I have a great deal of confidence
in the things that I'm about to say. I've given it much thought
and prayer. And I even encourage you to perhaps
get the tape and play it again. And maybe keep it on file. Share
it with someone else. But most of the letters that
I receive and discussions which I have
with people who have some doubts and questions about their interest
in Christ. Do you hear what I'm saying?
People who have sincere doubts about their interest in Christ,
about their saving faith, and some fears. Most of the letters,
most of them, practically all of them, or discussions I have
with people coming to me, I'm talking about those who know
Christ, who love Christ, who are truly believers in Christ.
These doubts and fears have nothing to do with their faith in Christ. Most of the time the word faith
is not mentioned. It has nothing to do with their
love for Christ or their sincere belief in who he is and what
he did and why he did it and where he is now. Those things
are not usually discussed in the letter or do not come up
in the discussion. I sometimes try to force the
discussion to proceed this way. Do you believe the Word of God?
Do you believe this is God's Word? Do you? Yes, the person replies, yes,
I believe that's the Word of God. I know that's the Word of
God. I have a great deal of awe and respect and confidence in
the Word of God. I treasure the Word of God. Yes, well, do you believe salvations
of the Lord? Do you? Salvations of the Lord
in its entirety, Alpha and Omega. The salvation of the Lord in
its origination, in its execution, in its application, in all stages
of its glorious revelation. Is it of the Lord? Preacher,
you know I believe that. You know I believe that as much
as you do. Well, do you believe that God
Almighty gave Christ to be the Redeemer of sinners, that He
has always been the Redeemer of sinners from the covenant
of mercy and all eternity? He's the surety of that better
covenant? Well, certainly! And that throughout
the Old Testament, every promise, prophecy, picture, pattern, type
is Christ? You believe that rocks Christ?
That Passover lands Christ? Of course I do. Of course I do. By God's revelation, I believe
it. that he is the Redeemer, he's that prophet, he's that
glorious priest, he is that king like David. I believe that. Well, do you believe Christ is
our righteousness? Now come on, he is, he's not a part of it,
he's colon, all of it. Is that what you believe? That the Lord is my righteousness,
that by his divine, perfect, God-accepted Obedience. He wrought out a perfect holiness. Do you believe that? He is my righteousness and I
have no other. My works and deeds are but filthy
rags in the sight of a holy God, but Christ is my righteousness. Jehovah Sidkenu is my song. And I believe he's the only sin
offering. Do you believe he's the only sin offering? Do you
believe that he in his own body bore our sins on the tree and
brought us to God? Do you believe that? Do you believe
he died that God made me just and justifier? Well, of course
I believe that. I wouldn't come here, you preach.
Because that's all you preach. Of course I believe that. Do you believe the blood maketh
atonement for the soul? Do you really? The blood cleanseth
us? The blood maketh atonement for
the soul? The blood literally puts away our sin, makes us at
one with God. Do you? I believe that. Tom Harding,
I believe that. Do you? It's the blood that makes
us atonement for the soul. God help me to never be ashamed
of the blood of Jesus Christ. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission. And God Almighty is enabled by
the blood of Christ to be both just and justifier of him that
believeth in Jesus. Do you believe that, Mike? Do
you really? I believe that. I believe I'd
die for that. I'm going to preach it. If we
lose every member of this congregation next Sunday, I'm going to preach
the blood of Christ. You believe he's the only mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus? If you dare not
even mention another mediator, you dare not even breathe the
name of any other mediator, he has no competitor. He has no
rival. He reigns at the right hand of
God. Our forerunner Christ has entered
within the veil. And our works have nothing absolute
and nothing to do with our acceptance with God. For by grace are you
saved through faith, and that not of yourself, if the gift
of God is not of works, lest any man should boast." You want to be like him? Desperately. Well, what's your problem? What's your problem? Why can't
you rest and rejoice in Christ? What's your problem? Why are
you mumbling and running around saying, I don't
know whether I'm saved or not? Well, I tell you, preacher, I
have such awful thoughts. That's what they tell me. You
just don't know what I think. I bet I do. I bet I do. And preachers sometimes, reading
the Bible and praying seems to be such a chore sometimes. I
just, you know, I can pick up the newspaper with a cup of coffee
and sit there and read and stay wide awake, but I don't know,
I just pick up the Bible and it just, I don't know, it becomes
a chore and a burden. And prayer, it's so hard for
me to pray over five minutes. And I worry, Pastor. I worry.
I really do. I worry. I'll just be honest
with you. I worry. I worry about my children. I
worry when they're not home. I worry when I'm at work and
they're at school. And I worry about my children. I worry about my home. I worry
about my job. I worry that they're going to
shut down the mill, you know. I'm going to be without a place
to work. I just worry. And trials upset me. One of the
children gets sick and I get upset. I just get And I tell you this, preacher,
my spiritual growth is so slow. I hear what you say, and I hear
what you read, and I hear what you preach, and I believe what
I hear, but I can't seem to remember what I hear. Somebody asked me
a little while later, what was it he preached on? I forgot,
but I believed it. You don't have that problem,
do you? And I wrestle with selfish thoughts. I just can't seem to help it.
I just, I'm not always concerned about other people like I ought
to be. I'm really, if you'll be honest about it, I'm concerned
about me and my family. You got a problem with that?
And preacher, I'm sensitive. I get my feelings hurt. And sometimes
I feel like God has singled me out, me more than anybody else,
for trouble and trials and disappointments. I say, why me? and preach of my imaginations
and my thoughts, they're just not always on Christ. And I could
go on and on and on. Well, I have two questions for
you. If what I said at first, you
say, that's me. And if what I said second, you
say, that's me. I have two questions for you.
Will you listen to two questions? The first question is this, aren't
you glad salvation's in Christ and not in you? Huh? Aren't you glad? Boy, I tell you, if that's you,
if when I was reading all that other, I worry, I fret, I'm sensitive,
I lose my temper, I think sinful thoughts, I can't read the Word,
if that's you, aren't you glad salvation's not by works? Whoo,
you'd be in a mess. You would, not me now, but you
would. That's what some people are saying.
You're a preacher. You don't have any problem. No,
I don't have any problem. Won't you swap places with me?
You'll be the preacher. Aren't you? That's what I'm saying.
Aren't you glad then, if all this is so, aren't you glad that
salvation is not in work, not in merit? Aren't you glad it's
in Christ? If salvation and acceptance with
God rested in my holiness, I'm a dead duck. If salvation rested
in my devotion and my consecration and my dedication, I'm a goner,
are you? But thank God salvation's in
Christ. That's what I've been trying
to preach for thirty-five years. If Christ delights to show mercy
to the miserable, then I'm a candidate. If Christ delights to show grace
to the guilty, then I'm in. If Christ delights to forgive
the foolish, I'm number one. If Christ delights to redeem
the repentant and the broken-hearted rebel, then I'm going to gloat. Let's read a couple of scriptures.
Psalm 130. I want you to listen to this.
Psalm 130. If the Lord ever turns sinners away, then I'd say we're
all gone. But if he still delights to save
sinners, which he said he does, he said, I've come to seek and
to save the lost. I came into the world to save
sinners, Paul said, of whom I'm chief. Listen to Psalm 130. Out
of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Depths of what? Depths of human depravity and
human need and human sin. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine
ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication. If thou,
Lord, if thou, Lord, shouldst mark a nickname, Lord, who shall stand? And nobody
in here gonna stand. But there's forgiveness within.
That thou mayest be feared, loved, worshiped, adored, trusted. I
wait for the Lord. My soul doth wait, and in His
word do I hope." He promised. He promised it. All right, here's
my second question. My first question was this. If
that's you, aren't you glad? Salvation is by grace. Aren't
you glad? And I'll tell you this. You sure
don't want to go anywhere else and listen to salvation by what
you do. If what you say is so, then you're not a candidate.
And here's the second question. Do you think you're alone? When
you talk about your weaknesses and infirmities and afflictions
and failures, do you think you're alone? Do you think you're alone in
your struggles with sin and with the old nature? Now, I know this
is quite unfortunate. I know that religious books,
especially biographies. And I just try to stay away from
them, because most of them are dishonest. Most of them are dishonest. Because as you read them, you're
led to believe that these people about whom the author's writing,
these religious leaders and preachers, are somewhat less than real. I mean, they never erred, they
never failed, they never sinned, they never doubted. There's always
prayer, and always preaching, and always praising God, and
always rejoicing, and always solid as a rock, and I don't
find that to be true. It's just not so. And I'll tell
you, there are a lot of preachers who like to give the impression
that they're just pretty holy. Now, that's all there is to it.
They're up there on the hallelujah side all the time, and I know
that's a lie. I just know it's a lie. They
don't tell the truth. The Word of God does. The Word
of God to encourage me and to help me and to keep me from despair
and to keep me from depression and to reveal to me the unchangeable
love of my Redeemer tells the truth about His servants. This
is a biography that tells the truth about people. The truth. And I've heard preachers say,
well, these Old Testament people didn't have the Holy Spirit like
we do. My soul, what in the world are you talking about? I wish
I had the Holy Ghost like David had him. Don't you? How do you think Abraham
knew God apart from the Spirit of Revelation? Abraham's faith is revealed in
the Word of God, but so are his failings. You catch Abraham one
day, and he's a giant. You catch him the next day, and
he's trying to look for a way out. Moses, Moses' meekness and
humility and steadfastness, Moses stood before Pharaoh and demanded
he let the people go. But he wouldn't stand before
his wife and circumcise his son. That's exactly right. And God threatened to kill him.
Is that right, Charlie? God threatened to kill him because
he wouldn't stand up to that beautiful wife of his. And when
he did circumcise his boy, she said, you're a bloody man, but
you are. They had a fuss over it. Here's a man, Moses, who
could stand before an empire and couldn't take on his wife.
I've known a lot of preachers that way. Elijah's courage and boldness
are recorded, but Jezebel turned him around. David's devotion and consecration
are his strong points, devoted and dedicated to God. But David's
centrality in self-defense, self-defense, are there for all to see. Job's
patience is evident, but so is his self-righteousness. Saltman,
think of his wisdom, and think of his foolishness. And our master
is not, he doesn't hesitate to rebuke Philip. He said, Philip?
Philip said, show us the Father. He said, I've been this long
with you and you don't know me? He didn't whisper those words.
You don't know me? So, Philip. And then Thomas. I'm not going to believe unless
I touch his, touch his scars in his hand and his side. All
right, Thomas, for each other you ain't. And then Peter, oh boy, get thee
behind me Satan. That's his choice man. And then
the disciples, he stood there one day and said, oh you little
thing, you're not alone. I want you to hear John Newton.
Listen to John Newton. I think this one of the most
outstanding preachers that ever preached is John Newton. I think
one of the most outstanding writers that ever put a pen to a piece
of paper. And this is, and he's the author of Amazing Grace,
the song. Listen to him. Could my heart
so hard remain, and prayer a task and a burden prove? And every
trial give me pain, if I knew the Savior's love. See, it sounds
like you and me, doesn't it? When I turn my eyes within, all
is dark and vain, vanity, and wow! I'm filled with unbelief
and sin. Can I call myself God's child? If I pray, if I hear, if I read,
sin is mixed with everything I do. You that love the Lord
indeed. Is that so with you? Do you have
a problem with that? And any honest believer will shake his
head, yes. Is that right? Any honest? Now,
a hypocrite won't. Not me. Happy all the time, happy
all the time. This little light of mine. Beware of a man that smiles all
the time. He's hiding something. That's those television pictures. That's right. Listen, I found
this poem. This is by Charlotte Elliott,
who wrote Just As I Am. Great hymn. I want you to listen
to this. I love to get these heart cries
I find in people that nobody pays attention to anymore. O thou, the contrite sinner's
friend, who loveth, loveth to the end, on this alone my hope
depends, that Christ will plead for me. When weary in this Christian
race Far off appears my resting place,
And fainting I doubt God's grace. O Savior, pray for me." They won't sing those songs,
will they? When I have erred and gone astray, Far from the
heavenly way, And I see no glimmering guiding ray, Oh, Savior, pray
for me. Isn't that beautiful? But you
can't get folks in the pulpit to be honest anymore. They're
afraid somebody will think they're a sinner. Listen to Paul in Romans 7. I
want you to read this while I read it. You read it to yourself.
But this is God's great apostle. Oh, you can't preach like that
preacher. You'll give somebody a license for sin. Would you
rob the child of God of his hope and trust and rest in order to
defend some pet doctrine? I'm going to feed his sheep.
And his sheep will handle it all right. And I'm not his private
secretary anyway. I believe God can handle His
Word. I believe He can. I believe those who are going
to misuse it are going to misuse it anyway. And those who are
going to love it, are going to love it. Romans 7, 15. That which
I do, I know not. For what I would, that do I not.
Verse 15. What I hate, that do I. That's
talking about Paul. Paul's not a carousing drunkard
here now. He's talking about what goes
on inside. He's talking about spiritual
conflicts. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent to the law. It's good. Now then, it's no
more I that do it, it's sin that dwells in me. For I know that
in me, that is, in this flesh, dwelleth no good thing. Do you
know that? The will is present with me,
how to perform that which is good, I don't find it in me.
For the good, God good, perfect, perfection that I would, I do
not. But the evil that I wouldn't
do and don't want to do and don't want to have going through my
mind, that I do. Now, if I do that, I would not. It's no more I that do it, but
sin that dwelleth in me. Verse 21, I find then a law.
that when I would do good, evil is present with me. I delight
in the law of God, the holiness of God, the perfection, the attributes,
the character of God after the inward man. I delight in that.
I'll be glad when I'm like him. But I see another law, another
principle in my members, in my body, heart, mind, spirit, warring
against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to
the law of sin, which is in my members. Oh, wretched man that
I am. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? Well, I've got to deliver her.
But I'm not going to do it by my PMA, positive mental attitude. I'm not going to do it by my
positive thinking. I'm not going to do it by resolution, like
you died or something like that. I'll tell you how it's going
to be done. Verse 25, I thank God through Jesus Christ our
Lord. So then, with this mind, I serve
the law of God. With the flesh, the battle's
going to go on. It's going to go on. And I'll
tell you this, I read this one time, Mr. Spurgeon made this
statement, actually, now you think about this a little bit,
it may be that when you, who truly love Christ now, who truly
believe the Word of God, it actually may be that when you feel the
least worthy and fathers from the Lord because of your inward
afflictions and conflict, you may be closer to the Lord right
then than you've ever been, because He delights to show mercy. When
I'm weak, then I'm strong. But, now wait a minute, but,
when you feel the most spiritual and victorious and holy, and
like you've pretty well conquered all of your conflicts, you've
got it on the right road now, You just might be farther from
God than you've ever been, because you're resting in what you did,
not Him. That's right. I'll tell you this. Our Lord, as I go through the
Word, I find Him responding to a cry of need. Like, who touched
me? Like blind Bartimaeus. Like the
thief on the cross. We are never accepted or approved
by anything we do, say, feel, or give. We're accepted in the
Beloved. So I say this to all of us. Mortify
the flesh. Mortify the flesh. Put it down.
Crucify the flesh. Kill it daily. Make no provisions
for the flesh. Hate the flesh, but never trust
the flesh. Is that good advice? Mortify
the flesh. Crucify the flesh. Hate the flesh. Make no provision for the flesh,
but never trust it. Never trust it. I don't care.
You older men here, I don't care how old it gets either. Don't
trust it. Don't trust it. Don't put any
confidence in it. And for God's sake, don't praise
the flesh, because He'll work on you then. He's not going to
share His glory. Now I want you to turn to Galatians
5, and I'm going to quit, but this is so important that I deal
with this for a few minutes. Galatians 5. Now watch this. Galatians 5.1. So stand fast. You've got a reason to stand.
Therefore in that freedom, that liberty, what liberty? He hath
delivered us from sin, from its guilt, from its dominion. from its power, not from its
indwelling presence. Unfortunately, it's still there
and you know it. Still there and you know it.
We've not been delivered from the temptation of it, but we've
been delivered from the curse of it. We've been delivered from
the power, from the penalty of sin. We've been delivered from
the ceremonial law, from circumcision, Sabbath days, the burdensome
rites and ceremonies. We've been delivered from all
those things, from the curse of the law, from the condemnation
of the law, we've been delivered from those. Christ has set us
free. So stand fast in that freedom
of Christ. Don't become entangled again.
Don't become entangled in this thing, well, Christ died, and
I believe Christ but, no, there's no but to it, Christ died. And
that's the freedom we have. We're redeemed in Him. He's our
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Wherever you're
on the mountain or the valley, whether you're doubting or trusting,
if Christ is your Lord, He's your Advocate, your Mediator. You're accepted. Narcinic, Behold,
I, Paul, say, I tell you this, I warn you, if you're going to
dabble with this thing of Sabbath days and circumcision and law,
then Christ's not going to profit you anything. I said to my Sunday school class
this morning, now you listen to me, I wouldn't offend anybody
on purpose. But these things are true, now
this is where we live. There's no such thing, it's an
impossibility, for a person to be a devoted, a devoted and dedicated religionist,
such as a Catholic. and be saved. It's an impossibility.
Impossibility. You know why it's an impossibility?
Because you cannot submit to the infallibility of the Pope
and the infallibility of Christ too. You can't do it. You can't
do it. It's an impossibility for you
to have a vicar on earth and a vicarious redeemer in glory. It's impossible for you to count
beads and count the cost of the cross. You can't do both now. Come on. No, sir. You say, well,
you know, this cross I wear doesn't mean anything, then why are you
wearing it? That picture on the wall doesn't
mean anything, then why don't you burn it? Hail Mary, Mother of God, pray
for us sinners. That doesn't mean anything, then
why do you say it? You're scared not to. And that means you're
not trusting Christ. If you're trusting Christ, you're
not scared of a Sabbath day. Why are you keeping that day?
Just in case you're lost. That's right. I'm telling you
the truth. You can't compromise on the very
character of the Redeemer, I'm telling you. Read that verse. Behold, verse
2, I, Paul, God's servant, chosen of God, could take this gospel
of the Gentiles, I say unto you, if you do anything religiously
to be accepted of God Christ, profit you nothing. You ain't
got Christ. Is that what he's saying? Nothing.
Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. You don't do
it in order to be accepted. Whatever you do, you do because
you're accepted. And I go to church on Sunday
because I want to go to heaven. You'll never get to heaven. Not
if you're trying to gain that way by going to church. Because
verse 3 said, I testify to you that if you start that direction,
you're better to keep the whole blooming law, every jot and tittle
of it. You can't do it. It's either Christ or nothing.
Now, I wish I could make that claim. I wish I could make that plain.
I've tried and tried and tried to make that plain, and just
somehow, somehow folks just, it has to be revealed, I know
that. But you're a debtor to do the whole lot. There's no way that, that I can
preach Sunday, the Christian Sabbath, and tell you, don't
cook now on this day, and don't watch television, and come to
church, Do these certain things. There's no way I can do that
because if we start that business, we've got the whole lot to keep.
Don't walk so far, don't drive your car, don't... There's no
way I can preach tithing, 10% belongs to God. No man can preach
that using the New Testament. He has to go back to the old
Levitical law. He has to. I can't do that. Because I know if we start down
that trail, and this building these fine buildings, and burning
candles, and wearing these uniforms, if we start that foolishness,
we got a whole lot to keep. And verse 4 says, then Christ
becomes of no effect. We don't have a Christ. Christ
is my Sabbath. Christ is my law. Christ is my
life. Christ is my hope. Christ is
my mediator. You see that? And he's become
of no effect, whosoever you have justified by the law, you've
departed from grace. But watch this now, but by his
spirit's regeneration, revelation, teaching, we anticipate and we
wait for the fulfillment of that blessed hope of eternal glory
and a perfect righteousness by faith, faith, faith, faith, faith,
faith, faith. I believe. Abraham believed and
it was counted to him for righteousness. old Simeon stood in that temple
surrounded by all those, that veil, and that ritual, and that
circumcision, that blood sacrifices, and the Sabbath days, and all
these things, and they brought in Christ, and they took Him
up in His arms, and He said, I'm ready to die now. I've seen
the Lord's salvation. I've never been ready to die
up till this time. I've never found any readiness
to die in any of this, but I found it again. I'm ready to die. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision
availeth anything. It doesn't profit me in his sight
to be circumcised or uncircumcised, to give a tithe or to give no
tithe, to keep a day or keep no day. I don't gain his favor
or lose his favor by what I do. That's right now. I'm accepted
in Christ. I gain God's favor by what Christ
did. There are things that God's well pleased with in his children.
And that's another story. I'm talking about salvation now.
I'm talking about acceptance with God. I'm talking about redemption. What God requires is a faith
that worketh by love, a true heart of faith which is evidenced
by a love for Christ. Peter, do you love me? Do you love me? We'll settle
this whole issue if we can settle this right here. Do you love
me? Do you love me? I'd like to be perfect, wouldn't
you? But I'm not. But He is. And my hope's in Him. I'd like to be without sin, wouldn't
you? But I'm not. But He is. And I'm accepted in
Him. I'd like someday to be within
the veil, in the very presence of God. I'm not. But thank God,
He is. And if I'm in Him, I'm as good
as that. Because He'll not be in glory
and leave me behind if I'm in Him. Does that help? I hope that's
helpful to many of you. I hope you'll maybe share it
with somebody else. But as I said, I mean these things. I haven't been talking this morning
off the top of my head. I looked into these things, and
I won't take back what I just preached. I believe it. And you
play the tape. I say buy the tape and play it.
And I certify you this, by the word of God, that salvation for
sinners in Christ. And I'll stand on that, Charlie.