We're going to talk this morning about the unsearchable riches of Christ. Again, this week was meant to be a time when we as a church body, those that were able to be here, I got multiple emails of folks and texts of folks that said, listen, we wish we could be there, but our schedule doesn't permit, some are out of town. And it's not about physically being here necessarily, but it's about where are we at as individuals, where are we at corporately as a church, and truly, is Christ the center of our life? Is Christ the center of every single thing we do? I listened to many that prayed throughout the 16 hours and the tears that would come and the heartbreaks that would come, the excitement that would come, And every emotion you can imagine that comes into a prayer meeting when God's people come together. Some of you have heavy, heavy burdens that you're carrying for family members. As we moved inside, all of a sudden, I was struck with something that we hadn't really prayed. It wasn't on our prayer list, but folks, we've got just in the last six, eight weeks, we've had five families that have lost loved ones. And that's heartbreaking. And folks that are healing, and it's tough. And I think, oh, you know, one of my dear friends who is here this morning, and some of the family members, and it's just, I mean, as godly as these folks are, When you lose somebody that you love that much, it weighs heavy on you. And sometimes we even question, Lord, why? Well, we can ask that question. It will never be answered until we get to heaven. But these are difficult times, and it's like, all right. When we're going through the tough times, when we're going through some of the very difficult, sad times that many families in here have just recently gone through, and many of you, if we went through the past couple of years, I mean, the amount of funerals that have taken place and the amount of loved ones that you folks have lost, it's significant. When you go through that time, And the hardship comes, I think back to, well, 16 years ago, my mom passed, Valerie's better with my dates, about 16 years now. I love taking pictures. I love photography. And my mom passed away 16 years ago, and it was devastating. I mean, she was 74, as old as I am now, which is not 74, but it's like I'm getting closer to it. It's like, man, that's young. Well, it felt like she was 16 when she passed away to me, because it just hurt that bad. I put my cameras away. I didn't want any remembrance of anything anymore. I went into, I didn't go into a depression, but I certainly, it's like, what is life? It's just a vapor that's here and gone. Oh, I guess that is true, isn't it, folks? Life is a vapor. It's here for a short time, and next thing you know, it's over. And the time that we do have here, and you're just like, Rich, well, did you ever come out of that? I did. But it took me probably a couple of years before I said, all right, let's get the camera back out. Let's start enjoying things again. Let's not get caught up in the grief of losing someone. And it's hard. And folks, I'm not, if you're there, I'm not saying buckle up and get back in gear. I know it takes time, and for some it takes much, much longer than others. Some can bounce back quickly, others it's a process. So when I think about where many of you have been, the losses that you've gone through, the heartbreaks that you've gone through, some that are going through severe illness right now, we talked about our shut-ins, yet When we start to refocus ourselves and we start to think about the unsearchable riches of Christ, all of a sudden it can take us out of that, wow, it's tough right now, it's hard right now, the trials are hard, the temptations are exponentially difficult. I think of our high school and young people that are in the room right now and the difficulties and the trials they face. I was so happy to see multiple families bring their young people with them and some of the teens that were there. And it's like, folks, when I got on fire the most, and this is to my teenager friends right now, when I got saved as a teenager, I didn't turn over my life to the Lord right away. I got saved, I got excited, but about a year later, I decided, well, I've got Christ, I know I'm going to heaven, I don't need church anymore, and I decided to do my own thing. All of a sudden, God got a hold of my heart after I went to a crusade in Chicago. Actually, Jack Van Impey, who some of you might remember. Went to a crusade there, and God moved in my heart and my life. And I walked down the aisle, and I knew I was saved. I mean, I was backslidden as all get out, but I knew I was saved. But I knew I needed to give my heart to Christ and give my life to Him. My best friend, I didn't know him, but he was running right behind me. He wasn't saved. He got saved that night. I got right with the Lord that night. Folks, there's teens, there's children, there's middle-aged, whatever that is, senior citizens, and some of you are right where I was. And I don't know what you do behind closed doors. Some of you are exactly where I was back when I was a teenager and doing my own thing. Oh, knew I was saved, but I'm running life my way. And all of a sudden, God got a hold of my heart and said, OK, Rich, time to change, time to give your life to me, time to do right. And it was transformational. Folks, that's why we went to prayer for 16 hours, so lives would be transformed, people would be transformed, this church would be transformed, and we'd be on fire for the Lord. I remember one of the old Revival preachers, and it came to mind when we were praying, And he made this statement, when the saints of God get on fire, the sinners will come to see them burn. And you're like, what does that mean? Folks, when you're filled with the Holy Spirit, when you're powered up, when your daily walk is so in tune with Christ, when you go to work, when you go to school, when you go into the marketplace, and Jesus is just written all over your face, and people are like, what's going on with you? It's a rhetorical question, meaning I'm not looking for an answer, but how many of you, when you're walking with God, and where you've been, and all of a sudden somebody says, why are you so different? What is it about you? What do you have? It seems like you got something I'm missing. That's how I came to Christ. Because my older sister, and sorry for rambling for a few minutes here, my older sister got saved. And most of you know the story, but there's always new folks. My older sister, when I was a sophomore in high school, said, hey, she started treating me nice. And I'm like, that's unacceptable. We're supposed to fight. We're siblings. And she came home, and for several weeks, she just was as nice as could be. And I finally got fed up with it. And I'm dead serious. I was just, I'm angry about it. Like, what are you trying to pull? What's going on with you? She was just newly saved. She didn't know how to share what had happened in her life. And she said three simple words, which you'll find in the text of the gospel, where it says, come and see. And I'm like, come and see what? Where am I supposed to go? She's like, well, you come out of the high school, and whatever day it was, you come across the street, literally it was across the street, 2,000 kids in that high school. She said, walk across the street, and there's a lady there that's leading a study, Something happened there and you need to hear about. I'm like, all right, I'll give it a shot. Walked across the street. There's a bunch of teens inside the living room of this house. Dear sweet lady that had been running a little Bible study for the teenagers and giving the gospel every week. And there for the first time, I believe, in all my life, I'd gone to liberal churches, never preached the gospel. And all of a sudden, this dear lady said, hey, Rich, you're a sinner. I'm like, I already know that. But Rich, because you sinned, if you got what you deserved, you'd spend eternity in an awful place called hell. And I said, you know, I think I know that too. What do I do about that? She said, well, there's a person named Jesus that did all the work for you, ready? Came down from heaven, died on the cross for your sins, was buried, and three days later rose from the dead, and he paid for all your sins. She said, all you need to do is what the Bible tells you to do. I'm like, well, what's that? For God so loved the world rich that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him and his death, burial, and resurrection should not perish but have everlasting life. And I didn't get it right at that point. I'm like, this is different. And I went home, and about a week later, all of a sudden, the Holy Spirit smacked me upside the head and said, do you understand what that lady told you? And I said, I do. I think I do. I need to put my faith in Jesus and him alone. Went down in my parents' basement. They had a studio couch down there. I buried my head in the studio couch, and I didn't know what the sinner's prayer was, but I prayed it. I said, oh, God, I know I'm a sinner. I know I don't deserve to go to heaven. But I'm putting my faith in Jesus this very moment. And right there, I got saved, trusted Christ. And it's never been the same since. Now, folks, some of you have been saved a long time. Some of you have been recently saved. Some of you might be like I was as a teen. You got saved and maybe you didn't do right for a while. Maybe you're not doing right now and it's like God's calling you to come serve Him. Folks, I'll tell you, I've stayed out of a whole lot of trouble since I've come to Christ. I don't get tickets anymore. I don't get pulled over anymore. I don't have teachers and bosses yelling at me anymore. Why? Because you do the right thing. So I want to encourage you, if you're struggling with your walk with Christ, Wouldn't today be a great day to give your life back to the Lord, start living for Him, walking with Him, serving Him, sharing the gospel with others, inviting folks to church? I'm so happy with what's happened here. And again, I know I'm rambling a bit, but when I look over to this overflow piece, when I got here, I don't know how many chairs, maybe 20 or 30 chairs sat over there. We've had this place completely filled up several times. I mean, where you couldn't find a seat, basically. That's where we need to be every Sunday. If we're doing what we can, if we're sharing the gospel like we should, if we're inviting folks like we should, you're like, well, what happens if we fill it up to where there's no seats? Then we go to the next plan. We've got another overflow ready to go. Everything's ready to happen. And folks, that's one of the things I've been praying for. Lord, it seems like a big church in a small community. Well, folks, we're, If you want to compare it to the size of the community, maybe it's called a good-sized church, but do you understand how many millions of people are within driving distance of Union Grove Baptist Church? Millions. I think we can reach a few more folks. What do you think? The unsearchable riches of Christ. Again, when we think about the very important concept of prayer, something that is the most, I believe, neglected thing in the Christian life. Many of you, at least, you'll pick up the Bible, you'll read a few verses, hopefully more than Sunday morning, and do you spend some concentrated time with the Lord? The reason I told my testimony is because after I got right with the Lord, I did what one lady prayed in the tent on Friday, and she said, I can't get enough of your Word. And I know this lady, and I know her heart, and she can't get enough of His Word. Inside the Bible, every single day, spending time with God, reading His Word, letting His Word transform you, and then spending that sweet time in prayer. Sometimes we even neglect some of the old hymns that moved me back when I was first saved in there. Wonderful, wonderful little hymn. Pastor Josh, maybe we can sing it in the next week or two. Sweet hour of prayer. Sweet hour of prayer. It calls me from a world of care. and bids me at my Father's throne make all my wants and missions known, wishes known." And the Echorist goes, oh, would you return, sweet hour of prayer. Have you ever had a sweet hour of prayer by yourself? Have you ever had sweet five minutes of prayer by yourself? After I got right with the Lord, I'd go into my bedroom at night, get home from high school. I literally, I mean, it was weird. Rich, who was nothing but more than about cars and athletics and doing whatever, I came home, couldn't wait to get home, grabbed my Bible, threw myself on my bed, and I spent the rest of the night, until I couldn't stay awake anymore, reading God's Word. It was just permeating. I couldn't wait to get to it and see what's new in there. I didn't know what was in it. You say, I haven't got that kind of time. I didn't either, but I made it. And all of a sudden, the word of God becomes so powerful and so enlightening and so changing and so thrilling that I just couldn't wait to come. And mom would yell into my bedroom and say, Rich, time for dinner. Now folks, I like to eat. And that hasn't changed. But I'm like, I don't even want to come to dinner tonight. I just want to stay in the book. Folks, have you ever had that compulsion where the God's word is so powerful, where your time with the Lord is so powerful? Listen, I'm telling you, you say, I've never had that. I've just never been there. If you fall in love with Jesus, you'll get there. Some of you have been saved for year after year after year, and you say, I've never ever had that, where I just can't wait to get into, buy yourself a new Bible. Get your one with some gold color on the side. And you pop that baby open, and where your heart, by the way, did you ever hear where your treasure is, there your heart is also? I mean, we get on our cell phones, and we get on our computers, and we get on our iPads, folks, I, I got to have this thing. I just do. And you open it up and there it is and I can hear it read and it moves me at times. I can listen to it when I'm walking and it moves me at times. But when you're there and you're just taking the highlighter and the pen and going through verse by verse by verse and all of a sudden it moves you. Now folks, that's a lot of introduction. And we're going to get into God's Word right now. those testimonies that you all want, that being in the right relationship that you want. to where Jesus becomes all in all in your life. To where a young couple like Lindsay and Mason who will be saying their vows coming up shortly. Others that are getting married shortly in our church. And it's exciting and it's wonderful. And it's like, oh, our relationship is fresh and it's exciting and I can't wait to see my future spouse. Y'all remember that, married folks? Remember when, like I did when Valerie and I went to the same college? I don't know if I'm, I got to get to the word here, but we went to a very, and I mean very, very conservative college. And it was hands off, it was a strong Christian college. They had what was called the six inch rule, and I'm dead serious. You got within six inches of your girl or boyfriend, you got in trouble. You say, that's crazy. Kept a lot of people from doing a lot of wrong. But there she come and she'd walk down the hall and I'd see her and it was like, wow, there she is. I'd see her coming to the cafeteria, and because it was a very strong fundamental school, they were very budget-minded, and you got about a tenth of what you needed to survive in food. So she'd walk in, and there would be her tray, and I'm just staring at her and the tray. And she, being a wonderful, godly lady, said, do you want some of my whatever? And I'm like, well, if you insist. Are you like that with the Lord? Can you not wait to wake up in the morning? Ah, I'm going to see Him today. I'm going to spend some time with Him today. How's your relationship with the Lord? Well, let's get to the Word of Ephesians chapter 3. We've been going through the first seven verses. We're not going to speak on them again, but we're going to read them to set the context for verse 8. which is probably about as far as I'll get this morning. Remember, this is a heavy, heavy doctrinal section where the Apostle Paul is revealing things that have never been revealed or disclosed before regarding the relationship between Jews and Gentiles, that they both, under the gospel of the grace of God, are now becoming one body in Christ. For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles, if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation, revelation meaning something that God literally disclosed to Paul, he made known to me the mystery. Okay, and we've talked about that mystery for three weeks in a row now, which is in simplicity that Jews and Gentiles are becoming one body in Christ. Before it was basically everything revolved around the Jews, now we're revolving around Jews and Gentiles coming together. Verse four, by which when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ. which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, and this has now been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets. Here's the things that were revealed under Paul, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs. Again, we talked about that a great deal the last few weeks. Of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effectual working of his power. All right, so we've been through those couple of verses several times, excuse me here. I'm back. Verse eight, powerful, powerful key verse that we're going to spend probably most of the rest of our morning on. To me, Paul said, to me, who am less than the least of all the saints. Wait a minute, we're talking about the Apostle Paul, the greatest preacher, greatest missionary, one of the greatest Christians that ever lived, and here he makes this statement. To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ. to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church, catch the verbiage, that the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church, not to the church, but by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. We're talking about the angelic realm right here. Verse 11, according to the eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in him. Therefore, I ask you that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. Now, Father, I pray you take these precious words that you'd excite us, that you'd motivate us, that you'd encourage us, that Lord, that like a mighty army, we'll walk out of here in a short period of time, And Lord, that our lives might be transformed so that we can go out and share with others the great transforming power of the beautiful, wonderful, glorious gospel of Christ. So Father, would you do something that we need done in just a dramatic way this morning? Lord, would you please charge us up? Would you please revive us? Would you please allow the Holy Spirit to move in our lives like never before? Father, we love you. We want to serve you. We want to be your children. and we want to be effective vessels in the time that we have left. So Father, use us in a great way. Please, please would you speak to us this morning and change lives, and we'll give you the glory for it in Christ's name. Amen. Charles Spurgeon said regarding, and let's just go back to verse eight to get it in context. Paul said, to me who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given. that I should preach among the Gentiles. Remember, everything had been Jewish-centered. Now God called Paul specifically to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, or non-Jewish people. What is he going to preach to them? The unsearchable riches of Many of you know Charles Spurgeon made this statement, Ephesians 3.8 refers to the vast, inexhaustible, and profound blessings found in faith and relationship with Jesus Christ which are beyond human comprehension or complete. understanding. So when we look at the first part of chapter 3, verse 8, Paul makes this startling statement. He says, to me, I am less than the least of all the saints this grace was given. Now, you may be listening, someone here this morning, maybe someone on the internet, you're listening and saying, listen, you just don't know where I've been. You don't know how horrible my life has been. You don't know the terrible sin that I've been involved in. And Paul says, you haven't got me beat. And he's dead serious. What God puts in His Word is not meant to be cute or fuzzy or just trying to be sensational to get our attention. What He puts in here is absolutely 100% true, valid, and accurate. Let's see how great a guy Paul was. Remember now, in Acts, the Apostle Paul wasn't always called the Apostle Paul. His name before he started being used of God was Saul. So when you talk about Saul, based on the context in the New Testament, it's the same individual whose name was changed to Paul. Well, let's see about Saul or Paul. Verse 54 of Acts 7, when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart. Stephen was preaching about Christ to the Jewish people. He was telling about how Jesus can change our lives, how you need to put your faith and trust in Christ. And Saul, better known as Paul the Apostle, standing there listening to this, and he got ticked off, big time. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart." In other words, the Jewish people, including Saul, they gnashed at him with their teeth. In other words, I don't know how they growled like a dog at him, like, this is unacceptable, can't handle it. But he, Stephen, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God. and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Stephen's there preaching the Word of God. He's trying to get the salvation message to these Jews that were listening. And he knew he's in big trouble right now. And he looks up, and God gave him a glimpse of the Lord Jesus. And he said, look, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. Well, these Jews hated the message. They hated what Stephen was saying. And Stephen is literally, God gave him this openness to heaven, a very, very rare thing in Scripture. And Stephen is proclaiming what he is seeing. Well, it didn't sit well with the Jews that were listening to this. Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord." In other words, they're blaspheming Stephen. And they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named who? That's the apostle Paul we're talking about here. Paul's standing there. Stephen is a heretic. Stephen is not one of us. Stephen deserves to die. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, Lord, Jesus, receive my spirit. Saul said, kill him. He's a heretic. This Jesus stuff has no place among the Jewish community. Kill him. By the way, when we pray for some of our missionaries, that's the exact same thing that they face 1 Timothy 1. The Apostle Paul writes to Timothy, and I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has enabled me because he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. Now Paul's given a little different survey now. Things have changed. Acts 9, we gave a message on that two weeks ago. Saul's riding to Damascus to kill more Christians, to put more Christians in jail. to have that horrible sect called the way, basically Christians, take their lives away, kill them, put them in jail. And now Paul gets knocked off his horse and God says, hey Paul, Saul, I got some work for you to do. Some of you God wants to knock off your horse right now. You're riding along life's journey on a horse, thinking you know exactly which way is right, which way you're going, exactly what God wants you to do. And God says, you're as messed up as Saul was. I'm going to knock you off your horse. I need you to come back and realize who I am. I need a change out of you. I wish I could sing. I need Pastor Huffman right now. Remember that old song? There's been a great change since I've been born. There's been a great... Sing it with me. There's been a great change since I've been born. There's been a great change since I've been born. There's been a great change since I've been born again. Remember that one? I mean, there's been a great change since I've been born again. The things I used to do, I don't do them anymore. I mean, I crave new, And Paul says, listen, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man. He's not kidding. That's who he was. But he says what? I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. In other words, he didn't know Jesus yet. He didn't understand the Gospel yet. His mind was still clouded by doing things the old way, the rigid way, the Pharisaical way. And then Jesus got a hold of his heart. In v. 14, the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant. Catch the words. With what? faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. By the way, if you can't love somebody, you don't know Christ the way you should. You might be a Christian, you might know the Lord Jesus, but if your faith isn't strong, if your love isn't strong for others, if other people tick you off, there's something wrong. See, we know the Lord Jesus and we get off our high horse, so to speak, and we humble ourselves as Philippians 2 asks us to do. And all of a sudden, other people become more important than my little wishes and desires. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus. And Paul gives one of those greatest gospel verses in the Bible. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. that Christ Jesus came into the world to do what? To save sinners. Now folks, I've preached on that a thousand times. We've used that verse a thousand times, but I usually leave off that last phrase. Paul said, he came into this world to save sinners of whom I am what? I'm the chief of sinners. I hated Christians. I persecuted Christians. I blasphemed Jesus Christ. I hated the thought of Jesus Christ. I was a Pharisee. I was a Jew. I was steeped in my religion, so to speak. I belong to Islam. I'm a Buddhist. I'm a mystic. I belong to a mainline denominational church. And here I stand, I shall not be moved. And all of a sudden Jesus comes along The Holy Spirit comes along and you're riding on that horse and all of a sudden he knocks you off the horse and says, hey, you're wrong. You've been going down the wrong path. Get off that horse and let's get you on the right horse and get you in the right direction and get you pointed where you need to go. And Paul said, I was the chief of sinners. I stood there. I held the cloaks of those that were stoning one of God's precious souls, Stephens. I consented unto his death. I'm a chief of sinners. I'm a blasphemer. I'm a horrible guy. And I'm not deserving of God's grace, but yet. I did it ignorantly. I did it in unbelief. I didn't get it. The Holy Spirit hadn't knocked me off my horse yet, but now that He has, I get it and I understand it. And now, that which I would kill for before, now I'm going to give my life to propagate. Well, that was His appropriation, the acknowledgment to me who am less than the least of all the saints, and He meant it. This grace was given. Folks, we talk about grace so often. Remember, Paul is saying, I received the grace of God. What is grace? It's receiving that which you do not deserve. I don't deserve His grace. And friend, you don't either. But isn't it wonderful that those in this room that have reached up and said, okay, Lord, I'll take that free gift of eternal life, and that grace was given to you that overcame our sin." He said, this grace was given to do what? That I should preach among the Gentiles, those that I used to hate, those that I used to curse, those that I thought were nothing more than a dog, if you will. In our culture, you say dog and everybody goes, oh, I love doggies and I love my dog. And I mean, we spend billions of dollars on animals. Back in that day, dogs didn't have that type of preeminence in our culture. When you called somebody a dog, that was as low as you could go. I don't know, in our culture, maybe it would be, where's Harley? Is he here? I don't mean offense by this, but he raises pigs and sows, and by the way, I enjoy eating them. And I do. But if you call maybe someone a pig today, what do they call cops? Police. Ah, you're a rotten pig, whatever it might be. But again, hardly I love pigs. Okay, anyway, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. What is he talking about? Surpasses human understanding. The phrase unsearchable highlights the riches are so great and complex that they cannot be fully grasped or measured by human intellect or experience. Folks, when all of a sudden the Holy Spirit gets ahold of you and you realize who Jesus is, and He becomes central in your life, your life changes. You look around here today. We've got a good crowd today. Thanks for being here, by the way. It's really hard to have church if you're not here. But you look around and you see folks and it's like, wow. unsearchable riches of Christ. A good reason why we're here this morning is we're trying to grasp, yes we enjoy the fellowship, yes we enjoy various aspects of the music and all the different things, but it's like I need to get a hold of God today. I got a week coming up that It's unbelievable, and you're thinking in your heart, I gotta get to church today. Yes, I'm supposed to go to church. I know I'm supposed to meet with the saints, but I mean, did you come expecting to get something from God this morning? It's like, are we here simply because, well, it's Sunday morning, it's 9 a.m., and I'm supposed to be in church. And that's the way I've been brought up, and it's a good thing to do. Well, I agree with all that. But that isn't really why I come to church. I come here so I can meet with you. Folks, I spend, and again, I preach multiple times during the week. I do radio, TV, all this. Every minute of the day, I'm thinking about something. What can we do? What can we say, Lord, that's gonna help folks draw closer to you today? Lord, I can't do this. But you can. How? are the folks gonna understand about the unsearchable riches of Christ this morning? How are they going to process that you are everything, that your omnipotence, your omniscience, your unchangeability, your immutability, your graciousness, your love, your justice, your mercy, and all the attributes that you have, how are we gonna grasp that this morning, Lord? whose life is teetering on the brink of destruction right now that we have no clue about and they're two seconds away from doing something that's gonna totally ruin their life and have to go through a rebuilding process after they do that which they know they shouldn't do. The unsearchable riches of Christ. It's a never-ending source. The riches are not limited or finite. They are a boundless source of grace, love, and blessing available to all who believe in Christ. You see, if you put your faith and trust in Christ, doesn't matter when that happened. Go back. I gave my testimony this morning. I spilled the beans when I got saved and glad to do it, by the way. When did you get saved? When did you put your faith in Jesus? Are you more in love with Jesus today than when you first put your faith and trust in him? Some of you can say, well, praise the Lord. I mean, it's just been great. We just keep going forward. Some of you are falling backwards. And again, I don't know who's who. Every time I preach a message, and it sounds like I'm talking about, so I had folks the other day, I forget even what the subject was. It'll come to me at midnight. I'll call you up and tell you what it was. I had multiple people call me. How'd you know about that? Oh, and that was the deal. It was on Sewing Discord. I had multiple folks call me up saying, how'd you know about that? I said, I didn't know about that, but thanks for sharing. And it's like the Holy Spirit moves. That's what should happen on a Sunday morning. The words that come out, the message that we go, the scriptures that we go to, It should convict us. It should change us. It should move us. It should motivate us to be more like Christ because of His eternal riches. These riches are not material or temporal, but spiritual and eternal, encompassing forgiveness, salvation. Wait a minute. Encompassing. Let me see if I got the word right. Forgiveness. Forgiveness. Forgiveness. Forgiveness. Forgiveness. Forgiveness. General Booth, head of the Salvation Army, was asked to preach and many of you know the story. He got up on the stage and he opened his mouth to deliver his message. Others. Others. Others. Others. And he stepped off the stage. That was it. One word message, others. And I look at this word forgiveness. Forgiveness. And no, I'm not gonna step off the stage. You're not gonna get that fortunate. But I want you to remember the word. No, I want you to remember the concept. No, I want you to remember to do it. The hardest thing for the Christian, most of you aren't gonna do what we'll call deep sin. You're not gonna go out and get drunk. You're not gonna go out and commit immorality. You're probably not gonna go out and shoot drugs. I mean, overall, y'all good people, as they say. But how about forgiving somebody that's ticked you off? They did me wrong. It's the secret sin of the church. It's the sowing discord that we talked about a few weeks ago of the brethren. It's getting mad at somebody and saying, ah, I'm never gonna forgive them. That's unfor, wait a minute, unforgivable. What if he would have said that? What if he would have said that? What if he would have said, ah, you're too bad. I'm not taking you. Paul, you're such a rotten, lousy sinner. You killed my people. Yeah, it's unforgivable. Where would Paul be today? Burning in hell? Paul said. Oh God, I realize I messed up. I realize I'm a sinner. And I realize that you love me. And your eternal riches, your unsearchable riches involve forgiveness of my sins, which led to my salvation and a personal relationship with you. Do you understand when you're bitter and upset with somebody, you know that other person probably could care less? You know, it's eating you up inside. Every time I see them, oh, every time I think about them. Do you know that most people, we got doctors in the room, you can check with them on this. people that are chronically ill, and I'm not talking about serious disease, I'm talking about people, well, your stomach always hurts and they can't diagnose this, and your blood pressure's always up and they can't figure it out, and you're always kind of feeling out of sorts, and just, and again, it's like, well, you know, we'll give you pills for your high blood pressure, we'll give you a pill for the ulcer that you have, and we'll try to give you a sedative so you don't get so anxious, and all of a sudden, you realize I've been upset with this person my whole life. Every time I think about him, I'm mad. I can't get over it and I'm ticked off and I'm mad and I'm angry and you're sick every single day because of it. Yeah, Satan loves to do that to people, doesn't he? May I suggest that you take a new prescription? I'm debating whether to give. I've given this illustration before, but it's so good, I'm gonna do it again. Lady in a mega church comes up to the pastor, dead true, folks, for those that haven't heard this. She comes up to the pastor and says, Lord, or Lord, don't say that. She came up to the pastor and said, Pastor, I'm gonna have a nervous breakdown. I can't take it anymore. My life is just a disaster, and I'm gonna have a nervous breakdown. Pastor said, listen, I want you to do three things. I said, oh, Pastor, what do I need to do? I can't take it anymore. I mean, she's just beside herself. And he said, I want you to go home and bake a dozen cookies. She's like, what? Go home and bake a dozen cookies. Then I want you to go to the store and I want you to pick up a dozen roses. Then I want you to go buy a greeting card. And then I want you to bring all that home. Like, what are you talking about, Pastor? I'm gonna have a nervous breakdown. That's not gonna help. I said, all right, here's what I want you to do. I want you to take those dozen cookies, that lady down the block that just had a baby, I want you to take those dozen cookies over to her and give them to her. How's that gonna help my nervous breakdown? Just do it. And then you take those flowers and go to a nursing home. You find some poor little lady that's sitting off by herself, and you give that dear lady those dozen roses or whatever you buy, and you give her those flowers. And then I want you to think about somebody who's a shut-in that I want you to write him a beautiful little card, and I want you to mail it to him, and just talk about how you care about him. He says, ah, that's a bunch of hooey, that's a bunch of nonsense. And the pastor says, are you gonna do what I told you or not? She said, I'll go do it. She went and did it. She bought those cookies and went down the block to a dear little mom who was suffering with not sleeping and taking care of her little baby and anxious and she gives her the cookies and she's so happy and she hugs her and they're so excited. She goes to the nursing home and the little lady she gives the flowers to and the little lady that breaks down in tears, I haven't had a visitor in years, and I felt all alone, and you came and you made my day, and thanks so much for giving me those flowers. A smile begins to go on this dear lady's face, and she sits down at her desk and writes a beautiful card to someone she knew as a shut-in, and she pours her love into that card and mails it with love to this lady. She comes back to church that Sunday, next Sunday, And again, this is a huge church, thousands of people. She sees the pastor walking down the hall. Pastor! Pastor! And he rarely would do this, but he shouted back to her. Yes! I called off my nervous breakdown! Folks, we need to call off some nervous breakdowns. need to call off some tough times that you're going through. Others, Lord, yes, others, let this my motto be. Help me to live for others, Lord, that I might live like Thee. Are you living for others? Are you living for seeking God with all your heart, His unsearchable riches in Christ, the forgiveness of those who have hurt you, the grasping of your eternal salvation, which is never, ever, ever, ever, ever going to end. the time that we're going to spend with the Lord Jesus for eternity. A blink of the eye and we're gone here. An eternity of bliss with the Lord Jesus. Can't we buck up, if you will, for the few years we have left on this earth and say, I'm going to stop complaining. I'm going to stop rejecting Christ. I'm going to read His Word. Folks, do you know I like prophecy? One third of your Bible, because a lot of it tells me about where we're going. Heaven and hell is prophecy. And no, I'm not going to the latter. But it tells us about the new Jerusalem. It tells about where we're going to spend our eternity on the new heavens, the new earth, the new Jerusalem. It tells me to have a happy life while I'm living here on this earth. Folks, here is the answer. If you're hurting this morning, here is the answer. It's all right there. One book. I have thousands of books in my library, literally. Nothing changes my heart, my attitude, my perspective, my relation with the Lord Jesus like this book. You wanna know Jesus? y'all get home and you find that sweet spot, whether it's on the top of your bed, under the bed. Some lady said, I'm going to pray more in the bathroom. I'm like, okay, if that works for you, God bless you. Wherever it is, in the backyard, in a closet, in the basement. In the attic, wherever it is, are you spending time with the Lord? Father, thank you for your love for us. Thank you for the unsearchable riches of Christ. Oh God, would you change our hearts. Father, there's those that I'm sure in this room right now, they're walking with You, they love You, they're handing out tracts, they're telling others the greatest news about the Gospel, and they're having, if You will, a honeymoon with You right now. Father, thank You for those that are in that position, and we thank You for them. But there's another, Lord, if they were honest right now, they're struggling. Their spiritual life is basically non-existent. Oh, they may have trusted Christ, But right now their heart is as cold as ice, and their love for you has grown stagnant. It's like, quite frankly, I'd rather be anywhere but here right now, but for some reason God dragged me out of bed and got me to church this morning. If that's you this morning, would you Would you have a revival in your heart of loving Jesus once again? Would you have a revival in your heart of spending time in his word? Would you have a revival in your heart of spending time talking to the one who is just begging and waiting for you to open your mouth to talk to him? How many of you need a revival this morning in your hearts? Folks, you say, well, pastor, are you there? I'm never there. I'm always trying. to do better with my walk with the Lord. I've never, ever, ever thought I've arrived, and I certainly don't believe that for a shadow of a moment. Because every single day is a new day with Jesus, and every single day should be sweeter than the day before. And Father, that's my heart's desire. Lord, would you make it the desire of every person here? If you know Jesus as your personal Savior, how about seeking out for those unsearchable riches this morning? How about increasing your relationship with the Lord? How about saying, enough's enough, I'm finally going to get serious about my walk with the Lord? Teenagers, young people that might have been saved when you were a little bit younger, but you've not given your life fully and unequivocally to the Lord. Young adults, others, even older. You know who Jesus is, you put your faith in Him, but you've been playing the game at it. You show up on Sunday, but it's just meaningless during the week, except for a few times maybe when you encounter the Lord and your life is stagnant. Would you fall on your face right there where you are, so to speak, and say, oh God, would you change my heart? Would you give me that love back for you like I had when I first got saved? Would you make me who I need to be? Would you help me to overcome the horrible sins that have been taking me down the wrong path. Would you help me to turn my rotten, filthy, stinking, dirty Internet garbage off my phone and my computer? And would you give me the tenacious ability to overcome that garbage which Satan has been sticking in my head every single day? There's people, and all heads are bowed, every eyes are closed. There's people right now. You know the harshness of what I just said is part of your life. And again, I don't know who you are. Don't call me and say, how'd you know about that? I don't know about it. But I know a God that does. Instead of calling me, call up to the Lord and say, would you help me to quit? Now, if you need me to help you with it, then you do call me. But right there where you are, how about turning that garbage over to Jesus and saying, would you take it out of my life? There's adults in this room that you're struggling with this garbage. How about giving it to Jesus? How are you going to walk with God if all this stuff is filling your head and filling your mind? Right there we are. Tell it to Jesus. Tell it to Jesus. Tell it to Jesus. He is a friend that's well known. There's no other such a friend or brother. Tell it to Jesus alone. Right there we are. It's time to get right with God. Let's stop playing games. Let's give it to God. Right there we are. God's doing something right now in this room. Don't push the Holy Spirit away. I said, Pastor, you're absolutely right. God's working on me right now. I've been stuck where I shouldn't be stuck. And I want to get right with God this morning. Every head's bowed, every single eye's closed. I don't do this often, but I think God can do something great this morning. If you're struggling with something and you want to give it to Jesus right now, I'm not going to ask you to come forward, but I'm going to ask you to just simply do something that will help seal this in your mind. I'm just going to ask you to raise your hand with every head bowed, every eye closed, and say, Pastor, would you pray for me right now? I'm one of those. God bless you. Raise your hand up. Pray for me. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you in the back. God bless you in the overflow. Others, God bless you, many, many folks that have raised. God bless you in the center aisle. God bless you. I see those hands. You can put them down. Others this morning. God's doing something. I need to change my life. I need to get right with God today. Give it a few more few more seconds here. Just raise it up. So I'm making that decisions this very moment. I need to change. Raise it up. I'll acknowledge it and put it down. Anyone else? Father, thank you for the hearts that you've touched this morning. My heart's touched. I've been reminded as Friday of how important it is to spend that special time with you. And how easy it is to get sidetracked with things that get in our lives that pull us away from loving and serving you. And Father, I pray for those who right now, I don't know exactly what is in their hearts, what's in their mind, but Lord, you do. And Father, I pray for each and every one that's making special decisions right now to follow you. God, would you bless them? Would you help them? Would you give them the tenacity? Would you allow the Holy Spirit to help them to overcome any sin that they're stuck in or help them to have a more pure and righteous and loving and timely relationship with you. Father, would you do what only you can do? Seal these decisions. Finally, if you've never put your faith in Christ, we've given the gospel multiple times already today. Would you put your faith in Jesus? You can't get to heaven by anything but by putting your faith in Jesus. If you've never put your faith in Jesus, if you've never received his free gift of eternal life, right there we are. Would you take it? It's as simple as saying, I believe. in the Lord Jesus Christ. I know I'm a sinner. I know I don't deserve to go to heaven. But I believe that Jesus Christ, God's Son, came down from heaven, died on the cross for my sins, was buried, and three days later rose from the dead. And by God's grace right now, I'm receiving that free gift. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, that whosoever, anyone who believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Father, seal the scissors. We commit all this to you. And God's people said,