I'd like you to open your Bibles
again to the 8th chapter of Acts. I entitled this message, The
Way Made Plain. Now, if two men were out in a
field, hoeing or cutting up stumps, performing some task of that
nature. And one of them draws back with
the axe, or whatever instrument that he's using, and the head
flies off. And his friend is standing behind
him, working with him, and the axe head strikes him in the head,
and he falls down dead. This man has killed him. He's
done it accidentally, unintentionally. But the dead man's brother is
the avenger. And the dead man's brother wasn't
there. He didn't see it. The family
didn't see what took place. So the dead man's brother is
going to be after this man. There are only two of them in
the field. All he knows is that his brother is dead. And he's
dead because he's got an axe head planted in his head here.
And the man who was working with him is the man down the road. So what's this man going to do?
In the Old Testament, the Lord established six cities of refuge. And this man who had slain his
friend, not intentionally, but accidentally, immediately, without
explaining or anything, no witnesses, the thing for him to do is run
as quickly as he can. and find one of those cities
of refuge and go into that city. And according to the law of the
Lord, according to the purpose of God Almighty, no one could
touch him. He could stay in that city. He
was to stay in that city until the high priest died. He was
to stay in that city, protected, safe. No one could touch him. The avenger could not touch him.
Now, these cities were well identified. They were listed three or four
times in the scripture, in Exodus, in Numbers, in Deuteronomy, in
Joshua. These cities were named, they
were well identified, and the roads to these cities were well
identified. They tell me that they had signs
on the road. such and such a place, city of
refuge. And when the slayer was running,
he didn't have time to stop and ask directions. He would see
the signs, he would know the way, and he would run to that
city. Now, they tell me another thing.
I don't know how true it is. But certain priests or men were
appointed to keep the way to the city of refuge clear. They
were to take out all the obstructions, all the things in the way, clear
away the brush, and they were to be sure that all the signs
accurately pointed to the city. That was their job. You wouldn't
want a man stared the wrong way. He's a manslayer, he's guilty,
he's killed a friend accidentally, but the avenger's on his trail,
hot behind him. And he comes running over and
somebody mischievously has turned the sign, or accidentally turned
the sign. He runs that way, he's a dead
man. He missed the city. He may have good intentions,
but he missed the city. Now, Christ is our city of refuge. I'm the slayer. I'm the guilty
one. And the law of God is on my heels. The justice of God is after me
because I'm guilty. If by the grace of God I can
plead to Christ, who is the city of refuge, Christ is our refuge.
There is a hiding place. There is a fountain of life. There is a rock in a weary land. There is a well in a desert plain. And that city is Christ Jesus. But both the city and the way
to the city must be pointed out. It must be identified. And we
as preachers of the gospel must make the way to that city as
plain as we can make it. We must remove every obstruction,
we must straighten up every signpost so that every thirsty, sin-sick
soul can come to the right place and freely drink and be made
whole. You say, well, why have you chosen
the 8th chapter of Acts? It looks like you'd go to John
3 or Romans 1 or 1 John 5. Listen to me. As I prepared this
message on the way made plain, The signpost cleaned up, well
painted and scrubbed and pointing in the right direction. Christ
is the object of faith. Christ is the Redeemer. And I'm
going to make the way clear. The reason I turn to Acts chapter
8, I'll give you several reasons. The first one is this. This man
was saved. You say, how do you know he was
saved? God said he was saved. God said,
this man was miraculously saved, and his conversion is reported
in the Word of God. I know this man was saved. And
here's another thing. This man was saved, Cecil, that
day. That day. See what I'm saying?
This man was saved that day. Philip left him, and he went
on his way rejoicing. I know those two things beyond
a shadow of a doubt. This man came to know God. He came to know God. And secondly,
this man came to know God that day. He didn't take a course
in salvation. He didn't go to some seminary
and learn the way to salvation. He didn't go and take a six-weeks
course on church membership from some elder or deacon. He saved
right then, that day. I don't know how long Philip
was with him, but I do know that day this man was saved. Here's
another reason. This man was a common, ordinary, pagan black
man. He was not a Jew. He had no religious
tradition or background. He was reared not in the synagogue,
but he was reared in Ethiopia. He was a black businessman. He
was a man who had great authority and great power and influence,
but he was not a churchman. He was not a traditional religionist.
He was not a legalist. He was not a ceremonialist. He
was not a ritualist. He was just plain old black man
from Ethiopia. Now, that's why I've chosen this
passage. I know he was saved. I know he was saved that day.
And I know he didn't have any background in religion. I tell you, sometimes background
in religion is more difficult to overcome than paganism. Because I tell you this, sometimes
you have to clean out all the rubbish before you can find the
foundation. And that's a painful experience.
If a man's already got a God, you've got to kill his God before
he'll trust the living God. Now, several things are important
at this point, and you just hold the Bible open there. First of
all, this man was seeking the Lord. Now, if I'm going to make
the way plain, I'm going to have to make it plain to whom I'm
making it plain. The old black man said, I always
have three points in my message. He said, I tell them what I'm
going to tell them, and then I tell them, and then I tell
them what I done told them. So I'm going to make it plain
to whom I'm going to make this plain. This man was seeking the
Lord. Now, I don't know how he came
to be a seeker. The Bible doesn't tell us. I
don't know how he ever obtained a copy of the writings of Isaiah.
I don't have any idea. I just know he had it. But I
do know this. I do know that he was sincerely
seeking the Lord because of this. His sincerity had led him to
make a difficult, long, tiresome, painful journey all the way to
Jerusalem, not by jet airplane, but by camel or caravan. He had
made a journey all the way to Jerusalem to worship God. Now, that man was sincere. I
have people tell me all the time, well, I'm interested in salvation,
I'm interested in knowing the Lord, and I get up here on a
Sunday morning or Sunday night or Wednesday night and look up
and I wonder where they are. You know, they just live six
blocks away. Or they just live a half hour away. Or it's so
easy in an air-conditioned car to make your way over to hear
the gospel. But this man, Danny, he was sincere. He was seeking
the Lord. And the only place he knew to
go was where God was recognized. And he made this difficult and
painful journey. It took a long time. He left
his responsibilities, he left his family and home, and he made
his way all the way to Jerusalem in hopes of hearing something
that would encourage his heart. Another thing, he was walking
in what light he had. Now, watch this. He only had
a candlelight, not the full sun of Revelation. He lived back
here in the days when they didn't have a church on every corner,
when they didn't have a preacher on television every 15 minutes.
He was walking in what light he had. He was willing to see
God in whatever light God was pleased to give him. So he went
all the way to Jerusalem, and there he circulated among these
Sadducees and Pharisees and scribes and priests, and he looked at
the sacrifices and the temple and all these things. At least
he was walking in what light he had. And I'll tell you another
thing about him, he was reading the Bible. I'll tell you this,
now, for a man to say that he's interested, that he has an interest
in spiritual things and he doesn't read God's Word, he's mocking
God. I think he's a liar. I don't think he's telling the
truth. A man or a woman, young person, tell me, oh, I'm interested
in salvation, I'm interested in God, I'm interested in knowing
the Lord, I'm interested... You don't read the Scriptures?
You're mocking God. How is God known but through
His Word? Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
James says, of His own will beget he us with the Word of truth. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible seed, the Word of God that liveth and
abideth forever. I tell you, if Christ is ever
revealed to your heart, He'll be revealed through His Word.
That's just so. You're not going to ignore the
scriptures and find God. You say, well, I'll go down here
where they got a good quartet. I heard a man say on television
the other day, there's nobody can bring you closer to God than
a good country gospel singer. I expect the opposite is true.
There's no one who can bring you near to God except God's
Word. That's so. This man was reading, this man
was a seeker. And this man was walking in what
light God had given him. Now, you walk in the light God
gives you. I don't care where you are. You
walk in the light God gives you, and he'll give you more light.
But I'll tell you this, that light comes from his word. It
says in Isaiah 8, 20, "...if they speak not according to the
word of God, the law and the prophets is because there's no
light in them." There's no dawn, no morning. This man was reading
the scripture. And then watch the fourth thing.
God sent him a preacher. God sent him a preacher. God
didn't send him a quartet. God didn't send him a trio. God
didn't send him a promoter. God didn't send him a high-pressure
evangelist. God didn't send him an entertainer.
God Almighty sent him what? A preacher. God sent him a preacher. Oh, that God, in this day of
promotion, of ritualism, in this day of entertainment, in this
day of religious Playing games. Oh, if God would be pleased to
raise up here and there a preacher. Oh, a preacher. John the Baptist,
the scripture says, came doing what? Preaching. John the Baptist
came preaching. It said, Our Lord Jesus Christ
began to what? Preach. When our Lord gathered
his disciples around him before he ascended back to glory, he
looked at them. He didn't say, go build churches,
go establish this, that and the other. He said, go ye into all
the world and preach and preach and preach and preach. 1 Corinthians 1.21 says, "...it
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe." Paul said to young Timothy, Timothy, I'll leave
you three words. Preach the Word. Be instant,
in season, at it. We're living in a sad day. It's
such a sad day. The pulpit, the pulpit. You know
this is so. The pulpit is a worn-out, deserted,
old piece of furniture. This is the day of Sunday schools. Nothing wrong with Sunday school,
we have one. But when you relegate preaching to the scrap heap in
favor of building your church on a successful Sunday school,
you've ruled out God's means of salvation. The Sunday school
is the teaching place for believers. It's not a place of evangelism. This is the place right here.
This is a day of Sunday school. This is a day of vacation Bible
school, child craft and hand work. This is a day of children's
camps. This is a day of singles retreats.
This is a day of church fellowship suppers. This is a day of good
gospel singing. This is a day of testimony, special
music, ball teams, and everything else. God Almighty, please send
us Holy Spirit anointing, Christ honoring preachers. That's a
thing of the past. The pastors have become promoters,
they don't have time to study and to preach. The first deacons
were ordained for one purpose, to let the pastors become men
of prayer and men of preaching. Pastors today are promoters,
they're counselors, they're executives, they're writers, they're organizers,
they're professors, and they're wet nurses for unsaved church
members. Out of the thousands and thousands
of pastors today, there's not one decent preacher out of every
1,000. I mean preacher. C. H. Spurgeon said this, pastors
today are everything but preachers. In that great day, though, when
stocks shall be taken of the final results, it'll be found
that the preachers of the gospel with all their imperfections,
have been the greatest influence in the hands of God to bring
his people to eternal life." Preachers. Oh, God, for that soul-refreshing,
church-reviving, heart-lifting, Christ-honoring, God-glorifying
experience of hearing somebody preach, preach, preach the Word! Wouldn't that be wonderful? Oh, the apostle said, find us
some deacons so we can be preachers. Find us some deacons so we can
be preachers. We don't have time to look after
all these things. We don't have time to do these
things. We're preachers. Oh, how I long to hear preaching,
hear men get in the pulpit and preach. God, this man was seeking
the Lord. This man was walking in the light
God had given him. It was a dim light. It was just
a candlelight. It was just a flickering light.
But he was reading the Word, and God sent him a preacher.
And that preacher came up alongside that chariot. And you know, a
lot of preachers tell me, well, I don't know where to start.
Well, start where men are. Start where men are. Where they are. God deals with
men where they are. No pretense, just where they
are. God deals with men where they are. Not where they claim
to be. Not where they ought to be. Where they are. That's where
God deals with men, where they are. If a man demands justice, you'll
get it. I guarantee you God will deal
with him right where he is. If he demands, I want what's
coming to me. Guarantee you God will fulfill
every wish. You'll get what's coming to you. Now, it may not
be what you think is coming to you, but now you'll get what's
coming to you. The judge of the earth will do
right. He's never done wrong. He'll do right. If you want to
stand on your righteousness, now you just, honey, you go right
ahead. You're privileged to do so. God lets you stand on your
righteousness. Those people that said, we cast
out devils in your name and did many wonderful works and prayed,
He said, that's all right. You stand right there. Now, I
never knew you. I never knew you. And you get the consequences
of self-righteousness by being bound hand and foot and cast
into outer destruction and darkness, but that's where you want to
stand and go right ahead. If you want to plead church membership,
plead it! If you want to plead your experience,
plead it! If you want to plead your righteousness,
plead it! Somebody asked old John Jasper
one time, this black preacher from Richmond, Virginia. They
said, John Jasper, When you get to the gates of glory and they
stop you, and they say to you, John Jasper, what rights you
got to be here? What you going to say? He said, I'll tell you what I'm
going to say. I'm going to say, I ain't got no right to be here
at all. None at all. No right. But I ain't here on
my rights. I'm here on the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he said that gate will swing
outward. It will swing open. I'll be admitted in, in his name. Oh, God will meet you where you
want to stand. If you build a false refuge,
you'll die in it. If you hide in a refuge of lies,
God will leave you in it. If you seek mercy, though, you'll
find it. God will meet you where you want to be, where you want
to stand. So Isaiah, Philip came right up beside this chair and
he said to this fellow, he said, do you understand what you're
reading? Do you understand over there in Isaiah 53, do you understand
our griefs and sorrows? Is that real to you? Do you understand
our transgressions? Is that real to you? Do you understand
our iniquities? Can you associate your name with
iniquities? That's pretty hard to do. We
associate our name with kindness and goodness and righteousness
and holiness and church work, but can you associate your name
with iniquities? That's what this man was reading.
He's reading all about our iniquities, our transgressions, our sicknesses
and diseases, our griefs and our sorrows, transgressors. I know he used to talk to a woman
about an offering for sin if she's not a sinner. Isn't that
simple? There's no use to talk to a person
about an offering for sin if they're not a sinner. What use
would an offering for sin be to a person that's not a sinner?
No use to talk of justifying to a man who's not guilty. There's
no use to talk of Christ being numbered with transgressors if
a man is not a transgressor. There's no use to talk about
intercessors if a man is not a sinner. Huh? He doesn't need
an intercessor. He doesn't need a mediator. So
do you understand? Can you identify? When you read
Isaiah 53, as this man was sitting there, our transgressions, our
iniquities, oh, just dripping with the and with the evil of
it, just from the sole of my feet to the top of my head, my
griefs and sorrows and sinfulness and sicknesses and diseases and
iniquities. Do you understand? Do you understand
that salvation is of the Lord? Do you understand there's nothing
you can do about your sickness, nothing you can do about your
disease? Nothing you can do about your griefs and sorrows, nothing
you can do about your transgressions except dig a deeper hole. It's
like trying to climb a sand hill. You go up one foot and slide
back two. You go up two feet and slide back four. You're just
overcome with iniquities. You're filled with sicknesses
and diseases. Even your righteousnesses are
filthy rags. Huh? Isn't that awful? So? We
all do fade as the leaf said the same prophet, our righteousnesses
are filthy rags in God's sight. Do you know that salvation is
of the Lord? Do you know that salvation is a gift of God? Do
you know it pleased God to send him? It pleased God to bruise
him? Thou shalt make your soul an
offering for sin. Man put his body on the cross,
but God Almighty put his soul in a hell of suffering. The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. Do you understand what you're
in? Do you understand something of the power of God, of the holiness
of God, of the greatness of God? Do you understand something of
the exceeding sinfulness of sin? If you've never been lost, you'll
never be found. If you've never been guilty,
you've never been washed and made clean. If you've never been
dead, you've never been raised. If you've never been blind, you've
never been made to see. If you've never been sick, you've
never been healed, you understand something of substitution. Salvation's
a heart work, I know, but God doesn't bypass the mind. He says,
Whosoever shall call, Out of distress, out of despair, whosoever
shall call a sinner out of guilt, out of misery, whosoever shall
call out of inability and helplessness, whosoever shall call. Have you
ever called? On the name of the Lord, the
name which is above every name. His name is who He is. His name
identifies His attributes and character. You say, Brother J. Wembley, immediately you know
who we're talking about because you know his character, his attributes,
his appearance, his voice, how he looks. And that name only
fits one person in this congregation. Only one person. And that name
upon whom I call must fit one person, the Lord. Not a doormat
named Jesus. Not a fire escape named Jesus.
Not sweet little Jesus, boy. Not the one up there wringing
his hands out because people won't let him do what he wants
to do. The Lord! Jesus Christ. Whoso shall call. A man only calls out of a need.
I don't need you. I'm sufficient. I'm all right.
I need help. I need help, I call. Out of my
sorrow, darkness, and disease, I call, Jesus! Son of David! I'm calling, have mercy on me.
Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom, I'm calling.
Peter's sinking beneath the waves, Lord, Lord, save me, I'll perish!
I'm calling. Ain't nobody else can help me.
I'm a-callin'. You ever call? No. No, you're good folks. Good folks
don't need saviors. You're good folks. I wish I could
find some sinners. I got some good news. Man, I
tell you, if I could find me a sinner. Sinner's a sacred thing,
though. The Holy Ghost has made it so.
You don't meet them very often. You don't meet drowning men very
often, but I'll tell you what they'll do. They'll sure call.
They'll sure call. And you don't have to go around
pulling by the arm and say, I'll go with you if you go to the
shore. Find him out there drowning and
the water's clear up his eyeballs, you know. And you go out there
and say, now your wife was saved last week. Don't you want to
come in? Oh, I like it out here, you know. Well, you want to meet mama on
the shore? Mama's on the shore. Ah, ain't
that stupid. God ought to send everybody to
hell that does that. Well, come on, I'll swim in with
you. Let me tell you something, bud. I've watched two people
drown in my life over in the Navy in World War II, undercurrent
got them. It's fighting for life. One old
boy, he got ahold, we threw some life preservers down and one
of them got it. We didn't have to tell him how to hold on to
it, didn't have to tell him what to say. He got ahold of that
life preserver and Dickey hung on. And we pulled him out. Pulled
him out. And if you ever get lost, if
you ever get plumb lost, if you ever get in need, if the Holy
Spirit of God ever strips you naked, you'll cry for a covering.
If he ever shuts you up to God Almighty's justice and righteousness,
pure, pure wine prayers of God's wrath, waiting you at your coming,
hell, moving up to meet you, you'll call, God have mercy. You won't have to have something
quick to say, now let's bow our head and close our eyes, nobody
looking around while the choir sings softly. Will you repeat
after me, Jesus, have mercy upon me, a sinner. Now, you're all
saved. No, you're not saved. You're
hiding in a refuge of self-righteous damnation. Sinners call! Lost men call on God, they do,
Bob. They call out of desperation.
They call out of despair. They call out of a need. Whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how
are they going to call on Him in whom they've not believed?
And how are they going to believe in him with whom they've not
heard? And how are they going to hear
if somebody starts preaching? Somebody, Bruce, is going to
start preaching. Somebody's going to enter the ministry. Somebody,
one of these days, is going to get up on his hind legs and not
care what his salary is and where he lives. Somebody, one of these
days, is not going to care about his security and whether or not
he's going to have a home in his old age. He figures God who
gave him young age will give him old age. He doesn't give
a hoot and a holler for where he pastures. Old Brother Mews
said he'd be thankful a pastor in Pecker would holler to get
somebody to listen to him. But he's going to preach. He's
going to get up preaching, go to bed preaching. He's going
to sit around thinking about preaching and finding something
to preach. And every time somebody gives him a shot at the pulpit,
he's going to preach the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Preach. Oh, God had raised... That's
what that preacher said. He started right where that man
was. And the man said to him, verse 34, the eunuch said, Well,
now, I pray you, who's this man Isaiah talking about? Is he talking
about himself? Who is this tender plant? He shall grow up as a
tender plant. Who is this babe nursing on a mother's breast?
Who is this little gentle tender blade of grass? Who is this root
out of dry ground? Who is this carpenter born to
a nation of lost glory, lost power, and lost hope? Who is
this man with the calloused hands and the sweaty brow? working
in his daddy's carpenter shop. Who is this Jew from Nazareth
out of which nothing good can come? Who is this despised and
rejected man acquainted with sours and grief? Who is this
man upon whom everybody who was anybody turned thumbs down? Who
is this despised man whose followers are a bunch of fishermen and
no count men of no influence or reputation? Who is this silent
sufferer, led as a lamb before the slaughter, denied, betrayed,
rejected, lied about, cursed and blasphemed? Who is this man
forsaken of all men? Who is this battered, bruised,
mutilated man hanging naked on a tree, mocked and humiliated,
scorned and rejected? Who is this man? Who is this
man of whom does the prophet speak? But I'll tell you, first of all,
he's the arm of the Lord. To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? What is the arm? The power of
God. Not the church? Christ. Not the
preacher? Christ. He is the power of God. To whom is this power of God
revealed? I'll tell you something else
about him. He's a substitute. What he's doing is not for himself,
it's for me. When he walked this earth in
the flesh, when he was born under the law, subject to the law,
made under the law, made of a woman, tested in all points as I am
tempted, yet without sin, he was working out a perfect righteousness
for every one of the believers, a representative, a substitute.
He was wounded from my transgressions. He was bruised from my iniquities.
A chastisement of my peace was laid on him by his strife. I'm healed. He took my place,
died in my stead. Oh, we like sheep had gone astray.
I went my way, not God's way. He went God's way. He said, not
my will, but thy will. I said, not thy will, my will.
And God laid on him my iniquities. He's the substitute, He's the
representative, He was numbered with the transgressors, He's
the sufficient Savior. He shall see of the travail of
His soul, the birthplains of His soul and be satisfied. The
pleasure of God will prosper in His hands. Christ didn't try
to save anybody. He came to effectually, sufficiently
save all for whom He died. He shall not fail. He didn't
come to try to seek and to save the lost. He came to save them.
He didn't come to try to save sinners. He didn't try to come
to make a down payment, let you and I finish it up. He came,
he's the author and finisher of our faith. Salvation is all
of Christ. It's in Christ, it's through
Christ, it's by Christ, it's for the glory of Christ. It is
Christ. Christ himself is salvation.
When old Simeon stood in the temple and looked at that infant
Christ, he didn't see a cross, he didn't see an open tomb, he
didn't see a reigning king, he saw a person. And he said, I've
seen your salvation. Salvation's in Christ. All that
he is, all that he does, all that he's doing now, all that
he will ever do, it's in a person. Don't trust your faith. Direct
your faith to the object of faith, Christ. Don't rest in your experience,
don't rest in your conduct, rest in your Redeemer. It's a person. It's a person. He is our mediator. It says over in Isaiah 53 that
he was numbered with the transgressors and he made an offering for sin,
made his soul an offering for sin. If so, all things are in Him. Paul said in 1 Corinthians, of
Him, of God, are you in Christ? In Christ, who of God is made
unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
Christ's holiness is my holiness. I have no holiness. The man at his best state is
what? Vanity. Altogether vanity. Christ is our holiness. Well,
this man said in verse 36, as they went on their way, he heard
this preacher. This was a faithful preacher.
This was God's preacher. This preacher was faithful to
the Word. This preacher began at the same scripture and preached
Christ to this man. Christ is the scriptures. He
is the scriptures. And I don't know how long he
talked to him, but he talked to him about God's power and greatness.
He talked to him about man's sinfulness and inability. He
talked to him about Christ's representation. As in Adam we
died, in Christ we're made alive. He talked to him about Christ
Jesus suffering and dying. He talked to him about Christ
raised from the grave and ascended to glory as our mediator. He
talked about Christ coming again to receive us unto himself. He
talked about Christ. His whole message was Christ.
Preacher, when you run out of something to preach, just brag
on Christ and you'll get back in business again. Quit talking
about our great church or our great this or our great that.
Quit talking about prophecy. Who cares about what's going
to happen? I'm concerned about what He's doing right now. The
reign of Christ in Jerusalem, not near as important to me as
the reign of Christ in your heart, Frank. That's important, Richard,
in your heart. That's what's important. Because
I know if He reigns in your heart, you'll reign with Him in Jerusalem
or wherever He reigns. It'll all be all right. But if
he doesn't reign in my heart now, I'm not going to reign with
him in Jerusalem or anywhere else. I'm going to be under his
condemnation. So Philip, Philip, preach Christ!
And then this man said, what does hinder me to be baptized?
What does hinder me? Watch it now. What keeps me?
from participating in this substitution, this sin offering, this sacrifice,
this redemption. He talks about it in Isaiah 53.
What keeps me from being identified with his people? What keeps me
from finding rest? Ain't no rest in the flesh. Boy,
you think you got the flesh hemmed in here and it'll bust out somewhere
else. You think you got it hemmed up here pretty good and it'll
bust out somewhere else. You think you've got this overcome
or that overcome? Maybe you do overcome that with
all your strength and effort, and it'll break out somewhere
else. Flesh is flesh, and it always will be. But where can
I find some peace? Where can I find some rest? Well, Philip said it down here
in verse 37. He said, If you believe, you
may. If you believe. Well, preacher,
what is it to believe? Would you let me tell you? Now,
I know the definition. I love it. All the old Puritans
use is knowledge, confidence, and committal. Let me give you
an illustration. When Moses called that bunch
of Hebrews together, and he said, we're leaving this place. We're
leaving this place. After 400 years, we're leaving
this place. Now, he said, God's coming through here at midnight. And in every home, firstborn
son's going to die. God's going to kill the firstborn
son. And I know every daddy there.
I've been through this firstborn son dying stuff. And I know how
every daddy felt. I know how he felt. I know how
he was to tremble. But Moses says his hope. What
is it? You take a lamb, And you kill
that lamb and put its blood on the lintel and on the two side
posts of your house and go in there and shut the door and rest."
And he said, when I'll pass over, I see that blood, I'll pass over
there. You know what faith is? That old daddy got him a lamb
and he killed it. And he ate the flesh and put
it on the door. And he took that boy by the hand
and said, come on, son, we're under God's care. And he shut
the door. And he sat in there that night
and he heard the wails and the moans and the groans and the
weeping and the sorrow. And you know what he did? He
said, I'm sure proud I saved you, boy. Oh, no. Thank God for
the blood. Thank God for the lamb. Thank
God for Christ. I'll tell you, when that bunch
of snake-bitten Israelites were lying around dying, oh, suffering
the pain of that, the bite of that fiery serpent going through
their body. And Moses said to God, Lord,
save the people. Don't kill all the people. And
God said, Moses, take a serpent of brass, just like those serpents
that bitten the people, and put it on a pole. And everybody looks
a little. And Moses got the serpent of
brass and made it and put it up on a pole, lifted it up, got
like God one day lifted his son between heaven and earth. And
old Moses the preacher went running among the snake-bitten people
suffering and dying and said, I would like to speak this morning
on superlapsarianism. This morning our discourse is
going to be on whether you ought to take the Lord's Supper with
a local church or with everybody. Or whether the ladies ought to
wear hats this morning. Look! He said, look, look, look! Huh? And you know something? Somebody looked, didn't he? Somebody
did what that preacher said. And you know what happened? He
left. He got up and walked off. Because he loved. And our Lord
said, if Moses lifted up that serpent, huh? We don't believe
it. We're going to drive up the town
with alcohol. That's what our churches are
dedicated to do. We're going to keep the young
people off the streets. We're going to get them all in
Christian school and teach them that man didn't come from a monkey.
Of course, they're all going to hell, but they'll go to hell
believing man didn't come from a monkey. Somebody's going to have to get
in the pulpit. and start preaching, if anybody's
saved. And he's going to have to preach
the brazen serpent, because that's where it is. And if anybody ever gets a glimpse
of him who is the image of God, the exact likeness, he'll never
be convinced that he came from a monkey. There's the image of
that poor, one more illustration of faith, that poor dying woman.
She'd tried every position she knew. Everybody recommended their
personal position to her, and she tried him. She tried every
quack cure known to human beings. She tried all of it, and she
was no better, but grew steadily worse. She spent everything she
had, didn't have a dime left. And somehow, somebody told her
about the great position, the master. And she said, oh, if
I can just get to him. Somebody somewhere told her the
good news about Christ. And that woman found out he is
in town in her weak, dying, suffering condition. She made her way through
that crowd. Even got down on her hands and
knees and crawled between the people. She had one objective,
to get to Christ. For she said, if I can just touch,
that's how much I believe him, the hem of his garment. I don't
need to be taken in his arms or embraced in his arms or know
all the answers to all the theological questions. All I need to do is
touch him. Just touch him. And she kept
getting closer and her heart beat faster. But she was intent
on one thing. Touching Christ. Touching Christ. And she kept on, and kept on,
and she reached that trembling, weak, pale, wasted hand, and
touched Him. And the Bible says immediately
she was made whole. She got to Him. She got to Him. Now, brother, that's faith. And
you know the results of it? It'll be a confession. He said,
I believe. Look at that, verse 38. He said, 37, Philip said,
if you believe, he said, what do you mean, if I believe? I
do believe. I'll tell you something else,
it'll be gratitude to whom much is forgiven, he'll love much. Oh, I tell you, you want to find
people praising God, to find that woman that's touched the
master. All your church problems are
created by people who've never touched the Master. That's exactly
right. They've come in contact with
an altar, or water, or a preacher's hand, or a catechism, or a doctrinal
position, or a principle, or a law. They've never touched
the person. The person breaks the heart. The person Christ Jesus begets
compassion like His own and love like His own. Don't tell me you
missed Him. You flat missed Him. You can't come near Him without
being made like Him. He gave a witness. He was baptized. Nobody had to go out and recruit
Him either. They didn't even have to heat
the water. Rather, He said, here's water.