about this morning. I want to
talk to you about what I'm hearing today from preachers, from religious
publications, from pulpits, from various mediums, television,
on the radio. This is what I'm hearing today.
I want to show you in a sense how wrong they are, if I can. As a matter of fact, I believe
that I could safely say if there is one place that you cannot
preach the gospel of free and sovereign grace and the mercy
of God in the face of Christ Jesus, it is in this free land
in which we call America. I believe that you can preach
it out on the streets. I believe where the swears and
those that are profane, not only in their conversation but in
their conduct, the drunks and the harlots, the adulterers and
so forth, I believe they'll agree that if they're ever saved, God
will have to do it. But you cannot take that approach
and carry it out to its completeness in the average church. You cannot
say in the average church that if a man's ever saved, God must
save him. You see, they're in the process
of establishing a righteousness of their own before God. And
therefore, they will not hear you when you insist that if they
are ever saved, God must do the saving. Well, I am convinced
then that what men call the gospel today is not the gospel at all. The gospel that is being preached
today won't save, it won't deliver, and it won't result in eternal
glory. And there are three or four things
that I want to mention to you here this morning. And I believe
that if you'll honestly consider what the Bible has to say, what
you've been taught in regard to the grace of God, you'll be
in perfect agreement with me. The first thing is this. What
we call the gospel today, and I use that word we not so much
that I think that you and I are involved in it, but just kind
of a general statement. What we call the gospel today
emphasizes this. It emphasizes what we should
do for God rather than what God must do for man. Isn't that the
emphasis now? When you watch a television program,
whether it be Billy Graham or whether it be Oral Roberts or
whether it be Jimmy Swigert or Kenneth Copeland or Ernest Angley
or whoever the television minister might be or even on the radio
or in most publications that you pick up and read some statement
in regard to the preaching of the gospel or in regard to religion. Even our local papers. I read
in yesterday morning's paper a statement about two men who
said that they were called to be evangelists and what they
believed was involved in evangelism. And what they said is what I'm
saying here this morning. They're emphasizing what we should
do for God rather than what God must do for us. What we should
do for God. That's the emphasis, see? Well,
you know, the disciples of old were confronted one time with
our Lord Jesus Christ in a statement that He made about rich men. He said that It's impossible, he said, it's
impossible for a rich man to be saved. He said that there
was a likely impossibility of a rich man ever being saved.
He didn't say that he couldn't be saved, but he said it's highly
improbable that a rich man would ever be saved. And the disciples
who heard him say this said, well, Lord, who then can be saved? Who then can be saved? Now, our
Lord said something there that not very many men have heard
or not very many men have listened to even. He said, With men it
is impossible. I wish that preachers and churches
would understand what our Lord meant when He said, With men
it is impossible. Who then can be saved? With men
it's impossible. It's impossible for a man who's
dead to give life to himself. It's an impossibility. It's an
impossibility for a man to save himself. He can't do it. Who
then can be saved? Our Lord said, with men it's
impossible, but with God all things are possible. You see,
Jesus said this But men are not listening to what the Lord Jesus
Christ said. Well, salvation is not something
that you do for God. It's not something that you do
for yourself. Salvation is not something your
preacher does for you. It's not something that your
church does for you. It's not something that the denomination
does for you. is of the Lord. Salvation. When I say salvation, that's
what this is all about. The deliverance from the very
penalty of sin. The deliverance from the power
of sin. The deliverance from the very
dominion of sin. That's what salvation is. What
I'm hearing today is people talking about being saved, And there
is nothing said about being saved from our sins. Now everybody
wants to be saved from hell, but there are not very many people
that want to be saved from their sins. Men will let men govern them,
govern their bodies, tell them when they can go to church, and
when to stay at home, and how much they can give, and when
they can give, and when they can stand up, and when they can
sing, and when they can't sing. Men will let men govern their
bodies in a physical sense. Men will let Jesus Christ govern
them of every place except their hearts. Men will not let Jesus
Christ reign over their hearts, and that's where it is. The kingdom
of God is not meat and drink. The kingdom of God is righteousness
and peace with the Lord Jesus Christ governing or dwelling
or reigning in and over the hearts of men. I don't hear much being
said about being saved from our sins. Well, the Bible declares in not
only one place, but place after place, place after place, that
salvation, this salvation is of the Lord. You remember here
just recently we read the book of Jonah together and looked
at various passages there that were beneficial to our instruction
at that particular time. What a help that it was to us.
Things that I had known all along, things that I'd read before,
but things that were revived and brought to my attention,
and I've come to appreciate that little book a whole lot more
than I had prior to that. You remember old Jonah? He cried
out from the depths of that whale's belly. They had cast him overboard
and God had prepared this great fish and just as soon as he hit
the water, well, that fish just opened its mouth and swallowed
Jonah and just dived down into that water and took him down
to the bottom of the mountains. There I was for three days and
three nights in the belly of that whale. Now, he was confined
there. There was no way for Jonah to
get out. It was an impossibility for Jonah
to get out. He could kick, he could claw,
he could scream, he could do anything that was within his
physical power and it would avail him nothing. Jonah was in prison
and the key was on the outside and there was no way for him
to get it. And if he ever got out, if he ever got out of that
prison house in the belly of that whale, then it must be a
force greater than he or greater than the whale to deliver him.
And finally, when he come to the end of himself, he said,
Salvation is of the Lord. And that fish vomited him out
on dry land. Now, you and I are in the same
place, the same place that Jonah is. We are incarcerated in a
prison house and we cannot get out. But today's preachers and
today's gospel is pleading with helpless, guilty, God-hating
sinners to start serving the Lord. Why don't you start serving
the Lord? You need to serve the Lord. But
I'm going to tell you this, and you know this, that the men of
old, the men of the Bible, did not plead with men to start serving
the Lord, but they pleaded with God to show mercy unto men. And there's a difference. There's
a difference. And I hope that you'll see it.
Not for men to serve the Lord, but for God to show mercy. You remember the publican? The
publican and the Pharisee went down to the temple to pray. One of them, the Pharisee, the
religious man of his day, he looked at the publican and then
lifted his eyes to heaven and he said, I thank God that I'm
not like this fellow. I thank God that I'm not like
him. But the publican, what was it
he said? He smote his breast and he said,
God, be merciful to me. You see, today we plead for sinners
to do something for God. We tell the sinner, God has done
all that he can do. That's what is being preached
on Abraham. God has done all that he can
do. God can't do it anymore. invade
your liberty, your privacy. He cannot invade the freedom
of your will. God has done all that He can
do. He's put forth an effort. God
has sent His Son, and His Son died on the cross. Now you must
do something for God. Isn't that the very essence of
what's being preached today? Now you've got to do something
for God. The leper, you remember the story
of that leper? The leper came down from the
mountain and their paths crossed. The path of the leper and the
path of the Lord Jesus Christ crisscrossed one day. That leper,
that outcast of society, the type of every one of us, we're
lepers, we're lepers. Our hearts are just as black
and vile and filthy as that leper's. physical body was. And that leper
who was an outcast of society, that leper, it was an impossibility
for him to be healed by men. There was no cure for leprosy.
As far as I know, there's still no cure. But that leper was put
outside of the camp, and he had to follow people around. and tell them that he was unclean.
If he sat on a rock, they couldn't sit on that rock. If he touched
anything, they couldn't touch it. He couldn't come into their
presence. He was that bad, he was that vile, and his path and
the path of the Lord Jesus Christ crossed one time. And when he
came to our Lord, he said this to our Lord. He said, If you
will, thou canst make me clean. If you will, if you will. That's
what was preached in the New Testament. That's what Paul's
talking about, perverting the gospel, perverting the gospel. This is what needs to be preached.
If you will, if you will, you can. In other words, I don't,
I, poor sinner, that leper understood something about his own nature. I, a poor, hopeless, helpless
sinner, I've got into this mess through my own volition. And
he said, You're not obligated to do anything for me. I know
that. I know that you're not obligated.
Men of our generation and women and children have been led to
believe through false preaching that God's obligated to them,
that God owes them something. that God's a debtor to them,
that God's on their hands. But that's not true. That's not
true. This leper said, if you will,
if you will, I know you can. I know that you're not lacking
in power. I know that you're not lacking
in wisdom. I know that you're not lacking
in love and generosity. I know that. But he said, if
you will, if you will, If you will, you can make me clean. You can, if you will. You don't
have to. You don't have to. You can pass
me by and be righteous in passing me by, good Lord, if you will. If you will, you can make me
clean. Oh, I'll tell you, men of old, they
pleaded with God. Men of old pleaded with God that
God might show mercy. Bartimaeus was pleading for the
Lord to do something for him. And the Lord Jesus Christ wasn't
standing by waiting for Bartimaeus to do something for himself. But men today, they're talking
about what they did for Jesus. I decided for Jesus. I accepted
Jesus. But I'll tell you what Paul said.
Paul said, I obtained mercy. He didn't say anything about,
I decided for Jesus, I accepted Jesus, I took Jesus as my personal
Savior. He said, I obtained mercy. The prophet of old wrote that
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God didn't find
grace in the eyes of Noah. Did you see that? God didn't
find grace in the eyes of Noah, but Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Listen, you who were dead have
he quickened. Who quickened? Who's dead? Is
God dead? No. Who is dead? Every member
of the human race, apart from the regenerating, quickening
power of the triune God, He's dead in trespasses and in sins. And the scriptures say, You have
He, that's God, you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and
in sin." The dead do not quicken themselves. If they are quickened,
God must quicken them. Paul said in Galatians chapter
1 that God was pleased to reveal His Son in me. He was pleased to do it. He could
have passed me by. But God, in due time, according
to His purpose, according to His good pleasure, according
as it pleased Him, He revealed His Son in me. Today's Gospel,
point number two. Today's Gospel emphasizes, for
the most part, heaven and hell. And I think that we're on a strong
diet. This religious world and generation
in which we're a part of, in which we live in, we're on a
steady diet of heaven and hell. But today's gospel all but ignores
the two true issues which is involved. in the preaching of
the gospel. They are talking about heaven
and hell. But the true issues involved
in preaching the gospel is the Lord Jesus Christ and sin. This thing of salvation is not
a heaven and hell issue. Now that may come as a surprise
to some, but I don't think so. The message of today is, wouldn't
you like to go to heaven? Well, who wouldn't? Who wouldn't? Wouldn't you like to go to heaven?
Well, you better quit this and you better quit doing that. Wouldn't
you like to finally wind up in heaven? Who wouldn't like to
go to heaven? Man's main and chiefest goal
in this life is somehow to make it to heaven, or make it to heaven. Want to make it to heaven. Don't
care how I get there, just want to get there. Want to make it
to heaven. Sing about heaven. If you don't
think I'm telling you the truth, you turn on the television next
Sunday morning when you have all the religious broadcasts
on and see if the emphasis in the preaching is not heaven and
hell. See if the emphasis is not on
what we do for God rather than what God must do for us. Now
you turn it on and see if I'm not right. We've missed it. This generation has missed the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They've missed it and people
are going to hell by the droves. They've been deceived. They've
missed it. what the gospel is. The gospel
is not a plan. The gospel is not heaven. The gospel is not hell. The gospel
is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. And heaven is a benefit of what
this person has done and what he gives to those that believe.
Man's main goal is somehow to make it to heaven. But let me
tell you, what the main desire and the main goal of the people
in the New Testament was. I'll tell you what they talked
about. They didn't talk about heaven. They didn't talk about hell.
That is emphasizing heaven or hell over and above the true
issue. This great man of God here that's
the author of this book 2 Corinthians in the book of Galatians. You
know what his great desire was? Go to heaven? No. His great desire
was to know Christ. That's what his desire was. Let
me read this to you. It's not that you haven't read
it and don't know about it. I know you do and have. But listen
to this. Paul said But these things which
were gained to me, those I counted lost for Christ. I count all
things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count
them but done that I may win Christ. What is this telling
us? It is telling us that Paul's
desire was to know Him, to win Him, to prize Him, To have Him
over and above everything else in this life. Well, I'll tell
you, brethren, we're playing a game that we can't win. That's
all there are to it. There's no ultimate winning to
the game that we're involved in this playing, church, but
you can't win. Can't win. We're fighting the losing battle.
The battle, the chief goal, the chief aim and desire of a Christian
is to know Christ. It's not to be ambitious, it's
not to gain this, not to gain that. We've educated a group
of people in a religious sense that they've missed the gospel.
Just like we've raised a generation of young people. that the only
thing that young people nowadays between 18 and 35 or 40 years
old, the only thing they've got in mind is, when's the next day
off so we can go on vacation? Isn't that right? When's the
next day off? We've got to save up to go, where
are you going this year? We're going to Ocean City. Well,
where are you going on Labor Day weekend? Well, we're going
to Delaware Beach. Well, where are you going the
fourth of July? Well, we're going down to Atlantic
City. We raised a generation of young people, brethren, and
I say this, I say this with all sincerity and love, that the
young people of our generation think that the only thing that's
worth living for in this life is entertainment. We've got to
be entertained. Isn't that right? We've got to
be entertained, these kids. We've got to have something to
do. I tell them, plenty of things
to do. What can we do? Why, you can get a paintbrush
and you can go home and paint the house. You can go home and
you can wash the dishes for your mama. You can go home and you
can take the sweeper and you can run the sweeper. You can
go home and you can pick up stuff. There's a million things that
young people, they don't want to do that. Want to go someplace. Let's go someplace. Let's go
to Idlewood Park. Let's go to Chautauqua or whatever
land that park is up in Ohio. Let's go here, let's go there. Well, no different than this
religious generation. Just the same. Missed it. Playing
a game. Playing a game that they can't
win. Going to wind up in eternal death. I'm telling you, today's
gospel all but ignores the true two issues, and they are Jesus
Christ and sin. This thing of salvation is not
a heaven and hell issue. This business of man's main goal,
somehow to make it to heaven, just doesn't square with what's
taught in the New Testament. The New Testament Christian's
desire was to know Christ, to know Him, and be found in Him. Verse number 9 of Philippians
chapter 3, "...and be found, that I may win Christ, and be
found in Him." Be found in Christ. not having mine own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." Where does
that righteousness come from? It's the righteousness of God. And if I ever have it, God must
give it to me. You say, well, you've got to
have faith. God's got to give me that faith along with that
righteousness. Verse number 10, "...that I may
know him." That was his desire. that I might know Him, might
know Him, know Him. I'm going to tell you this, brethren,
and it may cause you to think about it, I hope it does, but
I'm going to tell you, I've said it before, I'll say it again,
this knowing the Lord Jesus Christ, we've got to know Him better
than mother or father, brother or sister, or husband and wife,
or our children. We've got to know Him, to know
Him. Knowing eternal life and knowing the Lord Jesus Christ
are inseparable. And this is eternal life that
they might know thee. You've got to know Him. Not about
Him. You've got to know Him. You've
got to be vitally joined in your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ.
You've got to know Him. Ah, this generation of religious
cocaine addicts. that have been fed upon today's
gospel can't give God three hours a week. And I don't believe. I don't believe that a man who
professes to be a Christian, who says he's mine and I'm his
and I know him, and if he can't give God Almighty three hours
a week of his time, I don't believe he knows him. I believe that
a man knows Him, knows Him in his heart, knows Him in his heart,
vitally joined with Him, that he's willing, he's willing and
more than willing to do whatever he's called upon to do for the
glory of God in Christ Jesus. And three hours a week, he'll
want to give more than that. You see what I'm talking about? The apostle's desire was to know
Christ, that I may know Him, the power of His resurrection,
the fellowship of His suffering, being made conformable unto His
death. If by any means I might attain
unto the resurrection of the dead, not as though it had already
attained, neither were already perfect, not perfect, that's
not what we're talking about. But I follow after. I follow
after. You don't have to kick me along. I don't have to be enticed with
a prize. You don't have to give me a prize
or a new Bible to get me to come to church. You don't have to
promise me something in order to get me to pray or study my
Bible or tell people about the Lord Jesus Christ. You don't
have to do that. He says, listen, not as though
it had already attained, either we're already perfect, but he
said, I follow after. I'm hard pressed upon the heels
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not perfect, but I'm going
in that direction. I'm not perfect, but he said,
I'm going in that direction. One of these days I will be.
I'm not now, he said, but one day I will be. I'll be with Him
without spot, without blemish, without wrinkle. I'll be even
as He is. I'll be perfectly conformed into
the image of the Lord Jesus. But I follow after, if that I
may apprehend, if that I may lay hold of, apprehend that for
which also I am laid hold of by Christ Jesus, or of Christ
Jesus." He said, Christ has laid hold of me. Christ has laid hold
of me, and he said, I follow after that I may lay hold of
Him. I may apprehend him. Brethren,
I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, this
one thing I do, the one thing I do which is important to me,
Paul says. What is that, Paul? This one
thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, reaching
forth unto those things which are before. What do you do, Paul? I press toward the mark of the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. You see what I'm talking about?
The apostles' desire, the early New Testament Christians, their
desire was to know Christ. Their main-est goal or chief-est
goal was not to get to heaven, but was to know Christ. People
say, we'll know Him by and by. You'd better know Him here. You've
got to know Him here. You're going to know Him by and
by. Well, this is clear, I think,
as a noonday sun to me. Paul wanted to know Him. Paul
wanted to win. Paul wanted to be found in Christ. But today's religionist is not
concerned about the man Christ Jesus. He's concerned about heaven. He is concerned about heaven,
and if He can make it to heaven without Christ, it will be all
right with Him. Isn't that right? You can read
that between the lines when you hear these preachers read these
publications. They are concerned about heaven.
If I can get there without Jesus Christ, well then, that is all
right with me if I can make it without Him. If I can make it
without a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, that will be all
right. That's the reason that they say we're all going to the
same place, just traveling different roads. We're not headed for a
place. My aunt told me one time, dear
soul, come to visit with me shortly before she died. And she was
a religious woman. Took me to church when I was
just about eight years old. Took me to a Baptist church meeting
in a schoolhouse. I remember that. Just four or
five people there. But anyhow, I was taking her
over to Preston County. And we were on top of the ridge
between here and Preston County on the Halleck Ridge. And the
timber was cut out at that time. She looked down over and she
resented some of the things that I had said anyhow in regard to
how God saves sinners. And she said, well, she looked
down over and seen the trails of where the horses and the trucks
had brought the timber up through. A vast trail. She said, well,
heaven to me is just like this. I said, how's that, Auntie? She
said, well, see all those paths, this hill, this ridge we're on,
this is heaven, and all these roads, they all lead to the same
place. Ah, brethren, we're not headed
for a place. We're not headed for a place. Listen to me now,
I want you to get this. We're not headed for a place,
we're headed for a person! That's where we're headed, boy.
You see, brethren, this generation has missed him. They're headed
for a place. The people in the Bible were
headed for a person. To be like Christ! Oh, my desire
is to know Him! And Paul said, To be where He
is, is what? Parmenter! Missed Him? Just traveling different
roads, they say. We're all going to the same place. The Lord Jesus Christ said to
that thief, hung there on the cross, He said, shalt thou be
with me." The emphasis is not upon a place, but the emphasis
is upon me. Today, shalt thou be with me,
a person. Not a place, not a place. Paul had a desire to depart and
to be with Christ, he said, which was far better. He didn't say
he had a desire to depart and walk on streets of gold. Take
their guitars, you know, and they sing about the streets of
gold. Oh, I want to walk the streets
of gold where there'll be no tears, working upon men's emotions,
trying to get a profession of faith, trying to add to their
numbers. But brethren, that's not what
they did in the Bible, and that's not what preaching the gospel
is, and that's not the result of the gospel either. No, Paul
said he didn't desire to depart and walk on golden streets and
live in a mansion. The mansion in the hill! Oh,
the mansion over the hilltop! No, no. No, no. I want to be with Him! That's
what Paul said, and there's a difference, and I hope that you can see it. And not only is the emphasis
placed upon heaven, but the emphasis is placed upon hell, too. We
are made to fear hell. And I don't think that's wrong.
We ought to fear hell. But we are made to fear hell
to the extent that we do all we can to escape it. Well, men of old were concerned
about being saved from sin. His name shall be called Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. You see, heaven
wasn't their primary goal, and hell wasn't their primary concern. David said, blessed is the man
to whom the Lord will not charge with sin. You know what he said? Blessed is that man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin to. Blessed is that man to whom God
will not put sin to his account. They were concerned about being
saved from sin, its penalty, its power, and its dominion. Not about hell, that wasn't their
primary concern. Oh, if I can get out from underneath
the curse of sin, if I can get out from underneath the guilt
of sin, if I could get out underneath the load of sin, then I ought
to praise God forever. But the only way I'll ever get
out from underneath of the guilt and the curse and the load of
sin is that God must do something for me in His Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Do you understand this morning?
If you have Christ, if I have Christ, I have heaven. Do you
understand that? Oh brethren, if I have the forgiveness
of sins, then there is no hell for me. There is no condemnation. Listen to this. Listen to this. There is therefore now no condemnation. That means judgment. That is
how the 8th chapter of the book of Romans starts. It starts with
no condemnation and you know how it ends up? It ends up with
no separation. nor height, nor depth, nor any
other creature shall be able to separate us from the love
of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So if I have the Lord
Jesus Christ, I don't have any condemnation. I have no separation. If I have Christ, I have the
forgiveness of sins. I have peace, I have joy, I have
comfort, I have all of these things. Oh, listen to me, you
cannot You cannot give a man a title deed to heaven that is
not joined to the Lord Jesus Christ. He would make heaven
hell if he did not have a new nature, a new heart, a heart
to love God. It would be hell there in heaven
for him. Oh, no. Listen. David said, My sin is
ever before me. That is what he is concerned
about. He said, cleanse me, purge me, purge me with hyssop, restore
unto me the joy of thy salvation. Concerned about sin, not so much
concerned about heaven and concerned about hell, those are the issues
of what we refer to as today's gospel. Listen, our Lord Jesus
Christ, now hold on here just a minute. Just back off a minute
and listen to me now. Our Savior did not come down
here to save people from hell, regardless of what you've heard
prior to this. He did not come down here to
save people from hell. When the angel announced His
birth, it says that His name shall be called Jesus, Savior
Joshua, for He shall save His people from their sin. Oh, heaven
and hell is not the issue. I don't know anybody in my recollection
that doesn't want to escape hell. Don't know anybody that does
not want to go to hell. You ever talk to anybody in their
sanity that said, well, I'd just love to die and go to hell? I
never have talked to a soul yet in all my life that wanted to
go to hell, but I know lots of people, lots and lots of people.
In fact, the majority of people that I know, the majority of
the people that I know, and I know a lot of people. I've met a lot
of people and talked to a lot of people and been with a lot
of people, for these fifty-some years of my life, and I know
a lot of people, and I know what I'm talking about here this morning.
I know lots of people who do not want to be delivered from
sin. They all want to go to heaven,
but they don't want to know the Christ and the Bible. The issue
then, brethren, is not heaven and hell. The issue is Christ
and sin. That's the issue. Today's gospel
number three is this. Today's gospel is a sermon to
the head and not a message to the heart. You preach to my head
too much. You wear me. You tire me out. You tire me out. What you're
saying is so. What you're saying is so. Listen,
I wish you could learn to preach to my heart a little bit. I get
tired of you instructing me all the time. I want you to bless
me once in a while. Don't instruct me all the time.
Say something to my heart. That would be a blessing to me.
This is part of our trouble. We know what we believe. I believe
this and I believe that. We know what we believe. But
Paul said, I know who I believe. We know I'm a Calvinist. I'm
a five-point Calvinist. Every time I hear a man preach,
I can tell whether he's a Calvinist or an Armenian. Isn't that what
we say? This is what I believe. I believe
in the total depravity of man. I believe in irresistible grace.
I believe in unconditional election. I believe in particular redemption.
And I believe in the perseverance of the saints. I believe all
that. We know what we believe. Paul
said, I know whom. I believe, and I'm persuaded
that He is able to take care of that which I've committed
unto Him against that dead judgment. I know whom, whom. The issue,
the issue is not heaven and hell. The issue is a person. The issue
is Christ and sin, and the issue is not the preaching to the head
so much as it is to the heart. because it's a harsh religion.
You see, we believe the Bible, certainly, but the early New
Testament Christians, they lived in it. We argue the Bible, but
the early New Testament Christians found joy and comfort in the
Bible. We believe in God, but they walked
with God. They walked with Him. We believe
in Him. Oh yeah, we believe We preach
the fall of man, but they cried out, O wretched man that I am,
who shall deliver me from this body of death? We talk about
heaven, but they talk about Christ. Do you see the difference, Jack?
Do you see the difference in what I'm saying here in regard
to what's being preached today under the heading of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ? We talk of heaven, and they talk
about being with the Lord Jesus Christ, We believe in the resurrection,
but they looked for his return. He said that you talk of me with
your lips. You draw nigh unto me with your
lips. That's what he said. But he said,
Your heart's far from me. Why? Because today's gospel instructs
men's heads and not their hearts. We're always instructing men.
Always telling them, don't do this, don't do that, do this,
do that, and so forth. We never get down to where it's
at. If we ever get down where it's at, down there in a man's
heart, they won't have to be instructed so much. That's the God's truth. You can
take my word for it. That's the God's truth, if I
ever told you. If we ever get a hold of a man's
heart, get a hold of a man's heart, if we can do it, I know
we can't do it apart from the unction and the power of God
through the Word and the Spirit. But if God ever saves a man,
if He ever saves me and if He ever saves you, let me tell you,
we're going to be new creatures in Christ Jesus. You can say
what you want to about it, but listen, if any man is in Christ
Jesus, he is, not hopes to be, not will be sometimes, but right
now there's a change. If any man be in Christ, he is
an old man. a new creature and old things,
you'll tell the difference. You'll tell the difference, and
it won't be months either. It won't take months or years
for you to see the difference. If any man, being Christ, is
a new creature, if all of those that have professed faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ and have joined this church were actually,
really, the recipients of the grace God, if Christ had really
been formed in their hearts, and they were new creatures in
Christ Jesus, this church building would be full this morning, they
hear me preach. And it will be full again tonight.
But they have been deceived. They made a decision, and they
miss Christ. They accepted the plan, but they
miss Christ. Oh, people that have been the
recipient of the person of Jesus Christ in their hearts and not
their heads are men and women and boys and girls who hunger
after Him! They seek ye first the kingdom
of God and all His righteousness. They prize Him. They want to
hear about Him. They want to live for Him. They
want to exalt Him. Oh, brethren, our Lord said,
you draw near me with your lips, but your hearts are far from
me. Isn't that what's going on today? Don't we sometimes talk
too much about the well and not enough about the water? We talk
about the well, but what about the water? We talk about the
table, but we don't talk much about the brain. We preach about the gospel, but
never get around to preaching THE gospel. Do we ever tell men how God can
be just and justify him that believeth in Jesus? Or do we
just instruct men in the doctrines of Him? Do we just instruct men
in the letters of Him? in the truth of the Scripture
and so forth. Listen to me now. Can you and
I learn this morning that Jesus Christ is the truth? He is the
Bible. He is heaven. He is salvation. He is eternal life. It is a person
to know, to embrace, to be joined to, to believe in, and to trust
in. That's what salvation is. Number
four, today's gospel emphasizes, well, maybe it doesn't emphasize,
but it demands, it calls men to do something. Today's gospel
calls upon men to stand up for Jesus Christ. Stand up for Christ. Stand up for Christ! Stand up
for Jesus! Will you stand up for Jesus? I'm not saying that's wrong.
It's right when it's in its proper perspective. But today's Gospel
calls upon men to stand up and be counted. We have a lot of
hand raising. We have a lot of aisle walking.
And they tell what they believe. But I'm going to tell you what
God commands men to do. He doesn't command men to stand
up and be counted and raise their hands and walk the aisles, but
God commands men to bow. God commands men to bow to His
Son. That's what God commands men
to do. That's what repentance is. Repentance is agreeing with
God about yourself and changing your attitude and your mind about
who God is. and who God's Son is, and bowing
to Him. Does not the Bible say kiss the
Son? You can't kiss the Son unless you kiss His lips, and if you
kiss His lips, then you're going to kiss His feet. You're going
to have to say, move over, Mary Magdalene, I've got to have part
of this. I've got to kiss His feet. I've got to wash His feet
with my tears, and I've got to dry them with the tresses of
my hair. Move over! Bow! Come down, Zacchaeus, come
down! Man's got to get off of his high
horse and come down in the dust from whence he came. He's got
to come down, come down from his self-righteousness and from
his pride and from his guilt and from his shame. He's got
to come down and make the dust the headquarters of his soul. He's got to come down. He's got
to bow down. It's not stand up and be counted,
but it's bow down, sinner, bow down. And there'll be no salvation
until a man bows down. There'll be no salvation until
God breaks a man's heart. There'll be no filling a man
until God makes him empty. He's got to be as dry as a covered
bridge before God will ever pour any water in his soul. He's got
to come down. He's got to come down. Bow down. Oh, the message is what? Look
with me, if you will, just for a second. Isaiah chapter 40,
look over there. This is the message, this is
the message right here. This is the message that strips
man of his glory and gives all the glory to God. And that's
what we want, isn't it? We want all the glory to be ascribed
to God Almighty. All glory. We don't want an ounce
of it. We want to be like John the Baptist.
You know what John the Baptist said? And it's talking about
John the Baptist in this 40th chapter of the book of Isaiah.
They said, Who are you, John the Baptist? Who are you? We
want to know who you are. A committee from Jerusalem has
appointed us and sent us down here into the wilderness where
you're baptizing." And that's where it was. It wasn't in the
temple, but it was out there in the wilderness. He said, the
committee of the Sanhedrin and the Pharisees, they sent us down
here. We want to know who you are.
Are you the prophet? No, I'm not the prophet. Are
you the Christ? No, I'm not the Christ. Who are you? Who are
you? He said, I'm just a boy. That's
all I am. Just a boy. That's all. Just
a boy. I'm just the means. I'm just
the medium. I'm the vehicle whereby the words
that God gives me can be taken to you. That's all I am. I'm
just an agent. I'm just a means. I'm nobody.
I'm nobody. I'm Mr. Nobody from nowhere.
I'm a voice. I'm a voice. And what's a voice
for? A voice is to be heard but not
seen. That's what He said, I am. I'm
just a voice. He said, I must decrease. I must fade off into
the distance, but He must increase. He must loom larger on the horizon
of your soul. I'm just a voice. Over here in
Isaiah 40, says the third verse, the voice of Him that crieth
in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight
in the desert a highway for our God. Every mountain shall be
exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the
crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. And
the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall
see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."
And the voice said, remember who I was talking about, he said,
I'm just a voice crying in the wilderness. And the voice said,
crying, he said, what shall I cry? What's your message? What do
you want me to preach? All flesh is grass! That's what
I want you to preach. There's got to be some withering. There's got to be some stripping.
There's got to be some breaking of this proud flesh, yours and
mine. We've got to be brought down
to see ourselves as God sees us. We've got to be brought to
the place that we're nothing. We take pride in our race. We take pride in our face. We
take pride in our grace even. Sometimes we even take pride
in the fact that we used to be drunkards or something. Isn't
that right? I told some folks down, I preached down here not
so long ago to some folks down at Ashland. And I was talking
about man's awful condition. I was talking about, except God
do the work, it will never be done. And I was telling men how
depraved they were, how awful they were, how they hated God
against God and is hostile against God, and they hated the love
of God, the justice of God, the mercy of God. They hated everything
about God and the way He dispenses it if they'd own up if they'd
be honest in their hearts about it. And I said, as a matter of
fact, you're so worthless before God, you're as worthless as a
pitcher of warm spit. Ah, that sounds nauseous, doesn't
it? Worthless is a pitcher of warm
spit, but that's wrong. That's how a man is. He's worthless. What good is a pitcher of warm
spit? That's how good man he is. That's
how worthless he is. He thinks he's something. Thinks
he's something. Thanks that God saw something
in him. Thanks that he's one of God's
elect because he's something. He's nothing. He's got to get
away from that. He's got to be knocked off of
that high horse. He's got to be brought down into
the dust. and make dust His headquarters.
He's got to come down and realize what He is, that He's a pitcher
of warm spit and He's worthless and good for nothing and God
could just as easily pass Him by and save Him and be righteous
and just in doing so. Worthless as a pitcher of...
You know what? After I got there, I don't know
how many people come to me. They say, we never heard that
before. We never heard that. He said,
I'll remember that as long as I live. He said, I'll remember
that. I said, well, you understood what I was talking about, didn't
you? I said, there wasn't no sophistication about what I had
to say, was there? I said, you understood that,
didn't you? Yeah, I understood. I can identify with it. I know
what you're talking about. Another fellow come along, and
he said, well, he said, well, it ain't much for us to brag
about. Another fellow chirped up, and
he said, yeah, he said, that's right. You know, we even glory
in the fact that we're a pitcher of warm spirit. Isn't that right? We even glory. We glory in our
faith, we glory in our race, and bless God, most of us glory
in our grace. That's right, we glory in it.
We look down upon others who don't have it or understand it.
The poor Methodists, the poor Church of Christ people, the
poor Catholics, the poor religionists, We look down on him. We despise
him sometimes because he doesn't understand what we are talking
about. Isn't that right? We get mad at him because he
doesn't understand what we are talking about. We can't bring
it to our hearts' remembrance that who has made us to differ. If it had not been God that made
us to differ, we would have been ten times worse than they were. You wouldn't criticize a blind
man, would you? Would you criticize a man who
can't see? That's like a bunch of fellas
down in a pit here and can't get out and somebody come along
and got one of them out and the one that got out looked down
at the others and began to cuss them out. That's the way we act. That's the way we act. We've
been delivered and we get mad because other people don't understand
how we've been delivered. We try to tell them they can't
see it, they can't understand. They're dead. They're dead. Unless
God does something for them. They're never going to understand.
Be patient. Be kind. Be generous. Be loving. Pray for them. But God will do
something for them. Huh? Oh yeah, he said, All flesh...
I've got to quit. All flesh is grass. That's what we are. That's the
message. Listen. The grass withereth. There's got to be the work, the
withering work of the Spirit of God upon all flesh, your flesh
and my flesh. There's got to be the stripping
of the apron of that big leaf of self-righteousness. It's got
to be stripped off of us and every leaf has got to come off.
Every leaf, every stem, every thread of that self-righteousness
has got to come off of us. And we've got to be stripped
and we've got to see ourselves as God sees us and stand before
God naked and guilty and embarrassed and shamed as sinners! Ungodly, worthless, hopeless,
helpless, God-hating, worm-like sinners! And pray that God will
show mercy upon us.