disappointed unto men wants to
die. I may die in an automobile accident. I may die in an airplane
crash. I may die in a hospital room
of a heart attack or cancer. I may die in this pulpit this
morning. But I'm going to die one time. Man that is born of
woman is a few days and full of trouble, and cometh forth
like a flower and is cut down, like a shatter, like a vapor,
a mist. But one life one death. The body
shall return to the dust from which it came, and the soul to
God who gave it. But I'll die one time, just once. And then I'll be judged one time.
It's appointed unto me and wants to die after this, my judgment. My judgment. Every, every one
shall give an account of himself to God. We shall all stand before
the judgment seat of Christ. I'll stand there one time, just
one time. There's not going to be any appeal
to a higher court because, brother Porter, there is no higher court.
When I stand before him, I'm standing before him in whom all
judgment has been committed. To whom all judgment has been
committed. The Father judges no man. There'll
be no appeal to the Father, to the Holy Ghost, or to the angels.
Christ's word will be found. And I shall be once received
in the glory for all eternity, or once sent to hell for all
eternity. One time. One time. There's a great gulf fixed, and
those that would pass from thence to us cannot, and from us to
you cannot. One time. That's sobering. I was reading a message by a
preacher this past week. And these statements were made.
And they were just so sobering. I just sat for a moment and left
my Bible open and stared straight ahead. How sobering. I'm born one time. I live on
this earth one time. The fashion of this world fadeth
away. And I die one time. Just one
time. That's it. And I stand before God Almighty
at the judgment one time. And I'm going to hear his voice
say, Enter ye, blessed, into the kingdom prepared for you
before the foundation of the world by my Father. But I'll
hear him say, Depart from me. I never knew you. Depart, ye
cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his
angel. Now then, as I said, the greatest
affairs of life occur one time. They're performed one time. In
the midst of all of this, that from that time in 1926, August
the 19th, when I was born, when I gasped the first breath, and
by God's grace I've been breathing J ever since. How long? From now, I don't know. It really
doesn't matter. I believe I can say with simian,
I'm ready to depart. I've seen thy salvation. But
from that first moment, from that first moment, until I hear
him say, depart from me or enter your blessings, There is an event, there is an
event which occurs only once, only once, that has the most
profound effect on all these others. There's an event which
occurs which has a profound effect on all these others. The result
of this one event determines whether or not my birthday is
a happy day and a blessed day, whether I was born to joy or
whether it can be said of me of which it was said of many,
better if he had never been born. There was joy when a man-child
was brought into the world, but if I don't experience what I'm
going to talk about this morning, it would have been better if
I had never been born. It would have been better if
I had never been born. Now you think about that. There
are some here in this congregation and some who hear this message
in other places. of whom it can be said, it was
a glad day when God let you come into the world. But there are
many of whom it can be said better if you had never been born. And
then whether my life on earth is lived by the faith of the
Son of God or whether my life on earth is a living death is
determined by this one event, one event. And whether I die
in faith or die in despair, or whether to die is gain or eternal
loss, is determined by this one event. And whether, as I stand
before Him, there is no condemnation, or whether I cry for the rocks
and mountains to fall on me and hide me from His face, is determined
by this one event. So first you're building this
one event up mighty high. You'll see in a moment why. Nothing
will ever happen to you in the past, present, and future as
important as what I'm going to talk about today. Nothing. Nothing. And whether I am raised to the
resurrection of life or whether the resurrection of damnation
depends on this monumental and blessed event. And you know what
it is? It's called regeneration. It's
called the new birth. It's called regeneration. It
is the quickening, awakening, convicting work of the Spirit
of God. It is a confrontation with the
living Lord. I'm not talking about religion
now. I'm talking about meeting Christ. I'm talking about God
putting his hand on you. He touched me, shackled by a
heavy burden, bent beneath a load of guilt and shame. Then the
hand of Jesus touched me. He touched me. And now I'm no
longer the same. He touched me. If like the Samaritan
woman, I meet the Lord. If like Zacchaeus, I meet the
Lord. If like blind Bartimaeus, I meet
the Lord. If like Peter of old, thou art
the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Whom do men say that I am? Well, they've got a lot of things
to say about you. Whom do you say that I, the Son of Man, am?
Thou art the Christ. Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the Living God. It says in Ephesians 2.1, you
hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin. This is
the day I'm talking about, the day of quickening. the day of
regeneration, the day of awakening, the day when God raises the dead,
the day when God gives a man ears to hear and a heart to understand
and eyes to see. You hath he called, whom he foreknew,
he predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son, whom
he predestinated he called. in that irresistible, invincible,
awakening call of his spirit. Paul said to those in Thessalonica,
he said, I know, beloved, your election of God. Our gospel came
not to you in word only, but in power in the Holy Ghost. In power in the Holy Ghost to
open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light. Abraham heard that call. God
said, Abraham, Abraham, get thee out of thy father's house and
away from thy kindred till I now show thee. Moses heard that call. Walking on that mountain one
day and God said to him, take off your shoes. You're on holy
ground. I've got some things to say to
you. Moses heard that call. Matthew
heard that call sitting at the receipt of customs, busy about
his business. Oh, he, like all the rest of
them, were religious. He was religious. Our Lord Jesus
Christ walked by and said, Matthew, Matthew, follow me. Peter, James, and John heard
that call down by the seashore, mending their nets, hard-working
fishermen. Men, honest men, supporting their
families and so forth as the world goes. And our Lord came
by and said, follow me, I'll make you fishers of me. Saul
of Tarsus was high on the ecclesiastical ladder of Pharisee of Pharisee,
Hebrew of Hebrews, had a standard you couldn't meet. fasted, prayed,
taught scripture, was a scholar in the Bible, on his road to
Damascus with hate in his heart, prejudice and bigotry, going
to destroy the name of Jesus Christ and all who claim that
name. And our Lord said, Saul, Saul,
Saul, hold it right there. Oh, I tell you, what a day. What
a day. What a day. It may be, it may
be, I don't know, it may be, he'll call you. He's passed by a whole lot of
folks. In his judgment, in his purpose, in his sovereignty,
he doesn't have to call you. Moses says, Lord, show me your
glory. Show me your glory. Moses has
seen enough to satisfy most of us. He'd seen a sea part, and
folks walked through it on dry land, seen that sea close up
and round an army. He'd seen the firstborn of every
family die in the land of Egypt, where there was no blood on the
door. He'd seen water come out of a rock. He'd seen bread fall
from heaven. That'd leave us talking for two
or three lifetimes, wouldn't it, bragging about what we'd
seen. But Moses knew something most folks don't know. He'd never
really seen God's glory. See, God's glory is an eternal
glory. It's not a temporary glory. That bread will rot. That bread
from heaven will rot. But that eternal bread from heaven,
if you eat that, you'll live forever. That water from the
rock will dry up, and those who drink will thirst again. But
there is a water from the rock Christ Jesus That if you drink
thereof, you'll never thirst again. That's what Moses want
to talk about. Those people that he preserved
from the hand of the Egyptians finally fell. Every one of them,
their carcasses perished in the wilderness. But there is a redemption
from the hand of an eternal enemy. If he redeems you that way, you'll
never die. And Moses says, Lord, show me! Show me! Show me! your glory. Most folks who have played church
so long, they confuse the glory of God with the glory of the
flesh, or tradition, or ceremony, or
beauty. Moses wanted to see God's glory,
and the Lord said, alright Moses, alright. You hide over there
behind the rock. Went up We're not hand-holding
buddies like most folks claim. We're not co-partners or co-pilots. I'm God, and you're still a man. And you just hide over there
in the rock because you can't look on me and live. And I'll
pass by you, and I'll cause my... What do you want to see, Moses?
Want to see your glory? I'll cause my goodness to pass
before you. I will be merciful. I will be
merciful. I will be merciful. That's my
glory. God's glory is his redemptive
mercy. God's glory is his mercy to sinners
in Christ. I will be merciful. I won't damn
everybody. I'll be merciful. And I'll be
gracious. I won't damn everybody. There's
going to be a people in glory. I will be gracious. I will be
merciful. Now watch it. To whom I will
be merciful. And I will be gracious to whom
I will be gracious. So that it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
So I'm saying to you this. Listen to me. Listen to me. There is a meeting. There is
a confrontation. There is a blessed event called
regeneration. called awakening by the old writers,
called the quickening of the dead soul. There is a time, there
is a time when God in his mercy visits some of Adam's race and
he calls them. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Noah. And all through the scripture
you find these folks that found grace. Gideon found grace, it
said, in the eyes of the Lord. Isaiah found grace. in the eyes
of the Lord. There's a time when God is pleased
in his sovereign mercy to cross the sinner's path. And when he does, that sinner
will never be the same. A Samaritan woman went running
down to her village and she said, I found a man who told me all
I ever did. Is not this the Christ? Our Lord
went down into the land of the Gadarenes and there was a man
they couldn't tame. They chained him. He tore his
clothes off and tore the chains off. He was mad, insane. Lived
in the tombs, out in the graveyard. He went down to the land of the
Gadarenes and he crossed that old boy's path. And he, whom
no man could tame, met his master. He tamed him. He tamed him. I was with a blessed preacher
last week who was in Vietnam for 15 months
in the 3rd Marine Division. He was in the bloodiest, blackest,
dirtiest, foulest part of it without one R&R for 15 months. And he came out of there scarred,
his mind and body scarred. He came out of there broken and
destroyed completely on drugs and dope and alcohol and insanity
and you name it. For 18 months he lay in a mental
hospital. The doctor told his wife he'll
never, he'll never do anything again. Forget him. He'll be a
vegetable as long as he lives. Somebody had to feed him and
clothe him and bathe him. He'll never do anything but stare
straight ahead. That's man's conclusion. And
left to man, that's all he'll ever do. But my Lord crossed
his path, and restored his mind, and restored his health, and
raised him up, and taught him his gospel. And he's preaching
the gospel, pastor of the church, one of the sweetest fellows you
ever met. He sat right over there about two months ago, he and
his wife, two children. I know what my Lord can do if
he ever crosses your path. He may, I don't know. He may
not. But if he does, he said, my sheep will hear my voice! They'll hear my voice! And they'll
follow me. They'll follow me. They'll follow
me. The voice of conviction, the
voice of conversion, the voice of revelation, the voice of repentance. It is a confrontation with the
living Lord. with the living Lord. It's not a confrontation with
me. That's what most of us got in our early days. We met a preacher,
and we listened to his theology, and we accepted it. And we're
in the same mess he's in. Our Lord said you come from sea
and land to make apostolate to your religion. When you've made
him, he's two-fold more the child of hell than you are. We went
to church and they said, don't you want to go to heaven? Well,
I kind of think I would later on, but not right now. Well,
we'll just accept Jesus and he'll be your fire escape in the event
that you need him. And we did that. We accepted
Jesus and got baptized and joined the church and learned some doctrines
according to where we were going. That's not what I'm talking about.
I'm talking about when a religious center or a rebellious sinner. I'm talking about when a pulpit
sinner or a gutter sinner. I'm talking about when a nice
lady or a harlot. I'm talking about when a child
of Adam, a child of wrath, meets with, has a confrontation with,
his path is crossed by the Lord Jesus Christ on purpose. called according to his purpose. Purpose. It wasn't no accident.
God met him. It wasn't any accident on that
Damascus road. God met Saul of Tarsus. God intended
to meet him. It wasn't an accident that he
was sitting on that well. He went there on purpose. Our
Lord doesn't do anything by accident. Everything he does is according
to the good pleasure of his own will. all according to his purpose. But I'll tell you this, if that
ever happens, if it ever happens, now you can get religion, play
church the rest of your life, and swear on a stack of Bibles,
it's a judgment that you ought to be saved. You'll even make
an appeal to God himself by saying, I preached in your name, cast
out devils, and did many wonderful You can join the church and be
a nice little fellow and be accepted by the community and perish in
your sins. But if you ever meet him, whom
to know, is life eternal. Something will happen. Something
will happen. Something will happen. Old Barnard
said it'll be life changing, it'll be habit changing, it'll
be soul changing, it'll be mind changing, it'll be direction
changing. gold-changing. God meets a sinner. Well, there's some discoveries.
Number one, every soul enlightened by the Holy Ghost, enlightened
by the Spirit of God on purpose, every soul who meets with the
King of Heaven, every soul that meets with King Jesus, every
soul that has a personal confrontation with the Lord of Glory gets a
clear view, a clear view, an unmistakably clear view of his
own guilt. That's right, your guilt, my
guilt. Oh, Isaiah said, I saw the Lord. I saw the Lord. I saw the Lord. And I cried, oh, woe is me! I'm a man of uncleanliness. Isaiah 64, 6, we are all as an
unclean thing. We're like that old leper of
old, out yonder, separated from the people, or ought to be, crying,
unclean, unclean, unclean! We talk no more of man's dignity
but of his depravity. We quit referring to ourselves
and other sons of Adam as good men. Good men. He's a good man. That word will disappear from
your vocabulary if you ever meet Christ. Because there's none
good but God. Huh? One lady told me one time,
she said, I quit. I quit talking about everything
being wonderful. She said, I used to say, this
is wonderful, and that's wonderful, and he's wonderful, until I found
out that Christ's name is called wonderful. Now nothing, she says,
is wonderful compared to him. He's wonderful. Boy, we suspected
that the streams were a little polluted, but when we met the
Lord, we found out, gee, the fountain was polluted. That was
a shock. It wasn't just my deeds. It wasn't just my actions. But
my very nature was rotten. My nature. When a man meets the Lord, God,
every soul awakened by the Holy Spirit will cry, My sins, my
sins, my sins are ever before me. The sure cure for gossip is to
meet the Lord. You'll quit talking about anybody
but yourself. Oh, wretched, wretched man that
I am. A clear view. Secondly, every
awakened soul, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, makes a discovery,
not only of the guilt of his own personal sin, but he discovers,
listen to me, that all, that in God's sight, all, of his actions
are evil, even his righteousness. Look at Isaiah 64.6, let's listen
to it. He says in Isaiah 64.6, we are
all, we are all, bar none, all, universal, all, all is an unclean
thing, and all our righteousness is, all our righteousness is. Now it's filthy rags. And the Hebrew word there is
not a word that you use in present company. That's right, Charlie. Filthy rags. Disposable rags. Not fit for further use. This is offensive, but it's so. It's so. I don't care what anybody
says. It's so. My prayers, my gifts, my deeds,
my tears, my knowledge, and all things in which I gloried are
rubbish in God's sight. Now, I can't buy that preacher.
I know you can't, but if you ever meet God, you'll see it.
You'll see it. Isaiah did. Isaiah chapter 5,
he's letting everybody have it. Woe is you, woe is them, woe
is somebody else. Five times he uses that phrase.
When he met the Lord he said, woe is me. Daniel said, when
I saw the Lord, my comeliness, you're proud of your righteousness,
you're proud of the fact you've tied ever since you was a little
paper boy, you're proud of the fact you never missed a day in
Sunday school, you're proud of the fact you won three souls
to Jesus, you're proud of all these things. I tell you, old
Daniel said, my comeliness melted into corruption. The Apostle
Paul said, all of my things in which I gloried became my shame. I count them but rubbish that
I may win Christ and this hound in him. In my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. I never thought a thought with
which God was pleased. You had neither. I never did do a deed that was
acceptable of itself in the sight of God. I never gave a gift that
was without sin. I never prayed a prayer that
was holy in God's sight. That's right, Jeff. Not in myself. You say, well, what makes our
prayers acceptable? What makes our gifts acceptable?
Christ! Like to me, that would get through
some heads after a while if we kept saying it. Christ. He's the great high priest. He's the mediator. He's the justifier. He's the sanctifier. He's our
righteousness. In the flesh! No man, not even
a Moses, can please God. If you ever meet Christ, you'll
discover that. And you'll repent not only for
what you've done, but for what you are. My friends, sometimes
when you feel like you're closest to God, you're furthest away.
And when you are weak, then you're strong. Because when you have
nothing, you lean on Christ. When you are nothing, you trust
Christ. When you're stripped naked, you run to Christ! That's right. And God's pleased
with him, Bob. He's pleased with Christ. He's
not pleased with me. I get out there on my own, you know, and
I studied today and did a little work and preached a pretty good
sermon, prayed a pretty good prayer and feel pretty good about
it. I'm furthest from God I've ever been. I'm out there by myself
trying to establish a righteousness. But when I feel my guilt and
my sin and my shame and I run, I say, Lord, have mercy! Be merciful! Don't look on me for what I am,
but for what Christ is. I have the Father's forgiveness.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He that
hideth his sins, covereth his sins, shall be consumed and destroyed. Thirdly, every soul enlightened
by the Holy Spirit not only gets a clear view of his personal
guilt, and it'll make you sick. Yeah, well, it'll make you sick.
It ought to. God says he spews it out of his
mouth. It makes God sick. It ought to make us sick. Every
soul enlightened by the Holy Ghost sees that even his righteousness
is a filthy rag. All his actions are evil. In
the flesh, no man can please God. He repents of his sin and
his sins and his righteousness. Thirdly, every soul enlightened
by the Holy Spirit sees the futility, the absolute futility of all
efforts and resolutions and vows to do any better. And I tell
you what, from this day on, I heard them over there in World War
II, before you'd hit the beach, you know, and send those Marines
in, they'd say, Lord, let me live through this battle and
I'll serve you the rest of my life. You ain't going to do it,
you old iron. That's right. Lord, if you let
Susie get well, or Betty get well, or Elizabeth get well,
I'll just hide. Lord, I'll give 20%. You ain't
going to do it. You're bribing God. Oh, the futility. Listen to the next verse in Isaiah
64, 6. We are as an unclean thing. Our
righteousness is a filthy rag like the leave. We all do fade
like the leave. Verse 7, None that call on his
name, none that stirth up himself to take hold of God like the
river, we follow the path of least resistance. That's the
reason I'm glad God doesn't let men live 800 years on the earth
now. They'd be so mean even earth couldn't stand them. We get mean
enough in three score and ten years. Our iniquities heap upon
one another enough in three score and ten years. We get rotten
enough without God letting us live that long. I would but cannot
sing, I would but cannot pray. Satan meets me when I try and
scares my soul away. I would but I can't repent, though
I endeavor oft. This stony heart will never relent
unless God makes it soft. I would but cannot love, though
shown by love divine. No argumenter has power to move
a heart so cold as mine. I would but cannot rest in God's
most holy will. I know what he appoints as best,
I murmur at it still. Oh, could I but believe, could
I but believe, then all would easy be, I would but I cannot,
Lord relieve, the help must come from thee, my help must come
from thee. And what he discovers, and fourthly
he discovers this, he discovers every soul enlightened by the
Holy Spirit justifies, listen to me, He justifies the judgment
and wrath of God upon him. Now listen to me, let me tell
you something. Turn to Psalm 51, verse 3 and
4. This is so. This is so. Psalm 51. Ever so. Will God punish sin? Yes. Should
God punish sin? Yes. Should God punish my sins? Should men go to hell? Yes. Should
my son go to hell? Uh-oh. Hold it. Preacher, I was going with you
there for a while. Should I go to hell? Well, I tell you, if
you ever meet the Lord, the answer will be yes. David did. He said in Psalm 51 verse 4,
Or verse 3, I acknowledge my transgression, my sin is ever
before me against thee. Thee only have I sinned, done
this evil in thy sight, that thou, God Almighty, might be
justified when he speaks and clear when he judges. So Lord,
let him do what he will. That's what David's saying there.
He's saying I justify God, whatever God does with me. I say that's
right, that's right. There'll be a day, don't let
me upset you too much, but I'm telling you what's going to happen.
There'll be a day when every true believer will shout hallelujah
while God sends sinners to hell. That's right, read the book of
Revelation. There'll be a time coming when
the smoke of the torment of religious rebels will rise up forever and
ever. And the saved will shout, praise
the Lord. Praise the Lord. True and righteous
are his judgments. There will be a day coming when
every believer who sees one of his closest friends or loved
ones cast into hell will justify God in his condemnation. And
that starts right here. That starts here. I told some
folks, listen to me. These little babies in the nursery. My little grandson, your little
grandson, Charlie, the rest of them, they got everything they'll
ever have. Ava will never grow another finger
or toe. That's right. He'll never grow
another arm or leg. He'll never grow another eye
or nose. He's got everything it takes to be a full-grown,
six-foot, five-inch, 240-pound football player. That's right. I got an arm just like his. His
is tiny, frail, weak, but it's there. What are you saying, preacher? I'm saying when a person meets
the Lord, is regenerated and born again by the Spirit of God,
comes to faith in Christ Jesus, he has everything he'll have
in heaven. Everything. Love, joy, peace. Sanctification,
redemption, righteousness, justification, grace, faith, everything. Everything. It's in the bud, in the bloom,
in the flower, maybe not in the fruit yet, to a degree, but it's
got... He hath made us meet, that word M-double-E-T, sufficient
to inherit the saints in life, the inheritance of the saints
in life. That little boy in there has got everything he'll ever
have. And these believers in Christ, If you don't love here,
you'll never love in heaven. Now, you'll love there to a greater
degree. To a greater degree, because that which is made perfect,
you see, we see through a glass, we know in part, we prophesy
in part, when that which is perfect is come. I'm going to be known
as I have been known, but I've been known. And here on earth, if you can't
justify God in His judgments against sin, you'll never reign
with Him. because he's not going to reign
with somebody that's opposed to him and what he does. It's
going to be, Amen! Amen! True and righteous! That's just the same thing when
you come preaching God's elective grace and some fella bucks it,
he'll never reign with Christ. There ain't no way. God's never
going to have an opponent on the throne with him. God's going
to cast all of his enemies into hell. Everything that worketh
or maketh alive is going to be divided from Christ. You're not
going to question His righteousness and glory, His judgment, His
sovereignty, His elective grace, or anything else, His eternal
purpose, His will. You talk about man's will, free
will, all the will you want to down here in heaven, it's God's
will. If you're not broken here, you'll never reign up there.
That's right. God begins the work here, and when a person
is born into the family of God, he's born with everything, he's
born complete in Christ. And what we enjoy later in glory
is perfected, but it's already ours now. Already. He justifies God. Now what's
this, last of all? And every soul enlightened by
the Holy Spirit sees the wisdom of God in Calvary's cross. Turn
to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. He sees the wisdom in Calvary's
cross. Calvary's cross is not a martyr's
cross, not a reformer's cross. It's not even the cost of one
who's setting an example, it's the cost of a redeemer, of a
substitute, of a sin offering, of a sacrifice, of an atonement,
whereby God can be just and justify the ungodly. First Corinthians
1, we preach Christ, verse 23. We preach Christ crucified unto
the Jewish stumbling block, unto the great foolishness, unto them
which are called both Jews and Greeks. Christ is the power of
God and the wisdom of God. Christ crucified is the wisdom
of God. I see in that cross how God can
be just and justify. I see how that every attribute
of God, and preachers aren't talking today about God's attributes,
therefore they're not preaching the God of the Bible. If you
preach the God of the Bible, you've got to preach His attributes.
Who is He? When I come to you and you say,
I want to tell you about a certain person, I say, well, who is He?
Describe Him. Well, you begin to give his attributes.
He's 56. He's 6'4". He's blond-headed. He's blue-eyed. He's an engineer. He has a wife and six children,
and so forth and so on. You're describing the man. You're
giving his attributes. He's a kind man. He's an honest man. He's
a truthful man. He's this, that, and the other.
Oh, I know him after a while. You keep telling me about him,
I know him. But all I hear preachers say today is, God, God, God,
God! Well, who is God? Who's the living
God? Describe Him. That's what they
said to David. They said, David, our gods are
down there in the temples and the shrines where we put them.
They said, where's your God? David said, our God's in the
heavens! He hath done what he pleased!
He started describing his God. He's holy, immaculately, impotently,
immutably holy. He's sovereign. He does what
he pleases, with whom he pleases, when he pleases. He's just and
righteous. He's love and mercy. He's wrath
and kindness. He's all these things. Well,
how in the world can he be both wrath and love? How can he be
truth and mercy? How can he be righteous and just?
The cross will show you that, bud, if you ever meet Christ.
It'll show you, that's where truth and mercy met together,
that's where righteousness and peace kissed one another, at
Calvary. I see the wisdom of Calvary,
the attributes of God in Calvary. I'm going to close in three minutes,
but I want to give you something to think of because I think this
is important. The discoveries of a redeemed
soul, when a man bows to Christ. That's the discoveries of the
awakened soul. He meets that Lord, and like
Thomas, he says, my Lord and my God. Like Saul of Tarsus,
he says, what will you have me do? God takes the argument away. He takes the rebellion out. He
takes the starch out. He takes the pride, and he puts
you in the dust. Speak, Lord, thy servant hearing. And then what does he discover?
He makes thousands of discoveries. He discovers God's eternal grace
and mercy and love and providence and purpose. He discovers his
rest, his peace, his kindness, his comfort, his continual care.
He discovers all these things in Christ. He finds in him a
refuge, firm and strong. He finds in him a foundation
that will not move. He finds him in a hope, a hope,
a good hope through grace. He finds all. He discovers every
day new mercies, new blessings. But let me say this to you. Shockingly,
he discovers he still has an old nature. Oh, that's a shock. Spurgeon said, the great Charles
Haddon Spurgeon, who was converted that Sunday morning over a hundred
years ago in that little primitive Methodist chapel. listening to
a man preach who wasn't a pastor or a pulpiteer, just try and
look to Christ. He said, God save me, I met currents. And he said, I vowed right then,
I said right then, I'll never sin again. I'll never commit
another sin. He said, I know it was ignorance,
but I said it anyhow. I'll never sin again. I'm going
to walk with God from now on in holiness and purity and righteousness. Ooh, he said, Monday mornings.
I woke up to the most awful discovery. I found out I was still a sinner. I heard a man say last week,
a professing Christian, he said, I've got a sinner friend that
said this. Now what do you mean by a sinner
friend? You mean you're not one? Ah, ain't that awful. They divide
Christians and sinners. That's bad division. Because
you're not a sinner, you're sure not a Christian. All men are
sinners, all that sin. You're not without sin. And Spurgeon
said, I discovered, oh, I discovered I was still a sinner. I still
had an old nature. I still had an old nature to
contend with that was in conflict, that was doing battle with me.
I thought things just like I did before. Oh, I discovered I still had an old
nature. Paul said that. And then he discovered, you discover
something else. You discover that all men Do
not rejoice over your salvation, even religious people. I had
a friend one time, boy, he was a drunk, he wasn't worth shooting,
and his family's all praying, they're all good Baptists and
Methodists, you know, they want him to be saved. Well, he came
and heard the gospel here and really was converted, came to
knowledge of Christ and loved his grace. And he went back to
that family, and you know they had more fellowship with him
when he was drunk when he came to know Christ. They didn't want
him to get really saved, they just wanted him to get religion.
They didn't want him to commit himself to Christ, they didn't
want him to become a fanatic. You know, they just wanted him
to get what they had. And they turned him out. Oh,
you're too religious for us, you know. Too much committal.
We don't believe in this depravity and election and sovereignty
and redemption and living for God's glory. We just believe
in going to church when you want to. You know, when you have to,
not when you want to. We believe in just keeping the
holidays, not all days as holy days. You'll find out. You really come to know Christ.
Those whom you thought knew Christ, they'll turn their back on you. They'll spit your name out. That's
right, they got a religion, they got a zeal for God, but they're
ignorant. And they liked you better when you didn't know Christ.
So they could win you. And then you'll discover something
else. You'll discover that spiritual growth is so slow. Slow, isn't
it? Oh, I tell you, you can get religion
and master it in about two years. That's right, you can have a
false conversion and learn your system of doctrine, and a system
of soul winning, and a system of do's and don'ts, and fundamentalism,
how long to wear your hair, how long to wear your dress, or how
long to do this, that, and the other, when to do this, and all
these different systematic, fundamental, basic so-and-so of religion. You can learn that in about six
months. You can be preaching in about six months, or teaching
Sunday school. in modern religion. That's right.
You can pick that up fast. But let me tell you something.
If you ever meet the living Lord, in glorious redeeming grace, you'll find out that the mysteries
of the gospel get greater every day.