All of us are acquainted with
disappointment. I think everybody here has suffered
some severe personal loss, or you've experienced what we call
a tragedy, some more than others. I listened to a group of people
one time who were discussing what they thought would be life's
greatest tragedy. They talked of the loss of eyesight,
what a tragic loss that would be. Another talked of the loss
of physical movement. Another spoke of the loss of
loved ones. Another the loss of freedom.
our country to be overrun by a conqueror and lose the freedom
which we enjoy. They went on talking about these
tragedies of life, disappointments, severe losses. To my amazement,
not one person mentioned life's greatest tragedy. Not one person
ever mentioned life's greatest loss. Not one person mentioned
the loss of his soul. Our Master said, what shall it
profit a man if he gained the whole world? Suppose a man has
twenty-twenty vision. Suppose he has excellent health
for eighty-five or ninety years. Suppose he has many friends and
many worldly possessions. and loses his soul. What shall
it profit a man if he gained the whole world and loses his
soul? In Matthew 7, turn over there
with me please. Matthew chapter 7, verse 22. I think in Matthew 7, 22 and
23, our Lord gives us life's greatest tragedy. I think he
tells us about life's greatest loss. I think we have written
here in plain English life's greatest disappointment. In Matthew
7.22, many will say to me in that day, that's the day of judgment,
that's the day of reckoning, that's the day of the Lord's
return, many shall say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have
we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out
devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? Here is
life's greatest tragedy. Here is the most severe loss
that any man can suffer. In that day, to hear the Lord
say in verse 23, as he said to these people, I never knew depart
from me, depart from me, ye that work iniquity." To go through
life with a religious profession, to go through life with a religious
hope, to go through life believing that heaven is my inheritance,
to go through life serving the Lord, to go through life a devout
worshipper, and then to hear the Lord say in the judgment,
depart from me, I never knew you. That to me is the greatest
tragedy that anybody could ever suffer. The greatest tragedy
is to be deceived, to be deceived about my relationship with God.
And no place is safe Even some angels were cast out of heaven.
Even an apostle, Judas, was deceived and did not know the Lord. Even
the early church was no refuge from deception. The Bible has
a lot to say about being deceived. Turn to the book of Jeremiah.
In Jeremiah chapter 9, I went through the scripture yesterday
and read wherever I could find the word deceived, and being
deceived, and jotted down these scriptures. In Jeremiah chapter
9 verse 6, God says, Jeremiah 9 verse 6, Thy inhabitation is
in the midst of deceit. Through deceit they refuse to
know me, saith the Lord. Verse 8, Their tongue is as an
arrow shot out, it speaketh deceit. one speaketh peaceably to his
neighbour with his mouth, but in his heart he layeth his weight,
or waited for him." Deceived. In Jeremiah 17, right on over
a few pages, in Jeremiah 17, verse 9, the prophet says the
heart is deceitful. The heart is deceitful. I'm not
preaching down to you, I'm preaching to us. I don't want to go through
life with a religious profession and then hear Christ say to me,
depart from me. The ministry is not safe. The
church pew is not a refuge. The office of deacon or Sunday
school teacher is not a refuge. These people in Matthew 7 said,
Lord, we preached in your name. We cast out devils in your name.
We've done many wonderful works in your name. The heart is deceitful
above all things. Above all things. There's nothing
as deceitful as a human heart. It's deceitful above all things. That's what Scripture says. And
so desperately wishing. And here's the awful thing. Who
can know it? You say, Preacher, do you think
those people in Matthew 7 believed they were saved? I'm sure of
it. Do you think that they thought they were going to heaven? I'm
sure of it. They were deceived. They didn't know their own condition. They didn't know their lost estate. They didn't know it. They didn't
find it out until they stood before Christ. They cried, Lord,
we did all these wonderful things in your name. And he said, I
never knew you. Depart from me. And a man can
have a deceived heart and not know it. The heart is desperately
wicked, it is deceitful. Who can know it? In 1 Corinthians 3, let's stay
with the word a little bit now. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 18. The Apostle Paul is speaking
here to the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 3, 18. He says,
"...let no man deceive himself." Let no man deceive himself. Any man among you seemeth to
be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he really
may be wise. Our worldly wisdom is going to
have to be forgotten unless we want to be deceived. We're going
to have to become as little children at the feet of Christ, at the
feet of the Holy Spirit, or we're going to be damned, we're going
to be deceived. Our worldly wisdom is not going to find God for
us. Our natural wisdom is not going to find salvation. If any
man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, takes great pride
in his wisdom, his natural understanding, in his learning, he'd better
become a fool that he might really get some wisdom. This thing of
salvation doesn't come by education, it comes by revelation. Paul
said The Holy Spirit revealed Christ to me. Turn to Galatians
6. Galatians 6, let no man deceive
himself. I don't want to be deceived.
In Galatians 6, verse 3, For if a man think himself to be
something, Galatians 6, if a man think himself to be
something when he's nothing, he deceiveth himself. He's a
deceived man. And then in James chapter 1,
James the first chapter, verse 22, But be ye doers of the word,
and not hearers only, deceiving your own self. If you'll turn with me to Luke
chapter 2, verse 44, I want to show you something. When the
Lord Jesus Christ was about twelve years of age, Mary and Joseph
took him up to Jerusalem to the feast. There were certain things
that had to be accomplished at that age, and they took him up
to Jerusalem to the feast of the Passover when he was twelve
years of age. And then when all of the feast
was over, they, with their caravan, started home. They left Jerusalem
and started home. And verse 44 of Luke chapter
2 says, "...they, but they, supposing him to be," or to have been in
the company, supposing him to be with them. They traveled a
day's journey. They traveled a whole day's journey,
supposing that he was alone. They left Jerusalem, headed home,
and for a whole day's journey, Joseph just supposed that the
Lord Jesus was with them. He was twelve years old there.
Mary just supposed that he was with them. The kinfolks all supposed
that he was with them. And when they got to the end
of the day's journey and the sun began to set, Mary came over
and said, Where is Jesus? But Joseph said, I don't know.
Don't you know where he is? She said, No, I don't. They began
to look for him. They looked for him among the
kinfolks. They looked for him among all the tents. He wasn't
there. He was still in Jerusalem. They
left him there. Now, the Bible talks about life
being a day's journey. And I just don't want to come
to the end of the day's journey when the sunset of life begins
to sink and start looking to see if the Lord's with me. I
don't want to travel through teens and through my twenties
and thirties and forties and then into middle life and then
into old age, supposing Christ is with me, and then to find
at the end of the journey that he never has been with me. Never
has. And to hear him say at the judgment,
I never knew you. Depart from me. I never knew
you. Now I want to divide this message
up into three parts, and I want us seriously to give some thought
to this thing. And the tragic thing is, a deceived
man is deceived, and the deceived man doesn't know he's deceived.
And a deceived man can go through life supposing that everybody's
deceived but him. That's the tragedy of the whole
thing. What are some of the common ways in which men and women deceive
themselves? What are some of the common ways?
Well, to find this out, we need to look into the areas where
a true relationship with God is determined. First of all,
let's look at repentance. Our Lord Jesus Christ said this,
except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. If you don't repent, he said,
you'll perish. The Apostle Paul testified to
the Jews and to the Greeks, he said, repentance toward God and
faith in Jesus Christ. There's no salvation apart from
a genuine, sincere repentance. And repentance is a godly sorrow
for sin, a godly sorrow for sin. It is a true change of mind.
Now there's a difference. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
7. There's a difference in a godly
sorrow for sin and an earthly sorrow for sin. In 2 Corinthians 7, the Apostle
Paul says in verse 9, I rejoice. I rejoice. 2 Corinthians 7, 9,
I rejoice. Not that you were made sorry.
I don't like to make people weep, he said. I don't like to make
people feel bad. I don't like to see people He
said, I'm not rejoicing that you're crying, I'm not rejoicing
that you're broken, I'm not rejoicing that you're hurt and that your
heart's broken, but I'm rejoicing that you're sorrowing to repentance.
For you were made sorry after a godly sort, or according to
God, that you might receive damage, bias, and nothing, for godly
sorrow worketh repentance to salvation. not to be repeated
of, but to sorrow this world, worketh death. Brother Mann,
can you give us an example of people who sorrowed the sorrow
of the world, who didn't sorrow after God? Yes, I can. I can
give you two, especially. In Matthew chapter 27, in Matthew
27, Judas betrayed and sold the Lord. Judas sold out. And then after he had betrayed
the Lord and sold him for thirty pieces of silver, it says in
Matthew 27, verse 3, then Judas, which had betrayed him when he
saw that he was condemned. An earthly sorrow is a sorrow
over the way things turned out. An earthly sorrow is a sorrow
over self-condemnation. An earthly sorrow is a sorrow
over being caught. An earthly sorrow is a sorrow
over the price I have to pay. A godly sorrow is according to
God. Against thee have I sinned, and
thee only have I done this iniquity. I've sinned against God. My relationship
with God is broken. Not my relationship with man,
but a godless sorrow, sorrows and repents over the relationship
with God, which is severely influenced and broken. But Judas, when he
found out that he was condemned, he repented himself and brought
the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priest and said, I
have sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood. And they said,
What's that to us? See thou to it. And he cast the
pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged
himself. That's an earthly sorrow. He
had done wrong, he was condemned, his friends had turned on him,
he had been found out, he had made a mess out of things, he
had sold innocent blood, he had wronged an innocent man, and
he came and threw the money down on the floor and went out and
hanged himself. Esau did the same thing. He repented
after an earthly sorrow in Hebrews chapter 12. Turn over here a
minute. In Hebrews chapter 12, verse 16. In Hebrews chapter
12, verse 16. Now listen to this. Esau, you
remember, sold his birthright. He sold his inheritance. He sold
the right to be the priest of the home. He sold the right to
be the spokesman for God. That was the firstborn son's
privilege. And he sold it for a bowl of
beans. And it says in verse 16 of Hebrews 12, "...lest there
be any fornicator or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel
of meat sold his birthright. For you know how that afterwards,
when he would have inherited the blessing," he didn't give
a hoot for it up until that time, "...but when it came time to
inherit it, when it came time to get it, when it came time
for his father to die and for him to take his place," listen,
He was rejected. He found no place of repentance,
no way to change his attitude or his mind, though he sought
it carefully with tears. Too often remorse is mistaken
for repentance. There are a lot of people, you
take, I think, another example of this is King Saul. He kept
trying to kill David. One day David came down where
he was sleeping and stuck his spear right in the ground beside
Saul's head. took his water jug or took his
spear with him. Anyway, he was all right there
beside him. And when Saul found out how close he came to death,
he was awful sorry about the whole situation. But a godly
Saul will work his repentance. When I come to the place where
I'm really sorry over my sins because of my relationship with
God, that's a godly Saul. Have I repented, or have I just
been made sad over the way things turned out, or the way I fear
they're going to turn out? Have I been made sad because
of what I think it's going to cost me? Do I have a genuine
sorrow over seeing poor God, or is it just what it costs,
or what I'm afraid it's going to cost? And then another thing,
regeneration. Now, what is regeneration? It's
the new birth. Christ said, except the man be
born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Turn to Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 36. Now these
are some of the common ways in which people are deceived. Remorse. Earthly sorrow is mistaken for
repentance. An earthly sorrow is mistaken
for repentance. And then, reformation. is mistaken for regeneration. There are a lot of people who
have a new way of life, who have changed their ways, who have
never been regenerated. In Ezekiel 36, verse 25, the
Lord says, This is regeneration, this is the new birth. Then will
I sprinkle clean water upon you. And you shall be clean from all
your filthiness, from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new
heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within
you. And I'll take away the stony
heart out of your flesh, and I'll give you a heart and heart
of flesh. And I'll put my spirit within
you, and I'll cause you to walk in my statutes. Reformation is
not regeneration. Because I have changed my way
of life does not mean that I have new life. Have I reformed my
ways or has God regenerated my heart? Has there been a work
of grace in my heart or just a work of reformation in my life?
Christ said, These people call me Lord with their lips, but
their hearts are far from me. Far from it. He said to the Pharisees,
you cleanse the outside of the cup, but on the inside you're
full of extortion and excess. Now which is it? Is it reformation
or regeneration? Is it a new way of life or a
new heart? Am I walking a new path or am
I a new creature? Am I walking a new path or am
I a new man? There's a difference. And I think
that's where many people, many, many, multiplied millions, I
believe, have been deceived through the years. They're walking a
new path with the same old heart and the same old attitude and
the same old spirit and the same old corrupt soul. Never been
regenerated. And then another area, turn to
1 John 4. Here's another area in which
men are deceived. Self-love. is mistaken for Christian
love. Self-love is mistaken for Christian
love. Christ said, by this shall all
men know you're my disciples. Here's the way, they're going
to know it. If you love one another, not if you love yourself, that's
natural, everybody loves himself, but if you love one another.
In 1 John 4 verse 7, listen to it, 1 John 4, 7. Let us love one another,
for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God, and
knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God, for God is love. Self-love is mistaken for Christian
love. Our Lord gave an example of self-love
in Luke 6. In Luke 6, verse 32, you say,
well, how do I know that the love which I have for other people
is not self-love? All right, let's see something
over here. Luke 6, verse 32. Christ said in Luke 6, 32, If
you love them which love you, what thank hath ye? Sinners also
love those that love them. Lost men also love them that
love them. People who are not believers
love those that love them. That's a self-love. That's what
self-love is. You love people who love you.
And Christ went on, if you do good to them which do good to
you, well, that's self-love. And unbelievers have the same
kind of love. If you lend to them from whom you hope to receive,
what thanks have you? That's self-love. No problem
there. Unbelievers lend to sinners to
receive as much again. But I say unto you, love your
enemies and do good and lend, hoping for nothing in return. And you shall be Your reward
shall be great, and you shall be the children of the highest."
That's self-love. You see an example of it? If
I love them that love me, if I give to people from whom I
hope to receive, if I lend to those from whom I hope to receive
a return, that's self-love. I'm doing it for myself. Oh, how I love our church fellowship,
because everybody loves me. How wonderful it is when brethren
dwell with me in unity. They see things my way and do
things my way. But if someone crosses me or
offends me, I'm through with them. That's self-love. And it's
serious, too, because it means no love. It means you don't love
at all. It means that you love yourself and you love only that
which is related to you, those who are related to you, and that
which can be related to you. In Psalm 95 verse 6, O come let
us worship, and bow down, let us kneel before our Maker. He
is our God, we are the people of his pasture. How much, how
much of this religious stuff is really worship? It says in
Psalm 99, Psalm 99 verse 9, Exalt the Lord our God and worship
at His holy hill, for the Lord our God is holy." How many of
you came here today to worship God, prepared your hearts to
worship God, to meet with a holy God? How many are here for communion
with God? How many are here for prayer?
How much of our religion is really worship, and how much of it is
just nothing but form and ceremony and ritualism and entertainment. Oh, come let us bow down and
worship the Lord our God. He says your sacrifices are an
abomination. Your burning of incense and your
offering of sacrifice away with it, God says, it's a stench to
my nostrils. your bodies are in my presence
and your hearts are somewhere else." In John chapter 12, I took a
good hard look at this. In John chapter 12, verse 12
and 13, our Lord Jesus Christ was coming into the city. In
John 12, verse 12, on the next day, much people that were come
to the feast when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. They took branches of palm trees,
and they went forth to meet him, and they cried, Hosanna! Blessed
is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord! And
they threw the palm branches out, and they carried on. That
same bunch, a few days later, were crying, Crucify Him! Crucify
Him! I'm afraid a whole lot of this
holy emotion is nothing in the world but fleshly excitement.
That's all in the world it is. It's a bunch of people that are
excited over some benefits they're going to get when they die. The
Lord Jesus came into the city of Jerusalem, and read on down
here in verse 17. These people that were with him,
they saw him raise Lazarus from the dead. And they heard about it. And
they said, we got us something here now, just think. He can
keep us from dying. And we saw him feed that bunch
of people with five loaves and two fishes. He can keep us from
starving. We got us a king here that can
do anything. Hosanna! Praise the Lord! We're going to heaven when we
die. Holy emotion? No, it's nothing but fleshly
excitement. David's talking about something
else over here when he says, let us bow down, let us worship
the Lord our God, for he is our God, and we are the sheep of
his pasture." He is worthy of worship. He's worthy of praise. And then I think another area
where men deceive themselves is in the area of faith. In Philippians
chapter 3, in Philippians the third chapter, Verse 8 through
11. Listen to this. Paul is crying
out of his soul. Crying out of his soul. His cry
is not that I might find the right church. His cry is not
that I might be sure that I go to heaven when I die. His cry
is not that I might find the right baptism. His cry is not
that I might find the right system of theology. He's crying for
something else. In Philippians 3 verse 8. I count
all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and I
do count them but done, that I may win Christ and be found
in him, not having mine own righteousness which is of the law." but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith, O, that I may know him, and the power of his
resurrection." I know this. I know this. The Baptist church
is not going to be in heaven, but Christ is. And if I'm in
Christ, if I know Christ, I'm going to be in glory. I know
this, that The theological camps of Calvinism and Arminianism
and Fundamentalism and Premillennialism and all the other isms aren't
going to be in glory. But I know Christ is, and if
I'm in Him, I'll be there with Him. That's what Paul's talking
about here, O that I may know Him, that I may be found in Christ,
that I might be clothed in His righteousness, not in mine, in
His. if by any means, verse 11, I
might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. If it were really
known how much of our devotion is to Christ and how much of
it is to a denomination, if it were really known how much of
our devotion and our attachment is to Christ and how much of
it is to our local church, Do we love him or do we love the
church? Do we love him or do we love his word? We'll love
his word if we love him, but his, his fellowship is what we
want. If it were really known how much
of our attachment and devotion is to our organization, and how
much of it is really to Christ. Listen to this poem by A. B. Simpson. Once it was the blessing
Now it is the Lord. Once it was the feeling, now
it's his word. Once his gift I wanted, now the
giver own. Once I sought for healing, now
himself alone. Once t'was busy planning, now
trusting prayer. Once was anxious caring, and
now he has the care. Once it was what I wanted, now
what the Lord Jesus says. Once it was constant asking,
and now it's ceaseless praise. Once it was my working, here's
it now shall be. Once I tried to use him, now
he uses me. Once the power I wanted, now
the mighty one. Once for self I labored, now
for him alone. Once I hoped in Jesus, now I
know he's mine. Once my lamps were dying, and
now they brightly shine. Once for death I waited, now
His coming I hail. And all my hopes are anchored
with Him within the veil." What does deception do? Well, first
of all, in Matthew 6, verse 1, turn over there a minute. What
does it do if I'm deceived? First of all, all my religious
works are in vain. All in vain. Might as well have
not done them. He said in Matthew 6, verse 1,
Take heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen of
them, otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
It's a waste of time. To do your alms to be seen of
men, you have no reward. Matthew 15, look over there a
minute. Matthew 15, verse 8 and 9. Listen to this. These people
draw nigh unto me with their mouth, they honor me with their
lips, their hearts are far from me, in vain they worship me."
It's all in vain, Christ said. To bring your body before the
Lord is in vain if your heart's not there. To go about serving
God and doing things for others in the name of religion is in
vain if your heart's not there. That's what he's saying. In vain
they worship me. If I'm deceived, I'll be deprived
of all spiritual comforts. There's not going to be any peace
in a false profession. There's not going to be any spiritual
growth in deadness. There's not going to be any fruit
on a dead tree. If I'm deceived, judgment's going
to be terrible, and eternity's going to be long. If I'm deceived,
I'm going to hear Christ say, Depart from me, I know you're
not. Well, when I got to this point
in the message, I asked this question, well,
how can I determine if I am deceived? And I thought, well, I'm going
to ask myself some questions. And I asked them of you today.
And I believe the answers to these questions will help me
determine if I am deceived. Number one, have I ever really
been made conscious of my own sin before God. The publican
in the temple cried, God be merciful to me, thee sinner, definite
article, thee sinner. The Apostle Paul said, Christ
came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Paul said,
when the law came, I died. I was alive once without the
law. When the law came, I died. Oh,
wretched man that I am. Have I ever experienced that?
Have I ever? I know everybody else is a sinner,
and I know how wrong everybody else is, and I know if I was
them, I'd do it right, you know. And they're a mess, and oh, they're
awful, and woe is them. But have I ever been brought
to the place where I abhor myself? And I'm not looking at the splinter
in the other fellow's eye, I'm looking at the one in my eye.
Have you been there? If you haven't been there, then
you're deceived. Secondly, is Christ Jesus the
Lord really my only hope of salvation? And nobody can answer that but
you and me. is Christ alone, not the church,
not baptism, not good works, not morality, not the law, not
anything, Christ alone. My surety in the eternal covenant
who stood for me when Adam fell, who stood for me in the sacrifices,
who stood for me back yonder in God's eternal covenant, the
elite Christ Jesus, the first chosen one, is He my surety. And on the cross of Calvary is
he my substitute, who took my guilt and my shame and my blame
and my sin and paid for it, who was in the grave my scapegoat,
who is at the right hand of God right now, my high priest. In
Jesus' name I come to God, because Christ is my mediator, my advocate. He pleads my cause and my case. And without him I can do nothing,
and I am nothing. He alone is my whole. And when I stand at the judgment,
can I really say that I'm not going to say, God, I tried my
best? I didn't, and you didn't either. Am I going to plead,
well, Lord, I attended church, and I made a profession, and
I cast out devils, and I preached, and I did many wonderful works.
It won't work. Is Christ your only hope? When
you stand before God at the judgment, your only hope is that Christ
will be there pleading your case. That's it. If he's not there,
you're a goner, and I am too. If he's not pleading my case,
I have nothing to plead. See, he's got something to plead.
He can plead his blood and his righteousness, and all I can
plead is my sin and my guilt. Is he my only hope? Really and
truly. Is he my foundation, my refuge? Thirdly, do I really
hate sin? Do I really hate sin? Do I really
love God? Can I say I'll be satisfied when
I wake with his likeness? Do I really hate sin? Have I
really been brought to the place where I want God's holiness? to cover the world like the sea,
cover the world like the clouds. Do I want God's holiness to be
revealed in my life, in my conversation, in my walk? Am I hungering and
thirsting after righteousness? God said they shall be filled. Do I really hate sin? Do I really long to be like Christ? Fourthly, do I find the word
of God a joy or a burden? David said, I was glad when they
said to me, let us go into the house of the Lord. Oh mama, do
I have to go to church? Oh, do I have to? Can't I miss
today? You know, Grandma died. That's
a good reason for us not to go to church today. You would expect
a fellow to be in church whose grandma died, or brother or sister
died, or somebody passed away. You ought to be down at the funeral
home. You know, you shouldn't be in church. And Sister Susie's sick
and in the hospital, and we have to go visit her, and you expect
us to be in church. Is the Word of God, is worship,
is the fellowship of the people a joy? I was glad! when they
said to me, let's go into the house of the Lord. I'll be there
when they open the doors. Or let me just sleep five more
minutes and maybe I'll get there during the first psalm. I'd rather be a doorkeeper in
the house of God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked. That's
what David said. Is it a joy? Am I deceived? If the word of God is a burden
to me and the house of God is a burden, I'm deceived if I think
that I know him, because we're going to live in his house above
forever. The employment of the redeemed
is to live in and communicate with the living God. And if you
don't find worship or joy down here, you'd be miserable in heaven.
Did you know that? You'd be a miserable fellow.
It wouldn't be right to take you to heaven. Why, brother,
heaven be hell to you. The fifth question, do I pray? Do I pray? I'm not talking about
do I come to prayer meeting. Public prayer. I tell you, if
you be honest about it, and these men be honest about it, it's
pretty hard to pray publicly. But my question is, do I pray? Me and the Lord. privately in my closet in sweet
communion. John Bunyan said, I'd sooner
expect a natural man to live without breath as a spiritual
man live without prayer. You're not saved if you don't
pray. Can't be true. And in the sixth place, does
the glory of God, the glory of God, is that to me the goal of
all things? His glory. Not my good, His glory. Not my benefit, His glory. Is that the goal? Is that the
end of all things? Am I interested in His glory? Whatever you do, in word or deed,
do all for the glory of God. Whether you eat or drink, do
it for the glory of God. That's the end of all things.
He's going to get the glory. And those who are in him, and
those who know him, and those who've entered into the counsels
of God, they want his glory, because his glory is their glory. And if he's not glorified, they
can't get any joy, they can't get any glory out of it. And
in the last question, am I growing in grace? Am I growing in grace
and in the knowledge of Christ? Am I growing? Dead things don't
grow. Only living things grow. Am I
growing in the fruits of the Spirit? Do I know something about
faith and love and joy and meekness and patience and forgiveness
and all these things? Am I growing? I believe if I'm
walking with the Lord, I'll grow. I believe if Christ lives in
me, I'll grow. I don't want to hear him say,
Depart from me, that would be the most horrible experience. I can't think of anything, there
is nothing that's a greater tragedy than to hear the Lord say, in
that day, I never knew you. Depart from me. Our Father in heaven, by the
power of thy Holy Spirit, take the message this morning and
use it. Search our hearts. and to break our hearts, and
to humble us at thy feet. O God, strip us now. Don't wait
till the judgment. Break our hearts now. Don't break
them in the judgment. Reveal our sins and guilt to
us now, and the Lordship of Christ now. Don't wait till the judgment.
Let us see these things now. Let us covet a relationship with
thee, and seek thee with all our hearts, O that we may know
him. and the power of His resurrection,
that we may attain to the resurrection of the dead. In Christ's blessed,
wonderful name we pray. Amen.