James Merritt - Declaring Bankruptcy
I've been thinking probably 10, 11, 12 years actually about doing what we're gonna do beginning today. Lemme go ahead and tell you that for the next nine months, we're gonna be doing this, we're gonna be preaching through the Sermon on the Mount, the greatest sermon that's ever been preached. It's really interesting. I was talking to my son, James, yesterday, we were talking about this series. He said, "Dad, it's such a short series," and it is. You can read the whole sermon in 10 minutes. You probably preach it in at least maybe 15 to 18 minutes. You could preach the entire message. And yet, of all the things that Jesus ever taught, of all the things Jesus ever said, this sermon has been written about more, studied more, examined more, and talked about more than anything else Jesus ever taught.
So, we're gonna call this series on the Sermon on the Mount get used to different. Lemme tell you why. If I were to say to you, are you a follower of Jesus? And you were to say yes. Or if I were to ask you, do you want to follow Jesus? You said yes. I would say to you, okay, now, before you make sure you're answering that question, yes, get used to different, because if you follow Jesus, you'll be different. So, for the next nine months, we're gonna plant ourselves in this message.
So, let me give you the background of what's going on. By the way, I'm going to Israel next May. We've got brochures out if you'd like to go. I would strongly encourage you to go, because when I work on these sermons, I've always got in my mind, I've been on the Mount of Beatitudes 25, 26, 27 times. Some of you have been with me. It's one of the most beautiful places in the world. One of those peaceful places in the world. It's a natural amphitheater. You're down on a slope about like this, it's all green grass. You can see they estimate 5 to 15,000 people heard Jesus preach. And right behind, that's the Sea of Galilee. It is breathtaking.
But here's what's going on. Jesus has already been baptized. He's been tempted by the devil. He's called 12 disciples. But now, he's about to make His public debut. This you might say, is His coming out party. And this is the first time He's ever been before any crowd like this, one of the largest crowds that He ever had. And this is what blows my mind. If you were Jesus' PR agent today and He was making His big debut, you'd say, okay, Jesus, we need to call a press conference. Or we need to get You on "Good Morning America" and CNN and Fox News and let You do interviews. All right, I tell You what, Jesus, why don't You go to the middle of Times Square and why don't You just start healing people? He doesn't do that. No parades, no parties, no balloons, no fanfare, no front page news. He doesn't start His miracle with a ministry. He starts it with a message. But it's a message that's breathtaking. It's a message that's life-changing. It's a message that's transforming. Never been a message like it before, never been a message like it since.
So, before we get into the message today, you need to understand who it's for and what it's about. So, I wanna give you a spoiler alert. Those of you watching online right now, you need to hear this. This sermon is not for unbelievers. Now, unbelievers ought to read it and unbelievers ought to get to a point where they do believe, but Jesus was not talking to unbelievers in the message. He's talking to believers. And he's not teaching people how to become a Christian. He's teaching people how to behave like a Christian. And what Jesus is saying is, if you're gonna listen to this message and obey this message, then you're gonna look like a Christian on a look and you're going to live like a Christian ought to live. And it is totally different from any other lifestyle.
So, lemme just give you a kind of a alert, okay? A spoiler alert. If you come for the next nine months, and I hope you'll try to hit every sermon that you can, you better get used to different. And after all, you all expect a lot of difference. Because after all, Jesus was different in who He was. Jesus was different in what He did. Jesus was different in what He taught. So, here in Matthew 5, he begins with what, if you're a church person, is called the Beatitudes. You might call it the introduction to the message. And some people call these attitudes that ought to be, that's kinda cute, that's kinda catchy. Some people call it God's blueprint for blessing. That's kind of right.
Some people say this is God's highway to happiness, because you could translate the word blessed as being happy. But here's the difference. When Jesus talks about being happy, He's not gonna tell us what the world will tell us. He's not gonna tell you what Madison Avenue will tell you. He's not gonna tell you what Wall Street will tell you. He's not gonna tell you what Washington will tell you. He's not gonna tell you what anybody else will tell you. Because what you're gonna learn when you turn to the Sermon on the Mount is this, you will never find happiness in what you have. You will never find happiness in what you do. Happiness is only found in who you are and what you are. And that true happiness is only found in a relationship with God.
I've been a pastor for over four and a half decades. And I finally figured out, as I've talked to thousands, in fact tens of thousands of people in my ministry, I finally figured out people are looking for two, everybody is looking for two things, everybody. They're looking for significance and they're looking for satisfaction. People wanna know my life counts for something. I'm not just here marking time. I hope that when I leave, the world will be a better place. I hope people remember some things that I did. I hope I leave some kind of a legacy. They want significance, but then they want satisfaction. They wanna feel fulfilled. They wanna feel like they've accomplished their purpose and they want to be happy.
Well, I got great news for you. You're gonna find this out in the next several weeks. You ready for this? This will make you feel good. God wants you to be happy. In fact, I want you to say that in the first person, God wants me to be happy. Ready to say it together? God wants me to be happy. Here's the difference. God wants you to be happy in the right way, for the right reason. God wants you to be happy, but the right way, in the right reason. And so, God wants the same thing for both of us. But they're only found in a God-filled life. CS Lewis, one of my favorite authors, he put it brilliantly. Here's what he said. "God designed the human machine to run on himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, the food our spirits were designed to feed on. God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing".
He's right. Nothing will bring you more happiness than being blessed by God. But God's blessing is totally different than most people assume. Lemme tell you why. God's blessings will never be found in possessions, position, popularity, power, or prosperity. So, are you ready for something different? Do you wanna get used to different? Well, here's the first bombshell in the Beatitudes. When Jesus made this statement, mouths dropped everywhere. It sucked all the oxygen out of the room. They could not believe what Jesus said. Here's what He said. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Theirs is the kingdom of..."
Remember, these Beatitudes tell us once you enter the kingdom of God, how to express the kingdom of God, how to enjoy the kingdom of God. So, this is what Jesus begins by saying, this is the first part of the sermon. Here's what He says. You will never be filled with God until you realize you're empty without Him. Or here's another way to put it. You will never be blessed by God until you admit you're bankrupt without Him. Now, you talk about different. Jesus said, hey, you wanna be significant? Yes. Wanna be satisfied? Yes. Jesus says, okay, declare spiritual bankruptcy. What? Yeah, declare spiritual bankruptcy. I've never had to declare bankruptcy.
Some of you may have. I wouldn't ask you to embarrass yourself, but I'm sure we got somebody perhaps in here that said, yeah, I've had to do that. I've known people have to do it. It's a devastating thing. It's a horrible thing on earth, but not in the kingdom of heaven. So, you say, well, what does it mean to declare spiritual bankruptcy? Well, Jesus tells us it means three things. Number one, we are morally bankrupt without God. We are all morally bankrupt without God. He said the first step to being blessed by God. If I said, you want God to bless you? Yes. Do you want God to make you happy? Yes. He says, okay, you've got to be poor in spirit.
Now, I know that raises the question, what does that mean? What does it mean to be poor in spirit? Well, lemme tell you what it doesn't mean. I know it doesn't mean to be financially poor. Jesus didn't say blessed the poor. He said blessed are the poor in spirit. God doesn't put a premium on poverty. Let me tell some of you some good news. In heaven, they're gonna be poor people, but in heaven, they're gonna be rich people. People who've made a lot of money, some of them are going to heaven. People who didn't make any money, some of them are going to heaven. You know why? Because rich people can be just as godly as poor people. And poor people can be just as greedy as rich people.
So, it has nothing to do with being poor or being rich. That word poor is a very powerful word. It is the picture of a beggar who is so desperate for food, so desperate to eat, so desperate for something to drink. It is the picture of a beggar who literally is on all fours looking for just a scrap of bread. This is a picture of someone who says, I've got nothing to offer anybody in exchange for anything. So, this is what Jesus said, which is why people just went, I can't believe I just heard what He just said. He said, blessed are the beggars. Blessed are the bankrupt. In other words, to be poor in spirit is the opposite of being rich in pride. So, let me... When I was working on this sermon, I said, Lord, I gotta say this in as many ways as I can, so people understand exactly what You meant.
So, lemme put it to you this way. It means you realize that no matter how good you think you are or how good people say that you are, you understand when you come before a holy righteous God, your spiritual and moral bank account is empty. You know there's nothing good in you. There's nothing good about you unless God lives in you. So, to be poor in spirit means you come to the king of kings as a spiritual beggar. I get so amused at people who try to bargain with God. It blows my mind. God, if You'll do this, I'll do that. God, You do this for me, I'll do that. God, You heal me, I'll give you money. God, You save my house or save me from this or that and I promise You, I'll serve you the rest of my life. Listen to me.
When you come to God, you don't bargain. When you come to God, you beg. God's not in the bargaining business. You know why? You got nothing to offer. You have absolutely nothing to offer. To be poor in spirit means you understand, I can't say enough, I can't pay enough. I can't even pray enough to please God on my own. So, lemme put it to you this way. You'll never have any of God until you first admit you need all of God to be right and righteous before God. You will never have any of God until you first admit you need all of God to be right and righteous before God. So, when you're poor in spirit, you finally wake up and realize, oh my goodness, it's worthless.
So, lemme give you a little math lesson. Let me put it to you this way. Let's take all of your abilities, all of your ableness, all of your astuteness. Let's add to it all of your earnings, all of your education, and all of your energy. Let's multiply that by all of your morality, all of your manners, and all of your money, then let's divide that by all of your wealth and all of your wisdom and all of your work. What's the end result? Zero. Nothing. Nada. Filthy rags. Dung. So, here's how you know you're truly spirit... You may say, well pastor, how do I know when I'm really poor in spirit?
Here's how you know you've declared spiritual bankruptcy. Here's how you know it. When you finally honestly realize there is not one person on this planet, not one that is more in need of the grace of God than you are. Not the terrorist that flies airplanes into buildings. Not the sex trafficker who sells people for money. Not the serial killer sitting on death row, not even the pedophile who preys on your children and your grandchildren. You come to God and you say, I am spiritually, ethically, and morally bankrupt before a perfect righteous God. And until you realize that and admit that, you will never be blessed by God, you'll never become like God and you'll never belong to God.
And if you don't believe me, lemme just give you the the classic example. Let me give you what a lawyer in a court would say, your honor, this is exhibit A. He's a man by the name of Paul in the New Testament. Still to this day would get unanimous vote the greatest Christian who ever lived. And who would argue with that? The man wrote over half the New Testament. He was the greatest church planter, the greatest missionary, the greatest evangelist, the greatest theologian in the history of the church. So, if anybody had the right to go, look at me. Don't you wish you were me? All you ought to look up to me.
Lemme tell you what he said. He said this in 1 Timothy. "Here's a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners". He could have stopped right there. No, he says, "Of who I am the," what's that word? Say it loud. That's what you are. That's what I am. There's no worse sin on the planet than the people I'm preaching to right now. The people that's preaching to you. Oh no, I'm better than some people. Then you don't understand spiritual bankruptcy. Oh, but I've never done this and never done that. Then you don't understand spiritual bankruptcy. 'Cause here's what Paul said. When it comes to being a sinner, spiritually, morally, and ethically bankrupt, put me at the top of the list.
So, I wanna ask you a question. Have you ever really been poor in spirit? Have you ever really understood we are all morally bankrupt before God? Now, you may say, yeah, I get that. Well, I know you get it in your head, but do you get it in your heart? 'Cause it means the second thing. When you understand you're morally bankrupt before God, then we will know we're personally broken before God. We'll be personally broken. See, to be spiritually bankrupt doesn't just mean you're broke. It means you're broken. I have known people who declared bankruptcy. I'm thinking somebody right now. I know people who declared bankruptcy. And guess what they did once they got past their bankruptcy. They started doing the same thing that made them bankrupt the first time. They didn't learn their lesson.
Well, they were broke but they were never broken. And the first step to being broken in spirit is now I see God for who God really is. He's not the man upstairs. He's not just a heavenly Santa Claus. He's not just an eternally jolly good fellow. He is holy perfect. He is perfectly holy. And then, when you see God for who He really is and you see who you really are. Some of my very best friends are in this room. There are some people in this room that will be pallbearers at my funeral if I die before they do. So, some of you know who I'm talking to. I have some... I told Theresa the other day, I can't believe how many friends I really have and I can't believe how good friends I do have.
But if you and I would consider ourselves friends, lemme just tell you something that's true about you, as good as you are and you're good, and as much as I love, and I really do, can I just break the news? And it's not just for my friends, it's for all of you that I know you're not. Can I tell you what I know about all of us in this room? We're sinful, self-centered, selfish, carnal, arrogant, greedy, and prideful. And when you finally realize that's exactly what you are at the core of your heart, it will break your heart. It will absolutely break your heart. And you say, how do I know when that's happened? Easy to know. Once you finally come to the point where you realize they just don't get any worse than me, then you quit comparing yourself to other people.
You know why you quit comparing yourself to other people. You don't need to, 'cause you've already done it yourself. Look, here's who I am. I realize I'm worse than you are. I'm meaner than you are. I'm more sinful than you are. You realize your condition's just as bad. Your position is just as low. So, instead of saying, well, I'm better than most people in the world. That's not what you'll say. Here's what you'll say. Huh. I'm just as bad as all people in the world, 'cause I'm spiritually bankrupt just like everybody else. I've been a Christian since I was nine years old. And lemme tell you something I've learned. I've learned in my own personal walk with the Lord. The closer I get to Jesus, the more I know I don't deserve to be. The closer I get to Jesus, the more I know I don't deserve to be.
I understand now, you may remember this. When Peter met Jesus for the first time and realized who he was, you remember what Peter said to Jesus? "Depart from me. I'm a sinful man". And that's when you know, boy, you are really broken when you realize your sinfulness is just as sinful as everybody else is. The more I realize my sinfulness, the more I realize I'm just as jacked up as everybody else. I'm just as messed up as everybody's just in different ways. And I finally came to realize, and I still realize that there is nobody on this planet that is more in need of the grace of God than I am. Nobody. I've told you the story before. Some of you may or not have heard it. I love this story.
When Muhammad Ali was in his prime, he was the champion of the world. He got on an airplane, he was flying first class. he got on an airplane and he just, he loved people. He loved just hanging out with people. So, he's walking up down the aisle, I am the greatest. I float like a butterfly, I sting like a bee. Nobody can beat me. I'm the greatest champion of all time. He's having a great time. He's ready to retain the crowd. Well, the plane needed to take off. So, the stewardess walked up to him. She said, "Mr. Ali, you need to sit down and fasten your seatbelt". Well, typical Ali, he kinda wanted to show off. So, he said as loud as everybody in the plane could hear, he said it so loud. He said, "Lady, Superman don't need no seatbelt". And she said, as loud as she could, "Superman don't need no airplane. Now sit down and buckle up".
Can I tell you something? All of us need to sit down. All of us need to buckle up. None of us need a phone booth to change into. None of us wears a red cape. It doesn't matter whether you're a prisoner in jail or you're the pope in the Vatican. It doesn't matter whether you give money to the church or you steal money from a bank. It doesn't matter whether you are sitting on death row, you never got a speeding ticket. We should all be broken before God who has all that we don't have, is all that we are not, and doesn't have to give us anything, but desires to give us everything.
And oh, by the way, while I'm in the neighborhood, I wanna have a little fun if you don't mind, at your expense. Can I just play pop psychologist for just a moment? I've never, really not interested in psychology. I'm not against it. That's just not my gig. I'm not a good counselor. I'm be a terrible therapist. I don't listen real well. I've told you that if you come to me... Come to me depressed, you'll leave suicidal. I've told you that before. That's just not who I am. But can I just play psychology for just a moment? I'ma be your psychiatrist just a moment. Lemme tell you something I finally figured out. It took me a long time to realize it. The major problem with most, if not every person on this planet, is not that they have low self-esteem.
The major problem with most people on this planet is they esteem themselves too highly. The major problem with most people is not that they think too little of themselves, they think too much of themselves. Because you won't think anything of yourself once you realize I am nothing without Him. Because lemme tell you something, there's only one person that ever deserves to be put on a pedestal and that's Jesus. Listen, don't ever put a pastor on a pedestal. Don't ever put a personality on a pedestal. Don't ever put a pope on a pedestal. Don't ever put a preacher on a pedestal. There's only one that deserves to be on the pedestal. And that is Jesus. Because without Jesus, we're all morally bankrupt. We are all personally broken.
And you say, boy, I came in here feeling pretty good. Oh, man. Well, it gets better, because I told you that somebody called the the Beatitudes, God's blueprint for blessing. God wants to bless you. God wants to make you happy. So, here's what God says. God says, I'll tell you what, I'll make a deal with you. If you'll declare your spiritual bankruptcy. If you'll admit I am morally bankrupt without you. And then, when that really hits you, that really, really hits you. You are personally broken before Him. You weep in your heart. You are so sad, because you failed Him so miserably. Then, you learn the third thing Jesus said, we are eternally blessed by God. 'Cause what's this? This is why I love the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God is so different from the world. Not my son. I love my son. He's an attorney, best attorney in Georgia. That's my personal opinion. That's what he also tells me, so I believe him. But he's a great lawyer. But it's so interesting how we adjudicate things differently on earth than God does in heaven. So, what do you mean? Well, here, if you go to court and you file chapter 13 and you declare bankruptcy, you don't get anything in return. 'Cause you're saying, no, I got nothing in my pocket. Nothing in the bank. I'm empty. I have nothing to offer anybody. Court says, okay, we'll take it off from you. But in the kingdom of God, bankruptcy is the way to blessing.
You say, man, that's different. Well, get used to different. In other words, the way to become a child of the king, you gotta admit you're a beggar. So, Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven". A humble profession brings a heavenly possession. So, here's how this works. On earth, you admit you're bankrupt, they take everything you own. But in heaven, you admit you're bankrupt and God gives you everything He has. Get used to different. You say, pastor, I wanna be a saint. Okay. Then you gotta admit you're a sinner. I wanna be a prince. Then you gotta admit you're a pauper. I wanna be a king. Then you've got to admit you're a criminal. So, watch this. You're a nobody until you admit to God you're a nobody. And then, God makes you a somebody in His body.
Now, gimme some love on that one. All right? That's pretty good. You're a nobody, you're a nobody until you admit to God you're a nobody. And once you come to God and you say, I am a nobody. God says, not anymore. I'm making you somebody in My body. That's the reward. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. That's why spiritually bankrupt people have the kingdom of God. Not just then, but right now. Because you will never be a citizen of the kingdom. You'll never be a child of the king until you're willing to be under the control of the king and admit you need the king. And once you do that, I wanna get under your control. I need you. I'm nothing without you. I am bankrupt. He says, no longer, because the highway to heaven is paved with the concrete of brokenness. That's how you get there.
The prophet Isaiah put it this way. "This is what the high and exalted one says, he who list forever, whose name is holy. 'I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is,'" brilliant, the one who's charismatic, the one who's religious, the one who's been baptized, the one who dots the I's and crosses the T. No, the one who is, let's say that real loud, "'contrite, lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.'"
And to show you how brilliant Jesus is, go home this afternoon and read those first 12 verses, those Beatitudes. This is how brilliant He is. You think Jesus just said, I'm just gonna reach into my hat and just pull out a Beatitude and see which come first. He didn't do that. He started off with this one. Why did he start off with this one? Because this is where it all begins. This is where it all starts. This Beatitude is the foundation of all the Beatitudes. Lemme tell you why. You will not become a Christian, you will not be a Christian, you will not look like a Christian, you will not live like a Christian until you admit you're just a spiritually bankrupt beggar.
And that's why I love the definition somebody gave evangelism. They said all evangelism is, is one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. That's all of evangelism is. Don't have to be a PhD, don't have to memorize scripture, don't even have to be able to answer every question you get asked. That's not your job. You're just one beggar telling another beggar how to find bread. So, let's just wrap it up here. People who are poor in spirit never brag on how good they are ever. They beg for forgiveness for how bad they are. So, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, she's a good friend of mine. She described the difference between people who declare bankruptcy and people who don't, people who are proud and people who are broken.
I'm gonna throw some of these up on the screen and I don't want you to be honest. I just want you to do this. I want you to categorize yourself. I want you just to get honest with yourself. You're not to prove anything to me. You gotta prove something to you. So, she says, "Okay, lemme tell you the difference between people who are proud and people who are broken".
Here's what she said. Proud people focus on the failure of others. Broken people are overwhelmed with a sense of their own spiritual need. Proud people look down on others. Broken people esteem all others is better than they are. Proud people maintain control and things must go my way. Broken people surrender control completely to God. Proud people have to prove they're right. Broken people are willing to yield the right to be right. Proud people are proud of what they can do for God. Broken people know they have nothing to offer God. Proud people have a hard time saying, I was wrong.
Please forgive me. Broken people are quick to admit failure and seek forgiveness. Proud people compare themselves with others and feel they deserve to be honored. Broken people compare themselves to the holiness of God and feel desperate need for mercy. Proud people don't think they have anything to repent of. Broken people have a continual heart attitude of repentance. So, let me tell you how good God is. God's so good. Last Sunday, if you were here, we did the Lord's Supper. And I just preached on the death of Jesus. Now, we do it every about four or five times a year. So, finished the message, we finished the last song. And I'm walking out that door to get back to the table there. And a young man, 21 years old, name's Chris. I've never seen him before.
First time he'd ever been in our church. He grabs me right over there at that door, grabs me by the arm, "I gotta talk to you". And I said, okay. We walk out, go to my table. He said, "I'm just far away from God". I said, tell me about your spiritual background. "So, I walked away from the church a long time ago," and he told a little story. He said, he came with his aunt who goes to our church. And I said, well, Chris, lemme ask you a question. I said, let's just cut to the chase. I said, do you know for sure if you're gonna die today, you'd go to heaven? He said, "Absolutely not. I don't know that for sure".
I said, I had about eight or nine people waiting to see me. I said, well, Chris, could you just give me a few... He lives at Anderson, South Carolina. I said, could you just give me a few minutes? Let me visit these people and could I just sit down and talk with you? He said, "Yeah". So, I met with those people and we sat out on one of those couches out there around the pillar. And I had my best news card. I don't have it. I got it, but I know it in my mind. So, I said, Chris, I wanna share with you the best news you're ever gonna hear in your life. This is so sweet, 'cause it doesn't happen like this very often. He said, "Okay, I wanna hear it". And I said, well, before I can share with you the best news, I gotta share the bad news. He said, "What's the bad news"?
I said, the bad news is you're a sinner. You have broken God's law and you've broken God's heart and you're separated from God. I want you to listen to me carefully. That's all I said. I didn't say one other thing. I was going to. And I wanna tell you, it was like the spigot broke. When I tell you, he wasn't weeping, he was sobbing. He was shaking, he was trembling. And the deeper I got into it, the bad news, the worst news, his sweet aunt gave him a handkerchief. It was drenched. when I'm telling you tears are hitting the floor, you could hear it like rain falling. And I'm watching this 21-year-old young man declare spiritual bankruptcy right before my very eyes. And I got to the end of the gospel, the good news, the best news.
Would you like to ask Jesus into your heart? He said, "More than anything in the world". And some of our staff were standing over on the left side of the lobby. I said, hey, guys, come over and brought all my staff. 'Cause I wanted 'em to see what I saw. I wanted 'em to experience what I experienced. And I didn't see a kid just say a prayer. I saw a kid get on the concrete of brokenness and walk to a foot of a cross and admit to the Savior of the world, I got nothing to offer. I have nothing to bargain with. I'm just asking you to do for me what I cannot do for myself. When he prayed and gave his heart to Jesus, he had no sooner than asked Jesus into his heart. He grabbed me, he hugged me, soaked my shirt with tears, which was so sweet. He said, "My life will never be the same".
And I said, you're exactly right. You know why? You walked in here outside the kingdom, you're gonna walk out inside the kingdom, because you declared spiritual bankruptcy. There's another young man, I got his permission. He's in this service. You won't know who he is. I was out there, out ready to come into this service and somebody brought him up to me, introduced himself. He just moved here not long ago into this part of the city. If I'd come to our church. Sweet young man. Got talking to him. I said, what brought you here? He said, "Well, I just moved here". And he said, "I'm away from God. I'm away from the church".
I said, do you know for sure if you were to die today, you'd go to heaven? And he said, "No, I don't". He said, "Actually, I got here at 10:00. I thought service started at 10:00. I got in here late, so I'm only coming from the second service". I said, well, why don't you, before you walk in there, could we share something with you? He said, "Yes". I said, would you like to know for sure when you die, you'll go to heaven? Would you like to be different? He said, "Yes".
Saw a corner of our staff members over. And right out there, that young man prayed and gave his life to Christ. He walked in outside the kingdom. He's gonna walk out inside the kingdom, because he did the thing that nobody believes you have to do. He just declared spiritual bankruptcy. Here's my question to you and those of you watching online, have you ever done that? Because see, there's some of you here right now deep down, here's what you're counting on. I'm going to heaven, because of, I've been baptized, because of, I go to church, because of, I'm a good person, because of, I believe the Bible, because of, I've never done this, I've never done that, I've never done this, I've never done that.
And you know what God says about all that? Zero. You got nothing to offer Me. Nothing. And I'm not trying to make anybody doubt anything. I'm just asking you an honest question. Understand, you'll never have the riches of heaven until you declare spiritual bankruptcy. So, you could do that right now. You could just, while you're sitting there, while you're watching online, you know what you could do right now, you could just right now say to God, you could say to Jesus right now:
I'm coming to You telling you I'm a beggar. I'm totally bankrupt. All my goodness is filthy rags before You. I'm nothing without You. But I believe You died from my sins. I believe that God raised You from the dead. I believe You're alive right now. In this moment, I'm gonna repent of my sin and turn away from my sin. I'm admitting to You, I'm nothing without You and have nothing without You. And today, I ask You to come into my heart. Save me, forgive me, become my Lord, become my Savior.