This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alpharet, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. And so anyway, turn your Bibles to Exodus chapter 20. Exodus chapter 20. It's actually not a senior moment with me. I used to do that when I was 23. And so I've always had that problem. So I think there must be some sparks that don't jump at the right time. Exodus chapter 20. We're going to talk about proving all men are sinners in need of a Savior. And since I will read the passage of scripture with you as we go through it, I'm going to go ahead and skip down into the message. And we will read a little bit of the scripture as we go along for the sake of time to help you just to get a lot of Bible reading tonight. I hope that when I get through preaching every message, you find that there are tons of Bible verses that you've read, tons of Bible you've read, because the most important thing I say is what the Bible says. Anything I say is not all that important. I want to talk to you tonight about the Ten Commandments. That's where we are. He is about to give them the Ten Commandments. It's often hard to understand what the Ten Commandments are about. It's hard to understand. Is it a to-do list or I can't list? Is it a to-do list or an I can't list? It's actually I can't. It's not a to-do list. Everybody wants the Ten Commandments in the courthouse, in the church, and in their front yard, but it's only a reminder of what a big flub you are. It's only a reminder of how big a failure you are. What would really be nice to have would probably be an empty cross, because that's what the Ten Commandments led to, was Jesus dying and bringing salvation to us. As we start the study of the chapter, please notice that the central theme, if you've got your Bible open, and I hope you do, you really need your Bible open, you really need to mark this stuff down. We put it on the screen, but that's not so you won't use your Bible, by the way. Exodus chapter 20 and verse 1, I want you to notice it's God. All through the Bible, it's like God. He wants everybody to know It's him. So I'm going to give you it in verse 1. And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. That's down to verse 3. Skip to verse 5. Verse 5, Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them, for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. Remember that, notice this, he reminds them that he is the one that brought them out. Did you read that in verse 2? In verse 2 he said, I brought you out. No other God brought you out. You didn't bring you out. I brought you out of Egypt. I brought you out of bondage. He wants you to remember Him and what He has done. He is jealous of His name. He is jealous of His name, His person, and what He's done. In verse 5, He said, I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God. These commandments are given that we're about to read. They're given as a test. Look at verse 20. Exodus chapter 20 verse 20 and Moses said unto the people fear not for God is come to prove you Underline that God has come to prove you that his fear may be before your faces that you sin not God's come to say man. Do you need to be afraid of me? You didn't know I'm God you didn't know I have authority and I'm here. No one can pass this test It was meant as a test that you would fail. That's the purpose of the passage And that can be seen in the very passage we're about to read. By the way, they were afraid of God. Look at verse 18. They were afraid of God. The Bible says in verse 18, And all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpets and the mountains smoking. When the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off. Verse 19, They said unto Moses, You talk to him, you talk to us, and we'll listen. But don't let God talk to us. We're afraid we'll die. That's what he said. Look at the verse. We really don't want to be that close to God. We're scared. Somebody's got to die. Let it be you. You run and talk to Him. Come back and tell us. We'll be glad to listen. Verse 24. In verse 24, they're going to build an altar. It's a sacrifice for their sins. It says in verse 24, An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, thy peace offerings, thy sheep and thy oxen. In all places where I record my name, I will come unto thee, And I will bless thee. God said, talk to me about Ten Commandments. You're going to build me a place to sacrifice these animals. They don't even understand that yet. They'll find that out in the future verses. And verse 25 is like a crazy, wild verse. This is just an introduction, kind of scanning the chapter with you. Even the altar will sympathize that they didn't do it with their strength and their effort. You can't get to God with your strength and your effort. Look at verse 25. And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, Thou shalt not build it of hewn stone, of worked stone, of stone you cut and stone you developed. For if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. You just bring me rocks I made. You just bring me stones I made. You keep your hands off of them. You build an altar, you build it my way with my stuff, you stay out of it because I'm the saving God. Not you, not how pretty your altar is, it's how great your God is. Father, I pray now that you'd help this chapter come alive. I pray you'd help us to understand your purpose for the Ten Commandments, and I pray to God that this will be a special blessing to your family, your children, and God that they would grow in you and love you and be excited about you and share these truths with others. I'll give you praise for all you do. In Jesus' name, amen. Number one, the purpose of the law. You can write that if you would at the top of the chapter, chapter 20 at the very top. We'll go through that. The Ten Commandments, the purpose was to bring us to Christ. If you have your Bible open, maybe you could write in the margin of your Bible verses that you'll read later. Go with me, if you would, to Galatians chapter 3 and verse 24. The Bible teaches me very clearly what God's purpose was with the Ten Commandments. In Galatians 3, 24, the Bible says, wherefore the law was our schoolmaster. The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. I wish you'd look at that verse and think through that verse with me. Are y'all with me? If you're with me, say amen. Look at the verse, it's powerful. He said the law was our schoolmaster. The law, the Ten Commandments, all the law, there aren't just ten. Never uses that term, but there are ten. The law was to bring us unto Christ. So the law wasn't to bring me, the law really wasn't even to bring me to God, it was to bring me to Christ. He is God in human flesh, but he's the one that will die on the cross. The law was to bring me to Christ that I might keep the law? No, that we might be justified by what? I hope you look at that. The law was to bring me to Christ that we might be justified by faith. It was not about keeping Ten Commandments. Look if you would at 2 Corinthians 3, verse 6. You ought to write that in the margin of your Bible right here. 2 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 6. And the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 3, 6, who also have made us able ministers of the New Testament. Underline that, New Testament. That's where your Bible gets the last 27 books of the New Testament. We're able ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, that's Old Testament, but of the Spirit, that's New Testament. For the letter, Old Testament, kills, but the Spirit gives life. Look at that, would you? He has made us ministers of the New Testament. The Apostle Paul says, hey, we don't have, we're not in the ministry of death, we're in the ministry of life. Look at verse 7, 2 Corinthians 3, 7, it goes right there next. But if the ministration of death, underline that, mark that in your Bible, the ministration, the ministry of death, written and engraved in stones was glorious so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses, For the glory of His countenance, which glory was to be done away." Once you look at the verse, I want you to catch what's going on. When Moses went up to God, God gave him the Ten Commandments. It was a glorious day. He was in the very presence of God. He brought down divine, perfect law. It was a beautiful thing. But all the law was going to do was show you how sick you were. It's kind of like when you go in and get one of those scans. It's kind of like when you go in and you get a cat scan or a pet scan or when you go in and you get an x-ray. They don't help you. When you get those scans, they really don't help you. It ain't like they run the machine over you and say, okay, you're healed now. That's not how it happens. They run it over you and say, oh boy, we found a problem. And that's what the Ten Commandments were going to be doing. They were going to say, hey, this is a This is a glorious thing. Look at that word in verse 7. It's a glorious thing because God shows you, you need Him. God shows you, you need Jesus. So it's a glorious thing. And so the ministry of reconciliation and the ministry of the Spirit is going to be greater. The law, the letter, was written on stones. The letter kills. The letter was a ministry of death. It had glory, but only as it brought us to salvation. Only as it brought us death, actually. You must die to be made alive. The law was a ministry of condemnation. 2 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 9. 2 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 9, if you would, the Bible says, for the ministration of condemnation. For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. So as beautiful it was to see the law, as fantastic as it was to know your need, it's even more to get your need met. And that's what Jesus does. The law condemns us. There is glory in this condemnation because it shows us our need of a Savior. Jesus talked like that when He was on earth. He was dealing with religious people, and those religious people thought they were well off, and he was hanging around with, and talking with, and dealing with some sinners, and they said, why are you doing that? And he says in Matthew chapter 9 and verse 12, he said, when they heard it, he said, they that behold need not a position. Though everybody's well, healthy does not need a doctor, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice. I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." He said, you know, I'm not really here to get you to do anything for me. You don't need to make a sacrifice for me. I came here, if you're sick, I'm here to help you. If you're in need, I'm here to help you. Jesus didn't come to call healthy people but sick. He came to call sinners to repentance. We often make the same mistakes as the Pharisees thinking that the Ten Commandments are a pattern to live by. They are not. a pattern to live by. The Ten Commandments showed us our sin so we could turn to Jesus for grace. The commandments were given with a specific purpose. By the way, you can't argue. They were a schoolmaster. I didn't say that. The Word of God said it. They were to show us our need of salvation. They were to make it clear we are sinners. They were never meant to be lived by or a standard for us to run our lives or our country. The commandments leave us no out but to turn to Jesus. The commandments are like the prosecuting attorney, proving our guilt, pronouncing our guilt, and making it clear we deserve the death penalty. So before we get into the chapter, and I'm about to go through the Ten Commandments with you, before we get there, you need to understand what their purpose is, and the chapter even sets you up to understand it. He starts off and he says, here comes the law. Here's the law. By the end of it, he's going to be saying, here's the altar. Here's the law. Here's the altar. He's going to start off saying, you're in trouble. He's going to end up saying, but I'm here to rescue you. And that's what the purpose is in all of your Bible. Understand they were written on rocks and later he writes it in our hearts. We will live holy lives We will live lives that show the fruit of that but it won't be because it's something on the outside condemning us It won't be what we do. It'll be what we are. It won't be what something on the outside It'll be something on the inside second thing. I want you to look at Write this down somewhere to shut every mouth every mouth is to be shut Look at Romans chapter 3 in verse 19 with me if you would Romans 3 19 Now we know that what they discover the law says it says to them who are under the law That every mouth may be what? Help me now was to say that every mouth may be Stopped and that all the world may become what? Come on, help me better now. Y'all can say that all the world may become what guilty before God Why did he give the law? Well now we know that That what things from the law says, it says to them that are under the law. Oh, it's not talking to them that aren't under the law, it's talking to them that are under the law. And its purpose is to show them that they are guilty. Now go with me, if you would, to Exodus chapter 20 and walk your way down as we get nailed. I won't do this because it'd be a wasted exercise, but it'd be interesting to have all of you stand up and stand as long as you can. Stand as long as you can before you blow it in the list, but the list is going to condemn you You know when you walk into the doctor's office, which I've become pretty familiar with doctor's offices nowadays I never had a problem once so I saw my problem and now I go in and the first thing I walk in You know, they say would you stand on the scales? Mr. Gardner one at a time, please and I stand on the scale and I get up and they write my weight down then they take me back over there do my blood pressure and then they take me back over there and take my temperature and And they do all these different things to me. And then I've got to go in for scans here pretty quick. And they're always testing me. And you know what they do? They're trying to find out. And when you get all these scans, you know what you want to know? Hey, how'd it turn out? What did they find? Well, this is what we're going to find. You are a sinner. You've got cancer, buddy. You're in trouble. You better call the doctor. Look, if you would, in Exodus chapter 20, They were to never have a God before the one and true God. In Exodus chapter 20 verse 1, God spake these words saying, I am the Lord thy God which hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage. You shall not have other gods before me. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. It was God who had brought them out of slavery. They were never to think of any other before they thought of God. Nothing was to capture their heart like God and His power. They were to be captivated in Him. It's like Matthew 6.33. Seek first the Kingdom of God. Put Him first. No one always puts God totally first. We fail on the first commandment because He is not our priority. He is not before everything. He is not before everyone in the world with us all the time. And if I would have you stand, and I won't, but if I had you stand, I'd like to know how many of you would say, no, just to be honest with you, all my life, God's been first. When I make my decisions, I always find out what God wants. I don't have anything more important than God. My job's not any more important than God. My family's not more important than God. Money's not more important than God. God's number one with me, buddy. Always has been, always will be. I don't believe you. I think you're already shot. I think we just mowed the whole church down. But if you happen to still be standing, go if you would to chapter 20 and verse 4 they were to never have anything that served as a God reminder Or anything else to be worshipped thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything That is in heaven verse 5 because I have the Lord thy God am a jealous God and by the way I punish people to the third and fourth generation and I show mercy to thousands that love me God wants to be recognized as powerful and bigger than we can imagine God wants us to know how much power he has. He's jealous. He doesn't like second place. He doesn't like other things to take priority over him. They've been in a whole country full of idols. They've been around people all their lives full of idols. Abraham actually had idols when he started serving God. And everybody along the way has been having idols. And God said, but I'm not like those little gods y'all tote around. So no images for me. I'm bigger than any picture you can draw. I'm bigger than any cross you can make. I'm bigger than any image you can make. Don't make images to substitute for me. I am God. And I'm jealous. Third thing, you're not to take God's name flippantly. Not to even use it in a response flippantly. Verse 7, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain. But we flippantly throw around his name, Oh my God. Oh God help us. It's not just God blank. We say it all kinds of ways. Then we carry his name poorly. We use it in our cuss words and our exasperation. We get angry with Him and blame Him for our misfortunes. I can't believe God let this happen to me. I can't believe God brought this on me. We're constantly attacking the great God. They were to set aside a day just for God, the Sabbath day. Verse 8, chapter 20, verse 8, remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. And by the way, nobody works that day. Not your son, not your daughter, not your servants, not even your cows. Not even your cows. Don't even make your horse walk to church. And the stranger that lives in your house, because God made the earth in six days, they were to have a day that was just for God. It was to be Saturday. And they were to do no work. They were not to even cause strangers to work. It's nearly impossible to live out this truth, especially in the world you live in. Turn your lights on. Well, wouldn't you just be excited? You can't buy gas, you can't use electricity, you can't go to the hospital, and if your baby's having to come on Sunday or Saturday, ain't no happening. No way. We're kind of really messing up here. Verse 12, they were to honor their parents. Honor thy father and thy mother. Even this commandment is beyond us. To always not only obey, but to honor and respect. They were taught to stone their children if they cursed them. or if they struck them, they were to honor their parents, not just obey their parents. I did have a lady one time, years ago in a church, she said, I never disobeyed my parents one time. And all I thought was, you're deluded or a liar. Or your mother was demented and didn't know what you, she never gave you anything to do. This person, hey, if you disobeyed your parents, you're worthy of death. Then verse 13, they were not to kill. They could not decide to take a life unless it was legally correct. They did have rules about war and capital punishment that we'll find out later. Jesus wanted us to learn that this was not just about not committing murder, but even the attitudes that I might have against those that have done me wrong. Jesus said later, he said, you've heard it said that you're not to kill, but I'm telling you, you're not to even have it in your heart. I'm not to think it in my heart. That's a deal breaker. We may have gotten by on some of the commandments, but we don't make it through all of them. Then he said sexual immorality was wrong in verse 14. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Jesus reminded us that this was more than just an act. It was an attitude. If a man thinks it in his heart, he is guilty. This affects the way we treat our spouse and our marriage. This would have to do with looking at porn or things. that would get my heart going after others. I don't know when you first looked at porn, but I got in trouble probably at 14 or 15. I was at my granddaddy's house, Playboy Magazine, my cousin comes in, he says, hey, I got a magazine we need to look at. So we went and hid in the woods and enjoyed the magazine. Dead, Austin. Convicted. You're guilty. You have sinned. It's over. We're not to steal. Verse 15, if you took it, you were wrong. If you cheat to get it, if you steal others, or take stuff on a test for homework, if you take what isn't yours anywhere along the way, then you have stolen. I had time. We don't have time because I'm rushing through this. But if we had time, to be honest, man, I don't know how many times I stole answers. I got real good at stealing answers. Our son Chris was doing so good at school. We were shocked at how fast he could learn. We knew he wasn't learning as fast as it seemed he was learning. Finally, we found out that during the night, he would wake up while we were in bed. He would go find the answer book, write all the answers down, come back, and he'd have all the answers for all of his work. And we caught him. I know other kids have ever done that in this room. I don't know why some of them are laughing and chuckling. I don't understand that. I don't know how many kids have ever. I dated the history teacher's daughter when I was in high school, and I had her get me the test. And I sold the answers to the others in my class. I not only cheated, I sold my cheats. I was headed for business, and God called me to preach. You can't lie about your neighbor. Verse 16, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. This is more than not telling a lie. It's don't lie about your neighbor. Don't spread a lie. We love gossip. I mean, you ever notice, you know the biggest gossip, we blame women with it. But you ever notice men are just as guilty? Well, you go to the barbershop. Go to the barber shop. I'm sure the hair shop for the women is like that too, or the toenail shop. We don't have all the shops you girls have. You're not to spread a lie. You're not to gossip. We lend our heart and our hand to help destroy the testimony of another. And then you're not to want things other people have. Verse 17, thou shalt not covet. You don't want your neighbor's house. You don't want his wife. You don't want his servants. You don't want his oxen. You don't want his ass or anything that is thy neighbor's. I was getting ready to go to Mexico, and my uncle called me. He was my mother's brother. He's about 20 years older than her. There were 10 kids in the family. Mama was the baby. He was one of the olders. He called me over, and he said, I need to talk to you. And I said, sure, Uncle Ralph. He said, you know, you're a man of God, and I don't have anybody I can talk to. And I said, OK, Uncle Ralph, what do you want to talk about? He said, I just feel like I've got to confess some sin. I said, you don't have to confess to me. Just confess to the Lord. Don't worry about it. He said, no, I've got to talk to somebody. He said, years ago, my neighbor's bull was standing in front of my gate. And it wasn't my fault. I just opened the gate and he walked in. And I shut the gate. And I had his bull all these years. His bull's already dead. He said, I can't give him back. He's been dead 10 years. But I'm about to die and I'm thinking about this. I said, well, I'm sure the Lord can forgive you. I'm sure the Lord can forgive you for that. He said, well, that's not all. He said, I was short on some payments and I burned my barn down. This is a godly man, by the way. He really was. When I told my mother some of this, she's like, I can't believe my brother. He burned his barn down and got the insurance money. And then he said, when they were building it back, some of the carpenters left their hammers. He said, I took them, too. I said, what in the world? I said, well, don't worry about it. He said, I've never been to the insurance company. I told him, I said, try to pay the money back. If you want to pay that, if it makes you feel better, go pay it back. I said, it's been 40 years probably. Nobody knows. He went to the insurance company. He said, you're crazy. Just keep the money. Nobody knows. I said, get the hammer back. Give him a whole toolbox to go with a hammer. And he said, nobody wants anything. So he ended up paying my setup fund in Peru. It worked out good for me. Actually, he's paid my setup in Mexico about 5,000 bucks, I think it was. You know that when you break one commandment, you broke them all? Before we leave this point, look at James 2.20 with me. James 2.20. When you break one, James 2.20 says, for whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he's guilty of all. Some of you are sitting there smugly saying, hey, I got by nine of those. I've done real good with nine of those. If you mess up on one, then you're guilty of all. Jesus came to save sinners. The Bible says in Romans 3.23, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. In Romans 3.24, it says being justified freely by His grace. In chapter 3 and verse 26, it says that He might be just and a justifier of him who believes in Jesus. Boasting is excluded by works or by law? No, but by the law of faith. Verse 28, a man is justified by faith. Look at this, underline it, without the deeds of the Ten Commandments. Point one, ministry of death. Point two, you're fried. You found out you failed. You couldn't do it. The Jews had no illusion that they could measure up to what God wanted from them. They saw God as all-powerful and above them. In verse 18, they were terrified. In verse 19, they had no flipping attitude about being okay with God. They were terrified. In verse 20, Moses tells them to not be afraid that God has come to test them. God comes down to test them. In verse 3, he says, God has come to prove you. In verse 21, the people stood way off. The people don't take comfort in the fact that God is so great and has come to prove them or test them. They stand back. They do not want to talk to God. They prefer that Moses do the talking and they'll let Moses talk to them. They are genuinely afraid and know that they do not measure up. And that's where you're supposed to get. You can't be like the rich young ruler that comes to Jesus and says, what do I do to inherit The eternal life and he says keep the law and the kid goes I've done that all my life never have messed up It's not the attitude God reminds him that he's not like a little idol or a God that they make with their hands In verse 22. He said you heard me. I speak from heaven That's what it says in verse 22. This is no ordinary God This is the God of heaven. They know they'll never measure up and they're afraid by the way, no one ever measures up. No one ever has measured up. We're all failures, sinners, sick, in need of a Savior. Now if you would, I'll give you two more things I've done. It's from one minute till. Look at verse 24. After giving them the commandments, God makes provisions for an altar. They will have to go there because they don't measure up. See, now look at me just a second. Please understand this. Those Ten Commandments, you'd have to lie to figure out a way to measure up. You'd have to dumb down the Ten Commandments for it to be good. To say you always obeyed your parents would have to be a stretch. The commandments were to take you to an altar. And in verse 24, he said, on altar of earth, you guys need to make it unto me. And there you'll sacrifice burnt offerings, and peace offerings and sheep and dinoxin. He said, you're going to make an altar. Why do they need an altar? They don't understand yet. They're about to get to Leviticus. When we get to Leviticus, He's going to be saying, you do this, this is what happens. You do this, this is what happens. And every time it is another animal dies, more blood is shed, He's going to give them a sacrificial system, an altar. Because you don't measure up. The story is grace. The story is law condemns and grace saves. That's how it starts in Genesis. It goes all the way through to the book of Revelation. The commandments came with a divine plan of a sacrifice. They are given the commandments at an altar. They do not yet know it, but they will constantly make sacrifices for their sin and their failure. God knew men would fail. He designed the plan of salvation. He did the plan of salvation. He would come in a blessing as they learned of their need and made the sacrifices. These sacrifices all pointed to the person of Jesus. In the middle of the trial, found guilty, waiting for our death, God provides a sacrifice for us to be delivered and be saved. I wish I could have time to show you, but just imagine quickly with me. Here's a courtroom. And they have just sat you down at the chair. And the man comes forward and pulls out the Ten Commandments. chapter 20 and he says, all right, let's see how many of these you get my own. You mess up on one, you're gone. Did you handle this one? Did you handle this one? And before it's over, they're writing down everything. You're a liar. You're a cheat. You're a stealer. You're an adulterer. You're a murderer. You put other gods before me. And before it's over, I've got a list that sends me to hell. And in the middle of a trial, when I have no hope and the holy God that shakes the earth is talking, he says, hey, guys, build you an altar. I've got a plan. You're messed up, but I'm not, and I'm here to save you. You should say amen right there. Verse 5, or point 5, verse 25. They would realize that that altar was even something that God was doing. Look at the power in this verse. If thou wilt make me an altar of stone, you are not to build it of hewn stone. You don't go cut it out, dig it out, form it up, and make it pretty. You don't go get a sculpture to make it. Because if you put your tools on it, you contaminate it. And here's what we've done all through the church, all through history. Salvation is God's grace in our tools. Salvation is what God did on the cross and me keeping the Ten Commandments. Salvation is what God did on the cross and me continuing to be in church. Salvation is what God did and what I do, and I'm going to keep your tools off of it, because you contaminate it. God is saying, you've always messed up. You messed up in the Garden of Eden, and you messed up in Genesis chapter 6 when there was a flood, and you're always messing up. But I have a solution. The very first family messed up, and animals died. And again, animals die, and every animal points to Jesus. Even the altar was to be special. It would be made of materials exactly as God had prepared them. They were not to lift a hand to make them like they wanted. It shows it's God and His plan, not man and his. The sacrifice will be made as God wanted, where God wanted, and the way God wanted. Even the altar was a God thing. We never measure up. We can't measure up. We can't even build something that measures up. Only God is great enough to save us. That's security of salvation if there ever was. Because you mess up and I mess up, but he doesn't mess up. The first part of the verse, those 10 commandments, Take like 17 verses and they're going, you can't, you can't, you can't, you didn't, you're in trouble. The next verse says God comes down and says, all right, let me read the results of the scan. Let me just see if you got cancer. Yeah, you do. Now build an altar. But you build it my way, the way I tell you to, because only I can save. I'm saved today because I serve a great God. I received a gift I don't earn. You can learn much from this chapter. All of us have failed the God of heaven. Every man's a sinner. All mouths are stopped. We realize that the commandments were given to bring us to Jesus and not a standard to live by. We realize that God has provided the answer for our sins. We magnify and glorify God because we see our enormous guilt in his great grace. We worship him like he wants to be worshiped because he is worthy. So when you step to that altar, remember you step not in your arrogance and your pride, You step as a humbled sinner, knowing you never measured up, but you serve a great God. That's who we are. That's who we are. We came to him just like we were, and he saved us. It's God doing a work in your life. So you might have been saying, I'm not sure I'm saved. You know, sometimes I wonder, I don't seem to keep living like I'm supposed to, and I'm not living up to it, and I'm not measuring up. That's right. That's right. That's right. You never do. You're never tall enough. You're never strong enough. You're never good enough. It's always our God is good enough. Father in heaven, I love you and I praise you and I pray that your people's hearts will be lifted up to you to think what a great God you are and to magnify you. I'll give you glory and honor and praise for what you do. Thank you so very much. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. 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