no reason for change. Verse 6, as you have therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. As you received Him, there's
no reason for change. Walk ye Now, we have plenty of
reasons to change about many things, don't we? I could talk
about that all night long. But here's one place where, by
the grace of God, we should never change. I love that proverb that
says, meddle not with them that are given to change. I don't
want to change right here. However it was I received Christ
Jesus the Lord, that's how I want to walk in Him. Now, a believer
is one who has received the Lord Jesus Christ. While there's no merit in the
act of receiving Christ, it is the evidence that he was given
to you. Now, I realize that human religion,
false religion, makes the act of receiving Christ what saves
you. God loves everybody. Christ died
for everybody. God wants to save everybody.
But it's your act of receiving him that is the difference between
you and someone who is not saved. Now, the act of reception is
not salvation. It's the result of salvation.
You see, he saved me. And I receive him. If your eye don't receive him,
it's because God never gave him to us. The act of reception is the result
of God giving him to you. Now, he's given to us and we
take him. That's what receiving is. If
I give you something, you take it, you receive it. I am my beloved's. And he is mine. We receive him like an empty
vessel receives water. Just empty. And he doesn't leak
out if we receive him. We receive him as a highly honored
and welcomed guest that we're so privileged to have. We receive him as a starving
person receives bread. We receive him as a thirsty person
receives water. We receive him as a bankrupt
person receives the payment of all their debts. We receive him
as the bride receives her husband. We receive him as the captive
receives the one who set them free. We receive the Lord Jesus
Christ. We receive a person. Now, Paul
says, as you have received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk ye in
him. Now, as has to do with the way
you first received him. And I'm going to call upon us
as the Lord enables us. I don't know when the day it
was when I first received him. I really can't remember that.
Don't know. I don't know how long it took
for me to receive him. I don't know how long the Lord was dealing
with me. But I know this. There was a time when I did actually
receive him. And remember what it was like
when you received him. The Lord said to the church at
Sardis, remember how you have received. May the Lord enable
all of us to do that, even tonight, to remember how you receive. For however was you received
him, that's the way we're called to walk in him. Now, We received him, first of
all, as Christ Jesus the Lord. That's the way we received him.
We received him as God's Christ, as God's prophet. as the very
Word of God. Every word he spoke was precious
to us. Didn't matter what the subject
was, whatever he was dealing with, if he said it, it was precious
because he said it. Oh, how precious were his words.
While some found his words to be hard sayings, When you heard
his word, when you received him, you found his words to be words
of spirit and words of life. It wasn't dry doctrine to you.
It was words of spirit and words of life. You didn't ask questions
like, well, what do I need to hear in order to be saved? Or
what do you not have to hear to be? You didn't ask questions
like that. Every word he said was precious. He's God's prophet. He's the very Word of God. When you first received Him,
you received Him as God's priest. The priest of God's providing. You knew the only way at that
time that you could come into the presence of God and be accepted
is because of the Lord Jesus Christ as your priest bringing
you into the presence of God. You were sure of that. You knew
there's no way that you could come into God's presence unless
he brought you there. And oh, how you trusted his sacrifice. How you knew his sacrifice made
you acceptable before God. How you trusted his righteousness.
When you first came to him, you received him as God's priest. And when you first came to him,
you received him as God's king. The King of Kings and your King. That's how you received Him. You received Him as the Christ. And you received Him as Jesus,
the Savior. You knew this! The only way you
can be saved is for Him to save you. And He had to do it all.
And that's the way you received Him. You received Him as your
Savior. Oh, isn't it joyous to know He
saved you from your sins? Oh, how you rejoiced in Him as
your Savior. And you received Him as the Lord. He's the Lord. He's the Lord
of creation. He's the creator of the universe.
And you knew that. He's the Lord of providence.
He controls everything. Everybody's in His hands. That's
how you received Him. He's the Lord of salvation. You
know you received Him as Christ Jesus, the Lord. Now, as you received Him, how
did you receive Him? Now, we Received him as Christ
Jesus the Lord, but remember Paul says, as you received him.
I'm not only talking about who you received, but as you received
him. Now, when you first received
Christ, how did you receive him as far as your experience goes?
And you know, I know this is my experience. I received him
by asking for him. In my experience. I received
him when I first received Christ. Remember, as you receive Christ
Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. The scripture says, everyone
that asketh, receiveth. Ask and you shall receive. Everything you receive from him,
you ask for. Now, God moved you to ask for
it, you know that, you realize that, but When you were saved,
you know what you said? You said, Lord, save me. Save
me. I can't save myself. When you
were given mercy, you asked for mercy. Jesus, our son of David,
have mercy on me. When you were given grace, you
asked for grace. When you were given the forgiveness
of sins, you asked the Lord, please forgive me of my sins.
When you were given grace to believe, you asked the Lord to
give you grace to believe. There was a time when you didn't
even know what it was to believe. You'd hear the preacher say to
believe, and you didn't know what it meant, and you asked
the Lord to give you that faith. When you first believed, you
asked the Lord to grant you repentance. You didn't even know what it
meant to repent, and you said, Lord, whatever repentance is, give
it to me. When you received the Lord first, you received by asking
Him. If you're going to be clean,
you're going to ask him to make you clean. If you're going to
believe, you'll be asking him to believe as you received, asking
him. Now, isn't that true to your
experience? You asked the Lord to save you. Now, is there a
reason to change? Is there any reason to change
that? As you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, asking him for
everything you have, you ask. You have not because you ask
not. as you remain an asker. Remain somebody who's always
asking the Lord for all these things. You know, I want to be
somebody just like that, don't you? When the Lord looks at me,
I want Him to see someone who's asking Him for things, asking
Him for more. I'm not talking about material
things, although we're Thankful for the material things he provides.
Like I said, I've been mighty thankful for a warm house the
last couple of days. I mean, we're thankful for those things,
but I'm talking about asking for mercy, asking for grace,
asking for his presence, asking for him. As you received Christ
Jesus, the Lord, so walk ye in him. You don't have any reason
to change. Secondly, John, turn with me
to John 1. Verse 12. But as many as received him. There it is. You received him. You received a person. You received
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. But as many as received
him, to them gave he power. to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on His name." When you receive the Lord Jesus
Christ, that means you believed on His name. I love the simplicity of that.
The name of Christ is who He is. It's not just knowing the
audible name, it's knowing the person behind the name. When
God proclaimed His name before Moses, He proclaimed His attributes,
His justice, His holiness, the forgiveness of sins, His goodness,
His grace. The name of the Lord is who He
is, and we believe, we rely on His name. What that means is
two things. First of all, we believe Him as He is. We believe
Him as He's revealed in the Scriptures. You believed him to be very God
or very God in the man Christ Jesus. You really believe that
in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead in a body. You really believe that he reigns. You really believe that he's
the king. You really believe that your salvation was in His
hands because He's utterly sovereign. These are not just things proven
to you. You know who He is. And you believe. You believe
on His name. But even more than that, that
word believe means you're relying on His name. When you first received
the Lord Jesus Christ, you were relying on who He is completely
to save you. You were relying on him to will
your salvation. You came to him like the leopard
did. Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. You were relying
on his righteousness as the only righteousness that would make
you acceptable before God. When you first came to him, you
really believed that the only plea you had was the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You believed on His name. You
relied on His name. You relied upon who He is. You believed who He is, but more
than that, when you first came to Him, you completely relied
on who He is as all that was needed to make you accepted before
God, didn't you? When you first came to Him, when
you first received Him, that's what you did. Now, is there any
reason to change that position? Any reason at all? as you received
Christ Jesus the Lord. So walk ye in him, believing,
relying on his name. And that's what I'm doing right
now. I don't know how long ago I received the Lord Jesus Christ,
but I did receive him. But I do know this, the way I
first received him, believing on his name, that's precisely
what I'm doing right now. I'm believing on the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ as making me acceptable before God. I turn
to Matthew chapter 10. The Lord says to His disciples
in verse 8, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast
out devils freely you have received. Freely you have received. Now
that same word freely is translated in John chapter 15 verse 25 without
a cause. without a cause. Without a cause
in you, you received. Now, when you first received
Him, you knew that there was no cause in you to merit Him. You knew it was all free. The first thing you'd ever experienced,
the first one you ever experienced, that was free. Oh, you understood the freeness
of his grace. You wouldn't dream of paying
for him because you knew you didn't have anything to pay.
You received him with an empty hand when you received him freely.
With an empty hand. No, you didn't hand him something
in order to get back something. You received him with an empty
hand. No good works, no feelings, no
experience to pay for him as you received him freely. So walk
ye in Him in the joy right now of the freeness of His grace. Isn't free grace wonderful? As you received it, so walk ye
in Him in the freeness of His grace. Is there any reason to
change? Are you not just as much in need
of free grace right now as you were when you first received
Him? You know, when you first received Him, you knew it took
the grace of God to receive Him. Of His fullness, if we all received
Him, grace for grace. It took grace just to receive
Him. Oh, the freeness of His grace, and that we would walk
in the liberty of knowing His grace is free. There's not a cause in us and
there's still it. It's all together in His Son. Now look in John chapter one. As you receive Christ Jesus the
Lord, so walk ye in Him. That's our text. Now, how did
you receive Him? Look in verse 16 of John chapter
1. And of His fullness hath all
we received. Now, we don't receive part of
Him, do we? We receive Him in His fullness. We receive everything about him.
We receive his person. We receive his attributes. We
receive his work. We receive his command. You receive
him in his fullness. And there's so many things that
his fullness means. We receive him in the fullness
of his body. What's that mean? I love the way the church is
called the fullness of him. That filleth all in all. That means if I receive Christ,
I receive every one of His members, because His church is the fullness
of Him that filleth all in all. We receive His people, and in
receiving them, we receive Him. We accept them, love them, and
esteem them. We see them as they are in Christ,
because that's how they really are. You know how I really am,
how God sees me? He sees me as His Son. And oh, what love does, in receiving
one another just like that, we receive them just like they are
in the Lord Jesus Christ. That other stuff, it's just temporary,
it's gonna be done away. Oh, we gotta endure with each
other and bear up with each other, I realize that, but that's just
gonna be for a little while. One of these days, every believer,
as our Lord says, is going to shine like the sun, and that's
how we receive his people. We receive his fullness in receiving
those he sends to preach to us. In receiving that, we receive
himself. He said, he that receiveth you
receiveth me. Listen to this scripture from
John chapter 13 verse 20. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me, and he that
receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. Now, in receiving the
Lord Jesus Christ, it has something to do with us receiving the gospel
we hear preached and receiving that one who brought the message.
I think of what Paul said to the Galatians. He said, you received
me as an angel of God. even as Christ Jesus." Now, that's
the high view we have of the preaching of the Gospel. When
we receive the preaching of the Gospel, we're receiving Christ
Himself. Right now, you receive this message,
you're receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. And we actually receive
Him in His fullness. Now, His fullness that we all
receive, this is the best part of this. Colossians chapter 2
verse 9 says, in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
in a body and you are complete. And that's the word full. You're
plumb full in him. You cannot get any more holy. You cannot get any more accepted.
You cannot get any more loved. You cannot get any more justified. You cannot get any more perfect.
then you are right now in Christ Jesus, and you've always been
in the Beloved. Receive that. We receive Him
in His fullness. However He is to God, that's
how we are to God, and we receive Him in His fullness. As you receive
Christ Jesus the Lord, of His fullness have we all received,
and grace for grace. We received him in his fullness. And next, turn to Luke chapter
19. Do you remember Zacchaeus? He was the chief of the publicans.
He was a very bad man. Very bad man. Me and you were
too, weren't we? Think you're any less worse than
him? He was the chief among the publicans. Doesn't get any worse
than that. He was very rich. He'd made his living off deceit
and dishonesty. He was the chief among the publicans.
And he desired to see Jesus who he was. Now that's the first
work of God's grace in the heart. A desire to see Jesus who he
is. You're not even concerned right
now as to whether or not you're saved. You want to know who he
is. A desire to see Jesus who he
was. But he found out he couldn't. He was too short of stature. While he wanted to see Jesus
who He was, he found out that he could not. But he did what
he could. He climbed up in a sycamore tree.
He thought that would help him because Jesus of Nazareth was
to pass that way. And he just wanted to get a glimpse
of Him. I don't know how much of that was a true desire to
know Him, but he just wanted to get a glimpse of Him. He'd
heard so many things about Him. And he climbs up in that sycamore
tree. And the Lord was passing through Jericho. And Zacchaeus
was waiting. And I don't know whether he spied
the Lord at this time or not, but all of a sudden the Lord
stopped. And he looked up in that tree. And he said, and this
is what he did with you. He called you by name. Zacchaeus! He called your name. Make haste! Come down! Today, I must abide
at thy house. And you're the only reason the
Lord Jesus Christ must do anything, is He must do the Father's will. You know what the Scripture said
Zacchaeus did? Look in verse 6. And he made haste. And He came
down, and He received him, how? Joyfully. Joyfully. Now when you first
received the Lord Jesus Christ, when you heard your name called,
and you came down, you see the only way up in the Kingdom of
Heaven is down. You came down, down, down, but that's the best
place to be. And when you came down, and the
only place you can receive Him is from down. You can't receive
Him up here. Down. You received Him joyfully. I think of what comes next when
the Pharisees, the people that were around Zacchaeus, murmured
because the man was gone to be a guest with a sinner. Oh, that
was good news to you! That was great! And you said,
Lord, behold, Half my goods I give to the poor. If I've taken anything
by any man by false accusations, I restore fourfold. And the Lord
said, this day is salvation come into this house, not because
of these things he said, but because he is a son of Abraham.
That's why salvation came into this house. For the son of man
is come to seek and to save that which was lost. When you received
him, you received him joyfully. Now, is there any reason for
change? As you receive Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk ye in
him. Acts chapter two. The setting is the day of Pentecost. The audience, the literal murderers
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter looked at this bunch and
said, Him being delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge
of God, you have taken and with wicked hands have crucified and
have slain. And beloved, if you want to find
out what you're really like, If you want to know the truth
about yourself, if I want to know the truth about myself, if God left you to yourself and
left you alone and left me alone, we would have been the actual
literal murderers of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will not have
this man to reign over us. And that's who Peter was talking
to and he preached the gospel to them. This same Jesus, whom
you crucified, God hath made him Lord and Christ. Verse 41. Then they that gladly
received his word were baptized. And the same day there were added
to them about three thousand souls. Now, there were some who
received his word. Three thousand people were converted,
were saved. But how did they receive it?
gladly. I'll tell you when you'll gladly
receive the word, when you take your place as a guilty sinner
and hear the gospel, oh, you will gladly receive the word
with gladness. Now, how we receive Christ's
person is seen in how we receive his word, the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ, with gladness, hearing it as good news. Paul
said to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 13,
when you receive the word of God, which you heard of us, you
received it not as the word of men, not as the preacher's opinion,
not as a denominational distinctive, not as this religious group's
persuasion. You received it as it is in truth. The word of God. Now, when you receive the word
of God, you receive the word of God gladly. Now, when we hear the gospel,
to see if we agree with what the preacher is saying. If we
hear the gospel. With the cold ear of the critic,
we're going to have no gladness. But when we see our own personal
guilt, as they did on Pentecost, and cried out, Me and Gregory,
what shall we do? Oh, then we receive the Word
of God with gladness. Gladness. Turn to Acts chapter 17. I love this passage of Scripture. Paul was preaching, and we read
in verse 2, and Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them,
and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures,
opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered, and
risen again from the dead. And this Jesus, whom I preach
unto you, is Christ. There's a gospel. And some of
them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas, and of the devout
Greeks, a great multitude, and of the cheap women, not a few.
But the Jews, which believed not, moved with envy, took unto
them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered
a company, and said, All the city on an uproar, to salt of
the house of Jason, and salt to bring them out to the people.
And when they found him not, they drew Jason and certain brethren
unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned
the world upside down are come hither also, whom Jason hath
received. And these all do contrary to
the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one
Jesus, One Jesus, I love that. And they troubled the people
and the rulers of the city when they heard these things. And
when they'd taken the security of Jason and the others, they let
them go. And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night
unto Berea, who coming thither went unto the synagogue of the
Jews. Now listen to this. These were more noble than those
in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness
of mind. And they searched the scriptures
daily, whether these things were so. They received the word. Now, when you first received
the word. And receiving the Lord Jesus Christ is receiving his
word. You received his word with all readiness of mind, didn't
you? Well, as you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, and you wanted
to make sure everything you heard was according to the scriptures.
They search the scriptures daily, whether they say these things
be so you wanted to make sure this is the truth you're hearing.
Well, as you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk ye in
him. Got one more James chapter one. Verse 18, of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of
his creatures. Now, when you first receive Christ
Jesus, the Lord, it's because he of his own will begat you. He birthed you. He gave you life. You were dead, and He took His
Word, and He gave you life, and you believed. And it was a work
of God alone, and you knew it. Of His own will began He us with
what? With the Word of Truth, with
the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, that we should be a kind
of first fruits of His creatures. Wherefore, my beloved brethren,
Since salvation comes through the Word of Truth. Since God
begets through the Word of Truth. Wherefore, my beloved brethren,
let every man be swift to hear. Oh, don't you want to be that?
I want to be swift to hear. Swift to hear what God says.
Swift to bow to what God says. Swift to receive what God says. Let every man be swift to hear.
Slow to speak. Slow to say, here's what I think. Slow to wrath, to pop off at
what God has said, for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness
of God. Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness
and superfluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness. The engrafted word, that means
the implanted word. You know when He begat you? He
implanted His Word in your heart. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. With meekness. I love meekness. It's a fruit of the Spirit. It's
the clothing of God's elect, put on therefore as the elect
of God, holy and beloved, boughs of mercy, meekness, humbleness
of mind. It's the way we're to present
the truth, but most especially, it's the way we're to hear the
truth. with meekness, that spirit that's
in the sight of God of great price. I love that scripture,
meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great
price. Now, when you first heard the
gospel, when you first and really hearing the gospel is receiving
the Lord Jesus Christ. Receive with meekness. the engrafted
word which is able to save your soul. As you receive Christ Jesus
the Lord, don't change it. Don't change. No reason for change.
Receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your
soul. Now that is every place in the
New Testament I found regarding the reception of the Lord Jesus
Christ as you received him. As you received Him. Now if you're
a believer, you received Him. You received Him. You didn't
just receive a new way of thinking or a new lifestyle or a new doctrine.
You received the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. You received
Him. What a blessed day that was and
is. And when you received Him as
Christ Jesus the Lord, you received Him first by asking for Him.
You asked, so walk in Him. You received
Him by believing on His name, so walk ye in Him. You received
Him in His fullness, so walk ye in Him. You received Him joyfully,
so walk ye in Him. I don't care what's going on
in your life. You have a reason for joy, don't you? If you've
received the Lord Jesus Christ. And I don't say that callously.
I mean, there are very many painful things, no doubt. But receive
him joyfully. And receive his word gladly. We receive his word with readiness
of mind, and we receive his word in meekness and humility. As you received Christ Jesus
the Lord for the very first time, may this characterize our walk. As you receive Christ Jesus the
Lord, so walk ye in him. Let's pray together.