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The last sermon George Whitefield preached in the

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open air took place in Exeter, New Hampshire

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in the fall of 1770.

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I have visited this exact site where the

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mighty Whitefield preached to 4,000 hearers in

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the open air as he stood atop two

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barrels for more than two hours preaching his

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heart out before he died the next morning.

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There is a stone marker which marks the

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spot of Whitefield's sermon, and in that sermon,

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friends, he preached from 2 Corinthians, examine yourselves

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whether ye be in the faith.

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And Whitefield preached on the foolishness of attempting

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to reach heaven any other way than by

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faith in Christ Jesus.

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Whitefield cried out, works, works, a man get

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to heaven by works.

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I would as soon think of climbing to

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the moon on a rope of sand.

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What Whitefield was saying was that many there

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are who hope to climb up to heaven

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some other way by their own merits that

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Christ said, he that entereth not by the

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door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some

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other way, the same as a thief and

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a robber.

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George Whitefield's allusion to a rope of sand

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was a good illustration, friends, of climbing to

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heaven by any other means than faith in

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Christ.

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And it was like trying to climb to

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heaven on a rope of sand that would

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dissolve with the wind because it was a

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false foundation made of sand.

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I want us to keep that thought in

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mind, friends, as we explore the ways that

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men try to reach heaven.

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The title of my message this evening, friends,

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is Climbing to Heaven on a Rope of

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Sand.

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And my text can be found in Matthew's

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Gospel in Chapter 7.

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You can turn in your Bibles there now,

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friends.

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We will be in verses 21 through 27.

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I know when I witness to folks, I

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hear all kinds of reasons why they think

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they will go to heaven.

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I'm sure you have heard some of these

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yourselves.

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Things like, I've never done anything bad enough

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to go to hell.

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I'm good enough to get into heaven.

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Why, I have served my church faithfully for

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20 years.

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I have done this and I have done

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that.

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And it is because of all the good

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that I've done that I will go to

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heaven.

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And then there is the classic response, my

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God wouldn't send anybody to hell.

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Well, all of these are other ways and

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not the narrow way through the straight gate,

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which is Christ Jesus.

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Let me read us our text, friends.

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And it is my prayer that if someone

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here in this sermon is not born again,

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then may the spirit of the Lord attend

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the reading of God's word and conviction and

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power.

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Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,

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shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.

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But he that doeth the will of my

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Father which is in heaven.

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Many will say to me in that day,

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Lord, Lord, have I not taught Sunday school

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these last 10 years?

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Lord, Lord, have I not sung in the

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choir even when I didn't feel like it?

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Lord, Lord, have I not been the chairman

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of the at the biggest church in my

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denomination?

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Look at all the wonderful works I have

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done, Lord.

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In other words, friends, man tries to climb

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his way up to heaven by his works.

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But listen now to what the old King

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James has to say.

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And then will I profess unto them, I

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never knew you depart from me, ye that

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work iniquity.

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Then Jesus goes on to describe how one

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who claims to know him can be deceived

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by resting on a false foundation of good

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works and a good opinion of themselves as

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they try to climb up to heaven on

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a foundation of sand.

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Listen to his words, friends, seen in verse

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24.

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Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and

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doeth them, I will liken him unto a

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wise man which built his house upon a

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rock and the rain descended and the floods

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came and the winds blew and beat upon

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that house and it fell not for it

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was founded upon a rock.

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And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine

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and doeth them not should be likened unto

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a foolish man which built his house upon

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the sand and the rain descended and the

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floods came and the winds blew and beat

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upon that house and it fell and great

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was the fall of it.

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That, friends, is a description of a false

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professor who attempts to climb up to heaven

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some other way.

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And when times of testing come and adversity

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sets in, then that person will fall into

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apostasy and die in their sins because their

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hope of heaven was no more than a

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rope of sand.

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Now, friends, I want to leave you with

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the verse of scripture that George Whitefield took

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for his text that day out in Exeter,

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New Hampshire, in his final sermon, where he

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spoke of a false hope being like a

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rope of sand.

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It's from 2 Corinthians 13 5.

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Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith.

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Prove your own selves.

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Know ye not your own selves?

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How that Jesus Christ is in you, except

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ye be reprobates.

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Let me ask you, friend, is Jesus Christ

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in you?

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Is he?

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Are you washed in his blood?

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And are you born from above?

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Or are you trying to climb up to

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heaven on a rope of sand?

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Let us pray.