Turn with me, if you would, to
2 Corinthians chapter 11. 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Our text this morning is verse
3. And this is a verse That every
time I read it, it gets my attention. It reminds me of what I need
to preach. And it reminds me of what you
need to hear. The end of verse three says.
The simplicity. That is in Christ. My desire is that by the end
of this message, we might all know what that means. My desire
is that every person in this room, no matter how old, no matter
how young, understands what it means to say the simplicity that
is in Christ. At the beginning of verse three,
he said, but I fear, That's where the sincerity of
true worship and a true urgency for the gospel begins. That's
where it begins. It begins with fear. David and Solomon both said the
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of the Lord. is the beginning of wisdom and
true God sent wisdom will teach a man or a woman something of
the simplicity that is in Christ. He said, but I fear he feared
men and women's souls who were going out to meet God. And I
do, too. I do, too. The more we learn
about the true and living God. The true and living God of heaven
through earth, heaven and earth through his word, this word he's
given us. The more that we see of his absolute
holiness and justice. The more that we learn that he
is not the way that we have him made up in our minds. The more it's confirmed to us
that he's nothing like we have him made up to be in our minds. He is a just God. Who hates. Punishes. Kills. all workers of iniquity. And then the more this word reveals
to us what we truly are, what I truly am, and that is a worker
of iniquity. The more we come to know that,
the more I fear. I fear. I fear for every man
and woman here. I fear for our children. I fear for every single person
in this town. Would to God he would cross the
truth with every single person in this town. Would to God he
would make this Nineveh. I fear for every single person
on this earth. I fear for myself. The Apostle
Paul feared for himself. He said, lest by any means, when
I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. It's a
wise thing to fear. It is a wise thing to fear. At
the end of Ecclesiastes, Solomon said, this is the conclusion
of the whole matter. Fear God. Here's the conclusion
of the whole matter. Fear God. And that fear of God,
Paul, the Apostle Paul, knowing something of who God really is,
the one who holds the keys of hell and death. Isn't that what
he said? I hold them. The one who said, I kill, I make
alive, I wound, I heal, I the Lord do all these things. I am
God and beside me there is none else. Paul fearing God and fearing
men and women going to meet God who are not ready to go meet
God. Thinking that they are ready
to go meet God. That fear is what brought on the fear that
he mentions right here in verse 3. He said, But I fear, lest
by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety,
so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in
Christ. He feared them being lied to
in what the world calls religious matters. That's what he feared. Things concerning salvation and
eternal life, just like Eve was. He said, I fear the same thing
will happen to you that happened to Eve. He feared them going
to meet God with a false hope. and then being destroyed because
of it. That's what he feared. There is only one thing that
we can go to meet God with. There's only one thing, and that's
the truth. The truth, the one and only hope
that there is. Not a false hope built on lies.
It will not stand. The one and only true hope that
there is, and that hope is in the simplicity that is in Christ. Now, destruction began. Absolute destruction began with
the first man and the first woman on this earth. Destruction began
through the subtle lies of religion. This could be the most important
thing I'll ever tell you. Religion claims to be the fix
to the problem. We all have a problem. What you
need is religion. Religion claims to be the fix
to the problem, when in reality, religion started the problem
in the first place. Man fell in religion. Man was corrupted through religion. And while we're here, let me
just go ahead and tell you that any church Any place of worship that preaches
and believes the actual truth of God's Word. Not their opinions
on God's Word. Not just the traditions that
have been passed down from generation to generation. God's actual Word. Any person, any individual person
that clings to and believes the actual truth of what God has
said in His Word is not in religion. Any person who is holding to
the actual Word of God Almighty is not in religion. That person
is in Christ. That person is in Christ. The
very last thing that I want to be in and the very last thing
that I want you to be in is religion. The last thing, the truth is
in Christ. Salvation is in Christ. It's not in the do's and the
don'ts and the morality or anything else that religion has to offer.
It's in Christ. There's a big difference. There
is a life and death difference. All that religion is, is do's
and don'ts and morality and everything else. That's all it is. And it corrupts people from the
simplicity that is in Christ. Now let me show you what I mean.
I want to show you how this whole problem started. Here's where
the whole thing started. Let's go to where our brother
just read a minute ago. Genesis chapter 3. Verse 1 says, now the serpent,
the adversary, the devil, was more subtle. Most people think
of him as being not subtle at all. Most people think of him
as being the complete opposite of God. the complete opposite
of what God has said. God is this way and He is that
way. What God said sounds like this
and what He says sounds like that. That's not so. Verse 1
says, Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the
field which the Lord God had made. And He said unto the woman,
Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the
garden? This is how he deceived her.
This right here is how he corrupted her. He said, God says, you can
eat of every tree in the garden. The end of verse one, he said,
yea, hath God said, you shall not eat of every tree of the
garden? Didn't God say that? What did God say? Look at chapter
2 verse 16. And the Lord God commanded the
man saying of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. God did say that. That's exactly what God said.
This whole thing started with him quoting God's word. Here's where the subtlety comes
in. That's only half of what God said. Usually the error, when you hear
a man who's in error, preaching error, deceiving people, usually
the error is not in what the man says. It's usually in what
he will not say. Verse 17, God Almighty said,
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt
not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest
thereof, thou shalt surely die." Eve had been taught the truth. Eve knew the whole truth. Go
back to chapter three, verse two. It says, the woman said
unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of
the garden, but of the fruit of the tree, which is in the
midst of the garden. the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil. God hath said, you shall not
eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. The knowledge of good and evil
is the law. Knowing what's right and knowing
what's wrong is the law. The law will post a speed limit. And what that saying is, as long
as you drive this speed or below, it's good. If you go faster than
this speed, it's evil. Long as you do this or less,
you will not be punished. And if you go faster than this,
you will be punished. The knowledge of good and evil
is the do's and the don'ts of the law. God said, do not lay
hold of the law and try to add it to the life that I have given
you. The day you do that, you're going
to die. You're trying to obey the law. will only harm you. Look at chapter 1, verse 31. It says, God saw everything that
he had made, and behold, it was very good. He said, you're complete. And that's what God tells His
people right now, through His Word. In Christ, you're complete. In Christ, you're complete. You
are absolutely complete in Him. Absolutely complete. But the
adversary, the corrupter of men and women's souls, the author
of religion, the author of religion said,
verse 4, chapter 3, verse 4, the serpent said unto the woman,
yea, serpent said unto the woman, you shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the
day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and you
shall be as God's knowing good and evil." If you lay hold of
that law and you add it to yourself, you'll become even better than
you are right now. You are not yet as complete as
you can be. You are not quite as complete
as God says you are. And that right there is the lie
that's still being told in religion today. That's the lie. You can make yourself better. Hath not God said? Hath not God
said? You can get yourself to a place
where you don't even need God. You can earn your own salvation. You can work your own righteousness. You can make yourself so holy
and so sanctified and so perfect. You'll be just like a little
God yourself. That makes me so afraid. That makes me so afraid, and
this is the reason why. God said, in the day that you
stand before me holding the fruit of the law, trying to show yourself
to be worthy through the do's and the don'ts of the law, you
are going to die. Now, I know that you are a sinner
before God. And the reason I know that is
because I am a sinner before God. We're all sinners before
God. If we try to regain his favor
and regain acceptance through obeying the law, if we think
that the answer to our problem is in straightening up and flying
right, turning over that new leaf, going back and writing
everything we wronged, knowing and doing good instead of knowing
and doing evil, if that's what we believe, will commend us to
God. Should we do good instead of evil? Absolutely. Do we continue
in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. But if we believe
that that is what will commend us to Him, and if that's what
we take to Him, if that's our hope, we're going to die in our
sins. We're going to die in our sins.
If we try to fix it, we'll die in our sins. If we do anything,
we're going to die in our sins. All right, that brings us to
the only hope that a sinner has before God. There is one way
of escaping the destruction of God's wrath. One way. There's only one way that leads
to forgiveness and acceptance and eternal life, and it's back
in 2 Corinthians 11. 2 Corinthians 11 verse 3. But I
fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through
his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ. Simplicity means singularity. Single. One. There is one way. There is one
truth. There is one life. That way,
that truth, and that life is in Christ. I want to explain what that means
through the Word. I want this Word to explain to
us what that means. Go with me to Romans 3. Romans 3 verse 19 says, Now we
know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them
who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all
the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds
of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For
by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness
of God without the law is manifested. He's saying don't touch the law.
The righteousness of God without the law is manifested being witnessed
by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God
which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that
believe, for there's no difference. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." What is redemption? It's a payment made. It actually means the price paid
in full. Before we're allowed to take
something home from the store, we have to pay for it in full. Redemption has to be made. God
freely justified His people through one, singular, full, complete
payment for all of their sin. Where was that payment made?
Verse 24 says, in Christ. In Christ, in His body on the
tree, in His blood that was spilled. Verse 25 says, whom God hath
set forth to be a propitiation, a bloody victim, through faith
in His blood. His one offering for sin, By
the sacrifice of Himself, He purged our sins by Himself. Purged our sins. Don't add anything
to it. God will not have it. The price
is paid in full in Him. Leave it right there. Look with
me at Romans 8. Romans 8 verse 1 says, there
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Do you desperately need no condemnation? There is a place, there is one
place where there is no condemnation. It's in Christ. Only in Christ. Verse 1 says,
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, the things that pertain to the
flesh, the do's and don'ts of the flesh, but after the Spirit. Faith in Him. Look into Him. Trust in Him. He did it all. Verse 2 says, For the law of
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Where is life? Where can eternal life be had?
In Christ Jesus, only in Christ. He said, I am the life. Verse
two says, the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath
made me free from the law of sin and death for what the law
could not do in that it was weak through the flesh. God sending
his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
Everything is satisfied and settled. Everything is accomplished for
His people in Christ. Everything. Redemption is in
Christ. No condemnation is in Christ.
Life is in Christ. Look at verse 38. For I am persuaded that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the
love of God." Where's the love of God? Which
is in Christ Jesus our Lord. All of God's love is in Christ. It's all in Christ. The only
way that God can love us is in Christ. If a sinner wants to
hear, God loves you, that sinner has to be in Christ. Outside
of Christ, no love. Inside of Christ, all love. It's that simple. That's pretty
simple, isn't it? Look at chapter 9, verse 1 says,
I say the truth in Christ. Where's the truth? In Christ. If a man is preaching Christ
alone to be the singular, only hope of glory, he's preaching
the truth. If he's preaching anything other
than Christ alone, alone, alone, if he's preaching Christ plus
something else added to it, lies, the lies of religion. The minute
we add something to Christ, we no longer have the singularity.
Isn't that right? We no longer have the simplicity
that's in Christ. Go with me to 2 Corinthians 5.
I'll be brief. 2 Corinthians 5. Verse 21 says, For He hath made
Him to be sin for us who knew no sin. The perfect, spotless
One. He made Him to be sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God. Absolute perfection. You know where our perfection
is? Our perfect obedience, our right standing before God. Last
two words, in Him. In Him. Go with me to Galatians
2. Galatians 2 verse 4 says, And that because of false brethren,
unawares, brought in, who came in privately to spy out our liberty
which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into
bondage. He's talking about the bondage
of the do's and the don'ts of the law. He called them false
brethren, false preachers coming in saying, now if you want to
go to heaven, you better do this and you better stop doing that. Peter called that in Acts 15,
a yoke of bondage that neither the apostles or any other man
has ever been able to bear. I cannot do what the law commands
me to do. I cannot do it. Paul said right
here, in Christ we have liberty. What that means is if we ever
come to know the truth that God has written in this word, the
absolute truth of Christ, that truth will set us free. Completely
set us free. Who he is, what he has done,
where he is now, that will set us free. Turn the page to Galatians
3, verse 10. For as many as are of the works
of the law are under the curse. For it is written, Cursed is
every one that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. If you miss one, you miss
them all. Verse 11. But that no man is
justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident. For the
just shall live by faith. Faith in what? Christ alone. The simplicity of faith in Christ.
Verse 12, and the law is not faith, but the man that doeth
them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written,
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. He took our sin upon
himself. made himself to be cursed in
our place. When he did that, he set us free.
Totally set us free. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law by being made a curse for us. Now, think about this. When we see the extent that he
went to, in order to redeem us from the
curse and the punishment of the law. When we see that, do we
see what an insult it is to Him? When we say, what Christ accomplished
was not enough. We have to go back and try to
satisfy the law that He redeemed us from. Do we see what an insult
that is to Him? That is why God the Father says,
I will not have it. That's an insult to my son's
blood. That's an insult to my son's
death. And I will not have it. If you
bring that to me, you'll die in your sin. Salvation, redemption,
life is in Christ alone. Everything is wrapped up in the
single simplicity of Christ. And we could keep going. Can
you imagine how many things there are in here that are in Him,
in Christ? We could keep going. Let's do
one more. All right, we'll close with this. Go to Colossians 2. Colossians 2 verse 10 says, and
you are complete in Him. In Corinthians 1 verse 30 it
says, of God are you in Christ Jesus. Salvation is God choosing
some sinners and placing them in Christ. And He did not do
that for everybody. He didn't do it for everybody.
Nobody deserved it, but God is kind. Nobody wanted it, but God
is kind. Everybody should have died in
their sins, but God is kind. God is inclusive. So He chose
to have mercy on some. And he put some in Christ. And he didn't do it for everybody,
but here's how you can know if he did it for you. Every sinner
that God places in Christ, every single one, he gives that sinner
faith to believe on Christ. Christ alone, every sinner that
has been safely placed in Christ will receive eyes to see the
truth of God's Word. It's not by the law. At first we're saying, can all
these people be wrong? Because they say you've got to
do this, and they say you've got to do that, and they say you've
got to do that, and they say you've got to do that. It's so confusing,
it's actually not simple. Because see, they say if you
cross these two, And this word says it's the simplicity
of Christ alone. Yes, I believe that's the truth.
I believe they have missed it. Can they all be wrong? I believe
so. Every single sinner placed in
Christ will receive eyes to see the truth, a heart that believes
it. A heart that actually believes
what is impossible for man to believe without God moving. And
every single one of them will say it's all in Christ. All of
all of the obedience that God demands of me is in Christ. He
was obedient enough for me and every single person God put in
him. And all of the punishment that is owed to me is in Christ.
God poured it all out on him. And it's done. And that's where I leave it. My hope
is totally in Him. Totally in Him. Every time you approach the Father, we've done it a couple of times
already this morning in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, every time
you approach the Father, Especially the day that you stand before
His throne. Everybody in here will. It'll be reality. More real than I'm standing here
right now. More real than I'm standing in front of this pulpit.
I'm going to stand in front of His throne. Every time you approach
the Father, every single time you tell Him, my hope is in Christ
alone. My hope is in His blood alone.
My hope is in His life and His death alone. My hope is completely,
totally, singularly in Him. Plead that and peace will be
unto you. You will not die in your sins.
He promises. You plead that and peace will
come to you. You'll find eternal rest for
your soul. May the Lord help us to do that.