SPEAKER_00: Welcome to this week's podcast by Celebration Church Laratoga.
SPEAKER_00: We believe this message will empower and equip you to live a life of breakthrough.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, good morning, church.
SPEAKER_01: How are we doing this morning?
SPEAKER_01: Great to be in God's house.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, we gotta get excited about living.
SPEAKER_01: If you're here and your hand's not clapping, then let's hope it's clapping by the end of the service.
SPEAKER_01: But uh no, it's great to be here on Father's Day, and we do want to extend a special honor uh to our fathers.
SPEAKER_01: And uh man, where would we be without our dads?
SPEAKER_01: Like, quite literally, like we wouldn't be alive without a dad in some form of some way.
SPEAKER_01: So uh it's it's great to be alive, and uh, but I do want to really honor uh our father of the house, uh Pastor Jonathan, uh and a dad uh who really I see the behind the scenes of dad's life, and dad is a man of prayer, a man of utmost integrity.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I've never seen a thing where dad preaches one thing and then you know, when he gets home, he's you know living in a double standard.
SPEAKER_01: It's never, ever, ever like that.
SPEAKER_01: Dad is who he says he is, he's a man of integrity uh and a man of deep devotion and commitment to building God's kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: And I am uh I think we should give dad a big hand for his leadership for our church family, his prayer.
SPEAKER_01: And I'll tell you what, man, like dad is a man of prayer.
SPEAKER_01: And uh you'll be surprised the little things that happen in the church, or someone's going through something that you might think is insignificant that dad's actually praying for.
SPEAKER_01: And uh, he cares for the sheep, he cares for uh those in our church deeply.
SPEAKER_01: And so I really want to thank you, Dad, and honor you.
SPEAKER_01: We're doing well.
SPEAKER_01: How many people are ready to hear to the word of the Lord this morning?
SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
SPEAKER_01: The title of my sermon this morning is It Should Have Been Me.
SPEAKER_01: It should have been me.
SPEAKER_01: Let's close our eyes and let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: Father, we thank you for your goodness, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we want to honor your presence here this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Holy Spirit, we invite you to come and have your way.
SPEAKER_01: We thank you that you are already here, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Your word promises where two or three are gathered in your name, Jesus, there you will be in our midst.
SPEAKER_01: And we thank you, Jesus, you are here in our midst.
SPEAKER_01: And Holy Spirit, we welcome you, we honor your presence in this room.
SPEAKER_01: And we declare this morning no spirit but the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Father, we declare from the front, the back, the left, and the right, we declare that in the name of Jesus be glorified and that every heart come into the power and the dominion of the Holy Spirit this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Right now, I release the spirit of understanding.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, open our eyes to see, open our ears to hear in the name of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Father, we pray, let us hear your words this morning.
SPEAKER_01: In Jesus' name we pray.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
SPEAKER_01: If you've got your Bibles here this morning, let's turn to the book of Romans, chapter 6, verse 23.
SPEAKER_01: And like I said, I'm preaching this morning that it should have been me.
SPEAKER_01: It should have been me.
SPEAKER_01: Romans chapter 6, verse 23 says this for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
SPEAKER_01: The wages of our sin is death.
SPEAKER_01: Is death.
SPEAKER_01: There is a wage that each and every one of us have earned, and it's death.
SPEAKER_01: Starting on a high note this morning.
SPEAKER_01: But I want to tell you this that sin is a death sentence.
SPEAKER_01: When we violate God's law, okay, when we tell a lie, a fib, right, when we steal something, when we gossip about someone, when we look at a woman or a man with lustful thoughts or imaginations, when we respond in violence, when we are corrupt in our heart, whatever it is, if it violates the word of God, we have earned something.
SPEAKER_01: We've earned a wage, right?
SPEAKER_01: Everyone loves to talk about minimum wage being increased in the Cook Islands.
SPEAKER_01: There's a greater wage you need to be concerned about, and it's the wage of your sin.
SPEAKER_01: And each and every one of us who have sinned, and how many people have sinned here?
SPEAKER_01: How many people have told a lie in this building?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, if your hand is not up, you just told a lie.
SPEAKER_01: So welcome to the club.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, we've all told a lie, right?
SPEAKER_01: We've all fallen short, we've all stolen something.
SPEAKER_01: You know, it might be something small like a pen or you know, five bucks out of your mama's purse, whatever.
SPEAKER_01: That's kind of like the lowest of the lows, but whatever big, small, in between, okay, we have all fallen short of God's perfect standard.
SPEAKER_01: That means this that we have earned a wage.
SPEAKER_01: And the Bible says in Romans chapter 6 that the wages of our sin is death.
SPEAKER_01: Not death here on earth, but death in the life to come.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't mean like if you tell a lie, bang, you're gone.
SPEAKER_01: Oh man, that guy crashed on a bike, he must have sinned.
SPEAKER_01: No, that's not how it works.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: It's talking about an eternal death.
SPEAKER_01: We have this life here on earth, which probably on average is about 80 or so years, but we will die here on earth and we will go into a thing called eternity.
SPEAKER_01: Eternity does not end.
SPEAKER_01: There is no end to eternity.
SPEAKER_01: There's no, okay, after a thousand years, two thousand years, well done, mate, you're finished.
SPEAKER_01: Come back to earth, reincarnate.
SPEAKER_01: All right, you lived a good life, you get to be a dolphin, you lived a bad life, you get to be a broccoli.
SPEAKER_01: That's not how it works, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Once we die here on earth, that is it.
SPEAKER_01: And we go to one of two places.
SPEAKER_01: We either go to heaven with God, or we go to hell with the devil and his kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says the wages of our sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
SPEAKER_01: So God has made a way for us.
SPEAKER_01: There's no such thing as a harmless sin.
SPEAKER_01: A little white lie.
SPEAKER_01: It's like saying this that you know, you got a cup of water and it's all good because there's only one drop of poison in it.
SPEAKER_01: That one over there has got a thousand drops of poison.
SPEAKER_01: Don't drink that one.
SPEAKER_01: But this one over here has only got one drop, you'll be fine.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter if you have the one drop or you have the thousand drops, either cup you take, you will die.
SPEAKER_01: Because there's one drop of poison.
SPEAKER_01: If we have sinned once, we are no longer perfect.
SPEAKER_01: Heaven is a perfect place.
SPEAKER_01: There is no imperfect thing that can get into heaven.
SPEAKER_01: If you and I somehow, some way got into heaven without being perfect, what would heaven become?
SPEAKER_01: Heaven would become imperfect.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because we're there.
SPEAKER_01: So we can't get into heaven on our own merit.
SPEAKER_01: We have to have someone who is perfect to take our place and sacrifice his life for us.
SPEAKER_01: And this is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ did for us.
SPEAKER_01: That He took our place when it should have been me.
SPEAKER_01: My death.
SPEAKER_01: The wages of sin is death.
SPEAKER_01: My eternal death was taken on that cross by the Lord Jesus Christ and He made a way.
SPEAKER_01: And it was by the stripes and the beating and the blood that was shed of the Lord Jesus Christ that we can have a provision to get into heaven through the sacrifice and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: I'm here today, today, to preach the truth.
SPEAKER_01: How many people want to hear the truth?
SPEAKER_01: We've got to want to hear the truth.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, like if you go to the doctor, and let's say you've got some pain in your stomach, and you go to the doctor and they do some scans, send away some tests, and they see those results come back in, and they realize that you've got stage four pancreatic cancer, and they're thinking, My goodness, this man or this woman's got about three months to live.
SPEAKER_01: But you know what?
SPEAKER_01: Because I'm a doctor that really cares for this person's emotions, I don't want to trouble them.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to make them feel uncomfortable, right?
SPEAKER_01: I don't I don't want to make them feel burdened about this.
SPEAKER_01: You know what?
SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna go back into that room and I'm going to tell them that everything's gonna be okay.
SPEAKER_01: Would that doctor be a good doctor?
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely not.
SPEAKER_01: Fire that doctor on the spot because he is lying or twisting the truth to make you feel better.
SPEAKER_01: If that happened to you, you would leave that doctor's room feeling quite good.
SPEAKER_01: Oh mate, I'm doing well, everything's all good, life's gonna work out.
SPEAKER_01: But the feelings that you are going through have absolutely no bearing on the condition of your stomach, and that in four months' time you will die if nothing is dealt with.
SPEAKER_01: Because the condition has not changed by our emotions.
SPEAKER_01: So if I'm gonna preach to you today, this morning, you know what, brother, you know what, sister, God loves you, everything's gonna be okay.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to do anything, don't worry about how don't even mention that mention that word.
SPEAKER_01: That's too that that makes us feel uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_01: Let's not say that in church.
SPEAKER_01: All right, rub you on the back, have a peanut slab, go about your way.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, if I was to do that to you, I would be an irresponsible preacher of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, I would be responsible for your deception.
SPEAKER_01: So this morning I am preaching the truth because I care about your eternity.
SPEAKER_01: It might not be easy, it might be like, man, this guy is firing some bullets this morning.
SPEAKER_01: I would rather you leave this building burdened and concerned about your eternal state to do something if you're not right with God, than to leave this place thinking that everything's gonna be okay, but then when you stand before God, you realize, uh-oh, my life wasn't right and it's too late.
SPEAKER_01: There's a statement that I like to say, shock me now, but don't shock me then.
SPEAKER_01: Wake me up now.
SPEAKER_01: If I'm not right with God now, please, Lord, open my eyes.
SPEAKER_01: Teach me through your word, but Lord, please don't wake me up then when I stand before you, because when I stand before you, it's going to be too late, and there's nothing I could do to go back and change my life.
SPEAKER_01: So I'm here to say this morning, let me shock you now.
SPEAKER_01: If you're not right with God, it's time to wake up.
SPEAKER_01: It's time to live for Jesus because it should have been us on that cross.
SPEAKER_01: But Christ made a way, He died on the cross for our place, He was the sacrifice, pure, holy, and righteous, that we might live free from our sin.
SPEAKER_01: Do I get an amen in the house of God?
SPEAKER_01: All right, you and I have a debt.
SPEAKER_01: We are totally, completely indebted, and it's a moral debt that we could never, ever, ever repay.
SPEAKER_01: You can't become perfect again, right?
SPEAKER_01: Once we've done one thing that has violated God's law, we are no longer perfect.
SPEAKER_01: If you go down to the soccer field and you're shooting at the goal, taking penalty goals, you're going for a hundred and you get to your 99th goal, you get that, you've hit 99 in a row, and you come to your 100th, you hit the crossbar, it bounces off, and you miss.
SPEAKER_01: You are no longer perfect.
SPEAKER_01: Your record is 1% short of perfection.
SPEAKER_01: No matter what, you could do another thousand goals and get all of those in, but because you missed that one, you are no longer perfect.
SPEAKER_01: Each and every one of us that have sinned once are no longer perfect.
SPEAKER_01: And we have violated this, as the scripture says, all of the word of God if we've violated one law.
SPEAKER_01: That's why we need a savior to take our place, who never violated the law once, but totally and completely fulfilled the law.
SPEAKER_01: This is the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to say this is the good news of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: We can't understand the good news until we realize the bad news.
SPEAKER_01: So I started with the bad news.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so you realize, oh my gosh, I need the good news.
SPEAKER_01: And the good news is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that by his amazing grace, he has delivered us, set us free, and washed us if we turn to him.
SPEAKER_01: He paid the highest price for our salvation.
SPEAKER_01: Our God is a God of tremendous love, of tremendous mercy and grace.
SPEAKER_01: Like this is the most amazing news in all of human history that God Almighty was willing to humble himself and become a man, fully God and fully man, and live a perfect, sinless, spotless life 2,000 years ago and die on the cross, and three days later rise from the dead and pay for our sin.
SPEAKER_01: The ransom for our rescue was paid by the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: That once and for all our sin was nailed to that cross, and by faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we can be redeemed.
SPEAKER_01: This is the good news.
SPEAKER_01: How many people are grateful for the cross of Calvary and the resurrection?
SPEAKER_01: Our God is a God that triumphed over death.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says this that Christ made a public spectacle of the kingdom of darkness on that cross by dying for our sin.
SPEAKER_01: He was on that cross.
SPEAKER_01: The enemy thought he has won, he had won.
SPEAKER_01: People were laughing at him, mocking at him, saying, Oh, ripping out his bed, putting a bag over his head, punching his face, saying, You know, you're king.
SPEAKER_01: You say your king, prophesy, who's punching you?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus knew exactly who was punching him.
SPEAKER_01: He knew exactly the details of that man's life.
SPEAKER_01: He knew the number of hairs on that man's head that was punching him.
SPEAKER_01: He knew the sin that he had committed the night before.
SPEAKER_01: He knew the day that he was born, he knew the day that he would die, he knew every detail.
SPEAKER_01: But he did not say one thing.
SPEAKER_01: But he was a humble lamb that went to the slaughter lowly.
SPEAKER_01: He could have got off that cross and smited every single one of those men, brought down a legion of angels and be like, You really want to show I'll show you what's up.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, oh, oh, you really want to see, I'll show you.
SPEAKER_01: But no, because of the humility of Christ and the lowliness of his heart, he was willing to endure the suffering and the beating of the cross because of the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross.
SPEAKER_01: That's what the Bible says.
SPEAKER_01: What is the joy?
SPEAKER_01: The joy is our reconciliation to the Father.
SPEAKER_01: You know, he thought about you on that cross, he thought about all of humanity, and he took our place on that cross that our sin could be washed and cleansed, and that we could be reconciled back to God once again.
SPEAKER_01: This is the amazing good news of the gospel that Christ died instead of us when it should have been me.
SPEAKER_01: It should have been us.
SPEAKER_01: What God does this?
SPEAKER_01: Like God is in heaven receiving all the glory.
SPEAKER_01: Isaiah 6 talks about the throne room of God where the seraphim are crying day and night, night and day, 24-7.
SPEAKER_01: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, and is to come.
SPEAKER_01: It says the pillars in the throne room are shaking at the sound of their voices.
SPEAKER_01: That means that they are ex that they are screaming at the top of their lungs with praise and adoration, so much so that the throne room of heaven and the pillars are shaking.
SPEAKER_01: And God, Christ Jesus, comes out of that, steps, puts off the glory that he was receiving, and comes down and humbles himself as a baby in a manger and attaches himself to humanity.
SPEAKER_01: This is the incredible love of God.
SPEAKER_01: That in our deep, depraved, wicked state, he was willing to stretch down and humble himself and pull us up out of the miry clay, pull us out out of the deepest, darkest pit and save us from our sin.
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah for the work of the cross.
SPEAKER_01: Praise God.
SPEAKER_01: Praise God for his incredible love.
SPEAKER_01: And I'll tell you this morning: this is a God of burning love.
SPEAKER_01: So many other religions are all about man paying the greatest price to get to God.
SPEAKER_01: Christianity is all about God paying the greatest price to get to man.
SPEAKER_01: It's completely reversed when our God would step down and come to us and humble himself to pull us up.
SPEAKER_01: It's not about us trying to earn it, not about us trying to prove it, not about us trying to tick all the boxes.
SPEAKER_01: Yep, I went to church 50 weeks out of 52 this year.
SPEAKER_01: I should be good.
SPEAKER_01: No, no.
SPEAKER_01: It's about the price that was paid on the cross of Calvary.
SPEAKER_01: Nothing that we could earn, nothing that we could do to, you know, somehow sneak our way in.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yep, you've done a good job, mate.
SPEAKER_01: You wore your suit and tie, and it was washed every week.
SPEAKER_01: You're in.
SPEAKER_01: That's not how it works.
SPEAKER_01: You know, if I just stop drinking alcohol, and if I just stop smoking, and if I just stop looking at unclean images, then I will be saved.
SPEAKER_01: That's not how this thing works.
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing that you could do or I could do to earn this.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says this our righteousness is as filthy rags before God.
SPEAKER_01: That means the very, very best moment of your life when you cross that street to give money to that homeless man and you gave all the money in your pocket.
SPEAKER_01: There's a few hundred bucks that you just uh bought, you got to the ATM, you took out that money, and you're gonna buy a new pair of shoes, and you said, you know what, forget that shoes, forget those shoes.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna give this money to that poor man.
SPEAKER_01: What an awesome moment.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says this that was like filthy rags before God's pure status.
SPEAKER_01: That's how holy and righteous God is.
SPEAKER_01: So much higher, so much better, he is spotless with that imperfection.
SPEAKER_01: His motivations are pure.
SPEAKER_01: You know, when we give something to someone, sometimes our motivations aren't right.
SPEAKER_01: Are they watching?
SPEAKER_01: Oh no, hang on, give me a few minutes.
SPEAKER_01: Oh no, they're watching.
SPEAKER_01: Here we go.
SPEAKER_01: All right, or or we do it so like we know.
SPEAKER_01: I I know that guy's got some land.
SPEAKER_01: If I uh bake him a cake, he might sign this paper.
SPEAKER_01: All right?
SPEAKER_01: The motivation of that gift was not pure, it was I'm doing this with a little string attached.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so sometimes in our very best moments, it's still corrupt, it's still impure.
SPEAKER_01: God has no impurity, no corruption.
SPEAKER_01: It's holy, righteous all the way through.
SPEAKER_01: Our very best falls well, well short of the Lord and the standard that is required for perfection.
SPEAKER_01: And this is why Christ stood down to humanity to die for our place.
SPEAKER_01: He died instead of us, that we would be saved.
SPEAKER_01: Our God is truly, truly, truly, absolutely incredible.
SPEAKER_01: Like I don't even have the words to do him justice.
SPEAKER_01: My very, very best vocabulary in English falls way short.
SPEAKER_01: I could learn every language in the world.
SPEAKER_01: Be fluent in every language, know every adjective, every descriptive word, and it would always fall short of God's glory.
SPEAKER_01: He is so much better, so much more righteous, so much more holy.
SPEAKER_01: He is truly indescribable.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, that's probably the best word we could use to describe God is indescribable.
SPEAKER_01: Is that we can't describe God's glory.
SPEAKER_01: I can't fit the God of the heavens and the earth into my mere mouth and try to describe him.
SPEAKER_01: He is better, he is higher, he is greater.
SPEAKER_01: Isaiah says this that his ways are higher than our ways, his thoughts are higher than our thoughts.
SPEAKER_01: He is he is he is so much better, so much right more righteous and holy and glorious.
SPEAKER_01: But this is the most amazing thing that this God stood down into humanity so that he could have a relationship with you.
SPEAKER_01: He didn't just die to wipe your sins away, he died, rose again to wipe your sins and then bring you into fellowship with him.
SPEAKER_01: That every day of your life you can spend time with him and he will be with you.
SPEAKER_01: And even better than that, he promises to indwell you by his Holy Spirit, that he fills our heart.
SPEAKER_01: If you have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and repented from your sin, the Holy Spirit has filled your heart.
SPEAKER_01: You are spirit-filled, you are filled by the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: This is the most amazing thing that the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of you.
SPEAKER_01: What an honor! What an absolute honor! What a privilege.
SPEAKER_01: Our God is an awesome God, He is truly one.
SPEAKER_01: In every single way.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to say this this morning: the cross is more than a symbol.
SPEAKER_01: It's more than a chain around someone's neck.
SPEAKER_01: It's more than a piece of jewelry.
SPEAKER_01: It's more than a symbol at the top of the church building.
SPEAKER_01: The cross is the greatest expression of love.
SPEAKER_01: There is nothing better, nothing higher, no other better symbol of love than the cross of Calvary.
SPEAKER_01: That God would die for our place.
SPEAKER_01: That there is love through and through.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says that God is love.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't just have love, he is love.
SPEAKER_01: He is the very definition of love.
SPEAKER_01: When people say like I love you, a lot of the time it's got mixture in there.
SPEAKER_01: A lot of the time is I love you because what you do for me.
SPEAKER_01: I love you for the way that you make me feel.
SPEAKER_01: But that's not how God works.
SPEAKER_01: He loves us because he loves us, because he is love.
SPEAKER_01: This is the God that we serve.
SPEAKER_01: He is incredible, holy, and righteous.
SPEAKER_01: John chapter 15, verse 13 says this greater love no one has than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends.
SPEAKER_01: There is no greater expression of love than the price that was paid on the cross of Calvary when Christ gave his life down for humanity.
SPEAKER_01: This is the single greatest expression of love.
SPEAKER_01: These aren't empty words when God says that He loved the world.
SPEAKER_01: No, but He proved it with His own blood.
SPEAKER_01: He has proved His love.
SPEAKER_01: He loves us.
SPEAKER_01: Romans chapter 5, verse 6.
SPEAKER_01: For while we were still helpless at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.
SPEAKER_01: For one will hardly die for a righteous person.
SPEAKER_01: Though perhaps for the good person, someone would even dare to die.
SPEAKER_01: But God demonstrates his own love toward us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
SPEAKER_01: But this is the love of God that while we were in a wicked, depraved, evil, carnal, ungodly state, he died for us.
SPEAKER_01: Nothing that we did that was worthy of that death, but it was because of his love.
SPEAKER_01: He died for the worst of sinners.
SPEAKER_01: He died for those that are deeply depraved and wicked and are locked up in prison.
SPEAKER_01: The ones that the world rejects and says, mate, you you're gone.
SPEAKER_01: We don't want you around anymore.
SPEAKER_01: Christ died for that sin.
SPEAKER_01: And this is the power of the blood of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: That as far as the East is from the West, He removes our iniquity from us, the Bible says.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes we have this idea, we're like, yeah, God can forgive like the moderate sins, but you know the like extreme stuff, that really bad stuff we see on the news, that person is not worthy of forgiveness.
SPEAKER_01: Shut the door, lock him up, throw away the key, that guy's gone.
SPEAKER_01: But guess what?
SPEAKER_01: You and I are just as bad because we have dropped that one drop of poison in our glass.
SPEAKER_01: They may have done a thousand.
SPEAKER_01: All of us have fallen short of the glory of God.
SPEAKER_01: We can't look down on other people and say, like, oh yeah, mate, that guy deserves hell.
SPEAKER_01: Not me.
SPEAKER_01: I'm pretty good.
SPEAKER_01: I'm a good guy.
SPEAKER_01: But that guy is not, no, that's not how this thing works.
SPEAKER_01: We've all fallen short of perfection.
SPEAKER_01: And if we've violated one law, the Bible says we've violated every law.
SPEAKER_01: So we're just as bad as the person that's locked up for life or they're on death row for their grievous, wicked, depraved crimes.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna tell you this: the power of the blood of Jesus Christ is greater.
SPEAKER_01: And he forgives and he washes and he cleanses, and there is mercy for you today.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter what you've done, where you've been.
SPEAKER_01: You say, look, I've violated so many laws, I've sinned so many times, I don't think I can.
SPEAKER_01: No, I'm gonna tell you the blood of Jesus Christ is greater than what you've ever done.
SPEAKER_01: To forgive you, to wash you, to cleanse you.
SPEAKER_01: This is the good news is that God has forgiven us of our sin.
SPEAKER_01: And he has paid the price.
SPEAKER_01: One drop of the blood of Jesus Christ will set you free, will forgive you, will wipe you clean.
SPEAKER_01: As white as snow.
SPEAKER_01: Forgiving us.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says this that he casts our sins into the sea, the depths of the sea.
SPEAKER_01: He gets rid of them.
SPEAKER_01: He washes us clean, he purifies us so that we are now a new creation in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: You know, here's the crazy thing is that God doesn't need you.
SPEAKER_01: He wants you.
SPEAKER_01: God doesn't need Zach, He doesn't need Zach's worship, He doesn't need your worship, but He wants you.
SPEAKER_01: What an amazing truth.
SPEAKER_01: Like God is self-sufficient.
SPEAKER_01: What does that mean?
SPEAKER_01: God's not in heaven waiting for Sunday morning when all the churches around the world are gonna give him some praise.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I need this, I need my fix so that they'll, you know, he's like in on his throne, insecure, waiting for people to praise him.
SPEAKER_01: No, God is fully self-sufficient, he has no need, he doesn't need our worship, he's not waiting for us, just please give me something good.
SPEAKER_01: No, he's self-sufficient, he's satisfied within himself, right?
SPEAKER_01: But this is the crazy thing is that he wants you, he desires you, he doesn't need you, but he wants you to come, and he wants you so much that he died for you to come.
SPEAKER_01: He took your place so that you could come in and not just have an average life.
SPEAKER_01: No, he died that you would have life and life more abundantly, John 10 10 says.
SPEAKER_01: That we would have an abundant life in Christ Jesus, that we would go on this incredible journey with the Lord Jesus Christ, that he would satisfy every longing in our heart, every desire.
SPEAKER_01: He would set us free from our sin, he would set us free from our fears, our iniquities, he would set us free from anxiety, from what other people think about you.
SPEAKER_01: When you're walking down the street, you're not concerned about what other people are thinking because Christ has done a work in your heart.
SPEAKER_01: He didn't just save you from your sin, but he brought you up on the rock so that you'll be whole, that you'll be secure, that you'll be confident in Christ Jesus, and he will bless you and he'll pour out his abundant goodness on your life.
SPEAKER_01: I want to tell you, it gets better and better and better and better with Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Praise God.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes we have this messed up idea that God is boring.
SPEAKER_01: God's boring.
SPEAKER_01: You know, I don't really want to go to church today.
SPEAKER_01: I'd rather watch Netflix, I'd rather be scrolling on TikTok, I'd rather you know be sleeping in.
SPEAKER_01: You know, it's like a duty for us to come to church, or it's a duty for us to go to a prayer meeting, or it's like some like hard discipline to pick up the word and pray.
SPEAKER_01: And it's like we have to do this.
SPEAKER_01: I want to tell you, you know what that is?
SPEAKER_01: That is religion.
SPEAKER_01: Where it's about doing the works, but it is not about the burning relationship with God, where your heart is lit up for Jesus, where your heart is filled with excitement and joy, and you're just like, praise God, I can't wait to be with you, God.
SPEAKER_01: Because the creator of the heavens and the earth, the one who created all things, who holds the world in the palm of his hands, by the words of his mouth, the galaxies and the planets were formed instantly.
SPEAKER_01: This very God can speak to you in the morning when you get up and you be with him.
SPEAKER_01: You better believe that that's not gonna be boring.
SPEAKER_01: It's only boring when we try to do it without the presence of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And we try to earn it, or we try to tick the boxes, or we just come to church because we feel we have to.
SPEAKER_01: I want to tell you when you come into an intimate relationship with Jesus, I'm talking about the real Jesus, not the fake one, not the one that you worship on a Sunday after Saturday night getting drunk and your hair hung over.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not talking about that religious Jesus, I'm talking about the Jesus that died for you, that cares about you, that has a burning, blazing love for you.
SPEAKER_01: This is the real Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: We serve the living God, not the dead God, not the boring God, not the average God.
SPEAKER_01: We serve the living God.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says He is our exceedingly great reward.
SPEAKER_01: Somebody get fired up for Jesus in this place.
SPEAKER_01: God's not boring, you know, it's real easy to go to the rugby game.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: You get all fired up for your team.
SPEAKER_01: It's real easy to go to the soccer game and be like yelling out, you're yelling at the TV.
SPEAKER_01: They cannot hear you.
SPEAKER_01: The players, I can assure you, cannot hear you.
SPEAKER_01: They are in another country.
SPEAKER_01: But we get all like passionate about these things, and when it comes to church, it's like, bro, I saw you yesterday at the two-papa field, and you were losing your mind.
SPEAKER_01: You're going crazy.
SPEAKER_01: You're passionate.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: But now it comes to church, and it's like, ah, yeah, okay.
SPEAKER_01: What time's lunch?
SPEAKER_01: We've entered a thing called religion, where we have lost intimacy or lost connection with the creator of the world.
SPEAKER_01: And it's now about doing the work and doing the right things, but we don't have a fiery connection with God.
SPEAKER_01: Same thing can happen in your marriage, right?
SPEAKER_01: You first get together, man, you just can't stop looking at each other's eyes.
SPEAKER_01: Hours upon hours, like you're not even saying anything, you're just staring.
SPEAKER_01: There's a picture that paints a thousand words, baby.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: That's like the the we're just we're just besotted and in love.
SPEAKER_01: And as time goes on, guess what happens?
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: If you don't keep on investing, you don't keep putting time in, if you don't keep caring, if you don't keep talking, if you don't keep spending quality time, the connection fades and you drift.
SPEAKER_01: And now it's like, oh, you ready?
SPEAKER_01: Get up, we've gotta go.
SPEAKER_01: So mate, like that's what happened.
SPEAKER_01: Five years ago, it was not like that.
SPEAKER_01: You were like bending down, putting your shoes on in the morning, brushing her teeth.
SPEAKER_01: And now it's like completely opposite.
SPEAKER_01: What's happened?
SPEAKER_01: You've lost connection.
SPEAKER_01: Now it's just about get in the car, we're late.
SPEAKER_01: As opposed to whatever you say, baby, your wish is my command.
SPEAKER_01: So, what's going on?
SPEAKER_01: We've lost touch, we've lost intimacy.
SPEAKER_01: That's the same thing in our relationship with God.
SPEAKER_01: When you first come to Jesus, you're like, oh my goodness, I am a sinner.
SPEAKER_01: My sin has been washed.
SPEAKER_01: You're talking about all this in just disgusting things that I've done have been washed by this God who loves me, who died for me, and you're just mind-blown by this, and you're in this honeymoon period with God, and you're saying, God, I'll go to any country in the world, I'll talk to any person about you.
SPEAKER_01: You are incredible.
SPEAKER_01: But then, season in, season out, things happen, things shift, and we lose, we drift apart, we lose that connection, and then we come to this place and we're just like, I have to go to church.
SPEAKER_01: It's like, mate, five years ago, you were up early, you were the first one here waiting for the person to unlock the door and turn on the coffee machine.
SPEAKER_01: But now you've drifted.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because we have lost intimacy.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to tell you this: I'm preaching the message of the cross that it should have been us.
SPEAKER_01: You might be here this morning, you might be saved 20 years, and you're gonna think, oh, yeah, this is for the new people.
SPEAKER_01: The guys that came for Sunday, Funday, this is for them.
SPEAKER_01: This ain't for me.
SPEAKER_01: No, God touched them.
SPEAKER_01: No, I'm gonna tell you, it doesn't matter where you are in your walk with God, the message of the cross is for you.
SPEAKER_01: You don't graduate from this message.
SPEAKER_01: It's not like, oh brother, I'm on advanced things.
SPEAKER_01: I have that that was great like 10 years ago.
SPEAKER_01: But mate, I'm talking about Armenianism versus Calvinism here.
SPEAKER_01: I'm talking about my eschatology, brother.
SPEAKER_01: That's not how this works.
SPEAKER_01: The message of the cross will be the greatest message in your life every single day.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to tell you this: if you stay close to the cross with your mind set on what Jesus did for you, you won't drift.
SPEAKER_01: But you'll stay close in intimacy with Him.
SPEAKER_01: It's hard to be proud and arrogant when you're looking at the cross.
SPEAKER_01: It's hard to be self-righteous when you look at what Christ paid for us on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: It's hard for us to look down on other people when we see what Christ paid for us on that cross.
SPEAKER_01: So I want to say it doesn't matter if you've been saved for five minutes, five years, fifty years, it does not matter.
SPEAKER_01: This message of the cross is for you, it's for me.
SPEAKER_01: That Christ has paid it all for us, that He is the greatest, He is the highest.
SPEAKER_01: There is no one like Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Bless His holy name.
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: God is not boring.
SPEAKER_01: You know what religion is like?
SPEAKER_01: Religion is dead and empty.
SPEAKER_01: It's like eating food that has no nutrients and no taste.
SPEAKER_01: It's not good for your body, and it ain't good for the taste buds.
SPEAKER_01: It's a waste of time.
SPEAKER_01: It's just empty.
SPEAKER_01: It's like there's nothing good in this for me.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just doing it and doing it, doing it.
SPEAKER_01: But there is no benefit.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not growing, there's no protein, there's no sustenance, and it there's no taste.
SPEAKER_01: But when we are in a relationship with the living God, I'm gonna tell you it is the most nutritious thing for your spiritual body, and it tastes good because the Bible says, taste and see that the Lord is good.
SPEAKER_01: God is good.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna tell you this.
SPEAKER_01: Like sometimes we get fired up and passionate about the all blacks.
SPEAKER_01: But you know what's funny is the futility of life.
SPEAKER_01: Like, just like a month or so ago, everyone was going mad about soccer for the soccer world cup, watching the highlights.
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, look who won.
SPEAKER_01: Wow, that's crazy.
SPEAKER_01: Bro, no one's talking about soccer.
SPEAKER_01: Unless you're Mickey Joseph and the guys at CEFA.
SPEAKER_01: That that's what they do, and my brother Selva is training them.
SPEAKER_01: But I'm talking like I'm talking about like across the public.
SPEAKER_01: I'm talking about like the conversation of the community, the conversation around the world.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, it was all over our social media pages, it was all over the news.
SPEAKER_01: Everyone's talking about it, it's on the newspaper.
SPEAKER_01: What's happening in the soccer world cup?
SPEAKER_01: It ain't there anymore.
SPEAKER_01: No one really cares.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's gone.
SPEAKER_01: It's over, right?
SPEAKER_01: We're on to new things.
SPEAKER_01: The All Blacks lost against South Africa, and we're gonna be like talking about it for like this week.
SPEAKER_01: They might win or lose next week, whatever happens, then it's gonna be over.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody's up the WARS, right?
SPEAKER_01: Go the Warriors.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna tell you at the end of the year, early next year, if they win or lose, no one's gonna be talking about it.
SPEAKER_01: Because we're not talking about the Broncos who won last year.
SPEAKER_01: That was last year's news.
SPEAKER_01: We're on to this year's news.
SPEAKER_01: We're not talking about the Penrith Panthers who just dominated three or four years in a row.
SPEAKER_01: No one cares about that.
SPEAKER_01: It's what's happening in 2026.
SPEAKER_01: Right, but I'll tell you what's happening right now will be yesterday's news next year.
SPEAKER_01: And we're gonna move on to the next thing and the next thing and the next thing and the next thing and the next thing.
SPEAKER_01: This is the futility of life.
SPEAKER_01: It's so empty, it's so vain, it's so pointless and meaningless.
SPEAKER_01: The hype around things, it might be sport, or it might be business, it might be politics, it might be finance, whatever area of life things come and they go, they are the conversation one day, they are yesterday's news the next day.
SPEAKER_01: But I want to tell you what remains the same is the message of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: And the depths of God's glory we will never ever reach.
SPEAKER_01: You can study all you like about the all blacks, all the stats about South Africa, and you're you can exhaust that.
SPEAKER_01: You can watch so much interviews and all of that, but it has a finite point.
SPEAKER_01: It's okay, I've really like this is enough.
SPEAKER_01: Like that there's nothing really more exciting.
SPEAKER_01: I've searched the globe and I've found all the news about the all blacks in South Africa.
SPEAKER_01: But God is different.
SPEAKER_01: You'll you'll never ever get into dopamine excess by being in God's presence.
SPEAKER_01: You know what dopamine excess is?
SPEAKER_01: Is when you're on your phone scrolling and it feels good for about 20 minutes and you're on there for about 30, 40, 50, you're on there an hour, two hours, three hours, and you're still scrolling and you feel depressed.
SPEAKER_01: You feel sick.
SPEAKER_01: You're like, my life is just many, like you're just just I don't even know how to describe it.
SPEAKER_01: It's like yuck.
SPEAKER_01: And so I want to tell you this this morning: things in life, natural carnal things, they will make you sick eventually.
SPEAKER_01: You can only have so much wet cheeses before you feel sick.
SPEAKER_01: And for me, that's probably one.
SPEAKER_01: Because those that that dairy thing just does not sit well in my stomach.
SPEAKER_01: But I'll tell you what, you can only have so much tomahawk steaks before you start feeling sick.
SPEAKER_01: And you're like, mate, give me a salad, right?
SPEAKER_01: Give me something else.
SPEAKER_01: But with God, you never ever get full, you never ever feel sick, you never feel, oh God, this is too much.
SPEAKER_01: When you are truly in the presence of God, I want to tell you this: you will feel like you've come home.
SPEAKER_01: And you're just like, My goodness, this is the reason for my existence.
SPEAKER_01: I've come home.
SPEAKER_01: All the other stuff, I'm just thinking about like, what was I thinking?
SPEAKER_01: What a waste of time.
SPEAKER_01: Yelling at the TV.
SPEAKER_01: It's empty, but when you truly come into a relationship with Jesus, I'll tell you, it fills every longing in your heart, every desire, and you've come home.
SPEAKER_01: Because the depths of God, we're never ever gonna reach the depths of who He is and be like, okay, I know everything about God.
SPEAKER_01: I've really found all that there is to God.
SPEAKER_01: But I'll tell you this the more you seek, the more you will find, the more you'll discover, the more you'll be satisfied, the more that you'll be like, My goodness, this just gets better and better and better.
SPEAKER_01: I don't have to live with this fear, I don't have to live with this insecurity, I don't have to care what he thinks about me or what she thinks about me.
SPEAKER_01: I don't have to come under this depression, I don't have to come under this anxiety, but I can walk whole in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I can get up and share in front of people and not well, oh, what are they gonna think about me?
SPEAKER_01: Security in Christ Jesus because he makes us whole.
SPEAKER_01: He died to knit our heart back together, he died to heal our heart so that when our dad, who was there or wasn't there, or spoke bad words over us and said that we were useless and that would never do anything good, if he abused us, if he hurt us, or a family member did the same thing, I want to tell you Christ comes and he heals the depths of our heart.
SPEAKER_01: And those words that were spoken over us no longer have power because Jesus Christ comes and he breaks the chains.
SPEAKER_01: This is the power of the gospel, this is the power of the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Some of us can come to God and be like, Look, if I come to you, it means I'm gonna have to give up what I want to do.
SPEAKER_01: I'll tell you, He will satisfy that longing a million times over.
SPEAKER_01: A million times over.
SPEAKER_01: God will come in and he will satisfy the desires of your heart far greater than any sin, far greater than any carnal activity could do.
SPEAKER_01: People be like, Well, if I come to church, it's gonna be boring, I have to give up drinking.
SPEAKER_01: Like, what?
SPEAKER_01: You have to give up that thing that makes you say stupid things, do stupid things, and feel sick and disgusting the next day, riddled with regret.
SPEAKER_01: Or like, oh, I'm gonna have to give up my smoking.
SPEAKER_01: You're literally gonna have to give up the thing that is destroying your lungs, emptying your wallet, and making your teeth fall out.
SPEAKER_01: And it's like I have to give that up to come to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, you do.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to do it before you come, but I'll tell you when you come, God will break that off your life.
SPEAKER_01: And He will satisfy every longing.
SPEAKER_01: Oh man, I have to get married.
SPEAKER_01: Me and my partner, we've been living together.
SPEAKER_01: Having sex outside of marriage, you have to get married.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but I'll tell you what, when you get married and you come into the blessing of God and you put it right before him, and you go to sleep at night, not with worrying or fears about are they gonna leave me, not with worrying or fears that I'm violating God's law and that if I was to die tonight I'd go to hell.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to worry about that.
SPEAKER_01: Because you're right standing before God.
SPEAKER_01: You have honored his way.
SPEAKER_01: You're committed to one another.
SPEAKER_01: What God has brought together, let not man separate.
SPEAKER_01: I have that engraved on the inside of my ring.
SPEAKER_01: What God has brought together, let not man separate.
SPEAKER_01: This is a covenant that God has brought together between me and my wife.
SPEAKER_01: And let not man, let not myself, let not Liddy, let not any person else separate what God has brought together.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna tell you this: that when you come to God, He will satisfy the longings.
SPEAKER_01: You'll be like, the only way that you think drinking, smoking, partying, clubbing, stealing, robbing, whatever you got going on, whatever you the only way that you think that is better and coming to God as a chore is if you've tasted religion.
SPEAKER_01: Where it's like, yeah, I have to like get dressed up and wear my best clothes and make sure that my life is right and uh say all the right words and stand up when the pastor says stand up and sit down when he says sit down, and it's really hot in here, and I don't want to be here, but I'm here because it's the right thing to do.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna tell you that that is short-change living.
SPEAKER_01: That is not the truth of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: But when you come into a living reality with the creator of the heavens and the earth, your life will change, and you'll look back on that life and you'll be like, Oh my goodness, what a waste of time.
SPEAKER_01: I have found the reason for living, it's the Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Philippians chapter 3, verse 8 says this indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
SPEAKER_01: For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I might gain Christ.
SPEAKER_01: This is the Apostle Paul talking to the church of Philippi, and he's saying this.
SPEAKER_01: Everything else that I lived was rubbish compared to the eternal worth of being with Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: The very best that I tasted in this world was rubbish and empty compared to the goodness of God.
SPEAKER_01: You're not coming into a bad deal here.
SPEAKER_01: I'm telling you this.
SPEAKER_01: You're coming into the very, very, very, very best deal that you could ever come across, and it's a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Turn back from your old ways, deny yourself, follow him, and he will satisfy your longings.
SPEAKER_01: Push into Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Religion is the biggest ripoff.
SPEAKER_01: We see a lot of religion here in the Cook Islands.
SPEAKER_01: People will be up the front reading scriptures in a church, and they were drinking the night before, getting drunk, and they're hung over.
SPEAKER_01: They're dressed up, looking good on the outside, but the inside is decaying.
SPEAKER_01: The inside is wicked.
SPEAKER_01: It's religion.
SPEAKER_01: And I'll tell you, it is a ripoff.
SPEAKER_01: It's boring.
SPEAKER_01: It's religion.
SPEAKER_01: Honestly, religion is dumb.
SPEAKER_01: It is actually dumb because you're like saying, I have to look a certain way, and I don't even want to be here, and I'm not even experiencing God fully, but I've come to this middle place where I'm not really enjoying the world and I'm not enjoying God, so I'm just in this place that's actually a bit stupid.
SPEAKER_01: But I want to tell you, when you step past that and you come into a relationship with Jesus, your whole world changes.
SPEAKER_01: And it's no longer about doing good things, it's about just wanting to please my dad.
SPEAKER_01: And I just want to do what pleases him.
SPEAKER_01: And the desires in my heart are changed when I wanted to do that unclean stuff.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to do that anymore.
SPEAKER_01: But I'm filled with a desire for God.
SPEAKER_01: Wrapping up real quick, says this.
SPEAKER_01: I want to say this this morning because it needs to be said, especially here in the Cook Islands.
SPEAKER_01: Not everybody is going to heaven.
SPEAKER_01: That is the truth.
SPEAKER_01: Not everybody is going to heaven.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew chapter 7, verse 13.
SPEAKER_01: Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction.
SPEAKER_01: And those who enter by it are many.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody say many.
SPEAKER_01: For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life.
SPEAKER_01: And those who find it are few.
SPEAKER_01: The scripture is saying this there's gonna be a lot of people that go to hell and few that go to heaven.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because there are so many people that are living for themselves and haven't surrendered their life completely over to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And so, kind of here in the Cook Islands, like you have someone that like lived like a real wicked way, and like you knew that they were not right with God, and then you see the Facebook status, heaven gained another angel.
SPEAKER_01: It's not true.
SPEAKER_01: That's actually a deception.
SPEAKER_01: That person, if they were not in a relationship with Jesus and did not cry out to God before they died, would go to hell forever.
SPEAKER_01: Like I said, on the doctor bringing you the prognosis this morning because I care.
SPEAKER_01: Not because I just want to be mean and harsh.
SPEAKER_01: No, I'm telling the truth this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Wide is the way that leads to destruction, but narrow is the path that leads to life.
SPEAKER_01: But I'm gonna tell you it's hard, it's not easy, but it's the very, very, very best way.
SPEAKER_01: There is no way that is better than living for Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Just because you go to church every single week does not make you a Christian.
SPEAKER_01: You could have been coming to our church for years and still not be saved.
SPEAKER_01: Because it's not by turning up it gets you right with God, it's by surrendering your heart to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: We say this a lot, but just by sitting in a church does not make you a Christian any more than sitting in your carport makes you a truck.
SPEAKER_01: Squeezing into the oven does not make you a muffin.
SPEAKER_01: Coming to church does not make you a Christian.
SPEAKER_01: So no, I'm a Christian.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Show me the evidence.
SPEAKER_01: You the Bible is all about fruit, all about fruit.
SPEAKER_01: You are proven true by your fruit, by the character of your heart.
SPEAKER_01: You can say you are a Christian all you like, but unless there is evidence in your life, proof of your salvation, then it means nothing.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna tell you that.
SPEAKER_01: We have to come to a place where we say, God, I am responding to you.
SPEAKER_01: Not doing the works, not looking good, not turning up because mom said I have to, or dad said I have to, but because we have truly surrendered our life to Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: He is the way, he is the truth, and the life.
SPEAKER_01: No man can come to the Father but through Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: This is the story of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Praise God, praise God, praise God.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna read you this final scripture, Galatians chapter 5, verse 19.
SPEAKER_01: When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear.
SPEAKER_01: Sexual immorality.
SPEAKER_01: You know what that means?
SPEAKER_01: Looking at pornography, thinking lustful thoughts about another woman, having sex outside of marriage.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, the practice of getting drunk, wild parties, and other sins like these.
SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: This is the truth, this is the reality.
SPEAKER_01: If you practice those things that I have read, you'll not inherit the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: That means you won't go to heaven.
SPEAKER_01: So you could come to church every single Sunday, but go away and late at night you're looking at unclean images of women or men on your phone and lusting.
SPEAKER_01: That's a practice of sexual immorality, and it says that you won't go to heaven.
SPEAKER_01: This is why we must repent.
SPEAKER_01: What does repent mean?
SPEAKER_01: It means to turn our life and train uh change our mind.
SPEAKER_01: Turn away from that, don't practice that anymore.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, there's grace, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01: God is greater, and He redeems us and forgives us and breaks the power.
SPEAKER_01: Like for drunkenness, you no longer have the desire to go drink that stuff, or uh being in a wrong relationship, you have a desire to get right and repent from that uncleanness, or jealousy, or selfish ambition, whatever it is.
SPEAKER_01: I want to tell you, you repent, you turn from that, you come to Jesus Christ, and He will set you free.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Christ paid the price.
SPEAKER_01: Isaiah chapter 30, verse 18.
SPEAKER_01: If the band can come.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, the Lord waits to be gracious to you.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord waits to be gracious, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
SPEAKER_01: Can we all stand this morning?
SPEAKER_01: God is a God of love and mercy.
SPEAKER_01: He's not a God of forced love, he's not a God of reluctant love where okay, I just have to do this.
SPEAKER_01: No, he's a God of burning, blazing love, where he gave the most precious and prized reward, which is the Lord Jesus Christ, his only begotten son, to die instead of you.
SPEAKER_01: He proved his love on the cross, he proved his love.
SPEAKER_01: And this morning I'm here to say that scripture I just read, Isaiah chapter 30, verse 18.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord waits to be gracious to you.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes we think that the Lord is just ready to give us a good hiding because we're done wrong.
SPEAKER_01: That's not what the Bible says.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says he is waiting to pour out his mercy.
SPEAKER_01: He's like got a bucket full of mercy and grace, and he's looking over your life and he's just saying, Come to me, come to me, come to me.
SPEAKER_01: There's mercy here, there's forgiveness here.
SPEAKER_01: Just come, just come, just come.
SPEAKER_01: He's calling your name.
SPEAKER_01: The creator of the heavens and the earth has got your name and he's knocking on your heart and he's saying, Just come, let me in.
SPEAKER_01: I'll show you a better way, I'll show you a higher way.
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SPEAKER_00: We'd also love to hear from you.
SPEAKER_00: You can connect with us on Instagram or Facebook at Celebration Raro or visit our website, celebrationdaratonga.com.
SPEAKER_00: Until next time.