Why Men Do Not Believe On Christ

I want you to take your Bibles
and open them to the fifth chapter of the book of John. I'm going
to be reading verse 43 and verse 44 for my text today. John chapter 5, verse 43 and
44. Now, in verse 43, our Lord brings
a terrible accusation and charge against Adam's race. Read it
with me. John 5.43. I am come in my Father's
name, and you receive me not, you believe not on me. If another
shall come in his own name, him you will believe. I come in my
Father's name, you believe me not. Let another come in his
own name, seeking his own glory, and him you will believe. unbelief. This is and always has been the
nature of every fallen son of Adam, unbelief. When God called
Moses to the burning bush in the fourth chapter of Exodus
and said to him, Moses, I want you to go down to Egypt and lead
my people out of bondage, out of slavery. Moses says, Lord,
if I go down there and tell them that you sent and that you're
going to deliver them and you're going to take them to a land
which you promised to our father Abraham, behold Lord, they will
not believe me. They will not believe me. When
Isaiah wrote that precious, precious good news in Isaiah chapter 53,
he said he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised
for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. and by his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way, but the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."
That's good news, isn't it? But do you know the statement
with which Isaiah preceded that good news? What did he say? Here's
what he said, "'Lord, who hath believed our message?' They don't
believe me." That's what Moses said. I'll go to them with the
good news, I'll go to them with the message, but Lord, they won't
believe me." And when Isaiah wrote this glorious gospel, he
said, they won't believe me, they won't believe me. And then
when Paul wrote about Israel, you know, God finally took Israel
out of Egypt, brought them across the desert to the place called
Kadesh Barnea, and told them to look out over there, there's
the promised land, there it is, enter and possess it, it's yours.
they could not enter in. Why? Because of unbelief. Because of unbelief. In John
chapter 7, verse 5, it says, of our Lord's own family, his
brothers and his sisters. It says, neither did his own
brethren believe on him. And then the Holy Spirit, Christ
said, when the Holy Spirit is come, he'll convince the world
of sin, because they believe not on me. He came unto his own, and his
own received him not. And John 12, 37 says, Though
he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed
not on him. And at the cross they walked
about that cross and looked up at the Savior dying on Calvary,
and they mocked him and laughed at him and ridiculed him and
finally said, O King of Israel, come down from the cross and
we'll believe on you." And even, now listen to this, even one
of his disciples, Thomas, after the other disciples had informed
him that the Lord had risen from the tomb, that the Lord was alive,
that they had seen him, that he had talked to them, what did
Thomas say? Except I see the print of the
nails in his hands. and thrust my hand into his side,
I will not believe. I will not believe." Now, you
may not be saying that in words, but perhaps you are expressing
it in attitude. Perhaps you're expressing it
in attitude, for someone said, and this is true, the absence
of faith is unbelief. Now, that's so. Whatsoever is
not of faith is of sin, and the absence of faith is unbelief. Our Lord said, if you're not
with me, with me in faith, with me in trust, with me in confidence,
you're against me. So you may not be saying that
in words like Thomas did. You say, that's a terrible thing
to say. I will not believe. Perhaps you don't even have to
say it. Perhaps it's revealed by your thoughts and by your
attitude and by your actions. I will not believe. Why don't
men believe on Christ? He said, I come in my Father's
name. John the Baptist bore witness of him, the Heavenly Father bore
witness of him, the works that he did, the scriptures, he said,
testify of me. Why will men not believe on Christ? I believe I can give you four
reasons, and I'm going to begin where the Lord Jesus Christ began. I'm going to give you the reason
he gave it. 544. Look at that next verse. He says,
how can you believe? I come in my Father's name and
you don't believe me, but how can you believe? How can you? Which receive honor one of another,
and you seek not the honor that cometh from God only. What does
that mean? It means this. A man will never
believe in Christ as his Redeemer, as his Lord, and as his Savior. until he knows himself to be
nothing. A man will never receive Christ,
he will never come to Christ, he will never believe on Christ
until he sees himself to be nothing. Charles Spurgeon once said, you
must be saved as an ungodly sinner or not at all. You must give
up all claims to any personal merit, any personal goodness,
any personal righteousness, And the flesh not only finds this
hard to do, but finds it impossible to do. The Son of Man has come
to seek and to save the lost. Our Lord said, I've not come
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And while others
praise us, and while others honor us and brag on us, we're lifted
up with pride. And the only way we're going
to be saved is to be brought down. We've got to be stripped
before we can be clothed with the righteousness of Christ.
We've got to be humbled before we can be exalted. And others
are bragging on us and honoring us and lifting us up. They talk
of our good points. Every mother talks about how
good her son is. Every wife talks about how good
her husband is. People talk about how good their
neighbors are. And even go to church on Sunday
and the preacher tells them how good they are. How can we believe
when we seek honor that comes from men and seek not the honor
that comes from God? Others praise our works and exalt
our talents, and we're apt to believe them. We've got to be
slain to be made alive. We've got to be humble. We've
got to be emptied to be filled. Most religion today praises the
flesh and not the Lord, and you know that's so. We honor ourselves. God honors his son, and you can't
do both. You go back and look at verse
23 of John chapter 5, when our Savior said, The Father honoreth
the Son, and he that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the
Father that sent him. Men do not come to Christ because
they're seeking the honor that comes from men, and not the honor
that comes from God. And the honor that comes from
God is not on us, it's on his son. He is our righteousness. He is our redemption, He is our
sanctification, He is our wisdom, and all the praise goes to Him
and not to us. In our churches today, it's societies
for bragging on the flesh, bragging on men, bragging on our work,
bragging on one another, praising one another. This wonderful,
gracious, good man, this lovely, sweet, adorable woman, the scripture
brags on Christ and puts us down. We're nothing. We're less than
nothing. We're but drops in the bucket
and dust of the balance. Christ is everything. The Word
of God brags on the Savior, honors the Savior. And all of our honor
is in Him. That's why men don't come to
Christ. Self is in the way. They refuse to be broken. God
say that such as be of a broken heart. God is known to them of
a broken heart. If God save us such as be of
a contrite spirit, the sacrifices of God are a broken heart and
a contrite spirit. And we refuse to be broken. And
if we go to hear a preacher and he puts us down and he whittles
us down and he knocks our foundations of flesh out from under us and
he strips our robes of righteousness, rags of righteousness from off
us and slays us, we'll go to hear somebody else because that
depresses us. We want to hear somebody brag
on us. and tell how much God needs us, and how the church
can't get along without us, and how the kingdom of God can't
survive if we don't aid it in some way. If you don't help us,
we'll go off the air, that sort of thing. God doesn't need your
help, but you need his help. That's why men don't believe
on Christ, and I'll give you the second reason. Listen to
it. Men do not believe on Christ because they do not feel their
need of Christ. That's right, they have no need.
The well do not need a physician. That's what Christ himself said.
But those that are sick. That's who needs a physician.
Let me tell you a good story. I read this last week. After
the Civil War, revival broke out in a little southern community.
And the former slave owner and his trusted slave, they'd been
together many years, And the slave had received his freedom,
but they remained friends. And both of them got under conviction. Both of them began to seek the
Lord. When this revival broke out in the community, the slave
owner and the trusted slave for many years, they both got under
conviction. But the slave came to know Christ first, before
the slave owner. And it amazed him. He wondered
about it. So he came to his faithful old
friend, and he said, John, how is it? that you found the Lord,
you found peace and rest, and I haven't. And I like this, listen,
the old slave looked at him and said, Masa, I'll tell you why,
when the Lord came to you, he said to you, here's a new robe
for you. But you looked down at your robe
and you said, this is sufficient, it's mighty fine, it might have
a few holes in it, that needs patchin' here and patchin' there
and patchin' somewhere else, but it's mighty fine, it'll do
mighty fine. I don't need a new robe." But
Master, when the Lord came to me, he said, John, here's a new
robe for you. And I said, Lord, I'm sure much
obliged, because John ain't nothin' but rags, and I sure need that
new robe, and I'll take it right now, and I'll put it on. I said,
that's the reason I found peace. I needed him. I needed him. You don't need him. And my friends,
that's the reason men do not come to Christ. They don't need
him. When you can't come to the place where you can say, I need
thee, oh, I need thee, every hour I need thee, oh, bless me
now, my Savior, I come to thee, just as I am, poor, wretched,
blind. sight, riches, healing of the
mind, all I need in Thee to find. Lamb of God, I come. You'll come.
Blessed are they that hunger, blessed are they that thirst
after righteousness, they shall be filled. But the well, the
satisfied, I got a pretty good roll. I don't need a new one. No, your self-righteous rags
won't do, but you don't know it. You're trying to hide behind
your fig leaf apron of good work like Adam and Eve, but it won't
shield you from the piercing eyes of a holy God who sees through
you. We need to cry with the disciples,
Lord, to whom shall we go? To whom shall I go with my sins
and find forgiveness? You tell me. To the church? To the baptismal pool? Maybe
the preacher can help me, maybe to the priest. To whom shall
I go with my sins and find forgiveness? I'll tell you, to him who said,
Though your sins be as scarlet, I'll make them white as snow.
To whom shall I go in my darkness to find light? I'll tell you,
to him who said, I am the light of the world. To whom shall I
go in my sorrow and find comfort? Only to Christ, who said, I'll
never leave you, I'll never forsake you. To whom shall I go in my
trial and find strength? Only to Christ, who said, My
peace I give unto you. To whom shall I go with my burden
and find rest? I'll tell you, to him who said,
Come to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I'll give
you rest. To whom shall I go in death and
find resurrection? I'll tell you, to him who said,
I am the resurrection and the life he that believeth on me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live. To whom shall I turn
at the judgment, and find a true, sufficient, adequate mediator,
who is able to save me to the uttermost, who is able to deliver
me from even the wrath of God himself, Jesus Christ?" Now,
when you need him, you'll come to him. You'll come to him. Here's the third reason why men
do not come to Christ. They do not come because they
do not approve of God's way of saving sinners. What is God's
way of saving sinners? Well, God's way of saving sinners
is certainly not the law, good deeds, morality, church membership,
baptism, sacraments, communion. The way God saves sinners is
through the death burial and resurrection and intercession
of his Son, Christ Jesus our Lord, who said, I am the way,
the truth and the life, no man cometh to the Father but by me.
Who said, I am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall
be saved. Who said, I am the resurrection
and the life. But, John 5 verse 40, you will
not come to me that you might have life. You go to the preacher
and seek life, but you won't come to me, Christ You'll go
to the altar and seek life, but you won't come to me. You'll
go to the sacrament, you'll go to the law, you'll go anywhere,
but you won't come to me. You will not come to me that
you might have life. Life's in Christ. He is the life. I don't know where it is, but
men will go to Sinai's mountain of law, but not to Christ. They
love laws, though they don't keep them. They love religious
regulations and religious rules and religious customs and religious
traditions. I suppose it is because they
want to be able to say, I thank you, Lord, I'm not like other
men. I tithe, I give alms, I fast. I'm not an adulterer, I'm not
an extortioner, I'm not unjust, I'm not even like this publican.
Thank you, Lord, I'm not like other men. Now, that's the reason
men love to go to Mount Sinai. It gives them something to rest
in, in themselves. They won't come to Christ, but
they'll go to the law. And then, I don't know why it
is, but men will go to the baptismal pool, they'll go to the front
of the church, they'll go to the minister, they'll go to any
of these things. I think it's because they want
something to do. Anywhere but to Christ. They
want something to feel. They want something to experience.
They want to have a part in their salvation. They want to exchange
with God. They want to take life from God
and give God something in return. And then men will go to religious
works and religious activities. This allows them to stand at
the judgment and say, Lord, we preached in your name, and we
cast out devils in your name, and we did many wonderful works
in your name. But Christ said, I will say unto
them, depart from me, I never knew you." My friends, salvation
is not in the Church, it's in Christ. Salvation is not in an
earthly priesthood, it's in Christ. Salvation is not in laws and
deeds and rituals, salvation is in Christ. The way to be saved
is to come to Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us, who
knew no sin and was made sin for us, who was wounded for our
transgressions who was buried and rose again for our justification.
He's the Redeemer. Our Lord said, this is eternal
life, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent. And it's not a mere decision.
It's a living, vital union with Christ. It's not a mere commitment. It's a surrender. A surrender. It's not just owning Christ as
your fire escape from hell. It's bowing to Christ as your
Lord. It's not just receiving his doctrines, it's receiving
him. It's not just giving men who ask sin an agreement with
some facts and doctrines, it's to bow in the heart to Jesus
Christ, submit to him, and receive him as Lord and Savior. As the
songwriter put it, out of my bondage, sorrow and night, Jesus
I come. Into thy freedom, gladness and
light, Jesus I come. out of my sickness into thy health,
out of my want into thy wealth, out of my sin into thyself. Jesus, I come, I come." And then
the fourth reason why men do not come to Christ, why they
do not believe on Christ. He said, I come in my Father's
name and you won't believe me. And the fourth reason is this.
Now hold on, listen to me. They don't want to. That's right. They don't come to Christ because
they don't want to. He said in John 5.40, read it
again, "...you will not come to me that you might have ideas."
You will not. Oh, Jerusalem, how oft would
I have gathered you unto myself as a hen doth gather her brood,
but you would not. You would not. My friends, it's
not a physical defect, it's not a physical inability. If coming
to Christ only required that I stand on my feet in an aisle
and take a few steps forward and put out my hand, nothing
to it. People are doing that all around
the world. If coming to Christ is nothing in the world but mental
consent, If all in the world I do is I read the book of Korah,
and then the book of the Bible, the book of God, and I say, well,
I take the book of God, it sounds more reasonable. And then I read
the Methodist handbook, and the Baptist handbook, and the Presbyterian
handbook, the Episcopalian handbook, and I say, well, this Baptist
handbook sounds better. So I read that, and I find this
Baptist church that I like, and I say, now I agree with what
they say, so I'm going to give mental agreement to this, hallelujah,
I'm saved. That's not it. Man's problem
is not a physical inability, it's not a mental inability.
What is it? It's a moral inability. It's
a moral inability. It was born in his nature. It
occurred in the Garden of Eden when man fell. When man fell,
he fell from God. And the scripture says, listen
to it, they love darkness and not light. Now the sheep out
there hears the shepherd's voice. and he loves that voice, and
he follows that voice. The wolf hears the same voice,
but he doesn't love it, and he won't follow it. The sheep sees
the shepherd. He sees the shepherd there, his
shepherd, his friend, his provider, and he loves the sight of him,
and he runs to him. The wolf, he sees the shepherd
too, but he doesn't run to him, he doesn't delight in The shepherd
leads the sheep by the still waters into the green pastures,
and how delighted is the heart of the sheep as he starts munching
on that beautiful green grass and eats it. The wolf runs across
the green pastures too, but he finds no pleasure in that grass.
He doesn't eat grass, he eats sheep. He doesn't want any grass. He's not on a grass diet. That's
not his nature. This is what I'm saying. This
is why men need to be born again. They need a new nature. For the
nature with which they're born the first time, the fleshly nature,
loves darkness and hates light. It loves evil and hates God.
That's so. It loves sin and hates holiness. It loves itself. Men love themselves
and hate other people. Why do we hate one another? Why
do people hate other people? Because their nature is a nature
of hatred. Why do they murder and kill and
loot and steal and do these? Why do we do these things? Why
do we make war against one another? Because of our fallen natures. Christ comes in holiness, beauty,
loveliness, grace, opens his arms and says, come to me. And
you will not. Because your nature is the nature
of the wolf. It hates the shepherd. It flees
from the shepherd, it loves evil, it loves blood, it hates the
green pastures. You will not. Somebody does, but it says in
Psalm 110, verse 3, thy people shall be willing in the day of
thy power. To as many as received him, to
them gave he the right to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name, who were born not of blood, that
is, they didn't inherit it from their mothers and fathers. I'm
not a Christian because my daddy was. It's not of the will of
the flesh, it's not of the will of man, they're born of God.
God comes down to that old wolf nature, God comes down to that
old evil nature, and God puts within that sinner a new nature,
a divine nature, a holy nature. A nature that when he hears the
sheep's voice, he'll run to him. My sheep hear my voice and they'll
follow me. A nature that seeth the sun.
He that seeth the sun and believeth on him hath everlasting life.
He sees in the sun his only hope. He sees in the sun his only plea. He sees in the sun his refuge. He sees in the sun his shepherd,
brother, friend, and he loves him. And his appetites change
too. I'm not saying the old nature
is eradicated at all. I know better than that, and
you know better than that. Everybody out there that's got good sense
and will tell the truth knows better than that. But I'm saying
God gives you a new nature, a nature that loves the Word of God, a
nature that loves the people of God, a nature that loves all
men. You can't hate anybody and love God. A nature that loves
the Church, a nature that loves the gospel, a nature that loves
holiness and truth and integrity and honesty. God will give you
a new nature when God saves you, and you'll be made willing in
the day of his power. There are four things. There
are some people who come to Christ, and there are four things that
are true of every person whom the Holy Spirit draws. I'll give
them to you in 30 seconds. First of all, they have a sense
of sin. They know themselves to be sinners.
Secondly, they have a strong desire to be forgiven. They want
to be saved. Thirdly, they see Christ as the
only hope, not the Church, Christ. He's the only Savior. And fourthly,
they commit themselves to Christ. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. I'm persuaded he's able to keep that which I've
committed unto him against that day. Now, these messages are
on cassette tape. They'll be sent to you for a
small charge if you'll write to me. to the address mentioned
at the close of the broadcast. Until next week, I bid you a
very pleasant good day.

Why Men Do Not Believe On Christ

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Why Men Do Not Believe On Christ

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