Now, by way of introducing this
message tonight, there are three things that stand out in regard
to the disciples of our Lord. We could say many, many things
about them, but there are three things in particular that stand
out in regard to the disciples of our Lord. These men had committed unto
them the greatest single fact of all history, and that is,
the Word was made flesh and dwelt among them. The God of glory
came down to this earth and was made in the likeness of sinful
flesh and walked on this earth. The Lord of Glory took our sins
in his body and went to the tree and died. The disciples were
witnesses of that fact. He was buried and he rose again.
And when Thomas put his hand in the nail prints in the hands
of our Lord and thrust his hand into the side of our Master,
he fell on his knees and cried, My Lord and my God. The centurion
who watched him die said, surely this man was the son of God. That's the greatest fact of all
history. And these disciples said they
saw it, they heard him, and their hands handled him of the word
of life. The second thing that stands
out about these disciples, if you'll turn with me to the sixth
chapter of John, They not only saw the Lord in human flesh,
they not only heard him, but they believed him. They believed
him. In John chapter 6, verse 66,
from that time, many of his, the word is disciples, but it's
not the twelve, it's followers, went back and walked no more
with him. And then said Jesus under the twelve. Will you also
go away? Then Simon Peter answered him,
Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe, and we believe, and are sure that Thou
art that Christ, the Son of the living God." It was no half-hearted
profession. It was a commitment of heart
and life. It was a commitment that led
them to give their very lives for his glory. They believed
him. In fact, Paul said over in Acts
chapter 20, and it would be well for you to turn to this one,
Paul was on his way to Jerusalem, warned by the Holy Spirit that
he would be martyred, and warned by these prophets that he would
be slain. But he said in Acts chapter 20,
verse 22, And now, behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem,
not knowing the things that shall befall me there, except that
the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds,
that is, chains and afflictions, await me. But none of these things
move me, neither count I my life dear unto so that I might finish
my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the
Lord Jesus, to testify of the gospel of the grace of God."
This was no devotion to religion. This was no devotion to a denomination. This was not devotion even to
a doctrine, but to a person. They heard They were witnesses
of the greatest fact of all history, and they believed it. They believed
it. And then the third thing about
these men, they saw the gospel, they heard it, they believed
it, and that gospel transformed them. They had something to tell,
not only what God had written, not only what God had inspired
them to tell, but they had something to tell that they had experienced. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians chapter
4, listen to him over here, 2 Corinthians the 4th chapter beginning with
verse 6, God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
that's the creation of this world, God who spoke and the darkness
was pushed away by the light, had shined in our hearts It's
not walking an aisle. It's not just mental agreement
to some facts. It's not just intellectual assent
to some preaching. God has shined in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. And we have this treasure, this
grace of God, this new creation in earthen vessels. in these
natural bodies, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and
not of us. We're troubled on every side,
but we're not distressed. We're perplexed, but we're not
in despair. We're persecuted, but we're not
forsaken. We're cast down, but we're not
destroyed. Always bearing about in the body
the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might
be made manifest in our bodies. The Apostle said, we know that
we have passed from death unto life. This gospel has transformed
us, translated us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of
God's dear Son. And we know that we have passed
from death unto life because we love the brethren. Paul said,
I am what I am by the grace of God. So those three facts stand
out about these men whom God used and whom God blessed to
bring the gospel to us. They heard it. They believed
it. And it transformed them. It changed
them. Now, three questions face you
and me today. The first one is this. Have we
really learned the gospel? Their world is full of gospels.
It's not have you learned a gospel, it's have you learned the gospel. The world is full of religions.
It's not have you got religion, but have you learned the gospel.
Have you really learned the gospel? Do you know how God can be just
and justify the ungodly? Do you know how that sinful man
can be justified in the eyes of a God in whose eyes the sun
and the moon is not clean. Do you know the mystery of godliness? Turn to 1 Timothy chapter 3,
and it's called a mystery. Don't come to me with this little
cliché that we preach the gospel so simple that a little child
can understand it. There's nothing simple about
the gospel. The gospel is a mystery. The
gospel is profound. There is no man, let alone child,
who can understand the gospel apart from divine revelation. There are people sitting right
here tonight who have heard preachers all their lives, but they've
never learned the gospel. There are people all over Ashland
who have been in church all their lives, but they've never learned
the gospel. They've never learned Christ.
Ever learning, but never coming to a knowledge of the truth.
There are preachers standing in the pulpit tonight in churches
in this city and all over this world who do not know the gospel. They've never learned it. They're
religious. They'll talk about heaven. They'll talk about hell.
They'll talk about the Bible. They'll talk about salvation.
They'll even talk about Jesus. But Paul said in 2 Corinthians,
it's another Jesus and another spirit and another gospel. They've
never learned the gospel. There is but one gospel. Paul
said, if any man come to you preaching any other gospel, let
him be accursed. He said, I don't care if it's
an angel from heaven. If he preaches any other gospel
than the gospel, let him be accursed. There is but one gospel. There's
no other gospel. It's a perversion of the gospel.
1 Timothy 3 verse 16 says it's a mystery without controversy.
Without controversy. Without argument. Great is the
mystery of godliness. The mystery of godliness. The
mystery of the kingdom of God. How that God was manifest in
the flesh. That's a mystery. Incarnation. How could God dwell in human
flesh? How could he who made the world
limit himself to a human body? How could he whom the heavens
cannot contain be contained in frail flesh? How could he who
makes the corn to grow and the beans to farm depend upon a mother's
breast for food? How could he who put a swaddling
band around the oceans and holds them in check and makes the streams
to flow, how could he thirst and cry out in burning fever
a thirst? How could he who is life, in
whom there is no death, die on a cross? Grave is the mystery
of God. God was manifest in the flesh. He was justified in the Spirit.
Everything he did, the Holy Spirit witnessed to that event. He was seen of angels. The angels
said, Behold, we bring you good tidings of great joy, unto you
is born in the city of David a Savior, who is none other than
Christ the Lord. That's who he is. He's preached to the Gentiles,
this God of glory, this Messiah, this Christ. God has condescended
to preach him to heathen dogs, like you and me, who have not
the prophets, who have not the law, who do not the ceremonies. He's believed on in the world,
and he's received up into glory. He who came down from glory is
received up into glory. He who limited himself to a human
body is now at the right hand of the Father, interceding for
you and me. Great is that mystery. Who is
He? The Lord of Glory. What did He
do? He came down to this earth, born
of a woman, born under the law, died on a cross, was buried and
rose again, ascended to the right hand of God. Why did He do it?
In order that God might be just and justify you. In order that
God might be righteous and put away your guilt. In order that
God Almighty might be holy, honor His law, satisfy His justice. put away your sins. Where is
he now? At the Father's right hand. What
will he do? He's coming again. Have you learned this gospel?
Not the gospel of a good life, it's the gospel of the righteousness
of Christ. It's not the gospel of church
membership, it's not the gospel of reformation, it's the gospel
of redemption. substitution, satisfaction, Christ
dying for our sins. Have you learned that gospel?
The second fact we're faced with and question is this, have we
believed it? Now this saving faith, as I said,
is more than mental assent to a few doctrines. There are Arminians
who are not saved, as well as Calvinists who are not saved.
There are Baptists who know the doctrine, but who do not know
the Lord. This saving faith is more than physical participation
in a program. It's vital living union with
a person. It's Christ in you. That's the
hope of glory. It's Christ in you. That's the
life of God. It's Christ in you. That's salvation. And anything other than that
is not salvation, no matter how pious and holy and religious
it might be. Have you believed it? Have you
surrendered to Him? What kind of surrender is it?
It's a threefold surrender. It's a resolved surrender. Turn
with me to Luke 14. In the 14th chapter of Luke,
our Lord speaks these words. He says in verse 27 of Luke 14,
Whosoever does not bear his cross and come after me, cannot be
my disciple. Which of you intending to build
a tower does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he
has sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he had laid
the foundation, not able to finish it, all that behold it begin
to mock him. This surrender to Christ is a
resolved surrender. It's a cost-counting surrender. It's an intelligent surrender.
I do not believe that we ought to do what most preachers do
today. I'm convinced that it's violating
the very principles of salvation, and that is to preach a sermon,
and then under the persuasion of music, and presenting the
beauties of heaven and the fears of hell, to pressure people into
making some kind of religious commitment under that sort of
situation. I believe that we ought to preach
our message and tell men what sin is and who God is and what
salvation is and leave them alone, praying that the Holy Spirit
will bring them to count the cost of sin and the consequences
of sin. and to see their own inability
to save themselves or justify themselves, and see how that
God's the only Savior and Christ is the only Redeemer, and having
counted the cost and weighed the evidence of the Word of God,
led by the Holy Spirit, can say in their own heart, God, I repent
toward Thee, and I intelligently and willingly have counted the
cost. I'm not starting something I
can't finish. But I'm casting my lot with Christ, and I'm committing
my soul to Him. And then that individual come
to the pastor, to the church, and say, I'd like to confess
the Lord in baptism. I've counted the cost. I know
what it is to be lost. I know who the only Savior is.
I'm committing my soul and my heart and my life to Him. And
I want everybody to know it. I'm confessing him in baptism. That's a resolved surrender.
Not only that, but it's a radical surrender. Turn to Matthew 10.
Matthew chapter 10. Now look at this. It's a radical
surrender. In the tenth chapter of Matthew,
verse 34, Christ said, Now then, don't think that I've come to
send peace on this earth. Because you've received Christ,
you've believed on him, now everything It's going to be peaceful. You're
not going to have more trouble. You're not going to have any
more enemies. You're not going to have any more trials. That's
what the preachers are promising on television and radio. God
wants to satisfy all your financial burdens and all your material
burdens and all your physical burdens and all your emotional
burdens. Write into us. Send us your name. We'll pray
for you. It'll all be solved, if not so. Christ said, don't
you think that I've come to do that. I came not to send peace,
but a sword. And you having sat down and counted
the cost of commitment to Christ, and counted the cost of surrender
to Christ, you know this. your enemy might be your own
family, your own friends. I have come to set a man at variance
against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law, and a man's enemies shall be they
of his own household. And he that loveth father and
mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he that loveth a son
or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and he that taketh
not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me." It's
a radical surrender. Christ said, you're not going
to be a rose-strong pathway. It's going to be tough. You're
going to find enemies out there and enemies in here. The radical
surrender. Then it's an eternal surrender.
Turn to Hebrews 3. In Hebrews, the third chapter.
But now, watch this. I hear preachers say, well, just
try the Lord. You can't try the Lord. This
commitment is a resolved commitment and a radical commitment and
an eternal commitment. You don't try Christ like you
try on a suit. You receive him, whatever the
cost, whatever it means. And verse 6 of Hebrews 3 says,
But Christ, as a son over his own house, whose house you are,
if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope, all
the way through to the end. Verse 14 of Hebrews 3 says, We
are made partakers of Christ, of His blessings, of His blood,
of His benefits, if we hold the beginning of our confidence all
the way through. He that endures to the end, the
same shall be saved. As Barnard used to say, it's
burning your bridges behind you. It's putting all your eggs in
one basket and turning it over to Christ. And it's a result. Now, have you believed it? Have you believed it? The disciples
said, Lord, we have left all and followed you. To whom shall
we go? We believe and are sure that
thou art the Christ. We've counted the cost. We've
made that commitment. And we'll die trusting you. Though
he slay me, Job said, I'll trust him. And let me ask you the third
thing now. Has the gospel of Christ changed
you? Has it transformed you? This
is the test. This is the test. Whether or
not it's a mental belief or a material belief. There are a lot of people
who followed the Lord, and he turned and he said, I know why
you're following me. You ate the loaves and the fishes and
you were filled and you want some more. That's why you're
following me. Another group followed him, the scripture says, because
of the miracles. They wanted to see some more
miracles. That's the reason these ministries that are based on
miracles of healing are not worth a snap of your finger. That's
what draws the crowd. That's what they're propagating. And that's what the people are
depending on, is a sign. And Christ said, no sign will
be given but the Word of God. And if they believe not Moses
and the prophets, they won't believe, though one rose from
the dead. They followed him because of the miracles, and he did not
commit himself to them. He knew why they were following
him, but these disciples followed him because they loved him. This is the test. We have no
right to claim the presence of Christ if we have not the Spirit
of Christ. We have no right to claim the
presence of the Spirit if we have not the fruit of the Spirit.
Now Judas had a profession, but he finally sold out. Simon Magus
was baptized and joined the church, but his heart was not right with
God. Demas went along and was a close
friend of the Apostle Paul for a number of years, but finally
departing, Paul said, having loved the world. Attitude is the most important
thing in regard to your relationship with Christ. It's not actions,
it's attitude. My attitude toward God, my attitude
toward His Word, my attitude toward His Son, My attitude toward
others reveals the true state of my heart. Attitude. This is grace. This is salvation.
I have heard the gospel. I have intelligently and consciously
received it and believed it. And I have the evidence of a
transformed attitude and a changed attitude. The Lord is not a myth. He's a reality. The gospel is
not fiction, it's fact. And my vital union with Jesus
Christ is not a profession, it is a position. And it's changed
my direction, it's changed my life, it's changed my attitude.
I walk with a person. The disciples didn't run around
arguing the resurrection, they walked with a living Lord. The disciples didn't walk around
arguing about imputed righteousness. They delighted in it. They trusted
in it. Now this is the gospel to which
our Lord calls men in Proverbs 1 in our text. Let's look at
it again. Because, verse 24, Proverbs 1,
I have called. Called to what? To the altar,
to the front of the church, to church membership, to church
ceremonies, to rituals. How big is your God? I have called men to saving faith. I have called men to vital union. I have called men to reality
of Christ. That's what God calls us unto.
He didn't call us to play church. He didn't call us to build a
bigger sanctuary and a big denomination and a big religious machine.
He called us to faith. That's what he calls us to. I called you. We're not robots. We're not dead logs. God calls
us to himself. He calls us to Christ. Turn with
me to the book of Amos. If it's difficult for you to
find right off, just let me read it to you. In the book of Amos,
you know you drive down the highway and you see these signs, prepare
to meet thy God. Prepare to meet thy God. I've
seen them dozens of times. There's something behind that
statement in the scriptures here in the book of Amos, chapter
4, verse 12. Prepare to meet thy God. But
God said some things before he said that. And he says in verse
6, I have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
famine, want of bread, and yet you have not returned unto me.
Therefore prepare to meet God. I've called you," he said. I've
called you by acts of providence. God calls me in other ways besides
the gospel. God calls men by judgments and
acts of providence. That's what he said here. I have
shown you my power, but it didn't break your heart. Look at verse
7, I have withholden the rain. Right when the little shoots
needed water, when they were three months to the harvest,
I stopped the rain. And your gardens burn up. Did
you repent and cry for mercy? No. God says, you didn't return
unto me, verse 8. Then verse 9, I've smitten you
with blastings and mildew. Verse 10, I've sent among you
pestilence after the manner of Egypt, wars, your young men,
I've slain with a sword. And yet, you've not returned
unto me. I've overthrown some of you as
God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, but it didn't break your heart.
Therefore, prepare to meet God. That's what he said. I've called
and you've refused. I've spoken to you. I've dealt
with you. You hardened your heart. You wouldn't be broken. We're
not dead logs. We're not robots. We're people.
And God deals with us as accountable, responsible people. Even if it
is common grace. Even if it is law conviction.
I don't care what it is. It's God. And a man is responsible
to walk in the light God gives him. Look at Romans 1, verse
20. Here's another way that God speaks
to us. Romans 1, 20 says, "...the invisible things of him from
the creation of the world are clearly seen." Talking about
the things God's made. being understood by the things
that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead. You see God
in the trees, in the plants, in the vegetables, in the sun,
in the universe, in the rivers and streams and lakes, so that
you are without excuse. I'll tell you some other way
God speaks to us. Turn to Romans 2.14. Listen to this. When the
Gentiles, that's the people who were not of Israel. They didn't have the prophets,
they didn't have the tabernacle, they didn't have the law, the
Ten Commandments as such. But when these Gentiles, Romans
2.14, who have not the law, do by nature the things contained
in the law. For example, you go to the heart
of the jungles and you find a tribe of people who've never seen a
missionary, never seen a Bible, never heard the law. You'll find
that they know it's wrong to steal. They know it's wrong to
kill. They know it's wrong to lie.
Now how do they find that out? God tells you here. These having
not the law are a law unto themselves, verse 15, and shows you the work
of the law written in the heart, the conscience bearing witness,
and the thoughts accusing or excusing one another. God gave
you a conscience and you violated it. I violated mine. God spoke
to you. That was God speaking to you.
And then the gospel of Christ. God sends his gospel by his preacher. Turn to 2 Corinthians 5. Listen
to this. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5
verse 19. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 19. God was in Christ reconciling
the world to himself. Verse 20, And we are ambassadors
for Christ, messengers, as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you, in Christ's stead,
be you reconciled to God. That's how God called. God said,
I've called you. There isn't anybody in this world
that hasn't experienced in some way a call from God. Nobody. I've called. A man is responsible for the
light God gives him. And I've stretched out my hand,
verse 24, and no man regarded. You have said it not, my counsel,
and you would none of my reproof. The rich young man heard the
words of Christ and refused them. Felix listened to Paul and refused
him. Thousands listened to the Master
and walked no more with him. But I know what's on the mind
of every unsaved person. I know exactly what's on your
mind. You're saying this. I'm not permanently refusing
the Lord's Word. I'm not once and for all saying
no to the gospel. I intend to I intend to give
attention to God and heaven and hell and salvation and the gospel,
just not now. Just some other time. That's
what Felix said. Paul spoke to him and he reasoned
of righteousness and temperance and judgment, and he said, Paul,
go your way. When I have a convenient season,
I'll send for you. I fully intend to hear this thing
some more. I'm not closing my mind. But
he did. Never again did he ever hear
Paul preach the gospel. The Bible says now is the accepted
time, today is the day of salvation. The word of God declares, both
not thyself of tomorrow, it's not yours. Today is the day of salvation,
now is the accepted time, because verse 26, listen, One day God
will cease to call. I have called, but I'm not calling
anymore. I have stretched out my hand,
but not anymore. Here's what I will do. I will
laugh at your calamity. I will mock when the fear comes. When fear sweeps over your soul
like desolation, and destruction comes over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish cometh upon you, a life, God said. Now, I don't know a lot about
scriptural deadlines. I can just give you what I've
read in God's Word. I know that God patiently and
with long-suffering deals with His people, and He will finally
bring them to Himself. But I also read in the Bible
of one called Ephraim, of whom God said, while he was still
leave him alone. I read of a group of men called
Pharisees, of whom the disciples said, they were offended, Lord,
by what you declared, and our Master said to the disciples,
leave them alone. Go into the highways and the
hedges and call the lame and the haws and the blind, those
religious Pharisees, leave them alone. Leave them alone. And then I read in Romans 1,
and it might do well for you to look at this, Romans 1 verse
24, God's talking about idolaters. And He said they dishonor their
bodies, they change the truth of God into a lie, they worship
and serve the creature more than the Creator, and it says in verse
24, God gave them up. God gave them up. And then it
talks about the homosexuals in verse 26, women with women and
men with men, working that which is against nature, and it says
in verse 26, God gave them up. And then it talks in verse 28
about the atheists, I don't believe in God, all right. Verse 28 says,
and they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, So God
gave them over to a reprobate mind. Turned them over to a reprobate
mind. That's judgment. That's judgment
while people are walking in shoe leather. God gave up the idolaters. God gave up the homosexuals. God gave the atheists over to
a reprobate mind to believe a lie and be damned for it. That's
what scripture says. So if you wish to go on and travel
with the solemn call of God, I've called, God said. How many
times? It doesn't say, I've just called.
And you've refused. I've stretched out my hand in
mercy and love, and you wouldn't have it. Well, one of these days
you're going to be in trouble. It may be in a day of great sorrow. Like Egypt, when the midnight
cry rose up from every home, but God didn't hear. It may be
in the day of death, God won't hear. It may be in the judgment,
Lord, we preached in your name and prophesied, I never knew
you. It may be in hell, Father Abraham
sent Lazarus down to do something for me, I'm tormented. No answer from God. Abraham talked
with him a little, but God didn't. Verse 28, Then shall they call
upon me. I guarantee you every son of
Adam is going to call on God, either here in repentance or
in hell in anguish and despair. But you'll call. God said, Then
shall you call. in the day of fear, in the day
of destruction, in the day of distress, in the day of anguish,
then shall you call. I will not answer." Turn to Deuteronomy 32. There's
a scripture I want you to turn with me, and I want you to mark
it in your Bible. Deuteronomy 32, verse 35. Deuteronomy
32, 35. Now, we all We run around wondering how folks
can mistreat folks and get away with it, and how that folks can
do things that are contrary to righteousness and get away with
it. God says in Deuteronomy 32, 35, they're not getting away
with it. To me belongeth vengeance. and
recompense, and their foot shall slide in due time." They're standing
on the slippery slide to hell, and God says, their foot will
slide in my good time. They stand there in their arrogance
and in their haughtiness and in their rebellion and in their
refusal, God said, they'll slide in due time. Their foot will
slide. And my friends, I close with
this comment It's no light thing to be warned of God. It's no
light thing to feel the guilt of conscience and to see God
in the things that are made, to hear the holy law of God speak
unto us. It's no light thing to hear the
glorious good news of substitution, of God's grace in Christ Jesus.
For Solomon said, he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth responsibility,
sorrow. Men who sin against God's law
are in great danger, but men who sin against God's compassion
are in more danger. For him that knoweth to do his
master's will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.
He that increaseth knowledge and light increaseth responsibility. Our Father, bless the Word, send
it deep into our hearts. Help us to see that there's nothing
as important as our relationship with Thee. There's nothing in
life that is so grave and important and valuable as a living union
with the Living Lord. Walk with Thee. Talk with Thee. Fellowship with Thee. Feel Thy
presence in our hearts and know that Thy Son represents us at
Thy right hand. Ungodly, undeserving sinners
are made clean by the blood of Christ Jesus. Speak to our hearts
in His name, we pray. Amen.