Boy, that's a true statement,
that last verse, if I've never loved you before. Help me. Help me. I want you to turn in your Bibles
to Colossians chapter 2. Colossians chapter 2. I'd like to just look at one
verse of Scripture. Verse 6, As you have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. You know, the fallacy of a religious lie, Here's the
horror of it, is that there's so much truth
that is involved with it, that it, but for the grace of
God, would even fool the elect. Is it biblical language? to speak of
receiving the Lord. Yeah. We just read it. As you have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord. That terminology, receiving Christ
Jesus the Lord, is so commonly heard today that truly it's given
no thought. by the natural man. It's not
just language that's been heard by people that consistently sit
in some religious organization. Or even here, where the gospel
is preached. But it's just people that make
no claim whatsoever. Have you received the Lord? And
because of the lie, that's being told concerning what that means. People just naturally receive
it, justify themselves. I believe in Jesus. I believe
in God. I believe in God. I said before,
the demons believe that. But exactly what is meant? Now you know, this is the Word
of God. And it's got meaning. It's got
weight. What does it mean when we hear
that verse of Scripture? Receiving Christ Jesus the Lord. This I know, that the receiving
of him can never be the initial act of a man. It can never start
with man or man's free will because the scripture clearly declares
that man born in Adam is spiritually dead and John 1 declares that
men were born not of the will of the flesh. So let me just
say to you and to whoever might hear this message over the internet
or whatever, man does not have the will, the
power, the ability to receive anything from God by Himself. It does not start with man. It does not start with man. So then what is meant by receiving
Christ? I looked the word up just a minute
ago just to make sure. And here's the first definition
of it. It means to receive by oral transmission. That's what the first, by oral
transmission. Blue letter Bible if you wanna
look it up. By oral transmission. The first thing I think of when
I hear that. Faith cometh by hearing. And hearing by the word
of God. Receiving the Lord Jesus Christ
begins with God through the hearing of the gospel.
But I want you to consider as an illustration. You know, we
looked in that first chapter, there was a natural illustration
given. The Lord used illustrations,
natural parables. I've told you this is not original
with me. I heard Don Fortner say it where I first heard it.
He said this, you take a glass of water, a glass, an empty glass,
and somebody pours water into a glass. The glass received the water,
but it wasn't the cause of the water being poured. The glass
could receive no glory for it filling itself. It was the receptacle. It was the vessel into which
the water was poured. The water came from somewhere
else. It wasn't glass. You can't say, oh, that glass,
by its own ability, by its own power, by its own will, took
that water and filled itself up. You say, that's ridiculous.
That's right, it's ridiculous. And telling a man, telling a
woman that they can receive the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord's
trying to offer it to them, you're telling them a lie because the
scripture does not bear that out. Likewise, the reception
of Christ into the vessel of God's mercy is not an act of
man's will but rather it is the impartation the placing within by the Spirit
of God, the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ into the object of God's mercy, God's pleasure, God's
will in regenerating grace. Salvation is of the Lord and
the receiving of Christ is an act of God. Salvation is from
the Lord. By grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. I wonder how many times we've
heard that. And still, unless the Spirit
of God gives a man or a woman a heart to believe that, they
don't believe that. All men, all women are born corrupt. And therefore they must be acted
upon by God because they are not able. They're dead. So knowing that the receiving
of Christ Jesus the Lord totally originates with God, the Scripture says concerning
the receiving of Him, the pouring in of Him, as you have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, as you have received him." Now here's
my next question. How? How is he received? Well, I've already touched on
it. He's not received as a beggar waiting to be accepted. He's
not received that way. He's received as He is declared
in the Scriptures to be. How is He declared in the Scriptures? As you have therefore received.
Now listen, whenever someone says, I have received the Lord
Jesus Christ as my Savior, I'm going to tell you the only way
the Scripture bears out that the Lord Jesus Christ is truly
received. If someone says, I've received
him, then I'm getting ready to tell you how he says he is. So when you say, you know, somebody
says, well, I received Marvin Stoniker into my home the other
day. You know? You know him. He's
short, about 4 foot 5, weighs about 300 pounds. You know? He's just, you know. You say,
well, maybe you know one, but that's not the one I know. I
want to tell you what the scripture says about the Lord Jesus Christ.
As you therefore have received Him, as you have received Him.
Okay? Tell me about Him. Okay? He's
received, first of all, as God's wisdom. Now somebody says, I've
received the Lord. Well, if you've received Him
then, truly received Him, then this is the way you've received
Him. He's God's wisdom. He is the one, the scripture
says, possessed of Jehovah. in the beginning of His way,
wisdom Himself, that God Almighty, by Him, reveals to men how God
can be just and justify a sinner. The Scripture says He was set
up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth
was. He was by Him, Jehovah, as one brought up with Him, and
daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him. Who is He? He's God. He's God. He's Almighty God, who does as He will, as I've
said so many times, in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will. I'm going to say, well, I tell
you what, you know, the Lord, He never does anything. Satan
does all the evil and God does all the good and it's a contest. That's not the Lord Jesus of
this Bible. He's God. Who is He? He's the surety and the angel,
the messenger of the covenant, who has ever stood as the guarantee
to save His people from their sins. Who is the Lord Jesus Christ? Call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people. Someone says, I've received the
Lord Jesus Christ, and I received Him because He died for everybody,
And He wants to save everybody. And He came into this world to
save everybody from their sins. You didn't receive the Lord Jesus
Christ of this book. No, you didn't. No, you didn't. He's the one in whom all the
elect were chosen before the foundation of the world that
we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. Who is the Lord Jesus Christ? He is the one in whom God's elect. He has an elect people. He is the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. Salvation in Christ does not
begin in time. The scripture declares 2 Timothy. I'll read it again so we can
all see it. 2 Timothy 1 verse 9. Listen where salvation begins. This is the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Timothy 1 verse 9. Who has saved us and called us
with a holy calling. not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began." Who is the Lord Jesus
Christ? Who is received by His people? Truly, He is received. God put Him there. The Spirit
of God put Him there. Who is He? He is the one in whom
the elect were chosen before the foundation of the world and
in whom God saved us and then in time called us with a holy
calling. That's who He is. He is the willing servant of
Jehovah whose meat it was to do the will of the Father who
sent Him and to finish the work. What was that work that the Father
sent Him to do? I'll tell you what it was. John
chapter 17, verse 2, as thou hast given Him power over all
flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given Him. Who is He? He's God, who has a people that
He's coming to this world to save, and He's going to save
He's one whose holy obedience, His obedience, His righteousness
is imputed to the saints and is therefore the only accepted
of God righteousness before Him. Men trust in themselves, in their
will. There's only one obedience accepted
of God. His willing atonement and sacrifice
for sin, for his own people, is the only satisfaction before
God's law. Almighty God said, when I see
the blood. You know what man says? When
God sees my faith, when God sees my will, when God sees my baptism,
when God sees my profession of faith, When God sees my good
works, I'm walking down the aisle, I'm trying to do good when I
see the blood. And for whom did he die? He laid down his life
for the sheep. To whom is the blood applied?
To the sheep. To the sheep. Was any of his
blood wasted? I laid down my life for the sheep.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me. I laid down my life for the
sheep. False religion says He died for
everybody. Well that means that He died
for people that's in hell. I can tell you right now. And
He did not. Somebody says, I've received
the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the way He's received.
This is Him. It's Him. It was by His shed
blood as the scapegoat of Jehovah. He bore away the sins of God's
people. The Scripture says to a land
uninhabited, where is it? I don't know, it's behind God's
back, cast into the sea. I will remember them no more.
I can't explain that. I'm telling you, He finished
the work. He finished the work and no man
is going to add anything to it. Don't, don't. Listen, you add your little two
bits to it and you've polluted it. Who is the Lord Jesus Christ? He is the resurrected Great High
Priest. Whoever liveth to make intercession
for his people. He's the returning judge before
whom all the inhabitants of the earth are going to stand. All
the books are going to be opened. And if the only book that I've
got is the books of my works, and it's not my works of righteousness
that I've done, I have no hope without being found in the book
of the Lamb. The Lamb's book of life, written
from the foundation of the world. Only then will I hear. Him say,
come you blessed of my father. Inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. And when we speak
of receiving Christ Jesus the Lord, now listen, this is the
Lord Jesus who is received by the objects of God's mercy. He's
the Lord Jesus revealed in the scripture. And no one receives
Him except this way. I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm
the life. So as you therefore have received Christ Jesus the
Lord, as you've received Him this way, believing Him, God-given
faith from above, faith that you weren't born with, it's given
unto you to believe. Believing on Him as a needy sinner,
Someone said, boy, one time I was a needy sinner. I said, let me
tell you something. If you've ever been a needy sinner,
you're still one. As a needy sinner, someone that's
been taught something of his inability to save himself from
any works of righteousness, I truly believe the older a believer
gets, the more he realizes something. I mean, we still see through
a glass darkly. But we realize more of our need. We realize
more of our inability. We realize more of our selfness,
the horror of that old man, wretched man. Almighty God, who atoned for
sin, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. As you have therefore received
the Lord Jesus Christ. So walk ye in him. How do you walk? By faith. By faith. Seeking to adorn the
doctrine, the truth of God our Savior. Walking in love, in trust,
and dependence upon him. Knowing, now here's the walk
of a believer, here's the walk. Knowing that our walk shall be
one of constant struggle. A constant warring from within
and without. A constant walk of the warring
of the spirit against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit.
Walking knowing this battle is never going to be over until
the Lord has been pleased to deliver us from the body of this
death by us dying, physically dying. A walk that is going to
continually be corrected by God Chastisement, if you be without
chastisement. I'm telling you, the walk of
a believer is a walk of hope and peace and love and thanksgiving
unto the Lord, but it is a constant battle, a constant war. This is the walk of faith. We're
going through in Genesis and reading all these things about
Abraham. Abraham believed God. He believed Him. Look at the
struggles. Look at the struggles. That's
an illustration. Look at the struggles. Look at the struggles
of Moses. Look at the struggles of all
these men. You that believe, you know something about this
too. It's a struggle. It's a walk. It is a walk of
faith and obedience that's found only by the power of God to continue
because we're kept by the power of God. growing in grace and
in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior. Believer, you that
have experienced something of the weakness of yourself, you
know something about that walk whenever the Lord met Jacob, wrestled with Jacob. He loved
Jacob. He loved him. He loved him. The
scripture says he wrestled with him all night. The Lord told
him, let me go. And Jacob said, not till you
bless me. Ask him his name. What's your
name? He said, my name's Jacob. He
said, your name's going to be Israel. Israel. Do you know the blessing received
from the Lord of Jacob? The blessing of the Lord that
was received by Jacob, who the Lord said, your name is Israel.
Do you know what the blessing was? God touched the hollow of
his thigh. He touched the hollow of his
thigh. And what does the scripture say he did? The rest of his life,
he halted. He halted. Constant reminder. This is the Lord of glory who's
not going to share any of his glory with his people. Constant
reminder. David said, it's good for me
that I've been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. This
is the Lord, as I just said, who does not share his glory
with anybody. Anybody. As you have therefore received
the Lord Jesus Christ, so walk ye in Him. Trust in Him. Believe Him. Casting yourself
upon Him. Casting all your care, He cares
for you. For His glory and our good. Amen.