All right, if you wish to follow
along as I read this morning, turn to the epistle of Paul,
the apostle to the Hebrews. The epistle of Paul, the apostle
to the Hebrews. Or read the first six verses,
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time
past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last
days spoken unto us by his son, whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness
of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high, being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by
inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which
of the angels said he at any time, thou art my son, this day
have I begotten thee. And again, I will be to him a
father, and he shall be to me a son. And again, when he bringeth
in the first begotten into the world, he saith, and let all
the angels of God worship him. Have you ever wondered what verse one and the first
part of verse two really means. It means exactly what it says. The problem is, we first of all
being fallen creatures in Adam, cannot comprehend with love and
desire the truth of God no matter what. not with love and desire. And secondly, we being fallen
creatures, even as believers, our ability is limited to only
that which God gives us. We are so prone, we are so prone to think that
I must understand this before it makes sense. People read this. God, who at
sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers
by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his
Son. And they think, what's that mean? That Christ said something different
than the prophets? No. The Law and the Prophets itself
declare this, if they speak not according to the Law and the
Prophets, it's because there is no truth in them. What Jesus
Christ said was exactly in line with what the Law and the Prophets
declared. But the Apostle Paul is telling
us God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners and in different
time periods, He didn't always do this, Sometimes God was silent. And he didn't always speak to
a prophet in the exact same way. Sometimes he spoke to them verbally. Sometimes it came in a dream.
Sometimes it came by experiences. So there you see God, who at
sundry times, and in diverse manners spake in time past unto
the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son. Two things here. We've been in
the last days for the past some odd 2,000 years. And the main point that the Apostle
Paul is making is this, that the Son of God gave the final
word from God. That's what he means there. That's
what he says there. He spoke in a lot of different
ways and a lot of different means through the prophets in time
past. But in these last days, he's
spoken unto us, how? By his Son. The Son has the final
word. In other words, the Son has summed
it all up. That's what he's saying. And
if you go on and read a little bit in chapter two, the apostles
who even spoke, what did they speak? What he said. What he said. And even as Peter
made it quite clear, no scriptures of any private interpretation.
Note that Peter puts interpretation along with inspiration. That's
why we dare not interpret because I'm not inspired. No scriptures of any private
interpretation, but holy men spake as they were moved of God. In other words, interpretation
is this, it's not their take on it, it's what God meant for
them to say. Now if what they said was not
their take, but what God meant for them to say, then I had best
be careful when I talk about what they say and make sure I'm
just saying what they said. Don't interpret the Bible. Pray God to help us to bow to
thus saith the Lord. Oh God, open my blind eyes and
my hard heart to see your truth. That's it. Not make it fit with
what I think it's supposed to be. And far too many people do
that, even amongst grace people. That's not meant to be a condemnation.
It's just a statement of fact. The Son of God gave the final
word from God, and that's how He begins. So in other words,
we best pay heed to what He said. Right? We best pay heed to what He said.
In other words, hear Him. And I mean, I mean really hear
Him. I don't mean just physically
hear, I mean hear Him. Be attuned to what He has said. Hear Him. Believe Him, not just
in Him, though you certainly believe in Him, but hear Him,
believe Him, if you do, you know God. If you don't hear Him and you
don't believe Him, you don't know God. I don't care how orthodox
you profess to be. I don't care how zealous you
are in whatever you might be. I don't care how religious you
are, but if you hear Him and you believe Him, you know God.
You know God. Why? Because to know Him is to
know God. If you hear Him, you're hearing
God. If you're believing Him, you're believing God. But not only that, the apostle
goes on to say this, Christ the Son has sovereign right to all
things. It goes on in verse 2, after
these last days spoken unto us by His Son. So in other words,
don't look for anything else. A man tells you, God gave me
this revelation, you better tune him out right then. God revealed
this to me and it's outside of this book, you best tune him
out right now. hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things."
In other words, everything's his. Everything's his. By whom also he made the worlds. This one who is God's final say,
He is God the Creator Himself. That's why we ought to listen
to Him. He who created all these things,
Mason, when He speaks, we best listen. We best listen. Christ the Son has sovereign
right to all things. Why? For Christ is the Son, the
sovereign Creator of all things that exists. There's nothing that exists apart
from His sovereign say-so. The devil can't spit lest God
says so. The devil can't move or act apart
from God Almighty's sovereign at least suffering of it to be
so. And that's borne out in the testimony
of Job without question. God said to Satan, God, that
amazes me every time I think about it. God said to Satan,
have you considered my servant Job? And Satan basically said
to no reason for me to, you put a hedge about him, I can't touch
him. Is that the way the devil is presented by most of so-called
Christianity today? No, they propose God and the
devil as these two opposing forces fighting against one or the other
and every now and then one gets the upper hand and every now
and then the other one gets the upper hand and that's all a lie
of the devil himself trying to make men think he has more than
he is. God said you can touch him but
you go this far and you can't go any further. That's the God
I'm talking about this morning. But even more than that, that's
who Jesus Christ is this morning. That's who Jesus Christ is this
morning. He's the sovereign creator of all things. And he goes on
to say, Christ the Son is the glory of God in his brightness. Doesn't it? Who being the brightness
of his glory. Granted, that was veiled when
he first came into this world. And it was only seen on rare
occasions, and especially one, when the three disciples, remember,
were with him up on the mount? And even his clothes, Mack, because
they were on him, shone as the brightness of the noonday sun.
In other words, Mason, they finally got to see him as a man, as he
really is, because there the glory was unveiled for a moment.
He is no doubt like that tabernacle. No, he is actually the fulfillment
of that tabernacle. And when you looked, if you stood
upon a small hill and you looked upon that tabernacle sitting
in the wilderness, you see this white fence around it, so to
speak. And anyone who ever seen Christ knew, Joe, what you said.
He was different. They knew that he was different.
Now most of them didn't like that difference and despised
that difference, but you could see that's a different place,
that's a different kind of tent. But when you look past that white
Joe, what did you see? A tent just like any other tent. Badger skin. Oh, but peel back
that badger skin. and take a glimpse inside of
the purple and the scarlet and the silver and the gold and the
incense and the smell of fresh daily baked bread, 12 loaves. All the time. That tent was different
than all other tents. But you had to be allowed to
open the door and look inside to see all that. And there's
a sense of which God is here, peeled back that for us, isn't
it? And in these very words, not
with physical eyes, but in these very words, we're hearing, who
being the brightness of his glory. And don't cut, I mean, think
of that in a way beyond what your mind can comprehend, but
also think of it in this, those three disciples see him shine. Did they not when they was on
that mount of that's why we call it the mount of transfiguration What a man this man is Because
this man is God Almighty manifest in the flesh In other words all
that God is God is in the Sun in his fullness no lack We might
not always see it But it's always there. It's always there, no
lack. Paul puts it this way in Colossians
two and verse nine, that in him, that's in Christ, that's who
he's talking about. Go back and look at it sometime. In him that
is in Christ dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead. And then this next word, bodily. That amazes, I can explain that
to you. All's I can do is declare it
in language that the scripture presents. And that's as far as
we're supposed to take it. In other words, I'm not here,
Mac, to, you don't need me to interpret that to you. You need
me to declare that to you. God gives these words and it's
translated into a language we can at least scholastically understand. At least some of us can. I wasn't
meaning you, some of us. But let me tell you something,
it still takes an act of God to bow down to words. You know
what I mean? To bow down to what hath in these
last days spoken unto us by His Son. Some of them got to see
Him and hear Him when He spoke. And I even think, oh, if I'd
have been there and seen those miracles, but Joe, I would believe
Him no more then than I believe Him now today, apart from the
grace of God Almighty. It takes grace to believe even
when you're seeing it with your eyes. What a man this man is. In him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. So much so
that when Paul was talking to the Ephesian elders in kind of
his final farewell, remember? I think it's recorded and I think
it was Acts 20. So much so that it's stated this
way, that the blood of human nature, I'm paraphrasing it,
but this is what he's talking about. The blood of human nature
is called the very blood of God. And that's an amazing thing when
you realize God essentially spoken of his spirit. But yet in the
person of the son, his human blood, Joe, was God's blood. So he wasn't God and man put
together and had this dual personality. No, it was a human nature and
a divine nature, totally distinct, but yet put together in one person. He didn't have multiple personalities.
He had one personality, and that was God made human flesh. Now someone says, explain that.
And because this book teaches that, many people have gone off
into all kinds of weird ideas. I don't have to explain it to
you. I'm supposed to do what? Declare it to you. This is the
problem with most of today's so-called preaching. They're
trying to explain everything rather than just declaring, thus
saith the Lord in the word of God. To defend it, stand for
it, proclaim it, preach it, but you don't need me to explain
it to you. You need the spirit of God to explain it to you.
Even though it's written in plain language. I, I'm not preaching
down to you. I need the spirit of God to understand
this. I think there's some preachers
today that think they're God's interpreter. And all of you all
back yonder, I'm gonna let y'all know what God said. Now, you
read this book, it's right here what God says, it's right here
what God means, because he meant what he said. Because why? He hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son, and then the apostles came along, and
we know now they wrote it down. and we actually have it almost
2,000 years later, Joe Colussi, we still have these words, don't
we? The person of the Son, that's
Christ the Son, is the exact likeness, the word here is express
image, of the Father. Who being the brightness of his
glory and the express image of his person. The person of God is found where?
In Jesus the Son. That's worse than hell. In Jesus
the Son, because you're not going to know God apart from Jesus
the Son. Who is God? He is the Son. He is the Son. They are one. They are one, and yet they are
Father and Son by eternal generation. That's a I know it's a perplexing statement
for my finite mind. And this has been an argument,
at least it has been in time past, was a big argument amongst
the church, put that in quotes. And a massive split happened
because of this. But one thing about it, when
he was begotten as the only begotten of the father, was not when he
was born in Bethlehem. The reason is, is verse six,
and again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world. It didn't say when he came into
the world he became the first begotten. He is the first begotten,
and he's the only begotten in that sense. And that's by what
some have used, and I know of no other better word, eternal
generation. And one reason we can say that
that at least comes close is because he's called, God is called
the everlasting father. Right? The book calls him, he
calls himself, it's recorded in the book, the everlasting
father. That word in the Hebrew means
eternal. And if you have an eternal father, you cannot but have an
eternal son. Because you ain't a father till
you got a boy. Oh yeah. Now I'm not the brightest bulb
in the pack. But here's the thing, it takes
the spirit of God to bow you down to that truth because I
cannot explain it to you. I don't have an example. I'm
not saying there's not one out there, but I'm too dull to even
see that, Mason, if it's there. I don't have anything to use
to even picture that for you. the express image of his person.
They are one. He said, I and my father are
what? One. Even John in first John talks
of father, son, and spirit. And he says, these three are
what? One. I can't explain that. Can't explain that, and if I
said Trinity, does that help you anymore? No, does it? Triunity still don't help me
to grasp a hold of it anymore. It takes, I believe God even
though I can't comprehend it. Because God says it's true, and
he's spoken this by his son, Joe, I bow down to it. I bow
down to it. The son also holds all things
together in constant control. Look, who be in the brightness
of his glory, the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power. He does a lot just by
word only. Isn't that amazing? He does so
much just by word only. The scripture presents it this
way. He spoke and the whole universe came into existence. Somebody says, explain that.
I don't have to. I believe God. I believe Christ. I'm not gonna argue with the
evolutionists. I'm not gonna try to prove that
God is eternal and created the world. I believe God. Somebody
else don't, that's their problem. That's their problem. I don't
have to bring you empirical evidence of that. Matter of fact, I refuse
to. Mason, if I had it, there's some people I wouldn't share
it with. because they hate God so much. They have no humility
before this sovereign creator. He holds all things together
in constant control. And this is the amazing thing
I get, by the word of his power. Now, if he can create and did
create a universe, you think he can't deal with me and you
in the way he wants? Yeah, a little piece what pipsqueak
think of how insignificant I am in the total scheme and even
physical size of this universe And God can control that and
you think he can't control you He's got all of us here this
morning. Yay everyone and everything else
on this terrestrial ball Held in check by the word of His power
that bows my heart down in humility before God. You see, the Christ
we're preaching is not this manby-pamby little sissy that people are
preaching today as Jesus. That's just a fact. This Jesus
that most of so-called Christianity's preaching today is not the Christ
of God. He's an imposter. He's made up
in men's minds, and they're making him just like they are. And you
gotta remember, yes, we were created in God's image, but we
also fail. And now we are in rebellion against
that very creator. Every breath I take, Joe, outside
of Jesus Christ is an abomination in God's sight. Well, I'm not
really that bad. Yeah, you are. If you feel that
way, you are. You just don't know it yet. Pray God he shows
that to you in this life. Because if it takes the next
life, so to speak, for you to see that, it'll be too late.
It'll be too late. Remember the rich man died and
lifted up his eyes in hell? He began to understand, not everything,
but he did begin, Mason, to understand a few things. But you know what?
He knew also it was too late. And what did he say? He said
to Father Abraham, send somebody back to tell my brothers, warn
them that they don't come to this place. And you know what
Abraham told him? They got Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. I ain't gonna
do it. If you won't hear the book of
God, if you won't hear God's man, even more, if you won't
hear God's son, you'll perish, period. What Christ says goes. It's just that simple. And yet
that profound. You know, if we really even seen
that, if we really seen it as we ought to see it, it would
frighten us to death. Our hearts would, as scripture
said, fail us for fear. Even now, Even now, Ellen, God
only lets me get glimpses of that. Even as a regenerated individual. Because I can't handle it all
in this finite body. With this finite mind. Just can't
grasp it. What He says goes. What He purposed,
He does. What He ordained, stands. Good or evil. The same God in
the Old Testament who said, I create good, I create evil. Behold,
I, the Lord, do all these things. That is the Christ of God. Jesus Christ didn't come into
the world to kind of say, all right, now the Father's pretty
rough. And if you'll let me, I'll hold him at bay. You know,
there's people that think like that. And because he's a man,
you see, he can, and he kind of, you know, now God, you know,
Father, we know how they are. They don't get justice at all. Why? Because we're not done yet.
Listen, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on
the right hand of the majesty on high. Right there is my prime
problem. My sins. That's the problem. Mmm note what the sovereign Son
of God did Next he purged sins By himself Notice every word
When he had by himself purged our sins sat down on the right
hand of the Majesty on high when did that in itself take place
when he ascended back to glory and Now all of that was introduction. Right there, that last phrase,
that's my message. There is no other purging of
sins. Other than that purging that
took place some odd 2,000 years ago, there is no other purging
of sins. I want to give you three things.
I don't know if I'll get to all three of them this morning or
not, probably not. The first one is this. We want
to look at this phrase. When he had by himself purged
our sins, he sat down. Notice, sat down. That implies
something, don't it, Mac? It didn't just say he went back
to heaven. He did, but it says he sat down. Now just to jump
ahead for a moment, what is usually applied when it says somebody
sat down? Either one of two things. They're
tired, can't take it no more. or they're done. And I tell you by the authority
of the Word of God, it's the second one. He sat down because
he was done. Not because he was tired. Not
because he was tired. But let me tell you, false Christianity
presents him as just wearing himself to death as he wished
somebody had let his death save them. Do they not? Am I lying
about them or is that the way a lot of so-called Christianity
presents Jesus Christ today? Let me just give you three things
on this. Sins were purged by Christ before
He ascended to glory. You hear me? Sins were purged
by Christ before He ascended to glory. There is no other purging
of sins. Some people say, but isn't our
conscience purged from dead works? Yes, and that's in time. That
happens in your life, okay? But it's a conscience purged
from dead works, not from sins. The apostle Paul put it this
way, turn to Hebrews chapter 10. For the law having a shadow of
good things to come, and not the very image of the things
can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year
continually make the comers thereunto perfect. In other words, all
of their obedience to the law could not perfect them in the
sight of God. For then would they not have
ceased to be offered. In other words, if you could
offer one lamb, it would take care of sins. you'd never have
to offer another lamb again. That's what he's saying. That
was proved by this constant sacrifice, morning, evening, morning, evening,
every day. No stopping of that, Joe. For then would they not have
ceased to be offered because that the worshipers once purged
should have no more, what? Conscience of sin. So which has
to come first, purging or the conscience? The purging has to
come first. The very fact that these Old
Testament sacrifices had to be offered over and over and over
and over again proved That proved that they didn't purge sins.
But he offered one sacrifice, four sins, forever, and he sat
down. Look at it again, Hebrews 10,
verse 11, and every priest standeth daily. Now, Paul wrote this before
the temple was destroyed in Jerusalem in 70 AD, and they were still
offering those sacrifices every day in that temple. Now that's
gone completely, but we're not dealing with that. And every
priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice, four sins, forever sat down on the right hand of
God. Let me see here. from henceforth
expecting till his enemies be what? Be just loved into place. Begged to let them, let him have
his way with them. No. Expecting till his enemies
be made his footstool. Have you ever watched some of
the old movies about way back yonder? What a conquering king
did when he came in and conquered another king. He forced him to
the ground and he put his foot down on his neck. Somebody says,
that's awful rough. That's who Jesus Christ is. That's
a footstool. That's what he's talking about.
And so Jesus Christ conquers everyone. And he will conquer
everyone in one way or another. He is conquering the elect now
by his spirit and by the preaching of the gospel, he'll conquer
everybody else at the great white throne. He will prove to everyone
then, I've had my way with you all along. Because even some
will come and say, Lord let us in. Let us in. We preached in your
name. We did many wonderful works in
your name. We cast out devils in your name.
And he'll say to them, depart from me, you worker of iniquity.
I don't know you. You know what he says? You see,
sins were purged by Christ, as I said, before he ascended to
glory. Look at it, chapter 10 again. from henceforth expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool, for by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." You see, the purging of sins,
the taking away of sins, all took place before he ascended
back to glory. Christ, according to Paul, did
this by himself. That lets me know that I didn't
have anything to do with it. It lets me know that I cannot
have anything to do with it, because he's already done it.
It would be an insult to him for me to say, well, let me add
to what you've done to purge sins, yes or no. If you've done
a job and you've completed it and somebody else comes up and
says, well, if you just do this, or if you'll just let me do that,
it'll be better. Would that not insult you? Of
course it would, and it ought to, because especially, Joe,
if you did it perfectly, if you did it in such a way that the
Father of glory received you at his right hand and exalted
you and given you a name that's above every name, Christ did
this by himself. That ought to bow us in the dust
before Christ. This was so much so, he did it
by himself, that even the father forsook the son when he was on
that accursed tree. Mac, he really did it by himself.
Do you understand that? He says, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? He didn't say things that weren't
true. I can't explain it. There is no way I can explain
any of this. The father turned his back on the son. He did that
purging job by himself. By himself. He satisfied the
father on our behalf. If he satisfied the father for
you. If he purged your sins, he did it by himself. Christ
bore our sins, that is the sins of everyone that he bore. He
bore our sins in his own body on the tree. And I'm gonna keep
saying this over and over because there's a lot of people out there
arguing and fussing about y'all to use this word or this term
or this phrase. Use what the book says. And quit
trying to come up with your own words to make it sound better.
Preach the book. And I can't explain how the Lord
of glory, Joe, bore my sins in his own body on the tree, but
that's my only hope. That however it was so, my sins
were gone as far as God and me were concerned and Christ put
them in him and he dealt with them on that tree. That's my
only hope. The father turned his back on
the son. Truly, truly Christ did this
by himself. Christ's personal perfection
as the God-man enabled him to bear the sins and satisfy divine
justice. Paul puts it this way, 1 Corinthians
5, 21. For he, it's all about God the
Father, for he made him to be sin for us. People are arguing
about that. Church is splitting over that.
You know that? That's just a fact. I don't say
this to malk anyone. That's a sad thing for me to
have to say. But it said God made him to be
sin for us. So take your hands off of it. God did this. Get
out of it. Keep your opinion to yourself.
It doesn't matter what you think about it. God says through his
apostle, he made him to be sin for us. That's where it ends.
That's where it stays. Don't try to find a better word
or a better explanation of it, bow to what the book says about
it. He made him to be sin for us, so for whose benefit was
it? It was for the Father's benefit.
He had to be satisfied first. It ain't a question as whether
you and I are satisfied with Jesus, we got no reason to be
unsatisfied with him. There is no reason for dissatisfaction
in him from us, is it? but he did this to satisfy divine
justice. He had to die the death of a
sinner, though a sinner he was not. He was just, and yet at
the same time he was made to be sin for us. Now that's what
the book says. For he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. And let me tell you, being in
him is a real thing. It's not theoretical. Not out here ethereal,
floating around. Being in Christ is real. Galatians put it this way. In
the fullness of time, 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. There's some people
crying out to God the Father as their papa. You know why?
Because Jesus Christ died on that tree. Because he purged
our sins back then by himself. Joe, I thank God now. I didn't
at one time. I thank God now. He don't need
my help. You know? He don't need my help. He did a good job at it. Peter
put it this way. He died. He suffered. The just for the unjust. The just, that was him. The unjust,
that's sinners. That's even the elect of God. That's even those that God sent
His eternal love on in the sun before the foundation of the
world. Even they needed that. And let me tell you, they're
the only ones that got that. They're the only ones that will receive
that. They're the only ones for whom he did that. Anybody tells
you that Jesus Christ died for the sins of everybody is telling
you that everybody's gonna be saved. Because when he had by
himself purged our sins, he sat down. How could I be condemned
for him when he's purged them? They're purged. They're cleansed.
They're gone. In God's justice, they don't
exist. This ain't talking about whether
you see it. What did the Passover cry out? No, what did God cry
out about the Passover? God said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. Just rejoice in it and sit in
your hovel and eat on that lamb. Rejoice in the glory of that.
Rejoice in it. He suffered the just for the
unjust, how? Being put to death in the flesh,
bequeathed by the Spirit, but for what reason? To bring us
to God. Yes, we are commanded, and he
said, Joe, you preached on it, come unto me. But you ain't gonna
get to God unless he takes you there. Unless he takes you there. Here's the third thing under
this. When he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down.
Listen to me now. God is not dealing with sins
now by sacrifice. God will deal with sins by sacrifice
never again. Sins were dealt with by sacrifice
in Jesus Christ before He ascended back to the Father's right hand. There's nothing you and I can
say or do that will add anything to that. But the glory is also
this, there's nothing that you and I can say or do that will
diminish that thing. His grace, even in time, because
of that back yonder, will overcome even my sin. Does not Romans
5 say, where sin abounded, grace did what? Much more abound. People say, well you're telling
people they can live like they want. They already do. Do you need
me to give you a license to sin? I got one right here in my pocketbook. You want one? Don't be stupid. I could sit up here and scream
against sin all day long, and you know what? We'd still sin.
I could threaten you with hell and the lake of fire, and men
do it all the time. Guess what we as human beings
still do? We still sin. I could perform, I can't do it,
but if I could perform great miracles and prove to you I were
some great minister and you ought to listen to what I say about
Jesus Christ. You know what you'd still do by nature? You'd still
rebel against God and sin against Him. Israel did. Look at the
glories they've seen. And in the next few moments,
Joe, say the same kind of rebellion that they'd always said. You
see, where sin abounds, you better thank God. Grace does much more
abound. Because if your sins can conquer
God, you're a goner. If my sins can overrule what
Jesus Christ did, I'm a goner. But he purged them. He purged
them. He didn't just forgive them.
Everybody likes the word forgiveness, and I understand why. I need
it. But this says purged. That's right. When you purge,
something means you clean it up. That's right. It's gone.
Well, it doesn't exist before God. Amen. And that's the person
that it matters before. Exactly. Amen. You make me think
you're a pretty good believer. What have you accomplished? There
you go. If you come to me and prove to me all the doctrine
you know and the Christ honoring life you live, And you can come
and you can provide all of your empirical evidence to me about
that. What have you accomplished if you just prove that to me?
Exactly. And I want to ask you a question.
Do you want to have to prove that to God? I don't. I don't want God putting my love
or my hate on a scale. Do you? I don't want God putting
my faith or my unbelief on a scale. Do you? I don't want God putting
my repentance. Oh, no, wait a minute. Repentance
implies you've messed up already anyway. Huh? Repentance don't
get you anywhere. It's just acknowledging before
God, I've been wrong and I need to turn this around. Huh? You want God to put your repentance
on a scale? The very fact I had to repent
one time, Matt, proves I ought to be condemned of God. Amen. That's right. You see, because
faith, love, and repentance, they are gracious, glorious gifts
of God. Amen. But they never purged not
one sin. That's right. Had Christ not
already purged sin, we could have come up with all the love,
faith, and repentance we could muster. We still had to perish
because of our sins. Amen. This is not what this world
is teaching today. They're teaching Jesus Christ
died for everybody and if you'll come up with some love, some
repentance, some faith, some baptism, whatever it is, then
what Jesus Christ did will be of value to you. That's a lie
of the devil. This book says he purged our
sins and then he went and set out. Here's the question, do
you believe him? Do you believe he did what God's
book says he did? If you think that what you can
do, even in faith and love and repentance, add to what Jesus
Christ did, you're believing another gospel, which Paul indeed
says is not a gospel at all, but it's a perversion. It's a
perversion of the gospel of Christ. This so-called message of God's
done all he can do, now it's up to you. But people really
say that. We've become, I say we, humanity. Mason, we've become
so bold. We're saying things like that
now. I've read some of the old Armenians. David Wright, even
some of them didn't talk like that. There was a certain sense
of fear and awe of God. Today we're so flippant. God's
done all he can do, now it's up to you. Is that what Hebrews
chapter one, verses one through six teaches? He's done all he
can do, now it's up to you. That ain't the God it's talking
about, is it? It ain't just the problem and that's the wrong
teaching. You're looking at the wrong God. You're looking at
a God somebody's imagined up in their own imagination. They
may use Bible verses to try to prove it, but it ain't what it
says. Again, I say, God is not dealing with sins now by sacrifice. God dealt with sins in the person
of his son. And that's the only place God
ever dealt with sins. by sacrifice. And let me tell
you, apart from sacrifice, we got no hope. I could start from this moment
on, Joe, and live a perfect life, if I could, live a perfect life,
and it wouldn't change my past, not one iota. And if I've got
one failure in the past, the holy, holy, holy God, David Wright,
would condemn me. He didn't say, the soul that
sinneth real bad, it shall die. The soul that sins away its day
of grace, it shall die. No, it says the soul that sinneth. That's just it, that's all. How
big or what? It just says sinneth. The soul
that sinneth, it shall die. Now aren't you glad that God
said through the prophet of Isaiah, he shall make his soul, speaking
of Christ, an offering for sin. Aren't you glad of that? That's
my only hope. Father, help us in these things. I thank you in Christ's name,
amen.