[0:00] Amen. You know, it feels like the message that I have has been preached this morning already through especially the singing.
[0:16] I appreciate what Enos shared on forgiveness, but all the songs that we sang, we sang saved and redeemed and all those songs.
[0:30] We listen to the words of our songs and we meditate and we think about what we're singing sometimes. It's the whole gospel message is in those. So it's been a blessing to be here this morning and appreciate your prayers.
[0:47] And yes, I just want to bring honor and glory to our Savior. We serve a risen Savior, a living Savior.
[1:00] And yes, if we've been forgiven, if we've been redeemed, I'm just sitting here this morning just going through those songs, thinking about how much more grateful we should be sometimes maybe than what we are.
[1:19] We're eternally grateful to our King and our Savior for what He has done for us. And I'd like to, if you want to turn to Isaiah 45 for our first scripture, but the message I'd like to preach is simply, look unto Christ and be saved.
[1:51] There's a phrase in Isaiah chapter 45 and starting in verse 21, I believe.
[2:01] Long before Jesus was here, these words were written before Jesus was here on earth, I should say.
[2:17] In verse 21 it says, tell ye and bring them near. Ye let them take counsel together. And there is none beside me.
[2:45] And then He says, look unto me and be saved. Be ye saved. All the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else.
[2:58] Now this was Jesus speaking through the prophet Isaiah. God also said in Isaiah chapter 55, O everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye buy and eat.
[3:25] Yet come by milk, by wine and milk, without money and without price. He's saying it is free. Salvation is free.
[3:37] But we need to come and drink. Jesus just gives us the invitation. But He invites everyone to come and drink from His water and we will never thirst again.
[3:51] This almost sounds like New Testament scripture, does it not? In Isaiah, prophesying of Jesus coming. Sounds like something we would read in the New Testament.
[4:09] But even before Jesus was crucified, He invites us to come and drink. Come and eat. Even if we don't have anything to give.
[4:22] We have no money. We have no money. Still, He invites us to come anyway. And by the way, we don't have anything to bring to Christ anyway, do we? We really don't.
[4:34] So that invitation specifically applies to us today. We know the story of the woman at the well and how she was telling Jesus about this being Abraham's water or well.
[4:52] And Jesus told her that the water I give, you will never thirst again. And she ended up believing.
[5:03] But Jesus said, look unto me and then you can be saved. He said this before.
[5:15] Yeah, before He ever came. And in Acts chapter 4, just a verse there.
[5:29] Chapter 4, it says, Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
[5:40] And I was thinking about that this morning again. Just the fact that Jesus is the only salvation. There is no other name. There are lots of names that are popular or famous or they preach.
[5:56] Some even Jesus, some not Jesus, but about Jesus. I was thinking of some of those names and how people end up following those people, those men.
[6:10] You know, I couldn't think of the one that started the watchtower, Charles something, the Jehovah's Witness.
[6:20] But it's not in a Joseph Smith, a Mormon religion that supposedly had these great revelations from God.
[6:32] And now they have temples and all kinds of memorials about him. And people follow men like that.
[6:43] It's not about John Calvin. There's no salvation there. It's not about Menno Simons or Jacob Ammon or any other pope, if you will.
[6:55] And some of these, I'm not saying they were popes, but some of the men and even men that God used to bring salvation to people.
[7:06] But remember what Paul said. He didn't want anybody to follow him. He said he was glad that he didn't baptize many so they couldn't say that they were of Paul.
[7:18] The importance of recognizing in our own lives that salvation is through Jesus Christ and no one else. There is no other name given.
[7:30] There is no other person. There is no other person.
[8:02] There is no other person. There is no other person. You know, many people think that it's things that we have done or maybe things that we didn't do.
[8:14] Somehow we have merit with God. Somehow God will accept us or like us better than somebody else because we didn't. We weren't like that.
[8:26] Remember the Pharisee that prayed. He thanked God that he wasn't like these other sinners over there and this man over here. So what is it?
[8:44] In Isaiah, the prophecy, it's an amazing statement. Look unto me and be saved. Jesus is saying simply, if we have been saved, and I know many of us have been, we still need to look unto him and be saved today.
[9:06] We keep on looking unto him. To stay on the right track. To have that connection with him, that relationship with him.
[9:18] When we have sorrow or struggles and things come up in life, we look unto him for salvation. It's not just the unsaved, but also for the saved.
[9:31] That invitation is real. In Romans 3 verse 22, it says, Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.
[9:49] For there is no difference. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. In other words, it's for all people.
[10:00] There is no difference of who you are or where you came from. It's for all people. And we're all on the same level. He says, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
[10:15] Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Do we understand justification this morning?
[10:26] Being justified. Having had our sins judged. And now we're made righteous.
[10:37] Because we've repented of those sins. And God judged them through his cross. And now we have been made righteous. Other people say, Well, I've been too bad to be forgiven.
[10:56] Or I've sinned greatly. Maybe I have disappointed God. And what if he doesn't like or accept me? You know, if that's our thought, That's because that's a thought of humanity.
[11:16] It's not God's thought. We need to think and consider what God thinks and what he says. Not the thoughts that we have. You know, the Bible says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
[11:33] He didn't qualify that by saying, well, if they didn't sin too much. No. We've all sinned too much, haven't we?
[11:46] We've all been sinners. We've all been guilty. You know, being guilty of one single sin will keep you out of heaven. It's only the blood that will wash that sin away.
[12:01] So it doesn't matter what our past has been. That's actually irrelevant. What matters is whether we are looking unto Jesus.
[12:14] He loved us so much that he died for us. Before we even chose him. We can put our faith and our trust in him.
[12:27] And like we heard this morning already about forgiveness. He will forgive us. You know, our level of sinfulness has nothing to do with whether Christ cleanses us.
[12:41] It's whether we have confessed our sins and repented of them. Then he will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He will forgive our sins and cleanse us.
[12:54] In Romans 6, verse 22 and 23, it says this, But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, yea, have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life.
[13:15] And what I wanted to share about that verse is, you know, when we are saved, when we are forgiven, we are born again, then we do have fruits. If we believe we will have fruits, good fruits.
[13:30] And that verse points out that if he has made us free from sin, we will have fruits unto what? Unto holiness. He will make us holy.
[13:42] He will make us so that he can accept us if we allow him. In other words, we are right with him.
[13:56] And the end is everlasting life. And then the next verse says this, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
[14:08] Lord, aren't you glad this morning that God made a way to deal with the wage of sin?
[14:19] To take care of that wage. There was something that needed to be paid. He gave us life instead of death.
[14:33] Why is this so hard to accept? Why is that gift so hard to accept? I say that mainly because of our human nature.
[14:52] It's usually because we want to fix it ourselves, or we want to at least improve first before we accept that.
[15:02] The thought is that somehow we have to become better than we were so that Christ will forgive me. So that Christ will accept me.
[15:19] And you know, in God's eyes, again, thinking of what God thinks, we can't become better. We can't become better. Only he makes us better.
[15:31] Yes, we are all sinners. You know, the root of every sin is selfishness. Have we been selfish?
[15:52] To be holy as he is holy. Nothing else is acceptable. God will never accept unholiness or unrighteousness.
[16:05] But he calls us to live a holy life. And only by his Holy Spirit can that happen. Only he can make us holy and acceptable in the beloved.
[16:19] Jesus is that perfect one, that perfect example. In John 8, verse 29, it says, And he that sent me is with me.
[16:34] The Father hath not left me alone. For I do always those things that please him. Jesus is our example. Have we always done those things that please God?
[16:47] Right? We know the answer. We haven't always pleased God. And that's why we need Jesus. Now, if somebody is here this morning and weighing the cost of sin, or maybe you have been saved, but you've backslidden, or you're just not right with God, I would like to say this to anyone, sinner or believer, that there is this thought that, especially in our country, in our society, that God overlooks sin.
[17:34] God will just overlook it. He will just somehow, he's a loving God, so don't worry about it. Somehow we're just going to slide into heaven.
[17:45] It's going to be okay. That thought is prevalent and even taught. Maybe not in those words. But our God is a just God.
[17:57] And he cannot and will not overlook any sin. He can't accept even the slightest sin. And he's a good judge.
[18:08] He's a righteous judge, the Bible says. And I've used this illustration before, but I think I used it in prison one time because inmates, they get this.
[18:21] But a good judge, you can't stand before a judge and say, yeah, I did, I confess I did murder that person. But it was a long time ago and I've never done it again and I won't ever do it again.
[18:37] Please just, you know, let me go. It's been 20 years ago. You know, a good judge won't do that.
[18:49] He wouldn't be a judge very long. He can't do that. Doesn't matter to the judge, I'm talking about an earthly judge. You know, it's been a long time ago.
[19:04] I'm a good person now. I would never do that again. But the judge has to judge. He has to come up with a sentence. And you know, there was a sentence upon each one of us because of our sin.
[19:18] God, if an earthly judge can be a good judge and not overlook crimes, how much more is a heavenly, our God, our Father, a righteous judge.
[19:34] But thankfully, he is also a forgiving God. Now, he doesn't just automatically forgive. We know that.
[19:45] He doesn't just automatically forgive everything and say, okay, but he sent his son Jesus, the Christ, the promised Messiah, to pay the penalty.
[20:02] To pay it in full. When Jesus hung on the cross, he said, it's finished. It is finished. He paid the price in full.
[20:15] A complete atonement for all sin. Now, why, if he did that, why are some men saved and some are not?
[20:28] If he paid the price for everybody's sin, why are some saved and why are some not saved? What is the word that comes to your mind?
[20:39] That makes the difference. Anybody? Pride? Because some men are pride. Proud.
[20:51] Too proud to accept it. Another word? Choice? Rejection? Repentance?
[21:03] It's all good. Unbelief? Unbelief. My thought is the opposite of unbelief or having faith. Believing.
[21:17] Yeah, it's okay. You can speak for her. But yes, so unbelief will keep you out of heaven. Believing, having faith in the work of the cross is the difference.
[21:36] You know, and of course, repentance opens that door. But faith really opens the door. Believing. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
[21:49] And I know for myself, just my own experience, I remember the time I was coming to Christ and I would repent.
[22:02] I would repent repeatedly for the same sin. Meaning, not repent, but asking God to forgive me repeatedly, over and over.
[22:15] Until, I don't remember how I came to it, but the Lord showed me that that's unbelief. Ask Him once, thank Him the rest of your life.
[22:28] That's believing. A man, I think it was last Saturday here at the auction, I was talking to a man for a long time, had a good visit from another state, and he told me that.
[22:43] We were talking about salvation and things, and can you imagine that? It was an Amish preacher actually. And he said that somebody helped him through that years ago.
[22:56] that he would over and over ask God to forgive him for his past. And then one day he said, you need to stop doing that, you need to just believe.
[23:07] You ask for forgiveness once and then you thank Him the rest of your life. And I told that man, I said, I'm going to keep that thought. That's powerful. It's a very good thought.
[23:19] We know John 3.16, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
[23:32] For God sent not His Son to the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not what?
[23:45] not condemned. He that believeth on Him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God.
[24:00] So right there it is. It's believing. It's believing. The key is to believe. And this is the condemnation that light is coming to the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.
[24:16] For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God.
[24:36] Do we realize this morning how much God loves us? He loved the world. He loved all the people in the world so much that he left the glories of heaven.
[24:52] We don't know what the glories of heaven are yet do we? We haven't been there. We can read some about it but we've never experienced the glories of heaven. But that is where Christ was in all eternity past.
[25:06] He left that to come to this earth where sinful man would crucify him. That is a love like none other.
[25:19] There is no greater love than a man would lay down his life for his friend. Let's turn to Romans chapter 5 for a few verses.
[25:33] are we a thankful people this morning? You know we have a gospel message for the world around us. Are we getting it to them?
[25:46] Are we willing to share this love to our neighbors and friends our families? Romans 5 in verse 8 it says but God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.
[26:04] Much more than being now justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him. There's that word justified again.
[26:18] We are justified. We are made right. We are now made right in God's sight. We can stand at a right position with God.
[26:30] By what? Through his blood. Verse 10. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life.
[26:49] Christ arose. He is alive. And not only so but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the atonement.
[27:04] Wherefore as one man sin by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned.
[27:17] Remember Adam is who he's talking about. The one man Adam the first Adam death came into the world. Romans 10 verse 9 says this that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved.
[27:45] It's amazing to me I might come across this later but how many people today and at the end of the world will have believed that they have assurance of salvation.
[28:04] There's many people that believe they are right with God but they are not. We read that and Jesus clearly speaks about that. There are many that will come to him on that day saying Lord, Lord, have we not done this and that?
[28:23] And then there's others that struggle with believing and I think there are some that might have believed but are humbled by it to a degree or maybe even have some disillusion or whatever that are actually saved.
[28:45] I don't know. God is the judge in that but we do know that many will come thinking they are saved, they are right.
[28:56] But I was thinking and meditating on that and the thought came to me, well, no wonder because they're going to come and they're going to say, have we not? That tells us that they are counting on their own merit, their own works.
[29:12] Have we not? Rather than coming to Christ, they're saying, Jesus, you died for me and I've had my faith, all my trust is in you.
[29:22] Instead of that, they're thinking, we've done this, we've done that, so Lord, let us in. That's the problem. We weren't like these other worldly people over here. We were better than these and so on.
[29:34] Rather than coming to Christ in a brokenness, like that other man that was praying next to the Pharisee, where he smote his breast and he said, I'm not worthy.
[29:56] I'm just a sinner. And God saw him as a man with an honest heart. But those people that come, here's the thing, they come with all these things, the good things they have done, they are not looking unto Jesus to be saved.
[30:21] When we look to Jesus, I want to talk a little more about that then.
[30:32] What does that mean? In John 6, verse 44, Jesus said these words, No man can come to me except the Father which has sent me, draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
[30:49] You know, that word draw in that verse is similar to, the meaning is the same as pulling or dragging.
[31:01] It's like a pull. Have you ever felt that from God? That draw? That pull?
[31:13] That God is the Father in Heaven is drawing you? If you came to Christ in repentance, He did that. He did that for you.
[31:24] He drew you. And Jesus is saying that unless that happens, you can't come to me. You know, we need to thank God for that.
[31:34] We need to be very thankful that Christ, or the Father, drew us to Himself. Sometimes, especially younger children and so on, that drawing begins to happen at a younger age, and they're not sure what to do with it.
[31:53] Us parents need to have wisdom in that to determine, is this the Lord drawing you? You know, it takes some wisdom.
[32:05] wisdom. The opposite of wisdom in that will take a young child, and maybe with a little bit of coaxing at a very, very extreme young age, think that, or teach, that they are saved long before they were ever lost.
[32:29] And it brings a lot of confusion in children as they grow up. So that's why I say we need wisdom. You can take any young child, and by putting fear in their heart about hell, have them pray a sinner's prayer, and pat them on the back, and now they're a Christian.
[32:48] So it takes wisdom in that to make sure that it's the Father drawing them, and not just the guilty conscience, you know, towards their parents or something.
[33:06] Let's turn to 1 Thessalonians, chapter 9, I'm sorry, chapter 1, verse 9. Just for a few minutes, talk about idols.
[33:29] In verse 9, it says, For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God.
[33:44] Verse 10, And to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which has delivered us from the wrath to come.
[33:59] I believe it was Paul talking here, and he's talking about how that they have turned to God from their idols.
[34:09] You know, there's a turning that needs to happen when people become saved. There's a turning from those things, turning from your own things, which are idols, to serve the living and true God.
[34:31] That's what he's saying here. You know, many times, people have idols. They don't look like idols. They look more like things we use every day.
[34:44] And whatever those are, it can be work, it can be anything. But they're idols in our lives. One of the biggest ones, I think, is one that you can't see.
[34:57] And that's the idol of our minds. It's an idol of the way I think versus how God thinks about any situation.
[35:11] My own thoughts. And I know that can get a little bit whatever to explain, but do our thoughts, as we think about something, do they line up with the word of God?
[35:29] Is it, can you refer back to God's voice, God's word? When we make decisions about something, for example, or how we think about another person or other people, we heard this morning about forgiveness, is how I think about something equal to what God thinks?
[35:54] does it line up? If it doesn't, and I pursue my own thoughts, it can quickly become an idol. And that is why, what I said in the beginning, as believers, we look unto Jesus and be saved.
[36:15] We can be saved from those idols. We can be saved from our own selfish thinking, our own selfish thoughts. or whatever other thing that is in our lives that could be an idol.
[36:29] But looking unto Jesus is always the answer. Recognizing His word and the power of it.
[36:40] Submitting to His word. We all know the verse where Jesus said this. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.
[36:52] Now isn't that interesting? We had just read that Jesus said, no one comes to Him, Christ, except the Father draw Him. Now Jesus says that no one comes to the Father except through Him.
[37:10] So they have it covered. God and, I mean, Christ and His Father. both ways. But the Father's drawing, but I believe that drawing is to Christ.
[37:25] Because Jesus truly is the way, the truth, and the life. There is no other name. The Bible is very clear on that. There is no other name than Jesus Christ.
[37:37] Now let's turn to Acts chapter 16. and let's, one of my favorite stories, I think, in the New Testament about Paul and Silas at midnight.
[37:59] Acts 16, verse 25. And at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God and the prisoners heard them. Now we could stop at that verse and we could have a whole message on that verse.
[38:14] How many of us today would sit in a prison with our hands and feet or at least our feet in bonds and worship and sing praises to God?
[38:28] I like to think we would do that. With Christ we could. It's the only way. But that, anyway, let's keep going. Verse 26, And suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bands were loosed.
[38:47] There it is. The bands were loosed and the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open he drew out his sword and would have killed himself supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
[39:02] Now, the way I understand in that day if a jail keeper, if inmates or prisoners escaped then there was severe punishment.
[39:16] I'm not sure it wasn't punishment by death even. I'm not sure but that's why just referring back to why he was going to kill himself. His punishment would have been very, very severe.
[39:29] But Paul cried with a loud voice saying, Do thyself no harm for we are all here. Then he called for a light and sprang in and came trembling and he fell down before Paul and Silas.
[39:45] And he brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And here's the very simple qualification to be saved.
[39:58] And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord and to all that were in the house.
[40:13] And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized he and all his straight way.
[40:24] Meaning right away. And when he had brought them into his house he set meat before them and rejoiced believing in God with all his house. And when it was day the magistrate sent the surgeon saying, Let those men go.
[40:43] So what does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? You know, it's not just believing in a simple fact in one single fact alone I believe.
[40:57] I think it believes or it means to believe on the Lord Jesus is a change of mind. It's a change from what I know and what I think and accepting his requirements his promises all the promises of the Bible all the provisions of God it's in believing in God.
[41:35] You know, the devils believe that Jesus died and rose again but they're not saved. Many people believe that as a fact but they don't believe it in their heart where it changes them.
[41:48] There's a big difference. Remember Philip and the eunuch when he wanted to be baptized what did he say? What did Philip say to the eunuch?
[42:00] He said, If thou believest with all thy heart thou mayest. So it's an all in belief. Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved.
[42:17] And then they added and thy house. You know, there's a change that happens when we believe. It's that kind of a believing. It's the same as Zacchaeus when Jesus came to his house.
[42:32] it doesn't say a whole lot about Zacchaeus except he was a tax collector.
[42:44] He was a cheat. I guess back then they were all cheaters. Not all but probably. But anyway he was known to be a cheater. He was a sinner and people didn't like him.
[42:56] And Jesus came to his house. Remember the story. He ran up into a sycamore tree and Jesus saw him and him being Jesus he obviously knew his heart that he would be open for the gospel.
[43:08] So he came to his house and basically all we read there is that he said Lord if I've cheated anyone and he wasn't asking that as a question it was more of a statement but what he was saying is those people I've cheated I'm going to give back money and it was way more than required.
[43:31] Something happened in his heart that was changed. See it's the kind of believing my point is there is the kind of believing that is a surrendered life.
[43:44] It is totally different than it was. New life comes in and it changes us from the inside. Sometimes I wonder how long does it take a person I'm changing gears a little bit but how long does it take a believer to lose our first love?
[44:15] We've experienced all that stuff. We've experienced the life changing and making things right and believing on the Lord Jesus and then the devil wants to snatch away that first love that commitment to Christ that commitment to turning to him with all our problems looking unto Jesus look unto me and thou shalt be saved.
[44:45] Does the word still mean as much to you today as it did the first week when you were saved? These are some questions. Is his love still as dear to you as it was that first week that we came to Christ?
[45:03] I'm not saying that we don't get used to being in Christ.
[45:15] I'm not saying that. That first week it was very fresh and all that. I understand. But the love should be the same. In fact it should be growing.
[45:29] Are we still fellowshipping with him? Is he our very closest and best friend? Or have we allowed other things and the enemy to steal that closeness?
[45:43] Steal your joy and peace that you once had and replacing it with other things? Do we love the world? We can talk about what the world is but I think we know.
[46:00] The love of the world. Because if the love of the world is in us then the love of the Father is not. The word of God.
[46:13] You know what Paul loved? In Galatians Paul said to them he said but God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world.
[46:34] So what can we do? You know even if we have been saved but we've lost that first love and we've drifted away or whatever slipped back the answer is the same for us today as it was in Acts when Peter spoke.
[46:54] He preached to them about the crucifixion of Christ and many of them were maybe all of them I don't know it just says they were pricked in their heart and they said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles men and brethren what should we do?
[47:11] Then Peter said repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost for the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are far off even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
[47:35] Praise God for that promise. He is loving. He's good. He desires to give us the Holy Spirit. You know God will never force us to accept him.
[47:50] He's not a pushy God. He only offers it. to us and like one brother said, it's our choice. He only offers the water.
[48:03] He only offers the meat, his life, but he does want us to have it. And when we have his Spirit, that Spirit will bear witness with us that we are his children.
[48:20] I'd like to finish with Matthew 13. if we could turn there yet. There's some verses there. The Bible says to make our salvation sure, to know where we stand with God.
[48:41] Do we love God? Matthew 13 all the way to verse 44. Jesus speaking, he was speaking in parables, and then there's two parables right here.
[48:58] And in verse 44, it says, again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hid in a field, the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he had, and buyeth that field.
[49:22] There's so much in those few lines. this man was out, maybe he was, we'll just imagine a little bit, maybe he was hunting or something, and he came across this field, it wasn't his, but he came across this treasure.
[49:42] Jesus didn't say what the treasure was, but it was something. It was huge. And so he just hid it there, and Jesus says, and then he went, probably went back home, and he sold everything he had, so he'd have enough money to buy that field.
[50:02] That way he would own the treasure, right? And Jesus is saying that's how the kingdom of heaven is. You find a treasure, and that treasure is Christ.
[50:16] That treasure is looking unto God. We will be willing to sell everything else we have, including our own life. families, those that we love will become all for that treasure.
[50:43] That's the kingdom of heaven. Do we look at it that way? See, this is how God thinks. This is what God is saying. It doesn't matter what people think.
[50:56] You know, the modern gospel today is you just keep all that you have and just add Jesus to it. That'll make you rich. No.
[51:07] Jesus is saying, no, you sell all that you have. In other words, we are willing to lay everything else down at the foot of the cross. verse 45, again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
[51:37] Again, he just comes right back and gives a little bit different angle, different person, but he found this pearl of great price, something very valuable, and then he went and sold everything he had.
[51:53] Jesus is referring to our lives that we are willing to sell everything or lay down everything.
[52:10] Maybe I'll just read the next one yet. verse 47, again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind, which when it was full they drew to shore and sat down and gathered the good into the vessels, but cast the bad away.
[52:31] So shall it be at the end of the world. The angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just. Those that are justified, remember that word.
[52:43] shall cast them into the furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Have we trusted Jesus with our life for our salvation?
[52:58] Do we love God? These are some questions, you know, that we can answer. Sometimes we're just looking for answers. I know for me personally for a long time I struggled with am I saved.
[53:12] And I believe the answer came to me, the assurance of that came to me by faith. When I looked at my heart and my life and I realized that yes, I love God.
[53:28] Do you love God more than anything else? Yes. If your heart is turned and in humility you've turned to God and you've asked God, you're seeking after Him, then let Him also comfort you.
[53:51] Let Him also bring that assurance into your heart that you're His child by faith. It's by faith. It's entrusting in Him. You know, it's really, I was thinking about this, this is just a thought I had, but how do you know for sure that Jesus loves you?
[54:09] How do you know for sure that His salvation is for you? If a man, if you were out in the woods and a man would, or rather a grizzly bear would attack you, say it's one of you, steery boys, there's some, a few of you here, and one of you was being attacked by a grizzly, Enos, and James would jump in front of you and give you the opportunity to run and he'd be killed.
[54:46] There would be no question whether or not he gave his life for you, would it? You wouldn't doubt that. We'd all know that's what happened. And even more sure than that, Jesus came and gave his life for us.
[55:08] It was just as real, just as the purpose of that was even greater. Because in that situation, we deserve to die, right?
[55:26] We deserve hell. We deserve eternal damnation. And Jesus came and paid that price. I love that song. Maybe we can sing it later. We don't have to.
[55:37] It's fine either way. But I'd like to just read a little bit out of Jesus paid it all. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. In verse 2 of that song, it says, Lord, now indeed I find thy power and thine alone can change the leper's spots and melt the heart of stone.
[56:09] The Bible says something, I think, in the Old Testament about a leper's spots and how that we can't change them. Right, Justin? There's a preacher here one time preaching on that when he got saved, but that spoke to him.
[56:26] He knew he had spots that he just couldn't make go away. Verse 3 says, For nothing good have I, whereby thy grace to claim.
[56:37] I'll wash my garments white in the blood of Calvary's lamb. And when before the throne I stand, in him complete, Jesus died my soul to save.
[56:50] My lips shall still repeat that Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe. Sin had left the crimson stain, but he washed it white as snow.
[57:06] Shall we pray? Father, we just come to you at this time, Lord. We thank you that you came and that you died to pay for our sins.
[57:20] Lord, we thank you that you washed our sins white as snow. Lord, I pray that you would forgive us for being unthankful and for the many times that we don't stop and worship you and acknowledge that you are good.
[57:40] Lord, we just need you today to speak to our hearts. Lord, forgive us for the times we don't quickly surrender to your will, but we have our own thoughts to deal with and our own ideas and we forget sometimes to acknowledge you, to look unto Jesus the way Isaiah said.
[58:06] help us, Lord, to always look to you quickly for all our needs. Help us to trust you. Help us to have that faith, that unwavering faith.
[58:20] Lord, increase our faith that we would believe with all our hearts that you came and died and you died for us for a purpose so that we could have life, eternal life in Christ Jesus.
[58:37] Lord, I pray that you would help us, inspire us, help us to share this gospel with those that we love and those that we don't know, but you give us opportunity, Lord.
[58:52] Help us to be bold in the gospel and help us to walk in humility and in brokenness because it's nothing that we have brought or done, but it's all about the work of the cross.
[59:07] And we surrender to you, Lord Jesus. We pray in your name, Amen.