I've entitled this message, When
Will a Man Receive Christ? When Will a Man Receive Christ? You and I will not be saved if
we do not personally, intelligently, willingly, gratefully receive
the Lord Jesus Christ. This next statement is equally
true. First Corinthians 2.14 says,
the natural man receiveth not. the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness unto him, neither indeed can he know
them, because they are spiritually discerned. If I do not receive Christ, I
will not be saved. The natural man, what's meant
by natural? The natural man. You know, natural
can be good. Len eats natural peanut butter. No bad ingredients, supposedly. I'm a Jif man. I like the stuff
with all the bad ingredients in it. It tastes good. Len likes
the natural kind. Natural can be good, but when
Paul speaks of the natural man, he talks about what man is by
nature. I think the best description
in the Word of God is found in Genesis chapter 6 verse 5, when
God saw that the wickedness of man, that's me and you, was great
in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually. That's the natural man. The natural
man Receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, the foolishness
unto him. He can't discern them. He can't
understand them. Now, a few weeks ago, I preached
the message out of John chapter four, going into Luke four about
when the Lord bypassed Nazareth. He came into Galilee. He bypassed
Nazareth and then he came into Cana and he was received. Look
at our text. Verse 43 now, John chapter 4
verse 43. Now, after two days, he departed
thence and went into Galilee. That's where Nazareth was. That's
where Cana was. That's where Capernaum was. And then we read this unusual
statement, for Jesus himself testified that a prophet hath
no honor in his own country. And he was rejected in Nazareth. Then when he was come into Galilee,
the Galileans received him. They embraced him. They received
him. And here's why. Having seen all
the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast, for they also went
unto the feast. Now we're going to come back
to this in a minute, but turn to Luke chapter four. Here's what happened when he
was in Nazareth, his hometown, after they heard his message,
verse 28. And all they, Luke 4, 28, and
all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things were
filled with wrath and rose up and thrust him out of the city
and led him under the brow of the hill whereon their city was
built. that they might cast him down headlong. But he, passing through the midst of them, went
his way and he came down to Capernaum, the city of Galilee. Now this
is where they received him. And he taught them on the Sabbath
days and they were astonished at his doctrine. These people
who received Him, they were astonished at His doctrine, for His Word
was with power, with authority. Turn to Matthew chapter 7. Here's Matthew's account of this
same event in Matthew chapter 7. This is at the end of the
Sermon on the Mount. Verse 28, And it came to pass,
when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at
His doctrine, what He had to say, for He taught them as one
having authority, and not as the scribes. Now, the Sermon on the Mount
One could argue, I guess any sermon the Lord preached could
be called the greatest sermon ever preached. Amen? But the
Sermon on the Mount, in this sermon, I love the Sermon on
the Mount, and in this sermon, the Lord tells us who is blessed. Now that's with authority. He
doesn't say you'll be blessed if he's the one who declares
who is blessed. And I love six times in the Sermon
on the Mount, he says, you've heard it said by them of old,
and then a scripture would be quoted. And then he would say,
but I say unto you, I'm the one who tells what this
book means. I say unto you. And at the end, when the people
heard his doctrine, they were astonished, for he spake as one
having authority. And then I love the slam. Not
like the scribes. All their authority was pretense.
It wasn't real. You know, when my dad said this
to me when I was a kid, I've heard this. I don't think I'd
be exaggerating to say I've heard this a thousand times. He would
say, when he'd tell me something to do, here was his reasoning,
because I said it. I never liked that. If you've
heard that, you didn't like it either. But when the Lord says, we bow down. That's all that's needed. If he says it, that's all the
authority that is needed. He spake as one possessing authority
so that what he says, now this is the way God's people respond
to what he says. They bow down. It's right. It's
true. Now back in our text in John
chapter four, verse 45. Then when he was come
into Galilee, he bypassed Nazareth where they rejected his authority. The Galileans received him having
seen all the things that he did. at Jerusalem. Now, here we have the person
and work of Christ. All the things he did. Don't you love the simplicity
of that? The person of Christ, he, his
work did. Do you know, you can't separate
the person and work of Christ. Who he is is revealed in what
he did. And what he did reveals who he
is. And they received him, the scripture
says, they received him. They embraced him when they saw
all the things that he did at Jerusalem. And this is talking
about what they witnessed in John chapter two. They were there.
You see, everybody was called upon to go to Jerusalem to observe
the Passover. Turn to John chapter two, just
a few pages back. Verse 13, and the Jews Passover. was at hand. Now, the Old Testament
calls it the Lord's Passover, but here John calls it the Jews'
Passover. You see, they changed it, and
it wasn't the Lord's. The Lord doesn't own that. This
was the Jews' misrepresentation of the Passover. Now, the Jews'
Passover was at hand. Now, this is where these Galileans
saw all the things that he did. Now, what did they see him do?
Well, number one, they saw him make a whip and drive the money
changers out of the temple. They witnessed this. They witnessed
him saying to his enemies, destroy this temple and in three days
I'll raise it up. They heard that. Look in verse
23 of John chapter two. Now, when he was in Jerusalem
at the Passover and the feast day, many believed in his name
when they saw the miracles, which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself
to them, because he knew all men and needed nothing. He should
testify of man, for he knew what was in man. But let's just consider
the miracles they witnessed at this time. We're not told what
they are exactly, but we know when he performed miracles, he
did that which only God can do. He controlled the weather. Who
can do that but God? He gave sight to the blind. Who could do that but God? He raised the dead. Only one
can do that. He did what only God could do. And they witnessed that. Seeing
the things that He did, And they received him. They embraced him
after seeing the things that he did. Now that's the personal
work of Christ. When will a man receive Christ?
When he sees the things that he did. They received him. Now first,
let me tell you what that does to me. When we talk about receiving
Christ, I guarantee you, somebody's saying, well, have I received
him? What does it mean to receive the Lord Jesus Christ? I know
I won't be saved unless I personally receive him. What does it mean
to receive the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, let me first say what it
does mean. Somebody says, why are you beginning there? Well,
because this religious world we live in make the act of receiving
Christ the act of salvation. I can remember, and this was
very big to me at the time as far as my understanding goes,
but I remember one time when I was in school I was trying
to talk to a man about the gospel of Christ and I was saying, you
cannot be saved unless God does something for you and here's
why. You're too sinful, I'm too sinful. I'm totally under the
power of sin. I can't believe, I can't repent
unless God gives me life. I cannot save myself. I cannot do anything to contribute
to my salvation. I'm dead in sins. That's what
the Bible says. Now this is the Bible's description of man, dead
in sins. For you to be saved, God's gonna
have to elect you. For you to be saved, Christ's
gonna have to die for you. For you to be saved, God the
Holy Spirit's gonna have to give you life. You can't save yourself. And I remember the man said,
yeah, but we have to receive Christ. And he was making the
reception of Christ the thing you had to do before God could
save you. Now that's what most religion
presents. God loves everybody. Christ died
for everybody. God wants to save everybody.
God the Holy Spirit's calling everybody. But you have to receive
him before you can be saved. You do have to receive him. But
that ain't what that means. That's salvation by works. Take Judas and Peter. Judas was
not saved. Peter was saved. If God loved
Judas and Peter the same, if Christ died for Judas and Peter
the same, if God wanted the salvation of both and yet Judas was not
saved and Peter was, if that were the case, it would be because
of what Peter did that Judas didn't do. You see, Peter received
him. Judas didn't. That makes that
act of reception, the act of salvation. Now that's not what
it means to receive Christ. That's just wrong. That is salvation
by works. Now these people in Galilee received
him. Unlike the people of Nazareth,
they received him. The people of Nazareth rejected
him. They received. Do you know it takes the grace
of God to receive Christ? You won't even receive him unless
God gives you the grace to do it. Now, you must do it. And
I call, when I'm preaching the gospel, I'm calling on all men
to believe him, to receive him. Well, shouldn't you just do that
to the elect? No, you call on every man to
believe the gospel. If you come to Christ, you'll
be received. He won't turn you back. You don't
need to worry about coming to Christ and Him saying, no, you're
not one of the elect. Nope, didn't die for you. Get
on out. That's never happened. Anybody
who comes, He'll receive and you receive Him. Why did they receive him? They
saw the things that he did. That's why they received him.
They saw the things that he did. Now, the first point is he, they
saw the things he did. Who is he? They came to an understanding
by seeing the things that He did that this man is God. Only God controls the weather. Only God raises the dead. Only
God can create matter and bring matter into existence, which
He did when He fed the multitudes that was not in the universe
before. Only God can do this. They saw the things He did. And the word see means more than
physical sight. There was a perception. They
perceived who He was that did these things. Same thing as the
thief. The thief on the cross, he knew
who He was. Lord! Nobody else believed he
was Lord at that time, but they did. You know why? Because he
knew who he was. Well, how did he know who he was? God revealed
himself to him. That's the only way any man's
gonna know the Lord Jesus Christ. If you know him, it's because
he made himself known to you. He, they saw the things that
he did. They knew who he was, and they
saw the things that he did. Now, I want to attempt to speak
of the things he did. What did he do? Well, before
time began, and we know this from the scripture, he stood
as the surety of his people. God the Father gave him a people
and he To complete responsibility for their salvation before the
foundation of the world. I hope, um, I would, I would
count it a blessing. If I quote revelation 13, eight,
every time I preach Christ is the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Somebody says, can you wear that out? Nope.
Nope. That's where everything begins.
And he stood as the surety of his people before time began. And during that time, before
time began, he decreed everything that takes place. That's who
he is. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning. He declared the end from the
beginning. And from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done saying my counsel shall stand and I
will do all my pleasure. He stood as the surety of the
elect and decreed everything that would take place before
time. And then. If I could say this,
Jesus Christ created the universe. I love the scripture. In the
beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God,
the same was in the beginning with God. All things were made
by Him. Jesus of Nazareth. And without
Him was not anything made that was made. You can believe God
created the universe. You should believe that because,
really, everything's got to have a cause. Every effect had to
have some cause causing it. God caused the universe. This place didn't just up and
pop. There it is. No. God created the universe. And all men naturally know that. Now, you might get to the point
where you don't believe it anymore. But you're born with the knowledge
that somebody made this and nobody made him. Jesus Christ is the one who created
the universe. All things were made by him and
for him. And he is before all things. By him, all things consist. He made the world. You know,
it was Him who said to Adam, in the day you eat thereof, you
shall surely die. He said that to Adam. Now, I
think the two most prominent events that have ever taken place
is the fall of Adam and the death of Christ on the cross. He controls
them both. In time, some 2,000 years ago,
He became flesh. What did he do? He became flesh. And in the flesh, he kept God's
law perfectly. Listen to me. He never sinned. You mean you can't imagine that,
can we? We can't go five seconds without sin. I mean, even if
we don't do anything, it's still us. But he never sinned. He kept God's law perfectly. That's what he did. He never
sinned. What did he do? He went to the
cross. This one who never sinned, went
to the cross. He was nailed to a cross. And this was His will being done. He wasn't a victim. I think of
when they came to arrest Him. He said, Whom seek ye? They said,
Jesus of Nazareth. He said, I am. They fell backwards.
He's letting them know, I'm in control of this, not you. When
Pilate said, don't you know I have power to crucify you and I have
power to release you. He said, you have no power at
all over me. I would love to hear him say
that with you, except it be given thee from above. Now he went
to the cross bearing the sins of his people. That's why he
came. He came to die. He went to the cross bearing
the sins of his people and he died. The son of life died. They took him down from the cross,
a corpse. His heart wasn't beaten. He wasn't
breathing. He was dead. Graveyard dead,
stone cold dead. Having suffered the wrath of
God, the wages of sin is death. He died. That's what he did. What did he do? He was raised
from the dead. He raised himself from the dead.
He said, no man takes my life from me. I have power to lay
it down. I have power to take it up. This
commandment have I received of my father. He was raised from
the dead. Why? Because this is what he
did. He satisfied God. God was satisfied
with what he did. He bore the sins of God's people.
He put them away. That's what he came to do. And
God was satisfied with what he did. And God raised him from
the dead. He was delivered for our offenses.
He was raised again for our justification. When he was raised, every one
of God's elect, everybody that he died for was justified. That's what he did. He was raised from the dead.
I love to think of him being on earth 40 days after that.
Speaking with his disciples made himself known 500 brethren at
once 40 days. And then he said, what did he
do? He ascended back to the father with all of his people in him.
What's he doing now? Sitting, not pacing back and forth in
frustration, sitting. Regal splendor having finished
his work Sitting at the right hand of the father making intercession. That's what he's doing. I Love the scripture who is he
that can condemn? It's Christ that died That is
the ground of his intercession for me for his people for you
his death When he intercedes for you, he doesn't say, oh,
forgive him again. No, his death is constant intercession. It's Christ that died, yea, rather
that's risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. That's what he did. He died,
he was raised right now, He's interceding for his people. What
else is he doing? He's controlling every event. Everything that happens is his
will being done. That's what he's doing. Not only
is he interceding, he's reigning. What's he gonna do? He's gonna
come back. I love what, I think it was Brother
Mahan who said that the Old Testament says somebody's coming, the Gospels
say he's here, the Epistles say he's coming again. He's coming
again. That's what he did. Now, if you
and I, by the grace of God, see what he did. That's the person
and the work of Christ. He did. If you and I spiritually
see what he did, you know what we're going to do? We're going to receive him. When you receive him, you receive his words. If I don't receive what He said,
I've not received Him. You receive His words, that means you receive
everything He said. Everything. No, I'll take that,
but I won't take that. No, you don't take any of it.
That's the case. You receive everything He said. I think that passage in John
chapter 6, after He had preached that glorious message, He said,
These are hard sayings. Harsh. Inhumane. No sympathy toward humanity.
They were judging him. They didn't like what he said.
These are hard sayings. Who can hear? Who can be expected
to listen to such teaching? And the Lord said, did this offend
you? Are you offended by what I've
said? How you gonna feel when you see me raised up at the right
hand of the Father? If you're offended now, you'll
really be offended then. And then he made this statement
with regard to his words, the words that I speak unto you that
you're offended by, they are spirit and they are life. The words of Christ, their spirit,
they're purely spiritual from God and their life. There's no life apart from these
words. You receive his words. And when
you receive Christ, you receive his benefits. I mean, you will,
you take them. You're glad. Like if I, Here's
a crude illustration, but if I give you $100, you know what
you're going to do? You're going to receive it. You're
going to take it. And somebody says, well, I've
never received him, then he was never given. If you receive, it's because
he has given. And you receive his benefits.
Let me quote you some scripture. Acts 10.43 says, we receive the
remission of sins. We receive that. He's remitted
my sins. They're gone. The only way I'm
allowed to look at my sins is forgiven sins. Every one of them. We receive the remission of sins. Romans 1 5 says we receive grace
for obedience. You know, the only way I obey
the gospel is when he gives me the grace to do it. And then
I do it. We receive grace for obedience. Second Corinthians 4.1 says we
receive mercy. As we've received mercy. God not giving me what I deserve. Oh, I received that. I don't
want it to be any other way. Hebrews 9.15 says we receive
the promise of eternal inheritance. What a promise to receive. Listen
to this. Romans 5 17 says we receive the
gift of righteousness. Do you know righteousness is
not something you do. It's something you've received
as a gift. And it is your personal righteousness at that point.
It's not some kind of document that says he was righteous. No,
you're righteous. You receive his righteousness
as a gift, the gift of God. We receive, according to Galatians
4 and 5, the ADOPTION OF SONS! This is my Father's world. This is my Father's world. I'm
a son. Isn't it wonderful to be a son
of God? Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed
upon us that we should be called the SONS OF GOD? Romans 5 and 11 says we receive
the atonement. We received the reconciliation
he accomplished. We received that. Acts 1.8 says we received power
to be his witness after the Holy Spirit comes upon us. 1 Corinthians 2.12. Now we have
received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit, which
is of God, that we might know the things freely given us of
God. First Peter 2.9 says receiving
the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. We receive. Oh, when they saw the things
he did, they received him. Now we receive him intelligently, completely, exclusively,
exclusively, and lovingly. Now, what do I mean by that?
We receive him intelligently. Am I talking about IQ when I
say that? No, not at all. I remember when you receive him
intelligently, that means you know who it is you're receiving.
You're receiving him for who he is. I used to work in a steel mill
every summer when I was in college, and you'd get relationships with
people. I hate it that I can't remember
this guy's name, but I was good friends with him that summer.
You'd think I'd remember his name. I don't, but I really liked
the guy, and I remember he got married that summer. He was gone for a week on his
honeymoon, and I remember sitting in the lunchroom with him. I
said, How is it? He said, I married
a monster. I didn't know who she was when
I married her. Well, that never happens with
someone who received Christ. They received, they know who
he is. They receive him intelligently. He's the Lord of glory. He's
the God man. He's the complete sufficient
savior. He's all together. Lovely. As
we just read. We receive him intelligently, that means we
receive him as he is. We receive him completely in
all of his office as prophet, priest, and king, the word, the
priest that represents me, the king to cause me to do his will,
who reigns over all. We receive him exclusively in
the sense that we reject and renounce all other ways but him. Amen. And we receive him lovingly. We love to be saved by him. One last scripture. Turn to John
one. I tell you when a man receives
Christ, when he sees what he did. John 1, verse 12, or let's start
at verse 11. He came unto His own, and His
own received Him not. That's not talking about His
own elect. That's talking about His own people, the Jews. He came unto His own, they turned
thumbs down on Him. But, verse 12, as many as received
him. Now listen to me. You and I must receive the Lord
Jesus Christ or we will not be saved. Young people, you're called upon
to receive the Lord Jesus Christ. or you won't be saved. As many, there's a certain group
that did receive Him. As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become
the sons of God. Now this tells us what it means
to receive Him because, you know, it can seem vague. What in the
world does it mean to receive Him? Here's what it means to
receive Him. Here's exactly what it means
to receive Him. So listen, you young people,
listen. This is what it means to receive
Him. Even to them that believe on His name. Now His name is His attributes. It's the person behind the name.
His name is His holiness. His name is His righteousness.
His name is His absolute sovereignty. His name is His wisdom. His name
is His power. His name. When you believe on
His name, it's the same thing as calling on His name. You're calling on His name to
save you, Lord. Save me as an act of your sovereign
will. Will my salvation. Lord, save
me by your power. I'm powerless. The only way I'll
be saved is by your power. Lord, save me by your righteousness. Give me your righteousness. Lord,
save me by your grace. I can't be saved if you don't
save me by your grace. Lord, save me by your mercy.
You're calling on all of his attributes to save you. That's
what it is to believe on his name. I love John's next comment, which
were born, which were birthed. Listen, if
you're calling on his name, it's because you've been born from
above. It's because God has given you life, which were born. Not a blood. Not because your
mom and dad were Christians. Not of the will of the flesh. Not because a bunch of men got
together and said, we're gonna pray until you're saved. Not
of the will of the flesh. Not of the will of man. You know,
people talk about free will, being saved by your free will.
Here it says that ain't so. Not by the will of man. It's
not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God
that showeth mercy. Well, how were they born? Of
God. May the Lord give everybody in
this room, according to his will, the grace to receive him. to believe on his name. Let's pray. Lord, we ask for grace and we
know it takes your grace. To receive my son. Give us all grace. To receive
him. To believe on his name. In His
name we pray, amen.