Jesus + Nothing = Everything

The title this morning is Jesus plus nothing equals everything. Jesus plus nothing equals everything. Jesus plus baptism equals salvation.

No, we don't believe that. Churches do teach that. And it's called baptismal regeneration.

I did a deep dive 26 years ago, and I just can't see that. Well, the early church fathers, well, yeah, the early church fathers believe some stuff that's not necessarily biblical. What's the Bible say? Believe and be baptized.

And it's a profession of your faith. Because if we start adding things, you're not saved until you get baptized. So the cross really doesn't save.

You have to do this work in order to be saved. And I ask pastors who believe this. And I say, okay, somebody is... I preach and they're convicted and they're at the altar.

They come and they get prayed for. And the load's been lifted. They have the Holy Spirit.

Right? They're on fire for God. So, they're through, but they're not baptized. Why do they have the fruit of salvation? If they haven't yet got dunked.

Well, God works in mysterious ways. No. They're saved.

But then you get baptized as a reflection of basically in Jesus' day, you would lose your community, your family, be kicked out of the temple. It was a big deal to say death, burial, resurrection, I'm baptized with Jesus. I'm a disciple.

And they were marked and they showed the world. And that's really what it is. It's not being embarrassed about Jesus.

And so, consider being baptized. We've got everything you need to change into. And that's my plug for baptism.

So, Acts 15. Oh, we are starting a new chapter. Alright.

Acts 15, verse by verse. And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren. Now, this is interesting.

This is when you start seeing, I don't know if I call it false doctrine yet, but the reason we use words like this, heresy. Heresy means an opinion that opposes the truth. False doctrine means something that's not in God's Word.

It's extraordinary or it's adding to. And that's why even though there's strong words, a false prophet would be somebody who's telling you things that are not good. There's a lot of false prophets this month for this month of June.

If you don't know, I'll tell you what I mean in the prayer room. I'll tell you now, you put up the rainbow flag and you say God doesn't care, it's a false prophet. You are a false prophet.

Bottom line. You might be deceived, I don't know, many of them are not even saved. And so that's what a false prophet is.

We also have to be careful with that term though, just because you don't agree with somebody, they're not a false prophet. False prophet is really altering God's Word. Doesn't mean we disagree on the differences of end times and eschatology and soteriology and pneumatology and all these things, but we disagree on certain things.

And I'm gonna get into that in a moment. So anyway, these men came down from Judea and they taught the disciples, basically the church, unless you are circumcised, according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. So here we go again, the disciples have the Spirit in them.

The Gentiles have the Spirit in them, they're witnessing, they're filled with the Spirit of God and they say, wait a minute though, unless you do something, circumcision, if you don't know what that is, ask your parents later. It was a sign that this nation of Israel was set apart by God. Why He chose to do that? It's a whole different sermon.

But they're saying, no, no, no, even though you have the fruit of salvation, even though the Bible says through faith and faith alone, unless you are circumcised, according to the custom of Moses, you can't be saved. That's a big deal. That's a huge deal.

That's adding something. It's almost like saying Jesus didn't quite handle it. Is it not? I mean, it's almost like saying the cross is not enough.

I have to go do this. Very dangerous. And we do see that today.

They might not come out and say it, but I know people that man, unless you celebrate the Hebrew feast and all those things in the Old Testament, you don't honor the Sabbath. You know, again, that would be another teaching. I think the Sabbath is an important principle.

I think there should be a day set apart for God. But when you start to say, unless you do that, Jesus isn't enough, it's very dangerous. And then people live in a very legalistic type of life.

It's like, you know, you got to do this, and you got to do this, and you got to do this. And really the Bible actually teaches the complete opposite. So when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension, that means there is a heated debate.

And you should call out false people, false prophets. To the degree of what they're saying depends on the degree of the tone I'll use. If it's just something minor, something this, but if you bring very destructive teachings in, then we might have very harsh words for you.

And I've done that a few times. And it is what it is because they are hurting people. And it's such an important topic.

And so they really argued with them. And so they determined that Paul and Barnabas and others should go to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So they stirred the pot.

They're like, yeah, the good point. Now, to their credit, it's hard. You know, we can't really picture, but to go from Judaism following the law of Moses and completely eradicating that, now following Jesus, there was, I can see why they're like, wait a minute.

And remember, they didn't have the New Testament to turn to. So they're going off the Old Testament. And it was a challenging time.

So to their credit, they're probably wanting to honor God's Word because it did say that in the Torah and it was commanded by Moses. But this is one of the first incidents of Jesus plus something else. Jesus plus something else.

And you will see, it will creep in from time to time, maybe in your own life. You know, feeling that I got to do this. And I don't know if I don't, and I've had people tell me, maybe I make a point on salvation, asking, you know, hey, I need to get baptized and, you know, I'm ready to be saved.

I need to get baptized. You know, or they're a Christian, they want to get baptized, but they think that saves them. Or by following the feast and the festivals in the Old Testament.

It's called, there's a whole movement called that. You guys have probably heard it. And I've had people that actually left this church when we moved from Saturday to Sunday.

Apostate, I'm a false prophet. Roman Catholic Church initiated Sunday worship in 38, you know, know your history, guys. That's not true.

That's not true. The early church met on Sunday. And if you get technical, what about the underground church in China on Friday mornings at 4 a.m.? Because it's the only time they get.

Are they out of God's will and going to hell? I mean, it's ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous that what people believe and they think about certain things because they just don't have the Spirit of God in them. And so they're open to all types of deception.

And here's what happens. Pride adds good works. Those I've talked with, there is a sense of pride.

There's not a lot of humility in those who are happy, excited about their works. Adding works. I do this.

And you can usually tell, they got their arms crossed, well, I don't even own a TV. Well, good for you. That's not a bad idea.

But, where's your heart? I haven't went to the movies in 20 years. I can keep going. Right, they just fold their arms.

That worship is too emotional. You need to do this. You need to, the old hymns.

The old hymns are the only way. I love the old hymns. But how many of us remember when they were actually new hymns, when they were written? So all the hymns written in the 1700s, what about they reject them, said no, these are new.

And we start to, pride comes in. And we love to argue. We love to debate.

But it does beg the question, how are people saved in the Old Testament? And I think I passed out an article for you this morning from biblehub.com. Because it comes up a lot. This is important for especially young adults to know too. Although the Old Testament believers were indeed credited with righteousness, it was ultimately Christ's sacrifice that justified them completely.

Old Testament saints were saved by grace, through faith in God's revelation, anticipating the future atoning work of the Messiah. Their sacrifices and rituals pointed beyond themselves to the day when the true Lamb of God would serve as the flawless, final sacrifice. So basically, the Old Testament looked forward and they still had to believe.

Abraham, God counted to Abraham as righteousness because he believed. Noah believed. David believed.

They trusted in God. Knowing, waiting for the fulfillment of the Messiah. Now we look back and trust in the same Messiah.

And that's how they were saved by faith. And the works, I mean, if we had time to go to Romans, I mean, my goodness. Paul says actually the law was given as a schoolmaster to show you your need.

And try as you may, you can never follow the law. That's why they needed the sacrificial system, the blood of bulls and goats and temporarily covering their sin. Temporary, temporary, temporary, temporary, until Christ, the final sacrifice, was hung on that cross.

And so Acts continues. So, well, let's back up. Paul and Barnabas now are going to Jerusalem to talk to the apostles.

Paul was apostle, many would consider, of course, but to the main people of the church. Like, okay, let's take this question to the church. Since you're stirring some conflict here, we're gonna have to take this to the church body.

And so they were sent to Jerusalem. They could not hop on an airplane, so it probably took a little while. They passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles.

So everywhere they went, they talked about the conversion of the Gentiles. And they caused great joy to come to all the brethren. And then when they finally got to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders.

And they reported all things that God had done with them. So here's a big update, how God's Spirit is moving. And that should be our story as well.

I know it doesn't happen a lot, but there should be, man, this week was pretty incredible. I went to Vons, I went to Trader Joe's, I went to Sprouts, I was down in Valencia. And I met this person, I decided to talk to this person, and I ministered to this person.

It should be, it's part of our life. If it's not, you know, you might want to ask God to wake you up a little bit. And to be filled with the Spirit so you can begin doing things in this power of the Spirit.

And so they reported everything. But, there's always some people, isn't there? But some of the sect of the Pharisees, so a group of Pharisees, there's a sect from them. They rose up, they stood up, and what did they say? It is necessary to be circumcised then and to command them to keep the law of Moses.

So again, they're explaining what happened. Hey guys, you're disciples, you're apostles, you're with Jesus, the majority of them are going to write the New Testament. What do we do with this? But we have to remember, from preference to our limited understanding, even healthy churches disagree on certain things.

You know that, right? Not all of us here agree on everything. There are a lot of differences. But it's on non-essential things.

Pretty sure everybody here, unless there's not a believer or something, believes that Jesus is the only way. The only truth. It's a cross and no other way.

And we are here because of the essentials of the faith. But, even in a healthy church, because we have preference, don't we? Can you imagine if we went, okay, next Sunday you choose to worship songs, next Sunday you choose to worship, next Sunday, next Sunday, next, can you imagine? I mean, it might be okay, I don't know, but there'll be a difference of choices there. And it was tough when we had to make the decision to get rid of pews and put in chairs.

That was tough. And you don't blame people, because you miss that country church, you know, you miss those things. And we're raised on those things.

And when we first came up here and had the, I think it was, where was it over here, the big organ? The big organ was about right here. You know, trying to get that, to just change a little bit. And, you know, causes controversy, and I get it, I understand it.

You know, there's preference, there's a way. Because that organ brought somebody to the Lord. They remember that song in the 1960s.

You know, the old rugged cross, and they can't really relate to, you know, and that's preference. There's actually nothing we can do about it. At all.

Other than err on the side of grace, love our brothers and sisters in the Lord, not argue about it. Unless, of course, it becomes a point of contention, and some things definitely need to happen. You know, that's different, but there are preferences.

There are preferences, are there not? Some people, maybe you're here this morning, that's okay, I'm a big boy. They don't prefer my style of preaching. It's okay.

Many do. They don't, it's okay. I don't really prefer that.

I prefer verse by verse, systematic, just be monotone, don't get so excited. You kind of, you know, you alarm me when you get all, you know, just okay, you don't prefer that. Okay.

But when I got the word burning in my bosom, and it's, I can't say, well, he's not gonna like it. He's not gonna agree with it. Go where you agree with how they do it.

How their preference, the flow of the service. There's preference plays a huge role in things. I actually have to, I don't prefer the way we do some things either.

I would do them a little bit differently, but it's a consensus of the church. You know, it's better for the church. And, you know, so we have to bow to what is best for the body.

I know you guys want to know, but I'm probably, I don't know off the top of my head now that I said it. I probably just do worship and never preach, but I have to, that would be my preference. Because to stop that, it's like, oh my goodness, it's hard.

But I know people come because they need to be encouraged by the Word too. So healthy churches, they disagree from time to time. And Christ would often rebuke the legalist as well as the carnal.

The pride-filled as well as the lukewarm. And I've had people tell me, Shane, Jesus just went after the Pharisees and the pride. He also rebuked lukewarmness.

Be hot or cold. He would leave an entire city and say, they don't believe in Me. I can't do many works here because of their unbelief.

He would rebuke cities. And so He would do that. And so we see pride coming in in these Pharisees.

And I want to, this is so important, I want to even highlight this. This is where the rubber meets the road. When we talk about works, legalism, God's Word, I have to versus I desire to.

You've heard people say it, maybe you've said it. Young adults say it, teenagers, oh, I have to. My mom and dad say, I have to obey them.

Or the Word of God says, oh, I know, I can't do, oh, I have to. And then they're raised up in the I have to environment. And if we're careful, we'll create a legalistic home with the have to, have to, have to.

But sometimes you have to set up rules and boundaries and say, no, we're not doing that. But you also have to teach a desire to. Like as of now, many of you, I don't have to obey God's Word, I want to.

I want to. It leads to a more abundant life, a more fulfilling life. It leads to the fire of the Spirit instead of quenching the Spirit.

That makes all the difference in the world. So if you came in, you're like, I have to do this, I can't do this, I can't anymore. You need to change that thinking and ask God's Spirit to fill you so you have that desire to do it.

And we pray with people all the time and I know it's a battle. Say, I know, I know, I know, I have to. No, no, no, don't.

You should desire to. You should desire to because that's what it really boils down to. And also talking about this area of works, Galatians is so important on this topic because they're wanting to do works.

You have to be circumcised. So the cross wasn't enough, you have to be circumcised. The same thing was happening in Galatia in the church.

Paul wrote to the church in Galatia and he did not hold back words. I want to tell some Christians this sometimes. Oh foolish such and such who has bewitched you, wow, that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified.

And you can tell there's some sarcasm in this. Hey, this I want to know. I want to know, did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing of faith? Hello? You didn't receive the Spirit by works.

You received the Spirit by faith. So are you so foolish? What began in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Now this creeps in in all of us. I went through my modern day Pharisee phase in 2005 I've talked about before because you come to know the Lord.

You're in His Word and knowledge puffs up. And I can become a good sin sniffer. My sister, my brother, my cousins, my enemies, I'm a good sin sniffer now because knowledge puffs up.

I'm reading systematic theology. I'm reading the Puritans. I'm reading the Word.

And man, I got this good Pharisee vibe going. And so now I'm going to do this and I'm going to do this and pride comes in. And he's like, hey, hey, hey, hey, what began in the Spirit, you're now going to finish the work of Christ in your life and sanctification through prideful works? He's basically reminding you that faith saved you.

Faith is what filled you with the Spirit. And when you begin to count on and elevate your works, you begin to quench and grieve the Spirit because you begin to look down on others. You begin to point out flaws.

You begin to take a little bit too much pride in your knowledge. And does that not happen a lot? One thing I'll continue to warn younger pastors and stuff is be careful. Great to get an education, but if you're resting in that and you're thinking you're something special because you got some master's and Ph.D. and things, guys, just be careful.

That's a very prideful, prideful position to be in unless your heart's right. That's the key. Also titles.

Apostles such and such. Prophets such and such. And then they begin to walk in the Lord and they begin to elevate themselves.

Pride will quench and grieve the Spirit more than anything else in your life. The more you elevate self, you literally grieve the Spirit. You grieve the Spirit and it's sad.

Bewitched. Bewitched is an interesting word. It can mean to bring evil upon someone through deceptive words.

So be careful who you listen to. Here's what happens. When people follow false prophets or false teachers, they're led astray by their words.

What they need to do is... That's why I tell everybody, go take these sermon notes. Go look in the Bible. Bring your Bible.

We're not afraid of the Bible. Be careful of places who don't want you to pull out the Bible. Want me to list some places right now? No.

Every time I get in trouble when I say stuff. But it's true. A fact of history.

Fact of history. The Roman Catholic Church killed people, burned them at the stake for translating the Bible into the common tongue of the people. Dare they do that.

Why? Keep it in Latin. Keep it controlled. Keep the common man stupid so they rely on us and our knowledge and deception.

It was clear deception. Why would you kill somebody for translating the Bible? And there's other people. Martin Luther tried to translate it.

And he did. German version of the Bible. What happened to him? They would have killed him too.

They asked him to recant. To recant all of this. And supposedly, we don't know history of course, that he said, here I stand, I can do no other.

I cannot recant on this word. He had his own flaws. Absolutely.

What man of God or woman of God that God uses doesn't have flaws? Hello! Hello! Just look! Look! Hello! That's why I hate when people say that. Well, of course! Only one person was perfect on planet Earth. And it's not you, sweetie.

I'm a little edgy today. I've got to settle down for the second service. So I want to encourage you, who are you listening to? Who are you following? Also, if you're young and just getting started out, people will use you.

Especially if you have a lot of followers, a lot of likes on social media, people will use you. I've learned these lessons the hard way over the years as well. Who's influencing you? Do not rely on me to be teaching you.

Only. I cringe when people, they're not reading the Bible, they're not studying, they're just relying on Sunday. I mean, try eating lunch today and wait until next Sunday.

You might be able to do it for a while. You've got some stored energy there. But eventually, you will die.

You will die. Same thing spiritually speaking. Who are you listening to? Who are you following? And what happens is we are so hungry spiritually that we consume anything.

And so people say, oh, they've got 100,000 followers on Instagram. And there's some great healer, or prophet, or apostle. So they must be right.

Not necessarily. Not necessarily. The devil promotes too.

The devil sometimes I think gets out of the way when somebody's already on his side, or at least is spewing out the deceptive words. And I didn't want to get much further into Acts because it kind of shifts a little bit. But the whole point was Jesus plus nothing equals everything, equals salvation.

Jesus plus nothing. You don't have to add anything to it. You just trust in Him and Him alone.

But let me tell you for most of us, especially in the American church, intimacy has a price. Intimacy has a price. And many people think, here's why I want to mention this, they think that if I just do something, a work, but that's not intimacy.

Intimacy is a pursuit. In other words, we have 630 a.m. Sunday worship every Sunday for the last 10 years. Some of us are here.

We've got worship on at 630. I always encourage people to go. But sometimes people come thinking, okay, if I do that, what He said, that's a work.

I remember a guy that did that many years ago. And he goes, I didn't get anything from it. Of course you didn't.

But if you say, God, I'm going to pursue You. I'm going to pursue You. I'm going to get out of that warm bed.

And I need to hear from You. I love You. I need to seek You with all of my heart.

And intimacy becomes a pursuit. And so many people make it a work. God's convicted me.

I used to read the Bible to check it off. I got through my chapters. I'm on schedule.

I've got to get through every year. I think I've been doing it 26 years now. And just every year, I've got to get, got to get, got to get.

And you're like, what did I just read? And now I've got to a point where I'm not putting a time limit on it. Because when you want that relationship, certain verses will just... will just, like the hymn of Isgar, I cannot get off of that chapter this week. She said, if I could just get to Jesus.

What a pursuit. What an example. And then the Psalms, and those who wait upon the Lord will not be ashamed.

Lord, help me not be ashamed. I want to wait upon You. What does that look like? And you're building that intimacy.

Instead of the checklist. I mean, it's good to have a plan, a regimen, a discipline. But intimacy, when you begin to replace pursuit with works, you actually become hard and rigid and dogmatic.

You lose the passion. You lose the zeal for the Lord. Because you're doing these things.

It's not about pursuit. What about if you told your spouse when you come home, I had to come home? What do you mean? If it were up to me, I'd be at Bill's house, in the man cave all weekend, grab a 12-pack of some strong ale. I wouldn't be home for a couple days, but I had to.

How's that marriage going to be? Same thing with our pursuit of Jesus. Intimacy is not works-based. And the fire of the Spirit must be stoked, not quenched.

The fire of the Spirit must be stoked, not quenched. Guys, do you know that the Bible promises He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. I've heard some people who don't like what I'm about to tell you, turn that and say, well, that's a fire of judgment.

He's going, what? Where do you get that context? Like, He's going to baptize you, a believer, with fire. We try to get away from the deepness and the deep things of God and making excuses. But the fire of the Spirit, guys, this morning, that's my passion.

You can stoke that fire. You can breathe life on that fire. You can throw gasoline on that fire in a good way.

Or you can quench it. And that's why I say the things I say. That's why sometimes it's hard to hear what I say.

But I've seen a life radically change. Thousands of lives radically change by being filled mightily with the Spirit. It doesn't mean all your problems are over.

Sometimes you get more. Really, Lord? And I've seen those people though quenching, they're dead to the things of God. They don't have a passion for His Word.

I don't even know where to start. I don't know what to do. Put on worship.

Oh, that's boring. There's something sick in your heart. That's just the truth.

The Bible says He would cry out. Jesus would cry out. All who are weak and heavy laden, come to Me and I will give you rest.

You don't think there was some inflection and passion in that? You bet there was. They didn't even have microphones. So when it says Jesus cried out, oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, I wanted you to come to Me.

But you were not willing. And to me, again, from my perspective, the biggest need in the church, of course, apart from salvation, is for believers to be filled with the Spirit of God. I've seen videos from the Middle East, underground church in China, when Bibles get there, boxes of Bibles.

They go crazy. They're crying. They're weeping over their Bibles.

They're in worship for hours. You come to America. Our blessing has become our curse.

Apathy has quenched the Spirit of God. We've got to get that fire back. And sometimes it comes through pain, but it also comes through a passion saying, God, I want more of You.

This next one's going to be a little tough. I kept it out of the notes on purpose. I was reading an email of a guy who encouraged me.

He's in a different country, I think, going through a lot of what I'm going through. And when I read this one line, that God spoke to him, it spoke to me very deeply and profoundly. Basically, God was telling him, I know you love Me, but do you trust Me? I've been struggling with that one all week.

Because He knows we love Him, but do we trust Him? Because trust means giving up control. I can't fix this. I want the best outcome, but God, what do You want? What are You doing? And it really hit.

It's so easy to love, but trust. Is my life really the best? What are You going to do to me, God? What are You going to take? How low are You going to take me? How much trial are You going to go through? How much pain? How much anxiety? How much depression? And you've got to wrestle with God. Maybe that's for some of you.

This morning, you love Him, but do you also trust Him? Isn't that so true? I thought of when I put this in here, modern-day Pharisees and legalists never experience intimacy, nor does the shallow, lukewarm, or indifferent Christian. So whatever side you're on, there's only one way to fix that. Repentance.

God, I've been prideful. I've been arrogant. I've been condescending.

I think I know it all. I'm more time in Your Word than with you. Repent.

Or carnal, lukewarm, indifferent. Here's how you know. Let's just be honest.

You guys okay with that? Is God boring? It's about half of you. Think about it. I mean, I know.

I'm in my twenties. God was... Boring. The Bible's boring.

Church is irrelevant. But I go because good people go. Boy, think about what you're saying.

The Creator of the universe. The One who holds the very breath that you breathe in the palm of His hands. He owns all of your ways.

You can come and you can worship Him. You can have intimacy with Him. You can know Him.

Golly, how is that boring? The problem is in your heart. It's an issue of the heart. We need the fire of the Spirit back like never before.

The fire of the Spirit doesn't destroy. It burns chains. It heals wounds and brings the dead heart back to life.

It's a song I've been listening to. We stand here in between mercy and the flame. Knowing You can consume us, still we call upon Your name.

Let Your glory fall like fire. Let it burn through every part until there's nothing left but worship. Until You come and purify our heart.

That's what we want. Guys, I don't want to lead a church that's bored of God, going through the motions. We're here to passionately pursue Him.

I mean, I could have had a long list even from church history. Moses cried out for more of God. We sang it.

Did you get that? Did that resonate with you? If it just blew by you, you don't know what you missed. Moses said, show me Your glory. Oh God, show me Your glory.

What about if we had more Christians saying, oh God, show me Your glory. Show me Your power. Your presence to send upon this place.

Melt the hardest of hearts. Convict the soul that needs conviction. Restore to me, good Lord, the years that the enemy has taken.

Show me Your glory. Where's that passion? What about Joshua? Joshua, it says he lingered in the presence of the Lord. How many of you are ready to get out of here and get to the buffet? King's stomach is calling.

Where are the lingers? Where are those who just want to linger in His presence and His worship? David said, one thing have I desired. I quoted this last month. One thing have I desired.

That's it. What is it? David? King David? That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol.

Oh Lord, create in me a clean heart. Return to me the joy of my salvation. There was a pursuit.

There was intimacy. There was a desire. Jeremiah wept for more of God.

And Isaiah cried out, Oh God, rend the heavens. Come down. Visit Your people.

Let the mountains shake in Your presence again. Oh, I love that. The power of God.

The presence of God. The disciples sought Him in an upper room for days. All the Christian literature, all the Christian literature we read is filled with words of men and women who desired more of God.

But sadly, nothing is written about those who didn't. Think about that. All these people you read, you like, you follow.

Maybe they're dead decades ago. They all pursued God. They were filled with God.

That's why we want them. That's why we want to read them. The desire.

We want that same desire. And that's why we put up that quote earlier. Modern day Pharisees and legalistic people never experience intimacy with Christ.

Do you know why? And I've talked to a lot of them. I used to be one. And like many of you, you know, you can tilt back in that direction pretty easily.

I'm going in the Pharisee direction. Lord, help me. Come back.

There's no intimacy. They don't want to pursue God. Why? Because they think they have enough.

They think they are good. You poor little people at the altar worshiping God for two hours. Oh my goodness.

If you just arrive where I'm at, it's disgusting. I've seen it many times before. Prideful.

Arrogant. But also if you're shallow, lukewarm, or indifferent, you can change that today and repent. What a beautiful word, isn't it? Repentance restores.

Repentance fixes. Repentance repairs, renews, reestablishes that relationship with the Lord. Praise God for deep, heartfelt, heart-searching repentance that says, God, I need more of You.

I want more of You. And that's why we have communion out today. We remember that relationship, but more importantly, Jesus plus nothing equals everything.

We remember the finished work of the cross. Here's why I get upset about works adding to Jesus' purgatory is a work. Is it not? You won't find that teaching anywhere in the Bible, but you still have to go be punished.

What? False doctrine. That's a heresy. Absolutely, I have no shadow of doubt in my mind.

You have to go be punished and deal with the shame and guilt? No, no, no, no. He said the word to tell us, Stuy. What's it mean? Well, actually, you want to go real deep.

It's a perfect tense, which means the action is ongoing and it's permanent. So it's ongoing and it's permanent. The finished work.

And we don't just say the finished work of Jesus, even though it's true. Who actually said it? Father, it is finished. And it says, I love the King James, He gave up His ghost.

Man, nothing is more important than what we're discussing this morning. Nothing. The finished work of Jesus Christ paid it all.

What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. The finished work on the cross.

And what I said earlier, many people are basically saying my works are more powerful or equal with Jesus' work on the cross. When they think you have to do this, and guys, the only reason I say things like this is to wake people up. If you go deep and you search deep, okay, Roman Catholicism, Jehovah Witness, Islam for sure, Mormonism, there's all works.

You have to do. I had some Jehovah Witness up a couple years ago. So we go door to door, you guys don't do anything yet because you have to.

You have to, to say, I'm going to save you. I don't have to. I should want to.

You got me on that one. They add, add, add. It's a false doctrine because they don't have the Spirit of God in them.

Can you imagine my works are just as powerful as Jesus' work on the cross? I'm going to add that to the cross. That's why when you get to heaven, it's not a court hearing. What verse do you see in the Bible where it says it's a court hearing? But yet, you run into people all the time, oh, I hope God sees all my work.

Here's what they'll do. Well, I hope He weighs. Where do you get that nonsense? Where do you get that nonsense? You stand before the great judge and he says, what did you do with my son? What did you do with my son? That's why you either hear, well done, thou good and faithful servant, or depart from me, I never knew you.

Those are the options, folks. Choose because the road is narrow to Christ, choose Him and Him alone. So what we do with communion is we remember the blood that was shed.

And the breaking of the bread represents how Jesus allowed His body to be physically wounded, tortured, and ultimately given up to pay the penalty for sin. From the brokenness of His body flowed the blood that saves us. Unbelievable.

Tell me, please. I'll be in the prayer room. What topic is more important? Thank You, Jesus, for the precious blood.

And it's so simple, isn't it? Even a child listening can understand. I need God. And I highlighted this to remind myself.

It's not in the notes. But Jesus would often like, no, bring the little ones. Remember that passage? Can you imagine Jesus praying for your child? Oh, my gosh.

Can you imagine? Unbelievable. So I know it might be a little challenging, but I want to encourage parents. If your children need prayer, check them out of CM.

Bring them to the prayer room. If there's a demonic influence, nightmares, bad dreams, you don't know where they're at with the Lord, they're going through challenging situations, struggling, depression, anxiety, let us pray for the little ones. It's powerful, especially when parents lead the way.

Oh, no, no, Johnny, you'll be okay. No, he's not okay. No kid's okay without the covering of Christ over them.

Parents, the most important job you have is covering your children in prayer. We've all dropped the ball. Hello? But we can pick it back up again and keep running.

So the prayer team's going to be available. I have a feeling I'll be tied up in baptisms, but Paula will be there, Chris, Julie, I see some other prayer team members there, Morgan if you want as well, other people. We're just going to pray for kids.

And prayer requests too. So if you have any prayer requests, you don't have any kids, they're grown up, they're prodigals. We prayed for prodigals this morning.

We have a 7.30 a.m. prayer meeting by the way. If you enjoy these services, you feel God powerfully, it didn't start at 8.30. Can I tell you a secret? It starts about 6.30 and then it rolls right into the prayer meeting at 7.30. And that's why many people are hungry for more of God. So I want to encourage you, set that alarm clock.

Set that alarm clock. Be here at 6.30. Worship with us. Prayer at 7.30. It's a pursuit.

Pursuing God, there's a cost. There's always a cost to pursuing God.