I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the gospel according or written
by, penned by John. John chapter 13. John chapter 13. and verse 20. And I planned this
morning to preach both messages out of
this 20th verse. Our Lord says in John chapter
13 and verse 20, barely, barely. Now you know, before we go any farther, Read. The only thing that matters is
what does God have to say. That's the only thing that matters.
If I speak according to this Word, and that's what a preacher
is to do, relate what God has to say, and that's where it stays. What does God have to say? Verily,
verily, truly, Truly. Amen, amen. Trustworthy, trustworthy. So be it, so be it. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, he that receiveth whomsoever
I send receiveth me. And he that receiveth me, receiveth
him that sent me." I want to try to preach this morning for
a few minutes on receiving Christ. Now, the reason I want to Take
our time and consider what does God have to say about this, about
receiving him. You know, this is probably one of the most
used, one of the most common phrases in religion today. Receiving Christ. Have you received
the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you received Him? And it's
not enough to tell somebody that they're wrong in what they're
saying. You need to tell them what's
right. Admitting, you know, somebody's wrong, somebody's wrong, somebody's
wrong, and you don't tell them what's right, well, they're no
better off. But when somebody says, you need to receive Christ, well,
that's a right statement. That is, He that receiveth me. That's a right statement. What do you mean? What are you
saying? Explain it to me. You need to
receive the Lord. Okay. What are you talking about? I mean, how is it done? Tell me something. The Lord mercifully
told His disciples, that in verse 18, he said, I have not been
fooled. I know what's going on. He said
in verse 18, he said, I speak not of you all, I know whom I
have chosen. And he was talking about the
selection of the twelve apostles. I know whom I've chosen. I know
that I chose you twelve. Out of all the folks around,
I chose you twelve. I know whom I've chosen. But
that the Scripture may be fulfilled, he that eateth bread with me
hath lifted up his heel against me. He set forth. I have not
been fooled. by the one that's going to lift
up his heel against me." Now listen, there's 12 of them there.
There was 12. And he told them, he said, now
one of you is the devil. Now you think about this. Here's
12 men that have been with him, walked with him, and nobody suspected
anybody. When the Lord told them, He said,
one of you is going to betray Me. I've said before, you know
what they did? Every one of them. They started
to question themselves. What does it mean? Twelve people. Twelve. I don't know how many folks is
here this morning. Fifty, sixty, seventy. But in
proportion. If you take of the folks that
are sitting here that have made professions, that have been baptized,
solid, you trust them, you trust them, you trust them. And the
Lord take in proportion, and He'd say now, of the group that's
here, That if it may claim to know me, five of you, five of
you, six of you, of those that have taken a stand, made that
commitment, baptized, opened profession, five, six of you,
are going to deny me. You're going to lift your heel
up against me. And you know, you're looking
around and you start looking at people that you trust. And you say, am I one of them? Am I one of
the ones? Lord, is it me? He has not been
fooled. But he said, I know whom I've
chosen. I know that the Scriptures might
be fulfilled. I had to choose the One that's
going to lift up His heel against me. Imperative, ordained, that
God's Word, even the wrath of man, surely the wrath of man
is going to praise God. It's going to praise Him. Men
raise their hands in rebellion against Almighty God and they
say, You know, the wrath of man against Christ is going to praise
Him. So He told His disciples, I'm
not fooled. I know what's going on. I know
who I've chosen. And then He relates that all
that's going to come to pass He's going to redound to His
glory and the good of His people. Verse 19, He said, I tell you,
before it come to pass, that when it is come to pass, I tell
you before it come, that when it is come to pass, you may believe
that I am He. I'm telling you this so that
when you see what's getting ready to happen, I want you to remember,
I knew it, and it has happened for this purpose that you might
believe. God's sovereign, omniscient. And then our Lord uses some terminology
that again I've said is very, very familiar. Receiving Him. receiving Him. And how often
do we hear that terminology? Have you received Christ? And the true understanding of
that truth, now I'm going to tell you something. We believe,
and we do not back up, whatever God has to say, That Word is going to endure
forever. You know that. His Word is not
going to return void. It's going to accomplish the
purpose for which it was sent. And so we don't back up from
terminology like receiving Christ. That's scriptural. We don't back
up from whosoever will. We don't back up from that. That's
the truth. Whomsoever will. Let him take
the water of life freely. That's God's Word. But what we
don't want to do is leave men in the darkness of their own
misunderstanding. Don't leave a man to himself.
If you're going to use the term, explain what you're talking about
so that somebody understands. They may not agree with you,
but they know exactly what you said. They understand. And if
you're going to make a statement, back it up. Back it up with God's
Word. Show them what does God have
to say. So let's hear the words of our Lord and pray that the
Holy Spirit speak and give us some understanding. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, He that receiveth. Now that word receiveth means
believes and gets a hold of. He that gets a hold of, understands,
perceives, receives, believes. He that receiveth whomsoever
I sent. And He doesn't send everybody. I pray I'm right here. Jeremiah
14.14. If I turn to the wrong one, I
apologize. Yeah. Jeremiah 14.14. Let's read Jeremiah 14, 13 and
14. Then said I, Ah, Lord God, behold,
the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither
shall ye have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this
place. Then the Lord said unto me, The
prophets prophesy lies in my name. I sent them not. Neither
have I commanded them, neither spake unto them. They prophesy
unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of naught, and the
deceit of their heart." The Lord said, these men that are preaching
lies, and here again, if you're going to expose a lie, then you
make sure you expose the truth. These men that are preaching,
Preaching lies. Lies on me. I didn't send them.
Now I can, with assuredness, stand here and tell you a man
that stands in a pulpit and does not preach according to the gospel
of God's grace, the gospel that these apostles, these true apostles
preached. The gospel of God's sovereign,
saving, electing, redeeming, regenerating, preserving grace. All of grace with no part of man to make that
salvation effectual. Those that preach against this
gospel, God didn't send them. God did not send them. They are
preaching lies. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that receiveth, gets hold of, whomsoever I send, the message
that they preach, receiveth, same word, gets hold of, me,
he said. And he that receiveth me, receiveth
him that sent me. All four words, same definition. He that gets a hold of, he that
understands, he that believes it, he receives me. So according to our Lord's Word,
what is it to receive Christ? When somebody says, have you
received the Lord Jesus Christ? What do you mean? You believe
the messengers that God sends. You believe the gospel that they
preach. You believe the truth that is set forth concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it is to receive
Christ. You receive those that He sends. Now this verse that
we're looking at, we must. That's why I feel I need to preach
both messages out of that one verse. And Lord willing, the
Spirit of God might give us some understanding. Here's why we
must give absolute consideration to this verse. First of all,
it's the Word of God. It's God's Word. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, That Word that endures forever, everything else
is going to pass away. Heaven and earth are going to
pass away, Pat. Not His Word. Not His Word. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, God forbid that we take not the time. He that receiveth whomsoever
I send. Now at this point, I want us
to consider what is being said in that particular word, receive. He that receive, receiveth me. There's quite a few words that's
actually interpreted receive. It's just like words in the English.
I mean, a lot of times you'd use a word and it's the same
word, it just has a different Meaning, you know. I can tell
you that I've seen an Indian mound. And what it is, I'm looking
at a big pile of dirt. Or I can mound up something.
Now that's talking about me taking something and actually producing
something. Same word, different meaning. Now there's a word that is interpreted,
receive, and it has to do with something being offered to you
and actually left up to your will and your decision whether
or not you accept it. There is a word that means that.
Now I want you to turn with me to Luke 8.13. Luke 8. Verse 13. This is a parable of
the sower that went to sow. It's recorded in different passages
of Scripture, and I took this one to make this point concerning
receive. This word right here is the word
where something is offered and it's left up to you whether or
not. You know the parable, I'll just
tell you. The sower went to sow and the seed was sown and some
of the seed fell by the wayside, some of it fell among stony ground,
some fell among thorny ground, some fell on good ground. The
point that I want to make for the sake of time is that seed
that fell on the stony ground, on the rocky ground. Verse 13,
Luke 8, verse 13, And they on the rock, are they which, when
they hear, receive the word with joy, and these have no root which
for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away." Now,
you know just reading that verse of Scripture, you just read about
they heard the Word of God. And the word that was used there,
the word that the Spirit of God put in there, is they received
the Word with joy. Now, that tells us something. They delighted in it. I looked
the Word up. They delighted in it. They heard that and it sounds good. I like that. I like them. There was an emotional
response to it. Joy its delight. But the scripture set forth something
about these that received that word with joy. They heard it. And they received it with joy.
But they had no root. Here again, right there, look
to see what it meant. It meant a plant that has no
root to it. Now you take a plant, everybody
here knows what, you know, you can take, I can take a plant
and cut it off, cut it off right at the ground. And then come
right over here and dig a little hole real quick and stick it
in the dirt and push it around, maybe get the dirt a little wet
so it'll hold it. Make it, just mount it up right
there. And do you know that plant right
there looks just as good to me here just a minute or so after
it, you know, as it did when I cut it off. It looks good.
It looks just like, you know. You take any plant, cut it off,
stick it back in the ground. But you know the problem? It
didn't have a root. There was nothing there to draw
the nutrients. There was no substance below. It just went to the ground and
you just stuck right there. And that's all it is. Just give
it till in the morning. You'll know what was there. You'll
know. The Scripture says they received the Word. Those on the
rock in the stony ground, they heard and they received the Word
with joy. These have no root. And for a
while, believe the word, while. Just for a while. It meant seasonal
convenience. Just when everything was just convenient for a while. I enjoy that. And for a while,
for seasonal convenience, believed. They understood it. And they
understood it in their head. I told my daughter one time, she
had asked me a question You know, we've talked about believing
and stuff like this, and I told her, I said, I understand and
I believe that there is a such thing as communism. I believe
that. I believe, you know, I believe. But I don't have a heart for
it. I don't have a heart for that. I understand it. And I have no problem with people
being kind. I mean, if I see somebody in
need, there's a need there. And to shut up the scriptural
term, the vows of compassion. You see a brother in need and
you don't help him. How does the love of God remain
in your heart? You see somebody, but just to
say that I think that we ought to be on the same level, everybody
give everything to me and I'll dole it out to you. No, I don't buy that. No. The Scripture says they believed
it. They had a head knowledge of
it. They understood. They understood. I can understand and perceive
something of total depravity. I can see that terminology, total
depravity. And understand and say, you know
what, I think maybe everybody is kind of bad, but it's quite
different for me to believe that I'm totally depraved. And I cannot
do anything. And I must have one do for me. There's an understanding in the
head. These that are on the rock, They heard, they received the
Word that was offered to them. That word means to offer and
to take it or leave it. They received the Word with joy.
These have no root, and while for a while believed, and in
time of temptation. The word temptation means a putting
to proof. a setting forth of the proof,
whether or not they're real or not. When Almighty God sets to
proof, sends the temptation, when they're tried because of
the sake of the gospel of God's free grace, they desert. They leave. They fall away. I
had just recently I was somewhere preaching and there appeared
as though, I think I told you this, that's okay, it's a good
illustration. There was somebody and I thought
maybe they had heard. They had a meeting. The next
service after we were there, He had a meeting and it was coming
to a head real quickly. And the moderator stood up and
said, well, I tell you what, I can see where this is going
to cause a split. This kind of preaching is going
to cause a split. And he said, this is not worth it to me. It's
not worth it to me. Stony ground here. He received
the word for just a minute or two, it seemed like. That sounds
great, but there was no root there. And for seasonal convenience,
from about Sunday to Wednesday, he saw what was happening. If
you want to make a stand for this gospel, for this truth,
it's going to cost you everything. Everything. I'm telling you,
everything. Brother Henry said, I heard Scott
say, don't hold on too tightly to anything, because Almighty
God just may break your hand. But I'm telling you, for a while,
they received. That's what the word received
means there. They received the Word. Now, there's another word
received that means to have something done for you first. Something given you. in power,
something that is new, a new heart. And the reaction of what
has been done for you, something that has been done powerfully
for you, causes you to willingly receive that which was purposed
for you. There's a big difference. If
you are left to your own will and own mind and own spirit as
you're born in Adam, and then just say something's offered
to you, and if there's no change, you may for a minute, may for
a while, for seasonal convenience, receive it. Because it's unique,
it's different, sounds good, but I'll tell you what's going
to happen. If there has not been a new heart, if there has not
been a new spirit, if you've not been born from above, I'm
going to tell you what's going to happen. You're going to leave. You're going to leave. He that
endureth to the end shall be saved. So when we read a word,
and we look at that word and it's talking about he that receiveth,
Whomsoever I send receiveth me." What receive are you talking
about? Who gets all the honor? Who gets all the glory? Who had
the last say in it? Was it me? Or was it Almighty
God? He that receiveth whomsoever
I send receiveth me. begin to wind this first message
down by setting forth four things that are absolutely necessary
before man will receive God's ambassadors. Four things that
without which he will not. He may for a moment, Mitch, may
for a while, He may endure for a season, but I'm telling you,
here's what's going to happen. If these four things are absolutely
not found, he will not receive savingly, enduringly. Four things. First thing that
you absolutely must have before a man will receive Christ. Receive those that Christ sends. First thing, you must have the
Word of God. You absolutely must have. You cannot receive those that
God sends and receive Christ by receiving the message that
they sent without the Word of God. Let me ask you this, what
do you have to base what you believe on? Where did you come
up with it? My mama always told me that. That's not what I heard. That's
not what I was raised under. Well, if it's not according to
the Word of God, what difference does it make? I want you to turn to James 1.18.
No man receives those that Christ sends and receives
Christ without God's Word. We must base what we believe
on God's Word. James 1.18, Of His own will, that is, Almighty
God Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, of His own will, begat, birthed,
Born again begat He us with the word of truth, that we should
be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. Romans 1, 16, 17. We've read this so many times. Good. Let's read it again. Romans 1, 16 and 17. The Word of God. He begat us
with the Word of God. Romans 1, 16, 17. Paul said,
I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. For it is the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first
and also to the Greek for their end. According to the Gospel. according to God's Word, according
to God's truth. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith. That is, from the faith
that He has given me to believe that it is by the faith of Jesus
Christ that I am justified. Therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written The just
shall live by faith. One other scripture on this first
point, 1 Corinthians 15, 3 and 4. 1 Corinthians 15, 3 and 4. The Apostle Paul says, For I
delivered unto you first of all that which I also received. That Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures. That He was buried, that He rose
again the third day according to the Scriptures. Someone might
say, I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died. What do you believe about that?
Everybody believes that. I dare say you're going to find
anybody that's got any sense that's going to say, I don't
believe that he died. History relates that. But that
he died according to the Scriptures. Well, what does the Scriptures
say? The Scriptures says, I lay down my life for the sheep. He told some Jews, Jeff, just
a minute, he told them, he said, the reason that you don't believe
This is why you don't believe that I only lay down my life
for the sheep. Because you're not my sheep. This is the reason you don't
believe it. Because I've not given you faith. How that Christ died according
to the Scriptures. That He was made sin. That's how He died. That the
guilt of His people was made His. That He bore our guilt in
His body. That His soul was made an offering
for sin for His people. To say that He died for everybody
is to say that He failed. That's to say that his blood
is not sufficient. Because if you say, well, he
made it possible, now you're just getting ready to say that
it's still going to be left up to a man to reject it, and then
salvation is going to be of man's works. So it's not going to fly.
Not according to the Scriptures. First of all, you must have the
Word of God. You must have a new heart imparted, put in,
before a man will receive Christ. Turn to John 3. Nobody receives
the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved. Nobody receives the Lord Jesus
Christ in order to be saved. It has got to be life first.
John 3, verse 3. Nicodemus had come to the Lord
Jesus Christ and he told Him in verse 2, You've got to be a teacher that's
come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest,
except God be with him. Jesus answered, verse 3, and
said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man
be born again. Except a man be born from above. Except God does something for
him, that he cannot do for himself, born from above, except he be
born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God. It means except God rebirth him
spiritually, he cannot see the kingdom of God. I say, well,
it's offered to him. It's right here. Don't you see? Can you not perceive except He
be born again? He cannot see it. He's looking
and He doesn't see it. Why? He's dead. He's dead. Look at verse 5 to 8. Jesus answered,
John 3, 5, Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except
a man be born of water, the Word, and the Spirit, he cannot enter
into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit
is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
You must be born Again, the wind bloweth where it listeth, and
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh, and whether it goeth. So is every one that is born
of the Spirit. Before a man will receive Christ lovingly, heartily,
spiritually, eternally, truly, the Word of God must be there. He must reap according to the
Scriptures. And God's got to give him a new
heart. God's got to rebirth him. He's not going to receive Christ.
No. No. Not truly. Thirdly, you must possess faith. You must. Hebrews 11, 6. Without faith, it's impossible to please Him. For He that cometh, He that approaches
worshipfully, he that cometh to God must believe that He is,
and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him,
that craves carefully. Faith must be there. Faith must
be there. I've heard people say, well,
if you're one of God's elect, then it doesn't really matter
if you believe. Yes, it does. Yes, it does. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. He that cometh must believe. He must believe. But don't you
ever think that that belief came from you. Oh, it was the reaction. Absolutely. But it didn't start
with you. God sent His Word. Do you have
any idea? I don't. But we ought to have
indescribable joy and peace and comfort and thanksgiving that
God would allow us to hear the Word of God in truth. And not
hear a distortion of God's Word. To hear the Word of God. That
God would give a new heart. That Almighty God would speak
in power and grant faith. And here's the last thing. Before
man is going to receive God, receive Christ. It must be according
to God's will. It must be. Turn back to John
1. John 1, verses 12 and 13. John 1, verses 12 and 13. But
as many as received Him. Now there's that word, to get
hold of, willingly, as a result of. what He's done for me. And God's people do receive Him.
They do receive Him. They heartily receive Him. They
want Him. They desire Him. They must have
Him. But they know, they know This
didn't start with me, the old me. This didn't start with my
flesh. I know that. I know that. And I know that I don't deserve
any honor, any glory, any praise for it. It is by the grace of
God that I've been saved. Paul said, I am what I am by
the grace of God. John 1, 12 and 13, but as many
as received Him. To them. Gave He power. Gave Him the right. Gave them
the privilege to come into being. To come into open manifestation. To become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on His name. They were always sons. Those
that believe, because ye are sons, God has sent forth the
Spirit of His Son. Because you are sons, They've
always been sheep. The Lord said they lost sheep.
They regenerated sheep, but they're all sheep. They've always been
My sheep. As many as received Him, to them
gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on His name, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man. but of God. Men receive Christ. They do. But I'm telling you, it's all
of grace. I pray God bless the first part
of this message concerning receiving Christ to our hearts. for the sake of the Lord Jesus
Christ and the eternal good of his people. Amen.