Things their pursuit of righteousness
is sin All of that is sin Plain and simple that's what he tells
his prophet to tell him show my people They're seeing Verse
1 the Lord calls upon his prophet his preacher to cry aloud and
spare not That means don't worry about hurting anybody's feelings
because you're gonna hurt some people's feelings He is to make his voice
heard publicly. He is to loudly and overtly show
the people their sin, and the house of Jacob their transgression.
And how many revivalists have employed this first verse to
wage war on alcohol and drugs and lasciviousness and all manner
of societal evils. And these fellas don't do none
of that. They don't do none of that. The problem with that kind
of preaching is that religious people are already generally
against those things, and such messages only serve to prop up
their self-righteousness, because they're not guilty of these things
morally. Many years ago, Scott Richard
at a tri-state conference somewhere, I think, and a fellow from Appomattox,
Virginia was preaching, and the fellow had a problem with adultery
in his church. And he preached on adultery, and he laid everybody
out. Man, he worked it from top to bottom. He just, I mean, he
just wore it out. And after he was finished, when
he went back to the back of the church to shake hands, Brother
Scott went up to him and shook his hand and says, well, I'm
not going to do that no more. But everybody who didn't do it
that day felt awful righteous and awful holy and awful good.
That's the beauty of the gospel. It hits you where you live. It
hits you where you live. The sin that the Lord requires
the prophet to disclose is their moral doings in the context of the religious
worship and duty. This is sin. And these are not
outwardly vile people. They're not. Outwardly, they
are straight as a gun barrel. and probably just as empty. Outwardly,
their piety and rectitude cannot be questioned. And evidently,
from the word we read here, they're proud of it. Our Lord called
them whited sepulchers, but interestingly, they were full of dead men's
bones. It is not an acceptable thing in religious circles to
run down another man's religion. But just look what our Lord did.
He was not a very nice man when it came to religion. Call them
snakes and vipers. I've been accused of being hard,
hard-headed sometimes, and hard in my preaching. Implacable. But I've never looked at another
man who professes religion and called him a snake and a viper
yet. So I guess I'm a pretty nice guy comparatively. It's precisely what the prophet
is called to do. To run down religion. to drive
it into the dirt where it belongs. It is religion and morality without
Christ, and it is sin. The very best you do, the very
best I do, the most moral we can be, and I believe every child
of God desires to be those things. Without Christ, they are sin.
They are sin. because it's about man and not
about God. It is without Christ and because
its design is to bring glory to men and not to God, to recognize
man's works and man's will, not God's works and God's will. And
verse 2 begins the list of their sins. He says, Yet they seek
me daily, delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness
and forsook not the ordinance of their God, they ask of me
the ordinances of justice, they take delight in approaching unto
me." Well, all that sounds pretty good, doesn't it? That sounds pretty good. The
list begins with the word, yet, however. This signifies that
though what they do is sin and useless, they still practice
their religion. with consummate zeal. What should
precede these words and does thematically is that the things
that follow are for appearance. For appearance. Public perusal. To be seen of men and thus to
garner irrefutable evidence that they are truly the children of
God. God said they seek Me daily. Prophet, tell them that that
sin They seek Me daily. That means
they are constant in their attendance of temple and synagogue. If they
gave out Sunday school pens, they'd hang all the way down
to their shoe off their lapel. They delight to know My ways.
Prophet, tell them that is sin. Tell them that is sin. They delight
to know My ways. They cherish theological debate
and gather teachers to themselves having itching ears. They read
and know the Bible and seek to explain the intricacies of God's
providence. To have people know that they
understand what God is doing. And they talk about it a lot.
They talk about that a lot. God is doing this and God is
doing that. And nobody knows what God is
doing. You don't know what God is doing. And I don't know what
God is doing. And He's fixed it that way. It
says in Ecclesiastes chapter 3. He's put the world in our
hearts so we can't know what He's doing at any given time.
We see something going on, we say, well God must be working
on that man. Look at that sire's sad face. He might have a toothache
or a bellyache for all you know. But these people knew what God
was. They delight to know my ways. He said, they read the
Bible and they can tell you what God's doing. Those people read
the Bible and talked to Christ and they knew what God was doing
and God was standing right in front of them. He says, you do
search the scriptures for any of them you think you can find
eternal life, but they which testify of me and you will not
come to me that you might have life. They knew God's ways. They're glad to tell you they
did. The result of their activities is that they are known as a nation
that did righteousness and forsook not the ordinances of God. Sounds
good. Prophet, tell them it's sin. Tell them it's sin. This is not
questionable because their efforts were for the eyes of men. They
did it to be seen of men. They ask of me the desires of
the flesh, or rather they ask of me the ordinances of justice. This means they seek advice on
towing the line and dotting the i and crossing the t and doing
everything by the letter of the law. They take delight in approaching
God. That sounds good. It's sin. Tell them it's sin. Their delight
is based on the notion that their works surely make them welcome
in God's presence. There are some people like that
in Matthew chapter 7, weren't there? Stood before and said,
Lord, Lord, Haven't we prophesied in thy name? Haven't we done
great wonders? Haven't we cast out devils in thy name? Haven't
we done that? He didn't say they didn't do it, because they did
it. But he said you did it. And what
you did was what? Iniquity. Prophet, tell them
it's sin. And the prophet told them it
was sin. You do what you do in the name
of Christ, and it's sin. And I never knew you. Depart
from me. I never knew you. And in verse 3, the Lord begins
to expose the nature of their false profession. They believe
that the Lord is obligated to take notice and account of their
works. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest none? Wherefore have we afflicted our
souls? And thou takest no knowledge.
That's what they're asking God. They're asking that of God. They
believe that the Lord is obligated to take notice and account for
their works. They fast. And the fast they do and the
affliction of the soul that they do to them designating ways which
they call self-denial. And let me make this very clear
right now. There's an eternal difference in self-denial and
denying yourself. There's an eternal difference
in those two things. These believe in self-denial,
self-sacrifice. They suffer for the cause, and
yet they've not been delivered from their bondage, realizing
that their fasting and affliction of the soul is actually the source
of their bondage. Self-imposed suffering means
nothing to God. And while I'm at it, it doesn't
mean anything to me either. People who talk about how they suffered
for their cause, I don't want to have a whole lot to do with
them. I've not suffered for the cause. My Savior suffered for
my cause, and I'm thankful for that, but I don't suffer. Preachers,
you know, we talk a lot about burdens and stuff like that,
but they don't believe us. You know, I'm really burdened.
I stand up three times a week in a group full of people that
love me like I'm crazy. A bunch of Native Americans love
me to death, take care of me. I tell them the same thing over
again for the last 40 years and they buy me a house. Yeah, I'm
burdened. These people are self-imposed
affliction, afflicting their soul. They actually find pleasure,
the Lord said, in their suffering. Why? Because it garners the praise
of men and the pity of men. Oh, look what He's done for Jesus.
Look how He suffered for Jesus. If you can see His suffering,
it's His suffering. And He does it to be seen. They
exact all their labors, He said. This means they're hardened men.
Religion without Christ is mean as a snake. They're hard, hard-on
people. They're cruel to their servants.
They exact their labors. And those whom they deem inferior
to them, they let them know in some way that they are inferior
to them. I remember being in religion a long time ago. When
I was a little boy, I didn't want to be around them people
because they just made me feel really uncomfortable. Because
they're just so holy and so righteous, you know. I was afraid I was
going to have a slip of the tongue and get slapped upside the head
or something. But these people have no mercy. They have no grace
and no forgiveness. They watch men and they are watchers
of men to see if any fail to come up to their exact exalting
standards. You take pleasure in this, God
said. And it's sin. It's sin. Their motive, the reason
why they do what they do is exposed in verse 4. Behold, you fast
for strife and debate to spite with the fist of wickedness.
You shall not fast as you do this day to make your voice to
be heard in the street. You fast. for strife and debate
you do what you do to cause men to be uncomfortable to cause
men to be uncomfortable i remember seeing a fellow one time went
to hear him preach supposed to be a gospel preacher i found
out he wasn't but he was a great big corpulent fellow i mean you
know and he talked about fasting for thirty days and i'm thinking
no he was uh... he was uh... he was a healthy
fellow But he talked about fasting for 30 days, you know, and talked
about how it was, and he didn't eat, and how he suffered, and
I'm thinking, shut up. You're a liar to start with. You ain't fasting. You ain't
missed a meal in a long time. But he was doing it to be seen. I
mean, what did our Lord say about fasting, if we fast? He said,
do it in private. He said, and after you finish,
wash your face and comb your hair, put on a nice shirt and
walk out like you've not been fasting at all. So men won't
know. But these did it for strife and
debate. They did it to stir people up. You smite with the fist of
wickedness. It refers to their ease with
violent punishment and public humiliation. I think of the Puritans
lashing Quakers to the wagon tongues and pulling off their
skin with hot pincers. In the name of Jesus, they did
it. of putting a $2.00 bounty on
a Rhode Islander's tongue, which by the way is still on the books
in Massachusetts. There's still a law that if you
give them a Rhode Islander's tongue, they'll give you $2.00. Why? Because Rhode Islanders
didn't go along with the Burundians and preach the gospel of freedom.
A lot of them did, and that's why they were mad at them. They
smite with the fist because they believed themselves to be righteous.
righteous judges, and because they've proven their worthiness
by their works, they believe they have the right to judge
and execute judgment. They form committees and church
committees and things like that, and they straighten people out,
and they invent things like watch care, where if you come into
this church, we're going to watch you for six weeks and see if
you're really a Christian. If you are, we'll let you in. We let you, you know, anybody
can hold out for six weeks. Let's keep the beer in the refrigerator
for six weeks. The motive of their fastings
and their affliction of the soul is so that they will make their
voices heard in the streets. And it is unacceptable to the
Lord and moves him to nothing but anger. Our Lord says it's
nothing but sin. And it's pretty much a description,
if you read Matthew chapter 23, of what Christ says about the
Pharisees. Pretty much a description of them. And he ends that in
verse 14 by saying, you get your convert and you turn him into
two-fold more the child of hell than yourself. This religion
is sin. That's what the prophet says.
It's sin. Tell them it's sin. Cry out loud. Spurn out. Lift
up your voice in the street. Tell them. Tell them it's sin. God has declared to His people
that the practice of the religion was for recognition of self.
And what they called fasting was to them what we would call
in this day self-denial. It was actually just wicked,
sinful scheme to garner the applause of men and obligate God to do
something for them, to reward them for their diligence. Their
religion was sin. Their religion was sin. Think
about that. And they've shirked what the
Lord had commanded concerning the purpose of believing in Him.
In verse 5, He makes it plain that they were actually rebelling
against what he had ordained when he spoke of denying self,
not self-denial. He says, is this such a fast
that I have ordained? that I would choose a day for
a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow your head as a bulrush
to spread sackcloth and ashes under him without call this a
fast and acceptable day of the Lord? Would you do that? And
our Lord is not asking that question or those questions because He
don't know. Those are rhetorical questions.
The answer is in the question. He declared His people. that
all they were doing, they were doing for recognition. Recognition. He spoke of denying self, and
they were talking about self-denial. And He challenges them to answer,
Wilt thou? He says. And the area the Lord
sets forth concerning their false notion of denying self was threefold. First, He said they have set
a day to afflict their soul. They've set a day to afflict
their soul. or to afflict their soul for
a day. Does that sound familiar to you? Affliction of the soul
is a biblical principle. It's a biblical principle. But
it's not to set a day to do it. It's the tenor of the child of
God's line. Every time you hear the gospel, it afflicts your
soul. It afflicts your soul. Affliction of the soul is simply
another way of saying Deny yourself, but they're saying it's self-denial.
The soul in this case is the senses. The desires of the flesh. And to set a day, one day, as
a day of self-denial, God says that's sin. It's kind of like
what the Romans practice with Lent. When they say, I'm going
to give up something I love for the Lord for forty days. Show
you how stupid that can be. And it can be stupid. there was
a priest up in michigan as up there when you're preaching up
in michigan the priest what he did for any said i love the bible
so much i'm won't give up reading the bible for forty days before
you just no camey that stupid but he was men designated therefore recognize
a time a holiday if you will that can be recorded you see
if it can be recorded you're behind think about that they
can be jotted down that you've done something you're the one
that got recognized in this is that simple the true affliction
of the soul you know what it is is a continual confession
that you cannot do and have not done anything that could ever
be worthy of recognition and that hurts our soul but we would
like to be recognized for something to afflict our soul is to continually
say my salvation all of it from beginning to end and everywhere
in between have nothing to do with and no in my salvation is
entirely and completely based upon the merit, the work, the
death, and the righteousness of Jesus Christ the Lord and
nothing else. And you know Sometimes, our flesh
rebels against us. We would like a pat on the back,
a little bit of recognition. When somebody says to me, good
sermon, y'all won't act humble, I won't act humble, I really
do. Then I'll say thank you very much, you know, I was preaching
the Lord's Word. But you know we like it. We do. Because that's the nature
of our flesh. We afflict our souls by believing
the gospel. Vanessa, that's the affliction
of the soul. It is the denial of self, not
self-denial, not giving up something I want. It's denying me. Denying me. When I was a little
boy and my mom would catch me doing something wrong, she'd
say, Timothy James, did you do that? And I'd say, who, me? Me? Who, me? I was denying myself.
I didn't do that. That's what you do if you're
a child of God. Somebody says, you're saved by your will. You
say, who me? You don't know me. I wasn't saved by my will. I
was saved by God's will. Denial of self is having anything
to do with your standing before God. Anything. Anything. In short, it's believing the
gospel which declares precisely that. Secondly, the Lord declares
that the religion is sin because they exhibit false humility,
described as bowing the head like a bulrush. The qualities of a bulrush are
that it has a very large empty head, a spindly spine, and can
be bound by the slightest breeze. False humility has to do with
posture rather than heart. praying hands, stern countenance,
slumped shoulders, cast down eyes, carrying your Bible under
your arm in the right way, things like that, that look humble.
It's supposed to purport humility. All these senators and preachers
say, we've got to bring prayers back in school. Well, they won't.
They want somebody to put their hands together and bow their
head. That's posture. If there's a child of God anywhere
in school in the United States that wants to pray, he can pray
all the live long day. And ain't nobody gonna find out
about it. Religion is about posture. About
what I can see and what you can see. Not what's on the inside,
but what's on the outside. The large head of the bulrush
speaks to pride, but all human religious pride is supported
by a spindly spine like a reed, and the empty head speaks of
vanity, and bowing to the slightest breeze is bending to every strange
wind of doctrine that comes down the pipe, willing acceptance
of that which is false and against God. This was expressed in the
incorporation of idolatry in the worship of God by these same
people. Oh, they were keeping the ordinance. They were crying
out to God. They were praying. They were doing all those things.
But when they traveled, you know who they took with them? They
took Baal. They took Ashtoreth. They took the other gods and
set them right up in the temple. Right up in the tabernacle. Incorporate
idolatry. And idolatry is just Taken the
glory from God. That's what idolatry is. On any
level. And created another glory. Thirdly, our Lord says that their
religion is sin because they make their repentance a spectacle
for all to see. Coming down an aisle. Rededication. Reconsecration. I did that so
many times in the Southern Baptists when I was a boy. They called
me Mr. Rededication. I realized guilty
all the time I was a snake, you know. My poor parents, bless
their hearts. But I was guilty. And they'd
get religion on me and I'd feel guilty and I'd run down front
and weep and moan and they'd pat me on the back and I'd feel
good for about 30 minutes. Repentance is also a wondrous
thing done inwardly in the mind and in the heart. These spread
sackcloth and ashes for all to see. We know from the preceding
verses that what they do, they do this to obligate God and to
gain applause of men. They do it because they think
that God must listen. Why have we fasted? You pay no
attention. Why have we afflicted our soul
and you don't take account of this? Why don't you write this
down, Lord? This would line up with the notion
of visible penance. Doing something that men see.
In extreme cases it may involve things like carrying a cross
or publicly flogging yourself and such. now member uh... the palm is a fella that every
easterly cares across highway seventy four and i'm sure some
religious folks at all how sweet but i just like the one reason
i like she's got training wheels on the back of the cross as a
rerolling across down the street but people see things like that
and so my admission no it's nothing It's sin. It's sin. The repentance is visible. Our repentance. True repentance. You know what it is? Well, it's turning from your
idols to serve the living God. Paul said that in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 1. But true repentance is a radical
change of mind. and what do you change your mind
about well what did you believe about god and you before the
lord saved you you believe it's something you did recommend you
to god that's what you believe before him that's why you did
you did you do it is in religion that's why you prayed it was
my read about what church such thing like that because you believe
that recommended you to god a radical change of mind would mean that
you come to the place by God's grace of knowing nothing you
do or are can ever recommend you to God. There's only one
thing that recommends me to God. His name is Jesus Christ. That's it. That's my only recommendation. I have no other. Nothing in my
hand I bring, simply to that cross I cling. I have nothing
else. That's true repentance. Nothing I do recommends me to
God. Not what I'm doing right now
doesn't recommend me to God. What I did 30 minutes ago in
another message doesn't recommend me to God. What Scott does every
time he gets in church, what Bobby does every time he gets
up here and preaches, doesn't recommend him to God. Christ
alone. That's our recommendation. And
what a recommendation it is. Fully accepted in the Beloved. In the Beloved. Pretend repentance. All these
things are a form of self-imposed bondage. They are self-imposed
bondage because they must be done to be recorded and recognized.
Believing the Gospel is the denial of self. It is. Not self-denial, it's
denial of you. The denial of me is having anything
to do with our salvation. And it's not visible. The just shall live by faith,
by sight. The Lord confronts this overt
falseness with divine challenge. Wilt thou call this a fast? Will thou call this an acceptable
day of the Lord? Wilt thou? Well, what is the
fast that the Lord has chosen? This self-denial. Think about
it. If I deny myself, that's the
fast that the Lord has chosen for His people, to deny them.
If you're going to follow me, Christ said, you're going to
have to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me.
You've got to deny yourself. That's what it is. The fast or
denying of self that the Lord has chosen has absolutely nothing
to do with the bondage or cleaving to rites or rituals done to be
seen of men. It's not about rules and regulations
and ersatz laws. Not about church covenants and
such that are designed to control men's behavior and keep them
towing a religious line. The gospel is about doing precisely
the opposite. The gospel is about setting men
and women free. What a thing that is. It's about
setting men and women at liberty to enjoy the freedom of the soul
that is only realized in this wondrous knowledge. To enjoy
freedom of the soul. The salvation from pole to pole,
from Alpha to Omega, from A to Z was finished on the cross of
Calvary. That's the knowledge that there
is nothing left to do. because it's already been done.
It is to loose the bands of wickedness, that's what our Lord says. Verse
6, is not this the fast that I've chosen? To loose the bands
of wickedness. And part of that wickedness is
religious wickedness. Boy, I remember when I was cut
loose from that. What a day. What a day. My brother-in-law, Larry Pearman,
some of you know him. He attends out in Madisonville,
Kentucky, where David Edmondson is pastor. Maurice Montgomery
used to be pastor out there. And Larry was a drunk, cocaine
user, Debbie's brother. We loved him the whole time he
was doing all that, but he did all that. And he tried religion
over and over again. He lost a couple businesses.
He lost his house. He lost his family. Lost everything. Come down to nothing. Come to
live with us. He was just a poor, poor example of humanity. Wore
out. Been in religion. And every time
he got in religion, he got worse after he got out. One day we were at a little place
called Antipasto, a little Italian restaurant. It was me and Henry
Mahan was there and maybe Scott Richardson and Wayne Robinson
and a couple other preachers were at the table. Larry went
with us while he was living with us. And us preachers, we just
sat there laughing and cutting up and telling stories and having
a good time. And Larry was real quiet. Because
he'd been around preachers that didn't make him feel good. It
made him, you know, it told him, you know, if you just straighten
up and fly right, the Lord will bless you, you know, and all
that. And he looked over at me and kind of nudged me when I
was sitting beside him, nudging with his elbow, and he said,
y'all are so free. Tears in his eyes. Y'all are
so free. I thank God that God saved him
and showed him what that freedom was, to be free. You're free
from that mess, free from that that religion that holds out
rewards or threats of censure, that religion that keeps you
telling you what you got to do to do this and do that. You're
free of that. That's what the gospel does.
That's what we do. We stand up here in the pulpit. We look people
in the eye and say, you can be cut loose. God has cut his people
loose. They don't have to do any of
that anymore. They don't have to be under that burden. It's
to tell a sinner who can do nothing that there's nothing to do. It
don't get no better than that. It's to undo heavy burdens that
religion and its restrictions have placed on it. It's to let
those who are oppressed to go free. And there's a psychological
oppression of fundamentalist religions brought in a whole
new arena and curriculum in psychology, in psychological counseling,
designed to relieve people of religious guilt. I mean, there's
a whole new area that just deals with poor people coming out of
fundamentalist religion, smitten with guilt, and their psychologists
are trying to help them. Well, the great counselors helped
me. The Lord Jesus Christ has the perfect plan. By His substitutionary
sacrifice, He has declared His people to
be non-guilt. And the verdict comes from the
high court of heaven. from the judge of all the earth
that will always do what's right. This is the fast I've ordained.
Break every yoke. Not put yokes on people. Break
every yoke. And this refers to the manner
in which religion controls people. And that's what religion is all
about, apart from Christ, about controlling you. Not letting
you go, but holding you fast. The unit consists of fear of
censure. Well, if you leave us, you know,
we'll have to reprobate you. I've heard preachers actually
say that, stupid idiots say things like that. If you leave us, that
means you ain't a child of God. This is where God's people meet.
Fear, censure, or promise of reward. If you'll do this, God
will bless you. And you'll have rewards in heaven
and stars in your crown. And won't you be pretty with
your crown head full of stars? The whip or the biscuit's what
I call it. They're either going to whip you or they're going
to give you a biscuit. One or the other. It's either the sword
of Damocles or the crown of personal merit. These things control men rather than cutting them loose.
This is my fast, God said. This is self-denial. You want
to self-denial? You know what denying yourself is? Cutting
somebody else loose. Telling the truth of the gospel.
The fast that the Lord has ordained, the denial of self is about getting
outside yourself and doing for others. That's what the gospel
is. When we get up and preach the gospel, we're telling you
something. We're telling you what God has
done. And we're doing this for you. That's why we're here. We're doing this for you. Everybody
knows this. The best way to get outside of
your own problems is to do something for somebody else. It's just
the best. And that's just on a natural level. You want to
feel better? Get out from your doldrums and
get out from under your depression or whatever. Do something for
somebody else. Because when you're doing something
for somebody else, you're not thinking about yourself. Denying yourself. The Lord said, break every yoke. The Lord has ordained. the preaching
of the gospel and there is such freedom in giving and carrying
through the preaching of the gospel we are to love our enemies
now you and i both know that it can't have to do with affection
and a sentiment or attraction I don't think my enemies are
pretty and I don't really want to hang around them do you? now just be honest no well how
do I love them? One way. Redemptively. I tell them about Jesus Christ.
And they'll never have a man love them more than to tell them
that. Than to tell them that. The effect
of the gospel, the freedom that it brings, is to see the truth
about your own flesh. Our Lord said that, verse 6,
is not the path that I have chosen to loose the bands of wickedness,
undo heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and you break
every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and
thou bring the poor that are outcast to thy house, when thou
seest the naked, thou cover him, and thou hide not thyself from
thine own flesh? Be honest about what you are.
It's easier to deny yourself when you find out what yourself
is. I get tickled at these people today. Talking about finding their authentic
self. Oh my goodness. Oprah's not right,
y'all. Oprah ain't right. Authentic
self. If you find your authentic self
ever, I'll find you at the feet of
Christ. Because you don't want anything to do with your authentic
self. The Lord said, don't hide yourself from your own flesh.
What does that mean? to know that there's no reason
to ever have confidence in your flesh, but all confidence in
Christ. And most of the things here reported
that the Lord has chosen fast are things that are not planned
or even accounted as works. I've got some flack on this from
people. Boy, that makes it loud there. I've got some flack from
people on things like this. When you tell them you don't
know what your works are, but I honestly believe if you recognize me probably
in trouble i'd just understood and you can do it everyone i
remember is you know i'm going to credit for somehow you know
it's true you do some nice for somebody some family you know
needs to pay up you buy them some groceries taken to the house
maybe leave them on the porch don't even tell him we are in
golf You know, and just wait, you can wait for years for an
opportunity for somebody to mention that so you can tell them where
it comes from. God has ordained, now listen, God has ordained every good work
that you do. It's ordained. What does that
mean? You're going to do it. You say, what are they? I don't
know. And he don't say. But he's ordained
them. You are his workmanship, his
poem, his poema, his poem. He's writing the stanzas. He's
written the stanzas. There's work for you to do. What
is it? I don't know. But you're going to do it. You
are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God has before ordained that you should walk in them,
and you're going to walk in them. Well, what it be? Our Lord talking
to those separated to his right hand to inherit heaven, which
was prepared for them before the world began. He said, I was
hungry, and he visited me, or he fed me. I was hungry this
morning. I got fed. Somebody fed me. I didn't have to buy it either.
And it was better than bought stuff. I was naked and they clothed
me. I was in prison and you visited
me. I was sick and you come set up some of my bedside. Now how
many of us have friends and loved ones? Now think about this. And
they're sick. And we say, I'm going to go visit
my friend. And before we go, we say in our
heads, this is a good work that God is going to recognize.
Why? The thought of that, we would
never say that. But why do you do it then? Because it's your life and you
love them. And so you do it. And you don't
think about it at all. You react to the situation. I
was hungry, God said. You fed me. Our Lord said if
you give a fellow a drink of water when he's thirsty, you've
done a good thing. How many of you think that's going to be
a good work? Somebody comes to you and says, I'm about thirsty to
death. You go to get a glass of ice or a glass of water and
throw some cubes in it and take a bite and say, here, have it.
Enjoy it, you know. Do you think in your mind, I'm
doing something for Jesus? What are you doing? What are
these ordained works? It is our life. It's our life. I love that gal
sitting right there. We've been married 47 years.
We don't have any rules and regulations. If I go in the kitchen and I
say, honey, you want a cup of coffee? I'm not doing that so
I can get points. I'm doing that because I love
her. I don't think it's anything to it. And she does the same
thing for me. I got sick last week. I got food
poisoning on Monday. You ought to see how she took
care of me. It was amazing. I think she likes me a little
better when I am sick. Maybe. But she was everything. Anything
I wanted, she got. And I was feeling bad. And she
took care of me. Why did she do that? She said, Jesus is going
to love me for this. Did she say that? No. She loves me. And so she takes
care of me. This is our life, brothers and
sisters. I don't have to tell you if your friend is hungry
for you to feed him to him. You just go feed him. You don't
think about it. You don't think about it. This
is what the Gospel does for people. This is how it sets men free.
These are the good works that God has ordained. This is His
fast. To deal bread to the hungry. To turn people loose and set
them free. Nothing in the world like it.
It is evident that these blessed ones do not consider what they
have done or what they had done was works. In Matthew 25, when
the Lord said that to them, they were nothing more than living
life as a redeemed sinner, a thankful sinner. This is the beauty of
the gospel. It's the Lord's chosen fast.
It sets men free, cares for them, meets their needs, and garners
no confidence in the flesh. This is what it is to deny yourself. This is an acceptable day of
the Lord. God bless you. Thanks for having
me.