How to Find Personal Peace

By Pastor Mark Finley

Our topic tonight, is how to find peace of mind. How to be free from guilt. How to be released from the condemnation that plagues us so often.

Norm, was a busy executive. He had it all. He had the world in his hands. He was an executive who seemed to have everything. As he jetted from business meeting to business meeting. In his corporate jet. Prophets in his company were up. His employees were secure. Norm had a top position in a large corporation. A corporation that was among the fortune 500 companies in America. In fact, norm's profit sharing incentives, as the manager of the company and as the owner of the company, enabled his employees to continually get raises. Norm had a marvelous vacation home in the mountains on a beautiful lake. He often took vacations at exotic island locations.

It seemed that Norm was on the top of his world. He had everything. Power. Prestige. He had a multi-million dollar salary. A very large bank account. But yet inside, Norm was dying. Inside, there was something wrong. The business meetings didn't seem to satisfy Norm. His life lacked in inner peace. It lacked direction. It seemed that he was empty inside. And much of the time, Norm felt depressed. He felt over worked. He felt guilty. He felt confused. Norm felt disconnected from the source of life. He felt that he was merely like a leaf blowing in the autumn breeze. Like a pebble beside the road. He had everything, but there was something missing inside. Something missing deep within his heart. Something lacking within his mind. Something missing and deep down within the pit of his stomach, there was this gnawing sense of discontent.

Shelly, never met Norm. They lived hundreds of miles apart. But Shelly was going through something very, very similar. Her husband was involved in business and worked 60, 70, 80 hours a week. Shelly had a beautiful home. But there was something missing in her life, too. She felt empty. She felt lonely. She felt worthless. She felt very unloved. And often she felt very, very guilty.

Men and women experience those same emotions, those same feelings. Whether it is a corporate executive who has not surrendered to Christ. Whether it's a middle-aged housewife feeling unloved and discontent. Whether it's a teenager that tries to drown their problems in alcohol. Whether it's somebody strung out on drugs. Whether we are in the higher top financial echelon or at the lower echelons of society, or in the middle class. Each of us experience from time to time in our lives feelings of guilt, estrangement, loneliness, despair, discouragement. There is that sense that something's wrong. That life could be richer. That life could be fuller. That life could have a much greater meaning. A much greater happiness than it does. What is behind our feelings of loneliness? What is behind the guilt that plagues us? Why do we feel separated from God? So often? What if we feel frightened and afraid and lonely? Why when we have so much? Do we feel such a lack of peace at times in our hearts.

When God created the world, God's plan for this world was happiness. And health. And joy. And meaning. And eternal life. To put our finger on the source of the problem, and to understand why we really feel like we do, let's go back to the Bible. There are many self-help plans. But those self-help plans seem to only leave us filled with despair at the end. There are over the counter prescription drugs, such as Valium. And other drugs that are being prescribed to bring some kind of normalcy and peace to human hearts. But although millions are taking those over the counter prescription drugs to deal with their depression, they still feel that there is something missing inside. They still feel this lack of peace. This guilt. This feeling of being unloved. This feeling of worthlessness. The Bible provides a sane and sensible answer to the problems of life. And it enables u

s to know the solution to these problems. Let's go to the book of genesis. There, when God created Adam and Eve, they were placed in an idealic, in a perfect world. In a magnificent world. A world where the air was fresh and clean. A world where the waters in the streams and lakes were unpolluted. A world where there was no sickness. No suffering. No heartache. And no death. No worry. No fear. No anxiety.

But knocking on the door of that world, Lucifer, a fallen angel, one whom God created perfect, but one who rebelled against God. One who wanted to throw God off his throne. One who wanted to reign supreme in the universe. That fallen angel came knocking on the door of a planet called earth. And God gave Adam and Eve a choice. And they chose to rebel against him. They listened to the lie of the evil one who said, if you partake of this tree, you will be happier. You'll have a feeling of joy. You'll have a feeling of exhilaration in your life. You will soar into the heights of ecstasy. Rather than soaring into the heights of ecstasy, sin led Adam and Eve to fear, and to guilt, to shame, and to worry. Ours is a planet. A planet in rebellion. A planet that is separated from God. How does sin affect us? How does this separation from God affect the human race? In what ways does it affect us?

Sin separates us from God. In fact the Bible says, read with it me please from the screen in Isaiah 59 verse 2 let's read it together. "But your iniquities (or sins) has separated you from your God." So it's sin that separates us from the source of life. It's sin that separates us from the source of joy. We are a planet. A planet in rebellion. And sin produces fear. It produces anxiety. It produces insecurity. It produces guilt. It produces emptiness. And it produces loneliness. And you can try to drown that guilt in alcohol but it's still there, you can try to rid yourself that have anxiety and insecurity through drugs, but it's still there. You can try premarital sex, but it's still there. You can try to lose yourself in pleasure, but it's still there. You can try money, but it's still there. Because sin separates us from God. And the root of sin produces its fruits. And the fruits are fear, anxiety, insecurity, guilt, emptiness, and loneliness.

Sin could be defined as a broken relationship. Sin is a broken relationship with God. According to genesis 3:8. When Adam and Eve sinned, they ran to hide from God. And men and women have been running ever since. Sin is a broken relationship with each other. You remember in the garden of Eden. Adam said, God, it's the woman that made me do it. And she's been causing me trouble ever since, Adam would say. Argument, strife, conflict, barriers between people, because of sin.

Sin is a broken relationship with God. A broken relationship with each other. A broken relationship with our world. A world or planet separated from God. Fruit trees begin to die. Streams that are polluted. Flowers that die. And death and the seeds of death sown in the human race. And so, sin has separated us from God. It's sin that has brought discontent and anxiety and fear and worry. What we need, is not some new philosophy. Not some New Age philosophy that says, oh, look within yourself to find the God within you. Because the truth of the matter is, that the ultimate result of sin, separation from God, is death. Men and woman are born. They live and they die. We need to find peace. Freedom from guilt. Harmony. We need to find a bridge back to our maker. But we most of all need to find a solution to the problem of death. Because the Bible says, in Romans 6 verse 23. Read with it me please, "The wages of sin is death." So, we're born, we're young, we're teenagers, we're in our 20s, and middle age, and life is a march from birth to death. And unless we can solve the riddle of death. Unless there is a bridge from this world to the next. We are doomed to death.

But yet, back there in the garden of Eden, God proposed a solution. In fact, since our problem is within us, it's in our hearts that wander from God. It's in our rebellion against God. It's in the sin that separates us from God. For not onl

y have Adam and Eve sinned, but all have sinned and come short of God's glory. So, since our problem is within us, we need help outside of us from above. That's why no new age thinking can ever solve the problems of this generation. Because, the new age movement leads you to look within. But if the problem is within, it must be solved from without. If the problem is within, it must be solved from above. Not trying to discover the God within me, but to try to discover the God out there in the universe who loves me and sent his son Jesus Christ. Because, in the book of genesis, when Adam and Eve sinned, God gave to them a promise. And God said to Adam and Eve, and I quote in genesis, I will put enmity, the word enmity means to make a separation. Sin separated the human race from God. God says, now I will separate you from Satan. And the woman Eve, the Bible says I'll put enmity, that is make a separation between you Satan and the woman Eve. And between your offspring and hers. He, Jesus, shall bruise your head, Satan. And you will bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15. In the garden of Eden, God made a prediction. Gave a promise. He said, down the ages of time, I will send Christ, the messiah. And the messiah will come and give Satan's head a deadly blow. Christ would crush the serpent under his heel. And then the Bible says, that Christ would receive a blow. Not a deadly blow. The promised messiah was forecast in the garden of Eden. And God then instituted a plan. That would remind men and women down through the ages that the messiah was coming. First, Adam and Eve and others offered animal sacrifices. Then later during the days of Israel, God said, "let them build me a sanctuary", Exodus 25 verse 8, "that I might dwell among them." God had a plan to rid us of anxiety and fear and worry and condemnation and guilt. God had a plan to bridge the gap that sin made by separation. And so ancient Israel, the Israelites built a sanctuary. Now let's suppose an Israelite got angry with his neighbor. And began yelling and screaming at his neighbor, and his neighbor the same. That Israelite now feels guilt. They're estranged from God. They sinned. They feel loneliness and fear. Because when we've sinned, and our hearts wander from God, we feel that estrangement. That fear. That guilt. It clutches us. God said, bring a lamb, a male, without spot and without blemish. And come to the sanctuary, and place your hands over the head of the lamb. Then take a knife. And plunge it through the throat of the lamb. Watch as the blood spurts on the ground. As you confess your since, the guilt of those sins is transferred to the lamb.

You came in guilty. But as the lamb bears that the guilt now because you confessed the sin, the lamb must die because the wages of sin is what everybody? Death. So, guilt is transferred from the sinner to the lamb as the sinner confesses their sin. And the sinner goes free. Who did everyone of those thousands of lambs point forward to? The Christ who would come and be born. Who would be our lamb without spot and blemish. Who would live the perfect life we should have lived. Who would go to the cross to die the death we should have died. Jesus is the bridge between God and man. John says in john 1:29. Read it with me, please, "Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world." Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away who bears away. You either bear the guilt of your own sin or you have a substitute.

I remember talking to Shirley. Shirley had ruined her life. Her life had fallen apart. She had gone through a terrible divorce. She had left her husband for somebody else. She, years later felt guilty. She felt terrible inside. She knew that what she did 20 years ago was wrong. But there was no way that she could reconcile with her first husband now. That -- that experience was over. And she was feeling so terrible. So guilty. And we counseled one night. And she said, how can I ever have peace of mind? What I've done is wrong. I've sinned. I know it. And I feel so guilty every day. I feel so estranged from God. I feel so unloved. I feel so unclean. I said, Shirley. If you lived back in the old testament times, you would bring a lamb. And you'd hold your hands out and confess your sin over the head of that lamb. And the sin would be transferred from you to the lamb. Then, you would take your knife and slay the lamb. And the lamb would die because of the guilt of your sin. And I said, Shirley, your problem is this. You don't l

ive in the old testament. You don't have a lamb. And you haven't accepted Jesus, so you don't have Jesus. Because every lamb, Shirley, pointed forward to Jesus. He is the lamb of God. He is that Lamb. In the Old Testament, yes, they came to slay a lamb. You say it's terrible that lamb's blood was shed. Yes, it is terrible. It's a much more terrible thing to sense that God's blood would be shed in Jesus. Because, friend of mine, the Bible says, that Christ is that lamb. He came to die in our behalf. He came to take our place. God provided a sacrifice. If there is no Jesus, we must bear the guilt of our own sin. But we can come to God's lamb.

The heart of the book of Revelation is Jesus Christ. The heart of the book of Revelation is not the beast. It's not the terrible times ahead. But the book of Revelation presents two ways. God's way. And man's way. The book of Revelation presents two leaders. The lamb Jesus Christ, who invites us to give him our allegiance. Or the beast who commands our allegiance. The Bible says, in Revelation 1 verse 5. Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his blood. Jesus is the lamb of Revelation. We can be forgiven. In Revelation 5. All around the throne angelic beings sing, worthy is the lamb that was slain. In revelation 12 verse 11 it said, "they overcame him by the blood of the lamb." In Revelation 13 verse 8 it says that, "Jesus is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world." When Adam and Eve sinned. God put his salvation plan into action immediately. The Bible says, that the center of the book of Revelation is Revelation 14:6. The everlasting gospel. The gospel of the good news that this world has been redeemed by God. The good news that you can come to him and find mercy. The good news that condemnation can be gone. The good news that you can have peace and happiness and joy. One day, we will be invited according to Revelation 19:9 to the marriage supper of the lamb. Eden will be restored. We'll sit with Christ and praise him forever. The book of Revelation. Talks about Jesus coming the second time. Revelation 19 verse 13. And it says. Jesus was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood." When Christ comes, symbolically his garments are dipped in blood because he comes as your king a second time. Because he came as your savior the first time. Jesus Christ, the Bible says in Revelation 22 verse 17. Gives us this invitation. Whosoever will let him take the water of life freely. You can freely come to this Jesus. You can confess your since over God's lamb. The guilt will be transferred from you to him. When Jesus went to that cross, he thought of you. When he hung on the cross, you were on his mind. When he hung on the cross, you were in his heart. The nails that were put through his hands, were put through his hands for you. You can gather at that cross tonight.

The Bible says, in second Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21, "For He (that is God) made Him (that is Christ) who knew no sin, to be sin for us." Did Jesus ever sin, folk, yes or no? Did he ever sin?

Never sinned. But did he become sin for us? The Bible says, he, that is God, made him, Jesus, who knew no sin to be sin for us. That we might become the righteousness of God in him. On the cross, God set up a judgment bar. On the cross, as a sinner, Christ was condemned. Christ never sinned. But he accepted the guilt of your sins. He accepted the guilt of my sins. He accepted the condemnation of the sins of the entire human race. He became sin for you. He became sin for me. And, Christ determined that if it was necessary for him to be lost for eternity, he was willing to be lost for you and me. When I was in the 5th grade I raised my hand one day and said, teacher how long is eternity? The teacher said, Mark, eternity! I was brought up on the east coast. Wind blowing in my hair. Sand between my toes. The teacher said, picture a seagull taking a drop out of the ocean once every thousand years. The seagull flies away, and then comes back, takes another drop out of the ocean a thousand years later. It was an old seagull. Then it flies back. Somebody got it if you didn't your wife will explain it to you later. Then, seagull flies back a thousand years later, takes another drop out of the ocean and leaves. Flies back, takes another drop out of the ocean and leaves. By the time the ocean gets dry, my teacher told me that's the first second of e

ternity. Eternity is a long, long time. And when Jesus died on the cross, he accepted the guilt of all the sins of mankind. And he said, I am willing to be condemned for Mark Finley's sin so Mark Finley can live in heaven. I am willing to exchange my place in heaven and be actually lost and be consumed in the fires of hell. The Bible says, cursed is everyone that hangs on the tree. Jesus bore your curse. Jesus bore my curse. Jesus loves us so much the Bible says, the wages of sin is, what? Death. You and I deserve to die. Not only the physical death, but we deserve to die the eternal death. But Jesus was willing to go to the cross so that you and I would not have to experience eternal death. He was willing to take that condemnation. Take that guilt upon himself. Ephesians 2 verse 8 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. Not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest anyone should boast." Salvation comes not because of what I do, but because of what Jesus has done. Salvation comes not because of my works but because Jesus lived the perfect life that I should have lived. And he died the death I should have died. The Bible says, for by grace you have been saved through faith. It is the, what of God everybody? The what? It's a gift. The beast system is man's way. The lamb's system, is Jesus' way. The beast system is built on all kind of rituals of this church, or that church, all kind of earthly traditions. There is still a fountain filled with blood. Drawn from Immanuel's veins. And sinner's plunged beneath that blood. Lose all their guilty stains. Salvation is a gift. You cannot earn a gift. You cannot work for a gift. You cannot purchase a gift if a person wants to freely give it to you, they give it to you, and it's yours! I remember one evening, I was speaking in the jungles in the Philippines, trying to illustrate to that group salvation in Jesus. I had a lot of children there, we were meeting out by the light of a kerosene lantern. Out in an old jungle road. And I knew those kids didn't have pens or combs. So I took one out of my pocket. I said, to one of the children in the front row, here, I'd like to give you this. The little kid looked at it. And then he ran into the jungle. I didn't know that this tall skinny American was that ugly. But anyway. Then I took out -- I went to another kid, and I said you can have it, it's yours! And the kid started crying and ran to his mother. Now by this time I was feeling really inferior. Then I went to the third kid and said, here, take this. And the kid grabbed it and ran. And all the other kids surrounded him and they ran, too. Well finally, the adults got the kids to come back. And they said, could he have it? Are you really going to give it to him? I said, sure. It's his. Then I said, why didn't you get it? Oh, I didn't take it the boy said. Why didn't you get it. I didn't take it, the little girl said. It is yours to reach out and receive. Tonight's salvation is yours. You can reach out and receive it.

Somebody said, Mark, make it plain. Make it so plain. How can I have peace of mind? Make it clear from the Bible. First, if you want peace of mind, if you want freedom from guilt, if you want to know that eternal life is yours in Jesus Christ. First, accept the fact that you are a sinner. Accept the fact, the Bible says, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That's you, and that's me, friends. There is nobody perfect here at all. In fact, do you know the preacher who was going to preach on the subject of perfection, the person that never made a mistake. And he got up and he said, is there anybody perfect here? He thought that was a good introduction. He thought everybody would be seated. So he got up and said, is there anybody perfect here? And an old man in the back stood. And he couldn't believe it. And he said, sir, are you perfect? And the man said, no. But I am standing as a proxy for my wife's first husband. Well, I think the truth of the matter is, that all of us are in the same boat. That we can accept the fact that separated from God, we are sinners, coming to Jesus on our knees and saying, oh, Lord. Oh, Lord, I am a sinner. I am separated from you. I have fallen short so many times I've lost my temper. I've lied. I've thought evil, immoral thoughts. Lord, in my heart, the Bible says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Indeed. We come, we accept the fact that we are sinners. Secondly, we come to believe. To believe that the Christ that died on Calvary was for us. Salvation is a matter of believing. It's a matter of faith in the Christ that died. The Bible says in Acts 15 and verse 31, "Believe on the L

ord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." The Bible says, believe. Come and believe that the Christ that died is your savior. Thirdly, confess. You can receive eternal life tonight. You can accept the fact that you are a sinner. Unsaved. You can come to the place in your life tonight when you say, Lord I believe in you. You died for me. You died in my behalf. I come and confess. First john 1 verse 9. Please read this passage with me, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" First John 1 verse 9. If we confess, but you say, wait a minute. I've lied. Wait a minute, I got angry. Wait a minute, I've cursed. Wait a minute, I've stolen. Wait a minute, I've killed. Wait a minute, I've committed adultery. Are you going to call God a liar? The Bible says, that Christ's blood shed on Calgary's cross is sufficient for all sins. And if you say that his blood isn't sufficient for your sin, then you say the sacrifice he paid for you was not enough. Was Calvary enough? Was it enough, folk? Is it enough for your sin? Is it enough to wash your sin clean. If you confess your sin, will he forgive even yours? Will he forgive yours, brother. Will he forgive yours, sister? Your sin can be forgiven. And if your sin is forgiven, condemnation is gone. If your sin is forgiven, guilt is gone. If your sin is forgive in, you know how much he loved you. You feel worthwhile in your life. Look, if you have low self-esteem, if you don't have any purpose or meaning in your life. Get your head out of the dust. Get your head out of the dirt. Look up to the cross and see how much you're worth. You are worth so much. That God gave the greatest gift in heaven for you, Jesus Christ. You could not be worth any more. Accept that you're a sinner. Believe that Christ died and that salvation is a gift. Confess your sins to him. And decide that you want to follow him. The Bible says in Acts 3 verse 19, "Repent there for and be converted. That your sins may be blotted out." And repentance is a change of mind. I was walking this way. God tapped me on my shoulder. God said, Mark, you're going in the wrong direction. I came to him. Fell on my knees, accepted that I was a sinner. Accepted that Christ died in my behalf for me. Even me. That I was so valuable. So precious in God's sight. So worthwhile in God's sight. That as I confessed my sin, it was gone. And in my heart I said, God change my mind. Help me to hate the things I used to love doing. And God, made me into a new person in Jesus Christ our Lord. Receiving Jesus, we receive the gift of eternal life. Eternal life can be yours tonight. The Bible says, "He that hath the son hath life" When you accept Jesus you receive what everybody? Life! "And he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written to you, that believe on the name of the Son of God that you might think, perhaps, and maybe you could have eternal life" Is that what it says? What does it say? These things that I written to you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may do, what -- that you may what? Know that you have, what? When God says that I can know that I have eternal life. Can I know that I have eternal life. What does God say? Well maybe I can. Perhaps I can. When I accept Jesus Christ into my life, the coming of Christ into my life brings with it the gift of eternal life. Condemnation is gone. Anxiety is gone. Fear is gone. Guilt is gone. Condemnation is gone. Now Jesus is living in my heart. I am his and he is mine.

Martin Luther experienced that joy of knowing Jesus. Martin was a troubled young man. Walking down one day in 1505, through one of those beautiful German forests. A thunderstorm came up. Lightning. Drove Martin to his knees. And as he looked up at that time, he only knew the patron saint Anne might protect him. He cried out. Oh, patron saint Anne protect me. The lightning thrashed. The thunder crashed. He said, if I'm protected, I will become a priest. I'll enter into the monastery. And so, Martin, lying there, crying out for mercy. Soon the rain stopped. The sky cleared. And amazingly enough, the sun shown. Faithful to his promise, he entered a monastery. He had no peace, no joy, no meaning in his life. There in the monastery, he still felt separated from God. There in the monastery he still felt condemned. There in the monastery, he went through penance after penance after penance, Martin could not find peace. He stayed up one or two o'clock in the morning. Whipped himself and whipped himself and whipped himself. He still could not find peace. He thought my body is sinful. If I beat it long enough I'l

l have peace. If I fast long enough, I'll have peace. If I deny myself food, long enough I'll have peace. Certainly, I can do something to avenge a offended God. As he began to study the Bible, Martin discovered the epistle to the Romans. And there as he read, something amazing occurred in his life. He read a passage like this in Romans 6 verse 23. For the wages of sin is death; but -- I'm thankful for the buts in the Bible. The wages of sin is death. What's the next word? But the what of God? The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And Martin on his knees said, God, give me that gift. Peace flooded his soul. He sensed for the first time in his life a freedom from guilt.

A freedom from condemnation. One night martin was sleeping. And as he went to sleep, after reading the Bible, he had a dream. And n that dream, Satan appeared to him. And as Satan appeared to him, Satan unrolled the scroll lying, specific lie. Cheating, specific cheating. Unclean thoughts, specific unclean thoughts. That only martin knew were his. The devil said is this your long scroll of sins? Martin said, yes, it is. It is my scroll of sins. And the devil said, is the wages of sin death? Yes, it is. Must you die? And Martin said, move your hand. Because the devil's hand was at the top of the scroll. He said, move your hand. Move your hand! And the devil said, no. Then Martin Luther said in the name of the Christ who wore the crown of thorns. In the name of the Christ that had nails through his hands, in the name of the Christ with a spear wound in his side. In the name of that Christ, move your hand.

And Satan had to tremble at the name of Christ. And he fled. When he moved his hand, this is what it said, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses Martin Luther from all his sins. That blood can cleanse you tonight, friend. You can find peace. You can find joy. I don't know the circumstance in your life. Maybe you've never fully accepted Christ before into your life. You can do that tonight. You can have peace in your life like you don't know. You can have happiness in your life like you don't know. You can have meaning in your life, like you can't understand. A new peace fill flood your soul. You can be free from guilt. Free from condemnation this very night. Or maybe you've accepted Christ only on the surface. Maybe you're a church member only in name. But in your life, there is condemnation. You have no assurance that if you died tonight, you'd go to heaven. You have no assurance of eternal life with Jesus Christ. In your life there is a lack of peace. And there's anxiety.

Come with me tonight. To a hill called Calvary. And a mountain called Golgatha. Come with me tonight just before the death of Christ. And watch those who his life redeemed gather around him. There is Mary, caught in adultery, filled with guilt. But now, rejoicing she comes to anoint his body. Mary has found that peace. Mary has found that meaning. Come with me tonight. To Pilate's judgment hall and watch as this Christ is whipped and beaten. Come with me tonight. As they jam a crown of thorns upon his head. Come with me tonight and behold the look of agony in his eyes. and watch the blood as it trickles down his face. Who is he? He is Jesus the son of God. He is Christ the one that hung the worlds in space. The one at whose name angels sing holy, holy, holy. He is the Christ. The creator of the universe. Look at his body tonight. Broken, bruised. Bleeding. Battered. As it's taken off the cross. Why this suffering? Why this pain? Because Jesus loves you enough to die for you. He loves you enough to die in your place. He offers you the gift of salvation. The gift of eternal life. Can you turn from such love? Can you turn from such eyes of tenderness and pity and compassion.

Open your heart to him tonight. Watch as he walks Calgary's hill. Watch as he walks three times -- he falls three times beneath the load. Watch as the cross crushes out his life. Listen to the hammer ring as it drives nails through his hand. Watch as his side is ripped apart by a spear. Who is this that suffers so on the cross in agony? It is Jesus! The one who with the father created the universe. He loves you so much. That he could not enjoy heaven if you weren't there. He loves you so much, that he doesn't want the worship of angels unless you can be

there, too, singing his praise. Your guilt can be gone. Your -- you can peace of mind. You can have joy in your life. The Bible says, for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son. That whosoever -- I love the whosoever -- doesn't say a black man, doesn't say a white man. Doesn't say an Asian. Doesn't say a polish man. Doesn't say a Czechoslovakian, Doesn't say a German. Doesn't say a French man or a Spanish or a Romanian. Doesn't say a Hungarian. It says, whosoever. Doesn't say a person from the United States, or Canada. That whosoever -- whosoever means you. Whosoever means me. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Peace can be yours. Freedom from guilt can be yours. Deliverance from condemnation can be yours. Eternal life can be yours. Look into his eyes tonight. Can you turn from such love?

In the Vietnam war, a young lieutenant had six special buddies. And he said, I will do anything to get you home. Anything. My goal is that everyone of us leave here, and go back to the states alive. In their last month of battle, they were in a battle field. The Vietcong soldiers surrounded them. And as they did, the little troop, the little group was pinned down with machine gun fire. Five of them got back to the fox hole. The lieutenant and four of his buddies. But their 6th buddy had been shot with machine gun bullets in the legs. And his legs were all bloody, and he was in the middle of a field. And the enemy soldiers were approaching. They could hear the screams of their buddy, don't leave me. Don't leave me. The young lieutenant crawled out into the field. Put his arms around his buddy and began pulling him back and rolled him over in the fox hole. The young lieutenant was shot in the back and killed. He gave his life for his buddy. Two years after the war was over, the parents of that young lieutenant invited the buck private, 19 years old, whom their son had saved to their house for dinner. They had learned that that young buck private was going to be out in the Seattle, Washington area, where they lived. So they invited that private to dinner. They wanted to talk about the gallantry. The courage. The strength of their son at death. The young private showed up half drunk. The mother of the lieutenant that saved the private had gone to great lengths to prepare a magnificent meal. The table was set beautifully. And this young private, so insensitively sat down, and burped through the meal, slobbered all over himself, told immoral, off color jokes about the army and other of the services. It was a horrible evening the worst of these parents' life. At the end of the evening, the father, escorted that young man to the door, walked him out to the car, graciously bid him goodbye. That young private jumped in the car, revved up the engine and spun the tires. And gravel went flying everywhere. As he wove -- as the car wove, weaved as it went down the road.

Dad came back and shut the door behind him. His wife, sitting on the couch crying and crying. And she looked up through her tears and said, Jack, our precious son gave himself for that thing? Our precious son died for that? It was the height of ingratitude. To give so little for one that gave so much. How is it with you and Jesus? He gave it all for you. He poured out his blood for you. He offers you forgiveness. He offers you peace of mind. He offers you freedom from guilt.

Tonight as we bow our heads to pray, would you like to tell him tonight, that you want to give him your life? In just a few moments, I'm going to pass out a response card. That will give you a chance to respond to Jesus. Sure, you can ask some questions on the card if you want. But the most important thing is your response to Jesus. Your understanding that through him you can be saved. Tonight, in your heart, would you like say to Jesus, Lord, I'm yours. Lord, I want you to take my life. I want the guilt to be gone. O, my father, we come to you because there's no other place to come. We come to you because there's nobody else that can give us the peace. And the freedom from condemnation. That our hearts long for. We come to you to find mercy and forgiveness. We cannot turn away from the cross. We cannot turn away from the sacrifice of Christ. We can't turn away from the blood that He shed for us. We reach out in faith. We reach out believing and accept your gift of eternal life into our hearts right now in Christ's name. Ame

n.

Tonight, our usurers have a card. Tonight in the quietness, I'd like them to pass it across. And I'd like you to take that card just now. It's a card that will give you a chance to respond to the cross. Wherever you are. Across the United States or Canada. Please linger a moment, please don't leave. Please take the card in your hand. In Poland, Romania. Germany. All across Europe. Hungary, France, Ireland, England. Just take the card momentarily. You know, if you happen to get up to leave this moment, you may distract somebody else from filling out the card. And I know you wouldn't want to do that. Just quietly, take the card. Our lights here in the main auditorium, will begin gradually to come on. Giving you an opportunity to fill out the card. I know most of you can see it in the light. But I'd like everyone of you to take it. Jesus came all the way from heaven for you. He shed his blood for you. If you need a pencil here, or across the United States, or Canada, or around the world in some of these 45 countries, you know, thousands are going to accept Christ right now. Many men and women who maybe have never accepted him. Will fill out a card. An act of faith right now. If you don't understand something in the presentation, this will give you a chance, too, to mark it down.

The first line says, I believe that salvation comes only by grace through faith in Christ. If you believe that salvation comes only by faith through Jesus Christ our Lord, check that first box.

The second box says, I once knew Jesus, but I have drifted away. And tonight, I want to recommit my life to Christ. Maybe you were a Christian. Maybe you drifted away. But tonight you're saying I can't turn my back on that love. I can't turn my back on one who cares for me so much. I can't turn my back on one who died for me. I'm not going to get in the car and spin my tires in ingratitude. I'm going to come with my heart open to receive his love. Check the second box.

Third box. I repent of my sins. And accept Jesus as my personal savior. Believing that my sins are forgiven and this gift of eternal life is mine, if you have never done that before. Check that box. If you have done it before you may want to check it. But if you want tonight to say, Lord, I am accepting Jesus. He's my personal savior. And tonight, I'm going to walk out of here singing. Tonight I'm going to walk out of here with a sense of peace in my life. Tonight, I'm going to walk out of here knowing that I am connected to God with the guilt gone. The gift of eternal live is mine, check the third box.

Last box. I'd like more reading material to help me learn about Jesus. If you want more reading material to help you know about Jesus, if you want to really know his love and his power, well, we've got a little book called "Steps To Christ". A chapter that deals with what to do with doubt. A chapter that deals with faith. A chapter that deals with belief. Its the most marvelous buck I have ever read on how to know Jesus and how to be a real committed Christian. If you'd like more reading material on how to know Christ, check that box. We will give it to you, yours free. If you have it, you may not want to check the box, you just may want to read it, because I know it's so popular. So, write your name. Your telephone number. Your address, your city, your state, because we want to be able to deliver this book to you.

Your name and your phone number. Your address, your city, your state.

Are you a church member? You know we have many lovely Christians attending. Catholic Christians, Baptist Christians, Orthodox Christians, Pentecostal Christians. We have Adventist Christians, people of no church. It's helpful to me to get to know you a little bit. You can check and what denomination, jot that there. Any question you want to write to me, you can jot it on the back if you'd like. I'd like to give our ushers just a minute. Give you a minute. Our ushers have a bu

cket. And just shortly they're going to pass them across and I'd like you to drop your card here in Orlando in the bucket. Across the country. Just fill out your card. If your local host has buckets prepared, they'll them across. If not you can just fold you card and pass them to the outside aisles. Would you do that, the ushers will come down and pick them up. Just now ushers would you collect the cards. And I'd like to -- for you to bring them forward once you have collected them. Ushers, wherever you are, just bring the cards forward in Romania and Poland. In Hungary, Yugoslavia, Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia, Spain, and Portugal and Germany and Ireland and England.

Down in south America and Inter-America. Down in Brazil, Mexico, wherever you are. Canada, the United States, through the west to the east to the north and south. We want you to bring these cards forward. This is going to be a special moment in our meetings. Because as ushers from all over the world come with tens of thousands of cards, of people that said, Jesus, I want to be yours. Jesus, I want my life in your hands. Jesus, I want to accept your gift of eternal life. We're going to offer these cards up to our Lord. God knows your name. God knows your heart. God knows the thoughts of your mind. You may have come here tonight filled with guilt. You can leave in peace. You may come filled with condemnation. You can leave with joy. You may come worried about life after death, you can leave knowing you have eternal life. If you have accepted Christ on this card tonight, if that is your act of faith, ushers, just now you can bring the buckets forward, you can just stand right here. All across the United States. And Canada and the world. If this is your statement of faith to God tonight, you can know that he knows your name. It's written down on earth. And it's written down in heaven.

God knows your country. He knows your language. Right now, we're offering our lives to him. We leave this place singing. We leave this place rejoicing. We leave this place filled with peace. Because the living Christ died on Calgary's cross. And we accept that gift tonight. We accept his mercy tonight. And his grace tonight. Just now, we bow our heads, and offer ourselves to this living Christ, as ushers still come.

Jesus, tonight some of us came here in here worried. We thought about death occasionally. And we're so frightened. We wondered how we ever could be saved. But tonight, we know that through Jesus salvation can be ours. Tonight, some of us came in here guilty. Feeling condemned in our consciences. Right now, we confess our sins. And our slate is wiped clean. Some of us came lonely. But we have one Jesus that loves us. Some of us came feeling worthless. But Christ puts his a arms around us and saves us.

And so, just now, Lord, on behalf of tens of thousands around the world, who filled out these cards, I lift the cards up to you. You know each name. You know each heart. Take each one, write them down in your book. And give them eternal life. And send them from this place happy in peace and singing. And thank you that you'll do it in Christ' name. Amen.