I’m Good
The sign here says Kneel To Jesus. I borrowed my friends sign because one day we will all kneel to Jesus, whether today you believe this or not. Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Today, you may be a God mocker or a God scoffer, but one day you will bow your knee, you will confess that Jesus is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. That He is right. That He is just. You will confess that Jesus is righteous.
Judgment Day is not a game. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the Judgment (Hebrews 9:27). You cannot cheat death. Today, you may think that you are bullet proof. But one day you will die. You can cheat on exams, you can cheat on your finals, you can cheat on your boyfriend or girlfriend, but you cannot cheat death. We are all going to stand before God on Judgment Day. Every single one of us will kneel to Jesus.
A Lot Of Times People Rejecting Tracts Say No, I’m Good
We can predict this pretty much every time we hand out tracts, but the most common response to rejecting Gospel tracts is “I’m good.” The majority of people today that rejected a tract said, no, I’m good. They said I’m good. But the problem is that none of us are good. As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none that understands; there is none that seeks after God. They have all gone out of the way; they have together become unprofitable; there is none that does good, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10-12).
No matter how good you think you are, we are not good. The Bible says most men will proclaim themselves good in their own eyes (Proverbs 20:6). The problem is none of us are good. God gave us the 10 Commandment so that we could easily see that we don’t measure up. The 10 Commandments are perfect. It takes perfection to keep the commandments. Only someone perfect can keep these commandments. None of us are perfect. You don’t know me and I don’t know you, but I assure you that I’m not perfect. Even though I don’t know you, I know that you are not perfect either.
We have all sinned. None of us have loved God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. Most of us have blasphemed God. Very few people will say that they’ve never used God’s name as a curse word. Most people admit that they have said gd or jc as a cussword, but a few people will say that they’ve never blasphemed God. We’ve all blasphemed God at one time or another, because we’ve all blasphemed God by our words or our actions or our thoughts.
Even Your Secret Thoughts Will Be Revealed On Judgment Day
Every secret thought will be revealed in the end (Ecclesiastes 12:14). On Judgment Day, we will be judged by our thoughts, by our words, by our actions. None of us have honored our parents every day of our lives. Most people don’t keep the Sabbath Day Holy, not even most religious people. We’ve all lied, lusted and coveted. We’ve all broken God’s Law. Each and every one of us have stolen something at one time or another. Even if it was a test answer from your friend’s test paper.
Even if you were good and all that you ever did wrong in this life was tell one little white lie, that would be enough to condemn you to eternal Hell. God is that Holy! Folks we’re are all so much worse than just people who only tell white lies. In the book of James it says if you break one commandment that you have broken them all. You see all we have is this mountain of sin debt that keeps piling up. They claim the average person tells three lies in a typical three-minute conversation.
We’ve told hundreds of thousands of lies. When you walk by today and we try to hand you a tract and you say, no I’m good, you don’t understand your own heart. Your heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it (Jeremiah 17:9). You can’t even know your own heart. We’ve all sinned against God; we’ve all violated the 10 Commandments. When you stand before God on Judgment Day, you will be reminded of every sin that you have committed and you will understand that you are guilty.
You Will Be Speechless On The Great And Terrible Day Of The Lord
Romans 3:19 says that every mouth will be stopped. Today, you may be a God mocker, but on that great and terrible day, you won’t have anything to say. Someone said earlier that they don’t like God because He killed people in the Old Testament. We’ll I’m here to tell you that God still kills people today. They soul that sins, it shall die. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).
You are working for death, if Jesus Christ is not your Lord and Savior. No matter how hard you are working for a degree today, what you are really working for is death. Eternal death. Eternal separation from Jesus in a very real place called Hell. And Hell is a place of torments. We don’t want you to go there.
We Love God And We Love Others
My friends came from Rolla and I came from Springfield to share the Gospel with you. We love God because He first loved us. We love God and we love others so we are here today sharing God’s truth with you. My friends and I don’t want to see anybody die in their sins and go to Hell. Even the most hardened atheist on this campus, I don’t want to see them die and go to Hell. We want you to repent and put your trust in Jesus.
Why should you kneel to Jesus? Because one day you will. Why will you kneel to Him? Because He is the perfect one. He is the sinless Son of God. You see those same 10 Commandments that you and I cannot keep, Jesus Christ kept them. Two Thousand years ago Jesus came to this earth, fully God and fully man. Born of the virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit. Jesus walked this earth. He put on clothes just like we do. He put on sandals and He walked this earth, just like you and I walk it today.
The Bible says Jesus was tempted in every way. Don’t think that you and I are tempted in some unique way just because you carry around the internet in your pocket. Jesus was tempted in every way, yet He was without sin. There was no guile found in His mouth. Jesus did what you and I couldn’t do, He perfectly kept the 10 Commandments. He never lied, never stole anything, never lusted or coveted. Yet, Jesus laid down His life as a ransom for many. Jesus said that no man takes My life from Him, He willingly laid it down. Yes, the Jews turned Him over to the Romans to be crucified, but Jesus allowed it.
Jesus Willingly Went To The Cross
The Lord willing went to the cross. He willingly laid open His back for the smiters to rip His back open. Jesus was beaten with 39 lashes across His back. He was spit upon, He was hit. A crown of thorns was pressed down upon His head. Your forehead is very tender with a lot of nerve endings there. Sometimes we forget how painful that was. The crown of thorns was awful torment. Jesus was beaten beyond recognition. He suffered tremendously. Why? Because God hates sin. God hates all workers of iniquity (Psalm 5:5). God is angry with the wicked every day (Psalm 7:11).
Yes, God is love, Yes God is merciful. God is kind. Yes, God is full of grace. But He’s also a God of justice, righteousness and wrath. He does punish sin and He must punish sin. He did punish His own precious Son, His only begotten Son. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
You can receive life today; everlasting life, abundant life, eternal life found in Christ alone. Why? Because Jesus went to that cruel cross. Yes, His hands and feet were nailed to the cross. And as He hung there for six long torturous hours, God poured His wrath out over sinful man upon on His own precious Son.
You Don’t Think God Hates Sin?
You don’t think God hates sin? He punished His own sinless Son on behalf of guilty sinners like you and me. Jesus took the punishment that you and I deserve. He paid the sin debt that we owe. Jesus was buried and on the third day He rose victoriously from the grave.
My friends and I serve a risen Savior. We don’t serve Mohammad, Buddha, Joseph Smith, or any of the other cult leaders. Those men are dead and you can go see their bones. But you can’t see the bones of Jesus. He is not there. He is risen. We serve a risen Lord. Jesus defeated sin, death, Hell and Satan and God offers eternal life to each and every person who repents and puts their trust in Jesus.
Not only do we run into a lot of people who say no, I’m good when we hand out tracts, we also run into a lot of people who profess Jesus with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him. I’m not picking on you students, I used to be one of you. When I went to MSU 35 years ago, I was a drunkard, a fornicator, a liar and a thief. I was a bunch of things that I’m not proud of today.
I’d Say Yes I’m A Christian
Back then I would sit there with my non-Christian friends and drink and hold that beer can high in the air and say, “yes, I’m a Christian.” I see now how foolish that was. But when I was blinded by the little g god of this world, I didn’t see it. When I loved my sin. Men love the darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil (John 3:19). You do what you want to do because you want to do it. Students, you are living selfishly for yourself.
You are sinner because you love your sins. When I was in college I did the same thing, but I claimed to be a Christian. I professed Him with my lips while my heart was far from Him by my words, my thoughts and my actions. I thought because I had asked Jesus into my heart when I was 11 years old that I had my fire insurance. Foolishly I thought I could live like the devil, for the devil, but as long as I asked the little g god to forgive me, that he would. But this is not the God of the Bible. This little g god has no power.
Jesus came to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). If you are the same old dirty, rotten, sinner that you were before you asked Jesus into your heart, then you are still the same old dirty, rotten sinner that you’ve always been. Again, I’m not picking on you. I used to be a false convert. In Matthew 7:21 Jesus said: “Not everyone that says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that does the will of My Father who is in Heaven. I realized that I had not lived for God, I hadn’t done the will of God the Father.
Depart From Me
Then Jesus goes on to say in Matthew 7:22: Many will say to Me in that Day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and in Your name have cast out demons, and in Your name done many wonderful works?’ Jesus goes on to say that some of these people even cast out demons. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never cast out a demon. Jesus some of those still were not truly saved. This is a scary thought. There are many people burning in Hell who thought they were saved because they said a little prayer and Jesus into their heart, yet they were never really saved. They lived their whole life for the devil.
In Matthew 7:23 our Lord states: And then will I profess unto them, ‘I never knew you: depart from Me, you that work iniquity.’ Depart from Me, I never knew you. Oh, you thought you knew Me, but you lived your life for yourself. You honored me with your lips at one time, but after that you had blessings and cursings both coming out of your mouth. Oh, you lived like the devil and like your non-Christian friends. Jesus is going to say, depart from Me, I never knew you. You thought you knew Me, but I never knew you. These are some of the scariest verses in the Bible.
Those verses shook me to the core. Ten years ago, I was reading straight through the Bible and these verses scared me. I kept reading until I got to Romans 8:1, where there is no more condemnation. But the rest of the verse says no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and no longer walked after the flesh, but now walk after the Spirit. Immediately I recognized that I lived after the flesh for the past 33 years. I said Oh God save me. I am one of those people in Matthew 7:21-23 where Jesus was going to say depart from me you worker of iniquity, I never knew you.
God Opened My Eyes
God opened my eyes. He convicted me over my sins. I cried out to God and He saved me. I repented from my sins and put my trust in Jesus Christ alone. That’s why we are out here today preaching the Good News. Jesus saved a sinner like me. He saved a sinner like Jeremy and He saved a sinner like Joshua. He can save you too. God will cast your sins as far as the East is from the West, if you repent and put your faith in Jesus.
When you kneel to Jesus, when you kneel to the King of Kings, when you kneel to the Lord of Lords, God will grant you everlasting life. He will no longer see you as the dirty, rotten sinner that you are. He will see you through the righteousness of Jesus. Your life could be changed forever. None of us are good. You need to admit that you are a sinner. Believe on the Lord Jesus, that He paid your sin debt. Put on the righteousness of Jesus. Confess and forsake your sins. Repent and surrender your life fully and completely to Jesus. Will you do this today? Will you surrender your life to Christ?
None of us are good. Admit this today. Recognize that you can’t wipe out your sins. You need a Savior and Jesus is the only Savior of mankind. You have sinned against God and He only forgives sin through Jesus, His sinless Son. Don’t die in your sins and go to Hell. We want you to be saved. Come to Jesus. Repent and put your trust in Him. Kneel to Jesus today. Repent and believe the Gospel. Turn from your sins, turn to the risen Lord. If you have any questions, come over and talk to one of us. If you’d like a free Bible, we have some free Bibles.
(This message was proclaimed at the University of Missouri on August 28, 2017)