And certain men which came down
from Judea taught the brethren, and said, Except you be circumcised
after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. When therefore
Paul and Barnabas had no small dispensation with them, they
determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should
go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.
And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through
Phoenicia, Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles,
and they caused great joy unto all the brethren. And when they
were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church and
of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that
God had done with them. But there rose up certain of
the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying that it was
needful to circumcise them and command them to keep the law
of Moses. And the apostles and elders came
together for to consider of this matter, whether a man has to
be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. How is a man going
to be saved? That was the issue. And when
there had been much disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them,
Men and brethren, you know how that a good while ago God made
choice among us that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word
of the gospel and believe. And God which knoweth the hearts,
bear them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did
unto us, and put no difference between us and them, purifying
their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why tempt ye
God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither
our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that
through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved,
even as they." This was the first church council. And it was probably the most
important meeting that the church has ever had. And it was settled
an issue that men have been arguing about and will argue till the
end of time. It started in the Garden of Eden.
How is a man going to be saved? That was the issue in this council
that they got together. and Paul was preaching him and
Barnabas and he said in verse 1 certain men which came down
from Judea taught the brethren men who were saved and said except
you be circumcised after the manner of Moses now they made
a flat statement you cannot be saved unless you come and act
like us Jews and enter into the covenant that God gave to Abraham
and be circumcised. And then keep the law of Moses,
keep all the rituals and all the ceremonies, attend the synagogues. You cannot be saved. That's what happened in the Garden
of Eden. Abel offered blood because he was a sinner. Cain offered
the works of his hands because he wasn't a sinner. And if all
it takes is a man to be circumcised and to keep a few rituals to
be saved. And then look what else he says
down here. Oh my. And the church, that's what they're
debating. That's the issue. How are you going to be saved?
The issue is how you going to be saved. How are you going to
be saved today? If God is going to save you,
how is He going to save you? Is He going to ask you and require
you to do something? And it goes on to say, so they
went, Paul and Barnabas, and they headed to Jerusalem. They
said, we'll get with the apostles and we'll settle this issue once
and for all. And then it says in verse four,
when they come to Jerusalem and were received to the churches
and the apostles and elders, they declared all things that
God had done with them. We didn't do anything but what
God done through us. That's what he's saying. We didn't
do anything. Everything we've done, God worked it. God did
it. If we preach the gospel, God
taught it to us. If anybody was converted, God
did it. If anybody believed the gospel,
God did it. And they began to declare what God had done through
them. And there rose up, now listen to it again, but there
rose up certain, and they're there with James and John and
all the elders in Israel, these apostles, and they're all gathered
together. And they are a multitude of people.
And there rose up a certain sect of the Pharisees which believed,
saying that it was needful to circumcise them and command them
to keep the law of Moses. Well, they got together to decide
what in the world this is going to do. And I tell you, they're
going to be circumcised. The salvation is going to be
by works. Peter, Paul and Barnabas, true soldiers, true soldiers
of the cross. They just absolutely refused
to bow the knee or take the yoke of salvation by works. And that's
why Simon Peter says down here, he says now, look what happened
he says there in verse 10 now why ye tempt God to put a yoke
upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor
we were able to bear we weren't able to bear this yoke but we
believe now listen to this that's the title of my message the apostles
creed what did the apostles preach what did they believe we believe
through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved
even as they. And that's what he said, you
know, we're going to settle this issue once and for all. You Pharisees
hear what I'm going to say? You brethren from Judea hear
what I'm going to say? And everybody from here on, this
is the way of salvation. Don't doubt this. And I say,
we do not dare tell men any other way to be saved. And that's why
Paul said, that Peter said here, our fathers weren't able to bear
it. And I'll tell you what he says, look what he says in verse
11. We believe that through the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ, we should be, us Jews, with all of our
laws and all of our rituals, with our priesthood and our sacrifices
and our profits, We Jews, us apostles, we believe that we're
going to be saved like God saved them Gentiles. That's what he's
saying. He says, we believe, we believe,
this is the Apostles Creed, this is what they believe. He said,
I'm going to tell you what I feel, I'm going to not tell you about
my opinion, I'm not going to tell you any thoughts about what
I think about this, I'm not going to make any suggestions to you.
I'm not going to tell you that tomorrow is going to be the best
day of your life if you'll accept Jesus. I'm not going to tell
you that all you've got to do is find out that Jesus Christ
is the answer when you don't even know the questions. We believe. And that's why Peter, he also
said in another place, he said, be ready always to give a reason
for the hope that's in you with needness and fear. And I tell
you when he says we believe, I tell you, that also tells us
what they didn't believe. When they believed that salvation
is through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, this tells you
also what they didn't believe. They didn't believe in circumcision
anymore for salvation. They didn't believe in works
anymore for salvation. They didn't believe in rituals
anymore for salvation. And I tell you, some men say
that, and the Catholic Church says this, that Peter was the
first Pope. Wonder what he'd say about that
if he was here today. Oh, he'd rebuke him. What would
his reaction to be? Oh, and I'll tell you what, beloved. When they says that we believe
through grace, they were saying we don't believe that salvation
is any other way. We don't believe in our rituals.
We don't believe in our circumcision. We don't believe in our works.
We don't believe in our law keeping. We don't believe in anything.
He says, now listen, we don't believe that the bread and wine
is going to save us. It's not going to sanctify us
or make us any better. Water baptism is not going to
save us. Because Paul says, you know,
when Peter said, they said, men and brethren, what must we do?
Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Today's evangelistic
service, what it would say is, is that now Jesus loves you. Jesus died for you. And Jesus
wants you, and wants you please come and accept Him and come
up here and ask Jesus to come into your heart. And that's not
what, when Paul, Peter stood up and said, we believe. He never
said anything about what God, what you had to do to get Jesus
Christ into your heart. And I tell you what, they didn't
believe that salvation was in what you eat, or what you drink,
or what you didn't eat, or what you didn't drink. Remember when Peter sat there,
you know when he went to, the Lord was going to send him over
to preach the coronation, remember that sheet that comes down? Oh,
God taught Peter something there. He said, Oh, rise, Peter, slain
him. He said, Not me, Lord. I ain't nothing common. There's
nothing unclean ever in my mouth. And oh, and then he says, What
God ever cleans, don't you call common. He went straight away
and preached to them Gentiles. Oh, and I tell you what else
they didn't believe. They didn't believe that salvation was being
a Pharisee or self-righteousness or the worse. Look what he said
in verse 5. There rose up certain of the sects of the Pharisees.
They said they believed, which believed. Saying that it's needful to circumcise
and command him to keep the law of Moses. Now I tell you, you
want to see what a Pharisee's like, look with me over in Luke
18, I'll show you what a Pharisee's like. And there's plenty of them around.
You don't realize, you know, the longer that you understand
the grace of God and see the salvations by grace and see more
of the Lord Jesus and you see more of your own sinfulness and
your own weaknesses and inabilities when you never realize how self-righteous
people were until you really understand the grace of God you
get around most people they go to a church somewhere all they
talk about is what they believe and what they do And all the
things that they, how long they went without missing a service.
How that they got saved. How that they passed out trash. And there's people that teach
that if you don't go pass out trash and if you don't knock
on doors, that if you ain't out there trying to win souls to
Jesus, said you're a heretic, but now listen, let me ask you
this, if passing out tracts would keep one soul out of hell, let's
cancel this service right now and get us a bunch of tracts
and go start passing them out. If it takes money to win souls,
let's all live on bread and water and beans and cornbread and let's
give all of our money so that we can win souls. If walking the streets and hymning
people up and witnessing to them is what it takes to win souls,
let's cancel this service and go walking on the street corners
and telling people that they need Jesus. Now they and a group of believers
right here, and these fellas got up and they started talking
about, now I'll tell you something, these folks can't be saved except
they be circumcised to them. Commanded them to do it. Now look what he's listening
to. You want to see a Pharisee? Now listen. Down in verse 10,
Luke 18. Two men went up into the temple
to pray. The one a Pharisee, the other
a Republican. One was bagging on himself and
the other was begging. That's what I heard old Scott
say that one time. Either a man is bagging or he's
begging. And that's the way you can tell
the difference. Look what the Pharisees stood. He didn't get
down on his knees. He didn't prostrate his heart.
He stood up so everybody could see. They loved to be seen of
men. Loved to stand and make their
little prayers. Loved to stand with their broad
phylacteries. Loved to stand in their robes
so everybody could see them. And the Pharisees stood and listen
to what it said, prayed thus with himself. I am not as other men are. That's
the first thing. I'm not as other men are. I'm
not an extortioner. I don't charge men more than
what anything's worth. I'm not unjust. Or I'm not an
adulterer like other people. And then he seen that publican
over there. He said, or even is that publican right there.
He pointed that publican out and told, and prayed best with
himself, I'm not like that, I'm not like Donnie Bell. I'm not like Bruce Daly, I'm
not like him. I'm so much, oh listen, that
publican, oh my God, he don't even need to be in the same building
as I am. And then look what happened. And then he went on to say, I
fast twice in the week. And I give tithes in all that
I possess. I mean, beloved, when he said all I possess, he said,
I tell you what, if I raised a tomato patch every time I got
ten tomatoes, I took one up to the temple so the Levite could
have it to make him a sandwich with some tomato on it. I mean,
they was into it, I tell you what. But look, now listen to
the difference now. And the public, he stood afar
off. He understood the distance between
him and God. He understood that he had no
right to approach. He had understood that, oh my
soul, I'm just... And then look what he said. And
he wouldn't so much as lift up his eyes unto heaven. He said,
oh God, oh Lord, You are holy. You are in the heavens. And then
look what happened. And he smote on his breast. That's
where his heart was. He smote on his breast. That's
where his trouble was. And then look what he said. God,
be merciful to me. And this is what he said, the
sinner. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And what happened between these
two men? Our Lord said, I tell you, this
man, this publican went down to his house justified. And that's
the way these Pharisees was. Oh my. And they didn't believe
in self-righteousness. They didn't believe their righteousness
would do anything before God, back over in Acts 15. It wasn't
do the best you can. It wasn't, you know, they didn't
believe that you worship your God your way and I'll worship
my God my way. Huh? You worship God according
to your conscience and I'll worship God according to my conscience.
As long as you're sincere, that's all it takes. If you're sincere
about your God, I'm sincere about mine. We all want to, you know,
all the roads leads there, no matter what road you go on, that's
what they tell. But oh beloved, listen, I'll
tell you what was saved by. Now look in Romans, I want you
to see Romans 4 just a minute. A man's either going to be saved
by grace, Romans 4.4, we're going to be saved by grace, saved by
the gift of God, the grace of God, or else you're going to
get paid, one or the other. And you know what the wages you'll
earn if you're not saved by grace? Look what he said here now in
Romans 4.4. Now to him that worketh is the
reward, it's not reckoned, it's not counted of grace. If a man
works for salvation, then what God gives him is not reckoned
of grace. God said, I don't owe you grace.
I'm not going to give you grace. Oh, my. But it's of debt. So,
you know, if you're going to be in debt to God, you reckon
that you can pay off the debt by your words? That's why Paul
said, if you want your wages, the wages of sin is death. The gift of God is grace through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Perish every thought of human
pride. Let God be magnified. And I'll tell you what else they
didn't believe. They didn't believe in salvation by the free will
either. They didn't believe that man had the choice or the power
to exercise his free will and be saved by his will. Look what
he says up here, down in verse 7, what Paul said. I mean what
Peter said here. Look what he says. And when there
had been much disputing, Peter rose up and said, O men and brethren,
you know how that good while ago God made choice among us. God made choice. The gospel is by God's choice. Salvation is by God's choice.
Who is saved by God's choice. We are bound always to give thanks
unto God for you brethren because God from the beginning has chosen
you. Chosen you. It was His choice. Chosen you unto salvation through
sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. For
by grace are you saved through faith, and that's not of yourself,
not of works, lest any man should boast. And I'll tell you, look,
I know I'm having you look at a place, look in Ephesians with
me, just one minute. Here, Ephesians 1.12. God made
choice, and not only that, the Beloved, He made choice that
these men should hear the gospel. Hear the gospel. He made choice
who's going to hear the gospel. Everybody don't hear the gospel.
There's a multitude of people that never have the gospel preached
to them. The most popular preacher right
now in the United States of America, he wouldn't know the gospel if
it slapped him between the eyes. He wouldn't. Heard him just a
few minutes this morning talking about how to be successful. He
wrote about a successful Savior. That's the only success I'm interested
in, is what Christ accomplished. It's His success that saves us,
not ours. And our success will have to
be just nothing. Oh, we'll have to count. That's
why we just have to count all of our righteousness and works
and self-righteousness and everything we've done before we heard the
Gospel. We've got to count it, but dumb! and look what he said
here in Ephesians 1.12 that we should be to the praise
of the glory of his glory who first trusted Christ now listen
to this in whom you also trusted now listen to it after that you
heard the word of truth the gospel of serial salvation In whom ye
believed, after that ye believed, God said, gave you the Holy Ghost
and made you understand. The Spirit Himself bears witness
with our spirit that we're the children of God. And I tell you,
beloved, it's not by the will of man, but it's of God. It's not of Him that willeth.
Not of Him that willeth. And I've
got the will to see people saved. I've got the will. I see people say it, but I can't
say the same. And if you're willing to be saved,
you know how He is made willing? In the day of His power. He makes
you willing. Ain't that right? It's God which
worketh in you both to will and to do. By his own will begat
he us with the word of truth. To as many as received him, to
them gave he power to become the sons of God, which were born
not of the will of the flesh, born not of blood, born not of
the will of man, but of God. There's no blood, no will, no
power, but God's power that gives man life. They didn't believe
in salvation by free will. So I'll tell you what, you say
that sounds like you don't believe a man can do anything. I think
you finally got it. And what I'm telling you is that
if you're ever saved, you're going to give all the glory to
God, and you're going to give it to Him in Christ's name. If
God saves you, it's going to be by His grace. If you ever
know God, God's going to have to come and make you know Him.
And that's why men sit around so proud and arrogant. And that's
why they brag about themselves and their accomplishments. That's
why they brag about their church attendance. That's why they brag
about their jobs. That's why they brag about what
they've accomplished in this world. That's why preachers get
up and count heads. That's why preachers have folks
come to the front so they can go back to their denominational
head and say, we had 49 people baptized this year. You know,
they want to be able to go back and tell everybody what they
did. Henry Mayhem, when he first started preaching up there at
Pollard, they had the most baptisms and confessions of faith at Pollard
Baptist Church the first years there in all the state of Kentucky. And then one day God taught him
the gospel. And he said, boy, he said, man, what a mess I made
out of things. That's what I'm telling you.
Do you know what you can do? You can just say, Lord, I can't
do nothing. But you can. You can be like
that publican. You can slight your breath and
say, God, be merciful to me. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. You can do that. You can do that. Now let me give you something
else back over here. Acts 15, oh my goodness. Let's take this Apostles Creed
apart. Where Peter says, we believe
through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved
even as they. Let's take it apart. Let's take
it apart into pieces. And it contains lots and lots
of truths. First of all, when it says we
shall be saved, that tells you that there's something wrong
with you. Why you need to be saved. Well, what's wrong with
you? The old-timers have what they
call the three R's. Ruined. What does that mean? That means that you are ruined
in your mind, in your heart, in your soul, in your will. You
are ruined in your father Adam. There's not a spot on your body
that you're not full of wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. When God looks at you, all He
sees is a diseased, ruined, sinful, willfully sinful, prideful, self-righteous,
just ruined. Not a spot in you, inside or
out, just ruined by sin. And I'll tell you what, no dead
trespasses in sin. And I say, what else? You know,
when Will's bent on sin, ruined completely, the second of ours
is redemption by blood. If you're ruined so bad that
somebody's got to pay for your sin, you must be redeemed. And only through blood that sins
are paid for. It's only through blood that
redemption is accomplished. And Christ shed his blood on
the cross 2,000 years ago. And not only that, beloved, you
must be regenerated. If you're ruined by sin, I said,
we shall be saved. Now, if you don't be saved, that
means that there's something wrong with you. That you need
saving. And that tells you that you can't save yourself. If we
must be saved, that means we can't do it. And it tells us
that, beloved, not only are we redeemed by blood, ruined by
sin, redeemed by blood, we must be regenerated by the Spirit
of God. God's got to come and give us
life. Quicken us. with Christ and all
beloved and I'll tell you something else that this teaches us the
doctrine of the blessed grace of God look at that word we believe
through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ I love that word grace I just
love it I just absolutely love it I just love to hear somebody
say it love to hear people preach it Love to hear people talk about
it. And all that word grace. Grace. Unmerited. Undeserved. Grace. You know what grace does? It's what suits the sinner. It's
the only hope for a sinner. It's the only help for a sinner.
It's the only thing that suits the sinner. This is what he needs.
He needs grace. He needs grace. He needs God
to give him grace. He needs God to look at him and
say, I'm going to be gracious. I'm going to be merciful. I'm
going to be compassionate. That's what suits me. Grace suits
me. What can we give? Right now,
right now, this minute. We say, you say, well, would
you say, oh my sin, this glorious thought, oh my sin not in part,
is nailed to the cross, I'll bear it no more. Praise the Lord,
praise the Lord, oh my soul. Listen, if you had to pay for
God right now to do something for you, what would you give? Grace, oh, that suits us. Grace is what we need. Grace
is what saves us. Grace is what's going to keep
us. Grace is going to take us to glory. Grace, grace, and more
grace. Where did grace come from? Grace
and truth came through Jesus Christ. Oh, grace! Grace, y'all! Free grace! Sovereign grace! Powerful grace! Saving grace! Keeping grace! Sustaining grace! Oh, grace is
what a sinner needs. And that suits me. I'm telling
you, that's just exactly what I need. That's what we need,
amen. What else gonna save us? How can I lay down at night?
And not be afraid that I won't wake up in the morning. Because
I'll tell you why. When my faith shall be sight,
the clouds be rolled back as a scroll. And my faith shall be sight,
and the Lord shall descend, and the trump shall resound, and
the Lord shall descend. Oh, even so, it is well with
my soul. Huh? Oh my, this is what we need. We need grace. Peter says, oh,
what Paul did in 2 Timothy, God who has saved us and called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus.
When did He give us that grace? Before the world began. And let
me tell you something else it says here. That we should believe
that we shall be saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now how in the world in Christ
are we going to be saved through the Lord Jesus Christ? Because
our Lord Jesus Christ took our place, took His people's place.
He died, He was a substitute. He died in the place of sinners. He died in the place of those
whom God gave Him. Now listen to me. This is the
gospel. If I never say another thing.
If I quit right now. Here's what God did. He sent
His Son into this world. And His Son lived a life that
you and I couldn't live. He rendered perfect obedience
to His Father. He fulfilled the law to every
jot and every tip. And then He came to the cross. Delivered up. God delivered Him
up. And then when He hung Him on that cross, and our Lord said,
For this cause came my end of the world. When our Father delivered
Him up to the cross, when He delivered Him up to that cross,
it says that God made Him to be sin, who knew no sin. And all the sins, listen to me,
All the sins of God's elect, from Adam to the last man that
lives on this earth, they all came to meet on the Lord Jesus
Christ. And when they came to meet on
Jesus Christ, God poured His wrath out on him. And that man,
because of the worth of his person, he was God and he was man. And as a man, he was able to
bear sin. As a man, He is able to die.
As a man, He was able to take our place. And as God, He was
able to take our sins away. As God, He is able to pay for
our sins. And all the sins for whom He
died are completely put away. Gone forever and ever. And then
God turns around and says, I'll take them for whom I offered
my son. And I'll make them the righteousness
of God in Christ. Now, you know, I wasn't even
born. When Christ died on the cross,
my sins were right there on Him. And I hadn't even been born yet.
Not only my sins, the sin that I had when I was first born,
the sin of Adam and then all the sins that I would commit
and the sins until I die Christ bore every single one of them
ain't that right? if he didn't bear them all then
what hope have we? and that's what the gospel is
Christ bore all our sin in his own body you mean then if he's
got them on him that means I don't have them on me That means if
he paid for him, I don't have to pay for him. That means if
God's justice accepted his offering, that means that God's justice
can't come and get me. That's what our Lord means when
He says, Whom the Son sets free, He's free indeed. That's why the scripture says,
There is therefore now Now, no condemnation, no judgment to
them which are in Christ Jesus. I took too long, but I tell you
what, that's the gospel ain't it? I tell you so. You see, we
should be saved through the grace, through the death. Our Lord Jesus
Christ, though He was rich, He became poor that we through His
poverty might be made rich. I tell you something else that
it tells us here about the apostles. The priestess says that we shall
be saved. We shall be saved. What does
that mean? That means we're going to be
saved. That means that we're going to persevere. You sure
you'll make it to the end? No, but Christ did. Christ did. If He did, I will. He said, I give unto them eternal
life, and listen to what it says, they shall never perish. You
know what else he says? No man shall pluck him out of
my hand. And my father which gave them me, no man is able
to pluck him out of his hand. Huh? Oh, we shall be saved. We shall, you know how long you're
going to be saved to the end? And then as old barter you say,
then I'll be plumb saved. We'll gather around the throne
and we'll say, worthy is the lamb, worthy is the lamb that
was slain. I probably told you this before,
but there was this woman And Mr. Spurgeon's congregation,
she just doubted and feared all the time about whether she was
saved or not. She was what John Bunyan said,
Oh Miss Much Afraid. She just went afraid all the
time. And she just doubted and feared and worried and fretted
and always talked to Mr. Spurgeon and said, Oh Mr. Spurgeon,
I don't know if I'm saved. Oh Mr. Spurgeon, I have so many
doubts. Oh Mr. Spurgeon, I have so many fears. And you know,
he just wrecked you in his pocket. Five pounds back in those days
would be like offering somebody thousands of dollars now. But he wrecked you in his pocket
and said, I'll tell you what I'll do. Since, you know, you're
having such trouble with your salvation and that, I'll tell
you what I'll do. I'm going to give you this five pound note
for your hope. You say you're scared of your
hope. He said, I'll give you five pounds for your hope right
now. You know what she said? She said, Oh Mr. Spurgeon, I
wouldn't take a thousand worlds for my home. You know, that's
the way we are. We wouldn't take anything for
it. We wouldn't take anything for it. Because you know what?
It's the one God gave me. It's the one God gave me. Look what here is. Now some people
are moral. And they claimed to be moral,
they claimed to be good. And these Pharisees and these
Jews, they came together. And when Peter says, we believe
that we shall be saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
even as those Gentiles. They were telling these self-righteous
Jews standing here, these publicans, these self-righteous Jews standing
here, if you're going to be saved, you're going to have to be saved
like them Gentiles. You can just forget your law,
you can forget your circumcision, you can forget your commandments. Look how they said it. They talked
about, you know, they wouldn't put themselves in the same class.
Look what he said here in verse 1. And certain men which came
down from Judea taught the brethren and said, except you, we're not
the ones in trouble, you are. You can't be saved. That's what
they said down here in verse 5. It says that it was needful
to circumcise them. Ye, ye and them. Oh, if you all be like us, you'll
be alright. And Peter said here, he said,
oh no, if God's going to save you Pharisees, if God's going
to save you Jews, If God's going to save you men and your circumcision
and all that, He said you're going to have to be saved by
grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. Like God saved Cornelius
over there. Like God saved all them Gentiles
Paul talked about. I tell you what, now listen to
me. As far as God's concerned, there
ain't a difference between the most best woman and best mother
you can think of that's lost. and a harlot who sold herself
in some house somewhere. They both going to have to be
saved by grace. One will appreciate it more than
the other, but it still takes the grace of God to save them.
Ain't that right? That's right, I'm telling you.
Drunkards and harlots and thieves will go out over and say, they're
going to the kingdom of God before you Pharisees will. You see,
there's no difference in the blood of humanity. All of us
fell in Adam. And which is worse? Which is
worse? Being self-righteous? And I'm
telling you, I'm honest with you. I'd rather go to hell, having
never heard the gospel, and as a drug addict, as to be a self-righteous
Pharisee, facing God in my self-righteousness. That's the most despicable thing
a person can do, is be self-righteous. You know what that saying is?
I don't need Christ. I don't need His blood. I don't
need His righteousness. I don't need Satan. That's what you say when you
say that. And if you have been moral and decent and have some
sense, and just not out here a prolific sinner, Be thankful
for it, but don't trust it for justification. Don't do that. If you got any sense at all,
thank God for it. And let me tell you what else.
Here's the confession of an outward sinner. Look what he says. We
believe through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall
be saved. What else can we claim except
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ? We shall be saved even as Anybody
else is saved. Let me tell you, beloved, in
trying to wind this up. Our badness, our goodness, our
poorness, our ignorance will make no difference. Salvation
is by free grace. You can't be bad. People say,
I'm just too bad a sinner. You can't be bad enough sinner.
If you're that bad a sinner, you've already been saved. Because
the only people that are bad sinners and know they're sinners
is people who have been saved by the grace of God. And the
longer they're saved, the more they know how sinful they are.
How weak they are. And I tell you what, people say,
boy, you know, you see these pictures of these apostles and
Jesus and all these pictures, and they all got haloes over
their head. No, no. You know what they said? You
know what Peter said? If I'm going to be saved, grace
is going to have to save me. You say, well, you're an apostle,
you walk with Christ. If I'm going to be saved, Christ
in His grace is going to have to save me. Here's pardon for transgression
past. It matters not how black they're
cast. And oh, my soul with wonder view for sin to come. Here's pardon too. We believe
that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, We shall be
saved." Like God saved his butt right here. Our Father, in the blessed, blessed
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, thank You for the Gospel. Thank
You for Your grace. Thank You for this great salvation. And we find you to be our all
in all. Oh Lord, we need you, we want you, we desire you. And we know that if we're saved,
you saved us. If we know we're saved tomorrow,
you saved us. And you know if we end up in
glory, it's because you did it. You did it. You did it all. All
to you we owe. God bless this gospel to the
hearts of them that's here this morning. it to the hearts of
you children, bless it to the hearts of those, Lord, who've
never yet believed through grace. God, may they believe through
grace today. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Amen. Blessed Lord, how merciful Thou
art to me. Oh, how merciful. Blessed Lord, how merciful Thou
art to me. And He is. See you tonight, six
o'clock. God bless you.