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One Sermon
(8/22/2005)

If you knew that you had only one opportunity in your life to preach before a group, what would you say? At my current level of understanding of God and the Gospel, here’s what I’d say:

Who I am is of no importance, but what I have to tell you could be the most important thing you’ll ever hear. What I’m offering you is simply…the Truth. It’s not a mental band-aid designed to get you through the day. It’s not a little lie to tell yourself to allow you to endure your miserable existence. It’s not positive thinking and it’s probably very different from what you’ve heard from televangelists and other preachers you may have heard. It’s not a false hope telling you to just hang in there and tomorrow will be a better day because tomorrow may not be better. It’s an eternal hope that is real…a hope that has lasted for thousands of years and will continue for eternity. Will you hear it?

Aren’t you tired of trying to convince yourself and your children that things will get better? Or maybe you’re past that and you’ve just given up on hoping things will get any better. But I want to tell you there IS hope. No band-aids. No false hope. Just the Truth. Will you hear it? Will you listen?

If you don’t want to know the truth, walk away, wake up tomorrow morning, and tell yourself whatever you have to in order to keep yourself going from one day to the next. But if you want to know the Truth, here it is:

There’s Good News and there’s Bad News. To appreciate the Good News, you need to understand the Bad News. Let’s start with a little history. HISTORY, mind you…this is not mythology or religion but WHAT HAPPENED.

In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. He created man and woman so that we could fellowship with Him and to bring glory to Himself. That’s your purpose…if you’ve ever wondered why you were put here on this earth, that’s it! To fellowship with God and to bring glory to Him. But man sinned and chose to disobey God and that fellowship was broken. Adam was the first man and through his sin death entered into the world. He and all of his descendents (which includes us) were condemned to death. But not just physical death, but spiritual death as well. Man was now condemned to the eternal fires of Hell with the Devil and his angels (who had also rebelled against God).

Now before you get all upset with Adam, you need to be honest with yourself and realize that you’ve sinned, too. It’s not just Adam’s fault. You have to take responsibility for your own actions. Romans 3:23 says that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” We’re sinful and God is holy. And our sinfulness goes right to the bone! We’re sinful through and through. If we go to Hell, it’s because it’s exactly what we deserve. And the more you get to know God, the more you realize that. And there’s no way that we can ever make ourselves holy. Regardless of how hard we may try, we’ll always mess it up. Isaiah 54:6 says “all our righteousness is as filthy rags.” On our own, we’re going straight to Hell because it’s exactly what we deserve and there is no way out of it. We are utterly without hope.

Now I bet a lot of you are thinking, “now wait a minute…I’m a good person. Sure, I’m not perfect but who is? At least I’m not like so and so. Isn’t it a little bit of an over-reaction for God to send me to eternal hell? I mean, I try the best I can and that just doesn’t sound fair.”

So you think you’re a good person? Good by whose standards…yours or Gods? Well let me ask you this…have you ever told a lie? Of course, we all have. What does that make you? It makes you a liar doesn’t it? Have you ever stolen something? I mean taking anything that’s not yours. What does that make you? It makes you a thief. You know, Jesus said that if you look at someone with lust in your heart then you’ve committed adultery with them. Have you ever done that? So by your own admission, you’re a lying, thieving, adulterer…and that’s just 3 of the commandments. NOW, do you still think that you’re a good person? Some of you may say “hey, sure I’ve done those things but it’s not like I go around doing them all the time so don’t start calling me a liar or a thief or an adulterer.” Well let me ask you this, how many times do you have to commit murder before you call yourself a murderer? Like I said, by your own admission you’re a lying, thieving, adulterer. When you stand before God (as every one of us will) do you think you’ll be considered innocent or guilty? I think you know the answer.

THAT, my friends, is the Bad News. We’re all guilty before God and have no way to escape God’s just wrath.

Here’s the Good News. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not condemned but he that believes not is condemned already (John 3:16-18).” “God demonstrates his great love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).”

Since God was and is holy and just, there had to be punishment for our sins. But God loved us so much that instead of leaving us to our just fate, He sent His own Son Jesus to take our punishment for us! Even though He was tempted in every way just like we are, Jesus lived a sinless life and was crucified for our sins. By His death and resurrection the price was paid in full for our sins and now we can be reunited with God! So that means now we can live like the Devil and do whatever we want because Jesus has taken our punishment for us, right? Wrong!

God requires something from us to be able to receive His forgiveness. Let me say it again… God requires something from us to be able to receive His forgiveness.You may have heard preachers quoting Romans 6:23 tell you that eternal life is the free gift of God and that’s true. It’s free in that there is nothing that you can do to earn it, but the gift of eternal life in heaven is NOT unconditional. If you think that you can just believe in Jesus and that gives you your “fire insurance” so now you can do as you please, you’re sadly mistaken. “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!” (James 2:19). Acts 2:38 states “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 10:9 says “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Jesus said “if any man would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me (Matthew 16:24).” What does God want from you? In a word…everything. He wants your whole life. Your whole miserable sinful life.

He wants you to repent from your sins. Repentance means simply to acknowledge that God is true and just when He calls you sinful. Repentance means trusting God to help you stop doing the things that you know are wrong. That doesn’t mean that you’ll never stumble again but that when you do you will confess your sins before God and get right back on the path. 1 John 1:9 says that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Proverbs 24:16 says “a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again.”

Repentance is a lifelong process. As God reveals areas of our lives which need to change, then we need to submit our will to His will. And when we sin, we don’t just give up but as Hebrews 4:16 says we can come boldly to the throne of grace and receive mercy and forgiveness. But the lifelong process of repentance must begin with a willingness to repent of the things that you already know that are wrong.

Jesus wants you to confess Him as Lord. That means that you surrender every area of your life to Him. Your hopes, your dreams, your fears, your money, your family, who you think you are…everything to His Lordship.

And He wants you to really believe that He rose from the dead and now sits at the right hand of the Father. Sure, it happened a long time ago but that doesn’t make it any less real! Jesus really walked on this planet, lived a sinless life, was crucified for our sins, and then defeated death! He is alive right now and sitting at the right hand of the Father.

What else? God wants you to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him. Once you accept Jesus as Lord, you’ll discover that part of you doesn’t want to follow Jesus. Part of you likes to sin. That part is called the flesh or the old nature. Once the Holy Spirit comes to live in you, you’ll have a new Spiritual nature but the old nature will fight against it. This is a battle that you will be fighting until the day you die. But remember the promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13: “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” You’ll find that being a Christian is hard sometimes. Sometimes it’s hard because you have to deny what your flesh wants to do. Sometimes it’s hard because you have to learn to obey God even in the hard times. And there WILL be hard times. Jesus said “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world (John 16:33).”

You may have heard some preachers talk about salvation and discipleship as if they’re two different things. As if discipleship is only for those who are “serious” about their relationship with Christ. Jesus didn’t say that if you’re really serious, then pick up your cross and follow me. He said “if ANY MAN would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” According to the Word of God, there is no such thing as someone who is saved but isn’t a disciple of Christ. If you’re not willing to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Him, then you need to take a real close look at whether you’re really a Christian or not.

So that’s what God requires of you if you want His forgiveness: repent of your sins, confess Him as Lord of your life, believe that He rose from the dead, and be prepared to deny yourself and follow Him. What does God offer in return? He offers forgiveness of all your sins…past, present, and future. He offers you peace as only He can give it. John 14:27 says “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” He promises to provide for you. Matthew 6:33 says “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” He promises you the Holy Spirit will come to live inside of you. Luke 11:13 says “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" But most importantly, your name will be written in the Book of Life so that you may spend eternity with Jesus! 1 John 5:11-13 states “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” Not hope, not guess, but KNOW!

So there’s the Good News! You give God all your sin and your life which is so messed up that you have to lie to yourself just to get through the day and He gives you all that! How can you pass that up? Is there any reason not to surrender your life to Christ? You’re not promised tomorrow. Don’t wait until it’s too late to repent. The Word says “now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2) but that He “will not always strive with man (Genesis 6:3).” “It is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment (Hebrews 9:27).”

I said when I started that all I was offering was the truth and that’s all I’ve given you. Without Christ, you have no hope in this life or the next. Any hope that you try to generate apart from God is an illusion and I promise you that it will disappoint you in the end. Stop lying to yourself and discover the only real hope there is…Christ in you, the Hope of Glory!