What Ought We to Do?

Take your Bibles this morning, turn over to Acts chapter 10. Acts chapter 10 this morning,

Acts 10 · chapter mention Acts 10 · chapter mention

! As we've been over in John 15 for a few weeks, we're going to move over to Acts chapter 10 this morning.

Acts 10 · chapter mention

And spend the next couple of weeks, Lord willing, here looking at some things here from Acts chapter 10.

Acts 10 · chapter mention

Because I think it's important, the things we're going to be looking at here.

But the thing about this, let me ask you a question.

How many know somebody that fits this description?

They pay their bills, they keep their word, they love their family, and try to do right by everyone around them.

How many people know somebody like that?

You know?

And when people talk about them, what do they say?

Well, that's what? A good person.

But you know, I want you to understand, we're going to look here in Acts chapter 10 this morning.

Acts 10 · chapter mention

Because being a good person, doing the right things, doesn't get you to heaven.

And we're going to find here in Acts chapter 10, because that idea brought forth,

Acts 10 · chapter mention

because oftentimes the measurement we use is wrong.

You know, I've been around many times when people have passed away,

and you'll hear them say, well, there's a good person.

You know, this is what they did.

You know, really, as a believer, it ought to put something up in our mind,

because if you're going to heaven because of what you did, there's a problem.

Because getting to heaven has nothing to do about you.

It has what you have done with what Jesus did.

And that's going to be the essential element we're going to look here this morning,

because we're going to meet a man who checked all the boxes,

but still needed something he didn't have.

The man we're going to look at this morning is by the name of Cornelius,

and he was a centurion.

He was a Roman.

Matter of fact, the Bible's going to tell us he was Italian,

which makes things rather interesting as you read through this account,

to find out who this man was and what he was doing.

But he did all these things, and he asked a question,

what ought I to do?

That's an important question.

What ought I to do?

And what he was asking a question in regards to God and what God was doing.

And so if you found Acts chapter 10 this morning,

Acts 10 · chapter mention

let's stand together in honor of the reading of the Word of God,

and we'll read down here the first eight verses of this chapter.

We'll cover the chapter as we go through here in the next couple of weeks,

but let's just set the stage here.

It tells us here in verse 1, it says,

There was a certain man of Caesarea called Cornelius,

a centurion of the band called the Italian band,

a devout man, one that feared God with all his house,

and he gave much alms to the people and prayed to God always.

And he saw a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day,

an angel of God coming into him and saying unto him,

Cornelius.

And he looked on him, and he was afraid and said,

What is it, Lord?

And he said unto him,

Thy prayer and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.

Now send men to Joppa and call for one Simon,

whose surname is Peter.

He lodges with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside,

and he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.

And when the angel which had spoken unto Cornelius was departed,

he called two of his household servants,

and a devote soldier of them that waited on him continually.

And when he had declared all these things unto them,

he sent them to Joppa.

So let's pray.

Heavenly Fathers, we just come before you this morning.

Lord, we're just thankful for your word.

Lord, we're thankful what we're going to learn here in Acts chapter 10.

Acts 10 · chapter mention

Lord, what we learn about what we ought to do.

Lord, both to be saved and even after we're saved,

as we're going to look at these things here.

And Lord, we pray that you'd challenge, encourage, convict.

Lord, you know the need of each one here today.

Lord, if there's one here that doesn't know you as Savior

and understand the reality of it,

but that it's not just a mental thing or an acknowledgement of you,

but it's an acknowledgement of our sin and what you provided for us.

And Lord, we pray that you'd just stir hearts today,

Lord, that we might never forget what great sacrifice you made for us.

And Lord, we just thank you and praise you in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

You may be seated.

You know, as we come to Acts chapter 10,

Acts 10 · chapter mention

it's been about 10 years since Pentecost.

You know, I always find it important when you're reading the scriptures,

try to figure out the timeframes.

You know, how long has something been going and it makes a difference?

I mean, what's the timeframe between things?

And that helps us understand the context

and the dynamic of what's been happening.

And we know that the early churches had grown and made great strides in reaching a lot of people.

You know, there were 3,000 saved on the day of Pentecost there in Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

You know, not long after that, there was 5,000 men saved in Acts chapter 4.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

We know that by Acts 9, there was a church established in Damascus.

You know, you think about the spread and the dynamic of believers going forth

and talking about what Jesus Christ had done for others.

We know that these different elements had come to pass and things were going great.

I mean, you talk about a church growth program.

In 10 years, they had tens of thousands of people reached.

But we find here nobody had reached Cornelius.

Nobody had reached him with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And we're going to see here that they were doing a great job,

but they still had not fulfilled the things that they had been commanded to do.

They'd done a good job in reaching people, mainly Jews,

but not the Gentiles that also needed the gospel.

I mean, you think about what did Jesus, his last instructions to his disciples were pretty simple.

Think about Mark 16, 15, where he tells them this,

Go ye into all the world and what?

Preach the gospel to every creature.

He tells them in Acts 1, in verse 8, he says,

Ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is upon you,

and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and Judea and in Samaria and into the uttermost part of the earth.

Now, I want you to understand that the uttermost part of the earth was the part they stumbled with.

And we're going to look next week a little bit about Peter,

because I think even today sometimes we stumble over the same things that Peter stumbled with

and struggled with,

because it has to do with how we think about others.

You know, I want you to know the importance of that,

because this included the Gentiles,

and the Gentiles had been being overlooked,

but the good news is that God had not forgotten his commandment and his instruction

that everybody needs to know.

God said that had not changed.

And this morning we find a Gentile that's desiring to be right with God,

yet lacking something in understanding.

You know, look over there back in verse 6 where we read in our text.

Notice what it tells us there.

At the end it says,

and he says to send for Simon,

or send for Peter who is in one Simon a tanner's house by the seaside,

and he said,

He shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.

In other words, he says,

call for Peter.

Peter knows what you need to know.

Peter knows what you're seeking for.

Peter knows what you need.

Because I want to look here this morning,

because the thing about Cornelius,

he was moral but lost.

I mean, everything about Cornelius screamed on the outside.

He's an upstanding guy.

He was moral.

He was a man that people wanted to be around.

You know, we find in verse 1 his position a little bit here.

He says he commanded a detachment of Romans deployed from Italy.

They were Romans.

You know, he was likely one by birth,

and most likely he had been taught about the Romans,

gods,

and everything about their polytheistic worship.

You know, we live in a society today that's the same as the Romans were of that day.

They're very polytheistic.

You say, preacher, what do you mean?

Well, when a Christian,

somebody who professes to know Christ says,

well, karma did that,

you know what they're doing?

They're being polytheistic.

Because we've incorporated pagan thought into Christian ideas.

Polytheistic.

I mean, I could go on to the examples.

But you know what?

Cornelius grew up in a polytheistic society.

Worship your gods.

You know, he makes it clear he was a good soldier.

He was a good man.

He was a person that can be very moral.

As a matter of fact, it tells us he was quite religious.

It says he prayed.

You know, he did everything he ought to do in the humanly speaking.

But yet he still lacked something very important.

He still lacked what was required.

But it's interesting about Cornelius,

because somewhere along the way,

he became acquainted with the Lord God of heaven.

Somewhere along the way,

somebody had influenced him with the truth

that there is one God,

the God that created heaven and earth,

the God who everything is set in order,

the God he's going to one day be accountable to.

He understood those things.

He would have been exposed to the religion of the Jews.

He'd been exposed to Old Testament Judaism.

And we're going to see here this dynamic,

because look here at verse 2.

It starts out,

he was a devout man.

In other words,

he was a good man.

He was devout.

You know, this word devout means

yielding a solemn and reverential attention to God

in religious exercises,

particularly in prayer.

In other words,

he was very systematic in his worship of God.

Or should I say his attempted worship of God.

He was very plain in what he did.

He understood the importance of it.

He was a very religious individual.

You know, today,

there's many people that are religious.

They've made a decision.

They've recognized God,

the one of scriptures,

the one they ought to worship,

that they ought to pay attention to.

And they become very religious.

They do the ritualistic steps.

You know, they go through the ritual.

But he had made a decision

to worship the God of heaven.

And while you can be religious,

I want you to understand,

you can be lost and you can be wrong.

Because one thing you're going to find

is everybody is religious.

You know, it always amazes me

that an atheist says,

well, I'm not religious.

Well, yes, they are.

They practice, by definition, a religion.

Because religion has to do

with your belief system.

What do you believe

and how do you practice it?

What do you base it upon?

You know, that is a religious dynamic.

It's something that is set forth.

You can deny it.

You can say it doesn't happen.

But the reality is,

that's how it is.

You know, and for a Gentile of his day,

this meant the worship.

He had rejected this polytheistic worship

of many gods

and chose to worship the Lord God of heaven,

which stands in contrast

to the gods of the day.

You know, if you think about it,

as a Roman soldier,

he had been raised to honor

Roman gods like Mars,

the god of war,

and pay homage to the emperor himself

as a living god

through the imperial cult,

his own legion from Rome

would have sworn to.

You know, Cornelius made a choice

to walk away

from all those things

because he saw something

in the reality of who God is.

He understood there was a God

that he was going to be held accountable to.

And we see many today

that are far worse off

than Cornelius,

and they're still bound up

in the same false worship,

a culture that is obsessed

with immorality

and fornication

and the exploitation

of the vulnerable

that comes with it.

I mean,

we see that happening

all around us today.

In America,

we have a lot of people

who were like Cornelius

when he started,

but the problem is,

we have a lot of people

who moved from where Cornelius

started his life

to just being religious.

I want you to understand

religion does not get you to heaven.

Religion does not remove your sin.

Cornelius had the right idea

and the right concept.

He was working with the information

that he had,

but there was a problem.

We know that he had turned away

from all those other gods.

He was a devout man

who knew God,

said not to worship anything

or anyone but him.

You know,

you think about it,

he'd probably been addressed sometime

with like Exodus chapter 20

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

where it tells us,

thou shalt have no other gods

before me.

Thou shalt not make

into thee any graven image

or any likeness

of anything that is in heaven above

or is that in the earth beneath

or that is in the water

under the earth.

Thou shalt not bow thyself

down to them

nor serve them.

For I,

the Lord thy God,

am a jealous God,

visiting the iniquity

of the fathers

upon the children

under the third

and fourth generation

of them that hate me.

I have a feeling

when Cornelius was confronted

with that,

he had to make a decision

because he had spent

his life previous

to becoming religious

or continuing changing

of religion

because changing religions

doesn't save you.

But he knew who God was.

You know,

very likely Cornelius

would have been

what we find

was a proselyte

of the gate.

In other words,

he was a Gentile

who understood

who God was.

Matter of fact,

it would have been

very likely

that he would have went

and stood outside

the synagogue

to hear what was being said.

He wanted to learn

about God,

but he hadn't taken

the steps

to become Jewish.

You know,

the Bible speaks

and gives hints

to individuals

who were like Cornelius.

They recognized God,

they stood outside the gate,

they wanted to hear

what they could hear,

but you know what?

There was something

separating them.

There was a separation

and we find here

that he would come

to listen,

but he wouldn't be allowed

to associate

with the Jews.

They were kind of

an outcast

on the edge.

You know,

when we realize

that Cornelius

had to make a choice,

he chose

to worship God

even though others

almost made him

an outcast.

Like,

if you don't go

all the way

and doing everything

that we want you to do

and go through

the religious things,

you can't have

a relationship with God.

You know,

the Old Testament's

filled with people

who feared God,

who loved God,

but yet weren't Jewish.

You'll find them

scattered throughout.

They recognized

who God is

and what God had done,

but you know,

the problem is today

we have a lot of people

that are oftentimes

religious

and people who are

polytheistic.

You know,

today in America,

there are a lot of people

who worship many gods.

They come to church

on Sunday

and worship another god

on Monday.

Even though you say,

well,

they don't,

what do they bow down to?

You know,

some people bow down

to a bank balance.

How much money

can I have in there?

What am I worried about?

You know,

all these things.

You know,

there's people today

worry about a credit score.

I mean,

think about the list

of things

that you get advertised to.

That's what people

are being drawn to.

What's your portfolio

look like?

You know,

buy gold now.

That's your security.

Now,

I want you to understand

of themselves,

it's not,

they're not the problem

themselves,

it's the way people

treat them.

Because think about

what Jesus told

the disciples

in Luke 16,

he says,

no servant can serve

two masters

for either he will

hate the one

and love the other

or else he will

hold the one

and despise the other.

He cannot serve God

and mammon.

That's money.

You know,

money can become

a god to people.

You know,

they'll do anything for it.

They'll lie,

they'll cheat.

You know,

today you find people

that,

well,

I'm a believer

but I'm going to

bet my money

on the sportsbook app

so I can get more of it.

You know,

there's some people

who check their bank app

and their crypto wallet

more than they pray.

I want you to understand

there's people today

who spend their money

on wine and revelry.

You know,

there was a Roman god

for that called Bacchus.

That's how they worshipped him

was wine and revelry.

Now,

that's an old word,

revelry,

but today let's translate it.

That's called partying.

I'm going to go out

and party.

I'm going to feel good.

You know what they're saying?

They're being,

want to worship

in a form contrary

to the things of God.

Because a God

is something

we give priority to.

You know,

many of us

have our financial priorities

all out of whack,

you know,

to name among many things.

I mean,

you could talk about money,

you could talk about priorities,

you could talk about

all sorts of areas of life

where we're out of whack.

And we understand

that we need to put God first.

Now,

I want you to understand,

God doesn't mind us

having nice things

as long as we don't

put them ahead of him.

You know,

in America,

we have more than most

of the world.

We have a nice building

to come to

that thankfully

the air conditioning works.

You know,

there's many places

in the world

they're sitting on benches

next to a tree

to hear the word of God.

I wonder how many people,

if we had it out in the park

a couple of weeks ago

when it was almost 100 degrees,

how many people

would have showed up?

Because we can put

our comfort above God.

I want you to understand,

Cornelius,

that's the way he began,

but he changed.

He became very religious.

He was a devout man.

He had turned away

from every idol

that the culture chased.

He was a good moral man,

a religious man,

but the problem was

he wasn't saved.

Notice back in verse 2,

not only was he a devout man,

notice this,

and one that feared God

with all his house.

You know,

Cornelius was a God-fearing man.

Proverbs tells us

that the fear of the Lord

isn't cowering towards God,

but a reverence in awe

about God

and taking God seriously.

You know,

the fear of the Lord

is not fear

in the sense of trembling

because God's just going

to crush me.

the fear of the Lord

is understanding

the awe of who God is,

that he is an all-powerful,

all-knowing,

all-present creator,

that we ought to understand

Cornelius feared God.

But I want you to tell you,

fearing God

is not going to get you

to heaven.

It'll help

because it'll point you

in the right direction,

just like Cornelius,

but just fearing God.

Well,

I fear God.

That's not going to get you

to heaven.

Notice what Proverbs tells us.

Proverbs 1 and verse 7

tells us this.

It says,

but the fear of the Lord

is,

notice this,

the beginning of knowledge,

but fools despise wisdom

and instruction.

Notice that it's what?

The beginning.

It's not the end.

Proverbs 9, 10,

the fear of the Lord

is the beginning of wisdom

and the knowledge of the holy

is understanding.

Proverbs 8, 13,

the fear of the Lord

is to hate evil,

pride and arrogance

in the evil way

and the forward mouth

do I hate.

You know what?

All it tells us is Cornelius

was a man who understand

there was going to be

accountability.

Because the fear of the Lord

helps us understand

there's a God

you're going to answer to

one day.

We ought to live

in the fear of the Lord.

The fear of awe

of who He is.

But I want you

to understand here

that Cornelius

was a moral individual

who ordered his life

around the reality

that God would one day

judge his actions.

You know,

that might describe you today.

You live carefully

because you know

you'll answer to God someday.

That's a healthy fear,

but a healthy fear of God

will never save anyone.

Cornelius feared God rightly

and he still wasn't saved.

I want you to notice,

look at the third thing

that it tells us.

And he gave much alms

to the people.

You know what that tells us?

He was a generous man.

Cornelius was a generous man.

He was willing to

help those in need.

He gave to charity.

You know,

it's like people today,

I find things,

you know,

something comes up,

well,

somebody opened a GoFundMe,

so I'm going to give them

some money.

Because it's going to

make me feel good.

It amazes me

how many people

jump on every need

that somebody has

to give a little bit

and they replace that,

you know,

well,

look at me,

look at what I'm giving,

you know,

that should make me good.

There's nothing wrong

to giving to need,

but I want you to understand,

giving to needs of others

isn't going to save you.

I want you to see this

with Cornelius

because today,

you know,

as Americans,

we open our wallets

in a moment

of anything happening,

a hurricane

or a wildfire

hits the news

and Americans

are some of the most

generous people on earth.

You know,

statistics show that

as a general,

Americans are the most

generous people.

But you know what?

Generosity

doesn't get you to heaven.

Cornelius was a generous man.

He was like that,

but he wasn't saved.

Yeah,

I want you to understand,

you can't buy your way

to heaven.

Cornelius

was a good man.

He did those things.

He trusted God.

I want you to notice

something else.

It says that he prayed

to God always.

He was a praying man.

You know,

I believe God listens

to sincere prayer

and He desires for you

to know Him.

You know,

Isaiah 55

tells us this.

He says,

Seek ye the Lord

while you may be found.

Call ye upon Him

while He is near.

Now,

I want you to understand,

the story of Cornelius,

there is some uniqueness

to it because of

the early nature.

Cornelius was operating

in the information

that he had.

But the information

he had was not sufficient.

He needed more.

He feared God.

He was a good man

in everybody's eyes.

He did what he ought to do.

But he understood

he was calling upon God

and God was there.

You know,

Jeremiah 29

Jeremiah 29:12

verse 12

says this,

Then ye shall call upon me

and ye shall go

and pray unto me

and I will hearken unto you

and ye shall seek me

and find me

when you search for me

with all your heart.

That described Cornelius.

He was devout.

He feared God.

He gave alms to the people.

He prayed to God always.

But verse 3 and 4

reveals something.

There was still something missing.

There's something he needed to know.

Look at verse 3

and he says,

He saw a vision evidently

about the ninth hour of the day

an angel of God

coming into him

and saying unto him,

Cornelius.

And when he looked on him

he was afraid

and said,

What is it, Lord?

And he said unto him,

Thy prayers and thine alms

are come up for a memorial

before God.

You know what it tells us?

That God paid attention to Cornelius

because I believe Cornelius

was sincere in what he was doing.

But sincerity doesn't save you.

But him being sincere before God,

open before God,

God said,

I'm going to make a way

for you to know

what you need to know.

You know,

it proves he wasn't saved.

His prayers were heard and answered.

I want you to understand

that I believe God

sometimes answers prayers

of the lost.

You know what he's doing?

He's saying,

Hey, I want you to know

I am here.

I know who you are.

You know,

I want you to understand

you can't say you're saved

because you've had a prayer answered.

Because it might just be

simply God did that

so you might know

that he's real.

That he's true.

That you need

to realize though

you need to be born again

and ask him to save

your soul.

That's the most important prayer

you can pray to God.

God.

Because that's the only one

that transforms you.

That changes you.

That makes you new.

You know,

God took note of Cornelius

not because just his good actions

because he was sincerely doing

the things that wanted to seek God.

Cornelius was doing

with what he thought

he ought to do.

And he was sincerely

seeking God

and God sent him

an answer.

God took note

the fearing God

and that he was seeking Him.

But let's be clear

none of that

could save Cornelius

in spite of all his prayer

he still wasn't saved.

In spite of his devotion

and generosity

and respect for God

and even his country

he wasn't saved.

Because look at verse 6.

It says,

And he lodged

with one Simon a tanner

whose house

was by the seaside.

Now notice this.

He shall tell thee

what thou oughtest

to do.

You know,

one thing I can reassure you

God will tell you

how to be right with Him.

If you're sincerely seeking

Lord,

I need to be right with you

you know what God's going to do?

He's going to send somebody

with the message

of reality

of what you need.

God will do that.

He will send somebody

unto you.

God will open your eyes

to hear

and to understand.

God honored him

by sending him

the light he needed

to be saved.

How did he do that?

He said,

Send for Peter.

Peter knows what you need.

Peter knows

what you're missing.

Peter has the answer.

Look over into chapter 10.

Look down in verse 42

for a moment.

We'll talk about this

a little more next week

but I want you to see

Peter's answer.

When Peter finally gets

to Cornelius,

he begins to preach

and he begins to tell him

what was going on.

It talks about the word

which God did.

That word,

verses 36 and 37.

Now look down here

at verse 42.

And notice what Peter says.

And he commanded us

to preach unto the people

and to testify.

It is he which was ordained

of God to be the judge

of the quick and the dead

to give him all

the prophets witness

that through his name

whosoever believeth in him

shall receive remission

of sins.

Now I want you to understand

your good works

don't save you.

No matter how religious

you are,

it's not going to make

a difference.

You know when Jesus

was made a statement,

when people come to him

and says,

Lord look what I did

in your name.

And they're all good deeds.

And Jesus looks at him

and says,

depart from me

ye worker of iniquity,

I never knew you.

You know why that is?

Because they never understood

who Jesus truly is.

They needed not good works,

not reforming themselves,

they needed a savior.

You know today,

maybe you've assumed

you were saved

because of what you did,

your good intentions,

your good works,

or just I have a good heart.

But today you realize

you haven't crossed

the threshold

that's important to realize

you cannot save yourself.

Only Jesus can save you.

Or maybe you're sitting

where Cornelius sat

before Peter ever showed up.

Religious, moral,

and respected,

but quietly letting

your religion stand in

for a real relationship

with Christ.

Cornelius still had to hear,

he had to believe

in order to be saved.

Going through the motions

was never enough

to save him.

It isn't enough

for you or I either.

Religious activity

saves nobody.

And I want you to understand

this morning

as we look at Cornelius,

it's an important thing

to grab a hold of.

Because we need to ask ourselves,

do you believe

in Jesus Christ

and what he did for you?

To understand the importance

of what Christ did for us.

That he was the very son of God,

he came in the form of man,

he paid the price

for something

we could not pay ourselves,

he took the penalty

of death upon him,

and he rose victorious

the third day.

When we understand

what's taking place here,

Cornelius heard

and understood

for the first time

what the answer really was.

He had been waiting

for that answer

instead of simply obeying

what God,

what he understood about God,

what he'd already been given,

he understood his need

to confess

that Jesus Christ

is the Savior.

That it stands alone.

You know, today, sadly,

there's two forms

of the gospel

that I believe are false

in core.

One is a magical prayer.

One, two, three,

repeat after me,

now you're good.

We've tapped you in.

You know,

I want you to understand,

if there's never been

a heart change,

there's no salvation.

You can repeat mantras

and whatever you want to do.

You know,

a lot of people treat

the prayer of salvation,

it's almost like a mantra

that somebody else

or even the people

from India preach

and teach.

Just repeat this

over and over again,

you'll be okay.

You know what?

Repeating something

doesn't save you.

Understanding you're a sinner

that needs a Savior.

You know,

there's a lot of religious people

who miss the fact

that they're a sinner

and they need a Savior.

I want you to understand,

that's the light

that Cornelius needed.

And you need to obey

what God has said.

That is the good news

of Jesus Christ.

He is the one

who came and died for you.

I want you to understand

that God

wants you to know

what He's done for you.

Cornelius was seeking.

And you know what?

If you're here today

and not saved,

I know one thing,

you're seeking something.

You need to ask yourself

a question.

Has there been a moment

in time

when you can look at

to say,

I know

that's the moment

I called upon

Jesus Christ

recognizing

I'm a sinner,

that He paid my debt,

and I asked Him

to say,

Lord,

put what you have done

please to my account

just as you have offered.

It happens in a moment.

It happens in an instant.

You know,

we find in this passage

why Peter preached

the Holy Spirit

fell upon Him.

You know what it tells us?

Because at the moment

of salvation,

you get all

the Spirit of God.

We'll talk about

some of that next week.

There's a lot

in Acts chapter 10

Acts 10 · chapter mention

to cover.

But I want you to understand

who Cornelius was.

Who was this message

to that Peter

was to bring?

Because there's

many people today

that are just like

Cornelius.

Good people

by outward standard

miss

the fact

that they cannot

be good enough

to get to heaven.

It's only through

the shed blood

of Jesus Christ,

the pain,

the penalty

for your sin

and for mine.

What about you

this morning?

Maybe you're here

and you're not sure.

If you're not sure,

I encourage you.

We're going to have a chance

to respond here

in just a moment.

Pray that you'll have

the courage to say,

Lord,

I want to know

not what the preacher

says,

not what Plains Baptist

Church says,

but what does the book

say

on how to be saved?

It's the only thing

that matters.

Maybe you're saved today

and forgot what Christ

did for you.

Maybe you seem to take

a moment to thank him

for his salvation.

Maybe it's being

obedient to him.

Maybe there's an area

of your life

that you've been

holding out on

that says,

Lord,

no,

I need to be

faithful in that.

Because of what

you've done for me,

I need to do.

That's you.

Don't leave here

the same way

you came in.

As heads are bowed

and eyes are closed

this morning,

what about you

today?

Heavenly Father,