Would you turn to John 16? That
hymn Matt just sung is a very special hymn to me. I remember
one time when I was in college living over on Transylvania Park
near campus and I remember thinking, and I don't know what made me
think this, but I thought, I'm going to seek the Lord until
I find Him. I'm not going to quit until I find Him. And I
remember, I thought it was going to happen that day. I don't know
what was going on in my mind, but by the end of that day, I
was utterly discouraged. I felt like I was in complete
darkness and felt like I certainly had failed in my efforts at seeking
the Lord and just felt totally despondent. And before I was
going to bed that night, I was thumbing through a hymn book.
And this verse that we just heard, upon that cross of Jesus, at
times mine eyes can see the very dying form of one who suffered
there for me. And from my smitten heart with
tears, two wonders I confess. the wonders of His glorious love
and my own worthlessness." And that hit me. That's such a blessing. And that hymn is spent. Let's sing that hymn more. Dwight,
sing that hymn more. John chapter 16, verse 1. These things have I spoken unto
you that you should not be offended. When was the last time you were
offended? It's a horrible feeling. You feel like You've been violated. You feel like you've been uncared
for, unappreciated, slighted, mistreated, abused, and misused,
disregarded, or ignored. It's a horrible feeling. All
of us have been offended before, and it's one of the worst feelings. It hurts. And usually, When we're offended by someone,
we either, one, lash out at that person, or two, we withdraw ourselves
from that person when we are offended. And I repeat, being
offended is a horrible, horrible feeling. Now, in the original,
this word offended, where our Lord said, these things have
I spoken to you that you should not be offended. It's where we
get the word scandal from. It is also translated in the
scriptures, a stumbling block and a rock of offense. It's something
that arouses prejudice and anger. You feel like you've been wronged. You are mad. These things have I spoken unto
you that you should not be offended. Turn with me for a moment to
John chapter 6. Verse 59. These things, John 6, 59, these
things said he in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum. It
would do us well to examine carefully what he said in John chapter
6. As a matter of fact, we're going to revisit that in a few
moments. But many, therefore, of his disciples, when they had
heard this, when they heard what he said, they said, this is a
hard saying, sometimes translated austere, harsh, inhumane. This is not for men, it's against
men. This is a hard saying. Who can
hear it? Who can be expected to listen
to something like this? When Jesus knew it Himself that
His disciples murmured at it, He said unto them, Doth this
what? Offend you? Do you find what
I've said offensive? What, and if you shall see the
Son of Man ascend up where He was before? Now what He's saying
by that, He's saying if you're offended now, You're really going
to be offended when you find out who I really am. When you
see me sitting at the right hand of the Father, you'll be offended
then. It is the spirit that quickens or gives life. The flesh profits
nothing. The words that I speak unto you,
they're spirit and they're life. But there are some of you that
believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that
believed not and who should betray him. And he said, therefore said
I unto you that no man can come to me, except it were given unto
him by my Father. From that time, many of his disciples,
what did they do? Went back. And they walked no
more with him. They were offended by what Christ
said. I mean, they took a great offense. At one time they claimed
to be his disciples, but they said no more. We're not going
to walk with him anymore. Now turn back to our text in
John 16. He says to his disciples, these
things have I spoken to you that you should not be offended. Now look what he said back in
verse 18 of chapter 15. If the world hates you, you know
that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world,
the world would love his own, but because you're not of the
world, but I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the world
hates. Now remember the word that I said unto you, the servant
is not greater than his Lord. If they persecuted me, they'll
also persecute you. If they've kept my saying, they'll
keep yours also. But all these things will they
do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that
sent me. Look in chapter 16 once again. These things have I spoken
unto you that you should not be offended. Now he tells them
what's gonna happen. They shall put you out of the synagogues.
You're going to be completely rejected by religion. Yea, the
time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth
God's service. He'll think God's being served
by getting rid of you. And these things will they do
unto you because they've not known the Father nor me. But these things have I told
you that when the time shall come, you may remember that I
told you of them. I told you exactly what was going
to happen. Now, the disciples, were, with the exception of John,
according to tradition, I don't know what that tradition, I hear
people say according to tradition, somebody's tradition, but I think
it's accurate, all the disciples were murdered, with the exception
of John. And he died in seclusion on the Isle of Patmos. But because
of what they preached, because of what they believed, the world
hated them. They were offended by what they
said, and they put them to death. Now, Christ and his gospel. And please listen to me real
carefully. It's so important for you and I to get this. Christ
and his gospel is offensive to the natural man. The gospel brings
up anger. That which is good news. This
is how the natural man responds to it. He's offended by it. He
feels like his rights have been violated. He feels like he's
been wronged by the gospel. That's the way the natural man
responds to the gospel. Christ and his gospel is offensive
to the natural man. Now, the person of Christ is
called in the scripture a stumbling stone. That's one of his names. A stumbling stone and a rock
of offense. God calls him that. And God sets
him as this rock of offense that men stumble at. Look at Romans
chapter 9. I'm going to show you a few scriptures
regarding this. Romans chapter 9, verse 30. What shall we say then? Romans
9 30 that the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness
have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness, which
is a faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness
have not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore,
because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the
works of the law, for they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it's written, behold, I lay
in Zion, a stumbling stone. and a rock of offense, that's
Christ. A stumbling stone, something
people stumble over or are scandalized by, offended by, a rock of offense. And whosoever believeth on him
shall not be ashamed. Turn to 1 Peter 2. Verse 7, unto you therefore which
believe, He is precious." Oh, isn't that so true? But, unto
them which be a disobedient, the stone which the builders
disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a
stone of stumbling, the Lord Jesus Christ, He's called a stone
of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at
the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. What's that mean? Exactly what
it says. Exactly what it says. Men find Christ himself to be
a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. Turn to 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. You know, Paul in Galatians chapter
5 verse 11 spoke of the offense of the cross. What a name for
the The message of the gospel, the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is called the offense. The scandal is what it is. That
which arouses prejudice and anger and offense. Look here at 1 Corinthians
1, verse 23. Verse 22, for the Jews, the religious
fellows, require a sign. They want to see something that
proves God's in it. They want to see some kind of
evidence. Greeks seek after wisdom. That's the Gentiles. They seek
after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. Unto the Jews, a stumbling
block. That's the same word, an offense,
a scandal. Unto the Greeks, foolishness,
but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ,
the power of God, and Christ, the wisdom of God. Now, when
Christ walked on this earth, men were offended by him. They were offended by his person.
Is not this the carpenter? We know his mom and dad. We know
his brothers and sisters. There's nothing to him. We grew
up with him. And they were offended by his
claims. He has no money. He has no armies. He has no education. He was a
nobody. And men were offended by the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were offended by his followers,
fishermen. publicans and sinners. You, you fellows teach us. Where
did you go to seminary? Where is your education? Where
is your credentials? They were offended by his followers.
They were offended by his claims concerning himself. He said,
many good works have I shown you from my father. For which
of these do you stone me? He said, for a good work stone
we thee not. They said, but for blasphemy
because thou, being a man, makest thyself. God. And they were going to stone
him over this. I mean, they picked up rocks to throw at him to kill
him. What about when he said, Abraham, our Lord was looking
at this bunch. He said, Abraham rejoiced to
see my day. He saw it and was glad. He said,
you're not yet 50 years old. And have thou seen Abraham? And
he said, verily I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. You know what they did then?
They picked up stones to stone him. They were offended at his
claims. They were offended by his doctrine.
Now turn with me back to John chapter 6. John chapter 6. Verse 59, "...these things said
He in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. Many therefore
of His disciples, when they had heard this, said, this is a hard
thing." And this word is sometimes translated, austere. Inhumane. This is not for humanity. This
is not good for men. This is against men. It's not
good for men. That's the way they viewed what he was saying.
When in reality, this is the best thing any man could ever
hear. This is good news. This is the gospel he was preaching
to them. But the natural man's response to the gospel is, this
is harsh. This is inhumane. This is not
good. Well, what was it that he said?
Well, in this passage of Scripture, He brings out clearly what we
would call the doctrines of grace. And I'm not sure that that's
a very good term for the doctrines of grace. It's better called
the doctrine of Christ. The doctrine of Christ. The doctrines
of grace. Anytime the word doctrines, plural,
is used in Scripture, it's always bad. This is not doctrines. This
is the doctrine of Christ. This is the truth. This is the
gospel. Now look what he brings out.
This is what they call inhumane. Verse 37. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Divine election. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Look in verse 39. This is the
Father's will which has sent me, that of all which He hath
given me, I should lose nothing." You know what that's called?
Particular redemption. Everybody the Father gave Him,
that's who He died for. And He said, I won't lose one
of them. All the elect, all those the Father gave Me, Come to me. Every single one of them. I won't
lose one of them. They'll all be saved. Listen
to me. If Jesus Christ died for you,
your salvation is a divine necessity. It's a matter of justice. Isn't
that amazing? It's good news. Look what's said
in verse 44. No man can come to me. And that
word, it's talking about ability. No man has the ability to come
to me. I can't even come to Christ.
except the father which has sent me draw him, and I'll raise him
up at the last day." There's total depravity, human inability. Verse 45, it's written in the
prophets, they shall all be taught of God. Every man therefore that
has heard and learned of the father comes to me. There's irresistible,
invincible grace. Everybody that's taught by God,
everybody that's heard from him, they're gonna come to the Lord
Jesus Christ, every single one of them without exception. You
know, look in verse 63 of this chapter. It's the spirit that
quickens, that gives life. The flesh profits nothing. There's
the work of God, the Holy Spirit. It's the spirit that quickens.
You're not quickened because of an act of your will or because
of something you do. It's because he gave you life.
Now, this is what he was preaching. And they said, these are hard
sayings. These are inhumane. What's inhumane
about them? This is blessed. if God gives
you a heart to see and eyes to receive. But if the Lord leaves
you to yourself, you're going to say just, and I'm going to
say just like these fellows did, these are hard sayings. Who can
hear them? You see, the natural man is always
offended by the gospel. He considers the message scandalous.
He's insulted and offended by the gospel, which is good news. Now, why is that? I'll tell you
what, if I end up being offended, I won't be saved. He said, these
things said unto you that you should not be offended. Now,
if you stay offended by what has been said, if I stay offended
by what is said, I won't be saved. I don't want to be one of these
people who are offended, do you? I want to be somebody who bows
to what God says. Now, why is it that the natural
man is offended by that which he ought to rejoice in and consider
the best thing he's ever heard? Unfortunately, sometimes men are offended by
the disciples of Christ, by how they act, how they conduct themselves,
the attitude they have, perhaps arrogance or something like that.
And they can't hear what they're saying because of the disciples.
I realized that. I love that passage of scripture
regarding Daniel, in Daniel chapter 6, where they wanted to find
out something against him and they couldn't find out, they
couldn't come up with anything. And they said the only way we're
going to get him in trouble is with regard to his God. You remember
that in Daniel chapter 6? Now I want to be somebody like
that, don't you? I don't want to offend somebody by the way
I treat them. I want to I just don't want to
do that. I want to draw people by the
way I treat them rather than be offensive. And I realize that
our gospel, it could be somebody doesn't hear it because of the
way we conduct ourselves and the way we act and so on. But
that being said, men are still offended by the truth. They're always offended by the
truth. Now, why is that? What is it
about the gospel that offends men? Well, I've written down
seven or eight things, and I'm sure I could write more, but
I want you to think with me. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the gospel, first of all, it offends men's sense of
personal righteousness because it says we don't have any. It
addresses all men as sinners. and nothing more. And let me
tell you what the Bible means by sinner. When the Bible speaks
of the word sinner, a sinner is somebody who all they do is
sin. That's it. In their flesh. They cannot not sin. And they
have no claims on God. That's what a sinner is. Somebody
who has no claims on God because of their sin. The Bible addresses
all men just like that. We have no personal righteousness. The only righteousness there
is, is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That offends
men's sense of personal righteousness. The Gospel offends men's wisdom.
Because it says, you can't figure this thing out. You can search
all you want and you're never going to learn unless God's pleased
to open Himself to you and reveal Himself to you. You can't figure
it out. We're totally dependent upon revelation. Can't thou by
searching find out God? No. No, you can't. The only way
you're ever going to know God, the only way I'm ever going to
know God is if He makes Himself known. We're completely dependent
upon revelation. And that offends man's wisdom.
You can't figure this thing out. The gospel offends men's pride
because it declares a salvation that's all of grace and gives
men no room for boasting. There's nothing you can boast
about if you're saved. And you don't want to if you're saved.
I realize that. If you're saved, you don't want to boast about
it. You want him to have all the glory. But I love what Paul said,
who makes you to differ from another? And what do you have
that you didn't receive? I'll tell you who makes you to
differ from another if you're a believer. God the Father in eternal election.
God the Son in redemption. God the Holy Spirit in regeneration.
He made you to differ. For by grace are you saved through
faith. In fact, not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. There's no room for human boasting. The Gospel offends men's sense
of personal rights because it says we don't have any. Not before
God. We have no claims on God. Everybody's
in God's hands and He can do with you whatsoever He's pleased
to do. It's not of Him that willeth, nor of Him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. He saves whom He will, He hardens
whom He will. And whatever He does is right. And men don't respond real well
to that. Well, how could that be fair?
How could it be fair for God to save one and pass by another?
And what we're saying when we say that is, how could it be
fair for God to not save me? I got it coming. The gospel offends
men's love of fleshly distinctions because it removes them in Christ.
There's no rich and poor. There's no black or white. There's
no upper class, middle class, or lower class. There's no educated
or uneducated. There's no male or female or
Jew or Gentile. Christ is all. And everybody
in Him, they see themselves as nothing in and of themselves,
but in Him, I'm complete. Christ Jesus is all. That's my
sense of well-being, who I am in the Lord Jesus Christ. But
all these fleshly distinctions are wiped away. The Gospel offends
men because of the freeness of it. The Gospel is free. You don't have to pay anything.
It's absolutely free. Isn't there anything I can contribute?
No. Nothing to pay? No. This is one of the amazing
things about the truth. If I told you you could have
salvation for a thousand dollars, everybody in here would figure
out a way to get a thousand dollars. But if I say it's free, People
will leave uninterested and unimpressed. The gospel offends men by the
smallness of the number of those who believe. Your churches that
believe grace, they're so small. The preachers are so insignificant.
I mean, look at the, you're all not getting anywhere. You're
all not being successful. And people are offended because of
that. The gospel offends men because of the narrowness of
it. Too narrow. Too narrow. God's not going to negotiate.
He said, this is the gospel. I'm to either believe and be
saved or not believe and be damned. There's no in between. The gospel
offends men's love of self because it calls upon them to deny themselves. to take up their cross and follow
the Lord Jesus Christ. And taking up of that cross is
what's going to happen to you from your confession of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I've called on to deny myself. And that offends
men's love of self because everybody loves themselves. Now, how do
men demonstrate this offense for the gospel? Now it's true,
it's a fact, men are offended by the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. They find it a scandal, they get mad at it, they think
it's inhumane, it's harsh, it just doesn't seem agreeable for
humanity. How do men demonstrate this offense? Well, there's been
many different ways. Men demonstrate their offense
if you look at the cross. They nailed Christ to a cross.
They demonstrated their offense throughout the centuries by putting
to death those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. How many
people have been burned at the stake? How many people have been
martyred because of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and
what they stood for? Men will show their offense at the cross
by open persecution. Some by scorn and derision. treating those who believe with
contempt and holding them off, some simply by withdrawing. Turn
to Matthew chapter 13. This is the stony ground here. And
you know, I thought about this. I've seen this happen here in
this church so many times. I've seen people come who who
seem to have an interest in what's being said. They said, I like
what that guy's saying. I believe this. I think this
is the truth of the scriptures. And they'll come maybe two or
three weeks and act real excited. And then they'll bring a family
member. And the family member says, you
believe that foolishness? And there will be conflict in
the family. And then they're gone. They're
gone. How many times? Look here in
Matthew chapter 13, verse 20. But he that receiveth the seed
into the stony places, the stony ground here, the same as he that
heareth the word and anon with joy receives it. This is great.
I believe this. Yet hath he no root in himself,
but he endures for a while. But when tribulation or persecution
arises because of the word, by and by he is offended. He leaves. He is there no more. So he just withdraws. But I believe
the most often used way of being offended by the message of the
cross is by seeking to remove the offense. Preaching or teaching
or supporting that which actually removes the offense from the
gospel. Paul said in First Corinthians
117, Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Not
with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made
of none effect. For the preaching of the cross,
and there the word preaching is actually the doctrine. The
doctrine of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But
unto us which are saved, it's the power of God. Now what is
the doctrine of the cross? And what men seek to do, who
are offended by the gospel, they try to package the gospel in
a way that will make it more palatable to the flesh. So men
will receive it and they won't have to go through the trouble
that it's caused from preaching the gospel. Now what is the doctrine
of the cross? And this is so simple. Christ
Jesus, the Son of God, nailed to a cross. Suffering, bleeding,
dying. What's the doctrine of that?
Well first, that's the truth regarding man. You want to know
the truth about yourself? You want to know the real truth? You and I are so evil that if
God leaves us to ourself, we'll murder God himself. And do you believe that about
yourself? It's the truth. Everybody in this room, listen
to me. You know how bad Satan is? devil, in and of yourself,
you and I are just as bad. You believe that? It's a hard
pill to swallow it. Not if God reveals to you who
you are, you just know it's the truth. The doctrine of the cross tells
the truth about man. Thank God the doctrine of the
cross tells the truth about God. The cross reveals every attribute
of God. How just is God? When sin is
found on His Son, He kills Him. That's how just He is. He'll
never let sin go unpunished. How holy is God? The cross tells
us. Is God really love? Oh, the cross
tells us. God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son. The power of God putting away
sin, every attribute of God is displayed in the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Tells the truth about salvation.
The only way I can be saved is for the Son of God to live for
me, to die for me, to be raised for me. God forbid that we remove the
offense from the cross. You know, I hear Preaching, for
instance, somebody says, well, I believe the doctrines of grace,
but if you don't preach the doctrines of grace, that doesn't mean you
don't preach the gospel. You know, that's removing the
offense from the cross. That's all it's doing. I believe God
loves the elect only, but I believe there's a sense in which God
loves everybody. That's removing the offense of the cross. I believe
that Jesus Christ savingly died for the elect, but he died for
everybody. That's removing the offense from the cross. That's
all it's doing. It's presenting a neutered gospel, a half gospel,
and that won't save anybody. It really won't. God forbid that
I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We remove the offense when we
say, well, it's true, but you don't have to believe this to
be saved. That's just removing the fence. Now let's go back
to Matthew chapter 11, a passage of Scripture I opened with. Verse 2, Remember the Lord said, These
things have I said unto you, that ye should not be offended. Now when John had heard in prison
the works of Christ, He sent to his disciples and said unto
him, art thou he that should come or do we look for another? Now remember who's speaking here,
John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
one who came in the spirit and power of Elijah. I mean, he,
this man had some credentials. Was he really doubting? I've
heard people say it would be impossible for him to doubt after
what all the Lord taught him. Well, you know, he's a man, isn't
he? He's in prison and he himself is wondering, is there anything
to this? I mean, I don't know how long he'd been in prison
and he started experiencing some doubt. Maybe I was wrong. And
so he sent two of his disciples to Christ and said, aren't now
he that should come or do we look for another? Verse four,
Jesus answered and said unto them, go and show John again
those things which you do hear and see. And evidently the Lord
started performing some miracles at this time for them to see. And here's the message there
to bring back. The blind receive their sight. the lame walk, the lepers are
cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor
have the gospel preached to them." Now, these things literally happened,
but what a picture we're given here of what the natural man
is. First, blind. Unable to see the gospel. Unable
to see the Lord Jesus Christ or His glory. Lame. Unable to walk in the commandments
of God. Unable to do what God tells him
to do. Lepers are cleansed. That's the
leprosy of sin. Full of leprosy. The deaf here,
the natural man's deaf. He can't hear the gospel. He
can't hear with spiritual ears. God's got to give him ears to
hear. The dead are raised up. The natural man is dead in trespasses
and sins. What can a dead man do to save
himself? Absolutely nothing. And to the poor, the gospels
preached. Poor, having nothing. But here's
what happens when God saves somebody. The deaf hear. The blind see. You know, there was a time when
I couldn't see why God would save me. But I do now, for Christ's
sake. I hear the gospel. I've been
cleansed by the blood of Christ." There's a leper, cleansed, given
grace to walk in the gospel. The dead have been raised up.
And look what he says in verse 6. And blessed is he, whosoever
shall not be offended in me. I am not offended by the gospel
addressing me as a sinner, because in my heart, I know it's true. I know it. I'm not offended by hearing that
I have no personal righteousness, because I know it's true. I'm not offended by being shut
up to revelation. I say, reveal yourself to me. I'm not offended by salvation
being all of grace and me having nothing to boast in, because
I know I don't have anything to boast in. And grace is my only hope.
Complete unmerited favor. I'm not offended by my personal
rights being violated because I know that I have no claims
on God. I know and I really believe this. If he saved everybody in this
room, but me, and if he let me go to hell, I couldn't charge
him with injustice. I have no claims on God. I'm
not offended by that. I really believe that if he sent
me to hell, that's what I deserve. I find really hope in him saving
who he will. When He says, I will have mercy
on whom I will have mercy, I say, Lord, have mercy on me. Do something
for me. I'm not offended by the freeness
of this gospel because I know I don't have anything to pay.
I'm not offended by the relatively small number of believers because
truth is truth, even if nobody believes it. That doesn't affect
me one way or the other. offended by self-denial, I want
to deny myself. Self is my biggest enemy and
my biggest problem. But most especially, I owe it
to God that He gave me the grace to say this as it ought to be
said, I'm not offended in Him. Everything about the Lord Jesus
Christ, I love. I love His person. He's altogether
lovely. I'm not offended by his disciples.
I'm not offended by his followers. I love them. I love the folks
he saves. I love how he saves them. I'm
not offended. I'm not offended by his attributes. I love his
attributes, every single one of them. I love his holiness. I love His absolute justice.
You know, He's so just that He would go to the cross and be
crucified before He'd let one sin go unpunished and let His
Father be dishonored by that. That's how just He is. Oh, I'm
not offended by His wisdom. Oh, what wonderful wisdom is
in the Lord Jesus Christ, the meekness of wisdom, His humility,
His way of saving. I'm not offended in Him. As a
matter of fact, here's what I say concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.
And I'm, what I say is exactly what Paul said. Paul said, oh,
that I may win Christ and be found in him. That's all I want. That's my
only goal. It's to be found in him. I've said this before, but I'll
say it again. How many times, you know, when the Lord comes,
how do you want to be found? How do you want to be found? Somebody
said, well, I'd like to be found on my knees in prayer. That does
sound kind of attractive, doesn't it? Well, I'd like to be found reading
the Bible. I'd like to be found witnessing to somebody or maybe
preaching. I'd like to be found, but wouldn't it be something
if the Lord came back just this instance while I'm preaching
the gospel? Boy, that'd be a great way to be found. Paul said, no,
no. I want to simply be found in
him. not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faithfulness
of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." Now,
here's the only way I want to be found. Oh, I'm not offended
by the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to be found simply in
Him so that when God returns, when He sees me, all He sees. All He sees is the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself. I'm in Him and that's all God
sees. Oh my, I'm not offended in Him. Matter of fact, the only
place I find safety is in Him. And let me tell you something
about this Savior. election, the fact that God chose
who'd be saved, Christ died for the elect, accomplished their
redemption, God the Holy Spirit's grace is invincible and irresistible. All those things are true. And
that doesn't take away from this in any way. If you come to Christ,
I don't care who you are. I don't care who you are. If
you come to Christ, He'll receive you. And the command of the gospel
It's a command. It's a command. This is what
God commands of you. This is what God commands of me. God
commands all men, everywhere, to repent. Are you in that group?
Change your mind. For repentance is change your
mind. By the grace of God, change your mind. Believe. Everybody
in this room, young people, old people, everybody in between,
everybody in this room is commanded, believe. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. You come to Christ, you're not
going to be cast out. You can't say, well, I want to come, but
I'm not allowed for Christ. No, don't say that at all. You're
commanded by the word of God right now to rely on Christ as
your salvation. To believe that who he is and
what he did is all you need. It's enough. You have salvation
in him. You are commanded. to believe. This is not an invitation. I'm not inviting you to believe.
You know, if you turn down an invitation, there's nothing wrong
with it. I mean, it's not a crime to turn down an invitation, but
it is a crime to disobey a command. And your right, your personal
right to believe the gospel for yourself is that God commands
you to. Is that enough? Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Lord, I'm calling, save me. You know what the word of God promises?
I'm saved. Not offended in him. Let's pray together.