We'll read the verses beginning
at verse 21 in just a moment. But if I told you this morning
that I felt like the message that I'm going to preach to you
today, if God enables me to do it, was the most important message
I've ever preached to you since I've been your pastor, that I
don't feel like there's been any more important than this,
would that get your attention? Would I have your attention?
Because I do. I believe that there's no message
that I'll bring any more important than the one I want to bring
to you this morning. Again, I say, if God enables
me to do it. I remember reading a story, I
think it was about John Knox, a preacher that lived hundreds
of years ago and pastored a large congregation Often, his wife would wake up
in the middle of the night and he wouldn't be in bed with her.
And she would find him kneeling, praying, pouring out his heart
before God. And she would scold him because
it was cold and he didn't have a cloak or a blanket around him. And he would reply to her this
way. He'd say, woman, I've got the souls of a lot of men and
women to answer for. And I just don't know how it
is with a lot of them. I just don't know how it is.
I don't know if they truly know God or not. And I've got the
answer for them. Our great God and Savior. With
that in mind, I want to read you a few verses. You need not
turn there, but you'll recognize it from Ezekiel. You may already
guess where I'm going. But this is what The Lord told
Ezekiel chapter 33, So thou son of man, I have set thee a watchman
into the house of Israel. Therefore, thou should hear the
word of my mouth and warn them from me. You tell them what I
say. Deliver my message. When I say
unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou should surely die. If thou
does not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man
shall die in his iniquity. Remember what our Lord said to
the Pharisees, if you don't believe I'm he, you're going to die in
your sins. You're going to die in your sins.
The wicked shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require
at thy hand, my soul. Nevertheless, If you warn the
wicked of his way to turn from it, if he do not turn from his
way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul. Is it any wonder, with that being
the case, that the Apostle Paul asked the question after stating
that the preaching of the gospel that he preached And every man
truly called of God preaches the same message. Paul said that
gospel is a savor of life unto life to those that hear and believe,
or it's a savor of death unto death to those who sit and harden
their hearts under it and remain in unbelief. Think about that. That's serious business. That's
why I asked, do I have your attention? Because that's exactly the case
I'm in right now this morning. And after Paul made that statement
concerning the effect that the gospel always produces, it will
this morning. It will this morning. I don't
have any question about that. Some will be blessed by it. Some
will rejoice in it. But those who are unbelievers,
they'll harden their hearts. They'll be affected. Oh, they
may say, oh, it really doesn't matter. Oh, it matters. It matters. And it'll be a savor of death
unto death to them. In light of that, is it any wonder
that Paul said, oh my soul, who is sufficient? Paul cried out. Who is sufficient for these things? In another place he answered
that question and he said, our sufficiency is of God. In Acts chapter 20, when he met
with those Ephesian elders, elders of the churches at Ephesus, Paul
said to them, now behold, I know that you all among whom I have
gone preaching the kingdom of God shall see my face no more. No more. This is the last time,
Paul said, you'll see me. And he was right. He was right.
He went to Jerusalem. He was arrested. They never saw
him again. But Paul says, wherefore I take
you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men. How so, Paul? How is that possible? Because I have not shunned to
declare unto you all the counsel of God. I preached unto you the
gospel. Now, with that as a preface to
the message, let's look here in Matthew chapter 7, verse 21. This is the Lord Jesus Christ
speaking. Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall inherit the kingdom of God. Really? That's what most preachers say
today. All you have to do is confess Him. All you got to do
is repeat after me. If you say, Lord, Lord, you're
a believer. Jesus Christ said, that's not true. That's not true. Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of God, but he that
doeth the will. You mean there's obedience involved
in this? You mean there's a bowing to
Jesus Christ necessary to be a believer? Do you interpret
that any other way? But he that doeth the will of
my Father which is in heaven, many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name
have cast out devils. And in thy name, three times
they say, in thy name we did this. And in thy name done many
wonderful works. And then, I've often thought
about this, but I declare I cannot imagine. What's the phrase today? I just can't wrap my head around
it. These many, not one or two, but
many, standing before the throne of God Almighty in that day,
and not knowing until Jesus Christ himself, the judge of all the
earth, says, then shall I say unto them, I never knew you. I never knew you, my soul. I just can't imagine the horror
that will grip their hearts in that day. Then will I profess
unto them, I never knew you. He said, I know my sheep. I love
my sheep. I lay down my life for my sheep.
My sheep hear my voice. I know my sheep and they know
me. My sheep know me, and they follow me, but I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. Therefore, whosoever heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them," there's the word again.
This is the work of God, he's told the religious leaders, that
you believe on him whom God did send. 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. Why did it not fall? Because
it was founded upon a rock. Why will a believer never perish? Because they're resting upon
the rock, the eternal rock of ages upon which the church is
built and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. That's
why the foundation of Jesus Christ. Verse 26, And everyone that heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, doeth them not, refuse
to believe, refuse to bow, She'll be likened unto a foolish man. That's who these were that said,
Lord, Lord, we did all these things in your name. They're
marvelous things, pretty things, religious things. They were building
their house without a foundation. Without a foundation. Trusting
their works, but not Christ. That's exactly what our Lord
is saying here. Or likened to a foolish man which
built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the
floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house. And
it fell, and great was the fall of it. Depart from me, I never
knew you. And it came to pass when Jesus
had ended these things that people were astonished at his doctrine. For he taught them as one having
authority. Well, I declare, yes, he has
authority. He's God Almighty. He's King
of kings. He's Lord of lords. He's that
one with whom we have to do, that one in whose eyes we stand
before him naked and open, revealed and plain. For he taught them
as one having authority and not as the scribes. Look again, if
you will, at verse 22. Many were saying to me, Lord,
Lord, in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy
name? cast out devils in thy name and
done many wonderful works in thy name in that day. That's the title of my message.
In that day, there'll be a final, eternal, irrevocable separation
in that day. There'll be a separation. Look, if you will, in Matthew
chapter 15. Let's look at a few verses in Matthew chapter 15. Our Lord says much the same thing
here in Matthew chapter 15. In verse 1 it says, Then came to
Jesus the scribes and the Pharisees. They were the religious elite. Their names would be on the church
page in the morning's paper today if they were around. Dr. Pharisee, which were of Jerusalem,
saying, this is what they say to the Lord. Why do your disciples
transgress not the law of God, but they transgress our traditions?
They're stepping on our traditions. We love our traditions. We don't
have a place for you, Christ, but we'll keep our traditions.
They transgress the traditions of the elders, for they don't
wash their hands when they eat bread. Terrible, terrible. And look how our Lord answers
them. You hypocrites, verse 7. Wow,
wow. I guess the book How to Win Friends
and Influence People wasn't around in our Lord's day because he
said, you hypocrites, you vipers, you snakes, he said on another
occasion. You hypocrites, well did Isaiah
prophesy of you saying, this people draweth nigh unto me with
their mouth. Remember what we read in chapter
7 a moment ago? Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, we did
all this for you. This people draweth nigh unto
me with their mouth and honors me with their lips, but their
heart is far from me. It doesn't take anything to profess
to be a Christian? Well, I declare. Lester, we're
hard-pressed to find somebody who doesn't, aren't we? It's
tough to find somebody today that doesn't profess to be a
Christian. Everybody does just about. You can't hardly find
a lost man. But our Lord said being a believer
is more than that. It's more than professing, it's
possessing. It's more than just talking to
talk, it's walking to walk. And that's what he said to the
Pharisees. You're hypocrites. Isaiah hit the nail on the head
when he talked about you guys. Verse eight, this people draw
nigh unto me with their mouth, with their mouth, and honored
me with their lips, oh, but their heart, and that's the issue,
it's the heart. It's the heart. It's not enough for me to learn
some verses, to memorize scripture, to, as my grandmother told me,
get a haircut, and that's right, I could do all that, but I still
had a wicked heart. I needed a new heart. These Pharisees
said, you transgressed the tradition of the elders. See, our religion consists in
don't touch this, and don't taste that, and don't go there, and
don't wear the other, but nothing to do with the heart. But our
heart's a den of vipers. You honor me with your lips,
but your heart Your heart, that's the issue. It's that wicked heart
of yours. You don't need to make a decision.
You need a new heart. You don't need to walk an aisle.
You need a new heart. It's not enough to go in the
water. You need God Almighty to operate on that wicked heart
of yours and give you a new heart. Otherwise, you can't know me. It's just Lord, Lord, but don't
do the things that I say. In verse 9, look what he says.
In vain, in vain they worship me. teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men. But in that day, our Lord said,
there'll be no more of that. In that day, with the arm of
omnipotent, sovereign power and grace, he's going to divide the
sheep from the goats. There'll be no more of mixed
multitude. Look, if you will, in Matthew
again, chapter 25. Matthew chapter 25, verse 31.
Matthew 25 and verse 31. He says, when the Son of Man shall come, And he's coming. He's coming.
Oh, I know the scoffers, the mockers, the smart elics. They
say, oh, it's a fable, it's a fairy tale. Well, I tell you what,
when God Almighty, when King Jesus, not this pitiful imposter
I hear about that most people profess faith in, but when King
Jesus says, time shall be no more, And he steps out and he
comes in the clouds with power and great glory. You know what
the scoffers and the mockers that say that's just a fairy
tale are going to do? They're going to run into the
rocks and say, follow us, hide us from the face of he who sits
on the throne. We've been fools because the
great day of his wrath has come. And who shall be able to stand
in that day, verse 31? When the Son of Man shall come
in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He
sit upon the throne of His glory. And before Him, and how about
that, before Him, not before the preacher, not before the
Pope, not before the Baptist, but before Him, shall be gathered
all nations. And He, He, He who knows the
heart. He who knows the heart. He who
knows right now whether Larry Criss is a hypocrite or not.
He who looks at me right now and he knows whether I'm his
or not. He knows whether I'm a believer or a deceiver. He
knows whether I'm a true believer, a partaker of his grace, or I'm
just pretending to be. He knows. Before him shall be
gathered all men and he shall separate them one from another
as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats. And he shall
set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then
shall the king say unto them on his right hand, come ye blessed
of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world. In that day there will be a final
eternal, irrevocable separation. The sheep on the right hand,
the goats on the left. No more wheat and tares growing
together. They do now. Christ said, let
them grow together. Don't you try to separate them. Let the tares and the wheat grow
together. Let unbelievers and believers
mix together. Let them pretend to be what they
are not for now. I'll do the separating. And in
that day, there'll be no more mixing of sheep and goats, no
more congregation of pretenders and believers. Those who truly
possess God's grace and those who only profess to possess God's
grace. Christ says, in that day, I'll
separate them. I'll separate them. Oh God, if
I'm talking to anybody right now at this moment, that truly
doesn't know the Lord Jesus Christ, would you come to them now? Would
you reveal yourself to them now? Would you show them their true
condition now so they'll call out to you for mercy? Because
if you don't, they never will. They'll sit smug, content, harboring
that false profession, and they'll go out the door and say, good
preaching, Larry, and go to hell hugging a false hope. Oh, God,
reveal yourself to them. Are you still in Matthew? Look
at chapter 13, Matthew chapter 13, verse 40. Again, this is our
Lord Jesus Christ talking. As therefore the tares are gathered
and burned in the fire, the false, the pretenders, not the wheat
but the tares, so shall it be in the end of this world. The
Son of Man shall send forth his angels, And they shall gather
out, they'll take out, of his kingdom all things that offend,
and then which do iniquity. And shall cast him into the furnace
of fire, there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth, and then, then, oh John, then shall the
righteous shine forth as the son in the kingdom of their father
who had ears to hear, let him hear. Let him hear. As I said
a moment ago, everybody look up here. Everybody. You're going to be there. Louie,
you're going to be there. Lester, John, you're going to,
you two young girls, you're going to be there. I'm going to be
there. There's none going to escape
standing before the judge of all the earth. We're going to
be there. We're all going to be present
in that day. In that day when this happens. When this happens. We read of
it in chapter 20 of Revelation. Oh, what a horrible, horrible
picture much of this is. And I saw a white throne, a great
white throne, white, pure, righteous, perfect, holy. And him that sat
on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and
there was found no more place for them. And I saw the dead,
small and great. I sometimes chuckle. I think
it was last night or something I was watching, they were talking
about another award show for the celebrities. How many awards
do they need? I thought, well, just a bunch
of worms are going to get together and brag on the other worms.
I saw the dead Small and Great. Big worms, little worms. Stand
before God. And the books were opened and
another book was opened. which is the book of life, and
the dead were judged out of those things which are written in the
books, singular, according to their works. According to their
works. That's what those people pleaded
in Matthew 7. Their works. Lord, we did all
these wonderful works, and we did them for you. They pleaded
their works. No foundation. And the sea gave
up the dead which were in it. And death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man
according to their works. Everybody's going to get exactly
what they deserve. Exactly. And death and hell were
cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Blessed
is he that hath part in the first resurrection. Over them the second
death has no power. He that believeth on me shall
live forever, Christ said. And whosoever was not found written
in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. We'll all be present. Oh, but
glory to God. Remember the scripture reading
we had earlier? Paul said, But God has not appointed
us to salvation, or rather to damnation. God has appointed
us to salvation. God has appointed us to obtain
salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. The great shepherd says,
my sheep will never perish. I give my sheep eternal life. No man can pluck my sheep out
of my hand. I love my sheep. I've always
loved my sheep. When the Father gave them to
me in that everlasting covenant and I agreed to be responsible
for my sheep, I came into this world for my sheep. I laid down
my life for my sheep. I ascended back to heaven and
there I intercede for my sheep. And one of these days the great
shepherd is going to come back for his sheep. God had not appointed
us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
On another occasion, If I'm not mistaken, this was also an encounter
with the religious folk of his day, our Lord's worst enemies. They hated him more than anyone
else. Oh, the harlots and the publicans,
they go into the kingdom of God before you religious people,
the Lord said. But in John chapter 7, we read,
there was a division among the people because of him. John 7, 43, there was a division
among the people because of him, Jesus Christ. That's the him
in the text. They were divided because of
him. The Lord Jesus Christ, the true
Christ of God, always does that. He always causes a division.
That's what he said. A man's foes shall be those of
his own household. His enemies will be those of
his own household. There'll be a division because
of him. I'm eager to listen to John's
message that he preached when I was gone a week before last,
from John chapter 6. Will you also go away? Our Lord
asked that to his disciples because he watched a multitude turned
their back and said, man, he's teaching some tough stuff. I
don't like that. I'm going to go down the street
here where they tell me how good I am. I'm going to go down here
where they'll tell me God's done everything he can do and it's
up to me. Because this guy's telling me no man can come to
God except God Almighty drawing. He's saying God's sovereign.
He's saying God don't love everybody. He's saying God doesn't want
to save everybody. He's saying that it's not up
to me and my will and my worth or my work. It's up to God Almighty. I don't like that. I won't hear
it so. You wonder why these goat barns are full this morning?
That's why. That's why. Because they're telling people
what they want to hear and not what they need to hear, not the
gospel. And they said, we won't have it, and they turned their
back and walked away. They walked away from the Son
of God. They walked away from the only
Savior. They walked away from that only one by whom they can
receive grace and glory. They turned their back on the
Son of God. And he looked at the 12. That's
all that was left. As the dust began to settle from
that trample of the multitude as they walked away, the Lord
said, you want to join the crowd? Want to join the crowd? Oh, they
must be right. Look, everybody's going there.
They must be right. Can so many people be wrong?
The multitude was. You want to join them? There
was a division. There was a division because
of him. We see it again and again and
again in scripture. A separation time because of
him. Some went away. John probably mentioned this
in his message. It wouldn't surprise me if he
didn't or rather if he did. Someone once said, If you can
leave the Son of God, you will. Now think about that. If you
can leave the Son of God, you will. You will. You want to go away? Oh man,
I'll tell you what, a lot of times old Peter stuck his foot
in his mouth. I know how he feels, how he felt. But boy, he was dead on it that
day when he said, To whom shall we go? To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life. Where else are we going to go? Where else are we going to go?
John Copeland, if you can get in Peter's shoes this morning
and you can say the same thing, let the multitudes go. Let them
chase religion. Nonsense that goes on all around
us. I've got nowhere else to go. You're a blessed man. God Almighty's
done something for you that he's not done for everybody. He's
revealed to you who his son is. That night the Lord appeared
to Moses in Exodus, and he said, I'm going to pass through Egypt
tonight, and I'm going to murder. Did you hear that? I thought
God loved everybody. Well, he's got a funny way of
showing it on. I'm going to kill all the firstborn in the land
of Egypt. I mean from the son of Pharaoh,
Pharaoh that sits on the throne, to the firstborn of the maiden
in the stall. I'm going to kill all the firstborn
in Egypt except, oh, except those who are in the
house where the blood is applied, that lamb that's been slain.
When I see the blood, that blood, I'm looking at the blood of my
son. I'm looking at Christ, our Passover crucified for us. When
I see that, I'm going to Passover you. And everyone's going to
know that the Lord puts a difference between the Egyptians and Israel,
is what Moses said. That all men may know that God
makes a difference. God makes us to differ. Grace makes us to differ. My soul. Of course it does. Of course
it does. Religion won't make you to differ.
Oh, it might make you act different, might make you act funny, might
make you stand back and say, I'm glad I'm not like other men.
Yeah, it'll do that, but it won't give you a new heart. Oh, only
grace can do that. Who makes you to differ from
another? Old Newton said, I'll tell you
this, I'll confess this. He was an honest preacher. He
said, I'm not what I want to be. I'm guilty of a lot. And I'm
not what I should be. I fail miserably. And I'm not
what I'm going to be. But he said, I thank God Almighty
that I'm not what I used to be. I'm not what I used to be. And
if God Almighty is pleased to drop his reigning grace into
the soul of any dead sinner, they won't be what they used
to be. And they never will be what they
used to be. Because grace makes his people
to differ. That's the only thing that makes
them to differ. I am, Paul said, what I am by
the grace of God. reigning grace, abounding grace,
grace that doesn't allow sin to have dominion over us anymore,
grace that makes us new creatures in Christ Jesus. And if the grace
you profess to have experienced doesn't do that for you, it's
false. It's false, it's a lie, and you
need to get rid of it by God's grace. The sooner you get rid
of it, the better. I tell you, I run across people
all the time saying, well, Larry, let me tell you, since I last
saw you, I had a religious experience. And the first thing I think,
that's too bad. That's too bad. Sorry to hear it, because most
of the time it don't amount to nothing. It's a religious experience,
but they don't know God from a billy goat. Yeah, religious
experience. This multitude that stood before
the throne, I imagine they all had a religious experience that
night. We've done all these things, Lord, Lord, in your name. Let me ask you this, do you find
it easy, child of God, professing believer, do you find it easy
to get along in this world? Do you? Really? Do you? Do you
never have a conflict in this world? Do you walk hand-in-hand
and arm-in-arm with this world? With the enemies of God in Jesus
Christ your Savior, you never have a conflict with that? Then
you need to be concerned. You need to be alarmed. There's
something wrong with your profession of faith if it doesn't bring
you into conflict with this world. Any man that's a friend of the
world is the enemy of God. For most people, being a Christian
amounts to no more than this. They get up on Sunday morning
and put on their, what did they used to call it, their Sunday
go-to-meeting clothes. And that's it. That's it. They
go to church. You know, I need to go to church.
Not been for a while, but I need to go. I think I ought to go.
I'll feel better about myself, and everybody will be so glad
to see me, and I'll just, I'll just, I think I'll go to church.
Doesn't make a lick of difference which one it is, what I hear.
They can tell lies on God, but that's okay. I'm going to go
to church. And then when they get through going to church,
they go back home and they take their clothes off and hang them
in the closet, and that's the end of their Christianity for
the rest of the week. That's all it amounts to. That's
all that it is. It ends when they leave the church. Lord, Lord, have we not done
all these wonderful works in your name. You remember in the
bulletin, in our bulletin, your bulletin, a few weeks ago, the
quote by J.C. Ryle. And this was a couple hundred
years ago. My soul, it's like he was looking
at today. He said, there's a common worldly
kind of Christianity in this day which many have and think
they have enough. It's a cheap Christianity which
offends nobody. Let's just all get along. Which
requires no sacrifice. It's a Christianity that costs
nothing and it's worth nothing. It's the kind these many had. It was worth nothing. Child of God, we don't gauge
our commitment to Christ by the current religious nonsense that's
going on all around us. We gauge our commitment, our
duty to Christ by what Christ said. If you love me, you'll
keep my commandments. I'm more concerned about honoring
God's word and God's gospel than I am being politically correct.
I tell you what, I'll be honest with you. I kind of enjoy putting
my foot through religious tradition. I just like booting it, kicking
it around. That's what it deserves. That's
what it deserves. If your profession of faith never
brings you into opposition with this world, it's a false one. Your master said, if they've
hated me, they're going to hate you as well. Today, to conclude
our service, we'll observe the Lord's Supper. Now this doesn't
confer grace. If you're a believer, come and
welcome. By all means, come and welcome. If you're not, don't
do it. Don't do it. You drink and eat damnation to
yourself, I'll say. But the partaking of the Lord's
Supper doesn't confer grace, and it doesn't require grace
to do it. but it reminds us of him by whom grace comes. This do in remembrance of me
so you never forget that you've been redeemed to God by the precious
blood of Jesus Christ. You remember when John, or I'm
sorry, in John's gospel chapter six, our Lord said, and among
them were the religious folks again, except you eat the flesh
of the son of man and drink his blood, you don't have any life
in you." And they said, did you hear what he said? Did you hear
what he said? I told you the guy's off his
rocker. I told you he has a devil. How
are we going to eat his flesh? How are we going to drink his
blood? And Christ said, if you don't, you have no part with
me. If you don't, there's no life
in you. And they took that literally.
And that's pretty much what the Catholics do. With the wafer
and the wine, they call that transubstantiation. That's a
big fancy word. They say from the hand of the
priest to the mouth of the comer, there is the actual body of Jesus
Christ. The bread and the blood actually
becomes his body. and blood. What utter nonsense. No, this reminds us that we're
united to the Son of God spiritually. Literally, but spiritually. Christ
in you, the hope of glory. Because I live, he said, ye shall
live also. The old writers referred to this
as a vital union. A vital union. meaning no one
is saved until they're united to a living Savior by a living
faith, and that alone gives them a living hope. By God's sovereign
grace united, I like this old hymn, by God's sovereign grace
united to his Son eternally, I can never be divided from my
covenant surety. God's free love from everlasting
made me one with his dear Son. Blessed union, strong and changing,
I am with my Savior one. Blessed, blessed union. Christ in you, the hope of glory. That's a believer. That's a sheep. That's wheat. That's genuine. Christ in you, the hope God, by sovereign mercy, breathed
into us the very breath of life, the life of his Son. And this
sinner, united to Christ, my head, will live forever. How about this? I'll live as
long as he lives. It's no wonder that he said,
they'll never perish. I know people, perhaps you do
too, that live a life of constant rebellion against God. Their
very lifestyle is rebellion against God. They say, I don't care what
God's book says about marriage. I'm going to shack up. I know
that's kind of a crude term. We like to say, well, this is
my partner. I'm sure I'm living here with
my partner. No, you're shacking up, living
in adultery, committing fornication. I've got a niece that's done
that for years. Done that for years. The guy that she, her
partner, has been in prison more times than he's been out. She's
had six babies the last count I heard out of wedlock. And I
guarantee you, if she and he were sitting right here this
morning and I asked them, are you a Christian? Both of them
would say yes. Yes. You know why? Because she posts
silly little religious slogans on Facebook. That's what makes
her think she's a believer. Gee, Monetti, I ain't making
that up. That's exactly right. Paul in
2 Corinthians 11 said he suffered more than all the other apostles. Read that sometime. And then
in the next chapter, chapter 12, he said, I was caught up
to third heaven and God showed me things that he wouldn't allow
me to try to repeat when I came back down. It just wasn't lawful. There just wasn't words to express
the things I saw. And yet, when Paul was facing
death, he didn't mention one of those things. He didn't mention
one of the beatings. One of the trials, none of the
persecutions, he didn't mention it. He didn't mention taking
care of all the churches. He didn't mention being caught
up to third heaven. You know what he said? My hope
is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
He was resting upon the rock. He said, I know whom I have believed. Timothy, I'm preaching the gospel.
God separated me unto the gospel. And that's why I suffer these
things. I'm not ashamed. Because I know whom. Listen,
listen. I know whom. You remember? What we read in Matthew 7? It
was all what, what, what, what, what, what. They never said a
word about whom. They just threw his name in with
all their what's. But Paul didn't say anything
about what. He said, I know whom. It's all
about him. I know whom I have believed and
persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed unto
him against that day. I think it was Thursday or Friday.
I emailed the bulletin to folks who want it. Larry Brown, after
reading it, sent me an email concerning one of the articles
in the bulletin, the day's bulletin. I want to share it with you.
Larry said, hey, old friend. He usually calls me Chrissy,
which he knows I hate, but hey, old friend. He said, when Tommy,
your former pastor, when Tommy was sickened to death, Carol
and I drove to Birmingham to see him for what I supposed and
was to be the last time I should see him in this world. I'd known
him for a long time. And we had much in common, which
we talked about on several occasions. When I walked into his hospital
room, it hurt to even look at him. And I had no idea of what
to say to him. And we just looked at one another,
and finally I said, I'm so sorry to see you going through all
of this. And Larry wrote, if I live to be senile, I'll never
forget his response with a Smile on his face, he said, it's OK. God's still on. It's OK. God's still on the throne. And Larry said, now, with that
in mind, Larry, go back and read that article you wrote, put in
the bulletin written by Tommy again. Time will tell. Time will tell was the article.
I won't read it. Read it. I hope that you do.
Just the last part of it, Tommy wrote, on the other hand, there
have been those who persevered in faith until eternal glory.
He has. Such as Paul, who said, I have
fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I
have kept the faith. I wonder what time will reveal
concerning us in that day, in that day, when we all stand before
God. Wherefore, the brethren, give
diligence to make your calling in election sure, because if
you do these things, ye shall never fall. God give us grace
to do so. Let me cut this short. In the
last few verses there in Matthew 7, beginning at verse 24, Our
Lord gives us the explanation of why what he had already spoken
took place. He says, this is why many shall
stand before me in that day, thanking their believers, and
they're not. Many will hear me say to them,
depart from me. And then in verses 24 through
27, he tells us why that happened. And just to make it short, he
says, They started wrong. They started wrong. They were
wrong from the get-go. They laid their hope on their
own works. They never did have a foundation.
It's not that they knew Christ and then didn't know him anymore.
It's not that they came to me and then I finally cast them
out. No, no, no. That never happens. That never
happens to a child of God. He said, they started wrong. Two builders. but only one foundation. One heard and did the Master's
will, believed on the Son of God, and the other didn't. He
never did. He built his hope on his own
works and effort. With this inevitable outcome,
their house fell, and great was the fall of it. I know it's getting a little
warm in here, and I'm going to a close. But I tell you, I got a heavy
heart right now because I'm looking out at people. And God forbid that in that day,
this day that we just read about in Matthew 7, when you and I
stand before God, God forbid that any of you I'm looking at
hear him say, depart from me. I never knew you. I never knew
you. God don't allow that. God don't allow that. One started
wrong and he continued wrong and he ended wrong. But one laid
his hope on Jesus Christ. His hope was built on nothing
less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. In a moment, we'll observe the
Lord's Supper. In 2 Corinthians chapter 13,
Paul wrote, Examine yourselves whether you
be in the faith. Know ye not your own selves whether
Christ be in you, except you be a reprobate. And then in chapter
11 of 1 Corinthians, he says, examine yourselves concerning
the Lord's Supper. And then, so come. So come, eat the bread and drink
the wine. Come and welcome. If you're a
child of God, come and welcome. No restrictions. Come and welcome. Just faith in Christ. Several
years ago, during the Christmas holiday, I think a week or so
before, I was watching the local news, and some of y'all may be
aware of this, but there were some people beginning to get
together, and they had sort of a yard sale, but they wasn't
selling anything. They were giving it away. And
they started at a home, Then other people joined in and brought
stuff to give to the needy. And they said, spread the word.
Well, it got so big, one of the local malls said, on a certain
Saturday, you can use our parking lot. And it just got bigger and
bigger, and people, poor, needy people would come. And they interviewed
this one girl, and I'll never forget it. The reporter said,
stuck a mic in her face and said, why are you here? And this lady
said, well, she said, I've never come to these stores any other
time. I don't have any money. I can't
buy anything. But she said, all this stuff
they put out, it's free. It's free. I don't need any money. I can have this because it's
free. Hope. Everyone that thirsteth,
come you to the waters. And he that hath no money, come
you and buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. Wherefore, does this describe
you? Wherefore, do you spend money
for that which is not bread? never satisfied, and your labor
for that which satisfieth not. Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto
me. Hear, and your soul shall live,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure
mercies of David." One of the last verses in the scripture.
And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth
say, Come. And let him that is athirst,
Come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Freely. God bless you. Thank
you for your attention.