Is Your Faith Real? | Carlos Erazo

Come on, let's put our hands like this. ♪♪♪ Make it, Jesus! Hallelujah! Come on, let's sing. ♪ God, I know that what You promised ♪ ♪ Will be better than I thought ♪ ♪ When You finish what You started ♪ ♪ The resurrection is who You are ♪ ♪ It's who You are ♪ ♪ So we're not three days away from an empty grave ♪ ♪ Another stone is rolling in the room right now ♪ ♪ It's you right now Under you right now ♪ Another stone is rolling in the room right now ♪ ♪ It's you right now Under you right now ♪ Another stone is rolling Thank You, Lord. ♪♪ ♪ Jesus, come and move in power ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Miracles are what you do ♪ ♪♪ ♪ If you said it, I expect it ♪ ♪♪ ♪ It's an easy thing for you Oh, it's easy for you ♪ Two days out, three days away From an empty grave ♪ Another stone is rolling in the room right now ♪ It's you right now Under you right now ♪ Another stone is rolling in the room right now ♪ It's you right now Under you right now

♪ Another stone is rolling in the room right now ♪ It's you right now Under you right now ♪ Another stone is rolling in the room right now ♪ It's you right now Under you right now ♪ Another stone is rolling Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord. Thank You for Your grace and mercy, Jesus. Come on, sing. ♪ If you're looking for the stone It was thrown away ♪ If you're looking for the old me It's long gone ♪ No, I'm not at the same ♪ If you're looking for the stone It was thrown away ♪ If you're looking for the old me It's long gone ♪ No, I'm not at the same ♪ If you're looking for the stone It was thrown away ♪ If you're looking for the old me It's long gone ♪ No, I'm not at the same ♪ If you're looking for the stone It was thrown away ♪ If you're looking for the old me It's long gone ♪ Another stone is rolling in the room right now ♪ Under you right now ♪ Another stone is rolling in the room right now ♪ Under you right now ♪ Another stone is rolling in the room right now ♪ Another stone is rolling in the room right now ♪ Under you right now ♪ Another stone is rolling ♪ It's rolling, it's rolling ♪ Oh

Come on, let's get glad it's all across the room today. Come on, sing. ♪ The grave is still ending ♪ The Saviour lives in me ♪ The grave is still ending ♪ The Saviour lives in me Come on, Jerusalem, the grave is still ending. The grave is still ending The Saviour lives in me The grave is still ending The grave is still ending Come on, inclaim, inclaim. The Saviour lives in me Sing today. ♪ The grave is still ending Jesus. ♪ The Saviour lives in me ♪ The grave is still ending The Saviour lives in me Come on, Jerusalem. Wow ♪ For the skulls, it was rolled away ♪ I got the new hope in Jesus. ♪ If you're looking for the old hope in me ♪ Go, I got a testimony today. ♪ I got a faith, if you're looking for the skulls ♪ ♪ It was rolled away, I can declare today ♪ ♪ If you're looking for the old hope in me ♪ It's going good, it's going good. ♪ I got it, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪

♪ We're not three days away from an empty grave ♪ ♪ We're not three days away ♪ ♪ We're not three days away from an empty grave ♪ My Jesus, there's two miracles today ♪ We're not three days away, from an empty grave ♪ Welcome, we're not three days ♪ We're not three days away from an empty grave ♪ ♪ And I just don't have your name ♪ Come on, give Him a praise. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Come on, the Bible says they inhabits the praises of His people. Come on, the Lord is in the room today. And God, we come into your presence, just thankful that you call us son and daughter, that you call us by name, Jesus. Jesus, we are thankful that when we gather and we sing songs to you, it's not just noise that goes up, but it's a sound that goes to your ear, that you delight in, Jesus. This moment is not about us, it's not what you could do for us, Jesus, but it's a way of expressing how much we love you, how much we are thankful for you, Jesus. That you came 2,000 years ago, you died on a cross for our sins, for our shame, for our guilt.

And He rose back to life so that whoever believes in you could live with you forever. Come on, church, He's worthy of our praise. He's worthy of our worship. He's worthy of honor and glory. Can you lift your hands all across the room right here? Come on, if you love Jesus, just lift them up right there. We love you, we love you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you that you love us. So I can wash away my sins. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. So what can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Singing, oh, precious is the flow. That makes me white as stone. Oh, no other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Come on, can you just sing that one more time? Sing, oh, precious, sing, oh, precious. Singing, oh, precious is the flow. That makes me white as stone. Thank you, Lord. Oh, no other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. In my every day, I will see you as I breathe. And open up my ears, I want to hear you speak. I want to hear you, Lord, hear you listen.

The voice of God is breaking through. The one who made the universe is speaking in the room. ♪ So turn my heart to hear your truth ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit come again ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit come and listen again ♪ ♪ I wanna know your voice ♪ ♪ I wanna know you more and more ♪ ♪ Even in the noise ♪ ♪ I wanna hear from Christ alone ♪ ♪ The voice of God is breaking through ♪ ♪ In the room, the one who made the universe ♪ ♪ Speaking in the room, so turn my heart to hear your truth ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit come again ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit come again ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit come again ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit come again ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit come again ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit come again ♪ ♪ Your word was our creation ♪ ♪ Moving through the ages ♪ ♪ Spirit you are here ♪ ♪ Spirit speak right now ♪ ♪ Almighty wind from heaven ♪ ♪ Whisper from your prayer ♪ ♪ Spirit you are here ♪ ♪ Spirit speak right now ♪ ♪ Your word was our creation ♪ ♪ Moving through the ages ♪ ♪ Spirit you are here ♪ ♪ Spirit speak right now ♪

♪ Almighty wind from heaven ♪ ♪ Whisper from your prayer ♪ ♪ Spirit you are here ♪ ♪ Spirit speak right now ♪ ♪ The voice of God is breaking through ♪ ♪ The one who made the universe is speaking in the room ♪ ♪ So turn my heart to hear your truth now ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit come ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit come, come on Holy Spirit say ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit come, come on ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit come, come on Holy Spirit say ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit come, come on Holy Spirit say ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit come, come on Holy Spirit say ♪ ♪ You are inside me, Holy Spirit come into me, Spirit of the Spirit come to me, Spirit of the Spirit come, Holy Spirit come to me I know, Almight with the Hit, He with the blade, Spirit of the spirit come come to me, Spirit of the spirit come to me I know. ♪ Almighty with the hit, His hand from your head, Spirit you are here, Spirit speak right now, Spirit you are here, Spirit speak right now, Spirit you are here, Spirit speak right now. ♪ You are here, Spirit speak right now, Spirit you are here, Spirit speak right now ♪ ♪ To hear your truth, Saint I say, Holy Spirit come, Holy Spirit come ♪ Om Om Nisit Om Om Om Nisit Om Nisit Om Om Nisit Om Om

Om Spirit come and breathe on us Holy Spirit come and breathe on us We need a fresh touch of your presence Lord We're not satisfied of what you did yesterday We want something new Jesus We want to see a new side of your face this morning We come laying our burdens at the feet of Jesus If you need a touch, he's here If you need a touch, Jesus is here If you need hope for today, Jesus is here The king of kings The way maker is here The miracle worker is here The one who makes dead things come back to life is here Thank you Lord, thank you And on earth as it is In heaven So let heaven come to earth As it is In heaven So let heaven come to earth As it is In heaven So let heaven come So come to earth As it is In heaven So let heaven come to earth As it is

In heaven So let heaven come to earth As it is In heaven So let heaven come So let heaven come So let heaven come So let heaven come Let's sing, let's sing, let's sing And yours is the kingdom And yours is the power And yours is the glory Forever amen And yours is the kingdom And yours is the power And yours is the glory And yours is the kingdom And yours is the power And yours is the glory Forever amen And yours is the kingdom And yours is the power And yours is the glory Forever amen ♪ Revival, come on in ♪ ♪ Oh, it's a good industry revival ♪ ♪ Come on in, this is the moment we've been waiting for ♪ ♪ Revival, come on in ♪ ♪ Oh, it's a good industry revival ♪ ♪ Yeah, this is the moment we've been waiting for ♪

♪ Come on in, our hearts are burning for friendly revival ♪ ♪ Come on in, this is the moment we've been waiting for ♪ ♪ Come on in, our hearts are burning for friendly revival ♪ Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. This is for you. This is for you. And not just for my family and not just for basketball, for us, we want you to know it all. Thank you, Jesus. God, we love you. Come on. Come on, church, you know it, declare it today, sing. ♪ Oh, it's there ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus ♪ ♪ Sing it out, church ♪ Sing it out, say. Come on, let the voices sing. Oh, He defeated death. ♪ Defeated death and praise His power ♪ ♪ His power, oh, His name, His name ♪ ♪ His resurrection day, His resurrection day ♪ Come on, sing it out, say. Thank you, Lord. ♪ Defeated death and praise His power ♪ ♪ His power, oh, His name, His name His resurrection day ♪ Oh, thank you, Lord, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Lord. Come on, if the Lord's gonna get to you, just declare it today, come on, lift your hands. Thank you, Lord. You've been good to me, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Come on, sing. ♪ In the name above all names, thank you, Lord ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus, thank you for your name ♪ ♪ The never-ending name, oh, we sing it ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus, thank you for your name ♪ ♪ The name above all names, thank you, Lord ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus, thank you for your name, oh, we sing it ♪ ♪ You'll pray to never-ending God ♪ ♪ Just He holds, just He reigns ♪ ♪ Defeated, death never reigns ♪ ♪ Just His power, just His name ♪ ♪ His resurrection saves, His resurrection saves ♪ ♪ Thank You, Jesus, thank You for Your name ♪ ♪ In the name of the Lord, thank You, thank You, thank You ♪ ♪ Jesus, thank You for Your grace ♪ ♪ Your never-ending grace ♪ ♪ Thank You, Jesus, thank You for Your name ♪ ♪ In the name of the Lord, thank You, thank You, thank You ♪ ♪ Thank You, Jesus, thank You for Your grace ♪ ♪ Thank You, Jesus, thank You for Your grace ♪ ♪ In the name of the Lord, thank You, thank You, thank You ♪ Come on, let's give a victorious hand to Jesus.

Give Him a shout of praise. Hallelujah. Thank You, Lord. We're thankful for the finished work of Jesus on the cross, that by His stripes that we are healed. Hebrews 12 says that He joyfully went to the cross, scorning in shame, and sat at the right throne of God, that He has conquered death and the grave, and that we can experience freedom and victory in His name, amen. Man, I'm so grateful, I don't know about you. Hey, can we just make a little more noise for Jesus? 10 more seconds, let's go. Trash can. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Jesus, for what You did, man. You guys can take a seat. Man, we're so glad that you guys are here in person, but also in Getty GR, you're joining us online. What's up, can we make some noise for GR, y'all? Let's go. Man, we are honored to have a new friend in the house, Pastor Carlos Arazo, man, let's go. Make some noise for Pastor Carlos, let's go. He is a, come on, let's go. He is on the pastoral team at Lake Point Church in Dallas, Texas. Man, he also is a co-host for the Live Free podcast. Man, you guys gotta check it out,

this podcast is absolutely fire. But also that more than a decade that you have just been preaching and teaching, but also just been providing just biblical content for people that are just far from Jesus, who didn't grow up knowing the Lord at all. And so can we make a loud and warm welcome at Getty family to our friend, Pastor Carlos Arazo, yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And Getty Church, how we doing? Good. Man, it is a honor to be here. What a joy that today I get to be a part of what God is doing in this church here in West Michigan. And man, I had the opportunity as well to meet Pastor Brian. I wanna take a moment to honor Pastor Brian and Christina as well. Man, I'm so grateful for what the leadership that God has provided for this church. I had the blessing of meeting Pastor Brian literally like a year ago in California in a pastor's cohort. And we got to know each other.

We're chatting a little bit. I'm asking him, hey, tell me about you. And he's like, well, I pastor this church in West Michigan. And I'm like, Michigan, that's my people. What are you talking about, Michigan? And he's like, yeah, yeah, we're over there. And he's telling me all about you. And what he didn't know is that Michigan has actually been a huge blessing to my life. I was actually born and raised in the country of El Salvador. And then I turned 18 and the Lord brought me from El Salvador to Grand Rapids, Michigan. And I'm there and that's how I know God has a sense of humor. He took me from one of the most hot tropical countries to the coldest place I've ever been in my entire life. And so I'm there and that happened 16 years ago. And I never would have thought that I'd be here today, that the United States would be my home country. I never knew that would be the case. But when I came to Michigan, I met this girl. And the moment I saw her, I said, I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. I said, you're tall, I'm tall. You're Dutch, I'm Salvadoran. We need to get married right now. And we did. And my beautiful family's here with me.

I have a photo here to show you as well. That's my wife, Brooke, and my son, Elias. And man, we got married 12 years ago. And today we are based in the Republic of Texas serving. I get to be one of the pastors at Lake Point Church and really, really honored that I get to spend some time with you today opening up the word. And so, hey, if you've got your Bibles, go to Revelation chapter three. I hear Engedi Church loves the Bible. That's what I hear. And so Revelation chapter three. verse one. We're going to be in verse one and I'm going to read through verse six and as you go find it let me ask you this question. How do you know today if something is real or authentic? And the reason I ask this is because honestly it just feels like that's getting harder and harder to do man with social media, with artificial intelligence, with parody accounts on eggs, with all these conspiracy theories man. I just want to know if the world cup is rigged or not. I'm not sure. How do you know if what people are saying out there is real or authentic? The other day my wife and I we went to this store that she loves. I don't love so much but we went there and this store is called Trader Joe's and if you've ever been into this store you know this is a little bit of a different kind of store. Like all the products have all these labels like gluten-free, non-gmo, environmentally friendly and when I got to this store there was this particular product that I have heard about before but when this is like the first time I'm actually seeing it in front of me and I actually grabbed my phone and took a photo because I wanted to show you what the product was. Here's what the product is. This is called the impossible chicken nuggets and if you pay attention to the label right underneath it it says meat from plants and I'm based in Texas now so even just saying that out loud feels a little sinful to me if I'm honest and I'm reading what is this let me let me read what this is about it says these nuggets have all the flavors of a classic chicken nugget but quote none of the actual chicken and so I'm

like intrigued I'm like what is this I need to figure out like what is it then I'm reading the ingredients it's like water it's flour it's a whole bunch of chemicals in there that thrown that who knows what they are and at that point I grabbed the package I take it to the lady in the store and I'm asking hey um have you tried this is this something you would recommend for me to try and you know the lady she's super kind she's like oh my goodness this is this is my favorite kind of chicken right here and I'm thinking this is your favorite kind of chicken like we need to take you to Chick-fil-a or something we need to have you try some real chicken and uh guess what I I bought it I took it home and it turns out it actually like it looks like chicken it smells like chicken it cooks like chicken it actually tastes like chicken but in the back of my mind I just can't help but no this is not real chicken and the point is man uh on the outside it looked like it was one thing but on the inside it was something completely different and I start there because there is a type of impossible Christianity that on the outside it looks like it is Christianity it looks like it is the way of Jesus it is the path of a follower of Jesus but on the inside it really isn't and so what we're going to do today is we're going to open up the word and we're going to read a letter in the book of Revelation that Jesus himself writes to a particular church in a city called Sardis and this is in modern-day Turkey and what the context is is the apostle John he is exiled in an island after faithfully following Jesus for his whole life he's in an older age and the resurrected Jesus appears to John and he says hey John I have a message for one particular church in this particular city and so he starts telling what the message is and in this case what we'll find is that Jesus what he wants to tell this particular church is hey I see that on the outside you look like one thing but really I can see through that and on the inside it is something else what Jesus says is hey this particular church you have a reputation of being alive but inside you actually are spiritually dead. This right here is probably one of the most shocking things that Jesus says in the whole scripture and so basically I want you to imagine if this particular church in Sardis was a church in our time today I think Jesus would say something like hey like you got you guys check out all the boxes of of what it looks like to be a Christian you know you you you say things like amen or blessed or highly favored or you follow all the Christian influencers you listen to all the the Christian worship music you know at some point you probably grew up watching VeggieTales if you're a millennial and not older maybe at some point you were you wore the what would Jesus do bracelet you got the Christian sticker in the

back of your car you did all the things you're familiar with all the the right words but you're still missing an authentic real relationship with Jesus not just as your Savior but as your Lord and I think Jesus would say something like this so if you got your Bibles let's go ahead and read the letter Revelation chapter 3 verse 1 and I want to what I want to do is we're just going to read it verse by verse by verse and I believe the Holy Spirit has a word for us from this text and so I want to highlight a couple things Revelation chapter 3 verse 1 this is what it says and to the angel of the church in Sardis write the words of him who has the seven spirits of God in the seven stars as Jesus basically says saying I am in charge. He says this, I know your works. You have a reputation of being alive but you are dead. And so I just want to share a couple of things that I want to highlight from this text and here's the first one. You can be in church but not be in Christ. The context of this particular letter is really interesting. If you read the book of revelations there's actually seven churches and this is just one of them and there's seven different letters. So when you start comparing all the different letters of what Jesus is saying to each one of these churches it's really interesting because when you look at the other churches Jesus starts with a compliment for almost all of the other ones. And so when you read there's another church called Ephesus. Jesus basically starts by saying hey Ephesus well done you're doing great. There's another church called Smyrna. He says Smyrna you have been faithful. There's another church called Pergamon. Pergamon you're holding fast to the faith. There's another one called Philadelphia. He literally has nothing wrong to say that this church is like keep going let's go and then we get to Sardis. And then Jesus looks at Sardis and this particular group of Jesus followers and he says hey I see that you are in church but I also see that you are not in Christ. Historically speaking this particular city in Sardis is really interesting. If you go to this modern day area in Turkey it is full of cemeteries and so there's a whole bunch of tombs and like dead people literally all over. This city was known to have one of the most famous places for all the cemeteries in the world. And Jesus is saying that thing that your city is actually known for that right there is actually a reflection of your heart. This was a church that perhaps man they just got used to going through the motions but there was no hunger for more of the Holy Spirit. There was no desire for more of his word. There was no life change. There was no no signs no wonders. There was really nothing different. This is basically a church with a lot of people that were just basically unconverted but on the

outside they look really religious. And so if you're here and you're asking but how does that even happen? This is supposed to be a church. I want to explain how that happens. I believe one of the biggest dangers in our American Christianity is not so much to walk away from the faith but to buy into a counterfeit version of it. Man I believe it is possible today more than ever perhaps to be bought into a version of Christianity that on the outside it looks like it's the real thing but it really is not. Let me let me just give you a couple examples. This is what some people would call a cultural form of Christianity. And by the way anytime you have to have an adjective after the word Christianity you probably know you're going in the wrong direction. And so what people would describe as a cultural Christianity is somebody that just assumes that they have a true relationship with Jesus because of where they were born. Because of what their family believes or what city that they're located in. It's interesting in 2023 there was a poll that was made and 66 percent of Americans say we are Christian. A cultural Christianity basically leads people to say things like when you have a conversation and you're like hey are you a believer are you a Christian they'll say things like of course I am. And when you ask why they'll say well I believe in God. But the Bible actually says that even demons believe in God. In fact the theology of demons is probably better than my theology and they believe in God and the Bible says they tremble. You and I sometimes we don't tremble enough. And so it is not enough to just believe in God you actually have to know who he is. Or somebody might say well I have a religion so I am good. It's great that you have religion but the question is do you have a relationship? Do you actually relate to who Jesus is? Do you talk to Jesus? Do you walk with Jesus on a single on a day-to-day basis? Somebody might say yeah but what you need to understand is my family they all love Jesus. My parents love Jesus. And I think that's great but the Bible says that God has children. He doesn't say that he has grandchildren. Your faith needs to be your own. Yeah but you don't even know my dad's such a hypocrite. He grew up in church. That's okay but what about you? Are you following Jesus? Do you really know him? Is it really your faith? Somebody else might say but I was born in a city where there's a church in every corner. Man that's awesome that you were born in that city but the question is have you been born again? Is your life different than what it used to be? Did you see real change from where you used to be and where you are now? And lastly somebody might say man but I'm really familiar with the scriptures. I really know the scriptures great but are you familiar with the author? Do you know the Holy Spirit? Do you desire to walk with the Holy Spirit?

Are you grieved by the things that grieve the Holy Spirit? And it's really interesting because if you pay attention to our culture today you will find that there's a sense in which Christianity is permeating our culture in a way that we haven't and see it in a bit. And there's a sense in which that is a good thing, but the question is, has it permeated your soul? Has it really changed you? That's one type of counterfeit Christianity, but there's a different one. This is another one some people might call a consumer Christianity. And what a consumer Christianity unfortunately tends to do is it treats Jesus and God and faith as a product which makes you and me a consumer. It kind of treats Christianity like Amazon Prime. You're very familiar with it and you're around it all the time, but you just go to it when you need something from it. And what happens with consumer Christianity is that if you're not careful, we get to a spot where you only tend to seek God's hand, but you're not really seeking God's face. And so the question that a consumer Christian will ask is God, it only asks, what can you do for me? But when you start following Jesus, you start asking the question, God, what do you want to do in me? And what do you want to do through me? And so the reason today that there is quite a bit of frustrated,

disillusioned ex-Christians is not necessarily because they've walked away from the faith, but it is possible that it is mostly because they've bought into a counterfeit Christianity that basically tells them that it's all about you, it's all about your preference, it's all about what you want, what you don't like and what you like. And listen, here's what you need to understand, that you were created by God and for God, and the moment you realize that your life is for a purpose that is much greater than you, that your life is designed to be for the glory of God and for King Jesus, you will not experience freedom and joy. There is something so much better. This was the church in Sardis, and Jesus is calling it out because he loves them. Let's keep reading what Jesus says, Revelation chapter three, verse two to three, this is what Jesus continues to say. Hey, church in Sardis, wake up and strengthen what remains and is about to die for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. And then he says, remember, remember then what you have received and heard, keep it and repent. Here's the second point,

the life of a Christian is a life of repentance. There are two types of people in the morning, and you're gonna help me out here in just a bit, but there's a type of person that when they need to wake up the following day, what they'll do is they'll grab their phones, they'll put a 6 a.m. alarm clock on their phones, they'll go to bed, they sleep, the alarm goes off, and when it's time to get up, they'll literally grab their phones one time, they'll press it, they're ready to go, go seize the day. That's the first type of person. Then there's another kind of person that's unlike the first kind of person. And what they do is they say, man, I need to wake up tomorrow, I gotta go work, I gotta do something important. And so they'll set up an alarm for 6 a.m. And then they'll set up the alarm for 6.05. And then 6.10. And then 15, and on and on and on. You know who you are. In fact, just out of curiosity, because we're having fun here, by show of applause, if you're the first kind of person, would you go ahead and let me know right now? That's great. Like 10%. If you're the second type of person,

go ahead and let me know in this moment, yeah, okay. Thank you. If that's you, I love you. I don't understand you. I just, I don't get it. But here's what I do get. Man, some people need more to wake up. And in this text, what Jesus is saying is, man, whatever needs to happen, man, you need to wake up. I need you to realize that there's something greater happening right now. And what Jesus says is, when you wake up, what you need to do is two things. He says, remember, and then he says, I need you to repent. And so if you're reading this and you're asking, remember what? Jesus says, remember what you have received. At some point, somebody came to this church, to this city in Sardis, and preached the gospel. And so Jesus is saying, remember the gospel that has been preached to you before. Remember what that means. And so if you're here, and you're not familiar with the word gospel, the word gospel, it just means good news. It means something happened on your behalf. And so what that means is that the Bible tells us that you and I were created by God and for God. And at some point, you and I rebelled because we are sinners by nature and choice.

We rebelled against a holy and just God. And then God, as a response, he pursues us, and he goes, and in Christ, he goes to a cross. And the Bible says that Jesus, he lives the lives that you and I could not live. And then he dies the death that you and I should have died. And at the cross, he received wrath so that you and I today can receive grace. And three days later, he was resurrected. And today he is king of king and Lord of lords. And he invites you to have a relationship with him. And that's the good news of the gospel, that we get. to be with Jesus and walk with Him. The gospel is not a presentation or an invitation for good people to get better. The gospel is power for dead people to come alive. The gospel invites you to trade whatever kind of a dead religion you have in exchange for a dead Savior who is now resurrected and reigns supreme over the universe. Jesus says remember that. Remember the gospel. But then also Jesus says I need you to repent. It is not enough to just receive or listen to the gospel. You need to make a decision and what Jesus is telling us in this verse is the decision is repentance. In the Bible this particular word in the original language the word repent just means to turn around and so what that looks like is some people would say well I don't want to change and here's the thing the Bible the Bible says come as you are but it does not say stay as you are and so the invitation for you and I is to repent and here's what that means. I actually have a marker here I'm gonna show you. The Bible says that when you and I meet Jesus there's a shift happening in our life. Every single human being has two decisions and two directions to go to. On one direction is sin and on the other direction is Jesus and they're in opposite directions. Every single person and so

before you and I meet Jesus what happens is that we are facing sin and we're giving our backs to Jesus and we're going in the wrong direction and so the word repent literally just means to turn around. So now once you repent it now my back is towards sin and I'm facing Jesus and I'm going in a very different direction. I no longer I'm not going in the direction I used to go. I repent it and I shift it and I turn around and I'm going in this direction but if we're honest what happens is eventually after a while we're walking with Jesus we're going in this direction and at some point because the Bible says we have a sin nature that is at odds with who Jesus has called us to be what we do is we turn to look back and we say man it used to be kind of easy to just you know do the things I used to do. I didn't have to like go against the flow or the status quo in my job and I didn't have to have these awkward conversations about why I'm a Christian and everybody else around me is not. It makes things easier with my family. It just gets a little awkward we have some of these conversations. It used to be easy and what we start to do we start thinking also when I was kind of running this direction it's kind of fun honestly. It's kind of I kind of miss some of the things we used to do with some of my friends and and what happens is if we're not careful we'll start asking things like so I know I'm supposed to go this way but I wonder where's the line? Like is it like here? I gotta I gotta figure out like where is the line because I just you know there's I'm just curious can you be a Christian and still do this this and that? Can I still be a Christian and still do some of the things that I used to do? Think some of the things I used to think? Be a part of the things that I used to be a part of? And what we end up doing is at some point we decide man I think the line is actually somewhere around here. I think it's right here. That makes me feel better because now I know where the line is so I know I can kind of play around here a little bit and like you know move over here. As long as I don't cross the line I should be fine. But then I read a book of this author that everybody's talking about. It's really interesting. He's really compelling and he said actually the lines not there. The line

it's actually more like you know more like here. I kind of like that line a little bit more. I don't know about you. And so man I think I'm okay. Is this okay? Is that okay? As long as I'm not crossing the line I'm fine and then we you know at some point you're like but you know what I don't know that I really like this line. Like my God wouldn't have drawn that line. I think it's got to be more. In fact I joined a Facebook group and a lot of people agree with me there so I think I should be right. So here's another. I think I think it's more this line and we start asking is that okay? Is this is this fine? And here's the problem. We don't realize that at some point we continue to do this and we're moving in the opposite direction towards sin but Jesus is over there is in the opposite direction but here's the point. If you are a Christian, if you have been called to follow Jesus the question is not how close can I get to sin before it's too late. The question is not where is the line. The question is where is Jesus? What do I need to do to run in this direction with everything I have? I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Whatever it is that the Holy Spirit has for me I want it. I do not want to get to a point where I stand before God and God says Carlos I had so much more for you but you were wasting your time with distractions and things that really don't matter as I want to run in this direction as much as I can. That's what Jesus says. Listen, the life of a Christian is not a moment of repentance. It is a life of repentance, which means that at some point, if I catch myself looking back or flirting with any other line, I need to repent and repent and repent and repent until I run towards Jesus. That's what he's telling us in this verse. Jesus says, remember and repent. Turn around. Let's keep reading Revelation 3, verse 3. He keeps going. Jesus says, if you will not wake up, I will come like a thief,

and you will not know at what hour. Listen to this because this is a little more sobering. I will come against you. And I know I'm a guest speaker here. I'm supposed to bring like a feel-good sermon, but I heard in Getty, church loves the Bible, and so I love you too much for that. The Bible says God is rich in mercy, and it also says God is holy, holy, holy. The Bible says God is slow to anger, but it doesn't say he never angers. Jesus, he came to save sinners, but when he comes back, he will come to judge sin. And our sin, my sin, your sin, it is a declaration of war against a holy, holy, holy God. And so the invitation of Jesus for that reason is repent. You're going in the wrong direction. You are rebelling against the wrong person. Change direction. And here's the thing, every single person in this room and joining online and in our other campuses, in other locations, every single person one day will stand before Jesus and will meet Jesus either as a friend or as a foe, as somebody that you're against. And what you see in scripture is when Jesus warns us, it's because he loves us. Man, Jesus looks at this church inside us, and he loves this church. He loves them so much enough to tell them the truth, and he says, repent. But there is more. Verse 4, Revelation 3, verse 4, this is what Jesus keeps saying. He says, yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. Verse 5, the one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments,

and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. That's good news. Here's the third point. In a culture of spiritual complacency, God preserves a remnant of faithful followers. Jesus looks at this church and he says, man, I see a lot of you are faking it, and yet at the same time I see some of you are faithful. It's interesting, the city of Sardis at the time, historically speaking, we know this was a city known for its fashion. And so there are the original Gucci, Prada, Balenciaga, those were those guys. They liked to dress nice. And so what Jesus is saying is, hey, I see that you're into fashion. Let me explain what I will do in a way that you can understand it. So let me explain it this way. We're in the last book of the Bible. We're going to jump to the first book of the Bible in Genesis. We see this story that we all know of Adam and Eve. And what happens is that Adam and Eve, they rebelled against God. They disobeyed. And then after they did, the Bible says they were filled with guilt and shame. And what happened after is that they hide from God with leaves of trees because they're trying to get away. They don't want God to see through them. In fact, the reason, that's actually our story. We have the same spiritual DNA of Adam and Eve. We do the same thing, except it's not for leaves. We try to hide our insecurity and our fear and our guilt and shame with success or with relationships or with anything else that will try to make us feel better about ourself. And I got this shame in my heart, and so I'm going to try to do this more, and hopefully that's going to cure whatever it is wrong inside of me.

And what does God do as a response for Adam and Eve? Let me just read it. Genesis 3, verse 21. This is what it says. And the Lord God, as a response made for Adam and for his wife. You help me with that word. Of skins and clothe them. And so right here is a picture of the gospel once again. Adam and Eve sinned, and the response of God is to make garments and clothe them. Let me ask you a question. What did God make the garments from? The verse says he made it from the skins of animals. Again, another question. to make clothes from skins of animals. You have to shed some blood. When Adam and Eve sinned, it is God who sheds blood to cover them and clothe them. When you and I sinned, it is God who sends his only son, Jesus, to shed his blood to clothe us and cover us in his mercy, his forgiveness, and his grace. Adam and Eve were naked and full of shame. Jesus was stripped naked, and he took that shame upon himself so that today you and I can be clothed and covered in his grace and forgiveness, reconciliation, and today that is good news for you and me. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. You will be clothed by me in white garments. This color, the white garments, at the time, white would signify purity and holiness and victory. And so here's what you need to understand, what Jesus is saying right now, if you're here and maybe you're wrestling with something, you're like, man, I know Jesus is calling me to follow him, but if I'm honest, I feel like I've tried it, and I tried, and I tried, and I'm not sure that I have the capacity or the strength to really follow him faithfully. In fact, I know he's calling me for a purpose that is much greater than myself. I used to live for things that I thought were good, but now he's showing me that there is a greater purpose,

that he designed me. The Bible says he predestined you before the foundation of the world for good works, that his purpose is greater than yours, but you're like, man, I'm not really sure if I have what it takes. In fact, I'm pretty sure I don't. All I see is my insecurity and my lack of ability, and so here's what you need to know. Jesus is saying, man, what you need to understand is you will not accomplish your purpose out of your own capacity. You will accomplish your purpose because I'm gonna clothe you with power, that God is not looking for perfect people. He is looking for available people, that he's not interested so much in your ability as in he is interested in your availability. And he says, it is not gonna be in your strength. It is not gonna be because of your effort. It will be because of my power made perfect in your weakness, I will clothe you. That's what he's saying. Or maybe you're here today. And maybe your story's a little different. Maybe you've been walking with Jesus for a little bit of time. But perhaps when you were younger, at some point, there was a moment that kinda determined some things in your life.

Maybe you stumbled upon some explicit content at a young age and that kinda marked a beginning, a before and after in your life. And when you're a kid, you're just confused. Like, man, there's something going on in my body and my mind that I just know this is not for me. But then at some point over time, this became a pattern. And then it became a habit. And then it felt like it transformed into not just choices but into chains that kept messing with you. And since then, it's become a struggle. Now you're an adult. Now you're married. And there's a little bit inside of you that you're like, man, I've been wrestling this for a little bit of time. And by the grace of God, perhaps I've made some progress, but man, I just honestly feel like I feel a little defeated. And maybe even yesterday, this has been a season where you've been better, but maybe you went back to it yesterday and it was one of those moments where you said, God, never again. And yet you still felt like you fell short. And you're here raising your hands and you're like worshiping God.

And you're wondering, man, am I even worthy to just come here and worship God? Will he even take me as I am? I feel like I'm just not here for it. I don't have what it takes. Jesus is saying, hey, listen, I will clothe you in my holiness. I shed my blood for that sin. And today you are in Christ. You are clothed with holiness. And when I see you, I see my son and I am proud. This is my son. This is my daughter in whom I am proud and who brings me great joy. I will clothe you. Whatever wrestle or struggle you have right now, we will do it together. I will fill you with my Holy Spirit. I will be the one that sets you free. All you have to do is surrender and keep running towards me with everything you got. And I will take care of the rest. Jesus will clothe you in holiness. Or maybe, now you're here. Maybe you're here and it is a relationship that at some point, this person that was so close to you, that you love deeply, the relationship went south. And some words were said and Some things were done, and this is probably one of the most difficult things you have to wrestle with in your life.

And at some point, you realize that in your heart, you start feeling a little bit of bitterness and anger, confusion. You start feeling a little helpless because it's outside of your control. Man, you've done everything you could. You are exhausted. And what you need to be clothed in is in the healing of the power of God in your life. And he says, man, come to me as you are, and I know you're tired. And I know some things are outside of your control, but nothing that's outside of mine is what God is saying. And he says, let me clothe you in my healing. Let me embrace you. You think that some other things might cure it. It will not. At some point, what you need is just to surrender that relationship. To let me work and to keep praying, keep asking, and I will be the one to clothe you. Jesus sends this letter to this particular church. He says, man, for those that have been faithful to you, verse 5, the one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. And you are victorious. In Christ, you are victorious. Whatever it is you're dealing with, you are victorious. You already won. That's what Romans chapter 8 says. It is done. You won in Christ. Jesus has the last word. He defeated death. He has the last word in whatever it is that you're wrestling with right now. Whatever problem, whatever issue, the enemy does not have the last word. Death does not have the last word. Jesus does. You are victorious. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life. Jesus says, you're mine. Your life doesn't belong to what it used to belong to. You are not the person who you used to be because in Christ you are somebody new. But I will acknowledge that name before my father and his angels. Other people might not acknowledge your name. Jesus does. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. So maybe you're here today and let me just ask you this. I would just ask, hey, is your relationship with Jesus real? Do you have an authentic, real relationship with the one who loves you the most?

So much that he gave his life in your place so that today you can be reconciled to the Father. So that today you can be called a son and a daughter of the living God. Is your relationship with Jesus real? And if you're here and maybe, I don't know, if maybe you're a guest or maybe you've been in church for your whole life, but you say, man, I have church. I'm not sure I have that relationship. And that's real, man. In just a second, I want to guide you to pray with me here in just a second. But let me talk to another group of people here. Maybe you're here and what your next step is, is, man, I just need to repent on some things in my life. I'm that guy who's been walking with Jesus for a bit. But there's been a couple of areas in my life where I've been looking back and I have been entertaining. Perhaps where is the line where maybe I should be asking where is Jesus? Maybe this is a moment right here in just a second where you and I get to repent before a faithful God who says, man, come. I will not despise somebody who has a heart that is contrite and I am just and good to forgive. Or maybe you're here and your next step is really to ask God, what do you need to be clothed in? Is it power to do what God has called you to do? Is it courage in a season where perhaps you need to be courageous and strong? Is it physical healing? Is it emotionally healing? Is it wisdom to navigate some of the things you're navigating? He has that for you and more. And so I want to invite you right there. Would you go ahead and close your eyes and let's pray together as a church. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Because every time we open your book, there is good news for you. People like in getting church and for me. Thank you for what you did at that cross. Jesus changed absolutely everything. And Lord, I pray right now that if anybody here is you are bringing to mind anything in particular that we need to repent of, I pray that that happens in everybody's seat right now in this moment. So right there, go ahead and talk to God. Say, God, I repent for this. I'm sorry because maybe I wanted you as my Savior, but I also need you as my Lord. And the Bible says God is a good father. And right now he's reminding you, listen, that thing that you're wrestling with, maybe there's a little bit of guilt and shame. Jesus already died for that. It's been paid.

You are free. You don't need any guilt and shame. You don't need to try to cover that with whatever it is, more success, more money, more applause, more recognition. You are a son and a daughter. You have the approval of your father. Lord, I pray for the people right now that are asking, God, I do need some of that healing in my life. And I do need some of your help with that relationship. I do need to be reminded of the gospel that I am not here because of my own merit or my own strength or my own earning. I am here because I am clothed in white. I am clothed with your holiness, with your righteousness. And right there, as everybody keeps praying with their eyes closed, man, I wanna ask you, if you're here and maybe the Holy Spirit, God is doing something inside of you and this is the moment where you say, man, I'm gonna stop playing church games and I'm gonna actually give my life to Jesus. I wanna invite you, would you go ahead, if that's you and you're ready to take that step of faith and give your life to Jesus, would you go ahead and right there, just pray this with me, go ahead and say, Heavenly Father, thank you for what you did on that cross, Jesus. You took my place.

You gave your life so that today, I could be called a son and a daughter of God. I confess my sins to you. I am a sinner, but you are a great Savior. From this day forward, as best as I know how, I will follow you every single day for the rest of my life. And everybody with their eyes closed, here's what I wanna ask you. If today you pray that prayer, this is not for the people next to you. What I wanna ask you is that at the count of three, I wanna invite you to raise your hand and this is, again, not for the person next to you, nobody's looking at you. This is between you and God and the reason I'm asking you to do this is because I believe something solidifies in you spiritually when you respond physically. And so at the count of three, if today you gave your life to Jesus, would you go ahead and raise your hand, one, God loves you, two, you came here for a purpose, three, if you gave your life to Jesus, go ahead and raise your hand right there. You can do it boldly. Raise your hand and say, I gave my life to Jesus. Yep, I see your hand over here. I see your hand over there. Lock that elbow.

You can keep it up right now. I see your hand in the back. Yep, you say, I'm giving my life to Jesus. I am running away from sin and straight to Jesus with everything. I see your hand over there. Nothing is holding me back. One more time. Anybody else, raise your hand if you gave your life to Jesus right now. This is your moment. Thank you, Jesus, for what you're doing in this room. Thank you, Father, because you are faithful. You are good. And today we give you all praise, all glory, all honor goes to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen, amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. And family, can we make some noise for new life in this house?

Amen, make some noise. Thank you, Lord, that while we're here, you're still sinners, that you died for us. Hey, if you made that decision to say yes to Jesus for the first time, first and foremost, we wanna know about it. So we have our ushers right here. Just stick your hand up. They wanna give you a Bible, but also give you just next steps, just in your first steps with how to follow Jesus and just some encouragement. So as we continue just to celebrate new life, let's stand up and let's continue to worship together. Come on, let's praise the Lord together, sing. Sing it this way. ♪ You're holy, all creation cries ♪ ♪ Holy, You are the answer to all our prayers ♪ ♪ Lifted high, holy, holy forever ♪ ♪ Hear your people sing, Lord, hear your people sing ♪ ♪ Holy to the King of kings ♪ ♪ You are holy, Lord, you will always be, you will always be ♪ ♪ You will always be, holy, holy forever ♪ ♪ You will be free, hallelujah ♪