September 19, 2021 | 11:00AM | Bellevue Baptist Church

[Music] good morning church family let's sing praises to the lord and surrender this morning to him he receives all of the glory our lord jesus christ hallelujah thank you for his blood [Music] trouble throw me away and [Music] fear must have thought our space [Music] is [Music] whatever i say [Music] [Applause] [Music] tell me do the [Music] know your darkness is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Applause] whenever i say [Music] fear is just [Music] that's right let the devil know not today [Music] not today [Music] [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] today [Music] that's right we're gonna give the lord glory this morning [Music] [Applause] harmony that is a great spiritual warfare song is it not amen not today devil not today you may be seated hey we are so thankful that you got here today and we are praising the lord for all those who are that made it here but also those that are joining us online we're glad that you chose to make bellevue your place of worship today you might be visiting today maybe you're from out of town maybe you're passing through maybe you were here for the game last night as memphis one yeah amen i didn't hear any cowbells so but maybe anyway it was a great night right and alabama won pastor wanted to make sure you all knew that just to remind me but so did arkansas but anyway let's move on to really what's real important is our guest we want to make sure we are really thrilled that you're here we'd love to know that you're here whether you're online or you're in the room you can text the word guests to 901 901 just do that and text that word guest we have people that'll contact you send you information we are thrilled that you chose to be with us the brethren the sons and daughters of christ we are glad that you're here today now we've got things coming up in the next week or so so we want to give you some information so watch the screen bellevue's wednesday night equip classes are back with classes like disciplines for every man with bellevue men or the beginning his story with bellevue women it's not too late to join so go online to bellevue.org equip and register today join us for our mini memphis weekly bible study with pastor steve our church has a desire to see all men grow to be godly leaders at home at work and in each of their spheres of influence enjoy a hearty breakfast for only five dollars as brother steve shares a message from god's word invite a friend and join us on thursdays hi friends i am so glad to see you welcome back to my big backyard elvis and i are so excited to spend time with you oh boy i'm so happy that my tail is wagging see yep friends i don't want to give away too many surprises but there are a lot of things to look forward to in the upcoming adventures like music like music like bible stories definitely bible stories and science and science weight and science you betcha friends i am so excited to grow and learn with you as we discover more about our great big god and his word to us so join elvis and i every week on kidview see you soon let me encourage parents if you have children at home or you know of children that need a great experience online i encourage you to check out kid view it is very very resourceful and people are using that so we just want to make you aware of that also let me give a shout out to our men men we have opportunity on wednesday night and thursday morning we head right at close to 400 men here thursday morning for breakfast and brother steve will lead us in that and i just encourage you don't try to do life alone you need other men in your life you need encouragement you can find that on wednesday night here in one of our equipped classes we have a men's group down in the gym and then thursday morning in the fellowship hall so i just encourage you find your place find your class find some other people to do this journey through life you need other people in your life to encourage you and we encourage you to do that now i'm going to pray thank you for your tithes and your offerings we do not pass the plate but there are receptacles around the building you can give that and then also many of you give online thank you for being faithful in that it's an easy process but it allows us to continue to do what god's called us to do let me pray for us and we will continue to worship or we just stop and ask that your presence be with us today that you're in this room lord would you take captive the thoughts our minds our hearts lord may we return to that reverence and awe of who you are your word says that your kingdom will never be shaken and lord we live in a world that's shaken it seems to be crumbling many of us know people that have died and but lord your kingdom will not be shaken for you have come to us so that we might live in this world but that we almost also may know you as lord and savior so lord as we worship as we hear the preaching of the word of god would you do something in our heart that revives us that gives us courage that gives us comfort or that gives us hope as we live in this world and i thank you that only hope is in jesus christ thank you lord for these people your people lord who have faithful to you bless all that's done for we ask that in the powerful saving beautiful name of jesus christ amen [Music] i'm living through of what the mercy of god can do how many would say that you if you knew me then you'd believe me now you turned my whole life upside down and took the old that he made [Music] just what the mercy of god can do [Music] and now i'm alive to tell the story how overcome it's his goodness and mercy and the power of his blood and i'm so glad that my freedom wasn't based on what i've done but the goodness and mercy and the power of the blood amen [Music] i thought i'd jesus [Music] for all the things i've done and the things [Music] oh but for the mercy of god [Music] and now i'm alive to tell the story of how i've overcome it's this goodness [Music] i'm so glad that my freedom wasn't based on what i've done and the power of the blind [Music] now i [Music] was the cross [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] i'm so glad that my freedom [Music] is [Music] and the power of the blood [Music] [Applause] [Music] i was rich i remembered who i was i was lost i was blind i was running out of time sin separated the breach was far too wide but from the far side of the kaiser you held me in your sight so you made a way across a great divide left behind heaven's throne to build it here inside and then at the cross paid the debt i owe broke my chains freed my soul for the first time i'd had hope thank you jesus for the blood of light thank you jesus it has washed me white you jesus you have saved my life brought me from the darkness into glorious [Music] you took my place they decided to see you were buried for three days but then you all tried out again and now there has no sting and life has been transformed [Music] thank [Music] my life [Music] there is nothing stronger than the one to work [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] through [Music] is [Music] why [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] i wanna tell you thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music] you brought me from the darkness into the [Music] glorious life [Music] [Music] it's so sweet to trust in jesus just to take him as his word just to rest upon his brother [Music] amen it's so sweet to trust in [Music] jesus just from sin and self to sins just from jesus [Music] life and rest and joy and dreams come on church jesus jesus [Music] jesus jesus [Music] to trust him [Applause] oh how sweet to trust [Music] just to trust his cleansing blood and insane for faith to plunge [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] to trust him so glad i learned to trust the precious jesus and i know [Music] that thou art with [Music] thank you for your faithfulness [Music] thank you for the name in the name of jesus [Music] [Applause] thank you jeff and all you guys leaving i hope you all know how blessed we are at bellevue to have really godly talented worship leaders amen amen i mean it man i tell you what i i go around and preach and i come back in here and i just say lord thank you for these precious people that we have i'm putting anybody down but i'm just saying man god has blessed us so much take your bible and turn with me not to james but to ephesians okay ephesians chapter one we're gonna look at one verse well we're gonna look at a lot of verses but we're gonna really unpack one verse verse 13. i want to ask you a simple question and i want you to know that i'm going to be talking a little bit not trying to be disparaging or anything like that or critical but i am going to talk a little bit about some the way other people believe is the way to salvation but i want to talk to you today about how the bible says you become a christian okay so how do you become a christian do you just go to church a christian church do you just say i adhere to the teachings of jesus how do you become a follower a disciple of jesus christ well let's look at roman catholicism just a little bit i won't go into a lot of it but they believe that you become a christian when you are baptized or sprinkled as an infant before you have enough mental wherewithal spiritual wherewithal to repent or believe just when you get baptized or sprinkled that you're a christian well there's only one problem with that but it's a big problem there's nothing in the bible about sprinkling babies nothing zero in the new testament nowhere in the new testament do we see babies being baptized much less sprinkled the word baptized is a english transliteration of a greek word baptizo which means to plunge to immerse if you're from dyersburg to dunk to dunk and it's a beautiful picture and the only way you get the picture of the resurrection of jesus is through immersion he died for our sins he was buried and he rose from the dead it's also what happens to you when you get baptized you die to your old way of life you're buried with god in christ and you're raised to walk in newness of life you don't get any of that you say well it's like you know water or sprinkling babies is likened unto circumcising babies in the old testament i'm sorry but that is not new testament theology that's not new you say well where did all that come from then it came from back in the early church when they started to believe that there was some type of salvific power in the water of baptism so somebody along the way said why don't look if baptism saves you let's just go ahead and baptize babies so that they will be sure to be saved and not go to hell and so it's a little hard to immerse a little baby and them not take in some of the water so they started the sprinkling process and basically that's how it came about it didn't come out of scripture it came out of bad theology nothing in the bible about in the new testament about sprinkling babies it's not there you can't find it and so we don't believe that the roman catholics are right on that then the church of christ say well how about if you just immerse somebody and that's how you get saved well they believe that immersion is part of the salvific experience but there's only a problem with that if if if doing something like being baptized or taking the lord's supper you know the catholics believe that the lord's supper is a way to salvation also and if you take that in that you're taking in the literal body and blood of christ which is not what jesus had in mind when he was talking about that in john chapter six but when you get baptized they say well that's where you get saved well the problem with that is it makes a good work meritorious and what that means is that it's meriting or earning salvation and the bible is in juxtaposition that's a fancy word for direct opposition with anything that you can do to get saved look at me i can't do anything except just surrender to jesus in order to get saved he did it all he paid it all he did it all he's the one that died for my sins he's the one that rose from the dead and that's why paul said in ephesians 2 8 verse through 10 would you read this with me from the screen good and strong for by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves it's the gift of god stop stop right there again i say this all the time but you just got to understand paul was jewish in background he understood you know what i'm about to say hebrew parallelism and so he makes a statement and then he explains the statement what's the statement by grace you've been saved through faith what does that mean paul not of yourselves it's the gift of god now watch this keep going now not read it with me now not as a result of works so that no one may boast now watch this for we are his workmanship read it with me now created in christ jesus for good works which god prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them he goes on to explain hey if you get saved you're god's workmanship literally you're god's masterpiece and you're cr you're saved for good works you're not saved by good works but if you get saved you will perform good works not as not to secure your salvation or to achieve your salvation but to show that you're saved to display your salvation that you're really saved and so that's what the bible says it's by grace through faith in christ titus 3 5 says he saved us we didn't save ourselves he saved us how not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness but according to his mercy anybody thankful for mercy this this morning yeah how about that by the washing not of water but of regeneration and renewing by the holy spirit when the holy spirit regenerates you you're washed by the holy spirit the living water of god not by h2o all right amen paul amen thank you lord that we are saved we are saved by grace through faith in christ so i want to talk to you today about title of message salvation 101 if you go to the university of memphis or you go to a seminary you go wherever you say okay i want to study english they have english 101 201 301 401 and i don't know how far it goes but it just keeps going and it's just a different higher level so let's just talk about entry-level salvation entry-level being born again what it what's it like ephesians 1 13 read it with me please from the screen read it with me now in him you also after listening to the message of truth the gospel of your salvation having also believed you were sealed in him with the holy spirit of problem do you see that prepositional phrase twice in there in him i'll ask them back here do you see the prepositional phrase twice in there in him i got no no that's too late for y'all i'm talking to them be quiet just a minute did y'all do do you see in him no you're not up here i'm not trying to be cute but we're saved in jesus that's how we're saved you're not saved by a pope you're not saved by a church you're not saved by steve gaines or any pastor any priest or any anything like that you're saved by jesus in him where's my salvation in jesus in jesus is my salvation in being a southern baptist no is my salvation in being a catholic no is my salvation in church christ no my salvation is in jesus in jesus in him i want you to do something with me take your bible and look at ephesians 1 you should already be there i'm going to read and i'm going to read it fast but i'm going to read it good and strong and i'm going to show you that at least 13 times paul says in jesus and he's talking about salvation in the whole first chapter it's all in jesus it's going to sound like he's just repeating himself over and over he talks about in the beloved in christ jesus in him in him listen here it comes you ready here it comes paul an apostle of christ jesus i want you to circle or underline the in hymns in here okay this is how we're saved paul an apostle of christ jesus by the will of god to the saints who are in ephesus at ephesus who are faithful in christ jesus there's the first one grace to you and peace from god the father father and the lord jesus christ blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessings in heavenly places how in christ just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we would be holy and blameless before him in love he predestined us to adoption as sons through jesus christ to himself according to the kind intention of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace which he freely bestowed on us in the beloved the beloved is jesus christ then he starts off verse 7. in him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his kind intention which he purposed in him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times that is the summing up of all things in christ things in the heavens and things on the earth and look at the last part of verse 10. in him also we have obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to the purpose to his purpose who works all things after the council of his will to the end that we who were the first to hope in him would be to the praise of his glory in him this is our verse for today you also after listening to the message of truth the gospel of your salvation having also believed you were sealed in him with the holy spirit of promise who is given as a pledge of our inheritance or a down payment of our inheritance with a view to the redemption of god's own possession to the praise of his glory for this reason i too having heard of the faith in the lord jesus there it is again which exists among you and your love for all the saints do not cease giving thanks for you while making mention of you in my prayers just don't ever forget that little phrase making mention of you in my prayers i've got a list of about 60 people that i pray for every day and i just mention their name and once i mention there's something about just calling out a name to god and when you do that then praying verses over them you can pray for people to be healed that way mention them in your prayers that the god of our lord jesus christ the father of glory may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him i pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know what is the hope of his calling what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints and what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe there are these are in accordance with the working of the strength of his might which he brought about in christ that's the last time he says it but i'm going to go ahead and finish the chapter just a few more verses here when he raised him from the dead seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power and dominion in every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come and he put all things in subjection under his feet and gave them his head over all things to the church which is his body the fullness of him who fills all in all i rest my case salvation is in jesus christ in jesus christ how am i saved in him i'm not just with him i'm in him and he is in me i'm born again no less than 13 times now muslims say no jesus is just a prophet he wasn't the supreme prophet he wasn't the savior who leads us to god for muslims allah is god and muhammad is his prophet what do mormons believe mormons you say they're christians are they not no they're not they're not born again christians don't get mad at me i know some of you have relatives that are and they they talk they will tell you that they believe just like you and they don't they don't mormons believe that jesus was a man who became god jesus was not a man who became god jesus is god who became man exactly obviously well what does it matter it matter all the difference in the world because they believe you can become a god they believe man can become god just like jesus became god jesus didn't become god jesus always was god and always will be god and by the way mormons and i'm not trying to shock you and i'm telling you the truth and if a mormon is truthful about what they're about to say to you he'll tell you this mormons believe that the devil and jesus were brothers i got news for you the devil is not the brother of jesus the devil was a fallen angel originally created as a good angel and jesus created him but he fell and he went into sin they are not brothers wrong theology what did jehovah witnesses believe they believed that jesus was just a man i can remember in lake dallas texas now get this get this picture baptist preacher lived next door to a mormon who i dearly loved carpenter he was just a great guy but he was a mormon and so i can remember i would share with him and we talk and i would say you know jesus was not a man who became god he was a god who became man and we would talk and just go back and forth the devil and jesus weren't brothers and we just talk and stuff and we would eat out with them i mean they had a little girl that was grant's age and they played together and so it wasn't like we hated it it's not that you hate these people you just try to lovingly tell them the truth and so one saturday morning the jehovah witnesses were in the neighborhood and they came by and two young men probably about 14 years old knocked on my door and they said hi where i said you guys are jehovah witnesses aren't you they said yeah i said i believe in jehovah his name come on in i love jehovah and i do i love jesus he's jesus is jehovah right so i i bring them in and so we're talking and i'm reading to them from john 1 in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god he was in the beginning with god all things came into being by him and apart from him nothing came into being this coming to being and then it was life and the life was the light of the world and i just started talking about the bible jesus claims to be god god is is is jesus is god the son and all that all of a sudden i hear this knock on my door and it's their dad and he knocks on the door and he said are my kids in here i said yeah i'm telling them who jehovah really is he said boys let's go and so they're walking out and my mormon neighbor i this i'm telling you i'm not embellishing this a bit i'm standing at my door the jehovah witnesses are leaving my house and my mormon neighbor said i told y'all not to go over there [Applause] amen so i'm not trying to sound like i know everything but i want to tell you something look at me jesus is jehovah jesus is jehovah amen amen amen oh he said it was the only way john 14 6 jesus said to them again hebrew parallelism i am the way the truth the life what does that mean no one comes to the father but through me he said it he said it and don't believe the disciples didn't get it peter got it he's up there and they're saying don't you preach anymore in the name of jesus and he said oh really no we're going to keep on because the bible says there is salvation acts 4 12 there is salvation in no one else there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved don't you think that maybe peter if he didn't think jesus taught that would have been bowing out of that man he stayed with the stuff he was ready to die for the name of jesus it's only salvation in jesus paul got it he writes to timothy and he says there's only one god and only one mediator between god and men the man christ jesus buddha is not a mediator between god and men muhammad is not a mediator between god and men there's only one god and only one mediator between god and men the man christ jesus jesus is the root of salvation because he's the only one that is divine he is the only one who is eternal he is the only one virgin born he's the only one who led a sinful sinless life he was tempted in all ways like we are but he never sinned and he's the only one that went to the cross to die as an atoning sacrifice for your sins he's the only one that was buried that came out of the grave never to die again there were some people that came out of the grave but they all died again jesus came out he's never going to die again and the bible says he appeared to the disciples and then he went back to the right hand of the father he sat down at the right hand of the father and he's reigning now as king of kings and lord of lords according to uh the bible that great verse in uh psalm 110 verse one he is at the right hand of the father and he is going to stay there until god makes all of his enemies a footstool for his feet that's jesus i'm talking about and jesus is preparing heaven and jesus is praying for you right now and jesus is getting ready to come back there's nobody there's nobody like jesus amen well that's the root of salvation it's in him well who are the recipients of salvation in him you also who's you anybody that believes in jesus and believes on jesus when paul said you technically he was talking in this context about the ephesian christians how did they become christians and the you hear is plural he's talking about a lot of people so how did the christians in ephesus become christians were they always christians no paul went there and we read about it in acts 19 don't turn there now but you can go there and you'll find out here's what paul happened to paul he goes he goes to ephesus and when he steps out he starts meeting people he meets these 12 guys who are disciples of john the baptist they had not heard the gospel of jesus they were still in the john the baptist days and so he shares the gospel with them correctly and said it's not about john the baptist it's to the one it's about the one that john the baptist was pointing to and he told them about jesus they all got saved they got filled with the holy spirit and he moves on and he goes to ephesus and he does what he always does he goes to the synagogue the jewish synagogue in ephesus and he's sharing he said hey this christ that you're looking for he's already come his name is jesus let me tell you about him i met him on the road and he starts talking about jesus and a lot of people start getting saved in the synagogue and then the bible says after three months they rose up and some of the officials at the synagogue didn't like paul so they throw him out they don't like him talking saying jesus to christ and so but then all the christians go with him all the disciples go with him they go to the school of taranis and that is just this philosophical hall if you will and they just start having church and the bible says in only two years all the people in what was asia in that day all the people around ephesus it was the epicenter it was the capital of asia in that day all the people heard the gospel of jesus christ let me read it to you let me read it to you he says in acts 19 10. this went on that is the gospel witness in the house of tyranus for two years for the next two years so that people throughout the province of asia jews and greeks heard the word of the lord all these people start getting saved and then god does some unusual miracles listen to this god gave paul acts 19 11-12 the power to perform unusual miracles when handkerchiefs or aprons that had merely touched his skin now what is that what was paul he was a tent maker that's a very you know rigorous uh process and he was sweating a lot and they would just take the rags off of him and the bible says when they were placed on sick people they were healed of their diseases and evil spirits were expelled now you say do you really believe that i really believe it do i believe it happens today i don't know about that you know i i don't know i i don't know what would happen if you took a sweat rag off of somebody today i don't know all i know is it was happening in that day you know sometimes god had to do these kind of things with people that had no background whatsoever about christianity and so he's saving these people and not only that but a bunch of people in the occult come out of it let me read on in acts 19. this is all about ephesus these are the yous these are the people that he was talking to in our text today acts 19 18 19 says many who became believers confessed their sinful practices what were those sinful practices a number of them who had been practicing sorcery divination witchcraft satanism casting spells fortune tellers all of that is an abomination to god even though hollywood is making such a a a big windfall financially by putting all this out there hollywood believes in some of these miraculous satanic things more than a lot of christians do and they're saying everything's okay with it it's just divination it's just fun and they make it all sound so great no god said it's not great a number of them who had been practicing sorcery brought their incantation books and burned them at a public bonfire and if you've got any divination books at your place you need to burn them in a fire you need to get rid of them you need to get rid of that stuff the value of the books in modern day which is the new living translation what it's trying to say is several million dollars so the message about the lord spread widely and had powerful effect recipients of salvation all the people that were getting saved in ephesus and by the way if you think that we should continue to you know it's okay to to read books about diviners and mediums and psychics and witches and warlocks all you know and all that the bible says let me just give you one verse besides the ones that were just talked about in the new testament here's the old testament a little bit because 19 26 and i can give you a lot more than this do not practice fortune telling and witchcraft and mediums and spiritists and all that stuff divination just don't don't have anything to do with it don't have anything to do with it in him you also are you a recipient of salvation in jesus christ then you understand you've been born by his spirit second corinthians 5 17 describes your life therefore if anyone is in christ he has been a he is a new creature a new creation old things pass away new things come if you are saved you're going to desire to do right you might not always do right but you're going to desire to do right because the holy spirit in you wants to do the will of god do you have a desire that's one of the main ways you know yourself do you have a desire to do the right thing and when you do the wrong thing do you feel conviction do you know that you shouldn't do those things that's the test that's one of the tests god wants to save you i don't care who you are what you've done god wants to save you first timothy 2 3 and 4 this is good and acceptable in the sight of god our savior who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth who are the recipients of salvation those who are in him third what is the requirement for salvation are you ready for this after listening to the message of truth the gospel of your salvation you've got to listen to the message of truth if there is a message of truth there's also messages of lies right i'm trying to show you some of the lies that are out there today too so you've got to believe in the truth you can't just believe you can't even just believe in god you can only believe in god through his son the lord jesus christ after listening to the message of truth the gospel the good news of your salvation that's a requirement you've got to listen in order to be saved you must listen to the gospel you cannot get saved before you listen to the gospel you can be saved when you listen to the gospel or after you hear the gospel that's why we at bellevue every time we take up an offering a large portion of that goes to support our 4 000 plus missionaries all over the world in the southern baptist convention that go through the international mission board over a hundred countries every time we pass a plate you put money in there you are supporting missionaries who are telling people who will never hear the gospel if we don't share it with them and others like us don't share it with them all over the world people are being saved and they're being saved by the tens of thousands because the gospel of jesus christ is to be told and they need to listen and to hear the message that is the requirement of salvation why are we planning as southern baptist to the north american mission board hundreds of new testament gospel preaching churches across canada canada is almost barren for the gospel there it used to be a gospel epicenter and now it's a gospel wasteland but we are planting hundreds of churches across canada hundreds of churches all out west in the united states all up in new york we just got back from vermont churches are being planted all over new england right now it's hard soil but we're planting churches through the north american mission board why are we doing that so people can have the opportunity at least to hear the gospel one time why should anybody hear it two times when some people have never heard it one time and it's our job to go to them not for them to come to us so yes we're going to be involved in that yes we're going to tell people and we want people to listen because you can't listen if nobody's sharing it it's our job to share and then they have to listen and do what they need to do romans 10 14 reminds us that people lost people can't hear the gospel if unless saved people share the gospel romans 10 14 says how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed you can't call on the lord and the verse before that is whosoever shall call upon the name the lord shall be saved that's verse 13 right before that we all know that one but verse 14 how how how they going to call on people when they've never believed and how will they believe in him whom they have not heard and how they will they hear without a preacher not talking about like a preacher like me he's talking about a proclaimer somebody will share the gospel i preached at a funeral yesterday of a dear friend that i've known for over 30 years she and her husband joined our church joined our church at west jackson when they were in their 20s she was only 60 years old that may sound like old to some of you it doesn't sound old to me and she died not of covid but of a respiratory problem they call we were in vermont and they called us on mondays they'd be praying for she died on tuesday just unbelievable there are a lot of people dying right now did you know that i don't know what the lord is doing but i'm telling you i believe the lord is trying to get our attention there are a lot of people dying i've i've been alive 63 years i've never i don't know of any time that i've seen this many people dying that with that's not war related i remember in vietnam a lot of people were dying but i'm talking about non-war related i've never i've never in all my ministry i don't remember any time like right now people dying god's trying to wake us up and so this lady dies and want me to do their funeral did you know that people will come to a funeral that would never darken the door of a church they'll come to a wedding and they'll come to a funeral i had a seminary professor tell us to always share the gospel at weddings and funerals and give people the chance to get saved so i get to the end of my message i'm sharing the gospel i said would you pray with me if you'd like to receive christ in a funeral home because i don't know everybody there and i told them i said look she alison this lady that died she's in heaven she would not mind me sharing the gospel and asking you to pray to receive christ at all she'd she'd say do it do it why do we share the gospel because they can't hear if they they can't get saved if they don't hear and they can't hear if we don't tell them do you see what i'm saying when you look at people don't look at the outward appearance look at their heart and here's what you wonder you don't think about are they black are they white are they rich are they poor are they educated they're uneducated or they're republican or democrat you don't think about all this stuff here's what you are they saved do they know the lord because they're going to heaven or hell one of the two everybody you see is going to heaven or to hell and it ought to matter to you if that doesn't matter to you then you've got a heart condition okay you need to have a a heart up with the lord and say god why is my heart so hard why am i not able to have any affection at all for lost people who are going to be in hell the rest of their lives and not only that but if they keep living without christ their life on earth is empty what would you do if you didn't have christ in your life to call on in prayer when you had a problem what would you do if when your marriage is not going right you didn't have christ to help you through that process what would you do people are like that not only are they going to hell but they're in a hell-like world if you will with no god to call on don't you think maybe you need to tell somebody about jesus once in a blue moon uh what's the requirement listening to the message but how can anybody listen to somebody unless somebody tells them that's the requirement of salvation number four the response for salvation you got to respond not just listen but you got to respond you got to having also believed before a person can be saved he must hear and listen to the gospel but merely hearing and listening the gospel is not enough you've got to believe on the lord jesus christ and believing is more than just head knowledge believing about god believing is believing savingly if you will in jesus christ you have to believe that jesus died for you you have to believe that jesus rose from the dead to give you eternal life you have to put all of your faith in jesus and say i'm not trusting in myself i'm trusting in jesus right now you're trusting in that chair that's holding you up right i'm you're it you're holding it's holding my weight how do you know you sat in it now if you just stand up and say i believe that chair could hold me up well you know maybe it could maybe it could maybe there's a a bolt in there that you know you don't know about that's been unloosed or maybe that extra pie you ate could sink that chair pretty quick you don't know until you what sit in it and you are not a believer until you prove that you are that you put yourself on you believe on jesus christ you lay your heart and soul on jesus and you say i believe i believe so much that i'm going to rest in jesus have you done that have you come to christ have you taken that step not just head knowledge but you've cast yourself upon him the most famous verse in the whole bible john 3 16 it talks about believing in jesus read it with me good and strong here we go for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life how many of you want eternal life anybody out there then you got to believe but you can't just believe you got to believe in jesus you got to believe on jesus casting all my cares upon him leaning on the everlasting arms i'm going to cast i'm going to cast my soul and i'm going to believe on the lord jesus christ that's what i'm going to do that's what i'm going to do that's the only way anybody gets into heaven john 6 29 jesus told them this is the only work god wants from you to believe in the one he has sent the whole gospel of john was written that you might believe in christ john 20 31 john said but these things have been written so that you may believe that jesus is the christ the son of god and that believing you may have life in his name when paul and silas went to philippi i've been there a couple of times and they went there and they started winning people to jesus this lady who was demonized she was a fortune teller she got saved demon was cast out paul cast the demon out and her owners didn't like it their uh fortune telling slave woman couldn't uh tell any more fortune so they didn't make any more money offers they have paul and silas and they beat them publicly throw them in jail and the old roman soldier down there put them in stocks and everything because if they got out he would be killed in their place and so they they were in there their backs were bleeding you can read about this in acts chapter 16. actually it's one of my honest acts is my favorite book in the bible okay so in acts 16 they're down there they've been beaten and it's midnight and their backs are bleeding probably rats crawling across uh their their feet just in there and you say what are they going to do they start singing and praising god they don't have a praised band to lead them either some of y'all didn't sing today i'm not mad at you a little disappointed it's about as easy as it gets to sing praises here what would you do if you were in jail and you just had your back beaten to peace as you're bleeding and you're in stocks praise god from whom all blessings flow praise him all creatures here below praise him above ye heavenly host praise father son and holy ghost oh victory in jesus might say you said you lost your mind preacher no i didn't lose my mind i'm sure a lot of those prisoners said these guys are crazy and the jailer it says in acts 16 was listening to them and guess what so was god and god sent an earthquake and all their chains fell off and the jail cell flew open and the guard was about to commit suicide because if they got free he would be tortured and then killed along with his family and he didn't want to see that and then paul shouts don't hurt yourself we're all here and he came running that jailer did and fell at paul's feet and we read about it in acts 16 30 and 31 after he brought them out of the prison he said sirs what must i do to be saved and paul said well just do the best you can well just you know go to church once a month well give a little money in the offering plate well you know get baptized get sprinkled and all that no he said believe in the lord jesus and you not might be saved you will be saved and it goes for your family too even your kiddos you and your household if they will believe they will be saved and i'm telling you whoever is here today regardless of what you've done regardless of what is in your past regardless of what your family has done regardless of anything going on in your life if you will believe on the lord jesus christ he will save you today he will save you today every every anybody can be saved anybody can be saved anybody that's the response having also believed well the root of salvation in him the recipients of salvation you also all y'all come the requirement of salvation listen to the message of truth the gospel your salvation the response having also believed now the reward of salvation how many of you like rewards how many ever ate a box don't eat the box but eat what's in the box of cracker jacks anybody like cracker jacks yeah remember the little toy that was in there did they still do that i can remember oh i want some cracker jacks i didn't want cracker jacks i didn't care about cracker jacks i don't like caramel that much i mean it's okay but i didn't care about the cracker jacks i didn't care about the peanuts i wanted the prize many a time i've taken that when my mama wasn't looking and poured the whole thing out on the bed and got the prize and then shoved all that stuff back in it crumbs everywhere i did it on my brother's bed too i'm kidding i don't know what bet i did on probably did it on his bed but i wanted the reward how many of you like payday anybody like payday rest y'all just lied you told a lie amen we like payday don't we yeah why oh that's that's the reward yeah many of you want a reward from god anybody you ready here comes you were sealed everybody say sealed you were sealed in him with the holy spirit of promise when god saves you he seals you he marks you with a mark of ownership he brands you ephesians 4 30 don't grieve the holy ghost the spirit of god by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption second corinthians 1 21-22 now he who is establishes us with you in christ and anointed us is god who also sealed us and gave us the spirit in our hearts as a pledge when god saved you the holy spirit of god came upon you came in you and sealed you my mother used to can vegetables my mother was ready for a pandemic and she didn't even know what a pandemic was amen i'm telling you dorothy was from the country and that gal would go buy corn and she would can she call it cans i never understood why you call it canning when you put them in jars and they're cur jars those quart jars and and and she put all that good i mean good oh oh my soul i'm talking about cream sweet corn cream corn i'm talking about okra i'm talking i'm talking and praise god you know i'm getting happy right now in jesus she she would do tomatoes she would do all kinds of things i'm so grateful she didn't do brussels sprouts nasty nasty nasty she put those things amen on the brussels sprouts and so she'd put those in a quart jar and then what she put on the top she sealed it she sealed it she sealed it so hard and then it would you know some kind of the gas or something coming out of the vegetables everything but it would just tighten up and it took a man to get that thing open no offense ladies i'm just telling you it took it took it took some pliers all right i mean you had to really bear down on that thing it was sealed guess what happened when you got saved god came into you with the holy spirit and then god took his holy spirit on the outside and put a seal on you you are double locked and key baby you are ready to go you are look remember the sign the song signed sealed and delivered you are his you are signed your name is in written in the lamb's book of life you are signed you are sealed the holy ghost has sealed you and that is the down payment of your salvation that is the down payment you're going to be you're saved right now but man you think you're saved now wait till you get to heaven you're really going to be saved then and that's the down payment of the future payment which is heaven itself so you're signed and sealed and you're delivered you're delivered from the old life old things have passed away new things have come i am signed i am sealed i am delivered in christ jesus all because i got saved amen amen amen he said preacher you've lost your mind you don't know the half of it i gave my mind to him a long time ago because he makes sense when this world does not this world's gone crazy but i'm not crazy i'm in my right mind because of him he's sealed me devil can't snatch me out of his hand he sealed me my sin can't snatch me he sealed me he sealed me the devil can't snatch me out of his he sealed me amen let's all stand up i'm through you know you don't have to ever have to worry about knowing what i'm through i'll either tell you or i'll sing i said i like to hear you sing i said that just means the sermon's over my church really likes it when i sing too because they know the sermon is over amen can we read this verse one more time this is this is people say what's salvation ephesians 1 verse 13. would you read it with me in him you also after listening to the message of truth the gospel of your salvation having also believed you were sealed in him with the holy spirit of pride let's thank god for salvation today can we do that amen hallelujah glory to the living god amen don't don't ever get to the point where you don't thank god that your name is written in the lamb's book of life amen amen when the devil tries to discourage you you'll say well that may be true but i want to tell you something my name's in the lamb's book of life i'm saved i'm a child of god you just get happy talking about it that's why you know that's by the way that's why you shut the door when you pray because you get happy and you start sometimes getting a little loud you know and you start praising god and it's real it's not just show it's real it's the spirit of god in you it's the spirit of god in you flowing through you let me ask you do you know what i'm talking about do you know what it's like to know jesus do you know what it's like to have all your sins forgiven do you know what it's like to really know the lord let's bow just a minute if we could a lot of y'all know what we're about to do i i just want to ask you would you pray to receive christ that's how you get saved whosoever shall call everybody say call whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord shall be saved not might be saved but shall be saved would you do that today would you just pray and receive christ i don't know how else to do it except to do it this way if you know of a better way let me know when i do a wedding for a young couple or just any couple if i do a wedding i lead them in their wedding vows i've never had anybody complain about that they just say i'm gonna mean whatever what you put it out if it's the right thing i'm gonna mean it i'm gonna give you the right thing to receive christ if you'll say this to him not to me not to your neighbor not to yourself but if you'll talk to the lord whoso ever that's you shall call upon the name of the lord shall be saved you shall be saved you shall be saved in the balcony don't you think it's about time you got saved up front on this row these rows across here don't you think you need to get saved are you tired of wondering salvation 101 man this is it let's do it now's the time let's do it pray something like this jesus is right there with you just just say dear lord jesus this is it i'm getting saved today salvation 101 for me today thank you for loving me thank you for leading me here to a church where i can hear the gospel thank you lord lord i pray and i repent i'm sorry for my sins please forgive me i repent of my sin help me lord to live for you lord i don't just repent i believe not just about you but i believe in you and on you i trust you i believe you died on the cross for me i believe you rose from the dead and you're alive i repent and i believe and i receive you i call on your precious name the most wonderful name in all the universe save me right now lord jesus christ help me to live for you forever and when i die take me to heaven in jesus name amen let's thank the lord for anyone who just gave their heart to christ pastors come we're going to sing we're going to sing a song that i get teary-eyed they sang it while ago i was a wretch i remember who i was can i get a witness out there i was a wretch i was lost i was blind i was running out of time i know what that's like i remember it i remember it just a word to those watching online if you pray to receive christ text the most beautiful name in the world jesus to 901 901 and we will get you some materials call you and get we'll contact you and get you started on the road to growing in grace but while we're singing about jesus saving people if you just pray to receive christ or you'd still like to come and talk to one of these brothers up here and just say hey i gave my heart to christ or i'd still like to and they'll rejoice with you and help you give you some good materials to get you started some things to read some show you a few things about prayer and whatnot you come won't take long please go if you're in the balcony great group up there all of you on this side you'll go right over there where he's got they're got their hands up all of you over on this side you'll go right over here they got their hands up only in this main floor you'll come forward we'll worship god and if you've been saved or you still want to be come salvation 101 come on if you've been saved you need to be baptized not to make you save but to show that you are i wear a wedding ring i've been wearing that 41 years i don't take it off you know why i want everybody know i'm married that didn't but did did that make me married no just shows that i am baptism doesn't make you a christian just it's god's wedding ring you put it on because you want other people to know you're not ashamed of jesus that's how you go public with jesus amen and we need to do that and if you want to join a church our church you come if you need prayer you come i'm going to pray we're going to sing this song again i'm telling you if i could do a back flip i'd do it singing this song amen don't worry i'm not going to try but i'm telling you this song lights my fire let's pray if you need to come you come you're among friends there's nev there'll never be a better time for you to make sure that you know christ come today father let your will be done bless this song help us to worship you in spirit and in truth let the spirit of god fall on this time right now in jesus name and all god's people said amen let's sing it out [Music] the breach was far too high but from the far side of the castle [Music] across [Music] cross [Music] freed my soul for the first time [Music] thank you jesus [Music] thank you jesus [Music] [Music] laid inside my tomb you were buried for three days [Music] for i have been [Music] thank you jesus [Applause] you jesus [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] we are [Music] [Applause] there is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Applause] thank you jesus [Music] thank you jesus [Music] the darkness into glorious [Applause] all right you see these little boxes uh go over there and just point to the box if you will look right there right there right there and then over on the other side right over there and then back in in the what's that area connect central we name it something different every five years connect central right here okay right back right back there right back there right out those doors right there we're going to give you something today and i want you to take it now don't take all of them there's a lot of people here don't be that guy he goes buys all the toilet paper and all that don't be that guy all right all right just a little outline on how to share the gospel if you just walk through this you see that's so mechanical my mother called me one day my mother was a janitor and she was cleaning a funeral home and the rich people that owned it had a butler who was dying of throat cancer and my mother felt like she wanted to witness to him how many of you know that god wanted her to witness to him amen steve what do i do so i gave her this outline not on this card we didn't have it laminated back then this is so pretty i just wrote it out i said mom just go to his bedside and ask him these questions and talk to him and say god loves you but you're a sinner you've broken god's laws the wages of sin is death but god loves you too much to leave you like that and he sent his son jesus who died on the cross in your place for your sins and rose from the dead and if you'll repent of your sins and believe in jesus and receive him you'll be saved and so my mom janitor goes to the butler and sits there and the lady that owned the funeral home sat there with her and she shares with him he can't talk he's got cancer and she said just just nod your head and she went to do you she said uh uh do you know for certain if you were to die you'd go to heaven okay do you know that god loves you she read john 3 16. he said yes tears started coming down his eyes do you know that we've all sinned do you know that you've committed sin yes do you know that god's holy and he has to punish sin the wages of sin is dead yes do you know that jesus bore your sin on the cross when he died for you and she shared the verses he said yes will you repent of your sins will you ask god to forgive you he said yes will you believe that jesus died for you and rose the dead yes will you receive him yes will you do it if i pray right now he nodded he couldn't talk yes tears just streaming down his face he was a day or two from dying and my mother led him to christ on that bed my mother got saved on a bed too when a lady led her to the lord she'd had a mastectomy and that lady prayed all night she was going to have another one at the age of 24 my mother and she prayed all night that that god would heal that other breast and he did she got healed and then she led my mother to christ on that bed and my mother then 50 years later led a butler to the lord on a bed using this don't tell me you can't do it a mom did it you can do it so get one of these and get a gospel tract i wrote this doesn't mean it's better than anybody else's but it does mean you get it free because i wrote it all right now just get one of them let's get one of them and ask the lord this week lord i want to share the gospel people are lost going to hell i want to share the gospel at least let me give a gospel tract out lord now let me just say hey my pastor wrote this and it's about jesus would you read it i've never given somebody one of these that they didn't take it i've given out hundreds of them if not thousands so all right if you have made a decision you want to talk to somebody about it come if you still want to be saved you come we're not going to bug out real quick i want to thank you i was preaching last night to a bunch of teenagers over in raleigh at a camp i preached for an hour and a half on prayer in the bible and they took notes and they were as still as you are right now they were in it man i'm talking about teenagers teenagers i'm 63 years old i am not 36 and they were listening to a 63 year old man talk about the bible and talk about prayer and i stopped in the middle of i said i don't know if i've ever had a group of young people and i was a youth pastor when i was young i've never i don't know if i've ever seen a better more attentive bunch like you and i had that same feeling when i'm looking at you right now it's one thing to preach it but it sure is good when you got folks listening thank you for listening and let's thank jesus for giving us the gospel amen father we love you we've got a long way to go but lord god you're going to help us help us to tell somebody about jesus i know that if my mom could do it anybody can do it just a simple girl but you saved her and she wanted to tell people about you and thank you that she led a lot of people to the lord before she died just that little card help us to take these cards and use them and god opened doors that no man can shut shut doors that no man can open give us divine appointments pray that with me give us divine appointments pray it again give us divine appointments to share the gospel in jesus name god bless y'all have a good week in the lord amen

Channel: Bellevue Baptist Church

Views: 890

Rating: 5 out of 5

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Id: GPRrGwx9eYc

Length: 89min 48sec (5388 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021