let's all stand together and open our
bibles tonight to hebrews chapter 2. we
are in the book of hebrews believe it or
not on wednesday nights
man this has been a tough time to be
consistent in hebrews
with all that's going on in our world
around us but hebrews chapter 2 and we
were right in the middle of our lesson
that is in chapter 2 verses 1 through 4.
i'll read the odd-numbered verses if
you'll read the even-numbered verses 1
through 4 hebrews chapter 2 to be on the
screen in the new king james version
bible if you don't have that you can
look to the screens
and chapter 2 book of hebrews therefore
we must give the more earnest heed to
the things that we have heard lest we
drift away
how shall we escape if we neglect so
great a salvation which at the first
began to be spoken by the lord and was
confirmed to us
by those who heard him
wow and father we do pray tonight as we
study your word as we worship you and
learning more of you and your word
father we pray that you would visit us
each and every one of us
with the awareness i have to be careful
how i ask about this lord because you've
given every believer a gift at least one
gift
but it's for us to discover that gift so
lord i pray that you'd give every one of
us tonight
an intense passion
and a stirring of our spirit to not be
content
living what is called christianity
without knowing why we are a christian
what are we to be doing here and now
and so lord i pray that for this body of
believers that we would not be content
that we're going to heaven that we would
not be content that we're safe and sound
at this moment but we would be content
in living out every moment
until we go to heaven
doing what you want each of us to do
and just in this gathering tonight
this as it were small group
regarding this church
if just these wednesday nighters
knew
what it is that you've called them to do
in the body of christ the church
revival would break out
it would sweep this state and across
this nation
because if 12 people
can do it
there's more than 12 people here tonight
so lord we are ready
in jesus name and all god's people said
amen you can be seated church we're
looking at a message
that we've titled having the best and
the book of hebrews as we are learning
from chapter one now into chapter two
is that everything about jesus christ is
better
better than moses better than angels
better than the law
better than the previous or old
testament revelation which is of god
but the old testament revelation was the
promise
regarding the new testament fulfillment
that when we talk about having the best
we're actually talking about having
jesus christ in an actual relationship
and those of you who are keeping notes
you'll see where i'm recapping here
before we dive in and the first thing we
saw really and it's the main thing that
we see
is in verse one of chapter two having
the best means that there's uh this
demand of our attention that god is
saying to us now that the son of god has
been revealed and this is who he is
remember in our studies previously we
learned from chapter one that jesus
christ listen up friends listen i mean
this with all love no no critique at all
if you're watching tonight or right now
or if you're here and you are a cult
member of some group
you've been taught lesser things about
jesus but i want you to know that
hebrews chapter 1 tells us that jesus is
not only better but that he is the
creator god of all that there is and the
scripture even goes so far to say in the
in the book of colossians chapter 1 that
even angels have been created by jesus
christ
so maybe you've never heard that before
but that's why you're here i hope that's
why you're learning in the book of
hebrews is that jesus is the best
best at salvation best at forgiveness
best at vision best at faithfulness it's
all him it's all him
so it's been a while but i remember some
time ago somebody asked me why do we
stress jesus so much here
because god the father stressed jesus
everywhere in here
in fact
the book of psalms tells us
that behold in the volume of the book it
is written of me and by the way that's
going to be quoted again in hebrews
it's all about christ
god has revealed himself through his son
our savior and we saw it this way verse
1 therefore we study this therefore we
must give the more earnest heed listen
to these challenges to the things that
we have heard lest we drift away
notice church as we looked at this last
time give
circle it there in verse one give that
word means uh the highest need the top
priority
put it on the top shelf this is the
crowning
challenge
to give to give what earnest the
excessive it means full absolute
attention and devotion
so he's really setting us up for what's
about to come chapter one has been
delivered chapter two opens up with
verse one that word therefore so he's
stressing that what he's saying
marketing your notes is of critical
importance it's top shelf give excessive
attention to what
he is saying
is the announcement he says give heed to
this that word means hold on remember i
gave you the the shocking i think it's
shocking it seems as though it doesn't
fit but it's the actual meaning to take
heed means to hold on to to guard to
grasp with all vigilance watch this it
means to be addicted to
that is that is major church watch me
i'm going to exaggerate something right
now
somebody could be maybe you and i could
be reading our bibles thinking
at work driving and we are communing
with god
right we are having fellowship with god
you're thinking about god and god is
downloading thoughts into your head
you're pondering things you're wondering
this you're wondering that you're
seeking god about a direction on an
issue or that and all this is going on
in a moment's time you're completely not
aware i mean you you are aware that
you're driving but you're not thinking
about you know
uh
even where you're at it doesn't matter
you know you're in route you know you're
go you're going home but you're having
these god moments
and the bible is telling us right here
great
make sure you keep doing that grasp onto
that hold on to that and be addicted to
that
said this before but i
when i think of addiction what do you
think about addiction
drugs
and do you remember huey lewis in the
news that band
and he sing a song i want a new drug
remember that
does anybody remember that
he goes i want a new drug one that won't
make me sick
i want a new drug and he goes down and
really what he does
the sun will break your heart because
huey lewis
is saying you know what i'm i don't want
to get high anymore from the things of
this world because this this high makes
me sick
this high doesn't do anything for me
this thing gives me a headache this one
causes me to be broke
and he says i i want a new high
i want a new drug
and little did he know and i don't know
i hope he found out in time
that he was actually asking about jesus
and didn't know it
that his presence in your life
is so tangible and real friend listen
don't think for a moment if you're if
you're here and you're thinking i don't
know if god wants me in his life well
let me ask you a question do you want
god in your life
yes
well then if you want god in your life
you should understand something right
now the only way that you could have the
wanna
is if he gave it to you
and he doesn't give any of the wanna
you know what i'm saying i want to come
to him
he puts that want to in you
to the person who doesn't even want
anything to do with god they don't care
if they they don't care about heaven or
hell they don't care about light or
darkness they don't care
but to the person tonight that is saying
i care i want to know i'm going to
heaven i want to go to hell i want to
see god
you need to hear this
you need to be strong from this moment
on you need to grab on to the word of
god and you need to be addicted to it
and you get to be addicted to it because
guess what he's invited you to the
kingdom of god
last sunday beautiful beautiful moments
it was kind of fun
but someone came up to me and said to me
i don't believe in god
and i said i'm sure you have reasons why
you do not believe in god well yes i do
but those reasons are going away little
by little
and i said that's fantastic
listen i'm not kidding because you know
we have to be careful we don't talk
christian knees to people
and so i made it i made it a point i'm
talking to a non-believer right now
right out in front of this church on
sunday
and they said is there a program that i
can sign up for is there a course that i
can take to uh get this taken care of
and i said you mean you mean get your
questions answered
yes but i want to find out if god is
real because right now i don't believe
and i said well
there is not a course
for you to sign up to there's not a
seminar to
go
and attend
but do you go to church here i've just
started coming
and did you have these kinds of thoughts
before
you came to church no
this person here asked me to come
i started coming
and i come every week and i'm having now
this all this is going on and i said
just let it happen just just just
just keep coming
just keep coming yeah but
i want to do something i want and i said
listen
i could say to you right now
i could actually
get you to pray a prayer
and send you on your way
i could
probably talk you into the kingdom of
god right now
you're really low-hanging fruit
but i'm not going to do that
god is at work in your life
you're going through this struggle
the veil as it were is falling from your
eyes and you're starting to see more
clearly you've got tons of incredible
questions
because you know why
and this person said no
and i said i went just like this i went
i said he's reeling you in but shouldn't
we do something now and i said no
now you're going to say jack the golden
moment you should have sealed the deal
right then and there
no you know what no listen
god knows exactly where this person's
heart is and i would rather have that
person
be evangelized by the lord jesus christ
through the going forth of the bible
than having that person just recite
something
and go off thinking i'm glad that's done
what's the next thing oh no no listen i
want you to go through a struggle
you and i don't remember but when we
were born into this world it was a
struggle
it had to be a struggle because every
one of us were just absolute ugly when
we came out of our moms look at us it
looked like we'd gone through the ringer
and we're all contorted and we all
crunched up and goofy looking and uh and
yet that that baby went from one world
into the next and when it comes to
salvation let that soul go through its
struggle and go through its dynamic and
let that soul grasp on with all
addiction as it were
to the work of god in their lives
very important word and then he said for
us to uh take heed to what we have heard
what we've listened to a powerful word
that word and it's kind of amazing it
looks like a japanese word but it's a
greek word it's a-k-o-u-o
doesn't that look japanese maybe it is
japanese
but it's greek maybe there's a but
but you pronounce it it's kind of cute
it's aku
almost sounds like a little baby cooing
and it's beautiful
in the hearing of or that which you
listened to that which has come
into your ears
this is so important
why
you and i every human being is to be
very discerning what they allow into
their ears
have we lost this discipline in our
culture today
jesus says be careful what you hear man
is that that's so powerful
watch out you don't need to hear
everything
oh what's the latest
it won't benefit you to know
be careful what you listen to
you say are you saying no to listen to
rock and roll
i'm saying be careful what you listen to
don't don't marginalize it
everything that's going around you be
careful what you hear
be careful what you allow
because you know we have what is this
the uh the eye gate they call it right
the eye gate things come into us through
the eye we have the ear gate
by what we hear we want to guard those
gates
is there a third one
i thought there was a third one
mouth
food
anyway
why why do i want to be so careful
because there's a tremendous statement
here that causes a lot of theologians to
scratch their heads and i and i get it
it says lest we drift away notice
everybody
it doesn't say lest
it drifts away or the truth drifts away
or something drifts away it says
what
we drift away
look in your bible there it's about
if we don't take
care and give full attention we could
drift away
and this now i'm serious i have got a
stack of books on hebrews
and you should see the chapters
dedicated to the last end right there of
verse one because
this stack of books will tell you this
is how you lose your salvation and it
goes through all these things telling
you that's what that verse means you can
lose your salvation
because if you don't do that you're
going to lose this
then the other stack of books is warning
you that it's consistent with the book
of hebrews exhorting you you better make
sure
that you're in this faith thing for real
by the way that's the camp that i'm in
make sure this faith thing is for real
see which one is it
i personally believe this if you're if
your faith
is real
then you're going to continue on
if your faith's real you're not going to
let this stuff drift
if your faith is real you're going to
abide in christ
if this faith listen if the faith in you
is real even if you're backslidden
you're going to run back home
i love that
there's other portions of hebrews we'll
get into that
more but
so i'm going to ask you to write these
things down and and and we pick it up
where we left off now philippians
chapter 2 verse 12 was a verse i quoted
and then we had to end the service last
time in philippians chapter 2 verse 12
it says therefore my beloved as you have
always obeyed
not as in my presence only but
now much more in my absence work out
your own salvation
with fear in trembling
it's a remarkable statement
some people might say
here the bible is teaching us that we
work
out our salvation that our salvation is
based upon works
be careful how you say that be careful
what you think church be smart about
this what do we know for sure what do we
know that the bible is saying and what
do we know for sure that the bible is
not saying
the bible is absolutely crystal clear
that you cannot
earn your salvation
so when it says here in philippians 2
regarding you and i giving all attention
to hebrews chapter 2 verse 1 it is this
apply yourself
because you are saved watch this because
salvation
is in you
bring it out
bring all of the attributes of god's
holy spirit at work in your life out
position yourself place yourself uh
make sure that you invest in the things
of god in your life work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling that
word means with respect and awe to god
in other words with full submission to
god
it's not a works based salvation it's
because i'm saved
and i know it i am gonna pour myself
into being what god called me to be
and that is the christian experience it
starts at the moment of salvation and it
ends on the day that you die
and it is exciting white knuckle all the
way through i mean it
whenever we say our christianity is
boring that's an indictment upon us
we're the ones that are not yielded
we're the ones if it's boring if you
yawn through your christianity then it's
you it's not him
he wants to change the world through you
your world wherever you go
that i can't change the world i'm just
one little person
come on he means that wherever you go
you're the one that is on you're the
torch burning
wherever you go yeah but i only go from
here to there i do it five days a week
from eight to five
are you on fire
are you on fire doing that thing
are you doing that
five times a week yes but are you on
fire for jesus word no i complain most
of the time
about it
catch fire about it let the holy spirit
take a hold of you and see what god will
do and then you know what maybe he'll
change up your hours maybe he'll change
up your
route
this working out is remarkable it's
perpetual and it's a christian reality
it's amazing to me because the
realization of
of us
having this holy spirit
alive and working in us as he does
as i mentioned and i want to read this
to you
that between
uh philippians 2 12 when it says
therefore my beloved as you have always
obeyed
and he talks about both in the presence
and away from working out your salvation
this one author writes this that the
follower the believer of jesus christ
cannot become acceptable to god by or
through himself
nor will jesus christ live his life
through an unyielded vessel
he inhabits our
nothingness
of self
did you hear that the nothingness of
self see what are you talking about when
you and i come and we realize this is
this is me god what in the world i can't
i can't even work myself out of a paper
bag and i'm supposed to work out my
salvation no you come to him and you
surrender to him
in your nothingness
only as a believer does
our nothingness matter to god when when
we come
and you know it's the person that is
most often the person that has so much
of this world's
uh attention
or talent
that's why you've seen people with great
talent and you've even told them you
should become a christian boy you're a
great salesman or you should become a
christian you're a great
you can talk to anybody you should
become a christian please don't ever say
that to anybody ever again
they should not become a christian
because they're a good
salesman
what are you saying
oh we want we need talented people in
our church
the kingdom of god needs talented people
god says excuse me
i've
invited the outcasts to come
i've invited those who need
forgiveness
i've i've brought those who are not blue
bloods
they're not royalty
isn't that amazing
it just blows up
the world's concept of
peasants
in relation to
royalty
if you're a peasant you're a peasant
forever and you're doomed
but when christ comes along he takes
peasants and lifts them up out
of the mire and sets them up sets him on
his throne for crying out loud
i don't know how much we appreciate
the gospel when we live in the western
world as we do
if you're living in some prison right
now in iran for your faith
or north korea
and you read that
we're seated with christ in the
heavenlies
that's going to mean something to you
pretty powerful
and so he goes on to tell us that
this
working out and i know it's not
philippians is our study tonight but i'm
going to use it a lot here right now
mark this down if you would i love it
it's from matthew henry i encourage you
to read matthew henry
he says this godly fear is a great guard
and
preservative against doing evil
we work outwardly our salvation because
god has worked it into us spiritually
and does work into us until that day
matthew henry i forget like 1680 16 90
he wrote that
that's a great statement
don't you love that isn't that
liberating
god is in you he's working your
salvation that started when you began to
be awakened to the works of god
and
he's now continuing that work all the
way through in your life
psalm 63 i'm going to give you some
verses psalm 63 verse 1. i'll read them
out loud we'll look at them together but
i'll read them out loud
oh god you are my god early
will i seek you that's working out your
salvation with fear and trembling
because you are listen are you guys
awake
because you are saved
you think and say things like this
god i want to seek you early in the
morning
you say i'm not a morning person jack
you may not be a morning person but
you've still had that thought
you may you may not be a morning person
but you have said to yourself
man i'd love to do that i need to do
that i should try that once
try getting up someday before the sun
i issue this challenge it's not legalism
it's just fun
you know you got to try it just man i
don't do that why would i do that
i don't know but it's something special
about it
you can say lord go go to sleep tonight
or whenever you think you but don't wait
too long because you'll forget so god i
want to just do psalm 63 in my life
so lord will you help me get out of bed
before the sun wakes up will you get me
out
ask him can you do that
all five of you are gonna do that that's
awesome
you want me to come wake you up
i'll be awake
not that i'm spiritual it's just that uh
nighttime is to be awake for me
my
body doesn't work right
so early will i seek you my soul thirsts
for you
now listen to yourself judge yourself on
this my flesh longs for you in a dry
and thirsty land
where there's no water it's california
so i have looked for you in the
sanctuary this is a beautiful verse
who's amazing because that hints of the
song of solomon um
he is searching for her or she is
searching for him and they're looking
everywhere and they're asking everyone
have you seen my beloved have you seen
where they've gone i haven't seen him in
a day where is he have you seen him i'm
going to go to the mountains and look
for him and he's saying have you seen my
love do you know where she's at i miss
her
look at the song of solomon is amazing
but you should read it after you're
married that's all i'm going to say
about the book
and everyone's going to read it tonight
so i have looked for you in the
sanctuary to see your power and your
glory because your loving kindness is
better than life
my lips shall praise you
thus i will bless you
while i live and i will lift up my hands
in your name my soul shall be satisfied
as with marrow and fatness
and my mouth shall praise you with
joyful lips so watch this everybody i'm
not kidding okay let's pretend nobody's
here but us
this is what you would do with this this
is
if you take only this home tonight in
this bible study it will be a success
if tonight or tomorrow morning
you open up psalm 63
and you do this
out loud go find a place i mean it go
outside go to the bathroom go to the tv
room go i don't care
but i would do this
oh god you are my god god you are my god
i don't want any god but you god
i will bow my need to no
thing or no one but you
early will i seek you lord put that in
my heart my life whatever you need to
change in my life the disciplines of my
life
change me up jesus
i invite you in
early will i seek you my soul thirsts
for you lord my soul does thirst for you
but it needs to thirst for you more
there's still too much maybe of this
world that
has has my attention so god force it out
by your presence
i was asked this week by the way there
was a
national article
in
the
statement was that there needs to be
this national coalition for men
christian men against pornography and
had all this stuff and i
my comment was simply
you can put devices on your phone and on
your computer and i guess that's a good
idea i said
but the greatest force
and power for a man to have himself be
pure is to love jesus christ most
and that is a fact
it's a fact
a woman struggling with her sin and a
man struggling with his sin the issue is
this
that
your love is divided for that thing in
jesus you're struggling with who do you
love the most
the thing that takes over you at times
is because you love it more that's why
that's when it wins
in the 30s dr harry ironside was
on a train
going from chicago to los angeles
and he stopped
i believe it was in either north or
south dakota
and he was preaching and teaching
in a
church and he gave the gospel
and at the end of the church service
they took up an offering for mr harry
ironside to send him on his way to los
angeles dr ironside and
when the ushers were passing the plate
there was a big
either a sioux indian or a blackfoot
indian
and that big man said
when the plate went by he didn't touch
it he just told the usher lower
lower
and the usher put it lower and he said
lower
and the usher put it lower and he said
lower
and the usher got upset put the offering
plate on the ground
and the indians stepped in the offering
plate
and lifted his hands to god
so you take psalm 63 and you talk speak
say it out loud to god
watch what happens he'll be listening
you'll be convinced and you'll know for
sure god was listening to me
this happened the two hours later this
happened two days two weeks later god
actually heard me he was listening
don't pray anymore not expecting god to
move we pray oh dear god do this bless
that and thank you for the hot dog and
away we go and we don't expect anything
to happen
we we prayed we prayed watered down
prayers that have no spice to them we've
prayed this this generic thing that
listen it was so generic that if god
answered your prayer you wouldn't even
know it
because it was so
nondescript right it was just there
but if you say god shake up my life you
have to be afraid of him by the way i
can't pray that prayer he'll blow me up
you understand he loves you more than
you do
he'll take care of you say god shake up
my life god do what you want to do
incredible
matthew 6 33 do you know it's going to
take us 30 years to get to the book of
hebrews
matthew 6 33 and 34 but seek first the
kingdom of god and his righteousness and
all these
things shall be added to you all the
stuff that you think about and worry
about god says you seek me first i'll
take care of that junk
therefore do not worry about tomorrow
for tomorrow we'll worry about its own
things
which is a beautiful statement
worry cannot worry
tomorrow is irrelevant to worry because
worry is not a person
jesus is saying don't waste your life on
worrying
it can't do a thing
colossians 1 26 chapter 1 verse 26
the mystery which has been hidden from
ages
from generations but now has been
revealed to his saints
to them god willed to make known what
are the riches of the glory of this
mystery among the gentiles
which is christ in you
the hope of glory
man
this is why you work out your salvation
with
respect and reverence of god
he's
in you he's ready to go like a horse out
of a gate
in your life
i love this one this has always been a
great source of aid to my heart
for decades
jude 1 24.
now to him who is able to keep you from
stumbling somebody's saying man
wow
you don't need to know about my past but
i had certain thing
uh in my life as a life
before christ and
when god brought me out of it that night
i never wanted to go back
you know some people god god removes
some things from people instantly and
some people some things it takes a whole
lifetime
right you notice that
and for me
it was
instant and but yet the fear of that
thing laying hold of me again
terrified me
god brought me out of it lest i die
but satan you know gift wraps things
and i was so terrified of
bumping into him somewhere
and him him you know
doing his satanic tricks and
to come across that verse
was freedom now to him who is able to
keep you from stumbling
when you start getting weak need
cry out to him say wait a minute jesus
wait a minute lord right now your bible
your bible said
that you are the one that's able to keep
me from stumbling clearly that verse
is announcing that i cannot keep myself
from stumbling
i need your power
now
and let me tell you friends
he will answer you
and to present you faultless before the
presence of his glory
with exceeding joy
wow
listen to this william barkley
william barkley said there can be no
salvation without god
but what god offers man must receive
it is never god who withholds salvation
it is always man who deprives himself of
it
what a great word that is
i hope tonight you're a believer in the
lord jesus christ
and you're being challenged and
encouraged by this invitation to
apply yourself to the fact that you're
saved
but if you're not a christian tonight i
hope you get jealous for what we have
hebrews chapter 6 verse 1
hebrews 6 1 says
so let us stop
going over the basic teachings about
christ again and again in other words
you got to grow
let us go on instead and become mature
in our understanding surely
we don't need to start again with the
fundamental importance of watch this
repenting from evil deeds
duh
right of course
this is a big one
rep number one we don't need to keep
hashing that over you already know that
but you and i know people who say well i
know i shouldn't be doing that but god
wants me happy
nope
and placing our faith in god you should
know that already verse 2
you don't need to further be instructed
about baptisms i love that notice the
plural word right baptisms that means
baptisms regarding the holy spirit and
baptism regarding water you should know
the difference
and the laying on of hands
the bible tells you lay hands on one
another pray for one another
the resurrection of the dead
these things are the gospel we know them
eternal judgment
and so god willing we will move forward
to further or the word is deepen
understanding that's a great word why do
we do this this is part of that
moving on in our faith
this is part of the fulfillment of
hebrews chapter 2 verse 1.
almost done hebrews chapter 10 verse 22.
i said almost done i'm almost out of
time i'm not done but
hebrews chapter 10 verse 22 says
let us draw near with a true heart in
full assurance of faith
that's awesome
please listen if you don't have that ask
him for it
ask yourself
can i and am i drawing near with a true
heart
in full assurance of faith
tonight you might say yep and i love it
and i'm just gonna keep going
maybe tonight you're saying
my heart's wretched
i'm disgusting
and full assurance of faith
i'm a mess i don't know
if if god even knows my name i don't
even know
then call out to him take that verse and
pray it into his ears and say god touch
my life
having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with
pure water that's a reference to the
word by the way let us hold fast the
confession of our hope without wavering
for he who promised
i is faithful
i love that
psalm 100 verse 3. know that the lord he
is god it is he who has made us
and not we ourselves
we are his people and the sheep of his
pasture listen beautifully it's all on
him he saved you he went to the cross
he's the one calling you
first john 5 13 you guys okay we got
like eight minutes
first john 5 13. these things i've
written to you who believe in the name
of the son of god do you believe in the
name of the son of god the word name by
the way means authority do you believe
in the authority of the son of god
that you may know that you have eternal
life and that you may continue as the
word continue to believe in the name of
the son of god hear that push on keep
going don't give up
we need to remember that verse
the storm clouds are brewing again
very soon
don't be surprised
but this time we'll be different our
culture is on the brink again
businesses are going to shut down all
this stuff that's going to revisit and
america will be no more it will be the
end the next financial shutdown is the
end of the united states of america we
you
we will not recover we will not make it
but this it's brewing
and you're hearing it right now
well you know what i
need to lock down again i think maybe
need to shut down businesses and shut
down churches and go and all this stuff
listen
i'm not i'll just tell you
i was told jack just keep doing what
you're doing because it's not going to
go away it will ebb and flow but this is
our new world i was told that by an
authority
just learn how to mitigate life now in a
different way because it's not going
back to normal never
again what if
remember we forgot what if
the government comes and chains these
doors yes we'll meet in the streets we
already talked about that we have a plan
but what it who we don't know what if
they use tear gas on us you don't know
to break up the crowd and they they
declare church as an unlawful assembly
and they start taking you away you don't
know we don't know
so these promises of god will be even
more valuable to us
all right
you see what if we're all what if we're
all thrown into isolation
[Applause]
christian you can never be in isolation
didn't didn't shadrach meshach and
abednego prove that one to us
[Applause]
what did they throw me in a fire fiery
furnace we've already read about that
well what if i jump off a ship and get
swallowed by a big fish we've already
read about that
i'll give you this quote and then then
we'll uh we'll pray but it's from
jonathan edwards
read everything you can by him
in fact the country you're sitting in
right now is heavily heavily
dependent upon him
you may not even know his name
but jonathan edwards
had a lot to do
with
the creation of the
founding freedom documents of this
nation
by his preaching
that affected so many people
jonathan edwards says for it is god god
alone
who is with you
he who is in you
that worketh in you according to what
pleases him
not by any merit of yours does he
yet his influences are not to supersede
us
but to encourage us
in our personal efforts
work out your own salvation is our duty
to cooperate
with his ongoing work in us
oh that's good
for it is god that worketh in you
here is our encouragement and oh what a
glorious encouragement it is
to have the arm of omnipotence stretched
out for your support and our comfort
what a tremendous statement
by him
but a true statement
i love it
then finally this verse titus 3 verse 5
says
not by works of righteousness which we
have done
but according to his mercy
he saved us
through the washing of the regeneration
and the renewing of the holy spirit man
powerful powerful truth
church let's pray together for this
moment
heavenly father we ask of you lord it
would be remiss of us right now father
as we've talked about salvation and as
believers
we're even reveling in the fact that our
sins have been forgiven
we've been made new we're not the people
we used to be
and hallelujah we're not we're not the
person we are tonight
soon we're not going to be us
either you're just going to keep working
in us
and every time you buff us and
as it were spit on us and shine us and
buff again
we start to reflect the glory of your
face
and
i pray tonight lord we pray tonight for
any man or woman right now boy or girl
who
wants to have what we have
to be set free it's beautiful it's
awesome
as we remain an attitude of prayer
i'm speaking to those of you who are not
a christian tonight you're not a
follower of christ
you're not
a believer i'll say
i speak for myself and many others in
this place that
and maybe perhaps for believers around
the world
that when we see all the rhetoric that's
taking place in the world right now we
see all the people talking about racism
we see all the people talking about
inequality and all this stuff
i have to confess to our unbelievers
unbelieving friends
it puzzles us
because we're not of that world we don't
see that
it's not us
you see jesus has done this to our
hearts we've been set free we don't see
we don't see somebody
of a skin color we don't see somebody of
a status we don't see somebody uh being
special because they're poor or special
because they're rich
we don't see somebody special because
they're black or special because they're
white
that's all been perched from us
you're not going to reform yourself
man's been doing that for thousands of
years and fails
and by the way does it every new year's
eve at midnight and flops by
6 a.m
i am not asking you to join this church
we don't we don't have membership
i'm not asking you to give a penny keep
your money i'm not asking you to do
anything
just sit where you're at
but i am inviting you to call out to
jesus
and invite him into your life
to wash away your sins
and to give you a completely new
perspective on life
and to be awakened to the reality that
heaven is real
jesus is coming back
and he forgives sins
oh and did i say he's got a purpose for
your life
so while heads are bowed eyes are closed
i'm going to look across this room and
maybe tonight you're ready to pray this
prayer
i'm not going to call you out i'm not
going to embarrass you i'm not going to
do anything like that
but jesus invited those who followed him
publicly
and i'm looking
and if today
if tonight wherever you are
in the world at this moment
would you say jesus forgive me of my
sins
of my selfishness my lust my anger
temper violence
selfishness
lusts
wash me
clean in the fact that you died on the
cross
for my sins and you rose again from the
dead three days later for my
justification i believe that jesus and
i'm giving you my life i can't do this
anymore
i'm i
i used to be
scared of death and now i'm scared of
life
and i don't want to live anymore
and i'm asking you to change my life
transform me
make me the human being i was supposed
to be
[Music]
when you made me
and i give you my life today i do what i
heard tonight in this bible study i come
and i
ask
you to lower the offering bag the plate
for me to step into it
because i give you my life tonight
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
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you to join us no pressure but if you'd
like to link arms in this venture you
would 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