Armored Up Against Hell

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Everybody's doing good today.

Take your Bibles out and turn them to Luke.

Want to say this morning, happy birthday.

To birthdays this week, Garrett Proper and Bradley Thomas, happy birthday.

Facebook reminds me of things that I would forget, but I'm thankful for that.

And I want to say today, if you have not signed up, we are excited to kick back into our Connect groups.

Books are back here.

If you hadn't signed up for one, it's not too late, but that's starting this evening.

So last week we started this study, and we discovered that there is an enemy.

There is warfare.

Ephesians 6, 11 and 12 said, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, the enemy.

And then it says, For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principality, powers, rulers of darkness of this age.

And so there is a battle.

There's a battle ongoing, and it's heavy, and it's thick, and it's among us.

And I want to tell you that the battle that we're going to look at today is more than just a battle of how your day's going, how your weeks are going, a battle of tensions.

It's a battle for souls.

And Satan, as we look at this battle, is someone who has a destiny one day in a real place called hell.

The message title this morning is Armored Against Hell.

I want to tell you though, Satan, he's not in charge of hell, like some people have a misconception of.

He's not having a party in hell, and neither will anybody else who talks of that.

He doesn't currently live in hell, as far as the Bible shares.

It is one day a place of his eternal judgment.

Revelations 1.18 said about hell.

Jesus said, I am he who lives and died.

Behold, I am alive forevermore, and I hold the keys to death and hell.

Satan does not.

So I want to make that clear.

Matthew 25, 41 does say this: that hell was prepared for the devil and his angels.

That was the intention.

So Satan knows what's coming, and 1 Peter 5.8 says, like a roaring lion, our adversary walks about seeking whom he may devour.

He's seeking after souls.

He knows where he's going.

I believe he wants the rest of us to be with him.

Revelations 12 says this about him the devil has come with great wrath because he knows his time is short.

Our enemy knows that his time is coming and that it's short.

And so we have a battle.

Around Thanksgiving, I injured my knee and I really wasn't sure what happened.

Thanksgiving, we played football at the church.

I didn't hear anything pop, I didn't hear anything snap.

I didn't feel anything significant.

Friday, had an all-day date with bushes in my yard for 12 hours.

The honeydew list, her brother, uh, father-in-law, all this all day.

Didn't feel anything.

No snap, no pop, no any of that.

And I thought, ah, I'm gonna be okay.

It's not that bad.

And so I went on with things.

Heather needed some furniture, moved upstairs, had pain.

The stairs got harder.

Uh, it's gonna be okay.

It's not all that bad.

Kept on kind of moving with it.

Well, um, it continued, and when I got back to church the late the next week, getting up the stairs to my office became quite a chore, and I'm like, hmm, well, it's probably gonna be okay.

I just need to give it time.

It's probably not that bad.

Well, our uh area DM, our missionary for the Shelby Baptist Association, Rick Camp, he called me and he said, Is there anything I can pray for for you?

And I said, Well, Rick, I said, actually, I got this knee thing going on that I'm not really sure about.

I said, I don't really know what happened, but it's really kind of bothering me.

And he said, I know a guy.

You need to have one of those people in your life.

I know a guy, guy, right?

He knew a guy, and he said, he said, I can get you in if you want to be seen by an orthopedic doctor.

And I was like, Let's do it.

So within minutes, he had we had an appointment set up.

I went down that day, I went to the orthopedic doctor, and I go in, and the nurse is doing the checkout stuff, and they give me an x-ray, and she says, Well, from the x-ray, we can't tell that anything is that bad.

Uh, but we can see from the outside it's really swollen.

She says, You may want a needle.

Now, I've lived long enough to know nobody wants a needle.

So the doctor comes in and he says, Well, we I've looked over the x-ray as well.

He says, It's not that bad on the inside.

He said, But if you want to have relief faster, I can give you a needle.

And I want a relief.

So I literally said, Give me the biggest one you got.

Okay.

So they come in and they're administering the needle, and the nurse is staring at me, and she goes, Do you feel that?

And I'm like, The needle in my knee?

Yep.

Yep, I feel that.

That's weird, right?

If you've ever had this done, it's a really weird, strange feeling.

And so they both say to me, you know, it's gonna be okay.

It's not that bad.

In a few days, things should get better.

The problem for us is we don't suffer from an injured knee.

The problem for people is we suffer from a broken soul.

Matthew 16, 26 says, What profits a man if he can gain the whole world but lose his soul?

The message the world is selling to us, though, is it's not going to be that bad, and you're probably going to be okay.

The problem with that is Romans 5.12 said, by one man sin entered into the world, and like a bad strain of a virus, everyone got this sin virus.

And it says, by one man death entered in the world through sin.

And Romans 6.23 said, For the wages of that sin is death.

But the world is saying, you're probably gonna be okay.

It's not gonna be that bad.

The great tragedy is that message from our culture, because I want to tell you, it's a soul issue.

We have a broken soul, and I want to tell you, adverse to what the world is saying, it is gonna be that bad, and it is not gonna be okay if you don't deal with your broken soul.

Pray with me.

Father, we love you, and we thank you for your word.

God, this is heavy, but needs to be.

I pray that the people of God here, Lord, would be praying.

I pray that any person here who has not decided to follow Jesus, God, today would be their day.

And God, for the rest of us, if we know you, God, I pray that we would realize the urgency of the hour, the urgency of this message.

God, let it not be elevator music to our life.

Lord, make it real.

We pray that you would be lifted up in Jesus' name.

Amen.

In Luke, we're looking at chapter 16 and verse 19.

We'll start with, and it says this there was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.

And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus.

We'll get back to Lazarus.

First thing I want you to see a contrast in two people.

Letter A is a rich man with earthly pleasures.

He was somebody.

He had money, he had nice things.

This was a rich, rich man.

He was rich looking, he had rich possessions, he had rich land, he had a rich home, he was walking around, it said, in his purple, his Gucci suit, living it up.

I mean, this was the type of guy that could strut sitting.

He was rich.

I gotta say about purple, it was an expensive dye, so if you had it, everybody knew.

He was rich and people knew, and he wanted people to know.

It said he fared sumptuously.

That means every day was a feast for him.

Every day, sumptuous living.

If he wanted it, he got it.

That was the rich man's life.

I got to thinking about that and uh doing some study this week, found this top ten list.

Interesting.

Top ten things people want from life.

Number one makes sense to me.

Number one is happiness.

Number two, out of the top ten list of things is money.

Number three, health, rather have money than health.

Four, security.

Five, good relationships with friends or family.

Rather have money than good relationships.

Number six, a good job.

Number seven, to leave a legacy.

Number eight, hope.

Number nine, peace.

Number ten, fulfillment.

More than peace, more than purpose, more than good relationships.

People said they want to have money.

Don't mishear me this morning.

Wealth is not a sin.

But I want you to know it's not easy either.

And it's not the most important thing.

Pastor Adrian Rogers said this: it is very hard to be poor.

But it is even harder to be rich.

Some of us go, well, let me give it a try, Pastor.

This was a rich, rich man.

Letter B, I want you to see a poor man who had eternal peace.

It says Lazarus.

Look at verse 20.

But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table.

Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores.

So it was that the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom.

This rich man also died and was buried.

Lazarus is as important to note that his name was given here.

A lot of people, a lot of preaching people, a lot of people that call themselves intellectuals, want to call this a parable and not claim it to be truth.

But I want to tell you that this giveaway that a specific name was given.

No other parable mentions specific names or places like this.

In chapter 15 and 16, you'll see leading up the parable of lost sheep, coin, son, and unjust steward.

Nobody with a name.

Then there's a rich man and Lazarus.

His name is given, but I want to tell you, Lazarus on earth is a nobody.

On earth he's meager.

Lazarus has poor clothes, poor health.

It says he's full of sores, poor smell.

He couldn't afford to be clean.

And he's just laying there at the rich man's gate envisioning the day that he could get the crumbs that are supposed to be left for the dogs.

We have a picture of this man's life.

I was talking to Jason Neely about a baseball player's salary.

This guy got an extension, three-year$24 million.

And we were talking over that, and uh he said, just imagine 2%.

He said, 2% of that salary is almost$500,000.

Wouldn't$500,000 change your life?

He probably wouldn't even notice with that other 98%.

Am I right?

Jay said, if you just remember, this Jason grew up with this guy.

Just 2% is all I need.

But so that there is Lazarus, not dreaming of$500,000, but hopeful for a crumb.

Just let me eat from the table.

My wife loves to cook food.

Number one, it is a gift.

And uh, but one of the other reasons that she enjoys to do that, and we like to have people over, when she was at a young age, there were difficulties.

There were times in her life where things were very lean.

And it and it makes her go back and think about times where there wasn't food in the pantry where they weren't really sure about the next meal.

And so for her to cook a meal means something more, much more than just having somebody at the table.

Giving a meal means more.

And I want to tell you, church, as a church body, there are people all around you with a need.

There's people right near you with a need.

And the Bible says it's a blessing, it's more blessed to give than it is to receive.

Lazarus hoped for a crumb, while everything that we can see, the rich man had, but didn't share.

I thought about what might have changed in this story if the rich man helped Lazarus.

Well, we don't know.

Because it did not happen.

So I want to take you to the second thing this morning is a contrast in two places.

We see in the contrast in two people.

Let's look at a contrast in two places, verse 22 and 23.

It says, So it was that the beggar died and he was carried by the angels to Abram's bosom.

The rich man also died and was buried.

And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom.

And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me.

Send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I'm tormented in this flame.

The rich man and Lazarus had very different experiences when life came to an end.

And many want to debate, I want to tell you, church, this is important for you to know, want to debate what happens when this life ends.

The atheist says that nothing happens.

When it's over, we're just dirt and dust.

There's people that believe in reincarnation, that you will die and come back in several different life forms.

There's something called a universalist.

They believe that everyone goes to heaven.

I want you to think about this.

Billy Graham and Adolf Hitler and bin Laden and the apostles are sitting around a table together.

Does that sit right with you?

Does that show you a picture of love?

That's what the universalist would say.

And an ILIS is someone who says some go to heaven, others just cease.

There's not an eternal anything for them.

Some will go to heaven, others just die.

Life is over.

Some believe that heaven and hell in this scripture are metaphorical, that they're just trying to get us to understand something that's not really real.

This is metaphor.

I want to tell you what CCW believes so that you understand this.

In our articles of faith, number nine in our articles, if you go through our next steps class, which is commercial this week, if you want to join the church, you'll have to go through these articles.

It says this there will be a resurrection of the just and unjust one day.

The just having been redeemed by the shed blood of Jesus Christ will be with him throughout eternity in heaven.

Believe everybody who has received Jesus, who has repented of their sin and their life has changed, will one day be with God in heaven.

The unjust having died and unrepentant, important word here in our article, faith.

Unrepentant, repentance leads to change.

It's not just sorrow, but sorrow that leads to a different direction.

And unreconciled to God means I believe in him and placing my faith and trust in him, to God, to eternal condemnation in a real place called hell.

We believe that heaven and hell are real.

And so it's important that you understand that.

Letter A this morning is this we see Lazarus living in a place of delight.

Lazarus is seen at Abraham's bosom.

If you're new to church, this sounds strange.

Matthew 8, I want you to see.

For some context.

Matthew 8, verse 11.

Matthew 8:11

It says, and I say to you that many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

It's talking about heaven.

Where was Abraham?

He was in heaven.

I want you to know, church, today, we believe that heaven is a place to be absent from your body, is to be present with the Lord.

The angels carried Lazarus to heaven.

On earth, Lazarus, he was nothing.

He was a poor man, he was a beggar.

Nobody.

But let me tell you, he knew the right somebody.

Life on earth might not have been comparable to that of what the rich man had.

But I want to tell you, the Bible says if you live a long life, you might live three score and ten, you might get past that 70, 80 years.

But eternity is a very long time.

And on earth, yes, Lazarus had a hard life, but in eternity, he found himself in the presence of God, and his eternity was unprecedented.

I want you to see a picture of heaven.

Revelation 21, 16 says that heaven is a city.

Well, let's turn there.

It's a city that lieth four square.

Listen to what it says.

The city is laid out as a square, its length is as great as its breadth, and he measured the city with the reed, 12,000 furlongs.

Its length, breadth, and height are equal.

I want you to know about heaven.

Heaven is a big place.

If you can picture the size of heaven, it says 1,500 square miles.

You can go from Tucson, Arizona, all the way up to the top of Montana.

You can go from Montana all the way over to Ottawa and Canada, and you can go from Ottawa all the way down to Florida and back over across to Tucson.

And that is close to 1,500 square miles.

But it also says in height.

So imagine this.

I want you to see this picture.

There is the largest building on planet Earth.

The tallest building is called the Burge.

And this tallest building is 2,717 feet in height.

It is almost half a mile in height.

That's a huge building.

I think they said 162 floors.

Some of y'all are like, I ain't getting on a building like that.

Right?

This is a large building.

It's almost half a mile in height.

It said that heaven will be 1,500 miles up.

This building is half a mile.

Imagine 1,500 miles.

The bird is 27 or 2,717 feet.

1,500 miles up is 7,920,000 feet.

Heaven is big.

Bible says in my father's house there are many mansions.

Heaven is big and heaven is beautiful.

Heaven is a place that's unparalleled for its beauty.

It talks of translucent gold streets, walls lined with every kind of precious stone.

Heaven has the crystal sea.

It's a place of pure gold.

And the brilliance of God will fill its place with light.

There's nothing like it that you've ever seen.

No sunset, no sunrise, nothing comparable.

Heaven is big and it's beautiful.

Heaven is also blessed.

In heaven, I want you to know that Lazarus is no longer poor.

In heaven, Lazarus no longer has sores on his body.

Heaven, Lazarus is no longer hungry.

In heaven, he's no longer in pain.

He's never getting a dirty look in heaven.

He's eternally satisfied, worshiping his God.

Lazarus was a nobody, he was broken by the terms of this world, but Lazarus dealt with his broken soul.

He didn't go to heaven because he was poor.

It wasn't an award for suffering.

It was because he dealt with his soul.

John 14, 6 says, Jesus said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life, and no man comes to the Father except by me.

He dealt with his broken soul.

Well, he lived in a place of delight, let her be, and dying in a place of destruction.

We saw what the rich man said crying out to Father Abraham, asking for mercy that he could have the tip of his finger dipped just to have relief from the torment.

When I was growing up, and some of y'all maybe like this too, there was what they called hellfire brimstone preachers.

Anybody remember this?

Raise your hand if you remember this.

All right?

Some of you hadn't heard that, that's okay.

Mostly the people that I've talked to about this, most of them speak of it as a not positive thing.

Like it was kind of scary to them.

And I've heard of some different situations that were brought up, and I think the intent, I maybe understand, but there's one was a group of individuals pulled kids out of a thing.

They were speaking on hell, they put them on a bus, they turned up the heat, and a bunch of leaders got outside and were shaking the bus.

Right?

Hellfire and brimstone.

I want to tell you, what I'm getting ready to share, that is not my desire.

Um, I don't seek to manipulate God's word.

I want to tell you the truth up front now.

We have an invitation at the end of this, and we do every week.

And I'll share the gospel every week.

But if we believe this book is true, then heaven and hell are true.

And if hell is true, I don't mean to scare you, but hell is scary.

And you need to swallow that and and kind of digest the truth that it's scary and it's really worse.

And when you think about, I said to our team this morning, I don't know, people are talking, and it's it's a statement that people stay away from this topic.

I'm not in every church, I don't I don't hear all of that, I don't know what's going on, but I want you to pray for pastors and churches.

Pray for them.

Jesus spoke on hell.

It's important that we cover this and not avoid it.

It's heavy.

Every time that I study this and look over it, my heart becomes burdened.

I think about people in my family, people in my life, people that I've known.

And I don't just be honest, I don't like it.

But I hope that it motivates.

Well, I want you to look at Revelations chapter 20, dying in this place of destruction.

Revelation 20 · chapter mention

Revelations 20, verse 15.

Revelation 20:15

It says this about hell, and anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

It's a place of fire, eternal fire.

I want you to turn to Mark chapter 8 for a moment.

Mark 8 · chapter mention

It's a lake of fire.

Mark 8, 43 through 48 says this if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.

It's better for you to enter into the life maimed rather than having two hands to go to hell into the fire that shall never be quenched.

Where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.

And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off, because it's better for you to enter life lame rather than having two feet to be cast into hell into the fire that shall never be quenched.

Where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.

And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out, because it is better for you to enter the kingdom of heaven with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hellfire where the worm does not die.

And the fire is not quenched.

The fire is not quenched, church.

Never ending.

And there's no help, there's no 911, there's no rescue, and there's no help of, there's no hope of help, there's no possibility of relief, and it says that there will be weeping and just gnashing of teeth and torment.

Have you ever been cooking bacon?

And the bacon splashes you and you get hit by 175 watts of electrocution and you jump back by bacon water.

Look, I don't, when that happens, I'm talking it's a it's a millimeter, it's a millimeter of water, and it hits you, and you're you don't ever think, you don't ever go, huh, that hurt.

I'll probably jump back now.

You don't even have a thought.

That bacon water hits you, and your body jumps back, and you go, ow! Recently, the dryer broke, and I was back behind there trying to diagnose as a man does without any dryer knowledge, but I pulled the thing apart, proud of myself.

I actually found the problem.

I didn't know I couldn't do anything with it once I found it, but I could look at it and tell something gonna burn up.

Well, while I found the problem with the dryer still into the power source, I went mmm.

And I got my little mini electrocution that took off a piece of my skin.

I didn't have to think to have a response.

I jumped back and said, mmm.

One time we had in our old house, there was an electrical outlet, and I had we had a vacuum, and instead of getting a new cover and everything, I'm we'll just work with it.

And I shoved a vacuum thing into an open electrical outlet.

I'm talking about without the plastic and everything, and the firebomb shut out.

And I thought I was on Super Mario.

Boo, fireball came out, and I was like, I didn't have to think.

I jumped back.

Some of you have opened your grill and you poured too much of that stuff on, and it went and your eyebrows were lost.

You didn't have to think.

It may be the quickest that I ever move in my life.

Hear me.

I think God built within us a great reaction that says, get away from fire.

There's a man named Dax Cowart.

He's a former Air Force pilot, a rodeo rider.

Dax was with his father one day, and they were on a bridge, and inadvertently his father had parked his car on a bridge, and at that place there was a leaking propane pipe.

A spark from them attempting to start the car caused an explosion.

Dax's father died on impact, leaving Dax to suffer.

65% of his body, total surface with burns.

He had third-degree burns to his face, ears, and hands.

Describing the incident, it says a man came upon him, he was screaming in agony.

A farmer came, was the first to find him, and he said, Sir, please get me a gun.

The next 14 months he was treated, and Dax repeatedly requested, he said, please discontinue this treatment.

He said he felt like on the treatment that he was being skinned alive.

His words were, I could not tolerate the pain.

I wanted to die.

What Dax experienced was unbearable.

He was caught on fire, and I want you to catch this church.

He was caught on fire for minutes.

Moments.

And it impacted the rest of his life on earth.

It was temporary, it was minutes of fire.

It was a drop in the bucket to eternity.

The Bible describes hell as eternal agony, darkness, torment.

No water, no food, no rest, and no opportunity.

And I want to tell you today from my heart, it's not just gonna be okay.

It is that bad.

You have to deal with your broken soul.

There's some people here with a broken soul, and I want to tell you, there's some people that you know that have a broken soul, and this is real.

If this book is real, everything that I just said is real.

And I don't I don't seek to scare.

I could put up pictures of Bernvic.

This is horrifying.

Meanwhile, church, the enemy is trying all he can to divert your attention.

If he can get you distracted and make you ineffective as a Christian, being busy about your schedule with all kinds of other things, with hell and heaven just somewhere in the background, just background noise.

I'll deal with that someday.

If he can get you distracted or if he can get us divided about, listen to me, divided about things that do not matter, looking away from hell.

It says he is masquerading as an angel of light.

He wants you and I, the church, to miss the most important thing.

He's desperately seeking to cause warfare that'll keep us focused on a hundred things that are not anywhere near the most important thing.

People need the cure.

And you have the cure if you know him.

And we have to work together because this is real, and the enemy hates church.

He hates this and he's full of darts.

If he can get you against somebody else and he can make us ineffective, then he'll throw his darts to divide.

And I've got good news though.

Matthew 16, 18 said this the gates of hell shall not prevail against my church.

It's gonna keep going.

It's gonna keep on.

So the enemy's gonna throw his darts, but I want to tell you, he's not gonna stop the church of God.

Well, that takes us to the last point, the third thing.

Why don't you look at Matthew chapter 16?

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

The cure in one payment.

Matthew 16, 21.

From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised the third day.

Letter A is this the best life ever given.

It was the best life.

It was the only opportunity we had.

It was all that Lazarus could bank on for heaven.

Without this, right here, we all one day suffer exactly everything I just shared, and a lot more that I didn't.

He said, I'm going to suffer, be killed, and be raised the third day.

Jesus was speaking of a payment, a propitiation.

Jesus was the best life, and he gave all.

A philosopher named Bertrand Russell is coined for this phrase.

How could a loving God send people to hell?

Russell, supposedly a great philosopher, missed the key message of the centerpiece of all of history.

He might have had some intellect, but he was missing the most important thing.

Jesus gave everything on the cross.

He suffered every kind of earthly agony.

Earthly hell was suffered for us, our fee.

God doesn't send anyone to hell.

You have to bypass Jesus Christ and look on his scars and the payment that is for you to go to hell.

You gotta climb past that.

You have to reject the offer that's been given over and again.

That's what it takes for a person to go to hell.

You have to look at the greatest offer of all time, and you have to say, No.

I'd rather live this life a certain kind of way.

I said last week, who is Lord?

He is Lord.

Either you will acknowledge him as that, or you are Lord.

And your life is going to run its race with you.

And you will either, C.S.

Lewis said it this way, two kinds of people, those who say, God, thy will be done, and those whom God says to them, Your will be done.

Heaven is living God's plan for man, what he sent Jesus for.

If you go to hell, you will have lived your plan.

So Jesus said, Peter, I'm not just going to take the punishment for a few.

Not just for the 5 million people in Alabama, not just for the 333 million people in the United States, not just the 8 billion people on planet Earth today, but the sins for the 117 billion people that have lived for all of history.

That's what I'm giving my life for.

And Jesus exchanged heaven.

He came to earth to be broken and dying, so we could leave Earth unbroken and alive.

Church, Jesus died for you.

I don't know if you come in here lacking love, lacking an idea of what love is in your life.

This is the greatest love that there's ever been, and it's for you.

He took it all for you.

Well, what do we need to do?

Matthew 16 there.

Look at verse 24 through 27.

Letter B is the worst life ever lost.

It says, Then Jesus said to his disciples, If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it.

What profits a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?

Or what will a man gain in exchange for his soul?

I could take an entire sermon to go through some things about how your life to yourself is the worst life there will ever be.

John 10, 10 said this way that the thief came to steal, kill, and destroy, but that Jesus came to give you life and it's present tense and life more abundant.

He's saying, Jesus came not only to give you a life in eternity, but the life you have here right now can be the best possible scenario that you can have.

That is abundant life, present tense right now, active in your life.

He came to give you the best life, and in exchange, he wants you to lay down your worst life, which is any life apart from Christ.

That's what he said.

He said, Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.

This is the exchange.

Our life laid down for our life in Christ taken up.

He said, forfeit your sinful worst life.

I've never met anybody who said, Man, I've been reading my Bible and I've been tracking with God, I've been worshiping Him, and it's just been awful.

I've been feeling the presence of God in my life.

He's been answering prayers.

I hate it.

Never.

But I want to tell you, there's a lot of people living for a whole lot of things that are so empty.

And he says, I've laid down my best so that you would not have to have your worst.

He said, Lay down your life.

Live for Jesus, spreading the cure.

The exchange our life laid down for our life in Christ taken up.

I'm not here to sugarcoat it.

I don't want you to think that that's all easy in roses.

There is warfare.

There is a battle.

And the call, listen to me, it's not a call to just make a prayer, okay?

It's a call of surrender.

My heart has to repent, my life has to change.

A lot of people here, listen, guys.

We've prayed a prayer, but this life has not made a change.

Intellect, emotion, and will that's salvation.

I've got to understand, acknowledge.

The demons believe, they fear and tremble, they have a believe relationship, they believe in Jesus.

They hadn't repented and changed.

And because they didn't repent and change, a legion of them went with Satan.

They believe.

A lot of people believe we're in the Bible belt of the South.

Everybody got a grandma who taught Sunday school.

We believe in Jesus and football.

Yes.

Have we had a surrender of will as my life changed?

If you can't look back and find a place where your life said, yes, I repent, I was sorrowful, and change happened.

I wouldn't mess with this.

This is your soul.

This is your broken soul.

Eternity, plain and simple, is about a relationship.

And Jesus made an offer, his life and death.

He said, I will die for you if you will just live for me.

Well, I was considering this week the realities of this truth.

And I was reminded of this story.

There was an orphan boy who was living with his grandmother.

They were living in an apartment, and one afternoon the apartment caught fire, and the smoke began to billow in the apartment, and people from the outside look, trying to figure out how they were going to have any rescue.

The grandmother passed away quickly in the fire.

And then one man he climbed up a pipe, a drain pipe, that was burning hot from the nearby flames, and he got himself inside that apartment.

And moments later, on his back was the orphan young boy hanging tightly to his neck.

He got out of that apartment.

And I want to tell you, a few weeks later they were having a hearing in the town about who could take this boy now with his grandmother past.

And their apartment caught fire.

He had no place to live.

There was a farmer who came in, and a wealthy man who came in, a school teacher who came in, and they'd all gave some reasons why they would be a good choice to raise this young boy.

But as they talked, this young boy was just saddened.

His eyes were on the floor, he wouldn't look up, and then a stranger walked into the room.

He walked down that courtroom slowly, his hands in his pockets, and as he got up to the front of the courtroom, he pulled his hands out.

It showed burn marks all over his hands.

The one who climbed up that drain pipe and climbed back down that burning drain pipe.

And the boy looked up and he ran to him.

He threw his arms around his neck.

And the judge threw down his gal and he said, The marred hands have settled the story.

Want you to bow your heads and close your eyes this morning, church.

Jesus stepped into the burning fire of our affliction, church.

And I want to tell you, the marred hands settle the story.

He stepped into hell to save you and me so that we didn't have to have it.

He gave his whole life, his body on a cross.

He loves you.

If you're here this morning, and as you consider this in your heart, the Holy Spirit is just moving.

You feel it, I want to invite you.

I want to invite you to know Jesus.

Listen to me.

The Bible says, if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, that you can be saved.

He did everything to call you to this moment.

And listen, Pastor Dave said it.

We don't want to wait for a moment too late.

One day we all are going to recognize him for who he is.

But today is the appointed time.

Now is the time for salvation.

So if you're dealing with that and wrestling with that, I want to lead you in a prayer and I want to tell you likely what has already happened in your heart is the work of the Holy Spirit saving you.

If you've said yes to him and you will repent, the Bible says, repent of your sin, acknowledge your sin, and change.

But I want to lead you in a prayer, the prayer semen.

So if you're there, listen, Christians be praying.

Anybody, listen to me.

The most important thing we can do as a church is share with you the good news, this.

You can say, dear Lord, I know that I've been a sinner.

And I'm sorry for my sins.

I believe that Jesus died on a cross, he was buried, and rose again from my sins.

Today, I'm exchanging my worst life.

I'm laying myself down.

And I want to take you and know you as Lord and Savior.

We're excited you joined us for today's message.

Our heart is to connect with others in our community, to grow with one another, and build a bigger kingdom.

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Thank you again for joining us on the CCW podcast.

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