The Central Message: Salvation Through Jesus Christ

And there was a line in that song that said revival is happening,

so to speak.

I didn't say it properly, but revival in the land and everything

that I, that I, that I see.

And I'm not, you know, huge on believing everything I see on the

Internet or hear on the Internet, but I tell you what I do

see is I see a resurgence of people going to church.

I see a resurgence of people interested in the things of God.

There is an interest in that.

Now, how much you know, I'm sure that the Charlie Kirk incident

had something to do with that, but not just that.

It's God and it's God working in the people who want truth, want

truth.

Tired of the garbage, tired of the lies.

Tired of, you know, superficial feel good Christianity.

And without beating around the bush, let me just state the obvious.

The message of the church in America today has been obscure and

hazy.

It has been diluted with feel good psychology and recipes for success.

Now I'm all for feeling good.

I'd rather feel good than bad.

And I'm all for success.

I'd rather succeed than fail.

But whether through the preaching, we help folks to feel

good or not, whether we lay out a plan of success or not, we

must ever be mindful of the church's primary message and objective.

And we need to be faithful to God and to you to preach that central

theme.

We cannot ever forget that.

And I believe that in America, a lot of churches have forgotten

that.

We've gotten so bogged down with feel good and fill me and give

me and give me and give me and it's all about me.

We forgot about the actual theme of the Bible, the theme of

the church, the message from the church and the central theme

of the Bible.

And the primary message of the church is salvation through faith

in Jesus Christ.

The primary message of the church is Jesus Christ and salvation

through him.

The message is found throughout the Bible.

There's no getting around it.

In Genesis 7 and 8, we see the story of Noah and Ark, Noah and the

Ark.

There you have a message of not only the message of salvation,

but we see Jesus Christ in the ark.

We see him In Genesis 22, we see Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah.

There again we have a picture of Jesus Christ and what else?

Salvation.

In Exodus, chapter 12 we have the story of the Passover wonderfully

Exodus 12 · chapter mention

demonstrates Jesus Christ and salvation.

In Exodus, we have a picture of the tabernacle being built, which

is everything in it has to do with Jesus Christ and it has to do

with salvation.

Leviticus, chapter 16, we see the atonement being made, which is

Leviticus 16 · chapter mention

all about Jesus Christ and about salvation.

Numbers 21.

And we see again in John 3:14, the serpent being lifted up.

John 3:14

And it's all about Jesus Christ and it's all about salvation.

And if you'll allow me for a few minutes this morning, I'd like

to show you that this message is also laid out for us beautifully

in Isaiah 53.

So if you would turn in your bibles to Isaiah 53.

Now, this message, it's a wonderful message.

I mean, I'm saved.

Amen.

I'm going to miss hell and I'm going to make heaven because I'm

saved through faith in Jesus Christ.

And that's an amazing message.

It's an amazing thing that happened to me.

It's miraculous.

Now, the message itself may not be as palatable as some other

messages.

This message that I'm going to preach this morning, it might be

a little bitter to the flesh, but I promise you it will be sweet

to the soul.

Are you In Isaiah, chapter 53?

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

If you're there, say amen.

Isaiah 53.

I'm just going to read two verses for now.

The Bible says in verse five, but he was wounded for our transgressions.

He was.

He was wounded for our transgressions.

He was bruised for our iniquities.

The chastisement of our peace was upon him with his stripes.

We are healed all.

We, like sheep, have gone astray.

We have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid

on him the iniquity of us all.

I want you to notice, first of all that the message is a message

of alienation from God.

This message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

It is a message of alienation and from God.

You see that in Isaiah, and it's a beautiful thing that we see.

It might not sound beautiful, but it is an amazing thing.

And it's a great truth that has gotten lost over the years.

And pulpits don't declare this anymore.

We're just not declaring, hey, you're alienated from God.

But I want you to Notice in Isaiah 59:2, the Bible says, Sin

Isaiah 59:2

has separated us from God.

But your iniquities have separated between you and your God,

and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear.

Folks need to know that if you're here this morning and you've

never accepted Christ as your savior, if you're not 100% sure you're

going to heaven when you die, if you can't say yes, I'm saved.

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, from my bottom of my head,

bottom of my toes to the top of my head, I know that.

I know that.

I know I'm saved and going to heaven when I die.

If you can't say that, I want you to understand something.

You have to first of all, come to the realization you.

You are a sinner and that sin has separated you from God.

That sin is separated between you and your God.

It separates us.

The saddest verse I believe in, one of the saddest verses in

the Bible is Ephesians 2:12.

Ephesians 2:12

Paul said this.

He said at that time, he was.

Now he's talking to Christians.

But he said, at that time, before you became Christians, you

were without Christ, having no hope, and without God in this world,

there's not a worse place to be than somewhere without hope.

No hope.

I don't mean to point you out.

I just met my friend from Germany here.

When I was in the military, I had the opportunity to go to the

other side of the wall.

That was before the wall came down.

And we just went on a tour of eastern Germany, and we had to take

our regimental crests off.

We had to take our name tags off.

They didn't want us photographed for propaganda, and

so we had to stay together.

And I can tell you with certainty that when I.

As soon as we crossed over, when we went through Checkpoint Charlie,

there were soldiers lining the railroad track.

And then once we passed over Checkpoint Charlie, there was a building

there, and every.

There were bars on every window.

And this side of the street, if you look at the wall, it was pristine.

There wasn't a mark on it.

But the other side of the wall on the west side of the wall was

full of graffiti, and it was just art or whatever it was painted

up, but the other side, nothing.

And people were not allowed to cross that.

And once we actually got into there and they let us off the bus

and we started walking through the neighborhoods and going to the

stores.

Unless you've been there or unless you've been somewhere like

it, you cannot understand the look of hopelessness and the feeling

of oppression that was there.

And the feeling that was.

There was a feeling of oppression.

Because that doctrine that is taught in a communist system is one

of no God.

And when you have no God, you have no hope.

And that's exactly what Paul is talking about in Ephesians 2.

He says, @ that time, you were without Christ and you had no hope.

You were without God in the world.

Sin has separated us From God.

Without God, I have no hope.

Without Christ, you have no hope.

There's no hope of getting to heaven, no hope of eternal bliss.

I want you to notice also, sin has alienated us from God.

He said in Colossians 1:21, you that were sometime alienated

Colossians 1:21

and enemies in your mind by wicked works.

Alienated from God.

Alienated.

We couldn't reach him.

We couldn't get to him because sin had separated us.

The Bible tells us that mankind is dead in trespasses and

sins.

Mankind is dead in trespasses and sins.

Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 1.

Ephesians 2:1

And you hath he quickened?

Well, why would you need to be quickened?

Because you were dead?

The word quickened is a word that means made alive, brought to

life.

Why would we need to be brought to life?

Because that old.

That spirit that was in us, that was in touch with God before

Adam sinned, it died.

After Adam's sin, when Adam sinned, that spirit within him died.

That's what God was talking about.

In the day that ye eat thereof, ye shall surely die.

Well, their bodies began to go toward physical death.

But immediately that spiritual death happened.

They were not in touch with God anymore.

They lost that ability to have a relationship with God because their

spirit was dead.

And our spirit is dead unless the Holy Spirit quickens it.

God quickens that spirit.

He makes it alive.

April 18, 1984.

When I placed my trust in Jesus Christ, God.

God reached down and he allowed his Holy Spirit to take up

residence within me.

And when that Holy Spirit took up residence within me, he quickened,

regenerated, revived, whatever you want to call it.

He made that my spirit alive again.

He quickened it.

I became alive once again to the things of God.

All of a sudden, he said, you hath he quickened.

He's talking to Christians.

You hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins.

Folks, if you're here this morning and you're not 100% sure

you're going to heaven, if you can't say beyond a shadow of a doubt,

I know that I'm sa.

You're dead in your trespasses and sins.

Your spirit is dead to the things of God.

And you need to be quickened.

You need to be born again.

You need to be made alive through faith in Christ.

It's not your ability to perform to God's standard that has

to be dealt with.

It is not your ability to be a better husband or wife or parent

or child that needs to be dealt with.

It is not your ability to be a better employee that needs to be

dealt with.

It is not your ability to be a better church member or to get involved.

It is not your turning over a new leaf that needs to be dealt with.

It is not you giving up this habit or that habit that needs to

be dealt with.

It is not you determining to attend church regularly that needs

to be dealt with.

It is not baptism or any of those outward things that make us

feel religious that need to be dealt with.

It is your sin that needs to be dealt with.

Isaiah 53:5,6 he was wounded for what?

Isaiah 53:5

Our transgressions.

He was wounded for our transgressions.

He.

He was bruised for our iniquities.

The Bible doesn't say that.

It doesn't say he took upon himself all of our Let me read the

rest of it here.

The chastisement of our peace was laid upon him, and with his stripes

we are healed all.

We, like sheep, have gone astray.

We have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid

on him the iniquity of us all.

Now, we don't read in the Bible that he took upon himself our

sicknesses.

You see, people take this piece of verse way out of context.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard this.

And with his stripes we are healed.

Took it completely out of context.

And they use that verse as a pretext to try to pray.

Healing over somebody.

Now, I'm all about healing.

I believe God heals people.

I've seen him heal people.

I've seen people raise up off a sickbed.

I've seen that God can miraculously heal.

I don't believe that he has divine healers, but he can absolutely

heal the Word.

The book of James tells us that the effectual fervent prayer

of a righteous man availeth much.

And if we pray over him, anoint him with oil, then God may

use that to raise them off a sickbed.

But I have a couple of verses here I had outlined.

Galatians, chapter one.

I'm just going to read this right quick.

I have it marked.

I think I do Listen to this in Galatians 1:4.

Galatians 1:4

Listen to what the Bible says here.

The Bible says, speaking of Jesus Christ, grace be to you and

peace from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave

Himself for our sins, who gave Himself for our sins, that he might

deliver us from this present evil world according to the will

of God.

He said, who gave himself for our sins.

And then again, I had another verse outlined here.

First John, chapter two.

Listen to verse two.

Verse one says, my little children, these things I write unto

you that you sin not.

And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ,

the righteous.

Now listen to this.

And he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only,

but also for the sins of the whole world.

The point I'm trying to make is this.

Jesus Christ, the Bible does not say that he took upon himself

our sicknesses or our diseases of the world.

The Bible says he took upon himself the sins of the world.

And this right here, listen.

He was wounded for our transgressions.

Is that spiritual or physical?

That's spiritual.

He was bruised for our iniquities.

Is that spiritual or physical?

Spiritual.

The chastisement of our peace was upon him.

Spiritual or physical?

Spiritual.

All right, you're not going to change horses midstream and all of

a sudden change the context.

The next verse, the next portion says, and with his stripes,

we are healed.

Now, are we just going to all of a sudden change the context and

make it talk about the physical?

He's talking about our spiritual.

With his stripes, we are healed.

We're healed.

Mankind is dead.

In trespasses and sin.

It's your sinful condition that will keep you from heaven and

in right standing with God Almighty.

It is a sin problem.

And man must realize his lost condition before he can be saved.

Now, there are churches today that are going to.

If you go to them, there are some churches, many churches, in

fact, way, way, way too many, that are going to tell you this morning

how wonderful you are.

And they're going to try to make you believe that there's some

intrinsic goodness in you.

But there is no intrinsic goodness in man, not according to

the word of God.

The word of God tells us that we are depraved.

The world will tell you, follow your heart.

Follow your.

You don't want to follow your heart.

Our heart is deceitful.

The word of God says we are deceitful and desperately wicked.

You listen to the world long enough, I'm telling you, they'll

lead you straight to hell.

The Bible, if we want the truth, and there's a resurgence of

people wanting the truth.

I'm telling you, I was watching one video, and there's no

reason for me to doubt it.

I saw it.

They were actually driving up to their church, and this lady on

this video, she said.

She said, I was looking at my phone and this was real time.

She said, I was looking at my phone and my husband said, look up

and she looked up from her phone and there was a long line.

And this was up in the Northeast, and I think it was Maine

or something.

She said, we're in Maine, and this doesn't happen in Maine.

This is a long line of people trying to get into the parking lot

of our church.

And when they actually got to the parking lot, it was absolutely

flooded.

She said, this does not happen in Maine.

This was today, this was yesterday, and today this happened.

There's a resurgence of people looking for the truth.

They don't need to be.

They don't need to have their ears tickled.

I walked by.

We went by.

I don't mean to hurt anybody's feelings this morning, but I am just

going to go ahead and say it.

I told you, it may not be palatable as other sermons.

My wife and I drove by Gateway the other day.

Yesterday, I think it was, we drove by Gateway and there was a

bunch of houses being built right across the street.

I don't even remember which one it was, but there was a bunch

of houses being built right across street from Gateway Church.

And at first I said, man, if I was them, I'd be taking advantage

of that.

But then I said, no, wait a minute.

They don't have to take advantage of that.

Because the word of God tells us that in the last days, people

will not listen to sound doctrine, but they will heap to themselves.

Teachers having itching ears, they'll heap to themselves.

They don't.

Look, the preachers of those churches don't have to go out and

knock doors because there are a bunch of people out there who.

They'll heap to themselves.

Teachers who tell them exactly what they want to hear.

And this is not what they want to hear.

People don't want to hear that sin is what's separating us from

God.

They don't want to hear that it's your sin that's going to keep

you out of heaven.

They don't want to hear that you are on your way to hell because

of your sin.

They don't want to hear that your way to God is not through baptism.

Your way to God is not through membership of the church.

It's not through the rosary.

It's not through praying prayers.

It's not through repetition.

It's through faith in Jesus Christ.

But we have to look, the Bible says in John 3:16, For God so loved

John 3:16

the world that.

That he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in

him.

Believe what?

Believe that he died for your sins.

That's what we must believe.

Believe that we're sinners, that he died for our sins and that

he went into the grave and that he came up out of that grave

three days later because he defeated death.

And we're going to get to that.

It's our sinful condition that will keep us from heaven and in right

standing with God Almighty.

It is a sin problem.

Man must realize his lost condition before he can be saved.

A good story is only a good story if it's contrasted against

a bad one.

And the only way I'm going to know I'm.

The only way I'm going to be saved is if I first realize I'm lost.

So if you're here this morning and you've never accepted Christ

as your Savior.

Now, listen, I know that there may be some folks in here who use

the same terminology, the same vernacular, but you have different

definitions.

You see, receiving Christ isn't through the Eucharist.

It's not through the wafer and the juice.

That's not how you receive Christ.

The Word of God says, we receive Christ by faith.

By faith.

And so you have to believe that.

Believe that we receive the positive aspect of the gospel, only

accentuated when we first preach the negative aspect.

And the negative portion is that mankind, from the fall of Adam

on down are alienated and separated from God because of sin.

That's the bad news.

Clay, where you at?

Clay?

Adam had one job, if y' all know Clay, that's funny.

He had one job.

God told Adam.

He said, I'm going to give you.

You have everything here.

It's all yours except that tree.

Don't eat from that one tree.

He had one job.

He ate from that tree.

And as the progenitor of the entire human race, we all sinned

in Adam.

We all suffered the same consequence.

We died as God cast Adam out of the garden.

So we alienated ourselves from God through sin.

That's the bad news.

But I want you to notice, not only is it a message of alienation

from God, but it's a message of substitution by God.

It is, first of all, a message of alienation from God, but it's

a message of substitution by God.

Continue to look at our text again.

In Isaiah 53, he was wounded for our transgressions.

You see that he was bruised for our iniquities.

The chastisement of our peace was laid upon him.

And with his stripes we are healed all.

We, like sheep, have gone astray.

We have turned everyone to his own way.

And the Lord hath laid on him, the iniquity of us.

Someone has to make a payment for sin.

Someone.

You remember when Abraham was bargaining, so to speak, with God?

Do you remember that?

Over the future, the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah.

And Abraham knew that his nephew Lot lived down there in Sodom,

so he was concerned about him.

And God said, I'm going to destroy the entire city.

Abraham said, well, if we found 50, for the sake of 50 righteous,

will you spare the entire city?

God said, I sure will.

He said, what about for the sake of 40?

Will you spare the city?

He said, I will.

And Abraham knew he was beginning to press his luck.

And he made this statement.

He said, should not the judge of all the earth do right?

Well, of course, the obvious answer to that would have, he is

the judge.

He's going to do right.

Judge should do right.

If somebody was found guilty of some of the most heinous crimes

in the world, and the most heinous crimes I can think of are

crimes against children.

Let's say that we found somebody who was guilty of the most

heinous crimes that you can imagine against children.

All the evidence was stacked against him, and they brought it

before the judge and showed it.

And he basically, he said, I can't deny I'm guilty.

I'm guilty.

Penalty Death.

Death.

Now, if that man looked at the judge and he said, now, judge, listen,

I made a mistake.

I should not have done that.

I'm guilty.

I know it.

But I promise you, you let me out of here, I won't do it again.

I will not do it again.

I promise.

Now, if that judge turns a blind eye and says, okay, since you

promise, I'm gonna go ahead and let you go.

Good judge or bad judge, right?

Bad judge.

You let him go, you're bad judge.

Why?

Because by virtue of your office, you must go judge righteously,

you must judge right.

You must judge honestly.

The crime must be punished.

But yet we can live a lifetime not even acknowledging God, use his

name in vain, put the blood of Christ on the ground and walk over

it and tread upon it, curse God, do vile things about God and

expect him to close his eyes, turn a blind eye.

We have sinned against God.

How many in here?

Is there anybody in here who's never told a lie besides that baby

you're holding right there?

Anybody else?

Anybody who's never told a lie?

You know, how many lies do you have to tell to be a liar?

How many cars do you have to steal to be a car thief?

How many sins do you have to commit to be a sinner.

Sin, according to the word of God, is the transgression of the

law.

Not man's law.

God's law.

We have broken God's law.

If you break man's law, you're going to go before the judge and

he's going to mete out judgment.

Should not the God of all the earth, the Judge of all the earth,

do right?

We will stand before God one day, and he will judge.

He will judge.

Someone has to make a payment for that sin.

Romans chapter 6, verse 23 says, the wages of sin is death.

Romans 6:23

But now here comes the good news.

But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ Our Lord.

Hebrews 9:27.

Hebrews 9:27

Listen, I told you bad news, but now I want to share with you

some good news.

For as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this,

the judgment, well, that's not good news.

Wow, that's still bad news.

Because the Bible says in Ezekiel 18, God said, Behold, all

souls are mine, as the soul of the Father, so also the soul of the

Son is mine, and the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

And then we get down to the book of Revelation.

Listen to this.

Revelation 21:8.

Revelation 21:8

The fearful and the unbelieving and the abominable and

the murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters.

Watch this.

And all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with

fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

You know, when I bring that before people, most people have no

idea there's two deaths.

I actually say, did you know that there are two deaths?

No, I'm telling you, 99% of the people I ask that to, no, I didn't

know there were two deaths.

Yes, you have a physical death, as it is appointed unto men

once to die, and then after this, the judgment, and then there

is a spiritual death where their soul is cast in the lake of

fire.

And I ask people, if you die and your body goes into the grave,

then what goes to judgment?

Without hesitation, 100% of the time.

100%.

You can try this 100% of the time.

They say, well, my soul or my spirit, every single time.

These are people who may not go to church.

They may have never been to church in their entire life, but

they know that truth.

They know that they are an eternal being.

I even had a guy one time, he walked backwards on me.

He said he was an atheist.

And I just continued to witness to him.

And I came to this portion and I said, so if our Body dies and goes

to the grave, then what goes to judgment?

He said, well, my soul, if you believe in that sort of thing, I'm

telling you, that's exactly how that played out.

He knew it.

He knew it, and you know it.

You're an eternal being.

You're an eternal being and you will stand before God.

Should not the judge of all the earth do right?

Have you sinned against God?

It's not man's law you have to worry about.

It's God's laws.

But the good news is Christ became the substitution for me.

Christ became.

Somebody had to make payment for that sin.

And Christ did it.

Jesus did it.

It's amazing.

When I talk to people, I'll ask them the question, why did you?

And these are religious people, a lot of times, or even if

they're not, they actually know the.

Because I'll say, look, I'm going to ask you a question.

It's not a trick question.

I want you to give me the first thing that comes to your mind.

Because they know the answer.

And I always ask if why did Jesus die on the cross?

And even if they never went to church, I'm telling you, 99.9% of

them will say, well, to pay for our sins or for our sins.

They know that Jesus went to the cross.

He died on the cross.

He died for our sins.

My sin.

Jesus was the substitute for my sin.

He was a substitute for you.

He died in your place.

He became the substitute.

Romans 5:8 says, God commended or he demonstrated his love toward

Romans 5:8

us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Our iniquities were nailed to his cross.

Colossians 2:14.

Colossians 2:14

He said, Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was

against us, which was contrary to us.

He took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.

Listen, the substitutionary death of Christ.

That's a theological term, but it is absolutely a key doctrine in

the Bible.

The substitutionary death of Christ.

He paid your price on the cross.

He died in your place.

He was your substitute.

And if you try to get to heaven any other way, you're slapping

God in the face when he gave His Son to die in your place.

And you're saying, nah, I don't need that.

I'll do it some other way.

I'll get there by baptism.

I'll get there through my prayers.

I'll get there through church membership.

I'll get there by being a good person.

I'll get there by keeping the golden rule.

Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you?

You just slap God in the face.

How would you feel if you gave your child to die in the place of

somebody else and that person, oh, I did this on my own.

It is a message of alienation from God.

It is a message of substitution by God.

But here, listen.

Here's a wonderful thing.

It is a message of reconciliation to God.

It's a message of reconciliation to God.

Isaiah 53, verse 6.

Isaiah 53:6

Again, verse 5 and 6.

But as.

But he was wounded for our transgressions.

He was bruised for our iniquities.

The chastisement of our peace was upon him.

And watch this.

And with his stripes we are healed.

We're healed.

Done.

It's finished.

With his stripes we are healed.

I am reconciled back to God.

Now, reconciliation, reconciled is a biblical term.

Romans 5:10 says, for if when we were enemies, we were reconciled

Romans 5:10

to God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled,

we shall be saved by his life.

In other words, when he died.

Look, two things happen.

Two things happen at the same time.

When he died, we were reconciled.

Let me put it this way.

There are two things that happen when we put our faith in Jesus

Christ.

Two things.

First of all, when we put our faith in the fact that he died, we're

reconciled to Jesus Christ.

When we put our faith in the fact that he rose again, we are being

reconciled.

All this stuff happened at the same time.

Jesus Christ died and he rose again.

We were reconciled by his death.

We were saved by his death.

And we are being continuing to be reconciled by his life.

And he lives.

He rose from the dead and he lives forever.

He's the one who said, behold, I am alive.

I was dead.

But behold, I am alive forevermore.

As long as he lives, we're going to continue to be reconciled

to God.

Now, it's a biblical term, but it's also a financial term.

And it means to balance.

To balance out.

You've heard it, you've used the term yourself.

I got to balance the accounts, so you may call it.

I got to zero the books.

I got to balance the account.

Colossians 1:21 says, and you that were sometime alienated and

Colossians 1:21

enemies, yet now hath he reconciled.

Now hath he reconciled.

Reconcile means there's nothing left when I'm reconciling

the books that there's nothing left.

There's not one penny unaccounted for that's reconciled.

That's zeroing out the books.

Reconciled.

Do you know, when Jesus Christ died on the cross and I placed My

faith in him.

He reconciled me to God and left not one sin unforgiven?

They're all done.

Amen.

Some people believe that, okay, I'm saved up to this point,

and then I got to pay for my sins from here on out.

Listen, Jesus died 2,000 years ago.

I'm not 2,000 years old.

So when he died, all my sins were yet future.

He didn't die until I got saved in 1984.

And the rest is up to me.

How would you like to lay on the table with a disease written

in your body?

And you lay on the table and say, now, Doc, I want you to take

out about 20%.

No, let's say 80% of it, and I'll get the rest of the.

What doctor in his right mind is going to leave you with your body

still riddled with a disease if he has the ability to take it

all out?

Let's make sense here.

God said, the Bible tells us here that as long as Jesus Christ

is living, you're reconciled to God.

Reconciled, balanced out, zero account.

No sin left, unforgiven.

Isn't that an awesome thing?

Isn't that an amazing thing, man?

I'm forgiven.

Now you have to read Romans, chapter 6:2.

Should we abound in sin that grace may abound?

God forbid.

That's not a license to sin.

This is the payment that Christ made for every person when

he hung on the cross.

Second Corinthians 5, verse 18 says, and all things are of God,

2 Corinthians 5:18

who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ.

And then in verse 21, he says, he God hath made him, Jesus, to be

sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness

of God in him.

To get that payment applied to our account, we must personally accept

Jesus Christ as our Savior.

Hypothetically, I wish it was for real, but it's not.

Never will be.

Brother Kelly is going to put a million dollars in my account.

He loves me enough.

If he had it, he would.

I know that.

But let's just say he did.

And then he came to me and he told me, brother Stone, I love you.

And look, I don't want you to try to pay me back.

I put a million dollars in your account is yours.

And then he walked away and left it in my account.

And I never drew on it.

It's there.

It's for me.

He put it in there.

And I dare say there are probably some in here this morning.

Jesus Christ, he put salvation into your account.

It's there.

It's free.

He paid Everything that needed to be paid he has given you.

He has the ability to reconcile you back to God, to have

zero account with God.

Wouldn't it be an amazing thing to be able to wake up or to

bow down your where's my page?

I can't find a page.

I never can find one on this Bible.

They're all written in okay.

Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing to be able to open.

Open your eyes and have your sin account look like that?

Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing to be able to look at, to know

that this is what your slate looks like before God?

Wouldn't that be an amazing thing?

You know, that can be you this morning.

That can be you if, like me, April 18, 1984, I bowed my head and

my heart to God and I said, God, I am a sinner and I know that

I've sinned against you.

But I know you love me and I don't deserve to go to heaven.

But I know that you loved me enough to send your son to die for

me.

He died in my place and the best way I know how.

I'm asking you, God, please forgive me of my sin.

And I'm receiving Jesus Christ as my Savior.

The Bible says in John 1, verse 11, he came unto his own and

John 1:11

his own received him not, but as many as received him.

To them gave you the power to become the sons of God, even to them

that believe on his name.

Then he says, you must be born again.

How?

Just bow your head and ask God to save you and he will quicken you.

You'll be reborn, regenerated, revived, however you want to use,

whatever term you want to use.

He'll save you.

This is the central theme of the Bible, the primary message of

this church, salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

The question is, what will you do with this message this morning?

Are you saved?

If you're not saved, I want you to ask yourself this question.

Why am I holding back?

Why am I not doing this?

Why would I not accept this amazing gift that the God of all

creation is offering me?

A free, free salvation, reconciliation to God, a new heart,

a new life in Christ Jesus.

The Bible tells us we are accepted one way.

God accepts us in the beloved, in Jesus Christ.

We can only come to God through Jesus.

He said this.

I am the way, truth and the life.

No man comes to the Father but by me.

If you're not saved this morning, I implore you, please just

look, come to me.

Come to somebody and say, I want to get saved this morning.

When the music starts in just a moment.

That'll be what we call an invitation.

I want you to come on down here and just tell me.

I want to get saved.

I'll put you with a lady.

If you're with a lady, I'll put you with a lady.

They'll take a Bible and you guys can pray together.

You can come to me.

I'll put your brother Kelly somebody.

But if you want to get saved, get saved today.

Take advantage of what God is offering you.

Amen.

Let's all stand.