Clearing the Road

Q: What does the Bible say about coming to Christ?

The Bible teaches that coming to Christ is essential for salvation, as He is the only way to God. Isaiah 62:10 emphasizes the importance of clearing the way for people to come to God, showing us that Jesus Christ is that way. The Lord Jesus has made it possible for guilty sinners to approach the Holy God through faith in Him, as He is the way, the truth, and the life. It is by His work of redemption and obedience that salvation has been secured for all who believe, making it clear that coming to Christ is the only path to eternal life.

Q: How do we know Christ is able to save us?

Christ is described as able to save us to the uttermost because of His divine nature and perfect work. The Lord Jesus Christ, being fully God and fully man, possesses the unique ability to save sinners perfectly. The sermon highlights that He is not only capable of saving but His work on the cross and subsequent resurrection affirms His power over sin and death. Hebrews 7:25 states that He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, which assures us that no sin is beyond His redeeming power and that He intercedes for His people at the throne of God.

Q: Why is faith in Christ important for salvation?

Faith in Christ is essential as it is God's command and the only means by which we can be justified. The sermon emphasizes that faith is not merely a suggestion but a divine command from God. According to 1 John 3:23, we are commanded to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. This faith is necessary to fulfill all that God and His law demand of us. Through faith, we enter into the grace that enables us to be justified before God, signifying that true belief in Christ is the essential response required for salvation.

Q: What does the Bible say about God's grace and election?

God's grace, revealed through the doctrine of election, assures us that salvation is ultimately God's work. The doctrine of election, as discussed in the sermon, teaches that before the foundation of the world, God chose certain individuals for salvation. This should not dissuade us from coming to Christ; rather, it serves as a profound comfort that our salvation is secure in God's sovereign choice. Believing is the evidence of God's gracious selection, and as stated in the sermon, you need only to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to find assurance of your election.

Q: How does Christ's work on the cross relate to our salvation?

Christ's sacrifice on the cross satisfies God's justice and secures salvation for believers. The work of Christ on the cross is central to the Christian faith, as it was through His sacrifice that divine justice was satisfied. The sermon explains that Christ took on our sins and bore the wrath of God, thus allowing those who believe in Him to be justified. Furthermore, His resurrection demonstrates His victory over sin and death, ensuring that all who trust in Him will be saved and accepted by God, as stated in Romans 4:25.

this evening is clearing the road, and you will see the reason why I have given the message that title when you read my text in Isaiah 62 and verse 10. It is my duty and it is my delight as a gospel preacher to make the way of salvation and life in Christ so plain, so clear, so obvious, that wayfaring men, though shall not err therein." Now, in order to do that, it's necessary both to show sinners the way and to clear out the stones, the debris and the stumbling blocks that would hinder men and women from coming to Christ in the way of faith, as it's revealed in the Scriptures. Now, this is what's required in our text here in verse 10, Isaiah 62, verse 10.

Go through, go through the gate. Prepare ye the way of the people, cast up the highway, gather out the stones, lift up a standard for the people. The best illustration I know of to set forth what this text describes is with regard to the cities of refuge.

Now, it's not written in the scriptures, but it is passed on to us from Jewish history and tradition that in each of the cities of refuge, They were required to have a certain number of men who would go out every year in the spring and in the fall of the year, they'd go out and clean up the ways to the city. They'd clean up the highways. If there were low places, they'd fill them in with gravel or with rocks and they'd level them off. If there were places that had debris cast in them, they'd clear out the debris. They would repair any breaches that were found so that the man who was fleeing to the city of refuge would easily find his way to the city. And there were signs put up all along the way pointing, this is the way, refuge, refuge, refuge.

That's what a preacher is. He is a man sent of God to clear up the way and to point with clarity the way to Christ the Lord and show you how to approach Him, how to come to God by faith. Now tonight, I will do no more than go about the business of clearing the road to Christ. May God the Holy Spirit be my guide as I go about this great work. I want you to understand that whatever it is, you who are believers and you who are yet unbelievers, whatever it is that for any reason keeps you from Christ, whatever it is, whatever it is that keeps you from coming to Christ, that keeps you from opening your heart to God, keeps you from confessing your sin and laying hold of God's grace in Christ, Whatever it is that stands between you and Christ is a stumbling block cast there by Satan to keep you from him and to destroy your soul. It is my business now in this message to remove the stumbling blocks, to clear up the road. My message will have three parts. I'm going to be as brief as I possibly can, but I want to be crystal, crystal clear. You listen carefully. First, I want you to see that the Lord Jesus Christ has already cleared the way for guilty sinners to come to God.

He has effectually redeemed his people. He has effectually put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. He has effectually satisfied divine justice. And he has by his work of obedience unto God secured the salvation of every believer. And yet it is altogether proper that we should speak of his work in this manner. The Lord Jesus has not only secured the salvation of his people, but he, by his obedience to God, has made it possible for God Almighty to justify the guilty. He's made it possible. Without him, it was impossible.

But he's made it possible now for sinners to come to God and be saved by him. The Son of God is himself the way, the truth, and the life by whom we must be saved. by whom alone we must and can come to God. If you would come to God, you must come to God by faith in Jesus Christ alone. He is the door by whom we must enter in if we would be saved and find life everlasting with God Almighty.

Christ alone is able to save them to the uttermost. Oh, how I like that word. He is able to save them to the uttermost. that come to God by him. Come to God right now, by Jesus Christ the Lord, by faith in Christ, and he saves you to the uttermost. Whatever the uttermost reach of heaven's glory is, whatever the uttermost reach of God's grace is, whatever the uttermost reach of salvation is, Christ is able to do that for you. Come to him and God Almighty saves you by his grace to the uttermost. And in order to do this, The Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished everything necessary to make it possible for guilty sinners to come to the Holy Lord God and be accepted of Him.

Now the things I want to tell you are things that no man would ever have imagined. No man would ever have concocted a religion like this. One of the clearest evidences that the message I deliver to you, the message of the gospel, is the message of true salvation and eternal life in Christ, that this is the only true religion in the world, is that this is the only one that's totally beyond the realm of human fabrication. No man would ever imagine concocting such a story as this, and yet, as I tell you the things that Christ has done, and show you plainly what the Word of God teaches with regard to those things, if you'll listen carefully, if you'll listen carefully, I'll guarantee you, your conscience, your own conscience, being the witness of God in your soul, will bear me record that these are the only things that will satisfy the justice of God, as well as your own conscience. These are the only things that will answer every problem standing between God and man. First, The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became the Son of Man.

We could never come to God. David said, my righteousness extendeth not unto thee, O God. What does that mean? He says, the best I can do, the best work I can perform, my noblest deed can't reach God. We can't come to him. It's impossible for sinners to come to God. It's impossible for sinners to approach God.

But God has come down to us. Oh, listen to me now. Jesus Christ is himself God Almighty. God did not become a man, and man did not become God, but Jesus Christ is as fully God as though He were not man, and as fully man as though He were not God. He's the God-man, God and man, and one divine person. Our Lord Jesus Christ now, having come into this world in human flesh, is God able to save? Listen to what the psalmist says. Thou hast laid hell upon one that is mightier. Thou hast exalted one chosen out of the people. Psalm 89, 19.

Christ is the mighty God. And having come into this world through the womb of the Virgin Mary, by the power of the Holy Spirit, he is a man, one of us. And he is that mighty God on whom God himself has laid hell and that man chosen from among the people to be our Savior and our Redeemer. The God-man is both able and willing to save. Our Lord Jesus Christ in all of his supernatural miracles of mercy, showed us that he was both tender-hearted and omnipotent. So that as he passed through this world, he saw the troubles of men, he saw the flames of their bodies, he saw the distress of their souls, and with the word, with the touch, with the thought, he healed the sick. He raised the dead, he calls the lame to walk and the blind to see, because he is tender. He is as tender, as kind, as gentle, as merciful, as he is almighty. Can you get hold of that? We can't blend the two together. It's almost impossible for us to imagine a man being strong and yet being tender. To imagine one being absolutely powerful and yet being compassionate, kind, and gracious.

But our Lord Jesus in the perfection of manhood is tender. And father, he's the omnipotent God. So tender that the cry of a mother moves the Son of God to stop in his way. The cry of a sinner moves the Son of God to stop in his way. So what do you want? And so powerful he can meet every need. Now surely this Son of God, this Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior is able to save my soul. He who raised Lazarus from the dead by the word of his power, this God, this man, this God-man is able to save me.

As our Savior learned obedience by the things that he suffered and thus was made perfect as the captain of our salvation, so he performed everything needful for us as our representative. Not only did he come here as a man, but he was made perfect in his obedience by those things which he suffered as a man in this world." Obviously, that does not mean, when the scripture talks about him being made perfect, that somehow there was some holiness or some attribute or some character lacking in him. But it's talking about him in his office capacity, so that Jesus Christ, as a Savior, as our mediator is made perfect by first performing everything necessary to establish righteousness in the world by the will of God as a man. And so our Savior performed his work. In this world, his life as a man was as necessary for the salvation of his people as was his death.

It was by his life of obedience to God that he brought in and established perfect righteousness for us. He became the Lord our righteousness by coming here to perform righteousness. And his righteousness is imputed to all who believe so that we're made the righteousness of God in him. It is what he did here as a man that God imputes to us, making us righteous.

By one man's sin, death, by one man's sin entered into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. Even so, as in Adam, all die, in Christ shall all be made alive. As one man's disobedience made us unrighteous and made us sinners. So the obedience of this one man, Christ Jesus, is imputed to us to make us righteous. Now that word imputation shouldn't be difficult for anyone to understand. Sometimes we read Bible language and we think, well, boy, that's so confusing. It's not confusing at all. Right here, is the record of Christ's righteousness. Get a picture in your mind.

That's his spotless obedience, his perfect, perfect obedience to God. Here's the record of my sin, my corruption, my guilt. This demands my punishment. This demands acceptance. He took away my sin and gave me his righteousness. That's what imputation is. He has put away my sin by taking my sin on himself. He's purged it away. He satisfied justice for me. He paid my debt. And now in the record book of heaven, in the court of heaven, in God's own decree book, there stands perfect righteousness in the name of Don Horton. You understand that? He's clothed me in his righteousness. Thirdly, in order to save guilty sinners, It was necessary that Christ die to satisfy the justice of God.

The Lord Jesus Christ did not die for nothing. He died because there was no other way for God to be holy and still forgive sin. There was no other way for God to be just and still forgive sin. There was no way for God to retain order of law in the universe, not compromise his character, and yet forgive sin. Jesus Christ, being himself the infinite God and the holy man, came before God, and he took on himself our sin, and he died under the wrath of God to satisfy the justice of God. so that God might be just and justify the ungodly. And so he says in Christ, he says, Lamb of just God and a Savior. Just as just as if he never forgave sin, a Savior. Just as savingly gracious as if he never punished sin. A just God and a Savior.

Again, the crucified Son of God must rise from the dead. for the justification of his people. Now, our justification was accomplished when he died. He paid the price, but our justification was demonstrated. It was proclaimed publicly and given as a public evidence in his resurrection. He was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification.

As long as the Lord Jesus hung on the cross, he hung there as a hostage because of my sins. as long as his body lay in the tomb. His body lay in the tomb as a hostage under the justice of God because of sin. But when he has been raised from the dead, the risen Christ declares the sin that put him in the tomb. The sin for which he went to the cross, the sin for which he died under the wrath of God is gone.

And now justice has no claim on him. No claim. The prisoner when he's paid all that is owed to the law, goes out of prison. When he is fully satisfied, everything the law demands, he goes out of prison. And our Lord Jesus Christ, having fully satisfied everything that was demanded by God's holiness, his law and his justice for us, stepped out of the grave, triumphant and victorious. And the risen Christ says, your sins are gone. The sins of my people, the sins that I took on myself, they're gone. I have put them away by the sacrifice of myself.

But once more, in order to save sinners, this great God-man must ascend up to heaven and sit down on the right hand of the majesty on high. The man Christ Jesus entered into heaven in the perfection of manhood and in the perfection of godhood. and sat down. He sat there at the right hand of the throne of God, for that's the place where he belongs.

Who shall ascend into heaven? He that has clean hands and a pure heart and hath not lifted up his soul into vanity? The Lord Jesus ascends up into heaven, having put away our sin, having perfectly obeyed God. Who comes into the throne room of God himself?

It is God and man in one person. Christ Jesus, the king of glory. He's the Lord of hosts. He sits down on the right hand of the majesty on high. By doing so, he declares that all his work is finished. Our savior, our substitute, our mediator, our high priest sits on the right hand of God except. God said to his son, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee, sit thou on my right hand. He's accepted, accepted of God and we're accepted in him.

He is reigning in heaven with power over all flesh to give eternal life to as many as the Father's given him. He's interceded. Jesus Christ, our great high priest, never ceases to intercede for us. There's never a moment, there's never a second when God's elect are not on his heart, he intercedes constantly on our behalf, interceding that God would be gracious, interceding that God would be merciful, interceding that God will pardon our sin, accept us and bring us at last to glory, and hear him, God must, for he is himself God. And the Lord Jesus Christ is waiting, expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. and the fact he is all his enemies shall be made his footstool."

All of them. You and I, every one of us, sooner or later are going to bow to his footstool. Every one of us, sooner or later, are going to be brought to bow before him and acknowledge that he's Lord. Now, you'll leave the bow to him now. Listen to me. You'll either bow to him in this world, acknowledging him because God, by his grace, causes you to surrender to the claims of Christ, or in the day of judgment, bow to him, you will, in everlasting damnation. But bow to the Son of God, you will.

This great Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, is as willing to save as he is able to save. He is as full of compassion as he is of power. He is as full of grace as he is of greatness. He's as full of mercy as he is of majesty. Oh, God help you now to trust him. Secondly, I want you to understand that the Lord God against whom you have sinned, the Lord God whose character you and I have attacked, the Lord God whose law we have broken, whose wrath we fully deserve, commands us. He commands us to believe on his side. He commands it. Turn to 1 John 3. I want you to see this. 1 John 3. Verse 23. This is his commandment. You see it? This is his commandment.

It is as though John wraps up the whole of divine revelation. It's as though he wraps up the whole of God's law and says, this is what God requires of you. This is his commandment. That we should believe on the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he gave us command. In other words, he's saying this is the whole fulfillment of the law. The only way you can ever meet all that God and His law demands of you is to believe on His Son. That's the reason the law was given. More than that. This is what God demands of you and of me. Believe on His Son. Believe on His Son. Faith in Christ is not a recommendation. It's not good advice. It's not an option. It's a command.

God commands everyone on this earth to believe on his son. God commands everyone who hears the word of his grace to believe on his son. Now, if God commands you to believe, if God commands me to believe, that means we're responsible to believe. I know folks argue about whether or not faith is a duty, whether or not faith is something men are responsible for. I'll leave it to the theologians to wrangle about terms. I'm telling you, God Almighty holds you responsible to believe him. He holds you responsible to believe his word.

You particularly, who sit here, you are in, you are either in the most blessed of all places, or the most dangerous of all places, one of the two. If you believe the If God, by the preaching of the word, gives you faith in Christ and you look to Christ and you say, Lord, I trust you. Oh, what a blessing. What a blessing. Because God's called you to hear the word. He's given you faith.

But if you sit where you are, hearing the message of God's free grace, hearing the gospel of God's dear son, And you go to hell in the teeth of all that you've heard. You sit in the most dangerous place in the world. Most dangerous place in the world. Because you're without excuse. There's not any excuse. There's not any excuse. None whatsoever. Look over in 1 John chapter 5 verse 10. He that believeth on the Son of God hath to witness in himself. He that believeth not God has made God a liar, because he believeth not the record God gave his Son.

I can't think of a more astounding, awesomely astounding statement in all the scriptures than that. By hearing the Word and going your way, saying, I'll not trust Christ. By hearing the word and walking in rebellion against God, you dare stand before God Almighty, spit in his face and say, God, you're a liar. Can you imagine anything so daring, so foolish, so horrible? And yet you hear the gospel.

And you say, God doesn't get to be believed. God's a liar. You wouldn't do that to anybody sitting in this room. But God, you're lying. That's what unbelief is. Turn over to Proverbs 29. Proverbs 29, verse 1. This is what I'm saying. You can't hear the word with indifference. It's impossible. Either what you hear tonight will be used of God in one way or another to melt your heart and bring you to repentance or it'll be used of God to harden you in judgment.

Proverbs 29, verse one, he that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck. Hardens his neck, pulls up his neck, says, no, no, no, I will not repent. I will not bow to Christ. He that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed. And that without remission. suddenly. God says that's it.

Now if God commands you to trust Christ, to come to Christ, to believe on Christ, not only are you responsible to do so, but you may. You may do so. You may do so. You need no other warrant for faith than God's When you read in God's Word that this is His commandment, that we believe on His Son, you don't need to stop and ask, well, am I qualified to trust Christ?

Is it all right if I come to Christ? God's command is your qualification. Come to Christ. Without any preparatory works of grace, so many times we think somehow we've got to prepare, we've got to get ourselves ready. And preachers are guilty of telling sinners, you've got to go through this, you've got to experience this, you've got to feel that, you've got to know this. Oh, listen to me.

God says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that commandment is your qualification to believe. Do you believe it? Just naked, word of God, I believe it. without any conditions that must be met by you, without any qualifying experiences. Just simply look to Him. That's it. Just believe.

Now, if you do, if you believe the gospel, if you trust the Son of God, you'll recognize right away it's not because of you, but because of Him. If you believe it's because God gives you faith, I hope you're fully aware of that. But just in case you're not, face the gift of God.

It's not something you muster up within yourself. You come to him, you obey his word, you believe. And you look him square in the face and hear him say, by grace you're saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. And you say, well, that's right. That's just right. God gave me faith. I didn't have it before. I tried to believe, but I couldn't believe. God gave me faith.

That's where it came from. Someone said, as you enter into the gates of life, you see in the proclamation of the gospel, this invitation written, whosoever will, let him come. And you say, if anybody wants to come on, here I come. And you walk through and you turn around and you look on the back side, chosen in him for the foundation of the world. That's the reason I come, because he chose me.

But the business for you is to come. Come. I get a little weary of listening to preachers who are so precise in their doctrinal orthodoxy that they preach like they're scared to death, one of the non-elect going to get saved. I'm not worried about that. You come on to Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in him. You have a life everlasting. All right. Now, thirdly, God help me now.

I want, by the grace of God, to clear away some rubbish, some stumbling blocks, to gather out the stones which Satan cast in the way of sinners to keep them from Christ. As you know, I correspond with a lot of people, have a lot of calls, a lot of letters. Some of you have some of the confusing things about to talk about and many others who will hear these tapes, I hope will hear this tape particularly, have confusion that just constantly, constantly disturbs them. I find it absolutely amazing how adept sinners are at finding reasons why they cannot be saved. I find that constantly amazing. They invent problems when there are none. They find difficulties where no difficulty exists.

And the devil throws constant barrage of stumbling blocks in their way. When he knows he has but a short time, he's enraged and he never gives up a soul under his power easily. And when one is coming to Christ like that man in the story that's in the Gospels, the devil throws him down and tears him and tears him because he will not give him up easily. And many, many, many of God's elect go through this difficulty of having to overcome things that somehow Satan cast in their way that caused them difficulty in coming to Christ. I've done so, and some of you have as well.

Let me try to remove some of the stumbling stones. First, and probably most obviously, Satan throws the doctrine of election out in the face of chosen sinners and says, well, there's no point in you believing. There's no point in you coming to Christ. There's no point in you trusting Christ after all.

If you're chosen, God will save you. Blessed gospel doctrines there is revealed in the word of God. Nobody would ever be saved apart from God's election. But the word of God never suggests if you're chosen, God will save you. If you're not, you can't be saved. It never suggests that.

The word of God said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. The gospel doctrine of election is no barrier to faith. I know sometimes folks say, well, they're putting me preaching because folks can't be saved if they're not chosen. They're putting them believing they can't be saved if they're not chosen. We don't act like that about anything else.

If you were hungry, if you were hungry and you, I'm talking about hunger now. I'm not talking about just you wanted a little something to eat. I'm talking about hungry. You were hungry and you happened to pass by and my wife had just baked one of those loaves Sourdough bread, pulled it out of the oven, butter kind of dripping down the sides of it.

And you smelled that. And she looks at you and said, well, if you want some, take some. You look at that and say, well, I don't know. That was made for somebody else. That wasn't made for me. Now, if you're hungry, you take the bread. Oh, thank you. I'll take some of that.

If you were sick and there's medicine sitting on the shelf and you know the medicine has healing quality within it. You look at medicine and say, well, I don't know whether that medicine's meant for me or not. No, if you're sick, you take the medicine. If you had some disease and you know that without aid, without a physician's help, you're going to die with the disease.

You sit back and you say, well, I don't know. Maybe if I go to the doctor, he won't help me after all. I've never heard anybody talk about that. Folks only talk foolishly about things like this when it gets to religion. Folks say, well, I'll go to the doctor, maybe he can help. Maybe he can help, I'm going to die if I don't. I'm going to die. If he doesn't help me, I know I'm dying. I've got to get some help. Now listen to me. If you need Christ, come to Him. I'll go a step further than that. If you need Christ, you will come to Him. If you need Him, you will.

I'm going to die if I don't get some help. I can but perish if I go. I am resolved to try, for if I stay away, I know I must forever die. Oh, but if I die with mercy sought, when I, the king, had tried, this were to die a delightful thought, as sinner never die.

And I promise you this. I promise you this on the authority of God's holy word. If right now, right where you sit, you believe the son of God, If right where you said you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you were chosen by God the Father in eternity, redeemed by God the Son of Calvary, and you've just been called by God the Holy Spirit. Your faith is evidence of it. Some fear that they cannot come to Christ because they're too sinful to come. Well, I went through that.

Satan will hold out some glaring act of evil, some hideously horrible thing that one act that you've done, you say, oh, you can forget. You can forget ever being saved. God will never forgive you. Or if there's not some glaring act of evil that you've done, he will hold up a mirror showing you the corruption of your heart.

You say, no, you can't be saved. Not somebody like you. Maybe this fellow or that, maybe this girl or that, but not you! Not you. Perhaps, perhaps he'll hold up a long life of debauchery, corruption, wickedness, horrible, disgusting things not fit for mention in public forum. and he jeers your soul and says you can forget grace, not you.

Now listen to me, listen to me. I jotted this down yesterday morning. I want you to hear it. If all the sins that men have done in will, in word, in thought, in Since worlds were made, or time begun, were laid on one sinner's head, the stream of Christ effectual blood, applied by grace, removes the load. If all the sins of all humanity in all time were yours, if all of them were, All of them were. One look to Christ and they're gone. They're gone. They're gone forever. In fact, they were gone before you looked. They just rolled off your conscience now because you see in his blood is a price sufficient for all our sins.

There are good many folks who when they have been confronted with the gospel, they, uh, begin to fear that maybe they've sent away their day of grace, that they've committed the unpardonable sin. I can't tell you how many telephone calls I've had, how many times I've had folks to ask me about this or write letters and say, well, I can't send, I can't be saved. I can't be saved, I've committed the unpardonable sin. John Bunyan had a terrible struggle with that and in his autobiographical work, concerning the work of God's grace in him.

He said, I decided I would search the scriptures and see if I could find one who came to Christ and was rejected because he committed the unpardonable sin. I decided to search the scriptures to see if I could find one sinner somewhere who had come to Christ and was rejected because he came too late. And he said, I couldn't find any. I couldn't find any who came too late.

I couldn't find any who came and the Lord said, oh no, no, no, no, no grace for you. You've sinned away your day of grace. No, no grace for you. You've committed the unpardonable sin. And the Bunyan said, I came to him and found that I hadn't either.

Come to Christ. I'm telling you, if you've come to Christ, Bob Poncer, right where you sit, if you've come to Christ right now, you have not committed the unpardonable sin. You have not sent away your day of grace. So the thing for you to do is settle this issue, come to Christ. There never was a sinner who came to Christ and Christ would not accept him because he came too late, came at the wrong time.

Some others fear that they can't be saved because they don't feel things like they should. But preacher, don't you have to feel the terrors of hell and of judgment? Don't you have to have those horrible nightmares and terrible fears and feel like your coattails on fire with hell.

No, you might, but you don't have to. Don't have to. But don't you have to have terrible groanings and mourning for sin? That'll come. I promise you that'll come, but that's not a prerequisite. But don't you have to? Don't you have to be moved to love Christ?

No, no. Now I promise you, if you look to Him, Merle Hart, it's impossible for us to look to Him and not be broken over sin. That's impossible. But don't look for brokenness before you look to Him. It's impossible to trust Him and not love Him. But don't look to love Him until you look to Him. Look to Him.

Perhaps some of you don't close with Christ because you fear that you simply can't believe. I fully grant you can't. You can't. You've heard me right. Faith is not something that man can muster. Faith is what God alone can give. And yet I must hasten to add this. If you will, you can believe.

That's right. If you want Him, you can have Him. And the fact that you want Him is God's work in you. The fact that you will believe is that God has made you willing in the day of His power. But if you want Him, you can have Him. If you're thirsty, you can drink from the water of life. If you're hungry, you can eat the bread of life.

Will you come to Christ? Come to Him, right where you are. Richard, how do I come to him? You just trust him. With your heart, with your heart, with your heart. Not by doing anything, not by saying anything, not by praying, not by coming to the front of the church, not by getting in the baptismal pool, not by going through some kind of a ritual, no! You just trust Christ, that's all, just trust him. God will help you to trust him. If you need him, Christ is as near as the touch of faith. He's just as near as the touch of faith. So reach out and touch the Lord as he goes by.

In my own case, when I was 16 years old, God began to deal with my soul. I don't know when he began dealing with me in an effectual way of grace, that's not important. But he began dealing with my soul and I began to be concerned about things of God, about judgment, about my soul, about the glory of God and the grace of God and righteousness and sin. And Satan threw this stone in my way, a stumbling block, a huge one it was.

Every time I would think about Confessing Christ every time I would think about just publicly acknowledging Christ is my Lord. I trust him Satan would say to me it won't last You you won't continue nah This is this is just a passing fantasy. Just a just a passing notion. Just an emotional fear.

You'll get over it That's been 29 years ago now Our Lord Jesus said, him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out, but will raise him up again at the last day. He said, they shall never perish, never, never. And if God is pleased to give you faith in Christ, If right now you believe on the Son of God, he will see to it that you never cease to believe him. He will see to it that you persevere in the faith.

But I haven't touched the greatest difficulty. When all said and done, I fear the single largest, biggest thing that keeps sinners from Christ. is that they simply are secure and comfortable without it in a refuge of lies. It's not sin that keeps folks from Christ, but righteousness, the notion that somehow you're good enough like you are without it. A religious experience Folks keep clinging to a religious experience. They keep holding on to it, holding on to it. I can't let this thing go, because if I let this thing go, I let go of all my hope. Oh, it's time for you to let go of false hope and get hold of Him who is hope.

Religious family. Folks keep looking to their family. My daddy was such a good man. My mama was such a good mama. They loved the Lord. And I... They brought me upright. I know things all right. They brought me upright and somehow they get the notion that confessing faith in Christ is to somehow cast some ugly picture upon how they were brought up because somehow mom and daddy made a mistake.

Forget family and get hold of the family of God. Trust Christ. Religious traditions. Oh, how men and women get hold of traditions. it'll hold a walk in an aisle, or say the sinner's prayer, or go into the confessional, or go into the confirmation class, or going through this thing, going through that and point to that as though this is hope. There's no hope in those things. Hope's in Christ the Lord.

And perhaps the most tremendous, effectual, stumbling stone that keeps folks from the Son of God is the presumption of grace tomorrow. I suspect, I suspect, I will look every one of you right square in the eyes, I suspect that everybody here plans someday to believe on Christ. I suspect everybody here plans someday to make things right with I suspect everybody here plans someday to take care of this business of their salvation.

Don't be so foolish. Don't be so presumptuous. You may not live to draw another breath. Believe on the Son of God. Believe Him. Believe Him. Salvation's door stands wide open. There's a door open in heaven. His name is Jesus Christ the righteous. Don't understand why on this earth you won't enter that door. I can't understand that. And you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, whatever it is that your soul needs, Whatever it is that keeps you from coming to Christ, to have all that your soul needs, whatever it is, whatever barrier is cast in your way, you think, well, I've come so often, fallen so often, I'm embarrassed to come, come on. I've confessed my sin so often, I just keep struggling with my sin, I can't come to God with this anymore, come on. There is a throne of grace. on which sets the crucified Son of God. And that throne of grace is open to you. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Amen.

Clearing the Road

What does the Bible say about coming to Christ?

How do we know Christ is able to save us?

Why is faith in Christ important for salvation?

What does the Bible say about God's grace and election?

How does Christ's work on the cross relate to our salvation?

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Clearing the Road

What does the Bible say about coming to Christ?

How do we know Christ is able to save us?

Why is faith in Christ important for salvation?

What does the Bible say about God's grace and election?

How does Christ's work on the cross relate to our salvation?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

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