what I realize and what I don't. It's a joy to be here again,
to stand here where this faithful man of God has preached the gospel. It was indeed delightful to hear
Brother Faulkner, and to hear Chris and his wife sing so beautifully. And that young fellow back there,
I've known him longer than any of you, I guess, when he was
a little boy. I went to Clarksville to college, and he was a member
of the church down there. I used to hear him and his brother
and sister saying, I believe. And one time, his mom and dad
had us, my family, over to his house for a lunch. I guess because it was their
day to have compassion on the ignorant or something. But I
enjoyed it. I'm thankful for it. And thankful
to know David and his wife and family. Open your Bible please to Matthew
chapter 11. Spurgeon used to make the complaint
that even in his day, preachers were running all over the country
saying, believe, believe, believe, but not giving the people anything
to believe. And I don't think that any of
us have much of a realization of how desperately, desperately
our nation needs God. how corrupt and awful religion
is in this country. And I've been, for the last few
months, maybe over a year or two, talking to the people at
home about, I wish, I pray, I beg God to lay it on your hearts
that He might be pleased to send us once again an awakening in
this country. And he tells us to pray for it.
Maybe not in those words, but pray for laborers to be sent
into the harvest, the big harvest. The laborers are few. I want
to tell you something tonight, as briefly as I can, that troubles
me because I have family, friends, and neighbors that are just as
deceived as they can be, and filled with hope and singing
songs and hymns on the way to hell. I read in this book here,
in Matthew 7, that most of the people in every generation who
confess the name of Christ are going to hell. They're going
to stand before Him someday and say, Lord, Lord, we've preached
in your name, cast out demons in your name, in your name, done
so many wonderful works. And that literally means works
that cause people to wonder. Devotion, dedication, works.
And Christ will look at them in that awful hour and say, depart
from me all your works have been works of iniquity. I don't know
you, and you don't know me. Because of false prophets. The broad gate and the broad
way which leads to hell, the highways full. But very few,
by the grace of God, enter in at that narrow gate and that
straight way which leads to life. Very few in every generation. Isn't that a solemn thought?
Most of the people in this country in the state of Kentucky, in
my city, who name the name of Christ, have no idea who He is. And He don't know them, does
He? He don't know. I was in a big meeting one time. The preacher was explaining faith
in the invitation time, you know. He said, look at it like this.
Like you're standing on the top of a tall building and it's on
fire, and somebody down there in the darkness cries, jump,
and it's just a leap in the dark. He said that's what faith is,
like a leap in the dark. That's His words. That man, that man does not know
God. He does not know how God saves
sinners. I went to college with a fellow
that told me time and time and time and time again how he got
himself saved. He said, I don't remember a word
that preacher said, nothing about that message, but I just, at
the invitation, when he had the invitation, I just had a feeling
inside me that I needed to go forward, make my decision for
Jesus. And it is. And he lived on that
decision. And if he's still living, he's
living on that decision. A feeling inside you may be a
good reason to go to the doctor, or even go to the toilet. But it's not a good reason to
walk down some church aisle and claim Christ. How can they call upon Him in
whom they've not believed? How can they believe in Him in
whom they've never heard? And how can they hear without
a preacher? And how can he preach except
he be sin of God, taught the gospel, sin of God? Saving faith comes by way of
this book, by way of this book. And it has to do something with
hearing and understanding what you've heard and believing that
message. It's not a leap in the dark.
It's just not an emotional feeling. It's when the truth gets hold
of a man. And what God says here becomes
a reality to your soul. Matthew chapter 11, when everybody
in the world thinks they know who Jesus is, we are standing face to face
with these words. Our Lord said, All things are
delivered unto me of my Father. No man knoweth the Son, but the
Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father,
except the Son. and those to whom the Son is
pleased to reveal Him. That's the only way a man can
know God. John chapter 17, verse 2, Thou hast given Him, Christ,
power over all flesh, power over all flesh, that He might give
eternal life, that He might give eternal life to as many as Thou
hast given Him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know Thee. The only true God in Jesus Christ
whom thou seest. He has the power to reveal God
to us, and He does it in Himself. 1 John 5, 20 says, He has come
and given us an understanding. He gave us an understanding that
we might know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true.
Even in His Son, Jesus Christ, this is the true God. This is eternal life. Salvation has something to do
with the truth. The truth is what sets men free.
And Christ, the truth as it is in the Lord Jesus Christ, true
religion has for its foundation sound doctrine, the word of God,
the truth of God. not some creed or not some confession
of men, because there's one thing true about all those creeds and
confessions, they're always changing. This word never changes. Never
changes. But true religion is much, much
more than that. True religion is more than one's acquiescence,
or bowing, submitting to the truth of God as a truth. True religion is a personal relationship
with the living Lord. That's what Rolfe used to preach
all the time, true religion. It's a relationship with the
living Lord. A spiritual, supernatural, spiritual,
supernatural revelation of God in Christ to the souls of men. That's salvation. Our Lord came down from the mountain
one day. He'd been up praying. He asked
the apostles, said, Who do men say that I am? I'm a man. I'm the son of man. Who do men
say that I am? Well, Elias, Jeremiah, one of
the prophets, he said, What do you say? Peter said, Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. Christ looked at him and said,
You are a blessed man, because flesh and blood hath not revealed
that unto thee, but my Father. Spiritual, supernatural revelation
of Jesus Christ to the soul. We know who you are. You're the
Son of God. You're the Messiah. The Son of
the living God. Paul said in 2 Corinthians chapter
4 and verse 6, he said, God who commanded the light to shine
out of darkness has shined into our hearts to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Spiritual, supernatural revelation. Saul of Tarsus was going down
the Damascus road, his face Lines of anger in his face, and bitterness
in his heart, and hatred toward Christ and anybody who called
upon the name of Christ. And God turned on the light. God turned on the light. And
he fell in the dust on his face and said, Lord. Somebody greater
than him brought him in the dust. Lord, who is this? He said, it's
Jesus whom thou persecutest. Why do you kick against a priest?
Old Saul said, what do you want me to do? And God told him he
did it forthwith. He did it. He did it. The people who know God, they
know Him intimately. They know Him personally. They
know Him savingly. Saving the spiritual by revelation. By revelation. All in the purpose of the, in
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Spurgeon used to say,
and I like it, Christ is not only our Savior, He is Himself
our salvation. And He is. Paul said, I know
whom I have believed. Not just a few things about Him
I heard, I know whom, I know Him. I know whom I have believed
and I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day. Our confidence, our faith and
our confidence is in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. He's been
revealed to us. We know him. Saving me. We know him. The very sum and
substance of our holy religion is that gloriously unique God-man,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's it. He's all and in all. That one who lived and died and lives again forevermore. Thus I often tell the church
at home, while preachers are running all
over the country telling people, trying to get them to repeat
a prayer or make a decision, this, that, and the other, poems
and ceremonies, the Roman road, whatever. I say to you here tonight
that the most important thing in all of this world as you stand
before God is what you think about His Son. That's a fact. You know, the Old Testament,
he's always looked at his son. The Old Testament had all these
types and forms and rituals and ceremonies. And I don't know
what the Jews got to thinking about those. Their table became
a snare to them. Their religion became death to
them. But in every one of those forms
and ceremonies, God saw his son. God saw his son. They were types of a heavenly
reality. They pictured forth His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I want to make three statements
that I've made around this country, and I've printed them in my bulletin
because they're so extremely important. So important. Statements that John Newton made
in a message, points that he made in a message, long time
ago, they're still important. Perhaps, maybe, more important
to us in our day than they were in his day, and the people of
his time. He was talking about true religion,
preached a message on true religion. And I want to give you those
three statements tonight. And I'll give them to you, and
then I'll tell them and make a few statements. True religion,
and I assume that's what each of you want, true religion arises,
and I like that word because most of the time it's not a microwave
experience, true religion. If we are saved, we have been
saved, we are being saved, we shall be saved. It's a process.
True religion arises out of a true knowledge of God as He's revealed
in this book. And most people in our day have
no fear of God because they don't know who he is. Most of the religious
people. Most of those who name the name
of Christ and lay claims of salvation to his name. True religion arises
out of a true knowledge of God, as he revealed in this book.
And he's revealed very plainly and clearly throughout from one
end to the other. And they won't have that God.
They've picked out another one. And these false prophets gave
them, gave them to them, gave them to them. And true religion,
secondly, and there's no true religion without this, a true
knowledge of God, as he's revealed in this book, pages of this book.
Secondly, true religion arises out of a true knowledge of me,
as I'm described in this book, and there's no true religion
without it. You can't have true religion without those two things. In his light, in the light of
his holiness, we see ourselves and we realize what we are as
he describes us in this book. And thirdly, true religion arises
out of a true sense and understanding the great things God's done for
sinners in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. There cannot be
any true religion without it. Now let me set forth those three
points very briefly and quickly tonight. This is so important. I have family that I talked to,
and I talked to one last week, and he told me that very same
thing again, about how this precious dear lady got saved, and she
didn't remember anything about it. She just remembered under
an influence of feelings and emotions, she walked out in front
and did what the preacher told her to do. That's my family. And I'd like to see them saved.
And I'm reminded, I'm reminded at this point, I'm reminded of
something old Dr. Ian Burnett Magruder said long
time ago. He said, don't despise the people
for the false god they believe in. Tell them about the real
one. Tell them about the real one. That's what I want to do. True
religion arises out of a true knowledge of the God of the Bible,
as is set forth in the Bible, this book. Number one, He is
God indeed. We sang that in a song tonight.
He is God indeed. It doesn't just claim God to
be God. It doesn't just use the name
of God. He is God. I mean He really is. He is God
indeed. In the whole universe, And throughout
all of eternity, this God, the God of this book, has always
done whatsoever He pleased. Always as He pleased, and only
as He pleased. God this book. If that were true,
He wouldn't be God, Todd, He wouldn't be God. He'd be a pretender,
a make-believe God. But He is God, God indeed. The Bible says, Daniel 4.35,
he does according to his will, and always has, in the hosts
of heaven, the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of
this earth, and none can stay his hand or question what he
does. David said, why should the heathen
say, where now is your God? He said, my God's in heaven,
where He's always been. I'm paraphrasing. And he does
as he pleases, like he's always done. In the heavens, in the
earth, in the seas, in all the deep places, he does what he
pleases. Psalm 115, Psalm 135. He's God. He does what he pleases. You know, in all the things that
happened to poor old Joe, Job said in 23.13, he said, he's a one-minded who
can turn him, and whatsoever his soul desires,
that's exactly what he does. That's what I said in the beginning.
He does what he pleases, always as he pleases, only as he pleases. He's God. Whatsoever his soul
desires, And that's the only being in the universe that can
make that statement. We desire a lot of things, we
never do get done. But whatever he desires, that's
what he does. Whatever comes to pass in time,
as Don was talking about, because he purposed it in eternity. And
he brings it to pass in the fullness of time. Ephesians chapter 1
and verse 11 says, He doeth according to his will. No, that ain't what
it says. It says he works all things after
the counsel of his own will. That doesn't leave out much,
does it? All things. All things. I read about a man
one time who bought a farm to raise some sheep. Christ built
a world to raise some sheep. And that's what it's all about.
Everything that happens in this world is subservient to that
one great purpose, to make a bunch of people like the Son of God.
That's what it's all about. And it won't be over until it's
done. And then the mystery of God will be finished and time
shall be no more. God is raising up a people. making them like his son. A couple points about this God,
other than the fact that he is God, is the fact that he's holy. And you and I by nature, and
if you've never felt this, you don't know God, are odious and
despicable and loathsome in his sight. If you've never felt that,
you've never met God. That's why we, by nature, are
children of his wrath. Secondly, he is unchangeably,
inflexibly just. He can by no means clear a sinner,
not even of one sin. He can by no means clear the
guilty. What he does in saving his people,
as Don said, he makes us innocent. He takes away our sins. Takes
away our sins. And forgets all about them. Their
sins and iniquities will I remember no more. They're purged. They're put away. He took them
away. He took them away. Every sinner. This is what I'm
saying. Every sinner must die, and shall
die the death. In Exodus, when the Passover
lamb was sacrificed, and the blood was put on the sides and
top of the door, everybody died that night when the death angel
came through. They died, and everybody's going to die. They
either died at the hands of the death angel, or they died in
the blood of the substitute, but everybody died. Just like
you said, we've died, we're dead. We're dead. Number two. True religion arises out of a
true knowledge of me, as I'm revealed, described in
this book. Oh, I remember The first time
I got a sight of that. It hadn't gotten any better,
darling. Hadn't gotten any better. And this generation of religious
folks, they have no idea of the true nature of sin. These famous radio preachers
and evangelists, they talk about the statistics of All these things
that are going on in America, and they never touch the nature
of sin. All these things are going on
in America, and all these statistics of drugs, and sex, and homosexuality,
and all this stuff is going on because of what we are in here.
And that's where God looks. Men look on the outward appearance.
And that's what they're talking about, that's all they understand.
But God looks in here, and when he shows you what's in here,
you won't talk about those things so much either, you'll be talking
about what's in here. And you'll say what David has
referred to tonight, against thee and thee only have I done
this wickedness in thy sight. And my sin, always with me, ever
before. It's always there. Nobody has
to remind me that I'm a sinner. God done showed me. That's a
big difference. A lot of preachers reminding
men that they're sinners because of the deeds that they do. When
God shows you you're a sinner, you'll know why you do those
things. You'll know why you do those things. How are we described in this
book? The heart is deceitful. My heart. A little bit. Above a lot of
things. The heart is deceitful above
all things. and desperately wicked. And that
word desperately is a medical term, and it means incurable.
Incurably wicked. Matthew 15, verses 18 through
23, I won't turn there, but Christ said, is these things in your
heart. That's what defiles a man. That's what comes out of your
mouth. You defy something that's in here, and it spews out. It isn't the
S-I-N-S, but the S-I-N is what you are in your heart, what we
are by nature. Isaiah chapter one, three through
six, God describes us as an open, wound, bruised, putrefying soul,
just running out its filth. unmolested, not bound up. Can you imagine that God would
look upon a good fellow like me like that? I can imagine it
real well. Job chapter 25 describes us as
worms and maggots in the sight of God. in the sight of God. And how can such ever be justified
in God's sight? I'll tell you how. Because Christ
said, hanging on that cross, I'm a maggot and no man. He became,
He became, He became what we are, that we might be made like
Him. And there's another word in the
scripture that describes us like leprosy. I read of a man one
time who went to Brazil. Having pity on the lepers, he
joined the colony and preached the gospel to them, and many
were saved. But he died. We have leprosy. Leprosy in the
Old Testament was contagious and contaminating. a living dead. These people were shut out from
society. They were shut out from the house
of God, shut off from the people of God. And if anyone inadvertently
came near one of them, that leper was to put his hands to his mouth
and cry out loudly, How shameful and humiliating.
That's what we are. We just don't realize it. Because
of some of the modern preachers of our day, and a bunch that
are not so popular, all around everywhere. Most men don't believe
they have this spiritual leprosy. They only see the surface blemishes,
that's all they see. But they've got it. And one day
they'll realize it. But for the time being, these
religious folks are running around. I thank God I'm not like other
men. Yeah, you are. We're all alike by nature. Sons and daughters of Adam. I
can hear them now crying out, I've never killed anyone. God
looked into their heart and said, yeah, you're a murderer. You
hatred, hatred, hatred, that's murder. Hatred without a cause. The fellow jumps up and says,
I'm not like other men, I'm not an adultery, adultery going on
all over the country, I've never done that. And God looks into
the heart and says, wait just a minute, I believe you have.
You're an adulterer, just like other men. Man looks on a woman
to lust after her in his heart, he's committed adultery. That's
the way God sees it. Thirdly, if a man ever enters
into true religion, if he's ever saved by the grace of God, that arises out of a true knowledge
of God, as he's set forth in this book. Set forth in this
book. If a man ever enters into true
religion, that arises out of a true knowledge of me, as I'm
described in this book. No true religion without it.
And if a man ever comes to those two things, he'll come to the
third one. True religion arises out of a
true sense and understanding of the great things God's done
for sinners. in the Lord Jesus Christ. Great
thing. Great thing. He came for us, for his people,
from the highest glory to the lowest hell, the eternal Son of God, Almighty God. made of a woman. They'd call Him Immanuel, for
that little infant is God with you. God's with you. God's with you. He came into
the world. He made the world, and yet came
into the world in that form, and the world knew Him not. He dwelt among these odious,
loathsome, despicable creatures for thirty-three and a half years. And that's worse than we can
ever imagine. I thought about it in this way,
if I could retain the nature I have and become a pig, live
in a pig pen with the pigs, Become a pig, you're still a man in
the stench, the fields. That's nothing compared to what
he endured, being the Holy One of God and dwelling among us
lepers. No wonder he cried out, I am
exceeding sorrowful even unto death. and sweat as it were,
grape drops of blood. But he said, if it's not possible,
if this cup pass from me, except I drink it, he said, not my will,
but thy will be done. And in love, beyond human comprehension
and beyond human imagination, that we talk about all too easily. He was made to be sin with the
sins of God's elect. Above anything else in this world,
above all else, He hated sin. It was loathsome to Him. It was
despicable. And yet He was made to be sin,
that He might save you. For the only way He could save
you is to take your sin upon Himself and put it away. It was
put on him, laid upon him, he bore it in his own body on the
tree, and it was purged, purged, purged. God made his soul an offering
for sin. He died the just one for the
unjust, that he might offer us an escape, knowing that he might
bring us to God. He didn't come into this world
on a prayer adventure. He came into this world to save
His people, and He shall. All of the elect of God. And
I'll tell you this, He died under the curse, wrath of God for our
sins, but He arose and lives forevermore. And he's seated at the right
hand of the majesty on high right now to make lepers whole, to make
lepers whole, to save sinners, make intercession for the transgressors. I see a leper in the scriptures coming
to the Lord Jesus Christ. But he didn't stay away. He ran
right through the crowd. I imagine they got away. He moved
back. He'd heard about the Lord Jesus
Christ, no doubt. And he came running through that
big crowd. And the Bible said he kneeled
and worshipped. That's the first thing he worshipped.
And I can see him as he sort of lifts up his face to God.
And he says, Lord, if you will, you can make me whole. But the
Lord said, I will. And if you can come to Christ
like that tonight, he'll make you whole. You don't have to
move out of your seat. It's a heart thing. Trust him. Believe him. Trust him. He came
to save sinners. And He is an able and willing
and suitable Savior. I encourage you to trust Him.
May God bless these words to every heart. For the glory of
His Son.