Let's read a verse over here
in Romans 5. That's what you call presenting
a psalm. I appreciate it very, very much. Romans 5 verse 8 is my text. But God commended His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Now, whether consciously or unconsciously,
religious people have projected the notion that the church, salvation,
eternal life, a relationship with God through Christ is for
good people. I get so weary of hearing people
say, well, the Lord wouldn't save me. I've been such a great
sinner. I get weary of hearing people
say, well, I'm going to straighten up my life and go to church someday. Real sinners need a real Savior. And Christ is a real Savior for
real sinners. But I find in the majority of
cases, real sinners do not feel welcome in the average church.
Real sinners do not feel comfortable. in the average church service,
they do not feel welcome. Real sinners do not feel comfortable
in the presence of preachers and religious people. They feel,
as they say, out of place. No matter that our Lord emphasized
over and over again that He came to save sinners. He said, I'm
not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. There
was one day that our Lord was sitting in the midst of publicans
and sinners. And the Pharisees, the religious
people, said to his disciples, why does your master eat with
publicans and sinners? Now, these were openly sinful
people. They weren't church folks. They
weren't religious folks. They were just ordinary folks,
just people of the streets. And Christ was talking with them
and eating with them. and preaching to them. And the Pharisees couldn't understand
why he'd even be in their company, why he'd be associated with them.
And they said, why does he associate with folks like that? And he,
knowing their thoughts, said to them, the well do not need
a doctor, but the sick. Now you go learn what that means.
The Son of Man is come not to call the righteous, Now, we know
there are no righteous people. None righteous, no, not one.
But they thought they were. Their righteousness consisted
in their outward morality. In their hearts, they were just
like anybody else, though they never admitted it. Their thoughts
were just like anybody else. Their desires and tempers and
passions and envy and strife and hatred and jealousy and all,
just like anybody else. But outwardly, they were so clean-cut
and moral and religious and pious and And he said, I didn't come
to call that kind of person, self-righteous people, to repentance.
I came to call sinners. And twice he made this statement,
the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. So no matter that sinners came
to him and found compassion and understanding. Turn with me to
Luke 15. Listen to this, Luke 15. In Luke 15 verse 1, Then drew
near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes
murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And he spake this parable unto
them, saying, What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he
lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness,
and go after that which is lost? Now look at verse 7, and I say
unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner,
over one poor, defiled, lost sinner that repented more than
over 99 just persons who need no repentance. One sinner can
set the bells of heaven ringing through repentance and faith.
One sinner can make the angels sing through repentance and faith. One sinner can bring forth joy
in the presence of a holy God that repented and believed. And
then no matter, watch this, no matter that we ourselves, now
this is what troubles me. We convey the idea that salvation's
for good people. You know that's so, and I know
it's so. We convey the idea that salvation, that church membership,
that a relationship with God is for good people. No matter
that our Lord said he came to seek and to save the lost, no
matter that our Lord showed compassion to the lost, and no matter that
we ourselves, when God found us, we were the chief offender. That's what Paul said. He said,
Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. You know the worst fellow in
the world on drunks is an ex-drunk. He's the worst fellow in the
world. The worst fellow in the world on people who are thin. I never will forget. I'm going
to give this illustration. Come real close to home. But
I know a man who was, in his early days, he had such a terrible,
terrible temper. He was so intemperate himself
in his habits, drink, beat up his family, beat up his wife,
gambled, spent everything he had on himself and his pleasures,
what Lily had. Children were afraid of him,
just in mortal fear of him. Well, he got saved. And he became
a church member. He became a fundamentalist. And
he became an anti-this, anti-that, and anti-the-other. And one day,
one Sunday afternoon, he lived in my neighborhood. He came out
on the front porch and he looked. and saw his neighbor who was
also a member of the church. He wasn't a deacon, but he sang
a lot in the church choir and sang a lot for the preacher and
was a friend of the preacher. He looked over there and saw
that neighbor sitting on the porch playing cards on Sunday
afternoon. And whoopee! He got on the phone
and called the preacher. I just want you to know what
one of your choir members is doing. I want you to come down
here and straighten him out. You know, it seems like that
a man that was rescued by God out of where he was found would
be the most loving, tender, forgiving, compassionate person in the nation.
You'd think that. You'd think that. And this is
the thing that bothers me. Paul said, I obtained mercy. I obtained mercy. We forget that
too quickly, don't we? When we're so straight and so
hard on someone else who's not doing what we think they ought
to do, has it ever occurred to us that back in our past, even
now in our hearts, but especially in our past, we did everything
contrary to decency and godliness and holiness and morality? Seemed
like to me that would make us a little more compassionate and
tender to remember from where God brought us, the pit where
he found us, the condition. Well, Paul never forgot it. Paul
said, I obtained mercy. I was injurious, I was a blasphemer,
I was a persecutor, and I obtained mercy. Actually, I'll tell you
this, actually, Jay and I talked about this yesterday while I
was preparing this message, or Friday it was. Actually, you'll
have a difficult time searching the scriptures to find one moral
religious person who was an object of God's grace. Now, you're going
to have your time. I'm saying that salvation's for
sinners. I'm saying that some people are too good to be saved,
nobody's too evil to be saved. There's some men who are too
good. Don't tell me, I don't believe the Lord will save me,
I've been too wicked. Yeah, you're the person for whom He died.
The man that He will not save is the man that's been too good.
That's the fellow that won't find mercy. Sinners find mercy. Now, I looked through the Scriptures
and I tried to think, I cannot come up with one moral, religious
person, only one that was solid process. And the Lord brought
him down. Oh, how He humbled him. Oh, how
He stripped him. Oh, how he convicted him. Oh,
how God, how God Almighty shamed him and humbled him and blinded
him and brought him to cry, O wretched man that I am, chief of sinners,
not worthy to be an apostle, less than the least of all the
saints. And he meant that. But I think about Nicodemus.
Our Lord sent him away just like he came in darkness. That's right, our Lord sent him
away just like he came in darkness. I think of the rich young ruler.
Our Lord sent him away just like he came in self-righteousness. I think of the Pharisee in the
temple who prayed thus with himself, God I thank you, I'm not like
other men. He went to hell just like he came to the temple. I
believe that. The people in Luke chapter 4
who talked about their heritage and their ancestry and the fact
that they were Jews, they perished in that so-called heritage belief. Turn to Matthew 15. Let me show
you there. Matthew chapter 15. Now, I don't
think you and I, I don't think that it's possible for us not
living in that time to really get the significance between
a Pharisee and a publican. I just suppose that the nearest
thing you could come to it would be to pick the most pious, outwardly
pious religionist in this country, who kept the Sabbath day his
Sunday, Christian Sabbath, who was in every service, who very
strongly was moral in everything he did, was generous to the poor,
read the scripture, preached on the straight corner, was very
precise in his exact tithes and all these things, and not one
person has one charge against him. That would be a Pharisee.
That would be the most moral men you could find in the town.
These were openly men who read the scriptures on the street
corners, who contended for the law, who transcribed the scriptures,
and this sort of thing. Then a publican. I suppose in
this town, you'd go down somewhere in some dive and find a fellow
that dealt in bootleg whiskey to minors, and maybe dealt in
a little dope on the side. Just did anything for a buck.
That's what a publican did. Anything for a buck. He'd sell
his own nation for a buck. That's what they were. They were
tax collectors for the Romans who were Jews. Just the lowest
kind of people. Now, so when our Lord condemned
the Pharisee and said the publican was saved, the disciples were
shocked. And so were the Pharisees. And then in this scripture in
Matthew 15, when our Lord gave that scripture about, it's not
what you put in your mouth that defiles you, it's that which
comes out of your heart. Look at verse 10. He called a multitude
and said, now you listen to me and you understand, it's not
that which goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but that
which comes out of his mouth that defiles him. And then his
disciples came over and said, The Pharisees were offended when
they heard what you had to say. They were offended because their
whole religious system was based on what they did or didn't do
outwardly. What they did or didn't do. They
were so precise in their standards and morality and in their eats
and drinks and these things. So precise. And our Lord said, It just doesn't defile a man. What he licked, what he puts
down his throat, that can't defile him. It might give him an upset
stomach, but it's not going to defile his heart. It's just not
going to do it. And they were offended. They'd
be just like me standing up before all the religious folks in Ashland
saying a bottle of beer is not going to corrupt any man. The
dry forces would shoot me right between the eyes. That's what our Lord was saying
here. And those religious people were
offended. And the disciples came over and told him they were offended. Now, wouldn't you listen to him?
And he answered them and said, Every plant which my heavenly
Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. Leave them alone. I tell you, Joe, I'd rather anybody
in the world say leave me alone than Christ. Honestly, that just
makes me weak, clear down to my feet. For our Lord, for our
Lord to point to some people, I mean some orthodox, fundamental,
religious, moral folks that were offended by the truth, who didn't
understand sin, nor the principle of sin, nor the essence of sin,
or what sin is. They didn't understand what sin
is. They put sin in material things and physical things and
deeds and actions while their hearts hated the truth. The blind, blind leaders of the
blind. So outwardly moral and so inwardly
full of the devil and demons and dead men's bones. And our
blessed Lord, He who inhabits eternity, He in whose hands every
man's destiny rests, He said, leave him alone. That's something,
isn't it? Leave them alone. Leave them in their tradition.
Leave them in their fundamentalism. Leave them in their error. Leave
them alone. They're blind leaders of the
blind. And if the blind lead the blind, they'll both fall
into the ditch. Our Lord, you won't find any
of these men being saved. It's not there. It's just not
there. Saul of Tarsus is the only one
I know. They were just too good. They didn't need Christ. They
didn't need Christ. They didn't need His mercy. They
didn't need it. But I want to show you God's
mercy. Turn to 2 Chronicles. Now this is something I read
the other day. And what I'm saying to you is this. Our Lord saves
sinners. He delights to show mercy. The
problem, my friend, is not saving a man. The problem is, and it
takes the very revelation of God, the problem is for a man
to come to see he needs saving. That's the whole problem. If
I could find anybody in this building, and I'm sure there's
some, out yonder in Iceland or listening to the radio or television,
who's a sinner. I'm not talking about a pretty
bad sinner A sinner's worse than somebody. I'm talking about just
a bona fide, unadulterated sinner. Just a sinner. Just a rebel.
Just a hell-deserving, ill-deserving, undeserving, wretched sinner.
I'd rush up to him and say, fella, Christ died for you. Christ died
for the ungodly. But brother, God found one here
in 2 Chronicles 33. Let me tell you a little bit
about him. This fellow was named Manasseh. He was the son of Hezekiah. And I tell you, he was so wicked.
One great preacher said this about him. Hezekiah was sick,
half in bed, sick. He's dying. I think God told
him he's going to die. And he turned his face to the
wall and prayed. You remember? He turned his face
to the wall and prayed, and cried, and wept, and prayed, and asked
God to let him live. And the Lord gave him 15 more
years. Three years after that, Manasseh was born. And one preacher
said, if old Hezekiah had known that Manasseh was going to be
born and be what he was, he'd have went ahead and died. He'd
have never prayed to live and sired that son. That's how wicked
he was. He reigned 55 years in Jerusalem. I want you to listen to what
he did. In verse 3 of 2 Chronicles 33, he built again the high places
which his father had broken down. When God had pity and mercy on
Hezekiah, old Hezekiah destroyed all the high places and idols
and shrines in Israel. And this boy, when his father
died, he built them all again. In verse 3, see that last line?
He worshipped the host of heaven. He was an astrologist. And then
in verse 6, he caused his children to pass through the fire in the
valley of the son of Hinnom. In other words, he caused his
children to pass through the fire to the false god Molech. That's right. You listen. That's not all. It says in verse
6 also that he used enchantments and witchcraft. Witchcraft. This is the king of Israel. He
dealt with a familiar spirit, with wizards. Verse 6, he wrought
much evil in the sight of God to provoke him to anger. Now,
he's not through yet. Look at verse 7. And he made a carved
image, an idol, and went to the temple and put it in the house
of God and called on Israel to worship that idol. That's a sin. You're a piker beside him. You
talk about, well, you've drunk too much and gambled and run
around and you've got name in vain. You're a piker beside this
boy. You're just dealing in tiddlywinks
beside Manasseh. And so God warned him, and he
wouldn't listen. Verse 10, And the Lord spake
to Manasseh and to the people, and they wouldn't listen. So
the Lord raised up an army, the Syrians, against him, and they
captured Manasseh. They took him alive. They found
him among the thorns, hiding him. They took him alive. This
king of Assyria took him alive and put him in fetters and chains
and made fun of him and mocked him and drug him through the
streets and put him in a dungeon and shut him up. And he lived
on nothing. And as he lay down there in the
dungeon, verse 12, and when he was in affliction, He besought
the Lord, his God. And he humbled himself before
the Lord, God of his fathers. And he prayed to the Lord, verse
13. And God heard him. Oh, how my
Lord delights to show mercy. Oh, Bartimaeus, Jesus, our son
of David, have mercy! Son, mercy's on the way. Mercy's
on the way. Republican in the temple, God
be merciful to me a sinner! That's all you got to say, it's
on the way. The thief on the cross, Lord remember me when
you come into your kingdom! Mercy's on the way. I tell you
the reason maybe you hadn't been saved is you've never been here. We shook a preacher's hand and
said we believe some doctrine. These people believed they were
lost. This man was in trouble. This man knew it. God had him
in jail. God had him at the end of his
rope. God had him at his wit's end.
God had him bound in fetters, living on bread and water, ruling
in his evil, on his way to eternal hell. And brother, he entreated
the Lord God and humbled himself before God, and God heard him.
God heard him, verse 13, and God performed a miracle. He not only heard him and was
merciful, but put him back on the throne as the King of Israel. He sure did. He sure did. And brother, I tell you, verse
16, he began to go to work. He repaired the altar of the
Lord, sacrificed peace offerings, thank offerings, and commanded
Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. Verse 19, his prayer
also, and how God was entreated of him, and all his sins and
his trespasses, and the places wherein he built high places
and set up groves and graven images before he was humble.
Behold, these things are all written in the writings of the
prophets. That's mercy, isn't it? God delights
to show mercy. I want to read you something.
This is one of the most shocking things. Turn with me, if you
will, over to the book of 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel. And what I'm saying
is this. I'm just fed up with this 2 Samuel
11 where we're going. I don't condone. I'm not condoning
sin at all. Sin crucified our Lord. We hate
sin. We want to be holy. We want to
be like Christ. But brethren, we are aware of
what sinners we are. By birth, I'm a sinner by birth. In Adam, I tried to throw God
off His throne. In that crowd at Calvary, I crucified
the Son of God. We are all equally wicked. Did
you know that? There's not some good and some
bad here. There's all bad here. There's none good. And I'm really
tired. I'm tired of hearing people say, well, he's a good man. I'm
tired of it. I wish we'd get those words out
of our vocabulary in describing this human race. Men and women are wicked in their
hearts. They hate God. They're wicked
in their hearts. And it's only by the restraining
grace of God that we're all not a bunch of devils. Did you know
that? It's only because God's restrained us, God's held us
in check, God's prevented. It's not your strength or righteousness
that's made you what you are. It's God's grace. God's grace. Now here's a man
called David. And David has been blessed, I
guess, beyond any man that God ever used prior to the New Testament,
throughout the Old Testament. I suppose God called him a man
after his own heart. Here's David who wrote the sweet
psalms of Israel. You can go on and on. The sweet
psalmist of Israel. You name all these things about
him. But David sent his army out to
fight and he stayed home. And he got in this trouble with
Bathsheba. And she became pregnant. And he's trying to cover his
sins. And he sent for her husband. Her husband was one of his gallant
warriors. He sent for him and told Joab
the general to send Uriah back home. He wanted to see him. What
he wanted to do was go home and stay with his wife so he could
think the child was his. And that didn't work. David was
in trouble. Uriah wouldn't have anything
to do with his wife while his friends were out there battling
and fighting. He wanted to go back with them. This man was
so loyal to David and so loyal to the kingdom and so loyal to
Israel and so loyal to God that he wouldn't stay home while his
friends were fighting. He said, send me back. Now what
do you think? Here's the wickedness of human
nature. David's sitting there at the
table trying to figure out, what am I going to do? What am I going
to do? People find out that child's
mine, I'm in trouble. And so he sat down and wrote
a letter. Now, I want you to think about this. 2 Samuel 11, verse
14. He'd been thinking about it all
night. Next morning, came to pass the next morning, David
wrote a letter to Joab. Now, Joab's a general. He's a
general. Get the picture that Charlie
of the Army's out there fighting. Joab's a general. Uriah's one
of his trusted men, gallant men. And David wrote a letter to Joab
and sent it by Uriah himself. He sealed it up and told Uriah
to deliver it to Joab. This is what he said in the letter.
Dear Joab, verse 15. Set you, Uriah, in the forefront
of the hottest battle. Find the hottest battle, where
the battle is raging the worst, where the strongest men are.
And then when you put him out there in the front, walk away
and leave him, that he may die. Isn't that something? That's wicked, isn't it? You're
a piker, fella. David was the first man to put
a contract out on it. It wasn't the Mafia, it was David. But I'll tell you, that happened,
and look at chapter 11. And they sent word that he was
dead. In verse 25 of chapter 11, David
sent the messenger back to Joab and said, now don't let this
upset you. Don't let this displease you. The sword devoureth one
as well as the other. Just get in there and fight,
son, and bring us home a victory. That's all it is. You'll rise
out of the way, you know. Isn't that ungodly? Here it is. But my Lord delights
to show mercy. So when Nathan came and brought
David the message, you remember in chapter 12, you read it and
you get home. But I want you to listen, chapter 12, verse
13. And David said to Nathan, I've
sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, the
Lord also hath put away thy sin, and thou shalt not die. Isn't
he merciful? Isn't he gracious? That's what I'm saying. Real
sinners. Our Lord went down in Samaria,
went down into the city of Samaria, and He found Him a real sinner.
If that woman were living in your community, that woman, now
you think about this, she'd been married five times. Five times. And she was living down the street
from you, living with a person to whom she was not married.
Boy, I tell you, the tongues would be flapping all over that
neighborhood. That'd be the conversation in the Sunday school and the
prayer meeting and all around. But I'll tell you this, when
my lord came to town, he was the one she called on. Oh, that doesn't fit in with
our religion. It just doesn't fit in. That's the one he called on.
And then there's another town called the Gatorines. And there's
a bunch of pious people in that town, too. And there's a fellow
there that was crazy. They said he was. And he couldn't
get clothes on. He took all his clothes off.
So they finally, they'd chain him and put him out there running
in the cemetery. I don't know why they put him
in the cemetery, you know. That's where he was. And the Lord came
to town. And he went out there and saved
that fellow. Now, we just wouldn't take our evangelistic team out
there to visit him. That's amazing. It's so contrary,
the way we operate. The Lord delights to show mercy,
and He's going where His mercy will be greatly magnified. And
if He can find in this outfit somebody that needs Him, He's
going to minister to them. Because he's going to get the
glory. And then he went to Jericho. He went to Jericho. And now that
was a city known for many pious men. And when our Lord went to
Jericho, there was a little old fellow there that was called
Zacchaeus. And nobody liked him. Nobody
liked him. Everybody was against him. And
he climbed up a tree so he could see the Lord. And the Lord was
passing through the town. And he stopped under that tree
and told Zacchaeus to come down and go home with him, go and
eat supper with him. And God saved him. And then our
Lord went to... Now this, you think all that's
amazing. There was a Pharisee. This was
Simon, the Pharisee. Now he and his town was the most
respected, admired gentlemen of the cloth. And he invited
the Lord for his pleasure, some reason, to come to his house
and eat supper. He didn't have any respect for Christ, or regard
for Christ, or love for Christ, because when the Lord came in
the door, he didn't extend to him even the common courtesies
of the day. He didn't give him any water to wash his feet, or
to wash his hands and refresh himself, no greeting, no oil
for his hot, dry hair. The Lord came in, and he was
kind of sporting with him a little bit, I imagine, don't you? Trying
to attract him. And while all those fellas were
enjoying their religious feast and meal and probably discussing
how many they had in Sunday school last Sunday, you know, and how
big their plant was. How big's your plant? You know,
that's always a question. How many of you are in Sunday
school? And this door opened and a prostitute
came in. This was a woman who sold her
body. who was a common, ordinary harlot. She came in and fell at his feet
and began to bathe his feet with tears and dry them with the hair
of her head and kiss his feet. And bless your heart, the Lord
Jesus Christ passed by every Pharisee and every moral religionist
there and bestowed his mercy and grace on that dear woman.
His mercy. Daughter, go and sin no more. But all your sins are forgiven."
Our Lord went to the cross. I could just keep this up. You
go to Hosea sometime and read Hosea. Let me read you that over
there just a moment in the book of Hosea, chapter 3. The Lord
Jesus Christ, Lord God Almighty, commanded one of his prophets
here to marry a harlot. He told him to marry her. Why?
Look at chapter 3, verse 1. Then said the Lord unto me, Go
yet, love a woman, beloved of her friend, an adulteress. Now
here's the key to it. According to the love of God
toward the children of Israel who are prostituted to other
gods. That's exactly what he's saying.
I'm going to show you, he says, I'm going to show you the love
of God, the mercy of God. And he sent one of his prophets
down there to a land of prostitutes. This whole race of people where
she was raised, that was their common way of making a living.
And he married her and brought her home and she left him. You
know how it was, Gestover. You know how it went on. She
left him. He still loved her. He'd bring wine and food to her
door and leave it. She didn't even live with him.
She bore him to her three children and left him. She was just a
town plaything. She just tossed about from this
one to that one to the other. But he kept on bringing her food
to eat and wine to drink and all the things she needed and
leaving it outside the door because he loved her. Hosea did. Her
name was Gomer. And finally, finally she became nothing. Nobody
had anything to do with it. She became wretched and ugly.
And nobody wondered. They were going to sell her on
the block as a slave. They were going to sell Gomer. And that's when the Lord came
to him in chapter 3 and said, Go buy her. Go buy her. And old
Hosea came down there and there she stood, stripped, up there
on the block. The whole town was around there.
That's his wife. That's his mother of his children.
Barna, the worst kind of woman. Everybody was jeering and laughing.
There's your wife up there, Hosea. You don't want anything to do
with her, do you? He said, what's the bid? What's the bid? He said, I'll
bid higher. You're going to buy her? She's
no good. Well, we're no good, but God
bought us. You mean you still love that
woman? Still love her. That's what he said. So verse
2 says, I bought her. I bought her for 15 pieces of
silver. an omer of barley and a hat omer
of barley, and I said to her, you shall abide for me many days.
I shall not play the harlot, I shall not be for another man,
so will I also be for thee." He took her home. He bought her
right off the block. And God said, that's the way
I love my people. That's the way. And brother,
if I could, I don't know any other way to tell you that God's
mercy is for sinners. He shows it all the way through
the Word. In our text, Romans 5, I don't know any other way
to put it than the way Paul has put it right here. God commended
His love toward us in that while we were sinners, sinners. Your
sin is not amazing. Don't come around and tell me
what you did. Just forget it. You don't half
realize what you've done. And it's not those outward shenanigans. I'll tell you what it is. It's
that wickedness of your heart that God's angry with. I think
folks just like to brag about what they did by talking about
the outward shenanigans. Boy, I used to be the biggest
so forth and so on and so on. No, you're no bigger sinner than
anybody else. To offend in one part of the
law is to be guilty of the whole law. We're just looking at the
tip of the iceberg. All of the bigness of our sins
is underneath that we can't see and nobody else can see. I remember
reading Whitefield one time. He said a man came to him and
wanted to talk to him about salvation. And Whitefield said, well, just
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and I shall be saved. Believe
on Christ. Receive Christ. He saved sinners. Oh, the man said, Mr. Whitefield,
he said, oh, he said, I've been such a drunk. And he explained
how he'd done all these things, how he'd sold his wife's wedding
ring for drink, Now, he'd mortgaged his furniture to get drink and
all that. Whitfield says, is that all?
He said, what do you mean, is that all? He said, is that all?
Well, the man says, no. He said, I've just laid out at
night in the gutter. I've stolen. I've stolen from
people, gone into their homes and stolen their property and
sold it. Whitfield says, is that all? Is that all? Yes, is that all? The man said,
well, no, that's not all. I've cursed God. I've used God's
name in vain. You can't believe how I've used
God's name in vain. Westfield says, is that all?
Is that all? Why, he said, what do you mean,
is that all? He said, is that all? The man said, well, no,
that's not all. And he began to talk about how one time he
got in a fight and killed a man. He just kept getting worse. And
every time he'd say something, Westfield would just look at
him and say, is that all? And finally the man says, well, he
said, that's all. But Phil said, you listen to
me. I've listened to you give an account of all your rebellion,
but you hadn't mentioned one time the chief sin of man's heart. You haven't yet touched that
sin which God Almighty despises above all sins. You hadn't said
a thing about unbelief. Unbelief. Unbelieve. He that believeth not shall be
damned. He said, God will save a drunk.
God will save a blasphemer. God will save a thief. God will
save a murderer. He won't save an unbeliever.
You see what I'm saying? The thing between you and God,
not the fact you stole a watermelon, you've made God a liar. You haven't
believed. You haven't fallen on your face
and believed. This Samaritan woman believed!
This harlot believed! This thief believed! I go right
on through the word. These men believed. They believed
Christ, embraced Christ. So the problem that the Holy
Spirit must solve is to bring men and women to own their evil
hearts and to justify God's righteousness. And when they do, and like old
Manasseh of old, they entreat God. having humbled themselves
before Him and believe in His grace, they find Him to be gracious. This gospel is for sinners. Turn
to Job 33. Let me read this for a quick.
Job 33. Job 33. And I wish, if it could
do anything tonight, along with impressing upon you that my Lord
delights to show mercy. along with impressing upon you
that Christ died for sinners, along with giving in this congregation,
men and women who are bona fide sinners and know it, some hope,
some hope, some refreshing, gracious hope. May I also do this, if
I could just bring you and I and everybody here to see something
of what sin is. Sin is a nature, it's a principle. It's like when our preacher said
last night in the service, these things that we do outwardly,
they're wrong. We don't condone them, they're wrong. The words
we say and the deeds we do are wrong. But these things are all
motivated by a sinful heart. That's where God deals with us,
sinful heart. And I may restrain myself outwardly,
and I should, and I will, by God's grace, avoid every appearance
of evil, keep my body in subjection. Paul said, lest when preaching
to others I become a castaway. Do those things, but remember,
we're not for God's grace what you do. Kindly remember that. And when you're so harsh and
critical and condemning of everybody around you, kindly remember you
are what you are by the grace of God. And you do what you do
by the grace of God. Anything this side of hell is
mercy. Mercy. Mercy. And in Job 33, listen
to this, verse 24, Read down here verse 27. Verse 27. He looketh upon men, and if any
man say, I have sinned, I have sinned, any woman, boy or girl,
I have perverted. Oh, we don't want to use that
word, do we? But we have perverted that which is right. Maybe outwardly
I've been the very example of morality. But boy, I know inside
I've rebelled, I've resisted, I've coveted, I've ended, I've
hated, I've sought vengeance, I've spoken against God, I've
blasphemed, I've wanted my way inside. There's not a demon in
hell any more rebellious than I've been. I've sinned, I've
perverted that which was right, and it profiteth me not. He shall
deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see
the light. Verse 24, Then he is gracious
unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down into the
pit. I have found a ransom. I need a ransom. I need a Redeemer. I need one to restore my soul.
I stand before you tonight and say with the Apostle Paul, I
am the chief of sinners. But when I read God's Word and
the promises of His Word and the gospel of His Son, I know
this, my Lord delights to show mercy. And where sin did abound,
overflow, sin did overflow, overflowed the banks. It not only ran in
a channel, it has overflowed the banks. Where sin did overflow,
His grace did much more overflow. His grace is greater than my
sin. Actually, my sin magnifies His grace, Jack. When Paul preached
that, somebody said, whoo, shall we sin that grace may abound?
No. Oh, you'll have to work that out later. But I do know that
my Lord gets glory from saving sinners. He gets glory. So come ye sinners, come ye sinners,
poor and needy. Weak and wounded, sick and sore,
Jesus ready stands to save you, full of pity, love, and power. He's able. He's able. He's willing. Doubt no more.
Come ye need Him. Come and welcome. God's free
bounty glorify. True belief and true repentance.
Every grace that brings you nigh without money. Come to Christ
and buy. Let not conscience make you linger.
nor a fitness-fondly dream. All the fitness he requires is
to feel your need of him.