saying, Lord, Lord. So our Lord
is exhorting us to try men by their doctrine and their teaching
of the Word of God. Do not believe and embrace everything
that says, Lord, Lord, and every preacher. And he's not speaking
here, I showed you this morning, he's not speaking here of men
of bad conduct. He's not speaking here of men
of sinful, wicked lives and dishonest people who undertake to teach
others. They're easily detected. They're
easily found out. Men with bad conduct, sinful
lives, wicked, dishonest lives, they're easily detected. And
there's no reason to warn people against them, because people
are not going to listen to fellows like that. But the people he's
talking and warning us about here, talking about, warning
about, are those who put on sheep's clothing, who pretend to much
holiness, pretend to supernatural gifts. They pretend to a relationship
with God and even to revelations from God, God speaking to them
and giving them special revelations. And they're outwardly strict,
and they're moral. And under that disguise, sheep's
clothing. They deny God's sovereign grace
in Christ. They promote free will. They
promote the merits of men. They promote human works for
salvation. And these people are to be shunned. They're to be exposed for what
they are. And that's what he's talking
about. Those are the folks he's talking about. And here in verse
21, he says, Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven. Not everyone that calls Jesus
Lord. The key here is saith. A say. Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord. put a banner up over the pulpit,
Jesus is Lord. It's easy to say that, and it's
easy to write that. It's another thing to believe
that. That's what, he that sayeth, he professeth with his mouth,
with his lips. You call me Lord with your lips,
he said, but your hearts are far from me. That's what he said
to the Pharisees. And not everyone that says to
me, Lord, Lord, engages in prayer and calls me Lord. They say this. I turn to 1 John chapter 1 and
the beloved John writes something about saying something. You know,
some time ago I brought a message, this is 1 John 1 is where I want
you to go, but I brought a message about our Lord preaching in that
large crowd of people. The place was packed with people
all around him, and no one could come in the doors. No one could
get to him. The crowd was around him. So
some fellas had a friend that was lame and crippled from birth,
and they wanted to bring him to the Lord, and they took him
up on the roof. Four men took this crippled fella
on a stretcher up on the roof. And they lifted the tiles off
the roof and let that fellow down in front of the Lord. Their faith was so strong in
Christ's power to heal that they went to all that trouble and
difficulty to get him to Christ. And our Lord looked at him and
said, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. And the Pharisees began
to murmur and said, He's blaspheming. He's a blasphemer. He's a false
prophet. No one can forgive sin but God. And the master turned to those
Pharisees and said, which is easier to say? Which is easier
to say? If sins be forgiven thee, arise
take up your bed and walk. Which is easier to say? They're
both easy to say. There's no problem saying that.
That's what a lot of preachers are doing now. They're laying
hands on people saying, you're healed. That's not hard to say. Your
sins are forgiven. That's not hard to say. Repeat
these words after me. Lord, save my soul. Welcome to
the family of God. That's not hard to say. But our
Lord said that you may know that I have power to forgive sin. He said to the man on the bed,
take up your bed and walk. It's another thing to do. And
here's what he's saying in 1 John, chapter 1, verse 6. If we say we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we're lying. But we're saying
we have fellowship with him. Verse 8. If we say we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves. But nothing stops us from saying
it. Verse 10, if we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar.
Nothing stops us from saying. Man can say anything. And that's
what these people are doing. They're saying, they're saying,
Lord, Lord. Now listen as our Lord goes.
Now, it's not everyone that saith Jesus is Lord. That saith, they
believe on Christ. That saith in prayer, Lord, Lord. But he that doeth the will of
my Father which is in heaven. Now he'll enter the kingdom of
heaven. He that doeth the will of my Father. What is this? Can we find some light on this
will of the Father? And I want you to turn to John
6. I believe abundant light is shed
on this subject in John 6. The will of the Father. The will
of the Father. He that doeth the will of my
Father. What shall we do that we might
work the works of God? Believe on him whom God has sent. Listen to this, now John 6, 35.
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh
to me shall never hunger. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. Not he that says he believes,
he that does believe. Not he that says he's come and
he's bowed to me, he that does come and does believe. Listen. But I said unto you,
you've seen me and you don't believe me. But all that my Father
giveth to me, now listen, they'll come to me, literally, actually,
lovingly, bravely, willingly, they'll come to me, all that
my Father giveth me. And those who come to me I will
in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven not
to do mine own will, I came as a servant, a servant to my Father,
to do the will of Him that sent me. And this is the Father's
will which has sent me. This is my Father's will. That
of all which you have given me, I lose nothing, but raise it
up again at the last day. And this is my Father's will,
the will of Him that sent me. That every one that seeth the
Son, hold on to that now, he that
seeth the Son with eyes of faith. A lot of people saw him in the
flesh, didn't believe. But those that see him with eyes
of faith, who he is, who he is, what he's done, crucified, buried,
risen, justified. Why he did it? that God may be
God, just and justified. Where he is now, see the sun,
exalted, victorious, reigning, interceding, seated at the right
hand of the majesty on high. I see it, do you see it? He that
seeth the sun, he that seeth the sun, looks
to him like Israel looked to the serpent. rest in him, believes on him,
for all our righteousness, wisdom, sanctification, and redemption.
He that seeth the Son, listen, and believes on him, may have
everlasting life. And I raise him up as a pastor. It's not everyone that say it,
Lord, Lord. It says that do the will of my
Father, and this is the will of my Father, that everyone,
not that says Lord, Lord, but that sees the Son. We see Him
in the Gospel, we see Him in the Word. We see Him in the Word of God,
we see Him in the Gospel, we see Him in the Titles. We see
Him in all of these things, we see Him. In verse 44, drop down
to verse 44, John 6, you say, well, who does this? Well, no
man can. Verse 44. No man can come to
me. No man can see who he is, except
the Father which sent me draw him. And I raise him up at the
last day. It's written in the prophets.
These people that see the Son, come to the Son, believe on the
Son, are taught of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard and learned of the Father comes to me." Brother John Chapman
and I were talking in the study just a moment ago. John was brought up in religion
just like most all of us. But he read the Bible, looked
into the Word, and realized that what he was hearing from the
pulpit was not what he was reading in the Word. And he tuned in to our television
program when we were on channel 13 at 11 o'clock on Sunday morning,
John. He tuned in to our television program and heard the message. And he said, that's what I've
been reading. See, God taught him and God confirmed
what he taught you through his word by a messenger. He confirms
it. Taught of God. Learned of the
Father. And what did you do? You come
to him, come to that word, come to that fellowship, come to those
people, come to be identified. The work of God, all right, let's
go on. In Matthew 7, it's not everyone
that say it. Which is easier to say? You say
anything. You claim anything. It's a different,
different thing to possess it. Him. Now then, meaning. Many will say to me in that day,
what is that day? What's that day? It's the last
day. It's the day of judgment. It's the day unknown to angels
or men, fixed by God. It'll be a terrible day for some,
it'll be a joyful day for others. It'll be a day when those who
are loved of God and who love God It will be a day when those
who have believed on Christ, and seen the Son, and come to
Him, shall be welcomed into the glories of Christ. He said, then
shall I say to them on the right hand, enter ye blessed, enter
ye blessed into the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation
of the world. But he said, many are going to
say to me in that, they're going to say to me in that day, Lord,
here's that Lord, Lord. They're going to say it. Still
doing a lot of talking. But they're going to say, Lord,
Lord, have we not preached in your name? And in your name cast
out devils, and in your name done many wonderful works. What
are these people doing? When our Lord welcomes the blessing,
into the kingdom prepared for them before the foundation of
the world. These people are going to claim a right to enter, a
right to possess that kingdom on the basis of what they've
done here on the earth in his name. What they've done, their
religious service and commitment and preaching and tithing and
living mildly and helping others, they're going to stand in that
day and claim a right to enter that kingdom based on what they've
been saying all these years. And notice that claim is not
at all based on what he's done for them. What is yours? Let's
see if we can project ourselves into that awesome time. And the sea gave up the dead,
which one it? And death and hell delivered
up the dead, which one them? And all nations stand before
God. What's my plea? What's your plea? Well, it's summed up over here
in Revelation 1. Now here, this is my plea. This is my claim to the kingdom. In Revelation 1 verse 5, And
from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, first begotten
of the dead, the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him
who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and
has made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him
be glory and dominion forever and ever. It's what he did for
us, not what we did for him. Revelation 5, turn over there,
talks about these people. In Revelation 5, verse 8, When
he had taken the book, the four beasts, the four and twenty elders,
fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them hearts and
golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of the saints.
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book,
and to open the seals thereof. For thou was slain, and thou
hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred,
and tongue, and people, and nation." What have we done? We haven't
done anything but receive it. You have redeemed us, and you
have made us kings unto our God. Unto our God, kings and priests,
and we'll reign with him. These folks here, this is, many will say to me, in that
awesome day, Lord, we preached in your name, went
to church every Sunday, gave out tithes and offerings, supported
the missionaries, cast out devils, did many wonderful things. Let's
look at these people a moment. What do we know about these people?
Let's see what we know about them. Number one, they made a
public profession. They publicly owned something about the Lord. They
made a public profession. They did it publicly. Secondly,
they performed religious service. They preached. They built They
did many wonderful works. They were Orthodox. They did
it in the name of Jesus. That's what they said. We prophesied in your name. We cast
out demons in your name. We did many wonderful works in
your name. And they were successful. They publicly endorsed religion. They performed religious services,
preached, cast out demons. They were orthodox. They did
it in the name of Jesus. They were successful. And they
kept it up, secondly, a long time. A long time. They kept it up clear through
life until they died. Abraham died in faith. They died
in religion. Abraham died looking for a kingdom,
they died resting in their works. They kept it up a long time.
They weren't openly disowned by God. Sometimes I think when
I see these people on television, they're so far out, so far away
from the gospel, so just blatantly blasphemous. Blasphemous. It just, I get so depressed and
I think, Lord, why are you put up with that? Why don't you expose these fatties? Why don't you expose them? They're
misleading people. They're robbing people. They're
stealing from God's people. They're false prophets. I know
it. Everybody knows it's got any
sense. Why don't you expose them? But he doesn't. He didn't expose
them. They went clear through life.
God never disowned them. God never stopped them. They
were never silenced. Not by God or men. They weren't
rejected by men. I'll tell you another thing I know
about them. They took comfort and assurance in their profession.
They took comfort and assurance in their works. They fully expected
to enter heaven. Don't you think so? I do. I believe
they're shocked here. They were told if they did certain
things, they'd go to heaven. They were told by their leaders,
they were told by their preachers, they were told by their priests.
If they did certain things, they'd go to heaven. And they believed
it. And they held to it. And they
stood before God. They said, Lord, we preached. Think about that. A man gives
his life to preaching. We built churches, schools, sent
missionaries. We cast out devils. We boiled
whiskey out of town. We did all these things, you
know. We put the gamblers out of business. We fought abortion.
We did all these wonderful, wonderful things. We marched. I was one of them. One time. I was one of them. I pastored
them one time. for almost three years. Saul of Tarsus was one
of them. Turn to Philippians 3. Yes he
was. He was one of these folks who
expected to gain heaven by his works, by his religion, by his
duties, by his tithing, by his ceremony, by his circumcision.
He was. Philippians 3. Listen to it.
I was one of them. Didn't know the gospel. Didn't
know Christ. Raised in religion. Made a profession,
baptized, rededicated, went to school, gave my tithe, did all
this duties, duties, duties, duties. Win souls. Listen to
Saul in Philippians 3. Verse 4, Though I might also
have confidence in this flesh, if any man, any other man, thinketh
he hath wealth, he might trust in the flesh, I more. I circumcised
the eighth day of the stock of Israel. of the tribe of Benjamin,
I was a Hebrew of Hebrews. Touching the law, I was a Pharisee. Concerning zeal, persecuted the
truth. Persecuted these people that
believed God's sovereign, God's on the throne, salvation is the
work of God. Hated them. Touching the righteousness
which is in the law, I was blameless. I was a moral, dedicated, strict,
holier than thou religionist. But, oh there's the big thing,
but God, who is rich in my, but God, who separated me from my mother's
womb, was pleased to reveal his Son in me, in me. Teach me. Tell you another thing about
these people, they were, they had a religious profession, they
kept it up a long time. They were not disowned by God,
they were not silenced by men, they were not cut out of business.
They took comfort and assurance in their profession, sure for
heaven as if it was already there. And when they got there, what
did he say? Then will I profess unto them,
I never knew you. I never knew you. There was never,
I never knew you. You never knew me. There was
never any relationship between us. Heart relationship. I never loved you. You never
loved me. I didn't once love you and don't
anymore. I didn't once know you and don't know you now. I never
knew you. All during your church going,
I never knew you. All during your religious pretense,
I never knew you. All your preaching and your works
and your human righteousness, I never, never, never, never
knew you. And you never knew me. I said over and over again, I
know my sheep and I'm known of mine. I know my sheep. I lay down my life for my sheep.
I call my sheep by name. Other sheep I have. They shall
hear my voice. They shall be one fold. They
shall be one shepherd. I give them eternal life. They'll
never perish by it. I never knew you. You said you
knew me. But I never knew you. That's
a horrible, horrible thing to think about. But they're claiming a relationship
with Him based on what they did. I hate to say it, they're getting
what they ask for. He said it's not by works of
righteousness which we've done, it's according to His mercy.
No man, this is our conclusion, Paul said, no man is justified
by works but by the faith of Jesus Christ. He said that over
and over again. Now here you stand, claiming
a right to heaven based on what you did. And I've told you again
and again, your works are filthy rags. I never knew you. Now, depart
from me. Depart from me. Depart from life. Depart from hope. Depart from
holiness. Depart from happiness. Depart
from communion with God and His Spirit. Just depart from me. You that work iniquity. What these people call wonderful
work, he calls works of iniquity. They said we did many wonderful
works. He said you did many evil works. That's quite a contradiction,
isn't it? But you know, he said over here
in Luke 16, glance at this a moment, Luke 16. This is awesome territory
here, just frightening to me. He said to these religious men
whom he confronted when he walked this earth in the flesh, verse
14 of Luke 16, the Pharisees who were covetous, they heard
all these things, And they derided him, and he said to them, you
are they which justify yourselves. You justify yourselves before
men, you claim. You wear these religious garments,
and you play these religious games, and you pray these religious
prayers, and you make these religious claims of knowing God. You justify
yourselves before men. But listen, God knows your hearts. And that which is highly esteemed
among men, many wonderful works, is an abomination in the sight
of God. I'll give you four reasons why
what they said was wonderful, he said was evil. Their works,
their religious works. What Saul of Tarsus did before
he met Christ was evil works. He thought it was good. Growing up in church, playing
the religious game, preaching to people, misleading people.
I thought it was wonderful works, works of evil. These preachers
out here today who are not preaching God's sovereignty, not preaching
God's elective grace, who are not preaching the effectual work
of Christ, who are not preaching Christ as the one way, truth,
life, hope, salvation, redemption, all is Him. Everything they're
doing, works of evil. And here's the reason, number
one. Their religious works are not good, but they're evil because
they're done for their glory, not his. That's exactly right. Whatever
you do, in word or deed, do it what? For what? The glory of
God. They did it for their glory. their praise. You ever watch
people when they give a great big check to charity? They'll
give it and the newspaper will take their picture and the next
morning this club gave this to the radio. Oh, well, wonderful,
you know. Good for our glory. Scene of
vision. Secondly, their works are evil because they deceived
others to walk in their footsteps. We don't sin alone, we affect
others. And we've given them, we've carried
over our false hope to somebody. These preachers, most of them
on television are dishonest men. And what seems to me to be such
a terrible thing is they know it, and yet they're deceiving
people. And thirdly, their works are
evil because they claim to do these things in the name of Christ
and not through the person, Christ himself. He does it, not us. He does, it's not us. I want
to show you some scripture on that. In 1 Corinthians 3, listen
to Paul here. 1 Corinthians, they said, we
did this. We preached in your name. Look
in 1 Corinthians 3, verse 6 and 7. I planted, no doubt about
that. Apollos watered, no doubt about
that. But God gave the inquest. We didn't do it, he did it. So then neither is he that planteth
anything. He got nothing to boast of. Neither
is he that watereth anything. giveth thee in grace." He said,
I said, we did it in the name of Christ. We're doing some things by God's
grace in the name of Christ, but it's the person of Christ
who's doing it. I know it and you know it. I
am what I am by the grace. Well, let's read that. First
Corinthians 10. 1 Corinthians 15, I beg your pardon, 1 Corinthians
15. Let's read Paul's testimony here. 1 Corinthians 15. Verse 9, he says, I'm the least
of the apostles. I'm not meet to be called an
apostle, because I persecute the church of God. But by the
grace of God, I am what I am. which was bestowed upon me wasn't
in vain. I labored, there's no doubt about
that. I'd be ashamed not to, wouldn't you? I labored, I worked,
studied, more abundantly than they are. Yet not I, but the
grace of God which was with me. Theirs, I didn't do anything,
He did. That's what I'm talking about.
These people, we did this. We, we, we, we, we, we, we, we
did this. No man is sufficient to think
anything of himself. Their works were evil because
according to their own testimonies, they did them. They did them. I told my class this morning,
Judas cast out devils, but he couldn't keep the devil
out of himself. That's right, he did. Judas was sent out with
the twelve. Back to yonder, long before he
sold the Lord thirty pieces, he was sent out with the twelve,
and they came back and said, Lord, even the demons are subject
unto us. We cast out devils. Well, he
said, don't rejoice that the demons are subject to you. You
rejoice your names are written in the book of life. But nevertheless,
they did. But Judas couldn't keep the devil
from entering him. These people, we cast out devils. And I tell you this, to promote
his preachers, the devil will cooperate. Think about that a
minute now. Think about that a minute. You
say, are these fellas doing some strange and unusual wonderful
thing? Yes, sir. When you're his messenger,
he'll cooperate with you. But I tell you this, you can't
keep him out of yourself if you're one of his preachers, and he'll
get you. That's exactly right. He entered
Judas and he went out and killed himself. Only God can cast out
demons to stay. Think about that now. You know,
when our Lord gave the illustration of the false profession, he said
the demons went out of a man. They went out of the man. They
came back and they found the house swept, they found it empty,
they'd gone, Christ didn't come in, they just left. Found it
empty, found it swept, not washed in the blood. They found it garnished,
decorated, bumper stickers and crosses and all kind of decoration,
garnished as decoration. They found it, the demons went
out of a man voluntarily. And they came back to my house.
The demon said, I'm going back to my house. And he came back
and found it empty. The man wasn't saved, he wouldn't
be empty. Christ would dwell within him.
But he found it empty, swept, decorated. He went out and got
seven other demons more wicked than himself, and the last state
of the man was worse than the first. That's a false profession. That's the reason folks make
professions and then after a while they're gone. But when one, listen
here's true salvation, when one stronger than he comes upon him,
stronger than Satan, yes sir, stronger than Lucifer, Satan,
stronger than the whole principalities and powers and rulers in the
darkness, one comes upon this man, stronger, he drives him
out, drives him out. And he takes
up his abode. puts his flag on the ramparts,
this is my house, and Satan can never come back. But these people,
we did it, we cast out devils, temporarily. We cleaned up the
family, temporarily. We made them well, temporarily. My Lord cleans them up, it's
forever. When he makes them well, they're
well forever. See what I'm talking about? Yeah. All spiritual work that endures
or is accepted of God or is blessed of God is done by Christ, not
by us. Not for the works which we have
done or shall hereafter do hath God decreed on sinful worms salvation
to bestow. The glory, Lord, from first to
last is due to thee alone. to ourselves we dare not take,
nor rob thee of thy throne." Let me give you this in closing,
verse 24. Therefore, whosoever hears these
sayings of mine, what sayings? Well, we've been in them for
several weeks now, the words of our Lord. And doeth I likened
him unto a wise man which built his house on a rock. And the
rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew and beat upon
that house, and it didn't fall. It was founded on a rock. Everyone that heareth these sayings
of mine and doeth them not shall be likened to a foolish man built
his house on a sand. The rain descended, the floods
came, and the house, the winds blew and beat upon that house,
and it fell. Great was the fallout. Could
I show you something here? Be patient with me. Here are
two builders. Both felt a need for a refuge.
Both read the scriptures, appointed unto men once to die, and after
that the judgment. Both needed a refuge. Both established
a refuge, a house, a religious refuge. Both moved into those
houses and lived there. and trusted that they would be
protected in the day of judgment. Now the two houses. One was built
a lot faster than the other one. What makes you say that, Preacher?
One was built a lot faster than the other. Well, Matthew doesn't
give it here, but Luke does. Turn to Luke 6. One was built
a lot faster than the other In Luke chapter 6, verse 48, verse 47 and 48, this will be
worth your while to watch this. Now listen. In Luke 6, 47, Whosoever
cometh to me, and heareth my sightings, and doeth them, I
shall show you to whom he is like, like a man who built a
house, and digged deep. Way, here's some digging here. There's some digging here. There's
some underground work. I remember when Ed Stevens built
this big, white building down here that used to be Ashland
Oil and that's apartments. I had a radio program. I was
right next door. I watched them build that whole
thing for months. I was right next door. Every
morning I'd go down there at 8 o'clock to bring my message and I'd go
over and visit with Ed that building. But when they drew up the plans
for that building, it called for a foundation. But when they
started digging, your sand wasn't digging. Sand, sand, sand, sand,
sand. And they spent how much money? How much time? Drilling huge
holes, laying concrete, piling way, way, way, way, way. They
spent about as long on that foundation as they did on much of that building.
They had to dig deep. To find what? The rock. It's
still there, isn't it? It wouldn't have been if you
put it on that sand. You found the rock. So this man
digged deep. Digged deep. See, religious professors
are opposed to waiting on God. They're just opposed to waiting
on God. Most religious professors want me to finish this message
and then have Martha and Carolee play a soft little song and me
stand here and say, now come on down here, right now before
it's everlastingly too late and accept Jesus as your Savior.
And so a lot of folks under the pressure, they'll run down here
and shake hands with me, and Mama will hug them and cry a
little bit, and Martha will take their name, put them on the row,
and we say, Hey! That's what's happened to many
false professors. But this man didn't do that.
He dug deep. He's looking for the rock. He's looking for a place where
he could build for eternity. He could have some home. Not
a little idle word of a preacher or penitence prayer or shaking
the hand or hugging people or going near the water. He wanted
a rock. And that takes time. It's a lot
less trouble to eat a wafer than to feed on the living bread. Isn't that right? It's a lot
less trouble to receive water on the brow or water on the back
than to wash the fountain. That's right. It's a whole lot
quicker and a whole lot easier to walk an aisle than to come
to a living God. It's a whole lot faster and a
whole lot easier to shake this preacher's hand by the grace of God to find that
refuge in the hand of Christ. It's a whole lot easier and a
whole lot faster and a whole lot less trouble to tell your
sins to the priest and get some indulgences and
to cry before God like David, against thee and thee only have
I sinned. Let thy blood be propitiation for me on the mercy seat. Have
mercy upon me, O God. Purge me with hyssop, and I'll
be clean. Wash me, and I'll be whiter than the snow. Might take
you all night that way, but it'll be for good. It's a whole lot
less trouble to be identified with a popular church than to be identified with a
crucified sovereign Lord. a whole lot less trouble, a whole lot less harassment,
a whole lot less persecution. Just join up with a good old
popular man praising, good singing, a lot of ball teams and fellowship,
young people's entertainment, social potluck dinners, corned
beef and cabbage. It's a lot easier than being
identified with sovereign God who redeems a people for His
glory on purpose. A whole lot less trouble to quit
a few bad habits and bow to a living Lord. A whole lot less trouble to adopt
a sure-cure, shortcut way to heaven than take the way of I
leave my father's house and my kidney and walk with God through
all the trials and suffering and tribulation so by his grace
I walk in the glory.