Let's open our Bibles together to the book of Romans, Romans chapter number two this morning. Romans chapter number two. Would you stand with me as we read Romans chapter two? We'll start reading in verse number 17 of Romans chapter number two in verse number 17. Are you glad to be in church? I'm glad that you're here as well. Romans chapter two verse 17. Behold thou art called a Jew and resteth in the law and makest thy boast of God. Knowest his will and approvest the things that are more excellent being instructed out of the law. And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which has the form of knowledge and of truth in the law. Thou therefore which teachest another teachest thou not thyself, Thou that preachest the man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest the man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhorrest idols, hast thou committed sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law through breaking the law, dishonest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written, for circumcision verily profiteth if thou keep the law. But if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. Therefore, if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? It shall not uncircumcision, which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision does transgress the law. Verse 28, for he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart and the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men but of God. Father, I pray that you'd bless the time and the scriptures this morning. I thank you so much for the gospel of Christ, and it is my, Lord, my desire that Christ be lifted up, and Lord, that we would not trust in anything other than Calvary and that empty tomb for eternal salvation. And Lord God, if someone here today is not saved, I pray that they'd realize their desperate need to be born again this morning. For those of us that are, may we rejoice in the finished work of Calvary. We love you, and we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you so much. You may be seated. The Holy Spirit guided the pen of the Apostle Paul. He wrote the book of Romans. And Paul desired to go to the Romans, but until he got there, he writes this letter to them. And the first three chapters are pretty brutal. They are pretty transparent about the sin and the unrighteousness of the recipients of this letter. We find out that in chapter one, he begins to warn the pagan Those that don't know God, those barbarians, if you will, the heathens, if you will, that they are perverted, that they are immoral, that they are disobedient, that they have not looked at the creation of God, or the will of God, or the law of God, and because of that they are under condemnation and they deserve the judgment of God. Romans chapter 1 verse number 32. And verse number 32, And so he He tells the sinner why he is in danger of death and of judgment. But then there are people that aren't in this category of the perverted, immoral, atheist, idolater. There's another group of people that are not committing those horrible acts. And they might even be very conservative. They might be very religious and think, well, that's them, but I'm OK. You've seen this. You've seen this. You've seen people that the law does not apply to them, that they can drive down the shoulder of the road to make better time because the law doesn't apply to them, that they're okay and they can do whatever they want. They'll never be caught. Whatever they do is okay. So there are people that are clearly wrong, and he says it in chapter number one. Then in chapter number two, there's others that say, well, that doesn't apply to me. He's not talking to me. We're pretty good. We vote the right way. We have the right beliefs. We're very religious. We're very spiritual. And he goes, no, you're also under condemnation in chapter number two and verse number two. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to the truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judges them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Well, I don't do what they do. I'm better than them. I'm OK. Well, they find out that they're not OK, that they're going to experience the judgment of God as well. And if we were going to categorize these things, you would have those, and stay with me, we have those that are down below. They don't know God. They don't recognize God. They disobey God. They perverted sex. They perverted marriage. They are idolatrous. That's what they are. We'll say, well, I'm not there. Then there would be the next layer of people that are religious and they're good. They have morals. They go to church on Sunday. They're pretty good. And they know they're good because this group is better than this group. Can I remind you from here down? For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And now, in our text now, he's going to talk to this next group. So we have this group, and then we have, we'll call these guys the pagans. Then we have the religious or the moralist. But now he's gonna talk about this group, who are superior to both other groups, clearly more superior. Well, what group are we talking about? Well, in chapter number two, verse 17, Behold, thou art called a, what? A Jew. Now he's gonna talk specifically to those that are Jewish. The Jews were very confident in who they were, very proud of who they are. When he talks about the Jew, we're talking about their heritage. These are the people that were chosen by God. And clearly, they could say that we have been chosen by God, and that part of their heritage and tradition is true. These are the folks that have the law of God, that God has given them his word. He's given them his law. Clearly, he gave it to them. Chapter 3, verse 2, much every way, chiefly because unto them were committed the oracles of God. So the Jew could say, you know what? I've been chosen by God. I have a godly heritage, a godly tradition. We've been given the law of God, and he's entrusted us with his holy word. And then they were very proud about their circumcision. They are dedicated to God. So God chose us, God gave us his word, and we practice circumcision of our flesh to show our dedication and our commitment to the God that chose us, the God that gave us his word, and we have experience that are shown, our dedication to him by our circumcision. They were the professors of the true religion. They were the true worshipers of the true God. Now can I say that everything I've said thus far is true? Did God choose Abraham and Jacob? Absolutely. They're God's chosen people. Did God entrust to them the oracles of God, the word of God? Is that true? Absolutely it's true. Did He give them the signs of circumcision? Is that true? Absolutely it is. Are they the worshipers of the true God? Absolutely they are. And because of these things, because of all these things are true, it produced pride in the heart of the average Jew. We have our land. We have our language. We have God's law. Therefore, we are right with God. What a big mistake. He begins to point out in chapter number two, they boasted in the law. Number two, we're going to see what else they did with the law, but number one, they boasted in the law. Look at chapter number two, verse number 17. Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God. Knowest his will, and approveth the things that are more excellent. being instructed out of the law, and are confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, and light unto them which are in darkness." They boasted in the law. In verse number 17, the Bible says that they rested in the law, meaning they settled on it, they leaned on it, they trusted it. They said, we have the law. Now, in a day where man is trying to guess what God wants and trying to define who God is, the Jews received the law. And they rested in the law that they had received. And it brought about great pride. Keep your finger there in Romans. Go with me to the book of Psalm. I want you to see this, Psalm 147. Psalm 147. And while you're turning there, listen as I read Deuteronomy chapter four, verse seven. Deuteronomy four, verse seven says this. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon Him for? What great God do we have? I mean, what nation has a God like our God? What nation is as good as our nation because we have the true, we have the right God? That's true. They did. Absolutely. Psalm 147, verse number 19. Verse 19, He showeth His word unto who? Jacob. His statutes and His judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation. And as for His judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the Lord. Hey, who has the Word of God? Who has been entrusted with His statutes and His commandments? Who knows His judgments? We do! We as Hebrews, we as Israelites, we as Jews, God's chosen people, we know God's Word. And they boast about it when they were having revival under Nehemiah as they built those walls. In Nehemiah 9, verse 13, Thou camest down also upon Mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments and true laws, good statutes and commandments, and madest known unto them thy holy Sabbaths, and commandest them precepts, statutes, and laws with the hand of Moses their servant. They began to rejoice about who God was and said, you know what? God gave us the law. God gave us his commandments, his statutes, his judgments. God gave us his word. That's good. They're boasting in the law. They rested in that law. And they were instructed in that law. So God gave it to them. They took great delight in the fact that they had it. And they were taught it. Look at chapter 2, verse 18. In Romans 2, verse 18. Verse 17, Behold, thou art called a Jew, and rested in the law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest his will, and approvest the things which are more excellent being instructed out of the law. So they rested in the law as they received it, but they were instructed in it. They were catechized in it. Meaning that from the time they were little, the law was poured in their ears. They've got a steady diet of understanding and being taught the Word of God. Most of us are familiar with Deuteronomy chapter number six. In Deuteronomy chapter number six, God gives the command to parents to teach their young people the law of God. Go with me to Deuteronomy chapter six. Let me just show you this. Deuteronomy chapter number six. Deuteronomy chapter number six, verse number four. Deuteronomy 6 and verse number 4. Deuteronomy chapter 6. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 6, verse number 4, here, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul, with all thy might. And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart. I've given you my word. It needs to be in your heart, and it needs to be in your children's ears. Verse number 7, thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. This is what he's saying. Listen, you gotta teach your kids my word. I've given you my word and it's your job and responsibility to teach it to your children. And the Bible says to teach it diligently. Listen to me very carefully. I believe this. Parents, we have a responsibility to raise our children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. That this is our greatest God-given responsibility, that our children know who our God is. And it is more important for them to know who God is than to be able to throw a baseball. to be able to tumble on a field that is more important than a family reunion. It's more important than their high school education, that our kids know who our God is. And if we make other things priorities, then our children are going to learn what our priorities really are. They say that what is an option for us as parents? It's optional. Church is optional. The Bible is optional. It's optional. We'll go to church on Sunday unless something else comes up. It's optional. That our children that are watching us, when they see what's optional to us, becomes a non-option to them when they grow up. Meaning if it's not really important to mom and dad, it will not be important at all to our children. And can I tell you that that's not just a thought, that's a pattern that I see happen over and over and over again. The mom and dad get saved, they love God, they're in church. Then the next generation comes in and they're in church, they're in church, they're out of church, in church, out of church. Very infrequent. And then the third generation doesn't even know who God is. And it happens over and over and over again. I'm saying as parents, God should be our priority and our kids should know it. Diligently. And I'll tell you this, that the Jews had it down. The kids would memorize. Books of the Bible. Kids were taught what to wear. They were taught how to talk. They were taught who God was. They were taught God's Word. And what happened really was this, is that they received God's Word, they had God's Word, they were instructed in God's Word, and instead of producing obedience, it produced disobedience. Instead of producing humility, it produced pride. Well, we have God's Word. We're on the tail end of a Christian school revolution. What do I mean by that? I mean, we've had a generation that grew up in a Christian school. And the thought was, well, if we have good Christian schools in conjunction with good Bible-believing churches and in conjunction with godly parents, we'll produce super-Christians. And I'm here to tell you, it produced superficial Christians. That having God's Word, being instructed in God's Word is not enough. But they're proud of it. They said, we're instructors of God's Word. We've learned it from the time that we were young. We were taught it. And not only were we taught it, we began to teach it. So we rest in God's Word. We're instructed in God's Word. And we teach God's Word. Go back there to the book of Romans, chapter number 2, verse number 19. And are confident. that thou thyself are a guide of the blind and a light of them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes. So we receive God's word, we rest in God's word, we teach our kids God's word, and we teach others God's word. The Bible says they were confident in this. They were confident in their standing. taught God's law. Listen as I read Isaiah chapter 42, verse 6. I, the Lord, have declared thee in righteousness. I'm sorry, Isaiah chapter 42, verse number 6. I, the Lord, have called thee in righteousness and will hold thine hand and will keep thee and give thee for a covenant of the people for a light of the Gentiles. Isaiah chapter 49, verse 6. And he said, it is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and restore the preserve of Israel. I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. He said, all right, Jews, Hebrews, I've given you my word. I want you to lean on it and rest on it. I want you to teach it to your children. And I want you to share it with the world. Be a light to the world. That's what I want from you. Can I tell you that you and I are in a similar situation? If you know Christ as your Savior, would you say amen? Amen. You and I have received God's word. Can I just say that this Bible right here, this King James Bible is God's inspired word. I believe every single verse. I believe every single word from cover to cover. I believe this book. It's God's word, and we have it. Praise the Lord for that. And by the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will guide us in all truth. And God saved us, and God gave us his word, and God gave us a responsibility to be a light to a lost and dying world. We have the same mission, if you will, the same job, the same word, and the same witness, same responsibility. And there are people that are filling our churches this morning that are boasting the fact that they're saved, boasting the fact that they know God's word, The truth be told, many of them are still lost, and many of them are not living God's Word. They know it, but they're not living it. Can I tell you, there was a conference I was preaching at, and there was several pastors there that were there, evangelists that were there. They had two messages in the morning, two messages in the evening, a whole lot of preaching going on. And I'm sitting at the table with all these pastors, and I just kind of honestly had enough. I just, I had enough. And I hear one guy say, well, you know, they don't believe the Bible like we believe the Bible. And they, you know, they don't. And it was all about who we are, and we're right, and they're wrong, and we're this all about. I just got sick of hearing it. I said, you know what, guys? So I'm sick of it. I said, I'm sick of us saying that we have God's Word, and so we're right because we have God's Word. I'm sick of hearing preachers saying it. I want to see preachers living it. I'm sick of Christians saying, well, we have God's Word. It doesn't make you more spiritual because you have God's Word. It makes you more accountable. And I want to tell you this. Boy, you could feel it. From that moment on, there's still three more days left of the conference. From that day on, I was literally the black sheep of that whole group. No pun intended. Never got asked back. Never got asked to come back there. Never, never. Why? Just because we have it. Just because we know it. It doesn't make us better. It makes us more accountable. Listen, so you sit here at church and and and by God's grace you're learning the Bible Yeah, hopefully you come to Sunday school. We study the scriptures in Sunday school. You come to Sunday morning. We preach Sunday morning We we have more family time on Sunday night and on Wednesday night. We just open it up verse by verse I mean we would count that whiteboard and we we learn the Bible if you come here for services Are you learning the Word of God? I mean, I'm asking for you to pat me on the back. I'm asking is that is that the case? Well, that doesn't make us better than the church down the road. I It makes us more accountable. So he's looking at the Jew that's looking down on the moralist or religionist who's looking down on the pagan, the guy that says there's no God. And he's looking at them saying, you're looking down and thinking that you're better. You're not better. You're more accountable. They boasted. The other day I was reading the book of Jonah, and something just struck me in the book of Jonah. You remember God calls Jonah to go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for its wickedness has come before me. God could have said, Jonah, go to Nineveh, because they're living out Romans chapter 1, and I'm going to bring judgment on them. Right? They're doing all the things in Romans chapter 1. Preacher of the Word, go to Nineveh, cry against it. Hopefully they'll repent of their sin. And Jonah says, yeah, they need to repent, those pagans. But he says, I'm not going. Remember? Disobedient to a direct command of God. And when he's in that boat, and the storm starts coming, and the mariners are praying to their gods, oh, they're praying to all these false gods and deities, and he's asleep in the boat, he says, wake up, sleeper! What's going on here? Who are you? What's your occupation? Where are you from? Why is this happening to us? We all remember this story? What does Jonah say? This just caught me. In Jonah 1, verse 8, then said they unto him, tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us. What is thine occupation? And whence comest thou? And what is thy country? And of what people art thou? And he said unto them, that's what he said, I am in Hebrew. And I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and dry land. I'm the one that knows who the right God is. I'm in Hebrew. That's who I am. All the while boasting about his standing with God, all the while disobeying God. And he looks at the Jews and says, wait, wait, wait, wait. You're boasting about what you know about me and about my word, and yet you're not listening to me. You're not obeying me. See, while they were boasting about God, they were breaking God's law. So they boasted about the law, but they broke the law. They broke the law. We can talk all day about how good we are, and someone would say, well, I go to church, and I'm faithful to my wife, and I pay my taxes, and I was baptized, and I did this, and I did that, and then someone would say, well, that's gotta count for something. It counts for nothing. It doesn't count for anything. Well, I'm a Jew and I'm circumcised. I know the law. I never ate pork. It counts for nothing. Listen, maybe you're here and you're trusting in your flesh. You're trusting in your works. You're trusting in your deeds. You're trusting in your tradition and your heritage. You're trusting in your denomination. Then you're lost. Then you're lost. Go to Philippians chapter number three. This is probably the best way we can illustrate this. Philippians chapter three. Philippians chapter 3, look with me at verse number 3. Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3, verse number 3. Are you there? Verse three. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. He says, yeah, we're of the circumcision, but we're trusting in Jesus. Our confidence is in Christ, not in our flesh. In his work, and not our work. Verse four. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof that he might trust in the flesh, I more. You think you're good in spiritual, think you're good enough to go to heaven, trust in your flesh? If you think you're good, I could trust more. Verse five, circumcise the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and the Hebrew of Hebrews, as such in the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gained to me, those I count lost for Christ. He says, hey, you're trusting in your church membership? You're trusting in your baptism in the water? You're trusting in the fact that you were faithful to your wife? You're trusting in the fact that you always were a believer. Well, I'm ready to tell you, Paul says, you want to trust in your flesh? I could trust more. And all of it's loss compared to Christ. That Christ is the only way to heaven. That's why the Bible says, Ephesians chapter two, verse eight, for by grace you say through faith that not of yourselves is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And here's the Jews boasting. We have the law, we're circumcised, we're good, we're on our way to heaven, and they're not. And they weren't. They were just as guilty as all the people enumerated in chapter number one. They were going to go to the same hell, the same lake of fire, because they had committed the same sins. They broke God's law. Well, pastor, where do you get that? Well, let's finish this up. Romans chapter 2, verse number 21. Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? So yeah, you're a teacher of the law, but you're doing the things that you're saying are wrong, verse 22. Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhors idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law through breaking the law, dishonest thou God? So you're boasting about having the law, but you're breaking the law? He said, you're preaching against adultery, but you're committing adultery. You're saying we shouldn't steal, and you steal. Now, can I be honest? Jesus has already covered this. Jesus had the same conversation with the same groups of people. Pastor, what do you mean? Go back to Matthew chapter number five. Keep forgetting they're in Romans. Go to Matthew. Matthew chapter number five. Matthew 5, verse number, well, I don't want to go through the whole thing. You can read it on your own. Let me just show you a couple examples. Verse number 19, Matthew 5, 19. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of God. For I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. All right, watch. So we have the, let's just say pagans, all right? We have the who, the? And then we have, we'll say the moralists. We have the who? So we have the? And the? And then we have the? Jews. And as far as tradition and religion, they're tops. And Jesus says, except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of these Jews, So what did he just say to this whole group that were boasting in their law, boasting in their morals, boasting in their traditions? What did he just say? You didn't make it. That you have to be more righteous than you are in order to go to heaven. Isn't that what he said? Well, how can he say that we're not righteous? Verse number 20, for I said to you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said unto you of old time, you know, you got the word, you got the law, thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. That's right, we're not supposed to kill and I've never killed anybody. Verse 22, but I say to you that whosoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of the judgment." I'm okay. I never killed anybody. Yeah, but you hated him in your heart. Well, who cares what Jesus thinks? Listen, listen. Who cares what he says? You're going to tell me that a Jew wouldn't have that perspective? You're gonna tell me that a Jew wouldn't say that. Well, that's just, there's no, who are you? We found out last week, keep your finger there on Matthew, go back to Romans chapter two, we found out last week who he is, verse number 16, Romans 2 verse 16, in the day when God shall, what? Judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ. Well, who cares what he thinks? He's the judge. Well, we've never killed anybody. Yeah, but the judge just told you. If you hated them in your heart, you're guilty. Well, what does the judge say? Chapter number 5 of Matthew, verse number 27. Matthew 5, 27. You have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery. Verse 28. But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Well, yeah, but we're, see, we're up here. We're not down there. We're up here. No, you're not up there. All of your righteousnesses are as filthy rags. He's judging the secrets of men. He knows your motive. He knows your heart. He's not done. Chapter number five, verse number, well, we could pick a lot of them. Verse number 33. Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thy oaths. But I say unto you, swear not at all, neither by heaven, for it is God's throne. Verse number 39, verse number 44, verse number 32. Then he says this in verse number 48, Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Hey, if you want to go to heaven, you need to be perfect. Well, nobody's perfect. That's the point. In order to go to heaven, you need to be righteous. Well, nobody's really righteous. That's the point. You want to go to heaven, you need to be holy as He is holy. Well, nobody's holy. That's the point. It doesn't matter if you're here, you're lost and on your way to hell condemned to death. It doesn't matter if you're here, you're religious, you're lost, condemned, on your way to death. But I'm here. You're lost and condemned and worthy of death. Well then, how can anybody be saved if I have to be perfect and holy and righteous? Listen carefully. The Bible says that the law is a schoolmaster, Galatians, to bring us to Christ. You know what a schoolmaster is? You know, back in the day, maybe some of you were in a one-room schoolhouse. You had to walk to school uphill through the snow both ways. Maybe some of you had to split wood for the schoolhouse. I don't know where you are. Your teacher had a slate board and limestone. I don't know. Okay, I won't go into it. was to take a young person from the time that they were of school age until they were grown to teach them everything that they needed to learn in order to be successful and independent in life. That's a big responsibility. And the Bible says that the law is the schoolmaster to teach us everything that we need to learn so that we realize we need Christ. So he's looking at the Jew that's boasting in the law, saying, listen, you're boasting about having the law, but you broke the law. And the purpose of the law is to point you to Christ, that you need Christ. And that's what he's building up to in chapter number three. There's none righteous, no, not one. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. I don't care that you're not here. You might be here, but you still fall short of God's glory. You still need Calvary. You still need salvation. He said, Pastor, why are you so passionate about this? I'll tell you why I'm so passionate about it, because there are people that, you're here this morning. There's people in Bible-believing churches that hear the gospel over and over and over again and think that because they're here, they're okay, they're good. And many shall say unto me that day, Lord, Lord, have we not? We're pretty good. We didn't do that, and we didn't do this, and we did that, and we did this. Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. Let me end with this illustration. And I think it's OK. I think you won't mind that I share this. One day, I was at my house. This was probably several years ago, probably four or five years ago, probably. I was at my house, and Mr. Cop came over. Mr. and Mrs. Cop came over. Mike's Cop's dad. And I hadn't spent a whole lot of time talking to him. I always liked them, hard workers, good folks, good people. And we're talking, and he's in his truck, and I'm in my driveway, and we're just talking. I'm just talking about all kinds of things, from politics to everything else, and we're just talking. And then he told me about a friend that died. And I said, was he saved? And I'll never forget it. Mr. Cobb said, well, he was faithful to his wife through her illness, and he was a church-going man, and he was a good guy, and so that's gotta count for something. And I stood there on the side of his truck, and I went, I said, Mr. Cobb, that doesn't count for anything. And I remember when they left, I called Mike. I said, Mike, I never really had an in-depth conversation with your dad about the gospel and everything, and I know that he goes to a Bible-believing, gospel-preaching church. for decades. I said, I'm worried. Would you be worried? It's got to count for something. It counts for nothing. When you stand before the Lord and say, well, Lord, I've done this and I've done this and I've done this. Oh, that's good. Then why did I send my son? Oh, if you're so good, then why did I give my only begotten son to die for you? Because I didn't know you could do it on your own. It's a slap in the face to a holy God that gave his son the thing that we somehow can save ourselves. And I remember I called Mike and said, I'm worried. And I started praying for him. I know he did. I know Caden witnessed to him several times. And a while back at LJ's funeral, I still to this day don't understand how I preached LJ's funeral. I don't even know how that happened. Preached it over at Valley. And I believe this, the most important time to preach the gospel is at a funeral. In Ecclesiastes chapter seven, because the living will lay it to their hearts. You're seeing someone that you love in a pine box, and their soul is either in heaven or hell. And that makes us think, well where am I going? So you gotta preach the gospel. Gotta preach the gospel. And I gave an invitation, and I said if you, I'm not sure you're salvation, would you? Can I pray for you? Would you raise your hand if you're not sure? And Mr. Cop, like a shot, raises his hand up. And I went. Oh man, I wanted to shut everything down. I just wanted to, I didn't want to go to the grave side. I wanted to go by his side. That's where I wanted to be. So then a few days later, I got to go over to their house, and Mike was there, and Kata was there, and I was walking in there. I'm just like you, I'm no different than you are. I'm walking in there going, how am I gonna broach this subject? Right, how am I gonna, I'm gonna do it somehow or another, but how do I broach this subject? Do I go, hey, how you doing today? How about that weather? How are we getting there? And I walked into his kitchen, And he said, oh, pastor, I bet you're here because I raised my hand for salvation at the funeral. I said, well, we got it. All right, there we go. I guess that's how we're getting into the conversation. I said, that's exactly why I'm here. And that man, who was a good man, a hardworking man, he's got an OK son. He's got great grandkids. God is head of the table, except that Jesus Christ is the Savior. That's what has to happen to every person. Every person has to realize that they fall short of God's glory. We know the Bible. While we grew up in the South, my dad was a deacon. I was baptized. None of it. None of it. But I'm better than they are. But you're not as good as he is. The Bible says that if we confess our sins, it's faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The Bible says that Christ became sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. In order to go to heaven, you need to be righteous, and the only thing that can make a sinner righteous is the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which is incorruptible, and by the blood of Jesus Christ, as a lamb without spot, without blemish. You need Christ. You need Christ. So let me ask you this. When you do die, not if you die, but when you die, and the Lord looks at you and says, what right do you have to enter this holy city? What right? What makes you think you have the right to enter this holy city? And the only thing that gives you that right is the blood of Jesus Christ. Your name needs to be written in that book. The last book of life. So are you saved? Well, I've been going to this church. That's not what I'm asking you. I'm asking you, has there been a time where you as a sinner beseech the holy God by the blood of Jesus Christ? asking you to forgive your sins and become your Lord and Savior. Has there been that time? Well, I kind of grew into it. No, you didn't grow into it. Well, I was kind of born into it. You weren't born into anything but as a sinner. Have you truly been saved? Now, this is about time when your pride starts rearing up. Well, you don't understand our background, you don't understand how good we, just swallow your pride and ask yourself with all humility, am I truly saved? Father, Lord, this past week studying the scriptures, I have just been so burdened. Lord, this, Lord, I love this church and I love these people. And Lord, the thought that there are probably several in this room that are pretty faithful to church, but they've never truly been saved. Lord, I don't know what else to say. I don't know what else to say. Well, I pray that the Holy Spirit would draw them to you, that today would be the day of their salvation. Father, those of us that were saved, some of us were saved out of that pagan, hedonistic lifestyle. Some of us were saved out of our own religion. There are some here that still need to be saved. Lord, I pray that we could thank you for our salvation. I pray, Lord, that we could pray for others and their need. And Lord, that each individual here would not leave this place until you search them and try them, or until they seek your face with humility and make sure that they are truly found in the faith, that they're truly born again. If we had body, if I closed, let me ask you this question. Who here this morning would say, you know what, pastor, I'm not sure. I'm just being honest and transparent. I am not sure that I'm on my way to heaven. I am not truly 100% sure that I am truly saved. If that's you, would you honestly slip up your hand this morning? I will not call you out, I'll not embarrass you, but I am so burdened this morning. Pastor, please pray for me, I'm not sure. All right? If you know Christ as your Savior and you're sure, you can point to that time and that place where you as a sinner went before a holy God and pleaded the blood of Christ for your atonement, for your sin. If you know for sure that heaven's your home, would you slip up your head, honestly? I know Christ is my Savior. I'm on my way to heaven. Praise the Lord. That if you were able to raise your hand, then you understand that it was nothing that you did. It's all that he did. He saved you despite yourself. Why don't you thank him this morning? With every head bowed, every eye closed, I'll ask you to stand on your feet. I'm gonna ask the piano to play. Maybe there's someone you know that's desperately lost. Why don't you come pray for them?