The Kingdom, Week 2
Tim Rivers | September 24, 2023
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Transcription
Come on. Give Jesus some praise in the place. Anybody excited to be in God's presence? Man, what a worship service. Welcome back, Sarah Bebo. We are so delighted to have her back and congratulations to her and her family for bringing in a brand new baby girl.
But I also want to celebrate something else. Sarah's been gone for 12 weeks and stepping in to fill that role to amazing people that are already part of embassy music is my shell and Elgin, what a wonderful job that they did. Come on. Now lemme tell you, this is how you know you're blessed. You know what I'm saying? You can be out 12 weeks and never miss a beat. So big props to Embassy City music and all that they do every single week. Oh my lord, we are blessed. Lemme tell you, I just feel like this is the beginning of what God's going to do through this crew. I believe we're going to write more songs. I believe those songs are going to go around the world. We're going to do records, we're going to, the things that are about to happen are just unbelievable. So I'm very, very thankful. One more time, let's give it up for the worship team. And another big win is the women's tea. All the ladies that came out yesterday, I heard y'all had a great time. I didn't spoil y'all's fun. I didn't interject myself. I figured it'd be a little too conspicuous coming to a tea.
I'd have to dress up and that wasn't going to be my vibe, but so proud of my wife and the team for putting it together. Phenomenal job, phenomenal job.
And then I just want to say if you are here, if you're a guest with us, welcome, welcome to Embassy City. We are so delighted that you're here and we pray that you receive everything that the Lord has for you and those that are watching online. Thank you for tuning in wherever you are. I believe that the Lord is right there. You can be in your bed watching on the screen. God will be right there. Or in the car driving, God is right there. How many know that Jesus is as close as dimension of his name? So when you don't know what else to say, just say the name of Jesus and he's going to be right there and somebody say Amen. Amen. All right, so we're in the second week of our series that we have called the Kingdom, and last week we talked about understand the kingdom. And the premise of that message is that we all have to do a heart check
Because the fruits in your life are dependent on the soul of your heart. If you have a hard heart or a crowded heart or a shallow heart, you'll miss the secrets of the kingdom. But if your heart is conditioned, right, and remember the heart is the mind will and emotions of a person. It's the deepest part of a person, if that is right, if it's it's conditioned right, then when the seeds of the kingdom hit your heart, there is a potential for fruitfulness. So you have to have your heart, right. And today we're going into the second episode, the second message of this series. So if you have your Bibles, let's go to John chapter three, and if you have your physical Bibles, get your thumbs ready because we're going to go to a lot of scriptures. All right? There'll be a Bible sword drill. Anybody ever did those? Boy I used to be on them boys. That's when you're super saved. You just do Bible sword drills. I did Bible sword drills because you got prizes and we used to do Bible sword drills for cans of Coke
And I'd be leaving with 24 packs of 48 and just be handing them out. Alright, John chapter three, verse number one. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, rabbi, we know that you are a teacher. Come from God for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered him Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Kingdom Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? A valid question Jesus answered. Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I say to you can if you'd like to. It's optional.
You must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear it sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit. So this week my title for this week is Access the Kingdom. Access the Kingdom. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your goodness and your mercy. I thank you Lord God that you have called us into your house. I pray that in the next few minutes as we dig into you, word give us ears to hear, a heart to receive and a mind to understand and what the spirit would say to us. Help us to walk out of here different than the way we walked in. I pray that you would save somebody today. Grant somebody access to the kingdom today. We believe this in your name and everybody say Amen. Look at your neighbor. Neighbor. Something good. Something good is about to happen, is about happen. And if you believe that, put your hands together and give God praise.
I want to talk about access real quick. Access is defined as the permission, liberty or ability to enter approach or pass to and from a place or to approach or communicate with a person or think. And when I think about access, I think about a job that I had when I worked for a company called Justin Boots. The fact that I say that and y'all snicker is telling, yes, Justin Boots is a Western cowboy boot brand. Yes, I own a pair of cowboy boots, yes, I also own a couple of cowboy hats. Yes, I've been to the rodeo, yes, I've also owned a horse. Oh, what? Don't let these clothes fool you.
Yes, I used to rope a little bit on a horse. Yeah, that's my heritage. That's like my family heritage. I came from a family of westerns down in east Texas, Rusk, Texas. Where is Rus at? But what's interesting is when I worked for this company called Justin Boots, their boots are very expensive and so what they would do is for the employees of Justin Boots, the ones that were members of the company, we got a login, a special login to this website and when you would go to this website, you'd put in your credential and then you would be granted access to special pricing on all the products that Justin Boots offered and it was like 40 or 50% off. And so I would go on there and I go ham, I'd buy me some stuff. In fact, I would go to the clearance section on the website and get an additional 30 to 40% off.
Somebody praises God for the clearance section. Come on now. Hey, I walk in, I'm heading right to the back of the store. Can we help you with anything? Yes, show me what the red tags are. You know what I'm saying? Then I'll move my way back this way. But I used to go ham, I used to buy all this stuff and so at a point though, I changed companies and I went from working at Justin Boots and I went back into full-time ministry working for a church. And so a few months after working at the church, I was like, I want me a nice pair of boots. So I did what any good ex-employee would do. I went back to the website just to see if my credentials still work. Don't act like you have never tried that. Some of y'all are using memberships that you know has been expired since 1975. I'm an honorary member. No, you out fam. So I remember going back to the website and I was like, man, I hope this thing works. I put my credentials in and I hit login and then bright red letters, the words access denied, popped up and I realized that I had lost access to the special privileges and benefits of Justin boots because I no longer was a good upstanding citizen of that company. Did you know this is the exact same thing that happened to Adam and Eve.
Adam and Eve were created in the image and likeness of God. They were the image bearers of God, but they were also created as heirs to the kingdom because they were created by the king for the king's purpose. They had access to all the things that were benefits of having access to the kingdom. Let's look at Genesis chapter one, verse 28, and God bless them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every lane, every living thing that moves on the earth. And God said, behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of the earth and every tree with seed in its fruit, you shall have them for food and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food and it was so and God saw everything that he had made and behold it was very good.
And there was evening and there was morning the sixth day. Adam and Eve had direct access number one to the king because the Bible talks about them walking with him in the cooler day, but they also had access to the benefits of the kingdom. When they're in the garden, they could access everything, all the trees they had access to the animals. It was for their sustenance, the ground unit forth and fruit to them because they had access and then they committed treason against the king. They rebelled against the king and they were surprised that they didn't immediately die. They physically did not immediately die. But you know what happened? Their access died because look at how God responds to the rebellion. He says to them, I cannot let you be here having access to the kingdom while you're committing treason against the king. So God ex communicates them. He drives them out of the garden and this is how serious God is about it. God places an angel with a flaming sword at the entrance point to the garden to tell them and let them know that I do not tolerate rebellion in my kingdom.
The consequence of rebellion is access denied. Now since Adam and Eve created treason against God and now do not have access to the kingdom, they're now living in the kingdom of darkness. Now everyone that is born after Adam and Eve are born into the kingdom of darkness, not having access to the kingdom of God.
This is what Paul says in Ephesians chapter two verse one, and you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once live in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and whereby nature, the children of wrath like the rest of mankind since the fall of mankind into the kingdom of darkness, we've had to depend on a subsidiary or a mediator to talk to the king.
The worst thing that happened to mankind is that they lost access to the kingdom. But God in his mercy and love decided that he's going to create a provision in which you can access the kingdom through a mediator with the children of Israel. It was Moses. Moses was able to go up to the Mount, speak to God, veiled God would give him instructions, he would come down and give it to the children of Israel. Then later God established the tabernacle and the temple where the tabernacle and the temple was the place where heaven and earth would intersect, but only one person, the high priest could go into the holy of holies and even he had to wear a bell around his ankles in case he died and he had to go in there and represent the entire nation of Israel and come out and say, we good For another year.
They did not have direct access to the king or the kingdom. Why? Because sin and rebellion separates you from having access to the kingdom. That's until Jesus showed up. Because when Jesus showed up, he wasn't just a great teacher and he wasn't just a rabbi and he wasn't just a miracle worker. But when Jesus showed up, he fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah. When Isaiah said in Isaiah chapter nine verse six, for unto us a child is born and unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace of the increase of his government and of peace. There will be no end on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.
Daniel even had a vision of Jesus and this is what he says in Daniel chapter seven, I saw in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven, there came one liken to the son of man and he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him and to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people's nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies that foretold that the king of kings is coming. Even David wrote about it, he said, lift up your heads on your gates even be lifted up your everlasting doors and the king of glory shall come in. Who is this king of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, all your gates and be lifted up you everlasting. Lord, I'm the king of glory shall come in. Who is this king of glory? The Lord of hosts. He is this king of glory. So when Jesus came and he walked the earth, it wasn't just another person, it wasn't just another teacher. It was the very king of kings that was walking this earth and everybody knew that something was different about him. This is what brings us to John chapter three, because Nicodemus realized something different about this man. I don't know what it is, but something is different about him. Now we have to understand who Nicodemus is. Nicodemus is not just some guy that has no knowledge of the kingdom. He was a religious elite in that time. He was part of the Sanhedrin and Sanhedrin was the high court of the Jews made up of 71 members with one as the leader, which was the high priest and all these 71 members. They had to be from the perfect lineage. They had to have a certain amount of wealth. They came from a pedigree that only certain people were allowed to be in this group. He had to memorize 613 of the Jewish laws. He understood the prophecies mostly by memory. He understood the oratory laws, he understood all the things and yet when he heard and saw Jesus, he knew that something was different about this man.
Lemme tell you, sometimes we have a misunderstanding of what it means to be born again. Some people think that the only people that are born again are those who are so far. They're out there light candles to Satan like, well, those are the people that need Jesus. But can I tell you that you can be around the church and not in the church. You can be around the kingdom and not in the kingdom. You can be religious and not have a relationship. You can follow the rules but not know the ruler. You can see the miracles and not know the miracle worker. Oh God, Nicodemus knew everything there was to know about religiosity, but he did not have access to the kingdom. So he comes to Jesus and he says, Jesus, I know that you are sent from God because nobody can do these things except God be with him. And Nicodemus does not ask Jesus one single question. And yet Jesus knew what Nicodemus was asking without asking. He was asking, how do I get access to the kingdom? So Jesus begins to explain to him and divulge the secrets of how to gain access. So I want to tell you today, I want to share what Jesus shared with Nicodemus. I want to share with you how to get access to the kingdom, how to access the kingdom. Number one is you must recognize that Jesus is king.
Let's look at John chapter three, verse number one. Now, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, rabbi, we know that you are a teacher. Come from God for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. The word recognize literally means to formally acknowledge such as to admit as being Lord or sovereign or to admit as being of a particular status or to admit as being one entitled to be heard. Nicodemus didn't know anything more about Jesus except for what he saw and heard. And yet when he saw and heard the things that the kingdom, it made him respond with curiosity and acknowledge that Jesus was different. Can I tell you that when you hear the words of the kingdom and your heart is conditioned right, it always evokes within you a curiosity. Lemme tell you, this is how I know when somebody gets hit with the gospel, when somebody gets hit with the gospel, they always go, I want to know more. You know exactly what this is like and this is what the Bible says. The Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. In other words, he was like, I ain't coming to him with the homies,
But I can't shake the fact that he's different. And night in the Bible always represents not just secrecy but also blindness. Sometimes you may not understand fully the kingdom, but there's a curiosity when that recognizes that Jesus king, can I tell you that you cannot serve two kings if you want access to the kingdom? You must recognize that Jesus is king of kings. Too many people have a lot of kings in their life and wonder why they don't have access to the kingdom. Philippians chapter two, verse number nine through 11 says, therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Every knee will bow to king Jesus. You get to decide whether it's today or later and you get to decide whether it's in heaven, on earth or under the earth. You can be around the kingdom and not be in the kingdom. You can come to church and still be on your way to hell.
I know this ain't popular today because some people will tell you, Hey, you can serve this and that, you can do this and that, but I'm here to tell you that there's only one king and his name is Jesus and unless you recognize him, you won't have access to the kingdom. You'll sit outside the door. You got to recognize that Jesus is king. You got to denounce everything else and recognize Jesus is king. So number one is recognize Jesus' King. Here's number two, repent of your sins. Oh, this ain't popular at all.
Repent of you said John chapter three, verse number three through seven says, Jesus answered him truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born? Jesus. That's it. Truly, truly. I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Why? Because that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I say to you, you must be born again. You have to denounce the flesh in order to embrace the spirit. To repent means to change one's mind. It's a military term that means about face. Now, any military folks in here, you've been in the military, you're veteran. Look, I've practiced this, but this is literally the picture. Jesus is saying that you're heading in one direction and when you encounter the kingdom, the kingdom starts with what? Repent, which means to make an about face. Somebody give God praise out and bust my nose.
But that's the picture of repentance. Repentance means that you're heading in the direction of the kingdom of darkness. You're serving the prince of the power of the air. Listen, lemme tell you something, if you're not serving God, you're serving.
There is no third option. I know this ain't popular, but lemme tell you, if you are not serving Jesus, then who are you serving? There's only one other option. The kingdom of darkness and we're all born in the sin and shaping an iniquity and repentance means that you denounce the way that you're walking, you stop and you turn around and you recognize Jesus's king. It means that you're heading towards sin, you're doing the wrong stuff. But at some point when you hear the words of the kingdom, it should make you stop and go, wait a minute, I'm heading in the wrong direction. I'm going to the wrong place. I got to stop attention, turn around. That's what repentance means. And a lot of people will try to tell you that you can be righteous and wretched, that I can have the world and Jesus that I can live in sin and glory. You can't do both. You can't serve both. There's only one king. Either you are heading in the direction of the kingdom of God or you're heading in the direction of the kingdom of darkness. And if you're heading in the direction of the kingdom of darkness, stop. This is exactly why. When John the Baptist was preaching the message to Jesus before Jesus came, he said, red parent. Why? Because the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Stop. Turn around.
I'm getting good at this. Why? Because it's time to face the king. I heard somebody, I saw a clip the other day on Instagram and it was a pastor and air quotes that that's wrong, but this is what he said. He said, salvation is the free gift of God. I agree. He said, you don't have to do anything, you don't even have to repent. And he said, if anyone tells you that you need to repent, don't pay attention to that. And I almost dove in through my phone.
Let me explain something real quick. There are two words that are often used misused, and it's the word heresy and the word blasphemy. Let me explain these. Heresy is when you intentionally are going against the doctrines of the Christian faith, you're going against Christian orthodoxy. It means that you're intentionally saying that you don't have to do something, that the scripture is very plain, that you have to do the scripture's plain. You must repent. Jesus said it, John the Baptist said it, Peter said it all Throughout scripture we see that it is a necessary to enter into the kingdom.
That's heresy to say that it's not necessary. That's stream. On the other side is when you equate the works of God to Satan. In other words, someone gets healed by the power of God and you say that's demonic. Well that's blaspheming. Very few people blaspheming. There are some that do, but a lot of people can get caught up in heresy and I'm here to tell you that if you want access to the kingdom, you must repent of your sins. At some point you need to go, I'm walking the wrong direction. I got to stop because this ain't working. You got to get sick of living the way you are living and face the king come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord and touch not the unclean thing.
Repentance is a necessary part of gaining access to the kingdom. Look at what Galatians says. This isn't going to pop up, but it's right here. Now the works of the flesh are evident. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Repentance is a necessary part of access to the kingdom because here's the thing, in order to access the kingdom of God, you have to deactivate your access to the kingdom of darkness. I want to write it down, but it's already in my notes. In order to access the kingdom of God, you have to deactivate your access to the kingdom of darkness. It's like when I worked at justice in order, the reason why my access was inactive is because I changed companies. Here's the third point of how to access the kingdom. You must be reborn of the spirit. John chapter three, verse number six through seven, that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I say to you, you must be born again. To be born again literally means to is regeneration is the word, is an inter cleansing and renewal of the human nature by the Holy Spirit. It's the noun and the regeneration in the Greek is pollen, Genia, which is two words really. Palen is new and genesis or genia is origin. So it's new birth or new origin. When you are regenerated or you are reborn, it means that you are born anew. You were born into the kingdom of darkness. But Jesus comes and he says, you can be reborn from the kingdom of heaven
And the only way this happens is through the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. Jesus says you must be born of water and the spirit. Now there's a lot of theological conversation around does water actually mean the natural birth when the water breaks and the baby is born and naturally, is that what he was talking about? Obviously this is what Nicodemus thought. That's why he said, can I entered a second time into my mother's womb be born again. Is that or is it baptism? Actually the Christian practice of water baptism. And I would say that it could be both. But the reality is in scripture when you look at the Bible, the word water always has to do with cleansing. So when we talk about being born again there, first of all it has to be a cleansing. There has to be a repentance, there has to be washing away of the old and an embracement of the new. And water baptism is incredibly important and you walk does it save you does actually literally going underwater. Lemme tell you if water baptism could save you, we would lock these doors, put a tank here and not let you get out until you get dumped. And some of y'all are going to have to hold down a little longer.
We ain't going to do that. Water baptism is an outward expression of an inward decision that you made. It's putting the ring on the marriage. It's letting everybody know, yo, here's my membership into the kingdom of God. I'm letting everybody know I'm going public with my faith. That's why water baptism is so important. And if you have not been water baptized since you believed you got to get signed up, but right here Jesus saying you must be born again of water and spirit. There needs to be a cleansing and the spirit in the scripture always has to do with transformation. And when you are born again, it means that a new kingdom marks you. Romans chapter eight verse number nine says, you however are not in the flesh but in the Spirit. If in fact the spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ, does not belong to him.
Romans chapter eight, verse 15 through 17 says, for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry. Abba Father, the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children then heirs, well there's a kingdom term heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. If you want access to the kingdom, you must be born again. You are born into the kingdom of darkness, but you can be born again into the kingdom of God and when you are born again into the kingdom of God, you will receive a cleansing and a renewal in your inner man. My God. So the question is how does this happen? Well, let's go back and look at the inauguration of the church because the church, the body of Christ, the church is the agency that God has established on earth to be the representation of the kingdom of God.
So when you're a part of the church, you're part of the agency that represents the overall kingdom of God in the earth. And when the inauguration of the church happened in Acts chapter two, Peter begins to preach to people and tell them the Holy Spirit has been poured out. Now that Jesus has ascendant, the Holy Spirit has the descendant and now you can have the Holy Spirit which gives you access to the kingdom. And he begins to tell him how this happened. It happened because Jesus who was sinless and spotless and had no sin at all came down. He bore our sins upon himself. He died on the cross. He was buried, but he rose again with all power in his hand. And now that he has all power, he is a descendant under heaven and now he's sending down his Holy Spirit, which we have access to.
And when you hear the gospel, something within you is going to go Tell me more. Because when he got through, when Peter got through talking about the death bur and resurrection of Christ, then in Acts chapter two verse 37, the people that heard the word said, now when they heard this, they were cut in the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles Brothers, what shall we do? You can I tell you this is how I know that the word of God, that the kingdom of God, that the gospel of God has hit you when the gospel hits you, the next thing you're going to ask us, what do I do?
Lemme tell you something. The way you know that somebody has been hit by the gospel, it always motivates them to what's the next thing I've got to do? I may not understand it, I may not have all that it all figured out. I may not know the theology behind it, but something about what I'm hearing and seeing is motivating. It is evoking me. It is provoking me to want to know more. How do I gain access to the kingdom? This is what Peter said and Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off. Everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. When you are reborn, you get access to the kingdom.
And when you get access to the kingdom, it changes the way you walk. It changes the way you talk. It changes the people that you're around. It changes your behavior. It changes your language. Why? Because now I have access. Why are you so confident I got access? Well, why can you smile in the middle of a trap? Because I got access. When I have access, I can go through hard times and still have joy. When I have access, I can still give God praise while going through adversity. When I have access, I can lay hands upon the sink and they shall recover. When I have access, I can leap and I can jump and I can shout because I've got access. When I have access, I don't have to depend on somebody else to be my intermediator, to be my mediator, to be the person that has to go to God. For you ever see people that are intimidated, they don't know that they have access and they want to go find somebody that has. I know that you got a main line to God, but when you have the Holy Spirit, when you're born again, you got direct access, you can go before the throne and say God
Through the power of the Holy Spirit. You can walk up to God yourself because you have access to the kingdom. You don't have to live your life on the periphery of the kingdom. When you get born again, you have direct access.
Access to miracle signs and wonders, access to lay hands upon the second they shall recover. Access to pray for my children and there's a hedge of protection around them. Access to pray over my home that there's peace, access to pray over my marriage, to make sure that it's dirty. Access to pray for my neighbor who's in trouble. Access to pray my children back to church, access to get through this trial access, to make it through this financial hard time. I got access. Somebody ought to give God praise that you have access, that you have access. You are an heir, you are a joint heir with Christ. I don't have to wait on some kind of sacrifice of bulls and goats. I can walk right into the throne room of grace and make my petition known before the Lord because I got, some of y'all have access and you haven't been tapping into it. The first thing is you do is you call somebody to pray for you. You got access. Pray for yourself first. You got access. I'm trying to tell. Wait, I feel the Holy Ghost. I'm trying to tell somebody you got access. You have the ability to walk in to the presence of the Lord yourself.
Lemme tell you something, our children, they will come up. They don't ask specifically what they need. They will come up and say, dad, I'm hungry. The reason they have the confidence to walk into my presence, have the audacity not to be specific, have the confidence that my father knows that if I tell him I'm hungry, he's going to roll out of bed at 6:00 AM make his way to the kitchen and cook them up something good. Because as their father, I want to make sure that they are fed. The reason they can do that is because they have access. Now, if some little snotty nose kid from somebody else rolls up to me and says, I'm hungry, I'm going to say, go find your parents. You don't have access to me. But when you belong to me and your mind, you're an heir. You're an inheritor, you're an heir apparent, you're on the list. You get the privileges, you get the discounts, you get the benefits of the somebody ought to give God praise that you got access. Somebody ought to give God praise that you got access. You don't have to wait another second.
My God, have mercy. Some of y'all have access and you don't tap into it. Some of y'all don't have access and you're wondering why. But you're going to get access today. You're going to get access today. It takes three things to gain access. Recognize that Jesus is king. Repent, turn away. Make a decision about face repentance. And third, you got to be born again of the spirit.
It’s the secrets of the kingdom. And if your heart is conditioned right as we talked about last week, then the seeds of the kingdom are hitting you right now. And the question you're asking is, bro, when we get into that part where I can gain access to the kingdom, the answer is right. Now, if you would bow your heads, close your eyes. There are some of you in this place that have been around the church, but not in the church. You've been around the kingdom, but not in the kingdom. You've been born but not born again. And before I talk to you next week about the benefits of the kingdom, I got to talk to you about gaining access to the kingdom because you won't know the benefits until you get through the door. You won't understand what waits for you unless you make the decision to denounce the direction you're heading making about face and walk toward the Lord. If you are born again, I want you just to begin to pray quietly for those that feel the pull to respond to the gospel. And if you're in this place.
And you're ready to make that decision, first of all, let me tell you, Romans chapter 10, verse eight and nine, it says, but what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. That is the word of faith that we proclaim. Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus' Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved for with the heart. One believes and is justified with the mouth, one confesses and is saved. So whether you're in this building or online, I want to pray this prayer and I want you to repeat it after me because this is a prayer of proclamation. To make Jesus Lord of your life and to gain access to the kingdom, say with me, say, dear Jesus, I recognize you as Lord. I recognize you as Lord and king and king and acknowledge my need for you. Acknowledge my need for I believe that you died. I Believe that You died for my sins. For my sins and rose from the dead. Rose from I repent for my and turn away from my old ways of living. I ask you to forgive my sins, forgive past, present, present and future. I want to be born again. Fill me with your spirit and be the Lord of my life. Thank you for hearing my prayer and answering in your name. In Jesus Jesus. Amen. Come on now, somebody celebrate the fact that's somebody just gained access. Come on, you ought to stand across this place and give God praise and glory that somebody just gained access to the kingdom. Lemme tell you something, if you made that decision for the very first time, then your next step is water baptism.
You can find us all throughout the book of Acts, but baptism is a display. It is a physical display of an inward decision that you made. Faith without works is dead. Being alone, it motivates you to do something else. So if you're in this place and you just prayed that prayer, I want you to scan that QR code or you can go to our website, embassy city.com, go to events and sign up to be water baptized at our next water baptism because God is about to do something special. And I'm going to preach about the benefits of the kingdom next week. But I would be remiss if I didn't tell you how to access the kingdom. And for those of you who are born, again, access the kingdom, somebody give God some praise in this place.
