Believing and Confessing Christ

Now let's open our Bibles to
Romans chapter 10, the 10th chapter of Romans. And Paul says in verse 1 and
2, Brethren, brethren, my heart's desire. This is the preacher's sincere,
innermost heart's desire and wish. And it's my prayer to God
that Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear them record, he says,
yes I know, I know these people. I'm one of them. I was raised
among them. My mother was a Hebrew, my father
was a Hebrew. I was brought up at the feet
of the neighbor of them. I was a Pharisee. I was a follower
of the law. I bear them record. I know these
people. they have a zeal of God. They have an enthusiasm for God.
They have a, they're not indifferent toward God, toward his word,
but it's not according to knowledge. Now these Jews of whom Paul is
speaking here were not atheists. These were religious people,
religious like my generation. had a zeal for the law, they
had a zeal for the traditions of the fathers, they had a zeal
for the ceremony, they kept the feast days and the holy days.
But Paul said they were ignorant, they were spiritually ignorant.
They did not know the father. Christ said, you don't know me,
you don't know my father. They did not understand the spirituality
or purpose of the law. They didn't understand the ceremony.
just like my generation talks about Jesus being born in Bethlehem. They don't understand why he
was born in Bethlehem. They talk about the cross. They
don't understand why he died on the cross. They talk about
his resurrection, but they're ignorant. They're ignorant. That's
what Paul says about these. These weren't atheists. These
were religious people. They were zealous. They were
people that had a zeal for God. They loved the traditions, and
the form, and the ceremonies, but he said they're ignorant.
They're ignorant. All right, read the next verse.
They're ignorant of God's righteousness. They're ignorant of the purity
and holiness of God's law, and they're ignorant of the strictness
of God's justice. They're ignorant of what God
requires. They're ignorant. They're trying
to merit. Here's what he says in the next
line, listen, and they're going about with all this activity,
this religious activity. They're going about to establish
their own righteousness. They're trying to merit acceptance
with God on the strength of their work, on the strength of their
deeds and their religious duties. Is that not a picture of this
day? They're trying to merit acceptance with God by what they
do. They're ignorant of God's righteousness.
They're ignorant of what God requires. They're ignorant of
what God demands. And listen to the next line.
And they have not and will not submit themselves unto the righteousness
of God. They refuse. They have a zeal for God, they
talk about heaven, they talk about the Bible, they talk about
God's word, they talk about Jesus, they talk about the cross, they
talk about the blood, they talk about these things, but he says
they're ignorant. They know nothing of God's righteousness,
they know nothing of the strictness of God's holiness, God's law,
and God's justice. They're totally ignorant of this
thing. consequently, being ignorant of what God does require, they're
going about to establish on the principle of works and deeds
and duties, an acceptance with God, a righteousness of their
own. They refuse, absolutely refuse, to submit to the righteousness
of God. They refuse to submit to Christ. You see, Christ is the righteousness
of God. Christ in the flesh, Christ on
the cross, Christ in glory, Christ himself is our righteousness. The divine, someone said, the
divine method of acceptance with God, the divine method of justification
before God, the divine method of reconciliation with God requires
nothing of me It requires only that I submit to Christ, that
I receive Christ, that I believe Christ. You see that? But they
refuse that. Here's the righteousness of God,
here's Christ. Christ incarnate, Christ obedient,
Christ crucified, Christ risen, Christ ascended, Christ seated,
Christ accepted, Christ interceded. We refuse that. God said, this
is the way. I'm the way, the truth, and the
life. We refuse that. And instead, we go about to establish
our own righteousness, our own holiness, based on what we do,
and we say, God, these be my offerings to thee. And God won't
have it. God does not require me to produce
a righteousness. Almighty God requires me to receive
one. Almighty God does not require
that I produce life, but that I receive life already perfected
in Christ. You see, that's what Paul is
saying here. Or verse four, now what's this? Or he said, Christ,
Jesus Christ, is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believes it. Now there's several things suggested
here, three things in particular, for Christ is the end. of the
law for righteousness, for holiness, for acceptance of God, for reconciliation
to God, to everyone that can believe on him, everyone that
can receive him, there's several things suggested. Number one,
to embrace Christ truly with the heart, to embrace Christ,
to receive Christ means literally the end of the law as a means
of justification. It's finished. It's done. It's
over. We abandon all hope in the law
as a way of life, in the law as a way of acceptance, in the
law as a way of righteousness. We abandon, we repent of all
these dead works, and we look to Christ alone. That's the end
of it. We take it away the first. He takes it away because he fulfills
it, he satisfies it, and he establishes the second. So Christ Jesus,
in his righteousness and in his obedience, is the total end of
the law as a means of justification. It does not even exist as a means
of justification. It's not even there. It's not
even for that purpose. That's the end of it. You see
that? That's what that means. Christ is the end. He's the finish.
The law has no part in me or in my life or in my acceptance
with God. It has no, it plays no part whatsoever. It's over. It takes it away from
me. All right? The second thing suggested here
is this. Christ is the end, or Christ
is the goal of the law to bring the sinner to Christ. That's
why the law was given, to bring the sinner to Christ. Turn with
me to Galatians. Let me show you that over here
in Galatians 3. Galatians chapter 3. Now, when I say the law, I'm
not talking about the Ten Commandments. No, not all the laws are. I'm
talking about all the Levitical law, the types, the tabernacle,
the sacrifices, the picture, the patterns, the shadows, the
types, the high priest, the atonement, the mercy seat, all of the different
furniture in the tabernacle, every sacrifice, every meat offering,
every drink offering, I'm talking, John, about everything incorporated
in the Levitical law, in the Old Testament law. That's what
we're talking about. And that law was given, now watch this,
verse 24, Galatians 3, wherefore the law was our schoolmaster,
our teacher, our teacher to bring us unto Christ, that we may be
justified by faith. You see, the law could never
say all the blood on Jewish altars,
if you take all the lambs that were ever slain, bloodshed still
on Jewish altars, and put all that blood together, it wouldn't
put away one transgression of one. You could take all the atonement,
and all the high priests entering the holy of holies, and all the
blood sprinkled on the mercy seat, and every Sabbath day,
and every special day, and every holy day, and everything that
was done back there as a pick and a type, and put it all together,
and he wouldn't put away one thing. It was never given for
that person. It was given to point to Christ.
Christ is our tabernacle. I know you see that. Christ is
our truth, Christ is our center, Christ is our record, Christ
is our fabric, Christ is all these things, and all these things
were given to show him, to picture him. You see that? That's what
this is saying here. The law was our schoolmaster,
our teacher, to bring us to Christ. You don't stop with the law. You see what the law says and
you turn to Christ. The law points to Christ. Like
John the Baptist stood there that day and said, Behold the
Lamb of God. Well, those people to whom he was speaking, and
to whom he said that, would be foolish to keep hanging on to
his coattails, you know, and keep saying, Well, John, teach
us, I just taught you. Christ, there's the Lamb of God.
Love him, follow him, believe him, rest in him, go to him.
Don't stay with me, go to him. I have fulfilled my duty when
I point you the cross. And that's what the law does.
Look at the next verse. But after that faith has come, we're no
longer under the schoolmaster. You're no longer under a law
of the tithe, or the law of the Sabbath day, or the law of the
priesthood, you're no longer under those things. And if you
look in religion today, you'll see so much of that law being
brought back to politicism, and you say, well don't criticize
other religions, you have to if you take the first. You see Catholicism with its
priesthood, you see Catholicism with its holy of holies, you
see the mass and all these things, and that's nothing in the world
but going back under that old law. And the same thing when
you make Sunday a Sabbath day and tell people they're going
to do certain things, or go certain places, or do all this sort of
thing, you're incorporating that law once again. If you come to
people and say you've got the ties to the faith, you're right
back under the law. You've got to be baptized to
be saved, you're right back under that law. You've got to sprinkle
your child to bring it into the covenant, you're right back under
that law. Don't put it back under that
law. It's finished. It's done. Christ is the end. You see, that's what he's saying
here. Verse 4, Christ is the goal. The law is the schoolmaster,
the teacher, the tutor that says, there's Christ. These things
are pictures of Christ, they're nothing but patterns, they're
shadows, and not the very image of those things, and they cannot,
with all these offerings, let that pose itself. Can't do it? Can't do it. All right, thirdly,
here's the third thing said here. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believes it. The law contains
terms of life. What did the law say? It said,
do this and live. You know what the law says? Do
this and live. do this and this. Christ is the
end of those times. Bill said it this morning. The
difference is two letters. The gospel says done. The law
says do. It's never, the law still says
do. Do this and this, do this and this. But I'll tell you this,
it says do it all. Not the part that pleases you
the most, but the part that comes the easiest to you. It says do
it all, doesn't it? knew that would be under the
law. Don't you hear the law? First, it is everyone that continue
not in all things written in the book of the law, not to admire
them, not to agree with them, but to do them. We'll look at
the next verse first time. For Moses, he described the righteousness
which is of the law. He described it to us. The righteousness
which is of the law says this, that the man which doeth those
things, the man that what? it those things. And I'll tell
you this, it's doing them perfectly, absolutely perfectly, not only
in deed, but in thought, in motive, in attitude. In other words,
the law does not require the best I can do. You hear people
say, I'm doing the best I can. Well, that's not good enough.
The law requires not only the best you can do, the law requires
the best that God can do. Did you know that? That's what
the law requires. The best that God can do. Perfect love to God,
and perfect love to his creatures, and a perfect heart before God,
and a perfect walk before God, and this cannot be done by a
fallen creature. It's an impossibility. But that's
what the law requires. That's what Moses said. But,
now watch these next two verses, but that righteousness, that
holiness, that acceptance of God, which is of faith, it speaketh
on this while. Say not in thine heart, who shall
ascend into heaven? That is, to bring Christ down
from above. Or, who shall descend into the
deep? That is, to bring up Christ again from the dead. So what
does that mean, preacher? Well, The best help that I've
ever received on these two verses is from John Brown, a writer
many years ago, and this is what he said. Now watch the verse.
Verse five, he said, the righteousness which is of the law, if that's
the course you're going to pursue, if that's the way you're going
to seek to set this before God, the righteousness which is of
the law says this, perfection, absolute, immaculate, holy, infinite
perfection. but the righteousness which is
of faith speaketh on this while." Listen, John Brown said this,
do not think that divine justification depends upon something to be
done by you, or something to be done by your fellow man. There's
no need to say, well who shall ascend into heaven? Who, me or
who, shall ascend into heaven to bring the Messiah down? The
Messiah has already come. Messiah has already performed
the work which he came to do. He has finished a righteousness,
he has fulfilled a redemption, and there's no need to say who
shall ascend into heaven and bring the Messiah down, nor who
shall descend into the deep to bring him up from the grave.
He has risen. He has come for our redemption,
and he has risen for our justification. and he intercedes for us at the
right hand of God, and that gospel which reveals his holiness, his
righteousness, tells us it's finished. It's finished. A righteousness fulfilled, a
righteousness with which Almighty God is well pleased. a righteousness
that is as perfect as God, and the all-sufficient Savior is
to be received and believed and confessed. Now, what's the next
verse? What saith it? That good news, that gospel is
near you, it is about you, it is around you, it is preached
to you, it is even in your mouth, it is even in your heart, That
is, it's the word of faith, it's the simplicity of Christ, it's
the good news which we preach, and here it is, that if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, and shalt believe
in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead. Now
this is not working, this is not serving, this is believing. I'm saying to everybody in here,
start with this picture right here. It doesn't matter your
age, it doesn't matter your background, it doesn't matter whether you've
been the world's greatest sinner in the world or in religion,
it doesn't matter your intelligence, it doesn't matter male or female,
it doesn't matter bond or free, it doesn't matter Jew or Gentile,
I'm saying it's thou. It's thou. shall confess with
thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, Jesus Christ to be Lord, and truly,
actually, sincerely, in your heart, believe that God raised
you from the dead, thou shalt be saved. But Brother Mahan,
there's something I must do. Yeah? Believe on Christ. But
there's some work, surely there's some work I must perform. Yeah?
Believe on Christ. But surely there's a faithfulness
required, a faithfulness in believing on Christ. Now if you go back,
now listen to me. Paul said this religious world
is no different, no different there than it is now. No different. He said, he said, I want back
yonder. Those people were wrapped up
in religion, they were dedicated to religion, they weren't atheists.
They were moral, ceremonialists, traditionalists, legalists, up
in their religion. They were striving for heaven,
they were striving for life after death, they were striving for
acceptance with God, but they were ignorant of God's way of
acceptance, totally ignorant. And the principal place in which
they were ignorant was how God could be just and justify our
sin, or God's righteousness, the righteousness provided, the
righteousness because they were ignorant of that. They were going
about to establish their own. it be walking in an isle, or
whether it be being baptized, being baptized, or whether it
be partaking of a sacrament, or a Lord's table, or whether
it be giving a gift, or whether it be witnessing to someone,
or whether it be abstaining from certain sins, or whether it be
giving my income, or whether it be living a moral life, or
what it is they were going about this, that God accept me. I can't accept this. The only
way I can accept you, the law says this, that the man that
would live by those things must be perfect. I cannot accept you. I cannot, God cannot accept,
God cannot, God cannot accept you, God cannot receive you,
God cannot have any dealings with you on that basis. Well,
what shall I do? Shall I send him to heaven and
bring down the Messiah? He's already come. Well, shall
I descend into the deep and bring up Christ? He's already risen
and ascended and is seated. Now, here's the word. You've
heard it a thousand times. It's all around you. It's near
you. It's in your mouth. You've used the word Jesus Christ. You've spoken the name. It's
in your mouth, in your heart. If you'll confess with your mouth
Jesus to be who he said he is, who God said he is, and believe
it in your heart. Now, shut up! The heart, verse 15. With the heart, man believeth unto righteousness.
It's not with the hands that righteousness is worked out.
It's not with the feet. I admire men who go to the mission
field. But you could go to every mission
field in the world and give your very last blood and die on the
field serving in humanitarian purposes and miss God. Did you
know that? Because it's not with the feet
righteousness is worked at. You can work, you can feed the
hungry, you can labor and take care of the sick, You can give
your hands to build people houses and to build churches in which
people can worship God. You can work with your hands,
but it's not with the hands that righteousness is worked out. You can stand in the pulpit and
preach, but it's not with the tongue that righteousness is
worked out. And you can give your body to
be burned as a murderer, but it's not by dying, your dying,
that righteousness is worked out. It's his dying. How do you receive it? With the
heart, not with a hand, not with a feet, not with a tongue, and
not with your tradition. With the heart, man believeth
unto righteousness. I'm telling you the truth. This
is where they miss it. This is where my generation's
missing it. This is where all the glad, good people are missing
it. Right here. Right here. With
the heart, man believeth. of the righteousness, holiness,
acceptance with God, and now confession made unto salvation.
Now, in commenting on, I want to dwell on these two verses,
just a few minutes. And in commenting on these two
verses, we'll talk a little bit, preach to talk a little bit about
this believing and confessing Christ, believing and confessing
Christ. It says here, if a man believes Christ and confesses
Christ, he's saved. Is that not what it says? He
who believes Christ and confesses Christ. All right, in commenting
on these verses, three things have to be said first. Notice
the order in which they come. Notice the order. See, it's essential. Believing comes before confessing. Believing, with the heart, man
believing of the righteousness, and confession is made on the
salvation. To confess what I do not believe is apocryphe, and
God won't have that. That's what's wrong. I'll just
be polite. He said, brother man, I notice
you don't dedicate babies or sprinkle babies. You don't baptize
babies. No, sir. That could never be
acceptable with Almighty God, because believing has got to
come before confession. Got to precede it. Has to. Absolutely
has to. Christ said he that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. When Philip was talking to the
eunuch, He talked to him about the gospel, he talked to him
about Christ, he talked to him about life in Christ. And the
eunuch saw some water after they'd ridden a long, I'm sure a long
ways, and Philip had preached the gospel to him. And this man
saw the water there, and he said, here's water, what would hinder
me from being baptized? And Philip, what'd he say to
him? If you believe, you may. But you can't be baptized and
have any meaning at all unless you believe. You see that? Notice the connection between
the two. With the heart man believeth under righteousness, with the
mouth confession is made unto salvation. We confess Christ
because we believe Christ. That's why I confess Christ,
because I believe Christ, I cannot do otherwise. Confessing Christ
is the effect of believing Christ. If I do, I will. If I do, I will. If any man be in Christ, well,
he ought to be a new Christian. He is a new Christian. And if
any man believes Christ, he will confess Christ. The Apostle said,
I can't help but speak those things I've seen and heard. Got
to. Just like, if that comes from
cause. I believe, therefore I speak."
That's when David said that and Paul said that. I believe, therefore
I speak. I have to. I will. If I do, I
will. They're together. It's like repentance
and faith. You can't separate them. A man's never believed
unless he's repented, and a man's never repented who doesn't believe.
A man never turns to God unless he turns from his idols, and
he'll never turn from his idols unless he turns to God. They're
inseparable. And my friends, no matter what
people say, you can talk about antinomianism, you can talk about
liberty, you can talk about whatever you want to, but I tell you this,
the result of faith, the result of faith and confession is salvation. That's right, that's what Look
at my text in verse 10 again. With the heart, verse 9, if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, and shall actually
believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, you shall
be saved. I love the shalls and the wills
of God's Word, don't you? For the sheep I have, them also
I must bring, and they shall be one bull and one shepherd. I give unto my sheep eternal
life, and they shall never perish." If you believe that your heart
has confessed Christ, you shall be saved. You shall be saved. Now what's this? I do not doubt
that a man is saved who truly believes in Christ, who truly
receives Christ before he confesses Christ. I believe he's saved
before he confesses Christ. Yes, I believe he is, I'm sure
of it. But when the Lord puts these two together, let no man
put them asunder. He has put believing and confessing
together, has he not? Yes, sir. I believe that baptism,
I don't believe baptism contributes anything to my salvation, but
I just question whether or not a person truly loves and knows
Christ who is not willing to confess Christ in the way that
he commanded us to confess him. Because he said in Matthew 28,
he told his disciples, now you go into all the world and make
disciples, and do what? And baptize them, and baptize
them. He said in Mark 16, you go into
all the world and preach the gospel, he that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved. And in Acts 2.37, Peter stood
before those people and they said, what shall we do? He said,
repent and be baptized. And Ananias came to speak with
the Saul of Tarsus, and he told him, he said, the God of our
fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldst know his will,
that thou shouldst see the just one, and that thou shouldst hear
the words of his mouth, and that thou shouldst be a witness in
all nations. And then he said to him, what
are you waiting on? Arise and be baptized, and wash
away your sins. It's not what I think ought to
be done, or what I consider is necessary or unnecessary. I'm
simply saying, like Mary, when the king of Galilee, when they
ran out of wine, and they came and told her, and she went and
told the Lord Jesus Christ, and then she told the servants, she
said this, Whatsoever things he saith unto you, do it. Isn't that good advice? whatever he sayeth to you, just
do it. Just do it. I've had people in
this congregation who made professions of faith back there in religion,
and they realized that was a false profession. And they sat here
and heard the gospel and told me the Lord saved me, the Lord
revealed Christ to my heart, the Lord revealed the Savior
to my heart. What do you think I ought to do about baptism?
Well, preacher, what do you tell them? I tell them this. I say,
what do you think you ought to do about baptism? That's the way I answer them.
I'm not going to tell you what to do. And time will pass and
they'll come to me and they'll say something like this. You
know, that thing of baptism is still bothering me. And you know
what I say then? Why don't you do something about it? If something's bothering you,
why don't you do something about it? And then it won't bother
you anymore. The very fact it's bothering
you ought to be an indication you ought to do something about
it. It's not what I think, it's not what I suppose, it's just
what you say. So, those three things, then
I'll move into some questions here. Number one, belief comes
before confession. I will not confess what I do
not believe, that's a hypothesis. I will not confess what I do
not do. Don't do it. Don't do it. I have people say,
well, I think I'll join your church. Don't do it, I say. Don't
do it. I think I'll let you back, Pastor.
Don't do it. Don't do it. You come to this thing of a relationship
with Christ, sincere heart, faith in Him, and then spontaneously
you confess Him. Spontaneously you identify with
His people. Spontaneously. you would declare
what has been done. That's right. Belief precedes
confession. Secondly, they'll go together.
They'll be there. If one's there, the other will
be there. And thirdly, I candidly and openly declare unto you,
if you can, if you sincerely can, if you can believe me, I'm
not saying serving, I'm not saying witness, I'm not saying become
religious, I'm not saying join the church, I'm saying if you
can, in your heart, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and confess
Him, you shall be saved. You shall be saved. I may be
the weakest sheep he has, but I'm a sheep. I may be the most
fumbling, foolish, pautering, fleshly sheep he has, but I'm
a sheep if I believe. I'm a sheep if I can believe. I may not can lead in public
prayer. I may not can, I may not can
formulate my theology like some people can. I may not be able
to systematically declare what happened in the garden and what
happened all the way through, but if I can believe on Christ,
I'm Now, here's the four questions. I'm preaching too long, but let
me, these things are important. The first question is, what is
it, what is it, what is it that I am to believe? Just tell me
specifically and candidly, what is it I am to believe and confess? Well, it's clear from the text.
Look at the text again, verse 9. that if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus,
it's the Lord Jesus I'm to believe, it's the Lord Jesus I'm to confess,
it's the person, it's not just any Jesus, it's the Lord Jesus,
it's Jesus to the Lord, it's the person, listen to me
carefully, it's the person, it's the work, It's the character,
it's the name, it's the offices of our blessed Lord that I'm
to believe and confess. It's to look to him, it's to
rest in him, it's to bow to him, it's to receive him, and it's
to rest in him is my hope of life. Now not, it's the whole
Christ. Does that make sense what I'm
saying? My generation seems to want to give me a divided Christ. They seem to want to emphasize
a particular part of Christ to the exclusion of the other. Let
me say this. This thing, what is it to believe?
It's to believe that Christ is the surety of an everlasting
covenant. He is the surety, the foundation,
the framework on which the cornerstone on which that very covenant was
decreed, designed, and ordered. He is the surety, okay? He's
the mediator of that covenant, all right? His blood is the blood
of that covenant. Christ is no afterthought. Christ
is not something God scurried around through heaven and found
when man surprised him by his fall. He is the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. I believe in him that way. You
with me? Secondly, he is the Son of God.
Co-equal, co-eternal, he is the Father. That's right, the everlasting
Father. He is the Prince of Peace. That's
right. He is God, and He is man. He is the Messiah. He is the
Christ. He is the promised prophet like Moses, priest like Melchizedek,
king like David. He is the apostle, the proclaimer,
the high priest of our profession. That's what He is. He's the God's
man. Can you believe that? Now, if
thou shalt believe, if thou shalt believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
He's my wisdom. He is the wisdom of God. I can't
know everything I think is foolishness till I see Christ, till I love
Christ, till I rest in Christ. Anything, your thoughts are not
God's thoughts. There's a way that seems right
to me, and in the end is death. Christ is wisdom. In Him is wisdom. He is God's wisdom. Anyone who
does not know Christ doesn't know a scintilla about God's
wisdom, or God. In fact, everything I think about
God is wrong until I meet Christ. That's right. He's my blessing.
He's my righteousness. He is my holiness. He is my sanctification. He is my redemption. He is my
sin offering. He is my happiness. He is my
atonement. He is my acceptance. He is my
mediator. Not Mary or Saint Jude or Saint
Christopher or Mother Teresa or no one else can help or do
this sinner any good, only cause me trouble. They bring me down
with themselves. Christ is all, all, all, and
in all. He's all between the sinner and
God. I wish I could get that across
to people. He is the intercessor. He's my reason for living, and
loving, and hoping, and rising. He is the whole thing. Martin
Luther, Martin Luther was a great son of a miner, more than 600,
700 years ago. Martin Luther was raised in religion.
He was raised in a religious home. So-called Christian parents. He went to the cathedral. He dedicated his life to be a
priest. He studied to be a monk. He studied
to be a priest. He used to whip his body with
thorn bushes. when he'd think mad thoughts,
he'd whip himself till he bled, and then he'd think he's hurting,
and he'd forget the evil thoughts. They'd find him fasting. He fasted
till he lay on that old stone cold floor of his cell there
in the monastery, till they thought to take him up as dead, and have
to revive him, trying to find acceptance with God. Is that
not right, John? One day that man, trying to find finally a
morally and wholly and perfectly and righteously before God, was
reading the Bible up there in one of those old monasteries
and he found a verse that said, the just shall live by faith.
And he found it four times in the Bible. The just shall live
by faith, not by works, not by morality, not by deeds, not by
law keeping, not by penance, not by fasting, by faith. And he went to one of his teachers
and he said, look what this says. This says the just shall live
by faith. I said, Satan, whisper it in your ear. Satan whispered
into their ears. So he kept beating himself, and
he kept fasting, and he kept trying to find peace, and he
never found any peace. And one day he went to Rome to
keep a religious holiday. And they have there in Rome,
in St. Peter's, somewhere around there, they've got some stair
steps. And they claim that those are the stair steps up which,
the stairs up which Jesus walked in Pilate's hall. That's what
they claim. Oh, they've got a lot of those.
tradition. And they say on those stairs
are spots of red, and that's the blood dripping from our Lord's
body when he walked up those steps, and they got those spots
covered with glass. And Martin Luther went there
to worship the still-seeking God, trying to find some acceptance
with God, trying to take this old flesh into God's presence
by dues and works and labors and righteousness. And he got
on his knees, and he counted his beans, and he crawled up
those steps on his knees, and he stopped, and he kissed each
red spot. He kissed each red spot, and then prayed, Holy Mother
Mary, Mother of God, have mercy on us poor sinners. Pray for
us poor sinners. He kissed another spot, trying to find, trying
to get heaven to look at him, or open fire him, or speak to
him, or accept him or something. And he kissed another, and Martin
Luther said, Like thunder clapping through the night, a voice said,
The just shall live by faith! And he said, I jumped up, and
I threw my beads, and I ran down those steps, and out into the
sunshine, and I said, I'll never go back again. I'll never try
to find appeasement or acceptance of God in any way but faith! In fact, Jesus, he said, God
Almighty received my soul and made me whole. And that man turned
Europe upside down with this message, justification by faith,
by faith. Think, you're going to stay in
that old dark monastery or you're going to get out in the light?
Or you're going to stay in the bondage of sabbath keeping and
tithing and text blowing and tradition, and labor, and all
these things, trying to appease a God that won't even look your
way. Are you going to look to his righteousness in Christ? Huh? I'll tell you something else. It's to receive Christ, but I'll
tell you this, and confess Christ in all his office, but also,
listen to me, it's to confess his Word too. his word, as well
as himself. What did he say? Listen to it.
You remember what he said? He said, Whosoever therefore
shall be ashamed of me and my words, and my words, in this
sinful and adulterous generation of him shall the Son of man be
ashamed when he comes to the holy angel. I tell you this. Now listen to me. There's something
loose with that. I don't remember his exact words,
When I confess, when I believe Christ, and confess Christ, I
believe and confess his word, his word, as well as his person. And at whatever point in my day,
the character of my Lord is being questioned and debated, exactly
at that point, I confess him, and I believe him, precisely
at that point. I know some people have the idea,
well, some truths should be kept in the background, not if it's
his truth. Some truths should not be presented
publicly because certain people do not believe them and do not
accept them, and they're good people. No man's good who hates
God's word. This is evil. Paul said, I kept
back nothing profitable unto you. I have not shunned, either
for favor or popularity or gain, I have not shunned to declare
unto you all the counsel of God. And I'll tell you this, if the
whole shooting match and the whole church be martyred in defense
of one part of his character, office, glory, or work, or person,
one phase of his glory, So be it. Is that not right? So be
it. Let them die. That's what the
old timers thought. Some of the old timers died.
They died as martyrs because they said that bread and wine
is not actually the blood and body of Christ. They died for
that. You know that? There were some fellows that
actually died because they believed baptism by immersion. There are
some people who have literally died because they dared to preach
the election. There are some people who have
laid down their lives because they contended for the effectual
substitution of their work with the Son of God. Well, if that's
necessary, they must die. Because we cannot, I tell you,
when I confess Christ, I don't only confess his person, but
I confess his Word. I confess it was. And then what's
this? What is it? What is it? I confess
what I believe. What I believe. Not what the
old Puritans taught. That's not what I confess. Not
even what my dad believed, or my grandfather. That's not what
I confess. It's not what my preacher believes.
That's not what I confess. You know what Spurgeon turned
to that fellow one day and said, well, what do you believe? He
said, I believe what my preacher believes. Well, he said, what
does your preacher believe? He said, he believes what I believe.
Well, he said, that's what I'm trying to find out. What do you
preach? You're preaching you both believe. He said, same thing,
that's what we believe. Very simple. I'm not going to confess what
my preacher believes or what my church believes. I have a
dear friend who's a missionary now. He wrote me the other day.
I'm going to write to him tomorrow. his letter, and he said, we're
beginning to form a church here in a certain town. He said, we
are overseas, and he said, we're starting to work on our church
constitution. Have you got any ideas? I got
some ideas about church constitutions. I believe ever blessed one of
them, Steve, belong in the waste can. Here's our constitution. Isn't that right? That's all
we need. His word is sufficient. because he said if you don't
speak according to this word because there's no dawning in
you and no light so I believe what God says in his word I believe
what God has revealed to me I believe as the prophet said it for me
and my house I cannot speak for anyone else but we gonna serve
the Lord like Thomas who fell at his feet and he said my Lord
and my God I believe and I confess and I confess If he said, stand
on my head and confess it, I'm going to stand on my head and
confess it. If he says, be baptized, I'm going to be baptized. Because
that brings me to the second question, how and when should
I confess Christ? Now come on, how and when? Well,
now. Don't wait until I get through
preaching. You say, well, I've got to wait until you give the invitation.
I ain't going to give one. I'm going to give a command.
God commanded men to repent. Now, when's the best time to
obey his command? I'd say, Todd, right now, wouldn't
you? Right now, before I get through. Just get up. I was preaching
down at Tim James' one day, and I got through preaching. I said,
let's stand and sing. A fellow said, I've heard enough! You
with me all day? Here he came. Right now. When did the people in the New
Testament confess it? When they heard and believed
the gospel. There was no planning period, waiting period, probation
period, or proving period. Christian Jailer was baptized
that night. The eunuch was baptized that
day. Cornelius was baptized that day. The people on Pentecost
right now were baptized. Two ways to confess Christ, Acts
chapter 2. Let's look at it. Acts 2. Two good ways to confess Christ.
He gave them to us. In Acts 2, verse 41, let's listen
to this, my, my. I've been telling my preacher
friends to cut her down, boys. I said, we're all preaching too
long. Acts 2, verse 41, but this is
important. Watch this. Then, then, when,
then, they that gladly received his word and believed it were
baptized. And the same day they were added
to them 3,000 souls, and they continued steadfastly in the
apostles' doctrine, in fellowship, in breaking of bread, and in
prayers. How did they confess him? They confessed him in baptism,
they confessed him in proclamation by mouth, they confessed him
by identification, faithfulness, identification with his people. They confessed him by gathering
around the Lord's table and taking that bread, this is my body,
and taking that wine, this is my blood. I confess, this is
my righteousness, this is my redemption, this is it. I confess
Christ. And I believe he confessed him
also by attitude and conduct. Why should I confess Christ?
Why? I'll give you two or three reasons.
Number one, my praise and faith and confession is due to him
because all that I am and all that I know and all that I have
and all that I shall ever be is by his grace. That's pretty good reason to
confess him isn't it? I confess him because all, I
tell you this, without him I can do nothing. I can't even draw
the next breath. Not only physically, but many
fold. I can do nothing spiritually.
I can't know God without Christ. I can't come to God without Christ.
God cannot receive me without Christ. That's the reason I confess
him. I can't help. They said, you
keep quiet. Peter said, no use you telling
me that, because I can't keep quiet. I got to tell what I've
seen in heaven. And I'll tell you another reason
why I confess him, my friend. I've been your pastor, some of
you, for 38 years. We're going into our 39th year
this coming year. If you haven't discovered this
by now, I confess Christ because, bless
your heart, I believe what I preach. That's why I believe it. I believe
it. Under God, I believe it. God
is my witness, I believe it. I don't have one shadow of a
faint of an atom of a doubt that he is the only Savior of sinners. Now I got a lot of problems with
this old guy right here. I got a lot of problems Bill, a lot
of problems with this guy. I ain't got no problems with him. I don't have problems at
all. If I doubted his ability, if I doubted his power, if I
doubted his sufficiency, if I doubted his willingness, if I doubted
his atonement, if I doubted his righteousness to sexually redeem
and save a sinner, I'd be timid and shine backward about what
I'm doing. I ain't got no doubts about his power, not one. That's why I confess him. I say with Charles Spurgeon,
he said one night, I've burned my bridges, I've drawn my sword
out of the scabbard and thrown the scabbard away. I don't even
have a place to put it anymore. I'll never go back. And by God's
grace, I'll never put up my sword, because he's my Lord. I've raised, as he said, I've
raised his banner to the top of the flagpole. God's place,
that's where it's going to stay. And don't bring me any laws or
rules or regulations or any false religion or traditions or forms
of ceremonies. It's Christ. Okay, that's what
I could say. It's Christ. And I'll tell you
this, I do what I'm doing for your sake, and for the sake of my children
and grandchildren, because I know the way to God is the way of
the I know the way to God is the
way of substitution. If you don't find it, you'll
perish. Ah, but picture, we're all going to the same place.
No, we're not. No, we're not. There's a resurrection under
life and a resurrection under death, and they're not the same.
And the resurrection under life is in Christ, and the resurrection
under death is in religion. There's a straight way and there's
a broad way. That straight way is the way
of grace and that broad way is the way of work. And I'm going
to tell it once again. And I'll tell you this, I'll
tell you this. When the old ship Titanic went
down with an awful loss of life, it
was posted at the port of embarkation. a bulletin, two classes of people. Not the rich and the poor, not
the educated and the uneducated, not the white or the black, just
the saved and the lost. That's all. Those who are saved
and those who are lost. And in the final roll call, there'll
just be one bulletin. Those saved and those lost. And
those who are saved are saved in Christ. And those who are
lost, it doesn't matter how they perish, doesn't matter whether
they perish by falling off the ship, doesn't matter whether
they perish with their hand on a lifeboat, doesn't matter whether
they perish out there by themselves, doesn't matter whether they perish
in the flame or whether they perish in the water, they're
perished. Is that right? And what, here's my fourth question,
closing, in what spirit do I confess Christ? And this is very important
to me. In what spirit do I confess Christ? what spirit do I preach this
sermon and call upon you to believe? Quit working and believe. Quit
striving and believe. Quit trying to please God and
look to him who did. Is that all right? Look to him
who did. And I preach this in this spirit.
I do it with self-examination. Let a man examine himself. Examine
yourself whether you've been in the faith. I'm not preaching
down to you. I'm trying to preach to us. I'm bringing some good
news to the whole shooting match here tonight. It's good news
to me too. And I do it with self-examination
and I do it willingly. Nobody's pressuring or pressing
me. I'm too old to be pressured. I got nothing to prove. I just
got a few more days. Why should I be under any pressure
from anybody to do anything? I do it willingly. I do it because
I believe it. And I confess Christ, and I confess Christ boldly.
God told me to. He said, You come boldly before
the throne of grace. You come boldly. You don't have
to sniff in the back door. If you're in Christ, you're a
son. And a son's got a key to the house. That's right. I do it boldly. And I do it sincerely. God deliver me from hypocrisy.
And I do it humbly. With meekness and trembling and
fear, be ready to give an answer to any man that asks you a reason,
but do it. Don't be a smart-headed religionist.
If you know anything, God taught it to you. If you have anything,
God gave it to you. Isn't that right? I tell you,
sometimes I get upset with our preachers because it's so hard
on folks. And no use me cussing out a blind
man because he can't see. Huh? Isn't it? blind man coming along, you know,
and he stumbles, and I say, watch where you're going. There's a
curb there, but he doesn't see it. There's a pit there, but
he doesn't see it. Amazing thing, I wouldn't either
if God hadn't given me these eyes. Just be tender with them. And pray for them. And then I
do it plainly. I do not, I do not frustrate
the grace of God. I just don't understand this
thing of trying to make the gospel, trying to dress it up so it's
not what it is. Is that what I'm trying to say?
I'm just going, is God sovereign? Then say it. Is man dead? Then dead, dead. Graveyard, dead. Just go on and say it. Dead,
dead. Speaking. That's what Martha
said about her own brother. She said, he's speaking. He's
been dead a long time. Don't open the grave. He's speaking. That was her brother she was
talking about. But she knew he was dead. Instincting goes with
dead, doesn't it? Did Christ redeem the people?
He didn't say so. Yeah, but it offends somebody. Well, thank
God you don't. But the Holy Spirit don't want
you to open a man's eyes? Just say so. Just say it. Just
tell that old boy. You're dead, blind. God's got
to open your eyes. If he doesn't open your eyes,
you'll perish. Do you understand? They understood what our Lord
said. I said, I don't understand the gospel, you haven't heard
it plain enough yet. The gospel is only complicated
when I complicate it. Is that right? That's the only
time the gospel is ever complicated is when some preacher complicates
it. It says to the hungry, the table is full, but don't you
bring nothing. It says to the thirsty, There's
a crystal flowing stream. If you bring nothing, you come
with a thirst. It says to the sinful, the wicked,
the rebel, there's a righteousness provided. But you come naked,
don't bring a thread. Don't bring a thread now, or
a leaf. That's pretty plain, isn't it?
It says to the guilty, there's mercy. just by looking up. When are
we going to get tired of doing it? And like the top ladies say,
in my head, no possibility. A missionary was trying to show
a black man one day how God saved sinners. And the black man said,
I just can't understand. I can't see what you're saying.
And the missionary very patiently and quietly said, just wait a
minute. and he took some twigs and some
leaves and he made a circle made a circle of those twigs and leaves
and then he took a little worm and he put it right in the middle
of that circle and he set it all on fire and the fire was
all the way around just burning slowly all the way around and
a little worm started over here And he pulled back from the plane,
and he started over here, and he pulled back, and he started
over here, and he pulled back, and he started over here, and
he just became so helplessly confused, there was no way out,
that he just curled up in the middle. And then the missionary
reached down and picked him up. And he said to the Navy, that's
the way God saves sinners. When you've tried every way,
and every way fails, and there's no way out, and you're shut up
and closed in and encircled by the fire of your sin and rebellion,
just curl up and look up, reach up, and He'll lift you. Huh? That's the way. I'm going to keep working. There's
got to be a hole in that fire somewhere. Well, keep trying.
And I guarantee you this, there's no hole in that fire. That's
God's fire. That's the fire off the altar
of justice.

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