I want to ask this question.
How does someone get right with God? People talk all the time about
you need to get right with God. You need to make peace with God. Get saved. Get right with God. Get fixed up for heaven. How does someone go about making
peace with their Maker? How does someone go about getting
right with God? There's a song I listened to
the other day, and a woman sang in that song. She said, I'd kiss
the diamond back, burn the soles of my feet and
the palms of my hands if I could just get right with God. I could
just get right with God. You go down the highways and
lots of places, they have a big sign on the side of the road
saying, get right with God. Well, how do you get right with
God? How does it happen? You know, a person can be right
with God. A person can be saved. A person
can have peace with God. But the question is, how are
those things accomplished? How do you have peace with God?
How is it that you're right with God? How is it that you get saved,
as they say? And oh my, how we couldn't, you
couldn't count, only God could count the number of people that
at some point in their lives have tried to get right with
God, tried to get to God. And there's multitudes that we
could not possibly count that some preacher told them what
to do, and they went through the ritual that the preacher
told them to do. And the preacher said they're
saved, and the preacher said they're all fixed up for heaven,
so they believed it. And now they hold on to that.
And some, even now, are working their way to God, still trying
to get right with God. They're working to be optimally
saved or accepted into heaven. But there's one, one great, great
obstacle, a huge obstacle, an immovable object that only one
person can move, that keeps anyone, anyone, from getting to God. And you know what? Never man
has it. And what is it? S-I-N. Sin. That right there is the obstacle
that men don't ever deal with. And it's common, this obstacle,
this thing called sin, it's common to every human being. It's common
to that little baby laying there. It's common to these children
here. It's common to you old folks. Common to us middle-aged
people. See, it's common to everyone. God said we're sinners. God said
all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. God
said all we like sheep have gone astray. And He said we have proved
before that both Jew and Gentile all are under sin. There's none
righteous, no not one. And look with me over in 1 John
1. Let me show you something in
1 John 1. You see, this is the biggest
obstacle that's in man's way. And preachers won't deal with
it. They tell men that they're pretty good, that if they'll
just accept Jesus and open their heart, everything will be alright.
But that's not that we have this obstacle. This issue has to be
dealt with, this issue of sin. This issue of what we are, not
just what we do, but what we are. You see, we do what we do
because we are what we are. A man doesn't become a thief
when he steals something. He stole something because he's
a thief. A man doesn't become a liar when
he tells a lie. He lies because he's a liar. It's in his nature. It's in his
heart. He can't help himself. And he can't change his nature.
The leopard can't change his spot. The Ethiopian can't change
the color of his skin. And so, you see, the critical
issue is, who's going to, what's going to be done about this sin?
Well, how do we get right with God? We've got this great obstacle,
this thing called sin. Being sinners. And look what
it said here in 1 John 1.8. If we say, if we say that we
have no sin, We deceive ourselves into truth,
not image. Anybody here want to argue with
that? I'm not going to argue with it,
because I know it's true. I know it's true from my own
experience. I know it's true, not only from what the Scripture
said, but from what God made me to know. Now, listen to this.
If we confess our sins, God's faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, as to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But
now here's the thing that people say. If we say that we have not
sinned, so we don't need God to forgive us, we don't need
to be cleansed from our unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make Him a liar and His Word is not in us. So the critical issue before
us is this. How can a man be right with God?
How can a man be just with God? How can he be clean that's born
of a woman? David asked this question. He
says, what is man that you're mindful of him or the son of
man that you visit him? But how in the world can we come
to God? How can we get to God? How can
we have this rightness with God? This justice before God? This
peace with God? This ability to come into His
presence? You see, God is holy. Psalm 111
verse 9 said, Holy and Reverend is His name. Isaiah, he said,
I saw the Lord high and lifted up. And His glory filled the
temple. His glory and His pain filled
the temple. And he said, I saw the cherubims
and I heard them say this, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. And when he saw that, he said,
Whoa, it's me. I see God's holiness. I see it
going. I see Him high and lifted up.
And I said, woe is me. What's the matter, Isaiah? Ain't
you going to shout hallelujah and clap your hands and dance
for Jesus? No, I see Him high and lifted up. And I said, woe
is me. I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean
lips, and I dwell among a people just like thee. And oh, look
in Isaiah 57. I tell you, that's the God is
holy. God is holy. Everything about
God is holy. Look in Isaiah 57, 15. And I tell you, the beauty of
all God's attributes is holy, is His holiness. You can put
holy before everything about God. It's called the Holy, you
know, every one of you got a book. And what does it say on it? Holy
Bible. Huh? It's called the Holy Temple.
His holy angels, His holy word, the holy of holies. Worship the
Lord in the beauty of holiness. But look what He said here in
Isaiah 15, 57, 15. For thus saith the high and lofty
One that inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. His very name is
holy. And I dwell in the high and the
holy place, but this is who I dwell with, him also that is of a contrite
and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and
to revive the heart of the contrite ones." Oh, they love it. God's
chief attribute is holiness. You can put holy, God's holy
wrath, His holy anger, before everything. God's love is holy.
Everything about God is holy. And you know what our chief attribute
is? This is holiness. You know what ours is? Sin. That's our chief attribute. God
calls us sinners. And that scripture says that
we're ungodly. When we were yet without strength
and due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Ungodly men. Ungodly sinners. that will appear
before God ungodly in our thoughts, ungodly in our attitude, ungodly
in our conduct, ungodly in our thoughts, ungodly in our motives. Everything about a man that's
outside of Christ is ungodly. I mean, beloved, you know, I tell you, there is in a man,
and this is so, I know this is so, There is in a man, the scripture
says, that the poison of asthma is in his tongue. And you can't
say sin without using the hiss of a circuit. But I know this,
that within a man there is such a nature that until God subdues
that nature, it's like a pit of rattlesnakes or copperheads,
and He's always striking out with that poison towards anything
that's holy and righteous and just until God changes it. Got poison in him, poison in
him. James says, you know, and I'll
tell you this, we're called, God calls us sinners, ungodly,
Without God, without Christ, without hope in this world? So
how in the world, then, can we get to God? Who can bring us
to God? How can we approach God? Well, I know this, beyond a doubt,
and boy, let me show you in 1 Peter 3, 18. Could you turn over there
with me real quick? Let me read a verse of Scripture to you.
I'll tell you what, I know beyond a doubt that there are some things
that will not and cannot Get us to God. Bring us to God. Look
what he said in 1 Peter 3.18. This is going to be my text today. For Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, now listen to it, that he might bring us to God. Did you hear that? That he might
bring us to God. Being put to death in the flesh,
but quickened by the Spirit. Oh, I know beyond who can bring
us. It tells us that. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt
that there are some things that will not bring us to God. The
law won't bring us. No, no. The Scripture says that
whatsoever things the law saith, it saith them that are under,
that ever in the house may be stopped, and the whole world
guilty before God. By the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified in the sight of God. And you can spot
people who want to go to law, they'll dress a certain way,
they'll act a certain way, and they'll fix their hair a certain
way, and they'll talk about living holy lives. How in the world,
you know, we're living a holy life when whatever what men call
a holy life, they think because they put a something on their
head and a certain kind of dress on their bodies that that makes
them holy. But holiness, how in the world
does a man get to be made holy? Holiness. David said in Psalm
119, he said, I've seen the end of all perfection. Oh my, but we're going to have
to be, God said, be ye holy as I am holy. We're going to have
to be holy as God if we're going to get into the presence of God.
We're going to have to be. The law won't do it. He said he that wants to be justified
by the deeds of the law is under the curse. Cursed is everyone
that continues not in all things written in the book of the law
to do them. And I tell you something else I know won't bring us to
God, won't get us right with God. The church, the church will
not bring us to God. There's a lot of people think
the church will. There are several denominations
in this world that think that if you're in their church, their
church, you're all fixed up for glory. I can name off five or
six of them right off the top of my head, but I won't. But
I'll tell you something about the church. The church is not
this building. Church is not this building. You're in the
church. called out assembly, people that God's called out,
people that God saved by His grace and brought them together
so they'll corporately worship together. And the churches have
called out assembly who have been already brought to God. Church is not a building. Church
is not an organization set up with a hierarchy, with a fellow
up here and then two or three under him, two or three more
under him, two or three under him, you know. Bishop, priest,
You know, go right down the line. I despise this clergy and lay
thing. That's as unscriptural as anything
that's ever been in here. They say, well, he's the preacher
and you're the lay people. What in the world's a lay people?
Somebody explain what a lay people is. That means that you're all
lay lazy or what? But they come up with this stupid
stuff and they make people swallow it. And they just swallow it
and don't know why in the world they swallow it. The church is
not an organization or a denomination. The church is a called out people.
I'm going to go down next weekend with the assembly down in Sylacauga,
Alabama. And I'm going to go into a building,
but I'm going to meet with the church that's at Sylacauga, Alabama. I'm not going to meet God in
the building. I'm going to meet God with God's people. You know, Judas, he wasn't in the church. Demas
wasn't in the church. Simon Nigus wasn't in the church. But they all had professions.
They all started out right. Oh, if you ever get in the church,
God will have to put you in the church. And he got a church all
over this world out of every kindred, tribe, nation, tongue,
and people. And let me tell you something
else that won't get us right with God. Good works. Everybody likes to talk about
their good works. Good works will not bring us to God. Everybody
ought to do good works. Oh my, do good works. But oh,
that rich young ruler come run to the Lord Jesus and he said,
What good work must I do to be saved? What good work must I
do to be saved? He said, sell everything you've
got and give it to the poor. He said, oh, wait a minute. You've
done half too much. You've done half for everything
I've got. And he went away sad. And there was a bunch one day,
they told the Lord Jesus, they said, Lord, don't you know we've
preached in your name? We've tested out devils in your
name. We've done many wonderful works in your name. They use
the name of the Lord all the time. In the name of Jesus! We commend you in Jesus' name. And oh, they go on and on and
on with that. But I'll tell you something. Do you know what our
Lord said? Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity. I never
knew you. They that are in the flesh cannot
please God. And if you're going to be saved
by good work, it better be good enough for God to say it's good. And could you ever do anything
that God would look at and say, that's good? Did you do anything
yesterday that God would say that's good? Have you done anything
today that God would say that's good? Did you do anything last
week that God would say that's good? Did you pray a prayer that you
got up and said, oh boy, that was a good read? Huh? Did you read the Bible and
say, oh boy, I just, oh, that was a good read. I've done so
good, God's so happy with me right now. Oh my. And that's why, for by grace,
oh, this is it, for by grace are you saved through faith,
and that not of yourself. What is it? It's the gift of
God. Not of works. Not of works. Why is it of works? Lest any
man should boast. Lest any man should boast. And
you know why this flesh, this atom, when we talk about the
flesh, we're talking about our fallen nature, our nature, unconverted
nature, this old body, Fallen nature. The reason why the flesh,
Adam, has been cursed is because we could never have a pure motive. Never, ever have a pure motive.
We just couldn't do it. And one of these, you know, and
Bruce Daly and I have talked about this before, wouldn't you for one time in
your life, for one moment in your life, love to do one thing,
one thing, absolutely, completely, with the purest motive for the
glory of God. One of these days we will. But
we'll not do it while we're in this body. But that's what we're
shooting at. That's what we're aiming at.
And let me hurry up. I'll tell you something else
that won't get us right, won't bring us to God. Going to the
front of the church. I wish somebody would jump up
and run down here sometimes, you know, say, preacher, preacher,
tell me what I need to tell me. Tell me, said, oh, I want to
be baptized. Oh, I want you to I want the
church to pray for me. I want I want I want to know
the Lord. Please do something. But oh,
going to the front of the church is not going to save you. Not
going to get you right. God's not down here in the front.
God is in the heavens. God's high and holy. He's on
his throne. And oh my. And praying the sinner's
prayer. You know what? What is a sinner's
prayer? I don't know why I couldn't tell
you what it is, but I know this, I pray it all the time. When I pray, you hear the sinner
pray. You hear the man crying out for
mercy. Yep. Yep. But it ain't just repeat
after me. know you're a sinner? Oh, I know
I'm a sinner. You know Jesus died? I know Jesus died for me.
I know Jesus loves me? I know Jesus loves me. Do you believe Jesus saved you?
I believe Jesus saved me. Are you going to accept Jesus? Yes,
I accept Jesus. That's it. That's it. But I tell you what, if God ever
puts it in your heart to pray, you'll know what it is to be
a sinner. And that's when you'll start praying. You will pray
till then. But all right, let me hurry up. If we didn't know how a man can
come to God and who can bring us to God, we got to go to this
blessed book. Got to go to the scriptures.
You see in the scriptures, in the Old Testament, there were
three essential things if a man would come to God. Three essential
things he had there. First there was the tabernacle.
The tabernacle. There has to be a place appointed
of God. Then you had to have a priest. You couldn't come to
God on your own. The priest was the only one that
could go to God in your stead. The priest was the only one who
could offer a sacrifice. And then you had to have the
sacrifice yourself. A tabernacle, a place. You had
to have a priest, and you had to have a sacrifice. And in that
tabernacle, There were two places. There was the outer court, where
there was a brazen altar and a labor. And the first thing
that priest done when people bring their sacrifice, first
thing he done, he washed himself. And then he took that sacrifice
and went to that brazen altar and cut the throat and poured
out the blood before that. And then he burned it on that
brazen altar. That sacrifice had to be consumed. That sin offering had to be consumed.
And that priest was the only one who could offer it. And that
sacrifice had to be perfect. If it's not perfect, it can never
be accepted. And in that tabernacle, there
was also a holy place behind the veil. And then behind that
veil, there was an old mercy seat. And there were two great
big cherubims with their face pointed toward one another and
their fingers touching. And the great high priest, the high priest
went behind that veil once once a year and he went in there with
blood and he took that blood and he sprinkled it on that mercy
seat he sprinkled it seven times on it and seven times before
it but that place that tabernacle and then that high priest he
put on these beautiful garments put on this beautiful on his
head. He put on his beautiful garments
with the names of the children of Israel on it. And he had this
long robe that had bells on it. And he would go in there, and
he didn't take a sacrifice. And that sacrifice had to be
perfect. A lamb without spark. A lamb without blemish. And he
would go in there and offer it. And, beloved, our Lord Jesus
Christ is all three of those things right now. You see, we
need a tabernacle. You know what a tabernacle was
for? If you're going to have a tabernacle in the wilderness,
that's where God met men. Only there. There's where His
glory was. There's where the priests worked.
There's where the sacrifices were offered. And God only met
men in one place. The only place of worship, the
only place where His glory was, the only place where justice
was satisfied through the sacrifice, is that mercy seat. And the scripture
says, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, tabernacled
among us, and we beheld His glory. Christ is that tabernacle, that
place, the only place that we can meet God, the only place
where the glory of God's at, the only place where the justice
of God is satisfied, the only sacrifice that's ever been offered,
the only mercy seat that you can come to where the blood's
already been applied. And not only is he our tabernacle,
but he's our great high priest. We have a high priest that's
passed into the heavens. And his priesthood is unchangeable. Aaron had his son Eleazar. When
Aaron died, Eleazar took over. When Eleazar took God, Phidias
took over. They just passed it down from
generation to generation. But our Lord Jesus Christ priesthood
ain't gonna pass to nobody. He's our great high and holy
priest, and he sits in the presence of God. He has an unchangeable
priesthood. And I'll tell you something else,
not only is he our high priest, and he's our tabernacle, but
he himself is our sacrifice. Christ, our Passover, is sacrifice
for us. Look over in Hebrews 10 right
quick. Let me show you something. Oh, you're talking about a sacrifice.
Oh, my. That's why people try to work.
They try to make sacrifices. They try to work. They try to
get right with God on their terms or whatever they think God wants
them to do. And they never, ever, their conscience
is never satisfied. They never have peace of heart,
never have peace of conscience. They're always afraid, always,
you know, they ultimately hope that they'll be saved. But what
they ultimately hope to have is our starting place. Where
they want to end up at, that's where we begin. They want to
end up being saved, we start out being saved. They want to
end up being accepted, we start out being accepted. They want
to end up being holy, we start out being holy. Ain't that right? And look what
it says here in Hebrews 10, in verse 11, talking about the priesthood. And every priest, stands, he
has to stand daily, ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices which can never take away sin. You know, once a year
they would come there, and all of Israel gathered together,
and the sins of Israel was to be taken care of from one year
to the next. But in those sacrifices, the
reason they bond was because there was a remembrance of sin
on their conscience. And they said that this sin has
to be atoned for, this sin must be, have a sacrifice, so then
bring a sacrifice, and then offer it over and over and over. And
that sacrifice never wants to put away a sin, never wants to
satisfy the conscience. And that's why he said, the sacrifice,
same sacrifices, which can never take away sin. Now listen to
this. As he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, what he do? They were standing. He sat down.
Where'd he sit down at? At the right hand of God. What's
he doing? He's waiting till God makes his
end of his footstool. Now listen to this. Listen to
this. For by one offering, that one offering, he, that man who
offered that one sacrifice for sins forever, For that one offer
he hath perfected. That makes me happy all over.
Oh, and a son from my heart and soul, he hath perfected forever. Them that are sanctified, not
getting sanctified, are sanctified. That's it. That's the event there. He's our sacrifice. Now back
over in 1 Peter 3.18. Let me wind this thing up. Oh,
my. His blood is a sweet smelling
savor. I tell you, if you ever get Christ,
Christ ever saves you by His grace, you ever trust Him and
look to Him and come to Him as your all in all, I'll tell you
one thing I know for sure, that your conscience and heart will
go to rest, just like that. The moment you trust Him, the
moment you cease from yourself, The moment you cease from your
works, the moment you cease from your self-righteous, the moment
you cease from your self-reasoning, the moment you cease from self
and turn to Christ, peace comes that quick. The conscience is
purged that quick. The guilt is gone that quick. When you look to Him, gone like
that. Now look what it says here in 1 Peter 3.18. It says, For
Christ also hath once suffered for sins. We talked about that
obstacle of sin. We talked about God being holy.
We talked about being brought to God, getting right with God.
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, for the unjust that
he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh. but
quickened by the Spirit. For Christ. For Christ. Who is He? Immanuel, God with
us. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bring forth a son. Thou shalt call His name Immanuel. God is with us. In the fullness
of time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman. Made of a woman. You know, the Jews kept looking
for the Messiah to come. And they missed Him when He came.
But he came to that woman at the well, he talked to her, and
she said, I know that when the Messiah is coming, he can do
all things. And he said, I that speak unto
thee, and he. And she went and told everybody
about it. Behold, unto us a child is born. Unto us a son
is given. What are we going to call him?
Wonderful, counselor of the mighty God. The Prince of Peace and
the Everlasting Father. And the government, and this
is not a thousand years in the future, the government should
be up on his shoulder. Just one, that's all he needs
to carry. He carried his sheep on the other side. Oh my, he was promised to come. He came in the fullness of time.
The Old Testament scriptures prophesied of him to him, all
the prophets gave witness. And all blessed his holy name
for Christ came. It was Christ, the glory of God,
the Son of God, God in the flesh. What did He do? Look what it
said. Hath once, hath once, one life, one offering. That's all
it took. He hath once. He hath one life
to live, one offering to give. He hath one hour. He said, my
hour has not yet come. And when they come to get him
in the garden, and to take him, and try him, and accuse him,
and beat him, and mangle him, and mistreat him, and deride
him, and maul him, you know what the first thing he says when
they come to get him? He says, those 500 people come
out there, and he says, you seek me? Then you've got to let these
go their way. You've got to let Peter, and
John, and James, and these other disciples. You've got to let
them go. You can't have me and have them at the same time. That's
why it's just the same thing with God. You can't have me and
have them. If you get me, you get my life,
you get my offering. You get me, who I am, my holiness,
my righteousness, my obedience, my perfection. If you get me,
If I'm going to be the one to suffer, if I'm going to be the
one to live the life, if I'm going to be the one to obey God,
if I'm going to be the one who's the Lamb of God that takes away
the sin of the world, if I'm going to be that one offering,
then you've got to let these folks go. Huh? Oh, my. Oh, we know that the
Lord just had a shadow of good things to come. But Christ, beloved,
He was not the shadow. He was the substance. And all
the offers they brought could not make the comers there unto
perfect. And all the letters they had
to come once a year, every year, every year, every year. We don't
have to return every year. You know why we don't? Because
Christ never be offered again. No, never be offered again. I'm
going to read this to you. You don't have to look at it.
I'll read it to you myself. But look what it says here. For Christ
is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which
are just figures typical of the true tabernacle, but into heaven
itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us." We don't
have to go like those folks and get a priest. We don't have to
go to a priest. We don't have to go to a preacher.
We don't have to go to anybody but Christ. Listen to this. nor
yet that he should offer himself often as the high priesthood
of the holy place every year with the blood of others." Christ
ain't going to come be offered again. For then must he have
suffered since the foundation of the world. Now listen to this.
But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared, what
did he appear for? To put away sin by the sacrifice
of his own. All of them is gone. God's holiness
has been magnified. And then look what it says here
again, not only did Christ also ask what, but look what He did.
He suffered. Suffered for what? Our sins. Our sins. Suffered for sins. He was wounded for our transgressions,
bruised for our iniquity. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him. He said, Lo, ye that pass by,
who has a soul like unto my soul, wherewith God hath afflicted
me in the fierceness of his anger. He suffered in his life from
the day he was born, suffered in his death, suffered in his
humiliation, and he suffered, and the only sufferings he was
suffering for was not for himself, but for our sins. Our sins. He himself bore our sins in his
own body on the tree. Oh, that took our sins just so
bad, so horrible, so awful, so despicable. Paul said the exceeding
sinful that it took the Son of God, that took the body of Christ,
it took the person of Christ to bear our sins and sell. Oh, my soul. Sins. For sins. And when he suffered
for sins, he was suffering in the stead of. For somebody else. How could he suffer for sins?
He had none of his own. He said, which of you convinced
me of sins? And beloved, he suffered for
our sins. When Abraham, God said, Abraham,
take your son up on that mountain and offer him. And Abraham started
up that mountain, and he thought, oh my soul, he said, I know this,
that the promise that God made me is in my son, and the promise
that God made us is in his son. And he said, so if I take him
up there and I offer him, he said, I'm going to bring him
back down off this mountain because God cannot lie and God cannot
change. But when he took that boy up
there, and that son up there, and he strapped him down, laid
him down, laid the fire under the kitchen to strike the match,
and brought back the knife, God said, Stop! He looked behind him, and you
know what he found? A ram caught in the thicket. You know what a ram did? Isaac got up. He received him
as from the dead. And he took that ram and put
him in Isaac's place. God said, I'm going to slay all
of you. But the Lord Jesus Christ said,
take me. Take me. Give me their sin. Give me their punishment. Give
me their wrath. And beloved, he suffered as our substitute.
So if God punished him for my sin, can he come punish me for
it? If Christ bore my sins away,
do I have them anymore? Huh? That can't possibly be. They
can't be in two places at the same time. That's what you call the gospel.
That's what you call it. Now, look what it says here.
Now, I love this. Not only do you suffer for sins, but listen
to this, the just for the unjust. He was just, innocent, holy,
righteous, without blame. We were unholy, unrighteous,
and with nothing but blame. But the just one, the just one,
the Lord Jesus Christ, took the place of the unjust. And by doing
that, that's just exactly how God can be just. That's how He
can be just. If God took the unjust, and Christ
bore, took the place of the unjust, then we get to be just. God justifies
us, clears us of all doubt. And our Lord Jesus Christ did
this willingly, voluntarily. He just. That's what that centurion
said. Truly, this is a righteous man.
Surely, this was the Son of God. And listen to this, and then
I'm through, talking about being made right with God, that He
might bring us to God. There ain't no way you can get to God
unless Christ brings you. He's got to bring you. He's got
to bring you. Is He bringing you? Is He bringing
you? He's still bringing me. He brought
me and He's still bringing me. Oh, bless His name. I still have
access. They're saying that you sinned,
preacher. I have, but I still have access because Christ bore
all my sins. And you said some awful things. I have, but Christ
bore my sins away and I'm not glorying in my sin. I'm not saying
that. But I'm telling you that, beloved, once Christ bears your
sins, they're gone. Your past sins, your present
sins, and all your future sins are gone. Then that's how He can bring
us to God. He says, no man comes unto the
Father but by Me. He says, no man can come unto God
except the Father which sent Me bring him, and everyone which
hath learned of the Father, he that comes unto Me. He's the
Shepherd, the Good Shepherd, dying three sheep. He's the chief
shepherd. He's seeking His sheep. He's
out looking for them, finding them. He knows wherever one of
them is. And He'll go and mark their ear
and mark their feet. And when they hear the gospel,
they're going to hear it and they're going to come to Christ
because they've got an ear and an ear to follow in the foot.
And then He's the great shepherd of the sheep. He's coming again
to gather all the sheep together in one place. And the scripture
said in Isaiah 53, in verse 11, that God saw the travail of his
soul, saw the agony of his soul, the burden of his soul, and was satisfied. God's satisfied. If God's satisfied with him,
that's who I want to know. If God accepted him, that's who
I want to know. If God declared him righteous,
that's the one I want to know. If God said I can come to God
through Jesus Christ, then I want to know him. Don't you? I want
to know him. Our Father, in the blessed, blessed
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, oh, thank you for allowing me
to preach the gospel. for the saints listening to the
gospel, for the joy we have in believing, the peace that we
have in believing. Oh, blessed be your name. Save
your people in this place. Strengthen your sheep. Encourage
your people. Have mercy. Oh, God have mercy
upon the sick and tried among us. Peggy, Marlene, and others
that I don't know about, please help them. Please have mercy
on them. Please meet their needs. And Father, if you've moved in
the heart of some sinner, some person who in their heart they
know that they believe you, and in their heart they know they
trust you, and in their heart they've found that peace that
passes all understanding, in their heart their conscience
is cleared. They don't feel any more guilt.
They have peace of heart, peace of conscience. If you've brought
somebody to that place, I pray that you would enable them to
confess you by believers' baptism. We ask you these things in Christ's
holy name. Amen. Amen.