Hi friends, my name is Keith. I'm a born-again Christian. I’m here to bring the Gospel message to you this evening, while you wait for the doors to open? Consider these Bible verses; Psalm 32:1-2 Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. I've been blessed that way. I've had my transgressions forgiven and my sins covered. Everything that the Lord had against me has been washed away.
But does that verse describe you? Can you say, without question, your transgressions have been forgiven and your sins covered? I've got some good news for you. I'm here to tell you that you can be truly blessed in that way. You can have your transgressions forgiven and your sins covered.
Now I know, there are preachers who say God wants to bless you with health and wealth. Sadly, there are a couple of things wrong with that. First, the Bible makes no across the board guarantees (no 100% promises) that everyone would be blessed with health and wealth, because those things are temporary. God is eternal and He’s concerned about eternal things for you. Secondly, people who say that kinda thing, portray God as if he's some kind of a genie. Like God is our divine butler, just waiting around to fulfill our every wish. If you've heard God has a wonderful plan for your life and He wants fill your life with love, joy, peace and lasting happiness; you've only been given part of the story; they're putting the cart, before the horse. The Bible says "riches are of no profit on the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. In other words, your health and wealth is not going to matter one bit on Judgement Day. But, here's one thing I know for sure that God wants for you; 1 Timothy 2:4 says, God desires for all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. So, I can say for certain that God wants you to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
But you might say, how do you know I'm not saved? I don't. I don't claim to know whether or not you're saved or anything about your life. I'm certainly not here to tell you how to run your life, but I am here to point you to the one who will give you eternal life, not only that but new life for the here and now. I have to ask you, if you're someone who says you believe in God, or you go to church, I have to ask you: what are you doing at this concert? As your neighbor, I have to tell you the truth in love; either you've been deceived or you're deceiving yourself. All I had to do was open up my web browser and type in R. Kelly, and twenty-two words into the first review I read about his show, the author used the word, "salacious". Do you know what salacious means? It means pornographic, sexually explicit? I looked at the names of his albums and a few of his songs; I didn’t even have to look at the lyrics and I got a pretty good idea of what this guy is all about. Yes, I found out he's an R&B artist, and I found out he just celebrated his 48th birthday, but I didn’t read the article about his birthday celebration, because of the unseemly activities they described in the headline. But believe me, I can understand the attraction. 30 plus years ago, the music I listened to would have been considered the R.Kelly of its day. The stuff I was involved with, back in the day, was no different than R.Kelly.
All that to say, don't be fooled. Don't be deceived, God is not mocked, whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap. If you sow to the flesh, you will of the flesh reap corruption. But if you sow to the Spirit, you will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. In other words, whatever you invest into your life, that's what your life will produce. If you invest in fleshly, earthly, sensual things, your life will produce corruption (death). The Bible says, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I know, I know… All the time I hear people say, “don’t judge me”, "judge not lest you be judged". That's right, I agree with that. That’s Matthew chapter 7. Believe me, I don't think more highly of myself than any of you. I'm no better than you. In fact, I've probably committed far worse sins than most of you. But I'm here to call your conscience to the witness stand so you can judge yourself. Would your conscience testify for or against you? If you feel judged by anything I say, that's actually a good thing. It means your conscience is alive and well. It hasn’t been seared like a steak on a hot iron, beyond all repair. So, let me ask you a few questions based on the Ten Commandments. You don’t have to answer to me but answer to yourself and listen to your conscience. The 9th commandment is you shall not lie. Have you ever told lie? If you have you’d be guilty as a liar. The 8th commandment is you shall not steal. Have you ever taken anything that didn’t belong to you? If you have, you’d be guilty as a thief. The 3rd commandment is don’t use God’s name in vain. Have you ever said OMG, GD or used the name of my Lord Jesus Christ irreverently or disrespectfully? If you have, you’d be guilty as a blasphemer. Lastly, the 7th commandment is you shall not commit adultery. We know what adultery is, but Jesus raised the bar. He said if you’ve even looked at someone who wasn’t your husband or wife, to lust after them, that you’d be guilty of adultery with that person, in your heart; because God sees our hearts. If you admitted to having broken these 4 of the Ten Commandments, you'd be guilty as a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer at heart. Because you'd be guilty of crimes and offences against a holy and righteous, eternal God, the punishment is an awful and horrible eternal punishment. That's called Hell and I don't want that for you and God certainly doesn't want that for you.
Listen, here’s the Good News. This is what God did for us so we wouldn't have to suffer the punishment for our sin. When I realized that the infinite, eternal God stepped into time, and became a man in Jesus; that He lived a perfectly sinless life, he was completely innocent and he willingly gave his life on that cross for my sins, it completely broke me. I acknowledged my sin, I admitted I was wrong. I turned away from my sin and turned to God for mercy. Thats what repentance is. Then I put my faith and trust in Jesus; His life, death, burial and resurrection from the dead for the removal and cleansing of my sins.
What great things the Lord Jesus has done for us. Here's are some of the things the Bible says that Jesus did for us, “He who knew no sin, became sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. God demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Jesus suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit.” It says that everything that God had against us, the ordinances that we had broken that were contrary to us, have been taken out of the way, having been nailed to the cross. It says that God loved the world in this way that he gave His one and only Son that whoever puts faith in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.
I urge you to repent; that’s to change your mind; turn from sin to God for mercy before it’s too late. Its appointed unto man once to die, and then comes the judgement. The Bible says "prepare to meet your God". You make preparations for your education, your career, your retirement, you make preparations for your vacation and your Saturday evening entertainment. All those things are temporary. Think about your soul; the very life within you. Think about eternity, that's permanent. This life is short. The Bible says this life is short; it puts it this way, it says "life is a vapor, it appears for a little while and vanishes away." We may not know how or when, but we will all die. 10 out of 10 die. Gravity will have the final say against us all. The Bible says we brought nothing with us into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; it says whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Isaiah 55:6 says, “Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near”. Now is the acceptable time, today is the day of salvation.
When you trust Jesus as your Savior, you will not only receive the gift of eternal life, but you will receive new life for the here and now. You will be born again. God Himself, in the person of the Holy Spirit will take up residence in your life, and that’s what it means to be born again. God will remove your cold, dead, heart of stone, and replace it with a living, tender heart of flesh, that beats to the rhythm of God’s heart. You will begin to love the things that God loves and hate the things that God hates. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. The old things have passed away and behold, all things have become new.”
You can't do anything to save yourself. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For its by grace you're saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.” and Titus 3:5 says, it is not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to his mercy that he has saved us. By the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Spirit". You can't offer good works or charitable deeds to God to try to earn God's favor or merit heaven. If you try that, it will be like trying to bribe the just judge of the universe to turn a blind eye to your sins. The Bible says the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. Be sure, your sin will find you out. There is no other way to receive eternal life. There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Jesus said "enter by the strait gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the path that leads to destruction and many there be which go in thereat , but strait is the gate and narrow is the path that leads to life and few there be that find it . Jesus said I am the Way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but by Me.
Count the cost though, Count the cost; although salvation is free to you and me, it was extremely costly to God. It cost Him the life of His own dear Son. So, God does not want to just be on your checklist. He doesn't even want to be on the top of your list; God wants to be number one on a list of one; nothing else should even compare. So, Jesus said in Luke 9:23-26, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life shall lose it: (if you try to hold on for dear life, to this life, you'll lose it) but whoever loses his life for my sake, will save it. For what would it profit a man, if he were to gain the whole world, but lose his own soul? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.
Titus 2:11-12 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; In fact, the Lord would take it to the extreme, when he says, “Put to death therefore what is earthly [fleshly, sensual] in you: all sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry”, in Colossians 3:5
Jesus goes so far as to say, in Matthew 5:27-30 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose an eye than to be thrown into hell with both eyes. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose a hand than to be thrown into hell with both hands. That’s how serious sin is. It will be the death of you.
Jesus said, “not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter into the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, and have we not cast out demons in your name, and have we not done many wonderful works in your name. Jesus said, “But I will say to you, depart from me, you worker of iniquity, I never knew you.” Because just believing in God is not good enough. You must trust Him, that means rely upon Him, depend on Him, follow Him, as your savior. The Bible says even the demons believe in God, and they tremble, but that doesn't save them.
Here’s the most difficult thing you'll ever have to do. This is the truth according to Jesus, from Matthew 18:3-4 Jesus said, “Unless you’re converted, and become as a little child, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whoever therefore humbles himself as a little child, is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” You must come to God on His terms. The Bible says God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. So humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and he will lift you up in due time. I urge you to repent and be converted, that your sins would be blotted out and times of refreshing would come from the presence of the Lord.
Psalms 40:4. Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, or go astray after a lie!
