By the time our Lord Jesus came
into this world, Judaism had become nothing but an apostate,
idolatrous system of religion, a pretense of worshiping God
according to His law and His word, while in reality it was
nothing but will-worship, the practice of men engaged in religion
to the gratification of their own flesh. Our master came in
due time to die for the ungodly. And he is approaching the day
when he shall lay down his life in the fulfillment of God's holy
law to remove the sins of his people, to bring in everlasting
righteousness. And he entered into Jerusalem.
The day after he entered into Jerusalem, he cursed the barren
fig tree. And he went into the temple and
turned the money changers' table upside down. And now in Luke
chapter 20, beginning at verse 1, we see the Lord Jesus walking
in the house of God, preaching and teaching the gospel of the
grace of God. And as he walks through the temple,
preaching the gospel of God's grace, crowds gather around him,
a multitude listening intently to his every word. And in the
crowd, listening to our Savior's doctrine, were the chief priests,
the scribes, and the elders, those men who had been, from
the inception of his ministry, determined to kill him. They
were determined to put this man to death, to destroy him, his
church, his doctrine, and his people. They are here before
this great crowd and they think they once more have a perfect
opportunity to discredit the Lord Jesus. He had come into
Jerusalem accepting the praises of men as the Messiah, the Christ
of God. He entered into the house of
God and called God's house his own house, saying, my house shall
be a house of prayer. And with those words, indisputably
declares that he is himself God Almighty. As he preached the
gospel, contrary to the accepted traditions and customs of the
Jews, these great, respected, academic, religious, scholarly
infidels were upset and demanded of him. By what authority do
you do these things? Read with me, beginning at verse
1. And it came to pass that on one of those days, as he taught
the people in the temple, he preached the gospel. The chief
priest and the scribes came upon him with the elders and spake
unto him, saying, tell us, By what authority doest thou these
things? Or who gave thee this authority?
And he answered and said unto them, I will ask you one thing,
and answer me. The baptism of John, was it from
heaven or of men? And they reasoned with themselves. Crafty dishonest men have to
stop and think, put their heads together, find out how to answer
things. They reason with themselves,
saying, if we shall say from heaven, he will say, why then
believe ye him not? But if we shall say of men, the
people will stone us. They're good politicians, religious politicians. For the people are persuaded
that John was a prophet, verse 7, and they answered him that
they could not tell whence it was. And Jesus said unto them,
neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. What was it
that caused these chief priests, these scribes, and these elders
to have such hatred for the Son of God? Why were they determined
to discredit him? Why did they endeavor to do everything
they could to turn his doctrine upside down? Why is it that they
were determined to put him to death, to put his doctrine out
of remembrance and destroy those who followed him? What had he
done? He had preached the gospel to
the poor. He had gone about for three and
a half years healing all manner of disease and sickness, casting
out demons, making the lives of men better. By the doctrine
he preached, he caused men and women to be born of God by the
outstretching of his own mighty arm. What was it he had done? Was that the cause of their hatred?
Was that what stirred up their wrath? That's all. That's all. He just proclaimed free grace
and performed free grace. And for that, these men hated
him. And the same will be true any
time one of God's servants faithfully proclaims the gospel of his grace
in this religious generation or in any other. the simple declaration
of salvation by Christ alone, by God's free grace alone, denouncing
and casting to the ground all goodness in men, all righteousness,
declaring to you that there's nothing good in you and nothing
good performed by you and nothing good that comes from you, not
before God. that your righteousness is the
very best of it, is just filthy rags before God, enrages self-righteous
religious men and women. It enrages them. Now, when the
religious leaders, the spiritual leaders of a church, a denomination,
a nation, or an age do not know God, when the spiritual leaders
of the age in which we live are really infidels, Those who follow
their blind guides do so to their own everlasting peril, and do
so to the everlasting peril of all whom they influence. Now
tonight I want to talk to you as plainly as God will enable
me, and I hope powerfully to your heart, about ungodliness. But not just any ungodliness,
ungodliness in the house of God. ungodliness that is commonly
practiced in the house of God, in the professed church of God.
First, Luke shows us the evil of spiritual ignorance displayed
in these religious men. Maybe you think, well, pastor,
how can you say that spiritual ignorance is an evil thing? Can
a person be responsible for ignorance? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. A person
can and will be held responsible and accountable to God for that
which he could have known had he chosen to do so, had he simply
walked in the light God had given him. Read Romans chapter 1. Read
it. God Almighty declares that those
people who have nothing but the light of creation and the light
of nature, have nothing but the law of God written on their hearts
and consciences, are without excuse. Because what they knew
of God, they refused to accept. They held it down, suppressed
it, and refused to walk in the light God had given them. Not
only will God Almighty hold men accountable in the day of judgment
for everything they've heard and despised concerning His Son,
the gospel of His free grace, He will hold every man accountable
for what he could have heard and could have known had he chosen
to do so. Those things are true of all
men, but they are especially true with regard to those who
assumed the responsibility of leading and teaching others,
of preaching to others in the name of God. That man who speaks,
who preaches, who teaches, and leads others in the name of God
better have a firm persuasion of some things. He better be
absolutely certain of some things. Now, speaking to you as I do
now and day after day, I stand before you with a tremendous
weight of responsibility. It's a weight of responsibility
I cannot begin to describe. You see, knowing God's character,
something of His character, knowing His word, knowing the seriousness
of speaking in His name, I wouldn't dare preach another time. I would not dare. I wouldn't
dare stand here as I do if I were not convinced of some things.
I say to men, young and old, say it all the time, we're just
chomping at the bit, wanting to be preachers. Before you assume
this work, you better be certain that you know the gospel of God
and his free grace. You better be certain that you
know it. I'm not a brilliant fellow. Don't claim to be. But
knowing God and his gospel has nothing to do with brilliance.
It has something to do with being taught of God. And I know the
gospel of God's grace. I know that what I preach to
you is absolutely true. The message declared of God's
free and sovereign grace in Christ is the gospel revealed in this
book. And a man better know that God's
called him and sent him to the work. If a man is not convinced
that God has called him to this work, he'll compromise. He can
be manipulated. His arm can be twisted. He'll
be just like these scribes and Pharisees and elders we've read
about here in Luke 20. They put their heads together
and said, now, how are we going to hang on to our job? How are
we going to keep our influence? But a man who's called of God
and sent of God Pharaoh can't stop him, and Ahab can't stop
him, and Jezebel can't stop him. He can't be intimidated, and
he can't be manipulated, and he can't be controlled by men,
no matter who they are or how powerful they are. And a man
better be certain that he has a message from God. The most difficult thing about
preparing to preach, is to find a message from God that's needed
for you in the hour when I stand before you. The message that
God the Holy Spirit will deliver to your heart right now. And
that man must faithfully proclaim the word God gives him. A man who has a dream, let him
speak his dream. He that hath my word, let him
proclaim it faithfully. You see, though you're responsible
for your souls, and you are, I stand before you as a man who
is a watchman, a watchman for your souls, and that makes me
responsible for your souls. Read Ezekiel. The watchman is
responsible. That's an awesome weight of responsibility. But what does all this have to
do with our text? Just this. These chief priests, these scribes,
and these elders stand before us as glaring examples of the
fact that those who hold the highest place in the religious
world, I'm talking about top-notch fellows. I'm talking about the
most influential, the most powerful, the most respected, the most
learned, the most distinguished men in the religious world are
often and commonly, totally ignorant of the things of God, just like
these fellows were. Now remember who they were. We're
not talking about peons. We're not talking about just
some fellow who preaches a little church stuck on a hillside somewhere
in Central Kentucky or Eastern Kentucky. We're talking about
mighty, powerful men. They were highly trained. They
were specialized religious scholars. These fellows had gone to the
best of schools, selected from an elite group of elite men.
They weren't just priests, they were chief priests. They weren't
just teachers, they were scribes. They weren't just elders in the
sense of being older men, they were elders in Israel. These
men were regarded by the religious world of their day as the very
source and fountain of all spiritual knowledge. If Mr. Coppel were living in their day
and having a discussion about anything with regard to God and
his work and his character, his creation, and his word, these
are the fellows he'd call. They'd be on nightline. They'd
be called for interviews. These are the fellows that you'd
see at the inaugural. These are the fellows that you'd
see in the Senate. These are the fellows you'd see
on television. They were religious elite leaders. They were, for the most part,
direct descendants of Aaron, and they could prove it. They
had their credentials. Their doctrine had the full weight
and the full authority of religious Jewish tradition and custom. They could point to time after
time, age after age in the history of Israel and say, this is the
way it's done. They had absolute authority with
regard to history and they could prove it. But there was one thing
missing. Just one thing, they didn't know
God from a box of rocks. They didn't have a clue who God
is. Oh, they had the scriptures compartmentalized and categorized
and systematized and they could quote the scriptures. They could
recite verses and chapters end on end and never miss a word.
They could give you their creed. They could tell you what the
Talmud said. They could point to the scriptures and open them
up and show you proof text for what they believed. They could
tell you all that the Jewish tradition was and their customs.
They could recite it off the top of their heads easily. They
knew all about the Messiah. They knew all about the time
when the prophet said he would be born after The lawgiver had
departed from Israel. They knew all about the place
called Bethlehem spoken of by Micah They understood who this
man the Christ would be who comes in the name of God who is himself
God Abraham see come to redeem and say he's going to be the
son of Abraham the son of David and it will be obvious that he
is They knew all about him. They could tell you anything
about him Except who he is They were doctrinally orthodox. I often have fellows ask me with
regard to what we call the doctrines of grace, total depravity, unconditional
election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, perseverance
of the saints. Those things we delight to proclaim. Those things we hold dear. Say,
can a fellow really believe that and not be a saint? These fellows
did. They sure did. Saul of Tarsus was a Pharisee.
And the Pharisees' doctrine taught the depravity of man. And they
believed in election. They believed they were it. Their
practice of the Passover displayed a confidence in limited atonement.
It was for nobody but for the Jews. They taught that God's
grace was real and irresistible and effectual. And they believed
that they would all persevere to the end. But they didn't know
God. You see, spiritual knowledge
comes by divine revelation. I wonder if we will ever really
learn this. We teach our children, we instruct
them. I teach you the things of God as best I can, study,
preparing, giving you the word of God and setting it forth clearly. But the reality is divine knowledge
must be given to you. In spiritual matters, nothing
matters but spiritual matters. It doesn't matter. whether the
world approves. It doesn't matter what academic
scholarship says. It doesn't matter what historic
background is. We don't care a bit about celebrated
fame or religious order or religious tradition. They are all meaningless.
Indeed, in regard to knowing this book and knowing God revealed
in this book, unless God reveals the truth to us, all those things
will be a hindrance to us. We know nothing until God by
his spirit causes the light of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ, our crucified substitute, to shine in our hearts
to give us the knowledge of God. Christ must be revealed in us. Turn once more to John chapter
16. Once that happens, once Christ
is revealed in us, he is unceasingly teaching us, that one in whom
Christ is revealed, not just revealed to us, revealed in us.
The knowledge that we're talking about is knowledge that comes
to us through the word, and yet it is intuitive knowledge. It
is that which rises up from the heart in which Christ is revealed. And that person in whom Christ
is revealed is unceasingly taught of God and convinced of three
things. These three things are the most
important truths we will ever consider. They are infinitely
deep. We can never know them fully
this side of eternity. And yet, if we are taught of
God, we will never cease to learn them. We will never cease to
be convinced of them. First is sin, not other people's
and not deeds. Our sin, my own, what I am. And I am more and more convinced
of it every day. It is a bitter, bitter reality. There's nothing on this earth
that I hate like I do what I am. But the man convinced of sin
is convinced of something else. He's convinced of righteousness.
Righteousness established by the obedience of the Son of God
unto death. And the man who's taught of God
is convinced. Convinced. That's the word convict. Convinced. Ron, we're convinced
of these things. Did you hear that? Convinced. No debate, no question. Convinced
of judgment. Not of judgment to come, but
of judgment finished. All right, look at John 16, verse
8. Our Lord says, when he has come, the spirit of truth, he
will reprove, convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and
of judgment. Now, he doesn't leave us to guess
what that is. He tells us it's exactly as I've described it,
of sin because they believe not on me. He'll convince you of
your sin revealed in your unbelief. No greater evil in the world
than not believing God. No greater evil. How convinced
I am of my sin and of righteousness Because I go to my father Why
did he come here read Daniel chapter 9 verse 24? He came in
to break came here to bring in everlasting righteousness He
came here to put away sin to make an end to transgression.
I He came here to save his people from their sins by putting away
their sin and by bringing in everlasting righteousness. Now,
he comes here as Jehovah's servant to do Jehovah's will. He says,
now I go to my father. And because I'm going to my father,
when you see me ascended up to heaven, be convinced. Righteousness
is brought in. It's finished. He will convince
you that Jesus Christ is the Lord, our righteousness, and
His righteousness is sufficient. End of judgment. He'll convince
you of judgment because the prince of this world is judged. I will cast him out. I will cast him down. The Lord Jesus came here, and
he took that one, the accuser of the brethren, that one, the
deceiver of the nations, and he bound him. John describes
him as an angel with a mighty chain in his hand. And he binds
the dragon, the serpent, the devil, and cast him into a bottomless
pit. He binds him. And because of
that, he says, judgment is done. The accuser has nothing with
which to accuse. Nothing, not before God. There
is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
Oh, as you care for your soul, as you care for the souls of
those under your influence, try the spirits, whether they be
of God. Those who confess that Jesus Christ has come in the
flesh, that he has indeed by his obedience unto God put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself, that he has brought in everlasting
righteousness, that he has satisfied divine judgment, they are of
God. And every spirit, every preacher
of any kind, of any frame, of any denomination, every preacher
who confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh,
that Jesus the Christ has indeed accomplished what he came here
to do, is not of God, but is Antichrist. And yet there's more
to aggravate the wickedness of these men. Their ignorance was
willful. They were ignorant of Christ
because they were determined to be ignorant of him. Their
ignorance arose from their enmity against the master. It was the
fruit of their malice and their hatred of Christ and his doctrine. Our Lord's miracles spoke for
themselves. You remember what Nicodemus said?
He said, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for
no man can do these miracles. The things that you do except
God be with him. We know that these things are
God's work. And any reasonable man would be convinced
of such, but not these Pharisees. They refused that which was obvious.
And because they refused that which was obvious, they refused
to acknowledge that Christ is the Christ of God and refused
to acknowledge his doctrine. If they acknowledged that the
work he performed was God's work, they couldn't very well say he
has a devil. If they acknowledge the work he performed, the doctrine
he taught was the word of God, they couldn't very well say that
this man is an imposter. There's something else here.
The second evil that these men represent is the evil of religious
curiosity. Oh, what ungodliness this is
in the house of God. Multitudes there are who are
curious about spiritual things. You run into them all the time.
When you're at work, you find folks who maybe get together
in the break room, and they'll have Bible study while you're
trying to eat your lunch. And they want to talk about religious
things. And oh, they're wonderful in their ingenuity. They ask
questions, lots of questions, questions about nothing. Questions
that are meaningless. They despise the obvious. They
despise what's needed. They despise the plain revelation
of God's grace. And they want to investigate
other things, like ordinances, and church order, and when Christ
is going to come again, and what's the meaning of this obscure text,
of this obscure passage. constantly raise questions to
debate, because they think they're brilliant scholars of spiritual
things. In the 27th verse, beginning
at verse 27 of this chapter and going through verse 37, the Sadducees
came to the Lord. The Sadducees raised a question
about a man who died, and his brother married his wife, and
he died, and his brother married his wife. This gal had seven
husbands. I can just picture them. I can just picture them. Now, whose wife will she be in the
resurrection? Surely if this is the Christ
of God, he can tell us this. Surely if this man knows all
things, he can tell us this. And the fellows who asked the
question didn't even believe in the resurrection. They didn't
even believe it. It was just religious curiosity. People like these scribes and
these Pharisees and these Sadducees and their companions abound in
every generation. They're enemies to the gospel
of God's grace and there is no covering their enmity. Their
religion is nothing but curiosity and you'd be wise to avoid them.
Don't engage in their frivolity. Don't engage in their debate.
Just don't do it. Don't give heed to fables and
endless genealogies which minister questions rather than godly edifying
which is in faith. All right, here's a third ungodliness
found in God's house. Religious pride and arrogance. Here's a group of men pretending
that they're doing God's service. daring to challenge the incarnate
God himself about his authority. They're moved and motivated by
nothing but envy, jealousy, arrogance, and pride. They weren't even
slightly motivated for the glory of God, though they pretended
to be. Their only concern was their
own position and power, which they saw as being eroded by that
man. If the people believe what he
teaches, they're going to ignore us. If the people believe what
he's preaching, they're not going to follow us. If the people believe
him, they're going to put us out of our position. They couldn't
refute his doctrine. They couldn't make any charge
of wickedness that they slanderous reported of him stick. They couldn't
deny the power of God displayed in his works. The only thing
they could do was challenge his right to do the things that he
did in the name of God. And so they said, by what authority
do you do these things? Who gave you this? Who ordained
you? Where did you get your preaching
credentials? I heard Brother Scott Richardson years ago tell
of an incident that happened shortly after he started preaching.
He was pastoring a church. And I never really knew which
church it was. The other day, we were driving over to Brother
Marvin's house. We passed right by it. Called Willow Tree Baptist
Church. He was pastoring there for just
a little while. And they had a blow up. And some folks came
knocking on his door one night. The convention representatives
came to ask for his preaching credentials. They were going
to rescind his ordination because this man preaches contrary to
the traditions and customs of men. Where did you get your authority? Who gave you the authority to
come in here and curse that fig tree, God's creation? Who gave
you the authority to overturn the money changes table? Who
gave you the authority to drive out those whose soul does? Who
gave you the authority to preach like you do? You see, nothing
makes a lost religious man more arrogant, more secure, more envious,
more malicious. than the sight of another man
simply doing the will of God. To see another man preaching
the truth of God he refuses to preach, he gets enraged. To see another man consecrated
to the glory of God while he's consecrated to nothing, he feels
attacked. To see another one secure in
the place of God while he's full of insecurity, he feels betrayed
in his own conscience. To see another one at rest in
the will of God when he can't find a moment's rest in his soul
enrages men. His spiritual pride and arrogance,
especially among religious leaders, that keeps men from bowing to
God's truth when they're plainly confronted with it. It was spiritual
arrogance in these men that finally drug them down to hell. Everyone
acknowledged that John the Baptist was a prophet of God. But these
men weren't about to sit and listen to a man preaching out
yonder in the wilderness, clothed in camel's hair, feeding on grasshoppers,
a man with no credentials, a man with no backing, a man with no
earthly authority, a man that nobody recognized. Except those
to whom God spoke by They weren't about to listen to him Because
they wouldn't hear God's servant. They wouldn't hear and would
not believe God's Son whom he preached Christ displayed in
undeniable ways his Messiah ship and his Godhead, but they refused
to believe it. Why? It just would cost too much
Too much to give up Because they refused to hear God's messenger,
because they refused to believe God's son, they despised the
ordinance of God. Believers' baptism, they weren't
about to get in the water there and be baptized to John. Oh,
when they thought it would profit them, they would. They came to
John and said, we've come out here with all Judea. After all,
the whole congregation, all our parishioners, as they say, everybody
in the parish is going out here. We'd better get in on this or
they're going to think we're something out of the way. And John said,
you're a generation of vipers. Here's a fourth thing, commonly
found in the house of God. Religious and spiritual dishonesty. Ralph Barnett used to say, honest
folks don't go to hell. And you know what? Honest folks
don't. They don't. There's nothing more
dishonest than men willfully turning their
backs upon that which they know to be true. Our Lord Jesus, when
they came and asked about his authority, look at verse 3. Our Lord asked him a simple question.
It was a very simple question. Their questions were trick questions.
Their intent was to ask something that couldn't be answered without
being manipulated one way or the other. The Lord Jesus just
asked them whether John's ministry was of God or of men. Was this
fellow one of God's prophets or was he an imposter? He answered
and said unto them, I'll also ask you one thing, answer me.
The baptism of John, was it from heaven or of men? And these fellows
couldn't answer. They didn't even, the thought
never crossed their minds to speak honestly. Never crossed
their mind. You remember Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego? Nebuchadnezzar said to them, said, you're gonna
bow down and worship my God. And those fellas said, we don't
have to have business speaking about this. We don't have to get together
and discuss this and see who's for it and who's against it.
We're not gonna worship your God. Do what you have to. Not
these fellows. Oh, now wait a minute. Wait a
minute. Let's consult with one another. Let's talk this over.
Let's see what the consensus of opinion is. And so they put
their heads together, not to find out the truth, but to figure
out some way to save face. Look at verse 5. And they reasoned
with themselves. Now that's a smart thing to do
if you're thinking about buying a house. That's a smart thing
to do if you think about buying a car. That's a smart thing to
do if you think about making a trip. That's a smart thing
to do with regard to any carnal earthly thing. But hear me now,
when you're confronted with the Word of God, the gospel of God's
grace, and the claims of the sovereign Christ, the minute
you begin to reason with yourself and to reason after the flesh,
You've lost everything. Paul said, when it pleased God
to reveal His Son in me, who separated me from my mother's
womb, called me by His grace and revealed His Son in me, he
said, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. These fellows reasoned with themselves,
saying, if we say from heaven. If we say John's ministry was
from heaven, he will say, why then believe ye him not? But
boys, if we say of men, all the people will stone us, for they're
persuaded that John was a prophet. Now watch this. And they answered
that they could not tell whence it was. But we can't tell. I don't know. That's a mysterious question.
Well, let's get back to you on that. Because if they had acknowledged
John's ministry, who is the forerunner of Christ, Elijah, who was to
come preparing the way of the Lord, they must then acknowledge
him of whom John said, behold, the Lamb of God that taketh away
the sin of the world. He who cometh after me was before
me. This one who comes after me was
before me. He is the eternal God, the Christ
of God, the Lamb of God, in whom alone is salvation. Follow him. Follow him. I'm not worthy to
stoop down and untie his shoes, for this man is himself God. But they refused to hear John,
and they wouldn't hear him. Now, you can mark this down as
a matter of certainty. If God is pleased to use you,
if God's pleased to use me, if he's pleased to use this congregation,
we will have men despise us and do everything possible to discredit
us. Well, how do you deal with them?
How do you deal with them? Oh, every now and then I throw
them a bone. Give them something to chew on.
But when I just throw them a bone, like our Lord did here with these
scribes and Pharisees and elders, what He's doing is He's ignoring
them. You can't answer that question? Well, I don't believe we've got
anything more to talk about. He just ignores them, ignores
them publicly, and ignores them deliberately, and ignores them
in such a way that they know they've been ignored. Rarely
do men and women rightly esteem the blessedness and the blessed
privilege of having the influence of a faithful ministry. These
men had John the Baptist in their midst. How often might they have prayed,
oh, would to God Elijah were here. Oh, how great the history of
Israel when the prophet of God stood on Mount Carmel and brought
to their knees the prophets of Baal and slew them. Oh, Lord,
send Elijah. Elijah came and they despised
him for they despised Elijah's God who stood in their midst. John the Baptist, like every
true gospel preacher, points out the Lamb of God and declares
His work accomplished, prepares the way of the Lord. God sends
preachers to prepare the way of the Lord. That is, by them,
God speaks to men and brings men to life, bringing Christ
to men. He sends preachers like John
the Baptist to call sinners to repentance, to show them the
way of life and faith in Christ Jesus. No wonder Isaiah said,
how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth
good tidings that publish of peace, that bringeth good tidings
of good, that publishes salvation, that saith unto Zion, thy God
reigneth. And God sends preachers who are to one a saver of life
unto life and to another a saver of death unto death. so that
men are without excuse who refuse to believe. I hear men sometimes talk about
wanting to follow Christ, wanting to serve Christ, wanting to believe
Christ, but they just can't. Now, this may offend, but that's
all right. Men need to be offended. You
see, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.
And when men convince themselves, convince themselves they can't
do otherwise, the problem is you're a liar. Your heart's deceived
you. Well, Brother Don, you preach
God's sovereignty and salvations of the Lord and tell us Men can't
believe except God give them faith? You're right. You're absolutely
right. Yes, sir. That's absolutely right. And then you tell us that we
must believe, we can't believe? You can if you will. What is
faith? It's falling flat down on Christ. Now, if you take a dead man and
stand him up, you know what he's going to do? He's going to fall
down. He can't stand up, but it doesn't
take anything to fall down. Well, why won't you fall down
on him? I'll tell you why. Because you don't need him. Because you won't have him. And
you don't want him. You prefer to cling to something
in yourself. and find something in you that
will give you worth before God, and I will not let go. That's
the problem. That's the problem. The only
problem. Man's unbelief is declaring that
God is a liar. Read it for yourself, 1 John
5, verse 10. He that believeth not makes God
a liar. God said, believe on my son.
and whosoever believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting life."
Now, if right now the Lord God will graciously slay you, or He said, I kill and I make
alive. I wonder why He said that. Doesn't
mean like Yorker said, I make alive and I kill. He kills and
He makes alive, because you're not going to have any life until
He kills you, until He destroys all hope in yourself, until He
makes you understand that you are nothing and you can do nothing
and you have nothing to offer God. Now, when He slays you and
brings you to nothing, He gives life. And when you have nothing
else, when you have nothing else to which to claim. When you've got nothing else,
nothing else, I mean, you're absolutely bankrupt. You've got
nothing, nothing to hold on to. You'll lay hold on Christ, but
not until then. God give you grace. now to believe
His Son as only He can. Amen.