[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfreda, Georgia. This is the next message in our series in the book of 2 Corinthians, entitled, We Faint Not.
[0:15] I'm sure you understand that dying for me means that he died in your place. You should have died. You deserve death. But Jesus Christ took our place, died in our place, so that we could be saved.
[0:27] We could be born again. We could have eternal life through what he did on the cross of Calvary. So I'm sure you understand that, and I hope you do. And if you're not saved this morning, you can be.
[0:38] Take your Bible, if you would, and turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 3. 2 Corinthians chapter 3, we'll start in verse 1. 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 1. Maybe you'd write this down. We find letters of commendation. That's what he's going to talk about.
[0:51] He starts off, he's writing this to the church at Corinth. And the church at Corinth is like, you know, they kind of got this argument going with Paul. And they say, hey, well, who are you? Who are you?
[1:02] Now, he was their pastor for 18 months. He's already written him a letter. There's probably another letter that we don't have in the Bible. It's already gone to him. He's already sent Titus, one of his preachers, to go visit them and see how they're doing.
[1:14] They know who he is. But they write and they say, who says you're good? Who says you're right? Who says you have a right to tell us what to do? And so he starts off the chapter and he said, so, are you trying to tell me y'all need a letter of recommendation?
[1:30] Is that what y'all are trying to tell me? Y'all need a letter of recommendation. He says in verse 1, do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or need we, or need we as some others, epistles or letters of commendation to you?
[1:45] Or letters of commendation from you? Do you think I need a letter from you saying I'm a good guy? You think I need a letter telling you I'm a good guy? He says, that's just not true. That would be like a letter of introduction.
[1:57] It would be like somebody saying, let me tell you who this guy is. When we were in Arequipa, Peru, serving, there was a regular thing where Peruvians would travel.
[2:08] And they would go from one city to another city. And there were lots of people that learned that missionaries tended to know all the other missionaries' names. And one guy went from our church, went from our city.
[2:20] I did not know him. And he went up to the city of Urubamba up in the mountains, the Andes Mountains outside of Cusco. And he got there to the city. And he went in. He had his shirt unbuttoned down to his navel.
[2:30] And he was wearing a pair of glasses. And he looked kind of shaggy the way he was dressed and everything. And he walked in. And he said, I need a place to stay. I need you all to feed me. And I need a love offering. Austin Gardner sent me here.
[2:42] And they said, you really don't look like the kind Austin Gardner might send here. And we have no letter of recommendation for you. And so they called me. And they said, hey, Austin, we got this guy up here.
[2:56] And I said, who is he? They said, well, you sent him up here. And I said, I hadn't seen anybody anywhere. So if he's up there, I don't know about him. Another time, we were in the city of Ica.
[3:06] And Chris was a young boy, probably 16. And we were staying at a Bible college. And I was upstairs. It was an afternoon. I'd preached that morning. And I was kind of laying around the room and waiting for the evening service.
[3:17] It was kind of hot. And somebody rang the doorbell. And the only people in the whole building were Chris and I. And so I said, Chris, run down there and see who that is. And Chris got down there to the door. And Chris opened the door.
[3:30] And the guy said, look, I'm from Atikipa. And Austin Gardner sent me here. And he needs you to give me some money to help me on my journey. And Chris looked at him and said, really?
[3:41] You're from Atikipa? He said, yeah. He said, I'm from Austin Gardner's ministry. And Chris said, I'm Austin Gardner's son. And Austin Gardner's upstairs. Let me get him for you.
[3:52] He said, no, no, no. It must be another Austin Gardner. So Paul said, really? Do you guys need a letter from me? You know I preach the gospel to you.
[4:02] You know that God made a big difference in your life. You've got to understand what's going on right now. In the church, there's this big battle going on. There's these people called Judaizers. That's what we call them, Judaizers.
[4:14] Which meant they were trying to turn the Christians into Jews. They wanted the Christians to adopt a Jewish law. They wanted all the Gentile Christians to get circumcised.
[4:25] Really, the only people that were circumcised would have been Abraham's descendants. And that would have gone on two sides of that. Ishmael's family and Isaac's family. But nobody else was circumcised.
[4:35] And Paul's going out into these areas. And they're getting saved. And they're not circumcised. And they don't keep the law of Moses. And they're not following any of his rules. And so they're going around saying, we're glad you heard the gospel.
[4:47] Now all of y'all need, all you men need to have surgery. And by the way, all of y'all need to stop eating pork. And by the way, all of y'all need to start taking Saturday off and spending the time.
[4:59] There's this big struggle going on. There's two gospels being preached. The gospel of grace and the gospel of law. The gospel of God's grace and mercy and kindness and Jesus dying and paying the debt.
[5:11] And then men and what they can do. And that's what's going on in the world at that time. In Acts chapter 15 and verse 1, if you have your Bible, you ought to look these things up. You ought to write them down and check it out later.
[5:21] Might make a note of it right here in the margin of your Bible. So you look it up later. In Acts chapter 15 and verse 1, you see, it got so bad that they're coming down from Jerusalem.
[5:33] They're coming from Jerusalem. And they're saying, we've come down on behalf of Peter and James and John and the apostles up there. And they even brought letters written by them supposedly. And in chapter 15 and verse 1, the Bible says, And certain men which came down from Judea, Judaizers, taught the brethren and said, Except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved.
[5:56] When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.
[6:07] Here's what happened. These guys were coming down and they were saying, hey, I'm glad y'all got saved. Glad y'all come to church. Glad y'all have heard that. Now, all you men have got to get circumcised. And if you don't get circumcised like the law of Moses, you can't be saved.
[6:20] Paul walked around and said, this is not true. This is just a lie. You guys are crazy. And they said, wait a minute. Peter sent us down here. Here's a letter. James sent us down. Here's a letter. The apostles up.
[6:30] And they said, no, they didn't send you down. And we know what they teach. And that's not the truth. And that is a real big argument. And so Paul and Barnabas said, that's it. We're going to go straight to the horse's mouth and find out, are they writing letters?
[6:41] Too bad. There wasn't email. There wasn't Twitter. And there wasn't cell phones. Are they going to just solve this matter in a couple of minutes? But they had to make a whole trip up to Jerusalem to get to the bottom of it. What they were really preaching is what's called legalism.
[6:55] You might write that down somewhere. A gospel of legalism. And legalism is very popular. It's popular today because it gives you a goal to shoot for. You know, get your children baptized.
[7:06] Get your children christened. Get your children in church. Get your children in Sunday school. Get them not to miss Sunday school. Legalism is popular because you can measure yourself and compare yourself.
[7:17] Paul didn't like the legalist. Paul didn't like the legalist. They carried the same Bible. They used the Bible. They taught from the Bible. But Paul said this about them.
[7:28] These guys corrupt the Scriptures. They twist the Scriptures. They use the Scriptures insincerely. They use the Scriptures to get men to do what they want them to do.
[7:39] Look in 2 Corinthians 2, verse 17. He said, For we are not as many which corrupt the Word of God. These guys were seeking a following. They were peddling the truth.
[7:50] They were con men. They were using the Bible to get people to do what they want. And especially, the fact is, they're going to take up an offering. And they can't take the offering up because these guys are giving too much money to these corrupt guys.
[8:02] Look at 2 Corinthians 4, verse 2. They handled the Word of God deceitfully. That's why you should bring a Bible to church. You should sit there with that Bible.
[8:13] You should say, Preach, Austin. I'll listen to what you've got to say. But I've got my Bible open. And I'm reading here. And I'm going to see if it's what it says. Because I'm not going to let you trick me. I'm not going to let you pull one on me.
[8:24] I'm going to see that's what the Bible says. I'm not going to let you pull one. Look at 2 Corinthians 4, verse 2, if you would. But the Bible says, But we, but he, Paul said, But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
[8:47] Paul said, We don't use the Bible to make money. We don't twist what the Bible says. We don't use it deceitfully. We're not just trying to play a game with you. Paul said, These guys are preaching a different gospel.
[9:00] He called it another gospel. Look at Galatians 1, verse 6. Write it down somewhere there. He said, I marvel that you are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.
[9:14] Listen to this. Which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and would, listen, pervert the gospel of Christ. For though we are an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel than that to which you have been preached, let him be accursed.
[9:30] That means let him go to hell. I mean, Paul was like I am, pulling no punches. I speak plainly. Verse 9, he said, We said before, so say now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that you have received, let him be accursed.
[9:46] Let him go to hell. Let me explain that. If somebody makes you think that to be really saved, you've got to get saved and baptized, baptized, that's another gospel. Salvation is purely by what God does in my life.
[9:59] Say amen if you believe that. Somebody says to you, you've got to speak in tongues. You've got to get the baptism of the Holy Spirit or you're not saved. That's another gospel. It's a perversion of the gospel.
[10:09] And the Bible would say, let him be accursed. Somebody says, you've got to not work on Saturday or not work on Sunday. You can't eat pork and you can't eat shrimp and no more bacon for you. That's a perversion of the gospel.
[10:20] And Paul said, he said, man, I'm tired of these guys. They tell him you've got to get circumcised. They're adding rules to you for you to be saved. Paul said that, you ought to know that's not true.
[10:31] So write down the second thing that Paul brings out to them. They were a clear letter of the grace and gospel. They were a clear letter of the grace and gospel. 2 Corinthians 3, verse 3, if you would.
[10:43] 2 Corinthians 3, verse 3. For as much as ye are manifestly, very openly declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.
[11:02] He said, what happened in your life was the letter of commendation that I needed. You want to hear something? I came and I preached and God changed you. God changed you. I don't need a letter from Jerusalem.
[11:14] You know who you were before. You know who you are now. You know that you left your sinful past. You know that God did a work in your life. You know that you're not the same guy you were before.
[11:24] You know what? Those guys and those Judaizers, those guys that come from Jerusalem, they may have it written with ink. They may have it written with ink, but I have it written in your heart.
[11:35] God didn't write it just on tables of stone like the Ten Commandments, but He wrote it on fleshly tables of your heart. They may have an external rule book. Here it is. Ten Commandments. Keep the Ten Commandments.
[11:46] He said, but you have it written in your hearts because the Holy Spirit of God moved into you. You know what? You don't need the Ten Commandments. You don't need to walk around with them and say, I've got to keep the Ten Commandments. You know why? Because your heart now wants to serve God.
[11:59] He made a difference in you and He made a new person out of you. What they didn't have, what they had didn't come from the Ten Commandments or commandments written on stones, but what God had written in their heart.
[12:11] It was clear. It was clear. And Paul was confident of their salvation. Look at verses 4 and 5. 2 Corinthians 3, 4 and 5. He said, And such trust have we through Christ the Godward, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God.
[12:27] Now watch this. Paul said, I'm just going to go ahead and tell you, man, God did big stuff in your life. I came into town and you were a bunch of idol worshipers. I came into town and you were a bunch of sex fiends since that's what Corinth was known for.
[12:38] I came into town and you guys were often wicked, filthy sin and God saved you and you have a new life and you live different and you're changed. And he said, And I never did tell you that you had to keep those Ten Commandments and I never did tell you you had to get circumcised and I never laid any rules on you.
[12:56] I didn't. And so I don't need anybody to give me a letter saying I did the right thing because you know I did. It's written on my heart I saw God change you. It's written on your heart you know that God changed you.
[13:07] You are a testimony of what God has done. How many of you say I am a testimony. I can see how God saved me. I didn't do it. Not me keeping rules but God changed me and saved me.
[13:17] If you can say that truthfully say amen. God did a work in me. I'm not the result of the Baptist church. I'm not the result of my mom and daddy. I'm not the result of a preacher's ministry. I'm the result of the holy God of heaven doing a work in my life.
[13:31] A holy work of God. The next thing you see is a letter of condemnation. Look at verse 6. Look at verse 6. Now you got to get this. Paul is really now watch this.
[13:42] You got these two fight you got a fight going on here. You got these Judaizers and they're coming down saying keep the law keep the law keep the law 39 books of the Old Testament 10 commandments many other commandments many other rules get circumcised don't work on Saturday and then on the other side Paul's saying hey we don't need those rules.
[14:01] We don't need those rules. We're saved by grace. We don't keep rules to get saved. We keep rules because we are saved. But you need to look at this. Here's a letter of condemnation.
[14:12] Read the Bible with me if you would. I hope you underline it. Verse 6 the Bible says who has also made us able ministers of the New Testament not of the letter not of the letter but of the spirit for the letter killeth circle that the letter killeth but the spirit giveth life.
[14:29] Verse 7 I hope you underlined it. The ministration of death written and engraven in stones was glorious. Let me explain that to you real quick.
[14:39] Now watch this. Moses went up in the mountain and God wrote the 10 commandments with his own finger on the tablets and Moses came back down and his face was shining so bright they couldn't even look at him and Moses had to put a veil on his face so they couldn't see the glory of God in Moses and Paul said man wasn't that great wasn't that great God did a fantastic thing when he gave those 10 commandments God did a fantastic thing when Moses was able to come down off that mountain and his face was shining his face was shining with the with the the test the Old Testament but he says I'm a minister of the New Testament I'm a minister of grace not the Old Testament God had given Paul the ability to preach and teach the gospel in the New Testament now let me explain something to you what's the law for?
[15:28] what's the law for? are you ready? you need to know this what's the purpose of the Ten Commandments? what's the purpose? watch it if you've got your Bible up in verse 7 it was called administration of death in verse 6 Paul said he made me an able minister of the New Testament Old Testament death Old Testament law Paul said I'm a New Testament preacher I'm a spirit preacher now watch this look at your Bible at 1 Timothy chapter 1 in verse 7 boy you need your Bible open here check me out make sure I'm not using the word deceitfully make sure I'm not twisting the word of God and I'm not corrupting it look at 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 7 desiring to be teachers of the law understanding neither what they say nor what they affirm boy they like to teach the law but they don't know what they're talking about verse 8 but we know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully knowing this that the law is not made for a repeat those two words with me the law is not made for a so say it again the law is not made for a now in this room where are the righteous people would you hold your hand up if you're righteous
[16:38] I am righteous I'm not righteous because I'm good I'm righteous because God saved me I'm not righteous because I'm not righteous because I've not done wrong I'm righteous because I've been forgiven and covered in blood I'm not righteous I'm not righteous because of my goodness but because of his goodness you know at a wedding when the bride comes down all dressed in white that's supposed to stand for purity but you do know that no bride has ever come down to the altar that was pure don't you she might have not had sex before she got married but she was a sinner for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and the reason they wear white is really a symbol of the fact that it's the church and the church will be robed in white not white because they were good but white because he was good not white because they didn't sin but white because their sins were forgiven and cleansed and purified and so we are dressed in robes of white not out of our goodness but out of his goodness do you understand that how many of you got that do you get that fantastic truth look at this he said the law is not made for the righteous man let's say it again the law is not made for who but for the help me but for the what lawless look at that but for the lawless and disobedient for the ungodly and for sinners for unholy and profane for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers for manslayers for whoremongers for them that has filed themselves with mankind for men-sealers for liars for perjured persons if there be any other thing that's contrary to sound doctrine according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust you see the law's not for us you say awesome why don't you preach more about the ten commandments because the law's not for us
[18:20] I'm all for the ten commandments but you need to understand what they were for are you ready to see what the bible says they were for take your bible and go with me to galatians chapter 3 and verse 24 galatians chapter 3 and verse 24 wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto christ that we might be justified by faith but after that faith has come we are no longer under a schoolmaster do you understand what happened watch this if you would Jason will you help me just a second Travis you mind helping me watch this and stand over yeah your name Ed stand over there now we're going to let Ed be Jesus because I couldn't even think of his name here for a second that's a moment of senility amen and we're going to let this is going to be Moses he is law rules and this is going to be a lost guy and do you know what happens this lost guy is standing over here and he has no idea that he needs Jesus he has no idea why Jesus died on the cross he has no idea why he needs to be saved so the law comes to him and when the law comes to him the law says to him hey have you ever lied you have so you need to go to hell you understand me you're a filthy liar and all liars are burning hell buddy burning hell that's what they'll do you got that burning hell ministry of death ministry of condemnation that's what the bible said right there in the passage by the way you ever looked at a woman to think something you ought not have thought you have fornicator adulterer burning hell buddy burning hell and so anyway the law is telling him who he is and then the law says look you're in bad shape buddy ain't nobody gonna be able to help you so grab him by the arm and the law says let me bring you over to somebody that can help you because all I can do is show you your problems and now do you see your problems see the schoolmaster said you see you're a mess and he brings him over to the savior and the savior says
[20:11] I'll take your sin off of you and I'll put it on me and I'll take my righteousness off of me and I'll put it on you and you'll get saved not because you're good but because I'm good pretty good stuff thank you y'all have a seat pretty good stuff pretty good stuff the law was a schoolmaster the law correctly used are you ready you ought to write this down the law correctly used kills us it shows us that we can't it shows us that we aren't the law properly and correctly used prepares us and makes us willing to accept the grace of God I want you to notice that the law is great it is great man we need the law we need the law we need the Old Testament we need the Ten Commandments they're all true everything is true it's kind of like it's kind of like condemnation how many people in this room don't you dare raise your hand because you never want to admit it publicly but how many of y'all ever struggled with your weight like a fat preacher you know you're a bunch of liars back there you ain't ever weighed over 12 pounds but anyway
[21:17] I was going to try to get back to my original weight but I figured out 8 pounds is a little hard to get to amen but you know what happens every morning when I walk in the bathroom I look down there there's a set of scales on the floor do you know those are ministers of condemnation they're ministers of death I look at them and sometimes I'm like I'm like breathe out all the air go to the bathroom do everything you can and then and then I go oh oh you ever been there no you hadn't bunch of skinny people but you know you know what does the law do for me I remember when Chris when Chris got diabetes and we took him to the doctor and I went in with him the diabetes doctor looked at me and said look buddy two out of the three characteristics that come with diabetes you already have them she said the three main characteristics of diabetes are fat female and 40 and you are two out of three you ain't female but you got the other two real good
[22:18] I was like I'm gonna punch you ministry of condemnation amen you see what the law does is it makes me know I need Jesus Paul said hey they're coming down here telling you keep the law you don't need to keep the law Jesus kept the law for you you don't need to keep the law Jesus kept the law for you it's not a bunch of rules on the outside it's rules that are put in your heart and it's gonna be overshadowed by a new glory the glory of Jesus Christ the fourth thing write this one down no comparison between the law and grace there's no comparison between the law and grace look at verse 8 if you would 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 8 we're sure moving slowly aren't we six minutes to go and still slow look at verse 8 how shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious if you think getting the rules was glorious and those and by the way the glory on Moses' face faded away but the glory on Jesus' face never fades away he said verse 9 the ministration of condemnation much more doth the ministry of righteousness just let me show you something real quick write this one down somewhere
[23:32] Romans 11 6 you can't mix law and grace too many Christians are trying to get saved by grace and keep a bunch of rules too many Christians are trying to keep a bunch of rules to get saved too many lost people are thinking there's a bunch of rules to keep to get saved Romans chapter 11 and verse 6 the Bible says and if by grace it is no more of works otherwise grace is no more grace but it's of works then it's no more grace otherwise work is no more work what in the world here's what he said you got works you got grace you got oil you got water you can't mix them you're either saved by grace or you're saved by works you're either saved by grace or you're saved by works I have been a harsh legalist preacher in the past I have picked my petty points that I would push every week Warren Wiersbe said this a legalistic ministry brings death preachers who major on rules and regulations keep their congregation under a dark cloud of guilt this kills their joy power and effective witness for Christ
[24:38] Christians who are constantly measuring each other and comparing results and competing with each other soon discover that they are depending on the flesh and not on the power of the spirit there never was a standard that could transform a person's life and that includes the ten commandments only the grace of God ministered by the spirit of God can transform lost sinners into living epistles that glorify Jesus Christ Paul compares the ministry of the spirit to that and that of condemnation condemnation makes me see my need of the savior condemnation humbles me down to make me see my lost condition but the spirit saves me and takes me to Jesus Christ the law showed man that he needed the new testament it is not that we do not study the written word it's not that we don't need the old testament it's not that we don't study it it's that we see Jesus listen to this because I got to hurry well watch this the Jews can't understand the old testament because they never see Jesus but he's written on nearly every page when Adam and Eve said the lamb was slain or some animal was slain and coats of skins were given to them to cover them whenever they did wrong there was always an offering given to them to make up for it did you ever notice that they never could keep the rules did you ever notice they never could keep all the laws did you ever notice that every year they had to have a day of atonement every day every year it was like you messed up this past year so we're going to have a day to make up for that by the way if you did something wrong bring a lamb bring a dove bring some flower there's always an offering to be offered why because you can't make it and you can try to be as moral as you want to be keep all the rules that you want to keep and attend all the churches that you want to attend and be baptized at every creek till every toad frog knows you by name but you won't go to heaven because of that you won't go to heaven because of that salvation comes when you realize you're a sinner and you helplessly fall down at his feet and say
[26:31] Lord Jesus save me it is the Lord Jesus who changes us the law doesn't save me but it gets me to the point that I can be saved Galatians 2.16 the Bible says knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ not by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ not by the works of the law for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified those Judaizers can come down here and give you every rule they can quote the Old Testament perfectly but if they don't see Jesus they can't see salvation if they don't know Jesus they can't get to God he is the only way to heaven the only way to God Galatians 2.21 Paul said I do not frustrate the grace of God for if righteousness come by the law then Christ is dead in vain because of time I think I'll just give you one more thing and quit in James 1.22-25 and I won't even read it
[27:35] I just want to show you something he talks about being a doer of the word and a hearer of the word and he uses a comparison he said it's kind of like a guy looking in a mirror and seeing what he looks like and then going away and doing nothing about it now watch this when I look in a mirror I often see my head connected to Buddha's body can you say amen right there when I look in a mirror I'm often like shocked I'm like I remember me when I weighed 145 pounds and had two little muscles knots on my arms you know and I look in that mirror and I see who I am but when I go to the table the mirror won't make me lose weight the mirror won't stop me from eating I look in the mirror and as soon as by the way I can shave and not even look at myself I've gotten good at it just look at the part you need to look at don't look at the rest amen some of you probably understand that you just wouldn't admit it and guess what here's what happens the law is like a mirror I look in the mirror and I say man you are a mess you are a mess you need help you need help and something drastic needs to be shown to you to make you know that you need help and that's what the law is for that's what the law is for that's what the law is for it's to show you and Paul said it's a ministry of condemnation it's a ministry of death to bring you to the ministry of the spirit we're looking not at the rules written on two tablets but looking at the face of Christ he would change you into the image of Christ and here's what the law is for this morning you need to know you are a sinner
[29:14] I lived 57 years of my life basically without ever going to the doctor I mean I've been to the doctor a few times and one morning I woke up and I went to the bathroom and I looked down and I was urinating blood now when you urinate blood the first thing you do is you go is that what I think it is and then you leave the bathroom and come back to go again to make sure it really was and then when it was I said uh oh I think I got a problem and so I went to the doctor totally foreign my whole family's like he'll never go to the doctor oh you will if you get bad off enough do you know what your problem is you haven't seen you like you are you haven't seen you like God sees you when God looks at you he doesn't see a nice guy trying to make it when God sees you he doesn't see a guy who's really got a lot of good points for being such a good guy when God looks at you he doesn't say look man he's already joined five churches been baptized 28 times took the Lord's Supper 32 times given a bunch of money to God and he's a really good guy he even reads his Bible and prays and he doesn't steal from people and when he goes to Walmart he even picks things up off the floor and puts them back on the hanger
[30:32] God looked and heaven looks down and says no you stink you have sinned and you need death before you can find life you need condemnation before you can find salvation and that's what the law was for and Paul said those guys from Judah from Jerusalem from Judea they may come down and tell you about all the rules but they don't even understand what the rules are for so this morning let me ask you a question have you ever come to the place in your life that you realized you had sinned against the holy God you see honestly most of us want to think of ourselves as pretty good guys but if you never got to the point that you saw yourself as a dirty filthy wicked sinner that deserved to go to hell and you said to yourself I ought to go to hell if God did right I would fry in hell from now on if you've never gotten to that point you may have never gotten saved you might have been culturally Christianized you might have been baptized and you might be on have your name on a church roll but real salvation today the law says to you you're in bad shape the mirror screams at you you better get to a doctor and you turn and go to Jesus and say
[31:45] I come just as I am without one plea I don't have anything I can even ask I bring nothing in my hand I am a nothing I'm a nobody I need to be saved would you save me and he said yes I will but he won't save you till you know that you need him to save you see the gift's there it's paid for it's already by the way you have to do nothing but the truth is you won't ask for the help because you feel like this I'm in pretty good shape already no you're not no you're not father in heaven I love you I pray that you'd work and move I pray that your name would be glorified I pray you'd save those that don't know you I pray God that you'd help Christians to trust you and look to you and I pray God that your name would be glorified with every head bowed and every eye closed if you're in this room and you have never come to the point that you realized that you did not deserve to go to heaven that you realized that you had sinned against the holy God if you've never come to that point
[32:45] I want to ask you this morning to trust Christ hey look in the mirror look in the mirror see yourself as who you are realize how you've failed God and come humbly to him and say God I come to you undeserving to receive a gift already bought already paid for already ready it's yours just for the asking but you've got to get humble enough that you'll come and ask would you ask so anybody in this room would say I'm not sure I'm born again I'm not sure I'd go to heaven if I died and I want to ask you to pray for me and pray that I would get saved pray that I would trust Christ and if you'd let me help you just hold your hand up just hold your hand up and say I want somebody to show me from the word of God how to know Jesus when I die would you hold your hand up to anybody like that anybody like that in this room any Christians in this room that today the Holy Spirit's dealt with your heart about how you're walking and how you're magnifying Jesus and you realize you look at yourself and you say I realize that I've been walking in the flesh I've been walking by a bunch of rules when I should have been loving Jesus and watching Him if the Lord's dealt with your heart why don't you find a place to pray let God work in your life
[33:52] Father in Heaven I love you and I praise you and I magnify you save people today glorify your name and I'll give you praise You have been listening to Austin Gardner Pastor of Vision Baptist Church For contact information location service times or more audio and video recordings log on to