June 23, 2024
Morning Service

Suppose I could offer you a simple drink this morning that would enable you to live life free of pain, a life of peace and happiness, a life full of joy, a life that is honorable and highly notable, and one where this life would never have an end? How many do you think would be interested in this pain free, honorable, and happy life, that has no end by a simple painless action? If I were to ask for a show of hands, I cannot imagine anyone who would not raise his or her hand in favor of the offer.

Many people over the years were searching and hoping of some water source that would bring healing and even possibly immortality. These springs were not known to have any kind of powers to heal, although through continued repeating of the myth, the story carried on. Ponce De Leon was another accredited for searching for the Fountain of Youth, but this also is just a myth that has been repeated so many times, people believe this was factual. He himself never made mention of this in any of his writings.

Now for something factual about a water source that does have healing powers and is actually available for us to receive. Of course, this is the Living Water that Jesus offers to us and we shall never thirst again! Jesus says in the gospel of John:

John 4:14  but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."

In all truthfulness, this is the fountain of youth! There is absolutely no other way to live forever, but through the Son of God, Jesus Christ! Belief in Jesus as your Lord and Savior who died to save you from your sin debt is the drink that will grant all the things spoken of in the opening of this message. It does not require any action on your part, because He has already done all the work on Calvary to grant this immortal, painless, and truly joyful life. Jesus offers this freely to us sinners to reconcile our souls to Him and without faith in Him; we will not experience His kingdom.

In opposition to this, what is the future state of our souls and hope of eternal life? There is no hope, we can only hope in our Lord Jesus to do as He has promised He will do! Without Him, I, you, or anyone else will be nothing! We truly have to understand that we are sinners, not we sinned at some time in our life or thinking like that. We are right now at this moment sinners! Why are we currently sinners and have no hope of life eternal? It is because, on our own, we have no power to atone for our sins! We cannot tithe it out, we cannot work it out, we cannot plead it out, and we cannot atone for our sins in any way other than the blood of Christ spilled on the cross on Calvary. Just as it was in the days of Moses, atonement required that blood of an unblemished animal to atone for sin and this was a temporal atonement. It did not last forever; in fact, it had to be repeated over and over again to provide a temporary reprieve. The high priest would take two male unblemished goats, sacrifice one and release the other. The sacrificed lamb would serve to forgive the sin and the released lamb would serve to remove the sin. Since God sent His Son Jesus to save that which was lost, these animal sacrifices are no longer necessary nor provide any purpose. Jesus became the perfect Lamb of God to be sacrificed once for all time and for all sin, being that Jesus was man and God at the same time; no other sacrifices were further needed, because He gave Himself! John the Baptist said in…

John 1:29  The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

            This is our hope and stay! Jesus will not abandon you to live your life on your own. We have a friend in Jesus that sticks closer than a brother does. Jesus has a love for us that will never fail, even if we fail in our walk to serve Him, He does not fail in His enduring love for us!

            Why is it important to care about having eternal life? It is important because without Jesus, we will have our part in the lake of fire, just like Satan and his demons. The choice to serve Jesus as our Lord and Savior is ours for the making. We must choose to repent and be forgiven for our sins through the blood of Jesus or choose not to repent and our sin debt will be paid for by our own souls.

Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

            This is the so-called no-brainer question; do you wish to be forgiven for your sins or to be accountable for your sins? We know the answer seems to be apparent and simple, but the worldly view is that there is nothing beyond what our life is here and therefore, no need to be forgiven and have our sin atoned. The greatest deception Satan has proclaimed since the beginning of man in the garden, “if you eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil", surely you will not die. When man chose to eat, he chose the wages of sin, and by disobedience to God, he then will receive death. We must have Jesus’ blood applied to our hearts in order to be received into the kingdom of Heaven, there is NO other way. God gives us the gift of eternal life and all we need to do is believe Jesus paid our debt and His blood has the power to atone for our sins! If we choose not to take the gift of Grace offered by Jesus, our future will be the same as if we were the devil himself.

            What does the bible say about hell and the comforts it provides for those who are not part of God’s kingdom? Jesus said in Matthew:

Mat 13:41  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 

Mat 13:42  and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

          The definition of wailing is to make a prolonged high- pitched sound from pain, grief, and anger. Gnashing of the teeth is a grinding of the teeth, biting down on the teeth from sever mental and physical suffering, a state of anger. This is not a place you think people would willingly go to for an extended stay.

            In the book of Mark, Jesus describes hell as:

Mark 9:48  where 'THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.'

          This place of hell is not in any way a desired outcome people would choose, or at least you would think this to be true. However, when you choose to not believe in Jesus as the Redeemer, you willingly make this personal choice. The question of intellect and personal self-interest has to come into the equation to understand why people refuse to make the correct decision. Mostly, unbelief prevails in the heart of man when there is no place for God in their life. Man is a sinful creature and arrogant to the point of self-destruction of his soul by unwisely choosing to believe he has no need of a Savior. As if, by some means he can save himself through being good and right by his own standards. Nothing could be further from the truth, man will not be judged by his standards, the judgment will come from a righteous and sinless God and there is no place for sin to be in His presence. Without the pardon granted by the blood of Jesus, we will stand before God on our own merits and we will fall very short of the kingdom of God. We will hear the dreaded words of Jesus, saying….

Matthew 25:41  "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:

          God does not wish that any soul should perish; this is why He made the plan of salvation through His Son Jesus! Hell is certainly an undesirable place to be and a real place full of all the fire and brimstone mentioned in the bible. God provided a way out of the judgment through His Son, so that those who wish to be pardoned can believe in Him and receive Grace! The bible tells us about the Day of Judgment in the book of Revelation of how the proceedings will take place. This is commonly known as the great White Throne Judgment.

Revelations 20:11  Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 

Revelations 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 

Revelations 20:13  The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 

Revelations 20:14  Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 

Revelations 20:15  And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

            This is the day known as Judgment Day and this is the final place where the culmination of the choices we made in this life will be given their reward. In order to avoid this judgment that will come upon anyone whose name is not written in the Book of Life, the Way is to get your name written there! It is as simple as repenting of your sins, confessing them to God, and asking the Lord Jesus to forgive you through his blood shed for you on the cross. Then to proclaim your faith in Him as a believer in Jesus and walk a narrow path that leads to righteousness in Christ our Lord. Our walk in this life should look as close to Jesus’ life as we can manage, although we will not hit this mark, we need always strive for it and attempt to attain it daily. We need to live a life of gratitude for the great sacrifice made on our behalf. Look deeply into our spiritual mirror and search ourselves for alignment with the Word of God and the example set by Jesus in the flesh. Pray to God daily for the strength we need live a holy life as He has planned for us. Read your bible everyday and let the Holy Spirit guide you into the ways of the Lord. Let the Holy Spirit teach you from the Word the mannerisms God wants for you and ask for His help to live a righteous life. A life that is lived rightly and claiming the righteousness of Jesus for the remission and forgiveness of our sins. Sin leaves a terrible stain on our souls and Jesus’ blood can wash those stains as white as snow with no remembrance of them.

            Lord, if there are any who have not claimed the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins, let today be the day of repentance and acceptance into the kingdom of God to be sealed by Jesus and have their names written in the Book of Life!