Join Pastor Rick Warren as he unfolds the critical importance of embracing salvation today. Understand why belief in Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of eternal life and how immediate and certain salvation can be. Through heartfelt prayers and biblical promises, discover the path to ensuring your place in paradise and the transformative power of living a grace-filled life.
Thanks for joining us here today on Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope, the audio broadcast ministry of Pastor Rick Warren. Today we continue in a series called the seven greatest words of love. There are seven words in particular that Jesus spoke during his final hours on the cross that hold the keys for finding fulfillment in your life, relationships, and even your career. Right now, here’s Pastor Rick with the final part of a message called The Word of Assurance. Ephesians 2, 8, and 9.
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It is by grace, circle, it is by grace that you’ve been saved. No other way, it’s a free gift. Through faith, and this, even this, even the faith, not of yourself, it’s the gift of God. It’s not of works, so no one can boast. If you could earn your way to heaven, do you imagine what an ego trip heaven would be like? People walking up, well I got here because I gave a million dollars to the United Way. Well I got here because I, oh it would just be one bragamony after another. But nobody’s gonna be able to brag in heaven because we all got there the same way. Free gift. See. Did you say see? Yeah, I said see. So it’s just a gift. What is grace? An old man I heard one time was asked, what is grace? He said it’s something for nothing. And that’s it, grace is God giving you something for nothing. It’s free, you don’t earn it, you don’t pay for it, you don’t buy it. Now there’s one more thing that he knew, the thief knew, that you’ve gotta know in order to get to heaven. And it’s this, I must know Jesus will save me if I ask. Obviously he wouldn’t have asked if he hadn’t known that Jesus would answer him. I must know that Jesus will save me if I ask. In verse 42 he says, remember me when you come into your kingdom. He believes Jesus is God. He’s not a poser, he’s not a prophet, he’s not a good man, he’s not an imposter, he is who he says he is, the son of God, the savior of the world. Now note, it’s interesting to me, the guy’s hanging on the cross, he doesn’t ask Jesus to take away his pain. He doesn’t ask Jesus to take him down from the cross. He doesn’t ask Jesus to heal him right there. Clearly, he’s heard about Jesus. He’s heard of the miracles. He’s heard of Jesus raising people from the dead, all the things. Obviously, Jesus can do whatever he wants to do. He’s God. But he doesn’t ask for relief from pain or relief from the cross. He doesn’t even ask for relief from death. He says, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Why? Because he recognizes his deeper need is not the pain he’s in, but the salvation from sin that he needs. Acts 16, 31 says this. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, that makes me think of a story. About five years ago, Darrell Gates died of cancer. Many of you remember Darrell Gates was the chief of police for L.A. And during Darrell Gates’ career, he invented two things that are still used by thousands of police forces. He invented the SWAT team. Daryl Gates invented the SWAT team. He also invented the DARE program, which is a drug and addiction program that’s used by probably half of police forces in America. And about five years ago, Daryl was dying of cancer, and I went to go visit him in the hospital. It was actually just a few days before he died. And he knew he was dying. He was terminal. And I went to just see him. And, you know, when somebody’s dying and they’re terminal, I get right to the point. I don’t mess around with a little chit-chat. And I walked in and I sat down and I said, Darrell, what is your assurance of heaven? I just said it. What is your assurance of heaven? He said, I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. See. See. He didn’t say, oh, I’ve tried to do good. I’ve tried to do my best and on and on. No, no, he just said, the Bible says, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Now, how can I be sure that I’m saved? I want you to write this down. You’re not sure you’re saved by your feelings because feelings can… come from all a bad burrito. You can watch a TV and get your heart strings pulled and your emotions are an emotion, emotion, kind of thing. No, you don’t trust your salvation to your feelings. Let me ask you this. How many of you are married or have been married? Can I see, married or have been married? All right, all right. How many of you, if you are married or have been married, always felt married? Yes, some of you did. I didn’t always feel married. I didn’t always feel, but my emotions lie. Don’t ever rely on your emotions. But you rely on this, write it down. The promise of God’s word. How can I be sure I’m saved? Because of the promise of God’s word. God never lies. People often ask me, is there anything God can’t do? Yes, there are things God can’t do. God cannot lie. You say, he can’t? No, he cannot lie. Why? Because God cannot violate his character. And God is a God of honesty and truth. God is, all truth comes from God. All truth comes from God. God cannot lie. Everything God tells you is the truth. Everything Satan tells you is a lie. Satan has never, ever, ever told you the truth. In Luke 23, verse 43, Jesus replies, I assure you, this is the word of assurance, I assure you that today you’ll be with me in paradise. Now that little phrase, I assure you today that you will be, today you’ll be with me in paradise. This is the word of assurance. This is the promise of God. That guy on the cross may have not felt like it, but he was headed for heaven. because God had promised it. And when you say yes to Jesus Christ, you know four things about salvation. Write these down real quick, four things. Salvation, number one, is immediate. He says, today, you’ll be with me in paradise. Not next week, not next month, not next year, not in a thousand years from today. Today, you’ll be with me in paradise. Now, we have some Christian brothers and sisters who believe in a thing called soul sleep. And there is a certain group of Christians who believe that when you die, you die and you just stay in the grave and you stay there and you sleep until the resurrection. And then at the resurrection, when Jesus comes back, the second coming, everybody raised up and everybody goes to heaven. There’s only a problem with that. It’s not in the Bible. Jesus says today. Not in five years, not when I come back. Today, you’ll be with me in paradise. And by the way, he didn’t say, today you’ll be with me in purgatory. If anybody deserved purgatory, it’s a guy who on his deathbed goes, I’m in. I never did anything good in my life. That would be a guy who ought to be in limbo for a little while. There’s only one problem. The word purgatory is not in the Bible. In fact, the last Pope, Pope Benedict said, you don’t have to believe in it anymore. Why? Because it was only made up a few hundred years ago. It’s not in the Bible. And even Pope Benedict said it’s not necessary to believe it. So it was just a tradition that was started. It’s not in the Bible. The word isn’t even there. And if anybody deserved it, it was this guy who at the last minute had never done anything good with his life. He should have gone there, but there’s no such thing as that. He says today you’ll be with me in paradise. So salvation is immediate. Number two, it’s certain. Salvation is certain. He says you will, not you might. There’s no doubt about it. If God says it, it’s true. You will, it’s certain. Number three, salvation is a relationship. You will be with me. That’s salvation. Relationship is being with Jesus, being with God. Notice, salvation is not rules. Salvation is not rituals. Salvation is not regulations. Salvation is a relationship. You’ll be with me. It’s immediate, it’s certain, it’s a relationship, and number four, it’s forever. It’s a place forever. You’ll be with me in paradise. So, in this simple little story of the thief, we get the five things you gotta know, and we’ve got the four things you can be sure of, so you don’t have to ever doubt your salvation. Finally, the question is when? When can I be saved? Look at these closing verses. Second Corinthians 6.2. This is the hour to receive God’s favor. Today is the day to be saved. Not next week, not at the end of your life, not after you’ve thought about it. Today is the day to be saved. Now you notice, remember there were two thieves on the cross and there were two responses. One of them insulted Jesus and the other accepted Jesus. And God gives you that right. You can insult Jesus. I don’t need the cross. I don’t need your death for me. I’m a good person. I’m gonna get to heaven on my own merit. You can insult Jesus by saying that. Say, what you did was not important, what you did was unnecessary, because I’m basically a good guy. You’re not at 100, and you’re certainly not perfect. You say, well, you know what, I know it says today, but I’m going to wait a while. I’m not going to decide right now. Listen to me very closely. Not to decide is to decide. Not to decide is to decide. Not to decide is a decision. It’s saying, I’m rejecting it. It’s right there laid in front of you. Today is the day of salvation. Not to decide is to decide. Romans 10, 13, last verse in your outline. When can I be saved? Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Would God lie? No. Would he break this promise? No. It is guaranteed. Have you settled this issue? Maybe this is your first time at Saddleback or maybe you’ve been coming for 35 years and you’ve never settled this issue. Did you know that 1,000 years before you were born, God knew you were gonna hear this message? Did you know that God has been preparing you in your entire life for this? This is your day. Today is the day of salvation. Let’s bow our heads. And in this closing moment, I wanna ask you, have you settled this issue? Have you acknowledged the same five facts as the dying thief on the cross? As I said, for your entire life, God’s been preparing you for this moment. It doesn’t matter how young you are. It doesn’t matter how old you are. God had you watch and hear this because he wants you in his family and he wants you in heaven for eternity. Doesn’t matter how young or old you are. Doesn’t matter what you’ve done or who you’ve done it with or how long you’ve done it. I’m going to pray a simple prayer of salvation. We really could just say, remember me because it’s all about your attitude. Well, let me just add in a few of the words that talk about these things we must know. And as I pray this, you say in your heart, me too, God, me too. Or you can just pray it after me. Just say this in your mind. Dear God, I know that when I die, I’m gonna give an account of my life to you directly. And God, I know that for much of my life, I have ignored you. I’ve done what I wanted to do. And I’ve loved other things more than you. I’ve sinned. I lived by my plan for my life, not your plan for my life. Starting right now, I wanna turn away from my sins toward you. God, thank you for sending Jesus Christ to die for all the things that I’ve done wrong. I know that I don’t deserve your forgiveness. And I know that only your grace could save me. And God, I know that I could never be good enough to get into a perfect place. So thank you. Thank you Jesus for loving me so much. You took all the guilt of everything I’ve ever done wrong on yourself.
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Wow.
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You made me acceptable for heaven. And in my eyes, I’m a sinner. But in your eyes, you make me perfect. And Lord, just like that thief on the cross, I’m saying to you today, remember me. And just like that middle-aged man down in southern Mexico, I say to you, see, yes. Save me not just from eternal separation from you, but save me from the sins and the habits that are messing up my life right now. I believe in you, Jesus. I believe that you’ll keep your promise to save me instantly. and certainly and completely and eternally. And help me to never doubt your grace again. Lord, I thank you that your grace is so great that it covers everything we’ve ever done wrong. Help us to not be saved by grace and then try to live by works. Help us to live by that grace every day of our lives. Thank you for your unconditional love. And thank you, Jesus, for doing what we could not do for ourselves. We all thank you together and praise you in Jesus’ name. And everybody said, Amen. Hi, everybody. This is Rick, and I hope you enjoyed today’s broadcast. You know, if you just prayed that prayer for the very first time or you just recommitted your life to Jesus again today, would you let me know about it? There’s something real about sharing your commitment. So write me, Rick, at PastorRick.com and say, Rick, I prayed that prayer of commitment. I gave my life to Christ. And I’ll send you some material that will help you on your journey with Jesus, and I’ll also pray for you. God bless you. Today, I wanna share a letter from a new listener, Sherman, who’s in Tennessee, and he writes that he and his wife use Daily Hope to study God’s word together. Here’s what he wrote. Just recently, a friend of mine turned me on to your Daily Hope devotional and also gave me your CD series on the Lord’s Prayer. And wow, together, my wife and I now listen to Daily Hope podcast. We take notes, we pray, We have great conversations about all the biblical teachings that we get from you and we both look forward to that time of being encouraged and challenged and instructed. Now I know, Pastor Rick, that it was through the giving of other people that made it possible for me to hear the Daily Hope teaching. And so now I wanna make an eternal investment myself by giving to this ministry so that others may be blessed and impacted in the same way that my wife and I have been. Well, Sherman, I’m so glad to hear that you and your wife are studying the Bible together. Nothing will do more for your marriage. It’ll not only help you grow in faith, it will strengthen your marriage. And thank you for your financial gift. Without your help, we wouldn’t be able to keep on reaching more and more people around the world with the good news of Jesus. We wouldn’t be able to disciple them through the Daily Hope podcast. Because of your prayers, and your financial support, we’re able to partner, working together to reach the world for Christ. So I’m so grateful for you and for your prayers and your financial support. God bless you.
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If you’ve been wanting to partner with Pastor Rick to take the hope of Jesus to people who need to hear it, now is the perfect time to partner with Pastor Rick and give a gift to help share the love of Jesus with people everywhere. Because today your gift will be doubled by a special $10,000 matching grant. But you’ll need to act quickly because we only have a few days to meet the match and any amount not matched will be lost. Just go to pastorrick.com or text the word HOPE to 70309. That’s pastorrick.com or text the word HOPE to 70309. Be sure to join us next time. as we look into God’s Word for our daily hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope and your generous financial support.
