Gospel—Tim Roach
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Maybe we could start our meeting tonight by seeing #4. Christ is the Savior of sinners. Christ is the Savior. For me, long I was changing since darkness. Now by His grace, I am free number 4.
Christ is the same.
Nobody is great, I am afraid.
Save the game.
So I'm saying I'm flying through my clinic.
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I want to talk tonight about the Lord Jesus and His touch, the touch of Jesus hand and we will look in Matthew chapter 8.
And we know that sin is dirty.
And we're going to look at the contaminating aspect of sin. Matthew chapter 8, and we'll begin at verse one.
When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him, and behold, there came a leper, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand and touched him, saying, I will.
Be thou clean, and immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
This story, it says that the Lord Jesus came down, came down from the mountain, that that reminds me of the Lord Jesus when he came down from heaven, the Father sent his son to be the savior of the world and the Lord Jesus says I will go.
And so the Lord Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
And then our the verses here say the multitudes followed him. And so we know that there's many people going to many churches. We have many people here tonight. You're following Jesus. Maybe you're saved, maybe you're not, but you're following Jesus. You're here listening to the gospel meeting, and you're almost saved. You are almost saved. You know the Lord Jesus has come to die for you. You know that you are a Sinner. You know the gospel. You pray.
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You know the the Bible verses. You are almost saved, but are you?
Are you really saved? Multitudes are following Jesus.
Then this story is about a leper.
The leper, it's a disease that.
There are different types of leprosy. I believe in the Bible, but it's a disease that makes you unclean, it makes you dirty. And there's many the lepers they had to call out when someone came near, They had to say unclean, unclean, and to let other people know don't come near because I'm contagious. And there's other contagious diseases today. There's HIV, there's AIDS and hepatitis B, and there's so many things that are contagious. But we just got done our camp in in Michigan and a lot of us got colds. They're contagious. We get sick because other people are sick. And that's just the way it is. And leprosy is that way.
In Jude chapter one, verse 23, it says and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. And so our lives become spotted by sin.
And we become contagious. And so I want hopefully, by God's grace and His love, can pull you out of the danger zone of hell fire tonight and put on you a clean garment, A garment that is suitable for the presence of the Lord Jesus.
And so I It is my desire tonight that you are clothed with the righteousness of God.
Colossians Chapter 3.
We'll look at a verse, some verses there.
I'll talk a little bit more before we read these verses sin.
It makes you dirty.
You Maybe you don't have leprosy or aids, but what about disobeying your parents? Or dishonouring your teacher at school? Or cheating in math class? I used to be pretty good in math when I was in grade school. Then one day, the boy next to me, he took the teacher's lesson book home and copy down all the answers in his notebook. Well.
He offered me that book.
Not the teachers book. I wouldn't take that I wasn't that bad. But I took his notebook and I took it and I read, wrote down all the answers in my notebook and.
Sin was contagious. I took his notebook. It was contagious. That summer I had a diving accident, drove off the rocks down into the water. I didn't dive out far enough and I landed head first on the rocks and crushed the vertebrae in my neck and split my head open.
I floated face down in the water in the current and Mr. Barry was downstream and pulled me out and they took me to the hospital.
Since that time I haven't been very good in math, but.
But it's a consequence, perhaps, of cheating.
But there was good news, because later that summer, in a Gospel meeting, Mr.
And I got saved and I thank God for that. Well, sin is contagious and it affects other people and it has long lasting effects.
Colossians 3 verse 5. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil, concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
We're gonna talk about sin tonight. Sin is what gets us into trouble. We're gonna talk about sin. This verse says mortify fornication. How do you mortify fornication? It means to flee or to run away from the temptation. Just like Joseph, he ran away from Potiphar's wife to get away from her quickly. So mortify does not mean to get as close as you can to the temptation and then resist it. No mortify. Mortify means.
To put to death. And so we need to put to death that temptation, Get as far away as we can from that temptation. While the list in our verse it goes on says uncleanness, inordinate affections, vile passions, evil concupiscence.
Covetousness. Covetousness is uncontrolled desire.
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And.
Can desire for money, success, power, and these things so contain us and occupy us? It's idolatry. God calls it idolatry, and it's called idolatry because we begin to worship these things. And this uncontrolled desire can also refer to the lust of uncleanness that we have mentioned at the top of the list in this verse. Uncleanness I believe is more extensively described in Romans chapter one.
Let's go to Romans chapter one.
And we'll start at verse 24, and we'll see in these verses that uncleanness also refers to homosexuality.
Romans One verse 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves, who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature.
So they worshipped, and they served their own bodies more than the Creator, who is blessed forevermore. 26 For this God, for this 'cause God gave them up unto vile affections.
For even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature.
The world has created an atmosphere that says it's normal and it's natural for a woman to marry a woman and for a man to marry a man. And society has attempted to normalize this unnatural relationship. And now some young people from Christian families, they become confused by their identity because it's the they're given that liberty in school to choose.
And it may be that you have been lured into the idea that homosexual relationships are OK.
And you begin to rationalize in your mind how you can make this acceptable to your circle of friends.
Let's read verse 27.
And likewise also the man leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust, one toward another, men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error.
Which was meat.
Recompense of their error that they receive in themselves.
What does that recommend? It's likely HIV, AIDS, syphilis, guilt, and more guilt. And ultimately it's doubting God that God even exists.
Because you can't go on when you know there is a God and you know it's a sin. It doesn't matter what sin is if you refuse to bow the knee to God and you continue in whatever sin it is.
You can't go on that way unless you decide in your heart that there is no God, because if there is a God then you need to.
Submit yourself to him. And so uncleanness in these verses seems to be closely connected with the spiritual, with the scriptural practice of homosexuality and heathen worship. And by scriptural practice I mean that homosexuality was practiced in the Bible times and the Bible.
Records it in scripture.
But it is the goodness of God that it is, that homosexuality is a sin that Christ died for.
And if you struggle with homosexuality, I want you to know that Jesus loves you.
And he wants to help you through that struggle and in first Peter chapter one and verse 7.
We see that Jesus wants you to cast your struggles on him because he cares about you.
Cast all your care on him, for he cares for you. Homosexuality is a forgivable sin.
And Jesus has forgiveness reserved for you.
Let's look at Acts Chapter 10, verse 43.
Acts 10 verse 43 To him give all the prophets witness that through Jesus name whosoever believes in him shall receive remission of sins.
That's forgiveness of sins, you know, talking about these things.
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Makes us uncomfortable.
And feel dirty.
And that is because sin makes you dirty.
Well, let's go back to our story. In Matthew 8, the man was a leper. And this, this leper, he recognized his dirty condition. He knew that he had a need, this dirty contagious leper. He wanted to be clean, and so he came to the Lord Jesus and he worshipped him. He knew that Jesus is God, and so he came and he bowed the knee in worship. God says that every knee shall bow, so one day you will bow the knee to Jesus.
And I ask, will you willingly bow the knee tonight and worship the Lord Jesus?
Or will you be forced to bow the knee at the great white throne? Either way, either way, you will bow your knee to the Lord Jesus and God will be glorified.
At the Great White throne, the Lord Jesus will have the preeminence, and that means Jesus will have the first place in the rank, in position, in influence, in importance. He will have the preeminence because he is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings, and he will have the preeminence as you are sent to an eternal damnation in the fires of hell. And Jesus will be glorified because God's justice.
We'll be satisfied.
The leper. The leper knew he was dirty.
And he asked the Lord Jesus, if you want to, you can make me clean.
He believed Jesus could do it, and he believed Jesus would do it. He would heal him.
And make him clean.
He knew he didn't deserve it, but he trusted in the grace and the mercy and the love of God. And so, because of the leper's faith, the Lord Jesus put forth his hand and touched him.
A verse says he was cleansed.
He was cleansed from that dirty, contagious disease of leprosy, and Jesus wants to cleanse you.
From your dirty contagious disease of sin tonight.
First, John 17 says the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, will cleanse you from every sin.
And you don't even need to confess your sins to be saved. All you need to do is to repent towards God and to believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.
Matthew chapter 8 again, verse 14. This is another story.
And it's about the restlessness and the unsatisfied condition of this lady, and that that compares to our restlessness and unsatisfaction in our life of sin. Matthew, chapter 8, verse 14. And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid and sick of a fever, and he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she arose and ministered unto them.
This woman says she was laid. In other words, she had no strength to get on the bed herself. They had to pick her up and set her on her bed, and they laid her there. She did not have the strength to get on the bed without help. She was weak and she was sick and she was without strength.
This is like the Sinner who doesn't have strength to do good, doesn't have the strength to please God doesn't, is not able to get saved by his own works and his own ideas. Romans chapter 5 and verse 6.
Romans 5 verse 6.
When we were without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly.
The lady in our story, Peter's mother-in-law. She had a fever.
And she was unsatisfied trying to get relief. I know in Malawi, there's a lot of people get malaria from the mosquitoes there. And when they're sick with malaria, they often get high fevers and they get brain damage and they vomit and they're restless, and they're looking for relief and they can't get it. And this is just like the effects of sin. Your soul has a fever, and you're thirsty for satisfaction. And so you look to the movies and you look to them, to the music.
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And entertainment and you go.
Play sports and and you find friends and you and you fill up your time with work or school and you're trying to fill the emptiness that's growing inside of you.
But nothing satisfies. But you keep on trying time and again but you come up empty every time. In Ecclesiastes verse chapter one and verse eight it says the eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the hear, the ear with hearing. And then in chapter 4 and verse 8 says something like this.
A person works all the time, but he's not satisfied with the money that he received.
There's no satisfaction in this world.
Well, this lady in our story, Peter's mother-in-law, she had a fever and she could not get satisfaction and so it says that Jesus reached, reached out and our verse says he touched.
Her hand. It is only through the touch of Jesus hand that you will receive satisfaction. You cannot be satisfied any other way. And so at the touch of Jesus hand, Peter's mother-in-law, she arose, she arose, She had life. The Lord Jesus says, I give unto them, My sheep hear my voice, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
Have you heard Jesus voice? Are you following Jesus?
Have you been touched by Jesus hand? Let's go to John 11.
John 11.
Verse 26.
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
Believe us now this whosoever liveth.
There's evidence that you have life. There's evidence.
That you are saved. There's evidence that you believe. Well, Peter's mother-in-law Jesus touched her hand and she arose, and a verse says that she ministered unto them. There was evidence of life. And if you are saved, there will be evidence in your life. There will be service. There will be worship if there's evidence of good works but you don't believe.
You're not saved, but if you believe and there's no evidence.
There's no repentance.
You're probably not saved.
Belief and evidence for repentance. They go together for salvation without belief. Without repentance, you will perish.
So I ask you, is there evidence in your life to show that you are a believer?
Let's go to Matthew 20.
We have another story here.
It's about two blind men.
And so let's read Matthew chapter 20.
And we'll start at verse 29.
And then the the two blind men as they departed from Jericho, I'm sorry, this is Lord Jesus. As they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. And behold, 2 blind men sitting by the wayside, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord thou son of David. And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace, but they cried them more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.
And Jesus stood still, and called to them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.
Excuse me, verse 34.
So Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes, and immediately their eyes received sight and they followed him.
An unrepentant or unbelieving Sinner is spiritually blind. He is not able to see the Kingdom of God. He is not able to understand how or why he needs to be saved. And so if you are spiritually blind, you need to be born again. You need to have that life. Second Corinthians, chapter 4.
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And verse four it tells us that the God of this world that is Satan.
The God of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God.
Should shine unto them. And so every heathen who recognizes God through creation.
And dies without hearing about Jesus.
It is because they've had their eyes blinded so that the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ would not shine unto them.
And you may say, that's not fair of God.
But let me tell you that the heathen do not go to hell because their eyes are blinded. They go to hell because they did not believe. Our verse is very clearly that Satan has blinded the minds of them that don't believe.
And you? You are no different. You will not go to hell because your mind has been spiritually blinded.
You will go to hell because you rejected Jesus Christ. You did not believe and you did not repent. Romans 10.
Romans 10 verse 13.
I like this verse going along together with the the two blind men who cried out to Jesus. And they said, Lord, open our eyes. And in Romans 10, verse 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. These two blind men they called upon the name of the Lord, and he healed them.
Now let's talk about you.
You are a Sinner.
You have a problem.
You're blinded by sin.
You need to call on the Lord and tell Jesus. Tell the Lord Jesus your problem of sin and your helplessness and ask Jesus to save you just like these blind men Lord.
We want to see.
And so the Lord Jesus he touched their eyes.
The touch of Jesus eyes. The touch of Jesus hand.
Can open your eyes so that you can see your condition of sin, so that you can see the danger of judgment, and so that you can see your need of a Savior. And Jesus will open your eyes so that you can see him as your Lord and Savior. Well, the wonderful thing is that these two blind men, they received their sight and they were healed. When you believe in the Lord Jesus, you also will receive spiritual sight.
So you can see the Lord Jesus, so you can be saved, and so that you can follow him.
Let's go to Romans chapter 6.
You can follow the Lord Jesus once you are saved. Romans 6, verse 3.
Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death?
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead.
By the glory of the Father, Even so, we also should walk in newness.
Of life. Baptism makes you a disciple of Christ.
And a disciple is one who follows. And when we are a symbol and when we are, when we are baptized into his death, we're symbolizing a fact that our old life is dead and it's buried under the waters of baptism. And from now on we are going to follow Jesus Christ. We're able to walk in newness of life, and so we're going to follow Jesus. That's what it means when you're baptized.
It means you want to follow Jesus and so.
If you're going to be baptized, you need to be true to your baptism, and so it's good to follow Jesus.
Back in our story in Matthew chapter 20.
Our story says about the two blind men who received their sight. It says they followed him, they were they, they were healed and they began to follow the Lord Jesus. And so part of salvation is repentance. Repentance is to turn away from the sin and to turn away from yourself and to confess Jesus as Lord.
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And to follow him I ask you, Is Jesus the Lord of your life?
Or do you make your own choices?
You make your own decisions.
Are you ready to follow the Lord?
I cannot tell you how to follow the Lord.
To follow the Lord is just a it's just a natural response that you will have after you receive eternal life.
And you will receive eternal life by being touched by Jesus hand.
Let's go to another verse in John chapter 6.
John chapter 6 and verse 66.
From that time, many of his disciples went, Washington went back and walked no more with him.
Someone here might be hesitant to follow Jesus, to forsake all and to follow Jesus. Why? Why would you be hesitant to follow Jesus to leave everything else behind?
Maybe it's because you're not saved and you don't have the life that wants to follow him.
Or maybe you are saved, but there's guilt in your life that weighs heavily on your conscience.
Maybe he's cheating in school.
Maybe it's dishonest business practices.
Maybe your sin and your guilt comes from involvement in politics.
Especially this time of year.
In politics, perhaps consume you so you have no time for God.
And you're frustrated.
Because it doesn't matter which candidate Trump's the other.
There's no good choice.
But one of them will be God's choice.
It won't be man's choice, It will be God's choice. And we're told that God and Daniel were told that God chooses the basest of men to rule in his Kingdom, in the Kingdom of men.
Maybe your guilt.
Maybe your kilt comes from failure in sexual passion.
Matthew chapter 5. Let's go to Matthew chapter 5.
I'm sorry to be talking so much about sin.
But sin is what separates you from God. And if you don't recognize that, you are a Sinner.
There's really no hope for you.
Because you need to see yourself as God sees you.
And the Lord Jesus came to save the sinners. He didn't come to save the good people.
Lord Jesus didn't come here to condemn you.
To hell he came to save you. And so I want you to understand that your sin is what separates you from God and you need to have that sin taken away. Matthew 5, verse 28. Whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.
So what is this first talking about?
We need to be careful when we look at women, at women, so that we don't look at them with lust in our hearts.
I guess it goes the same way for women looking at men, but sometimes this verse is about when you are obsessed with a picture on the Internet or in a magazine.
And the lust in your heart will rob you from peace and that guilt.
Can overwhelm you.
And perhaps it's that guilt that's preventing you from asking for your place at the Lord's table.
In James chapter one and verse 15 he says.
When lust has conceived, it brings forth sin, and when it is finished, it brings forth death.
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Lust. Lust can destroy your marriage. It can destroy your family. It can destroy your dignity. It can destroy your integrity. It can destroy your job or your business or your friends. And it can mess up your relationships with those in the assembly.
Lust, when it is finished, brings forth death to many areas.
Of our life.
And so you need help.
But in this type of lust?
It's hard to ask for help. It's embarrassing and you can't overcome this kind of lust by resisting it. You need to flee from it. To run away from those pictures, you need to confess it.
Destroy it and forsake it. First John, Chapter One.
First John chapter one and verse 9. Now this verse is for believers.
Because if if you are getting saved tonight.
You might have these struggles too, and so God writes this verse to believers. Remember I said earlier that you can't get saved by confessing your sins, But this verse says we should confess our sins? But this verse is to a believer. It's the believer who confesses his sins.
Verse 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin.
And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And so Jesus wants to save you from your sin.
He wants you to enjoy your eternal life and He wants you to live.
By the Spirit and Proverbs 28 verse 13 it says he that covers his sins shall not prosper.
But whosoever confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy.
You need to believe the promises of the Lord, that when whatever your sin is, when you confess and you forsake your sin, the Lord will forgive you, just like it says in first John 19. If we confess our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And so the Lord will forgive your sin, you will justify you, He will take the guilt away.
And then when the guilt of sin is gone.
And you accept the fact that there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.
Then you will be free from the law of sin and death and you will want to follow the Lord Jesus. You follow Jesus as your Lord and so the touch of Jesus hand leads to walking in newness of life.
So I want to emphasize the the fact that it's a believer that confesses his sin. An unbeliever doesn't confess his sin, but he confesses that he is a Sinner.
And so and then he repents, and then he believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, and he'll be saved.
Let me talk a little bit about Peter.
Peter was out in a boat with the other disciples.
They got in the boat, went out in the lake, and there was a storm. The Lord Jesus wasn't with them. And the way the wind began to blow and the waves were very boisterous and the ship was rocking and they were afraid, and the Lord Jesus came to them walking on the water.
And they thought it was a ghost and they were afraid. And the Lord Jesus tells them don't be afraid.
It is high.
And so Peter says, Lord, if it's you, bid me to come to you on the water.
And there was danger all around. The waves were boisterous. And Jesus says to Peter, he says, come.
Come, Jesus is here.
You don't see him, but he's here. Jesus is here tonight, he's saying, come.
Come unto me, all you who are struggling with your sin.
He says I will give you rest.
Don't you want to have peace from the guilt of your sin? Don't you want to have peace tonight, have peace in this life?
Peter took a step of faith.
He got out of the boat and he walked on the water.
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He had never done that before.
He walked on the water and he was coming to Jesus.
But on the way he sinned on his way to Jesus.
He was sinking deep in his sin of doubt.
Are you? Are you doubting that Jesus has the power to save you?
To save you from your sin. Because as you look around you, you see that the boisterous waves of your sin is too strong for you to deal with. And Satan's there telling you you have time, don't worry about it. If you get saved, you can't enjoy this life and your doubts become too strong for you to deal with. Well, that's what happened to Peter. His situation was too difficult and he looked around him and he began to doubt and he began to sing.
And he realized he had no power.
To overcome his sin with his own strength. And so Peter calls out to the Lord. He says, Lord, save me.
And he said that as he was sinking deep into the waves of his sin.
And that is what the Lord wants to hear from you tonight. He wants to hear an admission of guilt.
He wants to hear a call of faith.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and don't depend on your abilities. Don't depend on your.
Your understanding.
When Peter called out to the Lord and said, Lord save me immediately, Jesus hands stretched forth his.
And the touch of Jesus hand save Peter.
Jesus is here tonight stretching out his hands to you.
He stretched them out 2000 years ago when they put him on the cross.
And he hang there for your sins. He took the punishment for you because he loves you.
And he stretches out his arms for you tonight, he says. Come.
If you're ready.
To turn away from your sin and repentance towards God.
And you believe on the Lord Jesus as your savior tonight?
Call to Jesus's Lord.
And he will touch you. He will be touched by Jesus hand.
After Peter was touched by Jesus hand.
Peter lived his life to serve the Lord.
And later on.
Jesus gave Peter eternal life.
And he gave him the Holy Spirit, and he gave him the word of God. Peter had everything he needed to overcome any temptations of life, and he was able to live a life that gave glory and honor to the Lord Jesus. And Jesus offers these same gifts to you, eternal life, the Holy Spirit, the word of God. And he also gives you an association in the body of Christ with other believers.
Whosoever believes on the Lord Jesus will have.
Everlasting life.
The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, will cleanse you from all your sin.
After you believe.
You'll be sealed by the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit of God is a guarantee that you are saved as a guarantee that you will go to be with the Lord Jesus in heaven.
Now he wants you to be kept pure.
And to have other godly friends in the body of Christ.
And so that you will be prepared to serve the Lord Jesus.
The Bible tells us.
In Acts chapter 2.
It says.
They that received His Word were baptized.
And again in Acts chapter 8.
It says when they believed they were baptized.
Both men and women.
If you are going to be saved tonight, or maybe you're already saved and you haven't been baptized, you need to be baptized.
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You need to be baptized so you can be ready to follow Jesus.
Baptism makes you a disciple, and a disciple follows Jesus.
Baptism.
Says I want to be identified.
With Jesus Christ.
Before we close, I want to share a poem that I wrote.
With you about the touch of Jesus hand. Some of you may have heard this before, but I'll read it again.
The touch of Jesus hand.
The leper came and worshipped too humbly. He could not stand to ask the Lord for cleansing through the touch of Jesus hand.
He came just then. Her health was dim, her fever to command. She had no strength to ask of him the touch of Jesus hand.
For two blind men, mercy would be their eyesight in demand.
By faith it was that they could see the touch of Jesus hand.
The prayer of faith shall save the sick belief held by a strand.
His will be done. We can't predict the touch of Jesus hand.
My guilt is justified by grace.
By faith and blood I stand.
With peace of God, I can embrace the touch.
Of Jesus hand.
If you have not yet experienced the touch of Jesus hand.
And you want to be saved tonight?
Come and talk with me.
Maybe you're struggling in your sin.
You need to be saved.
You need to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus. Let's sing.
#21
Decide for Christ today.
And God's salvation sea.
Your soul and body, heart, and will to him who died for thee.
Christ alone can save, break the power of sin. Christ is fully satisfied the heart that cleaves to him #21.
Decide for Christmas.
Day.
If I am right now.