chapter of the book of Ezekiel. We'll start in chapter 27, and then we will go back to chapter 26. Now, you know, these chapters could be very boring, you know, in some ways, and yet in other ways they can be very exciting and interesting to study. We see we have the windows open. I'm going to ask if we could open that one there so that I won't fall asleep. Shall we bow our heads in just an opening word of prayer? Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We pray that you would bless it in the hearts and lives of each and every one that is here this morning. Speak to us, Lord, we pray in Christ's precious name. Amen. Now, if you were with us last Sunday morning, you will remember that when we arrived at chapter 25, we found that God began to read off eviction notices to the nations surrounding the people of Israel. We discovered, as we looked last Sunday morning at the 25th chapter and at the 17th chapter of the book of Acts, that nations exist and possess the land that is theirs by the permission of God. and that God gives to a nation a lease on a section of land. And that land is theirs to possess only until God gives it to someone else. We find that nations and peoples do not have a prior claim on land simply because their forefathers were there. But we find that the Bible makes it clear that God allows one nation to possess a land for a time and then he gives it to another nation according to his will and his direction. Don't come and tell me that some particular land belongs to you because your great-great-grandfather was there before anyone else. The Bible says in clear terms that God gives the nations the land and He sets the boundaries according to His will and to His time. Imagine what Europe would be like today if everyone tried to go back and claim what his ancestors had once possessed. Oh no. Nations come and nations go. And they come according to the direct will and edict of God. We have a lot of problems, strife, and trouble in our country today because people don't understand that simple Bible principle. Now God called Ezekiel to read eviction notices to four nations. One thing that is very thought-provoking for us as we looked at those four nations in chapter 25 is this. that God holds each citizen of a country responsible for its national personality. There are seven nations in total that were given eviction notices. The first four that we looked at last week were the nations of Edom, Ammon, Moab, and Philistia. They were all given permanent eviction notices. And we found that Ezekiel was right. We found that they were all put out of their land and of their country. We found that other nations have occupied their territory since the time of their eviction. We found that we cannot find any of them in existence today. Nobody here In our congregation last Sunday, had ever met a Moabite, we didn't find any seat on the United Nations for the Moabites or the country of Moab. We didn't find any seat for the Edomites. They were a well and a great and a successful nation. We didn't find any Philistines in the United Nations. We didn't find any Ammonites in the United Nations. Well, you say, after all, Pastor Graves, what about the rest of the nations around there? Where are they today? Oh, the Lebanese are still there. The Syrians are still there. The Persians are still there. They're all mentioned here, too. The Egyptians are still there. We're going to find, when we get to the next chapters, that Egypt was put out for a while, but God said, Ezekiel, tell them that I'm going to let them back in, and they're going to be in existence until the end. Oh, you know, it's very interesting that these prophecies were made so many thousands of years ago, and yet, as we look at them today, they are up to date. They are up to date. A fabulous portion of the Word of God. And we found that everyone is held responsible for the national characteristic of his nation. The nations develop personalities. Nation number one, the Ammonites, they were a nation of scoffers. And God said, because you have scoffed at my name, because you have said there is no God, then God said, I'm going to deal with you. God said, you cannot deny my existence for long. Eventually, you must pay the price. And so because you have scoffed at my name, I will reveal myself to you by deposing you as a nation. And that's exactly what he did. Now, the Edomites, they were skeptics. They said there may be a God and there may not be a God. And God said, because you are skeptics, I must depose you. I will show you that I do exist. And so you are through. And through they were. The Moabites. What about them? Ah, they were filled with revenge. I got it just backwards. The Edomites were filled with revenge. The Moabites were the skeptics. What's the difference? They're all gone anyway. Nobody can tell them. Okay. The Edomites, they were filled with revenge. And the Edomites, they said, we're going to get revenge on the people of God. And God said, because of your vengeful spirit, God says, I will sell you into captivity and the people that I will give you in captivity to will be my own people Israel. And history reveals to us that the nation of Israel in the year 300 BC totally destroyed and wiped out of existence the nation of Edom. Exactly as God predicted to Ezekiel, it would take place. Every prophecy came true to the letter. And we learned a practical lesson there. That if we as individuals let vengeance and a spirit of revenge possess and fill our lives, that it will destroy us as people as well as it destroyed that nation. The last nation was the nation of Philistia. And God said, I am going to depose you as a nation and evict you as a nation because you have allowed yourselves to hate. They were a nation of people who hated. the nation of Israel. God says, I cannot tolerate that. You must be removed. And so they were. Just as God said they would be. And hate will destroy your life, too. Oh, how wonderful it is when we are willing to put away hate and when we are willing to turn vengeance and all of these things into the hands of God. In so doing, your life is preserved. Hatred and vengeance will only destroy the life of the person who indulges in it. Now we come to chapters 26 and 27 and 28 and we will be in 28 next Sunday morning and there we will have a picture of the King of Tyre who is a representative and a picture of Satan himself. But for this morning, we're going to learn a little bit about the city of Tyre. You know, the city of Tyre is an ancient city. And in chapter 27, we find the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Now thou son of man, I want you to take up a lamentation for the city of Tyre. The city of Tyre is one of the most ancient of the old world cities of the Bible lines and times. It was first mentioned in the Bible in the book of Joshua. When the children of Israel went back into the land of Canaan, the city of Tyre was already a thriving city. Now the city of Tyre was right on the coast. It was a Phoenician city. The Phoenicians were explorers, and shipbuilders, and merchants, and highly successful. The city of Tyre was built on a jutting portion of land that jutted out into the Mediterranean Sea. Just offshore, there were some large islands. And on one of these large islands, they had built a huge island city. They had constructed a causeway out from the mainland to this beautiful island city. And so the city of Tyre was located in these two positions. There was a successful, thriving harbor on either side of the city. To the north, they looked toward Sidon and to all of Asia. To the south, they looked toward the land of Egypt and North Africa. To the east, they came by land and caravan out of Asia, over the mountaintops. And they came and they brought their wealth into the city of Tyre. And there it was processed, and there it was manufactured, and there it was sent out to all of the world in the ships of these Phoenician shipbuilders. And dear friends, we think sometimes today that the people of the ancient world didn't know anything about beauty and grandeur and wonder. We think today that we're the only ones that are able to build beautiful cities. You know, I think sometimes that if they would look at some of our cities that they would shake their head in disbelief. You know, we have some beautiful cities, but I want to say we have some ugly cities too. But Tyre was not an ugly city. Tyre was a city of tremendous wealth, tremendous accomplishment. Well, you know, they had pillars down the main street erected to their gods, huge pillars. And you know, historians tell us that some of those pillars were made of pure gold. Can you imagine that? Practically all of Fort Knox and some of the pillars along their streets. There was one pillar that was known throughout the world because it looked as though it was made of emeralds and it looked like a shining jewel in the midst of that city. The city of Tyre at one time had been a city of great friendship with the nation of Israel. It had had an influence on the land of Israel in a positive sense. In the days of David, Hiram was the king of Tyre. And Hiram, in the days of David, was a friend to David. 1 Kings chapter 5 tells us that Hiram was a lover of David. He was a friend with David. And when David passed away, And Solomon wanted to build a temple. He sent a message to Hiram, the king of Tyre. And he said, would you provide for me with your ships, the cedars of Lebanon, that I might build a house of God. And the Bible says that Hiram wrote back and he gave to him all of the lumber and materials that he needed. And Solomon sent wheat back to Hiram. And the Bible says there was an alliance between Solomon and Hiram and there was peace between Tyre and Israel all the days of their existence. But the years went by, and new kings came, and there was animosity that developed. And Tyre became a city then of negative influence on the land of Israel. And the book of Amos, chapter 1, verses 9 and 10, and the book of Joel, chapter 3, verses 4 and 8, tell us that today came when the people of Tyre captured the people of Israel and sold them as slaves to the Greeks and the Arabians. And they became the enemies of Israel. And through the centuries this city grew and grew and developed. And it became a city of wealth beyond your description or imagination. And Ezekiel describes that wealth here in this particular chapter. And he begins it in verse 4 by picturing the city of Tyre as a beautiful ship. You know, the Phoenicians were shipbuilders. And so we have the ship of state given to us here in verse 4 of chapter 27. Thy borders are in the midst of the seas. Thy builders have perfected thy beauty. Ezekiel said, O Tyre, your beauty is beyond the beauty of all of the cities that are around. They have made all of thy planks of the fir trees of Hebron. They have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee. Of the oaks of Bashin have they made thine oars. The company of the Adjurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the coast of Cyprus, or Kittim. And we read that this, from all the corners of the world, these ships came and they brought into this city the gold and the silver and the tin and the ivory, until this place became a literal treasure house. And along with all of this, they had education and knowledge and wisdom and tremendous fortifications. They became the Wall Street of the ancient world. And the merchants of the world began to say, if Tyre would fall, the world would be lost. It's an interesting story that we see here. From the linen with embroidery work that came from Egypt was spread as forth to be thy sail, blue and purple from the coast of Elisha, that which covered thee. The inhabitants of Sidon and of Tripoli were thy mariners. I'm translating these to modern day terms that you can understand. It says Arvad in your Bible, but that's our Tripoli today. From Tripoli were thy mariners, thy wise men, O Tyre. They were in thee and they were thy pilots. They developed men who were able to navigate the seas of the known world, and the men of Tyre were known as the men that you wanted to have if you were taking a trip through the uncharted ocean or through the chartered seas. The ancients of Byblos and Jubal, which is known as today, and its wise men were in thee, thy conquerors and all the ships of the sea. of Persia and Lod and of Put, which was down close to Egypt, were in thine army. He said, and your city was filled not only with your own might, but they had hired mercenaries to defend them, so that they might be an impregnable force. They could not be moved, that they might be secure in their wealth. Their commerce, it extended everywhere. Tarshish, verse 12, was thy merchant. Where was Tarshish? That's Spain. And it even reached up to the British Isles. In other words, these ships sailed right through the Straits of Gibraltar, and then they headed north, and eventually they went clear up into the British Isles. You know, Britannia means tin. And it says, they came back and they brought with them from Tarshish, from Britannia, and from Spain. They brought silver and iron and tin and lead, and they traded in thy fares. Javan, that's the Ionians, the Greeks, Tubal and Meshach, these cities that were north of the Black Sea, between the Black and Caspian Sea. It's very possible that the word Tubal here could be a name for the present capital of Georgia today, Tbilisi. Alex is smiling down here because I'm sure that that's what it is. That's his home city, Tbilisi. And that's exactly where Tbilisi is. It's right there above the Black Sea and between the Caspian Sea, isn't it? And Mishak, perhaps that's a name for the ancient area of Moscow. Well, we know it's a name for that area and that particular part of the world. They traded the persons of men and vessels and bronze in thy market. And of thy house of Togarmah, they traded with fairs and with horses. Togarmah probably is a reference to the ancient area of Armenia. The men of Dedan, the Arabians, the merchants, many of the coastlines. My, they came from Syria. They came from all over the world. And they brought, in verse 17, wheat of mint, and pang, and honey, and oil, and balm. Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making. My, this city was fabulous. Oh, you know, sometimes when you read about these cities and I got out the dictionary, Bible dictionary and encyclopedia and read again a little bit about this ancient city of Tyre. You know, once in a while you read about some of these cities and you just wish with all your heart, I wish I could have gone there and seen it. Oh my, this would have been a place to visit. This would have been a place to see. What did the rest of the world think about it? In verse 25, Ezekiel says, Batyr, with all of your wealth, with all of your power, with all of your commerce, he said, you're not indispensable. What is he teaching us here? God is teaching us that there is not a nation on the face of the world that is indispensable. The merchants of the world we're going to see here are going to say, oh my, why if tires should collapse, we'd all go down. Tire was their bank. And Tyre, with her riches, was bringing riches to all of the surrounding kingdoms. And they would bring in their raw materials. And verse 33 tells us that they would then take the raw materials and they would manufacture them into wares, which they would then send out of the seas. And they filled many people. And the kings of the earth were enriched with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise. But in verse 25, the ship of state, Ezekiel says, is going to sink. He said, Thy rowers, in verse 26, have brought thee into great waters. The eighth wind has broken thee in the midst of the sea. Thy riches and thy fares, thy merchandise, thy mariners and thy pilots, thy caulkers and traders, and all the men of war that are in thee, and all of thy company which is in the midst of thee, they shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin. The pasture lands shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots, and all that handle the oar, and all the pilots shall come down from their ships, and they shall stand upon the land. And the people shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and they shall cast up dust upon their heads, and they shall make themselves utterly bald, and gird themselves with sackcloth, and they shall weep with thee for bitterness of heart and bitter wailing." You see, they thought that their world lived or died in this, their great city. You know, this reminds me of the book of Revelation in chapter 17 and 18. In chapter 17 and 18 of the book of Revelation, we read that just before Jesus Christ comes back, there is going to emerge a great political system that's going to engulf the Western world and that this system is going to be a system of great commercial wealth and strength and power. It's going to have riches and power and money and might so that the world is going to depend upon it. And the Bible says that suddenly God is going to strike it to the very core of its being and he's going to wipe it out of existence. And the Bible says the merchants of the earth are going to wail and weep and moan and say, we're lost. It's over. It's ended. Don't believe it. There are those today who believe that somehow or another America is indispensable. to the survival of the world. Nothing could be further from the truth. America is no more important to the world of its day than Tyre was to the world of its day, and Tyre fell flat on its face and was gone, never to come back again. And the world went on. A nation assumes a national personality. When the national personality of any nation becomes so obnoxious that God can no longer tolerate it, then God evicts that nation. We as Americans like to believe that the world couldn't live without us. I thank God for this country of ours and all that it means and all that it does. The tremendous blessing that it's been to me. But dear friends, we need to be concerned about the national personality of our country. What kind of a country are we today? What is our personality as God views us as a whole? Are we a nation today who is following after God? Are we a nation today that loves righteousness? Are we a nation today that honors God? Or are we a nation today that is fast turning its back on God and His righteousness and His morality? Are we a nation that is turning its face and shaking its fist in the sight of God and saying, God, we don't have time for you anymore? Well, may God help us not to be that kind of a nation. The personality of a nation comes from its people. And you cannot sit here this morning as a Christian and say, well, I don't agree with what we're doing. I'm not a part of it. You are a part of it. You're an American. As an American, you ought to be doing everything that you can to turn this nation back on a course toward Almighty God. Israel had turned its back on God and their personality was one of rebellion. And God said, because of your rebellion, I must judge you. But Jeremiah raised his voice and said, no, repent, repent, repent. Isaiah raised his voice and said, repent. Ezekiel raised his voice and said, repent. And Jonah and Micah and Malachi and all of these prophets, they preached and they sought to bring people to revival. And dear friends, we should not accept the sin and wickedness and rebellion in our land today silently and quietly, but under God, we as Americans who know the Lord and believe in God, we ought to raise our voices for righteousness. We ought to stand against the tide of wickedness, which is engulfing our nation. We should not just sit back and accept it and say, The Bible says that things are going to get worse in the end, so we may as well accept it. The sooner it gets wicked, the quicker the Lord will come. I think many Christians live by that philosophy. Let's just silently accept it. No, no. We need to stand in a positive way and to lift our voice for God, for righteousness, and for morality, whenever we have the opportunity. I'm not recommending civil disobedience. I don't believe in that, except in the biblical sense, and I won't take time to talk about it this morning. In the biblical sense, I'll just say this. In biblical civil disobedience, and you find it several times in the Word of God, when men were commanded to do things that God said not to do, then God's servants quietly, civilly disobeyed. But civil disobedience is civil disobedience. You don't throw eggs, sing songs, make yourself obnoxious, but you quietly and prayerfully take your stand and then quietly submit to the punishment of the authorities. In every case, whether it was Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace, they weren't singing We Shall Overcome and throwing tomato juice on the king. They weren't throwing Molotov cocktails And Daniel wasn't shouting, we shall overcome and sitting down and making them drag him through the streets in an unceremonious way. But Daniel quietly prayed in his house and then walked along gladly and submitted to the lion's den when the time came. And every example of civil disobedience you have in the word of God when it was practiced was done in this fashion. God is not for anyone at any time define the law of his land in an uproarious, radical, riotous form. And it pains me and grieves me to see some who name themselves as ministers at times leading riots and rebellions against our government. That is no place for a man of God. A man of God, if there is civil disobedience to be practiced, should be practicing it in humility and quietness and submitting to the punishment quietly and without noise and pomp and circumstances. The Bible says that the powers that be are ordained of God in every Christian is to submit quietly and gladly to the government under which he lives and to support it. And he says that every minister is a minister of God. Tell that to the next minister that stops you when you're speeding. It'll bless his heart to find someone who calls him a minister of God. It's a tragedy when God's people and people who know better refer to our law enforcement officials as pigs and enemies. The Bible says that they are ministers of God. Now you say, well, I know some that aren't very good ministers. Well, that's true, but leave them up to the Lord. Your responsibility is to see them in this line. Now, there is not a nation on earth that God can't do without. God doesn't need America. God didn't need Tyre. But I'll tell you this, God doesn't need America, but America needs God. You see? And I pray that each one of us as believers today will be on our knees in prayer, that we will be praying for our public officials, and that we will be praying for revival in our land. Turn back to chapter 26. We have about five minutes left, which we will use to close our message this morning. God said to the nation of Tyre, I am going to evict you. You are through. Your lease is going to be up. I want you to announce to the city of Tyre and to this nation, this people, that their city is going to be vacated. Now God said this in the 11th year, in the first day of the month. Do you realize that Jeremiah tells us that this is the exact month that the city of Jerusalem fell? And Ezekiel is back in the land of Babylon. He's heard now that Jerusalem has fallen and the city of Tyre and the people of Tyre are rejoicing over the fall of Jerusalem. Why are they rejoicing? Because they are filled with greed. God said, I am going to destroy you as a nation because you are possessed by greed. Here they were, the richest of all the nations, but notice what they say. When they hear that Jerusalem has fallen, they say, aha, aha, Jerusalem has fallen. She is broken that was in the gates of the people. She's turned into me. I will now be rich and replenished. They said, we won't have to share anymore. We won't have to pay any more tax to Israel to transport our goods to our land. We'll be able to get all the profits for ourselves. We'll be richer and richer and richer. The Bible teaches us that the love of money is the root of all evil. Money is not the root of evil, but the love of money is. and love of money, greed and avarice, this desire for materialism so that you want things at the expense of anyone that you have to get it at. This thing can possess people to the point that they are even able to rejoice at the calamity of others if it benefits them. And God says to the city of Tyre, you viewed my nation, you saw the city of Jerusalem fall, and you rejoiced in their calamity, that you might be made rich. God says, oh no. God says, you will be destroyed. Because as a nation, you have assumed the personality of greed. Of greed. You know, this morning, there are many, many believers, many, many of God's people who are not available for Christian service and for Christian work because of the sin of greed in their lives. Possessions, things, materialism has gripped their lives to the point that they love things more than God and the service of God. In 1st Timothy and in Titus, when God gives to us the requirements of those who are going to be used of God in spiritual leadership in His church, He said you must choose men who are spiritual. You must choose men who are not drunkards. You must choose men who rule their families. And you must choose men who are willing to love God more than possessions. Men who are not greedy. of filthy lucre. It is not a sin to be rich, but it is a sin to be possessed with the desire for riches to the point that you are willing to walk over anyone and anything to get what you want. That's greed. And God says I can't use anyone like that. God says I must have people that are willing to love me more than things. Modern times have brought us many luxuries. People live in wealth and luxury. But the Savior still asks this question. Do you love me? Do you love me more than these? Lovest thou me more than these, my friend? What will your answer be? O precious Lord, I love thee more than all of these. More than wealth. Can you say that? More than fame. More than the world. When Jesus spoke to his own disciples, he said, Dear disciples, what would it profit a man if he would gain the whole world of riches, but lose the opportunity to give his life to me? There's only one thing that you can give to God, and that's your life. And he said, Dear Christian, don't let anything rob you of that which is yours to give to him. The greatest interest of our lives should be to be used of God for whatever he wants. May God deliver us from the sin of greed and materialism. May I say this, that materialism is fast becoming one facet of the personality of America. And materialism is a sin for which God brought this city of Tyre to nothing. Now notice what he said. We'll just look at it. Notice what God said to the nation. He said in verse 3, Therefore saith the Lord, because you are a nation filled with greed and avarice and lust, for material things, because you have put material things above all else in your life, God says, Behold, I am against thee, Tyre, and I will cause many nations to come up against thee. God said, I'm not going to destroy you in just one wave, but God said, I'm going to send wave after wave of nations against you. But God said, sooner or later, He said, the day will come when they will destroy the walls of Tyre. They're going to break down your towers. I will scrape your dust right out into the sea and make you like the top of a rock. It will be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea. For I have spoken, saith the Lord God, and it shall become a spoil to the nations. And the daughters and the people that are in the field will be slain by the sword. And they shall know in that day that I am the Lord. And now let's see what happened to that city. He said, the first one who's going to come is Nebuchadnezzar. Verse 7, I will bring upon Tyre Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, a king of kings from the north, with horses and chariots, and with horsemen and companies and many people, and he will slay with the sword thy daughters. He will set engines of war against your walls, and axes, he will break down your towers. He will make a breach, and he will enter the city, and he will come in with so many soldiers and horses that the whole city will be covered with their dust. This is exactly what happened. In 585 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar came down and besieged the mainland city of Tyre. He besieged that city for 13 years. At the end of 13 years, history tells us, he finally broke through the city. He went into the city of Tyre. He utterly spoiled the city. The people were murdered in a wholesale lot. Some of them escaped to the island fortress, but the rest of the city was destroyed, and he tore it down. He carried the jewels and the gold back to Babylon, and he laid the city flat. But the island fortress was still intact. But in 323, another conqueror came by. This man's name was Alexander the Great. And this man came along and he saw that island city out there on that rock. And he said, I cannot let it stand. I must destroy it. And so he took the old mainland city and he took his troops and his soldiers and one by one they took down the rubble that was left and they ground it into powder and gravel and they pushed it out into the ocean and he built a causeway wide enough to handle all of his chariots and all of his men and he pushed the old city out into the ocean and he built a flat plain upon which to take his soldiers and he totally laid the island city flat and destroyed the people. And there wasn't left hardly one stone upon another. And if you were to go to the land of Palestine today, you would find that the ancient site of the city of Tyre, this place where men once lived in wealth that's beyond your farthest imagination, is nothing but a flat, bald, barren plain. There is a little city a sleepy Lebanese village there today by the name of Tyre. But it's not on the old location. And the old location is flat. And I saw a picture taken from the air. And as I looked at the picture, you know what I saw? I saw Palestinian and Lebanese fishermen spreading and mending their nets by the side of the sea on this flat piece of ground that Alexander and Nebuchadnezzar had produced from this once great city. Exactly as God said, and God said, I'll not only do it, but God said it will remain that way forever through the centuries. And so it has. And so it has. And so today, 2,500 years after Ezekiel wrote, the prophecy is still being fulfilled. Let me read to you verse 14. And I will make thee like the top of a rock. Thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon. Thou shalt be built no more. For I, the Lord God, have spoken it. Thus saith the Lord." Aren't you glad that you know the Lord? You know, God means what he says. God means what he says. When God says you're going to be a flat place and fishermen are going to spread their nets, that's exactly what happens to you. What did God do to this city? He knocked it flat. That's a pun. He knocked it flat. And that's what it's been ever since. Flat. You know, aren't you glad that God has promised you eternal life? Aren't you glad this morning that this same God, who promised destruction to this city and carried it out, has promised to those of you who believe and trust in His Son, life everlasting, salvation, and forgiveness of sins? I'm going to ask you to bow your head in just a moment and close your eyes as we bring our service to an end. With our heads bowed and our eyes closed, may I just say this to you this morning? You know, the same God that spoke to Ezekiel speaks to you this morning. And this is what he says. He says, Dear friend, I love you. And in the person of my son, Jesus Christ, I have died on the cross for your sins. Yes, my friend, all of your sins have been paid for today. Everything necessary for your salvation is an accomplished and finished fact. And all that you have to do to receive salvation and forgiveness of your sins today is to, by faith, confess Jesus Christ, God's Son, as your Savior. You see, the Bible says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. The Bible says, if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be a Christian. My friend, I want to ask you this question. Do you know Christ as your Savior? Are you born again this morning? Do you have fellowship with this God that we've been looking at this morning? Fellowship with God. comes through Christ. Let me repeat his message to you once more. If you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be a Christian. If you've never done that before, I'm going to invite you to become a Christian right where you sit. With our heads bowed and our eyes closed, I invite you to join with me in this prayer. Say, Pastor, I have some doubts. I have some reservations. I don't care. Just come as you are. God says, you come as you are and I'll take you. Just pray this prayer with all your heart. Say, Lord Jesus Christ, just say it, Lord Jesus Christ, I do believe you are God. I believe you died for my sins. I thank you for it. And right now I confess you as my Savior. I trust in you for the salvation of my eternal soul. Come into my heart. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Dear friend, if you prayed that prayer, you're a Christian. I have a book that I give to every new Christian. I'd love to share one with you this morning. While our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed, I won't ask you to do anything more than this today, but I'd like to ask you this. Would you let me know that you made that decision? As you go out, I'll see that you get one of our books. And most of all, I'll know that you made this decision and will be able to remember you in prayer as a new Christian. Is there anyone at all that would slip your hand up and say, Pastor, I wasn't sure that I'd ever asked Christ into my heart. And I prayed with you today. I meant it. I'd like you to know that I made that decision today. Would you slip your hand up? Anyone at all? I'd love to know that you made that decision, that you joined with us in this simple prayer of salvation. Anyone at all? Just slip it up, just where you are. Father, we thank you for your word. Bless it in our hearts and lives. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. 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.