Have You Been to Bethel?

The great Thomas Brooks once
made this statement, he that truly believes on and receives the
Lord Jesus Christ as his Redeemer and Lord shall be saved. Be his sins never so many. And he that believeth not on
him, and receiveth not the Lord Jesus Christ as his Lord and
Redeemer, shall be damned, be his sins never so few. The issue is Christ. Our Lord
gathered his disciples about him after his resurrection, and
he said, You go into all the world and preach the gospel. All power is given unto me. You're
not alone. I'll be with you. I have all
authority over all flesh. You go preach. And he that believeth,
he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth
not shall be damned. Is not this what Brooks is saying?
He who truly, not professes, but truly, believes on Christ
and receives him as his Lord and Redeemer, who has a saving
experience with the Redeemer, who has a life-changing experience
with the Master, shall be saved. Be his sins never so many, but
he that believeth not on Christ, and receiveth not Christ as his
Lord, shall be damned. Be his sins never so few. Believers and unbelievers have
one thing in common, and that one thing we have in common is
we're all sinners. Turn to Romans 3. This is one
thing that all men have in common. Romans 3, that is, they're all
sinners. None are as bad as they can be.
We're all restrained by the hand of God. None are as wicked as
they could be. Our full potential to sin and
rebellion is not realized. Because God Almighty stays us,
he restrains us. But the potential is there in
every son of Adam. Because you're not as wicked
as someone else, don't praise yourself. It's God's restraining
grace. Because you've not done some
things that others have done, don't praise yourself. It's God's
restraining hand. The potential is there. He says
in Romans 3, verse 10, it is written, there's none righteous,
no, not one. There's none that understandeth,
there's none that seeketh after God, they're all gone out of
the way. They're all together become unprofitable,
there's none that doeth good, no, not one. Turn to Isaiah 64,
listen to the prophet Isaiah. Chapter 64, verses 6 through
8. But we're all, we're all as an
unclean thing. And all our righteousnesses are
as filthy rags. And we all do fade as a leaf. And our iniquities, like the
wind, have taken us away. And there's none that calleth
upon thy name. that stirreth up himself to take
hold of thee. For thou hast hid thy face from
us, and hast consumed us because of our iniquities. And now, O
Lord, thou art our Father, we are the clay, thou our potter,
and we all are the work of thy hands." Turn to 1 John 1. This
is the epistle of John, chapter 1, verse 8. If we say it's not true, but
we might say it, some do. If we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth's not in us. Verse 10, if we say
we have not sinned, we make God a liar, and his word's not in
us. So we have this one thing in
common. We're descendants of Adam. Being descendants of Adam,
we have received his nature. We have received the results
of his rebellion with dead-end trespasses and sin. We are enemies
of Almighty God. We love that which we ought to
hate, and we hate that which we ought to love. And we call
that bitter which is sweet, and that sweet which is bitter. But
that which marks the true believer, That which marks the true believer
in Christ, that which is the strong characteristic of the
man who has been redeemed by his blood, is fourfold. Now, I've given some careful
thought to this, and I want you to listen carefully to it. That
which marks the true believer, as I say, we have this, all of
us have this in common. Now, we're all guilty. We can only say one thing, guilty.
The scripture says, what the law saith, it saith to them who
are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped. And all
the world become guilty, guilty before God. We're guilty, we're
sinners. We have this in common. Some
have given greater vent to their profanity and blasphemy and selfishness
and malice and hatred evil and lust, but it's in the heart of
every son of Adam. A snake is a snake if it's two
inches long or two feet long. A rattlesnake is poisonous if
it's one inch long or if it's one foot long. And the venom
of sin, the leprosy of evil, and the corruption of Adam is
in every son of Adam. It's there. But that which marks
the true believer in Christ, now listen to Not the professor,
but the true believer, that which marks the man who is redeemed,
who is a child of the King, his fourth hope. Number one, he has
a true knowledge of sin as it appears in the light of God's
holiness. That's right. He has a true knowledge
of sin as it appears in the light of God's holiness. Now the Pharisees,
the religious leaders, were very careful about the outward forms
of religion, ceremonies of religion, the outward duties of the law,
the outward obedience to the law. They held the law in high
esteem. I shall have no other god before
me. I shall not take the name of God in vain. Remember the
Sabbath day to keep it holy. I shall not kill. Thou shalt
not steal, thou shalt not commit adultery, honour thy father and
thy mother, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not
covet." They were very careful about these laws and the duties
of religion and the keeping of the Sabbath day. They were very
moral men. They were careful about all of
these responsibilities and duties. And one day our Lord was preaching,
and he said, Not that, it is not that which goeth into the
mouth that defileth a man. It is that which comes from his
heart. To eat with unwashing hands defileth
not a man. And after he talked about this,
the disciples came up to him and said, The Pharisees were
offended. They were upset by what you said.
And he said, Are you without understanding? He said, That
which goeth into the mouth goeth into the belly and is cast out
into the draft. And this doesn't defile. But
out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts. Out of the heart proceeds
blasphemy. Out of the heart proceeds adultery,
fornication, evil concupiscence, lasciviousness. These are the
things, these are the things that defile. These are the things
that corrupt. These are the things that bring
down the judgment of God and the wrath of God. The Pharisees
did not understand sin. The disciples, by our Lord, were
taught the meaning of sin. Sin understood in the light of
God's holiness. Do you understand sin that way?
Have you seen sin in the light not of reputation, or in the
light of public opinion, or in the light of some church rule
or standard, but have you ever seen sin as it appears in the
light of God's holiness? God is love. One of the men prayed
in the study a moment ago, God is love. I'm not love. Pure love,
infinite love, everlasting love, impartial love, holy love. God
is love. And when I look within my own
heart, I don't find that kind of love. God is mercy. God is
grace, God is righteous, God is holy. Isaiah the prophet said,
when King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. I saw him high and
lifted up, and his train filled the temple. And the cherubims
and seraphims were about the throne of God, and they cried,
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. And he said, then
I cried, O woe is me, I am a man of unclean lips. And I dwell
in the midst of a people of unclean lips." He saw sin. He saw his
evil in the light of God's holiness. Job was the same way. Job was
an upright, and God called him righteous, a moral man. In fact,
Job defended his morality. He defended his integrity. He
said, I will not let go of my integrity. I've treated people
right. I've conducted and ordered my
house right. I've conducted my life right
in the presence. I've lived a life that is an
example to those about me." But then God Almighty appeared to
Job in the whirlwind and revealed to Job his glory and his holiness
and his wisdom and his power. And you know what Job said? Job
said, Lord, I have heard of you by the ear, but now mine eye
seeeth thee, and I hate myself. Once have I spoken, yea, twice,
things too wonderful for me, things I didn't understand. I
put a seal on my lips, I won't speak again. I hate myself. I hate myself. The true believer,
to him sin has ceased to be a set of rules, a set of laws, A standard
handed down, sin becomes an offense against the character and the
government and the person of his God, his Lord. He sees sin in the light of God's
holiness. That's what David said in Psalm
51, O God, against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this
evil in thy sight. Create within me a clean heart. Renew within me a right spirit.
Within me, within me. This is where the work needs
to be done. It's a heart work. It's a soul work. It's a work
on the inward man. Have you seen sin in the light
of God's holiness? A man will never truly mourn
over sin and grieve over sin and weep over sin and seek forgiveness
of sin until he discovers sin in the light of God's holiness. God's holiness. This is what
makes sin so wretched and so evil. It's against God. The second thing which marks
the true believer, he has a true knowledge of sin in the light
of God's holiness. He sees his pride in the light
of God's holiness, in the light of Christ's humility. He sees
his hatred in the light of Christ's love. If you ever do this, this
will be good for us. When we think of our position
and our rights and our own pride. Our Lord Jesus, now listen to
this. You might think of this when you're driving on the highway
and somebody violates your rights. You know, you come to a stop
sign, some lady comes across, dumb woman driver, I had to right
away, you know. Think about this. Our Lord, who
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, made himself
of no reputation and became obedient unto death. He took the form
of a servant, a servant, and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. And when you think about this,
and you see your pride and your rights in the light of his rights
and his holiness and his humility, it makes you ashamed, doesn't
it? And then when you think about someone who says something about
you or does something to you that that you didn't deserve
and that you felt was a violation of your friendship and so forth,
and you just feel like that that person ought to suffer the severest
penalty for that offense. Think about this. When our Lord
was nailed to that cross, he looked down into the face of
the man who drove that nail, and Jackie said, Father, forgive
him. He didn't know what he did. He looked down into the face
of that soldier who spit in his face, and he said, Father, forgive
him. He knows not what he does. When he stood over there looking
on the mountain and stood over the city of Jerusalem, and he
said, How awkward I've gathered you unto myself, as a hen doth
gather her brood. That's his holiness. Boy, I tell
you, when I see my get-even spirit and my God send down fire from
heaven and destroy that whole outfit, you know, And my vengeful
spirit, it makes me ashamed, doesn't it? I see my sin in the
light of his holiness. His holiness. And our Lord was led as a sheep
before the sharers of dumb, and they brought all kind of false
charges against him, and he didn't turn and say, It's not so! When
rebelled, he rebelled not again. This is what I'm talking about,
the true believer. Anybody knows it's wrong to use
God's name in vain. You can pick up the deadest drunk
in town and he knows it's wrong to use God's name in vain. Anybody
knows it's wrong to commit adultery. Anybody knows it's wrong to steal.
Anybody knows it's wrong to kill. You haven't learned anything
when you learn those things. Anybody knows it's wrong to lie
on a fellow. You hadn't learned anything when
you learned that. You sit around feeling bad because
you told a lie. You hadn't learned anything.
Anybody knows that. Your little children know that
and hadn't even read the Bible. But when you come to see sin
and regard sin and think about sin, as an attitude, as a spirit,
as a principle, as a nature, that's against God's holiness. I ought to love my greatest enemy.
God loves me, and I was his enemy. I ought to forgive. I ought to
be able to forgive. If I know anything about God's
righteousness, if I have anything at all of his mercy, I ought
to be able to forgive the greatest offense. and not harbor any ill
will or malice or ill feelings, but forgive it, erase it, forget
it, and bless that person. Bless them that persecute you. This, the true believer, he's
a sinner and he knows it. But the thing is, he sees his
sin, he regards his sin, he considers his sin in the light not of a
written law. This is the reason. And people
want to know why I don't preach the law, the moral law, as a
rule of life for the believer. I don't think it goes far enough.
As far as the believer is concerned, I think the law strips a man,
convicts a man, reveals his sin. Sure, it's a summary of the holy
character of God. But I'm telling you this, the
believer considers sin not in the light of thou shalt not,
but in the light of thou shalt. God's holiness. This is what
Paul said in Romans 3. We have sinned and come short
of God's what? Moral law. No sin. Ten Commandments? No, sir. God's glory. That's where I have my problem.
God's glory. What is God's glory? It is his
goodness. Huh? Moses says, Lord, show me
your glory. Show me your glory. He had seen
the Ten Commandments. That was in Exodus 20. He had
received the Ten Commandments. God had given them to him on
tables of stone. He had brought them down. But
later on he said, Lord, show me your glory. I have sinned,
Paul said, and come short of God's glory. Moses says, show
me your glory, and God said, I will be gracious, I will be
merciful. That's God's glory. And I'll tell you, I don't know how much mercy is
in our fingertips, do you? How much grace! Oh, we love them
that love us, but Christ said, What thank have ye? We give to
them from whom we hope to receive something in return, but again,
what thank have ye? We bless them that bless us,
but what thank have ye? We pray for them that are in
our household and of our close relationship, but what thank
have ye? I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that
curse you, pray for them which despitefully use you, that you
might be children of your Father which is in heaven. And if any
man forgive not others their trespasses, neither will the
Father forgive you of your trespasses. I have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. We can go back to the first grade
and talk about laws and rules and regulations and sit there
thinking we know something if you want to, but I prefer to
move on. And the true believer, his wrasslings with sin and his
conflict with sin and his repentance over sin and his conviction of
sin and his trouble with sin, Is sin considered in the light
of God's glory, God's holiness, God's love, God's mercy, God's
grace? God's holiness. All right. Secondly, that which marks the true believer
is secondly a true desire to be done with sin. A true desire to be done with
sin. and to live for God's glory.
Somebody asked Spurgeon one time, they said, Mr. Spurgeon, if God
gave you anything you wanted, just anything, anything in the
universe that you wanted, just doesn't matter, what would you
ask for? And that powerful, precious preacher
of God's grace said, I'd ask to be just like Christ. You know, David said the same
thing. David said, I shall be satisfied. What would it take
to satisfy you? Fully, completely satisfy you.
Totally satisfy you. David said, I shall be satisfied
when I awake with his likeness. This is the object of the believer. This is the one great petition. to be like Christ, because this
is the object of God's covenant, this is the object of God's predestination,
this is the object of Christ's incarnation, this is the object
of Christ's redemption. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. That's why he
came. I came to seek and to save the lost. That's why he came.
I am come that ye might have life, and have it more abundantly. That's why he came. This is the
object of his resurrection, this is the object of his intercession,
this is the object of his coming again, that where I am, there
you may be also, to make us like himself. Turn to Ephesians 1,
let me show you that. This is what it's all about. The one great petition of the
believer is not to go to heaven, The one great petition of the
believer is not to determine that the circle shall not be
unbroken. The one great petition, object,
desire of the believer is to be like Christ. Look at Ephesians
1 verse 3, "...Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in Christ before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy." That's
why he chose us. that we should be holy. Not that
he should populate heaven only, but that he might have a people
like his son. That's why he chose you. That's
the object of election, to make freedom. And without blame before
him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children. He's going to have some sons.
He's going to have some children. And they're all up there going
to be like Christ. They're going to like what he
likes. They're going to rejoice in the things in which he rejoices.
They're going to enjoy the things that he enjoys. They're going
to be like Christ. Turn to Romans 8. Let me show
you that again. Romans 8. Look at verse 29. Romans
8. For whom he did foreknow, he
did also predestinate. to be conformed to the image
of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. That's it. That's what it's all
about. That's God's object. And if your
objective and God's objective is not the same, then you're
not walking together. I want to be like Christ. I know
there are preachers who are talking about all the rewards we're going
to get, you know, and all of the mansions we're going to live
in, and all of the streets of gold we're going to walk on,
and all the riches and wealth we're going to have, and all
the things we're not going to have, such as sickness and death.
But I'm telling you, let's sound the bell on what we're going
to be like Christ. And that's our objective. And
the true believer, he has a desire to be done with sin. He longs
for the day. when he shall awake with Christ's
likeness and never sin again. Thirdly, that which marks the
true believer is a definite committal to the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn
to 2 Timothy 1. 2 Timothy 1.12. Listen to Paul here. Now, somebody
said this is the best definition of faith. It may be. 2 Timothy
1.12. Listen to this. Paul said in
verse 12 of 2 Timothy 1, "...for the which cause I suffer these
things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed.
I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I have committed unto him." against
that day, the day of judgment, the day of wrath, the day of
condemnation. There's a threefold definition
of faith there. Now, Brethren, I know we're living
in a day of permissive religion. Elvis Presley can believe on
it, and I don't mean to call a man's name. I don't know his
spiritual condition. I don't know his relationship
with God. I don't know whether he's saved or lost. I don't know
whether he's in heaven or hell. That's not my business. But this
is the thing that troubles me. A man like that can believe on
Jesus and be saved and continue the same lifestyle, sing the
same suggestive song, live the same worldly sensual way, have
no influence or example whatsoever for Jesus Christ. A politician
can believe on Jesus. He can walk down an aisle, take
a preacher's hand and say, I believe Christ died on the cross, was
buried and rose again. He can deal in the most underhanded
fashion, under the table, with a twist here and there, you know,
with no regards for integrity, honesty, or principle. Make promises,
never keep them, and be saved. Or a person can join the church,
never read God's Word, never pray, never witness, never worship
God, but he believes on Jesus, never changes his character,
never changes his lifestyle, never changes his direction,
He has no example whatsoever, has no panting after God, or
thirst for God, or interest in God, or desire for a relationship
with Him. And there's something wrong with
this. There's something wrong with
this. When our Lord Jesus Christ said,
He that cometh to me, let him take up his cross, which is a
symbol of death, and follow me. And he that cometh to me must
forsake his family and his friends, and yea, disregard his own life,
if he's going to be my disciple." And here the Apostle Paul said,
now watch this threefold definition of faith. And here the last one
is the one that we've missed it, where we've missed it. He
said, I know whom I have believed. I know who he is. He's God Almighty. He's the God-man. He's God incarnate. He's God in human flesh. He's
man. He's the Son of God and the Son
of Man. I know who He is. I know that God sent Him to be
my Redeemer, to come down here and bear my guilt and my shame,
to face the law and obey it perfectly. I know who He is. I know from
whence He came. I know what he came to do, I
know why he came to do it, that God might be just and justify
the ungodly. I know these things in my mind,
in my intelligence, in my understanding. I know that Jesus Christ is the
only Redeemer. What made the difference? I'll
tell you the difference is the blood of Christ. If you want to come to a bloodless
altar, if you want to come to a Christless altar, if you want
to come to a sacrifice-less altar, come on! But if you want to meet
God, you come to the Lamb who shed his blood to take away our
sin. I know where the Lamb is, I know
where the sacrifice is, I know where the offering is, it's at
Calvary. God Almighty will not do business
with He will not speak to nor be spoken to by any sinner except
by the Lamb, the blood of Christ, the High Priest. Sure, we have an altar to which
we come, but it's not an earthly altar. It's an altar yonder the
mercy seat of glory on which the blood of our Lord was placed
when he died on that cross. And I plead the blood, I plead
the sacrifice, I plead the offering, you see that? I know, Paul said,
I know whom I have believed, and watch this, and he said,
not only do I know whom I have believed, and I know what I believe
and whom I believe, but I'm persuaded, I'm convinced that he's able. I'm convinced he's able to keep,
to keep, he's able not only to save them that come to God by
him, But He is able to keep us from falling. He is able to present
all that He purchased and accomplished before the Father. He said, I'll
lose nothing. He's able. Our Lord's no failure. The Lord
Jesus Christ is no weakling. He's not up there in heaven crying
His eyes out because the devil and the world won't let Him do
what He came to do. He'll do what He came to do.
He'll be satisfied, he'll see the travail of his soul and be
satisfied. The pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his hands,
I guarantee you. He's able, I know he's able.
Do you? Don't have any doubt about it.
But watch this third thing. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed, and I'm as confident as I can be that he's able. I'm
convinced he's able to keep that which I, watch it now, committed. There's where we've missed it.
We've believed, we've been persuaded, but how many of you have ever
been to that place where consciously, intelligently, lovingly you've
committed it to Christ? Lord, here's my family. It's
no longer mine, it's yours. Lord, here's my life. It's not
mine, it's yours. Lord, here's my future, here's
my ambitions, here's my ministry. It's yours. Make me succeed or
fail, but it's yours. Make me happy or sad, but it's
yours. Let me live a long life or a short life, but it's yours.
I've committed. That's what Paul did. I've committed. And this is where we're missing
it. And the threefold definition
of faith is not a twofold or a onefold, but a threefold. I
know, I am convinced, and I've sat down and counted the costs,
and I've committed. I'd rather have Christ than anything
that this world affords today. I've burned my idols, I've laid
them at the cross, I've surrendered unconditionally, I've stacked
my arms, I've laid down my arms of rebellion, I'm yours. Now
that's faith. That's faith. This is why, and I know I'd hate
to go on and keep on explaining it, but it needs to be understood. That in this day of instantaneous
religion, this day of decision for Christ, this decision... Now, my friend, if you were going
to sit down tonight and think about marriage, Now, you're talking
about spending the rest of your life with somebody. You'd give
it more than five minutes to talk. And if you were going to
think about going to Africa as a missionary. Now, you're talking
about taking your children and wife to the heart of the Congo,
where you may see them all butchered before your eyes. How long would
you consider that? Would you sit down and think
about it? Or would you just say, praise the Lord, here we go, you know.
Amen. You'd be coming back on the next
boat. This thing of receiving Christ and submitting your life
and your soul and your heart and your family and your possessions
and your time and everything. Lord, I'm yours. I'm your bond
slave. I'm entering service as your
bond slave. Bore my ear. Nail it to the wall. Strip me. Put the yoke upon me. I'm your bond slave." Now that's
a heap more than just telling the fellow, let's believe on
Jesus and go to heaven when we die. And you want to know why
I don't urge, send the soul winners out and sing a song and get everybody
down at the front and rededicate and re-contemplate. If you ever
dedicate something, you won't have to rededicate it. If something's
ever given to Christ, it's his. Ain't nobody going to take it
away from him. This is why I tell people, young people, old people,
whoever you are, this is the gospel. It's not a decision to
go to heaven, it's a vital union with the living Lord. It's not
believing some doctrine, giving mental assent to a few terms
of theology, it's submission! It's crowning Christ! It's bowing
to the Son of God! It's fitting your schedule and
your time and your vocation and your family into His schedule,
into His will. That's Bible salvation. I know
we've got something different today, but that's what Christ
calls salvation. That's what Christ calls it.
And this man, the mark of the redeemed, he's not perfect. He's
not perfect. He's not without sin. Turn to
Romans 7. Let's look at this man Paul and
see what he says about Romans 7. He's not without sin. He's
not without his failures and his valleys and his mountains
and his deep waters and his doubts and his fears. But I'll tell
you one thing, he's had a confrontation with a king, and the king won. Yeah, that's right, he'd been
to Bethel. He's had a confrontation with the Lord, and the Lord won.
The Lord broke him. The Lord rode him like a wild
ass's coat and broke him. He belongs to the Lord. He's
just a purring kitten now. He's laying down at the Master's
feet and broken. Paul said in Romans 7, he talked
about he did what he ought not to do and what he ought to do
he didn't do. And then he said in verse 24, Romans 7, "...wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death?"
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. I got the deliverance. I got
the victory. I'm set free. Now then, I wouldn't
offend you, but I'm going to say it anyhow, because I believe
it. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
Lord of the people whom he saved. He's their Lord. He's not just
my friend, though he is. He's not just my brother, though
he is. He's my Lord. Call no man master, one is your
master, Christ. And the gateway to the kingdom
of God is the Lordship of Christ, not the buddy system. It's not
this strange familiarity with deity, me and Jesus got a good
thing going. He's not a fire escape, he's
not a doormat named Jesus, he's not an insurance policy, he's
the Lord. The Lord. And he said one day
to his disciples, he said, you call me Lord. And you say, well,
for so I am. I'm Lord. The disciples did not
call him Jesus. Now I know our modern-day preacher
does. You listen to him. You listen to the sermons on
the television, the radio, or wherever you go to church, and
you listen to the average preacher, and he never calls Jesus of Nazareth
Lord. He calls him Jesus. He says,
Jesus said this, and Jesus said that, and Jesus said the other,
and let's trust in Jesus, and let's go to Jesus. Never calls
him Lord. Now that is revealing, because
no man can call Jesus Lord but by the Holy Ghost. Oh, this preacher
requires you to call him reverend. He requires you to call him pastor.
And if he's got a doctorate, he requires you to call him doctor.
But he calls the Master Jesus. He is the Lord Jesus. And I'm
telling you, if you ever become, if you ever see him in his glory,
in his indisputable, immutable sovereignty, If you ever see
him as your king and as your master, it will come as natural
for you to call him Lord as to call your earthly father, Dad. You call your father by his first
name? If you do, you show no respect. If you do, you've got
problems. You call your mother by her first
name? If you do, you've got problems. You lack respect and admiration,
which God commands you to have. Sarah even called Abraham Lord. Respect. And men who know the
Christ of the Bible as their King and Master call him Lord. If thou shalt confess with our
mouth Jesus to be Lord, he's my Lord. And this is salvation. It's a committal to Christ. Turn to John 1. Let me show you
this. John chapter 1, verse 12. As many as receive
him, not his doctrine, him, not his
church, not his preacher, not his Not even his Bible and commandments,
though you can't receive one without the other. Him. To them
gave he the right to become sons of God. Them that receive. This
is a committal. It's a decision. I'm not arguing
with that. I know there's a decision to be made. But it's not the fly-by-night,
simple plan of salvation that's talked about in this day. It's
when a man sits down, and God the Spirit, the Spirit of the
Living God, has opened his eyes to see something. Like old Jacob,
God brought him to Bethel. God told him who he was. He said,
I'm the Lord thy God! That's who I am. The Living God!
The God of Abraham and Isaac. I'm not Jesus' superstar. I'm
the Creator of this world. That's who I am. He showed Jacob
there was a way to God. That ladder reached earth and
heaven. That's Christ. That's Christ. And he made a
promise. He made a covenant with Jacob.
He talked to Jacob. He said, I'm going to keep you
and bring you back to your land. Jacob said, He's my God. He's my Lord. You can't trust
an unrevealed Christ. But you weigh this thing. Then
last of all, and I close. That which marks a believer is
a constant return to this place of committal, this place of repentance
and faith, constant return. Old Jacob, you know, God brought
him to Bethel there and God spoke to him, revealed himself to him,
revealed the way to God, revealed himself through the Word, made
a promise to him and a covenant with him. Oh, Jacob took a lot
of detours. He sure did. Bless his heart,
he wandered here and there. But one day God said, Jacob,
come on back to Bethel. And there God changed his name.
Changed his name. He used to be Jacob, the supplanter,
which means to take by plotting. He was a plotter. Oh, my, my,
my. He had so many questionable traits,
so many unholy characteristics, but God changed his name. He
said, you shall no longer be called Jacob, supplanter, but
you're going to be called Israel, Prince of God. Prince of God. Has that happened? Have we been
to Bethel? Have we been to that place? I
don't mean have we been to the front of the church, have we
been in the baptismal waters, have we been down to the altar,
have we been to the school of theology, have we been to Bethel? where God Almighty met Jacob,
not where Jacob met God, where God met Jacob, where God spoke
to him, where God revealed himself to him in a living way, where
God spoke to him through his word, where God changed his name,
where God made to him a promise, where God made with him a covenant,
and where Jacob made a committal. Humanly speaking, Esau, got to be careful how I say this,
but Esau showed more Cecil commendable traits than Jacob. And Isaac loved Esau. Isaac was
his daddy. There were two boys, twins, Jacob
and Esau. And Isaac loved Esau. God said, Jacob have I loved,
but Isaac... You see, man looks on the outward
appearance. I'm confined to that. I just
got... I see Don Fitzer sitting here.
He's my friend. We've been friends 30 years.
And I like him. I like... I hope God does. But
I see his outward traits, which I admire. His integrity, which
I admire. These things. And this is the
way Esau was. He was a man... He was a hunter.
He's an outdoorsman. He was a man who treated folks
right. He had a lot of commendable traits and his daddy loved him. But God didn't. Because God saw
his heart. God loved Jacob. And Jacob didn't have all these
outward traits that Esau had, but God looks not on the outward
countenance, but on the heart. And Esau despised the birthright. He despised God. Oh, he loved
life, he loved people, he loved his family, he loved his daddy,
he loved his mama, he loved hunting in the woods, he loved the sunshine,
he loved the moonlight, he loved the stars, but he hated God. And God revealed himself to Jacob. Strange and mysterious are the
ways of God. He moves in mysterious ways and
wonders to perform. But God is not confined to this
outward appearance. Or Peter would have a hard time
convincing John that he loved the Lord, wouldn't he? John saw
him curse and swear and say he didn't know this man. He sat
by that fire, you know, and those other apostles knew about it.
He cussed and swore and he said, I don't know the man. And he ran and fled when the
Lord was arrested. He'd have a hard time convincing
some of those religious people he loved God, wouldn't he? You
expect that little girl, you reckon she thought that Peter
loved the Lord? I bet she said, well, he sure
don't know the Lord. He cursed. He told me he didn't know. But
when Peter met the master, and the master asked him, did he
love him? He said, Lord, you know I love
you, because you know all things. And he does know all things.
He knows us. He knows all things. And this is the thing I'm dealing
with. We can put up our religious front
all we want to, but what I'm asking, have we been to Bethel
and we met God? and we committed it to Christ.
That's all that matters. And you'll have many mountains
to climb, and deserts to cross over, and waters to swim through,
and valleys to walk through, but if you're His, you'll be
back. You'll be back. You can't find
any happiness anywhere else but at Bethel. Our Father, we thank
you for the word, every promise of this blessed book. Lord, thou
knowest all things. Don't love you as we should.
Don't love you as we want to or as we expect to someday. But
Lord, thou lookest upon the heart, and thou knowest that our hope
and confidence and trust is Christ alone, and we belong to thee. We're thine own, thou hast purchased
us by thy blood. We're bought with a price, we're
not our own. Christ is our master, do with us what you will. Lead
us in the path you would have us to walk. Use us for whatever
purpose it pleases thee. Knit our hearts together in love
for Christ, as we love him we love each other. Give us a hunger
and thirst for righteousness. For therein we shall be filled. For Christ's sake. Amen. Brother
Don, you lead us in our closing hymn, please. Let's turn to number
396. 396. Stand, please. My life, my love, I give to Thee,
Thou Lamb of God, who died for me. be my Savior and my God. I'll live for Him who died for
me. How happy then my life shall
be.

Have You Been to Bethel?

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Have You Been to Bethel?

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