What We Really Need

The title of this message is,
What We Really Need. And the text for my message is
found in Hebrews 7, verse 25. If you've ever listened before,
I want you to listen this morning. I'm going to talk about what
we really need, not what we profess to have, what we claim to have. I'm going to talk about what
we need, what I need, what you need. It says here in Hebrews
7.25, "...wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost,
to come to God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession
for them." I'm convinced, and you may not be, but I'm totally
convinced, and I suppose I'm exposed to more religion than
you are. religious organization, religious
ceremonies, religious leaders. I'm like the fellow that his
daddy owned the sodomy mill and he rode the mule. He said, I've
been around. But I'm convinced that most of
what we call religion today, and I'm not just talking about
the liberals. I'm talking about conservatives,
too. I'm not just talking about the unorthodox, I'm talking about
the orthodox. And I'm not just referring to
the folks that have a token religion, I'm talking about the fundamentalists,
the people who are at church every service, and even occupying
the pulpit. I'm convinced, I am personally
totally convinced, as I never have been before, that what we
call religion today, the most of it is as phony as a counterfeit
bill. phony, totally, completely phony. Under the name of religion, under
the name of God, under the name of Jesus, under the name of church,
under the name of doctrine, under the name of holiness, under the
name of piety, under the name of heaven and hell, most of what
we call religion today is nothing in this world but participation
in a social club in the name of God. Now, I believe it's Partly this too,
I think it's participation in a religious stock market. We've
invested in the company and we hope we can reap some dividends
here and perhaps some in eternity. We have entertainment in the
name of God. We have our laws and rules by which we walk and
we expect others to walk. We have our doctrines We have
our ceremonies, we have our ordinances, we have our church government,
we have our officers, we have our leaders, we have all these
things, just exactly like the Pharisees in the days of Christ.
And verses like this frighten me. I don't know whether they
frighten you or not, but they do me. Turn to John chapter 8. Verses
like these just send fear through my heart, for myself and for
you. For all who hear me, in John
8, verse 19, listen to the Lord. He's not speaking here to a group
of drunkards on skid row. He's talking to religious people. He's talking to a Sabbath morning
congregation, possibly. But people who attend the synagogue
and people who know something about God and the Bible, And
he says in verse 19, Then said they unto him, Where is your
father? And Jesus answered, You neither know me nor my father. They professed it. They claimed
it. And he said, You don't know me
and you don't know my father. If you'd known me, you should
have known my father also. Look at chapter 14, verse 9. Listen to this. And I've never
read this way before. I've always read it waiting to
get to the next verse. You know, Philip asked him, he
said, Lord, show us the Father. And he said in verse 9, our Lord
said in verse 9, Jesus said, Have I been so long time with
you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? I've never paused
right there and camped a while. I've always tried to go on to
the next verse, you know. But I never stopped there. Have
you been in the Bible this long and you don't know me? Have you
been in church this long and you don't really know me? He called him Lord, he called
him Master. He'd been associated with him,
but he said, Philip, have I been so long time with you and yet
you don't know me? Look at John 16. Listen to this. Our Lord is speaking to his disciples.
This is before he went to Calvary. And he said in John 16, these
things have I spoken to you that you should not be offended. They'll
put you out of the synagogue. Yea, the time cometh that whosoever
killeth you will think he doeth God's service." He's doing God
a favor. He's working you over, but it
fits in with his religion. You see, you're not walking the
way he wants you to walk, or he expects you to walk, and his
Bible tells you to walk, so he'll kill you. And he's doing his
God a favor by destroying you. And verse 3, why do they do these
things? They do these things, Christ said, because they do
not know the Father. And they don't know Me. That's
why they do these things. They're orthodox. We're not talking
about here some folks that are living in the gutter. We're talking
about some folks who are living in the temple. And they've got
their orthodoxy and their fundamental ways and laws and rules, and
if you don't walk in them, they'll kill you. Or they can't kill
your body. That's against the law. But they
can make you wish you were dead. They can stop speaking to you
and stop having anything to do with you, and they can cut you
off, and they can rule you to be a heathen or a publican or
something like that. They'll kill you, and they think
they're doing God's service. And you know why they do that?
They don't know God, Christ said. They don't even know Him. Don't
even know Him. Does that bother you? It does
me. Hope it does you. Turn to 2 Timothy
3. 2 Timothy chapter 3. My soul's too important to take
for granted that it's saved. In 2 Timothy 3 verse 7, listen
to this, ever learning, ever learning. Theology, orthodoxy,
ever learning. They read the Puritans, they
read all the commentaries, Everything they can get a hold of that answers
some strange and mysterious question, they read it, they read the Orthodox
teachers, they study the Bible, ever learning! And never, never
able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Never got there. You know, Jeremiah said, the
heart, you better, we better think about this. Well, I'm all
right, are you? The heart is deceitful above
all things. There isn't anything in this
world, in this universe, as deceitful as the human heart. It's deceitful
above all things, and it's desperately wicked. And here comes the question,
who can know it? Now, I'm sure that God is plenteous
in mercy. I don't have any doubt about
that. His mercy is as broad as the seas. His mercy is as high
as the heavens. His mercy is as deep as the vast
universe. He's plenteous in mercy. He delights
to show mercy. I'm sure the Lord is plenteous
in mercy. He has mercy for the chief of
sinners. And I'm sure of this, I'm sure
the Lord will be found of those that seek him. I know that. He said, Seek ye the Lord while
he may be found. Call upon him while he's near.
You'll find me when you search for me with all your heart. You'll
be found. I'll be found of those who sought
me not, he said. I'll find them. And I'm sure
the Lord can be known. Job said, I know that my Redeemer
liveth. David said, I know the Lord's
my shepherd. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. John said, we know we've passed
from death unto life. Christ said, this is eternal
life, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom Thou hast sent. God will be and can be known. But I'm not sure that our problem
is not this. We are seeking Him for the wrong
purpose and with the wrong motive. We're seeking him for the wrong
purpose and the wrong motive, and consequently, it can be said
of us, what our Lord said of these people, you don't really
know me, and you don't know my Father. The preacher, I believe
in God. I believe there's one God. Did
not James say the devil believes there's one God and trembles?
The preacher, I believe in judgment. I believe in eternal judgment.
I believe that one day that men will stand before God and that
there will be a judgment and men shall be cast into hell.
I believe in judgment. I believe in God Almighty's judgment
in hell. Did not the demons, when Christ
encountered them, say this? We know who you are. You are
the Holy One of God. Have you come to torment us before
our time? They believed in judgment, too.
They knew of judgment. Well, we know the doctrines,
preacher. We know the doctrines and the
laws. We know the laws. We know the doctrines. We know
how Christ came and died on earth. We know the doctrines. I don't
suppose anybody, I don't suppose anyone knew the doctrines any
better than Saul of Tarsus, do you? Why, he said, I was a Hebrew
of Hebrews, I was a tribe of Benjamin, I was circumcised the
eighth day, I was a Hebrew of Hebrews, I was a Pharisee, as
touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless! He
didn't know God. He didn't know God. We're missionary-minded. We believe
in winning souls. Turn to Matthew 23. Let me show
you a few passages of Scripture here. in Matthew 23. And this is not to be taken lightly,
believe me. In Matthew chapter 23, look,
if you will, at verse 15. Our Lord is speaking here to
the religious leaders, and He says in verse 15, Matthew 23,
Woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, you come from sea
and land to make one When he's made, you make him
two-fold more the child of hell than yourselves. They were soul
winners. Going after people, going after
them, make them apostolate, to make them a candidate, to make
them a party member. They were out trying to win souls
to their religion, to their conception of God, to their conception of
salvation. to their conception of religion.
That's exactly what they were doing. Christ said they were
compassing sea and land to win fossilites. And we're tithers. Look at verse
23. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay
tithes of mint, anise, cumin, and you've omitted the weightier
matters of the law, judgment, mercy, faith. These ought ye
to have done, and not to leave the other undone." Well, we live
moral lives, we're clean-livered. Look, if you will, at verse 27,
"...for unto you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, ye are like unto
whited sepulchre, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but
within are within full of dead men's bones and uncleanness." even so you also outwardly appear
righteous unto men." I want men to think well of me
for my religion's sake, for my God's sake. And so I do everything
I can to make sure, to make sure that they think well of me. They think, well, I must guard
this reputation. I must have the right reputation
so that men will believe me to be what I claim to believe. That's exactly the way the Pharisees
were. They were so careful about their reputations and so careful
to be seen doing the things that they ought to do or they were
expected to do. But he said on the inside, you're
full of hypocrisy. full of hypocrisy. And we brag
on the old prophets. We got to be saved. We got to
be children of God. We believe in God. We believe
in judgment. We believe the doctrines. We're
missionary-minded. We're soul winners. We're tithers.
We live moral lives. And we read Bunyan and Quickfield
and Spurgeon and Gill and Boston and Clevel and And Luther, and
we read these men, we brag on them, they are our fathers in
the faith. Broadus, and Scarberry, and Taylor,
and all these men, we believe in them. Well, let's read verse
30. Verse 29, Matthew, "...Woe to
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You build the tombs of prophets,
plant flowers around their graves, and brag on Garnish, decorate
the sepulchres of the righteous. And you say, if we had been in
the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with
them in the blood of the prophets. You brag on those old prophets
that your daddies killed. All of this, all of this, and
strangers to God. That's what Christ said, all
of this. You wonder why everybody didn't
love Jesus then? You wonder why everybody didn't
appreciate what he said? He stood in front of these religious
people, like we are. We are religious people. We believe
in God, we believe the doctrines, we are orthodox, we are fundamental,
we are tithers, we are soul winners. We're all these things, we brag
on the prophet, we live moral lives, and yet Christ says, you
don't know me and you don't know my Father. You don't know me. Is it any wonder they got angry?
I may be making someone angry now. But here's the reason. Is it? Is it? Is it? Some people
knew him. Is it because that we have not
come to God, or are not coming to God as we should come to God? Listen to these verses, and I
won't ask you, you can turn to them if you want to, John 6,
37. Listen, Christ said, All that my Father giveth me shall
come to me. And him that cometh to me I'll
in no wise cast out. Him that cometh to me will know
me. Him that cometh to me will have fellowship with me. Him
that cometh to me I'll in no wise cast out. He says, No man can come to me
except my Father which sent me, draw him. And they shall all
be taught of God, and he that hath learned of the Father cometh
to me. Did not our Lord say in Matthew
11, 28, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden.
I'll give you rest, come to me. Come to me. Did not He say, In Hebrews 7.25,
our text, "...wherefore he is able to save to the uttermost
them that come to God by him." Maybe we've come to God the wrong
way. Maybe that's the problem. I'm convinced it is. Let's look
at this text then, Hebrews 7.25. Let's dissect it with the aid
of the Holy Spirit, and let's examine ourselves. Have we come
to God? Have we really come to God? Are we coming to Him? He says,
wherefore He is able to say, Them, Them, Them. It doesn't say Jew or Gentile,
it says Them. It doesn't say Baptist, Methodist,
Presbyterian, Camelite, Catholic, it says Them. It doesn't say
good or bad, moral or immoral, it doesn't say white or black,
it doesn't say American or Russian, it says Them. He is able to save
them, them, them. Old or young, them. Just them. He is able to save
them. Why can't that be me? Why can't that be you? Well,
it can be. All right, let's read on. Them
that come to God. That's not coming to the church. Them that come to God. I've been
to church all my life. My mama started taking me to
church when I was a little baby. Have I ever come to God? It's
not coming to the front. God is not here at the front.
God's not sitting here at the front of here waiting on somebody
to come to him down here. It's not coming to a private
moment of devotion. I may be having devotions with
an idol. with my idea of God. Oh, preacher,
I have the quiet time. With whom? That's no problem. The Mohammedan has his quiet
time. The Buddhist has his quiet time.
He'll put your quiet time to shame. I've watched them. The
Confucius has his quiet time. The Hindu on his bed of nails
has his quiet time. Oh, but I have secret communion
with God. Which God? The living God? Or your conception
of God, your idea of God? Are you deceived? Them that come
to God. He is able to save them that
come to God. The living God. This is eternal
life, that they might know thee, the living God, the true God,
the God of creation, the God of providence, the God of redemption,
the God and Father. Paul always identified God. He
said He's the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's
not the Jewish God or the Baptist God. He's the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's who He is. He's able to
save them that come to God. Not to an ordinance, not to a
religious profession, not to a ceremony, not to a standard,
not to a bunch of rules. God. Oh, what a small concept we have
of God. We've fixed our mold up for God. It's nauseating. If we stop short of actually
coming to God, how vast is God! Whither shall I flee from thy
presence, if I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in
the uttermost parts of the sea? Thou art they. If I make my bed
in hell, behold, thou art they. by sending to heaven thy atonement.
And I've got God down here in a church covenant. I've got God
down in a church constitution or bylaws. This is God. Read it and you can be a member
with us. We've got God in our little confessions
of faith. This is it. If you don't believe
this, you're not in it. If God's so small, you've got
high thoughts of yourself and low thoughts of God. Have we
stopped short of God? Have we been deceived by that
old arch enemy and taken up with the means and missed the object?
Have you become taken up with religion and all of the means
of religion and the doctrines of religion and the ceremonies
of religion and the laws of religion, and have you missed God? He's
able to save them that come to God. by Him. Who's Him? Christ. He's able to save them
that come to God by Him. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh to the Father but by Me. I am the way. I am the door. By Me, if any
man enter in, he shall be saved. and go in and out and find pasture.
And it's not, it's Christ the Sacrifice and Christ the Sin
Offering and Christ the Substitute and Christ the Mediator and Christ
the Redeemer. There's no way to God except
by Christ. He is able to save them, to deliver
them, to redeem them, to the uttermost that come to God, that
come to God. Brother man, I believe what you
preach. That won't save you. Well, I'm certainly a Baptist
at heart. That won't save you. Well, I certainly want to align
myself with this church and worship God and reach out to the mission
fields and preach the gospel and bring people in. That won't
save you. Somehow, somehow, by the power
of his Spirit, in a personal encounter, in regenerating grace,
lifted from the pit of darkness and death and rebellion, you've
got to come to God. And you've got to come the way
God designed for sinners to come, the way that enables God to be
just and justified, enables God to be holy and merciful, that
enables God and his holy law to be honored. You've got to
come by Christ. You've got to come personally. You've got to
come to God. But why do they come to God?
This is perhaps the key to our ignorance. Now watch it. This
is the key. This is where I believe most folks have missed it. He
says, He is able to save them. That's why they come. They come
to be saved. They don't come to be religious.
They come to be saved. They come for salvation. They
came for salvation, they're coming for salvation, they continue
to come for salvation. Mercy! I hear the Lord, now listen to
me, don't get angry, think about this a moment before you get
too upset. I hear Christ offered today by
preachers as a solution for life's problems. Christ didn't come
to solve your problems. He came to save you. He just
could. Now listen to me. He just could,
in saving you, give you some problems. Old Peter didn't have any problems
until he met the Lord. Finally they killed him. Huh? Paul, Saul of Tarsus, didn't
have any problems until he met the Lord. He was king. He was king of the mountains.
He had emperors at his feet. He rode white stallions before
he met the Lord. After he met the Lord, he spent
most of his time in jail. Am I telling the truth? He didn't
have any problems until he met the Lord. Saul of Tarsus was at the height
of his profession. He sat in the uppermost seat.
After he met the Lord, he was the servant, and less than the
least of all the saints. And kicked around, and mistreated,
and hated, and persecuted, and spit upon, and finally had his
head cut off. Now that preacher comes to you
and says, the Lord came into this world to solve your last
problem. He's lying to you. And you're swallowing it like
a rookie swings at a curve. I hear preachers, I hear preachers,
I hear preachers say, come to the Lord and solve all your marriage
problems. The Lord didn't come to solve your marriage problem.
He said, a man's enemies shall be they of his own household. You know what he said? I'll turn
a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law. Father against his son. Isn't
that what he said? I didn't come to bring peace,
I came to bring soul. It may be, my dear man, if you
come to Christ, your wife will leave you. It might be. It might
be, dear woman, if you come to know Christ, your husband will
leave you. He didn't come to solve your
marriage. I hear preachers say, come to Christ and he'll solve
your financial problem. That ain't why he came. It just might be if you start,
if you walk with Christ and start supporting the Kingdom of God,
you could. Don't be surprised, your business
could fail. Maybe that's God's will for you,
maybe that's God's trial. He didn't come to straighten
up your life, He came to save sinners. Luke 19, 10, "...the
Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."
1 Timothy 1.15, this is a sure
saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. He didn't come to straighten
up marriage problems, He came to save sinners. He didn't come to heal your body
and your bank account, He came to save sinners. He didn't come
to give you a purpose for living. He came to save sinners. He didn't
come to deliver you from drinking drugs. He came to save sinners. Here's a man on death's row.
Now, watch it. Here's today's religion. Here's
a man sitting on death's row. He's a murderer. He's been sentenced
to die in the electric chair in a few hours. And he's sitting
there on death's row. And you come to him and you say,
You say, here, man, here, man, is a fine suit of clothes. That's
a $300 suit. And matching shirt and tie and
shoes and underwear. Here's a wardrobe fit for a king.
And he just looks up at you, no response, no smile, and drops
his head. You say, wait a minute, man.
Here, man, here's a title to a mansion. This is a palatial
mansion, 30 rooms and seven baths and lawn and tennis court and
swimming pool and gardens and everything. It's yours. Here's
a title. He looks up at you, no smile,
no response. Here, man, here's a crown. We've
made you king of the land. Here's a robe. You are crown
prince. You rule over everything you
survey." No response. Man, what do you want? I've given
you the finest clothes that money can buy. I've given you the finest
mansion in which a man could live. We've made you famous.
You're a king. He looks up and says, I'm a condemned
man. I'm going to die. I'd rather
live naked than die clothed in king's garments. Well, I'd rather live a beggar
than die in a mansion. I'd rather live unknown than
to die famous. So it is with the sinner. Wealth
and honor I disdain, earthly comforts Lord of vain, these
can never satisfy, give me Christ or else I die. That's why we
come to Christ, for mercy, mercy. Now the condemned man looks up
at you and says, I'm not interested in your clothes, I'm not interested
in your mansion, I'm not interested in your fame, I'm not interested
in your glory. Could you give me life? Could
you give me pardon? Could you give me acquittal?
Could you justify me? Could you lift this load, this
burden of guilt and condemnation? Can you lift it? No, I'm sorry I can't. You don't
have anything for me. But thank God He is able. He is able. He is able to lift
the condemnation. He is able to lift the judgment. He is able to put away the sin. He is able. Just like the publican came and
cried, Lord, be merciful, be merciful. Have we missed Christ because
we've come for the wrong thing? We want a home in heaven. We
want a mansion on a hilltop. We want to meet Mother in heaven.
We want to live a good life here on earth. We want the respect
and admiration of men. But have we ever come with a
rope around our neck and sackcloth and ashes on our bodies and cried,
Lord, have mercy on me. He deals in mercy. He deals in
salvation. That's why he came. If we have
not come to Christ, listen to me, if we have not come to Christ
in this fashion, we have not come at all. If you've never
been lost, you've never been found. Now, you may have made
a decision to straighten up your life and live right, but you've
never come to God. You may have made a decision
that you're going to be religious and that you're going to quit
drinking and gambling and running around and you're going to walk
the straight and narrow, but you haven't come to Christ. The only one who's come to Christ
is that woman with the issue. They were crowded around here.
Listen, crowded around, just crowded around, packed around.
And he said, somebody touched me. Somebody touched me. And his disciples laughed and
they said, well, Lord, the crowd presses around you, everybody's
pressed around you. And he said, somebody touched
me. I perceive that power. I perceive that life has gone
out of me into somebody. into somebody, somebody touched
me and he turned and this woman said it was I. I've tried everything,
I've had this disease for twelve years and I've spent all I have,
I've tried every avenue, I've gone to every position and nobody's
ever been able to help me and I knew if I could just get to
you, I'd be made whole. I have a need. Everybody in that
crowd touched him, bragged on him, talked about him, Lord,
I'll follow you, I'll be your disciple, I'll do this, I'll...
Hail Jesus, King of the Jews! Hail Him that cometh in the name
of the Lord!" But she touched him. And she's the only one. He didn't
do anything for her. The only one. The only one who had a need. I don't know, I... He saved sinners. But they're
hard to find, you know that? They're hard to find. The hardest
thing in the world to find is sinners. You can't find them
on church discipline committees. You can't find sinners. You can't find them in many pulpits. You can't find them on deacon
boards. You can't find them among professing
religionists. A sinner is a sacred thing. It's
hard to find somebody that's in need to reach it out. It's
hard to find. Oh, you can find a lot of Simon's
that sit up there on the seats, you know, and look down their
noses, but it's hard to find very many women that bathe his
feet with tears. Hard to find. It's easy to find
a lot of folks that, Lord, I thank you I'm not like other men. By
your grace I'm not like other men. I sure thank you I'm not
like other men. It's by your grace, but it's
still true I'm not like other men. Yeah, boy, it would be good
if you were. You just might find the Lord,
if you're like other men. Just liable to find Him. Just
liable to find Him. Run into Him, if you're like
other men. I think I'm not. The Lord make
me a son of Adam in my own eyes. Make me like other men. Just
long enough for me to see my need. Just long enough that I
might come to you and lay hold upon thy mercy." I've got to
close. Look at verse 25 again. What's
the measure of his ability to save? Listen, sinner, he is able
to save to the uttermost. How far is that? The uttermost. Does that reach out and get you?
I tell you this, he's able to save to the uttermost extent
of guilt. You find the guiltiest, most
wretched rebel that ever lived, his grace is sufficient. To the
uttermost extent of weakness. Oh, I'm so weak. Good. When you're
weak, you're strong. I'm so frail. Good. His strength
is, his power is made perfect in weakness. You that are strong, you're missing
it. You're missing the joy of mercy. You're missing the joy
of grace. You that are so sure and so confident
and so righteous and so good and so strong, you're missing
it. You follow the path of our Lord. Follow his footsteps and
find the people to whom he ministered and the people he stopped and
talked to. That'll surprise you. And you'll surprise you who,
in fact, the religious people said, what's he doing with those
publicans and sinners? He's a friend of sinners! It attracted their attention.
Why does your master eat with publicans and sinners? And our
Lord turned and said, I'll tell you why. The well don't need
a physician to save it of sick. I've not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repent. He's able to save to the uttermost
extent of weakness, to the uttermost extent of time. You old folks.
You know, I get a lot of letters from older people who watch our
television program. And I get letters from people
in their 80s who have come to know Christ. I went to see a
dear man a few weeks ago. He's 77 years old. And as I walked
in the room in the hospital up in Huntington, Never seen him
before in my life. I walked in the room, white haired,
had a cancer operation coming up the next day. Tears came down
his cheek. He said, you're the last person
I ever expect to see walk through that door. And I took hands with
him. And he started crying. He said, I'm 77 years old. I've watched you now for three
years. And he said, I've learned the gospel. He said, you've taught
me more about Christ than all my rest of my life put together.
He said, you've been a spiritual blessing to me. Seventy-seven. He's able to save to the uttermost
extent of guilt, the uttermost extent of weakness, the uttermost
extent of time, the uttermost extent of age. There's only one
man that cuts himself off from Christ, and you know who that
is? That's the good man. That's the moral man, the religious
man, the well man, the man who doesn't need it. Seeing he ever liveth to make
intercession. He died, but he lives. He's buried,
but he rose again. He's seated at the right hand
of the majesty on high, and he's calling our names. Who called
his name? Lord, be merciful to me, the
sinner. And that great high priest and
mediator says, Father, by my merit and righteousness and shed
blood and holy wounds, be merciful to the sinner. He prays for us. We call on him. Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Then they call
unto the Lord in their trouble. But we're not going to call until
we get in trouble. I know, I know it's not what's preached today,
I realize that, but so anyhow, it's God's Word. Sinners, go
home and call on the Lord. Religious sinners or unbelieving
sinners or preaching sinners or teaching sinners or whoever
you are, He delights to show mercy. And you'll find it. You'll find a peace. passive
understanding. You look in here and keep trying
to find some reason for God to forgive you, you'll never find
it. I'm going to tell one on Bruce,
I know he doesn't mind. He's working in Chattanooga.
And this fellow he worked with, Bruce, was studying for the ministry
and had finished college and was in the seminary. And he's
a fundamentalist and real religious. He ran into a fella down where
he worked at Brock Candy Company in Chattanooga that believed
in the grace of God. He believed in the sovereignty
of God. He believed God elected a people, revealed to them their
sins, and brought them to faith in Christ. And Christ died for
them. And all Bruce argued with, he'd get so mad, wouldn't he?
He'd get so mad at him. And finally one day he said,
I'll tell you, he said, I'm going home and take my Bible and I'm
going to study those words, election and predestination and all those
words and prove they're not right. And he went home and opened his
Bible and God did a work of grace. And he went back to work and
he's sitting there writing one day and he said it right just
suddenly, it dawned on him. He said, I can't think of a single
reason why God should save me. Not a single reason. He said,
I sat there and I stopped writing and I thought, I can't think
of a single reason why God should save me. And he said, I laid
my pencil down and I ran out there and that fellow was up
on a forklift raising some candy up there, whatever he's doing,
you know. And Bruce says, say, he said, you know, he said, I
can't, I can't think of a single reason why God should save me.
And he said, that old boy grinned and jumped down off that forklift,
and he said, that's what I've been trying to tell you all this
time. The reason is found in Him. The
reason's found in Him, not in you. And His reason's His glory. And I'll tell you this, I promise
you, if He can get all the glory, He'll save even you, Charlie.
If He can get all... If He can't get the glory, He
ain't gonna do it. You're not going to do it. If he can get
the glory, colon, he'll save you. If he can get all of it,
you're not going to share it. But if he can get the glory.
See, he chose the foolish thing to bring to naught the wise,
and he's chosen the base thing, and the things which are despised,
that no flesh get glory in his presence. Of him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. But if he can get all the glory,
he just might save you. He's just mine. But he's not
going to share his glory. So if you can come that way,
like the woman with the issue of blood, or the harlot at his
feet, or the publican in the temple, or the thief on the cross,
having nothing, knowing nothing, deserving nothing, and say, Lord,
here I am. I'm dirty, cleanse me. I'm guilty,
forgive me. I'm unworthy, pardon me." I believe
He will. Our Father in Heaven, bring us
to Thee.

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