When God’s Deeds Don’t Count

Introduction

Well, Daniel, you had me feeling like a time warp situation there for a minute when you said this was the song before this morning’s lesson. And most people didn’t even catch it.

But if the song that we have just sung, Make Me a Servant is the true sentiment of our hearts, then we will have successfully applied tonight’s lesson. And so I appreciate his selections pure in heart. Help me to be, and then our song of invitation, all of those have application to tonight’s thoughts. And tonight, if you’re sitting on this side of the auditorium, it’s come right to you. Now you all get to see how the other half lives. Because you have to look all the way over here because Gary’s messed this thing up. That’s not really fair. Gary’s done all this work trying to put all the, all I did was order some of the stuff, but he’s done all this work getting it mounted, and there seems to be a complication that we’re going to look into here as to why we can’t get it on both screens.

But eventually, it is my hope that we get all of this ironed out in the next few weeks. Progress takes time.

So you’re going to have to stay with me on this. I want to begin with this thought that throughout Israel’s history, they would often fall prey to doing the right things. But doing those things for the wrong reasons. And that then would nullify any personal spiritual benefit. When the right things are done, good things can result, even if some of the people doing them are doing them for the wrong reasons. And it’s certainly better to do right things than wrong things. But just because some right forms are done, some right things are said. There’s a lot of people teaching throughout the world today in relation to Christianity who are saying right things, but they are also mixing in error. And that’s a very dangerous thing. And so there is some benefit to the right forms being done, but we must not conclude that because the right forms are done, that God is necessarily pleased with what we have given him.

Do you got that? That’s important tonight. It is important not only what we do, and what we do is important, but also why we do what we do. And those two things must coincide. They must go together. And as I say that tonight, I want to say by way of outset, that our hearts can play tricks on us. And we need to be very careful that we properly assess ourselves as we have sung, make me a servant. Do I really have a servant’s heart? More holiness give me. Does that really reflect the sentiment of my heart? Or are those simply words that we sung tonight? We needed both the what and the why as we sang those songs. And I’m reminded of Jeremiah 17. Jeremiah is talking about his people in a very bleak time in Judah’s history.

They’re about to be destroyed by the Babylonians. They’re going to be running around saying, oh, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, we’re God’s people, we’re God’s covenant people, the temple’s right there, and the Babylonians are going to destroy the place. And he says, the heart is deceitfully sick. Above all else.

Who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart. I test the mind, even to give each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds. And hold that thought. That’s going to apply to some things I say later tonight. The Lord searches the heart, he tests the mind and gives to each man according to his ways. And Jeremiah said, the heart of my people is sick. They think they’re okay. I’ve always liked the sentiment of David in this regard in Psalm 139. In Psalm 139, that wonderful psalm that talks about being fearfully and wonderfully made and how a child is formed in the womb and giving God the praise for all of that. He comes to the end and he says, Search me, O God, Psalm 139 and verse 23.

Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my anxious thoughts. And see, Lord God, I want you to see if there be any hurtful way in me. And basically, weed it out is the implication. And lead me in the everlasting way. I’ve always said Psalm 139, 23 and 24 needs to be our words to God on a frequent basis. On a frequent basis. I’m getting ahead of myself. Search me and know my heart. If there is any hurtful way in me, lead me in the everlasting way. And the reason why this is so important as part of the lesson. Very few people want to acknowledge. I’m being used by the devil. That’s me. The devil’s using me. Like when Jesus has to tell Peter, get behind me, Satan.

You’re not setting your interests on God’s, but man’s. When he said, Oh no, Lord, you’re not going to go and die. That’s not going to happen. He says, Satan’s using you, Peter. You think Satan was using Peter in Galatians chapter 2 when he had to be withstood to the face by the Apostle Paul when he was carried away in hypocrisy in regard to the Gentiles, and even Barnabas was carried away and all of that in Galatians chapter 2. In that moment, they are being used by the devil. And then time would fail me to talk about the Galatians. That’s several churches, you know. The churches of Galatians. Who has bewitched you, oh foolish Galatians? And they’re believing that circumcision as under the old law is necessary under the new covenant.

As a result, they are fallen from grace. The devil has influenced them and they don’t know it. You’re believing a different gospel, he says, the Corinthians, they rejected Paul. And he says, remember how the serpent beguiled Eve. 2 Corinthians 11 and verse 3, the craftiness of the serpent. And he says, even Satan transforms himself into an angel of light, 2 Corinthians 11 and verse 14. And that’s what’s happening in Corinth. Satan has made bad things look good, and he’s made good things look bad. And they’re rejecting the Apostle Paul as a result. We’ve got to be careful that Satan doesn’t use us, that we don’t allow him a foothold in our hearts, and that our service to God becomes less than what God wants. I want to talk to you this morning.

1. Beware of Practicing Righteousness to Be Noticed

See, Daniel. I want to talk to you this evening about when good deeds don’t count. And I want you to look at Matthew chapter 6 with me. This is one of the major teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. Now, this is all connected to those beatitudes in the beginning of the chapter and the attitudes that we need to have. And listen, all the texts we’re going to look at where bad things are exposed tonight. The answers to those bad things are in the context that we’re reading, and I want you to notice that. The answers to those problems are often in this context. And he’s already said the kind of heart we need to have in the beatitudes, the hungering and thirsting after righteousness, the gentleness, the poor in spirit, pure in heart, peacemakers, all of that.

Now we come to chapter 6, and he says, beware of practicing your righteousness. Okay, practicing righteousness, we’re supposed to be doing that. That’s practicing right things. But he says, beware of doing that to be noticed by men. Otherwise, well, is it that big of a deal, really? You have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. That’s bad. When therefore you give alms, do not sound the trumpet. There was nobody actually doing that. Can you imagine that? I’m about to give to this poor person to have anything. Get the trumpet out, honey. Here. Blows it up. Blows the trumpet. Everybody, look over here. I’m about to give alms. But they might as well have done that. Because they wanted everybody to see what they were doing.

You hypocrites, he says. As the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. And he’s saying what they get out of that is what they get out of that, and that’s all they’re getting. The praise of men. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Keep it concealed from your other hand so things don’t get carried away. That your alms may be in secret, and your father who sees in secret will repay you. And other people may not notice, they’re not going to sound the trumpet for you, but your heavenly father will see, and that’s all that matters.

And when you pray, you are not to be as the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners in order to be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. What they’re wanting, they’re getting, they’re getting it in full, but that’s all they’re getting. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room. And when you shut your door, well, nobody’s going to see you there in the dark. Pray to your father who is in secret, and your father who sees in secret will repay you. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do. They’re just wordy for wordy’s sake. For they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.

2. The Right Thing Was Done, but God Was Not Pleased

Boy, if I can preach a long sermon, gonna go for an hour and a half tonight. Maybe I’ll get my ticket stamped for heaven. It’s not about length, he says. They think they will be heard for their many words. Therefore, do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him. And so I want you to notice tonight a number of occasions in Scripture where the right thing was done. But God was not pleased. And many of these were associated with the practices of those New Testament individuals called the Pharisees. And Mike asked me very recently, where did the Pharisees come from? And maybe that’s something that we take for granted. You start reading in the book of Matthew in the New Testament, and Pharisee this and Pharisee that.

And we’re still talking about the Pharisees. We talk about them a lot because they dominate a lot of Jesus’ teaching. In the New Testament, he’s always addressing them and dealing with them. And we think we may have seen some Pharisees in our time, even among the Lord’s people now. And so we talk about the Pharisees. Well, where do they come from? And I told this to Mike, and so I did some research as a result of the discussion that we had. Really, the Pharisees have a very positive beginning. They came to be during the second century and had their roots in the Hasidim. The Hasidim were those who stood against the corruption and the abomination of desolation committed by Antiochus Epiphanes, who actually was prophesied about in the book of Daniel that he was going to commit this act.

And he offers a hog on the altar in Jerusalem, corrupts temple worship, and his goal was to destroy Israel’s worship. And so that’s when the Maccabees revolted. And if you have the intertestamental literature, the Apocrypha and the book of Maccabees, there’s a historical record of the conflicts that unfolded between Antiochus Epiphanes and his cronies to the north, and these men who I think are mentioned in Daniel 11 and verse 32, when they displayed strength and took action. And they rid these people and took action as a result of the abomination of desolation. And so they had very positive beginnings. And they were, because of the corruption in the priesthood, they began, the Pharisees, as they grew out of this element of the Hasidim, they began to trust in the scribes.

And that’s why you hear so much about the scribes also in the first century. They were the copyists of the law of the Old Testament, and they were considered very pious and humble. And they actually were more of a trusted source of information than the priests. And so the Pharisees, if they wanted to know a right answer about something, they would go to the scribe who knew the book of God back and forth. And so that’s why we read about the scribes and the Pharisees. They were sort of in league with one another. Well, over time, even this relationship became not a good thing. And it doesn’t take long sometimes. It doesn’t take many generations before both the scribes and particularly the Pharisees began to be corrupted with pride as a result of their standing among the people or how they perceived their standing among the people.

It doesn’t take hundreds and hundreds of years for these kinds of problems to develop, that what starts as a good thing ends up being a bad thing. I’ve known a lot of people in the body of Christ who started very zealously and things went sideways in less than two decades. It doesn’t take very long for things to get corrupted. And so what started very well a couple of centuries ago, by the time of Christ has evolved into something very not so pleasing to God. And a lot of what’s going to follow as we talk about good deeds that don’t count, we have exemplified, not only in the nation of Israel earlier, but particularly the Pharisees of the first century. And you saw very heavily in Matthew chapter 6, verses 1 through 8, two areas where people are doing the right things, but God’s not happy.

Prayer is not right just because it’s prayer. Giving to others or giving to God is not right just because it’s giving. If the motives are not right. Let me give you an example. There was this fellow who sold a tract of land. And he took the money and he laid at the apostles’ feet. Who was that? He was named Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth. They changed his name. The apostles gave him a new name. Barnabas, which means son of encouragement. He gave the right gift, he gave it generously. He didn’t do it to be seen of men. But then what flew out of that example, the very next thing in Scripture is Ananias and Sapphira. They sold a tract of land, but they kept back part of the price.

But apparently, and this is only understood by implication, apparently in their hearts they were giving the impression to everybody that they were giving all the money when they actually had kept back. It was okay. Like Peter said, while it remained unsold, was it not your own? Nobody was demanding that they do this. They didn’t have to sell their land and lay at the apostles’ feet, as Barnabas had done. But what they did was they sold the land, kept back part of the price, and gave the impression that they were just like Barnabas. That they were making this large sacrificial gift when in reality they’d only given part. And of course, the text says that they had not only lied to men, but they had lied to God.

They had lied to the Holy Spirit. And they were struck dead as an example. And so here are people who were doing some giving. God wasn’t pleased. And then the Pharisees themselves in Matthew 23. Oh, they would tithe even down to the smallest spice, mint and dill, and cumin. But they would neglect the weightier matters of the law, faithfulness, justice, and mercy. And he said, now these you ought to have done. He wasn’t belittling how that they would tithe even the smallest of things to God. Give a tenth to God. That’s great. They love tithing. They wanted to be experts in tithing. But the law of God is more than tithing. It’s more than putting money in a collection plate on the first day of the week.

It’s more than that. It’s more than a generous amount. It’s more than a tenth. So he said, I put a tenth of my income in the plate on the Lord’s day, my ticket stamp for heaven. That’s the Pharisees’ mentality. He said, These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone. All of God’s righteousness matters. In Malachi chapter 1, earlier in Israel’s history, the sacrifices they were offering, God says through Malachi, the lame and the sick, really. Give that to the governor. You’re supposed to be offering me your best. And you’re offering me the lame and the sick. And there’s all kinds of applications we can make from that in regard to our worship. But you’re offering the lame and sick. Do you think your governor would be pleased with that?

What makes you think I’m going to be pleased with that? I don’t want those sacrifices. I wish somebody would shut the doors of the temple. I don’t want it, he says. Because you say how wearisome it is. And then he would later challenge them in chapter 3. Will a man rob God? Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse. You give me the whole thing. And I’m sure that fueled the Pharisees’ obsession with tithing in the New Testament. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse. But again, God wants more than just the tithe. He said, but you know, if you do that, prove me now in this. If I will not open the windows of heaven and pour you a blessing. Pour you out a blessing until it overflows.

That’s the great thing when we do the will of God. God will more than amply reward us for what we have given to Him. Well, that’s just prayers and alms. We could talk about worship generally in the Old Testament. In the days of Amos, the fig picker from Tacoa. He says in Amos chapter 5, I hate your festivals. I reject your solemn assemblies. Take away from me the noise of your songs. But let righteousness flow down like a river. Justice, like an ever flowing stream. You see, they were unjust in their treatment toward each other. They were not righteous in their conduct. And so he says, I don’t care about your song service. I don’t care about your religious festivals. Yes, I prescribe those. Yes, I wanted those.

But I don’t want worship for worship’s sake. I want lives that are consistent with that profession. Well, what about teaching? The Pharisees, you remember Matthew 23? The Pharisees would go about on land and sea to make one proselyte. That’s evangelism. They’re producing more Pharisees. More people would be devoted to the law. Like they were. They would go on land and sea to make one proselyte. And Jesus says what? You make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. And what did he say earlier? We had this passage on the board a minute ago in Matthew 23. And earlier in that chapter.

Look at this, verse 3. Matthew 23, 3. Therefore, all that they tell you, do and observe. Do and observe. But do not do according to their deeds, for they say things and do not do them. They tie up heavy loads and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. And of course they brought in their phylacteries, and we’ve talked about that before. But what he’s saying is, they’re teaching you the right stuff. Do what they’re telling you, but they’re not going to do it. So it’s not going to help them. Even evangelists, as we saw in Matthew 23 and verse 15. Even martyrdom? You mean I can do some, I can give my life. Did it not profit me something?

Look at 1 Corinthians 13. This is this really to this text has to be looked at here. 1 Corinthians 13. This is that passage that talks about love. And it says, if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, well, that’s glorious to be sure. And has its goal to promote God’s cause in the world. But he says, if I do that, if I have tongues and don’t have love, then I’m just a noisy gong and a clinging symbol. The Pharisees, the Corinthians. They had the gift of tongues and they were as divisive and unloving about the exercise of that gift, and that’s what he’s dealing with in this context of chapters 12 through 14. They use tongue speaking as a means of division.

I’m better than you because I speak in tongues. He says, look, if that’s the case, yes, tongues were given to glorify God and to impart his revelation, but if you have that kind of attitude in your heart, you’re just a clinging symbol. Then read on. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and I know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains. But you know what? If I don’t get love right, I have nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, there’s giving in alms again. If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

3. Motives That Nullify Right Forms

Even going so far as to surrender your life, but not for the right reasons, not with the right heart. Even martyrdom. I would tell you, this is a scary list of things here. These are things God wants. But they don’t count. Now let’s get to the heart of this tonight. I like saying it that way, actually. Engaging in the right forms can serve as an easier substitute for the greater work of molding our hearts into his image. That’s the important thought in this lesson tonight. Are you getting this? Focus on this. We can engage in the right forms and feel content and good about our religion. Because we’ve engaged in these right forms. And as important as the what is, and so a lot of folks aren’t getting it right.

As important as the what is, we can sort of become content with the what because that’s easier than the why. The what is easier than the why. And we can get these forms right and sort of let that be our substitute. That’s what that’s how we’re going to define real religion. And we can forget about the greater work of having the kind of heart that the Lord wants us to have. And that gets to the nuts and bolts of this, motives that nullify right forms. And this is what we read in Matthew chapter 6, verses 1 through 8. If we do our good deeds or practice our righteousness, or pursue our worship, even though the forms are right, if I’m doing them so that somebody else can stroke my ego and pat my back and tell me what a wonderful person that I am, if that’s my motive, it don’t do me any good.

It might help other people. There might be other people engaging in those same forms at the exact same time, and they may get something out of it, and they may go to heaven as a result. But if that’s my motive, I want people to look at me. You’re going to lose your reward. I don’t care how right everything else is. If your motive is to be noticed, praised, applauded, put on a pedestal by other men.

4. Right Forms and Right Beliefs Become a Source of Pride

Good deeds don’t count. The second thing. When those right forms and right beliefs become a source of pride. That’s what happened to the Pharisees. We’re the practicers of the law. We cross all the T’s, we dot all the I’s. We got things right. You want to know how to do things? You come ask me. We got it right. There’s a lot of people out there in the religious world who got it wrong. We got it right. Do you think we could ever develop that attitude? Because we believe the truth about what saves a person? When so many people get that wrong? When we practice the truth in regard to what we do in worship when so many people get that wrong. Do you ever think we could develop the attitude?

If you want the answers, come to me. Self-righteousness, self-elevation, self-exaltation, thinking that because we got those things right, that makes us better than other people. And then we, as a result of that, become judgmental. Of those who are not doing what I do. Again, I’m so much better than they are, because I myself become the standard of things. And that’s exactly what the Pharisees did. Lord, I thank you. And they trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and they viewed other people with contempt. That’s what precedes the parable of the Pharisee and the publican in Luke’s text in Luke chapter 18. Because they viewed others with contempt and trusted in themselves that they were righteous. He tells the story about the Pharisee and the publican, and all we got of the Pharisee’s prayer is, I’m so much better than this other guy.

This other guy is so much less than what I am. I’m so glad I’m not him. And that fella would not even lift his eyes up to heaven, but smote his breast and said, God be merciful to me, the sinner. And Jesus said, Pharisees, I want to tell you, this guy went down to his house justified. Not because he was better, but because he understood who he was. That’s why he went down to his house justified. And you, the Pharisee, did not. And I think of the parable of the talents, you know? We know that story, right? Five talents, two talents, one talent. Five talent man went and got five more, the two talent women went and got two talent more. What if the five-talent man had said, Boy, I’m sure better than that two-talent guy.

I got ten. He only got four. You think you’d have been pleasing to God if that was part of the story? No. And what if the one talent man had gone out and got one more talent? Or even just put it out for interest and didn’t even get a full talent. Jesus would have been happy with that, he said. And he would have been just as happy and would have said the same thing in the end to the one-talent man that he had said to the two-talent man, but he said to the five-talent man, enter into the joys of thy Lord. And yet so often in those kinds of scenarios, we can say, hey, I’m Mr. Five-talent over here, and this Mr. Two-talent over here, and one talent over here, not so much better than him.

We can’t develop those kinds of attitudes. And that’s why Paul would say, and this again was the problem in Corinth, with these tongue speakers, I’m the tongue speaker over here. I’m on the upper echelon of Christianity up here. Tongue speaker. Up here. Prophecy? Down here. Tongue speaker? Up here. And Paul talks about every member of the body is necessary. Doesn’t matter whether the foot or the hand or what you are, you’re not more important than any other part of the body. And God gives more abundant honor to the member that lacks. The weaker members are necessary. 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 24. With God, it’s an equal playing field. It doesn’t matter if somebody else in the local church has more talent than you, has more opportunity than you, is more recognized than you, can do more things than you, can teach when you can’t teach, can serve when you can’t serve.

5. Do It Without Murmuring and Complaining

Just because someone is more talented and has more opportunity, it doesn’t make him better. God levels the playing field. And you get older, you can’t do the things that you once did or wouldn’t even like to do because your body won’t cooperate. Perhaps your mind won’t cooperate, and God still levels the playing field. He gives more abundant honor to the member that lacks. And we can get so carried away with who we really think is great. In the kingdom. Beware of what the standard is. Tell you what else. We can do the right things, we murmur and complain about. Might as well not do it. Practice hospitality. Do it without murmuring and complaining. That’s what Peter says. In 1 Peter chapter 4, verses 8 and 9.

6. Thinking Our Good Deeds Merit Our Salvation

Hospitality without complaint. He says, do all things without murmuring and complaining. Philippians chapter 2, verses 12 through 14. Paul’s attitude was, I would rather spin and be expended for your soul. There’s no murmuring or complaining about all the work and sacrifices that he had to make for the Corinthians and how they’re treating him like this. He wasn’t complaining or murmuring. I’m here to be expended, he says. One more big problem. Thinking in all of our good deeds that we are somehow meriting our salvation. If we start thinking that, we’re going to nullify all our good deeds. But I’ve done enough, and now I’m going to earn my way into heaven. Let me talk to you about our good deeds for just a moment. Whatever we’ve done.

Jesus says in one of my favorite verses in the New Testament. Whatever we’ve done, we’re still unprofitable servants. He says, we’ve done only that which we ought to have done.

That’s true. Even after you’ve attended a zillion worship services and sung a zillion songs, or preached thousands of sermons, or taught hundreds of classes, or engaged in many acts of hospitality, know the Bible inside and out, can quote verses inside and out. No matter what you have done, whether you’re an elder, a preacher, a teacher, or just simply a member, when you’ve done what you’ve done, it’s only what you should have done.

I am no more close. Let me say this correctly. Let me just say it how I have it written down. I am no closer to meriting my salvation than the day I rose from the waters of baptism.

I’m not any better. Any closer than I was that day. Oh, I may more resemble Christ than I did that day when I dedicated myself to being like him. But I have grown no closer in meriting my salvation since that day. Jesus is great. I am not. We do not preach ourselves. But ourselves as bond servants for Jesus’ sake. But the surpassing greatness is not of ourselves. We are simply his treasure in earthen vessels. We do not preach ourselves. But ourselves as bond servants for Jesus’ sake. Some of the thoughts of this lesson came from a Bible class I attended in Florida. Where a couple of young men were teaching the book of Romans. I don’t know, the very thought of that just scared me to death.

And so I’m sitting there in the Bible class. Because I tell you, I don’t think I’ve ever taught Romans verse by verse. And so I applaud these young men for taking this on. We’re sitting there in a class, and a couple of times they’re going, ooh, you know. When the statement was made, it’s not about what we do, trying to explain justification by faith versus justification. It’s not about what we do. I’m going. Oh, but yes, it is. It is about what we do. It’s not about what we do in terms of meriting our salvation, but that he tends to be a dangerous statement. Justification by faith does not mean that lawlessness is okay. And when you say, well, justification by faith means it doesn’t matter what we do, then why are we even here tonight?

It doesn’t matter what we do. What we do matters. We’re going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and receive the things done in our body, whether those things are good or bad. That sounds like what we do matters. In fact, it may matter now more than it ever has. That’s what I’m reading in my New Testament these days.

If every act of disobedience received a just recompense of reward in the Old Testament, then he says, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? I get concerned when I hear things, but it’s not about what we do. Look, that passage in Hebrews 2 and verse 3 says, if I neglect so great a salvation, I’m in trouble. No, what we do matters. I’m certainly not saying that. I just think people don’t understand Paul’s point about how justification by faith works versus justification in a law system. We need more teaching on that, and I can’t do it all tonight, but more on that later. But it’s not about the fact that obedience and striving no longer matter in the system of justification by faith.

It’s just that our acceptance is no longer based on a system where you have to perform perfectly. Just thanks be to God that we’re not under that system anymore. But that doesn’t mean that obedience and striving no longer matter. Because those things are all over the New Testament. He is the author of eternal salvation to all those who obey him. The people that pay the penalty of eternal destruction are those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. So whatever you’re going to say about justification by faith, you’re not ruling out obedience and striving. It is about what we do. Just thanks be to God that we don’t have to perform perfectly all the way along to merit our salvation.

Because we couldn’t do it. We couldn’t merit it. One sin would mean we didn’t make it in a law system. Thanks be to God. We have a faith system so that our missteps can be accounted for. We should strive and sacrifice all the more in the system of justification by faith, casting ourselves in the end on his great mercy. Because I will not have deserved what he gives me on that day. And we must be careful, Titus says, to engage in good deeds, and we must not justify neglect. We must be, and this is what this lesson is telling us, we must be on constant heart watch. And that’s always been the case because they couldn’t be justified by law under the Old Testament. And that’s why you have passages in Proverbs 4 that say, keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it flows the issues of life.

That’s even in the old covenant. Because ultimately that’s what’s going to matter. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it flows the issues of life. And so when we come to the New Testament, and Jesus is teaching, and he tells about that woman who illustrates that you ought always to pray and not lose heart. And she wears the judge out by her continual coming. He concludes with this important question. And this gets to our heart watch, why we do what we do. When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? That’s the deal. Will we be people of faith?

Conclusion

How are we going to make our good deeds count? Our status is that of complete and utter dependence upon God. And that never changes. The second thing that I would suggest to you that we are always debtors. As Paul said of himself, I’m a debtor. To the Jews and the Greeks. We’re always debtors. That never changes. It doesn’t matter again how many songs we sung, how many times we’ve done the Lord’s Supper right, how many times we’ve done assemblies right, how many times we’ve been right about Bible passages as we’ve studied them, how many Bible classes we’ve attended, and we’ve crossed the T’s and dotted the I’s, and we’ve got the correct interpretation of those passages. It doesn’t matter if we get the whole Bible right.

We will still be debtors. That never changes. Completely dependent upon God for our salvation. That’s the nature of salvation through justification by faith. That’s the way it works. We will always be debtors. We will always be dependent. And that should drive everything else. And I want to conclude tonight with Colossians 3. Okay, I’ve been justified by faith, thankfully, because we if I had to be justified by law, I’ve messed up way too many times. One time, that was it. Couldn’t make it. But thanks be to God for a system of justification by faith. When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? That’s what God is looking for. And now it’s got to motivate me. That motivates my activity for sure.

And I’m going to get the what right, and I’m going to get the why right because my Lord is worth it. And so, now that’s why I like the way this verse begins. And so, this is the heart watch of this sermon. As those who have been chosen of God, and thanks be to God that we’re among the chosen. Holy and beloved. God has set me apart for something great. He’s made me holy. Just like those holy objects in the temple that couldn’t be touched, they were so special. He set me apart to be holy. Holy, and he loves me. As those chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion. You know you never stop doing that. These are Christians. He’s writing to.

They pursued these things in the past. They’ve got to keep pursuing them. All the more. Put on a heart of compassion. This is where the Pharisees failed, folks. They hated people. They wanted the worst for people. Put on a heart of compassion. Kindness. Humility. How big are you? Lowly. Humility. Gentleness. And patience. Bearing with one another. People are going to disappoint you. Bearing with one another. Forgiving each other. Sometimes they’re going to transgress against you. And whoever has a complaint against anyone, and sometimes we got some complaints. Whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you do that. So also should you. And beyond all these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity, and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.

And I’ll only throw this in. And be thankful. Be thankful. Gratitude. Debtors. Dependence. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom. Teach and admonish one another in songs and hymns and spiritual songs and get that thankfulness part right again. Singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or in deed, you’ve got to do it for the right reasons. Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus on the basis of who he is. Who all in the name of the Lord Jesus? Oh, get that thanks part right again. Giving thanks through him to God the Father. So I’m going to put you on heart watch, so our good deeds are going to count in the last day.

As those holy and beloved and chosen in Him. Thanks be to God for justification by faith. When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? Let’s not be content with doing a lot of the right things and saying a lot of the right things. Let’s do them for the right reasons and with the right heart, knowing that we are only what we are. Whatever, what are you? What am I? What are we? We only are what we are because of Him. And may it be for Him that we do what we do. And that’s really where obedience to Christ begins. It says, I want to do for you because you’ve done so much for me. I want to be your person. I want to give you praise and honor and glory by my life.

I want to be your servant. I want you to make something of me. That’s where obedience to the Lord begins. That’s where salvation begins. Lord, make something of the mess of my life. Thank you for giving me the opportunity. Does someone in this audience tonight need to make the good confession and put on Christ for the salvation of your souls? While there’s time and opportunity, let’s stand and sing.