Now let's read our text again
from 2 Corinthians 11. 2 Corinthians 11, verse 3 is my
main text. 2 Corinthians 11, 3, But I fear, I fear, lest by any means, as
the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety So your mind should
be corrupted from the simplicity that's in Christ. Now John wrote, there's no fear
in love. But perfect love, or mature love,
or the perfect love of the Father for us, or our increasing love
for Him, because He first loved us. But that love That relationship
casteth out fear. Because fear hath torment. Now
watch this. He that feareth, he that feareth
is not mature in love. He's not made perfect in love.
Now John and Paul are talking about two different things. Here's what John's talking about. When a believer, when a true
believer, knows the love of God, when he
knows the love of God in Christ, for him, that infinite, unspeakable,
everlasting love of God in Christ. When a believer realizes how
God can be just and justify folks like us, how God in Christ is
reconciled to us, that we're no longer enemies, with sons,
like Jim said in his prayer, where there was no life, he hath
made us to live, and here we are, by his grace. When the believer has seen the
perfect righteousness that's given in Christ, then peace reigns
and a quietness of spirit and rest in the heart. He no longer
fears the curse of the law. He no longer fears the judgment
of God. There's therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God. That's the reason he's saying
this perfect love casteth out fear, fear of the curse, fear
of the condemnation, a slavish fear of God. Genuine love, perfect
love casteth out fear, slavish fear. Now, here's what he's saying,
but he says, he that feareth, is not made perfect in love.
In other words, that man who's constantly fearing, constantly
tormented by guilt, constantly tormented by the dread of the
wrath of God and the judgment of God, it's quite certain that
he hasn't rested in Christ. See what I see? He that feareth
is not made perfect in love. He hasn't entered into Christ's
rest. He hasn't sat down. He hasn't trusted. He hasn't
rested, and if he's still fearing the curse of the law, which Christ
bore, then he's not resting in Christ. If he's still fearing
the judgment of God's justice and righteousness over sin, then
he hasn't trusted Christ, not yet. He hasn't rested in Christ. And he's filled with unbelief
concerning the person and work of Christ. Mature faith and mature
love casteth out this spirit. If we have a perfect righteousness
in Christ, then we need not dread the wrath of God. If we have
a perfect substitute and atonement in Christ, then we need not dread
the judgment of God. Payment God's justice cannot
twice demand. First at my bleeding shirt, his
hand, then again at mine. So rest in Christ. But my friends,
there is, now this, this is, this is, where the Lord is pleased
to bring his people to rest in Christ, to trust in Christ, not
to fear. But there is a sanctified fear. That's what Paul's talking about.
There is a sanctified fear. David said the fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom. Come and let me teach you the
fear of the Lord. We're not talking about a slavish
fear now. We're talking about a reverent fear, an awe. a respect,
a reverence for God. There is a sanctified fear. There is a commendable fear.
Listen, he said in Ephesians, Paul said, Submit yourselves
to one another in the fear of the Lord. Work out your salvation
with fear and trembling. If you call on the Father, pass
the time of your sojourning here in fear. Honor all men, love
the brotherhood, dear God, dear God. Sanctify the Lord God in
your hearts and be ready to give an answer to every man that asks
you a reason of the hope that is in you with humility and what?
Fear. Paul, speaking to the Corinthian
church, said, I was with you in fear and trembling. I was
with you in fear. and in trembling. And then he
said this, listen, Israel did not enter into Canaan because
of unbelief. Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us
of entering into his rest, we should come short of it. Paul
said, I don't want to miss Christ, and I don't want you to miss
Christ. Which leads me to my text. What I'm saying is there
is a sanctified fear. When I preach on the subject,
the pastor's greatest fear, it is a sanctified fear. It is a
God-honored fear. It is a fear that's commendable.
And what Paul's talking about here is a fear that's not only
permissible, but commendable. In our text, he says, I fear.
I fear. Verse 3, 2 Corinthians 11, lest
by any means, as a serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, your
mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that's in Christ. Paul's greatest fear, one of
his greatest fears, was that those to whom he preached, people
to whom he preached, people whom he loved, should be deceived
by the archenemy, should be deceived by false prophets and miscreants. Now let's go back a few verses
to verse 1. And here the apostle Paul was
forced to defend his ministry. That's what he does in chapter
11, is defend his ministry. These false preachers were always
taking a shot at Paul. They knew if they could dislodge
Paul, they could dislodge the people. Paul was the apostle
of Christ. And they were constantly saying,
he's not an apostle. He's an imposter. Paul is too
rigid and too narrow and too fanatical. Listen to us, don't
listen to Paul. And so he sets out here to defend
his ministry against these false teachers. And he had to speak
in praise of himself. And this was distasteful to him.
He didn't want to praise himself. He didn't want to defend himself.
He said, really, you ought to be defending me, not me defending
myself. But he had to do it. And that's
what he's talking about in verse 1 of chapter 11, Would to God
you could bear with me in my foolishness. And that's what he's talking
about. You know, he says that three or four times in this one chapter. I
speak foolishly. Look, if you will, at verse 16. I say again, let no man think
me a fool. if otherwise yet as a fool receive
me, that I might boast myself a little. I've got to defend
what I'm preaching, and in defending what I'm preaching, I've got
to defend my preaching, and in defending my preaching, I've
got to defend myself. That's what he's saying. I've got to say to you, they're
lying and I'm telling the truth. And he said, bear with me in
this folly. Look, if you will, at verse 21.
I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Whereinsoever
any is bold, I speak foolishly, I am bold too." You think they
are bold men? I am bold too. Look at verse
23, Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool. In other words,
here is what he is saying. Solomon said in Proverbs, let
another man praise thee and not thine own mouth." And I don't know who it was,
but somebody said this, it is as difficult for a proud man
to acknowledge his infirmities as it is for a humble man to
speak in his defense. Now you think about that. The
most difficult thing in the world to do is get a proud man to admit
that he has some weaknesses and infirmities. He's not going to
do it. But I'll tell you, it's just as difficult to get a true,
humble servant of God to defend himself and to speak in his own
praise. And that's what Paul's talking
about here. That's his folly he's talking about. He said,
I ought not have to do this, but I've got to, to defend what
I'm saying. I've got to do this, to expose
these false preachers. and false teachers. I just have
to do it. He said in verse 2, I'll tell you why I'm doing this,
why I'm defending myself, why I'm defending my message, why
I'm defending my gospel, why I'm defending my ministry, because
I'm jealous over you. I'm jealous over you. I have
espoused you to one husband, to Christ. I want no rival for
his affection, that I may present you not with divided affections,
not with a half a dozen lovers, But as a chaste virgin to Christ,
you belong to Him. I want you to love Him, know
Him, see Him, trust Him, rest in Him, be married to Him alone.
That's my passion, he said. And I'll tell you, he said, I
know the message and methods of these false preachers. I want
you to look at what Peter said in 2 Peter 2. 2 Peter chapter
2. Turn over there and listen. Jeremiah
talked about them. Paul talked about them. The apostle
Peter talked about them. Our Lord said, Beware of false
prophets, false preachers. Beware of false preachers. Listen
to Peter in 2 Peter 2, verse 1. But there were false prophets
also among the people, that is, Israel, Old Testament, even as
there shall be false teachers among you. And they'll privately
bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought
them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall
follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of
truth shall be evil spoken of. And these men are proud men. These false teachers are proud
and covetous and self-righteous. There are many of them. There
are many of them. And many people shall follow
them, and verse 3 says, and through covetousness shall they with
vain words make merchandise of you." You're just merchandise.
They're merchandisers of souls. They're hucksters. They care
not for your relationship with God. They care about you only
as a statistic. That's all you are to them. Look at 2 Corinthians 11 again. Paul talks about them down here.
In verse 13 of 2 Corinthians 11, he said, these false apostles,
these deceitful workers, these men transforming themselves into
apostles, they call themselves preachers of Christ, messengers
of Christ, ambassadors of Christ, ministers of Christ. Verse 14,
and that's no marvel. Satan himself is transformed
into an angel of light. One of the things we need to
realize is that Satan has conducted an advertising campaign that's
amazing how it's taken a grip. People have an idea of Satan
as a grotesque, awful-looking monster with horns and a forked
tail and cloven hooves fire out of his nostrils and long, curled
fingernails and living in the cesspools of iniquity and driving
the warlords. That's not Satan. That's Satan's
campaign to get you to misunderstand how he does operate. He's an angel of light. He transforms himself into an
angel of light. Not God's light, and not Christ
the light of the world, but the light of religion, the light
of the law, the light of morality, the light of whatever way he
can deceive men. It doesn't matter to him whether
you're good or bad as long as you don't know Christ. It doesn't
matter to Satan whether you succeed or fail just so you don't know
Christ. It doesn't matter to Satan whether you're on top or
the bottom of the ladder. Just so you don't know Christ,
he'll promote you or he'll strip you. It doesn't matter. He'll
prosper you or he'll take away from you. It doesn't matter. He's a chameleon. He fits in
where he has to fit in. He does what he has to do. He
transforms himself into an angel of light. And you see, his ministers transform
as ministers of righteousness and holiness. I want you to look
at verse 3. Here are two words here that
stand out so prominently. Two words. Subtlety and simplicity. Did you see those two words when
I was reading this text? Subtlety and simplicity. Here's
the background. Let me bring you up to the point
on this. Paul is writing to this church
at Carthage. A church divided, a church following preachers,
a church split over the gifts, just a lot of problems. And Paul
said, he said, I'm jealous over you. I don't want you to miss
Christ. And he said, what bothers me is this subtlety and deceit
of Satan that takes men away from the simplicity of Christ.
And those are the two words. Subtlety. Now what does subtlety
mean? Well, it means craftiness and deceit. When Satan came to Eve, he says
here, lest by any means is a serpent beguiled Eve. And when he came
to Eve, now let's look at this coming. He didn't tell Eve, I've
come to deceive you. I've come to deceive you. Not
at all. He didn't tell her, now I've come to lead you away from
God. No, he didn't. Rather, he came to her saying,
this is a good tree, and it's desired to make one even wiser. That's what he said. He didn't
say, now, I've come, I'm a heretic, I'm an evil person, I've come
to deceive you and to trick you and lead you. No, he came softly
and kindly and saying, now, I'm going to make you better. Have
you ever heard preachers say, now, there's something better
for you? I know you're saved. You say
you know Christ, but there's something better. Have you got
all that God has for you? Have you got all that God has?
Well, the Lord said, now everything's in Christ. I know that. But this
is desire to make you wiser and stronger and holier. holier. There's something better. And then Satan didn't tell Eve
he was God's enemy, and therefore her enemy. He said this, he said,
eat this tree and be like God. Be like God. And then he didn't
come to her in the attire of darkness. He didn't come in the
attire of death, in a repulsive form. He came to her as a serpent,
the most beautiful and subtle beast of the field. He picked
the most appealing and pleasant and beautiful character in which
he could appear. Our Lord said the wolf wouldn't
get in the sheepfold if he didn't come in sheep's clothing. The
doorkeeper not to open the door to a wolf, but if a wolf comes
dressed like a sheep, You're a sheep too. People expect false doctrine
to appear false, and it doesn't. I read this one time. See if
it doesn't apply. A young man was brought up in
a strong, grace church. He had a strong, sovereign grace
preacher. A man true to the gospel of God's
grace and glory. And this pastor kept warning
this young man about false religions and false preachers and false
ministers and false gospels. And he grew up and went away
to college. And while he was in college, he went out to hear
a popular preacher. He was in college, so he went
down the street on Sunday, one Sunday morning, to hear a very
popular preacher, clearly expecting to hear outright heresy. That's what he thought he'd hear.
When he went into the church and sat down, he thought, now,
according to my pastor, I'll just hear outright heresy this
morning, but I'm going to church. So he sat down. Instead, he saw
an eloquent, handsome, clever man step into the pulpit and
bring an eloquent, clever sermon containing much commendable advice. The man used the same Bible his
pastor used. The man used words about God,
about helping one another, about feeding the poor, about cleaning
up society, about fighting sin, about heaven and eternal life.
The man talked about living the good life, keeping the commandments,
He talked about the Holy Ghost, he talked about joy, talked about
the baptism of the Spirit, he talked about gifts of the Spirit,
prosperity, and the young man was amazed and confused. And he thought to himself, my
pastor is narrow and fanatical and unkind. But what the man
didn't have was the ability to discern in that false preacher's
message the absence of the person and work of Christ. That's what
he couldn't see. You see, this is Satan. Satan
will talk about goodness. He'll talk about feeding the
poor. He'll talk about morality. He'll even talk about some kind
of righteousness and holiness. He'll talk about attaining higher
ground. He'll talk about all these heavens
meeting mother, family circles. He'll talk about the nation,
the flag, God, home, country, apple pie, and mother. But the
missing message is Christ. How God can be just and justify
us. How Christ is God's righteousness. How man fell in the garden. It
was imputed and imparted to us a sinful, evil nature. And it
seems not just in deeds, it's in heart and principle and attitude
and spirit. And there's none good and there's
none righteous and there's none that seeketh after God. And we
need a substitute to redeem us and reconcile us to God and give
us a righteousness with which God will be pleased and God will
accept. And this is what he couldn't
see. He couldn't discern what was missing. I'm telling you that we're You see, Satan and his ministers
of confusion and subtlety and deceit and craftiness are using
the same words we're using but with different meanings. That's subtlety. Subtlety. Now here's the other word, simplicity.
Subtlety is craftiness, deceit. Twisting. Confusing. Complicating. Now here's the
other word, simplicity. The simplicity of Christ. This
is the subtlety of Satan. The oily tongue. But now here's the simplicity.
What does the word simplicity mean? What does the word simplicity
mean? We'll give you three meanings. Number one, uncomplicated. The
gospel of Christ is uncomplicated. Jesus Christ is my wisdom, is
my righteousness, is my sanctification, is my redemption. Man's religion
in its subtlety is complicated. Man's religion is always complicated. It uses words that no one can
define. You ever notice preachers doing
that? They use words that nobody can define. Nobody but the preacher
knows what they mean, and he doesn't really know what they
mean either. He'll use a great big word, he
says, now what that means is this, why didn't he say what
it meant instead of using the word? He wanted to impress you with
his words, with his knowledge, with his intellect. Man's religion,
watch it, is always emphasizing duties that no one enjoys. Why is it the preacher acts like
he's mad all the time? Because nobody's doing what he
tells them to do. They don't want to. He has to
force them to. He's talking about duties that
they don't enjoy. He's talking about holy days
and ceremonies nobody understands. When I was down in the islands,
we were celebrating the Lord's Supper one night. And they had
the bread and the wine on the table, and I just set my Bible
on the pulpit there, and I said, here are these simple people
from the island, black people, Simple, lived there on that island
all their lives, most of them in first or second or third grade.
I said, do you know what this means? Do you know what this
bread and wine means? I'm going to tell you tonight
what this means. Moses said to the children of Israel, when
your children ask you what mean ye by this service, tell them.
Don't confuse them or complicate it, tell them. I could tell these little children
right here what that means in simple terms. They may not grasp
it or discern it, but they'll know what it means. But no, religion today, the holy
days, all of the... What does this IHS mean? Anybody
know? Nobody knows. What does this
hat that they wear? What do these special robes that
preachers wear? Different colors mean different
things. Anybody know what they mean? Nobody cares. Why are we so confused? What is Lent? What is Ash Wednesday? What is all this stuff? God doesn't
confuse people that way. What is All millennialism, postmillennialism,
premillennialism, superlapsarianism, a bunch of confusion, that's
what it is. So that preachers can keep people in bondage to
them. That's all in the world it is. We're wearing uniforms and dress
that nobody else will be caught dead in. Speaking in tongues that nobody
can discern. What's that bunch of, what do
you call it, popping a phallum on the jaw like it's getting
him to rattle off in some kind of weird tongue. I don't mind
saying, I know people say, well, don't talk about that, you might
be blaspheming the Holy Ghost. I'm speaking of the devil, that's
what I'm speaking of. And that's what that is. I don't
care if Pat Robertson does it or who does it. They can't dignify
evil. just by saying they graduated
from some big university. Speaking in tongues in the gibberish
of this day is something nobody understands. It's complicated.
It's subtlety. They're talking about gifts and
miracles that don't exist. I'm going to tell you a story.
Now, you listen to this. This is a true story. Lawrence and Alice Parker went
to church. one Sunday morning with their
little boy Wesley, eleven years old. Wesley was diabetic, eleven
years old, diabetic. He was kept alive like thousands
of other people with insulin. Well, at the climax of the service,
the visiting evangelist invited people to come forward and be
prayed for. They were going to conduct a
healing service, and God was going to miraculously heal people.
Miraculously. Well, so Lawrence, Alice, and
Wesley went down to the front. They brought their little diabetic
11-year-old boy to the front, and the preacher went through
the gyrations and commotion. He called on Jesus. He put his hand on that little
boy's head, and he called on Jesus. And he went through all
this commotion, and he said, Heal! Heal! Heal! Bless God,
he's healed, he said. When our Lawrence and Alice Parker
went home rejoicing, they believed. The Parkers weren't hypocrites,
and they weren't lukewarm believers. They wanted to trust God without
reservation. So when it came time for Wesley's
insulin, they didn't give it to them. God had healed them. Three days later, Wesley died. Well, maybe his parents were
poor, simple people, but they listened to a clever, cunning
preacher. And you know what the pastor
of the church said? This is a quote. The pastor of the church, where
Wesley was supposed to be, he said, well, we never meant to
encourage people to gamble that much on their faith. Well, I'm telling you this, the
Christ of the true gospel of saving grace can be trusted. I won't use the word gamble,
but you can rest your soul on Him. And your little leaven your
old boy with or without diabetes. You can rest everything on Christ. We're not subtly, cleverly, craftily
trying to deceive anybody. I'm saying God may heal you and
He may not, but Christ will save you. We never meant to encourage people
to gamble that much on faith. I'll tell you, I'm persuaded
he's able to keep that which I've committed to him against
that day. That's uncomplicated. I'm saying that God sends trials. If you're a believer in Christ,
you're going to suffer persecution and a lot of other things. God may heal. He may not, but
blessed be the name of the Lord. The word simplicity means uncomplicated. I'm saying this religion, this
religion is complicated. It's subtle. If a man's got a
disease, the doctor says it's there, and the preacher says
it's not there, says the symptoms are there, believes like it's
not there. If it's there, it's there. If God heals you, it ain't
fair. That's uncomplicated. I tell you, when our Lord healed
somebody, they took up their bed and walked. It wasn't an imagination. And
don't you get tired of trying to be something you're not? Try
to suppose something that's not? Try to act like something that
you're not? Try to talk in a language you don't usually talk in? Talk
one way on Sunday, another way on Monday? That's a subtle, crafty,
confusing religion. Christ's faith is uncomplicated. If you're what you are by grace,
you're what you are by faith, you're the same Sunday and Monday.
Christ is your rock, your foundation, your hope, your refuge, your
Lord, your Savior, Redeemer, Mediator, all the time. Whether you're trying to Straighten
up a footer that fell on the job and you wore out, or whether
you're sitting in the church singing, Blessed be the name
of the Lord. It's Christ. You don't have to jump and run
and clear off the table when the preacher comes. When will the preacher come? You wouldn't want to be caught
in the movie if Jesus come, would you? One preacher said, if Jesus were
alive today, I'd tell you to straighten up. He is alive. You know what the word simplicity
means? Uncomplicated means unmixed. Christ is the Redeemer of sinners,
unmixed with anything else. I'm not going to tell you Christ
will save you if you do this or if you do that. You rest in
Him, He'll save you. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and you're complete in Him. And I'll tell you, that's the
faith that leads to obedience, the faith that leads to godliness
and holiness. It's not Christ plus my works,
it's Christ. It's not Christ plus my baptism,
it's Christ. It's not Christ plus my obedience,
it's Christ. And if knowing Him doesn't lead
you to love Him, you don't know Him. And if knowing Him and loving
Him doesn't lead you to walk with Him, then you don't love
Him. That's the way all there is to it. John Owen said this,
Christ is the way, and without Him we're lost. Christ is the
truth. Men without Him are living alive.
Christ is the light. Men without Him are dead. Christ
is the light. Men without Him are in darkness.
Christ is divine. Men without Him are withered
branches. Christ is the rock. Men without Him are carried away
by the flood. Christ is Alpha and Omega. He's
the beginning and the end. He who has not met Christ has
no beginning of good nor end of misery. Listen to this. It's better not
to be than to be without Christ. That's a sum and sum. That's
unmixed. The simplicity of Christ is uncomplicated
and unmixed with anything else. And watch this, the last word.
The word simplicity means plain and unadorned. I just don't, I do know why.
You can't tell what you don't know. But I wonder about preachers
that just aren't able to put into plain words the gospel of
Jesus Christ. One man said this one time, I
don't know if you'll ever repent toward God, but except you repent,
you'll perish. I don't know if you'll ever be
born again, but except you be born again, you'll never see
the kingdom of God. That's plain, isn't it? I don't
know if you'll ever trust Christ, love Christ, and believe on Christ,
but the Scripture says, he that believeth not on the Son shall
never see light. I don't know when you'll die
and meet God, but I know you will. I don't know if you'll ever cry
to God through the one great High Priest and one Mediator,
but I know there's just one. I don't know whether your name's
in the book of life, but I know whose book it is. It's the Lamb's
book. I don't know where you'll spend
eternity, but you'll spend it somewhere. It may be difficult for men to
find the grace of God, but it's no secret where it's found. It's
in Christ. It may be a mystery why God saves
sinners, but it's not a mystery how God saves sinners. He saves
them by Christ. It may be hard for man's pride
to bow to Christ, but there's no doubt it will. And then in closing, listen to
what Paul says here in chapter 11, verse 4. If these people
come, these complicated, subtle, crafty, deceiving, covetous,
mixed up, if they come preaching another Jesus, Now what Jesus
do we preach? We preach the Christ to the Bible,
as He's revealed in the Word, the record God has given concerning
His Son. Right here. He's Eternal Christ,
the Sovereign Christ, the Incarnate Christ, the Crucified Christ,
the Risen Christ, the Seated Christ. They preach another one. Or if they preach, listen. Or
if they preach another spirit, Now what does the Lord say about
the Holy Spirit? He will not speak of himself. He will take
the things of mine and show them to you. He shall not glorify
himself, he will glorify me. Any Holy Spirit that calls attention
to himself is not this spirit. It is another spirit. That is
right. Any spirit that does not magnify
Christ, exalt Christ, give Christ the preeminence, point men to
Christ, lead men to Christ, is another spirit. And they will
come preaching another gospel. Brethren, the gospel I preach
in plain, simple, clear, unmixed, unadorned, uncomplicated terms
is the gospel of God. It's the gospel of His grace.
It's the gospel concerning His Son. It's the good news and gospel
of life eternal by resting in, trusting in Christ Jesus the
Lord. And like Abraham of old, if you
believe God, Leave God. He'll be counted to you for righteousness. Let's don't invent a religious
language that's unreal. I solemnly declare, let your
conversation be seasoned with grace. Grace that glorifies God. grace that exalts Christ. But
talk like a human being. Don't give me that old super
pious religious talk. You know what I'm talking about?
It's so complicated and folks can't, it's not natural. Be yourself. Be yourself. God looks on the
heart. We're not heard by much speaking. You hear these fellows,
well, praise the Lord. Well, hallelujah, hallelujah,
hallelujah, hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Bless God! Don't be unreal. That's sickening.
Be yourself. God looks on the heart. Rest
in Christ. And if we get sick, we'll pray
for one another. And God may be pleased to heal
some. He may be pleased to perform
a miracle. But He's not going to call attention to the miracle.
He's going to call attention to His Son. We're not going to run
around talking about the miracle. You ask amiss that you may consume
it on your own lust. Can we get as excited about somebody
else being made well as ourselves? Well, until we can, why should
God make us well? Can we get as excited about somebody
else being saved as we can about our own children? Then maybe
God will save somebody. We can get that kind of burden.
But we ask amiss that we may consume it on our own lust. Right here. God bless me and
my wife and my son, John, and his wife and us four, and no
more. Amen. Unmixed, uncomplicated. You don't need to waive the law
over me to keep me straight. Well, I know, I'm not worried
about you. I'm worried about somebody else. You just worry about yourself. Don't promise me rewards to keep
me in line. Don't threaten me with hell.
Keep me from getting out of line, preach Christ to me, and I'll
rest in Him. You see what I'm saying? Why
would you let the fear of Paul say, I'm scared of that thing?
That old Satan will creep in in his oily, slimy, crafty, covetous
way, like he did Eve, with his smile and religious jargon, and
lead you away from what? Simplicity. The simplicity of
Christ. But brother May, in your services,
we don't get that feeling like we get. You watch out for that
feeling. You watch out for that feeling.
Go down to the hospital, give you a shot of gas or some drugs,
and you can get that feeling. You float right off. But I want
reality, don't you? I want to face it like it is.
God help me like I am. God forgive me like I am. God
received me like I am in Christ. You see what I'm saying? The
simplicity of Christ. And I tell you, that's real.
That's real. Our Father, thank You for Your
Word. Thank You for every promise of
this blessed book. We don't need to put on a show. We don't need to compare ourselves
with ourselves or with one another to try to impress you. You know
our hearts. You know these hearts. I believe
we can say like the Apostle Peter, Lord, You know all things. You
know we love Thee. You're our God. You're our Lord,
our Master, our Redeemer. Everything we ever hope to be
is by Your grace. Everything we have is by Your
grace. Forgive us when we fail, when we sin, when we think things
we shouldn't, say things we shouldn't. Constantly cleanse us. Create in us a clean heart. Renew
a right spirit. Deliver us from the subtleties
of Satan. Deliver us from this perverse
religious generation. Deliver us from a show. Deliver
us from the form of worship. And Lord, bring us to call upon
Thee like David in the field. who walk with Thee. Bless this
message to the hearts of the people. Give us Christ. In His name we pray. Amen.