Turn to Exodus chapter 3. Oh, that the Lord God would give to me and to my generation of enthusiastic, zealous religionists some understanding of His character, of His holiness, of His righteousness. What our
Lord said to the Pharisees of old can be said again and again
to our day. You don't know me nor my Father. In Exodus chapter 3, Moses kept
the flock, verse 1, of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest
of Midian. And he led the flock to the backside
of the desert and came to the mountain of God, even to Orim. And the angel of the Lord appeared
unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush, and Moses
looked and beheld The bush burned with fire, but the bush was not
consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn
aside. No avenue that's not open to
us. I will now turn aside and I'll
see, I'll investigate. I'll see this great site why
the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he
turned aside to see, to inquire, to investigate, to look into
this thing, he called out to him, hold it, hold it. Moses, Moses, and he said, here,
here am I. And he said, draw not, draw not
nigh hither. You're trespassing. You're inquiring into things
that are beyond you, above you, beyond your reach. Just put off
your shoes. Just put off your shoes from
your feet. Don't come here. Just put your
shoes off for the place, even where on you're standing, is
holy ground. Where you are is holy enough,
let alone where you're trying to get. Behold, we said, I am
the Lord, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, God
of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face. He's
a whole lot smarter than we are. And Moses hid his face. or he was afraid to look on God. And Moses hid his face. He was
afraid to look on God. Turn to Judges, the book of Judges,
chapter 13. Israel had been in the hands
of the Philistines about forty years. God determined to raise
up a mighty man. champion named Samson. And he came to a man, Manoah,
woman, his wife was barren, and he told her she'd have a son.
And so, verse 17 of Judges 13, Manoah said to the angel of the
Lord, What's your name? What's your name? Oh, we're We're
curious folks, aren't we? We want to pry around. We just
want to... Job said, I put my hand on my mouth. I've spoken
things too wonderful for me, out of my jurisdiction. What's your name? That when these
sayings come to pass, we may do thee honor. And the angel
of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name,
seeing it is secret, marginal, reckless, wonderful? Wonder who
this is? Wonderful Counselor, the mighty
God. For it came to pass, so Manoah
took a kid with a meat offering, verse 19, and offered it upon
a rock unto the Lord. And the angel did wondrously,
and Manoah and his wife looked on. For it came to pass, when
the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the
angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah
and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. But the angel of the Lord did
no more appear to Manoah and to his wife than Manoah knew
that he was the angel of the Lord. And Manoah said to his
wife, We're going to die. We're going to die. Because we've
seen God. We're just going to die. Man
can't see God and live. God said that. No man see me
and live. We're just going to die. Or she said to him, if the
Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a
burnt offering and a meat offering in our hands. Neither would he
have showed us all these things, nor would, as at this time, have
told us such things as these. But he was convinced, we're going
to die. We've seen the Lord. Gideon said the same thing. He
said, I'm going to die. I've seen the Lord. Turn to Isaiah chapter 6. Isaiah chapter 6. What happened to the glory and
holiness and power and greatness of God that used to ring from
the pulpit? What happened to the fear of
the Lord? When did God cease to be the
Almighty and become the man upstairs? That troubles me. When did God cease to be the
one dwelling in a light to which no man can approach and become
somebody up there who likes me? That troubles me. I believe our hope for heaven
is determined by our understanding of God. And therefore,
because our understanding of God is all wrong, our hope for
heaven is a false hope. In Isaiah 6, he said, In the
year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. I saw also the Lord
sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled
the And above it stood the seraphims, each one had six wings, with
two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, with
two he did plow. And one cried to the other and
said, Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy is the Lord
of hosts. The whole earth is full of his
glory. He's not the man next door. He's the almighty, eternal,
unapproachable, incomprehensible God, who is infinitely holy. holy. And the post of the door
threshold moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house
was filled with smoke. And then said I, O woe is me,
I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell
in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen
the King, the Lord of hosts. Every revelation of God Almighty
in the Old Testament is one of great, awesome, awful holiness
and power. When Moses went to the mountain
to receive the Ten Commandments, that mountain flashed with smoke
and lightning, the awful presence of God. And the people turned
and ran. They didn't run to the mountain,
they ran away from it. And they said to Moses, speak
to God, don't let God speak to us lest we die. And there was that tabernacle
in the wilderness where this holy of holies, the awesome holy
of holies, indescribable holy of holies, separated by that
veil that said no admittance, no admittance, no admittance. inside, over the mercy seat,
over the Ark of the Covenant, was that Shekinah glory of God
as the champions faced it from either side. No admittance, except
once a year, once a year, one man designated by God out of
all Israel, one man on the face of the earth, one son of Adam. of all the millions on the face
of the earth, one son of Adam, one man, was allowed, after the
sacrifice, and after the bloodshedding, and after the washings, and after
the change, after change, after change of garments, after securing
the censer with the burning incense, the prayers of Christ, after
taking the basin of blood, after having set the desired designated
date which God Almighty designated. After all that, one man could
come under that veil, not without blessing, into the presence of
God. And every jack-leg, one-gallus
Tom, Dick, and Harry of this day runs in and out of the presence
of God like some silly little jackrabbit. Amen and amen. Blessed God, we're just so glad
to call on you this morning. Amen and amen. Oh, my soul. Makes
my blood boil and my hair stand up and my back tremble. The awful
God of the universe. They used to drag people by the
heels out of the holy place who dared to come in there. Drag
them out by the heels. No entrance, no approach. into the presence of God except
once a year. One man, once a year, representing
all the rest of them. And God would receive him. And they weren't so confident
about that because they stood outside and listened to those
bells around the bottom of his robe, see if he's still alive.
See if he'd done one thing wrong, just one thing. Just one thing
wrong. Just one false move. Just left
off one thing. Because you see, that one man
was nothing in the world but a forerunner of Jesus Christ.
That one man, the only reason he was allowed in there, he was
not him. Is that a good sentence? That's
the reason he's allowed in there, because he wasn't himself. He
was Christ. He's a picture of Christ. The
blood he held in his hand was Christ's blood. The incense which
burned in his other hand is Christ. The robe which he wore was Christ's
robe. The miser, holiness to the Lord,
was Christ. He's our holiness. And the blood
which he put on the mercy seat, the person, the prayers, the
blood, and the presence of Christ was the only thing that enabled
him to even come into God's presence. Oh, that the Lord God, He may
not do it, and thus far He hasn't, make the preachers of this day
and the people of this day, the religious people, just aware
to some degree of His holiness, of His majesty. And it's the same today. There's no change in the character
of God. That same God Moses dealt with
when you're dealing with. Is that right? Well, you know
that's right, and I do too. God is God. Same God. Moses, put off your shoes. Now,
if Moses, don't you come here. Come not here, he said, and just
put off your shoes where you are. Just stay where you are
and take your shoes off. Don't come here. Don't come here. That same God you're dealing
with. That same God, Manoah, that same God, Isaiah, saw that
same God into whose presence the high priest wouldn't dare
to come but once a year at a designated time under the veil with a designated
sacrifice. That's the same God that you
and I are approaching this morning as we come here to this place.
And under God, how some of us have approached this service
indifferently and carelessly and flippantly and sleepily and
unemotionally. It's a wonder the east wind doesn't
blow through and just take us with it. We dared to sing praises
to God while our minds are somewhere. We dared while ago to read His Word,
and even there's some who couldn't even tell me where I read. Something's happened. Something happened. We're in
the presence of another God. We got us another God. And I
pray to this God. A woman told me down in Panama,
down in the canal zone, I preached one time, she said, you're not
supposed to fear God, you're supposed to love God. Oh. Oh. He said, I am the Lord, I
change not. Turn to Malachi 3. This is the
same God. This is the same God. Saying,
God, Abel approached when he brought the lamb and slew it,
put its blood on the altar. Saying, God, Abraham went to
the mountain and put the ram in the stead of his son. Saying,
God, Aaron and the sons of Levi approached when they went into
the Holy of Holies. Saying, God, Malachi 3 says, I am the Lord,
I change not. I don't change. Therefore you
sons of Jacob are not consumed. And it's His mercies that we're
not consumed. It's not our works, it's His
mercies. Who are these sons of Jacob? Who are these kinfolks
of Jacob? Who are these clones of Jacob? Sons of Jacob? Well, Jacob was
the son of election. God said, Jacob have a love,
and he shall have a hatred. God chose Jacob. Secondly, Jacob was a son of
revelation. God, at Bethel, called House
of God, opened the heavens and let him see the way to God. That's
Christ. That ladder is Christ. And these sons of Jacob, Jacob,
God said, I'm going to change your name. You're no longer going
to be Jacob, sheep, supplanter. You're going to be Israel, Prince
of God. So God said, I am the Lord, I
don't change. I don't change. And in my not
changing is the only security, you sons of Jacob, even you sons
of election, you sons of revelation, and your sons of the new name.
That's the only reason you're not concerned. I change not. You see, the gospel announces
no change in God. The average person sort of has
the idea that we're out of the old into the new. We're out from
under the law under grace. We're out from under the sacrifice
under the free sacrifice of Christ. But the gospel announces no change
in God. It announces no change in His
law. It announces no change in His holiness. It announces no
change in His awesome presence, it announces no change in His
requirements, it announces no change in His righteousness,
and it announces no change in His justice. I'm the Lord, I
change not. I change not. The God Moses approached
is the God we approach in the same character and attributes,
the God of the tabernacle, dwelling, between the cherubims and the
holy of holies in his Shekinah glory, to whom the high priest
came once a year with the blood of another, is the same God you
and I are approaching in worship right now. And he hasn't changed. A man must still, he must still,
in order to come before God or to worship God or approach God,
he must still be in the sight of God perfectly holy. without
spot or stain. It's like that high priest. It's
like, who shall stand in his presence? He that hath clean
hands and a pure heart. Somehow, we've got this thing
twisted around where God is trying to do business with everybody,
but they won't let him. And so, if you'll come, he'll
just receive you about any way you come. Just, if you want to
take him for a dollar, bring a nickel. It's like a bargain
sale. Now, it's a store, whatever he
offers, what we're selling it for. And they've got God now
that he just tried everything he knows, and finally he just
opened the door and said, well, just come any way you are. Come
any way you are. If you'll give me a few minutes,
that's fine, or an hour, that's fine, or just come any way you
are. But that's not so. You've got
to come perfectly holy. That's what it says. Who shall
stand in his presence? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart will preach it." Where are you going to get that
holiness? In Christ. See, that high priest brought
the blood of Christ. He brought the prayers of Christ. He brought the robe of Christ.
He came in the person of Christ. He came as the high priest with
the atonement at the designated time. And that's the way you
come and I come. No other way. We come in Christ. We come with the blood. We come
with the intercession of Christ. We come robed in the robe of
Christ, that spotless linen of His obedience. Or don't come. Don't come. You see, the holy
law of God must still be kept in spirit and letter. It must
still be kept. It has not been compromised by
anyone who would live before God. That law must be honored. I'm just telling you the truth.
God didn't lessen the demands of the law through Christ. He
met the demands of the law. Christ said, I didn't come to
destroy God's law. I didn't come to unknow all that
God has said. I came to fulfill it. So when
I approach God, whether in prayer or faith or seeking mercy or
any way, I say, Lord, I come through Christ, my perfect righteousness. I come depending on, looking
to, resting in Christ. He fulfilled the law. The justice
and truth of God will not be compromised. The Bible says the
guilty shall not stand in His presence. They won't stand there.
The unrighteous are not so, but are like the chaff which the
wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not
stand in His presence, shall not stand in His presence, shall
not be permitted in His presence. Only the godly. Well, how'd I
get there? I'm godly in Christ. You're trying to come around
Him and you can't come. You're trying to ignore Him and
God won't have you. He just won't have you. I saw a bumper sticker. Christians
are not perfect. They're forgiven. That's a lie. They are perfect. They're perfect
in Christ. If they're not, they're going
to hell. Isn't that right? I'm perfect. If I'm not perfect,
I can't come into His presence. Because nothing can survive in
the presence of God except perfection. Nothing can be permitted in His
presence except holiness. And if I'm not perfect, I can't
survive in God's presence. If I'm not perfect, I'm not a
son of God. But preacher, I know you know,
God knows, everybody knows you're not perfect. I am in Christ. He's my perfection. If you don't
get that, you're going to miss life. I say this as loud as I can sit. Be ye perfect as your Father
in heaven is perfect. You better be. Be ye holy, God said, for I am
holy. Am I telling the truth, Cecil?
That's the truth. God is immaculately, perfectly,
eternally, unchangeably holy, and nothing, not even a fly can
come into his presence, not even a whisper of evil, not even a
breath of evil in him. There is no darkness, and you
gonna come? No, you're not either, unless
you're perfect. You gonna stroll into the Holy
of Holies? You, with all your scales? and
wrath and filth and perspiration of evil, you're going to invade
God's holiness? No, you're not! You're going
to be drug out by the heels with the leprosy of death. Now, if you're coming, there's
a way. Christ opened that way by His
flesh and blood and sacrifice. There's a praise There's a representative. There's a covering. There's an
altar out there where you can stop and receive the blood. There's a laver here where you
can stop and wash. There's a perfect linen robe
that you can stop and put on. There's a washing of regeneration
and a renewing of the mind. and of the Holy Ghost, and there's
a cleansing of sin, and there's a pardon of all iniquity, and
there's a putting away of all flesh, and you come on! Come
on, He'll take you. You can walk right in. Walk right
in that song and sit right down. I remember that. What makes you
think of things like that? Walk right in. Christ said that
they may be perfect in war. Christians aren't perfect. They're
forgiven. You don't know the gospel, buddy.
Christians in Christ are perfect. And your little silly bumper
sticker gospel is going to take you to condemnation. You better
quit saying things you don't know anything about. You better
quit advertising heresy. And find out that in Christ we
are perfect, or God can't have you. We've made God to be a little
old, long-whiskered granddaddy sitting up there just doing his
dead-level best to get somebody to let him have his way. We've
pictured God in our minds as being some kind of old fella,
you know, that wants to and can, strives to. He's the same. He's
the same, yesterday, today, and forever. And He's plenteous in
mercy, don't Don't misunderstand me, he delights to show mercy,
but on his terms, he can't have it any other way. Now, we can
have it another way because that's the way we are. You see, we'll
compromise anything. We can deal in deception. That's
not hard for us, but not God. We can compromise and deal in
deception and give a little and take a little and compromise
our principles, you know, and give a little hush money, a little
money on the table, and everything's all right, we can take it as
best we can get it, but not God. He's perfection, holiness, righteousness,
justice, and truth, and it won't be any way but His way. Can't
be, or He'd have to abdicate, huh? He'd have to get off the
throne. And so you're welcome You're
welcome, and the commandments come. But come His way. Come His way, come His truth.
Come through His Son. Christ said, I'm the way, I'm
the truth, I'm the light, no man cometh to the Father but
by me. You're radical. No, God is. You're
narrow. No, I'm not. God, I ain't narrow.
I wish I were. God's narrow. There's just one
way. If it's left up to us, there'd
be several ways. But God said there's one way,
and it just so happens He's the one we've got to deal with. But I don't think you ought to
be so narrow. Well, that's just, that's God, and I'm representing
Him. See, the gospel that we preach
is this. Now listen, this is the gospel.
It's called good news. It's good news. In other words,
God, who is holiness, truth, and light. cannot change. This world doesn't know Him,
they're not acquainted with Him, they're not doing business with
Him, they're not even talking about Him, the religious world.
They're talking about another God, God of compromise. But this God of the Bible, of
the universe, the God and Father of Jesus Christ, is the same.
He's holiness, truth, and light, and cannot change, and will not
change, and you wouldn't want Him to. And secondly, in order to redeem
a people, in order from Adam's race to have a people, he must
do it in a way consistent with that holiness. God, if he's going to have a
people out of every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue under heaven,
has got to do it in a way consistent with God, with holiness, purity,
truth, and justice. He's got to be God. and save
us. He can't come down and save us
and then run back and occupy his throne. He's got to act as
God, think as God, do as God. He's got to be just. Whatever
arrangements he makes for your salvation has got to be in keeping
with his character. Does that make sense? And then thirdly, those whom
he loves and whom he saves and whom he receives, therefore,
because he's holy and because he can't do otherwise, They too
must be holy. They must be made righteous.
Not just declared righteous, but made righteous. They've got
to be not what somebody says, they've got to actually be righteous.
They've got to actually fulfill the law themselves. They've got
to be not guilty. And they can't do that. They
must have in them, upon them, and for them the very righteousness
of God. Well, where are they going to
get it? Well, turn, if you will, to Romans chapter 1, my text. Paul said in Romans 1, look at
this. He says, I am not ashamed, verse
16, of the gospel of Christ, the good news of Christ, the
declaration of Christ. The person in the work of Christ,
for it's the power of God unto salvation, to every one that
believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein,
that is, in that gospel might, is the righteousness of God manifested,
revealed, set forth. God was in Christ reconciling
the world to Himself. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law being made a curse for us. In the fullness
of time, God sent His Son, made in the likeness of sinful flesh,
made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem us who were under
the law. Christ fulfilled it. I'm saying
this to you, four things. Listen to this. There is no way
for you to understand sin, the guilt of it, the results
of it, the extent of it, the consequences of it, the sinfulness
of it. except in the light of the righteousness
of God." Now, you can look at sin in the light of harming others
or even harming your body. You can look at sin in the light
of a written law, however right it is, but sin still does not
display its ugliness. Sin does not display its violence. Sin does not display its power. Sin does not display its corruption,
except as it's seen in the light of the holiness of God. That's
what Paul kept saying to us. We've sinned, we've sinned, we've
all sinned, there's no difference, we've sinned, and come short
of what? The glory of God. Now, when I compare my sins and
your sins, I'm not such a bad sinner. Why should he find fault
with me? He did it. Well, he's worse than
I am. I said a bad word, but he said
a better word. And my bad word by your bad word is not near
as bad as your bad word. Oh, I did this, but they did
worse. This people in that church that did worse. See, so our sins
don't appear to be too ungodly when you compare them with what
others do. Our sins really don't appear to be too bad when they're
shown in the light of a commandment, you know, just a law, kind of
a written law on a stone. But oh, when we see the perfection
of God, the holiness of God, the righteousness of God, the
holiness that He requires, that's when we see sin. That's when we see sin. When
we get all, you know, cleaned up and ready to go into God's
presence, that awesome, holy presence of God, and we think
one thought, and I'm wiped out, you know, going back home. I
always say one word, going back home. We just never can attain
to that holiness. Can't make it. But when I'm in
Christ, I can walk right in, because He has it. He is it. He produced it. And He's me. See what I'm saying? And you're
never going to understand the life of Christ on this earth,
except in the light of God's righteousness. Why did He come
to this earth? Why did the Lord Jesus go through
that bird from Mary's womb and lie in that manger on that hay?
I mean, what's going on here? Why go through the cutting of
the navel, and the tying of the navel, and swaddling, and cleansing,
and drinking milk from a mother's breast, and lying as a tender
plant, a root out of dry ground? Why run down into Egypt to get
away from this king? Why go through this work in the
carpenter's shop for all these years? And then why go through
this thirst, and weariness, and pain, and suffering, and temptation? Why sit in the garden and sweat
great drops of blood? Why? Jesus Christ, from the time He
came into this world, was fulfilling a righteousness, obeying a law,
His law, the law which was put on my shoulders, which I couldn't
obey, which God requires, which is essential, which is necessary,
which you're going to have or you're not coming to God. And
Christ fulfilled it. He never thought a sin, did a
sin, knew a sin. He always pleased his father.
He was tempted in all points of the way, yet without sin.
And he is the great representative, federal head, covenant savior,
surety of everybody for whom he stood. Now you listen to me,
and listen good. He represented a people. And
those whom he represented, and for whom he stood, and for whom
he obeyed that law, have in Him, because of Him, and through Him
a perfect holiness. And if He represented the whole
shoot and bang, and shoot and match, and whole world, then
everybody's saved. Universal atonement means universal
redemption. That's right. Universal righteousness
means universal redemption. If Jesus Christ is the representative
of the whole race of Adam, there ain't nobody lost. Because everybody
for whom He obeyed that law is as perfect as He is. Now, that's
right. And he went to that cross. Now let me tell you something.
That's no example. That's no martyr dying. That's
no defeated reformer. That's a substitute on that cross.
That's a sin offering. That's a representative. That's
a federal head on that cross. That's the second Adam. That's
the Lord from heaven. And he's doing a job. He said,
I finished the work you gave me to do. I finished it. I didn't
make it, I didn't make them savable. I didn't fix it so they could
save themselves by believing. I saved them. And his obedience and his death
mean that this bird here can walk right into God's presence
because I'm as holy as God in Christ. And who can lay anything
to my charge? It's God that justifies. Not
an angel in heaven can say, hey, what's he doing here? I belong
here. I'm kin, folks. This is my house. I'm a son of God. I look at the
angels and say, what you doing here? This is my house. My father's house. And I belong
here because I'm in his son. Yeah, but you're a sinner. Not
in Christ I'm not. My debt's paid. Find something
on that book against me. Get your computer out and put
my program in. See if you can find one spot
on my character, on my record. against me. My Lord paid it all. Now if He did that for all of
you, and every son of Adam, and I don't know why this generation
insists on that, they're a bunch of, they don't know anything
about God's holiness. You can't understand fairly the
atonement except in the light of God's righteousness. You can't
understand it. Your atonement is an attempt. I don't preach an attempt, I
preach an atonement. That's right, an atonement. It's
no attempt. He didn't attempt to do anything,
he did it. And then there's no understanding
sanctification except in the light of God's righteousness.
Are you holy? Well, no, you couldn't call me
holy. Well, then God won't have you. We're holy in Christ. In Him
we have wisdom, righteousness, what? Sanctification and redemption. I'm holy in Christ. I'm telling
you the truth. He's called in Jeremiah 23, the
Lord, our righteousness. Is He your Lord? Well, yeah,
He's my Lord. Well, He's your righteousness
too. If He's not your righteousness, He's not your Lord. Mike sang
this, I once was a stranger to grace and to God. I knew not
my guilt, I felt not my load. Though others spoke of Christ
on the tree, the Lord our righteousness, that meant nothing to me. I often
read with interest to soothe or engage Isaiah's bold measure
and John's simple page, but when they talked of the blood-sprinkled
tree, the Lord our righteousness, that meant nothing to me. But
free grace awoke me, and by light from on high Sin and guilt and
fear shook me, and I trembled to die. I had no refuge, no safety
in any could I see. The Lord my righteousness, my
Savior, must be. Now my terrors all vanished before
His sweet name. My guilty fears faded, and so
with boldness I came to drink at the fountain, life-giving
and free. The Lord, our righteousness,
is everything to me. The Lord, my righteousness, my
treasure, my boast. The Lord, my righteousness, I
can never be lost. For wow, from all guilt, my God
has set me free. The Lord, my righteousness, my
song will ever be." You see that? But if you do, you see the gospel.
And if you don't, I don't care how many times you've walked
down the aisle and been baptized and joined the church, you're
not saved, because He's the Lord our Righteousness. Now, I know
we've got this little old thing, well, I do the best I can, and
you know, I know what I know, and that's all I know, and we'd
better start looking, because God's holy. Go over and build
you a tabernacle of your own now. You'd better come to this
one. ordained this one. This is where His glory is. And
there's a way into His presence. There's a way. And Christ is
the way. God hasn't changed. He's still
the Shekinah glory. Well, I don't like it. Well,
that doesn't got anything to do with it. You'd like it if
God opened your eyes. If you were like God, you'd like
it, because He likes it. It's honoring to Him, and if
you were like Him, you'd like it. The reason you don't like
it is you're not like God. That's the reason you don't like it.
Anything about this Bible or God you don't like, because you
don't like God. And if we ever come down to see
that we're not lovable or likable either, that God has to make
an adjustment in us to even deal with us, then we'll change our
tune. We'll say, Lord, what's your
way? Just show me your way. The way is the way of holiness.
Well, then I'll wear my dress longer, and wear my hair longer,
and wear my nails shorter, and my lipstick paler, and my earrings
shorter, and stay at home. Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're still
not righteous. Because that righteousness is
within. It's within. And it'll make some
adjustments on the outside. Yeah. If you have a change within,
it'll make some adjustments on the outside too. It'll leak out
on you, despite all you can do. But His holiness, His holiness,
the way into His holiness and presence is through another. Strictly through another. That's
where it is. And that's Christ. And I'll tell
you, we go through all the religious
But I'm going to go here so and so. But if he makes God any less
holy, or Christ any less necessary,
you better come back and hear me again. Because I'm saying
he's infinitely holy. You're infinitely wretched. And
Christ is infinitely able. And you can't beat that. You
can't beat that. Ain't nobody in the world can
tell it better than that right there. That's where it is. Our Father, oh to glorify Thee. Oh, Paul heard things that were unlawful
to utter. Here we are trying to talk about
it. And all these great fathers Melted
in your presence, cried out, Oh, wretched man that I am, I'm
undone. Here we are bragging about what
we've done for Jesus. Lord, we pray in our day, it
may please thee to open somebody's ears, open somebody's eyes, give
somebody a hearing ear and a receptive heart. Give somebody a voice
to cry out, to cry out. to sound the alarm, to preach your glory and character
and the necessity of holiness and the sufficiency of Christ
Jesus.