Hello, and welcome to this
message from Pastor Skip Heitzig of Calvary Albuquerque. As these teachings
are shared worldwide, our prayer is that
God uses them to bring more people into His family. If this message encourages you,
we'd love to hear about it. Email us at
mystory@calvaryabq.org. And if you'd like to support
this ministry financially, you can give online securely
at calvaryabq.org/give. The prophets of
the Old Testament gave hundreds of predictions
about the coming Messiah, including details about His
birth, where He would move to, and where He would be raised. As we continue the series
"Against All Odds," Skip examines the prophecies
about the Messiah's character and conduct. Now, let's turn in our Bibles
to Matthew chapter 12 as we begin the message,
"Why Did Jesus Come?" The dominant figure in Western
culture for the last 20 centuries has been none other
than the Lord Jesus Christ. His coming divided time. And people to this day
still mark their calendars according to his coming-- BC and AD. The Encyclopedia Britannica
uses 20,000 words in describing the life and
ministry of Jesus Christ. 20,000 words. That's more words than
the same encyclopedia uses in writing about
Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Buddha, Caesar,
Cicero, Confucius, and Mohammad put together. That's because that
venerable encyclopedia realizes the influence that
Christ has had on our culture. No one has influenced
the world like Jesus. Think of it this way. Socrates taught for 40 years. Plato taught for 50 years. Aristotle taught for
another 40 years. That's a 130 combined years of
Greek philosophical learning that was given. Jesus came and his ministry
only lasted 3 and 1/2 years. But the impact and influence
He has had on history far exceeds any of those
thinkers put together. I've always loved James
Hefley's little article called, "One Solitary Life,"
where he notes, "Here is a man who was born in
an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He worked in a carpenter
shop till he was 30. For three years, he was
an itinerant preacher. He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put his foot
inside a big city. He never traveled 200 miles
from the place he was born. He never did any one
of the things that usually accompany greatness. But today, He is the
centerpiece of the human race and the leader in the
column of progress. I am far within
the mark when I say that all the armies
that ever marched, all the navies that
were ever built, all the parliaments
that ever sat, and all the kings that
ever reigned, put together, have not affected
the life of man upon this earth as powerfully
as this one solitary life." I grew up hearing about Him. I grew up knowing
facts about Jesus. But when I was 18, I met Him. And I was changed
because of that. We've been looking at
that one solitary life through the lens of the
prophets of the Old Testament. And we have seen in this series
called "Against All Odds," how Jesus came and
fulfilled so many of the predictions made
by those Old Testament prophets concerning what
this Messiah, this king, this deliverer, would be like. And we've done that because the
apostles in the New Testament appealed to two
areas to authenticate that Jesus was the Messiah. The first is the bodily
resurrection of Christ. And second is
fulfilled prophecy. And it wasn't just one or two
or three predictions thrown out there. There were hundreds
of predictions made over 1,500 years that
pointed to Jesus Christ. And because they were written
so far in advance, hundreds of years before, we can
look at them and say well, this is far more than
just a good guess. This is far more than just
some logical deduction. Prophecy lends itself
to statistical analysis, as we have noted, that there is
a reasonable order of magnitude that can be estimated. And if you recall back
to our very first study in this series, we noted
that mathematicians have figured that the odds of
one man in history fulfilling just eight of the
predictions Jesus fulfilled is 1 in 10 to the 17th power. The odds of anyone fulfilling
16 of the predictions Jesus fulfilled is 1 in 10
to the 45th power. If you know your math, we're
talking enormous numbers. The odds-- and by the
way, there are 330, some say 332, prophecies,
some more direct than others. For Jesus to fulfill
30 of the predictions he fulfilled is 1 in
10 to the 100th power. It's the same odds as one
person winning the lottery 16 times in a row. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Far more wonderful is
this one solitary life. And when we look at it this
way, it does something for us. It shows us the reality of God. It shows us the
authenticity of scripture. And we're dealing with
a far different book than just another holy book. And it shows us the
validity of Jesus Christ. Now we want to take a turn. Instead of looking at His birth
and His genealogical record and some of the
things we've noted or over the past few
weeks, we take a turn and we examine His
life, the prophecies He would fulfill in His life
and ministry, His adult life. Matthew does that
for us in chapter 12. We're going to look at a
whole section of scripture. But he quotes Isaiah chapter
42 beginning in verse 18. And what we're answering
here is why Jesus came. You know, we have noted
so far where Jesus came-- Bethlehem. The prophets predicted that. We have noted how Jesus came-- a virgin birth. Talk about against all odds. But now we are looking at why. What is the purpose
that Jesus came? Matthew, in quoting
Isaiah, wants you to know there are at least
four reasons why He came. He came to serve. He came to speak. He came to strengthen. And he came to save. First of all, he
came as a servant. That's the word used in
quoting Isaiah chapter 42. Look at verse 17. Matthew says, "That
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by
Isaiah the prophet saying, behold my servant
whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my
soul is well pleased." One of the most
beautiful descriptions in all of the Bible
of Jesus Christ is that he would be a servant. Now, I told you that
there are far more prophecies about his life
than about his birth. And here's just a
smattering of them. The prophets predicted
that he would be preceded by a messenger-- Malachi chapter 3 verse 1 and
Isaiah chapter 40 verse 3. And who was that messenger
that preceded Him? It was John the Baptist. He was predicted. Also that Christ would
perform miracles, Isaiah 35 verse 4
through 6; that He would teach in
parables, Psalms 78; that He would begin his ministry
in Galilee, Isaiah chapter 9:1 and 2; that He would be
sent to heal the broken hearted. Remember, Jesus quoted
that prophetic utterance of Isaiah 61 in the synagogue. "I've come to heal
the broken hearted." He'll be praised by
children, Psalms 8 verse 2. He'll enter the temple suddenly,
Malachi chapter 3 verse 1. He'll come into Jerusalem riding
in on a donkey, Zechariah 9:9. He'll be rejected by the Jewish
nation, Isaiah 53 verse 3. He'll come at a precise
timetable on a prescribed day, Isaiah chapter 9
verses 25 and 26. A few days later,
the same prophecy says He will be killed. He will be betrayed by a close
friend, Psalms 41 and Zechariah 11. And He will be silent when He
is accused at His trial, Isaiah chapter 53 verse 7. But all of those predictions
of what He would do in his life can be summed up
by a single word-- servant. He will be a servant
to the Father. Did you know that the Bible
has roughly 150 different names for Jesus? Some of you know. He will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace, to name a few. Jesus referred to
himself as the Bread of Life, the Good Shepherd. Paul called Him
the Chief Shepherd, the Messiah, the Cornerstone. The writer of Hebrews called
Him our Great High Priest. There are 150 different titles. But Isaiah's favorite
title for Jesus was that He would be
the servant of the Lord. He would serve
the Father's will. Now, that's not
an uncommon title. Abraham was called the
servant of the Lord. Isaac was called the
servant of the Lord. Jacob was called
servant of the Lord. It's one of the titles given
to Moses, the servant of God. Many of the prophets
were given the title the servant of the Lord. But Isaiah uniquely has four
sections of his prophetic book where he highlights the
servant nature of the Messiah who is to come-- Jesus, the servant
of the Father. Now, what I want to do is show
you a little bit of context. I don't want to just jump
into Matthew quoting Isaiah. I want you to find out why. So if you don't mind,
would you go back to verse 9 of the same chapter
and let's see what's happening. "When He had
departed from there, He went to their synagogue. And behold, there was a man
who had a withered hand. And they asked Him saying, is it
lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" It's kind of a dumb question. But when is the last
time they did that? But they're all worried about
the narrow interpretation of the law. Is it lawful to
heal on the Sabbath? If I were Jesus, I
would have said, try it. But notice why. "That they might accuse Him." That's important. Then He said to them,
"What man is there among you who has one
sheep and if he falls into a pit on the Sabbath,
will he not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value
then is a man than a sheep? Therefore, it is lawful
to do good on the Sabbath. And He said to the man,
stretch out your hand. And he stretched it out. And it was restored
as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went
out and plotted against Him how they might destroy Him. But when Jesus knew it,
he withdrew from there. And great multitudes
followed Him. And He healed them all. Yet, he warned them
not to make Him known that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah
the prophet saying, behold my servant,
whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my
soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon Him. And he will declare
justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel nor cry out. Nor will anyone hear His
voice in the streets. A bruised reed He
will not break. And smoking flax He will not
quench till he sends forth justice to victory. And in His name,
Gentiles will trust." So we're seeing that
there is a resistance that is building against Jesus, a
rejection that is mounting. The religious people
especially are looking at Him. And now they want
to destroy Him. And here's why. When Jesus came on
the scene and they thought he might
be their Messiah, they were disappointed. Jesus must have been a terrible
disappointment to them. Because they had
it in their mind that when their
Messiah comes, he will deliver them from
the Roman oppression and set Israel up as
top of the kingdom and establish his
Earthly kingdom. It's wonderful that
He's healing people. But He did not come and
meet their expectations. So they're against Him. But Jesus, not wanting to
make a big deal out of it, is a low-key Messiah
at this point. He just sort of backs
out, doesn't say anything, withdraws, and tells people
keep it quiet when I heal you. Don't tell people. That be very hard
to do, by the way. If you've had a lifelong disease
and suddenly you're cured and somebody says,
don't tell anybody, that's a miracle if
somebody doesn't. But because He didn't
meet their expectations and they're trying
to trap Him, that gives us the context for this. See, they expected
the Messiah to keep their rigid
interpretation of the law. The Messiah, they said, will
be the servant of the law. Matthew says, no,
according to Isaiah, the Messiah will be the
servant of the Lord. He's there to please
the Father and fulfill the agenda of the Father, not
the expectation of people. You know, when Jesus
woke up every morning, there was one dominating
thought in His mind. You know what it was? Pleasing the Father. Pleasing the Father. He was on a mission. There was an exact timetable. And He was there to
redeem the world from sin. He knew it. And so He said in John
chapter 8 verse 29, "I always do those
things that please Him." Don't you wish you
could say that? I wish I could. I can't say that. But Jesus could. "I always do those
things that please Him." In fact, He said
in John 4, "My food is to do the will
of Him who sent me and to finish His work." So He came to serve the Father. But He also came to
serve His followers. We know that from looking
at the ministry of Christ. He washed their feet. He taught them truth. He fed them food. He multiplied food. But even the apostles
themselves had expectations that Jesus did not fulfill. Now, I want you to hear this. Jesus wants to
serve you as well. He came to serve you. That doesn't mean He'll give
you everything you want. He'll give you
everything you need. But that doesn't mean
everything you want. He came to serve you. That doesn't mean He'll
always make you comfortable, He'll heal you of every
toe ache you have, or He'll find you a
parking space in the mall during Christmas time. [LAUGHTER] He tells us how
He came to serve. This is what He said. "The Son of Man
did not come to be served but to serve and to give
His life, a ransom for many." Now hear this. Jesus Christ did not come
to fulfill your expectation. Jesus Christ came to
end your condemnation. That's how He serves
us best is by giving his life, a ransom for many. It's what God sent him to do. And it's why He said He was
so pleased with His son. He came to serve. There's a second reason He came. He came with a message. He came to speak. You'll notice in verse
18, the second part, quoting the prophet, "I will
put my spirit upon Him"-- and look at this word-- "He will declare, He
will declare justice to the Gentiles." That word "declare,"
apangelo, means to proclaim, to tell, to preach, to teach. What Isaiah is saying is,
when my servant comes, He will have a message of
truth that people need to hear. Now, Jesus did a lot of things. He walked on water. That was cool. He healed people who were sick. Awesome. He raised people who are dead. Unheard of. He held little children
in his arms to bless them. The parents loved that. But he didn't come to
just do some tricks and make people feel good. And I'm still amazed
at how many people think Jesus came to
just be a great example and to live a wonderful life and
show us what it's like to live to our full potential. No. He came with a message
He wanted people to hear. And so He declared. He preached. He taught. In Luke chapter 20 verse
1, he enters the temple. It says, "He taught the
people in the temple and preached the gospel." He taught and He preached. Then He went into the synagogue. And we are told He taught them. Then He went out in the Sea
of Galilee and sat on a boat. And people gathered
around on the shore. And He taught them. He went to the temple again. And He taught them. The multitudes came to
Him on the mountain. And what do you think He did? He taught them. That's exactly right. One of the most
astonishing stories is when our Lord is in Capernaum
living at Peter's house. And He comes to the house. And we are told, "Many
gathered together so there was no longer
room to receive them, not even near the door." That's a big party. That's a lot of
people at your house. It's so many people that they're
looking through the windows and spilling out
into the courtyard. "So many gathered together
there was no longer room to receive them, not
even near the door." And listen to what He did. "And He preached
the word to them." What? What do you do with a
group full of people, many are diseased,
many have maladies, there's a lot of
needs in that group? What's the most important
thing that Jesus thought He ought to do? Preach the word to them. Preach the word to them. Not heal them, but
to preach to them. Why? Because hearing
truth for your soul is more important than
getting healing for your body. You can be living in perfect
health and die without Christ and you'll be
hopeless for eternity. What good is that? So He wanted to make
sure while He has them, the first thing He does is
He preaches the word to them. In the Gospels, Jesus is
said to teach the word. That's what used 36 times. He's one who teaches. He's called a teacher 47 times. And we know why. Our Lord himself said, "You will
know the truth and the truth will set you free." That's why. You will know the truth. And it will be the truth
that will set you free. Jesus came to speak God's
truth to people in bondage to their own lies. And there's a lot of those lies. It's why I believe in the
exposition of scripture. It's why when you
come here, we're going to say open your Bible to. It's why we're going to
say, notice that word and notice the context. It's because we believe that
the exposition of scripture unleashes God's
truth in your life. I've always been
concerned, and more so as time goes on, that
evangelical churches are moving away from the teaching,
the expositional teaching of scripture. It seems that some
preachers think that what they have to say
is more important than what the scripture already has said. And they live for that. And so what you
do is you produce a congregation that is long
on zeal but short on facts. It's very, very shallow. And the prophet Hosea said,
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." Jesus taught them truth. Jesus preached and
proclaimed a message. The Bible is the one miracle
you can hold in your hand. You want to know
what God has to say? Open your Bible and
you'll find out. What He has to say
to you today is what He had to say back then. And now you apply
that to your life. But notice something else. He not only has
a message, but it says that He will
declare justice to who? What is that word? It says the Gentiles. Now, I get excited about
this because I am one. I'm not a Jewish person. I'm not under the
covenant of Israel. I'm not part of that whole
old covenant Jewish thing that God has preserved
throughout history. I am an outsider. If you and I-- and most
of you are as well. If you and I lived
in the New Testament, the closest we could come would
be the court of the Gentiles. We couldn't go any
further than that. We might hear about how
cool it is in there. But we couldn't
see for ourselves because we're not Jewish people. We have to stay in
the outer court. So He came to proclaim
truth to not just the Jews, but to embrace the world. "For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten son." God said to the father of
Judaism, Abram or Abraham, "In you, all the families of
the earth will be "blessed." And that includes your family
because of Jesus Christ. Isn't it interesting that the
first worshippers of Jesus were Gentiles? The Magi, they came
from hundreds of miles away to find Jesus
and worship him. The Jewish leaders couldn't
even walk five miles to see if it was true. But the Gentiles worshipped him. And isn't it also interesting
that our Lord said to a Gentile centurion, a Roman soldier,
a servant of Rome, you know, I have not found as great
a faith in all Israel as I find in you. And isn't it interesting
that the first person Jesus revealed that he was the Messiah
to was a woman of Samaria in John chapter 4. So one of the most
important things you need to know
about Jesus Christ is that he has a
message for you. He has truth He
wants you to hear. He came to serve. He came to speak. Here's the third
thing He came to do. He came to strengthen. Verse 19, "He will not
quarrel nor cry out. Nor will anyone hear His
voice in the streets. A bruised reed He
will not break. And smoking flax He
will not quench." Now let's unpack
some of these truths. In verse 19, you see
the word quarrel? It means annoy--
harass or annoy. Ever meet an annoying person? One is coming to mind right now. You may be looking at him. Who knows? I remember when I
was a young believer, I was kind of getting my
evangelism legs on and trying to share with people. But we had this acquaintance-- I'd say a friend,
but he was more of an acquaintance-- who his
boldness was turned up to 11. And he was annoying. I mean, he would
get in your face. And he would stand
up in restaurants when we'd be eating. And he'd stand up to pray. But he would make
sure that the person on the other end
of the restaurant was hearing him pray. It was that loud. And we're all like, oh man. We're just so embarrassed. And then he turned
to us and goes, what, are you ashamed
of the Lord, brother? I said, no. But you're annoying
everybody right now. I love it. Jesus didn't come
to annoy people. And notice the words also
in that verse, "or cry out." That means to shout
or scream excitedly. It is used of a dog
barking in ancient times. Do you have that neighbor
who has those dogs? You may be the neighbor
who has those dogs. It was your dog last night
that made all that noise. He will not quarrel, annoy. He will not shout
or scream excitedly. In other words, the prophet is
saying when the Messiah comes, he's not going to come
to meet your expectations of some political
rabble rouser, somebody who comes in and pushes himself
on people or stirs up trouble. He will not berate
people with the gospel. He will not scold
people with the gospel. And you'll notice that
Jesus always spoke with control, poise, dignity. Ecclesiastes 9 tells us, "The
quiet words of a wise person are better than the
shouts of the foolish." Now, verse 20 is the key. "A bruised reed
He will not break. Smoking flax He
will not quench." Did you know that in ancient
times, reeds-- you know, those things that
grow by the river-- they were used
practically every day. They were used to make mats. You could lie on them at night. Or you could put them on your
dirt floors of your house so you had carpeting, so
to speak, a mat on it. It was used also for making
a pen so you can write. And it was also used, if
it was the right shape, to make a little flute out
of a reed to make music. But after a while, they become
brittle and they break off. And when they break off,
you throw them away. You discard them. They're of no value at all. Then you'll notice what when
says, "a smoldering flax," you know that is? That's a wick. You put a wick in an oil lamp. And then it would burn and
burn until pretty soon there's no wick left. And when there's no
wick, what happens? It smolders, right? And when it does, you pick
it up and you toss it out. This is referring to people
who have broken lives, who feel worn out, the
kind of people the world would say you're
not really valuable. We'll discard you. The Romans did that. Even the Pharisees did that. They would count certain
people as not being valuable. They would be discarded. And society today
has many people they regard as weak and
helpless and sick and elderly, whether it's an unguarded
child in a womb that can't fend for itself or
an old person who, well, let's put that
person out to pasture and get rid of that person. Not Jesus Christ. He won't break off that
reed and toss it out. He'll make it sing again. He'll put music back
in that person again. He'll strengthen
that weak person that the world would discard. Jesus said, "I've come to
bind up the broken hearted." And He comes along when your
flame is just about out. And He doesn't go [BLOWS]. He stokes it up. He gets it going. He won't put your fire out. He'll stoke your fire up. He won't discard your life. He'll deliver your life. I love how Jesus
described Himself. He said, "Come to me, all you
who labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you
and learn from me. For I am gentle
and lowly in heart. And you will find
rest for your souls." Jesus Christ will
respond to your weakness with his meekness. He will come alongside of you. He'll pick you up. He'll give you his strength. He'll move you long. That's the idea. He came to strengthen. And I've discovered
something over the years. I've discovered that
of all the reasons that people make decisions
to follow Christ, more people than anyone else
do it at a time of crisis, when they feel rejected,
broken, cast out. Now, some people
will come to Christ because they're intellectually
satisfied with the answers that are provided. But very few. Some will do it because
they're not satisfied. And they have a
hole in their soul. And there's the promise
of God to fix that. And they'll come. But more than not, people
who have been beat up by a bad relationship or a
financial crisis or a disease, they are broken. And they come. It's a good time to come. Never underestimate the value
of broken things to God. Broken pots, in Judges
7, won a battle. Broken bread, in Matthew
14, fed a multitude. A broken flask, in Mark
14, gave a beautiful scent to everyone who
was in the house. The broken body of Jesus
Christ brought salvation. Now, you've got a broken heart. You know what you
should do with that? You worship God with that. The sacrifices of God,
the Psalmist said, are a broken spirit. "A broken and contrite
heart you will not despise." You come with that broken
heart and you plop that down and watch how He will
come alongside of you and strengthen you
in your weakness. Well, that's why He came. He came to serve, to
speak, and to strengthen. But there's a fourth. He came to save. If you finish out verse
20, it says "Till he sends forth justice to victory. And in His name, the
Gentiles will trust." Look at that again. Look at that again. "Till he sends forth
justice to victory. And in his name,
Gentiles will trust." There's a translation
called "The Message" by Eugene Peterson. He renders it this way. "Before you know it, His
justice will triumph. The mere sound of his name will
signal hope, even among far off unbelievers." I love that. Just the name, the sound of
his name, the name of Jesus, will signal hope to
far off unbelievers. And you might be someone
who feels far off. He's after you. He wants your life. And you get the victory by
simple faith the Gentiles will trust in His name. That's where the victory comes. For by grace, you have
been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It's just a simple trust. 1 John chapter 5
he says and this is the victory that overcomes
the world, even our faith. Even our faith. So you triumphed by trusting. You place your trust in Jesus. You place your trust in Him. You don't say well, one day,
I'm going to get really good. And I'm going to get
really cleaned up inside. And when I feel really
good about myself, then I'm going to come to church
and give my life to Christ. You've got it all wrong. This is what makes
Jesus different from all those religions. Religion says, work your way,
earn your way, sweat your way, make a pilgrimage to show
God that you're serious. The gospel says,
trust your way to God. Just trust Him. Just trust Him. Romans 10, "If you confess
with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart
God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." That's why He came. He came for you. He came for all. That one solitary life can
heal your one solitary life. The one who came to fulfill
all of those prophecies can fill your heart. He came for you. Question is, will
you come to Him? Father, thank you that we can
look at a text of scripture like this. It's like an oasis in
the midst of volatility. Wherever Jesus went, He was
not meeting people's desired expectations. And a rejection and a
resistance is mounting. And in the midst of
that plot right there, is a quote from Isaiah
that says that He is going to do exactly what
the Father sent him to do. He's going to be a
servant of the Father. And He's going to
speak truth to people. And people who respond,
He will strengthen them. He won't put out their fire. He'll light a fire under them. And He'll save them,
if they'll trust him. What a simple message. What a beautiful message. So, Father, I just
pray for anyone who might be with us this
morning who needs to just trust in Jesus, who needs to lean
on Him, those who feel broken, those who feel scarred
and beat up, been told that they're of little
value or they feel they're of little value, they've been
through a relational crisis or a financial crisis, they're
in the midst of disease, but something has
gotten their attention. And they're at a point where
they want to trust You. They're willing to trust You. Help them, Lord, to trust You. To just do that,
to say yes to You, to open the door of their
heart to You, to invite You in, to follow You today
and every day. I also pray, Lord, for
some who may look back to a time when they
felt really good and had some experience
somewhere, somehow, at a crusade or a concert or
a camp or at a church meeting, but the truth is today,
they're not walking with You. They're not living
in obedience to You. They feel far from You. They need to come back to You. I pray You'd bring
them to Yourself. With heads bowed, I'd like
to ask You a question. Are you willing to trust Him? If you are, I want
to pray for you. But I need to know
who I am praying for. I want you to raise your hand in
the air as our eyes are closed. I'll keep mine open. You raise your hand, you're
saying I want to trust Him, Skip. I'm going to trust Him. Keep that hand up for just
a moment if you don't mind. God bless you and you and
you and you to my left, and you, several of you right
here in this middle section, in the middle all the
way back, on the aisle right here in the
middle, God bless you here and here and here,
many of you on the right, in the balcony, in the
back, a lot of you. Anybody in the family room? Just raise that hand. You're willing to trust Him. Thank you, Lord. Father, I do pray. And I believe that
You answer prayer. I pray for each one. Lord, You love them. You have a plan for them. And Your plan is the best plan. I pray that there will be
a wholesale abandonment of these lives into your hands. And that these will experience
a peace, a joy, a comfort, an assurance, a satisfaction,
that they've never known before, as
they simply come to trust in Jesus, to place
their lives at Your disposal. I pray You'd
strengthen these lives. I pray You'd stoke
up these fires. I pray You'd speak
truth into their lives. I pray that You'd save them
and they'd know they're saved. In Jesus' name, Amen. We're going to stand. Let's all do that right now. And as we sing this final
song before we leave, I'm going to ask those of
you who raised your hands now to get up from where
you're standing, find the nearest aisle, stand
right up here, come right up to the front where
I'm going to lead you in a prayer to receive
Christ as your Savior. Jesus called people
so often publicly. And you're going to
find that there's going to be a lot of
joy, a lot of applause. We're used to this. We do this all the time. We don't do it to embarrass
you, but to encourage you. We want to welcome
you into the family. So if you raised your hands
and I saw a lot of hands go up, just say excuse me to
the person next to you, get up, find an aisle, stand
right up here in the front and come on up. Let's pray together. Let's seal this deal. [APPLAUSE] [MUSIC, "HERE'S MY HEART"]
[SINGING] Here's my heart, Lord. Here's my heart, Lord. Here's my heart, Lord. Speak what is true. I'm going to wait for you
because I saw hands go up around this auditorium. You want to trust Jesus. That's what we asked you. And you said yes. And I believe you. Now, put some feet on that faith
and come out of the darkness and come into the light. So this is the day you remember
that you said yes to Christ. And found His salvation. Make it public. [MUSIC, "HERE'S MY HEART"]
[SINGING] Oh, here's my life. Here's my life, Lord. That's good. That's so good. Welcome. [MUSIC, "HERE'S MY HEART"]
[SINGING] Here's my life, Lord. Here's my life, Lord. You've got to come and
present your life to Him like the song says. Here in the balcony, you
can come down those steps. It might take you a
little bit longer. But we have time. [MUSIC, "HERE'S MY HEART"]
[SINGING] [INAUDIBLE] Here's my heart, Lord. Oh, we come as we are. Here's my heart, Lord. It's [INAUDIBLE]. Here's my heart, Lord. We come. [INAUDIBLE] what is true. I'm just going to give
you a little bit of time. And the reason is when I
first heard the gospel, I'd listened to it. And I said, OK. And I didn't really do
anything with it that time. And I heard it again. And I heard it again. And I did receive Christ when I
was alone, watching television, watching Billy Graham on TV. But then I decided I
need to make it public. And I was just one
of those people that it took a
little bit of time for me to really
process this through. You may have heard altar calls
like this for months, years. Maybe you haven't responded yet. And maybe you're
thinking, someday I will. Newsflash-- the day has come. Today is the day of
salvation, Paul said. Now is the accepted time. You'll never have an easier,
better time than right here, right now. It's an invitation to lay
your life down and give it to Christ. He came for you. Will you come to Him? Anyone else? Anyone else? [APPLAUSE] [MUSIC, "HERE'S MY HEART"]
[SINGING] Here's my life, Lord. I come. Here's my life, Lord. Here's my life, Lord. I come to you. Good thinking. Good thinking. OK. Well, so glad to
see you all up here. Now what I'm going to do
is we're going to pray now. I'm going to say
this prayer out loud. And I'm going to ask
you to pray it out loud after me, sort of
like at a wedding were vows are said publicly, right? We're your witnesses. So I'm going to pray out loud. You pray these words from
your heart to the Lord. And say it out loud. Say, Lord, I give you my life. Lord, I give you my life. I know that I'm a sinner. I know that I'm a sinner. Forgive me. Forgive me. I believe in Jesus. I believe in Jesus. That He died for me on a cross. That He died for me on a cross. That He shed his blood. That He shed his blood. And that He rose from the grave. And that He rose from the grave. I turn from my sin. I turn from my sin. I turn to Jesus as my Lord. I turn to Jesus as my Lord. I want to live for Him. I want to live for Him. Help me. Help me. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. [APPLAUSE] Congratulations to
each one of you. Jesus not only came to the
world against all odds, he lived among people
against all expectations. How will you use the truth
you learned in this message to reach others for Christ? We want to know. Email mystory@calvaryabq.org. And just a reminder, you can
give financially to this work at calvaryabq.org/give. Thank you for joining this
teaching from Skip Heitzig of Calvary Albuquerque.
