I'll tell you one thing, it's fun to be last. I feel about that high. I need to borrow her microphone.
This thing ain't working. All right, I've got to be quick.
So turn to Psalm 36 for just one
verse. I hope I've found something worth
saying, but I don't know if I know how to say it. The title this
morning is, The Recovering Pharisee. And that's who all believers
are. And this one verse of Scripture,
Psalm 36, verse 1, separates the men from the boys in this
one single statement. The transgression of the wicked,
this is David speaking, says within my heart. Now David didn't have to look
at another man. to find this out. And in fact,
you can't look at anybody else and find this out. God alone
can do this. The transgression of the wicked
says within my heart that there is no fear of God before His
eyes. That's right. That's me and that's
you. In ourselves. Some people can tell you that
being converted removes all of this stuff from a man's mind
and heart, and I'll tell you it ain't happened to me. And I don't believe it's happened
to you. If I'm not mistaken, and I believe
with all my heart I'm not mistaken, When people in our Bibles are
revealed to us as those who have come to God in Christ, Old Testament
and New Testament believers, they discovered in the process
who and what they are, and they never got over it. One more time, the transgression
of the wicked says within my own heart that there is no fear
of God before their eyes. Now if you'll turn to Romans
chapter 2, got one more verse here by way of introduction. Romans chapter 2. Now, I was going to try to preach
out of Romans chapter 2 altogether, but I didn't think Brother Fortner
would let me have that much time to read the whole chapter and
comment on it, so I'll just give you the gist of it in two short
verses. Here's the secret. Romans 2.28 and 29. For he is not a Jew which is
one outwardly. Now there's a nation across the
ocean called Israel. But in God's sight, they're not
Jews. Neither is that circumcision
which is outward in the flesh. And if we don't live in the day
of religion in the flesh, I don't know what it could mean. It's
all about show and pretense and profession. And here's the answer
in verse 29. But he is a Jew which is one
inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart. in the spirit,
in the spiritual nature of this believer who has received this
wonderful nature in regeneration. Circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, little s, and
not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God." I wish you could go back. Some
of you can't do it today, I don't reckon. We've got to ride forever. But first opportunity, you ought
to read this second chapter of Romans and mull over these two
verses at the very end of it. Now we can go to my real text.
which is in John chapter 8. Now this is home base, John chapter
8. Okay? So put a marker there. We've got to turn a few more
times. I know Brother Fortner doesn't
want me to do that, but I have to do it. I can't do anything
else. Been doing it too long and it's too late to change.
Plus, I don't want to change. So, that's bad. Here's the first question. This
is the introduction now. How do centers go from outward
to inward? How can a sinner make this transition
from religion for show to the religion of the heart? How can
he do that? I want you to see this. You're
hanging on to John 8, right? I've got to do the same thing
now. We're going to spend a little time right quick here in the
Gospel of Luke. It's just to the left of where
you already are, so it won't matter. Let me find my chapter. Chapter
11. Boy, I tell you, after you listen
to seven preachers, Your anxiety level is through the roof. I made this statement some years
ago in a discussion of... Oh, I thought she was looking
for it. I'm sorry. In a discussion in a group of
preachers and and some of their wives, and I made the statement
that all unbelievers are demon-possessed. And one of the ladies spoke up
and said, well, oh, I'm not. And I let it die because I didn't
want to start a fight, you know. But I'm going to tell you, if
you aren't demon-possessed, it's only because you don't know it. But if you're converted, you
were demon possessed. We're just little devils. Now
don't misunderstand me. That doesn't mean that you're
a child of the devil. God's elect have never been the
devil's children. But we've sure been his slaves
and his willing servants. And if you don't know this, it's
time you found it out. And this Bible will prove itself
to us if we read it like it ought to be read, which no man can
do apart from grace. Verse 20, our Savior said these words,
but if I with the finger of God, this is Luke 11, 20, but if I
with the finger of God cast out devils, No doubt, without doubt,
the kingdom of God is come upon you. And that's the only way
it comes. There's no other way. There's
not a shortcut. Chapter 16 in Luke. Verse 15, Luke 16, 15, And our Lord said
to them, You are they which justify themselves before men, but God
knows your hearts. Here's the punchline. For that
which is highly esteemed among men, is abomination in God's
sight. The natural mind cannot so much
as fathom, nor desire, nor love spiritual things. We love the
outward and not the inward. I'll just cite this one to you,
if I can remember it. My memory misbehaves a great deal these
days and lets me down more often than not. But in the 8th chapter of Luke,
to which we will not look now, we have the account of Christ
and the maniac of Gadara. And I'm telling you that that
is an illustration and a word picture of what we are as sinners
and what God does for us in grace in Christ. And when this man
was conquered by our Savior, first it said he was sitting
at the feet of Christ. Secondly, it said he was clothed.
That's the perfect righteousness of Christ. Sitting at the feet
of Christ, clothed and in his right mind. Now that is amazing. And those Gadarenes hated our
Savior and we're just like them. They said, we want you to leave
our country and never come back. And it said they were afraid
of this man. They'd rather have him like he was before. Now is that a picture of humanity
or not? And what a picture of grace.
What God does for the sinner. Alright, on our way back to John
chapter 8. I want you to stop by John chapter
6. And what am I trying to show
you? Do you remember the question? How does a sinner go from the
outward to the inward. Here's another one. I see the
first one is Luke 11, the second one was Luke 16, and now we're
in Luke 8, and now we're in John 6. I've got just one verse for
you, if I can get to it. John 6, verse 63. It is the Spirit that quickens.
Now I take it that that word Spirit should have a capital
S this time. But don't take my word for it.
The flesh profits nothing. And here it is. These are our
Savior's own words. The words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit and they are life. That's how a sinner goes from
outside to inside. The words that I speak to you,
it's not the preacher speaking to you. Oh, that he would take his own
very word itself and speak life to our souls. And I'm told, I'm no scholar
now, but I've been told that this word, the words, the word
words, is actually the word rhema, R-H-E-M-A, whereas the predominant
word in our Bibles that is translated word is logos. And the difference
is that this rhema is the word that God speaks, speaks it with
power to our souls. And that's what has to happen.
A person can't go from outside to inside except a miracle of
grace occurs. God speaks, Christ speaks, and
the work is done. I'll give you a good illustration.
I'll not turn to it, but in Ezekiel 16, the Lord passed by and said
to that dead, deserted infant lying in an open field, He said,
I say unto you, live. Yea, I say unto you, live! And that's how sinners go from
outward to inward. All right, back to John A. Well, shucks, I don't think I
got any other references except all of them right here in John
A. Boy, that's unusual, especially for me. Now let's see if we can learn
a little bit how to read this book. I don't know much, I can
promise you that. We're going to start at verse
30. The subject is that Christ is
the light of the world. And we are told in verse 30,
as He spoke these words, many believed on Him. Isn't that wonderful? It would be if that's what it
really means. But you can't just take what
the Bible says. You've got to find out what it
means. Because I'm fixing to prove to
you that these people only thought they were believers. I don't
know what indication they gave. I'm pretty sure they didn't walk
an aisle raise their hand or any kind of mess like that, but
in some way they declared themselves to be the followers of Christ.
And our Lord speaks to them in unbelievable ways. And time
after time after time, in the verses that remain all the way
down to verse 59, These same people, in verse 59,
took up stones to kill Him, and He passed right through the middle
of them, and they couldn't even see Him. Alright, let's start at verse
30. As He spoke these words, many believed on Him. Then said Jesus to those Jews
which believed on Him, If you continue, watch that word if,
now it is in this chapter several times. If you continue in my
word, then are you my disciples indeed. And this wonderful, innocent
statement, verse 32, and you shall know the truth and the
truth shall make you free." Now you can read that from the Bible
in any church in this county. And people will say, yeah man,
that's right. That's right. Ah, but when you
go to helping people understand what it means, that's different. You shall know the truth. and
the truth shall make you free." Outside of Christ, without Christ,
we're still slaves of the devil. And these people took exception
with that statement. They said in verse 33, we'd be
Abraham's seed and were never in bondage to any man. What on earth are you talking
about? You shall be made free. We don't need to be made free. We're free. Which was a lie,
of course, and they knew it. They were in bondage to Rome
at the present time. They were in slavery to Egypt
for what, over 400 years? Not counting the Assyrians and
some others. And yet to say we've never been
in bondage to any man. I'll tell you when it comes to
our souls, we just, we lose our minds. Our Lord answered them in verse
34. I take the word verily to mean
amen, so you can do anything you want to with it, but I read
it, amen, amen. I say unto you, whosoever commits
sin is the servant or the slave of sin. And there ain't no son
or daughter of Adam that are exempted from that statement.
None. I don't mean you have to be as
wicked as some people are. But if I'm not mistaken, one
of our greatest sins, the one to which the Bible addresses
itself on numerous occasions, is nothing but self-righteousness. And that's the damning sin of
our generation. And the servant abides not in
the house forever, but the son abides ever." Now here's a restatement. They don't like this any better
than they did the first one. And we don't either. If the son
therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. I know that you're Abraham's
seed. But you seek to kill me, because my word has no place
in you. I speak that which I have seen
with my father, and you do that which you have seen with your
father.' And they answered and said unto him, Abraham is our
father." Abraham had two kinds of children,
you know. He had some sons that were redeemed,
and he had others who were not redeemed. Our Lord said, if you were Abraham's children,
you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me,
a man that has told you the truth, which I have heard of God. This
did not Abraham. You do the deeds of your father.
Then said they unto him..." Now this gets really tense. We be
not born of fornication, we have one Father, even God. Well, all God's children are
in Christ, unless I've missed something bad somewhere. What verse was I on? You do the deeds of your
Father. Then said they to Him, We be
not born of fornication. We have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God
were your Father, you would love Me. Now you often hear people
talk about loving God, but not knowing Christ. I tell you, that
ain't possible. Christ Jesus is God. He's God
our Savior. And He tells us Himself that
we cannot even know His Father except we know Him through Him. If God were your Father, you
would love me. For I proceeded forth and came
from God, neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do you not
understand my speech? Even because you cannot hear
my word. How come we can't? We're spiritually deaf. Proverbs 20, verse 12 maybe. The hearing ear and the seeing
eye. And it's talking now about spiritual
sight. The hearing ear and the seeing
eye, both of them are from the Lord. That means we're all blind spiritually
and deaf spiritually until we're born again. Verse 44, our Lord gets to the
bottom of the matter. Now you just remember, the people
He's talking to are just like us. You are of your father, the devil. And the lust of your father you
will do. He was a murderer from the beginning.
and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When
he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and
the father of it. Because I tell you the truth,
you believe me not. Which of you convinces me of
sin? And if I say the truth, why do
you not believe me? He that is of God hears God's
words. You therefore hear them not,
because you are not of God. That is one of the most awful
statements in this whole book. But we grew up singing, Jesus
loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. It also tells
us some other things that might help us understand better that
one. Instead of prostituting it to our children and grandchildren. I ain't old enough, but, and
great-grandchildren. I do have a great-grandson, thank
you very much. Verse 48, Then answered the Jews,
and said unto him, Say we not well that you are a Samaritan,
and have a devil? They accused our Lord of being
demon-possessed, and I guarantee you we would too if He had spoken
these words to us. Jesus answered, verse 49, I have
not a devil, but I honor my Father, and you do dishonor me. And I
seek not my own glory. There is one that seeks and judges. Amen, amen. I say unto you, if
a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Then said the
Jews unto him, now we know that you have a devil, that you're
demon possessed. Abraham is dead and the prophets,
they're dead too. And you say, if a man keep my
saying, he shall never taste of death. Do you know that until
we're born again, we have no capacity to even comprehend what
spiritual things are? Are you greater than our father
Abraham? And He's dead too, they said.
And the prophets are dead. Whom make you yourself? Jesus answered, If I honor myself,
my honor is nothing. It is my Father that honors me,
of whom you say that He is your God. You say that He is your
God. But I'm telling you, since we
left verse 30, we're finding out that that ain't the case. No matter where you go and where
you preach, you're going to find two kinds of people lost and
saved. Jesus answered, if I honor myself,
my honor is nothing. It is the Father that honors
me of whom you say that He is your God. Yet you have not known
Him. But I know Him. And if I should
say that I don't know Him, I'll be a liar just like you. Now
this can't be Jesus saying these words. He wouldn't go out of
His way to offend a soul. That's the Jesus of our imagination. That's the Jesus of modern religion.
That ain't the Jesus of the Bible. Now if we don't know the difference,
and there is a difference, oh my soul how much difference,
we don't even know. It's like day and night. If I should say I know him not,
I'd be just like you, but I know him and keep his sayings. Your
father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was
glad. Then said the Jews unto him, you're not even fifty years
old and have you seen Abraham? Jesus said, Amen, Amen, I say
unto you, before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast
at him. But Jesus hid himself and went
out of the temple, going through the middle of them, and so passed
by. Now I got just one little exercise
here to conduct with you, and I'll be finished. I meant to count these ifs. I've
got them marked, but I didn't put a number by them. But let
me show them to you right quick, and we'll come back and look
at these. The first one is in verse 31. Second one's in verse... I'm getting ahead of you, aren't
I? The first one is in verse 31. The second one is in verse
36. The third one is in verse 39.
The fourth one is in verse 42. And the fifth one is in verse
51. And there's another one just like that one in verse 52. Here's
what I want you to do. Let's take the one in verse 51
and look at all the others through that like putting on a pair of
glasses. Verse 51. If a man keep my saying, he shall
never see death. Do you know any believers that
have died? Of course, and I do too. Then he's not talking about physical
death. It is the death of the soul. It is spiritual death. I tell you, we've got to get
on the inside of this passage of Scripture. There's a world
of difference between outside and inside. In our Bibles, There are two
kinds of ifs. There may be more, but I know
of these two. So some of you guys that are like Brother Fortner,
you can inform me later about the others. But there's two kinds,
at least for my purpose this morning. One is a condition and the other
is an evidence. One is the cause And the other
is the result. One is the root and the other
is the fruit. All right. Take the one we just
read in verse 51. If a man keep my saying, he shall
never see death. Verse 31. I'm still in John 8 now. I heard
some pages turning. I guess in your Bible, I thought
everybody had one just like mine. I don't even dare tell you what
it is. Verse 31, if you continue in
my Word, then are you my disciples indeed. Now which is it? Condition or evidence? In other words, do we become Christ's disciples
by virtue of our own actions and deeds? Never, never, never! This is the evidence Not the condition. This is the
result. Not the cause. Alright, look
at verse 36. If the Son therefore shall make
you free, you shall be free indeed. Now that one's easy, isn't it?
Because the if is hanged upon our Lord Jesus Himself. Let's try another verse. Verse
39. Down to the bottom part of that
verse. If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works
of Abraham. Now the last time I looked, we're
stuck with whatever genealogy we got. And we can't just go
around changing our daddies. But when it comes to spiritual
things, which is what this is all about, we're trying to figure
out how to get from the outside to the inside. And here it is
in plain language. If we were Abraham's children, if God has made us His child,
if He sent to us the precious gospel of Christ, to bring us
to our Savior, then we do the works of Abraham.
And preachers wouldn't have to spend all their time trying to
beat people over the head to get them to do what they don't
want to do. I don't know how you operate,
but I know how I operate. I tell our folks, if you want
to do it, do it, and if you don't, don't do it. If you want to give,
give, and if you don't, keep it. You're going to do that anyway. Verse 42, if God were your Father, you would love Christ. Now that's mystical language. That's spiritual language. I give you in just four words
the secret to the whole thing. I will and you shall. That's how we get from outside
to inside. That's how we escape from natural
religion to spiritual religion. If God will, we shall. Otherwise, we won't. Thank you.