The Demanding Christ

I want to thank you tonight for
this invitation that I've received to come and to be with you all,
and it has been a joy to be in your fellowship. I've appreciated
greatly the messages that I've heard and feel mighty inferior
getting up here to preach after having heard the brethren preach
the last night and then this evening. I don't feel that I'm
worthy to read the scriptures for you brethren. greatly moved
and affected by your messages. I'd like for you to turn tonight
in your Bibles to the 19th chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke. The
19th chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke, and I'd like to begin
reading with verse 11 and read to verse 27. Luke 19. And as they heard these things,
he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem,
and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately
appear. He said, therefore, a certain
noble man went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom,
and to return. And he called his ten servants,
and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till
I come. But his citizens hated him, and
sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to
reign over us. And it came to pass, when he
was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded
these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the
money, that he might know how much every man had gained by
trading. Then came the first saying, Lord,
thy pound hath gained ten pounds. And he said unto him, Well thou
good servant, because thou hast been faithful in very little,
have thou authority over ten cities. And the second came saying,
Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. And he said likewise
to him, Be thou also over five cities. And another came saying,
Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in
a napkin. For I feared thee, because thou
art an austere man, thou takest up, thou layest not down, and
reapest that thou didst not sow. And he saith unto him, Out of
thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou
knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not
down, and reaping that I did not sow. Wherefore then gavest
not thou my money into the bank that at my coming I might have
required mine own with usury. And he said unto them that stood
by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath
ten pounds. And they said unto him, Lord,
he hath ten pounds. For I say unto you that unto
every one which hath shall be given, and from him that hath
not, even that he hath, shall be taken from him. But those
mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them,
bring hither, and slay them before me. Let me read that 27th verse
again. But those mine enemies, which
would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and
slay them before me. I want to speak tonight, if the
Lord will permit me to, on the demanding Christ. The demanding
Christ. Now, beloved, I certainly believe
what's being preached here, and I certainly believe that God
is going to have all of his people. I do not believe that there will
be one vacant spot in glory. I believe that all of God's living
family are going to make it home to glory. I believe that. But
I certainly do not believe that Every professor of religion is
going to be there. I don't even believe that every
Calvinist is going to be there. I don't believe that every member
of the New Covenant Baptist Church in Great Falls, Montana is going
to be there. And I don't want to offend anybody, but I don't
really believe that every member of the Sovereign Grace Baptist
Church, Tyler, Texas, is going to be there either. Now, some
of the things that I have to say tonight, I just wish that
you'd hear me out. Just hear me out. I'm not trying
to be mean, and I'm not trying to be argumentative, and don't
hold this church responsible for what I have to say. Now there's only one of two things
that any person must do when they're faced with a sovereign.
They either declare war or they fall at his feet in submission
to him. Now, beloved, we're faced today
with the awesome reality of the fact that we are living in a
revolting Christendom, a religious world that is absolutely at war
with God. Now, you either declare war, I said,
with this sovereign or you fall at his feet in submission. Now, in preaching on the demanding
Christ, I know or feel that probably no one here will get angry or
mad because I preach what Jesus Christ preached. You can't do
that, can you, if you're a Christian? You can't do that. The door of
glory is shut to every rebel. It's closed to every rebel. And
you must keep in mind, dear soul, that God is not going to give
you a new heart when you get to glory. He's not going to do
that. You're not going to heaven if you don't have a new heart
down here. If you ever get one, you've got
to get it between the cradle and the grave. You're not going
to get it when you leave this world. Now, I don't know of a
more out of place situation that could possibly exist than a contemporary
religionist dying and going to heaven, can you? He'd be out
of place there. He'd be miserable. Now in the
doctrine of salvation, we often reflect on how Christ became
like us. But let it known, let it be known,
we also must become like him. We must. It's a glorious truth
that God manifest in the flesh came down here, known as the
God-man. And everybody that his transforming
grace reaches, that grace transforms them into godly men also. Not into the God-man, but into
godly men. Now, beloved, I'm tired of a
religious atmosphere. in our day where men and women
and boys and girls are protected in their rebellion against God
and at the same time are assured that they're going to glory.
I'm sick and tired of that, and it's high time that somebody
stood up and said, let's put a halt to this and see what the
Scriptures have to say, see what the Word of God has to say. Now,
not only is Christ mine, but I'm His. Now you don't have the
one without the other. You just can't have the one without
the other. Now we talk about how glorious it is to be saved
and to be in Christ. But somehow or other we misunderstand,
we do not understand that this means that He has claims on us. That He has a claim on us. That
He owns us. Does Christ today have any claims
on you? Do you feel that He has any claim
on you? Now I contend that every Christian
is under the totalitarian claims of a sovereign Christ. Totally
so. Totally so. Now this thing of
God keep your hands off is rebellion. And there's a lot of professors
today and maybe even some here that's put up a sign saying no
trespassing to God and said now you please keep out. Don't put
your foot on this area of my life. You keep your hands off
of this area of my life. Now you just need, I believe,
to be broken and to be saved. That's what you need. Now Christ
makes certain demands, and all of my saved life, I've been in
a Baptist church, I've been a Baptist, and well, I may be, there may
be times when I'm proud of that, and then other times I'm not
so proud. But there's a question that comes to me, And that is,
are our churches, the churches that we preach in, and the churches
that we're members of, are we producing any Christians? Any Christians? Now, people say,
I'll make a profession if God will let me do what I want to
do. And I'm here to tell you tonight that there's a whole
lot of Baptist churches, and probably some here in Tyler,
Texas even, where the preacher will assure people that if they
make a profession, that everything's okay, that everything will be
alright, and they can do whatever they please. All they need to
do is make a profession. Now, this comes out in people's
lives when they get into trouble, and they bring their problems
to us, and we assume that they're Christians, we assume that they're
people of God, and we show them what the Bible has to say about
their situation. We show them what the Bible says
about their problem, and they say, well, that's difficult,
isn't it? They say, well, I can't do that. I won't do that. I'm
not able at this time to do that. I can't take God's way in this
situation. I'm not able at this time to
do that. Now, beloved, Christianity is
difficult. It is difficult. If you don't
believe that on the flesh that there's some hard things in this
Bible, it's because you don't have any light. And if you had
some light, you'd know that there's some hard things, brother, sister,
in this Bible. Now this may sound peculiar,
coming from a preacher of the gospel. But as far as this flesh
of mine is concerned, I could wish that some of the things
that are in the Bible were not there. That's right. But as a
Christian, I'm glad that they're there, because I know they're
right. I know they're right. Now I'll
not ever try to talk you or anybody else into making a profession.
You must surrender to God. Nothing short of that is salvation. Nothing short of that is Christianity. Now this means that you do what
God tells you to do, and you don't argue with Him. Yet you
bow down, sinner, is what it means, that you bow down to His
claims, that you bow down to His Lordship. Now, Christ didn't
separate salvation and discipleship. Now, the theologians do, and
the theologians won't agree when I say that Christ didn't separate
salvation and discipleship. Now, we've done the greatest
damage to Christianity Christianity that can be performed the moment
that we separate salvation from discipleship. The moment we separate
salvation from sanctification, we've done great damage. Beloved,
and I believe that Baptists are to blame. for the charismatic
movement, and I believe that Baptists are to blame for the
higher life movement, that Baptists are to blame for the super-spiritual
idea. I believe we're to blame for
that, and if we'd never separated salvation from discipleship and
salvation from sanctification, then I believe a whole lot of
this could have been avoided. Now, beloved, you can differentiate
between the two, but bless God, you cannot separate them. You
cannot separate them. Now, the rich young ruler It
had gladly taken Jesus as his personal Savior, but Jesus, knowing
the idol of his heart, he put his finger on the idol of his
heart and said, you sell all you have and give it to the poor. And the Bible says that he went
away sorrowful. What is your point of rebellion?
What is it? Now, beloved, what we need to
find out today Is this all-transforming, this all-powerful, this efficacious,
this flesh-killing, this flesh-denying grace, has it reached my heart? That's what I need to find out. Has it reached my heart? Now,
beloved, it's wonderful to get together and congratulate each
other on the truths of God's grace and to praise the Lord
for our position in Christ. It's wonderful. But, beloved,
I'm afraid that there are many in our midst that have not had
the saving experience that our brother talked about tonight.
And they're religious folks, I mean, and they're singing the
hymns. And they're attending our services. But has the all-transforming,
this flesh-killing and flesh-denying grace, has it reached our hearts? That's the question that I'm
sitting here tonight to ask you. Has it reached your heart? Now
the issue of our day is not booze, and it's not bobbed hair and
bossy women and women preachers either. That's not the issue
of our day. The issue of our day, if I understand
at least one of the issues of our day, is do we have any Christians
left? Do we have any? Now I'm not trying
to be smart. But do we have any Christians
left is an issue that I think we need to address. Now if we
had some Christians today, you don't have to whip Christians.
Now we're trying, and I've come to the conclusion, to get people
to do what they don't want to do. And we're trying to get them
to do it. Now listen to me. Now that's
not what the Bible is written about. The Bible is written to
instruct people who want to know what God wants them to do and
to follow. Am I telling you the truth? That's
to whom the Bible is written. Now you can't take an old rebel
and get him to do what God wants him to do. I used to try it and
I wondered what was wrong. Now I know what's wrong. He's
dead in sin. He's lost. That's the problem.
And I'll tell you what, beloved, You got a whole lot of situations
in Baptist churches, and you wonder, and you try to have a
business meeting, and you try to get something done. And my
soul, the rebellion. Old Ralph Barnard said, if you
lit a match in most Baptist churches, it'd blow the building apart.
The rebellion that's there in the church. You got more harmony
down at the tavern than what you got in the Baptist church,
the average Baptist church. And the reason is because you're
trying to get folks to do that which they don't want to do.
Because their natures are contrary to God and they hate God. And
they're his enemies and they send a message after him. We
will not have this man to reign over us. We're not interested
in God telling us anything. God showing us anything. Now
I believe it's necessary for me and you to find out of this
thing that I'm trying to give an introduction here to you tonight
Is it right or wrong? Is it superfluous or is it vital? Is it necessary or unnecessary? Does Christ really demand something
out of us? Does he really demand something?
Paul says, I die daily. And this is what you and I are
going to have to do if we're going to walk with God and if
we're going to live the Christian life. Now, the Bible warns us
not to turn the grace of God into licentiousness, but on every
hand we see it being done. And who's doing it? Well, it's
not the rebel out here in the street. It's the rebel in the
pew. It's the rebel in the church.
It's the professing religious. That's who's doing it. Now, We
invent good names for people who are fighting God. And you
don't go to heaven fighting God. No, you don't. Well, I guess
what I'm trying to say here in my introductory remarks is that
Christ is too holy to suit the natural man. He's too holy. And his claims are too lofty
to fit in with the carnal man. I believe that sooner or later
that God's going to bring, now I want you to hear me, sooner
I got no reputation to uphold. I want you to know that. I want
to tell you something, I believe that the Lord would have me to
tell you that I believe that sooner or later that God will
bring every professor of religion to the place where they'll either
deny Christ or where they'll take up their cross and follow
Him. He has a way of showing you what
you really are, professor. He has a way. He's going to bring
you to the crossroads. No man can call Jesus Lord but
by the Spirit. And don't you think for a minute
that your flesh can become a Christian. It cannot and it won't. His claims
are too hard for you in the flesh, and you will never live up to
His claims in the flesh. And I'm here tonight to try to
show you that. I contend that the demands of Jesus Christ are
so great that nobody outside of Christ can live up to these
demands. I'm here to tell you that. You're
outside of Christ if you're not in union with Him. You cannot
live up to His claims and His demands. And don't make any difference,
you go through the motions, and you go on if you want to until
the day God calls you out of this world. But if you're not
in union with the God-man Jesus Christ, and if His power and
if His ability does not flow into your soul, You will not
be able to do that which he demands that you do. And sooner or later
it's going to be out. It's coming out. There's going
to be something happen that's going to bring it out in your
life. That you're just a professor and not a real possessor of this
experience that our brother talked about tonight. Now, it's not
contrary to the grace of God to say that Christ actually demands
something. No, it isn't. And I don't want
anyone to think I'm not a grace preacher. Bless God, I've had
more trouble in my life because of preaching the grace of God
than a whole lot of Baptist preachers have. And I believe in the grace
of God, but it's not contrary to God's grace to preach what
I'm preaching here tonight. Now, then I want to give you
some of the demands of Christ in the time that I've got left
here tonight, and I trust that these things will be helpful
to you and that God will use them in your heart. Number one,
I'd like to say that Christ demands that you know Him. He demands
that you know Him. Now, I didn't ask you if you
knew the Baptist name. And I didn't ask you if you knew
the Philadelphia Convection of Faith. And I didn't ask you if
you knew Spurgeon's Catechism. I asked you if you were personally
acquainted with the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know Him? The
Bible is clear that you must be personally acquainted with
the Son of God. Jeremiah 24 and 7 says, And I'll
give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord, and they
shall be my people, and I will be their God. John 17 and 3 says,
And this is life eternal, that they might K-N-O-W thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Now I take
this to mean that anything outside of this is not eternal life. Now in Jeremiah 31 and 34, for
they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest
of them, saith the Lord. Now there's one thing about it.
If you say Christ is a stranger to me, preacher, I tell you that
you are a stranger to the salvation of the Lord. You're a stranger
because there is no such thing as a man or a woman or a boy
or a girl having salvation unless they know the Lord, unless they're
intimately acquainted with Him and unless they know Him. Now,
beloved, the Lord Jesus said in John 10 and 14, I am the good
shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine. Mine know me. They know me. Now, He demands
that you know Him. Now, beloved, this is a must.
If you miss everything else, you dare not miss this. You must
be personally, vitally acquainted with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
the second thing I'll give you is this. Christ demands repentance. The Lord Jesus said in Luke 13
verses 3 and 5, except you repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Now I know that the Lord Jesus
Christ is seated in glory to give repentance unto his own.
But the question is, have you and I been given repentance? Now, you can ask yourself the
question as I talk to you a little bit about it. Now, repentance
is not for a day. It's not for a day. Now, people
walk the aisles in Baptist churches today, and then you never see
them again, and as old Barnard said, they say goodbye, hope
to see you again in heaven if you make it. That's what they
say. Now, beloved, I want you to understand
something. Repentance is something that
we never get through doing in this world. It's a change. It's a radical change. It's the
most radical change that you will ever go through in your
life. Now, listen to me. It's not temporary.
It's a lifelong turning from the mind of the flesh to the
mind of God. That's what repentance is. The
scripture says that godly sorrow leads us to repentance. And if
you have godly sorrow, you don't get over that. very quick. You
don't get over that, my brother, very soon, don't you see? Now,
then as we think further about this, if God has given you repentance,
then you'll not deny that repentance. And it will continue until the
day of your death. It'll continue with you. And
you won't change back and start loving sin, and loving self,
and hating God either. You never will. You'll continue
on with that state of repentance. You've got to repent. Acts 17
and 30 says, And the times of this ignorance God winked out,
but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. Not that it would
be nice if you would. You'll go to hell if you don't.
You'll go to hell if you don't. You've got to repent of your
sin. And the Lord demands that you do it. And I'll tell you
what, repentance is more than an act. It's a disposition of
the heart. And only God can give that disposition. And you can go through the motions,
weep, cry all you want to, but that's not genuine Bible repentance. Has the Lord Jesus Christ given
you repentance? Alright. Then also He demands
faith. In 1 John 3 and 23, the scripture
says, and this is His commandment, that you believe on His Son,
Jesus Christ, and love one another as He gave you commandment. Now
the Bible talks about faith and says that it's something that
purifies the heart. And the Bible talks about the
faith of God's elect. And that that faith is the faith
of Abraham. And our brother mentioned this
verse, but it's Acts 26. And if you have your Bible, I appreciate
you turn there quickly to Acts 26 and look at verse 18. And
it says to open their eyes. And you know when I read that
expression, it come to my heart that Christianity is not a religion
of ignorance. No, it isn't. It's not a religion
of ignorance to open their eyes. Now, you know, I heard one time
about this little boy lived in a certain community and he had
an old cat and she had kittens. And while their eyes were still
closed, they had a Catholic priest in the neighborhood and he came
by and the little boy said he wanted him to come in and see
his kittens. And so the old priest come in
looked at the kittens and said, well, those are Catholic kittens.
The little boy said, they're Catholic kittens. And, uh, so
after a while, you know, of course, the priest, he was really impressed
with that. And in a few weeks, he came back by and, and, uh,
he said to the little boy out on the sidewalk, he said, well,
how are those kittens? How are those Catholic kittens?
And the little boy said, well, hey, he said, they're not Catholic
kittens anymore. He said, they're, uh, they got their eyes open.
Yeah, they got their eyes open. And so, I believe tonight that
Christianity is not ignorance. I mean those whom God has saved
and brought to faith have got their eyes open. They got their
eyes open. And to turn them from darkness
to light, the power of Satan, and to God that they may receive
forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are set apart
by faith, that is in me. That are set apart to me by faith. And the Lord Jesus demands that
we believe Him. Now then, as we think a little
more about this faith business, I'd like to say that those that
are joined to him, and there's a couple of verses there in the
book of Hebrews that I'd like to read to you. Hebrews 10, verse
38 and 39, where it says, shall live by faith, but if any man
draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we're
not of them who draw back into perdition, but of them that believe
to the saving of the soul. Now, then the next thing I'd
like to call your attention is that there must be great earnestness
in our hearts. We know that a man may be sincere
and may be wrong. But if you ever get into the
kingdom of God, dear friend, I'd like to say tonight that
you'll have to get in dead earnest. You really will. Now, this is
a comedian generation that we're living in. People are light-hearted,
they're joking people, and you can't get them to be sober-minded,
and if you're sober-minded around them, they treat you like you
had the plague. But listen, this generation is
laughing their way to hell. You can't get men and women to
be honest. The scripture says in Luke 13, 24, strive to enter
in at the straight gate, and that word strive, if I understand
it, is agonized. Agonized to enter in at that
straight gate. Now I do not put a premium on
tears, but if you ever get into the kingdom of God, you're going
to press into it. because the kingdom of God is
taken before us. And it's only as you press into
it that you're going to have it. And the Lord Jesus said,
you agonize because there's going to be many that are going to
try to enter in that gate and will not be able. And I believe
that this business of earnestness in spiritual matters is something
we better pay some attention to. We better get down to earnest,
be earnest about this business of knowing the Lord. Now then,
the next thing, and I have to hurry because my time is going
to get away from me here. But there's what our brother
mentioned here tonight about except you be converted. That's
in it, but I'm going to pass that over and go to this point.
And that is that you must confess Christ publicly. You must confess
Him publicly. Now turn in your Bibles with
me to Matthew chapter 10. Now, this is getting into something
that I know that some of you might say, well, that sounds
like R.M.E. and that sounds like Billy Graham. Well, you just
listen to what the Word of God has to say here tonight. Matthew
10, verses 32 and 33. 32 and 33. Whosoever therefore shall confess
me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is
in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before
men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Now, I don't care tonight how many experiences that you've
had, how many lights you've seen, and if you've had an angel that
spoke to you, you will die and go to hell unless you confess
the Lord Jesus Christ publicly. You must be willing to do it.
Now, this is a must. We must confess Him as the Bible
reveals Him to be. We cannot be ashamed of Him.
If you turn to Luke, if you turn to the book of Luke, and this
certainly is where that the doctrine of baptism and us following our
Lord, us being willing to follow Him and identify with Him in
water baptism comes in. Are we ashamed of the Lord Jesus?
Luke 9 and 26. For whosoever shall be ashamed
of me, and my words of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when
He shall come in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the
holy angels. Now, beloved, we either confess
the Lord Jesus Christ and confess Him in baptism and confess Him
openly and publicly, or we're going to hell. We cannot be saved
and be a secret disciple. These secret disciples are for
somebody else, not me. I don't know anything about secret
disciples. Jesus said that you must confess
Me publicly and openly. Now then, the next thing is this,
that you must forsake the broad gate and enter into the narrow
gate and the narrow way. Turn in your Bibles to Matthew
7. Matthew chapter 7. Now we're getting into some things
here that's going to challenge some of your hearts. And in Matthew
7, we look at verse 13 and verse 14, where it says, Enter ye in
at the straight gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the
way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in
thereat. Because straight is the gate,
and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there
be that find it." Now, then somebody says, Preacher, I entered the
straight gate, but I must admit that I'm walking the broad way. Well, as I just would like to
say this to you tonight, there just isn't any such thing as
doing that. You just cannot do it. Let me say that tonight that
some people say, well, they got excuses for it. They say, well,
you know, there's such a thing as babes in Christ, and they
have to have their fling. Don't you know that, preacher?
But there is, my friend, one path beyond the straight gate,
and that is a narrow path. There's not another. There's
not another. And I'm talking about a demanding
Christ. He demands that you enter in
at the straight gate. Now, and that you can't walk
the broad way. It does not say that you can
enter the straight gate and then you can walk the broad way. You
must! You must enter in at the straight
gate and walk the narrow way. Walk and go His way. Truth is
narrow. And if you walk with Jesus Christ,
you're going to be walking as He walked. And beloved, to walk
as He walked is to walk in the narrow way. And then the next
thing, and I am trying to give you these things because I want
tonight your heart to be challenged with them, and that is this,
that we've got to leave our sinful practices. We've got to. We have
to. Now I'm preaching to myself too
tonight, and if you'll turn to Matthew 5 and look at verse 29
and 30. I'd like for you to look at these
two verses. Now if you understood the context here, the Lord's
been talking here about, in verse 28 for an example, He says, I
say to you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her
hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Now
listen to verse 29 and verse 30. And if thy right eye offend
thee, pluck it out. and cast it from thee, for it
is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish,
and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy
right hand defend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee, for
it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish,
and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. Now you say,
preacher, now I just can't deal with it. I just can't deal with
it. I've got some habits and I've got some lust in my heart
and in my life. I just can't deal with it. Listen
to me tonight, you're going to have to. You don't have any choice
in the matter. He demands it. He said it'd be
better for you to go to heaven with one eye than for you to
go to hell with both eyes. Pluck it out. And he said, it'd
be better for you to go to heaven with one arm or one leg than
it is for you to go to hell with both. And so, beloved, we've
got to deal with it. You say, I'll not give it up.
Then you'll have to go to hell. You say, but I'm a professing
religionist. You'll have to go to hell if
you don't give up your sinful practices. You say, well preacher,
I thought that salvation was by grace. It is. It is. But everybody that's experienced
that grace, don't you see, beloved, they will give up their sinful
practices. They'll give them up. They'll give them up. Now
we're not perfect. But bless God, we'd like to be.
And I'd like to tell you here tonight that no one goes to heaven
hugging sin to their bosom. Ain't nobody gonna do that. You
say, Preacher, I got a problem with this. Now I don't know whether
I'm gonna be able to do that or not. Didn't I tell you before
that the Lord's gonna cross your path one of these days, Professor?
And you're gonna find out whether or not you're a child of God
or not? You're gonna find out whether this grace ever reached
your heart or not. This flesh denying flesh killing grace. You got some things in your life,
you got to deal with them, put them out! You got to deal with
the Lord Jesus demands that you do it! And listen to me tonight,
if you don't deal with it, if you don't deal with it, I'm going
to tell you what, one of these days that thing's going to just
keep on, keep on, keep on, and first thing you know it's going
to get out on you one of these days that you're just a professor
of religion and that you never had this grace transforming grace
converting grace in your heart that you still love sin and that
you're still hugging it to your bosom and you'll go to hell and
burn for all eternity unless you put away your sinful practices
now you face it you face it professor you got to deal with it And then
another thing quickly, and you have to forsake your friends
and your relatives here if it comes to it. Jesus said you had
to do it. Look in Luke chapter 12. If you
have your Bible, just bear with me if you will. Just bear with
me. Luke chapter 12, and I'd like for you to look at verse
49 through 53 quickly. Luke 49 through 53. I'm come to send
fire on the earth. And what will I if it be already
kindled? I have a baptism to be baptized
with, and how am I straight until it be accomplished? Suppose,
ye, that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, nay, but
rather division. For from henceforth there shall
be five in one house, divided three against two, and two against
three. The father shall be divided against
the son, and the son against the father, the mother against
the daughter, and the daughter against the mother, the mother-in-law
against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against
her mother-in-law. And the scripture says in another
place, in Matthew 10, that if you love father, mother, brother,
sister more than me, you're not worthy of me. Now, beloved, I
want you to know He did not come to make or send peace between
fleshly-minded men and women and spiritual-minded men and
women. You say, I just wish we could
have some peace in this house. My soul friend, wherever the
Lord Jesus comes, there'll be division. And if you love Him,
if you respect Him, if you reverence Him, if you worship Him, if you
bow to His Holy Word in truth, let me tell you something. There's
going to be division in your home. There is. And Jesus said,
I didn't come to make it any other way. I've come and that's
the way it is. And wherever I'm feared, wherever
I'm loved, wherever I'm obeyed and respected, there's going
to be some division. There is, and you've got to be
willing, friend, to stand if you love them more than you do
Christ. You're not worthy of Him and you're going to hell.
You're not worthy of Him. You're not worthy of Him. You've
got to stand and continue on in spite of the opposition that
you encounter in your home. You've got to do it. You've got
to be willing to do it. You say, I just can't stand against my
dear mother. You go to hell with her then. That's right. You say,
I just cannot deal with my children. I just can't go on and witness
to them and stand up for Christ in their face. Listen, you better
do it. You better do it. The Lord Jesus
said, you're not worthy of me. unless you stand. Now another
thing, and this is tough. I'm telling you some hard things
in the Bible. And that's this, in Matthew chapter 6. In Matthew
chapter 6, you must forgive others. You must forgive others. Now
I realize tonight that this is a difficult thing. And verse
14 and 15. For if we forgive, for if you forgive men their
trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. Now listen
to it, but if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither
will your father forgive your trespasses. Now, I just wonder
what it would mean if your Heavenly Father did not forgive you your
trespasses. What would it mean? I mean, if
sin was still charged to you, what would it mean? It means
certainly that if you died and got to the judgment, that you'd
go to hell. If there is one sin facing me at the judgment, I'm
going to hell. If there's one sin down on the
books of God against me, unforgiven, I must spend all eternity in
the lake of fire. I must burn in that place where
the worm dies not and the fire is not quenched. I must be forever
separated from God. And here you are. You say, well,
I'm a believer, preacher. But what about those people that
have offended you and you can't forgive them? Now, you say you
believe the gospel. You say you believe the gospel,
and the gospel is a gospel of mercy, the gospel is a gospel
of forgiveness, the gospel is a gospel of grace, and yet you
can't forgive those that offend you and those that sin against
you. I know of a Baptist deacon, and
he has a daughter that married a black man. and he will not
allow her to be in his home. She can never come back to his
house. He will not forgive her. I stood
in his face and I said, Mr. Mister, you're going to hell.
I don't care if you are a Baptist deacon. I don't care if you made
the profession of faith under my ministry. If you don't forgive
that girl, you're going to hell. Now, hey, now that's bad, that's
tough. Oh, that'll just tear the flesh
off of your bones. Yes, it will. But I want to tell
you, professor, that fella came from Mississippi. That's where
he came from. And I want to tell you what God will cross your
path. Yes, he will, old Naaman. You remember Naaman the Syrian?
God said, you got to go down in that muddy ditch. That's where
you're going to have to go if you're going to be cleansed of
your leprosy. Go down that muddy ditch. And he said, well, I don't
want to do that. But I want to ask you this question.
Could he have been cleansed any other way? No, sir, he couldn't
have been cleansed any other way. And the 14th verse of 2
Kings 5 says, he went down. The four most important words
in that man's life. He went down. And I'll tell you
what that deacon will come down to, or he'll go to hell. He'll
come down in this life, and he'll forgive that girl, or else he'll
go to hell. Say preacher that's tough, it's
tough. I told you that we're gonna find out whether this,
whether this efficacious, all-transforming, all-powerful, flesh-killing,
flesh-denying grace, whether it'll reach my heart or not.
I told you we're gonna find that out. And you're gonna find it out.
What about your wife? You can't forgive her either,
huh? What about your husband? Can't forgive him. Well, I just
can't forgive my mother-in-law, can't forgive my father-in-law,
can't forgive these church people. These church people that's talked
behind my back. I can't do it. You're going to
hell. You're going to hell. Now, I'm just telling you what
Jesus said. I'm telling you he's a demanding Christ and you're
going to have to get your heart right. You say you believe this
gospel? Then he forgave us for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ
and he said that we ought to out of love forbear with one
another and forgive one another even as God for Christ's sake
forgave us. We got to do it. We got to do
it. And I'll tell you what, brother,
sister, now I want you to understand this, that I've been faced with
some things in my life that has put, I mean to tell you that
I've been tried to the very depths of my soul with this issue right
here. I know what I'm talking about.
I got some people close to me that I'll either forgive them
or I'll go to hell. You say, preacher, you've been
preaching for how long? Oh, over 35 years. Say, well, you'll go to hell.
Well, I'll go to hell just as sure as I'm preaching to you
tonight if I cannot forgive others because it'll prove I don't have
the grace of God in me. Hey, now, we gonna have faces.
Christ is a demanding Christ. Yes, he is. Now, this is tough,
all right? Now, the next thing, and I'm
just about finished here, we must give up our own way and
our self-life. Now this is a solemn thing. Matthew
chapter 10 and look at verse 39. Matthew 10 and verse 39,
quickly. Here, listen to it. And he that
findeth his life shall lose it. And he that loseth his life for
my sake shall find it. And then there's another scripture
that I wanted to read here and that's in Matthew 16, real quick. Matthew 16 and let's look at
verse 24 through 26. If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever
will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a
man profited if he shall gain the whole world? and lose his
own soul. Or what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul? I know what the commentators
say, but I'm inclined to believe Jesus meant exactly what he said.
Now what I'm wanting to say here to you tonight is this. You say
I'm going to take care of number one. I'm going to take care of
number one. I know what's best for me. I've
made some plans, preacher. I've got my security all over
here. And I'm going to take care of number one. You're going to
hell. That's what's going to happen. You're going to hell.
Now you say, now preacher, I don't really believe that. You say,
now listen, most Baptists, they wouldn't go along with what I'm
saying here tonight. They would not go along with
it. But if you save your skin, you're going to hell. The Bible
teaches us that if we live after the flesh, that we'll die. And
you say, preacher, now wait a minute. Now let me just illustrate this
quickly to you. I lived out in the state of Indiana
for 38 years. I had a good business, and I
had some money, and I had a good farm, and I had a trucking business,
and the Lord one day said to me, except a corn of wheat fall
into the ground, it died abides alone. He said, but if it fall
into the ground and die, it brings forth much fruit. And I had to
leave the state of Indiana and go to the state of Montana. All
right, so I go up to the state of Montana to buy a house, find
a place to move my family, so I can leave the state of Indiana.
I had a good church there, built a brand new brick building in
1965. This was 1960.

The Demanding Christ

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