Known for his unique ability to simplify profound truth so that you really a happy and a victorious Christian. to do, and you've not yet done it. For example, has God been telling you that there is a confession of sin that you need to make, some sin that you need to confess, and you haven't confessed it? Has God been telling you there's some restitution that you need to perform, someone that you need to go to and make amends with, and you've not yet done it? Has God been telling you there's some gift that you ought to give, and you've not yet given it? Even to a loved one? Dead noses smell no roses if you're going to do it.
You ought to do it. Is there a testimony, a witness that you ought to give? Has God laid some soul upon your heart, and you know that you're God's appointed messenger to go speak to that person, and you've not yet done it.
And then you might wonder, why do I not have joy in my life? Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. Now let me give you the background for the passage of scripture we're going to read in just a moment. But the apostles had been witnessing, God had been moving, Jesus ascended, he gave the great commission, Jesus went up, the Holy Spirit came down, the apostles went out, the loss came in, they turned that world upside down and inside out for the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the Herodians, and the whole shooting match were upset at what they were doing, and the high priest took these apostles and put them in jail for preaching the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but an angel came that night and set them free, sort of a sanctified jailbreak. And the apostles had been commanded not to preach, not to teach in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and there they are the next morning out there in the same place preaching and teaching Jesus.
They'd been put in jail for that. Well, they come to the high priest and said, I thought you put those guys in jail. And here they are out there on the street preaching and teaching Jesus Christ, and so they call them back again one more time. And now we get to our text, let's start in verse 27, and when they had brought them, they set them before the council and the high priest asked them saying, did not we straightly command you that you should not teach in this name and behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.
Now this man, they were referring to as the Lord Jesus Christ. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. Now, if you don't mind marking your Bible, I'd like for you to mark that sentence. We ought to obey God rather than men. Skip down to verse 32 and here's what else they said.
And we are his witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Ghost whom God has given to them that obey him. Now twice in this paragraph he's mentioning obedience and that's what I want to talk to you about today is obedience, the expedience of obedience. The Christian railroad runs on two tracks, trust and obey. The OTNO is the railroad of redemption and so I want you to learn something about obedience and I want to lay three basic things on your heart because I want you to be happy and I want you to be victorious and I am reminding you that when I'm speaking to you, I'm also speaking to myself.
Here's the first thing I want to lay on your heart. We should review the reasons for obedience. Now if you don't have a good reason for obeying, you probably will not obey. So I think it's altogether fitting that we look at this passage and review the reasons for obedience.
Here's the first reason, obedience is a duty, a duty to be performed. Now notice what he says, we ought to obey. We ought to obey. There is an ought to it.
There's no contest. We ought to obey God rather than men. Now men said to do one thing, God said to do something else and they said, well that's a no brainer. We're going to obey God, we're not going to obey men. If what men say and do contradicts what God does. Does God have any right to command you? Of course he does. We ought to obey God.
Why? Because God is a sovereign God and we ought to obey him. We get into trouble many times because we do not simply obey God. Now I want to give you an ancillary verse and I'd like for you to write it in your margin.
It's 1 Samuel chapter 15, 1 Samuel chapter 15 verses 22 and 23. God had told a king to do a particular thing and the king substituted his own will, his own way, his own ideas for what God told him to do. And here the prophet of God rebukes the king and here's what the prophet Samuel said, hath the Lord as great delight and burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
That is there's no way that you can come here today and by God bribe God. You say well I put a big offering in the offering plate. No God wants not your sacrifices, God wants your obedience. Have God as great delight and burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams.
What he means is offering the very best animals on the altar. Now listen to verse 23, for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. Remember that word and stubbornness is as iniquity. Remember that word and idolatry.
Remember that word. Now here's what God says disobedience is like. If you're a disobedient Christian, here's what disobedience is like. First of all, it is like witchcraft. It is like witchcraft. Now are you disobeying something that God told you to do? May I tell you that you are practicing a form of witchcraft?
I think you're practicing witchcraft. But disobedience puts you on the same side of the fence as Satan. That's what made the devil the devil was his rebellion against the will of God. And so disobedience is witchcraft and before long, Saul who had disobeyed the Lord was consorting with a witch, if you know your Bible. Secondly, disobedience is not only like witchcraft, but it's also iniquity. Disobedience is a clenched fist in the face of God.
It is saying, God, not your will, but mine be done. Now it may be a small thing, but disobedience over a small thing is not a small thing because disobedience is a big thing, even if the thing is a small thing that you're disobeying. When my little boy was just a toddler, he was in the living room of our home and I said, Steve, pick up the paper from off the floor. And he didn't do it.
And so I got his full attention. I said, Steve, would you pick up the paper please? Daddy wants you to pick up the paper. He shook his head, walked off and said, son, come back here and pick up the paper.
He said, no. At that point I had to dust his britches. His mother came in there and said, Adrian, that's a small thing to give a child a spanking for not picking up a piece of paper. I said, Joyce, I wasn't spanking the lad for not picking up a piece of paper. I was spanking him for defying his father. Now that's a big thing.
The paper was a small thing. There may be some small thing in your heart and in your life that God is prompting you to do. But if you're defying God over that small thing, that small thing becomes a big thing. God says it is witchcraft. God says that it is iniquity. And then God says it is idolatry, idolatry.
That's what he says. Disobedience is idolatry. Why could it be idolatry? Well, what is an idol? Anything you love more, serve more, fear more, honor more than God is an idol. And if God wants you to do something and you don't do it is because you put something else before God, which is idolatry.
Think about what disobedience is. It is witchcraft. It is iniquity.
It is idolatry. If we were to see that men ought to obey God rather than men, it is a duty to be performed. Secondly, it is a debt to be paid.
It is a debt to be paid. Now what do I mean by that? I mean, friend, Jesus has done so much for us. In this particular passage of scripture, notice what he says as he's giving his rationale for obeying. He says here in verse 29, we ought to obey God rather than men.
And then he explains it. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a savior and to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. Think what Jesus Christ has done for me. Think what he's done for you.
He suffered, bled and died upon that cross. Know to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be, but drops of grief can ne'er repay. The debt of love I owe here, Lord, I give myself away. Tis all that I can do. Look at Calvary, bloody Calvary, and then tell me if you have a right to disobey. Know it is a duty to be performed.
It is a debt to be paid. Now I'll tell you something else. It is a delight to be preferred. This is a delight to be preferred. Don't get the idea that the will of God is something you have to do. God's not going to force it on you.
It is something you get to do. And when you learn to obey, then you're going to learn the joy that everybody's talking about in the Christian life. There's no such thing as a happy disobedient Christian.
It is a contradiction in terms. Look in chapter five, verse 41. Then they departed from the presence of the council rejoicing, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. I am telling you that obedience and rejoicing come together. It is a lie out of hell that doing the will of God is painful and makes you miserable. The Bible says his commandments are not grievous. Now the reason that some of us don't obey the Lord and understand this joy in obeying the Lord is we don't trust the Lord and we have difficulty taking commands from a stranger that we don't know. You get to know the Lord Jesus Christ and you will learn that his commands are not grievous. Now I want to say a fourth thing about obedience.
Not only is it a delight, but friend, it is a decision to be practiced. Now you must, you must decide to obey. Now God will allow you to disobey. Have you ever heard anybody say, oh well, God's will be done. God's will be done. Everything is God's will.
Just praise God. If God wants it to happen, it'll happen. And if God doesn't want it to happen, he won't let it happen. That my friend, there's a Greek word for that and it's baloney.
I want to tell you something. Listen to me, listen, God's will is not always done. Now there's some people who say that, that God's will is always done in everything. God's will is not always done.
If God's will is always done, why did Jesus teach us to pray thy kingdom come, thy will be done? No, there are a lot of things that are not the will of God and God will allow you to disobey him and that does not diminish God's sovereignty at all. God gives man the power to rebel against him without diminishing God's sovereignty. God has given man a choice. You can choose to obey or you can choose not to obey.
Now some people stumble over this. They wonder why the world's in a mess that it is. They say, well, if God is all powerful, why doesn't God just do away with the evil and suffering? Well, if he doesn't do away with the evil and suffering, maybe he's not all powerful. Or they say, well, if he is all powerful and doesn't do away with it, maybe he's not all loving. No, God is all powerful and God is all loving, but God has given to man a choice. God has given you a choice. Every one of you, you can choose to obey or you can choose to disobey. Now some people say, well, God can do anything.
That's not true. Let me give you a little riddle. My grandson asked me this, what is more powerful than God? What is more evil than Satan? What is it that rich people think that they need? What is it that poor people have plenty of? And what is it if you eat it, you'll die?
Got the answer to that? What is more powerful and better than God? What is more evil than Satan? What is it that rich people think they need? What is it that poor people have plenty of?
And what is it if you eat it, you'll die? Answer that question, nothing, nothing. Nothing is more powerful than God.
Nothing is more evil than Satan. Rich people think they need nothing. Poor people have plenty of nothing and if you eat nothing, you'll die. The answer to that whole thing is nothing, nothing. Now friend, some things God cannot do. If I would ask what can God not do and you'd say nothing, you'd be wrong. Let me tell you some things that God cannot do.
Now we're talking about here that obedience is a decision. Let me give you some things that God can't do. I'll give you six things that God can't do. Because God is omnipotent, God can't fail. God cannot fail.
Ephesians 1 verse 11 says he works all things after the counsel of his own will. It's impossible for God to fail. Number two is something else God can't do. God cannot do evil.
Titus 1 verse 2, in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. God cannot lie. God cannot steal. God cannot do evil because he's a holy God.
I'll tell you something else God cannot do. God cannot be tempted. James 1 verses 13 and 14, let no man say when he is tempted, I'm tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted with evil. God can't be tempted. You say, I thought Jesus was tempted.
Jesus was tempted in his humanity. He was not tempted in his essence as almighty God. God cannot be tempted. What else can God not do? God cannot deny himself. Second Timothy 2 verse 13, if we believe not, he abideth faithful.
He cannot deny himself. I'll tell you something else God cannot do. God cannot be unjust. That's the reason for the cross.
Romans 3 verse 26, to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. You see, there's some things impossible for God to do. It is impossible for God to forgive sin without a sacrifice.
The reason that Jesus died on the cross is that he might be both just and the justifier. Do you remember what Jesus said in the garden of Gethsemane when he prayed, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. But the silence from heaven said, no, that is impossible.
That is impossible. Had there been some other way than the cross, God surely would have taken it before he allowed his holy son to die upon the cross. By God's very nature, God cannot overlook or God cannot bypass sin. I'll tell you something else God cannot do, and I've been building to this point. God cannot force loving obedience. God cannot force loving obedience. God cannot make you love him because it is a contradiction in terms.
Forced love is not love at all. God cannot force somebody to receive a gift. God will not force you to obey him. That doesn't mean that God loses his sovereignty. That simply means that there's certain things by God's very nature that God cannot do.
It's not that he cannot do them because he's limited in power, it is that he cannot do them because of his very nature. Now, I'm telling you that you must choose to obey him. Now, you cannot obey him unless he enables you to obey him.
We love him because he first loved us, and it is God that works in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Obedience to God is like breathing. Is breathing a gift of God? Well, you better believe it is because God gives you lungs and God gives you air, but you can smother if you want. Obedience is a gift of God in the sense that God gives you the will, God works in you, but there comes a decision and God is not going to force you to obey him. And don't you shrug your shoulders and say, well, if God wants it to happen, it'll happen.
No. There is, dear friend, a decision to be practiced. You must say, I will obey him, and these are the compelling reasons for obedience. Now, not only should we look at the reasons for obedience, we should recognize the requirements for obedience. Now, what are the requirements for obeying God? I want to mention some of them if you would really obey God. Number one, your obedience must be informed obedience. It must be informed obedience. How can you obey God if you don't know what it is that God wants you to do? Now, these apostles had had a command from God.
You in Acts chapter five begin looking in verse 17, then the high priest rose up and all they that were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees and were filled with indignation and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in common prison. But now watch verse 19, but the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth and said, go stand and speak in the temple to all the people, all words of this life can be plainer. They were told what to do.
Go do it. Now the reason they were doing it is because they've been told to do it. All true obedience is informed obedience. You must hear from God in order to obey God. Now, just don't go out doing things just because you want to do them and think that you're living the Christian life. What God doesn't initiate, God doesn't appreciate. God is going to tell you what to do. And God has never promised to bless any endeavor that he has not commanded. There must be, number one, informed obedience. Number two, there must be intentional obedience. You see, doing right is not merely abstaining from doing wrong. It's very obvious that these apostles wanted to know the will of the Lord Jesus Christ. I try to present myself to the Lord every morning and say, Lord, I'm yours to command.
I want to hear from you. Junior Hill, an evangelist, he said, when I wake up in the morning, I say, good morning, General Jesus. This is Private Hill reporting for duty.
I like that. Good morning, General Jesus. This is Private Hill reporting for duty.
Have you reported for duty? You say, it was not my fault. I don't know what God wants me to do.
It just may be your fault. Put this verse down. Proverbs chapter 8, verses 32 and following, Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children, for blessed are they that keep my ways, hear instruction, be wise, and refuse it not. Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the post of my doors. Are you hearing God? Are you reporting for duty? Now here's the third thing. It must be immediate obedience, immediate obedience. You see, they are telling these apostles, listen, we told you not to preach or teach in his name.
That's very interesting. Well, let's just look at it again. Look in verse 28. Did we not straightly command you that you should not teach in his name and behold you fill Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon us? Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than man.
And the fathers raised up Jesus whom ye slew and hanged on the tree, him hath got exalted. They just said, don't do that and he's doing it. I mean the minute he said, we told you not to preach, bang, he's preaching. I mean immediately, immediately. He's not waiting. He's not thinking about it. He is doing it. It is immediate obedience.
Now let me tell you something. Procrastination is a form of disobedience. Procrastination is a form of disobedience. Be swift my soul to answer him.
Be jubilant my feet. The best time to do the will of God is when you are aware that God wants it done. Friend, understanding can wait. Obedience cannot.
Understanding can wait. Obedience cannot. Psalm 119 verse 60, I made haste and delayed not to keep thy commandments. Ours is not the reason why. Ours is not to make reply. Ours is but to do or die.
And when God puts a period, don't you put a question mark. Immediate obedience. Number four, it must be inflexible obedience. Well, now what I mean by inflexible obedience?
I mean no matter what it costs. No matter what it costs, you cannot compromise with obedience. Now these apostles knew that to obey, God could mean death. Look back in verse 33, chapter 5 verse 33. When these men had been preaching, the Bible says when the authorities heard that, they were cut to the heart and took counsel to slay them.
They are preaching with a cloud of a death sentence over their head. Inflexible obedience, no matter what. Now selective obedience is not obedience at all. A man was bragging about his dog, said, what kind of dog is he? He said, oh, he's a very smart dog, very trained. He said, well, show me what he can do. He said, well, when I go somewhere, all I have to say is are you coming with me or not? And either he does or he doesn't.
Very smart dog. Now that's the way some of us are. We kind of decide what we want to do and selective obedience is not obedience at all. Next it must be impassioned obedience. I mean doing the will of God from our heart.
It's obvious that you might as well have told the noonday sun not to shine as to tell these men not to preach and not to share the Lord Jesus Christ because they are full of passion, burning, blazing, emotional passion for the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you have a zeal for God? God forgive our lukewarm, halfhearted, indifferent obedience. If you're going to serve him, serve him with joy. Romans chapter six verse 17, ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered unto you.
Now let me go to the third and final thing here as we're talking. We've talked to you about the reasons for obedience and we've talked to you about the requirements for obedience from this passage. Let me talk to you a little bit about the rewards for obedience. Remember trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.
Let me tell you three things will happen when you begin to obey. Number one, the spirit will be received. The spirit will be received.
Look in verse 32. Here's what the apostle said, and we are witnesses of these things and so is also the holy ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him. We are witnesses of these things and so is also the holy ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him. Do you want the spiritual power in your life? Friend, God is not going to give spiritual power to rebels. Why should God release the anointing power of the holy spirit upon your life when you're not living in obedience? God gives the holy spirit to those who obey him. The holy spirit is there to get his work done.
God cannot trust some people with spiritual power. I've often used this illustration. How many of you have ever taught a teen to drive an automobile? Let me see your hand.
All right, that'll brighten up your prayer life, won't it? Now if you've taught somebody to drive an automobile, I was not there. But I think I know this much. You most likely showed them the brake pedal before you showed them the accelerator, and you most likely showed them the brake pedal before you gave them the ignition key. You said, first of all, that's what stops this thing, honey, isn't that right? Now suppose that teen said, hey, Pop, I am not interested in a brake, show me how to make it go. I'm not interested in how to make it stop.
I want to go. You just take the keys back, put them in your pocket, and you say you're not ready yet. Now listen, you will never know the release of the Spirit until you know the restraint of the Spirit.
You will never know the go until you know the know. God gives the Holy Spirit to those that obey him. And even if you're not a rebel, why should God fill you with the Holy Spirit? I mean, a man pushes an automobile into the Texaco station. The fenders are flopping, the tires are flat, the gas tank has a hole in it, the headlights are broken, and a guy shoves it into the Texaco station. Man comes out, of course they don't come out anymore, and he says, what can I do for you? You say, well, fill her up. He said, what for? Oh, God, fill me with the Holy Spirit. God says, what for?
What for? Why should I give the Holy Spirit to you? God gives the Holy Spirit to those that obey him.
If you don't have power in your life, I'm going to tell you it's because you're living in disobedience. Now what are the results? Number one, the Spirit is received. Number two, joy is achieved. Look in verse 41, the Bible says they departed from the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. You're going to be a joyful Christian when you obey the Lord. Disobedient Christians are not joyful Christians.
I see a lot of folks look like the picture on the driver's license. We need some joyful Christians. When we obey, the Spirit is received. When we obey, joy is achieved.
I'll tell you something else. When we obey, the gospel is believed. Look if you will now in verse 42, and daily in the temple and in every house, they cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. Has God given you a command to share Jesus Christ?
Answer me, yes. What is the alternative to obeying him? It is disobedience.
What is the result of disobedience? No spiritual power and there's no joy in your life. God has given you a command to do it. Now, if you do it, will God bless your obedience? Will God give you the Holy Spirit and bless what you're doing? Well, just go on to the next chapter, and in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied. Listen, when you obey him, the Spirit is received, joy is achieved, and the gospel is believed. There are enough people in this very room right now to turn this city inside out upside down and right side up for Jesus Christ.
Is that not true? If we became obedient Christians, you think, well, you've done God a wild favor when you get here on Sunday morning. I mean, there are people who really call this, you say, well, this is the service. No, this is not the service. This is a service station.
The service is out there. You're just coming to get your tank filled a little bit. You're coming to get some instructions. You're coming to get some encouragement.
Friend, God has called us to rescue the perishing and care for the dying and snatch them in pity from sin in the grave, to weep over the erring one, to lift up the fallen one, and to tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save. And no matter what else you're doing, if you are not sharing the Lord Jesus Christ, you're not an obedient Christian. I don't care how faithfully you attend. I don't care how eloquently you teach. I don't care how beautifully you sing. I don't care how generously you give.
I don't care how scrupulously you live. If you're not sharing Jesus Christ, you're living in disobedience, and you are guilty of high treason against heaven's King. Now that's true. Now we can't all do it the same way. We cannot all be preachers, but we can all be reachers. Some way, somehow, God wants this church to share Jesus Christ with His community. Now if others are doing it, fine, we're glad to have the help.
But we cannot depend upon somebody else. We must say it is our responsibility, it is our duty, it is our joy, it is our privilege to do this. Now let me come to a conclusion, and I want to ask some questions. Again I want to ask, has God been speaking to you? Is God telling you to do something? Remember that procrastination is a sin. Is God telling you to give something? Then do it.
He put a dollar in the plate, and sung with might and main, when we ascend apart, it gives us inward pain. I'm going to give it one day, I just hate to let go of it. No, do it, do it. Is there somebody that you need to make restitution with? Somebody you need to go to and say, I'm sorry? You don't let things build up, you don't let them fester. You do exactly what you're supposed to do when you're supposed to do it. Has God been laying something on your heart, some restitution you need to make? Somebody that you need to ask forgiveness? Is there some deed of kindness that you know you're supposed to do?
Why don't you do it? Is there some spiritual thing that you need to fulfill? Some of you ought to be baptized as a believer in Jesus Christ. You know what the Bible teaches about believer's baptism. You know exactly what you ought to do, but you've never been baptized for whatever reason.
Maybe you think it's inconvenient, maybe you don't want to ruin your hairdo, maybe you don't want to go in front of all those people, whatever. Listen friend, to him that knows to do good and doeth it, not to him it is what? Sin, it is sin. Now I'm just saying, is there some point in your life where you are disobeying God?
Remember that disobedience is as witchcraft, disobedience is as iniquity, disobedience is as idolatry, it is not failing to pick up the paper that is the problem, it is the rebellion against God that is the problem. Don't stonewall God, trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey and you can't just blow past something. I've read of a father and a son who were living together, the mother and the wife in that family had gone to heaven. It was a winter night, the father and the son were settled down, the fire and the fireplace was burning out. The father said to his son, who's a grown boy, son would you put another piece of wood on the fire, go outside and get a log and put it on the fire. The son said, dad I'm busy, I'm doing something, I don't want to do it. The dad said, son listen, I'm your father, you're living here under my roof, you're supposed to respect and obey me, son I'm asking you to put another piece of wood on the fire. The boy said, no I'm not going to do it, I'm not going to do it. He said, all right now son, this time I'm telling you to do it. Put another piece of wood on the fire and if you cannot obey me, you cannot live under this roof. The boy said, is that the way it is?
Well, all right, then I will not live under this roof, goodbye. And walked out and slammed the door, went out into the cold and left his father's house because he would not put another piece of wood on the fire. He stayed going for months and he got to thinking, I am a fool, a sheer fool. My father loves me, he would do anything for me. He asked me to do a small thing and in my pride and arrogance I said no and I turned my back on my own dear father, I have defied my father, I have been a fool, I wonder if my father would ever forgive me. He went back home, knocked on the door, when his father saw he was there, tears burst into the father's eyes and he said, dad, I was such a fool. I was so full of arrogance and pride and selfishness and self-will, daddy I am so sorry for talking that way to you. Daddy, could you find it in your heart to forgive me and receive me back into the house?
My dad reached out like any dad would do, hugged him, kissed his neck, embraced him and said, my son, oh my son, welcome home. And then he said, son, before you sit down, put another piece of wood on the fire. You know, there's no statute of limitations when it comes to obeying God.
There's certain things that you don't just say, well I'm going to blow past. Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. And for you, if you've never been saved, that obedience comes with believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says when He comes again, He's taking vengeance and flaming fire on those who know not God and who obey not the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now obey Him by giving your heart to Him, trusting Him as your personal Lord and Savior and you will find the joy of obedience is wonderful, incredible.
It's the life that you would choose to live because He loves you so much and He'll never ask you to do anything that would harm you or cause you to harm someone else. His commandments are not grievous. To those of you who are not certain of your salvation, have you repented? Have you put your sins on Jesus or are you still carrying them?
Men and brethren, what must we do? Repent. When you repent, you turn from sin to Jesus. I'm not asking you, you're a church member, is Christ real to you? You died right now, would you go to heaven?
Are you certain of it? I'm going to lead you in a prayer, and in this prayer you can ask Jesus Christ to save you. Now it's the prayer I'm leading, but it won't do any good if it's my prayer, it has to be your prayer.
Would you pray like this, dear God, should I just speak to Him out of your heart? Dear God, I am a sinner and I'm lost and I need to be saved and I want to be saved. Jesus, you died to save me and you promised to save me if I would trust you.
I do trust you. This moment now, right now, I receive you into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Forgive my sin, cleanse me, save me, Lord Jesus. Pray it in faith.
Did you ask Him? Then pray this way. Thank you for doing it, Jesus.
I receive it by faith and that settles it. You're now my Lord, my Savior, my God, and my friend. Lord Jesus, I will not be ashamed of you. I will make it public if you just give me the strength, and I'll do it today. In your name I pray, amen. If you would like to learn more about how you can know Jesus or deepen your relationship with Him, simply click the Discover Jesus link on our website, lwf.org. For a copy of this message or additional resources, visit our online store at lwf.org or call 1-800-274-5683. Thank you.
