Alright, let's open our Bibles
to the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter
5. I have, in the past few weeks
in my preaching, taken some time in going through this chapter.
And I want to cover the whole chapter, but I can't do it in
one message or we'd be here too long. I'd be here too long. But I want to make sure that
we understand what the Word of God has for us in these words
concerning the gospel ministry. That's what this whole chapter
is about, the gospel ministry. And it's the ministry of reconciliation. God reconciling His people unto
Himself through Jesus Christ. And then it's about his people
being reconciled unto him in their hearts. I'm going to talk
about that today. And I've spoken much in the past
couple of messages on what we call the gospel persuasion. The
gospel persuasion, look at verse 10 of 2 Corinthians 5. He speaks
of the judgment here. He says, For we must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the
things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether
it be good or bad. That's the judgment seat of Christ.
That's the judgment of all. It's a declarative judgment.
In other words, all things will be made manifest, will be revealed
in its truth and character at that time. And of course the
only issue, I preached the whole message on this verse, the judgment
seat of Christ. The issue there is, am I in Christ
or am I not? That's the issue. This issue
of works here that he speaks of, according to that which he
hath done, whether it be good or bad, that's not a judgment
by our works, it's a judgment of our works. Do they evidence
the grace of God, the glory of God in Christ? Or do they evidence
a self-righteous, unbelieving attitude? And then he says in
verse 11, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord. And that
terror there, understand now, that's the terror. You know,
we could talk about the fear of God, that's a good thing.
That's the reverence and the respect and the worship, the
attitude of worship. that God gives unto his people. We ought to fear the Lord. Read
it in Hebrews chapter 4. Speaks of that. But that's a
fear of faith. It's a fear of worship. A fear
of respect. And that can be included here.
But this terror of the Lord, I believe, mainly refers to the
fact that we know the state of all of us by nature. And that's
this, unless we have Christ as our hope and salvation, unless
we have, unless we've been washed in His blood from all our sins,
unless we be found in His righteousness, the Lord our righteousness that
we sang about, what a terrible day it will be for us at the
judgment seat of Christ, no matter who we are. No matter what we've
done, no matter what we plead, the best that we can offer unto
God will do us no good. You see that? Because the best
that we can offer God, I'll tell you something, whatever the best
is, there's always someone better, and that's Christ. And that's
what God requires. The righteousness of God. That's
why the gospel, the gospel ministry, is the preaching of the righteousness
of God and not the righteousness of men. The righteousness of
men will do you no good. Do me no good. So we know that. And we know therefore the terror
of the Lord. So what do we do? We persuade
men. Now as I've said every time I've
read that, Paul knew that he couldn't change the hearts of
the people to whom he preached. I know I cannot change your hearts.
I can't even change my own heart. But that doesn't stop us from
presenting and preaching in the clearest way we know how, and
as God has given us ability, the message, the simple message,
the clear message of the gospel of God's grace. And persuade. I'm trying to persuade you to
believe. I can't make you believe. Only
the Holy Spirit can do that. But I'm still an instrument of
God, an ambassador of Christ, a signpost, if you will, to point
you to Him. And so we persuade men. So the
gospel ministry is a ministry of persuasion through the preaching
of the truth. He says in verse 11, we persuade
men, but we are made manifest unto God. Now how are we made
manifest unto God? Well, God knows our hearts. and
all the way you can know uh... in any way to any degree what
my heart is is by what i preach sunday after sunday wednesday
after wednesday continually and if i preach christ and lift him
up each time i preach you can know that's where my heart is
it's with him but now if i get sidetracked on issues now don't
get me wrong even true preachers can get sidetracked and they
do But God's going to bring him back. Brother Mahan, you say,
God's got us on a leash. You only go so far and he'll
jerk it back. So we persuade him. And let me give you a parallel
verse to this. You write this down. If you want
a great summation of the gospel persuasion, here it is. It's
2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 12. 2nd Timothy chapter 1 and
verse 12. To me, every now and then you'll
find one of those verses of scripture that kind of sums it all up.
And that one kind of sums up the whole thing about gospel
persuasion. And that's where the Apostle
Paul, in his old age, writing to young Timothy, the young evangelist,
and he says, I'm going to have to read it. Joe was telling me, he said,
did you see what happened to me last week? And I said, what? He said, I held this up and I
couldn't think of it. It was called a bulletin. Senior moment. All right. 2 Timothy
1.12. Paul's talking about his suffering
under the gospel ministry because it's so hated by the natural
man. And he says, nevertheless, I'm not ashamed for I know whom
I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that
which I've committed unto him against that day." Now that's
a summation of the gospel persuasion. I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
He said that in Romans 160. It says that there in 2nd Timothy
112. I'm not ashamed for I know. Here's the reason I'm not ashamed. compare that with 2nd Corinthians
chapter 5 and verse 10 where he says we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ now if I appear before the judgment
seat of Christ in any way or pleading anything or anyone but
Christ and him crucified I'll guarantee you I'm going to be
ashamed That's right. The best of the
best. I'll still be ashamed. But if
I plead Him, whom to know His life eternal, if I stand there
pleading His blood and His righteousness, I'll not be ashamed. I'm not
ashamed, for I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded. There's the gospel. Now, who
persuaded me of that? It wasn't the preacher. God used
him. God presented the Word to me
through him. But it was the Holy Spirit who
persuaded me. Conviction, that's what that
is. I am persuaded that He is able to keep, not only to start
it, but to keep it. That which I've committed unto
Him against that day. And what have I committed unto
Him? My whole salvation. I've committed to Christ. And
against that day, what day? The day of the judgment. I can
stand boldly. in the day of the judgment because
I stand in Christ. The Bible says that. That's not
my words, that's not presumption, that's just what God says. 1
John 4, 17. We can have boldness in the day
of judgment because as He is, so are we in this world. So there's
the gospel persuasion. We'll go back to 2 Corinthians
5 now. He said, I may manifest unto God, I preach the Word of
God, preach that which glorifies God, that which honors God, that
which puts man in the dust and leaves him with no hope of salvation
but Christ and Him crucified. You see, if I give you any other
hope but Christ and Him crucified and risen again, it's not a gospel
ministry here. You understand that? And he said,
I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. And remember,
I preached two messages there on the conscience. That's the
seed of judgment in the heart, in the mind. And that, we talked
about the conscience cleansed by the blood of Christ. Hebrews
chapter 10 for example. Now today, I want to go to verse
12. I want to talk to you about the
gospel commendation. Listen to what he says here.
He says, for we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you
occasion to glory on our behalf that, or in order that, you may
have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and
not in heart." Not in heart. This is the gospel commendation. You know, for salvation to come
to a sinner, two things must happen. First of all, that sinner
must be justified before a holy God. We've talked about that.
That's the heart of the Gospel. That's why He wrote here in 2
Corinthians 5 and verse 21, For He hath made Him, God the Father
hath made God the Son, Christ incarnate, sin for us. That's His substitutionary work
on the cross. If you want to know what that
means, read the Old Testament, period. So that's a big order,
isn't it? Well, I can give you some scriptures
to go to. He bore our iniquities. Christ took the place of His
people. He said this. He said He laid
down His life for the sheep. How could He do that and God
justly punish Him? He was made sin. Sin was charged
to Him, accounted to Him. Christ who knew no sin. But He
did it for us, He says here. He did it as a substitute. that
we might be made or become the righteousness of God in Him,
that we might have a new standing before God in Christ. And so we must be justified.
That's what this judgment thing is all about now. That's why
the gospel ministry must be preached in light of the judgment seat
of Christ. You're going to stand before judgment. I'm going to
stand before God at judgment. That's right. And how am I going
to stand and be accepted? I must be justified. I must be
declared by God to be not guilty. To be righteous in His sight.
How can that be? I'm a sinner. How can that be?
There's only one way. And that's for me to stand in
my substitute. So we must be justified. The
second thing that must be accomplished in the gospel ministry is regeneration,
the new birth. That's where the Holy Spirit
does His great work of sovereign application. That's where He
brings that lost sinner who doesn't know the way, that's what it
is to be lost, who's in the dark, spiritually dead and trespasses. And He, from Christ, who is our
life, He gives that sinner spiritual life. Now, I cannot analyze or
even theologize spiritual life for you. A lot of people think
they can, but I don't get into that because the scripture doesn't.
But I can tell you this, this is what Christ told Nicodemus
in John chapter 3 when he told Nicodemus, you must be born again.
That the only way you can understand and know spiritual life within
you is by its evidences. And what are its evidences? Well,
just like physical life, you breathe, In spiritual life, you
believe. Faith in Christ. That's an evidence
of spiritual life. You truly believe from the heart. What's the heart? It's the mind,
the affections, and the will. He speaks in verse 12 here of
glorying in appearance rather than glorying in heart. I want
to know, do I glory in appearance or am I really glorying in heart? That means from the heart. That's
what it's talking about. And so we must be born again.
We must be made spiritually alive. We must be under the preaching
of the Gospel, which is the Word of Life, brought to Christ from
our hearts. What is that? That's recognizing
my need of Him. I need Christ. Now let me tell
you something. In most occasions, you can just
forget feeling. It's not how you feel. It's what
you know. If I had Brother Aaron read that Romans chapter 10 when
he talks about, with the heart man believeth unto righteousness,
and that's based upon what you know, and what you know is what
God tells you. What you know is what God reveals
to you through the preaching of the gospel. Who I am? I'm
a sinner. I'm a sinner, and the only thing
I deserve and have earned is damnation. God's holy. He must punish sin. He will not
look over sin. He will not ease up on it. How do I know that? All I have
to do is look to the cross. And I know He won't ease up on
it because Christ suffered on that cross the full punishment
of the sins of His people. And so we must be born again.
We must be brought to repentance. That's a gift of God. Listen,
you're not born again because you believe. You believe because
you're born again. It's what the Scripture teaches. You're not born again because
you're better than everybody else. You're born again because
God has sovereignly chosen you and redeemed you by the blood
of Christ and sent you the Spirit. So what is this gospel commendation? Look at what Paul says here in
verse 12. He says, for we commend not ourselves again unto you. What is our commendation? You
know, over here, look over across the page, 2 Corinthians 4 and
verse 1. Listen to what he says here. He says, therefore seeing
we have this ministry, 2 Corinthians 4 and 1, we have this ministry.
What ministry? This gospel ministry. This ministry
of reconciliation. He said, as we have received
mercy, and there's the key. It's all about mercy, isn't it?
We faint not, we don't quit. But have renounced the hidden
things of dishonesty. Notice that word in your concordance
is shame. Every time a preacher preaches
salvation conditioned on the works or the will of a sinner,
he ought to be ashamed. Do you know that? Now, every
time a preacher preaches salvation conditioned on Christ, he has
something to glory in. That's the difference. He says, not walking in craftiness,
nor handling the Word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation
of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in
the sight of God. What is our commendation? Look
back over at chapter 3. 2 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse
1. You know why Paul's talking like
this, don't you? It's because false preachers had criticized
him. False preachers had come into the church and they had
denounced Paul. They said, Paul's a false preacher, Paul's a braggart,
Paul's in it for himself. And so, he says, do we begin
again to commend ourselves? There's that word again, commend.
Do we begin again to commend ourselves? In other words, am
I commending myself to you, or need we as some others, epistles,
that's a letter, letters of commendation to you, or letters of commendation
from you? Is that what I need? Do I need
credentials? Do I need a diploma? Do I need
a letter? Do I need to have a title? Do
I need the stamp of approval of some famous, well-respected
preacher? Is that what I need? Or is what
I'm preaching to you good enough? Well, one thing Paul says is
this, commend. It does have to do... Now listen,
it's an interesting word, commend. It has to do with a recommendation,
an approval. Do you know what it also means? When he says over here in 2 Corinthians
5, 12, for we commend not ourselves. The word actually means to place
together. It means to sit in the same place,
to bring or band together, that's what it means. To stand with
or set one with another. In fact, over in the book of
Colossians, let me just read this to you, chapter 1. He's
talking about the preeminence of Christ in Colossians chapter
1. And he says in verse 17 of Colossians
1, he says, For Christ is before all things. He has the preeminence.
And by Him all things consist. What does that mean? That means
all things are held together by Him. This whole universe is
held together by the sovereign power of Christ. By Him all things... You know that word consist is
the exact same word as commend here in 2 Corinthians 5.12. So what does that mean? Well,
Paul is saying here, am I introduced to you or do I come to you seeking
your fellowship to hold us together? What is my commendation? What
is it that holds us together? What brings us together? What
keeps us together, you say? Is it the word of men? Well,
so-and-so really likes this guy, you know, you ought to, you know,
listen. Is it my credentials? What is it that brings us together? What proves? Here's another way
of looking at it. What proves and establishes the
ministry so that we're together in unity? That's what he's talking
about. And that's what a recommendation
is. When you recommend a pastor, recommend a preacher, recommend
a missionary, or even when someone is recommended to you as uniting
with this church in fellowship, what do we say? We believe the
same thing. We're brought together by the
grace of God in Christ, by the truth. Paul's clear here that
our commendation is not the praise or the approval or the recommendation
of men. Our commendation is what? It's
the Word of God in Christ. It's the gospel of God's grace.
How God justifies the ungodly. And it's so in two ways. Number
one, it's so as it is given and revealed by God. Has it been
revealed to you? Has it been revealed to me? Preaching
that glorifies God and that exalts Christ and that humbles men and
brings salvation to sinners. Does it lift up Christ? Does
it leave you with no hope but Christ? And the second way is
this, as empowered unto your salvation and imparted to your
conscience. Listen, made manifest in your
conscience, the seed of judgment in the heart, cleansed from dead
works to serve the living God. We preach Christ and Him crucified. We preach ruined by the fall,
redeemed by the blood, regenerated by the Spirit. We preach the
sovereignty of God in election, justification, sanctification,
adoption, regeneration, preservation, and final glorification. What
are we saying in all that? Simply put, salvations of the
Lord. What is our commendation? What
recommends me to you or you to me and what holds us together?
It's the preaching of Christ and Him crucified. That's what
Paul was talking about over here. in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 when
he said, I strive not to know anything among you save Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. So here's the point. Whatever
I'm preaching on, whatever subject, if I'm preaching on marriage,
if I'm preaching on obedience, if it doesn't leave you with
no hope of salvation but Christ and His blood and righteousness,
then I have nothing to recommend me to you. And if that's not
what you want to hear, then you have nothing to recommend you
unto me. We're not together. What is our recommendation? That's
the gospel ministry. It's the truth that holds us
together. It's not that we like the same ball team. It's not
that we like the same social settings or habits or things
to do. It's not our mutual understanding
of numbers or science or finance or anything else. It's Christ.
and Him crucified, risen again. And I want to tell you something,
for anybody that that's not enough, they're either not here in spirit
or they'll leave in body too. That won't keep you here. What
is our commendation? Now notice here again back in
2 Corinthians 5 and verse 12. He says, We commend not ourselves
again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf. Now, what is our occasion? But
to give you occasion to glory on our behalf. You know what
that word occasion means? It means a base of operation
from which we live and work. It has to do with the supplies
and the materials and resources with which we operate. Now, how
are we going to operate? What is our base of operation?
What are the materials we're going to... What are our methods?
And I want to show you something in comparison. Turn to Romans
chapter 7. Here's what I'm talking about.
Romans chapter 7. And look at verse 8. Now here
Paul is talking about his life before salvation. He's talking about his life in
religion before he was regenerated by the Spirit. And he said, during
that time, sin, look at verse 8 of Romans 7, sin, taking occasion,
the same word, by the commandment, the occasion of the... You know
what he's saying there? He's saying my base of operation at
that time was the law. sin taking occasion by the commandment. I looked at the law. I was working
from a base of operation and the materials and supplies that
I used to live was all based on my law keeping. I was trying
to recommend myself unto God by my law keeping. That was my
base of operation. I was trying to please God, trying
to be saved, trying to make myself righteous by the commandment,
the Ten Commandments, the law. And he said, by the sin taking
occasion by the commandment wrought or worked in me all manner of
concupiscence. You know what that word concupiscence
is? It's lust. What's lust? Unlawful desire. What did Saul of Tarsus desire
unlawfully? I'll tell you exactly what he
desired unlawfully. Salvation by his works. Did you
understand me now? Salvation. To desire salvation
by your works is an unlawful desire. Why is that unlawful? Because God forbids it. Well, where did that start? Read
Genesis chapter 4 about Cain, whose base of operation was the
law. Now Abel had another base of
operation. What was it? The grace of God
in Christ. Abel sought salvation by grace.
How do you know? He brought the blood of the Lamb,
which typified the blood of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. Cain came presenting his works.
You see? And what Paul says, he says in
verse 8, for without the law, sin was dead. In other words,
without a right understanding of the law, I didn't believe
I was a sinner. See, if you have a right understanding
of the law, you'll know this, that the law says you're guilty
and you deserve to die. But if you don't have a right
understanding of the law, you might think you keep it, or keep
it enough. And he goes on, look at verse
9 of Romans 7, he says, For I was alive without the law once, and
when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. In other
words, when the Holy Spirit showed me the reality of the law, I
saw what I really am, a sinner in need of salvation. Let me
show you another one. Look at Galatians chapter 5. This word, occasion. That's what
it means, a base of operation. from which we get our supplies
to operate, to work, to act, to live, to think, to pray, to
worship, everything. Treat each other certain ways. Well, look at Galatians chapter
5, look at verse 13. Now, here he's talking to believers. And he says, for brethren, you've
been called unto liberty. That's liberty in Christ. That's
the liberty of grace. That's the liberty that tells
me that I cannot and must not seek salvation by my works, but
I've got to rest in Christ. I'm free in Him, free from the
law, free from sin, dead to sin. But look at what he says in verse
13. Only use not liberty for an occasion
to the flesh, but by love serve one another. Now don't use that
liberty as a base of operations for the flesh. In other words, don't use it
to excuse the sins of the flesh. That liberty is not a base of
operations for the flesh. It's a base of operations for
love and obedience and good works, you see. Now, go back to 2 Corinthians
5. That's what Paul is saying here.
The gospel ministry gives us a base of operation, a supply,
the materials, to live unto the glory of God in Christ. Not seeking
salvation by our works. That's a base, that's a wrong
base. But an occasion to glory, he
says, on our behalf. Now there are many commentators
who'll say that means to glory and be proud of Paul. I don't
believe that's what it's saying at all. You see, I believe Paul
had already taken care of that problem. If you glory, that word
glory means to boast. It's the same word that Paul
wrote in Galatians 6.14 when he said, God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We don't have
anything to boast in or glory in but Christ and Him crucified
and risen again. If I claim to be forgiven of
all my sins, What is my glory and boast? Where's my base of
operation? I'll tell you where it is, the
blood of Christ. What can wash away my... That's what we sing.
We're singing from our base of operation there, our occasion.
What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. That's
our base of operation. That's grace, you see. How can
I even think about standing before the judgment seat of Christ and
not being ashamed? Well, what's my occasion to glory? What's my base of operation?
The imputed righteousness of Christ. That's it. That's right. And how could it ever be said,
how could it ever be judged at judgment that anything that comes
from my body or done through my body is good? Well, what's
my base of operation? What's my occasion to glory?
Christ and Him crucified. Paul said it in Galatians 2.20.
It's not I but Christ which liveth in me. It's not my works at all. It's the fruit of grace. It's
unto the glory of God, you see. Paul's saying, he's not saying
here I'm going to give you an occasion to be proud of me. Pride
over preachers. is not a good thing. Now let
me tell you something. I know this takes some thought.
There's a sense in which you ought to be thankful to God for
the men who have preached the gospel to you. Love them, respect
them, honor them. But your base of operation, your
supplies for living unto the Lord is not from that preacher.
It's from Christ. and him alone. Remember, the
Corinthians were dividing over preachers. I'm of Paul. I'm of
Apollos. What Paul said, he said, listen,
he said, did Paul die for you? Did Paul, were you baptized in
the name of Paul? Paul didn't save you. Christ
did. Your glory is Christ. And he
says in this commendation, In this, that brings us together,
recommending one another to each other. Our base of operation
is that you may glory on our behalf. That is, that we may
glory in the same thing. We all glory in the same thing.
We glory in Christ. From the pulpit to the back field,
we glory in Christ. And no other. He is our hope. We preach Him whom to know is
life eternal. Our base of operation is salvation
totally by the grace of God. Our supplies are the Holy Spirit
Himself who indwells each and every one of His people. It's
the Word of God written on the heart. It's the fellowship of
His people. Our pride is Christ and Him crucified. And we glory together. Paul says
here in verse 12 that you have occasion to glory on our behalf. That is, we glory with each other. That's what that means. Giving
you a reason to take up the same calls that we take up the glory
of God in Christ now here's the third thing what what's the reason
we need this now look back at verse 12 he says to glory on
our behalf that you or in order that you may have somewhat to
answer them which glory in appearance and not in heart that's the reason
this is needed somewhat to answer you know really
Where to be ready, Peter said, to be able to give an answer.
He said, sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready to
give an answer to them that ask you a reason for your hope. In
other words, you're to answer those who say, well, why are
you so sure of your salvation? What is your hope of salvation?
He didn't say there, Peter didn't say, sanctify the Lord God in
your heart and be ready to give an answer to your critics. Because that will do no good.
We're not engaged in answering and debating our enemies or our
critics. You can't shut them up anyway. And when you answer
them, you really only give them more material that they can twist
against you. Just leave them to God. That's
what the Bible says. Leave them to the Lord. But He says, I'm going to give
you an answer to them which glory in appearance and not in heart.
Now what is it to glory in appearance? That's hypocrisy. Christ spoke
to the Pharisees about that. He said, you clean the outside
of the cup, leave the inside dirty. He said, outwardly you
appear righteous unto men. You do the things outwardly that
men see and men respect and men regard, but inwardly there's
no true heart faith, there's no truth, there's no grace. That's why Christ told His disciples
in John 7 and verse 24, He said, Judge not according to the appearance,
but judge righteous judgment. You know, the only way that we
can judge righteous judgment is simply this, judge by God's
Word, period. What is it to glory in heart?
You ever notice that phrase there? He says, I want you to be able
to answer them which glory in appearance and not in heart.
In other words, I want you to glory in heart. What is it to
glory and heart? Well, let me just say a few words
in closing about that. And I want to preface it with
this. And I want you to understand
this. Now, glory and heart really has nothing to do with how you
feel. Now, it's my prayer for myself
and for you that glory and heart will make you feel good. But that's the way it goes. It
has nothing to do. You know, somebody says, well,
I don't feel like doing this or not doing that. It has nothing
to do with. Because feelings mainly come
from the flesh, don't they? I mean, some of you old heads,
tell the truth. You've experienced it. Feelings
mainly come from the flesh, how you feel at a given time. Because
we're all reactionary. Somebody criticizes me. My first
feeling is to get back at them, isn't it? I mean, and that's
what you are? Well, if you're not, you're better than I am.
Let's put it to you that way. And I know it's not right to
do that, but that's how I feel. So this glory in heart has nothing
to do with how you feel. What is the heart? Well, he's
talking about here, this heart here is the regenerate heart.
It's what the Bible calls the new heart. Sometimes it's called
the circumcised heart. It's called the heart upon which
is written the Word of God. It's a changed heart. It's the
heart of a person who's been born again by the Spirit. Brother
Aaron read it there in Romans chapter 10. With the heart man
believeth unto righteousness. It's the heart of faith. It's
the heart cleansed by the blood of Christ. It's a broken and
contrite heart, a repentant heart. That's what it is. Now, glorying
in heart is not looking inside ourselves to find perfection.
Because if you, listen, if you look inside yourself and find
perfection, you're not glorying in heart, you're glorying in
the flesh. You have confidence in the flesh.
Glorion in heart is looking to Christ for all perfection. And let me tell you about this
Glorion in heart. Christ said in the Sermon on the Mount. He
said this in verse 6 of chapter 5. He said, Blessed are they
which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall
be filled. Now this Glorion in heart is
a hunger and a thirst for righteousness, for holiness, for acceptance
with God that can only be quenched and filled by Christ and Him
crucified and risen again. You got a hunger in your heart
for righteousness. What fills that hunger? Well,
I got baptized when I was 12 years old. That's not glorying
that comes out of the heart. That's what that is. That's glorying
in the flesh. Or I made a profession. Or I
joined the church. Or I've given to charity. Is
that what fills that hunger? Is that what quenches that thirst?
Or I saw a sign from God? You see, this hunger and thirst
of the heart, this heart, this regenerate heart, can only be
filled with the glory of Christ. and what he accomplished on Calvary
to save me from my sins. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's glorying
in heart. And no matter how I appear outwardly, you see, think about
it. The Lord looks on the heart.
His word reaches the heart. I know the heart can be deceptive,
Jeremiah 17 said that. It can be deceitful, desperately
wicked. So how can we know our hearts
at all? Well, it says there in Jeremiah
17 also, he said, I, the Lord, try the reins. Go to the Word
of God. Is Christ your only hope of salvation? Is He your only hope of righteousness?
Is He your only hope of forgiveness? If there's room in your heart
for anyone or anything else, as far as salvation and recommending
you unto God, then you're glorying in appearance and not in heart.
You see, glorying in heart is not glorying in self. It's not
even glorying in evidences. But it's glorying in Christ out
of the heart. And only He can fill that hunger
and that thirst. That's our recommendation. That's the gospel commendation.