The Bad News of The Good News

You know the phrase, somebody paid your bill. It doesn't mean a lot until you know how much the bill was. I mean does that mean they bought you coffee? That's nice. God and I were at a restaurant, a Mexican restaurant a couple weeks ago and we went to pay and somebody said, you don't need to pay, somebody here has already paid your bill.

That was wonderful. But what if I paid your bill means, no, no, no, I paid off your mortgage, your credit cards, your car payments, I paid off your kids college, I paid off absolutely everything. Then I paid your bill takes on a new meaning, doesn't it? You know we say all the time the good news of Jesus Christ is Jesus paid your debt, Jesus paid your bill. That sounds great but you really can't appreciate that until you know how big a debt he paid, how big the bill was. Does that make sense? We say that all the time, Jesus paid your debt. That's great.

What do you mean by that? I'm going to spend a few moments before I talk about what we call in the church the good news. I got to give you the bad news first. I got to let you know how big a bill you owe to the Lord himself. I want you to go to Daniel chapter five. We as a church have been for the last several weeks going through the book of Daniel. We're now at Daniel chapter five.

Let me give you the background of this. We've been talking up to this point about a world dictator named Nebuchadnezzar. I think Nebuchadnezzar is a foreshadowing of the coming Antichrist. Nebuchadnezzar was the first global gentile leader.

The Antichrist will be the last global gentile leader. Nebuchadnezzar is now dead. He died in about 562 BC. Between chapter four of Daniel and chapter five Nebuchadnezzar has died and there's a six-year struggle for his throne. Finally after six years his son Nabonidus took over. Nabonidus, his son, is kind of a slacker and so he wants to be king but he doesn't want to do any of the work. So Nabonidus says I'm going to go hang out at a resort in Saudi Arabia while you, Belshazzar, my son, actually rules the empire.

Does that make sense? So Nabonidus is actually the king but he doesn't want to do the work and so Belshazzar is de facto the king. Daniel chapter 5 verses 1 through 12 talks about something that Belshazzar did that cost him his life.

Look at verse 1. Many years later King Belshazzar gave a feast for 1,000 of his nobles and he drank wine with them and while Belshazzar was drinking the wine he gave orders to bring in the gold and the silver cups that his predecessor Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem. He wanted to drink from them with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines, in a sense his prostitutes. So they brought these gold cups taken from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank from them.

Now look at this. It says Belshazzar had a great feast. The Bible is trying to be nice. I don't want you to let your mind go too far but this feast is like backstage is a motley crew concert is basically what it is, okay, or everybody come over to Diddy's house and let's have a big party. That's the kind of party that's going on here, okay, and in the middle of this party he says let's take the sacred cups that were brought from the holy temple in Jerusalem.

When the temple was destroyed let's take those cups and let's get drunk out of God's cups. Verse four, while they drank from them they praised their idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone and suddenly they saw the fingers of a human hand riding on the plaster wall of the king's palace near the lampstand. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote and his face turned pale with fright and his knees not together in fear and his legs gave way beneath him.

So you understand what's happening in the middle of this big orgy really is what it is. A hand appears and starts riding on the wall. When I was a little kid there was a TV show I was a little kid that I used to watch called the Adams family and it always freaked me out because it had this hand. You remember that hand that would kind of go all over the place and whatever and so that's kind of what's going on here. Out of the blue this hand just starts crawling up the wall and starts riding on the plaster of the wall. Verse seven, the king shouted for the enchanters, astrologers, and fortune tellers to be brought before him and he said to these wise men of Babylon whoever can read this writing and tell me what it means will be dressed in purple robes of royal honor and will have a gold chain placed around his neck and he will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

Remember Navinitis is the first one. Belshazzar is the second one. Whoever can decipher what this crazy writing is on the wall from this weird hand I'm going to make you the third highest person in the kingdom and nobody can figure out what this writing on the wall means. And somebody says I remember this old fella his name is Daniel and he used to be able to crack codes like this and he worked for your really your grandfather Belshazzar.

Call him and let's see if he can interpret what's written on the wall. Now by this time Daniel is 75 to 80 years old and so he's kind of a crossy old man and he sounds like a crossy old man because he comes in here and they said to Daniel they said old man we're going to make you the third highest in the kingdom we're going to give you gold we get all these new clothes and he's he's like my grandfather keep your dang clothes keep your dang money here's what it means and God is going to require your life of you tonight. So Daniel Daniel says verse 25 this is the message that was written Mena Mena Tekel and Parson this is what these words mean Mena means numbered God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end.

Tekel means weighed you have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up you've not measured up to God's standards. Parson means divided your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians the next kingdom. Then at Belshazzar's command Daniel was dressed in purple robes a gold chain was hung around his neck and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

So you understand what's happening the purple robes okay and the purple might seem a little gaudy for a man to wear but he has these purple robes that means you're now royalty Daniel. Gold chain it's not like a flavor slave chain with a big clock it's like this beautiful you know you are now a man of honor and you have all the wealth of the kingdom and you're now the third highest man in the kingdom and that very night Belshazzar the Babylonian king was killed and Darius the me took over the kingdom at the age of 62. So here's what's happening here's the picture on the wall this hand writes mene mene tekel parson mene is Aramaic for numbered tekel means weighed and you've not weighed you've not met the standard and parson means divided and destroyed and Babylon that very night fell. Babylon was thought to be impregnable I told you about how big the walls were last week and there was enough food in Babylon to last 20 years if that city was sieged.

Now the way Babylon was was destroyed is the Euphrates river ran right through that city and so the Medes and Persians went up a few miles about a mile and a half and dammed up the river and the river kind of stopped and so they crept underneath the walls of Babylon that night and on October 13th 539 BC this city that was thought to be impregnable was taken over and absolutely destroyed the prophecy came true. I need you to listen to me a man Belshazzar he represents all of us there is a doctrine in the bible called the total depravity of human beings which means I'm as messed up as you are you're as messed up as Belshazzar is the most wicked person in this world is not better than you or worse than you we are all messed up people the bible says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God you and I look down at our nose and these wicked people that we see in the media we read about them and we say with self-righteousness I would never do that I want you to understand you are as messed up as anybody else we are all depraved people how many times have we said well so and so is in the ditch but they deserve to be in the ditch we all deserve to be in the ditch if God took out all the wicked people at 12 o'clock tonight how many of us would be around at 1201 none of us we are all messed up people and the bad news of the good news is what God said to Belshazzar he says to us mene mene tekel parson mene your days are numbered now again my gift is not encouragement okay so let me just you're going to die you and I are going to die this past week I had my birthday and I want to thank you all for all the cards and the gifts wow it was overwhelming I didn't get anything but anyway so it was my birthday this past week and I shouldn't have done this because it depresses me anyway but I went on this online thing I think it's called like deathclock.org or something like that and what you do is you type in your your date the date you type in your birth date and then you answer things like body mass index are you a smoker are you a drinker whatever whatever and you push enter and what I found is I've been alive 18 or as of my birthday 18,993 days and according to this thing I have about 14,177 days left to live it's always depressing when you have more days behind you than you do in front of you and the reality struck me again unless rapture occurs I'm going to die you know one of the biggest challenges with pastoring is dealing with death we deal with death at least on a monthly basis there are times here at the church we pastors will deal with death on a weekly basis sometimes several times a week and you'd think you'd get used to it wouldn't you just dealing with death I gotta be honest with you that's that's one thing I've not gotten used to there's something that still creeps me out about death just seeing the body in the casket or now today seeing the urn with the ashes going with the family to the cemetery and placing that body in the ground looking at that body and realize I'm not I'm trying to make you depressed looking at that body and realizing there's nobody there that person has ceased to exist and we get so used to partying let's watch Netflix let's go to the party let's do this let's keep our minds going a thousand miles an hour doing this and that and sometimes we just need to slow down and realize many our days are numbered the Bible tells us teach us to number our days Psalm 90 verse 12 Hebrews 9 27 each person is destined to die today's a good day to take a quick time out time out and for me to give you a reality check many your days are numbered I don't care if you're Belshazzar Daniel or Chad your days are numbered you're going to die and then tickle you have been weighed and you've not met God's standard he didn't just say that to Belshazzar the Bible tells every human being that Romans 3 23 all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God listen when we die not if when we die we stand before God every one of us will have been weighed and according to that verse there's none righteous no not one none of us will have met God's standards to get into heaven you don't just cease to exist when you die you will exist in some form throughout eternity and my bad news that I got to give you today is when you finally draw that last breath on earth and you stand before God you will not have met God's standards to get into heaven again there's none righteous no not one now let me give you some analogies for this conceptual what do you mean there's we we haven't met the standard let me give you the chain analogy here's the Bible says in James chapter 2 verse 10 whoever keeps the whole law whoever keeps all of God's rules let's say you're really really good and you've kept nine out of the ten commandments all your life and yet you stumble at one point the Bible says you are guilty of breaking all of it I've kept God 90 of the ten commandments and you're telling me I've broken one of the ten commandments one time in my life and it's as if I have broken them all I think it was Jonathan Edwards the theologian said it's like we are being suspended over the fires of hell by a divine chain how many links does it take for that chain to break let's say there are ten links in that chain how many links have to break before that person is plummeted into the fires of hell just one and if you've sinned one time you have not met God's standard of getting into heaven you've been weighed and found wanting let me give you another analogy the Grand Canyon if the Bible says in Isaiah 59 2 your sins have separated you from God you're created to have intimacy with God but your sins have separated you from God so there's now a gap between you and God and that gap between you and God you and making it to heaven is wider than the the Grand Canyon the Grand Canyon at its widest is 18 miles long now let's say we're like hey you know what I think I can make it to the other side and you take a running start and I think I think I read this somewhere that the world's record for the longest jump is like 29 feet let's say you're really good and you can make it 29 feet that's great you're gonna make it to the other side you're gonna make it now let's say the rest of us who are getting a little bit older and a little bit thick in the middle here we try to run and we can't take 29 feet jump we take a two-feet jump look I don't care if you can jump 29 feet or two feet you're not going to make it we're all going to hit the bottom some of y'all are a little bit more moral than somebody else some of y'all have a little bit more self-discipline than other people some of y'all were born into better families than others you might be a little bit more moral than the next person I don't care how moral you are you're not going to make that leap from here to heaven it ain't gonna happen okay if you don't like the chain analogy or the Grand Canyon analogy let me give you the contamination analogy how much sin can God allow into heaven which is a perfect place see God's standard is zero let me ask you this if you're going to go into the Olympics you're going to train and you're going to go into the Olympics how much performance enhancing blood performance enhancing drugs can be in your blood one percent two percent the standard for the Olympics is zero percent why should the Olympics standards be any higher than God's standards hey you want to donate some blood what percentage of blood can have HIV in it can maybe only one percent of my blood have HIV 0.5 percent of my blood has HIV that's pretty good no it's not the standard for donating blood is zero percent why should the Red Cross's standard be any higher than God's standard so however you want to slice it every one of us are going to die and every one of us will be weighed and found wanting we will not make it to God's standard because you think you're better than somebody else your standard is not everybody else your standard is God and by that standard you're not good enough to get into heaven may night you're going to die take them you're not going to meet God's standard and then parson he says to Bill Shazzar you will be divided and you'll be destroyed and beloved that's the bad news of the gospel you're going to die you will not make God's standard and as a result you'll be destroyed so we're going to talk about something that nobody likes to talk about and that's the reality of hell nobody talks about hell anymore I heard some evangelical trendy person so you know the whole world is getting tired of all these sermons on hell my question is what sermons on hell nobody talks about hell anymore you say how could a loving god send people to hell jesus said hell was not created for you it was created for satan and his demons and when you ally yourself with satan his destination becomes your destination and if you don't believe that revelation chapter 20 verse 14 says this then death and hades were the ones thrown into the lake of fire this is the second death the lake of fire and anyone's I need you to listen to this anyone's whose name was not found written in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire don't get mad at me I'm just the amazon delivery guy I'm just delivering to you the package here this is what the word of God says don't shoot the message don't shoot the this is what the word of God says don't shoot the messenger you're going to die you're not going to make God's standard into heaven and as a result parson you will be divided and destroyed you know the bible talks about the concept of hell the orthodox biblical view of hell is not annihilationism you hit hell and then you cease to exist if you study the word of God the biblical view of hell is it's a place of eternal conscious torment torment there's a pain and there's a horror of hell that I can't even begin to describe to you conscious you don't cease to exist you'll be conscious and eternal you know here's that that's really what bothers me about hell I can conceptualize being in a place of torment for five years and then it's over I can I don't like it but I can conceptualize it I can conceptualize being in a place of torment for 100 years can't you maybe in a thousand years but you you want to blow your mind you start thinking about eternal it never ends and unless you don't believe me and you don't believe this bible it's very interesting now how even atheists and agnostics in the secular world studying and experiencing these things called you know I'm talking about near-death experiences where now because medical technology we we can see things that we couldn't see 150 200 years ago we now have people who die they flatline and medical technology brings them back they didn't do that 200 years ago like we're doing now to this extent and now I'm reading atheists and agnostics who are studying this and experiencing this saying Chad's not a crazy man this is something that happens beyond this grave let me give you some examples Brian Melvin called himself a militant atheist spread the message of atheism Brian Melvin flatlined he was medically he was medically dead and experienced hell he said I can't describe to you the torture I experienced of those few moments medical technology brought him back and as a result Brian Melvin is no longer a militant atheist he got saved and started a ministry dedicated to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ so that people wouldn't experience what he experienced Howard Strom was an art professor he was a graduate of UC Berkeley he was an art professor in Kentucky hated Christians hated Jesus hated the Bible had a medical emergency where he flatlined died experienced hell and he was brought back and he said I'm now a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and he resigned being a professor and now he's a pastor dedicated to drawing people to the Lord Jesus Christ Matthew Botsford was a cocky young businessman who was shot in the head outside of a bar in Atlanta several years ago he died three times on the way to the hospital he said he described or he experienced demonic beings shredding him he said I was pulled into an endless pit I experienced searing heat I heard screams of large groups of people he went into a coma for 20 days when he came out of the coma he got saved and started a ministry devoted to sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ so that people wouldn't have to experience what he experienced Maurice Rawlings was a prominent cardiologist he was actually president Eisenhower's personal physician he had a patient he wasn't a believer he had a patient that flatlined and died in his cardiac clinic and every time he would bring him back the man screamed I'm in hell I'm in hell he'd flat line again bring him back I'm feeling pain I feel the heat I'm in hell and it shook Rawlings so much that he got home he said dusted off his Bible got saved and gave his life to the Lord Jesus and devoted himself and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ so here's my point my point is not my point is not this is just the the ravings of a lunatic on a Sunday morning I'm just telling you even the skeptics out there are now realizing there's something that happens when we die and it's not all rainbows and unicorns and beautiful lights and I'm here to tell you that the bad news of the gospel is our days are numbered we've not met God's standard and we will be divided and destroyed so what do I do if all this sin is keeping me out of heaven all this wickedness is keeping me out of heaven what do I do I think one of the most beautiful articulations of the good news of Jesus Christ is not found in the New Testament it's found in the Old Testament where Isaiah in Isaiah 53 says you want to know what to do if you're afraid of dying and going to hell if you know that you're a sinner and you don't deserve to go to heaven Isaiah says remember this Isaiah 53 5 but he was pierced for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities and the Lord has laid on him the iniquities of all of us do you understand what I just said to you 2,000 years ago God became a man that man's name was Jesus Christ he lived a sinless life he lived the life you should have lived he died the death you should have died when Jesus Christ the sinless lamb of God was nailed to that cross God supernaturally reached out in time and eternity and he placed all of your sin your adultery your abortion your wickedness your selfishness God placed that on his son Jesus Christ everything that would keep you out of heaven he put on Jesus and when Jesus died he took the punishment for your sin he came back to life he's alive today and now if you'll turn from your sins and trust in him and say Jesus I can't get myself into heaven but you can Jesus I turn from my sins and I just turn to you at that moment your sins are taken and placed on Jesus and you are given eternal life you will never go to hell that's the good news of Jesus Christ some of y'all are in this place today you're smiling and happy on the outside on the inside you remember that immorality you remember that sin you're playing games everybody thinks you're nice and your family's perfect whatever on the inside you realize how messed up you are and you're dealing with that guilt that guilt will make you hell on earth now and it'll take you to literal hell for eternity and Jesus says why are you carrying that just give it to me just give it to me I'll take it from you and when Jesus does that no longer are you a sinner say I hear you something I'm saying this well Chad I ain't nothing but a no good down low sinner I just deserve a maybe a shack on the back side of glory that's Nashville theology that's a great country music song but unfortunately that's not the Bible when you get saved God says you are now my adopted child you are the son or daughter of the most high God I love you as much as I love my own son Jesus Christ you are accepted in me some of y'all today are carrying around that sin and again it'll make you hell on earth here and it'll get you hell on earth here and it'll drag you to hell for all eternity he was pierced for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all seems like years ago I can't remember where this was but my wife and I were in an antique store and this little kid was running around running around the place and they knocked over something and broke something that's just laying on the ground broken it must have been pretty expensive because the antique owner was pretty upset and the parents said to the antique owner I'm sorry I didn't mean this to happen we are so sorry and the owner said something like I know you're sorry but somebody's got to pay for this somebody's got to pay for this mess and that's what God is saying to some of y'all here today who says I am sorry I have sinned I have messed up and God says I hear you you're sorry but somebody's got to pay for this either you're going to have to pay for it or somebody else is going to have to pay for it and praise God 2000 years ago somebody else paid for it and so in a few moments in a few moments we're going to have some people come forward older middle-aged we've got a lot of young people today I like seeing young people get baptized because here's my prayer my prayers these young people get on fire for the Lord Jesus Christ when they're young and they won't they won't have to experience a lot of the heartache and mess that a lot of y'all have had to experience in life so I praise God for that but if you're here today and you say what do I do I've sinned I'm going to hell I realize that I'm under God's judgment what do I do in acts 2 38 Peter Jesus's best buddy says to a group of people you want to know what to do if you realize that you deserve to go to hell that you're under God's righteous judgment that you've not made God's stand you know what to do he says repent each of you and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins Peter told him to do two things number one repent you know what that means that means you admit you're a sinner and you turn away from those sins and you turn to Jesus you surrender the control of your life over to Jesus that's what we mean by repent and that's what saves you baptism doesn't save you that's what saves you but isn't it really interesting that on the heels of that Peter also said and be baptized while baptism doesn't save you it seals this in your mind it solidifies it in your mind we under emphasize baptism and then we wonder why everybody's doubting their salvation and here's the way I look at it Jesus made it very clear if you're going to follow me if you're going to repent of your sins and turn to me that means you do what I tell you to do y'all do understand that right doesn't mean you turn away from your sins and you leave and go live like hell again no I turn away from my sins and I turn to Jesus and Jesus says I'm in charge of your life now yes Jesus said you know the first thing I tell you to do get baptized because it's like the old you is dead and you're buried in this water and when you get buried in this water it's like we're having a funeral for you the adultery is buried the wickedness is buried the abortion is buried I'm saying this to a lady right now I'm saying this with all the compassion in my heart if you've not given your life to the Lord Jesus Christ I'm not trying to be mean you're guilty of the murder of your baby and in your mind you're saying nobody could ever forgive me Jesus can forgive you and when you die spiritually and you're buried in this water when you come out it's like your new creation in Jesus Christ the Bible puts it this way old things are done and passed away with behold everything has become new so in a few moments so in a few moments here this church and at Benson and at North Raleigh I'm going to ask if you're not certain that you have eternal life if you're not certain that when you die you're going to go to heaven even if you didn't come today prepared to be baptized every one of our campuses we've got towels we got stuff to put over top of you don't worry about your clothes they're more important things than your clothes okay if you're not certain that you have eternal life and you're going to heaven when you die today is the day you settled that when I say I'm going to say a prayer and when I say in Jesus name amen at North Raleigh Benson and here if you want to leave here today knowing that you know that you're born again and you're going to heaven when you die when I say that I want you to come forward come forward you know we've literally not figuratively we've literally had hundreds of people in this church spontaneously come forward who weren't planning on getting saved and baptized do that did you know we've had that I hope if the families of these people are here I'm sorry but I can't tell you how many times at least three four five times mean this individuals who were in their 20s or early 30s had come to this place to just experience a service and go home got touched by God came forward got saved and then got baptized in one case within one week they were dead in several cases within two weeks they were dead you're saying why are you telling me this Chad why am I telling you this because second Corinthians 5 11 says this knowing the fear of the Lord we try to persuade other people you know what that means I ain't playing games here this is heaven and hell this is real stuff some of y'all I woke up in the night praying for Benson actually I'm North Riley I want to see something happen there at Benson I really felt during the night God told me there's somebody at Benson who feels they're right with God but they ain't right with God you came forward when you're five years old and said some silly little prayer and put your name on something and you went home you're not born again and today is the day you got to get right with God some of y'all are saying well Chad I'm probably saved already okay probably I'll gamble with a lot of things I won't gamble with my eternity eternity is too long to be wrong Chad I'll I'll wait you've just heard me say you may not have another opportunity I'm saying what will people think what people think your pride is going to send you to hell that's what I think Chad I didn't bring clothes to get baptized in again we have towels we've got all that stuff but if you're more concerned about your your genes getting wet than you are about where you're going to spend eternity then you probably aren't ready to give your life before Jesus Chad I'm 99 sure I'm saved listen to me 99 saved is 100 lost if you aren't certain that you have eternal life and that you're going to heaven when you die I want you to do two things this morning repent turn away from your sins turn to Jesus that's what saves you and then gets get baptized that's what seals it so I want you to stand with me right now I'm going to say a prayer and whether you're here at Yonkers at North Riley or at Benson when I say these words in Jesus name amen I want those who are signed up to be baptized I want you to come forward and at the same time I want those of you who want to be sure that you have eternal life and you're going to heaven when you die and you want to seal this thing I want you to come forward as well and there's gonna be something telling you stay right there don't don't come forward did you know this that that is a satanic that's a satanic attack on you satan does not want to see you get right with the Lord Jesus Christ and so when I say in Jesus name amen those of you who are signed up and at the same time those of you who just want to make sure you're right with Jesus I'm going to ask you to come forward y'all ready for this father send your spirit right now your word says that your holy spirit's job is to draw people to Jesus and father that tugging that gnawing that sense of discomfort and unsureness my friends are experiencing right now father that's the holy spirit drawing them to Jesus father this may be it this could be the end of the world this week this might be the end of the world for these individuals father you've promised a lot of things but you've not promised us a tomorrow father your word says today is the day of salvation and so father draw individuals now to get right with Jesus and for old things to be passed away for guilt to be done away with once and for all and for them to become clean pure righteous sons and daughters of the most high God with that confidence that the moment they draw their last breath here on earth they open their eyes in heaven to be with you forever and ever draw them now father in Jesus name amen y'all come right now come come come come come come come stand right down here come stand right down here right down here yes so is yeah y'all come on down here well sorry that's off y'all we'll try the second surface y'all do better second service all right come on down here i want you to understand what's happening right now right now this moment some of you who are headed toward an eternal hell have now had your divine trajectories changed and you're headed toward heaven as of this day had the team been allowed to keep singing before i shut it down they would have sang this hell lost another one i am free i don't know if you know this before you give your life to the lord jesus christ you belong to satan the moment you get saved a new owner comes and sets up shop in your life and his name is the lord jesus christ so here's what i want you to do benson i i don't know if anybody's come forward to benson while i'm talking you still have a chance north riley the same here's what i want y'all to do make sure we're all on the same page i want you to forget about everybody else in this church right now just close your eyes and imagine right now there's only and imagine right now there's only two people in this room it's you and it's jesus who died for your sins and i'm going to ask you to do this i don't want you to remember that you know i feel every one of us has one thing in their life that you've done that you feel the worst about than anything else maybe think about that for just a moment that one thing you did and i want you to say this to jesus right now and i want you to mean this with all your heart repeating a mantra doesn't save you jesus saves you but i want you to say something like this to jesus jesus i am a sinner i messed up bad say that deal once you throw this in i don't deserve to go to heaven i don't don't then say this but jesus i believe you died for my sins telling this jesus you took the punishment for my sins i believe you were buried say this to jesus right now three days later you came back to life in other words you're alive right now lord i'm not talking to a dead man you're alive right now jesus now this is so important say to him i repent of my sins i turn away from my sins and i turn to you say this to him forgive me of all my sins come and take control of my life control of my life when i die take me to heaven to be with you now look at me right now some of y'all saying that's too simple okay here's how the bible puts it all who call upon the name of the lord will be saved you don't burn incense or say the rosary or pray to me you don't do any of that stuff you just do what you did right now you call him the name the lord jesus and satan will call you all kinds of you're a whore you did this you did that all right satan will do all that mess that's not that's not jesus now that you're saved he calls you child of the most high god he calls you my my brother my sister really you're part of god's family now and here's what's going to happen in a few moments we're going to bring you into this baptistry here and i want you and we have to do it quickly i get that but for those few seconds you're standing there i want you to do i want you to just imagine yourself this is the old you when you go into that water it's like we're having a funeral you're buried in this water and when you come up old things have passed away that mess is left in that water you're now a new person in jesus christ and i want y'all here's the bible says i y'all take the bible literally i do bible says when one person gives their life to jesus the angels throw this big party in heaven i want us to outdo the angels in this place today and have a bigger party right here on earth so when they come out of that water y'all go crazy will y'all do that all right here's what y'all do if y'all go out this way give us time it'll be go be patient with us go out this way we'll get everything ready here our team will kind of lead us in some praise and worship they do a great job with that i don't know i tell them every week i don't know how y'all stand up here for as much time as you do burning all that calories jumping up and down but they're gonna be up here praising god and leading us to the praise of the lord jesus christ and we're about to see some y'all y'all might see some funerals here y'all ready to see a funeral and you're about to see a resurrection take place in this place today team lead us in that if you would my name i'm so glad he changed me honor And it's mine, yes, it's mine. I met the author of my story, and he's mine, yes, he's mine. He said he left me blind, but Jesus opened my eyes. Now I see the light. I'm so glad he changed me. Now I'm walking free. I've got the victory, and it's all over me. I'm so glad he changed me. See, I'm now a new creation in Christ.

The old has gone there tonight. I live by faith, not by sight. There is a new name risen down in glory, and it's mine, yes, it's mine. I met the author of my story, and he's mine, yes, he's mine. There is a new name risen down in glory, and it's mine, yes, it's mine.

I met the author of my story, and he's mine, yes, he's mine. I am who I am because the I am tells me who I am. I am who I am because the I am tells me who I am. I am who I am because the I am tells me who I am. I am who I am because the I am tells me who I am. I am who I am because the I am tells me who I am. I am who I am because the I am tells me who I am. I am who I am because the I am tells me who I am.

I am who I am because the I am tells me who I am. There is a new name written down in glory. And it's mine. Oh, it's mine. Yes, it's mine. Yes, it's mine.

I met the author of my story. And he's mine. And he's mine. Yes, he's mine. Yes, he's mine.

There is a new name written down in glory. And it's mine. Yes, it's mine. Yes, it's mine.

I met the author of my story. And he's mine. Oh, he's mine. Yes, he's mine. Yes, he's mine. And he's mine. Oh, he's mine. Yes, he's mine. Yes, he's mine. Oh, he's mine. Oh, he's mine. It's mine. Yes, it's mine. I am who I am because the I am tells me who I am because the I am tells me who I am because the I am tells me who I am because the I Am tells me who I am because the I Am tells me who I And it's mine, yes, it's mine I'm not the author of my story And it's mine, yes, it's mine There is a new name written down in glory And it's mine, yes, it's mine I'm not the author of my story And it's mine, yes, it's mine There is a new name written down in glory I am just in love Hey!

Hi! I was buried beneath by a chain You could carry that kind of weight It wasn't my tune Till I met you I was breathing the night of light All my failures I tried to hide It wasn't my tune Till I met you You called my name And I ran out of that grave Out of the darkness Into your glorious day You called my name And I ran out of that grave Out of the darkness Into your glorious day By the mercy you saved my soul All the freedom in the room this morning All the freedom is all that I know You called my name You called my name And I ran out of that grave Out of the darkness Into your glorious day You called my name You called my name And I ran out of that grave Out of the darkness Into your glorious day You called my name Out of the darkness Into your glorious day You called my name And I ran out of that grave Out of the darkness Into your glorious day When I was broken you were my healing Now your love is the end and I'm breathing Out of the future my eyes are open Cause when you called my name I ran out of that grave Out of the darkness Into your glorious day You called my name You called my name And I ran out of that grave Out of the darkness Into your glorious day ... ... ... You moved the mountains You told the wind and waves be still You cast out demons listening And did the ages so be true And now there's breakthrough And now there's freedom in your name You gave us power, yes And the keys to do the same Showing your attention And may your accusers drop their stones Showing us mercy With your mighty miracles And now there's breakthrough And now there's freedom in your name You gave us power, yes And the keys to do the same Now we proclaim In Jesus' name Walls fall down In Jesus' name Strong holds break In the name of Jesus Amen We are here In Jesus' name There are miracles In Jesus' name I say Pour Him out I know you will Amen You crossed the darkness, yes Made a pool of death and grave O King Jesus You make royals To make royals out of slaves And now there's breakthrough And now there's freedom Now there's freedom in your name You gave us power And the keys And the keys to do the same Now we proclaim In Jesus' name Walls fall down In Jesus' name Strong holds break In the name of Jesus Amen We are here In Jesus' name There are miracles In Jesus' name Pour Him out I know you will Amen Sing of God we echo Your victory Sing of God we echo Your victory Sing of God we echo Your victory Now we proclaim In Jesus' name Walls fall down In Jesus' name Strong holds break In the name of Jesus Amen We are here In Jesus' name There are miracles In Jesus' name Pour Him out I know you will Amen Sing of God we echo Your victory Sing of God we echo Your victory Sing of God we echo Your victory Sing of God we echo Your victory Sing of Yeah. Oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh.

God, we echo your glory. Sing oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. God, we echo your victory.

Sing oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh God, we echo your victory. Hey! Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh God, we echo your victory. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh God, we echo your victory. Jesus is still alive, he's still on the throne, and he is still changing lives. Can we thank Jesus for just being Jesus?

Hey! There's a lot of negative stuff going on in the world out there, I get it. But when you watch this, Satan may be moving, but Jesus is moving in a greater way.

You believe that? So let's leave this place here today, knowing who we are, and whose we are, and let's walk with a little bit of it. Here's what I call it, divine cockiness. Our head held high, our shoulders back, knowing that greater is he who's in us than he who's in this world. Raise your hands and receive this old Hebrew blessing from God. You ready? God says to you, my brothers and sisters, which means church, be bold, be strong, do not be afraid, and y'all don't be terrified of anything.

Why? Because the Lord your God is going to be with you everywhere you go this week. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we pray, amen and amen. God bless you, beloved. Let's go change this world for Jesus Christ.