This sermon emphasizes the importance of repentance not for personal gain or assurance of salvation, but because Jesus Christ deserves our worship, adoration, and obedience. It delves into the significance of surrendering all sins and making restitution as a response to God's deserving of our love and obedience. The focus is on coming to the cross, embracing death with Christ, and allowing God to receive glory through our lives by being filled with His presence.

And the consequence was repentance That led to faith and led to life. Dear friends, there's only one reason One reason for a sinner to repent and that's because Jesus Christ Deserves the worship and the adoration and the love and the obedience of his heart Not because he'll go to heaven If the only reason you repented dear friend was to keep out of hell All you are is just a Levite serving for ten shekels in a shirt That's all You're trying to serve God because he'll do you good But a repentant heart is a heart that has seen something of the enormity of the crime of playing God and denying the just and Righteous God the worship and obedience that he deserves Why should a sinner repent? Because God deserves the obedience and love that he has refused to give him Not so that he'll go to heaven The only reason he repented so that he'll go to heaven it's nothing to try to make a deal or a bargain That's God. Why should a sinner give up all his sins? Why should he be challenged to do it? Why should he make restitution when he's coming to Christ because God deserves the obedience that he demands I have talked with people that have no assurance of sins forgiven They want to feel saved before they're willing to commit themselves to Christ But I believe that the only ones whom God actually witnessed is by his spirit Are the people whether they say it or not that come to Jesus Christ and say something like this Lord Jesus I'm going to obey you and Love you and serve you and do what you want me to do as long as I live even if I go to hell at the End of the road simply because you are worthy to be or loved and obeyed and served and I'm not trying to make a deal with you Do you see the difference? Do you see the difference between being a Levi serving for ten shekels in a shirt or a Micah building a chapel? because God will do you good and Someone that pretends for the glory of God Why should a person come to the cross? Why should a person embrace death with Christ Why should a person be willing to go and identification down to the cross and into the tomb and up again? I'll tell you why because it's the only way that God can get glory out of a human being If you say it's because you'll get joy or peace or blessing or success or fame Then it's nothing but a Levi serving for ten shekels in a shirt There's only one reason for you to go to the cross dear young person And that's because until you come to the place of union with Christ in death You are defrauding the Son of God of the glory that he could get out of your life For no flesh shall glory in sight And until you've understood the sanctifying work of God by the Holy Ghost taking you into union with Christ in death and burial and resurrection You have to serve in what you have and all you have Is that which is under the sentence of death? Human personality and human nature and human strength and human energy and God will get no glory out of that So the reason for you to go to the cross isn't that you're going to get victory you will get victory It isn't that you're going to have joy But the reason for you to embrace the cross and press through until you know that you can testify with Paul I'm crucified with Christ isn't what you're going to get out of it, but what you'll get out But the glory of God By the same token why aren't you fresh through to know the fullness of the Holy Spirit Why aren't you press through to know the fullness of Christ? I'll tell you why Because the only possible way that Jesus Christ will get glory out of a life that is redeemed with his precious blood is when he Can fill that life with his presence? And live through it his own life The genius of our faith wasn't that we were going to go through the motions like a Levite that were hired to serve God No, no The genius of our faith was that we'd come to the place So we know I could do nothing and all we could do would be to present the vessel and say Lord Jesus you'll have to Tell him and everything that's done will have to be done by you and for you But oh, I know so many people that are trying to know the fullness of God So that they can use God the young preacher came to me down in West Virginia, Huntington West Virginia Mother Rita and I've got a great church We've got a wonderful Sunday school program. We've got a radio ministry drawing But I feel a personal need in a personal life. I need to be baptized with the Holy Ghost I need to be filled with the Spirit and someone told me God's done something for you And I wanted you to help me. I Mean just look like me. I Just saw him in everything. It was in me. You thought I was gonna say me before no listen to your heart If you've ever seen yourself, you'll know that you're never going to be anything else than you were For in me in my flesh, there's no good thing. Look like me He's like a fellow driving up in a big Cadillac, you know to someone standing at the filling station They pull up under the highest octane you got All right way. Look he wanted power for his program And God is not going to be a means to anyone's end. I said, I'm awfully sorry. I don't think I can help you He said why I don't think you're ready And well suppose you consider yourself coming up with a Cadillac. You've talked about your program. You've talked about your Radio you talked about your Sunday school in church. It's very good. You've done wonderfully. Well without the power of the Holy Spirit That's what the Chinese Christian said, you know when he got back to China what impressed you most about America He said the great things Americans can accomplish without God and he'd accomplished a great deal admittedly without God Now he's wanted something power To accomplish his ends even further. I Said no No, you're going you're sitting behind the wheel and you're saying to God give me power so I can go you won't work You've got a slide over but I knew that rascal if I knew me I said no, it'll never do you got to get in the back? I Could see him leaning over and grabbing the wheel. No, I said never do in the back seat I said before God will do anything from you. You know what you've got to do No, he's a what I said You've got to get out of the car take the keys around open up the trunk lid Hand the keys to the Lord Jesus get inside the trunk slam the lid down whisper through the keyhole Lord Look fill her up with anything you want and you drive. It's up to you from now That's why so many people, you know do not enter into the fullness of Christ Because they want to become a Levite with ten shekels in the shirt They've been serving Micah, but they think if they had the power of the Holy Ghost they could serve the tribe of Dan It'll never work Never work. There's only one reason for God meeting you And that's to bring you to the place where? In repentance You've been pardoned for his glory and In victory, you've been brought to the place of death that he might reign and in the fullness Jesus Christ is able to live and walk in you and Your attitude is the attitude of the Lord himself who said I can do nothing of myself. I can't speak of myself. I Don't make plans for myself My only reason for being is the glory of God in Jesus Christ. If I were to say to you come To be saved so you can go to heaven Come to the cross so that you can have joy and victory come to the fullest the Spirit So that you can be satisfied I'd be falling into the trap of humanism I'm going to say to you dear friend If you're out here without Christ you come to Jesus Christ and serve him as long as you live whether you go to hell at the end of the way because he's worthy I Say to you Christian friend you come to the cross and join him in union and death and enter into all the meaning of death to hell in order that he can have glory I Say to you dear Christian If you do not know the fullness of the Holy Ghost come and present your body a living sacrifice and let him fill you So that he can have the purpose For his coming fulfilled in you and get glory in your life It's not what you're going to get out of God It's what he Is going to get out of you? Let's be done once and for all With utilitarian Christianity that makes God a means Instead of the glorious end that he is Let's resign. Let's tell Micah. We're through We're no longer going to be his priest serving for ten shekels in the shirt Let's tell the tribe of Dan we're through and let's come and cast ourselves at the feet of the nail-pierced son of God And tell him that we're going to obey him and love him and serve him as long as we live because he is worthy