Introduction: A Shift in Direction

This morning, I woke up at 3 a.m. and prayed until about 6 a.m.—three hours of prayer. During that time, I felt the Lord speaking to me to do something different today. I had planned to begin a series through Ephesians called "In Christ," but I'm going to obey the Holy Spirit and postpone that until the first Sunday in September.

Today, I'm calling our entire church to prayer. And if that sounds boring to you, then you are full of your flesh and have not read the scriptures. Jesus said, "My house will be a house of prayer." There is a lot of preaching and not enough praying. A lot of conferences, not enough praying. A lot of Christian activity and not enough praying.

The Gospel of Salvation

Probably the greatest encounter any human being will ever have in their life is that moment when they pass from death to life—when they know something has transpired in their heart where God is no longer just a name in a book, but becomes real and tangible. Their eyes have been opened. They realize all this time they have been living separated from God. In a moment, they come alive in the spirit.

They start to feel conviction for sin. They start having desires that have been changed. They start longing for things that are righteous. They want to go to church. They want to read the scriptures. They want to pray. We call this salvation. A person has been rescued from being on a path leading to damnation and destruction. By the power of the Holy Spirit, God wrestles them down to the ground with conviction. They surrender their life to Christ. They are now born again or regenerated. They are made new. Their dead spirit comes alive on the inside, and they are sealed as a child of God, as a son and daughter of God.

There is a Christian practice that is a public demonstration to people of that supernatural act that happens in the lives of men, women, and even children all around the world. We will witness those public demonstrations next Sunday.

John the Baptist: The Voice in the Wilderness

Let me bring you back to the origins of the most important public demonstration we have seen—baptism. I want to call you to pray for three specific things.

According to biblical history, God sent a prophet named Malachi, the last of the prophets in the Old Testament. God spoke through him, saying, "If I am a Father, then where is the honor?" He rebuked priests for greed. And after Malachi, God goes silent for 400 years.

After 400 years have passed, Christ is born in the first century. He is in obscurity for 30 years—three decades. We know very little about His life. We know where He was born. We know the names of His parents. We know He grew in wisdom. But from the age of 12 until the age of 30, we have no record of what Jesus was doing. He is in the dark. He is in obscurity.

Then God breaks that 400 years of silence when He raises up the last great prophet of the Old Testament era. A man whose life was prophesied by an angel named Gabriel. This is John the Baptist.

The Account from Matthew

Matthew wrote about John in Matthew chapter 3, beginning in verse one:

"In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea."

John was the son of a woman who formerly did not have children. But God promised her a son and said, "Your son will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from the womb. He will be set apart for God." His mother Elizabeth was a relative of Mary, the mother of Christ.

John was a mighty man. John was a separated man. John was austere. He was rugged. He was holy. He was righteous. He was set apart. He was different.

He came preaching in the wilderness of Judea—not in the city, not in the comforts of villages, but out into the barren wayside, just outside of Jerusalem, east of Jerusalem, west of the Dead Sea. This man was raised his whole life in the wilderness, alone, being intimate with God. Sometimes it takes being away from people for us to draw nearer to Christ. Sometimes it takes us getting away from the noise of social media, the noise of society, the noise of the world, to get alone with God.

When was the last time you've been alone with God?

In Luke's gospel, they say about John that he grew mighty in spirit. I read that yesterday and I wept on the pages of my Bible. I said, "Lord, I want to grow even more mighty in spirit."

You have people who preach, but they are not mighty in the spirit. People who sing, but not mighty in the spirit. Men and women who sit down in chairs every Sunday, not mighty in the spirit. No. I want to walk in rooms and have demons tremble when I walk in them. I want to walk into situations, lay hands on people, and see them get healed. I want to be so filled with the Spirit that I hear Him clearly even at the office.

I want to be so mighty in spirit that every step I make, every decision I make is in line with the spirit. I want to be so in step with the spirit that even my haters are confused by the fruit of my life. I want to be so in step with the spirit that I eat fruit in the face of my enemies. I want to be someone who is stepped in the spirit, where you lay hands on your spouse at night and they wake up more loving in the morning.

Are you growing in spirit?

John's Message: Repentance

John came with a message. Verse 2 says, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." How's that for a sermon? Not, "You're going to be blessed next week." Not, "Sow a seed and God will make you a millionaire." Not, "God turns a blind eye to sin, so live reckless and then come to church."

No, no, no. John's first message was: Repent. For the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

This was also Jesus's first message. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

America needs to hear that message. The modern translation is: Turn from your sins quickly for time is running out. Run to Jesus quickly for time is running out. Get right with God today. Why? Because time is running out.

John preached to the nation of Israel—a nation barren spiritually, legalistic, and drifting from God. His first message to people in trouble was not, "God loves you." His first message was, "Turn from your backwards ways. Turn back to God. Turn back to the Word. Turn back to prayer."

America needs to hear that. Turn.

Preachers, we need to hear that. Turn from lying to people on Sunday to keep butts in seats. Turn from profit lying. Turn from raping people for money. Turn from using the ministry for self-aggrandizement. Turn. America needs to hear that. Turn from your foolishness. Turn from your antics. Turn from your vain ambitions. Turn from your reckless behavior. Turn back to God. Why? Because the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

The kingdom is alive right now on the earth. It's alive in the hearts of men. Temporarily it coexists with evil, but in just a little while it will overtake everything and it will crush everybody who was an enemy of Christ. Every false religion, every false belief, everyone who turned a blind eye on Christ—the kingdom will crush them in the end.

That's why everybody's gambling with what they believe. You better make sure you have believed right before you die.

I'm sick and tired of us preaching about revival with no repentance. I'm sick and tired of us coming to church without repentance. We have dead church services all across America—no repentance. Man, this is a joke in America. We're full of sin and no repentance.

If we will see revival in our nation, if we will see a breakthrough in your home, we must first repent. A husband today needs to repent to a wife. A wife today needs to repent to a husband. A parent needs to repent to a child.

And repentance is not "I'm sorry, Lord." Repentance is "I change."

The Ministry of Preparation

John came preaching a baptism of repentance.

"For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare the way of the Lord and make his path straight."

John's whole ministry was to prepare a nation for the rise of Christ, who was just about to emerge on the world stage. John's whole ministry was to prepare a nation for Christ. Pay attention. He tells them, "Since Christ is coming, turn." Watch. "Since Christ is coming, don't let Him come and catch you where you were."

Man, this is the same message we need right now. Is this not what the nation needs right now?

We have too many diva voices. Too many fake voices. Too many cotton candy voices. Too many soft voices. Too many compromised voices. No. What we need right now in America is bold voices who will help prepare the way for the Lord. I wish I had a thousand bold voices in this room right now.

This is the mission of 2819. Man, we're not gathered here just to have Sunday morning services. No, I'm on my knees praying and shedding tears and crying that we, 2819, will be a church local and global that is serving, giving, praying, laboring, and forgiving. And watch this—working together in America and around the world to prepare the world for the coming of the Son.

This is why I preach the way that I do. This is why I pray the way that I do. Why I post the way that I do. Why I live the way that I do. Why I sacrifice the way I do. Why I hang myself on the cross the way that I do. Why I apologize the way that I do.

Why? Because I said to God, "My life belongs to You. Use it to prepare a generation for Your coming."

You have no idea what God would do with your business, your ministry, your podcast, your marriage, your home, your life. I'm talking to teenagers and adults—when you say, "Lord, all of me on Your altar. Use me. Use everything I have to prepare people for Your coming."

We are living in the final hours of the church age. And if the church is not about getting people ready for the coming of Christ, we are wasting our time. Don't anybody care about a dead song and a dead sermon if we don't even care about the fact that the Lord is coming and we ain't doing nothing to get people ready.

We get people ready by preaching to them the truth about calling them to the foot of the cross, about multiplying disciples—not churchgoers, but committed followers of Christ—and telling people to stay close to Jesus because we're right at the very end.

What about your voice? You only think about mine because I'm the pastor of 2819. What about your voice? You said, "Pastor, I don't have a voice." Really? You got social media. Your fingers are a voice. How you handle yourself on your job is your voice. What you're teaching your children is your voice. How you deal with your spouse is your voice.

What about your voice? The devil's a liar.

John's Authenticity

Now, verse 4 says: "John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist."

Pause. My man has no guards, no royal robes. The man got a camel, skinned it, put it on, and put a belt on. He's dressed like the prophet Elijah—another prophet who was a preacher of righteousness.

I love when I read John's fit check because the fact that he would dress like this in a culture when everybody was about their clothes tells me that John was his authentic self. That John was not afraid to be different. That John was not afraid to be set apart. That John was free.

Why you wear black? Because I'm free. Why you only wear uniform? Because I'm free. I ain't trying to impress. John's fit gives us permission to be the authentic person God has called you to be.

The point I'm trying to make is: God will never bless the phony youth. He's not going to bless the person you're pretending to be.

When I first came to Atlanta, because this is a churchgoing city, I thought I had to look a certain way and talk a certain way and act a certain way for people to come to my church. And for four years, that did not work. Until one day I was saying to myself, "I'm an urban dude from Queens. I'm from the hood. I like Nikes and I don't want to be stuffy when I preach. I'm just going to dress the way that fits my natural makeup."

I wear black ones and I wear uniforms, and God has breathed on the ministry he has entrusted to me when I accepted who I was inside his kingdom.

Why be jealous or pretend to be something you're not when the genius of Jesus is variety? He does not need another version of someone else. He needs you to be who he's called you to be.

John's fit tells me he is free to be his authentic self according to the will of God. He's dressed like Elijah. His food is locust and wild honey. So he's a consecrated man with a consecrated diet.

And then watch the impact of authenticity according to God's will. Verse 5:

"Then Jerusalem and all Judea and the region about the Jordan were going out to him."

God blessed who he was inside of God's will. He did not have to be something he was not to be fruitful. All of the cities all around the nation of Israel went out into the wilderness to hear John preach. In essence, his stand for righteousness called people out of comfort zones into the wilderness. His stance for righteousness and holiness called people out of their comfort zones to meet with God in the wilderness.

John Confronts the Religious Leaders

Verse 6 says: "And they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins."

But when John saw many of the Pharisees and the Sadducees coming to his baptism—these are the religious rulers of the day who were also very fake and the enemies of Jesus—he said to them, "You brood of vipers."

So we can never check a hater. No, you got to know when to speak and when to remain silent. You snakes, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

"Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Bear fruit. Fruit that remains. Bear fruit. Fruit that remains."

He's seen fake people coming to inspect what he was doing in ministry. Not everybody who gets close to you is for you. And where there is authentic anointing, it will always attract enemies.

Sometimes when people are hating on you, that doesn't mean you've done something wrong. Sometimes opposition is a sign that you're moving in the right direction. Don't be confused. Just pay attention to who the devil attacks and why is everybody talking about this person?

The devil never attacks what he owns. He attacks threats. He will try to mitigate threats. He will try to diminish the character and the witness of threats.

The problem with America is you have no discernment. So you call evil good and good evil. You call real prophets fake prophets and let fake prophets run rampant. You spend all your time making videos about real prophets, hurting the cause of God. You don't like what the real prophet said? Pray for them. And don't presume yourselves that we have Abraham as our father. I tell you, God is able to raise up children for Abraham from stones.

So he's saying, don't think just because you are Jewish, you're going to get into the kingdom. People do this all the time right now. There are people listening to me who think they have a relationship with God because of their parents or because they go to church every once in a while. They were thinking they were in the kingdom because of their ethnicity. No, you don't have a walk with God just because you've been around church a few times.

There is no relationship with God apart from Christ, who said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."

There are people running around on social media with syncretism. You're mixing God and all this other crazy mess. And you're saying, "God, which God are we talking about?"

You got to be careful. We talk about God, and God is saying, "Which God are we talking about?"

Be careful. Everybody who says god is not of God. We just throw His name on everything and everybody. There is only one God, and every other god is an idol. Our God has a name: YAHWEH YESHUA HAMASHIACH is God. There is no other God. Which God are we talking about?

The Judgment and the Baptism

Verse 10: "Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."

No fruit, no kingdom. John says,

"I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."

So he said, "I only baptize you with water for repentance." Pay attention. The person coming behind me—who is Christ—his baptism is far more powerful. He baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

So Jesus has two baptisms. His first baptism is with the Holy Spirit. That happens to every person who gets saved. They get filled with the spirit. I was baptized with the Holy Spirit in a bathroom over a toilet seat. While I wanted to unalive myself, I was saved in that bathroom. Jesus baptized me with the Holy Spirit in that bathroom over the toilet seat. A former thug comes out, a brand new man.

The other baptism is with fire. The baptism of fire is judgment. This is Jesus saying—in the end, to every person who dies and disrespected Him, He says, "Depart from me, I never knew you."

Too late, Lord, I believed the wrong thing.

Too late, Lord, I did not know.

Too late, Lord, I wasn't paying attention in church.

The only other option is down. That's the baptism of fire.

In essence, Jesus will baptize everybody. Every human being will get baptized by Christ—either with the Spirit unto salvation or with fire unto damnation. No one escapes Christ.

The evidence that the fire baptism is judgment is verse 12:

"His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, and gather his wheat into his barn, which is heaven, and the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

In those days, they had a fork, and they would go down to a threshing floor with wheat that is bread. They would take the fork, poke it in the wheat, throw the wheat up in the air. The wind would blow and separate the chaff from the wheat. They would take the wheat and put it in a basket, and the chaff—which is the unusable part—will fall to the floor to be thrown away.

So when John is saying that when Jesus comes, over time he will separate the real from the fake—believers from unbelievers. He will gather those who loved him into his glory and those who rejected him into everlasting fire. Nobody's going to escape that. Everybody's going to end up in one of two places.

The Baptism of Jesus: Identifying with Us

And then these last verses. After 30 years of obscurity, verse 13, Jesus comes to the world stage.

"Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him saying, 'I need to be baptized by you and do you come to be baptized by me?'"

John felt unworthy to baptize Christ. Just like many of us sometimes feel unworthy to serve Christ. Our past, our mistakes, our failures, our insecurities, our lack of education.

Listen, God can use anyone who is willing and able.

"But Jesus answered him, 'Let it be so for now, for thus it is fitting to fulfill all righteousness.'"

Then he consented.

"And when Jesus was baptized, he immediately came up out of the water. And behold, the heavens were open over him. And he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on his shoulder, which was prophetic. For the scripture said, 'Whoever you see this dove land on, we know that person is the son of God.' And behold, a voice from heaven said, 'This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.'"

Why Did Jesus Get Baptized?

I want you to see this in the text. Jesus goes down to the Jordan River. This is the Jordan River—murky, dirty, filthy. When I had an opportunity to baptize 12 disciples, including my wife, Jesus comes down to this filthy, dirty body of water to be baptized by John in the same river.

Now, John's baptism is a baptism for repentance. But Jesus has never sinned. So, why is Jesus going down to John to be baptized if John's baptism was only for sinners? Why is a sinless man going to be baptized for a baptism for sinners?

He has never committed sins. He lived a perfect life. Why is the Son of God who was perfect going down to this filthy river to be baptized by a man, which is a baptism for sinners?

Why did Jesus do that?

Did He do that to repent? He had nothing to repent of. Did He do that because He was a sinner? He never committed sins.

Why is Jesus going down to be baptized in a sinner's baptism?

Jesus goes down to this filthy river to be baptized in a sinner's baptism so that in his humanity he can be fully identified with you—a sinner.

You missed that.

In his baptism, He identifies with you, a sinner. And then the opposite happens in your baptism. You identify with Christ, who is holy.

In his baptism, he shows the death and resurrection, identifying with you as a sinner. So he's baptized to identify himself with you.

I feel heat. Next Sunday, 3,000 people will be baptized to identify themselves with Christ. His baptism was to be identified with you. Your baptism is to be identified with Him and His death, burial, and resurrection.

And for those who have already been baptized, my question is, are you continuing to be identified with Him in the way that you talk, the way that you live, the way that you serve, the way that you sacrifice?

The Presence of the Trinity

Notice that all three persons of the Godhead are present. The Son is in the water. The Father is speaking from heaven. And the Spirit is descending like a dove.

Said, "We don't believe in a Triune God. You have not read." Come on. About God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit—not God our mother.

And He said, "This is my beloved son and with whom I am well pleased."

Watch this. Jesus was affirmed before he did anything.

But you're trapped in performance-based religion. You feel like "I have to read more for God to love me, and I have to pray more for God to love me. I got to fast more for God." You're trying to do all these things to earn affirmation from God.

You were affirmed through the cross. Jesus was affirmed before he did anything.

You are affirmed and accepted. You are affirmed, loved, fully known, fully accepted. You can't earn love from Him. Can't earn salvation.

You are affirmed. You are a son before anything else. You are a daughter before anything else. Loved and affirmed.

A Call to Prayer

Now I'm going to call us to about three minutes of prayer. I want to tell you what we're praying for.

Three things.

First, we're going to pray for the 3,000 people registered to be baptized next Sunday. We're going to pray for them that God pours out his glory next Sunday for all 3,000 of them. And for you who are not registered, next Sunday is not your Sunday off. Next Sunday we gather together as a church to celebrate 3,000 public decisions for Jesus. We're going to stand and support our family and shout for them and love on them and be there for them. 3,000 of them.

And you looking at me right now, you said, "Darn it, Pastor, I didn't get a chance to register." That's all right. Pull up by faith. Fly in by faith. Drive in by faith. Hop off the train by faith. And trust God to make room for you in the Jordan.

Second, listen to me carefully. We're living in the last days. There is trouble in this room. Trouble in our homes. Trouble in our marriages. There are needs we have. We want to see signs, wonders, and miracles. We got unsaved loved ones. The nation is in trouble. Our law system is in trouble. Man, our nation is spinning down. We got lawmakers saying the craziest things, and an invasion happening right now in America that's going to try to take over the country and persecute Christians. I'm telling you, we're living in the final hours of the church age.

And if we will see revival, we're not going to see revival because we keep having services. We're going to see revival because we pray.

"If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, turn from their wickedness, I might hear and heal."

So the second thing we're going to pray for is this. I'm calling every digital disciple of 2819 in America and around the world, and everybody local in Atlanta. I'm calling us to a moment of national prayer when on October 10th we take over AT&T Stadium for ACCESS.

Where we take over AT&T Stadium for access. 80,000 of us will be a multiplication of power that heals, delivers miracles, signs, and wonders. We are going to shake the nation. We are going to shake the nation and the world together. 80,000 believers in the Dallas, Texas area.

For all you haters, free tickets will be available. Free tickets will be available on September 1st. Why y'all waiting so long? Because we want to give you only 40 days to get in the room. 40 days to get your heart ready. 40 days to pray. 40 days to fly in. 40 days to get your hotel. You only get 40 days.

Why? We want the room filled with the hungry.

So right now, if you're able, I want you to slip off the chair onto your knees. We're going to take three minutes. And if you can't get on your knees because you're elderly or you're in pain, don't do it. You can sit on your chair.

I'm asking us to pray for—three minutes of prayer. We're praying for baptism. We're praying for access. And the third thing—pray for any need that you have, or if you have to repent.

Father, we pray for baptism next week. I pray, Lord, that baptism will be a glorious day. I pray, Lord, that you will begin to prick the hearts of your children. I pray for those who are coming in faith, and I pray for those who are registered. I pray, Lord, that that day the nation will shake. I pray that that day the people will be healed and delivered. I pray that they will go down one way and rise another.

We thank you for an opportunity to be baptized, that we'll be transformed. We thank you that the spirit of the Lord will be with us. Father, that we would never be the same again. I pray for breakthrough. I pray for revival. I pray for strength. I pray that we will never be the same again.

I pray, Lord, that we will go down and die in this watery grave. We thank you, Lord, that old things will die and never return. Father, we look forward to the day where we bury old habits, where we bury sickness, where we bury diseases, and we rise up a new creature in You. I pray that you would transform our lives and help us, Father, to go higher, further, faster in the name of Jesus.

Hallelujah. Lord, we thank you, Lord God, for October 10th. We lift up October 10th unto you, Father God. We believe in your power. We believe in your presence, and we believe in your spirit. We thank you, God, that your spirit will rest on us, oh God, on October 10th, that people will be saved, that people will be redeemed, that people will be delivered and set free. You are the God who can do all things but fail. And so we trust you that lives will be transformed forever. That healing will take place. That saving will take place. That deliverance will take place.

It is by your spirit. It is by your authority. It is by your power. So we speak freedom now. We call forth your angels to be around AT&T Stadium. We pray, God, for breakthrough.