God's Eternal Plan

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God's Eternal Plan

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May 24, 2022 • The Gospel of Christ

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The Bible says “God wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth,” 1 Timothy 2:4.

We welcome you today to The Gospel of Christ program. In this series of lessons, we're going to be discussing the great subject of salvation. And friend, how good it is to know that the God of heaven wants
all men to be saved! 2 Peter 3:9 the Bible says that ‘The Lord is not slow concerning His promises, as some men count slowness, but He's long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but all should come
to a knowledge of the truth.’ God wants everybody to be saved. Jesus has delayed or is slow in His coming in that God wants to give all men time to repent.

(The full transcript is available in the "Download Document" button above.)

Jesus is the Only Way

May 24, 2022 • The Gospel of Christ

The Lord and Savior Jesus Christ said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except by me." John 14:6 We welcome you today to our study of Jesus as the way of salvation. You know, in the world we live in today there seem to be in a lot of peoples' minds a variety of different ways that you can be saved. Some would say that you can be saved under the Hindu religion or by being a Buddhist. Others would say that you could be saved by Allah or Muhammed under Islam. Whether it be Judaism, whether it be some kind of spiritual "-ism" today or something like that, there's just a whole host of different religions and people claim that all these and all the followers of and leaders of can save you. Well friend, is that true? (The full transcript is available in the "Download Document" button above.)

I Need Salvation

May 24, 2022 • The Gospel of Christ

The word of God says, "It is appointed to man once to die and then the judgment." 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, ‘We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may give an account for the things done in the body whether good or evil.’ One day all of us will leave this life, and one day we all stand before the almighty throne of God. In view of that, I need and you need salvation from God. Welcome to our study of the subject of salvation. Today we're going to be thinking about the fact that I need, that every individual needs salvation, and what it is we're saved to, and what it is we're saved from in eternity. The fact that heaven is going to be wonderful, and the fact that we're going to be saved to heaven, and the fact that hell is going to be horrible, and that we're saved from a sinner's hell. We welcome you today to our study of this wonderful subject relating to salvation. Let's then begin to think about our soul in view of eternity. Let's think about the fact that I need salvation from a sinner's hell and to the beautiful place we call heaven. I want you to think with me in this first part of our lesson about how that nobody would ever in their right mind want to be lost in hell. You know, when we think about hell, what's it going to be like? What is hell, what does the Bible teach about that subject of hell? You know, we don't hear much today on the subject of hell and probably in most places it's been a long time since we heard a sermon on what hell is going to be like-but friend there's a value to that. As I think about what is hell, and as I think about the subject of hell, this motivates and this challenges a person to be saved in view of that. I don't want to go to hell. I want to live in such a way that I'm right in the sight of God, and it is a preventative to make sure that I remain true to God's teaching. I want to invite you to open your Bible with me to Luke the 16th chapter, and let's think about a man who went to hell. Let's think about this man's journey through torment. Let's see just how horrible it was for this man and see what lessons we can learn that'll promote and prevent us from being lost for all eternity. Open your Bible if you would to Luke 16:19. The Bible says, "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate desiring to be fed with the crumbs which feel from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried." Now notice this, "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom." Friend, as you think about this man's journey to torment, what is torment going to be like, what's hell going to be like? Friend, it's a place of horrible, horrible torment. If you can imagine being in such agony, being in such pain and torment that you would almost hope to die, you would beg to die-and you would live forever. You know, as you think about the idea of torment think about maybe when you felt sick in your life. Think about maybe when you felt really, really bad. You were so sick and you felt so bad that you'd probably say to yourself, death would almost be better than this. If you've ever been in that kind of torment, whether it is mental or whether it be emotional torment, you know how bad that is. Can you imagine living forever in a state where you would almost wish for death and yet living in that moment of time for all eternity, being in that kind of torment for the rest of your life. Can you imagine that? Well look a little further as you think about the rich man and what he had to face. We also learn that hell is a place of fire. Notice in your Bible in Luke 16:24. The scripture says, "Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’" What's going to be so horrible, why do I need salvation from hell? For in hell it's going to be a place of unquenchable fire. Listen to the words of Jesus in Mark 9:44. Hell is a place, Jesus said, "where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched." When you think about the rich man's words here, ‘have mercy on me, send Lazarus, I just need one drop of water, for I'm tormented in this flame.’ Have you ever had to deal with a burn? Everybody in their life at one point or another has maybe burned themselves. Maybe you were in the kitchen and you accidentally touched a hot pan and it burned you. Maybe you've played with fireworks and got burned, maybe in your work you somehow got burned, or maybe even worse, you were in some type of fire and you got burned by that fire. You know how bad a burn hurts and how it makes your skin boil up. When you pop it and touch it, it just hurts so much- the pain and the anguish. In fact I once heard a story of a preacher who went into a hospital and he was in the burn wing. He said you just cannot imagine how horrible that part of the hospital was. He said from the moment you walked through those double doors, the screams and the anguish and the pain of those people with those burns on their bodies as they're tending the wounds, as they're dressing them, as they're taking care of them- the agony and the pain that they're writhing in can't be rivaled with anything. Truly nothing hurts nearly as bad as a burn. Now why do we say those things, why do we make you think about that? Friend, the Bible describes hell as a place of fire. 'The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever,’ Revelation 14:11 says. ‘It's a place of burning brimstone, of fire and brimstone,’ as described in Revelation chapter 20. Imagine now living in a place of eternal fire forever. Nobody'd want to do that. Let's say, would you do this, you think about this, if you had a cigarette lighter would you light that lighter and hold your finger over it and burn yourself? Well of course not. If you were at the house and your oven was cranked up to 500 degrees, would you stick your hand in there and hold it in for a good while? No. Why? It'd burn you. You'd do whatever you could to prevent being burned. You're not going to burn yourself. You're not going to stick your hand in a hot oven. You're not going to jump in a fire. Why not? I don't want to be burned. I'm going to do whatever it takes to prevent that. And yet now is the opportunity, now is the time, to prevent living forever in torment. Many people are living as though they have no fear of the eternal torment in the fire of hell. What else do we know about this man's journey to hell? This is probably the worst thing. It's not necessarily the physical torment. It's not necessarily the pain and the torture of the fire. Friend, probably one of the worst things about hell is that there's going to be mental recognition in hell. Listen to Luke 16:25. "But Abraham said," now listen to this, "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented." What's going to be horrible about hell? Your memory will not be erased. You will remember in hell. God said to the rich man, ‘Son,’ Abraham said, ‘remember now you had it pretty good back on earth. You had all the fine things, all the luxuries; Lazarus not so.’ Now the roles are kind of reversed, aren't they? This man squandered his opportunity. He didn't use what he had to glorify God. He didn't help Lazarus. He wasn't a very good man, and he's going to remember that for all eternity. Friend, what's going to be horrible about hell is the fact that I will remember. Think about this for a moment- can you imagine sitting in the halls of hell thinking about what you should have done, thinking about the opportunities that you overlooked, thinking about the time that you almost changed your life and obeyed the gospel? You think about ‘I almost became a Christian. I almost gave up this sin,’ whatever it may be. ‘I almost.’ Almost is going to be one of those haunting words in hell. Don't let that be in your heart, and your life for all eternity. Instead of thinking ‘if I should have or would have or could have,’- make changes now because your memory and mind will not be erased in eternity. We will be able to remember some of those things. Then of course the Bible teaches another horrible thing about hell is that hell is a place of eternal separation. Listen to Luke 16:26. This man's journey then goes further when the Bible tells us "And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us." What do we know about hell? It's a place of eternal separation. There is no crossing over. The rich man says ‘just send Abraham to get one drop of water to cool my tongue, I'm tormented in this flame.’ Son, remember you had it good on life. He's got it good now. He says ‘well let me go back and,’ no- no crossing over. There's a great gulf. The word gulf means a ‘wide, deep chasm that nobody could get across.’ You just can't get across it. No going back and forth. The idea is that of separation. There's no going back and forth. If one is lost, it's eternal. The separation will be eternal. Friend, hell is going to be horrible because if I don't live right and obey the gospel and become a Christian no- it's too late on the other side. You're not going to buy anybody out of there, that's not taught in the Bible. You can't do enough good works to get somebody out of, that's not taught in the scripture. Now is the opportunity. This is my one chance to get right with God or I'm going to be separated for all eternity. Think about that- I'm going to be separated from God. I'm going to be separated from Jesus Christ. I'm going to be separated from all good, righteous, and holy people. I am going to not only be separated from God and all that's good, I'm going to be with, without the possibility of getting away, I'm going to be with the devil and his angels, and evil ungodly immoral people without the possibility of ever being separated from them either. Think about how horrible that would be on the other side. When you think about this separation you also have to think about how good it's going to be to go to heaven. I need salvation not only because I don't want to go to hell and be lost for eternity, but I need salvation because I want to be saved and I want to go to heaven. I want you to think about the beauty and the splendor of that place called heaven. You know, Christians often sing the song “How Beautiful Heaven Must Be.” How true that is, we sing songs like the “Paradise Valley” and we think about how wonderful it's going to be. Friend, heaven really is a beautiful place of rest. I want you to look in the Bible in Hebrews chapter four, and I want you to notice, now let's think about some passages that relate to heaven. Hebrews 4:9 listen to what the word of God says about the beautiful rest of heaven. Scripture says, "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God." Think about how beautiful heaven's going to be. Think about how wonderful that place called heaven is and don't you want to go there? It's a place of rest. You know, when you think about rest, imagine it this way. Let's say that you've gone out and you've worked harder than you have ever worked before. You have been involved in some type of strenuous manual labor from sunup to sundown, whatever that may be. You're tired, your body aches, and the one thing you want is rest for the old weary body. When you think about that, think about it in a spiritual sense. The soul and the spirit, which has fought with sin, which has struggled every day with the world, which has done battle against Satan, which is worn out and tired from all that- it's a place of rest for the spirit and the soul. There'll be no more sorrow, death, pain, or crying. All the sin, all those former things will have passed away. Don't you want to go to that beautiful place of rest where God himself is? I need salvation, and I want to go to heaven because evil is going to be absent in heaven. I want you to notice next Revelation 21:4.The Bible says, "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there'll be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." The things that bring us so much heartache in this life don't exist on the other side. There'll be no death. Won't it be wonderful that when you get to heaven you'll never hear the news, you'll never read the obituary in the paper, and you’ll never have somebody call you and say, did you hear so and so died? No more death. There'll be no more crying. I won't have to shed tears on the other side. There'll be no more sorrow. There'll be no more pain. You won't hurt. We won't have to deal with disease, sickness, cancer, heart attacks, and strokes. All those former things will have passed away. Isn't it a beautiful picture of God in Revelation 21:4? God is pictured as wiping away every tear from their eyes. When I think about this I think about an illustration. When I was a young kid sometimes we would stay at my grandmother's house, and I remember specifically we would play. We'd sometimes get rambunctious and as kids do sometime- you'd fall down and scrape your knee or sometime you'd hurt your elbow or you'd get hurt sometime. You go to your grandmother crying maybe. I remember every time, grandmother would take us up, and she'd take that apron that people in that day and age wore, and she'd take that apron, bring us up in her arms and she'd just wipe away every tear and before you knew it you didn't even know why you were crying. You didn't even know what was wrong. All you knew was that you were in that place of safety and grandma had wiped away every tear. Friend I want you to think about God like that. What's heaven going to be like? It's a place of safety. There isn't the heartache and the pain that we face now. God is going to bring us up and wipe away every tear from our eye. We won't feel the things that we feel in this life. Heaven's going to be wonderful because God is going to be there. When I was a young person and I used to hear things about heaven, and I used to read the Bible as it spoke about heaven, I would often think that the things that are going to make heaven great are the jewels and the diamonds and the pearly gate, and the river, all those physical touchable images that we think about. I don't really think now that's the main thing that's going to make heaven great. What is the number one thing that makes heaven great? I think Jesus mentioned it in Matthew 6:9. Jesus said, "In this manner, therefore pray Our Father who is in heaven." What makes heaven great? If God is in heaven that's what'll make heaven great-the God of love, I John 4:8, and the God of light, John 8:12. If Jesus Christ, the great sacrifice is there, that'll make heaven, heaven. Being in the presence of God for all eternity is Heaven. Living with the saints of old, being with loved ones who've passed on- that's heaven. That's what makes it wonderful! It's not necessarily the jewels or the pearly gates or the river- no, all those images are wonderful things, don't get me wrong, but if God's there, that's what makes heaven heaven. Don't you want to go to heaven? I'll assure you of this today, heaven, no matter what you face, no matter what you have to go through, no matter what things you have to give up… heaven will be worth it all. There's a final Bible passage that I want you to think about with me that really illustrates how heaven is worth whatever you've got to face and whatever you've got to give up to go there… heaven's worth it. Listen to what Paul said in Romans 8:18. "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." What'd Paul say? Heaven's going to be worth it all. The sufferings you face now and the difficulties that you incur will all be worth it. People may laugh at you. People may mock you. You may have to face difficulties and challenges in this life. You may have to give up, and you may have to suffer to be a Christian. Heaven's going to be worth it. The glory that's one day going to be revealed in us- it doesn't even compare. Those things don't even compare to what heaven's going to be like. Paul could definitely say that, could he not? He'd done a lot of things that were not pleasing to God. When he changed his life he truly gave up, didn't he? He spent his life spreading the gospel. Paul was stoned at certain times in Lystra and other areas, Iconium, Acts 14. He was beaten. He was stranded out in the sea. He faced shipwreck. He was put in prison. All that, Paul said, isn't even worthy to be compared with what we'll one day receive. Friend, I hope today that you'll think seriously about why we need salvation. I hope that you'll think with a view toward eternity. Are you thinking seriously about your soul? Are you thinking about the judgment day? Remember, Hebrews 9:27 says, “It’s appointed to man once to die and then the judgment.” There are two things, only two that you can be sure of. We will all one day leave this life, no getting around that, and we'll all one day stand before the judgment seat of God. Now in view of that, we've got to think seriously about our soul. This life is not what's important. The things of this life, the stuff, the pleasures, the junk that often gets in the way of people putting God first-that's not what's important. What's important is my soul and yours. Are you really thinking about eternity? Have you really thought about how horrible hell's going to be? Can you imagine, just think seriously in your own mind, if I die outside of Christ, and I go to hell. Have I really thought about what that's going to be like? Friend, we're saying this because God doesn't want anybody to go there. We don't want anybody to go there. We love your eternal soul, and we want you to be saved. You've got to think seriously. The reality is, I will die, and I will be judged. The reality is, if I haven't obeyed the gospel and lived right, or I live and die in sin, I will be lost in hell. Hell is a place of torment, fire, and a place of mental recognition. It’s a place of separation and a place where you'll be with the devil and his angels for all eternity. Are you thinking seriously about your soul in view of heaven, a beautiful place of rest? Heaven is a place where God is, a place where evil and all the things of this life do not haunt us, and a place where you can spend eternity with loved ones who've gone on before you, who are also saved. Now friend, if you're thinking about these things seriously today, the question you need to be asking is, am I right with God? Have I obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ? Am I a Christian and have I obeyed God's will? Now here's what we'd ask you to consider. Some people think they are a Christian, think they've obeyed the gospel, and they've not really been taught the truth on salvation. What does the Bible say you've got to do to be saved? Friend, you must hear the word of God to be saved. “Faith comes be hearing, hearing by the word of God.” Are you willing to listen to what God and God alone says in the Bible? If you are, do you believe that Jesus is the savior of the world? Jesus said, “Unless you believe that I am He, you will surely die in your sins,” John 8:24. Would you be willing to repent and turn to God? Luke 13:3 and 13:5, Jesus said, "Unless you repent you will all likewise perish." Are you willing to change your way of thinking and change your way of acting? Would you turn from sin and turn to God? Would you confess in the name of Jesus before men? Romans 10:10 says, "With the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." And friend would you, to have every sin washed away, to become a Christian, be baptized in water for the forgiveness of your sins? Here's what the Bible teaches. Jesus said in Mark 16:16, "He that believes and is baptized will be saved." Peter said in Acts 2:38, “Repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins.” Saul was told, "Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins," Acts 22:16. Baptism is that which puts us into Christ, Galatians 3:27. Peter so clearly said, “Baptism does now also save us.” More than anything we want you to be saved. We want people to go to heaven and to miss out on hell. We urge you today; we're begging you, if you've never obeyed the gospel, if you are not a Christian or you've got sin in your life, please make that right. More than anything we want to see you one day in heaven with all the saved. Study Questions for: “Salvation: Lesson 3” 1. According to 2 Corinthians 5:10, what will we all do? 2. In Luke 16:24, why did the rich man want relief? 3. What does Jesus say about hell in Mark 9:44? 4. What does Revelation 14 say about hell? 5. According to Luke 16:25, is there mental recognition in hell? 6. According to Luke 16:26, is there eternal separation in hell? 7. According to Hebrews 4:9, what will the people of Heaven receive? 8. According to Revelation 21:4, what will Heaven be like? 9. What will be absent in Heaven according to Revelation 21:4? 10. According to Hebrews 9:27, what will we all experience?

Saved From What?

May 24, 2022 • The Gospel of Christ

The greatest question ever asked is found in Acts 16:30-31. The Philippian jailer said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" No greater question in all the world can be asked and answered by the Bible and by every individual. But today as we think about the subject of salvation, we want to ask the question- saved from what? If the Philippian jailer realized he needed to be saved, what did he need to be saved from? Did he need to be saved from society? Did he need to be saved from modern thinking of that day? Did he need to be saved from the threat on his life that might be made by being a part of the Roman government and these men getting out? What exactly did he need to be saved from? Those are the things that we're going to be thinking about today in our study of salvation. What did the Philippian jailer need to be saved from? Friend this is such an important question that is really worthy of every person's serious consideration. To answer this question properly, we don't want to give human opinion. We don't want to go to some poll or look at what might be popular today. The only way to answer this question is to go directly to the source, the Bible. Romans 4:3, we want to let God's word answer it. For Paul asked the question in Romans 4:3, "What does the scripture say?" That's all that matters. That's all that we're concerned about today. What does the scripture say that man is being saved from? Let's also realize that once we go to the right source, we've got to also realize human wisdom, (my thinking, your thinking, society's thinking) can't adequately answer the question. We're not here today to tell you what we think, or to tell you what others think, or what some theologian somewhere might think They can't answer that question correctly. Only God can. Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 10:23, "Oh Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; It's not in man who walks to direct his own steps." Man can't figure out his own path to salvation. He needs God's direction. In Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 says this, "There is a way that seems right to a man." What about that way? "The end thereof is the way of destruction." The way it seems right to a man, but the end thereof is the way of death or destruction. Let's not put our trust in human thinking on this subject. Let's put our trust in God. Notice the words of Proverbs 28:26. The Bible says, "He who trusts in his own heart is a fool. But whoever walks wisely will be delivered." God and His wisdom and His teaching can deliver me from the problem that I need saved from. But only God can give me that advice. And so what is it man needs to be saved from? Let's realize that it's sin that we need to be saved from. Now friend, let's each be honest today. Sin is a reality that every person of an accountable age has to deal with. Like it or not, want to think about it or not, I've got to come to terms with the fact that if I'm of an accountable age and a right mind, - I have sinned. You have sinned. We need salvation from that sin. Listen to Romans 3:23. The Bible says, "All". How many? "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." If all have sinned, then I have sinned. Ecclesiastes 7:20, the Bible says, "There's not a righteous man on the face of the earth who does good and does not sin." Every person, even the most righteous among us, has to deal with the sin problem. I need salvation from that sin because if I remain in it and if I die in it- I'll be lost. Romans 6:23 says, "The wages of sin is death." Isaiah 59:1-2, "Sin separates a man from God." Why? Habakkuk 1:12-13 says, "God is of purer eyes than to behold evil. He cannot look upon wickedness." It is our sin that every one of us at one point in time or another has committed that we need to be saved from. Let's realize that God does have a lot to say on the subject of sin in His word. We live in a society today that we almost don't like to think about and talk about sin. People don't want to mention anything that might be sinful or wrong today. They don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, don't want to make anybody feel bad. Let's realize we've got to say what God says on the subject of sin so that people can be saved. Our responsibility is to "speak as the oracles of God", 1 Peter 4:11. Why would we ever allow anyone else outside of Jesus and the words of the Bible to teach us on this subject? I love the words of Luke 11:1, the disciple said to Jesus, "Lord, teach us." 'Teach us to pray' was their request. That’s how we ought to think today on the subject of sin. We want Jesus to teach us about sin. Now friend, as you think about this subject, and as we think about listening to the voice of God, letting God speak to us on this problem, let's also realize that sin is a reality that man has no cure for. No matter how hard he might try, no matter how long he might look, man can't solve the sin problem. In Jeremiah 2:22, here's what God said to Israel about their sin problem. God said, "Though you wash with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is ever before me." If you get something on your hand, or if you get something on your clothes, you can go to the sink, you can get a bar of soap or a bottle of soap, you can put that on your hands, and you can wash it. Most of the time you can get it off. You get something on your clothes, you can put a little detergent in the washing machine and run that through a cycle, and you can get rid of it. God said that's not how it works with sin. "Though you wash with lye and use much soap, yet your iniquity is ever before me." What's God say? You're not going to take care of the sin problem with soap and water. You can't get enough lye and enough soap to deal with the sin problem. Man needs God's help. Man needs God's direction to deal with it. Listen to Proverbs 30:12. God said, "There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, yet it is not washed from its filthiness." Man can't deal with it in and of himself. He needs God's help to be right with Him. Let's also realize God does have the cure. Thank God that He has the cure and the remedy for the sin problem. What is that cure? Jesus is the answer. Matthew 1:21, "You shall call his name Jesus." Why? "He'll save His people from their sins.” Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." 1 Peter 2:24, "He bore our sins in His own body upon on the tree that we, having died to sin, might live for righteousness by whose stripes we are healed.” God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life," John 3:16. Those verses clearly and beautifully illustrate that the remedy for sin is found in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. God wants to forgive, Micah 7:18. "God wants to pardon man from sin," Nehemiah 9:17. And God is willing to abundantly pardon or forgive us of our sins,” Isaiah 55:7. He can only do that through the plan and the person of Jesus Christ. Let's think today about the subject of sin and how one can overcome this problem. We ask first and foremost- what is sin? When you think about sin, there's a very descriptive, there's a very clear way of describing and defining that from the scripture. We mention three passages that help us with that. What is sin? 1 John 3:14, "Sin is a transgression of God's law." When we think about sin, we think about breaking God's law. If you're driving in a car and you go over the speed limit, you break the laws of that land. The police or the department of safety individual may be able or will give you a ticket if he catches you doing that. Why? You've transgressed the law. Well friend, this is God's perfect law of liberty, James 1:25. This is the law that I'm going to be judged by on the Day of Judgment, John 12:48. If I break this law, if I transgress this law, if I know what the Bible tells me to do, or if I do something that I'm not supposed to in the word of God, then friend I have broken or transgressed God's law. That is a sin. 1 John 5:17 would be the second verse. "All unrighteousness is defined as sin." Not only transgressing, but when I know it's right that I do this, and I know it's right that I have this type of character or this type of action in my life, and I do the opposite- I have done that which is unright, or unrighteous. I have fallen into sin. Breaking the law of God is doing what is wrong in the sight of God. Then a third passage helps us to understand what sin is so we can avoid it and be saved from it is James 4:17. "For him that knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is a sin." Now this is more of not doing anything that may be right-we haven't really gone out and broken any law maybe. We haven't really gone out and done anything that's wicked-but if I know that it's good to help the poor and if I know that it's good to spread the Gospel and encourage and I just don't do anything- that inaction, knowing when I ought to act, knowing that I should have acted, knowing that I should have done right and doing nothing on my part- the Bible says that's also contrary to the will of God, and is a sin. Let's think a little bit about how the Bible describes sin so that we can better understand the heart of God on sin. 2 Corinthians 7:1, the apostle Paul describes sin in the terms of defilement, something that makes man defiled or dirty, unclean in the sight of God. Listen to these words. Paul said, "Therefore having these promises beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." What is sin? It's defilement or it's filthy. Think about the last time you got mud, or you got oil, or you got just something filthy on your hands. How'd that make you feel? How bad did you want to get to the sink and get some soap and wash that off? Well pretty quickly right? It made you feel pretty nasty. Well sin, in God's way of thinking, is a defilement of His creation. God also describes sin in the sense of a stain or a spot on that which ought to be pure and holy. James 1:27, James says, "Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this, to visit the widows and the orphans in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained or unspotted from the world." If you've got a white shirt, let's say you've got a white shirt on, and you've got an ink pen in the pocket, and you probably may have had this happen. That black ink pen eventually leaks. And now you've got a big black spot right here on this white shirt. How bad does that look? How much did it mess up that white garment? Can you use that? Probably not. Probably have to throw the thing away. Why? Because now it's spotted or it's stained. God wants us to be pure and holy. "Be holy as he who called you is holy," 1 Peter 1:15. When we have sin in our life, God describes that as a sin or a stain on that which ought to be holy and right in His sight. There's a third description that I want you to think about with me today. Psalm 38:4. David said this. "My sins have gone over my head like a heavy burden. They're too heavy for me to bear." How does the scripture describe sin? It's a heavy burden that you just can't bear on your own. You ever tried to lift something that you just knew was too heavy for you? Have you tried to lift some big heavy load and you hurt your back? Or maybe you've tried to lift something and you kind of got under that weight and you almost couldn't get out from under it. Friend, sin is a burden around your neck. It's a burden on your back. It's something that you cannot bear. If you've been in sin, you know what the scripture is talking about. Carrying that weight around, knowing that you've done something wrong, knowing that you're not right with God, knowing that that burden is on your heart and mind and you need to have it dealt with, and until you do, you'll never release that weight that's bearing you down. Sin is a filthiness or defilement. It's a stain or a spot. It is a burden that will bear you down until you let God and Christ help you with that. This is why Jesus said, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. My yoke is easy, my burden is light." Jesus is able to help us with the weight and the burden of our sin. Now as you think about sin, and that which we need to be saved from, let's also think about God's thinking about this subject of sin. The Bible says "God has no pleasure in sin," Psalm 5:4. I think sometimes, men kind of take pleasure in. We talk about it in words that describe it as very pleasurable. And yet Psalm 5:4 says, "God has no pleasure in sin." Hebrews 1:9, "Jesus hates lawlessness or wickedness.” God doesn't delight in it. Christ hates it. And Nahum 1:3 says this, "There is no acquittal for the wicked." Governments, presidents, pardon boards, parole boards, they may acquit or they may pardon somebody. They may have committed a crime, and they may eventually be free from that. There's not going to be any acquittal for sin unless we obey the Gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The problem again is that all have sinned. We've all fallen short of the glory of God. The problem is that sin is of my own doing because sin has entered my life I have the effects of that in my heart and mind. The penalty of sin, if it's not dealt with, is going to be devastating to one's life. Realize these things with me today. The Bible teaches that sin, ultimately, is going to bring spiritual death. Ephesians 2:1 Paul said, "To those who have obeyed the Gospel that although they once were dead in their trespasses and sins, they'd been set free." But listen to those words again. "You He made alive who were dead in your trespasses and sins." Romans 6:23, "The wages of sin is death." When we think about sin and why a person needs to be saved from that, sin is going to lead to spiritual death. Matthew 25:46, "The righteous will go away into eternal life. The unrighteous into eternal death.” What else does sin do? Sin separates me from that which I need the most, God. Isaiah 59:1-2, "The Lord's ear's not heavy that he cannot hear. Lord's arm's not shortened. Your sins and your iniquities have separated you from your God.” What makes sin so devastating? Sin separates me from the source of all light. "God is light,” John 8:12, and "the source of all love", 1 John 4:8, and that which is good and holy and right. You do not want to be separated from God for all eternity. Thirdly, we mentioned sin is so devastating because it is sin that sent Jesus to the cross. When you think about the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the shame, the horror, the tragedy, the pain that was involved in that where Jesus actually had nails nailed into his hands and feet where he hung, suspended between heaven and earth, and struggled for every breath until he died-why'd he do that? For sin. "He bore our sins in his own body," 1 Peter 2:24, "He was chastised for our sin, bruised for our iniquity. By His stripes, we've been healed." When you think about the devastating effects of sin and the length, the depth that God went to save man, look at what Jesus had to suffer. We want you to think real clearly about this with us today from the scripture. When we talk about being saved from sin, that is the ‘what’ that we're saved from. Let's realize if a person remains in sin, the end result is that person will be lost in a devil's hell for eternity. I know nobody likes to think about Hell. Hell's a bad place. You're right it is. But to really understand the necessity of salvation, let's realize there is a place called Hell. Mark 9:44, Jesus said, "Hell is a place where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched." That word for worm would be akin to our word for maggot. What's Hell like? It's a place where the maggot never dies and the fire is never put out. Think about the words of Luke 16:19-31. You've got the illustration of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man awoke in torments. "Father Abraham have mercy on me. I'm tormented in this flame. Send Lazarus to get just one drop of water that I can be comforted." Nope, there's no getting out. "Send word back to my brothers.” They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them." Can't you hear the echo for all eternity of the rich man? I'm tormented in these flames. Friend do you want to spend eternity in Hell in torment and fire and anguish forever? Then realize that's the penalty of living a life in sin and dying in that. Matthew 13:40-42, it's going to be a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. When you think about- what do I need to be saved from, nobody in their right mind, honestly thinking about their soul, would consider sin and the fact that it's going to cause you to be lost in Hell for eternity and not do anything about it. Now let's shift gears though and let's think about the positive. There is a cure. There is a remedy, and there is a sacrifice for sin. That is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If you say to yourself today, ‘I want to be saved from sin. I don't want to be lost. I don't want to be separated from God. I don't want to keep living with this burden around my neck for all eternity, or all this life. What do I need to do to get rid of the sin problem?’ Friend, the good news is Jesus is the answer to that. Jesus is the cure to the sin problem. Hebrews 10:12, "This man, Jesus after He had offered one sacrifice for sin forever sat down at the right hand of the Father." Jesus said, "This is my blood on the new covenant that is shed for many for the remission of sins." ‘He tasted death for every man,’ Hebrews 2:9. God sent His son to die for sin and to die for us so that we don't have to be lost. Do you remember what Jesus said about being saved from sin? Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. No man comes to the Father except by me." Friend, you cannot be saved from sin outside of Jesus Christ. “You'll call His name Jesus,” why? "He'll save his people from their sins", Matthew 1:21. Jesus is the cure. We realize Jesus is the only way to be saved. We need to realize there can be no salvation without obedience to the words of Jesus and recognizing and honoring him as Lord. Do you remember again Matthew 7:21? Jesus said to those of his day and age, some said, "Lord do we not prophesy in your name? Did we not cast out many demons in your name; do many good works in your name?" Jesus said, "Depart from me you workers of iniquity. I never knew you." And then He would go on to say, "It's not everybody that says ‘Lord, Lord’ is going to heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven." Let's think about that for a moment. What does the Bible say you've got to do to be saved from sin? Friend, the Bible makes it abundantly clear. On the first day that the Gospel was preached on the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up and he proclaimed the message of salvation. They heard the word of God. You've got to listen to and hear what God says before you can even begin to be saved, Romans 10:17. They believed Jesus was the son of God. They cried out ‘men and brethren, what shall we do?’ That implies when Peter said, "let all the house of Israel know surely, God made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ." They realized, then and there, Jesus is the son of God. Jesus said, "Unless you believe that I am he, you will surely die in your sins." Once you have heard the word and believed in Jesus, you then must be willing to repent. Peter said in Acts 2:38, "Repent and be baptized every one of you for the forgiveness of your sins." Once you have repented, then friend you've got to do what Peter said. You must be baptized to be saved. Listen to what Jesus said. Jesus said, "Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." Have you heard the message? Do you believe in Jesus? Are you willing to repent of sin? Would you acknowledge Him as Savior? And would you be baptized in water for the forgiveness of your sins? That Philippian jailer knew it. "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Do you realize that you've got to be saved from sin? I hope and pray today that you realize that and that you'll get your life right with God before it's too late. Study Questions for: “Salvation: Lesson 4” 1. What great question is asked in Acts 16:30-31? 2. In Romans 4:3, what question is asked that we should always ask today about matters? 3. What does Jeremiah 10:23 say about the way of man? 4. According to Romans 3:23, who has sinned? 5. What are the wages of sin according to Romans 6:23? 6. According to 1 Peter 4:11, how should we speak? 7. According to Jeremiah 2:22, can man deal with the sin problem? 8. According to 1 Peter 2:24, who bore our sins? 9. According to John 3:16, what did God give? Why? 10. How is sin described in Psalm 38:4?