John the Baptist, the Doubter

Dr. Jack Hyles

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Baptist-City.com 2004

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man. "I Corinthian 10:13

It was about time to eat lunch when the pastor of a church came and said, "Dr. Hyles, would you please talk to a fellow who's asking for you?" I was outside in the yard.

I went back into the church, and there was a very fine looking young man. A very intelligent type fellow who said, "I would like to talk to you, Dr. Hyles, if you would allow me please." I asked him his name and he told me. And I won't give it to you. Brother Terry will be interested in this because Brother Terry is an excellent golfer.

This man was a professional golfer. He had made the tour, the professional golf tour. One year he won the Dallas Open Championship, which is one of the major tournaments of the year, and in another major tournament, he had tied with Sam Sneed and had lost in the playoff for the championship. He was a very well known golfer - not a Sneed nor a Hogan nor a Byron Nelson nor an Arnold Palmer or a Lindsey Terry, but he was very well known, a splendid golfer, one who had made tens of thousands of dollars just playing golf.

He said, "Dr. Hyles, I've heard of you. I don't go to this church, but I have driven some miles to hear you preach. I want to tell you something. I am doubting the fact that I am saved." He said, "I believe that my salvation is the most important thing in all the world." (And by the way, he's right.) He said, "Nothing in the world can compare in importance with where you are going to spend eternity." And so he said, "I am doubting my salvation. I need your help."

So I tried to help him. At the end of my message, I plan to tell you what I told him. Then he asked me this question, point blank, "Brother Hyles, do you ever doubt?" Well, that's not fair to ask a preacher that. I mean, after all, if I did, I could not tell you.

I took him toI Corinthians 10:13 and read this to him, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man." And I said, "Does that answer your question?" He said, "Why, Dr. Hyles, do you mean you doubt? Have you ever doubted the fact that you are saved?" Now I may lose my job this morning. "Have you ever doubted the fact that you were saved?" I said, "There hath no testing taken you but such as is common to man."

Then I began to think of all the people in the Bible - you still want my answer, don't you? The answer is yes; everybody who has ever been saved has doubted it. Everybody. "There has no temptation taken you, or in is the better word, but such as is common to man." So I began to think of all the people in the Bible who had doubted. By the way, after awhile I'm going to tell you what I do when I doubt, so don't go to sleep yet. I'm going to tell you what I do when I doubt.

There was Job. Job who could say at one time, "I know that my redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth, "Job 19:35 That same Job who had the kind of doubt that could stand in another place and say, "If a man die, shall he live again?" Job 14:14 Job was the greatest Christian in the world at the time he lived. He was a perfect man, the Bible says. That means mature and complete, a well-rounded man. He was a just man. He was a man so wonderful that God Himself found pride in Job. God said, "Look at Job. He is the apple of my eye." The greatest Christian in the world in his day, and yet Job doubted so much that he asked the question, "If a man die, shall he live again?"

There was Thomas. I think we undersell Thomas. We call him "Doubting Thomas." I doubt if we ought to give him that title. But bear in mind this about Thomas. He was one of the eleven best Christians in the world in the time of the life of our Lord. He was chosen to be in the inner eleven or inner twelve, but one was not saved. He was one of the eleven best Christians in the world chosen by Jesus himself. And yet Thomas said, "I will not believe until I see the scars in his hands and the scars in his feet and side." Thomas doubted.

There was Jeremiah. Jeremiah was the best preacher in the world when he lived. I have no doubt about that. He was so compassionate that he wept as he preached. His heart broke within himself as he mourned over the sins of the people. Yet Jeremiah said, and I quote, "Wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?" Jeremiah 15:18 Jeremiah said that to God! "Dear God, wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar?" He was doubting the honesty of God and the fact that God was consistent and God would never fail when he said, "Will you always be unto me as a liar? Will you always be as waters that fail?"

Bear in mind that Jeremiah, the best preacher in his day, doubted. Thomas, one of the best in eleven, doubted. Job, the greatest Christian in the world, doubted.

You may recall when Jeremiah one time got so discouraged that he said he was going to quit preaching. "Oh, that I were a wayfaring man." What he really said was, "I'd like to have a little cottage in the woods where I could just get away from it all. I'd like to quit preaching." He said one time, he did. He closed his Bible and quit preaching. Suddenly, he said that the Word of God became like a fire in his bones and he could not contain himself. But Jeremiah doubted. You're in good company, aren't you?

You have doubted your salvation, haven't you? Yes, you have. And so have I. And so did Jeremiah. And so did Job. And so did Thomas. But wait a minute. Elijah. How about Elijah? Elijah was the most powerful man of his day. Elijah could stand in front of the 700 prophets of Baal and he could pray down fire from God with the King and Queen looking at him as he did. Elijah could chop the heads of the prophets off in courage. Elijah could fight the entire political system of his day and yet Elijah doubted. Don't you recall?

Elijah could stand up against Jezebel and all her prophets. And then she said after he stood against her, "I'm going to kill you." And he ran for his life. He got down under a Juniper tree and doubts flooded his soul and he said, "Lord, kill me." I've always doubted that he really meant that. Why? If he had wanted to die, all he would have had to do was wait on Jezebel. She was going to kill him. I doubt if he really wanted to die. Anyway, Elijah doubted. Now bear in mind, he was the greatest man in the world of his day, and yet he had his doubts. Under the Juniper tree he said, "Lord, I don't think anybody else is left." And the Lord had to feed him with hamburgers from Heaven. The ravens came and brought him sandwiches and fed him from Heaven, and Elijah doubted.

Job, the greatest man in the world of his day, doubted. Thomas, one of the eleven best of his day, doubted. Jeremiah, the outstanding preacher of his day, doubted. Elijah, the greatest man in the world, I think, and one of the five greatest, in my opinion, in all of the Bible, doubted. But now of all people - John the Baptist.

Our Lord said of John the Baptist that a greater person had never been born of woman. John the Baptist doubted. All of our heros are failing us, aren't they - Jeremiah, Elijah, Job, Thomas, and John the Baptist. Now follow me carefully.

John the Baptist was in a dungeon-like prison. He was the man who had been the forerunner of our Lord. He was a man who said, "He must increase, but I must decrease." John 3:30 He was a man who said, "There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose." Mark 1:7 He was the man who said when the big boys came down and tried to make a show of redemption, "You generation of vipers who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance. Go back to where you were!" Matthew 3:7 That great man of boldness. That great prophet of God. The one about whom our Lord had said, "Never a woman had a baby as great as John the Baptist!"

The one who leaped in the womb of his mother before he was born because he was so full of the Holy Spirit of God. And yet, now, we find him in prison. He is in the dungeon. He gets discouraged. That is always an encouragement, too. The fact that you get discouraged is an encouragement to me. Don't you always feel better when you find out that there are those who feel as bad as you do? It is always an encouragement to find there are people - Brother Hand, for example, is always happy when he finds someone who is as ugly as he is. It is encouraging to find somebody like John Colsten sitting right next to him.

Now it is encouraging to me when I realize that somebody like John the Baptist became discouraged. He is in the dungeon. He is in prison. He hears something. Listen. He hears that Jesus is meek and lowly. Word seeps back to John the Baptist in the dungeon that Jesus is healing sick folks, opening blind eyes, causing the lame to leap like a harp, the deaf to hear, the blind to see, the dead to live, the sick to rise and John the Baptist says, "That's not the Christ I was preaching. I came preaching in the wilderness, There cometh one after me whose shaft is in his hand and who comes like a fire. He will baptize you with fire when he comes. I've told about a powerful, conquering King! And now, what's this I hear about Jesus healing sick folks and being meek and lowly and walking about as a lowly man. What's this I hear?"

So John the Baptist said, "Here, I want you two fellows to come." He chose two of his disciples and said, "Now I want you two fellows to go to Jesus, and I want you to ask him something for me." And, to me, this is a sad question. He said, "Art thou he or shall we look for another?" John the Baptist! "Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?" Matthew 11:3 Our hero is doubting. The forerunner has doubts in his heart. He has questions in his mind. He has said, "He must increase, I must decrease." John 3:30 He says, "Art thou he, or shall we look for another?" John the Baptist is doubting.

There's an interesting thing about this. Now if this had been me, I would have written back and said, "John the Baptist, how can you doubt me? Boy, am I discouraged in you. Have you ever flown the coop! Boy, oh boy, I thought I could depend on you if I could depend on anybody!" But our Lord didn't criticize John for doubting. That's very, very interesting to me. He sent word

back to John the Baptist and that's where he made the statement while John was in the dungeon doubting that Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus sent word back to him then and said, "Not a greater is born of woman than John the Baptist." It was in the time of doubt that our Lord said, "John the Baptist was the greatest or as great as any ever born of woman."

Now may I say this. Listen very carefully. It is not wrong to doubt. The honest truth is, it is right to doubt. Have you ever stopped to think if you doubt your salvation only two things can come of it, and both are good? Now follow me. Only two things and both are good. If you doubt your salvation sincerely and find that you are really saved, then you have more assurance than you ever had before. Let me illustrate.

When I was a young preacher in my first full year of college in a Christian school, I began to have some reservation. Now listen to me. This may surprise you and I may have said this to you before, I don't know, but I began to read the Bible. I began to say, "Look, I'm going to spend my life preaching a Book. I have dedicated my entire life to preach a Gospel from a Bible." And I said, "I wonder if it's really true. I wonder." I began to doubt the Bible as a kid preacher in college. I went to our college library. I got my Bible down and I read it and I read it and I read it and I read it. I read every criticism. There are many things that I learned that I don't preach; you don't need them. There are many criticisms and much theology that I learned that is not necessary. In fact, it bogs the common person down.

In the average church this morning across America, the average people are listening - in fact, it's like trying to swim in peanut butter! I mean you just can't quite understand what the preacher is saying. And so I just ditched all that stuff and decided to keep the jelly on the bottom shelf where the shortest kid could reach it.

I checked my Bible, and I read it as critically as any man ever read his Bible, I read mine. And you know what I did? I came out of that session with a stronger faith in the Bible than I ever had before. For if one will read this Book carefully and honestly and study it carefully and honestly, he can come out with no other answer but that the Bible is the Word of God!

I was on an airplane a few months ago coming from Denver late one night. I sat down beside a fellow who had on the kind of shoes that a road gang would use - the kind of big, bulky shoes that laced up high. They were filthy things, and I thought the fellow was poverty stricken. He had on a big old shaggy sweater, and he had long shaggy hair. He had goggles on, instead of glasses, reading a book. I sat down beside him and began to dictate on the dictaphone. He said, "What are you doing?" I said, "Writing a book." He said, "Oh, you're an author." I said, "I guess that's what folks who write books are called." He said, "What are you writing?" And I told him what I was writing. I was writing a book that, today, has recently been published. I said, "What do you do?" And I expected him to say, I'm a hippie. He said, "I teach engineering at Bucknell University."

Well, after they fanned me and poured water on my face and woke me up, we began to talk. Yes, we argued. Yes, we differed. For about two hours we jockeyed with each other. And then he said to me, "Well, we scholars simply cannot accept the Bible." And I said, "How many times have you read it through?" And he said, "Not at all." I said, "Have you read any book of it through?" He said, "No." I said, "Have you ever read one chapter through?" He said, "No." I said, "Then you're not a scholar. There is not a scholar who has logic in the world who would say a man is qualified to accept or reject a book when he's never read one page through." I said, "My friend, if you will read the Bible and read it carefully, word-for-word, the Holy Spirit of God will reveal to you before you're through, that the Bible is the Word of God!"

So, I read it carefully. Carefully. You see, doubting will reassure your faith. As a young preacher, I doubted, and I am convinced that that one thing, the fact that I doubted for a season, gave me more confidence in the Bible as being the Word of God than any other thing that ever happened.

The first thing that can happen in doubting is that you can get more assurance. The second thing is this: If you doubt and find that you're not really saved, then that doubting can be good for you for it will lead you to salvation. So doubting can only do two things to you and both are good. One, it can lead you to doubt and reaffirm your faith and reinforce your faith. Two, it can give you the assurance of your salvation if you do not know that you are saved.

Now then. What to do. What to do. What did I tell this fellow in San Jose, California, this professional golfer? We sat back in the back of the auditorium - nobody there but us. I pulled up a couple of chairs, and we sat looking at each other. He admired me because he had read my books and heard me preach. I admired him because I have always admired professional golfers. Anybody that can take a little white ball, and put that ball in a hole, which is five hundred yards away, just by hitting it with a stick four times, to me is most intriguing.

One thing about it when I play golf, I get my money's worth. You better know I do. They are unfair to me though. I would play better, but they won't mow the grass where my ball is. It's a bit unfair. Brother Terry and I played together a time or two and where he played they kept the grass real short. Where I played they kept the grass real high - weeds. And I said, "No wonder you shoot better than I do; they show favoritism to you." Everybody's always persecuting me. The liberals fixed it that way.

Now what did I tell the golfer? I called him by first name. I said, "Now, look, Jim. There are three things I want to say and these three things I do when I doubt. Now, if you listen carefully, I'll show you what I do when I doubt."

"In the first place, Jim - I read I Corinthians 10:13, `There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man."' I said, "Jim, did you know that Billy Sunday doubted his salvation?" "What?" "That's right. 'There's no testing taken you, but such as is common to man.' Did you know that Dwight Moody doubted the fact that he was saved?" "What?" "Yes, `there's no temptation taken you but such as is common to man."'

Then John Rice came walking in the door, and I said, "Dr. Rice, did you ever doubt your salvation?" Well, he was rather reluctant to admit it, but then be shook his head that he had doubted his salvation. I said, "Now Jim, that means that the best preachers in the world (not me but Dr. Rice, Billy Sunday, Dwight Moody and others) doubt. All of us doubt. Every Christian doubts." I said, "That's the first thing I do. I realize it is not abnormal to doubt the fact that you're saved."

I said, "Number two. I always turn to Revelation 12:11 which says, `and they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony.' So when I doubt the fact that I am saved, I always go to I Corinthians 10:13 and then Revelation 12:11. They overcame him. Who? The devil. By the blood of the lamb and by the what? The word of their testimony. That's what I do. I always give my testimony when I doubt. Now follow me. I always go to myself and out loud I tell about when I was saved and relive it." I haven't told it for a long time.

One night in Marshall, Texas, when I was pastoring a country church, one of my finest young ladies just married to a young preacher boy, called me after midnight. She was crying beyond composure. Her husband said, "Come quickly, it's Ruth." By the way, he's now pastoring a good church in Virginia, and he and his wife have children that are grown now. A lovely young lady. But he said, "Come quickly, it's Ruth." I didn't know what was wrong. I got in my car and drove across town. It was raining. I'd never seen it rain any harder. It's always raining at night when I'm called out. Oh, it was raining. I got to the apartment house. Ruth was lying on the floor. She was face down beating the floor, having a female fit. You fellows know what I am talking about. She was beating the floor. So I said, "Ruth, what's wrong?" And Abe said, (his name's Abe Simon), "Preacher, Ruth is just about to die." And I said, "Ruth, what is it?" And Ruth said, "I don't know I'm saved." And I said, "Ruth, get up now. Sit down and talk to me." So she got up and sat down. She said, "Preacher, I'm about to go crazy. I'm about to have a nervous breakdown." (I've often said that every lady I know has just gotten over a nervous breakdown or is having one now or has one planned for the very near future.)

So I said, "Ruth, tell me. When you joined the church, what happened?" She said, "Brother Hyles, I went to church, and the preacher told me I was a sinner, and I realized I was a sinner, and I realized I was lost and going to Hell and I realized that Jesus died for me on the cross and took the price for my sin, and

I realized that if I trusted Him He would save me." And she said, "I did trust Him and He did save me and I know I'm saved!" They ovecame him by what? The word of their testimony.

Now listen carefully, and I can lead you in just thirty seconds or a minute. I can lead you to know whether you're saved or not. Follow me. When you were supposed to have been saved, did you know you were a sinner? Did you? Did you know you were a sinner? When you walked the aisle, did you know you were a sinner? If you didn't, then you are not saved. Two. Did you know that you could not save yourself and that you were lost without Christ? Did you? Three. Did you know that Jesus took your sins off you and placed them on himself and Christ died paying the penalty completely for your sins? Did you know that?

Number four. Did you trust Him as your substitute and your sacrifice and accept His payment, by faith, as your payment?

If you did not know those four things, then you were not saved. If you did and sincerely trusted Christ as your sin bearer, as your substitute, and as your hope for Heaven, then you tell me your testimony, and it will give you encouragement and strength.

Let's go over it again. Did you know that you were a sinner? I didn't say, "Did you get confirmed as a twelve year-old child." I didn't say "Did you join the church." I did not say "Did you get baptized." I did not say "id you cry?" I did not say, "Did you feel a tingling in your heart?" I did not say, "Did you shout? I didn't say, "Did you say, `Praise the Lord!"' I said, "Did you know you were a sinner?" If you don't know, you can shout until you are blue in the face, and you will still die and go to Hell unless you know that you are a sinner. Sinners are lost. Christ paid the penalty for sinners, and if you will commit your eternity to Him, trusting Him as your Savior from sin, He will take you to Heaven when you die.

They sing a song, "I was there when it happened, and I ought to know." It's a cute song, but it just doesn't quite satisfy me. I don't know I'm saved because I was there when it happened. I don't know I was saved because I got happy or tingled. I don't know I was saved because I felt the burden roll away. I know I am saved because God said I was a sinner. God said sinners are lost; God said Christ died for sinners; God said to trust Him to save me, and I trusted Him. The Bible says He saved me. Anything less than that is counterfeit. Anything more than that is counterfeit.

So what do I do? The first thing I do is stop and realize that everybody has the same doubts that I have. The second thing I do is go through those four things and give my testimony. I stop and I say, "Okay Jack, let's see now." Did you know you were a sinner? "Yes, I knew that. That night in September, 1937, I knew that." "Okay, Jack, did you know that sinners are lost and could not save themselves?" Yes, I knew that because the preacher told me that, and I knew

it. "Okay, Jack, did you know that Jesus Christ became sin for you and died for you and paid the price and penalty for your sin." Yes, I knew that. I knew it from a child. Yes, I knew it. " Okay, Jack, did you honestly in your heart trust what He did on the cross as your hope for Heaven?" I'll say, "Yes, I did that."

Now then, turn to John 1:11, "He came unto His own, and his own received him not" Now hear me. "But as many as received him (I did that. That's me.) to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." John 1:12 Okay. I have received Him. I believed on His name that I am a son of God. Why? Because I see it? No. Because He says it. I go to John 3:14-15, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him (who? That son of man lifted up) should not perish, but have eternal life."

Okay, now those four things. I believed in Him. I knew I was a sinner. I knew I was lost. I knew Christ died for me. I believed it with all my heart and trusted Him to save me. What do I have? Eternal life. How do I know? John 3:14-15 says so. Now you must forgive me, and Lord, you'll forgive me, too. But you and the Lord and I all know this is true. If when I die and I face the Lord and the Lord says to me, "I'm sorry, Jack, you can't get in here." I'm going to say, "Now, Lord. You wait a minute. I want to show you something. Read that. Verse 12. `But as many as receives him, to him give thee power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.' "Did you write that?" "Yes, I did." "Now, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to let me in or lie?"

Now, you'll forgive me, but I have God over a barrel. I've got His word! I've got His receipt! I've got His promise! And I'll turn over to John 3:36. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." Don't misunderstand me. It doesn't mean that you believe there's a Jesus somewhere. It means you have realized you were a sinner. You have realized that sinners are lost. You have realized that Christ became your payment for sin. And you have rolled your sins in faith on Him and believed in Him as your sacrifice, as your Savior. And I'll say, "Lord, look what you wrote there,'He that believeth on Him hath eternal life'." What does it say? The Lord will have to let me in Heaven or He'll lie and the stars will fall, and the earth will quake, and the universe will tremble, and God won't be God. Everything shall pass away. Why? God promises and keeps His promises and you can depend on God's word. I'd ten thousand times rather depend on what God says concerning my hope for Heaven than what I feel. So I've got the promise of God.

So I told this golfer, "Jim, I realize I Corinthians 10:13 says everybody doubts. Then I realized that if I can give my testimony-and it rings true - then the third thing, (and this is the Scripture that helped him above all) l John 3:20, `For if our heart condemneth, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things'."

(I like that.) "For if our heart condemneth, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things."

Now what does that mean? You say, "Well, I believe in Jesus and I'm saved." No, it doesn't mean that. That word in the Greek believe is the word fistuo which means to roll oneself upon; it means to completely trust, to completely rely on, to completely rest in. Sinners are lost. Christ died for sinners, and I rest in Him, trust Him completely, roll myself on Him believe in Him with all of my heart that He is my Savior from sin, and He will take me to Heaven when I die, then I have the promise of God that I'll go to Heaven. And then I say "Okay, if I still have doubts, God is greater. If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our heart and He knoweth all things."

Now listen carefully. Let's see, I'm 32 now, (give or take a decade or two.) For 32 years, I've been saved, and there have been times in those 32 years when I have doubted. Every time I have doubted, I've stopped to realize (1) all people doubt, I Corinthians 10:13; (2)1 relive my testimony; and (3) l John 3:20 "If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our heart and He knoweth all things."

A little lady came down this aisle, I think it was the first day we dedicated this building, and met me right here, looked at me and said, "I want to be saved." She knelt at this alter. She said, "I know I'm a sinner. Sinners are lost. I know Christ died for me, and I trust Him now as my Savior." I said, "Do you mean it?" She said, "With all my heart I mean it." I said, "Where would you go if you died?" She said, "I'd go to Hell." I showed her John 5:24, - Verily, verily I say unto you, He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but has passed from death unto life."

I showed her I John 3:15,1418, and I John 3:36. I showed her John 1:12 and I said, "Okay, where does the Bible say you'll go if you die?" She said, "To Heaven." I said, "Okay, where would you go?" She said, "To Hell." I said, "Now wait a minute. Do you know you're a sinner?" "Yes, I do. " "Do you know sinners are lost?" "Yes, I do." "Do you believe that Christ bore your sins in His body on the tree?" "Yes, I do." "Have you trusted Him as your savior and your sacrifice?" "Yes, I have." "Now. where does God say you'll go when you die?" "To Heaven," she said. I said, "Where would you go?" She said, "To Hell. I just feel it inhere." And I took I John 3:20. And I said, "What inhere?" She said, "My heart." If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things. Now I said, "God says you're going to Heaven. You say you're going to hell. Now has God ever told a lie?" "Oh, no." I said, "Have you ever told a lie?" "Yes, I have." "Then do you think I ought to believe God or you that you're saved?" And then the spark of faith hit and she said, "I think we both better believe God." She said, "I'm just going to believe God instead of me." You know when she believed God instead of herself, then her self believed, too. You see. God is greater than our hearts.

Let me ask you a question, and then I'm through. Listen. Have you ever doubted? All right, I want all of you to doubt. I want everyone of you to say to yourself right now, "I just wonder if I'm saved. I just wonder if I'm saved." Doubt it! Do it! Now, let me ask you a question. Go back to that day that you claim was the day of your salvation. Are you listening? Did you know that you were a sinner? Did you know that you or your church or your preacher, no man could save you? Or help save you? Number three. Did you know that God became flesh, and Jesus took your sins and placed them to His account and paid the penalty for your sins on the cross? Did you know that? Did you trust what He did and only what He did as your hope for Heaven? If I said, "Hey, stand behind the pulpit and tell all of these people about it," could you do it?

Now, there is one of two things that you'll do this morning, and this is what I do; you'll say, "Yes, I did know I was a sinner. Yes, I did know I was lost. Yes, I did know that Christ became sin for me. Yes, I did trust Him. And I am saved. Praise the Lord!" It will give you added security and added confidence, and added assurance. Or you could admit it and say, "No, I just joined the church. No, I just got baptized. No, I just got convicted of a sin. I just cried some. But I did not put my faith completely in the finished work of Calvary." Now if that's what you have to say this morning, you can say now, "I know I'm a sinner, and I know I'm lost, and I know that Jesus Christ took my sins upon Him and died for them in my place this morning. Dear Jesus, I trust you. I trust you." That is my hope for Heaven. He is my sacrifice. He is my Savior. He is my substitute. And you can walk out of this building this morning saying, "Praise God, the doubts are settled, and I know it's real."

Let us pray.