Take your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 9, if you will. Hebrews chapter 9. Let's tell Brother Vesta, I was so happy that happened to him instead of me this morning. Miss Vicki sharing, and ladies, I do hope every one of you, and several new ladies had mentioned they were planning on being at the conference, so that is a wonderful thing. Hebrews chapter nine, we're looking at verses 23 through 28, the end of the chapter. And if you found that passage of scripture, could we stand together as we read from God's word? Or you can follow along on the screen. If you can't stand, that's fine. Starting at verse 23, the Bible says, it was therefore necessary that the pattern of things in the heavens should be purified with these. Now let me mention that that is a reference to the previous verses. And the verse right before this verse says, and almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without shedding of blood is no remission. That's verse 22. So it's talking about the pattern of things in the heavens. Now heaven is the reality of things. Everything on earth was a pattern that was showed Moses in the mount and showed Solomon in the building of the temple. So the pattern are the earthly tabernacle and the earthly temple should be purified with these. But the heavenly things themselves, that which is real, with better sacrifices than these, For Christ is not entered into the holy place made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Not yet that he should offer himself, nor yet that he should offer himself. Often as the high priest entered into the holy place every year with blood of others, But then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world. But now once in the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment. So Christ was offered or once offered to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. And let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, I pray that you'll speak to our hearts from your word. Lord, I pray this passage of scripture would come alive with the depth of meaning that you meant for it to have. I pray the Holy Spirit would apply it to all of our lives and all of our hearts. Lord, not only that you would help our understanding of scripture, but you would find practical ways for us to apply this truth in our daily life. So help us, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. And you may be seated. In this passage, we're looking at Jesus Christ, the Supreme Minister. the Supreme Minister. As we looked at last Sunday night, we were looking how that almost everything in the Old Testament was covered with blood. And then it concludes that without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sin. And it talks about the testator. So we saw last week that Jesus Christ had a will called a Testament. That's the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament was a covenant that God made with the nation of Israel. The New Testament is the covenant that God has made with all mankind through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Bible says there can be no testament without the death of the testator. In other words, a will is only in force when the person who has made the will has passed away. Because until he passes away, he can change that will any way he wants to. So the covenant became in force when Jesus Christ died. But not only did we see that Jesus Christ's death brought the Testament to force, but he also came back alive again to be the executor of his own will. And the executor is the one who takes the will and make sure it goes by the letter of the will. And so usually that's an eldest daughter or eldest son in the family. And they are made that or sometimes a family friend or an acquaintance. is made the executor of someone's will. And they are the ones who read the will and very carefully make sure that the will is followed just as it is stated. Well, Jesus Christ came back from the dead to be his own executor. And so he made sure that his will was put in force, the New Testament. Not only that, but he is also the one to make sure that all the promises of that New Testament are carried out, because he ever liveth to make intercession for us. And so today we're looking at the fact that Jesus Christ purified all things in earth and heaven for you and I as believers. And there's basically three things I want us to see tonight. And I trust that God will give us a little insight into the scriptures because this is a most phenomenal passage of scripture. It is one that has a bottomless reservoir of meaning and truth. It presents Jesus Christ as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. The one thing that man needs to face up to is the fact that his world and he himself is sinful and imperfect. and the world passes away and he passes away. Therefore, he needs to have his sins cleansed and been made perfect before a perfect God. So what's the answer? The answer is found in the son of God, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us and shed his blood for our sins. And so Jesus Christ, his sacrifice made it a perfect sacrifice so that we could be presented flawless, perfect forever in the presence of God the Father. So the first thing I want us to see in verse 23 and 24 is that Jesus Christ purifies everything. So in 23, it references the fact that in the old covenant, that all the things of the law were pretty much purified by blood. In fact, it says almost all things were purified by blood. It says the book and the law, it talks about the tabernacle and the things in the tabernacle. In fact, as we mentioned last week, This passage in Hebrews chapter 9 tells us things that we would not have read. just in the Old Testament. It tells us about the altar of incense beyond the veil. It talks to us about the law, the covenant being sprinkled with blood. There's no word in the Old Testament, but remember God is the author of scripture. And so he can give us insight that we did not have previously. And so he shares all of that with us. Jesus Christ purifies everything, even the very things of heaven. Christ provides redemption for us. It was absolutely necessary that the earthly sanctuary and worship be purified with the blood, but it is also absolutely necessary that the heavenly sanctuary and worship be purified with the blood of the sovereign Lord, our Savior, Jesus Christ. So why does anything in heaven need to be cleansed and purified. Is it because things in heaven are sinful? No, it is not at all because of that, because everything in heaven is perfect. So why does it state that the blood of Christ is applied to the true tabernacle in heaven versus the type of tabernacle that was on earth and the temple that was a type on earth? Well, it is because the way into heaven must be covered and enshrouded with His blood in order to cover man? as he approaches. You remember in the Old Testament, as the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies, he did not step a foot but what he sprinkled the blood of the sacrificial lamb. Only as the blood was sprinkled did he have access into the Holy of Holies. So what can take, wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. That blood allowed the high priest entrance. The Bible is telling us in this passage that that Old Testament tabernacle and temple of which a high priest would enter was not the real, it was a pattern of the real, the real being that which is in heaven. And Jesus Christ sprinkled His own blood for us as we entered. Not because heaven was lacking, but because man had to be covered with the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus was coming in for us and with us. And because of that, he shed his blood. through the eternal Spirit. Everywhere man stands and everything man touches, no matter where it is, in heaven or in earth, has to be covered with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, you say, well, wait a minute. How How did a few quarts of blood be able to do all that? Well, of course, God is able because He's God. God inhabits all things. Remember, Jesus is not just 100% man, He is also 100% God. And He says He's able to do this through the eternal spirit. So as God, He covers all things with His blood. And it has to be in order to protect us. So that wherever we go in heaven, wherever we go in earth, wherever we go throughout God's creation, it has been purified by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that has been shed for us and which has been scattered ahead of us so that wherever we go, His protection is there. that shouts out, our salvation has been paid by the blood of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Man's only acceptance before God is the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ. And man can never be accepted without that covering. It shall forever be his covering and his only acceptance into heaven before God. Now this is critical. absolute essential to note, for it shows how great the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ is and how great it is in the eyes and the mind of God. We look at the sacrificial death of Christ and we thank God for it, but what we cannot comprehend is the absolute necessity of it and the absolute Wonder of it, how wonderful it is and how it was absolutely needed for God and what it accomplished. I think you and I are gonna revel in heaven as we start understanding the layers of meaning of the fact that Christ died for us. How did God die for sinful man? It's the story of redemption. And we love Bethlehem and we love Calvary, but as believers, there's just no way we understand the theological comprehension of how God values the death of Jesus Christ. And remember this, before Jesus Christ died for man, Jesus Christ died for God. It was the holiness of God the Father that demanded the purchase price of his blood. Remember, Jesus died for us, but were we interested in Jesus? There is none that seeketh after God. They have all gone astray. All we like sheep have gone astray. No, it wasn't us that was interested in having a right relationship with God. It was God that was interested in having a right relationship with his creation man. And so the death of the Lord Jesus Christ was dying for the sins of humanity because God wanted to extend his love to lost man, but could not until the price for our sin had been paid. So Christ died for God before he died for man. And then he turned around and found out man still did not turn toward God. So the Holy Spirit of God was sent and the Spirit of God is who woos us to God the Father through Christ the Son. And we see that the entire Trinity is trying to get mankind back in fellowship with the God who created them. And that's the whole wonder of redemption. And there's no way you and I can comprehend how meaningful that is to the heart of God, that his own son would suffer and bleed and die for this lowly creation called man. But aren't we thankful? And for our eternity, we're gonna be grateful and we are gonna be rejoicing over and over again. The blood of his dear son's life covers every place that man shall ever go and everything that man shall ever touch. It is picturesque and symbolic, yes, but it is also very valid and true nevertheless. God the Father would never allow any other way for his dear son to pay the ultimate price a price so far beyond our imagination that our understanding amounts to no more than a drop in comparison to the great ocean of truth. We understand this much, and yet the truth is a vast ocean. And throughout eternity, I believe we'll start having insights into what Jesus Christ did for us. Salvation is so great that in a moment we're saved, but then we spend the rest of our Christian life learning the joys that took place in that very second. All the things that God did for us, that very second we placed faith in Him. We learned about justification. We learned about sanctification. We learned about glorification. We learned about imputation. We learned so many things. I remember going to Bible college and I... I knew I trusted Christ as my savior as a nine-year-old boy, but then I get in Bible college and I get in theology class and they're start telling me terms I'd never heard of. They start teaching on sanctification and glorification, justification. They talk about double imputation, how Jesus took our sin and punishment and gave us his righteousness and reward. And I've thinking, well, how, I didn't know that. I wonder if I was saved as a nine-year-old boy. I didn't know all this stuff. And it confused me for a little while wondering how could I be saved and not know all that stuff? But salvation is so simple that all you have to know is that you're a sinner and he's the Savior. And if a sinner will go to the Savior, you can walk away a saint. and you are forgiven through the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, and it took me a while to understand that Jesus never said a child had to have an adult standing of salvation. He said that adults have to come as little children. And I thought, praise God, I met that qualification. I came as a child. It's the simple childlike faith in Christ, but what it accomplishes, is like an ocean of truth and all we understand is a drop of theology. It's an amazing, amazing story. This is the reason Christ has appeared in the presence of God for us to cleanse and to purify the way for us. Jesus Christ has purified everything. Now we know about the rituals of the high priest is going into the tabernacle or into the temple later in the Old Testament. What we did not realize is that is a symbol of what Jesus Christ would one day actually do for all of us. And not so that one man called the high priest could enter into the presence of God, but that all the redeemed could enter into the presence of God. That you and I could, as priests of the Most High God, kings and priests were called, could enter into the holy place. Remember, there is no holy of holies because the veil was rent. Meaning all of us as priests now had access into the holy place where God's presence is. Now that's why we can come boldly to the throne of grace because access has been provided by the blood of Jesus Christ. But as I studied this week, I knew that, but I never thought about heaven being purified with God's blood. I never thought about all creation being purified so that all of us as believers could be in heaven and never taint anything because God's blood is applied to all of our sin and has made a path for us to not just go into God's presence, but a pathway for us to go into all that God created for us. I don't know what you think about heaven, maybe visiting the universe, maybe just you think and you're there, I don't know. I think it's gonna be amazing thing that God has in store for us as believers, but all of it is provided because Jesus Christ paved the path with his own blood so that man can go anywhere and not defile anything because our sins have been thoroughly paid for by the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says in Hebrews 9, verse 14, how much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offer himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. The Bible says in Hebrews 10, verse 19 through verse 22, having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. And having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. And you recall the sacrifices were either bathed in blood or covered with the water. And so that's a reference again. 1 John 1, verse 7 says, and if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. And I love that word all. He cleanses us from all sin. There's no sin that Jesus Christ's blood cannot forgive and cannot pay for. And if we'll just come to him, he will save us in a moment and he'll save us for eternity as well. Praise God for that. So the first thing we saw here is that Jesus Christ purifies everything by his blood. The second thing we're finding in verse 25 and 26 is that Christ offers only one sacrifice. He is not like a high priest on earth that had to enter in every year. And the Bible says, if that were the case, then for all time, he would have to be entering into the sanctuary. Because in verse 25, it says, nor yet as he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others, but then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world, because he enters in with his own blood. But if he did that often, he'd have to be sacrificed over and over and over and over. But Jesus Christ was offered once for us forever. And that's exactly what the Bible is saying here in verse 26. But now once in the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. So Jesus Christ does not offer a repeated sacrifice, but he sacrificed himself once for all. The earthly priest had to make sacrifices often. He had to enter into the Holy of Holies every year to make sacrifice for sin. Remember this morning as I was preaching through Romans. I made allusion to the fact that the Jewish mind had a hard time figuring out that salvation or forgiveness of sin could be eternal, because they were used to, every time they sin, having to go with a sacrifice, and then the high priest having to go every year for the sins of the many, for the people, for himself, and then for the people. But Jesus Christ entered in once with the sacrifice of his own self forever. And I love the way it states it. It says the high priest entered in many times, but he entered in with the sacrifice of another. It was never his sacrifice. It was never himself, but Jesus Christ entered in and himself was the perfect sacrifice. He was, as all other men, sinful, talking about the high priest, earthly high priest. Therefore, he could never make the perfect sacrifice, but not Jesus Christ. He was perfect. The very son of God himself, he was the perfect high priest who could sacrifice himself for the sins of men. Because he was perfect, his sacrifice was perfect. forever acceptable to God. And I'm so glad this morning we were sharing the truths of saved forever and... have everlasting life, eternal life, everlasting love coming from God. I think we could all see from the scripture that when Jesus Christ gave us a salvation, it was a salvation that would last through all eternity, everlasting life. What a blessing that is. And so the sacrifice of Christ was accepted by God forever. Therefore, Jesus Christ could offer sacrifice for sins once, and the sins could be accepted forever and ever. He's the mediator of the perfect sacrifice. He has put away sin by Himself. Now this morning, I read Hebrews chapter 10, verse 10 and verse 14. Tonight, I want us to look at Hebrews chapter 10, verses 10 through 14. So you'll see the verses in between as well. The Bible says, by the witch will, we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oft times the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man, Jesus Christ, this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. By the way, if you're not familiar with that, whenever a king would conquer another kingdom, they didn't kill that king, they would capture that king. They would bring them to the kingdom of the king who conquered the other kingdom. And they would have that man get before the throne and get on all fours And the king would prop his feet up on the back of the conquered king. And that is exactly what it's talking about, making his enemies his footstool. It was an idea that a kingdom has come under subjection to the ruling kingdom. And anyone who was not killed in battle, when their king humbled himself before the conquering king, that was a statement that all of his people now are in subjection to the king whose feet rested on the back of the conquered king. And one day, Jesus Christ is gonna bring in subjection and all of his enemies shall be made his enemies. footstool. Praise God, you and I are not that. We rule and reign with our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. But he goes on, and he'll say, from For by one offering, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. And that verse spoke to me many, many years ago, and let me know that our salvation is eternal because when he died for us, he not only forgave us, but he perfected forever us in the presence of God. You know, years ago, had a friend I was trying to lead to Christ when I was a young teenager, and I had talked with him many times. And one day, it was on a Sunday afternoon, we were out riding bikes and he came up and he said, hey, Mike, guess what happened today? And I said, what? He said, I got saved. I said, huh, I've been witnessing to you. I should have been the one to pray with you. You ever hate it when somebody gets saved and you don't get it? Oh, I've been. Well, anyway, I was like, huh, man, I wanted to lead you to Christ. I've been working at that. And he said, I got saved. And then I said, wonderful, that's such good news. And then he said, he said, now I just have to make sure I don't sin again so I can stay saved. He thought, good luck with that one. So I had to stop and said, let me teach you a little theology. And I, of course, still believe back then you could lose your salvation. I didn't understand the depth of God's word, but I knew that we were not saved by our works, by our inability not to sin, because I knew you could not stay saved if that was the case. but God perfected us forever because he died once for us. I love that. So the second thing we saw is that Christ offered only one sacrifice forever, the perfect sacrifice of himself. Now we come to the last two verses of this passage, and here we see that Christ bore the penalty for mankind in verse 27 and 28. And the Bible reads, and as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him, shall he appear the second time without sin under salvation. So I want us to see three things in these two verses. The first thing I wanna see is that man dies once and only once. He dies once. It is appointed unto man once to die and after this, the judgment. Man dies and there's no second chance. No second chance whatsoever. Years ago, I was listening to religious channel in the area, KPDQ. And there was a man who was saying that my theology is... And now I think that God is so loving that surely he's gonna give people a second chance, those who die without him and without his son. So in hell, surely they'll come to the place that then they believe in Jesus and God in his great mercy will surely give them another chance. And I thought, that's heresy. That is unscriptural. And it was so interesting because I was on my way to appointment with the manager of KPDQ, because he was wanting me to get on station. I thought, well, I don't know why, I don't know who listens to Christian radio anyway, and I don't want to pay a lot of money to get on something that only Christians listen to. And so I was talking to him, having lunch. I said, by the way, I said, today, I just want you to know that there was a program and the man who was running that was believing that men, once they die and go to hell, were gonna be given a second chance so that they might turn to faith in Christ. And he said, that's not true. I said, I know that. That's why I brought it up to your attention. I said, I just want you to know that's heresy. That is unscriptural. That is anti-Bible. That is contrary to everything the Bible teaches about eternity in heaven and eternity in hell. And he said, I'm gonna look into that and we're gonna make sure we don't have that on our program anymore. I said, that's what I would do if I owned a Christian radio station. So I thanked him for being able to do that. There are no second chances. This is the emphasis of wants. It is appointed to the man wants to die. Man has only one chance to be forgiven, saved, and redeemed, only one chance to become acceptable to God and receive eternal life. Man dies, and when he dies, his opportunity is over. And that's the reason it's so essential for you and I to be witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because before death occurs, a man, a woman, a child, someone must personally place their faith in Christ to have eternal life. Because once death comes, there are no second chances, and his time has run out. That's why it's so important to tell people about Jesus, because once they die, it's it. Now they can be on their deathbed, like the man that was crucified beside Christ, the thief on the cross, he's dying, but he can still turn to faith in Christ and God will receive them. But once life is gone, and after this, the judgment, There is no intermediate time. There is no purgatory of which to get prayed out of or a second chance for other people to intercede for you. It's either heaven or it's hell forever and ever. Jesus Christ died in this world and in this timeframe of this life. He died upon earth as 100% man and 100% God for all humanity. And the only chance we have is to place our faith in Jesus Christ. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 2 Samuel 14, verse 14 says, for we must needs die and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Neither doth God respect any man, yet doth he devise means that his banished be not expelled from him. When we die, we're like water spilt on the ground. There's just no way to get it back in a bottle. There's just no way to put it back once it's spilt out on the ground. Ecclesiastes chapter nine, verse five says, for the living know that they shall die, but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more reward for the memory of them is forgotten. Ecclesiastes chapter eight verse eight says, there is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit, neither hath he power in the day of death and there is no discharge from that war. Howard Hughes was one of the wealthiest men of his day and he had 24 hour doctors and nurses so that he could live as long as he possibly could, but there is no discharge from that war of death. He still died. He still died. I don't hear much talk about it, but back in the 80s, we would hear people talk about cryogenics. And once you die, they freeze your body and they freeze you so that later when men have greater understanding of science can go back and thaw you out and fix you. So you have life again. Let me say they're all frozen still. But they've thawed up either in heaven or in hell. their body is past help once we're gone. It's just an awesome thing that we can be alive, but once the breath of life leaves us, we're just a body that feels nothing, cannot respond. You know, back in the day, it seemed like everyone, when you had a funeral, had a casket and you walked by. I've told my wife when her casket is here and we're all looking at her. No, she said, we are not. She said, you are not doing that to me. But, you know, you look and everybody'd say, they look so natural. They look so natural. They look just like they looked in life. You know, they can have all the components, but there's no life. God is the giver of life. And once it's gone, our soul and our spirit go to be with him. And when we're saved, we go to heaven. When we're not, we go to hell. The Bible says in Psalms 89 verse 48, What man is he that liveth that shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Isaiah chapter 40 verses 6, 7, and 8 says, The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, and the flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, and the flower fadeth, but the Word of our God shall stand forever. God's showing us we, we pass away as the grass, as the flowers of the field, but God's word lasts forever. We need to build our life on something that's eternal and praise God, this book is, it is eternal. It's a wonderful thing to build your life upon. I said, first of all, that man dies, and once he dies, his chance goes with him. But secondly, Christ died once to bear the sins in judgment of many, and we see that in verse 28. He died for our sins. And we no longer bear the judgment of our sins and imperfections because when Jesus Christ died, he died to bear our sins. And God counts our sins as having been born by Christ. God counts us to be free from sin as being perfect and acceptable to him forever. We are eternally free from God's judgment because God has judged us to be perfect through his son's sacrifice. He's already judged us to be perfect. So the only judgment you and I have as believers is the judgment seat of rewards, the Bema seat, the judgment seat of Christ. And that's not to determine whether we are good Christian, bad Christian. That's to determine what rewards we earn as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ and as a Christian. So we're eternally free from God's judgment. Christ died to bear the sins and judgment of many. And finally, I want us to see Christ will come to earth a second time. And here's an amazing thing. It says totally sinless. Notice what it says in the last part of verse 28. And unto them that look for him, he, or shall he, appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Now that's an interesting statement, an interesting phrase. Jesus Christ will appear the second time, and then it says without sin. under salvation. So you say, well, wait a minute, when Jesus was never sinful, Jesus was always sinless. Well, he is and was the sinless son of God and always shall be, but he is also the one who bore our sins for us on Calvary. And so that when God the Father And God the Holy Spirit looked down and saw God the Son. They had to turn their back. The Bible says God has the pure eyes to behold evil. Because Jesus became the embodiment of the sin of all humanity. He who knew no sin became sin for us. that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, through him. So Jesus took all of our sins so that he could give us all of his righteousness. And that's why it turned dark. And that's why Jesus on the cross said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? because it turned dark when God turned His back on God the Son, His own dear Son. But He's of pure eyes to behold iniquity. And so He turned because it was our sin that caused him to turn. But it was the payment of his son that allowed him to turn back and receive us freely. And so the Bible says when he comes back again, he is not bearing our sin. That has been born and that has been paid for never to be carried again by Jesus ever. And so he comes back again without sin and with full salvation to all who look to him. Aren't you glad you looked to him? You remember how old you were when you looked to him? Do you remember that time in your life when you looked to Jesus Christ and you trusted him as your personal savior? Jesus Christ shall rent the sky above and return to earth to save all who look to Him. And we can rest assured that He can and He will save us, for He will be without sin. He will be perfect and eternal, the very embodiment of the ideal perfection and righteousness. He will be coming to present us faultless as well to the Father. Hebrews 10.37 says, for yet a little while, and he that shall come will come and shall not tarry or will not tarry. Jude chapter one, verse 24 says, now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. That's a wonderful thing. And so tonight we've seen in verses 23 through 38 that Jesus Christ is the supreme minister. He paves the way for us with his blood. He died once for all, and he has shared with us that you and I as believers, or as humans, I should say, have one chance. And then after this, the judgment. But we have made our choice if you trust that Christ is your savior. And you and I stand without judgment before a holy God, because he's already judged us as having the holiness of his own son, Jesus Christ. The deeper you get into the word of God, into the truths that we're sharing in Romans and in Hebrews, the more you appreciate all that Christ has done for you. And you learn that as a believer, we serve God not because we look so good, not because we behave so good. We serve God because we've been freed by Him. We've been freed of our sin to serve. We've been freed of our guilt to serve God in any capacity that He calls us to. Never because we're worthy, but because in Christ, he made us worthy. Not because of how we look, but because of what he did for us. We can sing his praises. We can preach his word. We can teach his truths. We can play an instrument for his glory. All of these things we can do for him because of him. and never because of us. I think that will always allow us to humbly serve the Lord, knowing that if any good comes out of us, it's all because of His grace and it's all for His glory. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Heads are bowed and eyes are closed. I'm sure tonight you've trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. But if there's anyone who has not done that, what a wonderful day it would be to invite Christ into your life and trust Him and only Him. Maybe someone's watching online and they've never settled it. They've never nailed down their salvation. Jesus Christ is just a prayer away. If you'll invite Him into your life, He will save you. He will save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. For the rest of us, aren't we so glad that Jesus not only purchased our salvation, but He's paved our way to eternity and that He covered all things with His blood? The Bible says, there shall in no wise enter heaven anything that defileth. but we can enter because the way has been made paved for us by Jesus and His shed blood. Heavenly Father, I pray that You'll speak to our hearts as only You can. I don't know how the Holy Spirit of God has taken this passage and driven it home, but Lord, there's some wondrous truths found in this passage of Scripture. It's a very deep with theological truth and blessing all throughout it. And Lord, I pray that it's precious to our heart, to our soul. Lord, we pray that you'll use our lives for your glory. And I pray that you'll let us affect the lives of many others for eternity. And we pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Let's all stand to our feet. And while we're standing, if God's speaking to your heart and there's something you need to pray about, something you need to nail down and settle and ask God for strength or help, our altar is always open. and you can ask God for His help, His blessing in your life. God bless you. It's so good to see each one of you. I trust, ladies, you've had a very happy Mother's Day. For the rest of us, I hope you've been able to talk to your mother. If your mother's already in heaven, then maybe you've been able to be an encouragement to some other mother. But for all of you moms especially, I hope this has been a very special day. We set apart a day just to let you know how much you're loved and you appreciate it. and your value, and I hope you felt all of that. And for every lady, I want to say, I hope you feel special. God created you special. Even if you have not raised children, you are very special in God's eye. Remember, you are the final touch of God's creation. He made man and thought, I can do better. And so he made woman to enhance man's life. And ladies, you are always a blessing to everything you touch and you're always encouragement to people around you. And I just wanna thank you so much. Let me share just one special blessing I heard just yesterday and just to share with you. I was talking to Ms. Wooster and she texted me and said, I'd like to share a blessing. You have time? I always have time to hear a blessing. So I called her. Yeah, I have a time. And she was saying that she heard from Mark Dromboski and Mark had said, you know, we had just decided, me and Morgan have come to the conclusion that we never should have moved. And we were wondering if, If we came back, if you would hire both of us for Grandview Christian Academy, I would like to teach in a Christian school. He's, you know, he's got his master's in science and history and science and higher mathematics and science. We just want to come back and teach in the school and serve in the church. And we just have come to the place where outside of God's will, things aren't lining up. Could we just come back? And she said, yes. And so praise the Lord. Just a wonderful godly couple, like many, many of the people in our church. And so I was so glad to hear that. And so I just want you to know they want to come back early summer and just spend time here and serve the Lord and just another good family of many. Let me say I've so enjoyed the music and all the different people who sang specials and two of our school teachers were singing special parts there. And I enjoyed that. I hadn't heard them. We have so much talent in our church and I appreciate all of them so very, very much. And the vessels who work with our music, we appreciate them and we're indebted to them. I love you all so very much. The great joy of my life is to be your pastor, and I'm so thrilled with what God is doing in our church. You know, because of COVID, we don't run the numbers we used to. Maybe one of these days we'll get back to more normal, but many new families have joined with us and we are so thrilled to have them. They're such wonderful people as God has joined us with many great people. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Father, thank you for this time we've had around your word. Thank you for these good people. Lord, what a blessing they are to my life. how they just encourage my heart. They love you, they love others. Lord, I pray you'll bless and enrich their lives this week. And Lord, I think of people in our church that I've heard prayer requests. I pray you'll be with them, Lord. Some have surgery coming up, even tomorrow. And Lord, I pray you'll comfort them. I pray you'll encourage them. Some have had loss of loved ones. Lord, I pray you'll comfort, encourage them, Lord. It's always a sad time to lose someone you love. But Lord, one of these days there'll be no more loss and no more sorrow. And we thank you for that. So give us your blessings as we depart from this place. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. God bless you. Yeah!