to Acts chapter 20 with me now.
Acts chapter 20. We started this message Wednesday
night, and I told one of the brothers that I had such a good
time with it, I told one of the brethren that I want more people
to hear this. I want maybe some visitors to
hear this. But Acts chapter 20 is where
we have been studying. Now, let me just ask a question
before we begin and lead up to this. When you think of a preacher, When somebody says, well, that
man's a preacher, what does he do for a living? Well, he's a
preacher. What do you think of? What is the primary purpose or
job of a man who's called a minister? Well, I'm ashamed to say that
in our day, he is thought of as one who is a socializer one
who visits the sick, spends most of his time in the hospital,
one who marries people, one who buries people, one who gives
invocations at football games. Paul says here in verse 24 of
Acts 20, look down at the middle part of that verse, he says, that I might finish my course
with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus,
too, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, too,
testify the gospel of the grace of God." is supposed to minister the gospel. He's called a minister of the
gospel in the Scripture. He may minister in other ways
to the needs of the people, but that's the one thing needful
of the people, and that is what a true minister of the gospel
endeavors or wants to minister. to the people, that is, the gospel. And he said, this ministry I
have is to testify the gospel of the grace of God. You see
that? I have received of the Lord Jesus
a directive, a command, a mandate, necessity is laid upon me, Paul
said, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. Now, look at
verse 20 and 21. He said this in verse 20 and
21, I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but
have showed you, have taught you publicly, not privately,
but publicly and from house to house, testifying both to the
Jews and so forth. Testifying Now, somebody who
testifies in a court of law is a witness, someone who is a witness
of the defense or the prosecution, and probably this is fresh on
your mind in this day since everybody's taken up with this Simpson case,
you know. But someone who testifies, someone
who's a witness, they're called upon to tell just exactly what
they have seen and what they have heard. Right? Under penalty
of law, penalty for perjury, if they leave anything out or
add anything to it. Right? Under penalty of law. You've seen these people, they're
testifying before this judge. is before the judge that they're
testifying, because the judge, he or she, is the one who is
going to make the final decision. Right? He or she is the one who
needs to hear this. All right? So if you're a witness,
you're called and you swear, when you begin, you swear to
tell the truth. truth, and nothing but the truth. Turn over to 2 Corinthians 2
with me. Paul says in our text, in Acts
20, I've kept nothing back. He said, I have been called as
a witness. to testify, to testify before
God, the judge, the truth. What's the truth? The gospel. Jesus Christ is the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Nothing, no additions
to Christ, no subtractions from Christ, right? He says, I've
kept nothing back. I've told the whole truth. In
2 Corinthians 2, this is one of my favorite verses, verse
17, Paul says this, Now we are not as many which corrupts, or
my margin says, deal deceitfully with the word of God. Now, the
truth is God's word. God's word is truth, right? The truth is his word. Paul said,
we are not as many who corrupt or deal deceitfully with it.
There are some people today, some men standing up today who
have read the same book that we're reading, and yet they're
going to deal with it deceitfully. They're going to keep something
back that they're afraid may offend so-and-so down here. They're going to add something
to it because they know that it will help their case, their
cause out. They're going to deal deceitfully
with it because they'll know they'll get a bigger crowd, they'll
get some more money, they'll get more members, and they're
going to take away from it. They're not going to preach some
of it. This word is like a fire and a hammer and a sword that
cuts. They're not going to preach that,
Henry, because they know it'll offend, and they're going to
entertain instead. also were not as many, which
corrupt the word of God," look at it, verse 17, "...but as of
sincerity." In other words, we have a true and sincere desire
to do what? Win souls? Not first. That's not the first reason that
man is called to be a preacher. If he's got winning souls, first
and foremost, in his mind, get out of the pulpit. He'll contrive
methods and gimmicks and tricks and whatever he can to get decisions. His first purpose is to glorify
God. Huh? I'm seeing something. See, he's testifying, he's a
witness to a thing. the things we've seen and what
we've heard. What is that? His glory. And that's the first
order of business of the true witness. Testify. I want to testify
this morning how I used to be a drunk and how I did this and
that. No. Of who he is. Let me tell you
about what great things the Lord has done. That's a testimony. That's a testifier. is to first glorify his God,
and that men and women might see his glory. That's how souls
are won, when they see his glory and they bow to him. As of sincerity,
look at this, verse 17, and maybe I'll just preach from this verse,
by him. As of God, who sends the preacher? Piedmont Bible College, Appalachian
Bible College, Dallas Theological Seminary, Louisville Theological
Seminary, seminary. Who sends a preacher? If anybody
sends him, but God Almighty, he's a false prophet. Right? We read in Jeremiah 23, he said,
this fellow ran, I didn't send them. They want to be preacher
boys. So they go to seminary. God doesn't send them to seminary. Granted, he takes some out of
seminary and reveals the gospel to them. My dad was one. Other
men have done the same thing. He saved them in the seminary.
But he doesn't send them to seminary to learn the gospel, learn how
to preach. He sends them to the Holy Spirit, the same place he
sent the twelve apostles. He sends them to sit at the feet
of the Lord Jesus Christ and learn the gospel, to learn of
him, to testify of him, of his glory, the things he's seen and
heard. You're not going to see and hear the glory of Christ
in a cemetery. You're not going to do it. Well, where am I? Where in my notes am I? I'm in verse 17 of 2 Corinthians. As of God, this is what I'm trying
to say, God sent them. God sent them. They don't come
recommended by the seminary, but they come sent by God. And they don't come into town looking
for who might have them as a preacher, God opens doors and people are
waiting on them. Where have you been? We've been
waiting on you. Right? As of God, ambassadors for Christ. Christ said, Go in all the world.
He didn't say, Go and ask who will have you. He said, You go,
I'm sending you. My people will hear you, they'll
have you. They're waiting on you. There's a eunuch out in
the desert, Philip, and he's waiting on you. He doesn't know
it, but he is. him out there, and the eunuch
was reading the Bible, and Philip just appeared and said, Where
did you come from, God? Do you understand what I'm saying? I can't say it, but I will. I'll
show you. As of God, in the sight of God. Paul said, We're not trying to
please man. We don't speak as trying to please
men. If we tried to please men, if
we paid attention to who it was we were, oh, here's a Catholic
in our service this morning. Here's someone who goes to the
Catholic Church. Well, I'd better not say anything about the priesthood.
I'd better not say anything about the mass. I'd better not say
anything about one mediator. I'd better totally say, they'll
get mad they'll never come back. Oh, no. Oh, no. That better be
the thing that I address. Or that person hasn't heard the
truth, right? I've kept back the truth, but
they'll need to hear it, because they're in bondage to ignorance,
to a lie. They've received a lie. I need
to tell them the truth, don't I? Well, here's a person, they've
come in, and here's a bank president. Sure, if him, he'll do his thing.
You know, our budget's low. We need money. You know, tone
her down. Tell him about the love of God.
how much Jesus loves him and died for him and needs him. No,
you tell an old white person, whoever he is, Mr. Horty-Torty,
you tell him he's a sinner before a holy God, unless he bows in
repentance, he's going to hell like the harlot. That's the truth, that's the
whole truth. Nothing but the truth. Like I said, where am I? So Paul said, and I didn't finish
that verse 17, did I? Oh, I didn't finish it. As of God, as of sincerity, as
of God, in the sight of God, it's God the one that's listening.
It's God the one we're seeking to plead. It's God the one that
sent us, God the one that gave the message, and it's about God's
Son. So he said, you better speak about my Son. In the sight of
God, we preach Christ, he said. God's ear is tuned to the preaching
of our day. You know that? Didn't he say
that in Jeremiah 23? Am I God at hand and not a God
afar off? Do I not feel heaven and earth? He said, I've heard what they're
saying, didn't he? Sometimes I wonder, God, aren't
you hearing what they're saying on Channel 8? Aren't you hearing
what these prophets are saying in this tune against the gospel?
Churches are full everywhere of these people, lying on you,
taking away from you. Don't you hear? I hear, he says.
Oh yeah, my ear is tuned. I hear it. He said, in the latter
days there'll be none. There'll be none. Well, Paul says, I'm a witness,
I'm an ambassador of Christ, I'm here to testify. In verse
20, he said in Acts 20, 20, he says, I've kept but nothing.
kept back nothing that was profitable. Testifying, verse 21, testifying
both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, that is, to the religious,
irreligious, to the religious and the intellectuals, whoever. That's all the world, Jews and
Greeks. Testifying, now look at these
two things, verse 21. Repentance toward God. and faith toward our Lord Jesus
Christ. These are the two things that
are missing in present-day preaching. And in this order, repentance
toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. You say they're
preaching Jesus. Not what it says. Repentance
toward God. Now, number one, the missing
note in present-day preaching. Repentance toward God. You know why they call it the
Old Bible and don't like to read it? Huh? Because all they read
in there is repentance. Repentance. All the way through,
every prophet came to her and preached in what? Repentance. Dude! Right? So they say, that's
the Old Bible. Now we're under the law of the
grace of God. Right? people back then, they were over
those old rebellious Israelites, you know, yeah, they deserved
what they got, but we're the Christians, and God loves us,
and there's good people out there, and things have changed. No,
God says, I am the Lord, I change not. Why do we come to preaching
repentance, first of all? Because God's holy. He said, I change not. I am angry with the wicked every
day." The prophets came preaching repent.
Then the apostles, John was the last of the prophets. What did
John the Baptist preach? What was his principal message?
The baptism of what? Repentance. The apostles came
along. What did they preach? Peter's message at Pentecost.
You'll see. You'll see. Relax all the way
through. You'll not find the love of God mentioned one time. Not one time. In all the book
of Acts, in all the recorded sermons of the apostles, not
one time. You'll find them saying that
God in whose hands your breath is and all your ways thou hast
not glorified. You'll find them saying that
God hath made this same Jesus whom you have crucified, both
Lord and Christ, and now kiss the Son, lest he be angry." All
down at his feet and repentant. Our Lord Jesus Christ himself,
that they like to say today, Catholics have coined this phrase,
gentle Jesus, meek and mild. Gentle Jesus preached more about
hell than anybody. He preached more about hell than
he did heaven. The first words out of his mouth,
gentle Jesus? The first words out of the mouth
of the holy Lord Jesus Christ were, Repent, the kingdom of
God is at hand. Now, this is old-fashioned. What did you hear this morning?
What did the preacher preach? Hell's fire and damnation. Well,
hell's fire, he preached hell's fire. This is so old-fashioned. It's
so unpopular. But I read it to you in Jeremiah
6.16. He said, You stand and you see
and you ask for the old paths. Tell me the old, old story. Ask
for the old paths, where it is the good way. See, you don't
want something new. This new revelation today is
a false one. You want the old paths, where
it is the good way, the only way. Be true, and you'll find
rest for your soul. You know, there's only rest after
repentance. There's no rest in receiving
Jesus as your personal Savior. It's only rest and receiving
mercy at the hands of a sovereign God. You'll find rest for your soul.
You know what the rest of that verse says in Jeremiah 6.16?
It says, and they said, we will not walk in that. They said the
same thing to Jeremiah, Job. So that's old-fashioned. We don't
want to hear that hell's fire and damnation first. You know,
repentance. Well, we're above that. But we're educated. This
is the twentieth century, man. You don't preach repentance to
these church-going people. Yes, you do. Those are exactly
the people you need to preach it to. Why? Ask them. Ask people out there
if they're sinners. George Whitfield said there are
three things we need to repent of. What is repentance? It's
basically three things. the Lord Jesus Christ said, you're
not into the kingdom of heaven. Did you hear that? Let me say
it about ten times. Except ye repent, except I repent. I'm not preaching at you, I'm
preaching to us. This is the way of God. Except
ye repent, except I repent. The preacher, day in and day
out. He said, except ye repent, you're
not into the kingdom of heaven, Christ said. Three things at repentance. Except
you repent, you're not in the kingdom of heaven. What is repentance?
Does it not behoove us to find out what repentance is? And to
do it. Keep doing it. You repent daily,
hourly, don't we? Yes, why? God told us. Three
things. Number one, we repent of our
sin. Well, you say, well, Preacher,
I've done that. I've repented over the fact that
I got drunk. No, I didn't say sins. I didn't say sins. I said sin. You see, David, when he committed
adultery, that was a sin, wasn't it? That was a sin, one among
many. That woman's husband, that was
a sin, too. Those were sins that he committed.
What did David repent of in Psalm 51? My sin is ever before me. Not that one singular act. He
said, against thee have I sinned. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned. I am sin. Sin is what we are. Not just
what we've done, it's what we are. What makes us rise up in
anger and hatred, like we do at times, like an out-and-out
demon-possessed person? Huh? You've seen yourself. What
makes you do that? Well, that woman or that man. That's what Adam said, didn't
it? You know what Adam used? Those are sins. What makes you
commit sins is what you are. It's that evil in you. Oh, this
is not popular. This is not going to get a crowd.
It'll get everybody that's in here this morning. It'll get
everybody that intends to hear it. But I'm telling you, this
is the heart, the soul, the very beginning of this message of
the gospel. It's got to start here. That's
what's missing in present-day preaching, and you're going to
hear it this morning. Sin. What I am. What I am is
what makes me do what I do, you see. A man is not a drunk because
he drinks. He drinks because he's a drunk. Right? A man is not a thief because
he steals. That's the outward manifestation
of it. He stole before he ever took it, because he wanted to. He steals because he's a thief.
Isn't that what Christ came magnifying the law, saying? Huh? He said
a man's not an adulterer because he commits it, and that's sin. That's sin. A man's an adulterer
when? When he looks upon a woman, less
accurately. He's done it already. That's
not to say he can go ahead and do it. No. God will judge sin
and sins. He'll judge them both. But you
see what I'm trying to say? Sin. It's us. It's what we are.
It's what we are. Sin. Sin is the second thing. Sin is what we do. Then, yes,
we do repent. And repentance is a genuine sorrow
and heartbrokenness over what we are before a holy God. It's a genuine heartbrokenness
over what we are before a holy God. How could I be this way?
Lord, how could I be this way? Oh, wretched man that I am. Who
shall deliver me from this body of death? And in repent of sins,
we repent not only of what we are, but what we do. Lord, forgive
me for doing that. Lord, how could I have done that?
Not only how could I have thought that, how could I have done that?
Bad enough that I am sinned, it's worse still to do it. Lord,
keep me, keep back thy servant from these sins. Keep me from
being sinned. Forgive my sins, wash my sins
in the blood of Christ, but cleanse me from all unrighteousness.
Don't let me sin. Do sins. We actually repent. And repentance is not only an
inward sorrow, but it's a desire to change, a turning. A man just doesn't want to be
kept from hell, he wants to be kept from sin. I don't want to
sin anymore. Right? That's repentance. And then thirdly, sin, sins, and self-righteousness. Self-righteousness. A man has
never repented, a woman has never repented, a young person has
never repented, unless they've repented of their self. righteousness. What does that mean? Well, that's
anything that's not Christ and Christ alone. That's any work
we bring before God, thinking he's going to accept it. That's
self-righteousness, is it? Right? Any righteousness but
the righteousness of Christ is a self-produced righteousness,
right? Anything a man, woman, or young
person says they've done, and therefore God's going to have
mercy on them, that's self-righteousness. He won't take it. We need to
repent of it. All our righteousness is repentance.
All my righteousness, Lord, is filthy rags. There's none that
do it good, Lord. None righteous, no, not even
me. I've done nothing, not by his
repentance of self-righteousness, not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but by your mercy you've saved me, by your
sovereign mercy and grace." I repent this morning of coming
to church and playing religion. I repent of standing up here
before you and acting the part of the preacher. God forgive
me. God forgive me for saying anything,
doing anything that's to appear religious. My prayers, I need
to repent of my prayers. They weren't totally from the
heart or motive for the glory of God. Sincere repentance. You repent this morning right
now that you can't stay awake while listening to this message. Lord, forgive me. Here I am supposed
to be worshiping you, and I can't even listen. I can't even sit
here. You know, I can stay real awake when I can be real taken
up with the racetrack, or this and that, or the ballgame, or
sport, or some ridiculous, foolish pastime. But, Lord, I can't.
I can't. The Word of God is being preached. My entrance into glory
itself, my acceptance with God Almighty, whether or not I want
to live before God or not, is at stake right now, this morning.
Except he repented. The scripture says, Christ the
Lord God from heaven came down and said, except he repented.
What is repentance then? It's sin, it's what I am. And
this 99.9% of this religious world out there is not repented
as such. Ask them. Oh, they've repented
of stealing a watermelon, but they're not repenting now. They're
good Christians. That's it's self-righteousness. that we've
got to repent about. Dammit, Lord, forgive me. And
then he says, repentance toward God. Two things. I'm not shunned
to declare them yet. Kept back nothing profitable.
Two things. Repentance toward God. You know what that means. And faith. Now listen. Anybody
who's truly repentant. Now, a man may get sick. A man may get in trouble, lose
his job, or his child gets sick, or get in trouble. He'll do anything,
he'll try anything. If you'll tell him, promise him,
it'll get him out of that mess. You should accept Jesus. Have
you received God in your heart? Come on down, make a commitment.
Man, you're in trouble. Come on down here, make a commitment,
be baptized, and straighten your life up, and everything will
be better from there on out. He'll do anything when he gets
in a mess. These are these decisions that they're prying out of people
laying on their deathbed. Yeah, he'll do anything. Got
cancer, you know. Yeah, he'll do anything. That's
not repentance. A decision to believe on Jesus
is not repentance. That's just a decision. But a sinner, like I was just
trying to explain, a sinner who feels himself in the hands of
a holy God, sovereign God, to do with him as he pleases, then that kind of repentance
will bring him to faith But you and I, to confess our
sins one to another, does not. Thoughts. There's a difference. I say to Stan, Stan, forgive
me, I'm such a thoughtless fellow. I'm so sorry that I'm not more
thoughtful and I didn't remember your birthday. Besides, you're
getting so old, you probably don't want me to remember your
birthday. But forgive me for not sending a card on your thoughts,
my thoughtlessness. I was thoughtless in not doing
that. I thought about you. I really did. I thought about
you. It's not the thoughts that count. It's a card, that's what
I really care. But forgive me, I'm so thoughtless.
That's a fault. I don't need to go into detail.
Sin is supposed to stand. You know what I did the other
day? No. And I didn't do it against Stan,
anyway. It's toward God. David said against thee, and
thee only have I sinned. and done this evil on thy side.
It's repentance toward God, not man. It's toward God. God's the
one who's angry, who's offended. And then faith is what? Faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. When you see that you sinned
against this holy God, not that you just stole an apple, got
drunk, and this and that and the other, cussed and chewed
and ran around. That's not it. It's God, this
holy God. I'm in his hands, and he's angry
with all those who are unholy and righteous and
sinful. And what does that bring? Faith,
real faith, real repentance. Oh, Lord, God, is there anything?
How can you be just, Lord, and justify me? How can you forgive
me for this, Lord? You're holy. He turns your eyes. Not here. If you'll clean up,
if you'll just clean up your platter, you know, if you'll
just quit this, quit that. He doesn't turn your eyes here. Turn your eyes inward. Look unto
yourself and clean your life up and join the church. Look
to the preacher. Look to the preacher. He'll guide
you, he'll lead you. Stick close by him. He'll tell
you what to do and give you five easy steps to be saved. Look
to the preacher, look to the Savior, no, no. Look in unto
Jesus Christ, he'll turn your eyes to him alone. Faith toward
our Lord Jesus Christ. Not in, not about, but toward. If I'm looking at John Davis,
I'm looking at him right now. Sometimes with glasses it's hard
to tell, and I am looking at you, John, aren't I? I'm not
looking at anybody else. I'm looking toward John Davis. I'm not looking toward Sherry
Henderson. I'm looking toward John Davis. What does it mean
to look faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ? It means to look
to Him and Him alone. Him and Him alone. I got written
up at the top of my notes, slow and clear. say it slow and clear. I've got a habit of talking fast
and not being clear. The song said, Tell it to me
slowly, that I may take it in. OK? Close Bible, close notes. Look toward the Lord Jesus Christ.
What does that mean? What does that mean, to look?
Paul said, I've kept back nothing. I'm not shunned to declare all
the counsel of God. And I didn't get to that again.
I had that in my notes again, the counsel of God. We'll try
it tonight. Repentance toward God. I tried to explain that,
and you can't. The Holy Spirit has to give it. It's the goodness
of God that leads a man to repentance. I can't stand up here and describe
to you what repentance is. I can tell you till I'm blue
in the face what repentance is. But nobody's going to repent
unless God Almighty causes them to repent. Unless God Almighty
comes into word and says something, I'm holy. We sang that song.
Holy, holy, holy. Isaiah, when he saw the Lord,
he repented, didn't he? In Isaiah chapter 6, he said,
When I saw the Lord, how I lifted up his train filled the temple.
He said, Whoa, it was me! I'm a man of unclean lips, and
I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." Up until that
chapter, Isaiah was saying, "'Rose unto these people.'" Look at
all these drunkards in these harlots, saying, "'Rose, rose, rose unto
them.'" When he saw the Lord for himself, he said, "'Rose
me.'" as good a man as he was. He was
one of the best men that ever lived. Daniel, when he saw his
glory, when Daniel saw his glory, Daniel said, My beauty melted
into corruption, and I can preach just as loud
as I can. And unless God Almighty shows
you who he is, and that you're in his hands, and he can where he can love you. Does he optimize you? Because
all his sin becomes shown to the glory of God? And nobody's deserving? He says the wages of sin is death.
We deserve death. Lived all our lives and thankless
to God. Everything we have we received at the hands of this
generous benefactor. Just pour it out. Goods, houses,
lands, cars, children, health, wealth, happiness, food. We give
him an hour of our time on Sunday and think we're doing him a favor.
God said, you thankless bunch of disobedient, thankless children,
get out of my sight. That's what he ought to do, every
one of them, me included. Until we see that, we're in the
hands of this one that we've offended. He's, God's offended
with us. God's offended with our church
going this morning. He's offended with that. You
know that? Isaiah chapter 1, he says, your
new moons, your Sabbaths, your Sunday go to meet in church service,
I'm offended with it. Didn't he say that? Get that
out of my sight. He said, I want somebody to worship
me in heart. Somebody who's truly thankful.
Thank you, Lord. Thank you. I repent. People I haven't died have been
like that like I should. I realize that. So it's a constant
thing. Lord, forgive me. Forgive me. Please forgive me. In the hands
of this one and only God who demands heart worship, I can't
produce it like I ought to. What does that drive me to do?
Look to Christ. That and that only will drive
a man to look to Christ. God alone can give us, God alone
can make a man, a woman, a young person. These children that have
gone down these aisles and accepted Jesus, received him in their
heart, I feel so sorry for them. Their parents have given them
a false refuge. One little girl asked my little
daughter the other day, said, Have you accepted God into your
heart? My daughter said, we don't believe that. We don't preach
like that. She said, well, you're not going
to get to heaven unless you do. Where does that say that in the
Bible? That's what they're teaching children everywhere. Repentance. Where's repentance on the scene?
Where are these little children? How can a little child ever be
sorry for his sin against the Holy God? Huh? Those are the
only people who repent. A little child. And you know
what sin is, unless God supernaturally does something. I'm not saying
I'm saying babies go to hell. Not saying that at all. I think the blood of Christ and
God, I think, does a supernatural work to those young people like
David's baby. At any rate, what I'm saying is, only a holy God,
a God, can give repentance. And then when a person repents,
sees who God is, see what they are before this holy God. Only
then will they really have faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ.
They'll quit trying. They'll say, my church going
is filthy. First, people, by all standards,
I am the best among you. Right? I'm the preacher. Aren't
preachers the best reverend? Why, he's reverend! He's a filthy
rotten sinner before a holy God. Every man at his best state is
altogether vanity, the scripture says. And only if a person repents
before a holy God will they look to God. It's not by works of
righteousness, it's not by preaching. I could preach all my life and
go to hell. I can pray the best prayers ever
been heard by a human ear and go straight to hell. Go to hell
for my prayers. Why? Because I'm thinking they
sure are impressed with my prayers. Right? I wasn't praying to God from
the heart. What does that drive a man to do? What does all this
drive a man to see the hopelessness, the helplessness of him? But
he can't end my hands, nothing. I can't do anything. Not my works
of righteousness, not my morality. I've been a good grandmother,
I've been a good mother all my life. That won't do it. God doesn't even like that. Do
you hear what I'm saying? It's not being a good woman.
It's faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. God is holy. He said, Be ye holy, I'm holy. I can't! I'm a sinner! How am I going to be holy? Christ,
God, came down. This is why he came. He came
down and said, I'll be holy as a man for unholy men. You need holiness? Oh, no, I
don't need that. See, I've got one. I've joined
a church, and that's Antichrist. Isn't it? That's self-righteousness. You need a holiness you can't
produce? God says, I'll be holy. Christ came down and said, I'll
be holy, and he did, he was. He was holy. And God Almighty,
in this repentance, says, now you need a holiness. The goodness
of God leads a man to this. He leads him to see what he is,
and his need of Christ, the holiness that he can't produce, And he
says, you need a holiness, don't you, Jeanette Boyle? You were
a good girl and a religious girl all your life. Your daddy was
religious, your mama was religious, everybody was religious. You're
just good and religious, aren't you? You must. Well, you need. You need Christ, don't you? You
need a holiness you can't produce, that the one you have is not
good enough. You need Christ, don't you? She
says, yes, I need Christ. God says, here he is freely.
Just freely give him to you. Now, who's not going to run out
and say, well, I believed, I believed, you know, I did, I accepted it
in my, oh, that's another work of righteousness. You see, God
says, I'm getting the glory now, I'm going to get all the glory,
aren't I, Jeanette? I led you to repent of your religion, I
led you to see your need of Christ, now I'm going to get all the
glory, aren't I? Huh? Here's Christ. Thank you. Eat to him be all the glory.
Look to Christ. Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, wait a minute now. Sins, something's got to be done
about sins I've committed, hasn't it? God's holy. He said the soul
that sinneth must surely die. The wages of sin is death. You've
got to die. Barbara, you've lived a long
life and you've committed a lot of sins. You've been a sinner
a long time. Something's got to be done about you. God's holy,
God's a righteous judge. He's not like our judges today
who let a man off after he commits murder in seven years. God says,
you're going to the electric chair. No, God says, you're going to
the cross. You're going to die for your sins. That's why I'm
holy, and I will by no means clear the guilty. And you're
guilty before me, you're going to die. You're going to die for
that sin. God's got to. If he let one sin
slide, he wouldn't be holy, would he? He's going to punish your
sins, Nancy. He's going to kill you. You know that Nancy Parks died?
God slew her. I know one person ought to be
smiling right now. God slew her. Crucified her. Two thousand years ago, she was
hung on a cross, and she paid for her sins. Nancy says, Yet
not I! And I was crucified with Christ.
See, this is what faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ said, that
God, when he saw Christ, he saw me. And as horrible as that scene
was, that Christ, what he got, that's just what I deserved.
And God poured out his wrath upon me. It's what I deserve.
Lord, I'm sorry you had to do that for such a wretch as me,
but I'm sure glad you did it. And now the scripture says that
he rose from the grave. He didn't stay there, he rose
from the grave. He took our sins and was punished for the wages
of sin. He took death, he died, buried,
stayed in the grave three days, but he didn't stay there. He
rose like my high priest, and now he ever lives to make the
intercession. For who? All that will accept
him is their personal Savior. No. All those that have repented
toward God and have faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. You see
that? Now, I don't expect you to understand
everything I've said this morning. But God says you better look
into it. And I'll leave you with this.
Love Joe if you have him. I'll leave you with this. Now
listen to these words and I'm not going to explain them to
you. I want you to go home and I want
you to learn what this means. Everybody. I'll do it too. Christ said, you go home and
you learn what this means. I'll have mercy and not sacrifice. That's salvation. He said, I'll
have mercy and not sacrifice. Go home and learn what that means.