THE LIVING WORD TRANSCRIPT <br> <br>    

PROGRAM AIR DATE: 10-1-17

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LESSON TITLE: “THE GREATEST CURSE”

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WELCOME<br> <br>

      TODAY WE ARE BLESSED WITH A WONDERFUL GIFT FROM GOD, THE BIBLE. THIS BOOK IS GOD'S LIVING WORD. IN ITS PAGES, WE ARE TOLD “FOR THE WORD OF GOD IS LIVING AND POWERFUL AND SHARPER THAN ANY TWO-EDGED SWORD.” IT IS IN THIS BOOK OF BOOKS THAT WE FIND THE ANSWERS TO ALL OF MAN'S QUESTIONS AND NEEDS. THIS MORNING YOUR AREA CHURCHES OF CHRIST WELCOME YOU TO A PROGRAM COMMITTED TO THAT PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY AS WE PRESENT THE LIVING WORD. NOW HERE IS YOUR HOST, RAY SULLINS.<br> <br>



      WELCOME TO OUR PROGRAM ON THIS WONDROUS LORD’S DAY MORNING.  HERE WE ARE TOGETHER ON ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL DAY WHICH THE LORD HAS GIVEN US. NO MATTER WHAT IT IS LIKE OUTSIDE, EVERYDAY SHOULD BE MAGNIFICENT WITH GOD ON OUR SIDE! IT IS GREAT TO HAVE YOU WITH US THIS MORNING FOR THIS TIME OF WORSHIP TO GOD. LET ME ENCOURAGE US ALL TO DO OUR PART TODAY, TO MAKE THIS TIME TOGETHER ACCEPTABLE IN HIS SIGHT. NOW LET’S BEGIN BY APPROACHING HIS THRONE IN PRAYER.<br> <br>

PRAYER: OUR GOD AND FATHER IN HEAVEN, WE THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS DAY AND THE MANY GREAT BLESSINGS OF LIFE, THE PRIVILEGE THAT WE HAVE TO BE CALLED YOUR CHILDREN AND TO SERVE YOU. AND FATHER, WE ASK THAT THIS DAY YOU MIGHT HELP US IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH TO DO THOSE THINGS THAT ARE ACCORDING TO YOUR WILL AS FOUND IN YOUR WORD, THAT WE MIGHT ALWAYS BE FOUND ACCEPTABLE, AND THAT YOU MIGHT WOULD RECEIVE THE PROPER PRAISE AND GLORY IN ALL THINGS. WE THANK YOU FOR THE GREATEST GIFT OF ALL, YOUR SON JESUS AND THE SACRIFICE HE MADE ON THE CROSS, AS WELL AS HIS RESURRECTION. IN JESUS NAME WE PRAY, AMEN.<br> <br> 

 	THERE ARE SO MANY GOOD SONGS WE SING TOGETHER ABOUT OUR GREAT SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST. JUST CONSIDER THE GREAT BLESSING GOD GIVES US THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES. THIS MORNING WE WANT TO SING ABOUT JUST HOW WORTHY OUR GOD IS OF OUR DEVOTION FOR HE HAS DONE AND CONTINUES TO DO SO MUCH IN ALL OF OUR LIVES. SO, WON’T YOU JOIN IN WITH THE BRETHREN AT THIS TIME AS WE SING TOGETHER, “TO GOD BE THE GLORY!”<br> <br>

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS<br> <br>

      IN THE BOOK WHICH PAUL WROTE TO THE THESSALONIANS, WE SEE THAT HE CONTINUALLY EXHORTED THEM TO DO WHAT GOD WANTED THEM TO. IN FACT, I LIKE HIS REFERENCE IN 1 THESSALONIANS 2:11, WHEN HE REFERS TO HIS EXHORTATION AS SIMILAR TO THAT BETWEEN A “FATHER AND A CHILD.”  IN THAT VERSE HE TOLD THEM, “AS YOU KNOW HOW WE EXHORTED, AND COMFORTED, AND CHARGED EVERY ONE OF YOU, AS A FATHER DOES HIS OWN CHILDREN.” WHAT WONDERFUL LOVE AND CONCERN THIS STATEMENT SHOWS FOR THE BRETHREN. PAUL TOLD THEM THAT HE WAS ONLY TRYING TO HELP THEM BE THEIR BEST BY EXHORTING AND ENCOURAGING THEM, JUST AS A PARENT WOULD MOTIVATE HIS OR HER CHILD.  <br> <br>

      NOW, LOOK AT VERSE 12 WITH ME, THERE HE GOES ON TO SAY, “…WALK WORTHY OF GOD WHO CALLS YOU INTO HIS OWN KINGDOM AND GLORY.”  WOW, THIS IS A MASSIVE STATEMENT HERE, WHICH I DON’T THINK WE OFTEN REALLY COMPREHEND OR UNDERSTAND OURSELVES. HAVE WE FORGOTTEN WHO OUR GOD IS? HAVE WE FAILED TO REMEMBER THAT HE IS ALL RIGHTEOUS, ALL POWERFUL, THE CREATOR, AND GIVER OF ALL? NOW WITH THAT IN MIND, LET’S READ PAUL’S WORDS AGAIN, “WALK WORTHY OF GOD WHO CALLS YOU INTO HIS OWN KINGDOM AND GLORY.” SCARY ISN’T IT!  HOW CAN WE TRULY WALK WORTHY AND ACCEPTABLE, BEFORE SUCH AN AWESOME AND MAGNIFICENT GOD.<br> <br>

      WELL, THE GOOD NEWS IS WE CAN, BECAUSE GOD IS ONLY ASKING THAT WE GIVE IT OUR BEST. HE REALIZES THAT WE ARE NOT PERFECT AND NEVER WILL BE. HE UNDERSTANDS THAT WE HAVE SINNED, AND WILL SIN, REMEMBER THAT HE MADE US WITH AN ABILITY TO CHOOSE! THAT IS WHY THE WRITERS OF THE BIBLE ALWAYS TALK ABOUT THE NEED WE HAVE TO BE MORE LIKE CHRIST, AND TO GO ON TOWARD PERFECTION, HOWEVER, GOD KNOWING ALL ALONG THAT AS HUMAN BEINGS WE CAN NOT REACH IT!<br> <br>  

      REMEMBER WHAT THE HEBREW WRITER SAID IN HEBREWS 6:1, “…LET US GO ON TO PERFECTION….” PAUL SAID, “IMITATE ME, JUST AS I ALSO IMITATE CHRIST,” 1 CORINTHIANS 11:1. AS CHRISTIANS, WE MUST STRIVE EVERY DAY TO BE MORE CHRIST LIKE, THUS PROVING OURSELVES TO BE WORTHY OF HIS PROMISES AND BLESSING, WHICH WE RECEIVE THROUGH HIS GRACE!<br> <br>

      SO, I WOULD ASK YOU THIS MORNING, HOW ARE YOU LIVING FOR CHRIST IN THIS PRESENT WORLD? ARE YOU DOING YOUR BEST AND STRIVING TO WALK WORTHY ACCORDING TO WHAT HE WANTS OF YOU? ARE YOU GIVING IT YOUR VERY BEST SO THAT GOD CAN BE PLEASED WITH WHAT YOU ARE DOING? IF NOT, WHY NOT COMMIT YOURSELVES TO BEING MORE LIKE HIM, EVEN TODAY - SO THAT YOU MAY TRULY RECEIVE HIS GIFTS, IF YOU DO ALL OF THAT WHICH IS ACCORDING TO HIS WILL.<br> <br>

      TODAY, WE ARE EXCITED TO HAVE BROTHER JERRY SULLINS WITH US AS THE SPEAKER OF THE DAY. AS MOST OF YOUR KNOW, BROTHER JERRY IS THE DIRECTOR OF THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF MISSOURI HERE IN SPRINGFIELD. WE ARE HAPPY TO HAVE HIM WITH US AND LOOK FORWARD TO HIM LEADING OUR MAIN THOUGHTS FROM GOD’S WORD AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME. CONCERNING OUR TOPIC TODAY, WE ARE STILL CONSIDERING OUR SERIES CALLED “THE LORD HAS DONE GREAT THINGS FOR US.”  OUR SPECIFIC LESSON THIS MORNING WILL BE, “THE GREATEST CURSE.” SO, PLEASE STAY WITH US AND IN A FEW MINUTES BROTHER SULLINS WILL RETURN WITH THIS STUDY FROM GOD’S WORD. NOW IT’S TIME TO JOIN IN OUR SECOND HYMN OF THE DAY, THE NAME OF THE SONG, “THIS WORLD IS NOT MY HOME.”<br> <br>



LESSON<br> <br>

JERRY SULLINS<br> <br>

      I’D LIKE TO WELCOME YOU AGAIN TO THE LIVING WORD BROADCASTING AND WE'RE SO HAPPY THAT YOU ARE VIEWING THIS PRESENTATION TODAY AND WE HOPE AND PRAY THAT YOU WILL GET YOUR BIBLES OUT AND STUDY WITH US ALONG THE THEME OF THIS SERIES WHICH IS GOD HAS DONE GREAT THINGS FOR US. ONE OF THE GREATEST THINGS THAT I'M GOING TO DEAL WITH TODAY THAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US IS DEALING WITH OUR SIN. SIN IS A PROBLEM THAT EVERY PERSON WHO'S EVER LIVED ON THE FACE OF THIS EARTH, OTHER THAN JESUS HIMSELF, WHO’S HAD TO DEAL WITH. UNFORTUNATELY, MANY PEOPLE DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT SIN IS SO TODAY I AM GOING TO COVER WHAT SIN IS AND WHAT GOD HAS ACTUALLY DONE FOR US TO RELIEVE US OF THAT GREAT SPIRITUAL DISEASE. THAT DISEASE THAT WILL COST US OUR ETERNAL LIFE! <br> <br>

      MANY PEOPLE DON'T BELIEVE VERY MUCH ABOUT SIN TODAY. IN FACT, THEY DON'T REALLY THINK ABOUT IT. IT'S A RESPONSIBILITY OF US, OF THOSE OF US WHO PREACH THE GOSPEL, TO MAKE SURE THAT AS GOD HAS REVEALED TO US IN HIS WORD WHAT SIN IS AND HOW WE COMMIT SIN AND HOW IT DESTROYS OUR SOULS, THAT WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS VERY CLEARLY. IF WE SEE AND KNOW OF, LIKE IRMA AND HERMAN, AND OTHERS THAT HAVE COME BEFORE, THOSE GREAT HURRICANES THAT HAVE AFFECTED MANY OF THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IF WE KNOW THAT SOMETHING DREADFUL IS AROUND US OR WE ARE EXPERIENCING THAT THEN WE LOOK FOR SOURCES OF HOW TO RID US OF THAT PROBLEM THAT WE HAVE. AND SO, CONSEQUENTLY, WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO TODAY IS TO SHOW YOU WHAT GOD'S WORD SAYS ABOUT SIN. IT'S A PROBLEM THAT ALL MANKIND HAS HAD FROM THE VERY BEGINNING IN THE GARDEN OF THE EDEN, GENESIS ONE VERSE TWO. IT WAS THAT SIN THAT SEPARATED THEM, THAT IS ADAM AND EVE, FROM GOD AS YOU WELL KNOW AND AS YOU READ THE BIBLE AND THAT STORY, THAT TRUE STORY OF WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED TO THEM. BECAUSE OF THEIR SIN THEY WERE CAST OUT OF THE GARDEN AND CURSES WERE PLACED UPON BOTH THE MAN AND THE WOMAN. YOU SEE, SIN IS SOMETHING THAT WE DEAL WITH. ISAIAH SAID IN ISAIAH CHAPTER 59 VERSE TWO TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL AND IT APPLIES TO US TODAY, YOUR SINS AND YOUR INIQUITIES HAVE SEPARATED YOU BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR GOD. NOW IT'S NOT THAT GOD'S HAND IS SHORTENED THAT HE CANNOT SAVE OR HIS EAR HEAVY THAT HE WILL NOT HEAR. NO, THAT'S NOT THE POINT. HE WILL HEAR AND BY HIS HAND HE WILL SAVE YOU FROM WHAT? FROM YOUR SINS. WELL, THE PROPHET ISAIAH ALSO SAID IN ISAIAH 53 VERSE SIX, ISAIAH CHAPTER 53 IS A GREAT CHAPTER ON JESUS THE MESSIAH WHO IS TO COME. AND THERE GOD SAID THROUGH THE PROPHET ISAIAH, “ALL WE LIKE SHEEP HAVE GONE ASTRAY; WE HAVE TURNED, EVERYONE, TO HIS OWN WAY AND THE LORD,” THAT IS GOD, “HAS LAID UPON HIM…(SPEAKING OF JESUS)…THE INIQUITY THE SIN OF US ALL.” NOW THAT WAS A PROPHECY OF WHEN JESUS WOULD DIE UPON THE CROSS AND HE WOULD TAKE ON ALL THE SINS OF ALL MANKIND THROUGHOUT ALL THE AGES. AND THROUGH HIS BLOOD THAT WAS SHED ON THE CROSS, THOSE SINS WOULD BE REMITTED AS PEOPLE WERE FAITHFUL TO HIS WORD. AS PAUL SAID IN ROMANS CHAPTER 3 VERSE 23, HE SAID, “FOR ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALLEN SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD.” AND HOW TRUE THAT IS! JOHN EVEN MADE MENTION IN FIRST JOHN CHAPTER 1 VERSE 10, IF WE SAY WE HAVE NO SIN WE'RE A LIAR AND THE TRUTH IS NOT IN US. ROMANS 6:23, THERE PAUL AGAIN SAID CONCERNING SIN, “THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH BUT THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD.” <br> <br>

      NOW WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT SIN AND YOU MIGHT BE ASKING YOURSELF THE QUESTION, ‘WELL, WHAT IS SIN?’ NOW MOST OF YOU ALREADY KNOW WHAT SIN IS BUT LET ME GIVE YOU THE DESCRIPTION THAT IS GIVEN TO US IN THE BIBLE IN FIRST JOHN CHAPTER 3 VERSE FOUR, WHOSOEVER SINS TRANSGRESSES THE LAW. FOR SIN IS A TRANSGRESSION OF GOD'S LAW. NOW, WHO HAS THE RIGHT TO DEFINE SIN IF IT IS NOT GOD? IT IS GOD WHO SAYS THAT HE HAS SENT HIS SON INTO THE WORLD TO SAVE PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS. DOES HE HAVE NOT HAVE A RIGHT SINCE HE CREATED US? SINCE HE SUSTAINS US? AND GIVES US LIFE AND BREATH EVERY DAY AND GIVES US ALL THOSE THINGS THAT WE NEED. DOES HE NOT HAVE A RIGHT TO DEFINE FOR HIS CREATION WHAT IS A TRANSGRESSION OF HIS WILL? WELL, CERTAINLY HE DOES. MOST PEOPLE DON'T WANT TO ACCEPT WHAT SIN IS. I HAD SOMEONE IN AFRICA AND WE SPENT ABOUT 20 YEARS IN AFRICA ON THE MISSION FIELD, LIVED THERE IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, AND THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE THERE WHO DO NOT UNDERSTAND SIN. IN FACT, THEY DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB. THEY DO NOT UNDERSTAND ANYTHING ABOUT JESUS. WHEN THEY LOOK AT THE BIBLE THEY WONDER, ‘WHAT IS THAT?’ NOW, A LOT OF THEM NOW KNOW WHAT THE BIBLE IS AND THEY KNOW WHO GOD IS AND THEY KNOW WHO JESUS IS BUT WE HAD ALSO TELL THEM ABOUT SIN. BECAUSE HOW COULD THEY NEED A SAVIOUR IF THEY DIDN'T HAVE SOMETHING TO BE SAVED FROM? FOR HIS NAME WOULD BE CALLED JESUS FOR HE SHALL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS. THAT'S WHY JESUS CAME TO THIS EARTH. YET, OVER THERE, THEY'D SAY, ‘WELL, WHAT IS SIN?’ NOW I KNOW WHEN YOU'RE BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST AND YOUR SINS ARE REMITTED, AS THE BIBLE SAYS IN ACTS 2 VERSE 38, I KNOW THAT MANY NEWBORN CHRISTIANS DON'T UNDERSTAND COMPLETELY WHAT SIN IS. BUT THE BIBLE DOES LIST SOME SINS. AND I'D LIKE A CALL YOUR ATTENTION TO TWO SETS OF SCRIPTURES. ONE IS FOUND IN GALATIANS 5 AND WE'LL BEGAN READING AT VERSE 19 AND GO THROUGH VERSE 21, “NOW THE WORKS OF THE FLESH THAT ARE MANIFEST ARE THESE: ADULTERY, FORNICATION, UNCLEANNESS, LEWDNESS, IDOLATRY, SORCERY, HATRED, CONTENTIONS, JEALOUSIES, OUTBURSTS, UNREST, SELFISH AMBITIONS, DISSENSIONS…THAT HAS TO DO WITH DIVISIONS…HERESIES, MURDERS, DRUNKENNESS, REVELRIES…AS DRUNKEN PARTIES…AND THE LIKE, OF WHICH I TELL YOU BEFOREHAND JUST AS I TOLD YOU IN TIMES PAST, THAT THOSE WHO PRACTICE SUCH THINGS WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN!” THEY'LL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. IN OTHER WORDS, IF YOU PRACTICE THOSE THINGS AND YOU ARE INVOLVING YOURSELF IN SIN, IT'S GOING TO COST YOU. SO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE SAYING? NOW SOME OF THE BIGGER SINS THAT ARE MENTIONED THERE, YOU MIGHT SAY BIGGER BECAUSE OF THEIR EFFECT ON NOT JUST THE PERSON WHO COMMITS THE SIN BUT ON SO MANY OTHER PEOPLE, CHILDREN AND RELATIVES AND FRIENDS AND ASSOCIATES.  ADULTERY AND FORNICATION, AND YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I DO IF YOU'RE IN THE WORKPLACE TODAY THAT'S ABOUT ALL YOU HEAR. IS IT NOT? I CAN REMEMBER ONE YEAR THAT I WORKED FOR A FREIGHT OR A FREIGHT COMPANY IN MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE. I MEAN EVERYTHING THAT CAME OUT OF ALL OF MY COWORKERS, EXCEPT THOSE WHO CLAIMED TO BE TRUE CHRISTIANS, WAS FILLED WITH WHAT? THOUGHTS OF ADULTERY AND FORNICATION. FORNICATION IS THE ILLICIT SEX ACT OR ANY UNLAWFUL SEXUAL ACT ACCORDING TO WHO? TO WHOM? GOD HIMSELF. SO THEREFORE IT'S NOT RIGHT FOR YOU TO TAKE YOUR NEIGHBOR'S WIFE. IT STILL ISN'T RIGHT. IT WASN'T RIGHT UNDER THE LAW OF MOSES AND IT IS NOT RIGHT UNDER THE LAW OF CHRIST. IT'S CALLED ADULTERY AND THOSE WHO DO SUCH THINGS INCLUDING THE REST OF THE LIST OF SINS THERE ARE NOT GOING TO INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. I'M SORRY, I'LL HAVE TO SAY THAT YOU'RE NOT GOING TO HEAVEN. IN FIRST CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 6, A MORE OF WHAT I WOULD SAY REFINED LIST, IS FIRST CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 6 BEGINNING WITH VERSE NINE. NOW WHAT PAUL WAS DEALING WITH THIS CHURCH IS ACTUALLY INCEST IN THE CHURCH. NOW YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS. THAT'S WHERE A MAN HAS SEX WITH HIS OWN DAUGHTER, OR MAYBE HIS DAUGHTER-IN-LAW OR SOME WHO ARE SOME INDIVIDUAL WHOSE CONSIDERED TO BE A PART OF THE IMMEDIATE FAMILY. NOW, A MAN WAS ACTUALLY COMMITTING THOSE ACTS, BUT NOW PAUL EXPANDS UPON THIS AND GOD IS ACTUALLY SPEAKING HERE, BY THE WAY, HE SAID IN FIRST CORITHIANIANSS CHAPTER 6, “DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT THE UNRIGHTEOUS WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD?” IN OTHER WORDS, THE LIST OF PEOPLE THAT'S GOING TO BE LISTED RIGHT HERE ARE PEOPLE YOU'RE NOT GOING TO SEE IN HEAVEN! AND IT STARTS WITH, “NEITHER FORNICATORS…YOU KNOW THOSE PEOPLE…NOR IDOLATORS, NOR ADULTERERS, NOR HOMOSEXUALS, NOR SODOMITES, NOR THIEVES, NOR COVETTNESS, NOR DRUNKARDS, NOT REVILERS, NOR EXTORTIONERS WILL INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.” MY FRIEND, I WANT TO SAY THIS TO YOU AS KINDLY AS I CAN. THOSE ARE NOT MY WORDS. THOSE OF THE WORDS OF GOD OUR FATHER. HE HAS PRESENTED THOSE TO US IN THE BOOK OF BOOKS. THE BOOK WE REFER TO IS THE BIBLE. THE BIBLOS. THESE ARE HIS WORDS! HE HAS DEFINED SIN FOR US, AND THEREFORE WE STAND ON WHAT HE SAYS NO MATTER WHAT THE CONSEQUENCES MIGHT BE. SO GOD IS NOT GOING TO ALLOW ANY PERSON WITH ANY OF THESE SINS THAT ARE LISTED OR ANY SIN. WELL, JOHN PUT IT THIS WAY, THE WHOLE WORLD LIES UNDER THE SWAY OF THE WICKED ONE. <br> <br>

      SO YES, AS WE LOOK AT OUR THEME, THE LORD HAS DONE GREAT THINGS FOR US; AS IT RELATES TO SIN, “HE COMMENDED HIS LOVE TOWARD US, AND YET WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US.” THAT'S ROMANS 5:8. NOW YOU KNOW THE SCRIPTURE JOHN 3:16, ALMOST EVERYONE WHO CLAIMS TO BE A CHRISTIAN KNOWS THAT. “GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH FROM…”WHAT? FROM SIN! BUT HAVE WHAT? EVERLASTING LIFE! GOD HAS PROVIDED A PLAN FOR US TO BE SAVED. NOW, YOU MAY NOT WANT TO ACCEPT THAT PLAN BUT GOD HAS DEFINED SIN FOR US. IT'S THROUGHOUT THE OLD AND THE NEW TESTAMENT. WHAT GOD HATES THE SIN AS HE HAS DEFINED IT, AND WE MUST DO WHAT WE CAN TO USE THE PLAN OF GOD TO BE SAVED FROM OUR SINS. WELL, WHAT WAS HIS PLAN? THROUGH JESUS CHRIST YOU COULD HAVE YOUR SINS REMITTED. <br> <br>

      NOW I WANT TO REFER TO YOU TO WHAT JESUS SAID. NOW WILL YOU BELIEVE JESUS? YOU MAY NOT BELIEVE ME, BUT WILL YOU BELIEVE JESUS? HOW ARE YOU GOING TO DEAL WITH YOUR SIN? WELL, WHY DID JESUS COME TO THIS EARTH? HE WENT THROUGHOUT WHAT IS SAMARIA AND HE ALSO TAUGHT IT IN SAMARIA. BUT IN JUDEA AND GALILEE, WHAT WAS HIS SERMON? THE MAJOR FORCE OF HIS SERMON? REPENT YE FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND. REPENT FROM WHAT? REPENT OF YOUR SINS. TURN AWAY FROM YOUR SINS, AND WHAT DID HE ASK THE PEOPLE TO DO? HE SAID, YOU NEED TO CONFESS ME BEFORE MAN AND I WILL CONFESS YOU BEFORE MY FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN (MATTHEW 10:32 AND 33). NOW, YOU MIGHT SAY, ‘OKAY JESUS, YOU WANT ME TO CONFESS? I'M WILLING TO DO THAT. I'M WILLING TO REPENT, THAT IS I'M GOING TO TURN AWAY FROM MY SINS.’ NOW WHAT DID JESUS ALSO ASK YOU TO DO? WELL, IN HIS GREAT COMMISSION IN MARK 16:15 AND 16, HE TOLD HIS DISCIPLES WHO BECAME APOSTLES, HE TOLD HIM THIS: I WANT YOU TO GO UNTO ALL THE WORLD AND PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE. HE WHO BELIEVES AND IS BAPTIZED SHALL BE SAVED. HE WHO DOES NOT BELIEVE SHALL BE CONDEMNED. NOW, WHAT DID JESUS ASK YOU TO DO? I CAN ASK A FIRST GRADER TO COME UP AND READ THAT SENTENCE AND THEY WILL BE TRUE AND HONEST TO WHAT THE ENGLISH SAYS AND ALSO THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE. IF YOU BELIEVE AND YOU ARE BAPTIZED, YOU WILL BE SAVED. IT'S NOT BELIEVING YOU'RE SAVED AND THEN YOU ARE BAPTIZED. WELL, WHY ARE WE BAPTIZED? WELL, PAUL MAKES THAT VERY CLEAR. THE SAME ONE WHO TALKED ABOUT WE'VE ALL SINNED AND FALLEN SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD, ROMANS 3:23. AND WHAT DID HE SAY IN ROMANS CHAPTER 6? “WE ARE BURIED, THEREFORE BY BAPTISM INTO HIS DEATH AS CHRIST WAS RAISED UP FROM THE DEAD BY THE GLORY OF THE FATHER, WE ALSO SHOULD BE RAISED TO WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE.” <br> <br>

      NOW, WHAT HAS THAT GO TO DO WITH SIN? WELL, WE TURN BACK TO THE FIRST GOSPEL SERMON THAT WAS EVER PREACHED ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST IN ACTS CHAPTER 2. HE, THAT IS PETER AND THE APOSTLES, AND ESPECIALLY PETER IN THIS SENSE, WAS PREACHING TO THE PEOPLE FROM ALL CORNERS OF THE EARTH. JEWS WERE ASSEMBLED AND SOME OTHER PROSELYTES WERE ASSEMBLED TO HEAR THE FIRST GOSPEL SERMON. NOW WHAT WAS THE MESSAGE? YOU MEN OF ISRAEL, YOU'VE DONE THIS. YOU CRUCIFIED THIS SAME JESUS WHO IS LORD AND CHRIST, THE MESSIAH. THESE JEWS REALIZED, AT LEAST 3000 OF THEM DID, THAT THEY HAD CRUCIFIED THE MESSIAH. AND THEY CRIED OUT, THE BIBLE SAYS THEY WERE CUT IN THEIR HEART. THAT GREEK WORD MEANS THEY WERE SLAIN IN THEIR HEART. WHAT SHALL WE DO? ASKING THE APOSTLES WHAT SHOULD THEY DO. AND PETER SAID IN ACTS 2:38, “REPENT AND BE BAPTIZED EVERY ONE OF YOU FOR THE REMISSION OF YOUR SINS AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.” <br> <br>

      NOW, ARE YOU GOING TO QUESTION GOD? IF YOU WANT TO BE RELIEVED OF YOUR SINS DO WHAT JESUS SAID! THAT'S THE ONLY WAY. THAT'S THE WAY THAT GOD HAS GIVEN US SO MANY GREAT THINGS, AND THAT GREAT THING THAT HE'S GIVEN US IS FOR US TO BE ABLE TO OVERCOME OUR SIN TO COMPLETELY WIPE OUR SIN AWAY THROUGH THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST (REVELATION 1 VERSE FIVE). SO I COMMIT TO YOU TODAY THE WORD OF GOD WHICH IS ABLE TO SAVE YOURSELVES, TO BUILD YOU UP AND GIVE YOU AN INHERITANCE AMONG THEM WHO WERE SANCTIFIED. BUT YOU WILL ONLY BE SANCTIFIED AND SET APART MY FRIEND, MY NEIGHBOR, IF YOU DO WHAT GOD IS ASKING YOU TO DO THROUGH HIS SON JESUS CHRIST AND BE BAPTIZED FOR THE REMISSION OF YOUR SINS. <br> <br>

CLOSING COMMENTS<br> <br>

      THANKS FOR CHOOSING TO BE WITH US TODAY FOR THE LIVING WORD PROGRAM. I HOPE AND TRUST, THAT TOGETHER WE HAVE ALL BENEFITED FROM THIS SERVICE TO OUR LORD. AND LET ME INVITE YOU TO JOIN US EVERY LORD’S DAY MORNING AT 7:30 AS WE GIVE THIS TIME TO OUR CREATOR.   <br> <br>

	NOW LET ME ASK IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT TODAY’S LESSON? MAYBE, YOU WOULD LIKE A FREE TRANSCRIPT OR A FREE CASSETTE TAPE OF THIS PROGRAM? POSSIBLY, WE COULD ASSIST YOU WITH FREE BIBLE MATERIALS OR FREE BIBLE CORRESPONDENCE COURSES? NO MATTER WHAT YOUR NEED IS, PLEASE CONTACT US AT THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS:  <br> <br>



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      HOW THANKFUL TO GOD WE SHOULD BE THAT HE GAVE US THE PERFECT REMEDY FOR SIN. THE QUESTION IS, WILL BE TURN TO GOD FOR HIS HELP TO GET SIN OUT OF OUR LIVES AND TO KEEP IT OUT FOR GOOD. WITH GOD’S HELP, ALL THINGS ARE TRULY POSSIBLE. OH, WHAT WONDROUS LOVE GOD SHOWS US AS THE FAITHFUL!<br> <br>