Chapter 1. This twelfth verse is the one
I want to use as a text. John 1, 12. I don't want to cry the empty
cry, believe, believe, believe. I know most pulpits are just
standing up, have faith, have faith, believe, believe. But
I want to tell people what it means to believe. There are a
thousand different kinds of faith. There's mental faith, emotional
faith, material faith, temporary faith, all kinds of faith. Faith
in creatures, faith in idols, faith in false gods, faith in
ourselves. But there's a saving faith. There's
a saving faith. And I believe it's our responsibility
as the preachers of the gospel to define, John, saving faith.
I believe that we Instead of just telling a man, believe,
believe, he says, well, believe what? We're going to have to
tell him what to believe. And receive Christ. It says here, as many as received
him. Now, you know that's so, and
you believe it. It's God's Word. But I know somebody
sitting out there this morning saying, what does it mean to
receive Christ? Now, you have to be saying that. I read this
verse and thought about preaching on it. As many as received him,
to them gave he the right, the privilege, to be sons of God. Sons of God. I don't want to
miss out on that. All right, what does it mean
to receive Christ? What does it mean to receive Christ? I
can't be unsure and cloudy on this matter. I've got to know,
have I received Christ? What does it mean to receive
Christ? That's what we're going to talk about. Now, I want to precede
it with this. The great and important matter
is not my receiving Christ at all. It's his receiving me. Now, brethren, let that be established
right off. Let's establish that before we
ever fool with this matter of my receiving him. The important
thing is not my accepting him at all, but his accepting me.
That's just so. That's just so. It is important
that I receive him, but it's more important that he receive
me. It's a whole lot more important. The question is not what I'm
going to do with Christ. It is that to an extent, but
the main question is, what will he do with me? That's the main
question. Our Lord said to Pilate, you
couldn't have any authority over me at all except it be given
you from above. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. God didn't find grace in Noah's
eyes. Noah found grace in God's eyes.
That's what I'm more concerned about. And I want that to be
established before I ever start this message. I'm not just appealing
down here to sinners to do something for God. I'm appealing to the
throne of grace for God to do something for us sinners. That's
where it all starts. I love him because he first loved
me. If he didn't first love me, I'll
never love him. I seek him because he was pleased
to come down here and seek me. The sheep wasn't seeking the
shepherd. The shepherd was seeking the sheep. Now, the sheep responded
to the shepherd's call. The sheep responded to the shepherd's
love. The sheep responded to the shepherd's
touch. But I'm telling you this, if
he doesn't seek and he doesn't call and he doesn't touch, you'll
never respond. That's the important thing. Noah
found grace in the eyes of the Lord. A man can receive nothing
except if it were given him from heaven. Moses prayed, Lord, even
Moses, Lord, if I have found grace in your sight, Show me
your glory. Show me your glory. So this is
the main thrust, the main important matter. It's not my receiving
him. We're going to deal with that
in a moment. But the main matter is his receiving me. That's where
it all starts. He chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world. Herein is love, not that we love
God. But preach, I do love God. I
know. I know that. here in his love is not that
we loved God first, but that he loved us and gave himself
and his son as a propitiation for our sin. How does Christ
receive sinners? How does Christ receive sinners?
Well, first, the Father gave them to him. The Father gave
them to him. Turn to John 6 a moment. Let
me show you something. John 6. Christ received sinners. How does he receive them? The
Father gave them to him. He said in John 6, verse 37,
listen to this, "...all that the Father giveth me shall come
to me, and him that cometh to me I will no wise cast out. I
came down from heaven," verse 38, "...not to do mine own will,
but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's
will, which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me
I will lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day." Where
did Christ receive sinners? How does He receive sinners?
The Father gave them to Him. Secondly, he purchased them with
his blood. That's how he received sinners.
The Father gave them to him, and then he came down. It turned
to John 14. Let me show you this. John chapter 14, or John chapter
10, verse 14. John 10, 14. I'm the good shepherd. John 10,
14. I know my sheep and none of mine.
As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father. I lay down
my life for the sheep. I bought them. I bought them. How does Christ receive sinners?
The Father gave them to him, and he bought them. And then
thirdly, how does Christ receive sinners? The Holy Spirit brings
them to him. The Holy Spirit calls them. You
have to quicken who were dead in trespasses and sin. The Holy
Spirit calls them to Christ. All right, let that be established
first. Now, when we talk about this subject, what is it to receive
Christ, the first and important matter is not my receiving Him,
not my accepting Him, not my coming to Him. The first primary
important matter is Christ receiving me, Christ accepting me, Christ
coming to me, Christ loving me, Christ seeking me, Christ calling
me, But verse 12 says, but as many as received him. Now that's
so. We're going to deal with this.
As many as received him. These people come to Christ.
These people receive Christ. These people believe on Christ.
Our Lord sent his disciples out to preach, and he said, you go
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth
not shall be damned. The two important things dealt
with here, the high privilege conferred upon some, power to
become sons of God, power to become sons of God, the right,
the privilege, the honor, the dignity, the highest dignity,
sons of God. What benefits and blessings in
this life and what benefits and blessings in the life to come,
sons of God, sons of God. And the second important thing
dealt with here is the subjects upon which this blessed privilege
is bestowed to as many as receive him. You see it. But as many
as received him, to them, to them, gave he the right to become
sons of God. To them. To them, to as many
as receive him, to them that believe on his name, to them
that are called according to his purpose, to them that love
God. You see, the soul is the life of this body. Faith is the
life of the soul. Christ is the life of faith.
And if I miss Christ, I miss life. If I receive Christ, I
receive life eternal. So those are the two things dealt
with in this verse here. The blessed privilege conferred
upon some men, sons of God. sons of God, the right, the privilege,
the honor, the dignity, the eternal privilege, sons of God. I want
to be a son of God, don't you? But to whom is it given? To them
that believe on his name, to as many as receive him. Okay,
what does it mean to receive Christ? Let me give you about
six things that I've jotted down here, what it means to receive
the Lord Jesus Christ. I say first of all, first of
all, receiving Christ must be born or arise out of or grounded
upon understanding and knowledge of who Christ is. Now someone
said this, no man can receive Christ savingly in the darkness
of human ignorance. We must know. in order to receive
him savingly, we must know who he is and what he is and what
he did and why he did it, at least to a degree. We've got
to have some understanding if we are to receive him to be
the Lord our righteousness. Now, conviction. Turn to Romans
7 a moment. This thing of conviction of sin,
Where does it come from? Well, it comes from a knowledge
or an understanding of sin, of the law. It's got to. A man cannot be disturbed or
convicted of sin unless he has some understanding of the law.
That's what Paul says in Romans 7. Listen, verse 9. He said,
I was alive without the law. I had no knowledge, no understanding
of what God's law required, the spirituality of it. You see,
the law of God requires not only an outward obedience, but an
inward obedience. The law of God, the holy, immaculate,
infinite law of God. Paul said, you that would be
under the law. Don't you hear the law? Cursed is everyone that
continueth not in all things written in the book of the law
to do them. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, you've heard it said by
them of old times, thou shalt not kill. I say unto you to hate
is to be guilty of murder. That's what the law says. You've
heard it said by them of old times, Thou shalt not commit
adultery. I say unto you to lust is to be guilty already of adultery.
You see, the law reaches to the heart. Paul didn't see this.
He said, I was alive without the knowledge of the law, without
the understanding of the law. But when the commandment came,
when an understanding of the commandment, when a knowledge
of the commandment came, sin revived. It appeared to be sin. It took its right form. It became
obvious to me. It became evident to me. And
I died. I was convicted. Look back at
verse 7. What shall we say then? Is the
law sin? God forbid the law is not sin. I would have not known
sin but by the law. I would not have known lust.
Except the law said, Thou shalt not covet. Well, he had read
that a million times. Thou shalt not covet. He had
read it with these eyes. But then he saw it with these
eyes. He understood. You see what I'm saying? There
is no conviction of sin. Here's this man, Saul of Tarsus,
Hebrew of Hebrews, Pharisee of Pharisee, concerning the law
blameless, rigid, orthodox, standing in his principle and blamelessness
and haughtiness and proud Phariseeism. I'm not a sinner. He's ignorant. Ignorant. You say smartest man
alive. Ignorant. I don't care how smart he was.
Ignorant. Ignorant of God's law. And when
the Holy Spirit came with a true understanding, true knowledge
of that law, Saul said, I died. I just died. That which was ordained
to life I found to be unto death. When I saw what God's law required,
when I took a look at myself in the mirror of God's law with
a clear understanding and knowledge of what that law said, I melted,
I just died, died, died. So conviction is born of the
knowledge of the law. Repentance is born of the knowledge
of my sin. Now conviction comes from a generality,
a general understanding of sin. I look into the perfect law of
God and I say with Isaiah, I'm a man of unclean lips dwelling
amidst a people of unclean lips. But now when the Holy Spirit
takes the law and shows me my sin, my sin, my sin, my sin,
that's when I repent. I repent not for what Adam did,
but for what I've done. I repent not for what mankind
is, but for what I am. I repent not for the sin that
dwells in this world, but the sin that dwells in me. I can't
repent for you, and you can't repent for me, and we can't repent
together. I repent myself. My sins are
ever before me. So a knowledge of the law leads
to a conviction. A knowledge of my sin leads to
repentance. And only a knowledge of Christ
can lead to faith. Turn to 1 John 5. In other words, how is a man
going to be convicted of a sin of which he is not aware? And
how is a man going to repent and mourn over a condition of
which he is not aware? And how is a man going to trust
and believe on a Redeemer whom he does not know, of whom he
has no knowledge and understanding? First John, chapter 5. Look at verse 20. We know that
the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding. Understanding of what? An understanding
of who God is, holy yet merciful, righteous yet low, truth and
just and yet compassionate. Who God is. An understanding
of who we are. guilty, wretched, undeserving,
ill-deserving, hell-deserving, unable to do anything about our
condition, without hope, without help, without God. An understanding
of who Christ is, God, from the foundation of the world, ordained
him to be our Redeemer, made him our surety, our representative,
our federal head, sent him into this world in human flesh. to
meet the law as a man and obey it perfectly, to go to the cross
as a substitute and die an ignominious, horrible death for our sins,
to be buried and rise again and to be raised to the right hand
of God and to be seated as our advocate and mediator and high
priest, by one offering to perfect forever them that are sanctified.
He has given us an understanding that we may know him that is
true. And we are in him that is true,
even in his Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and this
is eternal life. I want you to go over to Isaiah
53, verse 11, and look at a verse of scripture. Isaiah 53, verse
11. It says here in regard to our
Lord, Isaiah 53, verse 11, He shall see the travail of his
soul, and shall be satisfied And by his knowledge, and I like
to read that this way, by a knowledge of him, or through a knowledge
of him, shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear
their iniquities. Our Lord said that the Heavenly
Father must teach us if we come to Christ. Turn to John 6. We are going to have to be taught
of God. How does God teach us? Well, we are going to see that
in just a moment. How does God teach us? But we must be taught. In John 6, verse 44 and 45, verse
45, verse 45, verse 46, verse 47, verse 48, verse 49, verse
50, verse 51, verse 52, verse 53, verse 54, verse 55, verse 56, verse 57, verse
58, verse 59, verse 60, verse 61, verse 62, verse 63, verse 63, verse 64, verse
65, verse 66, verse 67, verse 67, verse 68, verse 67, verse 68, verse 69, verse 69, verse 70, verse
70, verse 71, verse 71, verse 72, verse 72, verse 73, verse
74, verse 75, verse 75, verse 76, verse 75, verse 76, verse 77, verse
78, verse 78, verse 78, verse 77, verse 78, verse 78, verse 78, verse 78, verse
78, verse 78, verse 78, verse 78, verse 78, verse 78, verse
78, verse 78, verse 78, verse 78, verse 78, verse 78, verse
78, verse 78, verse 78, verse 78, verse 78 understanding, you can minimize
the matter of knowledge, you can minimize the matter of teaching
the scriptures, but I'm saying unto you, the only man who will
receive Christ is the man who has some understanding of who
he is. That's just so. You cannot, faith does not save,
faith in Christ saves. Believing does not save. Just
believe, but I'm sorry, that won't save you. believe on the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And his name signifies who he
is. His name signifies what he is. His name signifies what he did. His name signifies why he did
it. The Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, to receive Christ is
to rest upon the testimony of God's word as unquestionable
and infallible. I'm taking a stand here on these
two points, and I think they are vital and critical. If we
don't get any further, these are the two most important points.
The first one is, in order to receive Christ, you've got to
receive the right one. You've got to know who he is.
You've got to do it in understanding. Secondly, to receive Christ is
to rest upon the testimony of God's Word as unquestionable
and infallible. Where do I find out about the
Deity of Christ? You say Jesus Christ is God Almighty? How do
you know? The Bible tells me so. When I find out about his
eternal existence, you say in the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and all things were
made by him. Who told you that? God's Word. Man is born in sin. Who said so? The stars didn't
say so, and the trees didn't say so, and the moon didn't say
so, Still small a voice that whispers through the pine trees
didn't say so. God said so. This book right
here. How do you know Jesus Christ
became a man? How do you know that the virgin
son is verily the Son of God? How do you know that he obeyed
the law perfectly? How do you know he died for sinners?
How do you know he was raised again? Tradition? How do you
know he ascended? How do you know he's the one
mediator between God and men? How do you know that he'll come
again? How do you know that he'll raise these bodies from the grave? God's Word. Turn to 1 John 5. This is the witness of God. 1
John 5, and I'll tell you this, it's mighty, mighty, mighty important.
My friend, turn to 1 John 5. In the meantime, let me say this.
It is Satan's policy to put a question mark on the Word of God. I don't
care whether Satan is standing in a pulpit. I don't care if
he is standing in a seminary or a Bible college. Any man who
puts a question mark on the Word of God is a scent of Satan, because
Satan started this business back in the Garden of Eden when he
said to Eve, Hath God said, Ye shall not die? Hath God said,
Ye shall not eat of the fruit of the tree? She said, That's
right. God says we'll eat it, we'll die. You shall not die. You shall not die. That's not
so. And I'm saying, look at 1 John
5, beginning with verse 9. If we receive the witness of
men, Now, brethren, there's some of us here who do receive the
witness. I believe I've got some folks
in this congregation, if I told you that I was going to do a certain
thing, you'd believe me. I believe you'd believe me. I
plan to be here, the Lord willing, I plan to be here tonight and
to speak on the liberty of the sons of God. Now, some of you
are going to be here because you believe me. You're not going
to go home and tell your wife, well, he's not going to be there
tonight, he's not going to speak on that. Well, if you receive the
witness of men, listen, the witness of God is greater, infinitely
greater, infinitely greater. For this is the witness of God
which he testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath
made him a liar, because he believeth not what? The Word of God, the
record, the record Gerald is the word of God. That's what
we're talking about. It's believing the word that the record God
gave of his son. I believe the book. You may say
I'm old-fashioned. You may say I'm ignorant. You
may say I'm not intelligent, not educated. Well, whatever
you call me, whatever you say, I believe the book. I believe
God's word. This is the foundation of faith.
I don't have any right to claim anything. of God except as I
read it here. I can't trust my feelings. You
say, well, I just feel like this. Well, somebody else feels another
way. Well, this is what I think. Well, somebody else thinks differently.
And our thoughts are not God's thoughts. Turn to Hebrews chapter
13 a moment. Hebrews chapter 13. Listen to
verse 5 and 6. Hebrews 13, 5. He says here in
verse 5, Let your conversation be without covetousness. your
behavior, your general trend of your life. Don't be covetous,
greedy. Be content with what you have.
Be content with what you have. Having food and rain with you,
be content. For God has said, I will never
leave you, I will never forsake you. Now look at the next line.
So we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear."
How can you say, the Lord is my helper, I will not fear? Because
he said it before you did. That's what the whole, how do
I know I'm a sinner? He said so. How do I know God
loves sinners? He said so. How do I know Christ
came to save sinners? He said so. That's the only reason
I know it, and the only reason you know it. And I'm saying this,
to receive Christ is to receive him on the testimony of this
book right here. and not the testimony of any
preacher or any pope or priest, however high he may climb, theologian,
whatever. I don't believe it because you
said it or anybody else said it, or because my forefather
said it, or because John Gill or John Flavel said it. I believe
it because God Almighty said it. This is it right here. This is it right here. And if
you've got a question mark on the book, I don't care if it's
Jonah and the fish, or if it's the sun standing still, or if
it's children of Israel crossing the Red Sea, or if it's the brazen
serpent lifted up, put a question mark on his word and put a question
mark on your salvation. put a doubt on his word and put
a doubt on your eternal salvation, because this is the foundation
of faith. And I'll tell you this, any man who goes out of here
to preach the gospel, I'm saying this to you, you don't have anything
to preach but God's word. And if you've got a doubt on
that, you stay home. Don't open your mouth in the
name of God unless you can say, Thus saith the Lord. That's so,
isn't it, Jerry? To receive Christ, thirdly, is
to, one must be assured that all that I need will be found
in Christ. All that I need will be found in him. Now, if I'm
going to receive him, if I'm going to put all my eggs in one
basket, like Ralph used to say, I'd better be confident that
basket will hold them. That's right. If you're going
to invest everything you've got in a business venture, you better
have some assurance that that thing is going to work. That's right. A man will not close with Christ
confidently, he will not commit himself to Christ wholly, he
will not rest in Christ completely until all doubts concerning the
sufficiency of Christ are removed. Now, you may doubt yourself,
you may doubt your faith. You may doubt your sincerity. You've got to have a right to
doubt yourself. I've got to have a right to doubt myself. I receive
new evidence every day that I have a right to doubt myself, but
I have no right to doubt Him. I've got every reason to doubt
myself, and I receive new reasons every hour, but I've got no reason
to doubt Him. You see what I'm saying? To receive
Christ, a man must be assured that all that I need will be
found in him. All my needs are met in Christ.
He said to his disciples one day, he had fed those people
and they walked away, and he turned to them and said, Will
you go away? And one of them said, Lord, to whom shall we
go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And I'll tell you through
55 years of living and 35 years of trying to preach, I've come
to the complete conclusion is there's no mercy, no salvation,
no way to God in anything religious or otherwise except Christ. There's
nothing in in morality or nothing in law and nothing in ordinances
and nothing in church organizations or sectarianism or anything else.
There's no life, no hope, no truth, no beauty, no redemption,
no forgiveness, no peace, no rest. If it's not in Christ,
then we are of all men most miserable. That's so. That's so. Turn to Romans 4. Let me show
you something here. Romans 4. It's old Abraham. He's the example. He's the father of everybody
that believes. Abraham, we had the assurance
that he was saved, that he knew God. We know that. And it says right here in verse
20 of Romans 4, he staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being
fully persuaded that what God had promised he was able. also to perform. Now, you are
not going to receive Christ, and therefore, verse 22, it was
imputed to him for righteousness. He believed that the Lord was
able to do everything he said. Now, it was written, verse 23,
not for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us
also, if we believe on him that raised up our Lord
from the dead. You'll never come to Christ, never come to Christ,
you'll never receive Christ till you're assured, confident. No confidence in the flesh now,
mind you, no confidence in your ability to hold out, or hold
on, or hold up, or hold down. But absolute, utter, complete,
total confidence in Christ to do everything he says. Now, he's
my hope, he's my righteousness, he's my trust. On him I stay,
leaning on the everlasting arms. I mean not even a little finger
leaning on anything else. But in Christ alone. I'm hungry,
he's meat indeed. I'm thirsty, he's drink indeed.
I'm condemned by the law, he's righteousness indeed. I'm ignorant,
he's wisdom indeed. I'm unclean, Christ is the fountain
open. I am separated from God, he is
the only mediator, to you that believe he is precious. You will receive him when there
is no one else to which you can turn, nothing else upon which
you can build, no other refuge in which you can hide, no other
source of comfort, no other cleansing, no other meat or drink. When
you are shut up by the law, shut up to faith, shut up you'll receive
him. It's like a man out there in
the water drowning. He's going down, going down. Somebody throws
a life preserver. That's it. There's nothing else
to reach, to grab, to hold to, to trust in. That's it. It's a life preserver or death.
And I'm saying this to you. When Christ becomes that important
and that sufficient, you lay hold on him and nobody will ever
talk you out of him either. Turn to Colossians 2. Nobody
will have to beg you to go to the front. Nobody has to say,
Well, I'll walk down with you. Won't you accept Jesus? Not today.
Well, I'll walk with you. Well, my wife is going to get
saved some day. I'm going to wait on her so we can get saved
together. Oh, my, my. Colossians 2, verse
9, In him dwelleth all, all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
and you are complete in him. He is the head of all principality
and power, in whom also you are circumcised with a circumcision
made without hands. Everything is in Christ, putting
off the body of sins of the flesh with the circumcision of Christ,
buried with him in baptism, risen with him through the faith of
the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And
you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
hath he quickened together with Christ, having forgiven you of
all your trespasses. and brought it out to the handwriting
of ordinances that were against us, contrary to us, took it out
of the way, nailed it to the cross, and he spoiled principalities
and empires and made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it. The Lord has defeated all my
enemies and put them to flight, all of them, forgiving all my
sins. The story here of what Paul is borrowing from when he
talks about making a show of them openly, the old Roman generals
used to go to war. They'd take the soldiers and
they'd go to war. They'd be gone for months and months and months.
And then a runner would come back and a messenger would come
back that had won the victory over the enemy. And they prepared
a big parade. The army was coming home victorious,
victorious. And they'd line the streets on
a certain day, and they'd wait. Here's the trumpets blaring and
the drums rolling and the people shouting, and here comes the
victorious general. marching right down the main
street of Rome. And behind him are the King of
the enemy, with his arms chained behind him and his crown off
his head. And following him are his Generals and Captains and
Lieutenants, all of them chained, all of them chained. And this
victorious General will walk down the main street, making
a show openly of his enemies. He's triumphed over them. And
that's what our Lord Jesus Christ has done. He has made a show
of our... He's defeated Satan. The prince
of this world has been judged and cast out. Our enemies have
been defeated. Our Lord's made a show of them. You receive him, receive him
as the victorious king. Fourthly, to receive Christ is
to receive him willingly. Now listen to me here. To receive
him willingly. Turn to Psalm 110. to receive
him willingly. We don't receive Christ as our
Lord and Savior out of fear. Now, don't misunderstand me.
There is an element of fear involved. I know that. Scripture says,
by the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil. I know that.
In every one of us there is a certain fear of death, fear of judgment,
fear of hell. I know that. But I don't believe
that's the basis on which we receive Christ. Just fear of
hell. I really don't. Not those who
know him and love him. We receive him willingly. Take
a look at Psalms 110, verse 3. Thou people shall be willing
in the day of thy power in the beauty of holiness from the womb
of the morning thou hast to do of thy youth. We received Christ
willingly, not out of fear, not on the basis of a bargaining
principle, but willingly. This was the charge that our
Lord brought against Israel. You will not come to me. As Christ loved us and gave himself
for us, we love him and give ourselves to him. We come to him on his terms as
set forth in his gospel, willingly, willingly. This is a picture
that God gives us at the ark. Noah moved with fear and prepared
an ark. And then when the day came for
the judgment and the flood and for Noah to enter, the Bible
doesn't say that God pushed Noah into the ark or drove him or
pulled him into the ark. He said, Noah, come into the
ark. And Noah willingly, willingly,
being warned of God, moved with fear, of course, but willingly
walked into that ark with his family. And then God shut the
door. And I believe that a man who
receives Christ does not receive Christ as a fire escape from
hell. He does not receive Jesus Christ as a doormat upon which
to walk. He does not receive Christ as
an insurance policy in which to hope. when he dies, he receives
Christ as prophet, priest, and king. He receives him as the
Lord of his life. He receives him in an undivided
manner. Turn back to our text again,
John 1. Let me show you something here. This is important here. It says,
to as many as received him. It doesn't say as many as received
his, but him. Not those that receive his blessings
or his benefits or even his church or his word or his doctrines,
but those that receive him. I receive him as my prophet.
My ignorance requires his wisdom. I receive him as my priest. My
guilt requires his blood. I receive him as my king. My
flesh requires his scepter and rule. I receive him because he's
altogether lovely. I receive him because he is the
first of ten thousand. I receive him because he is the
King of kings and Lord of lords. I receive him because he is worthy,
willingly, entirely undivided. And then in the fifth place,
to receive Christ is to receive him freely. as the gift of God. Now, I have
a lot of trouble here, and I imagine you do. Turn to Isaiah 55. My
flesh wants to contribute something to my salvation. In spite of all that I read in
God's Word, I want to find some reason for God to love me. In spite of all that I read in
God's Word, I want to find some reason for God to look with favor
upon me other than Christ. Are you that way? I know I'm that way. I find that
true. It's so difficult for me just
to say there's no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus.
It's so difficult for me to just say, therefore being justified
by faith, we have peace with God. I've got to say, but, you
know, I do this and I do that and I do the other, and I don't
do this, that, and the other. Listen to Isaiah 55, verse 1. come to the water, he that hath
no money, no money, come ye buy and eat, ye come buy wine and
milk without money and without price, without any merit. Turn to Romans 4. Let me show
you something here. Romans 4, verse 5. And look,
we ever want to have a struggle We, every one, have a struggle
right here. I've said this so many times, there are days when
we feel just so saved, and there are days when we feel unsaved.
And almost invariably, the days we feel so saved is the days
we've been so good, and the days we feel we doubt our salvation
is when we have just had a bad day. And that's nothing in the
world but human merit. That's all in the world that
is. Why can't I take God's promises and God's mercies in Christ every
day the same? If I'm in a refuge, I'm in a
refuge. If I'm in a hiding place, I'm
in a hiding place. If I'm built on the rock, I'm
built on the rock. If I'm hiding in the city of
refuge, it doesn't matter whether I'm dressed up in a suit or in
rags. It's in the city where I'm safe, not in my suit. Whether I'm sick or well, I'm
in the city of refuge. Whether I'm fat or thin, whether
I'm old or young, whether I've been there a day or six months. You see, when the manslayer ran
from the avenger and he ran into the city of refuge, he was safe.
He was safe. It's not who he is. It's not
what he's got on, it's not how long he's been there. Charlie,
if he's in there, he's safe, isn't he? He's safe, under the
blood of Jesus, safe in the shepherd's fold, under the blood of Jesus,
safe while the ages roll, safe though the world may crumble,
safe though the stars grow dim, under the blood of Jesus, I'm
secure in him. But bless your heart, I tell
you, I'm human just like you are, and sometimes I say I'm
safe, and sometimes I just don't know whether I am or not. And
that's not right. That's lack of faith and confidence
in Christ. Look at verse 5 of Romans 4.
But to him that worketh not, worketh not. It doesn't say worketh
not a whole lot or a little bit. That worketh not, worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith, his faith,
not his works, not his deeds, not his sins or lack of it or
whatever is counted for righteous. Brethren, to receive Christ is
to receive him freely. Oh, everyone that thirsteth,
come to the water. If any man thirsts, Christ said,
come to me and drink. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor fitness fondly dream. I know somebody says, well, boy,
you don't know my past. God does, and he says come. But
you don't know what kind of person I am. God does, and he says,
Come. He that invited you, he wouldn't have invited you if
he wasn't going to receive you. Sinners come to Christ and rest in him.
He's the Savior, and I've got to receive him that way now.
I've got to receive him freely, freely, undivided, entirely,
and rest in the refuge. I can't be sticking my hand outside
the refuge holding on to a tree out there. I've got to sit down. I've got to cease from my labor,
Cecil, and enter into his breath. It's dishonoring to Christ for
me to apply to any other source for help. It's just dishonoring. I know we want to do it. Our
flesh says do it. Our flesh sees somebody do something
and says, well, he's not saved. Our flesh hears somebody said
something and says, well, he's not saved. You know, what saves
a man? Christ saved, and Christ alone. And I just don't know whether
we really savingly received him until we receive him freely.
I just don't know whether we have or not. I hope so. But freely,
as the gift of God, is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord. You say, what are you doing? every one of us to have confidence
in Christ and assurance in Christ, I'm encouraging those outside
of Christ to flee to Christ. There's no charge. There's no
charge. All the fitness he requires is
to feel your need of him. In my hands, no price, not a
low price, no price is what he says I bring. Simply as I cross,
I cling. Could my tears forever flow?
Could my zeal know respite? No. These for sin could not atone. Christ must save, Christ alone. You believe that? I know it's
so. Christ alone. Now there's hope
for folks like us in those promises. If God's selling redemption,
there's not anybody here in a position to buy it. But if God's given
it away, there's a whole lot of people here in position to
receive it. Isn't that right? Our Father,
bless the word to our hearts. Oh, comfort our hearts. Cheer
our hearts. Lift our hearts. Lift our spirits.
Turn our eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ. We've groveled long enough
in this mud and mire and muck. We've looked inside, hunting
some assurance long enough. We've looked ourselves into our
flesh long enough. Turn our eyes on Christ. You
said look unto me and be ye still.