Adrian Rogers - When Demons Have Dominion
Take your Bibles and turn, if you would please, to Revelation chapter 8 as we work our way through this book. Now we're going to try today, actually, if we listen well and you listen in a hurry, we're going to try today to do two chapters, chapter 8 and chapter 9. Now these chapters deal with the Great Tribulation. I've told you before there's coming a time on Earth like the Earth has never known before, a time of horror, a time of devastation, a time of destruction, a time of death, a time of dismay. Jesus Christ said, "There was never, ever, ever a time like this".
Put in your margin Matthew 24 verse 21. Jesus said, "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be". "There's never been a time like it in all of history," Jesus said, "There never will be another time like it". This is the time of what Jesus called the Great Tribulation. Now in studying the book of the Revelation, we find out that there is a book, a scroll; that is a book that's rolled up, and that scroll has seven seals. And we've been studying the opening of these seven seals because as these seven seals are broken, the tribulation horrors unfold in front of us. And we've talked about the horses of the Great Tribulation: the white horse, the red horse, the black horse, the pale horse.
We've talked about the martyrs who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus Christ. We've talked about ecological disasters that are going to come upon the Earth. And now we come to a time, between the seals, of silence. There is a silence that delineates the last seal. Let's look at it. Revelation chapter 8 and verse 1, "And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in Heaven about the space of a half an hour". Now I don't know for certain, but I imagine this is the longest silence there's ever been in Heaven.
One man said, "There won't be any women in Heaven because there was silence in Heaven for the space of a half an hour". The lady retorted, said, "No, no, no, you're wrong; won't be any men in Heaven because you never saw an angel with a beard". And somebody else retorted, "Well, the men get there by a close shave". So, what is this talking about anyway, silence in Heaven? What it is, it's an ominous silence. It is the lull before the storm. Have you ever been in that time when perhaps a tornado is prophesied and the weatherman says, "You're living in a time of danger. There's a tornado alert, a warning".
And everything gets very still, and you say, "There couldn't be a storm coming". And yet there's a cold clamminess; everything is very still. Or perhaps the silence in a courtroom when the jury has been out and it comes back in and the jury is being seated. The defendant is there, the judge is there, and there is an eerie silence waiting. Or perhaps some other ominous silence that you can think about. That's the silence that we're talking about here in Revelation chapter 8 and verse 1, silence in Heaven. And then there comes the opening of the seventh seal. Notice in verse Revelation 8 verse 2, "And I saw the seven angels which stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets".
Now, a trumpet is used for many things in the Bible: for to gather together a convocation, to announce perhaps the coronation of a king, but also the trumpet was sounded as an alarm to gather to war, very much like a siren today, like an air-raid siren or like the alarm that goes off before the tornado that we spoke about. Now before these seven angels sound these seven trumpets, and we're going to see that we have the seven trumpets right up here. One trumpet deals with hail and fire and blood, and another deals with a burning mountain. Another deals with a star named Wormwood. Another, cosmic darkest darkness. Another, and we'll only get this far, an invasion of hellish locusts. Well, these angels are about to blow these trumpets, but, again, God puts a parentheses here and we learn a wonderful lesson about prayer.
Look in verses 3 through 6 of Revelation 8, "And another angel came," now there are seven angels with seven trumpets. These seven trumpets come out of the seventh seal. Sounds kind of complicated, doesn't it, but stay with me. And just before these seven angels blow these seven trumpets of judgment, another angel comes. Now look again in verse 3, "And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censor". What is a censor? That's a receptacle to hold incense. It's made out of gold, a golden censor. "And there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar," now he's referring to the tabernacle. In the tabernacle was a golden altar and they burned incense on it.
All right, now, "Which was before the throne". So that tells us this is not the tabernacle that's on Earth, but it's a tabernacle up in Heaven. The one on Earth is just a pattern of the one in Heaven. "And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. And the angel took the censor, and filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth; and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound". Now this is parenthetical before these seven trumpets sound, but there's a great lesson here about prayer. Incense in the Bible is a type, a picture, an illustration of prayer.
When you pray, your prayers go up to Heaven like sweet incense, a fragrance in the nostrils of God. And that's what it typifies there in the tabernacle in the Old Testament. And the priest would come, and he would sprinkle there upon the altar and the coals of the altar this incense, and it would burn and go up before God. That illustrates, that typifies your prayers. Have you ever prayed when you didn't feel like praying? Most of us have. I mean, sometimes we have to take ourselves by the nap of the neck and say, "It's time to pray". I mean, we don't want to pray. Sometimes we feel like, "Well, it wouldn't even be good if I prayed today because I don't feel like it".
Friend, your feelings don't have much to do with it. Pray when you feel like it. Pray when you don't feel like it. And don't come to Him, even if you don't feel like praying, don't come to Him with the brass of your emotions; come with the worth of His incense. Here the priest is mingling the prayers of the saints with the incense. What is the incense? The incense is the worth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Come with both hands filled with the incense of the Lord Jesus, and His, it's His presence that make your prayers powerful, not how you feel about it. And so, here's a lesson on prayer. Just pray in the name of Jesus. When you pray in the name of Jesus, you're mingling your prayer with the incense of Jesus' worth, and that's a sweet smell in the nostrils of Almighty God. What a wonderful thing that is.
But notice in this chapter in verse 6 it says that after the angel takes the prayers of the saints and mingles them with incense, he goes now from the altar of incense, he goes to another altar over here and that is the brazen altar of judgment. And he fills this censor now with coals from the altar of judgment. That typifies the death of Jesus Christ for our sins. Is this too complicated? Say no. Okay, now listen, listen. He fills this censor this time with coals from the fire of judgment. Over here is the fire of worship. That's the golden altar. Here's the brazen altar. And He fills it, the same censor, He fills it now with coals from this altar. And then He takes it, this mighty angel, and flings it to the Earth. And there're voices speaking, there are trumpets sounding, there are earthquakes shaking, there are thunders reverberating. Here on Earth is calamity that's about to begin.
Now, two altars: the altar of incense, the altar of judgment. This altar of judgment represents the death of Jesus Christ for our sins. Every Old Testament altar spoke of Jesus dying on the cross. Well, why would the death of Jesus bring judgment? Listen to me carefully. If you do not give your heart to Christ, if you do not get saved, if you do not turn from your sin and receive Jesus Christ, the very sacrifice that is meant to be a blessing will become a curse. The Gospel is a double-edged sword. It is a saber of life unto life or death unto death. If the death of Jesus Christ does not save you, the death of Jesus Christ will condemn you.
Now listen, it is the very blood that will testify against you. And so this angel now; these people have refused Jesus. They've spurned Him, they've ignored Him, they've hated Him, they've castigated Him, and yet He died for their sins. He takes now the coals from that altar and flings it to the Earth. And when He does, dear friend, the horrors of the Great Tribulation intensify. Now that's what we're going to look at now. We're going to look at the sounding of these trumpets. We're going to look at the sounding of the first four trumpets not in much detail. And then we're going to come to the sounding of the fifth trumpet, which is the most devastating of all. So let's look at them together. Are you ready? Say yes. Okay.
First of all, the first trumpet sounds and that is judgment upon the land and the things that grow on Earth. Look if you will in Revelation 8 verse 7, "The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth; and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up". The first trumpet is what? Hail and fire mingled with the blood of man and beast. Now what is this? What caused this? Could it be an atomic explosion? It could be. Atomic devastation? Perhaps an atomic chain reaction. But is there symbolic meaning here? Remember that the book of the Revelation is filled with symbols. What could the grass and the trees stand for? Well, they symbolically speak of leaders and peoples.
Put these verses down, Isaiah chapter 40 verses 6 and 7, "The voice said, 'Cry.' And he said, 'What shall I cry?' All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it; surely the people is grass". Now when the trumpet sounds there's a devastation upon the grass. That could speak of humanity, the peoples that are living here upon this Earth.
Now, the second trumpet sounds and judgment comes upon the oceans and the things that live in the sea. Look if you will now in verses 8 and 9 of this same chapter, "And the second angel sounded, and, as it were, a great mountain," it doesn't say was a great mountain, but as it were a great mountain; it's symbolism. "Burning with fire was cast into the sea; and the third part of the sea became blood. And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed".
Now, literally, this could be an erupting volcano, a burning mountain burning with fire. A volcano and it spews itself into the sea. It's cast into the sea. The sea here could speak of the Mediterranean. This is the sea that they knew there in Bible times. And perhaps that's what it means, but I wonder if there's not a deeper, symbolic meaning. In, in the Bible a mountain speaks of kingdoms. For example, Babylon is spoken of as a mountain. Put this in your margin, Jeremiah 51 verse 25. God says, "Behold, I'm against thee, O destroying mountain". Now, today, modern Iraq is Babylon. And God called Babylon in that day a destroying mountain. This is a mountain He's speaking of here that destroys. "'I'm against thee, O destroying mountain,' saith the Lord, 'which destroyeth all the earth; and I will stretch out Mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.'"
Well, it sounds very similar to what we find here in the book of the Revelation, doesn't it? Now, this mountain is cast into the waters. Well, what do the waters stand for? The waters stand for a wicked and a restless people. The prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah chapter 57 and verse 20, "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt". So, a literal volcano during the great tribulation? I see no reason why not. A deeper, spiritual significance: God is saying this wicked, violent, Babylonish kingdom of antichrist is going to bring great trouble to the wicked people who are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest.
The third trumpet is going to sound. The third trumpet sounds, and there's going to be judgment upon the rivers and the men who walk on Earth. Look if you will in verses 10 and 11 now of Revelation 8, "And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from Heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of water. And the name of the star is called Wormwood; and the third part of the waters became wormwood," that means bitterness, noxious, poison, "and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter".
A burning star like a lamp. If an asteroid hit the Earth, that's what that would be. We spoke of asteroids when we talked of chapter 6, and I believe there will be literal asteroids that will fall to the Earth, and I believe they will poison the atmosphere and the fresh waters, and indeed many, many will die. But I want to remind you that Satan also is symbolized as a fallen star. And remember that the waters speak of people. Satan poisons the water of life, and he poisons human life and society. When you think of the waters, think of Revelation chapter 17 and verse 15, "And he saith unto me, 'The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.'" So, here is a fallen star that is poisoning the waters of life, people, nations, multitudes, and so forth.
Now, let's move on to the fourth trumpet. The fourth trumpet sounds now, there's judgment upon the skies and the very light that shines from Heaven. Revelation chapter 8 beginning in verse 12 through 13, "And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. And I beheld, and heard an angel fly through the midst of Heaven, saying with a loud voice, 'Woe, woe, woe, unto the inhabitants of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound.'"
Now it intensifies. Now the trumpets sound to an angel, saying, "Woe, woe, woe". No wonder Jesus said, "There's never been a time like it". The sun, the moon, the stars are darkened, as if somebody at the controls in this auditorium were to turn down a rheostat and it was to get darkened in this room. Now what would cause that? Well, if volcanoes are literal and thrown into the sea; if there is atomic devastation; if there's atomic dust in the atmosphere; if there is smoke; if there is dust and storm clouds; indeed, the light of the sun, the moon and the stars would be dimmed. Men have hated the light, and now they'll have their share of the darkness.
But symbolically, the sun and the moon and the stars speak of ruling authorities. And the pastors of the churches, for example, are spoken of in Revelation, the early verses, as stars. What does he mean by this, when the sun, the moon, and the stars are darkened? Could it mean that the social structure of society now is coming apart? That the things that God ordained to give guidance and light are now obliterated, and the demon of darkness, Satan himself, becomes the prince of this world, and he puts his antichrist there to brainwash the multitudes who will be brainwashed by the beast?
Well, the four trumpets have sounded. But we have just gone through these quickly to come to the fifth trumpet. And now we're going to slow down, because of all of the tribulation horrors, I don't believe there's any worse than what we're about to see here. No wonder the angel is saying, "Woe, woe, woe" to the inhabitants of the Earth. Chapter 9 verses 1 and 2. The fifth trumpet sounds and there is an invasion from the bottomless pit, "And the fifth angel sounded," this is verses 1 and 2, chapter 9, "And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from Heaven unto the earth; and to him," now this star is not a inanimate star; it's a living star, it's an individual, "to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit".
Now what is this? We're going to see demons are going to be released upon the Earth from a bottomless pit. The word that we translate here in the King James, bottomless pit, is the Greek word abyss. There is going to come out of the abyss, the bottomless pit, an invasion of demons upon the Earth. That's the reason I've called the message today, "When Demons Have Dominion". Who are these demons? These are especially wicked, vile, hurtful, malicious, powerful, diabolical demons that have been put into a bottomless pit. They are so vicious, so vile, so destructive, so hurtful, so harmful, so devious that God in mercy put them in a pit and locked them there, in a penitentiary in chains, not even like other demons that still roam the Earth today. A special place was prepared to hold these demons.
An interesting thing over in Luke chapter 8, where Jesus cast the demons out of that demoniac, that man whose name, he had so many demons, his name was Legion. And when Jesus cast the demons out of that man, they begged Him, "Don't send us to the pit. Don't put us in the abyss". Luke 8 verses 30 and 31, "And Jesus asked him, saying, 'What is thy name?' And he said, 'Legion;' because many devils were entered into him. And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep". It's the same word, abyss. "Oh," they said, "don't put us in the abyss". I believe this is what Peter was talking about in Second Peter chapter 2 verse 4, "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment".
There are certain fallen angels that are enchained. They're in the penitentiary. They are doubly dangerous fiends of Hell, and they are put into this penitentiary called the abyss for evil spirits. Those of you who are flirting with the occult, those of you who are dabbling with Ouija boards, those of you who play with the horoscope, quit it. You're foolish. Don't let any kind of curiosity in anyway bring you in to the occult. Now who is this fallen star? It is Satan himself. He fell from Heaven, and he now, during the Great Tribulation, is given permission by Almighty God to open the door of the bottomless pit. These vile, wicked, evil, malevolent spirits that are incarcerated there are going to be set free.
Can you imagine, can you imagine what would happen in America if all of the prison doors in America were flung open today? Every rapist, every murderer, every pervert, every arsonist, every maniacal, horrible person that ever walked the face of the Earth were set loose and no police force, none to protect you. Would you want to live here if the prison doors were swung open and all of these people were now just let loose, swarming out? That's the idea that you have here in the book of the Revelation. They are released upon the Earth from the bottomless pit, from the abyss. Now Satan is the one who opens the door. I want you to notice about eleven things about these spirits, all right? So you can list them down.
Number one: They are degenerate spirits. They are the vilest of the vile. I've already spoken about that.
Number two: They are darkening spirits. Look in Revelation chapter 9 and verse 2, "And he opened the bottomless pit, and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit". Darkening demons. Darkening spirits. There is a choking demon darkness that will blot out the light. Satan is the prince of darkness. There will be during this tribulation time a smokescreen of darkness.
Number three: They are devouring spirits, devouring spirits. Revelation 9 verses 3 and 4, "And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth, and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads".
Remember, there were 144,000 we talked about last week that had the seal of God in their foreheads. Now these demons are described symbolically as locusts. In the east, and in the Middle East, swarms of locusts have come like great clouds that blot out the light of the sun in the daytime and the moon at nighttime. They devour everything like an army, every green thing, every blade of grass, every flower of the field, all of the seeds, all of the grain, sometimes would strip the bark from the trees, and these locusts just come like a mighty army. But these particular locusts don't feed upon green things. They feed upon the hearts and the souls of men. And as they do, they inflict torment like a scorpion. They are devouring spirits.
Number four: They are debilitating spirits, debilitating demons. Notice now Revelation 9 verses 5 and 6, "And to them it was given that they should not kill them," that is, the humans, "but that they should be tormented five months; and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death will flee from them". The sting of a scorpion is somewhat intolerable. One day, as a boy, I was helping my dad to clean the yard. He said, "Son, go get that piece of canvas from the pump house. We'll sweep the leaves on that piece of canvas, the piece that's rolled up there in the pump house".
I went and got the piece of canvas and I unrolled it and a scorpion came out. And he bit me, stung me, fastened himself on me and stung me right on the tip of that finger. When I saw that hideous thing on my finger I reached over and grabbed him with that hand, and he stung me on that finger, the tip of both fingers. I'm telling you, I felt nauseous. I felt weak. Immediately the glands under my arm began to swell. My knees were weakened, and the pain began to throb. But it went away. Can you imagine that lasting for five months? For five months? Wanting to die; not able to die.
These are debilitating, debilitating demons. And they are dauntless demons, dauntless spirits. Look in Revelation 9 verse 7, "And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle," so the locust evidentially doesn't mean that they're necessarily small, "and on their heads were, as it were, crowns of gold; and their faces were as the faces of men".
Let's just take the phrase right now that they, they're described as horses prepared for battle. Think of these mighty steeds covered with armor. Think of them snorting. Think of them pawing the ground. Think of their rapid progress. Think of their irresistibility. They are eager, like horses, on their mission of doom. Dauntless. What can stop them? Can you imagine you standing in front of a battle horse trying to stop him? Money won't stop them. The military can't stop them. Medicine can't stop them. They are dauntless.
Number six: They are domineering spirits. Again, look in verse 7, and the Bible says, "And on their heads were, as it were, crowns like gold". Satan has always wanted to wear a crown. Now Hell has a holiday. This world has said to Jesus Christ, "We will not have you to rule over us". So they'll have Satan and his demons to rule over them. Satan has always wanted a crown. Demons will dominate. Demons will have dominion. No human ingenuity can stop them.
Number seven: They are deceptive spirits. Notice, in the last part of verse 7, "And their faces were as the faces of men". Now what does that mean? In Bible symbolism and typology, the human face speaks of intelligence; "faces of men". That tells us that Satan is crafty. He has a cunning plan. He's so subtle, Jesus said in Matthew 24:24, that, "If it were possible, he would deceive the very elect". When antichrist comes upon this Earth, he'll be able to make you think that white is black, black is white, up is down, down is up. He would make you gladly murder your mother and believe that you were doing God service.
Deceptive spirits. They are defiling spirits, number eight. Look if you will in Revelation chapter 9 verse 8, "And they had the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions". Now when he speaks of the hair of women, I believe he's talking here about seduction and defilement. God has given a woman her hair for her glory and it is a beautiful thing, but these demons are going to use that as a trap. In many ways, these deceptive demons will seem alluring. The Bible speaks of seducing spirits. But they have hair like women, faces like men, but they have teeth like lions to rip, to shred, to devour. First Peter 5:8 says, "Your adversary, the devil, goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour". Hair like women, but teeth like lions. These evil spirits are so hideously beautiful, so brilliantly deceptive.
Number nine: They are defiant spirits. Look in verse 9 of Revelation 9, "And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses going to battle". Breastplates of iron, a heart of steel. The groans, the cries, the shrieks of their victims will be meaningless to them. They will not be moved from their course of action. And here they will come, wave after wave after wave. You can hear the chariots rumble. They cannot be stopped. They cannot be outrun. There's no place to hide.
Number ten: They are durable spirits. Look in verse 10 of this same chapter, "And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails; and their power was to hurt men five months". Five months is the normal lifespan of a locust. That is, until their deed is done they cannot be stopped, will not be stopped. Five, we've told you also, is the number of completeness. Five fingers on this hand, five fingers on this hand. Either five or ten is the biblical symbol of completeness. What's he saying? He's saying now that there's nothing, nothing, nothing but the hand of Almighty God that will stop these durable spirits. They cannot be destroyed. There's no weapon against them.
Number eleven, and finally: The sum total is they are diabolical spirits. Notice Revelation chapter 9 verses 11 and 12, "And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit," the angel of the bottomless pit. Can you imagine that? That's the devil himself, the angel of the bottomless pit, a king, "Whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, and in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon". Both Abaddon and Apollyon mean destroyer. "One woe is past and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter".
Now I asked you a question: I said can you imagine all of the penitentiary doors swung open, all of the asylums, all of the reservoirs of the wicked flung open and these people come out upon the Earth? I said can you imagine there'd be no policeman to stop them. But now imagine one more thing: Imagine that by some means all of them are organized, that all of them have an internal radar, an internal guidance system that is moving them, driving them. That's what the Scriptures says. When the pit is opened, out they come and there is a mastermind, Abaddon, Apollyon is his name. They are diabolical spirits; it's going to be poured out upon this Earth.
Now friend, the message is over, but I want to tell you something. I don't want to be here and I don't want my children nor my grandchildren here during that time. You say, "Well, Adrian, I don't think you've got it all right". Well, you read it and tell me what it means. But I'll tell you whatever it means, you don't need to be there, you don't need to be there. This is what the Bible calls the Great Day of God's wrath. "The Great Day of His wrath is come, and who is able to stand"? That's what we read in Revelation chapter 6 verse 17. But I've got some wonderful news for you. It's found in First Thessalonians chapter 1 and verse 10, and it says we're, "To wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come".
Isn't that wonderful? Or listen to this: First Thessalonians 5 verses 9, "For God hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ". God is not going to pour out His wrath upon the church. There are some people who have the idea that the church is going to go through the Great Tribulation. No. God will chastise us, but He'll never pour His wrath out upon us. "God has not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation". You're His bride. What husband would pour out his wrath upon his bride just before the marriage supper? No. We're the bride of Christ. One of these days, another trumpet will sound and that is the trumpet that calls us to meet the Lord Jesus Christ in the air. And just as the Lord took Lot out of Sodom before fire and brimstone, just as the Lord put Noah in the ark before the flood, He's going to call His beloved home.
I was on an airplane a while back, and the stewardess said something like this just before the plane took off. She said, "This plane is headed for Cincinnati, Ohio. If Cincinnati is not in your plans today, I suggest you de-board. This plane is headed for Cincinnati". I'm telling you, precious friend, this world is headed for Hell and for judgment, and if you don't intend to get there, may I suggest you de-board. You give your heart to Jesus Christ and trust Him. Oh, God, help me to say it. Help me to say it, Lord. Don't let people sit here and listen and go out unmoved and unsaved. There's no need for it. Jesus suffered, bled, and died for you. He opens His arms. He invites you. He says, "Come to me, and I'll give you rest".
Would you bow your heads in prayer? Heads are bowed and eyes are closed. If you're not certain that you're saved, would you like to be saved, would you? Would you like to know that you really do have life? Jesus said, "I've come that you might have life". Could I lead you in a prayer? We'll call this prayer the sinner's prayer. And you can pray and accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. You can do it right now. Would you pray this prayer?
Dear God, I know that You love me. Thank You for loving me. And I know that You want to save me. Jesus, You died to save me and You promised to save me if I would trust You. Jesus, I do trust You. I believe You're the Son of God. I believe you paid for my sin with Your blood on the cross. I believe that God raised You from the dead. And now I receive You as my Lord and Savior. Forgive my sin. Cleanse me. Come into my life. Take control of my life and begin today to make me the person You want me to be. And Jesus, give me the courage to make it public. Help me never to be ashamed of You. In Your name I pray, Amen.