Matthew 27 (Part 1) :1-10

Matthew Chapter 27 is where we are. We're going to take the first 10 verses today, and then we'll pray. So read along with me as I read. It goes like this.

let's stop there and let's pray. Heavenly father, open our hearts to what we're talking about today, what we're seeing here in the scripture and guide us and direct us in wisdom. We look to you, father, we are utterly dependent upon you and your Holy spirit. And we ask that you would lead us Lord in Jesus name. Amen. This begins by telling us that the religious leaders, and by the way, it says at dawn or at the beginning of the day, that tells us everything else went on during while it was still dark. And they then brought Jesus to the Roman governor, they had to bring Jesus to the governor, very simply because the Jews were under Roman occupation, they had been conquered by Rome, and they did not have the right of capital punishment, they could not put a man to death. Sometimes they did it anyway. Because later on in the book of Acts, you'll notice that they they stoned Stephen, as the first Christian martyr. But they did it against the law, how much trouble they got in for doing it, I don't know, they decided they didn't want to risk that with Jesus, lest Rome, take it out on them, or whatever the case might be. But so, you know, they had some problems ahead of them, they had to convince the governor that this man had had done something worthy of capital punishment. And that was not that was a tough sell. And and we know from the other gospel accounts that they basically never did convince Pilate, several times Jesus sent was sent back. And Pilate said, I don't find any reason that this man should be crucified, go and take him and deal with him yourself. And they and they kept coming back, the Jews would say, Yeah, but we can't because we don't have the right to kill him. And so they they tipped their hand exactly what they wanted. They wanted Jesus dead, and nothing less. And that's kind of what was going on in all that. And, and we'll deal more with Pilate here in the coming week or two. What we want to talk about this morning is we want to talk about Judas. Judas, that that man we love to hate. And frankly, there are some things that we can learn from Judas's life, and even from his death for that matter. I want you to to notice here with me in verse three, that it says then when Judas, his betrayer, meaning the betrayer of Jesus saw that Jesus was condemned, I think Judas knew in his heart what would this was gonna how this was going to all end. He knew and saw that the religious leaders were out to eliminate Jesus. We don't know if Judas really wanted that himself. I doubt it. Really, you know, there's been a lot of people who've tried to speculate, you know, what was what was going on with Judas? Was he just a political zealot who wanted to advance the kingdom of God? And he thought that the best way to do that was to get Jesus arrested so he could finally appear before the religious leaders. And then they'd understand or something that you know, you remember the old movie, The Jesus of Nazareth, that's kind of what they conveyed in that movie, which is not biblical at all. All we know about Judas is that he was a thief. I mean, that's pretty much all we know. He was a covetous man who dipped into the money bag of the disciples used for to meet their expenses. And that's really all we know. And so, you know, he betrayed the Lord for 30 pieces of silver, of which he never spent a single penny. And that's, you know, that was kind of probably what was behind it was probably just money. But it says here, and I read it out of the ESV, but you'll notice that it says he changed his mind. If you have an old King James on your lap this morning, your Bible says actually, that he repented. Now that has given rise in the mind of some people to wonder, oh, well, maybe Judas repented. Maybe Judas got right with God, since it says here that he repented. Well, actually, this is a different word than what you and I would normally read in our Bibles that is translated, repent or repented. This word actually speaks more of regret and remorse. And let me tell you something, and I think you probably already know this. But then by way of reminder, let me say to you that you can be regretful of your actions without repenting. You can regret what you've done with no intention in your mind to change direction and to stop doing what you did. I'm just sorry it happened. I'll probably do it again. But I'm you know, in fact, I'm planning on it, but I'm sorry that it hurt you along the way. I'm sorry people got hurt. I'm sorry it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to turn out. But I'll be doing it again. You see, you can regret something without repenting about that thing. So there are actually a few other reasons why I don't happen to believe that Judas got right with God. One of them is his own actions. We read in the passage and it says that after giving back the money, he went and committed suicide. He hung himself. And that is the action of a hopeless man. And because suicide is the ultimate act of hopelessness, you know, there's no reason to live, there's nothing to live for. So I'm just going to end my life. I can't, I can't bear to live under the burden of what has happened or what I've done or, or whatever, or what somebody's done to me or whatever the case may be. I'm just going to end my life. Well, that tells you right there that he didn't repent. He didn't turn from his sin because repentance, true repentance, does not leave a person hopeless. In fact, it generates hope. When we really truly turn from our sin, there is a hopeful condition that results, the Bible says that it actually brings life. Let me show you a passage from second Corinthians on the screen, where Paul writes about this very thing. And he says, for godly grief, there's such a thing as godly grief, he says it actually produces repentance. And that leads to salvation. Notice what it says without regret. So when you truly biblically and in a godly way, repent of your sin, there's no regret. We'll talk about why in just a minute. But notice he says on the converse, worldly grief, what does it do? It produces death. That's that hopeless condition. That's what tells you and I that Judas didn't get right with God. He was hopeless. It was a true regret. It was a true grief that Judas felt. But it was not a godly grief, it was a worldly grief, because it produced death as a result. Why does it produce death? Why does worldly grief produce death? Because there's no outlet. There's no resolution. There's nothing you can do with your sin. It's just sitting there, rotting in front of you. And it stinks, and it's painful, and it's horrible, and it's bloated. Can I think of any other adjectives to maybe kind of illustrate this in your minds? It's awful, right? There's nothing you can do. So what happens? It's just this hopeless sort of a situation. Grief without dealing with it and so forth. You know, Christians, we have to be very careful talking to unbelievers about sin. Because the world already thinks that we kind of obsess over sin anyway. You Christians, you guys are always talking about sin. What a drag. Don't you guys ever smile? Don't you ever have fun? Don't you guys ever laugh? I never hear you talk about anything except sin, sin, sin. That's not exactly the truth. But we do major on it, to be completely honest. The reason we do, and the reason we're not Other talking about sin is we've learned how to deal with our sin, right? We go to the cross. And what do we find at the cross? We find forgiveness. We find cleansing. We find new life. By the way, that's what godly grief is. It's grief that makes you go to the cross. That's what brings life. That's what makes it godly grief. People are grieving over their sin, and the best thing you can ask them is, well, have you gone to the cross? Have you found cleansing? Have you been forgiven for your sin? Many times people just grieve without going to the cross. But we as Christians have mistakenly believed that because someone's grieving over sin, oh, well, they've repented. Oh, no, no, no, no. Not necessarily. Just because someone's crying a tear, maybe they're hearing the word of god or they're watching something on TV, hearing something on the radio, you know, they're reading their Bible. A tear comes down their cheek, oh, and we think to ourselves, oh, they've been touched by the word of god. Yeah, maybe touched, but repented? Not necessarily. Grieved? Sure. But is it godly grief or is it worldly grief? How do you know? If it's worldly grief, it ends in death. If it's godly grief, it's because they went to the cross and they found forgiveness, and now they're doing the happy dance. Because this isn't going to get me down. You know, this sin that I've been worried about, that I've been burdened about, that I've been bummed out about, it's not going to hold me down. Jesus forgave my sin. It's the reason. If there was ever a reason to do a happy dance, that was it. You don't want to see me do one that's not pretty. But in my heart, I want to. Because it's good news. It's good news, you guys. You're forgiven. But you see, we seem to kind of emphasize or major on the bad news all the time. I share this carefully, but sometimes I see Christians getting involved in political process related to the Ten Commandments and being able to display the Ten Commandments. You've seen it on the news. The world doesn't want the Ten Commandments displayed on public property, or even on private property for that matter, if they can get away with it. And they just don't want the Word of God, period. But we Christians, sometimes, we'll fall on our swords over this issue. Well, it's my right to the Ten Commandments. There's nothing wrong with the Ten Commandments from the standpoint that it's the Word of God. But do you understand something about the Ten Commandments, you guys? It's the bad news. And it kills. And that's not my word. That's Paul, the Apostle's words. He said, the letter of the law kills. Do you understand that? That is the essence of the bad news. You know what? The Ten Commandments, if you really, first of all, you can't live by the Ten Commandments. You can try, but you're not going to do it successfully, ever. So what does that do? You feel condemned. Right? You try to live by the Ten Commandments, you're going to walk around with this weight on your shoulder because you're trying to live, not good news, but bad news. The bad news is you're a dirty, rotten, creepy sinner. That's it, right there. And so, you know, it's like, we want people to live with it. Hey, guess what, dirty, rotten, creepy sinner? There's no way out. God bless you. That's crazy. You know what that's going to do? That's going to end up the way Judas ended up. Death. No outlet. No hope. Nothing to resolve the issue with. Okay, so great. If you want to display the Ten Commandments, fine, display them, but you better tag on the end of that, but Jesus bore your sin, and if you will receive Him as Savior, all the letter of the law against you is wiped out. You better give the good news with the bad news. Amen? It's important that we Christians understand that, that we don't go around just kind of doing to everybody like Judas, where there's no hope, there's no life, and there's no outlet. There's other reasons, frankly, that I don't think Judas was a man who was restored to the Lord. I don't think he was a man who got right with God. Jesus Himself, just in the last chapter, said about Judas, it would be better if that man hadn't been born. That doesn't sound to me like something you'd say over somebody who got right with God. And then later on, you know, Peter made a comment about Judas. Do you remember? In Acts chapter 1, they decided they needed to fill Judas's spot, because he was obviously missing. He'd been with them for a long time. Now he's missing. He's dead. He's gone. And so Peter stood up among the brothers and he said, guys, you might have noticed, Judas isn't here. So we need to fill the hole that he left. And so what did he do? They basically got together and they had a committee meeting. It's the last committee meeting in the Bible, by the way. It's interesting, but yeah, they had a committee meeting and they decided to nominate a couple of guys for replacement apostles, and then you know what they did? It says they cast lots. That's a really fancy way of saying they rolled the dice. I'm not kidding. Can you imagine? We need a new apostle, guys. Ready? Here it comes. Lucky number seven. Seven. Here it comes. Lucky number seven. Here we go. Boom. Yay! Number six. Sorry, Matthias. You got it. Do you know they never... And this is an aside, but that's the last time we ever see any decisions made by casting lots in the Bible. Did you know that? It happens in the Old Testament. Happens in Acts chapter 1. Then what happens? Acts chapter 2 happens. The Holy Spirit falls. Boom! And suddenly now, we're not casting dice anymore to figure out who's doing what. The Holy Spirit is now talking to us. And now you get on farther into Acts and you see that they're worshiping together, and the Holy Spirit speaks and says, set apart Paul and Barnabas for the ministry to which I've called. And that starts a ball rolling in the church called spirit-led leadership, selection. Rather than lucky number, who gets to be elder this week? Here we go. Let's check your numbers. Here it comes. Boom. That's a dumb idea. Right? Anyway. The reason I told that story, I almost got lost there, was because here's what Peter said. Let me put this on the screen. They prayed after they, you know, as they're casting lots and they said, you Lord, you know, who know the hearts of all, show us, you know, by lucky number seven, who, you know, of these two that you've chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside, look at this, look at this last phrase, to go to his own place. That phrase, his own place, is a euphemism for to go to his doom. And that's why if you have an NIV on your lap, you'll notice that it actually says to go to where he belongs. And again, it's a very sobering, difficult sort of a statement that just kind of tells us that Judas didn't get right with God. And I'm making this point not just to bring you down, not trying to be Debbie Downer here this morning. I'm trying to make a point that there are some things that we can learn about Judas and the fact that he didn't get right with God and so forth. He's kind of a case study in what not to do when you've been given a revelation of sin. There's a question that I want to consider along these lines, and it's one that may not be popular in everyone's mind. But the question is this, what if, and it's a what if, okay, which there's always a little danger doing the what ifs, but what if Judas had truly repented? What if he had gone to the cross? What if he would have sought forgiveness for his sin? Could he have been made right with God? Well, honestly, I think so. I don't think that the cross is too weak to handle just about anything. I mean, you think about what did he do? He betrayed the Lord. He betrayed the Lord. And you might say, well, that sounds to me like it doesn't get any worse than that. Well, how about killing the Lord? Try that one on for size. Do you know that Peter later on in Acts 2 actually confronted the Jews and said to them, well, let me show it to you on the screen. He actually said, he said, men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wondrous signs that God did through him in your midst. As you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. He's talking about the Romans there. He's saying, hey, don't think that just because the Romans picked up the hammer and the spike and drove it into his hands and feet and then propped that thing up and then waited there until he died, don't think that you're off the hook. That's what he's saying. He said, yeah, sure, it was the hands of lawless men who actually did the deed, but you killed him. Now, is that worse than betrayal? And yet, in the very next couple of verses, as we go on here in Acts chapter 2, it says that they were cut to their heart. They heard all this and they said to Peter, what do we do? What do we do? See, they believed what he said. were responsible. And they said, what do we do? And do you know what Peter said? He said, what's that to me? That's your own problem. Deal with it. He didn't say that. That's what the priest said to Judas, right? What Peter actually goes on to say there is, hey, repent. Come into the kingdom. Be immersed into Jesus. There's forgiveness here. You will have your sins blotted out, wiped out. He didn't exclude them for killing the Lord. He said, come on in, man. There's forgiveness. So he told men who he claimed had been in on the killing of the Lord that there was forgiveness. Do you think it's possible for Judas if he'd taken them up on it? I think so. The fact of the matter is, he didn't. And that's a sad thing. But that doesn't mean that it wasn't available. See, the cross always gives us hope. Always leaves us with hope. It doesn't take away our hope. It gives us hope. Judas never got that hope. Look with me again in verse 4. Verse 4, this is Judas talking here. Look what he says. I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. You know that if somebody said that to you and me, we would assume at that point they're saved. Oh, praise the Lord. They recognize their sin. They've confessed it. Oh, thank you, Jesus. Let's strike up the band. Let's have a party. This person has come to the Lord. Wait a minute. Judas did that? Judas recognized his sin and he confessed it. And Jesus said it was better, it would be better if that man had never been born. Peter said he went to the place where he belongs. And about that time, you and I are rejoicing. He's not saved? What's going on here? What's missing? What is missing? Well, there's some important elements here that are missing that you and I need to look at because you and I need to be prepared to explain to someone like Judas who has had a revelation of sin. In other words, the knowledge of sin has become real to them. We need to be able to explain, here's what you do. Right? And not just say, oh, thank God, you know you're a sinner. Praise the Lord. You're one of us. Judas, again, had a revelation of sin and he was not one of us. He did not get saved. So, what are you going to do when somebody asks you, I know that I've sinned, I know that I've messed up, I know that I've been a creepy rotten sinner. I know it. What am I going to do? Do you know what breaks my heart? It breaks my heart when people call me and say, Pastor, my neighbor is talking and I think they're really close. Would you come and lead them to Christ? That breaks my heart. I'll go do it. I'll do it gladly. But what breaks my heart is that that Christian didn't feel like they could lead that person to Christ. What's the problem? The problem is we haven't taken God's word seriously. Do you remember what Peter told you and I to do? He told us to always be prepared to make a defense. That means to give an answer to anyone who asked you for the reason for the hope that is in you. Now, granted we're to do it with gentleness and respect, but we're to do it. And what is the hope, you guys? What is the hope that's in us? The cross. There's forgiveness. There's light at the end of the tunnel. There's grace. There's cleansing. That's my hope. Hopefully that's your hope too. Peter says, be prepared to tell somebody who says or asks you, so, you're a Christian. What's that mean? Where's my, tell me something that I can hope in. Peter says be prepared. It doesn't say call your pastor. Now again, if you're a brand new believer and you just don't know, actually though I should say, frankly brand new believers are usually more effective at bringing people to Christ than anybody. But, and I want to say, if you're a brand new believer and you're still finding your way through the word and you just feel completely ill-equipped, go ahead and call. Break my heart. I'm sorry, I shouldn't say it that way. But don't, don't think that, well, you know, that's what we pay pastors for. Wrong. My Bible says in Ephesians that my job as a teacher is to equip you to do the work of the ministry. How you like them apples? Back at you. So what that means is, I'm not the minister. We are. Don't call me minister. I am a pastor teacher, but you are the ministers. So get out and do the work of the ministry. Somebody wants to hear from you the hope that you have. Be prepared to know how to tell them. But here's what, here's what the deal is. Don't make the mistake that if you have a Judas experience, that that's good enough. Because it's not good enough. There's one verse that we love to use when we're talking to people about Jesus. And it's in 1 John 1, 9. I love it. I quote it all the time.

That's a great verse. I love that verse. But guys, do you understand that that verse doesn't go far enough? It says if you confess your sins, he's faithful and just and will forgive us. But that will forgive us part, that's not a given. People, Judas confessed his sin. So something's missing here. What's missing? You guys remember, you have to take the whole counsel of God's word. This is a great verse, don't get me wrong. And you can use it when you're talking to people. But you can't just say, hey, if you confess your sin, you're saved. Judas confessed his sin, wasn't saved. With me? Remember the story when Paul and Silas went to Philippi? And they're worshiping and stuff and there's this girl that's following them around and she's possessed by a demonic spirit. Paul finally just absolutely is fed up with this thing and he turns and he speaks directly to that demonic spirit and he says, you know, in the name of Jesus, get lost. And the girl is just delivered from that moment on. But the people who owned the girl, she was a slave, realized that their ability to make money using her gift was no longer there. And so they started making lies about Paul and Silas and they had them thrown in jail. So here's Paul and Silas in jail, chained, dark pitch dark, midnight. They're singing songs to the Lord. All the rest of the inmates are sitting and listening as they're singing songs and suddenly an earthquake takes place to the magnitude that the doors of the jail swing open off their latches. All of the chains of all the prisoners fall off, drop to the ground and they're all free. And the jailer realizes this has happened and he takes his sword to kill himself because under Roman rule, if you are given the responsibility of a prisoner and that prisoner escapes, you suffer the fate that was due that prisoner. Ain't you glad you don't live under Roman rule? So he's about ready to commit suicide and Paul stops him and says, hey, don't, don't, don't, we're all here. Everything's cool. Then do you remember what happens? Put this on the screen for you. We can remember it together. The jailer called for the lights and rushed in and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas and then he brought them out and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household. And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. Did you notice it went on to say, and they spoke the word of the Lord. Now this is another passage that talks about another way to be saved, but you notice it doesn't say anything about confessing sin here. What did they say to the jailer? They just said, believe in the Lord Jesus. See, that's what was missing out of the first John one nine passage. It said, if you confess your sins, he's faithful and just, and we'll forgive you when, when you believe in the Lord Jesus, you see, you have to take all of the passages together. And, and what they said to the jailer here wasn't just what you read here. It goes on to say, and they spoke the word of the Lord. They talked to him probably for a long time. They explained all these things and said, here's what you need to do. You, but ultimately guys, you gotta believe it's a faith issue. You know, when I'm doing a water baptism before I'll dunk anybody in the water, I want them to look me in the eye and say, I know that my sins are forgiven. Not just, I hope, I hope, I hope I wish upon a star, but I know that I know that I know my sins are wiped out because of what Jesus did on the cross. Otherwise I don't want to baptize them because Baptism is a declaration that I've been cleansed and washed and set free. So often, when I'm talking to Christians, how many times have I told you this? I ask them that fateful question when they come down front or whatever, and I say, if you were to die today, do you know you'd go to heaven? Do you know that your sins are forgiven? Nine out of ten people who come down to talk say, I'm not sure. Why not? And then you ask, and I'll even say that. Why not? Why aren't you sure? And you know what they start doing? They start talking about themselves. They start talking about their sin, their issues, their unbelief, their this, their that. You know what? If I sat and focused on all the garbage in my life, I'd probably doubt my salvation too. But I don't focus on it. I focus on what he did. Because my salvation and your salvation isn't a matter of what you did. It's what he did. But what you need to do is believe that what he did was for you. That is where you activate it. But listen, you must combine the message with faith, or it does you no good. That's what was missing in Judas. He confessed his sin. Look at what it says in Hebrews. This is a very important passage. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did. But the message they heard was of no value to them. Why? Because those who heard did not combine it with faith. Do you guys understand? The element of faith is critical. I believe. That's why Paul and Silas said to the jailer, when he said, what must I do to be saved? Believe in your heart. Now there's other things, confess your sin and all the things that Judas did do. And those were right. Understand your sin, confess it. But he never went to the place of believing. I believe, you see. That's the critical thing. Remember? Love this verse.

But I want you to understand what activates the whole thing. It's faith, you guys. I believe. I believe. This morning I looked someone in the eye and asked him the question. It says in the Bible, I said, Jesus died for you. Do you believe your sins are forgiven? And the response was, I'm not sure. Got to combine it with faith, guys. That's the secret ingredient. I believe that what the Bible says is true. I believe that it says, Jesus died for me. He bore my sins on the cross. And I believe that when he said, it is finished, it was done. It was over. So forth. So there are four things, if you're taking notes, probably a good thing to write down. Four things that you really need to do in order for someone to be saved. The first one is, number one, there needs to be a revelation of sin. What that means is the person that you're talking to, or if it's you yourself, you need to be able to confess or admit, first of all, I'm a sinner. Yeah. Messed up big time. It's like Paul the Apostle never outgrew his confession of sin. He said, here's a trustworthy saying, Jesus came to die for sinners of whom I am chief sinner. Just call me chief sinner. That's it. That's me. Listen, if you're talking to somebody who doesn't have a revelation of sin, just pray for them. Don't give the bad news, which is you're a sinner, to somebody who doesn't have a revelation of sin. All you're going to do is make them mad. And they don't have time for the good news because they haven't dealt with the bad news yet. We're sitting there telling people, Jesus died to save you from your sin. They're saying, my what? I don't have any of that. Thanks, but anyway, have a good day. And then they walk away thinking, what a weirdenheimer. And that's you. Because you're sitting there talking to them about this thing that they don't even think they need. Have you ever had someone come to your door and try to sell you something you don't need? Or have you ever looked at the store and thought, that's a really, really great price. I just wish I could figure out a way that I need that thing. Have you ever wanted to buy something desperately, but just couldn't think of any reason that you needed it? It happens to me all the time. I hate that. It's like, I really want that, but you know what? I don't need it. And you just can't justify something, getting something that you don't think you need. If somebody doesn't or hasn't had a revelation of sin, and you're sitting there talking to them about Jesus, they're going, well, I'm sure glad he works for you. And that's where that comes from. I'm sure glad Jesus works for you, but don't go pushing him on me because I don't need him. Hey, listen, end of conversation. You pray for that person, because a revelation of sin comes through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is truly a Spirit-inspired opening of the heart and mind. But what's next after that? There needs to be a confession of sin. The person, and that's what's going to naturally happen when there's been a revelation. The person is going to confess, and you'll hear them say that. And you start talking about sin, and they go, yeah, yeah, yeah, busted, done that, been there, you name it, I'm it, I've sinned. So now remember, remember guys, Judas went this far. You with me? No salvation, but Judas went this far. What's next? Well, the Bible says there needs to be a turning from sin. It's called repentance. It's the Greek word metanoia, and it means to have a change of mind that directs a change of heart. And that doesn't mean perfect living, by the way. This doesn't mean, oh, now I don't sin anymore, I'm just perfect. It's not that at all. It means I've changed my mind, and I want to live differently from the old life, the old selfish, fleshly emphasis. I don't want to live that way anymore. I want to live for Jesus. I'm turning my back on sin, right? You going the other way. I know I'm not going to do it perfectly, but I'll tell you, I'm heading that way, and by the grace of God, I'm going to walk that way. That's called repentance. And that's necessary. But then what? Faith in Jesus to forgive sin. There must be faith. Listen, you can get all these things, but if you don't combine it with faith, you can go through one through three and not be saved. You can turn from your sin in the flesh. And we see people do it all the time. They set their jaw and just say, I'm not going to do that anymore. And it's all fleshly. It's just this fleshly human attempt to not sin. Yeah, let me know how that works for you. It's going to crash. I'll tell you how it's going to work. Only through the power of the Spirit can we say no to the life of sin. But there must be faith in Jesus to forgive sin. Ask yourself the question right here, right now. Do I believe right now that my sins are wiped out? And I keep reminding people, listen, you understand what that means. You understand how the gravity of this situation, if you think there is any one sin that God will ever confront you of someday at the judgment seat, then that means for you, you don't really believe He said or meant it is finished. Because guys, do you understand what it is finished means? It means paid in full. Paid in full. The God of the universe who became a man, hung on the cross for your sins and mine, and when He was done, He said, there, paid in full. Now here's the big question. Number four, do you believe it? We all need to answer that question. And those who do can just rejoice in that, but those who are sitting here today fumbling over themselves and saying, well, but I mean, whatever, you need to just come before the Lord right here, right now, and just say, okay, you know what? I've got to make a decision. I'm either going to believe God's word or I'm not. And that's really what it comes down to. The Bible says that if you confess your sins, He's faithful and just. As you believe in Him, He will cleanse you from all. I know. I have to go back and see if all is still there sometimes. After I've messed up big time. Okay, I've got to go back. 1 John 1.9. Still say all. Thank you, Jesus. Still says all. Because you know, the devil likes to come along and say, you know that last time you sinned? Oh my, that one tipped it over? There's no recovery from that one. You're dog meat, buddy. Doesn't he? Doesn't he? He doesn't do the southern accent thing. He comes to tell you that what you've done was too much. And you and I have to go back to 1 John 1.9 and say, yes, it says all. He will cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Here's the question. Do you believe it? Do you believe G what Jesus did on the cross was enough if you do say amen You You You