God bless you, have a good day. How you doing, brother? My right hand's messed up. That's alright, man. But how you doing? Sit down and talk with me. What's your name? Andy. Andy, I'm Tony. Tony, how are you? Good to meet you. And you are? I'm Jimmy. Jimmy, good to meet you. Man, we went to the desert back recently, and though the Lord did provide, He didn't, so the stranger was back. Which desert are we talking about? Nevada. Oh yeah? Yeah. And we were hot, we were tired, we were sweaty, but he got us through it, and he brought us back. My thing is I'm trying to get back, and also, I'm heartbroken. What's breaking your heart? I want my **** back, man. Like, unless you're thinking, let's search this whole country, and all I want to do is be here with my woman. And then what? Apparently I messed that up, man. I don't know how, because I never did it wrong. I never cheated on her. I never strayed from her. I don't get that. I don't understand. But we went out. We did our thing, man. And we even brought, look, you know what I'm saying? Like, I respect the Lord, man. And I get that he's looking after us. And he'll give us these things, but we have to earn them. We have to earn them. We can't just sit and wait for them. We have to do it. I need to know, what do I need to do next? Well, you need to drop this idea that you need to earn stuff from God. Because you can't earn anything from God. It's not so much of an earn, man. It's the... I feel like he presents it, but I still need to do it myself. What's up? I feel like I still need to do it myself. You know what I mean? It's not true. He presents it to me, but I'm the one that needs to do it. Well, I mean, yeah, it's true that we can't just sit around waiting for things to happen. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, that's true. But he presents it. We need to seize the moment. But doing things doesn't commend us to God. No, no, absolutely not. What does? What does commit us to God, then, if doing things doesn't? Just having faith in ourself and seeing that we know that we have the power to accomplish our goals. Nope, that ain't it. If you put your faith in yourself, you're gonna die. If you put your faith in your woman, she's gonna leave you. Yeah, true enough. Right? If you put your faith in anything other than Jesus Christ, your faith is meaningless. Well, you need to come to the end of yourself, and what that means is you need to stop adding you to Jesus. Okay. Do you know what I mean by that? I do. What do I mean by that? I need to put him before myself. I need to trust in him. Only. Only. See, when you walked up, you told me that what's breaking your heart is the fact that you don't have your woman. It's a lot of stuff, man. Okay, well, but that's the first thing you mentioned. So it's out of the abundance of our heart that our mouth speaks. So, you know, I certainly don't know your heart, but usually the first thing that comes to mind is what we're thinking about. Right? The first thing that usually comes to mind is what we desire most. Right? And you've made your girlfriend an idol. Yeah, if there's anyone or anything that we put before Jesus Christ, that thing is an idol. That thing's an idol. And no idolater will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Doesn't mean we stop loving people. Doesn't mean we stop having desire. Right, but if our desire is a desire of the flesh... It's further than that. Well, the wages of sin is death. You know, and the Word of God says that we should not be desiring the things of the world. You know, the fact that we have desire doesn't mean desire is a good thing. A guy who desires to rape small children, that's not a good desire. Yeah, hypoglycemia is not a good thing. Well, no one desires hypoglycemia, right? Right, but I mean, so if our desire is for anyone or anything other than Christ, if He's not first in our life, then we're idolaters. A hero happened to movie. So I put him first, he'll show me what I need. Right, but that's not the reason to put him first. No, no, you're right. See, God's... People that have faith. Well, and faith is only as reliable as the object of our faith. And if your faith is in anyone or anything other than the Lord Jesus Christ, then your faith is meaningless. My faith is meaningless if it's in anyone or anything other than Christ. For half my life, I put my faith in what I could do. And I see that right on the corner with the bus coming right on the curb, and I respect that. I respect that. Respect what? You and your faith. Well, but... But this doesn't earn me anything. I don't do this to commend myself to God. I don't do this because I want something from God in return. I do this as a means of worship because of what He's done for me. I respect this a lot more than I respect some old lady who goes and sits on a pew just on Sunday. You're out here, it's Tuesday morning, you're out here. You're already sweating in the heat. Okay, but that little old lady who's sitting on the pew, if she's in Christ, and she's praying for what's happening out here on the corner right now. You gotta understand, looking the way we do... I don't care how you look. A lot of old ladies that are in the pew, they don't treat us very Christian. I don't care how you guys look. What matters to me is where you're going to spend eternity. And so that's why I'm out here, hoping to have an opportunity to talk to everyone and anyone about who Christ is and about the way to eternal life. I'm glad there's somebody out here like you doing it. Well, nobody's a big word, you know, I mean there look I'm I'm not unique I Just happen to be the one guy you see today Right, but I mean there there are people in other parts of the world losing their heads today because they believe in Jesus, right? He was on this chain of islands and he witnessed an entire genocide of people and they didn't touch him because he was an alien he was American and And, you know, he sat there on the beach and he said he was frozen. It wasn't fear, it wasn't terror, it was, I don't know what I'm supposed to do while I witness this. And those people were being murdered because of their beliefs. Yeah. Yeah, so there are people sacrificing much more than, you know, a few ounces of water weight, you know. Oh, absolutely, yeah. But beyond all of that though, beyond all of that is what's going to happen to you guys if you die today and stand before the Lord? Not because of how you look, but because of who you are. Well, he's going to change that. He's going to change that. We're going to be given new bodies. New bodies that are fit to be with him for all eternity. New bodies that will never face disease again. Hearts that will never mourn again. Hearts that will never shed a tear again. Because with him, fellowship is perfect. Well, the only way you're going to find that is in Christ. You won't find it in the desert. You're not going to find that in your girlfriend. You're not going to find that in any desire of the world. You're only going to find that in Christ. But, that's not the reason to come to Christ. The reason to come to Christ isn't to have your desires fulfilled. The reason to come to Christ isn't your best life now. You know, if you're looking for your best life now, then all you have to look forward to is hell. Yeah, all of God's promises are eternal. All of Satan's... Our human life, our human existence, isn't anything. It's all about what we do with it, and that's where we're gonna end up. Well, you know, all of God's promises are eternal. All of Satan's promises are temporal. Satan promises the world, and the world is dying, and the world isn't eternal. He's a liar. Satan is a liar. He's the father of lies. All of God's promises are eternal. You know, you can turn on a television, turn on television and watch what's called Christian television, and some guy in a thousand dollar Armani suit will say, hey, give you... He is the devil. He'll say, give me your money, and your bills will go away, and you'll get off drugs, and your girlfriend will come back to you, That's all a bunch of crud. That's all a lie. Jesus didn't have anywhere to lay his head. The Son of God. God in the flesh. I feel like I've had not the same hardships as the Lord, but I've had similar and I can feel for that. There's nothing that we've experienced that he hasn't. We'll never suffer to the point that he did, righteous for the unrighteous. He suffered for us. Not knowing us. He suffered for his people. Yeah, not knowing us. He didn't suffer for everybody, he suffered for his people. And his people are the ones who turn from their sin and put their trust in him alone. Now, you know, we've said Jesus a bunch of times, but who is Jesus? It's what you make of him, man. Nope. I feel it's what... It's what you feel in you. Jesus is everything you need him to be. So if I feel that everything I need Jesus to be is that tree over there, is that Jesus? If I feel that everything I need Jesus to be is an axe murderer, is that Jesus? If I think everything I want Jesus to be is that little old lady in the pew, is that Jesus? No. It doesn't matter what we believe about Jesus, what matters is whether or not what we believe is true. He's determined who Jesus is. We don't. He is the second person of the one and only triune God, the Son of God. He was with the Father in creation. Everything has been created by Him and through Him and for Him. Nothing has ever been made that was not made by Christ. He is the sinless Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world. He's the Lion of the tribe of Judah who will judge both the living and the dead. And He is the Lord of every man. Whether you live in rebellion to Him, or whether you live in submission to Him, He owns you. And he's free to do with you whatever he wants. God doesn't need your acceptance. You need his. You need his. So Jesus isn't whatever you make him. Jesus isn't whoever you make him. That's idolatry. Jesus isn't some blonde-haired, blue-eyed surfer boy hanging on an 8x10 glossy on someone's wall. Jesus isn't some gangster's homeboy. Jesus is God in the flesh. He was, and He is, and He is to come. And we have to come to Him on His terms, not ours. And He demands everything from us, because He gave everything to save sinners. He gave His life for us. That's right. He gave His life for those who will, by faith, turn from their sin and receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and their Savior. Jesus didn't die for everybody. Because if Jesus died for everybody, everybody would go to heaven. No, those 17, 19 guys who flew planes into the Twin Towers, they're not in yonder heaven with Jesus Christ. Right? Jesus didn't die for everybody. Jesus died for His people. And every one of His people will come to repentance and faith in Him. But again, man, you gotta come to God on His terms, because He doesn't negotiate with sinners. I'm working on it. Yeah, don't. Stop. Stop working on it. I'm working on it, too. Stop working on it, because the Bible, the Bible says, thanks, Yoda, the Bible says, the Bible says the wages of sin, what we earn, what we deserve for our sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I was If I was wearing a Casio watch from Walmart, and I said, hey man, I'm going to give you my watch as a gift. I take it off, you put it on your wrist, and I'll say, that'll be $300. Is it a gift? No. You've got to do something for it. Right. If there's anything you have to do to earn, pay, or deserve what you're being given, it's not a gift. The Bible says that it's by grace we're saved through faith, and that not of ourselves. It's a gift from God, not as a result of works, so that no man may boast. See, that's why I talk to people, like, I've let, I've let, like, families live in my house, even though they don't pay, they trash and all that, I don't care. Like, all I want to do, I don't want to see children on the street. I don't want to see, I don't want to see people in suffering, and it's like, I'll never be, I'll never be on that level as the Lord. I just feel like I can do what I can do for other people while I'm here. But if you're not doing that through faith in Jesus Christ, God sees it as sin. If you help a little... I'm doing it to do it, to help others. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Look, look, during World War II, there were entire villages in France that Hitler spared. He didn't destroy them like he did other villages. Right! It didn't make him a good guy. Right? Walking a little old lady across the street doesn't commend us to God. The Word of God says in Romans 14.23 that anything we do that is not done through faith in Christ is sin. It's sin. So, you know, the prophet Isaiah said that all of our good works are like filthy rags before a holy God. Because if we think we're going to stand before God and offer up a body of work that we've done in life, he sees it as trying to bribe the judge. Right. And see, that's why I do what I do is I just do it to do it. When I help others, I help others to help others. I haven't done it for anyone. I haven't done it for myself. I haven't even done it for them. I've just done it just to help my hand. And that's nice, but that doesn't help you with God. It doesn't help you with God. How do you do it in His name? See, you're still hung up on what you have to do. It's still you plus Jesus. And that's a formula for death. That's a formula for hell. You plus Jesus. I try to do it just to do it. Just because I feel it's right. Okay, but why? Because I feel it's right. Because I don't like to see kids in the streets. I don't like to be a fucker. But if you die in your sin, so what? If those kids die in their sin, so what? See, without Christ, life means nothing. Life is nothing. You live, you die, you eat, drink, and be merry, and you die. And then you stand before God to be judged for your sin. And he's gonna judge each and every one of us according to the perfect moral standard he's written on our heart. See, we're different people, okay? Different backgrounds, different generations. But we were created in the image of the same God. We were created by the same God. So we have a couple of things in common. As image bearers of our Creator, the three of us know that God exists. He testifies to himself in his own creation, and he's also written the reality of his existence on our heart, in that he's given us a conscience. And that conscience that he has given us is a conscience based on his perfect moral standard. You and I know that it's wrong to lie. Doesn't matter who taught us that. Doesn't matter how we were raised. We know it's wrong to lie because we were both created in the image of God and the God who made us is not a liar. We know it's wrong to steal for the same reason. We know it's wrong to take God's name in vain. We know it's wrong to create a God in our imagination to suit ourselves. Because we were created in the image of God and the God who made us is not a thief. He's not a blasphemer He's not an idolater like we are that's why when we stand die and stand before God we're going to be without excuse We're not going to be able to claim innocence or ignorance of breaking his law because he's written it on our hearts And because God is good, because God is holy and righteous and just, He must punish sin. And the punishment God has determined for sin, all of it, is eternity in hell. Now this same God, because there's only one, this same God who's angry with the wicked every day, this same God who's going to judge the world in righteousness, is the same God who is loving and merciful and gracious and kind. And He showed that great love some 2,000 years ago when God the Father sent His Son to earth in the person of Jesus Christ. Truly God, truly man, and without sin. He lived a perfect life from cradle to grave. He lived a perfect life from cradle to grave for some 33 years, a life that the three of us can't live for 33 seconds. And then he voluntarily went to a Roman cross. He suffered and died a death he did not deserve to take upon himself the punishment we rightly deserve. Well, no, because there's only one mediator, there's only one advocate between God and man, and that is the God-man, Jesus Christ. He's our only hope. And what God commands of all of us, this one who died for sinners and forever defeated sin and death when he rose from the grave, what he commands of all of us is that we turn from our sin, whatever that might be, and by faith and by faith alone receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and our Savior. It's not Jesus plus trying to help people. It's not Jesus plus going to church on Sunday and living like hell Monday through Saturday. It's not Jesus plus creating a deity in our imagination that we're happy with. It's Christ alone. There's only one who's died for sinners, so there's only one who could save us from sin. So it's not you plus Jesus. It's Christ alone. It's Christ alone. So that's what I mean when I say that we have to come to the end of ourselves. Because we want to be like God. It's the oldest sin in the book. Lucifer, the angel who oversaw all of worship in heaven, said what? I will be like the Most High God. And him and one-third of the angels followed him. As they fell and... The sad part is every time I walk around, I see Lucifer winning. Well, no, he's not. See, that's... He's not. You know why he's not? I feel like when I walk the streets in this world, I see more of Lucifer than I do see God. Well, actually, what you see more than anything else is man's sin. That's what you see. True, true. That's what you see. Sin can be forgiven. Yes, only through faith in Christ. Only through faith in Christ. But see, do you have a Bible? Yeah, we do actually. We took it all the way to Nevada and back. Book of Job. Book of Job. It's right before the Book of Psalms. If you look at the first couple of chapters of the Book of Job, you'll see that Satan can do nothing without God's permission. Oh, absolutely. Satan has no authority whatsoever. He doesn't do anything that God doesn't allow. So Satan's not all-powerful, he's not omniscient, he's not omnipresent, he's not all-knowing. You know, he can't be in every place at one time like God can be. So when people say, oh, the devil made me do it, in reality it's their own flesh. It's their own desire to sin. So what you're seeing in Earth today, on the planet today, is the result of the first sin. Well, you're seeing the result of Adam falling, disobeying God, wanting to be sovereign over his own life. And from that point on, sin and death has entered into the world. And God has provided only one way to make that right, and that is through faith in Jesus Christ. That's who you need. See, and if God does that miraculous work in you, and if he literally takes a heart of stone that's at enmity with him and gives you a heart of flesh, you'll begin to love the things God loves. You'll begin to hate the things that God hates, namely your own sin. And you'll have the assurance of forgiveness, not on the basis of anything you've done to earn it, not on the basis of your cooperation with God in some way, but on the basis of the love and mercy and grace of God that would allow His one and only Son to die for sinners like us. See, I know I'm going to heaven. Now, without context, that sounds utterly arrogant. But I'm going to heaven not because of who I am, but in spite of who I am. Because all of my trust and my hope is in the one who saved me, not in anything I have done to try to save myself. To tell others. To tell others. To get to meet you guys. That's why I'm here. That's why I'm here. Thank you. Yeah, God bless you both. I appreciate you. Nothing more important than your souls, guys. So turn to Christ and live while God's giving you time. And stay safe. Stay safe. All right, you too. God bless you guys. Hey, brother. How are you?