We had 99 people signed up to be baptized today across all of our campus. Isn't it amazing?
Some of y'all here today signed up, ready to go, ready to be baptized. There's some of you here today. They came to church. Not expecting to make some kind of stand for Jesus. And the Spirit of God is going to touch you in this service today.
And even though you didn't come prepared to be baptized, you're going to come forward. You can make a stand for Jesus Christ. We got Stuff to put over your clothes. We got towels. Don't worry about it.
I've said this before. If you're more worried about your clothes getting wet than making a stand for Jesus, you're not ready, okay? But some of y'all wouldn't do that today. First service, we had seven people spontaneously come forward. and give their lives to Jesus Christ.
and get baptized. Get baptized. And I'll be honest with you, y'all want to know: does God still work in miracles, signs, and wonders? If anybody can get saved into that 8 o'clock service, that's a miracle of God, man. That's a quiet service.
And so. And some of y'all will ask, wait, what about a baptism? I get this all the time. What about a baptism class? Don't you do a six-month baptism class?
Read the book of Acts. In the book of Acts. When people got Right with Jesus. Made a stand for Jesus. They didn't do a six-week baptism class.
The day they made a stand for Jesus, they followed it through that very day in baptism. We're just doing what the book of Acts says. And beloved, my my gut tells me. The time is short. I I feel things are starting to wind down.
I don't know if you've been keeping this online, watching this online. I've had a lot of people, educated, like doctors, plural, educated people. Email me this week. Have you heard this? That the rapture is going to take place on Tuesday?
Have you heard that? And look. I've heard these things before. All right, this one actually made sense to me. I can kind of see where they're coming from.
Well, Chad, do you believe the rapture is going to take place on Tuesday? I don't know. Maybe, maybe not, I don't know. I do think it's very interesting, though, the timing of God. That today It is possible.
And it's likely. More people will hear the gospel today at one time than ever before in human history. With the Charlie Kirk Memorial Service, it is estimated more people may hear the gospel at one time today than any other time in history. That's pretty amazing.
Now, again. I'm not saying the rafters coming on Tuesday, okay? What I'm saying is, it'd be kind of interesting, the timing of God, for the whole world, the globe, to hear the gospel, and then something happened. And so, Wednesday night, I'll be leading our Wednesday night Bible study, and we'll talk about some signs I think I'm seeing that are pointing toward the end, assuming we're here. I'll talk on Wednesday night for that, okay?
I saw a news headline just a second ago, local news headline, quote. Here's what they're saying about the memorial service today, the gospel going out. Here's a headline. Trump and his MAGA movement will honor Charlie Kirk at Arizona Memorial Service. That's strange.
I just get so tore up about what the media. Sad.
Something flipped. About a week and a half ago. I just don't care what they think anymore. Um Winston Churchill was told one time about a guy in Parliament that was running him down. And they said, Winston, what do you think about that guy?
And he said, well, If I respected him, I would care about what he thinks, but since I don't, I don't. If I cared about what the if I respected the media. I would care about what they think. I just don't care anymore. I just want to be in the Word of God.
I just want to serve Jesus. I want to do what Jesus has called us to do till Jesus Christ comes back. Things are getting a lot more clear to me.
Now I'm going to go back to what I just said. I think things are winding down. And I could give you several signs, but for me... One of those signs is what's happening with the nation of Israel. I've told you for decades, I've been here over 20 years now, Israel is the barometer of prophecy.
If you want to know where we are on the end time calendar, Look at what's going on in Israel. Zechariah 12 through 14 says that in the last days all the nations of the earth will turn their back on Israel, and I believe that includes America. Israel will be hated. by everybody in the last days. And I'm seeing that happen out there, and I'm seeing it in the church.
I have never seen so many Pentecostals and evangelicals and Bible believers abandon their support of Israel. It's crazy what's going on. I'm getting stuff all the time now. Had somebody the other day.
So deal Israel was behind Charlie Kirk's assassination. Oh, really? You know, between running the banks and Hollywood, I'm surprised I have time to pull off political assassinations. Those Jews.
Somebody posted on one of our social media things. I said, ask. Pastor Chad. How much money Israel is paying him to support Israel. To which I replied, You mean I I can get paid?
To do this, I'd Hey, give me this from my contact information. I'll take whatever they want to get it. Look, I'm a man of character and integrity, I cannot be bought. But I can be rented and if they want to rent me they can rent me, okay? Here's my point.
Something's happening. Um Check. If you knew for a fact, Jesus is going to rapture his church on Tuesday. What would you preach on today? I would preach the very same thing I'm about to preach to you right now.
I would not change what I'm preaching. What I'm sharing with you today, you need to hear. I am a dying man preaching to dying people. Jesus is coming back. I've got to get people ready to meet Jesus.
I would not change when I was preaching if I knew the wrath was going to take place on Tuesday.
So why don't we just go to the Word of God? And today I want us to talk about baptism. All my life, I've heard this. Or baptism. is just a symbol.
Now listen to me. Baptism is a symbol. But baptism isn't just a symbol. There's something supernatural. about baptism.
There's something powerful in the heavenly realms. This isn't just somebody going to that pool because my friends at VBS got saved, and they're going to get baptized. I'm going to get baptized. There's a lot more than that. There's something supernatural about baptism.
It's interesting, I talked to missionaries. That we support, that are serving in Islamic countries, and they've told me this before. You can be a Muslim in a Christian country and say, you know what? I'm a Christian now. And yeah, you'll get a little bit of grief.
But it's when you finally say, no, I'm serious, I'm a Christian. And I'm going to be baptized. When they do that, that's when all hell breaks loose. The Muslims seem to understand something that even the body of Christ doesn't understand. There is something significant and powerful about.
Baptism. And Peter in 1 Peter chapter 3 gives us a very succinct teaching on baptism. I want you to turn there if you would. 1 Peter 3:18 through 22. I'm reading this from the New American Standard Version.
And again, Here? At the North Riley campus, At the Benson campus. Over there in that acoustic service. There's somebody in this place today. This may be the last chance you have.
To say yes to Jesus. I'm as serious as I can possibly be right now. Peter says in 1 Peter 3, 18 through 22, For Christ also suffered for sins once for all time, the just for the unjust, so that he might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. in which he also went And made proclamation to the spirits in prison who once were disobedient when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah during the construction of the ark. In which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the flood, the water.
Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you, not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him. Again, there's something powerful about baptism. I'm gonna tell you something. Baptism confronts A lot of the issues that we're dealing with in our culture today. I'm going to give you one issue that baptism confronts.
Baptism confronts the issue of loneliness and isolation.
Social scientists tell us that we are the most connected. generation there's ever been Electronically? And we're the most isolated generation in all of human history. That's why people are killing themselves. That's why people are depressed.
We're the most connected electronically, but we're the most isolated. And baptism confronts that. You say, how does baptism confront loneliness and isolation? If you look at this passage, Peter is using the second person plural. Which means He's not writing this to an individual.
He's writing this through the collective body of the Lord Jesus Christ. What he's saying is, when you get saved, you become part of this large family called the family of God. You don't have to be lonely anymore. You don't have to be isolated anymore. And baptism, watch this.
Baptism is the initiation rite. Into the family of God. You know how like fraternities or sororities, if you want to join it, you got to go through this initiation? Baptism is the initiation into the body of Christ. And that's what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:13.
For by one spirit we were baptized into one body, whether Jew or Or Greek? Slaves? Free, black, white, Latino, Asian, we were all baptized into one body, into one family.
Now I'm going to tell you something. There is in every human heart a desire to belong somewhere. Satan will manipulate that. Why do people join gangs? Because there is a desire in the heart of every human being to be connected with somebody.
In fact, Francis Chan. who pastored out in California. He said, Man, I actually had. A prominent gang member in our community gets saved and joined our church, and he was on fire for Jesus. And he said, after a few weeks, I didn't see this guy anymore.
So I asked somebody in my church, I said, man, what happened to this guy? He was a gang member, gang leader, got saved, joined our church. I don't see him anymore. And he said, he's left. He's not in the church.
So he said, I talked to that guy and I said, man, what happened? He said, you know, Francis, it's not your... It's not your fault, Pastor. It's my fault. I just had too high an expectation for the body of Christ.
I thought the body of Christ would be like the gang. My gang had my back 24-7. My gang was there when I needed it. I did not find that in the body of Christ. And he said, This: I feel when it comes to gangs, Satan.
Stole God's playbook. Hey, do you know why alcoholics go to a bar? They don't go to a bar to get drunk. You can get drunk by yourself at your house. Alcoholics go to a bar to be around other alcoholics.
There is in the heart of every human being a desire to connect. And when you get baptized, Paul is saying, and Peter is saying, you are now being baptized into the body of Christ. You don't have to be isolated or alone. Jesus says something very interesting in Mark 10:30. He said, You follow me?
Yeah, you may have to give up your home, you may have to give up your family. Have you read this? Jesus said this, but you'll get 100 times more mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and homes. Do you know what he means by that? When I went to Iraq to minister to the church in Iraq a few years ago, I have brothers and sisters.
I had kinspeople in Iraq. They're my brothers and sisters in Jesus. When I go to Sudan, I have kin people in Sudan, my brothers and sisters in Christ. Wherever I go around the world, I have brothers and sisters and a family because I've been baptized into the body of Christ. Baptism confronts loneliness.
Secondly. Baptism confronts Guilt. R C Sprule, who's Such a great theologian went on to be with Jesus a few years ago. R.C. Spruce said this.
He said, 50 years ago, I was a pastor in the community. Theologian in the community. 50 years ago, a local psychiatrist contacted me and said this. I will pay you $100,000 a year if you'll join my practice.
Now, that's a lot of money today. That was a ton of money 50 years ago. And Spruel said, I can't do that. I'm a pastor. But let me ask you this question.
He said, Why are you. A psychiatrist offering me $100,000 a year to join your practice. That psychiatrist said something very interesting. Hasten because RC. 90% of my patients in the psychiatric pass uh practice 90% of my patients.
are dealing with a sense of guilt. That's why they're at my practice. And he said, I don't know anybody better to handle guilt. than you. R.C.
Spruce said, The only way I handled guilt was by pointing them to Jesus Christ and showing them the forgiveness that comes through the Lord Jesus Christ. 90% of these people are going to a psychiatrist because of guilt. Baptism confronts that. You say, how does that happen?
Well look at verse 21, if you would. Verse 21. In verse 21, Peter tells us two things. He makes it very clear: baptism doesn't save you. He says, you know, baptism saves you, but not this ritual that you're going through.
Baptism doesn't save you. I want you to listen to me right now. Here's what saves you. When you understand I'm a sinner. I deserve to be punished.
I have violated the laws of God. I am a sinner, and I am guilty. But 2,000 years ago, that man, Jesus Christ, God in flesh, came to this earth, and every sin, all my guilt, all my shame was put on him on the cross 2,000 years ago. He died in my place. He paid the price.
He died in my place. He was buried. He came back to life. And when you turn from your sins and turn to Jesus Christ, he forgives you of your sin. Baptism doesn't save you, Jesus saves you.
That's how you deal with the guilt.
Now, that's what Peter's saying. Number one, Peter's saying baptism doesn't save you, Jesus saves you. But in verse 21, he says the second thing. There is some type of symbolic cleansing when it comes to baptism. I want you to listen to me.
I run into this as a pastor all the time. If somebody came up to me and said, Well, Pastor, I know I'm saved, I know I'm forgiven, I'm going to heaven. I understand all that. I know Jesus is forgiven my sins. But past I'm still wrestling with guilt.
I aborted my baby 20 years ago and I can't get rid of that. Guilt! Pastor, I'm saved. But I violated my marriage covenant 40 years ago. And I've been dealing with this guilt for 40 years.
I want you to listen to me. When I ask Christians who are born again, who are still struggling with guilt, I'll always, always ask them this question. Have you been baptized? Do you know 70% of them will say one of two things? Either, no.
I've never followed through with baptism. Or number two, yeah, I was baptized when I was a little kid. I didn't know what I was doing, didn't mean anything to me. 70% of the time, Christians who are dealing with guilt have never experienced biblical baptism. And here's where I've come to the realization: I believe this: I believe Jesus Christ destroys guilt.
And I believe baptism destroys feelings of guilt. And there's somebody in this place today. You've been carrying that guilt way too long. You're smiling and you're at church and you're acting like everything is okay, but everything is not okay. When you go to bed at night And you put your head on that pillow.
Satan reminds you, I saw you in church today. Church ain't for people like you. Aren't you the same person who 10 years ago filled in the blank?
Some of y'all are trying to Do your job and live your life and go to school and make ends meet, and then all of a sudden L Blue. That thing that you did five years ago pops up in your mind and you can't get rid of it. And when I'm saying to somebody here today, that mess needs to end today. And you need to come forward and say, We're going to have a funeral. Hey, we're about to have a big funeral service right now.
You're going to stand in that water and you're going to say, the old me is standing in this water with the sin and this guilt and this shame. And when you go under the water, that sin goes under the water with you. And you leave it there and you come out a new person in Jesus Christ. I want to say it again.
Somebody is placed here today, you're dealing with extreme guilt, and it's time for you to leave that mess in the water today.
So baptism confronts loneliness. When you get saved, And you get baptized. You're baptized into this family. who loves you, takes care of you. Baptism confronts guilt.
Some of y'all have been carrying this mess around too long. It's time to leave it here today. And then number three, baptism confronts demonic entities. Yeah, but I want to get a little bit creepy. Y'all ready to get a little bit creepy here for just a second?
Because I get into the demons and you know, demons, angels, Satan, Nephilim, all this kind of stuff. I want you to look at verse 21. Verse 21, Peter says, baptism confronts demonic entities.
Now, our favorite scholar just went on to be with Jesus, Michael Heiser. Michael Heiser was brilliant. Went to Bob Jones University. That's extreme fundamentalists. But then he graduated from the University of Wisconsin in a PhD with Semitic languages.
The guy was brilliant. He has an article called Baptism as Spiritual Warfare. And he said, this passage has confused people for years. What does Peter mean when he talked about? This kind of like verse 19 and 20, he talks about demonic spirits that were in operation in the day of Noah.
What's he talking about?
Well, he's referring to Genesis 6, where there were demonic entities interacting with human beings during the days of Noah. He's also referring to the book of Enoch, which isn't in the Bible, but the book of Enoch is an ancient Jewish writing that does contain some biblical truth. And so in verses 19 through 20, Peter talks about demons. And then, um Have you ever went to this? All right, Jesus died on the cross.
Was in the tomb for three days, came back to life. What happened to Jesus in those three days between the cross and when he was resurrected? Have you ever asked yourself about that? Peter answers that question in verse 19. He said, Jesus descended into this demonic realm and he proclaimed victory over the demons.
He said, I won, you lost. That's what Jesus did.
So you see this. Peter's talking about demons, demonic entities. And then in verse 21, he says this: And baptism is an appeal to God. Do you see that?
Now, the Greek word for appeal, according to Liddell's Greek lexicon, which is the standard Greek lexicon, that word appeal. Watch this. It can also mean a pledge or a loyalty oath. Baptism? Is a loyalty oath.
It's a pledge. Christian from a Latin background. They call baptism eight. Have you heard of this? Sacrament.
comes from the Latin word sacramentum. which was an oath. that Army soldiers would take before they entered the Army. Put these two things together. Here's what Peter says.
Peter's saying when you get baptized You saying to the church You say to the world, You're saying to the forces of hell and darkness, I've made a decision today. I'm going to follow Jesus for the rest of my life. Demons, Satan, I'm no longer following you and your kingdom anymore. I'm making a decision today. As of today, I pledge my loyalty to one man, and his name is Jesus Christ.
Not my Facebook friends, not this messed up culture. Today, I have a loyalty pledge to one man, my commanding officer, Jesus Christ. That's what's happening when you're baptized. Hey. Would y'all agree with me?
There's a lot of wicked demonic stuff going on in this world. I mean, the Bible calls Satan the God, little g, of this world. Th these The media, Hollywood, the system, there's this whole system called the world. Satan is the God of this system called the world.
So somebody listen to me right now. You and me make a decision today. Am I going to keep following Satan in this world?
Well, am I going to follow the Lord Jesus Christ?
Now, you want to follow Satan in the world? Have at it. Just do what you want to do. But you're going to have to stop playing these games. Where I serve Jesus on Sunday.
and then live like hell Monday through Saturday.
Somebody needs to listen to me. Today is the day to make a decision. I love what Joshua said. Joshua said: if you want to serve all these demonic gods, go after it. But as for me and my house beginning today, we're going to serve the Lord for the rest of our life.
Somebody I'm just telling you, you've been playing the fence too long. I told you before, it's like a guy saw in a dock one time, he had his foot on a dock. and he's wanting to get into a boat and he had his other foot in the boat and that boat started to kind of drift away from the dock. And he can't do an eternal split. He has to decide: am I going to go on the dock or am I going on the boat?
But I got to make a decision. And I'm telling you, the closer we get to the second coming of Jesus Christ, these two kingdoms are getting farther and farther apart. You're going to have to make a decision: am I going to follow Jesus or the demonic entities? But you've got to make a decision.
So What does baptism do? It confronts loneliness. When you're baptized, you are now into the body of Christ. You're now part of this eternal family. Secondly, Baptism confronts guilt.
I'm going to say it again. The reason why some of you followers of Jesus Christ are still wrestling with guilt is you've never been baptized or you didn't know what you were doing when you're baptized. And I'm going to say it again: I genuinely believe Jesus destroys guilt, and baptism destroys feelings of guilt. And then baptism confronts demonic entities. And then, one more, look at this.
Hey, let me say this. This thing of confronting demonic entities. Do you know the early church understood that? In the early church, first few centuries of the church, it's very interesting. When a person would get baptized, Do you know the person who was baptizing them would ask them before they baptized them?
We see this in the early church, they'd always say this. Before they baptized him. Do you renounce the work of Satan in your life? And when they said yes, I renounce Satan. Then they'd baptize him.
That's what some of y'all wouldn't do today. I renounce Satan and I'm going to follow Jesus. Let me give you one more. Baptism confronts fear. We're doing it.
With such a fearful society. I told you a while back, I was talking to a public school teacher. Another town, not around here, so don't worry about it. She was a actually, she was a principal of a junior high, and she said, Chad, in this junior high that I'm the vice principal over. We've got 700 students.
She said effectively, Seven hundred out of 700 students are dealing with some form of anxiety. Hey, where does this fear and anxiety come from? John answers that. In 1 John 4:18, there is no fear in love. But perfect love Cast out fear.
Now watch this. Because fear Involves Punishment. What John is saying is The root of fear and anxiety. is this instinct that we all have. That a day of reckoning is coming.
We all have this instinct. I'm going to have to give an account of my life. I don't care if you're an atheist. You can lie and deny it all you want. I don't care if you're an atheist.
I don't care if you're an agnostic. We all have this instinctive. understanding. that one day I'm going to have to give an account. for my life.
And that fear. of that day of accounting. John said it right there. It infiltrates every other area of our life. I want you to see this.
Verse 18. John or Peter talks about in 1 Peter 3, verse 18. Peter talks about Jesus' death on the cross and how his death on the cross reconciles us to God. That's verse 18. Verse 20.
Peter talks about Noah's Ark. Out of the blue, he just talks about Noah's Ark. And in verse 21, he connects baptism. To Noah's Ark.
Now, what in the world does he mean by connecting baptism to Noah's Ark? I want you to listen to me. Baptism is connected to Noah's Ark in several ways. Number one, like Noah's Ark, baptism reminds us. That judgment is coming.
It took Noah over a hundred years to build that ark. And as that ark was being built, It was God's way of saying to the whole world watching this, I want you to see this. I want you to understand you're. Jesuit's coming. And Noah's sons would come home from school, and they're like, We're being teased at school and laughed at school because our whack-job dad is building a boat in the middle of his yard.
Why are we doing this? And Noah said, Because God has told me. Judgment is coming. And boys, there's only one way of escape, and it's this boat right here.
So close your mouth, grab a hammer, and help me out here. And his wife would Would say no. All my friends are laughing at me. I've been defriended on Facebook. Everybody thinks I'm crazy because my husband is building a boat in the middle of the yard.
Noah, why are you doing this? And decade after decade, Noah gave her the same answer. Sweetheart, we're doing this because judgment's coming. There's only one way of escape. And it's that boat right there.
I look at these baptismal tanks. And they remind me. Judgment's coming. We're all going to have to give an account. before God.
You know, it's interesting, medical technology, as it advances more and more, medical technology is now able to do something it really couldn't do as well 100 years ago, and that's pull people from the brink of death. And we call these things near-death experiences. Have you heard this? And even secular scholars and the secular medical field, they're starting to do some research into these near-death experiences. It was really popularized recently, a few years ago, when Maurice Rawlings, who was President Dwight Eisenhower's personal cardiologist.
I was at my cardiac. Yeah, cardiac clinic. And a man passed out, he flatlined. He said, So I did chest compressions, brought him back, and when I brought him back, he gasped and his eyes were in fear. He said, I was in hell.
Dear God, help me. Don't let me go back to hell. And he flatlined again. And he said, I brought him back. And every time I brought him back, this guy.
With terror in his eyes said, don't let me die. Every time I die, I go to hell. Help me. He said, This rattled my cage so much. He said, I finally stabilized the patient, I put him in a room.
And I went home and opened my Bible and got saved. And it started this whole thing of near-death experiences, and now even the scientific community. They wouldn't say this, but they're saying exactly what Peter is saying. Judgment is coming. The God of the universe loves you so much.
He is a God of love, but he's a God of justice.
Well, you think a God of justice is just going to let it go? I hear people all the time. I had a guy tell me. died recently he said you know me and the big guy we got a little understanding So I don't need to get saved because the big guy not, the big guy not, we got an understanding. First of all, if you call the God of the universe, The big guy.
You may not know him as well as you think you know him. And he doesn't have an understanding with anybody. He is a God of love, but he is a God of justice, and somebody is going to have to pay for your sin.
So how is baptism like Noah's Ark? Baptism is a reminder. Judgment's coming. But secondly, like Noah's Ark, baptism reminds us that there is one way of escape from the coming judgment. Hey, how many arks did Noah build?
One Hey, how many doors were there into that ark? One You do a study on this. The cross and the ark have so many similarities. Both of them protect from judgment, both of them were made out of wood. It's interesting as well.
In Genesis, God says to Noah, Noah, I want you to cover the ark with pitch. Do you know what that means that Hebrew word cover? You know the Hebrew word is also that same Hebrew word is the word Um Atonement. Atonement. He's covered with pitch.
Do you know what pitch is? It's this ooey, sticky substance that looks like blood. One boat. One cross made out of wood, atonement. Blood, Jesus is trying to say to somebody, Judgment is coming, but I'm telling you, I am your ark of protection.
Come to me, and you will find protection from the coming judgment. Let me give you a lesson in spatial skills. You ready? Here's spatial physics. Insight is insight.
And outside is outside. And you cannot simultaneously be. Inside and outside. And there are two people in the room today. There are those who are inside the Ark of Protection named Jesus Christ, and there are those outside the Ark of Protection named Jesus Christ.
And I'm telling you, judgment is coming, but there's a way of protection, and his name is Jesus Christ. And when you're baptized. You're telling the world I believe judgment is coming. But I'm in Jesus. I am safe.
I am protected. from the coming judgment. Beloved, I think The saddest Verse in the Bible. It's Genesis 7:16. And it said.
And then the Lord Close the door of the ark. Listen to me. The day is going to come where God closes the door. Could it be this Tuesday? Maybe it is.
I don't know. And the Lord closed the door. For some of you, the Lord may close the door. On the side of an interstate. Where you come to consciousness and there's something.
oozing in your eyes and you realize this is it and the Lord closes the door. For some of you It may be on your kitchen floor. Where you wake up and it feels like an elephant sitting on your chest, and you say, How in the world did I get here? And then you realize this is it. And God closes the door.
For somebody here, it might be in a nursing home one day. don't know I'm just telling you God will not always strive with human beings, and the day is going to come when He closes. The door. And I'm saying here today. That God wants somebody who came to this place not planning on making a stand for Jesus Christ to come and make a stand for Jesus today.
For somebody in this place, you're struggling with loneliness. And I'm telling you, give your life to Jesus and get baptized into the body of Christ. That loneliness is broken because you're part of the family of God. And somebody here. I'm going to say it again.
You're dealing with guilt, and I'm asking you, how much longer are you going to wrestle with this thing? You've been born again, you've been saved, you've been carrying this, and God says to you today, I want you to come forward and make a public stand for Jesus and get in this water. And when you go under, that abortion that you committed five years ago goes under the water with you. That affair goes under the water. Whatever that's, it goes under the water and it's left there in the water, and you come out a new creation in Jesus Christ today.
Some of y'all who are dealing with guilt, today is the day to get that guilt dealt with.
Somebody here needs to make up your mind. You're going to keep following Satan and the Kingdom of darkness? Were you going to follow the victor, Jesus Christ, the one who crushed the head of the serpent, who walked out of the tomb, who ascended to the right hand of the Father, and who is coming back again maybe this week? Are you going to follow Jesus? Are you going to follow Satan?
Today's your day to stand in this water and say, I don't care who knows it, I don't care what they think about me, say about me. As of today, I'm going to follow Jesus Christ for the rest of my life. And finally, there's somebody here today. Listen to me. Judgment is coming.
And there's one arc. And one door to that ark, and his name is Jesus Christ. And you need to repent of your sins today and give your life to Jesus Christ and seal that through baptism today.
So in just a minute, I want to make this really, really clear here. Because again, in the book of Acts, this is what they did. In just a minute, I'm going to stand, have everybody stand. And I'm going to lead you in a word of prayer. And when I say In Jesus' name, prayer.
Amen. If you've been signed up to be baptized, I want you to come forward. If you're one of these people. That needs to make a stand for Jesus Christ today, and you're not signed up to be baptized, and you weren't even planning, but you understand the seriousness of the moment. You come forward when I say in Jesus' name, amen.
And I get this all the time.
Well, you know, Pastor, I'm probably saved already. Probably look I'll gamble with a lot of things. One thing I won't gamble with is with my eternity. Eternity is too long to be wrong. Hey, here's another one.
Well, a chad? What would people think? What would people think? You're going to let your pride send you to hell. What do you mean, what do people think?
I don't care what people think. Here's another one.
Well, Chad, I didn't bring clothes to be baptized in. See, I got these Gucci jeans, and I've got this Ralph Lawrence shirt, and I've said it before. If you're more concerned about getting your clothes wet than making a stand for Jesus, you're not ready. Here about this one. But Chad?
I'm 99% sure I'm saved. Listen to me. 99% saved. is 100% lost.
So in just a moment, I'm going to have everybody stand. And if you're signed up to be baptized, you come forward. But if you need to bury some guilt in that water You come forward as well. If you need to finally make a stand for Jesus Christ and decide once and for all I'm going to follow him. You come forward.
If you understand what I say and it's true, judgment is coming, and Jesus, who died on the cross, is your way of protection, you come for it as well. Have I made myself clear? You understand what I'm saying? You understand?
Now, here's what's going to happen. When I say in Jesus' name, amen. If God's really working on you, there's gonna be something. I'm trying to hold you back. That's the sign right there.
God's working on you. Because Satan and his demonic forces do not want more people standing for Jesus. And they're going to start playing games with you. When I say in Jesus' name, amen, you forget what they're doing, you forget that demonic entity, and you come forward, okay? Stand with me right now.
Father, I don't know. We may be standing on the brink of the last days. Jesus may be coming back. I don't know, Father. I do know this.
The clouds are starting to gather. I'm starting to feel some raindrops. Judgment is coming. Father, I thank you that you loved us so much that you sent. An ark of protection.
Jesus Christ, your Son. Father, I know this for a fact. Satan is a horrible master to follow. Jesus is a wonderful, kind master to follow.
So Lord, today I pray that more people. We'll come to Jesus. I pray that Somebody who's been playing that game for way too long, Father. May they make their mind up today to follow Jesus and not the forces of darkness. May that sister Who can't sleep at night because of the abortion?
That brother who can't sleep at night because of the affair, the people who are dealing with guilt, Father, bring them forward and may that sin and that guilt be buried once and for all in the baptism waters. Father Jesus is coming back. Get your people ready right now. In Jesus' name. Amen.
You come right now. Come, come, come, come. Right now. If you're signed up, and if you're not signed up, come right now. Come, come, come.
Yes, come on down. Come. Don't let the enemy hold you back. Come down. Just come right now.
Let's get this thing right once and for all. Come right now. Come, come, come. Jesus is moving. He's working.
It's time to make a decision. Who are you going to follow? Come. You don't have to deal with that guilt anymore. It can be buried today.
You come right now. Come. I want y'all to listen to me. I, um,. I don't know most of y'all.
I don't know what your background is and what you're coming from. I do know this: Jesus Christ is able to forgive anybody of anything. I know this, Jesus Christ is a sure protection from God's coming judgment. I know this, Jesus loves you more than you could ever imagine. And today, what you can do for Jesus.
It's say that man died for me. Love me? And he's forgiven me? I can at least make a public stand for him right now. Hey, when I Propose to that woman over there.
I did not say to her, I want you to marry me. I want you to be my wife. But let's not have a ceremony. Because I don't want anybody to know I'm connected with you. I don't want to be seen with you.
Let's get married, but don't tell anybody. She would have said, absolutely not. You know what y'all are saying today? You're saying that Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, I'm committing my life to you, and I don't care what they think, and I don't care what they say. Jesus, I want everybody to know I now belong to you for the rest of my life.
Now let's do this. Just to make sure we're on the same page here, okay? I want y'all to forget about everybody else in this room. It's now just you and Jesus.
Now, don't just repeat words. I'm not saying to do that. It's just you and Jesus. And I want you to say this to Jesus out loud, or you can say it in your heart. But the point is, I want you to mean this with every fiber of your being.
I want you to say this to Jesus right now. She's the sign of a sinner. Lord, I deserve to be punished. But I believe you died for my sins. You paid the price for my sins.
Say this to him. Lord, I believe you are buried. And three days later, Lord, you came back to life. In other words, Jesus, you're alive right now. Say that to you: you're alive right now.
This is so important. Say this to him: Lord, I turn away from my sins, and I now turn to you. Please take a look at the mm-hmm Take control of my life. Forgive me of all my sins. And when I die, Take me to heaven.
Let's finish it with this. Say this to him: I'm going to follow you for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name, amen. Church, can we thank God for brothers and sisters now who are going to follow Jesus Christ for the rest of their life? Would you do this?
If y'all go follow this fella right here, go right out there. If you don't have clothes to get baptized in, they're going to help you out a little bit. They'll get towels, all that kind of stuff for you. Follow them for. For the rest of you.
Here's what Jesus himself said. It still blows my mind that he said this. Jesus said that when one person One person. Gets right with him. Do you know that the angels throw this loud party in heaven?
They have those noise makers and confetti, and they go. Hey, the angels go crazy in heaven. Here's my goal today. When these people come out of the water, I want us to out-celebrate the angels in heaven. I want us to shout.
Praise, clap, sing to God. Can y'all do that? Hey, can you do that? Hi. Hey, team, lead us in this and let's celebrate lives changed by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Guys, lead us in this.
