In this sermon, the preacher discusses the repetitive cycle of the Israelites in the Bible. He highlights how the people would turn to God when they needed deliverance, but would quickly forget Him once their needs were met. The preacher emphasizes that God desires to be more than just a deliverer to His people, but their true God. He quotes from Romans 6 to explain that through faith in Jesus, believers are set free from sin and become slaves to righteousness. The preacher passionately urges the audience to examine their relationship with God and ensure that they truly love and serve Him.

Israel, while after seeing the glory of God, Israel had Moses to lead them. They saw God part the Red Sea. They saw all the wonderful miracles in Egypt. He fed them with the manna. He did all these wonderful things for them. And I'm sure that's probably the only person that has wondered, how could they just turn so easily? How could they just leave God? How could they turn their back on God and earn this evaluation? Numbers 14.20, the Lord, then the Lord said, I have pardoned according to your word. Remember, He was going to kill all the Israelites and start a new race with Moses. He said, I have pardoned according to your word, but truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. Because all these men who have seen my glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness have put me to the test now these ten times and have not heeded my voice. And like I said, I've wondered, how could they, their people, who saw God bringing them through the Red Sea and on one side of the Red Sea they rejoiced and it seemed like days later they were murmuring and complaining. Let us go back to Egypt. Why did you bring us here? And I'll tell you why. The answer is because they saw God as a deliverer and not as their God. And God is our deliverer, but He is not only our deliverer. This is evidenced by the fact that when Moses was gone for forty days, what did they do? They made a golden calf. Let us make a God. You see, we need something to deliver us back to Egypt. You see, God was not their God. God was a deliverer. He was something that they would use to meet their needs. We need to get out of bondage. Let's call on God. We're out of bondage. We don't need God anymore. Let's do something else. Joshua led Israel after Moses and then there was a period of the judges. Judges was a dark period in the history of Israel. It was gross transgression against the Lord. When a judge ruled and everything became good, they served the Lord. They loved God. And then as soon as the judge died and everything was going great, they turned from God. Over and over and over again we see it. Judge died, people sinned. We see when the kings came about. Had a good king, people served God with all their hearts. They danced, they sang, they said all the right words. Bad king rose up, set up the asterisk and the vows and they went and praised God. You see it over and over again. Why? Because they saw God as a deliverer, but He never was to them their God. Judges 3 said, When the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel who delivered them. Ophanel, the son of Knez, Caleb's youngest brother. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he judged Israel, so the land had rest for forty years. Then Ophanel, the son of Knez, died and the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. Over and over and over again we see this. And I'm leading some places. This is a little bit of history. But here we see a picture of mankind. Come to God so that you can get what you want from God. Come to God because this is how you can be happy. Come to God and have your needs met. Psalm 78, beginning in verse 34, says, When He slew them, then they sought Him, and they returned and sought earnestly for God. Then they remembered that God was their Rock, and their Most High God their Redeemer. Nevertheless, they flattered Him with their mouth and they lied to Him with their tongue. For their heart was not steadfast with Him, nor were they faithful to His covenant. And they lied to Him with their tongue, for their heart was not steadfast with Him. What do you say from? And who is your God? What are God's terms? It's a very important question. God's covenant begins and ends with Christ Jesus crucified on the cross and resurrected from the dead. God's covenant is totally surrounded by Christ. It is all about Christ. What is the true gospel? The true gospel we can see in Acts 2 when Peter was preaching. He preached Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected. Acts 2.36 Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when he had heard this, they were cut to the heart and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call. And with many of the words, he testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. Again, in Acts chapter 10 with Cornelius. And he commanded, Acts 10.42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to judge the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets witnessed that through His name whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins. This is the gospel that was preached by the early church. This is the true gospel. Guilt, grace, repentance, the blood, forgiveness, sanctification, and eternal life. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Today, many preachers, many, many preachers, in fact, I'd say very few don't do this. Praise God for this church. Because it doesn't do this. But most preachers today have tried to prostitute Almighty Living God. And they say, come to God for this. Come to God for that. Come to this God and you'll have your marriage restored. Come to God and you can have a bigger house. Come to God and you can have your knees met. Come to God and you can have peace. Now understand me. God wants to heal your marriage. I believe with everything in my heart God wants to heal your marriage. God wants you to have peace. He's the King of Peace. God wants you to have your children to be healthy. God wants all these things. But I tell you this much right now. Jesus Christ did not have to die on the cross for you and I to have a bigger house. Jesus Christ did not have to die for you to have a better car. That is not why Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, came and shed His blood. Jesus Christ died because we were sinners who needed and still need a Savior. That is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And what we have today is a multitude of false conversions. You see, God has one way and it's His way and He doesn't have to listen to anybody else's negotiations. God's way is realize you are desperate, you are wicked, you are guilty and deserving of all the wrath that I could exude against you. But I sent my Son Jesus Christ to die for you and His blood will atone for your sins. And that is the way you come to God. Under those terms. But what we have today is people who come to God for all kinds of other reasons. We come to God and we say we see God as this. We see God as a deliverer. And because all they see God as is a deliverer, you have a false conversion. Because if you don't come to God on His terms, you haven't come to God. And I'll give you a case in point. We had a brother. Well, I won't even call him a brother. We had a man. His wife left him. And he came among us for about a year, a year and a half. My good brother Ronnie is here. He got ordained with me a while back. And he came among us for about a year, a year and a half. Every prayer meeting, every men's meeting, every time the church doors were open, this man came seeking God. And we prayed with him for his wife to come back for a year, a year and a half. Got his wife back. Within about two weeks, they performed a covenant marriage. The man never came back to church since then. Hadn't graced the doors of the house of God one time. Hadn't come to one prayer meeting. Hadn't come to one thing that would honor God. Because he saw God as a deliverer. What that man sought was a marriage counselor, not God. And you see, that's the condition of many of us in the church today. We haven't come to God because He's our Savior. We haven't come to God because we're desperate without Him. We haven't come to God because He is everything in this world to us. We've come to God because He's our deliverer. D.L. Moody said, one thing I have noticed is that some conversions don't amount to anything. That if a man professes to be converted without a conviction of sin, he is one of those stony ground hearers who don't bring forth much fruit. The first little wave of persecution, the first breath of opposition, and the man is back in the world again. Let us pray that men may be convicted of sin so they cannot rest in unbelief. D.L. Moody is the man who had an ambition back in the 1700's to make $100,000 a year. But this man, when he understood the grace of God, gave it all up. Ran down the street screaming, Grace! Grace! Grace! Running down the street. People thought he was crying for a lost love, but he was crying because of his new love, because he understood the grace of God. And when this man understood the grace of God, he saw his own wickedness before a holy God. And when he understood this beautiful Christ, this Savior, the grace of God, he was owned by God. This grace made him run down the street. They thought he was mad. This is the man who whenever he went anywhere in the city, he said, I'm not going to go to bed one night without witnessing Jesus. Not one night. His biographies tell he'd be in bed at midnight and remember that he didn't go talk to somebody about Jesus and he'd get out at midnight. Get dressed and say, I'm not going to bed because the day's been wasted if I hadn't told one person about my Lord. Judges 2-7, remember it said, when they forgot the great works of God, they turned back from Him. Well, I ask you this, the greatest work of God is Christ Jesus our Lord. The very fact that God would come in the form of a man, Emmanuel, it blows my mind. You know? Almighty God. That's worse than one of us becoming an ant. But God did it. Now, if they didn't remember the works of God and they turned back, how much faster will a man's mere religion fail him if he's never seen the great work of Christ? If a man hasn't seen his need for a Savior, he's never seen the great work of Christ. We must see that he is a holy God. He is a holy, holy God. And I pray that the Holy Spirit would open our hearts and eyes tonight that we could just get a glimpse of the holiness of God. Because until we see the holiness of God and the wretchedness of man, we will not understand the greatness of the work of God in Christ Jesus. We need a Savior. We should be desperate for Christ. Every day, every day, our focus should be on Christ. We must be screaming to be found in Christ every day of our lives. Charles Spurgeon said, I can remember the time that my sin stared me in the face. Sin, whatever it was to other people, to me became an intolerable burden. Listen to this. It was not so much that I feared hell as that I feared sin. And all the while, upon my mind, I had a deep concern for the honor of God's name. You see, here's a man who understood the grace of God. And he said, I'm not scared of hell. I'm scared of the fame in God's name. Because I know that man, I'm scared of sin because that sin is the reason my Lord died. And it became to me an intolerable burden. Morton Luther was already a priest. We know Morton Luther. Everybody knows his name. He was already a priest. He stated that. And the first time he did communion, he was shaken still. They thought he was nervous. He was shaken because he said, woe is me, such a sinner, to lift up the communion of my Lord. He was consumed with his own wickedness before God. Consumed with it. Beat himself on the back, as it was in the Augustinian order. Sometimes they're trying through all these things to punish himself. But this man, when he understood the grace of God, stood up to the whole entire Roman church and said, it is not going to be by your indulgences. It is by grace and grace alone. It is the grace of God. He saw his sin before God. He saw the grace of God. And he was consumed and owned by God. And this man went on to die for God. Because with him it was settled. Let us not even mention the Apostle Paul and Peter. Paul said, I am the chief of sinners. He persecuted the church. He killed. He was there when they killed Stephen. But this man understood the grace of God. And he was owned by God. And there was no compromise. You see, the man who understands what God has already done for him will not waver in service to God. But, when you come to God for God doing future things, you're going to wave around like a flag in the wind. You see, to the man who said, I have seen the grace of God, I have tasted and borne the horror of my own sin, and I have tasted the grace and the forgiveness of God. God owns me. I belong to God. To that man, his service to the Lord is settled. Because it is not based on future expectations. A really saved man or woman, a person who belongs to God, his service to God is not based on what God will do, but is based on what God has already done. Now, we pray to the Lord and we believe and we trust God for things. But if your faith is based on what God is going to do for you, you have faith in vain. Your faith, the object of your faith, is the cross of Jesus Christ. It is the mercy of God. It is not about what Jesus is going to do for you. It is about what He has already done for you. That is enough. God will not honor fleshly negotiations. If a man comes to Him and says, God, if You do this for me, I will serve You. Now, I know men have said that, and by the grace of God, they have come around full circle and they now belong to God. But I tell you this much, God will not recognize the need to do anything for your life and my life other than what He has already done. The blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient. God will not recognize and negotiate with us on a true conversion and say, I will also do this because what Christ did wasn't enough. God has a right to our lives. He has paid the price. And He doesn't need to do anything else. If all of us would go through this life naked, poor, and destitute, we should still serve God because of what He has already done. And that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Why did Jesus Christ come? Matthew 1.21 says, And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. Jesus died at the cross for your and my sins. But many of us today haven't ever given our hearts to God. We haven't come to God on His terms because we've come to God on another negotiation. The man who's been falsely converted, the man whose heart does not belong to God, will see God's law and commands as restrictive and not life-giving. There's some tattletales about does your heart belong to God. Is God your God? One of them is, this Word is restrictive versus this Word is the way of life. It is the revelation of this beautiful Jesus Christ. This revelation tells me about this wonderful God that I love so much. This Word is life to me. This is the most precious thing in the world that I can place in my hands. The Word of God. If we go to Numbers 22, I'm not going to read it off at Tom's sake, but we know the story of Balaam. And we know that Balaam came and said, Balaam, come and curse Israel. And Balaam said, well, come, and let me pray and seek the Lord and see what God has to say. And God said in verse 12, Numbers 22, You shall not go with them. You shall not curse these people, for they are blessed. So Balaam went back and told them, well, the Lord refused me to go. I can't go with you. The Lord refused to give me permission. And so we know the princes left and they came back and they said, we're going to give you honor and riches and surely the king will give you anything you want. He said, let me go see what the Lord has to say. God already told him what he had to say. He already had the Word of the Lord, but you see, it was restrictive to him. The Word of the Lord was not life. The Word of the Lord was like, no, no reason to go there. God has spoken and His Word is it for me. I accept it and I will challenge it. But he wanted the honor, he wanted the riches, and his God was restrictive. And we know the story. God went and angel almost killed him, but for a donkey the man was saved. And even then, he tried cursing him. God wouldn't let him curse him. He had to bless. And even then, because the Word of the Lord was restrictive, you shall not curse him. He said, well, I can't curse him, but I'll tell you what you can do. Send you little girlies over there and corrupt them and it'll work. Because the Word of the Lord was restrictive to him. Is the Word of God restrictive to you? Or is it life-giving? A man born of the Spirit will not despise the Word of the Spirit. If you were born of the Spirit, the Word of the Spirit will be joy to you. It'll be life in your heart. It'll be peace for your soul. A man who has not been born again, a man who is not born of the Spirit, will not understand the Word of God. We'll see it was restrictive. A few years ago, I guess it was a couple years ago, Nicole wanted to move our washing and dryers from outside to inside, so I built a wall and I put up the studs and put the sheet rock up and textured it and painted it and I was really proud of myself. I was saying, man, this is a good job. Man, if I ever lose my job or mortgage, I can be a sheet rocker. Nicole, come see this. This wall is beautiful. I mean, it was perfect. You couldn't see a thing wrong. You couldn't tell whether it was an old wall or a new wall. It matched the paint perfectly. Everything was great. And in my arrogance, I said, Nicole, watch this. A friend of mine told me, the way you really check and see if a wall has been sheet rocked good, sheet rocked good, is you turn off the lights and you put a flashlight down the side of the wall. And if you see a straight pure beam of light, you've done a good job. But if you see all kinds of shadows and stuff, it's not good. I said, watch this, man. Turn the light, put that light on. It was horrible. It was horrible. There were so many bumps and stains. I missed the wall about that far. And I tell you what, when the regular light was on and I was just looking at it from back here, that work looked so beautiful. It was perfect. But when that true light was shown on it, when the light that reveals the truth was shown on that wall, the horror was revealed. I wouldn't have paid somebody to do that job. And I tell you this much, friends, one day we are going to stand in the real light. We are going to stand in Him who is in it. There is no shadow of turning. There is no deviation. There is no partiality. We are going to stand before this Almighty God. And His light will reveal what is really in our hearts. We can deceive ourselves for a season. But I tell you what, if you have not come face to face with your sin, with your wickedness, with your horror apart from Jesus Christ, then you are in for a rude awakening. Because if you have not seen yourself as a sinner who desperately needs a Savior, you are going to be in trouble one day. Because if you haven't seen your sin, you haven't repented of your sin. If you haven't tasted of its horror, you haven't been so disgusted with yourself that you say, God, please forgive me or kill me, because I cannot live with this guilt of this sin. I cannot live the way I've done to you what I've done to you. I must have your forgiveness, God. Charles Finney, he said that when he had an encounter with his sin, the seat literally trembled beneath him. He started shaking so bad. This man, who was a renowned attorney, went into the woods and hid because he was ashamed. But he prayed and he prayed and he prayed. And he was talking to God. And all of a sudden, he felt no more guilt. He said, well, my God, I've done it now. Who was I to talk to God like that? The Holy Spirit has totally left me. I have no more guilt and no more shame. This is after he repented. He didn't know any better. Later, he realized that the guilt was free because he was free. It was the blood of Jesus. This attorney, this renowned attorney, walked into his law firm and said, I cannot plead your case. I am on life retainer for Jesus Christ. And from now on, I will plead only His case. He has paid the price. He has redeemed me with His blood. And I am on retainer for Him. And from now on, I will plead only His case. You see, for this man, it wasn't about what God would do for him in the future. It was about what God had already done for him. He understood what it was, the wickedness of his sin. And he tasted of the mercy and the grace of God. Why do you worship and serve God? Mark 7, verse 6 says, He answered and said to him, Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, hypocrite as it is written. This people honored me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in vain they worship me, teaching as the doctrines of men. They honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. We heard a wonderful message by a minister by the name of Parrish Reedhead, I believe his name. And he made a couple of definitions that I thought were excellent. Humanism. And I believe you guys had a copy of this the other morning. Humanism. The end of all means is the happiness of man. Everything is about man being happy. Christianity. The end of all means is the glorification and the pleasure of God. We were created for God's pleasure. We exist for God. Religious humanism. The happiness of man is the goal. God is the means. I'll say that one more time. Humanism. The end of all means is the happiness of man. Christianity. The end of all means is the glorification of God. Religious humanism. The happiness of man is the goal and God is the means. God may rule, but He rules for our happiness. We come to God when we come to God for our happiness. There's a vast difference there, but unfortunately enough, that is Christian gospel today. That's what we hear preached today. Come to God so you can get. Come to God so you can get. Come to God for what He will do. And that is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ is come to God because He is almighty God. Because He shed His blood for you and because He is worthy of your life. Because He's almighty God and there's nothing else you can do but give your life to God. Your whole heart, mind and soul. That's the gospel of Jesus Christ. Philippians 2.13 says, For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Ephesians 2.10 says, For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Colossians 2.16, second half says, All things were created through Him and for Him. Revelations 4.11 says, You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things. For Thy pleasure they are and were created. The end of all means is the happiness of God. Do you exist for the happiness of God? Because you see, if God is your God, that is why you exist. If you have a true conversion, that is why you exist. But if you have come to God for your happiness... Now, I'm not saying God doesn't want us to be happy. You know what I'm saying. But the motivation for my life is to make God happy. And He is just gracious and merciful enough to happen to give me back some joy in the process. But even if He didn't, the point of my life is to serve God. A man who's been saved, who's truly been saved, will see God as his merciful Father. Luke 7.46 says, You did not anoint my head with oil, but this woman has anointed my feet with fragrant oil. Therefore, I say to you, her sins which are many are forgiven, for she loved much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. A man that realizes and takes it of His grace, the issue of our service to God will not be negotiable. We will serve God because we belong to Him. Hebrews 4.1 says, Therefore, since the promise remains of entering His wrath, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed, the Gospel was preached to us as well as to them, but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. Is forgiveness and the promise of eternal life the hope of your faith? Is the cross of Christ the object of your faith? A man who sees, once again, these truths will not waver in his service to God. Many come to God for the wrong reasons and get wrapped up in religion for years and are no more saved than the devil himself. I have a couple of questions for you guys. The question is, what separates you from the devil? Now, on his face you may say, what does he mean by that? What separates you from the devil? That's a pretty important question. Well, let's just think of some things that the devil has. And we must, of course, all realize that the devil is as far from being saved as saved can be. Hell was created for the devil and his angels. That's what the Scriptures say. He has absolutely nothing in him. Nothing in him. Nothing in him that can be compared to salvation or goodness. Okay? The devil is perfect in his belief that God is Almighty God. The devil has seen God. The devil has walked in the presence of God. The devil understands the mechanics of heaven far better than any of us on this earth will ever understand the mechanics of heaven. So, the devil believes in God. James said it well. You say you believe in the one true God. You do well. The demons do also and they tremble. Okay? The devil knows this Word better than any one of us knows this Word. You say, I know the Bible. I read the Bible. Well, so does the devil. I go to church. Guess what? So does the devil. I believe in Jesus. The devil talks to Jesus. The devil saw Jesus crucified. And the devil saw Jesus raised from the dead. I believe in Jesus. I believe in the resurrection. So does the devil. So what separates you from the devil? Anything that you share in common with the devil in and of itself can by no means be a recognition or a basis for absolute salvation, for salvation in and of itself. So what separates us from the devil? You believe in God. You go to church. You read the Bible. You talk to God. Well, according to Job, the devil talked to God too. Jesus said in John 3.3, Jesus answered him and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? And Jesus answered, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of spirit is spirit. John 1.12 says, But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believed in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Will the Spirit of God breathe life into a man if a man comes to Him and treats God as a vending machine? If I do this, I'll get this. No, sir, He will not. Will the Spirit of God negotiate the terms of this glorious Jesus Christ? No, sir, He will not. If you have not come to God on His terms, you have not come to God at all. It used to be that you gave your heart and life and soul to God because you've seen this glorious Christ. You live for God and you are saved. Today, if you say a few words and repeat it the right time, you're saved. Just live a good life and be merry. That's not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Make no mistake, our sins are the reason He died. And He died so that we could be forgiven of our sins and be born again. What separates you from the devil? Well, the devil has never been born again. I can tell you that much right now. The devil has never, as it says right here, never received Him as God. The devil has never received what Jesus Christ did on the cross. And you cannot have Jesus as your Savior and not have Him as your Lord. It's a package deal. You cannot divide Christ up into segments and say, I'll take this and I won't take this. It is a package deal. You have Him as your Lord and your God or you do not have Him at all. If you do not have Christ, you do not have God. He who does not have the Son does not have the Father and is of the Antichrist. Ephesians 1.7 says, In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the richest of His grace. Now, many can say we know all this, we hear all this. And the question I would ask, and I don't mean to be too hard, but if we know all this, then why do we do the things we do? If we know all this, why is it such a tolerance for sin in the church? Why is it such a tolerance for sin in our lives? Why is it such a tolerance for ignoring the command of God? Go ye into the world and preach the Good News. Be a light in this world. You are doctors, do you not realize that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? We know all this. I'm not calling you guys a doctor. But if we know all this, why do we do the things we do? Today, if you tell a man, by the Word of God, and even by the Spirit of God, you're in sin, you need to repent, which you hear from most of the body. And I know this first hand is, who are you to judge another man's servant? Instead of an amen, you get who are you to judge another man's servant? The Word of God is clear. Kick the adulterer out of the church. There is such an unholy tolerance for sin in the body of Christ. And I tell you this, you can't find anywhere in this Bible where it says that inside the church, there's supposed to be a select holy few. It says the bride of Christ without spot or blemish. And if you read through Revelations, especially about the churches, you see a few of them had several good things that they were doing. But guess what? God commended them, but He said, but guess what? It's not good enough that you're doing these things right. This sin that you're doing, because you love the Nicolaitans or whatever it was, He said, this is enough for me to remove your candlestick. This is serious. God is a holy God. And He demands holiness from His people. People are afraid of offending God more than they are of offending sinners. And because we're so concerned about people being happy, today we have a happy unholy church. What does it profit a man to hear this? Well, we need to realize that we've been bought with a price. That we are not our own. We have been bought with a price. We are not our own. Romans 6.16 says, Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves to slaves to obey, you are that one slave whom you obey? Either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness. Do you not know that whom you present yourselves to slaves to obey, that one is your master? Until you present yourself without reservation to God, you have another master. That master is usually called self. Do you not know that you are slaves to whom you present yourselves to obey? Have you presented yourself without reservation to Almighty God? How do you know if you've been born again? I say it's a pretty important question since Jesus Christ Himself said that's the requirement for going to heaven. So how do you really know that you don't have a false conversion? How do you know you've come to God on His terms? How do you know that you haven't been deceived? Well, obviously by the Word of God. Romans 8.13 says, For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. If you are born of the Spirit, you will be led by the Spirit. And God will share His glory with no man. If your body has become the temple of the Holy Spirit, God will share His glory with no man. You will not walk in willful sin. If you can sit here and walk in willful sin, you are in big trouble. Because God will not tolerate it in His possession, in His vessel. Romans 6.17 says, But God bethinked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you had bathed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. Verse 22, But now having been set free from sin and having become slaves to God, you have your fruit to holiness and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. In Christ Jesus our Lord. I am so sick and tired of these sorry evangelists. A man said on TV, he got asked to speak at the presidential... whatever it was. But they said, you can't say the name of Jesus. He read the very Scripture I just told you. He said, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Period. If that man was worth any kind of salt, he would have said, I am in Christ and Christ is in me. I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. If Christ Jesus isn't welcome on your pathetic TV show, then neither am I. But what we have is a whole world full of compromise. Now, having been set free from sin and become slaves of God, how do you know you've been born again? Well, guess what? It all happened at the same time. When you became born again, when you were saved by the blood of the Lamb, you were set free from sin and you become a slave of God. It was a package deal. Hebrews 12 says, Pursue peace with all people and holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 1 Peter 1.15 says, But He who has called you is holy. You, you also, be holy in your conduct because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. You cannot fornicate with the world and be the bride of Christ. You cannot. 1 John 3.15 says, Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Nehemiah 13.23 In those days I also saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. And half their children spoke the language of Ashdod and could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke according to the language of one or the other people. And here we see a measure, a picture of the wrath of God against such an action. Now once again, He said, The men and the women married the world. And what happened was, the world didn't get saved by that. What happened was, the children of Judah could no longer speak the language of Judah. You see, we won't marry the world and change the world. We're going to marry the world by being married to Jesus Christ and letting the light of God shine. But here's the fury of God. So I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair and made them swear by God, you shall not give your daughters as wives to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or yourselves. We are to be the light of the world. What is it when the world says of the church, they aren't so bad? It means that the church is no longer the church. But you know why the world says that? Because we go to their same movies. We look at their same stuff on TV. We laugh at their same jokes. We lust over their same women. We gossip just as much. And we're just as pathetic. Because God is not our God. The only difference in most cases is we have a different means to an end. We have a couple of rules that we've got to live by, but we're going to serve God so that we can be happy. Well, they're just trying to be happy too. But there's no real separation. You see, in most cases, the world isn't even offended with the church anymore. And that's a problem. Matthew 10.37 says, He who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it. You cannot live for yourself and belong to God. Now, I know we have a lot of people who confess Christ, but there's a point in time when you've got to get off the milk and get on the meat. It's a time to grow up. You cannot live for yourself and belong to God. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it. He who does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. 1 Corinthians 6.20 says, For you have been bought with the price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. If you are living for yourself, you are in trouble. I didn't make it up. God's terms. I'm close to wrapping up. I don't know how long I've been. But God's terms are clear. Matthew 13.45 says, Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls. For when he had found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. This is God's terms. When the man found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. The pearl of great price is Jesus Christ. And the price of this pearl is selling all that you have. And I tell you, if it was just a matter of selling your house and your car, it would be too easy. Because that doesn't come close to what is required. What is required is selling all that you have to purchase this price. I ask you, would Almighty God settle for half of one of us for the pearl of great price? Could we actually think we should go to the living God, Almighty God, and say, Lord, I will give you half of my heart for Jesus Christ. And God would say, that'll work. Absolutely not! He's Almighty God. The pearl of great price is Jesus Christ. And the requirement is plain and simple. Sell all that you have without reservation. This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you have held back part of the price of that which you had to offer for this pearl, you have not purchased the pearl. Have you been born again? I don't know. You tell me. Have you purchased the pearl of heaven? Have you sold all you had? Because that is God's term. That is God's requirement. What does the Lord require of you, O Israel? To love the Lord God with your whole heart, mind, and soul. To fear the Lord to keep His commandments. What does God require? Everything. I'm living a good life. Isn't good enough? This beautiful Christ. The pearl of heaven. This wonderful Savior. We must understand what it is that God has offered us. There can be no doubt. I've heard nothing but the cross preached today. Praise God for y'all, brother. In the songs and everything else. When you find a church that preaches the cross, stay there. And bring people back so they can hear it, by the way. The cross of Jesus Christ is probably said three times today. Was premeditated. It was the plan of God. Jesus wasn't having a bad day and found Himself on the cross. Genesis 3.6 says, So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of the fruit and ate it. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate it. And the Lord God said to the woman, What is this you have done? Now, I know since the creation of creation, God knew Christ would go to the cross. But it was this epic moment in time, if I had to put my finger on anything, I can feel the pain of God. As He asked this woman, What is this you have done? Now, my son must die. This beloved son that I love so much, this beloved son that was with me from the creation, before creation began, must hang on a cross and die. I want to point out three things to you real quick right here. When the woman saw that the tree was good, lust of the eyes. That it was pleasant, I'm sorry, it was good for food, lust of the flesh. That when it was pleasant to the eyes, lust of the eyes. And a tree desirable to make one wise, pride of life. In the beginning, those three things were in effect, and they're still in effect today. Why do you think God despises it so much? Because it is the very thing that led to the death of our Lord. Do you understand what I'm telling you? Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, pride of life, is an offense to the nostril of God. It is not something to be winked at. Now, it came to pass after these things, Genesis 22-1. It came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham and said to Abraham, Abraham, and he said, here I am. Then He said, now take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on the mountains, which I shall tell you. And we know in verse 8, He said, the Lord will provide a lamb. I tell you, absolutely without reservation, He was talking about the Lamb of God. look at what it was that God, take now your son, your only son, whom you love. The ultimate thing that God was going to give up was a test for Abraham. And what was the test? I tell you this much, to Abraham, Isaac was everything. He was the future. He was the child of promise. He was everything. That's what was required. Everything. Anything less was not acceptable to God. I also want to point one out, I think, to the only Scriptures. Abraham had Isaac and Ishmael. Hear the words of the Lord. Take now your son, your only son. God will not recognize your fleshly negotiations or your fleshly fruit. You hear what I'm telling you? That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of spirit is spirit. Take now your only son. John 10, 17 says, Therefore, my Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down myself. I have power to lay it down and I have the power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father. No man takes my life, said Jesus. I lay it down. God has used men as instruments, but when Jesus died, it was at the hands of God. It was a premeditated plan of God. Brother Marty read Isaiah 53 today, so I don't even need to read it again. In Gethsemane, three times, three times, Jesus cried out, Father, if it were possible, take this cup from me. I cannot understand how a man, he was wholly submitted to God, filled with the Holy Spirit beyond measure. Perfectly submitted to the will of God. And the thought and the agony of dying that death, and no doubt, taking on the sins of the world. Three times, he cried, he wept. Three times, Father, take this cup from me. If it's any kind of way possible, take this cup from me. But not my will, Your will be done. This is the price God paid. It was agonizing. The cross of Christ was a horrible death. But it is the beautiful gift of God. There is nothing in the world more precious to me than the cross of Jesus Christ. For it is my hope. It is my life. It is without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. You see, Christ paid the price. And He owns me now. We shouldn't be worried about what we're going to get in the future from God. It's about what Christ did already. And we must understand that at the cross, we weren't just forgiven of sin. And I wish I had another hour to go through this, but I don't. But at the cross, your victory was complete. At the cross, the old man was crucified. At the cross, your fears were defeated. We might be delivered from the hands of our enemies that we might serve Him without fear. Luke 1.74 At the cross, we have been born again. At the cross, we've been united in His death and united in His resurrection. If you haven't read Romans 6 in a while, go read it. But it is at this beautiful cross that we see this beautiful Christ. I have one more set of Scriptures. Acts 5.1 But a certain man named Ananias with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession and kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and bought a certain part of it and laid it at the Apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? Hear these words. Why have you kept back part of the price for yourself and lied to the Holy Spirit? If you've come to God and said, You are my God, You are my Savior, and you have held back part of the price of the land, part of the price of the property. If you've come to God and you've offered Him part of yourself to purchase this pearl of great price, you have lied to the Holy Spirit and you have lied to yourself. Ananias died so did his wife. And without repentance, friend, it's what's going to happen to each one of us. There's a story in Chronicles about Asa. Asa, after the Lord mightily came and delivered him from a million Ethiopians, if I'm not mistaken, it's the Assyrian army came up against him. And Asa went into the house of the Lord and he took the treasures from the house of the Lord and he offered them to somebody else so that he might be delivered. And we know from Scripture that God was furious with Asa because one, he did not trust God. Number two, he did not trust in his salvation as it says in Psalm 78. Because you did not trust in my salvation. And we know that God was going to use that as an occasion to defeat the Assyrian army. The army that eventually carried him away. But God was furious because he did not trust him and he took that which was God's and offered it to somebody else. I tell you this, if you think you belong to God, there is no part of you that you can't offer to anybody else. Not even yourself. I ask you again in conclusion, have you completely sold out to God? Have you completely sold out to God? Is He your God or is He just your deliverer? Is God the means of all ends or is He just a means to your end? Have you purchased the price? The pearl of great price? I have a couple of questions I want to ask you. I want you to answer these questions to yourself, yes or no. Have you seen your sin before a holy and righteous God? Have you come to God on His terms? Does your heart and mind belong to Him or are you like the wandering children of Israel calling on God only when you need something but never hearing His call to you? Does your heart and mind belong to God? Are you led by the Spirit of God? Do you see the commands of God as life-giving and not restrictive? Are you in love with this beautiful Jesus? Are you in love with this beautiful Jesus who died for us, who shed His blood, who paid the price? Are you in love with this beautiful Jesus? Have you purchased the pearl of heaven? How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead work to serve the living God? If you must answer no to any of these questions, then you have some things to get straight with God. And I'm going to turn it back over to Brother Marty. I know that these offices will be open. But if you answered no, I encourage you not to leave until you can say yes.