John chapter three in your Bible tonight. John chapter number three. Glad you're here. And I enjoyed speaking in chapel today and preaching in chapel. And I look forward to the remainder of the week, but I'm also glad to be able to be here in the evening. And if you don't have plans or if you have not planned to come back, I hope you would. I would love to see what God is going to do, what He's up to. And I believe He's got something special. One of the things I know about the God of the Bible is that He always has more in store. And I don't want to miss anything that God has for us. John chapter number three, I'll invite you to stand as we look at the Word of God. We'll stand out of reverence for the reading and the preaching of the Bible. I hope you have a Bible. If you don't, you can look on with somebody maybe who has one. Look at, if you would please, beginning in verse number one, the Bible reads, There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same man came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. Tonight I want to preach a simple message. Although simple, it's extremely urgent. It's the message entitled, Man's Greatest Need. Man's Greatest Need. Jesus said it very plainly, three times. You must be born again. Thank you. Please be seated. The greatest decision you'll ever make is not the decision as to what you'll wear, what you'll eat, where you go, or what you'll do. The greatest decision you'll ever make does not have anything to do necessarily with your body. It doesn't have anything to do with your 401K. It doesn't have anything to do with your earthly plans. The greatest decision you'll ever make, Jesus tells us, has to do with your soul. Jesus said you must be born again. Mark 8, verse 36, the question is asked, What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world? By the way, no one has yet done that. If you could, however, gain the entire world, but, the question goes on to ask, but you lose your own soul. What gain is it? What benefit? What did you really profit? You subtract your loss. from what you've gained. If you could gain the whole world, but you lose your own soul for all of eternity, you have no gain. Why? Because man's greatest need is not that which concerns the body, but that which concerns the soul. Genesis chapter 2 and verse 9 says that God, He formed man out of the dust of the earth. He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. See, you're not primarily a body. I'm looking at people tonight that have a body. You have a head. You have a body. You have limbs. You're breathing. Your heart is beating. But you're not primarily a body that has a soul. The Bible tells us you are primarily, first and foremost, a soul that consists of a body. See, one day your body will be placed into a grave. That's why you go past a graveyard and you see it littered with tombstones and flowers representing a body that's been placed there. The body will cease to exist some point in time. There was a time you did not exist, but there'll never be a time where you'll not exist. For your body may be placed into the ground, but your soul will live as long as God lives. Someplace you will live for an eternity. Man's greatest need is to be born again. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 2, now is the accepted or welcome time, not tomorrow. Why? Proverbs 27 and verse 1, boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. You have no guarantee you're going to make it home tonight. You've made plans. You have plans set perhaps for the weekend, for the next month, for when you get done with school. But the Bible says you have no guarantee, and that fact is true. Because you don't know when your heart's going to stop ticking, do you? You don't know when you're going to draw your last breath, do you? But God knows. And so He tells us, now's the time. We are told in Isaiah 1 and verse number 18, Come now and let us reason together. The Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 12 and verse 1, young person, you listening? The Bible says, Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth. Why? Statisticians tell us that the majority of people who trust Jesus Christ and get saved do so before the age of 20. Why? Because the longer you wait and the longer you put it off and the longer you tell God no, then the harder your heart gets, and the more difficult it becomes, and the more comfortable you become not being born again. You listen to the testimonies of those who stood upon this platform from within this school, and their testimonies were at an early age, they trusted Christ as their Savior. There's a reason you come into this world as a little package. Because God wants you to know Him early and know Him now. We are told in Hebrews 3 and verse number 7, today if you hear His voice, harden not your heart. Why? Because man's greatest need is to be born again. Let me urge, let me encourage, and let me implore, let me challenge you, and I'm going to ask you. Whatever you do tonight, do not push off this message. Whatever you do tonight, don't check out on God. And whatever you do tonight, would you please make sure you stay put. Don't get up and walk out. Don't get up and walk around. Don't distract. Because Romans 10.17 says, Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. And while you may sit here and say, I don't need this message, there just might be somebody around you who needs this message, but if they're distracted by you, they'll not hear the greatest message, not from this preacher, but from the Word of God. The greatest message given to man concerns man's greatest need, and that is to be born, Again, I want you to see tonight just very plainly from this passage of scripture three things as to why we should be born again Why is it that this is our great need? I want us to see why I want us to see how so that every single person can leave here and Not wondering, not hoping so, but guaranteed from the Bible that your sins are forgiven, that you have eternal life. Man's greatest need is to be born again. Notice first of all, the Bible tells us in John chapter 3 and verse 1, there's a man here. In fact, there's two. Two men. One is the man whose name is Nicodemus. The other is the God-man whose name is Jesus Christ. There's a man whose name is Nicodemus and he's a good man. The good man comes to the God-man and the good man, Nicodemus, you have to understand the Bible says he's a Pharisee. Now a Pharisee was the most religious of the religious in that day. What does that mean? Well that means as a Pharisee that he was one who understood, he comprehended, and he had memorized the 613 laws in the Bible. He knew these by heart. He would wear Bible verses stitched into his clothing or around his head. I don't see anybody here with Bible verses wrapped around their head, but Nicodemus would have. Nicodemus also tithed. He gave a tenth of all that he possessed. He fasted and he would pray twice a week. He was a religious man. Not only is he a religious man, but he's a ruler of the Jews. There's something about being a ruler of the Jews that gained and garnished a lot of respect from the people. He's a religious man. He's a respected man. I would say Nicodemus was well qualified to be a good man. But this good man, no matter how good he was, he's like a lot of people who've amassed a lot of wealth, riches, respect. but they're missing something. Tom Brady, he is a very successful football player. Tom Brady has some Super Bowl rings. Tom Brady was interviewed on one occasion about this matter of being the great football player that he is. And Tom Brady simply stated, and you can find this on YouTube, the interview, he just said, but there's something missing. There seems to be something that's lacking. I just wish I knew what it was. I'll tell you what it is. When God created you, He created you a living soul. He created you in His own image. And man has a hole in their soul that only God can fill. You can fill it with money. You can fill it with the respect of others. You can fill it with pleasure. No matter what you fill it with, it'll never satisfy because there's an emptiness, there's a vacuum. And only God Himself can fill that vacuum. Nicodemus, he comes to Jesus at night. And he says to Jesus, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God for no man can do the miracles that thou doest Except God be with you what Nicodemus is doing is he is seeking he's searching He doesn't quite know what he's searching for but he does come across the one that has the answer He comes to Jesus. He's not even sure what to say He gives Jesus a compliment We know that you're somebody from God. Nobody can do what you've done except God be with you. You know what Jesus says? You have it right there in your Bible. Jesus does not say thank you. Jesus instead turns to this man Nicodemus and looks at a very good man. He's religious, he's respected, he's a rich man, but he's a lost man. And Jesus says to him, you must be born again. You know, there are people who are involved in their church, they serve, they go on missions trips, they preach, they teach, but the fact is they've never been birthed into the kingdom of Almighty God. Jesus says it three times. You must be born again. You must be born again. You must be born again. In fact, Jesus says you'll not see heaven, you'll not enter heaven unless you are born again. Why? The reason why is because Nicodemus has the same problem you and I have. It's called sin. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes, there is no man, there's not a just man upon the earth that sinneth not. 2 Chronicles chapter 6 and verse 26, there is no man which sinneth not. David said, David the man after God's own heart in Psalm 51 and verse 5, I was shapen in iniquity. Romans 3.23, all have sinned. We are told sin is ultimately the problem. Why? 1 Corinthians 15.3 Christ died for our sin. Isaiah 53.5 He was bruised. His body was bruised for our iniquities. 1 Peter 2.24 Who? That is Jesus. His own self bare our sin in His own body. Sin is the problem. But sometimes people will say, well, what you call sin may not be sin to me. And that's true. You and I may call sin something different. You and I may look at sin different. You may look at big sin and little sin, not so bad sin. Well, everybody has this and it's not so bad. But I don't think it matters how you look at it and what I say about it. What I think matters is what Jesus says about it. The Bible says in 1 John 3 and verse 4 that sin is the breaking, it's the transgression of the law. See, anytime you and I break one of God's laws, it's called sin. Remember Nicodemus? He knew 613. The most familiar of those 613 are the ones we call the Ten Commandments. They're not ten good ideas, they're not ten suggestions, but they are ten commandments. Let's just name a few of these. The Bible says, commandment number three, Don't take God's name in vain. This is the one that is broken most often in our homes, in our workplaces, or educational institutions. For example, somebody says, oh my, and they plug in God's name. Now I have a hard time watching some of these makeover reality shows. where they go in, take this house, looks like a piece of junk, and they go in, they renovate it, and it looks brand new, and you and I watch it and say, well, I wish they would do that to ours. And you always wait until the very end, they show the before and after. They show the after, and they walk through with the residents, the owners of the home, and they walk through and they see room after room, and they'll say, oh my, and they put in God's name. They just violated commandment number three. Why? Because they're not talking to God and they're not being reverent with God. Do you know why it's a big deal not to break commandment number three? You know, you go across the room in the middle of the night, you stub your toe and say, oh my, plug in God's name. God's name's not a curse word, it's not a swear word, it's not a slang word. Acts 4 and verse 12 said, there is no name given among men whereby you must be saved. It's the only name that can bring salvation. Philippians chapter 2 that says that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess. Every knee, every tongue at the mere mention of Jesus' name someday. It's a special name. And yet there's a violation of commandment number 3 so often. You break commandment number 3, God has a word for that, it's called sin. Sin. It put Jesus on the cross. You say, preacher, everybody does it. Well, here's the news flash. Everybody has a sin problem. In fact, the Bible says if you're guilty of committing one sin, you're as guilty as if you committed all sin, because sin put Jesus on the cross. How about commandment number five? The Bible says, Honor thy father and thy mother. I understand the young man who won the prestigious award tonight, his life verse was those very verses mentioned in Ephesians chapter number six. Great verses to live by promise great prosperity But God also says these are tremendous verses to understand because the violation of honoring mom and dad is a sin Honor, you know honoring is different than obeying You can obey mom and dad and still break commandment number five. I Your parents say, clean up the room. You make up your bed. You clean up the room. It's tidied. Everything's put away. Clothes off the floor. Your parents walk in. They see, sure enough, you've cleaned it up. They have a heart attack. They haven't seen this before. while you obeyed mom and dad, if you did so, if you did the obeying, if you did the cleaning, while mumbling underneath your breath, sighing a sigh of disgust, slamming the clothes hamper and slamming the door, rolling your eyes to your parents because you're bothered, you're put out, it interferes with your lifestyle to do what they say. Hear me, you might have obeyed what they said, but you dishonored who said it. And God said, you violated commandment number five. It is called sin. Somehow across our country, there's an epidemic that has been pushed at us and pumped at us down our throats from Hollywood that it's okay to trash your parents, it's okay to trash Hollywood. For many, many years, Bart Simpson and his family has been on television telling the American society, it's okay to make fun of mom and dad, but God says that came out of the pit of hell and someday that's exactly where it'll go back to. You hear me, one time you roll your eyes, one time you sigh a sigh of disgust, it's called sin. How about commandment number Let's go with that one. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Again, I don't really care what Hollywood thinks about it. It doesn't matter to me how many politicians commit adultery. It doesn't matter how many athletes are guilty of this. God says, thou shalt not commit adultery. Somebody says, well, I'm not married, so therefore I can't commit adultery. Jesus said in Matthew 5 that if a man looks upon a woman and lusts after her, he's guilty of committing adultery with her already in his heart. In other words, Jesus said, long before the Internet hit the scene, it's a big deal as to what you look at. You hear me. You look at that which causes you to lust. You look at that which causes you to have this burning passion towards something that does not belong to you, someone that does not belong to you. God says it's sin. And we have what is called the smartphone, these devices where you can pull up anything and you can look at anything. And you think in the recesses of your own privacy, you can do anything and it affects nobody and nowhere else but you, but remember this. You did not create yourself, God created you, and you have an appointment with God someday. He died 2,000 years ago for you tonight to recognize that your sin put Jesus on the cross. We've only mentioned three out of the 10 commandments, three out of the 613 that Nicodemus knew. How are you doing tonight? Sin. You're a sinner. How do you know? Because I'm a sinner. Well, how do you know? Because the Bible says we're all sinners. We're sinners at birth. For 16 years, we prayed that God would give us children. Actually, we prayed that God would give us a child, I think was my prayer request. We prayed 16 years and in 2013, November 11th, God gave us the precious gift we'd been praying for, Priscilla. She's over at the children's service tonight. And then after Priscilla came, Will and Gretchen. Now I didn't pray for the other two, so we've been catching up on praying for them. 16 years of waiting. I enjoyed every day of it day one. We took pictures I think I filled up a whole iPhone and all of iCloud and in Dropbox with pictures day two more pictures and I labeled them day three day four day 360 taking pictures sending them to every place. Somebody said, don't you think you're going a little bit overboard? I said, it's my time. It's my girl. It's my fun. We're taking pictures. No matter how wonderful she is to us, I know for a fact she's a sinner. You say because she's been bad? No, because the Bible says so. She was born that way. She's a sinner, like you're a sinner, by birth and by behavior. And the Bible says that's our great need, that's our great problem. Nicodemus needed to be born again because he has the same problem you and I have. He needs to be born again because there's a choice that needs to be made. Would you look please at verse number 15. The Bible says in John 3.15 that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. Notice the second word of that verse. Would you say it with me? That, say it together, whosoever, notice the verse number 16, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that, say it with me, whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Many years ago, not too many years ago, many of you would remember and perhaps you still relive the moment when University of Florida played Ohio State and Tim Tebow He had that black, that paint underneath his eye and he put on there John 3 16. For those who have been saved probably recognize John 3.16 being one of the most familiar verses. But the fact is there are many people today and more and more today in our society who know not the gospel, know not Jesus Christ in a personal fashion. They don't know John 3.16. It is said after that night of Tim Tebow posting that, excuse me, underneath his eye, 90 million people searched Google to find out John 3.16. One of the wonderful things about John 3.16 and we saw in verse 15 is that the Bible says, whosoever, whosoever. The reason Nicodemus needs to be born again, the reason why you and I need to be born again is because it demands a choice that must be made. See, no one's ever going to get to heaven someday and say, how did I get here? because it required a definite choice. I haven't yet to wake up in 20 years of marriage and say, now how did I get into this union? Because I was there when I made a definite choice. Preacher said, will you? I said, I will. Preacher asked her, will you? She said, I will. I did. She did. Preacher said, we did. It's a definite choice. Yet I've asked people many times, if you died right now, are you sure you'd go to heaven? Sometimes people would say this, I'm pretty sure. Well, have you ever been born again? That's using Bible terminology. Have you ever experienced Bible salvation? And sometimes I'll get this response. Oh, preacher, I've always been saved. Well, as I'm looking at each and every one, I recognize we're all different ages. If I were to ask you, tell me your birth date, I doubt seriously anybody would say, well, preacher, don't have one. I've always been alive. They have coats for people like that. They usually tie off in the back. Everybody has a birth date. There was a time that you came into this world and that's your birth date. And Jesus says if you're ever going to miss the opportunity of experiencing the new birth, and if there's ever a time you're going to miss the tragedy of hell and get to heaven, if you're ever going to experience the forgiveness of sin and eternal life, you must be born Again, Nicodemus, he's thinking, because remember, he's seeking. He's religious, but he's still missing something. He says, well, how can a man be born when he's old? Am I going to have to get back into my mother's womb and be born? And Jesus explained, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. And He's explaining that whatever happens to you, In order to be born again, it requires a choice on your part. When you were born into this world physically, you had no say-so. You didn't choose your parents. You didn't choose when you'd come. You didn't choose how you'd come. But the Bible says that we were born into this world. However, to be birthed into the kingdom of God, to receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life, it demands that you make a choice. Nobody gets forgiveness of sins. automatically. No one gets eternal life accidentally. No one will stumble into heaven just by the skin of their teeth. Nobody. It's a definite choice that you must make. Nobody, nobody gets their sins washed away, eternal life, Jesus Christ as Savior by being religious. It's not religion that saves. Sometimes people when I engage in a conversation may sit on a plane and talk to somebody and I will ask them about their soul They'll say something like this. I'm not religious. I said well, that's good. Neither am I Because I'm not about religion Judas Iscariot was a very religious man. He he took care of the money. He was a good preacher and He was respected among the disciples. Judas Iscariot was a very religious man. Judas Iscariot is in hell tonight. Religion does not save, only Jesus saves. Somebody said recently to me, well, I've gone through catechism, I've been confirmed, and I take communion. Shouldn't that mean something? I said it does. It means you're religious. But being religious doesn't get you into heaven. Only Jesus can. Jesus said there will be those in Matthew chapter 7 who will come to me that day and they will say, I preached, I prophesied in your name. I cast out devils in your name. I did many wonderful things in your name. Yet Jesus said, At that time, I will look at many religious people, sincere but religious, and he will say, I never knew you. See, all the time, and we're sitting in a church service tonight, so there's no doubt in my thinking that there are people here who know Jesus. But until you're born again, the fact of the matter is, he doesn't really know you. It's a choice. I'm not asking when you chose to be baptized. I'm a Baptist, but water doesn't wash any sins away. Somebody told me I got baptized three times. What does that mean? It means you got wet three times. You can drink this baptismal water for all I care. It'll never wash your sins away. It'll never wash your sins away. It's an insult to Jesus Christ to claim that baptism washes your sin. Well, my preacher said, I don't really give a rip what your preacher said, and you shouldn't give a rip what I say. What should matter to you is what God Almighty says, 1 John 1, 7. It's the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanseth from all sin. And if you want to set up with religion, over a real relationship with Jesus Christ, you'll never be born again. Being born again is a definite choice that you must make. See, the condition that you and I have is a problem with sin. It requires a choice on your part. I was in Cuba just recently with an evangelist friend, and there we, as I mentioned on Sunday, we saw 600 souls come to Jesus Christ. But I was burdened for a particular family. You see, in my church back in Atlanta, Georgia area, there's a family, there's a lady from Cuba. Where I was staying in Cuba, I did not know until I got there. She has family in Cuba that was less than two miles from where I was staying. She sent me the address. She said, I contacted my family. They said, you are more than welcome to come. I said, I'm going to do everything I can to go see them. The evangelist friend and myself, we went over with the interpreter. I sat there for an hour and I talked to this family. I pled with them. My heart was broken. I knew for sure, I just sensed, they're going to get saved. We've only been there for three days, and we've seen 600 people trust Christ. It seemed like anybody we talked to, do you want to be born into the family of God? They'd say yes, yes, and yes, and yes. And here we sit down, and here's a wonderful family. Here's a grandmother, and here's her son, and here's his wife. And they sat there and they listened, carefully for a solid hour. And I pled with them. And all they could say is, I don't think we need it. I don't think we need it. We are religious people. We love God. We work for Him. We keep the commandments. We go through catechism. We serve God. We do missions for God. And they couldn't see that they needed what Jesus said they needed to be born Again, if I could save them, I would, but I can't. This church can't save anybody. You can't save yourself. But they had a choice. The Bible says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, whosoever, you can call tonight. Would you see real quickly with me one more thing? The reason we need to be born again is because we all have a sin problem. Number two, it requires a personal, definite choice on our end. But number three, because of the consequence if we don't get born into the family of God. Notice in John 3.16, that most familiar verse, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish. but have everlasting life. You know why you need to be born again? Not just because Jesus says so. Not just because we have a sin problem. But because if you don't get born into the family of God, and you die without Jesus as your Savior, the only alternative, young and old, is to go to hell. Somebody said, You mean to tell me you believe in hell? Don't you think that's a little old-fashioned? Yeah, so is breathing, and I'm for that. You know why I preach about hell? It's not because I like it. The older I get and the more I read the Bible, the more sobered I am by it. But the reason why I preach on hell is because the hardest and the hottest message I've ever read about hell came from the lips the preacher whose name is Jesus Christ. In Luke 16, he talks about a rich man and a beggar. The Bible says of the rich man, he went to hell. He didn't go to hell because he was rich. He went to hell because he was a sinner and he refused to be born again. And the Bible says in hell, he lifted up his eyes in torment. And the man cried. I've had a number of people tell me, when I go to hell, I'm going to party with my friends. I've yet to read anybody in the Bible who went to hell and partied. Instead, they cry. They're in torment. 260 chapters in the New Testament. 249 deal with the subject of hell. Do you know that Jesus preached more on hell than He did on heaven? Because He warned people, don't go to hell. Don't go to hell. I was preaching in this state a number of years ago, and I was talking about hell. Don't go to hell. Don't reject Jesus and go to hell. And a man came up after the service, and he said, you can't scare me with hell. I've been through the war. I've been through a lot of things. You can't scare and intimidate me with hell. And he reached into his pocket. He pulled out a cigarette lighter. He lit the lighter. He took his hand and he put it over top. He said, you can't scare me with hell. I'm not afraid of hell. I'm not afraid of anything. I thought it's his hand. It's his lighter. I've got time. And after some time of him talking, He put the lighter out, put it in his pocket, and he put his hand in my face. I could see where it burned his hand. I could see where his hand even pussed up a little bit, and it began to ooze. He said, preacher, I'm not afraid of hell. I'm not afraid of anything. I said, now it's my turn. I said, sir, you listen to me very carefully. I don't know what you think. But the Bible is crystal clear. Hell is not a cigarette lighter. And you cannot put it out. I was preaching in Tennessee and I remember a young man sitting over to my right. He was sitting right about here where this young man is with a plaid shirt. And I remember preaching. I remember him watching and paying attention. I thought he was engaged. And the invitation was given and I asked, who would say, I'm not sure that I would go to heaven if I died. I'm not sure that I'm born again. Would you just raise your hand? I'd like to pray for you. The reason why preachers do this, I'm not entirely sure, but the reason why I do it in the invitation is because I believe it's a very serious, it's important, it's man's greatest need, and I want to pray for you. You need my prayers. And I remember this young man, he raised his hand. Stating I need to be born again invitation was given. He didn't come forward. I talked to him after the service I said, I noticed you raised your hand. I said, would you like to get this settled? He said not tonight preacher not tonight Maybe tomorrow night the next night came I preached him gave the invitation to be saved and and and he he stood there and he he didn't respond and I talked to him and Afterwards, and I said, are you ready to get it settled? He said, not tonight, preacher. Not tonight. The third night he came, he brought a girl with him. They sat there, and I could tell they were feeding off of each other, and I really felt like he's doing whatever he can to not pay attention. The invitation came and it went. He didn't respond. I went up to him later after the service, both he and the girl that was with him. I said, I don't know your true condition. I just know that there's something that's missing and you're seeking something. Would you like to get it settled tonight? I'm not talking about getting baptized. I'm not talking about joining the church. I'm talking about getting into the family of Almighty God. Would you tonight get it settled? And he said, no, preacher, not tonight. Maybe some other time. I said, this is the last night of the service. I won't be back tomorrow night. He said, another night. I went on to the next meeting. Preached that week, and at the end of that week, I got a phone call from the youth pastor. He said, Brother Ingram, do you remember it? He named his name. I said, yeah, I remember. Of course I remember. He said, I just want you to know he drowned this morning. I said, did anybody talk to him after the meeting? He said, we don't know of anybody that got to him, and we don't know if he made any decision. Because no one gets born into the family of God by accident. No one gets there automatically. It's a definite decision. In Dothan, Alabama, a group of boys were heading out to the swimming hole at the local lake, and they were racing to see who can get there. And the last one in is going to be the loser. And so these four young men, they're running and they're taking their shirts off, trying to get their shoes off, trying to get there and get in. The first one to get to the water's edge jumped as high and as far as he could jump. and he made this cannonball splash, pulling his knees into his chest, hit that water, the water splashed. The others were right behind him. He happened to be a little bit faster, so he was in there, and the others were about to jump, and the first little boy, he went underneath the water with that cannonball splash, and when he came up, he cried, don't jump! Go back! Don't jump! Go back! And they stood and the other three looked at each other, what is he doing? And he went underneath and he came back up and he cried, don't jump, go back. And they took the longest stick they could find after scurrying around for a branch and they hoisted it out there and they're doing everything they can to help him, not sure what it was. And they're trying to get their little buddy in. When they did, they realized what happened. When he hit the water, he went underneath and stirred up a nest of live water moccasins. Before they could ever get him to the shore completely, he already lost consciousness and he died. Interesting. He didn't look at his buddies and say, hey! Water's fine. Come on in. He knew enough and he cared enough to say, don't jump. The Bible says in hell, that man who went to hell, it says, Abraham, I've got five brothers. Go tell them, don't come. Don't come. You don't have to go to hell. Don't hold on to your religion. Don't be a Judas Iscariot and kiss the door of heaven. and die and go to hell. Man's greatest need is to be born again. Sin is your problem. Hell is the consequence. But Jesus is the answer. And if tonight, by faith, right where you sit, you take Jesus, you call, He'll save your soul. Jesus died one time, was buried one time, resurrected one time. because you only get saved one time. Tonight, would you throw off religion and would you take Jesus to be your personal savior? Heads bowed and eyes closed. Lord, I believe with all my heart that you're working in hearts and there's somebody that needs to be saved. But God, you have to help them to see they're gambling with their soul to say, not now, not now. Help them, I pray.