Matthew the 7th chapter. Just hold them open and listen
to me carefully for a few minutes. It is my deep, ever-increasing
conviction that faithfulness to the glory of God and to the
souls of eternity-bound men and women, you included, place a threefold demand upon
every man who dares to stand before men and speak to them
in God's name and in Christ's stead. I carry upon my heart
this morning what the old prophets used to call the burden of the
word of the Lord, and it is an awesome threefold burden. First, I am convinced that we
must proclaim to men and women the necessity of, and press upon
all who hear our voice, the urgency of repentance toward God and
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. How can I reason with you? How
can I speak to your heart? How can I plead with your soul? You're living upon the edge of
eternity. There is but a breath between
you and judgment, but a breath between you and everlasting damnation
if you're without Christ. Paul says, knowing therefore
the terror of the Lord, we persuade man. You who are without Christ, without
life, without faith. You who live unto yourselves,
who live with your fist shoved in God's face, who live in rebellion
to God Almighty. You see, your rebellion to authority,
rebellion to mom and dad, rebellion to law, really, really, that's
just as close as you can get to God, that's all. It's rebellion
against God, it's hatred of God. The inner, innermost character
of man, of all men by nature, is hatred, utter hatred for God
being God. That's the problem. That's the
problem. And if you die without Christ,
you're going to be without Christ forever. If you die without hope,
you're going to be without hope forever. If you die without life,
you're going to be without life forever. If you die with hell
in your heart, you're going to suffer the hell of God's wrath
in your heart, in your mind, and in your body forever. So
I plead with you. I beseech you. I pray you in
Christ's name, be you reconciled to God. Oh, would to God somehow, somehow
I could so speak by the power of His Spirit as make you understand
the utter futility of your warfare against the Almighty. Quit fighting
God. Quit fighting God. Be reconciled
to God. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. and thou shalt be saved. That's
what this book says. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. And yet, I know that no sinner
will be saved. No sinner will believe on Christ,
apart from the knowledge of the glory of God revealed in the
gospel, imparted and given to sinners. by the preaching of
the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ. So
secondly, we must proclaim to this generation the gospel of
God's free, sovereign, pure grace flowing to sinners through Jesus
Christ alone. Our Lord said you shall know
the truth and the truth shall make you free. Sinners are saved
by the knowledge of the truth, and Christ is the truth. You
cannot be saved if you believe the devil's lie. Now it seems
to me that don't make good sense to anybody. You cannot be saved
believing just anything you take a notion to believe about God,
about Christ, about salvation. You cannot be saved if you believe
the devil's lie, perversion, and deceit that is cast out by
most people in this day. I do not suggest, and the Word
of God does not teach, that a person must be a learned, educated,
well-read student of the Bible in order to be saved. I do not
suggest, and the Word of God does not teach, that a person
must believe a specific creed. be a part of a specific church
or perform specific deeds and experience specific things in
order to be saved. But I am saved, and the Word
of God does teach that salvation is the result of a specific God-given
knowledge, knowledge which comes by the power of the Holy Ghost
through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This
is what our Lord said. This is life eternal. that they
might know thee. Did you get that? Eternal life
is knowing God. Eternal life is not joining a
church. Eternal life is not a moral reformation. Eternal life is knowing God,
that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent. The Apostle Paul said, Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And then
he made some questions, raised some questions that were really
statements. Statements that declared the utter necessity of a man
or a woman hearing the gospel, being instructed in the gospel,
in order to believe on Christ. How then shall they call on him
in whom they do not believe? You cannot worship Christ unless
you believe him. And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard? That is to say, you cannot believe
Christ unless you hear of him. And how shall they hear without
a preacher? That is to say, you cannot hear
of Christ so that you know Christ apart from a man preaching to
you the gospel of Christ. And how shall they preach except
they be sent? That is to say, a man cannot
truthfully proclaim the gospel of God's free grace in the power
of God's Spirit unless he is sent of God to do so. Therefore,
as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach
the gospel of peace, and bring great tidings of good things.
And the apostle goes on to say, So then, faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. Saving faith. So many definitions of saving
faith given. I get questions all the time
by correspondence. People write to me and I call
and want to know what essentially is saving faith? What's really
necessary to a man's salvation? What is it that a man must know?
What is it that a man must experience in order to be saved? Saving
faith is a heart knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ in his
true character as he is revealed in the Word of God. Saving faith
is a heart knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ in his true character
as he is revealed in the Word of God. Faith is more than knowledge,
but faith is not a leap in the dark. Faith is not just a fellow
who says, well, I'll just presume everything's all right. I'll
believe in Jesus. Oh, no. Faith is not a leap in
the dark. Paul, faith is walking in the
light. There's a huge difference. Faith is not walking around in
a fog. Faith is walking in the light.
Faith is not something that is, that's, you kind of tiptoe around,
wonder where you're going, what you're doing. Faith is walking
in the light with confidence, leaning on Christ in the knowledge
of Christ. Some things, therefore, are absolutely
essential to saving knowledge, the saving knowledge of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now listen carefully. Listen
carefully. I want to come to my text in
just a moment, but I want you to hear this. If you would be
saved, if you would be saved, you don't even have enough sense
to listen for your own soul's sake. May God force you to hear me. If you would be saved, you got
to know God in his true character. You got to know him. Everybody's
got an idea about God. Every man thinks that God's like
himself. That's the reason idols look
so hideous when men draw them up. That's the reason they have
all different forms because every man has his idea of what God
is or ought to be. But salvation is not knowing
God as you think he is. Salvation is knowing God in his
true character. I'm telling you, the God of this
book is absolutely sovereign. And if you don't know God who
is totally sovereign, you just don't know God. The God of this
book is inflexibly just and perfectly holy so that he cannot and will
not weaken sin. He must punish sin. That's the
reason he sent his son to die for sinners. If you do not know
God who is sovereign, holy, and just, the God you know is not
the God of scripture. You just don't know God. You
worship an idolatrous figment of your imagination. Not only
must you know God in his true character, you've got to know
yourself in your true character. It's no wonder this religious
generation we live in is going to hell with a hymn
on their lips and a Bible in their hands and their names on
church rolls all across the country. Because preachers don't dare
tell men what they are. Preachers won't dare tell you
what you are. They won't dare look you in the
eye and tell you your problem is not what you do, your problem
is what you are. You're lost, dead, depraved,
corrupt, vile, helpless. There's nothing in you, nothing
about you, nothing that you can do except sin. That's the nature
of man. I'm not bad as so-and-so. You
haven't met God yet. I'm just telling you the truth.
You sit around and think to yourself, well, I'm not like this fellow,
I'm not like that. You have not met God yet. The
corruptions that are in the world spring up in your heart. That's your nature. And there's
no change in it unless God changes it. The only thing that keeps
you from behaving like a wild beast The only thing keeps all
of us, thy nature from behaving like wild beasts, doing the most
base, vile, abominable, wretched things. The only thing that prevents
it is God's restraining grace. It's the only thing. We're like caged lions. Thank
God for the cages. We are all by nature brute beasts. And that's complimenting us and
insulting the beast. That's the nature of man. These days, many women talk about
sin and they say, well, you know, I know I'm a sinner, I'm not
perfect. That's not what it means. That's
not what it means. Oh no, sinnerhood is corruptionhood,
vileness, wretchedness, abomination, ignominious, horrid, sick, black,
corrupt, filth. That's what we are by nature.
and they're not a thing we can do to change it. Because we're
dead. I look at you and you were without
Christ and I want so much to just grab you and shake you,
get your attention. God I want your attention. But
you're dead. And I can shake you over hell
until the fires of hell burn the hair on your head, it wouldn't
wake you up. You're dead. Dead. The only hope for your soul is
if God will make you know you're dead. Dead. Dead by nature, unless
God snatches you out under the curse of the law. And you must
know as I've already said, the Lord Jesus Christ in his true
character. Jesus Christ is God incarnate. Any denial of the absolute deity
and eternal Godhead of Jesus Christ is a denial of the word
of God, a denial of Christianity and utter blasphemy. People argue,
newspapers, because I don't expect anybody from newspapers, get
a big fuss because somebody says Mormons aren't Christians, somebody
says they are. Shoot, there's no question about
that. Anybody who denies that Jesus Christ is God is not Christian,
I don't care whether Baptist or Mormon. It doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter whether the rest of life's a Pentecostal.
Anybody who denies that Jesus Christ is God, either by their
word directly, or by the inference of their doctrine, does not know
God. Jesus Christ is God incarnate. That means He's an absolutely
successful, all-sufficient Savior for guilty sinners. That means
that He who died at Calvary accomplished what He intended. That means
that he who suffered as my substitute suffered for the satisfying of
justice and justice is now satisfied for me. You must be made to know what
happened at the cross if you'd be saved. There is no salvation
apart from the knowledge of H.O.W. How that Christ died for our
sins according to the scriptures. Now I'm fully aware that in the
Greek text, the word how is not found. But the word how is implied
and of necessity inferred by everything in the text in 1 Corinthians
15, 3. And that's the reason the translators
put it in there. Salvation is not knowing that Jesus died.
All you've got to do is read an encyclopedia to find out that.
Salvation is not knowing the fact of Christ's death. Anybody
knows that who's not ignorant totally of history. Salvation
is knowing H-O-W how that Christ died for our sins according to
the scriptures. That is to say, salvation is
knowing that Jesus Christ died as a voluntary, sovereign victim
who laid down his life as a substitute for chosen sinners, as one who
satisfied the justice of God and has successfully put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself. You must know these things, just basic, essential
things. You got to know Him. You got
to know who God is and who you are. You got to know who Christ
is and what He did at Calvary. And there's something else. There's something else. And I'm
going to keep coming back to this throughout this message.
Because this is the real problem. You sitting here, at least in
theory, at least in your minds, every one of you know what I
just told you. You've been well instructed from your youth up.
If you've listened to me, listen to your teachers in this congregation.
You know that God is sovereign. You know man's dead, depraved,
corrupt, doomed, damned, helpless by himself. You know that Jesus
Christ accomplished redemption by his death as the God-man,
our substitute. But it's still a problem. It's
still a problem. I dare say some of you have been
in church for many, many years. Been professing believers for
many, many years. There's still a problem. And you know there's
a problem. I got the knowledge. My name's
been on church roll for years. But I know, I know that I don't
know God. I'll tell you where the problem
is. I'm going to tell you exactly where it is. You've got to be
reconciled to God in your heart. Now, Larry, that's where the
rubber hits the road. Every one of us, by nature, hate
him. The problem with Adam in the garden is he said, God, you
got no right to be God. And the problem with Bill Raleigh,
by nature, is he says, God's got no right to be God. And the
problem with Don Faulkner, by nature, is he says, God has got
no right to be God. God's got no right to tell me
what to do. God's got no right to rule my
life. He's got no right to govern my family. He's got no right
to govern everything I possess, everything I own, to reclaim
everything I am. God's got no right. We'll try one more time. Man
by nature despises God being God. This despises him. And the only hope for your soul
is that you surrender to the rule and domain of God Almighty
in Jesus Christ the Lord. Only hope. Now then, I have another burden. We must lift up our voices and
proclaim to this generation our Savior's most solemn warning. It's found here in Matthew chapter
7 and verse 15. Beware. Beware of false prophets. which come to you in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Now it's my
intention today to do what I can to echo that warning to you and
to all who may hear this message. I know some people will say,
well now Brother Don, you ought not judge another man's ministry.
You ought not ever speak ill of another man's religion. After
all, we're all brethren, and we must never get the idea that
we're right and everybody else is wrong. Well, I concur. We must never get the idea that
we're right and everybody else is wrong. But you better get
this idea down well. God is right, and everybody opposed
to God and His revelation is wrong, be that you or me. God is right and everything contrary
to God is wrong. God is right and everything contrary
to God's revealed truth is wrong. You see the fact is we're not
all brethren. We live in this silly, pretentious,
sugar-coated, scattered offense, effeminate mentality in which
men dare not, dare not speak dogmatically and say, this is
the way, walk you in it. What we ought to say is, this
is the way, and your way is pretty good, and his way is pretty good,
and we're all going the same way, everything will be all right,
you just thought any way you want to. But I'm telling you,
God's servants recognize there is right and there is wrong.
There is truth and there is error. There is light and there is darkness. There is a way that leads to
God, and there is a way that seemeth right unto a man, and
the ends thereof are the ways of death. The fact is, if I'm
preaching grace, free grace, and the man down the road is
preaching free will, We're not both right. We're not both brethren. We're not both the servants of
God. Therefore, our Lord demands that if we would be faithful
to him, faithful to his word, and faithful to your souls, his
servants must prophesy against those prophets of deceit who
would destroy your souls by their doctrine. He says beware of false
prophets. We read earlier Ezekiel chapter
13 and a portion of chapter 22. Do you realize that in that one
book alone, just in the book of Ezekiel, 13 times, 13 times,
God said prophesy against the prophets of Israel. 13 times
he says to his servants, stand up, stand in the gap, stand in
the way, and declare to my people that I am against the prophets
that they follow. I'm against the prophets of the
land. Beware of false prophets. Turn to Proverbs 19. Proverbs
chapter 19. We will be wise to hear and heed
the warnings given in scripture. Beware of false prophets. Nothing
in all the world is more dangerous, nothing in all the world is more
deadly than a false prophet. More warnings are given in the
word of God about false prophets than anything else. Do you realize
that? Churches these days They get
tied up with this issue of that, they're going to shut down the
theatres, they're going to shut down the alcohol places, they're
going to shut down the houses of ill repute, they're going
to shut down the pornography, they're going to shut down the
abortion. They get involved in everything, every issue under
the shining sun. Everything. And all those wicked
things, by all means, shut them down. Shut them down. But that's
not the problem. That's not the great problem
of our day. The great problem of our day was the problem of
Moses' day, and the problem of Paul's day, and the problem of
this day. And that is false prophets. False
prophets who lead men into error. False prophets who lead men on
crusades in the name of God who don't know God. False prophets
who stand and speak in God's name who've never met the living
God. And the warnings are given repeatedly. In Proverbs 19 verse
27, the wise man says, cease my son, cease my son, to hear
the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge. Well the preacher doesn't preach
anything anywhere I go to church, but I gotta go to church. Cease
my son. They don't preach anything over
there, but I'm sure glad my son's going to church over there, at
least he's in church. Cease, my son. In Isaiah 5, 20,
the Lord God says, Woe unto them that call evil good and good
evil, that put darkness for light and light for darkness, that
put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. To the law and to
the testimony, he says, if they speak not according to the word
of this book, it's because there's no light in them. Turn to Deuteronomy
13. This is not a new thing. Oh no. Ever
since men started worshiping God, there have been folks who
tried to lead men into worship of God in a false way. Abel came
to God worshipping him by faith in a blood sacrifice to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Cain said, you don't need to
shed blood. You don't need all that trouble. There's no need
for all this mess. There's no need for all this
concern. It's alright to come to God any way you want to. Cain's
in hell. And all who follow him will be
as well. Look in Deuteronomy 13. Here we are in the days of
Moses. And the Lord God says, if there
arise among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, that giveth
thee a sign or a wonder, oh, you got to believe him. He speaks
in tongues. You got to believe him. He performs
miracles. I've seen him throw crutches
away when folks couldn't walk. You got to believe him. He calls
for rain and it rains. He prays for the hurricane to
stop and it stops on his doorstep. You got to believe him. The sign
of wonder comes to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let
us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and serve
them. Verse 3, Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that
prophet, or that dreamer of dreams. Well, if he's not God's prophet,
why would God let him go on? For the Lord your God proveth. Paul said heresies must come
so that those who are approved may be made manifest. The Lord
proves you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the
Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey
his voice. You shall serve him and cleave
unto him. And that prophet, a dreamer of
dreams, had him on the back and said, Lord bless you, I pray
for you. he shall be put to death is what God says because he has
spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God which brought
you brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out
of the house of bondage and thrust thee out of the way which the
Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in so shalt thou put the
evil away from the midst of thee and let me speak frankly I'm dreadfully fearful that the vast majority of people have for a refuge I'm dreadfully fearful for most
people I know in this world, most of my family and yours, most of my neighbors and yours. Their religion is a false religion
based upon a false faith and a false gospel. They have a false
peace and a false assurance. which has been given to them
by a false prophet. They've made lies their refuge and they're
just dead sure the storm will not come near them. But they're
going to find out that the bed is too short to stretch on and
the covers too narrow to cover themselves. That which they think, hope and
presume is their salvation. will prove in the end to be their
damnation. That's exactly what our Lord
says right here in Matthew 7. Look at verse 21. Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will
say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name? And in thy name have cast out
devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works. And then
will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye
that work iniquity." Beware of false prophets. A false prophet is not necessarily
an outwardly wicked man. He doesn't necessarily turn out
to be an adulterer like Jimmy Swacker. He doesn't necessarily
turn out to be a con artist like this Benny Hinn nut everybody
was sending their money to making a millionaire out of him. He's
not necessarily an outwardly evil man. The false prophet does
not normally come wearing a sign around his neck saying, Beware
of me, I'm a false prophet. If he did, nobody would pay any
attention to him. Only a false prophet He's a wolf in sheep's
clothing. Look at him or pat him on the
head. He's so sweet. He's so nice. Everybody likes
him. Everybody likes him. He does
so many good things. He's on every committee in town.
Why, he is involved in charity work and volunteer work, and
he's so concerned about men's souls. He wants so much to see
men saved. He spends all his time chasing
ambulances at the hospital, getting folks to make a profession of
faith. He's so zealous. He's so earnest. Why, when he
preaches, he hardly ever preaches, he doesn't cry. He's so tender-hearted. Usually, these fellows appear
to be genuinely sincere. Intense. And that makes them
all the more dangerous. But you listen to me. It doesn't
matter how sweet a fella is. How likable. How well educated
or how well dressed. Doesn't matter how pretty he
smiles or how pretty he looks. That man who does not preach
the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ Throwing
to sinners through the blood of Jesus Christ the Lord is a
false prophet. He's a false prophet. Beware
a false prophet. Those who follow him will follow
him to hell. In this day of religious darkness,
deceit, and delusion, you'd be wise to hear the warning I give
you today as God's messenger to your soul. You'd be wise to take it seriously. We simply must not ignore our
Lord's warning. Bobby, it's vital. Beware of
false prophets. Men and women enter the wide
gate and the broad road that leads to everlasting destruction
by listening to false prophets, by following their teachings,
by doing what they tell them to do. These false prophets usually
preach half-truths. They don't just stand up and
hold the Bible up and say, well, we don't believe that. No. No,
they open the Bible up, stand on the book, the blood, the blessed
hope. And they defend it. They fight for it. But what they
preach is half-truth. And a half-truth is more dangerous
than an out-and-out lie. Cause fellas would believe a
half-truth, who would reject it out loud. Men who would not
even think about it. Listen, you read the scriptures
and men say, well, we don't believe the Bible. You wouldn't pay attention
to him. You read the scriptures and say,
well, we recognize that's a pretty good book, but we don't call
it the Word of God. Only a fool would pretend to even listen
to it. But you'll hear fellas say, I believe in the book, the
blood, and the blessed hope. I believe it from cover to cover.
I stand for vicarious atonement. I stand for Jesus Christ getting
crucified. And then turn around and talk
about Christ dying for sinners who perish in hell at last. Well,
you know, he says some good things. He does a lot of good. I'm so
tired of hearing that. There's not a convict over there
at North Point Training Center who doesn't do some good. Somewhere
along the way. He may be a rapist, a murderer,
a dope ped, he may be a peddler of dope to kids, but he done
some good. He never just slapped his mama
around. He bring good things home for his mama. False prophets
are false prophets and they'll be dealt with as such, just as
a thief is be dealt with as a thief. Let me wrap this up. I want to
give you nine marks of a false prophet. I suggest that you drop
them down somewhere. We'll begin in Jeremiah chapter
6 verse 13. And I want you to follow me through
the scriptures. I'm not going to be but just a few minutes,
but I want you to give me your attention. And I want you to follow me through
the scriptures. If what I say to you in the next few minutes
is found to arise directly from this book, then you better listen
to what I'm saying. And Lindsay, if it's not according
to this book, don't listen to me today or ever again. That's
how serious it is. If these things that I'm saying
to you are not true, if they did not come directly from this
book, I'm telling you the man preaching to you is a false prophet. And don't you dare hear me. But
if these things are exactly according to the Word of God, you will
be wise for your soul's sake and for the sake of every soul
under your influence to hear what I say. First, False prophets
are men who preach for covetousness. You say, well you, most of you
preachers don't look like you're too rich to me. That's not the
only kind of covetousness there is. The prophet says here, for from
the least of them, Jeremiah 6.13, even to the greatest of them,
everyone is given to covetousness. And from the prophet, even to
the priest, everyone dealeth falsely. Because they preach for gain,
false prophets handle the word of God deceitfully. That means
they can be bribed, they can be bought off, they can be persuaded
by people of influence to say or not say certain things. They
can be intimidated, they can be pressured to trim their message. Because they're covetous, either
for your money, or for your respect, or for your place in the pew,
or for a name and reputation among men, and therefore they
can be intimidated and they can be persuaded, you know, now Brother
Don, you better not preach that here. I have on a few occasions, folks
learn quick, but I have on a few occasions been in places where
somebody said, you know, you ought not preach on this or that.
Don't you dare tell me that unless you want to hear a sermon on
it this minute. Don't dare. This man is not going to be intimidated,
not by anybody, God helping me. One time John Gill was about
to publish a tract on baptism and One of his friends tried
to persuade him not to. He said, if you publish that
tract, you're going to offend a good many of your subscribers,
speaking of the wealthy men who paid for getting his books published.
Mr. Gill, don't speak to me of being
poor. He said, don't speak to me of
being poor. This is God's truth. It's going
out. It's going out. Any man who can be pressured
by other men not to openly preach the gospel with boldness, clarity,
and distinctiveness is a false prophet. I hear preachers. I
hear them sometimes on television, radio, sometimes in person. They preach the message and they
preach the truth of it, sort of like taking a sword and putting
it in a nice, smooth sheath. so that nobody ever feels the
point or the edge. Now, they haven't understood
that we're going to throw the sword away. Oh, we're going to
hold this sword, but we're going to keep it in the sheath and
make sure it doesn't hurt anybody. Make sure it doesn't offend anybody.
That's kind of like me standing here telling you, I've got some
cards in this wallet here. Some of them blue, some of them
black, some gray, some of them outdated. I got some cards in
this water here. But that's insignificant because
I haven't told you what the number is or what the card is. And so
just knowing I got cards in here is of no value and of no benefit. Now if I take one out and hand
it to you and say go get what you want, that's another story.
Many men preach truth. and I put quotation marks around
it, with such cleverly disguised terms that folks sitting in the
congregation who are already convinced of truth say, that's
right, he's laying it out today. And folks sitting over there
who despise truth say, amen, I believe that. He's a false
prophet because he's calculated, Ron, what he's going to say.
by judging what the response of men are going to be to what
he says. Not God's servants. God's servants do not take into
consideration what the reaction of men will be to what they say.
Secondly, Jeremiah 8 verse 11. False prophets give men and women
peace and assurance when God hasn't given it. For they have healed the hurt
of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace,
when there is no peace." Churches today are full of people
going to hell, whose only hope is a decision which was made
for them by some slick soul winner, some slick soul destroyer, to
which they simply nodded their heads or signed their names.
That's all. Probably some of you still rest
your hopes upon a decision somebody else made. A prayer somebody else wrote,
an experience somebody else had. You accepted a proposition, but
you never surrendered to the sovereign Lord. And every time
you get troubled in your conscience, you run away to somebody, mama,
daddy, brother, sister. You know, I don't know whether I'm saved
or not. I don't have any assurance. And
your mama said, well, you know you're saved. You know, don't
you remember how your Sunday school teacher said, well, you
know you're saved. I remember when you made your
decision. Our false prophet will say, now listen, you believed
on Jesus, didn't you? You know you're saved. I was in the hospital visiting
my mother a few years ago and her pastor was standing talking
to my sister. Honestly, if it hadn't been a public place, I
believe I'd have smacked him square in the mouth. I ain't
talking about a slap either. I believe I'd have decked him.
I was so mad. I just, I was fit to be tied. He's standing there
talking to my sister, little mealy-mouthed sissy. He said,
you know, talking about one of the church members, hadn't been
in church in months. You know, she's not even sure she is saved.
I just had to stay and help her. Help her what? Help her get peace
to which she has no claim? He's a false prophet. Ralph Barnett
was exactly right when he said the only person who will give
a lost man assurance that he's a saved man, is another lost
man. He's only one. Thirdly, false prophets make
it far easier for people to get into the kingdom of God than
our Lord did. Look in Luke chapter 13. Today, sinners are invited to
sashay down an aisle. We're going to sing just as I
am, y'all come on. And if they're not willing to
come, we'll put some folks back in the seats and the bleachers
and we'll get them to help them make a decision to come on down.
You've got to walk down the aisle so we can get your number and
we can put you on our tally sheets. And so they sashay down an aisle,
don't have any idea where they're going or what they're doing except
they're going to the front of some building somewhere. and they kneel at
an altar and they repeat after some preacher saying what's called
the sinner's prayer and when they get done preacher says now
do you believe in Jesus they say yes he said you're saved
you listen to me there's never been a sinner saved by such activity you did just as well off to go
to confessional he's a preacher I said I saved you wasn't saved
That's all there is to it. You didn't meet God, not by walking
down an aisle, not by kneeling at a boarder's bench or an altar,
not by saying some prayer somebody else put in your mouth. Oh no. Salvation didn't come that way.
Look here in Luke chapter 13, verse 23. Then said one unto him, Lord, are
there few that be saved? Looks like it. He said unto them, strive to
enter in. All you got to do is say, I believe
in Jesus. That's not what that word says. Bible says strive
to enter in. The word means labor, agonize,
toil, press toward the mark, don't ever give up, don't ever
quit seeking, don't ever quit looking, don't ever quit pressing,
strive to enter in to the straight gate. constricted error. For many, I say to you, will
seek to enter in and shall not be able. Salvation comes to those
who, by the grace of God, enter into a living, vital union of
life and faith with Jesus Christ. As says my buddy James Rankin, James Lee, if what you've got
and what I've got is not a vital living union of faith with the
Son of God, what we've got is false religion. We don't know
God. So preacher, if that's the case,
are there few that be saved? Fourthly, False prophets make
the way of salvation in life much broader than our Lord made
it. Look again at Matthew chapter 7 verse 13. According to most Baptists and
others in our day, Judas, Demas, and Deoptic thieves are all rejoicing
in heaven today because every one of them at one time in their
lives believed in Jesus. Everyone of them said they believed
Him. Everyone of them said they were His disciples. Everyone
of them said they followed Him, and they acted like they followed
Him for a long time. But the Scriptures speak otherwise.
Enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate, and broad
is the way that leads to destruction. And about everybody you know,
go in that way. because straight is the gate
and narrow is the way which leads to life and very few people find
that Rex, the gate is just as straight
as Christ alone and the way is just as wide as Christ alone
He's the door, there isn't any other. He's the way, there isn't
any other. Fifthly, look at Luke chapter
14. False prophets make the way of
salvation much cheaper than our Lord does. What will it cost to be a Christian? Folks say nothing. I beg your
pardon. It'll cost nothing from you,
but it'll cost everything of you. If David Coleman enters glory,
or Sammy Wall enters glory, it's gonna cost you everything. I
mean holding back nothing. It'll cost you every dime you
got. It'll cost you every breath in your body. It's going to cost
you every son, every daughter, every husband, every wife, every
kinsman, every relationship, every business. It's going to
cost you everything! Everything. Our Lord said to
the rich young ruler, He said, you just like one thing, just
one thing. Go sell what you have, give it
to the poor, come follow me. You mean preaching to the man
who sells what he has and gives it to the poor, he'll be the Lord's
disciple? No. But if you're the rich young
ruler, you will. What's he saying? He's saying,
I demand from you total submission. That's what I demand from you.
I'm going to be your Lord, and that means I'm going to rule
your pocketbook, rule your time, and rule your attention, and
rule your thoughts, or I won't have you. Go sell it, follow
me. That rich young ruler got his
bank receipts out, and he said, no thank you. And most people
I preach to do the same thing. Look here in Luke 14, verse 25. There went great multitudes
with him, and he turned and said unto them, If any man come to
me, and hate not his father and mother and wife and children
and brothers and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot
be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his
cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple." What's he saying? Does that mean that Judaeus,
if she's going to follow Christ, must give no consideration to
Hubert? That's what it means. Does that mean that if Mark Henson
is going to follow Christ, when it comes to following Christ,
he must give no consideration to those two boys? Mark, that's
what it means. That means you turn against them
in a rage of anger. Oh no, it means you do not consider
them when it comes to considering God's will, God's glory, God's
word. Just follow Him. Ooh, preacher, I didn't know
it was going to cost that much. Look at verse 29, or 28 rather,
which of you intending to build a tower, setteth not down first,
and counteth the cost." That's what it's talking about, Merrill,
cost. Verse 29, "...lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation,
and is not able to finish it, all behold it, and begin to mock
him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
Or what king, going to make a war against another king, setteth
not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand,
to bid him that cometh against him with twenty thousand." or
else while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth for an ambushage
and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be
of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be my disciple. Faith in Christ involves surrender
to Christ. Surrender. Faith is trusting
Christ to save you, to possess you, to possess all that you
are and all that you have, to rule you, and to dispose of you,
and of all things, exactly as he sees fit. Over in Appomattox, Virginia,
I've often told you that picture portraying the surrender of these
armies to the armies of the North. And those Confederate soldiers
standing on both sides of the road leading into Appomattox
Courthouse as Mr. Lee rides with his head somewhat
tilted in sorrow. Side by side with General Grant
from the northern armies Lee has already laid aside his sword
and his gun and the Union armies come down that road those rebel
boys are standing there full attention with all their arms
stacked at their feet saying I surrender That's what faith in Christ is.
All to Jesus I surrender, all to him I freely give. I bet you I hadn't got that yet.
Then you hadn't got faith yet. Sixthly, false prophets make
an outward act, make sin to be an outward act. other than an
inward principle. You don't need to turn there
and read it, but it's in 1 Timothy chapter 4. Paul speaks of those who would
forbid to eat meats and forbid to marry, forbidding to do this
or that. They give the idea that sin is
something you do. And everybody in the religious
world acts like that. If sin If sin is something I do, all
I have to do to make things better is to quit doing certain things.
If that's the problem. If my problem is because I smoke,
or because I drink, or because I eat pork, or because I wear my hair down below my ears,
or I wear it up above my ears. Whatever folks decide, you know.
If that's my problem, all I've got to do is quit doing those
things. And they'll be alright. But that's not the problem. Sin
is not your behavior. Sin is your being. Your behavior is just the result
and outflow and fruit of what you are. and abstaining from
meats, and abstaining from doing certain things on certain days,
and all the silly nonsense. Some religions say you can't
have any tobacco, any caffeine, you can't have coffee or tea,
you can't have any sugar, somebody else goes a little further and
says you've got to have all natural food, somebody else goes a little
further. There's no end to that nonsense. There's no end to it.
It is not that which enters into your mouth that defies it, but
it's that which comes out. See, it's not something I do,
it's what I am. My problem is more inward than
outward, and therefore I need regeneration, not reformation. False prophets seventh make godliness
an outward act, a form, a religious performance, rather than an inward
principle of the heart. Paul said bodily exercise profiteth
little. What he's talking about is outward
religious exercise. Our Lord said, ye are they which
justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For
that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination to
God. You're sitting here And your minds, for many, your
hearts, for many, are anywhere and everywhere but here. You satisfy and content yourself
because you come to church Sunday morning. For some of you, that's
enough. Somebody else says, I'm not comfortable
going to church once a week, I've got to go Sunday night too.
So you content yourself to do so. Somebody says, I'm not comfortable
just going to church twice a week. I've got to go Sunday school
and break that midweek service too. And you're content with
that. Somebody says, no, I'm not content with that. I don't
see how anybody thinks they're saved to just do those things.
I've got to read my Bible every day too. And you're content with
that. God looks on the heart. You're talking about the secrets
of me and Ron? Oh, God sees in men what they
will never acknowledge in themselves. Godliness is inward, not outward.
You mean it doesn't matter what a fellow does outwardly? That's
nonsense. That's nonsense. If a man knows
God, walks with God, it affects everything about him, as well
as outward things as inward things. But it's the inward principle
to which the Lord God looks. Eighth, Isaiah 45, 22. False prophets give men and women
a proposition to consider. I get so sick of that, Isaiah.
Well, I'm going to let you think about what you said today. I
haven't thrown something out here for you to think about.
I've thrown something out here for you to bow to. I've thrown out
the Word of God. I'm not standing here playing
games with you, and you better not be sitting there playing
games with God. Give a proposition to consider, a program to join,
a performance to do, rather than pointing centers to a person.