Saving Faith Vs. Religious Profession #2

I don't expect everybody to take seriously these messages
that I am preaching today. I should be grateful if anybody
does. I do not expect everyone to become
seriously involved in this matter of saving interest in Christ.
It's been proven through all of the centuries, no reason why
we should expect our day to be any different, that men wrap
themselves in false religious professions and in false refuges
and say, We're in agreement with hell, we're not afraid of death,
and when the overflowing scourge of God's wrath shall pass through,
it shall not come nigh us. But God said, You've made lies
your refuge, and under falsehood have you hidden yourself The
bed's too short and the cover's too narrow, but men do not know
it. When our Lord himself came to this earth and ministered
in person to the religious people, very, very few of them paid any
attention whatsoever to him. Now, the harlots and publicans
did, of which our Lord said to the religious people, you will
find yourselves cast out of the kingdom of God and you will find
the harlots and the publicans entering in. But they didn't
hear him either. In fact, they demanded his death
rather than listen to him. There is a severe warning in
the book of Hebrews chapter 3, and these warnings are throughout
the book of Hebrews, and this is a severe warning in Hebrews
3 verse 13. Hebrews 3 verse 12, Paul says,
Take heed, brethren, take heed, brethren, lest there be in any
of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living
God. Peter wrote, Give diligence to
make your calling and election sure, for if you do these things,
you'll never And over here in 2 Corinthians chapter 13, our
text again tonight, examine yourselves. Now, the wording is both correct
and important. Examine yourselves. Now, it's
not always easy to discern between saving faith and false faith.
It is not easy. If a man knew he was deceived,
he wouldn't be deceived. And it's certainly not a work
that someone can do for us. It's not a work that we can do
for someone else. It is a work which we can only
do for ourselves. Examine yourselves, whether you
be in the faith. Now, false faith is deceptive
and can do many things. False faith can excite the affections. Our Lord said of the stony ground
healers, they heard the word with gladness. and with joy they
received it. They heard the word with gladness
and with joy they received it. I'm a little fearful, a little
fearful of people who receive the word too easily and too quickly,
without struggle, without trial, without conviction, without being
slain. It's like these stony ground
heroes, they hear it too They hear it with too much joy and
too much gladness. They run too fast at the first,
and that's dangerous. False faith can excite the affections. In John 2, it says, when they
saw the miracles he did, many believed on him, many believed
on him. And then false faith can reform
the outward man. We know that the Pharisee who
prayed in the temple was not converted. We know that he was
not justified. We know that he was quite religious.
And we know that he was telling the truth when he said, I fast
twice a week, I pray, I give tithes of all that I possess,
I am not an adulterer, I am not an extortioner, I am not unjust,
I am not like other men. And on all those counts he was
telling the absolute truth. He had reformed the outward man.
False faith can do that. That person is certainly a Christian
because he or she is so godly, so righteous, and so holy. False
faith is deceptive. I doubt if there's a person in
this congregation whose so-called morality or standard could come
up near to that of the Pharisee. And yet our Lord said they were
whited sepulchers. They were twofold more the child
of hell, or the people, the converts they made, were twofold more
the child of hell than they were. False faith can speak well of
Christ. Nicodemus came to him and said,
while we know you come from God, for no man could do the miracles
you do except God be with him. We have no account whatsoever
of Nicodemus being converted. We know that he wasn't at that
junction, at that point. He wasn't a saved man. He was
a religious lost man. Christ told him that he needed
to be born again, and yet here he was bragging on the Son of
God. In John 7, verse 46, the soldiers
came back, the soldiers, and said, never a man spake like
that man. They bragged on him. False faith
can feel sorrow over sin. Judas betrayed our Lord and sold
him for 18 pieces of silver. He sold out. He sold out cheaply,
but he sold out. And then being grieved and being
sorry over what he had done, he came back to the men who paid
him and threw the money on the floor, and he said, I have done
wrong. I have betrayed innocent blood.
I've done wrong. And Herod promised that girl
half of his kingdom. She said, I'll just take half
of John the Baptist. I'll just take his head on a
charger. And old Herod, the Scripture says, was sad about that. He didn't want to do that. He
was sad about it. Then Esau was sad about selling
his birthright, and he sought repentance with tears. Here is
an unsaved man weeping over his sin. False faith can produce
sorrow over sin, and false faith can perform works of charity
without true charity. Here is a verse of Scripture
that is shocking. Turn to 1 Corinthians 13. And I want you to look at this
verse of Scripture. It shows us how far that a false faith
can go, what it will be willing to do. In 1 Corinthians 13, 3,
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor. Now, you know,
my friends, if we knew a man who was quite wealthy, he had,
say, a half a million dollars, and he sold it all. and distribute
it among poor people. While we would be just overcome,
we would be, we would say, well surely that man knows, surely
he loves the Lord, surely he loves, he's doing it motivated
by sincere love. And though I give my body to
be burned, we read Foxe's Book of Martyrs where these men marched
to the stake and gave their lives for what they believed and what
they preached, died for what they believed. And we sit around
wondering, could I do that? Would I be willing to do that?
That can be done without even knowing Christ. That's what's
said. Listen. Though I bestow all my
goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,
and have not love, it profiteth me absolutely nothing. Now we've read that often about
doing these things without love, but how can a man give all he's
got to the poor without love? That's what it says. How can
a man, what could possibly be his motive? There must be some
motive besides the glory of God, because our Lord says here, it'll
profit me nothing. False faith can go a long ways
in works of charity. And false faith can even tremble
under the Word. This man Felix, when Paul reasoned
of righteousness, temperance, and judgment, the Scripture says
he sat there and actually trembled, trembled under the Word of God. Belshazzar, when he saw the handwriting
on the wall, his knees smoked together. It's been a long time
since I've seen anybody actually tremble under the preaching of
the Word, and their knees knocked together under the announcement
of God's judgment. These men did, but they never
came to faith. False faith can persevere even
to the judgment. Why, they cried, Lord, have we
not prophesied in your name and cast out devils and done many
wonderful works? I never knew you. I never knew
you. False faith can gain high office
with Judas. False faith can be baptized with
Simon Magus. False faith can tremble with
Felix. False faith can sleep in peace
with the foolish virgins. False faith can respect the preacher
with Herod. False faith can shake with fear
with Balaam. False faith can apologize like
King Saul. But there are three things that
false faith can never do. Three things. I want to give
them to you. False faith can do all those
things. False faith can receive the gospel with joy and gladness
and then fall away. It can weep over sin and then
fall away. It can give their goods to feed
the poor and then fall away. It can preach the gospel and
then fall away. It can rise to high office and then fall away.
That's right. But there are three things that
a false faith can never do. Satan cannot counterfeit these
three things. He's a counterfeiter, he's an
imitator, but he can't counterfeit these three things. The first
one turned to Psalm 34. Psalm 34, verse 18. The Lord is nigh unto them that
are of a broken heart. and saith it such be, such as
be of a contrite spirit." The first thing false faith can never
do. False faith can never produce
a heart that is truly, sincerely broken over sin against God. I've carefully worded that because
every word in it is important. False faith can never produce
a heart that is broken over sinning against God. Turn to Psalm 51,
verse 17. Listen to this. The sacrifices
of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God,
thou wilt not despise. Now, we're not talking about
a broken heart over losing your fortune. We're not talking about
a broken heart over tearing up your new sport car. We're not
talking about a broken heart over the death of your wife or
child. We're not talking about a broken
heart over the fact that you're growing old. We're talking about
a broken heart over sin against God. That's what we're talking
about. Now, the religionist talks about
sin in general terms. Listen to me carefully. The religionist,
the false professor of religion, he talks about sin in general
terms. He talks about sin in reference
to others. He thinks sin is awful. I hear
them talking why it's awful to do this, and it's awful to do
that, and it's awful to do the other, and how awful so-and-so
is. But I never hear them talking
about how awful they are. Never. I don't hear language
like David, who cried in Psalm 51, My sins are ever before me. I don't hear men talking like
Isaiah, who cried when he saw the holiness of God, I'm a man
of unclean lips, I am. I don't hear men talking like
the Apostle Paul, who cried, O wretched man, that I am. I
am the chief of You can get the religionist to talk about sin
in general terms, and you can get the religionist to talk about
sin in reference to others, but you cannot get the religionist
to confess his sins. And then the religionist talks
about, if he does mention his sins, you know what they are?
Listen to Saul. King Saul had chased David all
over the hillside. He chased David to the caves,
he chased David to the forest, he chased him out of the kingdom.
He thought evil against King David in his heart. He wanted
to murder David. And David found him one day down
there asleep, and went down to him and picked up his water jug
or something and took it back up on the hill, and he held it
up and rattled it, and he said to King Saul, I was standing
right there beside you. I could have killed you. But
he said, all I did was take your water jug because God told me
to touch not mine anointed and do my prophets no harm. And though
you are an evil king, you are still God's king. And though
you are an evil servant, you are still an anointed servant.
And it's not my business to do God's business. And so I left
you alone. Listen to Old Saul. I've done
wrong, I've done you wrong. David's son, come on back home,
all is forgiven, I've done you wrong." Doesn't that sound pretty?
He's talking about the evil that he's done toward David. He's
not talking about the evil he's done toward God. Listen to Judas. Judas came back and said, not,
I have sinned against God, I am an evil creature in the sight
of God, I have rebelled against the Holy God. No, sir, he said,
I have betrayed innocent blood. Now, there's a real key here.
Turn to 2 Corinthians 7. There's a real key here to saving
repentance. 2 Corinthians 7. Paul is writing
to the church at Corinth, and this is what he says in 2 Corinthians
7, verse 9. Now, I rejoice. Not that you
were made sorry. We don't like to make people
unhappy. We don't like to make people
sorry. Paul said, I'm not rejoicing that you're weeping, I'm not
rejoicing that you're in sorrow, I'm not rejoicing that you're
troubled, but I rejoice that you sorrowed to repentance. I'm
glad God made you see your sin, I'm glad God revealed your ugly
heart to you, I'm glad God Almighty revealed unto you your state,
your state of iniquity, because you sorrowed to repentance. For
you were made sorry, listen, After a godly manner, or sorry
according to God, you realize that your sins were against God.
Your sin is against God. Read on. That you might receive
damage by us in nothing but godly sorrow worketh repentance to
salvation. Not to be repented of, but the
sorrow of this world worketh death. I was sitting in my study
one day and a lady called And she said, Brother Man, would
you come down to Front Street to an apartment? She said, we
listen to you on the radio, and I go to another church, my husband
is a drunkard, and she said, we have an awful problem, and
I want you to come down. My daughter and I are already
packed, we're fixing to leave. So I went down there, and he
was sitting on the side of the bed, and he was crying. Oh, bless
his heart, he was drunk, and he was crying and weeping, He
was just down on his knees, he was crawling on the floor, he
was holding on to her legs, you know, begging her, don't take
my baby, don't leave me, I promise you, honey, I've done you wrong,
I promise you, I'll never touch another drop, I promise you,
honey, I'm going to straighten up, preach or read the Bible,
let me get saved, I'm going to church every Sunday. You think
he's telling the truth? Yes, sir, he was telling the
truth. He was sorry. His wife was leaving. His baby
was leaving. He was losing his job, he was
losing his home, he was losing his loved one. He was sorry,
he was so, so, so sorry about how he treated that lady. But
he was not sorry that he had sinned against the Holy Ghost.
And that was the distance. And she stayed, and he got drunk
again, and then she left, and it didn't amount to a hill of
beans. true believer talks about his sin in reference to God.
Turn to Psalm 51. That's godly sorrow. A man is not going to be brought
to saving repentance and saving faith until he realizes or she
realizes that this thing of sin is against God. Now, you and
I may stack up pretty good when we compare ourselves with other
people. That's what the Pharisee was doing. I'm not like other
men. But brethren, when we compare
ourselves to the holiness of God, we've sinned and come short
of the glory. We've sinned and come short of
the glory. We haven't sinned and come short
of the standard, the standard of the Church, or the standard
of the world, or the standard of flesh. We've sinned and come
short of the glory of God. And David knew that, and he said
in Psalm 51, verse 3, I acknowledge my transgression, my sin as ever
before me, watch it, against thee. Thee only have I sinned,
and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified
when thou speakest, and be cleared when thou judgest. It's against
God that we sin. 2 Samuel 12, 13. Turn over there
a moment. 2 Samuel 12, verse 13. Nathan had come before King David. He pointed out the wrong in this
relationship with Bathsheba and the wrong in his treatment of
Uriah, her husband, the wrong of this whole matter. And when
David realized it, David said, 2 Samuel 12, Now here's where the Church would
have handled us. Well, the thing to do now is make restitution. Send the girl $25,000 and make
restitution and do this and do that and do that. Listen to David,
2 Samuel 12, verse 13. And David said to Nathan, I've
sinned against the Lord. I've sinned against the Lord. Brethren, that's what False faith
cannot produce a heart that is broken over sin against God. False faith talks about sin in
general, but not sin in particular. False faith talks about the sin
of others, the sin of the world, the sin of mankind, even the
sin of Adam. But true faith, I have sinned. I have sinned. And true faith says I have sinned
against the Lord. And false faith is always running
around confessing their sins to other people. Turn to Matthew
6. This is the way of the Pharisees,
always making restitution, never weeping before God, never crying
out in the closet before God, never laying bare our hearts
before God, never owning our sins against God, but always
trying to straighten out a situation between people. You're wasting
your time. Now let me tell you that. In verse 1 of chapter 6 of Matthew,
now listen to it, take heed that you do not your arms righteousness
before men to be seen of them. I want to get this matter straight.
I want to straighten out this and straighten out that and straighten
out the other. And you're straightening out all the time because you
never go a day without offending someone in word, thought or deed.
and you're always straightening things out, and you're always
doing it before men to be seen of men, to be justified by men,
to have the stamp of approval by somebody on you. He said you
have to do that before men, you have no reward of your Father
which is in heaven. Verse 3, When thou doest arms,
let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth, that thine
arms may be in secret, and thy father which seeth in secret
himself shall reward thee openly. And when thou prayest, don't
be like the hypocrite. They love to pray standing in
the synagogues, in the corner of the street, that they may
be seen of men, they have their reward. When men see them, that's
their reward. When men pat them on the back,
that's their reward. When men commend them, that's
their reward. But when thou prayest, enter
into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy
Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret
shall reward thee openly." Turn to Psalm 62. Listen to King David
again in Psalm 62, verses 5 through 8. wait thou only upon God, for
my expectation is from him. He only is my rock, my salvation,
my defense. I shall not be moved. In God
is my salvation and my glory. The rock of my strength and my
refuge is in God. Trust in him at all times, ye
people. Pour out your heart before him."
That's something a false faith just can't do. Just pour out
your heart before him. So number one, a false faith
can never produce a heart broken over sin against God. But true
faith, Christ, my sin, my sin, my sin are ever before me. O God, against thee and thee
only have I sinned, I've sinned against the Lord. Let thy blood
be propitiation for me. on the mercy seat, does business
with God. When men seek mercy from God,
they get mercy. That's the second thing that
false faith can never do. False faith can never receive
and rest in Christ alone as the way, the truth, and the life. False faith can never receive
and rest in Christ alone as the way, the truth and the life. I don't want to offend anybody
here, so I want you to listen carefully to what I'm going to
say. Saving faith is not just to believe that Jesus Christ
died on a cross and was buried and rose again. That would make
salvation an act of If I had been there when he died on the
cross and was buried and saw the risen Savior, then I would
be saved and everybody who witnessed that event would be saved. Saving
faith is not just to believe with mental agreement that Jesus
Christ died on the cross, was buried, and rose again, for that
would make salvation an act of sight It would make salvation
dependent on a personal attendance at an event, and all who witnessed
that event would be saved. Secondly, saving faith is not
just to accept some words about myself and some words about Christ
that are read or spoken. That would make salvation an
act of not sight, but mental understanding, if I can understand
the words. And this is the way the modern
soul winner works. He sits down beside his victim,
and he turns over here and reads Romans 3, "...all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God." Do you believe that? Well,
yes, I do. He turns to John 3.16, and he
says, For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal
life. Do you believe that? Well, yes, I do. He turns over
here to Romans 10, verse 9 and 10, and says, If thou shalt confess
with thy mouth, and believe in thine heart God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Will you confess it? Well,
I don't know. Well, that's what it says. Do
you believe it? Yes, I believe it. Now if that constitutes salvation,
then salvation is an act of the mental understanding and mind
agreement, but that's not saving faith. And saving faith, now
listen to this, saving faith is not just to believe that I
am one of the elect. Saving faith is not just to believe
that I am one of God's elect, because many proud religionists
have convinced themselves of that fact, the entire Jewish
nation said, we are the children of God, Abraham is our father,
and Moses is our prophet. And Christ himself couldn't convince
them differently. Well, what is saving faith? Let
me give you some things right here. First of all, saving faith
takes its place before Christ as a guilty sinner, before Christ,
like the publican in the temple, like the harlot at his feet.
Saving faith, first of all, takes its place at the feet of Christ
as a guilty sinner. Secondly, saving faith looks
to Christ as the substitute, and as the sin-bearer, and as
the satisfaction for God's justice and God's righteousness. We know
we are not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold
from our vain conversation, but with the precious blood of Jesus
Christ as a Lamb without spot or blemish. He was wounded for
my transgression. He was bruised for my iniquity.
The chastisement of my peace was upon Him, and by His stripes
I am healed. Saving faith, thirdly, comes
to Christ for mercy as the leper who came and said, Lord, if you
will, you don't owe it to me, but if you will, I don't deserve
it, but if you will, you're not obligated, but if you will, you
can make me whole. Saving faith in the fourth place
receives Christ intelligently, consciously, lovingly, as our
only mediator with the Father, as Thomas fell at his feet and
cried, My Lord and my God. And saving faith rests in Christ
as our wisdom, turn to 1 Corinthians 1, verse 30, as our wisdom, as
our righteousness as our sanctification and as our redemption. Christ
is the sole object of faith, and the sole object of trust,
and the sole object of confidence. It's Christ. It's Christ. It's Christ. I like that statement
old John Jasper, the black preacher from Richmond, Virginia, made
when somebody asked him one time, John Jasper, when you get to
heaven, And somebody says to you, what right have you got
to be here? What are you going to say? He
said, I'm going to reply, I've got no right to be here at all.
I'm here on the righteousness of my Lord. False faith can never,
can never receive. False faith can receive a doctrine. False faith can receive mental
understanding. False faith can receive a catechism
or a creed. False faith can never receive
a person and rest in him and trust in him and believe in him.
Listen to Paul. I know whom I have believed.
I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded he's able to
keep that which I've committed to him against that day. Did
you ever notice where Paul wrote about Abraham and said, Abraham
believed? We usually quote it this way,
Abraham believed in God. That's not the way the scripture
reads. It says Abraham believed God. The devil believes in God,
but the devil doesn't believe God. You say, you're making a
play on words. No sir, I'm not. I'm not. We were talking before we came
in here tonight about faith and the study. And Ronnie brought
this out. By faith, we understand that
the world, we're made or brought into being by the word of God.
We're framed by the word of God. By faith, we understand. Now
watch this. Not how the world was brought
into being out of nothing but the Word of God. I don't understand
how it was done. Faith doesn't ask for an explanation
of how God does a thing. Faith believes that God does
it. By faith we believe that God
came down here in human flesh, not how he did it. By faith we
believe that God went to the cross in the form of a man and
died for our sins, not how he did it. Some might say, well,
how can God die? I can't answer that. But faith
believes that he died in the body of Jesus Christ. Faith believes
that he rose again, not how he rose again. Faith believes that
he's on the right hand of God, not how he's on the right hand
of God. Faith believes him. I believe God. There's a difference.
You don't play on words, you just take God's word as it is.
By faith we believe that the world was created out of nothing
but the fire of God. By faith we believe that Christ
is our substitute, that Christ is our sin-bearer, that Christ
is our mediator, that Christ is our redeemer, that Christ
is our substitute, that Christ is our Lord, that Christ is our
King. We believe that he is. not how
he is. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. If a man sees it, it's
not faith. Thirdly, false faith. These are three things that Satan
can't counterfeit and can't imitate. False faith can do a whole lot,
but it can't do this. Only the Holy Spirit can convince
a man of Only the Holy Spirit can convince a man of righteousness.
Only the Holy Spirit can make men willing to be brought down
and made willing. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal
Christ. Our Lord said, I've got many things to say to you, but
you can't bear them now, howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth,
is come, he will not speak of himself. I warn people to be careful of
these folks that are always talking about the Holy Ghost, the Holy
Ghost this and the Holy Ghost that, and we've been baptized
and filled with the Holy Ghost and speaking other tongues, and
the Holy Ghost told us this and the Holy Ghost told us that,
and you ought to come down to church and get the baptism of
the Holy Ghost. You want some good advice, believe me, you
stay clear of people who are always talking about the Holy
Ghost. Because the Holy Ghost does not talk about himself.
I have God's word for that. The Holy Ghost talks about Christ.
And when you find someone who's always talking about the Holy
Ghost, you can be sure of one thing. He has a strange spirit. Because our Lord emphatically
said, and Charlie, this is so. You've been in that group. Our
Lord said, He shall not be of himself. He shall take the things
of mine and show them to you. He shall glorify me," Christ
said. And that's what it's all about.
The Father honoreth the Son. Even the Father hath given him
a name above every name. Even the Father hath exalted
him. Don't you imagine the Holy Spirit's
in tune with the Father? His business is to make Christ
known. His business is to reveal Christ. And Paul says, I determined to
know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. But
this false faith, it cannot, it will not, it will not receive
Christ alone as our sanctification. The Holy Spirit is not our sanctification,
Christ is. And the presence of the Holy
Spirit is not our sanctification. Christ is our sanctification.
He's our righteousness. He's our sanctification. He's
our redemption. He's everything. I'll tell you something else
false faith can't do. It can't bow to the Lordship of Jesus
Christ. You turn to the book of 1 Corinthians
12 and look at verse 3. We're really getting to this
generation now. We're going to pin it down right
now. Everybody in this world today
is accepting Jesus as their Savior, but they're not bowing to him
as Lord. Everyone around here is talking about Jesus the Savior,
but not many people are talking about Jesus Christ, Lord of Lords
and King of Kings. Sovereign, absolute sovereign
Redeemer with all authority over all flesh in heaven and earth
with the keys of hell and death. Old Paul went down there where
you preached on Bruce and Mars Hill, and he told them, I scouted
around here and looked at all your shrines and all of your
holy places, and I perceive you're a very religious people," he
said. I'm going to preach to you about a God I saw down there,
an altar to an unknown God. That's the God I'm going to preach
to you, the God whom you ignorantly worship, the unknown God. And
I'll tell you, Jesus Christ in his true character, in his true
name, in his true authority, is a stranger to this generation. Now, 1 Corinthians 12.3, Wherefore
I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit
of God calleth Jesus a cursed. I preached one time to a church,
and I preached the effectual work of Christ. This is what
I preached. One of the ladies here tonight was a member of
that church 20-odd years ago, 1952. And I preached right here
in this city, and I preached one Sunday. on the effectual
work of Christ, that he was no failure, I preach what I believe. I preach that he died on the
cross for the elect, that he died as a substitute for his
people. And the next Sunday the pastor
got up in the pulpit and this is what he said, If Jesus Christ
only died for the elect, he is no savior
of man. Now let me tell you something.
If he died for the whole world, if he died for the elect, he's
my only Savior, he's my only hope. If he died for ten of you
or ten million of you, he's still my only hope. And this scripture
says there ain't nobody, there's nobody going to put a curse on
Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. No man is going to call him a
curse. And what's the next line? can
say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit. In other
words, the only people in this world that are going to own the
absolute sovereign Lordship of Jesus Christ are those people
who have been enlightened to that fact by the Holy Spirit.
That's what he said. To everybody else, he'll be a
superstar. To everybody else, he'll be one
of the prophets. To everybody else, he'll be a healer. To everybody
else, he'll be this, that, or the other. But to those who've
been anointed, to those who've been appointed, to those who've
been awakened, to those who've been enlightened, to those who've
been quickened by the Holy Spirit, he is Jesus Christ, the Lord. That's so. Let me give you some
scripture. This is what the world does not believe. First of all,
he's Lord of creation. The Scripture says, "...in the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God, and all things were made by him. But without him
was not anything made that was made." Who is that? Jesus Christ.
All things were created in heaven, earth, and under the earth for
him, by him, and to his glory. He's Lord of creation. Secondly,
he's Lord of revelation. Turn to Matthew 11, verse 17.
He's Lord of Revelation, Matthew 11, verse 27. Listen to this, Matthew 11, verse
27. All things are delivered unto me of my Father, and no
man knoweth the Son, but the Father neither knoweth any man.
The Father saith the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will
reveal him. That's what he said. He's the
Lord of revelation. He's absolute sovereign. He'll
give fight to whom he will. He'll give understanding to whom
he will. He'll open the eyes of whom he will. He'll reveal
the Father to whom he will. They said in John 10, if you
be the Christ, tell us plainly. He said, I told you, and you
didn't believe me. You didn't believe me because
you're not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life.
That's the Lord. This is so false faith can bow
to a Savior from hell, but not to the Lord. And everybody in
the world is accepting Jesus as their Savior from hell. But
my friends, listen to me. Somebody is Lord of this world,
absolute Lord. Somebody Christ said He was. Somebody's absolute Lord, and
He said He was. And this scripture says nobody
can call Him Lord but by the Holy Spirit. Turn to Matthew
28. Listen, He's Lord of creation. You say, I never had that kind
of Jesus preached to me. Paul said they'll come preaching
another Jesus, another gospel by another spirit. 2 Corinthians
11, 3 and 4. Another Jesus, another gospel
by another scripture. Brethren, listen to me. The scripture
said, if thou shalt call, whosoever shall call on the name of the
Lord shall be saved. Now what we've got to do if we're
going to be saved is call on the right name. We're going to
have to find out who that is and what that name implies. That
name is a name which is above every name. He is Lord of heaven
and earth. Look at Matthew 28, verse 18. And Jesus came and spake unto
them, All authority is given unto me in heaven and earth.
All authority. Now you go preach the gospel.
I'm not preaching a little defeated, frustrated, feminine Jesus, just crying his eyes out
because people won't let him have his way. No sir, I'm preaching
him who has authority over heaven and earth to do what he will,
when he will, with whom he will. That's the Jesus that I'm preaching. All right? John 17, verse 2,
Lord, and all that it implies, Lord. You're not going to call
me Lord, because I'm not the Lord. You may call President
Carter President, but you're not going to call him Lord. Why? Because he doesn't have all authority
and all power. Well, who are you going to call
Lord? Well, I'm going to call him Lord who is Lord. And he
says in John 17, 2, as thou hast given him power, that's authority,
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him. Christ has authority over all
flesh, authority over creation, authority over revelation, authority
over heaven and earth, authority over all flesh, and you don't
have time to look up all these scriptures, Romans 14.9 says,
he is Lord of the dead and the living. Absolute Lord. And verse John 21, look at this. Now turn to this, I want you
to see this. John 21, verse 21, he is the Lord of providence,
absolute Lord of providence. The scripture says, while you're
looking up, John 21, verse 21, the scripture says, The Lord
killeth, the more the Lord maketh alive. The Lord maketh rich,
the Lord maketh poor. The Lord raiseth up, the Lord
bringeth down. The Lord, the Lord. So we're
talking about right here. John 21, 21, look at it. Peter
said unto him, Lord, what will this man do? He's talking about
John. And Jesus said, If I will, that he tarry till I come, what
is that to you? You follow me? That's my business.
Providence. If I will that he live two thousand
years and be here when I come back, what's that to you? That's
my business. He's the sovereign Lord. He's
the Lord of mercy. I will be merciful to whom I
will be merciful. Turn to Revelation 118. He's
the Lord of hell and death. That's Revelation 1, verse 18,
listen to this, I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am
alive forevermore, amen, and I have the keys of hell and death. I've got the keys. Now, the fellow that carries
the keys to this place around here is Boss, that's right, he's
got the keys. He's got the key, and he's the
only one who's got the key. And if nobody's going to enter the
door unless they come to him, he's got the key. And who's got
the keys of hell and death? The Son of God, that's who this
is. He's the Lord of life. Turn to
John 5. This is so, my friends. This
false faith, and this is what's going on, I'm sorry to say, this
false faith has been the preachers that have thrown a curve and
the people have struck out. They've fallen for the bait.
They've swallowed the hook, line, and sinker, and pole, and everything
else, and followed these blind leaders of the blind while they
preached a fishy failure called Jesus. And people are just hoping
that he'll work out some way and keep them out of hell. Well,
how can he keep them out of hell if he doesn't have the keys?
Somebody else got the keys. How in the world can he keep
them from death if somebody else got killed? He's the Lord of life. Look at
John 5, verse 21. As the Father raiseth up the
dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he
will. The Father judgeth no man. He
hath committed all judgment to the Son, that all men should
honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth
not the Son honoreth not the Father which sent him. Verily
I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him
that sent me, hath eternal life, and shall never come into condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto
you, the hour is coming, and now is when the dead shall hear
the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live."
I'll raise them, he said. I'll raise them. And he's the
Lord of the atonement. John 10, one more scripture,
John 10, verse 14 through 18. He's the Lord of the atonement. He said in John 10, verse 14,
I am the good shepherd, I know my sheep. and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father. And I lay down my life for the
sheep, and other sheep I have, which are not of this foal. Them
also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice. They shall be
one foal and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love
me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No
man takes it from me. I lay it down of myself." I have
the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my Father." That's the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the Savior of sinners,
and that's the Lord of glory, and that's the name by which
men are saved. And that's the person to whom
we look and upon whom we call for redemption, the Lord. Now
turn to 2 Corinthians 11. Now if that's not the Christ
that you believe in, if that's not the Christ that you're trusting,
if that's not the Jesus who you say is your Savior, you're in
trouble, because I read all that from the Scripture. You look
at 2 Corinthians 11.3. There Paul said, I'm afraid. lest by any means as a serpent
beguile thee through his subtlety. So your mind should be corrupted
from the simplicity of Christ, for he that cometh preacheth
another Jesus, whom we have not preached." Is that being done
now? Answer me in your own heart,
is that being done? The Christ of the Bible that
I've preached tonight, he's the Lord of creation, is that the
Jesus that's in He is the Lord of revelation. He is the Lord of heaven and
earth. He is the Lord of all flesh. He has power over all
flesh to give eternal life to as many as the Father has given
Him. He is the Lord of the dead and the living. He is the Lord
of all providence. If I will that He live two thousand
years, that's my business. Is that your Christ? He's the
Lord of mercy. He's the Lord of hell and death,
having the keys of hell and death. He's the Lord of life. He quickens
whom he will. He's the Lord of atonement. Nobody
takes my life from me. I lay it down. I have that power.
I have authority over all flesh. That's not the Jesus that's being
preached. The Jesus that's being preached
today is a whole lot weaker and a whole lot sadder and a whole
lot more of a failure than somebody who's preached another Jesus. another Jesus, and another gospel. But false faith cannot bow to
that Christ. Saving faith will. Saving faith
will. Saving faith has a heart broken
over sin. Saving faith receives Christ
as the only hope, the only way, the truth, and the life. Other
foundations can no man lay than that which is laid. Christ the
substitute, Christ the sacrifice, Christ the sin offering, Christ
the justifier. And saving faith comes with the
Apostle Paul and falls low at his feet and owns him to be Lord. I turn to Romans 10, and I'll
read this in quick. Romans 10, verse 9. And you go
through the Scripture, and you'll find these people who came to
the Savior, to the Redeemer, and got help. They preceded their
petition with one word, Lord. My son is grievously ill. Lord,
my daughter, be merciful to me. Lord, that I might see. Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean. Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. Lord, save me or I perish. Lord,
be merciful to me a sinner." Lord. Not a one of them talked
about this little weak Jesus that folks are accepting today.
There's always Lord. And it says in Romans 10, 9,
that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and
Bruce, that's Jesus to be Lord, isn't it? That's Jesus to be
Lord, right there, Romans 10, 9. If thou shalt confess with
thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, you look that up, and believe in
thine heart God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Who is he? He's the Lord. He's not a doormat, he's not
a fire escape, he's not a valet that comes when you snap your
fingers, he's the Lord. And I'll tell you, if he'd be
pleased to do something for me, I'd be much obliged. I'll praise
him forever. He'll be pleased to reveal himself
and give me that saving grace. before thy awful throne we bow,
guilty, unworthy,

Saving Faith Vs. Religious Profession #2

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Saving Faith Vs. Religious Profession #2

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