How many times have you heard
someone attempt to justify himself, herself, attempt to excuse some
evil thought, word, or deed by saying, well, nobody's perfect? How many times have you used
that statement yourself to try to soothe your own conscience
a little bit? Well, nobody's perfect. Of course
the statement is true. None of us are perfect. What
a huge understatement. We're sinners. And that's not a compliment.
Sinners. At heart, at the very core of
our being, what we really are by nature.
we're seeing. Within you and me is nothing
but a horrid mass of vileness, corruption, and iniquity, constantly
increasing, constantly growing, constantly becoming more vile,
more corrupt. You haven't heard me yet, have
you? Sin. We're sinners by birth, yes.
We're sinners by nature, yes. But that's no excuse. We're sinners
by choice, by practice. In fact, we are such sin, such
corruption, such vileness. that there is never a time. Never a time. We are not sinning. Folks talk about living above
sin. What a lie. Folks talk about doing that which
is righteous and pure. What a deception. There's absolutely
nothing you and I do that is not sin. Nothing. Turn to 1 John chapter 1. Let
me remind you what the book says. The Word of God not only tells
us that we've made mistakes, that we're less than perfect,
that we have sinned, That's not the issue. That's not the issue. That really is not the issue. The whole religious world points
to sins and says, stop doing this. You have sinned. I recall
when I was a seven-year-old boy. religious leader in the church,
one of the deacons. I was conned into coming down
to an altar in front of the church and kneeling down and saying
the sinner's prayer and have this man tell me I was saved
when I didn't know God from a gourd or a goat. But he tried to convince
me I was saved. And this is what he said to convince
me of my sin. I was scared to death of going
to hell. I'd heard about it all my life. Every time I got acting
a little mean, my mother would tell me about fire and brimstone.
It scared me to death. But I heard this fellow, he said,
he said, Don, are you a sinner? I said, I don't know. I can remember
it like it was yesterday. He said, well, did you ever lie?
I said, well, yeah. Well, you know what the Bible
says about that. And it went through other things. Did you
ever take something you wasn't supposed to? Did you ever disobey
your mother or dad? That's not the issue. God's not
going to send you to hell because you stole the watermelon. That
ain't the issue. The Word of God declares that
we are sin. Sin. I can't begin to state it. I can't even begin to imagine
it in its evil before God Almighty. When the Son of God was about
to be made sin, He said, now is my soul exceeding sorrowful,
even unto death. He cried, Father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me. Sin. That's what we are. 1 John 1 verse 8. If we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Oh, bless God if
we confess our sin. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. Now watch this. If we say we
have not sinned. You got up and doped with that
baby this morning, the first thing? No, I haven't sinned. You got
up and read the scriptures this morning? No, I haven't sinned.
You came here to the house of God, we just got through singing
His praise? Oh, I haven't seen, that was good. Oh, was it now? God says the plowing of the wicked
is an abomination to Him. Go out and plow your field and
sow your corn and bring it in. God says it's corruption before
Him. We say we haven't sinned at any time in anything we've
done? Look at it. We make God Almighty a liar and
His Word is not in us. Now that being the case, our
text this morning ought to rivet you to your seats and rivet your
ears to what God has to say. You'll find it in Leviticus chapter
22 and verse 21. Leviticus chapter 22, verse 21. I'll wait until I stop hearing
those pages turn. I want you to read this. Leviticus
22, verse 21. Whosoever offereth the sacrifice
of peace offerings unto the Lord, to accomplish his vow, or a freewill
offering in bees or sheep, It shall be perfect to be accepted. There shall be no blemish therein. During the days of legal worship,
those legal ordinances under the ceremonial law, the children
of Israel were meticulously and constantly taught to exercise
great care in coming to the house of God. The law of God and the
sacrifices and ceremonies associated with divine worship were detailed. They were designed specifically
to inspire reverence, reverence, as men came to call on the name And at the same time, to show
the worshiper his utter corruption and sin, constantly pointing
him outside himself to that sacrifice on God's altar, to the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, the Lamb of God, who alone takes away
sin. That was the purpose of all these
laws. When the people came to the tabernacle,
I got a call or an email late Friday night, I think it was.
Somebody was involved in some kind of religious tomfoolery
over at Bardstown and they'd run out of something, their denomination
supplies, I don't even know what it was, to entertain boys and
girls on their way to hell and wrote to me and asked me to borrow
some from us. Tomfoolery. Religious entertainment. Can you imagine? Can you imagine
anyone in the house of Israel coming to the tabernacle of God
or to the temple of God and playing games? God demanded solemn reference. He said, you seek to it that
you profane not my holy name. Nothing was to be done thoughtlessly.
Every detail showed God himself to be the Lord God, a jealous
God, and declared, I will be sanctified in all them that come
nigh me. The glorious perfections of the
infinite thrice holy God demand reverence. No Israelite could
come to God's altar with thought, without being made to carefully
consider what he was about. I can imagine when Nadab and Abihu were drug
out of the holy place, those men wearing priest garments,
those men who were sons of Aaron the high priest, They went in
there and decided they could come to God any way they wanted
to. They decided they could come
to God, bring you what they wanted to. They decided they could come
to God the way they pleased, according to their own thoughts.
Because after all, God Almighty, He's a good God. He wouldn't
dare not accept us because we're good boys. And God struck them dead as they
walked into His house. I expect that to make a fellow
stop and consider what he was doing. Cause him to have a little fear
of carelessly omitting something God required. A little fear of
bringing something unacceptable for sacrifice to God. Cause him
to tremble lest he should intrude where he was forbidden. Lest
he should put his hand where God said don't put your hand.
of every ceremony and sacrifice, every act, every word, every
deed, it is written, it shall be perfect to be accepted. That's God's law. And He ain't
about to budge from it. He ain't about to budge. The
holy, perfect Lord God cannot and will not accept anything
less than perfection. Now, that's no easy lesson to
learn, but learn it we must, somewhere between here and hell.
I fear that in that which passes for worship today, most everything is usually terribly
thoughtless. And I'm not even going to talk
about the froth and from and frivolity of the religious world
around us. I hope you're not even inclined
to any of the nonsense that goes on. Won't be long, we'll be coming
into Christmas season, and oh, what blasphemous frivolity, superstition,
entertainment. But how careless, how indifferent,
how half-hearted we often are when we come to worship God. You don't need to answer to me.
Answer for yourself. Before you went to bed last night,
what did you do to prepare to seek God today? Before you came
here this morning, I know you took a bath and sloshed on a
little cologne or aftershave, combed your hair, but what did
you do to prepare your heart to worship God? We come in here and pray, and
I'm the worst offender. God forgive me. In private and
in public, with such vain repetition and half-hearted indifference. Come in, sing God's praise, and
congregation sings to the Lord God, and rather than singing
from our hearts, lifting up a melodious heart to the Lord God, we just
kind of look around, look at each other, The Word of God is read. Somebody don't even bother to
turn to look at it, much less read it, hear it. The Gospel
is preached. Oh, God speaks. Men come when they want to, go
somewhere else when they've got something else they want to do,
and when they come here, neglect it. Just think about everything
under the sun. How half-hearted, how indifferent,
how base, how cold, how hard. Saved sinners are in seeking
God's grace, God's presence, God's power, God's blessing on
His Word. Come to the house of God. Sometimes
folks come here dressed like they wouldn't dress to go to
a funeral. They know, oh, this is going to be casual. I suggest
we're too casual when we come to the house of God in everything.
In everything. The glory of God. His grace upon us. The goodness of God we've experienced. The gospel of God's grace. God demands our best, our best in everything. And I'm going to tell you something,
He won't even accept that. It must be perfect to be accepted. That man who represents the Lord
Jesus Christ, representing his people before God, we're told
he can't have any blemish in him. Not a speck. He got a wart on his cheek, he
can't go. He got a flat nose, he can't
go. He got a club foot, he can't
go. No blemish. If he's even been touched by
a little bug, he's defiled. He can't go. He shall have no
blemish. When he comes into the house
of God, he must represent the perfection of manhood. Robed
not in the ordinary garments of any other man, but robed in
the spotless white garments of the priesthood. Washed, clean,
white, pure. And on that day of atonement,
when the high priest would take the blood of the Paschal Lamb
into the Holy of Holies and there make atonement for the sins of
the people, as that man stands before the people and is saved
of those people, he stands before them in all the beauty and splendor
and glory that the finest tapestry and purest gold and richest silver
could set forth, showing forth the radiance of perfection in
everything. The sacrifice, the sacrifice
must be without blemish, not a scab, no scurvy, no broken
thing about it, no foot shorter than the other. It must be perfect. Perfect. Perfect. It shall be
perfect to be accepted. Perfect. I can almost picture an Israelite coming to the tabernacle of God who thought about what he was
doing. Granted, not many did. Not many did. had a form of godliness,
but didn't pay any attention to all what they was doing. They
just went through religious ceremonies, because that's what mom and daddy
have been doing ever since God brought them out of Egypt. They
played religious games, because by that, they soothed their consciences.
And it didn't much matter to them what kind of games they
played. They wore costumes, and they went through rituals, and
they kept Sabbath days, and all the tapestry of religion. But most of them didn't pay any
attention. But once in a while. there'd be somebody like Josiah
who God got hold of. And they'd come to the house
of God, and they must have been awestruck as they approached
that place. They walked up to the tabernacle,
and there's an altar, which it came hard to tell what it is,
Because there's blood all over it. And there's a veil. Curtains. But they're stained with blood. The blood of sacrifices. Of bulls,
and of goats, and of lambs, and of doves. Splattered everywhere. Blood by the bowlfuls. poured out on the floor of the
tabernacle, by the bowlfuls. It's poured out. Priest, blood,
blood, blood, everywhere, everywhere. You see that lamb that he's brought
to be sacrificed to God. And as the priest slit his throat
and held back his neck, he watched the blood just gush out from
that lamb. And he must hear God say, without
shedding of blood is no remission. He must hear God say, it shall
be perfect to be accepted. He must hear God Almighty speak
and reverberate in his soul. I will be sanctified of them
that draw nigh unto me. He must have trembled as he heard
the Lord God say, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. I will by no means clear the
guilty. Sin shall be punished. It must be perfect to be accepted. God's law was constantly ringing in his
ears, showing him his sin, exposing his guilt, condemning him in
his conscience. This is what you deserve! And
this is what you shall have by the hand of God. unless you're
found perfect. Perfect. It shall be perfect
to be accepted. Oh, may God be pleased now. Oh, God speak. by your word and your spirit
to the hearts of this people. I want you to hear this word,
not nailed alone. But when you leave this place,
I want you to hear this word from God for the rest of your
life. When you go home and lay down
tonight, I want you to hear God say, it shall be perfect to be
accepted. When you rise in the morning,
I want you to hear God say, it shall be perfect to be accepted. When you bow with your family
and call upon God for His blessings upon the day, you sit at your
breakfast table, call on God and know He says it shall be
perfect to be accepted. You go through the day, you go
to work. I want you to hear God in everything you do and every
thought you make. It shall be perfect to be accepted. When you come home and sit down
at supper and you offer your prayer of thanksgiving to God
and you lead your family to God again, hear Him say, it shall
be perfect to be accepted. When you come into those doors
tonight, hear God say, it shall be perfect to be accepted. And
when you leave, it shall be perfect to be accepted. And as you think,
as often you must, unless you're as hard as stone about meeting
God Almighty in eternity, here God say it shall be perfect to
be accepted. Perfect. Perfect. That's my message. And let me
give you two statements and see if I can apply it best I can.
Number one. This word from God, it shall
be perfect to be accepted. Declares that God Almighty will
never accept anything less than perfection. Won't happen. Won't happen. The Lord God would not have a blemished priest
before his altar or a blemished sacrifice on his altar. It shall be perfect to be accepted. Now, this is what I want you
to do. Put this plummet line to your wall and see how straight it is. This fact, it shall be perfect
to be accepted, shuts out all those faulty offerings and services
and sacrifices by which multitudes hope to have acceptance with
God. It totally nullifies all hope
you have of attaining acceptance with God by something you do. You see, salvation simply cannot
be attained by your good works, no matter how good they appear
to you to be. Because there's nothing good
in you. Nothing good. Not a good thing. Oh, there's
a little good in everybody. There ain't any good in anybody.
There's all bad in everybody. No good thing. No good thing.
Nothing good. Nothing good. Nothing good. Oh,
but I know people who sacrificed their lives. I know priests who've
gone. and served as missionaries in leper colonies and voluntarily
became lepers so that they could serve the lepers. Don't tell
me that doesn't count for something. It'll take him to hell. Oh, but Mother Teresa, she spent
all that time over yonder in India with all those poor, poor
people. That brilliant, brilliant woman
sacrificed. Don't tell me that don't count
for anything. It'll take you to hell. My Bible reading? My preaching? My praying? Giving up all things? Taking a vow of poverty? Sell
everything I have and give it to God? Show me that account
for something! It'll take you to hell, but it
ain't near as pretty as you think it is. Because it comes out of a
corrupt heart. And is offered with corrupt hands. And that makes it corrupt. That
makes it corrupt. If the fountain's bitter, the
water can't be sweet. If the tree is rotten, it can't
produce any fruit. If you're dead, you can't bring
forth life. If you're sin, you can't produce
righteousness. If you're darkness, you can't
give light. Is that so profound you just
can't get hold of it? Nothing good can come out of
this graveyard called humanity. Nothing. Nothing but corruption
comes from corruption. Well, I know some good people.
Our Lord said there is one that's good, and that's God. You call
a man good, you call him God. Man, I never heard it that way
before. I told you this world's going to hell just as fast as
they can. Nothing good. Not before God.
Now, good before you? Yeah, but that ain't much. That
ain't much. Something make me smile? My goodness,
you can make me a good cup of coffee and I'll brag on you.
That's wonderful for me, but that ain't much. Ain't much. requires perfection. Perfection. I'll tell you how vile and corrupt
we are and how God looks upon our good works. The Lord God makes it abundantly
clear that our imaginary good works. And I'm talking about
the good stuff. I'm talking about the good stuff. I'm not talking
about just stopping along the road and helping a lady change
a flat tire. I'm talking about good stuff.
I'm not talking about setting up a soup kitchen and feeding
the poor down on Skid Row. I'm talking about good stuff
now. I'm not talking about running a taxi service and taking folks
here, yonder, and everywhere. I'm talking about good stuff.
Good stuff. Praying. Offering sacrifice in
God's house. Keeping Sabbath days and holy
days and feasts and most solemn feasts and assemblies. I'm talking
about good stuff. Your best good stuff won't come
any closer to saving you than adultery, rape, and murder. Read Isaiah chapter 1, see what
God says. He said, you pray, I won't hear you. You bring your
sacrifice, you think I need your sacrifice? There is stinking
stench, corruption in my nostrils. Your Sabbath days, your new moons,
they're a weariness to me, I won't help! God demands perfection. It shall be perfect to be accepted. Perfect. This is what God says
about all those things. You can look at it if you want
to, Isaiah 66. Isaiah 66. In chapter 1, he says, your solemn
assemblies, that's just iniquity. Your new moons, they trouble
me. I'm weary of them. Your prayers,
I'll hide my eyes when you spread your hands to me. Isaiah 66,
this is what God says about all this stuff. This is what he says.
He that killeth an ox. Well, wait a minute. We read
God requires that back then in Leviticus. No, He requires that
you come to Him the way He requires. Perfect. In a substitute. Looking on that ox that He requires. Christ Jesus the Lord. But you
come without faith. You just go through the motions.
You just play a little religious game. The killing of an ox is as if
you killed a man. I told you. Murder is just as
good as religion. Just as good. He that sacrificeth
a lamb, just go over here and get one of the dogs out of the
kennel and slit his throat. He that offers an oblation, as if
he offered swine's blood. He that burns incense as if he
blessed an idol. Burn incense in the house of
God without faith in Christ. You may as well go find you an
image of Satan and worship him. Yea, they've chosen their own
ways. That's the problem. That's the problem. God says
Christ is the way. You say, I'll have my own way.
God said, righteousness by my son is the way. You said, I'll
have my own righteousness. God said, blood is the way. You
said, I'll bring my works. God said, I am the way. You said, I'll have my own way.
Just a moment. Go ahead. Go ahead. God says,
your soul delights in abominations. It shall be perfect to be accepted. It is not written, it shall have
no great grievous blemish in it, but there shall be no blemish
therein. That's the standard. That's the
standard. And I'll tell you what that means.
Let me talk about me. This man preaching to you, the best deed I've ever done,
the most perfect prayer I've ever prayed. The best sermon I've ever preached.
The highest thought I've ever had. The most spiritual aspiration
I've ever imagined. The best emotion I've ever felt.
The best love I've ever exercised. The greatest sacrifice I've ever
made. My highest moment, my highest
second of devotion to God will never give me acceptance
with Him. If that's the only thing I had,
if all I had was just the best, I mean the best, God says it's
filthy rags. Filthy rags. Are we without hope? In ourselves, yes. But oh, blessed
be God. No, sir. Sinners are not without
hope. Here's the second thing. I'll
say it briefly and send you home. This Word from God, it shall
be perfect to be accepted, shuts us up to Jesus Christ the Lord. Because He's perfect. He's perfect. He's perfect God. Perfect God. And perfect man. That means this perfect man who
lived in perfect righteousness, with perfect motives and perfect
heart, constantly before God Almighty, the full age of a man
has established a perfect righteousness of infinite merit. Because his
righteousness is the righteousness of a man who is God. And his sacrifice, oh, how perfect
his sacrifice. He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us. And when God Almighty heaped
on His darling Son, all our depravity, all our guilt, All our sin. He made His Son to hang on the
cursed tree before Him as the greatest sinner who ever stood
on this earth. And He killed Him. Poured on Him all His horrid
wrath until the Sword of Justice He disappeared in his holy soul,
and he cried, it's finished. And God Almighty said, that's
enough. There, I'm satisfied, for he
is perfect without blemish. Atonement is
made. Righteousness is brought in. Now turn over to Hebrews chapter
10. Hebrews chapter 10. Hang on till you see. Because Christ is perfect. And His sacrifice is perfect.
Everybody in Him is perfect. Perfect before God. Perfect. Oh, not before me. But I don't
care. My opinion doesn't matter. What
I see doesn't matter. Perfect before God. A preacher,
I can't understand that. You know what? I've been preaching this for
35 years, and I don't understand it either. But I can flat rejoice
in it. Hebrews 10, verse 10. By the
witch will, we are sanctified by the offering of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all. Verse 14. Verse 14. For by one offering,
he hath. Hath. Did you get it? Hath. That means it's done. Perfected. Forever. Them that are sanctified. And when it gets done, when it
gets done, when it gets done, And all this is over. When he gets done, he's going
to present me before God Almighty and truthfully declare concerning
this old sinner. Truthfully declare concerning
this old sinner. The very same thing he said about
his servant Job 6,000 years ago. There's Don Fortner. There he
is. A perfect man. A perfect man. That sinneth not, and retaineth Perfect. Perfect. Now I bid you, I bid you, come
with me now to God and bring this sacrifice. Perfect. Without blemish. Jesus Christ
the Lord. Preacher, can I bring that sacrifice?
If you can, you can. This sacrifice belongs to every
sinner who believes God. Bring this sacrifice. And the Lord God declares that
you are perfect before Him. And He hath made us accepted.