The Gospel

I’m going to start at verse 1 and read to verse 8 of Colossians 1. “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother. To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which you have to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof you heard before in the Word of the truth of the Gospel; which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and brings forth fruit, as it does also in you, since the day you heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth; as you also learned of Epaphras our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.”

I want to direct your attention to verse 3. Paul says, “We give thanks to God.” Paul was a man with a grateful heart. In verses 1 and 2, we saw Paul’s greeting, and then in verses 3-5, we see Paul’s gratitude. Actually, verses 3-8 is one long sentence in the Greek; there is no break of thought or of continuity. Paul is basically filled with thanksgiving about the believers there in Colosse.

This is amazing, because two things were happening: number one, Paul was in prison, and he had a grateful heart—his circumstances didn’t take his joy—and number two, he was writing to believers who were being influenced by false teachers. Paul wants the believers in Colosse to know that they are true Christians. He doesn’t want them to think that Christ is inadequate or insufficient or that they need to buy into this false doctrine at all. Christ is all that they need.

Paul said that there are three things that he was thankful for. First, in verse 4, he was thankful for their “faith in Christ Jesus.” Every true Christian puts their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Secondly, in verse 4, Paul was thankful for their “love” which goes out “to all the saints.” Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, that you love one another.” So the love of God in their hearts was flowing out to all the saints. Thirdly, in verse 5, he was thankful for their “hope which is laid up for you in heaven.”

I want you to notice this triad, which actually indicates that they were true believers. They had faith, they had hope and they had love. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:13 that “the greatest of these is love.” As a believer, my faith is in Jesus Christ, my love goes out to people who are around me and my hope looks up to heaven.

I believe that what Paul is trying to do in this thanksgiving is seeking to reassure the believers in Colosse that they were true Christians. Why is he opening up the passage like this? Normally in his greetings Paul would give thanks for the believers he’s writing to. But here, Paul is actually, in a subtle way, coming against the error of the false teachers. False teachers were, in essence, telling the believers in Colosse, “You don’t have enough. You’re really not Christians. You need the deeper life. You need our Jewish legalism. You need a little eastern mysticism, and you need a little Greek philosophy. You need to put this all together, and then you’ll be really good Christians. Jesus isn’t enough.”

What Paul is saying in this opening thanksgiving is that you have everything you need: you have faith, you have hope and you have love. Those three things say that you are true believers in Jesus Christ.

Then Paul moves in verses 5-8 to speak about them being not only true believers but they also received the true Gospel. “You are truly Christians, who received the true Gospel message.” He speaks to them about the truth of the Gospel, which brings to them their heavenly hope. In verse 5 he says, “…whereof you heard before…”—Before what? Before the false teachers came along with their error—“…in the Word of the truth of the Gospel.” Notice the reference at the end of verse 5: “the Gospel.” “You heard before, the Gospel, which brought you hope, and you put your faith in Jesus Christ and then that love went out to all the brethren.”

Robert G. Gromacki said, “The Gospel message is that which joins the hope in the heart with the hope of heaven.” I love that. The good news about Jesus Christ joins the hope in my heart with the hope of heaven.

I want to give you five facts about the Gospel. The first fact about the Gospel is that the Gospel is true. Paul emphasizes the truth of the Gospel by mentioning it twice: in verse 5, he says, “the Word of the truth of the Gospel”; in verse 6, he says, “the grace of God in truth.” The Gospel is not only good news; it’s true. Do you believe that? It’s not good views; it’s good news. It’s based on the historical truth about Jesus Christ.

I believe the Gospel is clearly seen throughout the New Testament. Let me give you some basic references as background. The first, that you’re so familiar with, is John 3:16; “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…”—by the way, the word “begotten” means “unique” or “one of a kind”—“…that whosoever believes in Him…”—not “behaves”; that’s not the Gospel—“…shall not perish but have everlasting life.” These are verses that every Christian should memorize so that we’re equipped to share the Gospel.

Who doesn’t know John 3:16? I’ll never forget being at In-N-Out one time, and I was sitting on the patio enjoying a hamburger. All these businessmen were out to lunch, and a guy held up his cup and saw “John 3:16” on the bottom of his cup. He said, “John 3:16. I wonder what that means.” And I’m thinking, This is too good to be true. I didn’t stand on the table or anything, but I did say, “I can tell you what it says. I can tell you what it means.” I quoted John 3:16 and I preached a little, mini-sermon right there at In-N-Out. I got to share the Gospel. So if you haven’t anything else to do, just hang out at In-N-Out and say, “Do you know what John 3:16 says?” pointing at your cup. It’s so marvelous to think that God loved us and gave His Son to die on the Cross, so that if we believe in Him, we’ll “never perish but have everlasting life.” That’s the good news.

Here’s the second great text on the Gospel: 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. Paul says, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel, which I preached unto you, which also you received, and wherein you stand; by which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all…”—or “of first importance”—“…that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures…”—first—“…and that He was buried…”—secondly—“…and that He rose again the third day…”—thirdly—“…according to the Scriptures.”

So the Gospel very simply has three points: number one, Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. How hard is it to figure that out? “God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son.” Why did He give His Son? To die for our sins. Jesus came to die. He didn’t just come to teach. He didn’t just come to give us an example. He didn’t just die on the Cross to give us a kind of love-of-God theory of somebody who sacrificed his life for a good cause. He literally was taking our debt; paying our penalty. “The wages of sin is death.” He died in our place. The death of Christ was a substitutionary death; He took your place. If you miss that, you miss the Gospel.

And then Jesus was buried. Why does Paul say He was buried? Because he wants us to know He was really dead. You bury dead people; right? You don’t bury live people. And then three day later, He rose from the dead. He rose physically and bodily. His physical body was transformed. His mortal body put on immortality. His corruptible body put on incorruption. He is the forerunner of our resurrection. Because He rose, one day we shall rise as well.

So it’s the good news that Jesus died for us, Jesus was buried and Jesus rose again the third day. The good news is true; it’s based on the historical life of Jesus. He was actually born, He lived a sinless life, He died a substitutionary death, He rose from the dead and He ascended back into heaven after being seen for a period of 40 days.

Now this is all in contrast with the false gospel of the false teachers. They were teaching Jewish legalism. They were teaching eastern mysticism. They were teaching Greek philosophy. Plus Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is all you need. He is the Son of God Who died, was buried and rose again from the dead.

There are several things that God cannot do. One that is pertinent to this point is that God cannot lie. It’s possible for me to lie, and it’s really possible for you to lie. But it’s impossible for God to lie. Did you ever think about that? We always think, God can do anything. All things are possible with God. But God will never lie. God cannot lie. God can never violate His own person and His own character. If God is love, God will never do anything unloving; it’s impossible. If God is holy—and He is—God would never do anything unrighteous or unholy. God can never violate His nature or His character. If God has spoken in His Word, we can rest upon it. This is not human invention; it is divine revelation.

Religion is man trying to find God, man reaching up to God. There have been a lot of people who start their own religion. But Christianity is God reaching down to man and saving us. The message is what we call the Gospel.

Let me give you the second fact about the Gospel. The Gospel is for everyone. I love this. I want you to see it in Colossians 1:6. Paul says, speaking of the Gospel, “Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world.” So Paul says the Gospel has come to you as well as to all the world.

Now how are we to understand Paul’s reference to the Gospel here as going to the whole world? I believe that Paul is speaking in hyperbole. It is a figure of speech in which we exaggerate intentionally or purposely. What Paul is trying to convey here is that literally every human being in the whole world has heard the Gospel. He still wanted to go to Spain. Thomas would still go to India and some believe that Peter would still go to Persia, by Babylon maybe. But the world was still without Christ. However, the Roman world had been reached with the Gospel. Paul was indicating that the whole world needs the Gospel.

Again, this was in contrast to the false teaching of the heretics who had invaded Colosse. They taught that this was an elite group of believers or people who had a super, deep knowledge and information that no one else had. Beware of secret societies; clubs that say, “Us four, no more, shut the door. We know what no one else knows. We have the official ring, salute, we wear the garments or we can come in, but no one else can.”

Do you know that in Christianity, anyone can come to our church, and they can hear what we preach? We have nothing to hide. If you become a believer in Jesus Christ, you can become a part of this fellowship. We have no secret society. We have no secrets to keep. We have no secrets from people. As a matter of fact, we want to get on the rooftops and proclaim the Gospel to everybody. We have nothing to hide. We would want everyone to see John 3:16 on the bottom of their cup. We want everyone to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. So it’s not a secret kind of hidden message that the false teachers were promoting only for an elite few. Again, John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the…”—what?—“…world.” The word “world” there means the whole world; not just an elite few, a chosen few, just a special few, just the United States, just southern California or just white people. It’s the whole world.

I grew up in church, and as a little boy, I learned that song Jesus loves the Little Children.

Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white;
They are precious in His sight.
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

That’s the Gospel. And the Gospel is that Jesus loves big people too. He loves everyone. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” to die on the Cross, so that we can be forgiven and have the hope of heaven.

Jesus, speaking just before His Ascension, in Mark 16:15 said, “Go into all the world…”—there’s our word again—“…and preach the Gospel to everyone everywhere.” I love that. I believe that this is the one message suitable for everyone in the entire world, because “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” You can’t appreciate the good news until you first get the bad news. By the way, the word “Gospel” means “good news.” It’s not good views but good news. The bad news makes you appreciate the good news; that you are a sinner on your way to hell and the “wages of sin is death,” but the good news is that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. And you’re not really preaching the good news until you first preach the bad news. People need to appreciate the fact that I am a sinner, and Jesus died for my sins to save me.

When Jesus said to “go into all the world to preach,” He used the word for “the announcing of a herald.” He means to go out to proclaim, to herald, to preach the Gospel. In Acts 1:8, before Jesus ascended into heaven, He said, “You’re going to receive power…”—said to His disciples—“…and you shall be my witnesses…in Jerusalem…Judea…in Samaria and…”—where?—“…to the uttermost parts of the earth.” All around the world. The Gospel of Jesus Christ started there in Jerusalem and spread out over the whole world.

I heard the story of a church that caught on fire. It had a beautiful painting of Christ in the foyer. As the flames were engulfing the church building, someone ran into the foyer and grabbed the picture of Christ and rushed out of the church into the street. The church burned down, but they saved the picture of Christ. All these people were gathering together around this picture and looking at it. They were all interested in it and fascinated by the picture. The pastor saw that and thought, Wow! That’s funny. When the picture of Christ was in the church, no one paid any attention to it. Now that the church has burned down, everyone is interested in it.

Someone put it in these words. He said, “When the church caught fire and moved Christ into the street where people could see Him, then they’re interested.” I thought, There’s a message in that. When the church caught fire and moved Jesus into the street where the people could see Him, now they’re interested in Him. I pray that we would catch fire and take Jesus out into the streets; that we would take Him into the highways and byways, into our homes and workplaces and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Get on fire and take Jesus out to the streets.

Let me give you the third fact about the Gospel, in verse 6. The Gospel produces fruit. I love that. The Gospel is productive. In verse 6, Paul says that it “brings forth fruit, as it also does in you, since the day you heard of it.” The Living Translation renders this, “It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your life.” How about you? Did Jesus change your life? He changed my life. He took out my “heart of stone” and gave me a “heart of flesh.” He took my heart out of darkness, and He gave me His love and His forgiveness.

Jesus Christ changes lives. Over my years of ministry, I’ve seen so many lives changed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I’ve seen people who were bound by alcohol set free. I’ve seen people bound by drugs set free. I’ve seen people who were addicted to pornography set free. I’ve seen people whose marriages were destroyed—and even seen marriages that ended in divorce—and they came to Christ and were restored. I’ve seen amazing miracles of people’s lives that were transformed by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Nothing but Christ can do that.

If you were to stand up and give your testimony of the darkness you were in, the light that He has brought you to, the way you used to live and the way God has changed your life, it would amaze us to hear those stories and those testimonies. The Bible says that “If anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation. Old things pass away; behold all things are new.” He takes you “out of darkness into His marvelous light.” He takes you out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God. Jesus changes lives and He changes society.

Now in this statement Paul makes that God “brings forth fruit,” he’s likening the Gospel message to fruit, which has seed in it. Fruits have seeds to produce more fruit. A seed has inherent power; you put it in the ground, and it brings forth fruit, and it has the capacity for more fruit.

The Gospel has the ability not only to change lives but to change society. The best way to make our society a great place to live is to get busy preaching the Gospel. The only way to change men is to change their hearts, and the only way to change their hearts is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now I’m all for laws that can be passed that reflect God’s standards of righteousness, but you can’t impose this on people; people have to have a change of heart. I believe the world has been changed by Christianity. We live in a kinder, gentler, more loving world because of Christianity; not in spite of it. If it weren’t for Christ, this world would be very dark and very cruel. You look at every culture and every society where there is a lack of Christian influence and you see women are put down, children are despised, marriage isn’t valued and lifted up, human life is devalued. Go to places in the world that lack Christian influence and look at their standard of living. It’s in direct relationship to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He changes hearts and He changes lives. He gives us a new work ethic. He gives us a new appreciation of marriage and of children. He gives us new appreciation of godliness and holiness, of honesty and speaking the truth—all the things that Christianity brings to influence our culture; all due to the Gospel being preached.

Jesus told the parable in Mark 4 of what is called “The Sower and the Seed.” But the parable isn’t so much about the sower. It’s somewhat about the seed, but it’s more about the soil. There are four soils that are mentioned. The seed is the Gospel, the Word of God. When the seed is preached or sown, it lands on four different soils, representing four different kinds of hearts. The first heart I call the “hard heart.” The hard heart is like the beaten path where the seed cannot penetrate; the Gospel doesn’t penetrate that heart. The Bible says the birds of the air came down and stole the seed away, representing Satan, who steals the Word of God away from people’s hearts. Their hearts become hardened, and Satan blinds their minds to the truth. We see people like that.

The second soil represents what I call the “shallow heart.” It’s a thin layer of dirt over rocks. The seed takes root and springs up, but because it lacks root, having no depth, it withers from the heat and dies. A lot of people say, “Well, I believe in Jesus,” but there’s a shallow commitment. It’s not genuine or sincere. They don’t really allow God’s Word to take root in their hearts. They don’t believe the Gospel, so they wither and die.

The third category is called the “crowded heart.” The seed is sown, it lands, it starts to grow and the weeds grow up. Wouldn’t it be awesome to live in a weed-free community? The weeds choke out the Gospel. Jesus said the weeds represent the “cares of this world” and the “deceitfulness of riches” and the “lusts of other things.” A lot of people don’t receive the Gospel because they’re so filled with care and lust and desire for other things that they don’t have time for Jesus Christ.

Then there is that fourth soil, that fourth heart, represented by the “good soil,” Jesus called it. It wasn’t hard, it wasn’t shallow, it wasn’t crowded. It was soft, deep and clean, and the seed landed on the heart and brought forth fruit; Jesus said “some 30-, some 60- and some 100-fold.” That’s what the Gospel can do: When you open your heart to Jesus Christ and the Word is preached and the Word takes root in your life, it’ll change your life and it’ll change society and will bring forth fruit.

So Paul says in Romans 1:13-16, “Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come to you…that I might have some fruit among you, even as I do among other Gentiles. I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the Gospel to you that are at Rome also.” Then listen to what he says in verse 16: “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes; to the Jew first and also to the Greek”—or to “the Gentile.”

Paul says, “I am a debtor.” Do you know that we as Christians have a debt to share the Gospel with other believers? And then he said, “I am eager” or “I am ready.” We need to pray that God would give us a ready heart. And then Paul said, “I am not ashamed.” It’s sad when we’re ashamed of Jesus Christ, ashamed to share the Gospel, embarrassed of Who Christ is. Paul wasn’t ashamed and tells us the Gospel is “the power…”—the “dunamis”—“…of God…”—the “dynamic” of God, the “dynamite” of God—“…unto salvation” to those who believe. Whether you are a Jew or whether you are a Gentile, it will bear fruit in your life.

Let me give you a fourth fact about the Gospel, and that is that the Gospel is rooted in grace. See that in Colossians 1:6. Paul says, “…since the day you heard…and knew the grace of God in truth.” Grace—no single word more accurately or completely defines the Gospel than the word “grace.” Do you know that all other religions teach that you are saved by work, some effort, something you have to do, some group you have to join, something you have to know, some good deed you have to fulfill? It is only Biblical Christianity that teaches that by grace you have been saved. Grace—the Greek word is “charis.” It means unearned, undeserved, unmerited favor. There is nothing you can do to merit or to deserve your salvation.

John Newton, who wrote Amazing Grace, before he died in 1807, wrote “My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Savior.” He wrote those marvelous words that we still sing today:

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I’m found.
Was blind, but now I see.

What an amazing song about God’s amazing grace. And it’s all of grace; God saves you by His grace. There’s nothing you can do to earn, merit or deserve it. Ephesians 2:8-9 is another classic passage that every Christian should memorize. Paul says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast.”

So number one, we are saved by grace; number two, we are saved by faith—or by believing--; number three, it is God’s gift; and number four, it is not by works. Baptism will not get you to heaven. You can take communion, but it won’t get you to heaven. You can be confirmed, but it won’t get you to heaven. You can get a Christian haircut, like mine, but it won’t get you to heaven. You can’t die and go to heaven and say, “I have a John Miller haircut; they should let me in here.” That’s not going to get you to heaven. Not by righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. God’s marvelous and wonderful grace. Isn’t God’s grace amazing? Isn’t God’s grace marvelous? He reached down and saw me and saved me and rescued me.

When a life guard saves a drowning swimmer, sometimes he has to hold back until that swimmer is exhausted and has spent all their energy and strength. When they’re going down for the last time, people are wondering why they don’t do something; why don’t they rescue him? They’re allowing that struggling swimmer to exhaust all their strength and energy, and then the life guard will reach out and save that individual. Do you know that God allows us to go down for the last time? Then we cry out, “Lord, save me!” And He reaches out in grace and rescues us.

By the way, if you’re saved by a life guard, you don’t walk around on the beach bragging about how you let him save you. There’s no boasting. I’ve seen a lot of guys saved at the beach by life guards, and they’re so embarrassed to come back up on the beach. They’d rather drown than be saved by a life guard. “This is so embarrassing!” “Dude, get over it! Be glad you didn’t drown.” “Yes, but everyone’s looking; I’m so embarrassed.” “He just saved your life!” You don’t boast like, “Did you see the way I let that life guard save me? I was awesome!” “No, you weren’t. You were drowning!” We cry out and God reaches out and rescues us. We have nothing to boast in. Jesus rescued us by His marvelous grace. And what a marvelous truth that is.

Let me give you the fifth and last fact about the Gospel. The Gospel is transmitted by people. I picked that word “transmitted” specifically. I didn’t want to use the word “preached,” although it is. Look at verses 7-8. Paul says, “As ye also learned…”—he’s speaking to the Colossians about them receiving the true Gospel. They are true believers, and they also heard the true Gospel. They learned it, verse 7. We get our word “disciple” from it.—“…of Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.” God uses people to transmit the Gospel.

Let me give you an example. In Acts 8, there was a Gentile named Cornelius. He was a Centurion, and he was a very devout man; he prayed and he sought God. Then an angel appeared to Cornelius and told him that he needed to send to the city of Joppa for Simon Peter to come to him. Simon Peter would tell Cornelius “all the words of this life,” which is a reference to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I want you to note that it wasn’t the angel who preached the Gospel. The angel said to go get Peter, and Peter would preach the Gospel. So Peter came from Joppa and shared the words of life to Cornelius. They opened their hearts. They came to believe in Jesus Christ and were saved.

Sometimes I wonder, God, couldn’t this evangelizing get done easier if you send angels out to do it with angelic megaphones? Why are you using human beings, weak and frail? I don’t know why he sends humans, but that’s what God has chosen to do. When He looked at His rag-tag bunch of disciples, He said, “I want you to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.”

In verse 7, God sent a man by the name of Epaphras. This is a shortened version of the name Epaphroditus. He’s not the same man mentioned in Philippians 2, but he was their pastor or minister. You say, “The Gospel is spread by people, but it’s spread by professionals. It’s spread by ordained clergymen or ministers of the Gospel. You have to go to Bible school or seminary. You have to know how to preach to be able to evangelize or share the Gospel.” I disagree. I believe that Epaphras, not being an Apostle, was a layman; he was just like you and just like me. God wants to use us to spread the good news. “Well, I’m not formally trained.” It doesn’t matter. “I’m not ordained.” It doesn’t matter. “I’m not in full-time ministry.” It doesn’t matter. God wants to use you on the job or wherever you might be.

Epaphras is what me might call a layman. In verse 7, he’s called a “fellow servant.” The word “servant” there in the Greek is the word “doulos.” It should actually be translated “slave.” He’s a “fellow slave.” Imagine what an honor that is. A doulos is a slave by choice. And then also in verse 7, he’s called a “faithful minister.” That word “minister” there is not used in the official sense of a clergyman or pastor. It’s the Greek word “decanos.” We get our word “deacon” from it. The word deacon literally means “one who stirs up dust.” It literally means that he goes around so fast—runs around serving people. He’s so busy serving people that dust is flying in the air. That’s the etymology of this word decanos. He’s a servant helping everybody, and everywhere he goes there’s a cloud of dust. He’s so busy serving the Lord. So Epaphras was busy serving the Lord. God wants to use you, too.

When Isaiah saw the Lord “high and lifted up, and His glory filled the temple,” he saw the need and cried out. The Lord said, “Who shall go? Who shall I send?” Isaiah said, “Here am I; send me.” What a beautiful prayer.

Have you ever prayed that? Have you ever looked at this world that needs to know Jesus and said, “Here am I; send me”? Or do you say, “Here am I. Send my neighbor. Send the guy across the street.” “Here am I. Send the pastor; he gets paid for preaching.” No. “Here am I; send me.” I love that prayer.

Do you know that we are debtors? We owe a debt to unbelievers. We share the good news that we know. We need to be ready or eager. We need not to be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. May God stir us up. May we get on fire. May we take the Gospel to the streets where Jesus Christ can be seen and heard and admired. May we preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

My prayer for Revival Christian Fellowship is that we always be a Gospel-preaching church; that we never grow beyond that or never grow past that or never get into the deeper life of things. Rather, of the simple Gospel.

What is the Gospel? That God loves you, and even though you’re a sinner and headed for hell, God wants to save you and rescue you. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, was God in the flesh, went to a cross, voluntarily laid down His life and died there for your sins. That’s the only way you can be saved. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Your only hope of eternal life, your only hope of salvation, your only hope of having your sins forgiven so that you will spend eternity with God is through Jesus Christ. And once He died, He was buried and three days later He arose again from the dead and lives to save.

You might be one who doesn’t know for sure that if you died, you’d go to heaven. You don’t know for sure that you’re really a Christian. You know what a Christian is? A Christian is a person who has the life of God in their soul. It’s not a person who just goes to church or believes certain things. It’s a person whose God has come to live in their heart through faith. It’s a life of God in the soul of men.

Do you have God’s life in your soul? Do you know Jesus Christ personally and intimately? Is He your Savior? Have you trusted Him? Have you repented of your sins? Do you know that if you die, you’d go to heaven? If not, let me give you an opportunity right now to believe in Jesus Christ. So if you haven’t trusted Christ, if you haven’t had your sins forgiven, I want your hearts to be that good soil. I want you to open your hearts and receive that seed that is sown in your heart.

Let’s bow our heads in a word of prayer.