L.I.F.E. With Jesus | 4 Things That Change When You Connect With Jesus | Blessing of Connecting Pt. 4

Watch this, John chapter 10 and verse 10.

John 10 · chapter mention

Watch what Jesus says right here.

The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.

My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

My purpose is to give them, give who, give us a rich and satisfying life.

My friend, this morning I want to talk to you about the blessing of connecting and how there is life with Jesus.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, this morning, I thank you for the potency and the power of your word.

Let there be a peculiar anointing that flows in this room today that causes the things that need to be stripped away to be stripped away, for there to be life in this room to the things that need to be brought to life, and let there be death in this room to the things that need to be put to death.

In Jesus' mighty name, Lord, we exalt you today, we magnify your holy name.

I thank you, Lord, that whenever you are lifted up, that you draw all men unto you, and that when you arise, that every one of your enemies are scattered.

And so, Lord, we exalt you, we magnify you, and it's in the mighty name of Jesus we pray these things.

Everybody says, Amen.

Come on, shout Amen.

Amen.

You may be seated this morning.

Hallelujah.

I want to let you know that everything changes depending on who you are connected to.

Uh I I I've been speaking on this the last several weeks, and it's so true.

Your destiny is determined by who you decide to link up with.

It really is.

Like where you go in life is determined by who you're connected with.

I could tell a whole lot of people are connected to some good people in the room because you're here today in church.

Come on now.

Give your neighbor a high five and say, Thank you for being here with me.

Go ahead, just tell him, Thank you for being here.

Yeah, yeah.

And so watch who you're connected to determines the projection and the direction of your life.

And so as Jesus is talking, Jesus didn't merely come, watch this, to give you a good life and to improve what you have already been walking in.

Jesus came, watched this to give you a brand new life.

Because I I I know some I know some people, they think this life, whenever you give your heart to the Lord, it's the old life plus Jesus.

And maybe you've walked in religion for a long time, or maybe you've uh been Christianized, but maybe you haven't really given your heart completely to Jesus, and your life has been my life plus Jesus.

My friend, I want to let you know today it's not your life plus Jesus, it's Jesus and a brand new life.

The Bible says that the old is gone and that the new has come.

And so we just read here earlier where Jesus is talking about, where he wants to be the good shepherd, where he wants to take care of you, he wants to take care of your mind, he wants to take care of your body, he wants to take care of your spirit, he wants to be a good shepherd to you, and he's wanting to let you know that whenever you link up with him, that he just doesn't want to bless you over here every now and then, or bless you over here every now and then.

He literally said, My purpose is to give them a rich and abundant life.

I had two people who understood what I just said right there.

That's all right.

Y'all will catch it on the way home.

I ain't mad at you, it's it's okay.

Jesus said, I have come not to steal, kill, destroy.

That's the devil's job.

I came to give you an abundant, full, rich life.

L I F E.

Aren't you glad I know how to spell?

Nobody's more glad than me.

Come on, somebody.

You know what I'm saying?

Thank you, Jesus.

Hooked on phonics, worked halfway for me.

I had to depend on the Holy Ghost after that.

Glory be to God.

But Jesus said, I have come that you might have life.

L-I-F-E.

My friend, this morning, I want to give you an acrostic, if we will, on the word life.

L-I F E.

And this is what I'm gonna do.

I'm gonna give you what each one of those words mean, and then we're gonna break each one of them down.

Is that cool with everybody?

All right, now don't say yes, but then we get into the thick of it, and you just stop shouting me down, okay?

I need you to go this entire journey with me, all right?

This entire journey.

Put your hand on your heart and just say, I won't leave you, Pastor.

Go ahead, just say I won't leave you.

And just stick your neighbor in the in their ribs with your elbows, say, Don't leave us either.

Come on.

But watch, whenever you leak up with Jesus, he gives you certain things.

When you connect with Jesus, you receive life.

L I f E.

I'm gonna give these to you, so I'm gonna break each one of them down.

Life for L, he gives you liberty.

Liberty for I, he gives you identity.

Identity for F.

I like this one.

He gives you a fixed victory, a fixed victory, and for E, he changes your eternity.

Liberty, identity, a fixed victory and a changed eternity.

So let's talk about it.

Number one, liberty.

Liberty is the forgiveness of sins and watch this, and freedom from the power of sin.

I'm out to prove to you and show you in scripture that not only are you forgiven from sin, but whenever you get linked up with Jesus, he gives you the ability to overcome that sin.

Because I don't know about you.

Whenever I came to the Lord, I not only needed forgiveness, I needed some empowerment.

I not only needed to be forgiven of my not yours, but my nasties.

Come on now, but I needed power to not go back to those things anymore.

And let me tell you, my friend, not only does Jesus Christ forgive you of your sin, he actually gives you freedom from the power of that sin.

Do you understand that there is power in the shed blood of Jesus?

That there is power to overcome, there is power to be successful, there is power that the things that once held you bound will not hold you bound any longer.

I'm gonna say this before I get into the scriptures.

I've heard so many people say, Well, I'm just a sinner saved by grace.

I still sin every single day, and it's the grace of God that just allows me to make it to heaven.

Let me tell you right now, that is foolishness.

Foolishness.

F L, however you want to spell that, okay?

I told you I need the Holy Ghost over this mug.

Come on now, somebody.

My God.

But let me tell you, once you get connected with Jesus, you are no longer a sinner saved by grace.

When you get connected with Jesus Christ, he does not call you sinner, he calls you saint.

When you get connected with Jesus Christ, he does not call you sinner, he calls you son, he calls you daughter.

You understand what I'm talking about?

So I want you even this morning to get this out of your mind that not only do you have forgiveness from sin, but God has made a way for you to be free from the power of that sin.

My friend, whenever you connect with Jesus Christ, he gives you liberty.

Watch this, let me prove it to you in scripture.

Romans chapter 3, verses 22 through 25, and then 26.

Romans 3:22–25

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.

Hallelujah.

And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who you are.

Did y'all just hear what they just said right there, Romans?

Come on, now we we have been made right with God by putting our faith in Jesus Christ, and it's for everybody.

I don't know if you know this or not, but God just doesn't save Christians.

Come on, He saves Muslims, He saves Buddhists, He saves atheists and agnostics.

Come on, so my friend, it does not matter how you came in here today, whether you believed in Him or not.

I came here to let you know that Jesus Christ will save you anyway.

Verse 3, verse 23, for everyone has sinned, we all fall short of God's righteous standard.

Yet God in his grace freely makes us right in his sight.

He did this through Christ when he freed us from the penalty of our sins.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up.

See, y'all missed it.

He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed.

He freed, he freed us from the penalty of our sins.

For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin.

People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.

Verse 26, watch this.

God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

I mean, you could just close your Bible and go home right there.

You know what I mean?

My goodness, y'all done heard the gospel today, y'all done been in church today.

My friend, we read here plainly that when Jesus Christ went to the cross, he became the sacrifice for you and for me.

The Bible says in the book of Romans that the wages of sin is death.

There has to be a price that is paid for your nasties and for my nasties.

And I'm telling you right now, you cannot and do not need to pay that price by yourself.

Oh, come on now.

Because your blood is not strong enough, your life is not strong enough, your works are not good enough, your charitable donations are not good enough to save you.

There is no way that you can cover your own sin.

And guess what?

God knew this.

And so, what did God do?

God sent his only begotten son to live the to leave the throne in heaven to become like man, that way men can become like God.

I like to put it like this the Son of God became a son of man, so the sons of man can become the sons of God.

You understand?

And it's only because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ, whenever you receive him, whenever you accept him, whenever you put your faith and belief in him, the Bible lets us know.

You ready for this?

The Bible lets us know it is then that you are freed from sin.

I know it's not a popular message, you know.

You don't want to talk to people about their sin, you don't want to scare them, you don't want to offend them.

Just keep everything, you know, where they don't know really how you stand.

Once they get connected and they're in a life group, and when they're in this home group right here, you when they're in this where you know, we we we don't want the church to be a place where people get offended.

Jesus said the gospel is an offense to people.

Do you understand?

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, that if you have not heard the message, repent from your sin, you haven't really heard the gospel.

Even Jesus Christ Himself said this, for the kingdom of heaven is upon you.

Therefore, repent or turn away or have a change of mind that leads to a change of action, my friend.

Let me tell you right now, whenever you receive Jesus Christ, he not only forgives you from the penalty of your sin, he also allows you to be empowered from empowered to be free from the power of that sin.

You understand what I'm saying?

But let me tell you right now, if you do not put your faith in Jesus Christ, you're headed to hell.

If you don't put your faith in Jesus Christ, that sin that you have in your life is sending you straight to hell.

How can a loving God send people to hell?

My friend, God doesn't send anybody to hell, it's our willful rejection of him that sends people to hell.

Underneath the sound of my voice, that there is liberty with him, there is freedom with him.

Come on, there is the forgiveness of your sins with him, there is empowerment for where sin does not become your portion any longer.

All you have to do is believe upon Jesus Christ.

Hallelujah.

Jesus freezes from the penalty of sin, Jesus freezes from the power of sin.

Jesus doesn't merely forgive your record, he liberates you from your old master.

I like to put it like this.

But the judge looked at this criminal and said, You know what?

There has to be a penalty for the crime you have committed.

And then what happened is the judge gets off the state, the judge stand and he walks over to where the criminal's at.

He says, You can't pay this one by yourself.

I'm gonna pay the price for you.

I'm gonna take the penalty of your uh offense by myself, and now you criminal can walk free.

But as the criminal is walking away, the judge says, One more thing.

You are no longer a criminal, you are a contributing member of society, and this offense that you have made, you never have to make this offense ever again.

My friend, understand, he wipes the record clean, he gives the person the power to live differently.

The penalty was paid, the record was cleared, and the prisoner was liberated.

This is the gospel.

This is the gospel.

You and I deserve the penalty for our offense.

You and I deserve to be locked up and sent away forever.

But the righteous good judge understood that we could not pay it by ourselves, so he got off his stand.

Come on now.

He got off his stand and he switched places with you and me.

And he said, You couldn't do this by yourself, but I'm gonna do it for you.

And I'm not only gonna take the penalty, I'm gonna give you the power to never deal with this thing again.

That is the power of the gospel, that is the power of Jesus Christ.

Jesus didn't just forgive what you did, he broke the power of the thing that held you bound.

In Jesus, I am both forgiven and free.

In Jesus, you and I are both forgiven and we are both free.

My friend, when you connect with Jesus, he gives you liberty through the forgiveness of your sin and he removes the power of sin.

That's good news, y'all.

Come on, I said that's good news.

He came to give you an abundant and rich life, but Jesus didn't just liberate you from the old life to leave you without an identity, he gave you an entirely new identity.

So if L means liberty, I means identity.

Identity.

Ephesians chapter 2 says this.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

Once you were dead, what you talking about, writer of Ephesians, once I was dead, once you were dead because you're disobedient and your many sins.

Verse 4 says this, but God, but God, look at your neighbor and say, But God, but aren't you grateful for that but God right there?

Why watch, watch, watch.

Verse 4.

But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life.

He gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.

It is only by God's grace that you have been saved.

Verse 6 for he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.

Verse 10 for we are God's masterpiece, he has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he has planned for us long ago.

My goodness.

You have no idea what the Lord has done rescue me from.

I'm so glad that whenever I got connected with Jesus, I was no longer rageful.

That I was no longer full of hate.

Come on now.

I'm so grateful that whenever I got connected with Jesus, he not only forgave me of my sin, but he gave me a brand new identity.

And my friend, understand this.

Whenever you put your faith in Jesus Christ, he not only gives you liberty, he also gives you a brand new identity.

He doesn't look at you anymore and says, Well, you're just a former, this, that, and the other.

No, he looks at you and he says, You know what?

You're my family, you're my son, you're my daughter.

You you my God, come.

I'll never forget after I gave my heart to the Lord, and I I will take my time, woman of God, thank you very much.

I I'm so thankful that whenever I gave my heart to the Lord, that the Lord began to reveal these things to me, and I'll never forget.

I got saved when I was 18 years old, spring break of my senior year in high school, and I was known for some things in high school that I'm not known for anymore.

Can I get amen, somebody?

But I never forget, I gave my heart to the Lord, and I went to that old crowd that I used to hang out with, and they said, Aaron, you've changed.

I said, Heck yeah, I've changed.

I met a man by the name of Jesus.

Glory be to God.

And I said, I'm not who I used to be.

I'll never forget I can say his name.

He's not watching anything, but I want to throw him in the bus just in case he ever comes into the kingdom through this church.

Can I get an amen?

And he said, You mean to tell me that you're not this anymore, you're not that anymore, you're not this anymore?

He said, Because I was there whenever you did this, that, and this.

And I said, as a matter of fact, I've been washed by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Watch this now.

And he didn't just cover my sin, he wiped the sin away.

And whenever he did that, he gave me a brand new name.

And I said, So I'm not this anymore, I'm not that anymore, I'm not this anymore.

Come on, I'm telling you, my friend, whenever you come and get connected with Jesus Christ, he gives you a brand new life.

A brand new life.

Galatians chapter 3, verse 26 says this for all uh for you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus, and all who have been united with Christ in the baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.

Galatians 3:26

You don't have to wear those rags anymore, y'all.

You don't have to have your identity wrapped up in what you have done, where you have been, and who you did it with.

Aren't you grateful?

I'm grateful because I know me.

You don't you know I'm talking about?

I know where I have been, I know who I've been with, I know what I have done, and I'm so grateful that even when God knew those things, it did not stop him from reaching down into the darkness of my night, snatching me up out of hell and saying, My son, you don't have to live like this anymore, you don't have to be called this anymore.

You don't gotta walk this way anymore.

All you gotta do is come to me, connect with me, and I will give you L-I-F-E.

I have come to give you an abundant and rich life.

I don't know who I'm talking to this morning, but that thing that is trying to steal from you, that thing that is trying to kill from you and lock you into a false identity, Jesus Christ will shed his blood for you, and when you connect with him, he not only gives you liberty, he gives you a brand new identity.

The old is gone and the new is here.

Come on, if you believe it, somebody shouting, Yes! Hallelujah.

Uh-huh.

Without Christ, you weren't really struggling.

You and I were spiritually dead.

And here's the power of Jesus Christ.

He doesn't make bad people good.

He makes dead people alive.

So he's not just here looking at you and saying, I need to I I you know, let's just let's just let's just put this on him so nobody can see that anymore, and let's just clothe him with this so nobody can see that anymore.

No, he's saying you're dead, you were dead in your sins, you are dead in your trespasses, you were dead in your iniquities, but here I am, the resurrection and the life, and I'm extending to you a brand new life.

Not to just cover up the unsightly part of you, but I came here to give you a brand new way of thinking, a brand new way of living, a brand new way of believing, and the old that you once were is now gone, and the new is here.

Aren't you grateful?

You're no longer defined by where you came from or what you have done, you are defined by who you belong to once you get connected with Jesus Christ.

Hallelujah.

So he gives us liberty, he gives us identity, but then he also watched us now.

He gives us a fixed victory.

A fixed victory.

That might not excite you, but that excites me.

Amen.

I remember growing up, and I'm not trying to make this all about me, but the stories I have are my stories.

You know what I mean?

I can't really tell your stories.

You might get offended if I tell your story without permission.

But I remember growing up, we lived in an apartment complex here in Las Vegas, and we had our little tossy.

We weren't necessarily a gang, but we were a gang.

You know what I mean?

Like we didn't have colors, but we definitely had a slogan.

And on the free end, it was me, my older brother, my younger brother, and a couple other knuckleheads in the in the in the uh apartment complex with us, and we go around terrorizing people.

I remember one time there was this little girl selling Girl Scout cookies.

Some of y'all heard this story before.

She had this little red wagon, Chirelle.

She sell girl scout cookies door to door.

I wasn't saved then.

We straight up jacked her wagon, ate all the Girl Scout cookies, and threw the wagon in the swimming pool.

You know what I'm talking about?

I mean, we was a gang, okay?

Don't look at me like that either.

Come on now.

I just told you about nasty.

You got some nasty of your own, okay?

Uh-huh.

How could you?

How could I do what?

But I'll never forget we we were so bad.

Yeah.

I'll never forget we were so bad, but we were always together, so nobody wanted to mess with us.

Because there's power in numbers, you know what I'm talking about.

But I'll never forget this one time.

I was, I was, I walk, I left my house, and there was this big kid there.

He was probably four years older than me.

And he must have been watching my house.

The little apartment accomplice we're at.

Because I walked out of that thing and my brothers went with me, and the other guys went with me.

And I'll never forget this guy cornered me in between two apartment complexes.

You know, where like the AC units are at right there.

So he was smart with it.

He hid me so where no one could see it.

Uh-huh.

So uh, some of y'all too much into this story right now, okay?

Just calm down.

But I'm telling you, I was there as a little kid, and I have never been beaten so bad in my life.

I mean, he he whooped me bad.

I told Max this story the other day, he goes, Really?

I said, Oh yes.

I'm telling you, I know what it's like to not just be in a spiritual battle, a physical battle too.

Where my enemy is bigger than me, stronger than me, more versed in the martial arts skill of whooping somebody behind, you know what I'm talking about?

Maybe you don't, but I'm let me tell you, I know I know what I'm talking about, okay?

And I'm telling I know what it's like to get whooped bad.

And I know what it's like to even face some things, not just naturally, but spiritually as well.

To where the enemy tries to come and tells you, hey, you're depressed, hey, you're still broken and you never be whole.

I know what it's like when the enemy wants to come and whisper to somebody and say, Hey, did you really give your heart to the Lord?

Are you really saved?

I know what it's like to have this enemy, this thing that looks bigger than me, that is looks stronger than me, come at me and try to destroy.

But let me tell you something.

When I when you get connected with Jesus Christ, He has your back.

When you get connected with Jesus Christ, understand this.

He's on your side.

When you are on his side, and whether you realize this or not, the fight is fixed.

Come on, I said the fight is fixed.

My friend, when you get connected with Jesus Christ, there is a fixed victory for your life.

It does not matter what you face, it does not matter what you go through, it does not matter what's coming against you, it doesn't matter the report, it does not rematter, it does not matter anything like that, because whenever you are connected with Jesus Christ, victory is your portion.

Watch, let me give you scripture.

1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 57 says this.

1 Corinthians 15:57

But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Come on now.

Thanks be to God.

Another verse that says that always causes us to triumph in his name.

Romans chapter 8 says this can anything ever separate us from Christ's love?

Romans 8 · chapter mention

Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity or are persecuted or hungry or destitute or in danger of threatened with death?

Verse 37 says, No.

Despite all these things, watch, watch, watch.

Overwhelming victory is yours through Christ Jesus who loved us.

Did y'all just hear that?

It does not mean that in this life you won't have situations that you face.

You might have troubles, but because you're linked up with Jesus, the troubles don't have you.

Come on now.

You might face certain things, but the things that you're facing won't take you out.

Come on now, the sickness won't take you out, the divorce won't take you out.

Come on, the confusion won't take you out, depression won't take you out, anxiety won't take you out.

Why?

Because when you're linked up with Jesus, the fight is already fixed, and he releases to you a fixed victory.

Come on, if you believe it, shout a yes.

Yeah, yeah.

That should give you some joy, my friend.

When you are linked up with Jesus, the fight is already fixed.

God is on your side when you're on God's side, and when God is on your side, watch this now.

You cannot lose.

You cannot lose.

The battle may be real, but through Jesus Christ, my victory is fixed.

I'm gonna tell the story that just happened to us last night.

This all right, Bella.

So last night we're getting ready for bed, you know, Saturday nights, or we have a routine Saturday night.

You go upstairs, you pick out your clothes for Sunday morning.

You take a shower, you take a shower.

I shave my hand Sunday nights, so I have to shave it Sunday morning.

Come on now, Saturday nights and come on.

We get ready for bed, and so it's bedtime, and all of us are getting ready to lay down, go to sleep, and we hear Bella in her room singing loud.

She's going off.

And Ashley's like, Bella, it's time for bed.

It's time for bed.

Bella doesn't hear her.

Bella's 10 years old, okay?

So Bella's over there singing, singing, singing.

Ashley's like, Bella, it's time for bed.

Bella's still singing.

So Ashley's like, I gotta go see what's going on with her.

So she goes over her room, and Bella has her Bible open up on her dresser.

She caught a witness of the Holy Ghost right here.

Go ahead.

Bella has her Bible open up on her dresser and she's dancing and she's singing a praise song.

I came to praise.

That's why I woke up today.

Someone give that girl a microphone, you know what I'm talking about.

So Ashley goes, Bella, what you doing?

And all of a sudden she stops seeing, she looks over her mom and she has tears starting to open her eye.

And she says, I was scared when I came in here tonight.

And she says, But I knew that all I had to do was praise the Lord.

And the fear would leave because the victory belongs to Jesus.

Come on, you don't talk, come on now.

So Ashley came into the room and I said, What happened over there?

And Ashley's like, This is what happened.

I said, just tell her to sleep in my room tonight, okay?

Just tell her to come on here.

It's all right.

She got the breakthrough.

You don't talk about the Lord done answer her prayer.

She had her suddenly in the spirit.

So she's sitting there.

Watch, this is this is my favorite part.

We're sitting there, and I said, Did you really were you really over there singing a praise song?

She goes, Yeah.

She opened, she's like, Let me get my Bible and tell you what your verse I was reading.

She's told me some verse.

It was a good verse.

I just don't remember what it was, okay?

And I said, Really?

She goes, Yeah.

And she goes, you know, I was praising to get over the fear, and she goes, while I was praising, 10 years old.

I was surprised when she said I was praised.

She goes, You want to know why I didn't?

I said, Why?

She said, Because I told the devil, I said, You're just mad because tomorrow at church, a lot of people are gonna give their heart to the Lord.

And she said, she said, I told the devil, you're just mad because a lot of people are gonna give their heart to the Lord.

And then she said, I said, Really?

She goes, Yeah, and I told him, You can't do nothing about it.

I almost told her, I need you to lay hands on me, okay, and pray, especially the impartation over my life for tomorrow.

But let me tell you something, my friend.

Whenever you are linked up with Jesus Christ, the fight is already fixed.

Your victory is already on the way.

Come on now.

Whenever you link up with Jesus, there is a fixed victory that is your portion.

Can I get an amen?

And lastly, when Jesus gives you life, E is this.

I, he gives you identity, F, he gives you a fixed victory, and E, he gives you a changed eternity.

Let me share this with you.

Second Corinthians chapter 5 says this.

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down, that is, when we die and leave this earthly body, we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God Himself and not by human hands.

Verse 10 for we must all stand before Christ to be judged.

We will eat, we will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or the evil we have done in this earthly body.

Let me give you some more scripture.

I'm gonna bring it all home.

Brother Dun, if you if you play a little something, thank you, sir.

Revelation verse uh Revelation chapter 20, verses 11 and 15 says this.

Revelation 20:11

And I saw a great white throne and one sitting on it.

The earth and the sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide.

I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God's throne, and the books were open, including the book of life, and the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.

The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead, and all were judged according to their deeds.

Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire.

This lake of fire is the second death.

Verse 15.

Revelation chapter 21 and verse 8 says this.

Revelation 21 · chapter mention

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for the murderers, the sexually immoral, the immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and liars, all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

Matthew chapter 25, verse 46.

Matthew 25:46

This is my last scripture.

I'm gonna read to you.

This is Jesus talking right here, and they will go away into eternal punishment.

The righteous will go into eternal life.

My friend, whether you realize this or not, one day we will all stand before God.

I like to put it like this some will got to, other of us will get to.

I don't believe in in heaven or hell.

Just because you don't believe in gravity does not mean it doesn't exist.

Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not real.

My friend, I'm telling you, one day all of us are going to stand before God one day.

And if you do not get connected with Jesus Christ, the Bible says, not Pastor Aaron says, so don't get mad at me now.

The Bible says, if you're not connected with Jesus Christ, that whenever you stand before God to be judged, and if your name is not written in the Lamb's Book of Life, you will be cast into the lake of fire for all eternity.

But someone say, but for those of us who have connected with Jesus Christ, we have a name written in that Lamb's book of life, and when we stand before Him on that day, we're not standing to receive eternal judgment, we're standing to receive an eternal reward.

Every single one of us will stand before him one day.

And whenever you stand before him, my friend, guess what?

I'm not gonna stand with you.

Your spouse isn't gonna stand with you, your best friend isn't gonna stand with you.

You're gonna stand there by yourself and you're gonna give an account to God for your life.

The Bible says he's gonna open up books.

I'm not gonna jump into that, but just understand this, he keeps a really good record.

But here's the powerful thing when you receive Jesus Christ, you don't stand there as you naturally by your nasty self.

How can you sound nasty?

I don't know you, but I guarantee you, without Jesus Christ, you're nasty, and there's no shame in that, there's no guilt in that because that is the human condition.

Without God, we are all wicked.

Well, I read a little bit earlier, for all have fallen short of God's glorious standard.

If you don't receive Jesus Christ when you stand before God one day, you're gonna get judged according to that.

But the Bible says that whenever you get connected with Jesus Christ and you put your faith in him and him alone, when you stand before God on that day, he doesn't look at you as you, he looks at you as if he's looking at Jesus Christ Himself, and all the sin that you did back then, it's not only forgiven, it's forgotten.

All the crazy, nasty, whatever you once were, God doesn't even remember it anymore.

I'm thankful for that.

So whenever you get connected with Jesus, God forgives you, but he also forgets the thing that he forgave you for.

If you go north to south, you'll eventually reach a pole, either north or south, which depending on which way you're going.

And once you reach that pole, you keep going that north, that north actually becomes south.

Did you know that?

That's geometry and physics, and I can't even spell right, so pray for me, okay?

Glory be to God.

But if you actually begin to walk west, you will always walk west.

If you begin to walk east, you will never find west and east intersect each other.

It is physically impossible for east and west, for east to ever become west, and for west to ever become east.

And watch what the Lord says when you get connected with Jesus Christ, He separates you from your sin as far as the East is from the West.

And so not only does He forgive you of that sin, He forgets that sin.

And whenever you stand before Him on that day, He changes your eternal destiny, He changes it from living a life in the lake of fire to living around His throne to having a brand new home that He has made for you.

My friend, let me tell you something this morning.

I don't know how you came to be in this room today.

I don't know exactly which friend of yours invited you, or maybe you saw something online.

But this is one thing I do know you're not here by accident today.

You have heard the gospel.

Jesus said the thief comes to steal kill in the shrub, but I have come to give you a rich and abundant life.

He gives you liberty, he gives you identity, he gives you a fixed victory because ultimately he wants to change your eternity.

Stand with me all over the room this morning if you would.

So if you would, everyone just bow your head, close your eyes in this room.

No one looking around, please.

No one looking around.

Reason why we do this is because I don't want anybody to have any kind of barrier or hindrance to what's about to happen next.

My friend, everybody underneath the sound of my voice has heard the gospel today.

And I know some people have already given their heart to the Lord, and you have everything I preached about, and you're on your way to heaven, and you're walking in that fixed victory and identity and all the things, but I know that I know that I know there are people underneath the sound of my voice in this room right now, today, that you are not connected with Jesus Christ, and you don't know what it's like to have liberty from sin.

You don't know what it's like to have identity from the Lord.

You don't know what it's like to walk in victory, and you sure do not know if you were to die today, if you would go to heaven or hell.

My friend, you're in the right place today because Jesus is calling you to himself.

Jesus is calling you to himself, and today is your day to come to him and get connected with him.

So with every head bowed, every eye closed, if you're in the room today when I'm gonna count to the number three, and if you say, Pastor Aaron, today's my day, I want to get connected with Jesus, I want to have the liberty, I want to have the identity, I want to walk in victory, and I want to change my eternity.

If that's you, whenever I count to three, all over this room.

People are gonna raise their hands up all over this room.

You need to decide right now that you're gonna raise your hand, and that you're gonna get connected with Jesus.

When I count to that number three, all over this room, I want you to throw up your hand.

It's your day for salvation, it's your time.

So here we go.

I'm getting ready to say that number.

Once I do, I want you to throw the hand up all over the room.

You ready?

Here we go.

One, two, three.

Come on, shoot that hand up.

I see you, I see you, I see you, I see you, I see you, I see you.

Come on, lift that hand high, lift that hand high.

I see you all the way back there.

Uh-huh.

I see you, I see you, I see you, I see you, I see you.

Hallelujah.

I want everyone in this room to repeat this prayer after me.

People ask, why do you pray a prayer for people to get saved?

The prayer of salvation, it's not even the Bible.

Understand this.

A lot of times people don't know what to pray when they come to the Lord, they feel ashamed and broken, all these things.

My friend, let me tell you, all that changed for you right now.

All that changes for you right now.

So I'm gonna lead you in this prayer to help you reach out to the Lord as He is reaching out to you.

So everyone, every head bowed, every eye closed, repeat this prayer after me.

Heavenly Father, I come before you today, and I'm asking you to wash me, cleanse me, and save me.

I acknowledge my need for you, and so come to me now.

I believe in my heart that just as you raised Christ from the dead, you are raising me from the dead right now.

I commit my life to you.

I turn from the life of sin and I turn to the life of Christ.

Thank you, Lord, for washing me, for cleansing me, and for saving me.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Come on, give God a hand cup of praise all over the room.