All right, everybody get the
word about taking blankets and pillows home with them today?
All right. We're gonna do something a little
bit different on Friday night, in that, I know you all work
all day Friday, it's late getting here, we have to be back early
Saturday morning, so we're gonna have one message Friday night.
So we'll still have the pizza dinner at six, we'll start the
service at seven, Chris Cunningham is going to preach Friday night
so and Chris is not going to preach anymore that this weekend
so you miss Friday night you're gonna miss Chris all right Todd
and Donnie will preach Saturday morning and Todd and Donnie will
preach Sunday morning so that's the that's the schedule for for
Friday okay there's something else I'm forgetting all right
oh yeah the cleanup list and Respond please to Emily's email.
She's done a good job in trying to organize our meals and need
your help to to do that. You don't have to turn here in
your Bibles. Let me just read this verse from Isaiah chapter
65. I am sought of them that ask not for me. I am found of
them that sought me not. I said behold me behold me. unto
a nation that was not called by my name. Pray the Lord to give us ears
to hear that voice this morning. Behold me. Look at me. Look at me. Tom, the bulletin. Let's stand together. Tom's going
to lead us and him in the back. you. What sacred fountain yonder springs
up from the throne of God, and all new covenant blessings brings,
tis Jesus' precious blood. Only blood can, only blood can
wretched sinners cleanse. On the Lord's blood, on the Lord's
blood, my poor soul depends. What mighty sum paid all my debt
when I a bondman stood, and has my soul at freedom set? Tis Jesus precious. Only blood can, only blood can
wretched sinners cleanse. On the Lord's blood, on the Lord's
blood, my poor soul depends. What stream is that which sweeps
away my sins just like a flood? Nor lets one guilty blemish stay,
tis Jesus' precious blood. Only blood can, only blood can,
wretched sinners cleanse. On the Lord's blood, on the Lord's
blood, my poor soul depends. What voice is that which speaks
for me in heaven's high court for good? And from the curse
has set me free, tis Jesus' precious blood. Only blood can, only blood
can wretched sinners cleanse. On the Lord's blood, on the Lord's
blood, my poor soul depends. What thee, my soul, shall best
employ? Thy harp before thy God, And
make all heaven to ring with joy, Tis Jesus' precious blood. Only blood can, only blood can
wretched sinners cleanse. On the Lord's blood, on the Lord's
blood, my poor soul depends. Please be seated. Good morning. Let's turn to Psalm
103, 103rd Psalm for the scripture reading this morning. Psalm 103. Bless the Lord, O my soul, all
that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the
Lord, all my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities. Who healeth all thy diseases. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction. Who crowneth thee with loving
kindness and turn the mercies. who satisfied our mouth with
good things so that youth is renewed like eagles. The Lord
executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. He made his ways known in Tumulsus,
his acts into the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful
and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. I'd like to point out that all
these blessings are only possible because of Christ. They're all
in Christ. He's able to be merciful. He's
able to be gracious because of Christ. He will not always chide,
neither will he keep his anger forever. He hath not dealt with
us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to
our iniquities. Why? Because of the Lord Jesus
Christ. For as the heaven is high above
the earth, so Great is His mercy towards that that fear Him. As
far as the East is from the West, so far have He removed our transgressions
from us. And again, this is the greatest
blessing that we have, and it is in Christ. Like as Father
Peter of his children, So the Lord pitieth them that
fear him, for he knoweth our frame. He remembers that we are
dust. As man, for his days are like
grass. As a flower of the field, he
flourishes, for the wind passes over it and it is gone. and the
place thereof shall know it no more." Our life is very brief
in this earth, very brief. But the mercy of the Lord, hmm. The mercy of the Lord is from
everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him and his righteousness
unto the children's children's. To such as keep his covenant
and to those that remember his commandments to do them, the
Lord have prepared his throne in the heavens and his kingdom
ruleth over all. Bless the Lord, ye his angels
that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening
unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye hosts,
ye ministers of his, to do his pleasure. Bless the Lord for
all his works in the places of his dominion. Bless the Lord,
O my soul. Father God, we come before you
in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are insufficient
to give you enough thanks, to give you enough blessings or
adoration for what you have done for us in Christ. May we keep
our eyes, our attention, and all the benefits, but more so
in he who was able to give us these benefits, which is the
Lord Jesus Christ. May our minds be kept on him,
Father. We are in need now of your Holy
Spirit, both for the speaker and the hearer, To be able to
see Christ more clearly father We beg you father that you might
pour your spirit today the message may be Christ-centered Christ
glorifying we pray this also for all the other churches that
are preaching your gospel father We pray for them, too In Jesus
name we pray amen Number 11 in the Spiral Gospel
Hymns Hymnbook, number 11. Let's all stand together again.
? With broken heart and contrite
sigh ? ? A trembling sinner, Lord, I cry ? ? Thy pardoning
grace is rich and free ? ? O God, be merciful to me ? ? I smite
upon my troubled breast ? ? With deep and conscious guilt oppressed
? ? Christ and his cross my only plea ? ? O God be merciful to
me ? ? No works nor deeds that I have done ? ? Can for a single
sin atone ? ? To Christ the Lord alone I flee ? ? O God be merciful
to me ? ? And when redeemed from sin and hell ? ? With all the
ransom throng I dwell ? ? My raptured song shall ever be ?
? Christ has been merciful to me ? Please be seated. Adam is gonna bring special music
now. Teach me to pray, Lord. Teach me to pray. This is my heart's cry, day unto day. I long to know thy will and thy
way. Teach me to pray, Lord. Teach me to pray. Living in thee, Lord, and thou in me. Constant abiding, this is my plea. Thy will be done, Lord, now and
always. Teach me to pray, Lord, day after day. Cause me to pray, Lord, and please
hear my prayer. Hear mid-earth's sins and Sorrow and care. Men lost and dying. Souls in despair. Cause me to pray, Lord. And please hear my prayer. Living in thee, Lord, and thou in me. Constant abiding, this is my
plea. Thy will be done, Lord. Now and always Teach me to pray, Lord Day after
day My stony heart, Lord Thou canst
replace My sinful nature thou canst erase. Give me thy words, Lord. Give me thy faith. Teach me to pray. Give me wisdom and grace. Living in thee, Lord, and thou
in me. Constant abiding. This is my plea. Thy will be
done, Lord, now and always. Teach me to pray, Lord, day after
day. Teach me to pray. Lord, teach me to pray. Thou art my Savior. Thou art the way. Teach me to come in. Thy blessed Son's name Teach me to pray, Lord Teach
me to pray Living in Thee, Lord And Thou
in me Constant abiding, this is my
plea. Thy will be done, Lord, now and
always. Teach me to pray, Lord. day after day. Teach me to pray, Lord, day after
day. If we ever pray, it'll be because
the Lord has moved our hearts to do so. Prayer is a spiritual
exercise that requires the Spirit of God to enable us. That's my hope. Lord, teach us
to pray. We open your Bibles with me to
Acts chapter one. If you weren't in here the first
hour, you didn't hear the announcement that we're going to begin this
morning, a pilgrimage through this book, in God's book, the
Acts. Most of your Bibles probably
say the Acts of the Apostles. That, of course, was added by
the translators you know. And I suppose it's not inaccurate
to say it was the acts of the apostles, but we're more concerned
with the acts of the Spirit of God among the apostles, aren't
we? And that's what I hope the Lord
will show us, his acts. And the one act that I want to
see this morning from the first few verses of chapter one is
how it is that Christ Jesus the Lord shows himself. To whom does he show himself? And when he shows himself, what
does he show about himself? Those are the two questions.
To whom does the Lord show himself? And when he does, how do I know
if he showed himself to me? Well, if he's revealed to you
the things that he's revealed about himself, consistent with
his word, then you can have hope and comfort that he's revealed
himself unto you. The simple answer is that if
you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, he showed himself to
you. No one will believe on him until
he shows himself to them. Look at verse 1 of Acts chapter
1. The former treatise have I made,
O Theophilus. Now you know what that's a reference
to. We just looked at it. That's the Gospel of Luke. Paul
addressed Theophilus in the Gospel of Luke. The former treatise
have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began to do and
teach." This book is all about Christ. And everything that Luke
wrote in the Gospel of Luke is about what the Lord Jesus Christ
began to do and to teach, what he accomplished and what he said.
And now this is a continuation of what the Lord Jesus Christ
is now doing and what he now has said. When the Lord Jesus
ascended back into glory, his doing and saying didn't cease. He continued to do among his
people. Until the day in which he was
taken up after that, he, through the Holy Ghost, had given commandments
unto the apostles whom he had chosen." Now, the answer to the
first question is found in these first two verses. To whom does
the Lord show himself, reveal himself? He reveals himself to
his chosen. Never has he revealed himself
to anyone else. The Lord's not looking for a
following. He's not trying to build a church. He's calling
out his lost sheep. Now, the scriptures makes it
clear in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 that the Lord appeared bodily
to the disciples after the resurrection and to 500 of the brethren. So, the evidence of our Lord's
resurrection is testified by 500 eyewitnesses that said, yes,
we saw him, we heard him. This is what he did in his resurrected
glory. For 40 days, he revealed himself
to his chosen disciples. And he continues to show himself
to his people. He's never showed himself to
anybody else. Now, we saw in the first hour
that the name Theophilus, and it's easy for you to, philo is
the Greek word for friend, and theos is God, and Theophilus'
name means a friend of God. A friend of God. Abraham is referred to as the
father of the faithful, and he's called a friend of God. That's beyond my comprehension,
to be in a friendship with God. But that's what the Lord, that's
what he said. He said, no longer do I call
you servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth,
but I call you my friends. For everything that I received
of my Father, I have showed it unto thee. Friend of God. Friends get to come into the
presence of God without the fear of wrath or judgment. You remember
when Esther went in to the king and she said I've not been summonsed
and Mordecai said but if you don't go if you don't go and
plead for the life of the Jews we're all going to be killed
and God has raised you up for such a time as this and Esther's
response was well if I die I die If I die, I die. She knew that
the king had the authority to put her to death for having come
into his presence without being summonsed. She didn't have a
friendship with the king. And the Lord has said, come,
come, my friend, come. All you that are burdened and
heavy laden, come. The spirit and the bride say,
come. You don't have to fear reprisal. You don't have to fear
wrath. You come before the throne of
grace. If we were coming before a throne
of law, we would have reason to be afraid, wouldn't we? Lord,
I don't know if I've satisfied the demands of your law. Oh,
they have been satisfied. They've been satisfied in Christ.
And the Lord says, come, my friend. So this letter is written to
the friends of God whom he has chosen. and he is faithful to
reveal himself unto his friends. Come, that you might find mercy and
grace to help in your time of need. We have a need to come,
don't we? We have a need to pray. We have
a need to to come into the presence of God and receive His mercy
and His grace and to help us in our time of need, our sin. And the Lord has said, you come,
you're my friend. Verse three. to whom also he showed himself
alive after his passion. Now the word passion there is
a reference to his suffering, to his death, to his scourging,
to the laying down of his life for his sheep. And we, there's
no way we can understand the cup that he drank from. The separation that he experienced
with the father, the being forsaken of his father, the bruising that
he received by the hand of his father, there's no way we can
understand that, but that was his passion. He bore in his body
the sins of his people and suffered the full wrath of God's justice
in order to put away those sins once and for all. And God was
pleased. God saw the travail of his soul
and God said, I am satisfied. I'm satisfied. And that's what
Luke is saying here after his passion. after his suffering,
after all that he went through, in order to be able to save sinners,
and in order to be able to satisfy justice, in order to be able
to fulfill the obedience. He was obedient unto the Father,
even unto death. I mentioned this a couple weeks
ago. We often think of the obedience of Christ being his perfect obedience
to the law in his life. He lived a perfect life, his
sinless life. But the greatest demonstration
of his obedience was when he laid down his life on the cross. When he gave himself to his father
as a sacrifice and substitute for sinners. That was his obedience. And that's his passion. And after
he showed himself after his passion he showed himself alive by many
infallible proofs being seen of them forty days and speaking
of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." For forty days he showed himself
to his disciples. Now forty in the scripture is
a reference to the trials and sufferings and temptations that
we go through in this life. A faith, now get this, a faith
that is not tested cannot be trusted. A faith that is not tested cannot
be trusted. The Lord is going to try and
test your faith and my faith. The children of Israel spent
40 years in the wilderness. And at the end of that 40 years,
their unfaithfulness was proven. Joshua and Caleb, Christ in his
church, were the only two that his faith was proven to be true. They were the only ones allowed
into the promised land. A faith that is not tested cannot
be trusted. The Lord Jesus Christ's perfect
faith was tested. After his baptism, he was taken
into the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights, and he fasted.
And it was proven to be perfect faith, wasn't it? Elijah's faith
was tested. He was taken to Mount Horeb and
he spent 40 days fasting before the Lord. And after that, the
word of God came and deliverance was given to Israel. Jonah gave Nineveh 40 days to
repent. And if they didn't, the judgment
and wrath of God would fall on them. And their faith, was proven
to be, it was tested, it was proven, they repented and God
withheld his wrath. Moses spent 40 days on Mount
Sinai, the mountain of the law, and the children of Israel's
faith was being tested and proven to not be real. What'd they do? They built a golden calf, didn't
they? And they worshiped a golden calf. How long did it rain during Noah's
flood? 40 days, a deluge for 40 days. That's what this number 40 is
a reference to. And the Lord Jesus during this 40 days is
calling out his people and showing himself to them so that when
he goes back into glory and takes his rightful place at the right
hand of God, their faith will remain. The infallible proofs
of his resurrection and of his glory was made known to them.
And they remained. They remained. Remember, Thomas
doubted the resurrection of Christ when the disciples told him that
the Lord's been here. And what Thomas say? Oh, not unless I can put my hands
into his side, my finger into the wounds of his hand. Well,
I believe. And the Lord appeared when Thomas was there. No evidence
that Thomas, he showed himself to Thomas, didn't he? He showed
himself to Thomas. And what did Thomas do? What
was the evidence that Thomas knew that that was the Lord Jesus
Christ? He declared, oh my Lord and my
God. He bowed in worship to the Lord
Jesus Christ. And the Lord said to Thomas,
Thomas, It's good that you believe what you've seen, but blessed
of God are those who have not seen and yet they believe. You see, blessed of God, brethren,
are you. Blessed of God are we who have
not physically seen the Lord Jesus Christ. But God has given
us eyes to see and he's given us hearts to believe what these
eyewitnesses testified to. The infallible proofs were given
to the children of Israel or to the believers for 40 days. When Paul went to Antioch in
Acts chapter 13 and preached the gospel to them, he said,
Whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of God given. To you is the word of God given. Whosoever among you feareth God,
to you is the Word of God given. The fear of God is to believe
God. The best definition of the fear of God is, I don't want
anything to do with God without Christ as my substitute. If Christ doesn't present His
righteousness before the Father on my behalf, if God's not satisfied
with what Christ has accomplished to fulfill His justice, I've
got no place to stand in the presence of God. Whosoever among you feareth God,
to you is the word of salvation sent. And Solomon put it like this
in Proverbs chapter 30, verse 5. He said, every word of God
is pure. He is a shield unto them that
put their trust in him. So what is it when God, how do
I know if God showed himself to me? I believe that every word
is pure. And I've been left with no place
else to go but to rest the hope of my salvation in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Turn with me to 1 Thessalonians
chapter 2. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. Verse 13, for this cause also
thank we God without ceasing, because when you received the
word, which you heard of us, you received it not as the word
of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually
worketh in you also in you that believe. So when you heard these
things, you didn't just hear them from a man. The word came
to you, not just in word only, but in power and in the Holy
Ghost, you believe that this was the word of God. And you
followed the testimony of these men, believing that what they
said was true. You remember when, you remember
when, um, when the woman at the well went back into Sychar, the
disciples showed up. No evidence that the disciples,
after having gone down into the city, all 12 of them, to buy
food, left the Lord at the well by himself. And he said, I must
needs go through some area. Uh, why? Because there's some,
there's some, some lost sheep there that I'm going to save.
I must needs go through some area. And so the Lord, the Lord
goes in a path that they wouldn't normally have gone. And he ministers
the gospel and reveals, he shows himself to that woman, doesn't
he? And the disciples never mentioned,
never breathed the word to anybody in Sychar that the Son of God
was at the border of their town. We've got the Son of God with
us. He's sitting up there. You want to meet him? You want
to meet him? And when she met him, But she,
the Lord said, if you knew the gift of God and who it is that
saith unto thee, give me to drink, you would ask of him and he would
give you living water. And she drank of that water and
she ran back into Sychar and she said, come, she told all
the people in the town, come meet a man who told me everything
I ever did. He knows everything about me. And they came and they listened. And they said, we now believe
not because of your word, but because we have heard directly
from him. That's my hope. They shall be
all taught of God. Father, I thank thee that thou
has hid these things from the wise and the prudent and revealed
them unto babes. That we could say with the Samaritans,
we believe not because of what the preacher said, or not because
of what I heard somebody else say, but because he has showed
himself to me. If you believe it's because he
has showed himself. Now, when he shows himself, no,
go back with me to our text in Acts chapter one, to whom also
he showed himself alive, alive. Our Lord is alive. This has to
do with the resurrection. Why was the Lord Jesus Christ
raised from the dead? There's a whole lot of folks
that believe that he was, that he's never showed himself to.
Because they don't understand, they don't believe why he was
raised from the dead. God the Father said, I will not
allow my Holy One to see corruption. What the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished
on Calvary's cross obligated God the Father to fulfill his
side of the covenant promise. And the resurrection is very
simply the proof that God has given to his people that God
is satisfied with what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished. What
did he accomplish? The saving of his people. He
didn't make an offer of salvation for us to do something in order
to make his offer work. He actually accomplished the
salvation of his people, and God raised him from the dead.
And they saw him alive, alive. If you see him, he's going to
be alive. He's not just going to be alive, he's going to be
life. He's going to be your life, isn't he? All the life that I
have before God is in Christ. I have no life outside of Christ.
He showed himself to me alive. Being seen 40 days. This. Journey in this world is 40 days,
isn't it? 40 days of generation where this
life is full of trials, full of testing. What's the Lord doing? He's proving the sincerity of
our faith. He's proving the reality of it,
whether or not it's a faith that's fake or whether or not it's a
faith that God has given. If God's given it, it won't quit
believing. It won't quit believing. If it's
just something that we came up with, if all we heard was the
voice of a man and we decide to believe something because
we heard it from a man, the trials will become so great that we'll
walk away from it. We will. But if God's done it,
it's forever, isn't it? I want you to notice the last
thing in verse 3. and speaking of the things pertaining
to the kingdom of God. Now there's two kingdoms. There's
the kingdom of this world and there's the kingdom of God. The
Lord Jesus Christ said, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom
were of this world, my disciples would fight. My kingdom's a spiritual
kingdom. In another place he said, the
kingdom of God cometh not by observation, Luke chapter 17. But the kingdom of God is within
you. It's spiritual. You can't see
the kingdom of God with the natural eyes. How's the kingdom of God
different from the kingdoms of this world? The kingdoms of this
world can all be seen. And God, In his infinite wisdom
has delegated all the kingdoms of this world to the devil. Every single one of them. Yep. United States of America. He's
the Prince of the power of the air. It's not a Christian nation.
Okay? The only thing Christian about
this nation is sitting right here and in other places where
God's people are gathered together and listening and believing the
gospel. All the kingdoms of this world
have been delegated. Now when you delegate something,
you still have authority over the person that you delegate
it to, don't you? and you can pull him out anytime you want
and God will do that. The devil is God's devil and
he's on God's leash and when God's finished with him, he's
going to chain him up and cast him in the lake of fire. That's
clear in the scriptures. But for now, this world in which
you and I live is being controlled, being given
over to Satan. The kingdom of God that we're
talking about is a spiritual kingdom. And the kingdom of God
is different from earthly kingdoms in this way as well. The kingdom
of God is eternal. There's no end to it. No end
to it. All the kingdoms of this world
come to an end. Every single, we can look back
through history and we can see all the great kingdoms of the
world have met their end. And if the Lord tarries, this
kingdom that you and I live in will meet its end as well. And
if he doesn't, it's going to meet its end when everybody else
meets their end. We're not talking about being
part of the earthly kingdom here. We're talking about a spiritual
kingdom. And the Lord is showing himself and speaking to them
of things concerning his kingdom. He's king. How do I know? You remember when the thief on
the cross? Do you not know that we're in
like condemnation and we deserve what we're getting? He's speaking
to the other thief. And then the thief on the cross said,
Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Lord, I know that you're God.
I know that what's about to happen is not your end. That you're doing this in order
to establish your kingdom. And what hope did the thief on
the cross have? A more clear assurance of salvation
than was given to anyone else in all of scripture. This day
thou shalt be with me in paradise. Oh, the kingdom of God. It's
not like the kingdoms of this world. Turn with me to Romans
chapter 14. This is How we know that the Lord has
showed himself unto us because we have some understanding of
the difference between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this
world and who reigns in the kingdom of God and who reigns in the
kingdoms of this world. Romans chapter 14. Look at verse.
Look at verse 17. For the kingdom of God is not
meat and drink. You don't get into the kingdom
of God by something you do. by something you take into your
body or something you restrain from your body. That's not how
you get into the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is not meat
and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy of the Holy
Ghost. There's the kingdom of God. Let
me ask you a question. Is the Lord Jesus Christ himself
all your righteousness before God? Do you have any righteousness
outside of him? Do you have any hope that God
will be pleased with anything that you've done? Any meat that
you've eaten or drink that you've drank? The kingdom of God is
not eat meat and drink. It's righteousness. It's the
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ as my only righteousness
before God. And it's peace. I have peace
with God through the Lord Jesus Christ for he is the Prince of
Peace. He's the one that's fulfilled
the law. He's the one that satisfied the
Father. That's why he's alive. That's
why God raised him from the dead. You remember when the Pharisee
said, show us a sign. Show us a sign. That's when the
Lord said, the kingdom of God is not by observation. You're
not going to see it with your eyes. You're going to have to
see it in your heart. This is a matter of faith. And
the Lord said, no sign will be given except the sign of Jonah. A wicked and perverse generation
seeketh after a sign. It's an unbeliever who demands
that God prove himself by something that they can see. But the child
of God, the one he shows himself to, the chosen friend of God,
the theophiluses of this world, what do they do? Oh, they believe that Jonah was
but a sign. Jonah spent three days and three
nights in the belly of the whale and came forth alive. Alive. And what'd he do? He went to
Nineveh and he preached to Nineveh. Jonah's a type of Christ. He's a type of Christ. He was
cast into the sea by the very men that were in the same boat
with him. It was our voice that said, crucify
him. And it was God's hand that carried
out. The deed it was ordained of God. Joy. In the Holy Ghost. I have. I have peace with God. I have the joy of the Holy Ghost,
knowing that I have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ,
the righteous one. And the Lord said, seek ye first
the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things to
be added unto you. Lord, give me the grace to seek you. The world is ignorant of the
righteousness of God. Romans chapter 10. They have
a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For being ignorant
of the righteousness of God, they go about trying to establish
their own righteousness, not knowing that Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness. The Lord Jesus Christ, He's your
hope, isn't He? That's how I know that He showed
Himself to me. I've been set free from the law.
The law can't save me. The law can't do anything but
condemn me. But I've got Christ as my righteousness. I've got
him as my peace with God. Let me ask one more question
before we conclude. How do I get into the kingdom
of God? Well, the first answer is that
to get into the kingdom of God is by election. Matthew chapter
25 verse 34, come ye blessed of my father and inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Now the Lord never told us to figure out whether we're elect. Come. ye blessed of my father."
If you've been blessed of God, God has shown you the glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's shown you your need for
him as all your righteousness. And you've come to believe that
the kingdom of God was prepared before the foundation of the
world for Christ was the lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. So this kingdom of God is established in eternity
past. The second thing about entering
into the kingdom of God is I've got to have a perfect righteousness.
Listen to what the Lord said, except your righteousness exceed
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no
case enter into the kingdom of God. The scribes and Pharisees, they
had an outward righteousness. Well, Paul testifies of his,
doesn't he? He said, I exceeded my peers. And his, again, Saul of Tarsus,
you know, concerning the law is blameless. And the Lord said, unless your
righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees,
you shall not enter the kingdom of God. How's my righteousness
going to exceed that? Only in Christ. He's my righteousness
before God. I have no righteousness outside
of him, but if I've got Christ and the Lord has brought me into
his kingdom, hasn't he? Thirdly, to enter into the kingdom
of God requires a new birth. I've heard people say, I've been
a Christian all my life. That's too long. Just too long. The Lord told Nicodemus, except
a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
He cannot see the kingdom of God. This new birth is a miracle. Let me ask you a question. Somebody
brought this up last Sunday. I thought, well, I've heard that.
I mean, I've said that before, and I've heard it before, but
it's so true. What did you have to do with your first birth? What did you have to do with
your first birth? Did you make a decision? You
know, you hear people say, well, that baby, you know, I was ready
to come out. No, you weren't. You'd still be in your mother's
womb if it was up to you. It's the mother's body that can
take it no longer, that pushes the baby out. The baby's not
ready to come out. As a matter of fact, he comes
out kicking and screaming, doesn't he? But the mother's body pushes
that baby out. You can't take it anymore. What
did you have to do with your first birth? You didn't have
anything to do with it, did you? You didn't have anything to do with
your second birth. It's all of God, isn't it? If the Lord didn't
push us out. We'd stay right where we are.
Fat and happy and comfortable and warm and cozy and all of
our sin. Not even knowing that we were
estranged from God. Accept a man be born again. Born
from above. He cannot see the kingdom of
God. And the Lord said, unless you
be converted and become as a little child, you shall not enter the
kingdom of God. So that, that conversion is a
changed heart. That's, that's brokenness. That's
humility. That's, that's the work of God's
spirit. It causes us to see that we've
got nothing but sin. And Lord, if you give me what
I deserve, I'm going to hell. I can't do anything to save myself.
I'm like a little child. So coming into the kingdom of
God is by election. It's by the new birth. It's by a perfect righteousness. Matthew chapter seven. Turn to
me to that passage, Matthew chapter seven. You're familiar with this. Kingdom of God is not by observation. It's by faith. It's by faith. Verse 21, not everyone that sayeth
unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. It's
not by observation, not by what we say. but he that doeth the will of
my father, which is in heaven. Many will say unto 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 done many wonderful
works. Lord, we've been going to church
and praying and serving you all our lives. Isn't that good enough
to get us into the kingdom of God? Isn't that good enough? Now in the previous verse, if
doing the will of my father which is in heaven means going to church
and living a good life, then how do you reconcile that with
verse 22? To whom the Lord says, I never knew you. Depart from
me, you workers of iniquity. All the work that you performed.
that you were looking to for the whole, doing the will of
the Father is believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. What work
can I work in order to do the works of God? This is the work
of God that you believe on Him whom He has sent. Now those that
believe on Christ, are they going to go to church? Yeah. Are they
going to pray? Yeah. Are they going to seek to honor God with
their lives? Yeah. Yeah, they are. They are. But
they're going to find themselves to be unprofitable servants.
They're not going to be, they're not going to be presenting their
righteousness before God for the hope of entering into his
kingdom. Christ Jesus, the Lord will be the only hope they have.
Is he your only hope? Your only hope. You got nothing
outside of Christ. If so, he's showed himself to
you. He has showed himself to you.
What hope? Our Heavenly Father. We're thankful for your word. Lord, we pray that you would
make it effectual to our hearts. That we would not just. Hear
the word audibly. But that we would hear it in
power and by the Holy Ghost. Lord, that you would cause us. To have hope in thy son. That
which cannot be seen with the natural eye. We ask it in his
name. Amen. 44 let's stand together number
44. Precious Savior, friend of sinners,
we as such to Thee draw near. Let Thy Spirit dwell within us
with that love that casts out fear. matchless savior let us
know thee as the lord our righteousness cause our hearts to cleave unto
thee come and with thy presence bless open now thy precious treasure
let thy word Give to us a gracious measure,
tis thyself we long to know. Come and claim us as thy portion. Let us all find rest in thee. Leave us not to empty notions. We would find our hope in thee. Okay.