>>  Give me the Bible-- 
>> 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 men's questions
and need.
This morning, your area
Churches of Christ welcome you
to a program committed
to that perfect law of liberty--
>>  Thy light shall guide me
in the narrow way 
>> ...as we present
"The Living Word."
>>  Precept and promise,
love and law combining 
 Till night shall vanish
in eternal day 
>> Now, here's your host,
Ray Sullins.
>>  Give me-- 
>> Jesus once commanded,
"If anyone desires to come
after me,
let him deny himself and take
up his cross and follow me."
Have you denied yourself
for Jesus today?
Good morning,
and thanks for joining us
for "The Living Word" program --
a program that is committed
to proclaiming the simple truth
of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ,
which is found and confirmed
for us in God's Word, the Bible.
I hope you all have
your Bibles handy.
And I hope you're ready
to worship God together
as we sing praises
to His name
and as we study
from His perfect Word.
As we begin our offering
to God this day,
will you bow with me
before His throne in prayer?
Our God and Father in Heaven,
we are thankful for this,
another day of life,
and the great privilege
that we have to know You
and to be Your faithful
children
as we learn and study
from Your Word,
and do those things
which prove our love
by obeying and being faithful.
Father, we also are thankful
for Jesus
and the sacrifice that
He made on the cross,
the shedding of His blood,
as well as His burial
and resurrection,
which allows us
to be found justified
and presentable by You this day,
and every day when we do
Your will.
But, ultimately, Father,
these things will give us
the ability
to be found justified even
in the Judgment and,
Father, give us that reward,
that eternal home in Heaven
with you forever
when this life is over.
And, Father, help us
to live every day with that goal
and with those things in sight.
In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
It is now time to join
in our songs of praise
as we together join in
the first song of the morning.
Our first song today focuses
on the idea
of the blessed Redeemer
that we have in Jesus Christ.
So, won't you join in with
the congregation at this time,
as we sing together the song
that bears the same title,
"Blessed Redeemer"?
Choir:  Up Calvary's mountain,
one dreadful morn 
 Walked Christ my Savior,
weary and worn 
 Facing for sinners,
death on the cross 
 That He might save them
from endless loss 
 Blessed Redeemer,
precious Redeemer 
 Seems now I see Him
on Calvary's tree 
 Wounded and bleeding,
for sinners pleading 
 Blind and unheeding,
dying for me 
 "Father, forgive them!"
thus did He pray 
 E'en while His lifeblood
flowed fast away 
 Praying for sinners while
in such woe 
 No one but Jesus
ever loved so 
 Blessed Redeemer,
precious Redeemer 
 Seems now I see Him
on Calvary's tree 
 Wounded and bleeding,
for sinners pleading 
 Blind and unheeding,
dying for me 
 O, how I love Him,
Savior and friend 
 How can my praises ever
find end 
 Through years unnumbered
on Heaven's shore 
 My tongue shall praise
Him forevermore 
 Blessed Redeemer,
precious Redeemer 
 Seems now I see Him
on Calvary's tree 
 Wounded and bleeding,
for sinners pleading 
 Blind and unheeding,
dying for me 
>> One of the greatest decisions
that we ever make is
to serve God and
to become obedient to His will.
However, I think sometimes
people fail
to realize the level of
commitment we're really making
when we do that which
God has commanded us to do,
or even to become the children
of God that He requires.
The Bible says that we
must submit.
That we must submit
as His servants and even slaves.
We must understand
that we must be those who
clearly comprehend
that we have been bought
and paid for with a very high
and hefty price.
You and I know the price
that was paid, the value of it,
for it was the very body and
blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.
We also must accept the fact
that as Christians,
we have a new master,
and we serve under that master.
This includes a new head
to guide us
and a new Savior to protect us,
all the while being placed in
a body that certainly is based
on Christ, of which
Christ Himself as Lord is over.
And we, therefore,
are to be obedient
as those who are in the body
of Christ,
just as we are His own children,
and therefore striving
to be faithful children.
In connection to these thoughts,
consider one of the hardest
things that we have to do
in our new life as followers
of God;
that is to serve only
the one master.
This is the very problem
that Jesus was
addressing in Matthew 6:24.
There He said,
"No one can serve two masters,
for he will either hate
the one and love the other,
or else he will be loyal to
the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God
and mammon."
Here we read that serving
God really requires
that we desire to follow Him,
and Him alone.
We cannot be on the fence,
trying to serve both God
and the world,
or the things that are
righteous,
and also the things that are
of money or value of the earth.
We also have clarified
in the same text
that there are different kinds
of things that we can
certainly allow to rule
over us in this life.
And it's not just talking
about a certain person,
or a certain boss,
or a certain ruler.
Jesus even used the example that
we cannot serve God and mammon,
or wealth or riches.
You see, it is not possible
for someone
to serve God completely
and still try to hold on
to all the physical things
and riches of this world,
and to often place them before
God as priorities in their life.
So, when will we choose God?
Will we be those who choose Him,
and Him alone,
and who put Him first
and make him a priority
in all that we do?
Exactly, as Jesus said,
when will we seek Him first?
And therefore, knowing by doing
such, seeking Him first,
and His righteousness,
that we will have the ability
to receive all
of His wondrous blessings
and promises and rewards.
The question this morning
is, have you put on Christ
as your Lord and master?
And if so,
is He your only master today?
If not, do what is necessary to
be right with your God even now.
This morning,
we are happy to have
Brother Cory Orr with us
as our guest speaker.
Brother Cory is the minister
for the Bona Church of Christ
in Bona, Missouri,
and also an instructor at
the Bible Institute of Missouri.
And we thank him
for joining us again to lead us
in our thoughts from God's Word.
As far as our study of the day,
we'll be focused this morning
on the question,
"What must I do to be saved?"
So, please continue
with us this morning.
And after our next song
together, Brother Orr
will return and lead us in
these thoughts from God's Word.
The name of our next song,
"Seek Ye First."
Choir:  Seek ye first
the Kingdom of God 
 And His righteousness 
 And all these things
shall be added unto you 
 Singing allelu, alleluia 
 Seek ye first the Kingdom
of God 
 And His righteousness 
 Alleluia 
 And all these things
shall be added unto you 
 Singing allelu, alleluia 
 Ask and it shall be given
unto you 
 Seek and ye shall find 
 Knock and the door shall
be opened unto you 
 Singing allelu, alleluia 
 Ask and it shall be given
unto you 
 Seek and ye shall find 
 Knock and the door shall
be opened unto you 
 Singing allelu, alleluia 
 Man shall not live
by bread alone 
 But by every word 
 That proceeds from the mouth
of God 
 Singing allelu, alleluia 
 Man shall not live
by bread alone 
 But by every word 
 That proceeds from the mouth
of God 
 Singing allelu, alleluia 
>> Thank you so much
for the opportunity
to speak to you today.
Thank you to the Kansas
Expressway congregation,
to Brother Ray,
and the elders there.
Today, we get to take
a look at the single
greatest question
a person could ask.
"What must I do to be saved?"
In fact, today I hope that
you have your Bibles with you.
I hope that you have a pen
and paper
so that perhaps you can
write these down
and make sure that you
understand what one must do
in order to be saved.
Perhaps that's a question
that you yourself have asked
and said, "You know,
I've heard all of these things.
And all of these people come up with all these different ways
in order for me to be
able to have salvation
or eternal life in Heaven
with God."
Today, we want to look
just at what the Bible says,
instead of,
"Well, this is my thoughts,"
or, "This is what I think."
Let's just look at what
the Bible has to say.
That question is asked
in Acts, Chapter 2.
And in this,
we see Peter's first sermon
as he is standing
before the people.
And here in Acts, Chapter 2,
what we see is the fact
that there is going to be
a question that is asked.
And they asked this question.
Beginning in verse number 36,
what we read is,
"Therefore --" this is
Peter speaking -- he says,
"'Let all the house
of Israel know assuredly
that God has made
this Jesus whom you crucified,
both Lord and Christ.'
Now when they heard this,
they were cut to the heart,
and said to Peter
and the rest of the apostles,
'Men and brethren,
what shall we do?'"
You see,
what they're wanting to know is,
"What must I do to be saved?
What must I do in order
to go to Heaven?"
And here in just a few moments,
we will look at the response
that Peter is going to give
to them.
But we think about
the responsibility then
that we have --
"What must I do to be saved?"
And we think about the fact
that we must have faith
in Christ Jesus.
In fact, in Hebrews Chapter 11,
there in verse number 6,
what we see is that the Hebrew
writer writes -- he says,
"But without faith,
it is impossible to please Him,
for he who comes
to God must believe that He is
and that He is a rewarder of
those who diligently seek Him."
So, if I must have faith,
and as we read here,
the Bible tells us it is
impossible to please God
if we don't have faith.
We must believe two things.
Number one, that He is,
and number two,
that He is a rewarder of those
who diligently seek Him.
And there we see the action.
The action,
that diligent seeking,
that we are putting Him first,
that we have Him as our focus
and doing what He would
have us to do.
And so, therefore,
it is important for us as
we go through this lesson today,
again, not to think about
what man has to say.
But instead,
taking a look at what
God would have us to do
in order to be saved.
And so, as we think about
that faith that we have
to have in Him, let us turn
to Romans Chapter 10.
Romans Chapter 10.
When we think about these words
as we have to have faith in Him,
then where does
that faith come from?
In order to please God,
we must believe that He is.
We must have that faith in Him.
And so, therefore,
we need to look and take
at specifically where
our faith comes from.
Does it come from the guy
speaking to you
through your television
this morning?
Does it come from
the person who perhaps stands
in the pulpit where you
might attend?
Where does that faith come from?
Here in Romans Chapter 10,
we see then, in verse number 17,
that question answered.
Romans 10:17, says,
"So then faith comes by hearing,
hearing by the Word of God."
You see, it doesn't say
"by the word of Cory,"
or "by the word of Ray."
It doesn't say "by the word
of man."
It says our faith comes
by hearing the Word of God.
What does that mean for us?
Again, we think about
the action,
as we talked about
in Hebrews 11:6,
that we are to diligently seek
after God.
Here, the action is
that we are actively listening.
That's what it means to hear.
Now, I have three children
at home,
two of which are teenagers.
And I ask them often to listen
to me when I'm talking to you.
Perhaps you understand
what I'm talking about.
When you talk to someone
and they look over here
or over there, they look down,
or they look up,
and they look anywhere
but at you.
And at times,
I have to take my hands,
and I place them on both sides
of my children's face.
And I get their attention
to say,
"Look at me
when I'm talking to you."
And they say, "Well,
I was listening."
"Well, you weren't paying
attention to what I was saying.
You were hearing this noise
in the background.
But you weren't really
listening to me,
actively listening,
being a participant
in the conversation
that we were having."
Well, if faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God,
then what we understand is this.
Right here in our Bible,
God is speaking to us.
And for us to be an active
participant in the conversation,
we have to actively listen
to what God is saying to us.
And so faith comes by hearing,
hearing by the Word of God.
We get into God's word,
and we listen to what he has
to say to us.
Again, not listening to
the word of man
for what he says we must do
to be saved.
But what is God saying?
So, faith comes
by hearing the Word of God.
As we listen then
to the Word of God,
we think about the words
of Jesus.
And these words that He speaks
in Matthew Chapter 7,
they are what hold the authority
for us.
A lot of people will say, "Well,
you know, Cory, that's great,
but what does Jesus say?"
Well, let's take a look
at what Jesus says.
In Matthew 7:24,
Jesus here speaking
as he is kind of closing
out the Sermon on the Mount.
He says, "Therefore, whoever
hears these sayings of Mine,
and does them, I will liken him
to a wise man who built
his house on the rock."
Do you notice there
what Jesus says?
He who hears these words
of mine, and does them.
And so there are
the actions that we see.
That we listen to what he has to
say, we're actively listening,
and then we follow through
on them.
When somebody,
let's just say that, again,
you're speaking to a child
or someone speaks to you.
Perhaps your boss speaks to you,
and they ask you
to do something.
To prove that you're listening,
what do you do?
Well, you follow through
on those instructions
that they give.
We need to make sure
that we follow through.
That's what Jesus is saying.
"He who hears these words
of Mine and does them."
And then, he is likened
to a wise man.
Also, we think about in verse
21, Jesus there speaking says,
"Not everyone who says to Me,
'Lord, Lord,'
will enter the Kingdom
of Heaven,
but he who does the will
of my Father."
Again, we have to know
and listen to the will
of the Father so that we do it.
And so, the first step
in that plan of salvation is
to make sure that we hear
the word.
Next, it causes something in us.
In John Chapter 8,
we see the words of Jesus.
John Chapter 8, we see what
Jesus would have us to do next,
and that is this.
John Chapter 8.
There in verse number 24, Jesus,
as we see in verse 22,
is speaking to the Jews.
And He tells them in verse 24,
"Therefore, I said to you,
that you will die in your sins;
for if you do not believe
that I am He,
you will die in your sins."
The responsibility there is
to believe
that Jesus is the Son of God.
Everything that we read
in the Scripture that tells us
about Jesus, the fact
that He was the Son of God,
born of a virgin,
that He lived a perfect life,
that He died that perfect
sacrifice for our sins --
that is everything that
we believe.
That's the responsibility
that we have.
Again, this is active.
This takes an action
on our part,
not just to merely say
that I believe,
but, again, to do what
Jesus would have us to do,
to follow through
on what Jesus expects of us,
and to do what He would
have us to do.
If you back up
to verse number 18,
there in John chapter 8,
notice there, Jesus says,
"I am one who bears witness
of Myself,
and the Father who sent
Me bears witness of Me."
Again, God has borne witness
of Him,
so that we can believe
in who He is.
We can believe in Him
as the Son of God.
It takes diligence on our part.
We see also that in Luke 9:23.
Luke 9:23,
look what Jesus has to say.
Here, He says,
"If anyone desires to come
after Me,
let him take up his cross daily
and follow after Me."
That's what it is to believe,
that we take action
and we follow after Him.
So, we must hear,
we must believe.
When we believe
that Jesus is the Son of God,
and we take up our cross daily
to follow after him,
what we notice also is
that we don't act
the same way any longer.
In 2 Corinthians 7,
there in verses 9 through 11 --
again, 2 Corinthians 7:9-11,
Paul writing to the church
at Corinth says,
"Now I rejoice
that you were made sorry --
not that you were made sorry,
but that your sorrow led
to repentance.
For you were made sorry
in a godly manner that
you might suffer loss
from us in nothing.
For godly sorrow produces
repentance leading to salvation,
not to be regretted;
but the sorrow
of the world produces death.
For observe this very thing,
that you sorrowed
in a godly manner:
What diligence it produced
in you,
what clearing of yourselves,
what indignation,
what fear, what vehement desire,
what zeal, what vindication.
In all things,
you proved yourselves
to be clear in this matter."
Again, we see that godly
sorrow leads to repentance,
not worldly sorrow leading
to death.
Godly sorrow is the, "I'm sorry,
I lived contrary to your Word,
and I'm going to change."
It is a change that God requires
of us.
In Acts 17:30 --
Acts 17:30,
Peter there says that "Truly,
these times of ignorance
God overlooked,
but now commands all men
everywhere to repent."
You see, it's a command
of God that we change.
Repentance is a turning.
It's turning away from a life
of sin and turning to God,
and following after what
he would have us to do.
We also think
of Luke Chapter 13.
Again, we think of the words
of Jesus
and the great weight
that they carry.
In Luke 13:3 and 5,
both say the same thing.
Jesus there speaking says,
"I tell you, no;
but unless you repent,
you will all likewise perish."
Again, a change is necessary
and required.
And so, as we change,
we see that repentance leads us
to then following Jesus
and taking up our cross.
It is this way that we
confess who Jesus is.
In Matthew 10: 32-33,
we see one
of the greatest verses
and most comforting verses
that we read,
followed by one of the
most fearful verses that we see
in all of Scripture.
In verse 32 of Matthew Chapter
10, Jesus says,
"If you confess Me before men,
I will confess you before
my Father who is in Heaven."
What a great thing
to think of Jesus confessing us
before the Father.
In verse 33, He says,
"If you deny me before men,
I will deny you before
my Father who is in Heaven."
That denial, the single greatest
scariest thing that we think of.
How terrifying it would be
on that day.
And then, as we finish out,
we think about what comes next.
And that is where we go back to
Acts Chapter 2, where we began.
When people asked the question
of Peter
and the Apostles,
"What must we do?"
Peter, in verse 38
of Acts, Chapter 2, says,
"Repent, and let every one
of you be baptized
in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of your sins;
and you shall receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit."
There, our sins are washed away
in baptism.
We can desire
to be clean as much as we want.
But until we have our
sins washed away
in that watery grave of baptism,
where we come into contact
with the blood of Jesus Christ,
we still carry them.
We must be baptized
for the remission of sins.
When we rise up out
of those waters of baptism,
our responsibility then is
to live faithful.
In Revelation 2:10,
that last sentence of verse 10,
Jesus says,
"Be faithful unto death,
and I will give you the crown
of life."
Is this what you have done in
order to become a child of God?
Have you followed through
on what God would have you
to do to become a savior --
to make Jesus become our Savior?
We don't read anywhere
that Jesus says, "Just take me
into your heart,
and you'll be okay."
We don't read
of a sinner's prayer.
We can't find those
in Scripture.
You see, this is what
God has given to us to do.
Have you followed
these examples?
Have you followed through on
what God would have you to do?
If not, we encourage you
to do so today.
Choir:  I have decided
to follow Jesus 
 I have decided
to follow Jesus 
 I have decided
to follow Jesus 
 No turning back,
no turning back 
 Though none go with me,
I still will follow 
 Though none go with me,
I still will follow 
 Though none go with me,
I still will follow 
 No turning back,
no turning back 
 My cross I'll carry,
till I see Jesus 
 My cross I'll carry,
till I see Jesus 
 My cross I'll carry,
till I see Jesus 
 No turning back,
I'll follow Him 
>> What a wondrous time
we've had together today
to participate in
those things that God commands
of the faithful on this,
the Lord's Day.
I hope we've all been encouraged
through our time spent together.
And remember that you
are invited
to join us every Lord's Day morning at 7:30
as we give this time
to our Creator.
But for now, let me ask
if you have any questions
or comments
about today's lesson.
Maybe like a free transcript or
a free CD or DVD of the program,
or possibly, we could assist you
with free Bible materials
or free Bible correspondence
courses.
No matter what your need is,
please feel free to contact us
at the following address:
The Living Word,
2540 North Kansas Expressway,
Springfield, Missouri, 65803.
Many of these items are
also available on our website.
That address:
TheLivingWordProgram.com.
Or if you prefer,
you may call us at 417-869-2284.
Are you a Christian?
Have you obeyed the Gospel plan
of salvation which is found
in the Bible?
If not, why not do what
is required today
that you might accept and
follow all that God requires?
That you might therefore
become a child of His
and be a beneficiary
of all the great blessings
and rewards that He promises
the faithful.
>> Our prayer is
to help the world know more
about God through
this television program.
The Living Word has been brought
to you
under the oversight
of the elders
of the Kansas Expressway Church
of Christ
in Springfield, Missouri,
with the assistance
of the following area
Churches of Christ.
Choir:  Seek and save
the lost 
 Give me the Bible,
holy message shining 
 Thy light shall guide me
in the narrow way 
 Precept and promise,
law and love combining 
 Till night shall vanish
in eternal day