Welcome to Love Worth Finding with pastor, teacher, and author Adrian Rogers. Reaching out with God's love, bringing people to Christ, touching lives around the world, and helping you find the answers you need today. Join us as we prepare to open God's Word and discover how your life can be changed forever by His great love worth finding. Thank you. Be finding, would you please, 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And as you're finding it, look up here and let me tell you something that you probably already know and don't want to think about, but people die. You die. I die. Everyone dies with one exception. If Jesus comes before we meet death, then those of us who are Christians will not die. But with every second, Every tick on your clock, somewhere, someplace in the world, somebody dies. And they die in strange ways. I have in my files different ways that people have died. New York, UPI, listen to it. A woman making a phone call on a New York street was struck in the head and killed yesterday by a flowerpot. that was knocked off an eighth floor window ledge by lightning. Amelia Lynch, 28, died after the pot fell on her head, police said. There she is making a phone call, and a flower pot, struck by lightning, falls on her head. You know, the Bible says there's but a step between me and death. We feel so secure in this place. But that little heartbeat there, as somebody said, is a muffled drum beating a funeral march to the grave. We're going to die. And sometimes you say, well, I'm not going to die that way. I'm going to die a natural death. May I tell you there is no such thing as a natural death. All death is unnatural. It is the root and the fruit of sin. 1 Corinthians 15. Look, if you will, in verse 20. But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, that's the reason I said that death is not natural. Since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam, that's the first man, all die. Even so, in Christ, He is the last man, shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order. Christ, the first fruits. Afterward, they that are Christ at His coming Then cometh the end when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and all power, for he must reign until he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." We're talking today about the death of death. Very frankly, people don't like to talk about death very much, and if you don't know the Lord, I don't blame you. You talk to an unsaved man about death, and he'll change the subject like he's changing channels on the television set. You know, man is the only creature who knows that he's going to die, and he's trying desperately to forget it. That's the reason that we all have such an obsession with youth. That's the reason when a man gets to be a certain age, he wants to buy a sports car. Uh, that's the reason that, uh, the ladies have sometimes spent too much money on cosmetics. All of this, uh, together is just this obsession that we have with living. We don't want to die. And I don't want to be somber about it, but I'm telling you, one of these days, unless Jesus tarries, death is going to lay his icy hands on you. If you're a doctor, one of these days, you're going to write your last prescription. If you are a mother, You may just even kiss your little helpless babies goodbye and die. And even those babies sometimes have to drop their toys and grapple with the iron strength of death. I said every time the clock ticks, somebody dies. And one of those ticks is for me, and one is for you. And we never know when that is going to come. Death is a fact, and death is a foe. But while death is a decided fact, I want to tell you death is a defeated foe. Death is a defeated foe. And so the message today is not somber. It's not bad news. We can laugh in the face of death if we know the Lord Jesus Christ. And so I want to talk to you a little bit about the day that death died. I want to give you some good news, which is the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, which speaks of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave, his triumph over death. Three things I lay on your heart. Number one, I want you to see the resurrection that defeats death's keeping power, that defeats death's keeping power. You know, death has the idea that he can keep you, that he can keep me, but Jesus said, oh no, death, you cannot keep me. You see, Jesus willingly vicariously laid down his life. He said, no man taketh my life from me. I lay it down of myself. Jesus was the only person who ever decided to die. You say, well, no. If a person commits suicide, he decides to die. No, he doesn't. He's going to die anyway. He just decided the time of his death. Jesus was the only one who decided to die. He did not have to die. The wages of sin is death. Jesus was not a sinner. There was no seed of death in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus willingly, voluntarily, vicariously laid down His life. Death thought he had a victory. And so Old Death, King Death, and by the way, the Bible calls Death a king. In Romans chapter 5 and verse 14, the Bible says, Death reigned. That is, Death ruled. And so Old King Death laid his icy, bony hands on the Lord Jesus Christ and shackled Jesus with the bonds of death. And Jesus, in that tomb, lay cold and stiff and stark. And old King Death clapped his bony hands, and he shrieked a hoarse laugh. And he said, I have him. He's mine. I am going to keep him. But after three days, the Lord Jesus stirred. and he majestically rose from his resting place. I said his resting place. He got up from that stone slab. You know what he did? His face was covered with a napkin. He turned around and folded the napkin. I love that. When the disciples came in, they found that napkin that was over his face folded. How did you leave your bedroom this morning? I mean, there's no hurry. I mean, he is in complete control. He folds that napkin and leaves it there. And there is that cruel king of terrors, death, sitting upon the throne. And this time, death has a terrified look because no one has done that before. And Jesus now begins to walk toward death. Death cowers in the corner of that tomb that has become death's dungeon. Jesus reaches up and pulls death from the throne, casts him to the dungeon floor. Jesus puts his heel on the neck of death. Jesus reaches down and pulls the sting out of death. Jesus puts the crown upon his own head and walks out of that tomb, a risen, living, victorious Savior. Jesus did more than survive death. Jesus defeated and decimated death in that tomb. And our scripture says that Jesus is two things. The Bible says, first of all, that Jesus is the firstfruits. And then secondly, it says that Jesus is the last Adam. Notice this. First of all, he's the firstfruits. Look in verse 20. But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept. You see, in the Old Testament times, when they were going to have a harvest, the priest would go into the field and he would take a sheaf of the first ripened grain. That was called the firstfruits. And he would bring it to the temple, and there in an elaborate ceremony, he would wave it before the Lord. It was called the Feast of Firstfruits. This was called a wave offering, just waving this handful of wheat before the Lord. And what it was, it was a promise and a prophecy that because there's the firstfruits, the harvest is to come and the one who gave the firstfruits is the one that they were depending upon for the harvest. Now Jesus is the firstfruits, ladies and gentlemen. We are the harvest. Because Jesus came out of that grave, we are coming out of that grave also. And then secondly, not only was Jesus the firstfruits, but Jesus is the last Adam. Look, if you will, in verse 22. For in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive, every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, and afterward they that are Christ at his coming. Now, the first Adam lost it all. The second Adam, the Lord Jesus, bought it all back for us and became victorious over the grave. I was reading a story of some men who were climbing the Matterhorn. I've seen the Matterhorn several times. It is a majestic mountain. And there were four who were going up the side of the Matterhorn. There was an experienced mountain climber who was the lead guide and then there was a tourist. Then there was another mountain climber and then another tourist. All of them had been given instructions how to climb that dangerous ascent and go up the Matterhorn. They were doing well until the one at the end, the fourth man, slipped. And he lost his grip and his footing, and he fell over the precipice. When he did, he dragged his guide over with him. And when he dragged his guide over with him, that one dragged the next tourist over with him. The lead guy, when he felt the tug on the rope, realized what was happening, dug both of his feet in as hard as he could and put his pick in the ice and held on with all of his might. The others were dangling beneath him. And finally, they got their footing back, and they were all safe. When I heard that story, I thought of our Lord, Jesus Christ. The first man, Adam, fell, and all of us have fallen with him, but thank God for the last man. Thank God for Jesus, who has defeated death, hell, sin, and the grave, and the first man, We fell, but in the last man we are redeemed. You see, what is the Bible saying? He's saying that Christ is the first fruits. We are the harvest. Adam ruined it, but Jesus bought it back for us. Pastor, do you believe in the resurrection? Yes, I do. Can you be sure of the resurrection? I am absolutely sure. There's more reason to believe that Jesus Christ came out of that grave than there is that Julius Caesar ever lived. Now, that's the truth. Now, first of all, the man who wrote what we're reading was an eyewitness. Look over in verse 8. He says, speaking of Jesus, and last of all, he was seen of me also as one born out of due time. That is, he tells about all of the people who saw the Lord Jesus, how he appeared to the disciples, how he appeared to 500 people. Somebody said, well, they were having an hallucination. You think 500 people have an hallucination at one time? And then Paul says, look, I am an eyewitness. He's seen of me. Well, you say, how do we know he wasn't lying? Well, look, if you will, in verses 14 and 15 of this same chapter. He says, Now listen, false witness. He doesn't say mistaken. A false witness is somebody who knows better and yet tells a lie. Do you think that the Apostle Paul was a false witness? Do you think that these early disciples were liars? You see, if Christ is not risen and they said that he's risen, then they are false witnesses. Well, then you have to ask yourself this question. Was Simon Peter a rascal? Was the Apostle Paul a con artist? Was the beloved John a deceiver? Not mistaken, but were they deceivers? Were they false witnesses? If you say yes, I will remind you that these men suffered, bled, and died for their faith. Now, men may live for a lie, but no man knowingly, willingly dies for a lie. Martyrs and con artists are not made out of the same things. Men do not go to prison and to the flogging post for a fairy tale. Men tell lies to get out of trouble. They don't tell lies to get into trouble. But these people believed so much that Jesus Christ was the firstfruits and the last Adam. They testified gladly and freely that He is risen. And friend, because He has risen, we will rise also. He is the firstfruits. And one of these days, there's going to come a shout from the lips of the Lord Jesus when He returns. And that shout is going into the tombs of the multiplied who have named Him as Lord and Savior. And we're going to hear the shout that Lazarus heard that prefigured this in John chapter 11. Our Lord is going to step down from His majestic throne in the glory, and the shout will be this, I believe. come forth come forth and the voice of the savior will roll through the length and breadth of satan's ruined empire and bring it crashing down and at the command of the lord jesus christ The sea will heave and give up the dead which is in it. And they're going to be raised and made like unto his glorious body. And the winding sheets of the desert will give up the dead that are in them. And the battlefields of this world will give up the dead that are there. And graveyards, perhaps, will look like a plowed field as the Lord Jesus says, come forth. Well, you say, Pastor, that sounds supernatural. I'm glad you're understanding it. I'm glad you're understanding it. Look, if you will, in verse 35, but some man will say, how are the dead raised up? That is, how is this possible? How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come? You know what the Lord says to you? The answer's in your garden. The answer is in your garden. Go look in your garden. Look in verse 36. Thou fool, that which thou sowest, that is, that which you plant, is not quickened, made alive, except it die. And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain. It may chance of wheat or of some other grain, but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. You see, folks, The resurrection is illustrated by a seed that dies. That seed, small, insignificant, goes into the ground, and out of it comes life far more glorious, far more spectacular than that which went into the ground. But there is a continuity between that which went into the ground and that which comes out of the ground. And so each time you plant a seed, think of the resurrection. But you say, but Pastor Rogers, there is a difference in a seed and a human being because in the seed there is still a germ of life but in a human being when you put that corpse in the ground there is no more germ of life now see that's where you're wrong that's where you're wrong there is a part of you that never dies You need to understand that there is a continuity. Just as there's a germ of life that remains in that seed, there is a germ of life that remains in you. The real you never dies. Jesus said, He that liveth and believeth in me shall never die. You're looking at a man that can never die. Now this seed pod may go into the ground, but Adrian is never going to die. You see, It's not this particular bit of hide and hair and skin and bone that our Lord is going to raise up. We get a brand new set of corpuscles every few years. We're sloughing off old cells and we're putting on new cells every day. Question. Do you have the same body that you had when you were a baby? Think about it. Do you have the same body you had when you were a baby? Well, yes. No. I mean, you must have been a beautiful baby, but baby, look at you now. I mean, is it the same body? Yes. Is it the same body? No. In 1963, I first crossed the Mississippi River. I was going to San Francisco to a Southern Baptist Convention. Crossed that river, first time I'd ever been through Memphis. Never dreamed I'd be living here. Now I want to ask you a question. When I crossed the Mississippi River, Is that the same river today that I crossed in 1963? Well yes, but there's not one drop of water in that river today that was in it then. But it is the same river. Now what does all of this say? There is a continuity to us that goes beyond this particular bit of hide and hair. Uh, let me give you a great scripture. I enjoy sharing this psalm 139 verse 16 Uh, the psalmist is talking about how he was being formed in his mother's womb and it's a wonderful statement It says this thine eyes talking to god did see my substance yet being Unperfect that is uncom incomplete now that little baby in the mother's womb is a baby, it's just not yet perfected, it is not yet complete. And in thy book, watch this, in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. Before I came into being, God had a book. And in that book, all of my members were written. Do you know what we call that today? DNA. God just had my schematic. God had my plan. That's in His book. Before there were any of them, there is a unique individual named Adrian. There's a unique individual named David, Jim, Bob. We are all unique, and God has the schematic. God has the plan. God has the DNA. And when God gets ready to raise up Adrian, He's just gonna put that in His computer and say, Give me an Adrian, and up I'll come. You see, God has my plan in Him. Don't think that God has to run all over the universe looking for my new corpuscles. It is the me that unifies me, the genetic code. You know, if man, listen, if man can take the genetic code from one cell and clone an entire being, don't you think that Almighty God can raise the dead? Think about it. I was reading about old King Tut. You know, Howard Carter in 1922 entered the tomb of King Tut. And I've seen those artifacts that were taken out of that tomb. But one thing that many people don't know is that he found some seeds that were in that tomb. Those seeds were 3,000 years old. They were planted and they sprouted. 3,000 years old. Don't think that, listen, if God can preserve a seed for 3,000 years, He's going to have no difficulty raising us up. And so what we're trying to say, we're talking about the resurrection. The resurrection, friend, that just destroys death's keeping power. It's the resurrection that defeats death's keeping power. The devil and all of the host of hell can't keep us in the grave. Now, there's a second thing I want you to see today, not only the resurrection that defeats death's keeping power, but here's some good news. There's the rapture, the rapture that defies death's killing power. You know, death can't even always kill. Not everybody's going to die. Look, if you will, in verse 51. We're in chapter 15. Look, if you will, in verse 51. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. Now the word sleep here is the term for death for a child of God. Just as when you lay down last night, you're awakened this morning. When you lay in the grave, you're coming out. And so he calls it sleep when you lie in the grave. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump for the trumpets shall sound and the dead should be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed now what the Apostle Paul is talking about here is some people who are alive who will never die millions Perhaps billions will never die when Jesus comes. Now he says, he begins this statement in verse 51 with the word behold. That means pay attention. Behold, I'm about to tell you a sacred secret. Behold, I show you a mystery. This word mystery comes from the Greek word mysterion. which means something that is hidden, something that is not previously revealed. Did you know that Daniel didn't know about this? Isaiah didn't know about it. Jeremiah didn't know about it. Ezekiel did not know about it. Nahum did not know about it. None of the Old Testament prophets knew about this. This was a sacred secret. Paul tells us in the book of Ephesians chapter 4 that this secret was revealed to him, Ephesians chapter 3. Verses 3 through 5 he said, There was given a divine revelation. You see, the Old Testament prophets had the idea that they believed in a resurrection. Even old Job said, I know that my Redeemer liveth. And though worms destroy my body, yet in my flesh I'll see God. The Old Testament prophets knew about the resurrection, but they did not know about the rapture. The rapture, the taking away of millions of people without dying straight to heaven is a New Testament truth that was revealed to the Apostle Paul. It's a sacred secret that we have learned here in the church age. Behold, he says, I'm going to tell you a secret. I show you a mystery. We're not all going to sleep. But we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump." Now, the Bible makes this clear. Put in your margin 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4, verses 16 and 17. Paul elaborates it here, and he says, And by the way, the second coming of Jesus is the Lord himself, not deaths, not some event in history some people try to tell us. But the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout and the voice of the archangel and the trump of God. The dead in Christ shall rise first. That's the harvest, Christ the firstfruits, then the dead in Christ. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Notice the Apostle Paul said we. The Apostle Paul was looking for Christ to come in his lifetime. Don't get the idea that we're waiting on some event in prophecy to be fulfilled. Friend, Jesus may come at any time, from the time He went up to the time He's coming back. He is always on the verge of coming back. That is, we should live in expectancy of the imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the dead in Christ shall rise first, and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them. We call this the rapture. Paul called it caught up. The word rapture is not found in the Bible, but don't let that bother you. The word missions is not found in the Bible. The word trinity is not found in the Bible. The rapture is taught in the Bible. The Bible calls this being caught up. It comes from a Latin word, rapere, which means to catch away or to move away. Can you imagine what it's going to be like when the rapture happens? I mean, if it happens today, the trumpet sounds. The shout is given. The dead in Christ rise first. And then why do they rise first? Well, we've got a six-foot head start on them. The dead in Christ rise first. And then we, which remain alive, shall be caught up with them, same time, simultaneously, to meet the Lord in the air. People driving down the expressway, and you're sitting there talking to your partner. All of a sudden, there's no driver. Can you imagine that? Even worse, you're in an airplane. There's no pilot. Here's the quarterback calling his second. Hut, hut! Suddenly he's gone. Who's going to hand the ball off? I mean, people in the stands said, you talk about a hidden ball play. Now, that's something. Where'd they all go? Here is a professor who is lecturing in his class. He is a professor of religion at a liberal college. And about eight students are gone. He said, where'd they go? Well, we can get along without them. They were the ones always causing trouble in this class, always trying to prove their point by the Bible. Can you imagine? The rapture takes place next Sunday. A minister in his clerical robe stands before his congregation and says, Well, I'm happy to see you here today. After the upheaval, after the cataclysm, Who knows what happened to all of these people? How thoughtless of them to disappear like that. It was probably God's judgment upon them for standing in the way of our one world government and the utopia that we're to have. I don't know how the devil is going to tell it, but the devil is a master liar. But I'm telling you that the dead in Christ shall rise first. We which remain and are alive, we're going to be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air. And don't get the idea that we're waiting on some sign. We're not looking for antichrist, we're looking for Christ. We're not looking for some sign. There's no sign that has to come. The early Christians were looking for Jesus. Listen to what Jesus said in Mark chapter 13, verses 32 through 37. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye He. That is Jesus in His glory, in His humanity. Jesus in his humanity did not even know the time of his return. Take heed, watch and pray, for you know not when the time is. For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Now notice what Jesus is saying to you. Watch ye therefore, for you know not when the master of the house cometh. or at midnight, or at the cock crowing that is in the morning, or in the morning, lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping, and what I say unto you, I say unto all, watch. That is, just be ready. In such an hour as you think not, he's coming. The trumpet may sound before I finish this message. Now, what are we saying? Jesus, Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ, by His resurrection has decimated death's keeping power. Death cannot keep us. But Jesus also has defied death's killing power. Death can't even kill everybody. But now here's the third thing. Jesus, by His reign, we've talked about His resurrection, we've talked about the rapture, now let's talk about His reign. Jesus, by His reign, destroys death's kingly power. Had a dominion. Death ruled. Remember again Romans chapter 5 and verse 14. The Bible says death reigned. But death is no longer a king. Since Jesus has come, his keeping power is defeated. His killing power is defied. His kingly power is destroyed. Here's a great verse. 2 Timothy 1 verse 10. But now but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death." Don't you love that? He said, all right, Dad, you're abolished. And it brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. When Jesus has raised the last saint, what a day that's going to be. Then the Bible said death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. Death itself is going to go to hell. I love that. I praise God. Look if you will now in verse 54. So when this corruptible, that is this old decaying body of ours, shall it put on incorruption, and this mortal shall it put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is your sting? Oh, grave, where is your victory? Can you hear the mockery, the sacred mockery there that Paul is giving? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And then go back to verse 25, speaking of Jesus. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. That means when the last saint is raised, All the mopping up battles are done, and death itself is cast into the lake of fire, Revelation chapter 20. Many of you are not old enough to remember World War II. I was a little boy. I can remember when my daddy told me, son, we're at war. I remember December the 7th. I remember getting on my bicycle and riding down to Northbridge School, where I went to school, sitting on the bicycle shed there and pondering, what does it mean to be in war? I remember when the rationing came. I remembered when we gathered scrap iron. I remembered we followed those battles in the Pacific and those battles in Europe, and we read the newspapers every day. And if we went to the picture shows, we called it then, or the movies, we would sometimes see a newsreel. And then I remember, Brother Bob, a day when they announced that the Japanese had surrendered. Oh, V-J Day. I've never seen anything like it in my life. Never in my life. Everybody in that town, it seemed like, went down in West Palm Beach, down to Clematis Street, which is the center street in town. You've never seen such jubilation. You've never seen such shouting. You've never seen such dancing. You've never seen such rejoicing, because the United States had won a victory, a final victory, and Japan had surrendered, and they called it V-J Day, and they were dancing in the streets, where we lived, in West Palm Beach there, because the shipping lanes were there, up and down the Gulf Stream there, the Atlantic Ocean. We could not burn the lights in our city. All the headlights on the automobiles were painted half black. Nobody could burn lights in the house unless the shades were down. All the neon signs in the city were off. All the street lights were off because we did not want to silhouette the American ships there for the German U-boats there off the coast of West Palm Beach. But, oh, friend, there was dancing in the streets, and the lights came on again all over the city. I saw those neon lights, and I saw those headlights, and I saw those lights on the lampposts. Friend, I'll tell you, there's coming a day more glorious than that when Jesus steps out of the glory. Oh, I'll tell you, the lights will come back on, and we're going to leap and dance and shout and praise God, and we're going to mock the enemy, and we're going to say, Where is your sting? Grave, where is your victory? Then he says, listen, the sting of death is sin. It's sin that causes us to die. Sin has a stinger in it that causes death. And the strength of sin is the law. The law, God's holy law says that sin must be punished. But the Lord Jesus Christ, our glorious Savior that we talked about, went in and grappled with the iron strength of death. Jesus rose, and as I told you earlier, Jesus Christ pulled the sting out of death, and Jesus Christ paid the full penalty of the law, and Jesus satisfied the law. Therefore, when he comes, those who've died and gone to the grave are going to say, grave, where's your victory? And those of us who have never died at all, we're going to say, oh death, where is your sting? A mother and her two children were in the park. They were having a wonderful time until one of those big old bumblebees came and lighted on little brother and stung the little boy. He began to cry and scream like any child would, and a big swelling place came up there on his arm, and that bee was still buzzing around and buzzing around, and the little girl was petrified. And the mother said, Darlene, Darlene, wait a minute. Is she wiping brother's tears away? She said, look, Darlene. Look down here on brother's arm, and right in the middle of that swelling, was that bumblebee's stinger. You know, a bee can only sting once. Did you know that? Because he leaves a stinger. So you see that, darling? Sweetheart, he can buzz, he can frighten you, but, sweetheart, he can't hurt you. He left his sting in brother. He left his sting in brother. I want to tell you, friend, death may buzz around you, and death may frighten you, but our elder brother, the Lord Jesus, bears that sting. Thank God. Jesus took the sting out of death. Jesus took the pain out of parting. Jesus took the gloom out of the grave. And He has given us a hope that is steadfast and sure. And Jesus has defeated death's keeping power. Jesus has defied death's killing power. And Jesus has destroyed death's kingly power. And our God reigns. Amen? That's what it's all about. Now, now listen. He says, be ye therefore steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. That's the last verse, verse 58. It pays to serve Jesus. It pays every day. It pays every step of the way. Friend, if you are following Satan, I'm going to tell you, you are following a loser. You're going to die and go to hell. But if you're following Jesus, you'll live forever because He has become the death of death. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Heads are bowed and eyes are closed. How many of you would say, Pastor Rogers, I am absolutely, totally sure if I died today, By the grace of God and according to the word of God, I know that I would go straight to heaven. May I see your hand? Hold it up. Praise God. Take them down. Now, if you couldn't lift your hand, I know that you're interested in spiritual things or you wouldn't be here. Maybe you've just never really gotten it settled and maybe you don't have that full assurance. But today, you would like that assurance. You would like to be saved. You would like to know beyond the shadow of any doubt that you're going to heaven. And you can know. Listen to God's Word, Romans 10, 9 and 10, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. That is, if you believe enough in your heart to openly and publicly confess it, you'll be saved. With a heart man believes unto righteousness, and with a mouth confession is made unto salvation. I want you to pray like this. Dear God, I know that you love me and want to save me. Jesus, you died to save me and promised to save me if I would trust you. I do trust you, Jesus. I believe you're the Son of God. I believe you paid for my sin with your blood on the cross. I believe that God raised you from the dead and I receive you now as my Lord and Savior and I'll believe in my heart and I will confess it with my mouth. I'll not be ashamed of you because you died for me. Thank you for saving me. Amen. We pray God has blessed you as you've watched this message. If you'd like additional copies or information on other resources, write us at Love Worth Finding, P.O. Box 38800, Memphis, Tennessee, 38183. You can also visit our online bookstore at lwf.org. In the U.S., you can place Visa or MasterCard orders by calling 1-800-274-5683, Monday through Friday, 8.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Central Time. Thank you, and may God richly bless you.