My text tonight will be taken
from the book of Isaiah, chapter forty-five, verse twenty-two. Look unto me, and be ye saved. Look unto me,
and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and
there's none else. 1834, there was a baby boy born into a home
in England. Grandfather was a Presbyterian
preacher. Father was a very devout religious
person, as was the mother, grandmother. They were very, very devout and
religious people, and they were They were strong, sovereign grace
people. Being Presbyterians and living
in that particular time, they were very strong, what we call
Calvinist. They noted pretty shortly that
this was no ordinary little boy. He was a genius. He was intelligent,
most intelligent. He was quite fond of his parents
and especially of his grandmother. and his grandfather, but his
grandmother told him when he was about four or five years
old that she'd give him a penny, a pence, whatever they used over
there, a small amount of money like our penny, for every hymn
he memorized, for every one of the old hymns. These old hymn
books didn't have music set to them. They were written long
meter, short meter, common meter, 7s and so forth, 7-6. And they knew what tune to sing
them to. They were thick books of these
old ancient hymns. That's what I get our ancient
hymns from for Sunday morning. She said she'd give him a penny
for every hymn he memorized, the whole thing. Four or five
verses. Well, he was going to, he's about
to break grandma. He had a photographic mind. They
didn't know that. The child could look at something.
I think it was five or something like that. He could look at something
and take a picture of it with his mind. He'd just stamp the
image there and he'd write the whole page. So then she started
giving him a penny for every five hymns he memorized. He was
just a genius. And he stayed around his grandparents
and his parents and went to church with them regularly. He was a
moral young man. But he was a troubled young man.
He had no peace with God. He was 16 years of age, and with
a mind like that, and with a personality like that, we're talking about
40 or 50, equivalent to our age. He was such a genius, such a
brilliant young man, and such an outstanding young man, that
at 16, he thought about things that you and I think about, and
we get 50 or 60, you know, troubled and bothered, because he didn't
have though he sought it diligently, in his saving interest in Christ. And he knew it. He knew it. He read the Bible. He was a genius. He just kept going beyond those
of his own years. And he memorized hymns. He just
was a brilliant young man, studied the ancient languages, recognized
by all as an outstanding man, but he didn't know Christ. And
he knew that he didn't know Christ. And he'd go and hear his grandfather
preach, and go to other meetings, and he just, he was seeking the
Lord. He knew that he knew. He knew that he would know when
he came to know Christ. He knew that he would. And he
read the catechisms, and he read the books on theology, and he
read all the arguments. And those fellas were deep back
then. They could take you back before the foundations of the
world into the secret councils. and bring you right on up through
the fall, and the origin of sin, and all their sermons were one,
two, and three hours long, and they were deep theological studies. And this young man took them
in, and he listened to them, and he'd weigh them, and measure
them, and study them. But he never, to that time, knew
Christ. This is a true story. So one
Sunday morning, he was going to attend his church service,
sixteen years old. He was going to attend a church
service at his own church, and it starts snowing. And the snow
fell quickly and heavily, and he saw that he was going to be
late, so he wouldn't go. If he knew he was going to interrupt
the worship of the people and come in late, he wouldn't go.
And he passed a little primitive Methodist chapel. Now generally
you wouldn't find this young man in a Methodist chapel. not
his grandfather, a Presbyterian preacher, and his mother and
grandmother praying for another Presbyterian preacher to be raised
up in the family. He later said after he was saved,
his mother got more than she prayed for. She prayed for a
Presbyterian preacher and got a Baptist. But anyway, he passed
this little Methodist chapel, and they were having services,
just a handful of people there. It wouldn't seat, it wouldn't
seat 45, 50 people. It's still standing over there
now. Just a small little Methodist chapel. And the pastor wasn't
even there. There was no theologian in the
pulpit. There was none of these learned, tedious, tiresome theologians
in the pulpit. The pastor wasn't even there.
And one of the men of the church was asked that morning, I'm sure
upon short notice because the pastor couldn't get there because
of the snow, one of the men of the church was asked to fill
in. And this young man opened the door and walked in and sat
down back near the back. And this old man got up to speak,
one of the men of the church. The pastor's not here this morning.
I'm confident he apologized, Brother Jay, and apologized for
the crowd and apologized for his own lack of preparation and
so forth. But nevertheless, he selected
as his text Isaiah 45, 22, which I just read. Look unto me. And this young man said he listened. And this old fellow just stood
there in faltering English. and in his fumbling style. And
he said, that's the way to be saved. It's look to Christ. Just look to Christ. It's nothing
in what you do or bring or give. It's just look. L-double-o-k. Four letters and two of them
are just a lot. Just look to Christ. Look to Christ. It's
cease to strive and cease to endeavor and cease to try to
earn your way. It's just turn your eyes to Christ
and look. And he said, He pointed back
there at me, this young man said, he singled me out and said, young
man, you look miserable. Why don't you look to Christ?
That's all, just look. And this young man said it was
just like God had opened a curtain. I had been striving, I'd been
endeavoring, I'd been working, I'd been laboring, I'd been studying.
I'd been trying to make myself acceptable before God, I'd been
trying to find the way, and here I stumbled into this little primitive
Methodist chapel, and God spoke to my heart, and He says, He
said to me, Charles Spurgeon, that's the way to be saved. Look
to Christ. And that's all. And He said,
bless God, that day I looked to Christ, and my burden rolled
away. And my fears departed, and he
said, since that day, I've looked to Christ and Christ alone. You
know, this is one of our great problems. I think this was Saul
of Tarsus' problem. Over here in Philippians, if
you'll turn over there just a moment, in Philippians, the third chapter,
I believe it is, of Philippians. Saul was a very religious young
man. I expect his beginning was much
like Spurgeon's. He had a religious grandfather
and grandmother and mother and father. They went to church on
Sunday. And he said in Philippians 3
verse 4, though I might also have confidence in the flesh,
that is religious flesh and moral flesh. If any man, any other
man, thinketh he hath wealth that he might trust in the flesh,
I more for it. I was circumcised the eighth
day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin. And Hebrew
of Hebrews is touching the law. I was a Pharisee, a moral man.
Concerning zeal, I was zealous for God, enthusiastic for God. for my traditions and customs.
I even persecuted the church. And touching the righteousness
which is in the law, the righteousness which a man seeks by obeying
an outward law, I was blameless. But what things were gained to
me, I counted lost for Christ. One day, one day he did look. Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared
to Saul of Tarsus and said, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And
he said, well, who are you, Lord? He said, I'm Jesus of Nazareth,
whom thou persecuted. Lord, what would you have me
do? Just look. Just look. Cease to labor and look. Cease
to strive and trust. Cease to try to build and just
believe. That's all. Nations and denominations
and individuals have been looking to the wrong place for help.
We've been looking to our musty old books. We've been looking
to our theological systems. The pagans and heathens have
looked to their idols of stone, but we're just as guilty. We've
looked to our idols of tradition. The legalists have looked to
their laws and their works. The sentimentalists have looked
to their self-styled messiahs and religious leaders. Jay tells me they're even talking
today about making one of those fellas president of the United
States. Here's one vote against him. I don't want a whole many
up there in Washington. One of these religious moralists. You talk about destroying a nation.
A man sitting in that chair in the Oval Office telling folks
where they can eat, what kind of clothes they can wear, and
when they have to go to church and putting them in stocks or
concentration camps if they don't. But sentimentalists, religionists,
look to these self-styled messiahs and these religious leaders,
and others look to their decisions, and the intellectuals look to
their philosophies, but we are looking to theology. And it won't
say. There's but one source of mercy.
There's but one source of grace. There's but one place to look
for help. And it tells us right here. Let me show you, when I
was preparing this message, I looked at these. One thing just kept
coming out all the way through this chapter. Look at verse 5.
I am the Lord, there's none else. There's no God beside me. I am
the Lord, there's none else. There's nowhere else to look.
There's no other source of grace and mercy and help. Look, if
you will, at verse 6, the last line. I am the Lord. There's
none else. There's none else. Look, if you will, at verse 14,
the last line. Surely God is in thee. There's
none else. There's no God beside Him. Look at verse 18, the last
line. I am the Lord. There's none else.
Looks like we'd get this message by now, doesn't it? Look, if
you will, at verse 21, the last line, the last two lines. There's
no God else beside me or just God and the Savior. There's none
else. There's none beside me. Verse 22, for I am God and there's
none else. And he said this. He said, I've
not spoken this in secret. Look down at verse 19. I've not
spoken this in secret. This wasn't done in a dark place,
in the corner. He says in verse 23, I've sworn
by myself the words gone out of my mouth. Paul was standing
before Festus, and he reasoned of righteousness and temperance
and judgment and salvation, and he said, Most noble Festus, these
things were not done in a corner. This is no secret doctrine, this
is no secret message. This message, I am God, there's
none else, look unto me and be ye saved, this is no secret message. God said, I didn't do it in a
corner. I didn't speak in secret. I didn't hide it in a dark place.
It's open. Bob said tonight in the study
something that was interesting, talking about a certain young
man and his wrestling with the things of God and his unwillingness
to submit. One of the men said, well, maybe
he doesn't know what you're saying. Bob said, he knows what you're
saying. He knows exactly what you're saying. But he conflicts
with his style of life. And he's not going to change.
I think that's one of the problems. People say, well, they just don't
understand. Some don't. Some don't. The true mysteries
of the gospel, the true mysteries of eternal life, the mysteries
of justification, but most folks know exactly what you're saying.
And it's against their wills. You will not come to me, Christ
said. Let another come in his own name, and promise you life,
and promise you hope, and promise you help, and promise you forgiveness,
and you'll receive him. I come in my Father's name, and
you won't receive me. Why? It conflicts with your will. It's not I can't, it's I won't.
I'm not going to lay down my weapons of warfare, and if you
let me have Christ and keep my sword, I'll take him. If you'll
let me have Christ and keep my shotgun, I'll take him. If you'll
let me have Christ and keep my hatred, I'll take him. If you'll
let me have Christ and keep my pride, I'll take him. If you'll
let me have Christ and keep my style of life, I'll take him.
That's not what Christ said. You lay down your weapons of
warfare, you stack your arms, you present your sword, you unconditionally
surrender, or you don't have any part in me, he said. He that
cometh to me must hate his mother, father, brother, sister, husband,
wife, yea, his own life also, or he cannot be my disciple.
That's easy to understand. But I'm not willing. He that
cometh after me, let him take up his cross. What is the cross?
It's a symbol of death. Be willing to bear his cross,
the cross of offense, the cross of persecution, the cross of
sacrifice. But I'll take the benefits, but
I don't want the cost. You don't get to the crown except
by the cost. You save your life, you lose
it. You lose your life for my sake, you save it. Is it true? I don't know. Seems true to me.
Men know. Some men, not all men. Some men
know what we're saying. They're too intelligent not to.
Some men know what we're saying, but it's an unwillingness to
stand up and be counted. It's an unwillingness to look.
He said, I didn't speak this in secret. I didn't hide this
in a dark place. The Word has gone forth from
my mouth. The Word incarnate has come down
here to this earth. And you said, we will not have
this man reign over us. Why not this man? Because of
his form of government. His government is over the heart
and not the flesh. We will not have his government
over our hearts and over our attitudes and over our motives
and over our spirits and over our souls. We'll let religious
men govern our bodies, tell us what to wear, how to dress, when
to come to church, when to bow, when to stand up, when to kneel,
when to sing, when to give, how much to give. We'll let a fellow
reign over us, but not over our hearts. But that's where Christ
reigns. He said, my kingdom's not meat
and drink, it's to do the will of my Father. It's righteousness
and peace. Now he says, all right, if there's
anybody, verse 20, let's look at this. If there's anybody that
has escaped of the nations, assemble yourselves and come, draw near
together, you that have escaped. Anybody escaped, escaped what?
Idolatry. He talks up here about them being
idolaters. They've escaped legalism, they've
escaped ceremonialism, they've escaped traditionalism, they've
escaped all ritualism. Ye that have escaped of the nations,
you assemble, I've got something to say to you. It's a message,
listen, verse 21, it's a message I've declared from ancient times.
Tell ye, and bring them near, all of them that have escaped,
and let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
times? It's an ancient gospel. It's no new gospel. Abraham looked,
he saw my day. He looked and he saw. Moses looked
and wrote of me. Isaiah looked and said he was
wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.
Job looked, and he said, I know my Redeemer liveth, and at the
last day He'll stand on this earth. And though worms destroy
this body, yet in my flesh I'll see the Lord. They looked and
saw. It's an ancient message. He said, I've declared it from
ancient times. Who hath told it from that time?
Abel looked. Yes, he did. Abel saw the Lamb
before John the Baptist saw Him. John the Baptist said, behold,
the Lamb of God. Abel, 4,000 years before that, brought a
lamb to God, showing the Lamb of God. They looked. It's an
ancient message. It's no new message. And look
down here at verse 21 again. And he says, I'm a just God.
I'm a just God. See that, the last line? There's
no God else beside me. I'm a just God. Now that's very
important. When Saul of Tarsus had that
Damascus Road experience, And God told him to go over to a
certain place and it would be told him what to do. Ananias
came to him and announced that the God of our fathers hath chosen
thee and ordained that you should hear the word from his mouth
and that you should know the just one. The just one. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
is no ordinary Savior. He's a just Savior. You see,
my friends, God Almighty is love, and God is grace, and God is
mercy, and God is holiness. But God is just, and God is righteous,
and God must punish sin. You see that? Let's make that
clear wherever we pray. The Lord God of heaven does not
forgive sin without a sacrifice. He does not put away sin without
that sin being dealt with, condemned, and paid for. And the Lord Jesus
Christ came down here that God may be just and justify. Turn
to Romans 3. Let me show you this. This is
an important verse. And it's so important that it
ought to be declared frequently. You see back here in Romans 3,
19, it says, What the law saith, it saith to them who are under
the law. Now that's everybody. Everybody's under the law of
God. that every mouth may be stopped and all the world become
guilty, guilty before God. We're guilty sinners. Now, what
does the law say to the guilty man? Condemned. What does justice
say? The soul that sinneth must die.
God will in no wise clear the guilty. Sin, when it's finished,
brings forth death. The wages of sin is death. So
that's God's justice. The law pronounces sinners' condemnation,
and justice demands that it be carried out. Well, how in the
world are we going to be saved and forgiven of our sins and
inherit eternal life and still pay for our sins? Well, that's
what Christ did. He came down here in our place,
numbered with the transgressors. He actually was made sin for
us. He was so identified with us
and so numbered with us that our sins were laid on Him and
God considered Him and the law considered Him and justice considered
Him as a guilty creature. And he bore those sins to Calvary,
and there the infinite, eternal, immutable Son of God tasted death
for every believer. Now, you see, this is true, and
this is important. You say, well, how can one man
pay for the sins of so many? Because of who he is. Because
of who he is. You see, his soul is so infinitely
more sensitive to sin than ours is. For example, let me give
this illustration. Suppose that a group of roughnecks,
rowdy men, should come into town, and they find a 17 or 18-year-old
girl that has been sheltered and protected and loved and cared
for in a religious atmosphere and home. and has never known
any type of account or encounter with any type of thing like this,
and they take her and abuse her and rape her and mistreat her.
Her reaction to that, probably lose her mind. She'd probably
lose her mind. But if those same men, though,
encountered a harlot, a prostitute, had been in that business for
50 years, well, they'd make her mad and upset her. But it would
not be the same. Same act, but this gentle spirit,
this innocent, not innocent in the sense of before God, but
as far as people are concerned, this gentle spirit, this tender
child, would never survive anything like that, but this other person
would. Now, you see, so the crime, the
feeling of the crime, the awfulness of the crime, is a million times,
Richard, worse for her than for that other person. And this is
our Lord. Our Lord is the infinite Son
of God. He's the pure, immaculate, holy God of heaven. And that's
what happened in the garden. If you want to know, it's not
like you and me. The very, that sensitive, holy
nature of Christ in human flesh was about to encounter the awful
guilt of His people. The guilt of rebellion against
the Father. He'd never rebelled against the
Father. He knew no rebellion. The awful guilt of treason, blasphemy. Think, when you're working, you
men are working out there with somebody, and they use the Lord's
name in vain. It's irritable to you. It didn't
used to be, but it is now. Why is it now? Why are you sensitive
to that now? Somebody uses God's name, Jesus
Christ, hits his thumb with a hammer and screams, Jesus Christ, like
that, and you just cringe. Well, do you think what that
meant to Christ? Him who, you and I inhabit a filthy world,
and we've got, we've got guilty hearts and filthy thoughts, but
yet just the word, one blasphemous word, just, oh, it just irritates
us. And we say, friend, I wish you
wouldn't do that. Why not? Well, it's just, I just can't
take it. You think what it meant to Him. You see what I'm saying? You think of the holiness of
Christ. Think of the ten million times more holy than ten, why,
the difference in an angel and a caterpillar between you and
Christ. And yet, I say unto you, when
He knelt in that garden of Gethsemane with the weight of our sins,
He says, Father, I'm going to die right here. My soul is exceeding
sorrowful unto death, and the blood was coming out of his pores.
But not my will, but thy will be done." And the Father sent
an angel and ministered to him. He'd have died right there. And
think of what he bore on that cross. Think of the infinite,
holy Son of God, the immaculate, pure, infinite Son of God, hanging
there naked before this rabble, this mess of hell's children. Well, you can't even explain
it. You can't imagine it. But look back over at Romans
3, and he's saying he did that, he did that. He says in Romans
3, 26, verse 25, God has set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission
of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God, to declare,
I say at this time, God's righteousness, that he might be just, and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Now Christ bearing
that load, that guilt, that shame, that filth, that awful agony,
enables God to be just, holy, righteous, true, and justify
folks like me and you. That's the way God can do it.
But you ask, how can one man suffer for so many? Because of
who that man is, and because of what that awful agony and
suffering encompassed. He suffered, no man ever suffered. You can draw the picture of Christ
hanging on that cross, and these spikes through his hands and
feet, and his side laid open, and the crown of thorns. You
haven't seen his sufferings, and you don't know what suffering
is. Actually, there are men and women who have gone through more
physical suffering than Christ did. You say He suffered more
than any man ever suffered? I don't know whether physically.
I don't think He did physically. I've heard about men being tortured
for months and months, living in agony for months and months.
His was soul suffering. He made His soul an offering
for sin. He literally bore hell. It was
hell for him, the darkness, the depravity, the wretchedness of
hell he bore. So he said, I'm a just God. And
look here, I'm a Savior. In Isaiah 45, verse 21, he says,
he said, now this message I'm preaching is no new message.
I've declared it from ancient times. And he said, I'm a just,
I'm a just God. I'm the only one, I'm just. My
salvation is a just salvation. Now when a man tells you to to
straighten up and live a good life, that's not a just salvation. That won't touch God's justice.
It won't help you at the judgment. That might win you more friends
and might get you more business. You'd be a good boy and you might
attract more people to you, but it won't help you at the judgment.
Because at the judgment, God's going to judge your sins. If
He doesn't judge them in Christ, and judge him in the person of
his son, and judge him at Calvary, he's going to judge him at the
judgment. But he said, I'm a just Savior, I'm a just God, and I'm
a Savior. And look back here at verse 17,
and he says, I save with an everlasting salvation. Now, that's the kind
I want. I don't want this stuff I have
to walk down the aisle and renew about every six months. I don't
want anything to do with this salvation that requires me to
rededicate about every six months. I don't want this salvation that
gets me lost every time I think a thought or do a deed that's
contrary to perfection, because I'd be lost every day. I don't
know about you all. I want an everlasting salvation.
He says, I'll save you with an everlasting salvation, and you
shall not be ashamed or confounded world without end, for from eternity
to eternity you'll never be ashamed. And he keeps saying this, there's
nobody else to look to. There's nobody else. Now, my
friend, if you would be saved, you must look. He says, look
unto me. Who's he saying, look? You've
got to look, I've got to look. Just as that 16-year-old boy
sitting in that primitive Methodist chapel, listening to that old
man preach, just as that young boy, he looked to Christ. He
just looked. He just looked. and was made
whole. And you've got to look personally.
You just can't take somebody by the hand and say, honey, let's
look. No, sir, you look. Well, I'm going to wait till
a certain time. No, you look right now. When should a man
look? Well, he should look in God's
time. He should look when he's invited to look. He should look
when he can look. He should look when he needs
to look. That's all I can tell you. And God said, this is His
time, now is the accepted time, today is the day of salvation,
so the time's right. And you can look. Turn over to
Psalm 6. I want you to look at a verse
over here. I believe it's the 6th verse of 6th chapter of Psalm,
the book of Psalm. Psalm 6. Listen to this right
here. Psalm 6, verse 5. I tell you
when you're not going to be able to look. In death. Psalm 6, 5, in death
there's no remembrance of God. In the grave, who's going to
give him thanks? It may be you won't be able to
look tomorrow. So first of all, it's God's time. It's God's time
now. Now is the accepted time. Today
is the day of salvation. And it's a time when you can
look. You can, if you will. Do you need Him? There's the
hitch. I tell you, brother, when a man's
drowning, he'll call for help. but needn't throw life preservers
to folks who are sitting on the shore. When a man's hungry, he'll
come to the table. When a man's thirsty, he'll ask
for water. When a man's sick, he'll cry
for a physician. And when a man's lost, he'll
look to Christ. And you must look, and look here,
he said you must look. There's one method. It's not
you must look and do this, or look and do that, or look and
do something else. It's just look. All the simplicity
How profound is the gospel, how profound is the declaration of
it, how profound is the message of it, but how simple is the
response. There's nothing for you to do,
God's done it all, Jesus paid it all, all the debt I owe, sin
left to crimson stain, He washed it white as snow, there's nothing
for me to do, God's done it all. He doesn't ask you to produce
a righteousness, just receive one. He doesn't ask you to work
for justification, just receive it. He says, look. Look. And then, if you are saved,
you must look to Him. Look unto Me. Unto Me. Now, you can't look to a preacher.
This is what worries me, friends, and I say this not wanting to
be offensive at all, but this is what worries me about our
high-tone, important preachers and pastors and evangelists of
this day. We seem to advertise men instead of Christ. We seem to invite men to hear
men instead of Christ. We seem to invite men to come
to a man. Now, let me ask you this. Somebody
said one time, a man may preach the gospel better than me, but
he can't preach a better gospel. He can't preach a better gospel.
And you know, when God brought Charles Spurgeon to knowledge
of Christ, He never let him come to Christ under Manton or Charnock
or Sibbs or any of that. He brought him to Christ under
a very simple, poor, faltering man, Charlie. That's how He brought
him to Christ. So no man can glory. And I'll
tell you, I'm a little bit concerned about the direction we're going
in this day. I see these preachers advertising
themselves. A fellow nearly has to He nearly
has to be a drug addict, or a former drug addict, or a former movie
star, or a former football player, or a former something else to
get anybody to listen to him today. I think we're coming to men.
I think we're coming, and this is dangerous. Christ said, look
to me. I'm God. I'm the just God. I'm the Savior.
There's none else. Look to me, me, me, me. Don't
look to your preacher, don't look to an evangelist, don't
look to a famous person, don't do it! He'll give you a false refuge
and a false hope. What we need to do as preachers,
I believe we need to take off the diamond rings and and take
off the fancy ensembles and these attractions and entertainment
and see if we can't just slip behind the Christ of the cross
and say, sinner, if you can, get to Christ. If you can. If you can find it in your heart
to flee to Christ, let me slip out the door here and you do
business with Christ. Don't come to me. I don't want
to see your hand. I don't want to see you walking
down an aisle. I don't want you to shake my
hand. I want you to write me a card. I don't want you to let
me boast of the number. I just want you, if you can,
to lay hold on Christ. Do you reckon you could? Do you
reckon you could look to Him and not advertise it and not
brag about it? Do you reckon God could trust
us? We're seeing a multitude saved
without bragging, but you reckon He could trust us? I don't know
whether He could or not. I know these fellows are there.
People aren't being saved. You say, well, you're judging.
I don't know. Well, I know the light shining. I can see it.
I know darkness when I see it, and I know light when I see it.
Is that judging? And I know the gospel when I hear it, and I
know junk when I hear it. I know the gospel. And I know
some of the evidences of redemption. Men come to know Christ. They
come to trust in Christ, they come to receive Christ, they
come to brag on Christ, and not themselves. I know entertainment
when I see it, and I know worship when I see it. You look to me,
he said, I'm the only one, I'm the only source, look to me.
Well, you've got to give something to people to do, give people
something to do. That's been our trouble. We've
given them something to do instead of a person to whom they should
look. That's been their trouble, too. They're doing what you told
them to do, and they can't find any peace, and they never will
while they're going about to establish their own righteousness.
Why can't we just commit them to Christ? Why can't we tell
a man the truth, preach the gospel to him, point him to Christ,
and turn around and walk off? Say, I commit, I commend you
to Christ. Wait, preacher, give me something to do. I'll do anything
you say. Well, you can do everything I say and be lost. You need to
look to Christ. If you ever get to Calvary, if
you ever get to Calvary, I guarantee you'll come away like Jacob,
you'll come away limping. If your eyes ever behold the
Christ, the Son of God. It'll change your attitude, spirit,
nature, direction, ambition, everything else. You can't encounter
the Christ of Calvary in his glory, in his beauty, in his
saving power, in his substitutionary grace. You can't encounter him
and be the same. I challenge you, you can't do
it. But you can press down this aisle and join this church and
let me baptize you and let Billy Graham baptize you and go straight
to hell. Bragging on, swearing, as Barnett
said, on a stack of Bibles, if you're all right. Look to me! Look! What does the word look mean?
Let me give you four or five things and I'll quit. It means
a whole lot more than I can tell you, I know that. But I believe,
first of all, it means to consider who God is. Consider who He is
and believe that He is. It says, He that cometh to God
must believe that He is. The best thing that the prodigal
could do, he was sitting down there on the side of that pig
pen, and he was thinking about a father, a real person, back
yonder at home. And he considered who his father
is and what his father has. Now he says, why, the servants
in my father's house have better than I do. He knew, he considered his Father,
who He is, the fact that He's real. And you and I as sinners,
what does the word look mean? It means to consider the mess
I'm in and consider the glory and grace that God has at His
disposal, that even His servants have, let alone His sons. The angels are servants. I'm
a son. But even God's servants live
better than the highest folks on this earth. Consider that. The word look means to consider.
Secondly, it means to address myself to him. Look to me, address
myself to him. To tell him where I am and what
I am. The young man came back and he
said, Father, I've sinned against you. I've sinned under heaven
and in thy sight. I'm not fit to be called your
son, but this is the shape I'm in. Address yourself. To look to Christ is to consider
who He is, where He is, what He has, and to address myself
to Him. Here we are, Lord. Here's where
I am. There's where You are. That's what that young man said,
Father, I'm not fit to be called Your son. I'm not asking for
sonship. I'm just asking for mercy, like the publican of the
temple. God be merciful to me. Addressed himself to the Lord.
And then thirdly, It's to know that whatever I receive in Christ
will be by his grace from his hand." He said, Father, make
me a hired servant. In other words, the boy is saying
this, if I get in the gate as a servant, it's going to be by
your grace. I don't deserve anything, just you make me a hired servant. Now, he said, you're a son. You're
a son. This is the ground on which the
sinner pleads. Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. If you
will, you can make me a servant. If you will, you can make me
a son. But anything I get will be by grace. Pure, free grace. And then this thing, look. Fourthly,
it means to keep on looking. Keep on looking. It's not just
to take a look and walk away. It's to keep on looking. Looking
for grace, looking for mercy, looking for help, looking for
comfort, looking for instructions, just always looking. All right.
This, quickly. For what part of salvation am
I to look? I hear people talk about God's
part and man's part and this part and that part. I say that
we're to look to Christ for every part. Every part. There is no
part that He does not supply. from Alpha to Omega, from beginning
to end, from first to last, salvations of the Lord. Did you know, my
friend, the very will to look is of the Lord? Thy people shall
be willing in the day of thy power. He said we're born not
of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God.
Secondly, the will to stay is of the Lord. The will to come
and the will to stay. He says we're kept by the power
of God through faith. Jude 24 says, "...now unto him
that is able to keep you from falling." But you say, Preacher,
I know we look to Christ for salvation, but must I not trust
and depend on something else to keep me? No, just look to
Him. Just look to Him. All these bonds and ties and
devices that men make to hold folks to religion are but spider
webs that will soon be destroyed. Only God, who gave you life,
can keep you alive. That's right. Look to Christ
for the will to come, the will to stay. Look to Him for the
pardon of sin. Who can pardon but the one who's
offended? Suppose John's mad at me, and I walk up there after
the service, and I say, John, will you forgive me? Dick said,
I will. I said, he's the one I've offended. Or Danny says,
I will. John still hadn't said anything.
Paul says, I'll forgive you. Everybody's forgiven me but him.
Am I forgiven? No, sir. Not till he does. And
I'll tell you this, the priest can forgive you, and your mama
can forgive you, and the whole world can forgive you, but until
God says, thy sins be forgiven, you ain't got the first base
yet. That's where it is. He says, you look to me. You
look to me. I'm the one that's offended.
I'm the one you sinned against. I'm the one that your crimes
are against, and you've got to be forgiven by me. That old Catholic
priest can stand there and wiggle all the water in your face he
wants to, and you're going to hell anyway. He can't forgive
you. That fellow can bless you and
cross you and touch you and confirm you and confuse you and everything
else, but he can't forgive you. There's only one, and that's
Him in whom we have forgiveness through the blood of His cross.
That's where it is. What can wash away my sins? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. Pardon the sin, the righteousness
of God. Without holiness, no man will see the Lord. Whose
holiness? Now come on now, whose holiness?
Well, I think we ought to try to live right. I do too. I think
we ought to do the best we can. I do too. But brother, the best
righteousness I've got is filthy rags. So the holiness he's talking
about here, how can it be any holiness but Christ's holiness?
So look to Him for sanctification. You're not justified at Calvary
and sanctified at Sinai. You're not justified at the cross
and sanctified by the law. You're sanctified by Christ too.
Look to Him for that. Look to Him for eternal glory.
The same power that raised up Christ is going to take that
same power to raise you up, because you're going to be just as dead
as He was. So what part? Look unto Me. for the will to
come, the will to stay, pardon of sin, eternal righteousness.