Why Good Men End Up in Hell

I invite you to turn in God’s Word this evening to Ezekiel, chapter 33.

What we just sang is more than sufficient in giving you clarity about what you need and what you ought to do. If you are not saved, you have no excuse. The day of judgment will bear witness that on this occasion, in this place, you sang and heard the words of this hymn, and it clearly expresses what you need to do and where you will find the help you need.

None but Jesus. Venture on Him. Venture wholly. All that you have. All that you are. Seek the Lord. Turn to Him. Believe on Him.

Ezekiel 33 is where we will look this evening. We are in Ezekiel 33 on Wednesday evening. Numbers were a little lower on Wednesday evening. It took me a moment to realize that some people were missing, and then I thought, I do not know if this is true or not, but I considered that perhaps taxes are due. Maybe some of you are dealing with this matter at the last minute, and that may have been a factor.

I am not sure whether I should write to the federal government and ask them to change the due date for taxes so it does not fall on a prayer meeting night, but that is merely an observation. I did say that, and then the internet was not working either, so the message was not broadcast.

I also considered that perhaps I should be preaching from Isaiah 40: “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,” even as we are called to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.

Anyway, tonight we are again in Ezekiel 33. On Wednesday night, we read the opening verses. Tonight we will read from verse 10. Ezekiel had a very difficult time. His ministry was a very challenging one. Yet here in this chapter, there are small signs of the Lord’s mercy, calls to a people who are bruised and battered, reminding them that there is hope for them, and their hope is in the Lord.

So let us read from verse 10, Ezekiel 33, verse 10.

“Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?

“Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

“Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.

“When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.

“Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;

“If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.

“None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

“Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.

“When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.

“But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.

“Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.”

Amen.

We will end the reading at verse 20. And this, beloved, is the Word of the eternal God, which you are to receive, believe, and obey. And the people of God said, Amen.

Let us pray.

Father, we are thankful for the blessing of being here tonight. We have already been encouraged by the words we have sung. What a glorious truth it is that the gospel is freely offered. I cannot imagine where I would be if there were no free and full and sincere invitation for sinners to come to Jesus and live.

I am thankful for the salvation of each person here tonight who can rightly discern the work of the Spirit in their life, and thus give praise to the living God for what they have received—eternal life, a free gift, a glorious possession, all because of Jesus Christ.

Tonight, we pray for light. We pray for the advancement of Your kingdom, that if there are lost ones among us, it may please You to open their eyes, even among our children, and give them renewed clarity. I pray for the ministry of the Holy Spirit to lift up Christ.

Oh, Jesus, be magnified. Be magnified in the presentation of who You are, what You have done, and in Your saving work here and now in this place. Shut us in, Lord. Give us victory over every enemy. Advance Your cause, we pray, in our Savior’s name. Amen.

I wonder if you have an overactive imagination. I also wonder whether you assess whether or not you admit to having an overactive imagination, and whether that tendency leans toward pessimism. That is not a good combination.

To have a mind that never stops, that overthinks, and consistently leans into a pessimistic frame is not healthy. Sometimes such people may be described as worriers. You may have used that term yourself.

I was just mentioning before the service that the lines are becoming blurred for me regarding what is an exclusive term or phrase used in one place and what is used in another, and whether these terms have crossed over. But I am sure you have heard of the term worrier. More technically, they might be referred to as catastrophizers. They tend to view situations in a catastrophic way.

Yet sometimes situations are genuinely very bad.

Ezekiel did not need to exaggerate the circumstances of his day. He himself had already been taken captive and had become an exile in Babylon. He was among the first group of people taken away. In that era, when a nation was not completely conquered, the common practice was to plunder the people by removing those who could make a difference—those who were noble, those with wealth, the educated, those who had influence or power, and even the craftsmen, because of their importance. These individuals were taken away, leaving behind the average person, as we might say, the common citizen, who had no power to regain strength or to mount any kind of resistance.

That had already happened. Ezekiel had been taken away, and he found himself in Babylon. He was then called to minister to these exiles, to bring the Word of God to them.

And during that time, of course, conditions in Jerusalem continued to deteriorate to the point that the news arrived in this very chapter. Look at verse 21, which we did not read, but consider it carefully.

“In the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month,” a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has been captured. Jerusalem has now fallen.”

This was not a time of hope. Ezekiel was in the midst of a time of great disaster, perhaps the lowest point in Israel’s history up to that time, and he had little encouragement to offer. He was delivering warnings, telling the people what would happen. You read the visions he received in the opening chapters, and it seems that, for the most part, people refused to listen. They did not want to hear from one who spoke of hardship.

But sometimes, reality is as bleak as it is described. This was certainly true in Ezekiel’s time. Yet even in the midst of judgment, Ezekiel proclaimed scattered messages of hope. This chapter provides a glimpse of that hope.

It offers a sense of encouragement, that when people assess their circumstances and feel overwhelmed by impossibility, God sends a message of hope. It is not necessary that the outcome be catastrophic. I have not turned away from the cry of the repentant. Those who turn from their sins, who trust in me and believe and rest in me, will find acceptance and mercy.

But those who cling to their own righteousness—especially those who maintain a form of righteousness while continuing in sin, or giving themselves over to periods of sin—will find that their history does not matter. They are lost. Calamity will come upon them.

Rightly understood, the passage we are examining tonight, verse 12, strongly affirms the necessity of righteousness as a free gift.

When you read the Old Testament, it is vital for us to remember one of the reasons why the Holy Spirit records the fall of good men and provides us with the accounts of men like Abraham, men like Moses, and men like David. This is presented to us as a strong argument to show that their standing before God cannot be based on their own actions. The covenant they trusted in is one that is full of promise, not one that depends on their own efforts for salvation.

If Moses, Abraham, and David were judged solely by their works, they would fail. They committed serious sins. We are given these records so that we understand that they could not stand before God by their own efforts alone. Instead, God acts through a gracious covenant, a covenant that promises life to those who believe.

Verse 12:

“Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression.”

“As for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness.”

“Neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.”

Good men may end up in hell.

Now, I know what comes to mind when I say that. Some of you, who are biblically literate, may ask, how can good men end up in hell? The Bible says in Romans 3 that there is no one who is good, not even one. Therefore, in an absolute sense, there is no such thing as a good man, since all are descendants of fallen Adam.

But if I may consider this in a more relaxed way, in a more informal manner, someone was praying on Wednesday night about the good people they work with, and yet they still need to be converted. In my mind, I am thinking that some people may be wondering whether this person misunderstands the teaching that there is no one good.

In my mind, I am realizing that there is a sense in which this is true. There is a sense in which we can look at people and recognize some value in them, even if they are not regenerate.

Perhaps the strongest argument for this is found in the life of Cornelius. In Acts 10, we read of Cornelius, and it is said of him that he was a devout man, one who feared God with all his household, who gave generously to the people, and who prayed to God continually.

He is described in verse 22 as a just man, one who fears God and is well spoken of among all the Jewish people. Yet I do not believe Cornelius was converted at this time. The entire purpose of Peter being sent to Cornelius’ household was to bring words by which he and all his household might be saved. This is the language used in Acts 11 when the account is recounted.

Cornelius was not a converted man, and yet it is difficult to deny that there was a certain goodness in him. He was devout. He feared God with all his heart. He gave alms to the people. He prayed continually. He was just. He feared God. He had a good reputation.

So there is a sense—do not press this too deeply theologically—in which we live in a world that includes individuals like Cornelius. There are people who live with a certain sincerity, and to deny this reality would be to ignore what is evident. You can think of people you know who are like this. Consider them. From an outward perspective, is there something sincere, genuine, and real about them?

I remember when my mother-in-law was converted. Before her conversion, the man I have mentioned many times from this pulpit, Albert McCauley, who was a personal worker and an evangelist, would knock on doors and preach in the open air. After my conversion, I became a helper to him, following him wherever he went.

He would tell me, when he met my wife, “I know your mother. She is a Jehovah’s Witness. I know exactly where you live,” and so on. He said he had been praying for her twice each day. He had been deeply moved by her, though she was lost. He had many conversations with her over time.

When you spoke with her later, she would describe how frustrated she felt, because Albert McCauley had a tendency—though he was now older—to be less forceful and more respectful of age. Still, he had a way of gently but firmly keeping the conversation open. He would place his foot just inside the doorway, so you could always see it. You knew you could not close the door completely, because his foot was there. But this was not accidental. He knew exactly what he was doing.

But he built this rapport with her. And he said to her, and he told my wife, and he told me, when he met us and got to know us and realized the connection as we came into the church and God saved us, he said—he said, he said that, “I’ve told your mother before, you would make a fine Christian.”

He was saying this to a devout Jehovah’s Witness. You would make a fine Christian. But he could see a sincerity in her. A sincerity.

Such people exist. And what I want to do this evening is to reflect on that and the warning of this text in light of it. Because I am not looking out there. My audience is here. You are here tonight. And there may be some here who desire what is right, who try to live rightly, and yet what we may describe as good is not enough.

Good men and women end up in hell. And that is what I want us to consider.

Why good men end up in hell.

Note with me, first of all, the lie they believe. The lie they believe.

And that includes this lie they believe—that their righteousness is sufficient. Verse 12: “Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression.”

The righteousness of the righteous, the righteousness that belongs to the righteous man, the good man. That is the context in which we are looking at it, not speaking of the imputation of Christ’s righteousness by faith.

We are considering those who have a certain credibility to their character—man’s righteousness, man’s effort to live rightly. It is his moral record. It is the visibility of his character and how he is known in his community. It is his reputation. The righteousness of the righteous.

And this, of course, is what the man in verse 12 relies upon.

“The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him.”

There is an expectation that it may deliver him, that it will deliver him, that it is enough to deliver him. But the warning is clear: it will not deliver. When paired with sin, which exists in all people, it cannot rescue.

It does not matter if they give careful attention to religious services, engage in many good works, follow honorable practices, or uphold orthodox doctrine. It is not enough. It is a dangerous lie.

When people believe that their own righteousness is sufficient, they are on dangerous ground, because it will not deliver them. Perhaps the most notable example of this, in the sense of our Lord exposing the danger, is found in Luke 18, in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.

Both men went up to the temple to pray. They came to meet with God. The Pharisee was standing in the most prominent place. He was not immoral. He was not drunk. He was not living in an outwardly sinful way. He was praying. He explained that he fasted twice a week.

This was a form of gratitude, though its legitimacy may be questioned. “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are,” he said. He had many religious efforts. He had a religious record, similar to what the Apostle Paul described in Philippians 3.

Yet he was lost.

The contrast given by our Lord Jesus is that the man who stood at the back, who could not even lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his chest and said, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” was the one who went home justified. The conclusion is that the Pharisee did not. He did not find acceptance before God because he was depending on the righteousness of the righteous.

The apostle, as I mentioned, in Philippians 3, discovered this danger, because he had lived most of his life depending on the righteousness of the righteous. And when he accounts his credentials, his résumé, there in Philippians 3—being of the tribe of Benjamin, the Hebrew of the Hebrews, a Pharisee, and as touching the law, blameless—he lists these things.

But what things were gain to me, those I now count as loss for the sake of Christ. Doubtless I count all things as loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.

And he drives at this point, he drives right at the heart of this matter: the need for another righteousness, one that will stand him, not being found in himself, not having my own righteousness which is of the law. My desire, my longing, is to be found in him, found in Christ. And not found merely in my own righteousness, because it will never suffice. I want that righteousness which is through the faith of Christ.

This is a realization that most people do not want to reach, because we build up a structure made of sand based on reputation and character. And whenever the sea rolls in, whenever the waves come, it will fall apart. But we do not want to admit it.

The text before us then comes very close to those who are acquainted with the church, to you and me here. To the person who is diligent and strives to be diligent and steady, to the person who tries to do things in the right way and endeavors to read the Word of God and put it into practice, to apply it, and to take it to heart in every outward expression. And yet, fundamentally, there is a leaning upon, a trust in their own effort.

It is the righteousness of the righteous, and it will not deliver him.

This is important for our children to understand. It is also important for us as parents not to fall into the trap that I believe is common in Christian parenting. We love the gospel for ourselves. We delight in the gospel as we reflect on our own need for it. We enjoy hearing about the fullness of the gospel, about Christ’s sufficiency, about what He has done, about resting in Him, and about being accepted through Him.

And yet, when it comes to raising our children, we often teach them a form of legalism. We tell them what to do and what not to do. We give them rules, standards, and expectations. We say, “Do this,” “Don’t do that,” and so on. This can be done to the exclusion or minimization of the gospel.

In doing so, we actually reinforce what their hearts already tend toward—legalism, self-reliance, and trust in themselves. We set expectations, rules, and regulations. We tell them, “You are good,” or, “You are not good,” and so on. In this way, we affirm the legalism in their hearts. The acceptance I receive from my parents is based on my performance.

I hope that is not the case for the children here. I hope that you understand, children, that while your parents may appreciate your obedience or your good behavior, before God you will never find justification for salvation through your own efforts.

You need another righteousness. The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him.

Not only is it false that their righteousness is sufficient, but it is also a lie that their past goodness will cover present sin. Their past goodness will not cover present sin.

“The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression.”

In the day of his transgression.

You are not talking here about the gospel in some way having righteousness through Christ, and then a person sins, is saved, and then loses salvation. That is not the meaning of the text. It is not talking about a fallen saint. It is not describing David, for example, in his fall, in his sin with Bathsheba, where he is a believer, a Christian, who has a past righteousness, and then sins greatly, and is therefore lost. Once saved, now lost—this is not what is being described.

What is being described here is the persistent continuation in sin without repentance, the belief that one’s past religious life has value before God. It is the idea of making peace with sin in the present, relying on the strength of a past life.

You may have lived a religious life, been active in the church, done many things that were considered good, and now, in this moment, you are choosing to persist in sin without repentance. This is the person being described.

The verse returns to this idea: “Neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.” He will not find life if he continues on this path of sin.

This is the false belief that we are building up a record of respectability before God. Or, as I believed as a young person, as I have mentioned before, that even though the contradictions and lack of logical reasoning were evident, in my mind there was no God. Denying the existence of God, yet on the other hand, believing that if there is a God, He will judge me as if weighing good and bad deeds in a balance. If I am generally good, and more good than bad, then this God whom I deny will accept me.

That was how I truly thought as a young person.

This is a lie. The past goodness cannot cover present sin. It cannot.

Remember Saul, King Saul. He had many qualities, and many positive things are said about him. It seemed he was a gift to his nation. Their desire for a king led God to give them Saul, and at first it appeared this could be a good thing, as expressed through this man.

As you read his life and observe his decline, you see that pride begins to take root. For before, he was humble in his own eyes, though a man of great stature and wonderfully gifted. But that began to change.

He started to think more highly of himself. As he did, he began to compromise obedience. He started to treat God’s commands lightly. Even when confronted, he tried to reframe the situation. He claimed, “This is what we do. This is what people do.” He attempted to justify his actions. He tried to make it seem that his disobedience was not as it appeared to the prophet.

I will not go through all the examples, but if you read his life, you will see this pattern. He was eventually exposed. He became increasingly hardened in his sin, more entrenched in his wickedness, because he refused to truly acknowledge his wrongdoing.

He believed that his past achievements and his historical role might be enough to save him.

Judas may have been the same. The righteousness of the righteous. How easily Judas could fit into the words of Matthew 7: “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” Indeed, Judas could be placed right there in that passage, as the Lord Jesus speaks.

Never once did anyone suspect. They all went preaching, and he went preaching. No one could discern any error in his message or in what he was saying. No one could discern any limitation in his powers. We might be assuming too much, but it would appear that they all came back rejoicing that the demons were subject to them. And so we would, I think, be justified in assuming that he also participated in this work, influencing his society by casting out demons and performing other acts.

But his righteousness, as it were, would not deliver him in the day that he sinned. He was building on righteousness through all his good works. He betrays the Son of Man with a kiss. Nothing he had done in the past, no good deed accomplished, could deliver him.

This verse undermines spiritual presumption. Never say to yourself or about another, “He has been so useful; he must be safe.” “Surely they are converted; surely they will be in heaven,” even when there is evidence that all is not well with their soul. That is why souls are lost.

I remember having this discussion many years ago with someone, and we were talking about eternal security and the doctrine of eternal security. It was my wife and I and another couple. We were having a casual conversation about eternal security.

In the conversation, I happened to say, “If I were to abandon Christ now and never look toward Him again”—and this is, we’re probably talking, let me think, maybe ten years after my conversion, eight to ten years. I have been living very sincerely before the Lord, seeking to serve Him, doing what is right, being committed, following through in His Word. And I said to them, “If I were to turn away from Christ today and live another forty years with no apparent interest in the Lord, the first ten years would account for nothing.”

I would have no right to be buried as a Christian. I would have no right to be buried as a Christian.

There was a moment of alarm. “But it is clear that you are saved. It is clear that you know the Lord.”

It may appear so now, but if I abandon Christ and spend the next forty years not looking to Him, not interested in Him, not prioritizing His will, I have no right to be buried as a Christian. No expectation.

In the day that he sins, in the day of his transgression, the truth will be revealed. This lie that past goodness is sufficient to cover will collapse.

In the second place, the men who believe it. Not only the lie they believe, but the men who believe it.

Now Ezekiel is called to say to the children of your people. Yes, these are people familiar with God’s Word. He is not preaching to the Babylonians, but to those who are familiar with the Word of God, who understand the Word of God to some degree. They are listeners of the sermon. They gather to hear God’s Word taught. They give themselves to religious exercises.

But they believe a lie. They believe a lie.

What kind of men believe this lie?

First of all, we might consider those who are outwardly religious. The outwardly religious are exposed by a text like this. We might call such a person a hypocrite.

He wears righteousness, an external form of righteousness. He knows the words to say. He knows the customs of the community. He understands what is expected of him, and he recognizes that if he is active within that environment, he may be admired. If he gives and is committed to various expressions of what is expected, then he may be honored.

And yet, all of this may be deeply false. He is outwardly religious, but he is exactly like those described by our Lord in Matthew 7. The many who will say, “Lord, Lord,” and they will list the criteria of what they have done.

And the Lord will say, “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you.”

Not that I once knew you and then you drifted away, so that now I do not know you, but that I never knew you.

To clarify, this would have been the case in the hypothetical I described concerning myself. A decade of religious activity and commitment, traveling the world for the sake of the gospel, and giving my life to the purpose of preaching the Word—this would have amounted to nothing. It will not stand.

You who are outwardly religious: “I never knew you.”

Oh, do we not understand? Do we not grasp that the true knowledge, as mentioned in Philippians 3, is the apostle’s longing, “that I may know him”? It is the knowledge of him, being found in him. This is the daily dependence on Christ, looking to Christ, resting in Christ, finding all your value as something received by faith as a gift.

Not presenting yourself before God as those described by our Lord—have we not done this? Have we not done that? This is the righteousness of the righteous. Here is a résumé. Here is what we have done.

“I never knew you.”

The men who believe the lie are found among the outwardly religious. They are also found among the falsely assured. The falsely assured.

Assurance is a glorious doctrine, but there is such a thing as a counterfeit. Those I mentioned in Matthew 7 did not consider it before, but they had a certain assurance: Lord, Lord, have we not? They seemed quite certain that they belonged to the Lord, but their assurance was false. It was not genuine. It was not real.

And what is alarming about this is that it differs somewhat from the hypocrite. The hypocrite tends to know that he is a hypocrite. There is a calculation in his mind. He knows what is expected of him externally and what people expect. He lives his life by the standards of people, not by the standards of God. And the hypocrite is aware of what he is doing. He knows it.

He is not like the sincere believer who tries so hard, falls, and then laments and confesses their fall, whether it be public or private. It is not like that. It is the calculated living. What is the bare minimum needed to impress people or to achieve a certain recognition in this community or in this world? That is hypocrisy. But he knows.

The falsely assured, however, do not. They are not conscious of the fact that their assurance is a false assurance. It is not real. They are not aware that the nature of their faith is temporary. They do not know it in the moment. They do not know that the nature of their faith is a temporary faith.

Such people may have genuine, real, felt impressions and emotions. Their life may change even for a time. They are the ones our Lord describes as the stony-ground hearers, in whom for a while they believe.

For a while they believe.

Oh, what harrowing truth is expressed in that language. For a while they believe. Tell me how long a while is.

I believe a while for some people is a day or two. They went to an evangelistic campaign and had a strong impression made upon them. They responded, they walked the aisle, they had the paperwork, as it were, they said the prayer, they went through all the motions. But it lasted only a few hours.

The next day, confronted with temptation and the realities of life, they crumble. I am sure this is true of countless thousands, if not millions—more likely millions.

But how long is a while? For a while they believe. Maybe it is five years. Maybe it is ten years. Maybe it is twenty years. Maybe it is forty years.

And they have managed to navigate, and through sheer force of will and effort, they have stood and remained resolute. They are still in the environment and doing all the things, yet they are going to be exposed. They are going to be exposed.

Our Lord addressed this also in Matthew 25, did He not? You remember the foolish virgins? They had the expectation, “We will go out to meet the Lord.” They were found in the right company. They had all the things, it seemed, nearly everything they would need. They seemed to have it, but they had no oil in their lamp.

This illustrates a small but crucial point, one that is imperceptible. No one even thinks to ask. You have the lamp. You have the lamp. You must have the oil. But he did not.

Look across here—you have the lamp. There is the outward profession. There are all the parts of what is expected in Christian living. There is all of that. But is there the oil? That we do not see.

And so there is this false assurance. They are shut out. These are those who have been moved to weep under sermons, who will finally weep in hell itself.

The righteousness of the righteous.

I think also those who believe it, you may include those who are carelessly drifting. Not only the outwardly religious and the falsely assured, but those who are carelessly drifting.

By this I mean there are times and moments when I speak of the carelessly drifting, I am referring to genuine believers who, for a time, lived in delusion and lived carelessly. There is a brief period in which they seem to fall into the same environment or expression as the self-assured and the deluded.

The text is intended to alarm those who may be genuine. Never forget that. God’s Word sometimes comes, in fact often. I mentioned this when we went through Hebrews recently, and the warning texts that are there. And you read these warning texts that encourage us to, therefore, give the more earnest heed, lest at any time we should let them slip.

This is language that is warning, but ultimately it will be heeded only by the genuine believer. They will hear the warning and run to Christ. They may have been living in carelessness, drifting through this moment, and they need the alarm of this: “The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression.”

What they are meant to see is not so much whether they are trusting in their own righteousness, for they are not, but that in the day of their transgression, they are meant to be alarmed, recognizing that here I am living in transgression. I am living in persistent, careless sin.

Again, I have recalculated. I have made Christianity easier. At one time I had a sensitive conscience, always desirous to do what the Lord would want from me, even if it cost me something. But I have managed to turn Christianity around and make it much easier.

If you find this going on in your heart, where you are bargaining with God and beginning to play games, this is a warning. Listen to me.

This is a warning.

I fear this day of prosperity. This is an alarming reality for far too many who do not realize it. I am not saying that there is not the seed of this reality present. The root is there. But we are living, we are living as if we can live carelessly and there will be no consequences. And the Lord lays down a warning.

And where the root of the matter actually exists, there will be a response to the warning.

We believe for a time that we will get away with it. Again, to use David as an example: Abraham also went down to Egypt, and let us tell this brief narrative. He imagined he would get away with it until he did not. And David, portraying himself as a godly king, committed sin in his life and continued to worship and carry on as normal for months until the prophet came.

“Thou art the man.”

God puts His finger on the matter, and mercifully, because there is the principle of life in him, he responds. But he had believed for a time that all his past history had some credibility.

Finally, the warning that must be heeded. The warning that must be heeded.

God does not give this message to leave men as they are. It is given to produce a response.

“Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression.”

“As for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness.”

“Neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.”

What does it call us to?

In the first place, abandon self-trust. Abandon self-trust. Abandon all self-trust.

God here tears away every false refuge. There is an illusion in their mind, the idea that the righteousness of the righteous can save. I have built up credibility before God, but He shatters the illusion.

It is better to go through the pain of a shattered illusion now than to be damned later. It is better to have a little pain now than to face the eternal wrath of God forever.

So ask yourself—here is what we must all ask ourselves: what am I relying on? What is my argument before God? And I know in this congregation the likelihood is there is such clarity on the gospel that your immediate response is, it is Jesus, Jesus only, for most who are here.

But is there a false foundation? Is it false? That really, you are imagining, in this sense, if I can take the language of the righteousness of the righteous, that what you are leaning on is not true righteousness, but a profession. And there is no backing it up. There is no following it through. There is no continuing commitment that Jesus requires.

What does He require? Take up your cross every single day and follow Me. No compromise, no games, no negotiations. All in, every day.

And if you do not, there is a danger that the righteousness of the righteous will not save you, nor will the profession of the professors deliver you in the day of your transgression.

Abandon self-trust, whatever it may be—whether it is a profession that does not follow through in sincerity, whether it is your upbringing and family heritage, your doctrinal knowledge and clarity, or whether it is the way in which you live a restrained life, depending on the fact that you do not commit the sins that others do.

That was me. I was an atheist by profession, yet I still relied on the fact that there were things in the lives of people around me that I did not do, and I thought that made me better. That was a lie that I believed.

My best friend from high school, when I shared with her my conversion, told her that God had saved me. We had been in high school for years. We lived on the same street and used to walk home together regularly. I told her that I had become a Christian. She said, “But you don’t do many of the things we do.”

She did not understand why I would need to become a Christian.

Self-trust must be abandoned. Be like the publican, smiting upon your breast. Have absolutely no argument of self-righteousness before God, and cry out, “God be merciful to me a sinner.”

Abandon self-trust.

Turn from cherished sin. “As for the wickedness of the wicked,” here is the history of the wicked. It cuts right through the pride of the Jew. “The wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness.”

His past sin and rebellion will not destroy him when he turns, when he repents.

Do you know what repentance is? Do you understand what repentance is? Have you made a study of repentance? Have you made a study of it in your own heart? Have you ever assessed your own heart and asked, Lord, is this remorse or repentance? Am I just sorry that I got caught, or am I truly sorry because I have dishonored Your name?

Do you understand repentance?

Because if we are not aligned with God’s understanding of repentance, we will perish. We will be lost.

Repentance is a change of heart that is demonstrated by the follow-through of one’s life. The wickedness of the wicked is delivered because of the day when they turn. It becomes a new direction. They do not return to their wickedness. They do not go back to their old life. They obtain mercy because they turn from that wicked lifestyle. This is an expression of change, which is what the gospel brings about.

John the Baptist came preaching repentance for the remission of sins. Our Lord Jesus, His whole ministry is summarized by the fact that He preached repentance. He tells His apostles at the end, before He ascends, here is the summation of your message: repentance should be preached in all nations.

Men need to change. Their lives need to turn. It is not enough to show up at church, to put on a façade, to fool everyone else. If you are to truly know the mercy that God promises in His Son, you must turn from your past. You must turn not to explore those paths ever again.

Turn from cherished sin.

Isaiah 55:7 says, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”

I was encouraged by this verse, as it was prayed in the prayer meeting before the service. As that was prayed, I thought, yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. If there is such a person here tonight, if there is anyone, the wickedness of the wicked, when they turn, when they forsake that wicked way, mercy is promised. Life is given.

Forsake.

Do not barter with God. Do not adopt the world’s definitions of sin today. I hope it is not true in this church. I am not aware of it. I hope it will never be the case, and that this pulpit makes it clear enough that it will never become a problem.

But you do not have to go far to see sins in the church today—sins that are accepted, sins that are rarely called out, sins that have become commonplace, which just a generation ago no one would have thought possible for a Christian.

Living together without marriage, sharing a bed, coming to church and taking the Lord’s table while continuing in sin—such people are not going to heaven. They are not. There is no way.

Repentance is a change of life, a change of heart, a change of direction. Turn from cherished sin. There is mercy here. Accept it.

“As for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby.” He will not be destroyed because of his sin on the day that he turns from his wickedness.

But also, do not only abandon self-trust and turn from cherished sin, but very quickly seek righteousness in Christ alone.

If your own righteousness cannot deliver you at the moment you sin, and sin is known by God, then there is no hope in yourself. Therefore, the text is not telling you to save yourself by turning over a new leaf. It is driving you away from yourself and toward another. It is pushing you.

Now, another prophet, Isaiah, in Isaiah 45:24, notes that one mark of the Lord’s people is that they depend on a righteousness outside of themselves. “Surely,” Isaiah 45:24 says, “Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength.”

In the Lord, they have righteousness. This is their testimony. This is what they go out and tell the world. They are not going to the world, and certainly not standing before God saying, “Look, Lord, look at the castle of works I have built, look at my best efforts, please, I trust this meets your demands.”

In the Lord, they find righteousness.

And this is the whole message: that in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, God is making provision in His Son, taking our nature, so that Christ might live on our behalf. Christ is made unto us righteousness, as stated in 1 Corinthians 1:30.

In the text mentioned in Philippians 3, what is it that Paul is turning from? Everything about himself—his own achievements, his own standards. He is found in Christ, not having his own righteousness, not laying claim to his own righteousness, but having that which comes through the faith of Christ, the righteousness that is from God by faith.

The gift—this is the gift—and you can have it tonight. The gift offered to you by God is this: that in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, there is extended to the sinner the righteousness that will deliver them. The righteousness that will deliver, unfailingly.

And your entire hope and dependence before God, and your argument on the day of judgment as to your right to enter heaven, must be entirely, in totality, Jesus Christ alone.

And if you walk out of here without Jesus Christ, depending on your own efforts, what you are effectively saying to yourself is that you have found a righteousness more dependable than that which is found in God’s Son. You find in yourself something more reliable.

What utter nonsense is this? Be honest with yourself. And do not perish. Do not perish unclothed and exposed to the wrath of God.

By faith, reach out at the close of this service. Reach out, confess your sins, turn from your sins, and lean on Christ entirely.

“Come.” “I am the door,” said Jesus. “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.”

As you walk out through those doors, it depicts the simplicity of the promise of salvation and eternal life in Christ alone. You can walk through. You can embrace Christ. And on the other side is a full pardon and a perfect righteousness.