this morning and to know that Jesus is in this
place. What a great God we serve, amen. If you
have your Bibles, it would be great if you would
turn with me to the New Testament, the Book of
Romans. I wanna say how much I appreciate each
one of you and to all of our guests. We really
do love when guests come to Heaven View. What
a beautiful congregation you are. on this Sunday
morning, lifting up Jesus. I know it's already
been mentioned, but thank you for everything
you're doing. Those of you practicing, preparing,
others praying, fasting, some inviting, thank
you so much. These reports, Brother Auten, those
working with you, absolutely amazing what you're
doing to get the word out. And then, of course,
there's a thousand things that happen behind
the scenes that help us have church. Every time
we get together, thank you so much for everything
that you're doing. Romans chapter one, beginning
at verse number one, as I begin to prepare for
this series of messages beginning today and through
the rest of the month, I thought I am going to
try to give our church family just an overview
of the book of Romans over the next few weeks.
And after I got into this, I thought, well, that
was kind of crazy. There's no way you're going
to get very far. It's almost like trying to cover
all the book of Revelation in just a few Wednesday
nights. Thank you, Brother Mark Fowler. You're
doing an awesome job. So hopefully, at the very
least, it'll make you want to get your Bible
out and read those books a little bit more. Amen.
And maybe that will happen as a result of this
today. But beginning today and through the next
few weeks, each message will be focused on a
little bit of a different... a part of the book
of Romans and then of course we'll try to tie
them together with a similar theme and we'll
see what the Lord can do. If you are here today
and you're new to Heaven View, as much as I would
want to share the word of God with you and it
be meaningful, it's only meaningful if you respond
and like the scripture says, do what the word
of God says. And so find a way to latch onto
something you can do. with what you hear today.
It may just be one little part, it may be more,
but just let me do something, Jesus, with what
you've given me. Romans chapter one, verse number
one, the writer of this great letter to the believers
in Rome, he begins by saying, Paul, a bond servant
of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle separated
to the gospel of God. which he promised before
through his prophets in the holy scriptures concerning
his son, Jesus Christ our Lord who was born of
the seed of David according to the flesh and
declared to be the son of God with power according
to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection
from the dead. Already you can see it's just
an impossible task. But let's get into it a little
bit this morning. I wanna ask you a question.
Can the gospel do that? Can the gospel do that?
I really wanna say, can the gospel really do
all that, but it won't fit up there, so when
I say can the gospel do that, what I really mean
is can the gospel really do all that? You look
so sharp. They look pretty sharp on that side
too, but you guys are. You're holding your side
of the bargain. Would you ask the Lord to speak
to you right now? He's gonna do it if you'll
ask him. And then just tag into that little ask.
Lord, help me to do something with what I hear
right now. Help me to do something with what
I receive right now. In the name of the Lord.
I open my heart to your word, God. I open my
heart to your word, God. I love you and thank
you Jesus. God, anoint our hearts open. God,
help us to have ears to hear, eyes to see, and
hearts to obey. One more time, could you thank
the Lord for his word? Thank the Lord for his
presence. Oh, what a mighty God. What a mighty
God, what a mighty God. Praise the name of the
Lord. The Lord bless you, you may be seated.
I'm embarrassed to share this little testimony,
but I wanna say at the outset that whatever you're
about to hear in the next 30 seconds or 60 seconds,
I did not make any purchases. So have you seen
this little cream that's being advertised on
the internet that you literally can take this
cream and you can rub it on your car? And all
the scratches will be kind of rubbed into the
cream and your car will be like brand new. Don't
raise your hand, but some of you have seen that.
I did a little bit of research because I thought,
well, I got a few scratches on my car. Maybe
I'll just take that cream and rub it on there
and then there'll be no more scratches. But then
as I read some more, it said, you know, you could
take the same cream, rub it on your belly for
30 days every day. and you'll lose 50 pounds.
And I obviously didn't buy the cream yet, but
it definitely has my attention right now. I read
a little bit more. It said, take the same cream
that you put on your car and you rub on your
belly and you rub it on your wallet. And after
30 days, you will be debt free. And that's the
same cream. I saw it on the internet, so it's
got to be true. And this is what almost put me
over the edge. It said, you take that same cream
and you rub it on your bald head. and in about
a month you'll have a full head of hair that
looks like me up there and I'm just saying by
the time Christmas comes if I look like I got
more hair than I got now you know I bought that
cream 99 .99 plus tax but sometimes we hear claims
about things and because we know the world is
the way it is we do kind of wonder, can it really
be all that it says that it is? And so I'm trying
to confront that mentality as it relates to the
gospel of Jesus Christ. Can the gospel of Jesus
Christ really do all that? Because when the apostle
Paul is reaching out to the believers in Rome,
he is trying to convince them that our God is
as awesome as he really is. and that his gospel
is that. And if you want to know a little bit
about his perspective, you've got to rewind the
tape in the life of the great apostle Paul. And
we find him in Acts chapter seven when they are
persecuting Stephen for witnessing for Jesus
Christ. And there's a young man standing on the
side holding all the coats of those men that
literally took stones to stone Stephen for proclaiming
that. there is one God and his name is Jesus
Christ and he is the savior of the world. Something
got ahold of that young man and he began to become
fanatical about persecuting Christians. Acts
chapter nine and verse number one. Then Saul
still breathing threats and murder against the
disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest
and asked letters from him to the synagogues
of Damascus so that if he found any who were
of the way, whether men or women, he might bring
them bound to Jerusalem. And as he journeyed
near Damascus, suddenly a light shone around
him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground and
heard a voice saying to him, Saul, why are you
persecuting me? And he said, who are you Lord?
Then the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are.
I want to preach to you today that this letter
writer that we know as the great apostle Paul
writing to the believers in Rome and we know
that letter as the book of Romans. It is only
possible because the gospel of Jesus Christ can
reach the unreachable. It is only possible that
you can open your Bible this afternoon and start
to read through this book of Romans because there
was a persecutor, there was a man that hated
Christianity, there was a man that was opposed
to anyone that lifted up Jesus Christ and he
got a whole. of the gospel of Jesus Christ one
day. And that gospel changed his life. And so
he became a fanatic for Jesus. And he went throughout
the known world with this mentality. Is there
anything too hard for Jesus? Is there anyone
beyond the touch of God? that cannot be impacted
by the gospel I am preaching today that somewhere
under the sound of my voice there is somebody
that looks in the mirror and sometimes wonders
is this all there is to my life, my mistakes,
my mess ups, my struggles, my challenges. Can
the gospel really change me? Can the gospel really
do a work in my life? I preach to you today,
there is a power in the gospel of Jesus that
can change anyone at any time under any circumstances.
Praise the name of the Lord. When all of this
was going down, there was a good Christian by
the name of Ananias. And the Lord spoke to him
in prayer one day. We see this in Acts chapter
nine. And he says to Ananias, I want you to go
and share the gospel with Saul. Same Saul. I've
been screaming about for about a couple minutes.
And Ananias says, hold on, hold on, Jesus, I've
been praying and I knew you could speak to me,
but I don't know if this is you because he's
been, he's been persecuting Christians. And I
don't know if I really want to get persecuted
today, you know, it's a nice day, the weather's
good and I love serving you Lord, but I'd like
to just kind of keep it incognito if you don't
mind. Acts 9 and 16, the Lord said, go, for he
is a chosen vessel of mine, to bear my name before
Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel,
for I will show him how many things he must suffer
for my namesake. So Ananias of course goes, the
rest is history. We're studying the book of Romans
right now because he went. But it's interesting
to me at least that Jesus could look at the worst
case scenario and he could say, I could do something
with that guy. Jesus could look at someone that
nobody else would think could do a work for him
and he would say, that's the guy I'm gonna use.
I don't wanna make this somehow gender exclusive.
I'm just saying that is the power of the gospel
today. I know that some of you may kinda quibble
and say, well, when he got knocked off his donkey,
I'm using King James now, new King James, when
he got knocked off his donkey and a light shone
from heaven, that'd change anybody. But if you
read through this letter, you're gonna find out
that the apostle Paul doesn't point to the light
that shined from heaven. He points to the gospel
of Jesus Christ. He doesn't point to everything
that happened to him supernaturally as though
that was the reason why he was writing the book
of Romans. Oh no, he says pretty early on, even
the first chapter, we'll read about it in a little
while. He says, let me tell you what really changed
my life. It was the gospel of Jesus Christ. in
the mirror of my life, and I realized I thought
I was right with God. I thought I was doing the
will of God, but then when I saw the gospel,
I realized there is nobody righteous. There's
none of us that can be good enough for God, but
God came to earth as a man, and when he come
to earth, he died in my place and for my sins,
and something about that got a hold of something.
Now the great apostle Paul, and he discovered
God can do something with me. Amen. I want you
to look at somebody nearby if they're good looking.
If they're not, just look the other side. Now
you're kind of on the spot. Well, do I lie or
do I just go with it here? Some of y 'all still
looking at me. I'm not that good looking. Now
look at that person next to you and say, you
know, God has bigger plans for you than you realize.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Now look at him and say,
now put away your phone, because you might find
out what God has for you if you pay attention
for a few minutes. That's the power of the gospel.
Some of y 'all said you missed my preaching until
just then. Can you get us a few more guests up
in here? It's an interesting thing to me when
we look at Romans chapter one, Paul is identifying
himself to this great group of believers in Rome.
And he self -identifies, if you will, which is
such a catchphrase in our generation. But look
how he introduces himself. He's not preached
in Rome. He was a missionary for about 10 years.
By the time this was written, this letter was
written to these believers. He's not been there.
If you read through the book, you discover he
knows a lot of the leaders that are in the church.
There's a good chance that he's the one that
witnessed to them, preached to them. They went
to Rome and then it exploded. God did great things.
But he doesn't know most of the people he's writing
to. So he self -identifies this way. Paul, a
bond servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an
apostle, separated to the gospel of God. Paul
self -identifies as a slave of Jesus because
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you read on,
he says, oh. I owe everybody because of the gospel
of Jesus Christ. I am a debtor to everybody that
I can influence because of the gospel of Jesus
Christ. Can I say that when the gospel truly
transforms a life, it is likely that that person
that has been transformed by the gospel will
feel a sense of responsibility, even a debt.
You might say a debt of gratitude. That all of
a sudden my life is not my own. My life belongs
to him. Can the gospel really do all that? It
did it for this persecutor. It did it for this
person that was cursing and railing against the
very people that were promoting the gospel. that
he once hated and now he said, I am a slave to
Jesus because of the gospel. What do you think
could happen if a few more people became slaves
to Jesus because of the gospel? Now I'm not saying
all of us could write our own books of the Bible.
I don't know if that's how it's gonna work out.
But I am saying that the gospel is so powerful
that this one man is known as the greatest missionary
in the history of Christianity and in fact outside
of Jesus Christ the greatest influence for anyone
that's ever stood for Jesus and he will say the
reason why I lived as though I was a slave to
Jesus is because of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Let me just say this and move on. It deserves
a lot more time and attention than what I can
give it right now, and I'll talk about it later
on this afternoon. But if you go to Rome today,
you're not gonna see a lot of memorabilia that
celebrates people that embrace the gospel of
Jesus Christ, that were repenting of their sins,
they were baptized in Jesus' name, they were
filled with the Holy Ghost, speaking with other
tongues. of them there. In fact, there are some
that certainly are carrying the banner of Jesus
and we celebrate that. But let me tell you, there's
a whole lot of other things that Rome is famous
for right now than the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Can I tell you what? We are just one generation
from extinction if we don't put into the hearts
of our young men and young ladies a passion for
the gospel of Jesus. Christ. Praise the name
of the Lord. I know this is gonna sound crazy,
but I believe the gospel is so powerful that
young men and young ladies in every generation
can put something in the deep part of their soul
that says, I will be a slave for Jesus. I will
go where Jesus wants me to go. I will do what
Jesus wants me to do. Why would you put your
life on the auction block? and be a slave for
Jesus. It's the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's
possible that men and women and boys and girls
can say, here's my life. It doesn't belong to
me. I'm a slave to Jesus because of the gospel
of Jesus Christ. Praise God. Praise God. Knock
me off my donkey, Lord, so that I'll be a slave
for you. I clean that up. Knock me off my donkey,
Lord, so I'll be a slave for you. Thank God for
the new King James. We got children in the room.
Knock me off my donkey, Lord, until I no longer
live for myself, until it's not just about what
I want, until it's not just about what I need.
But the gospel of Jesus Christ gets a hold of
me. We would have a whole lot more world changers
if we had a whole lot more slaves for Jesus.
That's probably not anything I need to preach
to you. It's something I need to preach to myself
today. But can I tell you that the apostle Paul
was a slave to Jesus because of the gospel of
Jesus Christ. He became convinced that when Jesus
hung on that cross, He hung on that cross for
the Apostle Paul when Jesus was died and buried.
It was not just for the whole world. It was for
that renegade persecutor of everything Christian
and somehow it captivated the imagination of
the great Apostle Paul and he recognized when
that same Jesus come out of the grave and he
had conquered death and hell. He did it for me
and so that great The apostles said, I will be
a slave for Jesus. We may not all become apostles,
but I tell you what, we can all become servants
of Jesus Christ if we can get a revelation. It
was the gospel that saved me. Can you say in
Jesus' name? Praise God. Paul. Could never have
predicted the purpose that God had for his life
He was called he was separated because of the
gospel of Jesus Christ If you want to know the
call of God You got to be willing to be separated
Makes me wanna cry too. If you want to know the
call of God, you've got to be willing to be separated
for the gospel. Somewhere in your journey with
Jesus. You've got to reach some sort of something.
You've got to calculate in your mind. The call
of God is so precious. The revelation that God
can do more with me than I can do with myself
is so I'm chasing after the reality that God
put me on the planet for a purpose. But if you're
going to ever discover that purpose, you're going
to have to be willing to be separated. Oh, when
we come to the altar for a few moments, it would
be awesome if someone marched up to the altar
and raised her hands and said, Jesus, I'm willing
to be separated from all of the distractions.
I'm willing to be separated from all of the hindrances
of life. I'm willing to be separated from all
of my preconceived ideas of what my plan is for
me to discover what your plan is for me. And
so God, I will listen for the call of God. One
of the greatest challenges in the church today
is people that want a call of God without being
separated for the gospel. I'd like to have the
benefits of being blessed of God, but I really
don't want my life to be separated from this
current culture. I'd like to make some money,
I'd like to drive a nice car, I'd like to live
in a good house, but give me enough of that call
of God so I can feel pretty good about myself.
And I can think, man, I'm really somebody. Somehow
the great apostle Paul got a hold of something
that was so much deeper than that. I'm telling
you, it was the gospel of Jesus Christ. There
was something about the fact. Jesus died for
me. I might as well live for him. That got ahold
of the apostle Paul until he said, I am a bond
servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle,
separated to the gospel of God. I'm not just
separated maybe to a church even. I'm not just
separated to a few songs and a sermon on Sunday.
And Monday through Saturday, I live it my way.
Oh no, I am separated for the... gospel of Jesus
Christ. How can my life be transformed by the
gospel? Can I say today, and I'd love for you
to insert a man here, it is a big deal to know
a risen savior. It is. It is a big deal to know
that Jesus is God. It's a big deal. It's a big
deal to know the gospel of Jesus Christ. We're
getting a little bit weaker on those amens. Do
I have to repeat them? No, I'm gonna just take,
I'm gonna take for granted you're right there
with me. It is a big deal to know that Jesus
died for me, that he rose again. It's a big deal.
The Apostle Paul was a renegade. The Apostle
Paul was a persecutor. The Apostle Paul was nowhere
near qualified or prepared in terms of his relationship
with Jesus to take out the parchment and then
take out the quill and begin to speak and write
as God anointed him. And before you know it,
most of the New Testament was written by this
same one that was cursing and persecuting Christians.
What happened to him? The gospel happened to
him. And so what I am saying to us today is let's
not limit the power of the gospel in our lives.
My God, I've been exposed to the gospel and I
go to church every Sunday. That's great, but
the gospel is bigger than that. My God, I've
been exposed to the gospel and I'm ready to go
to heaven when the trumpet sounds. That's great,
but the gospel is bigger than that. Praise God.
Can you say in Jesus' name? My time is almost
up and we're still on the first verse. Maybe
we'll add two or three services every Sunday
so I can get through this. Fear God right there.
You're not afraid, you just wouldn't come. If
you're not coming, at least try to watch us on
TV. Listen to this, let's skip to verse five.
This is Paul and he says, this is from the New
Living Translation, a little bit easier to understand.
Through Christ, God has given us the privilege
and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere
what God has done for them. so that they will
believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.
Now, I wanna slow down here just a little bit,
and I'll wrap this up. But I want you to think
about it, because remember, there is a little
bit of a caveat here that Brother Ray, if a lightning
bolt knocked you off your donkey, My goodness,
you'd be an Apostle Paul. You'd write 25 new
books of the Bible for us. But that's not what
the Apostle Paul is claiming here. He's claiming
that once I became an Apostle, I was given a
commission. And my commission is this, is to
tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for
them. Not even what God has done for me and I
could go all around town tell everybody about
how I got knocked off my donkey And I live happily
ever after but Paul said that's not what he called
me to do He called me to tell Gentiles everywhere
what God has done for them Are you hearing that
there's a little distinction there? They didn't
go around town. They didn't go around nations
They didn't go around their generation and just
said let me tell you about Jesus. He knocked
me off my donkey And now I'm a great preacher
for him. That's not what they did. They went
everywhere and they said, here's the good news.
Here's what God has done for you. Whoa. Did he
knock you off your donkey? No, he didn't do that.
But he robed himself in flesh and he came to
this earth as a man. Why would he do that? Because
as a God he cannot die for our sins But he knows
as a God every one of us should die for our sins
But he came as a man to die for our sins And
not only did he die for our sins which takes
away the penalty for our sins No longer do you
and I have to die for our sins he died in our
place But he didn't just die he rose again and
when he rose again He has given us power over
those sins. What is that power? It's Jesus Christ
in me, the hope of glory. And so Paul says, all
of us apostles, we are going everywhere. We're
telling everybody this is what God has done for
you. Oh, would you thank the Lord for what God
has done for you. One more time, could you thank
the Lord for what he has done for you? Jesus
died for me. Jesus rose again for me. Jesus has
filled me with his Holy Spirit. Oh, would you
clap your hands one more time and thank the Lord?
There is no serious scholar No legitimate theologian
that truly believes and can attest to this idea
that what Paul wrote to the believers in Rome
are limited. His words, their impact, the purpose
and the promise is just limited to those believers
in that day, in that city. No serious theologian
believes that. In fact, most theologians would
say that what Paul wrote to the believers in
Rome, he writes to every believer. That's true.
So we can extend these words to our lives today,
and we can accept the fact that when we believe
and obey him, we will bring glory. to his name.
One more verse here, well, maybe a couple more,
okay? I'm almost done, but this is so important.
So we're going everywhere, we're telling everybody
the gospel, that they will believe and obey him,
bringing glory to his name, verse six. And you
are included among those Gentiles who have been
called to belong to Jesus Christ. I'm writing
to all of you in Rome who are loved by God. You
are called to be His own holy people. May God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you
grace and peace. We are included in that collection
of Gentiles that belong to Jesus. We are included
in that collection of people that Jesus loves
so much that he died for us, rose again for us.
We are included among those people that had the
response. to the gospel, because remember what
he said, we're going to believe and obey. The
gospel is not just what you believe. It's what
you do about what you believe. And so you read
the history of those that received the gospel.
They put their faith in Jesus Christ. They repented
of their sins. They were baptized in Jesus' name.
They were filled with the Holy Ghost. They spoke
with other tongues. But even more than that,
they were led by the Spirit of God. Can I preach
to you today the only reason why the gospel has
been transmitted from generation to generation
to generation to our generation is because somewhere
in every generation there was somebody that said,
you know what, I didn't get pushed off a donkey.
I didn't see a light from heaven, but I know
the gospel of Jesus Christ. I didn't fall off
a donkey and hear the voice of God. and I know
the gospel of Jesus Christ. He died for me. He
rose again. He filled me with his spirit and
I belong to him. Praise God. You may be seated
for just a moment. Praise God. Praise God. Turn
to that person next to you. and say, God loves
you so much. If nobody said it to you, let me
say it to you. God loves you so much. That in
all of his holiness, he knew that all of our
sin should condemn us. To hell that sounds old
-fashioned He said I love these people too much
To let them die. I Will come to earth as a man
so I can die That's the only reason why he came
as a man Because there's one mediator between
God and man the man Christ Jesus, that's the
gospel So he died for you sir He died for you,
ma 'am, and then he rose again. And by virtue
of his resurrection power, you and I have his
spirit within us. We can overcome sin, but even
more than that, we can belong to him. We can
bring glory to his name. You say preacher. I
don't know about that. I mean, I got this problem.
I got this hangup. I got this distraction. I
got these... Paul was killing Christians. And
look what God did for him. What can God do for
you and through you if you fall in love with
the gospel of Jesus Christ? You are not a nobody
going nowhere. You are loved by God. You are
called according to his own purpose. You are
one of his holy people. The gospel is working
in your life. You and I are not outside of God's
plans. He loves us. He died for us. He rose again
so that we could live for him. And so, We are
not saved to serve ourselves. Well, I'm saved,
I'm going to heaven. I'll just do whatever I
want. No, no, no, no, no. We belong to him. Now
we can be his slave. Why would we even be his
slave? So the next generation and the next generation
and the next generation can know the gospel,
can know the gospel, can know the gospel. I'm
reaching for somebody in this sanctuary today
that may literally feel like a hopeless case.
I've been religious so long, preacher, it ain't
done nothing for me. I know about church and
all that God stuff, I'm still all messed up in
my head. I'm reaching for you right now. Because
Paul was as religious as anybody. And Paul...
was so messed up in his head after he saw all
those intelligent religious men take those stones
and hurl them at some guy, Stephen, who had done
nothing wrong. He's holding all their coats.
It messed with him so bad he became a persecutor
of anybody that named the name Jesus. And you're
telling me you're disqualified from being used
of God? I don't believe it. I don't believe it.
I think what's happened is There are so many
other callings in life that pull at us that have
nothing to do with being a slave for Jesus. But
if I can get reconnected with the gospel, oh,
thank you, Jesus, for dying for my sins. Thank
you, Jesus, for going to the grave and rising
up again. Thank you, Jesus, for filling me with
your spirit. Thank you Jesus for the gospel of
Jesus Christ Would you bow your heads with me
right now? And would you respond to this message?
Grab a hold of something you can do About what
you've heard What can I do? To bring glory to
his name Because I don't belong to me. I belong
to him and I am so thankful for the gospel of
Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Those of
you that know how to pray in the Spirit, could
you just begin to pray with a little bit more
intensity. You don't have to go crazy, but just
pray in the Spirit for just a moment. Pray in
the spirit for just a moment because the gospel
is reaching for somebody right now. The gospel
is reaching for somebody right now. Gentlemen,
I'm gonna turn off this mic for just a moment
because I wanna pray with passion. I don't wanna
scare anybody. I'll turn it on here in just a
few moments. I wonder if you believe in the gospel,
if you could stand and raise your hands. If you
trust in the gospel, if you could stand and lift
your voice. If you have committed to obeying
the gospel and loving the gospel, living the
gospel, right from where you're standing, could
you use your voice to praise the Lord for the
gospel? of Jesus Christ. Come on, come on. I
know it sounds like old time religion, but I
want to say right now, if it was good enough
for the old timers, if it was good enough for
Paul, if it was good enough for the apostles,
if it was good enough, come on, it's good enough
for me. If it could change the life of the vilest
sinner, it can work for me. If it could transform
the heart that is coldest, and farthest away
from transformation. It can change me. The gospel,
the gospel, the gospel, the gospel. Hallelujah.
Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Praise God. Praise God.
Praise God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
Hallelujah. I love you, Jesus. Praise God. What
I would really like to say right now is that
if you're here today, and you know the gospel
is true, and you have not repented of your sins,
I beg you to repent today. That's the right response
to the gospel. If you have never been baptized
in Jesus' name, we have water ready, we have
robes ready, that is the right response to the
gospel. If you've never been filled with the
spirit of God, you've never spoken with other
tongues, You've heard about it or you heard a
lot a lot of different things. You don't even
know what to believe But the right response to
the gospel would be to say Jesus fill me with
yours Fill me with your spirit Praise God As
much as I would like to say those things What
makes me nervous about saying those things? Is
that those of us that have checked those boxes?
We would fail to know the power of the gospel.
I don't think when the old timers would sing
about the gospel, preach about the gospel, I
don't think they limited it to, well, I got the
Holy Ghost 20 years ago. I'm just waiting for
the rapture. I don't think they live for God
that way. I don't think we would have the gospel
today if they live for God that way. I don't
even think they would live for God with that
kind of mentality. Well, I've done my part. I'm
good to go. I'm just sticking around, seeing
if y 'all mess it up. Are you kidding me? That's
not the gospel. I don't know what that is, but
that is not the gospel. The gospel is that something
that revelation that message that gets a hold
of me that says I belong to you and You can do
something in me and through me That helps me
bring glory to your name. Oh Is there anybody
that would come to the altar and say I want to
bring glory to your name? I want to bring glory
to your name. Let the gospel of Jesus Christ
get a hold of my life until I bring glory. I
see a lot of students at the altar and students,
I'm asking you to raise your hands and say, Jesus,
I will reject every idea that I'm not good enough
or I'm not smart enough or I'm not religious
enough or I'm not spiritual enough. I know the
gospel is enough. I know the gospel is enough.
Come on, if you've got some sort of sin or some
sort of struggle or some sort of temptation,
don't believe the lie that says you're just gonna
be stuck. Come on, the gospel is bigger than
that. The gospel is bigger than that. Hallelujah.
Is there anybody that could say, Jesus, I trade
my religion today for the gospel. I trade all
the things about me that make me better than
everybody else or worse than everybody else.
I trade all that for the gospel right now, Lord.
I'd like for the gospel to get ahold of my life
right now. I'd like for the gospel to get ahold
of my life right now. I don't want to leave here
thinking that I'm just a good religious person.
I want to leave here empowered by the gospel
to find somebody and just say, if Jesus did it
for me, He'll do it for you. In the name of the
Lord Jesus. In the name of the Lord Jesus. In
the name of the Lord Jesus. In the name of the
Lord Jesus. In the name of the Lord Jesus, come
on the gospel. The gospel is enough. The gospel
is enough. The gospel is enough. The gospel is
enough for you to change your generation. The
gospel is enough for you to be mightily used
of God. The gospel is enough. for you to be victorious
over every besetting sin the gospel is enough
for you to say oh no i can't go on i've got to
let everything be transformed by the gospel praise
the name of the lord in the name of the Lord
Jesus in the name of the Lord Jesus in the name
of the Lord Jesus in the name of the Lord Jesus
in the name of the Lord Jesus in the name of
the Lord Jesus in the name of the Lord Jesus
in the name of the Lord Jesus Y 'all are mama