The Danger of Decisional Salvation: Why ‘I Decide’ Is Not the Gospel

• The Call to Mission 00:00:00 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor introduces the sermon title 'Will you please come with me?' based on Romans 15:30-33, framing it as an invitation for believers to join Paul in his mission.
• Paul's Journey and Arrest 00:06:17 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor outlines Paul's travel route from Corinth to Jerusalem and then to Rome, highlighting the opposition he faced from Pharisees and Sadducees and his subsequent arrest.
• Paul's Appeal to Caesar 00:13:18 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains how Paul used his Roman citizenship to appeal to Caesar, ensuring his journey to Rome to defend the gospel before the emperor.
• Paul's Identity as an Apostle 00:14:51 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor distinguishes Paul not as a priest or pope, but as an apostle captured and possessed by Christ, emphasizing his personal transparency and reliance on the Holy Spirit.
• Paul's Identity and Humility 00:14:51 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor distinguishes Paul as an apostle and servant of Christ, emphasizing his transparency and lack of pride compared to worldly leaders.
• The Meaning of 'Through' (Dia) 00:19:15 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains the Greek word 'through' as referring to the veil, connecting Paul's ministry to Jesus as the opened door and the blood of the Passover lamb.
• The Name of God (Yah/Yeshua) 00:28:13 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor discusses the Hebrew roots of Jesus' name, identifying 'Yah' as the divine name of God and emphasizing that Jesus is the Savior.
• Spiritual Unity and Prayer 00:18:19 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor argues that believers are one in spirit despite physical absence, and that prayer is the critical mechanism for this unity and survival of the church.
• The Name of God 00:28:34 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor identifies the shortened biblical name 'Yah' as the actual name of God, equating it with Yahovah and Jesus.
• Spiritual Security and Love 00:31:25 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor defines love as a choice rather than a feeling, using his own conversion experience to illustrate that true security comes from Christ's blood, not emotional comfort.
• Fear of Death and the Holy Spirit 00:35:43 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor argues that believers should not fear death because Christ has removed its sting, and he critiques the reliance on AI or other ministers over Scripture for spiritual guidance.
• Deity of Christ and Spiritual Gifts 00:40:22 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that only the Holy Spirit can truly confess Jesus as Lord, warning against religions that view Jesus merely as a teacher or prophet.
• The Holy Spirit as Comforter 00:42:15 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains Jesus' promise in John 14 that the Father will send another Comforter (Parakletos) to abide with believers forever, contrasting this with the world's inability to receive Him.
• God's Omniscience and Presence 00:44:21 ▶️ 📄
  > Using Psalm 139, the pastor illustrates that God knows every thought and action of the believer, emphasizing that darkness cannot hide from Him and that He is present in all circumstances.
• Divine Design in Conception 00:47:05 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor argues that God is present at conception, having a 'blueprint' or 'schematic' for every individual's life, countering the idea of random chance.
• Resurrection Power 00:55:10 ▶️ 📄
  > Citing Romans 8:11, the pastor asserts that the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in believers, promising future resurrection and life for their mortal bodies.
• Evidence of the Spirit's Indwelling 00:56:10 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor defines the evidence of the Holy Spirit's presence as a constant prodding toward meaning, purpose, good, hope, and vision, rather than just emotional experience.
• The Presence of God 00:56:54 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of someone moving into a house to explain that believers know when God dwells within them, contrasting human imperfection with God's perfection.
• Prayer and Intercession 00:58:12 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references Paul's request for prayer, emphasizing the importance of striving together in prayer to change the world through God's power.
• Pride and Human Works 00:59:48 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about paying for dinner to illustrate how even good motives can be tainted by pride, leading to the theological point that human righteousness is insufficient.
• Salvation by Grace vs. Works 01:02:44 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor contrasts the 'bill paid in advance' (human works) with the need to accept Christ's payment, warning that relying on one's own purity leads to eternal loss.
• Satan's Tactics of Delay 01:04:50 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor identifies Satan's strategy of telling people to 'wait until tomorrow' to delay repentance, using the example of procrastinating on cleaning the garage.

• Sermon Illustration 00:03:55 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts the historical account of Jonathan Edwards preaching in 1743, where his monotone reading of notes led to deep conviction among the congregation, with people leaving their buggies and horses to lie on the ground crying out for mercy.
• Sermon Illustration 00:10:32 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes Paul's arrest in Jerusalem and his transport to Caesarea under the protection of 270 Roman soldiers, highlighting the irony that a 'little dude' like Paul required such heavy security due to the threat he posed to legalists.
• Sermon Illustration 00:14:34 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts a personal anecdote about his excitement to study Paul, sharing it with a colleague named Matt to illustrate his passion for the text.
• Sermon Illustration 00:15:28 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of a motorcade with tinted windows to contrast Paul's humble, accessible nature as a servant with the distant image of a pope or priest.
• Sermon Illustration 00:17:59 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references Colossians 2:5 to illustrate that believers are 'one in spirit' even when physically absent from one another.
• Sermon Illustration 00:20:04 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes the Passover ritual in Egypt, detailing how the blood of a perfect lamb was placed on the doorpost in the shape of a cross to spare the firstborn, illustrating the concept of 'through' the veil.
• Sermon Illustration 00:21:55 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor speculates on whether Egyptian neighbors might have believed in the God of Israel after seeing the blood on the doorposts, highlighting the public witness of faith.
• Sermon Illustration 00:30:06 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor mentions watching the movie 'Nefarious' with his granddaughter to illustrate the spiritual battle and the choice between obeying God or man.
• Sermon Illustration 00:30:06 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts watching the movie 'Nefarious' where a demon claims humans are winning the war by focusing on themselves, illustrating the danger of self-centeredness.
• Sermon Illustration 00:32:35 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares his personal conversion story, describing how he felt terrified and doomed to hell upon hearing the gospel, contrasting this with the peace found in Christ's blood.
• Sermon Illustration 00:34:45 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references a podcast by a new believer who became paralyzed by fear of death after converting, using it to argue that true faith removes the sting of death.
• Sermon Illustration 00:51:35 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his friend Robert Ritchie (Kid Rock) performing at the Super Bowl halftime show, highlighting how the musician announced his transformation from an 'old man' to a 'new man' through faith in Jesus Christ.
• Sermon Illustration 00:46:06 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses a humorous analogy of a father leaving the door open and being heard by his children to illustrate how God's presence is evident even in the chaos of daily family life.
• Sermon Illustration 00:46:36 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references a man who claimed to be a Christian but had two families, using this as an example of someone living a 'secret life' that God sees, contrasting it with the transparency required of believers.
• Sermon Illustration 00:59:48 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes a personal routine of calling ahead to restaurants to ensure he pays the bill for friends, acknowledging that while motivated by love, this act is also driven by pride and a desire to control the situation.
• Sermon Illustration 01:01:48 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses an analogy of a projector showing a person's past sins to illustrate God's omniscience and the shame humans feel, contrasting this with God's offer to take that sin away through Christ's sacrifice.
• Sermon Illustration 01:02:49 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the metaphor of paying a bill in advance to represent human attempts at self-righteousness, contrasting it with the biblical truth that righteousness is like 'filthy rags' and must be handed over to God.
• Sermon Illustration 01:04:50 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal story about procrastinating on cleaning his garage, noting that he has told himself he will do it 'tomorrow' for years, illustrating how Satan uses delay to keep people from salvation.

• Pastoral Charge 00:13:59 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor invites the congregation to spiritually accompany him in his mission through prayer and support.
• Pastoral Charge 00:29:15 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor commands the congregation to align themselves with God's will and authority.
• Pastoral Charge 00:36:53 ▶️ 📄
  > Cease relying on external sources for spiritual guidance and read the Bible directly.
• Pastoral Charge 00:55:56 ▶️ 📄
  > Internally affirm to oneself that the Holy Spirit resides within them.
• Pastoral Charge 00:53:49 ▶️ 📄
  > Purchase merchandise related to Kid Rock as a result of his testimony.
• Pastoral Charge 01:02:44 ▶️ 📄
  > Accept Jesus and receive His salvation.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:00:00] So let's all stand as we come to this section of the book of Romans chapter 15 verses 30 to 33 and not much but powerful. Not much in length but powerful in what is said. And the title of today's message is Will you please come with me? That's the bottom line of the apostle. When you read this, this is what he's saying. He's saying will you come with me? He's inviting us. He's inviting those who read this document back then. If
[00:00:30] for 2,000 years, all of us as believers have been invited to the exact same mission. I love this.
[00:00:38] We don't have to make it up. Every generation of believers, we don't have to get a new organizational chart. We don't have to get a new purpose for what we've been called to do. Jesus said,
[00:00:52] go ye therefore into all the world and preach this gospel and do what church? And make disciples of all nations and that's what we're living to do and that's what the that's what the true church
[00:01:05] has been doing for the for the last 2 000 years and so um this is very very precious stuff because uh verse 33 puts an end to the doctrines uh of the book of romans chapter 16 honestly when we
[00:01:20] get to chapter 16 um i'm i think maybe two weeks two weekends we'll be through it because it's all basic say hi to Phoebe, say hi to Andronicus, say hi to Trophimus for me. Paul is just saying
[00:01:39] bye-bye. But we're not there yet. We're here. And this is, I think, better. Verse 30. Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive
[00:01:53] together with me in prayers to God for me that I may be delivered from those in

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:01:59] Judea who do not believe and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:02:05] to the Saints verse 32 that I may come to you with joy by the will of God and

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:02:11] may be refreshed together with you the God of peace be with you all amen Lord

[00:02:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:02:19] we pray that you would be our teacher in all of this. God, that we would leave this building different today, no matter who we are. Those that are watching, those that are listening right now,
[00:02:31] we pray that wherever they may be, they might sense the power of your Holy Spirit.
[00:02:37] Father God, we pray that you would do exactly what you promised to do, and that is to inhabit the praises of your people. And to study the Bible is to worship God. And so Father, we ask you now,
[00:02:51] may this atmosphere, in fact, Lord, we actually, we're going to pray this too. People that are driving down the freeway right now, that as they approach this building, unknown to them, that they would sense some sort of gravitational pull. Not to come to this place, there's no
[00:03:13] parking left, there's no seating, I get that. But that they would have a gravitational pull to your salvation, to Jesus, to experience the Holy Spirit, to see their great emptiness.
[00:03:25] People right now driving by the freeway, they may be going somewhere, they may be doing something, they may be heading to work.
[00:03:31] It doesn't matter.
[00:03:32] May you grab them.
[00:03:33] And for that matter, Lord, we pray that you would touch those that are driving on pipeline and those that are driving on eucalyptus.
[00:03:42] God, that you would seize them, that you'd awaken them.
[00:03:44] I remember, Lord God, that when Jonathan Edwards preached that gospel, Your gospel in 1743, I mean, I don't remember.
[00:03:52] I wasn't there, but I've read it.
[00:03:55] That as he read his notes to the congregation, very monotone, looked up twice.
[00:04:05] People were so convicted and people on other streets of the community of Enfield, Connecticut began to get off of their horses and out of their buggies and lay flat on the ground and cry out to God for mercy.
[00:04:18] Oh God Holy Spirit move in this place today and do the same as we seek to exalt the Lord Jesus in the power of your word we pray in Jesus name and all God's people said amen you may be seated everyone in this message today I want to
[00:04:36] be talking to you guys about the fact that God of course calls all of us to finish our course as a believer and to finish well at that and so when we look this message titled will you please come with me the apostle is drafting the love the care the
[00:04:57] concern of the roman believers and if he wrote to them drafting their love and support there's no doubt that as he writes this book from corinth greece that he would be drafting their love and
[00:05:12] support as well he it doesn't say it here in the book of romans but he probably while he was in Greece before he headed off to Jerusalem and then over to Rome that he would have said to the
[00:05:23] Corinthian believers, let's do this. Come with me on this mission. And this is one of the greatest passions and the driving forces of the believer today is that God has deployed you and I to this
[00:05:38] exact same mission to fulfill, and that is to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ and to be salt and light in this world and to love him and to experience him. And so I just want to encourage
[00:05:57] you that we'll be talking a lot today about the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the life of the believer. How was Paul expected to achieve all these things? Well, number one, we'll see this.
[00:06:08] He's not going to do it alone. And the second thing is together, we'll do it with the Holy Spirit. To set your mind in kind of order, I'm going to ask you to look at the screens for a
[00:06:17] moment. So you get a timeline, even though it's not dated, this is the chronological order. So we've put this up there. Paul's key stops and travel details in route to Rome by way of Jerusalem.
[00:06:30] So he's in Corinth right here. Now, Paul spent a significant amount of time preaching and establishing the church in Corinth. It's in Corinth, Greece. By the way, you can visit that city today, still stands. He's writing the book of Romans. And then Centuria, he's going to be
[00:06:50] stopping in Centuria. Paul likely departed from Centuria, the eastern part of Corinth, to begin his journey. And then he goes to Ephesus. On his way to Jerusalem, Paul stopped in Ephesus. Now, that's not a very direct way of travel, but Paul stopped in Ephesus, and that great city still
[00:07:12] stands today it's a tremendous archaeological stop and on his way to jerusalem paul stopped in ephesus where he preached and strengthened the church that was already there then he goes to miletus paul visited miletus where he met with church leaders from ephesus to give them guidance
[00:07:31] it's a very moving uh moment it's there recorded in the book of acts then he comes to israel and and that's Caesarea. After traveling through the various regions, Paul arrives in Caesarea. It's a seaport, beautiful seaport today. Listen, for many of you, 500 of you, you're going to be seeing
[00:07:48] Caesarea soon as we get there, and it's the Newport Beach of Israel. It's gorgeous. There's a reason why it's called Caesarea, because Caesar had his place built there. It's right on the Mediterranean, spectacular location, but that's how you would come in and out of the country.
[00:08:11] And after traveling through the various regions, Paul arrives in Caesarea, where he stayed with Philip the Evangelist. Again, you can read about that in the book of Acts. And then he makes it to Jerusalem. So from Caesarea, you go up by car today, about 45 minutes traffic allowing,
[00:08:31] about 45 minute drive up to Jerusalem, not by donkey, but by car. And then finally Paul reached Jerusalem where he faced opposition and was later arrested. By the way, the opposition that hit him and hit him hard was the opposition of the Pharisees and Sadducees because Paul goes to
[00:08:54] Jerusalem to announce to them, hey everybody, guess what? The gospel is getting eaten up by the Gentiles. They love the gospel. They're responding to Christ. The Gentile world is receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior. And the church in Jerusalem is listening to this and they were
[00:09:13] shocked. And they said, oh my goodness, this is amazing. Clearly God has opened up the way of salvation to the Gentiles. Church, listen, Isaiah prophesied that that would happen.
[00:09:26] They were just reminded of it by the ministry of the apostle Paul. But when he preached about the resurrection, the Sadducees and Pharisees became furious, and they wanted to shut Paul down. They wanted to kill him. Now, remember, what book are we studying, folks? I need group
[00:09:45] participation. We're studying the book of Romans. Paul says, I want to go. I'm going to come see you. How do you think he's going to do that? Viking cruise ship? How about princess? Right?
[00:09:57] No. Norwegian cruise lines? Oh, no. Oh, he's going to get there by ship, all right.
[00:10:03] but he's going to be a prisoner of the Roman Empire.
[00:10:07] He's going to be put on an Alexandria-based freighter that is bound for Europe.
[00:10:16] And he does get to Rome.
[00:10:18] It's going to take him a couple of years, but he gets to Rome on an all-expense-paid trip by the Roman Empire because he's under arrest.
[00:10:27] He gets arrested in Jerusalem, and he's returned now.
[00:10:32] He goes, watch this.
[00:10:32] God uses 270 think about what kind of rabble rouser Paul must have been to those legalists, the Judaizers the Roman Empire thought that it was necessary for Paul to stay alive and to seek court
[00:10:55] to be tried that they needed 270 soldiers some of them on horseback, and some of them bearing spears and swords to protect one guy.
[00:11:09] There's 270 soldiers and one little dude in the middle, and his name was Paul. Don't you wish that you would be such a Christian that you would have to have 270 bodyguards to keep you
[00:11:24] on mission because so many people want to kill you because you preach the resurrection?
[00:11:29] Wow. See, Jack, I don't know if I'd want that or not. Oh, come on. Live large. Heaven awaits.
[00:11:37] This life is evaporating. Let's shoot for heaven, folks. And so watch this. So Caesarea, Paul arrives. After Paul's arrest in Jerusalem, he is taken by Roman security detachment, numbering, or should say numbering 270 armed men to Caesarea, where he is jailed and awaits
[00:11:58] his hearing before Felix. Rome, Paul takes his appeal to defend the gospel before the emperor Nero in Rome. When he was speaking to the local Roman representatives in Caesarea, the theater is all there. You'll see it. It's amazing. To his back is the crashing waves of
[00:12:21] the Mediterranean. You can hear it. And he's speaking to the auditorium, and in the middle are the Roman representatives and he's saying to them, I know that you believe. I know that what you are hearing from me is not strange to you. Look, I'm in these chains right now
[00:12:39] for preaching the resurrection, for liberty, for gospel, for freedom. That's why I have been chained by my countrymen. And so the Roman leaders are listening and Paul makes mention, I know that you believe. And he says, I wish that you guys were just like me, except without these
[00:13:05] chains, of course. And then here's the punch. He says, I appeal to Caesar. What does that mean?
[00:13:18] You had to be a Roman citizen to appeal to Caesar. And if somebody invoked that, I appeal to Caesar, it is by Roman law that he who ever appealed to Caesar had to or get gets to
[00:13:32] appeal to Caesar in Rome so Paul finds out I guess I am gonna go to Rome after all not the way that I thought but the way God has planned absolutely awesome at this so church we're gonna look at the very first point to this and we'll
[00:13:49] take it down in our notes and that is this remember the theme of all this will you please come with me, the apostle is calling out to you. Let's say this to us. We're going to
[00:13:59] make it as the Bible would have it, to us personally. Will you please come with me? Why?
[00:14:05] As we continue on together. He is saying to the believers, I am going to go eventually to Rome, but all along the way, I'm inviting you to come. And we talked a little bit about that
[00:14:16] last time in that one section, but mark it down if you would. It's this found in verse 30, confident confident please write this down scan the qr code for your own notes confident enough to be transparent you are going to see some precious things about the apostle paul i think
[00:14:34] that's why i told matt uh i said matt on friday i'm so excited about studying i've been studying he called me later in the afternoon i said man i'm just so excited i gotta tell you the reason
[00:14:44] why this is this is the reason why paul the apostle gets very personal here with this this This is Paul the apostle.
[00:14:51] With all due respect, this is not Paul the priest.
[00:14:55] This is not Paul the pastor.
[00:14:58] This is not Paul the pope.
[00:15:00] This is not Paul the fill in the blank.
[00:15:03] This is Paul the apostle, a man that had been captured and possessed by Christ and the Holy Spirit and made a servant of the most high God.
[00:15:12] Paul would say, I'm a slave of Jesus.
[00:15:16] makes him greater than all the kings in my opinion and all the leaders that the world has ever seen to be a slave of jesus trumps all things that this world can offer you and i love how transparent the
[00:15:28] man is he's not distant he's not aloof he's not removed he's not so much the apostle that he travels in a long entourage or motorcade of black donkeys with tinted windows he's paul the apostle
[00:15:51] He's Paul the servant.
[00:15:53] He's Paul the lover of the souls of men.
[00:15:58] And would to God that all of us, starting with me, would love the souls of lost men and women.
[00:16:05] When was the last time you wept over someone's soul?
[00:16:10] The Bible tells us that Paul often wept.
[00:16:14] This great man of God says in verse 30, Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, I am calling upon you to come with me.
[00:16:28] I'm invoking the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and I'm telling you, I'm begging you.
[00:16:32] And these few words are packed with power.
[00:16:38] He uses the word beg.
[00:16:43] He begs them.
[00:16:45] And then this is confidence.
[00:16:46] Watch this.
[00:16:48] Look at the meaning of this word.
[00:16:49] You're gonna recognize it actually.
[00:16:51] Perikaleo.
[00:16:52] You've seen this word many times before.
[00:16:55] Perikaleo is one of the words used to describe the Holy Spirit.
[00:17:00] The parakaleo, the one to come alongside you and be your comforter.
[00:17:04] To come alongside you.
[00:17:05] The point is to come alongside, to be your guide, your comforter, your compass.
[00:17:11] Listen to what he says.
[00:17:12] I'm begging you.
[00:17:13] I'm asking you.
[00:17:16] The word is to call out to you, to appeal to you, to encourage with great passion and intensity, to entreat, to invite.
[00:17:26] Do you see why I'm talking about him being transparent?
[00:17:30] The word also has been translated to preach.
[00:17:34] He is preaching to them saying, will you come with me?
[00:17:39] He's not asking them to actually come with him.
[00:17:41] He's not asking them to make more room so that all these people can join.
[00:17:48] He's talking about in spirit.
[00:17:50] Now look, this verse just comes to my mind right now.
[00:17:52] So you might want to write it down and look it up later and see how wrong I am.
[00:17:56] Colossians chapter 2 verse 5 goes something like this.
[00:17:59] Colossians 2 verse 5 says this that though we be absent from one another in flesh yet we are one in spirit think that through for a moment so we met some sweet people from Idaho
[00:18:19] where are you from doesn't matter how what's the furthest representation today of where you're from in the world if you're a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ we may be absent in the flesh I may not be able to see you
[00:18:36] and you may not be able to see me, but we are one in spirit.
[00:18:41] That's God's business.
[00:18:42] That's what God does.
[00:18:44] Why?
[00:18:44] Because the mission is so precious and he's saying that.
[00:18:47] He's so transparent that he's saying this.
[00:18:49] He's not too proud to say, I got this.
[00:18:55] Don't worry about it.
[00:18:56] No, no, no.
[00:18:56] No, he's not proud.
[00:18:57] He's saying, I need you to come with me in spirit and through.
[00:19:03] this is I wish we had the time to do this oh my goodness see that word through we could spend weeks on this word I'm going to tell you a reason why this word through in the original language
[00:19:15] speaks about the veil that you go through to go into the holy of holies it's the word that speaks of the veil that when the bible tells us Jesus Christ rose again from the dead the scripture
[00:19:30] says that he ascended into heaven and presented his blood, the book of Hebrews tells us, upon the altar in heaven. He went through the veil. And then the Bible tells us that Jesus is the veil.
[00:19:43] His body's the veil. And all of that talk goes all the way back to the night of Passover in Egypt.
[00:19:54] That the blood of that little lamb, God had determined that your life would be spared if the blood was put upon the doorpost of your house.
[00:20:04] By the way, read the Old Testament carefully.
[00:20:07] The blood's put strategically, are you guys awake?
[00:20:12] The blood put on the doorpost of your house, if you go study it, is in the shape of a cross.
[00:20:20] My Jewish friends, the blood that they, the Israelites, were told to put on their door was the blood of a male, innocent, faultless, perfect, unblemished lamb who you first had to bring into your home earlier that week
[00:20:38] to become very familial with it, take it on as a pet, to become very connected to it.
[00:20:44] Sound familiar?
[00:20:46] Only for the father of the house to act as a priest to slit the throat of the little lamb, capture its blood.
[00:20:53] All the little kids I would think would be crying because now they're really, You've been sleeping with this little lamb for days.
[00:21:01] And now its blood is taken, its life is drained out of it, and it just quietly collapses.
[00:21:07] And then the blood is put on the doorpost and the lintel of the house out front, not inside, outside, public witness.
[00:21:16] What happens internally goes public.
[00:21:19] And the death angel comes through.
[00:21:22] And all that death angel was given notice by God.
[00:21:25] Here's what you do.
[00:21:26] When you see the blood, pass over.
[00:21:30] God didn't say, when you see the blood, pass over.
[00:21:34] But if you come to an Egyptian home that has blood on it, doesn't count, kill them.
[00:21:41] You know, the Bible doesn't say that.
[00:21:43] Again, this might drive some people up the wall.
[00:21:46] But the angel was only told to look for the blood.
[00:21:49] I'm wondering if any of those Jews had some Jewish, some Egyptian friends.
[00:21:55] and that they might have believed.
[00:21:58] I want to believe that just because I like how God shakes us up.
[00:22:05] What if your neighbor there in Egypt was an Egyptian and they began to believe in your God and you share with them, hey, you know what, the death angel's coming through tomorrow.
[00:22:19] Ten of us need to gather together, either come into our home or do this at your home.
[00:22:25] You say, well, Jack, that's stretching it.
[00:22:27] Am I? Am I really stretching it?
[00:22:28] is he listen is he the god of the jews only no but the god of the gentiles also and the death angel was to look for love oh my goodness i'm sorry i'm getting into the word thrill i just i
[00:22:42] i said i wouldn't do it it was all about the blood it was all about the veil and that's a study for some other day but that that word through in the Greek is through the
[00:23:01] agency of through the opening of or the authority of through the door or opened authority signifying the way into what is one of Jesus's names yeah the way but he is the door the door and so he's saying now I beg you brethren through you
[00:23:27] see this? Through who? The Lord Jesus Christ. This is the door Jesus has opened. Paul is being obedient. He's following. I want to read this to you. It's something that you guys already have on your notes. In a remarkable display of humility, Paul makes it undeniably clear that he is not
[00:23:49] leaning upon his own resources or his own strength to accomplish the task before him. I love that.
[00:23:56] He is not trusting in his education and his previous lifelong achievements.
[00:24:02] He's not looking to past miracles or past glories to ensure his future ministry.
[00:24:08] That's very wise.
[00:24:10] Don't look to the past and think you're okay regarding the future unless you grow.
[00:24:17] Paul is laying himself out before the Roman believers and he is pleading with them.
[00:24:22] Will you help me through the Lord Jesus Christ is what he's saying.
[00:24:26] The picture that Paul paints here is a man walking through a door or a veil.
[00:24:34] That's misspelled, isn't it?
[00:24:36] Paul is saying, I beg you, read.
[00:24:42] I don't know why it says that.
[00:24:45] I beg you, come over to this side with me in spirit to the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:24:50] You see that?
[00:24:51] Come over here.
[00:24:51] I'm going.
[00:24:52] Come on over.
[00:24:54] But he's asking them in a very, listen, listen.
[00:24:56] He's asking them not to physically come.
[00:24:59] He's asking them, come via prayer.
[00:25:04] Prayer.
[00:25:06] A church will not survive without it.
[00:25:07] We'll talk more about it in a moment.
[00:25:09] But this is critical.
[00:25:10] And very fast about this.
[00:25:13] Note this.
[00:25:14] The Lord.
[00:25:16] Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:25:18] Lord.
[00:25:18] Look at the meaning of the word, which you already know.
[00:25:21] Kyrios.
[00:25:23] Lord, master, ruler, king.
[00:25:25] to be a Christian is to have the master over your life.
[00:25:33] Does that offend some of you?
[00:25:34] To have Jesus over your life, he's to be the ruler of your life.
[00:25:40] And if that's not true, you're playing games with yourself.
[00:25:44] You're lying to yourself, tricking yourself.
[00:25:46] He's king.
[00:25:47] He is the king.
[00:25:49] We're not little kings.
[00:25:51] He's the king.
[00:25:53] He is our Lord.
[00:25:55] He's the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:25:59] Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:26:00] Lord's not his first name.
[00:26:02] I just want you to know that.
[00:26:04] Jesus is not his middle name, and Christ is not his last name.
[00:26:09] You need to know that.
[00:26:10] Lord is who he is, and then he's Jesus.
[00:26:15] And this is beautiful.
[00:26:17] Isus, in Greek, from the Hebrew word Yehoshua, or Yeshua, or Joshua, name of the Hebrew Messiah, but Greek, Isus, or Jesus.
[00:26:30] Did you know that Jesus' name, as you and I know his name, Isus, I heard somebody recently tell me, I think it was in Chinese, that Jesus is Lord.
[00:26:41] I think it was Isus, Nun Hananim, something like this.
[00:26:46] Does that sound right?
[00:26:48] Who knows this?
[00:26:51] Say it loud.
[00:26:54] Yesu?
[00:26:58] Is it Yesu, who's, Hananim?
[00:27:02] Hananim.
[00:27:04] Is it Jesus is Lord?
[00:27:08] You can hear that original Greek word in that, though.
[00:27:12] Isus.
[00:27:14] Greek.
[00:27:17] And then the word Christ, the Hebrew language, they don't use the word Christ.
[00:27:29] It's a Greek word.
[00:27:30] Christos.
[00:27:32] They use the word as, I'll show you in a moment, for Messiah.
[00:27:38] It means the same thing, the anointed one.
[00:27:41] Christ in Greek.
[00:27:44] So the Hebrew Bible refers to as the Messiah being Yehoshua, as I said earlier, you can say Joshua or Jesus, but Jesus Hananim in scripture, put up this Hebrew word if we have this, Hamashiach, this is amazing.
[00:28:13] Look at this, Yehoshua, that means there's only one Savior one God one Redeemer and his his name he's announced his name as Yahushua it's shortened to Yah in the Bible and some of you may be hearing this for the first time ever but if you dive into this you
[00:28:34] will find out from Genesis to Revelation it's none other that the Yah is the one that is the Yahovah the one that is hallelujah that's his name his actual name. My name's Jack. His name is Yah. The Bible reveals the name of our God and he's to be praised
[00:29:01] and he's to be honored. And why do I bring this up? Because he's transparent. He's open to us.
[00:29:08] And Paul is saying, I'm not going in my own power. You guys are going to send me in prayer, but I'm going with God on this. Listen, friends, listen carefully. You go with God. You're not
[00:29:21] shaken by stuff. You understand that? Listen, I mean this with all love. The days are very soon coming, and you will experience them when your faith is going to be challenged, and you're going to choose to listen to God or to man. And as it were, the ground's going to shake underneath you,
[00:29:41] and I'm not talking about an earthquake. And you'll be called upon to choose whom you will obey.
[00:29:48] Will it be the Lord Jesus Christ, or will it be something else, or will it be yourself?
[00:29:57] Last night, my granddaughter and I sat down and watched again for the umpteenth time the movie Nefarious.
[00:30:06] You've got to see it if you've never seen it.
[00:30:11] And how that demon-possessed man was talking to that psychologist and was saying, you guys, you humans, you guys have been fantastic for us.
[00:30:22] We're winning this war.
[00:30:25] And he said, this is a highly kept secret and not to be divulged, But the word is from my master, which would have been Satan, that there's a lot more of you down where we're at
[00:30:39] than there are those that are with the creator.
[00:30:44] Because you've done this to yourself.
[00:30:47] He says in that movie, it's a tremendous film.
[00:30:49] He says, all we had to do is to get you to keep thinking about yourself all the time.
[00:30:59] And the more you thought about yourself, the more we had you in our camp.
[00:31:08] Confidence comes from being focused on Christ and the things of Christ and to honor him.
[00:31:15] And he's the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:31:17] There's no other and there's no substitute.
[00:31:20] Yeshua HaMashiach, he's the one.
[00:31:23] And then secondly, secure.
[00:31:25] Listen, confident, yes.
[00:31:28] And I can be transparent.
[00:31:29] You can be transparent because we're confident in Christ.
[00:31:32] but also this, secure, secure enough to be loved.
[00:31:37] So what do you mean by that?
[00:31:38] Love, the greatest thing that you and I seek after, if we admit it or not, is love, to give love and to be loved.
[00:31:44] Listen, your relationship with whoever it is is handicapped at best if you are not free to express your love or to receive love.
[00:31:52] It's a two-way street and there's nothing more sad than when somebody in a relationship loves one and the other doesn't.
[00:32:03] But did you know, love's a choice.
[00:32:05] It's not a, young people, it's not goosebumps up your back.
[00:32:12] Love's not a feeling.
[00:32:15] It may start, it could start, I'm not discrediting feelings.
[00:32:18] It might start with an emotional feeling.
[00:32:20] A lot of people come to Christ with an emotional feeling.
[00:32:23] They feel, they sense something.
[00:32:25] God uses all means.
[00:32:28] You would not have wanted to experience my feelings when I first heard the gospel.
[00:32:33] I'm not normal.
[00:32:35] I heard the gospel, and I began to sweat.
[00:32:39] I began to fear.
[00:32:42] My life was doomed to hell.
[00:32:44] I didn't know that.
[00:32:47] I went to a church.
[00:32:48] Oh, you go to a church, and you're accepted, and you're welcome just as you are, and you, you know, everyone loves you, and it's just, oh, stop it.
[00:32:58] Listen, listen, that's what people's emotions want.
[00:33:03] The truth shows, listen, when the truth shows up, truth says yeah uh god god says inside of you not outside inside god says inside of you i i don't want any of this in your life anymore and uh until you get that repented of you should know my son is
[00:33:21] christ and you're on your way to hell because you will have nothing to do with them you curse his name you live against my will you serve yourself and i'm just putting you on notice as you came
[00:33:32] into a church because you won't hear it anywhere else that you're in trouble and you need to be redeemed you need to be forgiven that's how love speaks and I was so convicted if you would have asked me in that moment do you feel loved
[00:33:47] right now I would have said I feel terrified right now I feel like if I don't make it from the back of this church to that front end it's only a hundred feet if I die between here and there I am doomed and I looked around I
[00:34:06] saw other people they're crying and then some people are just smiling and I'm thinking what in the world did they just hear because I'm telling you right now I had to run Ford because I was afraid of the flames of hell catching up behind me
[00:34:20] I felt as though there was a sword on the back of my neck from heaven above of justice and only the blood of Jesus could take that sword away only the blood of Jesus can remove the guilt, the shame, the fear, and the grip of hell. I heard a podcast
[00:34:39] this last week driving home. I listen to this guy's podcast often. And the guy's a new believer.
[00:34:45] He's very famous. One of the largest podcasters in the world. He recently came to Christ. And he said, I don't know what's going on with me. I was completely fine. I didn't fear death when I was
[00:34:56] sleeping with everybody. I was doing all kinds of drugs. I had no fear. And he said, then I accepted Jesus and I've been reading people's books and I've been reading or listening to sermons and
[00:35:09] I've been going to various churches and he says, no, I'm scared to death to die. I'm scared to death. I'm absolutely paralyzed by fear. And I was yelling, I was yelling in my truck to the
[00:35:22] podcaster. And my, here's what I was saying. In fact, I got so frustrated. I had to text all the pastors and I just said, you pray for me. I'm listening to this podcast right now. I'm not
[00:35:31] ready to have a heart attack. Because the guy that he had with them was not answering the question.
[00:35:37] Dude, if you've come to Jesus Christ, you've been delivered from the grip of fear and death.
[00:35:43] That if you trust Christ and him alone, he raised you from the dead. That he has taken the sting of death, the Bible says in the book of Hebrews, away from us. Do you understand that? Look,
[00:35:55] nobody wants needles and tubes and all that kind of stuff and suffering. Nobody wants that.
[00:36:02] for the believer death is not a problem i'll admit it's getting to that it's a problem but the moment we die the bible says god says precious in the sight of the lord is the death of his saints listen some of you may not be here next year or next month
[00:36:23] maybe your time is up if you're a believer if you trust christ jesus listen your graduation's coming and you don't need to fear that.
[00:36:32] Pastor, don't talk like that.
[00:36:34] Only a non-believer would be terrified of death or as in this man's case, let's give them a benefit of the doubt.
[00:36:41] If he came to Christ, notice that his fears came listening to various ministers and reading certain books.
[00:36:50] Answer to the problem.
[00:36:53] Stop listening to others and stop reading other books.
[00:36:58] read God's book, and thereby hear him speak.
[00:37:05] There'll be a great shift, but a lot of people don't want to do that anymore.
[00:37:10] Why pray when we can ask Alexa?
[00:37:13] Why pray when we can ask chat GPT?
[00:37:17] And a lot of people today, a lot of young people today, get all their answers from AI.
[00:37:23] They don't pray.
[00:37:25] They don't need to pray.
[00:37:27] You think I'm kidding?
[00:37:28] Only old people think I'm kidding right now.
[00:37:31] The young people are saying, oh, dude, that hurts.
[00:37:34] Well, I'm just getting started.
[00:37:37] God wants you to be secure.
[00:37:39] He says right there in verse 30, and through, there it is, and through, and going through the veil to know the love of the Spirit.
[00:37:49] This is a beautiful statement.
[00:37:50] Some people are afraid of the Holy Spirit.
[00:37:53] Why would you do that?
[00:37:55] Maybe because you went to a crazy church.
[00:37:58] You know, oh, hey, sorry, but the Spirit of God took over.
[00:38:04] No, he doesn't do that.
[00:38:06] He's a gentleman.
[00:38:07] The Bible says he will never speak of himself.
[00:38:10] Did you know that?
[00:38:11] The Bible says the Holy Spirit will never draw attention to himself, but will exalt the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus said.
[00:38:19] The Holy Spirit loves you.
[00:38:22] The Holy Spirit is God.
[00:38:23] God, the Holy Spirit.
[00:38:25] And Paul doesn't even flinch to say the love of the Spirit.
[00:38:34] Play along for a moment.
[00:38:35] how many of you are born-again Christians raise your hands put your hands down you know who's inside of you the Holy Spirit a couple of you said Jesus now that's okay but you should be over in
[00:38:48] the other room with the children's ministry no no you're all correct you're you're all correct it's actually correct I'm what you're all it's all true because you know if you ask the kids in the other buildings across the way where's Jesus they'll go like this and that's cute but
[00:39:06] But the technical answer is Jesus Christ dwells within you by the presence of the Holy Spirit.
[00:39:14] Jesus said, I will not be with you always, I've got to go.
[00:39:18] But when I leave, I will send the comforter to you and he will be with you forever.
[00:39:22] Even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot see because it seeth them not, nor knoweth them, but I send them to you.
[00:39:29] He has been with you and shall be in you, Jesus said.
[00:39:35] Wow.
[00:39:37] Get ready, write some verses down.
[00:39:39] Oh, that's introduction, here we go.
[00:39:40] First Corinthians chapter 12, first Corinthians 12.
[00:39:44] Now concerning spiritual gifts, the actual Greek word is now concerning spirituals.
[00:39:50] It's a single word.
[00:39:51] Some of your Bibles might say concerning spiritual matters.
[00:39:54] Doesn't matter.
[00:39:56] Brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant.
[00:40:01] You know that you were Gentiles carried away to these dumb idols.
[00:40:05] Dumb, he's not being mean.
[00:40:06] Dumb meaning they can't hear or speak.
[00:40:09] He's not being like rude, he's not having a bad day.
[00:40:14] However you were led, therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed.
[00:40:22] That means to deny or to speak out against the deity of Christ.
[00:40:27] Nobody can do that by the Holy Spirit.
[00:40:30] And no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
[00:40:34] Listen, that doesn't mean if somebody says Jesus is Lord that they're automatically saved.
[00:40:38] That means this, they can't say that he's Lord and mean it.
[00:40:44] There are a lot of people who will say Jesus is Lord, but they also believe that other things or people are Lords also in the same capacity.
[00:40:55] Some religions hold Jesus as a great teacher.
[00:40:58] Watch out for religions who say he's a great teacher, he was a great prophet.
[00:41:05] Mm, that's deception, watch out.
[00:41:07] Well, wasn't he a prophet?
[00:41:08] Yeah, he prophesied.
[00:41:11] Wasn't he a great teacher?
[00:41:12] He was the best teacher.
[00:41:13] But if you leave it at that, you never get to him being the Lord, the God, the second person of the Trinity.
[00:41:21] God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
[00:41:24] And the Holy Spirit exalts, as I said, Jesus.
[00:41:31] Allow me to read this to you.
[00:41:35] It's what I just semi-tried to quote a moment ago.
[00:41:38] It's in the old King James.
[00:41:40] When I got saved at Costa Mesa, when we were all at Calvary, Costa Mesa, Chuck taught for years out of the old King James.
[00:41:47] So sometimes I misquote scriptures because in my brain, I've got old King James and new King James all bundled up in here.
[00:41:53] If I had it my way, we'd all speak Queens English.
[00:41:58] I just love that.
[00:41:59] I think I was born too late in life.
[00:42:05] John chapter 14, Jesus said, I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, parakletos, the one who comes alongside you, that he may abide with you forever, even the spirit of truth,
[00:42:21] whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but you know him, for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you.
[00:42:28] Punchline, verse 18, I will not leave you comfortless.
[00:42:32] I will come to you.
[00:42:33] Some versions of the Bible says, verse 18, I will not leave you orphaned.
[00:42:37] I will come to you.
[00:42:39] He does that by the Holy Spirit.
[00:42:42] Psalm.
[00:42:43] You guys okay?
[00:42:45] Psalm chapter 139.
[00:42:47] Psalm 139.
[00:42:48] We all love this Psalm.
[00:42:51] I tell you what, you guys.
[00:42:52] David, King David, two people in my opinion.
[00:42:56] This is just my opinion.
[00:42:58] Two people in the Old Testament had New Testament relationships with God.
[00:43:03] Did you hear what I said?
[00:43:04] Two people in the Old Testament had New Testament relationships with God.
[00:43:10] Abraham and David.
[00:43:13] go search and see how was Abraham justified by keeping the law Abraham is justified by faith Abraham Moses hadn't even been born yet there were no Ten Commandments Abraham was declared righteous by God and Abraham had not
[00:43:41] even yet been circumcised David David you mean the adulterer yeah that David You mean David the murderer?
[00:43:52] You mean David the crummy father?
[00:43:56] David whose life had extreme highs and horrific lows?
[00:44:01] Yeah, that guy.
[00:44:03] Does that guy's life not embody the human experience?
[00:44:13] And did God forgive him when he repented?
[00:44:17] Keyword, repented.
[00:44:21] This is what he says, Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me.
[00:44:25] You know my sitting down and my rising up.
[00:44:28] you understand my thought of far off.
[00:44:31] You comprehend my path and my lying down.
[00:44:34] And you're acquainted with all my ways.
[00:44:37] For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, oh Lord, you know it all together.
[00:44:42] You have hedged me behind and before and laid your hand upon me.
[00:44:48] Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.
[00:44:50] It is high, I cannot attain it.
[00:44:53] I'm sorry, but he's explaining our passion as believers.
[00:44:58] Where can I go from your spirit?
[00:45:01] Or where can I flee from your presence?
[00:45:03] If I ascend into heaven, you're there.
[00:45:05] If I make my bed in hell, behold, you're there.
[00:45:08] If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, just ask Jonah.
[00:45:15] Even there your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall uphold me.
[00:45:20] If I say surely the darkness shall fall on me, even the night shall be light about me.
[00:45:27] Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from you.
[00:45:29] I like that darkness cannot hide from God oh you need to meditate on that for a while I'm just doing my little dark thing in my little dark space and my little dark part of my life and God's got a God's got a beam on it and he's
[00:45:48] going I see you in our family leave the verse up in our family it's somebody like listen you know we're living life people are running around the house it's life. It's like your home. And somebody says something like, oh, who left the door open?
[00:46:06] Oh, your dad. Your dad always leaves the door open and he's always in. And I'll say, I can hear you on the floor. It's just, it's all over the place. What, which one of you nincompoops did that?
[00:46:24] Dad did that. And then from the back room, I can, I can hear you right now. You may be saying, You know, I've got my life and nobody knows until I got a little secret life.
[00:46:36] We were talking to somebody just very recently where this man claimed to be a Christian.
[00:46:41] He had his family over here in that part of the county and he had another family on the other part of the county.
[00:46:48] And I know you'll go to hell for that.
[00:46:51] I just think you should go to jail before you go to hell for that.
[00:46:59] Verse 13, for you formed my inward parts and you covered me in my mother's womb.
[00:47:05] Hello?
[00:47:07] My mother's womb.
[00:47:08] in when conception takes place God's there in fact if you want to think romantically I think God shows up in the womb so to speak the second before conception he's going like this sorry I
[00:47:34] just probably ruined your I just realized you should be so glad you don't live with me I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made science science backs that up marvelous are your works and that my soul knows very well my frame
[00:47:57] was not hidden from you when I was made in secret and skillfully wrought in the lower parts of the earth that's a reference to the womb your eyes saw my substance listen being yet unformed what that means God had a schematic in his
[00:48:14] mind he had blueprints for your life friends listen anybody pregnant anybody thinking about getting pregnant somebody might find out they're pregnant tomorrow listen it's not an accident you know oops no no whoops no whoops pure science
[00:48:37] pure God and God says I I'm in there I have a blueprint for humanity this is how it works. It's amazing. Now look, you say, Jack, you're being silly. Am I now? That's the definition of DNA. You see, well, I don't like my freckle over here, and I don't like the way my
[00:49:05] eyebrows are, and I don't like the way that my nose. Yeah, well, that's the way you were written up. And if something's wrong, he'll fix it in the resurrection. I'm sure of it. No one's going to
[00:49:20] walk around. No one's going to walk around in heaven saying, it's awesome to be here, and you guys are all so beautiful, but my nose. If God can raise you from the dead, he can give you a new
[00:49:33] nose. He says, how precious also are your thoughts to me. Listen, people, God's thoughts toward you are precious. Oh, God. Notice. Oh, God. He knows the Lord. How great is the sum of them. If I
[00:49:53] should count them, they are more in number than the sand. And when I awake, this is the miracle.
[00:49:59] when I awake, I'm still with you. I'm still with you, he says. You could say when I awake, you're still with me. Same is true. When I wake up, I'm with you. Ezekiel chapter 36. Why is this
[00:50:21] true? Ezekiel 36 verse 27. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes.
[00:50:28] You will keep my judgments and do them. First Corinthians 3 verse 16. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Holy Spirit of God dwells in you. He's the Holy Spirit.
[00:50:45] They're the word spirit, but he's the Holy Spirit. Holy, speaking of his nature. That word only applies to God, this holy. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 19 says, the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you
[00:51:04] have from God, you are not your own. I don't know about you, but I like that. You're not your own.
[00:51:11] Some of you are tired.
[00:51:13] You've been living life, and you're burned out.
[00:51:14] You're tired.
[00:51:15] You've done all this stuff.
[00:51:16] You're still empty.
[00:51:18] You're still hurting.
[00:51:21] Man, I tell you what.
[00:51:25] Did you guys see the alternative halftime show at that ridiculous Super Bowl game?
[00:51:35] It was so boring.
[00:51:36] That was one of the most boring games, so to say.
[00:51:39] But anyway, so Kid Rock comes out, singing this song and i never i've never listened to kid rock so i don't even know i don't know nothing so this guy comes out and i'm thinking and then they they pivot and i'm thinking what was
[00:52:09] that this is an alternative and then then they go to the next was the wonderful that's the that's the part i wanted to have last was the violin and the cello or whatever was being placed like
[00:52:25] oh my goodness this is great and then ladies and gentlemen uh what's what's his name bob robert robert ladies and gentlemen robert i don't know what his name was rob richard i don't know bob
[00:52:41] it's richard no robert robert ritchie thank you this guy knows robert ritchie who ladies and gentlemen robert ritchie and then people are like going who's that different clothing different look different song i encourage all of you to
[00:53:15] download it he announces in that song that jesus christ rescued him from his life set his foot on the rock washed him in the blood of the lamb and that he's a new person and the reason why
[00:53:29] he did those two songs is because this was the old man kid rock and now this is the new man and Robert, that guy, Robert Ritchie.
[00:53:42] Did you know that, Kid Rock?
[00:53:43] I didn't know that.
[00:53:44] I'm gonna start buying Kid Rock stuff just for that.
[00:53:49] New, brand new.
[00:53:50] You say, I don't think I can do that with rock and roll people.
[00:53:54] Yeah, yeah, he can, he does.
[00:53:56] He does just fine.
[00:53:58] God put his Holy Spirit in him.
[00:54:01] And I know somebody who knows him, it turns out.
[00:54:05] I found out, I said, hey, did you just see that?
[00:54:10] text this, did you just see this?
[00:54:13] And my friend texts back and said, yeah, I was talking to him yesterday all about it.
[00:54:18] Wow, so next week we're gonna have Robert Ritchie give you this, no, no, I'm kidding, I don't, I'm kidding.
[00:54:30] John 14, verse 23, Jesus answered and said to them, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my Father will love him and he will come to him and make our home with him.
[00:54:43] the life of the new believer, the life of the spirit, the ministry of the spirit.
[00:54:48] Paul is saying, will you come with me in spirit?
[00:54:53] The Bible says in Romans chapter eight, verse 11, Romans 8, 11, but if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
[00:55:10] through his spirit who dwells in you.
[00:55:14] That man who was afraid of dying, he needs to be reminded, this Christian needs to be reminded, that's in the Bible.
[00:55:21] Romans 8, 11, last time I checked, which was yesterday, it's still in the Bible.
[00:55:27] God raises the dead, and the Spirit of God, look, the Bible says the Spirit of God rose Jesus Christ from the dead, and the same Spirit will raise you from the dead also.
[00:55:39] That's the best news in the entire world.
[00:55:43] Amazing.
[00:55:47] I have this in the notes, it's on page six, and it says, I just called it move-in day.
[00:55:53] Can you say today that the Holy Spirit dwells in you?
[00:55:56] Don't answer, don't answer.
[00:55:58] Can you honestly say, remember, forget about everybody in church, be all alone for a moment.
[00:56:03] Can you say to yourself, I know the Holy Spirit dwells in me?
[00:56:08] I'll tell you how you'll know.
[00:56:10] If the Holy Spirit dwells in you, He will constantly prod you towards things of meaning, of purpose, of good, of hope, of life, things that matter.
[00:56:27] You know what, if the Holy Spirit's in you, he will move you toward vision.
[00:56:32] Vision meaning, I see that, I'm not gonna wait around for anybody else to do that, I'm gonna go do that, by his power, just like the Apostle Paul.
[00:56:43] I'm transparent, I'm weak, I'm nothing, but he is all powerful God.
[00:56:46] And then look, he goes on.
[00:56:49] Or this goes on, can you say that the Holy Spirit dwells in you?
[00:56:54] Let me tell you this, if he dwells within you, then you will know it.
[00:56:59] Nobody moves into our house or their house where you live and you do not know it.
[00:57:06] When someone's in the home with you, you know it.
[00:57:11] when you go into a place you know it when someone comes into that place where you're at you know it we know this as humans christian friend one of the great comforting facts about our lives is that we're not perfect and we know it but he is and him in us causes us to continue on
[00:57:43] his presence can be experienced I'm not gonna define how because it's I'm sure it's in various ways in people's lives but he's present we'll end with this last thing here we pick it up next time next week look at verse 30 eager he's
[00:58:12] saying will you please come with me and as we continue on together he's talking to us here about being eager eager enough to change the world I hesitated in pointing out that sub-point that underlines the main point,
[00:58:29] but it's true nonetheless.
[00:58:31] But, you know, we hear about this stuff all the time, but the world doesn't change.
[00:58:34] Oh, be a change-maker.
[00:58:36] You can change the world, we tell our kids.
[00:58:39] You can change the world.
[00:58:40] And it's all true if, right?
[00:58:43] It's all true if.
[00:58:44] If we're focused on the things of God and if we're powered and empowered by God, that you strive together with me in prayers for God for me.
[00:58:57] this one this man's precious do you hear him how many how many men just look how many people would say this how many people would say it's really important to me I'm asking all of you to determine to go through whatever pains it takes
[00:59:18] you to please remember to pray for me who says this we're strange culture we are a hard people to bless because we're proud I'm proud 68 years old and I'm so immature that I still get into these loving cute little debates when we might
[00:59:48] go out to dinner with friends and I've got to be the one that gets the bill it doesn't matter what my motive is my motive could be spectacularly honest and true I love them and I want to I'm gonna bless them so I've got a routine and
[01:00:05] And I'll either tell the server or the manager in advance.
[01:00:11] Sometimes I'll call ahead and say, listen, this is a setup.
[01:00:15] I love my friends.
[01:00:17] They have a tendency to grab the bill.
[01:00:19] Don't give it to them.
[01:00:20] I'll come in with a code.
[01:00:26] You know, I'm the guy.
[01:00:27] That's the one.
[01:00:30] And it's done from love.
[01:00:32] But then I also realize that there's pride in that.
[01:00:40] And the danger of that is what?
[01:00:42] Here's the danger.
[01:00:42] Well, gosh, I guess you're right, Pastor Jack, because there could be pride in whatever I do.
[01:00:47] So I don't want to do that.
[01:00:49] So I'll do nothing.
[01:00:54] Listen, together, you guys, listen, together, we are so absolutely weak, even together.
[01:01:04] We're weaker when we're apart, but we're weak.
[01:01:11] And the Bible says, in your weakness, I will perfect my strength.
[01:01:16] only God is the one who can say you know you've been a horrific sinner yes Lord let me just show you Jack a little brief snapshot of your past right for young people that was the that was a what is it called see it look I don't even know
[01:01:48] that was the camera the projector and it sees you you know you're getting into trouble. And God says, I have it all on record. You know, the Bible says it writes everything down and you're mortified. And just, just listen, just when your chin gets welded to your chest
[01:02:10] because of shame, he, he picks you up and he says, but I, I died on the cross for that. If, if you're willing to invite me in, I died on the cross. I already paid the price for that,
[01:02:29] but it doesn't benefit you at all, Jack. The price has been paid, but you have no benefit from that price I paid unless you apply what I gave or made available for your own life.
[01:02:44] Will you accept me?
[01:02:46] Will you receive?
[01:02:48] No, that's okay, Lord.
[01:02:49] I called ahead.
[01:02:49] I paid the bill in advance.
[01:02:52] I told the server to bring it to me.
[01:02:55] That's human works.
[01:02:56] I prayed three times.
[01:02:58] I did this.
[01:02:58] I prayed five times.
[01:02:59] I gave this much money.
[01:03:00] I'm good.
[01:03:03] Little do you know that the film is still running and God is saying by the works of the law you cannot come to me you can't see me you could be so pure in your eyes but I are I'm talking like him he said I
[01:03:20] already told you in the book of Isaiah that your righteousness is as filthy rags the word in Hebrew is your righteousness or as menstrual cloths yeah yeah it's like really really that's gross and God says that's right so what
[01:03:41] do I do about this take all of this and hand it to me wait wait the eternal God who's pure who came into this world to show us the way died on the cross for me
[01:03:56] rose again from the dead to empower all of these promises you will take it for You want me to hand it to you?
[01:04:05] That's right.
[01:04:08] I can't believe you would even touch me.
[01:04:11] I can't believe you would even take this from me.
[01:04:16] Give it to me.
[01:04:17] That's the struggle.
[01:04:19] Pride immediately erupts with stupid things like this.
[01:04:27] I'll come back next week, I'll think about it.
[01:04:30] Or, I'll tell you what I'll do.
[01:04:32] I'm gonna clean up my act, and then I'll give my heart to Jesus.
[01:04:38] you'll never be saved.
[01:04:40] You'll be lost for all eternity that way.
[01:04:45] Have you noticed one of Satan's greatest tactics is to tell you tomorrow?
[01:04:50] You know, you're gonna clean the garage tomorrow.
[01:04:53] I've been telling myself that for years.
[01:04:57] The thing is, if you keep telling yourself that long enough, you actually enjoy it.
[01:05:04] Lisa will say the garage looks horrific, but I've told myself so many times I'll do it tomorrow that it looks fine to me today.
[01:05:13] Listen, Satan does that.
[01:05:15] Don't become a fanatic.
[01:05:19] You don't wanna be one of those Jesus freaks, do you?
[01:05:24] Little later, you're young.
[01:05:27] There's so much of life to live.
[01:05:32] Translation, we're terrified that you're listening to the love of God.
[01:05:36] You better run away from that because listen, we wanna shorten your life as fast as possible by keeping you blinded and suck you into the pit of hell so we can inflict pain into the heart of God
[01:05:48] because we hate him because he made you humans in his image and he loves you and he redeemed you and we will do everything to stop that.
[01:06:00] So they do everything to tempt you to stay drugged, to stay sexed up, to stay pursuing money, whatever the distractions are, trinkets, glitter.
[01:06:13] Let's pray.
[01:06:14] Father God in heaven, I'm asking you, Lord, Enough has been said, it's decision time.
[01:06:26] Lord, I pray for every person that's hearing this message, only Bible, only verses, only your Holy Spirit.
[01:06:34] They're brought into the valley of decision right now.
[01:06:37] Yes or no for Jesus?
[01:06:41] You gonna stand on the dock or you gonna get on board?
[01:06:45] You gonna stand on the platform or you gonna get on?
[01:06:49] You gonna stay in your religion or you gonna meet God?
[01:06:57] Are you gonna try to keep convincing yourself you're okay instead of giving up your life to him wherever you're at whoever you may be you know enough right now from this message to respond to jesus tell him right now in your own words
[01:07:21] i'm asking you jesus to forgive me of my sins you know everything that i've ever done you know the things that i thought i had kept secret you're exposing them right now and i'm mortified if
[01:07:46] If that ever got out, my friend, it's all coming out unless it's covered by the blood of the lamb.
[01:07:59] Jesus died on the cross for you.
[01:08:02] And the only way that you can survive death is by putting your faith in Christ Jesus now.
[01:08:12] To say to him, I believe you died on the cross for my sins and you rose again from the dead.
[01:08:18] And I receive you as my Lord and savior.
[01:08:21] I decide today to walk with you, Jesus.
[01:08:25] I wanna go with you.
[01:08:28] And we say to you, come with us.
[01:08:32] Come with us, brand new brother or sister.
[01:08:37] Come with us for at the end of our journey, we enter into his very presence of glory because Jesus has paid it all and all to him we owe.
[01:08:53] In his name we pray and all God's people said, amen.
[01:08:56] God bless you, church.