Deuteronomy chapter 21. Deuteronomy chapter 21. We'll start there this morning. The Bible says... I don't hear any pages turning. Deuteronomy chapter 21. The Bible says, "...if one be found slain, in thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him. Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain. And it shall be that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city, shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke. So it's a heifer that's never done any work. And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer into a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sewn, and shall strike of that heifer's neck there in the valley. So it's also a valley where man hasn't altered it, they haven't tried to grow something there. And the priests The sons of Levi shall come near, for them the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister unto him and to bless in the name of the Lord. And by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried. And all the elders of the city that are next unto the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley. And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Be merciful, O Lord, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's charge, and the blood shall be forgiven them. So shall thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord." That last sentence, that last verse, the comma there, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord. See, the Lord gives us in the law here, if a person was found dead, They don't know who killed it. Nobody's seen it. They don't know. But blood's been shed, right? Someone's been murdered. Someone's been killed. And so that blood has to, it's innocent. And there has to be judgment for that. Well, the Lord gives the people how to respond to that. He says, you take a heifer. It's never done any kind of work. You take it to the valley where there's never been any kind of work done in that land, and you kill that heifer. You say it's beheaded. And they're to wash their hands over that heifer, the elders of that closest town. And that's what God said. Now, you do that right there. If you'll do that, then the guilt of that blood I will not charge to you. It's kind of crazy if you think about it. Lord, we're going to take a cow, it's got to go to this, can't have done any work, it's got to go into this land where there's not been any work, and we've got to cut its head off, and then wash our hands of it. And if we do that, Lord, then we're not guilty. God says yes. Fair enough. I mean, it's pretty clear. We'll see. The devil. The Bible says that his angels, or his, yeah, transform themselves into ministers of light. So, we're gonna talk about religion this morning. See, if I were the devil, I'm not gonna be up here with the horns and the pitchfork tail. No, I'm gonna try to look as close as I can to the truth. Probably gonna have me King James Bible. Probably gonna look pretty sharp, you know, hair cut, looking pretty good, clean shaven, you know, I wanna look just as close to the truth as I can. And then I'm gonna tell you that the Bible, which is the truth, well, that verse there doesn't really mean what it says. This word here, it should be translated this way. And little by little, little by little, I'm going to have you questioning the very authority in which we stand, God's very word. It's going to be subtle. It's going to be over time. But that doubt is what I want to plant. I'm going to get you doubting God's very word. Because guess what? It's what it's all based on. It's this right here. I mean, it's all based on this, so if I can get you doubting this, the devil can get you questioning this, you're gonna be gone. So religion says do. A thousand religions in this world, at least, and they all have you do something. Right? I'm a Muslim. Well, you've got to go to Mecca. You can't eat this. You've got to abstain from meat, which we know is the doctrine of devils. Well, I'm Catholic. I go to the priest and he forgives me my sin. He doesn't do that. He can't do that. Again, it's a work. It's something you've got to do. Well, God told the people of Israel, here's the work that you have to do to fix this problem with this innocent blood. Let's go to Matthew chapter 22. Verse one. Verse 1 of the Bible says, And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding, and they would not come. There's Israel. The Lord said, Messiah, he's coming. I'm going to send the Messiah. He's going to come. He's going to redeem the people. He's going to establish a kingdom. That was Israel. That's who he's talking about right there. They would not. Wouldn't come. They wouldn't come. Verse 4, again, he sent forth the other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden. Behold, I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come unto the marriage. But they made light of it and went their ways. One to his farm, another to his merchandise, and the remnant took his servants and treated them spitefully and slew them." So we've got one going to the farm, going to his work. We've got another one going to his merchandise, to his possessions. And the remnant took a servant and treated them spitefully and slew them, and the rest of them just hated the preacher. Won't tell him the truth. Just go ahead and kill him. But when the king heard thereof, that's God. king and kings, lord of lords. He was wroth, and he sent forth his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their cities. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready. But they which are bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as shall Find. Bid to the marriage. That's where we are today, guys. We're going up to the highways. Jesus saves. He's mighty to save. Repent of your sin. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That's where we are today. Come. Repent. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That's where we are today. Come. Come. Come, taste of the Lord. See that He's good. So these servants went out to the highways and gathered together, all as many as they found, both bad and good, and the wedding was furnished with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. And he said unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, bind him, hand and foot, take him away, cast him into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen. God knows who are his. This would be a picture of that wedding. There's people in here that I know they're saved. And I say that I know they're saved. I see their life. I see their appetite. I see what they talk about. I see what their interest is, and it's God. And then I see people when I don't see those things. I just don't. Out of the mouth come the issues of the heart, right? I don't hear conversation about God. I don't hear conversation about the scripture. I don't hear conversation about trying to live righteously. And that's what this book will help us to do, thoroughly furnish us to live righteously. But I don't hear that. I don't see that desire. Lord, Lord, we did all these things in your name. And we see the religious folks here. The king comes up and he says, where's your garment? Verse 12, he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment? He was speechless. Where are your clothes of righteousness? In Revelation, the Lord says He'll let nothing that defiles in His presence. Nothing. He's holy. He can't. He's a consuming fire. He was speechless. He was not clothed in righteousness. He didn't have what it took to be a part of that wedding. to be in attendance. He was there, he came, but he said, no, not on that merit. No, you're out of here. That's not gonna fly. But God tells us what's acceptable. He's told us what's acceptable. John, chapter five. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, chapter five. start verse 17, But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. For the Jews sought the Moor to kill him, because not only had he broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. He absolutely is. He is God. Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do, or what thingsoever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth, and he will show him greater works than these that ye may marvel. For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, Even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, that the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself, and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming, in thee which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth, they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. I can of mine own self do nothing, as I hear. I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. There is none that beareth witness of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. So we see here that the Lord says it pretty clear. He was sent by the Father, and he's sent that if anyone will believe on him, they can have everlasting life. But religion says you've got to do something. It's not that easy. There's some sort of work you've got to perform. And God says no. It's my son. He did it all. He paid the price. He paid the penalty. He is the one that I accept. I accept him. I accept what he did for your sin. No other thing, just that right there. Jesus Christ died for your sin. John chapter 14. And thank God there's a resurrection. John 14, the Bible says, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in me. This is Jesus talking. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I've got to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And whether I go, you know, and the way you know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way. the truth and the life. No man come to the Father but by me." The Lord tells us very clearly He is the way. There is no other way to God and His forgiveness than through Jesus Christ and His gospel. What is the gospel, you say? Well, let's look. First Corinthians chapter 15, the Lord tells us what His gospel is. God is not trying to keep himself from you this morning. He's not trying to hide himself. The devil's the one that's trying to confuse you. The devil's the one that's trying to make you trust in some sort of work. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, the Bible says, Start at the beginning, chapter 15, verse 1. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel, which I preached unto you, which also you have received. And wherein you stand, which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, now that Christ died, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures. That's God's gospel right there, the Lord Jesus Christ. His gospel is that he died for our sins according to the scriptures, was buried, and he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. There may be some saying, well, you know, that's not what I was told, or that's not how I see it, or that's maybe what you think. That's what God says. So your problem's not with me this morning. It's with God. And God addresses that for us, too. So let's just go take a look real quick. 2 Peter 2. And see, what the devil's letting you hear right now is, I'm telling you I'm better than you. Because I'm telling you you're a sinner and you're going to go to hell if you die without Jesus Christ. And I'm not telling you that because I think I'm better than you because I'm not. I'm saved. That's why I'm going to be in heaven one day. That's why I'm not going to go to hell. It's because I'm saved. It's not because of anything I did. It's because I trusted Jesus. I believed on Jesus. I came to Jesus as a sinner and I trusted him and he saved me. I took God in his word and he saved me. I'm not up here standing up here saying I'm better than you and you're just no good. None of us are good, none of us. Every one of us, we got up here and the Lord just showed what's in our heart, what's in your mind right now. God just put that up here, we'd all be underneath that carpet wanting to find a place to hide. I'm telling you, Jesus Christ died for you. I'm no better than you are. But since he saved me, I'm telling you, he did work some righteousness in me. He sure did. He sure did clean up my mouth. He sure did clean up my mind. Now, does that stuff still come up? Oh yeah. But one day it ain't. One day this old vile body's gonna be put to the ground. And then there's gonna be a resurrected body. It's gonna be fashioned like unto his. but not because of what Cameron did. It's because of what Jesus did. It's all because of Him. And you're here this morning and you're without Him and you're lost. Don't reject so great a salvation. Do not die and go to a devil's hell. Whatever he's dangling out there, a little carrot the devil, whatever the glitter he's throwing out there for you, whatever shine he's putting on that thing, whatever it is, I'm telling you, it is not as shiny as he says it is. The glitter is not there like he says it is. He wants to destroy you. Proverbs 27. I don't have the references in Proverbs 27. Hell and destruction are never full, so the eyes of men are never satisfied. Think about that. Hell and destruction, never full. The eyes of men are never satisfied. See, that's in your nature. That's in your nature. That's who you are. And the devil, he just gets that kerosene, that gasoline, he's just throwing on that fire, just feeding that thing. And the Lord's doing his best this morning to cut through all that mess, using just something No good as me, as inadequate as me, just trying to get a hold of somebody here this morning that don't know Jesus. There's somebody here this morning that is going to die and go to the devil's hell if you don't repent of your sin and believe on him. Man's life does not consist of the things in which he possesses. What profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul? 2 Peter 1, verse 16, For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more assured word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well, that ye take heed as to a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star rise in your hearts, knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." Pretty clear right there, too. Says what it says, means what it means. The Lord's, Peter's writing this. And he says, we heard, we heard the father, we heard his voice, we heard him. This is my son, whom will please hear ye him. We heard him. More sure, it's right here, more sure. More sure. Heaven and earth are gonna pass away, y'all. Not this. Forever, O Lord, thy Word is settled in heaven. Forever. By His Word. He said it. And it is. And it will be. The Lord asked a really good question. Matthew 23, 33. Let's go take a look at the Lord's question there. He's talking to the Pharisees, he's talking to the Sadducees. Those are the religious leaders of the day. And he says in verse 33, you serpents, you generation of vipers. Boy, that's how to make friends and influence people. How can you escape the damnation of hell? The Lord asked that question to him. Hell's not real. The Lord said, how are you going to escape the damnation? And I'm pretty sure he tells you to, if your eye offends you, to pluck it out. If your foot offends you, cut it off. If your hand offends you, cut it off. I'd rather be in this life maimed or halted than spend eternity in hell. And don't fear him who can kill the body, but fear him who can put both body and soul in hell. Yeah, you have a soul. That's what's in the balances right now, sinner friend who's not been born again, who's never can say that 1 Corinthians 5, verse 17 is true in your life, that any man that's in Christ is a new creature. Old things have passed away. Behold, old things become new. You don't have that point in time in your life when you can say it all changed. I went down and I came up different. He wants to save you. But that's what's in the balances this morning is your soul. It's your soul, and it's eternal. Your soul will live on. It will not die. Your body will. Because of death. Because of sin. Wages of sin is death. Man's appointed once to die, and after this, a judgment. And we read who the judge is. It's the Lord. And he's going to judge us from his word. And it's going to be a righteous judgment. It's going to be a holy judgment. It's going to be every bit just as anything ever was. And just like at the marriage supper, he said, where are your clothes at? And he was speechless. Every mile's going to be stopped on that day. There will be no excuses given. Jesus Christ puts, God put a value on your soul. And it was the blood of his son. That's the only thing he said would pay the price. He named the price and he said, it's the blood, it's my blood. It's the only thing that I'll accept. It's not your gold, it's not your silver, it's not your good works, it's not who you helped. It's none of that. None of that will merit God's acceptance. It's only Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He died for your sins according to scriptures. He was buried and He rose again the third day. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Repent toward God and put your faith in Jesus Christ. Repent, repent, repent, repent. Lord, thank you. Thank you for the scriptures. Thank you for the truth. Thank you for saving me. Oh, thank you, Lord, for changing my life. Thank you for the peace and joy and love that I had that I never knew until Jesus came. Thank you, Lord, for stepping in my way, changing me. All glory, honor, and praise unto thee. Thank you for your church, for the brethren, for the family of God. Lord, I know you want to expand your family. You want to bring other sinners into yourself. Reconcile them. Lord, thank you for the ministry of reconciliation. Please help us be faithful to tell others. And the soul closest to hell this morning that heard the preaching, Lord, please give them no peace until they believe on you. Thank you. Please bless the hour to come and all the singing, the preaching. Please give pastor much liberty and unction. And we love you and thank you for loving us. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ's name we pray. Amen.