Now let's open our Bibles again
to the book of Exodus, chapter 32. Moses left the camp on God's
orders and went into the mountain along with Joshua. And while he was there in the
mountain, The Lord gave him the Ten Commandments, the scripture
says back here in chapter 31, the last verse, written with
the finger of God, Exodus 31.18. He also gave him the design of
the tabernacle. He was up there a good while,
forty days, the scripture says. Left the people down in the valley. The people began to get restless.
And they came to Avon and they said, this man Moses, we don't
know what's become of him. He's probably never coming back.
Make us gods. This fellow Moses is gone. We
don't know what's become of him. We need gods to lead us, so make
us gods, that we may worship them. And Aaron told the people
to bring their gold, their earrings and other gold, and he made them
a golden calf. And then they began to worship
that calf. They built an altar before the
calf, and the people danced around the calf. And it was about this
time that Moses started down from the mountain with Joshua,
carrying the two tables of stone written with the finger of God.
Thou shalt have no other God before me. Thou shalt not make
unto thee any graven image. Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain." He was carrying these very laws
written by the finger of God down the mountain when Joshua
said, I hear noise of battle, warfare. And Moses says, that's
not warfare I hear. That's not the cry of those who
prevail, nor the cry of those who are overcome. That's singing and dancing. And as Joshua and Moses came
down from the mountain, they beheld this sight. There were
the people of Israel dancing around an idol, made like unto the idols of Egypt,
a golden calf. on a pedestal with an altar before
it. And they had eaten and drunk,
and they rose up to play, and there was dancing and music and
singing and revelry in the camp. And Moses was so angry with righteous
indignation. Now, Moses had just prayed for
these people. Back here, if you'll read chapter
32, God told him, I'm going to destroy these people. I'm going
to destroy them. Look at verse 10. God says, leave me alone, Moses,
chapter 32, leave me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against
these people and I may consume them and I'll make of you a great
nation. And Moses besought the Lord God and said, Lord, why
dost thou wrath wax hot against thy people which thou hast brought
out of Egypt with great power of the mighty hand? What will
the Egyptians say? They'll say, for mischief you
brought them out, to slay them in the mountains and consume
them from the face of the earth. Turn from thy fierce wrath. Repent
of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and
Israel, thy servants. And in verse 14, and the Lord
repented of the evil that he thought to bring upon his people. Now, this had happened before
Moses saw what was going on. He had just prayed for these
people, he had just gotten the commandments of God. He had just poured out
his very soul to God on behalf of these people. And he walked
down the mountain and this is what he saw. Idolatry. Pure idolatry. There were the
people of Israel not worshiping the Lord God, not offering peace
offerings and burnt offerings to the Lord God, signifying the
sacrifice of Christ our Redeemer, but worshiping an animal. a four-footed
beast, and dancing in their nakedness and shame before that cave. And Moses just threw the Ten
Commandments down and broke them to pieces. And he came storming
down into that camp, and he took that cave, and he said, grind
that thing to powder. And they ground it to powder.
He said, throw it upon the water there, and they scattered the
powder of gold upon the water, and I said, Drink of it! And
they drank of it. And then came the great challenge
of our text. Moses stepped back, and he shouted,
Who is on the Lord's side? They're similar to that cry of
the prophet of God when he said, Choose you this day whom you'll
serve, the Lord God or the idols which your fathers worshiped.
Who is on the Lord's side? Let him come to me. And when
the sons of Levi, who became the priest of Israel, who served
about the tabernacle, when they stepped over beside Moses, he
turned to them and said, Put on your swords, strap on your
swords, every man up here. Now you go out among the people
and every man kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.
Wipe out the idolatry in this camp." And those men went forth
and 3,000 men fell that day beneath the swords of the Levites. And for a time, idolatry was
stamped out of Israel, for a time. This is what's amazing. It was
only for a time, too. Moses was only gone 40 days.
And this is what took place. Aaron summed it up back in verse
22. He said, Moses, you needn't get
so upset. You needn't get so angry. You
know the people. It ought not surprise you. This
ought not surprise you. You know people. You know their
hearts are set on mischief. You know their hearts. You know,
folks, you ought to know them by now. Moses, you've been in
this long enough. You're a hundred years old. You
ought to know people. Their hearts are set on mischief.
The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.
You know, people, even David said, God knows our hearts, he
knows our frame, he knows what does. Every imagination of man's heart
is evil. If the Lord had not left us a
remnant, we'd be like Sodom and Gomorrah, do you believe that?
That's so. That's what Aaron said. lessen his responsibility, it
certainly didn't wipe out his terrible sin, but he's just stating
a fact here. You've been gone 40 days, Moses,
that's long enough. That's long enough for indifference
to set in. That's long enough for carelessness
to set in. That's long enough for idolatry
to set in. That's long enough for Satan
to implant a beachhead and even run up his flag. You know, people,
I don't know why you're so upset. And I say this to you, every,
it's a shame, but every generation and every nation and every church
and every town and every home and every family needs a Moses
to continually, continually challenge every person, every person who
claims to be one of God's own with this challenge. Are you
really on the Lord's side? Are you really on the Lord's
side? Blessed are those men who would
rather be a voice in the wilderness than to hold an office in the
temple. Blessed are those men who never
question whether the way of the Lord will pay or not. Blessed are those men who are
not bought off, who cannot be bought off. either by principalities,
powers, politicians, or Pharisees. They are determined to know nothing
but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Blessed are those men who have
their eyes on the glory of God and the glory of God only, not
promotion, possession, or praise. Blessed are those men who have
seen God in His holiness, Christ in His sufficiency, themselves
in their sinfulness and the land in its uncleanness. Blessed are
those men who choose the reproach of the Lord, who rejoice in the
afflictions of the Lord, who welcome the offense of the cross,
who dare to go to him without the cape. All will not hear But the sheep
of Christ will, he said, my sheep will hear my voice. All will
not come to God, all will not welcome his words, but the sheep
of Christ will. And there must be a prophet,
there must be. There must be a prophet who dares
to declare the issue, the issue. What is the issue? Moses declared
the issue right here. Who's on the Lord's side? That's
the whole thing summed up. Who's on the Lord's side? Now it's not, the issue is not
getting a religious crowd together. Now I want you to note this.
The issue is not getting a religious crowd together. If you look at
verse 1 of chapter 32, they had a religious crowd. They had a
big crowd. I hear people who put great emphasis
on crowds, how many were there. This is impressive because of
how many are there, they say. Well, they had a crowd. This
is not the issue. It says here that the people,
when Moses delayed to come down out of the mountain, the people
gathered themselves together under Aaron. There was a big
crowd. And it was a religious crowd.
They said, make us gods. Man, even natural man's got to
have a god. He's got to have a God. This
vast multitude gathered unto Aaron, and they gathered to worship.
They said, Make us gods. Look at verse 4, And he received
this gold at their hands, and fashioned it with a graven tool,
and made them a god, and said, These be your gods, O Israel.
Here's your god, worship this god. That's not the issue. The crowds are not the issue.
Worship is not even the issue. All men worship something or
someone. All men by nature are religious.
It's not getting people to the altar. Look here at verse 5.
Aaron saw it, built an altar. He built an altar for the people.
This is not the problem. This is not the issue. It's not
getting religious crowds together. It's not having 900 in Sunday
school. You can have 900. All you got
to do is give 900 bicycles away, or something like that. All you
got to do is give 900 new footballs, or 900 new basketballs, or 900
$5 bills. For $4,500 you have $900 in Sunday
school, there's no problem there. Offer a man something. He's religious,
he wants to be religious. It's no problem at all. It's
no problem to get people to come to worship something or someone. It's no problem to get people
to an altar. It makes them feel good to come
to an altar. peace to come to an altar, it
gives them some security to come to an altar, it gives them some
sort of refuge if they come to an altar. Abraham built an altar
in front of a cave and got the whole shooting match down to
that altar. Rededicating, re-consecrating,
re-something else, they all went to the altar. And it's no problem
to get them to bring an offering either. And they rose up early
on the morrow and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
It's no problem to get an offering. I hear these fellows trying to
prove God's with them by the crowd they have, by the number
of decisions they have at the altar, and the amount of money
they take in. That's no problem. This whole
idolatrous outfit was taking up offerings. Peace offerings,
burnt offerings, cash offerings, gold offerings, silver offerings.
They brought it. No problem. Yeah, but you say
they had fellowship. They sure did. Look here. And
the people sat down together. They had a potluck supper. And
they drank. And they rose up to play softball.
That's right. They all played. Oh, we have
a softball team and a basketball team. I get numbers of calls
every day wanting to know if we want to enter the church league. What are you doing for young
people? Trying to preach the gospel to them. Trying to get
them ready to die. Trying to get them ready to stand
before God at the judgment. Trying to keep them out of hell,
that's what we're trying our best to do. Trying to get them
to know Jesus Christ, that's what we're trying to do for them.
But here's the whole modern religious movement right here. The great
gathering, they all came to Awan. They didn't come to Christ, they
came to Awan. They didn't come to God, they
came to Aaron. And Brother Aaron built them
an altar and Aaron gave them a God, Aaron designed a God for
them. Aaron didn't point them to the
Lord God. Aaron didn't preach the sovereign God. Aaron didn't
declare the God of glory. He made them a God like they
wanted. And I'll guarantee you it's easy
to find a preacher who will preach a God to you that will just fit
your imagination of God. And they took up an offering.
And they built them a God, and they got them an altar, and they
all went to the altar, and they offered burnt offerings and peace
offerings, and then they played. Oh, we had good fellowship. A good time was enjoyed by all. Everybody shook hands and hugged
and embraced one another. These folks were having a big
time. A big time. And I'll tell you
this. These folks were ten million
miles from the Lord God, ten million miles. And Moses came
down and declared the issue, this is the issue, it's not crowds,
it's not altars, it's not decisions, it's not offerings, it's not
rising up to play, it's not fellowship, it's not peace, it's not love,
it's who in his heart of hearts, who in his soul of souls, is
on God's side, 100% sold out, unconditionally surrendered,
committed for life, for time and eternity, God's side. That's what Moses wanted to know.
And brother, that has to be decided every day. This very outfit was the ones
that put the blood on the door just a short time ago. That's
right. This outfit right here was the
very folks that walked through the Red Sea on dry land. This
outfit here is the very folks that drank from the smitten rock
and ate the bread from heaven. And Moses had to come to them
again and again and again and say, who are we going to thin
these ranks down? He said, I'm going to find out
who's really on the Lord's side. Now, what is the Lord's side?
Well, let me tell you this. I've been in this thing a little
while, and I've come to this conclusion.
The Lord's side is not communism versus capitalism. That's right, Brother Terry,
that's not the issue. That's not the issue. The capitalists
hate God just as much as the communists do. They just got
him a false God. a God of greed and selfishness. That's right. Let's tell the
truth. The issue is not even premillennialism
versus amillennialism. Neither one of them know what's
going to happen tomorrow, let alone when Christ comes. That's
right. That's not the issue. The issue
is not liberalism versus fundamentalism. That's not the issue. The liberals hate verbal inspiration,
and the fundamentalists believe in it, and both of them hate
sovereign grace. That's right. That's not the issue. The issue
is not even Calvinism versus Pelagianism. You know what the
issue is? It's four-hole. And it's a personal
issue. It's not a worldwide thing that's
going to be settled by some by some politician or some great
organization or preacher. It's an issue that's settled
in an individual's heart between him and the Lord God. It will
be settled right here this morning. It's fourfold. Number one, the
issue is scripture versus tradition. It's this book against your religious
tradition. Now, I know what tradition says
about creation. But what does God say? He said,
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. I
know what tradition says about the fall and about sin, but what
does God say? God says, By one man sin entered
the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men. I know what tradition says about
the will of man. But what does God say? You will
not come to me that you might have lie. That's what God says. It's not of him that winneth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. I
know what tradition says about the election of grace. God voted
for you and the devil voted against you, and you cast it aside and
vote. But what does God say? God says, Of his own will begat
he us with the word of truth. The scripture says, I thank God,
beloved, for you, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the
world. I know what tradition says about the atonement of Christ.
It was a general atonement that atoned for nobody. It was a general
redemption that redeemed nobody. But what does the scripture say,
what does God say? I lay down my life for my sheep,
and they shall never perish. I know what tradition says about
eternal life, but what does God say? Eternal life is to know
God, the living God, in Jesus Christ whom he has sent. I know
what tradition says about the life of faith, but what does
God say when Christ, who is our life, shall appear? He is the
life of faith. The life of faith is not mechanics,
the life of faith is a person. I travail, Paul said, to Christ
be formed in you. Christ is our life. Salvation
is a living, vital, personal, intimate union with a living
Lord. And this thing of the Lord's
side is scripture against tradition. And you can't have both. You've
got to bow to the book, or you've got to bow to man's own thoughts,
and they're not God's thoughts. Secondly, what is the Lord's
side? It's scripture against tradition.
Secondly, it's free grace against free will. I can't be both. Who saved you? Was there a preacher? God saved me. Did he do it on
purpose, or was it an accident? Well, he did it on purpose. That's
free grace. Did you choose God or did he
choose you? Well, God chose me. When did he choose you? Well,
he chose me before the foundation of the world. Well, why did he
choose you? Well, according to the good pleasure of his own
will. That's free grace. You know, the scripture says
in John 1, verse 11, he came to his own, he came to the Jews,
he came to the tabernacle, he came to the synagogue. And they
didn't receive him. He came as a fulfillment of all
the prophecies and promises and pictures and types of the Old
Testament. They turned him down. But, as many as received him,
in his office, Prophet Phaiston King, in his deity, in his manhood,
in his sacrifice, in his sovereignty, in his saving character, as many
as received him. To them gave he the right, the
privilege, to become sons of God, sons of God, as many as
believed on his name, and they were born, not of blood, that
is, not of family inheritance, not of the will of the flesh,
not of the will and born of God. Salvations of the Lord, amazing
grace, free grace. How sweet the sound that saved
a wretch like me! I once was lost, oh so lost,
so lost! But now I'm found. I was blind.
I didn't lose the sight in one eye, I was blind. I wasn't hobbling
around on one leg, I was totally lame. I wasn't sick now unto
death, I was dead and buried. I was a captive. I was blind,
but now I see. I love Christ because he first
loved me. That's free grace. Yes, I sought
the Lord because he sought me. That's free grace. I called on
Christ, I called on Christ. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. I called, you called. but because
he called me first. That's free grace. God had chosen
the foolish, God had chosen the weak, God had chosen the base,
God had chosen the things that are not to bring to note the
things that are. Free grace, that's God's side. Free will, that's idolatry. Will worship. What's the third
thing? Who's on the Lord's side? It's
scripture against tradition. This is God's side. Thus saith
the Lord. I don't understand it. I don't
expect you to. You'd have to be God to comprehend
God. Who can find out God? Why, it's
higher than the heavens. What can you know? It's deeper
than hell. What can you know? The man who knows more than any
man that ever lived on this earth just knew in part. The man that
preached more truth than any man who ever lived just preached
in part. Whether it was Paul, or Peter,
or James, or John, or Spurgeon, or Whitefield, or Knox, or whoever,
he only preached in part. He was just a man telling what
he knew. We believe. But I'll tell you this, turn
to Romans 10. Who's on the Lord's side? It's
Christ's righteousness versus or against my righteousness.
That's the issue. That's the issue. Scripture against
tradition. Free grace against free will.
There's just two kinds of religion, never has been but two, since
King and April. Grace and works. Why, you can
call them all you want to. I know there's a half a hundred
different denominations, but there's just two. Free grace
and free will. Salvation by grace or salvation
by works? Salvation that God does or salvation
that man accomplishes? Just two. This is God's side,
free grace. And it's Christ's righteousness
against my righteousness. Look at chapter 10, verse 1.
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that
they might be saved. My heart's broken, Paul said,
for my brethren according to the flesh. I want to see them
saved. I want to see them know God. I bear them record. They
have a zeal of God. They're religious. They're religious. Everybody's religious. Why, they
meet every Sabbath day, and they give their offerings, and they
go through the motions, and they go through some form of ceremony,
worship, ritualism. They have a zeal of God. But
they're ignorant, it's not according to knowledge, for they're ignorant
of God's righteousness. This is what they're ignorant
of, not God's existence, but God's righteousness. They're
not ignorant of God's law, they know there's a law, but they're
ignorant of the way that law's satisfied. They're not ignorant
of the existence of heaven and hell and judgment and all these
things, but they're ignorant of God's righteousness. And they're
going about to establish to create a righteousness of their own,
it may amaze you to find out that you might be doing that. It just might amaze you. I want
to please God. In the flesh, no man can please
God. Isn't that what says God? Well, I want to do those things
that are pleasing unto the Lord. In my flesh dwelleth no good
thing, Paul said. God's not pleased with anything
you think, say, do or give outside of Christ. Brother, let me tell
you something. This is the whole problem right
here. He says they're trying to establish a righteousness,
a basis of acceptance. They're trying to find a plateau,
or a place, a position. of religion or worship or goodness
or preaching or giving or something on which God will look down and
say, that's a fine boy. You've done your best. And you've
given your best. And I'm going to look with favor
upon you. I wish I could make it plain.
Look at verse 4. Christ is the end of the lawful
righteousness to everyone that believe it. I wish I could make
this plain. I wish I could make this play.
This was the Pharisees, their religion. This was the heart
and essence of their religion. They believed in God. They believed
in the scriptures. They believed in the sacrifices.
They believed in the blood. That is, the blood sacrifice.
They carried these things on. They gave their ten percent.
They kept their Sabbath days. They didn't commit adultery,
steal, kill, and so forth. And they felt that God ought
to look with favor upon them. And our Lord said, except your
righteousness exceed theirs. He didn't say come up to it,
or almost meet it, or equal it, or on par with it, but except
your righteousness exceed that of the most moral, strict, religionist,
and Pharisee that ever lived. You shall not enter the kingdom
of God." And the disciples were astonished. They said, Well,
who can be saved? Who can be saved? And he said,
With me, and it's impossible. Impossible. My friend, and I
want to word this as kindly as I can, if you spent the rest of your
life in the heart of Africa as a missionary, taking your family,
doing without, sacrificing, living on bark and husk, and bared your
children, and accepted it as the providence of God. If you
never in your life ever said another curse word, drank another
drop of intoxicating beverage, if you never had another fight
in your life with anybody, If you were so kind in your words
and your deeds and your thoughts, and they made a statue of you
and made you a saint, God would send you to hell for being an
ungodly sinner. Did you know that? Now, I don't
have to explain that to you. But God doesn't look on the outward
countenance, God looks on the heart. And man and Adam fell. And man became a contaminated,
corrupted, depraved creature. filled with a principle and nature
and root of sin, selfishness, ungodliness. And sin is not just
outward, it's inward, it's the very existence of flesh. You
see, if we compare what you do with this man that went to Africa
and this man that gave his life, you're saying he's the best of
men. But man at his best state is altogether vanity. And you're
comparing him with me and you say he's better than anybody.
Wait a minute now. What's the basis of judgment,
Jay? God's righteousness. God's holiness. God's holiness. And before you
I may be the best. You may be the best. But before
God I'm the chief of sinners. And I've got to have a righteousness.
Listen to me, please, for your soul's sake. Listen to me. God's not going to judge you
on the basis of what you gave or did, because your righteousnesses
are filthy rags in God's sight. You never prayed an unselfish
prayer in your life, and I never have either. Who do you pray
for? You pray for your own family,
your own kids, your own loved ones, or your own church. No,
I don't know many people that are weeping for the folks in
Mexico or the folks in France or the folks in Spain or the
folks in Russia. I don't know many folks that
are giving away their cloaks and walking the second mile and
loving their enemies and beating their enemies. I don't know many
folks. We have a righteousness if we're
in Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ came down
here in the flesh on this earth as a man, and he did what you
are required to do but can't do. He did what God commands
you to do. I hear preachers say, God asked
you to do this. God never asked you to do anything.
God tells you what to do. I might ask you to do something,
and Jay might, and the deacons might, but God never asked you
to do anything. I hear preachers say, well God
wants his people to do this. God doesn't want anything. God
commands. God commands. You thought I was just like yourself.
That's what God said. That's our whole problem. We've
got, we're trying to bring God down here so we can understand
God. So we can preach him so everybody else can understand
him. You can't understand God. You just believe God. That's
what Abraham did. You believe him. And you receive
Christ as your righteousness. This is the issue. Who's on the
Lord's side? This is the issue! It's Christ's
righteousness, alone, complete, totally! Or am I? You've got to stand in one of
those. And God's not going to mix them. The Lord Jesus Christ
doesn't make up your shortage. He doesn't make up where you
fail. He doesn't bring in what you
can't produce. He's all and in all! He's not Lord at all. You've
got to stand totally with Christ, in Christ, depending on Christ,
trusting Christ, building on Christ, or stand on your own.
That's what Moses said. Moses didn't draw a demilitarized
zone out there and say, you folks haven't quite made up your mind,
you can stand over there. You folks that are wrestling
between grace and works, you stand right there. You preachers
that believe it in the study and won't preach it in the pulpit
stand right there. No, so he said, who is on the
Lord's side? Let him come! 100% to me. To me. Is Christ righteousness
totally, completely, absolutely? Or eternal wrath? Because if
God finds in you one taint, one iota, one atom of ungodliness,
he'll have to banish you from his kingdom. Because a little
leaven leavened a whole lot. If God took me to heaven like
I am right now, I'd turn heaven into hell in about six months.
Do you know that? You would too. You would too. The only ones that are going
to heaven, the only ones who are going to be in glory, and
that's what everybody seems to be interested in now, they don't
want to know Christ, but they want to go to heaven, but the
only ones who are going to heaven are those who are just like Christ. I mean from the sole of their
feet to the top of their heads, robed in his righteousness, washed
in his blood, and that purifying, cleansing blood puts away all
sin. And you know what God's got to
do before he can even take me there? He's got to kill my body
and put it in a grave and make me a brand new one. A brand new
one. And I'll tell you this, you're
not going to stand before him in glory, in his presence, without
a new body and a new nature. And the very same thing is true
right here. I can't even call on him now
without being in the body of Christ and in the nature of my
Lord. See, I'm baptized into the body
of Christ by the Spirit of God. And that enables me right now,
even to, God would strike me down and send me to hell for
even using that word I just used, the word God. Because there's
no way I can use it so as to glorify him like he ought to
be glorified. But if you break this thing down, if you keep
on coming down and understanding what sin is, there's sin in our
usage of words. There's sin in our very response
to reading the word. There's sin in our very need
of prayer. Sin. The fourth thing, what is
the God side? Who's on the Lord's side? It's
the life of the cross. Now listen to me. It's the life
of the cross against the life of self. Now there are a lot
of theories about Christian life. You hear preachers talk about
carnal Christians and spiritual Christians. You hear people talk
about receiving Christ as your savior. And later on, at your
convenience, if you want to, it's not necessary, but you can
make him your Lord. Men talk of trying to get Christians
to pray. Oh, if Christians would only
pray. My friend, I've got something to tell you. There's no Christian
who doesn't pray. Now, I hear this all the time.
I hear preachers saying, oh, if my people would only love
each other. Your people don't, but God's
people do. God's people do love each other. They do. Because I read over there in
the Bible where it says, if you don't love the president, you
don't love God. Isn't that what it says? I believe that's what
that says. I hear preachers say, oh, it's my people, we're the
only witness. Your people never will, because
they got nothing to say. But God's people will, because
they met the Lord. And they'd bust if they didn't
tell somebody about him. That's right. They'd bust wide
open if they couldn't tell us. God's people are going to witness.
Your people aren't. But God's people will. Oh, if
my people would only attend the worship services, if they'd only
come worship God. God's people will. Or you can't
drive them away with a stick. Just tell them you're going to
talk about Christ and they'll crowd around you like bees around honey. Yeah, come on, tell me some more
about him. I love him. You want to get my attention?
Bruce talked about getting my attention last night. I tell
you how I get my attention. Talk about my granddaughter. I listen
to you. I'm the most unbiased person
in the congregation. That's what Bob says. But you
want to get a believer's attention, Charlie? Talk about his Lord.
Tell him you're going to have somebody here the next Wednesday
night to preach about Christ. They'll be here to hear him.
Your people won't, but God's people will. They'll be here. Tell them you're going to have
a conference, you're going to bring preachers in from everywhere and they're
going to talk about the Lord! They'll be here. You say, why
don't you advertise? Why don't you get people, why
don't you go out and try to bring people in? Let me tell you something. Motive means more than anything
else. More than anything else. And I'll tell you what a man
wants when he loves Christ. I hear preachers say, well, he's
a praying Christian, there ain't no other kind. Well, he's a born-again
Christian. You mean to sum it not born-again?
Well, I mean he's a Christian that really loves the Lord. You
mean to sum it don't? We've messed this up, haven't
we? Listen to Moses again, listen again, hearken, who is on the
Lord's side? Not who approves of it, who's
on it. Not who's giving it some thought,
but who's on it. Turn to Luke 14. Let me show
you something. You say you're making this thing,
you're making it too narrow. You're making the ways too straight.
Well, let's see if we are. Let's see what our Lord says.
That's our reference material. Somebody said, what body of divinity
do you recommend? I don't know of any other body
of divinity to you. In Luke 14, verse 26, Christ
said, If any man come to me, and that's where I've got to
get to Christ, I've got to come to Christ, come unto me, I'll
give you rest, give you peace, save your soul. If any man come
to me and hate not his father, and his mother, and his wife,
and his children, and his sisters, yeah, and his own wife also. He cannot be my disciple. Did I read that wrong, John?
Did I read it like he said it? That's what Christ said. And
brother, they scattered like flies. He didn't want to hear
that. They wanted to hear a sermon
on meet mother in heaven. They wanted to hear a sermon
on how good they were and how pious they were and how much
God needed them. And how God couldn't get along
without him. And whosoever, verse 27, doth not bear his cross,
what is the cross? The emblem of death. Crucifying
self, nailing her to the cross. And come after me, he cannot
be my disciple. Brethren, I've tried to tell
you the truth. I want you to go back to Exodus 32 one more
time. I've tried to tell you the truth.
And a lot of folks are going to stand in heaven. I don't want
to be one of them. I don't want you to be. Lord, we preached
in your name and cast out devils and did many wonderful works.
We impressed a lot of people. I never knew you. I never knew
you. Who's on the Lord's side? The devil will give you a lot
of issues to play with. What he's doing is sidetracking
you, taking you away from the simplicity of Christ. about you
playing religious games and building altars and making idols and dancing
and playing, rising up to play, he doesn't care about that. But
I tell you when he gets upset is when folks begin to draw straws,
choose up and take sides, and declare this book, and declare
Christ's righteousness, and declare free grace, and declare the life
of the cross, the life of the cross. You say, but the cross
is death, it's death to self and life to Christ. That's right. See, resurrection follows death.
Resurrection. Paul said, that's what he said,
that I may know Christ and be found in him, that I may know
Christ and be conformed to the life of his resurrected life,
be conformed to his resurrection, his resurrected life. All right,
what's the marks of those on the Lord's side? I'm preaching
too long, but I'm going to sum it up right here. Ronnie asked
me yesterday, he said, you preaching Wednesday? I said, yes, sir,
the Lord willing. He said, well, I'll put Wednesday's tapes on
today. I said, I'll bet it'll be both sides today. So that's
what it'll probably be. Just one sermon on this tape.
But I want you to see something here. The marks are those on
the Lord's side. He said, look at it. Who? Who? Moses said,
who? Let's find out who. How are we
going to find out? Confession. That's the first
mark. The first mark of a believer
is he's not ashamed of his Lord. No, sir. You can't separate faith
and conduct. You can't separate belief and
obedience. The Lord of glory is too great
to be secretly worshipped. If a man is on God's side, he'll
tell you. That's right. The truth of God
deserves to be a bold declaration. Secondly, Moses said, let him
come to me. Who's on the Lord's side? The
fellow says, I am! You come on over here. You come
on over here. Moses represented God. Moses
had the message of God. Moses gave the call of God, and
those who heard it and believed it stood with him. They were
identified with him. Find out where the message is,
and you'll go hear it. Find out where the banner flies. Find out! Where the banner of
Christ is playing, and get under it. Find out where the people
of God pray, and pray with them. Huh? That's right. Moses says,
let him come to me. Let him come to me. Alright,
thirdly. Now Moses said, put on your sword. Verse 27, put
every man on his sword. What is the sword? For you and
me, it's the word of God. Put on the word of God. And with
your sword, you smite the enemy of God. Now preacher, let's just
worship God here and leave folks alone. And who's used to getting
on television and telling people that worshiping Mary is idolatry
and kissing crosses is idolatry and And decisionism is not regeneration,
and church membership is not salvation, and all this giving
away green stamps and ten-dollar bills in bus seats, and just
leave that alone. Leave people alone! That ain't
what Moses said. And now what did he say? That's
what the demons said to Christ. They said, Leave us alone! Well,
he wouldn't leave them alone, no sir. And we can't leave error
alone, and we can't leave departure from the faith alone, and we
can't leave lies about our Lord alone. We must be aggressive,
gentle but firm, kind but courageous. They said, just go over there
and keep quiet. Peter said, I've got to tell
what I know. I must speak the message of Christ. And then you can't leave them
alone. Moses says, put on your sword. You're in a fight. You're
in a battle. Strap on your sword. And then
notice the next thing. The marks of those who are on
the Lord's side, they confess it. They're identified with the
message and with the people of Christ. They have boldness in
the faith. You're not going to leave your
son and daughter alone. Tell them the truth. You're not
going to leave your neighbor alone. Tell him the truth. You're
not going to leave a world in error. Tell him the truth. And
then there's the... Now watch this. This being on
the Lord's side overcomes nature's ties. It overcomes nature's ties. Moses said, put on your sword
and kill your brother, your companion, and your neighbor." Huh? That's what he said. The man that's on the Lord's
side will not tolerate idolatry, unchecked and uncensored and
uncondemned even in his wife, in his brother, in his father,
in his mother, in his dearest friend. That's right. The dearest idol I have known,
whatever that idol be, Lord, tear it from the throne and let
me worship only thee." Jesus Christ will be first or
he won't be in the game. He'll be Lord of your house or
he won't live there. He'll be Lord of your heart or
he won't have any business there at all. And Moses said to these
men, you're on the Lord's side, that's a rebel out there, but
that's my brother. That's a rebel. You strap on
your sword, put him out of business. That's what it says. I couldn't
do that, then you're not on the Lord's side. Those on the Lord's
side will do it someday. There'll be a day when you'll
praise God while he sends your daughter to hell. That's right,
Cecil. There'll be a day when you'll
praise God while he sends your daddy to hell. That's right,
read it, Revelation 19. He said he judged the great horde.
That's the religious world. And he cast them into hell. And
the smoke of their torment arose forever. And the people in heaven
said hallelujah. You know what they said? Hallelujah! Just and righteous are God's
judgments. I'm asking you who's on the Lord's
side. That's all Moses is asking. Who's
on the Lord's side. I'm not asking who's on my side,
who's on the side of the missionary, or who's on the side of the Baptist,
or who's on the side of religion, or who's on the side of... That's
when we all get to heaven, you know. I'm asking who's on the
Lord's side. The Lord's got a battle going
on. The Lord's got an issue with
this world. He's going to wipe it out. The
Lord's got an issue with seeing. The Lord's angry. He's going to judge this world.
He's going to judge everybody that's on the side of this world.
I want to know before it takes place who's on the Lord's side. Because the man that's on the
Lord's side now will be on the Lord's side then. And the man
that's not on the Lord's side now won't be on the Lord's side
then. That's it. That's what Moses
said. I don't know what this involves
for you, this overcoming nature's ties. But you better find out
what it is and get started on it. I know what it means to me. I know what it means to me who's
on the Lord's side. The man on the Lord's side is
sold out. The man that's on the Lord's side is committed. The
man that's on the Lord's side is not playing church. The man
that's on the Lord's side is consecrated, look at verse 29,
Moses says, consecrate yourselves, and brother, that's all you are
and all you know and all you have, unto the Lord, unto the
Lord, that he, verse 29, the last line, that he may bestow
upon you a blessing this day. And these blessings aren't measured
in their material value, and these blessings aren't measured
in their physical value. These blessings are measured
in their spiritual value. The joy of it, the peace of it,
the glory of it, the satisfaction of it, committed to Christ. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed, and I'm persuaded he's able to keep that which I've
committed to him. I tell you, the religious world,
this is a religious world. The people of Israel, when this
took place, they were religious. They were religious. They had
altars and peace offerings and burnt offerings and gatherings
and gardens and all these things. They played all the games. They
had all the ingredients that make up what we call a religious
ceremony. And Moses came down here and
issued a challenge. He said, you idolaters, and God's
angry with you, and God's angry with the whole race of Adam,
and God's judgment is impending, and God's wrath is coming. The
judgment of God's wrath is coming through. I'm asking you, who's
on the Lord's side? Who's on the Lord's side? Who
knows the issues? Who knows the issues? The issues have to do
with his glory. The issues have to do with his
righteousness. The issues have to do with his
justice. I want you to come to me, Moses
said. And when they came, he said, is it settled? Is the line
drawn? Have you made up your mind? Put
on your sword and go out there. And as an instrument of God's
wrath, destroy your brother, your companion, and your neighbor.
And that's what's going to happen. And every man that's on God's
side is not going to... When God killed Job's whole family,
he didn't charge God foolishly. He was on the Lord's side. Are
you? The Lord's side.