Now, I prepared a message from
John chapter 1 on what is it to receive Christ. What is it
to receive Christ? Or life's greatest privilege. Life's greatest privilege and
life's highest calling to receive Christ and thereby have the privilege
and the power to be a son of God. Son of God. Now John begins
chapter one, he opens this book with words of praise and glory
for our blessed Redeemer, Jesus Christ. He said in verse one,
He was in the beginning. Talking about Christ. Christ
is the Word. The Word is capitalized here.
He's talking about Jesus Christ. He was in the beginning. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. When our Lord
Jesus Christ prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, now here We've
got to see this. Jesus Christ is God Almighty. He's not just a babe in Bethlehem's
manger. He's not just a good teacher
and good example. He's not just a suffering reformer
or example. Jesus of Nazareth is God Almighty. When he prayed in the Garden
of Gethsemane, he said, Father, glorify me with Thee glory which
I had with Thee. before the world was. Glorify
me with the glory, the immutable, infinite glory which I had with
thee before the world was." And that's what John, that's how
he starts out. He was with God and he was God. And he says next, he says, all
things were made by him. Everything that was created was
created by Jesus Christ. Now if you will, hold that scripture
in John 1 and turn to Colossians. This foundation must be laid.
In Colossians chapter 1, it says here in verse 14, talking about
the Master, it says, In whom we have redemption through His
blood, the forgiveness of sin. He is the image. He is the exact
likeness. He is the revelation of the invisible
God. He is the revelation of the invisible
God. the firstborn of every creature,
the firstborn of all creation. That's Christ Jesus. For by Him,
by Christ, were all things created. By Him, things that are in heaven,
that are on earth, whether they're visible or invisible, whether
they're thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
all things were created by Him and for Him, and He is before
all things, and by Him All things consist. All right, back to John
1. Now this one of whom he's speaking,
he is God. He was with God and was God and
all things were made by Him. It says, verse 4, in Him is life. Life is in Jesus Christ. In Him
is life. He is the light of the world.
He is the life of the world. It's all in Him. Now in verse
10, and this one, who is God, with God, made all things, He
came into this world. He came into this world. He was in this world. God, when
the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son into this
world, made of a woman, made under the law. Paul said it's
a faithful saying, it's worthy of all acceptation that Jesus
Christ came into this world. The deity was made flesh. The
Word was made flesh. He was made in the likeness of
sinful flesh. He dwelt among us. Now, here
John sounds a dismal note. Here John sounds a tragic note. He said He came into this world,
this world that was made by Him among creatures who were made
by Him. It was His world created by Him
at one time in His likeness. He was in this world and the
world was made by Him, verse 10, and the world knew Him not,
recognized Him not. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 2. 1 Corinthians, the second chapter. Let's read verse 8. He was in
this world and the world did not know Him. The people of this
world, the leaders of this world, the philosophers of this world,
they did not know Him. Verse 7 of 1 Corinthians 2. We
speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of
the princes of this world knew. For had they known it, had they
recognized Him, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. He came into this world. Christ
walked among us in the likeness of sinful flesh, and this world
knew Him not. Light came, but men loved darkness. Life came, but men were dead
in trespasses and sin. You will not come to me, He said,
that you might have life. But here's an even sadder note.
Now look at verse 11. The eternal, infinite Son of
God, by whom all things were made, came into this world. He
actually was born of a woman, made of a woman, walked on this
earth, lived in this world, and this world did not know Him,
did not recognize Him. Received Him not. And verse 11
says, He came to His own. Preacher, what does that mean,
He came to His own? Isn't the world His own? Yes,
in a sense. All mankind His own? Yes, in
a sense. Every tribe, nation, people,
kindred under heaven, in a sense, yes. But here, you know what
He's talking about? He's talking about His own people,
Israel. He was made of the seed of David,
He was born in Bethlehem of Judea. We're coming upon the season
of the year when men talk a lot about that, and they sing a lot
about that, and they speak a lot about that. Jesus Christ was
born of the seed of David. He was born in the city of Bethlehem.
He came to Israel. He came through the lineage of
Abraham, and of Jacob, and of Isaac, and of Jesse, and of Judah,
and of David. came unto his own people, and
they wouldn't have him. Not only that, but he came to
his own city, Jerusalem, called the City of God, where David
reigned. And they received him not. He
came to his own temple. Our Lord came to his own temple,
supposedly where the prophet spake from his word, and where
the priest went about offering sacrifices that told of him.
and pointed to Him and typified Him. And His own temple, His
own priest, His own prophets knew Him not and refused Him.
He came to His own types and shadows and pictures. He came
to His own Word. There were men sitting there
in the temple, scribes, transcribing the very Word of God, of which
the writer of the book of Acts says to him, all this gives witness,
all these prophets give witness. And he walked into the temple
and here they were transcribing the word, the branch, the elect,
the king of kings, the lord of lords, all these things, the
lord our righteousness, the lord our banner, the lord our hope
and refuge. And they looked up and saw him
as he stood right there in his temple among his own people,
among his own sacrifices, facing the men who were preaching his
own word, teaching his own truth. They looked up. and looked back
down, they received Him not. His own received Him not. No
room in the inn, no room in the temple, no room in the government,
no room in the hearts of men, no room for Him who made all
things, no room for Him who is life, who is light, who is glory,
no room for Him who is the fountain of life, no room for Him who
is the giver of life, no room for Him who is the perfect gift.
But not only that, turn to Isaiah 53. They weren't satisfied with
that. Just no room for Him. Just ignore
Him. They weren't satisfied. But rather
it says in verse 2 of Isaiah 53, He shall grow up before Him
as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground. He hath
no form, no comeliness, and when we shall see Him, no beauty that
we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of
men. a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He is despised and we esteem
him not." What ignorance, what shame, what utter ruin, what
depravity, what fearful judgment awaits if any man loved not our
Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. Our Lord said, if you
believe not that I am He, you'll die in your sins. Go back to
our text. In the beginning was the Word,
glorious, eternal, with the Father. By Him were all things made that
were made. In Him is life, in Him is light. He, by God's decree and purpose,
came into this world, was made in the likeness of sinful flesh.
The world knew Him not. He came to His own in His own
temple, among His own sacrifices that was supposed to tell of
Him and picture Him and part to Him, among His own prophets
and priests, where His own Word was translated and transcribed,
and they received Him not. But God sounds a glad and a glorious
note in verse 12, but, but, but. He came into the world, and the
world didn't know Him. But He came into His own things,
His own people, and they received Him not. But, listen to it, as
many as receive Him, as many as receive Him, to them gave
He. This is the promise of God. This
is the gift of God. To them gave He. To them gave He. freely, without
merit, without them deserving it, gave He, the glorious, and
the word here is power, but the word should be, I believe, a
better translation for us, to them gave He the right, the blessed
privilege. Privilege. What a privilege to
be called the sons of God. Turn to Romans chapter eight.
Just hold John 1 now and turn to Romans chapter 8. Let's look
at something about this thing of being sons of God. It says
in Romans chapter... Now, the whole world are not
sons of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ and I'm
not... There's a sense in which God
is the Father of every man in the sense that He created all
beings. But in the spiritual sense, we are not by nature sons
of God. We're creatures of God and subjects
of God, under the government of God, in the kingdom of God,
in His world. But we're not sons of God unless
we're sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Our Lord said to
the Pharisees, you're of your father, the devil, and his works
you'll do. But now Romans chapter 8, it
says in verse 14, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
they are the sons of God. As many as are led by the Spirit
of God, they are the sons of God. Those who are regenerated
and born into the kingdom of God, they're sons of God. Verse
15, you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear,
but you have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we're able
to cry by God's Spirit through the adoption, we're able to say,
Our Father. Father, Father. The Spirit Himself
beareth witness with our spirit that we are now the children
of God. And if we're children of God,
sons of God, then we're heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. So be that we shall suffer with
Him, we shall reign with Him. He has owned the world, not sons. They knew Him not. He has owned,
not sons. They received Him not. But someone
Somewhere is going to have the privilege and the right to be
called a son of God Now who are these who are sons of God? To whom the Living God has given
such a high privilege such a blessed glorious calling. How are they
described? We'll look at our text in verse
12 But as many as received him To many as many as received him
To them gave He the right to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe, to them that receive Him, to them that
believe. Can I make this clear to you?
If I can, let me help you. This thing of salvation, of sanctification,
of eternal glory, of sonship, children of God, is to everyone
who receives Christ, to everyone who believes on His name. Now,
my friends, there are many graces besides faith. There's the grace
of love, and there's the grace of meekness, and there's the
grace of humility, and there's the grace, different graces.
But faith is the only grace that gives us union with Christ. There
are many graces now besides faith, but faith is the only grace that
gives us union with Christ. Our Lord sent his disciples out
and said, go preach the gospel to every creature, he that believe
it. and is baptized shall be saved.
He that believeth not shall be dead. He that believeth on the
Son hath life. He that believeth not the Son
shall never see life. The wrath of God abideth on him.
Nothing but unbelief can bar you from Christ. Nothing but
faith can unite you with Christ. It says of Israel, they could
not enter in because of unbelief. To receive Christ, to believe
on Christ, to come to Christ are all the same thing. The Bible
talks about believing on Christ, receiving Christ, coming to Christ. It's all the same thing. So I
ask this question now, and I answer it with four important words.
If you want to, jot these down. What is it to receive and to
believe on Christ? What is it? God has given to
us the glorious privilege of being His sons if we believe
on Christ, if we receive. Now, what is it to receive Christ?
Well, here's the first one. Receiving Christ implies an understanding,
an understanding or a knowledge of who Christ is. Now, that's
the first thing. No man, listen to me, no man
can... This is why we preach. This is
why we read the Word of God. No man can savingly come to Christ. No man can savingly believe on
Christ or receive Christ who is ignorant of who Christ is.
Turn to Romans 10. Let me show you that. Now, I
know salvation is a heart work. I know the work of the Spirit
of God is a heart work. I know it's a work that takes
place in the heart, with the heart man believeth. I know it's
a spiritual work. But God does not work apart from
the brain, apart from the mind, apart from the understanding.
That's why we preach. That's why you sit and listen.
That's why we read the Word of God. Romans 10, 13, listen to
it. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord, his name is who he is, his name identifies him,
who he is. If I call out this morning Ed
Stephens, that identifies who I'm talking about. Jim Spence,
that's who I'm talking about. And that name identifies the
one of whom we speak. And he says if you call on the
name of the Lord, the one of whom we speak, the one identified
by this name, you'll be saved. But verse 14, How then can they
call on Him in whom they've not believed? And how should they
believe in Him of whom they've not heard? How can you believe
in an unrevealed Christ if you haven't heard of Him, if you
haven't been exposed to who He is? So this is the first thing.
And how shall they hear without a preacher? This is the first
thing, to receive Christ, to believe on Him, to embrace Him,
to come to Him, implies a knowledge of who He is, what He came to
do. He came to fulfill the Old Testament
scriptures. He came to fulfill the types
and pictures. He came as a sin offering and
sacrifice. Why did He have to do that? Because
God is just, because God is holy, because His law must be honored,
because His justice must be satisfied. Where is Jesus Christ now? He
was buried, He arose again, He ascended to the right hand of
God where He ever lives. to make intercession for us.
And all true, saving faith is based on knowledge, light, and
understanding. Turn to I John 5. And if you
listen to this now, it'll help you. I John 5, verse 20. And we know, I John 5, 20, and
we know that the Son of God has come. Who's come? The only begotten,
well-beloved Son of God. He has come from where? From
glory. To where? To this earth. How?
In the flesh. He's come. We know that. He has
come and He has given us some understanding. Some understanding
that we may know Him that is true. And we're in Him that is
true. We're in the true Son. We're
in the true Messiah. We're in the true refuge. We're
in the true Redeemer. even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and this
is eternal life. Turn to John 6, 40. Now listen
to this. I've given this a lot of thought.
That question just kept ringing in my ear when Larry said, now,
I believe this, this, this. What do I do now? It's to receive
Christ. Well, what do you mean receive
Christ? Well, first, it implies some
understanding or knowledge of who He is, what He did. why it was required of Him to
do that and where He is now. Seeing Christ is inseparably
connected with believing on Christ. John 6, 40. Look at John 6, 40. This is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone that seeth the Son. Now this is not a vision,
this is not a dream, this is not a figuration, a transfiguration
of Christ to you in human form. This is seeing the Son with eyes
of faith, seeing Him in the Scriptures, seeing Him in the types, seeing
Him in the promises, seeing Him in the prophecies, seeing Him
for who He is. He that seeth the Son and believes. And a man can't believe on Him
he hasn't seen. He hasn't seen. And that seeing
is understanding. The blind man. When our Lord
healed the blind man, He said, Do you believe on the Son of
God? He said, Who is He? Lord, that I may believe. Tell
me who he is that I may believe. Tell me who he is. When Saul
of Tarsus was stricken on the road to Damascus and Christ said,
why do you persecute me? He said, who are you? Who are
you? When the Ethiopian eunuch was
journeying from Jerusalem to Ethiopia and sitting in the chariot
studying and studying and studying the Scripture. And Philip came
up beside him and said, do you understand that? He said, how
can I if somebody doesn't show me? Of whom does the prophet
speak? Who is he? That's what he's asking. Who is this? Who is this root
out of dry ground? Who is this man of sorrows? Who
is this one the Lord was pleased to bruise? Who is this that bore
our transgressions? And our sorrow is, my friend,
where you find saving faith in Christ, you'll find some light
from God of understanding concerning the person and the work of Jesus
Christ. One other scripture, turn to
John 6, 44. Listen to this. John 6, 44. Our
Master said, no man, whatever his natural abilities, whatever
his intellect, no man. Whatever his heritage or ancestry
or background, no man can, is able, has the ability to come
to me, to believe on me, to receive me, except my Father. My Father,
who has sent me, draw him." And he goes on, and he said, "'Every
man, therefore, and they shall all be taught of God.'" It's
written in the Scriptures. "'They shall all be taught of
God. And every man, therefore, that hath heard and hath learned.'"
Learned what? that he's a sinner and he's a
Savior and that Christ is that Savior. He'll come to me. All
right, here's the second thing now. What is it to receive Christ? Here's the second thing. Receiving
Christ implies some knowledge. You understand? Secondly, receiving
Christ implies an agreement, an agreement and consent to the
truth revealed in the gospel. I agree with what I read. Turn
to 1 John 5 again, 1 John chapter 5. Now, this, this is, this,
my friends, cherish the Scriptures. Make much of the Word of God.
Whatever else you do, make much of the Word of God. As Isaiah
said, to the law and to the prophets. If they speak not according to
the Word of God, it's because there's no truth in them. There's
no dawn, there's no morning. Though we do not understand all
these mysteries, we believe them and we turn to the scriptures
as our foundation of faith. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. It's the scriptures that reveal
the deity of Christ. It's the scriptures that testify
of God's purpose to redeem sinners. It's the scriptures that declare
God's mercy and grace in Christ. It's the scriptures that talk
about his incarnation. It's the scriptures that talk
about his office, prophet, priest, and king. It's the scriptures
that talk about his death, burial, and resurrection to the Word
of God. Look at 1 John 5 verse 10. And this is the record. Cherish
the scriptures. Hold to the promises of God.
That's the foundation of your faith. I know Christ is the object
of faith. Christ Himself is the Redeemer.
All life is in Him. But the reason I look to Him,
the reason I trust in Him, the reason I lay hold upon Him, the
reason I can rest in Him is God has promised it and it worked.
Turn with me to Romans 4. This is what is said of Abraham
in Romans chapter 4. He believed God. He didn't just
believe there was a God. He didn't just believe in God.
He believed God. He believed what God said. This
is what it is to receive Christ. It's first to know who He is,
and the way I know who He is is by giving agreement and consent
to who God says He is. In Romans 4, 20, it says, Abraham
didn't stagger at the promise of God through unbelief, but
he was strong in faith and gave glory to God. And he was fully
persuaded what God had written, what God had promised, God was
able to perform. And therefore, it was charged
to him, imputed to him for righteousness. And this is written. This is
not written for Abraham's sake alone, but that it was imputed
to him, but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, If we believe,
on the basis of what? God's Word. Thirdly, now listen to this.
This is so important right here. What is it to receive Christ?
It's got to be, that's the reason we're going to have to do some
preaching. You can't just go to a movie and see, like some
of you young people did, a raging inferno and get saved. Salvation
is based on understanding. Who is Jesus Christ? What did
He do? Why did He do it? Where is He
now? Some understanding, some knowledge of who He is, some
counting the cost, some understanding of a committal to Christ. And
that comes from the Word. And the only way you can believe
the Word is to believe it is the Word of God. This is the
record. God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His
Son. Now watch this. What is it to receive Christ?
It implies, thirdly, a personal identification. a personal appropriation,
a personal confession of Christ. Now turn to Romans 10. Now listen
to it. Personal. This is not something I can't
live by somebody else's faith. One of the most heartbreaking
things I ever heard somebody awful close to me say one time
was my brother. I was over visiting him in Germany. He said, how are things going
in your ministry? I said, all right. He said, well, I hope
you've got enough faith for both of us. Well, I ain't got enough
faith for me. Christ is my faith, my hope.
And this is a personal matter. This is a personal identification,
a personal appropriation. In Romans 10, it says, verse
9, that if thou, individual, personal, shall confess with
thy mouth, Jesus to be Lord, and shall believe in your heart
that God raised Him from the dead, you'll be saved." You.
You. That's talking about you. Turn
to I Peter 2, 7. I insist that what I'm telling
you is true. I insist that saving faith is
impossible without revelation to the understanding. That saving
faith is impossible except based upon a confidence and agreement
in God's Word, with God's Word. It's impossible. You can't doubt
the Scriptures. You can't put a question mark
on. This is the sole revelation we have of God's mercy and Christ,
the only one. Cherish the Scriptures. Hold
to the Scriptures. And thirdly, it requires a personal
identification and a personal appropriation. It says in verse
7 of 1 Peter 2, unto you therefore which believe. Unto you. He's precious. He's precious
to you. He's precious to me. I want you
to listen carefully to this testimony, Charles Haddon Spurgeon's personal
testimony that I found in one of his messages a long, long
time ago. And it's very helpful. Listen
to it. When I came to Christ, when I confessed Christ as my
Lord and Savior, I had no knowledge of any personal or saving interest,
personal interest, in the death of Jesus Christ. In other words,
I didn't accept Him as my personal Savior. I didn't have a clear
understanding that He died personally for me. He said, I just knew,
listen to it, I just knew that I was a great sinner. I knew
it was written in His words. He hath made Him to be sin for
us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. I knew it said in His Word that
this is a fateful saying and worthy of all acceptation that
Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am
chief. I knew that it said in His Word, Look unto Me, all the
ends of the earth, and be ye saved. I am God, and there is
none else. I looked. I looked. I trusted. I believed God on the strength
of His Word. I said in my heart, sink or swim,
I cast myself on Him. I prayed, Great Son of God, You
lived on this earth, You died on a cross, You made atonement
for those who trust You. I trust You. I trust You. Great Son of God, You came to
this earth and lived and died on a cross and was buried and
rose again. and promise mercy to those who
believe on you. I believe. I believe. I believe. That's it. That's
it. I believe. It's a personal confession. And what these people did in
the New Testament when they believed on Christ, they confessed Him
in baptism. They confessed Him to the whole
world. Now, the last point, and I need to bring this in, number
four, Look at verse 13, because in all things we give God the
glory. Look at verse 13. In speaking
of these, they were born, they were regenerated, not by fleshly
inheritance. In other words, this faith in
Christ was not given from father to son, from son to his son. It didn't come that way. It wasn't
of human ancestry. It was not of the will of the
flesh. It wasn't because we were smarter than anyone else or better
than anyone else, nor the will of man, but they were born of
God. Thy people are made willing in
thy power. In other words, if I'm led to
believe the Word of God, God gave me the faith. If I'm led
to receive Christ, I give him the glory. He enabled me. If I'm made willing to lay hold
on Christ, to believe on Him as my Lord and my Savior, I give
God all the glory because I'm born not of the will of the flesh,
not of the will of man, but of God. I hope that helps you, and
I hope there's someone here this morning that will be brought
to, like Larry last week, settle this issue and confess Christ. Receiving Christ implies a knowledge
of who He is. It implies an agreement, I agree,
I consent to the Word of God that is true. It implies a personal
consent, a personal appropriation, a personal confession of Christ.
I identify with Christ before his people, before the world.
Christ is my hope, he's my redeemer, he's my refuge. And in saying
that, I say now, That was the gift of God. He gave me that
privilege. He enabled me. I was made willing
in the day of His power. I'm not boasting that I opened
the door and let myself in. I was born of God. Born of God. When the storms of life are raging,
stand by me. When the storms of life are raging,
Lord, stand by me. when the world is tossing me
like a ship upon the sea. Thou who rulest wind and water,
stand by me. In the midst of tribulations
stand by me. In the midst of tribulations
stand by me. When the host of hell assails,
and my strength begins to fail. Thou who never lost a battle,
stand by me. In the midst of persecution,
Stand by me. In the midst of persecution,
Lord, stand by me. When my foes in battle array,
Undertake to stop my way. Thou who fainteth not, neither
is weary, stand by me. When I'm growing old and feeble,
stand by me. When I'm growing old and feeble,
stand by me. When my life becomes a burden
And I'm nearing chilly Jordan Oh, thou lily of the valley Stand
by me They that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength They shall mount up with wings as
eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Teach me, Lord, teach me, Lord,
to wait.