If you would turn with me this
morning to Jeremiah chapter 24. When you consider the urgent responsibility that a true servant of God is
given, I think we can see more why the Apostle Paul said in
Romans chapter 9 that he had great heaviness and continual
sorrow in his heart for those who were yet without Christ. Oh, there is a burden, a burden
of the Word of the Lord. No one could explain it to me
before God called me. And I must admit readily to you
this morning that I cannot explain it to you now. I heard Brother
Mahan say the same thing in a message that he once preached. He said, this burden is nothing
that anyone can prepare you for. It's not taught in the seminaries
and in the Bible colleges. It is something that only God
can give. Some of you have this same burden.
It's a God-given burden to see lost sinners saved. Many of you
have children, family members, friends who are yet without Christ,
and God has burdened your heart for the saving of their souls.
And I look around religion today, and I can't help but to ask Where
is the burden? Where is the travail? Where is
the continual sorrow, the weeping, and the great heaviness of broken-hearted
ministers of religion today? Where is it? The glorious gospel
of the blessed God, Paul said, is committed to my trust. No
wonder why He said, I didn't come to you in excellency of
speech or wisdom. I didn't come to you declaring
the testimony of God with great oratory skills and excellency
of speech, man's wisdom. I came to you with the message
of the Gospel, which is Christ and Him crucified. I came as
one in weakness, He said. And in fear and in much trembling,
every week that walk from there to here is one of the longest
walks. And I fear every week that I
stand here alone. Unless God Almighty visit us
in mercy and grace, friends, nothing I can say will profit
or prosper your soul. And Paul said, necessity is laid
upon me and woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel. That's
my desire this morning, to preach to you the Gospel. And I believe
this is God's design that your faith should stand not in the
wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Now, men and women, here's
the sobering fact and the burden of my heart. Men and women are
going out into eternity every day to meet a holy and righteous
God with no covering. with no mediator, with no substitute. Men and women need the Gospel. The Gospel is not a statement
of facts. Men like to argue facts. It takes
two fools to argue the Gospel. The Gospel is not a statement
of facts to be accepted or rejected. The Gospel is not a statement
of facts to be believed or not believed. Matter of fact, the
Gospel is not a statement of facts at all. The Gospel is a
person. It's a person. God was in Christ
reconciling the world unto Himself. As we said in the earlier hour,
God thundered from heaven and said, This is my beloved Son
in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. Friends, this morning,
oh, may God thunder His sovereign voice into your hearts and you
hear the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel is not a plan and
it's not a proposition. It's an encounter with a person. It's what it is. That Samaritan
woman, when she came to the well in the midday heat, did she meet
a plan or a proposal? No. She met a person. And she said, come see a man! Come see a man which told me
all things ever I did. It's not this, the Christ. My words to you this morning
I borrow from this woman. Come see a man. He's no ordinary
man. He's no mere man. He's a God-man. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. Saul, who later was known as
the Apostle Paul, was met one day on the road to Damascus and
knocked off his horse. Was it a plan or a proposal to
knock him off his horse? No, no. It was a person, the
Lord Jesus Christ. He said, Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou me? Have you ever paid close attention
to the question he asked after he was knocked off that high
horse of his in pride? He said, who art thou? Lord? He said, I'm Jesus whom thou
persecutest. This is a person he met. He was
met by a person, the God-man, Jesus Christ. Who art thou? Lord? And I'm going to tell you something,
if God ever knocks you off your high horse of pride, you'll know
who did it. You'll know. He'll make it known
to you who did it. Saul said, Who art thou? Lord? It had to be the Lord. Only the Lord could do that.
Now friends, it's not And I know you know this and I don't mean
to be redundant, but yes, I do mean to be redundant. Let me
change that. It's not how many truths, how
many facts, how much knowledge of church history, or how much
Scripture you've committed to memory. The question is, do you
know Christ? Is He the one thing, the one
good thing, the one thing needful in your life? Men came to our
Lord Jesus and they wanted to know a lot of things. They wanted
to know if a Christian ought to pay taxes. They wanted to
know who would be whose spouse in the resurrection. They wanted
to know who would be married to who. They wanted to know which
was the greatest law. They wanted to know which was
the greatest sin. They had a lot of questions.
But the question of all questions is what think ye of Christ? That's the issue between life
and death, eternal life and death. What do you think of Him? The
purpose of my preaching is that you might have an encounter with
a person. If you leave here arguing about
election, you missed it. If you leave here arguing about
predestination or any of the doctrines of grace, friends,
you've missed it. If you leave here arguing whether
baptism is an immersion or sprinkling, you've missed it. But if you
leave here having a personal encounter with Christ, it will
be well with your soul. So made by the grace of God,
God enabled me to once again proclaim to you that salvation
is of the Lord by free and sovereign gift. Verse 7 of Jeremiah 24,
and I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. And they shall be My people,
and I will be their God. For they shall return unto Me
with their whole heart." Now here, friends, we have a promise
from God Almighty Himself. The natural heart of man is ignorant.
It doesn't know God. Hold your place here and turn
back to chapter 17. Jeremiah here gives us a good
definition of what man's heart is by nature. Look at verse 9
of chapter 17. The heart is what? Deceitful. It's not only deceitful, but
it's deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can
know it? Oh, he answers that question
in verse 10. I, the Lord, search the heart.
I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways
and according to the fruits of his own doing. Oh, what blindness
sin has smitten our hearts with, blind, ignorant of who God is
and what He's done for wretched sinners. Oh, how blind sin has
smitten the heart that he doesn't know his own Maker, that man
doesn't know his Maker. What impotence, what helplessness
sin has brought upon the mind of man that he's incapable of
finding God out. Oh, the depths of the riches
of the wisdom and knowledge of God, the Apostle Paul wrote in
Romans 11. How unsearchable are his judgments
and his ways past finding out. If God gives you a heart to believe,
You'll see both the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God.
Now I have three simple points to give you. First is, it takes
a new heart to know God. Simple as that. God must give
us a heart to know Him. Is that not what verse 7 says?
I will give them a heart to know me? A natural man's heart is
so evil that he wants a God after his own fashion, his own imagination. And that's exactly what religion
and denominations of man's free will has done. They've endeavored
to make God one like unto themselves. Men by nature have way too low
an opinion of God Almighty. And it's mainly preacher's fault. It's those that have stood in
the pulpit and lied to people about God. Saying God wants to
do this, and God is trying to do this, and somehow or another
you've got to cooperate with God in order for Him to do so.
That's a lie. That's a lie. What does this
holy book that you hold in your hand and in your lap this morning
have to say about Him? What did the men of God who knew
Him have to say about Him? You know what Moses said? Moses
wrote in Genesis 18, is anything too hard for the Lord? That ought
to shut men up right there about God trying and wanting and willing
and can't and hoping and pleading and begging. Is anything too
hard for the Lord? Moses will tell you no. Nothing
too hard for the Lord. What about Job? Job said, I know
that God can do everything. Everything. and that no thought
can be withholden from Him. What did David say about his
God? He said, my God is in the heavens and He's done whatsoever
He's pleased. He does what He pleases, when
He pleases, how He pleases, to whom He pleases. He said, whatsoever
the Lord pleased, that did He in heaven and in earth and in
the seas and all deep places. What did the prophet Isaiah say
about God Almighty? He said, The Lord of Hosts has
sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to
pass. And as I have purposed, so shall
it stand. Who can thwart the purpose of
God? No one. Oh, the men would read
their Bibles. Isaiah said, For the Lord of
Hosts hath purposed, who shall disown it? His hand is stretched
out, and who shall turn it back? Shall mere man?" And yet that's
what men say. We frustrate the purpose and
grace of God with a so-called free will. God can't save you
unless you allow Him. Oh, that's trying to turn back
the hand of God. If God's hand is stretched out,
none can turn it. No man can pluck a sinner from
his hand whom he's chosen. What did Paul say about Him?
Paul said, "...in whom we've obtained an inheritance. We've
been predestinated according to the purpose of Him who works
all things after the counsel of His own will." This is the
God with whom we have to do. He's not a little tin God. He's
not a mamsy-pamsy God trying to do something. Oh, then men
could see Him in truth. And yet I declare to you, it's
going to take God giving a new heart for them to know Him. God gave these men new hearts
and the knowledge of God lies in the heart first. Friends,
God must give us a new heart to ever know and admire Him.
Notice the second thing here. To know God is to know Him as
Lord. And that what he says, and I'll
give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. You may learn,
now listen, that you may learn the doctrines of the Bible. There's
a lot of people that learn the doctrines of the Bible, and they
love the doctrines of the Bible. I love the doctrines of the Bible.
But you do not know them truly until you know the God of the
doctrines. Now that's just a fact. That's
just a fact. Oh, I love the blessed doctrine
of election. But if I don't see that I was
chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, I miss the beauty
of election. Have I not? You may learn the
doctrines of the Bible, but you don't really know them until
you know the God of the doctrines. We preach the God of the doctrines. Many say, do you preach the doctrines
of grace? We preach the God of the doctrines
of grace. Salvation is in a person. We'll
say it again. And no man rightly knows himself
until he knows his God. Is that not right? Oh, listen,
the first time a man stood and proclaimed to me who God was,
that's when I first truly saw what I was and who I was and
my desperate need. It's by the light and purity
of God that we see our own darkness and our own sinfulness, friends.
There must be a perfect model before us, a perfect plumb line
that we compare against, and that's God Himself. perfectly
holy, perfectly righteous, perfectly good. We can't discern our own
departure from true perfection, holiness and righteousness until
we see Him and know Him as God. We've got to have a standard
by which to weigh ourselves, and we cannot tell whether we're
wanting or not until we see God. and know Him and see Him as Lord. To be reconciled to God, the
Scripture says that you've got to be as perfect and holy and
righteous as He is. Now, how are you going to accomplish
that? I ask you, how are you going to accomplish it? You're
not. It's not in your doing. We can't. And friends, if God
doesn't divinely intervene in your life, you won't. You will
not come to Him that you might have life. Oh, let's don't talk
about our will. You will not come. You will not
come that you might have life. You cannot come. So that once
again shuts me up to one thing and one thing alone, and that's
the sovereign grace of God in Christ. We must have an encounter
with a person. The only one who can make you
as holy and righteous and perfect as God is God. God Himself has
done for elect sinners, chosen before the foundation of the
world, what they could never, ever do for themselves. It must be perfect to be accepted. What are we going to do with
that? What are we going to offer God? Only one thing we can. And that's the perfect righteousness
and holiness and perfection of His blessed Son. God became a
man and He did for you and I what we could not do for ourselves. That's the Gospel. Christ is
the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. He was a Savior
before there ever was a sinner. The knowledge of God is necessary
to any real peace of mind. There's no peace of mind outside
of the knowledge of God and who He truly is. He's in control
of everything, dear friends. He's Lord of all. And the Old
Testament Scripture says, acquaint thyself with God and be at peace. That's the only place peace is
found, is acquainting yourself with God. Thereby good shall
come unto thee. That's the only way. There's
no peace to the heart while God is unknown. He is the God of
peace and there can be no peace till the soul knows Him. Now, what does our text say? Look at it again. And I will
give them a heart to know Me that I am the Lord. What is the first cry from a
new heart? You think about that from your
own experience. I remember what mine was. It
was, Father, I have sinned. Oh, wretched man that I am. When God gave me a new heart,
the first thing that came from my mouth was, Oh, wretched man
that I am. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? Oh, prayer becomes our breath.
And I breathe, Abba, Father. day in and day out. God, don't
leave me to myself. How can we pray to a God that
we don't know? How can you? The Scripture says
the just shall live by faith. But who can have faith in a God
they don't know? Who can receive the Father's
forgiveness and yet be an utter stranger to the forgiving Father? It's impossible. It's impossible. The knowledge of God is absolutely
necessary for spiritual life. And without it, friends, we can't
see or enter into the Kingdom of God. Our Lord told Nicodemus,
he said, you must be born again. You must be given a new heart
by God to know God. I'll give them a heart, God says,
to know me, that I am the Lord. There's none beside me. My last
and third point is salvation is by the free gift of God. You can't earn it. You can't
merit it. You sure don't deserve it. It's
a free gift. What does the Lord say? And I
will give them. Oh, it's everywhere you look,
friends, in Scripture. Not by works of righteousness
that we've done. Saved by grace through faith.
That's not of yourselves. It's what? The gift. It's a gift. A gift is a gift. A true gift
is unearned, undeserved, unmerited. Is it not? It ceases to be a
gift if it was any of those things. The heart, this heart and knowledge
which is needed to know God is a divine work of God Almighty. It's only a work that God can
do. God says, I will give them a heart to know Me. Who gives
it? God gives it. None but the Creator
can give a man a new heart to know Him. I'm going to tell you,
it's amazing the things that this medical world has achieved
in our day and time. It's absolutely amazing. This
advanced medical world in which we live can do amazing things. They can take a physically diseased
heart and put in a healthier one. Heart transplant, it's a
pretty common thing anymore. But I'm going to tell you, there
is none that can take a spiritually diseased heart and create a new
one but God. They can take out a heart that
barely beats and they can put in a heart that beats hard and
strong. But still, that heart will one
day weaken and cease to beat. Only God can put in a heart that
will beat forever. This is a work that only the
great physician can do. Oh, don't you see it? Don't you
see it? It surely is God made you. God must make you new. You'll
never know Him if He doesn't. That's what Jeremiah says, I'll
give them a heart to know me. It's going to take a new heart
to know God. Friends, it's evidently a work
of pure grace. I will give them a heart. Who
will? God will. It doesn't say they
shall grow into a new heart or they shall purchase a new heart.
I will give it. He freely gives to whomsoever
He wills according to His own declaration. You know how I know
that? He said plainly, I will have
mercy on whom I'll have mercy. It's His prerogative. I'll have
mercy on whom I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. And whom I will, I'll hardeneth.
And friends, this is a work which is possible, not by us, but with
God. All things are possible with
God. And He says, I will give it to
them. That's a promise. And it's not
a promise from a mere man who fails at every turn. This is
a promise from God who cannot fail. I'll give them a heart
to know Me. It's a work which the Lord has
covenanted to do. The Lord has promised these things. Oh, can you see that? Can you
see that God's promised and He cannot fail? In the book of Hosea,
God speaks and says, I will betroth thee unto me forever. Now that
word means agreed to marry. I will betroth thee unto me forever. Yea, I will betroth thee unto
me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving kindness, and in
mercies. I will even betroth thee unto
me in faithfulness. and thou shalt know the Lord." The Bride of Christ shall forever
be saved in the sovereign arms of the Bridegroom. He's promised,
now listen, He's promised to love, care, and keep His people,
His Bride, forever. You can trust Him. He's worthy
of your trust. He's worthy of your faith. Jeremiah
31 verse 32, and I'll leave you with this. These are nearly the
same words given in the book of Hebrews chapter 8. And it says, beginning in verse
32, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers
in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of
the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break. Although I was a
husband unto them, saith the Lord. But this shall be the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days,
saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and
what right it in their hearts." That's a new heart. writing in
their hearts, and be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall teach no more
every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know
the Lord, for they shall all know Me, from the least of them
unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. For I will forgive
their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." Now let me
tell you the most beautiful thing about those words. That's God's
promise. That's a promise from Him who
cannot fail. Oh, it's divinely guaranteed. We like guarantees, don't we?
I like to buy things with long guarantees. Boy, this is something
you can't buy and it's divinely guaranteed. Now listen, let me
say it again. Knowing about Him will not profit
you anything. But knowing Him will profit you
everything. Look back in our text one more
time. Let's read the whole verse. 24 verse 7, look at it. And I
will give them a heart to know Me. That's what we just read.
in the other chapter, that I am the Lord. And what? They shall
be my people. And I will be their God. The best news I ever heard was
that the God of this Bible, the only true and living God, considers
me His. He said, they're my people. My
people. And I'm their God. Rejoice, O sinner, those of you
that know Him. You're His people. And He's your
God. And never ever forget how and
why. We've seen it today once again. It's because God gave you a new
heart to know Him and to know Him as God. I am the Lord. There is none else. Oh God, help
us to believe it more.