Returning | Easter Sunday 2021

everything this life that you and i are living in is rooted in in statements and in news feeds and in posts and headlines 2 000 years ago you got to wonder what and how things would have been reported back then regarding this morning in history what would it have been and i i had some thoughts i wrote that wrote them down newsmax for example might have reported skeptics proven wrong jesus christ defies death stone rolls away right and then i thought about what fox news might have said maybe i hope they would have said eternal life is now possible jesus conquers death in hell that's all true and then i wondered what cnn would have said cnn would have reported 2 000 years ago we don't know what happened we have no information about what happened but what we know is that it absolutely did not happen [Applause] we don't know much but we know this it didn't happen and uh the news was being reported on this day in history and uh it's all important because the dynamics you got to remember everybody if you don't know the disciples last saw jesus being taken down from the cross and placed in a tomb and from that moment on all their hopes and all their dreams and all their aspirations and all of their confidence had evaporated if you want to think today that this christian thing was some grand conspiracy by a bunch of really brilliant people that got together and pulled off a whopper then listen you're happily mistaken because the people that were following jesus they were weak and they were frail and when the cross event happened on that day they were devastated and so this morning came upon history and came upon them as a great shock and yet that shouldn't have been the case the bible had written down in advance all that was needed some of those things we'll touch on this morning but i want to read this to you right now if you would you can follow along i'll read it all this morning for time's sake but i pick up this particular account in luke's gospel chapter 24. the bible tells us now on the first day of the week very early in the morning they and certain other women with them came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared and they found the stone rolled away from the tomb and when they went in and did not find the body of the lord jesus and it happened that as they were greatly perplexed about this that behold two men stood by them in shining garments and then as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth they said to them that as the angel said to them why do you seek the living among the dead he's not here but has risen remember how he spoke to you when he was still in galilee verse 7 saying the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise again and they remembered his words then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the disciples and to all the rest it was mary magdalene joanna mary the mother of james and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles and their listen the great apostles the great men of faith when these women reported this verse 11 says and their words seemed to them like idle tales and they did not believe them wow but peter arose and ran to the tomb and stooping down he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves and he departed marveling to himself at what had happened one of the gospel accounts of the resurrection morning the bible gives us matthew mark luke and john and when you take this and look every year tv puts up their shows and puts up their ridiculous representations of jesus uh in easter and what really happened you don't have to guess about what really happened we have eyewitness accounts about what happened if we just read it we can know exactly what happened but god gave us matthew mark luke and john four men looking from four different angles from their perspective what in the world happened 21 centuries ago matthew tells you certain aspects mark tells you now from a different angle luke speaks from his point and john from his and yet all of them come into perfect harmony just like if you would take an overlay vellum of instruction or maybe schematics and the more vellum or schematic you lay upon the other the more technical and detailed that information becomes we don't understand that right you can look at matthew and you get a lot of detail but when you look at all four of them you get exact detail and it's quite remarkable it's the gospels in stereo if you want to put it that way it's the gospel account in a in a quadrophonic presentation that this is what happened on this day in history christ has risen from the dead and as i mentioned at the sunrise service this morning i love the fact that you're here right now i hope and i trust and i pray because either a you already know jesus or you've come here today because you want to know jesus and uh and so you should would we all agree that the world's gone nuts and listen what's coming you can only guess [Music] but think about where you were this time last year in all the things that have transpired in one year just in 12 months time the transformation that has come upon the world and do you know what has not suffered what has not suffered is the church the church of jesus christ in the earth you say wait a minute pastor jack churches have been closed all over the world that's not what i'm talking about i'm talking about his church not every church is his church think about it well i thought if i go to a church i'm going to where god is not necessarily listen you want to go to a church where god is this is the prerequisite right here this book's got to be open this book's got to be studied this is the book of life listen that's why we're here this is the book this is the foundation not happy thoughts and not principles and not ideas but god's word and the bible tells us that god's word will never fail us god's promises will never evaporate and god will fulfill every prophecy of his word and by the way jesus said the gates of hell that includes washington dc and sacramento will not prevail against my church and god is faithful he's faithful so all this week since palm sunday we've had our theme called returning and that is the fact that god is calling you to return to him and maybe that's you today you need to be listening to this message it's certainly true for those of us who are following christ to return and return again to keep coming to him every day and as we see the nearness and the possibility of christ's soon return that we get ready to meet him and remember that every day we return to him independence and on top of the fact the bible does say that christ is returning ready or not jesus is coming so listen i want to give you these 15 things you say 15 things we'll never get out of here i have got to get out of here you've got to get out of here there's a whole lot of people that are going to be trying to get in here so i love you but when we're done get out no no no don't don't tell people i said that but i want to preface it by what god is doing in this world right now and what god has always done is that god gives truth friends listen god gives truth jesus said he is the truth and is it interesting that truth today truth that which is confirmed that which is true truth is it not dividing people all around the world truth about vaccines truth about government truth about borders truth about family truth about gender all of the divisions now are taking place isn't it did you know that the bible anticipated that and talked about that happening you've got that truth and then you've got the fact that regarding truth jesus said the gospel the gospel of the cross the gospel of his life would cause division and that's true truth causes division everybody that's the nature of truth and i want you to take a deep breath and take that in and understand you and i are living in a day when truth is under attack but truth cannot lose it's a divine attribute and we all need to wake up to that because the things i'm going to be giving you are truth and that's where we begin jesus christ came proclaiming truth in john chapter 8 verse 32 jesus said you shall know the truth and the truth will make you free free liberated set free when you're listen when you have the truth that sets you free you are no longer bound by the opinions of people when somebody says something about you it no longer matters because you know what christ says about you and when god looks at you you turn to him and you say jesus i love you jesus i want to know you maybe today you're saying jesus i'm just now meeting you according to the bible the scripture says that he will not refuse you but he will take you in and god does the most amazing thing and i encourage you to do that today when you open up his bible he's going to give you truth and that truth is going to be speaking to you about what god thinks about you and the plans that god has for your life more than ever today we need to get away from the watch my fingers the truth of this world and get to the truth of god people today are becoming disillusioned because they don't know what's real and that's actually good you do not know what's real that's why i'll stick with the bible i'll stick with the book of god that's thousands and thousands of years old people have come and gone trying to disprove it every time they attack it it just stands shinier brighter and bigger god's truth is not going anywhere number two jesus christ came shining lights shining light illumination understanding in first john chapter one verse seven first john 1 7 the bible says if we walk in the light as he is in the light you know god dwells in the light he is light but the bible says if we walk in the light that is we walk in the presence of god you can do that today you never have to be alone again we have fellowship one with another that's as brothers and sisters and listen to the active this is in the act of tense this is amazing you walk with god this is what happens the blood of jesus christ his son cleanses us from all sin watch how this happens jesus died on the cross for our sins the bible says he washed away our sins at the cross all of mankind's sins watch this we're done away in christ you said well wait a minute then why do i need to accept christ because he paid for those sins at the cross but his account there's no transfer of funds so to speak into your account unless you accept him do you understand that he paid for it all but you don't get to benefit from that unless you ask him to transfer from his account his righteousness into your account and that comes by asking him to save you that you believe you are a sinner and that christ died for you personally and that he wants to save you and you acknowledge that and he transfers his righteousness over to your account and it's but listen what about the person that dies rejecting christ the bible says that they have opted out to not sign up they didn't transfer anything into their account all they have which is the bible says is bankruptcy when they die they default into hell by their choosing so stop right now with thinking god sends people to hell you cannot find that anywhere in the bible god is light he wants you to walk in the light and here's the great thing about what that verse means as a christian when you're walking with the lord it doesn't mean you're perfect when you're walking with the lord and fellowshipping with his people and you think and you do something wrong the light that he is whispers into your soul and says well that wasn't cool you totally misrepresented me jack that was wrong and you go tell them you're sorry don't even talk to me until you settle the account with that person you just defended that's what god says he says leave your gift at the altar and go sit straight with your friends or with the person you offended before you come to me how many christians today i'm not talking listen if you're not a christian this morning relax now for now just relax for a moment how many christians today are rude in the parking lot or trying to run over each other getting across the you know i know that would never happen here but how many christians sin like that or think of themselves or say something bad tone wrong words and never think for a moment that they need to set it right with that person they hurt and they come breezing on in the church arms up singing hallelujah praise the lord and the book of james tells us the christians who do that you cannot know god and have fresh water and salt water come out of your mouth at the same time listen if we walk in the light god takes care of the rest jesus christ came to shine the light of his life into us that's why being a christian is not something that we do being a christian is what he does in us is a big difference number three returning means that jesus christ came confronting sin that's what this morning's all about the cross jesus died on the cross to confront sin we talked about it on good friday when the scribes and pharisees and the religious leaders of israel shouted and said jesus come down from the cross and save yourself and maybe we'll believe in you if you do that but he didn't come down i'd if i was writing the bible i would have had him come down and i would have had him just come right up to those guys and just go pink just knock him over but you know why he didn't come down because his love for you was completely committed on finishing the job that job was what jesus came he said for this reason came i into the world and that was to confront sin in mark chapter 7 verse 20 the bible says that jesus said what comes out of a man that defiles a man from within out of the heart of men precede evil thoughts adulteries fornications murders thefts covetousness wickedness deceit lewdness wow sounds like the newspaper an evil eye blasphemy pride foolishness all these evil things come from within and defile a man is that not true nobody wants to hear this stuff you go down that list and it's like yikes can we just move on that's why jesus came isn't it great that god didn't bury stuff under the ground or just put it under the carpet the whole reason why the cross and the empty tomb this morning is significant is because jesus christ destroyed the power of sin sin is what tells you and i to do the wrong thing always the bible says that we're born with sin people hear this for the first time they get offended i can't believe you so do it listen according to the bible babies have the nature of sin now babies don't know they're sinning but they have this in nature that's why babies you see babies act the way they do and when they grow you know when they cry they cry whatever whatever but when they get old enough to start committing crimes every time i say that i see this really gnarly baby with a big diaper and a cigar and he's going to go in the kitchen to steal some cookies but when you ask a little kid did you do that did you take one of those cookies nope they've got crumbs on their face and the answer is still no they got a couple of cookies stuffed in their diaper and they're going i didn't what what cookies that listen that's the sin nature that is in all of us we inherited that from adam and eve you've got to teach kids to tell the truth why because we inherited that nature and listen to go to heaven jesus said you must be born again it means that god changes that nature to those of us who know jesus we want to live for him and god speaks and god leads and god guides but the truth of the matter is he's at work number four jesus christ came hallelujah listen conquering death conquering death death 2020 2021 death death dead the numbers of dead the numbers who have died guess what i'll probably get censored for this i've had physicians tell me we don't know now who and how many have died of what all of the records now have been skewed and for decades ahead it's going to ruin science did you know that because people are registered as having died from coved but what happened was they died by a heart attack but they might have tested positive and so it went down as a cova death not a heart attack and that drives the cardiologist crazy for future research multiply that a hundred times and all these various things what am i saying all of a sudden that this thing that came upon our land and upon the world has made this announcement i wonder if you caught it all of a sudden the world has declared death is unacceptable right think about it you can't take off your mask or go outside until no one dies that was one of the comments of gavin newsom we're not going to lift these restrictions until people stop dying jesus gavin only jesus can do that the answer is jesus jesus jesus are are we all of a sudden so concerned about death that we'll go to great lengths to prevent it from happening you bet it's the new rule then accept christ listen because we're all going to die in this world you got you got to die you got to die you got to pay taxes and you got to die and after you die you're still paying taxes those two things will happen 100 chance but jesus listen jesus came to break the grave it's not the point that we would live again in the flesh that's one thing the fact is he conquered the grave meaning that the grave cannot hold you dead jesus said if a man dies believing in me he shall live he broke the grave in hebrews chapter 2 verse 14 he himself likewise shared in the same that is in our humanity that through death he might destroy him that is satan who had the power of death the devil and release those who through fear of death don't you need to be released from the fear of death we're all their lifetimes subject to bondage terrified it's embarrassing but this is an evangelistic moment friends for all of us let's take advantage to give the truth because people are terrified they might die don't talk to me don't don't get so close to me hey i got a blood i got a blood test results yesterday you know i went in i'm an old guy i had to get my cholesterol done i had to get this stuff done and i didn't know i didn't even realize i signed up for this maybe i didn't but i got my report back and it said that i have coveted antibodies i'm immune watch watch jesus died for me because i was s-i-n-positive did you get that is it too early s-i-n-positive but he died for me and by him dying for me when he rose again from the dead listen i didn't get a vaccine i got antibodies he's even better antibodies are stronger they're stronger against what listen i'm immune to hell because of jesus i'm immune listen only my body can die my soul cannot die why because jesus made me immune i mean i don't want to insult anybody but i just want to run around and hug everyone i'm immune you say well i'm not immune then give your heart to christ and get immune get immunity number five jesus came defeating hell everybody say amen he robbed satan of hell itself hell the bible says that hell was created by god for satan and the fallen angels god never said i'm going to create hell and throw humans in there it was all about satan going to his place and those angels the bible says fell with him by pride but jesus came to feeding hell listen to this revelation chapter 1 verse 17 18 listen up everyone jesus said do not be afraid i am the first and the last that's the name of god in the old testament by the way i am he who lives and was dead and behold i'm alive forevermore amen and i have the keys of hades that's hell and death isn't that awesome he has the keys you ever lose your keys where's the keys you're messed up without the keys jesus comes along i have the keys i promise you jack that by my resurrection from the dead you'll never have to fear the grave hell or death because i hold the keys he did that revelation chapter 2 verse 8 says these things is the first and the last who was dead and came to life number six jesus christ came preaching love this is obvious i wondered if i should include this but maybe for some of you you need to hear this jesus christ came preaching love in john 3 16 and 17 the bible says for god so loved the world you should put your name in there that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life for god did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved and it's all about love did you know that god loves you god loves you people have a hard time this in this day and age with love love listen love is not tolerance love is not acceptance love is not fill in the blank love is transcendent god's love of all that what do i mean by that when god loves god doesn't say you know what i know you're this and you're that and that's okay i'll look over here because i love you i'll just look away i won't address that because i love you god doesn't do that we do that our love's imperfect god's love's perfect and when god says hey i tell you what i love you so much that this is what's going to happen to you you open up your life to me and i'm going to start infusing my life into you and you're going to be changing now in a moment when you accept me you'll change instantly that is your account in heaven is recorded as righteous by my works and i'm going to give that to you jack as a gift but from the moment you accept me to the moment you die i'm going to be infusing into you by my holy spirit my personality my person that's why the word christian means little christ it means to mimic him to follow him and as we do that he's infusing himself into us why because he loves us he loves us so much he refuses to let us remain the person we are aren't you glad yes i don't want a doctor to well i don't want to feel kind of sick or know something's wrong and walk in there and the doctor you know wouldn't that be horrible the doctor's testing you and whatever you and he does things like this hmm are you kidding me that's not a good day and then he says to make it worse what would make it worse this is what makes it worse uh okay well i tell you what uh you can pay the bill on the way out have a nice day no no what would doug doctor doctor wait wait wait what's up no jesus doesn't do that jesus comes in and says he goes like this right and then as it were he takes a little drop of his blood and drops it on that on that paper and it's done and then he says you're good to go and it's done jesus did that for us on the inside and it transforms us loves he loves us here's a big one jesus christ came answering fear and luke 12 32 jesus said do not fear little flock for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom that is the kingdom of heaven don't be afraid don't fear people need to hear this now more than ever don't don't fear don't fear yesterday i was driving down pch and from newport beach heading north came to the came to surf city usa huntington beach people it was packed people were trying to get their cars into the parking lot people walking down the streets wall-to-wall surfboards chairs towels blank you name it you name it and that people were you could see them just walking i'm sitting at a stoplight just dogs they got everything going on people everything's happening and it was normal watch it was normal and i thought for a moment lord i have never been so thankful for crowds and traffic why because the fact is you could tell they weren't afraid the sun was out the surf was up and people were out and and they were living can you imagine that when we get a grip on where we're going regarding heaven if we can experience glimpses of freedom and in a glimpse of of something joyous and and normal imagine what heaven's going to be like we need to keep our sights on heaven should we wash our hands of course if you stay home i mean if you're sick stay home mom's been telling us this for thousands of years of course but the fact of the matter is we need not fear because fear will suck life completely out of you number eight is mercy jesus christ came extending mercy in first peter chapter one verse three the bible tells us blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope what a great power that is god's mercy your mercy is mercy is when you and i deserve to be disciplined or spanked for some transgression and god doesn't do that mercy is justly bringing it but chooses not to you do know that right mercy so you know isn't that grace no no no that's mercy that's mercy god's grace goes this way god's parents should know something about mercy i told you not to put the cat in the microwave that's the last time you're going to do that go to your room now you may have told your child you're going to get disciplined when i get in there you go in there you think about i'll be there in five minutes and then you walk down the hallway and you say you know what was due to you tell me what's tell me what was do to you i'm gonna get it should you get it i should get it well i should give it but i'm not gonna that's mercy the door is closed another set of feet coming down the hallway opens up the door and it's mom and mom says your dad told me what you just did and the kids gripped with fear again and mom says get in the car the kid goes to the car like he's walking the plank and she drives him to baskin robbins and gives him an ice cream that's called grace god's mercy says this is what you deserve but this is what you're going to get mercy number nine jesus christ came inviting listen inviting repentance repentance repentance means to change the course it's a nautical term for sailing if you don't know the meaning of the word metanoia in the english the old english is repent it means change the course you're on that's all it means people get all offended i can't believe you said that i come to church once a year and i'm only there once and he offends me listen repentance simply means turn your ship in the opposite direction that's what it means have you ever heard of the word 180 it's a 180 degree turn in the old days they would say to the ship they see rocks ahead and the navigator would yell back to the helmsman repent and the guy would just wheel that wheel around and turn the ship 180 degrees to save it from crashing into the rocks the greek words metanoia neue is thought meta after after it simply means this have an afterthought jesus invited people it's so sweet listen jesus says to you today think again my name who i am jesus i know you have your opinion but think again that's what it means repent think it over reconsider me jesus is saying what's your problem with me is that amazing what's your problem with jesus nobody's got a problem with jesus nobody think of it no one has a problem with jesus i've never met anyone who has a problem with jesus they have a problem with pastors and priests and sunday school teachers and churches i get that don't we all right don't mistake people with who jesus is reconsider him he invites you to change your mind in second peter 3 9 the bible says the lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness meaning well what does the god just judge everything why don't you just fry it all oh he will he is but he's waiting because you might be the only one that's still not right with god right but he's long suffering toward us not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance and in proverbs 28 13 the bible says he who covers his sins will not prosper listen but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy he calls us to repentance number 10 jesus christ came here's that word again showing grace showing grace oh my goodness listen up there's so many endless passages that we could use but time doesn't allow but the bible tells us listen up everybody because this is human nature if i just become good enough then god will let me into heaven not true impossible why ephesians 2 5 8-9 says when we were dead in trespasses he that is christ made us alive together with christ for by grace you have been saved for by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of god not of works lest anyone should boast what does that mean that means you cannot be good and make it to heaven in fact let's be specific you got to be bad to make it to heaven think of it because the person who's good will defend their goodness even against what jesus did at the cross a person that's bad knows they're bad so that when the gospel message comes to them they say yeehaw good news wonderful god's grace number 11 hope jesus came announcing hope in john chapter 4 verse 13 you know the story jesus came to the woman at the well who according to the rule book had no access to the kingdom of god you can read it later there's a little bit of amazing dialogue that takes place there but to the point verse 13 jesus said to her whoever drinks of the water this water will thirst again the water from the well but whoever drinks of the water that i shall give him will never thirst jesus is talking about spiritual quenching of the soul but the water that i shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life that woman said lord give me the water that you have and jesus made it a point to her the water that i'm gonna give you once you have it you'll never thirst again not like earthly water listen to every listen if you're not a christian listen up to the real real believer in jesus christ that you might know notice how they've stopped searching they've stopped trying things before you come and meet jesus you'll try this you'll read the tibetan book of the dead to see if there's enlightenment there uh you'll you'll read the various writings of religious leaders to see if there's an answer there and we've all done that to some degree we'll try this we'll try that maybe we can get meaning and sex maybe it can be drugs i'll have some hallucinogenic journey and maybe i'll be enlightened people try stuff all the time and then someone comes to christ and you're satisfied and your search is over and for good reason because regarding this hope jeremiah 29 11 says god says to you for i know the thoughts i think toward you says the lord thoughts of peace not of evil to give you a future and a hope number 12 we're almost done jesus came granting righteousness there's only one form of righteousness that god will accept into heaven and that's the righteousness he gives because jesus paid for it at the cross in romans 10 verse 4 the bible says for christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given the ten commandments as a result all who believe in him are made right with god see jesus as we mentioned friday jesus on the cross on good friday was answering the demands of the law the soul that sins it shall surely die you see well but jesus didn't sin that is correct but i did and jesus died in my place the moment that that happened christ purchased for me righteousness for you righteousness and the holy spirit that goes to work in your life goes to work calling you causing you to do righteousness which is the right thing god will do that in your life number 13 jesus christ came offering forgiveness seems obvious right i'll paraphrase this quickly it's john chapter 8. you can read it later i'll just skim over for the details but there's a woman the bible tells us jesus has come to jerusalem he's ministering he's preaching he's teaching and the bible tells us that the pharisees the religious leaders they they find a woman that's very creepy it's very creepy because it says that they find a woman who they catch in the very act of adultery which is creepy right i mean they're these are religious leaders and there's look there's their spine on this lady who's they're peeking in the window and they burst in and they grab her and they said we caught her in the very act they grab her think of her shame they drag her into the streets and they throw her down at the feet of jesus and they said moses says in the law that she should be stoned to death what do you say the bible says that jesus stooped down and began to write in the dirt and the bible tells us that they being convicted turned and walked away one at a time each and it says in scripture that they departed the oldest man departed first and the youngest man departed last there's a lot of seriousness going on in that he probably stooped down and began to write he knew their names because he was god he probably said bob bob is an embezzler fred he's a adulterer you know jim out behind 7-eleven with bubbles last week they were convicted jesus told them whoever is without sin cast the first son yeah guys go ahead and stone her whoever's sinless let's see it let's do it let's do this and the bible says the oldest guy left first of course the oldest guy left the longer you live the more you know how much wrong you've done the younger you know you're dumb when you're young you think you're fantastic when you're young when you're young you think i'm i'll never die and i never sinned and i can do anything and i'm i'm wonderful you know when you're young it's but when you're old it's like yikes amazing jesus christ offers forgiveness let me tell you i'm going to try to wrap this up quick i got a minute left here's the thing you can travel the world my friend you're not going to find a better deal than this and i'm not selling pillows or anything else [Applause] although that is a great pillow i have a bunch of them uh there's no listen what jesus extends to there's not a money-back guarantee because there doesn't need to be one amen what he grants to you what he gives to you well it's just simply the best and there's never a recall on it there's never a for an upgraded version number 14 jesus christ came opening heaven oh my goodness uh heaven's open hello everything's closed heaven's not hasn't been closed still been it's all been open the whole time heaven's been open heaven's essential oh and they're great everybody doing on earth what they do god looks over a cloud heaven's open just won't let you know heaven's open jesus christ opened heaven the bible says announcing to us that those who trust christ there's a great broad huge wide opening to heaven if you trust christ the answer to that is yes and then 15 jesus christ came loving you true biblical theology tells us that god loved me you personally only god can do that this is not wishful thinking only god could love each and every one of us individually because that task is only doable by god and god's word tells us that the lord has appeared of old saying yes i have loved you with an everlasting love therefore with lovingkindness have i drawn you and i love that word in the hebrew to draw listen to this god says i've loved you all through your life all the stuff you went through and the many times you blamed me for it and i wept with you because i didn't cause it think about it you boy he's so good he can take it he could take it you were attacking him for what happened in your life even though you're the one that made the decision to do that dumb thing or somebody made a bad decision to do that to you so pastor i grew up in an abusive home that broke his heart why did he do something about it he's doing it right now he doesn't work on our time scale he knows exactly what he wants to do and when he wants to do it well i don't like what i'm going through god says listen i don't like what you're going through but i'm with you you think i'm going to let go of you in this think of it we judge him we scrutinize him we question him and i'm convinced that he probably agrees with most of our interrogation tactics but what he does say is calm down recognize that all that's come against you has been outsourced by satan himself into your life satan hates your guts and i love you and i've been trying to tell you this all your life but you wouldn't listen but here's the deal this stuff you're going through right now at least i got a little bit more of your attention and he's jumping on you now to try to reel you in that's what that word means draw it means to pull you in i have loved you with an everlasting love therefore with loving kindness have i been trying to pull you into me it means to pull into i've been trying to seize you from your life god says to you i'm the one that's trying to rescue you from you isn't that just like him the bible tells us that it's jesus whose name is above every name that's why you hear his name cussed all around the world because his name is above everything and satan hates it but it's that name that every knee will bow the bible says everyone will bow every single one of you in this room right now you will bow to jesus so i'm going to bow to jesus i don't believe any of this stuff god doesn't you don't believe in jesus jesus doesn't believe in you either but you will bow here's the thing i guess i should have said this 40 minutes ago you could have gone home early you're all gonna bow i'm gonna about we're all gonna but the name of the game is this to realize and recognize who he is and to bow now and go to heaven versus reject who he is and die right and see him then you bow and then you're pulled away instead of into him you're pulled away from him you will bow the moral of the story is bow today by your own free will versus bowing in that moment when you will not be able to stand in his presence one has a wonderful ending the other does not it's best to bow in love than to bow in terror father we pray now we come to you now and lord i pray that you would cause there to be a great stillness and a great seriousness over this campus today where people have gathered together all over this place i'm asking you father god to cause a hush to be present and father that we ask now in jesus name that you would move in the hearts of men and women and boys and girls right now church as you bow your heads and as you're in an attitude of prayer right now i'm going to ask everyone to please remain seated this is a holy moment jesus christ acknowledges us publicly and he will do it ultimately before his father on the day of judgment and that's going to be a glorious moment when jesus says to the father she belongs to me he belongs to me and jesus said if you will not acknowledge me before others i will not be able to acknowledge you to my father in heaven but if you acknowledge me that is as lord and savior i will acknowledge you before my father and before his angels what does that mean it means today that you respond to this jesus christ is god he came to this earth born as a baby just like you did he lived and suffered and endured like you have but what he did for you is that he took upon himself the punishment that is reserved for you and the only way that you're going to escape that punishment is by giving your life to christ and he will cause you to receive his forgiveness and grace i'm going to ask you right now as we play this song for a moment if god is speaking to you and if today you're going to go public with jesus christ i'm going to ask you to get up out of your seat and come forward and stand right up front here and we'll pray in a moment but if god is speaking to your heart if you want to become a follower of jesus not a member of this church but a follower of jesus you get up and you come right now if god is stirring up your heart you move don't don't reject him you come my friend the hour is late the world is on fire get off this globe and into the arms of christ you come right now whoever you might be you come don't delay and uh but we're going to pray but here's here's listen a week ago a week ago we had a similar situation like this similar opportunity and a young man probably out of his mid-20s he came up to me afterward and he said pastor i'm wondering if you'll pray for me you're going to hate me after this he said i want you to pray for me because when you were calling people forward i didn't want to go forward because i was embarrassed i didn't want to feel ashamed and i said my dear friend i cannot pray for you pray for you for what for you to accept jesus christ in secret when he called everyone publicly it was amazing i was too ashamed i said what were you ashamed of he goes i didn't want people to think i was weird weird for going forward except christ jesus said if you are ashamed of me then i will be ashamed of you in that day that's a horrific confession about oneself oh let me be a believer in secret so nobody knows i thank god for each and every one of you that are standing here right now so let's pray let's pray this prayer that you pray god will hear from your heart and pray it out loud if you would please pray out loud in fact body of christ church will you pray with them just because it sounds amazing but they're going to mean it from their heart ready dear lord jesus i receive you into my heart forgive me of my sins make me your own on this day i publicly proclaim jesus christ crucified jesus christ rose from the dead i proclaim proclaim him my savior i receive your eternal life in jesus name i pray amen amen god heard that prayer [Applause] well hey thanks for listening and uh we appreciate you and of course we do in this time and in this age us being together and linking up together to get the word of god out is actually ministry being fulfilled and in fact if you would like to subscribe please do so hit the subscribe button tell your friends about us and listen if you'd like to help us get this out on a broader scale you can support us by hitting on the give now button and look we're going to continue on with or without you we're inviting you to join us no pressure but if you'd like to link arms in this venture you'd be greatly appreciated so listen keep praying for us we're praying for you god bless you and we'll see you back here real soon

Channel: Real Life with Jack Hibbs

Views: 73,340

Rating: 4.9391389 out of 5

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Id: gchM1PcNOMk

Length: 53min 51sec (3231 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 04 2021