Important message:

I want to encourage you to pay very close attention to this message. Have you ever gotten one of those sales pitches that says in bold letters on the outside of the envelope: IMPORTANT MESSAGE--DO NOT DISCARD ?

Well, usually they are not very important, but this message today is. It could very well be the turning point in your life--a turning point that could redeem your soul from an eternity in hell!

2. Salvation, Who Needs it? (Good people, bad people, likeable people, dispicable people, rich people, poor people, everybody out in the world, and a lot of folks in church!) Who needs Salvation: EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ALREADY HAVE IT!

A. Many people think they do not need it.

Convincing lost people that they need salvation is much like trying to convince a person who feels fine that he needs to see a doctor. Many times lost people do not "feel" lost. They have never stopped to contemplate the road they are on and their standing before God. I am persuaded that the reason so many people are lost is that they have never realized their NEED FOR SALVATION!

Sometimes people who feel well DO need to see a doctor. When there is a severe contagious disease outbreak, those who are exposed need to see a doctor for treatments to keep the lethal disease from developing. A person who has been bitten by a rabid animal may feel fine, but he realizes he still needs to see a doctor. And no matter how well you feel now, YOU STILL NEED TO SEE THE GREAT PHYSICIAN FOR SALVATION!

B. Attitude in Jesus' day.

Jesus came to this world on a saving mission but people did not appreciate it because they did not realize their need for salvation. (Luke 19:10 KJV) "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." (John 1:11 KJV) "He came unto his own, and his own received him not."

Paul said, (Acts 13:46 KJV) "...It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles."

It is a great mistake to reject God's offer of salvation and eternal life.

The Jews of Jesus' day had no inkling of their NEED FOR SALVATION. (John 8:31-36 KJV) "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; {32} And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. {33} They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? {34} Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. {35} And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. {36} If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."

A fish does not realize he's been hooked until he tries to swim away. A fly does not know he is stuck on the flypaper until he tries to fly away. And a sinner does not realize how he is hooked on sin until he tries to free himself from it. Only then will he realize his NEED FOR SALVATION.

People are going through this life like the man that's fallen asleep on the railroad tracks. He feels peaceful and secure until he looks up and sees that one big headlight! And, friends, that train is coming for those who are lost in sin!

The sinner doesn't realize his need for salvation until he realizes just how lost he is.

(Rev 3:17 KJV) "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."

Isaiah said: (Isa 64:6 KJV) "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."

Many people will awaken too late! (2 Cor 6:2 KJV) "(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)"

C. Many of us convince ourselves that we do not need salvation by various false theories about salvation itself.

1. If good outweighs bad.
Some people like to picture the judgment as a time when God will place all of one's bad deeds on one side of the balance, and all his good deeds on the other--and if the good outweighs the bad, everything will be OK. But this is not the Bible picture. The Bible indicates that one unforgiven sin is all it takes to keep one out of Heaven. (Rev 21:27 KJV) "And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life."

Look what a good man Cornelius was: (Acts 10:1-2 KJV) "There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, {2} A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway."

There was just one thing wrong with him: he was not a Christian, his sins were not covered by the blood of Christ, and thus he stood in dire need of salvation! God told him to send for the preacher, Simon Peter, "Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved." (Acts 11:14 KJV)

2. If keep ten commandments
Then there are those who will tell you, "If a person will just keep the Ten Commandments he will go to Heaven." No doubt, keeping the Ten Commandments will make you a good person. But a person can keep the Ten Commandments, and still never obey the gospel of Christ or be born again. (Rom 3:20 KJV) "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Jesus says, (John 3:3 KJV) "...Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:5 KJV) "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."

3. If go to church (or a member).
Some people seem to think just because a person goes to church he is sure to make it to Heaven. But I suggest to you that there are many people in church--indeed many church members--who are in need of salvation!

A certain preacher I used to know would often say, "Sitting in the church building will no more make you a Christian than sitting in a hen-house will make you a chicken." And that is pretty much true. It might make you "smell" like a chicken, but you wouldn't be one. (1 Pet 4:17 KJV) "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?"
(Mat 7:21 KJV) "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."

SALVATION--Who needs it?

You need it if:
1. You are not right with God
2. Your sins are not forgiven
3. You have not been born again
4. You are spiritually dead.


PITY THE MAN

I

I GUESS WE SHOULD PITY, THOSE IN THE WORLD
WHO MUST USE THE EARTH FOR A BED.
I GUESS WE SHOULD PITY, THE MAN WHO MUST TOIL
FROM DAWN TILL DUSK FOR HIS BREAD.
BUT THESE CAN BE RICH, IF THEY HAVE CONTENTMENT
AND SHARE IN GOD'S SALVATION PLAN.
BUT IF YOU KNOW ANY, WHO THO THEY HAVE PLENTY
ARE LOST THEN PITY THAT MAN.

II

I GUESS THERE ARE THOSE, WHO PITY THE SAVED,
AS THO THEY'RE MISSING LIFE'S BEST;
FORGETTING THAT TREASURES OF EARTH PASS AWAY
AND HEAVEN'S THE PLACE TO INVEST.
MEANWHILE ESTEEMING, THE MAN WHO IS SCHEMING
TO HOLD ALL THE WEALTH THAT HE CAN.
BUT IF HE'S NOT GIVING, TO GOD WHILE HE'S LIVING
HIS SOUL THEN PITY THAT MAN.


CHORUS

PITY THE MAN WHO HAS TREASURES TO HOLD,
AND OWNS NOT THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE.
PITY THE MAN THO HE LIVE LONG ON EARTH
IF HE KNOWS NOT THE GIVER OF LIFE,
DOCTOR OR LAWYER, TRAVELER OR MERCHANT
THE BUILDER WHO BUILDS ON THE SAND
PAUPER OR KING, TO BE SAVED IS THE THING
IF HE'S LOST THEN PITY THAT MAN.

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