As Many As Received Him

The purpose of this broadcast
is to glorify the Lord God. And secondly, to preach the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And thirdly, that we might be
of some help to you who listen to this program. That you might
be edified in the things of Christ. So I want you to take your Bibles
this morning. I would like very much for you
to read the scripture along with me. And I'm going to be reading
from John chapter 1. the first chapter of the book
of John, verse 12, in which the Apostle John writes, But as many
as received him, to them gave he the privilege. The word in
your Bible is the power, which means the privilege or the right
to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. As many as received Christ. to those people who believe on
him and who receive him. God has given to them the unusual
blessed privilege and right to be called sons of God. Now the purpose of the Father
is to bring men to Christ. Our Lord said, All that my Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. And in that same chapter he said,
This is the will of him that sent me, that every one that
seeth the Son, and believeth on him, might have eternal life. And they shall be taught of God,
and every one that hath learned of the Father cometh unto me."
So the purpose of the Eternal Father is to bring men to Christ. And the work of the Holy Spirit
is to bring men to Christ. That's why he was sent into this
world. Our Lord, announcing the coming of the Holy Spirit to
his disciples in John 16, verse 13 and 14, said this, when he,
the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth. The Holy Spirit will not speak
of himself, but he shall take the things of mine and show them
to you. He will not glorify himself.
But he will glorify me." The purpose of the Holy Spirit, the
work of the Holy Spirit is to bring sinners to Christ. Now,
it is the business of faithful preachers to bring men to Christ. Paul said in 2 Timothy 2.10,
summing up his ministry, talking about the sufferings through
which he had gone, the trials and the persecutions and all
of these things, he said, I endure all of these things. for the
elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is
in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." Again, writing to the
church at Galatia, he said, my children, my little children,
I prevail till Christ be formed in you. That's the purpose and
that's the business of a faithful minister of the gospel. To bring
men, not to himself, not to the church, not even to the doctrines,
but to bring men to Christ. And it's the purpose of the gospel.
This blessed gospel of God's glory which we preach, the purpose
of it is to bring men to Christ. 1 John 5.11 says this, this is
the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this
life is in his Son. He that hath the Son of God hath
life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. So
the purpose of the Father, the work of the Holy Spirit, The
business of faithful preachers and the work of the gospel is
to bring you to a knowledge of Jesus Christ. That's why Paul
said, I'm determined to know nothing among you save Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That's
my purpose, is to bring you to Christ, to point you to Christ. Now, if there is eternal life
in Christ, then out of Christ there's eternal death. If there's
life in Christ, there's death out of Christ. If the greatest
grace is to believe, the greatest sin is not to believe. That's
the reason Paul warned the Hebrews, take heed brethren, lest there
be found in you an evil heart of unbelief. The greatest grace
is faith. Our Lord said, Peter, I've prayed
for you, that your faith fail not. Without faith, it's impossible
to come to God. So the greatest sin is unbelief. Now, to receive Christ, if to
receive Christ is to enter the family of God, then to refuse
Christ is to die in your sins, and never to be in the family
of God. And to hear Christ saying to you at the judgment, I never
knew you. In fact, he said in John 8, 24,
if you believe not that I am he, You shall die in your sins. And my friends, I can think of
nothing as horrible as dying in your sins. Better to die any
death than to die in your sins. Better not to be born at all
than to die in your sins. Or if you die in your sins, you'll
rise in your sins. And if you rise in your sins,
you'll face the judgment in your sins. And if you come to the
judgment in your sins, you're going to spend eternity in your
sins. If you believe not, Christ said,
that I am, you'll die in your sins. And that's what he's saying.
He, in that verse, is in italics. Check John 8, 24. If you believe
not, that I am. This is the same one who spoke
to Moses at the burning bush. Moses says, whom shall I say
has sent me? And the voice said, tell him,
I am. I am. And if you believe not,
Christ said, you'll die in your sins. Now, it's not enough to
have religion. Most people have that. It's not
enough to be a church member. Half the people in this country
belong to somebody's church. It's not enough to know doctrine.
People are forever changing their doctrine. It's not enough to
try to live a good moral life. We're sinners. We are fallen
in Adam. We're sinners by nature, by birth,
by choice, by practice, We're sinners and we need a savior.
We need a mediator. We need a ransom. We need a redeemer. And that redeemer is Christ.
Now, I have three questions for you today, and I'd like very
much, if you would, to write these down. Would you do that?
Here are three questions, and then in closing the program,
in a few minutes, I'm going to make an observation for those
who desire to receive Christ. Now the scripture says, to as
many as received him, Jesus Christ. And that's the purpose of the
Father, and the purpose of the Spirit, and the work of a minister,
and the purpose of the gospel, to bring you to Christ. And if
you'll receive him, the scripture says God will give to you that
blessed privilege of being a son of God. Now I want to ask three
questions. The first question is this. What
is in Christ? What is in Christ that makes
it so important that I get to Christ. Now our Lord was sitting
on that well, and a woman came to the well, John chapter 4,
and he asked her to give him a drink. And she said, how is
it that you, a Jew, ask of me a Samaritan a drink? Don't you
know that the Jews don't have any dealings with the Samaritans?
And he asked this, he said this to her, if you knew the gift
of God and who it is that saith to thee Give me a drink. You'd
ask of me, and I'd give you living water, if you knew. If you knew
the gift of God. If you knew who was talking to
you, you'd ask of me, and I'd give you eternal life. If you
only knew. You know, over there in the book
of 1 Corinthians, Paul said, we stake the wisdom of God in
a mystery, which the princes of this world, the leaders of
this world, the kings of this world, did not know. Had they
known it, They never would have crucified the Lord of Glory.
They didn't know who he was. This woman at the well, he said,
if you just knew who it is that's talking to you. And he said,
if these people had known who Christ was, they would have never
crucified him. Do you know who Christ is? Do
you know who is in Christ? What is in Christ that makes
it so important for you to get to Christ? Well, I'll answer
that question for you. First of all, God is in Christ.
God is in Christ. The scripture says all things
were made by him. The world was made by him, and
he was in the world. That little manger down there
in Bethlehem, that little manger with its straw bed has in it
a child, that's true. But that child is the only begotten,
well-beloved Son of God. The infant of days in that manger
is none other than the ancient of days. He was in the world.
That's what the angel said to Joseph. Thou shalt call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin. And this
is written, this was spoken, that it might be fulfilled, which
was written to the prophet Isaiah, Behold, a virgin shall conceive,
and bring forth a child, and thou shalt call his name Immanuel,
God with us, God in our midst. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself. And Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 3,
without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness, God
was manifest in human flesh. That's right, that's who that
is. If you knew who is in Christ, if you knew the gift of God,
if you knew who it is that we're preaching, you'd ask of Him and
He'd give you living water. But no man knoweth the Son save
the Father, no man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to
whomsoever the Son will reveal him. It's got to come by revelation.
The natural man receive it, not the things of God. We receive
them because the Holy Spirit has revealed them. But secondly,
what is in Christ? Well, not only is God in Christ,
but the love of God is in Christ. Now, you just listen carefully
for a moment. This is very important. And I
don't know any way to preach this truth without offending
the natural man. But you know the gospel is offensive.
People have rejected it for centuries, and they've rebelled against
it, and they've hated it, and they've crucified and beheaded
and hanged and martyred those that preached it. But now listen
to me. The love of God is in Christ. According to Psalm 7,
verse 11, God is angry with the wicked every day. According to
the book of Psalms, chapter 5, God hated the workers of iniquity. Now listen to me. According to
John chapter 3 verse 36, he that believeth on the Son hath life,
he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the what? It does not say the love of God
abideth on him, it says the wrath of God abideth on him. God's
love is in Christ. That old ark floating out yonder
on the water, Please listen. This is important. Most people
have a wrong understanding of the love of God. Outside of Christ,
there's judgment. There's wrath. It's like that
ark floating on the water out there. Salvation was in the ark.
Outside of the ark was condemnation. Mercy was in the ark. Judgment
outside the ark. Grace is in the ark. Noah found
grace. Grace in the eyes of the Lord.
That's love. That's mercy. Outside of the
earth, there was judgment. Now listen to Romans chapter
8, verse 39. Nothing, neither height, nor
depth, nor principalities, nor angels, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor any other creature, can separate me from
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And then
in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 6, the scripture says, we are
accepted in the beloved. I'm not preaching heresy. I'm
preaching the word of God. I'm saying that God is in Christ. And I'm saying that the love
of God is in Christ. And I'm saying outside of Christ
Jesus, that outside of faith in Him, and outside of a living
union with Christ, you needn't expect God's love. Only wrath
and judgment and condemnation is outside of Christ. Christ
said, if you're not in me, if you don't believe in me, you'll
die in your sins. All right? The third thing. What
is in Christ that makes it so important for me to come to Him?
God's in Christ. And the love of God is in Christ.
And the righteousness of God. When I say righteousness, I mean
holiness. I mean holiness. Purity. The righteousness of God is in
Christ. Now, we certainly don't have
any righteousness. You take the best man who ever
lived on this earth, or the best one who lives now, and there
is no good thing in the flesh. From the sole of our feet to
the top of our heads, there's no soundness in us. In my flesh,
Paul said, dwelleth no good thing. In this body of death, O wretched
man that I am, chief of sinners, there's no righteousness in us.
Listen to Romans 3 verse 10. There is none righteous, no,
not one. Now, you may claim to be, and you may profess to be,
and you may lead others in believing that you are righteous, but you're
not, and you know it. And Job said, if I justify myself,
my own mouth would prove me perverse. There's none righteous, no, not
one. There's none that understandeth. There's none good. There's none
that seeketh after God. That's what the Word of God says.
Oh, I know there are a lot of people going about to establish
in the eyes of men and before the eyes of God a righteousness.
They did in Paul's day. He said, I have great sorrow
for my kinsmen according to the flesh. I wish they were saved.
I bear them record. They have a zeal for God, but
not according to knowledge, for they are going about trying to
establish their own righteousness, and will not submit to the righteousness
of God, for Christ is the end of the law, the goal of the law.
the object of the law, for righteousness to everyone that believe it,
where is true holiness to be found? Not in you, and not in
me, but in Christ. He was made sin for us, who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. That's what the scripture says.
Of God are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Jeremiah 23,
verse 6, calls him the Lord our righteousness. So my friend,
if you're looking for God, He's in Christ. If you're looking
for God's love, it's in Christ. If you're looking for holiness
and righteousness and a right standing before a holy God, you'll
never find it in the law. You'll never find it in your
good works. You'll never find it in your
church membership. You'll never find it in your
flesh. It's in Christ. All right, fourthly, salvation's
in Christ. Oh, I love that story. When Mary
and Joseph brought the small child, Jesus, to the temple to
do for him according to the Jewish laws, there was in that temple
a priest by the name of Simon, Simeon, and he was looking for
the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit had told him
that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Christ, the
Messiah. And so when they brought the
infant in to Simeon and placed him in Simeon's arms, the scripture
says Simeon looked down into the face of that child and then
he raised his eyes to heaven and he said, Lord, now let thy
servant depart in peace. Mine eyes have seen thy salvation. When he saw Christ, he saw God's
salvation. That's right, when he saw Christ.
Salvation is in Christ. Listen to the scripture. Neither,
Acts 4.12, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none
other name unto heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved. Our Lord said, I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. One of the disciples had said, Lord, we don't know where
you're going. How can we know the way? He said, I'm the way.
I'm the way. I am salvation. Salvation is
in Christ. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. Thou art the way. To thee alone from sin and death
I flee. And he who would the Father seek
must seek him, Lord, by thee. Thou art the truth. Thy word
alone true wisdom can impart. Thou alone can inform my mind
and sanctify my heart. Thou art the life. The empty
tomb proclaims thy living name, and those who put their trust
in thee, nor death nor hell can ever claim. That's my first question. What is in Christ? All right,
here's the second question now. To whom is Christ offered? Are
you listening? To whom is Christ offered? All
this is in Him. God, salvation, sanctification,
holiness, righteousness, eternal life is in Christ. Now to whom
is he offered? Now listen. First of all, he's
not offered to fallen angels. The scripture emphatically says
in Hebrews 2.16, he took not on him the nature of angels,
but he took on him the seed of Abraham. There's some angels
that fell, Lucifer and some more, and Jude says they're reserved
in everlasting chains of darkness unto that day of judgment, and
there's no salvation and there's no redeemer provided But for
the seed of Abraham there is. To whom is Christ offered? Well,
not to the condemned in hell. The man in hell cried, Father
Abraham, send Lazarus down here to perform some act of mercy
for me. And Abraham said, Between thee and us there's a great gulf
fixed. No one can cross from you here.
There's no second chance after death. There's no need to pray for the
dead. There's no need to give gifts for the dead. They're done. As the tree falls, that's where
it'll lie. If it falls in Christ, it'll lie in Christ. If it falls
alone, it'll lie alone. There's no salvation, no gospel
for the dead in hell. And Christ is not preached to
millions of your fellows. That's right, our Lord said,
I thank thee, Matthew 11, 25. I thank thee, Father, Lord of
heaven and earth. You've hid these things from
the wise and the prudent. Oh, there are a lot of so-called
intelligent, proud people in this world who have no use for
the gospel. They never attend to it, they
never listen to it, they never seek it. It's not sent to them.
And then over in 2 Corinthians 4, 3, if our gospel be hid, it's
hid to them that are lost, whose minds have been blinded by the
God of this world. But to whom is He offered? You.
The gospel is preached to you. You're listening to the gospel
right now. God has sent the gospel to you. Paul said, to you is
the word of salvation sent. When? Right now. Now is the accepted
time. Today is the day of salvation.
Harden not your heart as in the days of the provocation when
the children of Israel rebelled against God for forty years.
Listen now. God's speaking to you now. He
sent the gospel your way. This is an encounter with the
living Christ. This is your invitation. And
then the gospel is sent to you and offered to you and presented
to you freely. The gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord. He stands and he says, come to
me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest.
Give you rest, not sell you rest. God's not selling anybody anything.
I'll give you rest. Oh, everyone that thirsteth,
come to the water, come and buy bread and wine and milk without
money and without price. Come, let us reason together.
Though your sins be as scarlet, though they be red like crimson,
I'll make them as white as the wool." To whom is the gospel
preached? Are you listening? Yes, preacher,
I'm listening. It's being preached to you. All
right, thirdly, what's the danger? What's the danger of refusing
Christ? Now our Lord says in Hebrews
chapter 2 verse 3, How shall we escape if we neglect? So great salvation, which was
spoken to us first by our Lord, and then by those that heard
him, and was confirmed by miracles and signs and wonders. What shall take place if you
receive Christ? What will happen if you refuse
Christ? What is the danger if you refuse Christ? Let me give
you two or three. First, there will be no other
way offered to you. There will be no other way given. Our Lord, before he ascended
back to the Father, sent his disciples out and he said, you
go into all the world and you preach the gospel to every creature. And he that believeth the gospel
shall be saved. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. And that's it. To refuse Christ
is to refuse God's only way. There'll never be another door
open. When that old door of the ark was slammed shut, no other
door was open. Judgment fell. All right, secondly,
to refuse the gospel is to make God a liar. That's serious, isn't
it? There isn't a person listening to me that wouldn't be insulted
if someone called you a liar. Well, I want you to listen to
this scripture. He that believeth not God hath made him a liar,
because he believeth not the record that God hath given of
his Son. And then to refuse Christ is
to murder your soul. That's right, to murder your
own soul. If you believe not that I am
he, you'll die in your sins. And then fourthly, to refuse
Christ, now listen to this, is to show utter contempt for the
wisdom and the righteousness and the justice and the mercy
and the love of God. Never in all of the history of
the universe was there ever a display of God's mercy and love, God's
wisdom and justice like at the cross of Calvary. Never, never
in the history of the universe was there ever a display of God's
glory like at Calvary. And we preach God's glory, and
we preach the grace of God in the death of His Son, and you
sit and go to sleep while we're preaching it, or indifferently,
carelessly turn away, what will be the effect and the results
of that? It's to show contempt for God's
glory. Listen to lamentations. What
is it to you? All ye that pass by, what is
it to you? Behold my sorrow with which I've
been afflicted. There is no sorrow like my sorrow,
and yet you take a look at Calvary and you turn indifferently and
walk away? It's to show contempt. Suppose
a man had spent his whole life painting one picture, a great
artist. He'd painted for years on that
one picture. That was the very climax, that
was the very height of his whole, whole life. And he hung that
picture up and you walked by and glanced at it, and turned
and walked away, and had nothing to say, no comment, no appreciation,
he'd be insulted, contempt for that which took him so long to
perform. And here, God, the climax of
all that God has ever done, from eternity to eternity, is the
death of his Son. It all heads up in Christ. That's
where his glory is. That's the reason Paul said,
I glory in the cross. What is it to you? Do you show
contempt and indifference and carelessness to the cross? Or
do you fall at his feet and worship him and cry, My Lord and my God?
Now, in closing, a word to those who would receive Christ. Four
things. To receive him is to receive
him with empty hands. Empty of self, pride, righteousness,
works. To receive Christ is to receive
him in your heart. To receive Christ is to receive
him himself. his person, it's to believe on
him, to receive the person Christ Jesus, not his word only, not
his church, not his doctrine, but him. Firm as the throne his
gospel stands, my Lord, my hope, my trust. If I am found in Jesus
Christ, my soul can never be lost. I hope you'll join us next
week at this same time. Let me hear from you. These messages
are on cassette tape. They're available for a small
charge. Until next week, God bless you everyone. You have just heard a sermon
by Henry Mahan, pastor of the 13th Street Baptist Church of
Ashland, Kentucky. Address all correspondents to
Henry Mahan, Box 1700, Ashland, Kentucky.

As Many As Received Him

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As Many As Received Him

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