I don't recall hearing that fourth
verse ever before. That was a blessing. That is the song that Brother
Mahan had sung when his son was killed in the funeral. They sang that particular hymn,
and I always think of that when I hear that song when his son
was killed in the service. Turn back to Matthew chapter
10 while you're turning there. Aaron Sly had an accident this
week and had a concussion, but he's doing well. He's at home
now and doing well. And we're going to have pig roast
this Sunday, Saturday, excuse me, Saturday. And that's always
very enjoyable. We'll eat around 12. You can
come out before then. If you want to get here at four
or five in the morning, that's when they're going to be here cooking.
So y'all can do that. Also, I was talking to Joe. We're
having some repair work done on the parking lot, if you've
noticed, it's crumbling up and by this winter, it's all going
to turn into gravel. So we're getting that fixed, but they're
wanting a little bit more time. So Sunday evening, we won't have
services because in order to get it ready for next Sunday,
they feel like they need to get started on it Sunday afternoon
and they're going to bust up the concrete. So this Sunday
evening and next Wednesday evening, we're not going to have services
because we're not going to have a parking lot. And I guess I'm
going to get my pay docked. Matthew chapter 10. I sure have
missed you all. I miss you. Enjoyed preaching
where I was at. Enjoyed going to New York, but
my heart's always here and I've missed you and I've heard you
had great service this Sunday and I'm very thankful. Verse 8, once again. Heal the sick. cleanse the lepers,
raise the dead, cast out devils. Isn't that what happens when
God saves somebody? And then our Lord says, freely
you have received. Freely give. I've entitled this message Believers
are receivers. Freely, you have received. Freely, give. Now, when our Lord
says, freely, you have received, that same word is translated
in John chapter 15, verse 27, without a cause. Without a cause
in you, you receive. God didn't have to find a reason
in you to give. Isn't that good news? What if
he had to find a reason in you to give? You wouldn't get anything,
would you? Neither would I. But thank God, he said, freely
you have received, freely give. Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter
4, verse 7, who maketh thee to differ from another? I have no
doubt he's referring to what the Lord said in Exodus chapter
11 verse 7 when he said that you may know he said against
the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue against
man or beast that you may know how that the Lord doth put a
difference between the children of Israel and the Egyptians.
He makes the difference. And if you're saved, you know,
he's made the difference, don't you? made the difference. He made the difference in election
when he chose you. He made the difference in redemption
when Christ paid for your sins. He made the difference in regeneration
when he gave you life. And he's making the difference
right now. The reason you continue to believe is because of him.
He makes the difference. He said, who makes you to differ
from another and what do you have that you did not receive? What do you have? Faith? God
gave it to you. You received it. It didn't come
from you. Do you have the forgiveness of sins? God gave it to you.
You've received it. Do you have repentance? God gave
it to you and you received it. Do you have justification? God
justified you. He gave this to you and you receive
it. Now, there is no merit in the
act of reception. False religion makes the act
of reception the act of salvation. God intends to save everybody.
He wants to save everybody. He desires the salvation of everybody.
He offers salvation to everybody. But as to whether or not anybody
is saved, it's up to you to accept it or reject it. And the difference
in salvation is either your reception or your rejection. You're the
one who ultimately makes the deciding a decision. God offers salvation to all,
but you have to receive it. Now, in John chapter 3, verse
27, we read a man can receive nothing except it be given him
from above. You know, we can't even receive
unless he gives us the grace to receive. I can't even receive. He's got to enable me to receive. And it's amazing to me how men
try to make this act of reception a thing of merit. Can you imagine
reading the headlines? The big top news story, Becker
receives charity. What? Is that where the emphasis
should be? I mean, like the Becker did something
meritorious in receiving that charity. Look at this Becker,
he received charity. Shouldn't he be commended? Of
course not. No, the emphasis is the one who gives the charity,
not the one who receives it. What do you have that you did
not receive? Now, what is this thing of receiving? The Lord said, freely, you've
received. Freely give. What does it mean
to receive? Well, if you give me a gift, I receive it. Thankfully, I'm thankful. I know I didn't earn it. I know
it's a gift, but I receive it. Now, I take a paycheck. When
I take a paycheck, I'm not thinking, well, you know, I just humbly
received it. No, I work for it. I got it coming. If we work for our money, we
don't say, I mean, we're grateful to get it. We're grateful that
God gave us the jobs. We're grateful for what he's
done, but we take a paycheck. You know, when the Lord is pictured
in Revelation chapter 5 as the lion of the tribe of Judah. The
scripture says he came and he took the book out of the hand
of him who sat on the throne. He took it as one who is equal
to the Father. There's an equality involved
in taking something, but when you receive something, it's the
inferior receiving it from the superior. We receive. what it is that he gives. Gratefully, thankfully, but we
receive it knowing, knowing, knowing that there's no merit
in the reception of it. Now, don't you know that anything
you receive, there's no merit in that. You even know that it
was God that gave you the grace to receive it. You know, the
order is like this. He purposes to give. He gives. He gives the grace
to receive. And we receive. It's like He
does it all. What do you have that you did
not receive? Believers are receivers. Oh, that I might be a receiver,
a receiver of His great grace. Now, first of all, when we receive,
freely you receive, freely give. We receive him. We receive him. It's not just a doctrine we receive. We receive a person. We receive
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. In John chapter 1, verses
12 and 13, it says, but as many as receive him. to them gave
ye the power to become the sons of God, even to them which believe
on his name." Now, when I receive him, I really believe his name
is what saves me. His person. That's what you...
Here's the scripture that I thought, receiving him. Our Lord said,
I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. Now, I need a
way to God. He is the way. And I receive
Him in that if I need Him, I'm already there. I need the truth. I need to be told the truth. He is the truth. And I receive Him in all His
fullness. I need life. He doesn't say,
I'll give you life. He doesn't say, I'll birth you. He says, I am the life. My life is the life, and I receive
that his life is my life before God. He's the way to God, he's
the truth of God, and he's the life before God, and I receive
him. As many as receive him, he gives
himself to me, I receive him. What do you have? that you did
not receive. It's to rest the entire burden
of my salvation on him. It's to believe that I am a poor
sinner and nothing at all. But Jesus Christ is my all in
all. We receive him. We don't simply
receive a proposition. We don't receive a bunch of doctrines
and facts. We receive him. And what we believe
is determined by who we believe. I mean, if we receive him, we
receive everything about him. We receive a whole Christ. We receive him. And we receive
him joyfully. I like what it says about Zacchaeus.
He said, make haste and come down, for today I must abide
at thy house. And the scripture says he made
haste and he came down and received him joyfully. You can't, you
receive him and you'll do it joyfully. You'll do it with gladness,
rejoicing that he is salvation. Turn with me to John chapter
one. John chapter one. This is an amazing scripture.
Verse 15. John, bear witness of him, John
1, 15, John, bear witness of him and cried, saying, This was
he of whom I speak. He that cometh after me is preferred
before me, for he was before me and of his fullness. Have we all received? And grace for grace, you know,
it takes grace to receive grace. And of his fullness, have we
all received? Now, what's that all about? Turn
over to Colossians, Chapter two. Colossians, Chapter two. Verse nine. For in him The Lord Jesus Christ
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Now, what all does that mean?
I don't know, but it sounds glorious, doesn't it? All the fullness
of the Godhead, all the immensity of God dwells in the Lord Jesus
Christ. In Him dwells infinite immenseness
in a person. All that God is, is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And look what it says in verse
10. And you are, see that word complete? It's the same word
that's translated fullness in verse 9. You are fullness. And this is speaking of every
believer. You have all the fullness of the righteousness of God.
You have all the fullness of justification before God. You
have all the fullness of redemption. You have all the fullness of
the Godhead in Christ, and you are complete. You are full in
Him. That means you can't get any
more love than you are right now. How pleased is God with
Christ? Answer that. How pleased is God
with Christ? That's how pleased he is with
you. You are complete. You know what
I do with that? I don't understand it, but I
sure enough receive it. I receive it. I believe it. I
rest in it. I am complete in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We receive his word. Turn to
First Thessalonians, chapter two, just a couple of pages over
First Thessalonians, chapter two, verse 13. Now, you can't
separate the person of Christ and the word of Christ. Cannot
be separated. He's known by what he says, what
he said, the faith once delivered to the saints. You can't separate
the person of Christ from the word of Christ. And if you receive
the person of Christ, you receive his word. Look in verse 13 of
first Thessalonians, chapter two for this cause. Also, thank
we God without ceasing, because when you received. The word of
God, which you heard of us, you received it not as the word of
men, But as it is in truth, the Word of God which effectually
worketh in you. Now, we believe His Word and
we receive His Word, first of all, as authoritative. What do
I mean by that? His Word determines what I believe.
I don't go to His Word to prove what I believe. Oh, may God deliver
me from that. I don't go to His Word to prove
what I believe. I go to His Word to find out
what to believe. His word is authoritative. If
He said it, it's settled. I hate that saying, God said
it, I believe it, and that settles it. No, God said it, and that
settles whether you or I believe it or not. It really makes no
difference. His word is authoritative, and we receive His word with
gladness. Acts 2 41, they gladly received
His word. You can't receive His word and
not receive it with gladness. Now, when I when I receive the
truth of the scripture, salvation is in Christ, it's not in my
works, I receive that with gladness. When I hear that I'm complete
in him and that I don't need anything else, I receive that
with gladness. When I read that all my sin is
put away by the blood of Christ, I receive that with gladness.
You can't hear the gospel and truly hear it without it being
good news, can you? We receive his word with gladness. He that received his testimony
has set to a seal that God is true. Now, we receive his word. And here's what it is to receive
his word. Of his fullness have we all received. You know what? I believe him. I believe I'm complete. I believe
I need nothing else that all that God requires of me. I receive,
like a little child. You know, there's little children.
You know what they do when their parents tell them something?
You know what they do? They believe it. They believe it. That's what it is to receive
his word. It's to believe what he said. Turn to Acts chapter
10. Acts chapter 10. Verse 43. To him, give all the prophets
witness. Acts chapter 10, verse 43. To
him, give all the prophets witness that through his name, Whosoever believeth in him shall
receive remission of sins. They shall receive remission
of sin. Now, the word remission means
more than forgive. It's a dismissal. Case dismissed. No evidence against. Justified. Now, what will it be like to
stand before God on judgment day? I don't want to, in a way,
I don't want you to do this, I don't want to do it, but I
don't know how to say this. Think of the sins you've committed
this week. Think of the willful sins you've committed this week. Today. And what's it going to
be like when the books are opened and there's nothing there? Nothing there. We receive the
remission, the disannulling, the putting away of sins. There's
nothing there. Thank God, there's nothing there. There's nothing to condemn me
for. That's how effectual the blood of Christ is. My sin became
His. He had to bear it. And He put
it away. And now when the books are opened,
There's nothing there. We receive the forgiveness, the
remission of sins. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 2. See how believers are receivers? You know, the Lord said it's
more blessed to give than to receive. And in this thing of
salvation, the Lord's the more blessed. He's the one who does
the giving. We're the ones who do the receiving.
1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 12. Now we have received. We have received not the spirit
of the world, but the spirit which is of God that we might
know the things that are freely. Without a cause in us. The things
that are freely given to us. Of God. That takes the spirit
of God to enable us to know the things that are freely given
to us of God. But think about all. I could
talk all night about this. Forgiveness of sins. Justification, being justified
before God, being redeemed by the blood of Christ. Everything,
sanctification, adoption. Being a child, these are things
we know they're freely given to us. And that's where our confidence
is. They're freely, without a cause, they're given to us. And there's
my confidence. We know the things that are freely
given to us of God. Turn to Romans chapter one. Verse five. By whom? the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom
we have received grace and apostleship for obedience,
grace for obedience to the faith among all nations for his name,
we have received grace. Now listen real carefully. Grace
is God's unmerited favor, not offered but given, without it
being earned in any way. God's grace is not in any way
dependent upon human works, worth, or will. It depends solely on
God and cannot be lost by guilt, nor earned by merit. Grace, listen
to me, grace is absolutely free of human influence. by whom we have received grace.
That begins with electing grace. We receive it. You receive electing
grace. I sure do. I'm glorying it. I love it. Justifying
grace, we receive it. Redeeming grace, we receive it.
Preserving grace, we receive it. Glorifying grace, we receive
it. We receive grace. Truly, grace causes thanksgiving
and boldness, doesn't it? If salvation really is by grace,
I can come into his presence and expect to be heard. Look in Romans 5, verse 11. And not only so, but we also
joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received. And that word is We've received
the atonement. And my marginal reading says
the reconciliation. And that's what it is. God is
reconciled. God's not mad at me. And the only way I can get a
hold of that is by faith, because I don't get it by feeling. Because
I always feel like He's mad at me about something. That's the way we think. And
He had a reason to, as far as that goes. But the fact of the
matter is, we receive this reconciliation. This is what the Lord did on
the cross. He reconciled us to himself.
God does not have a reason to be angry with me. He doesn't have a reason. And
you know what I do? I receive that. We receive the
reconciliation. Can you receive that? You know,
one of the things I was amazed at when people talk about what
you need to learn to forgive yourself. I've never had any problem with
that. I can do that. Can I receive His reconciliation
toward me? Believe it. Reckon yourselves
to be dead in deed to sin. We receive the reconciliation. Galatians chapter 4. I guess you can figure out how
I came up with the points of this message. I just looked up
in the concordance everywhere where you receive something.
Galatians chapter 4. Verse 4, But when the fullness
of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made
under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that
we might receive the adoption of sons. You know what that means? That means we can say, Our Father. which are in heaven. And the
Lord said to his disciples, if you then being evil, know how
to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly
Father give good things? The Holy Spirit said then to
ask him, your heavenly Father. Christ Jesus calls God the Father,
your Heavenly Father. And this is the adoption of sons. You know what children do? They
ask for things. That's what children do. They
ask for things. That's probably the most predominant
characteristic of a child. They don't have any problem with
asking their parents for things. They ask for things. Ask, and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock
and it shall be opened to you. You see, he's your heavenly father. And we receive that. A child
of God. Abraham is called in Hebrews
11, 17, him who received the promises. Now we received the
promises of God. All the promises of God. There's
so many of them. They're all in him, yea, and
amen. And you know what we do? We receive
them. Any promise in the Word, for
instance, all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to His purpose. You know what
I do? I receive it. I really believe that everything, everything,
no matter how tragic it may be, works together for good to them
that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose,
and I hold on to that. I receive that promise. Hebrews 9.15 says, They which
are called receive the promise of eternal inheritance. What
we are, what we have, being joint heirs with Christ, all the promises
we have out of that we receive. I turn to Colossians chapter
2. I want you to look at this passage of scripture with me. Colossians chapter 2. Verse 6, As you have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. How did you receive
him? First of all, you received him
as an empty-handed sinner, needing a Savior. Do you ever graduate
past that? As you receive Christ Jesus the
Lord, as an empty-handed sinner, needing a Savior, so walk ye
in Him. How did you receive Him? Freely. You knew He was a gift. I love
what Paul called Him. is writing under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, and he talks about the Lord Jesus Christ being
the gift of God. He says, thanks be unto God for
his unspeakable gift. I mean, under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, a word still couldn't come up properly. Isn't
that amazing? The unspeakable gift. You receive
him as God's unspeakable gift. You receive him thankfully, you
receive him joyfully, you receive him as your Lord and Savior. As you receive Christ Jesus the
Lord, so walk in him. You know, it's said of Sarah,
I like this, it's said of Sarah, she received strength to conceive,
see. Now, she had already gone through
menopause, and it was impossible for her to have a baby. But she
received strength to conceive. In other words, she received
strength to do that which was impossible for her to do. And
isn't that what we do? We receive strength to believe.
We receive strength to repent. We receive strength to love. We receive strength to We receive
strength to pray. We receive strength to do that
which is impossible for us to do. Now, turn to Luke 15, one other
passage of Scripture. We're not the only receivers.
There's somebody else who receives. Luke, Chapter 15. You know, that's a good definition
of a believer, isn't it? A believer is a receiver. A believer
is a receiver. But look here in Luke chapter
15. Thank God there's somebody else who's a receiver. Then drew near unto him all the
publicans and sinners, for to hear him. Now, these are people who had
been exposed. These were people who were guilty. These were people who you would
have considered vile, sinful, evil people. Now, I love to think
of this site that all these people drew near to hear what he had
to say. You know, there's one of the
glorious things about the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's true holiness. And sinners could come into his
presence without feeling threatened. Without feeling condemned. Without
feeling judged. They could come into his presence
to hear him. Have you ever been around a real
religious person that you just feel real uncomfortable around
them and you know that they're looking down their nose at you
and you know that they're judging you? The Lord wasn't that way. And he's the only one who's holy.
These other fellows who act like that, they're big hypocrites
is all they are. They're just as sinful as you are, probably
worse. But they could come near to our Lord. Look what it says
in verse two. And the Pharisees and scribes
murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners. And he eats with them
while he has fellowship with them. He extends it in the right
hand. He embraces them. And they were
criticizing him for this. And yet, they didn't know that
they couldn't have been saying anything more glorious regarding
him. This man, he receives sinners. And you know, that's the only
type of person he receives. Nobody else. The only type of person
he receives is a sinner. And not only does he receive
them, he eats with them. He makes them his friends. He
makes them his confidants. He saves them by his grace. He's
a receiver. He receives sinners. Lord, make me a receiver in everything
that I've said. Make me a receiver. and receive
me for Christ's sake. Let's pray.