Freedom In The Gospel: Part 1 | Paul Washer - Mississippi Prison

your only boast is this Jesus Christ died for wretches like me there's only one hero in true Christianity and it is Jesus Christ the rest of us have done nothing but failed [Music] [Music] it's a great privilege for me to be here with you a great privilege many years ago there was a uh Minister working among lepers um and every morning he would get up and he would give a devotional he said I'm here with you lepers seeking to help you in the pain in the agony of your life he worked there for several years

and then one day he began to notice wounds on his own body that wouldn't heal he kept trying to do different things it was a very poor area to heal himself there was no healing and so one morning he got up to address the lepers and for the first time he said fellow lepers I am here with you today as one of you a leper we are all lepers we are all sinful you know sometimes because I preach in a lot of places I'll hear something that it just makes me sick inside someone will go

oh you're a man of God really there are no Great Men of God let me repeat that there are no Great Men of God if you say something like that I know your theology is really bad I know you're unbiblical all there are are sinful weak men of a great and a merciful god that's all there is every day I'm reminded there was a singer years and years ago most of you were too young his name was Keith Green and he had a song I seem to have a wealth of so many thoughts about myself

I get up every morning I think about that I know Jesus has saved me but even in my 40 some years of serving him how much of it was really about him and how much of it was about me my greatest thought my purest thought my greatest sacrifice would only earn me hell I am saved for the same reason the Apostle Paul is saved and the Apostle Paul was saved for the same reason the thief on the cross was saved Jesus Christ died for my sin and that is it that's all true Christianity has only

one boast it's not about I kept the law it's not about I'm a good person it's not about any of that if you are Christian your only boast is this Jesus Christ died for wretches like me there there's only one hero in true Christianity and it is Jesus Christ the rest of us have done nothing but failed across the board and so I don't care who comes here to preach he's a fellow leper and you say well I appreciate you calling yourself a leper but I don't appreciate you calling me a leper the most loving

thing I can ever do to you is tell you what you are you are a leper you are a sinner and so am I so am I if I could get inside your head I would not like what I see and if you could get inside of mine you would be disappointed you would be disappointed because all we have is Christ and that's what sets Christ and the Christian religion separate from every other religion and we're going to talk about that every other religion in the world is about what somebody does to make God owe

them something Christianity is the only religion where we fall upon God and his son with nothing in our hands another thing you need to understand many of you well most of you I guess all all of you were born in the west you were born here in America and you look around at America and you go you know Christianity is really not that big a deal I mean not that many people believe and most people laugh and what you have to understand is America is not the world throughout the world Christianity is growing advancing you

know where the greatest number of Christians are in the world the highest populace and percentage of Christians in the world it's not the United States it's Africa second to Africa South America second to South America Asia some of the greatest theologians some of the greatest preachers in my opinion the greatest preacher is not an America it's in Africa others in South America and so what you need to realize that whatever you think about Christianity well in prison it's a small thing outside these walls it's a small thing no God's doing amazing things and it's through

his son through his son through his son so there's no great man of God visiting you there's a puny little man just like you who has received grace through the death of God's son and and that is it and you're saying yeah that's the way you were but he changed you no it's the way I still am apart from his grace as I said my best thought would only earn me hell all I have is Christ I'm 63 I have uh had massive heart attacks open heart surgery all kinds of things I've already decided I

told my wife what is to be written on my Tombstone and it's this I contributed nothing to my salvation but my sin and I contributed nothing to my Ministry but my weakness My Hope Is Christ My Hope Is Christ now having said that I want to say a few other things before we get to the text inside of 50 years most of you will be dead you will be dead let's say that you weren't in here let's say that you were the most beautiful man God ever made the wealthiest man who ever lived the most

popular man whoever walked this planet I'll still tell you the same thing inside of a 50 years you'd be dead dead I I want you to think about that for a moment when I was a little boy my dad he was a big man he was very smart he was strong he was Brave he was everything I wanted to be everything and one day we were on our we we raised cattle and Quarter Horses so I was raised in that and uh he and I were running wire to build a fence he was on one

side of the bar I was on the other and we're moving down the field and all of a sudden he yelled and I realized this his side dropped and I looked and I saw him stagger and I caught him and we fell to the ground and he was dead I read realized at that moment it didn't matter how wealthy someone is they're going to die doesn't matter how strong or intelligent someone is they're going to die it doesn't matter how wealthy someone is they're going to die it doesn't matter if you fall in love I

mean you have one of those miraculous relationships that most people never find where the woman is the light of your life you are going to walk watch her die or she is going to watch you die and I just would start drink I didn't care about anything I did not care about anything except what I could get pleasure whatever wealth and it ran my life into nothing but misery just misery misery one day a guy talked to me and I made fun of him I mean I mocked him so bad he brought up Christ part

of my family was Catholic part of my family was Baptist I didn't want to know anything about God and he said what do you think about Jesus of Nazareth I didn't have anything against him said well you know guess he's a he's a good guy and he goes you can't say that I said just did he said but you can't say that logically and I said why not he said this Jesus said that he was God In the Flesh who came to Earth to live the perfect life we could could not live to hang on

a cross bearing our sin to suffer the wrath of almighty God that you deserve that he died and he rose again from the dead that's what Jesus said and you can't say he's a good man and I said why he said there's only three options and you have to decide which one it is Jesus said he was God so either he knew he wasn't and he was a liar and he's deceived more people than anyone else on the planet or he said he was God and he was delusional an idiot or he really was and

is the Son of God he was exactly who he said he was and that's here for you today you know if I am a Christan CHR and I am and a preacher though not a good one do you know I look out over this group of men and you know I'm looking at men who are going to go to hell do you realize that at least some of you here are going to go to hell do you know how hard that is when you really believe it yes some of you are honestly it doesn't matter

what crime you committed some of you if you died right now would go straight to heaven because you truly are trusting in Christ some of you know and some of you just have some sort of prison religion in which you dance and holler and hoop but there's no substance there's no reality so I'm looking at some men at least who are going to go to hell now you can say look I'll whip you yeah I suppose you could but the most loving thing I could ever do to you is tell you the truth at the

risk of you whipping me and you need to understand that it's a reality I mean if it's not then I've wasted 42 years of my life in jungles in wars in all kinds of things trying to pull people out of hell I've wasted my stupid life because Jesus was was nothing but well a good man and religious he either is the Son of God or he's not now what we're going to do here is not like most meetings in prisons I'm not coming here to get you excited you know preachers will come the music the

exciting preaching and you know your life you're kind of miserable and everything and you come to the meetings and you get all excited and you get wound up like a little toy soldier and then after the meetings are over it lasts about two or three days and you're back where you started from and you're more bitter and miserable than when you began we're not doing that all I'm going to do is teach you the scriptures and we're going to start at the very beginning and we're going to keep going and hopefully get into the Christian

Life like how can you truly know that you're saved how can you truly know that you're a Christian so we're going to walk through the scriptures and for some of you it will be boring because some of you just want a jailhouse [Applause] religion you say brother Paul you're you're being pretty mean you ought to see the way I teach in churches I'm being nice to you guys I want you to know that everything in your life is hinging upon what you do with one man not a white man not a blonde man not a

blue-eyed man a Semitic man a middle eastern man a man who I believe with all my heart was truly the Son of God and so let's start I want you if you have your Bibles I'm going to be preaching from Revelation chapter 20 before I read let's go to the Lord in prayer father father I come before you in the name of your son and my only right to come before you is the son Lord you know me my in and my outs my comings and goings oh Father there's so much wrong here at the

same time I'm standing before men whom you made men that belong to you and I pray Lord that you would use your word not some excitement or eloquence but your word and your spirit to change lives to continue changing lives to change my life oh God look at us look at look at this room a room full of Sinners needy broken we're stupid Lord we're we're there's just no word to describe what we are and I'm the chief among them so God please help us in Jesus name Jesus amen so in Revelation 20 verse 10

and the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the Beast and the false prophet are also and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever then I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it from whose presence Earth and Heaven fled away and no place was found for them and I saw the Dead the Great and the small standing Before the Throne and books were opened and another book was open which is The Book of Life and the dead were judged from the things

which were written in the books according to their deeds and the Sea gave up the dead which were in them and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them and they were judged every one of them according to their deeds then death and Hades were thrown into the Lake of Fire this is the second death the Lake of Fire And if anyone's name was not written not found written in the Book of Life he was thrown into the Lake of Fire now this is either on the level of a comic book strip

or a fantasy movie or it's real it's not one or the other it's either true or false now when we talk about this great Throne Room judgment what you have to realize is you can't understand it apart from verse chapter 21 in chapter 21 what he's talking about is God is going to create a new Heaven and a new earth that is so distinct from the reality that we know that you men know that it would be absolutely inconceivable to us we couldn't even begin to understand it in a sense we are like children that

have been born in a sewer the sewer is in us and we are in the sewer and we've never seen anything else that's all we know so we can't even conceive of something else but he says he's going to make a new Heaven and a new Earth but you know that before he does that he's got to get rid of those things that contaminated the first Earth and so when you look at verse 10 you see that he rids the Earth he rids Heaven of the devil once in for all it says and the devil

who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the Beast and the false prophet are also and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever when we hear that we want to break out in the Hallelujah Chorus praise God he's rid the Earth of evil and now there can be a new Heaven and a new Earth no there can't be because he has to First rid the Earth of someone else do you know who that is some of you you see everyone's praising God because the devil who corrupted the

Earth has been thrown out and he will corrupt no more but then there's you a man who has never bowed his knee truly to God you've never truly known or appreciated Christ Christ you may be hardened against religion or you may have some form of religion but in reality God does not have your heart there is a whole world out there of people who hate Christ or they don't necessarily hate him just ignore him which is just another form of hatred and what you have to understand there is not only a purging of the earth

of the devil himself but of his children and I was one of those I was one of those and I am aware every day of my life that I should be purged but then there was Christ and he came and he saved me what I want you to see is look you either need to be here or it would be better if you just went somewhere and watched television you need to see that that I'm not here today because I want to entertain I'm not here today because you need a little religion I'm telling you

this is the difference between life and death and Heaven and Hell this is the difference between staying in corruption and being thrown into more corruption or moving on to a world where there is no corruption there is only Purity and love and in the state that some of you are in you can't go into that world not be because you know you break a few rules it's because you don't know Christ you don't know Christ because it's not rule keeping that makes the difference it's Christ that makes the difference now look at verse 11 I'm

going to back up what I've been telling you then I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it from whose presence Earth and Heaven fled away and no place was found for them and then it's going to go on and talk about you did you know this is the one place in the Bible where you appear John the Revelator when he looks out I don't know if he exactly caught your face but the multitude that he's looking at you're in there and so am I you're actually in the Bible this is the

one place where you appear he looks out at the great white Throne judgment and he sees everybody in this room everybody from Adam to the last man who will ever be born he sees them all you're here and it means that you and I will stand before God and we will be judged now the first thing that we need to understand he says then I saw a great white Throne great you know in this in this prison out in the world the universities even in churches God's name is mocked his name is blasphemed entire governments

seem to be set on destroying Christianity and trying to erase the name of Christ you see that well let me tell you something if every enemy of Christ on Earth today all the armies of all the men on Earth today all the armies and all the Great Men of human history if you emptied all of hell if you took every demon that is and you formed one gigantic Army to come against the Throne of God it would be like a little gnat beating its head against a piece of granite the size of the world Psalms

chapter 2 says God sits in the heavens and he laughs it is a great throne in the Greek megga from which we get mega large gigantic he sits on the throne and notice this he's sitting there he's not standing he's not pacing he's just sitting it is a great Throne it is a white Throne if I could take out your heart and if I could take every thought you've ever had and every deed you've ever done and I could put it on a thumb drive or CD and I could play it here right now you

would do everything in your power to stop me because you have thought things and done things so perverse and so dark that you would not want your best friend to know it and how do I know that it's not because I'm some Prophet it's because I'm just like you I'm just like you I mean I'd say kill me first I mean think about it think about it and you would be embarrassed before us and yet you know we're just like you you would be embarrassed before us and yet we're Sinners just like you what will

it be like when you stand before a holy holy holy God and your sin is revealed I think maybe you'll beg for hell just to get out of his light just to get out of his presence it is a great throne and there's nothing you can do about it there's not a Changing of the Guard with regard to the ruler of this world he's not going to be voted out he's not going to be impeached there's not going to be a poll to determine whether or not everybody likes him it says that it is a

throne it is great it is white and then it says and him who sat upon it do you know why they're doing that let me share with you why he's doing that well one of the reason is he's Jewish it's just like Matthew The Book of Matthew was written to primarily Jewish readers so when Matthew wants to talk about the kingdom of God he doesn't say kingdom of God you know what he says Kingdom of Heaven why it's the idea that God is so holy so worthy so worthy of reverence that they don't even want

to mention his name and of course they don't even want to attempt to describe him so he describes the throne that God is sitting on because the god who's sitting on it is beyond description it's like when in the Old Testament it was asked what is your name God says my name is too wonderful this is the god with whom you must deal and if that's not true then I should have done something else with my life he is the god with whom you must deal now I want you to look at something from whose

presence Earth and Heaven fled away and no place was found for them so imagine all right you're the biggest baddest dude in the neighborhood you're the biggest baddest dude in prison and you're like I ain't scared of God I ain't scared of nobody well imagine that you're being led down a hallway huge hallway as wide as this room you're being led down a hallway into judgment and you're still a long way from the throne you can't see God you can't see the throne and you're walking there and you're acting all bad like yeah I ain't

scared of Nothing But as you're walking you see men bigger than you running the other direction screaming hysterically in Terror shakes you up a bit and then you go yeah it don't bother me I'm better than they are then you see angelic creatures that with one tip of the finger could destroy 185,000 men and they're running in the opposite direction screaming in Terror are you shook up now because the one they're running away from is the one you're being led to this ain't me and Jesus got our own thing going this ain't my buddy or

my big man or my homeboy or anything else you won't be using that kind of language on that day it will be Terror I have a friend Victor Belfor he was like world champion UFC and everything and he loves Christ but even when you when he's talking to you about Jesus it's scary just because you know this guy good kill me that's just a little man not even a speck on a speck on a speck on a speck on a speck on a flea's back you are going to face God you say well you're one

of those hateful Hellfire no at the risk of you really not liking me I've got to tell you something you're going to to meet him you're going to stand before him naked with every thought with every deed exposed not before other Sinners only but before a holy God and a holy heaven and then in verse 12 and I saw the Dead that's you that's me he saw you he saw me he saw the dead you're going to die several years ago I had a massive heart attack and my heart stopped three different times for a

very very long period of time so that they told my wife there's no way his brain is going to survive your husband will probably be institutionalized for the rest of his life if if he does survive and someone asked me they said what was your last thought when the pain hit you and I said it was a sense of this giant almost pinning me to the ground that there was absolutely nothing I could do about it nothing it was almost like a mockery this is going to happen to you you're going to die are you

not hearing me say well I'm an atheist but you better hope you're right you better hope you're right you will stand before him I saw the Dead the Great and the small as I said you know I've lived more than six decades I can remember athletes when I was a kid they were so great I mean I I was able to see guys like wil Chamberlain and Karem and Earl The Pearl Monroe and Walt Frasier Clyde the Glide all all these great now they're either old or they're dead famous rock stars right and movie stars

handsome beautiful they're not dead wealthy wealthy wealthy people that have more money than countries they're dead you know nii's famous statement God is dead he wrote a thing God is dead saichi and someone wrote after nii's death on the wall of a university ni's dead find God you are going to die and think about it think for a moment okay for all the flaws for all the flaws and the sins and everything the people who try to build a country and try to build a noble country or Kingdom and they they fight for it they

die for it they give their lives for it they live in poverty because of it they do everything to build a kingdom and then what happens they either die or they live long enough to see everything they've built torn down in Peru there's a statement I lived in Peru for many years and what it is the only reason you're alive is because air is there's no purpose it's just a game when I W when I saw my father there're dead and I was doing CPR and all the things as a kid trying to make him

come back to life I'm sitting there going so you you're born you're educated you work you retire you die you died and you're going to die you're going to die he says I saw the Dead the Great and the small the wealthy the poor you're not going to get to heaven because you're wealthy and famous you're not going to get to heaven because you're poor and unknown the Great and the small everyone are touched by death and he says standing Before the Throne can you imagine on that day and the saddest thing about it is

it's too late once you die it's just too late they're standing before they're not slouching Before the Throne they're not sitting Before the Throne I guarantee you on that day no one in this room will be mocking or slouching no one standing before the and the books were open and another book was open which is The Book of Life so there is a series of books and then there is one book and it's very important you understand that there's a series of books and then there is one book only one and so let's look first

at the books the plural and and it says and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds now in the Greek language but more importantly in the Hebrew language and John this is Greek but he's a Jew repetition is everything okay like when you and I want to emphasize something and we're writing we may put it in big letters or bold letters or underline it or we'll raise our voice or something to emphas emphasize if a Jew wants to emphasize something he repeats it that's why in

Isaiah 6 in the year that King Uzziah died I saw also the Lord high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple and above him stood the sarapin each one having six wings with two he covered his feet with two he covered his face with two he covered his feet and with two he did fly and one Cried unto the other holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts that's very Hebrew to say holy holy to say holy is woe to say holy holy is look at this to say holy holy

holy say this is about the most important thing that's ever been said about God now if you'll notice at the end of verse 12 it says they were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds and then down in verse 13 and they were judged every one of them according to their deeds some of you it's as though I were speaking Greek right now do you know why you know how I can tell that that you're not understanding me is you're not falling on your face in fear listen to

what he's saying when you stand before God outside of Christ you will don't be judged now remember there are a multitude of books here why is it saying that not one thought not one word not one disposition not one attitude not one action will be left out of that book with regard to your life everything you did in public everything you did in secret everything you actually did everything you thought of doing you will stand there and every thought every word every deed will be presented before God and as we see here it's not an

a chamber where you're standing alone it's before everything that ever was and why is that important it's not just just to scare you there's something more important going on here God's going to send you to hell he needs to be Vindicated he needs everyone to see why you are being sent there and it will be so clear that on the day of judgment when you take your first step into hell you will maybe turn around and see all of creation is clapping and applauding God because he has rid the Earth of you you say you

agree with it when he does that with Satan but remember there's no middle ground here you made your choice now look at me am I yelling am I trying to be all emotional and get you wound up no I'm just I'm exting I'm expounding the text this is what it actually says now I know there are preachers that come in here and spend their whole time talking about God's got a great plan for you and you're going to be Overcomers and all this stuff look we we don't need to be there this is not about

overcoming not right now this is about where you going to spend eternity but before I get to the good news of the gospel I've got to set this out for you this is not play the guy who discipled me in part in college he kind of looked like Apollo Creed I don't know if you remember what Apollo Creed Rocky and he used to look at me all the time and he go wash wash look at me this ain't no baby skin this is real and that's what I'm telling you we ought to just go watch

TV or this is real so some of you if you died right now you would stand before God sooner or later in the economy of God you would stand before God and you would be judged in the body for every thought word and deed and not one of them is missing now I don't know I may have misjudged you you may be far better than me and all other men I don't know but I know the mere thought of this happening to me there would be no hope none no hope no hope verse 13 and

when you understand this part of what he's saying it becomes terrifying truly terrifying verse 13 and the Sea gave up the dead which were in them and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them and they were judged now what is it saying there was a guy who tried to create a Revolt in the Bible against the davidic kingdom and when he was finally being pursued and about to be captured he went into a city and hid there behind the wall and the troops of David were going to take out the city

but a wise woman comes to the window and speaks and says who are you looking for we're looking for so and so okay he's here we'll throw him out to you you know how it says when Jesus comes men will seek you know Great Men of the world who may great boasts against God they will seek to hide in the caverns and they will cry out for rocks to fall upon them why to hide them okay so the same idea is here there are men who have died in the sea there are men and supposedly

we could say in in Hades there men hidden all over but the men at the very bottom of the sea who have died there they want to stay there no hide me hide me hide me and the Sea goes no we're going to vomit you out because we are afraid of the one who comes for you hide me death hide me just let me stay here Hide me no you're out because we fear the one that is coming for you hide me grave hide me hide me no and Grave grabs you and throws you out

and guess what you know what's the terrible thing about this what you most fear is the light you know I'm I'm from farms and ranches and lived all my life fishing hunting when was a little boy probably many of you have done the same thing I'm going to go fishing I need worms I need crickets I need bugs where I going to look for him I'm going to flip over a rock I'm going to flip over a rotten log and I'm going to I'm going to get him because that's where they are in that darkness

and as soon as I flip that over what happens they all start burrowing down burrowing down what are they trying to do get away from the light get away from the light get away from the light Jesus said this is the verdict this is the condemnation this is the Judgment light came into the world and the world men loved Darkness rather than the light and then it says verse 15 and if anyone's name was not found written in the Book of Life he was thrown into the Lake of Fire so there's all these books it

has every deed every thought every disposition that I have ever committed me Paul waser not you me I can't think of anything more terrifying I don't have to be you I don't have to be here I don't have to be wearing Stripes if some of you you actually have studied the Bible you know there's no difference here we're guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty so there's all these books and I filled up a big part of them even today even today oh the preacher's coming even today so what do I do ah there's another book

what is it well certain people their names are written in that book why is it only one book it's not a lot of people Jesus said the way is broad that leads to hell and many find it a lot of books the way is narrow that leads to life life and few find it one book and what did they do to get in this book it's not what they did it's what he did for them it's what he did for them I remember I was studying at the University of Texas and everyone knew me I

mean even when when I said that I was converted some of my friends looked at me and go look that's low even for you you're going to mock God now pretending you're converted I mean they didn't even believe me they said not you and I remember one day a couple weeks later I found myself out in the quad at the University where all the students were and I was handing out tracks and people who before would have never done it were making fun of me girls were making fun of me everybody's making fun of me

and some of my friends got me and they go man what's happened to you you in a cult or something what what are you doing standing out here handing out tracks you see the people they're mocking you and I just looked at him I said what else can I do he died for me I saw me I saw what I was I saw it before my conversion when I really came to know him I remember remember going out one night and I went to this bar and I got to this point where you know I

didn't even party anymore so I would just like I was a young guy but I would just go to a like an old dude bar or a biker bar and just sit there by myself and drink Jack and I got so drunk that I came home this little Place apartment I had and I don't even know how I got home but I remember it like 4:00 or 5 in the morning it was still dark and I I wake up and you know it's a lenium floor you know and it's cold and it's all sticky and

my shirt is off and I'm like what where am I and I realize okay how did I get home I'm here and I turned on this dim light and I look in the mirror and it's me covered in my own vomit he saved me what else can I do this is not about keeping rules this is not about keeping rules I'm not even like you know this thing about religion and morality and everything else I want to be holy but that's not what it's about it's not rules and religion and being nice or respectable that

keeps me in the faith it's this crucified man who rose again from the dead on my behalf it's him and if you're a Believer it's like you're a prisoner of him what else can you do you saw your sin and you never want to see it again and to think that he carried my filth on Calvary and all the wrath of almighty God that should have been poured out on me was poured out on him I'm not a Christian or I try to be a good dad or this and that just because it's the right

thing to do that's not powerful enough for a man like me it's because Jesus Christ shed his blood for this sinner for this sinner and guess what you're just as much a sinner as me you're not better you say well I never said I was better I'm in prison yeah but you think you're better because you're not running to Christ you don't need him as much as I do but you do everybody here does and so what we're going to do in the next next sermon is we're going to talk about Sin just how sinful

are we and you say why are you saying all these negative things because most preachers don't and it's true number one number two it's not good news except it be seen in light of all the bad news I've worked in countries where children were starving if I go up to somebody like Gates and I say hey here's a Boney sandwich I made would you like to have it he go I want your stupid sandwich I go to one of those starving children and it's happened and I go look I've I've made you some Quaker Oats

here I've brought it to the street and and you can eat it they'll kiss your hand thank you thank you it's only in light of our recognition of our need that we can see truly see the glory of the love of Christ and when we start talking about the love of Christ it's the most painful thing I have to preach on do you want to know why because when you look at the love of Christ even after 42 years I understand almost nothing of it but it's so great that even what I understand I can't

communicate I will talk about the darkness of hell and the Darkness of sin but that's a lot easier to describe than the magnitude of the love of God As a matter of fact if you're a Christian the hardest thing the hardest theology you're ever going to have to learn the most difficult thing you're ever going to have to believe is that God loves you as much as he says he does because it's incomprehensible as a matter of fact Let me let me let you in we'll close here but let me let you in on a

little story do you remember when that great you know Jesus says throw your net in Peter Peter throws the net in and pulls in all those fish Peter does something very unusual he should be like really happy but what does he do he falls down and he goes like this depart from me Lord I'm a I'm a sinful man what does he saying he's basically rebuking in what way this is what he's doing Lord it's not right what you did it's not right it shouldn't have been done obviously you don't know what kind of man

I am and you should never show a man like me something like that depart from me this is wrong when you begin to understand the love of God that will be your attitude Lord you don't know what I've done there's you shouldn't be this kind to me it's wrong and guess what it would be wrong except he died for every sin you have ever committed you are committing or you will ever commit that's the only thing that makes it right he can do that he can show you that love because he put away all our

sins in as far as the East is from the west and that's what you need to see so let's pray father I pray not for emotion but for deep thought that the word of God has been implanted in the heart and men will see their need of Christ and put their faith in him and that Christians will see the very thing from which God has saved us all and have a deeper appreciation a deeper love for him dear God please please dear God in Jesus name amen