How Can A Sinner Approach God

Romans 10, verse 1. The Apostle Paul says that these
people have a zeal of God. I bear them record, verse 2,
he says, they have a zeal of God. Now most men know there
is a God. Most men believe that there is,
or God, or that God is. The Bible has said, only the
fool has said, no God. No God for me. Why is a man called
a fool who denies that God is? I believe I can give you four
reasons for that. In the 14th Psalm, verse 1, God
says, the fool has said in his heart, no God. Well, there are
four reasons why a man is called a fool who says that God does
not exist. Number one, he's a fool because
he denies reason. Now think about this. Can anything be more unreasonable
I'm talking about just plain reason. Can anything be more
unreasonable than to say you can have life without a life
giver? That's unreasonable. We know
that life is here, life is on the earth, we have mineral life,
we have animal life, we have human life. Life is here. Can you have life without a life
giver? That's unreasonable. Can you have such rare effects
without a cause? All of the effects, we have the
seed planted in the ground, it brings forth the tree or the
flower or the vegetable. Can you have these effects without
a cause? You have the sun in its proper
orbit. the moon, the stars, everything
in the universe, split-second timing. These are the effects
of something. What's the cause? Or who's the
cause? And then what can be more unreasonable
than to say you can have a second without a first? All these things
are seconds. What is the first? Where's the
first cell of life? Where's the first star. Where did the first cloud come
from? You have these things, all seconds.
Can you have a second without a first? That's unreasonable.
Can you have a universe of perfect order and control and no one
to direct it? No power, no person, no supreme
government, no prince, no king, no one who's in authority. All
of this is without authority. All of this is without cause,
all of this is without a life giver, all of it without authority,
all of it without a director, all of it without a governor,
a government without a governor. Men are fools who say there's
no God because they deny reason. One man said this, a fellow would
be more reasonable to doubt his own existence than God's existence. Because there was a time when
I was not, and there will be a time when I will not be. There
was never a time when God was not, and there'll never be a
time when God will not be. So I'd be smarter to deny my
existence than to deny His existence. The fool has said, no, God. He's
a fool. He's a fool because he denies
reason. He denies plain reason. And then
secondly, he's a fool because he denies his own conscience.
That's right, he denies his own conscience. He suppresses his
own conscience. The Scripture says, now watch
this, there's a light that lighteth every man that cometh into this
world. I don't care where he is, whether he's a heathen hot
and tot in the heart of Africa, or whether he's a lawyer in Philadelphia. There is a light that lighteth
every man that cometh into this world, and it's the light of
conscience. God Almighty has stamped his nature on every man's
conscience. You can dig your way into the
heart of the darkest jungle and you can find a man, a woman,
a boy or girl there who's never seen a Bible, who's never seen
the Ten Commandments, but they know it's wrong to kill. Who
taught them that? They know it's wrong to steal.
They know it's wrong. They know it's wrong to lie.
They know it's wrong. They may do it. It may be a way
of life, but they know it's wrong in here. Turn, if you will, to
Romans chapter 2. Let me show you that in God's
Word. There is a light that lighteth every man that cometh into this
world. I don't care who he is or where he is. He has the nature
and name of God stamped on his heart. And when he says there's
no God, he's denying his own conscience. It may be to a greater
or lesser degree, but it's there. Romans 2, verse 14, listen. When the Gentiles, that is the
heathen, which have not the law, and they don't, the Philistines
had no law, the law of God, the Amorites, the Amalekites, whoever,
do by nature the things contained in the law. These having not
the law written, or a law unto themselves, which show the work
of the law written in their hearts." That's where it's written. "...their
conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile
accusing or else excusing one another." That's right. Man says,
no God. No God? Well, he's denying reason. And not only that, but he's denying
something in here that's telling him there is a God. Oh, he may
cry in the daytime, no God, but in the darkness of the night,
he has his doubts. And when those doubts come and
he denies God the next day, he's denying his conscience. He may
cry, no God, in health and prosperity, but in the day of sickness and
death, he doesn't cry, no God. Fools. Why are they fools? Because
they will not listen to inner thoughts. They will not listen
to their conscience. But they go about to impress
their fellow creatures with their proud boasting. No God. No God. All right. Thirdly, the man who says there's
no God is denying reason. He's denying his conscience.
And thirdly, he's denying nature. The heavens declare the glory
of God. Look at Romans chapter 1, verse
19 and 20. God will hold us responsible
for the light of nature, the light of conscience, the light
of nature, the light of the law. And a man who says there's no
God is denying the light of nature. He's sinning against the light
of nature. The heavens declare the glory of God. Romans 1, 19.
That which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God
hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made. even his eternal power and Godhead,
so that men are without excuse." You talk about the name and nature
of God written on the conscience. It's written in full, plain,
and shining letters on this whole creation. The name and nature
of the living God is written in full, bright, plain, shining
letters on the whole creation. To deny God is to sin with a
high hand against the light of nature. Every child born into
this world says there's a God. Every tree that blooms in the
spring and gives fruit in the summer and leaves wither in the
fall says there's a God. Every little animal running about,
animals birds that know how to build nests. Who taught them
the architecture of a nest? Who taught them to feed their
young? Who taught them to deliver their young? Who taught them
to care for their young? Who taught them to fly south
in the winter? Who taught them direction? Well, it just happened. My friend,
you're a fool. God says so. I'm not calling
you a fool. God is. You're a fool. Is there
no God? The stream that silver flows,
the flowers, the grass, the sand, the wind that blows, the air
I breathe, the ground I walk, the trees all speak of God. This
the wise man sees. There is no God, the fool in
secret said, in secret. There is no God as in the sand
he kept his head. There is no God that rules the
earth, the sky. He saw no God. He closed his
eyes. There's a God. Man's a fool who says there's
no God. He denies reason, he denies his conscience, he denies
nature. And then fourthly, you know somebody
said this one time, David lifted up his eyes to the hills while
he lived. I will lift up mine eyes unto
the hills from which cometh my help. The poor, blind, rich man
lifted up his eyes from hell after he died. When you gonna
lift up yours? I will lift up mine eyes right
now while I live to the hills from what's cometh my hell. The
poor, blind, rich man lifted up his eyes from hell after he
died. Fourthly, the man who says there's
no God is a fool because he denies example. Example. Men who come to know God, who
really come to know God, are changed. Now, you can't deny
that. I know we must contend with the
hypocrite. There's hypocrites in every profession.
If you quit everything because of hypocrisy, you'd quit going
to the doctor. They're hypocritical doctors.
You'd quit going to the dentist. You'd quit buying groceries.
You'd quit driving a car. You'd quit buying clothes. There's
nothing you would do. They're hypocrites and false
professors and cracks in every party, every profession, every
vocation. But you cannot deny the fact
that every person who truly comes to know God, there's a change
that takes place. There's a change. And I'll tell
you this, the lands and nations where God is known and where
God is preached, where God is worshiped, where Christ is known,
there's liberty. Where Christ is not known, there's
slavery. That's right. Every land where
Christ is recognized and preached and known, there's liberty. where he's not preached and known
as slavery. Substandard living, superstition. Where do you find it? I know
you find it here to a degree. I'm not saying that there's no
superstition and there's no slavery. People make slaves of themselves.
But I'm saying generally, in the nations where Christ is preached,
where his Gospels proclaimed, where God is worshiped and honored,
there's liberty. And in other nations, there's
slavery and superstition and fear. Where Christ is known,
there's joy and blessings. There's some measure of honesty.
There's a higher standard of living than those countries where
Christ is not known. A man be fooled to deny that,
that's so. And even the devil, now watch
this, even the devil believes there's a God. He said, the devils
believe and tremble. Somebody wrote this one time,
on earth are atheists many, in hell there are not any. But Matthew
8.29, turn over there just a moment, Matthew 8.29, the devils believe
in God. I'd hate to be a human being
created in the image and likeness of the Lord God Almighty and
not have as much sense as a devil. But the devils know there's a
God. First of all, they acknowledge God, they acknowledge Christ,
they acknowledge the Day of Judgment, they acknowledge their condemnation.
In Matthew 8, verse 29, listen, And, behold, they cried out,
these are the demons crying out, saying, What have we to do with
thee, Jesus, our Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment
us? Before the time. That's right,
the devils acknowledge God, they acknowledge Christ, They acknowledge
judgment. They acknowledge their own condemnation.
And we close our eyes to these examples. Do you see now why
God said in Psalm 14, the fool, that said, there is no God? He denies reason. He denies his
conscience. He denies nature. He denies untold
examples. He's a fool. Most men know that
God is. Most men know that they're sinners,
at least to some degree. What is the chief ignorance?
Look at Romans 10 again, our text. Paul said in verse 2, these
people have a zeal of God. but not according to knowledge.
Now, here's where we want to camp for a moment. Most men know
there's a God. The fool, you're no fool, you're
not a fool. You people here are not fools.
You know there's a God. And you know that you're a sinner,
you know that the preacher's a sinner, you know that all men
are sinners. Now, we have a zeal of God, a knowledge of God, a
knowledge of ourselves to a degree. Now, where is the chief ignorance?
What's our problem? He says here, it's not according
to knowledge. Well, what is our problem? You
know what the problem is? Here it is, right here. The chief
ignorance lies in our ignorance of just how holy God is, who
he is, what he is, and just how sinful we are, and what we are,
and who we are. That's where our ignorance is.
Thou thoughtest I was altogether such a one as thyself. Here's
what our natural minds have done. We have a God, but we've designed
him. We've limited him. We've brought
him down, and we've brought ourselves up. We're not too far apart.
He's a little better than I am. Where our ignorance is, here's
our problem. We don't know how holy and high
and hallowed he is. And we don't know how wicked
and sinful and corrupt we are. That's our problem. Listen to
these verses. God said, Moses, come not hither. Take off your shoes. The place
where you're standing, the place, not just the person, but his
presence made the place too holy for Moses. Take off your shoes,
the place where you stand is holy ground. The person was so
holy that he made the place too holy for Moses. You see what
I'm saying? 1 Samuel 6, 20. Who is able in
heaven or earth, who is able to stand before the holy Lord
God? Job 15, 15. The heavens are not
clean in His sight, We talk about the pollution of our world and
the pollution of our cities and the pollution of our human nature
and the pollution of our hearts. Heaven has no pollution. And
yet heaven's not clean in God's sight. How much more abominable,
filthy is man. Behold the moon! And the stars
are not pure in his sight. How much more filthy! That's
how holy God is. Psalm 119, holy and reverend
is his name. Isaiah 6, turn over there just
a moment. Isaiah chapter 6, the prophet
Isaiah had his problems. He was ignorant of his sinfulness
and God's holiness and when King Uzziah died, Isaiah 6, he saw
the Lord. I saw the Lord. Sitting on a
throne. I was there six one high lifted
up his train filled the temple above it stood the seraphim each
one had six wings with two he covered his face with two he
covered his feet with two he did fly and one cried to another
the seraphims the cherubims holy holy holy Lord God of hosts the
whole earth is full of his glory and the post of the door moved
at the voice of him that cried and the house was filled with
smoke and I said oh woe is me That's what we don't know. I
am undone. I am a man of unclean limbs. That's what we don't know. We
don't know just how holy he is. We just don't know how sinful
we are. We don't know how far apart we
are. That's what we don't know. That's what Israel didn't know.
They have a zeal of God. They have, to a degree, a knowledge
of God and a knowledge of their infirmities, but they don't know
just how far apart. David said, your sins have separated
you and God. They've come between you and
God, and we don't know how far we are from God. Turn to Job
42. Listen to Job. Here is a man
of whom God said to Satan, he's a righteous man. upright, hates
evil. And yet this man Job, in Job
42, he said, verse 5, I have heard of you, I have heard of
you by the hearing of the ear, and now mine eye seeth thee,
wherefore I hate myself, I repent in dust and ashes. Daniel said, When I saw the Lord,
my comeliness melted into corruption. John, the beloved disciple, who,
while Christ lived on the earth, leaned upon his breast, when
he met him in his glorified state on the Isle of Patmos, he said,
I fell at his feet as a dead man." All right, here's the question. God is so infinitely holy, so
indescribably holy, so immutably holy, And we are so sinful and so corrupt
and so depraved and so far away from God. How? How can a sinner
be saved? How can he approach that God?
How can he be brought into any kind of communion with that God? How can we converse or communicate? How can I approach unto God?
That's the question. That's what Job asked. Turn to
Job 25. You need to mark these two passages
in your Bible, and you need to give them a lot of thought and
ask God to give you the answer to these questions. Verse 4 of
Job 25, How? How then? Bill Dadd asked this,
How then can man be just with God? The older I get, the more holy
I see God is. More awed I am before His presence. unworthy, and the more sinful
I see myself. Then how can I be just with God?
How can I be clean that I am born of a woman? That is, born
with a human nature, not the woman that gave me my sin. It
was Adam that gave me my sin. Job turned to verse chapter 15. In Job 15, verse 14, chapter
15 of Job, what is man? That he should be clean, and
he that's born of a woman, that he should be righteous. Now,
who shall stand in his presence? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart. In order to approach God, I've got to be made clean. I've got to be made righteous.
This is what Paul is saying. I know Israel has a zeal of God,
but they're ignorant. And I want them to be saved.
What is it to be saved? Well, I know what the religious
world's idea of this word is. It's a reformation. Now, in some
quarters, when you talk about he got saved, they mean he's
turned over a new leaf, he's reformed his life. That's what
they think. When a person says, so-and-so got saved, that means
that he's turned over a new leaf, he's reformed his life. That's
what salvation means to many people. And to some, it means
that now he's made a profession of faith and joined a church,
and he's not going to hell when he dies. When he dies, his wife
can say, well, he's with the Lord. And his children say, I'm
going to see Daddy and Glory, because he's saved. That's what
being saved means to them. He made a decision for Christ,
and now when he dies, we can bury him with some comfort that
he's gone to be with the Lord. He's saved, you see. He was a
Christian, and so he's not going to hell. That's what it means
to some people. And to some people, it means just a religious life
as opposed to a worldly life. That's what it means to them,
a religious life. He goes to church on Sunday morning,
to Sunday school, and Sunday morning service, and BTU, and
Sunday night service, and Wednesday night, and visitation, and he's
saved. You see, he goes through all
these motions, and he wears a pin, and he carries a Bible, and at
lunch hour, after meal, he reads his Bible, and he doesn't curse
and all. He's saved. To some people, that's
what salvation is, that they might be saved. Let me tell you
what I believe salvation is. What I believe the Bible teaches
salvation is. First of all, salvation is to
know God. To know God. Turn to John 17. I'll try to back this up with
Scripture. John chapter 17. Salvation is actually, intimately,
personally, to know God. To know God. Not know about God,
not know there is a God, to know Him. John 17, verse 3, listen,
Christ is speaking Himself, and this is life eternal. Now we know He's not just talking
about the length of life there, because everybody has a life
that is eternal. That's right. And people in hell live always,
according to the Scripture, people in heaven live always. What He's
talking about here is the quality of it. What it is? It's divine
life. It's a new life. It's a new nature.
It's salvation. It's regeneration. It's a new
birth, what he's talking about here. A divine life. This is
divine life. This is the new life. This is
the life that's free from death. This is the life that's free
from condemnation. This is the life of God. What
is it? It's to know God. This is life eternal, that they
might know Thee, not any God, not some God, not any God, the
only true God. It's to know the living God,
that's eternal life, that's salvation. Not to know your pastor, not
to know the doctrine, not to know the law, to know God. And not a God, some God, any
God, your God, the Baptist God, the Catholic God, the Living
God! It's the Knowing! And Jesus Christ
to whom he had sinned. It's the Knowing. All right? Secondly, turn to 1 John 1 verse
3. Salvation is to know God. Secondly, salvation, eternal
life, is to fellowship with God. Not just to fellowship with a
church, a denomination, but with God. To fellowship in the things of
God, in the person of God. If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, he's none of His. You love Him, and therefore you
fellowship with Him. You love His Word. You love everything
about Him. You love His world. You love
His people. You love His church. You love
His gospel. You fellowship with him. 1 John
1 verse 3, "...that which we have seen and heard declare we
unto you, that ye may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship
is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ." Enoch
walked with God. And that's what a saved man walks
with God, a saved woman walks with God. She doesn't just have
a profession of religion. She doesn't just have a reformation
of life. She has a person in her heart
who is the living God, who communicates with her and her with Him, who
fellowships with her and her with Him. She loves everything
about Him. His word is precious, His blood
is precious, His promises are precious, His people are precious,
faith is precious, everything about Him is precious. The reason
Christ said, if you love mother, father, husband, wife more than
me, you're not fit to be my disciple. He hasn't become precious yet.
Oh, I know our doctrines are precious to a lot of people,
and their church life is precious, and all these laws are precious,
but is He precious? When He sat Peter down by the
fire, after Peter denied Him and said he didn't know Him,
what did He ask him? I thought you saved Peter. No,
that wasn't what He said. I thought you were the Christian.
He said, Do you love me? Do you love me? And Peter said,
Lord, you know all things. You know I love you. There never
has been any broken fellowship between me and you. I got scared,
and I did what I ought not have done, and I said what I ought
not have said, but Lord, you know I love you. That's salvation. When you get your little old
discipline committee and go to hounding people and tracking
people, and, I don't believe she's saved, and I don't believe
they're saved, folly on you! That makes me sick. It's probably you that are not
saved, because you don't know what salvation is. Salvation
is to know God. It's to love Christ. I know there'll
be fruit of life. There sure will. It'll be shown
if you love a person. It shows. It sure does. All right? Salvation is to be
to fellowship with God, to know God. It's to be in Christ, in
a living, vital union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to Philippians
chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3. Listen
to this. Philippians, the third chapter, he says here in Philippians
3, Paul talking here, in chapter 3, he says, verse 8, the last
line, that I may win Christ, a person, and be found in him,
not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith, that I may know him. and the power of his
resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffering, being made
conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto
the resurrection of the dead." There's your salvation. That's
Paul's great desire right there, to win Christ, be found in him,
know Christ, and the power of his resurrected life. To be saved is to be under a
new government, a new government. That's why we call him Lord.
If thou shalt confess without mouth Jesus to be your Lord.
He's my Lord. He's my Master. He's my King. He died that he might be Lord
of the dead. Is he your Lord? Oh, I know to
most people Jesus Christ is their fire escape from hell. He's their
insurance policy. He's a little peanut God that
they worship on Sunday morning, you know. He's going to keep
them out of hell. But the people who are S-A-B-E-D, by the power
of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ is their Lord, Supreme, Absolute
Monarch, Dictator, Lord, and King. That's right. He's their
King. All right? Let's go back to the
text again. Paul said, I want these people
to be saved. I want this to happen to them.
I want them to know the living God. I want them to fellowship
with the living God. I want them to have a vital living
union with the living God. All right? How does man try to
accomplish this? He says in verse 3, now listen,
being ignorant, of God's righteousness, God's holiness, also God's supplied
righteousness, and God's imputed righteousness. Being ignorant
of the true way to God, the true way to know God, the true way
to come to God, being ignorant of that, they're going about
to establish their own righteousness. They're going about to establish
their own way to God. Now watch this carefully, and
I'll hurry. There's a great going about today, much activity. Religion is the most energetic,
active, busy operation in the world today. People are ever
learning. They're so busy. Get busy for
God! Amen! The best advice you could
give anybody today is close your mouth and open your ears and
your heart and let God speak to you. Martha, Martha. Our Lord said she was so busy
serving the Lord. Our Lord was sitting in there
and Martha was so busy serving the Lord. She got all upset. There sat Mary at his feet, her
sister, listening to him speak. feasting on his expression, his
countenance, his word. Martha came in and says, don't
you care that she's not feasting? Don't you care that she's not
knocking on doors? Don't you care that she's not
serving you? Don't you care that she's not
helping me? Don't you care that she's not doing these things?
And our Lord said, and I'm sure this is his words to this generation
of busy Christians, Martha, Martha. You are anxious and troubled
about many things, cumbered about with so much care. Mary hath
chosen the good thing." They're going about. They're
going about so busy, so active. What's it all about? What are
they going about to do? They're trying to establish their
own righteousness. You know what they're trying
to do? They're trying to make God notice them. They're trying
to make God give his eye to them. They're trying to make God accept
them. They're trying to get on the good side of God. That's
exactly what they're trying to do. They quit this, and quit
that, and quit the other, and taking up this, and taking up
that, and running here, and running there, and doing this, and doing
that, and tithing, and giving, and doing all these things, trying
to get God to pay attention to them. I like that story of the little
colored boy going down the road with that armload of books, you
know. And a man stopped him and said, Boy, where are you going?
He said, I'm going to school. Well, he said, what are you learning?
He said, I ain't learning nothing. I'm too busy going to school.
And that's our trouble. We ain't learning nothing. We
got our mouths open all the time expressing an opinion, expressing
a theology, expressing a doctrine. We're busy walking the streets
serving the Lord. He doesn't need it. He said, I didn't come to be
ministered unto. I came to minister. He doesn't
need me, I need him. Oh, I need him. And he can accomplish
with one word more than I can accomplish with ten billion words.
If I could just spend thirty minutes in his presence and one
minute in yours, something would be done, wouldn't it? But no,
you know what we do? We spend one minute in his presence
and thirty hours popping off. What are you busy doing? I'm
trying to get to heaven, preacher. Would it offend you if I told
you you're going about the wrong way? What are you doing? I'm trying to do better. Would
it offend you if I said you're doing it the wrong way? What
are you doing? I'm trying to get to God. Would
it offend you if I told you that you were doing it the wrong way? Turn to the book of Romans, chapter
3. Let this ring clear in all of our ears, Romans 3, verse
20, "...therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh
be justified in God's sight." No flesh. Romans 3, verse 28,
listen, "...therefore we conclude A man is justified by faith without
his deeds. Romans 4, 5, "...to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth in godly
his faith." is counted for righteousness, all the activities of all the
religious people and all the works and deeds by all the religious
people and all the world will not justify one soul. They know there's a God, but they don't know how holy
he is and how sinful they are and being ignorant of this, They're
going about, they're busy, they're active, trying to establish in
the sight of God a standing of righteousness. They're trying
to establish some credit with God. Oh, my friends, what is
God's way of approach? How does a sinner approach a
holy God? Christ gave that way. Turn to John chapter 14 and listen
to him. He says in John 14, Verse 4, and whether I go you
know, and the way you know. And Thomas said, Lord, verse
5, we don't know where you're going, how can we know the way? And he said, I am the way. I am the truth, the life. No man cometh to the Father.
How? But by me. You believe that? There's but one way to come to
God. There's but one way to know God. He that hath seen me hath
seen my Father. There's just one way to be accepted
of the Father. Turn to Ephesians chapter 1.
There's just one way to be embraced by God and accepted by God and
received by God, and that is in Christ, Ephesians 1. Listen
to this, verse 3. Don't fight God's Word. In Ephesians 1 verse 3, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,
according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him, in love having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His own
will. Listen to it. It says we're blessed in Christ,
we're chosen in Christ, we're predestinated in Christ. Now
look at verse 6. To the praise of the glory of
His grace wherein He, the sovereign holy God, He, the living God,
hath accepted us, the chief of sinners, in the Beloved. not in anything you are, say,
do, contribute in Christ. If God accepts you, it will be
in Christ. Turn back to Romans 10. Let me
close with this. He says these people have a knowledge
of God, some understanding of God to a degree, but it's not
its ignorance because they're trying to make a way to God.
They're trying to establish a righteousness like the On D-Day, the troops
trying to establish a beachhead, a foothold, a toehold, something
where they can plant their flag. No way we can get to the shore.
There's a great gulf fixed between us and glory that's impassable.
But Christ bridged that gulf with his own body and his own
blood. And he takes us to the Father.
It says, verse 4, Christ is the end, the goal of the law. He's the mark at which the law
aimed to everyone that believeth. God's
righteousness, God's holiness is Christ, imputed and imparted. Now watch verse 3. It says in
the last line, they have not submitted themselves to the righteousness
of God. Have you? What does the word
submit mean? It means to yield to the action,
control, and power of another. It means to surrender to the
judgment and good pleasure of another. Have you surrendered? To his righteousness, to his
work, to his person, to his glory, to his good pleasure. Sink or
swim, I go to him. I can but perish if I go. There
is but one way to God. He turned to his disciples and
said, Will you go away? And they said, To whom shall
we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. That's where they
are. Holy God, I hope he becomes more
holy to you. I hope through the days ahead
that you can see more than ever before, reflected in everything
he has done and said and made, his holiness. I hope you can
see more and more your sinfulness. I hope you can. I hope you can
see more and more your wretchedness and unworthiness. I hope you
don't get any better, because I'm afraid of the people
that are getting better in the flesh. In the flesh dwelleth
no good thing worth its seventy or seven. Whether it's been in
the church 40 years or one year, the flesh is the flesh. I hope
you grow in grace. I hope you grow in the knowledge
of Christ. I hope you grow in appreciation for His mercy. I
hope you grow in love for Him and for one another. I hope your
life more in your conversation and attitude, motive, and everything
reflects more and more the presence of the Holy Spirit within you.
But brother, I'll tell you, That which is between me and God is
his Son, Christ Jesus. He's my righteousness, wisdom,
sanctification, and redemption we'll be preaching on tonight.
Our Father, bless the Word. calling thee our fathers by the
grace of thy son. We are made sons of God through
the righteousness and merit of Christ. To receive him we have
the privilege to become thy children. And even these words are so full
of self and wanderings and sin and corruption, and yet they
are made pure by the presence of Christ. I am nothing, I have
nothing, never shall be anything except by thy free unmerited
grace. accepted in the Beloved. How
can this sinner dare call the name of the Living God? Because
of my Mediator, my Great High Priest, who intercedes for me,
Christ Jesus my Lord. In his name we pray. Amen.

How Can A Sinner Approach God

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