Today we're going to get a kind of a broad picture of the things that are taking place, and then we're going to go back next Sunday and look at some more of the detail in these particular passages of Scripture. We're going to be looking at chapter 7, and then at chapter 8, some brief things that we'll look at in chapter 10, and then a brief look at chapter 11. Chapter 7 is an intermediate chapter between the visions that closed in chapter 6 and the new visions that open in chapter 8. The visions of chapters 8, 9, 10, and 11 go together as a unit, and they are a picture of a very sad and dreadful condition, as Ezekiel is called of God back to Jerusalem to witness and to view the conditions that prevail to the point that God can no longer dwell and live in the midst of his people. That's what chapters 8, 9, 10 and 11 are all about, and that's what our title's about this morning, where God will not be. Now, God is omnipresent. He's everywhere, of course. His Spirit pervades the entire universe. The God in his essence of being will not reside in cohabit with the place and with Satan. In the book of Hebrews, chapter 10, verse 31, we read a very sobering verse. It's a very short verse. This is what it says. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. It is a dreadful thing, it is a terrible thing, to stand before God in your sin. For those of us who have received and believed in God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as our Savior, we will never face God in our sin. God has given to us his very own righteousness. And how wonderful it is this morning to realize that I will never have to face my sin in the presence of God. But to realize that the moment I became a believer, God gave to me his own righteousness as a robe in splendor. And when I stand in the presence of God, I will stand clothed in this robe of righteousness. Let me give you a text or two on that. 2 Corinthians 5.21, For he, Jesus Christ, was made sin for us, he who knew no sin, so that we could become the righteousness of God in him. Did you get a hold of that last phrase? So that we could become the righteousness of God. God has given to us his righteousness. Romans chapter 3, we are justified by faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That word justified means we have been declared righteous. The first part of Romans chapter 3 is very discouraging for us as humanity, for in the first part of Romans 3 we have been put in a court scene and God is summing up the case, and He sums it up with a 14-point indictment of guilt. He's put the whole race on trial, the man who is a pagan, the man who is morally good, and the man who is religiously good. And he has found them all guilty. He says there is none that do it good. No, not one. He said in the final summation, a devastating blow, all of Satan comes short of the glory of God. The entire human race can produce nothing that will please God. It goes right along with that passage in Hebrews that says, without faith it's impossible to please God. But praise God, God has given to us His righteousness and He has given to us the ability to produce His works through the person of Jesus Christ in our lives. And there I'm so glad that when I stand before God, I will not have to face God in my own works. For all of my works, God sums them up in this way. He says, all of your works, all of your efforts, all of your good deeds, they fall so far short of my righteousness and my holiness that they are filthy rags in my sight. Now many people are lulled to sleep today by the fact that we live in a world where God's door of mercy is open. You can sin today and get away with it. You can reject God today and it won't make too much difference in your life, for the most part. Oh, it'll bear its consequences to some degree. But you can sin and the judgment of God doesn't come upon you, does it? My, wouldn't this world be quite less populated if God just struck down in judgment every time somebody got out of line? Huh? How many would be missing? But God isn't doing that today. The mercy of God is extended to us today. But the Bible tells us that today is coming when God's mercy will be withdrawn. The door of God's mercy is open to us here in this life. But one of these days, this life is over, and immediately as this life is over, the Bible says it's appointed unto man once to die, and then after that judgment there's no reincarnation, there's no second chance, one life, one opportunity, one death, that's it. And if you go into eternity having never received and believed on Jesus Christ as your Savior, you go into a lost and hopeless eternity. There are many people today who, because God's mercy is extended, have been lulled into a complacency, who believe that somehow or another that God will always be willing to overlook their sin and let it pass by. But that's exactly what Ezekiel 7 is all about, because that's exactly what these Israelites taught. They thought, well, we are the people of God, this is the city of God, and we can do whatever we want, and God's mercy will always be extended. He will never really allow us to suffer His total judgment. For they knew that God loved them. Did you know this morning that God loves you? God loves the world. God loves everyone. But God is also holy. And extending from His holiness is His wrath against sin. And God hates sin. He loves sinners, but he hates their sin. And a holy God must deal in wrath against sin. Now that's what the word of God tells us from one end of the book to the other. And that's why in the book of Hebrews it says, it's a dreadful thing, it's a terrifying thing, it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God with your sins unforgiven. Let's see what he said to Ezekiel. He said, Ezekiel, I want you to tell the people this. I want you to tell them that the door of mercy has closed. I want you to tell them that this opportunity has come to an end, that things are no longer going to be as they are. So he said in verse 3 of chapter 7, Now the end has come upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and I will recompense upon thee all thine abominations. So the Bible reveals to us that while God is love that the wrath of God will be revealed against wickedness and against sin. You can't sin and get away with it. You know there are many people who feel that somehow or another they're going to be able to circumvent the judgment of God. You know why we feel that way? Because we're able to do that with so many things in life. In fact, most of our life is spent getting away with something. Or, I hope it isn't all of us, but a lot of people's life. It's centered around that. We get out of the draft. We get out of paying our income taxes. We get out of this. We get out of that. We scurry and wiggle around. Haven't you ever gotten away with something? Well, I see you're very quiet when I ask a question like that. Nobody moves. I have. Our whole life is spent and we are used to the fact that it's possible to avoid the inevitable, isn't it? And there's always a stage. But the Bible says there is coming a day when there will be no stay, when there will be no second opportunity, when there will be no second chance. There is coming a day when you will approach God. If you are in your seat, instead of God's arms opened in love with a smile on his face, his hands will be folded and his face will look upon you in fierce wrath and he will say, Because He doesn't love you? No, because He hates sin. Oh, He loves you. He loved you so much that He was willing to come down here and die and suffer for your sins. But if you insist on rejecting His salvation, and if you insist on facing Him as you are, then God has no alternative. It's not God, it's you who has forced the issue. And that's what Ezekiel is saying to these people. He said, listen, in verse 4, Mine eye will not spare, I will not have pity, but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abomination shall be in the midst of me, and everyone shall know that I am Lord. Oh, there are a lot of folks who say to me from time to time, you're a bastard, I don't believe in God. Well, dear friend, when you stand before him in judgment and you face his wrath, you'll But you will believe in fear and terror, knowing that you are going to receive from his wrath." The Lord Jesus Christ said, there are many people who doubt my deity, but the day will come when every knee will bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. In John 12, we're going to look at tonight, the Lord Jesus Christ said, and if I be lifted up, one day all men will be drawn before me, either as their Savior or as their Judge. And these are solemn words in this seventh chapter. And God brings to us the fact that he's a God of love, but he's also a God of holiness, and he's a God of justice, and he's a God of omniscience. And God says, I know your ways, I know what you've done, and I will recompense you according to your works. Dear friend, this morning, if there is one thing that I do not ever want to receive from God, it is justice. I thank God this morning that God in his grace has given me salvation and forgiveness of sins. I don't want God to give me just what I deserve. I'm so glad this morning that God has given to me grace, forgiveness, and salvation. The word of God tells us here, and this is what he gave to Ezekiel. He said, Ezekiel, I want you to tell the people that I will recompense every man according to his ways. Thus saith the Lord, and evil and only evil, behold, is come. The end is here. The end is come. It watcheth for thee. Behold, is come. The morning is coming to thee, O thou that dwellest in the land. The time is come. The day of trouble is near. And not the joyful shouting. The songs will be gone. From time to time I've had people say to me, well, I don't believe in God, and then I don't really believe in what you say. And if there is a God, well, when I finally meet him, I'm going to stand and tell him a number of things that I think he did wrong with this world, mistakes that he made. And you know, dear friend, the Word of God reveals to us that when sinners stand before an angry God, angry not at them but at their sin, the Word of God says a sinner won't do anything except fall on his face. in dreadful fear and awe of the realization of the dreadful mistake that he's made to not come to grips with the things of God while the door of mercy was still open. I will shortly pour out my fury upon thee. I will accomplish my anger upon thee. I will judge thee according to thy ways. And I will recompense thee for all thine abominations, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. Mine eyes shall not spare, neither will I have pity. God tells us here that every man will answer for his own deeds. Why is God going to do this? Why? That's the question Ezekiel has. God, why are you telling me this? Oh God, can't you see it? In chapter 11, verse 13, it came to pass when I prophesied that I fell down on my face, I said, Oh Lord, why don't you make and help us, God, forgive us, do something, save us. And Ezekiel says, Why God? Why are you going to do this? You see, when Ezekiel was a boy, Josiah was king. They had revival, and the land was filled with the proper worship of God. He was used to going to the temple and the priests were offering sacrifices, and they were doing things according to the Word of God. And in just the space of a few short years, Apostasy had come into the hearts of the leaders, and the nation of Israel had turned once again away from the worship of God, and they had begun to follow after other gods and idols. And you know, an idol is not an idol thing. to make a play on words. An idol is not just an empty thing. I think you're mistaken when you read that passage in the Psalms where it speaks of the fact that the idols have ears but they don't hear, and they have eyes but they don't see, and they have mouths but they don't speak. And we kind of think that idols don't represent anything. Dear Christians, the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 10 tells us that idols represent demons and Satan. And there is reality behind idol worship. Did you know that? Idol worship is demonically and satanically inspired. And some of the things that take place with reference to idol worship that seem spectacular are real in the sense that they are provided through the power and might and craftiness of Satan. And we need to be aware of the fact that there was one message that Satan has zeroed in on all through the centuries, and it's the true message of salvation for the world. What other group do you hear of that was constantly going about and joining other religions? You know, the Mohammedans have stayed fairly stable as Mohammedans, haven't they? Not too many Mohammedans take up other idol worship. The Hindus have remained fairly stable in Hinduism. The Buddhists have remained stable in Buddhism, but the Jewish people and the Christian population, all through the centuries, has constantly turned away from their faith and adopted other religions. The most fickle people in all the world were the Jews. They were constantly leading the true worship of God and adopting the false gods and idols of the nations around them, weren't they? And yet the nations around them were never adopting the worship of Jehovah to a great extent, were they? Now why is that? Because Satan was bringing all of his attention and all of his pressure upon the people of God to destroy the truth and to distort the truth and to lead the people of God into a wayward thought so that he could utterly wipe out from the world God's remedy for man's need and destroy man's opportunity of salvation. And that's why from one end of the Bible to the other, God gave warning after warning, and he said this, guard the faith, guard the things that you believe in. Don't make graven images. Teach these things to your children. And time after time, they didn't teach them to their children, and before long, all that they had possessed was lost. And this is the history of the Christian church as well. And so we have a church that began in the day of Pentecost that was vibrant, and then we have a church that almost passed into oblivion, and went through a period of such darkness that it just barely existed. And then it emerged in a glorious reformation, and then it has begun to fade back, and then there's a revival, and then it fades back, and it loses its vision. Now why? Because Satan is constantly seeking to wipe out the true message of salvation that the world needs, you see. His whole attack is measured against God's salvation. And he's doing all he can to blind the hearts and lives of men, so that they will never see it. When Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, he said, if our ghosts will be hid, it is hid to them that are but lost. When Jude went to write to the early church, he said, I was going to write to you about the common salvation. But he said, the Spirit of God impressed upon me that I should tell you to earnestly contend for the faith. When John wrote his epistles, he said, you must guard the faith, you must keep it pure, because, he said, it's constantly being attacked. And in my lifetime, I can see the deterioration of the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ and of the Word of God in many, many prophets throughout America. And we'll develop that as we look further into the passage this morning. Now notice what happens. The elders came to see Ezekiel. They had heard that Ezekiel was having these tremendous visions, and so they came to see Ezekiel. They sat down in front of him. Mostly did the elders sit down in front of him, and God gave him a message. Remember now, Ezekiel couldn't talk unless God opened his mouth. He was tongue-tied anyway. He didn't have anything to say. Here the elders came and said, Ezekiel, have you heard any message from the Lord yet? Ezekiel sits there. I think he's wondering, Lord, are you going to tell me something to say? And they said, Ezekiel, have you heard anything from the Lord? And Ezekiel said, I can't talk unless the Lord lets me talk. So I sat there, and they sat in front of me, and then he said, suddenly God got a hold of me by the hand. And when God got a hold of him, he got a hold of him, boys. You know what God did? He says, look at verse 2, He says, God got a hold of me. Verse 3, He said, I looked up and there I saw the likeness of God. I believe it was Jesus Christ Himself that Ezekiel saw here. The picture here is so similar to the picture there in the book of Revelation. And you know what happened boys? He said, God just suddenly reached down with His hand and He grabbed me by the top of my head and He just picked me up and held me up in the air. between heaven and earth. There he is, verse 3. He took me by the lock of hair, and he lifted me up between heaven and earth. Hey, somebody says, wait a minute, I thought he shaved his hair off. This is a year and two months later. And we can get a lot of hair in a year and two months. All right, he's very precise about that. He tells us it was in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month. And so we know exactly when it was, 592 BC. And he said, God just picked me up, and there he is. The first man in space to fly. There he is! What do you call that thing you have, Ezekiel? Oh, that's a helicopter. There you go. There you go. And I don't know, you know, if God reached down and grabbed me by the hair and dangled me about three or four thousand feet over Santa Rosa, I just don't know how I'd feel. I think I'd be... I don't know whether I'd look up or look down. Now, he didn't really physically do this. He tells us in the 11th chapter that it was just a vision. He just went into a trance while these men were there. And God just picked him up, and God said, Come on, Ezekiel, I'm going to take you someplace. Ezekiel said, Where are we going? God says, I'll show you. And so they took off in that helicopter, and off he went. And he headed west. And sure enough he went over the mountains, and pretty soon the helicopter began to come down, and he was hovering over the city of Jerusalem. And God said, Ezekiel, you asked me why I'm going to do it. He said, I'll tell you why. I'm going to show you what's going on. He said, you've been gone for six years. Ezekiel, you wouldn't believe what they're doing. Ezekiel said, oh God, these are the people of God. Lord, they have all of the things that you've done. They wouldn't forget you. And God said, look down there, Ezekiel. And Ezekiel said, I looked down and he said, I saw the glory of God. similar to what I've seen in the plain. But he said, as I looked, I lifted my eyes toward the north, and behold at the northward gate I saw the image of jealousy. There was a god, an idol, that had been erected to Enchilad, and where did they have it? Right there in the gate, in the doorway to this temple of Solomon. Do you remember when Solomon had built his temple, that all the congregation of Israel had gathered together? And suddenly, as they were there on that day of dedication, suddenly God struck that temple, and the glory of God filled that house, and the smoke ascended out and surrounded, and the people smelled the smoke of the presence of God. And God said, I accept this place, and I will dwell among you right here, and you can come to this temple, and here I will meet with you through the intermediate agency of your priests. And God's glory had filled the temple in the middle of the city on that day. But you see, God cannot dwell with Satan. And when men turn their back on God, then God must turn His back on men. Ezekiel couldn't believe it. I can just see it as he looks down. Oh, God! How could they do this? Put a statue, an idol to Eshdod right here in the door of the temple. There it was. There it was. God says, Come on, Ezekiel. I want you to see what else they've done. Verse 6. God says, Come on. So now they've landed. He said, I want you to see the abominations of the house of Israel. I want you to see how far off from my sanctuary. But turn yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations. You know, the one thing that I notice here about Ezekiel is this, that Ezekiel had committed himself totally to the Lord. And you know, Ezekiel did something here that many people make a mistake in. I want to bring a practical application right here. Let's just get out of the vision for a moment. At every step of the way in this vision, Ezekiel always turns and asks God for the next step. You know, many times we make the mistake that God gives us a ministry, He starts us in that ministry, and then we say, OK, Lord, thanks, I see what you want me to do. You go ahead and help somebody else. I'll take care of it myself. Do you ever find yourself doing that? I do. Oh, Lord, you have a class for me. All right, Lord, I'll teach the class. Thank you. Now go on. I'll do it. The way to be involved in a ministry for God is to know that you're involved in a ministry with God. And God not only wants to put you in it and plant you in it, but God wants you to look to Him for every movement you make in it. And all the mistakes we make when we get ahead of God and make decisions with reference to the ministry on our own. Isn't that right? And dear friends, if God has given you a ministry, then you need to be on your knees before God every moment that you're involved in that ministry. Did you know that? And I want you to do that. And I like the example that Ezekiel gives to us here. Every step of the way, he just constantly says, OK, God, you want me to do this? You want me to do that? Shall I do this? Shall I do that? And so the Lord put him down there, and he said, Ezekiel, you know, I'm going to leave this place. And oh, Ezekiel felt sad, I'm sure. But he said, I'm going to show you why. He said, well, bring me to the Lord in the court. And when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. Ezekiel looks around. The Lord said, you see that hole? Ezekiel said, yes, I see it. Well, the Lord said, God said, well, go ahead and dig. Dig a hole in the wall. Ezekiel, dig a hole. All right, Lord. So he gets in there, and I don't know what he used, but maybe the Lord handed him a shovel. I don't know. God will give you what you need. I know that. And so he digs in the wall, and he finds a door. Now, what would you do? You'd walk through it, wouldn't you? But Ezekiel says, what should I do about this door? And the Lord says, open it up. Go on in. So he said, all right, and he said, I went in, and he said, I couldn't believe it. Why, he said, I went in, and what did I see? I saw every kind of creepy thing, and abominable beast, and the idols of the house of Israel, and the whole wall had been filled, this room of the temple that had been built for the service of God. I should have found men in there reading the word of God. And instead of that they had all these kind of grotesque creatures, all kinds of weird animal representations and strange things, grotesque and weird and ugly. And he said, the room was filled with incense and there were the 70 ancients of Israel. Now this is not the Sanhedrin, for the Sanhedrin was not established until after the Babylonian captivity. You know what these men were? These were the men that God told Moses to appoint in Numbers 11 and in Exodus 24. Seventy laymen, not priests, but seventy laymen from among the congregation who would be appointed as under-rearers, and their specific job was to protect against idolatry. And here they are leading in idolatry in the house of God. Dear friends, turning your back on God, Satan can make it so interesting and so appealing, but I want to say this. Men never find satisfaction for their souls. any place in this world except in Jesus Christ. And these men have given themselves to this, but what is the song they are singing? Here it is. And there stood before them the seventy ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jazaniah, the son of Japheth, with every man his censer in his hand, and a thick card of incense went up, and he said, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house do in Israel? And he said, Listen, they're talking, and listen to what they're saying, Ezekiel, and they're chanting, and you know what they're saying? God is dead, God is dead, God is dead, God is dead. They're in despair! And if you're honest this morning, you will have to come to the conclusion that there is no hope for man, there is no future for man, ecologically, historically, scientifically, apart from God. When you turn your back on God, the only thing that is left for the human heart is total despair. And it's interesting, and it's a parallel, that about four or five years ago, I picked up my evening paper, and you know what I read? I read that in some of the seminaries of our country that once preached the Word of God and once guarded the faith, that there were students in some of these seminaries that had so turned their back on the Word of God and the things of God, that the students in the seminaries who were planning to go into were singing and chanting and demonstrating and saying, God is dead. Do you remember that? Well, it's there. It's a part of our current life, too. Listen, why were they singing that song? Because that's always the song of men who have known God and have turned their back on him and sought another way. They said, the Lord doesn't see us. The Lord has forsaken the earth. And the word Lord there is Jehovah, who was the Almighty One to the nation of Israel. Ezekiel said, well, Lord, now I see why you're going to do it. Oh, God. He said, I didn't realize that such a thing as this could happen. What caused it? Parents, pastors, preachers. Leaders who refuse to teach the will of God and bring up their children according to the precepts. It just takes one generation and it's gone. One generation. God said, and Ezekiel, I'm sure you can't believe it by now, God says, Ezekiel, I'm going to show you something worse. Ezekiel says, worse? There couldn't be anything more than this, God. Why? The leaders are saying you're dead. They're worshiping all of these things. The room is filled with incense and smoke. He said, yes it is, and he brought me to the next door of the gate of the Lord's house, toward the north, and there sat the women, and they were out there prostrating themselves before this Greek god Adonisus or the Persian god Tammuz. It was the god of new life and had to do with fertility. And here were these women weeping and moaning before this god and practicing the immorality, the gross immorality that was associated around the worship of this. I wouldn't even mention what it is. this company this morning, and Ezekiel's eyes are aghast as he sees the dear women of Israel who are committing fornication with this idol. Ezekiel said, it's no wonder. And verse 15 is interesting, because I'll paraphrase verse 15 for you. God says, Ezekiel, you ain't seen nothing yet. Let me read verse 15 in the King James and see if I got it right. He said, Son of man, turn yet again, and you shall see greater abominations than these. Could there be such a thing? Yes. He goes outside the door of the temple, and there right in the courtyard in front of the holy place where the altar of incense was placed, the table of the showbread, and the golden candlestick. And just before the place where you entered into the Holy of Holies, there in that place are twenty-five priests, and they have their face toward the east, and they are worshiping the sun. God says, Ezekiel, this is why. He said, Ezekiel, I'm not leaving Israel. He said, Ezekiel, don't you see? Israel has left me, and I cannot live in this temple. I cannot cohabit with Satan. It is impossible. So in verse 3, Ezekiel's back up in the air, God's got him in his helicopter again, and he's up in the air and he's looking down, and suddenly as he looks back at that temple, his heart is broken, his eyes are filled with grief, he looks back at the temple, and there he sees the glory of God come to the threshold of the door. And Ezekiel cries in his heart, and I'm sure he says, Oh God, stay! Oh God, do something! And in verse 18 of chapter 10, he suddenly looks down and he suddenly sees the glory of the Lord and he leaves the threshold of the temple, this temple in which God had come in on the day of Solomon's dedication and where God had met with his people and where they had found sanctuary and health and strength and salvation. God leaves it! And Ezekiel stands there with tears in his eyes as he watches the glory of God leave the temple. And he listens to the elders as they speak, and they're still chanting and they're still saying, everything's going to be alright. And then you turn to verse 22 of chapter 11. Ezekiel is now up in the air, he's on the outskirts of the city, and he said, And I looked, and then did the cherubim lift up their wings, and the wheel was beside them, and the glory of God of Israel was above them. And he said, As I watched, he said, The glory of God came up out of the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side. Ezekiel said, As I watched, I saw that the glory of God had left the city, and God had left his people. Chapter 9 tells us that judgment was coming. Chapter 9 tells us that for the individual Jew who believed in God and who deplored the wickedness and who reached out, that God gave him a special place of sanctuary. Next Sunday morning, we're going to look at chapter 9, and we're going to come back into these chapters again, and we're going to see how God provided for his own during this time of judgment. All good friends this morning. I wish you could take a two-hour sermon, because it would be great if I could just do this all in one sermon. But I see you're hungry, and you have other things to do. But next Sunday morning we're going to look at the inkpots. Would you do something for me? Read chapter 9 and then read chapter 11, verses 14 through 21, before you come to church next Sunday morning. And we're going to look at the vision of the inkpots and the vision of the secret sanctuary that God would provide for those who would turn to him in that day. Dear friends, this morning, the door of mercy is still open. It hasn't swung shut for you. If you're here and alive this morning, there's still opportunity for you to reach out and be embraced in God's warm and wonderful arms of love. You know, that's why I sang that particular song that I sang this morning, because I knew our message today was going to be about judgment, and I wanted to sing a song of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ for souls today, before we went into the service, and I wanted to bring you back to it. For that song is a testimony of a young girl who was steeped in sin and who turned to the Lord Jesus Christ because today God's love and God's mercy is still extended to man and woman. Isn't that wonderful? There's not a person here this morning that ever has to fall into the hands of this kind of God. But everyone in this room this morning can enjoy the loving friendship of God for all eternity. All you must do is receive and accept His Son, Jesus Christ, as your Savior. God does not leave men. Men leave God. And God left the city because the people had long since left Him. Dear friend, if you will reach out to God this morning, God will come to you and God will make you His own. And I hope and trust and pray that everyone in this room today has received God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as your personal Savior. For therein can you escape the judgment of God, and therein will you find his love. Could you bow your heads, every head bowed and every eye closed. It occurs to me that there possibly would be some here in this room who would have to say, you know, Pastor Graves, I don't remember that there's ever been a time that I reached out and accepted God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as my Savior. My friend, you become a Christian when you by faith believe that Jesus Christ is God who died on the cross for your sins and rose again from the dead. And God will forgive you of all your sins and God will give you salvation. God will give you his righteousness. God's mercy and grace will be yours for all eternity if you will accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. With our heads bowed and our eyes closed, if you've never really settled that matter, I'm going to invite you to settle it right now. With our heads bowed before God, I wonder if you would be willing, just where you are, to trust Him. Just join with me in this simple prayer of salvation. Say these words from your heart and mean it. Say, Lord Jesus Christ, I know that I've sinned, and I thank you for dying on the cross for me. I believe you are God and that you rose from the dead. And right now I confess you as my Savior. I trust in you for the salvation of my eternal soul. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for saving me. This message has been brought to you by the Santa Rosa Bible Church. Our mission is to see the lost reached and believers transformed by Jesus. You can find out more information about us at our website at srbible.org. Or you can visit us in person at 4575 Badger Road in Santa Rosa, California. You can also reach us by phone at 707-538-2385.