tier in this chapter. This is basically the conclusion of Christ's Sermon on the Mount. He's kind of wrapping things up on that. And by the way, I guess before really I get started on anything, as I understand it and read the account of the Sermon on the Mount, I think most people get the Sermon on the Mount wrong. They look at the Sermon on the Mount as Jesus giving a list of instructions for how we are to live, to be holy, and to be acceptable in God's sight. And again, that's not the case.

All throughout scripture, we find that any time that there is preaching and teaching on things like this, it is always coming from a reference of these are the fruits of people who have already been saved and accepted and have Christ in them working out all the works that God has ordained. And they're rocked in them by God, not by their efforts, not by their taking that list of things that Christ has given them and going out and working them out. so that they will be well done, my good and faithful servant type people, right? So the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus giving us a description of saved people, giving us a description of people who have Christ doing work in them, rotting out those works in them.

So as Jesus begins to conclude this sermon, And by the way, the sermon is to his disciples, to his people. All the scripture is written for the benefit and for the comfort of God's people. It's never instructions for reprobates to try to live up to. It's never instructions for governments to order people by. It's always, for comfort and instruction to God's people. Now, if governments will follow these things, hey, that's wonderful. That would be great, okay? If they followed the admonitions of the scripture, that would be awesome. But brethren, these are the things that is given for our comfort and for our knowledge in growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As I said, the last few weeks, Everything in the scriptures, whether it be the Old Testament, whether it be the New Testament, everything is written for our understanding as we grow in grace and knowledge of Christ. It's all about Jesus Christ and about him. Well, today Christ is concluding his Sermon on the Mount. We won't go through all the Sermon on the Mount. Matter of fact, I won't even go through all of Matthew 7. However, as we look at Matthew 7, just so we're in context, Jesus ends this by warning his disciples about those who judge hypocrisy, or through hypocrisy, hypocritical judgment. That famous verse, Matthew 7, verse 1, judge not lest ye be judged. Anytime anybody says something to somebody else about what they believe or about what they are doing, their actions or anything like that, The other person is always, well, judge not, lest ye be judged.

Well, that's not what that verse is there for, number one. Second of all, the verse is there for in speaking about hypocritical judgment. Whenever we quickly begin to judge people, basically without putting ourself in their place, judging people without knowledge, judging people erroneously, judging people outside of the scripture, that's what that is talking about, okay?

people were being quick to judge other people because, you know, you don't do it like I do. You don't say it like I do. You don't think the way I think. And they were making judgments upon people and they were judging other people harshly and not with care, not with love, not with reproof and rebuke and correction and hope for restoration. They were judging hypocritical, the Pharisees were.

So basically, this was to warn the children of God about being hypocritical in your judgment, because every one of us, whenever someone says, does not let you be judged, every one of us has no place. And that's why Jesus further down started talking about the moat and the beam. Every one of us has sin. So I can't judge you on your sin without first knowing and needing to know that I have that sin also. And if I do know that I have that sin, it's gonna cause me to come to you a little bit differently in the way I approach you and your sin, okay?

But what was happening is the Pharisees were coming as if they had no sin and bringing judgment on people as if they had no sin. And so Jesus is just saying, whenever you're dealing with people in their sin, deal with people in their sin in a way that you wanna have people deal with you and your sin, okay?

So that's kind of the context, but the context here is talking about good and bad fruit. It's talking about that which is lasting and that which is not lasting. Jesus uses the beam and the moat, but he also goes into talking about building your house upon the sand. We've all sung that little song when we've grown up in Sunday school, you know. The wise man built his house upon the sand. The wise man built his house upon the sand. The rains came in and the floods came up. I forgot all the way it goes, but we've all sung that song. You know what I'm talking about.

Jesus gives an example here of a man who builds his house on the sand and a man who builds his house on the rock. And a lot of times we think in those terms of, well, I need to build my house on the rock. That means I'm going to build my thing, you know, my house on obeying Jesus and doing all those things, the law and keeping all these commandments. And if I keep all these, commandments and everything, then I've built my house upon the rock and it's going to stand. I've done all these good works in Jesus name and not done everything in my own wants and desires and lusts. Therefore, the works that I do in Jesus name is what's going to stand and the things that I do in my own name for my own profit, for my own gain, for my own desires and lust, that won't stand.

Well, that's not the comparison that Jesus was making. Jesus was making the comparison of your works completely and his works completed. That's the comparison. The wise man who builds his house upon the rock isn't one who obeys the law for righteousness, or obeys the law for acceptance, or obeys Jesus and gets after it for him, the wise man is the one who builds his house upon the finished work of Jesus Christ. My whole entire righteousness is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name." That's what that parable That's what that illustration is about. We build our house by faith on Christ Jesus and what he has done, what he has accomplished.

And so as he comes off of that, he talks about a good tree and a bad tree, that a bad tree will produce bad fruit, a good tree will produce good fruit. In all of that, these things are not telling you, you have to do this to move from being this person to this person. It's never, it's never, ever, ever instruction on what you should do to change your position, to change your ways so that God will accept you. It's always to show the comparison between who we are in ourselves and what Christ has done and that salvation is always predicated upon what Christ has done and accomplished, finished. That's the defining thing. What you do does not contribute anything to your salvation, the upkeep of your salvation, the longevity of your salvation, and it will not be in front of Christ. It will never be accepted for anything.

And so, all that leads us down to our verses that I want us to look at today, and I want us to start in verse 13, and I'm gonna read down to verse, I'll read through the rest of the chapter, but I mainly wanna deal with just two or three verses in here today.

Verse 13, it says, enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in there at. Because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs or thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit."

Brethren, I'm gonna stop and pause and say, that is, that right there, is talking about the child of grace who has the old man and the new man. The old man cannot produce any good fruit. All of your reformations, all of your attempts at sanctification cannot change the tree. The tree will bear what the tree will bear. A bad tree produces bad fruit.

But likewise, the inner man, that man that has been born from above that had been placed inside this old flesh, that man is a good tree and it cannot produce bad fruit. That's why in the epistles of John, John writes that those who are born of God cannot sin because his seed remains in us. We cannot sin in the inward man. That's why Paul said in Romans chapter seven that we spent a lot of time on, said that I will serve the law of God with my inner man. I mean, that's a bold accusation, Paul to say that I will serve the law of God because I can say in my outward man, I don't know if I'm gonna serve the law of God or not today. My outward man is always gonna fail to serve the law of God. But Paul said, I will serve the law of God, but he made the distinction in the inner man. With my mind, I will serve the law of God. Why? Because that man cannot sin. That man is created in true righteousness and holiness. That man cannot do wrong. But this outward man continues to do that. The bad tree will continue to produce bad fruit.

So the tree does not change. Whenever you are born again, that does not change your outward man. That's why I don't like that word regeneration being used for being born again. A lot of people, whenever they talk about regeneration, they believe that this something with this old man, it has been regenerated and therefore now this old man can do something that it couldn't do before. Okay, this outward man still does everything that it did before. The only thing is, is we have another principle lying within us that is not sinful, that cannot sin. And that person is different and separate from that outer man.

Two trees, throughout scripture, you see this duality among the children of grace. There is the two men, okay? There's always the Isaac and the Ishmael. There's always the two trees, there is the two rivers, There is the flesh and the spirit. You see that is all throughout the scripture. Let's go on. It says, every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.

Wherefore, by their, for example, let me just pause here. And I didn't mean to get off on some of these, but I think we need to make some explanations here and think rightly about this because I, for a long time, thought wrongly about this. I'm looking at this as good tree being good people, bad tree being bad people, good tree being obedient people, bad tree being disobedient people, okay? That was my mentality growing up. That was my mentality as an early preacher. Good tree, obedient people to the law. Bad tree, disobedient people to God's law. If you're a good tree, you're gonna produce good fruit. If you're a bad tree, you're gonna produce bad fruit. And so which tree are you going to be? Are you going to be a good tree or are you going to be a bad tree?

But here it says every tree that bringeth forth good fruit or that bringeth not good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. So that brings up a question. Well, wait a minute. I'm a, I'm a Christian who believes in Jesus Christ. I believe on him for salvation, but yet, there's bad fruit that comes out of me. And it says here, every tree that produces bad fruit will be cast down and thrown into the fire. I mean, does that mean I'm gonna go to hell?

See, we throw, because of tradition, we throw definitions and descriptions on some of these verses without putting them within the right context here. See, the context here is works produced by the flesh versus works produced by Christ. It's righteousness in yourself, which is self-righteousness and always thrown down, or righteousness, which is in Christ Jesus, which cannot be denied by God and cannot be produced by you. It's always about Christ and what he has done and you and what you cannot do.

I mean, I'm sure as long as you've been anybody's been coming here and listen to my preaching, you see that pervading theme through most of my preaching and almost every thing that I preach always comes down to you can't, God did. It's always that. It always comes down. That's what this scripture is for. It is to humble you and leave you dependent only on Christ and to exalt Christ

It's always about abasing man and exalting Christ. That's what every preaching ought to be about, is abasing man and exalting Christ. Anytime that we start making preaching about exalting man or giving man credence or credit or giving him any room whatsoever to have any part in his salvation, then we have ceased to preach scripture. We've ceased to preach the gospel. We've ceased to exalt Christ. And we begin to dabble in will worship. And that's all that that is. Anytime we preach about you doing something is always dabbling and exalting will worship, because that comes down to you choosing to obey or not to obey. You choosing Jesus or not choosing Jesus. You choosing to sanctify yourself or not sanctify yourself. That means it's taken all the way out of God's hands, who God is the one who says, I'm gonna do that in you. I'm going to put my spirit within you. Nuh-uh, I choose to ask Jesus into my heart. You see the difference there? The Bible says, God says, I will take out of you your heart of stone and put within you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit in you. But the will worshiper says that it's a decision that you must make to ask Jesus into your heart. Completely opposite of God's word. That's why I had to leave the teaching, the preaching, and the churches that I was in. Because it's opposite of scripture.

Jesus says that I will work in you to will and to do my good pleasure. But the will worshiper says, uh-uh, we all have our own choice. We all must make our own choices and we can hinder the spirit of God. We can stop him from doing what he wants because of our disobedience that we have to make that decision. We have to let Jesus do this or be the Lord of our life. let him in, let him have his work, whatever the case might be. We have, we control, we are the gatekeepers on God's work, whether it is accomplished or not by our choices, just the opposite of scripture.

They say that we can be holy if we will just appropriate the means by studying, obeying, rejecting our flesh, whatever the case might be, that we can make ourself holy, but the Bible says that there's none holy, there's none righteous, no, not one. And that all holiness and righteousness is in Christ Jesus. And in that inner man, the only reason that we're holy is because that is the product of his life. It's his seed multiplied out into his people.

See, these children of mine, they can never deny that I am their father, no matter how much they might reject me in this lifetime. Every one of these children may reject my father. I don't want to have anything to do with him. They may go down to the courthouse and change their name. They may move to another country, be away from me, never want to hear from me, and never talk to me again. But they cannot deny that I'm their father. You ever take their blood sample and run a DNA test, you know what it's going to run back to? It's going to run back to Michael Smith. just the same way with Christ. Christ's life produces Christ's life. We cannot deny the child of grace is who he is because we are his by relationship. We are his children.

I didn't choose Pam and Wayne as my parents. That was not my choice. Now, Brother Larry has informed me that there are some people that believe that they made a choice of who was their parents. Now, what metaphysical hooky-boo that is, I don't know, but I don't think it's found anywhere in scripture. But I did not determine who my mother and who my father was. None of us did, right? Mary, none of us made that choice. Just the same as I don't make the choice of who my heavenly father is. I didn't make that choice. I was just born into that family. These children did not make the choice of me and Lori as their parents. They were born into this family. And by right, they have everything to claim as this family. As a child of God, I have everything to claim as a child of God. That the Bible says that I have the right to claim. Not because of anything that I've done, but because of my relationship to Christ Jesus.

My eternal union with my Father, is mediated to me by the Son, Jesus Christ, who is the only mediator between God and man. And now I know my relationship to my Father, which is a spiritual relationship, a spiritual life. I know that because of Jesus Christ, who mediates that to me. He's the one who makes that known. He makes the Father known to me. He makes the father's relationship to me real in my life, because before Christ comes in, before he is, as Paul says, before Christ was, well, the verses went out of my mind, was made in me, revealed in me, before Christ was revealed in me, I didn't know my father in this way. Brother Dan O'Dell's been preaching a bunch of messages on this very thing and it's wonderful I encourage you to go listen to it, but Christ is the way that we know that relationship

Okay, and here we see that the good tree is that which is born from above the bad tree is that which was born from Adam and So not Everyone then whose outward fruits may show something good means that they are in Christ Jesus And just because somebody may have some outward fruits that look bad, doesn't mean that they have not been born in Christ Jesus. See, it's not the outward appearances that determine eternal reality, brethren.

But let's continue on reading, because I definitely want to get through these two verses here. Every good tree or every tree that brings out for good fruit is hewn down, cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them. What kind of fruits? Well, everybody thinks going to church, tithing, helping the poor, whatever the case might be. They always go to that stuff, right? Prayer, Bible study, knowledge of doctrine. Those are the things, those are the fruits.

Brethren, the fruits, if you go to Ephesians and read what the fruits are, all the fruits that are talked about in Ephesians, or spiritual fruits that are worked on and accomplished by God. It's not outward works that I do. It's what's inwardly worked in me by God. If you look at the fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance, faith, all those things, all those fruits, I can't produce those fruits. That's not something that I can do. That's something that God works in me. I am his workmanship, the work is his, and the works are works that are produced as fruit from his life in me, not my efforts to do those things. It's all a work of God.

And for me to sit here and try to tell somebody, you need to up those works. Well, tell me how. If there was a way to do that, I'd love to do that. But there is no way to do that. Now, my desire to do that is definitely there. Paul said that I desire to do the things that I do. You know, I want to do these things, but I find that I don't do those things, things that I don't want to do. Those are the things that I do. Paul is saying, hey, I have that desire to do those things, but I find that I don't always do those things. Why is that? Because it's God who works in you to will and to do his good pleasure. You will do those when God works those in you. When God doesn't do those things in you and work those things in you, guess what? Your flesh is what will be seen.

Well, preacher, doesn't God want us to always show those things? I don't know, ask the Lord. Why didn't God just change us and make us pure and holy from the minute that we were born from above? remove every bit of sin. He could have done that. He could have immediately give us a new body and left us there, but he didn't because, remember our message, that he left us in vanity for a reason, so that we might exalt Christ Jesus, that we might look to him in hope.

Not everyone, now listen very closely, brethren, Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. If we can, if you'll just raise your hand up on Jesus, you'll confess with your mouth, believe in your heart, God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. Now, brethren, I believe those verses with all my heart, but it's not as simple as just raising your hand and saying some words.

You know how many times I've raised my hand and said some words at a youth camp? You know how many times in my life that I've raised my hand and come forward to a church somewhere and make some sort of outward confession? That didn't get me into heaven.

But he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Well, what's that will? Does that mean we gotta obey the laws? Uh-oh, now we're stuck again

The only one who enters into the kingdom of heaven is he that doeth the will of the Father, which is in heaven. How many here, by a show of hands, has kept the will of the Father? Anybody? If we're talking about obedience, that's what most people say that means. All those who obey the Father is gonna enter into heaven. That's not what that's talking about.

Brethren, we're talking about faith. And again, faith is something that's given by God. It's a divine gift. It's a supernatural gift that is given to us in the new birth. It is given to us by Christ. And guess what? It's regulated by Christ. So I cannot boast about anything because Christ is the one who gives it and Christ is the one who regulates it. And Christ himself is the object of it.

And so the will of my father is to believe on Christ Jesus, and I can't believe on Christ Jesus unless Christ gives me that faith. I can't believe on Christ Jesus unless Christ Jesus gives me the measure of that faith to do that for the day, or the minute, or the hour, or whatever.

He says, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? Isn't it good to prophesy in his name? Well, I mean, hey, go to Sermon Audio. I've got about 400 sermons there where I've preached in his name. Brother Larry's got probably about 40,000 sermons online where he's preached his name. I don't know if that's the right amount, but it's pretty close. Larry's got a lot more than I do. You can go and find where a lot of people has prophesied in his name. That's a good thing, right? I would think that was a good thing. Is that doing the will of my father? Well, I would think so.

And in thy name have cast out devils. Now, I've never done that. Have you, brother? I've probably seen a few in my lifetime, but I've never cast any devils out. But here these people are saying, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name done many wonderful works? I would probably say that I think I've done some good works, but I don't know if I would say many wonderful works to the Lord's face. I might say to you, but I wouldn't say to the Lord.

And then will I profess, and this is God saying to them, and then will I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. So Christ is saying that he's gonna tell these people who prophesied in his name, cast out devils in his name, and did many wonderful works in his name, depart from me for I never knew you, and then he's gonna call you worker of iniquity. Ye that work iniquity.

Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. For everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended and floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell, and great was the fall of it.

And it came to pass when Jesus attended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine. for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes."

Brethren, I want us to look back here at these verses in 23 and 24, or 22, 21 through 23, 24, right around in that area. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.

The thing that stuck out about this, and I know that I've preached on this many times, I've referenced this many times in sermons, but brother, the thing that stuck out to me in looking at these verses this week that I don't think it has ever really kind of stuck out like it has here recently, the question of it is, is why does God reject? these people. What is the basis of his rejection? That's kind of the question that came to my mind.

And the thing that stuck out here, if you'll notice here, Christ's acceptance and rejection had nothing to do, listen, nothing to do with their effort. nor did he even despise or say, or not despise, that might not be the right word, he did not deny their effort. But his acceptance of their effort was not based upon how well they did it or how they did not do it. His acceptance and rejection had to do with his relationship with them.

And I think that screams very loud here, louder than I've never ever experienced in reading through these passages as I did this week. The rejection of the worker of iniquity is based upon our relationship to Christ Jesus himself. Look at the passage there. He says, Not everyone who saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.

So that tells me that Christ does not receive us or accept us based upon verbal profession. So those people that go around saying, if you'll confess with your mouth, confession is with the mouth, we're only saved if we confess. Well, brethren, there's a lot of people that are going to confess. And I will say this, if you're a child of grace, you will confess Jesus as Lord. You will confess him before men. I'm not saying that, that that doesn't happen. I'm just saying that it isn't a magical formula that when you confess Jesus, he makes you say, because your salvation preceded the confession.

The verbal profession does not save you. And here, the verbal profession didn't get them anything because the reality of salvation and the fullest expression and experience of it, which would be whenever we enter into glory, did not come because of a verbal expression. It came by acceptance because we were related to Christ.

Look at verse 22. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, cast out devils in thy name, and in thy name done many wonderful works? So here, Jesus's exception and rejection has nothing to do with religious works. So it has nothing to do with your confession, and it has nothing to do with your religious works.

What do people say? Confess with your mouth and believe with your heart? That's verbal profession and religious work. And right here it says that that is not the basis of Christ accepting or rejecting us. That's not it. See, Christ didn't deny that these people made those claims and did those works, the only thing that it came down to is that those were insufficient. Our religious profession and our religious works are insufficient to save us, are insufficient to make us right and righteous before a holy God. Therefore, that is a house of sand. That is a bad tree.

When we put all of our hope upon something that we must do, follow a condition that must be kept, believe, receive, trust, hope, love, go right down the list. Anytime it's based upon that to get it, that's a religious work. That's a bad tree because it's produced by a bad tree. It is a house of sand because it is not built upon what Christ did, which is the rock. It's based upon what you do, and your house is a house of sand. It's a house of dust. Dust is going to return back to dust. All the works that you have done in this dust is going to return back to dust.

The only works that is going to last is what's done on the spiritual side, which you don't control. which you don't make, which you don't keep, which you don't do because God is doing it in you. God is accomplishing those works in you. The only reason you continue in faith is because God causes you by his faith in you to continue in faith. The only reason you hope in Christ is because Christ, who is our hope, hopes within us for us and keeps us hoping on him. The only reason we continue to love God's word, to love God and love his people is because God has given us a love shed abroad in our heart that didn't come from this man. It came from up there and it was put in here and shed abroad in our heart so that we can do something that we cannot do. That we can experience something that we cannot experience and produce in ourselves. That's why it's given. It's a gift. It's a gift of God. It's not something we produce. It's a gift of God. It's given out from outside to the inside. It's experienced on the inside. Yes, signs of that may show up on the outside, but it is a work that is done on the inside.

And because it shows up on the outside doesn't mean that you are a better person. It just means that God has done a work in you. And to judge others because they have more of that or don't have more of that, It's what Matthew 7, 1 is talking about. Whenever you judge because others don't have what you think they ought to have, or they don't measure up to how much you think you have, then now you are judging wrong judgment. That's hypocritical judgment. That's what the Pharisees were doing. They believed that they were superior in obedience to the law than all the rest of the people. Therefore, they judged them harshly.

Whenever that woman was found in adultery and was brought out and was gonna be stoned and Jesus came out there and he said, ye who are without sin, cast the first stone. Why didn't any of those Pharisees pick up those stones and start throwing the rocks? Because Christ cut to the very heart of things. They had sin too. And I'm personally, no, I can't confirm this wholeheartedly fully with scripture, but I believe that there are probably some of those Pharisees in there that had committed the exact same sin that that woman was in. Matter of fact, we already knew that that was a hypocritical thing. They were trying to trap Jesus because they brought the woman out, but they didn't bring the man out. The man should have been brought out just along with the woman and both of them should have been stoned for the adultery. By the law, the woman and the man should have been stoned because they had committed adultery. But they brought the woman out. May have been that the man that she was with was one of the Pharisees, I don't know. But the fact remains is Jesus caught their hypocrisy.

Well, brethren, listen, we don't, we don't escape that same hypocrisy as those Pharisees. And so Jesus here is saying, the acceptance and rejection doesn't have anything to do with how much fruit or how little fruit, because I am the one who controls the fruit making. The fruit comes from the life source. The tree only bears fruit when the life of the tree by its own will and desire produces life that produces fruit. The life of that tree pushes the fruit out of the limb. The life of Christ pushes it out of us. We don't produce it ourselves. So the rejection didn't have to do that.

Look at verse 23. This is what determined acceptance and rejection. Then will I profess unto them, never knew you. See, it all comes down to whether or not Christ knew them. See, he didn't say you didn't do enough. He didn't say that you failed to persevere.

Heard a clip from John MacArthur earlier this week talking about, or not John MacArthur, Ray Comfort. He was preaching a hot and heavy sermon about how You know, without holiness, no man will see God. And we all start obeying, obeying, obeying, obeying. Without holiness, you're never gonna see God. Well, here, these people obviously had done some holiness, but they still were not gonna see God. See, that's not the holiness the guy's looking at. He's not looking at holiness produced by you because you can't produce any. No man can produce holiness. He's looking at the holiness of Jesus Christ. Has the holiness of Jesus Christ been added to your account? Has it been written down under your name? Has it been imputed to you? Accounted for your righteousness? Has Christ's righteousness been accounted for your righteousness? If it has, then guess what? You are holy. And with that holiness, you shall see God. Without that holiness, you will not see God because you're left with your own holiness, which is unrighteousness.

He said, I never knew you. Now, just think about this here. I never knew you. That speaks of an eternal relationship then, right? If Christ never knew them, then that means that this knowledge, this relationship, spans back further than them just standing in front of him. It spans back further than their time on this earth and their experience. It spans all the way back before the foundation of the world. They never were new by Christ.

Now, let me ask you this. Do you believe that God is omniscient, all knowing, knows everything? Well, I think you can't read the Bible without realizing that. He knows everything, right? He's omniscient. Okay, if God knows everything, how can he say, I never knew you? Is he talking about, I don't have a cognizant understanding of who you are? I don't have a conscience awareness of who you are? That's not what he's talking about, brethren. He says, I never knew you because he never had a relationship with them.

Now the Armenians are gonna say, well, there you go. That's what we've been preaching all this time. You gotta have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I hear it preached all the time. I hear it preached in the pulpits I used to preach in, all the time. You gotta have a relationship with Jesus Christ. It's all about a relationship, a relationship, a relationship. But the problem is, is that their relationship with Jesus Christ is predicated upon something that they must accomplish and do. Their relationship is always hinged upon an action taken by them in the time, in their experience, and at some point can be severed. And if that case, now, the place where I grew up would never say that we would lose our salvation, but we would lose our fellowship and relationship with the Lord until we repent and come back and start back on the narrow path, right?

Brethren, the relationship doesn't start when you choose, accept, or anything. The relationship was chosen before the foundation of the world. Whenever God says here that I will profess unto them, I never knew you, This means that God had a covenantal and eternal relationship with these people. He covenanted with these people to do something for them, to be something to them. I will be their God, they will be my people. That is the terms of the everlasting covenant.

In the old covenant, it was, I will be your God, do this and live. And that never worked. It never worked. Nobody ever was able to keep it. Therefore, the sacrifice said, keep it coming, keep it coming, keep it coming, keep it coming, keep it coming. That's why the Bible says that this new covenant is a better covenant built upon better promises because the promises have nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with God keeping covenant, God keeping promise. And so whenever he says, I never knew you, means that it is an eternal knowledge. It is an eternal covenantal love that he has for a people that he has had from the very beginning, before the time began, he has had these people.

Now, who are those people? Who are the ones that enter in at the straight gate? If you look at the verses before that, who are the ones that enter in at the straight gate? Who are the ones who are on that straight and wonderful way? Well, those are the ones who are in Christ Jesus. Who are the ones who understand these things? The ones who God reveals them to. It says, I never knew you.

Look with me if you would at John chapter six. We go to this often. John chapter six, look at verse 37. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will otherwise cast out. This is who this is talking about. God knew them in a covenantal way because he's the one who gave them to Christ in the covenant, in the everlasting covenant.

Look again at the other one that we go to all the time. Anybody guess where we're going? Ephesians, Ephesians chapter one. Verse two, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places Where? In Christ. See, there's a relationship between Christ and us. Covenantal one. God blesses Christ, and because Christ is blessed, all of his seed is blessed.

Look at verse four. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. So God, before the foundation of the world chose us to stand holy and without blame, how? By calling upon his name, Lord, Lord? By casting out devils? By doing many wondrous works? No. How did God accept us before the foundation of the world as holy and without blame? By being in Christ Jesus. choosing us to be in Christ. That's why I say, brethren, to all these reformed people and naysayers that always tell me whenever I'm preaching predestination and I'm preaching eternal justification, they say that election is not salvation. Election is not justification. Brethren, listen, election is the fountain spring of all spiritual blessing. You have to first be chosen in Christ before any spiritual blessing can ever be given to you. The only reason any spiritual blessing comes to you is because you are in Christ.

And the Bible says that all those spiritual blessings was given to us in Christ, according as he is chosen. So in the fact that we have been chosen in Christ, eternal union, Guarantees that all spiritual blessings are ours and will be ours and will be applied to us Whether they be legal or whether they be experiential all spiritual blessings will be given to us and we will have all spiritual blessings as Full as God wants us to experience them to the greatest depth that God wants us to know them and live in them Those spiritual blessings are ours. That's the promises of God and their yay and amen in Christ Jesus

And so it is a acceptance or rejection based upon relationship. We were loved before the foundation of the world. Those who stood before Christ who confessed and did the works did not have a prior relationship with Christ Jesus. That's why he said that he never knew them.

Now, lastly, let's look at this. Why were not those works that they did considered righteous works? Why were they called works of iniquity? Well, if I look at the center point of this passage and see that acceptance and rejection has nothing to do with my confession or my religious activity, it has to do with my relationship with God then the reason that their works were considered works of iniquity is because they had no, they had no righteous connection to Christ Jesus. They had no relationship to Christ.

Without divine sonship, brethren, we are not righteous. See he, in Ephesians one, He predestinated us. He chose us. In Christ Jesus, to be holy and without blame. In Christ Jesus, to be holy and without blame. In Christ Jesus, to be holy and without blame. That means the holy and without blame is Christ Jesus. He stands as our righteousness, not produces us a righteousness of our own that we keep up and we say, oh, lookie there, my righteousness is just as good as Jesus's righteousness. That's what the lawmonger wants you to do. He wants your righteousness to come up to the standard of Jesus's righteousness, or at least the preacher's righteousness, right? The one pointing the finger at you saying you're not doing enough wants you to at least be up to their standard. But if you can, we need to be up to the standard of Jesus Christ.

But see, that's not the thing. The way that we're holy and without blame And the reason that these people were looked on as workers of iniquity, even though they did religious work, good religious work, confession of Jesus as Lord. The reason that that was not accepted as such was because they did not have a divine sonship with Christ. They could not claim that. They could not claim those works as righteous works because Christ did not do those works in them. It was not done of faith. It was done of duty. It was done of self-effort. And therefore, those works are dead works. Those works are bad fruit. Those works were not created by a good tree. They were created by a bad tree. And therefore, that bad tree is shewn down and thrown into the fire. Those works were not accepted. They didn't have Christ's righteousness. It was works that was done to establish a standing before God.

See, that's why I was saying, whenever our mindset is that we must do this to have a right standing before God, that is the works of iniquity. Even though they're religious good work, even though they may be law works of the Bible, whenever we do that before God for acceptance for God, to keep our standing before God, those are works of iniquity. Christ called them works of iniquity. I didn't, Christ did. You can take that up with Christ.

If you wanna argue law and gospel all the day long, go argue with someone who wants to argue. I'm not gonna argue with him, I'm just gonna take what the Bible said. Jesus said that confessing him and doing all those religious activities of preaching the gospel and casting out demons and doing marvelous, wondrous works, which I would only suspect is taking care of your neighbor, loving your neighbor as yourself, and feeding the poor, clothing the poor, helping the homeless and the downtrodden. Whatever you want to put in that blank that Jesus calls that works of iniquity.

If you are not tied to the source from which all righteousness comes, that's works of iniquity. Because the only righteousness that God accepts on your behalf is an outward righteousness by Christ who was put in your payment column.

Look with me, if you would, at Romans chapter nine, and we'll end. Probably one of the most hated books in the Bible. Probably some people watching this and listening to this rolling their eyes all the time.

Now, I just said, the point that I've been trying to press here is that acceptance and rejection before God is based on prior relationship to Jesus Christ. Matter of fact, Mike Fulton has made a great observation on this. The word redeemed, Christ redeemed us. You can't redeem something unless you have prior possession of it. There has to be prior relationship with something to have redemption.

He uses the example of whenever you hawk something, pawn shop. I don't know how many of y'all have ever hawked anything in a pawn shop. I don't know if that's still real prevalent in nowaday time or not, but back whenever I was growing up, that was the lifeblood of our family. It was my mom's sewing machine. She had a sewing machine that we probably hawked 95 times to get a little bit of money.

But you take something into a pawn shop, you pawn it, you get a little bit of money for it, that's still your, sewing machine, but you have to come back and redeem that. The only way I can go redeem, if I go into a pawn shop down the street here and walk in, I say, hey, boy, that's a nice bicycle you got in here. Hey, that's mine, I want that. And the guy said, well, wait a minute, that's not yours. That belongs to somebody else. You can't have that. They're coming back to redeem that.

Well, what about this one that's back here on this side of the counter? Well, you gotta give me some money for that. Well, that's mine. No, it's not. You didn't have any prior relationship to that thing. That's been in my shop. Redemption can only take place whenever Christ already had a people and a relationship to that people, and those people were lost. That way he can come and redeem.

But anyway, this, this term of having a relationship here. Look with me, if you would, in Romans chapter nine, and I'm gonna read down here at verse 31. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore, because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law.

See, they did it to keep the law. They didn't do it by faith. They did it by duty. They did it thinking that there was something that they were gonna get if they did this. Whether it's eternal salvation, whether it's a continual right standing with God, whether it's heaven in the end, whatever the case might be, they did the law for the sake of doing the law. It wasn't God working something out in them by faith, which again, you don't control. Some will say, well, I believe we do it by faith. Of course we've got to do that. Whatever you do that's not a faith is a sin, right? The question is, is how do you control faith? You can't. It's a gift measured by Christ. He deals out the measure of faith.

But it says here, lost my place. It says, they sought it not by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law, for they stumbled at the stumbling stone. As it is written, behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense, and whosoever believes on him shall not be ashamed.

But if we go into chapter 10, he says, rather my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves into the righteousness of God.

It means they haven't rest that Christ's righteousness is enough. They think that there's a righteousness that they have to produce and be seen doing to be accepted or kept or granted eternal life. But it says here, for Christ is the end of law for righteousness to everyone that believe it. That means to the child of God, they have been given faith and that faith doesn't look to law, it looks to grace. It doesn't look to Sinai, it looks to Mount Zion. It looks to Christ.

It says for Christ is the end of law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. For Moses described the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth those things shall live in him. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on the wise. Say not in thy heart who shall sin in heaven, that is to bring Christ down from above, or who shall descend into the deep, that is to bring Christ up from the dead. But what sayeth that the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart, that is the word of faith which we preach.

that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be already past tense, thou shalt be saved. Okay, it's not to get, it's not to keep, it's the product of and it's the fruit of the one who already is for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness.

So what's God saying in this? Those who are actually saved are the true Israel of God The ones who are related to Christ Jesus, they are the ones who will act like this. This will be how they are. They will believe on Christ alone. They won't believe in works mongering. They'll believe in Christ alone for their righteousness. They'll rest in the fact that I don't have to keep up all this stuff for God's acceptance. They'll know that I'm accepted in the beloved. I'm accepted because I'm family. The prodigal son, the father didn't hug him and bring him back in and put on that ring and give him that coat and kill a fat laugh because that kid repented of his sin and did good works and came back. No, the father did that because that was his son. What did he say to the other son? Rejoice for your son. My son has come home. He's my son. because he is the family.

God forgive all of our transgressions. Why? Because we're family. And our elder brother has taken the penalty for all that we have done. And our elder brother has been the perfect example. And because of that perfect example, we are looked on as perfect. He says, for the scripture saith, whoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed, for there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, not will be, shall be. Whoever shall call upon the Lord shall be, past tense, saved.

How then shall they call on him that they have not believed, and how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? There they go. They said, well, there you go. You got to hear preaching and believe on this. No, this is talking about what the work of Christ. How shall they preach except they be sent as it is written? How beautiful are the feet of them which preach the gospel, preach peace and bring glad tidings of good things. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. You can preach all the day long and someone not hear and obey the gospel. What is obeying the gospel? Believing on Christ Jesus.

For Isaiah said, Lord, who has believed our report? Now, what was the answer to that? Those to whom the arm of the Lord has been revealed, right? That's who believes the report. So then faith comes by hearing. So our faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Those are acts of Christ. Those are the works of Christ. Christ is the one who preaches the word to us spiritually supernaturally, inwardly. And the hearing ear is given by God as well. So faith comes whenever Christ preaches that into us.

But I say, have they not heard? Yes, verily, their sound went into all the earth and their words into the end of the world. But I say, did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people in the foolish nation I will anger. But Isaiah is very bold and saith, I was found of them that sought me not. I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. But to Israel he saith, all day long I've stretched forth my hand to a disobedient and gainsame people.

Brethren, I'll put to you that Israel, especially those during Jesus's time, these are people who were trying to keep the law. It wasn't that they were disobedient because They were disobedient because they weren't keeping it fully, right? We know that. But the disobedience here is they were disobeying the gospel, which the gospel calls us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. So here's the question. All that long reading just now for this. Does it have to do with relationship? Absolutely it does.

I say then, hath God cast away his people? God forbid, for I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew. What ye not what the scripture saith of Elias, how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, dig down thine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life.

But what saith the answer of God unto them? I have reserved to myself 7,000 men who are not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.

So Paul's making the argument, just because during this time right now there are some believing on Christ and some aren't, doesn't mean that God hasn't cast away Israel. He hasn't cast away Israel, but there is a remnant within the people of Israel that God has chosen before the foundation of the world foreknew, that he has foreknown, he had a relationship with, those people are the believing ones.

Why are they believing ones? Because they are children of the promise. God promised to bless them with all spiritual blessings and faith is a spiritual blessing. It's a gift of God.

But what set the answer of God unto him? I have reserved for myself 7,000 men. Look at verse 5. Even so then at this present time also there's a remnant according to the election of grace, not according to their choice, not according to their free will, not according to their confession or anything like that according to the election of grace and if by grace and it is no more of works otherwise grace is no more grace but if it be of works then there's no more grace otherwise work is no more work what then now listen listen close this is gonna tie up everything I've been saying what then Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for but the election hath obtained it and the rest were blinded According as written, God have given them a spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear unto this day.

What was this exciting factor here, brethren? The election of grace. I think I'm safe to say biblically that election is salvation. Now, that incorporates a whole lot of things, and at the very foundation of that, the grounds upon righteous saving is the blood of Jesus Christ. I'm not negating and denying the cross and its need. I'm just saying, you can't say, you can't remove one without the, that's why they call it the golden chain of salvation. You can't remove one. Otherwise, they all fall down. If there is no election, there is no salvation because the election is unto salvation, but it is salvation. I am saved from reprobation because I was saved by election. And so whenever the day comes and I stand before God, there will be no more worker of iniquity. because Christ has paid for all my works of iniquity, which I will continue to do until the day I die. But yet I will stand in all the works of righteousness that Christ has done.

So it comes down to whether or not we're talking about Israel of the flesh. The Israel of the flesh accounts for nothing. What does that mean? Well, I believe it's talking about a natural people, an ethnic people. Just because someone is ethnically Israel doesn't mean they're automatically saved. To the, you know, can't think of his name now. Hagee, John Hagee. Unbiblical view of that.

But I also believe this brethren, the Israel of the flesh being the religious outward man profits nothing. It isn't the children of the flesh who are the children of the promise. It's the children of the spirit who are accounted as the children of Abraham, the children of faith who are accounted for the promise. The promises of God are given to those in that spiritual kingdom, in that spiritual lineage, not in that fleshly lineage. So whether or not you want to run your lineage back to the Israelites, run it back all you want, because here, even in whenever Israel was still true Israel, in the flesh, before they're mixing and mingling, there still was within, as Isaiah said, within that people, a remnant that God had kept. Why? Because he foreknew them.

Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity. I never knew you. I never had a relationship with you. Therefore, all the promises of God that are yea and amen are in me and you are not in me. And if you're not in me, you're in your father, Adam. And the works of the flesh will be thrown, hewn down and thrown in the fire. They will not last. They will not be counted. There will not be enough for your salvation.

All right. So something new that I experienced in studying that, brethren, that just jumped out at me is the relational aspect of that. Anybody got any questions or comments, corrections or rebukes or anything? Anything else you guys have that you might wanna talk about?

All right. I found that word prayer. Father, we thank you for the day once again. It's always a privilege for us to gather in your name with your people under your word. The father, I pray that today the Christ has been exalted in our midst. Pray that the spirit is ministered to each and every one that is here. Father, Lord, I pray that you would keep us all safe as we leave this place today. Keep us by your spirit in the faith of Christ Jesus.

Father, I pray that there's been an encouragement and comfort that has been given to the people that are listening and watching as well. That all things that we do here would be to the glory and the exaltation of Christ Jesus and to the abasing of man. And Father, we just know that apart from you, we can do nothing. That apart from your work on the cross for us, that we'd still be left in our sin. and that we'd be given account for ourselves. And that account would always be that we are wicked and without hope.

So Father, we are grateful for grace. We are thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the salvation that has come through his blood. It's in his name that we pray these things, amen.