I want you to find Luke chapter
9. I want to ask you a question this
morning, and I'm asking it to you in earnest, and I hope you
consider this question. If you've never considered this
before, I hope you consider my question to you this morning.
And it's this. Why won't you come to Christ? Why won't you come to Christ?
To the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm serious as I asked you that
and I hope you seriously consider that. If you're here this morning,
and many of you have, you've come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
You've come to God by Him. And my text this morning is going
to tell you why you've come. But if you're here this morning
and you've not come to Christ, then my text will tell you why
you've not come. Not why you cannot come. That's
a different subject altogether. But why you will not come to
Christ. We have preached to you, I have preached to you, and others
have taught you that Jesus Christ has thrown the door of mercy
wide open. The way back to God is unhindered. There is access to God. Everything
that God requires has been done. Sin has been punished. Reconciliation
has been made. And now God himself says, Come
and let us reason together. Why won't you come? The Lord
Jesus has been exalted. That tells us that the Father
has accepted his sacrifice. The Father has set Him at His
right hand, a mediator between God and man. And though the Son
of God is so high and exalted, He is the Lord of lords, He is
the Lord of glory, yet He is meek and lowly. And here is His
command, Come unto Me. Why haven't you come? Why haven't
you come? I don't care how old you are
this morning. I don't care how young you are. I don't care who
you are. I don't care what your occupation is. I want you to
earnestly consider this question with me this morning. One of
the biggest mistakes that anybody will ever make is to open this
Bible and say, that's not written to me. This Bible is not written
to me. That's the biggest mistake anybody
will ever make. And a big mistake that we'll
make this morning if we don't earnestly consider this question.
Why won't I come to Christ? Why won't I come to Christ? Now
you hold Luke chapter 9 just for a few minutes, and I want
to tell you about four people who have come to Christ. Four
people who came to the Lord Jesus Christ. And then in the light
of that, if you've got any excuse for not coming, that's what it'll
be. It'll be an excuse. It won't be a good reason, it'll
just be an excuse. Let me give you these four people.
There was a man, a Jewish man, who got up one morning and he
noticed a spot on his arm, just a small sore, and he went
to work and thought little about it. He came back home that night,
and he slept, and he got up the next morning, and he noticed
the sore had spread, and he was somewhat concerned about it.
He went on for a couple of more days, and then he noticed that
it spreaded. Almost all of his arm was covered
with his sore. And he got very concerned about
that, and he went to the priest, and he asked the priest if he
could examine him. And the priest looked at him
and said, we're going to have to keep you for a few days. And
he had a place where they put people like this. And he fed
him and kept him and in a few days the priest called him back.
And the priest looked at him and examined him and he said,
you have leprosy. The man's conscience was filled
with horror because that was the most dreaded disease that
you could contract. There was no cure for it. If
you got leprosy and the Lord didn't touch you and heal you,
He would soon kill you. The priest kept that man and
he sent one of his servants to that man's house. And they told
his family what the diagnosis was. They took some clothes from
his house and brought it to that man. The priest took a pair of
scissors and he ripped the man's clothes up. And he tore his clothes
and put them in a bag. And he says, you've got to put
a rag over your lips, and we're going to take you out to your
outside of town, and if anybody comes close to you, you've got
to cry out, unclean, unclean. Don't come near me. I have leprosy. You're never to come back into
the temple to worship. You're never to enter the gates
of the city. You're never to make contract
with your family again. You're a leper. And that man
went out on an old dusty road, and his leprosy got worse and
worse and worse. And after a while, the Bible
tells us that he was full of leprosy. It had spread all over
his body. His sores began to turn green
and running. He got a fever in his body, and
he knew that he was dying. And he heard the Lord Jesus was
preaching. The Lord Jesus was preaching.
And this leper left that dusty road, and the Bible makes this
statement that he came to Jesus. He came to Jesus. He wasn't allowed
to come. The law forbid him to come. And
perhaps he could have been either stoned or put in prison for coming. But the law says don't approach
him to anybody. But he approached anyone. And
he came to the Lord Jesus Christ and got down at his feet and
he said, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. And the
Lord Jesus did a most amazing thing. He wretched his holy hand
and touched that man's leprosy. And you know what happened? Instead
of the leprosy going to the Lord Jesus, virtue went out of Christ
into his leprosy. And the Lord said, I will clean
you, be thou clean. And immediately that man's flesh
was just the flesh of a little child. He was cleansed from his
leprosy. He came to the Lord Jesus Christ. He didn't have any right to come. He came contrary to the law,
but he came. Now let me ask you this question.
If he came, why won't you come? I doubt if this is the case,
but maybe you're thinking this morning, I'm just too vile. I'm
just too wretched of a sinner. You don't know me, Bruce. You
don't know what I think in my mind. And maybe you don't know
what I've done in my life. No, I don't, and I don't want
to know. I have enough sin of my own to contend with. I don't
want you to come confessing yours. But here was a man came, and
he was filthy. He was a vile man. Not allowed
to approach him to any man, but he came. And you notice he didn't come
saying this, Lord, I've decided to let you heal me. Lord, I've come to exercise my
free will. He didn't say anything of the
sort. You know what this man did? Whether he lived or died,
he was willing to place into the very will of the Lord Jesus
Christ. If I die, I'm going to die. If
I'm going to live, it's going to be according to your will.
If you will, you can make me clean. That's the way we're to
come. If we ever had any claims on
God, we'd send them away. We don't come because we have
a right to come. And don't come promising Him
things. Come and say, Lord, if You will,
You can cleanse me. You can save me from my sin.
And leave it all with Him, if You will. And I tell you, the
Scripture says He will have mercy. He will have mercy. Don't come pleading merit. completing
your need, just like this man did. Lord, if you will. He came to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus was passing through
Jericho one day. And you notice as you read about
the Lord in Jericho, He never stopped. He entered Jericho and
He passed through Jericho as a cursed city. It's sort of like
now, ain't it? He's just passing by. He was
just passing by. And there was this man that the
Scripture tells us two things about. First of all, he was a
beggar. He sat by the roadside in his
filthy rags, covered up with an old scarf, and he begged.
Everything he ate, he had to beg to get it. Whatever he drank,
he had to beg. Whatever he wore, he bagged for
it. He was a beggar. You and I wouldn't have liked
this man, because we don't like beggars. If you went down the
street and you saw him down there, you'd get off on the other side,
because all he did was beg. If you needed something, you
didn't go to him. He didn't have anything. He was always the one
in need. Every time he heard somebody
coming, he got his little cup and began to rattle it. He was
a beggar. But something even worse than
that, he was a blind man. He never saw sunrise. If he had
any friends, he never looked into their faces. He is a blind
man. And the Scripture says, the Lord
Jesus was passing by there, and this blind beggar heard him,
and he began to cry out, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy
on me. And they said, why don't you
shut up? Why don't you shut up? That's what they told him. Why
don't you shut up? But he didn't shut up. He began to cry the
more the Scripture says, the louder, Jesus, thou Son of David,
have mercy upon me. And the Lord did a most amazing
thing. Our preachers have told us over
and over and over about it. One of the most amazing, astounding
things happened. Never happened before, and it
didn't happen after that that we know of. The Scripture says
that Jesus stood still. I mean, He was always on the
go. He always was about doing good. Nobody could stop Him. Devils tried to stop Him. The
winds and the waves of the sea couldn't stop Him. Nobody could
stop Him. The Pharisees and the scribes
tried to stop Him. Nobody ever stopped Him. But
the cry of this miserable, wretched, blind beggar stopped Him in His
tracks. You know what stops the Lord
Jesus Christ? You know what gets His attention?
A cry for mercy. Jesus, Thou Son of David, have
mercy on me. And the Scripture says He stopped
and stood still and said, Call that man. You call that man. And the Scripture says, they
said, be of good comfort. He calls for you. And he took
that old rag that he had laying across him and he cast it aside.
And he got up and the Scripture says he came to Jesus. And the Master asked him a good
question. He said, what do you want from me? You want some money? I don't
have any money. I don't even have the money to
pay my taxes. I had to send Peter down to get that out of the fish's
mouth. Is that what you wanted? I don't carry a bag. I don't
have any bread on me. Is that what you wanted? What
do you want from me? That's a good question, ain't it? Lord, that I might receive
my sight. And the Lord said, Go your way.
Your faith has made you whole. And immediately that man received
his sight. and followed Jesus in the way. He came to Christ. Now let me
ask you again. Why won't you come? Why won't
you come? You say, Bruce, I don't have
any understanding. I don't know how to come. I'll
open my Bible and you might as well remove the words from it.
I can't see a thing. I am spiritually blind. And you
will be until you come to Christ. Here was a man come and was blind,
but yet he came. He never could see the Lord Jesus
Christ, but he came to Christ. Are you blind? Then come to Christ. Blind men come to Christ. Come
to Him and say, Lord, this is what I want. I want to see. What
do you want to see? I want to see you. I want to see myself in you.
I want to see all my sins taken away in your blood. I want to
see myself accepted. I want to see that God is not
angry with me anymore, that He is a Father to me. Open thou
my eyes and let me see. There is no excuse for anybody
not coming. I do not care if he is spiritually blind. Come to Christ. Come to God by
Him. Thirdly, there was a woman. She got up one morning and she
noticed she was bleeding. And she went to the doctor. She
went to a physician. And he examined her and said,
I'll give you some medicine. This will stop this. She went
back home, took the medicine, but it didn't stop. The next
day she was bleeding worse. Went back to the doctor. He said,
I'm going to have to send you to a specialist. I can't help
you. You've got a problem. He sent
her to a specialist. He examined her and gave her
some medicine and sent her home. Said, this will heal you. This
will stop the bleeding. A week later, she was still bleeding. Her friend recommended another
physician. This is a good doctor. You go
over there and he'll help you. I've had your problem and he
helped me." She went to that doctor. She paid the bill but
got no help. And finally she spent all her
savings. Then she had to sell her house. Then she had to borrow. And finally she went to a doctor
one day. And he said, Lady, I'm sorry,
we can't help you. Besides, you don't have any more
money. I'm sorry, but we can't help you. And for twelve long
years, that woman bled. And she became so sick and so
weak, she could hardly work or get about. And one day she heard
that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And you know what that woman
said? She went out to where he was,
and she noticed there was people all around him, thousands of
people following him. And she knew she couldn't get
his attention. But she said, in my utter weakness, if I can
just press my way through this crowd and touch the hem of his
garment, just touch the hem of his garment, He's so full of
power. He's so full of virtue. If I
can just touch His clothes, I know I'll be made whole." And that's
what she did. And as soon as she touched His clothes,
immediately she stopped bleeding. She felt it in herself. She said,
I know, I'm made whole. And she stopped. And so did the
Lord Jesus. And He turned and looked and
said, who touched me? Virtue has come out of me. And Peter
said, Lord, look at all these people. Everybody is touching
you. He said, no, somebody has really touched me. Somebody has
really come to me and I have done something for them. And
I want them to confess it. Who did it? Who touched me? Who
touched me? And this woman came trembling
and fell down at his feet and told him all the truth. You know
what she told him? She said, I've tried everybody
else before I came to you. I went to these physicians, and
what I realized, they had nothing for me. They took my money, they
took my house, they took my time, and I'm left now to die. And
I come to you out of desperation. I come to you because there's
no place else to go. I should have come to you to
start with, but I didn't. She told him all the truth. I tell you, brothers and sisters,
you and I have learned this, haven't we? Nobody else can do
us any good but Jesus Christ. We've tried these positions of
no value, haven't we, Glenn? Denominationalism won't do you
a bit of good. I've got friends of mine that
were preachers and had never come to Christ. I've had friends
of mine that were Mormons studying for the priesthood in the Mormon
religion, dead in sin. I've got friends of mine who
were altar boys in the Catholic Church. You know what these physicians
of no value will do to us? They'll steal us of our time.
They'll rob us of our strength. They'll take what money you have,
and in the end, they'll rob you of your precious soul. They'll
do you no good. They're physicians of no value.
There's only one that can stop the bleeding, and that's the
Son of God. And this woman came and told
him that. You say, Bruce, I just don't
feel like I have the strength to come. Are you any weaker than
this woman was? Twelve years? If she pressed
her way to Christ, why don't you? There were two men, one on the left side and one
on the right side of the dear and blessed Son of God, when
he hanged on Calvary's tree. At first, both of them reviled
him. They spoke evil to him, hateful with him. They said, if you be the Son
of God, won't you save us? Won't you bring us down from
this cross? And finally, one of them came to him, sir. This
came to him, sir. And he looked over at Jesus of
Nazareth hanging on the middle cross. And he made this wonderful
statement to him. And it's not only what he said
to him, but how he addressed him. He was a man hanging there
in utter weakness. They had called him a criminal.
They had mocked him and said he perverted the nation and deceived
people. And there Jesus of Nazareth hanged
in his utter weakness, died. And this thief looked over at
him and here's the way he addressed him. He said, Lord, ain't that
amazing? Just a few minutes before, he
had been reviling him. But now he looks at him and says,
Lord, what had happened to this man? Oh, suddenly, suddenly,
God had opened his understanding. And he said, this is the Lord.
The Lord of glory came down from heaven, and here he hangs. Well, he said, you know me, old
man, I know that now. I'm ashamed that I've radicalized
you and reviled you. God's given you a kingdom of
grace and power and redemption. You're not going to stay dead.
I know you're going to raise and ascend to heaven. Lord, when
you come into your kingdom, remember me. Remember me. And you know what the Master
did? He said, this day, You shall be with me in paradise." That
was the weakest hour that Jesus Christ had ever known. No doubt
about it. He was crucified in weakness.
But He saved the worst sinner He ever came into contact with.
And you know what He did for that man? He revealed to that
man that that man's destiny was not what that man thought it
was. You know what he thought? You know what that thief thought?
I'm going to hell today." That's what he told the other thief.
He said, men, you hang here and we're getting just what we deserve.
We're justly condemned and before this day is over, men, you're
going to be in hell. And don't you imagine when people
left that cross that day. They went back home and they
thought, boy, if there's ever two men in hell, it's those two
thieves. Well, you know something. Jesus Christ didn't change His
destiny. And Jesus Christ will never change
your destiny. But He may reveal to you that
it's not what you think it is. You know every man's destiny
is already fixed. Don't we believe that? Don't
the Scripture teach us that? God has fixed everybody's destiny
before the foundation of the world. I'm not the master of
my fate, or the captain of my soul. God has already fixed my
destiny. God has already fixed your destiny.
And it can't be changed. I tell you, that's a solemn thought,
ain't it? He's either fixed your destiny
to come to Christ, and through Jesus Christ to glory, or through
your sin. and a just condemnation to everlasting
punishment. But your destiny is fixed. And what Jesus Christ does, He
reveals that destiny. Oh, He said basically to that
thief on the cross that day, this is the day that man has
ordained for you to die. And die you will, but you're
not going to die like you think you're going to die. You think,
surely today I'm perishing, but I tell you today you're going
to be with me in paradise. Didn't you used to think that
way about yourself? Before you came to the Lord, didn't you
often have thoughts, or at least sometimes have thoughts that
you were perishing? I'm lost. I'm going to perish.
I'm going to hell. I thought that about myself.
And I didn't know how to remedy the situation I was in. until
I come to Jesus Christ. And then He made me know, no,
no, no. Dear child, that's not your destiny.
My Father's done fixed your destiny. Lord, what is it? To do just
what you've done, come to me for life. This day shall you be with me.
Why don't you come to Christ? You say, Bruce, I've continued
too long in sin. Any longer than this man? He
sinned His way almost into hell. He had one foot in it, so to
speak, didn't He? Is anybody here worse than He
is? Have you sinned any more than He did? Cursed the Son of
God to His face in your dying breath? I don't think anybody
here has done that. Well, here's a man that did,
and yet he came to Christ. Why won't you come to Christ?
Now, look at my text. Look at my text, Luke 9, verse
11. Now this is going to tell you
why you've come to Him, and this is going to tell you why you
haven't. In verse 11, And the people, when they knew it, they
followed Him, they followed the Lord Jesus. And He received them
and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and here it is, and He
healed them that had need. of healing. Why did you come to Christ? You
needed Him, didn't you? Huh? You needed Him. Ain't nobody
ever come but those who need Him. Well, why haven't you come? I tell you, just go ahead and
answer it now. Be honest. He knows it anyway. Be honest. If you haven't come
to Him this morning, be honest enough to go to Him and tell
Him why. Just go to Him and say, Lord, I haven't come to You because
I don't need You. Be like this woman who came and
told Him all the truth. I just don't need You. I don't
need You to forgive me. I don't need You to give me life
eternal. I don't need You as a mediator
between me and God. I don't need You. That's why
I don't come to You. I don't need You. Be bold enough
to tell Him the truth. Or come to Him. and say, Lord,
I need you. Let not conscience make you linger.
We've seen that in these four people who came. Nor a fitness
thornly dream. All the fitness he requires is
to fill your need of him. And this he gives you. This he
gives you. Who is it that comes to Christ?
And here's where we err if we're not careful. Who comes to Christ?
Well, look who came to Him here that I've told you about today.
It's not the full who come. It's the empty who come. It's
not those who are content. It's those who are discontent.
It's not the whole. It's the broken. It's not the
good who come to Him. It's the bad. It's not the righteous. It's the sinners. He said, Bruce,
I've got a lot of things I've got to get straightened out first,
then you'll never come. I'm just too confused to come
right now. That's who comes. You come confused to have your
heart and mind set straight. You should come to Christ for
this reason. In Him is everything you need for salvation. He doesn't
tell you to bring a thing when you come to Him, but your self.
You've got to bring all your self, but don't bring anything
else to Him. Just your sinful self. In Him is everything you
need. You need nothing else. Just come
to Him. That's the issue. Come to Me. Come to Me. And you'll find in
Him everything you need. I assure you of that. He assures
you that. You need dress for your nakedness?
Yes, you do. Well, He's got a robe of righteousness
to clothe you. Are you filthy in your sins?
He's got blood to wash you. Do you need a Spirit that could
come and give you life and bear witness to your spirit that He
has indeed saved you? He has a Holy Spirit to send
in your heart. Everything you need, He has it. And secondly, not only will you
find in him everything upon coming to him, but I tell you, he'll
never cast anybody out who comes to him. He never has, and he
never will. All the Father gives to me shall
come to me, and he that comes to me, I will for no reason cast
him out. And thirdly, you are coming to
him. You are coming. Eventually you
are coming to Him. Some of you have come now. I've
come. But everybody else is coming
too. As I live, saith the Lord, I swear to this, He said, unto
me shall all men come. They're going to bow their knee
to me. And they're going to confess that I'm the Lord. Even those
that are mad at me and hate me and incense against me, they're
coming too. They're coming. Everybody's coming. Why don't you come now? Come
now to the Lord Jesus Christ. Come to God by Him. Listen to
this. Come, humble sinner, in whose
breast a thousand thoughts revolve. Come with your guilt and your
fear oppressed, and make this last resolve. I'll go to Jesus. I'll go to the Lord Jesus Christ.
I'll go to God by Him. Though my sin like mountains
round me close, I know His courts, and I'll enter in whatever may
oppose. And prostrate I'll lie before His throne, and there
my guilt confess, and I'll tell Him I'm a wretch undone without
His sovereign grace. I'll to the gracious King approach,
whose scepter pardon gives. Perhaps He will command my touch,
and then this beggar lives. Perhaps He will hear my prayer,
but if I perish, I will pray and only perish then. I can but
perish if I go, I am resolved to try. For if I stay away, I
know I must forever die. But if I die with mercy sought,
when I the King have tried, this were to die, listen, O delightful
thought, where a sinner never dies. Come to Christ. I want you to come to Christ.
I don't want you to come up here to me. I want you to come to
Christ. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray.