And if you go to John 19, verse 28, we will continue our series on the last seven statements of Jesus on the cross. And tonight we'll come to John 19, verse 28. We have a Bible. Let's open, let's see what God says tonight. and look what it says in verse 28 and after these Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished that he and that description may be fulfilled he said I thirst shall we pray heavily father thank you lord for this passage of scripture thank you lord for the sacrifice of jesus at calvary's cross thank you lord for freedom and salvation thank you lord for heaven Thank you, Lord, for this church. Thank you for the people, Lord, that come here week after week for their faithfulness. Lord, it blesses my heart. And I pray, Father, if there's someone here that don't know Jesus as personal Savior or online tonight, may they stop, may they consider Jesus tonight and call upon you for salvation. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. You may be seated. May be seated. I'm sorry. Now, tonight we come to this one, I thirst. I thirst. Did you ever been so thirsty that you need a drop of water and you can find it? Literally, did you ever been so thirsty that you just go out of your way just to get a drop of water? You ever been there? And I'm drinking water. I'm sorry. I remember one day I was helping my grandfather. That was my summer vacation, all right? My summer vacation was working in the farms with my grandfather. My grandfather used to say, you are my best helper. Yeah, yeah, grandpa, yeah. He used to treat me like a king. He did. My grandmother, you know, she made, she made, this is what he said. He used to say, mommy, he used to say, you know, I like when you come help me because your grandmother treats me better. I'm like, why grandpa, look up the amount of food that is here. I said, she doesn't do that for you. No, only when you come. But you know, I helped my grandpa and my grandpa had bad knees and he was a farmer, fisherman by day, by night, a farmer by day. He was a working man. But I remember one day we were in this particular part of the farm, it was, we have to carry the stuff with us because where we was, then in the Azores Islands, there was no way you could get a car there or a truck or anything. It was just, the area was not good. So we had to carry the stuff on our backs. And let me tell you, we were carrying, what we had, corn. you know you're walking around with that corner on your back and that stuff sticks on your back and and you just but we that kept doing but i remember you know every time we went to the road we came back well we had a sip of water then we go they're going to come back with a sip of water then i realized that i drink too much water my grandpa told me that we're going to run out of water we did and we began to carry the stuff to the road and goodness we were dying of thirst I mean I was dying I think he didn't never said anything but I think my grandpa was thirsty too but I mean well I was going out and you know I walked a half an hour to another place just because I knew it was water there just to get water and it was really really hard it was I was very very thirst thirsty so you ever been there in a place that you really really felt thirsty You really a drop of water would do a miracle to you. So tonight we're going to continue our study in the last statements of Jesus on the cross. We come to the fifth of these proclamations. We're going to finish this next Sunday night. This one is somehow difficult to comprehend, yet it sheds great light upon the sovereignty and mercy of Jesus Christ in his dying moments. When was the last time, like I said, you were really thirsty? I mean it is something to say but let me tell you I don't think we can we have experienced what Jesus experienced there on top of that cross. As we go through this message there is one thing that it becomes very clear to me Jesus was not a victim for he was in control of every detail of his crucifixion. As I pounded the sand I was aware that Jesus cried of thirst because he was truly thirsty. In his humanity Jesus was thirsty. Our minds have a hard time embracing such a thought about what he said, but he was thirsty. Think about it. I thought about this, about this thought. The one who created the streams, rivers, lakes, and even the vast oceans. The first miracle that Jesus performed, he turned water into wine. On two different occasions Jesus declared that those who drank of his living water could never thirst again. We see this in John chapter 14, 4 verse 14 says, "...whoever drinketh of the water that I give him shall never thirst. But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up in everlasting life." And now the one that created all this is hanging on Calvary's cross and he said, I thirst. The one that said, I am the bread of life, he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth in me shall never thirst. The Creator said, I thirst. Isn't this amazing? I want to take a few minutes tonight to consider this passage and the truth is revealed as we think about this statement, I thirst. Number one, if you have an outline, if you want to follow, we see the sovereignty of Jesus right here. Look at verse 28. This, Jesus knowing all things were now accomplished that he, that the scripture might be fulfilled said, I thirst. All things were now accomplished. Jesus had fulfilled the greatest prophecy of the Old Testament regarding his crucifixion. He had been despised and rejected by his people. They had hit in his face. They had stick him on the cross. And now he said, I thirst. Remember we said this morning, He hanged between heaven and earth, despised by mankind. They mocked him. They called all kinds of blasphemies to him. They put a crown of thorns on his head. They crucified him. They nailed him to that tree. And our Savior now says, I thirst. I thirst. He had borne our sins on the cross exactly as Isaiah foretold in Isaiah 53, 6. They had pierced his hands and feet as it was prophesied in Psalm 22, 16. And look what it says. Psalm 22, 16 says, For dogs have compassed me, the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me, they pierced my hands and my feet. Verse 17 says, I must tell all my bones, they look and stare upon me. The soldiers at the foot of the cross had fulfilled the prophecy. In Psalm 28, verse 18 says, they parted my garments among them and cast lots upon my vestments. All these prophecies and many others had been fulfilled. So when Jesus had spoken from the cross telling John to care for his mother after this Jesus knowing that all things were accomplished he said one more thing that the scripture might be fulfilled. I thirst. disfulfillment disfulfilled two remarks prophecies the old testament in actually in uh in Psalm 22 15 said my strength is dry upon up like a uh a post shared in my tongue uh cleave it to my jaws and that has brought me unto the dust of the of death so after hanging on a cross for hours without a drink of water, his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth and he couldn't bear to speak. The second prophecy was fulfilled or was given in Psalm 69 verse 21 where it says, then give me also gall for my meat and in my thirst they give me vinegar to drink. To fulfill these scriptures, Jesus said, I thirst in John 19, 20. These words are the shortest of the sayings Jesus gives in the cross. In English, it is two words, but in the Greek, it's only one short, correct word translated into two words in English. thirst as we read this verse we can come to the conclusion that Jesus after even after being scourged being nailed to the cross and left hanging there for quite some time was still in control of the events and Jesus didn't stop until he said it is finished listen folks i said this morning he was not a victim of the roman empire He was not there because somebody grabbed him and put him on the cross. No, no, he would give his life. And he was in full control of all things. And when everything was accomplished, then he said, it is finished. It's done. I did it. And we are God's people we say amen Lord. Thank you Lord for so great salvation. So these few words reveal much concern Jesus, concern Jesus sovereignty. Notice this letter A is character. Jesus knew that all things were accomplished that was that has to do with bringing to a close to finish complete and fulfill to carry out the command giving. This reveals his divine omniscience right here. He had endured hours of unspeakable torment and suffering and yet he remained aware of what God the Father wanted for him. So he fulfilled it all. Let me tell you something. When Jesus was born to this earth, he had one mission. Calvary. That's where he was going to the calvary. He knew that's what he was going. There's no way out of it Calvary, you know what because he thought about me and you You know, I think we need to I said this morning I keep repeating this morning, you know, I think we need to remember I think I mean go to this way. I keep saying the american church is in the state of apathy it is But the american church is in the state of of what apostasy too Look what's going on in our churches today. You know we need to go back to basics and remember what Jesus did for us. We need to stop putting American culture in the Bible. We need to stop doing that because that's what we do and read the Bible for what it is and preach the Bible for what it is and try to put things there that are not so. We see the character of Jesus right here. Humanity had no comprehension of the enormity of Calvary. Actually, they still don't today folks. In those days, the people that said hallelujah, Hosein, I'm sorry, Hosein, when Jesus walked in the city walls of Jerusalem, you know what? A lot of those people, the people at the cross saying crucified him, crucified him. You know why they did this? Because they did not understand. Jesus came in while healed the sick. Jesus came in, rose the dead. Jesus came in, fed the hunger. Jesus came in, preached the gospel to the poor. He did all the signs that the Jewish people needed to see that he was the promised Messiah. And you know what? Didn't even recognize him. You know, When Jesus comes back, will he find faith upon the earth? The way we're going, the way we're going with the state of our churches, there's going to come a point I wonder if even the word of God will be preached in churches or if you're going to be just a comedy club, make people feel good. Listen, we come to church to worship the Savior together. That's what we come to church for. If I want to go to a comedy club, I can walk to a comedy club. I can find one. You know, if you wanna smile, you smile at my accent. Because I'm not gonna joke with you, but you know, sometimes you go, what did he say? Oh, smile at that, okay? So, so humanity had no comprehension then, and humanity today still don't comprehend Calvary. The reason why, you know why? They go to golf course. They got the hangover from the previous day. They go here, they go there, but they don't go to church. because they only try to understand Calvary. So Easter Bunny makes more sense to them than Calvary. Even today thousands look at Calvary and laugh and mock Jesus. They look at Calvary at the heart of disbelief. They look at Calvary and laugh at how could some believe that? You know, I even see people rock and roll bands and all those things. They have the cross on their necks with big chains. They're hanging around and you know what? They have no clue. No clue what happened there. But they carry those crosses. Believe me, not because they love Jesus. because it looks good and cool. Only God the Father and Christ himself were aware that the will of God was being fulfilled at Calvary's cross that day. So we see his sovereignty, his character. Number two, we see his commitment. Commitment is the key for everything in life, folks. We need commitment for everything we do. You know, if you're not committed to your job, you lose your job. If you're not committed to church, guess who's missing? You are. I cannot preach to you if you're not here. Jesus gave his life in full commitment to pay for the sins of mankind. Listen, if we want to learn about commitment, pattern after Jesus. He didn't quit. He didn't give up. May we be committed. Jesus knew that all things were now accomplished. He had not sidestepped any of those responsibilities. He looked at Calvary's cross and he went through it. Aren't you glad that Jesus endured until the end? Aren't you glad that he assured that all things were accomplished on the cross? Folks, let me put it this way. We Christians have a mission. accomplish on earth, to tell others about Jesus, to live for Jesus and to look to the finish line. There's going to be many detours. Don't take it. Stay put. Stay put on it. You're going to see a detour. Come this way. It's an easy way out. You can get back in the road back. Don't do that. I stand amazed at all that Jesus endured during the process of crucifixion, and yet he was faithful till the end. He couldn't refuse the cross. He couldn't call out. I mean, he could refuse the cross. He could have called as angels of heaven to come and rescue him. He endured it all, and he accomplished what he came for. Now, that thought challenged us today, isn't it? Jesus was willing to endure all. of that remaining committed until the end. And yet we have trouble remaining committed from the day-to-day living to live for Jesus. Jesus did so much for us, but many of us do nothing for Him. Let me repeat that. Jesus did so much for us, but many of us do nothing for Him. Is it too much to ask to live an upright life as we can? Is it too much to ask to live a righteous life? Is it too much to ask to live a separated life? Is it too much to ask to stay away from sin and its influences? Is that too much to ask? or to do, to stay away from, I'm sorry, is it too much to ask for us to pray in fellowship with him? Is that too much to ask to identify with the one who suffered for our redemption? Is that too much to ask to remain faithful to his house and encourage those who are of like faith? Jesus is telling us that every fiber of our being, every facet of life, we must have commitment to love and to walk and serve of the Lord. This means that we must hold nothing back from Him because God holds nothing back from us. Furthermore, Jesus tells us that our commitment to Him must supersede our commitment to our own families. I think we need to examine our commitment to the Lord. God is committed to us. Are we committed to Him? Let us see, we see his control. Jesus, let me put it this way again, Jesus was not a victim of the cross. He was not there at a man's will. He was there because he went there out of his own. He said, I give my life for you. Jesus was not a helpless victim, but a willing savior. By all our words of parents, it might have seemed that if the Sanhedrin, the multitude and the Roman soldiers were the ones in charge, but it was not the case. Jesus never lost authority. He remained in absolute control even as He endured the cross. This was not a situation that had gotten out of hand. We have now read of a man that lost his influence and failed to achieve his goal. Jesus was there because he chose to be there and he was in complete control as he hanged upon the cross. They are to encourage us in our journey, in our Christian journey today. May we never cease to love the Lord and to live for him. Then it's easy to say, well, you know, I need some time off. I need to take a vacation from God. No, we don't. No, we don't. You go somewhere, go to church where you go. You go another way, go to church where you go. Don't put your Bible in the drawer. Open your Bible, read your Bible. Listen, folks, I'm not saying something that I don't do myself. But see, that's what we need to do. Lord, I'm committed to you. I love you, Lord. I cannot now overcome the fact that you saved my soul. Listen folks, there's no problem so great that God cannot take care of it. So number one, we see the sovereignty of Jesus. Number two, we see the submission of Jesus. Submission is a strong, powerful word. Submission is something that most people struggle with. Because let's face it, there is not many people would like to submit to the authority of others. If you don't believe me, take a management position. in the job site and watch what people are going to do to you. You're going to come, you might be one of their peers, but when you take that position, you become like, you know, the worst enemy. They come, they talk all kinds of nonsense about you and they'll tell you in your face too. When, especially when you say, I want you to do this, I want you to do that. And they don't want to do it. They don't want to do it. At work, we are called to submit to the authority of the boss. In the military, soldiers are called to submit to the authority of the superiors. One thing that I see about submission is the complaining that goes with it. Far too many people complain because they don't want to submit or refuse to submit to the authority of another person or an organization. What about Jesus? How did Jesus perform in this area of submission? Did Jesus refuse the cross? Did Jesus complain that he didn't want to go to the cross and tell the Father to send somebody else? No, no. Even in the simplest of words, we see the submission of Jesus. He went all there and he willingly went to Calvary's cross because he knew that we needed salvation. Question, how submissive are you to the will of God in your life? If God put something in your heart to do or place to go, Lords, ah, you made a mistake. It's not me Lord. It's somebody else Lord I'm praying about it Lord, I know what you put in my heart. I'm praying about it Two years three years five years ten years go by Lord. I'm praying about it You know, what are we saying to the Lord I know Lord what you want me to do it I don't want to go Send somebody else there's sometimes folks the lord have nobody else you are it when moses when he told moses to go to egypt there was no other moses was it you go down there i can't speak now you're going down there you know why he did may we open our hearts to the lord and say lord here am i send me you want me to go here i go here you want me to go there i go there lord whatever my life is yours i'm your servant you are my king you want me to go there i will serve you there you want me to stay here i stay here lord Letter A, we see under that second point the responsibility of Jesus' thirst. All things were now accomplished that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Jesus came to do the will of the Father. He came to fulfill each and every prophecy and had been given concerning the crucifixion. There was no escape from his thirst at Calvary. It was all within the divine ordinance of God. And look what it says in Psalm, I'm not going to read it myself, but I'm going to read this one. Psalm 69 21, they give me also gall for meat, and in my thirst they give me vinegar to drink. So keep in mind that Jesus is the living word, John 1 1. Can you imagine knowing all this prior to it? being inspired in the heart of man to open down on the page and yet being willing to submit fully to the will of God so that the scriptures might be fulfilled. When Jesus was preaching, when Jesus was healing the sick, when Jesus was raising the dead, when Jesus was sitting around talking with his disciples, he knew that ultimately he was going to Calvary. And he told his disciples about it. They didn't even believe him. But he knew that he was going ultimately to Calvary. He had a mission to accomplish. Do we have a mission? Yes, we do have a mission. What is our mission? God's will. Let's go one day, you know, practicing sin that sin may abound in our lives. Not so. You know, God save us from the cesspools of sin. He washed us, He cleaned us, He dressed us up to live for Him, to serve the Lord, not to go back and serve or go back to the cesspools. Why should I go there? It stinks there, it's dirty there. Listen folks, some of us might grew up in Christian homes, I did not. We know what the world offers. We adults, we know what the world offers. We know what God offers. It's a big difference between one or the other. Why should I want to leave my Lord and my Savior and go back to the things of the world? Letter B, we see the reality of Jesus' thirst. Can you imagine? Just think about the physical part, the beat that he got. I mean it was not like you look at this crucifix today and you see this little Jesus in there. That's not what it was. He was bleeding and his flesh was ripped to pieces in there. It was hanging on that cross. He was losing so much blood. He was dying. And guess what? He was thirsty. In his humanity, he was thirsty. He's been hanging on that cross for about three hours. He was thirsty. You know, losing that he was given to him. And guess what? When he asked, they give him vinegar. Mockery. mockery. Remember I said this morning it was so much mockery done to Jesus that God the Father turned off the lights. He did. Darkness came upon the land. He had already endured for hours that cruel cross. He had received no water. His flesh has been torn. from his body and endured the awful scourging. His body was bleeding and losing precious fluid and yet he received no water. We cannot comprehend or fully appreciate the physical emotion and suffering that Jesus endured. The reality is that Jesus in his humanity experienced real suffering and real thirst. Look what it says in Philippians 2,8, And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient, unto death even the death of the cross. Hebrews 2 9 says but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. Folks every man. Calvinism does not fit here. He endured the cross for every single person don't matter what color, what language, what nationality he died for all mankind. Who are we to say that the blood of Jesus is not enough to cover all men's sin? I got a problem with Calvinists. I really do. So we see the sovereignty of Christ, the submission of Christ, number two, and number three, the sympathy of Jesus. Verse 28, we say again, we see, I thirst. Jesus endured a physical thirst, but he in his humble state, he cried, from a cry to the Lord. He said, I thirst. And he looked at people and said, I thirst. Sympathy for those who thirst spiritually. Look at this. The message, letter A. Jesus had endured the sins of the world being placed upon him as he suffered the judgment of God. And yet he thirst. This reveals a powerful truth that sin can never satisfy. It never quenches the thirst of a soul. Listen folks, there is a place in our hearts that only God can fulfill You can go and try to do all kinds of things to try to fulfill that it won't fulfill That's why people getting all kinds of nonsense and in the end the empty empty They get themselves into drugs what drugs do he'll kill you and They get themselves into alcohol. What alcohol does? Hangovers. All kinds of disease come about. I can keep going with all kinds of examples. You know what? When the soul begins to thirst for God, he's going to find God. Mankind can indulge in all and everything imaginable, and it will never fill that longing within the soul. It will never provide the satisfaction. Well, folks, if you don't believe me, then look at the condition of our world today. Look at what sin does in the lives of people. Look how many lives are destroyed because of sin. Look how many churches are destroyed because of sin. Look how many single moms are raising their kids because of sin. Sin is destructive. Sin provides great things until sin shows its ugly head. Folks, the reality of sin is all around us. Sin is devastating and devastates lives and devastates people and God takes sin very seriously. If we don't believe how seriously God takes sin then look at Calvary's cross. He took him there because of sin. God treats sin very seriously because he knows what sin did to mankind and continues to do Sin, my friend, will eventually take a person to hell unless that person repents of their sin before God. So when we make a survey at Calvary, you actually see how serious God takes sin. He went there to die for me and you. Look what it says in Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 13. For my people have committed two evils. They are forsaking me the fountain of living water. and who them are broken cisterns that can't hold no water. That's our world. Listen, when we find Jesus, we get satisfied. We have a living water that we never go thirst again. In the difficulties of life, in the pains of life, in the doubts of life, we go back to our Bible, we go back to church, we listen to the word of God and it satisfies the soul. it does let it be we see the misery we cannot imagine the suffering that jesus endure while hanging there upon the cross you know on the philippines people try to go imitate with jesus there they are they crucified and stuff they have no clue you know they you know they try to find that little spot there you know it cannot break any bones in his that's not what the romans did folks they were brutal They just nailed that thing right through it. They had no mercy. They were laughing and mocking and scorning Jesus as they did it. Like it was a sport. Like it was fun. They didn't saw God in Jesus. They saw a man that was going to die. They could kill as they did that hundreds of times to other people. You see the misery of the cross, the physical suffering was worse than any man have aboard. But that wasn't the worst, the physical thirst that Jesus endured could not compare to the thirst he had for fellowship with his Heavenly Father. This was the first and only time that Jesus experienced separation from his Heavenly Father. When the sins of the world fell upon Him, God the Father turned His back on His Son. He hated His Son because of all the sin that He had. For the first time, there was separation. Jesus proclaimed a great truth in this statement. Separation from God will always result in misery. Man may enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, but that will always result in death and separation from God. Can you imagine? God gives life continually. People get this life and they said, I'll go to hell with the life that you give me. And to hell they go. any misery they are right now, many of them. I say this with a happy heart, no. You don't want no one to go to that place, not even your worst enemy. You don't want them to go there. Listen, folks. Look what it says in Luke 16, verse 24, "...and he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his fingers in water, and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame." If the people of this world will read that verse and take it to heart, churches will be full of people. But they don't. They look at it and they laugh at it. And they make mockery of it. Listen folks, the thirst for a little drink of water in hell will be overwhelming. But the thirst for the presence of God will be the most excruciating. Jesus is the only one who can satisfy the thirsty soul. If you're never drunk from this eternal fountain, then your soul will remain in thirst. The woman at the well asked Jesus for the living water so that she could never thirst again. She received that living water from Jesus. What about you? What about me? Are you thirst for justice, righteous peace, within hope and the love of God? You will find that when you find Jesus. Number four, we see the scrutiny of the crowd. Look at verse 29. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar, and they filled the sponge with vinegar and put upon Hisop and put it on his mouth. As Jesus, the Son of the Living God, died upon that cross, a multitude looked on, but they failed to see the significance of what they experienced. They failed to recognize that God has offered Himself for them. Think about it, He said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. They were mocking the Lord of Life, and the Lord of Life was praying to the Father to forgive them. I always think about this. Can you imagine when these people pass out of this life and they go out to the other side, guess who they look at? The one they mocked, the one that they spit on their face. Think about it, wow. They fail to recognize that God had offered himself for them. Some of these people were naive to the scriptures, but some of them were very knowledgeable of them. Many of them had failed to see what Jesus was doing for them. They failed to see that their actions were evil, that Jesus prayed to the Father for their forgiveness. Folks, the people that stood at the foot of the cross that day came from many different backgrounds. The Roman soldiers were there. The high priests were there. Common people were there, the Jewish people were there, and some followers of Jesus were there. They were all there. But many failed. to see the Lord of Life there. Letter A on that point, we see their blindness. As the multitude look at that day, they fail to recognize the fullness suffering of Jesus. They're so simply a man condemned to die, suffering under the load of this punishment, with thirst for water to drink. They never realized that the spiritual thirst was far greater than physical thirst. And let me tell you today, folks, we have a load, millions of people that are blind. to the truth. And a lot of them are ignorantly blind. They don't want to know the truth. If you try to sit down and talk with them, they don't want to listen to you. But know what? Don't give up on them. Because life changes people. And sometimes in the most troubles of life, their hearts open up a little bit. Don't give up on them. Pray for them. Keep praying for them. By the way, pray for New England. Pray for New England. You see, people is hard in New England. They are. A lot of atheism around here. A lot of religion around here. You know, people say, I'm all sad. I don't want to hear. I would die of the religion. My great, great, great, great grandfather. Thank you very much. You know what? Don't give up on them. Keep going at it. As long as we live. You know, they're blind to the fact that they think they don't need Jesus at all. It's been some 2,024 years since that fateful day and litter has changed. Men consider the cross in their minds and they look at it and they see no significance at all. They don't see the need for God, folks. You follow that? I work with people. And this is honest truth. They come at four o'clock in the morning. They're driving that parking lot. And the only thing I could hear out of their cars is profanity. The music that they listen, it is profanity after profanity, trashing people to the core. And you look, you're like, how in the world a human being can listen to that garbage? That's what happened when we don't care about God, when we don't think we're not accountable. I am my own God, do what I want to do. And they listen to that stuff. Many of those people probably, if they're the people that they listen to sing or watch the movies that they do, they wouldn't have invited them to come to their house. But it comes right to their speakers on their cars. Listen folks, that's not just one case. It is many of them. And sometimes they try to get that stuff in the job. That's when you stand up and say, I ain't gonna happen here. I had one individual that I said, listen, I'm very calm. I said, listen, I know that you like your music, but I don't like your music. Can you please put your music down or do something about it? Because I'm very uncomfortable with your music. And he looks at me, I could say, he was about to say something. I said, Folks, let me tell you something, I didn't grow up with this stuff. I wanted him to go to HR so bad, I really did. Because I was going to make my case. Folks, it's pure garbage. Very explicit, and that's what our world is doing. And you know, folks, why people make that music? Because people buy and listen. If nobody buys and listens, they're going to stop doing it. Same thing with movies. Go watch the garbage that Hollywood does and they keep making it. You know why? Because that's where the money is. Listen folks, people see God these days and God is the man upstairs far, far, far, far away. And they look at him and they go, I can do what I want to do. I live the way I want to live. When life hurts, I call him. When life doesn't hurt, out of here. And the sad thing is this, is the sad thing that breaks my heart. Churches are stopping preaching the gospel to accommodate all kinds of nonsense because we don't want to offend anybody. So what we do, we low down our standards to accommodate sinners that don't want to change. May we keep in mind that the house of God is a house of prayer May they see when they come to the house of God. It is different here than it is in the world May we never change and lower our standards to accommodate this nonsense That's the people are not doing that yes, they are i'm not naive I know what's going on the blindness of that day is the blindness of today. They love darkness rather than light. They love their sin and they show it. Don't you know that today and not today's age which used to be done behind closed doors is done publicly? There's no shame anymore folks. There's no shame anymore. And when you say something you say, who are you to tell me I'm right or wrong? the blindness. Number four, or number four, yeah, letter B, you see their weakness. I would like to think that there were those who had sympathy for Jesus. Yes, believers were there. There were people that loved Jesus. There were people that knew that He was the Savior. They knew, but the crowds overtook their voices. May we always speak loud and proud about our Savior. May we always go against the current of this world. May we go against the rapid rivers and stand up for what we believe to be true. May we never be ashamed of our Savior. Never! You say, Pastor, but I can lose my life. So what? I'm not afraid. I serve a great king, a great God. I'm a soldier of the cross. May we understand what comes with being a Christian, a born again believer. I conclude with this. God's still thirsty today for souls to repent. There will come a day when your time is up. And the only thing that will matter is whether you have been saved or what you did for Jesus. Jesus said much in just two words. Do you need to come to Him today? If He had spoken to you, now is the time to respond. For those of you online watching, For He said, I have heard thee in time accepted, and this is the day of salvation. I have scourged thee, I'm sorry, behold now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salvation. You say, Pastor, but I'm saved. Yes, I'm glad you're saved. Are you living for Jesus? Are you putting thirst on people's mouths? We are the salt of the earth. Salt creates thirst. Did you ever eat a very salty pepperoni pizza? Did you ever did that? After you gobble that thing down. And you eat the whole thing. If you're like me, I eat the whole pizza. happens after? You thirst and you drink and you drink and you forget you eat the pizza. Why in the world am I so thirsty? Well you put a lot of salt in there you know and your stomach is full of salt all the way to your mouth and you drink you try to quench that thirst. Well God says you know what you are the salt of the earth. It's like you just open people's mouths and stick a spoon of salt in there. I'm not saying do that but it's pretty much what it is. Create thirst people's mouths. Make them think because a lot of people are not thinking today. Their phones think for them. Their iPads think for them. Everything thinks for them. They don't want to think. Make them think. Hey if you die today where you going? What do you mean? He's thinking. Nothing you like just. What do you mean? Where you mind going? Yeah where you going? Go down to what he is and say, what are you going to do if you die today? You see that? You create thirst. Let him engage with you because that's what people need. They're ignorant of their own thoughts because they're not thinking anymore. Google knows everything. Almighty Google knows everything. I even think about this today we are sitting at home and we I'm not going to say her name we're saying we're talking about it was yesterday we're talking about the minimum wage talking about minimum wage when he asked this thing in the phone and I can't say the name because she's going to come up and it's like she knows everything well let's engage people create thirst in their hearts and mouths because they need to know the word of God Maybe we think, do I speak enough to people about Jesus? I'm going to close. Some Christians know more about sports than they know about their Bible. They know ins and outs about any player. their scores, their things. I get amazed. I don't even know he plays for the Patriots. You know, but I get amazed. But you know what? They don't know their Bible, but they know all these details. Should we know our Bibles? Yes. Should we create thirst in the hearts of people? Absolutely. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for this passage of scripture. I thirst. Lord, you thirst. In your physical suffering, you did thirst. And Lord, even today, you still thirst for souls to get saved. And Lord, may we get that in our own minds and create thirst in the hearts of those who need the Savior. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Well, let's sing a song of unification tonight as we close. If you could stand, please. Page 131, Jesus paid it all. Jesus pitted all. I heard the Savior say, thy strength indeed is small. Child of weakness, watch and pray. Find in me thine all in all. Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left the Clemson stain, He washed his white as snow. Amen. Thank you so much for being with us today. You know one thing about Sundays, they go too fast. Before you know it, it's like, oh wow, Sunday is over. You know, we were here this morning just a minute ago, and now Sunday is over. I'm glad you're here tonight with us. What a blessing. And those of you, some of you are here with us this morning. What a blessing to be in the house of the Lord. The only thing we can do is look for the next Sunday. In the meantime, let's go and serve the Lord together. Create thirst in people's mouths for the Lord Jesus Christ. They need a Savior just like you and I needed a Savior at one time. They need the Savior. You know how we can do it? Don't get overwhelmed. One at a time. We reach one at a time. Let's do it that way. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for meeting with us in your house today. Thank you, Lord, for the folks that were here this morning. Thank you, Lord, for the visitors this morning. Thank you, Lord, for those who are here tonight. I pray, Father, bless each one, guide each one, protect each one. Help us to create thirst in the mouths of people and help us, Lord, to be committed to serve you day in and day out until we get to heaven. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. You are dismissed.