would you turn back to Ephesians
chapter two. And tonight I'm going to be preaching
upon this subject, beautiful to God, beautiful to God. Let's read verse 18 of Ephesians
chapter two once again. For through him, we both, Jew and Gentile, have
access by one spirit unto the Father. I have entitled this message,
The Sinner's Religion. What kind of title is that? The sinner's religion. Now listen to this statement
very carefully. The gospel of Jesus Christ is essentially and fundamentally
a sinner's religion. I hope by the end of this message,
you'll understand why I make that statement and why I've given
this message this title, because I do so with fear. I'm not being
flippant. Sin is an infinite evil. The gospel is the sinner's religion. We read in our text about having
access, access, freedom of entrance to the Father. What a glorious
thing to think about. It doesn't get any better than
that. Access to the Father. Access into the Holy of Holies. Access. You know, a lot of times
when I get on the computer and I try to get into my bank account,
I don't have access. I guess that probably happens
to you as well. I don't know if it just happens
to me. I know that sometimes I'm not very good with devices.
But, you know, it says your computer's not recognized. Well, it's the
same computer I always use. I don't know how that happens,
but there's a world that I don't have any access into. I can't
get in and then I got to go through a number of steps in order to
get access. Now here we read of access, entrance,
being welcomed into the very presence of the Father. We both, Jew and Gentiles, Not
all Jews, not all Gentiles, but all Jews and Gentiles who are
sinners. We have access into the very presence of the Father,
not access denied. Now, this would be meaningless
if we didn't realize that it was denied to many. Many, our Lord said, Many, not
a few, many shall say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have
we not preached in your name? In your name have we not cast
out demons? In your name have we not done many wonderful works? And then shall I say to them,
depart from me, ye that work iniquity, I never knew you. These people are denied access. The Lord said, no man can come
to me except it were given to him of my father. There are many who tried to come
some other way than Christ, and like Cain, who came bringing
the fruit of the ground, which God had already cursed, his works. Like Cain, they will be denied. Now let's read this verse again,
verse 18. For through Him, the Lord Jesus
Christ, through Him we both, Jew and Gentiles, have access
by one Spirit unto the Father. Now, right off the bat, we see
the Trinity in this verse. Him, the Lord Jesus, the Father,
and the one Spirit. God is one God in three distinct
persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Now, if you came up to somebody
who didn't have any idea of who God really is and said, God is
one God in three distinct persons, God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit, they'd say, what? Well, I understand
that response. It's not something we can understand,
but it's something we know because of revelation. Now, let me remind
you, and I imagine I probably ought to do this every time I
preach. The Bible is the Word of God. It's the inspired, inerrant
Word of God. How do you expect me to believe
that? Well, I expect you to believe that God created the universe.
I do expect you to believe that. I mean, to believe something
different than that is a leap in the dark. Something had to
cause something. God caused the creation of the
universe. Nobody caused him. Nobody made
him. I expect you to believe that.
Anything else doesn't even make sense. It really doesn't make
sense to think all of a sudden, boom, here we have life. Somehow
a bunch of primordial stew, life came out of that. That's a leap
in the dark. I expect you, and I know you
do deep down, believe that God created the universe. And if
God can create the universe, it's no problem to him to inspire
a book where he tells us who he is. All scripture is given
by inspiration of God. And in this revelation from God,
we find out that God is one God three separate persons. In the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God, a distinct person and the Word
was God. Now, mystery. Understood? No. Believed with
all my heart. One God in three distinct persons,
Father, Son, and Spirit. 1 John 5, 7, For there are three
that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy
Ghost. God is one God. in three distinct
persons. And the scripture also reveals
concerning this one God in three distinct persons, this one God
in three distinct persons before the creation of the universe made a covenant, a testament. The Father, elected a people
before time began and gave them to his son, according as he has
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. In this covenant,
he gave the son, this people and the son agreed to accept
full responsibility for their salvation. He said, I lay down
my life for the sheep. He didn't lay down his life for
the goats, but he did lay down his life for the sheep. He took
full responsibility for their salvation. Now this is revelation. This is what the Bible teaches. God, the Holy Spirit agreed. to give life to those the Father
elected and those the Son redeemed. Now this is gospel truth. You
cannot preach the gospel and not preach this. It's impossible. I know that there are preachers
who never even touch on any of these things, but they're not
preaching the gospel. This is the gospel, the triune God. God the Father electing a people,
God the Son dying for those people and working out a righteousness
for those people and redeeming those people, and God the Holy
Spirit giving life to those people. This is the gospel. The Bible teaches a Trinitarian
salvation. All three persons of the Godhead
act in this salvation for the glory of His holy name. Look
at Ephesians chapter 1. All three persons are stated
in this chapter in their work in salvation. Verse 4. Here's God the Father electing
according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy without blame before
it. Look down in verse 7. Here's the work of the Son in
whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins according to the riches of His grace. Look in verse 13,
in whom you also trusted after that you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that you believe
you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. There's the
work of God, the Holy Spirit in salvation. Holy, holy, holy. Holy is the Father. Holy is the
Son. Holy is the Spirit. Now through Him, we both Jews
and Gentiles have access. Freedom of entrance. Welcome. Full access. Romans 5.2 says,
by whom we have access. Ephesians 3.12 says, in whom
we have access. It's sad that most men think
this is a given from the mistaken notions they have of God's character
and themselves. They think God is here to serve
humanity, to help humanity. Why did he make us if he doesn't
want us all to be saved? bring us in to his fold. And there's a mistaken view of
humanity thinking man has a free will and he can come march into
God's presence anytime he decides to. All he's got to do is will
it. And now he's welcome. He can
come in. And through that double mistaken notion concerning the
character of God and the character of man, they don't understand
that God is unapproachable in holiness. unapproachable. He can't have anything to do
with somebody like me and somebody like you. He is unapproachable
in holiness. No man because of his sin has
access into God's presence. Your sins have separated you. That's what God says. But through
him in Him and by Him, all that the Father elected, all that
the Son redeemed, all that God the Holy Spirit has given life
to, have access, freedom of entrance. Come and welcome. They're welcomed into the very
presence of the Holy of Holies. and have all the love, favor,
and acceptance of God. Now, what is meant by this thing
of having access with the Father? Well, number one, that which
prevented my access has been removed. Plum taken away. It is not an issue. Now, what
prevented my access? My sin. My sin. What about my sin? It has been put away. When he said it is finished,
that means all the sins of all the people he died for were put
away, made to be no more. And that barrier that prevented
me from coming into God's presence has been deleted, gone, put away,
finished. I've got no sin. Now the only
thing that would make you afraid to die is sin. Isn't that something? What if you have no sin? You
have freedom of access into the very presence of God. Who is
he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. What else
is there? It's Christ that died, yea rather
that's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. The reason that I would be
denied access, my personal sin has been dealt with and I now
have through him, by him and in him, the love of God. The love of God. Now, here's
another thing people just take for granted. Well, sure, God
loves me. He's God. That's His job. He loves everybody.
That's the way God is. That's, once again, betraying
a complete ignorance of the character of God. God's love is in Christ
Jesus, our Lord, and it's a sovereign, saving love. Everybody He loves
is saved. Everybody He loves is welcome
at all times. into his presence. I love that
passage of scripture, 1 John chapter 4 verse 17. This is another
one of those scriptures I quote all the time because I love it
so much. 1 John 4, 17, as he is, so are we in this world right
now. How lovely is he to God? How
freedom, how much freedom does he have to enter in to the Father's
presence? Perfect freedom. There's a perfect
union between him and the Father. Perfect acceptance, perfect love,
perfect everything. In him, I come the same way.
Access, freedom of access, having all the love of God the Father,
And this access is only by Him through His Spirit. Look in Ephesians
chapter three, verse 12. Here's another time this word
is used. Verse 12, in whom we have boldness
and access with confidence by the faith of Him. Now, let me
tell you whose faith I have confidence in. His. I've got such confidence
in his faith. You know, I don't have, I don't
much have confidence in my faith, but I have confidence in his
and we enter by the faith of him. And it's through his faith
that we have this access, this freedom of inference with the
father. Romans five, two says by whom
also we have access by faith into this grace, wherein we stand. Access into the fullness, the
infinite sea of God's grace. By grace, you are saved. Through, in, and by, and because
of Christ, every believer always has this access to the Father.
access granted, not denied at any time, no matter what, under
any condition, every believer is always welcome. Now, how many
times have you sinned and you thought, I need to wait till
things get better. I need to repent of this. I need
to, I need to become a little bit, then I can come into the
Father's presence. No, no, that's totally wrong. Every believer at all times has
complete access to the Father. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise for no reason whatsoever cast out. Blessed is the man
whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee. Now, Satan's, there is a being
called the devil, very powerful being, much more powerful than
you and I. He's a created being. He's the
enemy of God. He's the enemy of Jesus Christ.
He's the enemy of all who believe. Satan. Yes, there is a being
called Satan, but he's God's devil on God's chain, doing God's
will. He doesn't know it. He doesn't
know it, but everything he does is because God's purpose for
it to be done for God's glory. He's God's devil. I don't want
to have anything to do with him, I'm glad he's God's devil, aren't
you? Under God's thumb, in God's control. Let me tell you something
about Satan. His great goal is to put something between the
sinner and Christ. Now, all that come to Christ
will be received. But his great goal is to put
something between the sinner and Christ, because if he can
do that, if he can put something between us and Christ, we will
not come to him. In Exodus chapter 20, you know
what is contained in Exodus chapter 20? The Ten Commandments. The law of God. And you know what happens at
the end of Exodus chapter 20? There's an altar provided in
that very chapter, an altar for sacrifice. You see, God knew
and knows that me and you aren't going to keep that law. And the
only way we can be saved is through the sacrifice of his son. That's
what the altar is for, sacrifice. And you know something that was
actually forbidden with regard to the altar? Steps. Steps to get there. As a matter
of fact, the altar was to be made of stones that a human tool
had not touched. You put a work in there anywhere
and it's polluted. No steps. to Christ. I don't know how many times I've
heard preachers say, turn from your sins and trust Christ. Turn from your sins trust Christ. Repent of your
sins and trust Christ. Now let me make this statement
as dogmatically as I can. That's putting a work you need
to do in order to get to Christ. And do you hear what I'm saying?
That kind of language is putting a barrier between the sinner
and Christ. You need to take care of your
sins before you come to him. You need to stop that sin before
you come to him. You need to turn from your sins
and not return to them and not commit them anymore before you
can come to Christ. That is what's called salvation
by works. access to Christ denied until
you get this thing straightened out, you repent of your sins,
you stop committing them, and if you don't do that, you can't
really come to Christ. That is the voice of Satan. to get the sinner to do something
to make himself savable. And if there's anything you need
to do before you can get to Christ, so he can bring you to the Father,
you'll not get there. Amen. What must I do to be saved? The Philippian jailer cried. Turn from your sins. He wouldn't be saved, would he? But didn't the Lord say, repent
and believe the gospel? Yes, he did. Repent of that kind
of thinking. Repent of those wrong and humanizing
views you have of God. Repent of those wrong views you
have of yourself. Repent of those wrong views you
have of salvation. Repent! Change your mind. You're thinking wrong. And believe the Gospel. Just
as I am, without one plea. but the shed
blood of Calvary. And that thou bidst me come to
thee, O Lamb of God, I come. Now turn with me to Luke chapter
15. Verse one, then drew near unto him. They had access, didn't they?
He didn't keep them away. Then drew near unto him. What's
the next word? All. All. Everybody in this demographic. then drew near to him all the
publicans and sinners for to hear him. They wanted
to hear what he had to say and they drew near. Verse two, and
the Pharisees and scribes murmured saying, this man received the
sinners. Not only that, he eats with them. He takes them just as they are.
No reformation in their life. He takes them just as they are
and he receives them. And he even eats with them. They're
granted full access into his presence. Oh, all of the sinners. through near for to hear him. First, Timothy. Chapter one. Verse 15. This is a faithful, that means you
can believe this. You can rely on this. It's faithful. Something to be
believed. It's in the Word of God. Can
you believe everything in the Word of God? Sure you can. This is a faithful saying. I like that word. This was a
saying in the early church, something that was often said. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation. Now, listen to me. This is something
you and I ought to receive and embrace right now. It's sad that there are those
who won't, and it's because they don't fit the description of
the ones that Christ came to save. And they won't receive
this and embrace this and welcome this as the best news they ever
heard. But there's some who will. This is a faithful saying, and
it's worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus, Christ God's prophet. The very Word of God. God's priest. The one who brings men into God's
presence and God accepts them. God's king. The one whose will
is always done. The one who has absolute, complete
control over everybody and everything. That's Christ. God's prophet.
God's priest. God's king. Christ Jesus, how
I love his name. Thou shalt call his name Jesus.
It's the Old Testament word for Joshua. And the picture so clear,
Moses was not allowed to come into the promised land. That's
so obvious. Law can't bring anybody into
God's presence. Moses could not come into the
promised land, but Joshua could bring Israel into the promised
land, Jesus. Christ Jesus, what a name. He came into the world. Now,
before he came into the world, he's the eternal son of God.
He always is. The same was in the beginning
with God, but he came in the world and took upon himself flesh
for what purpose? Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. He came to save sinners. Now what in the world is a sinner? I looked it up in the dictionary
and it said someone who is preeminently wicked, sinful, full of sin. When the Lord revealed himself
to Peter, Peter said, depart from me, Lord. You don't want
to have anything to do with me. I'm a sinful man, full of sin,
full of sin. And what do you mean to be full
of sin? It means you're full of sin. That means that's all
that's there. That's what it means. That's all that's there
in and of yourself. That's all that's there. You cannot not
sin. All you do is sin. And it's all
your fault. You're not looking for an excuse.
It's all your fault. You can't blame God's sovereignty.
You can't blame your environment, your circumstances, your upbringing. It's all your fault. You can't
stand in judgment over anybody about anything. And you've got
no claims on God. God, you need to do this because
I know if he sends me to hell, just and holy is his name. That's what a sinner is. That's
what a sinner is. Would that be you? Somebody says, no, I'm not that
bad. Number one, you are. If you say
that, you're lying. You aren't that bad. And number
two, if you're not that bad, you're cutting your own throat.
Who did he come to save? Sinners. Sinners. And beloved, that's exactly what
he did. He didn't come to make them savable.
He didn't come to attempt to save them. He didn't come to
offer them salvation if they just take it. He came to save
them, and that's exactly what He did. Listen to me. Ain't gonna
be nobody in hell that He came to save. He came to save sinners, and
that is precisely what He did. When He said, it is finished,
every sinner He died for. was saved. Saved from the condemnation
of sin? I'm never going to have to give
an account for my sin. What about the judgment of the
believer's sins? They've already been judged.
They're gone. I'm not going to have to give
an account for my sin. I've been saved from the power of sin. Well,
how can you say that if you say that all you do is sin? Well,
there was a time when I didn't believe that. And that's when
I was under the complete power and dominion of sin. And this
doesn't make a believer excuse sin or think, well, you know,
I don't have to worry about this salvation by grace. We hate our
sin. We don't want to sin. We don't want to sin. Sin's no
good. I want to be found in Christ.
That's what I want. I know enough about myself. I'm not gonna make
any promises. Well, I promise I'm not gonna commit that sin
anymore. Yeah, right. Lord, let me be found in Christ.
Let me be saved by your grace. Don't see anything but Christ. Now, these men objected. This man receives sinners. I'm not going to say turn from
your sins and trust Christ. That means you ought to turn
from your sins, shouldn't you? You ought not ever sin again,
should you? You really shouldn't. These things write unto you that
you sin not. But what if I said, you can't
come to Christ until you did anything about anything. You
can't come to Christ until you get this straightened out. That's
the message of Satan. Now, I'm either telling you the
truth or I'm the biggest deceiver of life. One of those two things. You can't come to Christ unless
you fill in the blank. No. This man, this glorious,
holy, righteous man receiveth sinners. and eats with them, takes them
into fellowship with himself. The gospel of Jesus Christ is
essentially and fundamentally the sinner's religion. And if you're a sinner, this
is gospel to you. Good news. Let's pray. Lord, we're so sorry for our
sin. We confess our sin. We pray for forgiveness and cleansing. Lord, we're so very sinful. But how we thank you that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners Lord, enable us all to say, O
Lord, I'm a sinner. Save me. Bless this word for
your glory and our good. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.