It's already been a fantastic day in the Lord. We've had a wonderful weekend here at the church, and I thank God for everything that he's doing in our midst, and I pray that we never, ever take that for granted. If you have your Bible with you, I invite you to turn to the third chapter of Philippians. While you're finding your place, I want to present to Sherri and Jake their Bibles and certificates today. We rejoice in the profession that you've made, and we are honored to get a chance to give you a copy of God's Word and these certificates to remember this special day. So, Sherry, here is yours, and Jake, here is yours. We pray for you guys and hope it's a blessing to you both, okay? Whoops. Give them a hand, church. And I ask for your prayers today for this message. It may not be an easy one or a comfortable one, but I feel and I know that it's the one that God has for us today. And so I pray that your hearts and your minds are open, and that whatever God is doing in your life, that you will be receptive and obedient to it today. So I want to try to preach this message I've titled, Count Carefully. Count Carefully, Philippians chapter 3, verses 1 through 11. And I am going to ask you if you're able to stand with me. It's a bit of a longer section, but I want to read this this morning to you and with you so that God's Word can be reverenced and proclaimed every time I stand before you. Paul writes these words, Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation. For we are the circumcision who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I also might have confidence in the flesh, if anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so. Circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Benjamin, of the tribe of Benjamin, A Hebrew of Hebrews concerning the law of Pharisee. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church. Concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gained to me, these I have counted lost for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them rubbish, that I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith, that I may know him. in the power of His resurrection and the true fellowship of His sufferings being conformed to His death if by any means I may attain to the resurrection of the dead. Father, thank You for Your Word. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit, Lord. I pray today that He would minister to us. May I just be a vessel, Lord, that You use to pour out this offering before You. And I pray that our hearts and our minds would receive it with joy, with conviction, whatever is needed, God, and that You would get all the glory from it. I thank You and praise You for your goodness and grace and mercy that none of us deserve, but you offer freely. May you get all the praise today in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. It's that time of year. I shared this on Facebook last week and got some funny comments and responses, but if you're not on Facebook or you didn't get to see it, You might notice this little symbol on your car's dash at this time of year. Some of you don't even know what that is. You might put tape over it so you don't have to look at it. But I'm telling you that that is one of, maybe you have several lights on your dash, but this is one of those lights that is a warning light. And ladies, I know that a lot of times you come to the men in your life and say, hey, there's a light on in my dash. Can you take care of that? And a lot of times we say, yeah, I'll get to it. But when we look at it, we say, oh, that's just the tire light. There's at least 10 pounds still in that dude. She can go another month. And so we put it off and we don't heed the warning. Other times, it's more than just the low tire light. It's all kinds of lights. Oil lights, engine lights, you name it. And sometimes, if the car is making a lot of noise, we just turn the radio up and pretend it's not doing anything. And again, we ignore the warnings. And I want to caution you today that God gives us warnings in the Word of God. And many times we think we can ignore them or we can get to them later. And there will be consequences, more extreme consequences than just ignoring the low tire light or the check engine light. There are serious things that can come into the life of a believer if we don't heed the warnings. And so I want us to think about what Paul wrote here today. And I want to try to give you a couple of points to make this personal for you today. And number one, I want you to see in the opening verses that there is a cultural clash. Not only in our time, but in Paul's time, was the culture pushing against the church. And a lot of times, the church has opened the door and let culture in. And that doesn't fix the problems. That doesn't heed the warnings. That brings the trouble in here. We've got enough problems in here already. We don't need to invite the world's problems, which used to be our problems when we were lost, but they shouldn't be our problems any longer, and we certainly shouldn't embrace them as our problems if we are struggling with them. So Paul says, right off the bat, finally, See that in the opening verse of number 1 there in chapter 3? Finally. He's not ending the letter because we're only in the middle, but he's transitioning to something else. He's been teaching us a lot about the Lord Jesus Christ and humility and what that looks like to be a follower of Jesus. And now he's going to transition over in this verse, and he's going to start making some real practical application as to what that looks like in our lives, okay? And so I want to say this as we begin. If you are a true believer, and only you and God can determine that, there's a lot of people that profess to be saved, but a true believer will have evidence of salvation. Doesn't mean you walk around sinless and never fail, but it means you're producing fruit. It means your desires have changed, your thoughts have changed, your life is changing. You have got to see some fruit or you have no confidence to boast that you are one of His, if there's not a change in your life. Because the Holy Spirit dwells within you and He has to make a difference in your life. So true believers, cannot fit into the culture's standards. You are going to be at conflict with that. I thought I'd at least get one amen, even from Baptists, on that. Did we change the sign to Presbyterian today? Are you guys awake? What is going on here? You're going to have to help me a little bit today, church. I don't like preaching funerals. I want to get some response from you guys today, alright? Because, listen, we have got to be Finally, now you can hear me for sure. Now you're going to wake up. Not today, Satan. Finally, my brethren. Rejoice in the Lord so believers cannot fit into the culture There has got to be a difference between true believers and the way that the world Lives and so Paul says in verse 1 that we are to rejoice as God's people again Joy is the theme of this letter and over and over Paul has instilled upon them by his example that even though he's in prison Joy is present in his life because no one can take away the salvation and the gift and the mission that Paul has and the call on his life that he has. And so Paul is rejoicing, even in prison, because he has that relationship. And no matter what happens in your life, nobody can rob you, if you are a true follower of Jesus, of the relationship. You can hinder it, you can quench it, but no one can remove that relationship. But Paul tells them, notice what he says, the things I'm about to tell you aren't tedious. He says, this isn't new. I've said these things to you and other churches many times, but I'm going to keep preaching it to you because, he says, for you it is safe, or it's a warning, it's a safeguard. What Paul is about to tell you and what I'm about to tell you through God's Word is for your good. It may be uncomfortable, but it is for your good. It is done in love, it is done ultimately to see you grow in the Lord Jesus Christ. So he says in verse 2, to beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation. So what is he talking about there? What is going on in this situation that would prompt Paul to use that kind of language? We're in the early years of the church and God is saving the Jews But he is also saving non-Jews, which are known as the Gentiles in the Bible. He's saving them as well. And so, as they start to be saved, as these Gentiles start to be saved, there is a group of Jews known as Judaizers. Judaizers were people that clung, they were Jews that clung to the law. They said, listen, if you really want to be saved, you have got to become like us by obeying the Old Testament laws. And chief among the Jews, when it comes to the Old Testament laws, was what was known as the covenant of circumcision. We might do that today for medical reasons, But we don't carry out a covenant of circumcision any longer, or never did we, as Gentiles. And so these Judaizers come and they say, listen, if you are not Doing this act with your children and circumcising them on the eighth day after their birth, you're not saved. You're not part of God's people. And this conflict, this cultural clash in their time became so extreme that the disciples had to get together with the early church and have a meeting, so it's not just Baptists that have meetings, they had a meeting and got together to discuss the issue and the problems and try to sort through it. The book of Acts is a biography of the early church. When you read Acts, you are seeing what God is doing in the life of the church from its inception in Acts 2 all the way through Paul's missionary journeys as he starts many of these churches. And in Acts chapter 15, there is a section in that chapter where we see this meeting taking place. We get a chance to sit in on this meeting, which is called the Jerusalem Council. So they come to Jerusalem with these believers and churches, and they sit down to have a conversation, and it's all centered around circumcision and whether or not it is necessary for Gentiles to be circumcised in order to be saved. I want to read to you in Acts chapter 15 verse 1. Look what happens. Certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. So this is a serious claim. This is a cultural clash that's taking place right in the church. The council convenes, they have a discussion in Acts chapter 15, and they come to the conclusion, the biblical conclusion, that anybody, Jew or Gentile, is not saved by circumcision, not saved by baptism, not saved by church membership, not saved by anything else other than faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the only way to be saved, is by faith alone in Christ. And yet, Does that stop these Judaizers from continuing to spread their false teaching and false expectations? What do you think? No, it doesn't. They continue to promote the idea that you have got to do something, in this case circumcision, to merit your salvation, to earn your salvation. And Paul uses this strong language because, again, in cultural times, these weren't little dogs that you have as your pet. These were scavenger animals that were dirty and filthy and they would attack people. and rummage through things and do whatever. He's calling these Judaizers dogs. The lowest of the low in that culture. He's saying that they are evil workers. They came along saying, hey, we're doing good works. We want you to circumcise your children and go to the synagogue and keep the laws because we are righteous. He says none of that's righteous. It's an evil work. You're telling people that they can be saved by what they do and neglecting what Jesus has already done. So their work was not righteous even though it looked good on the outside, even though culture would have said, man, these guys are great. Look how religious they are. Look how moral they are. but they were evil workers because their motives were wrong. And then he finally concludes verse 2 with a strong word. He says, not beware of the circumcision. He literally is saying there, beware of those that castrate you, that cut off things, that are doing a practice that has no purpose in your life. He's not saying that circumcision was bad or that carrying it out was wrong, but he's saying because these Judaizers are taking it to the wrong level and for the wrong purpose, they might as well just promote castration because it's not profiting you anything. It's worthless for you. So Paul uses this strong language against people in the culture that are pushing back against the church. And I say that today. Why is that relevant to us today? Because we don't have Judaizers here in our church, per se. We don't have Judaizers in our culture today. But we most definitely have people that are promoting a counterfeit, false Christianity. It's everywhere. There is so much deception and so much false teaching in our world today. And if you are not cautious and careful, If you don't heed the warnings, you will be swept away. If you try to ignore it, it is going to affect your life. It has to, and it will. And so we see things. I saw something this week. I saw a video of a church, I won't even call it a church, a gathering of people. And they gathered outside of a planned parenthood to pray and ask God's blessing for the reproductive rights that women have to murder their children. And this is not an isolated incident, guys. There are more and more of these groups of people that call themselves a church that are gathering together and embracing culture while neglecting the Word of God. And I want to say this, and I hope it doesn't make you mad, and I hope it doesn't cause you to leave the church, but the bottom line is, when it comes to the issues of life and abortion and choice and the family unit and male and female we have allowed culture to change our thought process on that and we've made it strictly a political thing and it is not a political thing it is a biblical thing listen I don't care if you're I don't care if you're a Republican or a Democrat, it is not just a party line thing. Now certainly one party is going to stand differently than another, no doubt. But I'm telling you that this is a biblical decision. And you don't get to take a choice on who lives and who dies. It is God that gives life. And so listen, I want to be clear to this. If you are here today and you are a woman that's had an abortion, we are not against you. I am not standing up here today in judgment over you. I am not condemning you for the decision you made. But I am calling you to repentance and faith because what you did under the act of choice was a sin in the eyes of God, no different than my sin, no different than anyone else's sin. But let's stop reducing this thing down to some ballot issue that we check and go on our way. As believers, We have to be counter-cultural, and you cannot claim the name of Christ and vote for abortion. You cannot do it. You simply cannot do it. And so the reality is, guys, again, this is not a politically charged message. This is not an endorsement of someone. This is standing on the word of God that says in the Ten Commandments, thou shalt not murder. And there's no way around it. The Bible teaches that life begins at conception, and if you choose to end a life, you have committed murder. The Bible says in Genesis 1 that He created them male and female. If you want to pretend to be somebody else, listen, I will love you, I will treat you with respect and dignity as someone made in the image of God, but I will not play the game with you. You are what God made you, and I'm going to call you by what He made you. And I don't do that to disrespect you or to upset you. But the Bible says you shouldn't bear false witness against your neighbor. And I am not going to pretend to call you something that I know in my heart you're not. And so, again, I am in love going to call you to repentance and faith, to believe that God didn't make any mistakes. He didn't mess up with you. He didn't put you in the wrong body. You may have all sorts of feelings and hear all sorts of lies. We all struggle with that to some level. But I'm telling you that God made you who you are, and He has a plan and a purpose for your life as He made you. And we have got to push back. We have got to push back at some point. The church has ignored that warning light of the culture all around us, and so many of these churches are saying, well, we don't want to stand against it, so we'll just embrace it and even accept it and celebrate it. And at that moment, the Bible tells us that we have got to serve God rather than man. We have got to make a choice. Listen, I'm sorry if you've been fed a healthy diet of lukewarm, easy-believe-ism Christianity that doesn't cost you anything. You can't be a believer in this old wicked world and it not cost you something. It's going to cost you friends. It's going to cost you family. It's going to cost you perhaps your job. And one of these days it may cost you your life. It costs that for the disciples. It costs that for many believers in other countries. We have just been so blessed in America and had it so good for so long that we don't know what real suffering is. And when we stand up and the people make fun of us or ridicule us a little bit, we fall apart. That's nothing. That's nothing. The Bible says that we should rejoice when we are persecuted and reviled and said all kinds of wicked things about us in his name. That ought to be a norm for us. Not that we're going around seeking to be divisive and seeking to start fights. But at some point, church, we have got to be counter-cultural, because there is a clash there. The world is becoming more and more wicked, and the church is becoming more and more like the world. And that's not how it's supposed to be. If we're going to shine our light, we've got to be different. We have got to stand up and say, there is a change in us, and we have got to draw the world through our love, but our difference. We don't want to be just like them. I don't want to win the world by acting like the world. That's foolish. We have got to stand up and be different because this is not a political thing. It is a biblical thing. Number two, I want you to see that in Paul's life, not only was there a cultural clash going on there, but he makes a consecrated confession. What do I mean there? A consecrated confession. I want to ask you point blank. How does a person go to heaven? Just think about it. You don't have to shout it out. But when you stand before the Lord Jesus Christ one day, why would he allow you into his kingdom? There's only one right answer to that question. Paul preaches it here, but he didn't always understand it. And I'm afraid that many people who claim to know Jesus Christ couldn't answer that simple question biblically. And if you can't answer the question of how does God make sinners righteous, then I worry that you really don't understand the gospel completely and may not have ever really received the true Jesus. I want to read a story to you. And then I want to use that as an example. The story says that at the end of World War I, General Pershing sent word to the troops in Europe announcing a victory parade all through the streets of Paris. There were two requirements for the soldiers to qualify to march in the parade. Number one, they had to have a good record, and they had to be at least 244 centimeters tall. This word went out to a company of American soldiers and the excitement built about how great it would be to march in the victory parade. But being Americans, no one really knew for sure how tall 244 centimeters was. But the men started to compare themselves to one another. They lined up back to back to see who was the tallest, and the taller men in the group were giving the shorter ones a hard time. Well, too bad for you, shorty. We'll think of you when we're in the parade. And then the officer came to find out if there were any candidates that qualified for the parade. He put a mark on the wall at 244 centimeters, and the men took a look at the mark and they walked away. realizing that they weren't even close. The tallest man in the group stood up to the mark, squared his shoulders, and discovered he fell well short of the eight-foot mark that the officer had given. The writer says, when these men compared themselves with themselves, some thought they were tall enough to qualify. But when the standard was given, nobody qualified. I want you to think about what Paul writes. This might be hard for us in our day and time to realize, but look what he says starting in verse 4. He says basically, if anybody could have confidence in themselves, if anybody had done enough to earn God's love and favor, it was the Apostle Paul. He had so many qualifications, so many pedigrees, so many degrees on his wall, that he could boast above anybody else. He says, I might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so. Now notice what he lists. In verse 5, you see his pedigree. Paul has an impressive pedigree for a Jew. He was circumcised, so there's that covenant, there's that outward act that he was supposed to do. He was circumcised on the eighth day. of the stock of Israel, so he was a pure-blooded Israelite, of the tribe of Benjamin, often seen as the most favored tribe, the smallest but the most favored, a Hebrew of the Hebrews. So from an ethnic background, Paul had it all. His pedigree was perfect. Not only that, Paul had the prestige behind it. Not only was he perfect as an Israelite, But he was in a select group of Israelites. The best of the best when it came to religion called them the Pharisees. We see a lot of them in the Gospels. They kept the laws. They even created laws. And they walked around in boastful arrogance and self-righteousness because they did so many things. Have you ever seen somebody that always has to toot their own horn every time they do something? That's what the Pharisees did about the religion all the time. D.L. Moody has a quote I love. He says, lighthouses don't blow a horn, they just shine. You don't need to tell everybody how great you are. If you are living for the Lord Jesus Christ, do it quietly in humility, and people will see your good works and glorify the Father, not you. So Paul was a Pharisee. He had the pedigree, he had the prestige, and look at what else in verse 6. He had the proof in his life that he was a religious man that lived it out. It says, concerning zeal, Paul was persecuting the church. Again, if we go back and look at the book of Acts, the early history, was Paul always a believer? Was Paul always an apostle? No, not at all. He was all these things that he just listed in this verse, and he thought that because of these things, he was pleasing God. He thought because he lived a moral, religious life that God was overwhelmingly happy with the way Paul lived his life. He said, I had zeal for the things I did. Paul wasn't just going through the motions. He was excited about his religious activity. Do you know there are people every Sunday that jump up and are excited to come to church, excited to do the Bible studies, excited to get involved with all the activities that don't know the Lord Jesus Christ? There are people in churches that sit in seats and pews every Sunday and genuinely enjoy the service, genuinely focus on what the pastor is saying and enjoy the message, but they've never been changed by it. That's a reality. There will be people in hell that didn't miss a Sunday service. And I hope that it's not one of you today. But that can happen. You can sit under the best preacher. And listen, Judas had the best pastor, the best teacher, the best leader, and he died lost. I've shared the gospel with you week after week. The blood is not on my hands. You have got to respond to what God is doing in your life. And if you think just coming here, or getting baptized, or bringing your Bible, or whatever it is, is enough, it's not. The only thing that is enough is to fall on your face and repent and turn to Christ. And when you do that, then all the other stuff will come into play in your life. It has to. And so, Paul has all these things going on in his life. He says, concerning righteousness, as far as the law is concerned, I was blameless. Most of us, if we're honest, would say, well, I'm not perfect. I mess up. Paul said, not me. I kept the law. I did it. I did everything the law said I was supposed to do. You couldn't find a charge to bring against the Apostle Paul. He said, I kept the law. Now whether that was a right estimate or not, we don't know. But in Paul's eyes, he said, I did everything the law commanded me to do. But then he realizes the Lord saves him and opens his eyes to the truth. And he realizes, as we read, that all of that stuff, as good as it was, was not enough. Because here's the standard. Remember the story I told you? And the men thought they were good when they looked at each other? And you may look around this room, look around at your family, look around at the world out there and say, well, I'm not as bad as them. They go to church and they say they're saved and I'm way better than them. They're not the standard. And when the standard is put before you, you see how far you fall short. Matthew 5.48. Here's the standard. Therefore, you shall be... Read it. What's it say? Perfect. as your Father in heaven is perfect. Jesus is the standard. The Father is the standard. Perfection is the standard. And all have sinned and fall short of that glorious standard of God. Your problem, my problem, the problem out there is that we've all sinned. And there's nothing we can do to fix it. And Paul tried everything. And Paul did it way better than you and I ever could. And it still wasn't enough. And God had to reveal that to him. And when he did, there was a change that took place in his attitude, in his life, and lastly, in his pursuits. And that's the third thing I want you to see. There is a concentrated craving. What do I mean that there is a concentrated craving? I asked you in the last point, what would you tell the Lord Jesus is the reason that he should let you into his kingdom? And now if you've answered that correctly, which the only answer is, because Jesus Christ died for my sins and by faith I've received him. As believers, here's my next question to you. As believers, what is the goal of our life? If God saved you and He didn't immediately take your life and bring you up to glory, He's got you here for a reason. What is that? What is the purpose? To share the gospel. The Great Commission is certainly the call of the church. Someone said if you don't know what you're aiming at, you'll hit it every time. You have got to know what the target is and why you're here and what the purpose of your life is. Now we all have different gifts and we all have different calls. But I'm talking about in general as believers, what is the overall pull of our life? Why are we here? We can't just say, well, I don't know, I just kind of go through the motions and figure it out as I go and, you know, fake it till I make it kind of thing. That's not how we're supposed to live our lives. God is clear and direct in His Word and we should be clear and intentional in our living. We have got to know what we are supposed to do. And our first goal as believers is to know Jesus. I'm not just saying know Him in the sense that we met Him. There has to be an initial time where we meet Him and embrace Him and receive Him as Lord and Savior. But I'm talking about getting to know Him on a deeper level. Because when you get saved, you know just enough to be saved. But you don't know anything else. Unless you grew up in a religious home, you might have a little bit of background. But you don't know much about anything. You don't know much about the Bible. I didn't. I didn't know anything about the Bible. I didn't know anything about church. I didn't know what baptism was. I didn't know nothing. I told my wife, I was like, we got to find somebody that knows something and go talk to them, because I'm ignorant and I want to do what's next and what's right. And her grandparents went to church, so I said, that's who we'll talk to. Let's go talk to them. Let's go talk to their preacher. Because He'll tell us what to do. And if He would have said, walk to China or ride a boat to China, I would have got on a boat and went to China. I just wanted to do what Jesus wanted me to do. Because that's the change that takes place in our life. And that shouldn't just be my testimony. That should be your testimony. I'm not saying that you're all called to preach. But when you got saved, you ought to say, Lord Jesus, wherever you want me to go, I'm ready. Wherever you're calling me to, I'm going to go. Whether it's easy or hard, whether I'm scared or I'm bold, I'm ready to go. Because that's what the surrender is, guys. I told you, if you've been taught an easy believism, Christianity doesn't cost you anything, I'm sorry that you've been lied to. But I can show you over and over again where following Christ is going to cost you something. He says, whoever doesn't hate your father and your mother and take up your cross and follow me, and he uses strong language about being believers. And we have made this thing so easy and it's so much about us anymore that God serves us in our minds. Hey, God, this is what I need. This is what I want. Do this for me. Fix this for me. Provide this for me. And that's not how it works. We have got to lay down our lives for the cause of Jesus Christ. literally and figuratively. And we are so caught up in building our own little kingdoms that God has hardly enough time. We have hardly enough time for God. Very rarely do we scrape anything off our plates for Him. And He's calling us to live for Him because He's done so much for us. He provides so much for us, guys, and He wants us to know Him. Listen, when Jesus prayed shortly before His crucifixion in John 17, listen how He prays in the third verse of that chapter. He says, whom you have sent. He wants you to have a saving relationship with Him, but He wants you to have a growing relationship. Listen, if you're married or dating someone, there was an initial time where you had that conversation, exchanged phone numbers, met for the first time, went on the first date, whatever. But you didn't know everything about that person. We just celebrated 25 years of marriage. And over that time, we have grown to know each other more and love each other more. But that takes time, and it takes effort. And it's the same way with Jesus. If you get saved and say, well, see, in about 50 years in heaven, you're not going to grow very much, if at all, in your relationship. And I would question if you have one, if that is your answer to Him. You have got to intentionally strive to grow in your walk with Jesus. It will not just happen. You can't just show up occasionally for a Sunday morning service and think you're going to grow. You're not. We got little babies in the nursery and babies in this room. Do you guys feed them once a week? How would that work? Give them one bottle a week. See how that goes. It's the same way spiritually. If this is the only time you get fed, you are going to starve to death spiritually. This is not enough. Matter of fact, you can listen to sermon 24-7. It's not enough. You gotta learn to feed yourself. I can't bottle feed you all your life. You gotta learn to open up this book, get on your knees and say, I don't understand this thing, but God says I'm able to, I've got the Holy Spirit in me, you have not because you ask not. The Bible says if you wanna know it, if you really wanna know it, ask him. He wrote it, you've got direct access to the author. You think he's trying to hide this from you? It's not easy, but he's not gonna reward laziness. You're not gonna say, for God so loved the world, well, that's all I'm done reading for the week, and walk away from it and think that you did your due diligence. You've got to strive to grow. Nothing in life comes easy, including your spiritual walk. I'm not preaching a salvation message by works. I'm saying that if you're saved, you're going to work. Faith without works is dead. It's dead. It's not on life support. It's dead. If you have no desire to live and serve Jesus Christ, you are still dead in your sins. I don't know how much more plain to make it. I don't care what you say. I don't care what you profess. Based on the Word of God, if you have not been changed and born again, you are still dead in your sins. and you don't have to stay that way. I'm not here today to say you're condemned and hopelessly lost. I'm saying wake up, stop faking this thing and get the real thing. Ask God, fall on your face and cry out to Him to say, Lord, I want the real thing. I want to know. I don't want to come into K. Russo Baptist Church and have conviction all over my life because I know things aren't right. I'm not living right, doing right. I'm not sure that I'm saved, but I'm afraid to come forward and stand before the church or come to the altar because what will they think about me? Guys, gals, I would not worry about what anybody thinks. I'd worry about what God thinks. because you can escape standing before us you can hide in your seat hang on every week and fake the one avoid the warning light you can ignore the warning light but i can guarantee you one hundred out of one hundred people will die and it's appointed on the man wants to die and after this the judgment you are going to stand before the lord jesus christ whether you receive him or not you're still gonna stand before and you're going to give an account of your life and i'm telling you love as your pastor as your friend or just some guy that you've met for the first time today you are in danger of an eternity without Jesus Christ in a place called hell and you don't have to go there God the Bible says God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked he's not willing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance the only thing keeping you separated from God is your unbelief and if you will turn to him today in faith I promise you Based on the word of God. He will save you and change you. You don't have to keep trying harder. Trying harder has not got you anywhere. Except farther and farther into the same religion that couldn't save Paul. Stop trying and receive what Jesus has already done. His life changed. Look at this. We had a testimony last week from Brother Bill about being healed from cancer. Here's Paul's testimony. Look at Acts chapter 9 with me real quick. Acts 9. In the first two verses, still known as Saul, remember in these times they had two names. Paul had a Hebrew name and a Roman name. Some people say, well, God, he got saved and God changed his name. No, he didn't change his name. He did that for Abram and Abraham and Abram. But God didn't change Saul's name to Paul. He was always Saul as his Roman name and Paul was his Hebrew name. It doesn't matter. Either way, God changed his heart. That's better than changing his name. But it says, then Saul, breathing threats and murder. So this guy is persecuting and threatening and killing Christians. This is the guy that wrote 14 books of the New Testament. This is a guy that was an apostle. You think you're too far gone? God save this guy. He was breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest. He takes his case to the religious people. And he says, hey, God's got a great plan for my life. Want to hear about it? I'm supposed to go out and kill Christians. Doesn't that sound good? That pleases God. That's what he thought. That's how messed up his religion had him. He asked for letters. for him to go to the synagogues in Damascus so that if he found any who were of the way, that is, believers, whether men or women, he didn't care, he wasn't going to give women an easy go of it, that he might bring them bound to Jerusalem to be tried and killed. That was the Apostle Paul, was. The apostle Paul. All of you have a past. A lot of times you come into church and you hear these messages and you say, man, I wish I could be saved, but if pastor knew what I've done, if he knew my past, if he knew all the junk and all the mess in my life, look, we can sit down and compare notes. I'll put my past up against any of yours. I did so much evil, wicked stuff in my life that if God, if God should have punished somebody, it should have been me. If God should have punished somebody, it should have been Paul. If God should have punished somebody, it should be all of us. But God is greater than our sins. Jesus Christ has more mercy than you have sin in your life. And so Paul is on his way. He's literally in the act of committing murder. He's on his way to do this thing. And God finds him right where he is. Do you know that you don't have to be saved in church? You can be drunk out of your mind in your living room and God can find you. You can be hooked on that phone or that computer screen looking at things you shouldn't be looking at and God can find you right there and save you. You can have a needle in your arm and God can save you. You can have committed abortion. You can be a different gender in your mind and all confused about that and God will find you right where you are. He will. And that's what I want you to understand. You're not saved by your good works and God doesn't expect you to change yourself first to make you more presentable so you can come to Him. The Bible says while we were yet sinners, while we were still in our sin, Christ died for us. He already knows what you've done. He already knows what you've thought. And He still came for you. And He still died for you. He loves you that much. But He loves you enough that He's going to let you stay in your sin if that is your choice. He will not force you to follow Him. But you will bow your knee one day. We read that a few weeks ago. One day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. If you refuse to do it now, you'll do it then. But you have an opportunity today. Verse 5 of Acts 9, Paul is knocked, blinded by this light on his way to Damascus, and he says, who are you, Lord? And it says in verse 20, immediately, he has this encounter with God, and immediately he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. He was going to the synagogue to kill people, he meets Jesus, and a few weeks later he's standing up here preaching to the same ones he was going to kill. You talk about a change in somebody's life? That's what the gospel can do. That is the change I'm talking about. The Bible says if any man or woman is in Christ, he is a new creation. You can't say you're saved and not be different, or being made different, or desiring to be different. Come on with the games. Stop ignoring that warning light and do what you need to do. Do like Paul and scrape off all the religion. Cast down all your sin before Jesus and say, I want to be saved. I want to know you. I want to be transformed. I want to have life and have it more abundantly. That's what God did for Paul. Religion can't do that. I can't do that for you. Your parents can't do that for you. George and Melody can't do that for you. Kim and Daryl can't do that for you. Jesus alone can do that for you. What are you trusting in today? Who are you trusting in today? Paul concludes this section in verses 10 and 11, and he simply says to them, I want to know Him. and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings and be conformed to his death. He says, I want to die to all the things of the world like Jesus did, because I know that he rose again and I'm going to live with him. And he said, that's all I desire. Some of you aren't following Jesus because you love the world too much. You're not countercultural. You're floating right downstream with the world. You watch what the world watches, you listen to what the world listens to, you enjoy the entertainment of the world, the things of the world, the sins of the world, and you're going to reap what the world reaps. Because I'm telling you, if you love that stuff and you desire that stuff, the Bible says, read 1 John. Go home and read 1 John if you think I'm making this up. You cannot love darkness and claim to have the light in you. You cannot live in sin and profess to be saved. We all sin. We all struggle. But what is your response to it when you do? Is it give me more of this? I love it. Hey, come get me. Let's go do what we did on Friday night. Let's go do it again. Or is it my Lord and my God, forgive me that I would do such a grievous sin in your side after you died for me. What is the attitude of your heart? Because your heart will reveal to you who you really are. And you might not like it, But if you don't, do something about it, because Jesus has provided a way for you. There's facial recognition on a lot of our phones now. You don't even have to type anything in, you can just look at it and your phone will unlock. It knows who you are. You can use your fingerprint sometimes, or eye scanners, all kinds of technology now, where a phone will recognize you. And I'm asking you today, does Jesus recognize you? Yes, he knows you. But does He recognize you as His child? Are you really saved? Because as I started this message, I'm ending it. Phyllis and ladies, you can come for the invitation. But I want you to see this. In Matthew chapter 7, verse 20. Therefore, Jesus says, by their fruits you will know them. He says there's going to be something that true believers produce that testifies that they are different. That testifies that they are mine. You're not saved by the fruit you produce, but the fruit proves that you are saved. And I want you to just see, I just want you to read it. Look at the verses that follow this one when it talks about producing fruit. Go on to the next group of verses. Not everyone, follow along with me here, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall inherit the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my father in heaven many will say to me in that day what day the day you stand before him lord lord have we not prophesied we preach the gospel in your name we cast out demons in your name and we did many wonderful things in your name And He will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness. They produced some things, but they didn't produce it from a changed heart. They were doing the religious activities. I'm asking you today, do you serve God? Do you read the Word of God? Do you come to church because He has changed you? Or are you doing it because mom and dad says you have to? Because George and Melody say you have to? Because you're trying to earn His approval? You've done some bad stuff in your life and you think you can work off the debt by coming to church sometimes and offering Him these things, trying to be a better person, more moral, serve in the harvest party, serve at the homeless shelter. What is the motivation? Only you and God know that. You can fool us. Why are you doing the things you are doing? If it's not because Jesus Christ has radically changed your life and given you a new relationship, then come today and get the real thing. Lay down your life and trust Him, and He will save you and change you with the real thing. Father, thank you this morning, Lord, that the gospel still saves, that your spirit is still able. And Lord, I'm praying for the folks in this room and the folks that are online that know in their heart today, without a shadow of a doubt, the Holy Spirit has made it clear that things are not well, that that warning light is on the dash and it's been on for some time. And I pray today they won't ignore it another moment, that today they will come. The diagnosis has been given and the cure is available. And I pray that they would call on Christ and be saved. and if they're a believer operate a day that they would come and get their life in order that they would sell one of the more like you I wanna strive to be like you and not be like the world that you can help them and change them I know you can