Let's go ahead and look over to Romans chapter 3 if you would with me. We live in a world that is increasingly one of conflict and turmoil. I think most of you, unless you've been completely away from everything, most of you heard what happened on Friday in Paris, France. It was a tragedy. What's called ISIS, okay, they're a terrorist group, Muslims, and not all Muslims are that way, I'm not saying that, but they are a Muslim terrorist group, and of course they're making havoc all over the planet at this point. They are ever-present, and of course they're a growing threat. Well, Friday night in Paris, they had several attacks all at once at different locations there in Paris. One of them in particular was at a concert hall where there was a concert going on. Basically there were people with assault rifles there, these terrorists, suicide bombers, and they were literally there on the balcony and they were picking people off and shooting them. Last I heard, 129 dead. just there almost one hundred of those people on top of that were in critical condition and others were injured as well now this is happening this is growing and it's not a good situation obviously so there's great conflict all over the planet it is a fact that nations are at war with one another in this world constantly Hopefully, we all understand that. It's a very unsettled situation, and what you're finding is that the wars and the conflicts are actually ramping up, and they're getting worse as time goes on. We see most countries in the world stand against the nation of Israel. Of course, the nation of Israel are God's chosen people. I'm not saying everything they do is right, but nevertheless, God has never reneged on that. And most of the world is standing against them. We see nations with nuclear capabilities, such as Russia. Soon, Iran will have nuclear capabilities. Pakistan, China, all these nations. And of course, then there's the people who got their hands on nuclear weapons. when the Soviet Union dismantled and people stole those and who knows where those things are at. Today, we don't know where they're going to surface or where they're going to be used. And you might say, well, you're kind of scaring me. Well, the intent is not to scare you, but for us to understand, folks, we are in a world of conflict, and not only is there national conflict and religious conflict, if you call it that, there's also the issue of personal. conflict. A lot of people are having conflicts. By the way, before I get into that, also there's the issue of, which is, I could be wrong, but I think it's unprecedented, in our nation we're seeing unusual conflicts today, such as the people turning against the police. and ambushing the police. This has never happened in my lifetime where this started to develop into a pattern. And where's that going to go? Is that anarchy? I mean, where's that going to end up? Then there's the inner turmoil that people have. And you know, I may be speaking to you today on this. Maybe you're a person and you're kind of fit to be tied. You're at the end of your rope. so to speak. You're stressed out, you're freaked out, you're scared, you're troubled. People are frustrated today. They're afraid with seeing what's going on in the world. They're very much insecure. Many people have questions about the economy. Where's that going to go? What about retirement? People who thought they had money put away and then 2008 came and a lot of that was washed away like water coming up on the sand at a beach. It just comes up and washes it away. There's people with family problems. There's people with marriage problems. What about your children's education? What about the things your children are learning in school that you disagree with? I mean, if you stop and think about it, and most of us don't want to stop and think about it, because honestly, it can be pretty overwhelming, really can be. And so we see people who are afraid, people who are troubled today. Well, what can be done about it? Let me ask you this. If I were to tell you that you can have true and real peace in your life, would you want it? I think we would all say yes, absolutely. I'd really like to have that. How about this? How about if I could guarantee that to you by sharing something with you? Would you want that? You might say, well, yeah, I'd like to hear that. All right, well, stay with me during this message because I am going to share with you the absolute truth of this issue, how you can have, number one, peace with God, and then secondly, how you can experience the peace of God in your life. Now you could be here and you might say, oh, you know what? You're saying the answer's in religion. Can I tell you this? You need to listen because the truth of it is the answer is not in religion. Emphatically, it's not found in religion. Where it's found is it's found in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you're not sure what that means, let me explain it this morning, okay? There are two aspects to having peace, and I've already mentioned them, but let's break them down. The first is this, peace with God. Do you know what? No one comes into this world at peace with God. Not a person. And as a matter of fact, things seem to get worse. as we get older, because many people buy into the idea that many religions teach that the way you get peace with God is you become religious. You make promises with God. You give things up. You start new patterns. You start being faithful in different areas. And many times, and it's very popular today, people end up making their own faith, quote unquote, up. Well, this is what I think, and this is what this person thinks. Yeah, but can I ask you this? What does God have to say about the issue of having peace with him? He's very specific on that. Most people are ignorant of the fact that we are in conflict with God, and you will never have real peace Well, listen carefully to this. You're never going to have real peace as long as you're trying to earn your way to heaven. Because you will never know when you've done enough, when you've made the grade, when you've not sinned enough, when you've done enough good, All these things. I mean, it's like, I can remember growing up, and I was raised in a religion that taught you go to heaven by basically following the rules of the religion, and doing good works, and keeping the Ten Commandments, and all these kind of things. And I remember asking a minister when I was nine years old, I asked him, and I said, how good do I have to be to go to heaven? And he said this, well, you have to do your best. And I said, well, how will I know when I've done my best? And he said, you'll just know. You'll just know. Well, of course, from that time, I had that in my mind. And he was the authority. So I figured what he told me was the truth. By the way, it wasn't. So I tried. And as life went on, I tried to be a good person and so forth. But you know what? Life just got more and more tangled until I was 19 years old. And when I was 19 years old, somebody shared with me the truth I'm going to share with you right now, how you can know for sure that you're going to heaven. And in that, how you can have peace with God, how you can have peace with God. Let me explain it to you. Look with me to Romans chapter 3. It says this in verse 19. It says, now we know that what things, soever the law saith. The law has to do with the Mosaic law, the commandments, the 10 commandments. Now we know what things soever the law saith, that saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world, look at that, all the world may become guilty before God. You might say, well, wait a minute, are you saying I'm guilty of something? Yes, dear friend, and can I tell you this? It's one of the reasons you don't have peace with God, because you're guilty. And let me explain where the guilt comes from. Look at verse 20. It says, therefore, by the deeds of the law, that's keeping the commandments, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. What do the commandments do? Do you know why God gave the commandments? Now, this is news to a lot of people. Most people think, yeah, God gave the commandments so that we live by them and we'll go to heaven if we do a good job. But that's not what the Bible says. God actually gave the commandments to show us that we fall short. God gave us the commandments because it's a perfect standard that no one can keep. Therefore, it shows us that we are sinners and we fall short of what God requires, which, by the way, by the way, is absolute perfection. Is there anybody here perfect in yourself today? Raise your hand. Do you think you're a perfect person? Yeah, that's what I thought. Okay, and if you raise your hand, you're a liar, therefore you're not perfect. But look at this, it says in verse 21, but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, made known, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God which is by faith of or in Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe, believe. For there is no difference, verse 23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Verse 24 says, being justified freely by His grace. Justified means declared righteous freely by His grace. Now if God declares you as righteous, by the way, that means you'll go to heaven when you die. being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. All right? Let me explain this to you. Some of you, I'm sure, have never seen this before. It's an illustration I like to use. Helped me understand it when I was 19, so therefore it might help you understand it as well. We're going to let my left hand represent us, okay? You and me. And we're going to let this wallet represent sin. Here we are, and the Bible says we're all sinners. We've just seen that in verse 23. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The word sin means to miss the mark, all right? We've missed the mark of God's perfection. We have failed to be perfect. We have broken God's laws. We violated His laws and His commandments. We have sinned, okay? The Bible says we have all sinned. But here's what the Bible says, and this is contrary to what a lot of people think. Well, okay, I've sinned, so therefore God hates me. No, God doesn't hate us. God loves us. God loves us. He hates our sin, but He loves us. Now watch this. To go to heaven, you have to be sinless. But none of us are. Well, if we have to be sinless to go to heaven and none of us are, then how many of us, based on that, would go to heaven? Zero. None of us. So we think in our minds this, okay, well, you know what, I'm going to work real hard. Ooh, I don't want to. The alternative of heaven would be we would die and spend forever separated from God and hell, and I certainly don't want to do that. So we start thinking, okay, well, okay, I'm going to try to be good. But wait a minute. Sin has to be paid for, okay? Not covered. It has to be paid for. And God says the wages of sin is death. We would die physically and be separated from God for all eternity in hell. The wages of sin, paying for sin, the penalty for sin, is not doing good works, is not going to church. Now, I believe in those things. We believe in doing good works and going to church, but not to take away our sin. The payment for sin is not keeping the commandments, number one, no one can. The payment for sin is not giving money, we just took an offering, that won't help you get to heaven, sorry, it won't help you. The wages of sin is not volunteering. The wages of sin is not stopping sin and really we can't do that but maybe for a short period of time. No, you know what? A lot of people think their good works are going to get them to heaven. I like to illustrate it this way. If the pages of this Bible represented a lifetime of good works, you could take that whole lifetime of your good works and here you are as a sinner and you could say, okay, There, that'll take care of it. No, your good works have not gotten rid of the sin, they've only covered it. They've made us look good, right? Makes us look good when we do good things. It has to be gone to go to heaven. Now, what are we going to do? Well, we've already seen good works won't do it. As a matter of fact, look at these verses, Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 and 9. And look at this very carefully, what it says. It says, for by grace are you saved. Through faith. Faith in what? Well, it's faith in Jesus Christ that he paid for our sins. For by grace are you saved through faith in that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Do you see that? It's a gift. Look at the next verse. Not of works. Have you ever heard that before? Not of works? lest any man should boast. What is God saying? Your good works won't get rid of your sin. Well, here's the predicament then. If I am a sinner, and I am, and heaven's a perfect place, and I have to be sinless to get in, and I'm not, and God says my sin must be paid for, and it does need to be paid for, and if I do it, there's only one remedy, and that would be I would spend forever in hell, never make it to heaven, and I don't want that. God doesn't want that either. As a matter of fact, remember, God loves us. He hates our sin. So what did he do? Here's what he did, folks. This is the best news you'll ever hear. He himself took on flesh, this hand representing Jesus Christ, God in the flesh. And he had no sin of his own. He lived a perfect life. And when he went to the cross and died on the cross, he didn't die for his own sin. He died for our sin. When Jesus died on the cross, he took our sin upon himself and he paid for every one of them, past, present and future. He was buried. Three days later, he came back from the dead. Here's what he says in his word. If you will believe, put your faith in him that he paid for all of your sin, the moment you do, he will give you everlasting life. Everlasting life. It's a home in heaven. You go to heaven based on what Christ has done for you. Not only that, but look up here. When you trust Jesus Christ as your Savior, your sins are taken away. God declares you as righteous. That's what the word justified means. And you know what the Bible says? When God declares you as righteous, you then are at peace with God. Let me show that to you. If you're still in Romans, look at Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5 and in verse 1, it says this, it says in Romans 5 verse 1, therefore being justified, declared righteous by faith. Faith in what? Faith in Christ. You put your trust in him that he paid for all your sins. Therefore being justified by faith, we have, look at that, peace with God. Do you wanna have peace with God today? The only way you'll do it is through faith in Christ. Through, you notice it? We have peace with God through what? Not our good works, but through our Lord Jesus Christ. Once we believe or trust in Christ, we have peace with God. We are now accepted as His children. There is no sin blocking our relationship. with him not only that but the bible says this we are accepted in christ you might say what does that mean this is no longer good works we're gonna let the bible represent jesus christ the bible is the word of god jesus christ is the living word of god according to scripture now watch this Here I am, this is on a extended slim fast diet, all right? Here I am, and this is Jesus Christ. And the Bible says this, when I put my faith in him that he paid for all my sins. The Bible says I am in Christ. Now, when God looks at me, he sees the very righteousness of God himself. He sees the very righteousness of Christ. And Jesus, the Son of God, listen to this, folks, this is staggering. When God looks at me because I am in Christ, he is gonna treat me like I am a son. Because I am a son of, I'm a child of God. I'm not God, but I'm a child of God. So when you trust Christ, the Bible says we are accepted In the beloved one, that's referring to Jesus Christ, we're accepted. That means God looks at us in Christ and he says, I accept you because you have the very righteousness of my son. Now, if you were as righteous as Jesus, could you go to heaven? Absolutely. Why? Well, he's God. If God's not good enough to go to heaven, then no one is, right? But when you trust Christ, He gives you His very own righteousness, and in that He gives you everlasting life. I like what one commentator said. He said this, the war is over. He's referring to when you trust Christ. The war is over. Hostilities have ceased. Through the work of Christ, all causes of enmity between our souls and God have been removed. We have been changed from foes to friends by a miracle of grace. And that is exactly what Christ has done for us, all right? So, do you have peace with God today? You can't have the peace of God until you have peace with God. How do you get peace with God? Have you trusted in Jesus Christ alone to get you to heaven? Now watch this, friends. It's not trusting Jesus and trusting ourselves, our good works, because if we're trusting in ourselves, we're not trusting in Him, all right? You're either trusting in Christ or you're trusting in your behavior, your performance. No, salvation is only in the Lord. So I urge you to trust in Him as your Savior. You might say, okay, well, I got that. I'm saved, but you know what, pastor? I am a Christian, I know I have eternal life, but I don't have peace in my life. While you have peace with God, what you're saying is you don't have the peace of God in your life. And can I tell you this, the truth of it is, there are many miserable children of God roaming this planet. There are many miserable Christians. There are lots of Christians. They know they're saved, but their lives are a mess. Their lives are turned upside down. And all they do, they live their life in constant worry and fret and care. You know what they need? You know what we all need? We need the peace of God. The peace of God. So let's look at that. What is the peace of God? This is peace in our lives that comes from God himself. You must be a child of God before you can ever have this. But this is something that God desires to bless His children with. God wants all of His children to have His peace, to experience His peace on a daily, regular basis. You may already be a believer, but you're not experienced the peace of God, all right? I like what one expositor said, he said this, only the Lord can give genuine peace to man. All man's efforts to produce peace fail, but the peace the Lord gives never fails, never fails. Don't you think it's amazing that we have this farce that meets in New York City, it's called the United Nations? who has never accomplished anything since their beginning. Really, they've never accomplished anything. And they keep saying, we're going to bring in world peace. You cannot bring in world peace. Only Jesus, the Prince of Peace, can bring peace to the planet. But once you trust Christ the Savior, you are at peace with God. There's no hostility there anymore because the sin has been removed, you've been forgiven, and he's given you everlasting life. And now, he says, now not only are you at peace with me, but I want you every day to experience my peace in your life. Here's the truth. What do we need to do? We need to apply what God says. And I'm going to give you two simple things this morning on how to have the peace of God. But let me say before we get there, listen carefully. And I'm speaking to Christians. We cannot navigate this life successfully by ourselves. You might as well just quit. You might as well just give up. You can't do it. There are Christians who say, well, you know, I know I'm saved, but I really am not really interested much anymore in walking with the Lord or church or the Bible or any of these things. Friend, let me tell you this, dear friend. If you're a child of God, you're in for severe problems in your life, severe problems. Jeremiah 10.23 says this, it says, he's speaking, he says, Oh Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man that walketh to direct the steps. It's not in man. We don't have the ability. You might say, well, yeah, I can do this on my own. No, you can't. God says you can't. Well, you know, but I'm going to try. Now, young people are notorious for this. Well, you know, I have to find out for myself. Have you ever seen, it used to be popular in the late 60s, early 70s. Well, you know, people would drop out, freak out, and space out, or whatever you want to call it back then. And you'd see a guy just wandering around, and yeah, peace, man. It's cool, man. Peace. Groovy. And by the way, groovy keeps attempting to make a comeback, but it never catches on. Have you found that out? I just think that's kind of interesting. I never was a fan of that word anyway. Groovy, I think of tread on a tire or something like that. But you'd ask them, hey man, what's going on in your life? I'm just kind of, man, I'm just trying to find myself. I'm just trying to find myself. Well, can I tell you, dear friend, it's not hard. Go into any restroom, look in the mirror, you'll find yourself. There you are, you know. It's easy. But honestly, when it comes to life, we're not wired to do it on our own. We're just not. That's why when we trust Christ as Savior, God becomes our Father. And He knows everything. He knows things that haven't even happened yet. He knows what's going to happen. He knows all possibilities. And don't you think somebody who is all wise and all knowledgeable could do a much better job on running my life than I could? Absolutely. And He'd do a better job in running yours as well. So if you're a believer, you know the best thing to do is believe what God says, because He's never going to lie to us, He's always going to tell us the truth. Look with me to John chapter 16, the gospel of John chapter 16, Jesus here, He's speaking, now this is just shortly before He is betrayed and goes to the cross and pays for our sin and comes back from the dead. But he's talking to his disciples here and he says in John 16, 33, he says, these things I have spoken unto you that in me, look at this, that in me you might have peace. Now these are saved people. So he's not talking to them saying, here's how you're saved. They were already in him because they had trusted in him as Savior. But you notice what he says, these things have I spoken unto you that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation, troubles, by the way. Isn't that what we were talking about at the very beginning today, all the trouble in the world? In the world you shall have troubles, but be of good cheer, look at this, I have overcome the world. I have overcome the world. Now, how do we get the peace of God in our lives? Let me give you two very important principles. The first is this. As believers now, you don't do this to get to heaven, but as believers, we must entrust all of our concerns into his hands. Now, that's easy preaching and hard living. We must entrust all of our concerns into his hand. This is a privilege of the children of God to be able to do this. in uh... and you can turn here if you'd like in Philippians chapter four look at the promise here in Philippians chapter four now folks before we read this listen please don't tell me this doesn't work the problem is not with God the problem is with us When a Christian says, well, I tried what the Bible says and it doesn't work, whether they realize it or not, that comes from a heart of pride, okay? Because God doesn't fool around when he tells us things. He loves us too much to play games. And he's serious when he says this. If you're a believer and you are a struggling person, you don't have the peace of God as a believer in your life. This is how you get it. Or can I put it this way? This is how you get it back. And we all need to be reminded of this. Philippians 4, 6, be careful or anxious for nothing. But in everything, I love that. I love the way it's written in our King James, in everything. Now, you know, I could have said, and it would mean the same in a sense, in everything, but you notice the breakdown in everything. There's an emphasis on every singular thing there. Be careful for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God. Now, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, when we put thanksgiving with our prayers, we're thanking the Lord for hearing us and we're thanking the Lord for what he's going to do. You know what that's called? That's called faith. That's an act of faith. Let your request be made known unto God, verse 7, and the peace of God, the peace of God, which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. The peace of God which passes all understanding. You see, here's the truth of it. Either I am trying to bring peace into my life and failing, or else I am entrusting my very life into God's hands saying, Lord, all the things that come up, I am laying them at your feet. I'm coming before the throne of grace, which is my privilege as a child to do. And I'm coming into your presence, which is our privilege as children to do. going right up to the throne of grace and saying, Father, this is my concern. This is the thing that has so got me bogged down. This is the thing that I'm so unsettled about. And Lord, I am taking this and I'm laying it at your feet. And I'm asking you, Father, to take care of this. That's key to experiencing the peace of God. But secondly, we need to keep looking, keep looking to the Lord by faith. All right. Now, what is that? This is learning to live, trusting in the Lord. It's what the Bible says, walking by faith. I don't want to be vague on this, folks. It is a deliberate daily living to where we are looking, communicating, and trusting in the Lord. That's what walking by faith is. And walking by faith is also being in the Word of God and believing what it says and then ordering our steps accordingly. Believing what the Bible says if God says, okay, this is what I want you to do. Then that's what we do We say yes Lord. Well, this is I don't want you to worry about the okay Lord. I won't I want you to do this Yes, Lord as a child. This is it being obedient walking by faith What does God tell us look with me to the Old Testament book of Isaiah? This is amazing Here is a promise from God himself, all right? Verse three, by the way, I know in our church right now several things that are life-challenging issues going on in some of your lives, all right? And you know what? The ones I don't know, they're just as real and just as debilitating if we don't deal with them properly. We all experience it. But I'm telling you, child of God, entrust all of your concerns into God's hands. Honestly, let God have it. He can do a much better job than we can. I know we think we can do it. No, it's the Lord. And then secondly, we need to keep our eyes on Christ. Because the natural tendency, we'll give something to the Lord, and then you know what we'll do? We'll run right back to the throne of grace and snatch that thing. and start worrying and fretting over that once again? We think there's something noble. We all do it, including me, but we think there's something noble in worrying about things. There's nothing noble about that. It's a lack of faith. We need to keep looking to the Lord by faith. Isaiah 26 3, it says, thou will keep him in perfect peace. Based on what? Whose mind is stayed, fixed on thee, the Lord. If my mind is fixed on him, if I am truly trusting him with my situation, if I'm looking to him to guide my life as a believer, God says, I will keep you in perfect peace. Verse 4, trust ye in the Lord forever. That's the walk of faith, isn't it? For in the Lord Jehovah, I love this, is everlasting strength. Our friends Jack and Barbara are here today from Athens, Georgia. We went to Bible college together. Can you imagine that? That was back in the dark ages. We were talking yesterday, and he does speaking occasionally in his church that he goes to and is involved in. And he said he's been putting, it was music, right? Hymns, the words of hymns in some of your messages, and sprinkling those in here and there. He had no idea that I had already done that to this message. Today when he said that but there's a hymn I could not help as I was putting this together and looking at Isaiah 26 3 & 4 There's a great great hymn Simply trusting trusting Jesus. Okay, listen to this. I won't do all the words, but listen simply trusting every day, trusting through a stormy way, even when my faith is small, trusting Jesus, that is all. Chorus, trusting as the moments fly, trusting as the days go by, trusting him, whatever happens, trusting Jesus, that is all. Can you think of something better to do with the issues of life? I can't. Why not put them in the hands of somebody who can honestly do something about it and solve the problem? Now that doesn't mean at times we don't have responsibility. Sometimes we'll go to the Lord with something and He'll say, OK, I want you to do this. Well, yeah, we ought to do that then. Walk by faith. Be obedient to Him. But ultimately, our faith needs to be in Him, trusting Him. And then there are some times when, you know what, it is 100% out of our hands. We've done all we can do and there's nothing more we can do. What more can you do? Well, let's just keep trusting in the Lord. That's not Christian jargon. That's the successful Christian life. John chapter 14 verse 27, Jesus said this, he says, peace I leave with you. Now understand the context there. He has been telling them, I am going to be betrayed, I'm going to suffer, I am going to die, and I'm going to go away. And here's his disciples who have followed him three years and given their lives, and they're marked with him. And look what he says, peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. What's his invitation to us? Can I tell you this? Safety consists not in the absence of danger, but in the presence of God. Safety is in God's presence. There's going to be danger in life, all right? No matter where you are, no matter what's going on, you might say, well, no, no, no, no. I've retreated, I'm in my little bunker I call my house, and I'm safe there and nothing can harm me. Dear friend, listen, lightning could come through the window and strike you dead, or you could have a stroke and be paralyzed for the rest of your life. There are things that can happen. But what does God want us to do? He wants us to live in His presence. He wants us to walk by faith, to entrust Him with everything that we have. And whatever takes place, knowing we're in God's hands, okay? And what does he say, by the way, in John chapter 10? He says, nobody is able to pluck us out of his hand. Nobody, that includes us. So if I am secure in his hands and he loves me, and I'm his child, and he's gonna take care of me, and he's smarter than I am, and he can do a better job, it only makes sense that I just look to him and say, Father, you run this life of mine. You take care of the needs that are there. What's his invitation to us? We'll close with these verses. Look with me to Matthew chapter 11. It says in verse 28, Jesus says this, he says, ìCome unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you what?î Not a list of 600 things to do. He'll give you rest. Why? Because the rest is found in a person, not in a list. Verse 29, take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly of heart and you shall find rest unto your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Come unto me. That's what he's saying. Come unto me. Hey, listen today. If you have never trusted in Jesus Christ to get you to heaven, You know what he's saying to you? He's saying, come unto me. I will save you from hell to heaven forever. He'll never lose you, never cast you out, no matter what you do. Come unto me. That's what he's saying to you. If you're a child of God, what's he saying? Same thing. He's saying the same thing to me. He's saying, son, come unto me. I'll give you rest. Son, don't fret about those things. I'm your father. I'm going to take care of your needs. You need to trust me. You need to believe me. You need to be obedient to me as a child. Dear friend, if you've never trusted Jesus Christ as your savior, would you do that today? God loves you so much that he wants to give you as a free gift everlasting life in heaven. That's why he sent Jesus, was to pay for your sin so you could go. But you must trust in Christ. Well, friends, that concludes this edition of Voice of Assurance. Thanks so much for listening. And would you share this ministry with a friend? To contact us or learn more about our ministry, please visit www.northlandchurch.com. Your prayers and support for this ministry are greatly appreciated. Thank you so much, and God bless you.