JESUS IS FOR EVERYONE, BUT Faithful God Series

Transcription

1 Good morning Life Fellowship. I hope you are enjoying the lovely weather. I think half of our congregation is out on Lake Norman right now. That is what can happen on the weekend. Some good news just to share with you is we are happy to announce that we have found our Student Life Pastor. He name is Justin Lucas and his wife is Kristen. They have two young children. Both Justin and Kristen are Liberty graduates. Justin is a visionary, a gifted communicator, and Kristen is a gifted artist and vocalist. So together I think they are going to be a great team. They love students and they have been in student ministry for several years already. So we are just thankful for them coming our way. Please start praying for them and they will be here mid-october. I want to share a couple of in house things. Number one I realize that we have volunteers that are coming into the service and I realize that we have first time guests that are coming in, and it is always kind of challenging to come to a church for the first time. And this is not about being judgmental, but I just wanted to say in a truly heartfelt way that I really would love to see us, if we can put more emphasis on showing up on time to church. I get it as I said, people sometimes people have real reasons as to being a little late. Other times what happens is we just get in a bad pattern, don t we? So what if we could just treat going to church like we would getting our kids to school on time, or showing up to work on time. The second thing is about how it relates to some of the crying that we have been having in the services. And that is a tough one, right? I want you to know that I get it because when Heather gave birth to Haley I think she was only four days old before Sunday and I wanted my wife and daughter in church. Now I look back and think, You idiot. Obviously, Haley nor mommy were there that first Sunday and I realized I was being a little zealous. But I wanted to start Haley off right. So I am just saying to be mindful, moms. We are so glad you come and bring your babies. But if they start crying and you sense they are being convicted by the Holy Spirit and the message, don t be a cruel parent and let them sit in that conviction, okay? Maybe if you sit towards the back it will be easier for you and the baby. And also know that we have a room that you can go to and sit in a chair and watch the service on television. Because what I see happening up here is all the distractions and it becomes very difficult to communicate through that sometimes. So please let s work together and I don t mean to be condemning at all. I just want you to know I want it for God and I want to give Him our best. With that being said let me open up with this statement. Jesus is for everyone, but. But what? What do I mean? Well, let s hold that thought for a little bit and we will finish that statement up later. For now the front part of that statement, Jesus if for everyone, raises other questions for those who are thoughtful. Like, if Jesus is for everyone, why doesn t everyone know that Jesus is for everyone? Or if Jesus is for Page 1 of 13 pages 10/1/2017

2 everyone, what about those who have never heard about Jesus? And if Jesus is for everyone, why doesn t He make Himself more evident? And if Jesus is for everyone, why is it taking so long for the gospel to be spread to the known world? And those are fair questions that we think about as Christians. And those are fair questions that those who are exploring Christianity may ask us? And we are going to look at those questions a little bit as we unfold the passage, but in due time. For now I would invite you to turn to Romans Chapter 10. And let me give a little bit of a recap as we think about where we are. I shared last week that Romans Chapter 10 has to do with Israel s present. Romans Chapter 9 has to do with Israel s past. And then Chapter 11 is the future. And last week we talked about a passage in Romans Chapter 9 where we shared that God has actually opened the floodgates for salvation to take place. And now there has been a way that has been paved clearly through a missional response and through God s work that He is going to do in opening doors up for the Gentiles to believe. And remember Gentiles are non-jews. The Jews had hardened their hearts toward the gospel, toward Jesus. But a plan has burst in the gospel for the world to learn that Jesus is for everyone, but, - and we will have to sit on that thought. We left off last week in Romans Chapter 10 and verse 4, For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. So a way has been provided for salvation whereby we do not have to attain it ourselves; rather we look to the righteousness of Christ. In verse 5 we read, For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. So if we are going to look to attain our righteousness by keeping the commandments, then we need to live by them. We can t break them. Heaven is a perfect place, God has a perfect standard, and if we want to spend eternity with Him in perfection that means we need to arrive perfected. And if we don t arrive perfected, then we have a problem, because we are going to mess up Heaven. So what are we to do? Well, we read in verse 6 that it says, But the righteousness based on faith says, Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down). That is kind of an interesting statement there, isn t it? Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into heaven? What Paul wants us to grasp there is that there is this idea that some will try to get to Heaven on their own. So do not say, How can I ascend into Heaven, because that is to bring Christ down. Christ is the one who ascended into Heaven because He is the one who pulled off the salvation that we never could on our own by living the righteous life that all of us have failed to live, which is staying at the standard that God has set for us. So do not say, Who will ascend into Heaven. How can I morally perform my way there? To say, I Page 2 of 13 pages 10/1/2017

3 am going to get to Heaven, I am going to ascend there, is to bring Christ down. That is to basically try to be your own savior and to miss what Christ pulled off by dying in our place. Now Paul goes on to say this: Or Who will descend into the abyss? (that is to bring Christ up from the dead). So in other words, also don t say, Okay, I know I can t morally perform my own salvation, so I can t pull Christ down, because I can t earn it. But maybe I can take Christ out of the abyss and I can pay for my own salvation then. And Paul says not to say that either. We are not to say who can ascend or who can descend. If we say who can descend into the abyss, that is to bring Christ up, that is to say that we are ignoring that He is the ultimate one who paid for our sins with His death. He died for our sins, so we can t have this idea that we are going to pay for our own sins that is to bring Christ up; rather we are to trust in His death, burial and resurrection on our behalf as the salvation plan. Now as we think about these verses, I think it would be helpful to leverage the late great wordsmith, John Stott. And Stott helps us to understand some of the Old Testament language that Paul draws on here in Romans Chapter 10. Let me read this versus getting in a back and forth with the Old Testament, but let s see how much Old Testament is in place here. So Stott says this: One of the notable features of Romans Chapter 10 is that it is saturated with Old Testament allusion and quotation. So if you are new to the Bible, you need to know that the Bible has an Old Testament and a New Testament. And what Paul is writing in Romans Chapter 10 is he is using Old Testament allusion to help his readers understand how Christ has fulfilled the law, and what Christ has pulled off. Stott goes on, So Paul is citing Scripture here in order to confirm or illustrate several truths. First, the ready accessibility of Christ of faith as seen in verses 6 through 8 in Chapter 10, square that up with Deuteronomy Chapter 30. Second, the promise of salvation to all who believe, verse 11. Paul draws on Isaiah Chapter 28 and verse 16 and also from Joel. Third, the glorious necessity of evangelism in Chapter 10 and verse 15. If you were doing some Bible study you could look at Isaiah Chapter 53 and verse 1 and see where Paul is gathering that. Next the universality of the gospel, Chapter 10 and verse 18. You could go to Psalms Chapter 19 and verse 4 and see that. Then the Gentile provocation of Israel talked about in Chapter 10 and verse 19. You could go to Deuteronomy where Paul is extracting that. Next the divine initiative of grace, Chapter 10 and verse 20. And last the patient grief of God the evangelist. The patient grief of God the evangelist is such a great statement and is talked about in verse 21. We could go to Isaiah Chapter 65 and verse 2 for that. Page 3 of 13 pages 10/1/2017

4 Thus Paul s emphasis is not only on the authority of Scripture but also on the fundamental continuity which unites the Old and New Testament revelations. Now I think he may have overstretched the final then because we didn t have all the New Testament revelations there at that time. Paul is our earliest New Testament writer and we didn t have a lot of the New Testament at the time when he is writing this. But I do think what he is doing is squaring the Old Testament with the gospel. And that is what is before us here. So as we think about the gospel, Paul knew the Old Testament. He knew the Scriptures. He really knew how to utilize what the Scripture was saying and to show what Jesus did. How Jesus made Himself known and how He was the Messiah, the Messianic servant to come, the suffering servant that we see in the Old Testament. Let s now pick back up in the Scriptures. We read this in verse 8. But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim). We hear about this word of faith and what is the word of faith they proclaim? It is the gospel. Look at verse 9. Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. So what is the word of faith? It is the belief in Jesus as Lord, as the one who was raised from the dead. In other words He died for our sins which was the purpose, and He rose from the grave. Listen, remove the death of Christ from our story, Christians, and Christianity becomes like any other world religion, where man is striving to become like God, to earn God s approval. But remove the resurrection from Christianity and we end up believing in vain anyway because we really would just be believing in a dead Savior. You see the resurrection is the exclamation point of our faith. It tells us that Jesus really did pay for our sins and His resurrection validates that. So when we think about Jesus and what He did, we are to confess with our mouth that He is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead. Do you believe that? Let s continue in verse 10 where it says, For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Now to be justified means to be declared righteous, and it is to be saved. But it is only one feature of our salvation. You see it says one can be justified but then it goes on to say with one s mouth he confesses and is saved. Salvation is broader than justification alone. Justification means to be declared righteous. So here is the deal. You and I were all hosed. Humanity was hosed. We have all fallen short of God s glory. None of us can keep the standard that God has for us. We all can just realize that if we are all going to try to swim from here over to Ireland, some will get further but we are all going to drown. And we all are going to fall way short of Page 4 of 13 pages 10/1/2017

5 making it all the way to Ireland. Yet Jesus pulled the great swim off, right? He was able to do it. He was perfect in all of His ways. He never sinned. So when He died on the cross what happened there was He was paying for the sins that you and I could never pay for, because He had lived the life that you and I could never live. When we look to Jesus on the cross and believe and confess what happens is we get what we could never get on our own - His righteousness. And He gets what He never deserved - our sins were placed on Him. So this great exchange happens in the gospel and you and I all have a way to Heaven, a way to be made right, a way to be declared righteous, justified. And to be saved is more than just justified, it means to be sanctified. And sanctified is this idea where we become what we were declared. See, you re positionally righteous before God when you are justified. You are declared righteous, meaning once you believe, once you confess, if you were to die you can go to Heaven with God. But practically we are still becoming what we were declared. We are declared righteous by faith in the gospel, but we are becoming righteous by practicing the gospel. And then ultimately glorification is perfect righteousness and we are in Heaven with God forever. Let s read verse 11. For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him. Jesus is for everyone. Verse 13, For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. See Jesus is for everyone, but here is the deal, folks. Are you ready for it? Jesus is for everyone, but everyone is not for Jesus. And that is what we are about to see. Paul is letting us see that Jesus is for everyone. He was for the Jews, but they rejected Him. And He is for the Gentiles, and the Jews rejected the Gentiles. In Chapter 11 we are going to see there is going to be this future time where the Jews are going to be grafted in, and there is going to be this great end time harvest. But Jesus is for everyone. The question is - are you for Jesus? Now we come to verse 14. How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news! And we will talk about that more in a little bit. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. Now what does it mean to obey the gospel. It sounds like I have to go and earn God s approval. No, that is not what it means to obey the gospel. Well, we obey the gospel by recognizing that the gospel tells us that we are so bad that in and of ourselves we can do nothing to merit God s approval. Yet God is so in love with humanity that He Page 5 of 13 pages 10/1/2017

6 has paid the way for us to be saved through Christ by faith. And so to obey the gospel we obey the gospel by faith. That is obedience to the gospel. The gospel message says that we are separated from God, Jesus paid for our sins, He rose from the grave, and if you will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ you will be saved. And to believe is to place our faith in Christ which is to obey the gospel. Continuing in verse 16 it says, For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us? So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Now here is the deal in verse 18. But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have. So this really isn t about those who haven t heard. It is about those who have heard. Isn t that interesting? They have heard, they have understood, and they have rejected the gospel. In this context the Jews have heard, they have understood it, and they have rejected it because they wanted to trust in their own moral goodness instead of the gospel that Jesus is the goodness that we look to. Reading on in verse 18 it says, For their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. Has it? I know the gospel hadn t made it to India at the time Romans was written, and I know it hadn t made it to a lot of parts of the Mediterranean world at the time this was written. It says it went out to all the earth and I know that Paul is extracting language from the Old Testament and certainly it hadn t gotten out then. So how are we to understand that in a non-wooden way? It is by realizing the known world of the people that Paul is talking about. Who is Paul talking about right here? He is talking about Israel, the Jews, at this moment. It goes back and forth some in this book between Gentiles and Jews. And we see this in verse 19 when Paul says this: But I ask, did Israel not understand? So in the known world of the Jews, of Israel, it had gone out. They knew that a Messiah was to come. They understood it but they rejected it after they heard. Verse 19, But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation, with a foolish nation I will make you angry Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me. (In other words the Gentiles.) Verse 21, But of Israel he says, All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people. God has held His hands out to an obstinate people. If we go back to Romans Chapter 9 and read about the potter and the vessel and pull that language in, we realize that no one is without excuse. We can even go further back to Romans Chapter 1 and verse 20 where it says, For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. And God is a just God. Page 6 of 13 pages 10/1/2017

7 So now let s think about this. How are we to understand this passage today as it relates to the question of those who really haven t heard, because that is a fair question? In light of this I shared the Jews had heard, but there were, and there are, many people through the ages who have never heard the gospel. How are we to understand that? Well, people understand that differently. Universalists would just say in the end everybody is just going to be saved, but then that would make Jesus a liar because He clearly talked about there is a Heaven and a hell and you can either be with God or separated from God. So if Universalism is true, then Jesus is false. So we would have a hard time believing that. Others would say that they are Pluralists. And a Pluralist would say there are all kinds of ways to Heaven. It is like climbing a mountain, there are many paths and they all just sort of lead to the zenith, to the pinnacle, to the apex, to the top. And the Pluralists will struggle because they just feel like they are not going to be narrow minded. But the problem is the Pluralists do struggle from being narrow minded, because they believe in their Pluralism and if you are not a Pluralist then they will say you are wrong, and that is narrow minded. Because they really are only Pluralist about those who are Pluralist and if you are not Pluralist they will say you are wrong and that shows they are also exclusivists. Not only that but we are in this situation where you have all these different religions and different belief systems and ideas about the way that people understand the world. And there are contradictory claims. And all of these claims cannot be true. Polytheism, Theism, and Atheist cannot all be true. They can all have some truth because all truth is God s truth, but not all of them can be equally true, while there may be partial truths. So God cannot be Atheism or Theism. He cannot be a Polytheistic God and a Theist God. God either is or He isn t. We can t just say to believe whatever you want, because the truth is if we tell the Atheists and the Polytheists and the Theists that statement we are saying it is okay for us to hold contradictory claims. Now I get that sometimes we struggle to figure out what is the truth and how do we understand this world that we live in. But Pluralism was never something that God was excited about. In fact the reason Israel went into captivity was because they became Pluralists and started adopting the gods of the nations around them. And they went into captivity for becoming Pluralistic. In the New Testament and the Roman culture we have a culture that is incredibly Pluralistic. And do you think that the Christians would have been experiencing martyr s deaths if they were Pluralistic? Of course not. That was their problem; they weren t Pluralistic and they paid a heavy price. So if we are going to fall into Pluralism we are going to need to fall out of New Testament Christianity and even what we see in the Old Page 7 of 13 pages 10/1/2017

8 Testament. And God hasn t warmed up to Pluralism over time. If anything He would want us to be more aware today than ever. Now we are bothered by this whole question about what happens to those who have never heard. Because with the explorers like Christopher Columbus that have traveled the world, and now with the rise of Internet and with the melting pot culture and travel, we realize that we bump into people with beliefs that we really like. And it makes us question our own. I think we can bump into people with different beliefs and we should always be loving and compassionate and we should always be willing to examine to see where we are at. Let s discuss this, let s look and see if it is here. But at the end of the day some people like Atheists will say, What makes you think that your one God is true when there are so many different religions? But I would say that we can flip the question and ask, What makes you think that when so many people believe in God that you believe there isn t? So if an Atheist says to me, How is it that you are going to believe in God when there are so many religions? I can answer, Yes, there are a lot of different religions, but if those religions are saying one thing and that is that God exists, it would seem that Atheism would be the one place I wouldn t want to go. And we see then that Pluralism is a viable option Scripturally speaking. Then there are those who would be called Inclusivists and that would be this belief that people from other faiths can all be grafted in regardless of what their beliefs are. And then you would have Exclusivists and they have a hard form and a soft form. A hard form would say that those who have never heard will die and go to hell even though they never got a chance to hear that information. And for some people who are soft Exclusivists they think that doesn t sit well. That would mean since the beginning of time that has happened and they don t like that. And so the soft Exclusivists would say that people in other parts of the world would only be judged according to the knowledge that they do have. That would be the knowledge that there is a Creator, general revelation, and then their conscience, the moral law at work. And if someone were to look up and go, God, I know you created this world and I feel like I have sinned against you. Forgive me, and by faith if they believed in God, the soft Exclusivist would say even though they don t have the information piece that Jesus is the one who died for their sins, they believe they are still saved because of what Jesus did and if they had been given the opportunity they would have placed their faith in that message. Now some that are hard Exclusivists would not want to buy into that because then that would kill missions. The soft Exclusivists would then ask why that would kill missions because missions is not just to get people a ticket to Heaven, missions also Page 8 of 13 pages 10/1/2017

9 changes cultures. And so even if people were saved as in the Old Testament by faith in God, in the New Testament in those areas that have never heard about God, we want the gospel there because the gospel changes cultures. And it is bigger than just a ticket to Heaven. Now it would seem that the hard Exclusivists would be up against a difficult question if I were to say absolutely Jesus is the way of salvation. But in the Old Testament people would be saved because of what Jesus was going to do and they did not hear of it but by faith believing in God. So could that happen in the New Testament? The hard Exclusivists would be up against a difficult question with that. So if at the very moment when Jesus said, It is finished, those who were too far away geographically, had they died before He said, It is finished, they could have been judged for the knowledge they had by faith, but now because Jesus said it was finished, they are hosed? So this is the insanity of different people working through stuff like this and how different people can think about it as we venture that question. Now you need to do your own homework on this, and I would really urge you to lean away from the Pluralistic and the Universalistic options. And I would say that within Scripture we know God as we do, that He is just, and that He is not willing that any should perish. Will not the Judge of the earth do what is right? He loves us, everyone will be without excuse; so we can step back and we can trust Him in that and be obedient to a gospel sharing ministry. For a few takeaways as we wrap up, I have a special guest with us, and then I am going to come back and give you my final three takeaways. But if Jesus is for everyone, are you for everyone? If so, that is the secret to having beautiful feet. We spend so much time thinking about our fashion footwear, but how much more should we consider if we are engaged in making sure that we are salt and light and engaged in gospel ministry? I want to introduce you to Pastor Abraham, who is our guest from India today. And he certainly knows about gospel ministry. Pastor Abraham is someone who has an amazing story of how God is using him in phenomenal ways, and I am excited for you to meet him. So would you please give Pastor Abraham a warm welcome. (Applause.) It just so happened to be a good time when we were asked about the timing with Pastor Abraham being here today. And what was so cool is when I was talking to Pastor Jason about it, we looked ahead and we just happened to be in Romans Chapter 10 on the day when Pastor Abraham would be able to be with us. Pastor Abraham, you had two questions as a young man. You were suicidal, you were empty and you sensed God asking you two questions. Tell us what those were. Page 9 of 13 pages 10/1/2017

10 Yes, in the year of 1979 I was a young man and I had been through a hard time and was very much discouraged. I didn t find out any answers. Finally I thought to commit suicide. Before going to that plan, I thought to write this suicide note to protect my family from the police case. I wanted to have a sheet a paper. It happened my grandfather came to faith from Catholic Church. So his Bible was there so I went to take a sheet of paper underneath the Bible. I took the Bible in my hand and I heard a voice, My son, open and read it. So I just looked around and I didn t see anybody, so I thought it was something in my mind. So the second time again I was trying to take the paper, to lift the Bible, and I heard the same voice. My son, open and read it. So being bid by a big Bible, with no idea, I just opened it like this, and I go to the words from the book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 7, verses 16 through 18. There were two questions: Why do you destroy yourself? Then the following verse said, Don t be a fool, why die before your time? (Applause.) That really touched my heart. I just laid down and I prayed, Lord, if you love me, take care of my life. That was in Since then the Lord has taken care of my life. Just think about that, folks. Here is a young man, empty, suicidal and he reads Why die before your time? Pastor Abraham presented me in the last service a book that he would write, Why Die Before Your Time? That is just so great. Pastor Abraham, talk to us a little bit about what is going on in India. You are doing ministry in northern India, the 10/40 window area, in unreached areas, so you see a lot of challenges, as well as a lot of fruit. So please tell us about what is going on in India. I am thankful to the Lord that He opened a door for me to work with the Postal Department. But after a few months the Lord said I should not work in the Post Office, but go to the place where the people never heard of my name. It was a big challenge. So I left my job and joined with a Bible school. When I was going through the training somebody came to the Bible school and shared about how north India is taken from south India. North India is named Bihar, which is known as the graveyard of missionaries in India. There are a hundred two million people there and less than one person is Christian, very few Christians there. So the Lord challenged me to go there as a missionary. So in obedience to His call in 1984 I went there as a missionary. For ten years nobody came to the Lord, so you can imagine the challenge. After ten years three people came to the Lord, then the (inaudible) came one day with a knife and they put the knife to my stomach to kill me. But the Lord protected me. Then within two years about 60 people came to the Lord. Then they came with a gun to shoot me. They beat me publicly in a public place. I went through all these hard Page 10 of 13 pages 10/1/2017

11 challenges, but one thing was God s grace was encouraging me to be there. Then after about 16 years things began to change. Now by God s grace we have more than 25,000 people who came to the Lord. (Applause.) And we have 14 churches and those who meet in small groups also. Also a Bible school that s helping many people and two orphanages and four Christian schools for children. It is amazing - the Lord is moving and changing that place. You see the Lord can take you and me even in a suicidal place, drop us to our knees, stand us up not only to save us but through faithful obedience see 25,000 other people coming to Christ. How beautiful are the feet of Pastor Abraham in this room. I say this is an encouraging story and I feel challenged whenever I am in the presence of him. I almost can feel uncomfortable because I know what you have been through and I feel heavy in my heart. I am talking to an individual who has been beaten for the gospel. I am looking at a man who has taken blows for Jesus. That is heavy stuff. He is here with us and he is persevering and I really thank you for that. I like to enjoy a glass of tea on my front porch at night and watch the sunset, but getting beaten for the gospel doesn t sound like all that much fun. So I appreciate your faithfulness. Tell us what you would want us to know here. When you come over to America what would be a challenge you would give to us about sharing the gospel? And please give us more information about what you are doing, Pastor Abraham. What can we do? I have been involved in church planting ministry. That is a calling the Lord gave me as a missionary. And we have been reaching the village people and now the Lord is challenging me to reach the professional and the rich wealthy people like that. They never have responded to the gospel, so we have plans to double up a church in the capital city of the Bihar State. So last five years we have been fasting and praying for them to come there and attend that church. And it is growing. So we are really looking for another location so that more people can come and sit. So I really appreciate your prayers to come and stand with us to double up that Bihar Church. The need of the hour there is to rent another building. And also we are having market ministries, so that a team can come and help us to reach this professional people. That would be a wonderful, wonderful way to reach this community. And also you know recently we had a terrible flood and Christmas is approaching. This would be one of the best ways to show our love to homeless people, especially during this season. So if the church can come and stand with us that would be a great thing. So this would be from 7 to 8:30p we will have a special meeting here and people can come so I can share more about what is happening in India. I would also like to give you a photo of my family so that you pray for us. Page 11 of 13 pages 10/1/2017

12 You know, Pastor Abraham, I have to tell you what going to India was like for me. I loved the trip but I felt a lot of warfare going on when I was there, and I saw persecuted believers for the first time ever. I really felt weighed down by it. I love the people of India. You are very kind. I sense compassion, human compassion and that means a lot. And I thank you for your beautiful country and your ministry. The only two things I hate about India is curry and the way you guys drive. Would you guys give Pastor Abraham a hand. (Applause.) God bless you, brother and we love you. If there was ever a time to honor a believer it is one who takes blows for the gospel. I wonder if God might be stirring your heart to go on a mission trip, maybe to go see what Pastor Abraham s doing in India. There is a place outside at a table where you can learn more about his ministry. And I wonder if God is asking you just to do mission work right here and what it would look like. What would it look like if every one of us had a missional niche as a church? It wouldn t have to be a ministry of Life Fellowship, just being someone to minister to the community, and we all had a missional niche. What is your missional niche? Is it to a school, or a hospital, or maybe at your work? Think about if the church could have a missional niche and all of us found a spot to minister in. We don t have to have a ministry about everything; we just do it. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. If Jesus is for everyone then it means Jesus is for you. The question is - are you for Him? And next, to be for Jesus is to realize that we can never be good enough to obtain our own salvation. Neither can we be bad enough to be beyond receiving God s indescribable saving grace. Isn t that great? Like, you may be sitting out here and no matter what you have done, you are not too far out of reach of the gracious touch of God. And that is good stuff. If there is one ingredient that I realize that I love and appreciate more than anything else in my life, it is the grace of God. Grace feels so good. It heals and it restores. Do you need grace? Has something happened in your life where you just feel distant or withdrawn? The grace of God is near you right now. And finally, the real question is this - what will you do with Jesus? There are two options. We can either reject Him or receive Him. A great man from India, Ravi Zacharias, a Christian apologist, said this: I have traveled the world, I have searched high and low, I have found nothing that satisfies my mind, my heart and the deepest longest of my soul like Jesus does. He is not the only way, the truth and the life, He is personal to me. He is my way, and my truth, and my life, just as He can be for anyone who reaches out to Him. Page 12 of 13 pages 10/1/2017

13 And C. S. Lewis, the great wordsmith, comes in with the final thought for us today: There are only two kinds of people, those who say to God, Thy will be done, and those to whom God says in the end, Thy will be done. pray. You see, Jesus is for everyone. The problem is everyone is not for Jesus. Let s Lord, thank you for your word. Thank you for Pastor Abraham. Bless that brother. Oh my goodness fill him with your Spirit. Use him in his ministry. Help us as a church to rally behind what he is doing. Thank you for the generosity of Life Fellowship. This church has been so incredible in blessing people and giving to people. They have taken your words seriously. We love you. We praise you. And we pray for anyone who doesn t know you that today they will place their faith and trust in you. In Jesus name. Amen. The preceding transcript was completed using raw audio recordings. As much as possible, it includes the actual words of the message with minor grammatical changes and editorial clarifications to provide context. Hebrew and Greek words are spelled using Google Translator and the actual spelling may be different in some cases. Page 13 of 13 pages 10/1/2017