dependent upon God's mercy, and
I am, and dependent upon his grace, and I am. And I want the
spirit of humility. I want pride to be taken out
of my heart and destroyed and continually destroyed. But I
know that God's given me a gift to discern the gospel and the
mysteries of the gospel. I know the gospel, and I know
that I know it. And I know that God has given me the gift to
preach. I know that I know that. I know I can preach. Barnard
said one time, I bless myself when I'm preaching, and I do.
I know that I can preach. God's given me that gift. I may
not be able to preach another sermon, but I have it right now,
you know. And if I didn't have that confidence
in his word and that confidence in his gift and that confidence
in this message, I wouldn't preach it. I wouldn't get up here at
all. A man in his own strength is
a bumbling fool in the pulpit. We must have the power of God.
And I was thinking about this when I drove home from testing
with this pastor and talking to him about outlines and advising
him about his ministry and how to prepare messages. And I thought
while I prepared this message, now every Sunday morning there
are young ministers in this congregation. eight or ten here this morning.
And I need to help them in the preparation of messages, in the
delivery of messages. They are doing the work of an
apprentice. They are doing the work of an intern in spiritual
matters. And they need to be helped. While at the same time, while
at the same time they're being blessed from the Word of God
and blessed spiritually, they're being taught. they're being taught. And I want all of you to remember
that when I go sort of basically in outline fashion and deal with
things in a very simple matter, I'm not just trying to inspire
you. I'm trying to minister to and
edify those who one of these days will be going out preaching
to other people. And so this message basically has three questions. These are the three main points.
This is what I'm asking. I said this to the preacher.
I said be simple, be plain. Be to the point. Be clear. Be
sincere. But don't forget the simplicity
of Christ. And this is what we're dealing
with this morning. We're dealing first of all with this. Who is
Jesus Christ? Who is Jesus Christ? And what
is in Christ that makes it so important for me to believe on
Him? That's what I'm going to deal with. Who is Jesus Christ
and what's in Him that makes it so important for me, you,
to believe on Him? And then the second point will
be this. The second point is who's invited to believe on Christ?
Who's urged to believe on Christ? Not everybody. Who is urged to
believe on Christ? And then thirdly, what's the
danger of not walking in this life and not receiving Christ? So that's the message. That's
the main point. This is what I'm coming to. is
who is Jesus Christ? What is there in Christ that
makes it so important for me to believe on him, to receive
him, to receive Jesus Christ? What is he? Who is he that makes
it so important? Let's introduce this message
now. Every message has to be introduced.
I read a verse of scripture here in verse 35 and 36. The Father
loves the Son and hath given everything into his hands. Everything
is in the hands of Christ. And he that believeth on the
Son hath life. That's our text. Now, the scriptures are written
that we might believe on the Son of God. That's why all of
this is written. That's why I'm here this morning. That's why
this Bible's here. That's why we're preaching. That's
why we had the Sunday school class. Turn to John chapter 20,
verse 31. The purpose of this Bible is
to point you to Christ. To him give all the prophets
witness. The word of God is not a book like an almanac for you
to look up interesting facts. The Bible is not just a book
to challenge you to walk straight. The Bible is not a book of history
only. It is his story. H-I-S-S-T-O-R-Y. History, his story. That's what
it's all about. Look at John 20 verse 31. These
are written. that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, and that believing you might have life through his
name. That's why this is written. He said, Moses wrote me, Abraham
saw my day, Isaiah. So you see that? This is written
that you may know. That is the purpose of the scriptures,
to point us to Christ. Secondly, the Holy Spirit's work
is to convince men of sin. I know that. to reveal men's
need and ability, but the work of the Holy Spirit is to reveal
Christ to your heart. Let me show you at John 16. John
16, verse 13 and 14. This is why the Holy Spirit has
come. The Holy Spirit didn't come down here just to give you
the gift of tongues so that you could prove to people that you
were pious and religious. The Holy Spirit didn't come down
here just to awe you with the gifts and the strange and unusual
things. The Holy Spirit came to reveal
Christ. That's his primary purpose. Alright, let me show you John
16. It says in verse 13, Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth,
is come, he will guide you into all truth. He shall not speak
of himself. He shall not speak of himself.
My young minister friends, let me tell you this, the man that
you hear constantly talking about the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost,
the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost, doesn't have the Holy Ghost.
The Holy Ghost didn't come to speak of himself. He'll not call
attention to himself, he'll not speak of himself, he'll not magnify
himself, he'll not exalt himself. Listen, read on. But whatsoever
he shall hear, that shall he speak, what he hears at the throne
of God, He will show you things to come, he shall glorify me."
You find the man, the preacher, who glorifies and magnifies not
the Holy Ghost, not even the law, not the Baptist Church,
and not our country or our Constitution, you find the man who magnifies
Christ, he has the Holy Spirit. And that's so. There's nothing
in the world about that, but yet it's fact. That's what the
scripture says, he'll glorify me. He shall receive of mine,
mine, mine, and show it to you. So this is why, this is why,
I'm on, what I'm preaching this morning is the essence, sum,
and substance of God's redemptive message. He that believeth on
the Son hath life. Because that's why the Bible
was written. To reveal Christ. Not just to mystify and astound
you, or to amuse you, or to give you an argument, a point of argument.
The Bible was written to reveal Christ. And the Holy Spirit came
to reveal Christ. And it's the business of faithful
preachers. It's the business of every faithful
preacher to point men to Christ. Turn to 1 Corinthians 2. This is the business of every
faithful minister of the gospel, to point men to Christ. You know,
Paul said we preach not ourselves, but Christ. And here in 1 Corinthians
2, he says in verse 2, Now remember what kind of city Corinth was.
I don't know a great deal about it, but that was the home of
the philosophers. All the folks with the new ideas. That was
the seat of learning, wasn't it? The seat of learning. And
the men just met together to pose new thoughts and new ideas,
to dig into the unknown. And they're the ones to whom
Paul is saying these words. He could have matched wits with
any of them. But he said, I determine. not
to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified."
Now that's the importance of what, and here's what he said
to the church at Galatia, I travail. You know what travail is? Some of our ladies are on the
verge of travailing, that's birth pains. To bring forth a new life. and the agony of it and the pain
of it. We know a little bit. We men,
some of us, sympathize and understand and thank God for you. But you're
on the verge of blotting out everything. You even forget your
children that they're babysitting with while you're there in the
hospital. You blot it out. It's travailing, bringing forth
a new life. And this is what Paul said, he
used this scripture to illustrate his concern for his congregation. He said, I literally, like a
woman who goes to bring forth a child, I literally, he said,
travail. I go through the agony of birth.
Till our church is bigger than the one down the road? No, sir.
Till we have more Sunday school than we did last Sunday? Till Christ be formed in you,
because you ain't saved till he is. That's right, Jerry. That's
just all there is to it, till he be formed in you. He, he,
he, he. Not his benefits, he. I literally
travail, he said. I literally travail. I have the
pain that a person suffers who's giving birth to a child. that
Christ be formed in you, that He live in your heart and your
life 24 hours a day. That you on your bed, you think
on Him. That day by day you walk with
Him, till He be formed in you. Now we're not preaching perfection
at all, we're just preaching trust. Just trust preaching faith. Not preaching a higher life,
we're preaching a normal life. We're not preaching a victorious
life at all. We're just preaching that life
that Christ is our life. He is my life. He is my life. Everything God's purpose for
us, look at verse 35. The Father loved that the Son
had given all things into His hands. Everything God has for
you, savingly, redemptively, is in Christ. And you don't find
it anywhere. You're not going to find it in
the commentaries. Somebody asked Mr. Spurgeon one time, what's
the best body of divinity that you can recommend? He said Christ. Christ. He's the only body of
divinity. Everything is in Christ. You
won't find anything, you won't find anything outside of Christ
worth having. Not anything. Life's not worth
living without Christ. A relationship that you have
is not worth having. outside of Christ. I don't care
if you're married. That's so. There's nothing fit
to have outside of Christ. Everything. That's what Scripture
says. That's what it says. God hath given, watch it now,
hold your ears, all things in Christ. That's where it is. And
I wouldn't give you ten cents for anything you have outside
of Christ. Esau wanted something. He sold Christ. And he cried
the rest of his life. He wept the rest of his life.
Better lay it down if it comes between you and Christ. It ain't
worth it. It's not worth it. All things. That's what he said.
Everything's in Christ. God has purposed and designed
everything he has for this race is in Christ. Let me turn to
another scripture, Colossians 2. I'll show it to you over here.
Colossians chapter 2. Everything he has is in Christ. Colossians 2, verse 9. It says, For in him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete
in him. In him. Of God, listen to Paul,
listen to what he said in 1 Corinthians 1. Of God are you in Christ,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. Well, my friends, if that be
true, and it is true, I've read it to you in the scriptures,
the scriptures are given to reveal Christ. The Holy Spirit has come
to reveal Christ. It's the faithful preacher's
business to preach Christ because everything that God has for man,
woman, boy or girl, everything worth having, every relationship
worth protecting, is in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where it
all is. Outside of Christ is nothing.
Nothing but condemnation and bitterness and wrath, the gall
of bitterness. Oh, this pleasure in sin for
seasons. The taste is sweet in the mouth,
it's bitter in the belly. It eats like a cancer and will
ultimately destroy. Now if that be true, and it is,
If there's life only in receiving Christ, then there must be death
in refusing Christ. That's true, isn't that true?
If there's life, if everything's in Christ, everything, all life
and light and truth and godliness and holiness and relationship
with God is in Christ, then refusing Christ, every man who has not
Christ, he's in death. Total, total death. Listen to
this. If there's no grace, If there's
no grace, more blessed than faith. If there's no grace, Peter, our
Lord said to Peter, I pray for you that your faith fail not.
That your faith fail not. Peter had some trials. If you
go through Peter's experience, it reads like my life story,
and some of you can say the same thing. Bumbling, impulsive, all
of these things. But he believed. He believed. He believed Christ. He said he
could look right at the Master and say, Lord, you know I love
you. You know I love you. And that's a relationship that
I don't question. You know I love you. And that's
what our Lord said, I prayed for you that your faith fail
not. He failed miserably. There's no evil greater than
unbelief. If there's no blessing, no grace
greater than faith, then there's no evil greater than unbelief.
That's true. Paul said, brethren, take heed,
beware. And he says this to the church.
Brethren, beware, take heed, lest they be found in you. In
you! You know, if you look for unbelief,
you wouldn't look in the pulpit, would you? Yeah? Yeah, you would. If you were looking for unbelief,
you wouldn't look in the church, would you? Yeah? Yeah, that's
a good place to look. And Paul warned about, take heed, take
heed, that they be found Be not found in you an evil heart of
unbelief. Unbelief. Unbelief. Thirdly,
if to receive Christ is to become a son of God, a son of God, then
to refuse Christ is to remain in your sins and to die in your
sins. And one old writer said this,
better to die any death than to die in your sins. Better never
to be born than to die in your sins. For to die in your sins
is to rise in your sin. If I die today and I'm not in
Christ, I'm in sin. And if I die in sin, I'm going
to lie in sin and rise in sin. And to rise in sin is to face
judgment in sin. And to face judgment in sin is
to spend eternity in the consequences of sin. Now you think about that. That's the reason my subject's
the most important subject that any man can preach, can deal
with, can consider. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. I ask you three questions now.
This is the heart of the message, briefly. What is there in Christ
and who is Jesus Christ that makes it so important for me
then to believe on him, to seek him, to lay hold upon him, to
find, if it be by God's grace and in his purpose for me to
find a saving interest in Christ? What is there about Christ? Won't
the church do? No, sir. Won't morality do? No, sir. Won't religion do? No, sir. God's put everything
in Christ. I suppose John Flavel said this,
seeing the glory and the character of Christ, seeing it. And that
seeing means to discern it, to comprehend it. To see, to comprehend,
to sort of lay hold some way upon an understanding of the
glory of Christ Jesus and the character of Christ Jesus. I'm
not talking about sweet little Jesus boy and Mary's little boy.
I'm not talking about the superstar. God incarnate, Jesus, Son of
God, King of kings, Lord of lords, sovereign, immaculate, infinite,
holy, unchangeable, Lord of glory, who was made in the likeness
of flesh. Seeing his glory and character
is inseparably, inseparably connected with believing on him. For he
that seeth the Son, and believeth on him, hath everlasting life.
He that seeth the Son, discerneth, understandeth to some measure.
And this is what's happening here. This is what's happening. There's some people through their
lives have heard about heaven and hell and Jesus and Calvary
and blood and sacrifice and sin and decision and believing and
professing and joining the church and being baptized and getting
right with God and making peace. And God in His grace has let
them see Glory, the character, a revelation of the person, of
his son. And they by faith, Brother Joe,
have laid hold on him. And when they did, and when they
do, everything else loses its significance. What happened? What happened? He married Christ. Perfection. Found in him all he needed. You
say, the fellow doesn't have much ambition anymore. What kind
of ambition are you talking about? Ambition in this world to build
a little more, to get a little more, to hoard a little more? God's going to burn it all up.
He knows that. And he wants to know Christ.
He sees in Christ all he needs. All he needs. Turn to 1 Corinthians
2. Let me show you something here.
1 Corinthians 2. You know, I've been to Calvary. I love that song. I've never
traveled, the author of that song said, around the world.
I've never seen the thrills and sights unparalleled. But I've
taken a journey. A journey of journeys for me.
Of Calvary's mountain, there's a Savior to see. I've been to
Calvary. I can say. I've seen the Lord. You mean
you had a vision preacher? Wouldn't trade this for that
vision. You mean he came in your room and you sunk the foot? Wouldn't
give you a nickel for that. That's all it's worth. You might
have seen the devil clothed in an artist's conception of Christ.
I've seen the Lord through the witness of his word. Each day at Calvary, what a thrill
of love divine, just to think, just to feel, just to know that
that Savior is mine. I tell you, oh, each day at Calvary,
what a thrill of love divine. 1 Corinthians 2.7.8 says, 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, smart men, rulers, kings of this world knew. Had
they known it, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of glory.
They didn't know who he was. They knew who he said he was,
but they didn't know who he was. They didn't know. Christ said
to the woman at the well, if you knew, if you knew the gift
of God and who's speaking to you, if you knew, if you ever
saw, this is what I'm saying, a man is not going to lay down
a counterfeit treasure until he sees within the possibility
of his possession a genuine treasure. And brother, I'll tell you this.
If a fella's sitting here gnawing on an old dry cob of corn, just
gnawing on an old corn cob, you know, starving to death and trying
to get a little nourishment like that fella did that fed the pigs,
and he's gnawing around on it, and you put a steak and French
fries and a salad and a hot roll there, how long do you think
he'd take to drop that corn cob? Only when he saw the steak. But
you can talk about the steak and he won't drop his corn cob.
You can tell him about the state and he won't drop his corncob.
You can preach about the state and he won't drop his corncob.
His mama can even tell him about it and he won't drop his corncob.
You can tell him you're going to fix him more and he won't drop
his corncob because he's got his corncob. But when he sees
it, that's when you'll turn loose
too when you see it. That's when you'll do it. Now you can talk
about him. You can read about him. You can
hear about him. You can profess to know him. going to have me
at stake someday. But I'm telling you, Caesar,
when you see him, he that seeth the sun, and believeth on him."
These things, they're just soap bubbles, they're play pretties,
there's nothing to them. You'll lay it down when you see
the sun. That's just so, because everything,
that's what our Lord said to the woman, if you knew But I tell you, when she found
out who he was, she left her water pot and ran home. You know
how precious that water pot was to that woman? She lost interest
in it. You know that's what she had
jade prayer water in. That's life. But she got a hold
of the water of life, and she forgot about the cistern. Just
slipped her mind. I tell you why it's so important.
I tell you who Christ is. God's in Christ. That's the first
answer. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself. Now, if he's just a little sweet
little Jesus, boy, he's not worth sacrificing too much for. But
if he's God, if he's God. Show us the Father, said Philip.
Our Lord said, he that hath seen me hath seen the Father. The
Word was made flesh and brought among us. I shall call his name
Immanuel, God with us. No wonder the angel stood around
that manger and said, Glory to God. No wonder the angel stood
on the Mount of Temptation in disbelief as Satan warred with
the Son of God in human flesh. No wonder the angel stood around
that cross. One songwriter wrote a whole
hymn about it. Amazed. In wonder. No wonder they announced at the
empty tomb, He's not here! He's not here! No wonder they
stood on the Mount of Ascension and watched him go up and said
to the disciples, he'll come back. He'll come back. Who is he? I wish I had the eloquence
and the power to tell you. But he's my life. He's my hope.
He's my riches. He's my joy. He's my ambition. He's all things. He's my family.
He's my lover. He's my brother, sister, father,
mother, husband, wife, you name it, it's Christ. And I believe
everybody here who's seen it can say the same thing. That's
what he is to me. And I'll tell you another reason
why I urge you to embrace him is the righteousness of God is
in Christ. Now I wish I could tell you just how I feel about
my sins. because I could identify with
you a little more. A lot of people look at the preacher
in the pulpit and say, well, he doesn't have the problems
I have. He doesn't have the thoughts I have. He doesn't have the conflict
I have. He's in his study. He's in the church. He's not
out here in the rat race. He's not in conflict with the
world. He doesn't know what it's all
about. Well, you ain't got the right
information. I started to make that a whole
lot stronger than that, but let's just leave it that way. We certainly have no righteousness. You don't and I don't. Ain't
none up here and there's none down there. I looked at Brother Wilson's
wife in Sunday school class last Sunday. I'm going to tell this.
We were studying the Romans 5 that Christ died for the ungodly.
Christ died for the ungodly. And I was making the point that
Christ died for the ungodly. The ungodly, that's what's said.
He said he didn't die for the righteous, he died for the ungodly.
And Karen's such a lovely, gracious, kind, sweet, and lovable preacher's
wife. And I looked at her and I said,
you ungodly? She liked to choke. She told me afterwards, yeah,
but not in front of everybody, you know. You just don't talk
that way. Are you ungodly? Now try that
on. I'm not talking about, oh, what
an awful world we live in. Oh, what an awful mess I am in
this world. I know my sins are ever before
me. We don't have any righteousness.
Ours is filthy rags. We get puffed up with our religiosity
and piety and good works and all that Tommy Rot. I wish you
knew what it was in God's sight. Turn to Luke. Let me show you
what it is in God's sight. These religious soul winners
and professional religionists and fundamentalists and evangelicals
and all the rest of the outfit make me sick. I know God wants
to spew them out of his mouth. They got to brag about how much
they pray and how much they fast and how many souls they win and
what they give, their tithes and offerings and all these things,
what they're doing for God. And he says in verse 15 of Luke
16, he said to them, you are they which justify yourselves
before men. That's what you're bragging on.
You're bragging before men. But God knows your hearts. God
knows covetousness, and the envy, and the lust, and the evil, and
the pride, and the arrogance, and the religious haughtiness.
God knows your heart, for that which is highly esteemed among
men, religious men, moral men, is an abomination in the sight
of God. What do you do with that? What is highly esteemed among
men today? But it's an abomination to God
Almighty. I'll tell you what's highly esteemed
before God is the righteousness of Christ. Highly esteemed. This is my beloved Son in whom
I'm well pleased. I read that again last night.
This is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. There's nothing
about you and I that pleases God in any shape, form, or fashion.
We're going about to establish our own righteousness, which
is filthy rags. We all do fade as a leaf. Let's
face it. The best prayer we ever prayed
is shot full of sin, and you know it. Selfish. We want it
because we want it. We want it because we enjoy it.
We want it not for the glory of God, but for selfish purposes. I've never in my life ever been
able to preach only for the glory of God. I wish I could, don't
you? I'd love to hear that, Simon. I've never been able to give
totally and wholly and completely with self totally apart for the
glory of God, and you haven't either. I've never loved God
with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength, and I've never
ever loved anybody like I love me." Well, you say, you're in
bad shape. I know it. I wish you knew it
so you'd get saved too. Because Christ loves sinners,
you see what I'm saying? Christ died for sinners. I need
a righteousness that I don't have and can't produce, and God
doesn't expect me to, because the righteousness of God without
the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the
prophets, the righteousness of His Son! That's where it is.
It's importance. It's in Christ. True righteousness
is in Christ. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
Turn to Romans 5. You who were in Sunday School
class this morning, this was our lesson. Romans 5, verse 19. As by one man's disobedience,
the many were made sinners. We're made. We weren't put on
trial. We weren't made susceptible to
sin. We were made sin by Adam's death. Even so, so by the obedience
of one shall many, watch it, be made righteous. He made me righteous. I didn't
do it. I am righteous. You just got through saying you're
the sinner. I am by nature in Christ I'm righteous. I'm righteous. Just as holy as God himself in
Christ. with his spotless garments on,
I'm his holiest God's son." Salvation is in Christ. Simeon said, I've
seen thy salvation. Listen to this old hymn. I wish
they were still writing them like this today. Thou art the
way, to thee alone, from sin and death I flee. And he who
would the Father seek, must seek him, Lord, in thee. Thou art
the truth, thy word alone true wisdom can impart. Thou only
can enlighten my mind and purify my heart. Thou art the life. The empty tomb proclaims your
living name, and those who put their trust in you, nor death
nor hell can claim. Thou art the way, the truth,
the life. Grant us that way to know, that
truth to love, that life to own, for there joy is eternal flow. All right, who's invited to believe
on this Christ? It says, he that believeth. He
that believeth. Well, not the fallen angels.
He didn't take on himself the seed of angels, the nature of
angels. They've been reserved in everlasting
condemnation to the dead judgment. No gospel was ever preached to
the fallen angels. Not the condemned in hell. A
fellow in hell cried, Father Abraham, send Lazarus. And Abraham
said between us and you, there's a great gulf fixed. You're not
invited. There's no second chance after
death. No, I beg your pardon, that's
not true. There are many of our fellows who are not invited.
That's right. Our Lord said of Ethan, leave
him alone. You know what he said? Leave
him alone. He's turned to his idols. In Romans 1, our Lord said of
the idolaters, and of the homosexuals, God gave them up. That's right. God gave them up to dishonor
their bodies between themselves. God gave them up. They're reprobate. The religious Pharisees who were
not here, who bowed to their tradition, would not bow to his
royal claims, he said to his disciples, leave them alone. That's what he said. Our Lord
gave a parable. They were resting in their works.
They were resting in their works. They washed their hands before
they ate. They didn't go to the bowling alley or the pool hall
or the movie house or the ball game on Sunday. They kept the
Sabbath day. They did all these things, you
know, and they were so righteous. And our Lord stood there and
he said this, there's no evil in sin. in the temperate use
of that which God has made. That's what he's saying. That's what he's saying. In other words, it'd be like
standing in a Nazarene church this morning and saying there's
nothing wrong with drinking a glass of beer. Woo! That's exactly
right. Never has sinned anybody, hell
never will. That's so. That's just so. And those Pharisees, they got
angry and the disciples came to our Lord and said, you've
offended those people because they believe that what you put
in your mouth is what defiles you. This temple, this body is
the temple of the Holy Spirit, defile not. You mean this natural
body of mine is the temple of the Holy Spirit? What's going
to happen when I die? Where's the Holy Spirit going to go? Going to
bury him? That's talking about the temple of the Holy Spirit
is my new nature, my righteous, holy nature. That's the temple
and dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit doesn't live
in houses like this or houses like this here, either. That's
right, Jay. And they came and they said, you offended the Pharisees.
You know what our Lord said? Well, reason with those fellows,
you know, and tell them that what I was trying to say was
this. No, he didn't. He said, you leave them alone. You leave them
alone. They got their religion wrapped
up in do's and don'ts. Just leave them alone. Don't
speak to them. Don't preach to them. Don't pray for them. Leave
them alone. Let them go the way of works,
self-righteousness, establishing their righteousness before God. I guarantee you this. You pick the man that's looking
for righteousness in his works and watch him. You watch him,
and down the road he'll reveal to you he's an unregenerate man
in his dealings with other people. That's exactly right. He'll reveal
it sooner or later. I knew a fellow one time, I'm
going to tell you a true story. And as I said to you a while
ago, God's given me some understanding and some gifts along this line
of ministry. I've been in it as long as some of you have been
living. But a man came and sat across the table from me, across
the desk from me, talking about he was going into the ministry,
full-time gospel ministry. And he said, what I plan to do
is sell my business. I'm going to get a good price
for it, too much for it, too much for it. I knew it was too
much for it, and I knew the man he was selling it to couldn't
afford it. I knew it was out of line. I'm going to get this,
and then I'm going to put it away on savings, and you'll keep
me in the ministry." I just sat and looked at him in old Henry's
heart. I thought, he ain't never going to enter the ministry.
Never. You see, you don't need God when
you've got a savings account. You're not God's minister. That's exactly right. You're
not God's minister. You're a professor. You're a professional minister.
You've got all your needs taken care of. The scriptures say they
that preach the gospel live by the gospel. You say, what would
you have done if you was Him? Tell you what I'd have done, I'd have
given the man the business. That's exactly right. And got
out of it and said to him, now if you ever want to help me out
a little, you're welcome to do so, but I'm going to trust God.
He said, that's foolish. That's faith. I've no right to
minister. I'm not telling you men to sell
your businesses. I'm telling these preachers here, I'm telling
them the only preacher God will use, a full-time gospel preacher,
is one who depends on God, and depends on God to supply his
needs. That's right. That's true. Who is he preached? Who's invited to believe on Christ?
Not fallen angels, not the condemned in hell, not many of our fellows.
Have I offended you this morning? Well, I'll tell you what you
do if I have. Don't make up your mind right
now. Study a little while. Study a little while. There's
some people who are not invited. The self-righteous. Our Lord
said to the Pharisees, leave him alone. Didn't he say that?
Leave him alone. Brother Barnard was preaching
in a tent one time. I've preached too long, but Brother Barnard
was preaching in a tent like I'm standing here. He told me
about it one time. And there's a young lady sitting
out there listening to him, looked like in her twenties, and he
said she was just listening so intently, intently. And he said
he preached and preached and preached, and he got through
preaching, and she just sat there looking straight at him so intently.
And they got up to sing, and she just sat there. Just spellbound,
you know. He thought, well, she's in trouble,
she needs help. And he said, one of the few times
in my ministry, he said, I stepped out of the pulpit and walked
around to where she was sitting. And I just put my hand on her
shoulder and I said, is there anything I can do for you? And
he said she spun around, just snapped out of what she was thinking
in the trance and looked at him and said, For Christ's sake,
you can leave me alone." And Brother Roth said, I backed off
and I said, alright, my dear, I'll do anything for Christ's
sake. I'll leave you alone. And she left that tent. You remember
Paul, him telling us about this? She left that tent and got in
a car with her boyfriend and busted her brains out right down
the street against a telephone pole. I'll leave you alone. For Christ's sake, I'll leave
you alone, but I'm telling you this for you that don't want
to be left alone, for Christ's sake, I ain't going to leave
you alone until Christ be formed in you. So you can understand that when
the preacher preaches Christ, I'm not preaching licentiousness,
I'm not preaching the liberty to sin, Jay, you know that. Everybody
here that's got any sense knows that. But I'm just saying salvation
is not in these things. Salvation is not in what the
fundamentalists say it is and what the separationists say it
is and the so-called moralists say it is. It's not in that.
They'll even deny that wine, if the Lord's table is wine,
in order to cover their foolishness. Silly preachers talk about grape
juice. That makes me so sick. that a
fellow compromises ministry and the word of God to get along
with a bunch of sissies, feminists, or whatever, however you pronounce
that. It doesn't matter to me. But Christ is our hope. Christ
is our hope. And you get your mop and clean
up this world, only Christ can turn the faucet off. And you'll
spend the rest of your life mopping, mopping, mopping. And it'll overcome
you and overtake you. But when our Lord Jesus Christ
cuts the faucet off the source of evil, that's the human heart,
and gives a man a new heart, you don't need your mouth anymore.
So? That's so. Come ye sinners. Who's
invited to come to Christ? Sinners. Come ye sinners, poor
and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore, Jesus ready stands
to save you. Full of pity, love, and power.
Come ye needy. Come and welcome, God's free
bounty glorified. Without money, without money,
come to Jesus. And what's the danger? I'm going
to give you this. Old Brother B.B. Caldwell used
to preach his message and it took all night, you know. But
I do want to give this one point. What is the danger of refusing
to come to Christ? Well, Paul said this, how shall
we escape? Because there'll be no other
way given, Christ is the way. Because to refuse Christ is to
make God a liar. That's what the Word says, that's
what it says in 1 John 5, 10, to refuse Christ to make God a liar.
To refuse Christ is to forever condemn your own soul. He said,
if you die in your sins, you cannot live with me. If you come not to me, you'll
die in your sins. Alright, the fourth thing, to
refuse Christ is to show contempt. Turn to Lamentations, the little
book of Lamentations after Jeremiah, Lamentations 1. To refuse Christ
is to show contempt for God's attributes. Where are the, you
preachers, where is God's attributes? Where are God's attributes most
glorious to display? Creation, the Red Sea, you know. You know where? At the cross.
That's where righteousness and mercy, truth and love, justice
and grace, that's where it all met. And he says here in Lamentations
112, Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Behold and see,
if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto
me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. Here's the point. Is it nothing
to you? I think I can say this morning it's something to me
and coming to me more and more and more.