Would you turn with me back to
John chapter 15? Now tonight, Lord willing, I want to preach
from Titus chapter 3 on this subject. Be careful to maintain
good works. And we'll also observe the Lord's
table tonight. Look once again with me at verse
25 of John chapter 15. I've entitled this message, They
Hated Me Without a Cause. Now we read in verse 25, But
this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that
is written in their law, They hated me without a cause. Now this is God's charge against
you and I. We have been guilty of hating
the Lord God, the Lord Jesus Christ, without a cause. We have hated Him freely from
the desperate wickedness of our own hearts. That's what we've
been guilty of, hating the Lord Jesus Christ without a cause. And that word, without a cause,
is generally translated freely. We have hated Him freely. Now usually when a man is hated
by another man, he has given him a reason to hate him. Perhaps he's proud, and arrogant,
and selfish, and manipulative, ill-tempered, hypocritical, mean-spirited,
and he's given somebody a reason to hate him by the way he acts.
But when men hate the Lord Jesus Christ, they do so without a
cause. He has given them no reason to
hate him, but they do so freely out of the desperate wickedness
of their own hearts. They hated me without a cause. Do you realize that that's what
the Lord says regarding you? and me. That's what we're guilty
of, hating the Lord Jesus Christ without a cause. Now look back in verse 17 of
John chapter 15. Let's see what led our Lord to
make this statement. These things I command you, that
you love one another. If the world hate you, you know
that it hated me before it hated you. Now, what is meant by the
world? If the world hates you, don't
be surprised because you know it hated me before it hated you.
By the world is meant all unbelievers. all who have no love for Christ. The world will hate those who
follow Him because they hate Him. And the Lord lets us know
right off the bat, don't be surprised if the world hates you. Now,
this hatred for Christ throughout the Scriptures is expressed in
many different ways. You look at His life and how
many times were there murder attempts against Him? I mean,
men hated Him so much they'd pick up stones to throw at Him
because of the claims He made of Himself. One time in Luke
chapter four, when he had read out of Isaiah 61, how the spirit
of the Lord was upon him. And he talked about his father's
sovereignty and saving whom he would, why they led him up to
the top of the cliff to throw him down and kill him. They were
so mad at him. This hatred is expressed in murder attempts.
It's sometimes expressed in disdain. How know with this man, anything
he's he's never learned. He's never had an education.
slander of his character. Behold, a gluttonous man, a wine-bibber,
the friend of publicans and sinners. That's what they accused him
of. There's other ways of expressing hatred. You know, to not love
is to hate. Now listen to me real carefully
because generally we think, does that mean everybody's just got
their teeth clenched wanting to kill Christ? To disdain is
to hate. To not see Him as altogether
lovely is to hate Him. To view Him as unimportant is
to hate Him. And the Lord says, don't be surprised
if the world hates you. That might not necessarily be
expressed by, well, I'm going to get them and I'm going to
try to tear them apart. No, just a disdain. Why you all don't, what you all
believe doesn't even count. How many people believe what
you all believe? I mean, you're all just so insignificant. I mean,
there's churches with thousands of people that really are doing
something. You're all not doing anything.
That's a disdain. It's a hate. You know, remember when the Lord
said, if any man come after me and hate not his father and mother,
brothers and sisters, his own life also, he can't be my disciple.
Now, when he said that, he was not telling us to positively
hate our parents or hate our wife or hate our children. He's
saying in comparison to obedience with me, you treat them with
disregard. Disregard. So, hate is not necessarily
a, oh, I'm going to, I want to kill it. No. Hate is just a disdain,
ignoring, not viewing as important. To not love is to hate, and this
world has no love to Christ. And you know, you never really
see how bad a man is. He may seem like a real nice guy, but
you never see how bad a man really is until he hears the gospel.
That's where you find out where he's truly coming from, when
he hears what God says in his word concerning man. concerning
himself, concerning his salvation. That's when you find out what
men are really like when they hear the gospel. They may seem
like real nice people, and indeed they are, but we're talking about
what God sees. Our Lord said, men have hated
me without a cause. Now look in verse 18, if the
world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you.
Verse 19, if you were of the world, the world would love his
own. But because you're not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world. Therefore,
the world hates you. I think it's interesting when
he talks about the world's hate, it has some connection with election.
He says, because you're not of this world, but I've chosen you
out of this world. Therefore, the world hates you.
You know, the world hates the elector. The world hates The election
and the world hates the elect. If you want to find out what
somebody really believes about God, what they really believe
about the Lord Jesus Christ, see how they feel about election.
Our Lord tells us the reason they hate you is because I chose
you. Look back in verses 16 of this same chapter. He said, You
have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you,
that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit
should remain, that whatsoever you shall ask the Father in My
name, He may give it to you. Now there, You have not chosen
Me, but I have chosen you. And then He says in verse 19,
I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates
you. Remember the Word, verse 20.
Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not
greater than his Lord. If they've persecuted me, they'll
also persecute you. If they've kept my saying, they'll
keep yours also. You know, if I'm preaching the
gospel and you're of God, you'll say,
amen. I believe that. And if you say, I don't agree
with that, it's because you don't agree with God. It's not me,
I'm not the issue. It's the word of God. Let's go
on reading. But all these things, verse 21,
will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they have
not known him that sent me. If I had not come and spoken
unto them, then they not had sin, but now they have no cloak
for their sin. Men are without excuse. They
have no cloak for their sin. All men are responsible for this
hatred. There's no excuse for this. I
mean, what did the Lord ever do to you that would make you
hate Him? Is there anything? No, He's altogether
glorious and lovely. If you've hated Him, if I've
hated Him, it's because we've done so freely. We don't have an excuse
for what we've done. Verse 23, He says, He that hateth
Me, hateth My Father also. If I had not done among them
the works which none other man did, they had not had sin. But
now they have both seen and hated, both me and my father." You see,
those who hated him were the ones who saw exactly the claims
he made concerning himself. He said, I and my father are
one. By saying that, He's saying, I'm God. That's when they picked
up stones to throw at Him and to kill Him. They hated His claims
concerning Himself. And He proved who He was by the
works He did. I mean, He could control the
elements. He raised the dead. He healed the sick. He gave sight
to the blind. There wasn't any question that
this man is God. Only God can do the things that
He does. And He says, He that has hated Me has hated My Father.
There's no cloak for their sin. There's no excuse. Verse 25.
But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that
is written in their law, they hated me without a cause." Now, this is what God holds me and
you guilty of. Hating His Son without a cause. Now how do you feel about people
who hate your children? You think of how that would infuriate
you. Somebody hates my child, That
means they hate me. And I can't be at peace with
somebody who hates my child. I mean, you think about how it
just kills you when your kids, if somebody mistreats your kids,
you can't stand it, can you? I mean, it's okay if they treat
somebody else's kids. It's not okay, don't get me wrong. I'm
saying you get a lot more upset if they mistreat your kids. I
mean, if somebody else gets that's life, but man, when it's your
kids, you know, it's different. Now, this is how the Lord views
every man by nature. We have been guilty of hating
His Son without a cause, out of pure maliciousness, out of
the wickedness of our own hearts. Now, I believe this is true,
first of all, because the Bible says it. Do I need any other
reason? If Christ says this, it's true. We don't believe something for
any other reason, but because the Word of God says it. If the
Word of God says it, that settles it. I despise that saying. God
said it, I believe it, and that settles it. No, not at all. God
said it, and that settles it, whether you and I believe it
or not. We believe the Bible is the Word of God. And the Lord
Jesus Christ says from the Old Testament Scriptures, he quotes
this, they hated me without a cause. Now, I believe it because the
Bible says it, but there are other reasons we believe this.
First, the history of man says it's true. Observation. says it's true. Daily observation
says it's true. And if you ask any believer,
he will tell you that he has a nature that is completely evil. He knows that. Every believer
knows that about themselves, and they know they've been guilty
of this. Now, this is universally true of every individual. He
may be outwardly a nice person. You know, there's a lot of nice
people. You know, you go out in the world, and there's a lot of fine, people. People who are upright, people
who are honest, people who work hard, people who provide a good
living for their family, try to be good parents, good citizens
and so on. There's a lot of nice people
and good people and I'm all for that. I'm not, you know, I'm
glad that everybody's not out murdering everybody else and
continually breaking the laws of man. There are a lot of nice
people, but this is what somebody's attitude towards the Lord Jesus
Christ is. They hate Him. without a cause. Now, he may not hate the Christ
that he's invented, but the Christ of the Bible he hates, and the
proof of that is the cross. If you want to know how bad you
are, if you want to know how sinful you are, you look at what
took place on the cross. If God left mere you to ourselves,
we'd be the first ones crying, crucify him. Now that's God's testimony regarding
me and you. We've been guilty of hating his
son without a cause. Now this is true of every individual
from every race and every class of society. We're born into this
world with a nature that hates the Lord Jesus Christ. And you
know, David understood this. He said, behold, I was shapen
in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Turn with
me to Romans chapter eight. Romans chapter 8. You know, I remember when I found
this out about myself. I never knew I hated the Lord. But I
remember when I found out that I did, that I was guilty of it.
And this is exactly what the Lord used to teach me this. When
I was confronted in my heart with the fact that God had elected
a people, that He chose a people before time began, and there
wasn't anything I could do to make myself one of them. You
know what my response was? It made me mad. That's not fair! It's not fair for God to save
someone passed by. I saw that I couldn't do anything
to save myself. And when I saw how my heart reacted
to that in anger with the Lord, thinking it's not fair, I found
out what my problem was, was that I hated God. That's what my problem was. It
was only when I was made to see that, that I saw I'm guilty. The Lord doesn't owe me anything
but hell. I'm a criminal before Him. Now, I might have been a
pretty nice guy. I believe I was. But that's not the point. I was
guilty of hating the living God because it made me angry that
he could pass me by and send me to hell and it would be no
unjust thing for him to do that. And that's when I found out how
angry I was. I was mad. And then that's what
the Lord used to teach me. You've been guilty of hating
God. Romans chapter eight, look at
the first six. For to be carnally minded, fleshly
minded is what that means. It's what we are by nature. This
is not just talking about when people think of carnal living,
they'll think of sexual sin and drunkenness and so on. That's
bad stuff. But what this is talking about is what we all are by nature. You've got a carnal mind. You're
born into this world with this carnal mind. Now, to be carnally
minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. because
the carnal mind is enmity. against God, for it's not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be. It lacks the ability
to be, so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God."
Now, the natural man, the carnal mind, Scripture says in 1 Corinthians
2, it receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. It lacks
the ability to. It can't receive them because
they're spiritually discerned. Now, notice how he says in that
verse of Scripture that the carnal mind is enmity itself against
God. It's not simply at enmity, it
is the thing itself. The carnal mind, that which I
have by nature, is actually enmity, hatred of the living God. Now,
let me remind you, to not love God as He is, is to hate Him. You see, if you love God, you
know what else you love? You love everything about Him. You
love His sovereignty. You love the fact that He's in
control of everything and that whatever happens, it's according
to His will. You love His power, that He has
the power to do whatever He's pleased to do. You love His holiness,
that He will not let sin go unpunished and that He will not except that
you love His justice, you love His mercy, you love His grace,
you love His wisdom, you love everything about Him. And it's
the same thing with the Lord Jesus Christ. You love the Sovereign
Christ if you love Him. You love the Christ as He's revealed
in the Scriptures. And if you don't love Him exactly as He's
revealed in the Scriptures, you don't love Him at all. As a matter
of fact, you hate Him. to view as unimportant. Oh, can
you imagine what the father thinks when he sees some son of Adam
viewing his son as unimportant? As something you just disregard? Doesn't mean everything to you?
The carnal mind is enmity against God. It's not subject to the
law of God. Neither indeed can it be. Now
that is seen so clearly in what makes up man. Now, what's the
difference between a man and an animal? Well, a man has got
a living soul. An animal doesn't have a soul
like that. I mean, we have intellect, we have a will, we have affections,
we have things we love, we have things we hate. Every man has
that. Now, the carnal mind hates God. This is seen in the understanding.
This is amazing. It's not amazing, it's just true.
Nobody here can understand anything that I'm saying unless God is
pleased to reveal it to you or to me. We can understand all kinds of
things. Men are pretty smart. But in
the things of God, all men are dumber than a box of rocks, as
Donnie Bell would say. I mean just unable to do Unable to understand. You know, men can understand
logical systems. Men can understand Calvinism.
Men can understand Arminianism. I mean, things that make sense.
But the natural man cannot understand grace. They cannot understand
the Gospel. This hatred that is seen in the
understanding is just off the wheel. This is why men are so
evil. They will not come to Christ.
They will not be saved by His grace. They will not bow the
knee to Christ. Free will is the biggest lie
the devil's ever told. There's no such thing as free
will, and this is why men are so evil. They've got a will chain
to sin. Evil can't change themselves. The affections, we hate what
we ought to love, and we love what we ought to hate. The carnal
mind is enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of
God. Neither, indeed, can be. Here's the state of our heart.
They hated me without a cause. Now, this is true of all men.
universally. I think it's interesting how
men hate one another, but they'll unite together in their hatred
of Christ. I think that scripture is very
interesting where it says, Regarding Pilate and Herod Luke 23 12 and
on the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends For before
they were at enmity between themselves, but they all of a sudden became
friends in their hatred of Christ It kind of remind me. This is
a true story. I Was working in a in a print
shop at the time this has been like 20 years ago and there was
a There was a man I was working with it was an atheist. I And
I was trying to witness to him, preach the gospel to him, and
there was a real religious guy that was working on the press
beside, he was listening. And all of a sudden, the atheist
and the religious guy got together gnashing their teeth on me. I
mean, the atheist and the religious guy had more in common than me. I mean, that really happened.
I thought, boy, that says a lot. That says quite a bit. Now, this being the truth, They
hated me without a cause. That's what we all are by nature.
I want to draw some conclusions from this. First, I'll tell you what, I know what we ought to be doing
over thinking about this. Every one of us ought to be weeping
that we're this bad. been guilty of hating the holy,
spotless Son of God without a cause. Anybody that doesn't love Christ
ought to be sent to hell. Paul said, if any man love not
the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha. Let him be damned upon the return
of the Lord. Anybody that doesn't love Christ
ought to be sent to hell. Amen. It's true. And that is what every one of
us have been guilty of. Now, like I said, I want to draw
some conclusions from this first. Salvation by human merit is impossible
because there is no such thing. Somebody that hates the Lord
Jesus Christ, there's nothing good about them as far as what
God sees. Now, like I said, you can be
a nice guy. You ought to be. But here's what God sees regarding
every son of Adam. There's somebody that hates his
son freely, without a cause. And somebody like that obviously
can't be saved by their merit because they don't have any merit.
Salvation by good works. is impossible because of that
kind of heart. Good works before God are impossible
because nobody has any, as far as that goes, because of the
nature. Like I said this in Sunday school
class this morning, I talked about Proverbs 16. I can't remember
what verse it is, but it says, the plowing of the wicked is
sin. Now, plowing seems to be a fairly
wholesome activity, doesn't it? Somebody going out and plowing
up a garden, maybe in order to grow food, feed the poor, yet
the scripture says the plowing of the wicked is sin. Why is
that? Because of who did it. Somebody that hates the Lord
Jesus Christ, anything they do is sin, so they can be saved
by their good works because they don't have any good works. Not
a one. Can God see anybody as capable
of good work that in his heart hates his son? Now, man being this sinful, no
merit intrinsically in his heart, no good works outwardly in things
that he does, if man is this bad, guilty of hating the Lord
Jesus Christ, right off the bat that tells me that for me to
be saved, for me to ever love God, God's going to have to do
something for me. He's going to have to put something
in me that was not there before. You see, my nature, this sinful
nature, this carnal mind that is enmity against God, it can't
be improved. It can't be influenced. It can't
be made better. It can't be reformed. It's completely
evil. And I'm going to have to be given
a new heart, one that was not there before. You see, the work
of the Holy Spirit is not to influence us to make us better. It's not to work with the old
nature. The old nature is completely evil. It can't be made better.
What I need is a new heart. one that was not there before. Now, since men are so desperately
wicked, God's salvation must be without a cause in man. They hated me without a cause.
If that's the case, if I'm that bad, and I am, then God saving
me must be without a cause in me. If I have to find a reason
in me for the Lord to look down in mercy on me, you know I can't
find one reason. Not one. The only way I can be
saved is if He saves me without a cause in myself. Our Lord said
in John chapter 6 verse 44, no man can. He lacks the ability. No man can come to Me except
the Father which has sent Me. draw him. Now, God's going to
have to do something for me. Lord, do something for me. That's
my prayer. Lord, do something. Don't leave
me to myself. Have mercy on me. I can't be saved by my merit. I can't be saved by my good works.
I can't be saved by anything I do. I need you to do something
for me without having to find a reason for me to do it. For God to save me, first of
all, He's going to have to choose me. I'll never choose Him. I've
been guilty of hating Him without a cause. So He's going to have
to choose me without a cause in me. And that's what election
is. He chose me not because He saw I would believe, not because
He saw I'd be good. He chose me simply because He
would. That's good news. He doesn't have to find a reason
in me. Thank God for that. Redemption, Christ's redeeming
work for His elect, for those who believe. That's without a
cause. He didn't die for you because
you were entitled to it. You know, it kills me when people
hear of Christ's death for His elect. It doesn't kill me. I
understand it. I shouldn't say it. People hear of Christ's death
for His elect only and they say, that's not fair. You mean His
death is an entitlement to you? Fair as hell. Thank God He Died
for people without a cause in them. That gives me some hope.
Regeneration is not the Holy Spirit offered me the gospel,
I accept it and therefore I become born again. That's foolishness.
Regeneration is God giving me life without a cause in me. Now this message, listen to me
real carefully. This message that God loves you and Christ
died for your sins and wants to save you, but He can't unless
you do something that will enable Him to? That's a lie out of hell. There's no truth in it. There's no gospel in that message. If salvation is dependent upon
even a penny's worth of merit, ability, or will in man, salvation
is impossible because we've all been guilty of this, they have
hated me without a cause. I want to show you another place
in the Bible. You know, if this is all I was talking about, this
would be a pretty depressing message, wouldn't it? I mean, this is
not exactly a feel-good message. Oh, boy, we're rejoicing. But
it's true. It's something I have to deal
with. But I want to show you another place where this word, without
a cause, is used and translated freely. Now, would you turn with
me to Romans chapter 3? Romans chapter 3. Verse 19, Now we know that what thing soever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every
mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before
God. Now this is our state before
God. Doesn't matter whether we agree
with it or not. It is our state before God. Guilty before God. Subject to the judgment of God.
My mouth stopped. In other words, I've got no excuses. My mouth has been stopped. I
stand guilty before God. Subject to the judgment of God.
Deserving damnation. Now criminals, if somebody's a murderer, Should
he be judged? Should they go to jail? Should
they be punished? If somebody murders one of your kids, should
they be punished? If somebody does, of course they
should. Now, we have been guilty of hating
the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought to be punished. They
hated me freely. They hated me without a cause.
So, we stand before God guilty as charged. Have you ever agreed
with what God says about you? Now that's what repentance is.
It's taking sides with God against yourself. Guilty as charged. Is there anything we can do about
this? Verse 20, Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall
no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is the
knowledge of sin. No, there's not a thing you can
do to bring yourself out of this position of guilt before God. Does that mean there's no hope?
No, it doesn't mean that, verse 21. But now, the righteousness
of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. Now, this doesn't mean there's
no hope. There's a righteousness without
the law. You know what that means? That
means there's a perfect righteousness before God without my personal
obedience to the law. Now, do you find that attractive?
That you can have a righteousness perfect before God that's really
yours without any works on your part. Do you find that attractive?
I tell you what, that's the only hope I have. That's good news. I find this infinitely attractive. But now, well, how can I know
this is true? Look what it says. But now the
righteousness of God without the law, without my personal
obedience to the law is manifested, it's being witnessed by the law
and prophets. How can I know this is true? It's because it's
what the Bible teaches. It's witnessed in the law and prophets.
This is what the Old Testament's all about. Isaiah 53, Isaiah 54, their righteousness
is of me, saith the Lord. This is what the Bible's always
taught. Now, the Bible's the word of God. If we don't have
that, we don't have anything. The Bible is God's revelation
of Himself. And this is what the Old Testament
Scripture teaches, that salvation comes by the righteousness of
somebody else. One of the names of the Lord is, this is the name
wherewith He shall be called, Jehovah Tzikinu, the Lord, our
righteousness. And in Jeremiah 33, it says this
is the name wherewith She shall be called, the Lord, our righteousness. Now, there is a righteousness,
a perfect righteousness before that law that can be had without
your personal obedience. This is what the Scripture teaches.
Verse 22, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe, for there's
no difference. Now, who gets this righteousness? Who's this righteousness for?
What's the text say? For all who believe. for all who rely on Jesus Christ
as their righteousness before God. Now, I'm one of those people
right now. I'm relying on the righteousness
of Jesus Christ as my personal righteousness before God. Just
as truly as my sin became His, His righteousness is mine. Thank God for that. even the righteousness of God
which is by the faith of Jesus Christ. Notice it doesn't say
by faith in Jesus Christ. This is why I love our old King
James Version. By the faith of Jesus Christ,
by His faithfulness, by His obedience, by His righteousness, it's given
to all who believe. For there's no difference between
any man, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God, being justified. See that next word? What's it
say? freely. Now that is the exact
same word that's translated without a cause in John chapter 15. Being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. Now I
don't suppose it would ever be appropriate, well I know it's
not, every time I preach I ought to be preaching something regarding
justification. I have no doubt about it. If
I bring a message and if that's not behind what I'm saying, I'm
bringing the wrong message. Justification. If I'm justified,
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
of the sin of Christ Jesus, if I'm justified, do you know what that
means? It means I'm not guilty. I'm not guilty. I have no sin. Because Christ's righteousness
is mine. And I stand before God without
guilt. Being justified without a cause. Don't you love that word freely?
Without a cause. God didn't have to look for a
reason in me to give me this wonderful justification. Being
justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus I love that passage of Scripture in Ephesians 1,
7, "...in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness
of sins, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus." Verse 25, "...whom God set forth, whom
God foreordained to be a propitiation through faith in His blood to
declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at
this time, His righteousness, that He might be just, and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Where is boasting
then? What can you brag about? It's excluded. By what law? Works? Nay, but by the law of faith.
Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without
the deeds of the law. Now, in closing, I want you to
turn to Revelation 21. I want us to look where this
word without a cause is also used. Revelation 21. We look at Revelation 21 and scripture
in Revelation 22. Verse 5, Revelation 21, verse
5. And he that said upon the throne,
said, Behold, I make all things new. You know what that means? God makes
me to be what I wasn't. I wasn't righteous. He makes
me righteous. I wasn't holy. He makes me holy. He makes all things new. Now, God said He did that. Behold,
I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write. Write this down. For these words
are true and faithful. And He said unto me, It's done.
Salvation is already accomplished. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end, and I will give unto him that is a thirst of
the fountain of the water of life freely, without a cause. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor a fitness fondly dream. The only fitness he requireth
is to have a need of him. Do you need Him? Then He calls on you to come
and drink freely. Look in Revelation 22. Verse 17, And the Spirit and the bride
say, Come! This is the message of the gospel.
Come to the Lord. Come to Christ. Come to God. Yes, you're guilty of hating
Him without a cause, but yet He says, come. That's the message
of the church. It brings people in. It doesn't exclude people.
You're already excluded. It doesn't say, stay away. It
says, come on in. The door's wide open. The spirit
and the bride say, come. This is what God says to you
right now. Come to my, come to me. This is what the Lord says,
come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden. You know
you're guilty of what the Bible says you're guilty of, but yet
He says, come. Don't stay away. Don't wait till
you get better. Don't wait till you understand
more. Come right now to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the message
of the Holy Spirit. That's the message of the church. The Spirit
and the bride say, come. And let him that heareth say,
come. That's what I'm doing right now.
I heard that and I'm saying, come. Come to the Lord. And let
him that is a thirst Come! I'm thirsty. You thirst for that
which you don't have. You can't produce it. You can't
produce a way to quench your thirst. It has to be brought
by something outside of you, that water. Let him that is a
thirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life
freely. Whosoever will. I love that. Whosoever will. I want to ask you a question.
Are you willing to be saved by Jesus Christ? And you can answer
that with a yes or no. Are you willing to be saved by
His grace? Are you willing to be saved in
such a manner where Christ gets all the glory and none goes to
you? Are you willing to be saved by His righteousness? Are you
willing to be saved by His precious blood? Are you willing to be
saved by Him as being your great High Priest interceding for you?
Are you willing? Yes, I am. I really am. I know it's because He made me
willing. But you can bet I'm willing to be saved by Him. Now
what's He say? Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life, freely. Now just as you and I have been
guilty of hating Him without a cause, He will save us without
a cause. Isn't that good news? He will save us without a cause
in us. There's only one contribution
you can make to your salvation. You know what that is? Your sin. That's the only contribution
you make. Whosoever will, will you? Are
you willing to be saved by him? Let him take the water of life
freely. If I said you could have the water of life
for a hundred dollars, Everybody in this room would
figure out a way to get a hundred dollars to get this water of
life But if I say it's free There's
people that just aren't interested in that That's heartbreaking That somebody's gonna leave this
place having heard of the freeness of the gospel and and they'll
treat it with disdain. May God give everybody in this
room the grace to come and take the water of life freely. Let's pray.