If you will open your Bibles
with me to the book of Mark, chapter 9, verse 23 will be our
text. Jesus said unto him, if you can believe, if you can
believe all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of
the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe,
help thou mine unbelief. The claim today is, Lord, I believe. missing is help thou mine unbelief. The claim today is I'm all right,
and men are upset if we dare to suggest that they're not. I say I'm a Christian, and the
man who questions it becomes my enemy." Well, my friend, we're in a day when religion
is a profession. Christ said it's a life. We're in a day when men say that
religion is a refuge, and Christ said it's a new creation. We're in a day when men say that
religion is a denominational preference. And Christ Jesus
said, it's to be born from above. Somebody says, well, do you think
you're right and everybody else is wrong? No, I'm as wrong as
you are. But God's word is right. That's
the difference. The scripture says, let God be
true and every man a liar. That's me and you both. Do I
think I'm wrong, I'm right, and everybody else is wrong? No,
I think everybody's wrong. me included. Herman, I think
God's right. Now, here's what I want. I want
to find out what God says. You think so-and-so saved? That's
not my business. I know God saves sinners, and
I know if God saved him, he's saved, but if God didn't save
him, he's not. That's all there is to it. God's
right, and everybody's wrong. Everybody's wrong. I'm wrong.
You're wrong. Everything we think is wrong.
We're not sufficient to think anything of ourselves. But I'll
tell you when we're on the right track is when we try to find
out what God says. What does the Lord say? What
does the Word of God say? I don't sit in judgment on the
Word. The Word sits in judgment on me. I don't want to miss Christ. I don't want to perish defending
an experience or defending a doctrinal position or defending a theology,
I want to know the Son of God. I want you to know Christ. I
want you to enter into, not a refuge, but into a new life. I don't
want you to change from one theology to another theology. You can
perish with orthodoxy. The Pharisee is dead, but I want
you to know him whom to know is life eternal. And I just think
most folks have missed Christ. It's evident and obvious. If
a man knows Christ, he loves Christ. If a man knows Christ,
he loves his Word. If a man knows Christ, he loves
his people. If a man knows Christ, he's indwelt
with his Spirit. If a man knows Christ, his life
manifests the fruit of the Spirit. That's so. That's what the Word
says. If a man knows Christ, he follows
Christ. If a man knows Christ, he is
willing to lay down his life for Christ. If a man knows Christ,
he knows him not in one office, but in all his offices, prophet,
priest, and king. I have no right to give a man
something that God hasn't given him, or call a man by a name
which God does not call him. The other day the telephone rang.
I'll tell you how this message was born. The telephone rang
and a person on the other end of the line told me that they
had a relative who was up in years and very sick, not expected
to live, wasn't a Christian, wasn't saved. That's the way
the person used the phrase. This is all, he's not saved and
we want to get him saved right quick because he might die. We
want to get him saved. And he's nearly 70 years old,
he's not saved. I want you to run down and get
him saved, because he's fixing to die. And so I went down to
the hospital, Jay and I did, and we introduced ourselves and I
asked the man, I wanted to get him started talking, I wanted
to see what he had to say. And I said, are you a believer? Well, you say, the lady I told
you wasn't saved. Well, the lady's not God. I don't
know. I want to find out what he said. I want to hear from
him. Adam, where art thou? I want to hear from you. King,
where's your brother? I want to hear from you. I said,
are you a believer? He said, I believe, but I'm not
a Christian. Wasn't that what he said? I believe,
but I'm not a Christian. I believe, but I'm not a Christian.
I thank God for such honesty. I thank God. There's hope for
a man who recognizes where he is, who makes no false claims. And I can't help but believe
that there are thousands of people in that very condition. They
believe, but they're not saved. They believe, but they're unbelieving
believers. We've got a nation full of unbelieving
believers. Preacher, what do you mean by
that? I mean just this. Now listen to me. And this is
the fact. Where is this man? He's where
thousands of religionists are today. He's where some of you
are. This man, what did he mean, I
believe? He meant this, I believe in God. That's exactly what he meant.
I believe there's a God. Is there anybody in this congregation
that doesn't believe there's a God? Did Judas believe there
was a God? Huh? Sure he believed there was
a God. Did Demas, who forsook Paul because he loved the present
world, did he believe there was a God? Did Simon Magus believe
there was a God? Did King Saul believe there was
a God? The fool has said in his heart,
there's no God. Every man believes there's a
God. The heavens declare the glory of God. The firmament showeth
his handiwork day unto day. Its speech is heard in every
language. There is a God. Everybody knows
that. I believe there's a God. The most difficult task you could
engage upon this evening was to find somebody who doesn't
believe there's a God. And this man was lying there.
He said, I believe, but I'm not a Christian. I'm not saved. What
do you believe? I believe there's a God. Secondly,
and I ask him some of these things, he believes that God is holy.
What do you believe about God? Well, God is holy. That's the
first thing you'd say. God is everywhere, and God is
holy, and God has set forth a law of holiness called His commandment. You believe that? Everybody believes
that. They believe that the law of God is good, the Ten Commandments
is good. I don't know one son of Adam,
to my knowledge, who'd want to do away with the Ten Commandments.
It's all right. It's all right to let the Ten
Commandments stand. We have no objection to letting
them stand. We believe God's holy. God is holy. The whole
religious world will say God is holy. From the Catholic to
the Jew, you'll say God is holy. And most men know that. They
believe that. They believe there's a God. They
believe God is holy. Thirdly, they believe this Bible,
to some extent, is the Word of God. They may argue over verbal
inspiration or divine inspiration. They may argue over some things
in there are exaggerated and some are figurative and some
are literal, but most people, most religionists and the Catholics,
the Protestants and the Jews will agree with you this is God's
Word. The average person can't otherwise
account for its existence, its power, its holiness, He believes
the Bible is the Word of God. You say, I believe the Bible.
Well, join the crowd. Everybody believes the Bible.
Every false cult that has ever risen has been based on the Bible. You just name it. Christian science,
Mormonism, every cult. Jim Jones believed the Bible.
If you go into that commune, wherever they were in South America,
wherever it was, they had scripture verses everywhere on all the
walls. They believed the Bible. As pagan
and heathen as any human that ever walked on this earth. But
when he preached, he quoted the scriptures. And that's something
Satan does. He quotes the scriptures. He
says, is it not written? Is it not written? Is it not
written? I believe the Bible. I believe, preacher. Are you
a believer? Yes, I believe. I believe there's a God. I believe
God's holy. I believe his law is holy. I
believe the Bible is God's word. I believe I'm a sinner. I ask
this man that. Are you a sinner? Yes, sir, I'm
a sinner. To some degree, everybody knows he's a sinner. There's
very few people that'll claim perfection. Very, very few people
in this world that'll claim perfection. There may be some of religionists
who are weird and strange, who will claim that they're without
sin and they're perfect, but any sensible, honest person will
say all is sin and come short of God's glory. All we like sheep
have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. Nobody's ever lived on earth without thinking an
evil thought or speaking a lie or coveting or taking God's name
to some measure in vain. Everybody believes he's a sinner. And let me tell you this, there
are very few people in this world who do not believe Jesus Christ
died on the cross. Now you can pick up Josephus
the historian, and he was by no means a Christian, and he
vividly will describe to you the fact that Jesus Christ was
born and died and was buried. Most people believe Jesus Christ
lived on this earth. All you've got to do to find
that out is buy a calendar. It says, in the year of our Lord,
A.D., B.C., before Christ, A.D., in the year of our Lord. He lived
on this earth. He died on the cross. And most
people give assent to the fact that he rose again. I believe.
I believe. I believe. I believe there's
a God. I believe God is holy. I believe his law is true. I
believe this Bible is the verbally inspired word of God. I believe
I'm a sinner. I believe Jesus Christ died on
the cross, was buried, and rose again. I believe those things.
Those are facts you can't deny. Those are true facts. Anybody who doesn't believe those
facts is a fool. Anybody who doesn't believe those
facts is denying their conscience that God put within him. Does
this constitute salvation? Is this what it is to be saved?
Then I contend to you that Satan is saved if that's what salvation
is. Because he believes every one
of those things. The book of James says you believe
there's one God. You believe he's holy, the devil's
cried out, we know who you are, you're the holy one of Israel,
of God. You believe the Bible's the word
of God, Satan quoted it, he says, cast yourself off, it's written,
he shall give his angels charge over thee, lest thou dash thy
foot against a stone. You believe you're a sinner,
the devil believes he's a sinner. The demon said to Christ, have
you come to torment us before our time? You believe Jesus Christ
died on the cross, was buried and rose again? The Roman leaders
believe that. The Pharisees believe that because
they paid the soldiers to lie and tell folks that his disciples
stole his body away. Matthew 7.22 says this, many
will say unto me in that day, many. I was watching the television
the other night. It was talking about children
riding bicycles. And it said, it was warning children
riding bicycles to be careful. It says, do you realize that
41,000 children are killed or injured on bicycles every year?
I didn't know that. 41,000. And you know, Grandpa,
I immediately thought of my grandson riding bicycles up and down 13th
Street. But now, what's 41,000 compared to 200 million? What's
a small number? It says a whole lot of people,
but compared to 200 million, it's really not many. But Christ
said, many! And we get alarmed by that figure
41,000, but Christ said, many! Many were saying to me on that
day, many! Lord, have we not prophesied
in your name, cast out devils, done many wonderful works? I'll
say unto them, depart from me, I never knew. Now you may read
that and scoff at it, you may say, well it won't happen to
me, but I'll tell you what I say, I don't want it to happen to
me. I'm not going to say I won't be among that many. You can say
that if you want to. You can lock yourself in your
refuge. You can lock yourself in your
hiding place. You can claim, I've got an agreement
with hell. I'm not afraid to die. And when
the judgment of God comes, it won't come nigh me. I'll tell
you this. This is what I want to say. By
the grace of God, it won't come nigh me. If Christ be pleased,
it won't come nigh me. But if I'm left to my own understanding
and my own religious profession, I'm as doomed and damned as anybody
who ever walked. Turn with me to the book of Luke,
chapter 9. And my friends, Christ not only
said, many will say unto me in that day, Lord, did we not preach? And Lord, did we not cast out
devils? And Lord, did we not do something
else? And he said, I'll never knew them. But he said in another
passage that many believed on him when they saw the miracles
which he did. Many believed, believed. And
Christ did not commit himself to them. He knew their hearts. And here in Luke chapter 9, let's
listen to the scripture, verse 23. And he said unto them all,
he said to them all, if any man come after me, let him deny himself
and take up his cross daily. And follow me. For whosoever
will save his life shall lose it. Whosoever shall lose his
life for my sake, the same shall save it. What is a man advantaged
or profited if he gain the whole world and lose himself or be
cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed
of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed
when he comes in his own glory and in his Father's and of the
holy angels. Turn with me to Matthew 10. Well,
let's go to Luke 14. Why don't we go over to Luke
14 while we're over in this part of the Bible. Luke 14, verse
25. Luke 14, 25. And there went great
multitudes after him. Great multitudes after him. Now
we find the multitudes following preachers and evangelists and
speakers today and they're turning to the multitude and say, just
believe on Jesus, just make a profession, just raise your hand, just make
a decision or a committal and you'll be saved for eternity.
Listen to what Christ said. And there went great multitudes
with him and he turned and said to them, if any man come to me,
and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children,
and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot
be my disciple. And whosoever does not bear his
cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple." Turn with me
now to Matthew chapter 10, that's the Master speaking. Like I said
a while ago, you think you're right and everybody's wrong,
well I'm wrong I'm wrong too, and so are you. But he's not
wrong, Jay. He's the one that calls the shots.
He's the one that lays down the terms. You'll be saved on his
terms, or you won't be saved. Not my terms, not Brother So-and-so's
terms, God's terms. In Matthew 10, verse 34, let's
listen to it. Don't you think that I've come
to send peace on this earth. Oh, he said the false prophets
are the ones crying, peace, peace, when there is no peace. I didn't
come to bring peace on this earth. Now, wait a minute. He's called
the Prince of Peace. The scripture says when the angels
announced the coming of Christ, they said, peace on earth, goodwill
toward men. You know where that peace was?
Between God and the sinner. Christ made that peace. By his
blood. There was enmity and warfare
between the sinner and God. And Christ is the one that put
away, reconciled God to the sinner. He's the one that made peace
with the Father. But there's no peace on this
earth between men. Men hate one another, hate one
another because they're sinners. They hate God and hate one another.
Think not that I've come to send peace on this earth. I came not
to send peace, but a sword. I've come to set a man at variance
against his Father. and daughter against her mother,
over what? Over what? Now you just stop and tell me,
over what? Have I got any right to be angry
with my father over a business venture? No, sir. The Bible says
let him have it. Have I got any right to be angry
with my friend over a broken window? No, sir. Says if he slaps
you on one cheek, turn the other. He wants your coat. If your mama
dies and you kids argue over the furniture that's left, let
them have the whole kit and caboodle. Just let them have it. That's
what the Bible teaches. Love your enemies. Bless them
that curse you. Then what's this over? The gospel. The gospel. The way God saves
sinners. That's what he's talking about here. That's the only place,
Paul said, if any man preaches any other gospel, let him be
accursed. That's the only place of no tolerance and no conformity.
That's the only place I have any right to divide with anybody
is over God's glory. I don't have any right to fuss
over a lot or a dollar or a house or a land or anything else. But
I've got a right to hold his feet to the fire on the gospel.
If any man preaches any other gospel, let him be accursed. I've come to set a man at barrens
against his father and a daughter, and I'll tell you this, you better
stand with God. You better stand with God. I
don't care who it is. Daughter against her mother,
and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's foe
shall be his own household. But I'll tell you this, Christ
said, he that loves his father or mother more than me is not
worthy of me. And he that loveth his son or
daughter more than me, in my honor and my glory, he is not sharing their condemnation. God is not going to divide his
glory or his honor. He that taketh not up his cross
and bothereth that to me is not worthy of me. He that findeth
his life or lose it, and he that loseth his life for my sake shall
find it. But I'm not a Christian, and
I think that just about 95% of this religious world is in that
same boat. You take these things I've been
reading. Have we experienced them? Or you say, well, that's
for the higher life. That, my friend, is for the Christian
life. This dedication, this consecration, this submission, this vital union
with Christ, that's for the higher life, that's for the victorious
life, that's for the people that want a reward in heaven. I just
want to get there by the skin of my teeth. This is those that
get there. If the righteous scarcely be
saved, if the godless scarcely be saved, If those that pant
after Christ and seek after Christ, if they scarcely be saved with
difficulty, where shall the indifferent appear? This is what we've got, this
idea. I don't know where we got it, but we've got the idea that
there's sort of the inner circle, there's the church leadership.
And there are people who are leaders of the church and they're
saved. And they're supposed to study
the Bible and teach, and they're supposed to be in prayer meetings,
and they're supposed to be in Bible study, and they're supposed
to be there Sunday morning and Sunday night, they're supposed
to support the missionaries, they're supposed to support the
pastor, they're supposed to be there in Bible conferences and
interested, and they're supposed to be people whose lives are
dedicated, who are sold out. But now the outer frames, they're
all saved, you know, they're all children of God, but they're
just not much interested, you know. These folks in here are scarcely
saved. They're saved with difficulty.
Those out there ain't saved at all. That's what I'm saying. If Christ is not all your life,
he's not part of it. That's so. I'm sorry, that's
true. That's what he says right here. If Christ is not your Lord,
he's not your Savior. Now you may be saved someday
and you may come to a realization that without him you have nothing.
But I'm telling you this, and I'm telling you as plain as I
know how to tell you, because Paul said, I want to be free
from the blood of all men. I don't want to give anybody
out there in a careless, indifferent attitude and spirit any hope
that he knows the Lord of glory. If Jesus Christ comes into a
man's heart, he comes in completely. If Jesus Christ occupies a heart,
he sits on the throne. If Jesus Christ occupies a man's
heart, he wears the crown. That's salvation. What is this
man's problem? Now listen, I believe, but I'm
not saved. That is what the scripture says
here. What is this man's problem? I'll tell you his problem, largely.
It may be one of several things. Number one, the problem differs
with different people. The problem number one is this,
one of several things. Number one, it's ignorance of
the depths and dangers of sin. Paul the apostle was Saul of
Tarsus, the religious man. Paul was an orthodox Jew. He was a religious man. He said,
as far as the law is concerned, I was blameless. And Paul said
this, I would not have known sin had not the law said, I shall
not covet. I wouldn't even have known sin.
Now I'm saying this, no man's going to be saved until he knows
he's lost. If a man's never been brought
to see that he's lost, that he's a sinner, that he's guilty before
God. He's never going to be saved.
A man's not going to cry for mercy until he's guilty. A man's
not going to seek a savior until he knows the curse of the law.
We've been picturing salvation as some agreement we make with
God so that when we die we'll go to heaven. But my friends,
salvation is a redemption from sin, which is a principle and
a root and a nature of evil within. We are sinners. We are separated
from God. The scripture says, your sins
have separated you from your God. Like a cloud, they're between
you and God. Your sins, if you die in your
sins, you cannot come where I am. Sin is rebellion against God. It's a transgression of God's
law. It's an enmity against God. It's
foolishness. The thought of foolishness is
sin. The average person has never come to see the depths nor the
dangers of sin. the nature of sin, the root of
sin, the body of sin, the law of sin that reigns and rules
in the heart. We think if we can get a fellow
to quit drinking, or maybe quit taking drugs, or if we can make
him quit running around on his wife, or if we can get him to
quit cursing, then he's all fixed up and he can believe in Jesus,
you know, and he's all, he's seen, he's done sinning. My friends, a person that has
that conception of sin doesn't even know what sin is. This drinking and cursing and
doping and things like that, those things are just the results
of sin. They are the products of sin.
Sin is a nature. Sin is a principle that lives
within. A man could not do any of those
things and still be a terrible, hell-deserving, ill-deserving,
miserable, wretched sinner. It's love of self. Sin is pride
and jealousy and lust and envy and covetousness and murmuring
and all of these things. It's a nature. We don't know
the depths of sin. Even our righteousness is a sin.
Even the plowing of the wicked is sin. In the flesh dwelleth
no good thing. There's nothing that a man can
do on this earth pleasing to a holy God, nothing, absolutely
nothing. The only thing pleasing to God
is his Son. This is my Son in whom I'm well
pleased. And I tell you, if we ever realized the depths of sin
and the dangers of sin, we'd cry for mercy. We would give
anything. to be delivered from its curse
and from its power, from its penalty, from its lordship. Men are ignorant of the depths
and dangers of sin. Secondly, they're ignorant of
the holiness of God. Now, folks tonight are calling
the name of God. They're preaching about God.
They're talking about God. But let me tell you something. You know how holy God is? God
is holy. How holy? He's too holy to embrace
even his own son when his son is bearing our sins. Too holy
to embrace even his own son. God is holy. How holy? Too holy
to accept the best person on this earth, whoever lived on
this earth, without a perfect righteousness. God is holy. How holy? Too holy to forgive
one sin without satisfaction. God is holy. How holy? Too holy
to admit one person into his kingdom who is not clothed in
a perfect righteousness, washed in pure blood with clean hands
and a holy heart. Too holy. Too holy. God is not pleased at all with
your guilt. God is not pleased with your
life. God is not pleased with your
prayers. God is not pleased with your
efforts to serve him. God is not pleased with anything
you do. In the flesh, no man can please
God. You know what I'm saying? God
is not pleased. In the flesh dwelleth no good
thing. What's a man to do? He's going to have to find somebody
that does please God. And he's going to have to be
associated with and vitally united with and somehow represented
by that person. God's not even pleased with your
faith. He doesn't care how strong it is or how weak it is. He can't
be, because it's imperfect. And if your God can be pleased
with anything short of perfection, you've got the wrong God. God's
not pleased with your knowledge. He can't be. God's holding. This
is what I'm saying. Men don't know. They don't know
what sin is. They're ignorant of what sin
is. They've made sin what is the results of sin. They've made
sin to be the products of sin. But sin is a nature. Satan was
found with sin in him. Adam was found with sin in him. And he didn't do any of those
things I named a while ago. He was in a perfect garden with
one woman, with nothing there but the presence of God and the
angels. Sin was found in him, enough
to damn him, enough to destroy him, enough to put him out of
the presence of God, enough to shut him out forever. Sin. And we don't know the holiness
of God. I tell you this, we're calling on Him whom we don't
even know. Paul said, I come to preach to you the unknown
God. Holy, holy, holy. Even Isaiah,
the man who wrote the gospel in the Old Testament. Even Isaiah,
he said, I saw the Lord high and lifted up and his train filled
the temple and even the cherubims and seraphims shielded their
eyes from his holiness. And we gonna Let's all bow for
a word of prayer and have a little talk with Jesus. You sinful,
polluted, vile, dirty son of Adam, you've got no business
having a little talk with anybody called God. That's right. You better get in touch with
somebody who can talk to God. God's not going to listen to
you. Not so, me either. God's not going to listen to
me. If an angel has to cover his
face in his presence, what business I got there? If a cherubim has
to cover his feet and with his eyes and his mouth, if Isaiah
says, Lord, I'm a man of unclean lips, if Job says, I put my hand
on my mouth, what business have I got popping off in you? I'm going to have to get in touch
with somebody that can take me to God's presence. I'm going
to have to get in touch with somebody who's welcome there.
I'm not. You're not. I'm telling you the
truth. Somebody may not, but you're
going to get it from this prophet, the Lord willing. We don't know
what seeing is, and we don't know what holiness is. And another
thing, we don't know what redemption is. People sashay down a church
aisle and say they believe the Bible and that's supposed to
fix them up. They go to an altar and they pray through and they
weep over, weep because they stole a watermelon or weep because
they did this and weep because they did that. And they get up
and say, I've confessed my sins, it's all clear now. I've shook
them off, you know, and I'm on my way to heaven. You're going
just as straight to hell as you were before you came down to
that bench. Now let me tell you something, there are two things
that have got to be done before a person is saved. God's holy
law has got to be honored. I'm telling you the truth. This
is so. God's law is going to be honored.
The man that enters heaven is going to enter heaven having
honored God's law, having obeyed it in every jot and tittle. There's
nobody going to enter heaven who has not obeyed God's law
in every jot and tittle 100%. The second thing is God's justice
has to be satisfied. God must be just when he justifies. There's no man going to enter
heaven, I don't care who he is, there's no person going to enter
heaven who has not fully satisfied God Almighty's justice which
says the soul that sinneth it shall die. Well you say then
that makes salvation impossible with man. That's what our Lord
said. The disciples said who then can
be saved? Our Lord said, except your righteousness
exceed that of the best man on earth, you shall not enter the
kingdom of God. They said, well, who then can
be saved? He said, with man it's impossible. That's what I've been telling
you. Thank God with God it's not impossible. You see, God
gave me somebody who has a perfect righteousness to be my representative. That's Christ. You see, God in
his grace and in his mercy has set forth his Son to be my righteousness,
has set forth his Son to bear my sins and guilt. And I've got to be united to
him some way. How is a man united to Christ?
First, by God's election. We were chosen in Christ. And
secondly, by saving faith, which brings us to a living, vital
union with Christ, who is our life. He's not our insurance
policy. He's not our fire escape. He's
not our doormat. He's not the one we'll grab hold
of just before we sink, our life preserver. He is our life! If he's not my life, he's not
my righteousness. If he's not my life, he's not
my sin offering. If he's not my life, he's not
my substitute. That's what he's saying. And we say, well, we believe. We believe. We believe. We've made a decision. It hasn't
affected our lives or our spirit or our attitude, but we believe.
We've got us a refuge. I wish I could tell you some
of the refuges people have. There's a man in Chattanooga
who used to come hear me preach, and he never did make any kind
of profession of faith, and his mother died. And the neighboring
pastor, even I had better sense than that then, I wasn't 22 years
old, but the neighboring pastor came to the funeral home, and
we were standing around the casket, and there lay this man's mother,
and he was emotionally broken up, In real distress in the neighboring
pastor Ralph Fields, Doris was his name. He reached out and
took Ed by the hand. This man's name was Ed Lehman.
He was my neighbor. He came to hear me preach once
in a while. But he said, Ed, your mama's with God. I don't
know how he knew that. Mama's with God. Don't you want
to meet mama in heaven? Yeah, I sure do. Well, you'll
never meet mama in heaven if you don't believe on Jesus. Will
you take my hand and believe on Jesus?" He said, I shall!
He said, praise the Lord, you are saved. Now brethren, you
can call that salvation if you want to, but that's not what
this scripture says. Your children need a Christian
father, I've heard that all my life. They sure do, but they
don't need a phony Christian father. They need a born-again
father. They need a blood-washed father.
They need one who knows Christ. If they have a father that's
made a profession of faith and never met Christ, he'll take
them down the same road to hell that he's going down. Blind leads
the blind, they'll both fall in the ditch. You don't want
to go to hell, do you? No, sir. Well, do you believe
Jesus died on the cross? Yes, sir. Would you accept him
as your Savior? Yes, sir. Then you're saved.
Well, that's not what the Scripture says. Scripture says salvation
is a new birth. Salvation is a new creature.
Salvation is passed from death unto life. Salvation is to be
born again. Salvation is to be brought into
living, vital union with Christ. That's what Scripture says. I'll
tell you another thing that hinders a man. I believe, but I'm not
saved. is pride. Pride goeth before
destruction. A haughty spirit before the hall.
God resisteth the proud. The Pharisees would not submit
to the baptism of John. They wouldn't do it. Why? Because John's baptism was a
baptism of repentance. That put those proud Pharisees
on the same level with the harlot, on the same level with the publicans,
on the same level with the drunks, on the same level with the uneducated,
on the same level with the uninfluential, on the same level with everybody.
And they weren't willing to get on that level. But I'm telling
you this, God doesn't save teachers, But of all yours, or influential
people, he saves sinners. And they're all naked, guilty,
ignorant sinners. And they all come the same way,
or they don't come at all. You see, you might impress men,
but you don't impress God. You know what these credentials
are. You know what these high-sounding
praises are. You know what these titles are.
They're one worm bragging on another worm. That's all in the
world there are. Oh, Naaman, Naaman came to the tent, and
Elijah didn't even come out to meet him. Naaman was the number
two man in Syria. Naaman was a general. Naaman
was a famous man. Naaman was an influential man.
Naaman wore the title of second in command, and Elijah didn't
even come out to meet him. In this day, we're supposed to
Just bow down. If some fella, he's lived for
the devil for 50 years, and he suddenly claims he's interested
in God, and we're just supposed to bow down. We're supposed to
court him, and we're supposed to favor him, we're supposed
to brag on him, we're supposed to gather around him, we're supposed
to do all those things. You go ahead. You go right ahead. But my Lord's not a beggar. My
Lord's a king. And that rascal's gonna come
on his knees or he ain't coming. He's going to come broken or
he's not coming. He's going to come just like
everybody else or he's not coming. He's going to come suing for
mercy or he's not coming. That's the fact. The church doesn't
need another false professor. It doesn't need another fellow
to raise a lot of cane for six weeks and then disappear. It
doesn't need another fellow to bring reproach on the kingdom
of God. It needs some persevering folks that's going to hang around
and love Christ. And old Naaman came to the door,
and Elisha seen his servant out there. And he said, tell your
master I'm out here. And the servant said, my master
said, tell you to go down and dip certain times in the muddy
river Jordan, and you'll be clean. Oh, he got mad about that. Me? Me go down in that river? Me? You know who you're talking to?
You're talking to Naleman. Well, I thought when I came here
your master would walk out and he'd call on his God. After all,
Naleman's here. Think of it, folks. Naleman's
with us. We're just glad to have Naleman.
He's somebody. Think what he could do for our
church. Think of what his tithe would be. He said, aren't the rivers in
my town better than this sprinkling as good as this? The gospel I hear is as good
as this. The morning's bench is as good as this. Well, it
suits yourself. There's the river. And he went
back in the tent. Suits yourself. You just suit
yourself. Like one of our members told a fellow one time that if
he wanted to go to hell, that's his business. Suit yourself. He went back in
the tent, and Naaman stood there, and one of his servants had more
sense than he did, and his servant said, now, if he'd told you something
hard to do, you'd have done it, wouldn't you? Well, yes. He said,
well, he told you something easy, why don't you do it? So old Naaman
took off his distinguishing stars and took off his distinguishing
satins and all of his prominent clothes and got naked, just like
anybody else. And he went down that muddy river,
and he came out clean. And I'm telling you this, if
your pride won't let you go down, your pride will ultimately destroy
you. But you'll come down. You'll
come down. You've never been conquered.
You see, God conquers every wild-assist colt that he saves. He whips
him. He takes the starch out of him,
he takes the pride out of him, he takes the arrogance out of
him, he takes the hate out of him, he takes all those things
out and gives him a submission to Christ. That's salvation. That's salvation. What's to be
done? I've preached too long, but I'm on something that needs
to be dealt with. I don't want to miss Christ.
I'm concerned, I think we're in, like old brother Barnard
used to say, he used to cry. He'd say, Henry, we got a salvation
today that doesn't save. We got a revival going on that
doesn't revive anybody. Our churches are actually literally
filled with people that don't know the least thing. They know
doctrine, but they don't know Christ. They've never been conquered. They've never been conquered.
They've never been brought down. What's to be done? Well, I'll
give you, I'll give you briefly four or five things. What's to
be done? Here's a man, a preacher, I believe. I believe the Bible.
I believe God. I believe God's holy. I believe
there's a law. I believe I'm a sinner. I believe Christ died,
but I've never been conquered. I've never been healed. I've
never been saved. I've never been brought to Christ.
These things have never become that important to me. Religion's
been a refuge, it's been a profession, it's been a sideline, it's just
been a sort of a security out yonder somewhere. Well, I'll
tell you four or five things. Number one, if I were you, I'd go where Christ
is. That's the first thing, I'd go
where he is. Now, if he were walking this earth today, will
you listen to me a few minutes, will you be patient? If Christ were walking this earth
again, and you were hopelessly ill, hopelessly ill, and you
were dying and knew it, and nobody could help you, what would you
do? You know what you'd do? You'd call somebody that knew
him, and you'd say, where is he going to be tomorrow? I want
to go over there. I want to be where he's going
to be. I don't want to be where he's
been, huh? And I just don't want to be where somebody says they
know him. And I just don't want to be where they've got an emblem
that's supposed to represent him. I want to be where he is. I've got to be where he is. It's
like those fellas that had the sick friend and Christ was preaching
to a whole bunch of folks and they got up there and took the
skylight off the building and led him down by ropes. You remember
that? Led him right down in front of Christ. They knew if they
could get him to Christ, they led him right down in front of
Christ. And our Lord healed him. But
you've got to get where he is. And I say this to you. I'm trying to preach the gospel.
And I'm not going to give you a false profession, and I'm not
going to work on your emotions. I'm going to tell you what you
are by nature and who God is. I tell you this, God is sovereign. God's on an eternal throne. And
you're lost, and you're depraved, and you're a son of Adam, and
you deserve to go to hell. But the Bible says God in his
mercy, Bill, elected a people. That's what this book says. He
elected a people. He either did or he didn't. And
the Bible says he did. And Christ died for some folks.
And Christ came down here and represented some people on this
earth and obeyed the law. And he said he's going to be
merciful to whom he will be merciful. Isn't that what he says? And
I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. He said if the Lord
had not left us a seed, we'd be like Sodom and Gomorrah. Now
you can go and listen to somebody tell you that ain't so and hope
that you can believe it ain't so and still go to heaven. Or
you can come to hear somebody tell you it is so and that God
may show mercy to you. I don't know. He may. He may.
If you want to get all fixed up, you can do it tomorrow. There
are a hundred preachers in this town that can save you tomorrow.
But here's one that can't save you at all. But I do know a Lord
who can if He will. Is that too hard? I do know a
Lord who can if he will. He may not, but he can. He's
able to save. I don't care who you are. You
may be the worst harlot in this town, but my Lord can save you.
You may be the worst drunk in this town, but my Lord can save
you if he will. But he doesn't have to. That's
what I'm telling you. He doesn't owe it to you. He
doesn't have to. He doesn't owe you a thing. If
he sends you to hell, he'll do what's right. Is that right?
That's what David said, that you might be just when you condemn
me. That's what I'm going to tell
you, that he doesn't have to. But I'll tell you this, he saved
some other folks, just like you. He saved Saul of Tarsus, and
he saved old Cussing Peter, and he saved old Doubting Thomas,
and he saved the woman at the well, and he saved Rahab, and
he saved an idolater named Abraham, and he's able. He's able. He doesn't have to, but he's
able. And I'm going to point you to Him. And it'll have to
be between you and Him now. You'll have to meet with Him.
You'll have to seek the Lord. I can't help you. All I can do
is preach to you. But I can't save you. I can't give you a
recipe or a plan or a little silly prayer to pray. And I can't
give you a Roman road to travel. Christ has already walked the
way of salvation. He's already paid the price.
And he's giving it to whom he will. And he just might save
you Herman. He might. He doesn't have to.
But he might. I'll tell you this. I like what
that songwriter says. Approach my soul the mercy seat
where Jesus answers prayer. And there humbly fall before
his feet. For nobody can perish there.
His promise is my only plea. With this I venture nigh. Lord,
you save sinful souls, and Lord, such am I. That's where it is. I'm going to tell you the truth.
I can't save you, and if you don't come around here and hope
that I can, I can't do it. I can't save myself. I'm going to have to trust the
blood of Christ, the mercy and grace of Christ. But I'd go where
it is. Then you know secondly what I'd
do? I'd get to where I could hear. I'd get to where I could
see. Our Lord was going through a
crowd one day. Boy, they were just everywhere. Just everywhere.
And there was a little short guy named Zacchaeus. And he's
trying to see the Lord, you know. He just kept trying, and he couldn't
see it. So he just skedaddled, as Ralph said, around that whole
crowd. He knew the direction Christ was going, and climbed
up a tree. And he got him a good seat, Herman, right up there
where he could see. And he sat there and waited on the Lord.
Boy, he's determined. And I'll tell you this, if you're
interested in salvation, if you're interested in a new birth, if
you're interested in a new life, if you're interested in something
besides what you're getting today in religion, I'll tell you, I'd
come here, I'll get the sermon ready for you. There's a fellow
this morning drove 150 miles to hear me preach, 150 miles,
from Finley, Ohio. I tell you, you don't think I
think about that? I'm going to study and get a
message, and I'm going to preach it, and it's going to glorify
God. It's going to be from this book. I'll tell you what I'd do if
I was you. I'd get me a good seat right there like Herman
and John's got, and I'd sit there and I'd listen. I'd listen. Because that's how salvation
comes, through the Word. Now, if you can hold out hope
for folks that sit at home in front of the TV, and hold out
hope for folks that are out yonder playing around, and we're meeting
here preaching, you can hold out hope for them if you want
to. But my hopes for that fella that gets him a place and sits
there and waits on Christ to come his way, I got hope for
him. He means business. Ozark Hills
meant business. He meant business. For a man
all dressed up like him, he was somebody. But Jerry, that old
boy was a tax collector. He was rich. He was hated, but
he was rich. And he got up there and he climbed
a tree like a kid. He wasn't ashamed. He had to
see the Lord. He had to get to where he could
see Him. Somebody said, well, you go to
church, 13th Street. Oh, that's all right. That's all right. That's all
right. We'll wait on the judgment to
find out what 13th Street meant. I'm willing to wait, too. I'm
willing to wait. I'm not ashamed to stand out
and be counted for my Lord. If you can't stand the heat,
Harry Truman said, get out of the kitchen. But that's where
the fire is, and that's where I want to be. And you know what
I'd do thirdly? I'd go where he is, where he's
preached, and I'd get me a place where I could hear. I wouldn't
do the talking. I'd get me a place to hear. This
is what a lot of folks do. They want to do the talking.
They want to express their opinion. They want to tell you what they
know. But if I was you, I'd sit and listen. And then what I'd
do is this. I'd do like that woman with the
issue of blood. I'd reach out. I'd reach out. There he is in
his holiness, in his perfection, in his beauty, in his glory. Here she is in her rags and filth
and withered and old and dying with her issue of blood. And
women in those conditions were so supposed to be shut off in
the house, not come out in public in those days. And yet she dared
to reach out and touch him. She dared. Reach out and touch
the Lord as he passes by. You'll find he's not too busy
to hear your hearts cry. And he stopped! And he said,
Who touched me? Who touched me? And the disciple
said, Lord, we don't know. Everybody's touched you and brushed
against you. I know, I know this crowd. I
know all these folks. They want to get what they can
get out of me. They ate the loaves and were filled, and they want
the miracles, and they want pie in the sky and a sweet bond.
I know this outfit, but somebody with a need touched me. I felt
power go out of me. And she came forward and said,
It's me. It's me. He said, Woman, great is thy
face. She said, Oh, if I can get to Him, I'd reach out and
touch Him. And do you know what I'd do fourthly?
I'd commit everything I got to Christ. Lock, stock and barrel,
I'd commit it to Christ. It ain't worth a thing. Just
give it to Him. I'd commit my life to Him, my
wife to Him, my home to Him, my family to Him, my time to
Him, everything. I'd commit it. I'd commit it. He that saveth his life will
lose it. I don't want my religion to interfere with my politics.
Don't worry. You don't have enough to cause
a ripple. Well, I don't want my religion to interfere with
it. It won't. It won't. I guarantee you. It
won't. I don't want my politics to interfere
with my religion. And if I'm dead set about that,
it won't. I don't want my social life to
interfere with my life in Christ, do you? It won't if you don't
want it to. But I'd surrender. That's where
it is. It's commit, commit, commit,
commit unto Him. I'm persuaded He's able to keep
that which I've committed to Him. Now listen to me. It's like
I say, I'm not the Lord of the house, Christ is the Lord. I'm
supposed to be the leader, but I'll say this to you. If you
wish to take that most precious commodity you have, if you wish
to take that most valuable possession you have, If you wish to take
that immortal soul of which you have but one, that someday will
live eternally somewhere, and put it in the hands of some denomination
to guarantee its salvation, you're welcome to do that. If you wish
to walk down an aisle and listen to some preacher say, Lord be
merciful to me, a sinner, you're saved, that's where you want
your soul to rest, my friend, I hold no animosity whatsoever.
If you wish to rest on an old commitment you made years ago,
or the sprinkling of water on your brow, or a handshake of
a preacher, or an experience you had, that's perfectly all
right with me. That's perfectly all right. But
I'm telling you this, there's only one safe refuge, and that's
Christ. There's only one who can save
the soul. There's only one who can make
you whole. There's only one who can intercede for God. There's
only one mediator between you and God, and that's Christ Jesus.
advise you, I'd do business with him. I would. I would. I would. Believe me. The reason
I'm exhorting you to do this is because I do it, I try to
do it daily. Lord, if I have not loved you
before, let me start today. I don't want to perish. Old Brother
Clarence Walker used to say, I don't want to go to hell. I
don't want to go to hell. I don't either. I don't either. But I know the only one that
can save me and that's Christ. And once again, talk about rededicating. Once again, I'm His and He is
mine. Do it all over again. That's
all I know. Keep coming, keep coming, keep coming, keep coming. Our Father in Heaven, Lord you know Lord, you know.