I want to do this morning. I
want us to visit together. I was preaching out in Tyler,
Texas, and an individual came to me after the message. And
this person said, that message especially helped me because
I felt that you were just sitting in my living room talking to
me. Talking to me. And God spoke to my heart. Now that's what I want to do
this morning. I want to talk to you. And this is my subject. It is the most vital subject
with which I can possibly deal. If you can get hold of what,
if I can preach it, first of all, in the power of the Spirit
of God, and if you can lay hold of it, if you can lay hold of
this truth in heart and experience, You'll be saved. I'm as convinced
of that as I'm convinced that this Bible is the Word of God.
If you can lay hold of this subject, this person who is my subject,
this person who is my subject, and here's the subject, coming
to Christ through faith, or in faith, coming to Christ in faith. Now I read and I hear men talk
about, now listen to me, recently there's a book been printed entitled
this way, in this fashion. Listen to me, Coming to Faith
in Christ. That's the title of the book,
Coming to Faith in Christ. Now I don't mean to be contentious
and I don't mean to take issue with the author and I don't mean
to make a play on words. But I submit to you this thought. Would we not be nearer the truth
of what salvation really is, to state it this way? Salvation
is not so much coming to faith in Christ as coming to Christ
in faith. You see what I'm saying? You
say, is that vital? I think it's the very life of
the thing. Salvation is not coming to faith in Christ because I
believe I had faith in Christ before I saved. I believe there
was one God. I say Jesus loves me, this I
know, the Bible tells me so. If you had challenged me when
I was ten years old, if you had said, I don't believe Jesus Christ
lived and died on the cross and rose again, I'd have fought you
for that. I believe that. I believe that truth. I've believed
it since I was that high. I was raised in a church that
believed in the blood, the book, and the blessed hope, but they
didn't preach the gospel. Bonar captured it in that song
we sang a moment ago. He said, I heard the voice of
Jesus say, come unto me and rest. Lay down thy weary one, thy head,
not upon my doctrine, but upon my breast. I came to Jesus. I came to Jesus as I was, weary,
worn, and sad. I found in Him my resting place. I found in Him, not in my profession,
not in my religion, not in my denomination, not in my baptism,
not in my work. I found in Him a resting place. I found it in Him, and He has
made me glad. Now my friends, and this is so
vital, the thing with which I'm dealing here, and I know something
about it not only from the Word but from experience. You can
have religion and you can have it with much enthusiasm and much
zeal and not have Christ. I've been there. You can have
orthodoxy, you can have all these things and not have Christ. You
can even have the right doctrines. Logic would teach you Calvinism.
Just plain logic. If God is God, then he's God. And we can look at men and tell
them to pray. You can Talk about a man taking
his six-month-old daughter and beating her to death. That tells
me a man is depraved. Or a fellow recently took his
ten-month-old child and broke both his arms and both his legs
with his hands in a raid. Are men depraved? I know they
are. Logic tells me that. And if this
depraved man is going to have fellowship with a living God,
then God's going to have to come to him. I know that, and if Christ
died and put away sin, then it's effectual. Logic tells me that.
But I can know those things logically and not come to Christ. You see,
coming to a position of faith is not necessarily coming to
the person who's the object of faith, Christ Jesus. Now let
me show you that in James, in James chapter 1. And this is
so vital, James chapter 1, listen to this, James chapter 1, I beg your pardon, it's James
chapter 2, verse 17. Now listen, even so faith, if
it hath not works, is dead. So there is a faith, isn't there?
He's talking about a faith here that does not have any works.
And when you talk about works, what are you talking about? Well,
they ask you, what shall we do that we might work the works
of God? And he said, these are the works of God that you believe
on him whom God has sent. That's the work of God, that
you believe on Christ. So a man can have faith and have
not Christ. And hath not the works faith?
Read on. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, I have works.
You show me your faith without your works, and I'll show you
my faith by my works. Thou believest there's one God.
That's good orthodoxy, isn't it? One God. Thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble.
The devil believes there's a God, but he's never come to Christ.
The devil believes Christ died on the cross, but he's never
come to him. The devil believes that he was buried and rose again,
but he's never savingly, willingly, lovingly come to Christ. So also this, coming to a profession
of faith, is not necessarily coming to Christ. Many made professions
even when our Lord was on the earth in the flesh. But they
soon departed. It says they went away from him.
When they heard these sayings, they departed. Many of his disciples
departed and walked no more with him. John said this, they went
out from us because they were not of us. If they had been of
us, they no doubt would have continued with us. So coming
to a profession of faith is not necessarily coming to Christ.
I knew the words of God before I knew the word of God. We teach our children, and I'm
not saying this is wrong. We're going to keep on doing
it. We have sword drills and teach them where to find passages
of Scripture. We teach them to memorize Scripture,
which is good. You know, Paul said to Timothy,
he said, from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which
are able to make thee wise unto salvation. The Holy Scriptures. This is the seed. The Holy Spirit
is the agent in regeneration. The seed is the Word of God. And we are born again, not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. Of his own will begat he us with
the Word of truth. So keep teaching these children
the Scripture. Keep teaching them to find the
passages. Keep teaching them to read the
Word of God. For this seed is planted in that
soil, and God will cause it to bear fruit in His own due time.
But don't be misguided. Memorizing the Scriptures is
not coming to Christ. Learning the Scriptures is not
coming to Christ. Having an understanding of some
of the Bible is not coming to Christ. I knew the words of God
long before I knew the word of God. W-O-R-D. Capital W-O-R-D. I had a zeal for God long before
I knew the righteousness of God in Christ. Some of you did too.
Turn to Romans chapter 10. 10th chapter of Romans. Listen to this. Now I ask you
this question. Did not Saul of Tarsus have such
zeal, religious zeal? Did not Saul of Tarsus contend
for the law? When he spoke of the law, he
said, I was blameless. Did not Saul of Tarsus contend
for the Sabbath day? A holy walk? Did not Saul of
Tarsus pay his tithe? Did not Saul of Tarsus fast and
pray? Did not Solitarsus defend the
ceremony and contend for morality? Yet he had never come to Christ.
He never knew Christ. He contended for the religion
of his day. But he did not know Christ. But
he said this, it pleased God. God who separated me from my
mother's womb, it pleased Him. One day, when Saul of Tarsus
was 40 years old. 40 years old! He was born in a religious home,
a devout religious home. He was born to a mother who was
a Hebrew and a father who was a Hebrew who carefully circumcised
him when he was 8 days old and gave him a name. And he went
to the school, the seminary under Gamaliel And he made a 4.0 average,
and he exceeded those who were his equals. He was a dedicated
religionist. He was a moral man. He was a
man who stood for the religion of his day, of his day. The religion
that was popular. The religion that was accepted.
The religion on which His forefathers stood and the
religion based on the Bible. But he didn't know Christ. He
didn't know Christ until he was over 40 years old. And that by
divine revelation. And he said in Romans 10, and
he knew what he was talking about here, he said, Brethren, verse
1 of Romans 10, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel. That was what you called the
church of that day, the religion of that day, the people of that
day. And he wasn't talking about the down-and-outers, he wasn't
talking about the gutter-dwellers, he wasn't talking about the whoremongers,
he wasn't talking about the publicans, he was talking about Israel.
He was talking about those who were in the temple, those who
were going about worship, those who were reading the scriptures.
He said, my prayer for Israel. those who claim to be God's people,
that they might be saved. He said, I bear them record.
They have a zeal of God, have an enthusiasm for God. There
are people who talk about God and read about God. There are
people who go about their ceremonies in the name of God and meet in
the temple in the name of God, but not according to knowledge.
They're ignorant, for they're being ignorant. What are they
ignorant of? They're ignorant of the one vital
point of life. God's righteousness. And he's
not talking about God's essential righteousness, God's own personal
righteousness. He's talking about God's redemptive
righteousness provided for sinners in Christ. He's talking about
that righteousness that makes us accepted. He's talking about
that righteousness that makes us have communion with God. He's
talking about that righteousness with which we're covered, by
which we're sanctified, by which we're made holy, by which we
come into God's presence. That righteousness of Christ.
That's what they were ignorant of. And I'm saying this. And
I was one of them. Paul knew these people because
he's one of them. He's one of them. And I was one
of them in my day. I had the religion of my day.
I grew up in a Baptist home, a dedicated, devoted mother and
father who were strict. We kept Sunday. We went to church. We had Bible reading. We had
blessings at the table. We had the preacher in. We went
to all the revivals. We did all these things. I had
the religion of my day. I had the orthodoxy of my day,
I had the morality of my day, but I was flat, completely, totally
ignorant of God's righteousness. And I was going about to establish
my own. I was establishing my own by
making my profession. I was establishing my own by
my church membership, I was establishing my own by my morality, wouldn't
go to a picture show, wouldn't even play a game of Old Maids.
We couldn't have a Monopoly board in our house because it had dice
with it. We were good people. We were establishing a righteousness.
I was afraid to go to a picture show, the preacher told me Christ
might come while I was in there and leave me in there. just all, just establishing my
morality. I had to read my daily Bible
readings whether I wanted to or not. I had to give my tithe
whether I wanted to or not, and I did it. All these things, but
Paul said they're ignorant of God's righteousness and will
not submit themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ
is the end of all this ritualism and legalism. for righteousness to them that
Christ is not the end of righteousness. He's the end of a false way of
trying to attain it. Christ gives us a two-fold righteousness. He gives us an imputed righteousness,
makes us holy and sanctified and perfect in God's sight, and
he imparts unto us a principle of holiness and righteousness
by which we live and walk. That's right. You have a different motive for
what you do. You don't give an excuse for
sin. A believer doesn't want the sin. A believer wants to
be holy. A believer wants to be like Christ.
A believer wants to glorify his God. But he goes about this walk
based on another motive. It's the love of Christ that
constrains it to me. You see what I'm saying? And
I'll tell you this thirdly, coming to the doctrines of grace is
not necessarily coming to Christ. Coming to the doctrines of grace
is not necessarily coming to Christ. You know the Apostle
Paul never identified his ministry in this way. He never said, we
preach the doctrines of grace. What did he say? We preach Christ.
We preach Christ. I tell you, you can learn the
doctrine and not know Christ. And this frightens me. Coming
to a position of faith is not necessarily coming to Christ.
Coming to a profession of faith is not necessarily coming to
Christ. And coming to the doctrines of grace is not necessarily coming
to Christ. I have known men who were strong
Calvinists. All their lives, they were from
their youth up, they were strong Calvinists, they believed the
doctrines of grace. But who indicated themselves
that they had no real saving experience of grace with Christ.
With Christ Jesus. Now let me give you an example.
A young lady is of the age of marriage. She's ready to get
married. Different people have different
opinions about when that is. She was of the age to get married.
And there was a young man who was vying for her hand. And she didn't want to marry.
And she told her parents, she told him she didn't want to marry
him, she told her parents she didn't want to marry him. So
her parents got her in the living room one day, and they said to
her, they said, daughter, they said, now this young man, this
young man is rich. This young man has great influence. This young man comes from a fine
home. This young man can give you all
the finer things of life. This young man can give you everything. You'll never have to work. You'll
never have to save. This young man can put you in
a fine home and an automobile and take care of your children
when you all have children. Why don't you marry him?" And she looked at them and she
replied, I don't love him. I don't love him. The parents
say, well is that sufficient reason? She says that's sufficient
reason. She said if I loved him, if I
knew him and loved him, it wouldn't matter if he was rich or poor.
It wouldn't matter if he was great or unknown. It wouldn't
matter whether I lived in a mansion or in a small tent or cottage. I'd be happy with him. And this
is what John Newton is saying about the Lord Jesus Christ.
He says, I'm content with beholding his face. My all to his pleasure
is I. No changes of season or place
would make any change in my mind. While blessed with a sense of
his love, a palace, a toy, would appear. Or prisons would palace
as prove, if Jesus would dwell with me there." That's what I'm
talking about. This thing of salvation is not
coming to a profession of faith, necessarily. All those who know
Christ do profess it. It's not coming to a position.
of faith, although those who love him and know him, they know
where they stand and what they believe. It's not even coming
to an orthodoxy of doctrine as the doctrines of grace. It is
coming to love and to know and to be in a living union joined
with the Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Now that's what it
is. And I'll show you an example
of that over here in Colossians chapter 1. Now turn over there,
Colossians chapter 1. Colossians, the first chapter.
I hope you're with me because as I said, I think this is the
most vital. What changed Saul of Tarsus from
a religious rebel who hated God, who hated grace, who hated the
Gentiles, who hated the gospel? What changed him? A person. He came to a saving knowledge
of Christ. God revealed his Son in Saul's
heart. That's what changed him. That's
what changed him. What changed a woman at the well
from the talk of the town to a witness of the Word? Something
did. It wasn't something, it was someone.
She said to those men, she said, come see a man. It told me all
I ever did. Come see a person. What changed
John Newton? You ever read Newton's life story?
Some of you did. Grace abounding. Is that the
name of it? What changed John Newton from a filthy slave trader
to a loving, dedicated, godly minister of grace? Huh? Well,
let him tell you. Listen, I lost was my condition
till Christ Jesus made me whole. There is but one physician can
cure my sin-sick soul. Next door to Hagel he found me
and snatched me from the grave. I'll always praise and love him
for his wondrous fire and save." Christ did it. Christ did it. What makes a man like Walter
Gruber quit a job at Armco? Wife and five children. Five
little children. Oldest one about eight, seven,
eight years old. Quit a job at Armco. Sell everything he's got.
Sell his home. Sell his car. Take his children
out of school. While her parents and his parents
cling to their arms and say, you don't love your children
or you wouldn't take them to Mexico. You evidently hate your
babies, or you wouldn't expose them to all the things they're
going to be exposed to down there. And amid all the pleas of parents
and grandparents, get in a little old Ford truck, pack all the
stuff on top, head for Mexico, and go down there and live and
sleep in a hammock and sit on a box, and do without, and fight
the flies and the mosquitoes. What makes a man do things like
that? It's not doctrine that does that.
It's not a profession of religion. What makes a man like John Bunyan
sit 12 years in a prison cell? 12 years! And one thing holding him in
there. He says, when I get out of here, I'll preach the gospel
of Christ. And they said, well, you'll never get out. All you
got to do is say, you won't preach. We'll let you out. Today you
say, I will not preach God's gospel of Christ. We'll let you
out of here. He said, I'll always preach it.
And he sat there. Rather than a doctrine won't
do that, a profession of faith won't do
that. Just won't do it. It's Christ. Colossians 1, listen to this.
Paul said in verse 25, I am made a minister according to the dispensation
of God which is given to me for you to fulfill the word of God.
Here's what he's saying, I'm a minister according to the stewardship
which is entrusted to me for you on the part of God to fully
preach the word of truth to you. That's what I'm here to do, to
preach the word of truth. Secondly, verse 26, even the mystery, a
mystery, Mystery of redemption, mystery of godliness, mystery
of grace, mystery of the covenant, mystery of the gospel. Mystery
which has been hid from ages and generations. Now let me tell
you something. It's not that the gospel is...
God's not playing hide and seek. Button, button, where's the button?
You're getting warm, you're getting cold. God hasn't hid the gospel
tantalizingly so that men couldn't find it. When the gospel says,
When the Bible says the gospel is hid from those whom Satan
has blinded, and the scripture says the gospel is hid in Christ,
it's saying this. The gospel's in Christ, and the
reason it's hid from this generation is they're not looking for it
where it is. It's hid from this generation because they're not
looking for it where it is. It's in a person. Salvation is
not in a pool of water, it's not in a church, it's not in
a ceremony, it's not even in the Bible, it's in Christ. And
that's the reason he said this mystery was here, because it's
in Christ and they're looking for it everywhere but in Christ.
And it's going to stay here. It's going to stay here until
they look to Christ. But now, it's made manifest to
his saints, to whom God would make known. To whom God would
make known. What is the riches of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles? Which is Christ? Which is Christ? Which is Christ? Christ where?
Christ in you. Which is Christ? Christ where?
Christ in you. Christ in you, that's the understanding
of the mystery, when we come like Mary and sit at His feet.
When we come like Mary and sit at His feet, we'll learn the
wisdom and the power of God, for it's in Him. Christ in you,
that's the riches of God. Moses found true riches. Moses
wasn't a very bright fellow, you know that? I want you to
listen over here in Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. He just wasn't a very bright
fellow. He just didn't use good judgment. Why don't you listen
to Hebrews 11, verse 23. Now listen to this. By faith Moses, when he was born,
was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper
child. They were not afraid of the king's commandments. But
by faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called
the son of Pharaoh's daughter. choosing rather to suffer affliction
with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for
a season. Can you think about this? Richest country on earth. Richest pharaoh on earth. Moses
was his son, adopted son. Everything that this nation,
everything that this pharaoh, all of the riches, luxury, power,
armies, influence, everything that this world could possibly
give to a human being Moses had in Egypt. He left it and identified
himself with a bunch of rack-muffin slaves until he was exiled out
on the side of a desert keeping sheep. Why would he do that? The next verse tells you. Esteeming
even the reproach of Christ even the reproach of Christ, even
the lowest place, greater riches than the very treasures of Egypt. Actually, Moses, look at verse
27, by faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the
king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. He saw
the riches of God. He saw enduring eternal riches
in Christ. He saw that these were just trinkets,
that all these diamonds and gold, they were just trinkets. They
were just ten-cent store glittering nothing. He saw all of this acclaim
and praise of men would die with the men. But over here in Christ,
he saw the riches of God. That's the difference. Christ,
look at Colossians 1, verse 27 again, Christ in you. That's
the hope of eternal glory. My friends, when I stand at the
throne of grace, when I stand before God's immaculate, unchangeable,
infinite throne of grace, I have an entrance to come boldly
because Christ is my mediator. Christ himself. When I stand
before the law, the holy law of God, the awesome law of God, I have total justification because Christ
is my righteousness. There's nothing against me. When
I stand before the mercy seat, that holy mercy seat, Not in
the temple made with hands, but in heaven itself. I have acceptance
because Christ is my sacrifice. When I come to the valley of
death, and I will someday, maybe soon, I have a hope because Christ
is my life. When they put my body in the
grave, and they will, and the worms will destroy my flesh,
But I shall be brought forth again because Christ is my resurrection. When I think of the judgment
seat, I can think of it without fear because Christ is my justifier. When I anticipate the kingdom
and His glory, I can anticipate it with great expectation because
Christ is my hope of glory. A person, that's the riches.
That's the riches. Suppose a man has a serious disease. Now he has an incurable, serious
disease, a fatal disease. And he hears over here there's
a doctor. There's a doctor who can cure him, who can heal him,
who's had great success with this very disease. So he goes
over, he travels many miles, and he goes to see that doctor.
And he comes into the office. walks up to the window, and the
nurse is sitting there behind the window, the receptionist.
He says, I want to see Dr. so-and-so. Oh, she said, he's
not here. He's not in today. And the man
says, well, I'll wait. I've got to see him. He's the
only one who can help me. And he sits down. The nurse in
a moment says, sir, his assistant is here. Would you like to see
his assistant? No, no, he said, I wouldn't. He said, I want to
see him. Thank you anyway. He continues
to sit. In a moment, she comes out and
says, well, on the wall in his office are all of his books and
papers and his certificates. Would you like to see them? No,
thank you. I've got to see him. She comes
in in a few moments. She says, well, here are some
of the medicines that he uses. He uses this medicine and that
medicine. Perhaps I could just give you
some." No, thank you. I want to see him. After a while
she comes in and she says, well, I want to introduce you to a
man that he healed. A man that had what you have
and he healed him. Would you like to meet him? He
said, no, I appreciate it. But I must see him. He's the only one that can make
me whole. And my friends, this is what I'm saying about the
Lord Jesus Christ. You might get to his apostles,
his disciples, and his preachers, and those who represent him.
You may even come in these places called churches. Churches are
not buildings, they're people. We call buildings churches. And
you can walk around and look at all the different things in
the building. Or you may even read this medicine that he uses.
Read about it. You may even meet a lot of people
who tell you, oh, I've walked the glory road, you know. But
this is what I'm saying about me and you individually. You've
got to come to Him. You've got to do business with
Him. I mean that saving. And here's what I'm saying, summing
it up. It's not faith that I see. It's Christ. It's Christ. If I can see Him, I can believe.
If I can see Him, I can believe. It's not faith I'm seeking, it's
Christ. And it's not love that I'm seeking.
Somebody says, love is awful, love is everything. Well, if
I have Him, I have love. God is love. And it's not the gifts that I
seek, it's the giver. I have the giver, I have the
gift. It's not humility I seek. If I see him, I'll be broken
sufficiently. It's not the right doctrine that
I seek. If I know him, he'll teach me.
It's not heaven I long to win. Now believe me, it's not heaven
that I long to win. It's Christ. If I am in Christ,
if I were in Christ and found in Him, and found in Him, if
by God's grace the Savior I find, He won't be in Heaven and leave
me behind, I'll tell you that. Do you see what I'm saying? Laws
make men outwardly moral for a time. Doctrines make men orthodox. Ceremonies make men religious.
Rewards and the promise of them make men zealous. Fear makes
men loyal and faithful. But Christ makes a man a new
creature. Christ makes a man a new creature.
And when we come to know Him, To love him, to believe on him,
to rest in him. All these other things will fall
in. They will. They'll come your
way. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things will be added to you.