Now I'm going to be speaking
tonight on the subject, Are You Hungry? Are You Hungry? Are You Really
Hungry? I brought this message down in
Cherokee at the Bible Conference, and several people were blessed
by hearing it, and then I prepared it for television. I'll be bringing
it in two weeks on television and I felt impressed of the Lord
to deliver it again here this evening. Are you hungry? Now the Lord Jesus said to those
who were interested in His mercy and His grace who were led of
the Spirit of God to come to Him He said, take my yoke upon
you and learn, and learn of me. Learn of me. Not learning doctrine,
that's learning of me. There's a difference. It's not
learning religious tradition, it's learning Christ. Paul, on
another occasion, said, you have not so learned Christ. Speaking of action contrary to
the spirit of God's leadership. You haven't, that's not how you
learned Christ. And then when Paul was speaking
to the unsaved religionist, he said they're ever learning, always
learning, but never coming to a knowledge of Christ. They're
always learning, but never learning Christ. They learn new things
and unusual things and strange things and new revelations, but
they don't learn Christ. They don't learn Christ. And
my generation is wise in the ways of the world. There's no
question about that. They're wise in the ways of the
world, but they're not very wise in the ways of God. They know
a great deal about scientific things and very little about
spiritual matters. They haven't learned Christ.
And I can tell you this. Eternal life is dependent on
a knowledge of Christ. Not A Christ, but B Christ. Let
me show you that in John 17. Eternal life is dependent on
a right knowledge of the living God and Christ whom he hath sent. It's not just to have religion
or morality, it's to know God, to genuinely, sincerely know
God. In John 17, verse 3, our Lord
said, And this is life eternal, this is life eternal, that they
might know thee, the only true God. It's not knowing what we
think God is like, or what we suppose God is like, or what
we think God ought to be like, is knowing God, the only true
God. That's eternal life, to know
the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he had sent. You
see what I'm saying? Eternal life is to know God,
to have some kind of understanding of his will, his ways, his purposes. his glory, what he does and how
he does it, and why he does it, to know God. And not only that,
but spiritual liberty. Like this man in the letter said,
we're free by the man. Free? Are we free? He said we're
free from sin, we're free from form, we're free from tradition,
we're free from the curse of the law. Well, how is a man set
free from these things? Well, the scripture says, if
the Son shall make you free, you shall be free. I can't make
you free. A decision can't make you free.
A religious organization cannot set you free. It'll only bind
you up in more form and custom, and more ways of me, understanding
of me, and thoughts of me. But ye shall know the truth.
know the truth, and the truth will make you free. Well, who's
the truth? Christ is the truth. He said, I am the way, I am the
truth, I am the life. You shall know the truth. The
truth about whom? The truth about God. That's how
we're set free, to know God. Eternal life is to know God.
Spiritual liberty is to know God. It's to know God, and there's
no There's no bondage like spiritual bondage. Political bondage is
not as bad as spiritual bondage. Physical bondage, a man can be
shut up in prison as John Bunyan was for twelve years and still
be free. But a man who's spiritually bound,
bound, bound by legalism and ritualism and ceremonialism and
self-righteousness, he'll never be set free. He's bound eternally. Whatever bondage I encounter
or experience in this world will someday end. But not spiritual
bondage. It's forever. So spiritual liberty
is to know God. Know the truth. The truth. Not what I think the truth is,
because there's a million different directions that that could take. And then genuine love. We talk
about love, hear about love, think about love, read about
love, speak about love, hear about love. What is love? L-O-V-E,
love. People fall in love and fall
out just about as fast. What is love? Love is to know
God. Love is born of a knowledge of God. Can I prove that? Oh yeah. He that loveth not knoweth
not God, for God is love. He that loveth is born of God.
That's what the word says. God is love. You can't know love
without knowing God. You can't experience love without
experiencing God. The true God who is love. See
that? And then any kind of assurance,
and here's what people want, I want, you want, so many people
I encounter, they want some kind of confidence. In a changing
world, I need something that doesn't change. In a shifting, like this dear
lady in the letter, frightful society, she's alone, her husband's
gone. She said, it's a terrible place
to be for a woman who's unshielded, unprotected, uncared for. She
wants something that doesn't change, doesn't change. Oh, change and decay in all around
I see. Thou that changest not, abide
with me." I need the unchanging God. Well, assurance of salvation
is to know God, to learn Christ. Let me show you that in 1 John
5. Now, this is very clear here in the Word, and we have no right
to believe anything without the Word of God saying it. The Word
is the authority. Isaiah said, if they speak not
according to the Word of God, it's because there's no light
in them. And so I try to make a point and tell you to turn
to the Scripture and read it. Assurance, confidence, knowledge
of my position or condition is when I come to know God. 1 John
5, 20. Listen, and we know that the Son of God is come and has
given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true.
An understanding of what? Of whom, I should say. of Him
that is true, to know Him, learn Christ, know Christ. And we're in Him that is true,
even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God. This is
no profession alone. This is no claim. This is not fiction. This is
the true God, the Christ who's come to know Him. That's the
reason Paul said, Oh, that I may know Him. Oh, that I may know Him, and
the power of His resurrection. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in Him. Now let's turn to Luke 1. This
takes me to where I'm going tonight. Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter
1. I want to read from the song
of one who knew Him. Who knew Him. This is Mary. Mary's
song of thanksgiving in Luke 1. Mary, verse 42, Elizabeth said,
speak out with a loud voice and said, Blessed art thou among
women, not above women, among women. Mary was highly favored
of God. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that
the mother of my Lord should come to me? Luke 144, For lo,
as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe
leaped in my womb for joy. That was Elizabeth. John the
Baptist was in her womb, and he leaped for joy when Mary spoke,
as soon as she spoke. And blessed is she that believeth,
for there shall be a performance of those things which were told
her from the Lord. Now then, here's Mary, blessed
among women, highly favored of God, carrying in her body at
that time, the tabernacle of God. Carrying in her body the,
forming the very body of, in which our Lord Jesus Christ would
live on this earth. Highly favored of God. She knew
God. This woman knew God. And this
woman spake under the power of the Holy Spirit and gave us some
insight into an understanding of the character of God. Who
God is. Now you listen to her. The first
thing she says here in verse 46, and Mary said, My soul doth
magnify the Lord. My soul doth magnify, exalt the
Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. Who is he? He's God my Savior. You say,
Mary is not a Savior, is she? She rejoiced in God, who is her
Savior. Mary is a sinner saved by grace. She's not an object of worship.
She's not an intercessor. She's not a priest. She's not
one who can pray for you. She rejoiced in God, my Savior. The only one who needs a Savior
is a sinner. And Mary, feeling and acknowledging
her sins, rejoices in God, her Savior. Now watch this. Watch her wisdom. My soul doth
rejoice in God, my Savior." God is becoming a man. That's what
the angel told Joseph, who in turn told it to Mary. He said,
Mary will bring forth a child, and thou shalt call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin. And she
said, my soul rejoices in this one God, my Savior. And the angel went on and told
Joseph, and thou shalt call his name Immanuel, which is being
interpreted, God with us." God with us. Do you hear what she's
saying? That this virgin-born son, which
she's carrying, is none other than God in human flesh. And
this God is her Redeemer, her Savior, the one who came to deliver
her from sin. And she finds in him forgiveness
and mercy, God my Savior. Well, let's read on. For he hath
regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, from
henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. And I'll tell
you this, all generations call all God's elect blessed. Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed
are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are
the peacemakers, they shall be called the children of God. Blessed
are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and say
all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice,
for great is your reward in heaven. And blessed is the man whom God
chooseth and causeth to approach unto him. Blessed. All generations
rise up and call us blessed. All right, verse 49, she tells
us something else about our God. He's God my Savior. In verse
49, it says, For He that is mighty, He's God my Sovereign. He's almighty. Almighty. He's God my Sovereign. He hath done to me great things. God doesn't deal in pittances. God deals in great things. God
deals in great things. Great things. He's God my Sovereign. He's God Almighty. He's God my Savior. And He's
able. I get so weary of hearing about
an impotent God, don't you? I hear preachers forever talking
about, well, this is what God wants to do. And this is what
God's trying to do. And this is what God's trying
to sell you. And this is what God is trying
to get you to act upon. I don't want to hear anything
about a God who's trying anything. I want to hear about the God
that John read about tonight who's doing mighty things. He's able. Paul said he's able
to save to the uttermost them that come to God by him. Paul
said this, he is able to keep that which I've committed unto
him. Abraham believed that he was able to do all that he promised. Jude said he's able. to keep
us from falling. Paul said in Philippians, he's
able to raise up our bodies and make them like his own. He's
able. None can stay by hand, God said, or say unto me, what
doest thou? What are you doing? Our God is obligated to no creature. Our God is obligated to no creature. He's God my Sovereign. And then
look at verse 49, the last line, and what's his name? What's your
God's name? You remember when Brother R.T.
Kendall was being ordained here many years ago, I can't remember
the year, 1959 or 58, 57, somewhere in there. I remember quite well,
this was the ordination service we were having during the conference,
and we were having a discussion and asking some questions. And
Dr. N.B. Magruder from Louisville
asked Brother Kendall, he said, Brother Kendall, he said, if
you were required to define God in one word, if you were required
to give that character of God which is the greatest of his
attributes. What word would you use? Well,
we wrestled with that a pretty good while. Love? Mercy? Et cetera, et cetera. And finally the word came out.
Holy. That's what it says. What's his
name? Again, the scripture says, holy
and reverend is his name. God is holy. Yes, God loves,
but his love is a holy love. Huh? You see what I'm saying?
His love is a holy love. If anything God does is not holy,
he's not God. When Isaiah saw the Lord, Sarah
Philips was singing what? holy, holy, holy. We better learn this. Learn of
me. Learn of me. God is holy. He calls his angels his holy
angels. In that traumatic time when the
high priest once a year would come into the holy of holies
with that holy atonement, what did he have on his God is love? Oh, no. Holiness unto the Lord. Holiness. You see, that's the
reason Christ had to die, because of God's holiness. That's the
reason without the shedding of blood there's no remission. God
is holy. That's the reason, except your
righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,
you won't enter the kingdom of God. He's holy. That's the reason,
except you repent, you'll perish. He's holy. God is. Now, the God of this world may
not be, but the God of this Bible is. The God of the universe is
holy. And He requires a holy, perfect
sacrifice. All right? Notice verse fifty.
And His mercy, and His mercy is on them that fear Him. On
them that what? fear him. The beginning of wisdom
is the fear of the Lord. Changing the character of God's
not going to help us. We're going to have to find out
who he is. Learn of me. He's merciful. God is my savior,
Mary said. God is my sovereign, Mary said. God is my righteousness, Mary
said. Holy is his name. And we're saved
by believing on his name. And there's none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. And God is
merciful. He's plenteous in mercy. He's
merciful to them that fear him. His mercy is sovereign mercy.
His mercy is infinite mercy. His mercy is generous mercy.
And His mercy is from generation to generation. It's continuous
mercy. It continues. Now watch verse
51. Mary said he has showed strength with his arm, power and strength,
awesome power. He has scattered the proud. Oh,
stay with me now. Stay with me. Stay with Mary
here in her song of thanksgiving. He has scattered the proud in
the imaginations of their hearts. Do you ever look at that word
imagination? What's the root word of the beginning? Image. Image. Thou shalt not make unto
thee any image. Graven image. God is not what
you imagine. Your imagination. Every... God
looked down and saw that every imagination of man's heart was
evil continually. Am I right, John? Every imagi...
image. Imagination. We don't have to
go here and find out who he is. We'll have to have a revelation,
not an imagination. We've had too many imaginations.
We need a divine revelation. And Mary's given it to us. People
just listen. What's he done? Scattered the
proud. Look at verse 52. He hath put
down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.
Divine providence is like a wheel. Divine providence is like a wheel. As the wheel turns, and it turns,
sometimes we think it's not turning. Because the Scripture said, execution
against our evil works is not executed speedily, the hearts
of men are fully set in them to do evil. but their foot shall slide in
due time." God's due time sometimes is awful slow coming. David looked
at the wicked, prospering, and the righteous, oppressed, and
he got to bothering him quite a bit. But she's turning. She's turning. The wheels of
God's providence are turning, and as the wheel turns, the highest
becomes the lowest. The lowest becomes the highest.
That's right. You see it? That which is on
top, and so proud, and so arrogant, and so healthy, and so strong,
and so smart, and so wise, and so prudent, and so unneedful
of God. That's what he said. I'll bring
them down. I'll bring them down. God delights, yes he does, in
casting down the high and mighty, and in his sovereignty and mercy,
lifting up the lowly. Let me show you that in Luke
6. Just turn over a few pages to
the 6th chapter of Luke, and listen to what the Lord Jesus
said to his disciples. We need to camp here a little
while and learn about God. The Master speaks. In verse 20
of Luke 6, he lifted up his eyes on his disciples and said, Blessed
are ye poor. Poor in spirit is what he's talking
about. He's not talking about people that have patches in their
britches necessarily. A man can have patches on his
britches and pride in his heart. He's talking about the poor in
spirit. Blessed are ye poor, yours is the kingdom of God.
Listen, blessed are ye that hunger now you'll be filled. Blessed
are ye that weep now, your life. Blessed are ye when men hate
you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and reproach
you, and cast out your name as evil. For the Son of Man's sake,
rejoice ye in that day, leap for joy. Behold, your reward
is great in heaven, for in the like manner did their fathers
unto the prophets. But woe unto you that are rich,
you have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full, you're
going to hunger. Warn you that last now, you shall
mourn and weep. Warn you when all men shall speak
well of you, for so did their fathers of the false prophets." Why do we court the applause
of men when they shall resound in our ears at the judgment?
Why do we court the approval of men when it will do us no
good? Their thoughts die with them. Their praise dies with
them. Turn to Isaiah 65, 13. Now listen
to what I'm saying. And I'm saying what Mary said.
Isaiah 65, 13. I'm just saying what Mary said.
She said there that the Lord will cast down the proud and
the mighty, put down the mighty and exalted them of low degree.
gathered the proud in their imagination. Isaiah 65, 13, listen to Isaiah,
Gospel of the Old Testament. Isaiah 65, 13, Therefore thus
saith the Lord God, Behold, my servant shall eat, but you shall
be hungry. Behold, my servant shall drink,
but you shall be thirsty. Behold, my servant shall rejoice,
but you shall be ashamed. Behold, my servants, my bond
slaves, shall sing for joy of heart, but you shall cry for
sorrow of heart, and you shall howl for vexation of spirit,
and you'll leave your name for a curse unto my chosen." That's
the God of the Bible. If we look into the ways of God,
you'll find divine providence brings down the mighty. and exalt
those of low degree. God delights in casting down
the high and the proud and the mighty and raising up the lowly. God hurls the princes of this
world down and exalts beggars to the throne. That's what Hannah
said. She said, The Lord killeth and the Lord maketh alive. The
Lord lifted the beggar from the dunghill, puts him on the throne,
exalts him among princes. That which is full, God will
empty. That which is empty, God will
fill. And that which is the wisdom of this world now, God will reveal
to be utter foolishness. Foolishness. And that which the
world calls foolishness, sheer nonsense. Preaching of the cross? Nonsense. Salvation by blood? Nonsense. Foolishness. You stand in your pulpits and
preach, washed in the blood of the Lamb. That's what the Bible
says. Except a man be born again, he
cannot enter the kingdom of God. That's what the Bible says. If
you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins. That's
what the Bible says. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me. That's what
the Bible says. He that hath the Son hath life,
he that hath not the Son of God shall never see life, but the
wrath of God abideth on him." That's what the Bible says. That's
foolishness. That's foolishness. Go unto all
the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. That's foolishness. That's what the Bible says. and that which the world calls
foolishness will someday prove to be God's very wisdom. But it comes by revelation. Natural
man receives it, not the things of God. Neither can he know them. They're spiritually discerned.
He has no spiritual discernment. See, the natural mind, the carnal
mind, is enmity toward God. If you were of the world, the
world would love its own. The world loves its own and hates
God. Our Lord said, Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate
you, it hated me before it hated you, and they hated me without
a cause. They had no cause to hate me. The world has a cause to be angry
with us. We give them cause too often,
don't we? But they hated him without a
cause. They hated him because of who he is. They hated him
because of what he said. They hated him for his message
he preached. That's the reason the world hated
Jesus Christ. That's the reason he was nailed
to the cross. Now one other statement of Mary found in verse 53, Luke
1. Watch this now. And some of you fellows who preach
can develop this even further. Luke 1.53, listen, he hath filled
the hungry with good things. Hungry? Are you hungry? He hath filled the hungry. Scripture
says, blessed are they that hunger, they be filled. What is it to
hunger? Now, listen, hunger. He said
he came to preach the gospel to the poor. You know, hunger
is the poorest of poor. The man who's hungry is the poorest
of the poor. Did you know that? I'll tell
you why. She may be using the right word
here. This is the character of God.
He said, learneth me. Learneth me. We're turning this
around now. We're trying to get the powers
of this world to represent God. the renowned and the acclaimed
and the powerful, but that's not who the Lord calls. He calls the hungry. He came
to fill the hungry. Hungry. A man who's hungry is
poor. He's the poorest of the poor,
and I'll tell you why. When a man is homeless, he's poor, isn't
he? But he's still got something
to eat. He's still got some money. You can be without a home and
still have some money and something to eat. And even people who are
without money, a man who's without money is poor, but he's still
got something to eat. He can still find a friend or
somebody who'll feed him. He's homeless, he's got no money,
but he's got something to eat. But a man who's hungry, that
man's poor. That man's poor. He has nothing. He has no merit, nowhere to turn,
no help. He's without hope and without
health. He's hungry. That's poor. That's poor. That's poor, poor. And that's
the true sinner whom the Lord fills, is the one who's hungry. See what I'm saying? He's really
lost. You'll never be exalted until
you're brought down. You'll never be clothed in His
righteousness until you're stripped. And you'll never be fed. to be
hungry. Most people have never been hungry.
Spiritually hungry. All right, let me show you this.
Not only is the hungry man the poorest of the poor, but the
hungry man feels his poverty more than anybody else. He feels
it in a way that he cannot forget. Now the fellow who has very few
clothes, well, he can forget his poverty when the weather
warms up. He has no coat, but when it's
warm, he doesn't need a coat. And the fellow who sleeps under
the railroad bridge, he sleeps as well as anybody else once
he gets to sleep. But the man who's hungry, he
doesn't sleep. He has internal evidence all
the time that he can't deny or forget he's hungry. He got there
And the change in the weather has no change in his need. Makes no change. Change in his,
where he is, makes no change in his need. His need's with
him. And that's what Mayer is saying here. He, this God my
Savior, and God my Sovereign, and God my Righteousness, and
God my Substitute, and God my Merciful God, builds the home. hungry. Arthur Pinck said, what
is it to be spiritually poor, have nothing, know nothing, and
can do nothing? And then the hungry will be satisfied
with nothing but bread. You can bring the hungry man
into a plush dining hall, most beautiful dining hall in the
world. with all the drapes and curtains
and chandeliers and waiters standing around in black coats and white
towels across their arms with their mustaches, you know, and
the music playing and the soft carpet and linen tablecloths
and all the beautiful china and all the silverware and the crystal
and the finger bowl and all these things around. It did no brand. And that's what we're doing in
most churches today. We're bringing them into these
lavish, air-conditioned, beautiful, scrumptious cathedrals of emptiness. Mausoleums is what they are.
And they've got the finest china plate and the best educated preacher,
but there's no bread. Christ is the bread. And men
come in hungry and go out hungry. They come in empty and go out
empty, because you can't satisfy a hungry man with a beautiful
dish. He'd rather have bread on a tin plate. Well, rattle the dishes a little
bit, you know. If it's too quiet in there, shake
things up. Let somebody do some shouting
or screaming or hollering or take the spoons and play a tune,
you know. Play some little religious ditty,
you know. Maybe that'll help him out. No,
his stomach's still growling. He's hungry. You're not going
to satisfy him with all of your utensils and all of your beautiful
glasses and plates and the rattling of the dishes, got to have bread. Christ said, I am the bread of
life. He that eateth shall never hunger. I wish I could make that plain,
but I can't. No other man can. I tell you,
if you ever get hungry, you'll see it. If you ever get hungry, Two things
ought to always be on the table when people come together in
the name of God, and that's bread and water. Christ and the Word. Christ and the Word. But I'll
tell you, it's not all on our shoulders. A hungry soul is an
importunate soul. Our Lord in Luke 11 tells us
about the man who came to the fellow's house Knocked on the
door, and it was late at night, and the fellow looked out the
window from above, and he said, uh, what is it you want, friend? He said, I need bread. A guest has come to my house,
and we're all hungry. We have no bread. Well, I'm already
in bed with my children. I'll see you tomorrow. What is it you want, friend?
Bread. Bread. All right, I'm coming. And our Lord said, if you'll
not come down and give him bread because of his affraying, because
of his importunity, you come and give it. How long you been
knocking? Let a man feel the guilt of sin,
and it'll always be with him if he ever gets hungry. What
I'm saying is, hunger is never satisfied by anything but bread. Christ the bread. And let a man
feel the guilt of sin, and the hunger of soul, and the fear
of hell, and the knowledge of the holiness of God, and the
emptiness of his own righteousness, and he's really experienced that,
he'll keep on knocking. And he's going to find somebody
somewhere who's talking about Christ. And he's not going to
go where they're rattling dishes, or where they're shining them
up, you know, and looking at their beautiful faces in them.
He's going to go where they got bread. The bread of life, the
children's bread, the Son of God. I do pray, it says here,
he who he does, he, he fills the hungry. That's his job. When I get there at the sermon,
I'm going to invite all of you down here and I'm going to talk
to you and take you back in the room and my counselor. No, no,
no. They don't feel it. He feels
it. He. We can't just leave a man
with God. You know a better place to leave
him? Don't leave him with me. I can't
help me. I hope you'll never be comforted
until Christ comforts you. I hope you'll never get peace
until he says, but my peace I give unto you. Isaiah said, they say
peace when there is no peace. I can't tell whether there's
peace or not. See, I don't know your heart and you don't know
mine. Spurgeon never would let them ordain him. He said, putting
your empty hands on my empty head won't help me a bit. I need
the power of God. That's what I need. I need peace
from Christ. I hope you'll never suppose that
you're clean till Christ says, your sins be forgiven. Ah? He fails. What does he do? He fails. That's not full. But if he fails, it's full. And
running over. My cup running over. Here I come,
it runs over. He failed it. He filled it, and
he fills it with good things. Oral Roberts wants me to have
a new car, but I don't need a new car, I need Christ. Jim Baker
wants me to have an amusement park, but I don't need an amusement
park, I need Christ. Shuler wants me to love myself
more, but I love myself too much now. I need to love Christ. You see what I'm saying? Peter
cried to his generation. He said, save yourselves from
this perverse generation. That's what I'm trying to say
to whoever will listen to me. They're throwing you a curve. They're throwing you a curve.
It's like the old boys when they found the book of the Lord. What
did the king say? Our fathers have lied to us.
Our fathers have lied to us. We need to get back in here and
find out who God is. Because God is merciful. God
is merciful. We've got two extremes. We've got that old hard, cold
Puritanism on one hand, where a fellow couldn't be saved if
he wanted to. But on the other hand, you've got that wildfire
Arminian free willism where a fellow couldn't be saved because it's
impossible with men. But here in the Word of God,
you've got a holy, sovereign God who took salvation upon His
own shoulders and came down here into this world deliberately
on purpose to redeem a people because He loves sinners and
because He's merciful. And He says to those who are
weary, weary, come unto Me, I'll give you rest. Who's going to
come? The weary. Who's not going to
come? Those who say, we're rich and
increased with goods and have need of nothing. We don't need
you, we'll work out our own righteousness. All right, that's perfectly all
right. But he fills the hungry. He fills
the hungry. And the rich, who are the rich?
Well, they're not poor. They're not poor. He says, listen to this, verse
53, and the rich he sent away empty. Who are the rich? Well,
they aren't poor. They aren't hungry. They aren't
hungry. They have deeds and works and
merit. The spiritually rich. But you
know something? I want you to listen to me. If
you've been dozing, wake up now. If you've been nodding, I want
you to hear something. of all the sins, of all the sins
of all ages, the deadliest of all is not to have any sin. That's right. That's the deadliest
of all the devils. There's no devil to be feared
like no devil. Isn't that right? Not to be tempted is the fatal
temptation. You're gone. You're gone. I'm all right. I have no trouble.
I have no conflict, no battle, no wrestling of souls. You're
gone. That's the fatal temptation. The neediest creature of all
is the creature who doesn't need him. And I'll tell you, the happiest
soul here tonight is the sinner who needs the Savior, the hungry
who are eating the living bread, and the naked who fled to Him
for dress. That's the most blessed creature
God ever let live, is the dependent man who can say with Paul, when
I'm weak, then am I strong.