All right, let's turn to Isaiah
45. I'd like to command the attention
of everybody here, eyes and ears, where the muse used to say, don't
move a hand nor a hair, for about 30 minutes. Isaiah 45, verse
20. Assemble yourselves in calm,
draw near together. Ye that are escaped of the nations,
They have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image
and pray unto a God that cannot save. Now you know and I know
that natural men, for many weary centuries, natural men have been
looking for salvation everywhere but to Christ. Now you know that
and I know that. I'm not talking about Only the
hot-and-totting pagans, I'm talking about so-called enlightened religious
America, were looking everywhere but to Christ. Men looked everywhere
but to Christ. Even millions looked to idols
of stone, like you said here, set up the wood of their graven
image. Some of you men in World War
II, visited Japan, Kamakura. All my life I'd heard preachers
talk about folks worshiping idols and worshiping graven images
and bowing before gods that couldn't save. When I was a 20-year-old
boy in Kamakura, Japan, landed there with the Navy, I went over
and visited that world-famous ancient stature of Buddha. Has anybody in here ever seen
that? Any of you men been there? You
won't believe it. You were there, Jim? You wouldn't
believe it. The thing is huge. I don't know
exactly how big. It's bigger than the front of
this church, isn't it? You go up in it, way up in the
top. It's been there for centuries,
centuries. It's fallen two or three times.
Once a tidal wave got it, I believe, and once the bombers got it,
and every time they put it back up. You know Buddha, the great
big fellow with a big stomach and a round bald head, sits there
with a silly look on his face, you know, and placid and without
expression. Those people go there, you watched
them Jim, they actually bow in front of that thing. That's their
God. That's their God. And poor, and
this was, the war was just over and these people were bombed
out. These people were, had nothing. These people were grasping and
digging for something to eat. And they'd bring their money.
You remember all those little boxes out there and the candles
burning? They'd bring their money and put it in that box to that
guy. And all these little old fellows
in their robes, you know, running around there with, you know,
the priests taking care of that. And I just stood there in amazement.
Of course, I wasn't any better off than they were. I was worshiping
the Southern Baptist gods and trusting in that sort of decision
for salvation. I didn't know the gospel either,
but I watched them actually. And some of us had been to Mexico
and seen the same thing, seen a bow before a statue. We've seen them crawl on the
stone. We've seen them just cross themselves
and kiss those stones and statues and all this sort of thing. They're
looking for salvation to those things. They're looking for heaven
in those things. And those fellows that flew those
airplanes that crashed into the ships, they thought if they did
that, they'd go to heaven when they died. Sons of heaven. And
then millions of today are looking to gods that they've taken out
of the scripture and out of their proper place. Mary, Mary has
a proper place. She was highly favored, not above
women, among women. No question about that. But she's
not a god. She's not a savior. She's not
a mediator. And these ceremonies and sacrifices
are not saviors. And our affiliation with our
denominations and our doctrines and ordinances, that's the reason
Paul said, God sent me not to baptize. Baptism is not a sacrament. The Lord's table is not a sacrament. It has no saving power whatsoever. And you must not look to this
for salvation. Still others are looking to their
morality and their righteousness, like the young man who said,
well, all these have I kept for my youth up. What, like I yet?
What do I lack? Paul said they're going about
to establish their own righteousness, others look to philosophy, they
look to experiences, they look to feeling, they look to whatever,
all in the hope that someday, someway, somehow, when they die,
it'll be right with God. If I understand the Word of God
at all, the Scriptures plainly declare one positive truth, salvation
is of the Lord. It's of the Lord. Let me just
quote you a few verses. The gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord. The salvation of the righteous
is of the Lord. To God belong its salvation. Salvation, Jonah said, is of
the Lord. Here in our text, he said, look
unto me and be ye saved, for I am God and there's none else.
The apostle said, other foundation can no man lay than that which
is laid, Jesus Christ. Other foundation can no man lay,
no matter how attractive it is. No matter how attractive that
foundation, no matter how pleasing that foundation, no matter how
many people who are standing on that foundation. I had a fellow
say this recently, not to me, but to another preacher. He was
talking about this way being the wrong way. And the man looked
at him and said, can 40 million people be wrong? And that's his
reasoning. It must be right because there's
40 million adherents to that false doctrine. You mean you're
right and 40 million people are wrong? That does sound kind of
convincing, doesn't it? You're right and 40 million people are
wrong. Well, I'll tell you, when Christ
came to this earth, now you think this, well, here's something
that someone said in reply to that. I think it was four million
people in that part, but here's what somebody said in reply.
Out of the three million that came out of Egypt, John, how
many entered the Promised Land? That's right. Can three million
people be wrong? They were, weren't they? Joshua
and Caleb, isn't that correct? Of those 20 years and over who
came out of Egypt, 2 entered the promised land. Is that correct?
Yes, 3 million people can be wrong. 4 million people can be
wrong. 40 million people can be wrong. 40 billion people can be wrong
if they're not building on that foundation Jesus Christ. Now
I'm not being radical. If that's being radical, all
right, but I think it's just being true to what the word says.
Listen to this, there is, can words mean anything? There is
none other name under heaven, under heaven, given among men,
whereby we must be saved. Is that pretty clear? None other
name. We're talking about the name of Christ. And all that
his name implies, we're talking about his deity, his name, he's
God. We're talking about man, he's
the son of man. We're talking about his holiness,
his justice, his righteousness, his love, his mercy, all that
his name implies. There's none other name, whether
it be the name Baptist, or the name Protestant, or the name
Mary, or whatever name it is, there's none other name. None
can with him compare. God has exalted him and given
him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus
Christ, every kneel down, every kneel down, in heaven, earth,
and hell, every kneel down. That's the name. That's pretty
clear. There's none other name. He said
himself, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to
the Father but by me. Now let's turn to a few verses.
Turn to 1 Peter 1. What are you saying, preacher?
I'm saying this. The scriptures emphatically declare,
without question, without room for argument, without controversy,
that salvation is the gift of God through Jesus Christ and
only in Christ. It's been put in Christ. 1 Peter
1, listen. For as much as you know, verse
18, I don't look anywhere else but to Christ. For as much as
you know that you were not redeemed, not saved, not forgiven with
corruptible things, anything corruptible, as silver and gold
from your vain conduct, conversation, behavior received by tradition
from your fathers. That's with born in sin, born
of a sinful father. But we're redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. There's a lamb without blemish
and without spot. Can anything be clearer than that? Turn to
1 John 5. 1 John 5. This is what God's Word declares.
I'm not preaching. You say, you're preaching what?
Baptists, let's forget names. Let's just totally forget names
and denominations and persuasions or anything else. Just let's
face the scripture tonight as men. God's Word, we're men. We're looking for some kind of
hope of eternal life, some kind of understanding of how a sinner
can be forgiven and pardoned and saved and accepted by God.
And God says it's in Christ. That's as clear as you can make
it in 1 John 5, 11. This is the record. This is it. God has given to us. It's a gift
of God. Eternal life. Salvation. Divine life. And this life is
in his Son. It's in his Son. And he that
hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. Turn to 1 Timothy, chapter 1. And you know all of these scriptures.
I started to say by heart, but if you do, you're saved. You
know it by head, maybe. Maybe we know it by head and
we haven't reached our hearts yet. But if it ever does reach
our hearts, we will be saved. 1 Timothy 1.15, this is a faithful
saying, and it's worthy of acceptation by all that Jesus Christ, that
Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners of whom I'm chief. Now, I don't know anything else
to say to this generation. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were born under the law, that we might receive the
adoption of sons. God sent Christ for that purpose.
The angel said, thou shalt call his name Jesus, he shall save
his people from their sin. And we're told about our beginning,
in Adam we died, in Christ we're made alive, in Adam many became
sinners, in Christ many were made righteous. In Christ, we're
cut off, we're separated, we're condemned. In Christ, we're accepted,
forgiven, and loved. Isn't that clear? That's clear
from the Word of God. And here in our text, let's look
at it again. Let me ask four questions, and as simply as I
can. I think I've established this
thing where I've started. Natural men look everywhere.
They'll look to anything, anybody, anywhere but to Christ. And I'm
saying that everything God has for this human race is in Christ.
Old John Flavel gave these five points. He said, everything that
God has for a sinner, every benefit, every blessing, every eternal
blessing is in Jesus Christ and nowhere else. It's not in a law
or a form or a ceremony or ordinance, it's in Christ. It's not in a
church or denomination or human being, it's in Christ. It's mine
by a union with Christ. Now that's how it becomes mine,
through a vital living union with Christ. He's the vine, I'm
the branch. Without Him, I can do nothing.
Without Him, I'm like a branch severed from a vine. It's fit
only to be gathered and cast into the fire. It's withered,
it has no life. Christ is the fountain and the source and everything's
in Him. It's mine through a union with
Christ. And that union is brought about,
I know by God's elective grace, I know by God's divine purpose,
but it's brought about through faith. That's how it's brought
about, by faith. I look to Christ, whatever this
means, looking by faith to Christ. It's mine by faith. We're justified
by faith. We're saved by faith. Your faith
has made you whole. He that believeth hath eternal
life. He that believeth not shall be damned. There's got to be
exercise of faith. There must be. God says that
through his word. Too many times, to him that believeth,
whosoever believeth on the Son of God hath eternal life. That
faith comes through the preaching of the Word. There can be no
faith apart from the Word. Faith's got to have a reason.
Faith's got to have a foundation. I can't believe what I don't
understand. I can't believe what I don't know. And by understanding
I mean at least some discernment or judgment. I don't mean you
have to understand how God is or who God is or why God is,
just that God is. But there's still understanding.
God works with the heart, but He doesn't work apart from the
brain. That's the reason infants are all right, because they can't
think this out. And God thinks it for them. And
that's the reason people of no intelligence are all right. They're
in God's kingdom. They're accepted. Because the
Bible's written to morally responsible, accountable human beings who
can think. That's right, and it's got to have a faith, and
that comes by the Word of God, and all of that is accomplished
by the power of His Spirit. That's just so, and he says here
in Isaiah 45, 22, and you are responsible for what I'm preaching
tonight. You're responsible because God's Word says this, look unto
me. Now, here's the question. What
does the word look mean in reference to God? I sat down and thought
about this and picked up a little help from different places. What?
All right, preacher, you say it's all in Christ. If I be lifted
up, I'll draw all men unto me. As Moses lifted up the serpent
and the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. You
say, look to Christ. What does the word look in reference
to Christ mean? Quickly, four things. Number
one, it means to admit his reality. to admit his reality. Hebrews 11, 6. Let's turn over
that. Hebrews 11, 6. First of all,
you're not going to get anywhere in this matter of salvation or
looking to Christ unless you admit that he's there for us
to look to. He's real. God is real. God lives. God is life. But without faith, Hebrews 11,
6, it's impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God
must believe that he is, that he is, that I am. He is God. Beside him, there's none else.
Omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, he is God. That's where faith
starts. This thing of looking to Christ,
first of all, admits this, his reality, his reality. Secondly, it's not only to admit
his reality, read on, and that he is a rewarder. Now, he is just, and he is righteous,
and he is holy. He will punish sin. God is wrath
against all workers of iniquity. God's angry. But my friends,
we believe the reality of God, not only that he's just and holy
and righteous, but he's loving, merciful, and kind. and he delights
to show mercy. And in Jesus Christ, he's enabled
to show mercy. Because of Christ's righteousness,
because of Christ's identification with us, because of Christ's
obedience to the law, because of Christ's suffering under God's
judgment and justice, then God can now be just and justifier
of them that believe. God's hands are released to save
by the obedience of his Son. That's so. You say, you mean
God can do nothing contrary to his nature and he cannot overlook
sin. He cannot pardon sin without
justice and righteousness being satisfied and Christ coming into
the world as a man through perfect obedience and death enabled God
to be just and justified. Enabled God to save us in accordance
with his righteousness and holiness. And when I come to God, I know
that he is, and I know that he is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek him through Christ, in Christ, and because of Christ. Now, I
believe that. That means to look. Thirdly,
and it's to acknowledge that only from him can salvation come. His is not a way of salvation. I hear these songs, and we ought
to check ourselves. God will make a way somehow.
Brethren, it's not a way, it's the way. And it's not somehow,
it's his only how. His only, his only, only way
he can. The only way that God can be
God and save sinners is through Christ. There is no other way.
Christ is not a way. I heard a quartet sing on the
radio this morning that song. I used to like it very much until
I read the word. And you can change the words
and it's good. They searched through heaven and found a Savior.
Once I was straying in sin's dark valley, no hope within could
I see. They searched through heaven
and found a Savior. They didn't search through heaven
looking for a Savior. Before I ever fell, that Savior
was standing there. The only one God can have is
Christ. He's not a way, He is the way. And that's to acknowledge that
only through Christ, only, that's the only way God Almighty can
be God and saved, not by works of righteousness, which we've
done. Not at all. It's Christ is the only way,
all right? Fourthly, now listen to this. What is it to look? It's to acknowledge his reality.
It's to acknowledge his blessings are in Christ. It's to acknowledge
that that's the only way. There's none other way. None
other way. It will be salvation in Christ
or damnation. Fourthly, it's to address myself
to Him by calling on Him. Turn to Romans 10, 13. Now, I'm
not going to get in trouble here with you who know something about
the Word of God. To austere hyper-doctrinalists,
I may get in some difficulty here, but God didn't send us
to explain the gospel, He sent us to proclaim it. In Romans
10, verse 13, it says, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. Now, brethren, let me tell you
something. I believe God is. I believe God's rewarded them
to diligently seek Him. I believe only through Christ
can men be saved. I have and I am and I shall in
prayer and actually call on Christ to have mercy on my soul to be
my Savior. Now, I believe in sovereignty, and I believe God
elected a people. If Christ died for those people,
I believe they'll come, but I believe they will come. I believe they'll
call, but I believe they will call. And I don't know how you're
going to do it or where you're going to do it, but I do know
you're going to do it. Like the publican in the temple,
you're going to consciously, whether out loud or in your heart,
somehow, you're going to call on Christ. Lord, be merciful
to me, O sinner. I don't care who's around or
who's listening or what they think about it, but you have
not because you ask not. And a fellow sits with his hands
folded and said, well, if I'm one of the elect, I'll be saved.
I'm not going to say that. I'm going to seek the Lord. I'm
going to pursue the Lord. I'm going to call on the Lord.
I'm going to cry. I'm not going to let him go until he blesses
me. Blind Bartimaeus, Jesus, our son of David, have mercy.
Somebody said, be quiet. And I'm sure there must have
been a Calvinist there who said, if you want his own, he'll come
back. No, he won't even. You called, and he kept, he would
not be silenced, and he kept calling, calling, calling! And
Christ stood still. Now is that, it's just, I don't
know how to explain that, I just know it's so. And if you're a
sinner here tonight, you say, well, I believe God is. Yes,
sir, I believe everything that book says about him. And I don't
know whether I believe it or not, but I accept it. If you
believe it, you're saved. And I believe that he's the reward
of them that diligently seek him, you know where it's at?
And I believe it's only in Christ. Lord, I'll tell you what I'd
do if I was you. I'd fall right on my face, either now or at
home or somewhere else, and I'd say, Lord, save me or I perish. Please save me. Be merciful to
me. I beg of you. I cry unto you. I want mercy. I want grace. I want Christ.
I want him. I want Christ! Huh? I don't want
an experience or a feeling. I'm not even crying for assurance. I don't want to peek at the Lamb's
Book of Life. I just want Christ. That's all
I want. Will you give me Christ? Give me Christ or I die. I don't
know. Well, Canaanite woman did. She kept crying, have mercy on
me, and he just looked at her one time. He didn't even answer.
She kept crying. He said, I'm sent to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. She kept crying. He says, not
fit to give the bread of the children to dogs. She just kept
crying. And brother, she got the bread. She got the whole
loaf. She wasn't leaving. I will not let thee go. Thief
on the cross? I could just keep on. I ran into
this, and I first came to Kentucky in 1940. No, it's 1950. 1950, I was out Parallelmire,
Kentucky under one of our tents holding a meeting. And I was
preaching. It was the latter part of 1950. And I preached, and somebody
came to me after the service and said, I'm a sinner, and I'll
talk to you about being saved. And I said, well, let's get on
our knees here, and let's ask the Lord to save you. And one
of those super Baptist deacons was standing there. I could call
his name, but I'm not going to. But he said, a sinner can't pray.
I said, he can't? All sinners can't pray. Well,
now, I don't know about that. I believe the thief on the cross
was a sinner. And he called on Christ, and
I believe that's called prayer. And the publican in the temple
was a sinner, and he called on God, and I believe that's called
prayer. Now, you could go on through the Word. They call on...
And I'll tell you this, you take your doctrine and perish with
it if you're not careful. You go to putting God in a mold,
I've told you this so many times, and he'll work over here and
ignore you. Now there's staying with the Word and staying with
the old landmarks and staying with the path and all this, but
you can get more enamored with the path than him who walks that
path, if you're not careful. You'll get more enamored with
the marks than him who made the marks. And I say this to anybody
here tonight, I say right now, call on Christ, ask for mercy.
Pull a publican in the temple, I dare you. I dare you. You know why? Because He'll save
you. He'll sure save you. I'd do it. I'd call on Him. And
then fifthly, what is it to look to Him? My friends, it's to keep
on looking to Him. Never stop looking to Him. Never,
never, never, never stop looking to Him. Never. All the days of your life. The
Scripture says, to whom coming? To whom coming? To whom coming?
Just keep on crying, just keep on looking, just keep on clinging
to Christ, just keep on coming to Christ. You never, just keep
on, keep, turn your eyes on Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face
and then take another look and another look and for every look
you look in here, take 10 looks to him. That's what it means
to look to Christ. All right, secondly, for what
part of salvation am I to look to Christ? For what part of salvation
am I to look to Christ? Well, turn to 1 Corinthians 1,
that scripture I read a moment ago. It says here in 1 Corinthians
1.30, he of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. Colossians 2 says we're complete
in him, in him dwelleth all, all the fullness of the Godhead,
all of it. all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. Turn to 1 Corinthians 3, just
over one page. Look at this, 1 Corinthians 3,
verse 21, Therefore let no man glory in men, for all things
are yours in Christ, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas,
or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things
to come, they're all yours. It's all yours. And you're Christ,
and Christ is God's. It's all mine, in Christ. I'm
going to be bold with you, but I know this is true from the
Word of God. And it's not something that the
average preacher preaches, but don't you listen to me. It's
from Christ that we even receive the graces of repentance and
faith. That's why it's all in Christ. I look to Christ, I look
to Christ, now watch this. We're born of God, we're born
not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, not of
fleshly inheritance, we're born of God. Secondly, we're called
of God. God who separated me from my
mother's womb called me by His grace. I'm taught of God. No man cometh to me except my
Father draw him. And every man that hath learned
of the Father and is taught of God cometh to me. We're taught
of God. Repentance is the gift of God. Did you know that? The
Scripture says, I'll give you a reference, Romans 2, 4, the
goodness of God led you to repentance. We perceive that God hath granted
repentance to Israel. It's the goodness of God that
led you to repentance. Faith is the gift of God. I'll
give you this reference, Philippians 129. It's given unto you not
only to suffer for Christ, but to believe on him. For by grace
are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's
the gift of God. Perseverance is the gift of God.
We're kept by the power of God through faith, not apart from
it, but through faith. Every grace that's in me, that's
about me, that's upon me is the gift of God. There's no way in
the world that I can take credit either for the justification
of my soul or the sanctification of my soul or the redemption
of my body. It's all the gift of God. It's
all in Christ. He supplied the means which are
sufficient and effectual to totally redeem me. It's all his gift.
It's present, it's reality, but it's still his gift. We look
to him for our strength, our comfort, our daily need. Give
us this day our daily bread. My grace is sufficient. All right,
that answers that question. For what part of redemption am
I to look to Christ? All of it, from beginning to
end. I supply nothing from this natural
flesh. Thirdly, what is my encouragement
to look to Christ? What is my encouragement to look
to Christ? The hymn writers have written
this, and can it be that I should gain? Now you think about this. Can you imagine yourself in glory? I know a lot of presumptuous,
cocksure people can, but I tell you. Boy, I tell you, is there
any knowledge greater than that, that I'll be with him? Boy, if
that doesn't flood your soul, if that doesn't put a spring
in your step and joy in your heart and praise on your lips,
can you imagine yourself in glory? Old John Newton wasn't quite
as presumptuous as we are. He said three things would amaze
him. You've heard me say that. And
the third thing is to find myself conformed to the image of Christ. Depth of mercy, can there be?
Mercy still reserved for me? Can my God His wrath forbear
me, the chief of saints? Me? Don't have me now. I know
there's salvation, I know God's got a people, and I know heaven
will be populated, I know there's some folks going to be like Christ,
but I want to be one of them. Is it possible that you and I
will be one of them? Well, I have four reasons to
believe that. Number one is His promise. His
promise. He has indeed promised life to
those who will live. That's what He said. You come
to me and I'll give you rest. That's His promise. He said,
ho, everyone that thirsteth, come to the water. That's a promise.
That's a promise. He said, come, let us reason
together, though your sins be as scarlet. I, I, not you and
I together, I, not the priest, I, not your preacher, I will
make them whiter than the snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they be as wool, but you come to me. You come to me. Will you
come? But I wait on him. Will you come?
That's what he said. He stood the last great day of
the feast and he said, if any man thirst, come to me. Come
on. Come to me. And I will give you
rest. Out of your belly shall flow
rivers of living water. Come to me. Come. His promise. Secondly, his ministry down here
on this earth. I watched my master. I watched
my master on this earth as he ministered to people and he delighted
to find himself in the company of needy, guilty sinners who
were outcasts, who had been cast out of the synagogue, cast out
of the temple, and cast out of the fellowship of the religious.
He delighted everywhere he went. He just seemed to find himself
with those people, identified with them. And I have that, that's
an encouragement. Now, if the Lord Jesus Christ
had hung around in the temple with all those theologians and
those legalists and ritualists, I'd have been a little troubled.
But I look and I see him down here and in this house and that
house, I see him rubbing shoulders with these sinners. I see him
saying, I came to call sinners, not the righteous to repentance.
I see him, hear him say, the Son of Man has come to seek and
to save the lost. I hear these words, that's an
encouragement. Because I'm sure a sinner. All right, thirdly,
his character. He said in the text there in
Isaiah 45, I am a just God. But he said, I am a Savior. That's
his character. I am a Savior. That's why he
came into the world. His very name. You know his name,
Jesus. You know what it means? Savior.
Savior. The name Jesus means Savior. God my Savior. That's encouraging. You know, if a fellow came to
do something deliberately, that was his task, his mission, that
was his goal, his end, his objective, Christ's going to do that. There's
no reason why I shouldn't be a part of it. I see the examples
of those who came. I go back here and find these
fellows like Lot, and Noah, and David, and Abraham, and Peter,
and Saul of Tarsus, and all these fellows who came to Christ, and
I say, why not me? Why not me? I go through the Bible, and I
see those who came to Him, and those who did not come to Him,
and I say, well, I'm sure a good candidate to come to Him. a good
candidate. So that's my encouragement. There
are four encouragements to look to Christ. His promise, his ministry
was to save the law, his character, he's a Savior. He is a Savior. And the examples of those who
came. All right, the last question, I'll quit. When's the best time
to look to Christ? When's the best time? Well, I
believe my text. Look at the text. I don't know
a great deal about English and tenses and imperative moods and
so forth, whatever terms they use. But I believe what this
is. I believe he's saying right now. I believe that. Look! I
don't believe he's saying when you have time, when you're disposed
to do so. I believe this is right now.
Look to me. You look to me right now, at
this present time. Look to me. And there are four
reasons why this is the best time. Number one, my need is
now. My need is now. Right now. I need Christ right now. I'm
already a sinner. That's been established. Somebody
said man's on trial. No, the trial's over. Sin has
already been pronounced and execution's awaiting. Right now, I'm a sinner. Secondly, the present time is
mine. It's mine. The future's uncertain.
The past is gone. I can't do anything yesterday.
And the future's totally uncertain. Boast not thyself of tomorrow.
Well, we see that every day. We see that in the case of any
of your friend, Buddy Hoffman, sitting right here, like you
are right now on Sunday night. Next Sunday, he was gone, wasn't
he? Why don't we think about that?
I told a story at a funeral one time. I don't know whether all
of you heard it or not, but we like cattle out on a hillside.
With the dump, there's a whole bunch of Black Angus, and they're
all out there just munching around on the grass, just standing around
eating grass, eating grass, eating grass, all day long. Eating grass,
walking around to another place, eating grass, looking for a better
place. You know, you see an old cow with his head over the fence,
eating grass across the fence. And the farmer comes out, puts
a rope around one of them's neck, and all of them look up, you
know, when he bellers, they look up, and they go back to eating
grass. Takes him to the slaughterhouse. Next day comes and gets another
one. They all look up for a minute, keep on eating grass, takes him
to the slaughterhouse. He keeps on up, finally there's
one old cow left out there chewing, you know, and she's seen 75 go
to the slaughterhouse, and still eating grass, still with her
head down. Now here God visits our congregation,
a man sits there and listens, and we take him out and bury
him, and the rest of us just keep eating grass. Now, I don't know when we're
going to learn, but the time is now. This present day is yours,
the past is gone, the future is uncertain. This thing is going
to quit beating one of these nights, and it's too late. He that being often reproved,
and hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that
without remedy. And then thirdly, death may come
suddenly, or this may happen. Now, don't misunderstand, we've
got some older people in the congregation, and they're sharp
as they can be, but now I'm telling you this, you read Ecclesiastes
12, old age, suddenly you wake up and you're old, you know that?
And this is the thing that comes with it. I know we joke about
this and all, but you read Ecclesiastes 12, and you'll find that when
people get old, these things don't concern them. That's exactly
what it's saying. That's exactly what it's saying.
The time is coming when I won't have that sharpness of thought
and concern. I just, everything's all right,
you know. Yes, honey, I'm religious too. Yeah, you know, you go to
the rest home and they've lived like the devil all their lives,
but they're real, they're all religious. Did you ever meet
anybody over 75 who wasn't religious? I never have yet. I never have
yet. And see, there's a dullness. Now, I know folks that are older,
are sharp, and especially those who already know Christ. But
now, if you're here, and you don't know the Redeemer, you've
never believed on Christ received and called upon Him, you'll come
to a day when you won't be moved by these things. You just let that be sufficient.
I'm telling you the truth. And I'll tell you this, the fourth
thing, when is the best time right now, because I need him
now, and the present time is mine, and death is so certain,
but old age creeps up, and these things just don't interest us. And then fourthly, this is the
time that God's chosen. He said now is the accepted time,
today is the day of salvation. Right now. Right now. Isn't that right? And I believe
we need every one of us right now. He said, well, I want a
sign. The Jews seek a sign, and the
Greeks seek after wisdom. But to those that are called,
it's the power of God. It's the grace of God right now.
Call on Christ right now. Don't ask Him for assurance.
You say, well, show me and I'll believe. You believe and He'll
show you. You call on Him. Whatever faith. It's not how
much faith you've got. It's the object of faith. It's
Christ. Just believe. Lord, I'm trusting You right
now. And this is the thing that you
see all these examples of the people in Egypt, God said, put
the blood on the door. And they did that, and he passed
over. They didn't ask for a sign or assurance or anything like
that. They just put the blood on the door. He said, bring the
cattle in. It's going to hail tonight. Bring
them in off the hill. And everybody that brought his
cattle in, his cattle lived. But those that left out there,
they died. It's just as plain as that. You going to bring your
cattle in tonight? I'm bringing my cattle in tonight.
I'm going to put some blood on the door tonight. I'm going to
look to Christ right now. And I'll just tell you, sink
or swim, I'm going to Him. And I'm not going to ask to become
a theologian. I'm not going to ask God for
all these signs and evidences and promises. I'm just going
to say, God, you said it, and I believe it. I trust Christ.
That's all there is to it. And I just don't believe anybody
ever went to hell sincerely looking to Christ. I do not. It's not a matter of losing rewards
and your mansion not being as big as mine. If I have Christ,
I have everything. And that's all I'm interested
in. That's clear as I can make it. Clear as I can make it. Our Father, oh, open these dull,
dark, dead minds. Let the light of your glorious
gospel shine. It's Christ. It's Christ. I know that. Salvation's of the
Lord. I can't look anywhere or to anyone but to Christ. And
I do look to Him. I do, God, You who know every
man's heart. I look to Christ. May everybody
here tonight say, I'm looking to Christ. Lord, be merciful
to me, a sinner. Let thy blood be propitiation
for me on the mercy seat. I put the blood on the door.
I bring the cattle in at your word. Nevertheless, at your word
I let down the neck. There may not be a fish in the
sea, but you said there is, and I believe it. I let down the
neck. I believe it. You cannot lie.
Christ is our hope. Bring men to trust thee, to look
to thee as they look to the blazing serpent with just the promise
of your word. In Christ's name we pray, amen.