Collierville First Baptist Church

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Good evening.

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If I could have your attention.

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Tonight, we're gonna finish the Sermon on the Mount.

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(Audience Laughing) We're gonna finish the Sermon on the Mount.

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And then we're gonna move on to a verse by verse study of the Book of Daniel. (Audience Chattering) So it's gonna be a good night tonight.

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It's gonna be a great time in the Book of Daniel.

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The Bible says in Hebrews chapter nine, in verse 27,

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"And in as much as it is appointed for men to die once,

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"you realize that everybody in the sound of my voice, "everybody that's alive on this planet right now "will one day die if Jesus tears."

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You're not gonna live forever.

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And then the writer of Hebrews goes on to say, "And in as much as it is appointed for men to die once,

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"and after this comes judgment."

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The judgment of God. Let me read to you about the great white throne judgment. You can read about it in Revelation chapter 20.

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In verse 11, the Bible says, John said, then I saw a great white throne,

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and him who sat upon it from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.

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And I saw the dead, the great, and the small standing before the throne, and books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life.

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And the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.

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And the sea gave up the dead which were in it.

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And death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them.

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And they were judged, every one of them, according to their deeds.

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Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.

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This is the second death, the lake of fire, or hell.

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And if anyone's name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

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I had a good friend, he's been in the ministry for years and years and years.

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Name was Robert Williams.

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And he and his wife Sharon were going for a walk.

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And they were attacked by two pit bulls.

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And Robert died trying to save his wife.

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His wife, trying to save his wife.

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And she's in the Med.

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When they got up that morning,

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they had no clue what was going to take place later that day.

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You realize that there is no guarantee that you'll be here tomorrow.

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And so tonight, I wanna, we're gonna finish the sermon on that. We're gonna look at Matthew chapter seven, verses 21 to 29. If you go ahead and find that in your Bible.

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Matthew seven, 21 to 29. And I'd like to frame what I'm gonna say tonight or teach out of the Word of God around this theme,

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preparing for eternity.

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So let me ask you the $64,000 question.

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Are you prepared for eternity?

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Now, I'm afraid that a lot of people think they're prepared for eternity and they're not prepared for eternity.

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And Jesus in our text tonight,

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as he wraps up this great sermon on the Mount, you remember now a crowd of people hung on every word that came from his lip. This is the Lord Jesus Christ teaching.

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They were amazed for no one had ever taught them like this before.

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Teach you with such authority and power.

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And in this great sermon, Matthew chapter five through Matthew chapter seven,

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Jesus lays down what it means to be a part of the kingdom of God.

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We don't get to write our own ticket into the kingdom of God. Jesus has already written the ticket.

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And we've got to meet his standards to get into his kingdom.

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And so Jesus warned about the danger

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of convincing yourself that you're saved when you're not saved or convincing yourself that you're a surefire going to heaven when you die when you're not. And he warns them about that.

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Now, the first thing I want to point out tonight, before I do, let me pray.

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Heavenly Father, I thank you so much

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for this amazing sermon on the Mount that we've been looking at for weeks.

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I thank you, Heavenly Father, for the power of the word of God. I thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ,

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our King, our Savior, our Lord.

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And I thank you, Lord, that you clearly laid down and laid out the standards for all who would be a part of your kingdom.

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Lord, we don't want to be a part of any other kingdom.

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We want to be a part of your kingdom. We want to live with you forever in heaven.

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And I just pray that you would speak to our hearts tonight,

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do a work in our lives.

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Lord, we love you.

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And we open our Bible.

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And through the Holy Spirit's ministry, you would make the word of God come alive in our hearts.

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Lord, I do pray for Sharon Williams. I pray for the rest of the family and the friends,

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my dear friend, who served you faithfully for so many years.

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And I pray that you would minister to the depths of their hearts.

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I pray that you would heal Sharon physically, spiritually, and emotionally.

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And Lord, I thank you for the hope of the gospel.

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I thank you that Robert Williams is with you tonight, not because he was a minister, but because he was a man of God, because he put his faith and trust in Jesus.

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And he met Jesus' standards for being a part of his kingdom.

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So Lord, heal Sharon, be with that family,

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be with us tonight, Lord, speak to our hearts in Jesus' name, amen. Now the first, I'm gonna give you four key words to sort of frame the teaching tonight.

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The first word is clarification.

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Clarification, that's verse 21 of our text tonight.

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The second word is declaration.

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That's verse 22 of our text tonight.

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The third word is condemnation.

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And that's verse 23 of our text tonight.

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And the final word is foundation.

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And that's verses 24, 24 to 29.

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24 to 29.

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All right, so let's look at clarification.

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Here's a question.

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I want you to think about this. In fact, I want you to form an answer in your mind, okay?

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How do you go to heaven?

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Just think about it in your mind.

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How do you go to heaven? Okay, now if we went on the streets of New York City and we were to ask that question to 10 different people,

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we may get 10 different answers.

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But there is a right answer to that question.

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There's a lot of wrong answers,

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but there is a right answer to that question.

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Now, I want you to look at verse 21, Matthew chapter seven, verse 21.

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Jesus said this, by the way, let me say this. Jesus never said anything frivolous or meaningless.

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Every word that came of his mouth was packed with meaning and purpose.

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So this is Jesus talking here.

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He said, "Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven,

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"but he who does the will of my Father "who is in heaven will enter."

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So Jesus right there just really clarifies something that needs to be clarified today.

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Do you see the emphasis on those two words, Lord, Lord?

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In the Greek language, the original language of the Bible here, the word Lord means boss or master.

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Boss or master.

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Hey, we've all worked for people before.

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And because we worked for people

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so we could get a paycheck at the end of the week,

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we were honor bound to do what the boss told us to do. If the boss said, "Look, I want you to carry out these boxes "and put them out there by the garbage can." Then what we need to do is pick up the boxes and carry them out there by the garbage can. Why? Because he's the boss.

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We do what the boss says.

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Well, let me tell you, Jesus is the ultimate boss.

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He is the ultimate master.

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And he loves everybody in this room.

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And he wants the absolute best for you. He loves everybody watching live stream tonight. He cares about you.

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Remember what I said last week?

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There's no place in scripture

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where the Bible ever invites people to go to hell.

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It's not in there.

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But there are a lot of places in scripture where Jesus invites people to go to heaven.

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In fact, we saw that last week in verse 13 where he said, "Inner through the narrow gate."

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The narrow gate leads to life, God's kind of life.

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And Jesus, and so many times in the script, let me give you another example.

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This is the verse you all know. "For God so loved the world

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"that he gave his only begotten son "that whoever believes in him shall not perish "but have everlasting life." That is an invitation from the God of this universe to believe in Jesus and to go to heaven when you die.

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Now, this term, Lord, Lord,

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pictures a person who has denied himself, taken up his cross daily,

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and is following the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Jesus told his disciples in John chapter 13, verse 13,

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he said, "You call me teacher and Lord."

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Now, here's Peter, James, and John, and the apostles around the Lord Jesus. And he said, "You call me teacher and Lord." Now, look at it.

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"And you are right, for so I am."

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Jesus boldly claimed to be teacher and Lord.

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In other scripture, he claims to be the only savior for the entire world.

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That's why Jesus said here, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

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You see, Jesus deserves more than our lip service.

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A lot of people who go to church give Jesus a lot of lip service.

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They say, "Oh, I love Jesus."

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And then they turn around and they hate their neighbor.

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Or they say, "I love Jesus."

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And then they turn around and gossip about somebody.

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Do you understand that that just does not measure up to what Jesus is saying here in verse 21?

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Now, look at this.

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"To profess Jesus Christ with your lips,

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"and then to dishonor him with your life is unacceptable."

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It's not acceptable.

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Yet there are many, according to Jesus, who seek to camouflage their spiritual condition by professing that they're saved when in fact they are sadly deceived. You know, one of the things that keeps me up at night

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is how many people who come and hear me preach the word of God week after week,

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let it go in one ear and out the other ear.

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And they give Jesus lip service.

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And they camouflage their true spiritual condition with what they think is appropriate.

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And that is dishonoring the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

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Look what Jesus said in John 646.

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Think about this question. Jesus said, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord,

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"and do not do what I say?"

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Now, that's interesting it.

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Jesus said that, I didn't say it. Jesus said, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, "and do not do what I say?"

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How many people will quickly call Jesus Savior or Lord or God and will turn around and instead of saying, "I'm not going to do this." And will turn around and instead of doing what He wants to do, do exactly what they want to do.

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There's an old saying, "That dog won't hunt."

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And it won't.

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So let me ask you a question.

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If Jesus says here, "He who does the will of my Father "who is in heaven will enter."

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Are you consistently seeking to do the will of Jesus?

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Are you?

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In your personal life?

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In your family life?

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In your moral life?

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Are you honestly and truthfully seeking to do the will of Jesus?

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Now, let me tell you.

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What Jesus said here in verse 21, "Your words won't save you."

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You can say all the right things.

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You can feel all the right emotions

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and be lost as a goose and a whirlwind.

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So my question to you tonight, let's get down to where Jesus got down to. My question to you tonight is, are you doing the will of the Father who is in heaven? Verse 21, are you? Now, look, none of us are perfect.

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None of us.

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But for a true believer,

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for a true believer,

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there is a desire to do the Lord's will.

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There's a desire to please Him and to honor Him. It doesn't mean that we bat a thousand.

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There's no baseball player in the major leagues that bats a thousand.

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Why, if they bat 300, they get big contracts.

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That means seven times out of 10, they don't get a hit.

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Only three times out of 10 do they get a hit.

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Now, think about that just a moment.

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Is yours a lifestyle of obedience?

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Now, that's the only way you'll get to heaven.

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That's the way we measure ourselves.

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Now, look at the declaration, verse 22.

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Jesus said, "Many," well, I'll tell you what,

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this scares me, look at many.

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"Will say to me on that day,

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"Lord, Lord, do we not prophesy in your name "and in your name cast out demons "and in your name perform many miracles?"

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So Jesus fast forwards His hearers to Judgment Day.

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You see those two words, three words, on that day?

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Well, He's talking about the Day of Judgment.

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Do you realize that there's a day on God's prophetic calendar, it's circled,

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and on that day, He's gonna judge the world. He's gonna judge every human being.

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Now, believers, those who are truly saved,

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who've committed themselves to Christ, they will have a different kind of judgment.

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They're judgments not to determine whether you go to heaven or hell. That would determine when you repent it of your sin and place your faith in Jesus.

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But the judgment of believers is determined to determine two things, your rewards in the kingdom of heaven and your responsibility in the kingdom of heaven.

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Now, remember, when a believer goes to heaven, they're not gonna be a cloud potato,

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laying back on a cloud for all of eternity, strumming a harp.

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Jesus is gonna have specific things for us to do in the kingdom of heaven and on the new heavens and new earth that He creates.

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But now for the unbeliever, it is a judgment to determine finally once and for all,

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a judgment of your deeds to determine

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that you missed the boat.

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You missed the boat.

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I heard about a guy,

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see, I don't have it in here, yeah. I heard about a guy that was in the Olympics

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shooting a rifle.

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And there were three parts of his rifle shooting that he had to perfect in order to win the gold medal.

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And he had everything lined up. He was way ahead of everybody.

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All he had to do was to hit his target.

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And they would drape a gold medal around his neck.

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But on his last heat that he did,

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he was in lane two and he shot the target in lane three.

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He shot the wrong target.

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Now he got a bullseye, but he shot the wrong target.

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You know how many points he got out of that?

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Zero.

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So he went from first place, a sure gold medal, to eighth place. Can I tell you in the Olympics, they don't give you a medal for finishing eighth.

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All because he shot the wrong target.

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I'm afraid there are a lot of people

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in church and out of church.

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Who are aiming at the wrong target.

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They're aiming at the wrong target.

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But the day's coming, listen to me very carefully.

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If I could go to every single person in this room

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and I could stand before you, I'd tell you one thing with absolute certainty.

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One day you're gonna stand before Jesus

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and you're gonna give an account for your life.

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And that's what Jesus is referring to here in verse 22. Look at it. Many will say to me on that day, here it is again, Lord, Lord,

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did we not prophesy in your name?

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Now let me just tell you what that means. Did we not preach in your name?

[01:23:32;17 - 01:23:38;53]
And in your name cast out demons? And in your name perform many miracles?

[01:23:40;24 - 01:23:44;05]
I understand Jesus is not talking about the average church member here.

[01:23:46;02 - 01:23:48;32]
He's talking about leaders in the church.

[01:23:50;50 - 01:23:57;48]
People who had responsibilities, people that were looked up to.

[01:24:00;06 - 01:24:08;01]
And so here these guys are saying, did we not prophesy in your name? In your name cast out demons. In your name perform many miracles?

[01:24:12;57 - 01:24:16;03]
Look at Acts chapter 17 verse 30 and 31.

[01:24:17;08 - 01:24:18;27]
I got it there in your notes.

[01:24:20;41 - 01:24:23;32]
Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance,

[01:24:25;21 - 01:24:28;00]
God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent.

[01:24:33;05 - 01:24:38;09]
All people everywhere includes carnival in Memphis and the Mid-South.

[01:24:41;17 - 01:24:46;58]
All people everywhere should repent, turn from your sins, place your faith in Jesus.

[01:24:48;42 - 01:24:50;10]
Because here's the reason,

[01:24:51;34 - 01:25:05;47]
because he has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in which he will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom he is appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead. Well, who is that man?

[01:25:07;50 - 01:25:12;55]
Well, there's only one person who's ever lived who's been raised from the dead, never to die again, it's Jesus.

[01:25:15;52 - 01:25:18;58]
So the scripture says right here, there is a day of judgment.

[01:25:24;52 - 01:25:35;16]
Romans chapter two, verses four through six says, "Or do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness "and tolerance and patience,

[01:25:36;53 - 01:25:46;55]
"not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?" Hey, look at me, everybody look at me. Aren't you glad that God's been patient with you?

[01:25:48;53 - 01:25:51;28]
Hey, there was a time my life was off the rails

[01:25:53;54 - 01:25:58;43]
and I'm so glad that God didn't zap me

[01:26:00;06 - 01:26:03;24]
when my life was off the rail, but he's a God of grace,

[01:26:04;54 - 01:26:08;27]
a God of patience and love and mercy.

[01:26:10;16 - 01:26:13;29]
And he gives you a chance to get it right,

[01:26:14;48 - 01:26:19;45]
to repent and believe. Look at verse five, "But because of your stubbornness,

[01:26:20;46 - 01:26:32;55]
"your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart," look at this, "you are storing up wrath for yourself "in the day of wrath and revelation "of the righteous judgment of God,

[01:26:34;45 - 01:26:39;40]
"who will render to each person according to his deeds."

[01:26:42;14 - 01:26:47;15]
My goodness. (Congregation Laughing)

[01:26:49;32 - 01:26:50;33]
You say, "But pastor,

[01:26:52;40 - 01:27:02;23]
"how can these folks claim to prophesy in his name "and cast out demons in his name "and perform many miracles in his name?"

[01:27:05;35 - 01:27:09;22]
Now, let me give you a verse, look at Matthew 24.24.

[01:27:12;40 - 01:27:17;57]
"Jesus said that in the last days," we're in the last days, folks, you just face it.

[01:27:19;10 - 01:27:22;47]
"Jesus is coming soon," I don't know when, but he's coming soon.

[01:27:26;02 - 01:27:42;16]
Look at this, "For false Christ and false prophets "will arise and will show great signs and wonders "so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect, "do you realize that Jesus is saying that in the last days,

[01:27:44;07 - 01:27:47;06]
"there's gonna be false prophets, false teachers,

[01:27:49;30 - 01:27:58;09]
"false Christ, who are gonna come on the scene, "and they're gonna be able to do some, "what appears to be supernatural, miraculous things,

[01:27:59;59 - 01:28:05;09]
"and people are gonna be drawn to that "like ants are drawn to honey.

[01:28:07;57 - 01:28:12;16]
"And Jesus warns us here, don't be misled."

[01:28:14;18 - 01:28:18;49]
Let me tell you, this is where biblical discernment comes in.

[01:28:20;42 - 01:28:30;52]
I don't care if somebody does some kind of miracle here in Carver, and they tell you that they have

[01:28:31;58 - 01:28:33;11]
the answer for everything.

[01:28:35;55 - 01:28:43;56]
You make sure, you look at two things. Look at their character, what's their character like?

[01:28:45;00 - 01:28:47;43]
I tell you, if they're the real deal, they'll act like the real deal.

[01:28:49;36 - 01:28:55;43]
And look at their teaching, what do they teach? How does it compare with what the Bible says?

[01:28:59;38 - 01:29:07;20]
So those are the two things you gotta look at to be able to discern if these people in the last days are the real deal or not.

[01:29:11;28 - 01:29:14;39]
Look at verse 23, the condemnation.

[01:29:18;03 - 01:29:22;39]
Jesus says this, every time I read verse 23,

[01:29:26;08 - 01:29:27;05]
it gets to me.

[01:29:28;26 - 01:29:29;26]
Look at it.

[01:29:31;13 - 01:29:33;57]
Jesus said, and then, that's the day of judgment.

[01:29:35;17 - 01:29:37;44]
By the way, remember this.

[01:29:40;31 - 01:29:42;55]
When a person stands before Jesus,

[01:29:44;24 - 01:29:46;55]
they're standing before one who is omniscient.

[01:29:48;37 - 01:29:50;55]
He knows everything about you.

[01:29:52;47 - 01:29:55;13]
He knows what you ate for dinner last night.

[01:29:56;58 - 01:30:11;19]
He knows what you say, what came out of your mouth today. He knows if you said some cuss words. He knows if you encourage people or you try to belittle people, he knows everything about you.

[01:30:12;38 - 01:30:17;21]
And that's who you stand before on the day of judgment.

[01:30:19;56 - 01:30:21;01]
So can I tell you this?

[01:30:22;09 - 01:30:24;23]
Hey, you can fool your mama.

[01:30:25;24 - 01:30:26;43]
You can fool your daddy.

[01:30:27;47 - 01:30:30;15]
You can fool your pastor.

[01:30:31;31 - 01:30:34;50]
You can fool a lot of different people. But let me tell you this.

[01:30:36;02 - 01:30:37;30]
You will never fool Jesus.

[01:30:38;59 - 01:30:40;18]
He knows who you are.

[01:30:42;18 - 01:30:43;38]
He knows what you believe.

[01:30:45;48 - 01:30:53;13]
He knows if you've truly repented your sin and placed your faith in him. He knows.

[01:30:54;51 - 01:30:55;21]
He knows.

[01:30:59;15 - 01:31:00;29]
So look at verse 23.

[01:31:01;53 - 01:31:07;03]
And then I will declare to them, who's the them?

[01:31:09;23 - 01:31:16;33]
Well, the them are these guys who make these wonderful declarations. Look what I did for you, Jesus.

[01:31:18;44 - 01:31:20;14]
I preached your word.

[01:31:22;05 - 01:31:23;59]
I cast out demons in your name.

[01:31:26;06 - 01:31:28;07]
I even performed miracles in your name.

[01:31:29;26 - 01:31:34;06]
And Jesus said, and then I will declare to them,

[01:31:36;31 - 01:31:40;41]
I never knew you.

[01:31:41;54 - 01:31:42;50]
You'll take a pen.

[01:31:44;11 - 01:31:46;18]
You'll underline those four words.

[01:31:47;36 - 01:31:54;55]
You know what? I think those are the four scariest words in the Bible. When you stand before Jesus

[01:31:59;46 - 01:32:01;24]
and you say, well, I went to church.

[01:32:03;55 - 01:32:07;03]
Well, I would baptize when I was eight years old.

[01:32:09;54 - 01:32:15;05]
I tried to make sure my good works outweighed my bad works.

[01:32:17;38 - 01:32:19;19]
And when you make those kinds of declarations,

[01:32:21;51 - 01:32:35;47]
and yet your heart is not with him, you don't have a relationship with Christ through repentance and faith. He says to you, I never knew you.

[01:32:36;53 - 01:32:42;19]
I never knew you. Look at this, depart for me, what?

[01:32:43;21 - 01:32:46;34]
You who practice lawlessness.

[01:32:47;46 - 01:32:49;09]
Now look at that word practice.

[01:32:51;39 - 01:32:55;24]
You remember, Alan Iverson, the great basketball player.

[01:32:56;25 - 01:32:57;16]
Remember that interview?

[01:32:58;23 - 01:33:00;06]
Practice, practice?

[01:33:03;40 - 01:33:06;27]
Well, practice means it's a lifestyle.

[01:33:08;44 - 01:33:09;36]
It's a lifestyle.

[01:33:11;37 - 01:33:13;15]
And when the scripture says,

[01:33:14;29 - 01:33:18;15]
those who practice lawlessness, it's their lifestyle.

[01:33:19;16 - 01:33:21;07]
It's who they are.

[01:33:23;22 - 01:33:24;52]
It's the core of their heart.

[01:33:27;24 - 01:33:29;09]
Have no desire to please Jesus.

[01:33:31;29 - 01:33:33;45]
Their only desire is to do what pleases themselves.

[01:33:38;43 - 01:33:42;17]
I never knew you depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.

[01:33:44;00 - 01:33:45;00]
Now understand this.

[01:33:48;33 - 01:33:52;42]
At the judgment of God, when Jesus judges the world,

[01:33:55;09 - 01:33:57;16]
there is no appeal process.

[01:33:59;49 - 01:34:00;13]
None.

[01:34:03;27 - 01:34:06;22]
You don't get to appeal to a higher court.

[01:34:08;38 - 01:34:12;26]
You don't get to appeal to another judge. There's no judge higher than Jesus.

[01:34:14;50 - 01:34:19;53]
There's no court other than the court of Christ.

[01:34:23;45 - 01:34:27;48]
Listen, when you stand before Jesus in judgment,

[01:34:30;57 - 01:34:32;46]
if you're a golfer, there's no mulligans.

[01:34:35;29 - 01:34:36;30]
There are no do overs.

[01:34:39;16 - 01:34:40;23]
There are no second chances.

[01:34:41;25 - 01:34:46;23]
Look at me, everybody look. You have this life.

[01:34:48;16 - 01:34:57;34]
You have this life when you can believe in Jesus and grow spiritually and develop a lifestyle of obedience that pleases him.

[01:34:58;43 - 01:35:04;03]
You don't have another chance to do it once you stand before him in judgment.

[01:35:07;13 - 01:35:18;08]
Boy, I'm telling you, this is serious stuff, folks. Look at 2 Thessalonians chapter one, verses seven to nine.

[01:35:20;22 - 01:35:26;28]
Paul's writing about heaven and hell, and this part's about hell.

[01:35:29;02 - 01:35:38;17]
And to give relief to you who are afflicted, speaking to the church, those who are believers, and to us as well, when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven, and to us as well, will be revealed from heaven

[01:35:39;28 - 01:35:42;35]
with his mighty angels and flaming fire.

[01:35:44;26 - 01:35:47;02]
Dealing out, look at this.

[01:35:49;59 - 01:35:52;02]
I apologize for my voice.

[01:35:53;28 - 01:35:59;34]
Dealing out retribution to those who do not know God

[01:36:01;16 - 01:36:04;37]
and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

[01:36:06;28 - 01:36:14;05]
These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the president of the Lord and from the glory of his power.

[01:36:16;21 - 01:36:18;51]
You say, preacher, I don't believe in hell.

[01:36:20;53 - 01:36:21;42]
I whooped you do.

[01:36:22;54 - 01:36:25;13]
You can say you don't believe in hell all you want to.

[01:36:27;26 - 01:36:30;10]
This Bible says there's a heaven and there's a hell.

[01:36:33;42 - 01:36:37;53]
And Jesus gets to determine your eternal destination,

[01:36:39;23 - 01:36:42;35]
but he does it based upon your response to him.

[01:36:47;50 - 01:36:51;50]
Titus chapter one, verse 15 and 16, "To the pure, all things are pure,

[01:36:53;31 - 01:36:56;15]
"but to those who are defiled and unbelieving,

[01:36:57;40 - 01:36:58;41]
"nothing is pure,

[01:37:00;11 - 01:37:02;55]
"but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.

[01:37:04;43 - 01:37:06;22]
"They profess to know God,

[01:37:07;58 - 01:37:14;25]
"but by their deeds they deny him." Take your pen and just underlie that.

[01:37:17;37 - 01:37:20;33]
They profess to know God,

[01:37:23;34 - 01:37:28;11]
but by their deeds, they deny him.

[01:37:33;56 - 01:37:36;20]
"Being detestable and disobedient

[01:37:37;24 - 01:37:39;19]
"and worthless for any good deed."

[01:37:41;14 - 01:37:44;17]
First John 2, 4, "The one who says I've come to know him

[01:37:45;50 - 01:37:48;23]
"and does not keep his commandments is a liar

[01:37:52;13 - 01:37:56;34]
"and the truth is not in him." (Congregation Applauding)

[01:37:58;56 - 01:38:08;47]
In John 3 36, the Bible says, "He who believes in the Son has eternal life." Hey, look, let me ask you a quick. You won't go to heaven.

[01:38:12;21 - 01:38:13;17]
Believe in Jesus.

[01:38:15;00 - 01:38:21;37]
Put your faith and your trust in Jesus as your Savior and your Lord.

[01:38:24;34 - 01:38:28;58]
Look at it. "He who believes in the Son has eternal life,

[01:38:31;28 - 01:38:34;41]
"but he who does not obey," there's that word obey again.

[01:38:36;27 - 01:38:41;45]
"He who does not obey the Son will not see life, "but the wrath of God abides on him." And listen now, listen.

[01:38:42;45 - 01:38:46;35]
"And the wrath of God will abide on the person in hell "for all of eternity."

[01:38:48;13 - 01:39:01;31]
It's unrelenting. (Congregation Applauding) But the Bible says, "Eye has not seen "and ear has not heard all that God has prepared "for those who love him."

[01:39:11;45 - 01:39:19;27]
In August 2000, 118 Russian sailors perished

[01:39:21;24 - 01:39:24;37]
in the Kursk nuclear submarine.

[01:39:26;19 - 01:39:26;39]
Why?

[01:39:28;33 - 01:39:30;08]
Because when it was being built,

[01:39:32;19 - 01:39:33;45]
the higher authorities,

[01:39:35;58 - 01:39:37;12]
Putin and his cronies,

[01:39:39;18 - 01:39:55;46]
were disturbed that they were behind schedule on finishing the nuclear submarine. And they passed a command down to the folks who built it, "Cut some corners, let's get this thing done." Well, they cut some corners already.

[01:39:58;12 - 01:40:00;54]
And when this submarine went down to the bottom of the ocean,

[01:40:02;22 - 01:40:06;06]
and those guys were still alive in that submarine as long as there was oxygen,

[01:40:08;16 - 01:40:19;27]
there was a rescue craft that was a part of that submarine that in their quickness to get done with the project,

[01:40:20;32 - 01:40:26;24]
they didn't do everything they should have done and it didn't work when they needed it to work to save their lives.

[01:40:30;52 - 01:40:35;58]
And 118 Russian sailors died at the bottom of the ocean.

[01:40:46;18 - 01:40:51;40]
They had failed to test the rescue capsule.

[01:40:53;51 - 01:40:57;24]
Well, listen, there's another test.

[01:40:59;24 - 01:41:05;48]
I call it the ultimate test to determine if you're a true believer or not, whether you're going to heaven or hell.

[01:41:07;36 - 01:41:09;30]
Look at verses 24 to 29.

[01:41:10;59 - 01:41:14;24]
Basically, Jesus is saying here,

[01:41:15;51 - 01:41:22;28]
saving faith always results in a lifestyle of obedience.

[01:41:27;06 - 01:41:28;07]
Let me ask you a question.

[01:41:29;18 - 01:41:31;04]
Have you ever seen anybody

[01:41:32;17 - 01:41:35;20]
who professed that they were Christians

[01:41:37;14 - 01:41:38;50]
and they were baptized

[01:41:39;57 - 01:41:40;09]
and they were not Christians?

[01:41:41;16 - 01:41:45;40]
Yet when you look at their life, there was no real change in the way they lived.

[01:41:48;22 - 01:41:51;06]
That's what he's saying here, folks.

[01:41:53;20 - 01:41:54;44]
If you're truly saved,

[01:41:56;13 - 01:42:04;03]
there will be some identifiable changes in the way you talk, in the way you live,

[01:42:06;33 - 01:42:08;56]
in the things you do with your life.

[01:42:11;33 - 01:42:18;41]
Saving faith always results in a lifestyle of, I said a lifestyle.

[01:42:21;37 - 01:42:26;43]
There's nobody in this room who's perfect, including this guy I teach in tonight.

[01:42:29;07 - 01:42:33;14]
But you know what? In my heart, I want to please Jesus.

[01:42:34;41 - 01:42:39;20]
And when I displease him, it bugs the stew out of me.

[01:42:43;19 - 01:42:45;42]
Now, Jesus was a master storyteller.

[01:42:49;27 - 01:42:51;59]
He knew how to weave a simple story

[01:42:53;30 - 01:42:55;53]
around a relevant and timeless truth.

[01:42:58;20 - 01:43:00;14]
And this is exactly what he did

[01:43:01;40 - 01:43:05;47]
in this next section of scripture. He told about two men,

[01:43:07;57 - 01:43:12;14]
two men, one who was wise and one who was foolish.

[01:43:16;57 - 01:43:20;37]
So let's look at the foundation.

[01:43:21;47 - 01:43:23;01]
We've seen the clarification,

[01:43:24;41 - 01:43:29;42]
we've seen the declaration, we've seen the condemnation, and now here's the foundation.

[01:43:33;37 - 01:43:37;08]
So let's look at what Jesus said about the wise man.

[01:43:39;47 - 01:43:51;10]
Jesus said, "Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.

[01:43:53;49 - 01:44:03;01]
And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and slammed against that house,

[01:44:04;18 - 01:44:05;52]
and yet it did not fall."

[01:44:07;26 - 01:44:07;39]
Why?

[01:44:09;16 - 01:44:13;01]
"For it had been founded on the rock," had a good foundation.

[01:44:15;13 - 01:44:27;41]
So Jesus said, "He hears these words of mine." Solomon wrote in Proverbs 8.34 about wisdom.

[01:44:28;42 - 01:44:35;55]
He said, "Blessed is a man who listens to wisdom, watching daily at my gates, waiting on the doorpost."

[01:44:38;46 - 01:44:44;05]
The wise man longs to build his life on the right foundation.

[01:44:47;43 - 01:44:49;42]
He anxiously listened to the words of the wise man. He listens to Jesus.

[01:44:52;19 - 01:44:54;01]
He longs to read his Bible.

[01:44:57;30 - 01:45:00;04]
And he never looks at the word of God as being frivolous.

[01:45:03;42 - 01:45:06;43]
When he reads the word of God, he knows it's the word of God.

[01:45:08;27 - 01:45:10;16]
And he has a reverence about himself.

[01:45:13;33 - 01:45:22;50]
He wants to discover truth that will make his life better. Can I tell you, if you take the word of God,

[01:45:24;28 - 01:45:29;21]
and you read it and apply it to your life, and you believe in Jesus, your life can only get better.

[01:45:31;06 - 01:45:32;36]
I'm telling you.

[01:45:36;38 - 01:45:41;05]
So Jesus said, "He hears these words of mine," and then he says, "and acts upon them."

[01:45:45;12 - 01:45:50;48]
James wrote this in James 1, verse 22 to 25,

[01:45:52;56 - 01:45:59;44]
"but prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

[01:46:01;24 - 01:46:04;32]
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer,

[01:46:06;10 - 01:46:09;26]
he's like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror.

[01:46:10;27 - 01:46:15;56]
For once he's looked at himself and gone away, he's immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

[01:46:16;57 - 01:46:29;13]
But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having him become a forgetful hearer, but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does."

[01:46:31;26 - 01:46:35;20]
Do you want God to bless you?

[01:46:36;58 - 01:46:37;28]
Do you?

[01:46:40;34 - 01:46:44;59]
Study his word, believe in his son,

[01:46:47;09 - 01:46:48;33]
and do what he tells you to do.

[01:46:50;17 - 01:46:51;18]
It's not complicated.

[01:46:52;37 - 01:46:56;45]
You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what Jesus is talking about here.

[01:46:58;51 - 01:46:59;48]
It's very simple.

[01:47:04;06 - 01:47:10;54]
So conduct is radically altered as a wise man hears and responds to the word.

[01:47:19;08 - 01:47:21;34]
So Jesus is bringing his sermon to a climax,

[01:47:23;59 - 01:47:26;52]
and he paints this beautiful word picture.

[01:47:28;04 - 01:47:31;13]
He says, "This wise man built his house on the rock."

[01:47:36;20 - 01:47:39;38]
And Luke 648, which is a parallel passage,

[01:47:41;23 - 01:47:49;52]
he adds a little bit more. He said, "He's like a man building a house who dug deep and laid a foundation upon the rock."

[01:47:55;07 - 01:47:59;20]
The wise man was not haphazard. He was not going to take any shortcuts. He was going to take his shortcuts.

[01:48:00;45 - 01:48:06;10]
Because a wise man understood that for the safety and security of his wife and his kids,

[01:48:07;38 - 01:48:16;10]
he needed to build a secure, strong house that could handle the difficulties that would come.

[01:48:20;19 - 01:48:27;04]
Now, the wise man knew that the foundation was the most important part of his house.

[01:48:28;27 - 01:48:30;04]
Remember when we were building our sanctuary?

[01:48:32;00 - 01:48:41;56]
I didn't think we were ever going to move beyond the foundation. It seemed like it took forever for them to build the foundation. But you know why?

[01:48:44;28 - 01:48:50;17]
Because our builders understood the most important part of that sanctuary,

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not the lights, not the air conditioning, most important part of that sanctuary is the foundation.

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Hey, the most important part of your life is the part that nobody can see.

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Nobody can see it.

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Hey, you can't walk out there in the parking lot and see the foundation.

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It's under the ground.

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And nobody can see the real you. The foundation of your life is invisible to people.

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But it's the most important part of your life.

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In 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 10 and 11, Paul wrote, "According to the grace of God, which was given to me like a wise master builder,

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I laid a foundation and another's building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it.

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For no man can lay a foundation of the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ."

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Do you realize that if the foundation of your life is not Jesus,

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you're in a world of trouble.

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You know why I say that?

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Because the storms are coming. Everybody in this room, everybody watching live stream,

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you're going to have storms in your life.

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I'm not talking about thunderstorms or tornadoes or anything. I'm talking about physical storms. You get sick.

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You get cancer.

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I'm talking about relational storms. You have a broken relationship with your parents. You have a broken relationship with a spouse.

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Those storms are coming.

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Or it could be financial storms.

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And you've got more month than you have money.

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Those storms are coming.

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How will your life hold up when the storms are coming? How will your life hold up when the storms come?

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I can just picture the wise man.

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He's gone out there and he's built his house on a rock. He dug down deep.

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He has some sweat equity in his house.

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He dug down deep until he heard a clank.

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And he reached a layer of rock.

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And move all the soft sandy stuff out of the way. And he built his house on a rock.

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And when the storms came,

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his wife and kids were safe and secure.

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Why?

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Because he had a strong foundation.

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Now, there was another man in Jesus' story. It's the foolish man.

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And the foolish man,

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it didn't bother him to cut some corners,

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to take some shortcuts.

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Instead of digging down to a layer of rock for the foundation of his house, he just laid out some stones for flooring in his house on top of the sand.

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Can I just be honest with you? A sandy foundation is not a good foundation for a home or life. And Jesus said, "This man too heard his words,

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but he did not act upon them."

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Look at verse 26 and 27, "Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man. Who's built his house on the sand." You know what you could do? You could come here on Wednesday night. You could come on Sunday morning. You could hear the word of God taught and preached.

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And if it doesn't get down into your heart and your life and make a change in the way you think and the way you live,

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Jesus said, "You're a foolish man.

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You're not paying attention to his word. You're not paying attention to his word.

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Look at verse 27, "The rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house, and it fell and great was his fall."

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Like the first man, he too built a house. He may have even used some of the same materials that the wise man did.

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But he didn't get down to the rock.

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He didn't build his foundation on the rock.

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Hey, can I tell you this?

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It's not enough to admire Jesus.

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Not enough.

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Jesus wants you to love him and to obey him.

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Well, this man, the storms came. By the way, the storms come whether you have a foundation built on the rock or whether you have a foundation built on the sand.

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Everybody has storms.

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But you need to prepare for those storms. You need to prepare for eternity.

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So let me ask you a question.

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We've come to the end of the Sermon on the Mount.

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In verse 28, the Bible says when Jesus had finished these words,

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the crowds were amazed at his teaching.

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For he was teaching them as one having authority and not as their scribes.

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So let's boil it down to the lowest common denominator.

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What are we talking about tonight?

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Here's a question that everybody in this room has got to ask yourself. Are you prepared for eternity?

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Robert Williams had no idea the other day that he would be mauled by two pit bulls and he would step into eternity.

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Let me tell you, I know that brother.

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He was prepared.

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I know Sharon, she's prepared.

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Pray for Sharon. I can't imagine what she'd go through.

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But here's a question. Are you prepared?

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Now, let's move very carefully.

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To really be prepared for eternity,

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you've got to be willing to repent of your sin, to turn from sin. And you've got to be willing to turn to Jesus and commit your life to it.

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I did that at Mississippi State.

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I'm telling you, my life changed. I've never been the same.

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And what he did for me, he'd do for you. So I want you to bow your head back, every other close.

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We've come to the end of the Sermon on the Mount.

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We asked the question tonight, are you prepared for eternity?

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If you are prepared for eternity, you put your faith in Jesus,

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you committed your life to him. He's changed the way you live, the way you think,

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your goals and your dreams and your desires.

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Hey, I want you to thank him right now. You just thank him. But if you're in this room tonight, you say, "Pastor,

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I've never repented of my sin.

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I've never received Jesus as my Savior and my Lord. I played the game. Oh, we're good at playing the game.

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I can talk the talk, Pastor, but I've never walked the walk.

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If that's you tonight, just pray this at minute. You got to mean it. The Bible says in Romans 10 13, "For whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved." If you call upon him and you really mean it,

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and you're willing to turn and allow him to change your life,

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just pray this after me. You don't have to pray out loud. You can just pray in your spirit.

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Lord Jesus, I thank you that you've been so patient with me.

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Lord, you've had every right to zap me, but you haven't. And Lord, you brought me here tonight to hear your word.

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Lord, tonight, I want to say to you, Lord, I believe that you are the Son of God. I believe that you died on the cross for my sins.

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I believe that you are resurrected from the dead.

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And tonight, with everything within me, I want to turn for my life of sin,

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and I want to receive you as my Savior and my Lord. And I pray that you would help me to live for you from this day forward.

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Lord, prepare me for eternity.

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In Jesus' name, amen. I thank you for being here tonight. Listen, if you pray that prayer and you really mean it,

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you need to talk to somebody.

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You need to tell them what you've done. You need to follow through, okay?

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The first act of obedience for a new believer is baptism.

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The first act of obedience.

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I'm shocked at the number of people who say they're believers that they've never been baptized.

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That's the first act of obedience. The second act of obedience.

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Hey, thank you for being here tonight.

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God bless you.