In tender rain He lifted me From
shades of night to break of day Over His grave He lifted me How old is Kelly? Six? Learning to read, aren't you? Watching her sing these songs. I couldn't help but think what
a good thing that is. Apparently her daddy and mama
taught her to sing these songs. Sing. Try to sing. She was doing
it. Book to the Lamb of God. Watching her mouth move. I thought, that's all the English
language she learns. If the Lord will cause her to
look to the Lamb of God and imprint that on her heart, that's a good
thing. I commend you, your mama, I commend
your mama and your grandmama, Linda, and your other grandmama. Know the scriptures from a child
able to make wise unto salvation. That's all that matters. All
that matters. Nothing else matters. It doesn't
matter if she grows up to be, God forbid, President of the
United States. If she knows Christ, that's all
that matters. Nothing else accounts for anything,
anything. Luke chapter 18, that's why what
we're doing here is of eternal importance. Nothing else matters. This is the one thing we need.
But we're not playing church here. A lot of people are. And we have, and perhaps we do
at times. But in all sincerity, like Paul
said one time, We are not as many which corrupt the Word of
God, twist it, arrest it, make it say what we want it to say,
make it not say what it says, scratch people's backs and tickle
their ears and so forth. We are not as many which corrupt
the Word of God, but as of sincerity, that is, sincerely trying to
glorify God, trying to be truly His Word, sincerely wanting men
and women to know God, their souls say sincerely, as of sincerity,
as of God. That is, if any man speak, let
him speak as the authority of God. Thus saith the Lord. Not
our denomination. Thus saith the Lord. This is
what Jesus Christ says this morning. As of God. In the sight of God. Very conscious that our God is
listening. That this is before God. Our
Lord said, The Father seeketh such to worship him in spirit
and in truth. Not with the lip, but in spirit
and in truth. As of God, in the sight of God,
we preach Jesus Christ. Not a moral sermon, not social
issues, not political issues. We preach the one thing all men
and women, young people, need to know to be saved. We're going to meet God. We're
going to leave this earth very shortly, every one of us. We've
got to know God, whom to know is to have eternal life. We've
got to know Jesus Christ. I feel like I know God. I feel like I know Christ. But
do I? Any man thinks he knows anything,
he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. Our Lord after this
parable said, except we receive the word as a little child, hungry,
thirsty, eager to listen and learn, not knowing anything,
believing implicitly what the Father tells us, except we hear
it like that, not going to be in the kingdom of God. Not going
to be that. See, that's how serious this is. It's not just a Sunday
sermon. God forbid that this be just
a Sunday sermon. There's too many of them. Too
many of them. This message that our Lord preached
here, this is His message. I'm just going to repeat it.
This message is shocking to religious people. It's offensive to religious
people. So as he preached it, he said
it to verse 9. He spoke this parable unto certain
which trusted in themselves that they were righteous. They trusted in themselves that
they were righteous. Certain one. Now, the Lord knows
who they are. I don't. Sometimes it's very
evident. Sometimes it's very obvious when
someone is self-righteous. They're obviously, like this
Pharisee, very proud of themselves because that's who they talk
about themselves. But God knows. Someone can appear
to be humble, but God knows. So he spoke this to certain ones. who trusted in themselves. And
there are certain ones in here who were just like this Pharisee
and thanked the Lord. He came to you one day and spoke
to you and convicted you and caused you to quit trusting in
yourself and trust in Him. It says, this is to those who
trust in themselves that they were righteous. Righteous, that
means right. Morally right. I'm right. I do
the right thing. I think right thoughts. I am
a good person. I'm right. That's wrong. I don't
do that. I'm right. That's a person who
trusts in themselves that they are righteous. Okay? A good person. Whatever standard
it may be, whether it's the Bible or man's standard, someone who
trusts in themselves says, I do the right thing. I don't do the
wrong thing. I do the right. I am righteous. That's a dangerous place to be. Dangerous place to be. I'm going to show you, by the
Lord, that's a damnable place to be. Those that trust in themselves.
Those that believe in themselves. Those that have forgiven themselves.
That's what modern religion is. You've got to forgive yourself,
you know. You've got to love yourself. Where does it say that
in the Bible? Huh? Where does it say that?
I read everywhere where every single saint says, I hate myself. Right? Job was the finest man. God said, Have you considered
my servant Job a perfect man, upright man? There's none like
him. One that is chewist evil, one
that fears God and is chewist evil. And at the end of the book
of Job, Job said, I loathe myself. He said, I'm vile. But justify it. He's justified. Those that trust in themselves.
Lovers of self. Scripture talks about it in the
last day. Self-righteous. Only two types of people, really.
Those that trust that there's something about them that God
is pleased with and therefore will let them in heaven. They
trust themselves. And those that trust Jesus Christ
alone. And I'll tell you who's going
there. Only those that look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Only. And he says they despise others. Verse 9, those that trust in
themselves that they are righteous always despise others. Those
who think they are right always look down on others that they
are wrong. Why can't they be like me? They need to be like me. Always
look down on others as inferior. I do the right thing, they don't
do what I do, so they're wrong. Scripture says they comparing
themselves with themselves are not wise. Like two worms. Here's two worms. One says, boy,
I'm a better worm than that worm. Look at me. I wear my hair a
certain way. I wear my clothes a certain way. That other worm,
look at him. He's half naked. Worms. They're comparing themselves
with themselves and not with God. That's what God said. And
the Scripture says, God hath appointed a day in which he will
judge the world in righteousness by that man. Everybody is going
to be stacked up against Jesus Christ. And I'll tell you what,
they all fall way short. We're either going to be judged
by God standing right beside Jesus Christ to see if we measure
up to His perfect holiness and righteousness before God. If
we don't, He's going to cast us out. Or, we're going to be hidden in Jesus
Christ. found in Him, not having our
own righteousness which is of the law, but that righteousness
which is of Jesus Christ by faith, where God says, well, I can't
see. I can't see old Ed Berry. He's in my son. I can't see his
sin. All I see is righteousness. All
I see is my son. I'm telling you where you want
to be. You don't want to stand before God pleading anything
you've ever done or not done. For God will cast you out. That's the moral of this story.
That's the moral. Two men went to church. Two men
went to church. Verse 10. Two men went up to
the temple. Two men went to church. From
the beginning, from Cain and Abel right outside the garden,
men and women had been coming to religious services. They feel
the need to have a religious service. And they do it for one
of a couple of reasons. Most come out of habit, come
out of duty, come out of because they're supposed to do what people
think they don't do it. They come to salve their consciences.
This is the thing you're supposed to do. Some come out of curiosity.
Some come for the social aspects, want to see people, for the entertainment,
for the whatever. It makes them feel good. People
come because religion makes them feel good about themselves. Some come for work. for all those reasons. Flesh. And then there are those whom
Scripture said worship God. They come by the grace of God,
by the Spirit of God, by a miracle of God. Not their will. Not their purpose. But God's
will. God's purpose. Born of God. They come to worship God because
He's worthy to be worshipped. They come to thank God, not because
it's Sunday, but because they just can't wait to thank God
for letting them breathe. Thank God for the clothes they
wear, the food they eat, the water they drink, the houses.
they live in, the jobs they work, the health they have, the health
they don't have, to thank God most of all for His mercy to
such hell-deserving sinners, His grace given to them through
the Lord Jesus Christ. To thank the Lord God for sending
His Son down to die for such a worthless, hell-deserving worm
as they are. They come for that reason. Thank
you, Lord. Thank you. We're here to give
thanks and worship God and rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't
need flesh to do that. The less you have on the inside,
the more you have to have on the outside. To worship God requires one thing,
a heart and a Bible. Worship God. They come to thank
God. They come to hear the truth,
you see. Truth. Gospel. They come as sinners.
To hear about forgiveness of sin. That's why they come. That's why they come. Pharisee
and a publican. Alright? These two men came into
the temple. The Pharisee was considered by
nearly everybody to be a great man. He was admired by everybody. The publican was looked down
on by everybody. All right? Are you listening?
Listen up. The Pharisee, everybody thought
he was the finest man in town. The most moral, upstanding. Everybody
there thought he was righteous. Everybody. The publican, everybody
knew he wasn't. He's just an old publican. The
Pharisee was a religious man. Well, he's in every service.
He's never missed a service in 30 years. He's got pins to prove
it. The publican just started coming. The Pharisee was highly esteemed
by others. The publican was despised by
others. Look at him. The Pharisee, everybody
thought he was a good man. The publican, everybody knew
he was a bad man. The Pharisee was a moral man.
Everybody knew the publican was nothing but just, he's just a
sinner. That's what he is. He's a sinner. The Pharisee was
a devout, pious, righteous, moral, upright, well esteemed, highly
esteemed among men, and the publican Well, he's just a sinner, that's
all he is. He's just a sinner. Let me go ahead and sum this
whole thing up. One of them went to heaven, and one of them didn't. And it'll shock you who did.
It'll shock you, shock the religious world. The one that everybody
thought was righteous went to hell. Now, Jerry, this is what Jesus
Christ preached everywhere He went. And the Pharisees, they
hated Him. They're the ones that contracted
the killing. Why? He exposed their self-righteousness. You want to find out if a woman
loves God. She says she does. You think
she does. Start talking about God's will.
how that God works all things according to His will. It's not
her will. It's God's will. It's not your will. It's not
him that willeth or him that runneth. It's God that showeth
mercy. Start talking about, oh no, your will is to pray. What you will do is sin. You
will sin. God's will is done. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His will and the armies of heaven among the inhabitants
of the earth. I'm quoting Scripture. And none can say, stay his hand
or say unto him, you can't do that. God will work and who will
let it. God says, I have spoken it, I
will do it. I have purposed it, I will bring
it to pass. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning of the world. That's the God of the Bible.
Start telling that to some woman and watch the veins pop out of
her neck. What about that decision I made years ago? It was false. It was the wrong God. You believe
in the wrong God. You don't believe the true God
Scripture. Pharisees hated what Jesus Christ
said. It says the common people, sinners. In the previous chapter, chapter
15, it says, then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners. All of them, John. Every publican
and sinner came to hear Jesus cry. And it said the Pharisees
stood back and said, this man receiveth sinners and eats with
them and drinks with them. Boy, sinners are sure happy about
that. Sure happy about that. Pharisees aren't. Because he
exposes them. It says in verse 11, this man
stood, he came, this Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. He's very conscious of all eyes
on him and he liked it. He liked it. He stood up front.
He wanted people to see him pray. He wanted them to know he's a
good Christian. But he's praying with himself
because God's not hearing it. He likes the sound of his own
voice. Others did too. Oh, you ought to hear a brother's
soul and soul pray. What a beautiful prayer. He can pray like nobody
else. Maybe so. God's not hearing it. That's right. That's what he
did here. Matthew chapter 6. Look at it. Matthew chapter 6.
Is this too hard? It's just real true. It just
goes on all the time. Our Lord's the one that said
it. He gave this parable. Matthew 6 verse 5. Now this is
the Lord Jesus Christ, and He's talking to His disciples. He's
talking to His sons and daughters, his people, his saints, his elect. He says, when thou prayest, and
this is a command, it's not an option, when thou prayest, thou
shalt not be as the hypocrites are. You know what a hypocrite
is? An actor. That's where the word actor comes from. Hypocrite. Actor. For they love to pray
standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets
that they may be seen of men. Look at me, I'm praying." He
said, that's their reward. God's not hearing them. God's
not answering them. But that's their reward. They're
praying to be seen praying. Somebody says, well, how will
people know you're a Christian if you don't pray at the restaurants? That doesn't prove anybody to
be anything any more than wearing a cross. There are strippers
that wear crosses around their neck. Every man that scores a touchdown
drops to his knee. What a good Christian. What a
self-righteous Pharisee. Why does he drop to his knee
when he drops the pass? Advancing around the end zone.
Look what I did. Fool men. We can fool men, can't
we? Fool God. Prayer. Prayer. He said, look
at verse 6. When you pray, enter into your
closet. When you shut the door, you pray
to thy Father which is in secret. What's the purpose of prayer?
To be seen? No, it's to be heard by God. Heard by God. He says, your Father
seeth in secret. He'll reward you openly. Verse
7, look at this. When you pray, use not vain repetition. Okay, everybody repeat after
me. Our Father, our Father, which art in heaven, which art in heaven.
That's not from the heart. We don't pray like parrots. You
can teach a parrot to do that. Vain repetition. Hail Mary, full
of grace. Have mercy on us poor sinners.
Say it a hundred times and God is bound to hear one of them.
No he's not. No he's not. Our Lord said this. Don't use
vain repetitions. Better to have a heart without
words than words without heart. We're going to see this man pray
a seven word prayer. Seven words. The public. I love what, I've told you this
before, Mother Ralph Barnard, God used that man like John the
Baptist back in the fifties in this country to tear up people's
religious professions and false refuges and tear down their idols,
their false gods, not God, another Jesus everybody was believing
in, to preach the true Christ, the true God. One time he was
meeting some men for breakfast. He was holding a meeting in a
big Southern Baptist shirt. And they had this breakfast together
and they started to eat. And Brother Barnard just started
tearing into his food. He started eating it and one
of the men was shocked. Brother Barnard. Brother Barnard, he said, aren't
you going to pray before you eat? And Barnard said, how do you know I didn't? Why are you praying? So you'll see me praying? I'm
praying to God with my heart. I love that old man. God used
him mightily, didn't he, Dad? Mightily. Tore you up. How do you know I didn't? Notice this man's prayer. There's
one word that sticks out more than anything else. He uses it
five times. One word. Five times in our text,
Luke 18, she said, I thank thee that I am not as other men or
are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, even as this publican. I fast
twice in a week. I give tithes of all that I possess. I, here I am. God, here I am. Aren't you happy? Are you saved? Are you saved? Yes, I accepted Jesus. Are you saved? Yes, I was baptized
when I was a boy. Are you saved? Yes, I do not
do this. I do not do that. I do this. I do that. I have never drank,
smoked, cussed or chewed or run around with women that do. I have done this. I have not
done that. I, you, may go to hell for saying
that. This man did. Not too hard. That's what Jesus
Christ did. It shocked religious people.
It shocked them. Alright? Now here's the publican. Verse 13, the public standing
afar off. You see, this Pharisee wants
everybody to see him. Look, here I am. The publican
thinks I don't deserve to be in this place. I don't deserve a chief seat.
I don't even deserve a seat here. I am far off from God. I deserve
to be cast out of God's presence. I don't deserve to be here at
all. I deserve to be cut off everlastingly from the presence
of God. Far off. He's not proud of himself. He
doesn't want to be seen. He's ashamed of himself. He doesn't
want anybody to look at him. He knows what he is and they
do too. Far off. Read on. It says he would not
even lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven. Wouldn't lift his eyes up. You
see, when you're guilty, when you're ashamed, it's automatic. It's automatic. When you're a
child, you catch them doing something or you rebuke them, you're chasing
them about something. What do they do? Every time, don't they? If they're
still looking you in the eye when you're dealing with them,
Mac, what are you going to do? You're going to wipe that look
off of their face, aren't you? Guilt and shame always does this. Now, why are we coming before
a holy God? Every time we come into the presence of God Almighty,
we're coming before the same God. Who will by no means clear
the guilty. Holy, holy, holy. Who looks on
the heart. Not on the outward countenance.
Who knows every thought, every intent of our heart, every motive,
every word we've ever said or about to say. He knows them.
How are we going to come before God? Guilty. As charged. Across the board. Guilty. Shamed. Broken hearted. Scripture talks a lot about broken
hearted. To this man will I look, that
he is poor and contrite. Broken hearted. Ashamed. Guilty. Come before God. So do you have to come like that?
Yes, yes you do. But the fact is, if you know
yourself, if you know God, and you know yourself, you will come
that way. You will come that way. But I'm telling you, here's
the good news, everybody that comes that way goes out with
their head, lifting up their head. He says to everyone that
hangs their head in shame and guilt, they'll go out with their
head. Lift up your head. Lift them up. Be of good cheer. Everyone that mourns over sin
will go out comforted. Everyone that sorrows will go
out rejoicing if the man's done his job, preached the gospel. But this man would not lift up
his eyes to heaven. It says he smote on his breast. Why is he doing that? Because
there's something in there he can't get rid of. This is all
his problem. It's not out there. It's here.
It's here. I was born, I was shapen. Talk
about depravity. David said, I was conceived in
sin. In sin did my mother conceive
me. Brought forth from the womb speaking lies. I've got this
loathsome disease in me. I've got this sin in me. I can't
get out. It makes me dune. Out of the
hearts proceed evil thoughts and adultery. Not what goes into
a man and defiles a man, Jesus Christ said, but what comes out
of his heart. And those whom God breaks their
heart, they say, get this out of me. This is my problem. And I can't do anything about
it. Anybody? You can't convince a self-righteous
person of sin. You can't do it no matter what
you do. But you don't have to convince a sinner of it. The
Holy Spirit convinces them all of it. Our Lord said when He
comes, He will convince of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Those three things that the world
doesn't have a clue what He's talking about. If you do, don't you stand. He'll
convince you of sin. When you're born again, born
of the Spirit of God, the first thing He shows you is you're
a sinner. A sinner. Born in sin. I am sin. I can do nothing but
sin. Like Paul said, in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. The heart is desperately wicked
and deceitful above all things. That's what he convinces everybody
of. No matter how you try, you can't convince a self-righteous
man of that, but God does every time. He must. He must. Or he won't save you. And then
this man prayed a seven-word prayer. You know, in Scripture,
seven is the number of perfection in it. Always is. Seven. Seven eyes of the Lord. Seven
spirits of the Lord. Seven days. Seven is always a
number of perfection. His prayer, coincidentally? No. Providential. Seven words. God be merciful to me, the sinner. God, be merciful. God, I need mercy. I need one thing. Mercy. God, don't give me what I deserve. Don't give me what I deserve.
God, I need mercy. Don't give me what's coming to
me. I love old westerns. And I was
watching a Clint Eastwood western the other day. Some guy got shot and another fellow said, well,
I guess you had it coming to him, didn't you? And Clint Eastwood
said, we all got it coming to us. That's true. What the law sayeth, sayeth to
them that under the law that every mouth may be what? Stopped. And all the world become what?
Guilty before God. God, be merciful. Don't give me what I deserve. The wages of sin is death. Don't give me that. God, be merciful
to me. To me. To me. Only when a person comes to see
their desperate need. It's not general, oh yes, we're
all sinners. We all have faults. We? Not me. I know Billy Bob down
there is bad, but I'm worse. I'm the chief of sinners. Everyone that God convinces of
sin, they think they're the worst sinner. They're the chief of
sinners. Yes, they do. They don't think there's anybody
beneath them. A sinner. God be merciful. What's
a sinner? A sinner. A sinner is someone
who can't do anything but sin. That's a sinner. Is that you? I just quoted it. Paul said, in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. When did he say that? When he
was lost? No. He's 60 years old and an apostle. He said in Romans
7, the things that I would, I do not. The things I would not,
that's what I do. He said, I find the law is within
me when I would do good, evil is present with me. I cannot
do what I would. Why? Sin. I'm full of sin. I'm a sinner. That's what I do.
You say, Preacher, you're talking too much about sin. Well, hold
on, okay? Because the good news is only
for sinners. Only sinners go to heaven. Only
sinners go to heaven. I'll go one step further. All
sinners go to heaven. That is all that know they are,
all that God convinces of it. He does. Every last one of them. His people know this. I, a sinner,
from the sole of my feet to the crown of my head, there is no
goodness in me, no soundness in me, nothing. This is Isaiah
1. This is what every one of God's people know. My thoughts
are not pure. My walk is not pure. My deeds
are not pure. My words are not pure. My motive
is not pure. Sinner. I'm Cain, I'm Esau, I'm
Rahab the harlot, I'm the thief on the cross, I'm the rebel,
I'm the prodigal. Every one of God's people say,
I'm all of those people. Everyone say, I'm guilty of every
point of the law. If I haven't done it, I've thought
about it, I wanted to do it, and I didn't do it because God
kept me from it. I'm a sinner. Are you? God be merciful. Do you know
what that means? Be propitious. Let the blood
be propitiation on the mercy seat. Let the blood cover my
sin. That's what it means when somebody
says, God be merciful. Why? Let the blood cover all
my sin. The blood of your holy, spotless,
righteous Son of God, whom you are well pleased. The only holy
man to ever live. Let Him cover me. Cover my sins. Blot out my transgressions. Purge
me from all iniquity. Take the hyssop that is Jesus
Christ and wash me throughly. God, be merciful through Jesus
Christ upon this old sinner. Can you say that? You better never quit saying
that. And if you can say that, by God's
grace, from your heart, You'll go to your house justified. You go to his house justified. You'll go to his house justified
from all things wherewith you cannot be justified by the law.
One thing. You can't be justified by one
thing. But you do. But you will be justified from
all things by what he's done. This is good news for who? Sinners. I'm not talking about people
who don't care how they live, you know? A guy sitting in a
bar right now waiting on... I'm not talking about that. They
don't care. They're sinners, yes. They don't know it. They
don't think they're that bad. They don't think they're as bad
as us hypocrites. I don't go to church. They're
a bunch of hypocrites. I like what that one fellow said to
him. Well, come on down. One more won't hurt anything. You'd be surprised. You know,
Brother Todd Nybert opened up a little mission years ago before
the church there was a church. A little mission. And he found
the worst part of town, you know, the ghetto part of town. He thought,
that's where the sinners are. We'll open up a little mission
there. That's where sinners are. Harlots
and drunks and so forth. And we'll preach to sinners.
There ain't no sinners. He said drunks would stumble
in. And they'd get so mad at him. What do you say? I ain't
that bad. Drunk! And somewhere out there,
I ain't that bad. I ain't as bad as her. Nah, boy. All the same to God. All the
same. All the same. All the same. Look at me. God is no respecter of persons. He respects one person. Jesus
Christ. And if you appeal to him by...
Is this the truth? Am I telling the truth here,
according to God's Word? If you'll come to God, he'll receive everybody
that comes to him by Jesus Christ. No other way. Don't you dare
come any other way. But I... Get him out of here. But Matthew 7, the Lord said,
many will say, we've preached in your name, Jesus' name. We've
cast out devils in you. We've won souls for Jesus. We've
done many wonderful works in you. We gave our bodies to you.
Get him out of here. He's a worker of iniquity. Why?
Why would you say that? They're doing it for their own
glory. Glory. Who gets the glory? Here's the asceteist. Who's getting
the glory here? Jesus Christ getting all the
glory? Who gets the glory? God choosing you, you choosing
Him. Who gets the glory? Christ's
blood putting away your sin or your faith making it effectual?
Who gets the glory? You accepting Him, letting Him
in your heart or Him letting you in His heaven? Who gets the
glory? That's what it's all about. He
won't share his glory with nothing. Not with mama, not with grandmama,
not the preacher. He won't share his glory with
nothing. Everybody in heaven is giving all the glory to King
Jesus Christ, who loved us and washed us from our sins in his
own blood, to God who chose us, God who elected us, God who brought
us, Holy Spirit who regenerated, who called us by the gospel.
We were nothing. but sinners. Listen to me, and
I'm going to quit. Anyone who cannot say right now,
in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Right now. Anyone who
cannot say that doesn't know God. If you know God, you know yourself. Anyone who does not say, right
now, I need mercy, right now. I need the blood of Christ to
cover my sins, right now. Anyone that does not say that
does not know God. They're lost. They're dead. Right
now. But look at this. Verse 14. Christ said, I tell you. This man, this publican, this
chief of sinners, went down to his house justified, rather than
the other. John, God Almighty, wiped out
every sin charged to him, every single thing, all his past, present,
and future was completely covered, wiped out in a moment. How? God said so. God said so. Why? The blood of Jesus Christ
covered him, justified him. The other one, it didn't matter,
nothing he ever did in his whole life, the Pharisee, no matter
how good it appeared to be, no matter how moral, how righteous,
no matter how humanitarian. You know, he did all those charitable
acts. It's in the paper, you can see
it. He prayed all those prayers.
Not one single thing that he did accounted for anything. As a matter of fact, it was all
held against him. All held against him. He was
charged with stealing God's glory. Right there is a charge against
you. Now here's in closing. All who
come to Christ, to God naked, are clothed. All who come clothed
will be stripped naked. All who come before God guilty
of everything are justified from all things. All who come innocent
are found guilty of every charge. All who come before God low,
low, low, He brings them high, high. How high? All the way to
the throne of God. All who come high, He says He
will bring them down. He will. The Lord of hosts hath
purposed it to stain the pride of all glory and to bring into
contempt all the honorable of the earth. All who come ashamed,
ashamed of themselves, will be in glory, will be glorified.
All who come glorying in themselves will be put to shame before God.
All who come empty, empty, I don't have anything in me to commend
myself to God. I don't have anything, will be
filled with the fullness of God. All things made unto Him. All
who come full of themselves will be emptied. All who come who
hate themselves, will be loved of God. All who love themselves,
God hates them. All who come with ropes around
their necks, go ahead and hang me. I'm guilty. We'll have a crown on their head. And all who come with a crown,
seeking a crown, put a rope around their neck. All who come as harlots,
He calls virgins. All who come as virgins, He says
you're a prostitute. All who come as taking all the
blame. All the blame. I get all the
blame. It's all my fault. I presented faultless. Blameless. Unreprovable. All who come taking
no blame, laying the blame on somebody else, get all the blame.
All who come to God as guilty sinners, needing mercy, receive
mercy. Every one of them. Isn't that wonderful? All
who come to God pleading the righteousness of Jesus Christ,
His blood, are accepted by God, well pleasing to God, will dwell
with God forever. All who plead anything, anything
other than or in addition to, no matter how small it is, their
faith, their decision, their baptism, whatever it is, their
works, their witnessing, their abstinence, whatever it is, will
be found guilty as charged and cast out of God's presence. But it's true. The Lord Jesus
Christ said that. He that exalteth himself will
be abased. And he that abaseth himself will
be exalted. This gospel is for sinners. We're
looking for sinners, aren't we? That's why we talk about sinners. We're looking for sinners. You
know, your name's in the Bible. If you're a sinner, your name
is in there. I can promise you that Christ died for you. I can
promise you from God's Word. It's a faithful saying. It's
worthy of all acceptance. Christ came into the world to
save sinners. He said, I didn't come to call the righteous. I
came to call sinners.