Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton,
the official podcast of Cross Christian Fellowship,
Route 66, in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico,
where Burton is the lead pastor. We're glad you're
here. Thanks. Yeah, I love this church. I love
the people here. I love coming down here. And
you know what? This area needs it so badly. You
know, this is the war zone. It really is. I remember
being down here at night, and you could see the
dark shadows moving by the windows, you know,
the enemy just wanting to pounce on people as
they walked in here and walked out. And this
area, you know, I got off at Tramway because
I live out in East Mountains, and I was coming
down, and, I mean, this whole area's buildings
are closed. There's no stores open anymore, and
it breaks my heart, you know. Because when I
was the assistant pastor here, you know, it was
thriving quite a bit more. You know, Walmart
was open, and now it's nothing. I mean, the enemy
has got such a foothold. You know, and there's
this one little light that shines here, and that's
cross 66, you know. And it will be here for a
long time, you know, the Lord. It's put that
in my heart that this church is going to be here
for a long time. You know, somebody will replace
somebody and it's just going to keep going because
it's needed. But anyway, I left here and I went
up. God called me back to my community in the
East Mountains and I opened the youth center
there. And that's finally thriving. I mean, we
have like 60 events lined up. We're having robotics
workshops and jujitsu. We recently had a Lego
competition. But if you want to check it out,
it's the Stancy Valley Christian Teen Center.
You know, it's on Facebook. So if you want to
see more, you know, check it out. If you're in
the East Mountains or know kids in the East Mountains
that need a place to go, we have events. You
know, it's non -denominational. We want all churches
to come alongside and feel welcome there. You
know, it's for kids, you know, because kids need
a path. They need something to do, and that's
why we started it. Anyway, Burton called me last
night and he said, Ted, could you do me a favor?
Could you step in? And I said, sure. And we started
talking about messages. And he said, well, I'm
doing kind of an Easter thing going right now
with the messages he's been giving. And I sat
down at my computer and, you know. What is this
whole thing about? What is Easter about? What
is Christ about? It's all about the message of
the cross. Why did Christ come? What is he here?
What was his purpose? And that's what we're going
to talk about today. What exactly was the message
that Christ taught? And what was the promise
of the new covenant that he made with us? So
today we're going to look at the basic truth.
Because that's what the message of the cross
is, the truth. And that truth is what all other
truths are formed on. The truth of God and the
truth of Christ. The truth of Christ dying for
us and the truth of Christ being resurrected
so we could be resurrected with him and open
up heaven for us. That's it. No more, no less.
That's the message of the cross. But today we're
going to, you know, let's turn to John 3 .16.
We're going to read a couple of scriptures here,
and then we'll pray. So let's start with John
3 .16. I mean, if you know it, you know, you
don't need to look at it, but, you know, it starts,
For God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten Son that whoever... believes in him
should not perish but have everlasting life.
For God did not send his son into the world to
condemn the world, but that the world through
him might be saved. He who believes in him is
not condemned, but he who does not believe is
condemned already because he has not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
This is the condemnation that the light has come
into the world and men love darkness rather than
light because their deeds were evil. For everyone
practicing evil hates the light and does not
come into the light, lest his deeds should be
exposed. But he who does the truth comes into
the light that his deeds may be clearly seen.
that they have been done in God. So let's pray.
Father God, I just pray that you speak through
me, Lord, and, you know, fill our hearts with
the message of your Son and the message of the
cross and why everything had to happen the way
that it happened and why Jesus came and why Jesus
didn't come. And I just ask you, Lord, to speak
through me. just to give us something that we
didn't know before or put something on our hearts
that we can go forward with, you know, and bring
it into the world. And I ask all this in your
holy name. Amen. So why did Christ come? Did
he come to heal the sick? You know, was it to
mend our broken relationships? Was it to heal
cancer or anything else in our physical world?
No, it had nothing to do with any of that, you
know. We sometimes get so focused on what's wrong
with the world that we wanted Christ to come
and fix it. And that was the problem with the
Pharisees. You know, they wanted Christ to come
to be a king, to lead them into victory over
the Romans and take over, take over the world.
They were so focused on what he was going to
do in his worldly kingdom. that they forgot the
whole thing of God is eternal. He's not of this
world. You know, he's above us. And someday,
you know, for those that believe, we'll be there
with God, and this world will no longer exist.
Christ didn't come to fix this world. He came
to bring light into the world because it was
so dark. They prayed for 400 years for Christ
to come save them. And they didn't even know
what they were being saved from. And Christ came
to save them from themselves. You know, he came
to make a new covenant with them to say, look,
you are so corrupted with your hearts that, you
know, your sacrifices don't mean anything to
me anymore. You know, so I'm going to lay down
my blood. So you can have the perfect sacrifice.
And if you believe in my blood that washes away
your sins, you will be with me forever. You know,
that's why Christ came. You know, in John 3 .16...
Long celebrated is the powerful declaration of
the gospel. I mean, who doesn't know about John
3 .16? Tim Tebow wore it every time he went and
played football. Athletes have crosses, John
3 .16, 3 .16. You see it everywhere. You see
it in TV commercials now. You know, of the 31
,102 verses in the Bible, it's the most popular
single verse used in evangelism. John 3 .16.
That's the first thing somebody learns is John
3 .16. So God so loved the world, you know, and
that's the way it should be. But, you know, and
that's what this is all about. For God so loved
the world, God did not wait for the world to
turn to him, to honor him, to give him praise.
He sent his son because he loved us, period.
It wasn't anything that we did. He didn't say,
well, these guys deserve a savior because truthfully,
we didn't deserve anything. You know, we were
murderers, rapists, extortionists, embezzlers,
you know, preachers of false gospels. You know,
the Pharisees were all over the place with their
gospels. You know, they sold sacrifices for money.
So basically, they sold salvation for money.
You know, buy five turtle doves and you'll be
free. You know, it doesn't work that way. You
know, but God knew what we needed and he loved
and he gave his only begotten son to the world
when it was still the world. The Jews of that
day rarely thought that God loved the world.
You never heard, you know, in old scripture about
the love of God, it was always about obedience.
Do this or else you're damned. Do this or be
damned. Sacrifice this or else you're damned.
You know, a sin offering, I never would have
gotten out of line, you know. I would have made
a sin offering, and by the time I made my sin
offering, I would have committed another sin,
and I'd be right back in line again, you know.
I'd be stuck like in this revolving sin offering
line, you know. I would run out of money for
turtle doves the first day, you know. But, you
know, the universal offer of salvation and life
in Jesus was revolutionary. You know, he offered
us salvation, not to be healed from the sick,
not to be healed from cancer. You know, those
were all byproducts because he loved us. In miracles,
he was going to show people that he did have
power. But that was just to show. He even commented
that, you know, don't believe in me because of
miracles because that's short -lived and you'll
soon forget about it. Believe in me because you
believe like the woman at the well. He didn't
show her any miracles. He just started telling
her about her husbands. And she knew, you know,
in her heart that he was the Savior, that he
was the Messiah. It wasn't anything fancy he
did. And then the other people that saw the miracles,
look at Judas. Judas walked with them, talked
with them, saw every single miracle. And he didn't
believe enough to... You know, he sold Jesus
out. Had he really believed in Jesus that he
was the Savior, he wouldn't have sold him out.
You know, you kind of can't do both. But, you
know, this also talks about everlasting life,
the duration of God's love. He loves us so much
that he's willing to give us everlasting life
with him and not in hell or separated from him.
He wants us to be with him. The love we receive
from people is going to fade or turn, but God's
love will never change. He will never stop loving
his people, even into the furthest distance of
eternity. I mean, just think about that, having
to love somebody for eternity. I mean, we are
so fickle. We fall in love with somebody. We
fall out of love with somebody. They make us
mad, so we don't love them no more, you know,
and God just loves us. If we treated people the
way God treated us, we would love nobody. And
nobody would love us, you know. But God, he does.
I mean, he loves us no matter what. He loved
us when we were sinners. You know, before we
were saved, and he loves us when we're saved.
You know, his love never changes. You know, either
you love or you don't love. You know, in John
3 .16, it's God so loved the world. Not just
the people that are going to believe in him.
He so loved the world and everybody in it. He
loved all his creation, you know, his animals,
his mountains, the people, everything. Even the
angels, even the dark angels, he loved them all.
But the problem was the dark angels would not
repent. You know, and we may say that there's
seven wonders in John 3 .16. Number one, it starts
off with God, okay? God's the almighty authority.
If that's not one of the seven wonders, I don't
know what is. There's nothing more wonderful
than God and nothing bigger than God. And number
two, he so loved the world. And that's the mightiest
motive that anybody could have is he so loved
the world, period. And then the greatest gift
that he gave his only begotten son. And then
the widest welcome that whoever, it doesn't say,
you know, the Jews or the Greeks or anybody.
It says whoever. The next one is believes in
him. It's the easiest escape. We don't have to
do anything except believe. You know, it's not
like we have to pay money. We don't have to pass
some tests. We don't have to, you know, be on
our knees all day long, you know, and worship
him. No, it's just all we have to do is believe.
It's that simple. And then number six, should
not perish. And that's divine deliverance forever.
It should not perish. And that is eternity. And
the last one, but have everlasting life, the
most priceless possession there is. You know,
it doesn't make a difference what we go through
here on earth because if we believe, we're going
to have everlasting life and where there's no
tears and no suffering anymore. God never promised
us that we would not have suffering on earth.
Matter of fact, he told us just the opposite,
that we would. For those who believe, you're
going to be persecuted as I was persecuted. And
whether that's through Satan, through the culture,
you know, we're all persecuted in some way. You
know, whether it's through, you know, spiritual
warfare or whatever, you know, we're all persecuted.
Nobody's immune to it. You know, we all battle
with disease. We all battle with darkness. We
all battle with depression at times, you know.
I mean, I'm no different. I battle with depression
just like everybody else does, you know. I go
through my periods, you know. We all do. I go
through my periods of disbelief, and, you know,
we all struggle at times. There's nobody beyond
that. If there is one sentence that sums up more
than another, which sums up the message of the
fourth gospel, is this. The love of God is limitless.
It embraces all mankind. No sacrifice was too
great to bring its unmeasured intensity home
to men and women. The best that God had to give,
he gave his only son, his well -beloved son.
And that was a quote from Bruce, and that's pretty
powerful. God gave us the best of what he had
to give us, and that was his only son. Imagine
that. the best of what God could give. Of all
the things God could give in this universe, some
of us, you know, the worldly people would think,
well, you know, if he would have given us the
power to conquer Rome, that's what we really
wanted. But he gave us his son. There is no greater
love than to give up your son for a bunch of
sinners so they can have everlasting life. It
was never about the power to conquer Rome. It
was always about love. You know, God is just
totally love. You know, does it anywhere say
that Christ came to wipe away our tears or to
heal our bodies? Yes, of course, there's miracles
and Healing Act did do that, but that's not the
message of the cross, nor the purpose why he
came. He could have did that from afar. You know,
how many times do we pray to God for a miracle
and it happens? He doesn't need to come to earth
to do that. You know, he whispered this whole
universe into existence. If he wants to fix something,
he doesn't have to come and physically do it,
you know. He can do it with just a blink of an
eye. He doesn't even have to do that. He just
thinks it into existence. But, you know, that's
not the message of the cross or the purpose he
came. The only thing he could not do from heaven
was to die for us. Think about that, you know.
The only thing and the only reason he came was
to die. you know, to show us his love and the
Father's love and to teach us about the Father
than to die for us. That's the one and only reason
he came was to die. Imagine that, being born
and you know your whole life, that that's your
only purpose is to die for a bunch of people
that want to kill you. You know, I can't wrap
my head around that, you know, the love of God
and how... just how much he loves us, you know,
that he knew it. He could have bailed any time
and said, God, I don't want any part of this.
This is awful. No, he stayed and he died for
us. You know, and to send his son to die so the
blood sacrifice would be paid and we would be
forgiven. He came to teach, teach those other
than the Jews. He came for everybody, all mankind,
the Gentiles, the Jews. He taught the Gentiles
as much as he did the Jews. So let's take a quick
list of the reasons why he came. Number one,
Matthew 5, 17 through 18. I can just read these
unless you want to read them too. Matthew 5,
17, 18. So, number one, he came to fulfill the
law that was wrote by the prophets that... You
know, God directed Moses to write about the law
and write it down. He came to fulfill that. But
in a different way than we thought, you know.
So check this out. Romans 8, 2. For the law,
the spirit of life in Christ Jesus had made me
free from the law of sin and death. You know,
the law used to be sin and death. It was all
about death and dying and sacrifices. Christ
came in, it's different, the law, the spirit
of life. He gave us life where the law gave us
death. Romans 8 .3, for what the law could not
do in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending his own son in the likeness of sinful
flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.
Romans 8 .4. that the righteousness of the law
might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after
the flesh, but after the Spirit. The law spoke
about the coming Messiah, and Christ fulfilled
that. The Pharisees spent their lives trying
to fulfill the law, but they missed fulfillment
by a mile. How important is it to know Jesus
was not talking about our fulfilling the law,
but his fulfilling of the law. You know, because
we couldn't fulfill the law. We don't have that
power. Best we can do is like be, you know, even
the best of us be 90 % good, but there's 10 %
that is not good. So we can never fulfill the
law. We don't have that ability in us. Only Christ
has that ability to come fulfill the law. And
that's why he came was to fulfill it because
we could not. We're not pure enough. He came
to seek and save the lost. I mean, you even look
at Zacchaeus, okay, that Christ entered and passed
through Jericho. Now, there was a man named Zacchaeus
who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.
And he sought to see who Jesus was, but he could
not because of the crowd, for he was of short
stature. So he ran ahead and climbed up a sycamore
tree to see him. for he was going to pass that
way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked
up and saw him, and he said to him, Zacchaeus,
make haste and come down, for today I must stay
at your house. So he made haste and came down
and received him joyfully. But when they saw
it, they all complained, saying, he's gone to
be a guest with the man who is a sinner. So,
you know, Jesus sought him out, you know. He
sought, he seeks all of us out. He came to seek
and save the lost. We didn't even have, you know,
Jesus knocks at our door. We don't go knocking
at his door. You know, we think that, you know,
we made this great decision, but heck, all we
do is say yes after a period of time. All right,
I'll agree. More than we go seeking out Jesus.
You know, when we're desperate enough, we finally
let him in. You know, that's how my salvation
worked. You know, when I finally got tired and
I was beat down, I said, yes, Lord, please, you
know, come in. I can't do this anymore. And that's
when the miracle happens. You know, so he seeks
us out. He never stops. Every single person.
You know how many doors Jesus has knocked on?
Billions upon billions upon billions. You know,
Zacchaeus really believed on Jesus, the true
son of Abraham, not only descended from Abraham
genetically, but also had the faith in God that
Abraham had. Even though he sought Jesus, it
turns out that he was the one who was lost and
Jesus sought him. Zacchaeus was lost to his parents,
lost to religion, lost to his community, lost
to whatever friends he might have had, yet in
a sense, not to God. Not lost to God. As the
story of his conversion unfolds, his seeing Jesus
in Luke 19 .3 turned out to be the result of
Jesus first seeking him. If Jesus not went to
Jericho, he never would have found him. That
entire account with Zacchaeus gives us a remarkable
who, what, where, when, why, and how of receiving
Jesus. Who wants... Who Jesus wants to receive
him, those lost. What Jesus wants with those
who receive him, a relationship, nothing more.
That's all Jesus wants is a relationship with
him, a one -on -one. Where Jesus wants to go,
he comes down to us. You know, we don't go up
to heaven. We can't reach heaven. He comes down
and meets us on our own terms. The God that created
this entire universe comes to us. I mean, what
an honor. When Jesus wants you to receive him,
when Jesus wants to receive him immediately,
you know, he doesn't make us wait. As soon as
we say, yes, Lord, come in, he's there. You know,
we don't have to wait on him. He's always waiting
on us. Why Jesus wants you to receive him, to
be with him, to connect with him in life and
life thereafter. And he wants you to receive
him joyfully. He's all about joy. He's all about
love. You know, you let the Lord in and he's
never going to fill you with bad or, you know,
misgivings. He's going to fill you with joy.
And then number three, he came to serve. Mark
10, 45, for the son of man did not come to be
served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom
for many. A slave cannot free himself. He must
be purchased. Sinners could not free themselves
without a purchase. What did Christ do? He purchased
us with his blood. Number four, he came to give
his life in payment for our sins. Matthew 20,
28. Just as the son of man did not come to be
served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom
for many. And then again in 1 John 3, 5. But
you know... that he appeared so he might take
away our sins, and in him is no sin. You know,
and he is so pure, but yet, you know, Jesus loved
to be with sinners. You know, it's such a contradiction,
you know. God of the universe that is so pure,
well, who did he seek out? The worst of the worst.
Saying, come to me, your sins are forgiven. Just
ask. Number five, he came that we might have
abundant life. John 10 .10, the thief comes only
to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that
they may have life and have it to the full. Jesus
points and says, now this is the way and you
can't do it, but as you believe in me, I'm going
to come and I'm going to indwell in you. I'm
going to take over, and I'm going to make you
a new person, and I'm going to give you the power
to do what you can't because I want you to have
this abundant life of fellowship with the Father,
and he does for us what we can't do for ourselves
by the indwelling. You see, no religious system
other than that gives you the power to abide
by its concepts. Only Christianity is the infusion
of God's power to live the life that God would
have you live. that more abundant life in Christ.
Christianity is the only religion where the Spirit
comes and dwells in you. Everything else, you
have to be good enough, you have to do this.
It's all about you and what you have to do. Christianity
is just the opposite. You accept Christ and let
him in. All the other ones want, become a slave
to that. When the other way is Jesus, you let
Jesus in and he fills you abundantly with everything
for all eternity. There's no other religion that
offers that. Not even close. He came to reveal
the Father, number six, Matthew 11, 27. All things
have been committed to me by my Father. No one
knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows
the Father except the Son, and those to whom
the Son chooses to reveal him. He said, no one
really knows the Father but the Son. Oh, that's
just a repeat. Okay. And the ones who really
know the Father are those to whom the Son reveals
him. There are a lot of people who thought they
knew the Father, but they had the wrong concepts
of God. There are a lot of people today who think
they know God. but their concepts of God are
all messed up. Jesus said, no one really knows
the Father unless I reveal the Father to them.
Look at the concepts that many people have of
God and the concepts they developed in their
own minds. If I were God, this is how I would
live, and this is what I would do, and this is
how I would react, this is how I would respond.
So this is my God. I've created my own God after
my own likes and wishes and all. And this has
been the epidemic of man through history creating
his own gods. You look back at, you know, even
Abraham. The story of Abraham, he lived in a
house where his father was creating the little
statues of gods. And then God called him, you
know, to go to the promised land to take his
family and leave. But they were creating little
gods. That was their business. And so a man has
this habit of creating their own gods because
they can't accept God for what God is. They want
their own God. They want a mold God to be this
or be that. I'm going to make this God so my
crops are better. I'm going to make this God
so my financial stuff is better. You know, Diana,
the goddess of love, I'm going to make a God
so... This God will lead me in love, you know.
Man is always wanting to create the God to fit
what he thinks his needs are, you know. And they're
not. The only true need is needing God in Christ.
That's the only real need we have. And we need
to accept God for what and exactly he is. This
being that loves us so totally that he sent his
only son, period. There's no, you can't. morph
that into something else because it's not the
truth. The truth is a God that loves us so much
that he wants us to be with him for all of eternity.
In John 14, 9, Jesus answered, don't you know
me, Philip, even after I've been among you such
a long time? Anyone who's seen me has seen the
Father. How can you say, show us the Father?
That's when Philip was resurrected and he came
back and Philip didn't believe it was him. He
said, look, it's me, Philip. Number seven, he
came to separate believers from non -believers.
Matthew 10, 34, 36. Do not suppose I had come
to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to
bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to
turn a man against his father, a daughter against
her mother, a daughter -in -law against her mother
-in -law. A man's enemies will be the members
of his own household. The gospel of Jesus Christ
unifies men. It brings together a tax collector
and a zealot, you know, the apostles. But yet,
it also carves apart believers from non -believers.
So Christ is not only a uniter, he's also a separator.
Because he has a sword of truth that's going
to carve people into believers and non -believers.
And it's going to be that way until the very
end. Revelation talks about it, you know. A son
will kill his father, kill his mother, you know,
and all over religion. Child comes into the kingdom
of light, but the father continues to rebel in
the kingdom of darkness. And so division comes
and a difference comes. This contention often
arises over the differences of being in the kingdom
of light and the kingdom of darkness. Jesus was
talked to speaking out of personal experience
for at this particular time, his brothers were
against him. His own brothers didn't believe
that he was the son of God. You know, and that
shows you about a family, you know. There's just
as much discord in a family as there is in the
rest of the world. Number eight, he came to proclaim
truth. John 18, 37. You're a king then, said
Pilate. Jesus answered, you say that I am a king.
In fact, the reason I was born and came into
the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone
on the side of truth listens to me. What is truth?
Many in our day ask Pilate's question from a
different perspective, knowing that many things
are truly true on the basis of personal preference
or perspective. Well, my truth is my truth, and
your truth is your truth. But the truth be known,
the only truth is the message of the cross, that
God is God, and Christ is his son, and Christ
came to die for us. And if you believe in him,
you have everlasting life. You don't even need
to know anything else. You know, that's the answer
to everything. And Christ came into this world
to bear witness to the truth and to bear witness
to the Father. And even Pilate couldn't find
no fault in him, you know, because he knew it
was truth, but yet he couldn't accept the truth,
but he knew it was truth. And then number nine,
he came to give us a pattern of holy living.
To this you were called because Christ suffered
for you, leaving you an example that you should
follow. in his steps. And I want to read a quote
here from Spurgeon, and it says, we have died
to sins in the sense that our debt of sin and
guilt was paid by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.
When we died to sins with Jesus on the cross,
it means that he paid our debts. We do not trouble
ourselves over debts that are paid. He who bore
my sins in his own body on the tree took all
my debts and paid them for me. and now I am dead
to those debts. They have no power over me. I
am dead to my sins. Christ suffered instead of
me. I have nothing to do with them. They are
gone as much as if they have never been committed.
So if you believe, your slate is wiped clean,
and that's it. You're responsible going forward,
but you can get forgiveness the same way. Ask
for forgiveness and repent. And if you repent
in your heart and it's true, God will forgive
you of anything. And then number 10, he came
to ignite a spiritual fire. Luke 12, 49 says,
I have come to bring fire on the earth in a how
I wish it were already kindled. Number 11, he
came to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John
3, 8. The one who does what is sinful is of the
devil because the devil has been sinning from
the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared
was to destroy the devil's work. Just think that,
I mean, the devil was responsible for this whole
darkness that came over the earth, you know,
way back when in the Garden of Eden. Had it not
been so, we'd all be... Still in the Garden of
Eden, there'd be no purpose for hell, no purpose
for heaven because we would be there. He gave
us a paradise. What more could God do? But no,
the devil wanted more. He wanted to be worshipped
like God. They had free will and free choice
too. Everything has free will and free choice.
The angels, man. If it wasn't... For Adam, it
would have been somebody else. It would have
been the next person that sinned. I know I would
have, you know. You know, it's like God will
give us everything, but it just seems like it's
never enough. You know, we always want more,
you know, and we have to learn to be content
with Christ. Number 12, he did not come to judge,
but he came to bring judgment. Again, John 3
.17, For God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world, but to save the world through
him. Okay, to sum this up, Scripture makes it
clear that this victory will not be fully realized
here on earth. John 16 .33, I have told you these
things so that you may... have peace. In this
world you will have trouble, but take heart,
I have overcome the world. You know, so know
that no matter what we go through, Christ has
already overcome it. And if we believe in him,
we have overcome the world as well. We may suffer
on earth, but it's short -lived. Even before
redemption was completed, Christ assured his
followers that he had overcome the world, but
they said, that they would still have trouble
in the world. How could this be? Here's some
more scriptures that further explain this truth.
Romans 8, 19 through 23. For the creation waits
in eager expectation for the children of God
to be revealed. For the creation was subjected
to frustration, not by its own choice, but by
the will of the one who subjected it, and hoped
that the creation itself will be liberated from
its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom
and the glory of the children of God. We know
that the whole creation has been groaning as
in the pains of childbirth right up to the present
tense. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have
the firstfruits of the Spirit, Grown inwardly
as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship,
the redemption of our bodies. You know, our bodies
grown, creation groans. We all want this over.
We want to go home. You know, we all want to
go home. Therefore, this is Corinthians 4, 16,
18. Therefore, do not lose heart. Though outwardly
we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed
day by day. For our light and momentary troubles
are achieving for us an eternal glory that far
outweighs all. So we fix our eyes not on what
is seen, but what is unseen. Since what is seen
is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Our physical world and our bodies have been subject
to disease, death, and decay since the fall of
mankind. We have faith in the unseen reality
that in heaven all things will be perfect, sinless,
healthy, and whole. We will experience perfection
in all areas in eternity but not here on earth.
In fact, we will not fully understand our...
Our Lord or our salvation until we see Jesus
face to face. And that's from 1 Corinthians 13,
12. So our time is coming, you know. But that's
it. That's, you know, just the message of the
cross. It's simple, you know. Believe in Christ
and you're set free. And you will go through
stuff on earth. It's just the nature of it because
the enemy is so powerful and this is his dominion.
And this dominion will not cease to exist before
we're taken out of it. This dominion is going
to stay here until the final days in Revelation
when the great battle happens. So the tribulation
is coming. If the rapture comes and we're out
of here or we die and we're out of here. For
those who believe that, you know, we have the
rapture, so that's the sooner event, and we don't
have to go through the tribulation. You know,
if you're on the fence about believing in Christ,
you know, it's time to get real, you know, because
this is the truth. I don't know who is so blind
to the world to see what direction it's going.
Everywhere you look, there's war. Everywhere
you look, there's floods. I mean, California
just burnt up. Let's face it. I mean, you can't
not believe it anymore that this world is going
away. It's going away fast. The days are coming.
The days are coming. It's not going to get better.
No man's going to fix it. No man has the power
to fix it. The only one that can fix it is God.
And he already told us he ain't going to fix
this world. He's going to burn it up. You know,
and that's it. So believe in Christ. That's where
the strength is. And if you're out there and
you're on the fence, you know, get real with
yourself and get in touch with this truth because
this is the message of the cross, why Christ
came, why he died for us. You know, and Easter's
coming and, you know, Good Friday, he dies. And
then three days later, he rises from the dead.
And that was our rising from the dead, to believe
that. He overcame death and so will we. And that's
it. Let's pray. Father God, we thank you. And
Lord, I just thank you for everything, Lord,
that you do. And I thank you for everybody here.
And I just hope, Lord, that something's on somebody's
heart today that wasn't before. And we love you,
God. And we thank you. And I ask all this in
your holy name. Amen. Until next time, take care
and God bless.