THE LIVING WORD TRANSCRIPT

PROGRAM AIR DATE: 11-19-17

LESSON TITLE: “THE GREATEST PLAN”

WELCOME

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.

THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING TO BE WITH US TODAY FOR THE LIVING WORD PROGRAM. WE ARE EXCITED TO HAVE YOU WITH US FOR THIS TIME OF OFFERING AND ENCOURAGEMENT, AS WE PARTICIPATE IN THE THINGS OF GOD. WE ARE GLAD THAT YOU HAVE JOINED US FOR THIS WORSHIP TO OUR GOD. OUR COMMITMENT THIS MORNING IS TO GIVE GLORY TO GOD THROUGH THE SINGING OR SONGS OF PRAISE AND THROUGH THE STUDY OF HIS WORD. I HOPE EACH OF US WILL DO OUR PART TO MAKE THIS SERVICE ACCEPTABLE IN HIS SIGHT. NOW WILL YOU BOW WITH ME IN PRAYER.

PRAYER: OUR GOD AND FATHER IN HEAVEN, WE THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS DAY AND EACH AND EVERY DAY OF LIFE AND EACH AND EVERY BLESSING OF LIFE, FOR WE KNOW EVERYTHING COMES FROM YOU. ESPECIALLY FATHER, WE ARE THANKFUL FOR THE GIFT OF JESUS'S SACRIFICE AS WELL AS HIS RESURRECTION FOR WE KNOW FATHER THESE THINGS AND THESE THINGS ALONE ALLOW US TO BE FOUND JUSTIFIED IN YOUR SIGHT AND ULTIMATELY FATHER RECIPIENTS OF THE GREAT REWARD OF ETERNAL LIFE WITH YOU IN HEAVEN. BUT FATHER, HELP US TO RESPOND TO THAT GREAT LOVE THAT WE ARE SHOWN THAT WE MIGHT BE FAITHFUL IN ALL THINGS AND DO WHAT IS REQUIRED ACCORDING TO YOUR PERFECT WILL KNOWING THE TRUE FAITH IS DEMONSTRATED IN ACTION. AND FATHER, HELP US THIS DAY AND EVERY DAY TO NEVER LOSE SIGHT OF JUST WHY WE ARE GIVEN THESE GREAT PRECIOUS AND WONDROUS PROMISES THROUGH YOUR SON JESUS. AND IT'S IN HIS NAME WE PRAY, AMEN.

HOW MANY WATCHING THIS MORNING WANT TO GO TO HEAVEN? THAT’S A CRAZY QUESTION ISN’T IT, BECAUSE WE ALL WANT TO GO TO HEAVEN. I OFTEN LIKE TO THINK ABOUT THE MANY WONDERFUL THINGS WHICH THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT HEAVEN. IN FACT, IF IT WAS ONLY HALF OF WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS IT WOULD STILL BE BEYOND MY WILDEST DREAMS. NOW THE QUESTION IS, HOW GOOD OF A JOB ARE WE DOING TELLING THE LOST OF THIS WORLD ABOUT HEAVEN. THIS MORNING WE WANT TO BEGIN OUR PRAISE THROUGH SONG, WITH A BEAUTIFUL HYMN THAT REMINDS US OF OUR PRIVILEGE TO SHARE THE SAVING MESSAGE OF JESUS CHRIST. SO, WON’T YOU JOIN IN WITH THE CONGREGATION AT THIS TIME, AS WE TOGETHER SING, “SEND THE LIGHT.”

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

I READ A GREAT STORY ONCE ABOUT A VISITING MINISTER WHO GOT UP IN THE PULPIT AND USED THE FOLLOWING ILLUSTRATION. AS HE STOOD BEFORE THE AUDIENCE HE BEGAN TO SAY, “A FATHER, HIS SON, AND HIS SON’S FRIEND WERE SAILING OFF THE PACIFIC COAST, WHEN A FAST APPROACHING STORM TOOK THEM BY SURPRISE. THE WAVES WERE SO HIGH THAT TRAGEDY WAS INEVITABLE, AND FINALLY THE BOAT CAPSIZED AND THE THREE WERE SWEPT INTO THE OCEAN.”

BY NOW, EVERYONE WAS VERY INTERESTED IN THE STORY AND THEY WERE ALL PAYING VERY CLOSE ATTENTION. HE THEN CONTINUED THE STORY - “GRABBING ON TO A RESCUE LINE, THE FATHER REGAINED HIS COMPOSURE AND WAS THEN FACED WITH THE MOST DIFFICULT DECISION OF HIS LIFE. THAT IS, TO WHICH BOY SHOULD HE THROW THE OTHER END OF THE LIFELINE? WITH ONLY A FEW SECONDS TO DECIDE, HE CONSIDERED - FIRST HIS SON, A GOOD BOY, A CHRISTIAN, SAFE IN THE ARMS OF JESUS. ON THE OTHER HAND, HIS SON’S FRIEND, A SINNER, WITHOUT CHRIST, ALONE IN THE WORLD, AND WITHOUT HOPE.

BY NOW, EVERYONE WAS ON THE EDGE OF THEIR SEAT THINKING THE ANSWER WAS OBVIOUS, BUT THE MINISTER CONTINUED, “AND THEN THE FATHER YELLED OUT ‘I LOVE YOU SON,’ AS HE THREW THE OTHER END OF THE LIFELINE TO THE SON’S FRIEND. BY THE TIME THE FATHER GOT THE BOY TO SAFETY HIS SON WAS NO WHERE TO BE SEEN. HE HAD SUCCUMBED TO THE RAGING SEA - HIS BODY NEVER RECOVERED! ‘BUT WHY WOULD HE DO THIS YOU MIGHT ASK’ - WELL THE FATHER REALIZED THAT HIS SON WOULD STEP INTO ETERNITY WITH JESUS, BUT THE FRIEND STILL NEEDED MORE TIME TO RESPOND TO THE SAVING GRACE OF OUR LORD.

AFTER THE LESSON TWO YOUNG TEENAGERS WERE ANXIOUS TO SPEAK WITH THE VISITING PREACHER AND TO TELL HIM HOW MUCH THEY HAD LIKED HIS STORY. HOWEVER, IN THEIR DISCUSSION, THEY ALSO TOLD HIM THAT REALLY IT WASN’T VERY BELIEVABLE BECAUSE ANYONE WOULD HAVE SAVED THEIR OWN CHILD FIRST. THE MINISTER SMILED, HOPING FOR THIS RESPONSE AND TOLD THEM, “WELL, IT MAY NOT BE VERY REALISTIC, BUT IT SURE GIVES ME A GLIMPSE OF WHAT IT MUST HAVE BEEN LIKE WHEN GOD GAVE HIS ONLY SON FOR SOMEONE LIKE ME.” THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY AN OBVIOUS SILENCE AS THE BOYS WALKED AWAY WITH A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON THE LOVE GOD HAS FOR US.

MAYBE YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN OR DIDN’T REALIZE WHAT A GREAT SACRIFICE GOD MADE FOR YOU THROUGH THE GIFT OF HIS OWN SON. HOWEVER, TODAY I HOPE YOU HAVE BEEN REMINDED THAT GOD DOES LOVE YOU ENOUGH TO THROW YOU THE LIFE LINE, INSTEAD OF TO HIS SON, OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. HAVE YOU RESPONDED BY GRABBING HOLD AND OBEYING HIS WILL?

TODAY, OUR SPECIFIC TOPIC IS “THE GREATEST PLAN.” THIS IS OUR NEXT LESSON IN OUR SERIES CALLED “THE LORD HAS DONE GREAT THINGS FOR US.” SO, PLEASE CONTINUE WITH US THIS MORNING, AND AFTER OUR NEXT SONG TOGETHER I WILL RETURN WITH THIS STUDY FROM GOD’S WORD. THE NAME OF OUR NEXT HYMN IS, “SING TO ME OF HEAVEN!”

LESSON

RAY SULLINS

THANK YOU AGAIN FOR CONTINUING WITH US NOW AS WE GO TO GOD'S WORD AND LOOK AT ANOTHER LESSON IN OUR SERIES ABOUT THE GREATER WONDROUS THINGS THAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US IN EVERY AGE AND EVERY PERIOD. AND OUR SPECIFIC THOUGHT THIS DAY AS WE LOOK TOGETHER TO GOD'S WORD IS THE IDEA OF REALLY CONSIDERING TOGETHER THE GREATEST PLAN THAT WAS EVER GIVEN. AND IF WE REALLY THINK ABOUT GOD, GOD IS AN ALL-KNOWING GOD AND CERTAINLY AN ALL-POWERFUL GOD, AND THEREFORE, WE HAVE TO ASK, ‘WELL, WHY DOES GOD DO WHAT HE DOES AND WHY HAS HE DONE WHAT HE HAS DONE ACCORDING TO WHAT WE KNOW EVEN HISTORICALLY?’

WELL, IF WE GO TO THE BIBLE WHAT WE BEGIN TO LEARN IMMEDIATELY IN THE BIBLE IS THERE IN GENESIS 1:1 THAT GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH. WE LATER LEARN THROUGHOUT THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS THAT GOD PLANNED ALL THINGS THAT REALLY TAKE PLACE BEFORE THE WORLD WAS CREATED, BEFORE HE EVER SAID LET THERE BE LIGHT. IN FACT, IN EPHESIANS CHAPTER 3 VERSE 11 IT SPEAKS ABOUT THOSE THINGS THAT WERE DONE ACCORDING TO THE ETERNAL PURPOSE WHICH GOD PURPOSED EVEN BEFORE CREATION, EVEN BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THE WORK, WHEN HE AND THE SON AND THE SPIRIT DETERMINED THAT CERTAIN THINGS WOULD BE NECESSARY. CERTAIN THINGS LIKE A PLAN OF REDEMPTION, CERTAIN THINGS LIKE THE COMING OF JESUS TO THE EARTH, CERTAIN THINGS LIKE THE DEATH, BURIEL, AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST AS A MAN ON THE EARTH. YOU SEE, THERE WAS A PLAN, A PLAN THAT WAS MADE BECAUSE WHAT GOD KNEW IS THAT WHEN HE CREATED MAN AND WHEN HE GAVE MAN A CHOICE, WHETHER THEY COULD DO RIGHT OR WHETHER THEY COULD DO WRONG, THAT MANY WOULD MAKE THE WRONG CHOICE. YES, SOME WOULD MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE. BUT MANY WOULD MAKE THE WRONG CHOICE. AND PROBABLY THAT IS NOWHERE BETTER SEEN THAN IN THE VERY FIRST STORY OF THE BIBLE WHEN WE SEE THAT GOD CREATED ADAM AND EVE. THEY WERE PLACED IN A PERFECT PARADISE. THEY HAD ALL THINGS THAT THEY NEEDED, THEY WERE GIVEN DOMINION OVER ALL OF GOD'S CREATION, AND EVEN ADAM HAD NAMED THE CREATION THAT GOD HAD BROUGHT FORTH. BUT WHAT DID MAN DO? WELL, EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE GIVEN A DIRECTIVE FROM GOD OF THOSE THINGS THEY SHOULD DO AND WHAT THEY SHOULD EAT AND WHAT THEY WERE NOT ALLOWED TO EAT, THEY STILL BROKE THE LAW OF GOD. AND THEREFORE, THE MAN, THE WOMAN, AS WELL AS THE SERPENT WERE CURSED BY GOD. BUT YOU'LL NOTICE HERE AGAIN THAT GOD KNOWING THESE THINGS, KNOWING THAT HIS CREATION WOULD HAVE THE ABILITY TO DECIDE OR DISCERN OR MAKE JUDGMENTS GIVING THAT CREATION THE FREEDOM TO SAY, I WILL OR I WILL NOT WAS CERTAINLY INEVITABLE CAUSING THE FACT THAT ULTIMATELY THAT CREATION WOULD CHOOSE WRONG. NOW YOU SAY, BUT WHY WOULD GOD DO THAT. WELL, WHAT GOOD IS A ROBOT? WHAT GOOD IF GOD MADE SIX BILLION OR SEVEN BILLION PLUS PEOPLE TODAY ON A PLANET BUT THEY WERE ALL LIKE A BUNCH OF ROBOTS AND THEY ONLY DID WHAT GOD WANTED THEM TO DO BECAUSE GOD MADE THEM? THEY REALLY WEREN'T DOING IT BY CHOICE. GOD FORCED THEM. GOD MAYBE CREATED THEM OR MADE THEM IN SUCH A WAY THAT THEY COULD NOT DETERMINE OR COULD NOT DECIDE ANYTHING FOR THEMSELVES. WELL, YOU SEE WHAT GOD WANTED BY MAKING MAN IN HIS OWN IMAGE AND LIKENESS WAS GIVING MAN THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE A DISCERNING BEING, A BEING WHO COULD SAY YES BUT ALSO A BEING THEREFORE WHO COULD SAY NO, THE SAME WAY THAT WE AS PARENTS. WE CAN SEE THAT WITH OUR CHILDREN. WHEN A CHILD GROWS UP THEY VERY QUICKLY LEARN, NO AND THEY OFTEN DON'T WANT TO DO WHAT THEY'RE TOLD. BUT THEY ALSO LEARN WHAT YES MEANS BECAUSE THEY UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF DISCIPLINE. AND SO THEN WE SEE HOW EVEN GOD BEGAN TO INTERACT NOT JUST DISCIPLINE BUT ULTIMATELY A TYPE OF PLAN WHERE A MAN EVEN WHEN HE HAD FAILED OR DONE WRONG OR SAID NO OR HAD CHOSEN WRONG THAT HE COULD DO WHAT? THAT HE COULD OVERCOME THAT SIN. AND SO, YOU SEE IT IS THAT IMPLEMENTATION OF SIN, THAT COMING INTO THE WORLD OF SIN, THAT REALLY CREATED THIS GREAT NEED OF AN ULTIMATE PLAN TO REDEEM MAN FROM SIN.

AND SO WE CAN EVEN BACKUP FOR INSTANCE THE STORY OF NOAH. NOAH IN HIS DAY LIVE IN A WICKED GENERATION. SO PERVERSE THAT IT SAYS EVERY INTENT OF THE HEART OF MEN WAS WICKED CONTINUOUSLY. BUT NOAH THERE IN GENESIS 6 FOUND GRACE IN THE EYES THE LORD. HE WAS A MAN WHO WALKED UPRIGHT, HE WAS PERFECT OR COMPLETE IN HIS GENERATION WHO WAS TRYING TO DO WHAT HE NEEDED TO DO. PETER LATER SAYS HE WAS A PREACHER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. HE WAS TRYING TO DO THE WILL OF GOD ALONE. HE, HIS SONS, AND THEIR WIVES. YOU SEE AGAIN A MAN WHO HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO OBEY A PLAN. WHAT PLAN? A PLAN IN THAT DAY SEEMED RIDICULOUS! BUILD A BOAT, BUILD A SHIP, AND YOU AND THE ANIMALS OF THIS EARTH WILL BE SAVED OR AT LEAST A PORTION OF THOSE ANIMALS. WELL, IT SEEMS RIDICULOUS IN A DAY WHEN PERHAPS THEY HAD NEVER EVEN KNOWN RAIN. AND HE BUILDS A SHIP WHERE? ON THE LAND, DRY LAND. AND YET WHAT DID NOAH KNOW? NOAH KNEW THAT GOD HAD A PLAN, A PLAN TO PUNISH THE WICKED AND THEN ULTIMATELY TO REWARD OR TO SAVE THOSE WHO WERE RIGHTEOUS. NOW, THAT IS THE SAME GOD THAT WE SERVE TODAY. A GOD WHO DETERMINES THAT WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE SAVED EVEN THOUGH WE WERE NOT OF THAT CHOSEN GENERATION. WE WERE NOT OF THE CALLED INITIALLY OF ISRAEL. BUT REALLY OUR GENEALOGIES GO BEYOND OR BEFORE THE ISRAELITE OR THE JEWISH NATION. IN ABRAHAM, AND IT WAS EVEN IN AND THROUGH ABRAHAM (GENESIS 12) WHAT DO WE REMEMBER? THAT THROUGH HIS SEED, ALL NATIONS OF THE EARTH WOULD BE BLESSED.

SO IT'S NO WONDER WHEN WE ARRIVE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT AND WE EVEN COME THERE TO THE VERY FIRST BOOK IN THE NEW TESTAMENT,THAT IS MATTHEW THERE IN CHAPTER 1 VERSE ONE, THAT THE BOOK OF GENEALOGIES OF JESUS CHRIST BEGINS WITH IT SAYS, “JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF DAVID, THE SON OF ABRAHAM.” YOU SEE, WHAT MADE US UNIQUE IN ABRAHAM WAS THAT WE, AS THE SEED OF ABRAHAM THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, ALSO HAVE A RIGHT TO SALVATION. NOT JUST THE JEWS WHO LATER WERE ESTABLISHED IN WHAT WE KNOW TO BE THE GRANDSON OF ABRAHAM, JACOB THE ISRAELITE NATION. BUT WE COME BEFORE OUR SALVATION THE PLAN WHERE A PART OF WAS EVEN BEFORE WHAT THE JEWS WERE OFFERED THAT IN THE SEED OF JESUS SOMEDAY WE WOULD ALL BE BLESSED!

SO WITH THAT IN MIND THEN WE HAVE TO ASK THE QUESTION WHAT IS THEN THE OPPORTUNITY OF SALVATION? WELL, THAT WE CAN OVERCOME AS OF ALL AGES SIN AND BY OVERCOMING SIN WE MIGHT HAVE, NOT ONLY RIGHT TO THE BLESSINGS OF GOD IN THIS LIFE BUT ULTIMATELY SALVATION AND ETERNAL LIFE WHEN JESUS COMES BACK TO JUDGE THE WORLD. AND SO WE MIGHT THEN ASK WHAT MUST WE DO TO BE SAVED? YOU KNOW, THAT'S A QUESTION THAT WAS ASKED THROUGHOUT THE BIBLE BUT SPECIFICALLY THROUGHOUT THE NEW TESTAMENT AND EVEN MORE SPECIFICALLY IN THE BOOK OF ACTS. ACTS IS THE BOOK OF HISTORY OF THE EARLY CHURCH AS IT HAD BEEN ESTABLISHED. AND GUESS WHAT QUESTION KEEPS COMING UP OVER AND OVER AGAIN? IF YOU LOOK WITH ME THERE FOR INSTANCE IN ACTS CHAPTER 2, WE SEE THE QUESTION THAT WAS ASKED OF PETER IN VERSE 37 AFTER THEY REALIZE THEIR SIN, THE SIN THEY COMMITTED OF KILLING THE VERY SON OF GOD THEY ASKED THE QUESTION: WHAT MUST OR WHAT SHALL WE DO? AS WE CONTINUE TO MOVE ON THROUGHOUT THE TEXT WE FIND ANOTHER EXAMPLE THERE IN ACTS CHAPTER 8 OF WHAT WE OFTEN REFER TO AS THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH. AND AFTER HE HAS BEEN TAUGHT JESUS AND THE KINGDOM BY EVEN PHILIP THERE IN VERSE 35 WE SEE THAT HE ALSO WAS GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY OF SALVATION. AND WHAT IS IT THAT HE IS TOLD TO DO WHEN HE SAYS HE HEARS WATER. “WHAT HINDERS ME TO BE BAPTIZED?” BUT WE KNOW THE EUNUCH (IN VERSE 37) IS TOLD BY PHILIP, “IF YOU BELIEVE YOU MAY.” AND HE MAKES THE GREAT CONFESSION OF JESUS CHRIST IS THE SON OF GOD, THEY BOTH GO DOWN TO THE WATER AND PHILIP BAPTIZES HIM. WE MOVE OVER EVEN INTO THE BOOK OF ACTS INTO CHAPTER 16 AND ALTHOUGH THERE ARE MANY MORE CONVERSIONS THAT WE'RE SKIPPING OVER YOU CAN SEE THERE CHAPTER 16 THE STORY OF THE PHILIPPIAN JAILER AND IT'S A BEAUTIFUL STORY BECAUSE AFTER THESE EVENTS TAKE PLACE IN THE LIFE OF THE PHILIPPIAN JAILER THERE IS A QUESTION THAT HE ASKS. THE QUESTION IS THERE IN VERSE 30 FOUND OF CHAPTER 16 WHEN HE SAYS, “‘SIRS, WHAT MUST I DO?’” YOU SEE, HE JUST UNDERSTANDS THAT HE HAD POTENTIALLY FOUND THE FACT HE'S GOING TO LOSE HIS LIFE, TO DIE BECAUSE ALL THESE PRISONERS HAVE THE RIGHT TO RUN FREE ALTHOUGH THEY HAVE NOT RUN FREE. AND NOW HE CRIES OUT KNOWING THAT THIS IS AN ACT OF GOD. “‘SIRS, WHAT MUST I DO?’” WHAT MUST I DO IN ORDER THAT I WHAT? BE SAVED. AND HE IS ALSO TOLD TO BE BAPTIZED.

SO SALVATION, HOW CAN I BE SAVED? LET ME TELL YOU FIRST OF ALL THEN HOW YOU CANNOT BE SAVED? YOU CANNOT BE SAVED ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF MAN, BY THE POWER OF MAN, THE AUTHORITY OF MAN, OR EVEN THE ABILITY OF MAN. MAN HAS NOT DIED FOR YOU! MAN IS NOT GOD! MAN DOES NOT DETERMINE SALVATION NOR DOES MAN HAVE THE POWER TO OFFER IN ANY SORT OF ABILITY THAT ONE WOULD BE SAVED OUTSIDE OF GOD. THEREFORE, THE ONLY WAY THAT I CAN BE SAVED IS GOD'S WAY. WHY WOULD YOU EVER GO TO A MAN? WHY WOULD YOU EVER COME TO ME FOR WHAT I THINK OR FEEL? WHY WOULD YOU EVER GO TO ANOTHER MAN, A RELIGION FOR WHAT THEY THINK OF WHEN YOU CAN GO TO THE WORD OF GOD? OR BE SHOWN BY SOMEONE IN THE WORD OF GOD WHAT WAS REQUIRED? THE QUESTION: WHAT MUST I DO? AND THEN YOU CAN YOURSELF ANSWER THE QUESTION BY THE EXAMPLE OF WHAT THEY WERE TOLD WHEN THEY WERE (ACTS 2:47 SAYS) ADDED TO THE CHURCH BY THE LORD HIMSELF. WHO ELSE HAS THE POWER TO ADD TO THE CHURCH THAN THE LORD? WHO ELSE HAS THE POWER TO SAVE THAN THE LORD? WHO ELSE DIED FOR YOUR SINS THAN THE LORD? WHO ELSE SHED HIS BLOOD? NO ONE BUT JESUS CHRIST. LISTEN TO JESUS, HE CAN SAVE YOU. GOD ALONE SAVES NOT MAN. THEREFORE, JESUS BY THE HOLY SPIRIT REVEALS WHEN THEY CRIED OUT WHAT MUST WE DO? WHEN THE JAILER SAID, “‘SIRS, WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?’” WHEN THEY CRY OUT THAT QUESTION AND THEN THE CONSISTENT ANSWER IS GIVEN, REPENT OF YOUR SINS. WELL, WE KNOW SIN HAS NO PLACE WITH GOD. GOD IS LIGHT. THERE IS NO DARKNESS IN GOD. WE MUST LEAVE OR CHOOSE TO LEAVE SIN AND STRIVE TO BE SINLESS. THAT IS A NO-BRAINER! BUT ALSO CONFESSION, WE LOOKED AT THERE IN ACTS 8. THE ETHIOPIAN EUNICH MADE THE GREAT CONFESSION, THE SAME CONFESSION THAT PETER ONCE MADE THERE IN MATTHEW 16. AND YOU REMEMBER WHAT HE TOLD JESUS? “WHO DO MEN SAY THAT I AM?” IS THE QUESTION JESUS ASKED. AND PETER SAID, “THOU ART THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD.” AND WHAT DID JESUS TELL HIM? “BLESSED ARE YOU SIMON BARJONAH.” BLESSED ARE YOU PETER BECAUSE YOU DID NOT KNOW THAT EXCEPT GOD HAD TOLD. ARE WE WILLING TO CONFESS JESUS? OR ARE WE GOING TO CONFESS RAY? OR ARE WE GOING TO CONFESS A MAN? OR ARE WE WILLING TO CONFESS A RELIGION OR DENOMINATION? JESUS IS THE ONLY ONE AGAIN BECAUSE I CAN'T SAVE YOU. I MIGHT BE ABLE TO TELL YOU AND SHOW YOU IN THE BIBLE WHAT GOD SAYS THAT YOU NEED TO BE SAVED. YOU HAVE TO OBEY GOD. YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE. YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT HIS WILL AND BE FAITHFUL. I CAN'T SAVE YOU. I CAN'T BE BAPTIZED FOR YOU. I CAN'T CONFESS FOR YOU. YOU MUST DO THAT. IT'S YOUR DECISION. IT'S YOUR RIGHT AS TO WHETHER YOU'LL SERVE GOD OR NOT. BUT THEN AFTER, EVEN THERE ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST WHEN WE CONSIDER AGAIN THE PHILIPPIAN JAILER OR THE EUNICH, WHEN WE CONSIDER THAT THEY HAD ACKNOWLEDGED THEIR SIN AND THEY CRIED OUT, ‘WHAT MUST WE DO?’ AND AFTER THEY HAD EVEN CONFESSED THE NAME OF JESUS, ‘YOU ARE THE CHRIST THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD,’ WHAT WAS THE OTHER PART OF THE EQUATION? WELL, IN EVERY CASE (ACTS 2:38) THEY WERE TOLD TO BE BAPTIZED. THE JAILER HEARS WATER OR RATHER THE JAILER WAS TOLD TO WHAT? BE BAPTIZED THERE IN ACTS 16. BUT THEN THE EUNICH THERE IN ACTS EIGHT SAID HIMSELF AFTER BEING TOLD ABOUT JESUS IN THE KINGDOM HE SEES WATER, HE'S NOT ASKED IF HE WANTS TO BE BAPTIZED. HE SEES WATER AND HE SAYS, “WHAT HINDERS ME FROM BEING BAPTIZED?” YOU SEE AGAIN BAPTISM, THAT OPPORTUNITY (ROMANS CHAPTER 6) TO DIE AS CHRIST DIED, TO BE BURIED AS CHRIST WAS BURIED IN THE WATERY GRAVE, TO BE RESURRECTED AS CHRIST WAS RESURRECTED. AND THEN BY THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS AUTHORITY OR POWER TO BE ADDED TO THE CHURCH BY THE LORD HIMSELF BECAUSE YOU HAVE OBEYED THE STEPS OF SALVATION OR THOSE THINGS THAT GOD REQUIRES UNTO SALVATION. CERTAINLY THAT IS THE CHALLENGE, THE OPPORTUNITY, THE PRIVILEGE THAT WE ALL HAVE THAT WE KNOW THAT GOD IS GIVEN THE GREATEST PLAN OF ALL TIME TO ALL NATIONS, TO ALL MEN, TO EVERY CREATURE, TO EVERY RACE, THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM (JOHN 3:16) WHOEVER BELIEVES IT, WHOEVER RECEIVES THAT MESSAGE AND ACTS UPON IT, SHALL NOT PERISH BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE. EVEN TODAY YOU CAN BE SAVED BY OBEYING GOD. NOT BY OBEYING MAN. MAN CANNOT SAVE YOU, BUT BY OBEYING GOD. EVEN THIS VERY HOUR YOU CAN ACT UPON YOUR BELIEF AND YOU CAN OBEY GOD, WHO THEN AFTER YOUR OBEDIENCE, CAN ADD YOU TO THE CHURCH SO THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE WHAT? SALVATION! SALVATION INCLUDES NOT ONLY BLESSINGS IN THIS LIFE MY FRIEND BUT SALVATION INCLUDES A MANSION IN HEAVEN. WON'T YOU OBEY YOUR GOD TODAY? WON'T YOU PUT HIM FIRST? WON'T YOU SUBMIT HUMBLY TO HIS WILL? AND WON'T YOU DO THESE THINGS KNOWING THAT WHEN YOU PUT GOD FIRST YOU CAN NEVER GO WRONG, FOR HE HAS ALL POWER.

CLOSING COMMENTS

AGAIN, LET ME THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING TO BE WITH US THIS MORNING. I HOPE WE ALL HAVE BEEN ENCOURAGED THROUGH OUR TIME SPENT TOGETHER. PLEASE REMEMBER, YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN US EVERY SUNDAY MORNING AT 7:30, AS WE COMMIT OURSELVES TO THIS SERVICE OF GOD.

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:

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THE QUESTION TODAY IS, “HAVE YOU OBEYED THE GOSPEL PLAN OF SALVATION GIVEN BY GOD, THAT YOU MAY HAVE HIS BLESSING IN THIS LIFE AND THE PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE TO COME?” IF NOT, WHY NOT? WONT YOU CHOOSE TODAY TO OBEY GOD ALONE AND DO ALL THAT HE REQUIRES IN ORDER TO HAVE ETERNAL LIFE?