Before we open up the word together, let us go before the Lord in prayer. Lord, we are just so thankful for the opportunity to once again gather together to open up your word. And Lord, as we discover in this text, your desire and your instruction for us to be steadfast in you. Lord, I pray the truths of this text would cut deeply into our hearts. My Lord, I pray that The words that I speak would not be my own, but rather they would be yours. And I pray this in Jesus name. Amen. I invite you to open up your Bibles to the book of Colossians. We're going to be looking at chapter 2, verses 6 and 7. Again, that is Colossians chapter 2, verses 6 and 7. And as you're turning your Bibles to that text, just by way of introduction, years ago when I was in college, I became good friends with a young lady who I started to go to church with, and we shared with one another our backgrounds and in our dreams for the future and we began to spend a lot of time together. We'd meet in the library and we'd study together and we'd meet in the dining hall and we would eat together and as I started to spend more time with her I started to get that funny feeling that you get in your stomach when you realize that this relationship is a lot more than just simply friendship. Now you need to understand that when I was in high school I never dated or courted anyone before And so it took some time for me to get the courage to be able to ask her out. But I still remember the date. It was on February 7, 1988. I gathered the bravery to share my feelings with this young lady, and we went out on our first date. Now, we were poor college students, and neither one of us had a car, and so that meant for us taking the bus to the local mall, which was the Fox Run Mall in Newington, New Hampshire, and we ate at the one sit-down restaurant that was there. But apparently, that first date was pretty successful because we continued courting one another throughout college, and then two and a half months after I graduated, Nancy and I got married. and I've been infatuated with her ever since. You know, it's kind of fun to hear stories about how people have fallen in love, but to be honest with you, falling in love is actually pretty easy. The question is, how do you sustain that love so that it grows deeper and stronger over a lifetime? You know, I've been to a lot of weddings and I have officiated a number of weddings myself. And without exception, those couples were deeply in love. But sadly, I have also counseled a number of couples who had grown bitter towards one another. So bitter that you would have never guessed that only a few years earlier they were in love with one another. They started out with an intense love for one another, but they failed to sustain and to deepen that love. And there is a sense in which becoming a Christian can be a lot like falling in love. For the first time, you recognize that God's love for you is so deep that he purchased you with his own blood. Your guilt is taken away as your sins are removed from you. You have a hope, a certainty that cannot disappoint, the hope of eternal life. And you become a new creation. The old has passed away and you become all new. And it feels wonderful, kind of like falling in love. But those wonderful feelings don't automatically last. Trials and disappointments come. Your brokenness from your old life still haunts you. Maybe you suffer health problems or struggles in your family. Maybe your kids didn't turn out exactly how you expected them. You pray for something and it doesn't seem like God's answering. In fact, sometimes it doesn't even seem like God's listening. And doubts begin to creep in. And we find ourselves sometimes prone to wander. And all of this raises the question, how do we, as Joshua commanded in today's scripture reading, how do we hold fast to the Lord? How do we continue to serve him with all our heart and with all our soul? Well, sadly, Many don't. Some grow bitter with God over disappointments in the trials of life. Others fall prey to false teachers who offer a false promise of a better way. And still others settle for routine Christianity. And like a routine marriage, they go for the motions. but they do not enjoy the love of Jesus and their Christian life becomes feeble and it becomes ineffective. And so the question remains, how do you remain steadfast in your relationship with Christ? How do you keep that first love vibrant and vital over the long haul? Well, Paul answers that question in Colossians 2, verses 6 and 7. Now, by way of review, Paul wrote the letter to the Church of Colossians because he knew that there were some false teachers that were in Colossae, and they were trying to lure the believers away from their first love. They were trying to lure them away from the trust that they had in Christ alone. And so in verse 6 and 7, Paul instructs the Colossians how to keep the love of their faith fresh and vital. So let's read this text in its entirety, and then we'll unpack the life-giving principles that Paul gives us here. Now, just out of review, so we keep verse 6 and 7 in the correct context, I'm going to review verse 4 and 5 just very quickly. There in verse 4, Paul writes, Now this I say, lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in the spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. But Paul says in these first couple of verses, I rejoice that you are steadfast in your faith, but I want you to remain steadfast. And so what Paul does next in verse six and seven, he's going to tell us how to remain steadfast so that our love for Christ continues to abound. And here he says, as you therefore have received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in him. Well, how do we do that? Rooted and built up in him and established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Thus ends the reading of God's holy and inerrant word. Let me just say, if there's one takeaway that I want you to walk away from this morning, it is that God desires not just that we would be saved by faith, but that we would remain steadfast in the faith, that our love for our Savior would always abound. Let me repeat that. God desires not just that we would be saved by faith, but that we would also remain steadfast in that faith. But that raises the questions, with all of the things that are tugging at us in this fallen world, from trials to disappointments to temptations to feelings of doubt and despair, how do we remain steadfast? in our faith in a way that continually impacts how we live. Well, Paul in this text really provides us with four keys to remaining steadfast with Christ. The first one we're going to see in verse six, and that's that we are to live based on who it is that we received. And then what Paul does in these next three keys for remaining steadfast is they actually flow out of that first one. They illustrate what living a life based on who you received actually looks like. And so in verse 7 he's going to tell us that we need to be committed to continually growing in him. The middle of verse 7, he's going to say that we need to be established in the truths of the faith. And then lastly, at the end of verse 7, he says that we are to be abounding in thanks. But that first key that we see in verse 6, in which all of the others actually build from, is that we are to live based on who it is that we received. Verse six, Paul simply says, as you therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. Now, the word walk that is used here, and let me actually set this up so that I can write on the screen. The word walk that is used here, let me go back to where it was, is a word where it says so walk, It's a word that is used in scripture as a metaphor for our daily conduct. And it refers to how it is that we live our lives. So Paul is saying, just as you received him, so live in him. Make your daily conduct reflect who it is that he is. In this case, Paul is not focusing so much on how we received Christ, which is by grace alone through faith alone, but rather who it is that we actually received. The false teachers in Paul's day and the false teachers in our day will always minimize the person of Jesus Christ. They'll not overtly deny him, but they will minimize who he is. Some of the false teachers in Paul's day were minimizing Christ's humanity. They said that Christ was simply a spirit. He wasn't made out of the flesh. He had no human nature. In our day, the false teaching tends to be more around the deity or the refusal to believe in the deity of Christ, where the fact that Christ is God, that he's a member of the Trinity, is constantly denied. False teachings of Mormonism and the Jehovah Witnesses and even many mainline churches today either minimize or completely deny Christ's deity. And so what Paul does in verse 6 is he reminds us of who we received. Now, Paul's wording here is important. He says that we have received Christ Jesus the Lord. It's significant how he worded this because the exact sequence of names and articles found here is not found in this exact way anywhere else in the New Testament. See, in Greek writing, one of the ways to draw our attention to something was to word it uniquely or even awkwardly to force the reader to ponder, I wonder why he wrote it that way. And I believe what Paul is doing is he's doing that very thing here because he wants to draw our attention to all the aspects of the name of the one who we received. When we received him, we first received him as Christ. The word Christ comes from the Hebrew word Messiah, meaning anointed one. It means that Jesus is the anointed prophet, the anointed priest, the anointed king who came to save. And he did that by presenting himself as the perfect sacrifice. And when we receive Christ, we received him as our anointed savior. And so because of that, we need to walk or we need to live like He is our Savior. In other words, the fact that we receive Christ as our Savior should change the way we live. Number one, living with the recognition that Jesus is our Savior means that we look at the world completely differently because that we realize that we have been saved from this world. And the heartache and the difficulties and the discouragement of this world, they are all temporal. This is not our home. Our home is in heaven. And so walking in our salvation means we no longer live for this world. Number two. Living with the recognition that Jesus is our Savior means understanding that Christ didn't just come to save us for eternity, though I'm so thankful he did do that, but he also came to save us in the here and now from the power of sin. And he's working in us to transform us. But we need to submit to him in order to allow that transforming work to take place. Next, when we received him, notice it says that we received him as Jesus. You know, when the angel announced to Joseph Mary's conception by the Holy Spirit, the angel said, you shall call his name Jesus. Jesus is his human name. And it reminds us that God came in the flesh. He came and he received a human nature. And he came so that we could know him in a greater way. The author of Hebrews wrote, God, who at various times and at various ways spoke in the times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son. It is only through God coming in the flesh as Jesus and experiencing in all his humanity the suffering of the cross for our sakes that we are able to grasp the extent of his love and his grace and his mercy towards us. You know, the fact that the second person of the Trinity humbled himself by giving up all his glory in heaven for a time, took on human flesh so that he could suffer on the cross for us, it speaks volumes of God's love for you and of God's love for me. Paul says, when you received Jesus, you became aware of God's love for you. Now live in that love and live according to that love. Finally, when we received him, we received him as what? Lord. The title Lord refers to Christ's deity. In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the same word is used to refer to the personal covenant name of God. It emphasizes his absolute sovereignty as the creator and the sustainer of the universe and ruler of all that exists. And when we receive the Lord, we receive him as Yahweh, the eternal sovereign God. And what Paul is saying here is now that you've received him as Lord, walk in him based on who it is that you've received. Walk in his lordship by submitting to his will. You know, you'll never experience true joy apart from the will of God. you'll only experience regret. God is all knowing and he knows what's best for you. That's why he desires for you to be in his will and to submit to his lordship. Four keys to remaining steadfast with Christ. Number one, live based on who you receive. You received him as Christ Jesus the Lord. Now it says we need to walk in him. as who he is, Christ Jesus the Lord. Now, as I mentioned earlier, the next three keys really flow out of this first one, and they illustrate what living a life based on who you received really looks like. And he goes on to say here that we need to be committed to continually growing in him. If we take a look at verses six and seven together, Once again, Paul says, as you therefore have received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in him. Well, how do we do that? He says, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith. And as you've been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. See, what Paul does in verse seven is he uses four participles. Now, for those of you who might not remember your eighth grade or your ninth grade English class, a participle is actually a verb that's in the form of an adjective. And so he uses four of these participles to elaborate what our walk with Christ is to look like if we are to remain joyously steadfast in the faith. And he says that we needed to be rooted, there's the first one, built up, there's the second one, how in him, and we are to be established, in what way? In the faith. So as you've been taught, abounding in what? Abounding in the faith with thanksgiving. Now, the first two participles, rooted and built up, go together. They express how crucial spiritual growth is in maintaining a faith that thrives. The first step of growth is expressed in a horticultural metaphor of being rooted. When a tree has a sturdy system of roots, it's able to gather the nutrients that it needs in order to stay healthy and to bear fruit. And it's able to maintain, anchored in the ground, even under hurricane force winds. You know, when Nancy and I got married, and I can't remember whether this was our second or third year, but we used to like to go camping together. That's kind of an inexpensive way for a vacation. And so one of our favorite places that we would go to is in Burlington, Vermont, there was a place that was right off of Lake Champlain. And so we would oftentimes travel up there and we would go camping. I remember, and again, I don't remember whether it was our second or third year in marriage, We went up there one July and we pitched our tent and we could hear thunder in the distance. And so we said, well, we better kind of button things up. And it was clear that the thunder was coming from the other side of the lake. And as it got closer and closer, we recognized that we were going to get a thunderstorm. And so I came up with the bright ideas. Hey, you know what? Let's go to the beach, which was actually part of the campground. It wasn't very far away. Let's go to the beach and watch the thunderstorm come across the lake. Well, Nancy, who you may have figured out by now, is a little wiser than I am. And she didn't think that was such a good idea. But you know, we were just married. And so she decided to humor me. And so she reluctantly went along. Well, when we got to the beach, we actually found ourselves in the midst of one of the worst thunderstorms that had ever hit Burlington, Vermont, because of the way it came across the lake. And there were pine trees that were 100 plus feet tall that came crashing down on the beach. And they came crashing down on the campsites. And they were toppling over campers and falling on cars. And so we decided, well, we're going to leave the campground. And so we kind of avoided the carnage. And we sought safety in a shopping center that was nearby. But when we got back to the campground, it looked like a war, some sort of a disaster area. And the problem was that the trees were rooted in sandy soil and they couldn't take the gale force winds that were whipped up by the thunderstorm. And that's the problem that many Christians face today. They're not firmly rooted in the solid soil of Christ and the results can be devastating. The word rooted here is in the perfect tense, meaning it is something that occurred in the past, but yet has continual results. When you place your trust in Christ alone, God rooted us in him, Christ Jesus the Lord. Now, the idea of being rooted in Christ Jesus the Lord carries with it the concept of having a relationship with him. When we place our trust in Christ alone, we are immediately rooted or we have a relationship with the creator and the sustainer of the universe. But just like a tree, if we're gonna survive in this hostile world, we need to continue to sink our roots deep down into him, meaning we need to continue to maintain and to deepen not only our relationship, but our fellowship with him. This is oftentimes the hidden part of your walk that others might not readily see. It involves spending time fellowshipping with and communing with the living God and his living word. You know, I believe one of the number one reasons why we lose the joy of our salvation and our love for Christ wanes is frankly, we just don't spend enough time with him. I mean, we have the opportunity of spending time with the creator and the sustainer of the universe, but we'd rather go on a Netflix or a Hulu binge, or spend hours on Facebook or TikTok, or maybe like many, and this is something I've struggled with, you're a workaholic. And you spend so much time trying to please people and trying to impress people and you spend so much time building up your stock portfolio and you have no time to spend with the one who created you and who saved you and who sustains you. You see, the problem is we spend our time sinking our roots into the wrong things. And so what happens is we go to church and externally we put on a good show and we act like we have it all together. But when the hurricane force winds of false teaching of disappointment and struggles come, like those 100 foot pine trees, we come crashing down. Let me ask you a question. What are you seeking your roots into? Where are you committed to spending your time? The second metaphor that's being used here is a construction metaphor. It's that metaphor built up. This picture's a building under construction. Now the parsable used here is in the present tense, indicating steady progress towards completion. Not long ago, there was a new development that was being built up close to where we lived. And we would go by that. And sometimes the progress was very evident. I mean, we would see the frames of the walls go up and the roofs go up. But there are other times we would go by there and we wondered what the construction workers were doing all week. But the reality is they were inside and they were doing things like working on the wiring and the plumbing, those things that were essential for the furnished building to function properly. When you walk with the Lord, sometimes there are obvious changes that others will easily be able to see. But more often, the Lord is steadily at work and you and they may not be as dramatic, but they're just as necessary. We learn to trust and obey him, even in the little matters. We learn to judge our own grumbling spirit. We recognize and we work on our own bitterness. We put to death the lust of the flesh. We learn to take the log out of our own eye before pointing out the speck in our brother's or sister's eye. We treat others kindly, even when we've been hurt by them. And just like maintaining love and marriage requires continual work and continual growth, so does that first love, the first joy of our salvation. Four keys to remaining steadfast with Christ. The third one is be established in the truths of the faith. The middle of verse seven, it says, established in the faith as you have been taught. And so the metaphor moves first from horticultural, with the word rooted, to construction, with the phrase built up. And now the metaphor actually has to do with the discipline of law. The underlying word for established here was used in the first century as a legal term. It means to confirm, to guarantee, or to make irrevocable. Now, the phrase in the faith that we see here, it's not talking about having faith in general, but rather it's what your faith is in the truths of Christianity, the truths of the faith. See, we don't just believe in believing. We believe in truth. And so Paul is referring to the growing assurance that is gained when the truths of who God is and the truths of his word become confirmed and they become established in your mind. These are the truths that have been they've been taught to us, they've been taught to us by who? Well, number one, by Christ Jesus, who rose from the dead, and number two, by the apostles who witnessed all of this. C.S. Lewis once wrote, men to be truly one to Christ must truly be one to truth. Do you know why so many people lose faith or they lose their first love and they fall away from their faith? It's because many people are followers of people rather than followers of truth. And you see so many ministries today that are based on personalities. rather than based on truth. And here's the problem. People are always going to disappoint you. I mean, we're fallen beings. And while it's true, if you're in Christ, you're a new creation, we're still all struggling with our old selves. Let me ask you a question. Is there anybody here, raise your hand if this is the case, where you feel you have met the pinnacle of perfection when it comes to Christianity? that you have taken care of all issues of sin. Anybody here who feels like you no longer struggle with your old self? I've reached sinless perfection. Any hands? No? By the way, for those of you who come to church and you feel like you come to church and you don't have it all together, but everybody else has it all together, look around for a moment. I want you to notice that there's not one hand that's raised. And the reason is because John tells us in 1 John, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But I bring this up because here's what we do. We put people on pedestals. And when they sin and when they fail, and when it turns out that they're just the same kind of hypocrites that the rest of us are, our faith is rocked. And we begin to think, is any of this even real? Now I'm not saying this because we should excuse their sin, of course we shouldn't do that. But I'm saying that because our problem so often is we have established ourselves in people and not in truth. We believe in believing because that's what we're told to do. Paul says you need to establish yourselves, you need to make irrevocable in your minds the truths of the faith. You know, I remember many years ago being in high school and really struggling with some areas of my faith. You know, as I've shared before, I had accepted Christ at a young age. I was in the third grade, and it was at a vacation Bible school at a little Baptist church that I placed my trust in Christ alone. But I was really struggling in high school. We were attending a very, very liberal church, and the problem was I wasn't so much believing in truth as I was believing in believing. I believed because someone told me to believe. And so it really took very little to sway me into a different direction. And as I was being taught about evolution and humanism, I just added those things to my system of belief. I even remember, because I grew up in a very liberal church, I even remember thinking, you know, I'm not so sure that Jesus, that there was actually a bodily resurrection, that maybe he was raised in spirit, because this bodily resurrection, boy, that's really hard to understand through science. But, you know, very early on in my freshman year in college, The Lord encouraged me through a Christian apologist, an apologist is someone who specializes on defending the faith, and his name was Cliff Conagly, who visited, it was the University of New Hampshire of all places at that time. And he encouraged me to be established deep into the truths of Christianity. And during that time, I did a lot of reading, and I did a lot of research, and I gotta tell you, that changed the nature of my faith. Where I realized our faith is not merely a blind faith, it's not believing in believing, but it is supported by established evidence and truth, which makes up the articles of faith that we believe. For me, understanding that was something that was completely life-changing. And so why do I believe that Christ Jesus is Lord? Well, it's not because some charismatic personality told me. It's not because I believe in believing. Rather, it's because of the truth recorded by multiple biblical sources that on that Easter morning, Christ's grave was found empty. First by the women and then by the disciples. And as Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, by the way, which is a writing which even the most liberal Bible scholars recognize as being authentic. And Paul is being someone that you can trust. Paul wrote that not only the disciples saw the risen Christ, but over 500 others did as well. And then he went on to say, and so did his brother James, who doubted him, and so did Paul himself, who was born out of due course. And it changed their lives. History records that they changed from being cowards who hid from the crucifixion to apostles who willingly gave their lives for the truth that Christ rose from the dead. In fact, based on the amount of biblical and extra biblical evidence, the resurrection is the most testified historical event in all of Greco-Roman history. And here's the thing, mere men don't raise themselves from the dead. And that's why I believe that Jesus is who he said he was, that he is Lord, that he is God. He proved it to us by his resurrection. And I believe that Christ Jesus is Lord because of the truth that there are over 300 Old Testament messianic prophecies that were meant to act like a neon sign to tell all of us what the Lord would be like, where he would be born, who his ancestors would be, what he would do, what he would experience. And all of those prophecies are fulfilled in detail by the person of Jesus Christ alone. That's why I believe he's Lord. And once I understood there's compelling evidence and compelling truths that have been recorded, not only by the biblical writers, but even by extra biblical evidence, my faith started to become established. Do I walk perfectly? Of course I don't. But does this mean that I no longer have doubts about the articles of my faith? You bet it does. And so am I disappointed when a leader or a mentor or a teacher who represents Christianity falls? You bet I do. But does it impact my faith? Absolutely not. Because my faith is not dependent on people. It's not dependent on believing in believing. It's dependent in truth. And that's what it's established in. Four keys to remaining steadfast, to be remaining steadfast with Christ. The last one is be abounding in thanks. The last part of verse seven says abounding in it, in what? In the faith, with thanksgiving. You know, if you look through scripture, one of the most successful tactics of our enemy, that our enemy uses to cause us to stumble in our relationship with God, It's to breed discontentment in our lives. In the garden, Adam and Eve was placed by God into paradise. God had met their every need. But the serpent came and caused them to be discontent and to be dissatisfied with what God had given them. And their discontent led to disobedience. And it ended up destroying their relationship with God in a way that only Christ could heal. The false teachers of Colossae were trying to breed discontentment among the believers by saying, you know what, we have a super special knowledge that you don't have. And if you knew the things that I knew, then you could have greater harmony with God as long as you perform our religious works and follow our religious rites. They were actually trying to get the believers in Colossae to be discontent with the free gift of salvation that God had given them. Whether in a marriage relationship or in our relationship with God, discontentment is what ruins vibrant relationships. That's why it's such an effective tool in Satan's toolbox. And what Paul is saying here is that the antidote for discontentment is giving thanks. He's saying that the key to remaining steadfast in the faith and maintaining a vibrant relationship and fellowship with Christ is abounding in thanks. Now, the word abounding that is used here can also be translated as overflowing. And it pictures a river that has overflowed its bank and the water touches all of the land around it. In other words, our thanksgiving for who God is and what he has done should overflow in our lives in a way that others can't miss it. It's like a flood. Now the problem is that there are circumstances in life in which we don't really feel like giving thanks. Broken dreams, financial trials, struggles with family, struggles in our health, they all threaten to rob us of a thankful spirit. And so what do we do when we don't feel like giving thanks? Well, the key is to take your focus off the temporal and to put it on to the eternal. Because your circumstances, no matter how real and how heartbreaking they are, They're like molehills compared to the Mount Everest of the eternal riches that we as believers have in Christ. I mean, think about it. If you're a believer here this morning, you've been chosen before the foundations of the world. We've been saved by grace through faith. Salvation has been given to us freely as a free gift. We've been redeemed by the very blood of Jesus. We've been adopted as sons and daughters by the Most High God. And the Holy Spirit has sealed our salvation for how long? For all of eternity. Some time ago I spoke with a dear sister. And you would have thought, you know, they just had a perfect family. I mean, they had two little kids and they seemed to be doing well and they were very involved in church. But her husband abandoned her. And all of her dreams in this world were shattered. And as I said, there were kids involved and they were devastated. They were hurt. But you know what her response was to me as we were talking through things? I'll never forget this. She said, but I know God is still good. Did you see what she was doing there? She was focusing on her eternal riches and she was giving thanks even for the excruciatingly painful circumstances. And because of that, even her difficult circumstances had no impact on the steadfastness of her relationship with Christ. Even her difficult circumstances could not take away the joy of her salvation. Four keys to remaining steadfast with Christ. Number one, let your life reflect who it is that you received. We received Christ as Lord. Now we need to live as if we recognize the truth that Christ is the Lord. Number two, be committed to continually grow in him. We need to allow our relationship with Christ to continue to be both rooted and built up by his word and our time with him in prayer. Number three, be established in the truths of the faith. Our faith that Christ Jesus is Lord, it's not a blind faith. It's based on historical truths and fulfilled prophecy that has the fingerprints of God written all over them. Number four, be abounding in thanks. Let us never forget that the God of the universe humbled himself to become a babe in a manger to die the excruciating death of the cross for us. Let us never take that for granted. As I've been speaking to you, I've been primarily speaking to those of you who have already placed your trust in Christ alone. And the encouragement from Paul is to remain steadfast in that faith. Don't lose your first love. But I don't know where all of you are in your spiritual walk. And there may be some here today. that have not yet had the opportunity to place the trust in Christ alone. In fact, when I use that word gospel or good news, you may not even really know what that, what is the good news? What is this gospel that saves? And so I would be remiss if I didn't share with you that right now. Paul in first Corinthians chapter 15 says, moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel, that word gospel, it means good news. And what he said was the greatest news that has ever been offered to mankind. He says, which I preached to you, which also you received. By which you stand, this is how you stay steadfast. It is because of this gospel, this good news. And he also says, by which you are also saved. And then in verse three, he tells us exactly what that gospel is. He says, for I delivered to you, first of all, that which I also received. And here it is. that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures and that he was seen. This isn't a blind faith. There's eyewitness evidence of all of this. Now, you might look at this, particularly the first part of this when it says Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. You say, well, why is that good news? Why did Christ have to die for my sins anyways? I mean, I'm not that bad of a person. The Bible reminds us that all of us in our thoughts, our words, our deeds, our pride, our selfishness, our jealousy, our bitterness, all of us have sinned and we've come short of who God is. And it goes on to say that there's a result of our sin. Romans chapter six, verse 23, it says, here's the wages, or here's the result of sin, and it says the result is death. And when it's talking about death, it's not talking about a human death, but rather an eternal separation from God in a place called hell. You say, well, that seems pretty extreme. Well, that's because God is a perfectly holy, righteous, and just God, and we're not, so we're naturally separated from him. But that's not God's desire for you. And it's not God's desire for me. That's why that verse I quote in Romans chapter six, verse 23 doesn't end there. It goes on to say, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus. And that's what this text is saying. He died for our sins. He took the punishment that we deserved. He died that we might live. But here's the thing. There are many people during the time of Christ that were crucified on the cross, but there's only one way in which a person could die for our sins, and that's that they would have to be the perfect sacrifice, which means it would have to be someone who's never sinned. Well, that's a problem, because there's only one person that has never sinned, and that's God himself. But that's exactly who Jesus claimed to be. He said in John chapter 10 verse 30, the Father and I are one. That's why he was crucified on a cross. But here's the rest of the good news. He died for our sins and that he was buried, proof that he died. And that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures and he was seen. As I said before, mere men do not raise themselves from the dead. The very fact that Jesus was risen is proof positive that he is who he said he was, that he is God himself. And all of this good news has been given to us as a gift that we might have eternal life with him. But like any gift, you have to receive that gift. You say, how do I receive that gift? As I said before, the most well-known verse in all of scripture, John 3, 16, reminds us how. God loved us so much that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever hears the key word beliefs in him should not perish but have eternal life. That word belief is not talking about just an intellectual belief, it's talking about a trust. And as I've said before, this is a trust that is based on historical truths. Among other things, the truths of the resurrection. If you've not yet placed your trust in Christ, I encourage you, don't wait. As I've said before, no one knows when our time in this world is over and the opportunity for decision has passed. Our time for decision is now. In a moment, I'm going to pray. And if you haven't had that opportunity to place your trust in Christ, I encourage you to pray with me. Let me make it very clear. Prayer is not what saves you. It's placing your trust in Christ that saves you. But prayer is a way of communicating that trust to your heavenly father. Lord, we're so thankful for these truths that we've learned about being steadfast with you. Lord, I pray that if there's one person here today that have not yet placed their trust in you, that today would be their day of salvation. And if you're in this congregation, you're saying, Pastor, that's me, I encourage you to follow me in this prayer. Lord, I recognize in my thoughts, my words, my deeds, my pride, my selfishness, Lord, I've come short of who you are, that I have sinned, but I'm so thankful that you sent a savior. And even now I place my trust in Jesus Christ and who he is, the God who rose from the dead, the creator and sustainer of the universe. And I place my trust in what he did on that cross to save even me. And I pray this in Jesus name, amen. If you've got questions about what I've said, particularly what I said at the end, please don't hesitate to come and see me. And I'd love to be able to share with you how you can know that you have eternal life. But I'm going to ask right now that we all stand and that our music team comes together as one.