James Merritt - Don't Kid Yourself
I wanna begin by asking you a question. How many of you have ever heard of what’s called the placebo effect? How many of you have heard of that? How many of you don’t have a clue what that is? All right. Let me explain it to you. The placebo effect is when a person’s physical or mental health appears to improve after they take a placebo, or a dummy treatment like a sugar pill.
So for example, the way doctors try to figure out how effective a certain medicine might be is they’ll take two groups of people that have the same sickness, they’ll give one person a real medicine pill, and they’ll give another person something like a sugar pill, has no therapeutic, no healing benefit whatsoever. But the placebo effect is triggered when a person believes in the treatment, and they begin to improve for one reason, not because of the sugar pill, but because they expected it would work. They thought that it would, and so, in their mind, it did. I’ll give you a, this is a real-life example. So they took two groups of people, I have a bad back, so I can relate to this, they took two groups of people that had back pain. One group had acupuncture with real needles, real thing, the other group, they used toothpicks. At the end of the treatment, both groups said, «We feel great».
Now, they did. They thought it was the acupuncture, it was a toothpick. But because they believed it, they got better. Had nothing to do with the treatment. So a psychiatrist wrote an article years ago where he shared the beliefs of patients that he met that actually had no basis in reality. This is a true story. He said he had patients come in to see him, and they would sit down, and he’d say, «Okay, tell me why you’re here». And they would say, they would actually say something like this, «We don’t know why people have a problem with us because we can fly». He’d say, «You what»? «We can fly».
Now, they actually believed they could fly. They couldn’t fly, but they were absolutely convinced they could fly. Had no basis in reality, no basis in truth whatsoever. Well, then the psychiatrist said, «I’m not even gonna call them beliefs anymore. I’m gonna call them delusions». And that leads me to say this, no matter how sincere belief may be, if it’s not reflected in reality, it isn’t a belief, it’s just a delusion. Now, you can be deluded about a lot of things, and it won’t hurt you, it won’t harm you, it won’t have any effect on you. Matter of fact, you can have beliefs about certain things that are not true, and it might even make you feel better about yourself. But if you’re deluded about whether or not you really are a follower of Jesus, if you’re deluded about whether or not you really are a genuine Christian, that can have eternal consequences.
So the question I wanna arrive, or raise this morning is, how do you know if you’re living a spiritual delusion? Well, the good news is Jesus is gonna tell us. If you’re a guest of ours today, we have been in a series of messages we’ve been calling get used to different, it’s on the Sermon on the Mount. So just way of quick, quick, quick review, all this time, Jesus has been teaching and preaching about this is how a true Christian ought to live, this is what a true Christian ought to look like, this is how a true Christian relates to God, this is how a true Christian relates to other people.
Now, He’s getting to the end of this 18-minute message, that’s all it took to preach this message, and now He starts to tighten the screws. And now those people in that bank that were listening to Him begin to shift in their seats. Because what I’m gonna share with you He said is, to me, not only the most frightening thing He ever said in His ministry, it is the most frightening statement I’ve ever read in the entire Bible. It’s a statement that sometimes keeps me awake at night. It’s a statement that gives me spiritual goosebumps. It’s a statement that makes me stop and look in the mirror and exercise self-examination to make sure I’m not being delusional myself.
So I want you to imagine you just got into an airplane 'cause I wanna warn you, the next 30 minutes is gonna be a bumpy ride, so I want you to buckle up, and I want you to listen to what Jesus said. «Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord, ' will enter the kingdom of heaven». Now, I don’t know if you can blow that off or not, I can’t, especially being a pastor and a preacher of the gospel. To think that I could do what I’ve done for 47 years and not even go to heaven, it’s a frightening thought. It’s what He said. «Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord, ' will enter the kingdom of heaven».
Now, Jesus, just a few verses back, He talked about, if you remember, He talked about the narrow way that leads to life, and he talked about the broad way that leads to death. And here, He’s not talking about people you expect to be on that broad road that leads to death, right? He’s not talking about atheists. I know they’re on the broad road. He’s not talking about agnostics. I know they’re on the broad road. He’s not talking about people who have either no religion or a false religion or who out and out deny God or refuse to accept Jesus. We know they’re on the broad road. Jesus says, «Time out». There are a lot of people, they claim to be Christians, they say they’re Christians, they say they know Jesus, and they think they’re on the narrow road, but they’re not. They think they’re on the broad road, or they’re not on the broad road, but they are.
And here, who’s He, this is who He’s talking about. He’s talking about you and me. He’s talking about church goers. He’s talking about religious people. He’s talking about people who are orthodox, who believe the Bible. They’re convinced they’re on the right road, but He says they’re on the wrong road. There’s an old black spiritual song I love, and it has the stanza in it, and it says this, «Everybody talking about heaven ain’t going there. Everybody talking about heaven ain’t going there». That’s exactly what Jesus said. When I was working on this message, I read something, and I thought, «I’ve never thought about that before, but this guy’s exactly right». This person said, «A person is better off with no hope than with a false hope».
And I think about that, and then it hit me. What he said was, he said, «If somebody has a false hope, that they think they’re saved when they’re not, they will probably never ever come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior». He said, «On the other hand, if someone’s got no hope, if they’re convinced this life is all that there is, they’re more likely to be open to the true hope. They’re more likely to be open to the idea that maybe this Jesus Christ really is real». And, you know, I thought about it. As I look back on my ministry, if you said to me, «You can either go share the gospel with someone who grew up in church or you can share the gospel with someone who didn’t,» I’ll take him every time. Because people who grow up in church, they’ve heard what I’ve got to say, and they’ve heard what other preachers have said all of their life.
And they checked the box, and they walked that aisle, and they filled out a card, and they said a prayer, and they got into a baptistry, but they never, ever truly came to know Jesus and don’t think they ever do need to. So I’m gonna tell you today in three words what Jesus is gonna try to say to us this morning. You ready? Don’t kid yourself. 'Cause some of you are. I don’t know who you are, I don’t know who you are, watching, I don’t know where you’re sitting, some of you, you’re kidding yourself. «Oh, I grew up in church, I walked down an aisle, I filled out a card, I said a prayer, I got baptized, I’m religious to the core».
Okay, if every one of those things are true of you, this message is especially for you. So Jesus says three things in this passage, and if I were you, I’d write these down. If you have any serious thinking about salvation at all, if I were you, I’d write these three things down. Here’s what Jesus said. Buckle up, rough ride. A verbal declaration alone is not a sign of salvation. A verbal declaration alone is not a sign of salvation. Now, listen again to these words that Jesus said, «Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord, ' will enter the kingdom of heaven».
Well, who are these people Jesus is talking about? He’s not talking about people who deny Jesus. He’s talking about people who declare openly they believe in Jesus. They’ll tell you they believe in Jesus. They will say that Jesus is Lord. They will tell you they believe He died on the cross. They will tell you they believe He was raised from the dead. Now, to be clear, we are to verbally declare His lordship. Romans 10:9 says, «Declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord». Now, on the surface, when Jesus says about these people, «Well, they call me Lord,» on the surface, that’s a valid statement. I mean, it is correct. Jesus Christ is Lord. It is consistent with what the Bible teaches about Jesus. Lord is a divine title.
Matter of fact, the word Lord in the Greek language is the equivalent of the Hebrew Yahweh, which is God, in Hebrew in the Old Testament. Jesus Christ is God. That’s correct. It is correct. So when somebody says Jesus is Lord, they’re correct. But Jesus said they’re also conspicuous. That is, these are people who say it out loud. They’ll say it publicly. They’re not afraid to say it. They will tell you, «Oh, yeah, Jesus Christ is my Lord». So I want to be clear, anyone who refuses to call Jesus Lord will never enter the kingdom of heaven. I know you believe that. If you don’t confess Christ as your Lord, you’re not going to enter the kingdom of heaven. That’s not the point Jesus is making.
Here’s the point He’s making. All true Christians will call Jesus Lord, but not all who call Jesus Lord are true Christians. So let me give you an example. Something happened to me just about three weeks ago. I don’t mind telling you that when I preach twice, and I mean, I hope you can say I work hard, I try to prepare the best meat I can give you on Sunday morning. And I don’t just preach, I deliver my soul. I mean, I’m throwing everything I got into it every week. I don’t ever mail anything in. I don’t mind telling you when I do this for two Sundays, two sermons, particularly at my advanced age, when I do this two sermons in a row, and then I’m out there, and I’m talking to people, and I talk to people, and I’m glad to talk to people, and then I’m the last guy that usually walks out there to my car and get on the, get in my, you know, I just wanna go home.
And I think Theresa takes a nap every afternoon. It’s one of the sweetest things she does all week. 'Cause I don’t wanna talk to anybody. I’m talked out. And so she goes to sleep, and I just get to have time alone. Well, this guy came to our church three weeks about, Easter Sunday after the first service, young man walked up to me. He introduced himself. Here’s what he said, quote, he said, «I’ve never been to this church before». I said, «Really»? I said, «Well, tell me, what’s your spiritual background»? He said, «I’m an atheist». I mean, just told me, «I’m an atheist». So we got to talking, having a conversation. I said, «Man, I’d love to sit down and talk with you sometime». He said, «I’d like to as well».
I got a real burden for this young man. About 20, I dunno, he’s in his early twenties. Well, the only time we could meet, because his schedule and mine, was on Sunday after church. Now, again, I just don’t do stuff like that after church. It’s just, I mean, I’m really whipped, but I have such a burden to this young man, I said, «Okay». So three weeks ago, we’re at a local restaurant not a mile from here. Sat down. I spent three hours with this guy. I preached twice. I’m not a martyr. I mean, I’m glad to do it, but I was tired. I spent three hours with this guy. This guy had all kinds of questions. I mean, man, I’m using every apologetic tool I’ve got in my book, and I mean, we’re, I’m just trying to move the ball down the field.
So I finally said, «Look, are you ready to be born again»? He says, «Yes, I’m ready to be born again». I said, «Okay, I want you to pray with me». And he prayed these words from Romans 10:9. He prayed these words, «If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord, ' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved». So he prays that prayer. Then he did something that no one in my 47 years as a pastor has ever done, ever. And I’ll be honest with you, when he first did it, I didn’t know what to do. 'Cause every time somebody does that, I will look at them and I will say, «Now, did you mean what you just prayed»? And every time for 47 years, «Yeah, I really meant it».
So I said to this guy, I said, «Okay, did you mean what you really prayed»? He said, «No». I’ve never had that happen. So I’m thinking, «Okay, he didn’t hear what I said». I said, «I’m sorry, you misunderstood. Did you mean what you said»? He said, «No». I said, «What do you mean, no»? He said, «Well, I believe that Jesus was raised the dead, but I don’t believe Jesus is God. I just can’t get there. I don’t believe the Holy Spirit’s God. I believe God’s God, and I believe that’s it. I don’t believe Jesus Christ is God». Well, I couldn’t believe it. I said, «But you just said to me, you just said, you just said, 'I confessed Jesus Christ as my Lord.'» He said, «I know, but I didn’t believe it».
Now, if I’d stopped the conversation before I asked him that question, I would’ve walked out of that restaurant, and I’d have said, «Man, that guy was saved. That young man’s born again. If he died and I had to do his funeral, I could get up and say, 'that man’s in heaven, ' 'cause he confessed Christ is Lord just as clear as I’m talking to you». But he didn’t mean it. He didn’t believe it. It wasn’t really real. And it was a great illustration to remind me that a verbal declaration alone does not assure salvation. I mean, as Jesus had said, «Now, these atheists, and these agnostics and these pagans and these people in false religions, they’re not gonna get into the kingdom of God». I mean, that wouldn’t be a surprise. But Jesus says, «There are gonna be people who are gonna stand before me, and they’re gonna tell the truth, 'but I said you are Lord, ' but they are not going to enter the kingdom of heaven».
So don’t miss what He’s saying. It is possible, listen to what I’m about to tell you, it is possible to honestly believe that you are full of Jesus but you have none of Jesus. It’s possible. It’s possible to say to Him, «Lord, Lord,» and never enter the kingdom of heaven because I wanna say it again, just because you checked a box or you filled out a card or you even said a prayer and you may have even got baptized and you call yourself a Christian, doesn’t really mean you necessarily are a Christian. Look up here. Don’t kid yourself. A verbal declaration alone is not a sign of salvation. I mean, that’s enough to me to just give me the holy bejeses, whatever that means.
But it’s like a surgeon, and you wanna say, «Will you quit cutting? I mean, I’m bleeding all over myself right now». But he keeps cutting, and he goes deeper. He says, «Not only is a verbal declaration not a sign of salvation,» he says, «A visual demonstration alone is not a sign of salvation». 'Cause if you don’t think what He said just now will shake you to your boots, listen to the next thing He says. «Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? '» Many of you have never prophesied in His name. You’ve never stood up here and preached. «And in your name, drive out demons». I’ve never driven out demons. I’ve pastored a few, I’ve never driven them out. «And in your name perform many miracles».
I’ve never, to my knowledge, really performed except leading people to Jesus. «Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. I don’t even know who you are. Away from me, you evil doers.'» Now, you’ll notice there’s a phrase repeated there three times, in your name, in your name, in your name, so let me just stop right there and help you out on something. There are a lot of things you’re gonna hear on the radio and you’re gonna see on the internet, you’re gonna hear on TV, there are a lot of things that are being said and done in the name of Jesus that have absolutely nothing to do with Jesus. There are a lot of things today being preached in the name of Jesus, I’m convinced they have nothing to do with Jesus and with which Jesus would have nothing to do. Let me just give you three.
There’s what I call the name-it-and-claim-it message. You know that one, right? Health and wealth prosperity gospel. Here’s what they’ll preach, «Every Christian ought to have a Mercedes in his garage. And every Christian ought to have a Rolex on his wrist. And every Christian ought to have a beachfront condo in Hawaii. And if you don’t have those things, shame on you. You’ve missed it. God wants that for everybody. God wants everybody to be rich». And that’s why then they’ll say, «By the way, send me your paycheck». And I’m telling you right now, there’s no place for poverty in that gospel. There’s no place for it at all. But they conveniently forget, by the way, that Jesus himself said, «I don’t even have a place to lay my head».
But there’s the name it and claim it. Then there’s another one, you’ll recognize this one, there’s what I call the feel it and heal it. Another side of the health and wealth of prosperity gospel. You know what they say. «It is the will of God every Christian be well. It is God’s will every Christian be healed, God’s will everybody should always be healthy». I was on the phone last night, which is why we were late, by the way, to our little dinner last night, guys. I was on the phone with a lady who does my makeup. You know why they do makeup on me? I’m trying to look younger, okay? No, I do it for TV. This lady does, she’s done my makeup for, I don’t know, gosh, since we started this church. Her husband died yesterday, battled cancer for 29 years. He died yesterday. I spent about 20, 30 minutes on the phone with her, praying with her. No feel it and heal it there for her. Paul even said, in 2 Timothy, «I left a buddy of mine, Trophimus sick. I left him sick».
Now, we know Paul could heal 'cause Paul had the gift of healing, but even Trophimus, he tried to heal him, but he couldn’t do it. But you don’t hear that in the feel-it-and-heal-it message. There’s another one you’ll hear I call the see-it-and-be-it message. You know what that is. It’s called the power of positive thinking. You’ve heard it all your life. What the mind can conceive and the heart can believe, you can achieve. It doesn’t matter whether God wants you to have it and achieve it or not. But it gets worse. Jesus said there will be people who cast out demons. They really did. He’s not making this up.
There are people, and you’ll see this, they did cast out demons. There are gonna be people who stand before God and Jesus, gonna say, «And I performed miracles,» and they really did perform miracles. They did. So today you got people, you know, they’ll slay you in the spirit, right, touch you on the forehead, boombadalinda, and there you go, fall on your face. They’ll tell you publicly, «Oh, there’s a woman here with cancer, and she’s been healed». They don’t ever say who it is. They just say, «Yeah, she’s out there». Some even claim to have raised people from the dead. And what blows my mind are there are people that watch these guys and say, «They must be real, look what they do. They must be real, look what they say. They must be real, look what they perform. They’ve got to be from God».
And I want you to understand, these people Jesus is talking about, they really did do those things. There’s nothing in this passage to think, «Well, they said they did it, but they didn’t». No, they really did. Yes, they cast out demons, yes, they performed miracles. You say, «Pastor, how do you explain that»? It’s real easy. Miracles can come from two sources. Some of you never heard this before. You need to hear me. Miracles can come from God or they can come from Satan. Satan is a powerful being. And some of you have never heard this before. You need to hear it. Have you ever thought about the fact that Satan, in so many ways, is just an imitation, a false imitation of the true God?
Let me give you an example. We are a trinitarian people. We believe in the Trinity. We believe in God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Guess what, Satan has a trinity. In Revelation 16:13, we read about the dragon, the beast and the false prophet. You say, «Well, but we got a church». Satan got his church. In Revelation 2:9, the Bible talks about the synagogue of Satan. Satan’s got churches all over America who will preach these false gospels, who will tell you, «It doesn’t matter what your sexual lifestyle is. You’re okay, I’m okay, we’re all okay». Satan’s got his churches just like God’s got His. And you say, «Well, yeah, but we’ve got our beliefs, we’ve got our doctrines».
So does the devil. Paul, in 1 Timothy 4:1, talks about things taught by demons. So let me just give you exhibit A of what I’m talking about. You go back 2,000 years ago, you’re invited to a meeting with 12 disciples and Jesus, and Jesus says, «Okay, guys, I’ve been training you, been teaching you, now it’s time for you to get out on your own. So you’re gonna go, and I’m gonna give you the authority to preach the gospel. I’m gonna give you the authority to cast out demons. I’m gonna give you authority to heal the sick. I’m gonna give you the authority to perform miracles, and you’re gonna all do it in my name».
So you go out, and they did exactly what Jesus said. But one of those guys is named Judas Iscariot. And so you come back, and I say to you, «You know there’s an imposter here»? «What»? «Yeah. There’s a guy here, he says he’s the real deal, he’s got you convinced he’s the real deal, he ain’t the real deal». «Who»? «Judas». «No. No, not Judas. Are you kidding me? I saw him do it. I saw him cast out the demons. I saw it. I saw him heal that sick guy. I saw it with my own eyes. And by the way, the guy’s the treasurer, he handles the bucks,» but he didn’t know Jesus.
Let me give you a real-life experience. I wanna tell you something, I’ll never forget this as long as I live ever. I was in college down in Florida. My freshman year, I went through a real crisis of my faith. I had a philosophy professor who was an atheist, and he began to say things in class about God I never thought about, and I began to really doubt there was even a God. I dunno if you, I mean, I went through it. I went through the darkest, deepest valley of my life. And there was a sophomore guy a year ahead of me, his name was Dick. Dick was, you talk about the devout with a capital D. Dick gave me some books, and Dick talked to me, and Dick helped me through my crisis of faith. And Dick helped me to get back on track.
Let me tell you about Dick. Dick was going into the ministry. And Dick was a great preacher. In fact, you ready for this? His junior and senior year, he became the pastor of the church I attended. He’s a junior in college, and he’s pastoring the church I attend. Could preach the stars down. So devout, so committed, listen, he wanted to imitate Martin Luther so badly, he would get up every morning at five o’clock and light a candle and read his Bible by candlelight 'cause that’s the way Martin Luther did it. I told him one time, I said, «Dick, even God doesn’t get up at five o’clock». He was so devout, he was so pure, he never even dated one time in college, not once. He graduated, went to the same seminary I went to, same liberal school I went to for seven years, heard all the same junk I listened to for seven years.
So my last semester in college, I’m walking over, and I hadn’t seen him since he went off, you know, to seminary. So my last semester in college, I’m walking to the Baptist Student Union Building, there’s a guy sitting on the rocking chair, he is got hair down to here, got a scraggly beard, wearing tattered jeans and flip flops and a tank top. I just walked by and said, «Hey man, how you doing»? And he said, «Hey, how are you»? And I said, «I’m doing great». He said, «You don’t who I am, do you»? I looked at him and I said, «I’m sorry, man, I don’t believe we’ve met». He says, «I’m Dick». I said, «Dick»? No joke. I had to walk over there. It was Dick. I said, «Dick, what in the world’s happened to you»? He said, «I went to seminary, and I lost my faith. I’m an atheist. I don’t believe in God».
Dick, you got up every Sunday to declare Jesus was Lord. You got up every Sunday and preached the Bible. You helped me turn my faith completely, totally around. Maybe. I would’ve bet my life Dick was a believer, but he wasn’t. And it reminded me once again, oh, he preached great messages and he prayed great prayers, but a visual demonstration alone is not a sign of salvation. So maybe you lead a small group, maybe you play in the praise band, maybe you sing on a praise team, maybe you serve somewhere in our church, maybe you even give money to charity, but Jesus would say to you and me, «A visual demonstration alone is not a sign of salvation». Look up here. Don’t kid yourself.
So now you’re asking the question, «Well, good grief, how do you know? How can I be sure»? Ready? Jesus said, «A verbal declaration alone is not a sign of salvation. A visual demonstration alone is not a sign of salvation». Jesus said, «A virtual dedication is a sign of salvation». Now, Jesus doesn’t leave us hanging. He tells us, «You know, you can say the right thing, you can do the right things, still not enter the kingdom of heaven». But He says, «But I’ll tell you what, I’m not gonna leave you hanging. Let me give you a surefire sign you know you will enter the kingdom of heaven». You ready for this? Here’s how you know it. It is not by the words that you say, it is not by the works that you do, it is by the will that you obey. So He says this, «But only the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven».
So here’s exactly what Jesus is saying, and He doesn’t mince words. «Anybody can say that Jesus is Lord. Anybody can do that, talk’s cheap, but only a true Christian will show that He’s Lord, share that He’s Lord and surrender to Him as Lord». See, here’s the problem, and I pastored people all of my life like this. They say, but they don’t obey. They profess Jesus, but they don’t possess Jesus. And it wakes me up sometimes to think of the thousands and thousands of people I pastored, and I’ve pastored thousands of them, and it makes me shudder to think of all these people I pastored, including you, and you’re members of this church, or you may be members of some church, but you’re not a member of the church. And it just makes me, it blows my mind.
Our mission statement, we exist to point people to Jesus and inspire them to live the cross-shaped life. And I see people every week, they have no desire to live the cross-shaped life. They show up at church, but there’s no worship in their life, there’s no involvement in discipling or being discipled, they’re not sharing the gospel. And it breaks my heart that I pastored so many people. They made decisions about Jesus but never became disciples of Jesus. I want you to understand what I’m saying. Please hear this. You do need to make a one-time decision that’s true and that’s real to follow Jesus. And you have every right to believe that at the moment you really do that, the moment you really confess that, you are truly and eternally saved.
I want you to understand. This is the other part I want you to see, this is the other side of the coin. A one-time decision, if a one-time decision is real, it will be followed by the everyday decision to follow Jesus and do His will. I’ve been guilty too often of putting more emphasis on what some people say or even what they do, and I’ve been too guilty of saying, «Well, they claim to be a follower of Jesus, they use the right words, and so I guess I ought to believe them». We don’t take the time to say, «Wait a minute, are they just talking the talk, or they walking the walk»? So I’m gonna aid some of you today. I’m gonna use a term some of you… what is that? How many of you know the term Vacation Bible School? How many of you know what that is? How many of you ever attended Vacation Bible School?
Okay. Well, if you don’t know what that is, every summer, that was a ritual. We had, it’s called Vacation Bible School. I always looked forward to it, loved it. But some of you will remember this. Now, you’re gonna age yourself, I get that, but we used to sing a song every single Bible school, all right? It was called, «If You’re Happy and You Know It». How many of you remember that song? All right. Let’s have a little fun here. We’re gonna do this together, okay? We’re gonna have a little fun. So the first stanza would be if you’re happy and you know it, say amen. Everybody say amen. We’d all say amen. And then the next stanza was if you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands. So clap your hands. Yep, we’d do that. And then they’d say, «If you’re happy and you know it, stomp your feet».
Every about stomp their feet. So we all stomp our feet. Every Bible school, I would pray, every single Bible school, just one time, I wish they would sing if you’re happy and you know it, kiss your girlfriend. But they never sang that. Now, to be honest, it’s a cute, cheeky, geeky song. Okay, I get that. But there’s one line in that song, and it was chock full of theological truth. It was the best line in the whole song. Some of you’ll remember it, if you’re happy and you know it, then your life will surely show it.
So, I’ve told you this before, I’ve told you this before, what you really believe, you live, the rest is just talk. You don’t believe, many of you, you don’t believe that God meets your needs, you don’t believe that God honors His word, you don’t believe that God keeps His promises. How do you know? 'Cause you don’t give a dime to God’s work. Some of you don’t give one red cent to God’s work. So don’t sit there and tell me, «Oh, I believe that». No you don’t. You’re lying through your teeth, or you’d be giving. If this church believed what God really said, He meant, we’d have more money we’d know what to do with. So stop it. Stop it. If you’re not giving any money to the church, you’re disobeying the will of God.
If you have no desire to ever tell people about Jesus, never share the gospel, you’re disobeying the will of God. If your Bible gathers dust on the shelf Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, you’re disobeying the will of God. If you have no prayer life to speak of, you’re disobeying the will of God. If you slept with your girlfriend last night you’re not even married to, you’re disobeying the will of God. It’s time to get real here, ladies and gentlemen. «Not everyone that calls me, 'Lord, Lord, ' is going to enter the kingdom of heaven». So hear me clearly. Don’t anybody misunderstand. We’re saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, but when your faith is real, you do not just confess it with your lips, you confess it with your life.
I’ve told you many times, when I got saved as a 9-year-old boy, I sinned a lot since then. I shamed the Lord more than a few times since then. But I knew, and I’ve told you this a thousand times, the kid that walked out of that theater was not the kid that walked in. Someone had radically changed my life. And from the time I gave my life to Jesus, and the reason I’m in this pulpit right now instead of in a courtroom like my son is every week, not because he’s going to jail, he’s a lawyer. But the reason I’m doing what I’m doing, James, and what I’m not doing what you do is because it wasn’t the will of God that I do what I do.
Now, I’m thankful I’ve got to live to see my son live a dream through me 'cause that’s what I wanted to do. And he’s a fantastic lawyer, I don’t mind telling you. Not 'cause he’s my son, he just is. But that wasn’t God’s will for me. This was God’s will for me. And that’s been always my desire, «Lord, I just wanna do your will for my life». So let me be very clear. This is so important. I am not telling you today that good works are necessary to be saved. If that’s what you hear, you missed my message. Good works are not necessary to be saved. If you heard that, say amen. All right. Good works are not necessary to be saved, but good works are necessary if you are saved. Baptism is not necessary to be saved, but baptism is necessary if you are saved. Giving to God’s work is not necessary to be saved.
You can’t buy your way into heaven. You can’t buy one square foot of heaven. Giving to God’s work is not necessary to be saved. It is necessary if you are saved. You will do the will of God in your life. Jesus said, «By their fruits, you will know them». Fruit is not a prerequisite to salvation, it is a byproduct of salvation. So you can call Jesus Lord, but if you’re not obeying His commands, you’re not surrendering to His will, you’re just playing word games.
In other words, you’re just kidding yourself. You’re living in a spiritual delusion. And you may fool me, and many people have, and you may fool the person you’re married to, and you may fool your kids, you’re not fooling God. You’re not fooling the Lord Jesus Christ. And I just don’t want you to stand before God one day, I don’t want any of you to stand before God one day or before Jesus and say the one thing, the worst thing you will ever hear before you leave for eternity, I don’t want you to ever hear these words, «I never knew you. Away from me, you evil doer».
See, it’s one thing to say that you know Jesus, but you better make sure He knows you. 'Cause some of you are foreigners, some of you, He doesn’t know. The great New Testament scholar, you don’t know who he is, but he’s great, D. A. Carson, brilliant scholar, he said this, «It is true that no man enters the kingdom because of his obedience, but it is equally true that no man enters into the kingdom who is not obedient. It is true that men are saved by God’s grace through faith in Christ, but it’s equally true that God’s grace in a man’s life inevitably results in obedience».
So I’m gonna summarize what Jesus said in two simple sentences and we’ll be done. Number one, confession is no substitute for conversion. You can call Jesus Lord all you want to but talk is cheap. A verbal declaration alone is not a sign of salvation. Sentence number two, religion is no substitute for relationship. Preachers, I’m a preacher, I can add up all the sermons I’ve preached for 47 years, you can add up all the church membership certificates and all the baptismal certificates and all of the true tax receipts for your charitable deductions, but without a true relationship with Jesus, it won’t matter.
So some of you better need, you better listen to me 'cause some of you know God’s, I’m not talking to you, God is. You’ve shifted in your seat, you’ve been uncomfortable, you wished you hadn’t come 'cause the Spirit of God’s working on you. And you know deep down you’ve never been changed, you’ve never been born again, your life has never been transformed. So when you walk out of here today, you better make sure you don’t just walk out saying Jesus is Lord, you better walk out of here showing it by following His will. I could give you so many examples. I’ll just give you one simple example. Some of you say you love Jesus, you say you know Jesus, you say you follow Jesus, but you have never been biblically baptized. You don’t even have a desire to be biblically baptized. If you don’t have enough passion, if you don’t have enough love for Jesus to get into a pool of water, what makes you think you’ve got enough to get to heaven?
Now, I could give you myriads of examples, but I want you to take this with you. You can say Jesus is Lord to the top of your lungs, you can do all these religious activities you wanna do, but unless you’re obeying and have a passion to obey the will of God, you’re not going to enter the kingdom of heaven. Look up here. Don’t kid yourself. Would you bow your heads and pray with me? With heads bowed and eyes closed, and if you’ll just sit still for just a moment, I wanna talk to two groups of people and we’ll be done. The first group of people I wanna talk to are people in this room, people who are watching me right now, and here’s what you’d say, «Pastor, I know I’m not a believer, pastor, I know I’ve never been saved, pastor, I know I don’t have a relationship with Jesus».
Okay, you’re the easy ones. I’m gonna put you aside for just a minute. I know what you need to do. I get it. I wanna talk to those of you, «But I joined a church. I got baptized. I do give to the church». But you’ve never really been born again. You’re a Scott Hines. You’ve never truly been saved, and you know it. Because for some of you, if the average person saw how you lived, you know what they would say? «I don’t see any difference in his life from mine. I don’t tell people about Jesus, but neither does he. I don’t give money to the church, but neither does he, I don’t read my Bible, but neither does he, I don’t pray, but neither does he». And all these things I just mentioned, no, sir, no, sir, no, sir, no, sir. You don’t have to do those things to be saved, but if you’re saved, you want to do those things.
So I’m talking to people who have joined a church and people who haven’t, people who may have even been baptized or people who haven’t. Who wants to do business with God today? Who wants to be like Scott Hines and pull over by the side of the road to the Savannah Jordan and say, «Enough of this fake stuff. I wanna make this real. I want you to be real in my life, Jesus. I want you to change my life. I want the number one passion of my life to do your will alone»? Now, if that’s you, we’re gonna do business, you’re going to do business with God. I’m gonna ask you to pray this prayer, not say it, pray it.
Lord Jesus, I want the real deal. I wanna be the real deal. And I want You to seal the real deal in my heart. I’m telling you today, Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner, and I need You to be my savior. I need to repent, and today, I’m gonna repent of my old way of life. I’m asking you to come into my life and be the Lord of my life and take over every part of it. I leave no stone unturned today, Lord, none. Wherever I’m missing it, fill it, wherever I’m full of something I don’t need to be, take it. And Lord, whatever Your will is for my life, I’m going to do it. So thank You for forgiving me. Thank You for giving me eternal life. Thank You for saving me today.