Buying the Lie

We are in a new series called It's Complicated, which is how many of our relationships look these days. But I love the subtitle, It's Complicated, but it doesn't have to be. And just let me take a minute to kind of set the stage as we begin this series. Happiness is one of those things, it seems, that is always there, almost within reach, but we never quite grasp. Happiness is something that we seem to pursue, and we're running for, and it's almost like if I can only get there, if I can only get a little further here, that perhaps I will be full, I will be happy.

It might be your job, if I can just get this at my, in my business, or if I can just be promoted here, or if I could earn this kind of money, if I could just get this type of house, and if I could just be in this type of relationship, perhaps I will find happiness. Happiness. And we like to define happiness, and human nature has this tendency, has this tendency to think that their way is the right way. But God has a different plan for us. He's laid out a different plan for us.

But there is always a pull to the things of men. We always have this, we call this in Christianity and Christian theology in our doctrinal statements that this is inherent sin, that we have this thing in us that really desires for us to do it our way instead of God's way. The way I feel, the way I see it, the way I want to do it, and that, it's like a magnet, a force that just pulls us that direction when God has something better for us. This went all the way back in Genesis, in the Garden of Eden. We have two trees, right?

We have the tree of life, God's way. God had a tree there, an abundant fruit. And then we have the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which was man's way. That men can have their knowledge and understand how things work and make decisions based on how things work. One way was God's way, and the other way was man's way.

And there's always been this. And if you're there, if you're walking out your life, your way, let me ask you this. How is it going for you? How is that going for you? If you're not following God's plan, how is your life?

Well, let me invite you in to the way that God sees things and how God operates. I love how C.S. Lewis says it. I shared it a few weeks ago, actually.

Human history is a long, terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make them happy. It's this long, terrible story. And with relationships, it gets complicated when we try to do it on our own, right? It's a complicated story. And that's what I want to talk about through this series is it's complicated, but it doesn't have to be.

It doesn't have to be. In Romans, you see this very scenario. If you'll turn with me, the Romans 1, verse 21, beginning with verse 21. And by the way, you can go to the YouVersion Bible app and connect with our notes. If you go to the YouVersion Bible app, look for Salt Church and find the notes and connect with it and save it.

What's that? It's not up? Okay. It was programmed this past week to be up. Something must have went wrong.

So, hey, how about pulling out your pads? What is that? And start taking notes because apparently it didn't go up for some reason. It should be up. It absolutely should be up, but it wasn't up this week for some reason.

Wrong date was put in or something like that for it to be released. But it says this in Scripture that they knew God, but they wouldn't worship Him as God or give thanks to Him. So they knew God. People knew God. They knew the ways of God, but they didn't want to worship Him.

And what does that term worship mean? It doesn't just mean coming to church and singing songs. It actually means placing God above our own values, putting God's thoughts above our thoughts, and giving God the authority over our actions and our living. So this is what they did. They knew God, but they didn't worship Him as God or give Him thanks.

And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. So when you think you have the right or when you don't think God has the right to decide what's right and wrong, you make it your own God. You are your own God. You become your own God when you have that authority. And that's what they did here.

They decided in their own minds and their own thoughts, and they begin to make up their own idea of God. Much like many people do today, they make up their own idea of God or their definition of who God is or what they think God should and shouldn't do or how God should respond to a certain situation. And then it says this, as a result, their minds became dark and confused and claiming to be wise. So they claim to be wise. I know better.

I'm progressive. I'm a thinker. I think beyond God. And they begin to see their way as better. But it says this, they instead became utter fools.

They actually became dumb. And then they did this. As a result, they did vile and degrading things to each other's body, and they traded the truth for a lie. Some versions say the lie. The lie.

So today's message is called buying the lie. So many people have bought the lie. And my goal today is to dispel some of those lies. Some of those lies that you've taken in. Some of those lies.

And you know, I don't have to convince you. I can take that off my shoulders today to try to convince you whether God's way is right or not. Because here's the deal. If you go your own way and you don't go God's way, it will be convincing enough that you need to come back to God. So that's off my shoulders today.

So I'm just going to present to you. And you can go and you can make a decision which way you want to go in this relationship series. And I'll leave that to you. And I won't judge you. And I'll love you anyway.

But ultimately, you will be convinced that God's way is better. Because here's the And here's kind of the thesis of this series. Relationships always work when we allow the one who designed them to define them. The one who designs them defines them. He created it.

He made it. He made family. He made relationships. He's the creator of it. Why wouldn't we allow him to define how to do relationships, how to do marriage, and how to date, and how to raise children, and all these things.

So in this series, we're going to go through some different things. Next week is Valentine's Day. And by the way, you've got to be here at Valentine's Day because guess what? There's another prize next week, okay? And so we're giving a date to a married couple.

If you're here, you get to fill out and they're going to raffle you. And if you're drawn, you get to win a prize, a date night. And it's going to be incredible, guys. It's a hotel stay and a nice dinner. So who wouldn't want that?

But get this, we're not only going to do one of them, we're going to do two of them. Okay? We're going to do two of them. What? Yeah.

Somebody say, what? Yes. We're going to do two of them. So you need to be here next week. And we're going to be talking about becoming one.

I'm going to talk about what it really means to become one. And it means so much more than just what we think it means. The following week, we're going to talk about singleness, being single. And I have a guest speaker coming in, and he is amazing. I had a conversation with him last week.

And I mean, just everything he was hitting on was right dead on about what it means to be a single. Incredible speaker, incredible communicator, has a lot to say about that. So singles, you need to be here. You need to listen to this message. If you're married, it's going to be a great message for you because you're going to get a lot out of it as well.

Okay? So that will be the following week. Then the next week, we're going to have another guest speaker. I've got a lot of guest speakers coming in. And they're going to be talking about how to heal toxic relationships and things like that.

And then we're going to talk about money, guys. Money and relationships. Because money is one of those dividers in relationships. It really does break up marriages more than anything else pretty much. I think sexual sin and money are the two big things that break up marriages.

Okay? So we're going to talk about that. We're going to dig into that. And I think it's going to be incredible. But today, I want to talk about buying this lie.

I just want to, by way of introduction, we're going to talk about sexuality and moral standards for relationships and sexuality. And, you know, this might be, y'all are like, oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, we're talking about sex in church? You know, like, why don't we talk? Well, you know what? The world's talking about it already.

And they're telling everybody about it. And then the people that are hurt and broken are going to the world. So why don't we talk about it in the church? And I remember growing up in church, and it wasn't even, you couldn't even say the word in church. You were like the three-letter word, you know?

And nobody talked about it. And all they would say is, sex is dirty, ugly, and bad. Save it for the one you love. So it's like, okay, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And there's a lot of thou shalt nots.

And we would use all the thou shalt nots, but there's actually a lot of thou shalts in the Bible, right? Thou shalt in the parameters of what God has, relationships and physical attraction and sexuality. That all works really, really well in the context of what God has for it. But I want to take you to Genesis. And we're going to look at the chapter 3 in Genesis.

And there is the story of the fall of man. And we're going to learn that there are five lies in Scripture. There are five lies in chapter 3 of Genesis. Genesis. And just to give you some context, God created the Garden of Eden.

Eden means pleasure and delight. It was a perfect place. It was the perfect human, sexual, spiritual, emotional, everything that anyone could ever want was in heaven. Relationship was in heaven. It was in the presence of God.

God walked with them in the cool of the garden. It was a place of abundance and pleasure. And we see it start here as a wonderful thing. And then by verse 3, it gets complicated. It gets very complicated.

And it says this, now, the serpent, the devil was more crafty than any animal in the garden. So, Satan's the serpent, the devil, whatever you want to call him. He was seen as a serpent in the garden. He was crafty than any other animal in the garden. And he said to the woman, and this is the first lie, did God really say?

Did God really say that? Did God? Did he? You must not eat of any tree in the garden? Did he really, did he really say that?

And then the woman said to the serpent, we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden? But in fact, he's given us so much. He's given us every tree in the garden except for this one tree. But God said, you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden. And you must not touch it or you will die.

And then Satan throws out another lie. Oh, you won't die. You will not certainly die, the serpent said to the woman. For God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be open. So, he starts throwing out another lie here.

We'll get to that in a second. And you will be like God, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. And she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it. And then something happened.

They, then they, their, the eyes of both of them were opened and they realized they were naked and they were ashamed. So, they fig, they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. And that's where a lot of people are today. And that's where Satan's trying to get people to, to that place of shame, that place of guilt. He's, he's bringing them in that place.

So, I'm going to get, give you five lies and Satan builds on these lies. But, but here's the beauty of it. At the end of this, God is actually searching them out. So, if you feel guilt and you feel shame with some of the things that we're talking about today, I just want you to know that, that, that our God actually was going after them and he's coming after you. He's pursuing you because he loves you and you're not trash.

You're not disgusting, and you may have made some wrong decisions in your life, but He is coming after you, and you can do it right from here on out, because God has a way. He has a tree of life for you. So the first lie that Satan shares is Satan gets us to question God's Word. He gets us to question God's Word. God's Word isn't completely reliable.

That's where he starts. God's Word isn't completely true. It changes. It's not relevant. It changes with time.

It changes with culture. A lot of where we are today with understanding relationships and sexuality is that very thing. Well, the Bible changes. Now, let me just say this. If the Bible changes, then God changes, okay?

And what we understand by the very nature of God is He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. That is who He is. He never changes. And if He does change, then how can we even trust the promises that He has given us in Scripture? The goodness that He has given us.

That He will return. That He is with us. That He is for us. That He has created a heaven for us. That He promises a promised land to us.

That Eden that is lost, it will be Eden restored. He is a God of truth. And He is a never-changing God. If that is, then we have no hope for salvation. You see how that works?

When He says He came, He gave His Son to save us. Jesus came, I saved you. But if we have a God that changes, then we can't really rely on that. And that's just a side note. But I love how, in fact, I don't love, I don't love how the Bible challenges us.

And I think this is why a lot of people want to say it changes and it's different through time. Because the Bible confronts us. The Bible does things to us. It shakes our world. It reveals sin in our lives.

And we don't like that. So we like to think that maybe we listen to that lie. Maybe it changes. But it's supposed to. And to be honest with you, it confronts me.

Every time I read it, it confronts me. That I don't hold up to the standards of God. There's things in my life that the Bible reveals to me that I have to work on. And He's shaping me all the time. It's a good thing.

This is what the Bible for it's supposed to. And it moves us to higher places. It takes us to higher levels. And if you don't buy into the lie, your life will be a lot better when we follow it God's way. That His word is never changing.

I love how Paul makes this emphasis to the church of Thessalonica. He says, we also thank God continually because when you receive the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it. And not as the word of man, but actually as it is the word of God which is at work. It works in you who believe. So He says, I gave you, I thank you guys so much that you listened to the word, that you not only listened to it, you accepted it, and you allowed it to work in your life.

That it actually is a working out. It's a living and breathing thing that's happening in you and it's transforming you. And here's the thing. I want to thank you guys for being a part of a church where as long as I'm pastor of this church, the word of God is yesterday, today, and forever the same. It is there forever.

I will preach it as long as I am the leader. And I thank you guys for partnering with this church and being a part of a Bible-believing, gospel-centered church. And we will not stray from the truth. If it costs us everything, we will preach the word of God because God defines our relationships because He created them. God defined everything.

He created them. So don't buy into the lie. As God's word is true, let every man be a liar. That's what we operate on. I love how Tim Keller says it, Tim, Timothy Keller, a pastor in New York, he says, if your God never disagrees with you, you might just be worshiping an idealized version of yourself.

We like to make God fit in our category, right? Like, we manipulate God. So the second lie that Satan says, and he builds off of this, he wants us not to believe the word of God, that it's not reliable. And then Satan scoffs at the negative consequences of sin. At the negative consequences of sin.

Let me go back here. My iPad jacked up there for a second. That that choice won't really hurt you. That decision that you make won't really hurt. He scoffs at that.

You aren't going to die. Are you really going to die if you do that? Are you really going to have this miserable experience if you take it this way? Is that really going to happen? Do you think God would really do that?

It's not only in our relationships. It's in our parenting. It's in our money and finances. It's in every level of life. It's the choices that we make.

And the NIV says it like this in Proverbs 14, 12. There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end leads to death. It appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. And again, I don't feel the pressure of trying to convince you that God is the right way because you're going to figure it out on your own. Eventually you're going to come back and we're going to leave the light on for you here at Salt Church.

We're like Motel 6. The door's always open. The light's always on, and you can go your own way. And I'm not going to judge you. I'm not going to follow you and chase you down if you decide to do it your way.

That's your prerogative. But you will be back because God's way is better. Because it says in Scripture that we are like sheep that have gone astray. We are going our own way. We make things complicated on our own because we are, and we're thinking, oh, it won't hurt me.

Having multiple partners won't hurt anybody. You know, we're consensual adults. You know, we're making these decisions. It's not hurting anybody. We're just having fun.

We are two consenting adults having fun. Who is it going to hurt? But here's the thing. God created it, so he actually defines it. God created it.

He actually defines it. And God didn't. God is not surprised about our sexuality. I mean, he wasn't like walking through the garden one day and says, oh, oh, oh, I, God. What are y'all doing?

You know, like, what, what, what? Is Adam, Eve, what, you're behind the bushes over there? No, he made it. He defined it. It was, it was.

It was his, and the one who defines it should have the instruction manual for it. God's not surprised. He created it. He could have created it in any way. I say this all the time in my relationship series.

He could have created sex to be awful, terrible, but he didn't, right? He made it very pleasurable for a reason. But he designed it in a very specific way where you can have the most pleasure possible. How many of you shop at Ikea? And how many of you hate that when you get that box open, and there's like 23,000 pieces in there, and you have to follow these instructions one by one by one by one?

Now, I'm a man, so men tend to not want to use instructions, so we pull it out. We're like, I can do this. I can put this together. But if I don't have an instruction manual, that thing will be disastrous. It will not work.

It's all over the place. It's very complicated, right? It's a complicated piece. And it's a lot like relationships. God put instruction in place.

Another example is I love fires. Man, I love fires. I love to build a fire in the back, and I've got a fire pit. I've built it in the fireplace. We've got like live logs in the fireplace and things like that.

Now, let me just say this. Both my uncle and my dad have almost set their houses on fire. We've got problems with fire. We love fire so much. We're all like outdoorsmen and camping people.

We love fires. And my uncle actually set his cabinet shop on fire. He's a cabinet maker, and that happened one time. And my dad actually had the fire department come out to our house one time because he had a bonfire going, and he was burning some things, and it set the side yard on fire, and he had to go. It was like the joke of the town, you know, Pastor Dwight.

He's a pastor in that area. Pastor Dwight almost set the town on fire. So, we love fires, you know. Maybe it just runs in the family, but it's fun. And the thing we love about fires, if you have a fire in a fireplace in your home, it's very comforting.

It's enjoyable. I mean, just get some hot chocolate, get with the kids, put on some sweatpants, you know what I'm saying? You just sit down. It's very comfortable. It's very, it's just something about that.

But if that fire gets out of the parameter of that fireplace, if I decide to set that fire out in the living room, if I decide to take that fire out anywhere else, it could be disastrous. It could ruin. It could cause thousands of dollars of damage. You could lose everything. And that's the thing about passion.

Passion needs parameters. If you do not have parameters, passion can ruin things. It can ruin your life. One man, one woman in marriage, in the parameters of marriage, passion can be a great thing. But God designed it that way.

The third thing is, and this is what Satan, so he's digging a little deeper. He started out by thinking that the Word of God isn't reliable. Then he goes into scoffing the negative consequences of sin. And then he carries it a little further to say, he accuses God of evil intent. He accuses God.

Like, righteousness is boring, and sin is fun. That's what he's saying, right? Righteousness is boring. God's holding back. Because for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be open, and there's a lot more over there.

See, God didn't want them to enter into that tree of the knowledge of good and evil, their own God area, because he knew it wasn't good for them, that they wouldn't make the right decisions. So he set the tree of life before them with all the fruit of the garden, because it was a good thing. But what Satan is saying to us is, I don't want to live righteously because it's boring. Sin is fun. And you know what?

Sin is fun for a season. In fact, the Bible says sin is fun for a season. It is. But it quickly goes bad. It quickly gets dark.

It quickly goes the wrong way. Instant gratification quickly turns bad, you know, when we follow the ways of sin. So righteousness is boring. Sin is fun. But here's what the psalmist said.

You will show me the path of life if your presence is in your presence, excuse me, in your presence is fullness of joy. In your presence is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forever. That there are pleasures everlasting forever made for you. And if you follow God's prescription, then you will, let me just say this, if you follow God's prescription for relationships and for marriage, you will have marital intimacy like no other.

It will be so much better. It will, it will be more than you can ever think or imagine because God's way works. But some people say, you know, God's, God's mean and he's like a killjoy. And, and, and they think that, and here's what they think. They think that they love people better than God loves people.

Well, it's okay. You know, they, they, they, if I was God, it would be okay. You know, for that, if, if, if, if God's not going to do that, God's not going to allow them to do that. But here's the thing. The most loving thing God does is call us out of our sin.

The most loving thing that God can do is call us out of our sin. He loves us that much. And then we enter into the fourth area and that Satan advertises sin as beneficial. Your life will be better with you leading it. Your life will be better if you can make your own decisions.

My feelings. Feelings are what drive people. I can't tell you how many times preaching, teaching, sharing biblical truth. Feelings lead us. Feelings.

You'll be like God. You, we, we follow our feelings, but you don't follow your feelings. You follow your convictions. There's a difference between feelings and convictions. Convictions.

We follow our faith. We follow our faith. We follow what God has for us because feelings mislead us. In fact, it says, uh, the Bible was very clear that our heart is deceitful beyond everything. We have deceitful hearts.

Our feelings, uh, drive us. Our gut drives us to something, drives us to something else. And you aren't, uh, and here's, here's, here's the honest part of it. Okay. You aren't always going to love your spouse.

Sometimes you're going to feel like divorcing your spouse. She's No, she didn't say it. But I mean, it is. I mean, sometimes you're just going, you're going to be upset. It's not always going to be hunky-dory all the time.

You're not always going to love your children. You know, some days you want to send your children off to another country, you know? You're not always, but choices lead. I make a choice. I made a choice.

When I saw, I mean, when I saw Miranda come down the aisle that day in her bridal outfit, I mean, it was like, oh, wow. You know, she is, this is the greatest thing. And then three weeks and four weeks into it, we're like, wow, we got all these crazy problems, you know? Like, what's going on? You know, we're working through things.

I'm telling you, your feelings will mislead you. But we made a choice when we walked down that aisle and we were together that we would commit to each other till death do us part, no matter better or worse. Whatever happens, we will do that. We will follow God and not follow our feelings. Choices lead.

Feelings will follow. And some of you may ask, well, what am I supposed to do when I, when, if I got to have feelings for that person, right? Yes, but trust me, and everybody in marriage will say this, you aren't always going to feel that way, okay? So there's a way to connect. It's not just based on your feelings.

Yes, you're going to have an attraction. Yes, you're going to have some type of chemistry. Yes, all those are there. But don't let feelings, Father. Feelings lead.

Let choices lead. You got to make a choice that I'm going to do it God's way. And when I court and when I connect with somebody, when I'm looking for somebody, I'm going to do it. My decisions are going to be defined by God's definition of what relationships should be like. That's why we make the choices first and the feelings follow.

That's why we follow God's rules. First Corinthians says it like that. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit? That just gets me every time. You know, like my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit that God actually lives inside of me.

Like his Holy Spirit, that Yahweh we were singing about, holy is the Lord. There's angels in the throne room of heaven. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The earth is full of his glory. These luxurious creatures that we can't even stand in front of are standing in front of the throne room of God.

And just the power and majesty. And I can just imagine the elders and all that are just bowing down in the presence of God. But this very God decided to come and be in the church. Live in us. To live in us.

That our temples are like holy places for God. So we should live that way. Who is in you, whom you have received from God. You are not your own. You were bought with a price.

Therefore, honor God with your bodies. Honor God. Young people, single people, honor God with your bodies. Your bodies are living. Like the church building isn't the presence of God.

It's you. You hold the presence of God in you. You are the temple of the living God. And we understand sacrifice in anything else in life, right? We understand sacrifice in investments.

I make an investment now so I can have a good income in the future. I can retire well. I can take care of my kids and things like that. But we do it with everything else, but we don't do it with relationships. We don't make investments in the relationships in the future.

So here's a good little point. Giving up something now for something better later isn't a sacrifice. It is an investment. Giving up something now for something way better later. It isn't a sacrifice.

It really isn't. It's so much better. And then we get to the fifth point. And this is where Satan really wants to take you. And I'm getting ready to end.

If Gavin wants to come and place some keys behind me because I'm going to end on this. But Satan uses sin to create shame that destroys our future relationships. It's too late. Got to run and hide. I don't want to.

I'm so bad. I'm just. That's what Satan wants to carry you. He wants you to be in that place where you feel so much shame and so much guilt about the decisions that you have made. He carried you all the way from not believing the word of God into this place where you were just.

And many people are there. And you think God is disgusted with you. But let me say this. He loves you more. He actually loves you more in that situation.

When my kids go astray. When my kids sin. I love them more because I want to bring them back. I'm helping them and guiding them back. I lean into them a little more because I want them to do the right things and make the right decisions.

God's like that. The Father's like that. He actually loves you more. He went out in the cool of the guard. He looked for them.

It was shame. Here's what the psalmist says. He says, those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy. No shadow of shame will darken their faces. Wow.

That what you've done is nothing to God that he can't bring you back to life from. And the church, you know, we like to call out certain sins and not others. We like to put certain sins in certain places. We like to stigmatize certain sins, you know, over others. And this should be a place much different than that.

It should be a place of acceptance. Now, it doesn't mean we approve, but we accept people where they are. And we bring people back to life. That's what the church is. It's a life-giving organism that brings people back to life.

And we should be, and as long as I'm pastor of this church, we will always side on grace with people. We will help people, take them to the next level, the next spiritual level with God. We are a hospital. And see, look, guys, if we don't accept them, the world's certainly accepting them. Come over here with me.

Come be a part of what I have. Yeah, you can be who you need to be. These broken people who have identity issues and sexual issues and all these things going on in their life. The world's like, come over here. It's okay.

You can be that way, and you can live that way, and it ends in death. But the church should be a church that opens their arms up and says, you know what? I know where you are. I see where you are. But, we've got a way that's better.

Christ has a way that's better. Look what he did in my life. Look what he did through us. We love you where you are. Come, let us take you in and take you to the next level in Jesus, and I promise you this joy that you are missing out on, God has that for you.

So together we can move towards God's standard and become more like Jesus in our relationships, in our very lives, everything that we are. So there are three responses today, I'm sure, that I'm going to get from this message right here in this room. The first one is defensiveness. Some of you are like, you know, I don't want to buy this stuff, Pastor. You know, I'm going to do what I want to do anyway.

I'm going to make, I hope this isn't you. I hope this isn't you. I'll do it this way anyway. I know what's best for me. And you can, and that's all right.

That's all right. I'm not going to run you down. I'm not going to judge you. I'm not going to ridicule you. I'm going to pray for you, and I'm going to love you anyway.

But like I said before, you'll be back. But let me just challenge you here. That's the spirit of Satan. Did you know in Isaiah, Satan's made a lot of I will statements. He says, I will put my throne above God.

I will do this. I will do that. But you need to say this in Luke 22. It says, not my will, but yours be done. That's the spirit of Jesus.

See, Jesus in his humanity was before the Father. He experienced all the pain that a human could possibly experience. It would have been easier to say my will, but he said thy will. It's thy will be done. So daily submit.

I have to daily submit to God. I have to get on my knees and submit to God because, frankly, I can have pastor on my name, but I want my will. I'm drawn, so I have to get on my knees. I have to go to God and say your will, not my will, but your will. Not my way, but your way.

Not my tree, but your tree, God, because your way is much better. The second one is remorse. Some of you are perhaps experiencing remorse in here. It's too late. You know, this message came years too late.

It's never too late. Can I say that? It's never too late. In fact, Romans says it like this. So now there is no condemnation.

There's no condemnation for those who belong to Christ. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. It is available to you. It's never too late. And he wants to change your life now.

He wants you to give him a shot. Give him a shot. It's never too late. And then there's the third one, and that's repentance. Repentance, the most positive word in the Bible, by the way.

When people think of repentance, they think of a guy with slicked back hair on stage in a white suit telling you you need to repent. Turn back to God. We think we have a bad connotation of what that looks like. But repentance is so positive. It literally means make a choice to turn.

Make a choice to turn back to him. Because some of you are in sin. But go back to the most popular, I think it's one of the most forgiving stories in the Bible. And it's the woman who was caught in the act of prostitution and adultery. And they wanted to stone her.

And what does Jesus tell all the people? He says, he who casts the first stone, you know, have no sin. He who has no sin, cast the first stone. He who has the first stone. All of them begin to drop their rocks on the ground.

They begin to drop those things. They walked away. And Jesus looks at her, and I love it. He says, where are your accusers? You don't have any.

And neither do I accuse you. Neither do I accuse you. See, Jesus doesn't accuse you. And then he goes and says, just go and sin no more. Go and sin no more.

Just receive me and go and sin no more. You are forgiven. You are forgiven. See, 2 Corinthians says it like this. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no.

But worldly sorrow brings death. So let me just say it like this. This is repentance is a moment of pain. Pain, but being unrepentant is a lifetime. It's a moment of pain.

It's a moment of surrender. So in closing, that's where I know that some of you are. You're in one of those three places. So don't be hard-headed. Just listen to God.

Don't be remorseful. Don't think that you're too far gone. You are not too far gone. There is no sin. But really, it's about repent.

Repent, believe, turn to God so that he can receive you and save you today. With all heads bowed and all eyes closed. In that same spirit of worship. There's some of you here today that are at that place of repentance. Jesus said, I'm knocking at your door.

And if you hear my voice, I will open it and come in. I will sup with you. Meaning that he will become a part of your life. He will be your greatest friend. He will be your greatest champion.

He will be your greatest fan. He wants to be a part of your life. Paul said, he who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. That's what repentance is. I turn from my ways, and I give you my life.

I want you to save me, Lord. If that's you today, maybe this message touched you in some way, or something else in the song today touched you, and you feel this stirring in your heart, that's called conviction. That's the Holy Spirit saying, come, because God has been coming to you. He walked in the cool of the garden after you. I just want you to see that you're in the bushes, you're hiding, you're ashamed, but God's coming after you.

If that's you today, would you just lift your hand and say, God, I'm ready to give my life to Christ. I'm ready to surrender. I want the tree of life. Pray this with me. God, I believe that you are the Son of God, and that your way is better.

The tree of life, I want to partake of that fruit. Today I surrender to you. Come into my life. Transform me from the inside out. There's no turning back.

I'm walking with you from this day forward. I'm going to bed by myself. I'm going to bed for you. I'm going to bed for you from the inside out.