Marv's Final Message Part 2

[0:00] We're talking about our most recent good news and I want you if you would please to turn to the last book in the Old Testament, which of course is the book of Malachi.

[0:17] Keep in mind if you would that Malachi was written approximately 400 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

[0:27] And in connection with this theme, our most recent good news, we want to make a distinction between our most recent good news and the news that many are publishing today that is not the most recent but is out of date good news.

[0:50] And the difference is amazing because when you are operating on the basis of out of date good news and then you are confronted with the present day good news, they don't mix.

[1:08] They appear to be contradictory. And it leaves you saying, well, now, wait a minute. What is this? It says one thing here, but it says something else here.

[1:20] And they're both in the word of God. So which one am I supposed to go with and why? This is a very critical issue in the body of Christ and in Christendom in general.

[1:37] And you need to be warned up front as I attempt to do so each time. And I don't do so to sound like a broken record, but I want you to understand what you are hearing and what you are getting into.

[1:48] When I tell you the position that we present here at Grace Bible Church is the minority position for Christendom.

[1:59] Did you get that? And by the minority position of Christendom, I'm talking about Roman Catholicism coupled with Protestantism.

[2:12] In this particular issue, those two bodies, Roman Catholicism and most of Protestantism are together.

[2:24] They are in agreement with the position that we are going to explain but reject. And we will be rejecting it in favor of the position that we hold and why.

[2:38] And the reason I am doing this now, and by the way, I know for you grace people who are familiar with the mystery, and some of you could teach it as well or better than I can, this is going to be ho-hum stuff to you.

[2:54] You're going to yawn and say, ah, we've heard this all before, Marv. Yes, I suppose you have. But you're going to hear it again, because as the Apostle Peter said, I want to stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, and I'm going to reveal things to you that you already know.

[3:16] But I'm going to stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance. So I make no apology. And I guess I would say that this is kind of like these eight messages that we will be delivering, of which this is the second, this is kind of like my swan song to Grace Bible Church.

[3:34] And it is as if you were saying, well, Marv, if you knew that you just had eight messages to deliver to your congregation, what would you tell them?

[3:47] That's what I'm doing. That's what I'm doing. And this morning you are getting the second of those eight messages. And these are things that I do not simply want you to remember.

[4:01] I want you to be unable to forget them. That's how deeply I want them to become a part of you, because it represents the most precious, priceless truth that you could ever imagine.

[4:14] And it all focuses on what happened on Calvary 2,000 years ago.

[4:26] That's the basis for it all. So the administration or the dispensation, and that's the word that probably is preferred and used by most, but I have a problem with dispensation and dispensationalism, and the problem I have with it is the fact that too many people have a problem with it.

[4:49] It doesn't communicate to them, and it just sounds like a big 25-cent theological word. What in the world does that mean? Dispensationalism. Sometimes people say I can't hardly spell it, much less pronounce it.

[5:03] So I've replaced the word with what I think is a word that communicates better, but means exactly the same thing. And it's the word administration, because almost everybody knows what an administration is.

[5:22] And for the best and most likely example that I could give you, we have a government that changes in its administration every four years.

[5:38] Every time a new president is elected, we designate that as the beginning of a new administration.

[5:50] And it lasts for four years, and if he happens to be reelected, it may go on for another four years, but it's going to stop at the end of eight, because that's all he can have according to the Constitution. And then there will be another election and a new president, and he will bring in with him a new administration.

[6:09] And all that means is he has different ways of doing things, different programs to implement, different goals, different objectives, and a lot of things change.

[6:19] Some things stay the same, but there are a whole lot of things that change, because it is the prerogative of a new president to impose his ideas and his administration upon the public.

[6:33] That's why they elected him. So we are saying that the Bible has different administrations. Different things are right and proper at different times.

[6:47] And you need to understand there is a difference between principles and policies. Principles in the Bible never change.

[7:02] Spiritual principles never change. God is faithful. That's a principle. Man is sinful. That's a principle. There are all kinds of principles. Lying is forbidden.

[7:16] That's a moral principle. Truth-telling is something that is to be held in high regard. That's a principle. But then there are policies, and policies can change.

[7:27] They can shift in accordance with what the need is. God does not change. He is immutable. He has no reason to change.

[7:39] How are you going to change perfection? If you add perfection to perfection, all you get is more perfection. If you subtract from perfection, you have something less than perfection, which would mean God could be less than perfect.

[7:54] Well, that's nonsense. God doesn't change. He remains absolutely, totally perfect about everything all the time. That's part of his job description. But God's policies change.

[8:07] Why do his policies change? Because people change. Because situations change. Circumstances change. God has nothing to interfere with his immutability.

[8:21] But we have all kinds of things that crop up, that change, that require all kinds of adaptations and changes, and sometimes we throw out something and bring in something entirely new.

[8:35] So there is a difference between principles that never change and policies that are subject to change.

[8:47] And sometimes great confusion is realized if the policy should be changed but isn't. And this is partly what we are dealing with in connection with policies as they are set forth in the scriptures.

[9:05] So, the administration, that is the manner and time in which God's principles and requirements are carried out, can differ.

[9:18] Those described in the four gospels, those principles described in the four gospels, and policies in the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the same as those of the Old Testament.

[9:34] Now, you need to understand that and think that through because it doesn't sound right. Why are we insisting that it is right? And we are insisting because when Jesus began his earthly ministry at the age of about 30 and was introduced into the priesthood of Melchizedek, one of a kind, when that happened, he began his three to three and a half year ministry in Israel, laboring and functioning entirely under the Mosaic law.

[10:17] He constantly referred to the law of Moses, how people were obligated to keep it, everything that went with it, and we'll be looking at some of those things momentarily.

[10:28] And that was standard operating procedure. Jesus kept a kosher diet. He kept the Sabbath, even though he was accused of some of not violating it.

[10:41] He never did violate the Sabbath in accordance with the Mosaic interpretation of it. And Jesus was the most loyal, law-respecting, abiding person who ever walked the earth.

[10:55] Never once did he violate the law of Moses. And that is what the Gospels are all about. That's the way it is all the way through the Gospels.

[11:07] Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. So in a very real sense, I know how weird this sounds. It just doesn't register with a lot of people, but it is true. In a very real sense, the content of the four Gospels belong more appropriately to the milieu of the Old Testament, not the New.

[11:31] Well, what is it that really kicks off the New Testament then? What's the line of demarcation? It's the cross.

[11:44] It's the cross. That's the focal point. But you say, but isn't the cross, isn't the crucifixion found in the Gospels? Yes. But it's found at the end of the Gospels, all of them, all the way up to that, we have a living Christ functioning and operating, performing his miracles, giving his teachings and everything, all under the Old Testament law and order economy.

[12:10] It's really important that you understand that. And listen, folks, this isn't opinion. This isn't Wiseman opinion. Just read the book. It becomes pretty obvious.

[12:22] It's a slam dunk, if you will. And it's very difficult to deny, even though, unfortunately, some apparently do. So in Malachi chapter 3, and beginning with verse 1, be reminded now, Malachi wrote his prophecy about 400 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

[12:50] And the text says, Behold, I am going to send my messenger. Now, this is God speaking here.

[13:02] If you look at the context, you can see in verse 17, you have wearied the Lord with your words, yet you say, how have we wearied him? And that you say, everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord.

[13:15] He delights in them. Or where is the God of justice? Well, the God of justice is going to speak through Malachi beginning this next chapter. And by the way, the chapter divisions are all artificial.

[13:26] These are all man-made. So you should understand that there is continuity between the end of chapter 2 and the beginning of chapter 3. It's just that the people who put the scriptures together, they made the chapter divisions.

[13:40] God didn't make them, and they weren't written that way. But that's the way they are, and it helps in locating the text. So, where is the God of justice? And he is speaking through Malachi in verse 1 of chapter 3.

[13:53] Behold, I, and that is the Lord speaking, I am going to send my messenger.

[14:07] This will be my special man to deliver a special message. And he will be my messenger, and he will clear the way before me.

[14:26] And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. That's, of course, the Lord Jesus.

[14:36] And the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, that's Messiah, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.

[14:47] This is father and son here in conversation. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears he is like a refiner's fire and like a fuller's soap?

[14:58] So, this is referring to the Messiah, and when it is talking about the Messiah who is going to come, and the one who will be his messenger, that's John the Baptist.

[15:09] John the Baptist had the special responsibility, as he just happened to be the second cousin of Jesus, but he had the special responsibility of announcing, as he said, in John's gospel chapter one, that he has come to make the Messiah known to the nation of Israel.

[15:34] And that's what John meant when he looked up and saw his second cousin Jesus coming down the road, and John cried out, Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

[15:48] He was talking of Jesus. That's the fulfillment of this particular verse right here in Malachi. He is the announcer, or the forerunner of Jesus, who is going to introduce him to Israel.

[16:00] And the people came out from everywhere. All Jerusalem and Judea, they were flowing out. They heard John. Who is this man, and what is he talking about?

[16:13] He's talking about the Messiah. He's come. Well, who is he? Well, if you get into the Hebrew Bible, and you go back all the way to Genesis chapter three, and that's way back.

[16:28] That's in the Garden of Eden. That's before the fall. And what is happening in chapter three is an account of the fall.

[16:39] It is an account of paradise having been created is now lost. chapter three, everything comes crashing down because of the rebellion of our first parents.

[16:57] They disobeyed God, and they bought the fake news of the adversary, and they disobeyed, and as a result, they took upon them something that God didn't put in them, and it was called a sinful nature.

[17:17] And that sinful nature produced guilt, and guilt produced fear, and fear caused them to hide from the one that they usually welcomed on a daily basis in the cool of the garden, and now they're hiding, and they come up with this fig leaves to cover their nakedness and all the rest of it.

[17:39] This is the demise of the human race, and implanted in the bodies of Adam and Eve was something we do not understand, but it caused their progeny, their children, to now be born with this same new nature called a sinful nature that their parents had developed.

[18:09] and as a result, as I told you, the first man born on the face of the earth was guilty of murdering his own brother, and the human race is off to a flying start, and it's not good news.

[18:30] That's the paradise lost, and from Genesis 3 on, all the rest of the Bible, clear up to Revelation, is the account of what God has done working with men and angels to recapture what was lost.

[18:51] That would be paradise regained, and it is still a work in process. Paradise has not been regained.

[19:06] For those who are of the opposite opinion, I mentioned before about Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, they are in cahoots in this thing.

[19:17] And by the way, these people that hold these views, the Protestants and the Catholics, they do so with good intent. They do so with good motive.

[19:30] They do so as a matter of what they believe to be faith. They honestly hold these opinions. Of course, we know that doesn't make them right, and the opinions that we hold doesn't make them right either, just because we hold them.

[19:45] If something is true, it is true because it corresponds to reality. It's not true based on who believes it, or who doesn't, because truth is not determined by who believes it or the number of people who believe it.

[19:57] Truth is determined by its inherent truthfulness, and its correspondence to reality. So, they hold these positions in good faith, and I'm not criticizing or condemning, I'm just saying there is a difference, and let me say this very candidly up front.

[20:14] If I had been in the position of these folks who came to these conclusions back in the third and fourth century under Augustine and Origen and so on, I have no doubt at all I would have reached the same conclusion they did, and it would have been just as wrong, because what they did was they looked at the situation and they interpreted the facts, but they were wrong.

[20:46] They misread what was taking place. I call these faulty assumptions. They really believed because it appeared, you know, things are not always as they seem.

[21:02] Things are not always as they appear to be, and that's what we're talking about. So these people that differ with us, bless our heart, I wish they could see what we see, and you know what they think?

[21:15] They think, well, we wish that people like Marv Wiseman could see what we see. So there is that great divide that exists, and everybody holds all of the positions they hold in good faith, and in good sympathies.

[21:30] They're not trying to hoodwink anybody. They really believe this, and so do we. So what are we going to do about this? Well, all we can do is present the truth as best we can and let people make up their own minds.

[21:46] But you need to understand, as I've said, we occupy the minority position. Interesting, I will say this, though, too, before I go on. The Roman Catholics and most of the Protestants interpret the vast majority of the Bible just like we do.

[22:09] Same principles, same conclusions. So what's the difference? Prophecy. Prophecy.

[22:19] They spiritualize prophecy. That's how they are able to say, I know the Bible says Israel, but it doesn't mean Israel.

[22:34] It means the church. So Israel becomes the church, and we say, no, no, no, no. Israel still means Israel.

[22:46] God has spoken, and he doesn't stutter. So they are with us on just about every page except prophecy, and that's where they, we believe, go astray.

[22:57] Because we are committed to the scriptures being approached literally, which does not mean, and this is, by the way, this is something that we are most often accused of.

[23:10] Well, those dispensationalists, they take everything in the Bible literally. That's nonsense. That's nonsense. The Bible is saturated with non-literal, figurative language, and when it is used, it is almost always easily identified and is not intended to be taken literally because it is a poetic license thing.

[23:35] And when you get into figurative language, you add emphasis to it as well as variety. Haven't I told you this a million times?

[23:48] Do you know what I just did? I used hyperbole. That's a figure of speech. But is anybody going to say, well, that Marv Wiseman is a big liar.

[24:00] He hasn't told us that a million times. I don't think he's even told us that a thousand times. So what am I saying? I'm trying to emphasize something, and when you exaggerate intentionally, it is understood that it is an exaggeration, and you're just trying to get people to make the point, to see the point.

[24:18] So let's go to my hand. Malachi 3 is speaking of the Messiah who is to come. And we're going to go to Matthew, we're going to fast forward now 400 years from Malachi, and we'll arrive in the following opening of the New Testament, Matthew's Gospel chapter 5.

[24:43] Keep in mind, as I told you, this is under the Old Testament administration. Nothing has changed. This is still the law of Moses is activated.

[24:55] And we read in chapter 5 and verse 3, blessed, Jesus is speaking, and he says, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

[25:07] Now I want you to understand one thing that is very, very important, and if you do, why, you'll go a long way toward helping yourself. The kingdom of heaven is not the same as heaven, the abode of God.

[25:25] Although at first glance, that's what you would think, and it seems very logical. But the kingdom of heaven is what is going to be preached by Jesus and by John the Baptist, and it is an earnest prayer for God's rule and reign in heaven to be brought down to the earth so that the will of God that is done in heaven will be done on earth.

[26:00] That's the kingdom of heaven come to earth. that's what this is all about. That's what John the Baptist is preaching when he says, repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

[26:11] What's that mean? It means God is about to make good on his promise. You know how long we've waited for this? I'm putting words in John's mouth, but John could have well said, we've waited for this message for 4,000 years, 4,000 years, and I'm sure there are probably a lot of people who were thinking, ah, we just don't understand that.

[26:38] There isn't going to be any kingdom of heaven. No, no, no, no. These Jews were locked into this and it was a promise that was given through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that the time is coming when God's rule and reign will be realized here on earth because somebody is going to arrive on the scene and he will make it happen.

[27:00] and that somebody is the seed of the woman of Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15 and that occurred right after the fall when God made that commitment and he was speaking to none other than the adversary, to Satan himself in the form of a serpent and he said the seed of the woman, which means the offspring of the woman will realize his heel being struck by you.

[27:37] A serpent is going to fasten onto the heel, as it were, but he will crush your head.

[27:48] So the first speaks of a wound, relatively speaking, the second speaks of a mortal blow. when he crushes your head, that will be your finality.

[28:02] Well, the seed of the woman was 4,000 years in coming. You know, you often wonder if they didn't think this was going to be a lot earlier.

[28:16] Every generation of Jews that came on the scene, every generation thought theirs would be the one where the Messiah would be born. And the generations came and the generations went.

[28:29] And the centuries came and the centuries went. And the millennia came and the millennia went. And after 4,000 years, this man, wearing strange clothes with a strange diet, appeared in the wilderness out of nowhere, shouting, repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

[28:55] And the Jews were electrified. This is it. This is what Moses was talking about.

[29:05] And they came out, they heard John preach, and they were baptized, they were ceremonially purified and cleansed with John's baptism upon their repentance, and they were anticipating the Messiah.

[29:21] And John says, here he is, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. And he came to Jesus to be baptized. And John says, I can't baptize you.

[29:35] I can't baptize you. What was he saying? It is repent. Repent of what? Repent of your sin.

[29:47] Repent of your bad attitude. But Jesus didn't have sin, and he didn't have a bad attitude. He was sinless. So what's he going to be baptized about? What about the cleansing? And John says, no, I can't baptize you.

[30:01] And Jesus said, suffer it now to be so, for thus it becomes me to fulfill all righteousness. He wanted to be identified with Israel as a loyal, obedient Jew to the law of Moses in every jot and tittle.

[30:16] And he was. And John baptized him and John says, and when I baptized him, the spirit of God descended on him in the form of a dove.

[30:31] And as I stood there, I heard this voice come right out of heaven. This is my beloved son.

[30:42] hear him. And John got the message and so did the people around him. And the word passed through the place like wildfire.

[30:56] And people were coming out in great droves because John was delivering a message that's saying God is making good on his promise that he gave 4,000 years ago.

[31:11] And the people were ecstatic. Except for one crowd. They didn't think much of John at all.

[31:26] He wasn't one of them. You know what John was? John was outside the deep state of Israel.

[31:39] John was an outsider. He wasn't one of the good old boys. Think of that.

[31:52] Draw any comparisons you want. But John was looked upon as an interloper. He doesn't belong here.

[32:03] He's not from one of our rabbinical schools. He doesn't have our credentials. We haven't given him an okay. Therefore, we reject John.

[32:14] And we reject John's message. So when Jesus came on the scene and was presented as the Messiah of Israel, what do you think their attitude would be toward Jesus?

[32:27] Well, it would be consistent. We don't like John, and we don't like who John introduced. And they rejected both. that's going to set up a confrontation that Jesus is going to have to contend with for the entirety of his ministry.

[32:47] And you need to understand this. Those who did believe in Jesus as the Messiah are going to have to contend with it. After Jesus has been crucified, buried, and risen again, they're still going to have to contend with it, and they will end up being persecuted in the book of Acts because of their position regarding him.

[33:11] So, this is where we are. Old Testament, verse 3, verse 10, blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

[33:24] What is that? Look at verse 16. We must hurry on through this. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works. Glorify your father who is in heaven.

[33:35] Come over to chapter 6, just across the page if you would, and let's look at verses 9 through 15. Pray then in this way, our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come.

[33:51] That's a prayer for the coming of the kingdom, and this is exactly what John was announcing. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors, and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

[34:09] For anine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. For if you forgive men for their transgressions, Jesus said your heavenly father will also forgive you.

[34:26] But if you do not forgive men, then your father will not forgive your transgressions. What do you make of that?

[34:43] Well, it says what it means. It means what it says. I would agree. I agree. under what administration is this being offered and spoken?

[34:57] Is it under the old or the new? It's under the old, isn't it? Is not this works oriented kind of thing?

[35:13] If you want to be forgiven, you've got to forgive others. Where is the grace in that? There isn't any grace in that. And let me make this very clear.

[35:25] There isn't supposed to be any grace in that. This is a works taught thing. This is a performance based thing. This is conditionality. And the condition of you being forgiven is your willingness to forgive others.

[35:41] Because if you don't forgive others, God's not going to forgive you. Is that true today? What's the difference? The difference is in just one word.

[35:55] It's grace. Grace. Grace. Grace arrives on the scene. When does it get here? The law came by Moses.

[36:08] But grace and truth come by Jesus Christ. When was the foundation laid for the basis of the grace of God to be extended to all?

[36:23] Calvary. the cross. The cross. Not before. There is no, in the gospels, there is a great emphasis on belief, especially in John's gospel.

[36:40] But you've got to understand, John's gospel was written several years after the fact, too. Long after Jesus had gone back to heaven, John's gospel was written. It might have even been the latest of all of the gospels written.

[36:54] So John is also writing from a position of history and updating and going into the gospels. It's completely different. And that's why it's said as it is.

[37:07] So we've got a situation here where grace is not going to be available and realized until Jesus said, it is finished.

[37:22] And he bowed his head and he died. And the veil, the veil in the temple, that Jewish temple where all of the items of furniture were kept and where the ark of the covenant is kept, that and that ark had the tables, had the tables of the law in it and Aaron's golden rod, the golden rod, the almond rod and the golden pot of manna.

[37:53] Those things were kept inside the ark and it had a lid on it called the mercy seat and the overarching angel and it was separated. The holy place from the most holy place had this thick curtain between it and the high priest could go behind there just one time a year.

[38:11] on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement and there he would offer animal blood for himself and for the sins of the people and the day of atonement would allow God to give Israel as a nation a pass for their sins for one year and then at the end of the year had to be done all over again.

[38:37] Most marvelous commentary on this is Hebrews chapter 10. I suggest that you read it at your leisure. You'll get a great deal of benefit out of it and when Jesus was betrayed the night he took that goblet and he said this cup is the new covenant in my blood and as often as you drink of this cup and eat of this bread you show forth the Lord's death until he comes.

[39:02] That was the establishment of the new covenant. covenant. What was the old covenant? Moses. The law. The law that made its demands.

[39:17] What demands does grace make? Simply that you believe. But why would you believe?

[39:28] Well you believe because you have the need for forgiveness. What do you have to be forgiven for?

[39:39] All your sins. Is there anybody here that isn't a sinner? Well if you are not a sinner you're going to live forever.

[39:51] You're one who's not going to die because the wages of sin is death. And if you're not a sinner you're not going to die. Is anybody qualified?

[40:02] Of course not. We've got good people. We've got wonderful people. We've got bad people and we've got rotten people. We've got all kinds of people. For whom and to whom does God's grace apply?

[40:14] Is it applicable for everybody? Yep. Do you realize that God's grace is so magnificent and so wide and so deep that it is sufficient to cleanse the most vile individual who ever lived because God's grace is just what the songwriter said it is greater than all our sin.

[40:40] There on Calvary's Mount outpoured there where the blood of the Lamb was spilled. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse from sin.

[40:55] And when you believe on Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, the only reason you do is because you are honest and acknowledge your sin.

[41:09] And then you believe that Jesus Christ paid the penalty for your sin so you don't have to. You get to go free.

[41:20] that is grace. That's wonderful. Hey, that's why it's called good news. Good news.

[41:31] Let me ask you, is there any good news in the law? You've got to be kidding. Paul said, for the law is the knowledge of sin.

[41:44] And let me ask you, what good news is there in guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty. Well, get out of here. There's no good news in that.

[41:55] That's all bad news. But that's what makes the good news wonderful is because the bad news is true. We are all sinners and undone before a holy God.

[42:08] That's the bad news. And the good news is God commended or demonstrated his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us.

[42:22] Wow. That's what makes it good news. Is there any good news in the laws that says, I hope I've been good enough, but I don't really know if I have.

[42:37] I hope I haven't sinned too much, but I really don't know if I have. I hope I've done enough good deeds, but I don't know if I have. I hope I've been kind enough, but I don't know if I have.

[42:49] Is there any good news there? That's baloney. That's nonsense. There's no rejoicing there. And when you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, he saves, someone said, he saves from the guttermost to the uttermost.

[43:07] I love that. That means nobody can out-sin the grace of God. And you know who wants to put forth his dibs for claiming that position?

[43:18] There's a man by the name of Saul of Tarsus. He said, I was the chief of sinners. I persecuted the church of God and wasted it.

[43:29] I blasphemed against Jesus Christ. And do you know what? He still saved me. He still What this means is God's grace is greater than your sin.

[43:49] Listen, this is the only thing that provides the basis for assurance. This is where the joy is. There isn't any joy in maybe.

[44:01] There isn't any joy in I hope so. And when you ask people and those of you who've been and they stand there at the pearly gates and you're either given an entrance or you're told to get lost.

[44:12] Otherwise, you can't know. Well, there's a lot of joy in that, isn't there? There's nothing but anxiety, sleepless nights and everything that goes with it.

[44:24] Do you realize that one of the principal things that God wants you to do with your salvation is enjoy it to the max? Enjoy it to the max.

[44:34] You're free! You're free! Now, don't use your liberty as an occasion to make somebody else stumble. Use your liberty responsibly.

[44:49] But you are free. If the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed. That's not just a word. That's a reality.

[45:00] So we have great cause for rejoicing, gratitude. And our motivation for living for Christ is our gratitude. But how can you be grateful if you don't know what you have?

[45:18] What's the basis for stability and gratitude? It's assurance. It's knowing. I know, Paul said. I know.

[45:28] I don't think. I don't suspect. I don't guess. I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day.

[45:53] Paul's not saying, I'm able. Oh, I can hang on. I can do what's required. Nonsense. I who am less than the least of all the apostles, to me is this grace given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.

[46:10] I know whom I believe and am persuaded that he is able. I'm not able. He is able to keep that which I've committed unto him.

[46:20] Do you know this to be a truth in your own life? Is this something that you have actually partaken of? Do you have this peace and this joy and this security and this gratitude that comes with it?

[46:36] Or are you fretting and stewing and asking yourself, I remember a dear person years ago that I was called upon to go and visit in the hospital.

[46:47] That's back when Mercy Hospital still existed. And it's gone now. that I went into this dear person and I meticulously explained the gospel and how Christ died for our sins and how the grace is appropriated and what it means to believe and trust in him.

[47:05] And I asked them then if they were in that position and if that was their truth and they looked at me and they said, I hear what you're saying, Pastor.

[47:17] and I just hope I've done enough. I just hope I've done enough. Let me tell you something.

[47:29] You haven't done enough. You could never, never, never do enough. And even if you did all the right good things, what are you going to do about the stinking, rotten things you did?

[47:47] Jesus paid it all. And he didn't leave anything left for you to pay, only to believe.

[47:59] You say, well that's wonderful. You better believe it. There's nothing more wonderful than that. Now, in case you haven't gathered as much, I get excited about this message.

[48:19] And unfortunately, I got so excited about it, I didn't give you the message that I intended to give you.

[48:31] So I'm putting that on hold until next week. And it just gets gooder and gooder. That's the way God is.

[48:42] Would you pray with me? Loving Father, this is really too wonderful, too wonderful for words.

[48:56] We just don't have the superlatives to describe the richness, the depth, the breadth, all that is involved in this amazing grace, how sweet the sound.

[49:16] But those of us who have appropriated it, just marveled day by day that you could love the likes of us to go to the extent that you did to completely exonerate us from all our sin, all our waywardness, and all of our rebellion, and all of our nastiness, and all of our lying, and all of our everything, and overcome all of that in the payment that you made.

[49:54] We don't understand the kind of love that was willing to do that, but we're just so grateful for it. And our prayer this morning for anyone listening, whether by computer, or here in person, or through a message on a CD, our great heart's desire is for them to know the joy, the freedom, the release that comes from knowing that Jesus loved you, died for you, and heaven is your place, a future residence, all on the basis of what Jesus did, not what we did, but what he did.

[50:42] We're so thankful. We pray that you will make that a reality in the life and heart of anyone listening who's searching and wondering and worrying whether they've done enough and caused them to understand Jesus did it all.

[50:57] He did it all, and we are so grateful in his wonderful name. Amen.