The Sacrifice of Jesus

For you now to open your Bibles once again to the book of Hebrews. I'm going be reading another passage. This time, it's chapter 10 verses seven through 14. Hebrews chapter 10 verses seven through 14. Okay, Hebrews chapter 10 verses seven through 14 and as I'm reading through this, I'll be stopping at a few particular places to draw your attention to the key things that I'm going to be focusing on.

Alright, Hebrews chapter 10 verse seven. Then said I, lo, I come in the volume of the book, it is written of me to do thy will, oh God. This is Jesus Christ who is speaking. You can get that from the context. So, he's saying, I have come to do the will of God.

Verse eight, above when he said, sacrifice an offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin, thou wouldest not. Neither hadst pleasure therein which are offered by the law. Then, said he, this is once again, now Jesus speaking, low, I come to do thy will, oh God. He taketh away the first that he may establish the second. That's a reference to the old covenant and the new covenant.

Verse 10, by the which will, we are sanctified through the offering. That is a reference to sacrifice, alright? We're sanctified through the offering or the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all and every priest standeth daily ministering and offering often times the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. Verse 12, but this man, again, referring to Jesus Christ, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. From henceforth, expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.

For by one offering sacrifice. He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Well, Verse 11 refers there to the priest standing daily and ministering and offering often times the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. That priest is a reference to not only the high priest but the priest that were off routinely would go through a course and they would assist the in the ministry of offering sacrifices in the temple. This obviously was prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in 8070 when there was still a temple, and they did offer those sacrifices.

But the point that's being made here by the author of Hebrews is, those priests offering those sacrifices had to repeatedly offer them up and the reason was that they were only temporarily covering the sins of the people because they could never take away sins. And so of course, there's a a looking forward to that time when there would be a perfect high priest offering a perfect sacrifice that was complete. It was sufficient. It was adequate. It was powerful enough that it would take care of not just covering the sins of all men and all women and all children for all time but that it would remove those sins, remove the stain, remove the penalty comes for sin which is eternal death.

So, that's the significance of sacrifice Of course, the reference is we saw here in this passage, the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made of himself. That's the one offering that is referred to there in verse 14. Let's bow our heads and ask God to bless the preaching of his word this morning. Father, as we begin the time of looking into your word, we acknowledge our sinfulness before you who are holy. You are absolutely righteous.

There's no sin in you. We compare ourselves to you Lord and we have to fall flat on our faces and cry out for mercy because we are indeed sinful. We are unrighteous. Within us, there's no good thing. There's no way that we can rectify our spiritual problem.

That's why we're so grateful that you took note of our sad condition and you did indeed do what was necessary so that we could have forgiveness of our sins. We seek to better understand your word this morning. We cannot do that without the enablement and an empowerment, the quickening of your holy spirit. So, please, holy spirit, come, be present with us, speak to our hearts, open hearts that might be closed to you, Lord. Draw hearts to you that might be far away from you.

Lord, I also ask that you would bless Doris and Becky as they minister to the children in the children's church time. We ask that you open the hearts of the children as well. Help them to be attentive, to understand the spiritual truths they're hearing. Then, Lord, we also pray especially this morning for those who are not able to be here, who would be here if they could, who are dealing with health problems, or because of work schedules or having to spend their time sleeping this morning and recovering from working through the night. Please encourage those brethren and we know there are others who are their schedules for some reason are just so packed with obligations and work requirements that they are unable to get away and be here.

We pray that you would change their schedules and make it possible for them to be here. We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen. Alright. So, this morning, we are going to obviously be focusing on the theme of sacrifice in the Old Testament as well as the New.

Primarily, we're going be looking at the New. Now, when we read a book, we usually look for a cohesive theme which the author has chosen about which he organized his story. Once we identify that theme, we can then more easily follow the twists and turns of the plot as it unwinds. God's word has several identifiable and interrelated themes. There's not just one theme but perhaps a key theme relates generally to the importance of sacrifice in order to draw near to a holy God.

More specifically, particularly as we delve into the New Testament, we see a laser like focus on the significance of the blood sacrifice of Jesus on the cross in order to save humanity from its sins. Of course, the salvation is not a general thing. So that all people are automatically saved from the penalty of their sins simply because God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Now, that is true. God does love you.

God does have a plan for your life but a bit more careful reading of the New Testament makes it clear that each individual human being must personally repent of his own sins and trust Jesus as the savior. I just wanna be sure everyone's clear on that before I proceed because actually that's exactly what I thought for years and I was not saved. I thought I was a Christian but I wasn't. What I wanna do in this message is look in detail at this topic. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross fulfilled a grand theme of the Bible.

That is he sacrificed himself so that we can be saved. We'll focus mostly on the New Testament except for a few relevant Old Testament passages that are essential to clarify our topic. Are you ready? Okay. Let's go.

First of all, we see that the sin bearer was promised and given. The sin bearer, if you want to look at Genesis, first book of the Bible chapter three verse 15, we will see a very important verse. So important that bible scholars and theologians have given it a special name. It's called the protoevangelium. Aren't you impressed that I can even say that word?

Proto means first. Evangelium is a reference to the gospel, the preaching of the good news, okay? So, it's a very first reference in the Bible that we see anything at all about the fact that God is going to provide a savior for sinful mankind and it's in the very first book. It occurs very soon after that book starts. Chapter three verse 15 and I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed.

It shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel. That's God speaking to Adam and Eve more specifically to Eve at this point and also to Satan, the one who caused the temptation that Adam and Eve fell for and sinned, alright? Now, as you look at that, you may not clearly see that there is going to be a savior for the sins of Adam and Eve and all of their descendants subsequently. It may not be so clear. That's the nature of revelation.

It's progressive. This is the very first reference to it but as you read through the Old Testament and then especially move into the New Testament, when this topic, this particular theme of the need for a savior and the provision of a savior, as that comes up repeatedly, you'll find a little bit more information becomes a little bit more clear. That's why it's called progressive revelation. Alright. So, this verse in first chapter three verse 15, those were God's own words.

Note, when Adam and Eve sinned, they tried to cover the shame of their nakedness but their fig leaf aprons were wholly inadequate. God provided clothing for them by slaughtering the first animal in history to make skins to cover them. So we see not only the promise of a sin bearer in verse 15 but also the implied importance of a bloody sacrifice to provide a covering for sin in verse 21. Just look there. God again is the actor here and we see unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothe them.

That doesn't specifically spell out that an animal or more than one animal had to die and shed its blood be but it's pretty clear that had to happen because skins were used to cover them. Where'd they get the skins? Where did God get those skins? He performed the first blood sacrifice to provide for the sin of Adam and Eve but it was just a covering. It was a temporary thing.

Now, if we look over in the New Testament at the book of Matthew, the very first book in the New Testament, look at verse 21. Remember what we're dealing now with the point that the sin bearer was promised and given. So, we're jumping all the way from the very first book of the Bible in the Old Testament to the very first book of the Bible in the New Testament, okay? Same Bible, Old Testament, New Testament. Matthew chapter one verse 21.

And she shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. And so, we read here, God's own words through his angelic messenger to the virgin Mary. Talking about the fact that this child that she finds herself or soon finds herself to be pregnant with through a miraculous intervention by God. That's why it's called the virgin birth. There's never been another birth like that.

Oh, there never will be another birth like that but we see there that the the promise that was given in Genesis three fifteen and it was gradually fleshed out as you move forward to the Old Testament. Now, we see the name of this sin bearer, the one who's going to save his people from their sins. His name is Jesus. Specific individual who lived at a specific time in history. Now, look a little bit further into the New Testament.

Still in the gospels but look at Luke, Matthew, Mark, Luke chapter 19. If you happen to have what's known as a red letter Bible, you'll notice that verse 10 is all in red letters. If you look at verse nine, you see and Jesus said unto him. After that, it's red letters. So, red letter Bible endeavors to put in red print all of the words that were specifically attributed to Jesus, okay?

It's kind of nifty as you're reading through there. Oh, you realize, oh, Jesus himself spoke these words, okay? Notice as you read in the Old Testament, you don't see any red letters. Jesus wasn't speaking there the way he did in the New Testament. Okay.

Luke chapter 19 verse 10. Now, this is Jesus' own words. Earlier was God's own words and God's own words through an angelic messenger. Now, Jesus own words and he says, for the son of man, a reference to himself, is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Woah.

God promised he was going to send a savior, the sin bearer who would take away the sins of the world and now Jesus is identifying himself as that individual whom God sent expressly for the purpose of looking for lost sinners and the goal is to save those lost sinners. So, God promised it. God's keeping his promise. Now, we're going to look a little bit further into the New Testament. Actually, getting close to the end here.

First John chapter three verse five. First John chapter three verse five. This is the apostle John now writing, one of Jesus' closest disciples. First John three five, and you know that he that is Jesus Christ was manifested to take away our sins and in him is no sin. That's why he could take away the sins.

He could be the perfect sacrifice. He was a human being. He was born of a human being. He did not have a human father though. That's the significance of the virgin birth.

That's why he was born without a sin nature. That's why in him was no and is no sin and the reason why he appeared, that's the word manifested was specifically to take away our sins. Okay? And he could do that. He could bear our sins because he was sinless.

John's words. Now, look, a little bit a little bit before John at first Peter chapter two. Just turn a few pages back. First Peter chapter two verse 24. Now, we're reading the apostle Peter's own words.

Now, remember, John and Peter, these were two disciples. They spent at least three years with Jesus Christ when he was here on this Earth. They were very close to Jesus. They saw him perform all kinds of incredible miracles. They heard with their own ears, what he taught, and Peter writes in first Peter, that is the first letter that Peter wrote.

Chapter two verse 24, who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree. He's talking about Jesus Christ That we being dead to sins, that is those who have put their trust in Jesus. Those folks now should live unto righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. Our greatest disease is sin. By the stripes, the suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary, those who put their trust in him, we are healed from the dread disease of sin.

Okay? Once again, talking about the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the tree. His own self, he bear whose sins? Does it say his own sins? Says his own body but it doesn't say his own sins.

Says our sins. He bore our sins. The sin bearer promised and given. So, the progressive revelation describing both the promise of a sin bearer and the fact that he was actually given is pretty obvious as we read this series of verses, isn't it? We see these details revealed directly by God himself, indirectly through his angel.

Jesus explicitly declaring why he came to Earth and then two of Jesus' own apostles explaining the significance of what he did. Do you suppose God didn't want anyone to miss his point? You know, when you read the Bible, sometimes you could scratch your head and say, I have no idea what this is talking about but then there's other things you read and it's pretty hard to miss the point. You know, so God's not wanting us to miss the point of the significance of Jesus sacrificial death. Number two, the sin bearer suffering and saving.

First, we saw that there was a sin bearer promised and given. Now, we're to see that the sin bearer suffered and saved. Isaiah 53 also in the Old Testament again. Chapter five and six. Would you like to turn back there?

Isaiah 53. It's a little bit past the middle of the Bible. It's a fairly long book and Isaiah 53 is getting pretty close to the end of it. So, if you look up, hold your Bible up and pretty much near the middle, Isaiah 53 verses five and six. Yeah, verses five and six.

It's interesting that in general, my understanding is that Jewish rabbis don't want the Jews to read Isaiah 53. They they seldom encourage them to read Isaiah 53. In fact, when I was in bible school, I prepared a sermon on this chapter and I worked with a gentleman who was a Jewish guy who came periodically from Connecticut to South Carolina to solve our problems in our factory there. He was a chemical engineer. His name was Al Cohen and I I told Al I was preparing a sermon on Isaiah 53 and I said, man, I'd really be honored if you could read it and give me some feedback.

He said he would do it when he came the next time because I didn't have it there with me. So I made sure I had it there with me and the next time Al showed up, I said, Al, I have that sermon for you and he said, no, I'm not. Sorry. I'm not gonna read it and then I learned afterwards that in general, the Jews are told, don't read Isaiah 53. Why not?

We're not going read the whole chapter. We're just going read verses five and six, but I think it's pretty obvious why they don't want you, that is the Jews, to read it. Verses five and six, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was 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 all. As you read through there, it's all talking about this person who's identified as he and him. It's pretty obvious. If you continue reading in the Bible, particularly the New Testament, this is our, it's very clear.

This is Jesus Christ and of course, the Jews don't accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah in general. Praise God not all of them feel that way. Alright. So, now, let's go over to Luke chapter 24. We were just in Luke a few minutes ago and we're back in Luke again.

Third gospel in the New Testament. Last chapter of Luke. And once again, in verses forty six and forty seven, you will see, if you have a red letter Bible that these verses are printed in red, it's Jesus speaking here. The occasion is after his resurrection. He's walking on the road to Emmaus and he's speaking to his disciples who did not recognize him at this point.

So, they were walking all along about this is maybe seven or 10 miles. Jesus was there with him. He was talking to them and he was explaining all kinds of prophecies from the Old Testament to help his disciples understand why it was just three days ago. Jesus had to die on the cross. Okay?

And so Jesus is saying, thus, it behooves Christ to suffer that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations. So Jesus himself referring to himself there, Christ had to suffer. Why? So that there could be repentance and remission of sins. Alright?

I'm gonna come back to that in a minute. Hebrews chapter nine verse 26 also makes a reference to sacrifice of Jesus. I'm not going to ask you to turn there but just listen. Hebrews nine twenty six, he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Now, all three of these bible passages dramatically refer to the savior's suffering during his sacrifice of himself on the cross.

Notice I said, he sacrificed himself. That that's scriptural. Yes, Jesus was taken by wicked men, betrayed by wicked man, phony trials by the wicked leaders of the Jewish religion, people at that time, handed over to the Romans because they wanted to put him to death that is the Jewish leaders wanted to put Jesus to death because they said he was a blasphemer. They said he was claiming to be God and of course, he's not God. That's what they thought.

Sadly, that's what many Jews still think. So they couldn't, by law, put him to death. That's why he was turned over to the Romans. And so the Romans, of course, nailed him to the cross, hung him on this tree, pierced his side with a spear to be sure he was dead at the end of this horrible crucifixion, flogged him, pulled out his beard, horribly tortured him. Jesus suffered mightily but it says, he offered himself.

They could not have done any of those things to him if he had not allowed it to be so. So, the verse in Hebrews makes it abundantly plain that the reason of his sacrifice was to put away sin permanently. Get rid of it once and for all. There was no temporary covering of it now. It's permanent removal done away with.

These verses that we read earlier, Isaiah 53, Luke 24, Hebrews nine, they all refer to Jesus Christ. Notice that Jesus himself explained to his disciples after his resurrection. Why he had to suffer? That is why he had to become a sacrifice. It was so that repentance and remission.

That is removal by forgiveness of sins would be available for all people. That's why. So, the sin bearer suffered and died in order that he might provide salvation. Third point, the sin bearer is exalted and glorified. Acts chapter five verse 31.

I'm gonna turn there. If hopefully you're still in Luke, just turn a few pages over to chapter five. Luke five thirty one Peter and the other apostles were speaking here and they say in verse 31, him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a savior for to give repentance and forgiveness of sins. I'm leaving out a few words there, Okay? Him referring to Jesus.

So Peter and the other apostles were clarifying and explaining the significance. Why did all this happen? It's so that repentance and forgiveness of sins could be given and now that this is done, God has exalted Jesus Christ to his right hand and he is a prince and a savior. So he's a king. He is the king and he is the savior.

So Jesus is exalted by God by becoming the savior of mankind. He did that by giving to men the ability to repent of their sins and consequently receive the forgiveness of their sins. Does anybody here you don't have to raise your hand, but if if you do not clearly understand what repentance is, would you just kinda nod your head? And if you don't clearly understand what repentance is, I'll talk about that a little bit because that's an important word. K?

I didn't see anybody nodding. Okay, I'm going to assume you all clearly understand what repentance means. Alright. So, we're talking about the sin bearer being exalted and glorified. John chapter 13 verses thirty one and thirty two, this is the incident where Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot.

So, 31, therefore, when he, that is Judas Iscariot, was gone out, Jesus said, now is the son of man glorified and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself and shall straightway glorify him. That's a little challenging to quite follow what's going on there but let's just look at this and think about this. It's hard to comprehend but when Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, at that moment, God glorified Jesus and also, God received glory by Jesus' obedience. In other words, his willingness to go through with this process of being betrayed into the hands of sinners and being tortured and put to death.

Jesus willingly submitted to that. He was obedient. Okay? So this brought glory to God and God consequently glorified and exalted Jesus Christ. So this is significant because it emphasizes that it was God's plan all along for Jesus to become the sacrifice for our sins.

When the plan was irrevocably put into motion by Judas' act of treachery, that is the moment when the son of man was glorified and at that moment also God himself was likewise glorified. Think about it. Here's approximately four thousand years of human history prior to this event. So we're talking now about six thousand years ago. The beginning, when Adam and Eve sinned and and God said he was gonna take care of that sin.

People waited up to this point when Jesus showed up. Four thousand years. For God to keep his promise. And and God had planned even from before the creation, before the foundation of the world, it states that Jesus was going to be that sacrifice. The son of God had already volunteered even before he created mankind because God knew what was going to happen.

God made provision in advance. That's how wise he is. That's how good he is. That's how loving he is. That's how gracious he is.

And so, at this moment, finally, four thousand years of wedding, the plan is beginning. Now is when it's all gonna come to a head. Now is when God will accomplish the redemption, the possibility of all human beings, the possibility of they're being saved. Okay? This had to happen or none of us could be saved.

So that's how Jesus was glorified and that's how God was glorified. Point number four, we're going to look at the sin bearer forgiving and justifying. First John chapter two verse 12, we read, your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. So, the idea of substitution is clear here in this verse. God will forgive my sins because of what Jesus did in my place.

He took my place when he died on the cross. That is for his name's sake. Alright? My sins are forgiven because of what Jesus did for me. Acts chapter 13, I think you probably, if you didn't go looking around for that other verse in first John, you might still have your place there in Acts 13.

Look at chapter 13 and I'm gonna read verses thirty eight and thirty nine. Acts chapter 13 verses thirty eight and thirty nine. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren that through this man, referring to Jesus Christ, is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. And by him, all that believe are justified from all things, from which he could not be justified by the law of Moses. So, we see here the sin bearer providing forgiveness and justification.

So, forgiveness of sins is only available through the sacrifice that Jesus made for you and for me. Right? He's the only savior. Right? By through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins.

Alright? And personal faith in Jesus' sacrificial death results in the condition of justification. That's a big theological term. It can be simplified like this. Justification is just as if I never sinned.

Okay? Justification. Think about it. It's just like you never sinned. God looks at those people who have put their trust in his son for their savior and he says, they're clean.

I don't see any blemishes. I don't see any spots of sin. There's no stains. They're clean. They are declared to be righteous.

Justification. So this is forgiveness so complete that when God looks at me, he doesn't see me and my filthy sinfulness. Rather, he sees his son, Jesus, who is perfectly righteous, never having sinned even one time. Does that appeal to you? My dear friends, when you come to God by faith in Jesus, God sees you as if you had never sinned.

That's because Jesus has become your and my substitute. There is an exchange made the instant that we confess that we are a sinner and ask God to forgive us and to put our trust in what Jesus did for us. This is so simple that it's profound. So simple a child can believe this. They can grasp the the simple facts of this and believe and be saved.

Indeed, it is so profound that we must humble ourselves like little children to receive God's magnificent gift. James chapter four, listen to these verses here. You don't have to turn there. I'm going to read several verses. But he giveth more grace.

Wherefore, he say it, God resisted the proud but give it grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he'll flee from you. Draw an eye to God and he will draw an eye to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded.

Be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up. So, the sin bearer will forgive the sins of all those who put their trust in his sacrifice for sin on the cross. Make that a personal thing, not generic.

It's gonna be personal, individual. And then, God, his sin bearer, will provide justification. It'll be just as if you never sinned. Perhaps, you have never fully understood just how important the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary nearly two thousand years ago truly is. Maybe it seems irrelevant to this modern day in which we live.

Maybe that's what you think. Maybe you've heard people talk that way. What kind of guy that lived two thousand years ago even if he did live, even if he did die? What what can he have anything to do with us today? Have you heard people talk that way?

Yeah, you have. Well, please consider that the God who so graciously revealed both himself and his plan to redeem lost sinners never changes. God thought the same way about the hideousness of our sin as he did even before Adam and Eve sinned. That's because he himself is holy. He's without sin.

He must judge all sin and that is why today, our only hope is God's mercy and providing us with a sin bearer, Jesus. God is exactly today what he was in ancient times. He has not changed. In fact, the Bible declares about Jesus Christ that he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. This is an attribute of God known as immutability, changelessness.

God doesn't change. Since Jesus likewise shares this attribute, it's obvious that he too is God, come in the flesh just as the New Testament declares. So, even though it is entirely possible that prior to your hearing this message this morning, you may have been ignorant of what the Bible clearly teaches. Now it is no longer possible to claim such ignorance. Please listen to what God's word says in acts chapter 17 verses thirty and thirty one.

And the times of this ignorance, God winked at. But now commanded all men everywhere to repent because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. Whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead. So, you know, there was a time when in our ignorance as human beings of the spiritual truth that God has revealed in his word. God was gracious and just, you know, instead of carrying out the judgment against sin immediately and sending us to hell, he's been long suffering, patiently waiting for the time when first of all, he would provide the sin bearer, his son, When Jesus would fulfill the plan of God by dying on the cross, when he would then be resurrected.

That's God's seal of approval so to speak on everything that Jesus said and did. But God has not changed. Therefore, now that this has all been revealed, it's all taken place and we have had the opportunity to hear it clearly explained at least this one time here at this point in this auditorium. Now, God is commanding us to repent, not just us but men everywhere. They hear the gospel, they they're commanded, repent.

God's not going to continue to wink at the times of our ignorance. He's not gonna say, they're just sinful human beings. They're gonna, you know, boys will be boys. They're gonna do what boys do. They're human beings.

They're gonna sin. God is not gonna let that go on forever. There will be a day of judgement and that day is going to occur when God determines it and by that man whom he's ordained, that's Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is going to be the judge. He was the savior but he's going to come back and he's going to be the judge.

So God took note of the desperate, spiritually lost condition of all mankind and he graciously demonstrated his mercy by providing a savior. This is all gloriously true But it is also true that each one of us must turn to God in faith and repentance, trusting his provision, the sacrificial lamb of God, Jesus Christ, for our salvation. Hebrews seven twenty five, wherefore, he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him. Seeing he ever live it to make intercession for them. That's God's promise.

You come to him. Doesn't matter what you've done. God knows what's in your heart. He knows everything about the life of each one of us. He's the one who created us.

He saw us in the womb before we were born. He's been with us. He knows about us. He will he will not cast us out if we come the way he has designated and if you come to him through Jesus Christ, trusting Jesus to save you, Jesus, God's and God says, he will save to the uttermost. That means every last sin.

What you did twenty five years ago, what you did yesterday, what you will do tomorrow, or another five years if God let you live that long. Every single sin, he's able to take it. It's nailed to the cross, put on Jesus' account, and your account is cleared, zeroed out. You are now just as if you never sinned if you've put your trust in Jesus. So, I beg you, please do not put off this most important decision that you will ever make.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. God's word promises that. Now, if you're confused about just what all this means, what you really want to understand, I invite you to come and talk with me privately after the service, okay? Don't don't leave here. If if you really want to know what's going on, if God's been speaking to your heart and drawing you, maybe not just today, maybe in the past, maybe today something has clicked that never clicked before, but you're still confused, but you want to know what's going on, come and talk to me please.

I'm gonna be around. Okay? And if, you know, other folks, I know I realize many of you folks are indeed Christians. You've already done what I'm suggesting is the most important thing you could ever do. If there are other spiritual needs that you have, please come.

Very least we can pray together, alright? Okay. Let's now sing a closing hymn number 375.