Have you ever thought about what it might feel like being on death row?Have you ever thought about what it might feel like being on death row?
People yap, I mean rap about it like if it’s a joke while they fill their pockets off the sins of others not to mention their own.
Maybe you’re not sympathetic, you say, “they deserve it” and rightly so. Or maybe you’re apathetic because you know someone there.
But maybe it’s someone who really doesn’t deserve to be there, they are truly innocent. It’s possible, right?
If you could ask a death row inmate what it feels like being a dead man walking. Do you think he might say, “you don’t ever want to know”?
What we do not realize is that we are all dead men walking here on this earth. We do not need to be on death row to know this because we are this.
You see, a death row inmate knows he/she has been condemned to death. It’s not a matter of if anymore, it’s a matter of when.
When that day comes and judgement is executed. For that dead man the only thing that can stop the day of execution is a pardon.
Right now, you probably have no idea what I am talking about. Everything is going great. You are living a life that pleases you and doing whatever your heart desires.
What if Jesus came today, would you be ready, do you have a pardon?
Or maybe you have come to the end of the road, and your life has taken a turn for the worse, you feel like you’re on death row right now.
It is the same for everyone one, on death row awaiting execution or on the road to the second death which is the lake of fire, the final destination for the walking dead.
Maybe sin has no moral bearing on your conscience because unlike a death row inmate, you have not been judged for your crimes. That is, you have not been caught and found guilty by a court of law. What you do not realize is that you are already condemned.
So, you continue to walk the face of this earth dead in your trespasses unaware that Jesus paid the price for your sins and the eternal disaster that awaits you. You do not know repentance therefore you do not know mercy and forgiveness.
God says,
“Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.” Ezekiel 18:4 ESV
Not if, not when, right there and then you shall die. You say, I feel fine, there is nothing wrong with how I am living and what I am doing. This is one of the greatest con jobs the devil has ever created, next to the lie in the garden of Eden. The one who was cast out of heaven and given an irreversible eternal sentence that cannot be overturned.
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say”, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” Genesis 3:1
God says again,
“Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.” Ecclesiastes 8:11 ESV. Why, because they do not realize that they are sinning, they do not realize that they are dead men walking. I have seen them in the spirit world.
I have been to the land of the dead. I have seen them in and outside the church buildings. They are everywhere; they are you. The soul that sins shall die, death has already come spiritually.
God says, through His Apostle,
“For the wages of sin is death”, past tense. Romans 6:23 ESV
These are the walking dead. Dead men walking on the road to the second death which is the lake of fire, the real gas chamber where spirits do not die. But let me tell you about a Dead Man walking who was condemned by the world for the world. There is hope my friend.
He did not have to wait for the day of execution like some do on death row or those on the road to the second death. He was falsely accused and sentenced to death within a week. On the day of His execution, He walked down death row called the Via Dolorosa carrying a cross that belonged to you and me.
He in fact was the only true innocent dead man walking all others may not have committed the crime, but all are guilty of sin. All!
Yes, the world according to Rome put Him to death between two death row inmates. But who gave Him the cross? The One who sent Him did, to provide a pardon for you and me and every dead man walking out there.
You see, we are all death row inmates, most of us just don’t know it unlike those who are sentenced to death.
Jesus, the One who became a dead man walking for you and me said this,
“He who believes in Me will not be condemned but has passed from judgement into life”.
Listen, it’s not so much as when you will be punished for your sins, you already are dead spiritually. That means the penalty for sin took place instantly and you already have been placed on death row.
And if you should die without a pardon you will go to hades and wait there in the holding cell for the day of execution on judgement day. This isn’t a joke; hades is not the holiday inn, there is no Geneva Convention rules there, no Supreme Court civil rights, no ACLU to protect you. You are tortured relentlessly and violently nonstop. Just google this and hear the stories of people who went there and came back to warn us.
A man I knew came up to me at a funeral and told me that he had died and saw himself lying motionless. He went to the door(s) of Hades and saw a man at the table. It was pitch dark, but he was made to see this man. It was Jesus sitting there, waiting for him.
Jesus said, “why have you not drank from My living water”? Then he heard a voice saying, “let me have him”, it was coming from a figure that was darker than the pitch darkness he was in. Jesus said, “no, it is not his time, then he told the man to go back. He came back into the room and awoke with his brother weeping by his side, he had thought that he died. He did!
Again, I say to you, on that day, you will stand before the throne of God, because your name is not written in the Lambs book of life. You were not pardoned. But if you turn away from sin today, ask for forgiveness from God the Father who sent His only Son to be sin for you. He will pardon you.
If you are an inmate right now on death row, this makes perfect sense and if you put your faith in Jesus Christ today, you will have eternal life. You will not die; you will live for eternity though your flesh returns to the earth.
Though they put your flesh to death, your spirit has been made alive in Christ, and the second death has no power over you.
God says,
“Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:6 ESV
The second part of what God says, about the wages of sin through His Apostle is this,
“But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 ESV
Let me talk to you some more as a former gang member and prisoner about my Dead Man walking, the Lord Jesus Christ.
You see, maybe you might lay down your life for a family member, friend/comrade, stranger, or to liberate someone in another country.
Jesus demonstrated His love to us all, not some, all.
God says it like this through the Apostle,
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 ESV
You wonder why I say Jesus is my Dead Man walking? God says, through His Apostle something that is not only profound but powerful. Here it is,
“For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners,”
“Christ died for us. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” Romans 5:7-8, 11 ESV
I want you to change that word “reconciliation” to the word I am preaching to you today. Pardoned!
You see, Jesus was placed on death row for you and me and walked as a Dead Man down the “Via Dolorosa”.
He took the road of suffering, and shame on His way to the place of execution which is called “Golgotha” (the place of the skull).
It was a place of death for all condemned criminals. But you see, it wasn’t His sins that got Him there.
God says, through the Prophet Isaiah hundreds of years before it happened that Jesus would pay the price for yours and mine sins,
“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5 ESV
He paid the price for yours and my sins. Can you believe that? He who knew no sin became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus. Pardoned.
God says, concerning His only Son through the same Prophet,
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” Isaiah 53:7 ESV
Jesus did not protest His innocence, He knew what He came for, what He was sent by the Father for and when it was completed,
God said,
“When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” John 19:30 ESV
Jesus is my Dead Man walking because He became sin for me. The wages of sin is death, I died, I committed sin and died.
Only He can pardon you today, whether you are out free roaming the world or in prison. God says, through His Apostle,
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23 ESV
Why am I saying, “God says”, because He is just and will give you due process, this is your due process. You are hearing it today from Him.
Turn away from sin, ask God the Father who gave His only begotten Son to forgive you. I know what it’s like living the crazy life. I know what it’s like to be caught up in the drugs, parties, and sex seen.
It all comes with a price, death. And you will continue to lose and suffer over it until one day you’re gone and you open your eyes in eternal hell forever. There is no pardon there, the pardon is now, today.
Listen, hear the invitation of the LORD, tomorrow is not promised, today if you hear His voice do not harden your hearts.
I went to a party as a witness to my LORD and Saviour. A man came up and said, “no one wants to hear that here”. I said, if I do not come and show them, who will? He turned away.
I turned to a group of youngsters and said, this is why I am here, for people like that. That night he was shot to death right there on the same grounds he stood against my presence.
John the Baptist said when he saw Jesus,
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!” John 1:29 ESV
God says, concerning His will and reason why He sent His Son, Jesus Christ,
““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 ESV
This came out of the mouth of the One who became sin for you and me as I have been proclaiming all along.
God knew that Jesus would become a Dead Man walking from the very beginning even before the foundations of the earth. And He still chose that path because it was the only way to get you and me a pardoned.
I have already stated the chargers laid out against us and presented the case to you.
I have diligently laid out the findings before you and told you exactly what God says.
We are all dead man walking, until we are either born again of the Spirit and water or thrown into the lake of fire which is the second death.
God says it like this,
“Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3 ESV
And in another place God says,
“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:8 ESV
But you want to know what God says, even more powerful?
He says this through His Apostle,
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God”.
“And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (may I add, “you were pardoned”) 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 ESV
And such were some of you, wow! Are you ready for a pardon from the Most High God? The reason why He is the Most High is because there is no other.
There is no other name given to men whereby we can be saved but the name of Jesus Christ.
Not Mohamed, not Allah, not Joseph Smith, Gandi, the Dali lama, etc. Not anything living, or dead like the false gods of the earth who cannot see, hear, or talk and must be carried and left food to rot.
Only Jesus Christ can set you free, only He has the keys to release you from death having risen from the dead unlike the others. Only He is the Firstborn from the dead, there is no other name given under heaven that can bring eternal salvation to your soul and forgiveness of sins.
God says, do not be afraid of them, they cannot do any good or any evil, they do not exist.
They did not come to destroy the works of darkness, listen to what God says through the Prophet Isaiah again, concerning His Son who He anointed;
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor;”
“He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;”
“To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;”
“To grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;”
“That they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.” Isaiah 61:1-3 ESV
My friend, no one who has come before or after Jesus Christ except Jesus Himself can deliver you from darkness, pardon you, and give you the gift of eternal life.
None have the keys of hades and hell but the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only One who can set you free today and give you a new life right where you are even on death row.
God says it like this through His Apostle,
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9 ESV
You don’t have to try and clean yourself up before you come. You need not ask a lifeless piece of stone to do something it can’t. No flesh and blood walking can grant you eternal life or pardon your sins.
No ceremony is required to gain access. No promise of celestial pleasures or power is what you need or will get. Just a true authorized pardon from God the Father, the Judge of the living and the dead.
“And He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is the One appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead”. Acts 10:42
From the depths of your heart and soul, call out to the only name that can pardon you and be free today for the first time in your life. Jesus is His name, call out to Him now.
Pray to God, say;
“I am sorry for all the things I have done wrong in sinning against You Father in heaven. I believe in Jesus Christ Your Son who You sent to die on the cross for my sins and raised Him from the dead on the 3rd day.
I believe that through Him I can be forgiven and receive the gift of eternal life and the Holy Spirit according to Your word. Forgive me for all my sins, come into my life. I am tired of living a bad life, I have no one else to turn to. Make me your child today and help me to follow You with all my heart and soul”.
Please write to me or send me a message, to let me know that you have made this decision today. We will pray for you, my brother, my sister, my friend.
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