A couple of quick announcements. Wait till everybody gets in here. This time next week, you should
see a huge difference on our new building. They finished up
all the drywall yesterday, and they're going to be texturing,
and Bert's going to be painting this week. The siding is going
up this week, and the parking lot, all the site prep is being
done this week. So hopefully by a week from now,
things are going to be looking really good. A contractor said
in two weeks he'll be finished. So we have some details that
we have to do. Painting, trim carpentry, a couple
other things, I think. Flooring. So I think realistically,
maybe before, but at least by the first of August, we should
be on our new building. That's pretty exciting. If you
haven't seen it, go check it out before it gets changed some
more. In the scriptures, it says that
God has made Christ to be for us our wisdom, our righteousness,
our sanctification. And in Proverbs chapter 4 verse
7, the Lord tells us that wisdom is the principle thing. Wisdom is the principle thing.
Martha, Mary has sought that one thing needful. Wisdom, the
Lord Jesus Christ is the only thing. He is everything. God has given him a name that
is above every name. Wisdom is the principal thing.
Therefore, get wisdom and with all thy getting, get understanding. When you have wisdom, the Lord
gives you some understanding about who you are, about who
God is, about what Christ has done, about how it is that God's
pleased to save sinners. That understanding comes. when
the Lord Jesus becomes our wisdom. So, Tom's gonna come lead us
in the hymn on the back of your bulletin. Let's stand together. In thy great name, O Lord, we
come to worship at thy feet. O pour thy Holy Spirit down on
all that now shall meet. We come to hear Jehovah speak,
to hear the Savior's voice. Thy face and favor, Lord, we
seek, now make our hearts rejoice. Teach us to pray, and praise,
and hear, and understand thy word, to feel thy blissful presence
near, and trust our living Lord. This house with grace and glory
fill, this congregation bless. Thy great salvation now reveal,
thy glorious righteousness. Please be seated. Good morning. This morning we're
gonna be reading from Psalm 95. Psalm 95. All come, let us sing unto the
Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to
the rock of our salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
rock, as we heard this morning's early service. Let us come before
his presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto him with songs. For the
Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods. In his hands are the deep places
of the earth. The strength of the hills is
his also." This means he's in control of everything, the deepest
place to the highest place. It's all under his sovereign
control. The sea is his. He made it. And his hands formed the dry
land. The Lord Jesus Christ created
everything that's been created, John tells us. All come, let
us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord,
our maker. He is our God, for he's our God,
and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Today, you will hear his voice. This is
a nomination to each and one of us. Not for tomorrow, not
for yesterday, but for today. You will hear his voice, hearten
not your heart. As in the provocation, as in
the day of temptation, in the wilderness." This is the children
of Israel. This temptation is not of them,
but they tempted the Lord. When the fathers tempted me,
when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and they saw my work. This is the children of Israel
seeing all the miracles, all of God's work. Forty years long,
I was grieved with this generation and said, it is a people that
do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways. This is what's important, that
the Lord reveals to us his ways, that he reveals the gospel to
us, the Lord Jesus Christ, why he came, why he suffered on the
cross, and for whom did he die. To whom I swore in my wrath that
they should not enter into my rest. And that's what's taking
hearing his voice and not hardening our heart is to rest in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Father God, we come before you
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The only way that we
could come to you Giving you thanks, Father, for so many blessings
that you have blessed us, Father, especially all those blessings
being in Christ, Father. We pray for this church and for
all the churches that preach the gospel, Father, that the
gospel may be preached clearly, that we may not harden our hearts
towards that gospel, That you may grow us in love of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, grow us in the love for him, Father.
Show us more of his glory, Father God. We ask for your Holy Spirit
to be among us today with Pastor Greg and with each one of us,
and that you prepare our hearts today to heed to the gospel,
Father. In Jesus' name, we pray this.
Amen. Let's stand together once again.
We'll sing hymn number two in your Spiral Gospel Hymns hymn
book, number two. Lord, we come before Thee now
At Thy feet we humbly bow O do not our suit disdain Shall we
seek Thee, Lord, in vain? Lord, on Thee our souls depend,
In compassion now descend. Fill our hearts with Thy rich
praise, Tune our lips to sing Thy praise. in thine own appointed
way. Now we seek thee, here we stay. Lord, we know not how to go till
a blessing thou bestow. Send the message from thy word
that may joy and peace afford. Let thy spirit now impart Christ's
salvation to each heart. Please be seated. We're going
to have special music now by Adam. This is 310 if you want to follow
along. Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly
whole. I want thee forever to live in
my soul. Break down every idol, cast out
every foe. Now wash me and I shall be whiter
than snow Whiter than snow, yes, whiter
than snow Now wash me and I shall be whiter
than snow Lord Jesus, look down from Thy
throne in the skies And be satisfied with Thy Son's
sacrifice I come to Thee with no righteousness
of my own Now wash me and I shall be whiter
than snow Whiter than snow, yes, whiter
than snow Now wash me and I shall be whiter
than snow Lord Jesus, for this I must humbly
entreat I wait, blessed Lord, at Thy
crucified feet Thy faith was my cleansing, I
see Thy blood flow Now wash me and I shall be whiter
than snow Whiter than snow, yes, whiter
than snow Now wash me and I shall be whiter
than snow Lord Jesus Thou seest I patiently
wait Come now and within me a new heart create To those who have
sought Thee Thou never said no Now wash me and I shall be whiter
than snow Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow Now wash me
and I shall be whiter than snow Thank you, Adam. Come now, and
let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be
as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like
crimson, they should be made like wool. When John saw the
church in Revelation all gathered together in glory, robed in the
white robes of the righteousness of Christ, He asked the angel,
he said, who are these? And he said, these are they which
have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. Our only hope
of being made whiter than snow is that the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ would wash away our sins, become our atonement
before God, our covering. What hope we have. that the Lord will work that
grace in our hearts right now. Right now. Let us come and reason
together, saith the Lord. Will you open your Bibles with
me to Acts chapter 5. Acts chapter 5. There's a story
here in Acts chapter 5 that would rightly concern every child
of God. Let's read it together, beginning
in verse one. But a certain man named Ananias
with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession and kept back part
of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain
part and laid it at the apostle's feet. But Peter said, Ananias,
why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? Now that's the title of this
message, Lying to the Holy Ghost. What is it to lie to the Holy
Ghost? I am convinced that the vast,
vast majority of people who call themselves Christians in this
world are guilty of lying to the Holy Ghost. They are pathological
liars. They don't know it. They don't
know they're lying to the Holy Ghost. But if God does not deliver
them from the lie, which they have believed, then they will
meet the same end as Ananias and Sapphira. I do not want to
be found guilty of lying to the Holy Ghost. What does that mean to lie to
the Holy Ghost? Peter said to Ananias, why has
Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? To keep back
part. That's what it is to lie to the
Holy Ghost. It's to keep back part. It's to not trust Christ
alone for all the hope of your salvation. Now this story can
only be understood in context with the last few verses of chapter
4, if you'll turn with me there. Verse 36, and Joseph, who by
the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, they gave him a new name. He was, he was well-known among
the church, highly esteemed as an encourager. Barnabas is mentioned
some 28 times in the New Testament. The only other disciples that
are mentioned more is Paul, Peter, and John. Barnabas is mentioned
more than any of the other disciples. And he was given an exalted place
among the believers. Not a place he sought, but a
place that God gave him. Barnabas, which is being interpreted
the son of consolation, a Levite out of the country of Cyrus,
of Cyprus, having land, sold it and brought the money and
laid it at the apostles feet. So Barnabas had a piece of property. He sold the property. He took
the proceeds from that sale, brought it to the church and
laid it all on the line at the apostles feet. Ananias and Sapphira. Now I know what some of y'all
are thinking right now. We're in a building project.
Preacher's trying to get us to sell our property. Has nothing
to do with that. Has nothing to do with that.
Oh, the meaning of this is so much more consequential than
the building of a building or the giving of financial means. This is what happened. Barnabas
took all the proceeds from the sale of that property and laid
everything down at the Apostle's feet. This reminds us of that
widow. You remember the Lord in the
temple said that widow gave more than all those rich men that
came in and for they gave a part of their possessions but she
out of her need gave all. gave all. Now what lying to the
Holy Spirit is, is saying that you're giving all and not. Saying
that you're trusting Christ for all the hope of your salvation,
but holding back. Holding back. So Ananias and
Sapphira saw the esteem that the church gave to Barnabas And
they wanted to be recognized among men, loving the praise
of men more than the praise of God. They came up with a scheme,
well we've got a piece of property, we'll sell it, but we'll keep
part of it to ourselves and we'll take the rest of it and lay it
at the apostles feet and we'll pretend that we're given everything.
Now that's exactly what's happening. But Peter, You know, we're gonna come up
on a passage of scripture that says that when Peter's shadow
fell on sick people, they were healed. I mean, these apostles
were given some extraordinary powers in these early days of
the church. I'm thankful that we don't have
anybody around like that today. They can look into our hearts
and say, you've lied to God. and then pronounce our death. That's what Peter did. Probably
wouldn't be too many of us left if we had somebody like that
around here. Why have you lied to the Holy
Ghost and kept back part of the price of the land? While the
remain wasn't not thine own, you didn't have to sell it. It
was your land. It was up to you to sell it. And after it was
sold, was it not thine own power? It was your money. You could
do with it what you wanted. Why hast thou conceived this thing
in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men,
but unto God. Now the Lord is making it clear
to us that the Holy Spirit is God. He's the third person of
the triune Godhead, and all the attributes and characteristics
of God are owned equally by the Spirit as they are by the Son
and by the Father. And Ananias, hearing these words,
fell down and gave up the ghost, and great fear came upon all
them that heard these things." Great fear. Now this passage
of Scripture ought to cause us to have great fear. Lord, I don't
want to be guilty of lying to the Holy Ghost. I don't want
to be guilty of holding back Blessed what happened to Ananias
and Sapphira happened to me. And Ananias, hearing these words,
fell down and gave up the ghost, and great fear came upon all
them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound
him up, carried him out, and buried him. And it was about
the space of three hours after when his wife, not knowing what
was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her,
tell me whether you sold the land for so much. And she said,
yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, how
is it that you have agreed together to tempt the spirit of the Lord?
Behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at
the door and they shall carry thee out. Peter not only discerns
the deceit of her heart, but pronounces judgment. And she fell down straightway
at his feet and yielded up the ghost and the young men came
in and found her dead, and carrying her forth, buried her by her
husband, and great fear came upon all the church and upon
as many as heard these things." Now we know that all scripture
is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine. for reproof, for correction,
for instruction unto righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly
furnished unto all good works. This scripture has a message
for me and you. Lying against the Holy Spirit. Most people who call themselves
Christians are guilty of the sin. What is the sin of lying
to the Holy Ghost? Well, in short, it is saying
one thing and doing something else. It's saying, I believe,
that Jesus is the Son of God. But not trusting Him, holding
back. Not trusting Him to accomplish
your salvation for you. but believing that you've got
to do something to make what he did work for you. It's saying
that you believe yourself to be a sinner. You ask anybody
who calls themselves a Christian, do you believe yourself to be
a sinner? And I suspect that 99 out of 100, maybe 100 out
of 100 will tell you, oh yeah, I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. But I still have
the ability as a sinner to make a decision for God. You see,
they don't believe themselves to be dead in their trespasses
and sins. They're holding back. They believe
that they still can do something to make what Jesus did work for
them. Ask anyone who claims to be a
Christian, do you believe that God is sovereign? And they would say, oh yeah,
he's sovereign. He's omnipotent. He possesses all power. He does
whatsoever he wills until he comes up against the immovable
force or the immovable object of my free will. Then the irresistible
force of his sovereignty meets a brick wall. You see, they're
holding back. You know every person who calls
themselves a Christian believes in election. Every single one
of them. Election is making a choice. The only difference is who does
the choosing. Do I choose God or does he choose
me? You see, those who say that Jesus
is God, he's the sovereign, omnipotent creator and sustainer of all
of life, but he has no power over my will. He cannot get what
he wants done unless I choose him. And you hear men talk about
inviting Jesus into their heart. Well, I've got message for you
this morning. He's got no need for it. giving Jesus your heart. Hey, he's got no need for your
heart. It, the, the, the heart is wicked. It's defiled. No man
can know it. You talk about making Jesus Lord
of their life. They're, they're holding back.
They're saying that they believe that God is sovereign, but he's
not sovereign enough to save unless I allow him to. They'll say that what Christ
did on Calvary's cross finished the work of redemption. That
God requires nothing more than what Christ has done. But what
they mean by that, he's done everything necessary to make
salvation available. When the Lord Jesus Christ bowed
his mighty head on Calvary's cross and cried, it is finished. It is finished. He wasn't saying
that everything necessary to make salvation available to man
is finished. He was saying that the work of
salvation is finished. It is accomplished. He is the
successful savior of his people. You see, the religious world is just like
Ananias and Sapphira. They say one thing, but they
fact and believe something else. They say they're sinners, but
they don't believe they're dead in their sins. They say God is
sovereign, but they don't believe his sovereignty can overrule
their free will. They say that Christ died on
Calvary's cross in order to put away sin, but it wasn't really
successful until I do my part to make what he did work for
me. This is what it is to lie against
the Holy Spirit. It is to hold back. part of the
price. You see, trusting Christ means
that you lay everything on the line. It means that Christ has
to get all the glory. He does it all. What about, what about grace? You ask, you ask most Christians,
most people who call themselves Christians, do you believe that
salvation is by grace? And they say, oh yeah, it's by
grace. It's by grace. It's not by works, it's by grace.
But then you talk to them about irresistible grace. Oh no, grace
is not irresistible. Grace can be resisted. We can decide whether we want
to have God's grace or not have God's grace. That's not grace.
That's not grace. Grace means that you have nothing
to do with it. The only grace there is is irresistible grace. Ask them about faith. Oh yeah,
salvation is through faith and that is a gift of God. But since faith has my participation
in it, then I can stop believing and lose my salvation. You see,
the holding back, holding back. Even the, you know, what, The,
out of the what's, what's historically referred to as the Protestant
reformation, what do they say? Sola scriptura, only the scriptures. And then they turn around and
write creeds and confessions in order to define the Bible
and then judge scripture by their creeds and confessions. You see
the, this is, this is what it is to lie against the Holy spirit.
You say one thing, but you do something else. Turn with me to Malachi chapter
one Malachi. Great fear fell upon all them
that heard this. Let me ask you a question. Are you afraid? To stand in the
presence of a holy God without the Lord Jesus Christ being all
of your righteousness and all of your salvation. If you're
not, you ought to be. You ought to be. This is what
it is to lie against the Holy Spirit. Is to hold back. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. And I am persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that
day. What did he commit to him? Everything.
Everything. He had all his eggs in one basket,
didn't he? If the Lord Jesus Christ doesn't save me, I won't
be saved. If he doesn't do everything that
God requires for me, I won't be saved. I can't add to or take
away from his accomplished work of salvation. That's what it
is. You see, most people who call
themselves Christians are pathological liars. They're lying against
the Holy Spirit. They're saying one thing, but
they're holding back their part. They refuse to give the Lord
Jesus Christ all the glory for their salvation. You have your Bibles open to
Malachi. Look with me at chapter one, beginning of verse seven,
the Lord says, You offer polluted bread unto mine altar, and you
say, wherein have we polluted thee? In that you say, the table
of the Lord is contemptible. And if you offer the blind for
sacrifice, is it not evil? And if you offer the lame and
sick, is it not evil? Offer it now unto the governor.
Will he be pleased with thee or accept thy person, saith the
Lord of hosts? You see, if you offer yourself
to God, if you say, well, I've got to do my part in order to
make the offer of salvation effectual. And I'm going to make myself
an offering to God. Oh, brethren, you're polluting
the sacrifice. You're blind. You're, you're
look at verse nine. And now I pray you beseech God
that he will be gracious unto us. This has been by your means. Will He regard your person, saith
the Lord of Hosts? Is God going to regard something
that you offer Him? Something that you've done? A
decision you've made? A work that you've performed?
Is God going to regard that? No. No, He's not. This is what it is to hold back.
This is what it is to lie against the Holy Spirit. To add to the
accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ by Put in your two
cents worth in. Who is there even among you that
would shut the doors for naught? Neither do you kindle fire in
my altar for naught. In other words, you're doing
it for reward. You're not doing it for naught. You're making your contributions
obligating God to reward you. Romans chapter four, verse four. Turn with me to that passage.
Hold your finger there Malachi, we're not finished with Malachi.
Turn with me to Romans 4. Now verse 4, Romans 4 verse 4. Now to him that worketh is the
reward not reckoned of grace but of debt. You see, if salvation is by works,
then you've indebted God to reward you. That's what Malachi is saying.
You're not doing this for naught. You're doing it for reward. You're
trying to obligate God. You're trying to buy. That's
what Ananias and Sapphira were doing. They were trying to buy
their way into the church. You remember in Acts chapter
8 when Simon the sorcerer saw the power of the Holy Spirit
in the hands of the apostle Peter and he offered Peter money. And Peter said, let your money
perish with you for even thinking that you could do something for
reward, that you could buy your way into heaven. Isaiah chapter
55, calm. Come, drink, and eat without
money and without price. You can't add to it. Don't hold
back. Trust Christ alone for everything. For the judgment of God will
be just as real for all those people that are not just trusting
Christ, they're trusting Christ plus. They say one thing and
they're doing something else. They're holding back. Verse 5 in Romans chapter 4,
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly. The ungodly. That's what you
and I are. We're ungodly. There's nothing
about us that's godly. There's nothing about us that's
acceptable to him. There's nothing we can do. There's
no decision we can make. There's no prayer we can pray.
There's no offering that we can make to make ourselves what was
analyzed that we're holding back. There's something we can do.
We can have a part in this. It's Jesus plus. What does the
religious world say? I'll tell you what they say.
They say Christ is necessary for salvation, but he's not sufficient. And that is the sin against the
Holy Spirit. That is lying against the Spirit
of God. And just as the Spirit slew Ananias
and Sapphira, those who believe that will meet the judgment of
God. Brethren, here's the simple question. Are you trusting Christ alone? All your eggs in one basket.
If Christ doesn't save you, you won't be saved. If he doesn't
do everything that God requires for you, you'll meet the wrath
and judgment of God. You remember in 2 Samuel chapter
23 when David speaks his last words? The last words of David. What did he say? Although my house be not so with
God. David's house was a mess. I mean,
David had as dysfunctional family as any of us could ever have.
They had children killing each other and raping each other and
taking over his throne. And I mean, it was a mess. But
I don't think that's what David had primarily in mind when he
said, although my house be not so with God, he was talking about
the tabernacle of his own flesh. He was talking about his sinful
nature. He could have said, you know, I've been the most powerful
king in the world. I'm a man after God's own heart.
You know, I've written most of the Psalms. You know, I'm the
sweet psalmist of Israel. I'm the good shepherd of the
people of God. But he didn't say it. He said,
although my house be not so with God, there's nothing in me that
is as it ought to be. Do you believe that about yourself? Nothing in me that could be acceptable
to God. Nothing in me that could earn
God's favor or provide for me a standing before a holy God.
This is the fear of God. If God judges me based on the
best thing I've ever done in my life, I'm going to hell for
it. I've got to have Christ and Christ
alone. Christ must be everything in
my salvation. That's what it is not to hold
back. David said, although my house be not so with God, yet,
yet, here's the hope of my salvation. He made with me an everlasting
covenant. There's election. You see, the
first point is depravity, isn't it? I'm totally depraved. But
God made with me a covenant. I didn't make a covenant with
God. A covenant's a promise. A man's religion. Here's what
Ananias and Sapphira were guilty of. They made a promise, didn't
they? That they didn't keep. They lied
to God. They lied to the church. They
said, he's not talking about just making any promise. This
is about the salvation of our souls. If you think that you're
going to be saved because you made a promise to God, then you're
going to meet the same end as Ananias and Sapphira. David didn't
say, David didn't say, Yet I made with Him an everlasting covenant.
I made some promises to God. I let Jesus come into my heart.
I made some commitments to Him. That's what man-made religion
is all about. No, He made with me an everlasting
covenant. That covenant never had a beginning
and will never have an end. There's my hope. There's my hope
that the Lord Jesus Christ agreed with the Father to be my surety,
that the Spirit of God agreed with the Son to come and make
me willing in the day of His power, that God the Father, according
to His own will and purpose, chose a particular people. Christ
satisfied everything necessary for the salvation of those whom
God chose. That's an eternal covenant that
I had nothing to do with. There's David's hope. I can't
look at anything in my life. God made with me an everlasting
covenant. And that everlasting covenant,
he said, is ordered in all things and sure. What made that covenant
sure? What was it that was necessary
to ratify that covenant and make it effectual? It was the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And He made it sure. He satisfied
everything that was required in that covenant. Lying against
the Holy Spirit is saying, I believe that Jesus died on Calvary's
cross in order to save sinners, but He didn't actually accomplish
anything. I've got to do my part to make what He did work for
me. effectual for me. That's holding
back, that's lying against, that's saying one thing but doing something
else. And then what's David's next
statement? This is, what's the next word? All, all my salvation
and all my desire. That's irresistible grace. I
got all my eggs in one basket. I can't look anywhere else for
anything else to be saved. I can't add to or take away from
the finished work of Christ. Christ Jesus the Lord is all
my salvation and He's all my desire. You see, anything else
is lying to the Holy Ghost. What was David's last statement?
What was his last statement? Here's where a lot of Calvinists
lie. The last statement that David
made was, though he make it not to grow. When I look at my life and I
look at my heart, I'm as sinful as I've ever been. Matter of
fact, the more light and the more grace and the more truth
about Christ I see, the more evil I see myself to be. And what do we see in religion?
Oh, they monitor one another, they motivate each other, they
manipulate one another. With what? With the law. They
compete with each other to see who's holier than thou. What
do believers say? What does every believer say?
I'm the chief of all centers. I believe myself to be in need
of grace more than anybody else. I can't look at my life. And
get any assurance of my salvation based on anything that I see
improving in me. I've got to rest all my hope
in Christ all the time, and the more I grow in grace and in the
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, the more I see my need for him.
That's what the widow did. She threw in her two mites. She
gave all. That's what Barnabas did. He
gave all. What did Ananias and Sapphira
do? They held back. They kept part of it for themselves. You that hath no money, come
buy and eat, yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without
price. Romans chapter 3 verse 24 says
we are justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus. Freely, freely brethren. There's
nothing for us to add to what Christ has done. That's what
it means to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It means to rest
all your hope in Him. It means you cast everything
at the feet of the Lord. Lord, I can't rob you of your
glory by trying to add to what you've done. I can't hold on to some of my
righteousness. Turn to me to Galatians chapter
five. This was the sin of the church
of Galatia. Now I remind you when Paul wrote
to the church of Corinth, there was a lot of stuff going on in
that church that was, it was bad. I mean, there was some,
there was some stuff going on in there that just needed to
be corrected and rebuked and he did so. But you know, in all
the two letters that he wrote to the church at Corinth, he
never called their salvation into question. He rebuked them, rightly so,
but he never called their salvation into question. The church at
Galatia, the Judaizers had come in and said to the church at
Galatia, yes, the Jesus of Nazareth that Paul preached unto you is
the Christ. He is the son of the living God.
And you must believe on him. He's necessary for your salvation. But you also have to keep the
law. You have to, you have to show
evidences of your salvation by your law keeping. And we're going
to, and we're going to monitor you real close on that. And Paul said to the Church of
Galatia, I fear that my labor with you has been in vain. I fear that you've you've lost
the gospel altogether. And then in chapter five, verse
one, he says, stand fast. Therefore in the Liberty where
with Christ has made you free and be not entangled again with
the yoke of bondage. Don't go back to Egypt. Don't
go back to making bricks. Don't go back to the law. Look
to Christ. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you
that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. Now
circumcision is used here to reference anything that we do.
Anything we do. It's the works of man's hands. Well, what is circumcision? It's
the cutting away of flesh, isn't it? That's what it is. With the
hands of a man. And the scripture says that we
are circumcised by the spirit in the heart. You can't see that. But what do men want to do? They
want to circumcise flesh. They want to cut fleshly things
out of their lives with the works of their own hands. And Paul
says if you be circumcised, then Christ, if you're looking to
something that you've cut out of your life, and don't misunderstand
me, there's things we ought not to have in our lives. And if we do, they need to be
cut out. But if we look into what we're
not doing, you know, you talk to people in religion who are
lying against the Holy Ghost. And what do they tell you? They tell you about the way they
used to live, but they don't live that way anymore. Well,
they tell you about all the things they're doing for God. They didn't
used to do anything for God. Now they're doing all these things
for God. What are they doing? They're looking to their circumcision.
And they're using the cutting away of the flesh and their service
to God as the proof of their salvation. They're holding back. They're lying against the Spirit.
They say, Christ saved me. But look here. Paul says, if
you be circumcised, if you're looking to something that you've
cut out of your life or something you've added to your life by
the works of your hands, then Christ shall profit you nothing. In other words, he's going to
get all the glory and he's going to do all the
work or he won't save. We'll be, we'll be Hold him back,
won't we? For I testify, verse three, I
testify to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor
to the whole law. If you're going to look to something
that you've changed in your life or something that you've done
or something you're not doing as the hope of your salvation,
you're going to have to keep the whole law. And not just an
outward behavior like the apostle, like Saul of Tarsus said, you
know, concerning the law, I was blameless. And what he meant by that was,
as far as my outward behavior was concerned, nobody could accuse
me of being a lawless person. But then he went on to say, but
when the law came, sin revived and I died. When I saw the law
for what it really was, the perfection of God, then I realized in my
heart, I've never kept the law. And I died. And Christ got all
the glory. And those things which I thought
were gain to me, Those things I was doing that I thought were
my, were my salvation. I was holding back. Paul believed
that Saul of Tarsus believed that God was sovereign, but he was looking to his circumcision. Verse four, Christ has become
of no effect unto you. Whosoever you are that are justified
by the law for your fallen from grace, you fallen from grace. You see, you won't hear a child
of God talk about the things they're doing or the things they're
not doing. Why? Because they're ashamed
of how little they are doing. You see, the child of God is
looking the same place that God's looking. Man looks at the outward appearance.
God looks at the heart. The child of God knows his own
heart. He knows how wicked and deceitful it really is. And he doesn't go around boasting
about what he's doing for God. Men lie against the Holy Spirit
when they say Christ is all. And then they look to something
other than Christ Jesus for the hope of their salvation. When Philip met with that Ethiopian
eunuch on the road to Gaza, An Ethiopian eunuch was reading
from Isaiah chapter 53 and the Ethiopian, Philip asked him,
understand this what thou readest and what did the eunuch say?
How can I except a man should guide me? And he invited Philip
up into the chariot with him and he said to Philip, he said,
does the prophet speak of himself or is he talking about someone
else? And the scripture says that Philip began right there
in Isaiah 53 and preached unto him Jesus. He made it clear that
this was all about the suffering Savior who satisfied all the
demands of God's holy justice and God's holy law for the salvation
of his people. And the Ethiopian eunuch, after
hearing the gospel, he said, well, what does hinder me to
be baptized? What hinders me to be baptized?
Can I confess Christ? And Philip said, if thou believest
with all thine heart thou mayest. And the Ethiopian said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Now if your confession I believe
that Jesus Christ, I'm not just saying that Jesus Christ is the
son of God, I believe that Jesus, Jehovah saves, is the Christ,
the anointed one sent by the power, sent by the father and
the power of the spirit to satisfy and accomplish the salvation
of his people. I believe he's the sovereign
savior. of centers, I believe he's successful. You see, that's what believing
that Jesus, that you say, well, that confession is so simple.
It's so simple. You know, in one sense, it is
very simple. And the other sense, it is completely
impossible. Impossible. The gospel's simple. Christ is the gospel. And anything
other than him, added to him or taken away from him, is lying
against the Holy Ghost. But it's impossible. Why? I said last Sunday, if the Bible
said that Jonah swallowed the whale, I'd believe the Bible.
And somebody said, well, come on now. If God can get a camel
through the eye of a needle, he can get a prophet to swallow
a whale. And what the disciples said was,
who then can be saved? And what did the Lord say? With
man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
You see, with you and I, it's impossible for us to put all
our trust in Christ Jesus, the Lord, the Son of God. It's impossible. We're going to rely on something
else. We're going to lie against the
Holy Ghost. We're going to deceive ourselves and deceive others.
We're going to call him God, but rob him of his deity by stripping
him of his glory and taking some of it to ourselves. We're going
to hold back. We're going to do it. Why? Because we're liars. We're pathological liars. With
man, it is impossible. How can a rich man enter the
kingdom of heaven? He's not talking about material wealth. He's talking
about the riches of our own righteousness. How can a rich man enter the
kingdom of heaven? With God, all things are possible. You
know what he's going to do? He's going to sell all that he's
got. And he's going to put all of
his riches at the feet of Christ. And he's going to say, Lord,
if you don't do it all, it won't get done. I won't be saved. You're going to get all the glory.
And great fear fell upon all the church. I ask you again. Are you afraid? To stand in the
presence of a holy God. adding anything to or taking
anything away from the glorious person and finished work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's the work of the spirit
of God. When the spirit of God comes, he will convict the world
of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin, because
they believe not on me, Lord, my unbelief, that's my problem.
And it affects every part of my life. I've got to have a,
I've got to have a savior with perfect faith to stand in my
stead before God of righteousness. Lord, I don't have any righteousness
of righteousness because I go to my father. I've got to have
the Lord Jesus Christ as my advocate, the righteous one standing in
my stead before God and pleading my cause. And of judgment, because
the prince of this world is judged, Lord, I've got no power over
sin and over Satan. I have, I'm pretty clear by now
in my life that I've got no power over the spiritual demons of
this world, or you're going to have to defeat them for me. That's
what I've done. I came to destroy the works of
the devil. You see the work of the spirit. and the lying against the Holy
Spirit is the difference, not only between life and death,
but it's the difference between the gospel of God's free grace
in the glorious person and finished work of Christ and all the free
will, man-made, works religions of this world that call themselves
Christians. That's why I introduced this
message by saying most people who would call themselves a Christian
are pathological liars against the Holy Spirit. And their end
will be the same as Ananias and Sapphira. Lord, cause me to confess
Christ in Christ alone for all my salvation. For he's all my
salvation and all my desire. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
thank you for your word. We pray your spirit to strive
with us and to cause us to believe all that you've said. We ask
it in Christ name. Amen. Let's stand together number 9.
Yeah. "'Tis not that I did choose thee,
for Lord, that could not be. This heart would still refuse
thee, hast thou not chosen me? Thou from the sin that stained
me, hast cleansed and set me free. Of old thou hast ordained
me that I should live to thee. Your love had no beginning. No cause in me was found that
you should choose to save me. A sinner strongly bound. But grace not earned or sought
for, Was purpose for my soul. For me salvation wrought, For
Christ paid the dreadful toll. Was sovereign mercy called me,
And taught by opening mind. The world had else enthralled
me, To heavenly glories blind. My heart owns none before Thee,
For Thy rich grace I thirst. This knowing, if I love Thee,
Thou must have loved me first.