other people were crucified?
SPEAKER_00: There were two other people crucified alongside Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: That was not the worst, not even close.
SPEAKER_00: The worst was the fact he was delivered up for our sins, our trespasses.
SPEAKER_00: And there on the cross, something that is incomprehensible, not fully comprehensible, Jesus, he who knew no sin, became sin.
SPEAKER_00: He did not become a sin-er, he became a sin-bearer.
SPEAKER_00: Did you know that on the cross, God the Father put all of our sins on Jesus and treated him as if he'd committed all our sins?
SPEAKER_00: If he just suffered from mine alone, he suffered on the cross for the sins of the whole world.
SPEAKER_00: And so what that means, this is how one man can pay the price for millions and millions and millions of people to have forgiveness of their sins and be ready for death.
SPEAKER_00: One man, the God man, because of him being God, he could experience the equivalency of an eternity in hell for you and me so that we could enjoy the reality of an eternity in heaven with him.
SPEAKER_00: That's why.
SPEAKER_00: That's why he called out.
SPEAKER_00: My God, why have you forsaken me?
SPEAKER_00: For the first time ever, Jesus experienced God forsakenness.
SPEAKER_00: And that's that that's that's that's a part of what hell is.
SPEAKER_00: It's God forsakenness.
SPEAKER_00: So you stiform him, I don't want him, I don't need him.
SPEAKER_00: Well, if you stay that way, that's exactly what you'll get.
SPEAKER_00: But oh, he was he was your substitute.
SPEAKER_00: He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
SPEAKER_00: So believe Jesus died for your sins.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, believe Christ arose for your salvation.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Jesus experiencing the cross, the crucifixion, the pain, the agony, and even the torment of God forsaken us.
SPEAKER_00: If he stays in the tomb.
SPEAKER_00: What good is that?
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says in verse 25, and he was raised for our justification.
SPEAKER_00: That word justification, it's a legal term.
SPEAKER_00: It means literally to declare righteous.
SPEAKER_00: And so at the moment that a person puts his or her faith in Jesus, believing that he died for them, believing that he arose from the dead, at the moment they ask him to save their souls, they get credited with his righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: He was treated on the cross as if he'd committed all our sins.
SPEAKER_00: You put your faith in Jesus, God treats you if you had lived the righteous life that he did.
SPEAKER_00: What a glorious exchange, right?
SPEAKER_00: So, word processing.
SPEAKER_00: Most of us are familiar with copy and paste and cut and paste.
SPEAKER_00: So I think it can kind of help illustrate this whole transaction of being declared righteous and receiving Christ's righteousness with cut and paste.
SPEAKER_00: You've got a document and you cut something, you remove it, and it's no longer a part of that document, and then you paste it over here.
SPEAKER_00: It's as though God took all of our sins, you put your faith in Jesus, they're cut from your record, you're washed as white as snow, and they were pasted on Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You put your faith and trust in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: There's also copy and paste.
SPEAKER_00: You copy something, it stays there, it's not changed, and then you add it over here, you paste it over here.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus does not lose any righteousness when somebody else comes to know him as their savior.
SPEAKER_00: Christ copies his righteousness and then adds it to your account.
SPEAKER_00: That's what this is kind of talking about.
SPEAKER_00: And some of you are thinking, man, this just seems too good to be true.
SPEAKER_00: It seems too good to be true.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know how and why we can believe it, no matter how too good it may be sounding to you?
SPEAKER_00: It's because of the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: That's how we know that this is legit.
SPEAKER_00: Let me put it this way: let's suppose that you are in debt.
SPEAKER_00: In debt like you can't even imagine.
SPEAKER_00: It's an unpayable debt.
SPEAKER_00: If you were to live a hundred lifetimes, you could not pay off this debt.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you're getting letters, you're getting phone calls, there's nothing you can do.
SPEAKER_00: And so you go to Walmart like you would normally, however often you go, and some stranger comes up to you and says, Excuse me, excuse me, um, I understand that you're in debt.
SPEAKER_00: And it's immediately you're thinking, oh no, one of the creditors have come, they're gonna haul me off, and I'm gonna be in prison for the rest of my life.
SPEAKER_00: And the person says, No, no, no, don't be alarmed, but um, my father is unbelievably wealthy, and he has authorized me to come and write a check to you to fully cover all your debt plus some.
SPEAKER_00: And you're thinking to yourself, come on, man, April Fool was four days ago.
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, No, I I know this sounds too good to be true, but I'm I'm promising you.
SPEAKER_00: And he proceeds and he writes it out, and you're looking at it, you're thinking, What?
SPEAKER_00: That God pleads with you, please don't tear it up.
SPEAKER_00: Please don't tear it up, don't throw it away, take it to your bank, and so he leaves.
SPEAKER_00: What's it gonna hurt, right?
SPEAKER_00: So you go to the bank and you're looking around to see if anybody knows you because you're probably gonna make a scene.
SPEAKER_00: And so you you slide it over with your deposit slip to the teller, and they look at they look at you like just that teller then goes over, calls another teller.
SPEAKER_00: Come here, come here, come here.
SPEAKER_00: The two of them decide they need to call in their supervisor, he or she comes in, he or she decides they need to call in the president and the vice president of the bank.
SPEAKER_00: All of a sudden they're on the phone, they're making phone calls, and you're thinking, yeah, right.
SPEAKER_00: You're you're expecting the authority to come in at any moment and arrest you.
SPEAKER_00: And then the teller comes back and says, Um, sir, here's your deposit slip.
SPEAKER_00: Um the funds are pending.
SPEAKER_00: The funds are pending.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so you get out in the car, you can't you can't wait to get home.
SPEAKER_00: You pull out a car, you pull up your online bank account.
SPEAKER_00: Funds are pending.
SPEAKER_00: You get home, man, you're you're thinking, this this is too good to be true.
SPEAKER_00: You check online again, funds are pending.
SPEAKER_00: You think, oh man, I'm you're you're nervous, you know, you you decide to have a hot dog.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, not a hot dog, well, you didn't have a hot dog.
SPEAKER_00: Um I have no idea where a hot dog just came from.
SPEAKER_00: In my notes, I've got a donut.
SPEAKER_00: Just have whatever you want.
SPEAKER_00: Cup of coffee, and then you go back and check, it's kind of like the funds are there.
SPEAKER_00: The check cleared.
SPEAKER_00: Folks, when Jesus died on the cross of Calvary, it's as though God was in the process of writing you a check.
SPEAKER_00: A check that will get you into heaven.
SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus died.
SPEAKER_00: And it's kind of like payment pending, payment pending, payment pending.
SPEAKER_00: Second day, payment pending.
SPEAKER_00: But then on the third day, Christ arose, the check cleared.
SPEAKER_00: And so, folks, I don't care how sinful you are, how dreadful your past may be, Christ arose.
SPEAKER_00: It means the check cleared, and you can be forgiven of any and all of your sins.
SPEAKER_00: Um, so we're talking about the ABCs of being right with God, the ABCs of being ready for death.
SPEAKER_00: Admit you're a sinner, admit you need a savior.
SPEAKER_00: Believe Christ died for your sins and he arose for your salvation, and then cry out.
SPEAKER_00: Cry out for salvation, cry out for cleansing, cry out for the Lord to save you, cry out for the Lord to make you a son or a daughter.
SPEAKER_00: Romans 10, verses 19 and 13.
SPEAKER_00: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, this is the same truth we just got through talking about.
SPEAKER_00: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
SPEAKER_00: Your sins will be forgiven.
SPEAKER_00: Your name will be written in the Lamb's book of life.
SPEAKER_00: You can have peace when you die.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 10, for with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses as and is saved and is saved.
SPEAKER_00: For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that what you want?
SPEAKER_00: Don't you want rescue?
SPEAKER_00: Don't you want peace?
SPEAKER_00: Don't you want eternal life?
SPEAKER_00: Pastor Gary Tolbert, he tells about a little boy.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how old the little boy is in the story, but he goes with his parents to Washington, D.C.
SPEAKER_00: to see all the sights.
SPEAKER_00: And most of us have been there and we've seen the sights.
SPEAKER_00: And there was something about the Washington monument that just blew his mind.
SPEAKER_00: And there's a person who's like on guard just to make sure it's not desecrated or whatever.
SPEAKER_00: And the little boy goes up to him and says, Mister, I want to buy that.
SPEAKER_00: The soldier looked at him or the the the guard and said, Son, how much money do you have?
SPEAKER_00: 25 cents.
SPEAKER_00: And the guy said, Dad, that's not enough.
SPEAKER_00: And the boy said, I thought you'd say that.
SPEAKER_00: And he reached in.
SPEAKER_00: Nine more cents.
SPEAKER_00: 34 cents.
SPEAKER_00: And uh the guards looked at him and said, buddy, that's not enough money to buy the Washington Monument.
SPEAKER_00: 34 million dollars could never buy the Washington Monument.
SPEAKER_00: It's not even for sale.
SPEAKER_00: But if you're an American citizen, it's yours.
SPEAKER_00: And everything it represents freedom and liberty, the pursuit of happiness.
SPEAKER_00: Folks, salvation cannot be purchased.
SPEAKER_00: It's not for sale.
SPEAKER_00: But if you cry out and ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins, you get everything that goes with it.
SPEAKER_00: Righteousness, eternal life, hope, peace, heaven! Isn't that what you want?
SPEAKER_00: Would you bow your head with me?
SPEAKER_00: Every head bowed and every eye closed.
SPEAKER_00: Admit, believe, and cry out.
SPEAKER_00: So it's decision time.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not looking for a show of hands, I'm not looking for anybody to, you know, raise their hands, nod their head, or anything like that.
SPEAKER_00: But I wonder how many of you this morning are ready for death.
SPEAKER_00: If this morning you're thinking, Jeff, I had no idea I was going to hear what I've heard, experience what I'm experiencing.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not even 100% sure what it's called.
SPEAKER_00: It may be conviction.
SPEAKER_00: But if there's anybody here who would like to have the blessed assurance that when you die, heaven will be your eternal home.
SPEAKER_00: Well, now's now's the time.
SPEAKER_00: Now's the time to put your faith and trust in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what I'd like to do.
SPEAKER_00: We do this every so often.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to pray a prayer.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to pray it a phrase at a time.
SPEAKER_00: And I would simply but earnestly ask you, if if you mean business, if you if you are willing to admit you're a sinner and you need a savior, if you're willing to believe that Christ died for your sins and he arose for your salvation, then I'm going to pray a prayer that will enable you to put your faith and trust in Christ so you can have eternal life.
SPEAKER_00: Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
SPEAKER_00: Are you ready to do that?
SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to pray at a phrase at a time.
SPEAKER_00: I would invite you to do likewise, but now you can do it silently.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not trying to embarrass anybody.
SPEAKER_00: But you pray it silently, but you've got to be sincere in your heart of hearts.
SPEAKER_00: Just simply repeating words will save nobody.
SPEAKER_00: You've got to believe.
SPEAKER_00: You've got to trust.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: Phrase at a time.
SPEAKER_00: You pray it silently but sincerely after me.
SPEAKER_00: Dear Lord Jesus, according to the Bible, right now I admit that I'm a sinner.
SPEAKER_00: And I need a savior.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Lord Jesus, I believe that you died for me on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: I believe that you took my punishment for all my sin.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, I thank you for doing that.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm asking you now, Lord, forgive me.
SPEAKER_00: Cleanse me, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Save my soul.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, if you will help me, and I believe you will, I will live for you for the rest of my life.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.