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Years ago, a friend asked me to go

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visit his dying aunt, who was in the

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hospital at her bedside.

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I introduced myself as her nephew's friend, and

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after some small talk, I asked her a

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question.

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I asked, when it comes time for you

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to die, do you know for sure if

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you're going to heaven?

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She answered yes.

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I said, why are you so certain?

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She informed me she'd been a member in

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good standing in the Methodist Church for 30

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years.

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I then replied, well, some folks mistake church

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membership for salvation.

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She told me, not her, she was going

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to heaven because she never robbed a liquor

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store or killed anybody.

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That's what the old gal said.

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She had made up her mind she was

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going to heaven when she died because she

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was good enough for heaven and not bad

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enough for hell.

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The majority of mankind, friends, thinks that way.

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That they're good enough for heaven because they're

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not bad enough for hell.

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That only really bad people go to hell,

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like murderers and serial killers and sociopaths.

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Everybody else is a good, hard-working, honest

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person who helps their neighbors.

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They're good people.

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They're loved by their loved ones.

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And when they die, they go straight to

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heaven.

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Just listen to how the world talks when

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someone dies.

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Everybody goes to heaven.

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They'll say, well, at least he's not suffering

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anymore.

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We comfort the grieving family by saying, I

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know you miss him, but look at it

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this way.

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At least he's not in any more pain.

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That's how people think that at the end

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of the road, when it comes time to

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die, heaven is waiting where there no longer

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is any pain or suffering.

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They'll say, my daddy was a good man.

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Why?

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He helped everybody.

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He's up there with God now.

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But the trouble is, good people don't go

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to heaven.

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Only forgiven people get to go there.

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All babies will die when they go to

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heaven because David said to his child, I

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will go to him.

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I have a baby in heaven myself.

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I know some of you do as well.

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You don't have to worry about them.

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But heaven is barred against anyone who isn't

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born from above and washed in the blood

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of Christ Jesus.

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If you die in your sins, you'll bust

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hell wide open when you die.

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God will not allow any rebel into his

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kingdom who's still pointing a shotgun or rebellion

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at him.

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You see, friends, most folks believe they're good

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enough for heaven because they're not bad enough

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for hell.

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But the truth is, from the Bible's standpoint,

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all men are rebels against God.

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They're in a perishing, lost condition and under

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the condemnation of a thrice holy God who

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must punish sin.

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And the sentencing of the law must be

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carried out upon all guilty lawbreakers.

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Sin is the transgression of the law, so

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says the Word of God.

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And the God of the Word says, I

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shall by no means clear the guilty.

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So the reality is, when it comes time

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to die, most folks just enter a crisis

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eternity and are damned in the devil's hell.

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Oh, I know most preachers won't talk to

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you like this, friend.

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They'll just give you nice little messages.

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They'll just soothe you and calm you and

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make you laugh.

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But I've got a burden for your soul.

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I'm being honest with you tonight.

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Like we say in the South, I'm going

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to give you the oil straight from the

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can.

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I'm not going to smooth things or soft

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-soap things for you, friends.

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Listen to me.

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God says no one is good enough for

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heaven because all men are bad enough for

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hell.

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So most folks hope of heaven is only

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a hole in the wall.

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Well, that's my introduction to my message this

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evening, friends, entitled Good Enough for Heaven and

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Not Bad Enough for Hell.

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Young person, you listen to this old preacher,

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don't assume you're automatically going to heaven just

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because you were raised in a Christian home,

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just because you were raised in church.

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You've got to get to Christ yourself.

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Church membership is not salvation.

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A lot of folks assume that the religion

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is their ticket to heaven.

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They cling to their religion and wrap themselves

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in the robes of their religion, whether they're

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a good Muslim, a good Mormon, a good

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Jew, a good Buddhist, or a good Baptist.

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If religion got folks into heaven, then why

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did Jesus speak against the Pharisees and the

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scribes, who were the most religious leaders of

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His day, calling them vipers and children of

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the devil?

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Jesus pronounced woes upon them.

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Religion won't save you, friend.

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Only repentance towards God and faith in Christ

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Jesus saves.

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There's no such thing as a Christian who's

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never repented.

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Most of the opposition I've encountered in preaching

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in churches has been on the doctrine of

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repentance.

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Why, I've had deacons face me and, with

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fire in their eyes, just look at me

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like they wanted to kill me when I

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said, you must repent or just go on

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to hell.

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God sees all men as guilty rebels who

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deserve punishment in hell.

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For God is holy and He hates sin.

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God is angry with the wicked day and

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night.

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So says the Word of God in Psalm

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711.

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Unsaved man, in his natural state, is hell

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-bound.

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No matter how good a person is, no

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matter how honest he is or hard-working

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he is, trying to work your way to

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heaven by a good opinion of yourself and

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having a long track record of religious service

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is like, listen to me, it's like trying

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to climb up to heaven on a rope

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of sand.

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One little gust of wind's gonna blow the

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whole thing away.

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It can't be done.

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Listen to me, friend.

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You must be born again.

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The good Baptist stands on slippery ground unless

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they're born-again believers.

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If you don't repent, you'll surely die and

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go to hell, even if you are the

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chairman of the deacons.

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In Job, we read of the fate of

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the unsaved.

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Hell is naked before Him, and destruction hath

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no covering.

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If you're not under Christ's blood, then you're

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good enough for hell.

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We are born with a ruined nature and

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bent toward sin.

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You must be born from above and washed

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in the blood.

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You must get to Jesus.

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Jesus.

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Listen to me.

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Jesus is the only remedy and refuge for

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sin.

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He is the pearl of great price, worth

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selling all for so He can be gained.

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In John 14, 6, Jesus says, I am

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the way, the truth, and the life.

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No man cometh unto the Father but by

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me.

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Here, Jesus answers the three greatest questions of

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the human heart.

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How can I be saved?

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Jesus says, I am the way.

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How can I be sure?

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Jesus says, I am the truth.

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How can I be satisfied?

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Jesus says, I am the life.

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He is the bread of life.

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In John 6, 35, Jesus says, I am

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the bread of life.

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He that cometh to me shall never hunger,

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and he that believeth on me shall never

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thirst.

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Salvation is saving faith in Christ Jesus.

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But I fear many in the church today

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have believed the fact that Jesus died for

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them without ever believing on the Christ who

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died.

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You must get to Christ, friend.

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Listen, friend.

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Jesus came into this world doing good.

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Jesus was healing the sick.

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Jesus was feeding the hungry, giving sight to

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the blind, even raising the dead to life.

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Yet what happened?

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Men cried, away with him, and nailed him

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to a cross, putting him to death, exposed

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the enmity of man's heart against God, so

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they crucified him.

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In Matthew's Gospel we read, Then the soldiers

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of the governor took Jesus into the common

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hall, and gathered unto him the whole band

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of soldiers.

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And they stripped him, and put on him

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a scarlet robe.

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And when they had plaited a crown of

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thorns, they put it upon his head, and

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a reed in his right hand.

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And they bowed the knee before him, and

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mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!

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And they spit upon him, and they took

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the reed and smote him on the head.

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And after that they had mocked him, they

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took the robe off from him, and put

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his own raiment on him, and led him

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away to crucify him.

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And as those Roman soldiers took those nails,

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and fastened the Son of God to that

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tree, every stroke of the hammer was an

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explanation point.

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Oh, look that man on the cross, friend.

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Look that blessed man on the cross.

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See him there with his arms outstretched, beckoning

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you to come to him and believe on

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him.

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Oh, look at that bloodstained Savior for sin,

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he cries.

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Oh, look unto me and be saved.

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All ye ends of the earth, for I

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am God, and there is none else.

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Oh, look at that lamb, that slain lamb,

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on that bloody cross, bearing the terrible weight

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of sin.

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My rotten sins, your filthy sins.

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See him there as he pleads.

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Come now, let us reason together, saith the

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Lord.

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Though your sins be as scarlet, they should

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be as white as snow.

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Though they be red like crimson, they should

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be as wool.

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The cross is the place where men sought

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to get rid of him, but by his

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death it becomes the place where his saving

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power flows out to all who come in

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repentance, confessing they are sinners and own him

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as their Savior and Lord.

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If you have not trusted this blessed Savior,

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receive him now before it's too late.

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As soon he will come in judgment on

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this world, when his anger shall burn as

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an oven, and then you shall meet him

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as your judge.

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Come now, come, come to Jesus.

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Young lady, don't wait any longer.

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What are you waiting for, mister?

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Don't wait until you're better.

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Come, come to Jesus.

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Bring to him your heartache.

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Bring to him your fears.

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Bring to him your sin burden and leave

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it at his nail-pierced feet.

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Listen, listen, friend, to the last gospel invitation

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that's found in the Bible.

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It may be for you, your last invitation

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to come.

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You may be taken out of this world.

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They may not even be here a year

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from now.

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Listen, listen.

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Even if you're the biggest sinner in this

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town tonight, there's room at the cross for

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you.

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There's a fountain full of blood and sinners

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plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty

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stains.

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Don't delay, friend.

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Don't delay.

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If you hear God's voice speaking to you

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tonight, to your heart to come to Jesus,

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to the only remedy for sin in the

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person of Christ Jesus, then come, for God

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says, in the Spirit and the bride say,

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Come.

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And let him that hears say, Come.

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And let him that is a thirst, Come.

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And whosoever will, let him take the water

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of life freely.