King

Well look. If you're truly saved, Jesus has got to be Lord. A king.

Now, look, we understand Jesus is my Savior. I'm going to hell. He rescues you from hell.

Okay, I get all that.

Okay. An integral part of being a follower of Jesus Christ is not only He's your Savior, but He's also your King. He's the Lord, He calls the shots. And see, that's what's missing in American Christianity. We got a lot of people who say he's king.

He's Lord, because that's what you're supposed to say. Or we live down south, or to make my business thrive, I got to tell everybody I'm a Christian, and this is a Christian business. But Jesus is not the Lord of your life. You live how you want to live, you spend your money how you want to spend. You have your own worldview that you've created yourself that doesn't come from the Word of God.

You say He's Lord. You say he's king? But he ain't king. That's a false profession of faith, and it's a danger in American Christianity. And today...

We're going to let Jesus warn us through a man named Herod the Great. Jesus says something very scary in Matthew 7:21. Here's what he says: Not everybody who says to me, Lord, King. He's really saved and going to heaven. There's a man named Herod.

But honestly made kind of a false Profession of the kingship of Jesus Christ. Herod the Great is an amazing man. Listen to this. According to the historian Paul Meyer, there's more primary evidence from original sources about Herod the Great. Than any other man in ancient history, more than Alexander the Great, more than Caesar, more than any other figure in history.

We have more information about Herod the Great because he had a contemporary historian named Flavius Josephus who wrote two big volumes about Herod the Great. And Herod the Great. It's like a lot of Christians in American churches today. He said Jesus is king. He said, I want to worship this Jesus.

Jesus was not kink. I want you to turn, if you would, to Matthew chapter 2. Matthew chapter 2, verse 1. It says this, now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he who's been born a king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east.

And we've come to worship him. When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and the scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

So they said to him, In Bethlehem of Judea, For thus it is written by the prophet, but you, Bethlehem, and the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people, Israel. Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem. And here's what he said: Go and search carefully for the young child, and when, now watch this, when you have found him. Bring word back to me that I may come and worship him also.

When they heard the king, they departed. And behold, the star which they had seen in the east went before them till it came and stood over where the young child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to him, gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. Look at verse 16. Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its districts from two years old and under according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.

Now Before we really get into the word, let's hit some background questions, okay, about this passage. Number one, first background question is this. How old is Jesus at the time this happens?

Okay. Your nativity scenes have it wrong. Wise men weren't there. You know, you look at the Nativity scenes, it's almost like, okay, the shepherds came at 9 o'clock, then they left. The wise men came at 11 o'clock, they left.

If you look at verse 16, it's implied this is two years. After Christmas. This takes two years after the birth of Jesus Christ. And in fact, if you look at verse 11, it doesn't call Jesus a baby, calls him a child in Greek. He's a little older.

Verse 11 doesn't say that the wise men visited Mary and Jesus in the barn. They visit them in the house.

So, this is two years later. Jesus is about two years old. Second question. All right. How many wise men were there?

Now traditionally we've said three Because there are three gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. We don't know how many wise men there were. I can almost tell you there weren't three. There had been a whole lot more. You don't travel long distances in those days with gold and not have a huge entourage.

So there's probably more than three.

So you know that song we sing? We three kings of Orient are? You know that? We ought to be singing, We Kings of Indeterminate Number from Somewhere Due East of Jerusalem are, okay? Third question is this.

Well, what was the star? What was the star?

Now, look, I'm going to, I geek out on this kind of stuff, so I'm going to bore you for the next five minutes. There'll be one or two people who get into this, and then I'll bring it back to life here. But what was the star? It's very interesting. Again, Matthew 2:16 implies Jesus was born.

Two years Before the death of Herod the Great, at the end of this chapter, Herod dies. If Jesus is two years old, that means he was born two years before Herod the Great.

Well, when was Herod the Great born? Or when did he die? Flavius Josephus, the historian, says that there was an eclipse. When Herod died.

Now we know there was a partial lunar eclipse in 4 BC.

So that's why conventional wisdom has always said Herod died in 4 BC. If Jesus was born two years before that, then Jesus was born in what? Six BC. And this timeline, so you got 1 AD, because you know there's no zero, okay? It goes from 1 BC to 1 AD.

4 BC, the death of Herod, means Jesus was born in 6 BC. It's very interesting. I've been kind of watching this over the last couple decades. More and more scholars are beginning to doubt that 4 BC death date of Herod. For a lot of reasons, but for one of the reasons, there was a total lunar eclipse.

In one BC. If that's what, and many scholars are going this direction, if that's the date of Herod's death, One B C And Jesus was born two years before that. Means Jesus was born when? Three BC. He said yet.

Who cares? My question was, what is the star? Here's the problem. If Jesus was born in 6 BC, like people have said for years. In the skies, there's not a whole lot going on.

Did you know you can download an astronomy program today? This blows my mind, and you can type in what took place on this particular night 2,000 years ago, and the astronomy program will tell you exactly what was going on in the sky. Did you know that? Hey, don't tell me there's not a God. God is so precise, we can type in and see exactly what happened on a particular night 2,000 years ago because the planetary movements are so precise.

6 BC, there's not a whole lot happening. Johannes Kepler tried to squeeze some things to make, there wasn't anything happening in 6 BC. If Herod died in 1 BC, And Jesus was born in 3 BC? Everything changes. Let me give you a couple examples.

In uh three BC. All right, the ancient astronomers knew Jupiter as the king of the planets. They knew Regulus As the king of the stars. Regulus literally means little prince.

So the ancient astronomers looked at Jupiter as the king of the planets, Regulus as the king of the stars, and not once, not twice, but three times in a relatively short amount of time, beginning in 3 BC, those two planets came together and made one star. If you were to look in your astronomy program, that's what you would see. And it happened, listen, in the constellation Leo. The lion the constellation most associated with the tribe of Judah.

So, in the constellation of the tribe of Judah, the king of the planets and the king of the stars came together and made one star. And it's interesting, astronomers said Jupiter even three times made what they called a retrograde motion, made it look like the star was moving, exactly what it's talking about in Matthew chapter 2.

Something else amazing happened. In 3 BC. If you look at Revelation 12.

Now look. Y'all do understand Jesus was not born on December 25th, right?

Okay. Merry Christmas. Jesus wasn't born on December 25th. I hate to ruin your Christmas for you. There's a lot of reasons why we know he wasn't born on December 25th.

So, when was he born?

Well in 3 BC something very interesting happened. If you look at Revelation chapter 12, Revelation 12. goes back in time and talks about the birth of Jesus. And it says in Revelation 12: a sign appeared in the sky. A woman Clothed in the sun.

With the moon at her feet, Twelve stars around her head, and a dragon at her side. Gave birth. That's Revelation 12. If you go back into your program here and you type in September 11th 3 BC. Here's what the constellation Virgo would look like.

You would have the constellation Virgo, the Virgin, the woman. Clothed in the setting sun, the setting sun is at her midsection. The rising moon was at her feet. And from Palestine, precisely 12 stars were visible. around her head.

With Scorpio The constellation of the dragon at her side, precisely what Revelation chapter 12 is describing. And that took place on September 11th. Yeah. Interestingly enough, September 11, 3 BC, was also the Jewish New Year, the day on which Jews crowned their king. And so that's why every September 11th, I sing happy birthday to baby Jesus, because I really believe that Jesus was born on September 11th.

Now, here's my point: my point is: the wise men come and they say to King Herod, We are watching the skies, and it is abundantly clear the king. Of Israel. is now on the scene. And Herod is so threatened, he makes a false profession. He says, I want to see that king, I want to worship that king, I want to bow down before that king.

That's a false confession.

Now let me ask you. Christian? Have you made a true profession of faith in the King of Jesus, or have you made a false profession in the kingship and the Lordship of Jesus Christ? But let me ask you a couple questions to kind of help dig a little deeper. Question number one is this: Is your identity in Jesus Christ?

Is that your identity? Because here the great... He was a messed up man. I'm thinking the guys were totally whacked up. Herod the Great was installed as the king of the Jews.

But he wasn't even fully Jewish. His family came from the Edomite tribe. His mama was a Nabataean or Arab princess.

So he's not a full Jew, but the Romans have installed him, and the Jewish people don't even accept him as a full Jewish king. And that messed with his mind. He wanted his identity to be in his Jewishness. And since that didn't work, he said, Well, my identity is going to be, I'm going to be a great politician, a great diplomat. And he was.

He was an amazing diplomat. And then he said, I'm a brilliant guy. I want everybody to know me as an architect. Guy was a brilliant architect.

Some of the architectural things I've seen him before, the things he made was absolutely amazing. In fact, let me give you an example. As an architect, he built this, he wanted to build a beautiful palace on this one hill. The problem was there was a mountain obstructing his view.

So he built this incredible power. Palace on this hill, and he had this whole mountain destroyed and moved. Guy was amazing. His identity was, I'm a king. His identity was, I'm an architect.

His identity was, I'm a great politician. That was his identity.

Now let me ask you something. What's your identity built on?

Well, I'm a great businessman. Great! What happens when your business collapses? Your identity collapses.

Well, I'm a good mama. I homeschool my kids and I'm raising some good kids. My identity is: I'm a mama.

Okay, that's great. But what happens when your kids go off the rails and they're a bunch of hellions? What happens to your identity then?

Well, my identity is built on my looks. I'm a good-looking person. That's great when you're 25 years old. What happens when you get the... To be a little older than that.

And the looks shark going away. My identity is: I'm a pastor of a growing church. That's great. But what happens when the church is going down and not growing? destroys your identity.

I'll tell you something. If you're a born-again believer, your identity is not in what you do, what you have, how many degrees you've got. Your identity is in Jesus Christ. The moment you get saved. Here's what God says.

That's my child right now, and nobody can change that identity. The moment you get saved, God says, you are perfect in Christ Jesus. I still make mistakes. You make mistakes. God looks at me, though.

Anytime I make a mistake, I am still covered in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. My identity is not in my performance, my identity is in the perfection I have in Jesus Christ. If your identity is in anything but Jesus Christ, You may say Jesus is a king, but he's not your king. I've started to do a counselor a while back. I said, man, I do this counselor.

Accretion counselor. Y'all do understand not every Christian counselor is really a Christian counselor, right? But this guy's a legitimate Christian counselor. I said, man, your practice is blowing and growing. I'm just blowing people coming from all over the place.

I said, What's the secret? He said, Chad, I don't know what the secret is. He said, as a Christian counselor, here's all I do. When people come in with marriage problems, they got this problem, that problem, all I do is remind them of their identity in Jesus Christ. Because actions follow identity.

If you know who you are in Jesus Christ, it changes the way you live your life. Let me ask you a second question. You like Herod say Jesus is king. Are you relying on your good works to make you right with God? See Herod.

I'm just telling you, I'll get into the little nitty-gritty in a second. It's a wicked man. He is a wicked, wicked man. And he knows he's a wicked man. He knows he ain't right with God.

Do you know what he does? He says, all right, Jews, your temple was destroyed 500 years ago. I'm going to build God a new temple. And that's what he did. He spent in today's month billions of dollars.

It was a masterpiece. It took like 40 years to complete the temple. It was absolutely incredible.

So, what he's saying is: I'm a wicked man, but if I can do this great religious feat, God will accept me.

Some of y'all are saying the same thing. I'm okay with the man. Because I come to cross assembly on Sunday, I sit there through a boring sermon, I throw a couple of dollars in the offering plate, I'm okay with the man. It does not work that way. He is a holy God.

Heaven is a holy place. And here's what Isaiah says in your Bible. Your righteousness in God's sight, you at your best, is like a filthy rag. Can I tell you what that means in in Hebrew? God says you at your best, that's fine, you're a tampon.

That's what God says. Me at my best is not enough to make me right with God. Listen to me: righteousness is not achieved, it is received. You've got to come to the point in your life where you say, I'm a wicked man. I don't deserve to go to heaven.

I have sinned a whole, whole lot. But, Jesus, I believe you lived the life I should have lived. You died the death I should have died. And so, Lord Jesus, come and save me. And at that moment, He gives you.

Here's righteousness. It doesn't come by building a temple. It doesn't come by. Volunteering. And you can't s soccer league.

Doesn't come because you recycle. and you put your grocery cart back. No, it comes because Jesus Christ gives you as a free gift his righteousness. Let me ask you another question. You say Jesus is king?

Question number three, are you hungry for the Bible? Not, do you know everything about the Bible, but no. Are you hungry for the Word of God? In verse 4.

Okay, Herod, keep in mind, he's the king of the Jews. He brings the religious leaders together there and he asks them a softball question every Jew should have known. A 10-year-old Jewish kid would have known the question that the king of the Jews just asked these scholars. Where is the Messiah supposed to be born? If King Herod had read his Bible, he'd know where the Messiah was supposed to be born.

Take a look. That would be like me. Calling Southeastern Seminary, saying, I need a meeting with the New Testament department. The New Testament department comes together. And Chad says, I'm Pastor Chad Harvey of Cross Assembly.

I keep seeing this thing that says John 3:16 everywhere. Does anybody know what John 3:16? What is this John 3:16 thing? You ought to know it. He should have known it.

Let me ask you a question: Are you hungry for the Word of God? Because 1 Peter 2, 2 says this, if we're truly born again. Just like a baby? Wants milk. You don't have to force a baby to want milk.

A baby wants milk. If you're truly born again and Jesus is truly king, you should hunger for the word of God. Let me ask you one more question. What kind of fruit are you producing in your life?

Now look, I'm gonna say it again. We are all messed up people. Even born-again believers sin. We sin every single day. That's not the question.

My question is: what kind of overall fruit are you producing in your life? This man. Who said Jesus is king? He's producing some bad fruit. He had ten wives.

He killed his favorite wife. One day he gets really mad at her. They have a little. fight. He has her strangled to death.

Actually he's sh Five minutes after she's strangled, he's like, Why did I have her strangled? And so it's a little late once she's dead and flatlined. And so, what he did was, he had her body preserved in a vat of honey.

So at any time he wanted to talk to his wife, he'd have her lifted out of that honey and he'd just look at her and talk to her. Again, this guy's a psychopath. He kills two or three of his sons. He kills his mother-in-law. He is a wicked, godless man.

And in verse 16, when he finds out that the real king of the Jews may be in Bethlehem. He has all the babies who fit the criteria, two years old and younger, slaughtered.

Now, if you look at the population of that time, it's probably 15 to 20 little babies that are slaughtered. It's a wicked man. Now I'm not here to judge you. And I'm not judging him. I am simply a fruit inspector because Jesus Christ says in Matthew chapter 7, verse 16: you will know them by their fruit.

Even so, every good tree. produces good fruit. Every bad tree produces bad fruit. Let me tell you something I have to deal with as a pastor quite a bit. Actually, I don't have to deal with this quite as much now that I've preached on this enough, and y'all know not to come to me with this.

I used to have somebody come to me and say, Pray for my grandson. What's going on? He is wicked. He is a snake. He hates people.

He is mean. He'll sleep with anything that walks. He doesn't want anything to do with God. But praise God, at least he's going to heaven because when he was seven years old, he prayed the prayer. Ma'am, I'm sorry, your grandson's not going to, he's not born again.

Somebody needs to lovingly say to grandma, Your grandson is not going to heaven. He is not born again. Jesus is not the Lord of his life because good trees produce good fruit. Bad trees produce bad fruit. And I think one of the biggest deceptions in America is just because somebody prayed a prayer at VBS when they were seven years old, they're now going to heaven, that's not biblical.

Have I hit a nerve or y'all what good?

Okay, I understand. We all struggle. I know. Our kids can get off the deep end, they can roll. I get it.

But at some point in your life If it quacks like a duck and waddles like a duck and eats corn like a duck, it just might be a duck. And if it lives like a lost person, acts like a lost person, and for 30 years has had fruit of a lost person, they might just be a lost person. What kind of fruit are you producing? That was Harry. Um But then there's some men.

Who made a true confession? They call Jesus. King. And Buddy, he was king. And it's these wise men.

I've always loved these wise men because it's almost like they're oblivious to what's going on around them. They don't understand all the dynamics. They don't know. You probably shouldn't go to the king of the Jews, who's a psychopath, and ask who the real king of the Jews is. They're just kind of oblivious.

I love the wise men because, on one hand, they are brilliant. Man, I did a deep dive into like first-century astronomy this past week. The things that they would keep up with in the sky without our modern technology, it's amazing. These guys were brilliant. On the other hand, If they're from Babylon or Persia, They are probably pagan.

Nature worshipers. Babylon, Persia, if that's where they come from, it's a very pagan place. It's into nature worship.

So you got brilliant men. who are probably pagan nature worshipers. You got that?

Okay, it helps me to put things in modern culture. In modern day, they would be like professors of astronomy. At UNC Asheville.

Okay? I mean, can't you see if there are three of them? Can't you see three little wise men in their Subaru driving around Asheville? We got a big coexist bumper sticker on the back there. They got green hair.

Um They're looking for what's that place? They're looking for whole foods. To buy, what's that liberal ice? They're wanting to buy some Ben and Jerry's ice cream. That's kind of who you got right here, okay?

And yet these brilliant Pagans. Meet Jesus. And King Jesus change your life. Y'all believe Jesus changes lives today. You know, when people ask, a lot of times people are like, what's the worst part about pastoring?

I don't like to talk about that. Let me tell you the best part about pastoring. The best part about pastoring for me, I love seeing lives changed by Jesus Christ. I actually, I love that. We have former Muslims that are born again here.

We have former um Hindus that are born again and go to church here. I met a family, it's been a couple weeks ago. I met this family, good looking family. And the guy looked like a professional, you know, probably a little bit older than me or my age, had some adult kids. And we were talking and he said, man, have I ever told y'all my testimony, Chad?

I said, no. He said, uh Chad. Up until a couple years ago, I was a Satan worshiper. I said, ah, what's the punchline? He said, no, no, I was part of the church of Satan.

I was a Satan worshiper. And he said, I said, you don't look like a Satan worshiper. You know, no face tattoos, no Taylor Swift shirt. You don't look like a Satan worshiper. And he said, No, I met Jesus.

And I left all that. And now follow the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what happened to these wise men. Jesus changes them.

So let me ask you some questions or some statements. That defines somebody who truly has submitted to Jesus as king. I hear this phrase. A lot.

Well, we need to make Jesus Lord. Listen to me. You don't make Jesus anything. He's Lord already. You either submit to his lordship or you don't.

You don't make him king. He's already king. The question is: have you submitted to him as king? And so when you've submitted to Jesus as a king, number one, look at this: there's joy. See that in verse 10?

There's joy. Watch this. When Jesus is now king, your circumstances may not always change. But you change.

Now I gotta make this very clear. Here's what Jesus said. In this world, It is possible that you might have tribulation. Is that what he says? No, in this world, you will have tribulation.

You will have cancer. You will have busted-up marriages. In this world, you will have problems. Paul says to Timothy, Everybody who wants to live a good life in Christ Jesus. There's a possibility they may get a little bit of persecution.

So, what it says? No. It says this: those who want to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

So, here's the problem: problems are going to come, but when you know Jesus Christ, you now have somebody with you to walk through the problems, and you can have the peace that passes all understanding and joy unspeakable in the midst of all hell that's coming against you. When Jesus is king, you have joy. Number two. When Jesus is your king. You worship him.

Look at verse 11. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and they worshiped God. Him. The Catholics, not them. Hmm.

Worship Jesus. Church, the wise men understood. It's all about Jesus. If he is your king, you now have a new obsession in your life. You just love Jesus.

You can't stop talking about Jesus. You just want to be in the presence of Jesus. You just want to worship Jesus. When Jesus Christ is king, I don't have to beg you to come and worship him. You just want to be in the presence of Jesus with the people of Jesus and lift him up.

When Jesus is king, you worship him. And he's wise men. I'm going to remind you: if they're from Babylon, they've now had to travel at least 500 miles. Over rough terrain, inclement weather, facing death and bandits just to come and worship Jesus Christ. And you think you're doing him a favor when you come to church and it's cold on a Sunday morning?

Is this microphone still on? You ain't do Don't act like you're doing Jesus' faith because you come out and it's cold today. When this afternoon, when you watch the Green Bay Packers, Play the Chicago Bears. And you'll see men without shirts in 20-degree weather. You know, with with um Um beer and alcohol coursing through their system, shouting praises to Jordan love.

In the freezing cold, and you think you're doing a favor to Jesus just because you came in a climate-controlled church? I'm just telling you, when you are in love with Jesus, people can't keep you away from Jesus. That's a mark of somebody who has submitted to the Lordship of Jesus. I just want to worship him. Number three.

Jesus is your king. For Jesus to be your king. You have to understand the gospel, like the core message, the good news. Look at verse 11. And when they had opened their treasures, They presented gifts to him, gold.

frankincense and myrrh. They seem to have had a very, these wise men, again, pagans from a pagan land. They seem to have had A cursory understanding. As to what the gospel was. Why?

Because of the gifts they gave him. They give Jesus gold. Gold is what you give kings. What they're saying is It's a little two-year-old baby sitting on the lap of a teenage mother whose dad is a blue-collar worker. is the king of kings and the lord of lords.

They give him gold. They give him frankincense. You know what frankincense was? It was a resin from a tree. Frankincense is mentioned 17 times in the Bible, and it's often, most often, connected frankincense with priests.

Priests would use frankincense in their rituals in the Old Testament. Which tells me they recognized that Jesus was also a priest. You know what a priest is? A priest is somebody that stands between humans. and God and brings humans and God together.

The Catholic Church calls their Pope The pontiff. Pontiff means the bridge builder, the one who builds bridges between God and man. I'm sorry, Catholic Church, there's only one pontiff and it ain't the Pope. It's Jesus Christ who brings God and man and reconciles them together. And then they give him myrrh.

That's a strange Baby shower gift. First time myrrh is offered to Jesus. right here. Do you remember the last time it's offered to Jesus? It's when he's hanging on a cross, gasping for his breath.

And they offered some myrrh for him to drink because it was a slight painkiller, and he rejected it because he says, No, I've got to experience the full wrath of God. First time he's offered it. is as a little boy. Last time he's offered myrrh, it's on the cross. And after Jesus died, a man named Joseph of Arimathea used myrrh as embalming fluid.

Did you know that's what it was? It's embalming fluid. It says in the Gospel of John, he takes 100 pounds of myrrh and aloes and embalms, spreads it over Jesus' body. Myrrh is a b embalming fluid.

Now try that next baby shower. Thanks for the diapers. Thank you for the rattle. Thank you for the walker. Thank for the embalming fluid.

Why would they bring embalming fluid to baby Jesus? I think it's because the Spirit of God had revealed to him. That little baby is the king of kings and the lord of lords, and one day every knee will bow before that baby. That little baby is man's only hope of salvation. He is the one that will bring man and God together, and he's going to do it by his death on the cross one day.

That is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So I'm asking you again. Are you truly born again? Is Jesus Christ? Truly king of your life. Or are you like Herod, have you made a false profession?

Because we're now getting to the time in human history, and I'm afraid we may now be getting to the time in even our own nation's history. We're going to have to stop playing games. You're going to have to choose sides. Is Jesus king or is he not? Jesus is either Lord.

Yeah. Or he ain't Lord at all. And I'm not trying to be mean, but I'm a dying man preaching to dying people.

Some of y'all are saying, I'll give my Sundays to Jesus. and live like hell Monday through Saturday. Or Jesus will be the Lord of the religion part of my life. But he's not Lord over my money, and he's not Lord over my worldview, and he's not Lord over the way I conduct my business. It doesn't work that way.

If he's king. He's king. And you don't dictate to Jesus. What parts of your life can he can be king of, and what parts he cannot be king of? It does not work that way.

This is not a democracy. If I were to have said to that woman right there, When I proposed to her Honey, married me. I want you to know. If you marry me, 364 days out of the year. I am going to be the best husband.

I'll be attentive to your needs. It's going to blow your mind how good of a husband I'll be 364 days out of the year. But now, sweetheart, remember, one day of the year is mine. I can do whatever I want to do. I can sleep with whoever I want to sleep with.

But after that one day is over, I'll come back to you.

Now. When I woke up in the oxygen tent in ICU at Wake Med. She would say No. Or even worse. You'll be my wife.

One day of the week. Let's make it a Sunday. I'll be attentive to you on Sundays, but honey. Monday through Saturday. It's my business, it's not your business.

You won't even see me Monday through Saturday, but I'm telling you, when Sunday rolls around, I'll be your husband again. You see how silly that is? She wouldn't accept that. Why should Jesus accept that? When you come to Jesus Christ, you say, All that I am and all that I have is yours, Jesus Christ, because I can't get to heaven on my own.

I'm a wicked man. But, Jesus, you died on the cross for my sins. You were buried. You came back to life. I turned from my sins, and now I submit my whole life over to you.

You have it all, Jesus. We used to sing this. Cause y'all big into well, some of y'all tithing. I'm a big tither, Chad. I'm sound good.

We used to sing this song years ago. Remember this? 10% to Jesus, I surrender. 10% I freely give. I will ever love and trust him in his presence daily live.

I surrender 10%. I surrender 10%, 10% to thee, my blessed Savior. I surrender 10%. No, no, no. What do we used to sing?

I surrender. Oh. And right now, You're gonna see some people. Who have surrendered their life to Jesus Christ. Can I push this analogy a little bit further?

I know I'm going to hear this on the way home. Honey, if I would have known I was going to be your sermon illustration for 20 minutes, I probably wouldn't have sat on the front road. I get it, whatever. If she had said to me, Yeah. I want.

I wanna marry you. And she says, yes, I'll marry you.

However, Let's not have a ceremony. For the love of God, do not tell anybody we are married. Chad, when we see each other in public, don't talk about me in public. Pretend like you don't know me. We'll get married.

But don't tell anybody we're married. I'm begging you. Yeah. I don't want anybody to know that you and I belong together, okay? Got it?

It would have been my turn. to say no. No, when we got married, we stood before people and we said, I don't care what y'all think. And I don't care what it costs me. This is my beloved, and my beloved is mine, and I'm gonna be committed to this person for the rest of my life.

And we did it publicly, not privately. Today at Cross Assembly, across our campuses, we have almost 60 people publicly saying, I do to Jesus Christ. And they're saying to y'all, I don't care what you think about me, I don't care what happens, I don't care what it costs me. Jesus Christ belongs to me, and I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, and I'm going to be His till the day I die.

So team, come out here if you would. Would y'all stand to me right now and you only have one instruction? When these people stand up in front of you, it's like a marriage ceremony. It's not just them and the person baptizing them in the water. Jesus is there as well.

And when they are getting baptized, they are saying, I do. And when they come out of that water, they are joined together with Jesus for the rest of their life. What they're saying is, I don't care what it costs me, I don't care what you think, I belong to Jesus. And when they come out of that water, I want you to shout, spit, holler, moonwalk, do all that kind of stuff. We're gonna celebrate these new lives in Jesus Christ.

Team, lead us right now, if you would. Goodbye, yesterday. I'm living in the light of a new day. I won't waste another minute in my old ways. Praise the Lord, I've been born again.

Goodbye, yesterday. I'm living in the light of a new day. I won't waste another minute in my old ways. Praise the Lord, I've been born again. Again, again, again, again, you rescued me out of the mess I was in, you trained.

Sorrow for something to sing.

Now I'm dancing on the grave that I was living. Goodbye, yesterday. I'm living in the light of a new day. I won't waste another minute, I always praise the Lord. I've been born again.

Goodbye, yesterday. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. I've got a resurrection in my veins. Praise the Lord, I've been born again and again and again and again. You rescued me out of the mess I was in.

You traded my sorrow for something to sing.

Now I'm dancing on the grave that I was living. Again and again and again and again. You rescued me out of the mess I was in. You traded my sorrow for something to sing.

Now I'm dancing on the grave that I was living. I have decided to follow Jesus. The world behind the cross begins. I won't turn back. I have decided to follow Jesus.

The world behind the cross before. And I won't turn, I have decided. I have decided to follow Jesus. Follow Jesus. The world behind the cross begin.

I won't run. I have decided. I have decided. The world behind. The world behind.

The cross begins. I won't run. And I won't turn back. I won't turn and I won't turn back. I won't turn.

I won't turn the world behind. Christ be falling out and I won't turn my house and I won't turn my hour and I won't turn the world behind our turn again and again and again and again You rescued me out of the mess I was in Bethlehem for something to sing Now I'm dancing on the grave I won't slay again and again and again and again You rescued me out of the mess I was in You traded my sorrow for something to sing Now I'm dancing on the grave I won't slay Praise all I've been born again Praise the Lord I've been born again I'm dancing on the grave that I was living. Dancing on the grave that I was living in. Dancing on the grave that I was living in. Dancing on the grave that I was living.

I'm dancing on the grave that I was living. Dancing on the grave that I was living. Dancing on the grave that I was living. Praise the high and boring. Wandering into the night, wanting a place to hide this weary soul, this vagabond.

I tried with all my might, but I just can't win the fight. I'm slowly drifting a vagabond. And just when I ran out the road, I met a man I didn't know. And he told me that I was not alone. You pick me up, you turn me around, you lays my feet on.

Solid ground. I'm a master, I'm a new Savior. Because he healed my heart, changed my name for every tree. I'm not the same. I thank your master, I'm your savior.

I thank God. Get up to God, but I see. I've got no choice but to believe. My doubts are burning like ashes in the wind.

So long to my old friends, burden and bitterness. You gotta keep it moving. You ain't welcome here. From now to girl, I walk the streets alone. I'll say the high, you save my soul.

His way on son has found his way back. Oh, and thinking of his running around and place my feet on the solid ground. I am a master, I thank you Savior because he knew my heart and changed my name. Forever free down the saint. I thank the master.

I am the Savior. I thank God. Lost another one, I am free. I am free. I am free.

Lost another one. I am free. I am free. I am free. Another one, I am free.

I am free, I am free. Hello, the one, I am free. I am free, I am free. Hello, I'm not one, I am free. I am free, I am free.

Hello, God, I am free. I am free, I am free. There lost another one, I am free. I am free, I am free. Hello, my one, I am free, I am free.

You pick me up, you turn me around. You place my feet on solid ground. I make the master, I make the savior because he knew my heart, he changed my name. Forever free, I'll now. To see my favorite master, I am the Savior.

I thank God we thank you, God, for what you're doing here. Oh, here we go. Get him, get him, get him, get up out of that grave. Get him, get up, get up, get up out of that grave. Get him, get him, get him, get up out of that grave.

Get him, get up, get up, get up out of that grave. Get up, get up, get up, get up out of that grave. Get him, get up, get up, get up out of that grave. Get him, get up, get up, get up out of that grave. Get him, get by that way.

Get it, get by, get by that way. Beloved, here's what the Bible says about Jesus. We're calling him Lord today. We acknowledge him as Lord right now. But the day is going to come.

when every knee, that means Satan's needs, demons needs, dictator's needs, world leader's knees, will bow. And confess. Jesus Christ is Lord. Can we praise the King of Kings right now?

Now, again, I'm going to tell you what I tell you every week. That Jesus is stronger than anything that can come against you. He's stronger than the forces of hell, Satan himself. Greater is he who's in you? Then he is in the world.

Y'all believe that? Then if you believe it Why are you scared? Why are you worried? Why are you apprehensive? Jesus is with you everywhere you go.

So warriors, be bold and strong. Receive this from Jesus right now. Kizak! Bear March. After I wrote the orchid.

He immeha I don't know. Eleanor. The whole a share tela. Which is Hebrew for cross-assembly warriors. Be bold?

Be strong? Y'all don't be afraid and you don't be terrified of anything. Why? Because the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords is going to go with you this week everywhere you go. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, we pray.

Amen and amen. God bless you. Y'all go change your world for Jesus Christ. Yeah.