26-0927p Transcript

(0:57) As you know, the title that I have given to my lecture tonight (1:02) covers almost anything, and it’s entitled Faith. So, I can do almost anything.

(1:11) But I do have one specific thing that I want to talk about, and we’re going to get to it (1:18) in a roundabout way. First of all, I want to point out, in fact, the purpose of faith (1:22) and the need for faith. And in Hebrews, the 11th chapter, it talks about (1:29) faith, and it gives us a brief description of what faith is.

The 11th chapter, starting with verse 1, (1:38) and then we’ll go from there and start it up. Hebrews, the 11th chapter, starting with verse 1. (1:48) Now, faith is confidence in what we hope for, and assurance about what we do not see. (1:57) This is what the ancients were commended for.

So, keep that in mind. Faith is that way. (2:07) I look it up in the dictionary, and faith is defined this way, complete trust or confidence (2:14) in someone or something.

And so, the Hebrew writer is saying faith is confidence in what we hope for, (2:25) and assurance about what we do not see. And this is what the ancients were commended for. (2:33) So, the thing is that what we’re going to be talking about and what I want to direct ourselves (2:37) to in a roundabout way is confidence in what we hope for, and assurance about what we do not see.

(2:48) As we reflect upon this, let’s read a little bit more in the chapter 11, and we’ll be going down to (2:56) what pleases God, which I like to talk about. Picking up in verse 2, by faith, we understand (3:06) that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was (3:15) visible. So, what is He pointing out here to us? We need to believe the Bible account (3:22) of the creation of the world, and we need to accept that by faith.

So, first of all then, (3:28) if we’re going to accept what the Bible has to say about the creation of the world, we need to, (3:33) number one, put our confidence in the Bible itself. And the Bible is the only source that (3:39) tells us about where we’re coming from, why we’re here, and where we’re going. (3:44) And as we reflect upon that, we know in 2 Peter it talks about how the prophets wrote as they were (3:53) inspired by the Holy Spirit.

And so, the Holy Spirit then is the author of this Bible, (4:01) and we need to come to the conclusion that we need to believe that the Bible is the product of God (4:07) through the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit using the pen of prophets to record this information (4:16) for us. So, we put all our trust in the Bible as being the divine Word of God, and that it is (4:24) God’s mind revealed to us, and He’s revealing to us what He wants us to know about life, (4:33) where we came from, why we’re here, and where we’re going. (4:36) And so, if we’re going to accept what is found in the Bible, then the Bible then tells us (4:45) why we’re here, where we’re going, and where we came from.

And so, it gives us the account of (4:52) the creation of the world. So, in Genesis, the first chapter, and Scott had a very, very long (5:00) discussion concerning the creation of the world, and we need to put our confidence in the fact (5:07) that this is how the world was put together. We don’t have to worry about whether or not (5:12) some foreign alien came and had a picnic on the earth and left garbage which decayed, (5:22) and that’s where we came from, is the decayed garbage.

Believe me, I’ve heard that. I don’t (5:29) know if you’ve heard that or not, but I’ve heard that as being a source of where we came from, (5:35) but it’s not. The Bible tells us that God created us, and that He’s sustaining us, (5:41) and that’s one of the things that I love about Genesis is because everything that God created (5:46) was designed to recreate itself, and so the trees can reproduce itself, the flowers can reproduce (5:55) itself, the animals can reproduce themselves, everything reproduces themselves, and so He’s (6:01) sustaining us, and the earth is formed in such a way that it continues to sustain us, and it is (6:09) with God’s hand, and so we understand that to be true because when God destroyed the world (6:17) in Noah’s day, when Noah came out of the ark, He gave Noah a promise, and that promise was (6:26) secured with a rainbow, and the rainbow was to remind us of the fact that we’re always going to (6:35) have seasons, and we’re always going to have the ability to reproduce, and the ground and the (6:42) earth is going to produce the things that it needs in order to be able to sustain the life of (6:47) the animals, the life of the fish, the birds, and us, and so God has His hand, and He did not create (6:56) the world and just put it into motion and sat back to see what happens.

He divinely intervenes in our (7:04) lives, and that’s another part of our life where we have to have faith that God is working in our (7:12) lives. So the next thing is we need to have the confidence of the fact that there is a God, (7:21) and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. So we reach on down from here, (7:30) let’s pick up with verse eight, I believe, or five.

My eyes, I chose not to use my glasses (7:40) while up here, so I have to focus on just a little bit more. By faith, (7:46) Enoch was taken from this life so that he did not experience death. He could not be found (7:54) because God had taken him away, for before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased (8:03) God, and without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him (8:12) must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly (8:20) seek Him.

So in this particular case, we need to have that He is sustaining the world, He is (8:29) sustaining our lives, and that He is existing, and He has a plan, and He has a purpose for us. (8:37) And we’ve looked at that in the past. The Ephesian letter in the very first two chapters, (8:42) first verses point out the thought pattern of why God created the heavens and the earth, (8:50) and He wanted us to be with Him eternally in heaven.

And so that’s one of the things that (8:55) we’re going to have to take a look at in particular. But we know that Jesus assured us (9:02) that God knows exactly what we are doing and how we are, and He points that out to us in Matthew, (9:11) the sixth chapter. And you know, I love dealing with Matthew, the sixth chapter, (9:18) because that’s where Jesus assures us that we’re not in this by ourselves.

And on the (9:24) Sermon on the Mount, He’s talking about how we are not to worry about our lives. (9:30) And so take a look at Matthew, the sixth chapter, and picking up with verse 25. (9:42) And as He points out here for us, Jesus is sharing with us the fact that we have to (9:48) have assurance that God is looking after us, and that He is divinely intervening in our lives, (9:56) and He providentially works in our lives, and that we have to have that kind of faith.

(10:02) Therefore, I tell you, verse 25, I’m reading from the New International Version if you haven’t (10:08) figured that out. So, as we reflect on this, therefore I tell you, do not worry about your (10:14) life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than (10:23) food and a body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air.

They do not sow or reap or (10:30) store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than (10:39) they? Can anyone of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Jesus is telling us, (10:50) have this faith. Don’t worry about what’s happening.

Don’t worry about the things, (10:56) how you’re going to sustain your life, how you’re going to make a living. Don’t worry about those (11:00) things. God is divinely intervening in your life, and He will help you find a job.

He will help you (11:06) feed your family. He will help you look after your own being. He knows what you need before (11:13) you even ask of it.

And I can assure you, in my life, having lived 85 years, I’ve experienced (11:22) times in my life where I really needed to rest on this assurance because I was (11:28) without a job many times. And I’ve held jobs that did not pay enough to support my life (11:36) and my family. Of course, I have three children.

Had three children back then. They’re all grown (11:42) and out of the house now, but they’re looking after me. See? I don’t have to worry about that.

(11:49) That’s what the psalmist says. Blessed is the person who has many arrows in their quiver. (11:55) What did he talk about? Children.

Have as many children as you can have, (12:01) and they will look after you. And so, I have three, and they’re clamoring over whether or (12:10) not I’m going to come and live with them. It’s not going to be soon.

It’s not going to be soon. (12:16) But yet, I do rely on them giving me $100 now and then. I do appreciate that very much.

(12:24) But it’s assuring us. Jesus himself is telling us, don’t worry about it. (12:30) So, he goes on and he asks the question, verse 28, (12:34) And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow? (12:39) They do not labor or spin.

Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was (12:47) dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here (12:54) today, and tomorrow thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith? (13:03) So, do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or what shall we wear? (13:12) For the pagans run after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them. (13:19) But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

(13:26) Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. (13:34) Each day has enough trouble [of its own]. So, we have to have that faith.

(13:40) And there’s where I love to just have nothing but talk about this. (13:45) Because it gets me all excited about the fact that I don’t have to worry about these things. (13:50) I have to have faith in God.

He divinely looks after me. He looks after everybody. (13:56) There isn’t an individual that he is not working on trying to get them to recognize him (14:02) and want to be reconciled to him.

And he’s extended to them the gospel. (14:09) What is the gospel? It is the fact that he is extending to us Jesus’s pardon. (14:16) And that Jesus is paying the debt for us as we have a debt to the law.

(14:23) And he’s paying that debt to the law, justifying us and giving us righteousness. (14:29) And so, as we reflect upon that, and that’s going to be my invitation just a little bit. (14:35) But the thing is, you see, these are things that we have to talk about all the time.

(14:43) And Paul, when we look at the life of Jesus, why do we see him always focusing in on his vocation? (14:54) What was his vocation? His dad was a carpenter. And I’m sure he grew up (15:01) helping his dad, Joseph, to be a carpenter. But did he rely on that for his income? (15:12) Don’t know, do we? Where did he get his income? Where did the support come from? (15:18) He believed this 100%, didn’t he? God is looking after him.

God wants to be with him. (15:24) And God was sustaining him. And God helped him through all of the problems and tribulations (15:31) that he faced with the Jewish nation and the community.

And so, as we reflect upon that, (15:39) we know that he had women who supported him. We know that he had women who fed him and made sure (15:45) that he had a place to live. We know that those were things that he was given a lot of things (15:53) and support.

So women supported him and helped him out. But look at Paul. Once Paul (16:01) found out and was converted on the road to Damascus, he gave up all his way of income, (16:09) making income, except tent making.

And we know that he relied on tent making to help him pay (16:14) his bills. But he also relied on the congregate churches that he established to help him, (16:20) and they would give him contributions. And we pick up on that in the Philippian letter.

(16:27) And so, as we reflect upon Paul and the life that he had, we can see that (16:33) he had his problems, and he had to come to a point in his life where he had to develop this (16:40) kind of faith that Jesus is talking about. He had to develop this kind of faith that we’re (16:45) being asked to develop. Take a look at 2 Corinthians and the first chapter in that (16:53) particular case, because there he points out that he was given problems that he didn’t know exactly (17:03) how he was going to get through it.

We pick up with it in the 8th verse. (17:13) 2 Corinthians. I refer to this one quite often too, so you’re going to see this right away.

(17:21) We did not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced (17:28) in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, (17:36) so that we despaired of life. What is he saying? He’s in a situation here in his life (17:48) that he doesn’t know where he’s going to turn to.

His life is in jeopardy as well as the people who (17:57) are with him. And they’re despairing. They’re praying.

They’re on their knees. I’ve been there. (18:03) I know this.

He’s crying out, what are we going to do? How are we going to do this? (18:12) And so he says, we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence (18:21) of death. But this happened, that we might not rely on ourselves.

(18:29) What? God caused this to happen to him? Divine intervention? Providence? (18:37) It sounds like it doesn’t. God wants to teach him a lesson. God is testing him.

I believe that God (18:45) tests everyone, and he wants to see how we’re going to react to it. And will we react to it (18:51) the way he suggests that we solve our problems? Or do we go to the world and ask the world and (19:00) let them teach us how we’re supposed to deal with these things? Paul grew that up in the Jewish (19:07) community. He grew up in this type of thing.

And so he was the type of person who says, (19:14) if you can’t pull your own bootstraps up, you’re in trouble. And he felt like he was the master of (19:20) his own destiny. He thought that way.

But he has to be taught to rely on God. And so, indeed, (19:30) we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened, that we might not rely on (19:36) ourselves, but on God, who raises the dead.

He has delivered us from such a deadly peril. (19:45) And we will, and he will, deliver us again on him. We have said our hope that we will continue (19:54) to deliver us.

He will continue to deliver us. As you help us by your prayers, then many will (20:02) give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. (20:09) So what are we being asked? We’re being asked to believe this, to have faith in God, (20:17) to have faith that he’s going to look after us, that he’s going to fulfill and sustain our lives.

(20:24) We have to have that faith. And so as we reflect upon it, (20:30) we don’t have to go very far in the Old Testament, do we? Because faith was required. Abraham’s faith, (20:40) we have his example of his faith, and so on.

So as we reflect upon this, (20:49) the examples that I’ve been giving is coming out of the Romans, our study of Romans. (20:54) And faith is required in chapter 3, verse 27. And we see Abraham being used as an example of faith (21:04) in chapter 4. And we see that he’s being justified by faith in chapter 5. And so we have God (21:13) extending to us a gospel.

But I want to continue on with Paul just a little bit before I get into (21:21) the real meat of what I want to talk about. And that is that when you look at Paul (21:31) in the second chapter, and I believe it’s in the 10th or 11th chapter, where he gives a (21:37) litany of all the things that he has gone through, talking about how he’s been stoned and left dead, (21:45) how he’s [fought with] wild animals, and how he’s had to do all of these various things (21:53) and endure these things for the cause of Christ. In 1 Corinthians, the 15th chapter, (22:00) Paul is talking about the resurrection, and he says that if Jesus is not resurrected, (22:05) then why did I go through all of this stuff? Why did I go through all this? (22:12) Because he believed in the resurrection, didn’t he? And he believed in the second life, (22:17) because he knew that Jesus was resurrected from the grave.

But that’s not the point that I want (22:25) to get to at this point. What I want to recognize is the fact that as Christians, we’re being assured (22:37) of heaven. Did you hear anything? As Christians, we’re being assured of heaven.

When I was growing (22:52) up and listening to my elders in the church, and I was listening to the various—because (23:00) the congregation that I went to is very similar to this, where our preachers had to come from (23:06) within the congregation and so on, and our Bible class teachers had to come from the congregation. (23:14) When it came time to talk about assurance of being in heaven, if you were to ask this question, (23:28) and I got this information once from personal evangelism. I grew up (23:38) fully in wanting to have personal evangelism.

I believed in personal evangelism. I (23:45) flooded personal evangelism. I taught it.

And there was a book come out from Kennedy (23:52) called The Persuasion—Restoration Persuasion (The Evangelism Explosion). And he says, you start out by asking a question. (24:03) As you knock on the door, the person comes to the door and says, Hi, I’m Stephen Cain, (24:08) and I’m from the West Side Church of Christ.

And I was wondering, if you were to die today, (24:16) do you know whether or not you would be with God eternally in heaven? What are you supposed (24:22) to answer is? You heard it. If you were to die today, do you know whether or not (24:30) you would be with God eternally in heaven? Well, even the people where I grew up before the (24:41) [Evangelism Explosion] by Kennedy came up, they would say, How can you know? How can you know? (24:52) Why did they answer it that way? Because they believed that if you were going to die, you (24:59) needed to die with a prayer on your lips, asking God to forgive you of your sins before your ghost (25:07) and your body gave up the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, you didn’t know whether you were going to go to (25:17) heaven or not.

Isn’t that something? Maybe you can believe that yourself, even today, (25:27) because it’s still one of those popular responses. How can you know? One of the illustrations that I (25:35) was given was, and I appeal to 1 John 1, where it says, As long as you walk in the light, (25:45) as he is in the light, his blood will continue to cleanse you. So as we reflect upon this, (25:51) here’s this truck driver who’s hauling gasoline.

He’s a semi driver, and he’s going down the road, (25:57) and he’s paying attention. He’s obeying the law and everything. But somebody pulls in front of him, (26:04) swerves in front of him, and causes him to have to make an evasive action.

And he spins around, (26:11) and he flips the truck, and he’s laying in the cab, and he can’t get out. And the gasoline is now (26:19) coming and sprawling out over him. What do you think he’s saying? (26:28) What do you think his last words are going to be? (26:32) Is he going to be praying, God, please forgive me of my sins? (26:37) That’s not quite realistic to me.

I think he may be thinking some other things. (26:47) But even if he is, that’s not the answer. The answer is, as long as you’re walking in the light, (26:59) if he is in the light, his blood will continue to cleanse you.

What is he talking about walking? (27:07) He’s talking about your tenor of life. You’re a Christian. You know, you walk the walk, (27:18) and you talk the talk.

But you find yourself in a situation that challenges you. Are you going to (27:26) pray, God, forgive me, just as someone lights that gasoline, and it goes up in the flames, and you (27:34) are incinerated? What is the test? The test basically is, what was your manner of life? (27:48) As long as you walk in the light, Jesus is going to be interceding for you. (27:53) Jesus is pleading for you.

He’s on the right hand side of God. You have become his disciple. You’ve (28:00) been baptized into his church, and the forgiveness of his sins, and he is reaching out to you.

(28:09) You have been lifted and taken away from the law of sin and death, and you’re put under the law of (28:14) liberty, the law of freedom. You’ve been given grace, mercy. You’re not under the law at this (28:25) point.

But that’s not my point that I want to make. I want to make the point is that God (28:37) has promised you heaven. That’s the point I want to make.

(28:47) So, take a look at 1 John 2, verse 25. I believe if I made my point here, 1 John 2, (29:17) going down to verse 25. (29:35) I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.

As for you, (29:50) the anointing you received from him, the Holy Spirit, God, remains in you, and you do not need (29:58) anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and as that anointing is (30:06) real, not counterfeit, just as it has been taught to you, remain in him. I’m sorry, I don’t seem to (30:24) have what I want.

v25. Okay, I’ve read 26, and my eyes are not focusing like I want. As for you, (30:33) see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you.

If it does, you also will remain (30:42) in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised you, eternal life. He promised you (30:55) eternal life.

And I believe that Titus, in the first chapter, Paul is pointing this out to Titus. (31:02) Take a look at Titus. First chapter.

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, (31:14) to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads in godliness, (31:21) in hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time. (31:31) And which now, at his appointed season, he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted (31:39) to me by the command of God our Savior. God is promising Christians, those who are reconciled (31:50) to him, who want to be his disciple and his children, he’s promising you his heritage.

(31:58) If you’re going to inherit heaven, it’s going to be there. It’s his. (32:07) So as we reflect upon that, I’m trying to get my thoughts real quick here.

I think it’s in (32:29) Philippians where Paul talks about the fact that he is definitely convinced that regardless, (32:40) he is going to go to heaven. I think in Philippians, the fourth chapter, I think it’s (32:49) verse 19, that’s where he’s working on faith. Faith is God supporting him and supplying him (33:13) with all his needs.

So in the fourth chapter there, Paul talks about the fact in chapter 10, (33:21) or verse 10, about how that he is absolutely free of concern. He says, I rejoice greatly (33:29) in the Lord that at least you renewed your concern for me. At last you’ve renewed your (33:37) concern for me.

Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. (33:43) I’m not saying this because I am in need, but I have learned to be content, (33:49) whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.

(33:57) I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, (34:05) whether living in plenty or in [want]. I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. (34:13) And so he goes on and he talks.

Paul definitely knows that he has a crown laid up for him in (34:22) Christ. He’s assured of that. And he wants us to know that ourselves.

Take a look at Corinthians, (34:32) the Colossians rather, and I’m going to finish up with this because I only have 15 minutes left. (34:39) I’m giving you the whole bail. You heard that joke, haven’t you? (34:50) But anyway, what is the hope? The hope that Paul is talking about in Hebrews, the 11th chapter, (35:03) certain of the hope.

You are certain of the hope. What is the hope that they have? (35:11) Well, they want to go to heaven. How are they going to get there? What do they have to do (35:21) in order to be assured of going to heaven? They would all love to be able to go to heaven.

(35:29) So I like to use this illustration, which I haven’t used in years. I made it up myself, (35:35) but I’m going to try it right now. Suppose you need to go to Houston, Texas, where my daughter (35:42) lives, and you have to be there by a certain time.

And you’ve got probably about a month to (35:51) get there, but you’ve got a date that you need to keep. So a month. What is your hope of getting (35:59) to Houston in a month? It’s pretty good.

You’ve got all different kinds of routes and all different (36:07) kinds of transportation that can get you there in a month. You can drive on your own. You can (36:13) get a bus ticket.

You can get a train ticket, because I’ve looked into that. (36:19) It only takes you within 100 miles of Houston, and then you find a different way to get there. (36:25) You can fly there.

So you’re toying with the idea, what do I do? What do I do? (36:32) But you put off buying a ticket. You put off establishing how you’re going to get there. (36:38) But then time’s getting short.

Next thing you know, you’ve got a week to get there. (36:44) How are you going to get there? Well, you’ve still got some options, don’t you? You can still drive. (36:50) You can still get a bus ticket and still be able to get there in a week.

But suppose you keep (36:56) putting it off and putting it off. How are you going to get there? Notice this word. (37:04) The only hope that you have to get there is to fly.

How did I use that word hope? (37:13) It wasn’t, I wish I would, and I can’t, I can’t. I used that word to establish the fact that the only (37:21) possible way that I can get to Houston is by flying there and getting there on time. (37:31) And that’s where I use the word hope.

How are we going to get to heaven? (37:38) The only hope that you are going to have to get to heaven is to come to Jesus (37:48) and put him on in baptism, become his disciple and be buried with him in baptism, (37:55) to rise and walk in the newness of life and to have your sins washed away. (38:00) That’s the only hope that you’re going to get to heaven. So how did the Hebrew letter (38:09) use the word hope? He says, it is trust.

Well, I got to go back to that real quickly. (38:25) Don’t leave, Colossians, because I’m going to use that as my closing point. Now, faith is the (38:34) confidence in what we hope for.

So what is our hope? Eternal life in heaven with God, (38:43) having a right relationship with God. We have to have faith that God has extended to us (38:51) the opportunity to have our sins forgiven and to be justified in his sight and to be (38:57) reconciled to him. The only hope we have so that we have to have confidence in what we hope for (39:06) and assurance about what we do not see.

And this is what the ancients were commended for. (39:16) And he goes on and talks about the various individuals who had hope. (39:20) The only hope that we have.

So people have to recognize the fact that God’s message that he (39:31) is giving to them through the prophets, through preaching and through Christians trying to help (39:39) them. The only way that they’re going to get to heaven is to come to church. That’s how hope is (39:47) being used.

The only hope they have of being in heaven is to be a Christian. The only hope they (39:57) have is taking God up on what he is offering them through the gospel. So take a look now at (40:04) Colossians, the first chapter, and we’re going to read real quickly.

I don’t know why I have (40:13) trouble sometimes here. Notice what he says. He’s picking up with verse three.

We always thank God. (40:25) He’s writing to the Colossians and he’s praising them for their hope. He’s praising them for their (40:31) faith rather.

And he’s praising them for the things that they are doing. I always thank God, (40:37) the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you because we have heard of your faith in (40:43) Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all of God’s people. The faith and love that spring from (40:51) the hope stored up for you in heaven.

How is he using that word hope? He’s using that word hope (40:59) is that they are using their faith to get them to heaven. That’s all. For the hope, (41:09) you know, the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven (41:15) and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel (41:21) that has come to you in the same way.

And here he’s got a comma because he’s got an (41:30) insert he wants. The gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world just as it has (41:38) been doing among you since the day you heard of it and truly understood God’s grace. So what is (41:46) Paul saying? Paul is saying that people are learning about the hope you have and that you (41:52) are taking up and becoming believers in God and that you are having Jesus as your Lord and Savior (41:59) and they’re attracted to that hope and they’re coming to you.

They’re responding to God’s gospel (42:10) and his invitation to them. That’s what he’s saying there. People are recognizing the fact (42:16) that the only hope they have is in the church.

That’s it. What faith am I asking you to have? (42:31) Faith in God. Faith in the promise that he has made to you when you responded to him to become (42:39) reconciled to him.

That he was holding out to you the opportunity to be reconciled to him. (42:47) He was holding out to you the opportunity to become his children and to share in his rest. (42:58) So how do we get that? The only way we’re going to get it is to respond positively to the message (43:06) of the gospel.

Hear, believe, repent and confess and be baptized for the remission sins. If there’s (43:16) anyone here this evening that needs to respond in any way, ask for prayers in the congregation, (43:22) whatever, we’d like to extend to you the opportunity to respond and if you want to respond to God’s (43:29) invitation, let it be known. We’re willing to assist you. because the water, the garments, (43:35) and everything is ready.

Won’t you come? All together as we stand and sing the song of encouragement. (43:41)