-Transcript-
00:35 Amen. Thank you for joining me today. I appreciate you being at the cafe today.
00:41 Today I want to talk about a subject maybe some of you are going through today. You know it’s occurred to me some people out there, maybe this is you, feel like they’re swimming in very deep waters emotionally. They maybe were splashing around and having fun at one point and then all of a sudden the water kept getting deeper and land started to become a far-off and now they’re swimming in deep waters and they feel like the waves are starting to pick up and how long can they tread that water and it’s getting dark and it’s difficult and there doesn’t seem to be a way to find dry land and to get to shore.
01:25 They don’t know what to do. If that’s you here today, I want to tell you that you have a person, more than a person, a God in Jesus Christ that loves you tremendously and if the waves of life have been crashing on you and crashing on you and crashing on you, if you have just been through so many hardships you don’t know what to do. God is here for you.
01:52 God has made a plan from the beginning really of time as we know it to save you from those rough waters, to deliver you to not just dry land but to a fruitful land, a land filled with wonderful wonderful things and to give you peace and joy not just for this season but for an eternity. So if you have been in the trials of life, if you’ve been in the throes of life, if you don’t realize what you’re gonna do, if you can’t figure it out on your own and if everyone you’ve ever gone to talk to doesn’t have an idea either, why not try God? Why not actually just go ahead and say, you know what, I’m gonna go ahead and look into who this God is, who Jesus Christ is and I’m gonna tell you a few things today but as you look into who Jesus Christ is, you’ll find that He’s an ever-present God in times of trouble, that He’s there in the hardest times, not just there afar off but there within you, feeling your pain, helping you through it, giving you peace, giving you discernment. We understand this to be the person of the Holy Ghost, that’s the Holy Spirit and you get the Holy Spirit when you’re saved.
03:12 And to be saved, it starts with realizing that you’re in deep waters, right? Many people today, whether willful ignorance or just plain ignorance or whatever it is, believe they’re not in deep waters. They believe that they’re having the time of their life and that tomorrow is gonna figure itself out and they’re just gonna live for today and not worry about what happens at death, what happens even in tragedy. They don’t worry about these things, they just live day to day and they say, well, God hasn’t struck me down yet and a lot of people in the world live like this, so I’ll live like this too.
03:53 And that is the problem, that is that hard heart, that is that mind that the Bible would call reprobate. The idea is that we’re not thinking on godly things, we’re thinking on worldly things. And the first step in being saved is understanding our own need.
04:05 Again, I painted a picture, a dire picture of an individual being deep in water and not knowing how they’re gonna get out of it. If we don’t realize that that’s us without Jesus Christ, we’ll never be able to be saved because we will never realize our need for Christ. I know a man one time told me, you know, we were praying for him to get saved and he told me through a relative that he didn’t need to be saved because he never did anything wrong.
04:33 And I laughed because I could kind of relate to that. I went to a fundamental church for the first time maybe 10, 11 years ago and the old preachers up there spitting and hollering and I’m looking around saying, oh, he’s a lot of bad people in here he’s preaching to, glad that’s not me. And I spent a fair bit of time thinking that I was above that preaching until I realized, until that hard heart started to melt and I realized my need, oh my desperate need for a Savior.
05:04 You know, I’m asthmatic and I didn’t even know what that was. I mean I moved down to North Carolina from South Carolina, I didn’t think it’d be much difference, but here in North Carolina the allergies are brutal. In South Carolina I didn’t have a single one, but I come to North Carolina, my body freaks out, I develop asthma and I had trouble breathing and it was untreated and it was getting worse and worse and I was wheezing and I was laying in bed and I I just felt like a hand or foot was on my neck and I couldn’t breathe and I just looked to the Lord and said, Lord help me breathe, Lord help me breathe.
05:33 And for the first time maybe I understood that it is God that gives us breath, it is God that gives us life. Do you understand that today? It is Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord that provides the life, that you my friend, if you have not been saved, you’re the one out in deep water, you’re in uncharted waters friend and you will drown and go to hell if you do not accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. Now that’s some tough truth, but that’s the truth, Amen? The Bible as I understand it talks more about hell than it does about heaven and so what we need to understand is that hell is real and heaven is real and God is real and we must seek the Lord with our whole heart.
06:09 Now you’re saying, Brother Clark, you trying to scare me to be saved? No, I’m trying to get you to get a little bit of ice bath, a little bit of cold water. When I play football after the game, they’d say get in the ice bath. Anybody want to get in the ice bath? No, because that thing was freezing cold, but it’d wake you up, it’d perk you up, it’d enliven your senses and I believe the Lord allows us to understand the depths of hell to to an extent in order to wake us up because He loves us so much because Hell’s not intended for you or for me.
06:37 `It’s intended for the devil and the fallen angels. Heaven is our home for those that accept Christ as Savior and you say, well Brother Clark, I’ve been too bad, I’ve lived a wild life, I’ve had all kinds of problems, I don’t even know why I’m listening to this radio station. Well, I’ll tell you something, I can relate to your wildlife.
06:52 A matter of fact, I probably live more wild than you. Oh, I was a wild child, I was I was pretty much on my own from a young age and I got into everything. I grew up fast in a hurry and it’s a miracle I didn’t get killed or thrown in jail or some crazy disease.
07:08 It’s a miracle, amen. People think I’m exaggerating, I’m not exaggerating. I lived a very wild life to the point where I didn’t even want to live anymore and oh, when I got to that rock bottom, then I realized my need for the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and He saved me, Amen.
07:24 Whoo, He saved me and He can save you. He can save you. You’ve done something bad, that’s all right, He can save you.
07:33 He wants to save you. The Bible says God Himself desires all to come to repentance, all to be saved, Amen. That’s God’s desire, but you have to seek Him with your heart.
07:44 You have to believe that He is who he says He is. You have to realize, you got to go down Romans road, Amen. You got to look and see what the Bible says about being saved.
07:53 So let me start here, Romans 3:10, as it is written, there is nonerighteous, no not one. That means here in the Bible we’re learning that nobody is good enough to be saved without Jesus Christ. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23. This shows us that everyone’s a sinner, the very best person, the most prestigious person, the richest person, the one that helps every old person across the crosswalk every single day, the one that gives all their money to the poor.
08:26 If they haven’t accepted Christ as Savior, they are not saved, Amen. For all have sinned, we all fall short. You want to get into the technicality of that, look at God’s laws, look at his commandments, and you’ll know that we all break them.
08:37 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, that’s Romans 6:23. So we learn in the Bible, this is the New Testament here, we learn that the wages of sin is death. That’s that idea that we are all born sinners and that we will go to a devil’s hell if we don’t accept Christ as Savior. But the gift of God, see it’s all God’s power and it’s His gift, is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
09:02 Romans 5:8, but God commendeth his love toward us inthat while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So we understand that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, and then when we accept Him as Savior, we’re born again. And it’s that simple.
09:15 You don’t need to belong to a church, you don’t need to have a bunch of money, you don’t have to have a pedigree, you don’t have to have anything. You simply believe on Christ. Romans 10:13, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
09:35 I’m a whosoever and you are a whosoever. And when you simply believe on Jesus and what he did on the cross, and you realize your need, you realize you’re treading water in deep water, and you know how you’re gonna make it, and you say, God please save me. He’ll reach down with his mighty hand, which is strong enough to save you no matter what you’ve done or who you are, and He’ll save you.
09:48 And oh, he’ll work a new heart in you. You’ll get that Holy Spirit living within you. He will help you.
09:53 He will never leave you. The Bible is full of promises that will bless you, and you can count on those promises once you’ve been saved. But oh, now is the time.
10:03 Look around. Has the world ever been like this? It’s never been like this. I’m 42.
10:08 It has never been like this. I’ve never seen anything like this. Now is the time to accept Christ as Savior.
10:15 Don’t put it off. Oh, but I like my Bud Light, or I like going to the club, or I like this or that. Give it all up.
10:21 Forsake it all. Accept Christ, and you’ll be the happiest person on the planet. Amen I promise you, I’ve never met a true believer that wanted to go back.
10:28 I’ve never met someone that believed on Christ that said, oh, I had it better in the hog pen. Not one, Amen When you trust Christ, your only regret will be that you didn’t do it sooner. He is a mighty God.
10:39 He is a strong God. He died for you on the cross at Calvary. His book is the Living Word.
10:44 It’ll teach you, instruct you, and edify you. And it all starts with you believing on Him. But what is the problem? What is getting in the way? Life? You know, the Bible says the devil is the author of confusion.
10:56 The devil’s whole game here, and he doesn’t want you to know this, is to confuse you. To get you to think, well, maybe I should just do some yoga. Maybe I should just go to the New Age concert.
11:06 Maybe I should just do some self-care. Amen Maybe I should just hop on social media. Get rid of all that garbage.
11:11 Trust on Jesus. Be saved and be happy. Be at peace.
11:16 Be in love with Jesus. You will be completely different than you are now. The day will be brighter.
11:22 The birds chirping will be more wonderful. Amen That coffee will smell a little bit better. Amen? Every time you see somebody, you may even see an enemy, and all of a sudden you love them.
11:31 You want to hug them. You want them to be blessed. That’s what Christ will do within your heart.
11:35 The Bible says he’ll renew a right spirit within you. If you accept him as Savior and Lord, he’ll change you. He’ll give you that Holy Spirit living within you.
11:43 Oh, how God is so wonderful and so loving and so perfect. And oh, how we fall so short. And it all starts with realizing that need.
11:50 And so if you feel like those waters are crashing, and if you feel like you can’t do, you can’t win for losing, it’s time, friend. It’s time to accept Christ as Savior. Do it now.
12:00 You can do it right now. If you’re in the car, pull over and just ask him to save you. You can do it right now.
12:06 You don’t have to wait. Don’t wait. Accept Him now.
12:11 Pray to God and say, Lord, I accept you. I surrender to you. I believe.
12:15 I believe. I believe. Believe on Christ and He’ll save you.
12:18 I promise you he’ll do it. By the Word of God, he’ll do it. And then once you’ve been saved, once you’ve accepted him, get your Bible.
12:25 Get your King James Bible. That’s my best one. That’s the one I use.
12:28 Amen Get your King James Bible and start going to church. How do you find a good church? This is the measure of a good church. How much do they study God’s Word? How much of the sermon is God’s Word? How much of the church is about God’s Word? It’s all about the Bible.
12:43 You find a church that is Bible-believing from beginning to end. It doesn’t compromise or change it, and that is the basis. Of course, there’s a lot of other variables, but that’s the basis you want to look for.
12:54 Be saved. Accept Christ. Get into a Bible-believing church and believe.
12:59 Have faith, and God will work a miracle in your life. I am a living testimony. I am a witness to His power.
13:07 He has completely changed me. I am unrecognizable as a person to who I used to be, and God gets 100% of the glory. 100%.
13:16 I did nothing other than believe. And when you believe, He will change you. He’ll make you new.
13:23 Stop holding off. Stop making an excuse. Stop pretending like it’s gonna be okay.
13:30 The way to peace in this life and eternity in the next is only through Jesus Christ. It’s only through Jesus Christ. Believe on Him today, friend.
13:38 I urge you. I plead with you. Don’t wait till it’s too late.
13:43 Believe on Jesus, and you will be blessed. I promise you. I thank you so much for listening.
13:49 I thank you so much for listening. Take care. God bless, and Amen.