(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

The gospel life may shine forevermore. Let us not grow weary in the work of God. Send the light, send the light, for it's evermore. Far away the noise, the strife of God, my ear is calling. Then I know the sins of earth, He said on every hand. Down and here and things of earth in vain to me are calling. None of these shall move me from here to the land. I'm living on the mountain, underneath the cloudless sky. I'm drinking at the fountain that never shall run dry. Oh yes, I'm feasting on the manna, from the mountain full supply, for I am dwelling in you, the land. Far below the storm of doubt upon the world, is me. Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching to all the lost. I, in a happy heart, say to the other gods, things that may turn us under, giving liberty. Oh, the wonderful grace of Jesus, reaches me. Wonderful about His grace, His grace of Jesus, deeper than the mighty rolling sea. Wonderful about His grace, His grace of Jesus, reaching to all the lost. I, in a happy heart, say to the other gods, things that may turn us under, giving liberty. Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching to all the lost. I, in a happy heart, say to the other gods, things that may turn us under, giving liberty. Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching the most divine. Why is His glory power making God's dear child? For all eternity, and the wonderful grace of Jesus, reaches me. Wonderful about His grace, His grace of Jesus, deeper than the mighty rolling sea. Wonderful about His grace, His grace of Jesus, reaching to all the lost. I, in a happy heart, say to the other gods, things that may turn us under, giving liberty. Page 118, out loud on the first. Would you be free from the burden of sin? Would you be free from the burden of sin? There's power in the blood. Would you are evil, a victory win? There's wonderful power in the blood. There is power, power, wonder-working power, in the blood of the Lamb. There is power, power, wonder-working power, in the precious blood of the Lamb. Would you be free from your passion and pride? There's power in the blood, power in the blood. Come forth cleansing to Calvary's tide. There's wonderful power in the blood. There is power, power, wonder-working power, in the blood of the Lamb. There is power, power, wonder-working power, in the precious blood of the Lamb. Would you be wider, much wider than snow? There's power in the blood, power in the blood. Sin stains are lost in its life-giving flow. There's wonderful power in the blood. There is power, power, wonder-working power, in the blood of the Lamb. There is power, power, wonder-working power, in the precious blood of the Lamb. On the last. Would you do service for Jesus your King? There's power in the blood, power in the blood. Would you live daily, his praises to sing? There's wonderful power in the blood. There is power, power, wonder-working power, in the blood of the Lamb. There is power, power, wonder-working power, in the precious blood of the Lamb. Amen. Great singing, everyone. Brother Jesse, you want to open us with a word of prayer? Amen. Our second song this morning will be page 323. Be thou my vision, page 323. Be thou my vision, page 323, on the first. Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart, not be all else to me, save that thou art. Thou my best thought, by day or by night, waking or sleeping, since my light. Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true word, and thou with me, Lord, thou my great Father, I thy true Son. Thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one, rich as I heed not, nor man's empty praise. Thou mine inheritance, now and always, thou in thou only, first in my heart. High King of Heaven, treasure thou art, High King of Heaven, my victory won. May I reach Heaven's joys, O bright have sun, art of my own heart, whatever, still be my vision, O ruler of all. Amen. That's a great song. Good morning. Welcome to Sure Foundation Baptist Church. Let's take our bulletins and go through some announcements. If you need a bulletin, just lift up your hand. One of the ushers will bring you a bulletin. Anybody need one? I see hands over there. All right. On our front cover, we have our verse of the week. It says, Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands. Psalm, chapter 102, verse 25. And on the inside page here, we have our service times. 1030 a.m. for our Sunday morning service. And Sunday evening service, 3.30 p.m. Tonight, I'll be preaching a different type of sermon about Roman Catholicism. It's going to be coming from the perspective of Mary. So the real true Mary, anyway. So it's a little different, and it is definitely going to be supposed to be a help for Roman Catholics, and hopefully a notification for our church. And Thursday Bible study is 6.30 p.m. We've been going through the book of Exodus. We only have one more chapter left to go. And so our sowing times are listed below. We do have sowing today at 1 p.m. Did Brother Sean put a map in the group today? Okay, he did. All right. So who's leading today? Is that, okay, you're leading. All right, so Brother Robert's leading today, so the map should be in the WhatsApp group. All right. Now, the praise report. You can see the salvations, baptisms, and attendance totals there. And our upcoming events this week is actually going to be the Chicago Soul Winning and Preaching event. And it's basically the reason why, I mean, we're doing it to go soul winning and have some preaching, but our church plan in Indianapolis has the Indianapolis 500 every year. And per the lease, we are not able to have church that one Sunday of the year. So I think every business there rents out their parking lots to, there's like, you know, the whole town fills up and increases in size. And for whatever reason, they just won't let us have church there that one Sunday. So we've just planned that every year to do some kind of a soul winning event someplace else. So at any rate, Pastor Shelley's going to be preaching there on Friday night. We're going to have Soul Winning in Gary, Indiana on Friday from 1 to 1.30 in the evening. So there'll be time for people to get something to eat. And then at 6 o'clock, we're going to have a church service. I'll be preaching, and then Pastor Shelley will be preaching also. And if anybody wants to get baptized, they're more than welcome to come and get baptized. We'll figure out a place even if it has to be at our hotel. Oh no, baptisms will be on Saturday. Excuse me. Baptisms will be on Saturday. Saturday we're going to be preaching the gospel in a place called Cicero, which is kind of a suburb of Chicago. If we go to the deep places of Chicago, it's kind of like going to downtown Portland or something. It's just like probably not going to be the most fruitful places. So we're trying to go to a place that's relatively safe, but also ghetto enough to where people want to get saved, right? So that's what we're doing. And it's about 35 to 40 minutes away from the hotel. So I just want anybody that's driving from Indiana to go to that soul winning spot, I just want people to understand that if you've got a hotel in Indiana, you're going to want to leave a little bit earlier for the soul winning. So all the meetup locations and everything that you need to know. I do have a schedule I can give you. And also if you want one, Brother Justin Zong, who's our church plant leader in Indianapolis, can email you a copy. And we got the correct email there. Thank you, Rylan. And it's sfbcindy at gmail dot com for any other info. We're planning on attending First Baptist Church in Hammond for the Sunday services that day on Sunday. And we'll probably have some maps available if anybody wants to go soul winning. Or if you just want to go soul winning and see what their soul winning's like and just kind of an experience. You know, an old IFB Sunday, it's probably been a while. Or if you ever have, for those that are going. But I'm going to attend there, so I'm thinking a whole bunch of other people are going to, too. So anyway, that's that. And if you have any questions about that, you can see me after church if you're planning on going. Or if you need any extra information, you're just listening to this online and you're planning on attending, just email Brother Justin for the info. All right. June 7th through 9th is the ordination of Brother Jim Wiebe in Winnipeg. And Pastor Dave Berzins will be there preaching on Friday night, the 7th. And there will be a soul winning marathon on Saturday. The ordination will be Sunday morning at 1030 a.m. followed by baptisms. I'll be preaching there for Sunday. And June 15th is the men's shooting event. It says see Sean Harrington for details. That's news to him right now. But he always puts it on. I just figured he'd still probably want to do it. Otherwise I couldn't. Do you still want to do it? OK. So I didn't think I thought he would probably want to. It would probably be the same thing that we do every year. Meet at noon at the Bridge of the Gods. And then he'll have everything set up. We'll shoot a lot of guns and have a lot of fun and eat some food. So that's June 15th. And then June 16th is going to be our Father's Day service. There will be a gift for every dad in service. And lunch will be provided after the service. And then we'll have a men's preaching night for the evening service. I haven't done a men's preaching night in a long time. So I figured I feel like it's been like over a year since we've had one. But I've been having all the guys preach a lot at different places. But I figured I'd do one for guys that maybe don't ever get a chance to preach and give me an opportunity to get up and preach the Word of God. So plan on that. And then the Red Hot Preaching Conference is going to be the week after that, which is June 20th through 23rd. The preaching lineup is there. You probably can't read that so just go on the website or put a magnifying glass in front of your eyeballs. But that's the lineup there. So all the other information, family integrated church and all that good stuff. All the information you need to know and church rules are below there. And the offerings below that. And Eli Wood's birthday is the 23rd, which is coming up later on this week. And how old is Eli going to be? Huh? You're going to be 9? Alright, that's a good age. Not as cool as 10, but 9 is pretty good too. I'm just kidding. Well let's sing Happy Birthday to Eli, alright? Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday God bless you, Happy Birthday to you. Alright, Happy Birthday. That's all I have for announcements. Go ahead and sing another song and then we'll receive the offering. Let's open up our Bibles to Psalm 150. Psalm 150. Psalm 150. On the first. Praise he the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary. Praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts. Praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet. Praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance. Praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals. Praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise he the Lord. Great singing this morning. At this time we'll receive our offering. And Brother Sean, can you please bless the offering for us? Lord, thank you so much for this day. Thank you, Lord, so much for our church. I pray that you would fill Pastor Thompson with your spirit, Lord. And I pray that you would bless this offering, Lord. That you would bless both the gift and the giver. In Jesus' name, amen. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Alright, go ahead and open your Bibles to Hebrews chapter number 2. Hebrews chapter number 2, if you don't have a Bible, there should be a Bible under the seat in front of you. I mean Hebrews 2. Hebrews 2, the Bible reads, Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him? God also bearing them, witnessed both with signs and wonders and with diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own will. For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the word to come, whereof we speak, but one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels. Thou crownedest him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands. Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him, but now he is put in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, not put under him, but now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I would declare thy name unto my brethren. In the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee, and again I will put my trust in him, and again behold I and the children which God hath given me. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to secure them that are tempted. Brother Bill, will you pray for us? Amen. Alright, we're there in Hebrews chapter 2, look at verse number 3, the Bible says, How shall we escape if we neglect no great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him. The title of my sermon this morning is 50 Great Things That Happen When You Get Saved. Now don't get alarmed. I know that lunchtime is coming. So this is just part 1, and you're like, 25 things? That still sounds bad. Well, I don't have mega verses for each point, so some just one verse and some things I'll just touch on really quickly, but I'm going to try to get us out of here on time this morning, so I'm going to do my best. But, a lot of times, things we preach about from the pulp that are negative, so I figured I'd get my positive quota in for this morning. And, you know, sometimes we forget just how great salvation is. And I feel like it's important to preach things to bolster our faith and to help us to remind ourselves how important it is and just how great salvation actually is. The great things that God has done for us, the great things that He's provided for us with His salvation with the salvation that we have. And so, I just put this list together of 50 things that take place when we receive Christ as our Savior, and as we looked at these verses together this morning, let's rejoice in the great salvation that we have, which we freely received, and anyone else that believes on the Lord Jesus Christ receives these things also. Number one this morning, we're washed from our sins by the blood of Christ. We're washed from our sins by the blood of Christ. And not just some of our sins, but all of them, right? Look at Revelation chapter 1, verse 5. Revelation chapter 1, verse 5. Now, if you get tired of flipping through verses, that's fine, you can just listen, but Revelation chapter 1, verse 5, the last book in the Bible there, in the first chapter, the Bible says, And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood. So the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus loved us and that blood that he shed for us, he washed us from our sins with his own blood. It was very important that he shed his blood for us like the Bible pictured in the Old Testament. He literally shed his blood and obviously that's a spiritual application when it's talking about he didn't like literally pour his blood on us, but he presented that to God the Father in Heaven at the mercy seat. And so, we are washed from our sins by the blood of Christ, that's what the Bible teaches, that's one great thing. And the second great thing that happens when we get saved is that we are justified through faith. Now that word, go ahead and turn to Romans chapter 5, Romans chapter 5, we are justified through faith. What does that mean? Well, I like to put it like this, justified means just as if I'd never sin. When we get saved, you know, it's just as if we'd never sin. So that's why it's so hard for me to understand why people you know, when the Bible says that Jesus died for everyone, he died for the sins of the whole Earth, he died for everybody past, present, and future, why someone would still think that they have to pray for salvation every time they sin. It's just like, that doesn't make sense, that's the unsaved mind thinking these things because people like to twist scripture, but if you're truly justified, when the Bible says a just man, or you know, someone that's just in the Bible, it's talking about someone that's sinless because of the faith that God justifies them. So Romans 5, 1 says, therefore being justified by faith, you see that there? We're justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Everything that we get is through our faith in Jesus Christ and that justification is by faith, it's not by anything that we do, it's not by our just acts that we do, our good works are meant for our rewards and to serve the Lord, they have nothing to do with our salvation, it has nothing to do with it at all, it's faith that we're justified by. Titus chapter 3 verse 7, you don't have to turn there but I'm just going to read it for you, go ahead and turn to Colossians chapter 1 verse 14 but I'm going to read Titus 3.7 it says, that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life, so in Titus chapter 3 verse 7 it's saying we're justified by his grace, what is grace? Grace is that we're justified by his grace, not by our grace, by his grace and grace just means that we get justified for free, right? We get justified because of what he did, not because of what we do. That makes sense, now number 3 of the great things that happen when we get saved is that we receive forgiveness for all of our sins, all of our sins, here in Colossians 1 14 it says, in whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins. So we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins, now people say well that's just the sins until you get saved and then you gotta work out your salvation with fear and trembling. People just have never worked out before if they don't know what that verse means. When you work out, you're trying to increase your health and your muscle mass and all that kind of stuff, but it doesn't mean that you're working for your salvation. It's just you're exercising your faith is what that's talking about, but look at Colossians 2 13, just a page over in your Bible maybe, it says and you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh hath he quickened together with him having forgiven you, what does it say, all trespasses, so trespasses are things or sins that you've committed against him and it says all actually this is a good verse to show out, soul wanting if people think that they have to call upon God every time they've done a sin to get saved again. And a lot of people believe this when you're out knocking doors, don't they? They believe this stuff, but the Bible is very clear he forgives us all of our sins. Now turn to 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 18 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 18 and number 4 this morning we are redeemed by God through the blood of Christ. We are redeemed by God through the blood of Christ. And some of these things are going to spill over and things like that but redeemed is the word that we're looking at here. And in 1 Peter 1 18 it says for as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation your life that you live received by tradition from your fathers but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. So we're not redeemed with corruptible things. We're not redeemed by gold and silver. Things that you would normally redeem things with right? You would pay for things or you know you think of cans and bottles that you would deposit you know you pay that deposit and then you redeem those and get money back for them right? I haven't done that in a long time but when I was a kid I used to do that kind of stuff all the time. I'd go collect pop cans and someone else already paid for that but I still redeemed them and got that money back. But how are we redeemed? By the precious blood of Christ. We're redeemed by God through the blood of Christ. So look at Hebrews chapter 9 verse 12. Hebrews chapter 9 verse 12. I preached about this not too long ago about the mercy seat. Excuse me. And I believe that Jesus actually literally did put his blood on the mercy seat in heaven. Now I don't know if he had a bowl. It doesn't say how he did this or whatever. But I do believe that he did it. And why do I believe that? Well look at Hebrews chapter 9 verse 12 it says neither by the blood of goats or calves but by his own blood he entered once into the holy place. Well what holy place is he talking about here? He's talking about the holy place in heaven. If you actually read the context of the whole passage of Hebrews chapter 9 that's what it's talking about. That once a year the priest would go in and he would go on the day of atonement and he would actually go in three times. He'd go in once for the priest himself and the priest then he'd go in for the rulers and then he would go in for all the people. So Christ when he did it he just did it once for everybody for all time. Past present future for everybody. But it says by his own blood entered in once into the holy place. So I don't believe this is a figurative thing though. Because if it was figurative then that means that he really didn't bring his blood in there. So that all those pictures that we see in the Bible from the Old Testament they were just figures of something that isn't true. Like that doesn't make sense to me. It doesn't make sense to me at all. Why did he appear there? Because who's sitting on the mercy seat? God the Father is the one seated in the mercy seat and what's why is it called the mercy seat? Because when Christ brings that blood to the mercy seat he's offering it so that everybody that's saved can actually step foot into heaven. Because without that they're not going to be able to do it. It says having obtained eternal redemption for us. Now I'm gonna kind of I'm gonna preach a little bit more about this again sometime soon but I mean I think that the Bible is specifically explaining in this passage if you want to read the passage later for context that it's talking specifically about these things are pictures the things in the Old Testament and the tabernacle were pictures of things that actually were going to take place in heaven someday. All those sacrifices pictured Christ doing the multiple different sacrifices that he did. So when he died as the Passover lamb he died exactly on the day exactly at the time he was supposed to that's why they did those things at certain times during the year. All those feasts pictured something that was actually going to happen. So of course the day of atonement when the high priest one time a year goes into that tent you know he's not going without blood. So wouldn't it be weird if the high priest goes in with blood and it's the blood of bulls and goats and calves and it's supposed to picture when our true high priest actually goes in there with his own blood and that blood is so that we can be redeemed by God through the blood of Christ. That's why he sent him. That's why he sent Jesus to die for us. To shed his precious blood for us and so I do believe he literally took that blood in and placed it on the mercy seat. Number five we are born again spiritually into God's family. That's another great thing that takes place in our salvation is that we are born again spiritually into God's family. So this is another thing that people get confused about. I mean today people will say well I'm born again but they just don't even understand what it means. They're as blind as Nicodemus was to the things of spiritual truth. He's like you know Jesus is trying to explain to him that you don't understand how the Spirit moves. You don't understand the things of the Spirit and he tries to explain it with wind right. He's like the Spirit moved where it listed. He's trying to say the wind and the wind moves the way it moves and you don't really know why. You can't see it but you can see the results of it can't you? You can see that the wind's blowing because trees are moving around and things like that. You can hear things moving because of the wind but you can't see the wind. But John 1 12 is a great verse but go ahead and turn to John 3. I'm going to read John 1 12 and you probably didn't know this one really well anyway. But it says, but as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God. Once we receive him as Savior he gives us that power to become the sons of God. It's not like we get to make the choice afterwards. No he gave us the power immediately. Once we get saved he gives us that power we become sons of God. Even to them that believe on his name. It's not to them that repent of their sins. Not to them that make Jesus Lord of their life and he comes in and controls them. God does not control us like a puppet. That is just not biblical John MacArthur. That is not biblical for anybody that says that. If they say that in their Gospel presentation at the end or on their website or anything like that they're a false prophet. Period. John 3 3 says, Jesus answered and said unto them, verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? See, lack of spiritual understanding. He doesn't understand. Jesus answered, verily, verily I say unto thee except a man be born of water and of the Spirit. He cannot enter into the kingdom of God. So he does explain this to Nicodemus of course and we have John 3 is one of the most famous chapters in the whole Bible. He explains everything to him to a T. But he probably still walks away unsaved. You know? Because you can explain things to people and sometimes it just goes right over their head. You can explain biblical truth to safe people sometimes and it goes over their head. I mean, Jesus did it a lot with the disciples and he's like, how are you yet without understanding? I mean, so because the things of God are really deep sometimes, and sometimes we're not ready to receive those spiritual truths. Nicodemus definitely wasn't. He's like, can I go into my mother's womb and be born? It's like, duh! Like, what are you talking about, man? He's talking about a spiritual rebirth, so we're born again. What are we born again into? God's family. We become sons and daughters of God. Galatians 3 26. Flip over to Galatians 3 26 real quick. Galatians 3 26. The Bible says, For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. So, if we're the children of God, that means what? We're in the family. Right? We get saved, we're in the family. 1 John 5 1. 1 John 5 1 says, Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. That's pretty simple. And everyone that loveth him that beget loveth him also that is begotten of him. So we're supposed to love the other children of God also. The true children of God that are saved by faith, we're supposed to love them. We're supposed to love God. We're in the same family. Now, number 6. We pass from death unto life. Once we get saved, the moment we get saved, go ahead and turn to John 5, the moment we get saved, we pass from death unto life. Salvation is not a process. The process of getting to salvation is a process. You know, what leads up to you getting saved might be a process. But salvation is a moment in time, a moment that you get saved and you believe in Christ and call upon him. You are saved from that moment on. It's not a having to wonder about it type thing. John 5 24 says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation. What does that mean? You can't get unsaved. That's what it means. But is passed from death unto life. So you hear his word, you believe on him, you have everlasting life. Has. You have everlasting life. You shall not come into condemnation. You but is passed. That's a present thing, isn't it? Those tenses are present, aren't they? So once you get saved, you're like, well, Pastor Thompson, but your body dies. Yeah, but that's not the whole being of you, is it? Your spirit and your soul go to heaven. Instantly. As soon as you close your eyes and your body dies, your soul and spirit go right to heaven. Number seven, we are given eternal life and cannot lose it. Again, I said these things are going to overlap. But number seven, we are given eternal life and cannot lose it. I think that this is probably in the top three most powerful verses on eternal security in the whole Bible. And I love using these illustrations when I'm out soul winning and using them to show people about eternal life. Because if you just show these verses to people and you explain it to them, how can they, I mean, unless they're just reprobate, or they just are spiritual retards, how can you just, how can you deny that these are true? I'm saying spiritual retards, okay? I'm not saying, you know, I'm not making fun of handicapped people. I'm making fun of spiritually handicapped people. There's a difference. Alright, John 10, 28. It says, And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Now Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit, God the Father and the Holy Spirit, we believe in the Trinity here, right? They're all co-equal in power, are they not? Now he says, Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Jesus is all powerful, isn't he? So if nobody can pluck them out of his hand, what's he saying? He's like, people might try, but no man is able to pluck them out of my hand. People are gonna try, but it's not gonna work. You can't pluck yourself out of his hand. Right? Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. That includes yourself, and that's a powerful truth to someone that believes that you can just walk away. That you can just leave your salvation on this imaginary shelf or whatever. Or that you can just say, well, I don't want it, and give the gift back. No, no, no. The gift of God is eternal life. If it's eternal, you can't give it back. And I like to explain that to people because the gift illustration, this is where it falls flat, and you have to explain this to people sometimes. Yes, you can give, you can re-gift, someone gives you a gift, you can give it to somebody else. You can give back any kind of gift pretty much in this world, but the gift of God you cannot give back. I mean, you can't give back your children. You might want to try sometimes, but you can't give back your children necessarily. But God can't give back his children either. You can't, once you're in the family, you're always in the family. Look at verse 29. And then he says, I and my father are one, right? So, what's he saying? We're both co-equal in power. I got them in this hand. God's got them in his hand. No man is able to pluck them out of my hand. We're given eternal life. We can't lose it. I mean, I just don't understand how people don't understand that. But again, sometimes people don't want to. They're just looking for their next gotcha verse. You know, and you might as well just, after the second and third admonition, walk away from people. But this is a powerful truth for us. If you're ever doubting, well maybe I wasn't really saved or whatever, read that verse. You know, and you're like, well, maybe I never was. Well, if you believed on Christ, you're saved. That's what the Bible says. First John chapter five. First John chapter five. First John chapter five, verse 10, the Bible says, He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself, he that believeth not God, hath made him a liar, cause he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. This is a very powerful passage here also. Because, you know, it's simply showing people that if you're saying eternal life isn't true, that you can lose it, that you're calling God a liar. And you should point this out to people and say, well if you don't believe the record, he's saying you gotta believe the record. Here's the record, verse 11. And this is the record, excuse me, and this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life. And this life is in his Son. Notice how it says given. Given means it's a gift. It says, and God hath given to us eternal life, this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. So, it's just real plain and clear. If you have the Son of God, you have life. What kind of life? Everlasting life, right? It just said eternal life. And then verse 13, it says, These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. You know, we constantly go to doors where people say, well, nobody can really know that, can they? Who's heard that before at the door? Everybody. I mean, the whole room. You may go, nobody can know that. How do you know you have eternal life? Well, the Bible says we can have eternal life. It says it right here. These things have I written unto you that you, that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know you have eternal life. God wants us to know. You know, there's so many religions out there today, and you never know where you stand with God. What a sad religion that is. Some people want to work their way to heaven because they're self-righteous. They think they're better than everybody else. They think they're good enough. It's really sad. It says, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. If I was real clear, you believe on the name of the Son of God, you have eternal life. Number eight, we are reconciled to God. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 18. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 18. I'm going to read for you Colossians 1.21 while you're turning there. It says, And you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, ye yet now hath he reconciled. Now, that word reconciled is easy for us to kind of understand if you're married and you have some kind of a fight or something where you're split up with a spouse, then God wants you to be reconciled to that spouse. He doesn't want you to divorce and get remarried and things like that. He wants you to reconcile. If you have an argument with anybody in your family, or maybe even in church, you have an argument with somebody, God wants those relationships to be reconciled. Well, when we get saved, He reconciles. We're enemies to God through our wicked works, but He has now reconciled those things through Christ once you believe in Him. Look at 2 Corinthians 5.18 where it had to turn. It says, And all things are of God who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. So once we're reconciled to Him, then we're supposed to go help other people be reconciled to Him as well. That's why soul winning is so important. That's why it's so important not to get dead and go and lose your... because once you lose your love for other people, it's very evident that you've lost your love for Christ. I'm not saying you're not saved, I'm just saying if you don't ever love other people, then God said, you've lost your first love in Revelation. You've lost your first love. Do the first works. The first works are, you know, following Christ to become fishers of men. That's what He said. He said, Follow Me, and I'll make you to become fishers of men. So that's the first works. That's the first thing He asked the disciples to do, is to follow Him so that they can become fishers of men. So, I mean, if you're reconciled to God, shouldn't you want other people to be reconciled to Him too? I mean, are we just that selfish where we don't want everybody else to be reconciled? So we're reconciled to God, thank you, by Christ Jesus, so we should be wanting to reconcile other people. Number nine, we are made the righteousness of God. We are made the righteousness of God. You're there in 2 Corinthians 5, 18, look at verse 21. It says, For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, might be made the righteousness of God in Him. So Christ was made sin. He wasn't a sinner, but He was made sin when He was crucified, bearing all the sin of the world upon Him, so that we could be made the righteousness of God in Him. So we get the righteousness of Christ because of the sacrifice that He made for us. So, it's really interesting, I mean, we're sinners still. We sin, and so it's hard for us to understand these things sometimes fully, but we are the righteousness of God. I mean, think about that. Christ is completely perfect and sinless, but He's imputed His righteousness onto us, and that's a great gift that we get at salvation. Romans 5, 19 says, For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. So it's by the obedience of Christ, not our obedience. Our obedience is just believing and having faith. Number 10, we receive the Holy Spirit. It's a great gift, and Christ talked about this to a large extent in the book of John, how that we will receive the Holy Spirit. In the book of Acts, the power of the Holy Spirit was given to the church that met there in Acts 2. Peter preached that great sermon and talked about how the prophecy of Joel is fulfilled, but look at 1 Corinthians 6, 19. 1 Corinthians 6, 19. 1 Corinthians 6, 19, the Bible says, Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost? So what does that mean? A temple is a place if you think of the temple of the Old Testament, God's presence was there because of them obeying God and doing the things that they were supposed to do in the Old Testament, and God's presence would fill the temple like when it was first built. Solomon did the prayer, and they did all the animal sacrifices, and God's presence came upon it. Moses, when all the things are enacted in chapter 40, you're going to see that the power of God and that cloud filled it, and Moses is not able to walk into the tabernacle. Well, what it's saying here is that our body in the New Testament is the temple of the Holy Ghost, so that means what? We've received the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and you're not your own, so we're bought with a price, the Bible teaches, and He's given us His Holy Spirit. Look at 1 John chapter 4, 13. 1 John chapter 4, verse 13. 1 John chapter 4, verse 13. The Bible says, Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit. So the Bible clearly teaches in the New Testament that one of the things that we get, and this is the thing, that the moment we believe, we receive the Spirit of God. And it's not that we're always filled with the Spirit of God, as in the Bible commands us to be filled with the Spirit, so that means what? That we're not always filled with the Spirit. So that's something we should desire as Christians, to be filled with the Spirit. That's why when people pray for the preachers to come up here and preach, that they'd be filled with the Spirit, so that they could preach and edify the congregation. Number 11, we're sealed by the Holy Spirit. Look at Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit. So not only are we indwelt by the Spirit, but we're sealed by the Spirit. And we use that word seal and it's usually taught when in construction you want to seal things up, like say if you're remodeling a bathroom or something, people use caulking so that water doesn't get in between the cracks and the joints and things like that. In plumbing, we have a leak in the history that happened. You want to seal those joints in the pipes so that things don't leak, right? Now, when you're talking about the Holy Spirit, though, He's sealing us so that we cannot you know, we cannot lose our salvation and that He abides with us. He seals us and that's a picture to God. Hey, they're mine. That sealing, like in the Old Testament when Ezekiel is told to seal the servants of God in their foreheads, Satan copies that with the mark of the beast in the Book of Revelation. So he's trying to fool people that oh, no, this is the good mark. See, Satan is a liar and a trickster and he wants to trick people and to think this is a good mark. Don't believe that, okay? The real sealing happens up in heaven when he seals the 144,000 and sends them back, right? Look at Ephesians 1 and 13, it says, So, you ever heard that term sealed the deal? Who's heard that before? Anybody? Yeah, we seal the deal. Sometimes it's with a handshake or something, you kind of sign that contract or whatever. And also, earnest money to buy a house. You say, well, I'm really serious about purchasing this house, I'm going to give you $25,000 or whatever the earnest money is. That's just showing that you're serious about purchasing it and you've invested yourself into that. So, the Holy Spirit is given to us and that's basically like a promise that he has bought us and that we are his, okay? 2 Corinthians 1 22 says, So, you know, not only are we is the Spirit indwell the believer, but we're sealed onto the day of redemption. And number 12, we're anointed by God with the Holy Spirit. We're anointed by God with the Holy Spirit. Look at 1 John chapter 2 verse 20. 1 John chapter 2 verse 20. So, he gives us the Spirit, he seals us with the Spirit, and, you know, if we're sealed onto the day of redemption, that means he's not going to leave us. He's never going to leave us. He's never going to forsake us. He's always going to be with us. And we're anointed. In the Old Testament, they would pour oil on people's head and anoint them. Like, that guy that secretly, he's like, he told one of his servants to go and anoint Jehu, right? And he goes and he breaks the box and pours oil on his head and he runs out or whatever, right? That's what God tells him to do, though, right? I don't know why. Maybe he was going to kill him or something. I have no idea why he told him to just run, but maybe he just didn't want him to have to answer any questions or something. But he just like, you're anointed and he just takes off, right? So, but God, he anoints us with the Holy Spirit. That's what the oil represents, is actually the Holy Spirit. It says, But ye have an unction, that just means an anointing, from the Holy One, and ye know all things. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you. So it stays in you, doesn't it? And ye need not that any man teach you. But as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. So that truth, though, is that God has anointed each believer with the Holy Spirit. You have an unction, a special anointing by God, and that abides in you. Just like that lamp in the Old Testament was never to go out, well guess what? Our lamp is never going to go out either. It's always going to be filled with oil, and we're always going to be anointed with the Spirit. So, obviously you can quench the Holy Spirit, you don't want to do that. But anyway, I'm not preaching about that right now. So, number 13, we are placed into the body of Christ upon salvation. Upon salvation that's another great thing, we're placed into the body of Christ. Now, the thing is though, you have to go to church. You do have to go to church. Now, we're baptized into Christ, but you do have to go to church to be part of the local assembly, right? But, 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 13 says, if you can turn there if you want, 1 Corinthians 12, 13 says, for by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. Verse 27 says, now you're all the body of Christ and members in particular. Now, one thing I do want to say about this also is that people teach this to say, well it's just one big universal Catholic Church. Because that's what Catholic means, it means universal. But I'll just say this, Catholics are not my brothers. Billy Graham was not my brother. John MacArthur's not my brother. And people go, oh, how dare you talk about your brother like that. You're the one that's going to go to hell, Pastor Thompson, because you talked about your brother. It's like, you said raka, you said thou fool. It's like, they're false prophets. The Catholic Church, that pope over there, is, you know, who's offering free time out of purgatory for following him on Twitter, is not my brother, okay? And who's blessing faggot marriages is not, he's not my pope. He's not my papa. And didn't the Bible say not to call any man on the earth father? I mean, except for your real actual father, right? So, anyway, we're placed in the body of Christ upon salvation. And then 14, our bodies become the members of Christ. Our bodies become the members of Christ. 1 Corinthians 6, 15 says, Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of and harlot? God forbid. So, our bodies, when you're in the local church, you are members of Christ. This is the local body. See, there's many local bodies in the New Testament. You know, there's other churches out there. We're not just, you know, we're not all connected to every church. And that's a good thing. Because if that church goes bad, this one doesn't have to go bad. That's why we don't have a denominational head. That's why, you know, the Bible doesn't teach that at all. We have one head, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. We are part of His body. He's the head of the body. And we are members in particular of that body in this local church. That's why we, I don't, you know, before I preach a sermon against, you know, some false prophet, I don't call them up in Matthew 18 or whatever. Matthew 18 is for the local church. It's not for every person that claims they're a believer in the whole world. I don't need to call Benny Hinn and ask him why he's whipping people with coats and why he's pretending that people are slain with the spirit or something. And why they're talking, you know, why is this other church talking in tongues? Let me talk to that pastor over there. They're going to tell him to go fly a kite or something worse. You know. But we are members of the body of Christ in our local church. Christ is the head of the church. This book, the King James Bible, is the head of the church. They're like, well, it's a book. What are you talking about? Well, yeah, but in the beginning it was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God. Right? So, this is what we go by. Ephesians 5-30 says, For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. Now, number 15, we become one spirit with the Lord Jesus. We become one spirit with the Lord Jesus. I forgot which one I had to turn to last, but 1 Corinthians 6-17, if you want to turn there, says, But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. So we become one spirit with the Lord Jesus once we get saved. Now, Catholics will take this and run with it and teach a bunch of weird stuff that I'll talk about tonight because the Catholic Church will say, Well, there's no salvation outside the Catholic Church. That's one of their little famous things that they like to say. When people think that the Catholic Church was at one time the true Church that Jesus Christ founded, they'll say that. But they'll say, historically, Baptists came from the Catholic Church, and I don't believe that for one second. I think there's always been true faith in some way, one way, shape, or form. But I'm not saying that there was a Baptist, the Ephesus was called Ephesus Baptist Church or something. But, you know, John was a Baptist, so I'm not ashamed of that title, a Baptist, but I'm sure that there was other groups of believers out there all throughout time that we've never heard of because someone killed them and destroyed their writings, and we just don't know about them, right? So, number 16, God becomes the owner of our body and spirit. God becomes the owner of our body and spirit. You're like, nobody owns me, this is my body, I'll do whatever. Well, you know, the Bible teaches in 1 Corinthians 6-20, for you're bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are gods. I mean, that's case closed, right? I mean, you're bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit. So, it says, which are gods? So, yes, he is the owner of your body and your spirit. Number 17, we are placed into Christ and found in him. John chapter 14 verse 20. John chapter 14 verse 20. The Bible says, at that day you shall know that I am in my father and ye in me and I in you. And Jesus would say things like this and the disciples are just like, what are you talking about? And people might say, what are you talking about? Well, we are in Christ. I mean, that's what he's saying, we're in Christ Jesus. You know, what does that mean? Well, we're in his body. Well, what do you mean? That's just what it says, right? I mean, we're in him and he is in us. Just like the father was in him and he was in the father and the Holy Spirit was in Jesus and he was, you know, I mean, so we are, the Holy Spirit is in us, isn't he? So, if the Holy Spirit is in us, you know, we are in Christ though. How are we in Christ? Well, we're saved in Christ. We're part of Christ in his resurrection. Look at Colossians chapter 2 verse 12. I'll have a turn here, actually. Colossians chapter 2 verse 12. Number 18, we are risen with Christ to life. Now, this is pretty interesting because it's through you know, it talks about, this is talking about in baptism. When we get baptized, it's, you know, it's not a picture of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. But, it's also showing that we have risen with him through faith. But, we haven't risen from the dead like he has. He's the first born. Right? He's the first born among many brethren. He's the first born of all creation. He's the only one that has a glorified body right now. But, it's as if, right now, if you're saved, it's as if you already have one, you just don't have it yet. You know, because really, everyone in this room that's saved, you have eternal life right now. It just doesn't feel like it right now. We don't look like it right now. Some of us really don't look like it right now. You know, but, we do have it. And, sometimes it's hard for us to grasp those things and think about those things because we walk through life. We have aches and pains. We have problems. And, one day, those things are all going to be gone. Look at Colossians chapter 2 verse 12. It says, We're risen with him through faith, of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him. So, what does that mean? Made us alive together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses. So, we're risen with him through faith, the operation of God, but he actually rose from the dead. So, but, this is likening it to us as if we are already raised with him, because we are. You know, we've received that everlasting life, just like he has a physical and spiritual everlasting life. His body lasts forever, but, we are just in our flesh now, but we still have it. Once we got saved, we just instantly have everlasting life. We are with Christ through our faith. He's already quickened us together with him. We're just waiting for that redemption of the body. So, number 19, we are adopted as sons of God. We are adopted as sons of God, and of course, ladies, daughters. But, turn to Ephesians 1, Ephesians chapter 1. And just one last verse on the last point I made, that we are risen with Christ to life. In Colossians 3, 1, it says, If you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. So, that's another verse to kind of bolster that view that we're risen with Christ to life. That, if you're risen with Christ, you know, and we're saved, then seek those things which are above. Because Christ is already there. He's already above. Anyway, we're adopted as sons of God. Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will. So, we're adopted children, but we're still children. We're still sons. We're still daughters. And legally, we are children of God. And a lot of times, people that are adopted, they kind of get this complex where they feel like they were abandoned by their parents and they need to know who their real parents are. And a lot of people that are adopted have a lot of problems. I've noticed that over the years. People that were born, you know, and their parents tell them, you know, their foster parents or their adopted parents will tell them, hey, this is who your real parents were or whatever. And I've just never understood why people do that, especially when they're young. Like, because then it makes them feel like they're not as important as the other kids in the family. And then, maybe it's just their own guilt in not treating them as the other kids in the family, but that's not how God is. If you're adopted, you are exactly like a son to him. We're not lesser sons in the sense that, you know, all of us together as saved people, he's gonna treat us like he treats his own son. Which seems kind of weird to us, but the Bible does teach that. So, Romans chapter 8 verse 14 says, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. You can turn it over to Romans 8 if you want there. I'm gonna read a few more verses there, but it says, For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption. Whereby we cry Abba, Father. So the spirit of adoption is what we've received, and so God is our Father. When we call out, when we pray to God, what do we pray? Father in Heaven, right? He's our Father. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. So, you know, God's given us the power to become the sons of God. We receive Christ, and that's the way it is. And it says, And if children, and if children, then heirs. So we're not just lesser children, we're heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. That's powerful right there, isn't it? We're joint heirs with Christ. Of course, the servant isn't better than his Lord. He's like our older, wiser, better brother or whatever, but we're still co-heirs with him. Right? Isn't that what it says? Joint heirs. That means we get all the same blessings that he gets. That means we inherit all the same things that he inherits. And it says, If so that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. So, you know, Christ, the Bible says that he was not ashamed to call us his brethren. In the book of Hebrews. So, even though we're adopted, that's still a great blessing. Because in that passage there, it explains to us that we're joint heirs with Christ. We receive all the blessings of a natural born son or a natural born daughter. And there is no favoritism in that realm. So, number 20, we enter into the grace of God. Romans 5, 1 says, Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into the grace wherein we stand. And rejoice in hope of the glory of God. So, we enter into the grace of God by faith and it's the grace of God wherein we stand. So, we don't stand in the hope of our own good works or anything like that. It's the grace of God where we stand. Number 21, we are delivered from the darkness and satanic power. We're delivered from darkness and satanic power. Colossians chapter 1, go ahead and turn to Ephesians chapter actually turn to Acts chapter 26. I'm just going to read a couple of verses for you. Colossians 1, 13 says, Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and that translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. For we were sometimes, and Ephesians chapter 5, 8 says, For you were sometimes darkness, but now are you light in the Lord, walk as children of light. So, before we were saved, we were in the power of darkness. We were controlled and deceived by the devil. We were in darkness but look at Acts 26 verse 18, the Bible says, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. This is the words of Christ in Acts chapter 26. And so, what is the purpose of our salvation? Well, to turn us from darkness to light. And from the power of Satan to God. I mean, we were basically servants and slaves to the darkness and to the devil, and once we get saved, we're turned away from that. Now, if we choose to walk in those things, that's our own choice, but we've been delivered from those things. Number 22, we are placed into the kingdom of Christ. Colossians 1 13 says, Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. So, we're placed into the kingdom of Christ. So, you know, obviously the kingdom of heaven has not fully taken place on earth. Christ is not ruling from Jerusalem. We're not ruling and reigning with him right now. But those days are fastly approaching. There's coming a day when we're going to be ruling and reigning with him as kings and priests on this earth, but we are right now, once we're delivered from this power of darkness, we're translated into the kingdom of his dear son. We're in the kingdom of God. Look, that's why we don't really need to have allegiance necessarily to any country in particular, because in reality, our country is a heavenly country. Our city is a heavenly city. It's called New Jerusalem. Obviously, I'm not saying just be anti-American, be pro-Castro or something, be some communist or something. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that in reality, our real country, our real citizenship is not here on this earth. Abraham was told to leave his homeland and go to Canaan. And that was not the country of his nativity, and it says that he searched for this city. He's looking for a city, but he wasn't looking for some city in Canaan. In reality, he's looking for the city, the New Jerusalem. And one day, we're all going to be there with him, hanging out and asking him cool questions. Number 23, we have been spiritually healed. Turn to 1 Peter 2, verse 24. We're almost done here, folks. 1 Peter 2, verse 24. Down to the final three here. 1 Peter 2, verse 24. We have been spiritually healed. That's another great blessing of being saved. It says who in his who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed. So we're spiritually healed by the and it seems weird that we're spiritually healed by someone else's beat down. Like, Jesus Christ got beaten severely, you know, and we're healed by the punishment that he took. And like, those just, those things are paradoxical, and just it just seems, you know, just weird that that would be what heals us, but it is. You know, that's how it had to be. That's how cause God cannot not punish sin. And so someone had to take the punishment. And that's why it's so great what Jesus did. Because someone had to take the punishment, he said you know what, I'll step in and take that punishment. And like, his father had, you know, it seems weird that a father would enjoy something like that, but he was pleased by what Jesus did. But, Jesus Christ was a hero. You know, people want to talk about all these superheroes and how great they are or whatever, but Jesus Christ is the real superhero. And he can fly, he can walk through walls, he can leap tall buildings in a single bound, I'm sure. He can do anything, he's God, right? So, Superman got nothing on him. Nobody's got anything on him. Galactus, or whatever kind of supreme being on any of these Marvel shows, or whatever, who's the one on the Thanos or whatever, with all the rings. Jesus just wiped, those are just pretend folks. Christ is a real hero though. Christ is the real superhero. And what he did was selfless. And how he treated people was selfless. Acts 28 verse 27 says, for the heart of this people is waxed gross and their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes have they closed lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and should be converted and I should heal them. This is a spiritual healing that he wants to do. Now, when you get saved, did all your aches and pains go away? No. They didn't. It'd be nice. They will eventually. They'll eventually go away. But they're not going to go away yet. But spiritually, they're gone. You don't have to live in those realms anymore. You don't have to focus on the things you did before in the past. You can move on and move forward like the Apostle Paul did. You know, the Apostle Paul brought up what he once was, but it wasn't ever in a bragging. It was just like, you know, I was I was pretty bad before. And now, you know, the faith that I once destroyed is the faith that I now preach. But I'm sure he had to take a lot of flack for all the things that he did, didn't he? Did he let that affect him? Did he let that stop him from going to churches anyway? You know, I'm sure people talked smack about him. Maybe there was family members of people that he abused, that he had to deal with those situations when he would go to those places. I'm sure there was. Because I don't know how long it was that he was rounding up Christians and having them tortured and having them killed. But I mean, we see the clear story where he's holding the coats for everybody that stoned Stephen to death. He didn't partake, but that's called an accessory. I mean, it's like if a bunch of people are going to rob a place and they say all you have to do is just be the lookout driver, I mean, you're an accessory. You're watching out for them. And if you're holding all their coats, you know, hold this while I go throw rocks at this guy until he dies, I mean, you're an accessory. So, but Christ spiritually healed him. But when Paul said, hey, take away this thorn in the flesh, he didn't take it away, did he? He said, my grace is sufficient for thee. So sometimes it's not good for us to have those ailments healed. Sometimes we do better when we have something that's holding us back physically, even though it doesn't feel good to us, but for whatever reason, you know, because our strength is made, God's strength is made perfect in weakness. That's what the Bible teaches. So on those days when you just feel so weak, I can't go out sowing, I can't do this, I can't preach, I can't, you know, whatever the feeling is, when you're feeling really weak, those are probably the times when God can use you the most. When you feel weak, then God can be strong in you. Number 24, we are chosen in Christ to be blameless before him. We are chosen in Christ to be blameless before him. Let's turn to Ephesians 1.4, I've got one more place after this to have you turn, and then we'll be done. We are chosen, number 24, in Christ to be blameless before him. It says in Ephesians 1.4, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame for him in love. So, you know, obviously we get punished for our sins here on earth. But that's so he doesn't have to throw us in hell. So, my son despised not the chastening of the Lord, the Bible says. So, here in this world, there's not a son who doesn't get chastened. He chastens every son whom he receiveth, the Bible says. So, we all get chastening here in this earth for the things that we do that are wrong, but our overall position in Christ, even if you die sinning, even if you died sinning, do you think that people have died sinning before? Sure they have. You know, you did one last stupid thing, and God's just like, alright, this is it. You know, you wake up and you're in heaven, and you're like, what happened? That was your last chance, buddy. That was it for you. You know, but it doesn't mean that we're not still saved. I mean, Saul, the last thing that he remembers is falling on his own sword. And I understand why he did it, but why did God allow that to happen? Because he went and saw a witch. Right before, the night before, he went and saw a witch, and Samuel said, tomorrow at this time, you and your sons will be with me. His sons were obviously saved. Samuel, who told him that, obviously saved. Saul, obviously saved. But what do we see Saul as? We kind of see him as the example of a bad Christian, right? And a bad Christian that God took home early. Saul wasn't necessarily supposed to die early. But, you know, even though God did that, Saul still woke up in heaven. And him and Samuel probably gave each other a big hug and hugged it out or whatever. I don't know. But there is no more condemnation for him. We tell the stories about him. We see the bad examples in the Bible, but there's also good things that Saul did. Saul wasn't all bad. You know, we just don't see a lot of the good things that he did. But David loved him. Even after he died, you know, David says all these great things about Saul and about Jonathan. They were swifter than eagles. And, you know, he clothed all the virgins with great clothing and all this other stuff. You know, he lamented over Saul because Saul was saved. He still loves Saul even though Saul was trying to kill him the whole time. But that's why David's an example of someone that is a man after God's own heart. So, but we're chosen from before the foundation of the earth. That's hard for us to reconcile, too. God just doesn't mean that He's a Calvinist, and the work that we should believe in Calvinism just means that God knows things before everybody else does. He knows He has foreknowledge. It doesn't mean He just knew who would be saved and who wouldn't. It doesn't mean that He made them get saved or He made other people not choose to get saved. It's a choice. It's still a choice. Did Eve have a choice whether she was going to eat the forbidden fruit or not? She did. Did Adam have a choice? He did. Because if they didn't have a choice, then that would mean that God is evil and wicked. And I don't believe that for one second. God is not evil. God is not wicked. Man did something wicked. And we're all paying the prize for what they did. Thanks. Anyway, there might be a line, like a long line for them, too, just to like give them one. No, I'm just kidding. Hold still, Adam. I don't know. I'm just kidding. In Heaven, it won't be like that. I mean, there's a lot of people who have gone to Hell, though, isn't there? I'm sure they have a lot of shame, but they're saved, too, I believe. So, you know, we should love them, too. Number 25. We are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. Now, don't let these buzz words for the Calvinist alarm you. Romans 8 29 says, For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. So, that foreknowledge means that he knows before time. He knows beforehand. So, if you know the outcome of a football game, I like the DVR example. You watch the basketball game, and then you invite your friend over to watch the basketball game. And you've already seen the whole thing. And then, like, your friend is watching it with you, he doesn't necessarily know that you watched the game already. And then you're like, watch, this guy's going to hit the game winning three. And then he does, and your friend turns to you and goes, you're controlling the game! Is that what's really true? Did he control the game? Or did he just know because he already knew that the game winning shot was hit by that guy at the end of the game? That's what foreknowledge is. That's what God already knowing is. He knows the end from the beginning. So, don't be all freaked out by these words that Calvinists like to grab a hold of and go, see, it's predestination! He picked who was going to, yeah, he picked him based upon the fact that he knew that they were going to get saved. So, to be conformed to the image of his son. So, we're, we are picked based upon the fact that God already knew. So, that's the first twenty-five and it's about an hour. So, I'm glad I didn't try to go for all fifty. I knew that that was not going to happen. I know myself at least that well. So, but that's a pretty good, cool list of things that we get upon salvation. There's twenty-five more that I want to get out. So, but I'm not going to do that today. Anyway, breathe easy. So, that's the first twenty-five. So, God's given us so many blessings, just too many to count, just for being saved. And that's just not even all the blessings. That's not including all the blessings that we get for all the works that we do and all those things. But that's twenty-five blessings just about salvation alone. Including the other portions of the Christian life. We're just like, you know, there's just so many blessings that God gives us and sometimes I think, you know, there's that song Count Your Blessings, name them one by one. And sometimes I think that we forget and we neglect the fact that we have such a great salvation and such a great and loving God that just did all these things for us for nothing. For free. Because He loves us. Because He wants us to be His friends for all eternity. And it's just like, why? Why would He want us to be His friends? Sometimes I just wonder like, I'm kind of annoying sometimes. Ask my wife. I'm kind of annoying sometimes. And I just think, why would He want to be around me forever? And maybe He'll just put me in the corner or something every once in a while. But like, He does love us. And we have a lot of blessings from being saved. So let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for the blessing of salvation and just all the great things that you do for us when we get saved. And Lord, there are just so many things and I'm probably going to miss things on the list. But I just pray, Lord, that you would just help us to remember the great blessings and the great gifts that you give us upon salvation and not to just dwell in negativity all the time. And that, Lord, we would be positive about the fact that we're saved. And Lord, help us as we go out soul winning today and through the rest of the day as the next sermon is preached. And I pray for people to get saved out there today. Maybe we could use some things from the sermon to help us in our soul winning. Pray that you just bless all the things and aspects that are in your house today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's open up to page 518 in her Blue Hymnbook. Sing our last song this morning, I'll Fly Away. Page 518. I'll Fly Away. On the first. Some glad morning when this life is o'er us I'll fly away To a home on God's celestial shore I'll fly away I'll fly away Oh, Gloria, I'll fly away When I die, Hallelujah, by and by I'll fly away When the shadows of this life have gone I'll fly away Like a bird from prison bars has flown I'll fly away I'll fly away I'll fly away Oh, Gloria, I'll fly away When I die, Hallelujah, by and by I'll fly away On the last. Just a few more weary days and then I'll fly away To a land where joy shall never end I'll fly away I'll fly away Oh, Gloria, I'll fly away When I die, Hallelujah, by and by I'll fly away Hey, great to hear you singing this morning. We'll see you back here at 3.30 this afternoon. Brother Bill, you want to end us with a word of prayer. ... ... ... ... ... ...