Your decisions determine your destiny. Say that with me, your decisions determine your destiny. How many of you have made bad decisions you'd like to forget? All of this brings me to the greatest question: "What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world?", Jesus said, "and loses his soul?"
Your greatest decision is, are you saved? Do you truly know the Lord? When you hear the word, "saved", what does that mean to you?
A baseball picture goes on the mound, he's a relief picture, and he saves 20 games a year. A crop of grain is saved by a rain. A fireman dashes into a burning building and saves a child. A surgeon has a patient on the operating table and saves their life with his surgical skill. A policeman saves an abused wife from an alcoholic husband. The world needs to be saved. It needs saving, because we've created enough atomic energy to kill everyone on planet earth 20 times over!
America needs salvation. America needs a spiritual awakening. America needs a spiritual revolution. We have become a lawless society. We are a politically corrupt and divided nation right now. We have young people in the streets in anarchy like we would've never believed. We have spousal abuse that's running off the charts. Drug addiction that is so severe, listen to this, that in the last two years so many thousands of young Americans have died from drug overdoses. The life expectancy of every American has been diminished to an all-time low! That's how many thousands have died from drugs alone.
The illegitimate birth rate is running off the charts. Fathers are abandoning their children in a mad pursuit to find the god of self. Washington has become a political madhouse of liars, lunatics, and leakers. Fake news has replaced the good news everywhere, and it's seeping into the very house of God. I read one of the most encouraging things I have read in months on the internet. It's the chairman of the democratic national party saying, he's concerned that so many people are going to church, getting their political instructions over the pulpit. YES!!! AND AMEN!!!!
In the spiritual realm, the point is, do you even know what the word, "saved", means? The Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas, "What must I do to be saved?" Say that with me; "What must I do to be saved?" The question must be answered because your soul is the most precious thing that you have. It is immortal.
There was a day when you were not, but there will never be a day when you will not be. The day that Alexander the Great ruled the world, you were not. The day that the Caesar's ruled Rome, you were not. The day that Columbus discovered America, you were not. The day the founding fathers drafted the Constitution of the United States, guaranteeing life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in 1776, you were not. But there will never be a day when you will not be somewhere alive.
10 million years from now, 50 million years from now, a hundred million years from now, for all eternity, you are all going to be alive. The question is, where? And only you can make the decision that will make that question bearable. So, consider the value of your soul. The value of your soul brought Jesus Christ from the balconies of Heaven, to be born as a baby in Bethlehem's manger to be followed by 12 disciples.
The Crown Prince of Heaven left the splendor of Glory to live in that stinking cave of cows, donkeys and goats. The value of your soul forced Him to allow Herod's men of war to spit on Him, to slap His face, and to place a purple robe on His back and mock Him.
The crown of thorns was put on His head, and they mocked Him all the more saying, "Hail King of the Jews!". The Creator laid down on the cross and allowed His hands and feet to be nailed to that old rugged, unforgiving, unbearable, unrelenting cross!
Think of the power He had. One word, and a thousand angels would have ripped that mountain by the roots and flung it into the gates of hell! But, instead, He laid there and let them nail Him there for you, your friends, your family, your loved ones, and me. Why? Because that's how precious your soul happens to be to the Lord God Almighty!
The bible says, "For this cause, came Christ into the world, to destroy the works of Satan. Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost. The last command He gave the Church, was to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.
And if I could take a sidebar for about 20 minutes, it would be good to show you in the Scripture that He was talking about Gentiles. Notice that a Jewish Rabbi was speaking to 12 Jewish followers. Creatures were Gentile people who had never heard the Gospel, and they brought the message to us. And the Great Commission was fulfilled. He said, "Go to Jerusalem. Go to Samaria. Go to the utter most parts of the Earth.
The reason I came to Earth, the reason I was crucified, is so that you can win the lost. Nothing is as precious as a soul. Don't ask people to believe what you believe, ask people to believe on Me. That's what Jesus said. And let me tell you something, if we could get back to that simple thing, what a wonderful world this would be!
Our objective on this planet, is to win the lost to Jesus Christ! Don't ask people to believe what you believe, because some of you don't even know what you believe. Ask them to believe in Jesus. He is the Shepherd; we are the sheep. He is the Potter; we are the clay. He is the Creator; we are the created. He is the Master of wind and wave. He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. He is the Light of the world. He is the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world. He is the Redeemer. He is Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace! Somebody praise ye the Lord where you are today!!!
Are we really Christians? Do we really know Christ? Do we really serve Him, love Him, obey Him, above all else? Is He the Lord of your life, or is He a religious butler that you send running for what you need in your day of crisis? Let me tell you something, Jesus Christ does not operate like that!
Are you saved? When and where did you make that decision? Because, if something of that magnitude happened to you, you know when it happened. Salvation is not church membership. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than pushing a wheelbarrow through the General Motors assembly line, will transform that wheelbarrow into a Cadillac.
The church is the house of the saved, it is not the Savior. Hear that. The church is where the redeemed come together to worship the Lord. The church does not save you; Jesus saves you!
I think of the church in this way, there was a man in the second world war, who was a combat pilot. He was in the Army Air Corps. That's before there was an Air Force. And when he finally came home, he would sit around the fireplace with his family, and he would talk about his war experiences. And I have to tell you, when he started talking about "dog fights" in the air, his eyes were literally glowing! He enjoyed it!
During the war, he would say, "Our great aircraft carriers would load planes with fuel and ammunition." And they would fly off the back of the deck of that carrier to find the enemy and get involved in what they called a, "dog fight". They would drop their bombs. They would fire their machine guns. And then, fly back to the carrier for more fuel and ammunition, then go back to the fight again.
The Church is like that. The Church is like that carrier. We come to church on Sunday to find new spiritual strength, and new spiritual firepower, and then we go out and engage the world, the flesh, and the devil to accomplish the mission of Christ.
Paul said, "Fight the good fight of faith!" Paul said, "Endure hardness as a good soldier. Paul was a person who understand that we are at war with the world, the flesh, and the devil. And our only objective is victory! Victory!! Victory!!! Praise the Lord all ye people!!!
If you could live from now on to your dying day, without committing a single sin, without saying a harsh word, without thinking an ungodly thought, your goodness would not blot out your record in Heaven. Only the Blood of Jesus Christ can wash that stain away. You must be born again!
Salvation is not morality. Consider the rich young ruler. He wanted to follow Christ. Jesus said, "Go, sell all you have, and give it to the poor." And the bible says, "He went away exceedingly sorrowful." But this young man had quite an accomplishment. He kept all of the Commandments all of his adult life. You read those ten Commandments today, I guarantee there's not a soul under the sound of my voice today that can say, "I've kept all ten of Commandments every day of my adult life."
He was a good person, but without the new birth experience, the saving grace of God, the salvation of the Lord, he was not following the Lord. Nor was he redeemed of his sins. He was without the forgiveness of the Lord. He was unforgiven, unrepented, and unsanctified. Regardless of his admirable keeping of the Lord's Commandments.
Morality does not get you to Heaven. The Blood of Jesus Christ and confessing Jesus is Lord gets you to Heaven. "No one comes unto the Father, except through Me!", Jesus said. I've had people say, "Well, I do a lot of good works. Most of those are done on Christmas when the cameras are rolling."
Ephesians 2: 8 and 9, "For by grace are you saved through faith. It is not of yourself; it is the gift of God." Listen, "not of works, lest any man should boast." You can give every dime you have to building whatever for whomever, but it counts for nothing until you give your soul to Jesus Christ.
Counterfeit Christianity teaches salvation by works. You can crawl on your knees down the aisle of the world's greatest cathedral, and it will not save you. It will not heal you. Only Christ can save you. Only Jesus is the Great Physician.
"The just shall live by faith." Say that with me, "The just shall live by faith." Salvation is a supernatural change. You become a new creation. Second Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation." Listen, "All things have passed away and behold, all things have become new."
How many of you would like some old things to pass away? You can make that decision today. Bitterness, resentment, rejection, fear, loneliness, guilt. All of that can pass away. But you have to be willing to let it pass away. You can't be joyful today, remembering every wretched thing that's happened to you since the day you were born.
Salvation is freedom from condemnation. "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." You are free from sin. You are free from your past. You are free from addictions. You are free from the fear of tomorrow. You are free from the domination and manipulation by the powers and principalities of darkness. You are free, you are free, you are free, absolutely free in the authority of Jesus Name!!! Give God praise for it! In Jesus Name!!!!
Salvation is a choice. It's a choice between two destinations: Heaven, or the gates of hell. People say in this ever-permissive society, "Well, I just don't believe in hell." I assure you, Jesus did! Jesus spoke twice as much about where the lost go as He did about Heaven.
John believed in eternal torment. Revelation 20 and 15, "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." That's pretty clear.
Let me give you Jesus' story. Luke 16:19 and following. Here it is, "And there was a certain rich man who was habitually dressed in expensive purple and fine linen. And celebrated and lived joyously in splendor every day. And there was a poor man named, Lazarus, that was laid at his gate, covered with sores."
"He eagerly longed to eat the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Besides, even the dogs would come and lick his sores." Side note: here is a man who had the wealth and the power to let this poor beggar have the crumbs, the throwaways, that would've made him healthy.
But he was covered with sores. And dogs licked those sores, while that rich man watched it and did nothing. I want to tell you again, God holds us accountable for not helping the people we can help, when we have the ability to help them, and we walk away. It's the most unchristian thing you can possibly do.
Now, I'll pick up Jesus again. "Now it happened that the poor man died, and his spirit was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom", which is Paradise or Heaven, "and the rich man also died, and he went to hell. "Being in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom, in Paradise. "And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me. Send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. Because I am in severe agony in this flame'!"
Side note: There are preachers who teach that when you die, you die like a dog and you don't know where you are, or how you are. This man knew how he was. He knew where he was, he knew where everyone in eternity was. He asked for one drop of water. Yesterday, with all of his wealth, he could have bought a wagon load of water. He asked for one drop of water and didn't get that.
Let's read on, "But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime, you received good things, and Lazarus, likewise, bad things, comforts, discomforts, and distress. But now he is comforted here in Paradise, while you are in severe agony. And besides, all this between us and you, there's a great division that has been fixed so that those who would want to come from where you are, cannot come here and none may cross over from where we are to go where you are."
Verse 27, "So, the rich man said, "Then Father Abraham, I pray that you would send Lazarus to my father's house." Listen, "For I have five brothers."
Yesterday, this man didn't give a hoot about evangelism, and today it's the number one priority in his life.
"I have five brothers. Send him, that he may solemnly warn them and witness to them. So that they too will not come to this place of torment. And Abraham said, they have the Scriptures given by Moses and the writings of the prophets. Let them listen to them."
Side note: they have pastors, they have evangelists, they have Christian television. They have Christian radio. There's a church every five miles, there's a church every two blocks down the street and you walk by it every Sunday and they didn't receive the Lord. You are to blame.
Continue; "he replied, no Father Abraham but if someone rose from the dead, they will repent. They will change their old way of thinking and seek God in His Righteousness. And Abraham answered back, "If they do not listen to the messages of Moses, and the prophets, the pastors, and the evangelists, they will not be persuaded even though someone rose from the dead and told them about this place.
Listen, in closing. Two men. Two decisions. Two destinations. Your decisions determine your destiny. And your greatest decision in this day of decision, is what will you do with Jesus Christ, Who is called, the Lord?
Let's pray, Father God, today, thank you for Your Word. Thank you for its clarity. Thank you for its power. Thank you that Jesus loved us enough to die for us and redeem us from all our sin. We are here today, in Your presence and men and women are making a decision about what they're going to do about Jesus Christ.
If you're reading this and you say, "If I were to face the Lord right now, I would not be ready for Him. Simply not ready. I'm simply not prepared. There are things in my life that I must repent of and confess my sin before the Lord and change my ways before I know that Christ will receive me."
If that describes you, pray this prayer with me.
"Heavenly Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I confess that I have sinned. I confess that I have and have come short of the glory of God. I ask You to forgive me of all of my sin. Cleanse me, Jesus. Purify me by the atoning Blood of Jesus Christ. From this day forward, I will serve the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind and body. And from today forward, I will read God's Word. And now, by the grace of God, and the power of the Blood, I am saved. I am redeemed, i have decided to follow Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God! My Father Who is in Heaven. Today, I make You, Jesus, my Jesus. I make You my Lord, my Savior, my redeemer, and my everything. In Jesus Holy Name, I receive Your gift of salvation today, Lord. Hallelujah!!!
