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There is a verse in my Bible, in

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the book of Revelation, which I love and

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I often use it as the freeness of

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the call to the gospel.

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It's Revelation 22, 17, which declares, And the

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Spirit and the bride say, Come, and let

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him that heareth say, Come, and let him

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that is the thirst come, and whosoever will,

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let him take the water of life freely.

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I love that verse, friends, with all its

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promises of eternal life to the thirsting individual

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who feels their need of a Savior from

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sin.

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But I think we overemphasize the whosoever will

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aspect of that verse because the sad reality

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is nobody will.

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Nobody will come to Christ until they first

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see their need of him.

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And that's the title of my message today,

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friends.

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Nobody will.

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In this day of easy believism, we fail

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to be honest with folks and tell them

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the truth about themselves, that their hearts are

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so bad they will not come to Christ

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for forgiveness for sin.

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Now, multitudes will gladly accept the little Jesus

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of the modern gospel who stands helplessly at

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the door of the sinner's heart, knocking until

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somebody lets him in.

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That kind of harmless Jesus is the popular

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Jesus of the perverted gospel of our day.

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And just about anybody will be okay accepting

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him so they can have their free ticket

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to heaven punched while they remain unchanged and

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sin all they want to.

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But the same individual will have nothing to

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do with the Christ of my Bible who

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demands from every follower of his full allegiance,

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first place, and complete surrender to his lordship

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and absolute authority over the rule and reign

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of a person's life.

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They don't want that kind of Jesus who

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is a sovereign Lord who has rights and

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claims on all followers of his.

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They'll gladly accept the shrunken-down, harmless little

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old Jesus of modern evangelism that doesn't have

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any cost or sacrifice to follow him.

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That's why so many in our churches today

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live like the devil.

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I'll never forget the big Southern Baptist pastor

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who, after a Sunday service, made an announcement

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to the men in his congregation that every

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single male there was to go across the

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hall immediately to the big cafeteria for a

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brief meeting.

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I stood there with 4,000 men beside

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me while this pastor made us close our

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eyes and respond to his question.

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He said, How many of you men here

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are looking at pornography?

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Raise your hand and keep your eyes closed.

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Be honest.

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Raise your hand.

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I sensed hands go up all around me

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as this pastor remarked in disgust.

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Well, that's half of you here, and I

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know another third are just as guilty but

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afraid to raise your hand.

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Then he abruptly dismissed us.

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Looking back on what that pastor taught as

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the gospel, it is no wonder that his

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people were mainly unconverted individuals who had merely

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accepted his little version of Jesus, but it

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never transformed their lives.

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And that's the trouble today, friends, when Jesus

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was here in his earthly ministry.

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As he passed from towns and villages, those

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who encountered him experienced change.

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The blind that were healed never lost their

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sight again.

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The lame that were made to leap never

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went back to being crippled.

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When Christ enters a life in regeneration, then

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that person has a new principle implanted in

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them by the Holy Spirit, and that principle

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can take the vile sinner, transform his or

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her heart, give them a disposition for holiness,

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and then stick that person back in a

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sin-loving society.

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But now that person has a power stronger

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than him to live above the world.

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That's salvation, friend, at least the kind found

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in my Bible.

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But people will take your little Jesus so

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long as he won't get in the way

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of their daily living, but they want nothing

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to do with a living Lord who must

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rule and reign like a prince over their

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life.

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That's why nobody, nobody will come savingly to

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Christ Jesus to take him as their Lord.

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They will never seek shelter in the blood

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of Jesus Christ until God rains down on

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them floods of horror, blood, and fire, and

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prick their hearts with their rotten sins and

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reveal to them their need of a blood

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-stained Savior from sin.

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If we continue to preach a watered-down

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gospel that we have diluted of its saving

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transforming power, then we should not be surprised

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if our congregations mirror the wicked society in

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which they live.

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I feel sorry for the pastor who fails

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to call sin black and hell hot and

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to warn men to flee from the wrath

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to come by repentance and faith and surrender

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to a thrice holy God who sent his

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only begotten Son to be a scandal hanging

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on a bloody cross, who suffered and bled

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there, died there, and was buried in another

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man's tomb, who rose again and ascended back

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into heaven, who sits now at the right

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hand of the Father as he rules and

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reigns as a living Lord of absolute authority.

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If you fail to preach the Christ of

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the Bible and warn men of the need

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of repentance, then you will one day stand

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before the reigning Christ with a bloody suit

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of clothes and bloody hands.