I want you guys to hear that
because our God does things so wonderful. I had no idea Kathy
was going to sing that song. You're about to see how that
song goes right along with the message. I was talking with a
brother, Mike Smith, down in San Diego. And him and his wife
Karen, some of you may recall, they lost their son to an accident
just recently. Mike and I were talking yesterday.
He had just gotten back from Colorado from picking up all
of his son's belongings and bringing them back here to California.
And Mike told me, he goes, yeah. He says, you know the hardest
thing about this? He goes, it's terrible and it weighs heavy
that our son is gone and that we'll never see him again. He
goes, but knowing who the Lord is and the Lord being gracious,
the only thing I can say about my son was, I forced religion
on him. I want to bring that, I brought
that up because God's people are not forced.
I'm going to speak to a group of men tomorrow morning at 7am,
right after they eat their scheduled breakfast day, some men in a
rehab facility up in Camino, and they are forced into religion. One of the requirements to stay
in this rehabilitation center is that you attend the morning
study. And I hope to bring this out
in the study that God has laid upon my heart tomorrow morning,
that God's people come willingly. Now, I have to say in that, Not
only do they come willingly, they come because God makes them
willing. It doesn't mean you're a slave.
It doesn't mean you're grabbed like the slaves of Africa were
grabbed and thrown into a ship and transported somewhere and
now you're here and you have to do this. What it means is
that He shows us the wonder. What a wondrous, gracious God
we have in His Son, the Lord Jesus. He shows us the wonder
of His grace. Knowing what we are in the flesh,
and the wonder of His grace in sending His Son to be our substitute,
where else are we going to go? There's no other place. Nobody
else has the words of life that we see in the Lord Jesus Christ
in Scriptures. Where else are you going to go?
He said to his disciples. Where Lord? You're the only place
there is any life. Yours are the only words of life.
Everything else is of works. I must do this. I must do that.
Why would I go there? I screw everything up. I mess
it all up. I'm always making a mess of things.
If you're going to leave it up to me, I'm going to make a mess
of that as well. How about you? Do you find yourself
in that same boat? Our Lord says in the book of
Corinthians, Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
says this, Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Know ye
not that your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you,
except ye be reprobates? Examine yourselves. I want to
talk to you this morning a little bit about what is Christianity. Turn over to the book of Luke,
if you would. Luke chapter 9. Last week we looked at these
words in the verse 22. Luke 9, verse 22, we looked at
these words, saying, The Son of Man must suffer many things,
and be rejected of the elders, and the chief priests, and the
scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day. Look at
verses 23-27 with me, will you? And He said to them all, all
of those that He had just charged and commanded not to say who
he is, those disciples who answered and said, the Christ of God,
that's who you are. He said unto all of them, if
any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily,
and follow me. For whosoever will save his life
shall lose it. But whosoever will lose his life
for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged
if he gain the whole world and lose himself or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed
of me, And my words of him shall the Son of Man be... I'm sorry,
let me read that again. For whomsoever shall be ashamed
of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed
when he shall come in his glory and in his Father's house and
of the holy angels. But I tell you of a truth, there
be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they
see the kingdom of God. The words our Lord Jesus tells
us here in these five verses are words that we should ponder
often. Examining yourself is not, okay,
I did it. It's all done now. I'm good. I can go about my way. Examining ourself is consistent
and continual. When the Lord told His disciples
that there would be one who would betray Him, now the disciples
had been walking with Him for quite some time, and every single
one of them stepped up to the plate and said, is it I? Is it I? Lord, is it I? That's an examination of yourself.
Is it I, Lord? These words are worthy of you
and I to ponder. They separate the precious from
the vile. These are the words that our Lord uses as a fan. It's as though the fan in the
Master's hand by which He distinguishes the weak from the safe. You know,
remember the scripture where it says, don't worry about the
chef, I'll take care of that. I'll separate the wheat from
the chef. This is what he does this with.
His word. This is his word to his people.
These are the words of God to you and I on a personal level,
to our hearts. We ought to read them often.
We ought to pray about them much. Don Fortner wrote this, he said,
these few words define true Christianity more distinctly than all the
volumes of theology and all of the apologetics written by men.
Robert Hawker wrote this, he said, a single soul is of more
value than the whole world. And for this plain reason, the
time is coming when the whole world and all that is in it will
be destroyed. But the soul of every individual
must live either in happiness or in misery forever." Reader, pause. Pause over in the subject
and calculate, if possible, the value of a single soul. The creation
of it called forth the counsel of the whole persons of the Godhead.
The redemption of it cost Christ His blood. The regeneration of
it was the work of God the Holy Ghost and the everlasting happiness
of it engages the services of angels and of men continually
over and over. Angels rejoice in heaven and
the recovery of every sinner. Hell rages in the event of their
salvation. The soul has a capability of
grace here in glory forever and therefore what a loss. Incalculably
great must it be that a being of such qualities and so form
should be exposed to everlasting destruction. So we see our Lord
giving you and I instruction here. As we examine ourselves,
the first thing we look at here in God's Word telling us about
the difference between Christians, true Christianity, and just plain
religion, is coming to Christ. The world would take these words
that we've read about and they say, see here, if you don't do
something, you're not saved. Folks, we're
commanded to come to Christ. How did I start this whole subject
off? Being forced into religion. Throughout the Scriptures, faith
is portrayed as a matter of coming to Christ. To believe on the
Son of God is to come to Him. To come to Him is to believe
on Him. And I'm going to ask you, I'm going to ask you, as
you hear these words this morning, listen for the grace. Because
I've got lots of grace to give you here. No man Listen to me. No preacher in the flesh can
tell you where that line is. But there is a responsibility
to us. And there's grace. And at some
point, grace overtakes and causes that responsibility to come forth. But no man can tell you where
that line is. But they're both there, and God teaches both of
those things in His Word. We are saved by grace. Remember
this, we are saved by grace, not of works, lest men should
boast. Our Lord shows us over and over
again through pictures and types that faith, believing in Christ,
is coming to Christ. We come to Him by following after
Him. as His disciples follow after
their Master. We don't come to Him by coming
down to the front of the church and saying a prayer that somebody's
taught you to memorize. We don't come to Christ by getting
in the waters of baptism thinking, that's it, we've done it. We
don't come to Christ the way that Christian religions of this
world teach, and that is, if you'll just make a decision We come to Him by following after
Him in faith, in belief. Our all-glorious Christ said,
if any man will come after Me, let him deny himself is what
it said. That's in Luke chapter 9 verse
23. Coming to Christ is the result
of a deliberate, purposeful choice. Nobody comes to my house when
I was down in North Highland and said, you're coming to church
today. You don't have any choice. No. Ask Kathy. She would say,
where are you going? I'm going to church. Why? I don't
know, but I'm going. Nobody whipped me over the back,
but I went. Nobody makes me come here today,
but I'm here. Why? Because I want to be here. I need to be here. Faith in Christ is not a matter
of forced slavery, but a voluntary act. The soldier in Christ's
army are not drafted forced soldiers, and some of you know what that
is, don't you? We're volunteers. It is written
in the Psalms, thy people shall be willing in the day of thy
power. That's Psalm 110, verse 3. In
Psalm 65, verse 4, we read these words, Blessed is the man whom
thou choosest and causest. Did you catch that? The Lord
causes us to want Him, to want to come where His people are.
to want to hear His truths. He causes us to approach unto
Thee that He may dwell in Thy courts. Coming to Christ is an
act of the heart. It's a spiritual matter, not
a carnal thing. As I mentioned a moment ago,
walking the aisle of the church doesn't do anything. Turn over
to Romans chapter 10 for a moment. Mark your place in Luke. We're
coming back. Turn over to Romans chapter 10. I want you to read
along with me. These are familiar words. Romans
chapter 10. Look with me here, beginning
at verse 8. Romans 10 verse 8. But what saith
it? What saith the word? The word
is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart. Do you see? It's a heart matter. That is the word of faith. It's
a belief matter. It's a believing in the heart.
And only God can cause a heart to believe. He who hath begun
a good work will finish it. He will complete the good work
that he started in you. that if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Go back to our
text now in Luke if you would. True faith is the willful, deliberate,
voluntary, and in the grace of my Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. How about yours? Trusting the
merits of His blood, trusting that the righteousness of mine
is His, and that my only acceptance before God is in His righteousness,
faith in Christ involves a willing surrender of our hearts to Him
as our Lord. Did you know? Then unless the
Holy Spirit moves in your heart, you cannot call Him Lord. Think
back to the days before the Lord had called you out of darkness.
Oh, I'm sure some of you use the word Lord. There's no doubt
in my mind that there's many of you use the word Lord, huh?
In the name of the Lord Jesus, I do this! Oh, but He wasn't truly your Lord,
was He? Who was your Lord? Me. No, I wasn't your Lord. I was my Lord. I mean, you were
your Lord. You understand. We trust the merits of His blood.
Folks, it's the bowing and the submission of our hearts to Him
as our Lord. Look with me, if you would, over
at Luke chapter 14. I want you to see a few verses
over there in Luke chapter 14. We're talking about submitting
ourselves to our Lord. He who is our Lord. Over in Luke
chapter 14, in verses 25, we read these words, And there went
a great multitudes with him, and he turned and said unto them,
If any man come after If any man come to me, and hate not
his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and
sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Now obviously God's not telling
us we need to hate our families. He's telling us that he has to
have the preeminence. That he is the one who is the
Lord. The Lord of all things. Look
at verse 24. And whosoever doth not bear his
cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. And then he goes
through verses 28-32 and he tells us about men. Would you expect
a guy who's doing business, would you expect him who's going to
build a building to go out and get prepared to build a building
and not take up the cost of it? Well this is what the Lord's
telling you and I here. This is the cost of being a Christian. A true Christian. Submitting
yourself to God. Folks, that is not easy to do. In fact, it's impossible. It
is impossible without the grace of God to turn ourselves over
to Him completely. Yet the doing of it is ours to
do. Now look at verse 33. after counting
the cost, so likewise whosoever be of you that forsaketh not
all, he hath, he cannot be my disciple." Coming to Christ is
a continual thing. Our Savior does not speak of
coming to Him as a one-time thing, a single act, but as a constant,
continual, lifelong thing. Faith in Christ is not an event
in life. but a way of life. It's not something
you do, okay, I believe, that's it, I'm saved. It's something
we do over and over and over and over again. Not only are
sinners bidden to come to Christ, we're commanded to, as it says
in 1 John 3, Let me read that for you. I'll turn over to 1
John here and read it for you. Save us a little time, I'll turn
it to it there. In 1 John 3, verses 23 and 24, we read these
words. And this is His commandment,
that we should believe on the name of the Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another as He gave us the commandment. And He that
keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in Him. And hereby
we know that he abideth in us by the spirit which he hath given
us. Let me give you just a quick
warning. The warrant of faith is not our
feelings. It's not an emotion like some
religions want you to think. Oh, they were so touched by God
today. Look how they're feeling. Faith
is not warranted through meeting certain prescribed conditions.
I go to church every Sunday. See how faithful I am? Faith
is based on God's Word. Believing His Word. Believing
what He says about Himself. It's not something you can do.
It's believing in what He has done. Any sinner in the world
who will come to Christ may come to Him. Do you understand what
that means? Any sinner in the whole world,
in all of time, who will come to Christ may come. I come to Thee, we sing, because
of Him. Our master uses the blessed world
of universal application, and he uses it frequently with the
word, whosoever. Whosoever believeth. Whosoever
is this, whosoever is that, and I'm so thankful, he said, if
any man will. Listen to Matthew 11, 28 through
30. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, he says. Take
my yoke upon you, and hear of me. For I am meek and lowly in
heart, and ye shall find rest under your souls. For my yoke
is easy, and my burden is light." Notice he said, come unto me. In John 3.36 he says this, he
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And he that
believeth not, the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of
God abideth on him. And then in Revelation 22, 17,
and the Spirit and the Bride say, Come! Come! And let him that heareth say,
Come! And let him that is athirst, Come! And whosoever will let
him take of the water live life freely. So we see that there
is a coming. Aren't you thankful that it's
the Lord who causes us to come? It also tells us in those verses
to carry the cross of Christ, doesn't it? Just pick up your
cross and carry it. The first aspect of faith is
coming to Christ as we just saw. The second is carrying His cross. It's not an option. This is a
must. Here and throughout the Word
of God, our Master tells us plainly that if we would follow Him,
we would be His disciples. If we would be saved, self-denial
is an absolute necessity. John, it's dangerously close
to being works. You're right. That's why you
have to preach it with grace. Pastor Gene has always told me,
he said, Preaching works, there's nothing wrong with that. It's
preaching works without grace. God tells us to do things throughout
His Word over and over again. It's to you, to you, who fail
at His works, who fail at His commandments, that grace makes
the whole world to it. It's the gospel, the good news,
that despite our failures, there's One who's done it for us, who's
done it all, and done it perfectly, and done it righteously, that
God would accept it through His Son, the Lord Jesus. Take up
your cross, He says. And He said in verse 23, and
He said unto them, If any man will come after Me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross daily. Did you notice that? Again, it's not that one-time
thing, folks. We're not talking about, okay,
I accept God into my life. I've made a decision. I've done
this. I'm talking about sinners who need God's grace every day. Every day. Take up his cross
daily and follow me, he says. Again, it's a matter of personal,
deliberate choice. This is something that we choose
to do. We're not told, if you don't... Hear this folks, hear
this and hear this well. Salvation is by grace alone,
through faith alone, in Christ alone. We're not saved by what
we do, but by what God has done. We are saved by grace alone,
as we read in Ephesians 2, verses 8 through 10. Yet if we are saved
by the grace of God, we must, through much tribulation, enter
into the kingdom of God. And we must deny self. J.C. Ryle wrote this. He said, a religion
which costs nothing is worth nothing. It will do us no good
in the life that now is. It will lead to no salvation
into the life to come." End of quote. If I am saved by the grace
of God, I take up my cross and I follow my Master. Do you know that's what we're
doing here today? We're not running around to just any church. We're
seeking out a church, a group of people who worship the true
and living God according to the Word of God. people who are dead
in trespasses and sin, who need a Savior. We're following our
Master, our Savior, our Lord, our God. That's what we're doing
here today. And nobody's whipping us over
the back for it. I'm here because I want to be.
Because there's no other place to go. I can't go to the religion
of John because there's nothing there. I can't go to the religions
of worshipping on Saturday because there's nothing there. The only
place there's life is in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Himself. Don Fortner wrote again, and
I'm not ashamed to quote him, he said, Christianity, true Christianity,
true saving faith, involves a total surrender to Christ the Lord.
Either you will be a servant under the dominion of King Jesus,
voluntarily giving up all to His claim, You know what that means? That
means you're bowing your knee now to Him as the sovereign God
of everything. You may not have to give up anything
at all, actually, but surrender to Christ must be just as real
and complete in your heart as if you had actually given everything
over to Him. Our Lord Jesus Christ requires
total and unreserved surrender to Himself. Christ will be Lord
of all or He will not be Lord at all. Is Jesus Christ the Son
of God your Lord? How much trouble we bring upon
ourselves by our own carnal actions of the flesh. We're like Peter
in Luke 99 and over in Mark chapter 8. We're just like Peter, we're
inclined to judge things by our emotions, by our personal desires,
and through carnal reason. Don't deny yourself that. Oh, but this makes so much more
sense. It would be so much easier for
me to do it this way, John. Well, who's going to mind if
I tell just a little bit of lie to the type of people? You laugh at that. I know. But it's not meant to be funny.
You can put whatever you want in there. Deny yourself. Surrender to the will of God. Let me close with these words
about faith, about confessing Christ, as it says in our text.
Faith in Christ involves coming to Christ, carrying the cross
of Christ, consecration of Christ, and confessing Christ. Isn't
that what he said? Here, let me read it again for you. For
whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall
the Son of Man be ashamed. when He shall come in His glory,
and in His fathers, and in the holy angels. But I tell you a
truth, there be some standing here which shall not taste death
till they see the kingdom of God." Verses 26 and 27. Who is
capable of being ashamed of Christ and His words? None among the
sons of men can be compared to Him. We do not have to guess
what it is to be ashamed of Christ. It's to refuse to confess Him. What is it? Who do you say that
I am? Remember that message? Who do
you say that he is? Do you get excited when somebody
asks you, hey, what do you know about the Lord Jesus? Hey, hey,
hey, hey, wow, let me tell you some things about him. Come on,
let's sit down and talk. Hey, John, John, John, I got
to be out of town on Monday. Could you fill in for me? Are
you still pastoring that church down there at Rescue? Yeah, I
am, sure. Would you mind coming up here and giving a Bible study
to a bunch of guys that are in rehab? You betcha. No, actually, OK, I've got to
back up a minute. Let me just be fair about this. Can I pray
about that? Five minutes later, I'm in. Didn't
take long. I bet it don't take you that
long, either. I bet you folks, same way. Somebody comes to you
and wants to talk to you about God. Doesn't our heart kind of
jump? Let me tell you what He's done
for me. Let me tell you about how I couldn't save myself, how
I wasn't coming to God, but even though I was running from Him,
He came to me and grabbed ahold of me. Made me willing in the
day of His power, in the day of His love, to come after Him,
to come to Him. Yes, I came to Christ when He
gave me a new heart to do so. Yes, I came to Christ Not when
I decided to, but when He called me. I was thinking about this
this morning. One of the things I can share
with these men is the way God calls His people when they're
dead. When they're dead. When there's
no life in them at all. That was John Reeves at the age
of 40. Dead. And now I live for Him. Because of Him. And only because
of Him. And if you belong to Christ,
so do you. Oh, I'm not saying we're bold
enough to stand out on a street corner and cry out this or do
this or do that. Sometimes we're quiet, aren't
we? Sometimes we can, I don't know if this is a very good place
for me to speak or not. I mean, there's a whole bunch
of rough looking people standing around me right now. They may
not want to hear about my God. But He's still my God in my heart
and He will always be our God. I shall never leave you nor forsake
you, He says to His people. How do we know that He won't? Our Lord lives, folks. Death
could not hold Him. He's Lord of everything. He's
Lord of the heavens. He's Lord of the earth. Death could not hold Him. He sits on His throne this very,
very moment. How do I know? He says so in
His Word and He lives in my heart.