late one evening after many days
watching her husband suffer, dying of consumption. Jane C. Bonar came in and sat
down in her living room. She had just left her husband's
side. He was in the next room dying. And she wrote those words, fade each earthly joy, Jesus
is mine." Sooner or later, sooner or later,
you and I will come to realize that all earthly things are fading,
perishing things of clay. And I hope we can with confidence
declare in our Savior's ears from our heart, Jesus is mine. It is my desire to help you along
the way and to help myself in helping you to turn loose the
things of this world and to set our hearts on the one thing that
is needful. And my subject this evening is
one thing. I want, if God will enable me,
to rivet our heart's attention on one thing. Our Lord says,
seek ye first. That is, seek above all things
to the exclusion of all things. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness. That is the rule of Christ and
the righteousness of Christ. And all other things will be
taken care of by your father. I wonder if we can do that. Seek nothing but the rule of
Christ and the righteousness of Christ. Seek nothing but submission
to his dominion, voluntary subjection to his sovereign rule and his
righteousness by faith. He says, lay not up for yourselves
treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt. and where
thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasure
in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, where
thieves do not break through and steal. For where your treasure
is, there will also your heart be. Now wherever my treasure
is, wherever it is, whatever it is, whoever it is, There my
heart is. What do you treasure? Well, I
might ask it in reverse. Where is your heart? Where is
your heart? What has your heart's attention,
your heart's care, your heart's meditation? Where is your heart? There your treasure is. The Apostle
Paul spoke much the same way. He wrote in Colossians, set your
affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Now,
Paul does not say, as it is often misquoted, set your affections. That's not what he says. He says,
set your affection, set your affection on things above. Both
our Lord and the apostle Paul are telling us the same thing.
They're telling us that all our affections ought to be bound
up, tied up together in one affection. and that the one concentrated
affection of our hearts is to be set not upon things on the
earth, but on things above, where Christ set it on the right hand
of God. Now, if I understand the meaning
of these words, they set before us the aim and the purpose of
gospel preaching. The aim and the purpose of the
gospel that I preach is just this. It is to cause all our
capacities, all our powers, all our ambitions, all our talents,
and all our affections to be concentrated upon one object
and to beat with one pulse for that object. And the one great
object upon which our hearts must be fixed is the Lord Jesus
Christ, our Savior. Oh, that God would make us a
people. No, let me speak alone. Oh that God would make me a man
with one solitary object possessing my being. A man with one object
possessing my affection. A man with one object possessing
my heart and let that object be Jesus Christ my Lord. This
is my prayer. Lord compel me. Force me by whatever
means is necessary. Force me by the power and grace
of your spirit to set my affection upon Christ alone. By whatever
means, let my heart be fixed on Christ alone. One day shortly
after God saved me by his grace, I was sitting in a neighbor's
yard enthusiastically talking to several of our neighbors,
older men and women, about the things I'd experienced of God's
grace, of what God had done for me in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. As I talked, after a little while,
I was interrupted by one of the older men, a man who lived right
next door to my mother and dad. He said, Don, now you must be
careful not to become too zealous and enthusiastic. Don't carry
your religion too far. And much to my surprise, everyone
there agreed with what the man said. I was young and I knew
very little. I'm still younger than many and
still know very little in comparison. But even from the beginning,
I knew that the grace of God upon me, the dominion of Christ
over me, demanded all of me, all of me, no reserve. My youthful
heart, it seemed, was taken up with one desire. I wanted to
know Christ, to honor Christ, and to do the will of Christ.
I wanted in this world, while I lived in this world, to bring
honor to him who loved me and gave himself for me. Now, I hope
that that zeal is tempered some with knowledge and wisdom and
maybe a little experience today. But oh, that consuming zeal for
Christ. I want it to burn in my heart
until it burns up every other passion, until it consumes every
other desire. And I want that for you. You
know, if a person aims at many targets, he's not likely to hit
any of them. If he aims at many goals, he's
not likely to reach any of them. If he seeks many things, he's
not likely to obtain anything. But the person who is obsessed
with one thing, that person who is obsessed with one object,
with one goal, with one ambition, with one desire, he's very likely
to obtain what he seeks. Those who are obsessed with one
thing are eccentrics. Those who are obsessed with one
thing are people who are mysteries to other people. Those who are
obsessed with just one thing are constantly the subject of
conversation and ridicule because other folks cannot understand
them. The world knows us not because it knew Him not. Our
Lord was obsessed with the glory of God. Oh, that we might be
like Him, obsessed with the glory of God and with the interest
of God's kingdom and doing the will of our Father. Michelangelo,
was a great artist, but he would never have become such a great
artist if he did not love art so much that he neglected almost
everything else beside. Handel was a great musician. We hear Handel's Messiah and
it is a great masterpiece. It's been greatly abused in our
day, but it's a masterpiece of worship and praise to the Lord
our God. But Handel would never have become
the musician he was had he not so neglected everything else
because of his love for his harpsichord that as he played his harpsichord
day in and day out, day in and day out, year after year after
year, finally the keys were worn into the shapes of his fingers
because he loved to play that instrument. He just loved to
play that instrument. He was obsessed with one thing. He was obsessed with music, obsessed
with the harpsichord, obsessed with melody, obsessed with tune. He gave himself entirely, entirely
to his musical life. And I'm saying that if we would,
under God somehow or another, get this kind of obsession for
Jesus Christ just maybe would be useful in God's kingdom while
we live on this earth. I want to pursue Christ with
that kind of single-minded zeal, with that kind of single-minded
enthusiasm, with that kind of single-minded eccentricity. It
is my prayer that all our affections might be bound up into one affection
and that the one affection of our hearts may be set upon the
Lord Jesus Christ. and hear what I say. I've weighed my words deliberately.
As I wrote this statement out this afternoon in my notes, I
gave consideration to what I'm saying. So you hear me. You must
choose what you will seek and what you will serve. You're going
to seek something that's certain. You're going to serve something.
No question about that. You must choose what you will
seek and what you will serve. It will either be Christ and
His glory or the world and the lust of your own flesh. And you'll
make that decision every day of your life. Every day. You had to make that decision
many times today. I'll guarantee you. You have
to make that decision as you're confronted day after day with
this world and the things of this world and your responsibilities
in this world. You're going to have to choose.
Will I serve Christ in the interest of his kingdom or will I serve
this world and the lust of my own flesh? You cannot serve both. You cannot have both. Our Lord
said you cannot serve God and mammon, the many cares of this
world. If unduly attended, we'll choke
out the good seed of the gospel and drag your soul down to hell.
Every believer must deny himself and set his heart upon one thing,
and that one thing is Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, I want to show
you four texts of scripture this evening. If you want to follow
along or if you want to take notes, we'll start in Psalm 27.
Psalm 27. Here are four texts of scripture
which I pray the Holy Spirit will apply to my heart and yours,
causing us to have our affection set on one thing. Here in Psalm
27 in verse 4, David says, one thing have I desired of the Lord. One thing have I desired of the
Lord. The man after God's own heart
was a man who desired but one thing from the Lord. He says
in verse four, one thing have I desired of the Lord that will
I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all
the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to
inquire in his temple. One of the old writers, Jeremy
Taylor, said a heavenly mind gathers itself up into one wish
and no more. One thing have I desired of the
Lord. Grant me thyself, O Lord. and I will ask no more. Grant
me thyself, O Lord, and I will ask no more. This is the great
concern of my heart, that I may be accepted of God and dwell
with him eternally. Now that's it. That I may be
accepted of God and dwell with him eternally. I wrote down here,
I'm not overly concerned about the affairs of this world. But
that's not so. I recognize that I am far too
overly concerned about the affairs of this world. I confess it. I repent of it. I loathe it.
But the great concern of my heart is about my soul and the world
to come. I'm not seeking after the things
of this world, but I am anxiously seeking an eternal heavenly inheritance
in Christ. You see, we're living in this
world where everything is temporary. Everything. Anything you can touch. Get you
over there and take your daughter, your wife, your husband by the
hand. It's temporary. It's temporary. The dearest relationships
in this world are just temporary. They're just temporary. The most
precious things in this world are just temporary. And if those
relationships we cherish so much are temporary, what about those
material things that soon must be burned? Everything here is
temporary. Solomon was not a man in despair
who had lost his mind when he cries, vanity of vanity, all
is vanity and vexation of spirit, saith the preacher. He knew exactly
what he was talking about. He had come to realize things
that most people never get hold of. This world is vanity! Nothing but vanity. Everything
here is. But we're going to a world where
everything is eternal. We live like everything here
is so important, you know. We were talking last night. Jay
had to buy a new truck. His blew up on him. I happened
to be down at his dad's house and drove by to show it to his
dad and he opened up back end of it and said, it smells so
new, but it don't last long. That new smell just don't last
long. The payments keep right on, but that new smell, it just
don't last long. It's all so temporary. So temporary. We, we chase after things in
this world like they were, like they were precious, eternal things.
Everything here is temporary. Oh my soul, everything in that
world to which we're moving so rapidly is eternal. Your soul
is eternal, immortal, eternal bliss or eternal damnation. There's no change there. And
in that world of eternity, We must recognize that only Jesus
Christ, our Savior, can prepare us for that world which is to
come. Only Christ can bring us into
glory and bliss before God Almighty acceptably. We must be washed
in His blood, robed in His righteousness, born of His Spirit, or we shall
enter into the world of eternity without God, without Christ,
and without hope. God help us to see that. You've
got to have Christ. He's the only thing necessary.
He's the only thing necessary. One thing, we must get our priorities
in order. My soul is more important than
my body. Eternity is more important than
time. Heaven is more important than
earth. What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world
and lose his own soul? What will a man give? in exchange
for his soul. Nothing, nothing can be compared
to the glory which shall be revealed in and to the children of God
in that world to come. To dwell in the house of the
Lord forever is to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire
or be taught in his temple. And what could be compared to
that? It begins here. Here upon this earth, this is
our joy. This one thing have I desired
of the Lord. Well, what is it, David? I have
desired as long as I live to dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life. Now that begins here. As the
believer comes to know the Lord Jesus Christ, as God makes Himself
known to us in His Son, and we're brought to faith in Christ Jesus
our Lord, we begin then to dwell in the house of the Lord. And
we dwell in the house of the Lord continually. Now what David
is praying for is what we desire. That is constant communion with
His Lord. Oh, that I may ever dwell in
His presence. I hear people, preachers talk
about They kind of belittle folks saying we now come into the presence
of God or we want to walk in the presence of God. They say,
well, God's everywhere. Oh, we know that. We know that.
But, you know, I want His presence. I want to know Him here tonight.
I want to know His presence and walk in His presence and live
in His presence with a conscious awareness of precious communion
with the Son of God. This is one thing if I desire.
This is our joy, to dwell in the house of the Lord. God give
me grace that I may do so while I live on this earth. Not only
that, but it is that we may behold the beauty of the Lord. It's
that faith he's talking about, Earl. Faith beholds him. Faith
beholds him. We behold the beauty of the Lord
by faith, that one whom we have not seen, yet we love him. We
love him because we believe him. We see him and we behold him
day by day, looking to Christ. There's one thing I've desired
that I may inquire in his temple. Oh, Lord God, be my teacher.
Give me divine instruction that applies so widely as I open the
word This precious book is only open to my heart as it
is open by the Spirit of God. It's only open to my heart as
my heart is open to it by the Spirit of God. And so as I look
in the Word and I want to know the meaning of the text, I want
to know what God says in that text and what that text says
for this hour to you, His people. I must have the aid, I must have
the direction, the teaching of God, the Holy Spirit. He must
illuminate my mind and illuminate the Word to my mind so that I
can comprehend divine truth. But that extends to every area
of life. Lord, give me wisdom to handle this situation right.
I don't know what to do. I don't know how to walk. I don't
know what step to take. I don't know what direction to
take. Lord, direct my steps. Here I am. I'm shut up to you.
Direct my step. Lord, guide me. Guide me. Shut me up to the path that's
honoring to you. Shut me up to the path that's
according to your will. Shut me up to the path that brings
honor to Christ. Not only is this our joy upon
the earth, but this shall be our glory in heaven. in that
world to come, we shall see the Lord, our Redeemer, face to face. I was flying home Saturday. I
had the providential experience. It was just providence that arranged
flying side by side with a Salvation Army preacher. And you have never
heard ignorance until you heard a Salvation Army preacher talk
about the Bible and God. But this young fellow, he's about
25 years old, and the plane began to do this, you know, hitting
those air pockets, I guess what it is, because it flies so rough,
got all tense. He said, Hope they get me off
of this. You ever been on one this rough?"
I said, it gets rougher than this. Just hang on, buddy. He said,
oh my, I don't know if I can make it or not. He said, it'd
be good to go to heaven, but I ain't ready yet. Well, why
not? Why, do you think you're going
to make yourself ready? Oh, I'm anxious to see his face.
And I'm honest with you, I don't have fear of seeing his face.
I'm not afraid of God, my Savior. I'm anxious to see His face.
I don't have any fear of seeing Him because He's all my righteousness
and all my redemption and all my hope. And I'm anxious to see
His face. And this we shall see. We shall
see Him as He is. I think really, Lindsay, we've
never seen Him yet as He is. We've never seen him yet as he
is. We see through a glass darkly and we see his divinity and we
see his manhood and we talk about his divinity and manhood in kind
of misty terms because we don't really understand it. And we
talk about his incarnation and his virgin birth and his glorious
substitutionary work. We talk about it and see those
things clearly insofar as the doctrine's concerned. But oh,
to see him as he is in all his in all his glory, in all his
beauty. We shall dwell in his house and
be accepted of him. For when we see him, we shall
be like him, just like he is. Whatever that is, just like him.
Whatever that includes, just like him. We shall be like Him,
for we shall see Him as He is. And being accepted of Him, we
shall be taught of God. For then shall we know even as
we are known. And being taught of God, we shall
be with Christ forever and ever and ever. Forever with the Lord. Now, realizing the importance
of eternity and the glory of heaven to some degree, I've set
my heart to seek after it. Spurgeon said, we pine for our
father's house above, the home of our souls. If we may dwell
there forever, we care but little for the goods or ills of this
life. This is what I'm saying. Set
your heart upon Christ alone. Seek the kingdom of Christ and
the glory of Christ. Leave the cares of this life
the cares of your own life in this world in the hands of Christ
Can you do that? Leave the cares of your life
in the hands of your Savior Leave the cares of life in this world
in the hands of Him who rules the world. Leave the cares of
the day in the hand of Him who made the day. Leave the cares
of the night in the hand of Him who rules the night. Leave the
cares of the storm in the hand of Him who calms the storm. Leave
your cares in His hands and seek Him only. Seek Him only. Seek
none but Christ. I desire this one thing from
the Lord, that I may dwell with Christ and have Christ eternally. God grant me this. And I neither
want nor ask for more that I may have Christ. That's all. That's
all. Now turn over to Luke 10. Luke
chapter 10. You're familiar with this story
in verse 42. Martha and Mary were entertaining
the Lord Jesus in their home. And Martha goes about busily
preparing for the meal. She's going to entertain the
Son of God. But Mary sat at Jesus' feet and heard his words, and
Martha got upset. And she said to the Lord Jesus,
said, don't you care that Mary's left me to serve alone? And the
Lord Jesus gently chided her, and I say gently, far more gently
than most preachers and commentators have chided her. He chided her
very gently. He said, one thing is needful,
and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken
away from her. You see, though we seek and desire
eternal life in Christ, I realize that we do live in a world of
much care and trouble. And I realize that we must not
neglect our earthly responsibilities. I know those things. I recognize
those things. Yet, even in this world, in the
midst of all our cares, in the midst of all our responsibilities,
in the midst of all the pressures of life, one thing is needful. One thing. I'm a husband. I'm
a father. I'm a pastor. I'm a citizen. One thing is needful. One thing.
I'm a man living in this world, in this free country. One thing
is needful. One thing. I'm a man with a relative
degree of health. One thing is needful. I'm a man
with a good bit of sickness. One thing is needful. One thing.
You see, in this story here, Martha and Mary were both believers. Both loved Christ. And both were
loved by Christ. The difference was just this.
Martha, the weaker sister, was careful about many things, while
Mary, the wiser sister, was careful about one thing. Martha was careful
and troubled about many, many things. Those things that got
her care and attention, considered in themselves, were good and
useful things. Now she was doing something good.
She was preparing a meal for the Son of God. That's a pretty
good thing to do. But her diligent service had
kept her from the one thing that was needful. So Martha was gently
rebuked by her loving Lord. And Martha stands as a beacon
to you and I, warning us continually if we care for our souls, if
we desire to grow in grace, if we desire to enjoy fellowship
and communion with Christ, we must ever beware of the cares
of this world. Oh, the care. Care. Till I came to Danville, I had
never seen a wild sweet potato vine in my life. Never seen one. I don't know that I ever even
heard tell of one. They may have them in West Virginia, Earl,
but I never saw one there. Well, we came out here and planted
a little corn. First year down here, raised the garden. Got
the corn up five, six, seven inches high, and we were gone
for a couple of weeks. And man, that sweet potato vine
that wasn't even there, we came back, it had wrapped itself around
that corn and choked the life out of it. Just a tiny little,
tiny little vine. Who would imagine? Who would
imagine it'd take a healthy stalk of corn and choke the life out
of it? Gradually, little by little,
it entwined that corn. And the corn was gone. I'm telling
you, Beware of the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of
riches. It will choke out the word. It will choke out the word. Beware of these things. If you love life, you must learn
to hold the things of this world with a loose hand. Beware of
allowing anything or anyone to claim your heart's attention
except Christ. Mentally write poison over everything
you can see and everything you can touch. Because you give it
too much care, too much attention, it'll poison your soul. It'll
do it. J.C. Ryle made this observation. He said a little earth on the
fire will soon make the fire burn low. That's clever but wise. Just a little earth. Sprinkle
on the fire, the fire soon burns very low. The many things for
which men and women are constantly laboring are not necessities.
The grace of God in Christ that brings salvation, that alone
is the one thing needful. Christ alone is needful. Christ
alone is the necessity of life. People tell me all the time.
excuse their unbelief, excuse their disobedience, excuse their
neglect, excuse their irresponsibility. They say, well, Don, you know,
we must live in this world. Oh, no, I beg to differ. The
only thing I have to do in this world is die. That's all I've
got to do here. Christ is the one thing that's
necessary. He's the one thing needful. Many. Many can never see that you can't
hold Christ while holding the world. You can't do it. You got to let go of this world
if you take hold of Christ. You got to let go of the cares
of this world if you take hold of Christ. But Mary, unlike Martha,
she preferred that one thing needful to all other things.
We read in our text that Mary sat at Jesus' feet and heard
his words. And the Lord said, Mary hath
chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her. What
was the one thing needful, the one thing that Mary chose and
Martha neglected? What was that good part? Mary
chose to sit at Jesus' feet and hear His words. She chose that
which was beneficial for her soul. She sought more grace,
a nearer and closer communion with Christ. Mary wanted to know
more of Christ and learn of Him. This is that good part which
she preferred, that which she preferred to everything else.
For this one thing, Mary was willing to lay aside all earthly
care, all earthly concerns, no matter what the cost, no matter
how much ridicule and scorn she has to take, she's willing to
lay aside everything that she may simply sit down at his feet
and hear his words. I want to tell you something. The only person in this world
who can understand that, really, the only one who understands
it, is somebody who's willing to lay everything aside, sit
down at his feet, and hear his words. That's the only person
who can really understand it. Those who seek Mary's part shall
never be disappointed. Their treasure shall never be
taken away from them. Mary chose to sit at his feet. This is the blessed posture of
heart that I desire. This is the one thing needful
to set at our Savior's feet. Oh, let me ever be at His feet. His feet, that's the place of
mercy and grace. His feet, that's the posture
of a broken, repentant heart. His feet, that's the posture
of submission and total surrender. His feet, that's the posture
of faith. Sitting at His feet, I'm doing
nothing for myself. Sitting at His feet, I'm waiting
on Him alone. Sitting at His feet, I'm bowing
only to Him. Sitting at His feet is the posture
of worship, and that's the posture of usefulness. You find me somebody? who's willing to sit at his feet. Just to sit at his feet. Willing
to sit down and listen and learn. Willing to sit and take time
to hear from Christ and worship Christ. I'm going to show you
somebody useful in the kingdom of God in the day in which we
live. This is the place of usefulness. This is the posture of love and
devotion. I ask my heart, are you taken
up with the many cares of this world? Or are you taken up and
consumed by one thing? To know Christ, to worship Christ,
to sit at his feet and hear his words. Oh Lord, now fix this
roving heart on Mary's better chosen part. Now turn over to
John 9, John chapter 9. Our Lord had healed a man who
was born blind, a poor beggar. And the Pharisees were about
to put him out of the synagogue and they wanted to examine him
and prove that Jesus was some kind of a great sinner. And so
they said, don't you know that this man is a sinner? And the
man who was born blind said in verse 25, he answered and said,
whether he'd be a sinner or no, I know not. One thing I know. One thing I know, that whereas
I was blind, now I see. Now one thing I know, I'm like
this poor blind man. Once I was blind. I was blind
to my own condition, blind to the goodness and the glory of
God, blind to the way of life, blind to Jesus Christ. But one
day the Lord Jesus passed by and this blind man was made to
see by a miracle of his free grace. I don't know much. But this one thing I know, that
whereas I was blind, now I see. And I can tell you what I see.
I can tell you what I've experienced. I can tell you what God has done
for me in my heart that I've experienced of his grace. Today,
because God has made himself known to me in Christ, because
Christ has been revealed in my heart, now I see the depravity
and the corruption of my own heart. Now that's not pleasant, not
easy to deal with, not easy to face. It's not too hard to face
up to the deeds of your hands. If you're a murderer, there's
not much way you can get around it. If you're a thief, there's
not much way you can get around it. If you're a liar, there's
not much way you can get around it. If you're an adulterer, there's
not much way you can get around it. The only way you can get
around it is lying to somebody else. But in yourself, you know
what you are. But you always excuse those things. You know,
if I'm a murderer, it's because my daddy smacked me when I was
a baby, and I've had it in my heart ever since then. Or if
I'm a thief, it's because one of the neighbor boys took my
candy on Halloween night. Or if I'm a liar, it's because
somebody had some horrible, horrendous experience with me when I was
a child, you know, and somebody maybe came along and told me
that Santa Claus was real, and I believed them, and it made
me a liar. with modern philosophy and psychology, get you out of
the way. But you come along and start
dealing with what you are in your heart. It's all right to talk about
total depravity. That's a fine point of systematic
theology, but it's something else to see that your heart is a polluted
cesspool of iniquity. To see that in your heart, by
nature, you're a guilty, depraved and helpless sinner, that your
heart's the fountain of all evil in this world. It's amazing to me that I can
be such a haughty, proud man and stand here and tell you that
and know that it's so. This heart, this heart, this
one right here, beats iniquity and nothing but iniquity. This
heart is a polluted cesspool sin. He said, what are you talking
about? Any sin you can imagine, it's
here. And not only that, it's right
there too. Right there and right there.
That's what our hearts are. Sin is mixed with everything
we do so that the very best performances of our hands, like the leper
touching something defiles it. The very best performance of
our hands is but a defiled corruption. I have no power in myself to
overcome my sin. This heart's deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked. A black man can sooner make himself
white or a leopard do away with his spots than I could cease
to do evil. If I had what I justly deserve
from God, hell would be my eternal portion. And I know that. I also see now that God Almighty
is holy, righteous and just. so holy that he will not forgive
sin, so holy that he will not pardon iniquity, so holy that
he will not weep in transgression, so holy that he demands perfection. He's perfect and demands perfect.
He's holy and demands holy. He will not allow anything less
than perfection to exist in his presence. I see that God's holy,
so holy that it's clear and plain as it can possibly be that nothing
I do can appease His wrath. Nothing I do can please Him. Nothing I do can turn away His
anger. Nothing I do can win His favor. Nothing I can do can cause God
somehow or another to get in the notion of being sympathetic
with me. God Almighty is totally, perfectly,
wholly righteous and just. I see that when I see His Son
hanging on the cursed tree. For you see, when Christ Jesus
hung upon that tree and God's own beloved Son was made to be
sin, God killed Him, Earl. God showed Him no pity. God showed
Him no favor, no kindness, no smile. Nothing of God's favor
was upon Him. God turned His back on His Son
because God's holy and His Son was made to be sin. But now,
See how that this Holy God can be just and yet justify this
wretched ungodly sinner Who believes on Christ? Turn over to Romans
3. Let me show you that just turn
there and look at it again This is familiar territory, but I
want you to look at it How can God be just and justify the guilty? How can God both punish the sinner
and let the sinner go free? How can God both be just and
gracious? How can he be true and merciful?
Here it is, Romans 3 and verse 24. We're justified freely by
God's grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus, whom
God has sent forth to be a propitiation. That is, the one whom God set
forth to be a sin-atoning sacrifice, to be a mercy seat propitiation,
to be an appeasement for wrath and justice, that one whom God
has set forth to appease His wrath through faith in His blood,
to declare God's righteousness for the remission of sins that
are passed through the forbearance of God. Only one way whereby
God could be just and justify this sinner. And that is he takes
his own beloved son and makes him to be my substitute. So that
Bob, when Jesus Christ hung on that tree, he hung on that tree
in your place bearing your sin, bearing your penalty, bearing
your wrath. And now God Almighty has punished
him in your stead. And he imputes the very righteousness
of Christ to you so that you're made the righteousness of God
in him. And in this way, God is just and the justifier. He said, well, how do you know
He did that for me? Do you believe? Can you trust Him, Bob? Can you
rest your soul on Him? Can you hang your helpless soul's
eternal destiny on Christ alone? Yes, sir. That's called believing.
That's called faith in Christ. And we believe according to the
working of His mighty power. Believing Him, we recognize that
He died for me. His blood is mine. His righteousness
is mine. His grace is mine. And now I
see how that God saves sinners entirely by his grace without
any works of their own. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
lived in righteousness, died in shame, and rose in triumph
over death, hell, and the grave as our substitute, God pours
out his grace upon those very people for whom Christ is the
substitute. And he saves them every one by
the almighty operation of his spirit. He gives life to the
dead. He gives sight to the blind.
He gives faith to embrace Christ, grace to preserve us in Christ.
He gives us Christ himself. God does that without any works
of our own. One last thing, over in Philippians
3, let me show you this and I'll wrap this up. Philippians chapter
3, verse 13. The Apostle Paul is writing,
he says, Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but
this one thing I do, this one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which
are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus. Now in these past 20, 21, nearly
22 years, God has been abundantly gracious
to me. I have seen much and experienced
much, and I'm truly thankful. But I dare not live upon past
experience, trust past grace, or rest in past privilege. I
must forget those things which are behind and persevere in the
faith of the gospel. You see, it is not the man who
begins the race who wins the prize, but the man who finishes
the race. Earl and I were talking about
this just a little bit this afternoon. You understand the doctrine of
imputed righteousness, don't you? We're made righteous by
Christ alone. Our only righteousness is the
righteousness God imputed to us and imparted to us through
Jesus Christ our Lord. That's clear enough, isn't it? Man is not saved by anything
he does. But I want to tell you something.
That man who has the righteousness of Christ imputed to him and
imparted to him walks before God in faith, persevering in
the way of life and faith and truth. So you think perseverance
is essential? There's not a thing about it.
The Lord says so. He that endureth to the end,
the same shall be saved. If a man puts his hand to the
plow and looks back, he's not fit for the kingdom of God. You're
partakers of Jesus Christ if you hold fast that which was
committed unto you. We read in the scriptures continual
warnings concerning this thing of perseverance. There was a
man named Demas. Used to travel with Paul everywhere
he went. Traveled with him, preached with him. Demas carried letters
from Paul to this man and Paul to that church and Paul to this
fellow. Demas was with him. I've had a Demas or two. Paul loved that man. He loved
him. He loved him. But he finally
had to write to Timothy and say, Demas hath forsaken me, having
loved this present world. There was a man by the name of
Ananias and Sapphira. Oh boy, they began well. A rich
man, wealthy man. He heard the gospel and he saw
what the disciples were doing. He said, well, these fellows
are selling everything and giving it to the church so that God's
people can live as one. He said to his wife, Sapphira,
let's sell everything we got. We got a little more than they
think we do. We'll keep having it. Nobody told him to sell anything.
Nobody told him to give anything. But he wanted to make a show.
And he wanted to keep for himself. And Zananias was slain of God. There was a fellow by the name
of Lot who left Sodom with his wife. She had the same privileges
Lot had. She heard the same things Lot
heard. And she left Sodom just like Lot left Sodom. The angel
drug them both out. But Lot's wife turned and looked
back. And our Lord said, remember Lot's
wife. Now I want to help you in this
thing of persevering grace if I can. Let me make four statements
and I'll let you go home. Number one, let's get a proper view of our
present condition before God. I count not myself to have apprehended. The race isn't over yet. You see, our righteousnesses
are still just filthy rags. I've done the best I could do
to prepare a sermon preach to you tonight for the good of your
soul and the glory of Christ. And what's written here and what's
spoken here in the sight of God is just filthy rags. Just filthy rags. Our goodness. My wife prepared a delicious
meal for myself and my daughter and our guests. Good work. Good deed. You make the bed,
turn it back for them, make the room comfortable, make the house
comfortable. It's just evil. That's all. Evil. No good in
it in the sight of God on his own marriage. Our knowledge is
still ignorance. Our strength is still weakness.
Our good works are still sin, our flesh is still flesh. We ought never to entertain a
proud thought. We like to think we're somebody.
I'll tell you what we are, we're worms. And if you won't be proud
of being a worm because you glow in the dark away, we're just
worms. And worms got nothing to be proud
of. One of the old writers said, I am nothing. I have nothing. I can do nothing. I am good for
nothing. And if I come to nothing, nothing
will be lost. So first, get a proper view of
your own condition right now before God. And then secondly,
we must never trust any past experience. any past knowledge
or any past grace. This is so very important. We must not look back. We must
not place confidence in the flesh. I trust nothing I've experienced,
nothing I've seen, nothing I've learned, nothing I've done, and
nothing I have felt for my acceptance with God. Nothing. So you haven't experienced what
I've experienced. I expect I might have. I might have. I had a radical change of life
nearly 22 years ago. A radical change of life. A change of life that is such
that anyone who knew me beforehand and after will tell you it's
an unexplainable radical change of life. Now that's sufficient. I don't have to go into detail.
A radical change of life. A change of company, a change
of habit, a change of talk, a change of walk, a change of life. A
radical change, a totally radical change. I felt things I had never felt
before, saw things I had never seen before, experienced things
I had never experienced before. I forget that. I forget it. That's behind. That's no good. It's no good. I base nothing
on that change, nothing on that experience, nothing on the knowledge,
nothing on anything felt. Based nothing on it, nothing
at all. So don't you look back there and say, well, the Lord
was there. I hope he was there, but I don't base a thing on it.
Nothing. Nothing. But what's your hope? Christ.
That's all. Right now. Right now. Somebody
says, well, I'll take you to the time and I'll take you to
the place and show you where the Lord saved me by his grace.
Oh, I'm not so much concerned about that. Neither the time
nor the place. I'm interested in right now.
Right now. I trust Jesus Christ alone. That's all. That's all. Forget
those things which are behind. John Gill on his deathbed wrote
to his nephew and he said, I depend upon nothing
in me or done by me, not upon any works of mine performed by
the will of God for the glory of Christ and the gracious assistance
of his spirit. not upon anything done by me
for the good of his church and kingdom and the furtherance of
the gospel. I depend on nothing for my acceptance
with God but Jesus Christ alone." Now that's it. That's it. Say,
well, he was a great man of God. Look what he did. He is a great
man of God who trusts Jesus Christ alone. I don't care who he is
or where he is. He is a great woman of God or
she is a great woman of God who trusts Jesus Christ alone. Trust him and him alone. That's
what makes men stand out before God. That's what makes men and
women accepted with God. Faith in Christ Jesus. Thirdly,
we must continue to seek those things which are set before us.
reaching forth unto those things which are before. There are some
things set before me which I seek. I haven't yet attained them,
but I'm seeking them. I'm seeking that I may know Him.
Oh, I want to know Him. Great God, my Savior, I want
to know Him. I want to know him who loved
me and gave himself for me. I want to know him and the power
of his resurrection, that is the power of life. I want to
know him and the fellowship of his suffering so that I can in
some measure, to some degree, enter into the reality of that
which he has suffered for me and that which he has accomplished
for me by his sufferings. And I want to know him being
made conformable unto his faith. I got to thinking about that
this morning. I wonder just what that means.
I think God gave him something. I think he did. He died by a voluntary,
willful, deliberate submission to the will of God. This commandment
have I received of my father. Lo, I come to do thy will, O
my God. Oh God, make me conformable to
his death, so that I live in this world by a willing, voluntary,
deliberate submission to the will of God. I'm seeking to be found in Christ,
not having my own righteousness, which is of the law. I don't
want that. I don't want that. give me anything but that, not
my own righteousness. I don't want anything to do with
my own righteousness. I, I disown it. I disclaim it. I have none, not having my own
righteousness, but the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ, our Lord. And I'm seeking to be like Christ. like him in this world. Harold Allen, I want to be like
Christ. Now. Right now. So, Pastor, that's impossible.
To attain it's impossible, to seek it's not. To attain it's impossible, to
want it's not. To attain it's impossible, to
strive after it's not. I want to be like Him. Don't
you? I want to be like Him. In every
relation of life, like Christ. One of these days, by the grace
of God, I shall be satisfied when I awaken His likeness. But fourthly, put forth every
effort, expend every energy to reach that which you desire.
I press toward the mark. The mark, the goal, the prize
for which we labor is Christ himself. Until we have him, until
we are with him, until we are like him, we can give ourselves
no rest. Lord God, graciously compel us.
compel us, force us, compel me and force me to be obsessed with
one thing, Jesus Christ our Lord. I told you the story sometime
back about an old man who had faithfully served Christ
as a missionary on a remote island He buried his wife and his three
sons on that island. Finally, when his body was just
worn out and he couldn't endure the hardships of pioneer missionary
life any longer, he came home. Sometime after he returned home,
he made this statement. I believe it expresses what I'm
trying to say in this message. If I had my life to live over
again, I would walk the same path, trust the same Savior,
weep the same tears, visit the same graves, and preach the same
gospel. For all that I've lost on earth
is gained in glory." He was a man possessed by one thing, a man
obsessed with one thing, and that one thing Jesus Christ the
Lord. I wonder if that's reasonable. I beseech you, therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. which is your reasonable service.
Amen.