Good evening. My sincere hope
is that I will bring the exact same message to you that Brother
David just brought. I have a different text, but
honestly, I pray that this second verse will be the exact same
as the first. I don't know if you remember
the last three words that he just said to you. But turn with me to Ephesians
4. Ephesians 4, look toward the
end of verse 32. It says, for Christ's sake. That's what he just said. That's
the last three words he just said to you. For Christ's sake. I really want us to know the
gospel. I really want us to be okay when we stand before the
judgment. I really do. He just plainly
declared to us, we're not playing games. I had a conversation with a woman
one time who was very concerned over her sin. Somebody in town
there, and she had seen our TV program, and she just called
scared to death. And I just told her, I said,
this is, you know, I tried to talk to her and I was begging
the Lord to give me some wisdom. And I finally just told her,
this is what you need to do. You need to beg God to have mercy
on you for Christ's sake. And I said, if you die tonight
or whenever, and you stand before his throne, only say, Would you
have mercy on me for Christ's sake? And don't say anything
else. Don't bring up anything that you've done. Don't say anything
else. Just say, will you please have
mercy on me for Christ's sake? I'm telling you that if we can
get an understanding and get a hold of this, and if God's
Spirit will reveal it to us, this is the heart of the gospel,
And this is the heart of salvation. This is the heart of it all.
And this is what He just preached. This is the whole reason why
all those wicked brethren got corn. It was for Christ's sake. It was for Christ's sake. Now, the verses in this chapter
here, Ephesians 4, they tell us how we ought to live in the
flesh. If you look with me at verse
22, Ephesians 4 verse 22, it says, put off concerning the
former conversation, or that means way of life, the old man. Put off the old man, which is
corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the
spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man, this
new man that the Spirit of God creates in every one of his children,
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth with his
neighbor. Don't lie, tell the truth. For we're members one of another.
Be ye angry, and sin not. That means be angry at sin and
don't do it. Let not the sun go down upon
your wrath. Neither give place to the devil.
Let him that stole steal no more. But rather let him labor, working
with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to
give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use
of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers, and grieve
not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of
redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor,
and evil speaking, be put away from you with all malice, and
be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another." That's
how we ought to be in this flesh. That's just how we ought to be. But when we realize that, as
we read that, don't we know that that's not really how we are?
Don't we know that? It said don't steal. And I don't
want to go into a store and walk out with something I haven't
paid for. But we go to the workplace. And if we don't give it 110%,
we're stealing time from the boss. Don't lie. You know, telling
half the truth is sometimes not the truth. And when we read these things,
don't we know that we're not going to live up to
that? We're not going to live up to that. We are all sinners by nature
and sinners by practice. And you know, we read last night
Romans chapter 7. The Apostle Paul said, I want
to do this. What we just read, I do. I want
to do this. But he said, I'm just not. I'm not doing it. Not really.
Not really. And he said, I can't find a way
to do this. I can't find a way to be this.
Because every time I try to do it, evil overcomes it. And we mentioned it last night,
some of us were talking about it at breakfast this morning.
You do any of these things, and if you know you did it, pride
wells up, and you have ruined it. You've ruined it. But he said, you know, every
now and then things may look good on the outside, but Paul
said, I know on the inside, this is nothing but dead men's bones.
And there is a war going on in here. Oh, wretched man that I am. Now
I know that that is so with me, and I believe you know that's
so with you. I believe you do. Honestly before God. And that's
where men and women are going to have to be brought. Men and
women, you know, our Lord said, you're whited sepulchers. You
look real good on the outside to other people. But there's
going to come a point when we're going to have to stand before
God who sees the inside and the outside. And honestly before
God. You think about the mind. Just
go to your mind. And I say this all the time,
but that's all you need to say. Just go into your mind and get
honest on the thoughts that go through your mind. That's enough. That is enough. Have we really put off the old
man? You know, other men like to stand
up here in self-righteousness and say, well, you need to put
off the old man. Has anybody ever really put off the old man?
Really? Put off the old man and put off
the new man. In your flesh, do you feel holy? Be ye holy. As I am holy, be
ye holy in your flesh, do you feel holy? I don't. I don't. People talk about, you know,
here's the problem, if you want to go to heaven, you're going
to need to stop sinning. Do we really think we can stop sinning? The body of this death that we
live in has caused us to be absolute captives to sin. Imprisoned to
sin. Go with me back to Galatians
chapter 4. Just a couple of pages back.
Galatians 4. Verse 21, it says, Tell me, Ye that desire to be under the
law, do you not hear the law? Men and women think, well, if
I can just obey what this is saying, I'll be okay. Do we really
hear what this is saying? The depth of the perfection that
God requires, not just in deed, but in word, in thought, Being? The spotlessness that God's holiness
demands? The absolute spotlessness? Salvation is not in a sinner
doing his or her best before God. Salvation is in a sinner
being sinless before God. That's what it is. Salvation
is in a sinner being sinless. Somebody says, well how can a
sinner Be sinless. That sounds impossible. With
man it is. It's impossible for a sinner
to be sinless. Sinlessness is something that
a sinner will never attain on his own. He just cannot do it. He's a sinner. He is a sinner.
He didn't become a sinner when he sinned. People think, you
know, you start out, you're born into perfection, and the goal
of life is hold on to it, just keep it, you know. That's not
how it is. You don't become a sinner because
you sinned, any more than a dog becomes a dog the moment it barks.
It barks because it was already a dog. And we sin because we
were already sinners. It's what we are. It's what we're
gonna do because it's what we are. Now, with that being said,
let's get to the only hope that we have of being saved. And we're here to find out something
about salvation. That's what we're here for. We're
here to hear about and glory in salvation. And this right
here is the only hope. If we wanna get to the heart
of it, and get to the root of the only hope we have, it's this
right here. For Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. God the Father
made a covenant with God the Son. And I used to think that
God made a covenant with us. The Father made a covenant with
the Son concerning us. And that covenant, God the Father
said to Christ his son, if you will do this, I'll accept them. All right, these are the souls
I've chosen to give to you. And if you will do this for them,
I will accept them into the kingdom. And this is what Christ said.
He said, I promise. I'll do it for them. I promise
I'll do it. What was it? What did Christ
promise to do? What did He enter into a covenant
with His Father to do for His people? Look at Galatians 3 verse
10. It says, for as many as are of
the works of the law are under the curse. If a man is trying
to go to heaven by obeying the law of God, he's under the curse.
For it is written, cursed is everyone that continueth not
in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. That means if you break one, you've broken it all. But
that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is
evident. For the just shall live by faith."
That means looking to Christ and trusting in Him. And the
law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall live
in them. Verse 13 says, Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law. being made a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree. Christ took the place of his
people and made himself to be cursed for them. That's what
he promised he would do. If you will be cursed for them
in their stead, And you'll take all this sin, here they are,
here's these sinners that I'm giving to you, and they're covered,
they're dripping with sin, within and without. And if you will
take all of this sin and lay it on yourself, and if I will
press that into you to the point that you will sweat, as it were,
great drops of blood for them, And if you will remove it and
cleanse them from it, I'll accept them into the kingdom." And Jesus
Christ said, Father, I promise you, I'll do it. I promise you. He hung Himself on the cross
of Calvary, on the cross of God's judgment for sin, instead of
His people. Look at Galatians 4. Our brother
just quoted this. Galatians 4 verse 4. When the
fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made
of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under
the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because
you are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a
servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ." That's what Christ promised to do for His
people, and that's what He did for them. That's what He did. He died in a covenant. that secured
a place for His people. And because He did that, and
because He accomplished that, and fulfilled it for His people,
all of His people are saved. That's the beauty of the gospel,
is it is an announcement. Not a recommendation. It's not
a how-to. It's not an invitation. It's
a declaration announcement. By grace, you are saved. Not
even you will be. You are saved. And Christ died
to secure that for all of His people. And in Him, they're safe.
They're safe. And they're saved for Christ's
sake. Now, there is not a more beautiful
picture of for Christ's sake than the story of Mephibosheth. I don't even need to tell it
then, do I? This is how the story goes. When they were young boys, David
and Jonathan loved each other. Best friends,
absolute companions. They were in true, true fellowship
with each other. It blesses my heart to think
about what they had. David loved Jonathan. And the scripture says that Jonathan's
heart was knit to David. And it happened when he defeated
Goliath. All of the Philistine army was
lined up on one side, and the Israel army was lined up on the
other side, and every man was so afraid to go out and fight
Goliath. Send one man out, and whoever
loses will be the slaves of the other ones. And no man would
go. And David, being a young boy,
he said, I'll do it. And he went out there with his
sling and five stones. And God slew that giant. And
David took his own sword and cut his head off. And he came
walking up to Saul, holding the head of Goliath. And when Jonathan
watched him do that, it says his heart was knit to David. What he saw was, there's my Deliverer. There's my Savior. And it says,
his heart was knit to him. Jonathan's father was Saul the
king. What that means is, Jonathan
was heir to the throne. His father was king. Jonathan
was the one who was the rightful heir to the throne. But Jonathan
loved David so much, he said, I want, you're going to be king,
and I want you to be. I'm going to help you be. I'm going to help you obtain
the throne instead of me. Let that honor be unto you, not
unto me. But he said, I want you to promise
me something. He said, I want you to enter into a covenant
with me. He said, after you become king,
I want you to promise me that you will show kindness to my
house. my children, anybody that's left
in my family." And this is what David said. He said, I promise
you, I will enter into this covenant with you. Well, you know the story of how
Jonathan helped to spare David's life from Saul. Saul tried to
kill him and they had to part ways. Jonathan said, if he means
to kill you, I'm going to shoot that arrow far, far, and that
means you go and don't come back. And they had to part ways, and
even after that, Jonathan still helped him and got word to him,
Saul's coming this way. Still helped him, but... Years
later, a battle came, and Saul and Jonathan both died in that
battle. And when David found out that
his dear, beloved friend had died, he wept over Jonathan. He sorrowed over him. And he
became king. Just like Jonathan said he would.
And it says that David slew all of his enemies. And then he sat
down on his throne and he remembered his covenant. He remembered the promise that
he made. And he said to his servants,
is there anybody left of the house of Saul that I may show
kindness to him? For Jonathan's sake. Not for
that person's own sake, but for Jonathan's sake. And they said, Jonathan has one
miserable, wretched, lame son. That boy can't do anything. And
he's down in Lodabar and his name is Mephibosheth. And David
said, bring him to me. And I'm sure you've heard many
times that the custom back in those days was when a new name
took over the throne. They slew every male in that
old family tree so that no one could rise up and say, the throne
is rightfully ours. That's what they did. So when
these servants came and got Mephibosheth and said, David wants to see
you, you know he thought that's it. That's it. It says in 2 Samuel
9, when they brought him into the presence of David, he fell
on his face and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth.
And he said, Behold thy servant. And David said unto him, Fear
not. For I will surely show you kindness
for Jonathan thy father's sake. And he said, I will restore thee
all the land of Saul thy father. and thou shalt eat bread continually
at my table. And Mephibosheth bowed himself
and said, what is thy servant that thou shouldest look upon
such a dead dog as I am? Why would you do this for me?
One reason, three words for Jonathan's sake. It's because I made a promise
and I'm gonna keep it. I'm going to tell you, that's
our hope. It's not in what I'm going to
do, or what you're going to do, or what anybody's going to do.
It's what Christ has already done. And God the Father said,
if you will do this, then I will accept them. And Christ said,
I'll do it, and He did it. And it's done. It's for Christ's
sake. He died and He fulfilled that
covenant. And we're accepted in Him. And
I'll tell you this, every soul that God the Father places in
that covenant and reveals that covenant to them, every soul
will plead the covenant. Every soul. Every one of them. God's Spirit will reveal that
covenant and they will plead it. They will say, this is my
only hope. All of them will cry for Christ's
sake. They'll say this is all I have
to say. I'm not adding anything to it and I'm not taking anything
from it. Would you have mercy on me and spare my life for Christ's
sake? Please for Christ's sake. Please
for Christ's sake. And I'll tell you, I don't know
how things are going to go, but I know we're secure in Him. But
I'm going to tell anybody here, if all of a sudden we cross over
and we leave this world and this robe of flesh drops and we find
ourselves there, say only this, will you please have mercy on
me for Christ's sake? When the Father hears that, based
on His own Word, He will remember His covenant. And He will say, I'm going to
show kindness to you. For Christ's sake. And you're
going to come eat bread at my table. For Christ's sake. Years ago, many years ago, Sophie was really young, really
young, in elementary school. They were having a Thanksgiving
lunch, and the parents were invited. Hannah couldn't be in two places
at the same time, so we tag-teamed a lot. I ended up going to her
school to have lunch, this Thanksgiving lunch with her. And when I got
there, I walked into the cafeteria, and Hannah knows the ropes, but
I don't. I'm so lost at the school, and
I try to find my way around. Well, I go into the cafeteria,
and it's loud, kids everywhere, teacher having this thing. So
I'm just kind of standing there, and I look over, and I see Sophie
and her little friend, this cute little girl, standing in line,
and they see me, and they got their trays, and they're waiting
to get their turkey dinner. And so I just kind of stand there,
and I wait on them. And they get their food, and
they're walking all the way across the cafeteria. And again, it's
loud. And Sophie starts telling me
something, and I can't hear her, and I don't know what's going
on. And her friend is right there beside her, and I'm looking at
Sophie. And I finally start to realize
that she's telling me that her friend's parents couldn't come
to the dinner. They had to work. And she's wanting
to know if she can sit with us. So I'm trying to figure this out.
And I'm looking at Sophie. And I'm looking at this little
girl. And the whole time, she's nodding her head at me like this.
She's just looking eye to eye with me, just nodding her head.
And Sophie's saying her parents couldn't come. And I'm kind of
back and forth. And I look at her. And she starts
saying, it's OK. It's OK. She said, I know her
mother. And Sophie's explaining, and
I'm looking at Sophie, and I looked at her, and she said, I know
her mother. And they're getting closer, and
I'm looking back at her, and she said, it's OK. I know her
mother. And so they get up to me, and
I realize what's going on. I said, oh, wait a minute. You
know her mother? And she said, yes, I know her
mother. And I said, well, absolutely.
You come on and sit with us. You come sit at our table. You
know what she was asking me? She was saying, for Hannah's
sake, will you have me? Will you accept
me for Hannah's sake? I'll just tell y'all, anybody
who comes to me pleading for Hannah's sake will hear, absolutely. You're going to sit with us.
You're going to sit at our table. And any soul who comes to God
the Father, crying, please for Christ's sake, will you please
have me for Christ's sake. Any soul who says that is going
to hear, absolutely. You're sitting at our table.
You're going to eat with us. May God have mercy on our soul. For Christ's sake. Amen. Cross shake. Cross shake.