Sermon on the Mount Part XLI - I Never Knew You - Do You Know the Lord?

[0:00] is entitled, I Never Knew You. And we're going to be looking at two scriptures that deal with that phrase.

[0:12] And first, I'd like you to please turn to Matthew chapter 25. We'll be looking at that passage first. Matthew 25, verses 1 through 12.

[0:51] Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep.

[1:13] But at midnight there was a shout, Behold the bridegroom, come out to meet him. Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.

[1:27] The foolish said to the prudent, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. But the prudent answered, No, there will not be enough for us and for you too.

[1:43] Go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves. And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came.

[1:56] And those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast. And the door was shut. Later the other virgins also came, saying, Lord, Lord, open up for us.

[2:11] But he answered, Truly I say to you, I do not know you. Then, please turn to an earlier chapter of Matthew.

[2:28] And this is Matthew chapter 7. And there we'll be looking at verses 15 through 23.

[2:40] Verse 16. Verse 16. Verse 16. Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

[2:54] You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they?

[3:06] So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.

[3:20] Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.

[3:34] Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. But he who does the will of my Father, who is in heaven, will enter.

[3:46] Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles?

[4:03] And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.

[4:17] Both of these passages from Matthew's Gospel express one central truth, and that is the lack on the part of some as opposed to the sufficiency on the part of others.

[4:32] It has to do with the ins and the outs, with the accepted and the unaccepted, with those who come up short, and with those who have an adequate amount of whatever it is required, whether it's oil for the lamp or righteousness.

[4:48] But in either case, whichever it is, we find this kind of tension all throughout Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation. There is that which God will accept, and there is that which he will not accept.

[5:02] And some of the details differ from generation to generation and dispensation to dispensation, but across the board, it has always been cued in on one particular issue as to what makes one acceptable to God in any time frame, and it is this.

[5:21] It has to do with one's willingness to acknowledge a moral deficiency in and of one's own self.

[5:33] It makes no difference what dispensation you're talking about, whether you're talking about the New Testament or the Old Testament. That principle is always the same. And it is usually in very crystal clear terms.

[5:46] Sometimes it takes different routes to explain or to express or to illustrate, like we saw this morning, with the parable of the virgins and the supply of oil.

[5:57] And all that supply of oil, or their running out of oil, is intended to illustrate is this, is that there is a coming up short of what one is supposed to have.

[6:09] In the passage in Matthew chapter 5, or 5 through 7 actually, it is dealing with that key verse that has to do with the quality of righteousness that is necessary.

[6:21] And the key verse that we've referred to a number of times that really probably interprets the Sermon on the Mount better than anything else is verse 20 of chapter 5, where Christ was speaking to the multitude, and he said, but I say unto you, except your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.

[6:51] One would automatically think that if anybody had it together, it would be the religious establishment, the so-called experts, the ones who had all the answers regarding spiritual issues.

[7:04] But they had a very superficial understanding of the spirit of the law because they devoted all of their time and interests in nitpicking details about the law, and they missed the weightier matters of the law.

[7:19] So Christ is throughout this entire Sermon on the Mount giving various illustrations as to how the scribes and Pharisees, the so-called experts, missed the thing completely.

[7:34] And that the key of the issue was the simplicity with which the statement was made and the literality with which it was to be taken. So Christ constantly challenged them and corrected them with, you have heard that it has been said.

[7:49] You have heard in old time that it has been said. But I say unto you, and each time he offers this contrast, and in doing so he is saying, there is a difference between right and wrong.

[8:01] And these and what they have taught are wrong. And what I am teaching you is the way it really is. Well, that created the kind of conflict and tension in the Jewish community that up to this time had never existed.

[8:17] Because no one had ever effectively challenged the religious establishment. After all, these are supposed to be the go-to guys when it comes to spiritual things.

[8:30] But they had completely missed the boat. And as a result of them missing the boat, they taught the people the wrong things, the wrong way, the wrong issues, and all the rest of it. And the whole nation was under spiritual harm because they were getting misinformation.

[8:47] And Christ came to correct that, among other things. And this was always offset, but I say unto you. And right away, he began creating enemies in the religious establishment.

[9:00] Because frankly, it was embarrassing to them to have this uneducated peasant from Nazareth that lives right next door to the Gentiles up in Galilee come down here.

[9:17] I mean, he's never been to our rabbinical schools. He's never had the training that we could provide for him. And this upstart comes down here, and he just amazes the people.

[9:29] And then, of course, the religious establishment considered the people as gullible. Well, these people, they are just so untaught and so out of it, they can't even see through Jesus that he is a false prophet and that he's leading them astray.

[9:42] And they actually took that position. So the common people heard him gladly, but he got all the opposition from the so-called experts. And you know what? Nothing has changed.

[9:55] It still works that way today. So let's look at this, if we may. And let me remind you, while we're here in Chapter 7, that we are nearing the end of the Sermon on the Mount. I think this is our 41st or 42nd message, something like that, on these three chapters.

[10:10] And we will very shortly be concluding it with the last few verses in Chapter 7, but we will have a couple of interruptions because next week we will be serving communion, as we traditionally do, on Palm Sunday.

[10:28] And all who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, whether they are members of this church or not, are invited to participate with us as we receive the Lord's table.

[10:39] And then the following Sunday will be an Easter message, and that will, of course, be Resurrection Sunday. So we will not be in the Sermon on the Mount on those two Sundays, but on the last Sunday of the month, we plan to conclude with Matthew Chapter 7, and then we will take up entirely new material after Marie and I return from being absent for the month of May.

[11:02] So we have here, at the conclusion of today's segment, which ends with verse 23, some very, very sad words.

[11:14] Can you imagine? Can you imagine? Can you imagine the sheer terror of someone being before the throne of God Almighty and hearing him say, Depart from me, I never knew you.

[11:36] I just can't imagine the sheer terror that would come with those words and their implication. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.

[11:51] I never knew you. And it's interesting to note, he doesn't say, I used to know you, but I don't know you anymore.

[12:02] He doesn't say that. He says, I never knew you. Never did know you. Why is that? And can these possibly be religious people that he's talking to?

[12:15] Well, if you read the context, I think that those whom he is saying he never knew is really this religious crowd, the scribes and Pharisees, the ones who did not have a sufficient righteousness, because the righteousness that God will accept is not a matter of quantity.

[12:37] It's a matter of quality. It isn't how much righteousness you have. It's whose righteousness you have. And when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are clothed with his righteousness, and that's what makes you acceptable.

[12:53] If all you have is your own rags of righteousness, it will be a depart from me. I never knew you. So, and this couples right in with the false prophets, and of course, you don't have to read too much between the lines to determine who the false prophets are.

[13:10] The religious establishment, of course, would consider Jesus of Nazareth to be a false prophet. And Jesus of Nazareth is identifying the religious establishment as the false prophets.

[13:21] Now, somebody's got to be right, and somebody's got to be wrong. So, take your pick. Christ said, the easiest way to identify a false prophet is to see what they produce, what their fruits are, just like a tree.

[13:37] A good tree, a good, healthy tree, will produce good fruit. A tree that is just rotten and spin itself will produce bad fruit, or no fruit at all.

[13:48] So, you will know false prophets by their fruits. So, all Jesus is doing is saying, if you want to determine who the false prophets are, look at what they produce.

[13:59] Look at what the religious establishment produces. What do they produce? What was the chief characteristic that everybody knew was so true of these scribes and Pharisees?

[14:11] It was hypocrisy. Remember the publican, and the Pharisee and the publican stand before the temple and say, the Pharisee would say, I thank thee, God, that I am not as other men.

[14:28] I fast twice in the week. I pay tithes of all that I possess. I this, I that, and on and on and on. And the poor old publican, who was considered the offscouring of humanity, smote himself, which is a sign in that culture of depreciation, deprecation of oneself, smote himself on the breast and said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

[14:55] He was the one who was actually dealing with reality. The other guy was just putting forth all of his phony credentials. And Christ said, I tell you, it is the publican who is justified rather than the religious man.

[15:09] And would to God that people were better able to understand that today, because we live in a world where people generally think that anybody who is religious, and it doesn't make any difference what the religion is.

[15:20] Could be Islam, could be Buddhism, could be Shintoism, could be Christianity, could be Judaism, doesn't make any difference. If you're religious, you're in. And nothing could be further from the truth.

[15:33] But that's the way people generally regard religiosity. And you hear things like, it doesn't make any difference what religion you are, just as long, if you're a Jew, just be a good Jew.

[15:45] If you're a Muslim, be a good Muslim. Because all roads lead to the same place. And that's the common thinking today. But, you know, a passage just like this really gives the lie to that, that that is not the case at all.

[16:00] He talks about false prophets, and he says that no one, and this is something that we need to consider, there cannot be any false prophets if there are no true prophets.

[16:15] You cannot have one without the other. And a prophet is not necessarily one who foretells the future, although that's the way we usually think of it.

[16:27] But the biblical term for prophet is used more often of simply someone who tells forth truth. We would say preaches or exhorts.

[16:40] And that's pretty much the same thing as prophesying. Although, when you use the word prophet, somebody always thinks of somebody with a crystal ball, or they're trying to tell the fortune, or whatever.

[16:51] And the Bible does talk about prophets along that line, but more often than not, it is, Son of man, go to such and such a town and prophesy against them.

[17:04] He's not saying, go there and tell their future. He's saying, go there and tell them my message. Give them my words. And the word prophesy is used in that sense. So, there is no error unless there is truth.

[17:18] And today, we live in a generation that have pretty much scrapped truth. And they say, there is no such thing as moral absolutes.

[17:29] If there is no truth, then, of course, it's to each his own. And that's exactly where many people are coming from.

[17:41] This is why, this is why people who set their own standards and make themselves themselves, their own depository of truth, live by their standards.

[17:55] And they are completely, completely uninvolved in moral standards that exist until things really get down to where you just can't live that way.

[18:08] I remember someone, I don't recall who it was, but he was telling me that he was engaged in a midnight conversation in a college dormitory with a group of students there and they were all very keen and very high on this idea that there is no absolute truth and it is whatever.

[18:30] That's the buzzword today, you know, whatever, whatever. Whatever has no meaning unless it makes no difference. difference. When you say whatever and you associate that with a moral thing, then you're saying there is no right morality and no wrong morality, it's just whatever, whatever.

[18:52] But whatever counts only if it makes no difference. Whatever is legitimate only when a decision has no discernible difference. In other words, if you're going to the mall, you may argue over whether it's better to go down Shrine Road and then take Upper Valley Pike to the mall or if you want to go Ballantyne Pike to Miller and to go down Miller and go down Troy Road, what are you going to do?

[19:23] Whatever. Really doesn't make any difference. It's not a moral issue. That's the only time whatever is legitimate.

[19:34] If the consequences make no difference, then it's whatever. And as he carried on this conversation, he was trying to argue biblically with these young people and of course there were about a half a dozen of them and he was sorely outnumbered, but he was trying to get in a word of witness for the gospel.

[19:50] And this young man, one of them there, was extolling the qualities of a new stereo system that he had bought and it was one of these massive boom boxes that had large speakers on either side and had so many watts to it.

[20:05] And the thing cost about $250 and it was well made and it was just a beautiful thing to look at. The latest state of the art in digital this and that and Blu-ray and all the rest of it, you know.

[20:18] And this guy got ready to leave. He says, well, it's about midnight and he said, I've got to be going. I've got an early morning tomorrow and he said, that really is a nice outfit you've got there and the guy said, thanks.

[20:30] And he said, well, I'll be going. And he walked over and picked it up and started to walk out the door with it. And the guy said, oh, hey, where are you going with that? He said, well, I like it.

[20:43] It's really nice. I think I'll keep it. You can't do that. It's mine. Yeah? Well, I'm going to take it anyway.

[20:56] You think you're big enough to stop me? Go ahead. Try. And he started to walk out for the door and the guy said, wait a minute. What's going on here? What are you doing? And he turned around and he said, hey, if there is no moral right or wrong, don't tell me I'm wrong for taking this because in my mind, it's the right thing to do.

[21:19] I'll see you. Thanks. The guy said, well, okay, I guess you made your point. And he said, thank you.

[21:30] He said, really, I had no intention of taking it. But you see, we can argue about things like that philosophically. There is no moral right or wrong.

[21:40] It's whatever is right or wrong for you. And we can argue with that and make the case until your nose gets in the picture. Then all of a sudden, guess what?

[21:53] There is a right and wrong morally after all. It's called either stealing somebody else's property or not stealing. That's a moral issue.

[22:05] Well, in this text, Jesus says in verse 21, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.

[22:20] But he who does the will of my father who is in heaven. What is the will of the father? Well, it involves a number of things. Jesus said, I always do my father's will for therefore have I come forth and my meat and my drink is to do the will of him that sent me.

[22:42] And the will of the father has to do with that which is in keeping with the character and nature of the father. And everything that is contrary to that is opposed to the father's will.

[22:55] Jesus is simply saying that there are those who make an outward profession but they have no inner reality. And even though this is set in a kingdom dispensation kind of concept, there is an application that can be brought over to the church age and the dispensation in which we live right now.

[23:16] The dispensation of the grace of God. And here, it has to do with one, recognizing his own deficiencies like the like the poor publican who smote himself and said, be merciful to me, a sinner.

[23:32] That's an acknowledgement right there. And in any and every dispensation, there always has to be an admission, an acknowledgement of a moral insufficiency, inadequacy.

[23:49] anyone who thinks that in themselves they are not morally inadequate is not going to make it.

[24:02] This is a first step. It is coming into the reality that we are inadequate and insufficient in and of ourselves.

[24:13] If you're not, you don't need a savior. this is something that we ought to really start making a lot more noise about because we have been very, very deficient in this.

[24:31] And I say we as an evangelical. The whole evangelical cause, we have we have had a short sell on sin.

[24:44] and the reason we have is because sin, although it has never been a popular issue, is today really unpopular.

[24:56] How can you assign sinfulness to anyone where you are in a society that is inundated with moral relativism?

[25:08] Sin is just not in the picture anymore. I don't know what to do about this, but we've got to do something.

[25:26] I would be more than content in just unloading both barrels on the issue of sin right here, but my problem is this. I know you're already there. I'd be just preaching to the choir.

[25:37] I wouldn't be telling you anything that you don't know. the problem is the masses out there. We don't have a way of getting to the masses that is practical. That's our problem today.

[25:51] Billy Graham, bless his heart, is just about finished insofar as earthly activity is concerned, and he's leaving behind the next generation who are very capable and able, but you know, we are living in a generation now that is becoming more and more hostile towards spiritual things.

[26:12] Christianity in particular. In fact, there are places where you could get by a lot more successfully extolling the virtues of Islam or something else than you would Christianity because we have fallen upon hard times, and I suspect that much of it is due to our own fault because we have slacked off in the message.

[26:36] Sin is not in. I guess you've probably discovered that. But when Paul said in Ephesians 4, I think it is, have nothing to do with the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

[26:59] Unfruitful deeds of darkness. darkness, how would you go about exposing them? Well, for starters, how about calling it what it is?

[27:18] But do you realize the difficulty you have in doing that today with political correctness? How about naming it and calling it what it is?

[27:30] homosexuality is a sin. Do you realize the kind of wrath I can bring down upon my head if word gets out that I am preaching about that here in the U.S.

[27:43] of A? What's happened? I think in part what has happened is that we have eased off of the reality of sin for so long that unrighteousness is simply overtaking us in a massive way.

[28:03] And Christians and Christian churches are more and more being intimidated into silence and marginalized more and more. Those who speak about the need for tolerance are completely intolerant when it comes to spiritual things propagated by the Christian faith.

[28:26] That's where their toleration has a limit. We have gone underground with so many of these things because we don't want to offend people.

[28:37] And let me tell you something. You can't preach the gospel without offending people. The gospel is an offense. Now we need to be careful how we proclaim it because the gospel, the cross of Jesus Christ, has a built-in offensiveness to it, to the natural man.

[28:56] But we just need to make sure that we don't add to that offense with our demeanor or our attitude. We need to preach this gospel and do it in a forthright way, but it needs to be done with love.

[29:11] And that has to be our motivation. But nonetheless, when you really love someone, and when you love a society, and when you love a country, the question is, do you love them enough to tell them the truth?

[29:23] That's what we're dealing with. And it was an issue back then, it's an issue today. There are those who are going about engaging in works in the name of Christ, and it isn't for Christ at all.

[29:43] But you can put the name on it. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles?

[29:58] Where are these people coming from and who are these? These are the same as the false prophets that he's talking about here. And when he says in your name, he's not talking about those who are doing it in the name of Christ.

[30:11] These scribes and Pharisees weren't performing their miracles, whatever they may have been. They weren't doing that in the name of Christ. You can be sure of that. They wouldn't give him that kind of Christ.

[30:21] They would be doing it in the name of God. In the name of Jehovah. But when he says they will say to me, verse 22, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?

[30:36] And this passage, among other things, equates God and Christ as being of the same. And I think that is unavoidable. And then he will declare to them, I never knew you.

[30:50] How could they do miracles in the name of God when it really wasn't in the name of God at all? Where did they get their authority?

[31:05] Same place the magicians in Egypt got theirs. Remember when Moses threw down the staff and it became a snake? Then he picked it up and it became a staff again?

[31:17] Did you read the whole context there in Exodus? The sorcerers and the Egyptians were able to duplicate that miracle. How did they do that? Well, there's only one other source of power through which it could be done and it would have to be satanic.

[31:36] And these here who are supposedly doing these miracles in God's name and in God's name casting out demons and weren't we in the right? Didn't we prove ourselves with that?

[31:48] And he says, I never knew you. You were a false prophet. You see, the big thing that separates believers from unbelievers is is an internal humility versus an internal pride.

[32:07] And this is true in any dispensation. You can go all the way back to Genesis, all the way through to Revelation. That dichotomy is always in place. The internal pride is that which says to oneself, you know what?

[32:25] I'm a pretty good guy. I'm one of the best people around. I've never done this. I've never done that. I've done this. I've done that. And on and on and on.

[32:36] They pat themselves on the back internally. That's an internal pride. This is the kind of person, if you say, are you sure of heaven? Well, I'm trying the best I can.

[32:47] I think I'll make it. And they don't have a clue. But this is the common thinking out there. This is internal pride. A person who thinks their own personal goodness is going to suffice.

[32:58] And never will. God hates pride. And you know why? Because pride has no basis in reality. Pride is based solely on fiction.

[33:11] It's not based on fact. Pride is based on self adulation and self exaltation that has no basis in reality.

[33:22] And we are up to our eyeballs in this thing called human pride. It will damn the individual. And the inner humility that God requires is a humility and internal understanding and admission even if you just admit it to yourself.

[33:39] You know what? I don't have it made. I don't have it all together. I don't stand well before God. I know I am deficient in a lot of ways and I'm not going to try to defend that.

[33:52] I'm not going to kid myself into thinking I'm okay when I know I'm not and I'm not going to give that impression to anybody else because it isn't true. That's an internal humility. It is an acknowledged deficiency.

[34:06] And you know what else the scriptures call that? They call not to a preacher not to a priest not to a rabbi you aren't going to anybody to confess your sin when you confess it means you acknowledge you admit to yourself and to God your deficiency that's what it means to confess your sin it means you own your shortcomings you don't defend it you don't justify it you don't compare it with somebody else's you just say it's me and I am not going to make it in and of myself God loves that God loves that and the reason he loves it is simply because he is the God of truth and reality and that's the truth it corresponds to who he is and what he is about

[35:09] God loves for us to come to ourselves like the prodigal did in Luke 15 when he came to himself that's what God wants us to do it doesn't make any difference what generation you're living in or what dispensation you're in this is true across the board we're told in Genesis 15 6 that Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness God requires a righteousness from you that you don't possess and neither did Abraham Abraham didn't have the kind of righteousness that God would accept and you know what God did now this is grace this is grace God said to Abraham Abraham if you will simply believe me I will count that to your credit and consider it as righteousness

[36:15] Abraham said well text doesn't say Abraham said this but I think Abraham probably did say this or something like it you will you will you will take my just believing you and what you tell me and you will accept that in place of the righteousness that you would require that I don't have and you'll take that instead of it God says yes you know that's exactly what he does today we're talking about we're talking about a time that predated the Mosaic law this was before Moses ever came on the scene to give us the law this was Abraham way back in chapter 15 and Abraham believed God and God counted his belief as righteousness or in the place of righteousness he does the same thing for you when you place your faith in

[37:20] Jesus Christ you believe the record that God has given of his son God accepts your faith he accepts your belief he accepts your trust in him as being the same as the righteousness that you need but you don't have and he just gives that to you as a free gift but before anyone can receive that you have to do business internally with your own heart and mind you have to come to that realization that this is something you really need because you are deficient you don't measure up you just you don't have what it takes and you can't produce what it takes only Jesus Christ can this is an amazing thing and it doesn't make any difference as I've said before where you live or when you live this is the process through which we must go we have to come to the end of ourselves we have to acknowledge we are not what

[38:24] God requires and we can't do anything about it we can't make ourselves acceptable that's a bitter pill to swallow especially for American males males have an ego that won't quit it is a can do mentality well if I don't have what God requires I'll do it I can make it I can I can I can no you can't no you can't and what does that do to your ego it flattens it it flattens it that's a bitter pill to swallow hey I'm an American male too and I remember 1956 looking at this issue and thinking hey I'm a 21 year old U.S.

[39:22] soldier boy isn't anything I can't handle religion God and all that stuff I'm sure that's fine for children and women you know excuse my male chauvinist pig but you know women women and children they need they need a crutch because they're not strong like I am you know what that is that's just baloney that's ego that's macho nonsense talking and it is part of the fall it is part of what came crashing down in Adam and this is where it left him and Adam faithfully passed it on to all of us men and we're all like that all men are like that it's the male ego thing it's the male ego thing in Islam right now that is scared to death that

[40:28] Muslim women may get a glimpse of western feminism and actually think they are equal to their husbands god forbid that's what this thing is really all about in Islam Washington has never seen through it but this is what it's about this is what jihad is about this is what the twin towers is about this is what all of this stuff is about that the Muslims are perpetrating they are scared to death that the male supremacy is threatened they don't know how to handle it they lash out and they beat their women in public and all the rest of it all of this is tied to the male ego now women have an ego too but honey yours can't compare with mine we men have a corner on egotism this is why this is why when a marriage is in trouble the wife is willing to make the appointment and to come in and sit down and listen to everything that might help her and her relationship with her husband if the husband comes you're going to drag him kicking and screaming cussing and fussing all the way he doesn't want to be there

[41:51] I don't need to tell my problems to somebody blah this is tied in this is why so many have been led to say that we are all our own worst enemy and we are we are until we come to grips with our own shortcoming and see the issue as it really is our own deficiency our own need our own lack and you cannot fill up what you lack you cannot do it and when you come to that conclusion and you just lay it all down and say God I can't do this it's beyond me I am flawed and I can't provide a corrective God help me and then God says I will I thought you'd never come to that but when you do then

[42:56] God is ready to do business all kinds of religious activity can go on that's conducted in the flesh and the power of the flesh and God doesn't have anything to do with it and that's partly what this is about too men are capable of building great monuments conducting great activities gaining a lot of accolade a lot of notoriety a lot of recognition a lot of newspaper print and it may not amount to a hill of beans as far as God is concerned that's all male ego it's remarkable what the flesh is able to accomplish but what we're talking about here is just applies across the board anytime and every time there is fallen man this is the way and this is the only way that God will meet man he will not meet man in man's sufficiency because he doesn't have any the only way God will meet you is in your insufficiency and an acknowledgement of it now could very well be that every single person here has already been there you've acknowledged your deficiency you have come to Christ for provision of something that you cannot produce and that you have received his salvation his forgiveness his eternal life you are in Christ and rejoicing in that maybe every single person here is in that position

[44:28] I would hope so but I also know that there is a good likelihood that somebody here is just counting on religiosity or churchianity or good intentions but they've never really admitted their own spiritual need to themselves and appealed to God on the basis of their inadequacies if that's true of you I have good news for you this can be your spiritual birthday right now would you pray with me father we are so grateful that though times change and men change technology changes you never change and your way of dealing with man has always been and always will be in grace but it has to be man acknowledging his need of grace for those who will not acknowledge a need of grace they are traveling on their own dime and they are certain to fail we come to you as needy people and we pray if there is anyone here or anyone listening electronically who has never really come to grips with their own inadequacy their own insufficiency their own inability may they just be honest with themselves right now and say

[46:08] I cannot be that I cannot do that I cannot produce that and it really disturbs me that I can't but if you are willing to place to my account what Jesus Christ accomplished on that cross and give it to me as a gift I certainly will gratefully receive it Lord Jesus I want to be in you and I want you in me I'm not counting on anything else or anyone else other than the finished work of Christ put to my account and I recognize that it is a gift I haven't earned it and I don't deserve it I certainly want it and as best as I know how with all of my questions and fears and doubts I just want to lay myself bare before you

[47:10] I want to receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior because I recognize my need thank you for providing him to die for my sin I want him as my Savior and dear friend if you've made that decision this morning I trust that you will tell someone certainly would hope that you would tell me I have some literature that I'd like to give you that will help you get started in the Christian life and I'd like to have a word of prayer with you and show you some scripture verses and you feel free to approach me and we'll just go in the office and have a little talk after everybody's gone and we'll celebrate your new birth together thank you Lord Jesus for this wonderful glorious gospel we do not have words to adequately express it or to give our gratitude for it but we who have known you become so grateful and so appreciative of all that you've been pleased to do beginning with that new birth pray that you will give anyone here who was struggling with that issue the courage to make the decision they know they ought to make thank you for thank you for just being you amen amen